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prevailing by nature, as truth, of the principle and cause of beings, and drawing to itself the movement of created things.

Thus having conversed, the philosophic mind, with the law according to nature, repels every delusion of wicked demons, persuading to decree freedom for the thoughts and powers of the soul that are held in slavery(10) to the passions, and to proclaim release and remission from the bonds of intelligible captivity to those confined in darkness—by attachment, I mean, to sensible things—so that, having ascended to Judea—I mean, to virtue—they might build in Jerusalem—I mean, in the state of dispassion—the temple of the Lord, that is, the knowledge receptive of wisdom.

Wise, therefore, and very wise is the great Zerubbabel, as one who received wisdom from God, and through it was able to oppose, conquer, and overthrow each of the things put forward for deceit for the ruin of the human race by the wicked spirits that contend excessively for the body, and through each of his own propositions to completely obliterate the proposition of each of the opponents, and to ransom the soul from the wicked (14Γ_024> slavery of the passions. For since they, through wine, sought to honor the ardor of carnal pleasures, and through the king they ratified the power of worldly glory, this man introduced, through women, the spiritual pleasure that has no end, and through truth he demonstrated the unshakable power, and persuaded them to despise present goods and to hold fast to those to come.

The propositions have, I would say, this meaning, both noble and wise, and not unworthy of the Spirit to be written for our admonition. But if someone is able to contemplate the meaning of what is written on a higher level, according to the power granted him to understand divine things, there is no envy, because the grace of the Spirit is not by nature diminished among those who partake of it—which is the main cause that begets the passion of envy—even if one has more and another less of grace. For each one possesses the manifest energy of the Spirit according to the proportion of the faith in him, so that each one is a steward of grace for himself(11), and one who is sound of mind would never envy another who flourishes in graces, since the disposition for receiving divine goods rests with himself.

Let us come also to another mystical contemplation, which demonstrates beforehand the primary truth of what is written. Zerubbabel is the true and new, and typically signified through the old, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, who was conceived and carried and born in the confusion of our nature, and became a perfect man by nature, in order to lead our nature, which had departed from confusion, back to Himself; He who was not made captive(12) with us nor exiled to the confusion of the passions—for he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth—but was born among us captives as a captive (14Γ_026> and was numbered with us, the lawless, becoming, through love for mankind, in the likeness of sinful flesh(13) and for sin; in the likeness of sinful flesh, because, being by nature God and impassible, He deigned to become, according to the economy and without change, a man passible by nature; and for sin, because for our sins He was led to death and suffered for us, and for our sins He was wounded and was bruised for our iniquities, that we might be healed by His stripes. For Christ the Lord, he says, the breath before our face, was taken in our corruptions, of whom we said: "In His shadow we shall live among the nations."

This is the righteous 'dayspring' of our 'dispersion' from sin, concerning which the Holy Spirit says through the prophet that a righteous dayspring will rise for you, and behold, a man whose name is Dayspring, and from beneath him it shall rise up, and the sun

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νικώσης κατὰ φύσιν, ὡς ἀληθείας, τῆς τῶν ὄντων ἀρχῆς καὶ αἰτίας, καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν συνελκούσης τῶν γεγονότων τὴν κίνησιν.

Οὕτω διαλεχθεὶς ὁ φιλόσοφος νοῦς τῷ κατὰ φύσιν νόμῳ πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων ἀποκρούεται πλάνην, ψηφίσασθαι πείθων ἐλευθερίαν τοῖς πρὸς δουλείαν(10) παθῶν κεκρατημένοις λογισμοῖς τε τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ δυνάμεσι, καὶ τῶν τῆς νοουμένης αἰχμαλωσίας δεσμῶν λύσιν καὶ ἄφεσιν κηρύξαι τοῖς καθειργμένοις ἐν τῷ σκότει, τῇ προσπαθείᾳ λέγω τῶν αἰσθητῶν, ὥστε ἀναβάντας αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, φημὶ δὲ τὴν ἀρετήν, οἰκοδομῆσαι ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τῇ ἕξει λέγω τῆς ἀπαθείας, τὸν ναὸν Κυρίου, τουτέστι τὴν δεκτικὴν τῆς σοφίας γνῶσιν.

Σοφὸς οὖν καὶ πάνυ σοφὸς ὁ μέγας ἐστὶ Ζοροβάβελ, οἷα παρὰ Θεοῦ τὴν σοφίαν λαβών, καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῆς δυνηθεὶς ἑκάστῳ τῶν πρὸς ἀπάτην προβεβλημένων ἐπὶ φθορᾷ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπεραγωνιζομένων τοῦ σώματος πονηρῶν πνευμάτων ἀντιπροβαλέσθαι καὶ νικῆσαι καὶ ἀνατρέψαι καὶ δι᾽ ἑκατέρου τῶν οἰκείων προβλημάτων τὸ ἑκατέρου τῶν ἀντικειμένων πρόβλημα παντελῶς ἐξαφανίσαι καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν πονηρᾶς (14Γ_024> λυτρώσασθαι δουλείας παθῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι διὰ μὲν τοῦ οἴνου τὴν ζέσιν τιμᾶσθαι τῶν σαρκικῶν ἡδονῶν ἐπεζήτουν, διὰ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς κοσμικῆς δόξης τὸ κράτος ἐπεκύρουν, οὗτος τὴν πνευματικὴν καὶ πέρας οὐκ ἔχουσαν διὰ τῶν γυναικῶν εἰσήγαγεν ἡδονήν, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ μὴ σαλευόμενον ἐνεδείξατο κράτος, καὶ ἔπεισε τῶν μὲν παρόντων καταφρονεῖν ἀγαθῶν, τῶν δὲ μελλόντων ἀντέχεσθαι.

Ταύτην ἔχει τὰ προβλήματα, κατ᾽ ἐμὲ φάναι, τὴν ἔννοιαν καλήν τε καὶ σοφὴν καὶ τοῦ γραφῆναι πρὸς νουθεσίαν ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀναξίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Εἰ δέ τις ὑψηλότερον τὸν τῶν γεγραμμένων νοῦν σκοπῆσαι δυνηθῇ κατὰ τὴν χορηγουμένην αὐτῷ τοῦ νοεῖν τὰ θεῖα δύναμιν, φθόνος οὐδείς, ὅτι μηδὲ πέφυκεν ἐλαττοῦσθαι τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡ χάρις ἐν τοῖς συμμετέχουσιδι᾽ ὃ μάλιστα τὸ τοῦ φθόνου τίκτεται πάθος, κἂν ὁ μὲν πλέον ὁ δὲ ἔλαττον ἔχῃ τῆς χάριτος. Ἕκαστος γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ πίστεως φανερουμένην κέκτηται τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ὥστε ταμίας ὑπάρχει τῆς χάριτος ἕκαστος ἑαυτοῦ(11), καὶ οὔποτ᾽ ἂν εὖ φρονῶν ἄλλῳ φθονήσειεν ἐνευδοκιμοῦντι ταῖς χάρισι, ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ κειμένης τῆς δεκτικῆς τῶν θείων ἀγαθῶν διαθέσεως.

Ἔλθωμεν δὲ καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλην μυστικὴν θεωρίαν, τὴν ἀρχικὴν τῶν γεγραμμένων ἀλήθειαν προδεικνύουσαν. Ζοροβάβελ ἐστὶν ἀληθινός τε καὶ νέος καὶ διὰ τοῦ παλαιοῦ τυπικῶς μηνυόμενος ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ Θεὸς Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ ἐν τῇ συγχύσει τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν συλληφθεὶς καὶ κυηθεὶς καὶ τεχθείς, καὶ τέλειος κατὰ φύσιν γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν τῆς συγχύσεως ἀποστᾶσαν ἐπαναγάγῃ τὴν φύσιν, ὁ μὴ γενόμενος μὲν σὺν ἡμῖν αἰχμάλωτος(12) καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν παθῶν ἀποικισθεὶς σύγχυσινοὐ γὰρ ἐποίησεν ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς αἰχμαλώτοις ὡς αἰχμάλωτος (14Γ_026> γεννηθεὶς καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνόμων λογισθείς, διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν γενόμενος ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας(13) καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας· ἐν ὁμοιώματι μὲν σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας, ὅτι, φύσει Θεὸς ὑπάρχων ἀπαθής, ἀτρέπτως κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν φύσει παθητὸς γενέσθαι κατηξίωσεν ἄνθρωπος, περὶ ἁμαρτίας δέ, ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἤχθη εἰς θάνατον καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὠδυνήθη καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἐτραυματίσθη καὶ ἐμαλακίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἰαθῶμεν. Πνεῦμα γὰρ πρὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν φησιν Χριστὸς Κύριος συνελήφθη ἐν ταῖς διαφθοραῖς ἡμῶν, οὗ εἴπαμεν· Ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ αὐτοῦ ζησόμεθα ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.

Οὖτός ἐστιν ἡ δικαία 'ἀνατολὴ' τῆς ἡμῶν ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας 'διασπορᾶς', περὶ ἧς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου φησὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὅτι ἀνατελεῖ ὑμῖν ἀνατολὴ δικαία, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνήρ ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷκαὶ ὑποκάτωθεν αὐτοῦ ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ ἥλιος