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it speaks better than that of Abel) he would not have said that he did not want them, but he transfers the sacrifices to the spiritual, since a transfer of priesthood is also about to happen. For if he rejects the bodily sacrifices, he clearly rejects the high priest according to the law. For how shall the high priests according to the law be consecrated, when the ram of the burnt offering, on which they laid their hands, is no longer brought forward? And how shall they be sprinkled who are no longer sprinkled by blood? Thus, therefore, both stand: both the law according to Moses, and the introduction of the better one. Therefore, those from the seed of Aaron are cast out, so that the one according to the order of Melchizedek may enter in his place. No longer the sacrifices of the continual offering; no longer those on the day of atonement; no longer the ash of the heifer cleansing the defiled. For there is one sacrifice, Christ, and the mortification of the Saints according to him; one sprinkling, the washing of regeneration; one ransom for sin, the blood shed for the salvation of the world. For this reason he sets aside the first things, that he may establish the second. Nor should you come to appear before me. The "I do not want" is understood. He sets aside not only the law concerning sacrifices, but also the one concerning the need for every male to be seen three times a year before the Lord. Since, therefore, they did not change from being unjust and having crooked designs, he cast them out from his eyes. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His face has seen uprightness. And it reveals the anger of a master toward his servants, the taking away of their boldness in intercession. But for the contemplation of God to be extended to three times, signifies the knowledge of theology in the Trinity. For this reason he preferred males as worthy of the divine eyes, indicating that the Word seeks souls that are intense, firmly and strongly fulfilling the doctrines, but not soft and easy and effeminate. For this reason (he says) "Three times a year every male shall appear before me;" which, being observed bodily by the carnal Israel, he also rejects. 1.27 For who has required these things from your hands? He showed what "these things" are, the bodily things of the law: the ram that is wholly burnt and the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats, and the coming with the body to the temple, as if the divine eyes needed to draw near in order to see, and otherwise could not reach those far away. These things (he says), so lowly and earthly, who has required from your hands? You see how much force and necessity he brings to bear for the will of the law to be understood spiritually in some way. For if it is confessed that the words of the law were given by God, but he says that God does not now require these things being done, he clearly and irrefutably forces us to raise our mind to the spiritual contemplation of the law; almost crying out and testifying: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God, more than burnt offerings. And, "If it was announced to you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: but to do judgment, and to love mercy and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God." And, "Offer to God a sacrifice of praise." And the whole discourse about sacrifices and burnt offerings seems to be contained in the discourse about mercy and love, since the whole law is also summed up in "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." And the section about the feasts will be subjected to the same kind of exegesis, so that we celebrate the Passover not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. With the true lamb, Christ, being sacrificed toward evening, that is, at the consummation of the age, whose flesh is truly food, and to dwell in tents not for a fixed number of days, but for the whole time of our sojourning, awaiting the true homeland, whose architect and maker is God, and to celebrate Pentecost when seven weeks are completed, that is, as if being on the last day, to have despaired of this life. 1.28 You shall no longer tread my court.

