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 knowledge, if it should receive the divine and discerning word, which brings to memory former sins, and will prefer even to nature itself the healing that comes from it; it will have the flesh as a water pot, providing the bread of the virtues, and the mind as a vessel, pouring forth the light of knowledge; and the innate reasoning, as a son, laying aside the impassioned life, and being accounted worthy in a new way of the dispassionate. The word of holy Scripture, having slightly shed for the higher thoughts the composition of the sayings corporeally formed upon it, is made known, as in the voice of a gentle breeze, to the more discerning mind, which is only able to receive a sense of the simplicity that reveals it. And since Horeb is interpreted as "Newness," and a cave is a hidden place, everyone who, like the great Elijah, truly seeks God, will be not only in Horeb, being young and flourishing in the labors of the virtues, but also in the cave that is in Horeb; I mean, in the hiddenness of knowledge, which is in the state of the virtues. FROM THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS. Concerning Elisha and the chariot. The upper room and the chariot signified the exalted and enlightened life of Elisha. The barren streams were a type of humanity fruitless toward piety. But the salt, of the teaching of the Savior. Wherefore He also later said to the apostles, You are the salt of the earth. But Elisha who healed them, through imitation of Christ Himself, touching the memory of the saints; which memory, like relics, bears their deeds and accomplishments; one lays aside the deadening of the passions, and receives the life of the virtues. FROM THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES. Concerning Uzziah. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem and at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the corners, and he built towers in the wilderness. Just as Solomon up to a point was a type of Christ, so also Uzziah up to a point. For Uzziah is interpreted as "strength of God," and Christ is the hypostatic strength and power of God the Father, building in the vision of peace—for this is the interpretation of Jerusalem—I mean for those more perfect in the state of contemplation, towers of the dogmas concerning his divinity. And since the Church of the faithful is a corner, as uniting and holding together two walls, both the people from the Jews and the people from the Gentiles, its gates might be understood as the introductory and those inferior to the more contemplative; upon whom again he builds towers of the dogmas concerning his incarnation. And since our flesh is understood as a ravine, because it is from below, a corner of this would be the connection to the soul in spirit, upon which he builds towers of the evangelical commandments. And the said dogmas and evangelical commandments are towers, as being high, and guarding and protecting and securing. And since he also built towers upon the corners, we shall understand corners as the various unions of the divided things which came to be through Christ; I mean, of created and uncreated nature, and also of humans and of angels and such things, upon which he builds towers of the principles and modes for each union. And the wilderness is the nature of phenomena, that is, this world, in which he built as towers the principles of beings, the knowledge of natural contemplation in the spirit. And he hewed many cisterns, because he had many cattle, in Shephelah in the plain, and vine-dressers in the hill country, and in Carmel, because he was a husbandman. He hews cisterns who

