the weak are devoured by hunger by the more powerful, until the one strongest of all, having been filled by the snakes which he devoured, becomes the one called the basilisk, having a venom that withers a fruit-bearing tree by sight alone. Thus the evil powers are punished by one another, until at last there is left the “last enemy of Christ, death,” the basilisk about whom it says: “you shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk.” For Christ, being stronger than the basilisk, has trodden upon him and has given us “authority to tread upon snakes and scorpions.” 26 There is a certain Babylonian man and a Babylonian infant, and it is necessary to struggle against them, that is, either against great passions or against passions that are now beginning. Nevertheless, “blessed is he who seizes and dashes the infants of Babylon against the rock (Christ),” before they grow into men. And it is more blessed still to destroy the Babylonian seed, that is, a confused thought (and opposite to this is the seed about which it is said: “blessed is he who has seed in Zion” and “blessed are those who sow beside all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread”). not only a certain man nor a child, but even only a seed; for it can bear fruit when cultivated. And what is the water upon which one must sow the good seed? The bath of regeneration. There “the ox and the donkey tread,” the ox, the clean one and the Israelite, the donkey, the one unclean by birth and a Gentile. These animals are symbols both of the word proclaimed to the Israelites and of what was preached to the Gentiles. 27 But the Babylonian holds a sickle not to save, but to cut from the holy land and to reap churches; whom let us destroy before we suffer this, by obliterating the arguments of the heretics. Such was Paul when he said: “being ready to punish every disobedience,” the one who said: “destroying every proud obstacle raised against the knowledge of God.” Then he testifies to the power of the Hellenic argument, as all the nations yield to it, since it seems to be somehow demonstrative. 28 He says 'a sheep' as of one that had strayed. And in the gospel he says: “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” And in the parable, only one of the hundred was lost, which the visiting shepherd came to find, who also took it upon his shoulders and restored it to the number of the ninety-nine. “For we are all one body” and one sheep; one is a foot, another a head, another something else, and the shepherd came and brought together “bone to bone and joint to joint” and having united them, took them up to his own country. But unity comes about through love and truth and good purpose. Therefore, by his own word he united all. But if any appeared disobedient, they acquired an incurable affliction. Therefore, every Israelite is one according to the true kinship, “for we are all one body and one bread and we all partake of the one spirit.” A wandering sheep is one who does not attain the proper pursuit in both word and deed, either by not seeking or by not finding. But he who knows and does the things of full knowledge does not wander; but he who wanders is cast out by lions. For “our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” And already also “the lions' cubs roaring to seize and to seek from God their food” plot against the righteous, wishing to cast us out from the mountains of peace. But just as David took the lion by the beard and choked it, so let us ask the spiritual David, Christ, to take the lion and destroy the whole council of beasts. But now he takes two generic lions, the Assyrian and the Babylonian. According to the history in the fourth book of Kingdoms there are two: for the Assyrian resettled the sons of Israel “among the Assyrians to this day,” and the Babylonian resettled the sons of Judah “in Babylon.” However, he did not now say first and second, but first and last. For the first lion is the opposing devil, he himself the “murderer”; and the last at the end of the age is “the man of sin, the son of perdition, the

