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according to the custom of Scripture, naming each of these sections 'heaven'. For the word of Scripture, in a certain figurative use of terms, names one heaven, the boundary of the denser air, up to which clouds and winds and the nature of high-flying birds are borne. For it speaks of 'clouds of heaven' and 'birds of heaven'; and it does not simply call this 'heaven', but also with the 'firmament'. For it says, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens." Then it names another, both heaven and firmament, that which is observed within, after the sphere of the fixed stars, in which the wandering stars travel. For it says, that "God made the great lights, and set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth." And it is clear to everyone who has in any way considered the arrangement of the universe how much these are subject to the upper motion, and it also names the very highest part of the sensible world, which is the boundary of the intelligible creation, both firmament and heaven. He therefore who desires the things beyond reason, and considers, as he also commands us, none of the things that are seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal; where desire raised him, there he was, lifted up by the power. Since this was shown to him as desirable, and instead of saying, 'I know a man who passed through the whole sensible creation, and came to be in the inner sanctuary of the intelligible nature'; since from a child he has known the sacred writings, he signifies the name with scriptural words, calling the passage through these three sections observed in the universe the 'third heaven'; for he left behind the air; he ran past also the revolution through the midst of the stars; and he crossed over the outermost boundary of the ethereal limits, and having come to be in the stable and intelligible nature, he knows the beauties of paradise, and heard what human nature cannot utter. These things, O man of God, we have answered for you concerning the matters proposed to us by your understanding, neither changing any of the scriptural language into a figurative allegory, nor overlooking anything of the objections brought against us unexamined; but as it was possible, while the language remained in its proper meaning, we followed the sequence of nature through the contemplation of the names, by which we showed, as far as was possible, that none of the things that seem so in a more superficial reading are 124 contradictory, but that they agree with one another; but to go through the rest of the things done according to the cosmogony of the six days, we considered it pointless, since the sublime voice of the teacher omits nothing of the things sought for contemplation; except for the creation of man, which we, having labored on it in a separate book before these things, sent to your perfection, asking both in that discourse and in the present one, you and all who read it, not to suppose that we are setting ourselves up against the teacher's earnest efforts; but there, filling in the gaps as was possible, to add the contemplation on man to the things he labored on concerning the Hexaemeron; and here, for the sake of those who seek for consistency in the scriptural meanings, to have been eager to write these things, so that both the language of what is written might be preserved, and the contemplation of nature might agree with the letter. But if what has been said is deficient, there is no envy, that what is lacking be worked out both by your understanding and by each of the readers. For neither did the contribution of the two mites made by the widow hinder the gift-bearing of the rich; nor did those who brought skins, and wood, and hair to Moses for the making of the tabernacle become an obstacle to those who offered gold and silver and precious stones. And so we too shall be content if our contributions should be judged in the rank of hair, if only through your purple, which is woven with gold, the outer garment might be placed upon the word, whose name is, Oracle and

