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Therefore, everyone who confesses according to one of the aforementioned ways, is of the tribe of Judah; and everyone who mourns for virtue, or has justice like a mother rightly ordering his own life and reason; or who is for many a way and an edification for salvation through an abundance of virtue and an outpouring of rational teaching, is of the tribe of Benjamin. For Scripture knows such people as those receiving freedom from the captivity of the passions, and departing from relation to sensible things; and having become a house for the Lord according to the state of dispassion, being able to build. And by house I mean the mind built up from various virtues and principles according to both practice and contemplation, as a dwelling-place of God in the spirit. But the enemies of these are the four nations that were resettled in the land of Israel by Asbacaphath, king of Assur. For he first settled in the land of Israel Babylonian men, and men of Chuth, and men of Aimath, and the Evites.

(580) The Babylonians, then, signify pride, being interpreted as "confused nature."

And the Chuthites signify vainglory, turning the mind away from virtue toward fruitless conceit. For the name, interpreted from these, means "ecstasy."

And the men of Aimath signify people-pleasing; for Aimath is interpreted as "vision of phenomena"; through which the grosser gains are allotted to those who falsely pursue virtue for the sake of human beings.

And the Evites signify the deceit of hypocrisy. For they are interpreted as "serpentine," like the first serpent who through deceit and feigned friendship, as with Adam, evicts from virtue those who are persuaded.

And Asbacaphath, who resettled these into 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 people-pleasing, and hypocrisy, yoking them to the virtuous and the gnostic, in order to steal the labors of those who toil in good things, sophistically leading the purpose of their actions away to other things besides the cause.

And perhaps knowing that these wicked demons accompany the virtuous, the divine Apostle persuaded the Corinthians [Fr. was persuading], writing that he did not come to them with flattering speech, like a hypocrite—this being perhaps what they thought of him; nor with a pretext of greed, like a people-pleaser; (581) nor seeking glory from anyone, like one who is vainglorious; for he passed over pride in silence, having manifest tokens of his humility: the countless persecutions, and the sufferings of the body; and his extreme lack of possessions, and his being an unskilled speaker with respect to eloquence. For "even if I am unskilled in speech," he says, "yet I am not so in knowledge."

These, having heard the sound of the trumpets, have come to discern what the sound is; and they recognized that those from the captivity are building the temple for the Lord of Israel. The trumpets, whose sound the unclean demons hear, are the teachings concerning virtue and knowledge. And the voice of these teachings is the works of the virtues, and the moral stability of the conduct of those who have returned from vice to virtue through repentance, and who have ascended from ignorance to the knowledge of God.

And they came to Zerubbabel and to Jesus and to the heads of the families, and they say to them, "Let us build with you; for like you we listen to your Lord, and to him we sacrifice." Zerubbabel is the practical intellect; and Jesus, the

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Οὐκοῦν πᾶς ἐξομολογούμενος καθ᾿ ἕνα τῶν εἰρημένων τρόπων, τῆς φυλῆς ἐστι τοῦ Ἰούδα· καί πᾶς ὑπέρ ἀρετῆς πενθῶν, ἤ μητρός δίκην ἔχων τήν δικαιοσύνην, τόν ἑαυτοῦ βίον τε καί λόγον δεξιῶς ὁρίζουσαν· ἤ πολλῶν ὑπάρχων δι᾿ ἀρετῆς περιουσίαν καί χύσιν τῆς ἐν λόγῳ διδασκαλίας πρός σωτηρίαν ὁδός καί οἰκοδομή, τῆς φυλῆς ὑπάρχει τοῦ Βενιαμίν. Τοιούτους γάρ οἶδεν ὁ λόγος τούς ἐλευθερίαν λαμβάνοντας τῆς τῶν παθῶν αἰχμαλωσίας, καί τῆς τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐκβαίνοντας σχέσεως· καί οἶκον τῷ Κυρίῳ κατά τήν ἕξιν τῆς ἀπαθείας γενομένους, οἰκοδομεῖν δυναμένους. Οἶκον δέ λέγω, τόν ἐξ ἀρετῶν διαφόρων καί λόγων κατά τε πρᾶξιν καί θεωρίαν οἰκοδομούμενον νοῦν, εἰς κατοικητήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν πνεύματι. Ἐχθροί δέ τούτων εἰσί, τά τέσσαρα ἔθνη τά μετοικισθέντα εἰς τήν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ ὑπό Ἀσβακαφάθ βασιλέως Ἀσσούρ. Οὗτος γάρ πρῶτος εἰς τήν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ κατῴκισεν ἄνδρας Βαβυλωνίους, καί ἄνδρας Χούθ καί ἄνδρας Αἰμάθ καί τούς Εὐαίους.

(580) Οἱ μέν οὖν Βαβυλώνιοι, τήν ὑπερηφανίαν δηλοῦσι, συγκεχυμένη φύσις ἑρμηνευόμενοι.

