10

of angels, of the thousands of archangels; he will show us all things with precision, as far as it is possible for us to see. Who then is this one? who is the one entrusted with this part, into which we now wish to enter? Isaiah, the loudest-voiced of the prophets. Therefore, it is necessary to converse with this one. But follow, walking at a measured pace with much quietness. Let no one having worldly cares enter, no one distracted or terrified, but having put all these things away outside before the doors, let us all enter thus. [For we are entering the palace of the heavens, we are treading on shining places.] The things within are full of great silence and of ineffable mysteries. 2.2 But pay attention with precision; for the reading of the Scriptures is the opening of the heavens. "And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up." Did you see the graciousness of a well-disposed servant? Immediately he led us to the royal throne, not first leading us through long entrances, but at once he opened the gates and showed the king sitting opposite. "And the Seraphim," he says, "stood round about him; each one had six wings; with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they did fly. And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth." Truly holy, because He has deemed our nature worthy of so many and so great mysteries, because He has made us partakers of such ineffable things. Shuddering and trembling seized me in the midst of this song. And what wonder, if me, the clay-made and from the earth, when indeed the greatest astonishment continually possesses the powers above themselves? For this reason, then, they turn away their faces and put forward their wings as a wall, not bearing the rays from there. And yet, he says, what appeared was a condescension. How then did they not bear it? Do you say these things to me? Tell those who meddle with the ineffable and blessed nature, those who dare undareable things. The Seraphim could not see even a condescension, but would a human dare to say, or rather could a human even conceive in his mind that he is able to see the pure nature with precision and clearly? Shudder, O heaven; be astonished, O earth; these acts of daring are greater than those. For what those acted impiously then, these also act impiously now. For they worship the creation likewise; but what these have devised now, none of the men of that time dared either to say or to hear. What do you say? Was what appeared a condescension? Yes, but a condescension of God. For if Daniel, who had great boldness toward God, did not endure to see an angel condescending to him, but fell and lay on his face, the joints of his body being loosed, what wonder is it if the Seraphim were astonished, not enduring to see that glory? For the interval between Daniel and the angel is not as great as that between God and those powers. But lest we also, dwelling longer on these wonders, bring your souls to astonishment, come let us return to the beginning of the history, entertaining you with simpler narratives. "And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died." It is worthwhile to inquire first, for what reason the prophet indicates the times to us; for he does not do this simply or randomly. For the mouths of the prophets are the mouth of God; and such a mouth would say nothing incidentally. Let us not then listen incidentally either. For if those who dig mines do not pass over even the small nuggets, but when they lay hold of a vein of gold, they examine the fibers precisely; how much more must we do this in the case of the Scriptures? And yet in the case of mines very hard to hunt is the

