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he named; since it is also said concerning the winds: "who walks upon the wings of the winds," not that we should by any means fall into corporeal images, as if the winds were winged like birds. But of the wings of the seraphim, that is, of powers effective of wondrous works, two indeed covered the face, not the Lord's, but their own, so as not to dare to gaze intently upon what was being seen. Wherefore "no one has known the Son except only the Father who begot him." And they also covered their own feet, shadowing the end of their own course and, as one might say, their steps and the deeds of their life, so that they might not stand before their own king with uncovered feet. Therefore, being veiled and as if hiding the course of their own life, they allowed only the middle state of themselves to be seen, and they marveled exceedingly at the wisdom of the intermediate providence and administration of the Only-Begotten himself, not daring to gaze upon the face of his divinity nor likewise upon his feet on account of the infinite magnitude of his unending and incomprehensible nature, but being utterly astounded at the ineffable divinity of the one being seen. Symmachus rendered it in this way: In the year that king Ozias died I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the things at his feet filled the temple. seraphim standing above, each with six wings. And he says that the things at his feet had filled the temple, since the temple on earth was constituted in the "footstool" of God; "For heaven is his throne, and the earth is the footstool of his feet." Therefore, it was fittingly said that the things filling the house on earth were at the feet of the one who was seen. And seraphim were standing above; above what, if not the house? For certainly not above the Lord. And the prophet laments himself, because he was silent, not crying out together with the seraphim nor similarly proclaiming with them the hymn of the theology of the sanctification of the Lord, and he says the reason for his silence was that he had unclean lips from his converse with the impious people. One cried out to the other and shouted, saying: Holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of his glory. And they did not utter one voice, nor did they send it up all at once together, but one to another, each showing his own wonder and astonishment at what was being seen. And what especially astonished them was the descent of the glory of God the Word from the highest to the lowest things. This at least caused them the greatest wonder, that not only was heaven full of his glory, but it had already reached even to the earth, so that the entire earth was filled with his glory; for this is an excess of philanthropy from the one who sits upon the highest throne, but also fills the things on earth, among which, for the time being according to the old way, the temple in Jerusalem was filled at the time of this vision. Wherefore it was said above: "and the house was full of his glory." The seraphim cried out, praising, but that the whole earth also was about to be full of his glory; for through foreknowledge of the future they marveled exceedingly. Which indeed was also accomplished in accordance with the divine decrees after the coming of our Savior among men; for from that time, truly, it was made known to all the nations and was proclaimed in all the earth, not only the knowledge, but also the glory of the theology concerning him. For since they saw that his glory was about to shine forth upon the earth, suffering no loss from the earthly and corruptible substance, they rightly cried out: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth, not once his sanctification, but many times, or rather innumerably and infinitely and forever, being utterly astounded. Wherefore one cried to another, each one showing his own wonder to his neighbor. And the lintel was lifted up. At this cry the lintel of the temple was lifted up, and the house was filled with smoke, the word mystically hinting, that when the whole earth was filled

