Collectio dictorum veteris testamenti

 is forced to descend into a foreign state and if the demons should see any good understanding accompanying him, they hasten to subject it to the sowi

 escaping. The heifer, taken first, signified the first generation. For just as the heifer struggles against the yoke, so also the first generation of

 the river, but to keep alive every female. For the devil, the spiritual Pharaoh, also conceived a threefold manner of plotting against the spiritual I

 He interprets what that one speaks spiritually and obscurely, and transforms his weak voice to be more melodious. For I have not come, he says, to abo

 the Gospel according to Christ, had as a son the multitude of those being reborn to it through the Holy Spirit whom she also circumcised with a stone

 and easy to comprehend is the mystery concerning Christ. But God did not lead the Jews to this immediately, but through the long law and the many ridd

 Moses commanded Joshua son of Nun to choose mighty men and go out and fight 77.1196 Amalek, signified that Jesus Christ would be subject to the comman

 of the people of the Jews, and servant of God, he ascends to the highest knowledge of God but the people are prevented from approaching, lest they di

 coming after it, demands this final penalty, as one who, after being freed from the burden of sin, is again voluntarily subjected to it. And He comman

 But the eighth ineffably suggests the mystery of the eternal well-being of the 77.1204 beings. The sixth day is called Preparation, because on it the

 and poverty of intellect, they make their neighbors, that is, those of the same faith, partners, so that through one another they may be raised to hig

 unmixed with wickedness, those partaking of the true Lamb nourish their own soul, throughout the whole weekly age, which is measured by the week. And

 the body bears uncircumcision. Circumcision is mystical, a voluntary removal of the passions. The circumcision of circumcision is the putting away of

 of rational discernment, as Israel did in the time of Moses, commits idolatry. For having cast into the fire of the passions the words concerning theo

 to do good things, and to walk toward good things. Humpbacked is the one bent downwards, and not able to look up from earthly things. Sun-spotted is o

 God, ostracizing stupidity, and wishing his subjects to belong to necessity alone, through the not weaving together of linen and wool, banished variet

 but in heaven God Himself whom alone they both worship and attend. And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, an

 they were catechized by the evangelists. Or otherwise, the four types of meanings were a symbol of the four types of moral discourse. Of which the one

 Aaron's rod, as a symbol of watchfulness. For to Jeremiah, seeing a staff of a nut tree, God says: Behold, I am watchful over my words. And it budded

 bracelets, and rings, and armlets, and braided chains. For the leaders of the people in Christ and the eminent often surpass the evangelical commands

 with bodily ways of the ministry of the virtues, they return to the contemplation of kindred intelligible things. A foreign boy and a servant-girl are

 undertaking. For she will pay the penalty for the offense to God, the Father of spirits, and she will be his wife, as having already been joined to hi

 of the other man wherefore he is required to pay the penalty for the murder, but he alone suffers loss in his soul. For this, I think, is what this m

 war for one year he shall cheer his wife, whom he has taken. For it is not right that one who has just taken a spouse for himself should be led out t

 Virtue is the mother of the good deeds from it. And its nest is the soul in which it dwells. It is necessary for those who encounter them to be benefi

 its fruit for three years will be unpurified for you. It shall not be eaten, and in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy to the Lord. But in th

 dragging down to earth, those things that draw up to heaven. Saul, is the natural 77.1249 law, which from the beginning received from the Lord the lot

 David is the law according to the spirit, who reigns over the Christians who worship God spiritually. But Saul is the law according to the letter, who

 the face of the Lord, according to David, and learns the cause of such a famine, that this injustice was against Saul, and against his house, with whi

 taking from the spiritual David, that is, the law according to the spirit, may kill the aforementioned sons and grandsons of 77.1257 Saul then in eve

 of knowledge, if it should receive the divine and discerning word, which brings to memory former sins, and will prefer even to nature itself the heali

 The Lord in the desert I mean in the world, and in the nature of men, digging out and cleansing the hearts of the worthy from material weight and min

 of the city. Since Hezekiah is interpreted as 'strength of God,' every mind 77.1265 that through practical philosophy has acquired divine strength, wh

 through themselves they again turn him away, as he flees into his land which is the fixed habit of evil, whom his sons kill as he is fleeing, and the

 the king of the Assyrians, flees to God, and silently cries out to Him, through progress in virtue and knowledge, and receives an angel as an ally th

 at once a philosopher and a lover of God has both Judah and Jerusalem the one taken as the habit of confession and repentance for Judah is interpret

 becomes a lofty and exalted mind, and in the good things given to it by God, boasts as if in its own accomplishments. There comes by providence upon t

 the spear and the flask of water that is, the power of practical virtue, and the grace of gnostic contemplation, even if he again gives these things

 of king Darius, I mean of the natural law, having conquered by him, lifts up his face to heaven, that is, the disposition of the soul, in which are th

 not being guarded. For lead is a symbol of punishment, but silver of brightness. And the seven eyes of this practical faith are the seven gifts of the

 constituted. For since matter is indeed a tetrad, because of the tetraktys of its elements, and form is a pentad, because of the fivefold nature of se

 they rise up for mischief. And approaching Zerubbabel, and Joshua and the leaders of the families, they say to them: We will build with you for like

of the other man; wherefore he is required to pay the penalty for the murder, but he alone suffers loss in his soul. For this, I think, is what this means: But he that is dead shall be for him. If a man is found stealing a person from his brethren, of the sons of Israel, and having overcome him, sells him, that thief shall die. He who through deceit has stolen one who has chosen to think rightly and pursues a life free from evil, and having overcome him and sold him into the slavery of impious doctrines or bodily passions, shall die a spiritual death. If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox. Both the ox and the sheep are likewise clean and offered to God, and both are a type of those who have been cleansed through faith in Christ and holy baptism, and are offered to God. For these too, having cloven hooves, as walking by means of action and contemplation, and chewing the cud, as refining the grosser food of the word into a higher contemplation, are stabled in the divine courts of the Church. But the ox is a symbol of the higher things; while the sheep is of the lower; for the ox is greater, and the sheep is lesser. If, therefore, a heretic steals one of these secretly, and having led him away from piety kills him with the sword of impious doctrines, or sells him to 77.1240 passions that enslave him, he shall pay a penalty in proportion to the former virtue of the one who was stolen. For this is indicated by the greater and lesser penalty. But if the thief is found, he says, breaking in, [φ. δ. καὶ] and being struck dies, murder will not be reckoned. For one who is found breaking into the Church, in order to steal a soul, if someone happens to kill him, he is not liable for murder, at least according to the civil law, as one who is robbing more openly and shamelessly. But if the sun has risen upon him, he says, he who killed him shall be liable. For if the sun of repentance and piety should rise upon the one who is stealing, as has been said, the one who killed him shall be liable, as having slain a pious man and a fellow believer. But if he has nothing, he says, let him be sold for his theft. For the word knows the thief who does not have the means to ward off the charges with ransoms—I mean, ways of repentance and of counterbalancing the sins—to be without honor; for he who is sold is without honor. But if it is caught, he says, and the stolen thing is found in his hand, he shall pay double. For not yet having carried it off to destruction, he will suffer a small penalty; for the owner will take back his own again, and will demand from the thief an account of the theft. The law through Moses commanded not to go out to war: neither the one who has built a new house and has not dedicated it, nor the one who has planted a vineyard and has not rejoiced from it, nor the one who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her, nor the one who is fearful in heart. The one who has built the new house is a type of him who considers the present life a permanent dwelling, and not a temporary sojourn; the one who planted the vineyard, of the lover of gain; the one who betrothed the wife, of the lover of the flesh. Or, in another way: The first is of the lover of glory. The second, of the lover of money. The third, of the lover of pleasure. Through these three, the three general kinds of evil were shown. For the coward is divided among these three. For all who are held by these are cowards, and not only are they unfit for the spiritual war, but they might also become a cause of cowardice and flight for others. For the possession of the aforementioned passions turns them back, and evil companionships corrupt good morals. Wherefore also the great Paul, rebuking those who were hindering him from going up to Jerusalem, said: What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone takes a wife recently, he shall not go out to

τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου· διὸ καὶ ἀπαιτεῖται μὲν δίκην ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀναιρέσεως, αὐτὸς δὲ μόνος ζημιοῦται κατὰ ψυχήν. Τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, δηλοῖ, τό· Ὁ δὲ τετελυτηκὼς αὐτῷ ἔσται. Ἐὰν ἄνθρωπος κλέπτων ψυχὴν ἐκ τῶν ἀδελ φῶν αὑτοῦ, τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καταδυνα στεύσας ἀποδῶται, ἀποθανεῖται ὁ κλέπτης ἐκεῖνος. Ὁ δι' ἀπάτης ὑφελὼν τὸν ὀρθὰ φρονεῖν ἑλόμενον, καὶ μετερχόμενον βίον ἐλεύθερον κακίας, καὶ καταδυναστεύσας καὶ ἀποδόμενος εἰς δουλείαν ἀσεβῶν δογμάτων, ἢ σωματικῶν παθῶν, ἀποθανεῖται θάνατον ψυχικόν. Ἐάν τις κλέψῃ μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον, καὶ σφάξῃ ἢ ἀποδῶται, εʹ μόσχους ἀποτίσει ἀντὶ τοῦ μόσχου. Καὶ ὁ μόσχος καὶ τὸ πρόβατον καθαρὰ ὁμοίως καὶ τῷ Θεῷ προσαγόμενα, καὶ ἄμφω τύπος τῶν καθαρθέντων διὰ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως καὶ τοῦ ἀγίου βαπτίσματος, καὶ Θεῷ προσαγομένων. ∆ιχηλοῦντες γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι ὡς διὰ πράξεως καὶ θεωρίας βαδίζοντες, καὶ μηρυκισμὸν ἀνάγοντες, ὡς τὴν παχυτέραν τοῦ λόγου τροφὴν καταλεπτύνοντες εἰς θεωρίαν ὑψηλοτέραν, καὶ ταῖς θείαις αὐλαῖς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐνσεσηκισμένοι. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν μόσχος σύμβολον τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων· τὸ δὲ πρόβατον τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων· μείζων μὲν γὰρ ὁ μόσχος, μεῖον δὲ τὸ πρόβατον. Ἐάν τις τοιγαροῦν αἱρετικὸς κλέψῃ τινὰ τούτων λεληθότως, καὶ ἀπαγαγὼν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀποκτείνῃ τῇ μαχαίρᾳ τῶν ἀσεβῶν δογμάτων, ἣ ἀποδῶται πά 77.1240 θεσι καταδουλοῦσιν αὐτὸν, ἀνάλογον τῇ προτέρᾳ ἀρετῇ τοῦ κλαπέντος, ἀποτίσει δίκην. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῦται διὰ τῆς μείζονος ζημίας καὶ μείονος. Ἐὰν δὲ ἐν τῷ διορύγματι, φησὶν, εὑρεθῇ ὁ κλέπτης, [φ. δ. καὶ] πληγεὶς ἀποθάνῃ, οὐ λογισθήσεται φόνος. Τὸν γὰρ εὑρισκόμενον διορύττοντα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἵνα κλέψῃ ψυχὴν, εἰ τύχῃ τις ἀνελὼν, οὐκ ἐνέχεται φόνῳ, ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ πολιτικῷ νόμῳ, ὡς φανερώτερον καὶ ἀναισχύντως λῃστεύοντα. Ἐὰν δὲ ἀνατείλῃ, φησὶν, ἐπ' αὐτὸν ὁ ἥλιος, ἔνοχος ἔσται ὁ ἀνελών. Εἰ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν, ὡς εἴρηται, κλέπτοντα ἀνατείλῃ ὁ ἥλιος τῆς μετανοίας καὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας, ἔνοχος ἔσται ὁ ἀνελὼν, ὡς εὐσεβῆ καὶ ὁμόπιστον ἀνῃρηκώς. Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ὑπάρχῃ αὐτῷ, φησὶ, πραθήτω ἀντὶ τοῦ κλέμματος. Τὸν γὰρ μὴ ἔχοντα λύτροις ἀποκρούεσθαι τὰ ἐγκλήματα κλέπτην, λέγω δὴ τρόπους μετανοίας καὶ ἀντισηκώσεως τῶν ἡμαρτημένων, ἄτιμον οἶδεν ὁ λόγος· ὁ γὰρ πιπρασκόμενος, ἄτιμος. Ἐὰν δὲ καταληφθῇ, φησὶ, καὶ εὑρεθῇ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ κλέμμα, διπλοῦν ἀποτίσει. Μή πω γὰρ ἀποκομίσας εἰς ὄλεθρον, ὀλίγην ὑποστήσεται ζημίαν· ἀναλήψεται γὰρ πάλιν τὸ οἰκεῖον ὁ δεσπότης, καὶ προσαπαιτήσει τὸν κλέπτην λόγους τῆς κλοπῆς. Ἐκέλευσεν ὁ διὰ Μωσέως νόμος μὴ ἐξελθεῖν εἰς πόλεμον, μήτε τὸν οἰκοδομήσαντα οἰκίαν καινὴν, καὶ μὴ ἐγκαινίσαντα αὐτὴν, μήτε τὸν φυτεύσαντα ἀμπελῶνα, καὶ μὴ εὐφρανθέντα ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, μήτε τὸν μνηστευσάμενον γυναῖκα, καὶ μὴ λαβόντα αὐτὴν, μήτε τὸν δειλὸν τῇ καρδίᾳ. Τύπος δὲ τοῦ μὲν κατοικίαν, ἀλλ' οὐ παροικίαν, τὸν παρόντα βίον ἡγουμένου, τὴν καινὴν οἰκίαν οἰκοδομήσανται· τοῦ δὲ φιλοκερδοῦς ὁ τὸν ἀμπελῶνα φυτεύσας· τοῦ φιλοσάρκου ὁ τὴν γυναῖκα μνηστευσάμενος. Ἢ καὶ ἑτέρως· Ὁ πρῶτος μὲν τοῦ φιλοδόξου. Ὁ δεύτερος δὲ τοῦ φιλαργύρου. Ὁ τρίτος δὲ τοῦ φιληδόνου. ∆ιὰ τῶν τριῶν δὲ τούτων τὰ τρία γενικὰ εἴδη τῆς κακίας ἐφαίνετο. Ὁ γὰρ δειλὸς τοῖς τρισὶ τούτοις ἐπιμερίζεται. ∆ειλοὶ γὰρ πάντες οἱ τούτοις ἐνεχόμενοι, καὶ οὐ μόνον ἀδόκιμοι πρὸς νοητὸν πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοις αἴτιοι γένοιντ' ἂν δειλίας καὶ φυγῆς. Ἐπιστρέφει γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἡ τῶν εἰρημένων παθῶν σχέσις, καὶ φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ μέγας Παῦλος ἐπιτιμῶν τοῖς κωλύουσιν αὐτὸν ἀναβαίνειν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ἕλεγε· Τί ποιεῖτε κλαίοντες καὶ συνθρύπτοντές μου τὴν καρδίαν; Ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐ μόνον δεθῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἑτοίμως ἔχω ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐὰν δέ τις λάβη γυναῖκα προσφάτως, οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται εἰς