21

they are according to the prophet Isaiah saying: "There *** and flying asps, which were carrying their wealth on asses and camels"; for it is clear that an asp or a lion does not possess perceptible wealth, but that which is indicated tropologically the evil powers symbolically named asps and lions possess, which they do not deposit on a rational animal, nor on oxen able to perform noble and useful work, but upon asses and camels, which are hunched and unclean. These, then, are led out from the worst state by way of repentance, as has been said, with God commanding this; for he does not will the death of the sinner as much as his repentance. 1:25. And God saw that they were good. For the transition from vice to virtue is good. And it must be said that God made these things, re-educating 53 them so that the once venomous beasts, having been freed from their wildness, might pass over into tameness. And just as, if I say that the potter makes the clay, I am not declaring that he is eager for the clay to remain as it is, but that it might become an earthenware vessel, having taken a solid form and no longer being dissolved, so he made the beasts according to allegory, not that they should remain beasts, but that they might pass from the wildness of vice to the most gentle virtue. And since the characters of men are diverse, for this reason it is said in the plural, "And God saw that they were good." That the characters of men are signified by irrational animals is shown from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, when certain men came to the chief of the apostles summoning him to preach the gospel to them, being foreigners. For when he had gone up to the housetop to pray, a certain vessel appeared, like a sheet being let down from heaven to the earth by its four corners, in which were all the four-footed animals and the reptiles and the beasts of the earth, and a voice came to him from heaven, saying, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." But he said, ""By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common and unclean". And a voice came to him again a second time:" "What God has cleansed, you must not call common." Interpreting this vision of the animals that appeared in the sheet, Peter himself, when he came to those who were calling him, says: "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean", referring the four-footed animals and beasts that appeared to men who had been cleansed by having cast off their vice. 54 And this too must be said, that when he said, "Let it bring forth," he was not content with the command but he also acted; for God not only urges toward virtue but also takes hold together with; for God works together for good with the one who chooses the good, so that those who set out to fulfill the command might be able to bring to completion what they are zealous for. For even if one employs his own impulse toward virtue, he is in need of God who graciously gives its outcome and good end. This, indeed, the Savior also shows in the case of miracles, demanding the will on the part of those being healed, in one place saying, "What do you want me to do for you"? and in another, hearing from the leper who was ready in faith, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 1:26-28. And God said: Let us make man in our image and after our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God made man, in the image of God he made him, male and female he made them. And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over all the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Man signifies both the composite animal composed of soul and body and especially the soul. The hidden, therefore, of the

