About the life of Moses the lawgiver or about perfection in virtue

The treatise “On the Life of Moses the Lawgiver or on Perfection in Virtue” was written by St. Gregory of Nyssa around 392 at the request of the monk Caesarea. The work is devoted not only to exegesis, but also to moral-ascetic and mystical-contemplative theology. The essay has 2 parts. In the 1st part (77 chapters), based on the literal understanding of the biblical text, St. Gregory recounts in detail the history of the prophet Moses according to the books of Exodus and Numbers. In the 2nd part (chapter 321), a mystical and allegorical interpretation of the events described is given. For the convenience of readers, the translators added headings to the text of Part 2. St. Gregory of Nyssa considers the life of the Old Testament prophet and seer of God as a symbol of man’s gradual ascent to the heights of contemplation and union with God. The saint compares all the events from the life of the prophet Moses with various circumstances in the life of a Christian and finds here numerous moral rules. The key concept of the work is “virtue”. St. Gregory argues that perfect, unlimited virtue is God Himself. A person can approach this perfection only by constantly overcoming everything that he has already achieved (through epectasis). The saint shows this by the example of the appearances of God that Moses was honored with: - in the light of the burning bush, God appears to Moses as “true being”; - Sinai darkness means that God can only be seen in ignorance. Moses' conversation with God in the cloud at Sinai is considered as a prayerful frenzy, in which the soul cognizes God in the “luminous darkness”, having renounced any sensory and mental ideas; - the epiphany in the cleft of the rock implies that God can only be seen in the constant abandonment of what has been achieved. Man can approach God's infinity only through non-stop movement. Thus, in this work of St. Gregory sets out his doctrine of ecstasy as the highest form of knowledge of God - the life of the prophet is depicted as a series of spiritual victories that brought him double contemplation in ecstasy of the essence of God. At the conclusion of the treatise, Moses is called “the friend of God.” The saint here represents perfect human virtue as an endless, inexhaustible relationship between man and God, which can have neither end nor complete saturation, since the Divinity always remains distinct from humanity. The treatise had a significant influence on subsequent Christian mystical tradition. *The title of the work in Greek is ἀρετὴν τελειότητος. *The title of the work in Latin is De vita Moysis. See also: On the Life of Moses the Lawgiver (translation 1861) Per. from ancient Greek A. Desnitsky St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa - one of the three Great Cappadocians, together with his brother St. Basil the Great and his friend Gregory the Theologian. Born after the Council of Nicaea, they belonged to the second generation of defenders of the faith in God, one in Three Persons, fighters against various types of Arianism. In the first decades of the Christian empire, they laid the foundations of a comprehensive Christian culture. The extremely broadly conceived synthesis was supposed to embrace elements of pagan philosophy, and even the achievements of Alexandrian Jewish exegesis (Philo). The Life of Moses represents well the Cappadocian school of theology, and in particular its exegesis. St. Gregory resorts to the allegorically "spiritual" method of interpretation developed by Origen, whose authority was high among the Cappadocians. At the same time, the author of “The Life of Moses” strives to combine allegory with a vision of the Old Testament through the prism of New Testament teaching, especially the teaching of St. ap. Pavel. The Life of Moses is clearly divided into two parts, differing in the method of interpreting Scripture. The first part is called “History” by the author. Here, in accordance with the method of literal interpretation, the parts of the Pentateuch relating to the life of Moses are set forth. The author’s special goal in this part is to teach the reader moral instructions based on the life story presented. Speaking of miracles, St. Gregory polemicizes against attempts at rationalistic explanation, perhaps bearing in mind certain tendencies of Antiochene exegesis. In some places the author tries to soften the meaning of events that may cause temptation, for example, in the story about the “borrowing” of Egyptian treasures by the Jews. All this characterizes the moral and edifying nature of the first part. The second part, “Theory,” is much more significant and larger in scope, where the life of Moses is depicted as an ideal image of the mystical ascent of the soul. If in the first, “historical” part, St. Gregory, contrary to extreme allegorists, affirms the literal meaning, but here he is ready to turn any historical detail into a capacious symbol of spiritual reality. One of the leading ideas of this part is “typology”: the author sees in Old Testament events and persons prototypes of New Testament reality, historical and spiritual at the same time. The typology goes back to the New Testament itself: thus, in the “Gospel of John” the brass serpent, the manna, and the Passover lamb are types of Christ. St. himself Gregory refers to St. as the source of his method. ap. Pavel. Not only in the Life of Moses, but also in his other exegetical works: in the Six Days, in the interpretations of the Psalms and Songs. With his song, the Saint of Nyssa builds two parallel series: the historical sequence of actual events and the spiritual sequence of internal growth and ascent to God that it depicts. Spiritual life is revealed in its regularity, and thus not just a description is given, but a “theory”, a theology of spiritual life. The main stages of the spiritual path: cleansing from carnal passions, enlightenment and mystical communication with the Unapproachable God. The path to God is eternal movement. Whoever stops in this movement begins to follow a different path - evil. Evil is a bad infinity of rotation in place. Good is an eternal march along the straight path to God, where, paradoxically, movement is peace, “standing.” Marching towards God, a person finds himself, his own “in the likeness”. At the beginning of the path, a person has not yet found his content, he is a “mirror”, and everything depends on which direction this mirror will be turned, what it will reflect. At the end of the path, at the height of self-denial, a person finds God and remains in blissful communion with Him. Archpriest Valentin Asmus In the spiritual works of Gregory of Nyssa there is only one central theme: the search for “spiritual meanings” that differ from all other forms of created perception and which allow a person to get closer to God. Saint Gregory of Nyssa (born around 335 - died after 394) - one of the greatest theologians of the “golden age” of patristics, student and younger brother of Basil the Great, friend of Gregory the Theologian. Today we remember these three great Cappadocians as fighters for the faith of the Council of Nicea against Arianism and as theologians who laid the foundations of a comprehensive Christian culture in the first decades of the Christian empire, which included elements of ancient philosophy and the achievements of Alexandrian Jewish exegesis. Gregory received his initial education at home, in Caesarea Cappadocia (in Asia Minor), where he prepared for a legal career. He showed particular interest in rhetoric (the art of eloquence) and philosophy. Already a reader, he remained for some time a teacher of rhetoric. Apparently, Gregory was married: but since celibacy of the episcopate was not yet a prerequisite, this circumstance did not prevent Basil from ordaining his brother as bishop of the small Cappadocian city of Nissa in 371 or 372. This was an era of active struggle against Arianism, and the younger brother helped the elder in the fight with his pen. Lacking Vasily's administrative talent, he showed himself to be a skilled writer and a subtle theologian. In the year 376, Gregory, for his views, was exiled, by order of Emperor Valens, to Lesser Armenia, where he was, against his will, elected Metropolitan of Sebaste. However, when the emperor died in 379, Gregory chose to return to his own department. That same year, Vasily died, and the task of completing the life’s work of his elder brother fell on Gregory’s shoulders. He finishes his literary works (in particular, “The Six Days” and “Against Eunomius”), participates in the Antioch Council of 379, at which the eastern episcopate finally accepted Nicene Orthodoxy, and goes on an inspection tour of Arabia and Palestine on behalf of the Council. Finally, in 381, he participates in the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, where he plays one of the leading roles. In the edict of Emperor Theodosius, Gregory is named among those bishops with whom communication is an indispensable condition for recognizing a person as Orthodox. For several years, Gregory, while remaining Bishop of Nyssa, constantly participated in the Councils of Constantinople and, apparently, enjoyed influence at court. Towards the end of his life, his activity decreased somewhat, and the last evidence of him was his participation in the Council of Constantinople in 394. He probably died soon after this Council. Many of the saint’s works have reached us. Conventionally, they can be divided into three groups: dogmatic (“Against Eunomius”, “Against Apollinaris”, “Large Catechism”, etc.), mystical-ascetic (for example, “On Virginity”), exegetical, which, in addition to the “Life of Moses”, include “The Six Days” (written jointly with Basil the Great), “On the Creation of Man” and a number of commentaries on selected books of the Old Testament. To better understand his exegetical methods, it is necessary to imagine the situation in which the Church found itself at that time. In the 4th century, Christianity began to transform from a persecuted religion into a state religion, and more and more people began to come to the Church, brought up within the framework of classical ancient culture and completely unfamiliar with either the Old Testament or the peculiarities of biblical language and biblical theology. They needed to explain the meaning of the Old Testament, and to do this in a language they understood, connecting the biblical narratives with the lives of everyone, so that Abraham, Moses or David would become for them not just heroes of ancient legends, but teachers and role models. This is precisely the task that St. sets himself. Gregory in his exegetical works, in particular in the Life of Moses. He chooses the allegorical method of interpretation, in which it is not so much the historical sequence of events that is important, but the spiritual meaning hidden in them. The interpreter seems to be completely distracted from the real events that happened many centuries ago and considers their description as a kind of symbol, a kind of verbal icon in which one must discern the hidden meaning. Since already at the time of Saint Nyssa the cultural and historical distance between the Old Testament authors and his contemporaries was enormous, allegorical interpretation became an effective way to update the biblical text and transfer biblical events into the everyday life of every person. At the same time, St. Gregory sees in Old Testament events and persons prototypes of New Testament reality, historical and spiritual at the same time. This exegetical method, called typology, goes back to the New Testament itself: it is especially noticeable in the Gospel of John and in the letters of the Apostle Paul, to which St. Gregory contacts constantly. Sometimes the reader may get the impression that the author does not even recognize the authenticity of the biblical story and does not see, as, for example, in the story of the Israelites crossing the sea, anything but a symbol. However, we should not forget that this text was addressed to a spoiled Hellenistic reader, to whom many of the simple pages of the Old Testament might seem like a collection of primitive and unreliable traditions of a completely alien people. “You’re looking in the wrong place,” the author seems to exclaim. At the same time, he does not forget to warn the reader: every allegory has its limit, and not everything in the biblical narrative fits into the proposed schemes (see 2.48). The Holy Scriptures are inexhaustible, and one interpretation in no way cancels out all the others. This approach was characteristic of the Alexandrian theological school (in contrast to the Antiochian school, in which the Bible was interpreted mainly from the point of view of history). Some of the exegetical methods of this school go back as far as Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC - 50 AD), a Jewish author who sought to translate the biblical text into the language of classical Greek philosophy. The first Christian writer to widely apply the allegorical method to the Old Testament was Origen (c. 185–254), one of the largest theologians of the ante-Nicene period. Some of his judgments were later rejected by the Church, but his role in the development of Christian theology is enormous. It is not surprising that in the Life of Moses St. Gregory largely follows Philo and, in particular, Origen. This also applies to the methodology and some of the ideas he borrowed from his predecessors. Including St. Gregory repeats Origen's thought about apokatastasis (universal salvation - see 2.22), which was later recognized as a heresy, but in the 4th century. still belonged to the field of theological disputes. But the saint’s main attention in this treatise is not on dogmatics, but on ethics and epistemology. The subtitle of the work is “On Perfection in Virtue.” It would be natural to expect that it would talk about what qualities one must acquire in order to become like Moses and acquire perfect virtue. With this approach, most readers would undoubtedly have to admit that they are infinitely far from this ideal and are unlikely to be able to achieve it. And someone, on the contrary, might decide that they have already achieved this perfection and can now calm down. However, Gregory offers a fundamentally different solution: perfection consists in constant movement, which has no limit. And such perfection, accessible to everyone, does not give anyone a reason to relax. The saint is also occupied with another question, which logically follows from the first: if the goal of our movement is God, then how can we know Him? With regard to epistemology, the treatise “On the Life of Moses” occupies one of the central places in the work of Gregory of Nyssa. He offers us a path of consistent purification: a person must renounce false ideas, sensory perception, and, finally, even his own mental constructs, in order to one day accept the mysterious Manifestation of God with a pure heart and enlightened mind. The divine nature is incomprehensible, but man constantly comprehends God, and the longer he looks, the stronger his desire to see more. God does not fit into logical categories, there is no end to the knowledge of God, love for God knows no satiety - these are the conclusions of the saint. Formally, the treatise is addressed to a young friend who asked Gregory what virtue is. We know nothing about this man, and in the book his name is mentioned only once, and then only at the very end (2.319), and not in all manuscripts. This is probably a collective image, which was very typical for the literature of that time. The very name Caesarea (from the word “Caesar” - Caesar, emperor) reminds us of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia, with which Gregory’s whole life is connected. But, ultimately, this book is addressed to all who seek excellence in virtue, and therefore to every Christian. The treatise is divided into two unequal parts. The first, after a brief introduction, outlines the main events in the life of Moses. In the second, their allegorical interpretation is proposed. For the convenience of readers, the translators also added headings to the text of the second part. In addition, the translation includes references to the Bible. If the link applies to an entire paragraph, it is given at the end of the paragraph after the last period. When a reference refers to one sentence or part of a sentence, it is placed within that sentence. If the same expression appears in many places in the Bible, reference is given only to the main ones. Biblical quotations are, if possible, as close to the Russian Synodal translation as possible, but the text that we see in the saint’s treatise does not always coincide with the Synodal Bible. This is explained by discrepancies between the Hebrew text, from which the Synodal translation was mainly made, and the Greek, which Gregory used, and also by the fact that he often simply retells the biblical text without quoting it verbatim. 1. How passionate spectators feel at horse racing when their favorites compete! And although the riders are already rushing forward with all their might, the spectators, shouting from the heights of the stands calling for victory, follow them everywhere with their eyes, as if they think that they can make the horses run faster if they begin to stomp in time with them and wave their hand as if it has a whip. They do this not because all this contributes to victory, but out of a passionate desire to show with their voice and gestures how much they crave it. It seems to me, my dearest friend and brother, that I too am doing the same. You are wonderfully running the race of virtue along the path indicated by God, approaching with light and quick steps the “honor of the high calling” (Phil. 3:14), and I urge you on with shouts and urge you to try to run faster. But I do this not out of some meaningless whim, but out of joy for your success, beloved child. 2. In the letter that you sent me, you ask for some instruction in a perfect life, and your request should be heeded. Perhaps nothing I say will do you any good, but still I will not waste my time setting an example of obedience. If it seemed appropriate to me, placed over so many souls in the rank of father, that gray old age should submit to the demands of prudent youth, then, all the more, you should strengthen yourself in the virtue of obedience, since I have taught your youth voluntary submission. 3. However, enough about this. It's time to take on the work ahead, calling on God to guide my narrative. My beloved, you asked me to draw up for you a sketch of what, in my opinion, is a perfect life. And if I succeeded in my plans, then you, looking at my work, would be able to transfer from it into your life grace, clothed in words. But neither the first nor the second is equally possible. To express perfection in words or to show in words intelligently how one should live—neither of these tasks, I believe, is beyond my capabilities. And not only me: many of the great and adorned with virtues recognized this task as impossible for themselves. 4. But so that it does not seem that, according to the word of the psalmist, I was afraid of fear where there is no fear (Ps. 13:5), I will try to express my thought to you more clearly. 5. In things accessible to sensory perception, perfection is perceived within certain limits as a kind of continuous and limited set 1, since every quantitative measurement is contained within its own boundaries. Take cubit 2 or the number ten: it is known where they begin and where they end, and this is their perfection. And as far as virtue is concerned, we learned from the Apostle (Phil. 3:12-15) the only limit of perfection - the absence of any limits. This great and high-spirited man, God's apostle, constantly ran in the field of virtue and never tired of striving forward (Phil. 3:13). And it would be dangerous for him to stop in the middle of the treadmill. Why? After all, everything that is good by nature has no limit in itself and is limited only when something opposite is opposed to it, for example, life - death or light - darkness. All goodness ceases when what we consider its opposite appears. Just as for life the limit is death, so in a competition in virtue, stopping would be the beginning of movement in the opposite direction, towards evil. 6. I think that I will not be mistaken in calling attempts to define virtue useless: as we have found out, virtue is not something contained in a framework. Now it should be explained why people who led virtuous lives said that they could not achieve perfection. 7. The highest and main good is the Divine Itself, whose nature is goodness, and when we talk about the nature of good, then, both by name and in essence, we are talking about the Divine. And since we have found out that there is no other limit to virtue except evil, and there is nothing contrary to the Divine, then we will understand that the Divine nature is limitless and limitless. Anyone who comprehends virtue thereby comprehends God, because He is the highest virtue. So, participation in beauty is highly desirable for those who know it, and beauty has no boundaries. Therefore, the one who is involved in it inevitably desires the infinite, and nothing will satisfy his desire. 8. Consequently, it is in no way possible to achieve perfection, because, as has already been said, it is not limited by anything, and the limit of virtue is infinity. How can you achieve the desired milestone if this milestone does not exist? 9. But, although we have come to the conclusion that what we are looking for is absolutely unattainable, nevertheless, we should in no way neglect the Lord’s commandment, which reads: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It may be impossible to acquire all the qualities that are good by nature, but for a reasonable person the acquisition of even part of them will be of great benefit. 10. It is worth trying with all our might so as not to lose at all the achievable features of perfection and to acquire those of them that we are able to accommodate. Perhaps it is precisely in this behavior, in the constant desire to acquire as much good as possible, that the perfection of human nature consists. 11. I believe that in this matter it is worth turning to Scripture for guidance. The voice of God once said through the prophet Isaiah: “Look at Abraham your father, and at Sarah who gave birth to you” (Is. 51:2). This is a call to souls wandering away from virtue! Sailors who have lost their course find their way to the harbor by a clear sign: be it a fire lit on a tower or a mountain peak visible from afar. Likewise, those who wander on the sea of ​​life and do not have a helmsman for their souls can direct their path, following the example of Sarah and Abraham, to the haven of God’s will. 12. And since humanity is divided in half into women and men, and each equally has to choose between virtue and evil, the voice of God offers an example of virtue for each sex. Both can look to their own kind - men to Abraham, and women to Sarah - as a suitable model for striving for a virtuous life. 13. In the same way, it will perhaps be enough for us to remember one of the people who lived a memorable life. Such a memory will serve as a beacon for us and show us how we can guide the soul to the safe harbor of virtue, avoiding the harsh storms of life and the collapse in the abyss of evil under the blow of the ninth wave of passions. After all, it is precisely for this reason that the lives of these exalted souls are presented so accurately, so that in the future people can direct their lives for good, imitating those who have already managed to achieve success. 14. But someone may object: “So what? I am not a Chaldean, as Abraham is said to have been (Gen. 11:31), I am not a child of the daughter of Egypt, as the story of Moses reports (Ex. 2:10), and in general my life in this regard is not at all similar to the life of any of the ancient people. How can I put myself in the place of one of them, when I cannot imitate such an alien way of life? To this I will answer that to be a Chaldean, in my opinion, is neither a vice nor a virtue, and that neither life in Egypt nor stay in Babylon left anyone outside of virtue. After all, it is not only in Judea that God reveals himself to worthy people, and Mount Zion is not at all (contrary to popular belief) a place of Divine dwelling (Ps. 75:2-3). We need more subtle understanding and greater insight to discern in the biblical narrative from which Chaldeans and Egyptians we need to move away and from which Babylonian captivity we need to break free in order to achieve a blessed life. 15. Let Moses, therefore, serve as an example of the proper life in this work. We will first consider the course of his life as we have learned it from the Divine Scriptures, and then we will judiciously examine the narrative in order to receive instructions in virtue. This way we will understand what kind of life among people is perfect. Narrative of the Life of Moses 16. It is said that Moses was born at a time when the law of the tyrant forbade the leaving of newborn boys alive. The seal of grace even then testified to what he was destined to accomplish in due time. While he was still in diapers, his beauty made his parents doubt whether such a child could be put to death. 17. Then the tyrant’s threats overcame doubts, but Moses was not thrown directly into the waters of the Nile, but was put in an ark coated in grooves with tar and resin, and sent along the river waves - this is what those who examined in detail what happened to him told about it. The Ark was guided by some Divine force, which led it to the slope of a high bank, and it was carried to land by the natural flow of water. When the king’s daughter found herself in the river meadow near which the ark landed, she discovered it as soon as a baby’s cry was heard from the box. But when they noticed the obvious beauty of Moses, then, by the grace of the princess, they accepted him into the family and adopted him. Instinctively, he refused the breasts of a foreign woman and then, thanks to the invention of his relatives, he was fed by his mother’s breast (Ex. 2: 1–10). 18. Moses was brought up at the royal court and received a pagan education. But when he left childhood, he decided not to engage in what was held in high esteem by the pagans, and not to recognize as his mother the one who had previously thought of adopting him. He returned to his real mother and settled among his fellow tribesmen. When a Jew got into a fight with an Egyptian, Moses took the side of his relative and killed the foreigner. Another time there was a quarrel between two Jews, and he tried to calm them down, urging them to behave as brothers should, and to choose nature as a mediator in resolving disputes (Ex. 2:11-14). 19. But one of them, in the heat of battle, rejected the advice of Moses, and this insult prompted him to choose the highest wisdom. He moved away from crowded places and began to live on his own, becoming related to one of the foreigners, perceptive of human virtues and judicious in his assessment of morals. After all, this man, by only one act (I mean the story of the attack of the shepherds), recognized the virtue of young Moses, who, without any personal gain, acted justly, punishing the shepherds for an offense not inflicted on him personally, believing that justice in itself is worthy of respect. After such an incident, this man was imbued with respect for the young man and, despite his obvious poverty, valued his virtue higher than his numerous wealth. He gave him his daughter in marriage and gave him the opportunity to live at his own discretion. Moses chose a solitary life in the mountains, far from the crowds of the market, and began to tend sheep in the desert (Ex. 2:15–22). 20. This is how his life passed when, as the narrative says, he had a terrible Epiphany. At noon, he was blinded by a light shining brighter than the sun. Struck by the extraordinary sight, he looked at the mountain and saw a bush from which a fiery glow emanated. The branches of the bush sparkled as if covered with dew. Moses said to himself: “I will go and see this great phenomenon.” As soon as he said this, a wonderful light reached not only his eyes, but, what is most surprising, touched the ears of Moses with its rays. The grace of light extended to both senses: illuminating the eyes with the radiance of rays and enlightening the ear with immaculate instructions. And the voice of this light forbade Moses to go up the mountain while he was burdened with the dead skin of his sandals. But when he took them off, he was able to step on the ground, illuminated by Divine light (Exodus 3:1–5). 