,

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thoughts. For "Gibeonites" is interpreted as 'mountain-dwellers' or 'lofty ones;' and these clearly signify the higher principles of natural contemplation or the natural thoughts within us, which Saul kills, and anyone who now exists as another Saul by disposition, not shrinking from dismissing and corrupting the natural principles because of the error of adhering only to the letter of the law. For no one who adheres only to the corporeal worship (14Γ_374> of the law could ever accept a natural principle or thought, because symbols are by nature not the same as the reality.

But if symbols are not the same as the reality, one who is fused to the symbols of the law as if they were the archetypes can never clearly see the origin of beings according to nature, and for this reason he irrationally dismisses the natural principles, not considering(12) that one must preserve those saved by Joshua, for whom he also waged that terrible war against the five kings who rose up against them, in which heaven itself fought alongside Joshua with hailstones against those who rose up against the Gibeonites; whom he made wood-cutters and water-carriers for the divine tabernacle(13), that is, for the holy Church prefigured by the tabernacle, did the incarnate Word. For this, this is Jesus who killed the passionate habits and thoughts that rise up against them according to the senses. For the Word of God, Jesus, always preserves the principles of natural contemplation, appointing them wood-cutters and water-carriers for the divine tabernacle of the mysteries, as providers, so to speak, of the matter that kindles the illumination of divine knowledge and of the purification that cleanses the passions, or as the occasion for the life-giving transmission in the Spirit. For without natural contemplation, the power of the mysteries is by nature in no way and by no means preserved in anything.

And if the Gibeonites(14) also signify the portion of the Gentiles, coming over to Jesus the heir of the divine promises and being saved and taught to carry wood and water, that is, to carry about in practice upon the shoulders of the (14Γ_376> virtues the mystical and saving word concerning the cross and the divine rebirth through water, and to supply to the divine ark of pious faith, in the manner of wood, the mortification of the earthly members through the practice of virtue, and through contemplation, like water, the influx of knowledge in the Spirit, this is not absurd nor foreign to piety.

Therefore, whether the Gibeonites prefigure the principles of natural contemplation, or the portion of the Gentiles saved through faith, they have as an enemy and adversary of what is being saved the one who chooses to live in a Jewish manner according to the law in its letter only. For he who considers his belly a god and glories in his shame as if in honor knows only how to eagerly cling to the dishonorable passions as if they were divine, and for this reason he cares only for temporal things, that is, matter and form(15) and the fivefold activity of the senses through their misuse, some as the children of Rizpah the concubine, others as the offspring of the dishonored daughter Merob. For sense, interwoven with matter and form by mixture, is naturally disposed to produce passion, and to kill and destroy the natural principles. For a principle of nature(16) is by nature never manifested together with passion, just as passion is not by nature co-generated with nature at birth.

Therefore, he who clings only to the letter of Scripture, after the manner of Saul, both dismisses the natural principles and does not accept the mystically proclaimed calling of the Gentiles, gaping only, as he thinks, according to the law, for the enjoyment of the flesh. Therefore, since this corporeal disposition according to the law holds sway over those who live by sense alone(17), the famine of the divine

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λογισμούς. Γαβαωνῖται γὰρ ἑρμηνεύονται 'ὀρεινοὶ ἢ μετέωροι·' δηλοῦσι δὲ σαφῶς οὗτοι τοὺς κατὰ τὴν φυσικὴν θεωρίαν ὑψηλοτέρους λόγους ἢ τοὺς ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν κατὰ φύσιν λογισμούς, οὓς ἀποκτέννει Σαοὺλ καὶ εἴτις νῦν κατὰ διάθεσιν ἄλλος ὑπάρχει Σαούλ, διὰ τὴν ἐν μόνῳ τῷ νομικῷ γράμματι πλάνην τοὺς κατὰ φύσιν ἀποπέμπεσθαι καὶ παραχαράττειν οὐ παραιτούμενος λόγους. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ μόνῃ προσανέχων τῇ σωματικῇ τοῦ νόμου (14Γ_374> λατρείᾳ φυσικὸν τὸ παράπαν δύναιτ᾽ ἂν παραδέξασθαι λόγον ἢ λογισμόν, ὅτι μηδὲ πέφυκε ταὐτὸν εἶναι τῇ φύσει τὰ σύμβολα.

