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But some time later Isaac had to be joined in marriage again, on whose account Ishmael along with his mother was driven from his father's hearth. And Abraham's servant, having been sent as a matchmaker to find a wife for his master, finds Rebecca at the well, and the marriage that was to produce the race of Christ had its beginning and first covenant at the water. Moreover, Isaac himself, when he was in charge of the flocks, dug wells everywhere in the wilderness, which the foreigners blocked and filled in, as a type of the impious men of later times, as many as hindered the grace of baptism and stopped its mouth, contending against the truth; but nevertheless the martyrs and the priests, by digging wells, were victorious and the gift of baptism inundated the whole world.

And in accordance with the same power of the word, Jacob, also hastening to his betrothal, unexpectedly met Rachel at the well. A great stone lay over the well, which a crowd of shepherds, coming together, would roll away and then water themselves and their sheep, but Jacob alone rolls away the stone 9.232 and waters the sheep of his betrothed. I think the matter is a riddle and a shadow of the future. For who is the stone that lay upon it but Christ himself? About whom Isaiah says: And I will lay in the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, costly, elect; and Daniel likewise: A stone was cut out without hands, that is, Christ was born without a man. For just as it is new and paradoxical for a stone to be cut from a rock without a stonecutter and stoneworking tools, so it is beyond all wonder for a birth to be seen from an unwed virgin. Therefore, the spiritual stone, Christ, lay upon the well, hiding in depth and mystery the bath of regeneration, still needing a long time for its revelation, like a long rope; and no one rolled away the stone except Israel, which is the mind that sees God. But he also draws up the water and waters the sheep of Rachel, that is, having revealed a hidden mystery, he gives life-giving water to the flock of the church; and add the matter of Jacob's three rods; for from when the three rods were placed by the spring, from then on Laban the polytheist became poor, but Jacob rich and with many sheep. And let Laban be allegorized as the devil and Jacob as Christ; for after the baptism Christ took away the whole flock of Satan and he himself became rich. But the great Moses, being a beautiful and nursing infant, subject to the common and grim decree which the harsh Pharaoh issued against the male infants, was exposed on the banks of the river, not naked, but placed 9.233 in an ark (for it was necessary for the law to be typically in an ark), and was laid near the water; for the law is neighbor to grace and the ephemeral sprinklings of the Hebrews, which a little later were destined to be covered by the perfect and wonderful baptism. And as it seems to the divine Paul, the people themselves, having crossed the Red Sea, proclaimed the salvation that comes from water; the people passed through and the Egyptian king with his army was submerged, and the mystery was prophesied through these deeds. For even now, whenever the people are in the water of regeneration, fleeing Egypt, which is wicked sin, they are freed and saved, but the devil with his own servants (I mean, the spirits of wickedness) is suffocated with grief and is destroyed, considering the salvation of men his own disaster.

These things, then, are sufficient for us for the confirmation of the proposed treatise, yet the lover of beauty must not neglect what follows. For having suffered much, as we have been taught, the people of the Hebrews, and having completed the wretched period in the desert, did not receive the land of promise before they crossed over into the Jordan, with Jesus leading and governing his life and directing him. And Jesus, having set aside the twelve stones in the stream, is a clear sign that he was preparing the twelve disciples, the ministers of baptism. The wonderful liturgy and all

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Χρόνοις δὲ ὕστερον πάλιν γάμοις ἔδει καταζευχθῆναι τὸν Ἰσαάκ, δι' ὃν καὶ ὁ Ἰσμαὴλ σὺν τῇ μητρὶ τῆς πατρικῆς ἑστίας ἠλάθη. ἀποσταλεὶς δὲ ὁ οἰκέτης τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ προμνή στωρ ὥστε τῷ κυρίῳ νυμφεύσασθαι εὑρίσκει τὴν Ῥεβέκκαν ἐπὶ τοῦ φρέατος, καὶ γάμος ὁ μέλλων ποιεῖν τὸ γένος Χριστοῦ ἐφ' ὕδατος ἔλαβε τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν πρώτην συνθήκην. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰσαάκ, ἡνίκα ταῖς ἀγέλαις ἐφεστήκει, πανταχοῦ τῆς ἐρημίας ὤρυσσε φρέατα, ἅπερ ἐνέφραττον καὶ κατεχώννυον οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι εἰς τύπον τῶν εἰς ὕστερον ἀσεβῶν, ὅσοι τὴν τοῦ βαπτίσματος χάριν ἐκώλυον καὶ ἀνεστόμουν ζυγομαχοῦντες πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ἀλλ' ὅμως οἱ μάρτυρες καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς φρεωρυχοῦντες ἐνίκησαν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην τὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος δῶρον ἐπέκλυσεν.

Κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ τοῦ λόγου δύναμιν σπεύδων καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἐπὶ μνηστείαν ἀδοκήτως ἐπὶ τοῦ φρέατος συνήντησε τῇ Ῥαχήλ. ἐπέκειτο δὲ λίθος μέγας τῷ φρέατι, ὃν πλῆθος ποιμένων συνιὸν ἀπεκύλιον εἶθ' οὕτως ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς προβάτοις ὑδρεύοντο, ὁ δὲ Ἰακὼβ μόνος ἀποκυλίει τὸν λίθον 9.232 καὶ ποτίζει τῆς μνηστῆς τὰ πρόβατα. αἴνιγμα οἶμαι τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ σκιὰ τοῦ μέλλοντος. τίς γὰρ ὁ ἐπικείμενος λίθος ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός; περὶ οὗ φησιν Ἠσαΐας· Καὶ ἐμβαλῶ εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, ἔντιμον, ἐκλεκτόν· καὶ ∆ανιὴλ ὁμοίως· Ἐτμήθη λίθος ἄνευ χειρός, τουτέστιν ἐγεννήθη Χριστὸς ἄνευ ἀνδρός. ὡς γὰρ καινόν ἐστι καὶ παράδοξον λίθον πέτρας ἀποτμηθῆναι ἄνευ λιθοτόμου καὶ ὀργάνων λιθουργικῶν, οὕτω παντὸς ἐπέκεινα θαύματος ἐξ ἀνυμφεύτου παρθένου τόκον ὀφθῆναι. ἐπέκειτο τοίνυν τῷ φρέατι ὁ λίθος ὁ νοητὸς Χριστὸς κρύπτων ἐν βάθει καὶ μυστηρίῳ τὸ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λουτρὸν ἔτι χρόνου πολλοῦ δεόμενον εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ὡς σχοινίου μακροῦ· οὐδεὶς δὲ τὸν λίθον ἀπεκύλισεν εἰ μὴ Ἰσραήλ, ὅς ἐστι νοῦς ὁρῶν θεόν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνιμᾶται τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ποτίζει τὰ πρόβατα τῆς Ῥαχήλ, τουτέστι μυστήριον κεκρυμμένον ἀποκαλύψας δίδωσι ζωτικὸν ὕδωρ τῇ ἀγέλῃ τῆς ἐκκλησίας· καὶ τὸ τῶν τριῶν ῥάβδων τοῦ Ἰακὼβ πρόσθες· ἀφ' οὗ γὰρ αἱ τρεῖς ῥάβδοι τῇ πηγῇ παρετέθησαν, ἐκ τότε ὁ Λάβαν ὁ πολύθεος πένης ἐγένετο, πλούσιος δὲ καὶ πολύαρνος Ἰακώβ. ἀλληγορηθήτω δὲ ὁ Λάβαν εἰς τὸν διάβολον καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ εἰς τὸν Χριστόν· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα Χριστὸς πᾶσαν ᾖρε τὴν ἀγέλην τοῦ Σατανᾶ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπλούτησεν. Μωϋσῆς δὲ ὁ μέγας βρέφος ὑπάρχων ἀστεῖον καὶ ὑπομάζιον ὑποπεσὼν τῇ κοινῇ καὶ σκυθρωπῇ ψήφῳ, ἣν ὁ σκληρὸς Φαραὼ κατὰ τῶν βρεφῶν τῶν ἀρρένων ἐξήνεγκεν, ἐξετέθη πρὸς ταῖς ὄχθαις τοῦ ποταμοῦ οὐ γυμνός, ἀλλ' ἐμβληθεὶς 9.233 λάρνακι (ἔδει γὰρ εἶναι τυπικῶς τὸν νόμον ἐν κιβωτῷ), ἐγγὺς δὲ κατετέθη τοῦ ὕδατος· γειτνιᾷ γὰρ ὁ νόμος τῇ χάριτι καὶ τὰ ἐφήμερα τῶν Ἑβραίων ῥαντίσματα, ἃ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἔμελλε τῷ τελείῳ καὶ θαυμαστῷ βαπτίσματι καλυφθήσεσθαι. ὡς δὲ Παύλῳ τῷ θεσπεσίῳ δοκεῖ καὶ ὁ λαὸς αὐτὸς τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν περαιωθεὶς θάλασσαν τὴν ἐξ ὕδατος σωτηρίαν εὐηγγελίζετο· παρῆλθεν ὁ λαὸς καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ Αἰγύπτιος μετὰ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐβυθίσθη καὶ τὸ μυστήριον διὰ τῶν ἔργων προεφητεύετο. καὶ νῦν γὰρ ἡνίκα ἂν ὁ λαὸς ἐν τῷ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας ὕδατι γένηται φεύγων τὴν Αἴγυπτον τὴν μοχθηρὰν ἁμαρτίαν, αὐτὸς μὲν ἐλευθεροῦται καὶ σῴζεται, ὁ δὲ διάβολος μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων ὑπηρετῶν (λέγω δὴ τῶν πνευμάτων τῆς πονηρίας) ἀποπνίγεται τῇ λύπῃ καὶ φθείρεται συμφορὰν ἰδίαν τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν ἡγούμενος.

Ἱκανὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα εἰς βεβαίωσιν τῆς προκειμένης πραγματείας ἡμῖν, πλὴν οὐδὲ τῶν ἑξῆς ἀμελητέον τῷ φιλο κάλῳ. πολλὰ γὰρ παθὼν ὡς ἐδιδάχθημεν ὁ τῶν Ἑβραίων λαὸς καὶ τὴν μοχθηρὰν διανύσας τῆς ἐρήμου περίοδον οὐ πρότερον τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἀπέλαβε, πρὶν ὁδηγοῦντος Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν ζωὴν αὐτῷ κυβερνῶντος καὶ κατευθύνοντος εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐπεραιώθη. Ἰησοῦς δὲ καὶ τοὺς δώδεκα λίθους ἀποθέμενος ἐν τῷ ῥεύματι πρόδηλός ἐστιν, ὅτι τοὺς δώδεκα μαθητὰς τοὺς ὑπηρέτας τοῦ βαπτίσματος προηυτρέπι ζεν. ἡ δὲ θαυμαστὴ ἱερουργία καὶ πάντα