John Chrysostom, Synopsis of Sacred Scripture

God commanded him to tell the people that they will be a kingdom of priests for God, a holy nation, if they obey. And they said: All that God has said, we will do and we will hear. Then he commands the people to purify themselves until the third day, to wash their garments. Here is also said what is in the Apostle in the letter to the Hebrews: If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Then the mountain was smoking, the sounds of trumpets were heard. Then Moses receives the commandments of the law, the Decalogue, and the rest of the ordinances. But the saying, You shall not revile the gods, is not said concerning idols, but concerning the rulers; for he adds, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. He promises them many good things, if they should obey: that they would have dominion over the nations, the inheritance of the land, that he would bless their water and their bread, that he would deliver them from all sickness, that there would be no sterile or barren woman among them, nor premature death, that he would set their borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, from the desert to the Euphrates. Then Moses sacrifices, and poured half of the blood toward the altar; and taking the blood he sprinkled it on the people. Paul remembers these things in the letter to the Hebrews saying, that not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 56.328 Moses is commanded, having gone up, to receive the tablets. And he was there forty days and forty nights. And he heard the regulation for the tabernacle and the things in it, and of the priestly garment, and of the anointing of the priests, and of the ransoms. These were that each one was to give half a didrachma, that is, ten obols. And he advises concerning the composition of the oil, and about the keeping of the sabbath. The Israelites assemble against Aaron and commit idolatry. Then God says to Moses: Let me alone, and I will wipe them out, and I will make you into a great nation. But when Moses, having come down, saw the calf and the people playing, he threw down the tablets and broke them, he rebuked Aaron, he commanded the sons of Levi who had come, he said: Whoever is for the Lord, let him come to me, to slay each his own brother and his own neighbor. And three thousand men fell. Then Moses, having gone up, says to God: If you will forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book which you have written. Then the people mourned, and were commanded to take off their adornment. Here it is said: And the Lord spoke to Moses, as a man would speak to his own friend. But Joshua the son of Nun did not depart from the tabernacle. Then Moses beseeches God, so as not to abandon the people; and having hewn two tablets, he receives the Decalogue, again spending forty days and forty nights. And he commands him again concerning the passover, concerning the sabbath, concerning destroying the gods of the nations, about sanctifying to him the firstborn. Here it is stated, that Moses spoke to the people with a veil; which Paul speaks of in the second letter to the Corinthians. Then they are instructed concerning the sabbath, and concerning the material that was due to go forward for the work of the tabernacle, that is, concerning the gold, the bronze, the hair, and the rest of the material. And they brought with great eagerness, so that there was an excess; and Bezalel from the tribe of Judah, and Oholiab from the tribe of Dan work on everything for the construction, and the tabernacle was set up, and the cloud covered it. And that which was expended on the works was of gold 29 talents and 700 shekels, of silver 100 talents, 772 shekels, and of bronze 70 talents, and shekels, 2,500.

Leviticus, book 3. This book is called Leviticus, since it specifically contains all the regulation of the Levitical liturgy, and how Aaron and his sons are chosen from the tribe of Levi, and are anointed as priests, and the entire difference of the sacrifices; and the entire quality of the worship and priestly liturgy in the temple. It also relates the law of each sacrifice, concerning both the peace offering and the voluntary and involuntary trespass, and how for each of the

προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς εἰπεῖν τῷ λαῷ, ὅτι ἔσονται τοῦ Θεοῦ βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον, ἐὰν ὑπακούσωσι. Οἱ δὲ εἶπον· Ἅπαντα, ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα. Τότε προστάσσει τῷ λαῷ ἁγνισθῆναι ἕως τρίτης ἡμέρας, πλῦναι τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν. Ἐνταῦθα εἴρηται καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους· Κἂν θίγῃ τοῦ ὄρους, λιθοβοληθήσεται. Τότε ἐκαπνίζετο τὸ ὅρος, φωναὶ σαλπίγγων ἤχουν. Τότε τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ νόμου λαμβάνει Μωϋσῆς, τὴν ∆εκάλογον, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δικαιώματα. Τὸ δὲ, Θεοὺς οὐ κακολογήσεις, οὐ περὶ εἰδώλων εἴρηται, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων· ἐπάγει γὰρ, Ἄρχοντι τοῦ λαοῦ σου οὐκ ἐρεῖς κακῶς. Ἐπαγγέλλεται, εἰ ὑπακούσειαν, πολλὰ αὐτοῖς ἀγαθά· κρατήσειν τῶν ἐθνῶν, τῆς γῆς κληρονομίαν, τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτῶν εὐλογήσειν καὶ τὸν ἄρτον, πάσης μαλακίας αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάξειν, μὴ ἔσεσθαι στεῖραν ἐν αὐτοῖς, μηδὲ ἄγονον, μηδὲ θάνατον ἄωρον, τὰ ὅρια αὐτῶν θήσειν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης ἕως τῆς Φυλιστιεὶμ, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου ἕως τοῦ Εὐφράτου. Τότε θύει Μωϋσῆς, καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ αἵματος προσέχεε πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον· καὶ λαβὼν τὸ αἷμα κατεσκέδασε τοῦ λαοῦ. Μέμνηται τούτων ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους λέγων, ὅτι Οὐδὲ ἡ πρώτη διαθήκη χωρὶς αἵματος ἐγ 56.328 κεκαίνισται. Κελεύεται Μωϋσῆς ἀνελθὼν λαβεῖν τὰ πυξία. Καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας. Ἤκουσε δὲ τὴν διάταξιν τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ τῆς ἱερατικῆς στολῆς, καὶ τῆς χρίσεως τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ τῶν λύτρων. Ταῦτα δὲ ἦν τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ διδράχμου ἕκαστον διδόναι, τουτέστιν, ὀβολοὺς δέκα. Καὶ περὶ τῆς συνθέσεως τοῦ ἐλαίου παραινεῖ, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς φυλακῆς τοῦ σαββάτου. Ἐκκλησιάζουσιν οἱ Ἰσραηλῖται κατὰ Ἀαρὼν καὶ εἰδωλολατροῦσι. Τότε φησὶν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Μωϋσῇ· Ἔασόν με, καὶ ἐξαλείψω αὐτοὺς, καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα. Ὡς δὲ κατελθὼν ὁ Μωϋσῆς εἶδε τὸν μόσχον καὶ τὸν λαὸν παίζοντας, ἔῤῥιψε τὰς πλάκας, καὶ συνέτριψεν, ἐπετίμησε τῷ Ἀαρὼν, ἐκέλευσε τοῖς υἱοῖς Λευῒ ἐλθοῦσιν, εἶπε· Εἴ τις πρὸς Κύριον, ἴτω πρός με, σφάξειν ἕκαστον τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἔπεσον τρισχίλιοι ἄνδρες. Τότε δὲ ἀνελθὼν Μωϋσῆς λέγει τῷ Θεῷ· Εἰ μὲν ἀφιεῖς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἄφες· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἐξάλειψόν με ἐκ τῆς βίβλου, ἧς ἔγραψας. Τότε ἐπένθησεν ὁ λαὸς, καὶ ἐκελεύσθη περιελεῖν τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα εἴρηται· Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν, ὡς εἴ τις λαλήσει πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον. Ἰησοῦς δὲ ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ οὐκ ἐξεπορεύετο τῆς σκηνῆς. Τότε παρακαλεῖ Μωϋσῆς τὸν Θεὸν, ὥστε μὴ καταλιπεῖν τὸν λαόν· καὶ λαξεύσας δύο πλάκας, λαμβάνει τὴν ∆εκάλογον, ποιήσας πάλιν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας. Ἐντέλλεται δὲ αὐτῷ πάλιν περὶ τοῦ πάσχα, περὶ τοῦ σαββάτου, περὶ τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι τοὺς θεοὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἁγιάσαι αὐτῷ τὰ πρωτότοκα. Ἐνταῦθα κεῖται, ὅτι μετὰ καλύμματος ἐλάλει Μωϋσῆς τῷ λαῷ· ὃ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ πρὸς Κορινθίους φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος. Τότε αὐτοῖς παραγγέλλεται περὶ τοῦ σαββάτου, καὶ περὶ τῆς ὕλης τῆς ὀφειλούσης προχωρῆσαι εἰς τὴν τῆς σκηνῆς ἐργασίαν, τουτέστι, περὶ τοῦ χρυσοῦ, τοῦ χαλκοῦ, τῶν τριχῶν, καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ὕλης. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἔφερον πολλῇ τῇ προθυμίᾳ, ὡς καὶ περισσεύειν· ἐργάζεται δὲ Βεσελεὴλ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα, καὶ Ἐλιὰβ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς ∆ὰν ἅπαντα τὰ πρὸς τὴν κατασκευὴν, καὶ ἔστη ἡ σκηνὴ, καὶ ἐκάλυψεν αὐτὴν ἡ νεφέλη. Τὸ δὲ ἀναλωθὲν εἰς τὰ ἔργα χρυσίου μὲν τάλαντα κθʹ καὶ σίκλοι ψʹ, ἀργυρίου δὲ τάλαντα ρʹ, σίκλοι ψοβʹ, καὶ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα οʹ, καὶ σίκλοι, βφʹ.

Λευϊτικὸν, βιβλίον γʹ. Λευϊτικὸν καλεῖται τοῦτο τὸ βιβλίον, ἐπειδὴ ἰδικῶς πᾶσαν τῆς τε Λευϊτικῆς λειτουργίας τὴν διατύπωσιν περιέχει, καὶ πῶς Ἀαρὼν καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐκλέγονται ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Λευῒ, καὶ χρίονται εἰς ἱερέας, πᾶσάν τε τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν θυσιῶν· καὶ τὴν ποιότητα πᾶσαν τῆς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ λατρείας καὶ ἱερατικῆς λειτουργίας. ∆ιηγεῖται καὶ τὸν νόμον ἑκάστης θυσίας, περί τε τοῦ σωτηρίου καὶ τοῦ ἑκουσίου καὶ ἀκουσίου πλημμελήματος, καὶ πῶς ἑκάστῳ τῶν