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he interpreted. LII How is "The Lord remembered Noah" to be understood? The divine scripture speaks in a manner suitable to men, and transforms its words so that they can hear; just as therefore in the case of God repent 51 ance is a difference of economy; "for I repent that I have anointed Saul to be king," instead of, I have decided to appoint another in his place, so also here "I was grieved that I had made man" is to be understood, instead of, I have decided to bring complete destruction upon them. And therefore this, "God remembered Noah," does not hint at a prior forgetfulness, but declares His ineffable love for mankind; that because of his affection for him he commanded that boundless and immeasurable water to be swallowed up as quickly as possible. And making His unspeakable goodness clear, He added that "and of all the cattle and of all the birds and of all the creeping things, as many as were with him in the ark." And for our sake He deemed these also worthy of providence; for the great David also cries out this: "who causes grass to grow for the cattle, and green plant for the service of men." And again, "men and beasts you will save, O Lord." For on our account He also cares for what is ours. LIII What is "the Lord smelled a pleasing aroma"? He accepted Noah's good judgment, not being delighted by the savor of burnt fat; for nothing is more foul-smelling than burning bones, but having praised the intention of the one who offered it. For He does not have bodily members, that we should also attribute nostrils to Him; for smelling is through the nostrils. He rewards him therefore with a blessing; and since he was the seed of the race and the root of nature and a second Adam, He gives him the blessing which that one had enjoyed immediately after being formed: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth 52 and subdue it; and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on all the beasts of the earth and on all the birds of the air and on everything that moves on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea, which I have given under your hand." And the word became deed; for all things fear even the very shadow of man, both the swimming and the terrestrial and the flying things. Then He gave him the law concerning the eating of meat, commanding him to enjoy meats as vegetables. LIV For what reason does he forbid the consumption of blood? He taught more clearly in the Law; "for what the soul is to man," he says, "this the blood is to the irrational animals"; therefore, partaking of meats without the blood, you will partake as of vegetables, of course; for the vegetable is lifeless. But if you should partake with the blood, you are eating a soul; for which reason he also said here, "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood; for I will surely require your lifeblood; from the hand of every beast I will require it, from the hand of a man's brother I will require the life of man." Here he hints at the resurrection, not as though he will bring the beasts to the judgment seat and exact penalties for their man-eating, but as though he will both gather and resurrect the bodies consumed by them; "for in his hand are the depths of the earth"; and it is easy for him to gather our body from all places; here therefore 53 he has declared this enigmatically; but through Ezekiel he proclaimed the resurrection more clearly. LV Why then did he legislate meat-eating at all? Immediately after creating man, he granted him the fruits of the earth, commanding him to live from seeds and trees; but after the flood he lavishes more food, commanding him both to sacrifice and to eat birds and swimming and land animals; driving out a passion by a passion and curing the greater with the lesser; for God, foreseeing that those who had fallen into the utmost irrationality would deify all these things, permits the eating of them in order to stop the impiety; for it is of the utmost foolishness to worship what is eaten; for this reason, he calls some of the animals unclean, and others clean, so that abominating some as unclean they might not deify them, and that they might not worship others which are eaten. LVI For what reason was Noah not blamed for falling into drunkenness? It was from inexperience

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ἡρμήνευσεν. LII Πῶς νοητέον τὸ " ἐμνήσθη Κύριος τοῦ Νῶε " Προσφόρως τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἡ θεία γραφὴ διαλέγεται, καὶ ὡς ἀκούειν δύνανται μετασχηματίζει τοὺς λόγους· ὥσπερ τοίνυν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ ἡ μετα 51 μέλεια οἰκονομίας ἐστὶ διαφορά· " μεταμεμέλημαι γὰρ ὅτι κέχρικα τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα ", ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἐδοκίμα σα ἄλλον ἀντ' αὐτοῦ καταστῆσαι, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα νοητέον " ἐνε θυμήθην ὅτι ἐποίησα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ", ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἐδοκίμασα αὐτοὺς πανωλεθρίαν ἐπαγαγεῖν. καὶ τοῦτο τοίνυν τὸ " ἐμ νήσθη ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Νῶε " οὐ προτέραν λήθην αἰνίττεται, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἄρρητον αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν δηλοῖ· ὅτι διὰ τὴν περὶ ἐκεῖνον φιλοσ τοργίαν προσέταξεν ὡς τάχιστα καταποθῆναι τὸ ἄπειρον ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἀμέτρητον ὕδωρ. δήλην δὲ αὐτοῦ ποιῶν τὴν ἄφραστον ἀγαθότητα, προστέθεικεν ὅτι " καὶ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάν των τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν, ὅσα ἦν μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ ". ἡμῶν δὲ χάριν καὶ ταῦτα προμηθείας ἠξίωσεν· τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ μέγας ∆αβὶδ βοᾷ· " ὁ ἐξανατέλλων χόρτον τοῖς κτήνεσι καὶ χλόην τῇ δουλείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ". καὶ πάλιν, " ἀνθρώπους καὶ κτήνη σώσεις, Κύριε ". δι' ἡμᾶς γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἡμε τέρων ἐπιμελεῖται. LIII Τί ἐστιν " ὠσφράνθη Κύριος ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας "; Ὑπεδέξατο τοῦ Νῶε τὸ εὔγνωμον, οὐ τῇ κνίσσῃ τερφθείς· ὀστῶν γὰρ καιομένων οὐδὲν δυσωδέστερον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ προσενηνοχότος ἐπαινέσας τὴν γνώμην. οὐ γὰρ σωματικὰ ἔχει μόρια, ἵνα καὶ ῥῖνας αὐτῷ περιθῶμεν· διὰ ῥινῶν γὰρ ἡ ὄσφρησις. ἀμείβεται οὖν αὐτὸν τῇ εὐλογίᾳ· καὶ ἐπειδὴ σπέρμα τοῦ γένους ἦν καὶ ῥίζα τῆς φύσεως καὶ δεύτερος Ἀδάμ, δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὴν εὐλογίαν, ἧς ἐκεῖνος εὐθὺς διαπλασθεὶς ἀπολελαύκει· " αὐξά νεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν 52 καὶ κατακυριεύσατε αὐτῆς· καὶ ὁ φόβος ὑμῶν καὶ ὁ τρόμος ὑμῶν ἔσται ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ κινούμενα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς ἰχθύας τῆς θαλάσσης, ἃ ὑπὸ χεῖρα ὑμῖν δέδωκα ". καὶ ὁ λόγος ἔργον γέγονε· δέδιε γὰρ ἅπαντα καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου σκιάν, καὶ τὰ νηκτὰ καὶ τὰ χερσαῖα καὶ τὰ πτηνά. εἶτα τὸν περὶ τῆς κρεωφαγίας αὐτῷ δέδωκε νόμον, ὡς λαχάνων τῶν κρεῶν ἀπολαύειν κελεύσας. LIV Τίνος χάριν ἀπαγορεύει τοῦ αἵματος τὴν μετάληψιν; Σαφέστερον ἐδίδαξεν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ· " ὅπερ γάρ ἐστι, φησίν, ἀν θρώπῳ ψυχή, τοῦτο τοῖς ἀλόγοις τὸ αἷμα "· δίχα τοίνυν τοῦ αἵματος τῶν κρεῶν μεταλαμβάνων, ὡς λαχάνων δήπουθεν μεταλήψῃ· ἄψυχον γὰρ τὸ λάχανον. εἰ δὲ μετὰ τοῦ αἵματος μεταλάβοις, ψυχὴν ἐσθίεις· διὸ δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔφη, " πλὴν κρέας ἐν αἵματι ψυχῆς οὐκ ἔδεσθε· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ὑμέτερον αἷμα τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν ἐκζητήσω· ἐκ χειρὸς παντῶν τῶν θηρίων ἐκζητήσω αὐτό, ἐκ χειρὸς ἀνθρώπου ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐκζητήσω τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ". ἐνταῦθα αἰνίττεται τὴν ἀνάστασιν, οὐχ ὡς τὰ θηρία παράξων εἰς τὸ κριτήριον καὶ δίκας τῆς ἀνθρωποφαγίας εἰσπραξάμενος, ἀλλ' ὡς τὰ ὑπὸ τούτων καταναλωθέντα σώματα συνάξων τε καὶ ἀναστήσων· " ἐν γὰρ τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς "· καὶ ῥᾴ διον αὐτῷ πάντοθεν συναγαγεῖν τὸ ἡμέτερον σῶμα· ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν 53 αἰνιγματωδῶς τοῦτο δεδήλωκε· διὰ δὲ Ἰεζεκιὴλ σαφέστερον ἐκήρυξε τὴν ἀνάστασιν. LV ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ὅλως τὴν κρεωφαγίαν ἐνομοθέτησεν; Εὐθὺς δημιουργήσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τῆς γῆς αὐτῷ τοὺς καρποὺς ἐδωρή σατο, ἀπὸ σπερμάτων καὶ δένδρων βιοτεύειν κελεύσας· μετὰ δὲ τὸν κατα κλυσμὸν πλείονα φιλοτιμεῖται τροφὴν καὶ πετεινὰ καὶ νηκτὰ καὶ χερσαῖα ζῷα θύειν τε καὶ ἐσθίειν κελεύσας· πάθει πάθος ἐξελαύνων καὶ τῷ ἐλάτ τονι θεραπεύων τὸ μεῖζον· προορῶν γὰρ ὁ Θεός, ὅτι ταῦτα πάντα θεο ποιήσουσιν οἱ εἰς ἐσχάτην ἀλογίαν ἐκπεπτωκότες, συγχωρεῖ τὴν βρῶσιν ἵνα τὴν ἀσέβειαν παύσῃ· ἀβελτηρίας γὰρ ἐσχάτης τὸ ἐσθιόμενον προσ κυνεῖν· διά τοι τοῦτο, τὰ μὲν ἀκάθαρτα τῶν ζῴων λέγει, τὰ δὲ καθαρά, ἵνα τὰ μὲν ὡς ἀκάθαρτα βδελυττόμενοι μὴ θεοποιῶσι, τὰ δὲ μὴ προσκυ νῶσιν ἐσθιόμενα. LVI Τίνος ἕνεκα μὴ ἐμέμφθη Νῶε μέθῃ περιπεσών; Ἀπειρίας ἦν