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five licentious modes of the five senses are an unnatural use of their activity; every mind that is lofty and sublime according to God is naturally disposed to kill these at once, as on the mountain of the height of spiritual contemplation, at the beginning of the barley harvest, which is in the preludes of virtuous action, or of pious contemplation according to nature; at the same time slaughtering both the activity of the passions and the unseemly movement of the thoughts. And in addition, the licentious modes that are an abuse of the activity of the senses.

And they fell, it says, the seven of them together, and they were put to death at the beginning of the barley harvest. And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for herself upon the rock, until the water of God dropped on them from heaven. Rizpah, as I said, is interpreted as 'course of the mouth,' which is the bodily teaching of the Law according to the mere utterance of the word, which, after the death of the passions born from it, and after the manifestation on the mountain, at the height of natural contemplation in the heart of each of those preoccupied by it, spreads repentance like sackcloth upon the rock (I mean the principle of faith in the Lord), caring for the precepts in the spirit through (764) repentance according to Christ, holding before her eyes day and night through memory, as children, the former upbringing in the flesh of the Law, until the waters of God drop from heaven; that is, until the divine insights of the Scriptures are sent down from the height of spiritual contemplation, which extinguish the passions and renew the virtues. For the learning of the Law, approaching Christ the true and solid rock through repentance, is naturally disposed to receive the divine rain of the spiritual knowledge of the Scriptures, according to the command of King David; that is, of the mind strong in vision. For it says: And he did [alt. they did] all that the king commanded. And after this God hearkened to the land. Therefore, the learning of the divine Scriptures, according to the commandment of King David (that is, of the spiritual law, or of the mind strong in vision), through the medium of repentance, of which the sackcloth is a symbol, according to the practice of the virtues, being transferred to the rock, that is, Christ, is naturally disposed to call forth the divine rain of knowledge; and it is accustomed to implore God to hearken to the land of the heart, and to give divine showers of graces, and to supply the abundance of the fruits of righteousness, and to end the preceding ignorance of divine things, which is like a famine, and to make the land full of spiritual goods; the soul abounding with grain, and wine, and oil; with the first, being strengthened as by the word of practical knowledge; with the second, being gladdened as by divine longing, and by the renewal of the unitive fervor of desire for God; and with the third, by the manner and principle of dispassion, which is smooth and even, and transparent and illuminating, and free from every earthly movement, its face being made cheerful by the virtues.

But let us also, according to the great David, destroy Saul from every border of Israel; that is, the earthly and bodily precept of the law; or rather, the Judaic mode of worship, and the ready and more bodily meaning of the whole scripture found in the letter alone, from every mode of contemplative mystagogy; and let us pass over to the spiritual deification of the intelligible realities; and let us preserve the Gibeonites, that is, the principles of beings according to nature; whom Jesus, the true inheritor of the divine promises, kept without harm; on account of whom being slain by Saul, God held back the divine rain of mystical knowledge; and let us kill through these same

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παρά φύσιν τῆς ἐνεργείας χρῆσιν ἀκόλαστοι πέντε τρόποι τῶν πέντε αἰσθήσεων· οὕς ἀποκτένειν ἐπιτοαυτό πέφυκεν ὡς ἐν ὄρει τῷ ὕψει τῆς πνευματικῆς θεωρίας, ἐν ἀρχῇ θερισμοῦ κριθῶν, ὅπερ ἐστίν ἐν προοιμίοις τῆς κατ᾿ ἀρετήν πράξεως, ἤ τῆς κατά φύσιν εὐσεβοῦς θεωρίας, πᾶς νοῦς κατά Θεόν ὑψηλός καί μετέωρος· κατά τό αὐτό, τήν τε τῶν παθῶν κατασφάττων ἐνέργειαν, καί τήν τῶν λογισμῶν ἄσχημον κίνησιν. Πρός δέ καί τούς κατά παράχρησιν τῆς τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐνεργείας ἀκολάστους τρόπους.

Καί ἔπεσον, φησίν, ἐπί τό αὐτό οἱ ἑπτά, καί ἐθανατώθησαν ἐν ἀρχῇ θερισμοῦ κριθῶν. Καί ἔλαβε Ῥεσφά θυγάτηρ Ἀΐα τόν σάκκον, καί διέστρωσεν αὐτόν ἑαυτῇ ἐπί τήν πέτραν, ἕως ἔσταξεν ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς ὕδατα Θεοῦ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Ῥεσφά, καθώς ἔφην, ἐστίν ἑρμηνευομένη, δρόμος στόματος, ὅπερ ἐστίν ἡ κατά μόνην τοῦ λόγου προφοράν σωματική τοῦ νόμου διδαχή, ἡ μετά τόν θάνατον τῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννωμένων παθῶν, καί τήν φανέρωσιν τήν ἐν ὄρει τῷ ὕψει γενομένην τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας ἐν τῇ τοῦ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον καρδίᾳ τῶν αὐτῇ προκατειλημμένων, καθάπερ σάκκον τήν μετάνοιαν στρώννυσιν ἐπί τήν πέτραν (λέγω δέ τόν λόγον τῆς κατά Κύριον πίστεως), τόν ἐν πνεύματι διά τῆς (764) μετανοίας, κατά Χριστόν ἐπιμελουμένη θεσμῶν ἔχουσα κατ᾿ ὀφθαλμούς ἡμέρας καί νυκτός διά τῆς μνήμης, ὡς τέκνα, τήν ἐν σαρκί τοῦ νόμου προτέραν ἀναγωγήν, ἕως στάξουσιν ὕδατα Θεοῦ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ· τουτέστιν, ἕως καταπεμφθῶσιν αἱ θεῖαι τῶν Γραφῶν γνώσεις ἐκ τοῦ ὕψους τῆς πνευματικῆς θεωρίας, αἱ σβεστικαί μέν τῶν παθῶν, ἀνανεωτικαί δέ τῶν ἀρετῶν. Πέφυκε γάρ ἡ τοῦ νόμου μάθησις, πρός Χριστόν τήν ἀληθῆ καί στεῤῥάν πέτραν διά τῆς μετανοίας προσχωροῦσα, τόν θεῖον τῆς πνευματικῆς τῶν Γραφῶν γνώσεως ὑετόν ὑποδέχεσθαι, κατά τό πρόσταγμα τοῦ βασιλέως ∆αβίδ· τουτέστι, τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ τήν ὅρασιν νοῦ. Φησί γάρ· Καί ἐποίησε [ἄλλ. ἐποίησαν] πάντα ὅσα ἐνετείλατο ὁ βασιλεύς. Καί ἐπήκουσεν ὁ Θεός τῇ γῇ μετά ταῦτα. Οὐκοῦν ἡ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν μάθησις, κατά τήν ἐντολήν ∆αβίδ τοῦ βασιλέως (τουτέστι τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου, ἤ τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ τήν ὅρασιν νοῦ), διά μέσης τῆς μετανοίας, ἧς ὁ σάκκος ὑπάρχει σύμβολον, κατά τήν πρᾶξιν τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἐπί τήν πέτραν, ἤγουν Χριστόν, μεταφερομένη, τόν θεῖον ἐκκαλεῖσθαι τῆς γνώσεως πέφυκεν ὑετόν· ἐπακοῦσαί τε τόν Θεόν τῇ γῇ τῆς καρδίας, εἴωθε δυσωπεῖν, καί δοῦναι θείους χαρισμάτων ὄμβρους, καί τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καρπῶν χορηγῆσαι τήν ἀφθονίαν, καί λῦσαι τήν καθάπερ λιμόν τήν προλαβοῦσαν τῶν θείων ἀγνωσίαν, καί ποιῆσαι χώραν πλήρη τῶν πνευματικῶν ἀγαθῶν· τήν ψυχήν σίτῳ βρίθουσαν, καί οἴνῳ, καί ἐλαίῳ· τῷ μέν, ὡς λόγῳ πρακτικῆς γνώσεως στηριζομένην· τῷ δέ, ὡς θείῳ πόθῳ, καί ἀνανεωτικῷ τῆς κατ᾿ ἔφεσιν πρός Θεόν ἑνωτικῆς ζέσεως, εὐφραινομένην· τῷ δέ, ὡς λείῳ καί ὁμαλῷ, καί διαυγεῖ καί φωτιστικῷ, καί παντός γεώδους ἐλευθέρῳ κινήματος, τῆς ἀπαθείας τρόπῳ τε καί λόγῳ, τό πρόσωπον ἱλαρυνομένην τῶν ἀρετῶν.

Ἀλλά καί ἡμεῖς, κατά τόν μέγαν ∆αβίδ, ἀφανίσωμεν τόν Σαούλ ἐκ παντός ὁρίου Ἰσραήλ· τουτέστι, τόν γεώδη καί σωματικόν τοῦ νόμου θεσμόν· ἤτουν τόν Ἰουδαϊκόν τῆς λατρείας τρόπον, καί τόν ἐν μόνῳ τῷ ῥητῷ πρόχειρον τῆς ὅλης γραφῆς καί σωματικώτερον νοῦν, ἐκ παντός τρόπου θεωρητικῆς μυσταγωγίας· καί μετέλθωμεν πρός τήν πνευματικήν τῶν νοουμένων ἐκθέωσιν· καί περιποιησώμεθα τούς Γαβαωνίτας, τουτέστι, τούς κατά φύσιν τῶν ὄντων λόγους· οὕς ἀπαθεῖς διετήρησεν ὁ ἀληθινός κληροδότης τῶν θείων ἐπαγγελιῶν Ἰησοῦς· δι᾿ οὕς ἀναιρουμένους ὑπό Σαούλ, τόν θεῖον ἀνέσχε τῆς μυστικῆς γνώσεως ὑετόν ὁ Θεός· καί ἀποκτείνωμεν δι᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν