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of righteousness and healing in His wings, which signifies below(14) the ineffable mystery of the incarnation of the Word, from which arose the salvation of all; and the wings of the sun of righteousness would be the two Testaments, by which the Word, flying among us, heals the wound of the transgression and grants perfect strength according to virtue, through the Old effecting the destruction of vice, and through the New working the establishment of virtue. Or again, the wings are providence and judgment, by which the Word, flying, inscrutably oversees all beings, healing those who are willing with words of wisdom(15), and curing by ways of discipline those who are slow to virtue, and for some cleansing the defilement of the flesh, for others healing the stains of souls.

(14Γ_028> This is He who brings back the captivity of the true Israel, not from earth to earth, as the old Zerubbabel did, transferring the people from Babylon to Judea, but from earth to heaven, and from vice to virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of the truth of God, and from corruption to incorruption, and to immortality from death, and, to speak concisely, from the visible and fleeting world to the stable and intelligible one, and from the life that is dissolved to the indissoluble and abiding one. This is the true builder of the rational temple that was ruined by transgressions and burned by an alien fire, which we ourselves kindled, walking by the light of our fire and by the flame which we kindled, not only having made the intelligent part of the soul slavishly follow the carnal(16) mind, but also having ignited the matter of the passions wantonly through our actions. This is He who through wisdom persuaded Darius the king, that is, the law of nature; for it is not right in this place to take Darius for the devil, since he willingly became a co-worker of the grace for the release of the people, having been persuaded that nothing is stronger nor more beneficial for nature's salvation than faith and a good conscience. For faith holds the place of truth(17), and a good conscience takes the place of divine love, which is understood allegorically through the women, in which there is absolutely no transgression of the divine commandments. This is He who built up in Himself, through an ineffable and indivisible union, the fallen tent of David, I mean the nature corrupted by death on account of sin. This is Zerubbabel, who with glory raised the fallen house of God, concerning whom the Holy Spirit says: The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former. For the Word shared a second communion with nature, much (14Γ_030> more wondrous than the first; inasmuch as first giving of the better, He later willingly partook of the worse, that He might both save the image and make the flesh immortal, and, having completely destroyed the word of the serpent that had resounded in nature, He might again present nature pure from vice as from the beginning, in its deification surpassing(18) the first formation, and, just as from the beginning He gave substance to it when it was not, so He might save it when it was ruined, hardening it against falling by immutability, and accomplish upon it the whole counsel of God the Father, deifying it by the power of the incarnation. For, it says, the hands(19) of the intelligible Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, that is, man, and his hands shall finish it, speaking of the former formation and the final, ineffable re-formation in him by union. This is the true Zerubbabel, the redeemer of the captives, who has in his hand the tin stone, adorned with the seven eyes of the Lord, by which God looks upon all the earth. For according to the history, Zerubbabel does not appear at all to have had in his hand a tin stone having seven eyes, and these the Lord's, looking upon

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δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἴασις ἐν ταῖς πτέρυξιν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ὑποκάτωθεν(14) δηλοῦντος τὸ ἀπόρρητον μυστήριον τῆς τοῦ Λόγου σαρκώσεως, ἐξ ἧς ἀνέτειλεν ἡ τῶν ὅλων σωτηρία· πτέρυγες δὲ ἂν εἶεν τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης αἱ δύο ∆ιαθῆκαι, δι᾽ ὧν ἱπτάμενος ἐν ἡμῖν ὁ Λόγος τὴν πληγὴν θεραπεύει τῆς παραβάσεως καὶ τὴν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν τελείαν χαρίζεται ῥῶσιν, διὰ μὲν τῆς Παλαιᾶς ποιούμενος τὴν τῆς κακίας ἀναίρεσιν, διὰ τῆς Νέας δὲ τὴν θέσιν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐργαζόμενος. Ἢ πάλιν, πτέρυγές εἰσιν ἡ πρόνοια καὶ ἡ κρίσις, δι᾽ ὧν ἱπτάμενος ὁ Λόγος ἀγνώστως ἐπιβατεύει τοῖς οὖσι, σοφίας(15) μὲν λόγοις θεραπεύων τοὺς θέλοντας, παιδείας δὲ τρόποις τοὺς πρὸς ἀρετὴν δυσκινήτους ἰώμενος, καὶ τοῖς μὲν σαρκὸς μολυσμὸν ἐκκαθαίρων, τοῖς δὲ ψυχῶν κηλίδας ἰώμενος.

(14Γ_028> Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπανάγων, οὐκ ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς γῆν, καθὼς ὁ παλαιὸς πέπραχε Ζοροβάβελ, ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν τὸν λαὸν μεταβιβάσας, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀπὸ κακίας εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ ἀπὸ ἀγνωσίας εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας Θεοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ φθορᾶς εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ εἰς ἀθανασίαν ἀπὸ θανάτου, καὶ συντόμως εἰπεῖν, ἀπὸ τοῦ φαινομένου κόσμου καὶ ῥέοντος εἰς τὸν σταθερὸν καὶ νοούμενον καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς διαλυομένης ζωῆς εἰς τὴν ἀδιάλυτον καὶ μένουσαν. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθινὸς οἰκοδόμος τοῦ διαρρυέντος τοῖς παραπτώμασι λογικοῦ ναοῦ καὶ ἐμπρησθέντος ἀλλοτρίῳ πυρί, ὅπερ ἡμεῖς ἐξεκαύσαμεν, πορευθέντες τῷ φωτὶ τοῦ πυρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ τῇ φλογί, ᾗ ἐξεκαύσαμεν, οὐ μόνον τῷ σαρκικῷ(16) φρονήματι τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς νοερὸν ἕπεσθαι δουλικῶς παρασκευάσαντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν παθῶν ὕλην ἀνέδην δι᾽ ἐνεργείας ἐξάψαντες. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ πείσας διὰ σοφίας ∆αρεῖον τὸν βασιλέα, τουτέστι τὸν νόμον τῆς φύσεως· οὐ γὰρ θέμις κατὰ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον εἰς τὸν διάβολον λαμβάνειν τὸν ∆αρεῖον, συνεργὸν μὲν γεγενημένον ἑκουσίως τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἄφεσιν τοῦ λαοῦ χάριτος, πεισθέντα δὲ μηδὲν ἰσχυρότερον εἶναι μηδὲ τῇ φύσει πρὸς σωτηρίαν λυσιτελέστερον πίστεως καὶ ἀγαθῆς συνειδήσεως. Ἀληθείας(17) γὰρ λόγον ἡ πίστις ἐπέχει, καὶ τῆς διὰ τῶν γυναικῶν ἀλληγορικῶς νοουμένης θείας ἀγάπης ἡ ἀγαθὴ συνείδησις ἐπιφέρεται τόπον, ἐν ᾗ τὸ παράπαν θείων ἐντολῶν οὐκ ἔστι παράβασις. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ δειμάμενος ἐν ἑαυτῷ καθ᾽ ἕνωσιν ἄρρητόν τε καὶ ἀδιαίρετον τὴν σκηνὴν ∆αβὶδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν, λέγω δὲ τὴν διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῷ θανάτῳ διαφθαρεῖσαν φύσιν. Οὗτός ἐστιν Ζοροβάβελ, ὁ μετὰ δόξης ἐγείρας πεπτωκότα τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ, περὶ οὗ φησι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· Ἔσται ἡ δόξα τοῦ οἴκου τούτου ἡ ἐσχάτη ὑπὲρ τὴν προτέραν. ∆ευτέραν γὰρ κοινωνίαν ὁ Λόγος ἐκοινώνησε τῇ φύσει, πολὺ (14Γ_030> τῆς προτέρας παραδοξοτέραν· ὅσῳ πρῶτον τοῦ κρείττονος μεταδούς, ὕστερον μετέλαβε θέλων τοῦ χείρονος, ἵνα καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα σώσῃ καὶ τὴν σάρκα ἀθανατίσῃ καί, τὸν ἐνηχηθέντα τῇ φύσει λόγον τοῦ ὄφεως παντελῶς ἐξαφανίσας, ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς καθαρὰν κακίας πάλιν παραστήσῃ τὴν φύσιν, τῇ θεώσει πλεονεκτοῦσαν(18) τὴν πρώτην διάπλασιν, καί, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὴ οὖσαν ὑπεστήσατο, οὕτω διαρρυεῖσαν ἀνασώσηται, στομώσας πρὸς ἀπτωσίαν τῇ ἀτρεψίᾳ, καὶ τὴν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ πᾶσαν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἐπιτελέσῃ, θεώσας αὐτὴν τῇ δυνάμει τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως. Αἱ χεῖρες(19) γάρ φησι Ζοροβάβελ τοῦ νοητοῦ ἐθεμελίωσαν τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον, τουτέστι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἐπιτελέσουσιν αὐτόν, τὴν προτέραν λέγων διάπλασιν καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ καθ᾽ ἕνωσιν ἄρρητον τελευταίαν ἀνάπλασιν. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθινὸς Ζοροβάβελ, ὁ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων λυτρωτής, ὁ ἔχων ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τὸν λίθον τὸν κασσιτήρινον, τὸν τοῖς ἑπτὰ τοῦ Κυρίου κοσμούμενον ὀφθαλμοῖς, δι᾽ ὧν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπιβλέπει ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἱστορίαν οὐδαμῶς ἐσχηκὼς φαίνεται Ζοροβάβελ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ κασσιτήρινον λίθον ἑπτὰ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα, καὶ αὐτοὺς τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐπιβλέποντας