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of things that seem to be seen; for they saw riddles and symbols, not indeed bare realities and essences.

To God: You see that the angels who initiate the revelations did so to the prophets in this way: leading them up prototypically to God, the proper cause of all things; and secondarily to the first minds after God, who by position and in a godlike manner rule the hierarchy leading to God. This he teaches in what follows.

And through all things: Note that the providence of God extends secretly over all, and that a lower angel is homonymously called seraphim.

Proportionately: That is, he extends the illuminations according to the measure of the power of those who receive them,

According to each one's: He clarifies by an example how the divine illuminations are distributed more clearly to some, but more dimly to others.

Of the sun: This example was also adduced above; he calls the first matter glass and similar things; and also denser matter, such as houses and caves and the like. Otherwise; (14E_302> the first matter, that which is fine and airy and pure.

Again, the heat of fire: He well likens fire to God; for Scripture says, "for our God is a consuming fire," and that one part of it warms, while another burns; so too God illuminates those who approach him, but burns the unbelieving, those who do not approach and draw near to him in faith.

But towards the resistant: Such as adamant and water. Of nature: By natural things he means perceptible and visible things. But it should be known that among intelligible beings,

the virtues are not accidental, as with us, but God is living virtue, and self-perfect and without need, because He is supra-essentially substantiated and proceeds communicatively into the intelligible beings which exist from Him as their cause; God, then, is the source of living and deifying virtue for those who partake, as far as possible; but nevertheless He proceeds providentially into the intelligible beings substantiated by Him, and does not for this reason lose being the summit and perfection of the minds. Therefore, the minds do not possess virtue accidentally, as we do, [such as] prudence from practice, or learning, or justice, or temperance through self-control, or courage from a well-disposed body and nerves; for virtue is not in them as one thing in another, but to perform their proper activities and to be unceasingly directed towards God and themselves, this is in them a God-imitating virtue; yet order nevertheless preserves the 'as of one thing in another', as in, "your soul lives in me," instead of, the communication of teaching; but the accidental (14E_304> is in a subject, which is not the case there; for those beings are incomposite and immaterial, and their forms are living, not as in matter. And the scholiast understood these things thus. But keep in mind my own notes, from three pages ago; for here too the word "desiring" works with my understanding; and the Fathers understood it thus, and he himself seems [to hold] the self-determination of the angels, as you will find shortly.

Taxis-arch: That is, God. Is therefore for all: Note that God is the essence of light, and virtue by nature, and

virtue by position. They lead: Note that after God the principle of all virtue is the highest minds, through

whom as first we have the illumination of God. Fiery property: Note that the highest minds are fiery according to their property. Thronal: He well explains what the thrones of the heavenly beings are, namely to have an open

understanding concerning God; and he calls the "thronal property" the principle of the holy thrones that has been declared by allotment.

Of the subordinate: Concerning the subordinate orders, how through the first they partake of the divine things.

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δοκούντων ὁρᾶσθαι· αἰνίγματα γάρ καί σύμβολα, οὐ μήν γυμνά πράγματα καί οὐσίας ἑώρων.

Ἐπί Θεόν: Ὁρᾷς ὅτι οἱ μυοῦντες ἄγγελοι τάς ἀποκαλύψεις τούς προφήτας οὕτως ἐποίουν· ἀνάγοντες αὐτούς πρωτοτύπως ἐπί Θεόν τόν πάντων κυρίως αἴτιον· δευτέρως δέ ἐπί τούς μετά Θεόν πρώτους νόας θέσει καί θεοειδῶς ἄρχοντας τῆς ἐπί Θεόν ἱεραρχίας. Ταῦτα ἐφεξῆς διδάσκει.

Καί διά πάντων: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι ἐπί πάντας ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοια διήκει κρυφίως, καί ὅτι κατώτερος ἄγγελος ὁμωνύμως σεραφίμ ὀνομάζεται.

Ἀναλόγως: Ἤγουν κατά τό μέτρον τῆς τῶν δεχομένων δυνάμεως καί τάς ἐλλάμψεις ἐκτείνει,

Κατά τήν ἑκάστης: Πῶς αἱ θεῖαι ἐλλάμψεις εἰς ἐνίους μέν φανότεραι, εἰς ἐνίους δέ ἀμυδρότεραι διαδίδονται, ἐκ παραδείγματος σαφηνίζει.

Ἡλιακῆς: Τό ὑπόδειγμα τοῦτο καί ἀνωτέρω παρετέθη· πρώτην δέ ὕλην φησί τήν ὕελον καί τάς ὁμοίας· ὥσπερ καί παχυτέραν, οἷον οἴκους καί σπήλαια καί τά παραπλήσια. Ἄλλως· (14Ε_302> πρώτην ὕλην τήν λεπτήν καί ἀερώδη καί καθαράν.