21

τυγχάνουσιν κατὰ τὸν προφήτην Ἠσαίαν λέγοντα· "6Ἐκεῖ *** καὶ ἀσπίδες πετάμενοι οἳ ἔφερον ἐπ' ὄνων καὶ καμήλ̣ω̣ν̣ τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῶν"6· δῆλον γὰ[ρ] οὐκ αἰσθητὸν πλοῦτον ἀσπ[ὶς] ἢ λέων κέκτηται, ἀλλὰ τὸ[ν] κατὰ τροπολογίαν δηλο[ύ]μενον αἱ πονηραὶ δυνάμεις ἀσπίδες καὶ λέοντες συμ̣βο̣λικῶς ὀνομαζόμεναι κέκτηνται, ὃν οὐκ ἐπὶ λο̣γ̣ικὸν ζ̣ῷον οὐκ ἐπὶ βοῦς τοὺς δυναμένους ἐργασίαν σεμνὴν καὶ χρησίμην φέρειν ἐναποτίθενται, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ ὄνων καὶ καμήλων, ἅπερ κεκυρτωμένα καὶ ἀκάθαρτα τυγχάνει. Οὗτοι οὖν ἐξάγονται ἀπὸ τῆς χειρίστης ἕξεως τρόπῳ μετανοίας, ὡς εἴρηται, τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦτο προστάττοντος· οὐ βούλεται γὰρ τὸν θάνα̣τον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ὡς τὴν μετάνοιαν. ι, 25. Καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλά. Καλὸν γὰρ ἡ ἀπὸ κακίας εἰς ἀρετὴν μετάστασις. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πεποιηκέναι τὸν Θεὸν ῥητέον μεταπαιδεύοντα 53 αὐτὰ ὅπως τά ποτε ἰοβόλα θηρία τῆς ἀγριότητος ἀπαλλα- γέντα εἰς ἡμερότητα μεταστῇ. Κ[α]ὶ ὥσπερ, ἐὰν λέγω ὅτι τὸν πηλὸν ὁ κεραμεὺς ποιεῖ, δηλῶ οὐχ ὅτι τοῦτο σπουδάζει ὅπως ἀπομείνῃ ὁ πηλὸς ὡσαύτως, ἀλλ' ἵνα σκεῦος ὀστράκινον γένηται πῆξιν λαβὸν καὶ μηκέτι διαλε- λυμένον ὑπάρχῃ, οὕτως ἐποίησεν τὰ θηρία τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀλληγορίαν, οὐχ ἵνα θηρία μένῃ, ἀλλ' ἵνα μεταστῇ ἀπὸ τ[ῆς] κατὰ κακίαν ἀγριότητος εἰς τὴν πραοτάτην ἀρετήν. Καὶ ἐπεὶ διάφορα τὰ τῶν ἀνθρ̣ώπων ἤθη, διὰ τοῦτο πληθυντικῶς εἴρηται "6Καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλά."6 Ὅτι δὲ τὰ ἤθη τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ ἀλόγων ζῴων σημαίνεται, παρίσταται ἐκ τῆς βιβλίου τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων, ὁπηνίκα ἄνδρες τινὲς παρεγένοντο πρὸς τὸν πρόκριτον τῶν ἀποστόλων μετακαλούμενοι αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ κηρῦξαι αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἀλλογενέσιν οὖσιν. Ἀνελθόντι γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὸ δῶμα προσεύξασθαι ἐφάνη τι σκεῦος ὡς ὀθόνη τέσσαρσιν ἀρχαῖς καθιέμενον ἐκ̣ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς, ἐν ᾧ ὑπῆρχεν πάντα τὰ τετράποδα καὶ τὰ ἑρπετὰ καὶ τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς, φωνὴ δ̣ὲ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦλθεν εἰς αὐτὸν λέγουσα. "6Ἀναστάς, Πέτρε, θῦσον καὶ φάγε."6 Ὃ δὲ ἔφη· "6"3Μηδαμῶς, Κύριε, ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἔφαγον πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον"3. Καὶ φωνὴ πάλιν ἐκ δευτέρου πρὸς αὐτὸν"6 ἐγένετο· "6Ἃ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκαθάρισεν, σὺ μὴ κοίνου."6 Ἥνπερ ὀπτασίαν τῶν ζῴων τῶν ἐν τῇ ὀθόνῃ φανέντων ἑρμηνεύων αὐτὸς ὁ Πέτρος, ὅτε πρὸς τοὺς καλοῦντας ἧκεν, φησίν· "6Κἀμοὶ ἔδειξεν ὁ Θεὸς μηδένα κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον λέγειν ἄνθρωπον"6, εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀνάγων τὰ φανέντα τετράποδα καὶ θηρία καθαρθέντας τῷ ἀποβεβληκέναι [τ]ὴν κακίαν. 54 Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ῥητέον, ὅτι εἰπὼν "6Ἐξαγαγέτω"6 οὐκ ἠρκέσθη τῇ προστ̣άξει ἀλλ' ἐποίησεν· οὐ γὰρ μόνον προτρέπεται Θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀρετὴν ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ συνεφάπτεται· τῷ γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν προαιρουμένῳ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν, ἵνα προθέμενοι ἀνύσαι τὴν πρόσταξιν δυνηθῶσιν ἐπὶ πέρας ἀγαγεῖν τὸ σπουδαζόμενον. Κἂν γάρ τις ἰδίᾳ ὁρμῇ πρὸς ἀρετὴν χρήσηται, ἐπιδεὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ τὴν ἔκβασιν καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν τέλος αὐτῆς [χ]αριζομένου τυγχάνει. Τοῦτό τοι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παραδόξων ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐπιδείκνυται ἀπαιτῶν τὴν παρὰ τῶν ἰωμένων βούλησιν, ὅπου μὲν λέγων· "6Τί θέλετε ἵνα ποιήσω ὑμῖν"6; ὅπου δὲ ἀκούων παρὰ τοῦ λεπροῦ ἑτοίμου ὄντος εἰς πίστιν· "6Ἐὰν θέλῃς, δύνασαί με καθαρίσαι."6 ι, 26-28. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν, καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρω- πον, κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν, ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς. Καὶ ηὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς λέγων· Αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν καὶ κατακυριεύσατε αὐτῆς καὶ ἄρχετε τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ὃ ἄνθρωπος σημαίνει καὶ τὸ σύνθετον ζῶον τὸ ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος συνεστὸς καὶ μάλιστα τὴν ψυχήν. [Τὸν] κρυπτὸν οὖν τῆς