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and what the presbyter does, the deacon does not do; and simply to say, each has the ministry appropriate to him; but by a common name all are called clerics and ministers, as also are the angels; from this it is necessary to understand how it was said to the divine Stephen: "you who received the law as ordained by angels, and did not keep it."

ON CHAPTER 9

§ 1. Its super-essential order: Of the principle-making principle itself it reveals

the super-essential order, this order of Principles. (14E_280> § 2. Of Archangels: Concerning the archangelic world, and what it signifies. Hierarchy: Note the universal point, that every hierarchy has first and middle

and last powers, that is, the three triadic orders. Most holy: Gr. also most sacred. How also the divine archangels with those before them

and with those after them have communion. According to the last: That the last order is of angels and is around the world.

The last triadic order. Principalities, Archangels, Angels.

And rather towards: That the last order of the heavenly powers is more worthy to be called angels, as it approaches human beings, through which also human beings are initiated into divine things.

For the highest: That the first triad rules hierarchically over the second, and the second over the third; and the third over the priests among men, and they oversee the things performed by them.

More secretly: How some hierarchies are more secret, and others more manifest. To the human hierarchies: Which ones are hierarchically set over us. Note

the proof from Daniel, that is, that the last order presides over our hierarchy.

And indeed also the: In common, the "so that it may be in order," so as to be the construction, and indeed "so that also that from God may be in order," and the rest.

But if one should say: How, when good angels were set over the nations, only Israel knew God; for each nation (14E_282> has an angel allotted to it, as the Jews have Michael, whom he says is of the last order of the holy angels.

That not those of the angels: He says such a thing is not because of the presiding angels, but because of one's own free-willed inclination toward what is improper.

By self-love: Note that each person is the cause to himself of both good and evil; and "self-love" and "stubbornness" in parallel signify "self-satisfaction."

And this is attested: Not that God chose Israel alone, but that Israel alone wished to follow God; for thus also the interpretation of the word signifies, 'a mind seeing God'; thus we ought to understand the things said in the ode of Moses, "Jacob became the Lord's portion, his inheritance," which signifies Israel; for God does not love Israel alone, as also the Apostle has declared in many places, saying, "Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one," but Israel first went after God, since later, having apostatized, he himself was cast off; for human beings, having free will, whenever they wish, make God to be with them.

To have suffered: That Israel himself also apostatized. Life: That man is possessed of free will. Of sights: What the father says here, this also in the case of the sun's light

it is possible to see happening, in the case of transparent materials its own diffusion

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καί ὅ ποιεῖ ὁ πρεσβύτερος, οὐ ποιεῖ ὁ διάκονος· καί ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, ἕκαστος ἔχει τήν πρέπουσαν αὐτῷ λειτουργίαν· κοινῷ δέ ὀνόματι πάντες κληρικοί καί λειτουργοί καλοῦνται, ὡς καί οἱ ἄγγελοι· ἐντεῦθεν χρή νοεῖν, πῶς εἴρηται τῷ θείῳ Στεφάνῳ· «οἵτινες ἐλάβετε τόν νόμον εἰς διαταγάς ἀγγέλων, καί οὐκ ἐφυλάξετε».

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Θ'

§ 1. Ὑπερούσιον αὐτῆς ταξιαρχίαν: Αὐτῆς τῆς ἀρχοποιοῦ ἀρχῆς ἀναφαίνει

τήν ὑπερούσιον ταξιαρχίαν αὐτή ἡ τῶν ἀρχῶν τάξις. (14Ε_280> § 2. Ἀρχαγγέλων: Περί τοῦ ἀρχαγγελικοῦ κόσμου, καί τί δηλοῖ. Ἱεραρχία: Σημείωσαι τό καθολικόν, ὅτι πᾶσα ἱεραρχία ἔχει πρώτας καί μέσας

καί τελευταίας δυνάμεις, τουτέστιν αἱ τρεῖς τριαδικαί τάξεις. Ἁγιωτάταις: Γρ. καί ἱερωτάταις. Πῶς καί οἱ θεῖοι ἀρχάγγελοι ταῖς πρό αὐτῶν

καί μετ' αὐτούς κοινωνοῦσι. Κατά τό τελευταῖον: Ὅτι ἐσχάτη τάξις ἀγγέλων καί περικόσμιος.

Ἡ τελευταια τριαδική τάξις. Ἀρχαί, Ἀρχάγγελοι, Ἄγγελοι.

