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when he provides for his neighbor; that is, the desire for pleasures, not crying out against the laborious life according to God, just as Israel grumbled in the wilderness against God, and they paid the penalty, being destroyed by serpents. Wherefore Paul also: "Do not grumble," he says, "as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the serpents." And showing the exceeding light to the one who flees these things, and does the opposite, he compared this to midday. And the greatest thing, and the provider of every good, is that God is with him always. But some, setting forth the saying about ordination thus: If you take away from yourself the bond, the pointing finger, and speaking what is useless, they added: For the removal of wicked men is salvation for the people. They are a bond, not allowing the common good to prosper. Then he promises food for the soul to the point of fattening its bones, thus of the so-called powers of the soul. For these are made fat by spiritual gifts. "For man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God," of which the manna is a type. For how could it in itself be understood as bread of angels, or even bread of heaven? When Israel had fallen away from this food, the gentiles partook of it through faith. Therefore he says: "Those who serve me shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, those who serve me shall drink; but you shall be thirsty." And the saying about the bones is fashioned from those who are accustomed to live luxuriously in a bodily way. And you will have, he says, both a spring of living water and an ever-verdant garden bearing fruit with the plantings from the Holy Spirit. And the Church has also become a garden of Christ, saying: "Let my beloved come down into his garden, and eat the fruit of his choice trees." And it was also a spring, whose water never failed. For the divine mystagogues bring forth teachings as from a perpetual spring. "For of the one who believes," he says, "rivers of living water will flow from his belly." And similar things to the Samaritan woman. And your bones, he says, like grass, shall spring up, and shall be made fat, and shall inherit generations of generations. Through which he seems to show the resurrection of bodies, rising up like a blade of grass, dead in winter, but budding again in spring. But how do they rise? Clearly by being made fat by the life-giving 2596 grace. For as David says: "You shall send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth;" that is, of those on the earth, when we also inherit generations of generations in endless life, death and corruption having been completely abolished. And the powers of the soul are also called bones, as in this: "God has scattered the bones of the men-pleasers." For he does not shatter the bones of the body, but the powers of the soul, so that they accomplish nothing toward virtue. "For no one is crowned, unless he competes according to the rules." But they have gaped for the praises of men, not the glory of God. Such also is this: "Because I was silent my bones grew old from my crying all the day long." For when I was silent from giving glory and praying, and had fallen into human faint-heartedness, my bones grew old. That is, the powers of the soul became weak. These therefore, being at times briefly paralyzed from laziness, spring up again like grass by spiritual comfort, and we will become heirs of the eternal good things. And the ancient desolations of the soul will be built up in you, being filled up by divine teachings and words. For you will build yourself up with inspired teachings, always fitting your thoughts to what is right. And you will fence in your soul from external annoyances, being protected by Christ as by a wall. For he makes his argument as about a desolate and unwalled city. And it is fitting both for the soul of each and for all the people, the bones being understood as the powerful men in it, and those who support the whole body, of which would be said "the ancient desolations," the things which have become desolate for a long time on account of sin. And you will understand its foundations according to the apostolic scripture which says. "Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." And you will also be called a builder of fences. And according to Symmachus, you will be called one who walls up a breach. And these things also the divine Paul

