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doctrines of discernment, for the preservation of the indissoluble corner union of the flesh with the soul.

And upon the corners he built towers. The Word perhaps called corners the various unions of divided creations which have come to be through Christ; For He united man, mystically taking away in the spirit the difference between male and female, and establishing in both the principle of nature free from the properties of the passions. And He united the earth, driving out the distinction between the sensible paradise and the inhabited world. He united both the earth and heaven, showing the nature of sensible things to be one, inclining towards itself. And He united both sensible and intelligible things, and showed that the nature of created things is one, joined together according to a certain mystical principle. And He united, according to a principle and manner beyond nature, both the created nature with the uncreated; and upon each union, that is, corner, having fortified the cohesive and connective principles of the divine doctrines, He built towers.

And he built towers in the desert. The desert is the nature of phenomena, that is, this world; in which the Word is wont to build towers, bestowing upon those who ask the pious opinions concerning existing things; that is, the correct principles in spirit of the doctrines concerning natural contemplation.

And he hewed out many cisterns, because he had much cattle in Shephelah, and in the plain; and vinedressers in the hill country, and in Carmel, for he was a husbandman. He hewed cisterns in the desert; I mean, in the world and in the nature of men, digging out the hearts of the worthy, and cleansing them from material weight and sentiment, and making them spacious for the reception of the divine rains of wisdom and knowledge, so that they might water the cattle of Christ, I mean those who are in need, on account of their soul's infancy, of moral teaching.

And the cattle in Shephelah. Shephelah is interpreted as a narrow basin; it signifies those who are cleansed through involuntary temptations, and are made white from the defilements of soul and body; needing to be watered, as it were, with the word concerning endurance and patience.

And in the plain. Clearly, those who prosper by the breadth (437) of favorable affairs flowing smoothly to them; or those who run well in virtues, and are impassibly broadened by the way, by the law, of the commandments; they too needing to be watered with the word concerning humility, sharing with and compassion for the weaker, and thanksgiving for the things given to them.

And there are vinedressers in the hill country, those who diligently cultivate the divine and ecstatic principle of knowledge, which gladdens the heart, in the height of contemplation. But the vinedressers in Carmel are those who, according to contemplation, loftily practice the principle concerning perfect purification and the complete removal of existing things; for Carmel is interpreted as knowledge of circumcision, upon which the one who cultivates a vine, cultivates the mystical principle of circumcision, circumcising the mind from matter and material things according to knowledge; but not in a Jewish manner, considering shame to be glory. And the Word says that these too have need of the divine stream of wisdom from the cisterns hewn in the desert; so that according to the analogy of faith, each might receive the fitting word from those who have been entrusted with the grace of the teaching of the word of salvation; through which our Lord Jesus Christ magnificently cares for the soul of each person, being and ever becoming the good and skillful husbandman, and having accomplished all the aforementioned things for the sake of our salvation.

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διάκρισιν δόγματα, πρός τό φυλαχθῆναι τῆς σαρκός πρός τήν ψυχήν ἀδιάλυτον γωνίας ἕνωσιν.

Καί ἐπί τῶν γωνιῶν ᾠκοδόμησε πύργους. Γωνίας τυχόν εἶπεν ὁ λόγος, τάς διά Χριστοῦ γεγενημένας διαφόρους τῶν διῃρημένων κτισμάτων ἑνώσεις· Ἥνωσε γάρ τόν ἄνθρωπον, τήν κατά τό ἄῤῥεν καί θῆλυ διαφοράν τῷ πνεύματι μυστικῶς ἀφελόμενος, καί τῶν ἐν τοῖς πάθεσιν ἰδιωμάτων καταστήσας ἐπ᾿ ἀμφοῖς ἐλεύθερον τόν λόγον τῆς φύσεως. Ἥνωσεν δέ καί τήν γῆν τήν κατά τόν αἰσθητόν παράδεισον καί τήν οἰκουμένην διώσας ἐξαλλαγήν. Ἥνωσεν καί τήν γῆν καί τόν οὐρανόν, μίαν ἀποδείξας πρός ἑαυτήν νεύουσαν τήν φύσιν τῶν αἰσθητῶν. Ἥνωσεν δέ καί τά αἰσθητά καί νοητά, καί μίαν ἀπέδειξεν οὖσαν τήν τῶν γεγονότων φύσιν, κατά τινα λόγον μυστικόν συναπτομένην. Ἥνωσεν δέ κατά τόν ὑπέρ φύσιν λόγον καί τρόπον, καί τήν κτιστήν φύσιν τῇ ἀκτίστῳ· καί ἐφ᾿ ἑκάστης ἑνώσεως, ἤγουν γωνίας, τούς συνεκτικούς τε καί συνδετικούς τῶν θείων δογμάτων ὀχυρώσας, ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργους.

