,

Or again, since those who have been wholly formed in knowledge and virtue by the Spirit make the hearts of others receptive to piety and faith through the word of teaching, and taking away their practical state and power from pursuits concerned with corruptible nature, they transfer it to the activity of incorruptible goods beyond nature, with good reason the Word commanded that the breast of the offering of those brought for a sacrifice to God, that is, the heart of those brought, and the arm, clearly the practice of the same, be consecrated to the priests.

SCHOLIA 1. The breast is a symbol of contemplation, and the arm of practice. For a state of the

intellect is contemplation by nature, and practice is an activity. The true priesthood is characterized by both of these.

2. He who through a pious word ministers to God the hearts of others, to which the breast corresponds; and their practical power, to which the arm corresponds, setting them apart for the activities of the commandments, has become a priest, receiving the breast and the arm from those who offer themselves as a sacrifice to God.

46 (46). CONCERNING THE MIRROR AND THE RIDDLE. 46. QUESTION 46. What is the difference between the mirror and the riddle? Answer. The mirror is, to speak in a definition, a conscience having the form of all good things according to

practice without fail, (14B_288> through which the one pure in mind is able to see God, or a practical state, outlining the composition of all virtues into one another in a unified way, like a divine face. But the riddle is knowledge, through the complete comprehension of the divine principles according to contemplation that is attainable by nature, which has the appearance of things beyond the mind. And simply, a mirror is a state indicative of the archetypal form of the virtues that is to be manifested to the worthy; for the future end of practical philosophy it reveals to those who have the mirror; but the riddle is a demonstration of the archetypal reality of intelligible things concerning knowledge.

Therefore, all righteousness here, when compared to the future righteousness, holds the place of a mirror, having the image of the archetypal realities, but not the realities themselves existing in their own form; and all knowledge here of high things, when compared to the future knowledge, is a riddle, having an appearance of the truth but not having the substantial truth itself that is to be revealed. For since divine things are held together by virtue and knowledge, the mirror is indicative of the archetypes according to virtue, and the riddle is what makes manifest the archetypes according to knowledge. This is the difference the mirror has from the riddle, in that the mirror reveals the future end of practice, while the riddle shows the mystery of contemplation.

SCHOLION 1. That the mirror is of the good things suitable for practice

what makes manifest; while the riddle is indicative of the future mysteries in knowledge.

47 (47). CONCERNING "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS." 47. QUESTION 47. What is the voice of one crying in the wilderness and so forth? What is (14B_290> the wilderness and

what here is the way of the Lord and what is the preparation of it? And what are his paths and what does it mean to make them straight? What are the valleys, and what does it mean that every valley shall be filled? And what are the mountains and the hills, and what is their being brought low? What are the crooked things, and how

Ἢ πάλιν, ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἄλλων καρδίας διὰ τοῦ λόγου τῆς διδασκαλίας οἱ γνώσει καὶ ἀρετῇ διόλου ποιωθέντες τῷ Πνεύματι εὐσεβείας καὶ πίστεως ποιοῦνται δεκτικάς, καὶ τὴν πρακτικὴν αὐτῶν ἕξιν καὶ δύναμιν ἀφαιρούμενοι τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ φθαρτῇ φύσει σπουδασμάτων πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἀφθάρτων ἐνέργειαν ἀγαθῶν μεταφέρουσιν, εἰκότως τῶν προσαγομένων εἰς θυσίαν Θεοῦ τὸ στηθύνιον τοῦ ἐπιθέματος, τουτέστι τῶν προσαγομένων τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ τὸν βραχίονα, τῶν αὐτῶν δηλονότι τὴν πρᾶξιν, προσέταξεν ἀφιεροῦσθαι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ὁ λόγος.

ΣΧΟΛΙΑ 1. Θεωρίας μέν τό στηθύνιον, πράξεως δέ ὁ βραχίων σύμβολον. Ἕξις γάρ τοῦ

διανοητικοῦ πέφυκεν ὑπάρχειν ἡ θεωρία, καί ἡ πρᾶξις ἐνέργεια. ∆ι᾿ ἀμφοτέρων δέ τούτων ἡ ἀληθής ἱερωσύνη χαρακτηρίζεται.

2. Ὁ ἱερουργῶν τῷ Θεῷ δι᾿ εὐσεβοῦς λόγου τάς ἄλλων καρδίας, αἷς ἀναλογεῖ τό στηθύνιον· καί τήν πρακτικήν αὐτῶν δύναμιν, ᾗ ἀναλογεῖ ὁ βραχίων, ἀφορίζων ταῖς ἐνεργείαις τῶν ἐντολῶν, γέγονεν ἱερεύς λαμβάνων παρά τῶν ἑαυτούς θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ προσαγόντων, τό στῆθος καί τόν βραχίονα.

ΜS (46). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΕΣΟΠΤΡΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΑΙΝΙΓΜΑΤΟΣ. 46. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΜS' Τίς ἡ διαφορὰ τοῦ ἐσόπτρου πρὸς τὸ αἴνιγμα; Ἀπόκρισις. Τὸ μὲν ἔσοπτρόν ἐστιν, ὡς ἐν ὅρῳ φάναι, συνείδησις τὴν τῶν κατὰ τὴν

πρᾶξιν ἀνελλιπῶς πάντων ἀγαθῶν ἔχουσα μορφήν, (14Β_288> δι᾽ ἧς ὁ καθαρὸς τὴν διάνοιαν πέφυκεν ὁρᾶν τὸν Θεόν, ἢ ἕξις πρακτική, τὴν πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν εἰς ἀλλήλας ἑνοειδῶς καθάπερ πρόσωπον θεῖον περιγράφουσα σύνθεσιν. Τὸ δὲ αἴνιγμα γνῶσίς ἐστι διὰ τῆς κατὰ θεωρίαν παντελοῦς τῶν θείων λόγων ἐφικτῆς τῇ φύσει περιοχῆς, τὴν τῶν ὑπὲρ νόησιν ἔμφασιν ἔχουσα. Καὶ ἁπλῶς ἔσοπτρόν ἐστιν ἕξις ἐνδεικτικὴ τῆς μελλούσης τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐμφανισθῆναι τοῖς ἀξίοις πρωτοτύπου μορφῆς· τὸ γὰρ ἐσόμενον τέλος τῆς πρακτικῆς φιλοσοφίας παραδηλοῖ τοῖς ἔχουσι τὸ ἔσοπτρον· τὸ αἴνιγμα δὲ τῆς τῶν νοουμένων περὶ γνῶσιν ἀρχετυπίας ἐστὶν ἔνδειξις.

Πᾶσα τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα δικαιοσύνη, συγκρινομένη πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν, ἐσόπτρου λόγον ἐπέχει τὴν τῶν ἀρχετύπων πραγμάτων εἰκόνα, οὐκ αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ πράγματα κατ᾽ εἶδος ὑφιστάμενα ἔχουσα· καὶ πᾶσα γνῶσις ἐνταῦθα τῶν ὑψηλῶν, συγκρινομένη πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν, αἴνιγμά ἐστιν, ἔμφασιν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ αὐτὴν ὑφισταμένην ἔχουσα τὴν φανήσεσθαι μέλλουσαν ἀλήθειαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀρετῇ καὶ γνώσει τὰ θεῖα συνέχεται, τῶν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν πρωτοτύπων ἐστὶν ἐνδεικτικὸν τὸ ἔσοπτρον, καὶ τῶν κατὰ γνῶσιν ἀρχετύπων ἐμφαντικὸν ὑπάρχει τὸ αἴνιγμα. Ταύτην ἔχει τὴν διαφορὰν τὸ ἔσοπτρον πρὸς τὸ αἴνιγμα, καθότι τὸ μὲν ἔσοπτρον πρακτικῆς μηνύει τέλος ἐσόμενον, τὸ δὲ αἴνιγμα θεωρητικῆς ἐμφαίνει μυστήριον.

ΣΧΟΛΙΟΝ 1. Ὅτι τό μέν ἔσοπτρον τῶν τῇ πρακτικῇ προσφυῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐστιν

ἐμφατικόν· τό δέ αἴνιγμα, τῶν ἐπί τῇ γνώσει μελλόντων μυστηρίων ἐστίν ἐνδεικτικόν.

ΜΖ (47). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ "ΦΩΝΗ ΒΟΩΝΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΗ ΕΡΗΜΩ". 47. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΜΖ' Τί ἐστι φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς; Τίς ἡ (14Β_290> ἔρημος καὶ

τίς ἐνταῦθα ἡ ὁδὸς Κυρίου καὶ τίς ἡ ἑτοιμασία αὐτῆς; Τίνες τε αἱ τρίβοι αὐτοῦ καὶ τί τὸ εὐθῦναι αὐτάς; Τίνες αἱ φάραγγες, καὶ τί σημαίνει τὸ πληρωθήσεται πᾶσα φάραγξ; Τίνα τε τὰ ὄρη καὶ οἱ βουνοί, καὶ τίς ἡ τούτων ταπείνωσις; Τί τὰ σκολιά, καὶ πῶς