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A fearful threat to those who perceive it. But some of those from the Church are insensible to this loss, and those who are able to respond are lazy; and those condemned for their sins are indifferent. The word points out the insolent entry of the accused, as of those trampling upon the holy things. Therefore, the perfect one reaches the Holy of Holies itself, inside the veil, that is, having passed beyond the corporeal things, he will converse with the bare contemplation of divine thoughts; but the inferior one, in the house of God, will touch upon the ministry of the corporeal worship. He who is just being introduced to piety is permitted to enter the court alone; but he who is thrust out even from this is outside the places of piety. How great, then, is the danger, that even what one seems to have, this too should be taken away. Yet the Saint, loving God exceedingly, embraces all the symbols of God, saying: My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord. For he knows that it is otherwise impossible to blossom and begin to bear fruit, not having been in the courts of the Lord. But God, benefiting them, removes them from the Jewish court, so that they may flee to the court of Christ’s sheep, and there may be one flock, one shepherd. 1.29 If you bring me fine flour, it is in vain; incense is an abomination to me. Your new moons and your sabbaths, and the great day, I cannot bear. Fasting and idleness and your feasts my soul hates. He clearly rejects the corporeal interpretation, having proclaimed the law of God and roused to attention both the rulers and the people with great reproaches. For he reports nothing from himself, but abolishes the old things, saying that this is the law of God and the command of God, that none of the things now being done should be done. If you bring me fine flour, it is in vain. In many places he uses fine flour for the sacrifices; sometimes unprepared with only oil poured on it, sometimes without oil, as in the case of jealousy, at other times cakes, at other times unleavened bread, at other times only a mixture, the fine flour having been kneaded with oil. Now, having made its use vain, he has abolished the greatest part of the sacrifices. What then is he saying? That while the word enigmatically signifies other things, you, having abandoned the will of the lawgiver, display all your effort concerning the vanity of corporeal things. For you should have taken the grain as the Word (implanted like a seed in your souls) and, having stripped it of every worldly concept, used it by itself in the immaterial and pure worship of God. And this is spiritual fine flour, the word concerning God separated from any corporeal concept. Therefore, the fine flour understood corporeally and offered in the Jewish manner is in vain. But the incense is now also an abomination to the Lord. For it is truly abominable to think that God, pursuing the pleasures of smell, has prescribed the composition of incense, and not to understand that incense to the Lord is the sanctification in the body, accomplished by the temperance of the soul, with the parts of the soul being in equal balance and without conflict with one another. For take (he says) for yourself spices: stacte, onycha, galbanum of sweet savor, and pure frankincense. These four have a similarity to the four elements, from which bodies are composed: stacte to water; onycha, because of its dryness, to earth; galbanum, because of its heat, to fire; and frankincense, because of its transparency, to air. Of each there shall be a like weight, that is, by punishing the impulses that come from imbalance (towards unseemly desires) you will make them equal. And you will beat some of it very small, that is, you will labor to make it spiritual, destroying the thick and material nature of the flesh from the soul. And thus you will put it before the testimony in the tabernacle, where I will make myself known to you. For when it has been brought into exact communion, and has been made fine, then it is worthy to be brought into the holy places, and to approach the knowledge of God. For you shall put them (he says) before the