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κρεῖττον λαλεῖ παρὰ τὸ τοῦ Ἄβελ) οὐκ ἂν εἶπε μὴ βού λεσθαι, ἀλλὰ μετατίθησι τὰς θυσίας ἐπὶ τὸ πνευματικὸν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἱερωσύνης μετάθεσις μέλλει γίνεσθαι. Εἰ γὰρ παραιτεῖται τὰς σωματικὰς θυσίας, παραιτεῖται δηλονότι τὸν κατὰ νόμον ἀρχιερέα. Πῶς γὰρ τελειωθῶσι τὰς χεῖρας οἱ κατὰ νόμον ἀρχιερεῖς, τοῦ κριοῦ τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως, ᾧ ἐπετίθεσαν τὰς χεῖρας, μηκέτι προσαγομένου; Πῶς δὲ ῥαντισθῶσιν οἱ μηκέτι διὰ τοῦ αἵματος ῥαντιζόμενοι; Οὕτως οὖν ἀμφότερα ἵσταται, καὶ ὁ κατὰ Μωϋσέα νόμος, καὶ ἡ παρεισαγωγὴ τοῦ κρείττονος. Ἐκβάλλονται τοίνυν οἱ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος Ἀαρὼν, ἵνα ὁ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲχ ἀντεισέλθῃ. Οὐκέτι αἱ τοῦ ἐνδελεχισμοῦ θυσίαι· οὐκέτι αἱ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ ἱλασμοῦ· οὐκέτι ἡ σποδὸς τῆς δαμάλεως καθαρίζουσα τοὺς κεκοινωμένους. Μία γὰρ θυσία, ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν νέκρωσις τῶν Ἁγίων· εἷς ῥαντισμὸς, τὸ λουτρὸν τῆς παλιγγενεσίας· ἓν ἁμαρτίας λυτήριον, τὸ ἐκχυθὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ κόσμου αἷμα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀθετεῖ τὰ πρῶτα, ἵνα τὰ δεύτερα στήσῃ. Οὐδ' ἂν ἔρχησθε ὀφθῆναί μοι. Ἀπὸ κοινοῦ τὸ, οὐ βούλομαι. Οὐ μόνον τὸν περὶ θυσιῶν νόμον ἀθετεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν περὶ τοῦ δεῖν ὁρᾶσθαι πᾶν ἀρσενικὸν τρὶς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐ μετεβλήθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄδικοι εἶναι καὶ σκολιὰ ἔχειν τὰ ἐπιβούλια, ἐξέβαλεν αὐτοὺς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὀφθαλμῶν. Ὀφθαλμοὶ γὰρ Κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους, Καὶ Εὐθύ τητας εἶδε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Ὀργὴν δὲ τὴν εἰς οἰκέτας ἐμφαίνει δεσπότου, τὸ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὴν παῤῥησίαν αὐτῶν τῆς ἐντεύξεως. Τὸ δὲ εἰς τρὶς τὴν περὶ Θεοῦ θεωρίαν ἐκ τείνεσθαι, δηλοῖ τὴν ἐν Τριάδι τῆς θεολογίας ἐπίγνωσιν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἄῤῥενας ὡς ἀξίους τῶν θείων ὀφθαλμῶν προε τίμησεν, ἐνδεικνύμενος ὅτι συντόνους ψυχὰς παγίως καὶ κρα ταιῶς ἐπιτελούσας τὰ δόγματα, ἀλλὰ οὐχὶ ἁπαλὰς καὶ εὐκόλους καὶ ἐκτεθηλυμένας, ὁ λόγος ἐπιζητεῖ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Τρὶς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ (φησὶν) ὀφθήσεται πᾶν ἀῤῥενικὸν ἐνώπιόν μου· ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ σωματικῶς παρὰ τοῦ σαρκίνου Ἰσραὴλ ἀγόμενον παραιτεῖται. 1.27 Τίς γὰρ ἐξεζήτησε ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν; Ἔδειξε ποῖα ταῦτα, τὰ σωματικὰ τοῦ νόμου· τὸν κριὸν τὸν ὁλοκαυτούμενον καὶ τὸ στέαρ τῶν ἀρνῶν καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῶν ταύρων καὶ τράγων, καὶ τὸ τῷ σώματι ἀπαντᾷν εἰς τὸν ναὸν, ὡς τῶν θείων ὀφθαλμῶν προσεγγισμοῦ δεομέ νων εἰς τὸ ἰδεῖν, ἄλλως δὲ μὴ φθανόντων ἐπὶ τοὺς πόῤῥω. Ταῦτα (φησὶ) τὰ οὕτω ταπεινὰ καὶ γήϊνα τίς ἐξεζήτησεν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν; Ὁρᾷς ὅσην βίαν καὶ ἀνάγκην ἐπάγει πνευματικῶς πως ἐκλαμβάνειν τοῦ νόμου τὸ βούλημα. Εἰ γὰρ παρὰ Θεοῦ μὲν ὡμολόγηται δεδόσθαι τοῦ νόμου τὰ ῥή ματα, ταῦτα δὲ νῦν γινόμενα οὔ φησιν ἐκζητεῖν ὁ Θεὸς, σαφῶς καὶ ἀναντιῤῥήτως ἀνάγειν ἡμῶν τὸν νοῦν ἐπὶ τὴν πνευματικὴν θεωρίαν τοῦ νόμου βιάζεται· μονονουχὶ κράζων καὶ διαμαρτυρόμενος· Ἔλεον θέλω, καὶ οὐ θυσίαν· καὶ ἐπί γνωσιν Θεοῦ, μᾶλλον ἢ ὁλοκαύτωσιν. Καὶ τὸ Εἰ ἀνηγγέλη σοι, ἄνθρωπε, τί καλὸν καὶ τί Κύριος ἐκζητεῖ παρὰ σοῦ· ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ ποιεῖν κρίμα, καὶ ἀγαπᾷν ἔλεον καὶ ἑτοιμάζε σθαι τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου. Καὶ τὸ Θῦσον τῷ Θεῷ θυσίαν αἰνέσεως. Καὶ ἔοικεν ὁ πᾶς περὶ θυσιῶν καὶ ὁλοκαυτωμάτων λό γος ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐλέους καὶ ἀγάπης ἐμπεριέχεσθαι λόγῳ, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὅλος ὁ νόμος ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται ἐν τῷ Ἀγαπή σεις τὸν πλησίον σου, ὡς σεαυτόν. Καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν ἑορτῶν δὲ τόπος τῷ αὐτῷ εἴδει τῆς ἐξηγήσεως ὑπαχθήσεται, ὥστε καὶ τὸ Πάσχα μὴ ἑορτάζειν ἡμᾶς Ἐν ζύμῃ κακίας καὶ πονη ρίας, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀζύμοις εἰλικρινείας καὶ ἀληθείας. Θυομένου πρὸς ἑσπέραν, τουτέστιν ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος, τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ προβάτου Χριστοῦ, οὗ ἡ σὰρξ ἀληθῶς ἐστι βρῶσις, καὶ κατοικεῖν ἐν σκηναῖς οὐχὶ τακτὸν ἡμερῶν ἀριθμὸν, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον τῆς παροικίας ἡμῶν, ἀναμένοντας τὴν ἀληθινὴν πατρίδα, ἧς τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ Πεντηκοστὴν ἄγειν ἑπτὰ ἑβδομάδων συντελουμένων, του τέστιν, ὡς ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὄντας ἀπεγνωκέναι τοῦ βίου. 1.28 Πατεῖν τὴν αὐλήν μου οὐ προσθήσεσθε.