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  HYMNS AND HOMILIES OF EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN
  by Ephraim the Syrian
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A collection of hymns and homilies from Ephraim the Syrian, the fourth-century
church father and poet of the Syrian tradition. The works are translated from
newly discovered Syriac manuscripts and cover various liturgical themes and
theological topics.

  Chapters: 109

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    0. Hymns And Homilies Of Ephraim The Syrian
    1. Selections Translated into English from the HYMNS AND HOMILIES of Ephraim the Syrian,
    2. Preface.
    3. Introductory Dissertation.
    4. First Part Ephraim the Syrian. I.--Summary of the Authenticated Facts of His Life.
    5. II.--Materials for His Biography.
    6. III.--The Life, as Amplified by Mediaeval Biographers.
    7. IV.--Recapitulation of Authentic Facts of Life.
    8. V.--Historical Criticism of Mediæval Amplifications.
    9. VI.--Rectification of the Vatican Text of the Life.
   10. VII.--Chronology of the Life of Ephraim.
   11. VIII.--His Writings: Their Characteristics.
   12. IX.--The Selections Included in the Present Collection.
   13. X.--Probable Dates of His Works.
   14. Second Part
   15. Ephraim Syrus The Nisibene Hymns.
   16. Nisibene Hymns. Hymn I. O God of mercies Who didst refresh Noah, he too refreshed Thy mercies
   17. Hymn II. This day are opened, our mouths to give thanks
   18. Hymn III. Fix thou our hearing, that it be not loosed and wander!
   19. Hymn IV. My God, without ceasing, I will tread the threshold of Thy house
   20. Hymn V. Cause to be heard in Thy grace, the tidings of Thy salvation: for an hearing has been made, a path of passage
   21. Hymn VI. I will run in my affections, to Him who heals freely
   22. Hymn VII. Wrath came to rebuke, the greedy who in the midst of peace, bargained, defrauded and plundered
   23. Hymn IX.
   24. Hymn X. My children have been slain
   25. Hymn XI. Thy chastening is, as a mother of our infancy:--her rebuke is merciful, in that Thou hast restrained,--the children from folly, and they have been made wise!
   26. Hymn XII. I will call in my affliction, on the Power that subdues all
   27. Hymn XIII. Concerning Mar Jacob and his Companions
   28. Hymn XIV. Under the three pastors,--there were manifold shepherds
   29. Hymn XV. If the head had not been right,--haply the members had murmured:--for when because of a perverse head--the course of the members is put astray,--they are wont to lay the blame on the head
   30. Hymn XVI. Herein is a mirror to be blamed,--if its clearness is darkened--because there are spots on its substance
   31. Hymn XVII. Concerning Abraham, Bishop of Nisibis
   32. Hymn XVIII. O thou who art made priest after thy master, the illustrious after the excellent, the chaste after the grave, the watchful after the abstinent, thy master from thee has not departed
   33. Hymn XIX. Thou who answerest to the name of Abraham, in that Thou art made father of many
   34. Hymn XX. O virgin-youth that art become bridegroom, move to a little jealousy thy mind, towards her who is the wife of thy youth: cut off the attachments which she had, in her girlhood with many others
   35. Hymn XXI. John who was a torch, laid bare and rebuked the wanton ones: they made haste and quenched the torch, that they might let loose the desire of their lust
   36. Hymn XXXV. Concerning Our Lord, and Concerning Death and Satan
   37. Hymn XXXVI. Our Lord subdued His might and constrained it, that His living death might give life to Adam
   38. Hymn XXXVII. Death was weeping for her, even for Sheol, when he saw her treasury that it was emptied
   39. Hymn XXXVIII. My throne was set for me in Sheol: and one arose that was dead, and hurled me from it
   40. Hymn XXXIX. There have come to me ransomers from among the saints, but none has plundered me like the Son of Mary
   41. Hymn XL. The Evil One perceived his great humiliation, and boasted himself in the presence of his servants: he spoke great words to persuade them and said: |The knowledge which I possess, little of it is by nature
   42. Hymn XLI. The Evil One said, |I fear Him, even Jesus, lest He destroy my arts
   43. Hymn XLII. The Evil One wailed |Where now, is there a place for me to flee to from the righteous? I stirred up Death to slay the Apostles, that I might be safe from their blows
   44. Hymn LII. Concerning Satan and Death
   45. Hymn LIII. Come, let us hear how they contend for victory: the guilty ones who never have conquered, nor will conquer
   46. Hymn LIV. Hear, O Freedom, the dispute of two servants: how they are convicted by each other, that they are powerless
   47. Hymn LV. Lo! the Evil One reproached Death
   48. Hymn LVI. With Freedom is thy struggle, O Evil One: it can cast on thee a muzzle, if it so please
   49. Hymn LVII. Listen, my brethren, to Death, mocking the Evil One: that caused the head of our race to sin, and its mother
   50. Hymn LVIII. Lo! Death was prompt beforehand, to mock Satan
   51. Hymn LIX. Lo! Death for us on Satan, inflicts vengeance
   52. Hymn LX. O what amazement befel the Evil One, of a sudden, my brethren: when the sinful woman was corrected, and gained Wisdom!
   53. Hymn LXI. In wisdom let us hearken to Death, O my beloved: how he accuses us for our weeping, and for our mourning
   54. Hymn LXII. Lo! Death, the King of silence, complains, my brethren
   55. Hymn LXIII. Who shall weigh the recompense of Abraham? whom I marvelled at when he bound, his only son
   56. Hymn LXIV. O feeble ones, why weep ye, over your dead: who in death are at rest from sorrows and sins?--2
   57. Hymn LXV. Man, O Death, despise thou it not, that image of Adam: which like a seed is committed to earth, till the Resurrection
   58. Hymn LXVI. Hold your peace, O mortals said Death), a little while: and be like me who am so silent, in the midst of Sheol
   59. Hymn LXVII. Come ye, let us hear how Death convicts the People: that harsher than Death was their sword, against the just
   60. Hymn LXVIII. O, Death, be not thou boastful, over the just
   61. Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh. 
   62. Hymns on the Nativity. Hymn I. This is the day that gladdened them, the Prophets, Kings, and Priests, for in it were their words fulfilled, and thus were the whole of them indeed performed!
   63. Hymn II. Blessed be that Child, Who gladdened Bethlehem to-day!
   64. Hymn III. Blessed be that first day of thine, Lord, wherewith this day of Thy Feast is stamped!
   65. Hymn IV. This is the month which brings all manner of joy
   66. Hymn V. At the birth of the Son, there was a great shouting in Bethlehem
   67. Hymn VI. Blessed be the Messenger that was laden, and came
   68. Hymn VII. The Son of the Maker is like unto His Father as Maker!
   69. Hymn VIII. That Thy Resurrection might be believed among the gainsayers, they sealed Thee up within the sepulchre, and set guards
   70. Hymn IX. Come rest, and be still in the bosom of Thy Mother, Son of the Glorious
   71. Hymn X. In Thee will I begin to speak, Thou Head that didst begin all created things
   72. Hymn XI. The Virgin Mother to Her Child
   73. Hymn XII. The Babe that I carry carries me, saith Mary, and He has lowered His wings, and taken and placed me between His pinions, and mounted into the air
   74. Hymn XIII. For the Epiphany
   75. Hymn XIV. Blessed be he who became beyond measure low, that he might make us beyond measure great) 
   76. Hymn XV. Blessed is He above all in His Birth!
   77. Hymn XVI. Glory to all of Thee from all of us!
   78. Hymn XVII. Praise to Thee from every mouth on this Day of Thy Birth!
   79. Hymn XVIII. Praise be to Him Who sent Him!
   80. Hymn XIX. Blessed be thy Birth that gladdens all creatures!
   81. Fifteen Hymns For the Feast of the Epiphany. 
   82. Hymns for the Feast of the Epiphany. Hymn I. To Thee be praise from Thy flock in the day of Thy Epiphany!
   83. Hymn II. Nearly identical with Hymn XIII
   84. Hymn III. Christ with chrism, lo!
   85. Hymn IV. Blessed be He that blots out in water misdeeds that are without measure!
   86. Hymn V. Blessed be He that ordained baptism, for the atonement of the sons of Adam!
   87. Hymn VI. Blessed be He Who was baptized that He might baptize you, that ye should be absolved from your offences
   88. Hymn VII. Blessed is He Who atoned your sins, that ye might receive His Body worthily!
   89. Hymn VIII. Happy are ye whose bodies have been made to shine!
   90. Hymn IX. Blessed is He Who came down
   91. Hymn X. Glory to Him Who came and restored it!
   92. Hymn XI. Let the bodies rejoice which the Evil One had made naked, that in the water they have put on their glory!
   93. Hymn XII. Blessed is He Who went down and was baptized in Jordan, and turned back the People from error!
   94. Hymn XIII. Hymn of the Baptized
   95. Hymn XIV. Hymn concerning our Lord and John
   96. Hymn XV. In the Birth of the Son light dawned,--and darkness fled from the world,--and the earth was enlightened
   97. The Pearl. Seven Hymns on the Faith.
   98. The Pearl, Seven Hymns on the Faith. Hymn I. On a certain day a pearl did I take up, my brethren
   99. Hymn II. Whereunto art thou like? Let thy stillness speak to one that hears
  100. Hymn III. Thou dost not hide thyself in thy bareness, O pearl!
  101. Hymn IV. The thief gained the faith which gained him, and brought him up and placed him in paradise
  102. Hymn V. O gift that camest up without price with the diver!
  103. Hymn VI. Would that the memory of the fathers would exhale from the tombs
  104. Hymn VII. As in a race saw I the disputers, the children of strife, [trying] to taste fire, to see the air, to handle the light: they were troubled at the gleaming, and struggled to make divisions
  105. Three Homilies
  106. Three Homilies. On Our Lord.
  107. On Admonition and Repentance.
  108. On the Sinful Woman.

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  CHAPTER 0: HYMNS AND HOMILIES OF EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN
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  CHAPTER 1: SELECTIONS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FROM THE HYMNS AND HOMILIES OF EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN,
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and from the DEMONSTRATIONS of Aphrahat the Persian Sage; Edited, with an
Introductory Dissertation, by, John Gwynn, D.D., D.C.L., Regius Professor of
Divinity in the University of Dublin


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  CHAPTER 2: PREFACE.
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In the following selection from the voluminous writings of Ephraim, the great
light of the Syrian Church of the fourth century, I have endeavored to give
adequate specimens of his Hymns and of his Homilies; but have not included any
part of his Commentaries on Holy Scripture. These last contain much that is
worthy of study, but would not be found attractive to the general reader; nor
could they be fairly represented by a series of extracts such as the limits of
the present volume would admit of. The Hymns (with small exceptions, presently
to be specified), and the Homilies, which I have selected, appear now for the
first time in an English version; and are translated from Syriac texts which
have come to light within the last fifty years, in the great collection of
manuscripts acquired by the British Museum by the purchase of the library of the
monastery of the Theotokos in the Nitrian Desert, in Egypt. To these I have
added eight chosen from the twenty-three Demonstrations, or Epistles, of
Ephraim's contemporary Aphrahat. These also appear for the first time in
English, and are translated from a Syriac text, long lost, and lately recovered
from the same famous collection. Of the Hymns of Ephraim, I have placed the
Nisibene series first, including forty-six of the total number (originally
seventy-seven; but a few are lost). The first twenty-one, relating to the
history of Nisibis and of its Bishops, I have given in full, because of their
special interest and historic value. The translation of these is the work of the
Rev. Joseph T. Sarsfield Stopford, B.A. (Dublin), Rector of Castle Combe in the
Diocese of Gloucester. It follows the text edited by Dr. Bickell (Leipzig,
1866), from Nitrian mss. Of the Hymns On the Nativity, which stand next in
order, the first thirteen have already appeared in the Oxford "Library of the
Fathers" (1847), translated by the Rev. J. B. Morris, M.A., from the text
printed in the great Roman edition, S. Ephræmi Syri Opera Syriaca (Rome, 1743).
These were all of the series known when that edition was published; but since
then six complete hymns, and some fragments of the same have been recovered from
Nitrian mss. I have reprinted Mr. Morris's version of the thirteen, with some
modifications, and have subjoined the Nitrian six, rendered from the text
published by Professor Lamy, of Louvain, in Tom. II of his edition of Ephraim
(Mechlin, 1889). These last, and the series of fifteen Hymns For the Epiphany
which follow them, have been translated by the Rev. Albert Edward Johnston, B.D.
(Dublin), formerly Assistant-Lecturer in Divinity in the University of Dublin,
and now Principal of the Church Missionary Society's College, Benares. The
remaining series, of seven Hymns On the Faith, also called The Pearl, is
borrowed, like the thirteen On the Nativity, from Mr. Morris's version. I have
carefully revised and in parts rewritten all these translations of the Hymns,
chiefly with a view to bringing into some approach to uniformity the style and
method of rendering of a collection which thus includes the work of three
independent translators. While very sensible of the high merit of Mr. Morris's
work, and conscious that by retouching and altering it I may incur the blame of
presumptuousness, I have thought it expedient to tone down somewhat of the
exceeding severity of his faithfulness to his original, and to remove some of
the harsh expressions and harsher inversions which make his version, valuable as
it is to the student, almost repulsive, and often barely intelligible, to the
English reader. Of his learned Notes, I have retained a few, some of them in a
curtailed form, of those which seemed most useful for the illustration of the
text. The three Homilies of Ephraim, which follow the Hymns, have been
translated by Mr. Johnston from Professor Lamy's text (as above, Tom. I., 1889).
The selections from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat are the work of the same
translator, and follow the text of Dom Parisot's edition, forming Tom. I of the
Patrologia Syriaca (Paris, 1894). The versions of the Homilies and of the
Demonstrations, being all the work of one and the same hand, have called for but
few and trivial alterations from the editor. I have, however, revised them
throughout; and am responsible for the general accuracy of the rendering of the
originals in these, and in the whole of the selections now presented to the
public. In the Introductory Dissertation prefixed to the work, I have drawn
largely on the materials supplied by the Prolegomena of Dr. Bickell's Carmina
Nisibena, and of Professor Lamy's S. Ephræmi Hymni et Sermones, Tom. I. and Tom.
II.; and by Dr. Forget's Treatise De Vita Aphraatis, and the Preface of Dom
Parisot to Tom. I. of the Patrologia Syriaca. John Gwynn.Trinity College,
Dublin, 31st March, 1898.


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  CHAPTER 3: INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.
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Ephraim the Syrian and Aphrahat the Persian Sage. Preliminary. The two Fathers
of the Syrian Church, from whose writings the present Volume presents a
selection, are from more than one point of view fitly associated as examples of
the leaders of Syriac theological thought and literature. They are the earliest
Syriac authors of whom any considerable remains survive; and they both represent
the religious mind of the Syrian Church, but little affected by influences from
without, other than the all-pervading influence of the Jewish and Christian
Scriptures. Syriac Literature is, on the whole, of derivative growth. It
consists largely of versions or adaptations from the Greek. The Syriac language,
in the hands of those to whom the Syriac Church owes the admirable version of
the Scriptures known as the "Peshitto," proved itself capable of reproducing
adequately, not only the sublime conceptions of God and of man's relations to
God which belong to the cognate Hebrew of the Old Testament, but also -- the
wider, subtler, and more complex religious ideas for which the writers of the
New Testament found their fit vehicle in the Greek. But the Peshitto, great as
its value must have been to the religious life of Syriac-speaking Christians,
never became to them what Luther's Bible has been to Germany, and the
"Authorized" Bible of King James's translators to England -- an inspiring force
in literature, not merely to elevate and enrich its language, but to quicken it
in every branch. Syriac literature was indeed deeply penetrated by the Syriac
Bible, but its level was never raised above mediocrity. For the most part it is
imitative not original; -- nay, it rarely succeeds in assimilating so as to make
its own what it has borrowed. The Syriac translator, if he worked on the
writings of a Greek divine, would often paraphrase or even interpolate; if of a
Greek historian, would subjoin a continuation; but he would seldom venture
farther. Those who essayed independent authorship were few. A home-grown Syriac
literature began with Ephraim and Aphrahat; but [setting aside a very small
number of the writers who followed] it may almost be said to have ended with
them. These two, and these alone, in place of being imitators or translators,
were translated and imitated by the writers of foreign nations. Aphrahat's
literary lot was the singular one, that his work survived in an alien tongue for
alien readers, when the original had wellnigh perished out of the memory of his
own people. To Ephraim pertains the high and unique distinction of having
originated -- or at least given its living impulse to -- a new departure in
sacred literature; and that, not for his own country merely, but for
Christendom. From him came, if not the first idea, at all events the first
successful example, of making song an essential constituent of public worship,
and an exponent of theological teaching; and from him it spread and prevailed
through the Eastern Churches, and affected even those of the West. To the Hymns,
on which chiefly his fame rests, the Syriac ritual in all its forms owes much of
its strength and richness; and to them is largely due the place which Hymnody
holds throughout the Church everywhere. And hence it has come to pass that, in
the Church everywhere, he stands as the representative Syrian Father, as the
fixed epithet appended to his name attests -- "Ephraim the Syrian," -- the one
Syrian known and reverenced in all Christendom. Of the two, it has been usual of
late to reckon Aphrahat as the elder. Further on, it will be shown in this
Dissertation that the reasons for so reckoning him are inadequate. For the
present it suffices to note that they were contemporaries -- both living and
writing about the middle of the fourth century, and that priority of treatment
cannot with confidence be claimed for either. On grounds of convenience,
therefore, we may properly proceed to deal first with Ephraim, as being
indisputably far the first in order of importance, of copiousness, and of
celebrity.


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  CHAPTER 4: FIRST PART EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN. I.--SUMMARY OF THE AUTHENTICATED FACTS OF HIS LIFE.
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All that is known, on early and trustworthy evidence, of the person and life of
Ephraim may be briefly summed up. He was born within the Roman pale, in the
ancient and famous city of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, in, or before, the earliest
days of the reign (a.d.306-337) of Constantine the Great: he was a disciple of
St. Jacob, Bishop of that city, who died a.d.338: and he lived in it, under
Jacob and the three Bishops who successively followed him, through three
unsuccessful sieges laid to it by Sapor, King of Persia, down to its final
surrender under the terms of the ignominious peace concluded with Sapor by the
Emperor Jovian after the defeat and death of his predecessor Julian (a.d.363).
Nisibis was then abandoned by its Christian inhabitants; and Ephraim finally
settled at Edessa, and took up his abode as a "Solitary" in a cell on the "Mount
of Edessa" -- a rocky hill close to the city, where many anchorites sought
retreat. Here he rose into repute as a teacher, and a champion against heresy;
and no less as an ascetic and saint. The fame of St. Basil, metropolitan of
Cæsarea in Cappadocia (370-379), drew him from his solitude to visit that great
prelate and doctor, and from him he received the diaconate; but (though some
affirm that he was advanced to the priesthood) it is agreed that he never became
a Bishop. He died at an advanced age, in his retreat, in the year 373 according
to most authorities, but some suppose him to have lived to 378. He was a most
copious writer, and left an immense quantity of writings of which a large part
is extant, -- Sermons, Commentaries, and Hymns. These constitute such a body of
instruction in the substance of Scripture and the faith of the church, that they
have justly earned for him the title of malpono, or teacher. And not only have
his Hymns done much to shape the ritual of the Syrian Churches, in which large
portions of them are embodied, but to his Sermons this singular honour is paid,
that lessons selected from them were appointed, and are still read, in the
regular course of public worship.


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  CHAPTER 5: II.--MATERIALS FOR HIS BIOGRAPHY.
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Fuller details, of more or less authentic character, are forthcoming in many
quarters. In Syriac, we have two Lives, a longer and a shorter; but whether the
latter is an abridgment of the former, or is rather the nucleus from which the
other has been expanded, is questionable. Of both alike, the date and the
authorship are undetermined. The longer of the two is entitled, the History
[tash itha] of the holy Mar Ephraim. It varies not a little in the two copies of
it [the Vatican and the Parisian] which have been edited; [249] and contains
many things that are not easily credible, and some things that are
irreconcilable with one another, or with established facts. In the main facts,
however, this History is borne out by the Greek authorities -- the narrations of
three fifth-century historians, Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret, the brief
notices of Jerome, De Viris Illustribus (392), and of Palladius, in his Lausiac
History (circ.420) ci., and (what is of most weight) the almost contemporary
biographical particulars contained in the Encomium pronounced on Ephraim by
Gregory of Nyssa. Other Greek Lives are extant; -- one which bears the name of a
writer coeval with Gregory, Amphilochius of Iconium, but is certainly by a later
hand; one anonymous, and one ascribed to Simeon the Metaphrast, a writer of the
tenth century. [250] We proceed to give an outline of the contents of the Syriac
History, adding to it here and there such further noteworthy details or
incidents as have reached us from the other sources indicated. Further on, it
will be our business to examine this narrative and ascertain how far its
statements are in themselves credible, or attested by other and earlier
evidence.


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  CHAPTER 6: III.--THE LIFE, AS AMPLIFIED BY MEDIAEVAL BIOGRAPHERS.
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1. His Early Years. -- Ephraim, according to this biography, was a Syrian of
Mesopotamia, by birth, and by parentage on both sides. His mother was of Amid
(now Diarbekr) a central city of that region; his father belonged to the older
and more famous City of Nisibis, not far from Amid but near the Persian
frontier, where he was priest of an idol named Abnil (or Abizal) in the days of
Constantine the Great (306-337). This idol was afterwards destroyed by Jovian
(who became Emperor in 363 after the extinction of the Flavian dynasty by the
death of Julian). In Nisibis, then included within the Roman Empire, Ephraim was
born. The date of his birth is not stated, but it cannot have been later than
the earliest years of Constantine's reign. Though the son of such a father, he
was from his childhood preserved, by Divine grace which "chose him like Jeremiah
from his mother's womb," from all taint of idolatrous worship and its attendant
impurities, to be, like St. Paul, a "chosen vessel" to spread the light of truth
and to quench heresy. The biographer records farther on, but without fixing its
time, an intimation of his future work which Ephraim himself relates in his
"Testament" as belonging to the days "when his mother carried him on her bosom."
He saw in dream or vision a vine springing from his mouth, which grew so high as
to fill all that was under the heavens, and produced clusters whereon the fowls
of the air fed, and which multiplied the more, the more they were fed on. These
clusters (the Testament explains) were his Sermons; the leaves of the vine, his
Hymns. But his entrance into the Christian fold was not to be without hindrance
and suffering. His father, finding the youth one day in converse with some
Christians, was filled with anger, chastised him with cruel and almost fatal
severity, and repaired to the shrine of his god to seek pardon for his son by
sacrifice and prayer. A voice issuing from the idol rejected his intercession,
warned him that his son was destined to be the persecutor of his father's gods,
and commanded his expulsion from home. The father obeyed: the son received the
sentence with joy, and went out from his father's house, carrying nothing with
him and not knowing whither he went. His way was divinely directed to the famous
and saintly Bishop, Jacob of Nisibis, to whom he told his story and by whom he
was affectionately welcomed and admitted into the number of "Hearers," -- that
is, Catechumens in the first stage of preparatory instruction. From the first he
showed himself a diligent disciple, in fasting and prayer, and in daily
attendance on the teaching of the Scriptures. He frequented the Bishop's abode,
imitated his virtues, attracted his special notice, and acquired a high place in
his love as well as in that of all the Church. A slanderous charge, however, was
laid against him in his youthful manhood, which, but for supernatural
interposition granted to his prayer, would have ruined his good name. A damsel
of noble birth had been seduced by an official (Paramonarius, i.e., sacristan,
or perhaps rather, steward) of the church, named likewise Ephraim. When
pregnancy ensued and her frailty was detected, she at the instance of her
paramour charged Ephraim the pious Catechumen as being the author of her shame.
Her father laid the matter before the Bishop, who in much grief and
consternation summoned his disciple to answer the accusation. The youth received
it at first in amazed silence; but finally made answer, "Yea, I have sinned; but
I entreat thy Holiness to pardon me." Even after this seeming acknowledgment of
guilt, however, the Bishop was unconvinced, and prayed earnestly that the truth
might be revealed to him: but in vain, -- a more signal clearing was in store
for the humble and blameless youth. When the child of shame was born, and the
father of the frail damsel required him to undertake the charge of it, he
repeated his seeming confession of guilt to the Bishop; he received the infant
into his arms: he openly entered the church carrying it; and he besought the
congregation with tears, saying, "Entreat for me, my brethren, that this sin be
pardoned to me." After thus bearing for some days the burden of unmerited
reproach, he perceived the great scandal caused to the people, and began to
reflect that his meek acceptance of calumny was doing harm. On the following
Sunday, therefore, after the Eucharist had been administered, he approached the
Bishop in church in presence of the people, carrying the infant under his
mantle, and obtained his permission to enter the bema (not the pulpit, but the
raised sanctuary where the altar stood). Before the eyes of the astonished
congregation, he produced the babe, held it up in his right hand, facing the
altar, and cried aloud, "Child, I call on thee and adjure thee by the living
God, who made heaven and earth and all that therein is, that thou confess and
tell me truly, who is thy father?" The infant opened its mouth and said,
"Ephraim the paramonarius." Having thus spoken, it died that same hour. The
people and the Bishop received this miraculous vindication of the wrongfully
accused with amazement and tears; the father of the sinful mother fell on his
knees and cried for forgiveness; the true partner of her sin fled and was seen
in Nisibis no more; Satan was confounded; and Ephraim was restored to more than
all the favour and affection he enjoyed before. Not long after, the young
disciple received a singular proof of the high esteem in which he was held by
his Bishop. When summoned with the other prelates to the great Council of Nicæa
(a.d.325), Jacob took Ephraim with him as his attendant or secretary, and
brought him into that holy Synod. It is to be inferred that a youth so chosen
must have shown early maturity and zeal for the Faith. His presence on this
first great battlefield of the Church's war against heresy must have given a
keen stimulus to his polemic activity, and influenced his subsequent life as a
student and teacher of theology. 2. Siege of Nisibis. -- After some years his
course of assiduous study, obedience, and devout piety, was rudely broken by the
alarm of war. Soon after the death of Constantine (a.d.337), Sapor, king of
Persia was moved to seize the opportunity offered by the removal of the great
Emperor and the inexperience of his sons, and to attempt the recovery of the
provinces on the Tigris which had been ceded by Narses his predecessor to
Diocletian (under the treaty of a.d.297), so as to push his border westward in
advance of the line which had for forty years defined the eastern limits of the
Roman Empire. To this end it was essential that he should obtain possession of
Nisibis, [251] the strength and situation of that city marking it as a necessary
safeguard for the frontier he sought to attain; and to it accordingly he laid
siege in great force. After seventy days' successful resistance, he had recourse
to a novel mode of assault by which the city was wellnigh overpowered. The river
(Mygdonius [252] ) which flowed through it was by his orders embanked and its
waters intercepted, and then let loose so as to bear with destructive rush
against the city wall. It gave way; and Sapor prepared to enter and take
possession. To his dismay he found his advance vigorously repelled; he saw the
breach filled by a fresh wall, manned and equipped with engines of war. The holy
Bishop Jacob and the devout Ephraim, by their unceasing prayers within the
church and their exhortations, had stimulated the garrison and the people to
accomplish this work with incredible rapidity, and had secured the divine
blessing on its timely completion. But a more amazing sight than the newly-built
wall awaited Sapor. On the ramparts there appeared a Figure in royal apparel of
radiant brightness, -- the Emperor Constantius in outward semblance; though he
was known to be far off, in Antioch. Sapor in blind fury assailed this majestic
phantom with missiles, but soon desisted when he perceived the futility of his
attack. His final discomfiture was brought to pass by Ephraim. Having first
sought and obtained the Bishop's sanction, he ascended a tower whence he could
view the besieging host, and there he offered prayer to God that He should send
on them a plague of gnats and mosquitos, and show by what puny agents Divine
Power could effectually work the ruin of its adversaries. The prayer was
instantly answered by a cloud of these insects, tiny but irresistible
assailants, descending on the Persian host. Maddened by this plague, the horses
flung their riders; the elephants broke loose and trampled down the men; the
camp was thrown into irretrievable confusion; a storm of wind, rain, and thunder
(adds another chronicler) enhanced the panic; and Sapor was forced to raise the
siege and retire with ignominy and heavy loss instead of success. Soon after,
the saintly Bishop Jacob died, in the fulness of his virtues and his fame; and
Ephraim in deep affliction conducted his funeral. 3. Removal to Edessa. -- Our
biographer then, passing over the remaining years of Constantius, goes on to the
accession of Julian (a.d.361). The troubles of the intervening period he assigns
to the reign of Constans, whom (though he died before his brother Constantius)
he supposes to have reigned after him and before Julian. He records the
persecutions suffered by the Christians under the latter, the judgment that
overtook him in his defeat and death by the hands of the Persians, the
succession of Jovian, and the treaty concluded by him with Sapor, under which
Nisibis was surrendered to Persia and emptied of its Christian inhabitants. Of
Ephraim he tells us only that he raised his voice against Julian and his
persecutions, and remained in Nisibis until its surrender, and then retired to a
place called Beth-Garbaia, [253] where he had been baptized at the age of
eighteen and had received his first instruction in the Scriptures and in
psalmody. Persecution having arisen there against the Church, he fled to Amid,
where he spent a year; and thence proceeded to Edessa (now Urfa), which city, as
soon as he came in sight of it, he fixed on as his permanent and final abode. As
he was about to enter it, an incident occurred which nearly all the narratives
of his life relate with variations, and which the historian Sozomen states to
have been recorded in one of the writings of Ephraim himself. Beside the river
Daisan which surrounds the city, he saw some women washing clothes in its
waters. As he stood and watched them, one of them fixed her eyes on him and
gazed at him so long as to move his anger. "Woman," he said, "art thou not
ashamed?" She answered, "It is for thee to look on the ground, for from thence
thou art; but for me it is to look at thee, for from thee was I taken." He
marvelled at the reply and acknowledged the woman's wisdom; and left the spot
saying to himself, "If the women of this city are so wise, how much more
exceedingly wise must its men be!" Other authorities (including Ephraim's
contemporary, Gregory of Nyssa, who professes to collect the facts of his
Encomium exclusively from Ephraim's own written remains) give a somewhat
different turn to this story. According to them, Ephraim approached the city,
praying and expecting to meet at his first entrance there some holy and wise man
by whose converse he might profit. The first person whom he encountered at the
gate was a harlot. Shocked and bitterly disappointed, he eyed her, and was
passing on; but when he noticed that she eyed him, in turn, he asked the meaning
of her bold gaze. In this version of the incident, her answer was, "It is meet
and fit that I gaze on thee, for from thee, as man, I was taken; but look not
thou on me, but rather on the ground whence thou wast taken." Ephraim owned that
he had learned something of value even from this outcast woman; and praised God,
who from the mouth of such an unlooked-for teacher, had fulfilled his desire for
edification. Another woman of Edessa is related by some of these authorities to
have accosted the holy man, expecting that, even if she failed to tempt him to
unchastity, she might at least move him to the sin, against which he strove no
less sedulously to guard himself, of anger. He affected to yield to her
solicitation; but when she invited him to fix on a place of assignation, he
proposed that it should be in the open and frequented street. When she objected
to such shameless publicity, he replied, "If we are ashamed in sight of men, how
much more ought we to be ashamed in the sight of God, who knows all secret
things and will bring all to His judgment!" By this reply the woman was moved to
repentance and amendment, and gave up her sinful life, -- and finally (as some
add) retired from the world into a convent. In Edessa, Ephraim at first earned a
humble livelihood in the service of a bath-keeper, while giving his free time to
the task of making the Scriptures known to the heathen who then formed a large
part of the population of the city. But before long he was led, by the advice of
a monk whom he casually met, to join himself to one of the Solitaries (or
anchorites) who dwelt in the caves of the adjacent "Mount of Edessa" (a rocky
range of hills, now Nimrud Dagh). There he passed his time in prayer, fasting,
and study of the Scriptures. But a divine intimation was sent to call him back
from his retreat into active life in the city. A vision came to the Solitary
under whom Ephraim had placed himself. This man, as he stood at midnight outside
his cell after prayer and psalmody, saw an angel descending from heaven and
bearing in his hands a great roll written on both sides, and heard him say to
them that stood by, "To whom shall I give this volume that is in my hands?" They
answered, "To Eugenius [254] the Solitary of the desert of Egypt." Again he
asked, "Who is worthy of it?" They answered, "Julian the Solitary." The Angel
rejoined, "None among men is this day worthy of it, save Ephraim the Syrian of
the Mount of Edessa." He, to whom this vision came, at first regarded it as a
delusion; but he soon found reason to accept it as from God. Visiting Ephraim's
solitary cell, he found him engaged in writing a commentary on the Book of
Genesis, and was amazed at the exegetical power shown in the work of a writer so
untrained. When this was speedily followed by a Commentary on Exodus, the truth
of the vision became apparent, and the Solitary hastened to the "School" of
Edessa and showed the book to "the doctors and priests, and chief men of the
city." They were filled with admiration, and when they learned that Ephraim of
Nisibis was the author, and heard of the vision by which his merit was revealed,
they went at once to seek him out in his retreat. In his modesty he fled from
their approach; but a second divine vision constrained him to return. In the
valley where he had sought to hide, an Angel met him and asked, "Ephraim,
wherefore fleest thou?" He answered, "Lord, that I may sit in silence, and
escape from the tumult of the world." "Look to it," rejoined the Angel, "that
the word be not spoken of thee, Ephraim hath fled from me as an heifer whose
shoulder hath drawn back from the yoke" (Hos. iv.16, x.11 -- quoted loosely).
Ephraim pleaded with tears, "Lord, I am weak and unworthy;" but the Angel
silenced his excuses with the Saviour's words, No man lighteth a candle and
putteth it under a bushel, but on a candlestick that all may see the light (St.
Matth. v.5, St. Luke xi.33). Accepting the rebuke, Ephraim returned to Edessa,
with much prayer for strength from on high, to combat false doctrine. There he
was ill received, and taunted as one who had fled in hypocritical affectation of
reluctance, and was now returning in vainglorious quest of applause. This
reproach he met with the meek reply, "Pardon me, my brethren, for I am a humble
man;" at which they cried out the more against him, "Come, see the madman, the
fool!" He held his ground notwithstanding, and taught many.But this work which
his adversaries failed to put down, the over-zeal of an admirer brought to a
sudden close. One of the recluses of the Mount, having occasion to visit the
city, saw him and followed him crying, "This is the fan in the Lord's hand,
wherewith He wilt purge all His floor, and the tares of heresy: this is the fire
whereof our Lord said, I am come to send fire on the earth" (St. Matth. iii.12,
St. Luke xii.49). Hearing this, certain chief men of the city, heretics,
heathens, and Jews, seized him and drew him outside the gates, stoned him and
left him wellnigh dead. Next morning he fled back to his cell on the Mount.4.
Work as a Teacher. -- There, he gave himself to the work of refuting with his
pen the heresies and misbeliefs of his time, which he had thus been hindered by
violence from combating in speech. Disciples gathered round him, and a school
formed itself under the teacher in his retirement. The names are recorded by our
narrator of Zenobius, Simeon, Isaac, Asuna, and Julian. Others add those of
Abraham, Abba, and Mara. All these are named with favour in his Testament (a
document of which we shall treat hereafter) except Isaac; but two others,
Paulinus and Aurit (or Arnad) are denounced as false to the Faith.The biographer
introduces into his narrative of this stage of Ephraim's life an account of his
famous dream of the vine (above referred to), which foreshowed his future
fertility as a writer, as related in his Testament. It will be given farther on,
in his own words.Remote and isolated as was his abode, the fame of the
illustrious Basil, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, reached him there, and
moved in him a desire to see and hear so great a divine. He prayed for divine
guidance in the matter; and in answer a vision was sent to him. Before the Holy
Table there seemed to stand a pillar of fire, whereof the top reached unto
heaven, and a voice from heaven was heard to cry, "Such as thou seest this
pillar of fire, such is the great Basil."5. Journey to Egypt, and Sojourn There.
-- Thus encouraged, Ephraim set out on his journey, taking with him an
interpreter, for he was unable to speak Greek. In the first instance, however
(according to the History), he made his way, not to Cappadocia, but to a seaport
(not named by the writer -- but probably Alexandretta is meant) where he took
ship for Egypt. In the voyage the ship encountered perils, first in a storm, and
afterwards from a sea-monster, but was delivered from both by his faith, which
enabled him with words of power and the sign of the cross to rebuke the winds
and waves into calm, and to slay the monster. Arrived in Egypt, he made his way
to the city Antino (apparently Antinoë or Antinoopolis), [255] and thence
towards the famous desert of Scete, in the Nitrian valley -- then, and still,
the place of many monasteries. Here he found an unoccupied cave, in which, as a
cell, he and his companion took up their abode for eight years. His habits of
life in this retreat -- and (as it appears) at Edessa -- were of the most
austere. His food was barley bread, varied only by parched corn, pulse, or
herbs; his drink, water; his clothing, squalid rags. His flesh was dried up like
a potsherd, over his bones. He is described as being of short stature, bald, and
beardless. He never laughed, but was of sad countenance. Other authorities,
Gregory especially, dwell much and with admiration on his profuse and perpetual
weeping. [256] In this Egyptian retreat he is related to have proved himself a
victorious adversary against the Arians. On his arrival he had sought out and
found a monk named Bishoi, to whom, because of his special sanctity, he had been
divinely directed before he quitted Edessa; and with him he had sojourned for a
week, communing with him by means of a miraculous gift which endowed each with
the language of the other. By this gift he was enabled to carry on controversy
with Egyptian heretics, many of whom he reclaimed to orthodoxy. Over one of
these, an aged monk who had been perverted to heresy by the possession of a
demon, he exercised a further miraculous power for his restoration, by casting
out the evil spirit and restoring the old man at once to his right mind and to
the right faith. This gift of language, and the intercourse of Ephraim with
Bishoi, are told only in the Vatican form of the History, which adds that he not
only spoke Egyptian, but wrote discourses in that tongue. The other version of
it represents him as having learned to speak Egyptian in the ordinary way. It is
to be noted that the name of Bishoi (in Greek, Pasoës) is known as that of the
founder (in the fourth century) of the monastery of Amba Bishoi, still occupied
by a community of monks, in the Nitrian Desert; and that in those sequestered
regions the tradition of Ephraim's visit to Bishoi was lingering even within the
last century and probably still lingers. To this subject we shall have occasion
to recur, further on. [257]6. Visit to St. Basil of Cæsarea. -- This long
sojourn ended, he resumed his purpose of visiting Basil, and left Egypt for
Cæsarea (which our narrator evidently supposes to be a maritime city -- probably
confusing it with the Cæsarea which was the metropolis of Palestine). [258] He
was anxious that his first sight of the great Archbishop should be on the Feast
of the Epiphany, and he succeeded in so timing his journey as to arrive the day
before that Feast. On enquiry, he learned that Basil would take his part in its
celebration in the great church; and thither accordingly on the morrow he and
his interpreter repaired. On the same day (adds our historian) was the
commemoration of St. Mamas. [259] At first, when he saw the great Prelate in
gorgeous vestments attended by his train of richly-robed clergy, the heart of
the humble ascetic failed him: this man so surrounded with state and splendor
could not be (he thought) the pillar of fire revealed to him in his vision. But
when Basil ascended the bema to preach, Ephraim, though he could understand
little if anything of the orator's eloquence, was speedily brought to another
mind. As he listened he saw the Holy Ghost (in the form of a dove, says Gregory,
as also the Vatican History, -- or, according to another account, [260] of a
tongue of fire), speaking from his mouth, (Gregory says, hovering by his ear and
inspiring his words); and he joined in the applause which each period of the
oration drew from the audience, -- so vehemently that while others were content
to utter the cry of approval (ahâ) but once, he reiterated it (ahâ, ahâ). Basil
noticing this sent his Archdeacon to invite the stranger into the Sanctuary; but
the invitation was modestly declined. Another version of the story places this
invitation before the sermon, attributing to Basil a spiritual insight which
discerned the holy man's presence and identified him. Again the Archdeacon was
sent to summon him -- this time, by name: "Come, my lord Ephraim, before the
bema; the Archbishop bids thee." Amazed to find himself thus discovered, Ephraim
yielded, and praised God, saying, "Great art Thou in very truth; Basil is the
pillar of fire; through his mouth speaks the Holy Ghost." He begged, however, to
be excused from coming into the Archbishop's presence publicly, and asked to be
allowed instead to salute him privately in the "Treasury," "after the Sacred
Oblation." Accordingly, when "the Divine Mysteries" had been completed, the
Archbishop's Syncellus repeated the invitation, saying, "Draw near, Apostle of
Christ, that we may enjoy thy presence." He complied, and in his mean rags,
silent, and with downcast looks, stood before the magnificent Prelate. Basil
rose from his seat, received him with the kiss of brotherhood, then bowed his
head, and even prostrated himself before the humble monk, greeting him as the
"Father of the Desert," the foe of unclean spirits; and asked the purpose of his
journey, -- "Art thou come to visit one who is a sinner? The Lord reward thy
labor." He then proceeded to give the Holy Eucharist to both the strangers. In
the interchange of speech (through the interpreter) that ensued, Basil enquired
how it was that one who spoke no Greek had followed his discourse with such
applause. When he heard, in reply, of the visible manifestation of the Holy
Ghost, he exclaimed, "I would I were Ephraim, to be counted worthy by the Lord
of such a boon!" Ephraim then entreated of him a boon; "I know, O holy man, that
whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, He will give it thee: ask Him, therefore, to
enable me to speak Greek." Basil in reply disclaimed such intercessory power,
but proposed that they should join in prayer for the desired gift, reminding him
of the promise, "He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him" (Ps. cxlv.19).
They prayed accordingly for a long space; and when they had ceased, Basil
enquired, "Why, my Lord Ephraim, receivest thou not the Order of Priesthood,
which befits thee?" "Because I am a sinner," answered Ephraim (through the
interpreter). "I would thy sins were mine!" exclaimed Basil. He then desired
Ephraim to bow his head, laid his hand on him and recited over him the Prayer of
Ordination to the Diaconate, inviting him to respond. Forthwith, to the
amazement of all, Ephraim answered in Greek, with the due form, "Save, and lift
me up, O God." And thenceforth he was able to speak Greek with ease and
correctness. He persisted, however, in declining the higher Order of the
Priesthood; but his interpreter was admitted both Deacon and Priest by Basil
before they departed. Their sojourn lasted about a fortnight. Other writers,
however, call Ephraim a Priest; and there is a passage where he himself seems to
speak of himself, as holding the Priesthood (koh' nîyô); [261] but Palladius,
Jerome, Sozomen, and others of the best-informed writers, confirm our History.
He is in fact frequently styled Ephraim the Deacon, as if to emphasize the fact
that one so high in repute never rose above that lowly rank. Traces of Ephraim's
influence are to be found in two places of Basil's writings. It can scarcely be
doubted that he points to Ephraim when (De Spiritu Sancto, xxix.74), in
defending the familiar formula "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the
Holy Ghost," -- and again (Homil. in Hexaêm. ii.6), in explaining the action of
the Spirit on the waters (Genesis i.2) -- he appeals to the authority of an
unnamed man of great knowledge and judgment, "as closely conversant with the
knowledge of all that is true, as he is far removed from worldly wisdom," a
"Mesopotamian," a "Syrian." From him he says he learned -- in the former
instance, that "and" was to be inserted before the name of the Holy Ghost as
well as before that of the Son; -- and, in the latter, that the Spirit was not
to be conceived as being "carried upon" the waters (as the Septuagint
represents); but (as the Peshitto more truly represents the Hebrew), as
"brooding upon" them, to cherish them into life -- as a bird on her nest. The
verb thus variously rendered is common to the Hebrew with the cognate Syriac;
and the explanation of it given by Basil is in fact found in Ephraim's extant
Commentary on the passage of Genesis: [262] but he understands the "spirit" to
be the wind -- not (as Basil) the Holy Ghost.7. Return to Edessa. -- Ephraim's
return to Edessa was hastened by the tidings that in his absence no less than
nine new heresies had appeared there. His way thither lay through Samosata; and
there he fell in with a chief man of the city, a heretic, who was passing by
with a train of attendant youths. As the holy man sat by the wayside to eat
bread, these followers mocked him, and one of them wantonly smote him on the
cheek. The injury was borne in meek silence; but it was speedily avenged on the
smiter, by a viper which came out from under a stone whereon he sat, and bit him
so that he died on the spot. His master and companions hastened after Ephraim,
and overlook him as he was begging his food in a village beyond the city which
he had just passed through. At their entreaty he turned back with them, and by
his prayers restored the dead youth to life. The nobleman and his followers,
seeing this miracle, were converted to the orthodox faith.8. Controversies. --
Arrived at Edessa, he engaged at once in the conflict against the multiform
heresies of the place, old and new -- Manichean and Marcionite, as well as
Arian. Of all the forms of error he encountered, the one that gave him most
grief and trouble was that which had been originated about the year 200 by a
Syrian, Bardesan. [263] Of this heresiarch he writes, in one of his Nisibene
Hymns (the 51st; [264] not included in the following selection):1. I have
chanced upon tares, my brethren,That wear the color of wheat,To choke the good
seed;Concerning which the husbandmen are commanded,Take them not away nor root
them out;And though the husbandmen heeded not,The seed waxed stronger than
they,Grew and multiplied and covered and choked them.2. I have chanced upon a
book of Bardaisan,And I was troubled for an hour's space;It tainted my pure
ears,And made them a passageFor words filled with blasphemy.I hastened to purge
themWith the goodly and pure readingOf the Scriptures of truth.3. I heard as I
read themHow he blasphemes justice,And grace her fellow-worker.For if the body
be not raised,It were foul reproach for grace,To have created it unto
corruption;And it were slander against justice,To send it unto destruction.4.
This then that I read was grievousFor soul and for body alike;And between these
partners it castsThe severance of despair.The body it cuts off from its
resurrection,And the soul from her comrade,And the loss which the serpent threw
on usBardaisan counts it for gain.The controversy against the disciples of this
man gave to the literary work of Ephraim an impulse to which his fame is largely
due. His polemic in the above instance took, as we see, the form of a hymn; and
his biographer informs us that it was in this controversy he first was led to
adopt hymnody as a vehicle for teaching truth and confuting error. Of his hymns
we possess some which can be confidently assigned to an earlier period -- the
first twenty-one of the Nisibene collection (which are the Nisibene Hymns
proper), belonging to the epoch of the third siege (a.d.350); but those are
songs of triumph and thanksgiving, or of personal eulogy and exhortation, -- not
of controversy. The idea of the controversial use of hymnody he borrowed (we are
told) from his adversaries. It appears that Harmodius, the son of Bardesan, had
popularized the false teaching of his father, as embodied in a series of a
hundred and fifty hymns (in profane rivalry with the Psalms of David), by
setting them to attractive tunes, which caught the ear of the multitude, and
inclined them to receive his doctrines. So Ephraim himself tells us (attributing
the work, however, to Bardesan solely) in his Homily (metrical) LIII., "Against
Heretics" (not included in our selection). "He fashioned hymns, and joined them
with tunes; and composed psalms, and brought in moods. By weights and measures,
he portioned language. He blended for the simple poison with sweetness. The sick
will not choose the food of wholesomeness. He would look to David, that he might
be adorned with his beauty, and commended by his likeness. An hundred and fifty
psalms, he likewise composed." [265] To confute the heresies thus circulated,
Ephraim borrowed the tunes employed by Harmodius; and his hymns, set to these
tunes, soon carried the day in favor of orthodoxy, partly by the force of their
truth, partly by their superior literary power, and partly by the help of a
choir formed among the nuns whom he employed to sing them, morning and evening,
in the churches. Thus the rival hymnody of heresy was superseded, and the hymns
of Ephraim gained the place they have ever since held in the Church, wherever
Syriac is the ecclesiastical language, -- even though it is no longer the
vernacular.He celebrated this victory in the following strain of triumphant
imprecation: -- "Cursed be our trust [if it be] on the Seven; [266] the Æons
which Bardaisan confesses!Anathema [be he] who says, as he said: that from them
descend the rain and the dew!Anathema who affirms, like him: that from them are
the showers and the frosts!Cursed be he who says, as he said: that from them are
the snow and the ice![Cursed be he who affirms, like him]: that from them are
the seeds for the husbandmen!Anathema who confesses, as he confessed: that from
them are the fruits for the labourer!Anathema who believes, like him: that from
them are famine and plenty!Anathema who confesses, as he taught: that from them
are summer and winter!Anathema be on the man: and on the woman who thus
speaks!Anathema be on the house: wherein it is thus affirmed!Anathema his
doctrine which rests: its trust on the Sevenfold!Cursed be he who reproaches his
Creator: and ascribes dominion to the Seven!Cursed be he who reads the
Scriptures: and becomes a gainsayer of the Scriptures!Cursed be he who reads the
Prophets: and breaks the words of the Prophets!Cursed be he who reads the
Apostles: and abides not by their words!"To this is subjoined a verse, the
response of Balai (Balæus) a disciple: -- "The Lord exalt thy horn: O Church
that art faithful!For the King, and the King's son: are established in thine
ark."Another demonstration of Ephraim's zeal against heresy, which the compiler
of the History judiciously omits, is (unhappily for the fame of both) attested,
and with evident approval, by Gregory of Nyssa.Apollinaris, who was his
contemporary, and whose erroneous teaching he held in abhorrence, had committed
his heresies to writing in two volumes which he gave into the keeping of a
woman, a follower of his sect. Ephraim approached this woman and persuaded her
to lend him the books, pretending that he agreed with the doctrine of their
author and desired to use them in controversy against its opponents. At her
instance he returned them in a short time; but before so doing, he treated them
with fish-glue in such fashion that the leaves of each cohered into a solid
mass, while to outward appearance they were unharmed. Soon after, he challenged
Apollinaris to meet him in a public disputation concerning the articles of faith
which the heretic had impugned. The latter sought to decline the controversy,
pleading his old age [267] and infirmities; but consented to it, -- only on
condition, however, that he should be allowed to read from these volumes the
statement and defence of his tenets therein written by him. On these terms, the
disputants met. Apollinaris was called on to maintain his thesis, and his
writings were placed in his hands; but when he went to open the books, it was in
vain. No part of either volume would yield to his fingers; he was obliged to
desist and to retire, baffled and ashamed; in such dismay as to bring on an
illness that nearly proved fatal.Another incident of this period, related in the
History, is a miracle (a genuine one this time, if true) wrought by Ephraim on a
paralytic. Seeing him as he sat and begged at the door of a church in Edessa,
the holy man asked him: "Wilt thou be made whole?" "Yea, my Lord; lay thy hand
on me," was the reply. With the words, "In the Name of Christ, arise and walk,"
he was cured instantly; and departed, glorifying God.At the end of four years,
messengers came to him from Basil, summoning him to come and receive
consecration to the Episcopate, for some see unnamed (to which, as Sozomen
relates, he had been elected; -- Hist. Eccles. II.16). When he learned their
errand, he feigned madness, going to and fro in the streets in unseemly fashion,
in motley garb, eating bread as he went and letting his spittle run down. Thus
he succeeded in evading the undesired elevation: the messengers, shocked at his
behaviour, returned without him, and reported that they found him a madman. "O
hidden pearl of price" (cried Basil) "whom the world knows not! Ye are the
madmen, and he the sane."The city and the Mount of Edessa suffered in these days
from an invasion of the Huns, who plundered, murdered, and ravished, without
mercy, -- not even sparing the cells and convents. This calamity Ephraim is said
to have recorded, in writings which have not reached us.9. Persecution by
Valens. -- From another peril the Edessenes were saved by their faith and
constancy. In the days of their Bishop Barses (361-378), the Arian Emperor
Valens (364-378), in the course of his persecution of the orthodox, approached
the city and summoned the inhabitants to wait upon him in his camp and hear his
pleasure there. They disregarded the command, and gathered into the great Church
of St. Thomas, [268] where they and their Bishop continued unceasingly in
prayer. The historian Socrates, a trustworthy and early (fifth century)
authority, confirms our History here; and explains that Valens had ordered their
Church to be surrendered to the Arians, and was enraged against them for
resisting his decree, and against his Prefect Modestus for failing to carry it
out. Valens then, finding them contumacious, ordered one of his generals (this
same Modestus, according to Sozomen, who also relates the story) to enter the
city and put the people to the sword. As Modestus, who was a humane man, sought
to persuade them to yield, he met a woman leading her two sons to the Church. He
strove to stop her, warning her of the danger she incurred; but her reply was,
"I hear that they who fear God are to be slain, and I am in haste to win the
crown with the rest." "But what of these boys?" he asked. "Are they thy sons?"
"They are," she answered, "and we pray, both I and they, that we may be made an
oblation to the Lord." Amazed at her resolve, he reported the matter to Valens,
to convince him that the Edessenes were prepared to die rather than submit. The
Emperor was moved to relent; the people and their Bishop and priests came forth;
he heard their plea, was ashamed of his cruel purpose, pardoned their
disobedience, and departed. This well-attested incident is to be assigned to
371, or to the preceding or ensuing year. [269] This victory of faith was
celebrated by Ephraim in the following verses: -- "The doors of her homes
EdessaLeft open when she went forthWith the pastor to the grave, to die,And not
depart from her faith.Let the city and fort and buildingAnd houses be yielded to
the king;Our goods and our gold let us leave;So we part not from our
faith!Edessa is full of chastity,Full of prudence and understanding.She is clad
in discernment of soul;Faith is the girdle of her loins;Truth her armour
all-prevailing;Love her crown, all-exalting.Christ bless them that dwell in
her,Edessa, whose name is His glory,And the name of her champion her beauty!City
that is lady over her fellows,City that is the shadowOf the Jerusalem in
heaven!"After all was thus restored to peace and orthodoxy, Ephraim withdrew to
his retreat on the Mount, which he is not recorded to have again quitted, save
on one occasion, to be presently related.10. Penitent sent to Ephraim by Basil:
Basil's Death. -- The death of Basil (at the end of 378) is said by our author
to have caused great grief to Ephraim, and to have been lamented by him in
hymns. But (as will be shown below) this is hardly possible, even if the latest
date for Ephraim's death be accepted.Another miraculous incident connected with
Ephraim's biography, belongs to the year of Basil's death. A woman of high rank,
but of evil life, in Cæsarea, being moved to penitence, wrote on a paper a full
confession of her sins, and gave it to Basil, who at her entreaty laid it with
prayer before the Lord. Her repentance and his intercession prevailed so far,
that the record of all her guilt disappeared from the paper, save of one sin,
more heinous than the rest. Disappointed thus of her hope of full pardon, she
had recourse again to Basil, supplicating that this sin too might be wiped out.
He encouraged her to persevere in prayer, and advised her to repair to the Mount
of Edessa, to Ephraim, and through him obtain her desire. To Ephraim accordingly
she made her way, and cried to him, saying, "Have pity on me, thou holy one of
God." When he heard Basil's advice and her petition, he disavowed all such power
to prevail with God as Basil had ascribed to him, and advised her rather to
hasten back and obtain her Archbishop's farther intercession. She returned
accordingly to Cæsarea; but, as it seemed, too late: Basil had died before her
arrival, and she met his corpse as it was carried to burial. In despair, she
prostrated herself in the dust, proclaimed her story to all that stood by, and
upbraided the dead saint, "Woe is me, servant of God! why didst thou send me far
away that I should return too late and meet thee borne to the grave! The Lord
judge betwixt me and thee, who hast sent me to another, when thyself couldst
have absolved me!" One of the attendant clergy, desiring to learn what was the
sin for which pardon was so hard to win, took from her the paper she held, and
opening found it blank. The last and deadliest of her list had vanished like the
rest: and "thus, by the prayers of Basil and of Ephraim, and by the woman's
faith and perseverance, her sins were all of them blotted out."After this
occurrence, the History places the following narrative of Ephraim's last
intervention in earthly concerns. It is related likewise by Palladius (Ephraim's
younger contemporary) and by Sozomen.11. Exertions in Relief of Famine. -- In a
season of severe famine, he ascertained that grain was being hoarded in the
stores of certain persons who gave nothing to the starving poor. When he rebuked
their inhumanity, they excused themselves on the plea that none was to be found
of such probity as to guarantee fairness and honesty in the distribution of
relief. Ephraim at once offered his services, and was accepted as their agent
throughout the famine season, to dispense large sums as the treasurer and
steward of their bounty. Among other things, he provided three hundred letters,
partly for removing the sick to stations where they were duly tended, partly for
carrying the dead for interment. A body of helpers worked with him in
administering relief, and their care extended not merely through the city, but
to the country and villages adjacent. The year of dearth ended, a year of plenty
ensued; Ephraim retired to his cell, -- this time to leave it no more. He died a
month after the close of the charitable labours. Of them his biographer,
following for once the better instinct which recognizes higher worth in services
of love than in ascetic practices or in miraculous pretensions, writes thus: --
"God gave him this occasion that therein he might win the crown in the close of
his life."12. His Testament. -- In his Testament, which professes to have been
composed in immediate anticipation of his end, he laid on his disciples a solemn
charge that his body should be buried humbly, covered with no garment save his
tunic (cothênô). Gregory of Nyssa adds that a rich friend who, though informed
of his prohibition, had provided beforehand for this purpose a costly robe, was
punished by the possession of an evil spirit, which tormented him until, on his
confession, the dying saint relieved him, casting out the demon by prayer and
laying on of hands. From the extant Syriac of this document [270] (which is
metrical), the following have been selected as the most striking verses:"I
Ephraim am at point to die: and I write my testament;That I may leave for all
men a memorial: of whatsoever is mine,That though it be [but] for my words: they
that know me may remember me.Woe is me, for my times are ended: and the length
of my years is fulfilled;The spinning for me is shortened: the thread is nigh
unto cutting;The oil fails in the lamp: my days are spent, yea, mine hours;The
hireling has finished his year: and the sojourner has fulfilled his
season.Around me are the summoners: on this side and that are they that lead me
away.I cry aloud, [but] none hears me: and I complain, [but] none delivers."Woe
to thee, Ephraim, for the judgment: when thou shalt stand before the Son's
judgment-seat,And around thee they that know thee: on the right hand and the
left,Lo! there shalt thou be confounded: woe to him who is put to shame
there!Jesu, do Thou judge Ephraim: nor give his judgment to another;For whoso
has God for his Judge: he finds mercy in judgment;For I have heard from the
wise: yea, I have heard from men of knowledge,That whoso sees the face of the
King: though he has offended, he shall not die.* * * * * * * * * * *"By him who
came down on Mount Sinai: and by him who spake on the rock,By that Mouth which
spake the "Eli": [271] and made the bowels of creation tremble,By him who was
sold in Judah: and by him who was scourged in Jerusalem,By the Might which was
smitten on the cheek: and by the Glory which endured spitting,By the threefold
Names of fire: and by the one Assent and will,I have not rebelled against the
Church: nor against the might of God.If in my thought I have magnified the
Father: above the Son, let Him have no mercy on me!And if I have accounted the
Holy Spirit less: than God, let mine eyes be darkened!If as I have said, I
confessed not: let me go into outer darkness!And if I speak in hypocrisy: let me
burn with the wicked in fire!* * * * * * * * * * *"I adjure you my disciples:
with adjurations that may not be loosed,That my words be not set aside: that ye
loose not my commandments.Whoso lays me beneath the altar: he shall not see the
Altar of heaven;For it is not meet that foul stench: should be laid in the Holy
Place;Whoso has laid me within the temple: he shall not see the temple of the
Kingdom.* * * * * * * * * * *"Take nought from me as memorial: [272] my beloved,
my brothers, my sons,For as much as ye have a memorial: that which ye have heard
of Jesus.For if ye take aught from Ephraim: into reproach will Ephraim come;For
He, my Lord, will say unto me: More than in Me they have trusted in thee,For if
they had relied on Me: they had not sought a memorial from thee.'"Lay me not
with the martyrs: for I am a sinner and unworthy,And because of my unworthiness
I fear: to be brought beside their bones;For if stubble comes near to fire: it
will scorch it, yea, devour it.It is not that I hate their neigbourhood: because
of mine unworthiness, I fear it.* * * * * * * * * * *"Whoso carries me on his
fingers: may his hands be leprous as Gehazi!On your shoulders carry me: and in
haste conduct me [to the grave],And as a mean man bury me: for I have worn out
my days in sadness.Why glorify ye me, O men: who before our Lord am ashamed?And
why give ye me [the name of] Blessed': who am disclosed in my works?Should one
show you my transgressions: ye would all of you spit in my face.For if the
stench of the sinner: could strike one that stood by him,Ye would all of you
flee away: from the loathsome stench of Ephraim."Whoso lays with me a pall: may
he go forth into outer darkness!And whoso has laid with me a shroud: may he be
cast into Gehenna of fire!In my coat and cowl shall ye bury me: for ornament
beseems not the hateful,Nor does praise profit the dead: who is laid and cast
into the tomb.* * * * * * * * * * *"Arise, my brethren of Edessa: my lords and
my sons and my fathers!Bring whatsoever ye have vowed: to lay along with your
brother,Bring and set it before me: whatsoever ye my brethren have vowed.While I
have yet a little memory: let me set on it a price;And let there be bought pure
vessels: and let there be hired workmen therewith,And distribution be made among
the poor: the needy and them that are in want.* * * * * * * * * * *"Blessed is
the city wherein ye dwell: Edessa, mother of the wise,Which from the living
mouth of the Son: was blessed by His Disciple. [273] This blessing shall abide
in her: until the Holy One shall be revealed."Whoso withholds from me aught that
he has vowed: shall die the death of Ananias,Who sought to deceive the Apostles:
and was stretched [dead] before their feet."Whoso carries before me a taper: may
his fire be kindled beside him!For to what end avails fire: for him whose fire
is from himself?For when the visible fire is kindled: in it is consumed the
secret fire.Sufficient for me is the pain without: add ye not to me that which
is within.* * * * * * * * * * *"Lay me not with sweet spices: for this honour
avails me not;Nor yet incense and perfumes: for the honour benefits me not.Burn
sweet spices in the Holy Place: and me, even me, conduct to the grave with
prayer.Give ye incense to God: and over me send up hymns.Instead of perfumes of
spices: in prayer make remembrance of me.What can goodly odour profit: to the
dead who cannot perceive it?Bring them in and burn them in the Holy Place: that
they which enter in may smell the savour.Wrap thou not the fetid dung: in silk
that profits it not.Cast it down upon the dunghill: for it cannot perceive
honour [done to it].* * * * * * * * * * *"Lay me not in your sepulchres: for
your magnificence profits me not;For I have a covenant with God: that I shall be
buried with strangers.I am a stranger, as they were: with them, O my brethren,
lay me!For every bird loves its kind: and man loves him that is like himself.In
the cemetery lay me: where are the broken of heart,That when the Son of God
comes: He may embrace me [274] and raise me among them."* * * * * * * * * *
*[After blessing by name the five faithful disciples above mentioned (page 126),
he leaves an anathema on the two, Paulinus and Urit, who had erred from the
faith; and against]"Arians and Anomoeans: Cathari and those of the Serpent,
[275]Marcionites and Manichoeans: Bardesanites and Kukites,Paulites and
Vitalianites: Sabbatarians and Borborites,With all the other doctrines: of
superstitious that are unseemly."* * * * * * * * * * *[The dying Saint recalls
in the following lines the vision of his childhood, and praises God for its
fulfilment.]"I swear by your lives I lie not: in this thing that I tell.For when
I was a little child: and lay in my mother's bosom,I saw (I was as in a dream):
a thing which has come to pass in truth.There grew a vine-shoot on my tongue:
and increased and reached unto heaven,And it yielded fruit without measure:
leaves likewise without number.It spread, it stretched wide, it bore fruit: all
creation drew near,And the more they were that gathered: the more its clusters
abounded.These clusters were the Homilies; and these leaves the Hymns.God was
the giver of them: glory to Him for His grace!For He gave to me of His good
pleasure: from the storehouse of His treasures."This farewell strain has no
doubt suffered interpolation, but the main part of what is above translated is
confirmed as genuine by the references to it of Gregory, who had undoubtedly
read it in a Greek version. [276] As it has reached us, it ends with a
narrative, which at most can only claim to be an appendix added by a disciple,
of the lamentations uttered at his deathbed by a maiden named Lamprotate,
daughter of a man of rank in Edessa, who entreated permission to make a tomb for
him and another at his feet for herself. The narrative concludes with his
consent to this petition, his parting commands to her, and her promise of
obedience.His body was followed to the grave by all the people of the city and
neighborhood, and by the Bishops, priests, and deacons of the province, with the
monks, whether "anchorites, stylites, or coenobites" -- solitary, or living in
communities. It was laid (as he had desired) in the strangers' burial-ground;
but not long after, the citizens removed it thence, and made a grave for him,
deacon as he was, among those of their Bishops, -- probably in the monastery
(now belonging to the Armenians) of St. Sergius on the Mount of Edessa, where
his tomb is shown to this day, as we learn from the Reise in Syr. u Mesopot. of
Dr. Sachau (p.202).13. Death and Burial. -- His death occurred in Haziran
(June), on the 15th according to our History (Vat.), but other authorities
differ, assigning it to the 9th, 18th, or 19th. The shorter Syriac Life gives
the year as 372, -- thus contradicting the History which represents him as
living in the year of Basil's death (378).Even in the time of Gregory of Nyssa,
an annual commemoration of Ephraim had become customary in the Church, which
gave occasion for the Encomium above referred to. In the East, it was held on
the 28th of January; but in the Roman Martyrology his name is recorded on the
1st of February.