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ὠνόμασεν· ἐπεὶ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀνέμων εἴρηται· «ὁ περιπατῶν ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀνέμων», οὐ πάντως ἐκπιπτόντων ἡμῶν ἐπὶ σχήματα σωματικά, ὡς τῶν ἀνέμων ὀρνέων δίκην πτερυττομένων. τῶν δὲ περὶ τὰ σεραφεὶμ πτερύγων ἤτοι δυνάμεων παραδόξων ἔργων ἀποτελεστικῶν, δύο μὲν τὸ πρόσωπον ἐκάλυπτον, οὐ τὸ τοῦ κυρίου, ἀλλὰ τὸ αὑτῶν, ὡς μὴ τολμᾶν ἀτενὲς ἀφορᾶν εἰς τὸ θεωρούμενον. διὸ «οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ μόνον ὁ γεννήσας αὐτὸν πατήρ». καὶ τοὺς πόδας δὲ ἐκάλυπτον τοὺς ἑαυτῶν, τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς οἰκείας πορείας καὶ ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, τὰ βήματα καὶ τοῦ βίου τὰς πράξεις ἐπισκιάζοντα, ὡς μὴ ἀκαλύπτοις ποσὶν τῷ ἑαυτῶν παραστήκοιεν βασιλεῖ. διὸ ἐγκαλυπτόμενα καὶ ὥσπερ ἀποκρύπτοντα τὴν τοῦ βίου ἑαυτῶν πορείαν, τὴν μέσην μόνην παρεῖχον ὁρᾶν ἑαυτῶν κατάστασιν, καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ μονογενοῦς τῆς μέσης προνοίας καὶ διοικήσεως τὴν σοφίαν ὑπερεθαύμαζον, μήτε εἰς τὸ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον ἐνατενίζειν τολμῶντα μήτε τοῖς ποσὶν ὡσαύτως διὰ τὸ ἀπειρομεγέθες τῆς ἀτελευτήτου καὶ ἀκαταλήπτου φύσεως, ὑπερεκπληττόμενα δὲ τὴν ἄρρητον θεότητα τοῦ θεωρουμένου. ὁ Σύμμαχος τοῦτον ἐξέδωκε τὸν τρόπον· τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ ᾧ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεὺς εἶδον τὸν κύριον σαβαὼθ καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, καὶ τὰ πρὸς ποδῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπλήρου τὸν ναόν. σεραφεὶμ ἑστῶτα ἐπάνωθεν ἑκάστου ἓξ πτέρυγες. τὰ δὲ πρὸς ποδῶν αὐτοῦ πεπληρωκέναι τὸν ναὸν λέγει, ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἐπὶ γῆς νεὼς ἐν τῷ «ὑποποδίῳ» τοῦ θεοῦ συνειστήκει· «Ὁ οὐρανὸς γὰρ αὐτοῦ θρόνος, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ». εἰκότως οὖν τὰ πληροῦντα τὸν ἐπὶ γῆς οἶκον πρὸς ποδῶν ἐλέγετο τοῦ ἑωραμένου. σεραφεὶμ δὲ ἑστήκει ἐπάνωθεν, τίνος ἐπάνωθεν ἢ τοῦ οἴκου, οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦ κυρίου. ὁ δὲ προφήτης ἑαυτὸν ταλανίζει, ὅτι ἐσιώπησε μὴ συναναβοήσας τοῖς σεραφεὶμ μηδὲ ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς τὸν ὕμνον τῆς θεολογίας τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἀνειπών, αἴτιον δὲ αὐτῷ τῆς σιωπῆς γεγονέναι τὸ ἀκάθαρτά φησιν ἐσχηκέναι χείλη ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἀσεβῆ λαὸν ὁμιλίας. Ἕτερος πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον ἐβόα καὶ ἔκραγεν λέγοντα· Ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος σαβαώθ, πλήρης πᾶσα ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. οὐ μίαν δὲ ἠφίεσαν φωνὴν οὐδὲ ἀθρόως ὁμοῦ τὰ πάντα κοινῇ ταύτην ἀνέπεμπον, ἀλλ' ἕτερος πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον ἐμφαίνων τὸ ἑαυτοῦ θαῦμα καὶ τὴν ἔκπληξιν τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ θεωρουμένῳ. μάλιστα δὲ ὑπερεξέπληττεν αὐτὰ ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων ἐπὶ τὰ ταπεινὰ κατάβασις τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. τοῦτο γοῦν αὐτοῖς παρεῖχεν θαῦμα μέγιστον, ὅτι μὴ μόνος ὁ οὐρανὸς πλήρης ἐτύγχανεν τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ μέχρι γῆς ἔφθανεν, ὡς πληροῦσθαι τὴν σύμπασαν γῆν τῆς αὐτοῦ δόξης· ὑπερβολὴ γὰρ αὕτη φιλανθρωπίας τοῦ καθημένου μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὑψηλοτάτου θρόνου, πληροῦντος δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς, ἐν οἷς τέως κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν ὁ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις νεὼς ἐπληροῦτο κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς τούτων θέας. διὸ ἀνωτέρω ἐλέγετο· «καὶ πλήρης ὁ οἶκος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ». τὰ σεραφεὶμ εὐφημοῦντα ἐβόα, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ πλήρης ἔσεσθαι ἔμελλεν τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ· προγνώσει γὰρ τοῦ μέλλοντος ὑπερεθαύμαζον. ὃ δὴ καὶ ἀκολούθως τοῖς θεσπίσμασιν ἐτελεῖτο μετὰ τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πάροδον· ἐξ ἐκείνου γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς πᾶσιν ἐγνώσθη τοῖς ἔθνεσιν καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν ἐκηρύχθη τὴν γῆν, οὐ μόνον ἡ γνῶσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ δόξα τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ θεολογίας. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἑώρων αὐτοῦ τὴν δόξαν ἐπὶ γῆς μέλλουσαν ἐκλάμπειν μηδὲν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς γεώδους καὶ φθαρτῆς οὐσίας ζημιουμένην, εἰκότως ἀνεβόων τό· Ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος σαβαώθ, οὐχ ἅπαξ τὸν ἁγιασμὸν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλάκις, μᾶλλον δὲ εἰς ἀναρίθμητον καὶ εἰς ἄπειρον καὶ εἰς ἀεὶ ὑπερεκπληττόμενα. διὸ ἕτερος πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον ἐκεκράγει ἐμφαίνων ὁ καθ' εἷς τῷ πλησίον τὸ ἑαυτοῦ θαῦμα. καὶ ἐπήρθη τὸ ὑπέρθυρον. ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ βοῇ τὸ ὑπέρθυρον τοῦ ναοῦ ἐπήρθη, καὶ ὁ οἶδος ἐνεπλήσθη καπνοῦ, ἀπορρήτως αἰνιττομένου τοῦ λόγου, ὡς ἄρα πληρουμένης πάσης τῆς γῆς