Collectio dictorum veteris testamenti

 is forced to descend into a foreign state and if the demons should see any good understanding accompanying him, they hasten to subject it to the sowi

 escaping. The heifer, taken first, signified the first generation. For just as the heifer struggles against the yoke, so also the first generation of

 the river, but to keep alive every female. For the devil, the spiritual Pharaoh, also conceived a threefold manner of plotting against the spiritual I

 He interprets what that one speaks spiritually and obscurely, and transforms his weak voice to be more melodious. For I have not come, he says, to abo

 the Gospel according to Christ, had as a son the multitude of those being reborn to it through the Holy Spirit whom she also circumcised with a stone

 and easy to comprehend is the mystery concerning Christ. But God did not lead the Jews to this immediately, but through the long law and the many ridd

 Moses commanded Joshua son of Nun to choose mighty men and go out and fight 77.1196 Amalek, signified that Jesus Christ would be subject to the comman

 of the people of the Jews, and servant of God, he ascends to the highest knowledge of God but the people are prevented from approaching, lest they di

 coming after it, demands this final penalty, as one who, after being freed from the burden of sin, is again voluntarily subjected to it. And He comman

 But the eighth ineffably suggests the mystery of the eternal well-being of the 77.1204 beings. The sixth day is called Preparation, because on it the

 and poverty of intellect, they make their neighbors, that is, those of the same faith, partners, so that through one another they may be raised to hig

 unmixed with wickedness, those partaking of the true Lamb nourish their own soul, throughout the whole weekly age, which is measured by the week. And

 the body bears uncircumcision. Circumcision is mystical, a voluntary removal of the passions. The circumcision of circumcision is the putting away of

 of rational discernment, as Israel did in the time of Moses, commits idolatry. For having cast into the fire of the passions the words concerning theo

 to do good things, and to walk toward good things. Humpbacked is the one bent downwards, and not able to look up from earthly things. Sun-spotted is o

 God, ostracizing stupidity, and wishing his subjects to belong to necessity alone, through the not weaving together of linen and wool, banished variet

 but in heaven God Himself whom alone they both worship and attend. And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, an

 they were catechized by the evangelists. Or otherwise, the four types of meanings were a symbol of the four types of moral discourse. Of which the one

 Aaron's rod, as a symbol of watchfulness. For to Jeremiah, seeing a staff of a nut tree, God says: Behold, I am watchful over my words. And it budded

 bracelets, and rings, and armlets, and braided chains. For the leaders of the people in Christ and the eminent often surpass the evangelical commands

 with bodily ways of the ministry of the virtues, they return to the contemplation of kindred intelligible things. A foreign boy and a servant-girl are

 undertaking. For she will pay the penalty for the offense to God, the Father of spirits, and she will be his wife, as having already been joined to hi

 of the other man wherefore he is required to pay the penalty for the murder, but he alone suffers loss in his soul. For this, I think, is what this m

 war for one year he shall cheer his wife, whom he has taken. For it is not right that one who has just taken a spouse for himself should be led out t

 Virtue is the mother of the good deeds from it. And its nest is the soul in which it dwells. It is necessary for those who encounter them to be benefi

 its fruit for three years will be unpurified for you. It shall not be eaten, and in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy to the Lord. But in th

 dragging down to earth, those things that draw up to heaven. Saul, is the natural 77.1249 law, which from the beginning received from the Lord the lot

 David is the law according to the spirit, who reigns over the Christians who worship God spiritually. But Saul is the law according to the letter, who

 the face of the Lord, according to David, and learns the cause of such a famine, that this injustice was against Saul, and against his house, with whi

 taking from the spiritual David, that is, the law according to the spirit, may kill the aforementioned sons and grandsons of 77.1257 Saul then in eve

 of knowledge, if it should receive the divine and discerning word, which brings to memory former sins, and will prefer even to nature itself the heali

 The Lord in the desert I mean in the world, and in the nature of men, digging out and cleansing the hearts of the worthy from material weight and min

 of the city. Since Hezekiah is interpreted as 'strength of God,' every mind 77.1265 that through practical philosophy has acquired divine strength, wh

 through themselves they again turn him away, as he flees into his land which is the fixed habit of evil, whom his sons kill as he is fleeing, and the

 the king of the Assyrians, flees to God, and silently cries out to Him, through progress in virtue and knowledge, and receives an angel as an ally th

 at once a philosopher and a lover of God has both Judah and Jerusalem the one taken as the habit of confession and repentance for Judah is interpret

 becomes a lofty and exalted mind, and in the good things given to it by God, boasts as if in its own accomplishments. There comes by providence upon t

 the spear and the flask of water that is, the power of practical virtue, and the grace of gnostic contemplation, even if he again gives these things

 of king Darius, I mean of the natural law, having conquered by him, lifts up his face to heaven, that is, the disposition of the soul, in which are th

 not being guarded. For lead is a symbol of punishment, but silver of brightness. And the seven eyes of this practical faith are the seven gifts of the

 constituted. For since matter is indeed a tetrad, because of the tetraktys of its elements, and form is a pentad, because of the fivefold nature of se

 they rise up for mischief. And approaching Zerubbabel, and Joshua and the leaders of the families, they say to them: We will build with you for like

the river, but to keep alive every female. For the devil, the spiritual Pharaoh, also conceived a threefold manner of plotting against the spiritual Israel, I mean the pious people, attempting through wicked schemes to hinder its progress in virtue. And first he brings upon them toil and hardship; but having failed in his purpose, he arms their brothers and friends in the faith against those who are manly in piety. For he does not plot against the effeminate as being weak, knowing them to be useful to him for sin. And the midwives are sisters and friends of the Hebrews, because of their kinship by race. Failing also in his second plot, since the fear of God restrained those who had been armed, he openly permits his own attendants the savagery and blood-guiltiness against the saints. The Pharaoh of our polity loves and keeps alive what is female and weak and obedient to him; but he hastens to kill what is male and manly and suspected of rebellion. But the prudent and provident thoughts, having begotten virtue, as the parents did Moses, and having secured it in the ark of instruction, do not permit the virtuous one to be drowned in the stream of life. And when this one has been brought to the bank of stability, profane philosophy takes him, being a daughter to Pharaoh on account of her pride and impiety, but barren because she brings forth no offspring to the light of the knowledge of God; taking him as a substitute, she adopts him, being nursed with his mother's milk. For he does not depart from the sacred doctrines, even if he pursues a Greek education. And having run up to the height of spiritual age, he becomes an intermediary between two combatants, one of his own race and one of a foreign race; that is, of a pious word and an impious one, or of virtue 77.1185 and vice, and siding with his own, he destroys the foreign one. But fearing the danger from Pharaoh, he flees far from his power, aspiring to a higher polity, and drives away with the rod of reproofs the wicked shepherds who unjustly use the stream of teaching, and even if it is necessary to dwell again with a foreign woman, that is, to be united with pagan philosophy, he accepts this because of necessity, living in tranquility and shepherding the movements of the soul. And to one living thus the mystery of the bush will appear, shining upon him, and teaching that the fire of the divinity, having encompassed human nature at the incarnation, both set it afire and deified it, while preserving it whole. But it burned up the thorns of sin that were put forth. And that it is a prefiguration of the Church of the gentiles. For just as the bush is low-lying, and spread out upon the ground, and bristling with thorns; so also the gentiles were previously dragged down to earthly thoughts, and the passions of sin, unable to imagine anything lofty; and they were scattered over the earth, and were clothed with the thorns of sin. But the immaterial fire of divine baptism, blazing without suffering, cleanses them, burning only the thorns of sin; For He, it says, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And that it foreshadows the womb of the Mother of God, in which the fire of the divinity, having flashed, kept it unburnt. Just as Moses was slow of speech, so also the Mosaic law is slow of speech in articulating the word concerning Being, and in making clear the theology of the Holy Trinity. And weak of voice, as being able to speak to few. For the Israelites are few compared to all the nations. Therefore Aaron his brother is also added to him, that is, the evangelical law. For just as Christ is a brother of Moses according to his humanity, so also the evangelical law is a brother to and in harmony with the Mosaic law according to its spiritual and intelligible sense. Who also speaks to all the nations, as Aaron also did to all the people. And the evangelical becomes a mouth for the Mosaic, since Aaron also for Moses and

