Collectio dictorum veteris testamenti

 is forced to descend into a foreign state and if the demons should see any good understanding accompanying him, they hasten to subject it to the sowi

 escaping. The heifer, taken first, signified the first generation. For just as the heifer struggles against the yoke, so also the first generation of

 the river, but to keep alive every female. For the devil, the spiritual Pharaoh, also conceived a threefold manner of plotting against the spiritual I

 He interprets what that one speaks spiritually and obscurely, and transforms his weak voice to be more melodious. For I have not come, he says, to abo

 the Gospel according to Christ, had as a son the multitude of those being reborn to it through the Holy Spirit whom she also circumcised with a stone

 and easy to comprehend is the mystery concerning Christ. But God did not lead the Jews to this immediately, but through the long law and the many ridd

 Moses commanded Joshua son of Nun to choose mighty men and go out and fight 77.1196 Amalek, signified that Jesus Christ would be subject to the comman

 of the people of the Jews, and servant of God, he ascends to the highest knowledge of God but the people are prevented from approaching, lest they di

 coming after it, demands this final penalty, as one who, after being freed from the burden of sin, is again voluntarily subjected to it. And He comman

 But the eighth ineffably suggests the mystery of the eternal well-being of the 77.1204 beings. The sixth day is called Preparation, because on it the

 and poverty of intellect, they make their neighbors, that is, those of the same faith, partners, so that through one another they may be raised to hig

 unmixed with wickedness, those partaking of the true Lamb nourish their own soul, throughout the whole weekly age, which is measured by the week. And

 the body bears uncircumcision. Circumcision is mystical, a voluntary removal of the passions. The circumcision of circumcision is the putting away of

 of rational discernment, as Israel did in the time of Moses, commits idolatry. For having cast into the fire of the passions the words concerning theo

 to do good things, and to walk toward good things. Humpbacked is the one bent downwards, and not able to look up from earthly things. Sun-spotted is o

 God, ostracizing stupidity, and wishing his subjects to belong to necessity alone, through the not weaving together of linen and wool, banished variet

 but in heaven God Himself whom alone they both worship and attend. And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, an

 they were catechized by the evangelists. Or otherwise, the four types of meanings were a symbol of the four types of moral discourse. Of which the one

 Aaron's rod, as a symbol of watchfulness. For to Jeremiah, seeing a staff of a nut tree, God says: Behold, I am watchful over my words. And it budded

 bracelets, and rings, and armlets, and braided chains. For the leaders of the people in Christ and the eminent often surpass the evangelical commands

 with bodily ways of the ministry of the virtues, they return to the contemplation of kindred intelligible things. A foreign boy and a servant-girl are

 undertaking. For she will pay the penalty for the offense to God, the Father of spirits, and she will be his wife, as having already been joined to hi

 of the other man wherefore he is required to pay the penalty for the murder, but he alone suffers loss in his soul. For this, I think, is what this m

 war for one year he shall cheer his wife, whom he has taken. For it is not right that one who has just taken a spouse for himself should be led out t

 Virtue is the mother of the good deeds from it. And its nest is the soul in which it dwells. It is necessary for those who encounter them to be benefi

 its fruit for three years will be unpurified for you. It shall not be eaten, and in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy to the Lord. But in th

 dragging down to earth, those things that draw up to heaven. Saul, is the natural 77.1249 law, which from the beginning received from the Lord the lot

 David is the law according to the spirit, who reigns over the Christians who worship God spiritually. But Saul is the law according to the letter, who

 the face of the Lord, according to David, and learns the cause of such a famine, that this injustice was against Saul, and against his house, with whi

 taking from the spiritual David, that is, the law according to the spirit, may kill the aforementioned sons and grandsons of 77.1257 Saul then in eve

 of knowledge, if it should receive the divine and discerning word, which brings to memory former sins, and will prefer even to nature itself the heali

