115

one, and a better one. The beginning, they say, of the Lord's creation, that is: of the men who voluntarily chose to suffer this. But others understood "creation" (plasmatos) instead of "deception" (planēmatos), because, they say, the Lord, having become man, deceived him, and having caused him to come against Him, bound him by the cross. But those who hold the opinion that souls pre-exist the body, who tell the myth that souls, having fallen in love with bodies, clothed themselves in bodies, say, 364 that he, before all earthly things, desired and was formed and became a dragon. But those who say that this creature, the dragon, exists according to history, said that he came into being before all sea creatures, and for this reason he is called the beginning of the Lord's creation, of those things, clearly, that came to be in the sea. 40, 19 made to be mocked by his angels. For since he departed from God, he is mocked both by the holy angels and by the men equal to angels, who have received authority from the Savior to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy. 40, but having gone up a steep mountain, he made joy for the four-footed beasts in Tartarus. By steep mountain he means the incarnate Word. For when he came against Him and prepared for Him to be crucified, the foolish demons worthy of Tartarus rejoiced, and the Jews and the Greeks, and to this day they ridicule and mock the cross. 40, 21 He sleeps under all kinds of trees. Or under every kind of men, because he attempts also against the righteous, or under the trees kept for Tartarus, concerning which it is written: autumn trees, fruitless, twice dead. And he sleeps instead of he lodges, he rests. 40, 21 beside the reed and papyrus and sedge. 365 These happen to be matter and food for fire. Therefore he lodges especially beside those worthy of the fire. 40, 22 And great trees with mountain-shrubs cast a shadow for him. Or he says this, that certain great demons and those subordinate in wickedness live with him, or that he comes upon both small and great men, running under all alike. For mountain-shrubs are the branches, the offshoots. He says, therefore, that as under the shadow of trees, he also rests beside these. 40, 22 and branches of the chaste tree. Since many, often having also practiced chastity, have become of his portion, like the foolish virgins. And there are also heretics who often pursue extreme chastity. 40, 23 If a flood should happen, he will not perceive it. Instead of: if a flood of knowledge should happen—that is: even if the whole world should come to know God, he himself will remain in wickedness; and while the evangelical teaching, like river waters, gladdened the world—for the river of God was filled with waters, says the psalmist—he himself did not come to perception, nor did it become better for him. 40, 23 He trusts that the Jordan will strike against his mouth. He trusts in his own slander and disparages the divine gift, scorning it with mocking words. 366 And this can be heard from those worked upon by him, both Greeks and Jews and the lawless Manichaeans who do not accept the redemption through the Jordan. For the Manichaeans are not baptized, being unworthy. 40, 24 In his eye he will receive him. For as one knowing his own capture, he receives and slanders the gift. And otherwise: since he keenly observes those who approach grace and is especially enraged against them, in his eye, it is said, he wars against them. 40, 24 with a snare he will pierce his nose. Having rushed and dashed against the cross, he was struck in the nose. For the Word, supposing him to be dragon-like, shows him warring with the head. For with his whole power he came against our Savior, and His invincible power crushed the molars of the lions—his, clearly, and those ranked under him—so that the nose and the teeth and the whole face of the dragon were shattered. 40, 25 And will you lead a dragon with a fishhook? Are you able, he says, Job, to do what the Only-Begotten later accomplished? For as if offering his own flesh as some bait to him, through his own nails as through fishhooks, he caught the fish. 367 40, 25-26 And will you put around

