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advancement, honored by the mystery of the monad, to which the principle of the myriad is gathered.

Or again, the four myriads signify the so-called four general states of dispassion. For the first dispassion is the complete abstinence from evils in act, observed in those being initiated; a second is the complete rejection by the mind of thoughts of consent to evil, which occurs in those who pursue virtue with reason; a third, the complete stillness of desire with respect to the passions, in those who intelligibly contemplate the principles of visible things through their shapes. A fourth dispassion, the complete purification even from the mere fantasy of the passions, established in those who through knowledge and contemplation have made their ruling faculty a pure and transparent mirror of God.

He, therefore, who has cleansed himself from the activity of the passions, and freed himself from mental consent to them; and has come to a standstill from the movement of desire concerning them; and has established his mind undefiled from their mere fantasy, having the four myriads, goes forth from matter and material things, and hastens toward the divine and peaceful end of intelligible things.

Let the four myriads, then, be understood by us in this way; but the three thousands signify the perfect and orthodox and pious rational principle concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity; according to which the holy three-hypostases (545) monad is hymned and believed by us as one God.

And the three hundred here indicate the principle concerning providence; not only because by the shape of the letter the power extending from above to below, and embracing the extremities on either side is signified; which inexpressibly reveals the providence that binds all things together; but also because it is honored by the type of the cross, in which the great and first and hidden mystery of providence was accomplished. For the great mystery of God's incarnation has been established as an ineffable mode of providence; by which type, along with the name of Him who was nailed to it for our sake, perhaps the great patriarch Abraham, taking courage, with three hundred and eighteen—that is, the type and the name of Jesus—went out and vanquished the opposing powers signified by the kings. For Scripture often knows how to reveal its own purpose even from the shapes of the letters, to those who are purified for this.

But if someone wishes to examine the intent of Holy Scripture from the number also, he will thus find providence indicated through it. For it is the work of providence not only to preserve nature undiminished according to its own principle of being, but also to show it possessing unfailingly by grace the acquired principle of well-being. Therefore, by joining one hundred to two hundred, one makes three hundred, signifying nature and virtue. For two hundred signifies nature as existing from matter and form, since matter is fourfold on account of the four elements, and form is fivefold on account of sensation, which shapes the material mixture into a form. For five times forty, or four times fifty, makes two hundred. And the number one hundred signifies perfect virtue, as containing the divine decad of the commandments multiplied by ten; having reached which, Abraham becomes the father of the great Isaac, being dead according to nature, but becoming a begetter of life and joy according to the spirit. Therefore, by combining one hundred with two hundred, you would complete the number three hundred, signifying providence, which holds nature together according to the principle of well-being.

And sixty signifies the natural power of fulfilling the commandments, perfected by the principles of the virtues. For if six signifies the creative power of nature, as being perfect and composed of its own parts; for which reason also in six

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προκοπήν τῷ τῆς μονάδος τιμηθείσας μυστηρίῳ, πρός ἥν ὁ τῆς μυριάδος συνάγεται λόγος.

Ἤ πάλιν, τάς λεγομένας τέσσαρας γενικάς ἀπαθείας, αἱ τέσσαρες μυριάδες σημαίνουσι. Πρώτη γάρ ἐστιν ἀπάθεια, ἡ παντελής ἀποχή τῶν κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν κακῶν, ἐν τοῖς εἰσαγομένοις θεωρουμένη· δευτέρα δέ, ἡ παντελής κατά διάνοιαν περί τήν τῶν κακῶν συγκατάθεσιν ἀποβολήν λογισμῶν, ἐν τοῖς μετά λόγου τήν ἀρετήν μετιοῦσι γινομένη· τρίτη, ἡ κατ᾿ ἐπιθυμίαν περί τά πάθη παντελής ἀκινησία, ἐν τοῖς διά τῶν σχημάτων τούς λόγους νοητῶς θεωρουμένοις τῶν ὁρωμένων. Τετάρτη ἀπάθεια, ἡ καί αὐτῆς τῆς ψιλῆς τῶν παθῶν φαντασίας παντελής κάθαρσις ἐν τοῖς διά γνώσεως καί θεωρίας καθαρόν καί διειδές ἔσοπτρον τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιησαμένοις τό ἡγεμονικόν συνισταμένη.

Ὁ τοίνυν καθάρας ἑαυτόν ἐνεργείας παθῶν, καί τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς κατά διάνοιαν συγκαταθέσεως ἐλευθερώσας· καί τῆς περί αὐτά κατ᾿ ἐπιθυμίαν κινήσεως στάσιν λαβών· καί τῆς αὐτῶν ψιλῆς φαντασίας τόν νοῦν καταστήσας ἀμόλυντον, τάς τέσσαρας μυριάδας ἔχων ἐξέρχεται τῆς ὕλης καί τῶν ὑλικῶν, καί πρός τήν θείαν καί εἰρηνικήν τῶν νοητῶν ἐπείγεται λῆξιν.

