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life from death; and from that which in no way is, that which is. And I do not say these things for the rejection of those; for I hold and cling to, more than to life, the teaching of those who affirm this; but securing my own measure through extreme caution. But it is not for me to determine the reading of "to strike," on account of my ignorance in these matters, but rather for those who are trained and have chosen instruction with zeal; who say that this ought to be regulated with a barytone accent rather than a circumflex, because, they say, no verb is circumflexed, unless it has been established from the contraction of a barytone, such as *noō*, and *poiō*, and *chrysoō*, and whatever is of that kind, keeping the accent on the same syllable even with a preposition.

The right cheek, I mean the right action, and all that a divinely-inspired life, established for us through the commandments, characterizes, being struck by the evil one in the preconception of the goodness being worked; 1400 and by the blow of the conceit resulting from this, becoming somehow inflamed through vainglory, and being lifted up against those who happen to possess nothing equal; for which reason it is fitting to turn the other, as it were the left, that is, the life which has already previously defiled us through the deceit of this age, and to be continually struck by it through memory; and as sinners to be humbled and moderate, rather than as saints to be lifted up, and to fall through pride, not having humility as a sacred foundation. But let these things be honored along with those understood according to contemplation; or rather, even before these, for sacred preparation and preliminary purification, let these things also be performed bodily because of the Lord who commanded them; a state of freedom from passion being thereby granted to those who succeed, and a limitation of the unbelief of the striker, as the readiness of acceptance restrains the zeal for the blow, respecting, perhaps, if nothing else, the exceeding degree of submission; and that the one able to do this in no way resists, being restrained by the command.

But the, "touch me not," was said by the Lord to Mary Magdalene, who had supposed him to be the gardener; the mystery declaring, and subtly revealing, that every rational soul, not yet having ascended beyond its connatural tabernacle, and for this reason being only of things in generation and corruption, in no way differing from cultivated vegetables—for the flow and ebb are the same for both, as well as the circumscription and period of time—supposing the Word to be the creator, because of His procession concerning these things and His condescension unto them; has not become worthy of contact with Him according to the spirit, and this while seeking Him among phenomena; and knowing Him only as having become flesh for us; but not also fittingly knowing Him as God begotten of God the Father. For the phrase, "I have not yet ascended to my Father," likely suggests this for understanding, that He has not been exalted by the soul so disposed through the highest theology and faith, by which the nature of visible things is circumscribed; but that it still needs instruction, for a more perfect comprehension of Him, to run up through contemplation to the revelatory state of divine things as to a certain Galilee; and that, along with the *logoi* prefigured and put forth by Him, He might be comprehended whole, as is right, and that we might become such as He was who became what we are, inasmuch as He was shown to have become this, except for sin alone, as we also might become for Him, apart from nature alone, when we obtain the gift; which now awaiting through hope, and duly honoring with the fitting works of the commandments, may you enjoy as much as you have believed, and may you delight in as much as you have labored; or rather, more and infinitely so, inasmuch as the giver of this superessentially transcends both the motion of nature, and the comprehension of every age.

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θανάτου ζωή· καί τοῦ μηδαμῶς ὄντος, τό ὄν. Καί οὐ λέγω ταῦτα πρός τήν ἐκείνων ἀθέτησιν· ἔχομαι (14Α_358> γάρ καί ἀντέχομαι ζωῆς πλέον, τῆς τῶν φαμένων διδασκαλίας· ἀλλά τό οἰκεῖον μέτριον δι᾿ ἄκραν δειλίαν ἀσφαλιζόμενος. Τήν δέ ἀνάγνωσιν τοῦ ὑπωπιάζειν κανονίζειν οὐ πρέπον ἐμοί, διά τήν ἐν τούτοις ἀμαθίαν, ἤ τοῖς ἠσκημένοις καί σπουδῇ προελομένοις τήν παίδευσιν· οἵ ταύτην ὀφείλειν φασί κανονίζεσθαι βαρυτόνως μᾶλλον, ἤ περισπωμένως, ὅτι τέ φασι τῶν ῥημάτων οὐδέν περισπᾶται, πλήν εἰ μή ἐκ συναιρέσεως βαρυτόνου καθέστηκεν, ὡς τό, νοῶ, καί ποιῶ, καί χρυσῶ, καί ὅσα τοιαῦτα, φυλάσσοντα καί μετά προθέσεως ἐπί τῆς αὐτῆς τόν τόνον.

