Fragmenta in Ezechielem FRAGMENTA EX CATENISIN EZECHIELEM

And four wings for the one. Cat. Ezech. f. 12. b.For the intellectual and higher powers always stand somehow, not shrinking towards baser things, but they travel the straight and blameless path of the life that is fitting for them. And they shall be on the mountains as doves. Cat. 18.b.The blessed disciples; for they went about the whole world under heaven, speaking the mystery of Christ, and having it as a song and a lyre. And if these three men, Noah, and Daniel, and Job, are in the midst of it. Cat. f. 203. b.Since I think it necessary not to leave the prophet's words unexamined, come, let us say why, when Noah and Job and Daniel were already dead, 70.1460 and perhaps even Daniel himself, he says they will be saved in their own righteousness, even though all the rest of the land, against which the sentence of death might be brought, is being destroyed.

He seems, therefore, to compare to Noah those who do well for him through faith in God; to Daniel, the wise and discerning; and again to Job, those who please him through patience, that is, of course, in anything praiseworthy. And I will take from the choice parts of the cedar, from the top. Cat. f. 208. He compares the people of Israel to tall and most comely cedars, among whom the chosen part, and as it were a certain heart, was the blessed David, from whom God the Father took and planted Emmanuel, who also rose up into a great cedar, and received all into his own shadow; and so the whole world knew the power and authority of the all-powerful God.

For he has humbled the green tree, and has made the dry tree to grow and to sprout, that is, the Church from the Gentiles, withered by the covetousness of the devil ita cod. And I gave them statutes that were not good. Cat. 210. b. For as far as spiritual contemplation is concerned, the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. But as far as the futility of the matter is concerned, and the worship only in shadows, the statutes are not good, nor do they procure eternal life. For no one is justified by the law, according to what is written. Behold, you eat the milk. Cat. f. 224.For demanding tithes, first-fruits, and thank-offerings according to the law, and revelling dissolutely in the gifts from the people, they took no account of their salvation. And is it not enough for you that you fed on the good pasture? Cat. f. 224. b.

For being teachers of the law from the blood of Levi, and having the instruction through Moses as a most excellent pasture and as clear and transparent water, which was not unable to lead to truth, they trampled the pasture in a way; and they muddied the water, setting before those who followed them as rams in the rank of sheep a certain thick and material teaching, full of earthly impurity. And I will raise up over them one shepherd ... my servant David. Cat. f. 225.) But that he says such things about Christ is easy to see; for when the blessed David had already died and was already lying in the grave, the blessed Ezekiel prophesied. And God the Father made the promise as something that would be in due time, and not as something already fulfilled; for promises are for things that will be, no longer for things that have already been done.

Fragmenta in Ezechielem FRAGMENTA EX CATENISIN EZECHIELEM

Καὶ τέσσαρες πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνί. Cat. Ezech. f. 12. b.Ἑστήκασι γὰρ ἀεί πως αἱ

νοεραὶ καὶ ἄνω δυνάμεις, οὐκ ὀκλάζουσαι πρὸς τὰ αἰσχίω, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὀρθὴν καὶ ἀμώμητον τῆς αὐταῖς πρεπούσης ζωῆς διᾴττουσιν τρίβον. Καὶ ἔσονται ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων ὡς περιστεραί. Cat. 18.b.Οἱ μακάριοι μαθηταί· περιῆλθον γὰρ πᾶσαν ὑπ' οὐρανὸν, τὸ Χριστοῦ λαλοῦντες μυστήριον, καὶ ᾠδὴν καὶ λύραν ἔχοντες αὐτό. Καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν οἱ τρεῖς ἄνδρες οὗτοι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς, Νῶε, καὶ ∆ανιὴλ, καὶ Ἰώβ. Cat. f. 203. b.Ἐπειδὴ οἶμαι δεῖν οὐκ ἀβασανίστους ἐᾷν τὰς τοῦ προφήτου φωνὰς, φέρε λέγωμεν τί δήποτε, Νῶε καὶ Ἰὼβ καὶ ∆ανιὴλ τεθνεώτων ἤδη, 70.1460 τάχα δέ που καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ, σωθήσεσθαί φησιν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ δικαιοσύνῃ, καί τοι τῆς ἄλλης ἁπάσης γῆς, καθ' ἧς ἂν ἡ τοῦ θανάτου ψῆφος ἐκφέροιτο, καταφθειρομένης.