21. However, we shouldn’t dwell too long on the external details of this man’s life; it’s better to continue our story. After all that had happened, Moses, having gained strength in the Epiphany that had happened to him, received the command to free his people from Egyptian slavery. To be convinced of the power that had descended on him from God, he tested the truth of the Divine command with the help of what was at hand. The test was as follows: the rod that fell from his hand came to life and turned into an animal (namely, a snake), but when Moses picked it up again, he returned to its original state. And the hand that he put in his bosom became whiter than snow, and when it was there a second time, it became the same (Ex. 3:7–4:9). 22. They say that when Moses was returning to Egypt with a foreign wife and children born from her, a certain angel met him and threatened him with death. Moses' wife appeased the angel with the blood of her son's circumcision. Then Moses met with Aaron, who was hurrying to this meeting by inspiration from above. 23. After which they called the people living in Egypt to a general meeting and proclaimed liberation from slavery to all of them, already exhausted from suffering and labor. This was reported to the tyrant himself 3. But in response to this, the tyrant only became even more indignant both at the overseers and at the Israelis themselves. He began to demand more bricks, adding an even more difficult task: not only did the Israelites have to work on clay, but they were deprived of chaff and straw (Ex. 4:10–5:14). 24. Pharaoh (as the Egyptian tyrant was called) tried to counteract the Divine signs revealed through Aaron and Moses with the help of sorcerers and their spells. When Moses turned his staff into an animal before the eyes of the Egyptians, it seemed that magic could perform a similar miracle with the staffs of sorcerers. But the deceitfulness of their actions was exposed when Moses’ staff, which turned into a snake, swallowed the sorcerers’ sticks that seemed like snakes. It turned out that the sorcerers' wands do not have any power to protect themselves or come to life. Deceptive witchcraft was capable of nothing more than an external impression to gullible eyes (Ex. 7:8-13). 25. When Moses became convinced that all the subjects of Pharaoh were as evil as their ruler, he brought general disaster upon the entire Egyptian people, without delivering anyone from evil. The natural elements themselves, visible throughout the universe - earth and water, air and fire - changed their properties by human order and moved together with Moses against the Egyptians, like an army subordinate to him. In the same place, at the same time, the forces of nature punished the willful and bypassed those not involved in evil. 26. By the command of Moses, all the water in Egypt turned into blood, so that the fish also died in this thick liquid that resembled meat. But when the Jews scooped it up, it became water again. Therefore, sorcerers were able to give a bloody appearance to the water found among the Jews (Ex. 7:14–24). 27. The same applied to the toads that descended on Egypt in great numbers: they multiplied so much not because of their own properties, but by a special command that caused changes in the nature of these animals and an increase in their numbers. All the Egyptians suffered from the invasion of frogs into their homes, while the Jews were free from this scourge (Ex. 8: 1–7). 28. Also, the air did not allow the Egyptians to distinguish day from night, and they constantly remained in darkness, but for the Jews nothing unusual happened. The same thing happened with everything else: hail, fire, boils, midges, dog flies, a cloud of locusts - each of these disasters had its usual effect on the Egyptians, and the Jews learned about the suffering of their neighbors only through rumors and stories, since all this did not affect them themselves (Ex. 8-10). Finally, the death of the firstborn drew a clear boundary between the Jews and the Egyptians: some mourned the death of the most precious thing they had, while others remained in complete peace and security. They were saved by the shedding of blood: at the entrance to each house, both doorposts and the lintel connected to them were anointed with blood (Ex. 11–12). 29. While the Egyptians were dejected by the misfortune that had befallen their firstborn, and mourned collectively and individually for their own grief, Moses directed the exodus of the Israelites. He made sure in advance that they would take with them the wealth of the Egyptians, allegedly taken on loan. And when they had already been walking outside the borders of Egypt for three days, as the story says, the Egyptian regretted that Israel had not remained in his slavery, and, having equipped all his subjects for war, he chased after these people with an army of cavalry. And the people, unprepared for war and unaccustomed to this kind of spectacle, seeing the power of armed horsemen, overwhelmed with horror, rebelled against Moses. The story says that here Moses did something even more amazing. He directed his forces towards two goals: with words and speech, giving courage to the Israelis and convincing them to hope for the best, he turned his inner thoughts to God, praying to Him that people who had fallen from fear would receive instructions from above on how to avoid danger. And God, as the story goes, listened to this silent cry (Ex. 13–14). 30. The cloud guided the people by the power of God, following before him. It was unusual in nature, because it did not consist of vapors and vapors, when the air becomes dense due to the condensation of steam under the pressure of the wind, but something greater, surpassing the human mind. This cloud, according to Scripture, had such a wonderful property: when the sun scorched and burned during the day, the cloud became like a heavenly cover for the people, overshadowing everything that was below and saturating the hot air with light moisture. And at night it became fire, illuminating the path of the Israelites with its radiance, like a torch, from evening to morning (Ex. 13:21–22). 31. Moses looked at it himself and taught the people to follow this vision. So they reached the Red Sea, guided by a cloud to the crossing point, and meanwhile the Egyptians came up from behind and surrounded them so that the Israelites, caught between a terrible enemy and the water, had no hope of salvation. And then Moses, moved by the power of God, did the most incredible thing he ever did. Approaching the shore, he struck the sea with his staff. From this blow it seemed to split. And just as a crack in glass, having appeared in one place, spreads to the very edge, so the division of the waters of the sea, cut at the top by a rod, reached the opposite shore. Having descended into the depression, where the sea parted, Moses and all the people were in the depths of the sea, remaining dry in the sunlight. And, thus crossing the abysses of the sea on foot on a dry bottom, they did not experience fear of the walls that suddenly appeared to the right and left, when the sea froze on both sides of them like a wall. 32. But when Pharaoh and the Egyptians entered the sea, following this newly paved path among the waters, the sea became agitated, and a single expanse of water appeared before the eye, because the waters united again and the sea took on its original appearance. And the Israelis, tired of the great stress of this sea crossing, were already resting on the other side. And they sang a victory song to God, who erected for them a monument to a bloodless victory 4, after the entire Egyptian army with horses, weapons and chariots disappeared under the water (Ex. 14:21–15:21). 33. Then Moses began to advance, and after three days' journey through arid terrain he found himself in difficulty, since the army had nothing to quench its thirst. Not far from the place where they settled down, there was still a lake, but it contained sea water, and even more bitter than the sea. So the Israelites suffered from thirst while sitting by the water. But Moses, by God’s inspiration, found a piece of some kind of wood in that place and threw it into the water. The water instantly became fresh: the tree, with its power, changed the nature of the water, turning it from bitter to pleasant (Ex. 15:22–26). 34. And so the Israelites set off again, following the movement of the cloud as a guide. They always did this: when the cloud stopped, indicating that it was time to rest, they paused, and rose again when it continued its movement in front of them. Following this guide, they reached a place abounding in fresh water. Twelve springs generously watered it with moisture, and a grove of date palms covered it with shade on all sides. There were seventy palm trees, but despite such a small number, they amazed everyone who saw them with their beauty and size. (Ex.15:27; Num.9:15–23) 35. The guiding cloud, having stayed here for a short time, again raised the army and led it to another place. Ahead there was only a desert with dry and burning sand, and since no moisture irrigated the area, the people began to be tormented by thirst again. Then Moses struck the rock on the top of the hill with his rod, and pleasant fresh water flowed out of it in abundance, and moreover, there was more than was needed for such a huge army (Ex. 17: 1-7). 36. But then hunger began to overcome the people, since the supply of food prepared for the journey back in Egypt ran out. And then the most incredible miracle was revealed. Food did not grow on the earth as usual, but came down from heaven like dew (Ex. 16:14-35). And the dew appeared every morning, becoming food for those who collected it. These were not drops of water (as happens with dew), but instead of moisture some crystalline grains appeared, which in appearance resembled round coriander seeds, and tasted as sweet as honey (Ex. 16:31). 37. Another miraculous phenomenon could be observed. Everyone who went out to collect naturally differed in both age and strength. But none of them took more or less than the others, according to their strengths: from what was collected, they divided each one according to his needs, so that the strong had no excess, and the weak had no shortage. The narrative reports another wonderful feature: everyone could collect as much as they needed for the day, without putting anything aside. And if someone, out of thrift, saved part of his food until the next day, then what was put aside spoiled, and worms appeared in it (Ex. 16:20) 38. There is something else amazing in the story about this food. Of all the days of the week, one, according to some mysterious plan, was set aside for rest. What was collected on the eve of this day turned out to be in double quantity, despite the fact that both the abundance of food that fell and the diligence of the people who collected it remained the same. Thus, the Israelites had no reason, due to lack of food, to violate the law commanding them to remain in peace. Divine power was manifested here all the more so because on the eve of the Sabbath (as the day of rest was called), what was put aside remained unharmed and was as fresh as what had just been collected: and on other days what was left spoiled (Ex. 16:22-30). 39. Then another people, who in the story are called the Amalekites, took up arms against them, and war broke out. Then for the first time the Israelites armed themselves for battle. However, they did not move against the enemy with the entire militia - only the best selected forces fought the war, during which Moses showed a new type of military art. When Joshua, who was to lead the people after Moses, led his army against the Amalekites, Moses stood outside the ranks on an elevated place from which he could observe everything, looking up at the sky, with helpers on either side of him. 40. This is the miracle that happened then, we learned from the story: when Moses raised his hands to heaven, the Israelites subordinate to him defeated the enemies: and when he lowered them, the army retreated under the onslaught of foreigners. Those standing nearby noticed this, and when they saw that Moses’ hands were getting heavy and weak for some secret reason, they supported them on both sides. And when it became difficult for them to support him, they sat him on a stone and thus helped him keep his hands raised to the sky. From that moment on, the forces of the foreigners began to weaken under the onslaught of the Israelites (Exodus 17:8–13). 41. Since the cloud that guided the people remained in the same place, the people could not set off without having a guide to move around. However, they had everything they needed for life without difficulty and in abundance: rain poured down on them from above in the form of ready-made bread, and below them a rock emitted water. The cloud eased them the hardships of life in the open air: during the day it became like a wall, protecting them from the heat, and at night, like fire, it dispelled the darkness with its light. So their stay in the desert at the foot of the mountain where they camped was not tiresome. 42. Now Moses led the people in initiation into the ineffable mystery, and Divine power, through miracles that surpassed every word, initiated the entire people and the leader himself. This initiation was performed as follows. First of all, the people were ordered to abstain from all defilement, bodily and spiritual, and to cleanse themselves by washing. Before the wedding, 5 a certain number of days had to be kept clean in order to wash oneself from everything sensual and bodily and, cleansed from passions, proceed to the mountain called Sinai for initiation into the sacrament. At that time, only intelligent beings could ascend it, and only men, and even those only after being cleansed of all filth. And the Israelites were vigilant to ensure that no unreasonable animal approached the mountain. If this happened and a creature unreasonable by nature appeared on the mountain, the people threw stones at it (Exodus 19:10–15). 43. Then the light faded and the seemingly clear sky turned so black that the mountain, shrouded in darkness on all sides, became invisible. A fire lit up in the darkness, terrifying those who saw it. He devoured everything that was on the mountain, and from this ring of fire the surrounding area was filled with smoke. And Moses led the people up the mountain, himself quite frightened by this sight. His soul was seized with horror, and his body trembled with fear, so the experiences of his soul were not hidden from the Israelis. Like everyone else, he was shocked by what he saw and his whole body trembled. (Exodus 19:16–18) 44. This sight was terrifying, striking to the core not only with its appearance: it was scary to even hear the thunder of a voice from heaven echoing throughout the entire area. Already the first sounds of this thunderous voice were deafening and difficult to bear. They were like the sound of trumpets, but in their terrifying power they surpassed any comparison of this kind. The thunderous sounds grew, instilling more and more fear. But, despite the absence of speech organs, the voice spoke quite clearly, and the air itself connected the words with Divine power. The speech was not meaningless - it contained Divine commands. And the voice became louder and louder, and the trumpet surpassed itself, constantly emitting sounds stronger than the previous ones. (Exodus 19:19) 45. None of the people were able to withstand what they saw and heard. Therefore, they all together turned to Moses with a request to become an intermediary in the giving of the Law and promised not to doubt that every command of it, by inspiration from above, comes from God. And when they returned to the foot of the mountain, Moses was left alone and behaved completely differently than could have been expected. (Usually people bear fear more courageously if they experience it with someone, and he became bolder when his companions left him.) From this it became clear that his first fear was not for himself, but out of sympathy for those who were struck by this feeling. ( Ex. 19:7–8, 20 ) 46. ​​So, when Moses, freed from the burden of general timidity, was left alone, he rushed into the darkness and, entering the invisible, completely disappeared from sight. Having penetrated the impenetrability of the Divine mysteries, he, unnoticed by anyone, was in communion with the Invisible. I believe that this is how he showed us that he who wants to be with God must leave everything visible and ascend, as if to a mountain peak, to the invisible and incomprehensible, and believe that the Divine abides where our reason does not reach. 47. While remaining there, he received Divine commands. These were instructions in virtue, for which, first of all, piety and a proper judgment about the Divine nature are necessary, which surpasses every cognizable concept and idea, since it is not comparable with anything cognizable. He was ordered to judge the Divine without comparing it with anything intelligible and not to liken nature, which surpasses everything that exists, to anything cognizable. One must believe in the existence of God, leaving unanswerable the question of its quality, quantity, origin and mode of existence (Ex. 20: 4–5). 48. To this the narrative adds instructions concerning morality, expressed in general and particular laws. The general law, rejecting all injustice, demanded to love one's fellow tribesman (Lev. 19:18); if you follow this rule, then, as a result, no one will harm any of your neighbors. And among the private rules, honoring parents was prescribed, and a list of prohibited acts was given 7 (Exodus 20:4–5). 49. When the mind of Moses was purified by these laws, he was raised to a still higher degree of initiation into the mysteries, when the Divine power revealed to him the whole tabernacle at once (Ex. 25-27). This tabernacle is a church decorated with indescribable variety: there were vestibules, columns, curtains, a table, a lampstand, an altar of incense, an altar of burnt offerings, the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, and that which was in an inaccessible place, in the Holy of Holies. And so that the beauty and precise structure of everything he saw would not escape his memory, and he could show this miracle to the people remaining below, Moses was given advice not to confine himself to a simple description, but to reproduce the immaterial creation in a material structure (Ex. 25: 9), using the brightest and most magnificent materials that can be found on earth. Of these, gold was in first place, covering the columns on all sides. Along with it, silver was also used to decorate the tops and bases of the columns, in order, I believe, to highlight the radiance of the columns more clearly by the color contrast above and below. In some places copper was also used - at the top and base of silver columns (Ex. 27:17). 50. The hangings, curtains and curtains of the tabernacle, stretched on the tops of the columns, were made with special weaving art: each product was made of a suitable material. For some fabrics, yellow and purple dye was used with the radiance of scarlet, and also the whiteness of fine linen in its natural and unaltered form. For other coverings, linen was used, and for others, skins were used instead of fabrics. In some places, red leathers were used for external decoration. 51. After Moses came down from the mountain, he, with the help of artisans, did everything as he was prescribed. While he was in this church not made by hands, he received instructions on how to decorate the clothes of the priests entering the Sanctuary. The law described in detail every detail of both the upper and lower clothing (Ex. 28). 52. In this case, the main place was given not to the part that is hidden from view, but to the part that everyone could see. The ephod was embroidered with the same multi-colored threads as the veil in the tabernacle, only there was more gold in color. Both parts of the ephod were fastened with clasps - emeralds in a gold frame. In addition to the fact that nature endowed these stones with extraordinary beauty (they emitted a greenish-yellow glow), they were also decorated with the wonderful work of the carver. It was not idols that were depicted on the stones, but the names of the patriarchs were inscribed: six on each stone. 53. Decorations in the form of shields and twisted chains intertwined with each other like a fishing net were hung from the front of these stones. They hung on both sides of the clasp and were located on top of the shields so that, I believe, the beauty of the weaving would be even more visible against their background. 54. On the priest’s chest was a gold ornament in which stones of various types were inserted. They were arranged in four rows, each with three stones, and on them were inscribed the names of the tribes of Israel. Under the ephod, another garment was worn, from neck to toe. It was wonderfully decorated with fringe. And the hem was not only embroidered with a pattern, but also decorated with gold pendants in the form of bells and pomegranate apples, located alternately along the edge of the clothing. 55. On the priest’s head was a purple bandage, and on his forehead was a shield made of pure gold, on which mysterious writings were carved. And the belt that pulled together the spacious outer garments, and jewelry hidden from view, and other details of the vestment, symbolically, like parables, speaking about the virtue of the priesthood. 56. Moses learned all this from the ineffable Divine instruction, when he was in impenetrable darkness. And, having received this mysterious knowledge, he surpassed human nature. After which he again emerged from the darkness and went to his fellow tribesmen to tell them about the miracles revealed to him at the Epiphany, pass on the laws and arrange for the people a church and priestly service in the image given to him on the mountain. 57. In his hands he carried the sacred tablets, received as a gift from God. No human effort was required to make them: both the tablets and the writing on them were created by God - and the writing contained the law. But the people, without waiting for their legislator, indulged in rampant idolatry and thereby prevented the acquisition of this grace. 58. During his initiation into the Divine mysteries, Moses spent a lot of time communicating with God. For forty days and nights, under the cover of darkness, he was involved in eternal life, remaining in a state not characteristic of human nature (Ex. 24:18). Even his body did not need food all this time. And the people, like children left without the supervision of a teacher, followed their desires and began to riot. Having ceased to obey Aaron, they forced the priest to become their leader in idolatry (Ex. 32:1-6). 59. An idol in the form of a calf was made of gold. They became proud of their wickedness, and Moses, approaching them, broke the tablets received from God, so that, having lost this gift of God, they would suffer the punishment corresponding to the offense (Ex. 32:19). 60. Then Moses destroyed the idol and, with the help of the Levites, washed away the grave sin of his fellow tribesmen with their blood (Ex. 32:20–29). His anger at those who had sinned softened God's wrath, and after forty days on the mountain, Moses again received the tablets on which God's power had inscribed the law, and they themselves were made by the hands of Moses. He received them after living for forty days according to laws different from ours, surpassing human nature and not taking any food that a person usually needs to strengthen the body (Ex. 34: 1–28). 61. So, Moses, according to Divine instructions, built a tabernacle for the Israelites, gave them laws, and established a priesthood. Everything was arranged according to God's instructions and human skill: the tabernacle, the vestibule and everything inside the tabernacle - the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering, the lamp, the curtains, the lid of the ark in the inner part, the vestments of the priests, the ointment; also sacrifices - cleansing, thanksgiving, averting misfortunes and propitiating for sin. And as soon as everything was completed, the disease inherent in the human race, envy, awakened in the people around Moses. 62. Even Aaron, who was given considerable honor as a priest, and sister Miriam, who was femininely jealous of the honor given to Moses, began to reproach him, so that the Divine had to punish them for this. And even more surprising is the gentleness of Moses, because when God punished the foolish woman for slander, Moses humbled his anger and asked God to heal his sister (Num. 12:1-13). 63. The crowd again began to riot, which was caused by the immoderate enjoyment of food. A painless, carefree life and food given from above were not enough for them. The desire to fill the stomach with meat and the passion for gluttony led to the fact that slavery in Egypt began to seem to people better than the benefits that they had acquired. Moses told God what passion gripped his fellow tribesmen. And God gave them what they were so eager to receive, and thereby taught them that they should not have such desires. He sent many birds towards the camp, and their flocks, like thunderclouds, flew low above the ground. And since it was not difficult to catch these birds, people soon became fed up with meat. 64. Excessive eating upset the balance of vital juices in the body, 8 and for many such satiety resulted in a fatal illness. This example was enough for both the victims themselves and those who saw them to return to moderation (Num. 11). 65. Then Moses sent spies into the country where the Israelites, by Divine promise, hoped to settle. But upon their return, not everyone told the truth - some reported false and sad news. Then the people were again angry with Moses. And so God judged: whoever has lost faith in Divine help will never be able to see the Promised Land (Num. 13:1–14:38). 66. When they walked through the desert, they ran out of water, and with it the memory of God’s omnipotence disappeared. Although they had already seen how a miracle was performed on the rock, they still could not believe that even now they would be saved from thirst. Abandoning hope for the best, they began to scold Moses and God Himself. Moses, it seemed, was already tired of the people’s unbelief, and yet he again performed a miracle for them: he cut water out of a steep rock. ( Numbers 20:2-18 ). 67. And again they fell into slavery from their own womb. Wanting to enjoy tasty and satisfying food, some of the young people began to riot. But they were severely punished: snakes crawled throughout the camp, from whose bites a deadly poison penetrated into the people. 68. And when people began to fall one after another from snake bites, Moses, according to God’s advice, cast an image of a serpent from copper and placed it on a raised platform so that everyone in the camp could see it. Thus, Moses delivered his people from the harm caused by snakes and saved them from death. Having looked at the copper serpent, the man was no longer afraid of the bites, for the sight of the copper serpent in some inexplicable way weakened the effect of the poison (Num. 21:4–9) 69. But the people were again dissatisfied with the leadership of Moses. Some attempted to seize the priesthood by force. And although Moses asked God to have mercy on those who had sinned, the justice of God’s judgment turned out to be stronger than Moses’ compassion for his fellow tribesmen. The earth opened up and then closed its mouth, swallowing up those who rebelled against the authority of Moses and all their relatives. And those two hundred and fifty people who sought the priesthood were destroyed by fire, and their fate enlightened the people (Num. 16). 70. And so that people could finally be convinced that the most worthy received the gift of the priesthood from God, Moses took a staff from the noble people of each tribe, on each of which he wrote the name of its owner. Among them was the rod of the priest Aaron. Moses placed the rods in the church and used them to clearly show who God had chosen for the priesthood. For of all, only one rod of Aaron blossomed, and on it a fruit grew and ripened (namely, a nut). 71. Even for unbelievers it seemed like the greatest miracle when a dry tree without bark and roots suddenly came to life and gave the same fruit as an ordinary tree with roots in the ground. God's power replaced the earth, the bark, the moisture, the root, and the necessary time (Num. 17). 