6

And he spoke safely, not calling him son of man, but like a son of man, but also God and Lord of all is Emmanuel, and the vision shows his appearance as manifold, sketching his form from his activities and powers. And first, it puts on him a priestly form; for the robe reaching to the feet and the girdle are a priestly form; for it was said to him by God the Father: you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek; but the apostle also calls Christ the high priest and apostle of our confession, as one who performs sacred rites and offers to himself and to the Father and to the Spirit our confession of faith. And it puts a golden girdle on him, since the priests according to the law had their girdle from an embroidered cloth. For it was necessary to show the difference between servants and the master, and of the shadowy law and the truth in the new [covenant]. And his head, it says, and his hairs were like white wool and as snow. For the mystery of Christ is new in its appearance, but in its good pleasure it is pre-eternal. For the divine apostle wrote concerning him: the mystery hidden from the ages and from the generations, which has now been revealed to his saints to whom he wished. Therefore, the antiquity of the mystery, inasmuch as it pertains to the divine good pleasure, is shown by the grayness of the head likened to wool and snow. And his eyes, it says, were as a flame. It indicates that Christ is also light, and he calls himself this, 42 saying I am the light and the truth, or it signifies what is fearful and the threat against the seven churches to which the things of the revelation are sent, as not perfectly following his laws; and his feet, it says, were like fine brass. They say that the brass mined on Mount Lebanon is pure both in and of itself, and becomes purer when the moderate impurity in it is cleansed by a furnace; by which the firm and unshakable, along with the brilliant and conspicuous nature of the faith in Christ, is shown, being established in security. For Christ is called a rock by the apostle, and a precious stone in the foundations of Zion by Isaiah. Or he says fine brass is the brass-like frankincense, which the sons of physicians are accustomed to call male. And this is fragrant when burned as incense; for the burning furnace is a sign of being burned as incense. It shows that the foundation of the evangelical preaching; for the feet are the foundation of the rest of the body, which is Christ; for he is fragrant and charms by his spiritual fragrance the things in heaven and the things on the earth. And Paul also calls Christ the foundation when writing a certain epistle to the Corinthians, saying as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation; and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it; for no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And that Christ is spiritually fragrant, the bride in the Song of Songs, having experienced his fragrance, testifies, in one place saying, and the fragrance of your ointments is above all spices, and in another, your name is ointment poured forth. But also the Lord himself presents himself as fragrant in his words to the bride, saying, I am the flower of the field, the lily of the valleys. And what of it? Did not Paul also, having become fragrant from partaking 43 of Christ, say: For we are the fragrance of Christ. And again: and manifesting through us the fragrance of his knowledge. And his voice, it says, was as the voice of many waters; and reasonably so; for how could his sound have gone out into all the earth, and the proclamation concerning him to the ends of the world, if it were not heard from afar? Not by perceptible loudness of voice, but by the power of the proclamation. And having, it says, in his right hand seven stars. He himself interprets these stars as he proceeds, calling them the angels of the seven churches, concerning whom the divine Gregory said in the presence of the bishops and to the angels presiding: for I am persuaded that one presides over one church, and another over another; as John teaches through the revelation. And I think he calls the holy angels stars because of the abundant illumination of Christ in them; and they are in his right hand. For of the

6

ἀσφαλῶς δὲ εἴρηκεν μὴ εἰπὼν αὐτὸν υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου, ἀλλ' ὅμοιον υἱῷ ἀνθρώπου, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θεὸς καὶ τῶν ὅλων Κύριος ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ, ποικίλην δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἰδέαν δείκνυσιν ἡ ὀπτασία ἐκ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ δυνάμεων τὴν μορφὴν σκιαγραφοῦσα. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἱερατικὸν αὐτῷ περιτίθησι σχῆμα· ὁ γὰρ ποδήρης καὶ ἡ ζώνη, σχῆμα ἱερατικόν· εἴρηται γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός· σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἀρχιερέα καὶ ἀπόστολον τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν καλεῖ τὸν Χριστόν, ὡς ἱερουργοῦντα καὶ προσάγοντα ἑαυτῷ τὲ καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι τὴν ἡμετέραν τῆς πίστεως ὁμολογίαν. χρυσῆν δὲ αὐτῷ ζώνην περιτίθησιν, τῶν κατὰ νόμον ἱερέων ἐκ φάρους πεποικιλμένου τὴν ζώνην ἐχόντων. ἔδει γὰρ τὸ διάφορον δειχθῆναι δούλων καὶ δεσπότου, τοῦ τε σκιώδους νόμου καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας τῆς ἐν τῇ νέᾳ. ἡ δὲ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ φησιν καὶ αἱ τρίχες, ὡς ἔριον λευκὸν καὶ ὥσει χιών. τὸ γὰρ κατὰ Χριστὸν μυστήριον νέον μέν ἐστι τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ, τῇ δέ γε εὐδοκίᾳ προαιώνιον. γέγραφε γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεσπέσιος ἀπόστολος τὸ μυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γενέων ὃ νῦν ἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ οἷς ἠθέλησεν. τὸ οὖν ἀρχαῖον τοῦ μυστηρίου ὅσον ἧκεν εἰς τὴν θείαν εὐδοκίαν, παραδείκνυσι τὸ πολιὸν τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐρίῳ καὶ χίονι παρεικασμένον. καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ φησιν ὡς φλόξ. ἐνδείκνυται ἐπεὶ καὶ φῶς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός, καὶ τοῦτο ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάζει, 42 ἐγώ εἰμι λέγων τὸ φῶς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, ἢ τὸ φοβερὸν καὶ τὴν ἀπειλὴν παραδηλοῖ κατὰ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησιῶν αἷς τὰ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως διαπέμπεται, ὡς οὐ τέλεον τοῖς αὐτοῦ νόμοις ἀκολουθούσαις· καὶ οἱ πόδες φησὶν αὐτοῦ ὅμοιοι χαλκολιβάνου. φασὶν τὸν ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ τῷ ὄρει μεταλλευόμενον χαλκὸν καθαρόν τε ὄντα καὶ ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ, καθαρώτερόν τε γινόμενον τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μετρίου ῥύπου καμίνῳ καθαρισθέντος· δι' οὗ τὸ ἑδραῖον καὶ ἄσειστον μετὰ τοῦ λαμπροῦ καὶ περιόπτου τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν δηλοῦται πίστεως ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ βεβηκυίας. πέτρα γὰρ εἴρηται τῷ ἀποστόλῳ ὁ Χριστός, καὶ λίθος ἔντιμος ἐν τοῖς θεμελίοις Σιὼν τῷ Ἡσαίᾳ. ἢ χαλκολίβανόν φησιν τὸν χαλκοειδῆ λιβανωτόν, ὃν ἰατρῶν παῖδες, ἄρρενα καλεῖν εἰώθασιν. εὐώδης δέ ἐστιν οὗτος θυμιώμενος· τοῦ γὰρ τεθυμιᾶσθαι δεῖγμα ἡ κάμινος ἡ καιομένη. δηλοῖ ὅτι ὁ θεμέλιος τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ κηρύγματος· θεμέλιος γὰρ τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος οἱ πόδες, ὅς ἐστι Χριστός· εὐώδης τε γάρ ἐστι καὶ κατακηλῶν τῇ νοητῇ εὐοσμίᾳ τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. θεμέλιον δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ὀνομάζει τινὰ γράφων Κορινθίοις ἐπιστολήν, ὡς σοφὸς λέγων ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον τέθεικα· ἄλλος δὲ ἐποικοδομεῖ. ἕκαστος δὲ βλεπέτω πῶς ἐποικοδομεῖ· θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. ὅτι δὲ εὐώδης ὁ Χριστὸς νοητῶς, ἡ διάπειραν αὐτοῦ λαβοῦσα τῆς εὐωδίας ἡ ἐν τοῖς ἄσμασιν νύμφη μαρτυρεῖ, πὴ μὲν λέγουσα καὶ ὀσμὴ μύρων σου ὑπὲρ πάντα ἀρώματα, πὴ δὲ μῦρον ἐκκενωθὲν ὄνομά σου ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος εὐώδη ἑαυτὸν παρατίθεται ἐν τοῖς πρὸς τὴν νυμφὴν λόγοις εἰπών, ἐγὼ ἄνθος τοῦ πεδίου, κρίνον τῶν κοιλάδων. τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐκ τῆς μετουσίας 43 Χριστοῦ εὐώδης γενόμενος ἔλεγεν· ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἐσμεν εὐωδία. καὶ πάλιν· καὶ τὴν ὀσμὴν τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ φανεροῦντι εἰς ἡμᾶς. καὶ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ φησιν, ὡς φωνὴ ὑδάτων πολλῶν· καὶ εἰκότως· πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἔφθασεν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ κήρυγμα, εἰ μὴ ἐξάκουστος ἦν; οὐ τῇ αἰσθητῇ μεγαλοφωνίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ κηρύγματος δυνάμει. καὶ ἔχων φησὶν ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἀστέρας ἑπτά. τούτους τοὺς ἀστέρας προιὼν αὐτὸς ἑρμηνεύει, τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησιῶν αὐτοὺς εἰπὼν ἀγγέλους, περὶ ὧν ὁ θεσπέσιος ἔφη Γρηγόριος ἐν τῇ τῶν ἐπισκόπων παρουσίᾳ πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐφεστῶτας ἀγγέλους· πείθομαι γὰρ ἄλλον ἄλλης προστατεῖν ἐκκλησίας· ὡς Ἰωάννης διδάσκει διὰ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως. ἀστέρας δὲ οἶμαι καλεῖ τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγγέλους διὰ τὸν δαψιλῆ φωτισμὸν τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἐν δὲ τῇ δεξιᾷ εἰσιν. τῆς γὰρ