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of the relics of the saints; If you accuse me again, O Jew, saying that I worship the wood of the cross as God, why do you not accuse Jacob who worshipped upon the top of his staff? But it is very clear that he did not worship honoring the wood, but through the wood he worshipped Joseph, just as we also through the cross worship Christ, but we do not glorify the wood. (Scholion) If, therefore, we worship the type of the cross, making an image of the cross out of any material, how shall we not worship the image of him who was crucified? And again from the same Leontius: Since even Abraham worshipped the impious men who sold him the tomb and bent his knee to the ground, but he did not worship them as gods; and again Jacob blessed Pharaoh, who was impious and an idolater, but he did not bless him as a god; and again, falling down he worshipped Esau, but he did not worship him as a god. And again: How does God command you to worship both the earth and the mountains? For he says: “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain. And worship at his footstool, for he is holy,” that is, the earth. “For heaven is my throne,” he says, “and the earth is my footstool,” says the Lord. But how did Moses worship Jethro, who was an idolater, and Daniel Nebuchadnezzar? How do you accuse me, because I honor and worship those who have honored and worshipped God? Is it not better, tell me, to worship the saints and not to stone them as you do? Is it not better to worship and not to saw them asunder and cast the benefactors into a muddy pit? If you loved God, you would surely also have been about to honor his servants. And if the bones of the righteous are unclean, how were the bones of Jacob and Joseph transported from Egypt with all honor? How was a dead man, having touched the bones of Elisha, immediately raised? But if God works miracles through bones, it is clear that he is able also through images and stones and many other things, as also happened in the case of Elisha, who gave his own staff to his servant and told him to go by means of it to raise the child of the Shunammite. And Moses with a staff punished Pharaoh and divided the sea and sweetened the water and broke the rock and brought forth water. And Solomon says: “Blessed is the wood, by which salvation comes.” And Elisha, having cast a piece of wood into the Jordan, brought up iron; and the “tree of life” and the “plant of Sabek,” that is, of forgiveness. And Moses lifted up the serpent on a piece of wood and gave life to the people; with a piece of wood that budded in the tent he confirmed the priesthood. But perhaps you will say to me, O Jew, that God commanded Moses that all things in the tent of witness should be made; and I say to you, that Solomon made many and various things, carved and molten, in the temple, which God did not command him to make, nor did the tent of witness possess them, nor the temple which God showed to Ezekiel, and Solomon was not condemned for this; for he fashioned such forms for the glory of God, just as we also do. You also had many and various images and signs for the remembrance of God, before you were deprived of them on account of your ingratitude, that is, the staff of Moses, the tablets inscribed by God, the bush burning with fire, the dry rock yielding water, the ark bearing manna, the altar of divine fire, the plate with God’s name, the Ephod manifesting God, the tent overshadowed by God; and if you overshadowed all these things night and day saying: Glory to you, the only almighty God, who through all these things performed wonders in Israel, and if through all these things of the law, which you once had, you fell down and worshipped God, you see that worship is brought to God through images. And after a little: For one who sincerely loves a friend or a king, and especially a benefactor, if he should see his son, or staff, or throne, or crown, or house, or servant, holds