72. When Moses led his army through the lands of other nations, they did not allow him to pass. Moses swore that together with the people he would go around their fields and vineyards (Num. 20:17) and would keep to the “royal path” 9, not deviating either to the right or to the left. But the opponents did not reconcile even after this, and then Moses defeated them in battle and broke through by force (Num. 21:21-35). 73. Then Balak, the ruler of the powerful tribe of Midian, knowing about the disasters of the nations conquered by the Israelites, was afraid that the same fate would befall his own people. Without waiting for this, he decided to act, but not with the help of weapons and troops, but with the help of the superstitious divination of a certain Balaam. This man was said to be skilled in such matters, and those who used his services attributed to him magical powers in such pursuits. His craft was fortune telling by birds 10, but it was unsafe, since with the assistance of certain demons he could bring terrible misfortunes to people (Num. 22: 1–6). 74. When Balaam, following the guides, went to their king, the voice of a donkey told him that this path would not be favorable for him. Then he had a vision from which he learned what he needed to do, realizing that black divination is powerless to harm those whom God helps. Filled not with demonic energy, but with Divine inspiration, he uttered prophecies about a better fate for the Israelites, which subsequently came true (Num. 22:7–24:25). When he was not allowed to use his craft for evil deeds, he realized the power of the Lord and joyfully abandoned his practice of divination in order to prophesy according to the will of God. 75. After the foreigners were destroyed, the people, who had won the battle, themselves found themselves defeated by a dissolute passion for captives. Only when Phinehas struck down the couple entwined in wickedness with one blow of his sword did God’s wrath on the distraught Israelites, mired in lawless ties, subside (Num. 25:1–9). The lawgiver ascended a high mountain and saw from afar the land that had been prepared for Israel according to the Divine promise given to the fathers. There he departed from human life, and after his departure there was no tombstone or monument left among the graves (Deut. 34). 76. Time did not harm his beauty, did not darken the radiance of his eyes (Deut. 34:7), did not weaken the grace that illuminated his face. He was always the same as before, and despite all natural changes, his beauty remained unchanged. 77. This is what we were able to see at the first glance at the history of this man. I told it briefly: however, when necessary, I allowed myself a more detailed story. And now we can consider the life described, in accordance with the purpose that I have assigned for my story, and extract from it instruction that would help us to lead a virtuous life. So, let's go back to the beginning of the story of the life of Moses. Interpretation on the life of Moses 1. Moses was born when the law of a tyrant persecuted the born boys (Ex. 1:16). How can we choose to imitate his birth when the sex of the child depends on chance? And in general we can say that we are not able to compare our own birth to the glorious birth of Moses. But despite this apparent obstacle, there is nothing difficult in starting to imitate the life of Moses. 2. Who does not know that everything that is subject to change never remains in the same state, but is constantly changing from one thing to another, changing for the better or for the worse? Let's return to our topic. The birth of a female child, in which human nature appears in a more material and passionate state, is pleasing to the tyrant; and he hates the male child, more seasoned and inclined to virtue, and suspects in him a threat of rebellion against his own power. 3. And everything that changes seems to be constantly being born anew. After all, in a changing world, in the next moment everything looks a little different than before. And a birth of this kind does not occur due to an external reason and not by chance, as sex is determined by chance during a physical birth, but by a person’s own choice. When we re-emerge into the world, we become, as it were, our own parents, being born as we ourselves want, and by our own choice we accept a certain gender - male or female - fashioning ourselves according to the design of virtue or vice. 4. And we may, to the displeasure and chagrin of the tyrant, be born in a more suitable manner. Then the parents who conceived us so beautifully (and the parents of virtue are good thoughts) will joyfully see our birth, and the tyrant’s plan will be resisted. 5. So, if we start from the literal meaning of the story and reveal its inner meaning, then it will teach us that the beginning of a virtuous life upsets the enemy. I mean that birth in which free choice helps in the birth pangs. After all, no one can upset the enemy unless he shows clear signs of victory over him. 6. It depends on the same free choice to give birth to a male child inclined to virtue, and to feed him with suitable food, and to take care of his safe rescue from the water. Those who give their babies to a tyrant hand them over to the river stream naked and defenseless. By a stream I mean a life that flows in constant unrest of passions, in which everyone who falls into it drowns and chokes. 7. The parents of a male child, that is, wise and prudent thoughts, when the time comes to betray their good offspring to the waves of life, lower it into the stream under the protection of the ark so that it does not drown (Ex. 2:3). And the ark, knocked together from various boards, is education, consisting of various sciences, which keeps a person afloat and puts him above the waves of everyday life. 8. Due to this, a person, during water disturbances, will not wander for a long time, carried by the will of the waves, but will land on a solid shore, that is, he will find himself outside of everyday disturbances. 9. We know from experience that those who are no longer immersed, like others, in the abyss of human inventions, are as if pushed away by the incessant seething of everyday affairs, considering those who are burdened with virtue to be a useless burden. Anyone who finds himself outside these waves should imitate Moses and not be afraid of his tears (Ex. 2:6), even if he finds himself in the safety of the ark. Tears serve as a reliable guard for those who seek salvation in virtue. Growing up in the house of an Egyptian princess and escaping from Egypt 10. The childless and barren royal daughter (by which, I believe, we must understand pagan wisdom), who picked up the baby, decides to call herself his mother. And, as Scripture recognizes, kinship with the adoptive mother is not dissolved until a person is convinced of his own immaturity. But he who, like Moses, strives to rise higher, will consider it shameful to be called the son of a woman who is barren by nature. 11. Pagan education is truly sterile - it constantly experiences birth pangs, but never gives birth to new life. What kind of creation, after long labor pains, did this philosophy show us - a birth that would be worthy of such hard and numerous labors? Are not all its embryos, vain and not yet formed, dying even before birth, never reaching the light of the knowledge of God? They could just as easily have been born human if they had not been firmly locked in the womb of barren wisdom. 12. And so, having lived with the Egyptian princess for so long that it began to seem as if he was sharing the luxurious life of the Egyptians, Moses must return to his own mother. However, although he was raised by the princess, he did not part with his mother, since, as the narrative says, he was fed with his mother’s milk (Ex. 2:7–9). I suppose the meaning here is that, although we use the words of pagan wisdom, while we are receiving education, we should not distance ourselves from the milk of the Church that nourishes us, that is, from the church laws and customs that nourish and strengthen the soul, thus enabling it to rise upward. 13. It is truly said that a person who listens to both pagan and paternal instructions at the same time finds himself in the middle of two opponents. Anyone whose religion is contrary to the Jewish teachings enters the fight and strives to be stronger than the Israeli. It seems to many overlookers that the enemy is actually stronger, and they, leaving the faith of their fathers, go over to the side of the enemy and become traitors to their father’s teachings. But whoever is truly great and noble in soul, like Moses, will himself deal a mortal blow to those who oppose piety. 14. However, such confrontation can be found in ourselves. A person, like a prize for victory, stands between the warring parties, and whoever he joins will make the winner. And they fight like an Egyptian with a Jew, idolatry with piety, licentiousness with chastity, righteousness with injustice, arrogance with modesty, and in general everything that is considered the opposite. 15. Moses, by his own example, teaches us to take the side of virtue, as the side of a compatriot, and to destroy the enemy who rises up against it (Ex. 2:12). For the victory of virtue turns into the death and disappearance of idolatry. In the same way, injustice is destroyed by righteousness and arrogance is killed by modesty. 16. But within us there is also a struggle between fellow tribesmen (Ex. 2:13). After all, we would not have dogmas invented by crafty heresies if the system of erroneous reasoning did not come into conflict with more correct reasoning. If we are weak and cannot give strength to the right side, since evil has gained the upper hand by its tricks, and the power of truth has been overthrown, then we must flee as quickly as possible (as the example of Moses suggests) to a better and higher teaching about the sacraments. 17. And if we again have to settle with a foreigner, that is, if we are forced to turn to pagan philosophy, we can do this only after we drive away the crafty shepherds who are not rightfully using the well (Ex. 2:15-17) - that is, after we expose the false teachers in the crafty use of external education. 18. So we will live on our own, not getting involved in a fight and not acting as mediators in it, but living among like-minded people whose will agrees with ours - together with our own flock, and all the movements of our soul will, like sheep following a shepherd, follow the ruling mind (Logos) 11. The burning bush and the appearance of Jehovah 19. And when we surrender to this peaceful and far from hostility way of life, the Truth will shine upon us and enlighten the eyes of our soul with its radiance. And the Truth that appeared to Moses in an ineffable light is God. 20. It will also be useful to examine how this radiance, which illuminated the soul of the prophet, was united with the thorn bush (Ex. 3:2). If God is Truth (John 14:6), and Truth is light (John 8:12) - these sublime and Divine names are attested in the Gospel narrative in relation to God who appeared to us in the flesh - then a virtuous lifestyle unhindered leads us to the knowledge of that light that descends to human nature. It shone not from a torch located somewhere among the stars, so that no one would consider its radiance material, but from an earthly bush that eclipsed the heavenly bodies with its rays. 21. This is how we understand the miracle that happened to the Virgin: the Light of the Divine was born through Her and shone in human life, but He preserved the bush with which it was united unharmed: the flower of virginity did not fade even during childbirth. 22. This light teaches us what to do to remain in the rays of the true light. Shoed feet cannot ascend to the height from which the light of Truth can be seen (Ex. 3:5), until the tread of our soul is freed from the dead and earthly shell of skin that covers our nature, since we, having disobeyed the Divine command, found ourselves naked (Gen. 3:21) 12. This will immediately be followed by the knowledge of the Truth, which itself will reveal itself to us. The knowledge of Existence (Exodus 3:14) becomes purification from incorrect ideas about non-existence 13. 23. This is, in my opinion, the definition of truth: the absence of erroneous ideas about Being. Deception is a fiction that arises in the human mind about something that does not exist, which seems to really exist. Truth, on the contrary, is a firm understanding of what really exists. And a person, immersed for a considerable time in reasoning about these sublime objects, will finally judge what is truly existing and by its nature has existence, and what is not existing and only seems to be, since by its nature does not have independent existence 14. 24. I believe that the great Moses, taught by this Manifestation of God, learned that in reality there is nothing perceptible or intelligible, except the all-surpassing Essence and First Cause, on Which everything depends. 25. If the mind looks closely at anything else that exists, it will not find any thing that does not need another thing and could exist without being involved in the truly Existing. And that which always remains exactly the same, does not increase or decrease, is equally not subject to changes either for the better or for the worse (for it is alien to the worst, and there is no better for it), which does not need anything else, which is the only thing worth striving for, which is involved in everything and does not become worse from this participation - this is what is essentially Existing, and its comprehension is the knowledge of the Truth. 26. Then this happened to Moses, and now it happens to everyone who, like him, freed himself from the earthly shell and looked at the light from the thorns - that is, at the ray that shone for us in the flesh, as if in a thorn, which, according to the word of the Gospel, is the true Light and Truth itself (John 1:9). And then a person becomes such that he can lead others to salvation, destroy the tyranny reigning in evil and free all who are subject to disgusting slavery. When the right hand changed its appearance and the staff turned into a serpent (Ex. 4:1–9), this became the first example of miracles. 27. I believe that this allegorically indicated the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord and the appearance of the Divine to people, thanks to which the destruction of the tyrant and the liberation of those subject to him took place. 28. The testimony of the prophet and the Gospel leads me to this thought. The Prophet says: “The right hand of the Most High is changed” (Ps. 77:11). The divine nature is understood to be unchangeable, but out of condescension towards weak human nature it took on our form and image. 29. The hand that the legislator put into his bosom changed its color against its natural one: and when it was there again, its natural beauty returned to it. The Only Begotten God, “who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18), is the “right hand of the Most High.” 30. When He appeared to us from the Father’s bosom, He changed and became like us. When, having blotted out our infirmities, He returned the hand that had been among us and became like our color to the bosom (and the bosom for the right hand is the Father), then the impassive by nature did not become passionate, but subject to change and passion through communication with the unchangeable, it became a participant in dispassion 15 . 31. And the transformation of the rod into a serpent (Ex. 7:10) should not confuse those who love Christ: they say, we associate the narrative of the sacrament with an inappropriate animal. After all, the Truth itself in the Gospel does not avoid this image and says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). 32. And the meaning of this is clear. Since the father of sin is called a serpent in the Holy Scriptures (Gen. 3:1) and everything born of a serpent is also a serpent, then, consequently, sin bears the same name as its parent. And, according to the apostolic testimony, the Lord became sin for our sake (2 Cor. 5:21), taking on our sinful nature. 33. So this symbol really approaches the Lord. If the serpent is sin and the Lord became sin, the conclusion will become obvious to everyone: whoever became sin became a serpent, since that is what sin is. Moreover, he became a serpent for our sake, in order to swallow and destroy the Egyptian serpents generated by wizards (Ex. 7:10–12). 34. When this happened, the serpent again turned into a staff (Ex. 4:4), which admonishes sinners and on which those who ascend the steep and difficult path of virtue rely. In good hope they rely on the staff of faith, for faith is the assurance of what one hopes for (Heb. 11:1). 35. He who realizes this truly becomes a god (Ex. 4:16) for those who oppose the truth and are carried away by material and unimportant illusions, who disdainfully refuse to listen about the Existence, as if about something insignificant. As Pharaoh says: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice? I do not know the Lord” (Ex. 5:2). After all, for him, only the material and carnal, which belong to the realm of feelings, and not meaning, are valuable. 36. And the one who, having been enlightened by this light, has become sufficiently strengthened and acquired the strength and ability to resist enemies - like an athlete who has thoroughly studied athletic skill from a mentor, with courage and determination prepares for a competition with the enemy and takes into his hands the very staff (that is, the word of faith), with which he will have to overcome the Egyptian snakes. 37. He is followed by a wife from another tribe: after all, there is something in pagan education that is useful to us for marriage and childbirth. Indeed, moral and natural philosophy can sometimes become a spouse, girlfriend and participant in Life for someone who lives sublimely, unless its products do not carry any foreign filth. 38. And since their son was not circumcised and was not stripped of everything harmful and unclean, the angel who met him 16 made him fear death. Moses' wife begged the angel, showing that her child was pure and devoid of that sign by which a foreigner is recognized (Exodus 4:24–26). 39. I believe that to anyone who is dedicated to the interpretation of Scripture, from everything that has been said, the sequence of steps on the path of virtue will become clear, as Scripture depicts it, offering us a chain of sequential images. In the instructions generated by philosophy there is something corporeal and similar to the foreskin. But when they are circumcised, all that remains belongs to the pure Israelite family. 40. For example, pagan philosophy 17 also considers the soul immortal, and this fruit of it is pious. But she believes that the soul moves from one body to another and after birth in a rational body can move into a dumb being - and this is already a corporeal and foreign element, the foreskin. So and in many other ways. It is said that God exists, but materiality is attributed to Him. He is recognized as the Creator of the world, but for creation He allegedly requires matter. He is called good and powerful, but in many cases He seems to be forced to yield to the decision of Fate. 41. Having considered all these questions in order, one can see how the correct tenets of pagan philosophy are desecrated by absurd additions. When they are cut off, as in circumcision, the angel of God becomes merciful to us, as if rejoicing at the legitimate offspring of philosophical principles. 42. And now it’s worth returning to the sequence of the story, so that we too can meet with brotherly help when the time for the battle with the Egyptians approaches. Let us remember that at the very beginning of his virtuous life, Moses had to fight and take part in civil strife, when, in one case, an Egyptian oppressed a Jew, and in another, a Jew rebelled against a fellow tribesman. 43. But now, when Moses, as a result of long exercises, and also after the appearance of Light on the mountain to him, rose to a higher level of development of his soul, everything happens in friendship and peace: his brother, on instructions from God, rushed to meet him (Ex. 4:27). For our purposes, it will be useful to consider what is described here in a figurative sense. 44. For those who practice virtue, God has indeed given human nature an ally who appeared before us, even at the creation of the world, but it is revealed to us and known to us only when we, with all attention and diligence, have sufficiently accustomed ourselves to an exalted life and are preparing for a fight with very strong opponents. 45. But, in order not to explain the riddle as a riddle, I will present my reasoning about these things in more detail. There is a statement based on reliable paternal tradition. It says that during the fall of man, God did not treat our reckless fall with contempt, but assigned an angel with an incorporeal nature as an assistant to each person 18 . On the other hand, the corrupter of our nature also tried to harm every human life with the help of the crafty demon. 46. ​​And man is between these two opponents, who have such different goals, and it is in his power to give strength to one of them. The good angel gives arguments showing the benefits of virtue, and those who practice it look at them with hope. His opponent shows material pleasures: there is no hope of good in them, but they are already present here, accessible and visible, and therefore enslave the senses of reckless people. 47. And if a person distances himself from evil temptations and consciously turns to the better, turning, relatively speaking, his back to evil and turning his soul, like a mirror, to the hope of future blessings, and the purity of his soul is imprinted with images and manifestations of virtue sent down from above, then brotherly help will come to meet him, which will remain with him. A brother for a person, according to the soul’s ability to reason and think, can be figuratively called an angel, who, as already said, appears and stands next to us when we approach Pharaoh. 48. But let no one think that there is an inseparable connection between narration and such mental interpretation; and if anything is found in the narrative that does not agree with our understanding, let it not be rejected entirely. We must always bear in mind the purpose of this work, which we constantly look at in the course of our exposition and which we stated in the preface: to offer the lives of famous people as an example of virtue. 49. But those who imitate them today cannot exactly repeat the events of their lives. Where, say, can we find another people whose numbers would increase after moving to Egypt? Or a tyrant who enslaved this people, who would prevent the birth of male babies, and would allow the more effeminate and weaker female sex to multiply? So it is with all other details of the story. And since we have seen that it is impossible to imitate the miraculous actions of blessed people, we should transfer the details contained in the narrative to the area of ​​​​moral teaching. Thus, those who strive for virtue will find assistance in living a virtuous life. 50. If something from what is stated in the narrative falls out of the chain of sublime reasoning and is forced to be skipped, then we can leave this detail as useless and unsuitable for our purpose, so that the interpretation of virtue does not collapse. 51. I say this bearing in mind what was said about Aaron, in order to eliminate in advance a possible contradiction. After all, we can say that an angel is related to the human soul in its rational and incorporeal nature, that it arose before our creation, and that it stands next to those who entered into battle with the enemy - but this does not apply to Aaron. And it is not appropriate to see an angel in Aaron, who later led the Israelites in idolatry (Exodus 32:2–5). 52. To this, looking ahead, I will repeat what I have already said: let a detail alien to our goal not violate the agreement of everyone else. In addition, both words - “brother” and “angel” - are equally used in opposite senses. 53. An angel is a messenger not only of God, but also of Satan (2 Cor. 12:7), and we call a brother not only a good person, but also a bad one. About the good ones, Scripture says: “Brothers will be useful in times of trouble” (Sir.40:24). And about brothers of a different kind: “Every brother causes another to stumble” (Jer. 9:4). The Call to Exodus and Pharaoh's Opposition 54. For now, let us postpone our discussion of these things in order to consider them more carefully in due time, and turn to the further narrative. Moses, having acquired strength at the appearance of the Light and having found an assistant and comrade-in-arms in his brother, boldly addressed the people with words about freedom, recalled the noble origin of their fathers and grandfathers, and showed the way to deliverance from painful work with clay and bricks. 55. What does this story teach us? That we should not dare to speak to the people if our speech is not prepared by appropriate education for speaking in front of a crowd. You see that Moses, in his youth, before he had reached such heights of virtue, could not persuade two quarreling people to follow his advice, but now he addresses tens of thousands of people with a similar speech. The narrative almost screams at you not to dare to lecture your listeners with advice until, through long and careful preparation, you have developed the ability to do so. 56. But when these good words were uttered, in which Moses recalled freedom and strengthened the desire for it in the souls of his listeners, the enemy tried to increase the suffering of those who listened to the speech of Moses (Ex. 5: 6-9). And this also finds an analogy in modern events. Many of those who accepted the call for liberation from tyranny and were inclined to preach, and to this day experience the onslaught of temptations from the enemy. 57. Those who are tried and strong in faith will stand and be strengthened, repelling the onslaught of oppressors, but some of the weak will give up in the face of disasters and openly declare that it would be better for them to remain deaf to the preaching of liberation than to endure all this because of it. 58. And so it happened then: out of their cowardice, the Israelites blamed for their troubles precisely those who told them the way of deliverance from slavery (Ex. 5:20-21). But reason (Logos) 19 no less than before attracts us to the beautiful, even if a person with an infantile and immature mind becomes childishly timid before unusual temptations. 59. The harmful and destructive demon is concerned precisely with the fact that people submissive to him do not look at the sky, but bend down to the ground and sculpt bricks from clay within themselves. After all, it is clear to everyone that everything related to material pleasures inevitably comes from land and water, be it caring for the stomach and entertainment, or what relates to wealth. 60. A mixture of earth and water is rightfully called clay. Whoever fills himself with it, that is, strives for clay-like pleasures, cannot keep the container allocated for pleasures full: as soon as it is filled, it is immediately emptied for a new portion. So brick makers fill the empty mold with clay again and again. I believe it is not difficult to see here the image of a soul prone to lust. 61. As soon as she satisfies the lust that occupies her, a new desire inclines her to something else, and again she feels empty. If here she achieves the fulfillment of her desire, then, in relation to something else, she will remain empty and thirsty. And this happens in us endlessly until we move away from material life. 62. And as for the straw and chaff, which are mixed into bricks by those who are submissive to the instructions of the tyrant (Ex. 5:11-13), then both the Divine Gospel (Matt. 3:12) and the high voice of the Apostle (1 Cor. 3:12-13) explain that both straw and chaff are to be perceived as material for fire. 63. When a person who has succeeded in virtue wants to attract people enslaved by deception to a life full of wisdom and freedom, then the one who, according to the word of the Apostle (Eph. 4:14, 6:16) knows various ways to harm our souls, opposes the Divine law with false tricks. Here I mean the Egyptian serpents, that is, the various atrocities of lies, which were destroyed by the staff of Moses (Ex. 7:12). We have already discussed enough about the meaning of the staff. 64. And now the one who has acquired the invincible rod of virtue, which destroys the rods created by tricks, successively moves on to even greater miracles. Miracles are not performed in order to shock everyone present - the goal is to benefit those being saved. The same miracles of virtue lead to the destruction of the enemy and the strengthening of fellow tribesmen. 65. First of all, let us think about the general spiritual interpretation of the miracles that happened one by one, and then we will be able to apply our interpretation to each of them. The teaching of truth is perceived differently depending on the disposition of those who hear it. Although everyone is told in the same way what is good and what is evil, the mind of the one who is disposed to perceive what is said is enlightened, and whoever is inclined to the opposite and does not strive to turn the eyes of his soul to the rays of truth remains in the darkness of ignorance. If our understanding of these things as a whole is not false, then there will be no discrepancy in individual episodes, since the interpretation of each part will be consistent with the whole. 66. So, it is not surprising that the Jews, being among foreigners, were not affected by the disasters that occurred. And now we can see something similar. In crowded cities, where people are divided into opposing faiths, for some the source of faith, which they find in Divine teachings, is pure and drinkable, while for others, like the Egyptians in their perverted speculations, this water becomes poisonous blood. 67. Often, ingenious deception seeks to transform, with the help of vile lies, the blood and water that the Jews drink (Ex. 7:22), that is, to show us our teaching not as it really is. But it is impossible to make water completely unusable, although sophisticated deception turns it crimson. And Jews drink real water, not paying attention to its false appearance, although outwardly it has changed. 68. The same thing happened with toads - ugly and noisy animals that lead the dual life of amphibians 20 and jump close to the ground, unusual not only in appearance, but also in the stench emanating from their skin - they crawled into the houses, and into the bedrooms, and into the storerooms of the Egyptians, but did not in any way affect the life of the Jews (Ex. 8: 3-4). 69. These toads undoubtedly denote the disastrous creations of evil that arise, as if in a swamp, in unclean human hearts. And they, these toads, inhabit the houses of those who, by their own choice, live like the Egyptians. Toads appear on their tables, do not leave their beds alone, and penetrate into storerooms with supplies. 70. Sometimes you can see a person leading an unclean and intemperate life, born in real swamp mud and brought by imitation of dumb creatures to such a state where it is no longer clear what kind of creature is in front of you: by nature a man, but already partly turned into a beast: to such an extent he represents an image of an “amphibious” and dual life. In such a person you will find signs of that same disaster, not only on the bed, but also on the table, and in the closet, and generally throughout the home.. 71. Such a person displays such depravity that anyone can easily discern from the general arrangement of the household the owner’s lifestyle - whether he is intemperate or pure. In one, on the whitewash on the wall, skilful images are visible, inciting sensual pleasures, the nature of which is similar to illness. From looking at obscene images, passion penetrates into the soul, but a prudent person in the house has taken all precautions and forethought to protect the gaze from sights that inflame passions. 72. In the same way, we will find a clean meal for a prudent person, but for someone who is dragged into the swamp of depravity, it will be, like a toad’s, too carnal. And if you look into the storerooms, that is, into the indescribable secret places of human life, then even more so among the intemperate you will find a bunch of toads there. 73. And if the narrative says that the rod of virtue did all this to the Egyptians, then let us not be surprised at what is said. After all, the narrative also reports that God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex. 9:12). So how can one condemn him if his bitterness and resistance were caused by necessity from above? And the Divine Apostle says something similar: “And because they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over” to ungodly passions (Rom. 1:28) - here he is talking about homosexuals and those who indulged in obscene and indescribable ways of debauchery. 74. But if the Holy Scripture says exactly this, and if God really gives over to the wicked passion of those who are committed to it, then it was not by God’s will that Pharaoh became hardened and it was not by virtue that a toad-like life was invented. If this were pleasing to Divine nature, then no human choice would matter, since in life there would be no difference between virtue and vice. Everyone would spend their life in their own way: some would strengthen themselves in virtue, while others would fall into vice. No one could then meaningfully connect the differences between these two ways of life - the choice between which is before everyone - with the highest reasons relating to the Divine will. 75. And who exactly is given over to ungodly passions, we clearly learn from the Apostle: “who did not care to have God in his mind” (Rom. 1:28). God does not hand over such a person in retaliation for not wanting to know Him. Refusal of the knowledge of God in itself becomes for a person the reason for immersion in a passionate and ungodly life. 76. So, if someone says that a blind man fell into a hole because he did not see the sun, then we will not think that the sun, angry at the one who did not want to see him, pushed him into the hole. We will find a more reasonable explanation: non-participation in the light, which he did not see, was the reason for him falling into the pit. In the same way, one can clarify the words of the apostle that God betrays those who do not know Him to ungodly passions: and understand how He hardened the Egyptian tyrant. The point is not that opposition was put into the soul of Pharaoh by Divine will, but that he, by his own choice, due to a tendency to vice, did not accept arguments that softened this opposition. 77. So the rod of virtue, acting in Egypt, left the life of the Jews free from toads, and filled the life of the Egyptians with this disaster. 78. But it turned out that when Moses stretched out his hands over the Egyptians, the frogs disappeared (Ex. 8:12) 21. And today you can see the same thing happening. Those who understand the meaning of the outstretched hands of the legislator (and you, of course, will understand the meaning of this symbol, and in the legislator you will see the True Lawgiver, and in the outstretched hands - the One who stretched them out on the Cross) - even if they lived for some time in accordance with unclean and toad-like thoughts, but if they look at Him who stretched out His hands for us, they will distance themselves from the harmful union with them, leaving a passion that has been mortified and already stinking (cf. Ex. 8:14). 79. Indeed, for those who have escaped from this disease and killed the toad tendencies in themselves, the very memory of their former life will seem meaningless and fetid, causing shameful disgust in the soul. The Apostle says to those who, having abandoned vice, turn to virtue: “What fruit did you have then? The works of which you yourselves are now ashamed...” (Rom. 6:21). 80. In the same way, you will understand how the air, at the wave of the rod, turned into blackness for Egyptian eyes, but for Jewish eyes it shone with sunlight (Ex. 10:22-23). Here the interpretation we proposed is once again confirmed: it is not due to compulsion from above that it happens that one person finds himself in darkness, and another in the light; but we humans, by nature and our own choice, have within ourselves a source of light or darkness, depending on what we want to achieve. 81. And the narrative does not say that the sun's rays were obscured and hidden from the eyes of the Egyptians by some wall or mountain. The sun emitted rays for everyone equally, but the Jews enjoyed the light, and the Egyptians remained insensitive to its grace. In the same way, the possibility of life in the light is open to everyone, but some people wander in the darkness, driven by their bad inclinations into the darkness of vice, while others are enlightened by the light of virtue. 82. From the fact that after three days of suffering in darkness, the perception of light returned to the Egyptians, we can conclude about the expected restoration (apokatastasis) in the Kingdom of Heaven of those who were condemned in Gehenna 22. For the “tangible darkness” that the narrative speaks of (Exodus 10:21), both in name and in essence, bears considerable resemblance to external darkness (Matthew 8:12). Both were scattered when Moses, as explained above, stretched out his hands over those in the darkness. 83. The stove ash, which became the cause of painful boils for the Egyptians (Ex. 9:8), can be interpreted in the same way. The furnace signifies the punishment of fire in Gehenna, which threatens only those who live in the Egyptian way. 84. But whoever is truly an Israelite and a son of Abraham, who turns to him in his life to show that by his own choice he belongs to the chosen race, the torment of fire will not touch him. But for others, in accordance with the above interpretation, the outstretched hands of Moses can become a healing from torment and an end to punishment. 85. And as for everything else: the midges that tormented the Egyptians with invisible bites (Exodus 8:16–17): dog flies, which dug into the bodies of the Egyptians with painful bites (Exodus 8:21); locusts that destroyed the crops ( Ex. 10:14–15 ); heavenly whirlwinds that brought down hail like stones (Ex. 9:23) - everyone can easily harmonize the interpretation of one episode with others, following the thread of the previous interpretation. 86. As has already been said, the reason for all this was the free choice of the Egyptians, and their choice according to merit was followed by the incorruptible judgment of God. Let us not conclude, adhering to the literal meaning of the story, that disasters come to those who deserve them from God - everyone himself turns out to be the creator of his own misfortunes, arranging and preparing his own suffering by his own choice. As the apostle says about this: “Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you yourself are storing up wrath for the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God, who will reward everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:5-6). 87. For example, from an intemperate lifestyle, destructive bile-like juice 23 accumulates in the insides, and a doctor who artificially induces vomiting in order to remove it from the body is not at all the cause of the accumulation of this pathogenic fluid in the body: it was caused by excess in food, and medical art only made it obvious. In the same way, when it is said that painful reward comes from God to those who have made the wrong choice, then the most reasonable understanding would be that these sufferings find their beginning and their cause in ourselves. 88. And for those who have lived sinlessly there is no darkness, no worm, no Gehenna, no fire - none of these frightening names and phenomena, just as, according to the word of Scripture, the Egyptian plagues did not affect the Jews. And if in the same place evil befalls one person and not another, depending on the free choice of each of them, then it becomes clear that no evil comes to us without our own choice. 89. However, let’s continue our story. As we understood from the previous interpretation, when Moses (and now the one who, following his example, grows in virtue), had already sufficiently strengthened his soul after a long exercise in the exalted life above and the appearance of light from above, he would have considered it a loss for himself if he had not been able to lead his fellow tribesmen to a free life. 90. When he came to them, he showed them the worst misfortunes and breathed into them an even greater longing for freedom. Intending to rid his fellow tribesmen of evil, he sent death to every Egyptian firstborn (Ex. 12:29), thereby establishing for us the rule that every first manifestation of evil must be destroyed, otherwise it is impossible to get rid of the Egyptian way of life. 91. And it seems to me that this decision of his should not be left without comment. If we stop only at the literal meaning, then how can we give the events described a Divine interpretation? The Egyptian commits lawlessness, and instead of him, a newborn baby is punished, who at such an early age does not yet distinguish between good and evil. His life is not associated with bad passions, because infancy cannot accommodate passions. He looks only at the nursing breast, he can express grief only by crying, and if he receives what his nature strives for, he expresses pleasure with a smile. And if he is paying for his father’s vice, then where is the justice? Where is the piety? Where is the integrity? And what about the words of Ezekiel: “The soul that sins, it shall die; the son will not bear the guilt of the father” (Ezek.18:20)? How can a narrative conflict with common sense? 92. It would be more appropriate to turn to spiritual interpretation and consider these events as a kind of prototype: the legislator, speaking about them, wanted to teach us a lesson. And the lesson is that when entering, for the sake of virtue, into a battle with one of the vices, one should completely destroy the first manifestation of this vice. 93. Along with the disappearance of the first impulse, everything that follows it disappears. This is what the Lord teaches us in the Gospel, almost literally calling us to destroy the first generation of Egyptian vices, when he tells us to get rid of lust and anger, so as not to fall into either the filth of adultery or the sin of murder (Matthew 5:22-24). Neither one nor the other will happen on its own unless anger pushes a person to murder and lust to adultery. 94. But if the progenitor of all evil, before adultery, gives birth to lust, and before murder, anger, then whoever destroys the firstborn will finally get rid of subsequent generations. So, having crushed the snake’s head, a person kills the entire body extending behind the head. 95. But this would not have happened if blood had not first been shed at the entrance to our houses, which turns away the destroyer from them (Ex. 12:23). And if you need to more accurately explain the thought expressed in words, then the narrative makes you think about two things: how the firstborn died and how blood was able to secure the entrance to the houses. In the first case, the initial movement of evil is destroyed, and in the second, the first entry of evil into us is averted by the blood of the true Lamb. The point is not that we are trying to drive out the destroyer when he has already entered, but that with the help of the law we are building a barrier so that he does not invade us. A safe barrier is indicated by a door lintel and doorposts anointed with the blood of the lamb ( Ex. 12:21–22 ). 96. Here the narrative figuratively speaks of the nature of our soul, as pagan science imagines it, dividing the soul into three parts: rational, willing and sensual 24. At the same time, as the narrative says, desire and sensuality occupy a subordinate position in relation to the mind and seem to support it on both sides, and the intellect, combined with these two parts, controls and, at the same time, is supported by them. Sensuality sharpens the mind to give it courage; and desire elevates him, introducing him to good. 97. While the soul remains in such a secure state, held together, as if by nails, by thoughts of virtue, all its parts act in harmony, for the benefit of each other: the mind gives security to the subordinate parts, and in return receives no less support from them. 98. If the order becomes reversed, and the upper part becomes the lower, so that the mind falls to the ground, and its place is taken by the desiring and sensual parts of the soul, then the destroyer will be able to penetrate inside, since upon entering it will not meet any opposition from the blood - that is, people who are disposed in this way are not accompanied by faith in Christ. 99. After all, it is commanded to first anoint the top crossbar with blood (Ex. 12:22) and only then touch each doorpost. But how can you first anoint on top if there is nothing on top? 100. Do not be surprised that both events - the death of the firstborn and the shedding of blood - do not apply equally to the Israelites, and do not on this basis reject the proposed interpretation about the destruction of vice, as if it does not correspond to the truth. For the difference in names - Israelites, Egyptians - is understood by us as the difference between virtue and vice. If by Israeli we mean a virtuous way of life, then it will be necessary to destroy not the first manifestations of virtue, but those manifestations that are more useful to eradicate than to cultivate. 101. So, God consistently teaches us that the very first offspring of the Egyptian race should be destroyed, so that with the destruction of the beginnings of evil, evil itself will disappear. And the narrative confirms this interpretation. The shedding of blood protects the offspring of the Israelites, so that the good may reach maturity: but what in maturity would have become part of the Egyptian people was destroyed before it finally matured into evil. Passover meal and exodus from Egypt 102. The following narrative is logically consistent with the sublime interpretation we have proposed. That flesh from which the blood poured out was prescribed to become our food, the anointing of which drives away the destroyer of the Egyptian firstborn from the doors. 103. And those to whom this food is offered should assume the appearance of tense readiness, and not sensual relaxation, as can usually be seen at a feast: hands are free, the folds of the himation 25 are loosened and traveling shoes 26 are removed from their feet. Everything should be the other way around: the feet are shod in sandals, the tunic 27 is girded with a belt that binds the loins, and in the hands is a staff for protection from dogs (Ex. 12:11). 104. People who have assumed this form are offered food without any culinary delights, cooked on any fire that is at hand, and the feasters greedily eat it with all haste, until the body of the animal is completely destroyed. They absorb everything edible on the bones, but do not touch what is inside them, since breaking the bones of an animal is prohibited. Whatever remains after the meal is destroyed by fire (Ex. 12:10). 105. From all this it becomes clear that Scripture hints to us at a sublime interpretation, and does not at all explain the rules of eating - after all, for this, the legislation of nature itself, which has given us an appetite for food, is sufficient. Something else is meant here. Which of all the listed details about how to start eating can serve virtue or vice: whether to eat with a belt or without a belt; with bare feet or shoes; hold the staff in your hands or put it aside? 106. But the symbolic meaning of this appearance of people preparing to travel is quite understandable. We are instructed to perceive our present life as a journey on the way to the future life. Already at the moment of birth, natural necessity pushes us towards the end, and therefore we must prepare our hands and feet, in a word, everything that is necessary for a safe journey. 107. So that on this road of life the thorns (that is, sins) do not damage our bare and unprotected feet, we must tie strong shoes to them - that is, a temperate and harsh way of life, crushing and crushing the edges of the thorns and preventing evil from penetrating inside as an imperceptible splinter. 108. A tunic that fits the legs and falls to the very ground would become a hindrance to someone who wants to follow God’s path. Therefore, by tunic we must understand the abundance of pleasures that people strive for in this life. Common sense reduces them to a minimum, becoming for the traveler like a belt 28. And that the belt means chastity becomes clear by where it is placed. As for the staff for protection from animals, it is a word of hope on which the soul leans in a moment of fatigue, and with which we drive away everyone who threatens us. 109. Food for us is prepared on fire, and by fire I will call hot and fiery faith, which we immediately accept and eat from it everything that turns out to be ready and accessible to the eater: and the meaning hidden behind difficult thoughts, which is difficult to reach, we leave behind, without applying any effort to it and without curiosity, and we commit such food to the fire. 110. To clarify all these symbols, I will say that those Divine commands, which are easy to understand, should be followed not with laziness and under compulsion, but in the same way as a hungry person takes with appetite the food offered, so that it will strengthen his health. But reasoning about objects hidden from us, for example, questions about what the essence of God is; or what happened before the creation of the world; or what lies beyond visible phenomena; or what is the reason for everything that happens; and everything else that occupies the minds of the curious should be left in the hands of the Holy Spirit alone, “searching into the depths of God,” as the Apostle says (1 Cor. 2:10). 111. For anyone who is well acquainted with the Scriptures is unlikely to remain ignorant that the Spirit is often mentioned there under the name of fire. This understanding also corresponds to the saying from the Book of Wisdom: “Do not seek what is too difficult for you, ... for you do not need what is hidden” (Sir.3:21-22). 112. Thus Moses leads the people out of Egypt. And whoever follows in the footsteps of Moses, in the same way frees from the Egyptian tyranny all who obey him. I believe that those who follow the leader to virtue should not give up Egyptian wealth and be deprived of the treasures of foreigners. They must receive, as if on credit, everything that the enemy previously owned, as Moses commanded the people to do (Ex. 12:35–36). 113. Let no one accept the superficial interpretation that the legislator orders the plunder of wealthy people and teaches injustice. The opinion that these were the instructions of the legislator does not correspond to reality, if we look at his subsequent laws, in which, from the first to the last word, injustice towards one's neighbor is prohibited - although it may seem reasonable to explain that by means of this trick the Israelites received payment from the Egyptians for their labors 29 . 114. But even such an interpretation does not in any way relieve the command of Moses from the accusation of lies and deceit. After all, when one person borrowed something from another and did not return it, then, if this thing does not belong to him, he committed theft: but even if he took possession of what was due to him, he earned the name of a liar, since he deceived the owner’s hope for further use of this thing. 115. So, the sublime understanding is more suitable here than the mundane. Those who move on to a free and virtuous life are thus ordered to stock up on the riches of pagan education, which adorns people alien to the faith. Moral and natural philosophy 30, geometry and astronomy, the science of logic and everything that people outside the Church do, the teacher in virtue commands to take over as if on loan from those who were enriched with all this in Egypt. They will come in handy later, when you need to decorate the church of the Divine Sacrament with verbal decoration. 116. Those who acquired this wealth bring it to Moses when he begins work on the tabernacle of testimony (Exodus 35:21–29). Everyone contributes to the construction of the sanctuary - we can see the same thing today. Many bring to the Church of God, as if a gift, the pagan education they received, such as Basil the Great, who managed to acquire Egyptian wealth during his youth, and then brought it to God and decorated the Church with it - the true tabernacle. Cloud and fire pillar 117. However, let's return to the place where we left off. When people have already turned their attention to virtue, began to follow the Lawgiver in their lives and left the borders subject to Egypt, temptations begin to attack them, depressing them and plunging them into fear of mortal danger. A soul that has not yet strengthened in faith is afraid and loses all hope for the best. But if Moses is nearby or a person like him, standing before the people, then he will counter the fear with advice and with hope for God’s help he will encourage the despondent soul (Ex. 14:13–14). 118. This could not have happened if the heart of the leader (Moses) did not speak to God. Many, placed in the same situation, are concerned only with the successful arrangement of the visible state of things, and they think little about hidden things, which are visible to God alone. But it was not so with Moses: calling the Israelites to courage, he at the same time turned to God a completely invisible outward speech - and God Himself testified that it was a cry (Ex. 14:15). I believe that the story thereby teaches us that sweet-sounding speech that reaches God is not a cry produced with special effort, but a mental appeal to Him with a clear conscience. 119. To a person in such circumstances, a brother can no longer help much in great battles - I mean that brother who met Moses going to Egypt according to God’s will and by whom is meant an Angel. And then the phenomenon of transcendental Nature occurs. She appears to the extent that our perception can accommodate Her. From the narrative we learned that this was the case at that time, but the interpretation teaches us that this is always the case. 120. When a man fleeing from the Egyptians and finding himself outside the borders of Egypt is frightened by attacking temptations, his Guide points him to unexpected salvation from above: and when the enemy with all his might surrounds the fugitive, he has to make his way by sea. 121. A cloud leads him there (Ex. 13:21) - this word denoting a guide was interpreted by our predecessors as the grace of the Holy Spirit leading worthy people to good. The one who follows it passes through the water, because the guide paves the way for him and ensures his freedom by destroying his pursuer and enslaver in the water. Anyone who hears about this cannot fail to understand the mystery of the water into which a person descends with an enemy army, but comes out alone, leaving the enemy army drowned (Ex. 14:28–29). 122. Who does not know that the Egyptian army - those horses, chariots with horsemen, archers, slingers, hoplites 31 and the rest of the enemy’s military formation - are various passions of the soul that enslave a person (Ex. 14:9)? And is it possible to name anything that surpasses this army in feelings of rage or in the desire for pleasure, sorrow or acquisitiveness? Slander is a stone thrown by a sling, and the tip of a spear with which a warrior shakes is a feeling of rage. The desire for pleasure, one must think, is like horses, with an unbridled impulse dragging a chariot behind them. 123. On it you will easily notice three riders, referred to in the narrative as military leaders 32 (Ex. 14:7, 15:4) - and you, by the symbolic interpretation of the door jambs and lintel, already know about the division of the soul into three parts: rational, lustful and sensual. 124. And so all these and similar passions, together with the instigator of the wicked campaign, rush into the water after the Israelites. But then, by the wave of the rod of faith and the luminous cloud, the water becomes life-giving for those who seek refuge in it, and destructive for their pursuers. 125. Here the narrative teaches that those who crossed the water should not take with them anything from the enemy army upon leaving it. After all, if the enemy gets out of there with an Israeli, then even after crossing the water he will remain in his slavery: since he released the tyrant alive and did not drown him in the depths of the sea. If we reveal the meaning of this image, we will understand that everyone who has crossed the mysterious water of baptism must drown in it the evil army: greed, intemperance, lust, thoughts of robbery, the passion of vanity and arrogance, violent feelings, anger, indignation, slander, envy and others like them, usually following our nature - these passions themselves, as well as the crafty movements of our thoughts and their consequences. 