Χουδαῖοι δέ, τήν κενοδοξίαν, πρός τόν ἄκαρπον οἴησιν ἀπό τῆς ἀρετῆς μεταβάλλοντες τήν διάνοιαν. Ἔκστασις γάρ ἐκ τούτων ἑρμηνευόμενον τό ὄνομα σημαίνει.

Οἱ δέ ἄνδρες Αἰμάθ, τήν ἀνθρωπαρέσκειαν· Αἰμάθ γάρ, ὅρασις φαινομένων ἑρμηνεύεται· δι᾿ ἧς τά ἁδρότερα τῶν λημμάτων τοῖς ψευδῶς μετιοῦσι δι᾿ ἀνθρώπους τήν ἀρετήν ἐπινέμονται.

Οἱ δέ Εὐαῖοι, τήν ἀπάτην δηλοῦσι τῆς ὑποκρίσεως. Ὀφιώδεις γάρ ἑρμηνεύονται, κατά τόν πρῶτον ὄφιν δι᾿ ἀπάτης καί ὑποκρίσεως φιλικῆς ὡς τόν Ἀδάμ, τούς πειθομένους ἀρετῆς ἐξοικίζοντες.

Ἀσβακαφάθ δέ, ὁ τούτους εἰς τήν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ μετοικίσας, αἰχμαλωτεύων ὀπίσθιος ἑρμηνεύται· τουτέστιν, ἀφανῶς ἤ λανθανόντως, ἤ πάλιν αἰχμαλωτεύων δεσμοῖς. Οὗτος δέ σαφῶς ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, ὁ πάντα λανθανόντως ποιῶν πρός καθαίρεσιν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, καί σειραῖς ἕκαστον τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτιῶν διασφίγγων. Οὗτος εἰς τήν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· τήν ἕξιν λέγω τῆς ἀρετῆς καί τῆς γνώσεως· μετῴκισε τήν ὑπερηφάνειαν, καί τήν κενοδοξίαν καί τήν ἀνθρωπαρέσκειαν καί τήν ὑπόκρισιν, παραζεύξας αὐτάς τοῖς ἐναρέτοις τε καί γνωστικοῖς, ἵνα κλέψῃ τῶν κοπιώντων ἐν ἀγαθοῖς τούς πόνους, ἐπ᾿ ἄλλα παρά τήν αἰτίαν τόν σκοπόν σοφιστικῶς ἀπάγων τῶν γινομένων.

Καί τάχα τούτους γινώσκων τούς πονηρούς δαίμονας παρέπεσθαι τοῖς ἐναρέτοις ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος Κορινθίους ἔπεισε [Fr. ἔπειθε] γράφων, ὡς οὐκ ἐν λόγῳ κολακείας γέγονε πρός αὐτούς, ὡς ὑποκριτής· τοῦτο τυχόν ἐκείνων περί αὐτοῦ νομιζόντων· οὔτε προφάσει πλεονεξίας, ὡς ἀνθρωπάρεσκος· (581) οὔτε ζητῶν δόξαν παρά τινος, ὡς κενόδοξος· τήν γάρ ὑπερηφάνειαν παρεσιώπησε, φανερούς ἔχων τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης τούς χαρακτῆρας· τούς τε μυρίους διωγμούς, καί τά τοῦ σώματος παθήματα· καί τήν ἄγαν ἀκτημοσύνην, καί τήν ἐν τῶ λόγῳ τῷ κατά προφοράν ἰδιωτίαν. Εἰ γάρ καί ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ, φησίν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τῇ γνώσει.

Οὗτοι ἀκούσαντες τῆς φωνῆς τῶν σαλπίγγων, ἐληλύθασιν ἐπιγνῶναι τίς ἡ φωνή· καί ἐπέγνωσαν ὅτι οἱ ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, οἰκοδομοῦσι τόν ναόν τῷ Κυρίῳ Ἰσραήλ. Σάλπιγγές εἰσιν, ὧν τῆς φωνῆς ἀκούουσιν οἱ ἀκάθαρτοι δαίμονες, οἵ τε περί ἀρετῆς καί γνώσεως λόγοι. Φωνή δέ τούτων ὑπάρχει τῶν λόγων, τά ἔργα τῶν ἀρετῶν, καί ἡ κατ᾿ ἦθος τῶν τρόπων εὐστάθεια, τῶν διά μετανοίας πρός ἀρετήν ἀπό κακίας ἐπανελθόντων· καί ἐξ ἀγνοίας πρός ἐπίγνωσιν Θεοῦ ἐπαναβεβηκότων.

Καί προσῆλθον τῷ Ζαροβάβελ καί τῷ Ἰησοῦ καί τοῖς ἡγουμένοις τῶν πατριῶν, καί λέγουσιν αὐτοῖς, Συνοικοδομήσωμεν ὑμῖν· ὁμοίως γάρ ὑμῖν ἀκούομεν τοῦ Κυρίου ὑμῶν, καί αὐτῷ θύομεν. Ζοροβάβελ ἐστίν, ὁ πρακτικός νοῦς· καί Ἰησοῦς, ὁ