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a halter about his nose? Or will you put a ring in his nostril, and pierce his lip with a bracelet? And by *bracelet* instead of *band*. Just as he bound his mouth with a bracelet and a band, so that he would no longer boast. For a nail, when hammered and rounded, becomes a ring; and so he bound his nostril with a ring, as if removing the arrogance of a bull, and he put a halter on him, allowing him to be mocked. 40, 27 Will he speak to you with entreaty, softly with supplication? For he said this because the demons besought the Lord not to cast them into the abyss. 40, 28 And will he make a covenant with you? Or does he say this because he had said to the Lord: All these things I will give you, or because: Can you so subdue him that he chooses no longer to make war on you? 40, 28 And will you take him as a servant forever? A servant becomes a servant either by choice, like one who chooses to serve God, or by compulsion, being taken captive and bound, which is what the devil has suffered. 40, 29 And will you play with him as with a little bird, or will you bind him as a sparrow for a child? Having bound the enemy, our Lord has given him to the saints to mock 368 him as if a sparrow, to those who have turned and become like children according to the teaching of the Savior himself. 40, 30 And nations shall feast on him. For just as the Lord is the food of the righteous, so is he the food of the ungodly. You gave him as food to the peoples of the Ethiopians, says the psalmist, that is, to the sons of darkness, to those in ignorance. 40, 30 And the tribes of the Phoenicians shall divide him. The Phoenicians are traders and lovers of gain. Through this, therefore, he alludes to those who are mired in sins. And Phoenicia is now what was formerly called Canaanite, for the gospels call the Syrophoenician woman a Canaanite; and the Canaanites were idolaters. He says, therefore, that the idolaters divide the dragon. And in another sense, the Phoenicians are well understood as those who sacrifice to idols, as being made red with the blood on the altars, and they divide the dragon, one perhaps sacrificing to Dagon, another to Baal, another to Astarte; or also one committing fornication, another being greedy, and another pursuing some other lawless deed; or also one being a false teacher, another a false prophet; and the different heresies have variously divided the dragon. 40, 31 And every ship coming together will not be able to carry one hide of his tail. A *byrsa* is a scale, a flake; and he said this as of a dragon. He says, therefore, that all men gathered together in the same place, who sail this 369 life called a sea, cannot bear even some small assault from his last and final powers. But our Lord crushed the heads of the dragon. 40, 31 and his head in fishing boats. The fishermen are the teachers who preside over the church, and the boats are the churches. And by his head he means his pride. And he says that he will act arrogantly both against teachers and against churches, clearly stirring up persecutions against them. And in another sense: the boats are the bodies, upon which our soul has embarked as upon boats, wherefore the law also said in a riddle: Cursed is he who hangs on a tree, that is, he who has hung his hope on the body and attends only to bodily things. The fishermen, therefore, the divine apostles, in imitation of their own master, received the head of the dragon, and they themselves also crushed it, eagerly accepting death for him through the power of Christ. 40, 32 Will you lay a hand on him, mindful of the war that is in his body? And let it be no more. Are you able to bind him tightly with your power and tie him down, or to be mindful at all of the war that is to take place in his body? And by his body he means all the apostate powers, as he is their head. And this war the Lord fought and conquered through the triumphant cross. And the 'let it be no more,' since 370 the cross has happened once for all, as the holy apostle also said: For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. 41, 1 Have you not seen him, nor marveled at the things said? Have I not assured you as

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φορβαίαν περὶ ῥῖνα αὐτοῦ; ἢ δήσεις κρίκον ἐν τῷ μυκτῆρι αὐτοῦ, ψελίῳ δὲ τρυπήσεις τὸ χεῖλος αὐτοῦ; ψελίῳ δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ περιοχῇ. ὡσπεροῦν ψελίῳ καὶ περιοχῇ ἔδησε τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, ἐφ' ᾧ μηκέτι μεγαλαυχεῖν. καθηλούμενος δὲ ἧλος καὶ στρογγυλούμενος κρίκος γίνεται· καὶ τὸν μυκτῆρα οὖν αὐτοῦ κρίκῳ ἔδησεν ὡς ταύρου γαυρίαμα ἀφαιρούμενος, καὶ φορβαίαν αὐτῷ περιέθηκε καταπαίζεσθαι παρεχόμενος. 40, 27 λαλήσει δέ σοι δεήσει, ἱκετηρίᾳ μαλακῶς; τοῦτο γὰρ εἶπε διὰ τὸ παρακαλεῖν τοὺς δαίμονας τὸν κύριον μὴ βαλεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον. 40, 28 θήσεται δὲ μετὰ σοῦ διαθήκην; ἢ τοῦτο λέγει διὰ τὸ εἰρηκέναι αὐτὸν τῷ κυρίῳ· ταῦτά σοι πάντα δώσω, ἢ ὅτι· δύνασαι οὕτως ὑποτάξαι αὐτὸν ὡς αἱρεῖσθαι μηκέτι σοι πολεμεῖν; 40, 28 λήψῃ δὲ αὐτὸν δοῦλον αἰώνιον; ὁ δοῦλος ἢ προαιρετικῶς γίνεται δοῦλος, ὡς ὁ δουλεύειν θεῷ προαιρούμενος· ἢ ἀναγκαστικῶς αἰχμαλωτιζόμενος καὶ καταδεσμούμενος, ὃ δὴ πέπονθεν ὁ διάβολος. 40, 29 παίξῃ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ ὥσπερ ὀρνέῳ, ἢ δήσεις αὐτὸν ὥσπερ στρουθίον παιδίῳ; δήσας τὸν ἐχθρὸν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν δέδωκε τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐγκαταπαί 368 ζειν αὐτοῦ ὡσανεὶ στρουθίου, τοῖς στραφεῖσι καὶ γενομένοις ὡς τὰ παιδία κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος διδασκαλίαν. 40, 30 ἐνσιτοῦνται δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔθνη. ὥσπερ γὰρ τῶν δικαίων βρῶμα ὁ κύριος, οὕτως αὐτὸς τῶν ἀσεβῶν. ἔδωκας αὐτὸν βρῶμα λαοῖς τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, φησὶν ὁ ψαλμῳδός, τουτέστι τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ σκότους, τοῖς ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ. 40, 30 μεριοῦνται δὲ αὐτὸν Φοινίκων γένη. πραγματευτικοὶ οἱ Φοίνικες καὶ φιλοκερδεῖς. αἰνίττεται οὖν διὰ τούτου τοὺς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις πεφυρμένους. καὶ ἡ νῦν δὲ Φοινίκη Χαναναία τὸ πρότερον ἐκαλεῖτο, τὴν γὰρ Συροφοινίκισσαν Χαναναίαν καλοῦσι τὰ εὐαγγέλια· οἱ δὲ Χαναναῖοι εἰδωλολάτραι. λέγει οὖν, ὅτι μερίζονται τὸν δράκοντα οἱ εἰδωλολάτραι. καὶ ἄλλως δὲ Φοίνικες καλῶς νοοῦνται οἱ τοῖς εἰδώλοις θύοντες ὡς φοινισσόμενοι τοῖς ἐπιβωμίοις αἵμασιν, μερίζονται δὲ τὸν δράκοντα ὁ μὲν τυχὸν θύων τῷ ∆αγών, ὁ δὲ τῷ Βήλ, ὁ δὲ τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ· ἢ καὶ ὁ μέν τις πορνεύων, ὁ δὲ πλεονεκτῶν, καὶ ἄλλος ἄλλην ἄθεσμον μετιὼν πρᾶξιν· ἢ καὶ ὁ μέν τις ψευδοδιδάσκαλος ὤν, ὁ δὲ ψευδοπροφήτης· καὶ αἱ διάφοροι δὲ αἱρέσεις ποικίλως τὸν δράκοντα κατεμέρισαν. 40, 31 πᾶν δὲ πλωτὸν συνελθὸν οὐ μὴ ἐνέγκωσι βύρσαν οὐρᾶς αὐτοῦ. βύρσα ἡ φολίς, ἡ λεπίς· ὡς ἐπὶ δράκοντος δὲ τοῦτο εἶπεν. φησὶν οὖν, ὅτι πάντες ἄνθρωποι κατὰ ταὐτὸν συναγόμενοι, οἱ τόν 369 δε τὸν βίον θάλατταν καλούμενον πλέοντες, οὐδὲ μικράν τινα αὐτοῦ ἐπήρειαν τῶν ἐσχάτων καὶ τελευταίων δυνάμεων δύνανται ὑπενεγκεῖν. ὁ δὲ κύριος ἡμῶν αὐτὰς συνέθλασε τὰς κεφαλὰς τοῦ δράκοντος. 40, 31 καὶ ἐν πλοίοις ἁλιέων κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. ἁλιεῖς οἱ τῆς ἐκκλησίας προεστῶτες διδάσκαλοι, πλοῖα δὲ αἱ ἐκκλησίαι. κεφαλὴν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν λέγει. φησὶ δέ, ὅτι ὑπερηφανεύσεται καὶ κατὰ διδασκάλων καὶ κατὰ ἐκκλησιῶν, διωγμοὺς δηλονότι κινῶν κατ' αὐτῶν. καὶ ἄλλως· πλοῖά εἰσι τὰ σώματα, ἐφ' ὧν ὡς ἐπὶ πλοίων ἡμῶν ἐμβέβηκεν ἡ ψυχή, διὸ καὶ ὁ νόμος ἐν αἰνίγματι ἔλεγεν· ἐπικατάρατος ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου, τουτέστιν ὁ ἀποκρεμάσας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐλπίδα τοῦ σώματος καὶ μόνοις τοῖς σωματικοῖς προσανέχων. οἱ ἁλιεῖς οὖν, οἱ θεῖοι ἀπόστολοι, κατὰ μίμησιν τοῦ οἰκείου δεσπότου τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐδέξαντο τοῦ δράκοντος, καὶ συνέθλασαν καὶ αὐτοὶ ταύτην, τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ θάνατον προθύμως καταδεξάμενοι. 40, 32 ἐπιθήσεις δὲ αὐτῷ χεῖρα μνησθεὶς πόλεμον τὸν γινόμενον ἐν σώματι αὐτοῦ; καὶ μηκέτι γινέσθω. δύνῃ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπισφίγξαι τῇ σῇ δυνάμει καὶ καταδῆσαι, ἢ ὅλως μνησθῆναι τὸν πόλεμον τὸν μέλλοντα γενέσθαι ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ; σῶμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τὰς πάσας ἀποστατικὰς δυνάμεις λέγει ὡς αὐτοῦ κεφαλῆς ὄντος. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν πόλεμον ἐπολέμησε καὶ ἐνίκησε διὰ τοῦ τροπαιούχου σταυροῦ ὁ κύριος. τὸ δὲ μηκέτι γινέσθω, ἐπειδή 370 περ ἅπαξ γέγονε ὁ σταυρός, ὡς καὶ ὁ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολος ἔφη· ὃ γὰρ ἀπέθανεν, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀπέθανεν ἐφάπαξ. 41, 1 οὐχ ἑώρακας αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις τεθαύμακας; οὐκ ἐπληροφόρησά σε ὡς