Καί ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργους ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Ἔρημός ἐστιν ἡ τῶν φαινομένων φύσις, ἤγουν ὁ κόσμος οὗτος· ἐν ᾧ πύργους οἰκοδομεῖν πέφυκεν Λόγος, τάς εὐσεβεῖς περί τῶν ὄντων δόξας τοῖς αἰτοῦσι δωρούμενος· τουτέστι τούς τῶν περί τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας δογμάτων ὀρθούς ἐν πνεύματι λόγους.

Καί ἐλατόμησε λάκκους πολλούς, ὅτι κτήνη πολλά ὑπῆρχε αὐτῷ ἐν Σεφιλᾷ, καί ἐν τῇ πεδεινῇ· καί ἀμπελουργοί ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ, καί ἐν τῷ Καρμήλῳ, ὅτι γεωργός ἦν. Λάκκους ἐλατόμησεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· λέγω δέ τῷ κόσμῳ, καί τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τάς τῶν ἀξίων καρδίας ἐκχοΐζων, καί ἀποκαθαίρων τοῦ ὑλικοῦ βάρους τε καί φρονήματος, καί ποιῶν εὐρυχώρους πρός ὑποδοχήν τῶν θείων τῆς σοφίας καί τῆς γνώσεως ὑετῶν, ἵνα ποτίζωσιν τά κτήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τούς δεομένους λέγω, διά ψυχῆς νηπιότητα, τῆς ἠθικῆς διδασκαλίας.

Τά τε ἐν Σεφιλᾷ κτήνη. Σεφιλά ἑρμηνεύεται λεκάνη στενή· δηλοῖ δέ, τούς διά τῶν ἀκουσίων καθαιρομένους πειρασμῶν, καί λευκαινομένους τῶν κατά ψυχήν καί σῶμα μολυσμῶν· δεομένους ποτισθῆναι καθάπερ ὕδωρ τόν περί καρτερίας καί ὑπομονῆς λόγον.

Καί ἐν τῇ πεδεινῇ. Τούς τῷ πλάτει δῆλον ὅτι (437) τῶν δεξιῶν πραγμάτων κατά ῥοῦν αὐτοῖς φερομένων εὐθηνουμένους· ἤ τούς ἐν ἀρεταῖς εὐδρομοῦντας, καί τῇ ὁδῷ, τῷ νόμῳ, τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀπαθῶς πλατυνουμένους· δεομένους καί αὐτούς ποτισθῆναι τόν περί ταπεινοφροσύνης, μεταδόσεώς τε καί συμπαθείας τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων, καί τῆς τῶν δοθέντων αὐτοῖς εὐχαριστίας λόγον.

Καί ἀμπελουργοί μέν εἰσιν ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ, οἱ τόν θεῖον καί ἐκστατικόν τῆς γνώσεως, καί τῆς καρδίας εὐφραντικόν ἐν τῷ ὕψει τῆς θεωρίας φιλοπονοῦντες λόγον. Οἱ δέ ἐν τῷ Καρμήλῳ ἀμπελουργοί τυγχάνουσιν, οἱ κατά θεωρίαν ὑψηλῶς τόν περί τῆς τελείας καθάρσεως, καί τῆς τῶν ὄντων παντελοῦς ἀφαιρέσεως ἀσκούμενοι λόγον· ἐπίγνωσις γάρ περιτομῆς ὁ Κάρμηλος ἑρμηνεύεται ἐφ᾿ ὅν ὁ γεωργῶν ἄμπελον, τόν τῆς περιτομῆς μυστικόν λόγον γεωργεῖ, κατ᾿ ἐπίγνωσιν τόν νοῦν περιτέμνων τῆς ὕλης, καί τῶν ὑλικῶν· ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ Ἰουδαϊκῶς τήν αἰσχύνην δόξαν ἡγούμενος. Χρῄζειν δέ καί τούτους φησίν ὁ λόγος, τοῦ ἐκ τῶν λατομηθέντων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ λάκκων, θείου τῆς σοφίας νάματος· ἵνα κατά τήν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως, ἕκαστος τόν ἐπιτήδειον δέχηται λόγον ἐκ τῶν πεπιστευμένων, τήν χάριν τῆς τοῦ σωτηρίου λόγου διδασκαλίας· δι᾿ οὗ μεγαλοφυῶς τῆς τοῦ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον ἐπιμελεῖται ψυχῆς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ καλός καί ἐπιστήμων γεωργός καί ὤν, καί ἀεί γινόμενος, καί πάντα τά προειρημένα τῆς ἡμῶν ἕνεκεν σωτηρίας διαπραξάμενος.