Letters 64.16–65.8

The seventh garment is small in size but more sacred than all those mentioned above. Pay attention, I beg you, so that you may understand what is said. In Hebrew it is called hoshen, in Greek λόγιον; we can call it rationale ('the oracle' or 'breastplate of reason'), so that from the name itself you may know at once that what is spoken of is mystical. It is a short cloth, woven of gold and four colors, the same as the ephod, a span square and doubled, so that it may not easily tear. Twelve stones of wonderful size and value are woven into it in four rows, so that three stones are set in each row: in the first row are placed the sardius, the topaz, and the emerald (Symmachus differs on the emerald, translating ceraunium instead); in the second the carbuncle, the sapphire, the jasper; in the third the ligure, the agate, the amethyst; in the fourth the chrysolite, the onyx, the beryl. I am quite surprised that the hyacinth, a most precious stone, is not placed among them, unless perhaps it is the ligure under another name. Searching those who have written on the natures of stones and gems, I could not find the ligure. On each stone are engraved the names of the twelve tribes according to their ages (we read of these stones both in the diadem of the prince of Tyre and in John's Apocalypse, where the heavenly Jerusalem is built of them), and under their names and appearance either the order or the variety of virtues is indicated. At the four corners of the breastplate are four golden rings, having four others opposite them on the ephod, so that, when the logion is placed in the space we said was left in the ephod, ring meets ring and they are joined to each other by blue cords. Further, lest the size and weight of the stones should break the woven threads, they are bound and enclosed in gold. Nor is this enough for firmness, unless chains of gold were also made, covered for beauty with golden tubes, and there were on the breastplate two larger rings above, to be fastened by the golden hooks of the ephod, and two others below. For behind, on the ephod, opposite the breast and stomach, there were golden rings on each side, which were joined by chains to the lower rings of the breastplate; and so it came about that the breastplate was bound to the ephod and the ephod to the breastplate, and to those who saw them they were thought to be one fabric.

The eighth is the golden plate, that is, ṣiṣ zahab, on which is written the name of God in the four Hebrew letters yod, he, waw, he, which among them is called ineffable. This is added in the case of the high priest above the linen cap common to all the priests, so that it is bound on the forehead with a blue band, and the name of God crowns and protects all the beauty of the high priest.