 The Lord in the desert I mean in the world, and in the nature of men, digging out and cleansing the hearts of the worthy from material weight and min

 of the city. Since Hezekiah is interpreted as 'strength of God,' every mind 77.1265 that through practical philosophy has acquired divine strength, wh

 through themselves they again turn him away, as he flees into his land which is the fixed habit of evil, whom his sons kill as he is fleeing, and the

 the king of the Assyrians, flees to God, and silently cries out to Him, through progress in virtue and knowledge, and receives an angel as an ally th

 at once a philosopher and a lover of God has both Judah and Jerusalem the one taken as the habit of confession and repentance for Judah is interpret

 becomes a lofty and exalted mind, and in the good things given to it by God, boasts as if in its own accomplishments. There comes by providence upon t

 the spear and the flask of water that is, the power of practical virtue, and the grace of gnostic contemplation, even if he again gives these things

 of king Darius, I mean of the natural law, having conquered by him, lifts up his face to heaven, that is, the disposition of the soul, in which are th

 not being guarded. For lead is a symbol of punishment, but silver of brightness. And the seven eyes of this practical faith are the seven gifts of the

 constituted. For since matter is indeed a tetrad, because of the tetraktys of its elements, and form is a pentad, because of the fivefold nature of se

 they rise up for mischief. And approaching Zerubbabel, and Joshua and the leaders of the families, they say to them: We will build with you for like

of the people of the Jews, and servant of God, he ascends to the highest knowledge of God; but the people are prevented from approaching, lest they die. For to the worldly and carnal the higher contemplation is dangerous, but also to the impure priests; For let them be sanctified, he says, lest the Lord depart from them; that is, destroy, or even withdraw because of their impurity. But when Moses descended and testified to the people; for the law speaks to the Jews condescendingly and, as it were, earthly and bodily; Aaron also ascends with him, at God's command. For the Mosaic law, as holy, first approaches God, but afterward also the evangelical, as most holy, and they are joined together according to God, that is, according to spiritual contemplation; for they are in harmony at least in what is spiritually contemplated. But the rest of the priestly class is prevented from ascending to the summit of the mountain. For to those who still perform worship in shadows it is not given by God, to be led up to the height of doctrines, but it is reserved for the worshipers of God in spirit and in truth. For to you, he says, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Moses, leaving the plain, and coming to the foot of the mountain, ascended it, and passing through the cloud, saw and experienced the brightness of God. Allegorically, the plain is the virtuous life; for it is easy for everyone. The foothills of the mountain are practical virtue, and accessible to the more courageous, through which we are led by the hand to the height of contemplation. The mountain is the conspicuous and summit of contemplative virtue, which is accessible to the perfect and to them alone. But not even having arrived there, was he able to obtain what was desired; for the cloud was an impediment, that is, the thickness of the flesh. And having passed through and, as it were, gone beyond by inclinations toward God, he both saw the glory of God, having learned unspeakable words, and experienced his face being made radiant, so as to need a veil, before the people. For the words written by him have for a veil the corpo 77.1200 ral knowledge; but for brightness, the things that refer to Christ. The passage through the sea on dry land, the striking of the waters with a rod, the pillar of the cloud and of the fire, and all such things the Jews understand bodily. But when the veil is taken away, being unable to look intently at the brightness of the truth, they fall down; unless one might be an Aaron, consecrated by the anointing of baptism, and dedicated to the worship of God. The law has given the Sabbath, that your beast of burden, he says, and your child may rest. Both of these allude to the body. For this is the beast of burden of the practical mind, forced to carry for it the actions, and it is the child of the contemplative mind, rationally serving its commands. And for this mind and for that, the Sabbath is the end of the good things worked by them according to both practice and contemplation, providing a fitting rest for each. A mystical Sabbath is a perfect inactivity of the passions, accomplished through practical philosophy. A Sabbath is freedom of a rational soul that has cast off even its natural activity toward sensible things, through natural contemplation in the spirit. A Sabbath of Sabbaths is the spiritual tranquility of a soul that has drawn in its mind even from all the more divine principles in existing things, and bound it wholly to God alone in loving ecstasy, and made it completely immovable from Him through mystical theology. He who gathered wood on the Sabbath, God commanded to be stoned. For since wood is food for perceptible fire, and sin is food for eternal fire; one who has come into the cessation of evil works, through divine baptism or repentance, and in this state the sins

τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ θεράποντα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἄνεισιν οὗτος ἐπὶ τὴν ὑψηλοτάτην θεογνωσίαν· ὁ δὲ λαὸς εἴργεται ἐγγίζειν, ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνῃ. Τοῖς γὰρ κοσμικοῖς καὶ φιλοσάρκοις ἐπικίνδυνος ἡ ὑψηλοτέρα θεωρία, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀνάγνοις ἱερεῦσιν· Ἁγιασθήτωσαν γὰρ, φησὶ, μήποτε ἀπαλλάξῃ ἀπ' αὐτῶν ὁ Κύριος· τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ἀνέλῃ, ἢ καὶ ἀπαναχωρήσῃ διὰ τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν αὐτῶν. Καταβάντος δὲ Μωσέως καὶ διαμαρτυραμένου τῷ λαῷ· συγκαταβατικῶς γὰρ καὶ οἱονεὶ γεωδῶς καὶ σωματικῶς ὁ νόμος Ἰουδαίοις διαλέγεται· συνάνεισιν αὐτῷ καὶ Ἀαρὼν, τοῦ Θεοῦ κελεύσαντος. Ἐγγίζει γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ πρότερος ὁ Μωσαϊκὸς νόμος ὡς ἅγιος, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς, ὡς ἱερώτατος, καὶ συζεύγνυνται κατὰ Θεὸν, ἤτοι κατὰ τὴν πνευματικὴν θεωρίαν· συνᾴδουσι γὰρ κατά γε τὸ πνευματικῶς θεωρούμενον. Κωλύεται δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν ἱερατικὸν γένος ἀνελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ ὄρους. Τοῖς γὰρ ἔτι τὴν ἐν σκιαῖς τελοῦσι λατρείαν οὐ δίδοται παρὰ Θεοῦ, τὸ πρὸς ὕψος ἀνάγεσθαι δογμάτων, τετήρηται δὲ τοῖς ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ λατρευταῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὑμῖν γὰρ, φησὶ, δέδοται γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἐκείνοις δὲ οὐ δέδοται. Ὁ Μωσῆς ἀφεὶς τὴν πεδιάδα, καὶ περὶ τοὺς πρό ποδας τοῦ ὄρους γενόμενος, ἀνῆλθεν εἰς αὐτὸ, καὶ διασχὼν τὴν νεφέλην, λαμπρότητα Θεοῦ εἶδε καὶ ἔπαθε. Πεδιὰς ἀναγωγικῶς ὁ ἐνάρετος βίος· παντὶ γὰρ ῥᾴδιος. Πρόποδες δὲ τοῦ ὄρους ἡ πρακτικὴ ἀρετὴ, καὶ τοῖς ἀνδρειοτέροις εὐεπιχείρητος, δι' ἧς ἐπὶ τὸ τῆς θεωρίας ὕψος χειραγωγούμεθα. Ὄρος δὲ τὸ περίοπτον καὶ κορυφαῖον τῆς θεωρητικῆς ἀρετῆς, ὃ τοῖς τελείοις καὶ μόνοις βάσιμον. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα γενόμενος, ἴσχυσε τοῦ ποθουμένου τυχεῖν· ἐνεπόδιζε γὰρ ἡ νεφέλη, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὸ πάχος τῆς σαρκός. Καὶ διασχὼν καὶ οἷον ὑπερβὰς ταῖς πρὸς Θεὸν νεύσεσιν, εἶδέ τε δόξαν Θεοῦ, λόγους ἀποῤῥήτους μαθὼν, καὶ πέπονθε λαμπρυνθεὶς τὸ πρόσωπον, ὡς ἐπικαλύμματος δεῖσθαι, πρὸς τὸν λαόν. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ συγγραφέντες αὐτῷ λόγοι κάλυμμα μὲν ἔχουσι τὴν σωμα 77.1200 τικὴν γνῶσιν· λαμπρότητα δὲ, τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν ἀναγόμενα. Τὴν διὰ ξηρᾶς ἐν θαλάσσῃ διόδον, τὴν διὰ ῥάβδου τῶν ὑδάτων πληγὴν, τὸν στύλον τῆς νεφέλης καὶ τοῦ πυρὸς, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἅπαντα σωματικῶς μὲν νοοῦσιν Ἰουδαῖοι. Τοῦ δὲ περικαλύμματος ἀφαιρουμένου, τῇ λαμπρότητι τῆς ἀληθείας ἐντρανίζειν οὐ σθένοντες καταπίπτουσιν· εἰ μή τις Ἀαρὼν εἴη τῷ χρίσματι τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἱερωμένος, καὶ πρὸς λατρείαν τῷ Θεῷ ἀνακείμενος. Ὁ νόμος τὸ Σάββατον δέδωκεν, ἵνα ἀναπαύση ται, φησὶ, τὸ ὑποζύγιόν σου καὶ ὁ παῖς σου. Ἀμφότερα δὲ ταῦτα τὸ σῶμα αἰνίττονται. Τοῦτο γὰρ τοῦ μὲν πρακτικοῦ νοὸς ὑποζύγιόν ἐστιν, ἀχθοφορεῖν αὐτῷ τὰς πράξεις ἀναγκαζόμενον, τοῦ δὲ θεωρητικοῦ νοὸς παῖς ἐστι, λογικῶς ὑπηρετούμενον ταῖς ἐπιταγαῖς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τούτῳ δὲ τῷ νοῒ κἀκείνῳ Σάββατόν ἐστι τὸ πέρας τῶν ἐνεργουμένων αὐτοῖς καλῶν κατά τε πρᾶξιν καὶ θεωρίαν, τὴν πρόσφορον ἀνάπαυσιν ἑκάστῳ παρέχον. Σάββατόν ἐστι μυστικὸν ἀπραξία παθῶν τελεία, διὰ τῆς πρακτικῆς φιλοσοφίας κατορθωθεῖσα. Σάββατόν ἐστιν ἐλευθερία ψυχῆς λογικῆς καὶ αὐτὴν ἀποβαλούσης τὴν πρὸς τὰ αἰσθητὰ φυσικὴν ἐνέργειαν, διὰ τῆς ἐν πνεύματι φυσικῆς θεωρίας. Σάββατα Σαββάτων ἐστὶν ἠρεμία πνευματικὴ ψυχῆς, τὸν νοῦν συστειλάσης, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν πάντων τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι θειοτέρων λόγων, καὶ μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ κατ' ἐρωτικὴν ἔκστασιν ὁλικῶς αὐτὸν ἐνδησάσης, καὶ παντελῶς ἀμετακίνητον τοῦτον ἀπ' ἐκείνου διὰ τῆς μυστικῆς θεολογίας ποιησάσης. Τὸν ἐν Σαββάτῳ συλλέγοντα ξύλα λιθόλευστον ὁ Θεὸς γενέσθαι προσέταξεν. Ἐπεὶ γὸρ τὸ ξύλον μὲν τροφὴ τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ πυρὸς, ἡ δὲ ἁμαρτία τροφὴ τοῦ αἰωνίου πυρός· τὸν ἐν καταπαύσει τῶν πονηρῶν ἔργων γενόμενον, διὰ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος ἢ τῆς μετανοίας, καὶ ἐν τῇ καταστάσει ταύτῃ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα