,

of the memory of the saints from the beginning of time, having given him glory and honor, glory as being above all things according to the intellectual knowledge of the principles in created things, and honor as being pure from all passions and having acquired a movement according to the senses that is not subject to the natural laws in created things.

Perhaps one of those who greatly love beauty will ambitiously say that glory is the supreme beauty according to the image, and honor the unvarying imitation according to the likeness. For the former, true contemplation of spiritual principles is wont to produce, and the latter, the precise and unadulterated practice of the commandments; which the great Hezekiah possessed and was buried in the ascent (14B_414> of the tombs of the sons of David, as if one might take the saying more clearly and say, instead of "they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David," "and they placed the memory of Hezekiah at the height of the memory of the saints from the beginning of time."

Let us consider that it is not said "in the tombs of David" or "in the ascent of the tombs of David." For he is incomparable to created beings, not only to men, but also to angels, and utterly incomprehensible is both the Lord's word according to the flesh and his way of life, let alone the unattainable concept of his infinite divinity. Therefore, it is desirable for everyone who is even slightly aware of his greatness to be even in the tombs of the sons of David, or, what is best, in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David. For in the tombs of David no one is reported in Scripture to have been buried, let alone in the ascent of the tombs of David. For the life in the flesh of our Lord and God and Savior is, as I have said, incomparable in every word and way. For it says, "his virtue covered the heavens," that is, the Lord's righteousness as a man through the flesh also covered the powers above by the excess of its preeminence in righteousness in all things. For he was not a mere man, but God become man in order to renew through himself and in himself the nature of men, grown old by itself, and to make it a partaker of the divine nature, having put off, that is, all corruption and change, by which, having been made like the beasts, it had sense prevailing over reason.

To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. SCHOLIA 1. The devil, he says, is five cubits tall, because of the senses. (14B_416> Of these

for without them, the irrational movement of his evil around the soul does not receive advancement in the growth of sin.

2. The spear, he says, is a symbol of the strength that comes from virtue; while the flask of water is a sign of the mystery that pertains to knowledge.

3. He calls the cave this world, and the letter of the law; and Saul to be the people of the Jews, whose mind, having turned away from the divine light of intelligible things, sits together with the darkness of sensible things and the shadow of the letter, making the creation of God and the law for the generation of corruption. For he who circumscribes the immortal promises by the letter alone and by the appearances of sensible things, makes the judgment appropriate to corruption as if to food, showing from the end the beginning of his own opinion about God. He calls the double cloak the covering of the enigmas of the law. And its hem, that which is preeminently lofty in the thoughts of spiritual contemplation, is cut off from those who receive Holy Scripture according to sense perception alone.

4. That the Lord is called shepherd of those who through natural contemplation are led to the fold above; and king of those who are subject to the law of the Spirit, and who are presented to the throne of God's grace through the simple application of the mind according to indivisible knowledge.

τῆς τῶν ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνος ἁγίων μνήμης, δεδωκότες αὐτῷ δόξαν καὶ τιμήν, δόξαν μὲν ὡς πάντων ὑπεράνω κατὰ τὴν νοερὰν γνῶσιν τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι λόγων, τιμὴν δὲ ὡς πάντων γενομένῳ παθῶν καθαρῷ καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι φυσικῶν νόμων ἀνεύθυνον κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν κτησαμένῳ τὴν κίνησιν.

Τυχὸν δέ τις τῶν σφόδρα φιλοκάλων ἐρεῖ φιλοτιμούμενος δόξαν μὲν εἶναι τὸ ἀκρότατον κατ᾽ εἰκόνα κάλλος, τιμὴν δὲ τὸ καθ᾽ ὁμοίωσιν ἀπαράλλακτον μίμημα· τὸ μὲν γὰρ λόγων πνευματικῶν ἀληθὴς πέφυκε ποιεῖν θεωρία, τὸ δὲ πρᾶξις ἐντολῶν ἀκριβὴς καὶ ἀνόθευτος· ἃς ὁ μέγας ἐσχηκὼς Ἐζεκίας ἐν ἀναβάσει (14Β_414> τάφων υἱῶν ∆αβὶδ ἐτάφη, ὡς ἂν εἴ τις ἐπὶ τὸ σαφέστερον λαβὼν εἴποι τὸ ῥητόν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐν ἀναβάσει τάφων υἱῶν ∆αβίδ, καὶ ἔθηκαν τὴν μνήμην Ἐζεκίου ἐν τῷ ὕψει τῆς μνήμης τῶν ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνος ἁγίων.

Σκοπήσωμεν δὲ ὡς οὐκ εἴρηται ἐν τάφοις ∆αβὶδ ἢ ἐν ἀναβάσει τάφων ∆αβίδ· ἀσύγκριτος γὰρ τοῖς οὖσιν, οὐκ ἀνθρώποις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγγέλοις, καὶ παντελῶς ἀχώρητος καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου κατὰ σάρκα λόγος καὶ ὁ τοῦ βίου τρόπος, μὴ ὅτι γε τῆς ἀπείρου θεότητος αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀνέφικτος ἔννοια. Οὐκοῦν ἀγαπητὸν παντὶ τῷ καὶ λίαν ἐπῃσθημένῳ μεγαλειότητος τὸ κἂν ἐν τάφοις υἱῶν ∆αβίδ, ἢ τὸ κράτιστον ἐν ἀναβάσει τάφων υἱῶν ∆αβίδ. Ἐν γὰρ τάφοις ∆αβὶδ οὐδεὶς φέρεται τῇ Γραφῇ τεθαμμένος, μὴ ὅτι ἐν ἀναβάσει τάφων ∆αβίδ· τοῦ γὰρ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀσύγκριτος, ὡς ἔφην, κατὰ πάντα καὶ λόγον καὶ τρόπον ὁ κατὰ σάρκα βίος. Φησὶ γὰρ ἐκάλυψεν οὐρανοὺς ἡ ἀρετὴ αὐτοῦ, τουτέστι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον διὰ σαρκὸς τοῦ Κυρίου δικαιοσύνη καὶ τὰς ἄνω δυνάμεις ἐκάλυψε τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῆς ἐν πᾶσι κατὰ δικαιοσύνην ὑπεροχῆς. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ Θεὸς ἐνανθρωπήσας πρὸς τὸ καινίσαι δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν παλαιωθεῖσαν ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσιν καὶ ποιῆσαι θείας κοινωνὸν φύσεως, ἀποθεμένην δηλαδὴ πᾶσαν φθορὰν καὶ ἀλλοίωσιν, δι᾽ ὧν, ὁμοιωθεῖσα τοῖς κτήνεσι, πλεονεκτοῦσαν τὸν λόγον εἶχε τὴν αἴσθησιν.

Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν. ΣΧΟΛΙΑ 1. Πεντάπηχύς ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, φησί, διά τάς αἰσθήσεις. (14Β_416> Τούτων

γάρ χωρίς προκοπήν οὐ δέχεται τῆς καθ᾿ ἁμαρτίαν αὐξήσεως, ἡ περί ψυχήν τῆς αὐτοῦ κακίας ἀλόγιστος κίνησις.

2. Τό δόρυ μέν τοῦ κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ἐστι κράτους σύμβολον φησίν· ὁ δέ φακός τοῦ ὕδατος, τοῦ κατά τήν γνῶσιν ὑπάρχει μυστηρίου τεκμήριον.

3. Σπήλαιον λέγει τόν κόσμον τοῦτον, καί τό γράμμα τό νομικόν· τόν δέ Σαούλ εἶναι, τόν λαόν τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὧν ὁ νοῦς τοῦ θείου τῶν νοητῶν ἀπονεύσας φωτός, τῷ σκότει τῶν αἰσθητῶν καί τῇ σκιᾷ τοῦ γράμματος συγκαθέζεται, πρός γένεσιν φθορᾶς τήν κτίσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τόν νόμον ποιούμενος. Ὁ γάρ μόνῳ τῷ γράμματι, καί ταῖς ἐπιφανείαις τῶν αἰσθητῶν τάς ἀθανάτους περιγράφων ἐπαγγελίας, τῆ φθορᾷ καθάπερ βρώματι κατάλληλον ποιεῖται τήν ἔκκρισιν, ἐκ τοῦ τέλους τήν ἀρχήν τῆς οἰκείας περί Θεοῦ δόξης δεικνύς. Τήν διπλοΐδα δέ λέγει, τήν περιβολήν τῶν νομικῶν αἰνιγμάτων. Τό δέ πτερύγιον αὐτῆς, τό κατ᾿ ἐξοχήν ἐν νοήμασιν ὑψηλόν τῆς πνευματικῆς θεωρίας, περικοπτόμενον τῶν πρός μόνην τήν αἴσθησιν τήν ἁγίαν ἐκδεχομένων Γραφήν.

4. Ὅτι ποιμήν, ὁ Κύριος λέγεται τῶν διά τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας πρός τήν ἄνω μάνδραν ὁδηγουμένων· βασιλεύς δέ τῶν ὑποταγέντων τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Πνεύματος, καί τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος Θεοῦ διά τῆς κατά τήν ἀμερῆ γνῶσιν τῶν νοός ἁπλῆς προσβολῆς παρισταμένων.