We have learned which vestments are common with the priests and which are special to the high priest; and, if there was so much difficulty in the earthen vessels, how great will be the majesty of the treasure hidden within! Let us first say what we have received from the Hebrews, and afterwards, according to our custom, spread the sails of spiritual understanding. They refer the four colors to the four elements of which everything consists: the fine linen is assigned to the earth, because it grows from the earth; the purple to the sea, because it is dyed from its shellfish; the blue to the air, because of the likeness of color; the scarlet to fire and the ether (it is called in Hebrew shani, which Aquila translated διάφορον and Symmachus δίβαφον, 'twice-dyed'; for scarlet in the Latin sense the Hebrews have tola'ath, that is, 'little worm'). And they say it is right that the high priest of the Creator should pray not only for Israel but for the whole world, since this world consists of earth, water, air, and fire, and these are the elements of all things. Hence the first garment, of linen, signifies the earth; the second, of blue, shows the air by its color, because we rise little by little from earthly things to the heights; and the blue garment itself, coming from the head to the ankles, indicates the air poured from heaven to earth. The pomegranates and bells placed at the bottom show lightnings and thunders, or earth and water and the harmony of all the elements with one another, and all things so interwoven that all are found in each. That the colors named above are interwoven with gold, they take to signify that the life-giving heat and the providence of the divine mind penetrate all things. The ephod, and the two stones, whether emeralds or onyxes, which are on top and cover each shoulder, they interpret as the two hemispheres, one above the earth and one below, or as the sun and moon, which shine from above. The girdle, by which the priest's breast is bound and the linen tunic, that is, the earth, is held in, they interpret as the ocean. The breastplate placed in the middle they explain as the earth, which, like a point, though it contains all things in itself, is surrounded by all the elements. The twelve stones they interpret either as the circle of the zodiac or as the twelve months, and they assign a season to each row and three months to each. Let this explanation not seem pagan to anyone. For if the pagans have defamed the heavenly bodies and God's arrangement with the names of idols, God's providence, which runs, moves, and rules all things by a fixed law, is not therefore to be denied. For in Job too we read of Arcturus and Orion and Mazzaroth, that is, the zodiac, and the other names of the stars; not that the Hebrews have the same words, but that we cannot understand what is said except in the usual words. And the very thing that is in the middle is beautifully called the rationale; for all things are full of reason, and earthly things cling to heavenly; indeed the reason of earthly things and of seasons, of heat and cold, and the double temperate zone between them, descends from the course and reason of heaven; hence the rationale is more firmly bound to the ephod. Further, the saying that in the rationale there are δήλωσις and ἀλήθεια, that is, manifestation and teaching or truth, means that there is never falsehood in God's reason, but truth itself is shown to men by many signs and proofs and comes down to mortals. Hence it happens that we know the reason of the sun and moon, of the year, the months, the seasons, and the hours, of storms too, fair weather, winds, and all things, receiving wisdom implanted by God, and the inhabitant and teacher of his own dwelling himself showing us the knowledge of its structure. Above all, the mitre and the blue band show heaven, and the golden plate on the high priest's forehead, with the name of God inscribed, shows that all things beneath are governed by God's will. I think the same thing is figured under other names in the cherubim, the four living creatures, which are so intermingled and joined that they are found in one, and the rest; and that they go straight on before them and do not turn back; for the times glide by and, leaving the past behind, hasten to the future. That they are always in motion means what the philosophers too suppose, that the world runs in its own order and turns ceaselessly like a wheel on its axle. Hence there is a wheel within a wheel, that is, time within time, and the year revolves upon itself; and the wheels themselves are lifted up to heaven, and above the crystal is a throne of sapphire, and above the throne the likeness of one seated, whose lower parts are of fire and upper parts of amber, to show that the lower things need fire and purification, while the higher remain in the purity of their condition. And as here, in the priest's dress, the golden plate is on top, so in Ezekiel amber is placed on the breast and on the head. It was right, then, as we said in part above, that the high priest of God, bearing in his vestments the type of all creatures, should show that all things need the mercy of God, and that the whole creation should join in offering sacrifice to him, so that he might pray, both by voice and by dress, not only for children, parents, and kin, but for the whole creation.

We have touched on the Hebrew explanation, and, reserving the infinite forest of meanings for another time, we have laid some foundations of the house to come. Of the linen drawers they usually say this: through them the principle of seed and generation, which belongs to the flesh, is assigned to the earth (hence God says to Adam, 'You are earth, and to earth you shall go'); and the causes of this, how such great beauty, whether of men or of various things, is born from a tiny seed and the foulest beginnings, are hidden and not open to human eyes. We read in Leviticus that, at God's command, Moses washed Aaron and his sons: even then the sacraments of baptism signified the purification of the world and the holiness of all things. They do not receive the vestments unless their filth has first been washed away, nor are they adorned for sacred rites unless they are reborn as new men in Christ; for new wine is put into new wineskins. That Moses washes is a sign of the law: 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them'; and from Adam to Moses all sinned. We must be washed by God's precepts, and when, ready for the clothing of Christ, we have laid aside the coats of skins, then we shall be clothed with the linen garment which has nothing of death in it but is wholly white, so that, rising from baptism, we may gird our loins with truth and all the shame of former sins may be covered. Hence David too says: 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.'

