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is humbled when tried by accusations, the one judging himself unworthy of the good things given, the other begging to receive forgiveness for his offenses.

But Benjamin is interpreted according to the precise meaning of the Hebrew tongue as 'mourning or a mother's groan or a mother's measure or son of the right hand or building of a people'. Therefore, everyone who confesses in one of the aforementioned ways is of the tribe of Judah, and everyone mourning for virtue(3) or, in the manner of a mother, having righteousness that rightly defines his own life and reason, or being for many, through an abundance of virtue and an outpouring of teaching in reason, a way to salvation and a building up, is of the tribe of Benjamin. For the Word knows such men as these who receive freedom from the captivity of the passions and who go out from the relation to sensible things and who are able to build a house for the Lord, having become so according to the state of dispassion; and by house I mean the mind built up from different virtues and principles according to both practice and contemplation into a dwelling place of God in spirit. But their enemies are the four nations that were resettled in the land of Israel by Asbakaphath, king of Assour; for he first settled in the land of Israel men of Babylon and men of Chouth and men of Aimath and the Euaeans.

The Babylonians(4), then, signify pride, being interpreted as 'confused thought'.

The Chouthaeans(5) signify vainglory, turning their mind from virtue towards fruitless conceit; for their name, being interpreted, means 'ecstasy'.

(14Γ_120> And the men of Aimath(6) signify pleasing men; for Aimath is interpreted as 'vision of appearances', through which the richer of gains have been devised for those who falsely pursue virtue for the sake of men.

And the Euaeans(7) signify the deceit of hypocrisy; for they are interpreted as 'serpent-like', banishing those who are persuaded from virtue, after the manner of the first serpent, through deceit and friendly hypocrisy, as with Adam.

And Asbakaphath, who resettled these in the land of Israel, is interpreted as 'capturing from behind', that is, invisibly or secretly, or again 'capturing with bonds'. This is clearly the devil, who does all things secretly for the destruction of human nature and binds each person with the chains of his own sins. He resettled into the land of Israel—I mean, into the state of virtue and knowledge—pride and vainglory and pleasing men and hypocrisy, yoking them to the virtuous and the gnostics, so that he might steal the labors of those who toil in good things, sophistically leading away the purpose of what is being done to other things besides its cause(8).

And perhaps knowing that these wicked demons accompany the virtuous, the divine apostle persuaded the Corinthians, writing that he had not come to them with flattering speech, like a hypocrite—perhaps because they thought this about him—nor with a pretext for greed, like one who pleases men, nor seeking glory from anyone, like one who is vainglorious; for he passed over pride in silence, having the clear, true marks of humility: both the countless persecutions and the sufferings of his body and his extreme poverty and his lack of polish in uttered (14Γ_122> speech; for even if I am unskilled in speech, he says, yet not in knowledge.

These, having heard the voice of the trumpets, have come to recognize what the voice is; and they recognized that those from the captivity are building the temple for the Lord God of Israel. The trumpets(9), whose voice the unclean demons hear, are the discourses concerning virtue and knowledge. And the voice of these discourses is the deeds of the

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ἐγκλήμασιν ἐταζόμενος ταπεινοῦται, ὁ μὲν ἑαυτὸν κρίνων ἀνάξιον τῶν δοθέντων καλῶν, ὁ δὲ λαβεῖν ἄφεσιν τῶν πλημμεληθέντων δεόμενος.

Βενιαμὶν δὲ 'πένθος ἢ στεναγμὸς μητρὸς ἢ μέτρον μητρὸς ἢ υἱὸς δεξιᾶς ἢ οἰκοδομὴ λαοῦ' κατὰ τὴν ἀκριβῆς τῆς παρ᾽ Ἑβραίοις φωνῆς ἑρμηνεύεται δύναμιν. Οὐκοῦν πᾶς ἐξομολογούμενος καθ᾽ ἕνα τῶν εἰρημένων τρόπων τῆς φυλῆς ἐστι τοῦ Ἰούδα, καὶ πᾶς ὑπὲρ ἀρετῆς πενθῶν(3) ἤ, μητρὸς δίκην, ἔχων τὴν δικαιοσύνην τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον τε καὶ λόγον δεξιῶς ὁρίζουσαν ἢ πολλῶν ὑπάρχων δι᾽ ἀρετῆς περιουσίαν καὶ χύσιν τῆς ἐν λόγῳ διδασκαλίας πρὸς σωτηρίαν ὁδὸς καὶ οἰκοδομὴ τῆς φυλῆς ὑπάρχει τοῦ Βενιαμίν. Τοιούτους γὰρ οἶδεν ὁ λόγος τοὺς ἐλευθερίαν λαμβάνοντας τῆς τῶν παθῶν αἰχμαλωσίας καὶ τῆς τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐκβαίνοντας σχέσεως καὶ οἶκον τῷ Κυρίῳ, κατὰ τὴν ἕξιν τῆς ἀπαθείας γενομένους, οἰκοδομεῖν δυναμένους· οἶκον δὲ λέγω τὸν ἐξ ἀρετῶν διαφόρων καὶ λόγων κατά τε πρᾶξιν καὶ θεωρίαν οἰκοδομούμενον νοῦν εἰς κατοικητήριον Θεοῦ ἐν πνεύματι. Ἐχθροὶ δὲ τούτων εἰσὶ τὰ τέσσαρα ἔθνη τὰ μετοικισθέντα εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὑπὸ Ἀσβακαφὰθ βασιλέως Ἀσσούρ· οὖτος γὰρ πρῶτος εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ κατῴκισεν ἄνδρας Βαβυλωνίους καὶ ἄνδρας Χοὺθ καὶ ἄνδρας Αἱμὰθ καὶ τοὺς Εὐαίους.

