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by nature. And the great Moses also witnesses to this through his own writing, 76 in which he says, that “And God said, Let there be light;” thereby granting, I think, through these words, that the creation of light is a divine word, surpassing all human understanding. For we look only at what has come into being, and we receive the wonder through sense perception. But where is the dwelling fire suddenly born? if it springs up from the striking of pebbles, from which ones? or from some other thing being rubbed against itself? and what is the power, that consumes what has been seized by it, and illuminates the air with its flame, we can neither see, nor grasp any concept about it; but we say that the reason for this paradoxical wonder-working lies in God alone, who caused, according to the ineffable word of power, light to be born for the fire. As Moses witnesses in his own word, that “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the light that it was good.” For it is truly God's alone to see how so good a thing could come to be; but the poverty of our nature sees what comes into being, but the reason according to which it comes to be, it has the power neither to see nor to praise. For praise belongs to things that are known, not to things that are unknown. “God saw,” he says, “the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and between the darkness.” Again, that which necessarily happens according to the sequence of nature in a certain order and harmony, Moses attributes to a divine energy; teaching, I think, through these words, that all things were pre-conceived by the wisdom of God, things that would consequently come forth through a certain necessary order. For the luminous substance that had been scattered throughout the universe, having run together toward its kin, and all of it having been gathered around itself, necessarily, the things that stood before the remaining matter of the elements were overshadowed, and that which was cast into shadow, was darkness. This, then, which came to be consequently, so that no one might attribute it to some random chance, Moses says is the work of God, who deposited this power in the things that came to be; but indeed, that the nature of fire is sharp and upward-moving and ever-moving, is clear to all from what is observed; and what reason suggests we understand as a consequence of this principle, has been written down historically by Moses in the form of a narrative, that is, “And there was evening, and there was morning.” For who does not know that since creation is understood in two parts, the intelligible and the sensible, the entire concern of the lawgiver now is, not to explain the intelligible things, but to show us through the phenomena the ordering of the sensible things? Since, therefore, fire, at the very constitution of the universe, being shot out from the elements of a different nature, like some arrow, was driven forth in the upward and light natural motion of the universe; and having passed through the sensible substance in an equal thought, it was not able to continue its motion in a straight line, since the intelligible creation has no communication with the intermingling of sensible things, and fire is sensible; for this reason 77 the fire, having come to the outermost boundaries of creation, necessarily makes its motion circular, being driven on to be carried around the universe by the power inherent in its nature, since its straight-line course had no place; for all sensible creation is contained by its own boundaries; it travels along within the outermost limit of the sensible nature, wherein its motion proceeds successfully, since the intelligible nature, as we said before, does not admit the course of the fire into itself. For this reason Moses, following in his thought the motion of the fire, says that the light that came to be did not remain in the same parts, but encompassing the denser substance of existing things, in the swiftness of its motion it transfers in turn through its revolution, the light to the unlit parts, and the gloom to the lit parts, And perhaps since this succession, at temporal intervals, takes place around the lower region, of light, I mean, and of darkness; again Moses ascribes to God the naming of day and night, none of the things that happen consequently

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φύσει· καὶ τοῦτο διὰ τῆς ἰδίας γραφῆς καὶ ὁ μέ 76 γας μαρτύρεται Μωϋσῆς, ἐν οἷς φησιν, ὅτι «Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός Γενηθήτω φῶς·» τοῦτο διὰ τῶν εἰρημέ νων, ὡς οἶμαι, διδοὺς, ὅτι θεῖος λόγος ἐστὶ τὸ τοῦ φωτὸς ἔργον πᾶσαν ἔννοιαν παριὼν ἀνθρωπίνην. Ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς μόνον τὸ γινόμενον βλέπομεν, καὶ τῇ αἰσθήσει τὸ θαῦμα δεχόμεθα. Ποῦ δὲ τὸ πῦρ διαιτώμενον ἀθρόως ἀπογεννᾶται· εἰ ἐκ τῆς συμπτώ σεως τῶν ψηφίδων ἀναπαλλόμενον, ἐκ τίνων· ἢ ἐκ τίνος ἄλλης πρὸς ἑαυτὴν τριβείσης· καὶ τίς ἡ δύνα μις, ἡ τὸ μὲν περιδραχθὲν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ διεσθίουσα, τὸν δὲ ἀέρα τῇ φλογὶ καταυγάζουσα, οὔτε ἰδεῖν δυνάμεθα, οὔτε ἔννοιάν τινα περὶ τούτου λαβεῖν· ἀλλ' ἐν μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ τὸν λόγον τῆς παραδόξου ταύτης θαυματο ποιίας ἀποκεῖσθαί φαμεν, τῷ ποιήσαντι κατὰ τὸν ἄῤῥητον τῆς δυνάμεως λόγον, γεννηθῆναι τῷ πυρὶ τὸ φῶς. Καθὼς ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ μαρτύρε, ὅτι «Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, Γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς· καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ φῶς ὅτι καλόν.» Μόνου γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς Θεοῦ τὸ ἰδεῖν, ὅπως ἂν γέ νοιτο τὸ οὕτω καλόν· ἡ δὲ τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως πτω χεία, τὸ μὲν γινόμενον βλέπει, τὸν δὲ καθ' ὃν γίνε λόγον, οὔτε ἰδεῖν, οὔτε ἐπαινέσαι δυνατῶς ἔχει. Τῶν γὰρ γνωριζομένων, οὐχὶ τῶν ἀγνοουμένων ἐστὶν ὁ ἔπαινος. «Εἶδεν» οὖν, φησὶν, «ὁ Θεὸς τὸ φῶς ὅτι καλὸν, καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους.» Πάλιν τὸ ἀναγκαίως κατὰ τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῆς φύσεως ἐν τάξει τινὶ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ γινόμενον, εἰς θείαν ἐνέργειαν ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἀνάγει· διδάσκων, οἶμαι, διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων, τὸ πάντα προκατανενοῆσθαι τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίᾳ, τὰ διά τινος ἀναγκαίας τάξεως κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον ἐκβησό μενα. Τῆς γὰρ φωτιστικῆς οὐσίας τῆς τῷ παντὶ κατεσπαρμένης, πρὸς τὸ συγγενὲς συνδραμούσης, καὶ πάσης περὶ ἑαυτὴν ἀθροισθείσης, ἀναγκαίως τὰ ἐπιπροσθούμενα τῇ λοιπῇ τῶν στοιχείων ὕλῃ κατ εσκιάζετο, καὶ τὸ ἀποσκίασμα, σκότος ἦν. Τοῦτο τοί νυν τὸ ἀκολούθως γενόμενον, ὡς ἂν μή τις ἀνάγοι πρὸς αὐτόματόν τινα συντυχίαν, Θεοῦ φησιν ἔργον ὁ Μωϋσῆς, τοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ταύτην ἐναποθεμένου τοῖς γενομένοις· ἀλλὰ μὴν τὸ ὀξεῖάν τε καὶ ἀνωφερῆ καὶ ἀεικίνητον τοῦ πυρὸς εἶναι τὴν φύσιν, παντὶ δῆλον ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων ἐστίν· ἃ δὲ διὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς ταύτης ἐκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου νοεῖν ὑποτίθεται ὁ λόγος, ἱστορικῶς παρὰ τοῦ Μωϋσέως ἐν διηγήματος εἴδει συγκαταγέ γραπται, τὸ, «Καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα, καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ.» Τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν ὅτι διχῆ τῆς κτίσεως νοουμένης, εἰς τε τὸ νοητὸν καὶ αἰσθητὸν, ἡ πᾶσα σπουδὴ τῷ νομοθέτῃ νῦν ἐστιν, οὐ τὰ νοητὰ ἐξηγήσασθαι, ἀλλὰ ὑποδεῖξαι διὰ τῶν φαινομένων ἡμῖν τὴν ἐν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς διακόσμησιν; Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ πῦρ ὁμοῦ τὸ συστῆναι τὸ πᾶν, τῶν ἑτεροφυῶν στοιχείων ἐκτοξευθὲν, καθάπερ τι βέλος, ἐν τῷ ἀνωφερεῖ καὶ κούφῳ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν κινήσεως τοῦ παντὸς προεξήλατο· καὶ ἴσῳ νοήματι τὴν αἰσθητὴν οὐσίαν διαπερᾶσαν, οὐκ ἔσχε προσαγαγεῖν ἐπ' εὐθείας τὴν κίνησιν, τῆς νοητῆς κτίσεως ἀκοινωνήτως πρὸς τὴν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐπι μιξίαν ἐχούσης, αἰσθητὸν δὲ τὸ πῦρ· τούτου χάριν 77 ἐν τοῖς ἄκροις τῆς κτίσεως ὄροις τὸ πῦρ γενόμενον, ἀναγκαίως κυκλοειδῆ ποιεῖται τὴν κίνησιν, πρὸς μὲν τὸ πᾶν φέρεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς ἐγκειμένης τῇ φύσει δυνά μεως συνελαυνόμενον, τῆς δὲ κατ' εὐθείας φορᾶς χώραν οὐκ ἐχούσης· πᾶσα γὰρ ἡ αἰσθητὴ κτίσις, ἰδίοις ὄροις περιέχεται· τῷ ἄκρῳ πέρατι τῆς αἰσθη τῆς φύσεως ἐνδιοδεύει, ἐν οἷς εὐοδοῦται κινούμενον, τῆς νοητῆς φύσεως, καθὼς φθάσαντες εἴπομεν, οὐ παραδεχομένης ἐν ἑαυτῇ τοῦ πυρὸς τὸν δρόμον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἐπακολουθήσας διὰ τῆς διανοίας τῇ τοῦ πυρὸς κινήσει, μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς μέρεσιν ἐπιμεμενηκέναι φησὶ τὸ γενόμενον φῶς, ἀλλ' ἐκπεριεχόμενον τὴν παχυτέραν τῶν ὄντων ὑπό στασιν, ἐν τῷ σφοδρῷ τῆς κινήσεως ἀντιμετάγειν διὰ τῆς περιόδου, τοῖς τε ἀφωτίστοις τὸ φέγγος, καὶ τοῖς πεφωτισμένοις τὸν ζόφον, Ἴσως δὲ κατὰ τὰ χρονικὰ διαστήματα τῆς τοιαύτης διαδοχῆς περὶ τὴν κάτω χώραν γινομένης, τοῦ φωτός φημι καὶ τοῦ σκότους· πάλιν τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ὀνοματοποιίαν ἡμέρας τε καὶ νυκτὸς ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἀνατίθησιν, οὐδὲν τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον