93

readiness to make war, so that they even forgot about food and not even wait for their rations, nor need rest, nor put aside the appearance of warriors. These were reckoned as solid rock and their chariots as tempests; like lions in their strength, and lion cubs in their attack; whose roar was like that of a surging sea, when the people under attack saw nothing else, but a harsh darkness upon the earth ...

6.t CHAPTER 6

6.183 And it happened in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. And one of the Seraphim was sent to me. Divine powers are always sent to the Saints from the creation and foundation of the world, correcting the weakness of human nature. Therefore one was also sent to Isaiah, in order to take away and cleanse his sins. And he was sent because he heard him lamenting his own miseries, and confessing the sin in his thoughts. For he said, Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Paul also said these things; Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Then he himself, as having obtained divine assistance, adds: I thank God through Jesus Christ. And he said, Woe is me, having come with insight to the thought of the kingdom of God sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and having filled so great a world with his glory. For before he perceived God, he is not seen to have said, Woe is me. Since also Abraham, when God appeared to him, is then recorded as having said, But I am earth and ashes. So too Moses, though educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and, as is likely, surpassing them all in talent and understanding, did not perceive himself to be of a feeble voice or slow of speech; but when he heard the one who spoke the oracle, then he perceived his speechlessness and the slowness of his tongue.

6.184 And in his hand he had a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth. The one who interprets the saying in a Jewish manner will say that the Lord was seen in the place near Jerusalem, sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the Seraphim standing round about him; and that the fire taken by the Seraph from the altar of burnt offerings was brought to the mouth of the Prophet, for the cleansing of his lips. But we who have believed, that the things according to the law are a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, say the house is the entire system of the intelligible and sensible creation, and the lifted up throne is the rule and lordship of God over all things; and the Seraphim are the supramundane powers. For if (as some have imagined) the two hemispheres of heaven, appearing in turn above the earth, with six parts each, as if using certain wings for swift motion, how was one of them sent, or how was it separated from the other, since the nature of heaven is connected? But, as I said, they are supramundane powers, deemed worthy of the nearest station on account of the perfection of their holiness; one of whom came to the Prophet. For as the God over all does not disdain to look down from heaven for the care of men, neither do the partial powers refuse the ministry for the benefit of men. Therefore the Seraph took from the altar with the tongs. - Consider how great the altar is, how unapproachable, that the Seraph does not dare to touch it with his hand, but through the tongs takes the fire into his hand. And he took a live coal. He takes the fire into his hand. What sort of fire is this, which of sins

93

προθυμίαν εἰς τὸ πολεμεῖν, ὥστε καὶ τῶν τροφῶν ἐπιλανθά νεσθαι καὶ μηδὲ τὰ σιτηρέσια ἀναμένειν, μηδὲ ἀναπαύσεως δεῖσθαι, μηδὲ ἀποτίθεσθαι τὸ τῶν πολεμούντων σχῆμα. Οὗτοι ὥσπερ στερεὰ πέτρα ἐλογίσθησαν καὶ τὰ ἅρματα αὐτῶν ὡς καταιγίδες· ὅμοιοι λέουσι τὴν ἰσχὺν, καὶ σκύμνοις λεόντων τὴν ὁρμήν· ὧν ἡ βοὴ ὡς θαλάσσης κυμαινούσης, ὅτε καὶ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ὁ πολεμούμενος λαὸς ἑώρα, ἀλλ' ἢ σκότος σκληρὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ...

6.t ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ςʹ

6.183 Καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βα σιλεὺς, εἶδον τὸν Κύριον. Καὶ ἐπεστάλη πρός με ἓν τῶν Σεραφίμ. Πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ κτίσεως καὶ καταβολῆς κόσμου Ἁγίους ἀεὶ ἀποστέλλονται θεῖαι δυνάμεις, τὸ σαθρὸν τῆς ἀνθρω πίνης φύσεως ἐπανορθούμεναι. Ἀπεστάλη τοίνυν καὶ πρὸς Ἡσαΐαν, ἐπὶ τῷ περιελεῖν αὐτοῦ τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ κα θαρίσαι. Ἀπεστάλη δὲ ἐπειδὴ ἤκουσεν ὀδυρομένου τὰς ἰδίας ταλαιπωρίας, καὶ ὁμολογοῦντος τὴν ἐν λογισμοῖς αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτίαν. Εἶπε γὰρ τὸ Ὢ τάλας ἐγὼ, ὅτι κατανένυγμαι, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὢν καὶ ἀκάθαρτα χείλη ἔχων, ἐν μέσῳ λαοῦ ἀκάθαρτα χείλη ἔχοντος ἐγὼ οἰκῶ. Ταῦτα ἔλεγε καὶ ὁ Παῦλος· Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος, τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου; Εἶτα καὶ αὐτὸς, ὡς τυχὼν θείας ἀντιλήψεως, ἐπάγει· Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εἶπε δὲ τὸ Ὢ τάλας ἐγὼ, διορατικῶς εἰς ἔννοιαν ἐλθὼν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, καὶ πεπληρωκότος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ τὸν τηλικοῦτον κόσμον. Πρὶν γὰρ ἐννοῆσαι Θεὸν, οὐ φαίνεται εἰπὼν τὸ Ὢ τάλας ἐγώ. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Ἀβραὰμ, ὅτε ὤφθηαὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς, τότε ἀναγέγραπται εἰρηκὼς τὸ Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ Μωϋσῆς, παιδευόμενος μὲν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ, ὡς εἰκὸς, διαβαίνων πάντας αὐτοὺς τῇ εὐφυΐᾳ καὶ τῇ συνέσει, οὐκ ᾐσθάνετο ἑαυτοῦ ἰσχνοφώνου ἢ βραδυγλώσσου· ὅτε δὲ ἤκουσε τοῦ χρημα τίζοντος, τότε τῆς ἀφωνίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν βραδύτητος ᾔσθετο. 6.184 Καὶ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ εἶχεν ἄνθρακα, ὃν τῇ λαβίδι ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ ἥψατο τοῦ στόματός μου. Ὁ μὲν Ἰουδαϊκῶς ἐξηγούμενος τὸ ῥητὸν, ἐρεῖ ὡς ἄρα ὁ Κύριος ἑώραται ἐπὶ τῷ κατὰ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τόπῳ, καθή μενος ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ ἑστηκότα· καὶ ἐκ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων τὸ πῦρ ληφθὲν παρὰ τοῦ Σεραφεὶμ προσ ηνέχθη τῷ στόματι τοῦ Προφήτου, εἰς καθαρισμὸν τῶν χειλέων αὐτοῦ. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ πεπιστευκότες, ὅτι ὑπόδειγμά τι καὶ σκιὰ τῶν ἐπουρανίων ἐστὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν νόμον, οἶκον μὲν λέγομεν τὸ σύμπαν σύστημα τῆς νοητῆς καὶ αἰσθητῆς κτίσεως, θρόνον δὲ ἐπηρμένον τὴν ἐπὶ πάντων ἀρχὴν καὶ δεσποτείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ· Σεραφὶμ δὲ τὰς ὑπερκοσμίους δυ νάμεις. Εἰ γὰρ (ὅπερ ἐφαντάσθησάν τινες) τὰ δύο τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ ἡμισφαίρια, ἀνὰ μέρος ὑπὲρ γῆς φαινόμενα, ἓξ μέρεσιν ἑκατέρων, οἱονεί τισι πτεροῖς, πρὸς τὴν ὀξείαν κίνησιν κεχρημένων, πῶς ἀπεστέλλετο τὸ ἕτερον τούτων, ἢ πῶς ἀπεσπᾶτο ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄλλου, συνημμένης τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῆς φύ σεως οὔσης; Ἀλλ', ὅπερ εἶπον, δυνάμεις ὑπερκόσμιαι, τῆς ἐγγυτάτω στάσεως διὰ τὴν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ ἀκρότητα κατηξιω μέναι· ὧν ἡ μία ἦλθε πρὸς τὸν Προφήτην. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς οὐκ ἀπαξιοῖ διακύπτειν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐδὲ αἱ μερικαὶ δυνάμεις τὴν διακονίαν ὑπὲρ εὐεργεσίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀρνοῦνται. Ἔλαβεν οὖν τὸ Σεραφεὶμ ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῇ λαβίδι. - ̓Ενθυμήθητι πηλίκον τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ὅπως δυσπρόσιτον, ὡς μὴ κατατολμᾷν αὐτοῦ τὸ Σεραφεὶμ τῇ χειρὶ προσάπτεσθαι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς λαβίδος λαμβάνειν τὸ πῦρ εἰς τὴν χεῖρα. Καὶ ἔλαβεν ἄνθρακα. Λαμβάνει τὸ πῦρ εἰς τὴν χεῖρα. Ποδαπὸν τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ, ὃ ἁμαρτίας