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The Egyptians, as God arrayed the camp against them in a pillar of fire and cloud, that is with thunders and lightnings and rains and hail, fled under the water of the Red Sea, and the Lord God shook off all the Egyptians in it along with Pharaoh, when Moses turned back and struck the waters crosswise with his rod in the form of a cross by God's command; some say that the armed dead Egyptians were found cast up, whom the Jews, having crossed over, despoiled on the shore of the Red Sea. And departing from the Red Sea they came a journey of three days into the waterless desert of Shur, burning with thirst, where again they rose up against Moses, encamping by the bitter, undrinkable water of a certain lake, for this reason called Marah, the bitterness of which Moses healed by casting in a certain piece of wood, which was shown to him by God as a type of the life-giving wood of the cross. From there they came to Elim, the cloud moving for them each time according to the will of God and again stopping at the places of rest, signifying by its stopping the stopping-places and by its movement the departures, always throughout the whole time of their sojourn in the desert. And in Elim they found twelve springs of drinkable water and seventy palm trees. These were types of the disciples of our Savior, who with the divine streams of the evangelical teaching irrigated the spiritual Israel, along with the seventy fellow disciples scattered throughout the whole world by the twelve. And from Elim they came into the desert of Sinai. This lies between Elim and Mount Sinai. There they cried out against Moses and Aaron, saying: “Would that we had died in Egypt by the plagues of God, while enjoying its meats and breads.” And bread is given to them not from the earth, but from heaven, flowing down like dew and solidifying like crystal, similar to a white coriander seed at dawn. And its taste was like a cake with honey. Not knowing what this was, the disobedient asked one another, "What is it?"; for which reason it is also called manna. A measure for each one's gathering was set by God, an omer, for the strong and the weak, which he who gathered more was found to have the same measure, and likewise he who gathered little. For it was miraculously diminished for the one who had too much and added to the one who had too little. A portion of this kept until the next day was changed into the nature of worms, except on the day of the Sabbath, which was most paradoxical. For the same amount gathered, equal to the other days, on the day before the Sabbath became double, sufficing for the two days, both for the preparation and for the Sabbath, not being corrupted at all. And this also typified the incorruptibility of the Lord's body at the time of his burial for us, which suffered physically by the cross and the nails and the lance, sharing with us the pangs of corruption out of pity, without any sin, yet not undergoing corruption and dissolution at all. Indeed, this manna also has other meanings, mystically figuring both the all-holy Mother of God and the life of virtue, about which it is not our present purpose to speak. This manna, then, brought from Parthia, I myself saw and partook of it, being of the same taste, but not so abundantly as it once appeared, nor in this desert. And in the evenings a type of bird came up for them and covered the camp, called a quail, for food. Therefore they ate the manna for forty years, often loathing it as empty bread, being unworthy of the divine provisions. And Aaron also put aside an omer of the manna in a golden jar before God for their generations, in the way the Lord commanded Moses. Departing from the desert of Sinai by the word of the Lord, they came to Rephidim, a waterless place, where Moses, having been severely reviled by the people, prayed to God and was given an oracle to strike the rock with his rod and give waters to those who embittered him. And he named the place Temptation and Reviling. There Amalek came and warred against Israel, against whom Moses sent Jesus the son of Nave, who was called Hoshea before
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Αἰγύπτιοι, τοῦ θεοῦ συντάξαντος αὐτοῖς τὴν παρεμβολὴν ἐν στύλῳ πυρὸς καὶ νεφέλης, ἤτοι βρονταῖς καὶ ἀστραπαῖς ὄμβροις τε καὶ χαλάζαις, ἔφυγον ὑπὸ τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης, καὶ ἐξετίναξε κύριος ὁ θεὸς πάντας τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἐν αὐτῇ σὺν τῷ Φαραῷ, Μωυσέως ἐπιστραφέντος καὶ ἐγκαρσίως τῇ ῥάβδῳ πλήξαντος τὰ ὕδατα σταυρικῷ τύπῳ προστάξει θεοῦ· φασὶ δέ τινες προεκβρασθέντας Αἰγυπτίους νεκροὺς ἐνόπλους εὑρε θῆναι, οὓς Ἰουδαῖοι διαβάντες ἐσκύλευσαν πρὸς τῷ πέρατι τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς. Ἐξάραντες δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς ἦλθον ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν γʹ εἰς ἔρημον Σοῦρ ἄνυδρον δίψει φρυγόμενοι, ἔνθα πάλιν Μωυσέως καταστασιάζουσι ὕδατι πικρῷ λίμνης τινὸς ἀπότου παρεμβάλλοντες, Μερρᾶς διὰ τοῦτο καλουμέ νης, ἧς τὸ πικρὸν ξύλου τινὸς ἐμβολῇ Μωυσῆς ἰάσατο θεόθεν ὑποδειχθέν τος εἰς τύπον τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ ξύλου τοῦ σταυροῦ. ἐκεῖθεν ἦλθον εἰς Ἐλείμ, τῆς νεφέλης μετανισταμένης αὐτοῖς ἑκάστοτε κατὰ βούλησιν θεοῦ καὶ πάλιν ἱσταμένης κατὰ τοὺς τόπους τῆς ἀναπαύσεως, σημαινούσης τε τῇ στάσει τὰς μονὰς καὶ τῇ κινήσει τὰς μεταστάσεις ἀεὶ παρ' ὅλον τὸν χρό νον τῆς ἐν ἐρήμῳ διατριβῆς. Εὗρον δὲ εἰς Ἐλεὶμ ιβʹ πηγὰς ὑδάτων ποτίμων καὶ φοίνικας οʹ. τύποι δὲ τῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἦσαν αὗται μαθητῶν, οἵτινες τοῖς θείοις νάμασι τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας τὸν νοητὸν κατήρδευσαν Ἰσραὴλ σὺν τοῖς οʹ συμφοιτηταῖς καθ' ὅλην διασπαρεῖσι τὴν οἰκουμένην ὑπὸ τῶν ιβʹ. ἀπὸ δὲ Ἐλεὶμ ἦλθον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Σινᾷ. αὕτη μέσον Ἐλεὶμ καὶ ὄρους Σινᾶ κεῖται. ἐνταῦθα κατεβόων Μωυσέως καὶ Ἀαρὼν λέγοντες· ὤφελον ἐν Αἰγύ πτῳ πληγαῖς θεοῦ τεθνήκαμεν ἀπολαύοντες τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ κρεῶν καὶ ἄρ των. δίδοται δ' αὐτοῖς ἄρτος οὐκ ἐκ γῆς, ἀλλ' ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ δροσοειδῶς καταρρέων καὶ κρυσταλλοειδῶς πηγνύμενος, ἐμφερὴς κορίου σπέρματι 150 λευκῷ κατὰ τὸν ὄρθρον· τὸ δὲ γεῦμα ὡς ἐγκρὶς ἐν μέλιτι. ὅπερ ἀγνοοῦντες οἱ ἀπειθεῖς ἠρώτων «τί ἐστι;» πρὸς ἀλλήλους· διὸ καὶ μάννα κέκληται. μέ τρον ἑκάστῳ τῆς συλλογῆς πρὸς θεοῦ ὥριστο γομόρ, τῷ δυνατῷ καὶ ἀδυ νάτῳ, ὅπερ ὁ πλέον συλλέξας τὸ αὐτὸ μέτρον ἔχων ηὑρίσκετο καὶ ὁ ὀλίγον ὁμοίως. τῷ γὰρ πλεονάζοντι παραδόξως ἠλαττοῦτο καὶ τῷ λειπομένῳ προσετίθετο. τούτου μοῖρα φυλαττομένη εἰς αὔριον εἰς φύσιν σκωλήκων μετεποιεῖτο χωρὶς τῆς ἡμέρας τῶν σαββάτων, ὃ καὶ παραδοξότατον ἦν. τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ συλλεγόμενον καὶ ἴσον ταῖς ἄλλαις ἡμέραις ἐν τῇ πρὸ τῶν σαββάτων ἡμέρᾳ διπλοῦν ἐγένετο ταῖς δύο ἡμέραις ἐπαρκοῦν, τῇ παρα σκευῇ τε καὶ τῷ σαββάτῳ, μηδ' ὅλως διαφθειρόμενον. ἐτύπου δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἀδιάφθορον τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ σώματος κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν αὐτοῦ ταφῆς, σταυρῷ μὲν καὶ τοῖς ἥλοις καὶ τῇ λόγχῃ φυσικῶς πεπονθὸς ὁμοιοπαθῶς ἡμῖν τὰ τῆς φθορᾶς νύγματα δι' οἶκτον χωρὶς πάσης ἁμαρ τίας, διαφθορὰν δὲ καὶ διάλυσιν μηδ' ὅλως ὑπομεμενηκός. ἔχει μέντοι καὶ ἄλλους λόγους μυστικῶς εἰκονίζοντας τόδε τὸ μάννα, τήν τε πάναγνον θεομήτορα καὶ τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον, περὶ ὧν οὐ πρόκειται νῦν λέγειν. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν τὸ μάννα κομισθὲν ἐκ τῆς Παρθικῆς εἶδον ἐγὼ καὶ μετέσχον αὐτοῦ, τῆς αὐτῆς γεύσεως ὄν, ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτω πλουσίως οἷον ὤφθη ποτέ, οὐδὲ κατὰ τήνδε τὴν ἔρημον. κατὰ δὲ τὰς ἑσπέρας αὐτοῖς εἶδος πετεινῶν ἀνέβαινε καὶ ἐκάλυπτε τὴν παρεμβολήν, ὀρτυγομήτρα λεγόμενον, πρὸς βρῶσιν. ἔφαγον τοίνυν τὸ μάννα τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη πολλάκις αὐτὸ βδε λυξάμενοι ὡς διάκενον ἄρτον οἱ τῶν θείων ἀνάξιοι παροχῶν. ἀπέθετο δὲ καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐν στάμνῳ χρυσῇ γομὸρ τοῦ μὰν ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν, ὃν τρόπον κύριος συνέταξε τῷ Μωυσῇ. Ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου Σινᾶ ἀπάραντες διὰ ῥήματος κυρίου ἦλθον εἰς Ῥαφι δεὶν ἄνυδρον τόπον, ἔνθα λοιδορηθεὶς Μωυσῆς σφόδρα πρὸς τοῦ λαοῦ εὐξάμενος τῷ θεῷ χρησμοδοτεῖται πατάξαι ῥάβδῳ τὴν πέτραν καὶ δοῦναι τοῖς παραπικρασταῖς ὕδατα. καὶ ἐπωνόμασε τὸν τόπον πειρασμὸς καὶ λοι 151 δόρησις. ἔνθα Ἀμαλὴκ ἐλθὼν ἐπολέμησε τὸν Ἰσραήλ, οἷς ἐπιπέμψας Μωυσῆς Ἰησοῦν τὸν τοῦ Ναυῆ, καλούμενον Αὐσῆ πρὸ