τὸν ποταμὸν, πᾶν δὲ θῆλυ ζωογονεῖν. Καὶ ὁ διάβολος γὰρ ὁ νοητὸς Φαραὼ κατὰ τοῦ νοητοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, τὸν εὐσεβῆ λέγω λαὸν, τριπλοῦν τρόπον ἐπιβουλῆς ἐνόησε, διὰ κακούργων σκεμμάτων τὴν εἰς ἀρετὴν ἐπίδοσιν αὐτοῦ κωλύειν πειρώμενος. Καὶ πρῶτα μὲν πόνον, καὶ κακοπάθειαν αὐτοῖς ἐπιφέρει· διαμαρτὼν δὲ τοῦ σκοποῦ, τοὺς κατὰ πίστιν ἀδελφοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ φίλους ἐφοπλίζει τοῖς ἀνδρείοις εἰς τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Τοῖς γὰρ θηλυπρεπέσιν ὡς ἀσθενέσιν οὐκ ἐπιβουλεύει, χρησίμους ἑαυτῷ πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν τούτους εἰδώς. Ἀδελφαὶ δὲ καὶ φίλαι τῶν Ἑβραίων αἱ μαῖαι, διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ γένους οἰκείωσιν. Ἀποτυγχάνων δὲ καὶ τῆς δευτέρας ἐπιβουλῆς, τοῦ θείου φόβου τοὺς ἐφοπλισθέντας ἐπέχοντος, ἀναφανδὸν ἐπιτρέπει τοῖς οἰκείοις ὑπασπισταῖς τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγριότητα καὶ μιαιφονίαν. Ὁ Φαραὼ τῆς ἡμετέρας πολιτείας, τὸ μὲν θῆλυ καὶ ἀσθενὲς καὶ εὐπειθὲς αὐτῷ φιλεῖ καὶ ζωογονεῖ· τὸ δὲ ἄῤῥεν καὶ ἀνδρεῖον καὶ πρὸς ἐπανάστασιν ὕποπτον φονεύειν ἐπείγεται. Οἱ δὲ σώφρονες καὶ προνοητικοὶ λογισμοὶ γεννήσαντες τὴν ἀρετὴν, ὡς οἱ γονεῖς τὸν Μωσέα, καὶ τῇ κιβωτῷ τῆς παιδεύσεως ἐνασφαλισάμενοι, τὸν ἐνάρετον οὐ συγχωροῦσι καταποντισθῆναι τῷ ῥείθρῳ τοῦ βίου. Κομισθέντα δὲ τοῦτον ἐπὶ τὴν ὄχθην τῆς σταθερότητος, ἡ ἔξω φιλοσοφία λαβοῦσα, θυγάτηρ μὲν οὖσα τῷ Φαραὼ, διὰ τὸν τῦφον καὶ τὴν ἀσέβειαν, ἄγονος δὲ διὰ τὸ μηδένα τόκον αὐτῆς εἰς φῶς προάγειν θεογνωσίας, ὑποβαλλομένη υἱοθετεῖ τῷ μητρῴῳ γάλακτι τιθηνούμενον. Οὐ γὰρ ἀφίσταται τῶν ἱερῶν δογμάτων, εἰ καὶ τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν μετέρχεται παίδευσιν. Πρὸς ὕψος δὲ πνευματικῆς ἡλικίας ἀναδραμὼν, μέσος γίνεται δύο μαχομένων, ὁμογενοῦς καὶ ἀλλοφύλου. τοῦτ' ἕστιν, εὐσεβοῦς λόγου καὶ ἀσεβοῦς, ἢ ἀρετῆς 77.1185 καὶ κακίας, καὶ τῷ οἰκείῳ συστὰς ἀναιρεῖ τὸ ἀλλότριον. Φοβηθεὶς δὲ τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Φαραὼ κίνδυνον, φεύγει ποῤῥωτάτω τῆς ἐξουσίας αὐτοῦ, πρὸς ὑψηλοτέραν πολιτείαν ἀνατεινόμενος, καὶ τοὺς πονηροὺς ποιμένας ἀδίκως χρωμένους τῷ νάματι διδασκαλίας, ἀπελαύνει τῇ ῥάβδῳ τῶν ἐλέγχων, κἂν ἀλλοφύλῳ πάλιν συνοικῆσαι