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he conquered, having bestowed resurrection upon those guarded there; this is the manifold nature of his wisdom, that through weakness he overcame those who seem strong.
(14E_322> In general: And in the treatise *On the Divine Names*, in the fourth chapter, it was extensively clarified what is intelligible and what is intellectual; but now the great Dionysius himself clarifies: for the intelligible is that which is understood, which is fittingly also said to shine the light; but the intellectual is the very thing that understands, being illuminated, and to speak briefly, the transcendent essences are intelligible, but the subordinate ones are intellectual, and the understanding is subordinate to the understood. The divine nature is what shines intelligibly, while the angelic nature is what is illuminated intellectually.
Sacerdotal: It signifies what the sacerdotal garment means in Ezekiel and Daniel. Their unifying state: We said above what "state" means in the case of incorporeal beings. And
read in the seventh chapter, 'the unified and undistracted nature of the thoughts'; through these things the Father reveals about the divine illuminations, and their own identity being gathered together for all time in the abiding of the good God.
Of dissimilar things: That is, of material things. § 5. Geometrical: Concerning geometrical instruments in Ezekiel and Zechariah. Corrective: As the sword in Kings, and the sickle in Zechariah the
prophet. § 6. Winds: I think he is mentioning the text in David, "he who
walks upon the wings of the winds," perhaps signifying the ascension of Christ; since also in what follows the Father says that they are fashioned in the form of a cloud, because it was said: "a cloud took him up from their eyes."
Timelessly: He rightly said "timelessly"; for in the case of sensible things, events happen properly in time and more slowly; but in the case of incorporeal (14E_324> and intelligible things it is accomplished timelessly and eternally and without delay; one should not therefore speak of time in the case of intelligible things.
Movement: Instead of "breathing" or "flight." And the one from above: The one from above to the things below, as in the case of Jacob's ladder. Of the air: Note that he calls the wind an "airy spirit." Wind-like. Another contemplation of the name of winds. In Symbolic Theology. Note also another of his writings which is not extant;
but "four-element purification" he says is the anagogical allegory of the four elements; and the symbols, as it seems, he developed there, rather of the four elements, through contemplation. Note, too, how he interprets this: "The Spirit blows where it wills," through the following words; for he says: "you do not know where it comes from or where it goes."
To those who are filled in a supracelestial manner: For just as the cloud draws up the water of the sea and pours it out upon the face of the earth, according to what is said, "he who calls forth the water of the sea, and pours it out upon all the face of the earth," so too the minds, receiving their own knowledge, spread it like clouds upon those who are inferior.
Without being sent forth: He says "without being sent forth," that is, commingled; for the light in a cloud is inalienable.
Rain-bearing: He considers in another way what clouds signify; and going further down, what he says that electrum and bronze and such colors and forms of beasts signify in the case of angels.
Receptive: "Receptive bosom," he named the earth which receives the rains, through them bringing forth its own fruits.
§ 7. But since these things: Concerning the beast-formed types. (14E_326> § 8. Of the tracks: Note the natural habit of the lion from this; for they say
that, wishing to elude the hunters, while walking, with its tail it erases the
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ἐνίκησε, τοῖς ἐκεῖ φρουρουμένοις ἀνάστασιν δωρησάμενος· τοῦτό ἐστι τό ποικίλον τῆς αὐτοῦ σοφίας, ὅτι δι' ἀσθενείας περιεγένετο τῶν δοκούντων ἰσχυρῶν.
(14Ε_322> Καθόλου: Καί ἐν τῷ Περί θείων ὀνομάτων λόγῳ κεφαλαίῳ δ' πλατέως ἐσαφηνίσθη τί νοητόν καί τί νοερόν· νῦν δέ αὐτός ὁ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος σαφηνίζει· νοητόν μέν γάρ ἐκεῖνο τυγχάνει τό νοούμενον, ὅπερ εἰκότως καί ἐλλάμπειν τό φῶς λέγεται· νοερόν δέ αὐτό τό νοοῦν ὑπάρχον ἐλλαμπόμενον, καί συντόμως εἰπεῖν, αἱ ὑπερβεβηκυῖαι οὐσίαι νοηταί, αἱ δέ ὑφειμέναι νοεραί, καί ὑποβέβηκε τό νοοῦν τό νοούμενον. Νοητῶς μέν ἐλλάμπον ἡ θεία φύσις, νοερῶς δέ ἐλλαμπόμενον ἡ ἀγγελική.
Ἱερατικήν: Σημαίνει τί τό ἱερατικόν ἔνδυμα ἐν Ἰεζεκιήλ καί ∆ανιήλ. Συναγωγόν αὐτῶν ἕξιν: Εἴπομεν ἀνωτέρω, τί ἐστιν ἕξις ἐπί ἀσωμάτων. Καί
ἀνάγνωθι ἐν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ κεφαλαίῳ, 'τό συνηγμένον δέ καί ἀσκέδαστον τῶν νοήσεων· διά τούτων δηλοῖ ὁ Πατήρ περί τάς θείας ἐλλάμψεις, καί τήν οἰκείαν ἐν τῇ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Θεοῦ μονῇ ταυτότητα συνειλουμένην διά παντός.