10

ἀγγελικῶν, τῶν χιλιάδων τῶν ἀρχαγγελικῶν· πάντα ἡμῖν ἐπιδείξει μετ' ἀκριβείας, ὡς ἡμῖν ἰδεῖν δυνατόν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν οὗτος; τίς ὁ τὸ μέρος τοῦτο ἐμπεπιστευμένος, καθ' ὃ βουλόμεθα νῦν εἰσελθεῖν; Ἡσαΐας, ὁ τῶν προφητῶν μεγαλοφωνότατος. Οὐκοῦν ἀνάγκη τούτῳ διαλεχθῆναι. Ἀλλ' ἕπεσθε κατεσταλμένῳ ῥυθμῷ βαδίζοντες μετὰ ἡσυχίας πολλῆς. Μηδεὶς φροντίδας ἔχων βιωτικὰς εἰσίτω, μηδεὶς μετέωρος, μήτε ἐπτοημένος, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα ἔξω πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν ἀποθέμενοι, πάντες οὕτως εἰσίωμεν. [Εἰς βασίλεια γὰρ εἰσερχόμεθα τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀστραπτόντων ἐπιβαίνομεν χωρίων.] Πολλῆς τὰ ἔνδον γέμει σιγῆς καὶ μυστηρίων ἀπορρήτων. 2.2 Ἀλλὰ προσέχετε μετὰ ἀκριβείας· ἡ γὰρ τῶν Γραφῶν ἀνάγνωσις τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐστιν ἄνοιξις. "Καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεύς, εἶδον τὸν Κύριον καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπῃρμένου." Εἶδες εὐγνώμονος οἰκέτου φιλοφροσύνην; Εὐθέως ἡμᾶς παρὰ τὸν θρόνον εἰσήγαγε τὸν βασιλικόν, οὐ μακρὰς πρότερον περιαγαγὼν εἰσόδους, ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ τε τὰς πύλας ἀνέῳξεν, καὶ καταντικρὺ τὸν βασιλέα καθήμενον ἔδειξεν. "Καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ, φησίν, εἱστήκεισαν κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ· ἓξ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ ἓξ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνί· καὶ ταῖς μὲν δυσὶ κατεκάλυπτον τὰ πρόσωπα καὶ ταῖς δυσὶ τοὺς πόδας καὶ ταῖς δυσὶν ἐπέταντο, καὶ ἐκέκραγον ἕτερος πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον καὶ ἔλεγον· Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος, Κύριος Σαβαώθ." Ὄντως ἅγιος, ὅτι τοσούτων καὶ τηλικούτων μυστηρίων κατηξίωσε τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν, ὅτι τοιούτων ἡμᾶς ἐποίησεν ἀπορρήτων κοινωνούς. Φρίκη με καὶ τρόμος μεταξὺ ἔλαβε τῆς ᾠδῆς ταύτης. Καὶ τί θαυμαστόν, εἰ ἐμὲ τὸν πήλινον καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ γῆς, ὅπου γε καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς ἄνω δυνάμεις διαπαντὸς μεγίστη ἔκπληξις κατέχει; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γοῦν ἀποστρέφουσι τὰς ὄψεις καὶ τὰς πτέρυγας ἀντὶ τείχους προβάλλονται, τὰς ἐκεῖθεν ἀκτῖνας μὴ φέρουσαι. Καίτοι, φησί, συγκατάβασις ἦν τὸ φαινόμενον. Πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἤνεγκαν; Ἐμοὶ ταῦτα λέγεις; Εἰπὲ τοῖς τὴν ἀπόρρητον καὶ μακαρίαν πολυπραγμονοῦσι φύσιν, τοῖς τὰ ἀτόλμητα τολμῶσιν. Τὰ Σεραφὶμ οὐδὲ συγκατάβασιν ἠδυνήθησαν ἰδεῖν, ἄνθρωπος δὲ ἂν τολμῴη εἰπεῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἄνθρωπος εἰς νοῦν λαβέσθαι δύναιτο ἂν ὅτι τὴν φύσιν τὴν ἀκραιφνῆ δύναται μετ' ἀκριβείας ἰδεῖν καὶ σαφῶς; Φρίξον, οὐρανέ, ἔκστηθι, γῆ· μείζονα ταῦτα ἐκείνων τὰ τολμήματα. Ἃ μὲν γὰρ τότε ἠσέβουν ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ νῦν ἀσεβοῦσιν οὗτοι. Τὴν γὰρ κτίσιν προσκυνοῦσιν ὁμοίως· ὃ δὲ ἐπενόησαν οὗτοι νῦν, οὐδεὶς τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων οὔτε εἰπεῖν, οὔτε ἀκοῦσαι ἐτόλμησεν. Τί λέγεις; Συγκατάβασις ἦν τὸ φαινόμενον; Ναί, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ συγκατάβασις. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ πολλὴν παρρησίαν ἔχων πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ∆ανιὴλ ἄγγελον συγκαταβάντα αὐτῷ ἰδεῖν οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν, ἀλλ' ἔπεσε καὶ πρηνὴς ἔκειτο, τῶν συνδέσμων τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ λυθέντων, τί θαυμαστόν, εἰ τὰ Σεραφὶμ ἐξεπλάγη, οὐκ ἐνεγκόντα τὴν δόξαν ἐκείνην ἰδεῖν; Οὐ γὰρ τοσοῦτον τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον τὸ μέσον, ὅσον τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τὰς δυνάμεις ἐκείνας. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ πλεῖον τοῖς θαύμασι τούτοις ἐνδιατρίβοντες, εἰς θάμβος ἀγάγωμεν ὑμῶν τὰς ψυχάς, φέρε ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἱστορίας ἐπιστρέψωμεν, ἀφελεστέροις ὑμᾶς ψυχαγωγοῦντες διηγήμασιν. "Καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεύς." Ἄξιον πρῶτον ἐπιζητῆσαι, τίνος ἕνεκεν τοὺς χρόνους ἡμῖν ὁ προφήτης ἐπισημαίνεται· οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ εἰκῇ τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Τὰ γὰρ τῶν προφητῶν στόματα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστι στόμα· τὸ δὲ τοιοῦτον στόμα οὐδὲν ἂν εἴποι παρέργως. Μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ ἡμεῖς παρέργως ἀκούσωμεν. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ τὰ μέταλλα ἀνορύττοντες οὐδὲ τὰ μικρὰ ψήγματα παρατρέχουσιν, ἀλλ' ὅταν χρυσίτιδος ἐπιλάβωνται φλεβός, τὰς ἶνας ἀκριβῶς περισκοποῦσιν· πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῶν Γραφῶν τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς χρή; Καίτοι γε ἐπὶ τῶν μετάλλων σφόδρα δυσθήρατος ἡ τῶν