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κατὰ δὲ τὴν συνήθειαν τῆς Γραφῆς, ἕκαστον τῶν τμημάτων τούτων οὐρανὸν ὀνομάσαντα. Ὁ γὰρ τῆς Γραφῆς λόγος, ἐν καταχρήσει τινὶ ῥημάτων, ἕνα μὲν οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζει, τὸν ὅρον τοῦ παχυμερεστέρου ἀέρος, μέχρις οὗ καὶ νέφη καὶ ἄνεμοι καὶ ἡ τῶν ὑψιπετῶν ὀρνέων φέρεται φύσις. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ νεφέ λας οὐρανοῦ λέγει, καὶ πετεινὰ οὐρανοῦ· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐρανὸν λέγει τοῦτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ στερεώματος. Λέγει γὰρ, «Ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν, καὶ πετεινὰ πετόμενα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατὰ τὸ στερέωμα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.» Εἶτα τὸ ἕτερον, οὐρανόν τε καὶ στερέωμα κατονομάζει, τὸ μετὰ τὴν ἀπλανῆ σφαῖραν περὶ τὸ ἐντὸς θεωρούμενον, ἐν ᾧ οἱ πλανῆται τῶν ἀστέρων διαπορεύονται. Λέγει γὰρ, ὅτι «Ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς φωστῆρας τοὺς μεγάλους, καὶ ἔθετο αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.» Παντὶ δὲ πρό δηλον τῷ ὁπωσοῦν ἐπεσκεμμένῳ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς διακόσ μησιν, ὅσον ὑποβέβληκε ταῦτα περὶ τὴν ἄνω φορὰν, καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ἀκρότατον τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ κόσμου, ὃ μεθόριον τῆς νοητῆς κτίσεως, στερέωμά τε καὶ οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζει. Ὁ οὖν ἐπιθυμητὴς τῶν ὑπὲρ λόγον, καὶ σκοπῶν καθὼς καὶ ἡμῖν ἐγκελεύεται μηδὲν τῶν βλεπο μένων· ὅτι τὰ μὲν βλεπόμενα πρόσκαιρα, τὰ δὲ μὴ βλεπόμενα αἰώνια ὅπου αὐτὸν ἡ ἐπιθυμία ἐπῆρεν, ἐκεῖ ἐγένετο ὑψωθεὶς τῇ δυνάμει. Τοῦτο ἐπιθυμητὸν αὐτῷ προδεικνύντος, καὶ ἀντὶ εἰπεῖν, Οἶδα ἄνθρωπον πᾶσαν τὴν αἰσθητὴν διαβάντα κτίσιν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀδύτοις τῆς νοητῆς γενόμενον φύσεως· ἐπειδὴ ἐκ παιδὸς τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδεν, ταῖς γρα φικαῖς φωναῖς διασημαίνει τὸ ὄνομα, τρίτον οὐρα νὸν ὀνομάσας τὴν τῶν τριῶν τούτων τῶν ἐν τῷ παντὶ θεωρουμένων τμημάτων διέξοδον· κατέλιπε γὰρ τὸν ἀέρα· παρέδραμε καὶ τὴν διὰ μέσου τῶν ἀστέρων κυκλοφορίαν· ἐπέρασε δὲ καὶ τὴν ἄκραν τῶν αἰθερίων ὅρων περιβολὴν, καὶ ἐν τῇ στασίμῳ καὶ νοητῇ φύσει γενόμενος, οἶδε τὰ τοῦ παραδείσου κάλλη, καὶ ἤκουσεν ἃ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις οὐ φθέγγεται. Ταῦτά σοι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ, περὶ τῶν προβληθέντων ἡμῖν παρὰ τῆς συνέσεώς σου ἀπεκρινάμεθα, μήτε τι τῆς γραφικῆς λέξεως εἰς τροπικὴν ἀλληγορίαν μεταποιήσαντες, μήτε παριδόντες τι τῶν ἀντιτε θέντων ἡμῖν ἀνεξέταστον· ἀλλ' ὡς ἦν δυνατὸν μενούσης τῆς λέξεως ἐπὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἐμφάσεως, τῷ τῆς φύσεως εἱρμῷ διὰ τῆς θεωρίας τῶν ὀνομά των ἠκολουθήσαμεν, δι' ὧν τὸ μηδὲν ὑπεναντίως 124 ἔχειν τῶν δοκούντων κατὰ τὴν ἐπιπολαιοτέραν ἀνά γνωσιν, ἃ συμφωνεῖν ἀλλήλοις, καθὼς ἦν δυνατὸν, ἀπεδείξαμεν· τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς ἐπεξιέναι τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἑξαήμερον κοσμογονίαν πεποιημένων, μάταιον ἐνομίσαμεν, τῆς ὑψηλῆς τοῦ διδασκάλου φωνῆς μη δὲν τῶν ζητουμένων εἰς θεωρίαν παραλειπούσης· πλὴν τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῆς, ἢν ἡμεῖς ἐν ἰδιάζοντι βιβλίῳ πρὸ τούτων πονήσαντες, ἀπεστείλα μέν σου τῇ τελειότητι, τοῦτο καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι, σέ τε καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐντυγχά νοντας παραιτούμενοι, τὸ μὴ οἴεσθαι ἡμᾶς ἀντεγεί ρειν ἑαυτοὺς ταῖς τοῦ διδασκάλου σπουδαῖς· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ μὲν ἀναπληροῦντας ὡς ἦν δυνατὸν τὰ ἐλλείμματα, προσθεῖναι τὴν εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον θεωρίαν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἑξαήμερον πονηθεῖσιν αὐτῷ· ἐνταῦθα δὲ διὰ τοὺς ἐπιζητοῦντας ἐν τοῖς γραφικοῖς νοήμασι τὸ ἀκόλουθον, ταῦτα γράψαι προθυμηθῆναι, ὡς ὁμοῦ τε τὴν λέξιν ἐπὶ τῶν γεγραμμένων φυλάττεσθαι, καὶ τὴν φυσικὴν θεωρίαν συναγορεύειν τῷ γράμματι. Εἰ δὲ ἐλλειπῶς ἔχει τὰ εἰρημένα, φθόνος οὐδεὶς παρά τε τῆς σῆς συνέσεως, καὶ παρὰ ἑκάστου τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ἐξεργασθῆναι τὰ λείποντα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν πλουσίων τὴν δωροφορίαν ἐκώλυσεν ἡ τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν γεγενημένη παρὰ τῆς χήρας ἐπίδοσις· οὔθ' ὅσοι τὰ δέρματα, καὶ τὰ ξύλα, καὶ τὰς τρίχας τῷ Μωσῇ πρὸς τὴν σκηνοποιίαν εἰσήνεγκαν, ἐμπόδιον τοῖς τὸν χρυσὸν καὶ τὸν ἄργυρον, καὶ τοὺς τιμίους τῶν λίθων ἀνατιθεῖσιν ἐγένοντο. Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοίνυν ἀγαπήσομεν εἰ ἐν τριχῶν τάξει τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν κριθείη, μόνον γένοιτο διὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας πορφύρας, τῆς τῷ χρυσίᾳ συμπλεκομένης, ἐπιτεθῆναι τῷ λόγῳ τὸν ἐπενδύτην, ᾧ ὄνομά ἐστι, Λόγιόν τε