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sent to Mesopotamia, yet for this reason he is not less than the one who sent him according to the principle of nature; and likewise Joseph was sent by Jacob to visit his brothers, and no one would say that he does not share in the nature of his father, because obeying his father he accepted the mission. But perhaps they say: If those who send are not greater here than those who are sent according to the principle of nature, at least according to paternal dignity they have the preeminence of honor. But we find, O foolish ones, I would say to them, even the greater being sent by the lesser, and we will not for this reason strip the ones sent of their proper honor; for Jonathan was sent by David, the king's son by the fugitive, the one co-reigning with his father by one not even daring to appear in the rank of a servant; since therefore, the one sent, and the other was sent, no longer is the one sent a king according to your reasoning, and no longer is the one who sent a fugitive; but the dignity of the one sent has passed to David who sent him; and the misery of the sender has passed to Jonathan who was sent [ξοδ. ἀποστείλαντα]; but these things are not so. And what need is there to speak of human things? For we find God being sent, and a man sending; for the one who wrestled with Jacob says: 'Send me away; for the dawn has risen;' to whom Jacob said: 'I will not send you away unless you bless me;' what do the wise technologues of the faith have to say to these things? Moreover, also from the Lord's own words we shall find the Father who sent, being with the Son who was sent; 'For I am not alone,' He says, 'but I and the Father who sent me;' and elsewhere: 'My Father has not left me alone;' and from another place: 'My Father who abides in me, He does the works.' If, therefore, the one who sent was in Him and with Him, where is the inferiority of the one sent? And He who fills all things, where and from where was He sent? For a mission implies a change of place; but if the Father and the Son contain all things, neither did the Father, being far from those 75.1169 to whom He sent, send the Son, nor did the Son pass from one place to another; therefore it remains to understand that the mission belongs to the assumed humanity. But it is time to return to the interpretation of the Lord's words. 'In your law,' He says, 'it is written, that the testimony of two men is true;' then He adds, that 'I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.' Looking then at the image, let us understand the archetype; 'The testimony of two men,' He says, 'is true;' and the nature of the two men is clearly one, as would be confessed by all; therefore the substance of the Father and the Son is one, one [ιτα μία βις] it will be both understood and confessed from the image; for just as there are two men, so also here God and God, Father and Son, declaring by the very names the identity of nature; for neither would the truly God be of another nature from the truly God; nor the Son be other than Him, being the Son of God. When the Jews heard these things, they asked Him: 'Where is your Father?' Jesus therefore answered: 'You know neither me, nor my Father; if you had known me, you would have known my Father also.' See again how from this the consubstantial is shown; for 'If you had known me,' He says, 'you would have known my Father also;' but from that which is of a different substance, that which is of a different substance is not known; for things of another kind and foreign are not indicative of each other; but things that share in nature are known through each other; through one man, it is possible to see the entire nature of men; and through one sheep, the whole race of sheep; but not lions through sheep, nor sheep through lions, nor angels through men, nor men through angels; for each living being is indicative of its own nature. If, therefore, the only-begotten Word of God is a creature, and from non-existence, and has come to be from some other nature, how does He, being believed, show the Father in Himself? but if the Father is known through the Son, and he who the