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Φοβερὰ ἀπειλὴ τοῖς αἰσθανομένοις. Ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τινὲς πρὸς τὴν ζημίαν ταύτην ἀναισθητοῦσι, καὶ οἱ μὲν δυνάμενοι ἀπαντᾷν, ῥᾳθυμοῦσιν· οἱ δὲ δι' ἁμαρτήματα καταδικασθέντες, ἀδιαφοροῦσιν. Ἐνδείκνυται δὲ ὁ λόγος τὴν ὑβριστικὴν εἴσοδον τῶν κατηγορουμένων, ὡς καταπατούν των τὰ ἅγια. Ὁ μὲν οὖν τέλειος εἰς αὐτὰ φθάνει τὰ Ἅγια τῶν Ἁγίων εἴσω τοῦ καταπετάσματος, τουτέστι διαβὰς τὰ σωματικὰ, γυμνῇ τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῶν θείων νοημάτων ὁμι λήσει· ὁ δὲ ὑποδεέστερος, ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ κατὰ τὴν τῶν σωματικῶν λατρείαν διακονικοῦ ἐφάψεται. Ὁ δὲ ἄρτι εἰσαγόμενος εἰς τὴν εὐσέβειαν, τῇ αὐλῇ μόνῃ ἐντυχεῖν ἐπιτρέπεται· ὁ δὲ καὶ ταύτης ἀπεωσμένος, ἔξω ἐστὶ τῶν τόπων τῆς εὐσεβείας. Ἡλίκος οὖν ὁ κίνδυνος, καὶ ὃ δοκεῖ τις ἔχειν, καὶ τοῦτο ἀφαιρεθῆναι. Ὁ μέντοι Ἅγιος ὑπεραγαπῶν τὸν Θεὸν, πάντα τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ σύμβολα ὑπερασπάζεται, λέγων· Ἐπι ποθεῖ καὶ ἐκλείπει ἡ ψυχή μου εἰς τὰς αὐλὰς τοῦ Κυρίου. Οἶδε γὰρ ὅτι ἄλλως ἀδύνατον ἐξανθῆσαι, καὶ ἀρχὴν λαβεῖν εἰς καρποφορίαν, μὴ ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς γενόμενον τοῦ Κυρίου. Εὐεργετῶν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς αὐλῆς αὐτοὺς ἐξοικίζει, ἵνα τῇ αὐλῇ τῶν Χριστοῦ προβάτων προσ φύγωσι, καὶ γένηται μία ποίμνη, εἷς ποιμήν. 1.29 Ἐὰν φέρητέ μοι σεμίδαλιν, μάταιον· θυμίαμα, βδέ λυγμά μοί ἐστι. Τὰς νεομηνίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ σάββατα ὑμῶν, καὶ ἡμέραν μεγάλην, οὐκ ἀνέχομαι. Νηστείαν καὶ ἀργίαν καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου. Σαφῶς παρωθεῖται τὴν σωματικὴν ἐκδοχὴν, ἐπαγγειλάμε νος νόμον Θεοῦ καὶ εἰς προσοχὴν μετὰ μεγάλων ὀνειδῶν τούς τε ἄρχοντας καὶ τὸν λαὸν διεγείρας. Οὐδὲν μὲν γὰρ παρ' ἑαυ τοῦ ἀπαγγέλλει, τὰ δὲ παλαιὰ διαγράφει, τοῦτον λέγων εἶναι νόμον Θεοῦ καὶ διαταγὴν Θεοῦ, τὸ μηδὲν γίνεσθαι τῶν νῦν τε λουμένων. Ἐὰν φέρητέ μοι σεμίδαλιν, μάταιον. Πολλαχοῦ χρῆται ἐπὶ τῶν θυσιῶν τῇ σεμιδάλει· ποτὲ μὲν ἀκατάσκευον ἐλαίου μόνου ἐπιχυθέντος, ποτὲ δὲ ἄνευ ἐλαίου, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς ζηλοτυπίας, ἄλλοτε λάγανα, ἄλλοτε ἄζυμα, ἄλλοτε μόνον φύραμα, ἀναπεποιημένης ἐλαίῳ τῆς σεμιδάλεως. Νῦν ταύτης τὴν χρῆσιν ματαιώσας, τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος τῶν θυσιῶν διέ γραψε. Τί οὖν ἐστιν ὃ λέγει; Ὅτι ἄλλα τοῦ λόγου αἰνισσο μένου, ἀφέντες τὸ βούλημα τοῦ νομοθέτου, τὴν πᾶσαν πραγ ματείαν περὶ τὴν ματαιότητα τῶν σωματικῶν ἐπιδείκνυσθε. Ἔδει γὰρ τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὸν λόγον μεταλαμβάνειν (σπερ ματικῶς ὑμῶν ἐγκείμενον ταῖς ψυχαῖς) καὶ πάσης αὐτὸν κοσμικῆς ἐννοίας ἀπογυμνώσαντας, αὐτῷ χρῆσθαι καθ' ἑαυ τὸν ἐν τῇ ἀΰλῳ καὶ καθαρᾷ θεραπείᾳ Θεοῦ. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι πνευματικὴ σεμίδαλις, λόγος περὶ Θεοῦ σω ματικῆς ἐννοίας κεχωρισμένος. Ἡ μὲν οὖν σωματικῶς νοου μένη καὶ προσφερομένη κατὰ τὸν Ἰουδαϊκὸν τρόπον σεμίδαλις, μάταιον. Τὸ θυμίαμα δὲ ἤδη καὶ βδέλυγμά ἐστι τῷ Κυρίῳ. Βδελυκτὸν γὰρ τῷ ὄντι τὸ οἴεσθαι τὰς διὰ ὀσφρήσεως ἡδονὰς τὸν Θεὸν θηρώμενον, τοῦ θυμιάματος τὴν σύνθεσιν προστε ταχέναι, καὶ μὴ νοεῖν ὅτι θυμίαμα Κυρίῳ ὁ ἐν σώματι ἁγιασμὸς, ὑπὸ τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν σωφροσύνης ἐπιτελούμενος, ἰσοκρατῶς ἐχόντων καὶ ἀστασιάστως πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν μερῶν τῆς ψυχῆς. Λάβε γὰρ (φησὶ) σεαυτῷ ἡδύσματα· στακτὴν, ὄνυχα, χαλβάνην ἡδυσμοῦ καὶ λίβανον διαφανῆ. Τέσσαρα ταῦτα πρὸς τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα, ἐξ ὧν τὰ σώματα σύγκειται, τὴν ὁμοιότητα ἔχοντα· ἡ μὲν στακτὴ πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ· ὁ δὲ ὄνυξ διὰ τὸ ξηρὸν, πρὸς τὴν γῆν· ἡ δὲ χαλβάνη, διὰ τὴν θερμότητα, πρὸς τὸ πῦρ· ὁ δὲ λίβανος διὰ τὸ διαφανὲς πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα. Ἴσον ἴσῳ ἔσται, τουτέστι τὰς ἐκ δυσ κρασίας γινομένας ὁρμὰς (εἰς ἐπιθυμίας ἀτόπους) κολάζων ἐπανισώσεις. Καὶ συγκόψεις ἐκ τούτων λεπτόν, τουτέστι πνευματικὸν ποιῆσαι φιλοπονήσεις, ἐξαφανίζων τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς παχὺ καὶ ὑλῶδες. Καὶ οὕτω θήσεις ἀπέναντι τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ, ὅθεν γνωσθήσομαί σοι ἐκεῖθεν. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐγγένηται τῇ ἀκριβεῖ κοινωνίᾳ, καὶ ἀπολεπτυνθῇ, τότε ἄξιός ἐστιν εἰσφέρεσθαι εἰς τὰ ἅγια, καὶ τῇ γνώσει τῇ περὶ Θεοῦ προσεγγίζειν. Θή σεις γὰρ αὐτὰ (φησὶν) ἀπέναντι τοῦ