115

μί, καὶ κάλλιον. ἀρχή, φασίν, τοῦ πλάσματος τοῦ κυρίου, τουτέστιν· τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἑκοντὶ τοῦτο παθεῖν ἑλομένων. ἄλλοι δὲ τὸ πλάσματος ἀντὶ τοῦ πλανήματος ἐνόησαν, ὅτι, φασίν, ἐνανθρωπήσας ὁ κύριος ἐπλάνησεν αὐτόν, καὶ ποιήσας αὐτὸν ἐπελθεῖν αὐτῷ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ. οἱ δὲ προϋπεῖναι τὰς ψυχὰς τοῦ σώματος δοξάζοντες, οἱ μυθολογοῦντες, ὅτι σωμάτων ἐρασθεῖσαι αἱ ψυχαὶ σώματα ἐνεδύσαντο, φασίν, 364 ὅτι αὐτὸς πρὸ πάντων γηίνων πραγμάτων ἐπεθύμησε καὶ ἐπλάσθη καὶ ἐγένετο δράκων. οἱ δὲ λέγοντες εἶναι καθ' ἱστορίαν τοῦτον ζῷον, τὸν δράκοντα, εἶπον, ὅτι πρὸ πάντων ἐναλίων αὐτὸς ἐγένετο καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λέγεται ἀρχὴ πλάσματος κυρίου τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ δηλονότι γενομένων. 40, 19 πεποιημένον ἐγκαταπαίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπέστη θεοῦ, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἐγκαταπαίζεται καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἰσαγγέλων ἀνθρώπων, τῶν εἰληφότων ἐξουσίαν παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ. 40, ἐπελθὼν δὲ ἐπ' ὄρος ἀκρότομον ἐποίησε χαρμονὴν τετράποσιν ἐν τῷ ταρτάρῳ. ὄρος ἀκρότομον τὸν ἐνανθρωπήσαντα λόγον φησίν. ὅτε γὰρ ἐπῆλθεν αὐτῷ καὶ παρεσκεύασε σταυρωθῆναι, ἐχάρησαν οἱ τοῦ ταρτάρου ἄξιοι ἀνόητοι δαίμονες καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Ἕλληνες, καὶ μέχρι νῦν γελοιάζουσι καὶ χλευάζουσι τὸν σταυρόν. 40, 21 ὑπὸ παντοδαπὰ δένδρα κοιμᾶται. ἢ ὑπὸ πᾶν εἶδος ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι καὶ κατὰ δικαίων ἐπιχειρεῖ, ἢ ὑπὸ τὰ δένδρα τὰ τῷ ταρτάρῳ τετηρημένα, περὶ ὧν γέγραπται· δένδρα φθινοπωρινὰ ἄκαρπα δὶς ἀποθανόντα. κοιμᾶται δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ αὐλίζεται, ἐπαναπαύεται. 40, 21 παρὰ κάλαμον καὶ πάπυρον καὶ βούτομον. 365 ταῦτα ὕλη καὶ τροφὴ πυρὸς τυγχάνουσιν. αὐλίζεται οὖν μάλιστα παρὰ τοῖς ἀξίοις τοῦ πυρός. 40, 22 σκιάζονται δὲ αὐτῷ δένδρα μεγάλα σὺν ὀροδάμνοις. ἢ τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι συνδιαιτῶνται αὐτῷ μεγάλοι τινὲς δαίμονες καὶ ὑποβεβηκότες τῇ κακίᾳ, ἢ ὅτι καὶ μικροὺς καὶ μεγάλους ἄνδρας ὑπέρχεται πάντας ὁμοίως ὑποτρέχων. ὀρόδαμνοι γὰρ οἱ κλῶνες, αἱ παραφυάδες. λέγει οὖν, ὅτι ὡς ὑπὸ σκιᾶς δένδρων καὶ παρὰ τούτοις ἐπαναπαύεται. 40, 22 καὶ κλῶνες ἄγνου. ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ πολλάκις καὶ ἁγνείαν ἀσκήσαντες τῆς αὐτοῦ μερίδος γεγόνασιν, ὡς αἱ μωραὶ παρθένοι. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ αἱρετικοὶ πολλάκις τὴν ἄκραν ἁγνείαν μετερχόμενοι. 40, 23 ἐὰν γένηται πλημμύρα, οὐ μὴ αἰσθηθῇ. ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἐὰν γένηται πλῆθος γνώσεωςτουτέστιν· κἂν ἡ σύμπασα οἰκουμένη ἐπιγνῷ τὸν θεόν, αὐτὸς μενεῖ ἐν τῇ πονηρίᾳ· καὶ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας δίκην ποταμίων ὑδάτων εὐφρανάσης τὴν οἰκουμένην ὁ ποταμὸς γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπληρώθη ὑδάτων, φησὶν ὁ ψαλμῳδόςαὐτὸς εἰς συναίσθησιν οὐκ ἦλθεν οὐδὲ κάλλιον αὐτῷ γέγονεν. 40, 23 πέποιθεν, ὅτι προσκρούσει ὁ Ἰορδάνης εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. πέποιθε τῇ ἑαυτοῦ συκοφαντίᾳ καὶ διασύρει τὸ θεῖον χάρισμα κατευτελίζων αὐτὸ λόγοις χλευαστικοῖς. 366 τοῦτο δὲ ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐνεργουμένων Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων καὶ τῶν ἀνόμων Μανιχαίων οὐ προσδεχομένων τὴν διὰ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἀπολύτρωσιν. οὐ γὰρ βαπτίζονται Μανιχαῖοι ἀνάξιοι τυγχάνοντες. 40, 24 ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ αὐτοῦ δέξεται αὐτόν. ὡς γὰρ τὴν κατάληψιν αὐτοῦ ἐπιστάμενος δέχεται καὶ συκοφαντεῖ τὴν δωρεάν. καὶ ἄλλως δέ· ἐπειδὴ σφόδρα κατανοεῖ τοῖς τῇ χάριτι προσελθοῦσι καὶ κατ' αὐτῶν μάλιστα μέμηνεν, ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ αὐτοῦ, λέγεται πολεμεῖν αὐτούς. 40, 24 ἐνσκολιευόμενος τρήσει ῥῖνα. ὁρμήσας καὶ ἐγκρούσας εἰς τὸν σταυρὸν ἐπλήγη τὴν ῥῖνα. δρακοντοειδῆ γὰρ ὁ λόγος αὐτὸν ὑποτιθέμενος τῇ κεφαλῇ πολεμοῦντα δείκνυσιν. τῇ γὰρ ὅλῃ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμει ἐπῆλθεν ἡμῶν τῷ σωτῆρι, καὶ ἡ ἄμαχος αὐτοῦ δύναμις τὰς μύλας τῶν λεόντων συνέθλασεν, αὐτοῦ δὲ δηλονότι καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτῷ τεταγμένων, ὥστε καὶ ἡ ῥὶν καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες καὶ ὅλον τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ δράκοντος συνετρίβη. 40, 25 ἄξεις δὲ δράκοντα ἐν ἀγκίστρῳ; δύνῃ δέ, φησίν, Ἰώβ, ποιῆσαι, ὅπερ ὁ μονογενὴς ὕστερον εἰργάσατο; ὥσπερ γάρ τι δέλεαρ αὐτῷ τὴν οἰκείαν σάρκα προβαλλόμενος διὰ τῶν οἰκείων ἥλων ὡς δι' ἀγκίστρων ἰχθὺν ἤγρευσεν. 367 40, 2526 περιθήσεις δὲ