ὑπὸ τῶν δυνατωτέρων οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ὑπὸ λιμοῦ κατεσθίονται, ἕως οὗ ὁ πάντων ἰσχυρότατος πληρωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ὄφεων οὓς κατεδήδοκεν, ὁ καλούμενος γένηται βασιλίσκος, ἰὸν ἔχων ἐκ μόνης θέας καρποφόρον δένδρον ξηραίνοντα. οὕτως αἱ πονηραὶ δυνάμεις ὑπ' ἀλλήλων κολάζονται, μέχρι καταλειφθῇ τελευ ταῖον ὁ «ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς Χριστοῦ θάνατος», βασιλίσκος περὶ οὗ φησιν· «ἐπὶ ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ». ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς ἰσχυρότερος ὢν τοῦ βασιλίσκου, ἐπιβέβηκεν αὐτῷ καὶ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν «ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων». 26 Ἔστι τις ἀνὴρ Βαβυλώνιος καὶ νήπιον Βαβυλώνιον, καὶ δεῖ πρὸς τούτους ἀγωνίζεσθαι, τουτέστιν ἢ πρὸς μεγάλα ἢ πρὸς νῦν ἀρχόμενα πάθη. πλὴν «μακάριος, ὃς ἂν κρατήσας ἐδαφίσῃ πρὸς τὴν πέτραν (τὸν Χριστὸν) τὰ νήπια Βαβυλῶνος», πρὶν εἰς ἄνδρας προέλθωσιν. ἔτι δὲ μακαριώτερον ἐξολοθρεῦσαι Βαβυλώνιον σπέρμα, λογισμὸν δηλονότι Συγχυτικόν (ἐναντίον δὲ τούτῳ σπέρ μα περὶ οὗ λέλεκται· «μακάριος ὃς ἔχει ἐν Σιὼν σπέρμα» καὶ «μα κάριοι οἱ σπείροντες ἐπὶ πᾶν ὕδωρ, οὗ βοῦς καὶ ὄνος πατεῖ»). οὐ μόνον ἄνδρα τινὰ οὐδὲ παιδίον, ἀλλὰ κἂν μόνον σπέρμα· δύναται γὰρ καρποφορεῖν γεωργούμενον. ποῖον δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐφ' ὃ σπείρειν δεῖ τὸ καλὸν σπέρμα; τὸ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λουτρόν. ἐκεῖ «βοῦς καὶ ὄνος πατεῖ», βοῦς ὁ καθαρὸς καὶ Ἰσραηλίτης, ὄνος ὁ ἐκ γένους ἀκά θαρτός τε καὶ ἐθνικός. σύμβολα δὲ τὰ ζῶα ταῦτα τοῦ τε καταγ γελλομένου λόγου τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις καὶ τοῦ κεκηρυγμένου τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. 27 Κατέχει δὲ δρέπανον ὁ Βαβυλώνιος οὐκ ἐπὶ τῷ σῶσαι, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῷ ἐκτεμεῖν τῆς γῆς τῆς ἁγίας καὶ θερίσαι ἐκκλησίας· ὃν πρὶν τοῦτο παθεῖν ὀλοθρεύσωμεν, τοὺς τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἐξαφανίσαντες λόγους. οἷος ἦν ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· «ἐν ἑτοίμῳ ἔχοντες ἐκδικῆσαι πᾶσαν παρακοήν», ὁ λέγων· «πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ καθαιροῦντες». εἶτα μαρτυρεῖ τῷ Ἑλληνικῷ λόγῳ δύναμιν, ὡς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τούτῳ παραχωρεῖν ἀποδεικτικῷ πως εἶναι δοκοῦντι. 28 Πρόβατόν φησιν ὡς ἑνὸς πεπλανημένου. καὶ ἐν εὐ αγγελίῳ δέ φησιν· «ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἦλθεν ἐκζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός». καὶ ἐν τῇ παραβολῇ δὲ ἓν ἐκ τῶν ἑκατὸν ἀπώλετο μόνον, ὅπερ ἦλθεν εὑρεῖν ὁ ἐπιδημήσας ποιμήν, ὃς καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἀναλαβὼν ἀπέδωκε τῷ ἀριθμῷ τῶν ἐνενήκοντα καὶ ἐννέα. «οἱ γὰρ πάντες ἓν σῶμά ἐσμεν» καὶ ἓν πρόβατον· ὁ μέν τίς ἐστι πούς, ὁ δὲ κεφαλή, ὁ δὲ ἄλλο τι, ὁ δὲ ποιμὴν ἐλθὼν συνήγαγεν «ὀστέον πρὸς ὀστέον καὶ ἁρμονίαν πρὸς ἁρμονίαν» καὶ ἑνώσας ἀνέλαβεν ἐπὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ. ἡ δὲ ἑνότης γίνεται δι' ἀγάπης καὶ ἀληθείας καὶ προαιρέσεως ἀγαθῆς. τῷ ἰδίῳ μὲν οὖν λόγῳ πάντας ἥνωσεν. εἰ δέ τινες ἀπειθοῦντες ἐφάνησαν, ἀνίατον τὸ πάθος ἐκτήσαντο. εἷς οὖν ὁ πᾶς Ἰσραηλίτης κατὰ τὴν συγγένειαν τὴν ἀληθινήν, «οἱ γὰρ πάντες ἓν σῶμά ἐσμεν καὶ εἷς ἄρτος καὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς μετέχομεν πνεύματος». πλανώμενον δὲ πρόβατον ὁ μὴ τυγχάνων τῆς τοῦ καθήκοντος θήρας ἔν τε λόγῳ καὶ πράξει, ἢ τῷ μὴ ζητεῖν ἢ τῷ μὴ εὑρεῖν. ὁ δὲ εἰδὼς καὶ ποιῶν τὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως οὐ πλανᾶται· ὁ δὲ πλανώ μενος ὑπὸ λεόντων ἐξωθεῖται. «ὁ» γὰρ «ἀντίδικος ἡμῶν διά βολος ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος περιπατεῖ ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ». ἤδη δὲ καὶ «σκύμνοι λέοντος ὠρυόμενοι ἁρπάσαι καὶ ζητῆσαι παρὰ θεοῦ βρῶσιν αὐτοῖς» ἐπιβουλεύουσι τοῖς δικαίοις, βουλόμενοι ἐξῶσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν τῆς εἰρήνης. ἀλλ' ὡς ∆αβὶδ λαβὼν τοῦ πώ γωνος τὸν λέοντα ἔπνιξεν, οὕτω τὸν πνευματικὸν ∆αβίδ, τὸν Χρι στόν, ἐξαιτήσωμεν λαβόντα τὸν λέοντα καὶ πᾶν τὸ τῶν θηρίων συνέδριον ἀνελεῖν. δύο δὲ νῦν λαμβάνει λέοντας γενικούς, τόν τε Ἀσσύριον καὶ τὸν Βαβυλώνιον. κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν τὴν ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν δύο εἰσίν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἀσσύριος ἀπῴκισε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ «εἰς Ἀσσυρίους ἕως τῆς σήμερον», ὁ δὲ Βαβυλώνιος τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰούδα «εἰς Βαβυλῶνα». πλὴν οὐκ ἔφη νῦν πρῶτος καὶ δεύτερος, ἀλλὰ πρῶτος καὶ ἔσχατος. πρῶτος γὰρ λέων ὁ ἀντι κείμενος διάβολος, αὐτὸς ὁ «ἀνθρωποκτόνος»· τελευταῖος δὲ ἐπὶ συν τελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος «ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