After the drawers and the linen tunic we are clothed with the blue garment and begin to climb from earthly things to the heights. This blue tunic (called by the Seventy ὑποδύτης, that is, under-garment) belongs properly to the high priest, signifying that the reason of lofty things is not open to all, but to the greater and perfect. The prophets had it, Moses and Aaron had it, and all to whom it is said, 'Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion.' Nor are the washing away of former sins, the grace of baptism, and more secret teaching enough for us unless we also have works. Hence the ephod too is added, which is joined to the breastplate, so that it is not loose or slack, but they cling to each other and are a help to each other. For reason needs works, and works need reason, so that what we conceive in mind we may accomplish in deed. And the two stones on the ephod signify either Christ and the church, containing the names of the twelve apostles who were sent to preach, or the letter and the spirit, in which all the mysteries of the law are held: the spirit on the right, the letter on the left; through the letters we come down to words, through the words we come to the sense. What a beautiful order, showing mysteries even in the dress! On the shoulders are works, in the breast reason; hence the priests eat the breast. This breastplate is double, open and hidden, simple and mystical, having twelve stones in it and four rows. These I take to be the four virtues, prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance, which cling to one another and, mingling mutually, make the number twelve; or the four Gospels, which are described in the Apocalypse full of eyes and, shining with the Lord's light, illuminate the world, four in one and each in four. Hence δήλωσις and ἀλήθεια, that is, teaching and truth, are on the priest's breast. For when one is clothed with the manifold garment, it follows that he should bring forth in speech the truth he holds in his heart. So in the breastplate there is truth, that is, knowledge, so that he may know what is to be taught; and manifestation and teaching, so that he may be able to instruct others in what he has conceived in mind. Where are those who say that the innocence of a priest can suffice? The old law agrees with the new: Moses says the same as the apostle. The one adorns the priest's knowledge in the vestments; the other instructs Timothy and Titus in teaching. But the very order of the vestments is also significant. Let us read Leviticus: not first the breastplate and then the ephod, but first the ephod and then the breastplate. 'From your commandments,' it says, 'I gained understanding': first we act, then we teach, lest the authority of teaching be destroyed by empty works. This is what we read in the prophet: 'Sow for yourselves in righteousness and reap the fruit of life; light for yourselves the light of knowledge.' First sow in righteousness and reap the fruits of eternal life, and afterwards claim knowledge for yourselves. Nor is perfection complete at once if one has the ephod and the breastplate, unless they are made solid with each other by a strong joint and bound to each other, so that works cling to reason and reason to works, and, these going before, teaching and truth follow.

If there were time, I would discuss the four elements of which we spoke above, and the two stones, whether onyxes or emeralds, and the twelve gems placed in the breastplate, and set out for you the nature and cause of each, what each signifies, and how it is compared with each of the virtues; and the holy Pope Epiphanius has published an excellent volume on this, which, if you wish to read it, will give you the fullest knowledge. I realize that I am already exceeding the measure of a letter, and I see that the tablets of my secretary are full; so I pass on to the rest, so that my speech may at last be finished. The golden plate shines on the forehead; for the learning of all things is of no use to us unless we are crowned with the knowledge of God. We are clothed in linen, adorned with blue, girded with the sacred belt; works are given us; the breastplate is placed on our breast: we receive truth, our speech brings forth teaching. All is imperfect unless a worthy charioteer is sought for so fair a chariot, and the Creator, standing above his creatures, himself rules what he has made. What was once shown in the plate is now shown in the sign of the cross. The blood of the Gospel is more precious than the gold of the law. Then, according to Ezekiel, a sign was set on the foreheads of those who groaned; now, carrying the cross, we say: 'The light of your countenance has been sealed upon us, O Lord.' Twice in Exodus we read of eight kinds of vestments of the high priest, the Lord commanding and Moses carrying out his orders. In Leviticus only seven are written of, and it is related how Moses clothed his brother Aaron with them. Of the drawers alone nothing is said, for this reason, I think: that the law does not lay its hand on our genitals and private parts, but we ourselves must cover and veil our more secret parts, worthy of shame, and reserve the consciousness of our purity and of our seed for God as judge. Of the other virtues, for example wisdom, fortitude, justice, humility, gentleness, generosity, others too can judge; chastity only conscience knows, and human eyes cannot be certain judges of this matter, except of those who are openly given over to lust like brute animals. Hence the apostle too says, 'Concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord'; as if Moses were saying, 'I do not clothe anyone with the drawers, nor impose necessity on anyone; let him who wishes to be a priest clothe himself.' O how many virgins, and the hoped-for chastity of how many, will be dishonored on the day of judgment; how many whose chastity was defamed will be crowned by God the judge! So let us ourselves put on the drawers, let us ourselves cover our private parts, and not seek others' eyes. Let the genitals be so covered that they are open to no one's eyes, lest, when we enter the holy of holies, some shame appear and we die the death.