126. We see the same thing in the sacrament of Passover (the so-called sacrificial animal whose blood saves a person from death): the law commands us to eat unleavened bread with Passover - that is, one with which old leaven cannot be mixed 33 (Ex. 13:6-7; 1 Cor. 5:7-8), and thus makes us understand that no remnant of sin should be mixed with new life. The next life must be started anew, turning to goodness and thereby cutting off the habit of following vices. So here, too, it is necessary that we, having drowned every Egyptian in saving baptism, that is, every type of sin, emerge from the water alone, not dragging anything alien with us through life. This is what we see in the narrative, which says that in this water life and death distinguish enemy from friend: the enemy dies, the friend gains life. 127. And, in a similar way, many of those who have received the sacrament of baptism, out of ignorance of the commandments given in the law, mix into their subsequent life the old leaven of sin and, after crossing the water, lead the living Egyptian army with them through their deeds. 128. For example, if someone enriched himself through theft or deception, or acquired some land by perjury, or cohabited with a woman in adultery before accepting the gift of baptism, but even after washing continues to use what he received in an unrighteous way, does he really think that he can be free from sinful slavery? It’s as if he doesn’t see that he is under the yoke of evil masters! 129. This master is fierce and furious, like an unbridled passion, which with lusts, like whips, tortures the mind enslaved to it. Another such master is greed. He does not give any peace to his slave, and even if he works hard, obeying the commands of the master, and delivers everything he wants, he still will not stop demanding more and more. And if we mention everything else that vices push a person to, we will get a list of tyrants and masters. If a person is enslaved by them, then even after crossing the water, he has not yet touched, in my understanding, the mysterious water, the effect of which is to destroy evil tyrants. 130. However, let's return to the story. The one who, according to our interpretation, crossed the sea and saw the Egyptian dead in himself, no longer looks solely at Moses holding the rod of virtue, but, as the text of Scripture narrates, relies mainly on God, also obeying His servant Moses (Ex. 14:31). We see this happening even now among those who actually crossed the water. They, as the apostle says (Heb. 13:17), having dedicated themselves to God, obey and submit to those who perform Divine service in the priestly rank. 131. After crossing the sea there followed a three-day journey (Ex. 15:22), during which the Israelites encamped in one place. However, the water found there initially turned out to be bitter and undrinkable. But the wood placed in the water made it pleasant, so that it became possible to quench thirst (Ex. 15:22). 132. The story corresponds to reality: to one who left the Egyptian pleasures that enslaved him before crossing the sea, life deprived of these joys seems at first difficult and unpleasant. But if a tree is thrown into the water, that is, if a person has accepted the sacrament of the Resurrection, which began with a tree (having heard about the tree, you, of course, understood the Cross by it), then a virtuous life, delighted with the expectation of future benefits, becomes more pleasant and desirable than any sweetness that delivers sensual pleasures. 133. The next shelter on the way was magnificently decorated with palm trees and springs and gave the tired travelers rest. There were twelve springs of clean and pleasant water and seventy huge palm trees (Ex. 15:27) with crowns raised high - over a long time the trees grew very tall. So what do we discover here as we follow the narrative? We find that the mystery of the tree, through which the water of virtue becomes drinkable and quenches thirst, leads us to the twelve springs and seventy palm trees (Ex. 15:27), that is, to the teaching of the Gospel. 134. The sources are the twelve Apostles whom the Lord chose for this ministry and made His word flow through them. With these words, one of the prophets foretold that grace would flow from the Apostles: “In the assemblies 34 bless God the Lord from the fountains of Israel” (Ps. 67:27). And the seventy palms are probably the apostles, in addition to the twelve, placed throughout the universe, since their number coincides with the number of palms mentioned in the narrative. 135. But I think we should hasten our progress by offering the most diligent readers brief considerations to facilitate the understanding of the hidden meaning of the remaining stops of the Israelites. These stops must be virtues where the one following the pillar of cloud sets up camp and rests as he moves forward. So, ignoring the stops that happened in the middle of the journey, I will mention the miracle with the rock: strong and hard by nature, it became water for the thirsty, and its hardness seemed to dissolve, turning into flowing water (Ex. 17:6). 136. It is not difficult to apply a spiritual interpretation to this story. For the one who left a dead Egyptian in the water, knew the sweetness of the tree and basked in the apostolic springs, resting under the shade of palm trees, is now able to accept God. For the rock, as the apostle says, is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4), inaccessible and solid for unbelievers. But if someone brings the rod of faith, then It becomes water for those who are thirsty and enters into those who receive It. As He says: I and my Father - “We will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). 137. One more story should not be ignored. After crossing the sea, after the water, which became palatable to those walking on the path of virtue, after a luxurious rest at the springs under the palm trees, the Egyptian reserves finally dried up. And then the Israelis are left with no foreign food taken from Egypt. Instead, a new one appears on top (Ex. 16:3–4), different and at the same time monotonous. In appearance it was uniform, but in quality it varied according to the desire of each (Wis.16:21). 138. What do we learn from this? We understand how many stages of purification a person must go through in order to be cleansed of Egyptian, foreign food, in order to empty the container of his soul from all the food of evil prepared by the Egyptians, and thus, with a pure soul, accept the food sent down from above, which was grown not by plowing and not by sowing - to accept ready-made bread without family and uncultivated, which descends from above and is found on the earth. 139. You, of course, understand that this true food, this bread that “came down from heaven” (John 6:51), about which the story symbolically speaks, is not something incorporeal. And how could something incorporeal become food for the body? And everything that is not incorporeal must have a body. The body of this bread was not generated by plowing and sowing - it turned out that the earth, remaining in its previous state, is filled with that Divine food, which all the hungry partake of. This miracle serves as a prototype of the mystery of the virgin birth. 140. However, this bread, which was not born from the cultivation of the land, is also a word that changes its power in proportion to the capabilities of those who eat it. It is capable of becoming not only bread, but also milk, meat, vegetables, and everything that is suitable and will suit the recipient, as God’s Apostle Paul teaches. He offers us just such a meal, turning his word for more perfect people into solid food and meat (Heb. 5:12-14), for the weak - into vegetables (Rom. 14:2) and for babies - into milk (1 Cor. 3:2). 141. And all the miracles associated with this food, which the story tells about, are instructions for a virtuous life. The narrative says that everyone had an equal amount of food - and although the strength of the people who collected it was not the same, each one collected exactly as much as he needed, no more and no less (Ex. 16:18). Here, it seems to me, is hidden the advice given in a broad sense to those who find the meaning of their lives in material things: not to go beyond the limits of their natural needs, but to eat as much as is needed for the day, knowing that for everyone there is the same natural measure of daily nutrition. 142. Moreover, even if more is prepared than necessary, the stomach still cannot exceed its natural size and expand in accordance with the insatiable craving for prepared food. But, as the narrative says, there was neither a surplus for the one who took a lot (since he had no place to put the surplus), nor a shortage for the one who took a little (since his needs decreased in proportion to what was found). 143. And among those who save a surplus, gluttony produces worms (Exodus 16:20). Here Scripture almost shouts to the selfish: everything that they acquired through their greed beyond natural needs will turn into a worm for the owner the next day, that is, in the expected life. The hearer, of course, understands that what is meant here is the undying worm generated by this greed (Mark 9:48). 144. Only on the Sabbath what was put aside in reserve was preserved and was not subject to decay at all (Ex. 16:24). Here we see another piece of advice: sometimes, when what is collected cannot be corrupted, one should give free rein to selfish inclinations. After all, this may be useful to us when, having gone through this preparatory life, we are at peace after death. After all, the day before the Sabbath is precisely, as is clear from the name 35, preparation for the Sabbath. This preparation must be our present life, in which we stock up on what awaits us in the life to come. 145. where none of the activities that surround us now exist: neither agricultural, nor trade, nor military - nothing else from the local occupations. But, spending time in complete non-involvement in these matters, we will collect fruits from the seeds that we have thrown in this life: incorruptible, if the seeds of our life were good, and perishable, subject to destruction, if the field of our life grew them as such. For “he who sows to his flesh,” says Scripture, “will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). 146. But then it turns out that the law gives the name of true Preparation only to preparation for good - and in this case the incorruptible is stored up. But the opposite action is not and is not called Preparation, because the absence of good deeds cannot in any way be called real readiness, but rather its absence. Therefore, the narrative instructs people only to prepare what leads to the best, leaving reasonable readers to understand the opposite by default. 147. And just as during a military recruitment the commander first delivers food to the army and only then gives the signal for battle, so the warriors of virtue, only having received the mysterious food, begin the war against foreigners, fighting under the leadership of Jesus, the successor of Moses (Ex. 17:9). 148. Do you see the sequence in which the narrative moves? While a person is weak and suffers insults from an evil tyrant, he does not defend himself from the enemy on his own, and cannot do so. But the weak are protected by another, inflicting continuous blows on the enemy. When he freed himself from the slavery of the oppressors, knew the sweetness of the tree, rested in a refuge among the palm trees, learned the secret of the rock and partook of heavenly food, then he no longer defends himself from the enemy with someone else’s hand. As a person who has left childhood and reached the flower of youth, he himself fights with opponents, no longer communicating with Moses, the servant of God (Ex. 14:31), but with God Himself, Whom Moses served. For the law, given as a type and shadow of what is to come (Heb. 8:5), is no longer capable of conducting true battles, in which the Executor of the law and Successor of Moses now commands - and His Name is foretold in the name of the then commander (Jesus). 149. If the people saw the hands of the legislator raised, then they defeated the enemy in battle, and if they were lowered, they began to weaken (Ex. 17:11). The raised hands of Moses signify the exalted, spiritual understanding of the Law, and their bowing to the ground signifies its primitive, down-to-earth and literal interpretation and observance. 150. When Moses' hands become heavy, the priest lifts them up, taking one of his household as assistants (Ex. 17:12). And this, too, is not without spiritual content. For the true priesthood, through the Word of God, with which it is united, raises again the powers of the law that fell to the ground under the weight of Jewish interpretation, as if supporting the foundation of the falling law with a stone. And when he rises again, the sight of outstretched arms indicates his significance to all who see him. 151. And indeed, those who are able to see everywhere in the law contemplate the mystery of the Cross. That is why the Gospel says that “not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law” (Matthew 5:18): what is said means a horizontal and vertical line that forms a cross. It can also be seen in Moses, who personifies the law, becoming for those looking at him a monument in honor of victory and its cause. Climbing Mount Sinai 152. And so Scripture, continuing its ascent, leads our mind to ever higher heights of virtue. The one who has found strength in food, demonstrated it in battle with enemies and defeated opponents, is now approaching the inexpressible experience of the knowledge of God. Here the narrative teaches how great and numerous deeds must be accomplished in life in order to ever dare to approach the mountain of the knowledge of God, to withstand the sound of the trumpet, to enter the darkness where God dwells, to write Divine signs on the tablets and, if they are broken due to some sin, to again present to God the hand-made tablets, so that the finger of God will again inscribe the writings that were destroyed with the first tablets. 153. It is best now, following the order of the story, to reveal its spiritual meaning. Whoever looks at Moses and the cloud, which show the way to those walking along the path of virtue (Moses here must personify the precepts of the law, and the cloud - that which precedes the law), having purified his mind, killing and separating from himself everything alien by immersion in water, he tastes the water of Marah, that is, a life devoid of pleasures. To the one who tastes it, at first it seems bitter and unpleasant, but to the one who has accepted the Tree of the Cross, it gives pleasure. Then, when he has basked among the beauties of the gospel palms and springs, enjoyed the living water (John 4:11) from the rock, received the heavenly bread (John 6:32), shown courage in the fight against foreigners and won victory with the help of the outstretched hands of the lawgiver - the prototype of the mystery of the Cross - then only he approaches the contemplation of the transcendental nature. 154. And purity leads him to such knowledge, in which not only the body is sanctified by sprinkling, but also the clothes are washed with water from all filth (Ex. 19:10). This means that the one who is about to begin contemplating the Existent must be completely cleansed in order to be unsullied and unaffected by soul and body, having washed away the dirt from both. We need to appear clean before the One who sees the secret, so that visible good behavior corresponds to the inner disposition of the soul. 155. Therefore, before climbing the mountain, according to the Divine commandment, clothes are washed, because they symbolize the external goodness of life. After all, hardly anyone would say that a material stain on the himation can become an obstacle on the path of those who ascend to God. But I think clothes are an apt name for the outer activities of this life. 156. When all this is accomplished and the herd of animals has been driven as far as possible from the mountain, then a person begins to ascend to sublime thoughts. No animal was allowed to appear on the mountain (Ex. 19:13). This means, in my opinion, that in speculative contemplation it is necessary to surpass the knowledge that arises from sensory perception. After all, animals, by their nature, really tend to control themselves without reason, only with the help of feelings. They are guided by sight, and sometimes they rush somewhere, driven by hearing. And everything else that is generated by sensory perception is very important for animals. 157. But God is perceived neither by sight nor by hearing. It cannot be comprehended by ordinary reflection. For “no eye has seen, no ear has heard,” and nothing like this has ever entered “the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9). But anyone who intends to begin to understand the sublime must first get rid of all sensual and reckless impulses. When he clears his mind of all ideas based only on sensory perception, moves away from the usual connection with his cohabitant (Ex. 19:15), that is, with sensuality, which in a certain sense combines and cohabits with our nature, and when he frees himself from it, then, finally, he dares to approach the mountain. 158. Yes, indeed, theology is a steep and difficult mountain, and most people barely reach its foot. If someone is like Moses, then he can rise higher, hearing the “sound of the trumpet,” which, as the text of Scripture says, as he moved forward, “became stronger and stronger” (Ex. 19:19). And the trumpet, which strikes the ear, is a sermon on the Divine nature: loud from the very beginning, it becomes louder in the future and, in the end, its sound penetrates the ears with all its power. 159. The law and the prophets trumpeted the Divine mystery and the plan for the incarnation of God in man. But the first sounds were too faint to reach the wrong ears. Therefore, the weak hearing of the Jews did not catch this sound of the trumpet. As he moved forward, as Scripture says, he became stronger. And look, the sounds that came through the gospel sermon amazed the ears. Thus, the Holy Spirit, through his instruments, gradually intensifies sounds, making them more and more distinct. And these instruments, making sounds with the help of the Spirit, must be the prophets and apostles, about whom it is said in the psalm: “Their sound goes through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5). 160. Most of the Israelites were unable to accommodate the voice from above (Ex. 19:23). They turned to Moses with a request that he himself would learn the unspeakable mysteries, and then instruct the people in the teaching that he received from above. So it is in the Church: not everyone strives to learn the Divine mysteries for themselves and, having chosen from among themselves someone who is capable of containing the Divine, they prudently listen to him and accept on faith everything that they hear from someone initiated into the Divine mysteries. 161. For it is said: “Not all are apostles and not all prophets” (1 Cor. 12:29). However, many churches today do not follow this rule. Many of those still in need of cleansing from previous deeds, unwashed and with the stained clothes of everyday life, relying only on the sensory perception characteristic of animals, dare to climb the Divine Mountain. But, like stones, they are stoned by their own inventions, since heretical views are really a kind of stones that kill the very inventor of false teachings. Divine darkness and the giving of the Law 162. So Moses entered the darkness and saw God in it (Ex. 20:21). What does this mean? Of course, it may seem that this story somehow contradicts the previous Epiphany, since the Divinity appeared then in light, and now in darkness. However, let us not think that there is a disagreement here with the spiritual interpretation consistently outlined above. Thus Scripture teaches that the knowledge of a godly life is at first like light to those in whom it takes root. Therefore, what is considered opposite to piety is darkness, and deliverance from darkness occurs through participation in the light. And the mind, moving further and further, increasing and improving its attention, reaches reasoning about the knowledge of existence, and the closer it is to its contemplation, the better it sees that the Divine nature is invisible. 163. Having abandoned everything external - not only what is comprehended through sensory perception, but also what seems understandable to the mind - he constantly penetrates into the depths until the mind reaches with considerable effort the invisible and incomprehensible and sees God there. After all, this is the true knowledge of what he seeks, and the true vision in non-seeing - for the One to whom he strives surpasses all knowledge and is surrounded on all sides by incomprehensibility, like darkness. Therefore, John, penetrating into the bright darkness, sublimely says that “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18), defining by this denial that not only for people, but also for any rational nature, the knowledge of the Divine Essence is unattainable. 164. Therefore. when Moses grew in knowledge, he testified that he saw God in darkness, that is, he knew that by His nature the Divinity is above all knowledge and comprehension. After all, it is said: “Moses entered into darkness where God is” (Ex. 20:21). What God? He who “made darkness His covering” (Ps. 17:12), as David says, initiated into unspeakable mysteries in the same hidden sanctuary 36. 165. Finding himself in this place, Moses received verbal instruction in those truths that he had previously been taught by darkness, I believe, so that the testimony of the Divine voice would confirm this teaching for us. First of all. The Divine word forbids people to liken the Deity to anything cognizable (Ex. 20:4), since every concept of the Divine nature, generated in the imagination of our mind by reasoning and assumptions, does not represent God, but only His image. 166. And the virtue of piety can be understood in two ways: in relation to the Divine and to moral improvement (after all, purity of life is an integral part of piety). Having already known what is necessary about God - that is, what is impossible, relying only on human knowledge, to form any idea about Him - Moses then learned another type of virtue: what needs to be done to achieve perfection in a virtuous life. 167. Then he found himself in the tabernacle not made with hands. Who can follow him, having gone through all this and raised his mind to such heights? Passing peak after peak, all the time in his ascent to the highest, Moses rose above himself. First, he passed the foot of the mountain and separated himself from everything that lacked the strength to climb. Then, as he moved upward, he heard trumpets. Then he entered the invisible sanctuary of the knowledge of God. But he did not stop there either and entered the tabernacle not made by hands. And, truly, only here does he reach his limit who ascends in such an ascent. 168. It seems to me that the sound of a trumpet from heaven can be interpreted differently as a teacher who shows those who listen the way to things not made by hands. After all, the amazing harmony of heaven glorifies the wisdom shining in all things and preaches the great glory of God in visible phenomena - as it is said: “The heavens preach the glory of God” (Ps. 18:2). This harmony clearly and euphoniously sounds like a loud trumpet of teaching - as one of the prophets says that the sky sounded from above (1 Samuel 7:10; Sir.46:20). 169. When one who has achieved the purity and sharpness of the heart’s hearing hears this sound (by which I mean the contemplation of existence, leading to the knowledge of Divine power), then this sound directs his mind to penetrate into the place of God’s abiding. It is this place that Scripture calls darkness, which means, as has already been said, ignorance and lack of vision. And, once there, Moses sees the tabernacle not made with hands in order to show its material likeness to those remaining below. 170. So, what is this tabernacle not made with hands that was revealed to Moses on the mountain? He receives a command, looking at it as a prototype, to display this miraculous miracle in a man-made product. “See,” says God, “make it according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40). There were golden columns resting on silver bases and decorated with tops of the same silver. There were also other columns with tops and bases made of copper and with silver in the middle. The trunk of both was made of wood that was not subject to rotting, and the surface, trimmed with precious materials, radiated radiance from all sides. 171. There was also an ark here, also sparkling with pure gold: it was lined with it on the outside, and inside it was also made of wood that was not subject to rotting. In addition, there was a lamp: at the base it had one trunk, which at the top was divided into seven branches, and each of them supported a lamp. The material for the lamp was gold, and inside it had neither emptiness nor a wooden base. There was also an altar there, the lid of the ark 37 and the so-called cherubim, whose wings overshadowed the ark (Heb. 9:5). And all this is made of gold - not only for the sake of external decoration, since everything was entirely made of this material. 172. There were also colorful curtains of skillful weaving, where different colors combined with each other, giving beauty to the fabric. They divided the tabernacle into two parts: visible and accessible to some clergy, and mysterious and inaccessible. The first was called the sanctuary, and the second, the hidden one, was called the Holy of Holies. In addition, there were lavers, fire pits, curtains of the outer court, hair skins, skins dyed red, and everything else that is spoken of in the Scriptures. And what words could accurately describe all this? 173. What correspondence does all this have among things not made by hands? And what benefit does a material image of everything Moses saw bring to those who look at it? It seems to me reasonable to leave the detailed interpretation of these questions to those who can search through the Spirit the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10), and to those who “speak in mysteries by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 14:2), according to the word of the apostle. What I say about this is just my guess and assumption, which I leave to the readers’ judgment. And they can, after reflecting on what is being studied, accept or reject them as they see fit. 174. So, relying on the words of Paul, who partially revealed this mystery, I will say that Moses was previously, in type, instructed in the mystery of the tabernacle, which embraces the world. The tabernacle is probably Christ, “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). Not made by hand by nature, this tabernacle becomes created when it needs to be erected among us. Therefore, it is both uncreated and created: uncreated in pre-existence, it becomes created when it takes on a material dispensation. 175. It is unlikely that what has been said may seem unclear to those who have accurately accepted the sacrament of our faith. Indeed, truly only One of all was before the ages, and was born in the last centuries. There was no need for Him to be born in time: and how could He who was before time and ages need a temporary Birth? But He wished to become like us, for our own sake, who through weakness of will perished for existence, so that what had fallen from Existence could again be raised to Him. This is the Only Begotten God, who embraces the universe with Himself, but who also made His tabernacle among us (John 1:14). 176. And if we call such a great Good a tabernacle, then let not the lover of Christ be embarrassed, as if such a verbal image diminishes the greatness of the Divine nature. After all, any other name denoting His nature is unworthy of Him, and all of them together are equally insufficient for an accurate designation: both those that are recognized as insignificant, and those in which the greatness of thoughts is noticeable. 177. But all these names, each in accordance with its meaning, are piously used to designate the Divine power: physician, shepherd, protector, bread, vine, way, door, abode, water, rock, spring and all His other names - and in the same way He is called the word "tabernacle" in the sense appropriate to the name of the Divinity. After all, there really is a power that embraces all things, in which “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 2:9); the general covering of everything, which embraces the universe, is rightly called the tabernacle. 