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Μεσοποταμίαν ἀπεσταλμένος, οὐ μὴν διὰ τοῦτο ἐλάττων ἐστὶ τοῦ ἀποστείλαντος κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς φύσεως· ὡσ αύτως δὲ καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπεστάλη μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἐπισκέψασθαι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν φαίη τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς φύσεως μὴ μετέχειν, ἐπειδὴ τῷ πατρὶ πειθόμενος τὴν ἀποστολὴν κατεδέξατο. Ἀλλά φασιν ἴσως· Εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς φύ σεως μείζους ἐνταῦθα τῶν ἀποσταλέντων οἱ ἀποστεί λαντες, κατὰ τὸ πατρικὸν γοῦν ἀξίωμα ἔχουσι τῆς τιμῆς τὰ πρεσβεῖα. Ἀλλ' εὑρίσκομεν, ὦ ἀνόητοι, φαίην ἂν πρὸς αὐτοὺς, καὶ τοὺς μείζους ὑπὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων ἀποσταλέντας, καὶ οὐχὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς οἰ κείας τιμῆς τοὺς ἀποσταλέντας γυμνώσομεν· ἀπ εστάλη γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ Ἰωνάθας, ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως υἱὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ φυγάδος, ὁ τῷ πατρὶ συμβασιλεύων ὑπὸ τοῦ μηδὲ ἐν οἰκέτου τάξει φανῆναι τολμῶντος· ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν, ὁ μὲν ἀπέστειλεν, ὁ δὲ ἀπεστάλη, οὐκέτι μὲν ὁ πεμφθεὶς βασιλεὺς κατὰ τὸν ὑμέτερον λόγον, οὐκέτι δὲ ὁ ἀποστείλας φυγάς· ἀλλὰ μεταβέβηκε μὲν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀποστείλαντα ∆αβὶδ τὸ τοῦ πεμφθέντος ἀξίωμα· με ταβέβηκε δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν ἀποσταλέντα [ξοδ. ἀποστείλαντα] Ἰωνάθαν ἡ τοῦ πέμψαντος δυσκηρία· ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτω ταῦτ' ἔχει. Καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα; Εὑρίσκο μεν γὰρ Θεὸν ἀποσταλέντα, καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἀποστεί λαντα· ὁ γὰρ τῷ Ἰακὼβ συμπαλαίσας, φησίν· «Ἀπόστειλόν με· ἀνέβη γὰρ ὁ ὄρθρος· πρὸς ὃν Ἰακὼβ ἔφη· Οὐ μή σε ἀποστείλω ἐὰν μή με εὐλογήσῃς· τί πρὸς ταῦτα λέγειν ἔχουσιν οἱ σοφοὶ τῆς πίστεως τε χνολόγοι; Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ∆εσποτικῶν εὑρήσο μεν ῥημάτων καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν πέμψαντα Πατέρα τῷ πεμφθέντι Υἱῷ συνόντα· «Μόνος γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐκ εἰμὶ, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πέμψας με Πατήρ·» καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· «Οὐκ ἀφῆκέ με μόνον ὁ Πατήρ μου·» καὶ ἑτέρωθεν· «Ὁ Πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένων, αὐτὸς ποιεῖ τὰ ἔργα.» Εἰ τοίνυν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ ἦν ὁ πέμψας, ποῦ τοῦ πεμφθέντος ἡ εὐτέλεια; ὁ δὲ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν, ποῦ καὶ πόθεν ἀπεστάλη; ἡ γὰρ ἀποστολὴ, τόπου ἀλλαγὴν αἰνίττεται· εἰ δὲ τὰ πάντα Πατὴρ καὶ Υἱὸς περιέχει, οὔτε ὁ Πατὴρ ὡς πόῤῥω τυγχάνων ἐκείνων, 75.1169 πρὸς οὓς ἀπέστειλεν, ἔπεμψε τὸν Υἱὸν, οὔτε ὁ Υἱὸς ἐξ ἑτέρου εἰς ἕτερον μεταβέβηκε τόπον· οὐκοῦν λεί πεται νοεῖν τῆς ἀναληφθείσης ἀνθρωπότητος τὴν ἀπο στολὴν εἶναι. Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τῶν ∆εσποτικῶν ῥημάτων ἀναδραμεῖν καιρός. «Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, φησὶ, τῷ ὑμετέρῳ γέγραπται, ὅτι δύο ἀνθρώπων ἡ μαρτυρία ἀληθής ἐστιν· «εἶτα ἐπάγει, ὅτι «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ, καὶ μαρτυρεῖ περὶ ἐμοῦ ὁ πέμψας με Πα τήρ.» Ἀποβλέψαντες τοίνυν τὴν εἰκόνα, νοήσωμεν τὸ ἀρχέτυπον· «∆ύο, φησὶν, ἀνθρώπων ἡ μαρτυρία ἀληθής ἐστιν·» τῶν δὲ δύο ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις μία δηλονότι παρὰ πᾶσιν ἂν ὡμολόγηται· οὐκοῦν Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ ἡ οὐσία μία, μία [ιτα μία βις] ἐκ τῆς εἰκό νος νοηθήσεταί τε καὶ ὁμολογηθήσεται· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ δύο ἄνθρωποι, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα Θεὸς καὶ Θεὸς, Πατὴρ καὶ Υἱὸς, καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ὀνόμασι δηλοῦντες τῆς φύσεως τὴν ταυτότητα· οὔτε γὰρ ὁ ἀληθῶς Θεὸς ἑτέρας ἂν εἴη φύσεως παρὰ τὸν ἀληθινῶς Θεόν· οὔτε ὁ Υἱὸς ἄλλος παρ' ἐκεῖνον, Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων Υἱός. Τούτων ἀκούσαντες οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· «Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ Πατήρ σου;» Ἀπεκρίθη τοίνυν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· «Οὔτε ἐμὲ οἴδατε, οὔτε τὸν Πατέρα μου· εἰ ἐμὲ ᾔδειτε, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα μου ᾔδειτε ἄν.» Ὁρᾶτε πάλιν πῶς ἐντεῦθεν τὸ ὁμοούσιον δείκνυται· Εἰ ἐμὲ γὰρ, φησὶν, ᾔδειτε, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα μου ᾔδειτε ἄν· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ἑτεροουσίου τὸ ἑτεροούσιον οὐ γνωρί ζεται· τὰ γὰρ ἀλλόφυλα καὶ ξένα, ἀλλήλων οὐκ εἰσὶ δηλωτικά· τὰ δὲ φύσεως κοινωνοῦντα, δι' ἀλλήλων γινώσκεται· δι' ἑνὸς μὲν ἀνθρώπου, πᾶσαν τῶν ἀν θρώπων τὴν φύσιν ἰδεῖν ἔστι· καὶ δι' ἑνὸς προβάτου τῶν προβάτων ἅπαν τὸ γένος· οὐ μὴν διὰ προβάτων τοὺς λέοντας, οὐδὲ διὰ λεόντων τὰ πρόβατα, οὐδ' ἀγ γέλους διὰ ἀνθρώπων, οὐδὲ διὰ ἀγγέλων ἀνθρώπους· ζῶον γὰρ ἕκαστον τῆς οἰκείας δηλωτικόν ἐστι φύσεως. Εἰ τοίνυν ὁ μονογενὴς Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ κτίσμα, καὶ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρας τινὸς γεγένηται φύσεως, πῶς ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν Πατέρα δείκνυσι πιστευόμενος; εἰ δὲ ὁ Πατὴρ διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ γινώσκεται, καὶ ὁ τὸν