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of serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” 3.10 For him, after the victory, He threatened hell; if I am victorious, I am crowned; if he is victorious, he is punished. And that you may know that he is punished more when he prevails, let me show you from the facts. He conquered Adam and tripped him up. What then was the prize of victory? “On your breast and on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life.” If He punished the physical serpent thus, with what penalty will He punish the spiritual one? If such is the condemnation of the instrument, it is clear that a much greater punishment awaits the artisan. For just as a loving father, finding the one who killed his own son, not only punishes the murderer but also shatters the very sword, so too Christ, finding the devil had killed man, not only punished the devil but also broke the sword itself. 3.11 Therefore let us strip for the wrestling matches with courage; for He has clothed us with weapons more brilliant than any gold, stronger than any adamant, hotter and more vehement than any fire, lighter than any air. For the nature of these weapons does not weigh down the knees, but it gives wings to the limbs, and lifts them up, and if you should wish to fly up to heaven with these weapons, there is nothing to prevent it. For the nature of the weapons is new, since the manner of this battle is also new; for being a man, I am compelled to box with demons, being clothed in flesh, I wrestle against incorporeal powers. For this reason God made my breastplate not of iron but of righteousness; for this reason He fashioned my shield not of bronze but of faith. I have also a sharpened sword, the word of the Spirit. He shoots arrows against me, I have a sword; he is an archer, I am a heavy-armed soldier. Learn his mind from this also: the archer does not dare to come near but shoots from afar. 3.12 What then? Has he fashioned weapons only? No, but he has also prepared a table more powerful than any weapon, so that you might not fight while weary, so that while feasting you might overcome the evil one. For if he sees you only returning from the Lord’s suppers, just as one seeing a lion breathing fire from its mouth, so he flees more violently than any wind; and if you show him your tongue reddened with the precious blood, he will not even be able to stand; if you show your mouth empurpled, like a worthless beast he will thus run backwards. 3.13 Do you wish then to learn the power of this blood? Let us go back to its type, to the old stories in Egypt. God was about to bring the tenth plague upon the Egyptians; for He wanted to destroy their firstborn, since they were holding his firstborn people. What then was to be done so that the Jews would not be entangled with the Egyptians, since one place held them? Learn the power of the type, that you may also learn the strength of the reality. A plague sent by God was about to be brought from above, and the destroyer was coming upon the houses. 3.14 What then does Moses do? “Sacrifice,” he says, “a lamb without blemish and smear its blood on the doors.” What are you saying? Can the blood of an irrational animal save rational men? Yes, he says, not because it is blood, but because it is a type of the Lord’s blood. For just as royal statues, being lifeless and without sensation, save sentient and ensouled men who flee to them for refuge, not because they are bronze, but because they are an image of the king, so also that senseless and lifeless blood saved men possessing a soul, not because it was blood, but because it was a type of this blood. 3.15 Then the destroyer saw the blood smeared on the doors and did not dare to leap in; now if the devil sees not the blood of the type smeared on the doors, but the blood of the reality smeared on the mouths of the faithful, on the doors of the Christ-bearing temple, will he not much more restrain himself? For if an angel, seeing the type, was filled with awe, much more will the devil, seeing the reality, flee. 3.16 Do you wish

