95

of the sons of the precious dyad, whether according to the gathering together of the members of the body to their own head and to their own first-fruits of the dough, the upper world will certainly be filled, according to the teacher, having already been filled in Christ, but to be filled again later in those who are according to Christ, when they shall have become united with His resurrection also, those who have already become conformed to the likeness of His death through the same sufferings.

ƒ∆ (94). ..”A CHILD IS BORN TO US, A SON IS GIVEN TO US, WHOSE GOVERNMENT IS UPON..”..

From the same discourse, on the text: “A child is born to us, a Son is given to us, whose government is upon His shoulder; for He is lifted up together with the cross”.

Having wholly, by means of his discourse, logically attached himself to the first discourse, the one concerning the Word which the great prophet Isaiah (14∆_390> makes concerning the incarnate Word, mystically saying, *Whose government is upon His shoulder*, this great teacher, concisely, as is his custom, clearly explained what kind of government this should rightly be considered, saying, “for He is lifted up together with the cross.” But since the cross admits of many contemplations through the concepts concerning it, it is worthwhile to investigate according to which concept the teacher has now called the cross a government. For the cross is contemplated according to shape, according to composition, according to the property of its parts, and according to energy and according to many other concepts, which are visible to those who love the contemplation of divine things.

According to shape, as when the cross, being contemplated, signifies the power that comprehends all things—things above and things below on either side—within its own limits; according to composition, as when it reveals essence and providence and judgment—that is, their manifestations, I mean wisdom and knowledge and virtue—of the power that governs the universe, essence and wisdom as creative through the vertical line, providence and knowledge as preservative through the horizontal line, and judgment and virtue as destructive of evil, and as uniting what has been made and preserved to its own principle and cause through the whole; according to the property of its parts, as when through the 1284 vertical line the cross signifies God who is always in the same state and in no way departs from His own permanence on account of His stable and immovable foundation, and through the horizontal line it shows all creation to be entirely dependent on God, having no other principles of being or foundation apart from God; and according to energy, as when it signifies the inactivity and mortification of those who are fixed upon it; it is in this manner of contemplation, I think, that the teacher has now understood the prophetic word.

Just as, therefore, of every office (for it is good to demonstrate the truth of things beyond us by examples from our own experience) (14∆_392> there are certain insignia, by which those who receive them become manifest to all that one has received this office from the emperor, for instance, the magistrate the so-called codicils, another through the sword the so-called *duciana*, and another, another office through some other token, and from the emperor they themselves receive and carry this in their own hands, but having gone out, they give it to their own attendants to carry; in this way our Lord Jesus Christ also, according to the concept of His humanity, having received the symbols of His own authority, His cross, went forth bearing it on His shoulders, first bearing it Himself, then giving it to another, showing by these things that the one entrusted with an office must first lead those who are led by it and hold to what is prescribed by it (for thus he will become readily acceptable in his instructions), and then to command those entrusted to him to do the same. But if the insignia of the

95

τῶν υἱῶν τιμίας δυάδος, εἴτε κατά τήν τῶν μελῶν τοῦ σώματος πρός τήν οἰκείαν κεφαλήν καί πρός τήν ἰδίαν ἀπαρχήν τοῦ φυράματος ἐπισυναγωγήν, ὁ ἄνων κόσμος πληρωθήσεται πάντως κατά τόν διδάσκαλον, πληρωθείς μέν ἤδη ἐν Χριστῷ, πληρωθησόμενος δέ ἐν τοῖς κατά Χριστόν αὖθις ὕστερον, ἡνίκα σύμφυτοι γενήσονται καί τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ οἵγε τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ διά τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων ἤδη γεγονότες.

ƒ∆ (94). ..».ΠΑΙ∆ΙΟΝ ΕΓΕΝΝΗΘΗ ΗΜΙΝ ΥΙΟΣ ΚΑΙ Ε∆ΟΘΗ ΗΜΙΝ, ΟΥ Η ΑΡΧΗ ΕΠΙ..».

Ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου, εἰς τό· «Παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν Υἱός καί ἐδόθη ἡμῖν, οὗ ἡ ἀρχή ἐπί τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ· τῷ γάρ σταυρῷ συνεπαίρεται».

Ὅλος διά τοῦ λόγου τῷ πρώτῳ λόγῳ προσθέμενος κατά λόγον τόν περί τοῦ

Λόγου λόγον ὅν μέγας προφήτης Ἡσαΐας (14∆_390> ποιεῖται περί τοῦ σαρκωθέντος Λόγου, μυστικῶς φήσας, Οὗ ἡ ἀρχή ἐπί τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ, συνοπτικῶς, ὡς ἔθος αὐτῷ ἐστι, τίνα τήν ἀρχήν ταύτην δεῖν οἴεσθαι θέμις διετράνωσεν ὁ μέγας οὗτος διδάσκαλος, εἰπών· "Τῷ γάρ σταυρῷ συνεπαίρεται». Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπειδή πολλάς ὁ σταυρός ταῖς περί αὐτόν ἐπινοίαις ἐπιδέχεται θεωρίας, ἄξιόν ἐστι ζητῆσαι κατά ποίαν ἐπίνοιαν τόν σταυρόν ἐπί τοῦ παρόντος ἀρχήν ὁ διδάσκαλος εἶπε. Θεωρεῖται γάρ ὁ σταυρός κατά σχῆμα, κατά σύνθεσιν, κατά τήν τῶν μερῶν ἰδιότητα, καί κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν καί κατ᾿ ἄλλας πολλάς ἐπινοίας, αἱ τοῖς τῶν θείων φιλοθεάμοσίν εἰσιν ὁραταί.

Κατά σχῆμα μέν, ὡς ὅταν τήν τά ὅλα, τά τε ἄνω καί τά κάτω ἐφ᾿ ἑκάτερα, τοῖς καθ᾿ αὐτά πέρασι διαλαμβάνουσαν ὁ σταυρός θεωρούμενος, ὑποσημαίνῃ δύναμιν· κατά σύνθεσιν δέ, ὡς ὅταν οὐσίαν καί πρόνοιαν καί κρίσιν, ἤγουν τάς τούτων ἐκφάνσεις, σοφίαν φημί καί γνῶσιν καί ἀρετήν τῆς τό πᾶν διεπούσης ἐμφαίνῃ δυνάμεως, τήν μέν οὐσίαν καί τήν σοφίαν ὡς ποιητικήν διά τῆς ὑψιτενοῦς γραμμῆς, τήν δέ πρόνοιαν καί τήν γνῶσιν ὡς περιποιητικήν διά τῆς ἐγκαρσίας, τήν δέ κρίσιν καί τήν ἀρετήν ὡς κακίας ἀναιτερικήν, καί τῆς τῶν πεποιημένων καί περιποιημένων πρός τήν ἰδίαν ἀρχήν καί αἰτίαν συνδετικήν διά τοῦ ὅλου· κατά δέ τήν τῶν μερῶν ἰδιότητα, ὅταν διά μέν τῆς 1284 ὑψιτενοῦς γραμμῆς τόν ἀεί ὡσαύτως ἔχοντα καί τῆς οἰκείας μονιμότητος οὐδαμῶς ἐξιστάμενον διά τήν σταθηράν καί ἀμετακίνητον ἵδρυσιν Θεόν ὁ σταυρός δηλοῖ, διά δέ τῆς ἐγκαρσίας τήν ἅπασαν κτίσιν Θεοῦ παντελῶς ἠρτημένην ὑποφαίνῃ, ἄλλας ἀρχάς τοῦ εἶναι Θεοῦ χωρίς ἤ βάσιν οὐκ ἔχουσαν· κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν δέ, ὅταν τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτῷ πηγνυμένων τήν ἀπραξίαν δηλοῖ καί τήν νέκρωσιν, καθ᾿ ὅντινα τρόπον θεωρίας νῦν, ὡς οἶμαι, τον προφητικόν ὁ διδάσκαλος ἐξείληφε λόγον.

Ὥσπερ οὖν ἑκάστης ἀρχῆς (καλόν γάρ τοῖς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς παραδείγμασι τῶν ὑπέρ ἡμᾶς πραγμάτων ἐνδείξασθαι τήν ἀλήθειαν) (14∆_392> εἰσί σήμαντρά τινά δι ὧν οἱ λαμβάνοντες ἔκδηλοι πᾶσι γίνονται ὅτι ὁ μέν τήνδε ἀρχήν παρά τοῦ βασιλέως εἴληφεν, οἷον ὁ ἄρχων τούς λεγομένους κωδικίλλους, ὁ δέ διά τοῦ ξίφους τήν λεγομένην δοκιανήν, καί ἄλλος ἄλλην διά τινος ἑτέρου συνθήματος, καί παρά μέν τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτοί δέχονται καί φέρουσι τοῦτο ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσίν, ἐξελθόντες δέ τοῖς οἰκείοις διδόασι τοῦτο κομίζειν, τοῦτον τόν τρόπον καί ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός κατά τήν ἐπίνοιαν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος τά σύμβολα τῆς ἰδίας ἀρχῆς τόν αὐτοῦ σταυρόν δεξάμενος ἐπί τῶν ὤμων ἐξῆλθεν ἔχων, πρῶτος αὐτός βαστάσας, ἔπειτα τοῦτο ἑτέρῳ δούς, διά τούτων ἐμφαίνων ὅτι δεῖ τόν ἀρχήν ἐγχειριζόμενον πρῶτον καθηγεῖσθαι τῶν δι᾿ αὐτῆς ἀγομένων καί ἀντέχεσθαι τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς ὑπαγορευμένων (οὕτω γάρ ἄν εὐπαράδεκτος ἐν ταῖς ὑποθῆκαις γενήσεται), καί τότε προστάσσειν τοῖς ἐγχειρισθεῖσιν αὐτῷ τήν ταυτότητα δρᾷν. Εἰ δέ τό σήμαντρον τῆς