Τήν δεξιάν, σιαγόνα, τήν δεξιάν πρᾶξίν φημι, καί ὅσην ἐνθέος ἡμῖν διά τῶν ἐντολῶν συνιστάμενος βίος χαρακτηρίζει, ῥαπιζομένην ὑπό τοῦ πονηροῦ τῇ προλήψει τῆς ἐνεργουμένης καλοκαγαθίας· 1400 καί τῇ πληγῇ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν οἰήσεως, φλεγμαίνουσάν πως διά κενοδοξίας, καί ἐπαιρομένην κατά τῶν μηδεμίαν, ἅ μή τήν ἴσην τυχόν κεκτημένων· δι᾿ ἥν ὥσπερ ἄλλην καί οἷον ἀριστεράν στρέφειν προσήκει, τόν ἤδη πρότερον ἡμᾶς κατά τήν ἀπάτην τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου καταμολύναντα βίον, τούτῳ τε πλήττεσθαι συνεχῶς διά τῆς μνήμης· καί ὡς ἁμαρτωλούς μᾶλλον συστέλλεσθαι καί μετριάζειν, ἤ ὡς ἁγίους μετεωρίζεσθαι, καί δι᾿ ἔπαρσιν καταπίπτειν, οὐκ ἔχοντας πῆξιν ἱεράν τήν ταπείνωσιν. Τιμάσθω δέ μετά τῶν κατά θεωρίαν λαμβανομένων· μᾶλλον δέ καί πρό τούτων, εἰς ἑτοιμασίαν ἱεράν καί προκάθαρσιν, καί σωματικῶς ταῦτα τελούμενα διά τόν ἐντειλάμενον Κύριον· προσπαθείας ἐντεῦθεν ἕξιν τοῖς κατορθοῦσι δορούμενον, καί τῆς τοῦ πλήττοντος περιγραφήν ἀπιστίας, τῷ ἑτοίμῳ τῆς παραδοχῆς τό πρόθυμον τῆς πληγῆς ἀναστέλλοντα, αἰδομένου τυχόν, εἰ μή τι ἄλλο, τό ὑπερβάλλον τῆς ὑποπτώσεως· καί τό μηδαμῶς ἀντιτείνεν τόν δυνάμενον τοῦτο ποιεῖν, εἰργόμενον δέ διά τήν πρόσαξιν.

Τό δέ, «μή μου ἅπτου», πρός τήν Μαγδαληνήν λέλεκται (14Α_360> Μαρίαν παρά τοῦ Κυρίου, κηπουρόν αὐτόν εἶναι νομίσασαν· δηλοῦντος τοῦ μυστηρίου, καί ὑπεκφαίνοντος, ὡς ψυχή πᾶσα νοερά, μήπω τό συμφυές σκῆνος ὑπεραναβᾶσα, καί διά τοῦτο τῶν ἐν γενέσει καί φθορᾷ μόνον, οὐδέν οὐδαμῶς διαφερόντων λαχάνων κηπευομένων· ἴση γάρ ἐπ᾿ ἀμφοῖν ἤ τε ῥοή καί ἀποῤῥοή, καί ἡ τοῦ χρόνου περιγραφή καί περίοδος· δημιουργόν εἶναι τόν Λόγον ὑπολαμβάνουσα, διά τήν περί ταῦτα, καί ἕως τούτων πρόοδον αὐτοῦ καί συγκατάβασιν· οὐκ ἀξία τῆς τούτου κατά πνεῦμα καθέστηκεν ἐπαφῆς, καί ταῦτα τοῖς φαινομένοις αὐτόν ἐπιζητοῦσα· καί σάρκα δι᾿ ἡμᾶς γεγενημένον γινώσκουσα μόνον αὐτόν· ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί πρεπόντως καί Θεόν ἐκ Θεοῦ τοῦ Πατρός γεγεννημένον γινώσκουσα. Τοῦτο γάρ κατὰ τό εἰκός νοεῖν ὑποβάλλει, τό, «οὔπω ἀναβέβηκα πρός τόν Πατέρα μου», τό μή δι᾿ ἄκρας θεολογίας καί πίστεως, οἷς ἡ τῶν ὁρωμένων περιγράφεται φύσις, ὑψωθῆναι πρός τῆς οὕτω διακειμένης ψυχῆς· ἀλλ᾿ ἔτι παιδαγωγικῶς δεομένης εἰς ἐντελεστέραν τούτου κατάληψιν, ἐπί τήν ἀποκαλυπτικήν ἕξιν τῶν θείων ὡσεί τινα Γαλιλαίαν διά θεωρίας ἀναδραμεῖν· καί σύν τοῖς ὑπ᾿αὐτοῦ προτετυπωμένοις καί προβεβλημένοις λόγοις, ὅλον ὡς θέμις περιληφθῆναι, καί γενέσθαι τοσοῦτον ὅπερ αὐτός ἦν ὁ γενόμενος ὅπερ ἡμεῖς, ὅσον ἐδείχθη τοῦτο γενόμενος πλήν μόνης τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὡς καί ἡμεῖς ἐκείνῳ δίχα μόνης τῆς φύσεως, ἡνίκα τῆς δωρεᾶς τῆς ἐπιτύχοιμεν· ἥν δι᾿ ἐλπίδος νῦν προσδεχόμενος, καί προσήκουσι τῶν ἐντολῶν ἔργοις δεόντως ἀποσεμνύνων, ἀπολαύσαις ὅσον ἐπίστευσας, καί τρυφήσαις ὅσον ἐπόνησας· μᾶλλον δέ πλέον καί ἀπειράκις ὅσον καί ὁ ταύτης δοτήρ ὑπερουσίως ὑπερανέστηκε καί φύσεως κίνησιν, καί παντός αἰῶνος περίληψιν.