Καί μᾶλλον πρός: Ὅτι ἡ τελευταία τάξις τῶν οὐρανίων δυνάμεων μᾶλλον ἀξία ἐστίν ἄγγελοι προσαγορεύεσθαι, ὡς πλησιάζουσα ἀνθρώποις, δι ' ἦς καί τά θεῖα μυοῦνται ἄνθρωποι.

Τήν μέν γάρ ὑπερτάτην: Ὅτι ἡ πρώτη τριάς τῆς δευτέρας ἱεραρχεῖ, καί ἡ δευτέρα τῆς τρίτης· ἡ δέ τρίτη τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἱερέων, καί ἐφορῶσι τά παρ' αὐτῶν τελούμενα.

Κρυφιοειδέστερον: Πῶς αἱ μέν κρυφιώτεραι, αἱ δέ ἐμφανέστεραι ἱεραρχίαι. Ταῖς ἀνθρωπείαις ἱεραρχίαις: Τίνες ἡμῶν ἱεραρχικῶς ἐφεστήκασι. Σημείωσαι

τήν ἀπόδειξιν ἐκ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ, τουτέστιν ἐσχάτην τάξιν ἐπιστατεῖν τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱεραρχίας.

Καί μήν καί ἡ: Κατά κοινοῦ τό ἵνα ᾖ κατά τάξιν, ὡς εἶναι τήν σύνταξιν, καί μήν ἵνα κατά τάξιν ᾖ καί ἡ παρά Θεοῦ, καί τά ἑξῆς.

Εἰ δέ τις φαίη: Πῶς ἀγγέλων ἀγαθῶν ἐφεστώτων τοῖς ἔθνεσι, μόνος ὁ Ἰσραήλ ἐγίνωσκε τόν Θεόν· ἕκαστον γάρ ἔθνος (14Ε_282> ἄγγελον ἔχει ἀποκεκληρωμένον αὐτῷ, ὡς Ἰουδαῖοι τόν Μιχαήλ, ὅν καί τῆς ἐσχάτης τάξεως τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων φησίν.

Ὅτι μή τάς τῶν ἀγγέλων: Οὐ παρά τήν τῶν ἐπιστατούντων ἀγγέλων αἰτίαν φησί τό τοιοῦτο, ἀλλά παρά τήν οἰκείαν αὐτεξούσιον πρός τά μή δέοντα ροπήν.

Τῇ φιλαυτίᾳ: Σημείωσαι ὅτι ἕκαστος ἑαυτῷ αἴτιος καί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καί τοῦ κακοῦ· τό δέ φιλαυτία καί αὐθάδεια ἐκ παραλλήλου τό αὐτάρεσκον δηλοῖ.

Τοῦτο δέ μαρτυρεῖται: Οὐχ ὅτι ὁ Θεός τόν Ἰσραήλ μόνον ἐξελέξατο, ἀλλ' ὅτι ὁ Ἰσραήλ μόνος ἐβουλήθη ἕπεσθαι Θεῷ· οὕτω γάρ καί ἡ ἑρμηνεία τῆς λέξεως σημαίνει, 'νοῦς ὁρῶν τόν Θεόν'· οὕτω νοεῖν ὀφείλομεν τά ἐν τῇ ὠδῇ Μωϋσέως εἰρημένα, «ἐγενήθη μερίς Κυρίου σχοίνισμα Ἰακώβ», ὅπερ δηλοῖ τόν Ἰσραήλ· οὐχ ὁ Θεός γάρ τόν Ἰσραήλ μόνον ἀγαπᾷ, ὡς καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος πολλαχοῦ ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών, «μή οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Θεός καί ἐθνῶν; Ναί καί ἐθνῶν, εἴπερ εἷς ὁ Θεός», ἀλλ' ὁ Ἰσραήλ πρῶτος ἐπορεύθη ὄπισθεν Θεοῦ, ἐπεί ὕστερον ἀποστάς καί αὐτός ἀπεδιώχθη· τό γάρ αὐτεξούσιον ἔχοντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ὅτε θέλουσι, ποιοῦσι τόν Θεόν μεθ' ἑαυτῶν.

Πεπονθέναι: Ὅτι καί ὁ Ισραήλ αὐτός ἀπέστη. Ζωήν: Ὅτι αὐτεξούσιος ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Ὄψεων: Ὅπερ ἐναῦθά φησιν ὁ πατήρ, τοῦτο καί ἐπί τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ φωτός

γινόμενον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ἐπί μέν τῶν διαφανῶν ὑλῶν τήν οἰκείαν διάδοσιν