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uncircumscribed; whom the word spoken by Him is more likely to resemble, those wishing to genuinely hearken to the will of Scripture ought to believe. For if God is the one who spoke, and He is uncircumscribed according to essence, it is clear that the word spoken by Him is uncircumscribed.

Therefore, having spiritually contemplated the events that happened typologically in the times of Hezekiah, and having reached their conclusion, the then outcome of the things recorded, let us marvel at the history of the Holy Spirit who wrote it; how for each of those who have partaken of human nature He set forth a fitting and appropriate meaning of the things written; so that everyone who wishes to become a student of the divine word, and to hold nothing of present and dissoluble things as equal to virtue, is able to become another Hezekiah in spirit; and another Isaiah, hindered by no one, both to pray, and to cry out to heaven, and to be heard, and to receive from God through an angel the destruction and ruin of those who war against him intelligibly.

And since it is necessary, for one who accepts the Holy Scripture gnostically for the soul according to Christ, to be diligently trained also in the interpretation of names, which is able of itself to clarify the whole meaning of what has been written, if indeed he is concerned with the precise understanding of what has been written, and not Judaically to bring down the height of the spirit to the body concerning the earth, and to circumscribe the divine and pure promises of intelligible goods by the corruption of things that pass away, just as some of those among us called (468) Christians have supposed, having unconsciously applied to themselves the pseudonymous designation from Christ, of which they are shown through their very deeds to have utterly denied the power, and they manifestly travel the road contrary to Christ, as the discourse will show in summary.

For if, among the other mysteries, which no discourse could reach, God became man and came for this reason also, that He might fulfill the law spiritually in the abolition of the letter; and that he might establish and make manifest its life-giving aspect, I mean that of the law, by the choice of that which kills; and that which kills of the law, according to the divine Apostle, is the letter, just as also the life-giving aspect of the law, according to him, is the spirit. For he says, "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life"; therefore they have clearly chosen the lot opposed to Christ, and have been ignorant of the entire mystery of his incarnation; not only having buried the power of their mind in the letter, and not wishing to be according to the image and likeness of God; but rather preferring the "to be earth," according to the threat, and "to depart to the earth" through the relation of the letter to the earth; over the "toward heaven," I mean the spirit, "into the air," that is, the intelligible illumination, "in clouds," that is in lofty contemplations, to be "caught up to meet the Lord," and so to be "always with him" through knowledge. On whose account it is right to be vexed, as they endure an unbearable loss from ignorance, the fall from the truth; and to be grieved, as they provide many occasions for the confirmation of unbelief to the Jews. But let us leave them to their own wishes, and return to ourselves and to the Word, making a beginning of the spiritual inquiry of the present chapter from the interpretation of the names.

Hezekiah, then, is interpreted as strength of God; but Ahaz his father, might; and Isaiah is interpreted as uplifting of God; that is, height of God. But Amos, his father, a people of labor. Strength of God has been established, the virtue that destroys the passions and guards pious thoughts, which the practice of the commandments begets; might, understood tropologically, through which we destroy the evil powers opposed to good things by the cooperation of God; or rather, by the power of God alone. And height of God is the knowledge of the truth, which the labor of the contemplation of created things begets; and those upon the practice of

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ἀπερίγραφος· ᾧ μᾶλλον ἐοικέναι τόν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ λαληθέντα λόγον πιστεύειν χρή, τούς γνησίως κατακούειν τοῦ βουλήματος τῆς Γραφῆς βουλομένους. Εἰ γάρ Θεός ὁ λαλήσας ἐστίν, οὗτος δέ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ἀπερίγραφος, δῆλον ὅτι ὁ λαληθείς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ λόγος ἐστίν ἀπερίγραφος.

Οὐκοῦν τά συμβάντα τυπικῶς κατά τούς Ἐζεκίου χρόνους, καί λαβόντα πέρας, τήν τότε τῶν ἱστορουμένων ἔκβασιν, πνευματικῶς θεωρήσαντες, θαυμάσωμεν τήν ἱστορίαν του γράψαντος ἁγίου Πνεύματος· πῶς ἑκάστῳ τῶν μετειληφότων τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἁρμόζουσαν ἔθετο καί προσήκουσαν τήν τῶν γεγραμμένων διάνοιαν· ὥστε πάντα τόν βουλόμενον, τοῦ θείου λόγου γενέσθαι φοιτητήν, καί μηδέν ἔχειν τῶν παρόντων καί λυομένων τῆς ἀρετῆς ἰσοστάσιον, γενέσθαι δύνασθαι ἄλλον Ἐζεκίαν ἐν πνεύματι· καί Ἡσαΐαν ἕτερον ὑπ᾿ οὐδενός κωλυόμενον καί προσεύξασθαι, καί βοῆσαι εἰς τόν οὐρανόν, καί εἰσακουσθῆναι, καί λαβεῖν παρά Θεοῦ τήν δι᾿ ἀγγέλου τῶν νοητῶς αὐτόν πολεμούντων φθοράν καί ἀπώλειαν.

Ἐπειδή δέ χρή, τόν γνωστικῶς πρός ψυχήν τήν ἁγίαν Γραφήν κατά Χριστόν ἐκδεχόμενον, ἀσκηθῆναι φιλοπόνως καί τῶν ὀνομάτων τήν ἑρμηνείαν, αὐτόθεν δυναμένην ὅλην τήν τῶν γεγραμμένων σαφηνίσαι διάνοιαν, εἴπερ μέλει αὐτῷ τῆς ἀκριβοῦς τῶν γεγραμμέων κατανοήσεως, ἀλλ᾿οὐχί Ἰουδαϊκῶς πρός σῶμα περί γῆν κατάγειν τό ὕψος τοῦ πνεύματος, καί τάς θείας καί ἀκηράτους τῶν νοητῶν ἀγαθῶν τῇ φθορᾷ τῶν παρερχομένων περιγράφειν ἐπαγγελίας, καθώς τινες τῶν παρ᾿ ἡμῖν λεγομένων (468) Χριστιανῶν ὑπειληφότες, λελήθασι ψευδώνυμον αὐτοῖς τήν ἀπό Χριστοῦ προσηγορίαν ἐπιφημίζοντες, ἧς δείκνυνται παντελῶς ἠρνημέναι δι᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τήν δύναμιν, καί τήν ἐναντίαν τῷ Χριστῷ προδήλως ὁδεύουσιν, ὡς δείξει κατ᾿ ἐπιτομήν ὁ λόγος.

Εἰ γάρ μετά τῶν ἄλλων μυστηρίων, ὧν οὐκ ἄν τις ἐφίκοιτο λόγος, καί εἰς τοῦτο γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεός ἦλθεν, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τόν νόμον πνευματικῶς ἐν τῇ καταργήσει τοῦ γράμματος· καί τό ζωοποιοῦν αὐτοῦ, φημί δή τοῦ νόμου, στήσῃ τε καί φανερόν καταστήσῃ, τῇ προαιρέσει τοῦ ἀποκτείνοντος· τό δέ ἀποκτεῖνον τοῦ νόμου, κατά τόν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον, ἔστι τό γράμμα, ὥσπερ καί τό ζωοποιόν τοῦ νόμου κατ᾿ αὐτόν, τό πνεῦμά ἐστι. Φησί γάρ, Τό μέν γράμμα ἀποκτείνει, τό δέ πνεῦμα ζωοποιεῖ· διαῤῥήδην ἄρα τήν ἀντίπαλον τῷ Χριστῷ μοῖραν ἀνείλαντο, καί τό πᾶν τῆς αὐτοῦ σαρκώσεως ἠγνόησαν μυστήριον· οὐ μόνον γράμματι κατορύξαντες τῆς σφῶν διανοίας τήν δύναμιν, καί οὐκ ἐθέλοντες εἶναι κατ᾿ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ καί ὁμοίωσιν· ἀλλά μᾶλλον τό, γῆν εἶναι, κατά τήν ἀπειλήν, καί εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσεσθαι διά τῆς ὡς πρός γῆν τό γράμμα σχέσεως· τοῦ πρός οὐρανόν, λέγω δέ τό πνεῦμα, εἰς ἀέρα, τουτέστι, τόν νοερόν φωτισμόν, ἐν νεφέλαις, ταῖς ὑψηλαῖς δηλαδή θεωρίαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν ἁρπαγῆναι τοῦ Κυρίου, καί οὕτως πάντοτε σύν αὐτῷ εἶναι διά τῆς γνώσεως, προτιμῶντες. Ὑπέρ ὧν ἄχθεσθαι μέν δίκαιον, ἀφόρητον ζημίαν ἐξ ἀγνοίας ὑπομενόντων, τήν τῆς ἀληθείας ἔκπτωσιν· λυπεῖσθαι δέ, ὡς πολλάς εἰς βεβαίωσιν ἀπιστίας τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἀφορμάς παρεχόντων. Ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς ἐκείνους ἐάσαντες ὡς θέλουσιν ἔχοντας, πρός ἑαυτούς καί τόν Λόγον ἐπανέλθωμεν, τήν ἀρχήν τῆς τοῦ προκειμένου κεφαλαίου πνευματικῆς ἐρεύνης, ἐκ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἑρμηνείας ποιησόμενοι.

Ἐζεκίας τοίνυν ἑρμηνεύεται κράτος Θεοῦ· Ἀχάς δέ ὁ πατήρ αὐτοῦ, ἱσχύς· καί Ἡσαΐας ἑρμηνεύεται ἔπαρσις Θεοῦ· τουτέστιν ὕψος Θεοῦ. Ἀμώς δέ, ὁ πατήρ αὐτοῦ, λαός πόνου. Κράτος Θεοῦ καθέστηκεν, ἡ ἀναιρετική τῶν παθῶν ἀρετή, καί τῶν εὐσεβῶν φρουρητική λογισμῶν, ἥν γεννᾷ ννᾷ πρᾶξις ἐντολῶν· ἰσχύς τροπικῶς νοουμένη, δι᾿ ἧς τάς ἀντικειμένας τῶν ἀγαθῶν πονηράς δυνάμεις συνεργείᾳ Θεοῦ· μᾶλλον δέ μόνῃ δυνάμει Θεοῦ, διαφθείρομεν.Ὕψος δέ Θεοῦ ἐστιν, ἡ γνῶσις τῆς ἀληθείας, ἥν γεννᾷ τῆς τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίας ὁ πόνος· καί οἱ ἐπί τῇ πράξει τῶν