,

The mind which, like Israel, comes out of the Egypt of sin and has fantasy coming out with it, the deception according to sin, like an impression of evil in the intellect, when, having been a little neglectful, it is left behind by rational discernment, as Israel long ago was by Moses, it establishes the irrational habit, like a calf, which is the mother of all the passions. As earrings, the principles concerning theology which it has naturally received from the pious understanding of beings, as neck ornaments, the God-befitting doctrines about beings engendered in it from natural contemplation, and as bracelets for the hands, the natural energies according to the practice of the virtues, melting them, as in a furnace, in the fiery heat of the impassioned disposition of anger and desire, and through its own activity perfecting sin according to the pre-existing fantasy and form of evil in the intellect, which is always scattered and scatters with itself the mind that commits it and cutting it off from the unitive identity concerning the truth and pouring it out among many and harsh fantasies and opinions of non-beings, it constitutes an irrational habit, which the presence of the divine Logos grinds fine and scatters upon the water, grinding fine by the subtlety of contemplation the thickness of the intellect which is toward sensation in the passions according to appearance, and clearly distinguishing the transformation and confusion of the natural powers into one another that has occurred according to passion, and leading them back again to their own proper principle of knowledge. For this is what “to scatter upon the water” is understood by me to mean.

The discourse, therefore, having summarized in these things, has set forth the entire contemplation of the historical events concerning this passage. But in order that the passage might become clearer, let us contemplate each thing by way of definition, if you please.

A molten calf, then, is the mixture and confusion of the natural powers with one another, or rather, an impassioned and irrational conjunction that brings about the irrational activity of the unnatural passions; one calf, because the habit of evil is one, though scattered into many forms of evil; a calf, because of the enduring, laborious, and agricultural, and as it were ruminative and inventive, as in chewing the cud, quality of the evil disposition concerning the passions; molten, because the habit and activity of the passions is perfected according to the form of the evil fantasy pre-existing in the intellect; and the phrase, “these are your gods, O Israel,” is spoken in the plural, since evil by nature is scattered and unstable and multiform and divisive. For if the good is by nature unitive of what is divided and cohesive, evil is clearly divisive and destructive of what is united.

Earrings are the principles concerning theology that naturally pre-exist in the mind from the pious understanding of beings; 14Β_106 neck ornaments are the correct doctrines about beings according to natural contemplation; bracelets are the activity of the virtues according to practice. Or again, earrings are the innate reason—for the ear is a symbol of reason, a neck ornament is the spirited part—for the neck is a type of stature and tyranny, and bracelets for the hands are desire, signified through the act according to pleasure. Casting all of these things, according to the meaning given for each, into the fire of the passions, the mind perfects the irrational and unintelligent habit of ignorance, the mother of all evils. And it grinds it fine, whenever the mind, having examined with the intellect the thickness of the passion according to its appearance toward sensation, divides and leads back each of the things that create the synthesis of the passion to its own proper principle, and thus it scatters them upon the water, that is, the knowledge of the truth, leading the things that have been distinguished and freed from their evil entanglement and synthesis with one another.

Ὁ κατὰ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ὡς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐξερχόμενος νοῦς καὶ συνεξιοῦσαν ἔχων ἑαυτῷ τῆς καθ᾽ ἁμαρτίαν πλάνης, καθάπερ ἐκτύπωμα κακίας ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ, τὴν φαντασίαν, ἐπὰν μικρὸν ἀμελήσας ἀπολειφθῇ τῆς λογικῆς διακρίσεως, ὡς πάλαι τοῦ Μωσέως ὁ Ἰσραήλ, τὴν ἀλόγιστον, καθάπερ μόσχον, καὶ πάντων μητέρα τῶν παθῶν ἕξιν ὑφίστησιν. Ὡς μὲν ἐνώτια τοὺς λόγους οὓς εἴληφε φυσικῶς περὶ θεολογίας ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων εὐσεβοῦς κατανοήσεως, ὡς δὲ περιτραχηλίους κόσμους τὰς ἐκ τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας ἐγγενομένας αὐτῷ θεοπρεπεῖς περὶ τῶν ὄντων δόξας, ὡς δὲ ψέλλια χειρῶν τὰς κατὰ τὴν πρακτικὴν τῶν ἀρετῶν φυσικὰς ἐνεργείας χωνεύων, ὡς ἐν καμίνῳ, τῇ διαπύρῳ ζέσει τῆς τοῦ θυμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως, καὶ κατὰ τὴν προαποκειμένην τῇ διανοίᾳ τοῦ κακοῦ φαντασίαν τε καὶ μορφὴν δι᾽ ἐνεργείας αὐτῆς τὴν 14Β_104 ἁμαρτίαν ἀποτελῶν, τὴν ἀεὶ σκεδαστὴν καὶ συνδιασκεδάζουσαν ἑαυτῇ τὸν αὐτὴν διαπραττόμενον νοῦν καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἑνικῆς ταὐτότητος αὐτὸν διατέμνουσαν καὶ περὶ πολλὰς καὶ ἀπαγεῖς διαχέουσαν τῶν οὐκ ὄντων φαντασίας τε καὶ δόξας ἀλόγιστον ἕξιν συνίστησιν, ἣν λεαίνει καὶ σπείρει ὑπὸ τὸ ὕδωρ ἡ τοῦ θείου Λόγου παρουσία, τῇ λεπτότητι τῆς θεωρίας τὸ πρὸς αἴσθησιν κατ᾽ ἐπιφάνειαν ἐν τοῖς πάθεσι πάχος τῆς διανοίας λεαίνουσα, καὶ τὴν εἰς ἀλλήλας τῶν φυσικῶν δυνάμεων γενομένην κατὰ τὸ πάθος μεταβολήν τε καὶ σύγχυσιν εὐκρινῶς διαστέλλουσα καὶ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν πάλιν ἀρχὴν τῆς γνώσεως ἐπανάγουσα. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὑπὸ τὸ ὕδωρ σπεῖραί μοι νοεῖται.

Πᾶσαν μὲν οὖν τῶν ἱστορουμένων κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐν τούτοις συντεμὼν παρέθετο τὴν θεωρίαν ὁ λόγος. Ἵνα δὲ σαφέστερον γένηται τὸ χωρίον, ὁριστικῶς ἕκαστον, εἰ δοκεῖ, θεωρήσωμεν.

Μόσχος οὖν ἐστι χωνευτὸς ἡ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν δυνάμεων εἰς ἀλλήλας φύρσις καὶ σύγχυσις, ἢ μᾶλλον σύνοδος ἐμπαθὴς καὶ ἀλόγιστος καὶ τῆς ἀλογίστου τῶν παρὰ φύσιν παθῶν ἐνεργείας ἀποτελεστική· εἷς δὲ μόσχος, ὅτι μία κακίας ἕξις, εἰς πολλὰ κακίας εἴδη διασκεδαζομένη· μόσχος δέ, διὰ τὸ καρτερικὸν καὶ φιλόπονον καὶ γεωργικὸν καὶ οἷον ἀναδοτικὸν καὶ ἐπινοητικόν, ὡς ἐν μηρυκισμῷ, τῆς περὶ τὰ πάθη κακῆς διαθέσεως· χωνευτὸς δέ, ὅτι κατ᾽ εἶδος τῆς προαποκειμένης τῇ διανοίᾳ κακῆς φαντασίας ἡ τῶν παθῶν ἕξις ἀποτελεῖται καὶ ἐνέργεια· τὸ δὲ οὗτοι οἱ θεοί σου, Ἰσραήλ, πληθυντικῶς εἰρημένον, ἐπειδὴ σκεδαστὸν φύσει τὸ κακὸν ὑπάρχει καὶ ἄστατον καὶ πολύμορφον καὶ διαιρετικόν. Εἰ γὰρ φύσει τὸ καλόν ἐστιν ἑνοποιητικὸν τῶν διῃρημένων καὶ συνεκτικόν, τὸ κακὸν δηλονότι τῶν ἡνωμένων ἐστὶ διαιρετικόν τε καὶ φθαρτικόν.

Ἐνώτια δὲ οἱ περὶ θεολογίας τῷ νῷ φυσικῶς ἐνυπάρχοντες ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὄντων εὐσεβοῦς κατανοήσεως τυγχάνουσι λόγοι· 14Β_106 οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν τράχηλον κόσμοι εἰσὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν φυσικὴν θεωρίαν ὀρθὰ περὶ τῶν ὄντων δόγματα· τὰ δὲ ψέλλια ἡ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξίν ἐστιν ἐνέργεια τῶν ἀρετῶν. Ἢ πάλιν ἐνώτιά ἐστιν ὁ ἔμφυτος λόγοςλόγου γὰρ τὸ οὖς σύμβολον, περιτραχήλιος δὲ κόσμος ἐστὶ τὸ θυμικόν ἀναστήματος γὰρ καὶ τυραννίδος τύπος ὁ τράχηλος, ψέλλια δὲ χειρῶν ἡ ἐπιθυμία, διὰ τῆς καθ᾽ ἡδονὴν μηνυομένη πράξεως. Ἅπερ πάντα κατὰ τὴν περὶ ἑκάστου δοθεῖσαν ἔννοιαν ῥίπτων ὁ νοῦς εἰς τὸ πῦρ τῶν παθῶν ἀποτελεῖ τὴν ἄλογον καὶ ἀνόητον τῆς ἀγνοίας ἕξιν, τὴν πάντων μητέρα τῶν κακῶν. Λεπτύνει δὲ αὐτήν, ὁπηνίκα τὸ τοῦ πάθους κατὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν πρὸς αἴσθησιν πάχος τῇ διανοίᾳ διασκοπήσας ὁ νοῦς τῶν ποιούντων τοῦ πάθους τὴν σύνθεσιν πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀρχὴν ἕκαστον διελὼν ἀναγάγῃ, καὶ οὕτως σπείρει ὑπὸ τὸ ὕδωρ, λέγω δὲ τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, ἄγων τὰ διευκρινηθέντα καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα κακῆς ἀπαλλαγέντα συμπλοκῆς καὶ συνθέσεως.