Οἱ μὲν οὖν Βαβυλώνιοι(4) τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν δηλοῦσιν, 'συγκεχυμένη φρόνησις' ἑρμηνευόμενοι.

Χουθαῖοι(5) δὲ τὴν κενοδοξίαν, πρὸς τὴν ἄκαρπον οἴησιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς μεταβάλλοντες τὴν διάνοιαν 'ἔκστασις' γὰρ καὶ τούτων ἑρμηνευόμενον τὸ ὄνομα σημαίνει.

(14Γ_120> Οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες Αἱμὰθ(6) τὴν ἀνθρωπαρέσκειαν Αἱμὰθ γὰρ 'ὅρασις φαινομένων' ἑρμηνεύεται, δι᾽ ἧς τὰ ἁδρότερα τῶν λημμάτων τοῖς ψευδῶς μετιοῦσι δι᾽ ἀνθρώπους τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπινενόηται.

Οἱ δὲ Εὐαῖοι(7) τὴν ἀπάτην δηλοῦσι τῆς ὑποκρίσεως· 'ὀφιώδεις' γὰρ ἑρμηνεύονται, κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον ὄφιν δι᾽ ἀπάτης καὶ ὑποκρίσεως φιλικῆς, ὡς τὸν Ἀδάμ, τοὺς πειθομένους ἀρετῆς ἐξοικίζοντες.

Ἀσβακαφὰθ δέ, ὁ τούτους εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ μετοικίσας, 'αἰχμαλωτεύων ὀπίσθιος' ἑρμηνεύεται, τουτέστιν ἀφανῶς ἢ λανθανόντως, ἢ πάλιν 'αἰχμαλωτεύων δεσμοῖς'. Οὗτος δὲ σαφῶς ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, ὁ πάντα λανθανόντως ποιῶν πρὸς καθαίρεσιν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως καὶ σειραῖς ἕκαστον τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτιῶν διασφίγγων. Οὗτος εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, τὴν ἕξιν λέγω τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς γνώσεως, μετῴκισε τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν καὶ τὴν κενοδοξίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπαρέσκειαν καὶ τὴν ὑπόκρισιν, παραζεύξας αὐτὰς τοῖς ἐναρέτοις τε καὶ γνωστικοῖς, ἵνα κλέψῃ τῶν κοπιώντων ἐν ἀγαθοῖς τοὺς πόνους, ἐπ᾽ ἄλλα παρὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τὸν σκοπὸν σοφιστικῶς ἀπάγων τῶν γινομένων(8).

Καὶ τάχα τούτους γινώσκων τοὺς πονηροὺς δαίμονας παρέπεσθαι τοῖς ἐναρέτοις ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος Κορινθίους ἔπειθε, γράφων ὡς οὐκ ἐν λόγῳ κολακείας γέγονε πρὸς αὐτούς, ὡς ὑποκριτής, τοῦτο τυχὸν ἐκείνων περὶ αὐτοῦ νομιζόντων, οὔτε προφάσει πλεονεξίας, ὡς ἀνθρωπάρεσκος, οὔτε ζητῶν δόξαν παρά τινος, ὡς κενόδοξος· τὴν γὰρ ὑπερηφανίαν παρεσιώπησεν, φανεροὺς ἔχων τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης τοὺς ἀληθεῖς χαρακτῆρας τούς τε μυρίους διωγμοὺς καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματος παθήματα καὶ τὴν ἄγαν ἀκτημοσύνην καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ (14Γ_122> κατὰ προφορὰν ἰδιωτείαν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ, φησίν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τῇ γνώσει.

Οὗτοι, ἀκούσαντες τῆς φωνῆς τῶν σαλπίγγων, ἐληλύθασιν ἐπιγνῶναι τίς ἡ φωνή· καὶ ἐπέγνωσαν ὅτι οἱ ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας οἰκοδομοῦσι τὸν ναὸν τῷ Κυρίῳ Θεῷ Ἰσραήλ. Σάλπιγγές εἰσιν(9), ὧν τῆς φωνῆς ἀκούουσιν οἱ ἀκάθαρτοι δαίμονες, οἱ περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ γνώσεως λόγοι. Φωνὴ δὲ τούτων ὑπάρχει τῶν λόγων τὰ ἔργα τῶν