Now my speech is ending, and I am drawn back to what went before. So great should be the knowledge and learning of the high priest of God that his going out, his movements, and everything about him should speak. Let him conceive truth in his mind and make it resound in his whole dress and adornment, so that whatever he does, whatever he says, may be teaching for the people. For without bells, without various colors, and without the gems and flowers of virtues he can neither enter the holy places nor possess the name of priest. I dictated these things in hurried speech in a single night's work, when the rope was already being loosed from the shore and the sailors were shouting more and more urgently: what I could hold in memory and had gathered by long reading in the breastplate of my heart; well aware that I am flowing more with the impetus of speech than with a writer's judgment, and, like a torrent, bringing forth a turbid discourse. In the catalogue of Septimius Tertullian there is said to be a book on the vestments of Aaron, which I have not yet found to this day. If it is found by you, thanks to the size of the city, I beg you not to compare my drop with his river. For I must be judged not by the talents of great men but by my own strength.

I know, Principia, my daughter in Christ, that I am blamed by many because I sometimes write to women and prefer the weaker sex to men. So I must first answer my detractors and then come to the little discussion you asked for. If men asked about the Scriptures, I would not speak to women. If Barak had been willing to go to battle, Deborah would not have triumphed over the defeated enemy. Jeremiah is shut up in prison, and, because Israel, about to perish, had not received a man prophesying, Huldah, a woman, is raised up for them. The priests and Pharisees crucify the Son of God, and Mary Magdalene weeps at the cross, prepares ointments, seeks him in the tomb, questions the gardener, recognizes the Lord, goes to the apostles, and announces that he has been found. They doubt, she is confident: truly 'of the tower,' truly the tower of whiteness and of Lebanon which looks toward the face of Damascus, that is, toward the blood of the Savior calling to the penitence of sackcloth. The ways of women had ceased with Sarah, and so Abraham is made subject to her and it is said to him: 'In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice.' They had ceased in her; you never had them. Sex is swallowed up by a virgin; she carries Christ in her body; she already possesses what she will be. Rebecca goes to inquire of God and, by his answer, hears a worthy oracle: 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be divided from your belly.' She bears two who are at odds; you daily conceive, labor with, and bring forth one, fruitful in unity, manifold in majesty, harmonious in trinity. Miriam, Moses' sister, sings the Lord's victories; Rachel, dying, gives birth, and by the stock of her name marks for posterity our Bethlehem and Ephrathah. The daughters of Zelophehad deserve to receive an inheritance among their brothers. Ruth and Esther and Judith are of such glory that they have given their names to sacred books. Hannah the prophetess bears a son who is a Levite, a prophet, a judge, venerable for his consecrated hair, and offers him in the tabernacle of God. The woman of Tekoa traps King David by a question, teaches him by a riddle, softens him by the example of God. We read of another wise woman too, who, when the city was besieged and Joab, the commander of the army, was battering the walls with the ram because of one rebel, spoke to the people in her wisdom and calmed the danger of so great a multitude by a woman's authority. What shall I say of the queen of Sheba, who came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and, by the Lord's testimony, will condemn all the men of Israel? Elizabeth prophesies with her womb and with her voice. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, becomes in the temple a temple of God and by daily fasting finds the heavenly bread. Women follow the Savior and minister to him from their means. He who fed five thousand men, not counting women and children, with five loaves, does not refuse to receive food from holy women. He speaks with the Samaritan woman at the well, and, satisfied by the conversion of a believer, neglects the food that had been bought. Aquila and Priscilla teach Apollos, an apostolic man and most learned in the law, and instruct him in the way of the Lord. If it was not shameful for an apostle to be taught by a woman, why should it be shameful for me to teach women after men?

These and similar things, most venerable daughter, I have touched on briefly, so that you may not regret your sex, nor men be lifted up by their name, to whose condemnation the life of women is praised in the holy Scriptures. I rejoice, and my mind is carried away as in a dance, when in Babylon are found Daniel, Ananias, Azarias, and Mishael. O how many old men and judges of Israel there are whom the king of Babylon fries in his pan; how many Susannas, which means 'lily,' who with the whiteness of chastity weave garlands for the bridegroom and change the crown of thorns into the glory of the triumphant one! You have there, as your teachers in the study of the Scriptures and in holiness of mind and body, Marcella and Asella: the one may lead you through green meadows and the various flowers of the divine books to him who says in the Song, 'I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys'; the other, herself a flower of the Lord, may deserve to hear with you: 'As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.' And since we have begun to speak of flowers and lilies, and virginity is always compared to flowers, it seems fitting to me, writing to a flower of Christ, to discuss many flowers.

Reading the forty-fourth psalm, I found in the title: 'To the end, for those who will be changed, of the sons of Korah, for understanding, a song for the beloved.' In the Hebrew is written: lamnasseah al shoshannim libne Qorah maskil shir yedidoth, which we have translated into Latin: 'To the victor, for the lilies, of the sons of Korah, a song of instruction of the most beloved.' Symmachus, as usual, has translated more plainly: 'a triumph, for the flowers.' So shoshannim is translated either 'for those who are to be changed' or 'lilies' and 'flowers'; maskil means both 'instruction' and 'most learned'; Jedidiah is an ancient name of Solomon, who in another sense is called 'peaceful.' Four psalms, though they differ in the latter part of their titles, are headed with this beginning: the forty-fourth, the fifty-ninth, the sixty-eighth, and the seventy-ninth; of these, the two middle ones are inscribed 'of David,' the first 'of the sons of Korah,' and the last 'of Asaph.' This is not the time to speak of them all; let us explain the one we have begun.

Rightly are those who will be changed at the end of the ages, of whom the apostle says, 'We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed,' referred to 'the end.' And this very mystery prepares the reader for spiritual understanding. For where the sense is simple and plain, what need is there to forewarn the hearer 'for understanding' and to say to him, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear'? The song too is sung to the dearest and beloved one, because on his account the change promised to the saints will come. This can be understood also in this life, when we put off the old man and put on the new, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of his Creator, and, beholding the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image as from glory to glory. Nor is there any time when the saint is not changed, forgetting what lies behind and stretching out to what lies ahead, since our inner man is renewed from day to day; and the unchangeable God, who says through the prophet, 'I am God and I do not change,' changed his face for our sake, took the form of a servant, and, passing over from Judea to the Philistines, whose name means 'falling by the cup' (for they had been made drunk with the golden cup of Babylon), was first mocked for the folly of the cross, and then received for the glory of his triumphs. The dearest one is he of whom Isaiah too sings, 'I will sing a song to my beloved of my beloved's vineyard,' and the Gospel, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him'; to whom not one prophet only but the whole choir of the sons of Korah now sings praises. Who the sons of Korah are, that is, of Calvary, is discussed more fittingly on the forty-first psalm. And that we may know that the text of the song agrees with its title, the daughter too learns the change from one thing to another, being told to forget her ancient father and prepare herself for the king's embraces. That he is the victor who says, 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,' and to whom that prayer of the young man is addressed, 'From you is victory and wisdom and glory, and I am your servant,' is surely known by him who has overcome with the Lord's victory and shares in his triumphs, and who has woven for the Savior an unfading crown of glory from the whiteness of good works and the variety of virtues.