δέῃ, τοῦτ' ἔστι συγγενέσθαι τῇ θύραθεν φιλοσοφίᾳ, καταδέχεται τοῦτο διὰ τὴν χρείαν, ἐν γαλήνῃ διάγων καὶ ποιμαίνων τὰ κινήματα τῆς ψυχῆς. Οὕτω δὲ βιοῦντι φανήσεται τὸ κατὰ τὴν βάτον μυστήριον ἐλλάμπον αὐτῷ, καὶ διδάσκον ὅτι τὸ πῦρ τῆς θεότητος περιλαβὸν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν, κατὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν, ταύτην μὲν ἐπυράκτωσε καὶ ἐθέωσε, σῶαν συντηρῆσαν. Τὰς δὲ προβαλλομένας ἀκάνθας τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατέκαυσε. Καὶ ὅτι προτύπωσίς ἐστι τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ βάτος χαμαιπετής ἐστι, καὶ διηπλωμένη κατὰ τῆς γῆς, καὶ πεφρικυῖα ταῖς ἀκάνθαις· οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περὶ τὰ γεηρὰ πρότερον ἐσύροντο νοήματα, καὶ τὰ πάθη τῆς ἁμαρτίας, μηδὲν ὑψηλὸν δυνάμενα φαντασθῆναι· καὶ κατὰ τῆς γῆς ἦσαν ἐσκεδασμένα, καὶ τὰς ἀκάνθας τῆς ἁμαρτίας περιεβέβληντο. Τὸ δὲ διὰ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος ἄϋλον πῦρ φλογίζον ἀπαθῶς αὐτὰ καθαίρει, μόνας ἐμπιπρῶν τὰς ἀκάνθας τῆς ἁμαρτίας· Αὐτὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί. Καὶ ὅτι σκιαγραφεῖ τὴν νηδὺν τῆς θεομήτορος· ἐν ᾗ τὸ πῦρ τῆς θεότητος ἀστράψαν ἀκατάφλεκτον αὐτὴν διεφύλαξεν. Ὥσπερ ὁ Μωσῆς βραδύγλωσσος ἦν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Μωσαϊκὸς νόμος βραδύγλωσσός ἐστι πρὸς τὸ διαρθροῦν τὸν περὶ τοῦ ὄντος λόγον, καὶ τρανοῦν τὴν περὶ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος θεολογίαν. Καὶ ἰσχνόφωνος δὲ, ὡς ὀλίγους προσλαλεῖν δυνάμενος. Ὀλίγοι γὰρ οἱ Ἰσραηλῖται πρὸ ὅλα τὰ ἔθνη. ∆ιὸ προστίθεται τούτῳ καὶ Ἀαρὼν ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς νόμος. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς ἀδελφός ἐστι Μωσέως κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον· οὕτω καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς νόμος ἀδελφός ἐστι καὶ σύμφωνος τῷ Μωσαϊκῷ κατὰ τὸ πνευματικὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ νοούμενον. Ὃς καὶ διαλέγεται πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὡς καὶ Ἀαρὼν παντὶ τῷ λαῷ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν εὐαγγελικὸς τῷ Μωσαϊκῷ γίνεται στόμα, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἀαρὼν τῷ Μωσεῖ καὶ