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5. He calls the modes of action according to virtue those who inhabit Judea; and the principles of knowledge according to contemplation, he calls those who inhabit Jerusalem.
6. He speaks of a praiseworthy death of the intellect, the volitional cessation with respect to all existing things, after which it is disposed to receive the divine life by grace, having unthinkably received the cause of beings instead of all other things.
7. He calls "glory" the indefinite knowledge, which is not terminated by any principle; and "honor," the irrepressible movement of the will toward nature according to virtue.
(14Β_418> 8. Unforgettable knowledge, he says, having an indefiniteness concerning the divine infinity, the movement of the intellect beyond intellection, portrays through its indefiniteness the hyper-infinite glory of the truth. But the voluntary imitation of the wise goodness according to providence brings honor, the very clear assimilation of the intellect's disposition to God, as is possible.
9. According to the anagogical sense, he says David is Christ; and his burial, the memory in righteousness, being incomparable to every rational nature. For the Word of God, having become man, did not measure righteousness by the laws of the nature of the flesh; but He enacted through the flesh the righteousness that naturally belonged to Him as God, not being deprived of natural energy.
Volume 4, 14 C ... continued ... TO THALASSIUS * 54 (54). CONCERNING ZERUBBABEL AND HIS PRAYER. (14Γ_012> 54. QUESTION 54. In the first book of Esdras it is written concerning Zerubbabel: And when the
young man went out, lifting his face to heaven opposite Jerusalem, he blessed the King of heaven, saying: From you is the victory, and from you is the wisdom, and yours is the glory, and I am your servant. Blessed are you, who have given me wisdom; and to you I give thanks, O Lord of the fathers. What is the meaning of "lifting his face to heaven opposite Jerusalem," and the rest?
Answer. Zerubbabel, according to the precision of the Hebrew language, admits of both a rough and a smooth breathing,
and composition and division and punctuation. And with a rough breathing, this name signifies 'a sowing of confusion;' with a smooth breathing, 'a rising of confusion;' compounded, 'a rising in confusion;' divided, 'a rising of dispersion;' punctuated, 'he himself is rest.'
Zerubbabel, therefore, is the philosophic intellect, first, through repentance, being 'sown in righteousness' in the 'confusion' of the captivity of the passions, second, 'a rising of confusion,' making manifest the shame of the confused passions, third, 'a rising in confusion,' giving illumination through knowledge in the confusion of the activity of the senses toward sensible things, and (14Γ_014> not allowing them to encounter sensible things without reason, fourth, 'a rising of dispersion,' providing to the
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5. Τούς κατ᾿ ἀρετήν τῆς πράξεως τρόπους λέγει, τούς οἰκοῦντας τήν Ἰουδαίαν· τούς δέ κατά τήν θεωρίαν λόγους τῆς γνώσεως, λέγει τούς οἰκοῦντας τήν Ἱερουσαλήμ.
6. Νοῦ λέγει θάνατον ἐπαινούμενον, τήν πρός πάντα τά ὄντα γνωμικήν ἀπογένεσιν, μεθ᾿ ἥν τήν θείαν χάριτι ζωήν ὑποδέχεσθαι πέφυκεν, ἀντί τῶν ἄλλων τόν αἴτιον τῶν ὄντων ἀνεννοήτως ἀπολαβών.
7. ∆όξαν λέγει τήν ἀόριστον γνῶσιν, καί μηδενί περατουμένην λόγῳ· τιμήν δέ, τήν κατ᾿ ἀρετήν πρός τήν φύσιν τῆς γνώμης ἀκάθεκτον κίνησιν.
(14Β_418> 8. Ἡ ἄληστος γνῶσις, ἀόριστον, φησίν, ἔχουσα περί τήν θείαν ἀπειρίαν, τήν κατά νοῦν ὑπέρ νόησιν κίνησιν, εἰκονίζει διά τῆς ἀοριστίας τήν ὑπεράπειρον δόξαν τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἡ δέ τῆς κατά τήν πρόνοιαν σοφῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐθαίρετος μίμησις, τιμήν φέρει, τήν πρός τόν Θεόν τοῦ νοῦ κατά τήν διάθεσιν ἀρίδηλον, ὡς ἔστι δυνατόν, ἐξομοίωσιν.
9. Κατά τήν ἀναγωγήν τόν ∆αβίδ εἶναί φησι τόν Χριστόν· τήν δέ ταφήν αὐτοῦ, τήν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ μνήμην ἀσύγκριτον οὖσαν πάσῃ τῇ λογικῇ φύσει. Οὐ γάρ τοῖς κατά φύσιν τῆς σαρκός νόμοις τήν δικαιοσύνην ἐμέτρησε γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος· ἀλλά τήν ὡς Θεῷ φυσικῶς προσοῦσαν αὐτῷ δικαιοσύνην ἐνήργησε διά σαρκός, φυσικῆς ἐνεργείας οὐκ ἀμοιρούσης.
4ος Τόμος 14 Γ ... συνέχεια ... ΠΡΟΣ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΙΟΝ * Ν∆ (54). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΖΟΡΟΒΑΒΕΛ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗΣ. (14Γ_012> 54. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ν∆' Ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ Ἔσδρα γέγραπται περὶ τοῦ Ζοροβάβελ· Καὶ ὅτε ἐξῆλθεν ὁ
νεανίσκος, ἄρας τὸ πρόσωπον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐναντίον Ἱερουσαλήμ, εὐλόγησε τῷ βασιλεῖ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λέγων· Παρὰ σοῦ ἡ νίκη, καὶ παρὰ σοῦ ἡ σοφία, καὶ σὴ ἡ δόξα, καὶ ἐγὼ σὸς οἰκέτης. Εὐλογητὸς εἶ, ὃς ἔδωκάς μοι σοφίαν· καὶ σοὶ ὁμολογῶ, ∆έσποτα τῶν πατέρων, Τί σημαίνει τὸ ἄραι τὸ πρόσωπον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐναντίον Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς;
Ἀπόκρισις. Ζοροβάβελ κατὰ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῆς ἑβραΐδος καὶ δασεῖαν δέχεται καὶ ψιλὴν
καὶ σύνθεσιν καὶ διαίρεσιν καὶ στιχισμόν. Καὶ δασυνόμενον μὲν τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα δηλοῖ 'σπορὰν συγχύσεως·' ψιλούμενον δὲ 'ἀνατολὴν συγχύσεως·' συντιθέμενον δὲ 'ἀνατολὴν ἐν συγχύσει·' διαιρούμενον δὲ 'ἀνατολὴν διασπορᾶς·' στιχιζόμενον δὲ 'αὐτὸς ἀνάπαυσις.'
Ζοροβάβελ οὖν ἐστι νοῦς φιλόσοφος, πρῶτον διὰ μετανοίας ἐν τῇ 'συγχύσει' τῆς τῶν παθῶν αἰχμαλωσίας κατὰ 'δικαιοσύνην σπειρόμενος, δεύτερον, ἀνατολὴ συγχύσεως,' φανερὰν ποιούμενος τῶν συγκεχυμένων παθῶν τὴν αἰσχύνην, τρίτον, 'ἀνατολὴ ἐν συγχύσει,' διδοὺς φωτισμὸν διὰ γνώσεως ἐν τῇ συγχύσει τῆς πρὸς τὰ αἰσθητὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐνεργείας καὶ (14Γ_014> οὐκ ἐῶν λόγου χωρὶς αὐτὰς προσβάλλειν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς, τέταρτον, 'ἀνατολὴ διασπορᾶς,' παρέχων ταῖς