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τῶν λειψάνων τῶν ἁγίων· Ἐάν μοι ἐγκαλῇς πάλιν, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, λέγων, ὅτι ὡς θεὸν προσκυνῶ τὸ ξύλον τοῦ σταυροῦ, διὰ τί οὐκ ἐγκαλεῖς τῷ Ἰακὼβ προσκυνήσαντι ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου; Ἀλλὰ πρόδηλον, ὅτι οὐ τὸ ξύλον τιμῶν προσεκύνησεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ ξύλου τῷ Ἰωσὴφ προσεκύνησεν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸν Χριστόν, ἀλλ' οὐ τὸ ξύλον δοξάζομεν. (Σχόλιον) Εἰ οὖν τὸν τοῦ σταυροῦ τύπον προσκυνοῦμεν εἰκόνα τοῦ σταυροῦ ποιοῦντες ἐξ οἱασοῦν ὕλης, πῶς τοῦ σταυρωθέντος εἰκόνι μὴ προσκυνήσομεν; Καὶ πάλιν τοῦ αὐτοῦ Λεοντίου· Ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἀβραὰμ τοῖς πωλήσασιν αὐτῷ τὸν τάφον ἀσεβέσιν ἀνθρώποις προσεκύνησε καὶ γόνυ ἔκαμψεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς θεοῖς αὐτοῖς προσεκύνησεν· καὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἰακὼβ τὸν Φαραὼ ηὐλόγησεν ἀσεβῆ καὶ εἰδωλολάτρην ὄντα, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς θεὸν αὐτὸν ηὐλόγησε· καὶ πάλιν, τὸν Ἠσαῦ πεσὼν προσεκύνησεν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς θεὸν προσεκύνησεν. Καὶ πάλιν· Πῶς ἐντέλλεται ὑμῖν ὁ θεὸς προσκυνεῖν καὶ τῇ γῇ καὶ τοῖς ὄρεσι; Λέγει γάρ· «Ὑψοῦτε κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ προσκυνεῖτε εἰς ὄρος ἅγιον αὐτοῦ. Καὶ προσκυνεῖτε τῷ ὑποποδίῳ τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἅγιός ἐστι», τουτέστι τῇ γῇ. «Ὁ οὐρανὸς γάρ μοι θρόνος», φησίν, «ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου», λέγει κύριος. Πῶς δὲ Μωσῆς προσεκύνησεν Ἰοθὸρ εἰδωλολάτρῃ ὄντι, καὶ ∆ανιὴλ Ναβουχοδονόσορ; Πῶς ἐμοὶ ἐγκαλεῖς, ὅτι τιμῶ καὶ προσκυνῶ τοὺς τὸν θεὸν τιμήσαντας καὶ προσκυνήσαντας; Οὐ συμφέρει, εἰπέ μοι, προσκυνεῖν τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ μὴ ὡς σὺ λιθοβολεῖν; Οὐ συμφέρει προσκυνεῖν καὶ μὴ τούτους καταπρίζειν καὶ ἐν λάκκῳ βορβόρου τοὺς εὐεργέτας καταφέρειν; Εἰ τὸν θεὸν ἠγάπας, πάντως ἂν καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ δούλους τιμᾶν ἔμελλες. Καὶ εἰ ἀκάθαρτά εἰσι τῶν δικαίων τὰ ὀστᾶ, πῶς μετὰ τιμῆς πάσης μετεκομίσθησαν τὰ ὀστᾶ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου; Πῶς νεκρὸς ἄνθρωπος ἁψάμενος τῶν ὀστέων Ἐλισσαίου εὐθέως ἀνέστη; Εἰ δὲ δι' ὀστέων θαυματουργεῖ ὁ θεός, εὔδηλον, ὅτι δύναται καὶ δι' εἰκόνων καὶ λίθων καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν, καθὼς καὶ ἐπὶ Ἐλισσαιὲ ἐγένετο, ὃς ἔδωκε τὴν ἰδίαν ῥάβδον τῷ ἑαυτοῦ παιδὶ καὶ εἶπε δι' αὐτῆς πορευθέντα ἀναστῆσαι τὸν παῖδα τῆς Σωμανίτιδος. Καὶ Μωσῆς ῥάβδῳ τὸν Φαραὼ ἐκόλασε καὶ θάλασσαν ἔσχισε καὶ ὕδωρ ἐγλύκανε καὶ πέτραν ἔρρηξε καὶ ὕδωρ ἐξήγαγε. Καὶ Σολομών φησιν· «Ηὐλόγηται ξύλον, δι' οὗ γίνεται σωτηρία.» Καὶ Ἐλισσαιὲ ξύλον ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ ἀπορρίψας σίδηρον ἀνήγαγε· καὶ «ξύλον ζωῆς» καὶ «φυτὸν Σαβὲκ» ἤγουν συγχωρήσεως. Καὶ Μωσῆς ξύλῳ ὄφιν ὕψωσε καὶ λαὸν ἐζωοποίησε· ξύλῳ βλαστήσαντι ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τὴν ἱερατείαν ἐκύρωσεν. Ἀλλ' ἴσως ἐρεῖς μοι, ὁ Ἰουδαῖος, ὅτι τὰ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἅπαντα ὁ θεὸς γενέσθαι προσέταξε τῷ Μωσῇ· κἀγώ σοι λέγω, ὅτι πολλὰ καὶ ποικίλα πράγματα ὁ Σολομὼν ἐν τῷ ναῷ γλυπτὰ καὶ χωνευτὰ πεποίηκεν, ἅπερ οὐδὲ ὁ θεὸς αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι προσέταξεν οὐδὲ ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου ταῦτα ἐκέκτητο οὔτε ὁ ναός, ὃν ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ὑπέδειξε, καὶ οὐ κατεγνώσθη ἐν τούτῳ ὁ Σολομών· εἰς δόξαν γὰρ θεοῦ τὰς τοιαύτας μορφὰς κατεσκεύασεν, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς. Εἶχες καὶ σὺ πολλὰς καὶ διαφόρους πρὸς ἀνάμνησιν θεοῦ εἰκόνας καὶ σήμαντρα, πρὶν ἢ τούτων διὰ τὴν σὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην ἐστερήθης, τουτέστι τὴν Μωσαϊκὴν ῥάβδον, τὰς θεοτύπους πλάκας, τὴν πυρένδροσον βάτον, τὴν ξηρένυδρον πέτραν, τὴν μαννοφόρον κιβωτόν, τὸ πυρένθεον θυσιαστήριον, τὸ θεώνυμον πέταλον, τὸ θεόδηλον Ἐφούδ, τὴν θεόσκιον σκηνήν· εἰ δὲ καὶ σὺ ἅπαντα ταῦτα νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας κατεσκιάζου λέγων· ∆όξα σοι, ὁ μόνος παντοκράτωρ θεός, ὁ διὰ πάντων τούτων ἐν Ἰσραὴλ θαυμάσια ποιήσας, εἰ δὲ διὰ πάντων τούτων τῶν νομικῶν, ὧν εἶχές ποτε, προσπίπτων τῷ θεῷ προσεκύνεις, ὁρᾷς, ὅτι διὰ τῶν εἰκόνων προσάγεται τῷ θεῷ ἡ προσκύνησις. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν εἰλικρινῶς φίλον ἢ βασιλέα καὶ μάλιστα τὸν εὐεργέτην, κἂν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ θεάσηται, κἂν ῥάβδον, κἂν θρόνον, κἂν στέφανον, κἂν οἶκον, κἂν δοῦλον, κρατεῖ