'My heart has belched out a good word.' For this Symmachus translated, 'My heart was moved by a good word,' judging that the speaker's heart was moved at another's speech, and that, as the Holy Spirit revealed the future mysteries of Christ, this man too broke out into speech, so that, as the others spoke of his coming, he too might speak. Belching (ructus) properly means the digestion of food and the breathing out into wind of the foods that have been digested. So, as a belch breaks out from the stomach according to the quality of the food, and the breath is a sign of a good or bad smell, so the thoughts of the inner man bring forth words, and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The righteous man eats and fills his soul, and, when he is sated with sacred doctrines, from the good treasure of his heart he brings forth good things and says with the apostle: 'Do you seek proof of him who speaks in me, Christ?' Some wish it to be understood as said in the person of the Father, that from his inmost vitals and the secrets of his heart he brought forth his Word, which was always in him, according to the prophecy of another psalm, 'From the womb before the morning star I begot you'; and as 'womb' does not signify a womb (for God is not divided into members) but shows the same substance of Father and Son, so the heart and the word brought forth from the heart show the Father and the Son. And what follows, 'I speak my works to the king,' they fit to this understanding: 'He spoke and they were made, he commanded and they were created,' because, when the Father spoke, the Son worked; whatever the Father does, the Son also does likewise, and the Father remaining in him works all things through the Son.

'I speak my works to the king.' The prophetic choir, about to tell the mysteries of Christ's church, lest it seem unworthy of the song and it be said to it because of its consciousness of sins, 'Why do you declare my righteousness and take my covenant in your mouth?', confesses its works to the king whom it is about to praise, so that, if they are good, he may accept them, or, if bad, cleanse them; and it does what it is commanded: 'Tell your iniquities, that you may be justified,' and, 'The righteous man is his own accuser at the beginning of his speech.' It is an idiom not only of Hebrew but also of Latin to say 'works' (opuscula) for treatises and writings. So this man too, about to sing praises to the Lord, dedicates his song and little work to him and, instead of the Muses of the pagans, invokes at the beginning him whom he is about to praise.

'My tongue is the reed of a scribe writing swiftly.' For this we translated: 'My tongue is the stylus of a swift scribe.' This is the last part of the prologue; join what follows with what precedes: 'My heart has belched out a good word in the praises of God, and my little works, in which I am to proclaim him, I have dedicated above all to him. I ought, then, to prepare my tongue like a stylus and a reed, so that through it the Holy Spirit may write in the hearts and ears of the hearers; for it is mine to offer my tongue as an instrument, his to sound through the instrument what is his.' A stylus writes on wax, a reed on paper or parchment or any material fit for writing. But my tongue, like a swift scribe, whom we may understand as a shorthand writer, will inscribe by a kind of abbreviation of signs the brief and concise word of the Gospel on the fleshly tablets of the heart. For if the law was written by the finger of God through the hand of a mediator, and what was abolished was glorified, how much more will the Gospel, which is to remain, be written by the Holy Spirit through my tongue, so that a swift word may write in the heart of believers the praises of him to whom it is said in Isaiah: 'Swiftly take the spoil, quickly plunder.'

'Beautiful in form beyond the sons of men.' In the Hebrew: 'You are fairer in beauty than the sons of men.' The prologue ended, here the narrative begins, and there is an address to the most loving and beloved king himself, to whom the speaker's works are dedicated. It is asked how he is fairer than all the sons of men, of whom we read in Isaiah: 'We saw him, and he had no form or beauty, but his appearance was without honor and falling short of the sons of men; a man set in affliction and knowing how to bear weakness, because he turned away his face.' Nor should Scripture at once seem to be in conflict, since there the lowliness of the body is mentioned because of the scourges, the spitting, the blows, the nails, and the insults of the gibbet, and here the beauty of the virtues in the sacred and venerable body. Not that the divinity of Christ is more beautiful in comparison with men (for it admits no comparison), but, apart from the sufferings of the cross, he is fairer than all: a virgin born of a virgin, who was born not of the will of man but of God. For unless he had had something starlike in his face and eyes, the apostles would never have followed him at once, nor would those who had come to arrest him have fallen down. And in the present testimony too, where it says, 'a man set in affliction and knowing how to bear weakness,' it gives the reasons why he suffered these things: 'because he turned away his face,' that is, for a little while withdrawing his divinity, he left his body to insult. Some join this verse to the preceding ones, so that 'beautiful in form beyond the sons of men' refers not to Christ but to the reed.