Ἔοικε τοίνυν τῷ μὲν Νῶε παρεικάζειν τοὺς διὰ πίστεως τῆς εἰς Θεὸν εὐεργετοῦντας αὐτῷ· τῷ γε μὴν ∆ανιὴλ τοὺς σοφούς τε καὶ διορατικούς· Ἰὼβ δὲ πάλιν τοὺς διά γε τῆς ὑπομονῆς, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τῆς εἰς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ἐπαινουμένων, εὐαρεστοῦντας αὐτῷ. Καὶ λήψομαι ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιλέκτων τῆς κέδρου ἐκ κορυφῆς. Cat. f. 208. Κέδροις μὲν ἀπεικάζει ταῖς ὑψηλαῖς καὶ εὐκοσμοτάταις τοὺς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, ἐν οἷς τὸ ἐπίλεκτον, καὶ οἱονεί τις καρδία γέγονεν ὁ μακάριος ∆αβὶδ, ἐξ οὗ λαβὼν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ κατεφύτευσε τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὃς καὶ εἰς κέδρον ἀνέστη μεγάλην, καὶ εἰσεδέξατο πάντας εἰς ἰδίαν σκιάν· ἔγνω τε λοιπὸν ἡ ὑφήλιος σύμπασα τὴν τοῦ πάντα ἰσχύοντος Θεοῦ δύναμίν τε καὶ ἐξουσίαν.

Τεταπείνωκε γὰρ τὸ ξύλον τὸ ὑγρὸν, φῦναι δὲ καὶ ἀναβλαστῆναι παρεσκεύασε τὸ ξύλον τὸ ξηρὸν, τουτέστιν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίαν, ταῖς τοῦ διαβόλου πλεονεξίαις κατευανθέν ita cod. Καὶ ἐγὼ ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς προστάγματα οὐ καλά. Cat. 210. b. Ὅσον μὲν γὰρ ἧκεν εἰς θεωρίαν πνευματικὴν, ὁ νόμος ἅγιος καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή. Ὅσον γε μὲν εἰς τὴν τοῦ πράγματος εἰκαιότητα, καὶ μόνην τὴν ἐν σκιαῖς λατρείαν, οὐ καλὰ τὰ προστάγματα, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ζωῆς τῆς αἰωνίου πρόξενα. ∆ικαιοῦται γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐν νόμῳ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Ἰδοὺ τὸ γάλα κατεσθίετε. Cat. f. 224.Ἐξαιτοῦντες γὰρ κατὰ τὸν νόμον δεκάτας, ἀπαρχὰς, εὐχαριστήρια, καὶ ταῖς ἐκ λαῶν δωροφορίαις ἐντρυφῶντες ἀσώτως, οὐδένα τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν ἐποιοῦντο λόγον. Καὶ οὐχ ἱκανὸν ὑμῖν ὅτι τὴν καλὴν νομὴν ἐνέμεσθε; Cat. f. 224. b.

Νομομαθεῖς γὰρ ὄντες οἱ ἐξ αἵματος Λευὶ, καὶ καλλίστην ὥσπερ νομὴν, λεπτὸν δὲ καὶ διειδὲς ἔχοντες ὕδωρ τὴν διὰ Μωϋσέως παίδευσιν οὐκ ἀνικάνως ἔχουσαν ποδηγεῖν εἰς ἀλήθειαν, κατεπάτουν τρόπον τινὰ τὴν νομήν· συνετάραττον δὲ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, παχεῖάν τινα καὶ ὑλώδη καὶ γαιώδους ἀκαθαρσίας ἀνάπλεων παρατιθέντες διδασκαλίαν τοῖς ἐν τάξει προβάτων ἀκολουθοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ὡς κριοῖς. Καὶ ἀναστήσω ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ποιμένα ἕνα ... τὸν δοῦλόν μου ∆αβίδ. Cat. f. 225.) Ὅτι δὲ περὶ Χριστοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτά φησιν, ἀταλαίπωρον ἰδεῖν· προτετελευτηκότος γὰρ ἤδη τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αβὶδ καὶ ἐν τάφοις ἤδη κειμένου, προεφήτευσε μὲν ὁ μακάριος Ἰεζεκιήλ. Ἐποιεῖτο δὲ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ὡς ἐσομένην κατὰ καιροὺς, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἤδη τετελεσμένην· ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῖς ἐσομένοις αἱ ὑποσχέσεις, οὐκέτι τοῖς ἤδη πεπραγμένοις.