178. But it is necessary that the visual image correspond to this name, and that every detail of it leads to the contemplation of the correct idea of ​​God. So, the great apostle says that the veil of the earthly tabernacle is flesh (Heb. 10:20), - I think because it consists of different colors, which denote the four elements 38. He himself had a vision of the tabernacle in the heavenly sanctuaries (2 Cor. 12:4), where the secrets of Paradise were revealed to him by the Spirit. Therefore, it will be correct, based on this partial interpretation, to harmonize with it the further spiritual interpretation of the tabernacle. 179. And in the very words of the apostle we can find an explanation of its symbols. He, indeed, says in one place about the Only Begotten, Whom we mean by the tabernacle, that “By Him all things were created, visible and invisible: whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers...” (Col. 1:16). So, the columns shimmering with silver and gold, supporting poles, rings, cherubs overshadowing the ark with their wings, and the rest that is included in the description of the structure of the tabernacle - if you consider all this, thinking about the Upper world, then these are supermundane forces that are contemplated in the tabernacle and, according to the Divine will, support the universe. 180. They are our true pillars of support, “sent out to minister for those who are to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14). Penetrating into the souls of those being saved, as if into rings, they lift those lying on the ground to the heights of virtue. And by saying that the cherubim covered with their wings the mysteries that lay in the ark of the covenant, the narrative thereby confirms the spiritual interpretation of the tabernacle that we have proposed. After all, we know that this is the name of the powers contemplated next to the Divine nature, as Isaiah and Ezekiel saw (Is. 37:16; Eze. 9:3). And let us not be surprised to hear that the Ark of the Covenant is covered with wings! After all, something similar can be found in Isaiah, where the prophet symbolically speaks of wings (Is. 6:2). But what is here called the Ark of the Covenant is called a face, and the wings do not cover the ark, but the face. But in both cases, it seems to me, the same thing is meant - an understanding of the impossibility of contemplating Divine mysteries. 181. And when you hear about the lamps (Rev. 4:5), which were held on one lamp, dividing into different branches so that an abundant light spread everywhere in abundance, you will not be mistaken in recognizing them as the various rays of the Spirit shining in this tabernacle. This is what Isaiah talks about when he distinguishes the seven rays of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2). 182. And the symbolic meaning of the lid of the ark (the place of propitiation), I think, does not even need explanation since the time when the apostle revealed the hidden meaning, speaking about the One whom “God offered as a sacrifice of propitiation” for our souls (Rom. 3:25). When I hear about the altar and the censer, I understand by them the worship of the Heavenly Powers continuously performed in this tabernacle. After all, not only the language of the inhabitants of the earth and the underground, but also the language of the heavenly inhabitants sings praise to the Beginning of everything. This is a sacrifice pleasing to God, “the fruit of the lips” (Heb. 13:15), as the apostle says, and the fragrance of prayers. 183. And if, among other details of the tabernacle, we look at the skin dyed red and the woolen coverings, then the chain of our spiritual reasoning will not be interrupted. After all, the eye of the prophet, having seen Divine things, will notice here the predetermined saving suffering hidden in each of the named symbols: the red color means blood, and the wool means mortification. Wool is deprived of sensitivity, therefore it is an exact image of death. 184. And whenever the prophet looks at the upper tabernacle, he sees precisely this reality in its symbols. But let us now take a spiritual look at the earthly tabernacle. Paul many times calls the Church Christ (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 1:23), therefore, it would be reasonable to consider the ministers of the Divine sacrament, whom Scripture calls the pillars of the Church (Gal. 2:9), to be apostles, teachers and prophets. After all, not only Peter, John and James are the pillars of the Church, and not only John the Baptist is a “burning lamp” (John 5:35), but all who support the Church and, thanks to their works, have become “luminaries” (Phil. 2:15), are called pillars and lamps. “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), says the Lord to the apostles. And the Divine Apostle, turning to other people, commands them to be pillars, saying: “Be strong, immovable” (1 Cor. 15:58). He built up a good support in Timothy, making him, as he himself says, “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). 185. In this tabernacle we see the “sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15) and the incense of prayer continually performed both morning and evening. The great David explains these images when he says that he sends up the fragrant incense of prayer to God and makes a sacrifice by raising his hands (Ps. 141:2). And if anyone hears about the fonts of ablution, he will easily recognize them as those who wash away the filth of sins with the water of the sacrament. The font was John, who washed people in the Jordan, baptizing them to repentance. The font was Peter, who led three thousand people to the water of baptism at once (Acts 2:41). The font was for the nobleman of the Queen of Candace, Philip (Acts 8:27) - and all who accepted the grace of baptism became a font for those who partook of this Gift. 186. And indeed, he will not be mistaken who decides that the curtains of the outer court, which, united with each other, surround the tabernacle on all sides, are the unanimity of believers in love and peace (Acts 4:32). This is how David interpreted it, saying: “He establishes peace within your borders” (Ps. 147:3). 187. And under the skins dyed purple and under the coarse woolen blankets that served as the decoration of the tabernacle, it is meant, respectively, the mortification of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3) - it is symbolized by the skin dyed purple - and a strict ascetic life, which are the best decoration of the church tabernacle. After all, skins, although not possessing vital force by their own nature, acquire a beautiful color if they are painted with red paint. This teaches us that the grace that blossoms in man from the Spirit will not appear in those who have not killed themselves to sin. Whether modesty and modesty are meant by painting with red paint, let whoever wishes to judge for himself. And knitted wool, which is a material that is rough and unpleasant to the touch, symbolizes strict abstinence, pacifying the passions inherent in people. We find all this in the virgin life, which torments the flesh of those who observe it (1 Cor. 9:27). 188. And if it is said that the inner part, called the Holy of Holies, is inaccessible to the majority, then let us not think that this contradicts the course of our reasoning. For truly the holy and the holiest of saints, for the majority - incomprehensible and inaccessible, is the Truth of existence. She rests in the secret and ineffable sanctuaries of the mystical tabernacle. And it is useless to try to know what is beyond our understanding - we must believe that what we strive for exists, but is not in front of everyone, but resides, ineffable, in the secret sanctuaries of the tabernacle. 189. Moses was taught these and similar things when the vision of the tabernacle appeared before the eyes of his soul. And then, purified and elevated by this contemplation, he is again raised to the pinnacle of new knowledge and receives instructions on the priestly garments, which consisted of a tunic, an ephod, a breast ornament of precious stones shining with multi-colored rays, a band around the head and a golden shield on it, an undergarment, pomegranates and bells (Ex. 28:4). On top of all this were placed “prophecy” with “revelation” and the “truth” contemplated on both 39 (Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:8). On both sides, these clothes were connected by shoulder pads, fastened with clasps with the names of the patriarchs. 190. The very names of these clothes do not give most people the opportunity to study them in detail and accurately. And indeed, which of the clothes on the human body could be called “prophecy”, “revelation” or “truth”? Therefore, it is absolutely clear that Scripture tells us not about ordinary, material clothing, but about the adornment of the soul, woven from good deeds. 191. The tunic, which fell to the ground, was purple. And some of those who before me interpreted this passage of Scripture 40 asserted that this color symbolizes air. As for me, I cannot definitely say whether there is anything in common between the color of the tunic and the air, although I do not deny this possibility. My interpretation seeks to reveal the spiritual meaning related to virtue. In this sense, this passage of Scripture means that the one who devotes himself to God also brings his body to the altar of sacrifice, but not as a mortified sacrifice, but as a “living sacrifice for reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). He does not harm the soul with fat, carnal clothing, but purifies his life and makes all its manifestations subtle, like the thread of a spider's web, and thereby becomes closer to the sublime, light and airy. We must re-weave our natural body so that at the last sound of the trumpet it will be light and unencumbered, and so that in response to the voice of the One who calls us, we will rise into the air and ascend with the Lord, unburdened by anything that would pull us down to the earth (1 Thess. 4:17). According to the psalmist, the one whose soul “You have dried up like a cobweb” (Ps. 39:12) 41 will be dressed from head to toe in an airy tunic. For the law does not mean the derogation of virtue. 192. Golden bells interspersed with pomegranate apples symbolize the radiance of good deeds. After all, virtue can be acquired through two things: faith in God and living according to conscience. The great Paul added these bells and pomegranates to Timothy's clothing when he said that he should have “faith and a good conscience” (1 Timothy 1:19). So, let the clear and clear voice of faith sound in the sermon of the Holy Trinity, and let life imitate the nature of the pomegranate apple. 193. For in appearance the pomegranate is inedible, since it is covered with a hard and bitter peel, but inside it everything is arranged in a strictly defined order, pleasing to the eye, and it is even more pleasant to the taste due to its sweet pulp. Likewise, the harsh life of one who strives for wisdom, outwardly seems difficult and unattractive, but, having reached maturity in due time, it is filled with joyful hopes. For when, at the appointed hour, our Gardener breaks the pomegranate fruit of our life and reveals the beauty hidden there, then eating our own fruits will seem sweet to everyone. After all, the Divine Apostle said that “all punishment at the present time seems not joy, but sorrow” - and this is the first touch of a pomegranate - “but after... it brings forth peaceful fruit” (Heb. 12:11) - this is the delicious sweet pulp that is inside. 194. Scripture indicates that the tunic should be framed along the edge with pendants in the form of balls. They are not intended for practical use, but purely for decoration. From this we learn that virtue is not limited only to what is commanded to us, but we ourselves must try to find something that could become an additional adornment to our clothing, like Paul, who adorned the commandments with his own beautiful frame. After all, although the law commands those who serve the altar to take a share from the altar and “those who preach the gospel to live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:13–14), Paul preached the gospel “freely” (1 Cor. 9:18), enduring “hunger and thirst and nakedness” (1 Cor. 4:11). This is the very beautiful fringe with which he decorated the tunic of the commandments. 195. On top of this long tunic they also put on an ephod. It consists of two pieces of material, one of which falls from the shoulders to the chest, and the other to the back. On the shoulders they are fastened with clasps in the form of two stones. Each stone is engraved with the names of six patriarchs. The fabric of the ephod is multi-colored: a violet thread is intertwined with a scarlet thread, a scarlet thread is intertwined with a white one, and a golden thread runs through all this multi-colored thread, so that all this motley fabric shines with a single beauty. 196. When we contemplate the ephod, we understand that this upper part of the vestment, which is rightfully an ornament of the heart, is woven from many different virtues. The color violet is intertwined with crimson, for royalty is connected with the purity of life. And the scarlet thread is mixed with white, since a bright, pure life is usually combined with the blush of modesty. And the gold, sparkling against the background of all these colors, implies the treasures prepared for those who live such a life. The names of the patriarchs, engraved on the clasps, are also a very important decoration of the vestments, because human life is further adorned by the examples of those who have succeeded in virtue. 197. Moreover, on top of the beautiful ephod there was another decoration. It consisted of golden shields hanging from the shoulder pads, and a golden quadrangle attached to these shields, into which stones were inserted, arranged in four rows: three stones in each. Among them it was impossible to find a single pair of the same, each flaunted with its own radiance. 198. This is the appearance of this decoration, but its internal meaning is as follows: the golden shields descending from the shoulders imply that we have weapons in both hands to fight the enemy. For, as I said before, perfection in virtue consists of two parts: faith and living with a clear conscience, and, thanks to the protection of these shields, we remain safe, invulnerable to the enemy’s arrows, “with the weapon of righteousness in the right and in the left hand” (2 Cor. 6:7). 199. The decoration in the form of a quadrangle, suspended from the shields and into which stones were inserted with the names of the patriarchs of the tribes of Israel engraved on them, is the very cover that protects the heart. Scripture teaches us that the one who repels the arrows of the evil one with two shields will adorn his soul with all the virtues of the patriarchs, and each stone on the robe of virtue will shine with its own light. And let the quadrangular shape of the decoration be an indication to you that you must remain firmly in goodness, for it is difficult to change the shape of a figure with straight sides resting on right angles. 200. The straps with which these ornaments were attached to the hands, it seems to me, teach that for an exalted life, practical philosophy must be united with contemplation, since the heart symbolizes contemplation, and the hands - deeds. 201. A diadem adorning the head signifies the crown prepared for those who have lived a worthy life. He is adorned with a name imprinted in mysterious writing on a golden shield (Ex. 28:36). But the one who puts on such attire should not wear sandals, so as not to burden the step in any way and not to slow down the walk by wearing dead skins, which confirms our interpretation of climbing a mountain. For how could a sandal, which at the first initiation into the sacrament was rejected as an obstacle preventing one from ascending the mountain, become an adornment for the foot? Golden Calf and Broken Tablets 202. Moses, passing through all the degrees of ascension that we have consistently examined, carried in his hands the tablets created by God, containing the Divine Law. But these tablets were broken due to the fierce resistance of sinners (Exodus 32:19). The sin of these people was that they made an idol - a statue depicting a bull - and began to worship it. This bull was ground into powder by Moses and dissolved in water to become a drink for those who had sinned. Thus, the substance itself, which served people for an unholy purpose, was completely destroyed. 203. Even then, this story prophetically announced what has come true in our time. For all error regarding idols has finally disappeared from life. It is swallowed up in the mouths of those who, by a good confession (1 Tim. 6:13), have destroyed in themselves the very substance of ungodliness. And the mysteries of idolatry established in ancient times became just meaningless running water, which was swallowed up by the lips of those who were themselves once possessed by idols. And now, when you see that those who formerly submitted to this madness and believed in it have now destroyed and destroyed it, is it not obvious to you that this story says: every idol will someday be swallowed up by the lips of those who turn from deception to piety. 204. Moses then armed the Levites against their own people (Ex. 32:27). Having walked through the entire camp from one end to the other, they killed everyone they met, entrusting the blade of the sword to administer justice to the rebels. Everyone they met was killed indiscriminately. No distinction was made between enemy and friend, foreigner and relative, friend and foe, as if one hand, in a single impulse, acted indiscriminately, with equal force against everyone. 205. We can learn the following useful lesson from this story. Since everyone around turned to evil and the whole camp became one whole in committing an atrocity, the blow fell on everyone indiscriminately. In the same way, when punishing a person caught in evil, they beat him with a whip wherever necessary, knowing that the pain from the blow spreads throughout the body and every part of the body united by the crime is equally punished. Thus, a blow falling on a part enlightens the whole. 206. So, if someday God’s indignation, despite the equal degree of participation in the evil deeds of many people, is directed not against everyone, but only against some, then we must understand that God shows philanthropy in correcting vice. Although not everyone is punished, but only a few, the rest, being taught by their example, turn away from evil. 207. But this is still the literal meaning of history, and its spiritual interpretation can bring us the following benefit. The legislator, addressing everyone, called: “Whoever belongs to the Lord, come to me!” ( Exodus 32:26 ). This is the voice of the Law, commanding everyone: whoever wants to be a friend of God, let him be a friend of me (after all, a friend of the Law is in all respects a friend of God). Then Moses commanded all those who had gathered to him to answer this call to point the sword against their brother, friend and neighbor. 208. We, considering the spiritual meaning, understand that every person who turns to God and the Law is purified, killing his bad habits, which have already become familiar to him. After all, Scripture does not call everyone brother, friend and neighbor in the best sense of the word. It may also be that one and the same person will be for us a brother and a stranger, a friend and an enemy, a neighbor and an enemy at the same time. Here I mean our innermost thoughts: their life brings us death, and their death brings us life. 209. This interpretation is also consistent with the previously discussed story about the meeting of Moses with Aaron. Then in the ally and helper Moses met, we saw an angel who performed signs against the Egyptians. He can rightfully be called an elder brother: elder - because the angelic incorporeal nature was created before ours, and brother - because of the kinship of his rational nature with ours. 210. But then a contradiction arises: how can a meeting with Aaron, who then became the executor of the will of the Israelites in the construction of the idol, be considered favorable? Here Scripture reveals some of the ambiguity of the word "brotherhood" and shows that not everything that sounds the same has the same meaning, even if the same word is used in opposite meanings. Thus, one brother is the one who delivers from the Egyptian tyrant, and a completely different one is the one who makes an idol for the Israelites, although the name in both cases remains the same. 211. It is against such brothers that Moses draws his sword. He, of course, himself follows the law that he commanded others to fulfill, because the murder of such a brother is the destruction of sin. And everyone who destroyed the evil that was in him by the will of the enemy 42 killed in himself the one who had previously lived in sin. 212. To confirm our understanding of this passage, let us consider the spiritual meaning of some other episodes of the narrative. It is known that Aaron ordered the Israelites to remove their earrings, which became the material for making the idol (Exodus 32:2). What can we say to this? Moses adorned the ears of the Israelites with earrings, that is, the law, but the falsely named brother disobeyed and removed the decoration assigned to the ears, making an idol out of it 43. 213. So it was when sin first entered the world: advice to break a commandment became like taking off an earring. Primordial people mistook the serpent for a friend and neighbor, who advised them to violate the Divine commandment, convincing them that this was a good and useful deed (Gen. 3:1-5). This means removing the earring of the commandment from the ear. And whoever kills such brothers, friends and neighbors will hear the very words of the law with which Moses - as it is said in the narrative - addressed those who killed them: “Today consecrate your hands to the Lord, every one of you in his son and in his brother, that He may bestow upon you today a blessing” (Ex. 32:29). Finding new tablets 214. Perhaps, it is opportune in our narrative to mention those who indulged in sin. Thus, we can learn how the tablets created by God with the Divine law inscribed on them were rediscovered by Moses. After all, when Moses encountered opposition from the people subordinate to him, the former ones were thrown to the ground and defeated by him. But this time Moses no longer received the tablets themselves, but only what was written on them. And he made the tablets himself, from earthly matter, and submitted them to the power of Him who inscribed the Law on them (Ex. 34:1). Then he regained grace and brought the Law on stone tablets, for the words were imprinted on stone by God Himself. 215. We too, walking in the footsteps of these events, can come to some understanding of Divine Providence regarding ourselves. If the Divine Apostle is right in calling our hearts tablets (2 Cor. 3:3), that is, the leading principle of the soul (and the one who pierces the depths of God with the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10) undoubtedly speaks truth), then we, thanks to spiritual interpretation, can learn the following: human nature, created by Divine hands and adorned with the unwritten writings of the Law, was at first indestructible and immortal, since the will of the Law was naturally for us in turning away from evil and honoring God. 216. When the sound of sin - that sound which the first book of Scripture calls the voice of the serpent, and the story of the tablets - the voice of “those who begin to get drunk with wine” 44 (Ex. 32:18) - struck our ears, it fell to the ground and broke. However, the true Lawgiver, whose prototype was Moses, made for Himself the tablets of our nature from earthly matter. For the flesh that accepted God was not born in marriage—He Himself became the Shaper of His flesh, sealed by the Finger of God, for the Holy Spirit descended on the Virgin, and the power of the Most High overshadowed Her (Luke 1:35). When this happened, human nature, thanks to the writings of this Finger, again became indestructible and gained immortality. And the Holy Spirit is called the Finger in many places in Scripture (cf. Luke 11:20 and Matt. 12:28; Ex. 8:19; Deut. 9:10). 217. The appearance of Moses in glory changed so much that the appearance of this glory turned out to be inaccessible to the human eye (Ex. 34:29-30). But anyone who is perfectly taught the Divine mystery of our faith cannot fail to understand the spiritual meaning of this story. When the One who restored our damaged nature (and from everything that has been said, you will understand Who exactly healed our ailments), again restored the former beauty of its broken tablet and adorned it, as has already been said, with the Finger of God, He became inaccessible to unworthy eyes and, due to His great, all-surpassing glory, turned out to be inaccessible to those looking at Him. 218. For truly, when He comes, as the Gospel says, in His glory and all the angels with Him (Matthew 25:31), it will not be easy for even the righteous to receive Him and see Him. And the wicked and those who follow the Jewish heresy will remain, as Isaiah says, not involved in this contemplation: “Let the wicked be lifted up, and not see the glory of the Lord” 45 (Is. 26:10). God appears to Moses standing on the rock 219. Following the general thread of interpretation, we have come to understand this passage. Now let's return to the subject of our story. Moses was honored with the great Epiphany and clearly saw God, which was also witnessed by God’s voice: “He spoke face to face, as if one were speaking to his friend” (Ex. 33:11). But how, after all this, as if nothing happened that we consider to have happened according to the testimony of Scripture, does Moses ask God to appear to him, as if God, who constantly appeared to him, was not noticed by him? 220. And then a voice from heaven agrees to fulfill the desire of the one asking and does not refuse new grace, but at the same time deprives him of hope, explaining that human life cannot contain what he asks. God says that He has a certain place, in this place there is a rock, and in the rock there is a cleft in which He orders Moses to stand. God will close the entrance to this chasm with his hand and, passing by it, will call Moses, and when Moses hears the call, he will come out of the chasm and see the Caller from behind (Ex. 33:22–23). Thus he will see what he asked to be shown, and the Divine promise will not turn out to be false. 221. If we take all this literally, then researchers will not only not understand anything, but will also not be able to get rid of the wrong idea about God. Only things that have a form have a front and a back, and every form serves as a limitation to the body. So, if we attribute a certain form to God, then we cannot abandon the idea that He has a body. Every body consists of parts, and everything that consists of parts is a combination of heterogeneous elements. Everything that consists of elements can be called decomposable into elements, but what is decomposable cannot be incorruptible, because corruption consists in the destruction of unity. 222. So if we take “seeing the back of God” literally, then consistent reasoning will inevitably lead to the following absurdity. The front and back necessarily belong to the form, and the form belongs to the body. The body by its nature is decomposable into elements, since everything that is composed of elements can be decomposed. What is decomposable cannot be incorruptible. Slavish adherence to the letter through consistent reasoning will certainly lead to attributing corruption to God, but God is incorruptible and incorporeal. 223. But what other interpretation, besides the one described above, can be applied to this story? After all, if this part of a single thread of the story forces us to look for another explanation, then the whole as a whole must be considered in a similar way, and what we decide about one part, we will have to accept for the whole. After all, the whole is nothing more than a collection of parts. So, the place that God had, and the rock, and the depression in it, called the cleft, and the entry of Moses there, and the hand of God that closed the entrance, and the passage, and the call, and then the contemplation of God from behind, it would be more reasonable to interpret according to the law of spiritual meaning. 