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ἡνίκα χορηγῇ τῷ πλησίον· ἤγουν ἡδονῶν ἐπιθυμία, μὴ τῆς ἐπιπόνου κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτείας καταβοῶν, ὥσπερ ἐγόγγυζεν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ κατὰ Θεοῦ, καὶ δίκην ἔτισαν ὑπ' ὄφεων ἀπολλύμενοι. ∆ιὸ καὶ Παῦλος· "Μηδὲ γογγύζετε, φησὶ, καθώς τινες αὐτῶν ἐγόγγυσαν, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ὄφεων ἀπώλοντο." Τὸ δὲ ὑπερβάλλον φῶς τῷ φεύγοντι ταῦτα, καὶ τἀναντία ποιοῦντι δηλῶν, μεσημβρίᾳ τοῦτο παρείκασεν. Καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, καὶ χορηγὸν παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, τὸ Θεὸν εἶναι διὰ παντὸς μετ' αὐτοῦ. Τινὲς δὲ τὸ τῆς χειροτονίας ῥητὸν οὕτως ἐκθέμενοι· Ἐὰν ἀφέλῃς ἀπὸ σοῦ σύνδεσμον ἐκτείνοντα δάκτυλον, καὶ λαλοῦντα ἀνωφελὲς, ἐπήγαγον· Λαῷ γὰρ σωτήριον ἡ τῶν πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀφαίρεσις. Σύνδεσμός εἰσιν οὐκ ἐῶντες εὐοδεῖν τὸ κοινόν. Εἶτα ψυχῆς τροφὴν ἐπαγγέλλεται μέχρι λιπασμοῦ τῶν ταύτης ὀστῶν, οὕτω τῶν ψυχικῶν λεγομένων δυνάμεων. Αὗται γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν πνευματικῶν χαρισμάτων πιαίνονται. "Οὐ γὰρ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος Θεοῦ," οὗ τύπος τὸ μάννα. Καθ' ἑαυτὸ γὰρ πῶς ἂν ἄρτος ἀγγέλων, ἢ καὶ ἄρτος οὐρανοῦ νοηθήσεται; Ἧς δὴ τροφῆς ἐκπεσόντος Ἰσραὴλ, τὰ ἔθνη μετέλαβε διὰ πίστεως. ∆ιό φησιν· "Οἱ δουλεύοντές μοι φάγονται, ὑμεῖς δὲ πεινάσετε. Ἰδοὺ οἱ δουλεύοντές μοι πίονται· ὑμεῖς δὲ διψήσετε." Ἐσχημάτισται δὲ ὁ περὶ τῶν ὀστῶν λόγος ἀπὸ τῶν τρυφᾷν εἰωθότων σωματικῶς. Ἔσται δέ σοι, φησὶ, καὶ πηγὴ ὕδατος ζῶντος, καὶ κῆπος ἀειθαλὴς ταῖς ἐξ ἁγίου Πνεύματος φυτείαις καρποφορῶν. Καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία δὲ κῆπος γέγονε Χριστοῦ λέγουσα· "Καταβήτω ἀδελφιδός μου εἰς κῆπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ φαγέτω καρπὸν ἀκροδρύων αὐτοῦ." Ἦν δὲ καὶ πηγὴ, ἣν μὴ ἐξέλιπεν ὕδωρ. Ὡς γὰρ ἀπὸ πηγῆς ἀενάου τὰς διδασκαλίας προφέρουσιν οἱ θεῖοι μυσταγωγοί. "Τοῦ γὰρ πιστεύοντος, φησὶ, ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζωῆς." Καὶ πρὸς τὴν Σαμαρεῖτιν τὰ ὅμοια. Καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ δέ σου, φησὶν, ὡς βοτάνη, ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ πιανθήσονται, καὶ κληρονομήσουσι γενεὰς γενεῶν. ∆ι' ὧν ἔοικε δηλοῦν τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῶν σωμάτων, ἀνισταμένων οἷά τις πόα, νεκρὰ μὲν ἐν χειμῶνι, ἀναθήλασα δὲ πάλιν ἐν ἔαρι. Πῶς δὲ ἀνίσταται; τῇ ζωοποιῷ δηλονότι 2596 χάριτι πιαινόμενα. Ὡς γὰρ ∆αβίδ φησιν· "Ἐξαποστελεῖς τὸ Πνεῦμά σου καὶ κτισθήσονται, καὶ ἀνακαινιεῖς τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς·" τοῦτ' ἔστιν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς, ὅτε καὶ γενεὰς γενεῶν ἐν ἀπεράντῳ κληρονομοῦμεν ζωῆς θανάτου πάντη καὶ φθορᾶς ἀνῃρημένων. Εἴρηνται δὲ καὶ ὀστᾶ αἱ ψυχικαὶ δυνάμεις, ὡς τό· "Θεὸς διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ ἀνθρωπαρέσκων." Οὐ γὰρ τὰ τοῦ σώματος ὀστᾶ, τὰς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμεις συνθραύει, πρὸς τὸ μηδὲν εἰς ἀρετὴν κατορθοῦν. "Στεφανοῦται γὰρ οὐδεὶς, ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ." Οἱ δὲ, πρὸς ἀνθρώπων ἐπαίνους κεχήνασιν, οὐ δόξαν Θεοῦ. Τοιοῦτον καὶ τό· "Ὅτι ἐσίγησα ἐπαλαιώθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἀπὸ τοῦ κράζειν με ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν." Σιγήσαντος γάρ μου ἀπὸ τοῦ δόξαν ἄγειν καὶ προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ πεσόντος εἰς ἀνθρωπίνην μικροψυχίαν, ἐπαλαιώθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. Τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐσαθρώθησαν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ ψυχικαί. Αὗται τοίνυν ἐκ ῥᾳθυμίας ἐσθ' ὅτε παραλυθεῖσαι βραχὺ, πάλιν ὡς βοτάνη ἀνατελοῦσι παρακλήσει πνευματικῇ, καὶ κληρονόμοι τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν γενησόμεθα. Καὶ τὰ πάλαι δὲ τῆς ψυχῇς ἔρημα οἰκοδομηθήσεται ἐν σοὶ, διὰ μαθημάτων καὶ λόγων θείων ἀναπληρούμενα. Σαυτὸν γὰρ οἰκοδομήσεις διδασκαλίαις ἐνθέοις ἐπὶ τὸ δέον ἀεί σου συναρμόττων τοὺς λογισμούς. Περιφράξεις δέ σου καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν ὀχληρῶν Χριστῷ καθάπερ τείχει περιφρουρούμενος. Ὡς ἐπὶ πόλεως γὰρ ἐρήμου καὶ ἀτειχίστου ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον. Ἁρμόττει δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχὴν καὶ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν πάντα, ὀστῶν νοουμένων τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ δυνατῶν, καὶ τὸ σῶμα πᾶν ἀνεχόντων, ἐφ' οὗ λέγοιντο ἔρημοι αἰώνιοι, τὰ ἐκ μακροῦ χρόνου δι' ἁμαρτίαν ἔρημα γεγονότα. Θεμέλια δὲ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν νοήσεις γραφὴν λέγουσαν. "Ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν." Κληθήσῃ δὲ καὶ οἰκοδόμος φραγμῶν. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον, κληθήσῃ τειχίζων διακοπήν. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ Παῦλος ὁ θεῖος