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  CHAPTER 7: IV.--RECAPITULATION OF AUTHENTIC FACTS OF LIFE.
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The Life, whence the above narrative is mainly derived, though evidently put
into its present form by compilers many generations later than the time of
Ephraim, is in its leading outlines to be accepted as historically trustworthy,
though it has no doubt been largely amplified by the incorporation of
exaggerated or fictitious details. Of its essential points, not a few are
confirmed by his own writings; and many more (as has been said above, p.121), by
evidence of hardly later date, -- especially by the Encomium of Gregory of Nyssa
(d.395), who assures us that he derives his account from Ephraim's written
statements and from no other source. [277] This Father, as being brother of
Basil with whom Ephraim was so closely associated in his later life, may well
have known personally the man of whom he wrote, and was at least in a position
to collect and verify with discrimination the facts of his life. Further, the
general historical framework of the biography is sufficiently attested as
correct by the contemporary secular historians, non-Christian as well as
Christian -- notably (as will appear farther on), as regards the siege of
Nisibis, by one whom Ephraim most abhorred, the Emperor Julian. It may be
briefly affirmed that the external independent evidence covers all the facts
included in the summary given above (pp.120, 121), at the opening of this
Section. It extends farther to many incidents related in the Life, -- such as
the attempt of Sapor to take Nisibis by turning the river against its walls,
Ephraim's encounter with the woman who met him as he entered Edessa and her
retort to his rebuke, his borrowing the music of the heretic in order to
popularize the orthodox teaching of his own hymns, the call to the Episcopate
and his evasion of it, the constancy of the faith of the Edessenes when
threatened by the persecutor Valens, the famine and the work of relief organized
by Ephraim in the last year of his life; also to a few of the details which
belong to or verge on the supernatural, -- the dream of the vine-shoot which
foreshadowed his literary fertility, the vision of the Angel with the book who
appeared to his brother-anchorite, and that of the dove, which he himself seemed
to see, inspiring the discourses of Basil. In these facts, greater and smaller
taken together, we have sufficient data for the derivation of the main outlines
of his life and the leading features of his character.