Πάλιν ἡ πυρός θερμότης: Καλῶς ἀπεικάζει τῷ Θεῷ τό πῦρ· λέγει γάρ ἡ Γραφή, «ὁ δέ Θεός πῦρ καταναλίσκον ἐστί», καί ὅτι τό μέν αὐτοῦ θερμαίνει, τό δέ κατακαίει· οὕτω καί ὁ Θεός τούς προσιόντας αὐτῷ φωτίζει, τούς δέ ἀπιστοῦντας κατακαίει, τούς μή ἐν πίστει προσιόντας καί προσεγγίζοντας αὐτῷ.

Πρός δέ τάς ἀντιτυπεῖς: Οἶον ἀδάμαντα καί ὕδωρ. Φυσικῆς: Φυσικά λέγει τά αἰσθητά καί ὁρατά. Ἰστέον δέ, ὅτι ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς,

αἱ ἀρεταί οὔκ εἰσι κατά συμβεβηκός, ὡς παρ' ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' ὁ Θεός μέν ἔστι ζῶσα ἀρετή καί αὐτοτελής καί ἀπροσδεής, ὅτι ὑπερουσίως οὐσίωται καί μεταδοτικῶς ἐκφοιτᾷ εἰς τά ἀπ' αὐτῆς ὡς αἰτίας οὔσης, ὑπάρξαντα νοητά· πηγή μέν οὖν τῆς ἀρετῆς ζώσης καί θεούσης κατά τό ἐφικτόν τούς μετέχοντας ὁ Θεός· ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰς πρόοδον προνοητικῶς ἐκφοιτᾷ εἰς τά οὐσιωθέντα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ νοητά, καί ἀκρότης καί τελειότης κατά τοῦτο εἶναι τῶν νοῶν οὐκ ἀποβάλλει. Οὐ κατά συμβεβηκός οὖν οἱ νόες, ὡς ἡμεῖς, ἔχουσι τήν ἀρετήν, τήν φρόνησιν ἐξ ἀσκήσεως, οἷον ἤ μαθήσεως, ἤ τήν δικαιοσύνην, ἤ τήν σωφροσύνην δι' ἐγκρατείας, ἤ τήν ἀνδρίαν ἐξ εὐθεσίας σώματος καί νεύρων· οὐ γάρ ὡς ἄλλο ἐν ἄλλῳ, ἐν τούτοις ἡ ἀρετή, ἀλλά τό τά οἰκεῖα ἐνεργεῖν καί ἀπαύστως ἀνατετάσθαι πρός Θεόν καί εἰς ἑαυτούς, τοῦτο ἐν αὐτοῖς θεομίμητον, ἀρετή· τάξις δέ ὅμως τήν ὡς ἄλλου ἐν ἄλλῳ διαφυλάττει, ὡς τό, «ζῇ ἐν ἐμοί ἡ ψυχή σου», ἀντί τοῦ, ἡ τῆς διδασκαλίας μετάδοσις· τό δέ συμβεβηκός (14Ε_304> ἐν ὑποκειμένῳ ὅπερ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ· ἀσύνθετα γάρ καί ἄϋλα ἐκεῖνα, καί τά εἴδη αὐτῶν ζωαί, οὐχ ὡς ἐν ὕλῃ. Καί ταῦτα μέν ὁ παραγράψας ἐνόησεν. Ἔχε δέ κατά νοῦν τάς ἐμάς σημειώσεις, τάς πρό τριῶν φύλλων· καί ἐνταῦθα γάρ τό ἐφιέμεναι τῇ ἐμῇ νοήσει συνεργεῖ· καί οἱ Πατέρες δέ οὕτως ἐνόησαν, καί αὐτός δέ δοκεῖ τό αὐτοπροαίρετον τῶν ἀγγέλων, ὡς μετ' ὀλίγον εὑρήσεις.

Ταξιαρχία: Τουτέστιν ὁ Θεός. Ἔστιν οὖν ἅπασι: Σημείωσαι ὅτι φωτός οὐσία ὁ Θεός, καί τό φύσει ἀρετή, καί

θέσει ἀρετή. Ἡγοῦνται: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι μετά Θεόν ἀρχή πάσης ἀρετῆς οἱ ἀνώτατοι νόες, δι'

ὧν πρώτων ἔχομεν τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔλλαμψιν. Ἐμπύριον ἰδιότητα: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι κατά ἰδιότητα ἐμπύριοι οἱ ἀνώτατοι νόες. Θρονίαν: Καλῶς ἑρμηνεύει τί εἰσι θρόνοι τῶν οὐρανίων, τό ἀνεῳγμένην τήν

περί Θεοῦ νόησιν ἔχειν· θρονίαν δέ φησιν ἰδιότητα τήν ἀποκληρωτικῶς ἀποφανθεῖσαν τῶν ἁγίων θρόνων ἀρχήν.

Ὑφειμένων: Περί τῶν ὑποβεβηκυιῶν τάξεων, ὅπως διά τῶν πρώτων μετέχουσι τῶν θείων.