Ἀνομοίων: Ὑλικῶν δηλονότι. § 5. Γεωμετρικά: Περί σκευῶν γεωμετρικῶν ἐν Ἰεζεκιήλ καί Ζαχαρίᾳ. Ἐπανορθωτικήν: Ὡς τό ξιφος ἐν Βασιλείαις, καί τό δρέπανον ἐν Ζαχαρίᾳ τῷ
προφήτῃ. § 6. Ἀνέμους: Τοῦ κειμένου παρά τῷ ∆αβίδ οἶμαι αὐτόν μνημονεύειν, «ὁ
περιπατῶν ἐπί πτερύγων ἀνέμων», ἴσως τήν ἀνάληψιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ δηλοῦντος· ἐπεί καί ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ὁ Πατήρ, νεφέλης αὐτούς περιπλάττεσθαι ἰδέαν φησιν, διά τό εἰρῆσθαι · «νεφέλη ὑπέλαβεν αὐτόν ἀπό τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν».
Ἀχρόνως: Ἀχρόνως εἰκότως ἔφη· ἐπί γάρ τῶν αἰσθητῶν κυρίως ἐν χρόνῳ καί βραδύτερα τά γινόμενα· ἐπί δέ τῶν ἀσωμάτων (14Ε_324> καί νοητῶν ἀχρόνως καί αἰωνίως καί ἀμελητί τελεσιουργεῖται· οὐ δεῖ οὖν χρόνον ἐπί τῶν νοητῶν ὀνομάζειν.
Ποίησιν: Ἀντί τοῦ πνεῦσιν ἤ πτῆσιν. Καί τήν ἄνωθεν: Τό δέ ἄνωθεν ἐπί τά κάτω, ὡς ἐπί τῆς Ἰακώβ κλίμακος. Ἀερίου: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι ἀέριον πνεῦμα τόν ἄνεμον λέγει. Ἀνεμιαίαν. Ἑτέρα θεωρία τῆς ἀνέμων ἐπωνυμίας. Συμβολικῇ θεολογίᾳ. Σημείωσαι καί ἕτερον αὐτοῦ σύγγραμμα μή φερόμενον·
τετράστοιχον δέ ἀνακάθαρσιν τήν τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων ἀναγωγικήν ἀλληγορίαν φησί· τά σύμβολα δέ, ὡς ἔοικε, μᾶλλον τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων ἐκεῖ διά θεωρίας ἀνέπτυξε. Σημείωσαι δέ, πῶς ἑρμηνεύει τό, «Πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ», διά τῶν ἐπιφερομένων· φησί γάρ· «οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται καί ποῦ ὑπάγει».
Ὑπερκοσμίως ἀποπεπληρωμένοις: Ὥσπερ γάρ ἡ νεφέλη προσκαλεῖται τό τῆς θαλάσσης ὕδωρ καί ἐκχεῖ αὐτό ἐπί τό πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς, κατά τό εἰρημένον, «ὁ προκαλούμενος τό ὕδωρ τῆς θαλάσσης, καί ἐκχέων αὐτό ἐπί πᾶν τό πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς», οὕτω καί οἱ νόες δεχόμενοι τήν οἰκείαν γνῶσιν, νεφελῶν δίκην ἐπί τούς ὑποδεεστέρους ἁπλοῦσιν.
Ἀνεκπομπεύτως: Ἀνεκπομπεύτως φησίν, ἤγουν συγκεκραμένως· ἀναπόβλητον γάρ ἐν νεφέλῃ τό φῶς.
Ὀμβροτοκίαν: Ἑτέρως θεωρεῖ, τί νεφέλαι σημαίνουσι· παρακατιών δέ, τί φησι σημαίνειν ἤλεκτρον καί χαλκόν καί τά ποιά χρώματα καί μορφάς θηρίων ἐπί ἀγγέλων.
Ἐκδόχειον: Ἐκδόχειον κόλπον, τήν τούς ὑετούς ὑποδεχομένην ὠνόμασε γῆν, δι' αὐτῶν τούς οἰκείους τίκτουσαν καρπούς.
§ 7. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδή ταῦτα: Περί τῶν θηρομόρφων τύπων. (14Ε_326> § 8. Ἰχνῶν: Σημείωσαι τό φυσικόν τοῦ λέοντος ἐντεῦθεν· φασί
γάρ ὅτι, τούς θηρεύοντας λανθάνειν βουλόμενος, περιπατῶν, τῇ οὐρᾷ ἐξαφανίζει τά