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  CHAPTER 8: V.--HISTORICAL CRITICISM OF MEDIÆVAL AMPLIFICATIONS.
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But along with the genuine and trustworthy matter, the compiler has embodied
much that is unattested and in many cases inherently improbable, and even some
things that are demonstrably untrue. i. The Miraculous Details. -- To the
category of the improbable -- the fiction of hagiology or the growth of myth --
belong the miracles so freely ascribed to Ephraim and the miraculous events
represented as attending on his career. It is noteworthy that Ephraim himself,
though no doubt he believed that he was the recipient of Divine intimations in
dream or vision, never lays claim to supernatural powers. Nor does Gregory in
the Encomium attribute to him any such -- except in the case of the rich friend
who for his mistaken zeal was given over to an evil spirit; and on his
repentance relieved through Ephraim's intercession. [278] The voice that issued
from his father's idol foretelling his future war against idolatry -- the answer
of the new-born babe that cleared him from calumny -- the crowned phantom on the
walls of Nisibis that scared the besiegers -- the plague of insects that drove
them into disastrous flight -- the Angel sent to call him back to Edessa when he
had fled thence -- the storm hushed and the sea-monster slain by his word on the
voyage to Egypt -- the monk whom he delivered at once from demoniacal possession
and from heresy -- the sudden gift of tongues which enabled him to speak Coptic
with Bishoi and Greek with Basil -- the restoration to life of the youth who had
died of a viper's bite at Samosata -- the paralytic healed at the church door in
Edessa -- the disappearance of the record of guilt from the scroll on which the
penitent of Cæsarea had written her confession -- all these belong to the later
growth of legend that springs up naturally over the tomb of a saint. Some of
them may be safely set aside as purely fictitious; others are probably due to
metaphoric expressions mistaken for literal assertions, or to rhetorical
amplification throwing a false coloring of the supernatural over ordinary
events. Most of them, moreover, bear evident signs of having been dressed by the
compiler into spurious resemblance to the miraculous narrations in the Old and
New Testaments, of the Divine dealings with Prophets and Apostles, -- Elisha,
Jonah, St. Peter, St. Paul, or even of the works of power which attested the
mission of our Lord Himself on earth. In reading these, one cannot fail to feel
painfully -- though the narrator seems quite unconscious of -- the irreverence
of the travesty. It is noteworthy that some, even of the non-miraculous
incidents of the Life appear to have been similarly handled. Thus the account of
the stoning of Ephraim outside of Edessa seems modelled after that of St. Paul
at Lystra, (Acts xiv.19, 20): and the simulated madness by which he evaded the
call of the Episcopate is apparently borrowed from the history of David's
behavior before Achish and his servants at Gath (1 Sam. xxi.13-15). ii. The
Demonstrably Incorrect or Contradictory Statements. -- Farther, even when we
have laid aside all that is seemingly exaggerated, invented or mythical in the
Life, there remains much in it that, when critically examined, proves to need
correction or to deserve rejection. We proceed to deal with some questions which
arise affecting the historical credibility of its narrative. 1. Ephraim's
Alleged Heathen Parentage. -- The heathen parentage assigned to Ephraim, and
consequently the whole narrative of his conversion to Christianity and his
consequent troubles, may be without hesitation discredited. They are
irreconcilable with his own words [279] (Adv. Hæreses, XXVI.), "I was born in
the way of truth: though my boyhood understood not the greatness of the benefit,
I knew it when trial came." So again more explicitly (if we may trust a
Confession which is extant only in Greek), "I had been early taught about Christ
by my parents; they who begat me after the flesh, had trained me in the fear of
the Lord....My parents were confessors before the judge: yea, I am the kindred
of martyrs." 2. The First and Third Sieges of Nisibis. -- In the narrative of
the siege of Nisibis, and especially of the presence and intercession of St.
Jacob the Bishop, there is confusion and grave error. It is certain that in the
reign of Constantius (337-361), Nisibis was three times besieged by Sapor. [280]
The siege in which St. Jacob was within the city took place in the year 338, and
he died the same year. The attempt of Sapor to employ the intercepted waters of
the Mygdonius for the destruction of its walls, belongs to a later siege -- the
third, of the year 350 -- twelve years after the death of Jacob. These two
sieges are expressly recorded in the "Paschal (otherwise Alexandrine
Chronicle)," followed by Theophanes in his Chronographia (who also mentions
briefly the intervening siege of 346); and the account given by the former of
these chroniclers (who wrote in the seventh century) rests on the authority of
an Epistle written by Valgesh, Bishop of Nisibis in 350, who is eulogized by
Ephraim in five of the Nisibene Hymns contained in the present volume
(XIII-XVII.). Other contemporary evidence, fuller, and at first hand, to the
same effect, is forthcoming from two widely different sources. -- As already
intimated, the Apostate is here alone with the champion of the Faith. In his
second Oration [281] (addressed, probably in the year 358, to Constantius, then
Emperor) Julian describes the siege with even more circumstantial detail than
our biographer, placing it after the death of Constans, which took place in
January 350, and thus confirming the date assigned by the Paschal chronicler and
by Theophanes. According to Julian's account, the embankment formed by Sapor,
the work of four months, [282] was so constructed as to encompass the whole
circuit of Nisibis, so that the river intercepted by it "formed a lake in the
middle of which the city stood as an island," with "the battlements of its walls
barely appearing above the surrounding waters"; and on the surface of this
encircling lake, he launched armed vessels and floating war-engines. By these
the fortifications were ceaselessly battered for several days, -- till of a
sudden the river (then in flood) burst its barrier, and carried away not only
the embankment but a hundred cubits of the city wall. Through the breach thus
made, Sapor pushed forward his cavalry to lead the advance upon the city which
lay thus seemingly at his mercy. But they proved unable to overcome the
difficulties of the intervening ground -- torn up and flooded as it was by the
torrent, and traversed moreover by an ancient moat -- while the Nisibenes in the
energy inspired by their deadly peril, showered missiles upon their assailants
as they strove to struggle onward. The Persian next sent on his elephants; but
their unwieldly bulk served only to enhance the panic and confusion, and to
complete the disaster of his repulse. And when, the next morning, he prepared to
renew the assault, he found himself confronted by a new wall, hurriedly raised
in the night, to fill the gap in the ramparts, reaching already the height of
six feet and manned by fresh and well-armed defenders. Despairing of success
against a resistance so obstinate, he raised the siege on which he had in vain
expended so much time, labour, treasure, and blood, and retired ignominiously.
It is needless to add that of the miraculous incidents of the siege as related
in the Life, no trace appears in Julian's account. The only Providence he
discerns in the successful defence of Nisibis, is that which he attributes to
his imperial kinsman to whom his fulsome oratory is addressed. Of the leading
facts, as related by Julian, ample corroboration will be found in the first
three of the Nisibene Hymns above referred to. In the first, Ephraim makes
Nisibis herself tell the tale of her peril: she compares herself to the Ark of
the Flood, compassed, not like it by waters merely, but by "mounds and weapons
and waves" (I., 3); but (ib., 6, 8) the wall had not yet given way, for he still
speaks of it as standing, and prays that it may continue to stand. This Hymn was
therefore written while the siege was still in progress. In the second Hymn he
celebrates her deliverance and the manner of it, -- the very breach of her walls
turned into triumph (II.5, 7) by their reconstruction and the assault of the
besiegers with their elephants (ib., 17, 18, 19), repulsed in disgrace, ending
in immediate retreat. [283] In the third Hymn, he follows on similar lines; and
adds a point, significant in his apprehension, that whereas the wall fell on the
Sabbath, it was raised again on the Lord's day, the Day of the Resurrection
(III.6). In all three Hymns, it is again and again implied or asserted that this
was the third siege of Nisibis (I.11; II.5, 19; III.11, 12) -- and farther (as
it seems) the third time that a breach had been effected in her walls (I.11;
II.19). In later Hymns also (XI.14, 15; XIII.17) the embanked river, bursting
forth and breaking down the defences of the city, more than once appears. From
one of these we learn incidentally that the Mygdonius flowed past, not through,
Nisibis (XIII.18, 19); [284] from which fact it follows that the description in
the Life, of the manner in which the Persian engineers employed the river waters
against the walls, is to be set aside in so far as it differs from Julian's
account as confirmed by the Hymns. It is remarkable how closely these two
accounts, both contemporary with the facts they treat of, agree in all essential
points, though coming to us from sources not only independent, but even adverse,
inter se, -- and in forms so little favourable to exactness of statement as
thanksgiving Hymns and encomiastic Orations. When from Ephraim's strophes we
omit his pious ascriptions of praise to God, and from Julian's periods, the
fulsomeness of his panegyric on the Emperor, the residuum of material fact is in
either case much the same; the main outlines of narrative (related or implied)
are identical in both writers, each unconsciously attests the truthfulness of
the other. Both are farther confirmed in great measure by the account of this
siege embodied in the Pascha Chronicle above referred to, which (as already
stated) rests on information drawn from a written record left by Valgesh who was
Bishop of Nisibis at the time, and to whose prayers Ephraim (Hymn XIII.17) [285]
attributed the speedy restoration of the breach in the city wall. In confusing
this siege (of 350, in the time of Valgesh), with the previous one (of 338, in
the time of Jacob), our biographer, with most subsequent writers down to the
eighteenth century, has been misled by following Theodoret's narration in his
Ecclesiastical History (II.30). [286] The account of the siege given in the Life
is in fact a mere reproduction, somewhat abridged, and slightly varied, of
Theodoret's, from which it derives also its computation of the time occupied by
the siege as but twenty days, -- a period obviously inadequate for the vast
engineering works for which the four months assigned by Julian are certainly not
too much, -- as well as its description of the method and aim of those works. In
Theodoret likewise are found the two supernatural incidents of Sapor's
discomfiture, both repeated in the Life, -- neither of which is affirmed or even
hinted at by Ephraim any more than by Julian; the appearance of the Imperial
Phantom on the wall, and the plague of insects sent in answer to Jacob's, or, as
the Life has it, to Ephraim's prayer. Of these, the former, but not the latter,
finds place in the Paschal Chronicle, and (in exaggerated form) in Theophanes.
Whether, in this instance, the chronicler's statement, which is guardedly
expressed, [287] or any nucleus of it, was derived from the Epistle of Valgesh,
-- or whether he borrowed it from Theodoret or some one of Theodoret's sources,
or some such authority -- is matter of conjecture. [288] 3. Constantius and
Constans. -- The Life errs grossly (as already noticed) in making Constans, who
died in 350, and never reigned in the East, the successor of his brother
Constantius, who survived till 361. 4. The Alleged Sojourn in Egypt. -- The
sojourn of Ephraim for eight years in Egypt, after he had taken up his abode in
Egypt, and before his visit to Cappadocia, is impossible. It was in July, 363,
that Nisibis was surrendered to Persia by Jovian, which court was the cause, as
the Life (no doubt rightly) states, of Ephraim's final departure from that city
to Beth-Garbaia, thence to Amid, and finally, "at the end of the year," to
Edessa. It follows, therefore, that he did not reach Edessa till 364. In Edessa,
or in his cell on the adjacent "Mount" according to the Life, he lived, worked,
wrote commentaries and polemical discourses, taught, and formed a school of
disciples, before his alleged journey to Egypt. It is therefore implied that he
spent years in or near Edessa before he set out on that journey, which cannot
therefore be placed so early as 365. Even if we assign to it the improbably
early date of 366, the eight years in Egypt bring us to 374, or at earliest 373,
for his visit to the Cæsarean Cappadocia. Now there is a prevailing weight of
testimony to the effect that Ephraim died in 373, which date, if accepted,
leaves no time for the incidents of his life after his return to Edessa. This,
however, cannot be urged against our biographer, who (as will be shown) assumes
that he lived till 379. But the Life represents him as resident in or near
Edessa during the persecution which that city suffered from the Emperor Valens,
which (as stated above, p.132) took place probably in 371; certainly not later
than 372, at which date (according to the biographer) he was still in Egypt. In
fact, even without going into particulars, it is evident that between Ephraim's
arrival in Edessa in 364 and the persecution of Valens in 370-2, the eight
years' sojourn in Egypt and the visit to Cappadocia would so fill the interval
as to leave no time for the prolonged Edessa residence, before and after that
sojourn, which the Life, in common with all other authorities, attributes to
Ephraim, and in virtue of which his name is inseparably associated with the
history of Edessa.If, with the Vatican recension of the Life, we read "Julian"
for Valens, as the name of the persecutor of Edessa, the impossibility becomes
yet more absurdly glaring. For Julian died in 363, and before that year Ephraim
had not migrated from Nisibis to Edessa.It is no doubt possible that Ephraim may
have visited Egypt, [289] as the Life affirms, before proceeding to Cæsarea: as
an anchorite he would naturally be drawn to the land where the anchorite life
had its origin and its greatest development. Yet it is hardly probable that,
eager as he was to see Basil at Cæsarea, he would, when setting out on his
travels, have directed his course to Egypt first, -- a country so distant, and
lying in a direction so different, from Cappadocia. This improbability would
naturally fail to strike our biographer, who appears to have supposed Basil's
Cæsarea (if indeed he had any definite idea of its situation) to have been the
maritime city of that name in Palestine. One can hardly avoid suspecting that
this whole narrative of the visit to Egypt -- unknown as it is to all
authorities save our Life (in its twofold recension), and the shorter form of
the same -- may have been invented by some compiler or reviser, writing in, or
for, one of the Egyptian monasteries of the Nitrian Desert, and seeking to
gratify the Syrian ascetics who were numerous in that region, by making it the
scene of an episode in the life of the most famous of Syrian ascetics. It
certainly has the air of an interpolation, coming as it does between the
description of Ephraim's longing desire to see Basil, and the narrative of the
fulfilment of that desire by his visit to Cæsarea. More particularly, as regards
the story of the visit of Ephraim to the Nitrian Saint Pesoës (or Bishoi), it is
to be noted that it is mentioned, not in the Parisian recension of the Life, but
only in that of the Vatican ms. It is a significant fact that this ms., which is
thus our only written authority for the alleged visit, was written (probably)
about the year 1100, in the Nitrian monastery of "Amba Bishoi" (St. Pesoës).
[290] On the other hand, it is to be added that a tradition of Ephraim's sojourn
in Egypt, connecting him with Pesoës, lingered in quite recent times, and may
probably still linger, among the monks, Syrian and Coptic, of the Nitrian
region. Travellers of the seventeenth, and even eighteenth, century, tell of a
tamarind tree which was shown to them within the precincts of the Syrian
monastery of the Theotokos in that region, reputed to have grown from Ephraim's
staff which he set in the ground on his arrival there, as he was about to enter
the cell of Pesoës. [291] It is probable that this legend of the staff (which
reminds one of that of the staff of St. Joseph of Arimathea and the Glastonbury
thorn tree) may have grown out of the belief that Ephraim once visited the
monastery, -- which belief again may have been originated by the pious fiction
of the compiler or interpolator of the Life in its Vatican form. It is easy to
imagine how gladly a community of Syrian monks in this Egyptian solitude would
listen to what professed to be a record of the greatest of Syrian monks, a
recluse like themselves, the author of the Sermons to Ascetics which they had
read or listened to, and of the many hymns which enriched their offices and
quickened their devotions; -- and how ready they would be to welcome as fact the
story of his sojourn in their valley, and to imagine that a memorial of it
survived among the trees of their garden. 5. Interval between Visit to Basil and
Persecution by Valens. -- The interval of four years or more, which the Life
seems to place between Ephraim's return from Cæsarea to Edessa, and the
persecution of the Edessenes by Valens, is likewise impossible. For at Cæsarea
all agree that Ephraim found Basil Archbishop. But Basil was consecrated late in
370, and therefore Ephraim's first meeting with him, which was on the Feast of
the Epiphany, cannot be placed earlier than January, 371. But the persecution
took place probably in 371, or at latest in 373 -- thus reducing the possible
length of interval to two years at most -- probably to a few months. It may be
said, however, that the biographer, though he relates the persecution after
mentioning the four years' interval, does not mean to imply that it was
subsequent in time to that interval. But it will be shown farther on (under next
head) that the four years' interval is inadmissible, independently of the date
of that persecution; inasmuch as Ephraim survived only three years after his
visit to Basil.6. Death of Basil before that of Ephraim. -- The story of the
lady who was sent by Basil to Ephraim, and by Ephraim back to Basil, only in
time to see his corpse, -- and of Ephraim's grief for Basil's death, cannot be
accepted unless we set aside the consent of the chronologers, who agree that
Ephraim died in 373, [292] -- whereas Basil survived to 1st January, 379. It is
true that there is extant among the Greek works ascribed to Ephraim, an encomium
on Basil, [293] which seems to be genuine. This, however, is not to be regarded
as an eulogium pronounced after Basil's death; but rather as a panegyric in
which the living man is apostrophized. [294] We may safely conclude that the
story, which rests on a basis of erroneous chronology, is itself a fiction.But
the story of Ephraim's helpful intervention and activity in a time of famine,
which is undated, having early attestation, may well be accepted as true, and
assigned to the winter of 372-3. The authorities who attest the date of his
death as 373, place it in the month of Haziran (June); [295] and we may
reasonably conjecture that the exertions and anxieties of the season of famine
had told too heavily on a frame already wasted by years and by excessive
austerities, and had thus hastened his end.