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ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ.» 3.10 Ἐκείνῳ μετὰ τὴν νίκην γέενναν ἠπείλησεν· ἐγὼ ἐὰν νικήσω στεφανοῦμαι· ἐκεῖνος ἐὰν νικήσῃ κολάζεται. Καὶ ἵνα γνῷς ὅτι τότε μᾶλλον τιμωρεῖται ὅταν κρατήσῃ, φέρε σοι δείξω ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων. Ἐνίκησε τὸν Ἀδὰμ καὶ ὑπεσκέλισε. Τί οὖν τὸ ἔπαθλον τῆς νίκης; «Ἐπὶ τῷ στήθει καὶ τῇ κοιλίᾳ πορεύσῃ καὶ γῆν φαγῇ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου.» Εἰ δὲ τὸν αἰσθητὸν ὄφιν οὕτως ἐκόλασε, ποίᾳ τιμωρίᾳ κολάσει τὸν νοητόν; Εἰ τοιαύτη καταδίκη τοῦ ὀργάνου, εὔδηλον ὅτι πολλῷ μείζων κόλασις μένει τὸν τεχνίτην. Καθάπερ γὰρ πατὴρ φιλόστοργος τὸν ἀποκτείναντα τὸν υἱὸν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ εὑρὼν οὐχὶ τὸν φονέα τιμωρεῖται μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν αὐτὴν κατακόπτει, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς εὑρὼν τὸν διάβολον ἀποκτείναντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐχὶ τὸν διάβολον μόνον ἐκόλασεν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν μάχαιραν κατέκλασεν. 3.11 Οὐκοῦν θαρροῦντες ἀποδυσώμεθα πρὸς τὰ παλαίσματα· καὶ γὰρ ὅπλα ἡμῖν περιέβαλε χρυσίου παντὸς στιλπνότερα, ἀδάμαντος παντὸς ἰσχυρότερα, πυρὸς παντὸς θερμότερα καὶ σφοδρότερα, ἀέρος παντὸς κουφότερα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ βαρύνει τὰ γόνατα τῶν ὅπλων τούτων ἡ φύσις, ἀλλ' ἀναπτεροῖ τὰ μέλη, καὶ μετεωρίζει, κἂν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναπτῆναι βουληθῇς μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων τούτων, τὸ κωλῦον οὐδέν. Καινὴ γὰρ τῶν ὅπλων ἡ φύσις ἐπειδὴ καὶ καινὸς τῆς μάχης ταύτης ὁ τρόπος· ἄνθρωπος γὰρ ὢν δαίμοσι πυκτεύειν ἀναγκάζομαι, σάρκα περικείμενος πρὸς ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις παλαίω. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό μοι τὸν θώρακα οὐκ ἀπὸ σιδήρου ἀλλ' ἀπὸ δικαιοσύνης ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός· διὰ τοῦτό μοι τὸν θυρεὸν οὐκ ἀπὸ χαλκοῦ ἀλλ' ἀπὸ πίστεως κατεσκεύασεν. Ἔχω καὶ μάχαιραν ἠκονημένην, τὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ῥῆμα. Ἐκεῖνος ἀφίησι βέλη κατ' ἐμοῦ, ἔχω μάχαιραν ἐγώ· ἐκεῖνος τοξότης ἐστίν, ἐγὼ ὁπλίτης εἰμί. Μάθε καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τὴν διάνοιαν ἐκείνου· ὁ τοξότης ἐγγὺς ἐλθεῖν οὐ τολμᾷ ἀλλὰ πόρρωθεν βάλλει. 3.12 Τί δαί; Ἆρα ὅπλα κατεσκεύασε μόνον; Οὐχί, ἀλλὰ καὶ τράπεζαν ἡτοίμασεν ὅπλου παντὸς δυνατωτέραν, ἵνα μὴ κάμνων πολεμῇς, ἵνα τρυφῶν περιγίνῃ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Ἂν γὰρ ἴδῃ σε μόνον ἀπὸ τῶν δείπνων ἐπανιόντα τῶν δεσποτικῶν, καθάπερ λέοντα ἰδών τις πῦρ ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος ἀφιέντα, οὕτω φεύγει παντὸς ἀνέμου σφοδρότερον· κἂν δείξῃς αὐτῷ τὴν γλῶτταν ᾑμαγμένην τῷ αἵματι τῷ τιμίῳ, οὐδὲ στῆναι δυνήσεται· ἂν δείξῃς τὸ στόμα πεφοινιγμένον, καθάπερ θηρίον εὔτελες οὕτως ἐπὶ τὰ ὀπίσω δραμεῖται. 3.13 Βούλει τοίνυν τοῦ αἵματος τούτου μαθεῖν τὴν ἰσχύν; Ἀναδράμωμεν ἐπὶ τὸν τύπον αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ τὰ παλαιὰ διηγήματα τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ. ∆εκάτην ἔμελλε πληγὴν ἐπάγειν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις· τὰ πρωτότοκα γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐβούλετο ἀνελεῖν ἐπειδὴ τὸν πρωτότοκον αὐτοῦ κατεῖχον λαόν. Τί οὖν ἵνα γένηται ὥστε μὴ συμπλέκεσθαι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, ἐπειδὴ εἷς κατεῖχεν αὐτοὺς τόπος; Μάθε τοῦ τύπου τὴν δύναμιν ἵνα μάθῃς καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας τὴν ἰσχύν. Πληγὴ θεήλατος ἔμελλεν ἄνωθεν φέρεσθαι καὶ ὁ ὀλοθρεύων ἐπῄει ταῖς οἰκίαις. 3.14 Τί οὖν ὁ Μωϋσῆς; «Θύσατε, φησίν, ἀμνὸν ἄμωμον καὶ τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐπιχρίσατε ταῖς θύραις.» Τί λέγεις; Αἷμα ἀλόγου σῴζειν ἀνθρώπους τοὺς λογικοὺς οἶδε; Ναί, φησίν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αἷμά ἐστιν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ τύπος ἐστί. Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ ἀνδριάντες οἱ βασιλικοὶ ἄψυχοι ὄντες καὶ ἀναίσθητοι τοὺς καταφεύγοντας εἰς αὐτοὺς ἀνθρώπους αἰσθητικοὺς καὶ ἐμψύχους ὄντας διασῴζουσιν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ χαλκός εἰσιν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ εἰκὼν τοῦ βασιλέως εἰσίν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἀναίσθητον καὶ ἄψυχον τοὺς ψυχὴν ἔχοντας ἀνθρώπους ἔσωσεν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αἷμα ἦν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦ αἵματος τούτου τύπος ἦν. 3.15 Τότε εἶδεν ὁ ὀλοθρεύων τὸ αἷμα ταῖς θύραις ἐπικεχρισμένον καὶ οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν εἰσπηδῆσαι· νῦν ἂν ἴδῃ ὁ διάβολος οὐχὶ θύραις ἐπικεχρισμένον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ τύπου ἀλλὰ τῷ στόματι τῶν πιστῶν ἐπικεχρισμένον τὸ αἷμα τῆς ἀληθείας ταῖς θύραις τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ χριστοφόρου, οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἑαυτὸν καθέξει; Εἰ γὰρ ἄγγελος ἰδὼν τὸν τύπον ᾐδέσθη, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ διάβολος ἰδὼν τὴν ἀλήθειαν φεύξεται. 3.16 Βούλει