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of a due and philanthropic and good providence, allows the devil through his ministers, to inflict various punishments for those things in which we have sinned. And the writing about Job clearly shows this, recording that the devil was not able to approach Job without divine permission.

But also Nebuchadnezzar himself, the king of Babylonia, is often taken for the natural law. And this is shown by those writing to those in Jerusalem, who were not able to cherish the spiritual law, and for this reason were dragged away to the land of Babylonia; I mean the state of confusion according to matter; to pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son; that is, of the natural law, and of its state according to motion; under whom they then were, so that their days might be as the days of heaven. Through these things exhorting those who remained in the passionlessness of virtue, and in the truth of knowledge, to pray, so that the concepts of the law according to nature, and of its state according to motion, in which, having abandoned the spiritual law, they came to be; might be as the divine concepts of the law of the spirit; calling the concepts “days”; and “heaven,” the spiritual law; for they were seeking that the natural and toilsome law under which they had come to be might not be discordant with the spiritual law.

In agreement with these things is also what was mystically said to him according to the divine threat by the great Daniel, interpreting the dream that was seen: And they will drive you out from among men, and with wild beasts will be your dwelling [Seg. 1, habitation], and they will feed you grass like an ox, and you will be lodged with the dew of heaven; and seven times will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he wishes; and that he said: Leave the stump of the tree's roots in the earth, your kingdom will remain for you, from the time when you know the heavenly kingdom. By "driving out" he perhaps means the expulsion from paradise into this world on account of the transgression, and the alienation from the company of the holy angels; that is, the relation from intelligible visions to the sensible law of nature; and by "dwelling with wild beasts," he means the abiding with the passions and the demons that effect them, that is, a dwelling and association. And the grass with which they fed him, [the men Gisl. angels, thus also Fr. At the margin.] it is clear, but not the beasts, with which he had his dwelling; for those do not feed, (349) but tear apart), is the natural understanding of phenomena according to the senses, and toilsome practice according to virtue. Which things the angels supply to men as grass.

But "to be lodged with the dew of heaven" means to have, through divine providence, the power that is in these things. For the Word called providence the "dew of heaven," through which in this age, after the things that have been enumerated, man had his preservation; that is, the law according to nature, not being utterly destroyed; or perhaps the commensurate knowledge concerning intelligible things that comes through phenomena by the grace of God; on account of which man is held fast here by the hope of things to come.

And, "Seven times will pass over you," indicates the seven-fold extension of time in this age, under which the law according to nature came to be, having forsaken the guarding of its own state and energy, and after this is completed at the expected resurrection, through the casting off of the properties of the irrational, it will return to itself again, receiving back the original good repute of the kingdom; having come to know, through the providential economy in this age, the power of the true kingdom. For to say, "Leave the stump of the tree's roots in the earth," means that the seed of nature was not to be completely destroyed on account of the transgression, and the

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δεούσης καί φιλανθρώπου καί ἀγαθοῦ προνοίας, συγχωρῇ τῷ διαβόλῳ διά τῶν αὐτοῦ ὑπουργῶν, τάς ἐφ᾿ οἷς ἡμάρτομεν διαφόρους ποιεῖσθαι τιμωρίας. Καί δηλοῖ τοῦτο σαφῶς ἡ περί τοῦ Ἰώβ συγγραφή, μή δυνάμενον τῷ Ἰώβ προσπελάσαι τόν διάβολον ἀναγραφομένη δίχα τῆς θείας συγχωρήσεως.

Ἀλλά καί Ναβουχοδονόσορ αὐτός ὁ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας βασιλεύς, λαμβάνεται πολλάκις εἰς τόν φυσικόν νόμον. Καί τοῦτο δηλοῦσι γράφοντες τοῖς ἐν Ἱερουσολύμοις, οἱ τόν πνευματικόν νόμον στέρξαι μή δυνηθέντες, καί διά τοῦτο πρός τήν Βαβυλωνίαν κατασυρέντες γῆν· λέγω δέ τήν ἕξιν τῆς κατά τήν ὕλην συγχύσεως· εὔξασθαι ὑπέρ τῆς ζωῆς Ναβουχονόσορ βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος, καί τῆς ζωῆς Βαλτάσαρ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ· τοῦ φυσικοῦ νόμου δηλαδή, καί τῆς αὐτοῦ κατά τήν κίνησιν ἕξεως· ὑφ᾿ οὕς τότε γεγόνασιν, ἵνα ὦσιν αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν ὡς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. ∆ιά τούτων παρακαλοῦντες εὔξασθαι τούς ἐν τῇ ἀπαθείᾳ τῆς ἀρετῆς, καί τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τῆς γνώσεως μείναντας, ἵνα ὦσι τά νοήματα τοῦ κατά φύσιν νόμου, καί τῆς αὐτοῦ κατά τήν κίνησιν ἕξεως, ἐν ᾧ, τόν πνευματικόν ἀπολιπόντες νόμον, γεγόνασιν· ὡς τά θεῖα νοήματα τοῦ νόμου τοῦ πνεύματος· ἡμέρας καλέσαντες τά νοήματα· οὐρανόν δέ, τόν πνευματικόν νόμον· ἐζήτουν γάρ μή ἀπᾴδειν τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου, τόν ὑφ᾿ ὅν γεγόνασι φυσικόν καί ἐπίμοχθον νόμον.

Τούτοις συμφωνεῖ καί τό πρός αὐτόν κατά τήν θείαν ἀπειλήν μυστικῶς εἰρημένον ὑπό τοῦ μεγάλου ∆ανιήλ, τό θεαθέν ὄναρ ἑρμηνεύοντος· Καί σέ ἐκδιώξουσιν ἀπό τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καί μετά θηρίων ἀγρίων ἔσται ἡ κατοικία [Seg. 1, κατοίκησίς] σου, καί χόρτον ὡς βοῦν ψωμιοῦσί σε, καί ἀπό τῆς δρόσου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσῃ· καί ἑπτά καιροί ἀλλαγήσονται ἐπί σέ, ἕως οὗ γνῷς ὅτι κυριεύει ὁ Ὕψιστος τῆς βασιλείας τῶν ἀνθρώπων καί ᾧ ἐάν θέλει δώσει αὐτήν· καί ὅτι εἶπεν· Ἐάσατε τήν φυήν τοῦ δένδρου τῶν ῥιζῶν ἐν τῇ γῆ, ἡ βασιλεία σου σοί μενεῖ, ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἄν γνῷς τήν βασιλείαν τήν ἐπουράνιον. Ἐκδίωξιν μέν λέγων τάχα τήν εἰς τόν κόσμον τοῦτον διά τήν παράβασιν ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου ἐκβολήν, καί τῆς μετά τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων διαίτης ἀλλοτρίωσιν· ἤγουν τήν ἐκ τῶν νοητῶν θεαμάτων πρός τήν κατ᾿ αἴσθησιν τοῦ νόμου τῆς φύσεως σχέσιν· τήν δέ μετά τῶν ἀγρίων θηρίων κατοικίαν, τήν μετά τῶν παθῶν καί τῶν ἐνεργούντων αὐτά δαιμόνων καταμονήν, ἤγουν κατοικίαν καί συναναστροφήν σημαίνων. Ὁ δέ χόρτους ὅν ἐψώμισαν αὐτόν, [οἱ ἄνθρωποι Gisl. ἄγγελοι, ita etiam Fr. Ad marg.] δῆλον , ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί τά θηρία, μεθ᾿ ὧν ἔσχε τήν κατοικίαν· ἐκεῖνα γάρ οὐ ψωμιοῦσιν, (349) ἀλλά σπαράττουσιν), ἡ κατ᾿ αἴσθησίν ἐστι τῶν φαινομένων φυσική κατανόησις, καί κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ἐπίπονος πρᾶξις. Ἅπερ ὡς χόρτον χορηγοῦσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οἱ ἄγγελοι.

Τό δέ ἀπό τῆς δρόσου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθῆναι, τό διά τῆς θείας προνοίας ἐσχηκέναι τήν ἐν τούτοις οὖσαν δύναμιν. ∆ρόσον γάρ οὐρανοῦ, τήν πρόνοιαν ἐκάλεσεν ὁ λόγος, δι᾿ ἧς ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ μετά τήν τῶν ἀπηριθμημένων τήν συντήρησιν ἔσχεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος· ἤτοι ὁ κατά φύσιν νόμος, παντελῶς μή διαφθει ρόμενος· ἤ τυχόν ἡ διά τῶν φαινομένων γινομένη κατά χάριν Θεοῦ περί τῶν νοουμένων σύμμετρος γνῶσις· δι᾿ ἥν ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐνταῦθα τῇ ἐλπίδι τῶν μελλόντων κρατούμενος.

Τό δέ, Ἑπτά καιροί ἀλλαγήσονται ἐπί σέ, τήν κατά τόν αἰῶνα τοῦτον ἑβδοματικήν τοῦ χρόνου παράτασιν δηλοῖ, ὑφ᾿ ἥν γέγονε, τήν φυλακήν τῆς οἰκείας ἕξεως καί ἐνεργείας ἐάσας ὁ κατά φύσιν νόμος, καί μεθ᾿ ἥν συντελουμένην κατά τήν προσδοκωμένην ἀνάστασιν, διά τῆς ἀποβολῆς τῶν ἰδιωμάτων τῶν ἀλόγων, πρός ἑαυτόν ἐπανελεύσεται πάλιν, τήν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εὐκληρίαν τῆς βασιλείας ἀπολαμβάνων· ἐπιγνούς διά τῆς κατά τόν αἰῶνα τοῦτον προνοητικῆς οἰκονομίας, τό κράτος τῆς ἀληθοῦς βασιλείας. Τό γάρ, Ἐάσατε τήν φυήν τῶν ῥιζῶν τοῦ δένδρου ἐν τῇ γῇ, φάναι, τό μή τῆς φύσεως ἀναιρεθῆναι τελείως διά παράβασιν τό σπέρμα, καί τάς