Εἰ δὲ ταὐτὸν οὐκ ἔστι τῇ φύσει τὰ σύμβολα, κατὰ φύσιν ὁρᾶν τῶν ὄντων τὴν γένεσιν οὐδέποτε δύναται σαφῶς ὁ τοῖς τοῦ νόμου συμβόλοις ὡς πρωτοτύποις προστετηκὼς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παραλόγως τοὺς κατὰ φύσιν ἀποπέμπεται λόγους, μὴ λογιζόμενος(12) ὅτι χρὴ περιποιεῖσθαι τοὺς ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ διασωθέντας, ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπαναστάντας αὐτοῖς πέντε βασιλεῖς τὸν φοβερὸν ἐκεῖνον συνεκρότησε πόλεμον, ἐν ᾧ καὶ οὐρανὸς αὐτὸς κατὰ τῶν ἐπαναστάντων τοῖς Γαβαωνίταις διὰ λίθων χαλάζης τῷ Ἰησοῦ συνεμάχησε· οὓς κατέστησε ξυλοφόρους καὶ ὑδροφόρους τῆς θείας σκηνῆς(13), τουτέστι τῆς διὰ τῆς σκηνῆς προδιατυπωθείσης ἁγίας Ἐκκλησίας, ὁ σαρκωθεὶς Λόγος. Οὗτος γάρ, οὗτός ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς ὁ ἀποκτείνας τοὺς κατ᾽ αἴσθησιν αὐτοῖς ἐπανισταμένους ἐμπαθεῖς τρόπους καὶ λογισμούς. Ἀεὶ γὰρ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν φυσικὴν θεωρίαν λόγους ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος Ἰησοῦς περιποιεῖται, προσκαθιστῶν αὐτοὺς τῆς θείας τῶν μυστηρίων σκηνῆς ξυλοφόρους καὶ ὑδροφόρους, οἷα δὴ τῆς ἐξαπτικῆς τοῦ φωτισμοῦ τῆς θείας γνώσεως ὕλης καὶ τῆς ῥυπτικῆς τῶν παθῶν καθάρσεως ἢ τῆς ἐν Πνεύματι ζωτικῆς διαδόσεως ἀφορμῆς χορηγούς. Φυσικῆς γὰρ θεωρίας χωρὶς ἐν οὐδενὶ κατ᾽ οὐδένα τρόπον οὐδαμῶς συντηρεῖσθαι πέφυκε τῶν μυστηρίων ἡ δύναμις.

Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐθνικὴν μοῖραν δηλοῦσιν οἱ Γαβαωνῖται(14), προσχωροῦσαν τῷ κληροδότῃ τῶν θείων ἐπαγγελιῶν Ἰησοῦ καὶ σῳζομένην διδασκομένην τε ξυλοφορεῖν καὶ ὑδροφορεῖν, τουτέστι τὸν περὶ σταυροῦ καὶ τῆς δι᾽ ὕδατος θείας ἀναγεννήσεως μυστικὸν καὶ σωτήριον λόγον πρακτικῶς τοῖς ὤμοις τῶν (14Γ_376> ἀρετῶν περιφέρειν, καὶ χορηγεῖν τῇ θείᾳ κιβωτῷ τῆς εὐσεβοῦς πίστεως, ξύλων δίκην, διὰ μὲν τῆς πρακτικῆς τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς μελῶν τὴν νέκρωσιν, διὰ θεωρίας δέ, καθάπερ ὕδωρ, τὴν ἐπιρροὴν τῆς ἐν Πνεύματι γνώσεως, οὐκ ἄτοπον οὐδὲ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀλλότριον.

Εἴτε γοῦν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν φυσικὴν θεωρίαν λόγους, εἴτε τὴν σῳζομένην διὰ πίστεως μερίδα τῶν ἐθνῶν προτυποῦσιν οἱ Γαβαωνῖται, τὸν ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῆν κατὰ τὸν ἐν μόνῳ τῷ γράμματι νόμον προῃρημένον ἔχουσιν ἐχθρὸν καὶ τοῦ σῳζομένου πολέμιον. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸν τὴν κοιλίαν ἡγούμενος καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ δόξῃ τῇ αἰσχύνῃ καλλωπιζόμενος μόνων οἶδεν ὡς θείων ἀντέχεσθαι διὰ σπουδῆς τῶν παθῶν τῆς ἀτιμίας καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μόνα περιέπει τὰ χρονικά, τουτέστι τὴν ὕλην καὶ τὸ εἶδος(15) καὶ τὴν κατὰ παράχρησιν πενταπλῆν ἐνέργειαν τῶν αἰσθήσεων, τὰ μὲν ὡς Ῥεσφᾶς τῆς παλλακῆς τέκνα, τὰ δὲ ὡς τῆς ἀτίμου θυγατρὸς ἔκγονα Μερόβ. Τῇ γὰρ ὕλῃ καὶ τῷ εἴδει συμπλακεῖσα κατὰ μίξιν ἡ αἴσθησις ἀποτελεῖν μὲν πάθος, ἀποκτέννειν δὲ καὶ συντελεῖν τοὺς κατὰ φύσιν πέφυκε λόγους. Οὐ γὰρ πέφυκε πάθει συνεμφαίνεσθαι τὸ παράπαν φύσεως λόγος(16), ὥσπερ οὔτε φύσει συναποτίκτεσθαι κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν πάθος.

Οὐκοῦν ὁ μόνου τοῦ γράμματος τῆς Γραφῆς ἀντεχόμενος κατὰ τὸν Σαοὺλ καὶ τοὺς κατὰ φύσιν ἀποπέμπεται λόγους καὶ τὴν μυστικῶς προκεκηρυγμένην τῶν ἐθνῶν οὐ προσδέχεται κλῆσιν, πρὸς μόνην κεχηνὼς κατὰ νόμον, ὡς οἴεται, τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. Ταύτης οὖν κρατούσης τῶν κατὰ μόνην τὴν αἴσθησιν ζώντων(17) τῆς κατὰ νόμον σωματικῆς διαθέσεως, ἡ λιμὸς οὐ διαδείκνυται τῆς θείας