γνώσεως, εἴπερ ὑποδέξεται τὸν θεῖον καὶ διαγνωστικὸν λόγον, εἰς μνήμην ἄγοντα τῶν προτέρων ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ προτιμήσει καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν θεραπείαν· ἕξει τὴν σάρκα μὲν ὡς ὑδρίαν, χορηγοῦσαν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν ἀρετῶν, τὸν νοῦν δὲ ὡς καμψάκην, πηγάζοντα τὸ φῶς τῆς γνώσεως· τὸν ἔμφυτον δὲ λογισμὸν, ὡς υἱὸν, τὴν ἐμπαθῆ μὲν ζωὴν ἀποτιθέμενον, τῆς ἀπαθοῦς δὲ καινοπρεπῶς ἀξιούμενον. Ὁ τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς λόγος τοῖς ὑψηλοτέροις νοήμασι μικρὸν ἐκδυσάμενος τὴν τῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ σωματικῶς διαπεπλασμένων ῥητῶν σύνθεσιν, ὡς ἐν φωνῇ αὔρας λεπτῆς γνωρίζεται τῷ διορατικωτέρῳ νοΐ· αἴσθησιν μόνον ἰσχύοντι λαβεῖν τῆς μηνυούσης αὐτὸν ἁπλότητος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ μὲν Χωρὴβ, Νέωμα ἑρμηνεύεται· πὸ δὲ σπήλαιον κρύφιός ἐστι τόπος· πᾶς κατὰ τὸν μέγαν Ἠλίαν ζητῶν ἀληθῶς τὸν Θεὸν, οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ Χωρὴβ γενήσεται νεάζων καὶ ἀκμάζων ἐν τοῖς πόνοις τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ ἐν Χωρήβ· λέγω δὴ τῇ κρυφιότητι τῆς γνώσεως, τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν τῇ ἕξει τῶν ἀρετῶν. ΤΗΣ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ. Περὶ Ἑλισσαίου καὶ δίφρου. Τὸ ὑπερῷον καὶ ὁ δίφρος τὴν ὑψηλὴν καὶ πεφωτισμένην Ἑλισσαίου πολιτείαν ἐδήλου. Τὰ μὲν ἀτεκνοῦντα ῥεύματα τύπος ἦν τῆς ἀγόνου πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ἀνθρωπότητος. Οἱ δ' ἄλες, τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ Σωτῆρος. ∆ιὸ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ὕστερον ἔλεγεν, Ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς. Ὁ δ' ἰασάμενος αὐτὰ Ἑλισσαῖος, αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ, διὰ μιμήσεως ἁπτόμενος τῆς μνήμης τῶν ἁγίων· ἥ τις ὡς λείψανα φέρει τὰς πράξεις αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ κατορθώματα· τὴν μὲν τῶν παθῶν νέκρωσιν ἀποτίθεται, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἀρετῶν ζωὴν ὑποδέχεται. ΤΗΣ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΑΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΠΟΜΕΝΩΝ. Περὶ Ὀζίου. Καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν Ὀζίας πύργους ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τῆς γωνίας, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν γωνίαν τῆς φάραγγος, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν γωνιῶν, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε πύργους ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Ὥσπερ Σολομὼν μέχρι τινὸς ὑπῆρχε Χριστοῦ· οὕτω καὶ Ὀζίας ἕως τινός. Ὀζίας γὰρ ἰσχὺς Θεοῦ ἑρμηνεύεται, ἰσχὺς δὲ καὶ δύναμις ἐνυπόστατος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ὁ Χριστὸς, οἰκοδομῶν ἐν μὲν τῇ ὁράσει τῆς εἰρήνης· τοῦτο γὰρ ἑρμηνεύεται Ἱερουσαλὴμ, λέγω δὴ τοῖς τελειοτέροις εἰς θεωρίας κατάστασιν· πύργους τῶν περὶ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ δογμάτων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ γωνία ἐστὶν ἡ Ἐκκλησία τῶν πιστῶν, καθάπερ βʹ τοίχους ἑνοῦσα καὶ συνέχουσα, τόν τε ἐξ Ἰουδαίων λαὸν, καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν· πύλαι ἂν αὐτῆς νοηθεῖεν, οἱ εἰσαγωγικοὶ καὶ τῶν θεωρητικωτέρων ὑποδεέστεροι· ἐφ' οὓς αὖθις οἰκοδομεῖ πύργους τῶν περὶ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως αὐτοῦ δογμάτων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ νοεῖται φάραγξ ἡ σὰρξ ἡμῶν, διὰ τὸ εἶναι κάτωθεν, εἴη ἂν γωνία ταύτης, ἡ πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν πνεύματι συνάφεια· ἐφ' ἣν οἰκοδομεῖ πύργους τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν ἐντολῶν. Πύργοι δὲ τά τε ῥηθέντα δόγματα καὶ εὐαγγελικαὶ ἐντολαί· ὡς ὑψηλὰ, καὶ φρουροῦντα καὶ φυλάττοντα καὶ ἀσφαλιζόμενα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν γωνιῶν ᾠκοδόμησε πύργους, γωνίας νοήσομεν, τὰς διὰ Χριστοῦ γενομένας διαφόρους ἑνώσεις τῶν διῃρημένων· λέγω δὴ τῆς κτιστῆς καὶ ἀκτίστου φύσεως· ἔτι δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἐφ' ὧν οἰκοδομεῖ πύργους τῶν ἐφ' ἑκάστῃ ἑνώσει λόγων καὶ τρόπων. Ἔρημος δέ ἐστιν, ἡ τῶν φαινομένων φύσις, ἤτοι ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, ἐν ᾧ πύργους ᾠκοδόμησε τοὺς λόγους τῶν ὄντων, τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς φυσικῆς ἐν πνεύματι θεωρίας. Καὶ ἐλατόμησε λάκκους πολλοὺς, ὅτι κτήνη πολλὰ ὑπῆρχεν αὐτῷ, ἐν Σεφιλᾷ ἐν τῇ πεδι νῇ, καὶ ἀμπελουργοὶ ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ, καὶ ἐν τῇ Καρμήλῳ, ὅτι γεωργὸς ἦν. Λάκκους λατομεῖ ὁ