224. What is depicted here? Take, for example, the fall of bodies that slide along an inclined plane: unless they encounter any opposition to the initial movement, they move of themselves with increasing speed as long as the sliding surface is inclined downward, and their movement is not interfered with by any obstacle. In the same way, the soul, freed from earthly attachments, becomes soaring and light and, rushing upward, soars from the lowlands to the heights. 225. If there is no opposition from above to this movement, then, since the nature of good has an attractive force for those who look at it, the soul will ascend higher and higher, according to its heavenly aspiration, “stretching forward,” as the apostle says (Phil. 3:13), and constantly direct its flight to new heights. 226. Burning with the desire not to lose because of what has already been achieved the height that still remains before it, the soul makes its ascension continuous, finding in every achievement an impetus for a new takeoff. In only one type of activity - work for the sake of virtue - our strength increases from work, the initial impulse is not exhausted by work, but, on the contrary, increases. 227. Therefore, we will say that the great Moses, constantly rising, never stopped and did not set any limit to his ascent. And, once having stepped on the ladder, which, as Jacob says, God had set up (Gen. 28:12-13), he constantly ascended to the next step and did not cease to climb, because each time he saw that another one rose above the step he had already reached. 228. He renounced his false relationship with the Egyptian king. He avenged the Jew. He went to live in the desert, where he would not be disturbed by the bustle of human life. Inside himself, he tended a herd of domestic animals. He saw the light shining. Having untied his sandals, he, in his ascent to the light, got rid of the burden. He led his relatives and fellow tribesmen to freedom. He saw his enemy drown in the waves. 229. He set up camp under a cloud. He quenched his thirst with a rock. He raised the heavenly bread. By stretching out his hands he defeated the foreigners. He heard a trumpet sound. He entered the darkness. He entered the secret sanctuary of the tabernacle not made with hands. He learned the ineffable secrets of the Divine priesthood. He destroyed the idol. He begged God. He restored the law that had been broken by the Jews. 230. He was enlightened by glory. And so, having climbed all these steps, he still burns with desire and dissatisfaction and relentlessly longs for what has already filled his soul as much as possible, and asks for it as if he had never been involved in anything like that. He prays for God to appear to him not according to the measure of his own perception, but as God really is. 231. I think that these are the experiences of the soul, overcome by love for that which is beautiful in its nature. Hope constantly carries her away from the beauty that she has already seen to that which is yet to be seen, and constantly kindles the fire of desire in her. And the one who truly loves the beautiful perceives everything that appears to him as an image of what he desires and longs to be filled with the sight of the Prototype Itself. 232. This was the daring request that exceeded the limits of desire: to let one enjoy beauty not in mirrors and reflections, but face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). The divine voice agrees to fulfill the request and at the same time refuses it, showing us in a few words an immeasurable abyss of meaning. Divine generosity promises to fulfill desire, but does not at all promise that lust will be replaced by satiation. 233. God would not have shown Himself to His servant if such contemplation could satisfy the lust of the person who saw Him. After all, the true contemplation of God consists in the fact that a person looking at God never ceases to desire this. God said: “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live” (Ex. 33:20). 234. This is not said in the sense that the vision of God becomes the cause of death. How can the Face of Life cause death for those who approach Him? On the contrary, the Divine by His very nature is the Giver of life. The definition of the Divine nature surpasses any definition, and the one who thinks that the Divine belongs to knowable things turns away from the truly Existent for the sake of what only in the imagination has an apparent existence, and such a person has no life in himself. 235. For what truly exists is true life. It is incomprehensible. So, if the life-giving nature surpasses all understanding, then everything that is known is not life. And everything that is not life does not have the ability to give life. Thus, Moses' desire is fulfilled, but his lust remains unsatisfied. 236. This story teaches us that the Divine is by His nature limitless and not confined to any limits. After all, if you decide that the Divine has limits, then you inevitably have to think about what lies beyond these limits. Everything that is contained within limits must end somewhere. For example, for birds the habitat is air, and for aquatic creatures it is water. The fish is surrounded on all sides by water, and the bird is surrounded by air. The aquatic environment for sea creatures or the air for birds is a clear manifestation of the concept of the limit: water surrounds fish, and air surrounds birds. The boundary of water for swimming creatures, and air for birds, serves as the limit where the environment in which they can exist is replaced by another. In the same way, if we attribute any limits to the Divine, it will be necessary to admit that He is contained in an environment that is foreign in nature. Common sense dictates that what is contained is greater than what is contained. 237. But we have recognized that the Divine is by His nature good. That which is foreign to good, of course, is not good. What is outside of good is naturally understood as evil. And, as has already been shown, it holds more than it can hold. Then, if we assume that the Deity has limits, it will be necessary to admit that It is surrounded by evil. 238. And since what is contained must necessarily be less than what contains, it follows from this that what is superior in number has superiority. So, if you think that the Divine has limits, you thereby come to the idea that good is subordinate to evil. But this is nonsense! It is impossible to imagine what could contain the infinite. And since its nature cannot be contained, it cannot be understood. And every desire for good, carried away by the ascent upward, only increases as we approach it. 239. And the true contemplation of God consists in never being satiated in one’s lust, but constantly looking at Him, despite what one has already managed to see, yet burning with the desire to see even more. And therefore there is no limit that could interrupt a person’s ascent to God, because there is no limit to good, and no saturation will stop the desire for it. 240. But how can we understand the place about which God spoke? That rock and the hole in it? And the hand of God that closed the entrance to the cleft in the rock? And the passage of God? And the back that God promised to show Moses when he asked to see the Face? 241. Each of these concepts must be truly great and worthy of the generosity of the Giver, since this Epiphany was promised as something more magnificent and higher than all those which the great servant of God had previously seen. How, based on all of the above, can one understand the height to which Moses, having already reached such great heights, sought to ascend; the height to which the One who “Promotes those who love God” (Rom. 8:28) helps to ascend, guiding Moses and saying: “This is my place” (Exod. 33:21). 242. Our understanding is fully consistent with the interpretation already stated. Speaking about this place, God does not give it quantitative definitions (for that which does not have quantity has no size), but, using the concept of a measurable surface, leads his listener to the infinite and limitless. The meaning of these words seems to be approximately this: since your lust extends forward (Phil. 3:13) and there is no saturation for your movement, and you know that there is no limit to good, and the desire is always directed towards more, that is, I have such a great place in which you can run and never reach the end of your movement. 243. This movement is also called rest: “I will put you in a cleft in the rock,” says God (Ex. 33:22). This is the strangest thing: how can one and the same state be both rest and movement? He who ascends does not stand in any way, and he who stops no longer moves upward. And here standing stems from ascension. The fact is that the firmer and more persistent a person becomes in relation to goodness, the more faithfully he moves along the path of virtue. He who is unsteady and shaky in his thoughts, who stands unsteadily in goodness, who, according to the word of the Apostle, hesitates and gets carried away (Eph. 4:14), who doubts the understanding of the Existence and is full of indecisiveness, will hardly ever move up the path of virtue. 244. It is like climbing a sandy hill: even if your feet have walked many steps, all your efforts are useless, because the sand is constantly crumbling to the base of the hill. Movement occurs, but this movement does not move you forward. If, according to the word of the psalmist, having pulled out your feet, get out of the swamp and stand on a stone (Ps. 39:3) (this stone is Christ, the fullness of virtue), then the more firm and unshakable in goodness, according to the advice of Paul (1 Cor. 15:58), a person is, the sooner his advancement will occur. Such stability becomes like a wing for him, and the heart soars in its ascent, relying on a firm commitment to goodness. So, by showing Moses this place, God awakened him to move. And the promise to put him on a rock showed how to run along this Divine treadmill. 245. And the depression in the rock, which is here called a cleft, was perfectly interpreted by the Divine Apostle himself when he said that after the destruction of the earthly hut, through our hope, a dwelling not made with hands has been prepared for us in heaven (2 Cor. 5:1). 246. And indeed, the one who, according to the word of the apostle, completed his race 46 (2 Tim. 4:7) along this wide and capacious race track, which the Divine voice called “place,” and truly “kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7), he, as it is said symbolically, established his feet on the stone and was adorned with a crown of righteousness from the hand of Him who established such a race. This reward is called by different names in Scripture. 247. And what is here called a hole in the rock is in other places called the delight of paradise (Gen. 2), the eternal home (2 Cor. 5:1), the abode of the Father (John 14:2), the bosom of the first parent (Lk. 16:22), the land of the living (Ps. 27:13), the still waters (Ps. 23:2), the highest Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26), The kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:44, etc.), the honor of calling (Phil. 3:14), a crown of grace, a crown of delight or a beautiful crown (cf. Proverbs 1:9, 4:9), a strong tower (Ps. 60:4), the joy of a feast, sitting next to the Lord, the throne of judgment (Luke 22:30), a place of name ( Deut.12:5) and the hidden tabernacle (Ps.26:5). 248. And therefore it can be said that the entry of Moses into the rock meant the same as all these expressions. Since Paul calls Christ a rock (1 Cor. 10:4), and in Christ we see hope for all good things, since we have learned that in Him are hidden the treasures of all good things (Col. 2:3), then everyone who finds himself in good things is undoubtedly in Christ, who contains all good things. A Call to Follow God 249. Who reached this place and was, as the narrative reports, overshadowed by the hand of God (and the hand is, apparently, the power of God, creating all things. The only begotten God, through whom all things began to be (John 1:3), Who for those who run is the very “place” through which their running passes, as He Himself said about it (John 14:6), and for those who stand firm becomes a rock, and for those who rest - home), he will hear the call and see the Caller from behind, that is, he will follow God, as the law commands (Deut. 13:4). 250. This call was heard and understood by the great David, who told the one living under the roof of the Most High that He will overshadow you with His wings 47 (Ps. 91:1,4), in other words, “You will stand behind Him,” because wings are behind. And about himself, David said: “My soul 48 cleaves to You” (Ps. 62:9), “You hold my right hand” (Ps. 73:23). You see how the psalms correspond to this story. Just as it says that God holds the right hand of the one who cleaves to Him, so here God says that He will stretch out His hand to the one standing on the rock and call him to follow Him. 251. And when the Lord, who answered Moses at that time, became the Executor of His Own Law, 49 He explained it to the disciples, revealing the meaning of figurative expressions. He said: “If anyone wants to come after Me” (Luke 9:23), and not “ahead of Me.” And to the one who asked about eternal life, He offered the same thing: “Come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). And whoever follows someone sees his back. 252. So Moses, who sought to see God, was taught how to see Him: to follow Him wherever He leads you means to look at God. When God passes by Moses, this signifies such leadership. After all, it is impossible to safely lead along the path someone who does not know the way, unless you invite him to follow you. By moving ahead, the leader thereby shows the way to the follower. And the follower will not deviate from the right path if he constantly looks at the back of the leader. 253. If he deviates to the side or stands in front of the leader, he will begin to pave a new path for himself, not the one that the guide shows him. That is why He says to the leader: “You cannot see My face” (Ex. 33:20), that is, do not stand in front of the leader. Otherwise, it would begin to move in the opposite direction, since a good does not oppose another good, but follows it. 254. After all, that which is directed in the direction opposite to the good, as it were, looks it straight in the face. Therefore, vice looks virtue in the face. Another virtue will not be directed in the opposite direction. That is why Moses did not look God in the face, but saw Him only from his back. For whoever looks into His face will not live, as God’s voice testified: “Man cannot see Me and live” (Ex. 33:20). 255. You see what a great thing it is to learn to follow God. After all the sublime ascents, terrible and glorious Epiphanies, man, who learned to be behind God, was only able to receive this grace towards the end of his life. But the one who follows God is no longer afraid of any obstacles presented by vice. 256. After this, envy of Moses arose among his fellow tribesmen (Num. 12:1-2). Envy is the beginning of evil passions, the father of death, the first door to sin, the root of vice, the parent of sorrow, the mother of misfortune, the pretext of disobedience, the beginning of shame. Envy, turning into a serpent before Eve, expelled us from paradise. Envy blocked the tree of life from us and, depriving us of sacred vestments, 50 gave us, who were ashamed, leaves of the fig tree (Gen. 3:1-7). 257. Envy, contrary to nature, armed Cain and arranged a murder that required sevenfold vengeance (Gen. 4:8–15, 24). Envy turned Joseph into a slave (Gen. 37:1–28). Envy is a deadly sting, a hidden weapon, an ailment of human nature, a bile poison, voluntary decay, an arrow of bitterness, a nail in the soul, a fire in the heart, a flame that burns the insides. 258. For envy, misfortune does not consist in one’s own misfortune, but in someone else’s well-being, and success does not consist in one’s own good, but in misfortune for one’s neighbor. Envy suffers from human prosperity and tramples on human misfortune. They say that kites, devouring carrion, die from anointing with myrrh 51 because their nature is accustomed to stench and decay. So, someone possessed by the disease of envy of the prosperity of his neighbor withers away, as if he had been touched by the world, but if he sees that a misfortune has occurred, he immediately swoops down and grabs it with his crooked beak in order to pull out the hidden trouble. 259. Envy struggled with many people even before Moses. But when she attacked this great man, she broke, like a clay pot thrown into a rock. Thus, the benefit of that march after God, which Moses performed, was especially clearly manifested, moving in the Divine place, standing on a rock, hidden in a recess, overshadowed by God's hand, following his Guide and looking at Him not in the face, but in the back. 260. He achieved inner bliss - this is evident in the way he followed God and found himself higher than an archer could reach. Envy shot an arrow at him, but its flight did not reach the height at which Moses stood. The drawn bow of evil was unable to release such an arrow of passion that would cover the distance from the people already afflicted by this illness to Moses. But Aaron and Miriam were wounded by the passion of slander and became like a bow of envy, shooting words at Moses instead of arrows (Num. 12:1-2). 261. Moses was so far from participating in this weakness that he even healed the suffering of the sick, and not only did nothing to protect himself from insults, but even begged God for those who insulted him (Num. 12:13). By his actions, I believe, he showed that he who is securely covered with the shield of virtue cannot be struck by arrows. 262. The strength of his armor dulls the edge and takes it to the side. And the armor that protects against these arrows turns out to be God Himself, in Whom the warrior of virtue dresses, as it is said: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14). This is an impenetrable armor that suited Moses, and under the protection of which he showed the futility of the efforts of the evil archer. 263. He did not yield to the impulse to defend himself against those who insulted him, and even when they were condemned by an incorruptible court, he did not think about natural justice and begged God for the forgiveness of his fellow men. He would not have done this if he had not followed God, whose back showed him the right path of virtue. 264. Same with everything else. When the born enemy of mankind became convinced that he had no way of harming Moses, he turned his enmity to easier prey. He fired the passion of gluttony into the people like an arrow and awakened Egyptian tastes in them. They preferred meat gluttony to heavenly food, like the Egyptians (Num. 11:4-6). 265. But the exalted soul of Moses turned out to be above this passion, since it was completely absorbed in the inheritance that God promised to people who left mental Egypt and went to the land where milk flows mixed with honey (Num. 14:8). Therefore, he appointed spies to tell about the blessings of this land (Num. 13:2-4). 266. As I understand, those of them who offered good hopes are thoughts born of faith that strengthen our hope for the good things to come. And those who denied good hopes, apparently, had hostile thoughts that dulled faith in what was promised. But Moses did not recognize a single word of the enemy, and considered the favorable story about this land to be true. 267. The campaign of the truthful spies was led by Jesus, and with his own persistence he made people believe in his story. Looking at him, Moses strengthened his hopes for the future, and an example of the food that they would find in that land was a bunch of grapes brought to him on poles (Num. 13:24). When you hear what Jesus tells about this land and that the bunch of grapes is lifted up on the tree, you understand to whom Moses looked to be sure of his hopes. 268. A bunch of grapes hung on a tree - what is it if not a bunch hung on a tree in the last days (cf. John 15:1), the Blood of which became a saving drink for believers? This was symbolically foreshadowed by Moses, saying: “They drank the blood of the grapes, the wine” 52 (Deut. 32:14), which means the saving Passion. 269. And again the road ran through the desert, and the people, tormented by thirst, lost hope for the promised good. But Moses again brought water out of the rock and watered the desert (Numbers 20:11). This narrative, interpreted spiritually, teaches us what the sacrament of repentance is. Those who once ate from the Rock, but turned again to gluttony, pleasing the flesh and Egyptian pleasures, are condemned and deprived of participation in the good. 270. But for them there is always the opportunity to change their minds and find the Rock that they left: to again make a hole for the stream and drink the moisture that it exudes for those who believed in the truth of the story of Jesus, and not the tales of the enemy, looked at the grape Brush suspended and bleeding for us, and again extracted moisture from the rock with the help of wood. 271. But the people were not yet accustomed to follow in the footsteps of the greatness of Moses. The Israelites still strove and were inclined towards slavish lusts and Egyptian pleasures. Thus, the narrative shows us that every person by nature succumbs to this passion, and there are countless ways that lead to this disease. 272. But Moses, like a doctor who with his skill does not allow illness to overcome a person, did not allow illness to lead to death. The lusts of foolish people gave birth to snakes, whose bites introduced deadly poison into the body through a wound. But the great lawgiver, with the help of the image of a serpent, deprived the power of real serpents (Num. 21:9). 273. The time has come to explain this symbol. There is an antidote to evil passions - this is the cleansing of our souls, accomplished in the sacrament of piety. And for those who believe in this sacrament, the most important thing is to look at the Passion of the One who took upon Himself our passions. His Passion is the Cross, and whoever looks at it, as the story goes, will not suffer any harm from poisonous lusts (Num. 21:9). 274. And to look at the Cross means to make your life as if dead to the world and crucified (Gal.6:14), motionless to sin. That is, according to the word of the prophet, to nail your flesh to the fear of God (Ps. 119:120), and the nail that holds the flesh is abstinence. 275. So, since the lusts of foolish people call up serpents from the earth (and every product of evil lust is a serpent), the law points us to the One who hangs on the tree. He is the likeness of a serpent, and yet not a serpent, but, as the great Paul says, “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3). For truly the serpent is sin, and anyone who goes over to the side of sin takes on the serpentine nature. 276. And man is freed from sin by Him who took on the form of sin and became like us, who changed our form to that of a snake. Thanks to Him, bites no longer lead to death, but the snakes themselves are not yet destroyed. By snakes I mean lusts. Sin can no longer cause evil death to those who look at the Cross, but the lust of the flesh, which opposes the spirit (Gal. 5:17), does not yet completely perish. 277. And the faithful are often subject to the bites of lust. But the one who looks at the Ascended One on the Cross distances passion from himself, neutralizing the poison, as if with medicine, by fear of the commandment. The Lord himself clearly showed us that the serpent lifted up in the wilderness symbolizes the mystery of the Cross when he said: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). 278. But sin still goes its own way, moving along some evil sequence, as if along a chain of evil, from one to another. And the Lawgiver, like a doctor, continues to heal as evil brings its harvest. And when the bites of the snakes lost their power in relation to those who looked at the image of the serpent (and from what has been said above you will understand this symbol), then the enemy, so skillful in devising inventions against us, comes to mind a different kind of sin, 279. which can still be seen in many people today. Some of those who, through a wise life, have humbled their addiction to lusts, begin to covet the priesthood, offending the plan of God with their purely human envy and self-inflicted zeal (Num. 16:1-3). Men are driven to this evil series of sins by one whom Scripture exposes as an evildoer of the human race. 280. When, because of faith in the One Ascended on the Tree, the earth stopped giving birth to snakes that harmed people subject to lust, they decided that they themselves were stronger than poisonous bites, and instead of addiction to lust, the disease of arrogance entered into them. And they, now considering it a humiliation to remain in the rank in which they had been appointed, sought priestly dignity for themselves, persistently striving to displace those who had been appointed by God to this ministry. They were forever swallowed up by the abyss, and those remaining on earth were incinerated by lightning (Num. 16:31–35). I believe that the narrative thereby teaches us that the ultimate limit of inflated arrogance is a descent into the underworld. It can be argued, not without reason, that arrogance leads a person to the “height” of the abyss. 281. And don’t be surprised that most people hold the opposite point of view. Most people think that the word “arrogance” means standing up above other people. But the truth attested in the narrative confirms our opinion. If people who exalted themselves above others came down and the open earth swallowed them up, then it is impossible to reject this definition: arrogance is the deepest fall. 282. Moses teaches all who see this to be moderate and not to be proud of their own achievements, but to always be reasonable about their present situation. And if you have overcome pleasure, this does not mean that you are not subject to another kind of passion. For every passion is a fall if it is a passion, and there is no difference in the falls that occur through different passions. Both the one who slipped on the surface of pleasure and the one who stumbled on the bandwagon of arrogance fell. There is no acceptable way for a reasonable person to fall: every fall should be equally avoided if it is a fall. 283. If today you see a person who has purified himself to some extent from the morbid inclination to pleasure, but strives to achieve the priesthood for himself, because he considers himself superior to others, then know that you see a person falling into the underworld in arrogant exaltation. God's Chosen Priesthood 284. Moreover, the law teaches us that the priesthood is a Divine institution, and not a human one, and teaches thus: Moses, having inscribed a corresponding name on the rod received from each tribe, laid all the rods on the altar, so that of all only one, marked by a Divine miracle, would become evidence of ordination from above. Then all the rods remained as before, and the priest's rod took root in itself and, not from external moisture, but from the power put into it by God, sent out branches and produced fruit (namely, almonds), which reached maturity (Num. 17: 1-8). 285. Thus the whole people were taught to maintain order. And by the fruit that Aaron's rod brought forth we must understand life as it should be in the priesthood. Externally - abstinent, strict and difficult, but internally - secretly and inconspicuously contain an edible core, which is revealed when the food ripens, breaks through the hard shell and breaks the tree-like shell hiding the edible core. 286. But if you have noticed that the life of one who is called a priest is like a fragrant, ruddy apple, when, unlike the crowd, he is dressed in fine linen and purple, gorges himself at rich meals, drinks strained wine, anoints himself with the best incense - in a word, uses everything that suits the taste of people who collect worldly pleasures, you can rightfully answer this with words Gospels: looking at the fruit (Luke 6:43), I do not recognize by it the tree of the priesthood. Such is not the fruit of the priesthood like this! That fruit is abstinence, and this one is pleasure: that one was not watered by earthly moisture, but to this one, numerous streams of pleasure flow from below and give ripeness to the life that it reaps. 287. And when the people freed themselves from this passion, they passed through the place of residence of foreigners, where the law led them along the “royal road,” not allowing them to deviate a single step (Num. 20:17). After all, it is indeed extremely dangerous for a traveler to deviate to the side. If a thin path stretches between two slopes along the edge of a ridge, then it is dangerous for the one walking along it to deviate to the right or left from the middle, because after a step in one direction or the other an abyss awaits him. So the law wants those who follow him not to leave the path, as the Lord says, strait and narrow (Matthew 7:14), neither to the left nor to the right (Deut. 28:14). 288. These words serve as a lesson to us, showing that virtues are in the middle. After all, all evil happens either due to a lack or excess of virtue. Thus, in relation to courage, a lack of virtue will be cowardice, and an excess will be insolence. And only that which is free from one and the other and equally removed from the defects lying at the edges is virtue. 289. Likewise, everything else that strives for good adheres to the middle, passing between dangerous neighbors. Wisdom occupies a place between cunning and simplicity. And neither the “wisdom” of the snake nor the “simplicity” of the dove (Matthew 10:16) will be praiseworthy, if we take each separately. But only possessing both equally becomes a virtue. He who lacks chastity is dissolute, but he who has it in abundance is burned in his conscience (1 Tim. 4:2), as the Apostle calls it. After all, one indulges uncontrollably in pleasures, while the other abhors marriage as adultery. And only the possession of both equally is abstinence. 290. “The whole world lies in evil” (1 John 5:19), as the Apostle says, and that which is opposite to virtue, which is evil, is alien to the followers of the law. Therefore, the one who makes his life’s journey in this world will safely complete this necessary journey of virtue if he can not stray from this truly great path, trodden and whitened by virtue, without turning anywhere off-road for the sake of vice - neither to the right nor to the left. 291. Since, as has already been said, the ascent to virtue is accompanied by the ever-increasing pressure of the enemy as one ascends, seeking any pretext for seduction to evil, then when the people grew in life according to Divine laws, the enemy built a new plan, as experts in the art of war do. If they see that they are unlikely to be able to defeat the superior forces of the enemy in a head-on battle, then they defeat him from traps and ambushes. So the strategist of evil no longer began to lead his army into open battle with people strengthened in law and virtue, but carried out his plan secretly, from ambush. 292. And then, as an ally against those with whom he planned to fight, he called upon witchcraft - namely, as the narrative reports, one soothsayer and bird fortuneteller 53, who, with demonic assistance, had a certain power to cause harm to his enemies (Num. 22:7). But when the ruler of Midian hired him to harm the people living in God with his curses, he turned the curse into a blessing. And we, in accordance with the previous interpretation, will understand it this way: witchcraft cannot act on those who live in virtue, and those who are protected by Divine help will overcome any intrigues. 293. And that the mentioned person was engaged in fortune telling by birds - this is attested in the narrative, which says that he had the gift of foresight and consulted with birds 54. And first, in the braying of a donkey, he received instructions about what he had to fulfill with diligence (Num. 22:23-30). Since he is accustomed to consulting with dumb animals, perceiving demonic energy in the sounds they make, Scripture depicts the braying of a donkey as articulate speech. Thus, it shows us that people, captured by this demonic deception, go so far as to mistake for meaningful speech the instructions that they were able to make out in the sounds produced by animals. By listening to the braying of the donkey, Balaam learned from the very source that had previously deceived him that the force against which he was hired was invincible. 294. So in the gospel narrative, a horde of demons - “legion” - prepared for confrontation with the Lord (Mark 5:7-9; Luke 8:30). And when He who had power over all approached, this horde shouted, recognizing His supreme power, and did not hide the truth: He had the Divine nature, and in due time He was to punish those who had sinned. The demonic voice said: “We know You who You are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24, Luke 4:34), “You came before the time to torment us” (Matthew 8:29). This happened in the case of Balaam, when the demonic force accompanying him taught him that it was impossible either to defeat this people or to hinder them. 295. And we, comparing this story with the previous interpretation, will say this: if someone wants to curse those living in virtue, he will not be able to utter gloomy discordant sounds and the curse will turn into a blessing. The point here, in my opinion, is that scolding and reproach do not stick to those who live virtuously. 296. Indeed, how can a poor person be accused of money-grubbing? How can one scold for depravity a person who lives alone, far from everyone? Or the meek - for anger? Or the humble - for arrogance? Or even for something shameful - people who are known for precisely the opposite qualities? Their goal is to make their lives free from filth, so that, in the words of the Apostle, “the enemy will be put to shame, having nothing to say about us” (Titus 2:8). That is why the one who was chosen for the curse said: “How can I curse? God does not curse him” (Num. 23:8), that is: how can I blame someone who gives no reason for blame, who, looking to God, has made his life invulnerable to evil? Winners defeated by debauchery 297. Although the attacker failed in this matter, he did not abandon his plans against those whom he wanted to harm. He returned to his previous idea: to seduce nature to evil through pleasure. Indeed, pleasure, like bait, lures greedy souls onto the hook of destruction. And in unbridled pleasure nature turns to evil. 298. This is what happened then: people who won by force of arms, who showed that iron could not cope with their strength, who turned back the enemy phalanx 55 with their power, died from the arrows of pleasure fired by women and turned out to be stronger than men, but weaker than women. As soon as women appeared in front of them, shining with beauty instead of weapons, they immediately forgot about the strength of their courage and dispelled their fighting spirit in pleasures (Num. 25: 1–2). 299. They were exactly in the state in which people, seized by a passion for forbidden mixing with foreigners, should find themselves. Uniting with evil meant breaking the alliance with good, and the Divine soon began a war against them. Zealous Phinehas did not wait for cleansing from sin to come from above: he himself became both judge and executioner (Num. 25:6–8). 300. Burning with anger at people who had fallen into lust, he did the work of a priest: he washed away sin with blood, and not with the blood of an innocent animal, which was in no way involved in the filth of debauchery, but with the blood of people who combined with each other in evil. The spear, piercing both at the same time, carried out God's judgment, mixing the death of the sinners with pleasure. 301. I believe that here the narrative gives people spiritual advice: we learn that of all the passions that struggle with the human mind, not one has such a power against us that it would be comparable to the disease of pleasure. The community of those very Israelites who turned out to be stronger than the Egyptian cavalry, defeated the Amalekites, terrified other nations, and after that defeated the phalanx of the Midianites - this community fell into slavery to the said disease as soon as it saw foreign women. This indicates nothing other than what I have already said: pleasure for us is a powerful and difficult opponent. 302. Having subdued at its first appearance people whom weapons could not defeat, pleasure erected a trophy of wickedness over them, sealing their shame in daylight. Thanks to him, people showed themselves like animals: the bestial and senseless desire for debauchery made them forget about their human nature, so that they no longer hid their ugliness, but boasted of the wickedness of their passion and flaunted the fact that they had desecrated their modesty, wallowing like pigs in front of everyone (Num. 25:6) in a puddle of sewage. 303. What does this story teach us? We have already learned what power the illness of pleasure has to seduce to evil, so we must remove our lives as far as possible from any proximity to it, so that the illness does not in any way penetrate us - just as proximity to fire can cause an evil flame. So Solomon in the book of Wisdom teaches us not to walk barefoot on coals and not to put fire in our bosom (Proverbs 6:27-28). It is within our power to remain dispassionate as long as we are removed from the source of fire. If we touch the scorching heat, the fire of lust will penetrate inside, and then our legs will be burned, and our womb will perish. 304. In the Gospel, the Lord Himself commands us to stay away from this evil and to pull out, like the root of passion, the lust that has arisen from the visual image (Matthew 5:28). Thus He teaches us that the one who accepts passion through a visual image paves the way for the illness itself. Evil passions are like a plague: once they have affected the vital organs, they will not rest until they lead to death. 305. However, I think it is not worthwhile to continue the story in order to present to the reader the whole life of Moses as an example of virtue. For anyone who strives for an exalted life, everything said above will be of considerable help in ascending to true wisdom. But for one who is relaxed and does not want to sweat for the sake of virtue, even if much more were written, there would be no benefit from verbosity. 306. But let's not forget about the definition that was given in the preface. There I argued: a perfect life is such that there are no restrictions on its progress towards perfection. Continuous growth on the path to a better life is the road to the perfection of the soul. Therefore, it is worthwhile, having told about the death of Moses, to confirm the definition of perfection that we previously gave. 307. After all, for someone who makes such an ascent throughout his life, it is not impossible for him to constantly find himself above himself. His life, like an eagle, turns out to be circling at transcendental heights through the air of mental ascent. 308. Moses was born at a time when being born a Jew was, from the point of view of the Egyptians, a crime. And although the tyrant’s law punished newborns, Moses defeated the murderous law, receiving salvation first from his parents, and then from those who issued this law. And the very people who tried to kill him with the help of the law took care not only of his life, but also of a proper upbringing, introducing the young man to all sorts of wisdom. 309. After this, he became stronger than human honors and above royal dignity, considering that it was safer and more royal to be protected not by spearmen, but by virtue, and to be adorned with it instead of royal vestments. 310. It was then that he saved his kinsman and struck a blow at the Egyptian: our careful interpretation saw in the first a friend, and in the second an enemy of the human soul. In order to comprehend the sublime, he chose silence as his teacher, and then his mind was enlightened by the light that shone from the bush. After this, he tried to make his fellow tribesmen partake of the benefits that he received from above. 311. He showed his strength in two ways: defending himself from enemies with a sequence of various blows and helping his fellow tribesmen. He led a very large people across the sea by land and did not build a naval fleet for this, but by faith alone he brought the crossing, turning the abyss into dry land for the Jews, and dry land into the sea for the Egyptians. 312. He sang a song of victory. He went after the pillar of cloud. He was enlightened by heavenly fire. He prepared himself a meal from food that came from above. He drank from the rock. He raised his hands to destroy the Amalekites. He approached the mountain. He found himself in darkness. He heard a trumpet sound. He approached the Divine nature. He was inside the upper tabernacle. He established the priesthood. He erected the tabernacle. He organized life with the help of laws. He, in the manner already described, successfully completed the last wars. 313. And at the conclusion of his exploits, with the help of the priesthood he punished debauchery, as can be understood from the story of Phinehas’s anger at those who indulged in this passion. And then he approached the mountain of rest. He did not descend down to the land that the people saw from below according to the promise. The one who tried to live only from what came from above did not taste earthly food anymore. Finding himself at the very top of the mountain, he, like a skilled sculptor, as if sculpting a statue of his own life, upon completion of the work, put not an end, but a crown to his creation. 314. What does the narrative say about this? That Moses, the servant 56 of the Lord, died according to the word of God, and no one knows the place of his burial. His eyes were not darkened, and his face did not decay (Deut. 34:5-7). Thus, we learn that the person who accomplished these feats was then awarded the high name of the servant of the Lord, in other words, surpassed everything else in this world. For it is impossible to become a servant of God without surpassing everything else. This was the limit of his life, accomplished in virtue according to the word of God. The narrative calls such a death a living death: there is no grave left of it, no mound is built over it, it does not cause the gaze to dim or the face to decay. 315. What does everything that has been said teach us? We must strive for the only limit of our life: to be called to be servants of God because of what we have done in life. When you have overcome all your enemies: the Egyptian, the Amalekite, the Edomite, the Midianite, - when you have crossed the water and received enlightenment from the cloud, delight from the tree and water from the rock, when you have tasted heavenly food: when in purity and integrity you ascend the mountain and, once there, you will be taught the Divine secret by the sound of trumpets; when in impenetrable darkness you approach God with faith and there you learn about the mystery of the tabernacle and the dignity of the priesthood; 316. when you become a stonecutter of your own heart in order to imprint Divine words on it; when you destroy the golden idol, that is, you erase the addiction to money-grubbing from your life; when you rise so high that the witchcraft of Balaam is powerless against you (and by magic you must understand the variety of deceptions of this life, through which people, as if drinking poison from the cup of Kirk 57, lose their own nature and take the form of dumb creatures), - when all this happens to you and the rod of the priesthood grows in you, which does not extract any moisture from the earth for this, but has in itself enough power to bear fruit almond - at first glance bitter and hard, but inside it is edible and tasty; when you bring to extinction everything that rebels against your dignity, so that it disappears underground, like Dathan, or is destroyed by fire, like Korah, then you have approached your goal. 317. And I call a goal that for the sake of which everything is done. Just as in agriculture the goal is to collect fruits, in construction - to build a dwelling, in trade - wealth, and in tedious competitions - a wreath, so in an exalted life the goal is the title of a servant of God, and to it is added the fact that you will not be covered with a mound, that is, your life will be pure and free from the burden of evil. 318. The narrative also names another sign of this service: his eyes were not darkened, and his face did not decay (Deut. 34:7). How can the gaze of one who constantly abides in the light, having moved away from darkness, become darkened? And he who throughout his entire life has done incorruptible deeds will not accept any corruption. Man, who has truly become the image of God and has in no way deviated from God’s image, bears within himself the signs of the Prototype and is likened to Him in everything, adorning his soul with incorruptibility, immutability and non-involvement in any evil. 319. Here, man of God Caesarea 58, is my short word about the perfection of a virtuous life. I described the life of Moses as an example of beauty, so that each of us, trying to imitate him, could imprint in ourselves the image of the beauty revealed to us. And that Moses acquired perfection accessible to man - what testimony could be more reliable for us than the Divine voice that said to him: “I know you more than all others” 59 (Ex. 33:12). God Himself called him His friend (Exodus 33:11). And when he chose to perish with everyone else, if the Divine, in His long-suffering, did not forgive them their sins (Ex. 32:32), then God’s wrath against the Israelites ceased, for God changed His sentence so as not to upset his friend. All this serves as evidence and proof that Moses achieved the highest degree of perfection in his life. 320. Since the purpose of our research was to determine what is the perfection of a virtuous life, and in our work we found this perfection, then it is time, noble friend, to turn to this example and to those spiritual interpretations that we saw in the narrative, so that, having transferred all this into our own lives, we may be known by God and become His friends. This is what true perfection consists of: to refrain from living in evil, not at all out of slavish fear of punishment, and to do good not out of hope for reward, following the path of a virtuous life out of a merchant’s calculation of profit. But to look above all the blessings promised to us in hope, to fear only one thing: to destroy friendship with God, and to consider this friendship the only coveted treasure: this, in my opinion, is what a perfect life consists of. 321. And if your mind is raised to these magnificent and Divine thoughts, then whatever you find (and I know you will find much), everything will serve for the common good in Christ Jesus. Amen. 1 Samuel – First Book of Samuel Prem – Book of Wisdom of Solomon Sir - Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach Eze – Book of the Prophet Ezekiel Acts - Acts of the Holy Apostles 1John - First Epistle of John Rome - Epistle to the Romans 1 Cor – First Epistle to the Corinthians 2 Cor – Second Epistle to the Corinthians Philippians - Epistle to the Philippians Col - Epistle to the Colossians 1 Thess - First Epistle to the Thessalonians 1 Tim – First Epistle to Timothy 2 Tim – Second Epistle to Timothy Revelation – Revelation of John the Theologian Numbers 11 – 11th chapter of the book of Numbers; Exodus 25–27 – Chapters of the book of Exodus from 25 to 27; Exodus 20:4–5 – 4th and 5th verses of the 20th chapter of the book of Exodus; Numbers 22:7 – 24:25 – from the 7th verse of the 25th chapter to the 25th verse of the 24th chapter of the book of Numbers. References to other ancient texts (ancient and patristic) are given with traditional numbering. Here the literal meaning of the Greek word τελειότης is played on - “limitedness, completeness, completeness, perfection.” The author speaks about the limited units of measurement and about perfection in virtue, using the same word. A cubit is a unit of length, about 0.5 meters. (Hereinafter, translator's notes). This refers to the ancient custom of erecting a trophy on the battlefield - a monument from the piled-up weapons of a defeated enemy. Marriage here is called the conclusion of the Covenant. This refers to the third commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” This refers primarily to the commandments of the “second table” (from five to ten), but this also includes the instructions of chapters 20–23 of the book of Exodus, as well as numerous rules contained in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Doctors of that time believed that human health depended on the balance in the body of the main vital “juices”: blood, lymph, yellow bile and black bile. The predominance of one of them led, in their opinion, to illness. The “Royal Road” was the name given to the main road from Egypt to Palestine. Fortune telling by birds is a common method of fortune telling in ancient times. The fortuneteller observed the sky at a certain time and made his conclusions based on which side which birds appeared first and in what numbers. The word “mind” is translated here from the Greek λόγος, which has many different meanings, including God the Word (cf. John 1:1). Apparently, here, as in some other places, St. Gregory deliberately speaks in such a way that his thought can be understood in two ways: “Mental movements obey reason” or “The soul follows the word.” Here, as in some of his other works, St. Gregory understands the "robes of skins" of Genesis to mean human nature in its present state after the Fall. The word “Existing” ὁ ὤ ν, which God calls Himself in the Greek text of the Old Testament (Ex. 3:14), is closely related to one of the basic terms of Greek philosophy (see, for example, Plato’s dialogue “Parmenides” and Aristotle’s “Physics”): existent, τὸ ὄ ν opposite to non-existent, τὸ μ ὴ ὄ ν. Literally: “has a non-hypostatic (ἀνυπόστaτος) nature.” This is another term borrowed from Greek philosophy: hypostasis is an inseparable property of being. The word “hypostasis”, ὑ πόστaσις (in the primary meaning – “condensation, essence, basis”) was characteristic of Neoplatonic philosophy (for example, “Enneads” by Plotinus) and was further developed in Christian theology. Those. In the incarnation, the Divine nature did not change, but the human nature became involved in the Divine. The Greek text of the Old Testament says that Moses met “the angel of the Lord,” while the Hebrew (and therefore the Synodal translation) says that he met the Lord Himself. Here St. Gregory speaks of contemporary pagan philosophy - mainly Stoic and Neoplatonic - as something unified, although among philosophers there were different opinions on almost all the issues mentioned here. The earliest mentions of a guardian angel can be found in the Shepherd of Hermas (5.1–4) and in Origen's treatise On the Beginnings (2.10.7). See note to section 18 (page 33). Here and further, the literal meaning of the word ἀμφίβιος “amphibian” is played out - “leading two lives” (cf. the Russian derivative “amphibian”). The biblical text says that Aaron stretched out his hands, bringing disasters upon Egypt (Ex. 8:6, etc.), and the disasters were removed through the prayer of Moses, but nothing is reported about stretching out his hands in this case. Here St. Gregory speaks of apokatastasis, i.e. about the final salvation of all who have sinned. This teaching dates back to Origen and was later condemned by the Church at the Council of Constantinople in 553, which was subsequently confirmed by the Sixth and Seventh Ecumenical Councils. However, during the time of St. Gregory, this question still belonged to the field of theological searches that did not have a final solution. In some manuscripts this phrase is absent, but, apparently, it still belongs to St. Gregory and was later excluded precisely because of its inconsistency with the definitions of subsequent Councils. See note to section 64 of the first part (p. 26). See, for example, Plato's Republic (439d, 588b) or his dialogue Phaedrus (246b). In Plato’s understanding, the “desiring” part of the soul correlates with bodily inclinations, and the “sensual” part with mental movements not related to the needs or whims of the body. In ancient times, feasters usually reclined at the table on low couches, for which they took off their shoes, unraveled their clothes and assumed a relaxed pose. Chiton - casual wear to the knees or ankles, without sleeves. In ancient times, for fast walking or running, the hem of long clothing was usually picked up and tucked into the waistband to allow free movement. Such an interpretation can be found, for example, in Philo of Alexandria (“Life of Moses,” 1.25.141), Clement of Alexandria (“Stromata.” 1.23.157) or Irenaeus of Lyons (“Against Heresies.” 4.46). Moral philosophy - ethics: natural philosophy - natural sciences (modern physics, biology, etc.) Hoplites are heavily armed infantry. In the Greek text of the Bible, the word here is τριστάται, literally meaning “three standing together.” When baking bread, it was common to separate out part of the leavened dough (sourdough) and save it so that it could be added to new dough as yeast the next time. Unleavened bread was baked from dough to which no particles from previous batches were added. The word Ἐκκλησία “assembly” became the name of the Church in Greek. Friday in Greek is called παρασκευή, which literally means “preparation.” This name comes from the Old Testament tradition of preparing on Friday for the celebration of Saturday. The hidden sanctuary ἄδυτον is a term characteristic of Neoplatonic philosophy (for example, Plotinus, “Enneads”, 6.9.11), denoting the sanctuaries of the servants of the ancient mysteries hidden from prying eyes, and symbolically - the hidden depths of the human soul, in which the comprehension of the mysteries occurs. In Greek the lid of the ark was called ἵλαστήριον, i.e. “a place of propitiation, redemption.” The name is associated with the ritual of the Day of Atonement, when the high priest sprinkled the blood of a sacrificial animal on the mercy seat (see: Lev.16). The world, according to the ideas of that time, consisted of four elements - fire, air, water and earth. We are talking about objects called “Urim and Thummim”, which were used to question the Lord. The exact meaning of these words, as well as the appearance and method of use of the objects themselves, were apparently already unknown at the time of writing the book, so St. Gregory gives them a purely symbolic interpretation. For example, Philo of Alexandria (“On the Life of Moses”, 2.118, etc.) The Russian Synodal translation, made from the Hebrew text, in this place differs from the Greek, which was used by St. Gregory (cf.: in Slavic - “thou shalt melt away his soul like a spider”). Satan is usually called "the adversary" here, which is quite consistent with the original meaning of the Hebrew word שטן. There is an untranslatable play on words here: rumor, i.e. obedience (ἀκοή) was adorned with the earring of the Law, and through disobedience (παρακοή) it was removed. So in the Greek text of the Old Testament (cf. Slavic “the voice of those beginning to get drunk with wine”). In the Synodal translation, made from the Hebrew text, it is “the voice of those singing.” So in the Greek text of the Old Testament (cf.: Slavic “let the wicked be lifted up. Let him not see the glory of the Lord”). The Synodal translation, made from the Hebrew text, differs significantly in this place from the Greek. In the Synodal translation - “completed the course.” In the Greek text of the Bible (as well as in St. Gregory) the word μεταφρένον is used, which in its primary meaning is translated as “scapula”. We are talking about the incarnation of Christ. Here and in some other writings of St. Gregory speaks of the “garments of glory” that Adam and Eve lost during the Fall and which we will have to put on in the future life. These garments are not mentioned in the biblical text. A widespread idea at that time (see: Pliny’s “Natural History”, 11.279, “Pedagogue” by Clement of Alexandria, 2.8.66). So in the Greek text of the Old Testament (cf. Slavic: “and the blood of the grapevine is wine”). In the Synodal translation, made from the Hebrew text: “You drank wine, the blood of grapes.” See note to section 73 of the first part (p. 28). The Greek Old Testament text in Numbers 24:1 states that Balaam “went not down as was his wont to meet the birds.” In the Russian Synodal translation, made from the Hebrew text, birds are not mentioned. The Greek word οἰκέτης meant a household servant. Kirka is a sorceress from Homer’s Odyssey (10th canto, verse 212 ff.), who gave Odysseus’s companions a potion that turned them into pigs. Who Caesarea was is unknown. This name is mentioned only once at the very end of the work and is not present in all manuscripts. So in the Greek text of the Old Testament (cf. Slavic: “We know you above all”). In the Synodal translation, made from the Hebrew text: “I know you by name.”