Οὕτω μέν οὖν νοείσθωσαν ἡμῖν αἱ τέσσαρες μυριάδες· αἱ δέ τρεῖς χιλιάδες, τόν τέλειον καί ὀρθόν καί εὐσεβῆ περί τῆς ἁγίας καί ὁμοουσίου Τριάδος λογικόν σημαίνουσι λόγον· καθ᾿ ὅν ἡ ἁγία τρισυπόστατος (545) μονάς, εἷς παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ὑμνεῖται Θεός καί πιστεύεται.

Οἱ δέ τριακόσιοι, τόν περί προνοίας ἐνταῦθα παραδηλοῦσι λόγον· οὐχ ὅτι μόνον τῶ σχήματι τοῦ γράμματος ἡ ἄνωθεν ἐπί τά κάτω διήκουσα, καί τῶν ἑκατέρωθεν πλαγίων τά ἄκρα περιλαμβάνουσα σημαίνεται δύναμις· ὅπερ τήν τό πᾶν διασφίγγουσαν ἀῤῥήτως δηλοῖ πρόνοιαν· ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι καί τῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ τύπῳ τετίμηται, ἐν ᾧ τό μέγα καί πρῶτον καί ἀπόκρυφον τῆς προνοίας ἀπετελέσθη μυστήριον. Προνοίας γάρ καθέστηκε τρόπος ἀπόῤῥητος, τό μέγα τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ μυστήριον· ᾧ τύπῳ, μετά τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ δι᾿ ἡμᾶς προσηλωθέντος, τάχα θαῤῥήσας ὁ μέγας πατριάρχης Ἀβράαμ, μετά τριακοσίων δέκα καί ὀκτώ· τουτέστι, τύπου καί ὀνόματος Ἰησοῦ, τάς δηλουμένας διά τῶν βασιλέων ἀνετικειμένας ἐξελθών κατεπάλαισε δυνάμεις. Πολλάκις γάρ οἶδεν ἡ Γραφή καί ἐκ τῶν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι σχημάτων, τόν ἴδιον φανερῶσαι σκοπόν, τοῖς ἐπί τοῦτο καθαιρομένοις.

Εἰ δέ καί ἐκ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ βούλεταί τις τό βούλημα σκοπῆσαι τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς, καί οὕτως τήν πρόνοιαν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ μηνυομένην εὑρήσει. Προνοίας γάρ ἔργον, οὐ μόνον κατά τόν ἑαυτῆς τοῦ εἶναι λόγον φυλάξαι τήν φύσιν ἀμείωτον· ἀλλά καί κατά τόν ἐπίκτητον τοῦ εὖ εἶναι χάριτι λόγον ἀνελλιπῶς ἔχουσαν δεῖξαι. Οὐκοῦν τοῖς διακοσίοις τά ἑκατόν συνάψας τις, ἀποτελεῖ τόν τριακόσια· δηλοῦντα φύσιν καί ἀρετήν. ∆ηλοῖ γάρ φύσιν ὁ διακόσια ὡς ἐξ ὕλης καί εἴδους ὑπάρχουσαν, εἴπερ ἡ ὕλη τετραδική διά τά τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα· τό δέ εἶδος, πενταδικόν, διά τήν αἴσθησιν τήν τό ὑλικόν πρός εἶδος σχηματίζουσαν φύραμα. Πεντάκις γάρ συνθείς τόν τεσσαράκοντα· ἤ τετράκις τόν πεντήκοντα, ποιεῖ τόν διακόσια. Ὁ δέ ἑκατόν ἀριθμός, τήν τελείαν ἀρετήν σημαίνει, ὡς ἔχων δεκαπλουμένην τήν θείαν δεκάδα τῶν ἐντολῶν· εἰς ἥν φθάσας Ἀβράαμ, πατήρ γίνεται τοῦ μεγάλου Ἰσαάκ, νεκρός κατά φύσιν· ζωῆς καί χαρᾶς γεννήτωρ κατά πνεῦμα γενόμενος. Συνθείς οὖν τοῖς διακοσίοις τά ἑκατόν, τόν τριακόσια πληρώσαις ἄν ἀριθμόν, δηλοῦντα τήν πρόνοιαν, κατά τόν εὖ εἶναι λόγον τήν φύσιν συνέχουσαν.

Ὁ δέ ἑξήκοντα, τήν κατά φύσιν ποιητικήν τῶν ἐντολῶν σημαίνει δύναμιν τετελειωμένην τοῖς λόγοις τῶν ἀρετῶν. Εἰ γάρ ὁ ἕξ τήν ποιητικήν σημαίνει τῆς φύσεως δύναμιν, ὡς τέλειος καί ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων μερῶν συνιστάμενος· διό καί ἐν ἕξ