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  CHAPTER 9: VI.--RECTIFICATION OF THE VATICAN TEXT OF THE LIFE.
========================================================================

If the Life had reached us in its Vatican form only, it would have been
necessary to correct one or two farther errors: 1. Date of his Baptism Mistaken.
-- According to the Vatican Life, Ephraim was baptized at the age of 28, after
the surrender of Nisibis by Jovian. The surrender was in 363, and the age
assigned to him would therefore make 334 the earliest admissible date for his
birth -- ten years after the Council of Nicæa, at which the Life records that he
was present! The Parisian Life corrects this absurdity and shows how the mistake
arose. The statement, in this version of the story, is that after quitting
Nisibis, "he retired to Beth-Garbaia, where he had received baptism at the age
of 18." By omitting the auxiliary "had" (which in Syriac, as in English,
expresses the pluperfect) the Vatican scribe or editor introduces this blunder
about the date of the baptism. It is probable that, without having any distinct
knowledge of the date of the departure from Nisibis, he felt that Ephraim must
have been more than 18 at this stage of the narrative, and strove to make the
age cohere better with the time required for the events related, by changing 18
into 28. 2. Julian substituted for Valens. -- The substitution of the name of
Julian for that of Valens as the persecutor of Edessa, has been already noticed.
That the story (with the incident of the martyr-mother with her two sons)
belongs to the time of Valens, is established by the united testimony of
Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. The whole history is clear, and coherent with
itself and with chronology, in the Parisian Life; whereas the Vatican version of
it, by bringing Ephraim to Edessa in the reign of Julian, makes hopeless
confusion. [296] It is to be noted that the names Julianus and Valens, so
distinct as written in Latin, differ but little when transliterated (without
vowel-points) into Syriac.


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  CHAPTER 10: VII.--CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF EPHRAIM.
========================================================================

Thus the fixed points for determining the chronology of Ephraim's life are: 1.
The death of his patron, St. Jacob, Bishop of Nisibis, in 338, after the first
siege of that city. 2. The third siege, in which he was among the defenders of
the city, in 350. 3. The surrender of Nisibis by Jovian, and its abandonment by
its Christian inhabitants, 363; followed by Ephraim's removal to Edessa. 4. The
consecration of Basil to the see of Cæsarea, late in 370, followed by Ephraim's
visit to him there. 5. The deliverance of the Edessenes from the persecution of
Valens (370-372), celebrated by Ephraim in a hymn. 6. Ephraim's death, 373. To
this list it would be right to prefix the meeting of the Council of Nicæa in
325, if the evidence of Ephraim's presence at it, along with St. Jacob, were
sufficient. But it has no early attestation; and no writer prior to Theodoret
(Hist. Eccles. II.30) associates the name of Jacob with any incident in
Ephraim's life. The date of Ephraim's birth is nowhere directly stated, but it
is usually assumed to have been early in the reign of Constantine (306-337), on
the authority of the Vatican Life, which says, "In the days of the victorious
Constantine, true believer, was born the holy man Ephraim." But the statement of
the Parisian Life is less explicit, and is capable of a different meaning: --
"He was in the days of the victorious Constantine." This merely implies that
Ephraim (if the pronoun represent him) lived in the reign of that emperor. But
it rather appears that Ephraim's father is meant, inasmuch as he is the subject
of the immediately preceding sentence which describes him as a heathen priest;
and the purport of the passage is, that the saint was the son of a man who not
merely had been one of an idolatrous priesthood, but continued to be so after
Constantine had acknowledged the Christian religion. [297] The earlier
authorities give no express statement on this point; but a late tenth-century
Greek menologium, that of the Emperor Basil (Porphyrogenitus), says that he
"continued from the reign of Constantine to that of Valens," [298] -- implying
as it seems that he was born, as the Vatican Life represents, after
Constantine's accession in 306. Considering, however, that the Life in both its
forms affirms that Ephraim was brought by St. Jacob to the Council of Nicæa in
325 -- in which it is borne out by Gregory Barhebræus in his Ecclesiastical
Chronicle [299] (who though a very late writer (1226-1286) had access to early
authorities and judgment in using them) -- it is hard to reconcile the
chronology, for the improbability of the admission of a lad of nineteen, in any
capacity, to that venerable assembly, is very great. If we accept it as a fact
that he was chosen by Jacob to accompany him, and was permitted to be present
among the Fathers at Nicæa, it seems almost necessary to place his birth before
Constantine became emperor. [300] Farther: the menologium above cited adds that
he died "in extreme old age;" and the tone and tenor of his testament go far to
confirm the truth of these words. But as he died in 373, he cannot have been
more than 67 years old in that year if he was born in 306. No doubt 67 is a ripe
age, but hardly sufficient to warrant the strong expression of the menologium.
Without pressing its language unduly, we may surely take it as implying that he
had passed the "threescore years and ten" of the Psalmist at the time of his
death -- in other words that he was born not later than the first or second year
of the fourth century.Thus by rectifying the text and rendering of the opening
sentences of the Life, we relieve ourselves of the supposed necessity of placing
his birth in or after 306. And his presence in the Council of 325, and his
extreme old age in 373, concur in pointing to the beginning of the fourth
century -- if not to the later years of the third -- as the probable time of
that event.However this may be, whether he was born in 306 or earlier, it is
certain that by far the greater part of the long life of the "Deacon of Edessa"
-- all of it save its last ten or eleven years (363-373) was passed in his
native Nisibis; and that he did not even attain the diaconate till he was
considerably over sixty years of age, and within three years of his end.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: VIII.--HIS WRITINGS: THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.
========================================================================

Of the innumerable writings -- controversial, expository, hortatory, devotional
-- which were for Ephraim the fulfilment of his dream in childhood, the fruit of
the many years of literary activity that exercised his full heart and busy
brain, enough remains to give an adequate idea of his powers and to amaze us by
its variety and abundance. The exaggeration of Sozomen who reckons the number of
lines written by him at "three hundred myriads" (three millions) is not to be
taken as more than a rough guess at the probable total; but it is evidence of
the impression made on the men of the generations to whom his works were
transmitted by his fertility. That he himself was conscious of this gift appears
in the fact that he records the dream and claims for his hymns and sermons that
in them is to be found its interpretation. His faculty of speech, as Gregory
informs us in a remarkable passage, though adequate to utter the thoughts of any
other mind, was sometimes overborne by the rapid rush and abounding throng of
the ideas with which his inspiration filled him, in such measure that he was
forced to pray for the intermission of its flow, "Restrain, O Lord, the tide of
Thy grace!" [301] Copiousness is the characteristic, and its excess is the chief
fault, of Ephraim as an author. The Syriac language has great capacity for
condensation; and the parallelism of balanced clauses which Syriac literature
affects, conduces to brevity. But on the other hand, the Syrian mind has a
tendency to amplify; amplification is the besetting sin of Syriac writers, -- of
Ephraim not least. And thus, while each sentence has the severe precision of an
epigram, the manifold reiteration of epigrammatic clauses amounts to verbosity:
one and the same thought or fact is presented in a long-drawn series of slightly
varied aspects, with change of expression or at most of illustration, till the
recurrence becomes tedious. This criticism is meant primarily for his hymns; but
it applies also to too many of his metrical homilies (to be described
presently). In all his writings, metrical or otherwise, this habit of
amplification leads him, in handling the narrations of Scripture, to fill out
their simple outline with elaborate detail that wrongs their beauty and dignity.
Of such treatment, examples will be found in this volume, in some of the hymns
(such as the XIV^th and XV^th On the Epiphany, and in the Discourse on the Woman
who was a Sinner). His extant works (some of which are known to us only in a
Greek version), and those of his lost works of which the titles are recorded,
divide themselves into three classes; -- Commentaries on Scripture, Homilies
(mimre), and Hymns (madrashe). 1. Commentaries. -- His Commentaries belonged (if
we may trust the Life) to his later years, after his migration to Edessa, when
he was past middle life. There he is related to have begun his exposition (still
extant) of Genesis, in the preface to which he refers to the homilies and hymns
which he had previously produced (Opp. Syr. Tom. I., p.1). He seems to have
commented on almost all the canonical books of the Old Testament. His
expositions of the Pentateuch, the chief historical books, [302] the Prophets
(including Lamentations), and Job, survive, and have been printed (in the Roman
edition of 1732-43, supplemented by that of Professor Lamy, of Louvain, Tom.
II., 1886); [303] but those which he is recorded to have written on the Psalms
and Proverbs, the books which may be presumed to have most influenced the
religious spirit and literary form of his works, have not been preserved. None
of the above, however, have reached us in a complete form, but rather as a
series of extracts, apparently abridged, from the Commentaries as originally
issued by their author. In commenting on the New Testament, he treated of the
Gospels, not in their separate form, but in the continuous narrative known as
the "Diatessaron" compiled from them by Tatian in the second century. This work,
long lost, has been lately recovered in an Armenian version. His Commentary on
the Epistles of St. Paul has likewise been preserved for us in Armenian. Both
have been published by the Mechetarist Fathers of St. Lazaro; first in Armenian,
afterwards in a Latin version. [304] In the present volume it has been judged
best to include none of the Commentaries, inasmuch as the method and spirit of
Ephraim's treatment of Scripture are shown adequately, and in a more interesting
form, in his Homilies and Hymns. 2. Homilies. -- The Homilies are very varied in
character. Many are controversial, -- directed against the Jews, against
heathenism in the person of the Emperor Julian, against the heresies of Manes,
of Marcion, of Bardesan, of the Anomoean followers of Arius. Others set forth
articles of the Faith -- the Creation, the Fall, Redemption by the Passion and
Crucifixion of Our Lord, His Descent into Hades, His Resurrection, the Mission
of the Holy Spirit, the Rest of Paradise, the Second Coming, the End of the
World. Others are expository, treating of narratives from the Old and the New
Testaments, such as the life of Joseph, the Repentance of Nineveh, or the story
of "the woman who was a sinner" of St. Luke vii. -- Others again are hortatory
-- calling to repentance, warning against sin, threatening future retribution,
extolling virginity. Of the Homilies two -- one doctrinal, of Our Lord; one
expository, of the sinful woman, are given in this selection. It is to be noted
that the Homilies are usually metrical in form, being written in regular stichoi
(lines of uniform length). And some of them -- for example, a series of nine for
the "Rogation Days," [305] and another of eight for the "Passion Week" (week
before Easter), and the vigil of "New Sunday" (first after Easter) -- were and
still are regularly read as lessons, as part of the offices of the Church; [306]
a singular mark of reverence -- extended, it seems, to the sermons of no other
divine. 3. Hymns. -- But it is in his Hymns that Ephraim lives, -- for the
Syrian Churches, and indirectly for the Christian world, of the East if not of
the West. [307] Throughout Syrian Christendom, divided as it has been for ages
-- in the Malkite, Nestorian, Jacobite, and Maronite communities, from the
Mediterranean to the Tigris, and beyond, even to the Malabar remnant of the
Syro-Indian Church, all of which retain Syriac as the language of their ritual,
-- the whole body of public worship is shaped by his hymnody and animated with
his spirit. It is literally the fact that the Hymns of Ephraim go with every
member of every one of these Churches from the first to the last of his
Christian life, from the font to the grave. The Epiphany Hymns (included in the
present selection) are interwoven into the Baptismal Office; among the Funeral
Hymns (which Dr. Burgess has made accessible to English readers) [308] are to be
found dirges proper for the obsequies of each and all, lay and cleric, young and
old, male and female. Nor is it to be doubted that it was from these Syriac
offices that those of the Greek-speaking Churches derived this characteristic,
common to both, by which both are differentiated from those of the West, --
"hymns occupying in the Eastern Church" (as Dr. Neale observes) [309] "a space
beyond all comparison greater than they do in the Latin," so that "the body of
the Eastern breviary is ecclesiastical poetry." That the Syrian Church, and not
the Greek, took the initiative in the development of ritual, appears from the
facts that, though there is evidence of the use of Psalms and Canticles from
Scripture throughout Christendom from the first, it is only with Ephraim's
contemporary, Gregory Nazianzen, that Greek sacred poetry can be said to have
taken shape, -- and that his verses failed to gain a place in public worship. He
wrote in the metres of the heathen classics; and it was not until a later day,
and from the hands of other writers, working on other lines, that the hymns
appeared which won their way into the Greek ritual, -- hymns written in rhythmic
prose, in what seems to be conscious imitation of the Syriac model. [310] The
imitation, however, is by no means complete; it is apparent in the general tone
and manner, but does not extend to the form: just as the Greek version of
Ephraim's Hymns, though faithfully reproducing his thoughts and literary method,
makes no attempt to retain his metrical system; but is a rendering into what in
form is prose of an original which is in verse. That this should be so is
unavoidable, for Syriac metres are incapable of adaptation to the Greek
language. Syriac literature, in all else imitative, here and here only has found
out for itself an independent course. Elsewhere it leans on one side to the
Hebrew model to which it was drawn by affinity of language and by the influence
of the Old Testament; on the other to the Greek, as found in the New Testament
and in the writings of the great Divines of the Alexandrian and Antiochian
patriarchates, who were the leaders of religious thought for Eastern
Christendom. In hymnody alone it struck out a line of its own; it set an example
for the Greek-speaking Churches to follow, so far as was possible for them under
the conditions above indicated. The Syriac Hymnody is constructed on the Hebrew
principle of parallelism, in which thought answers to thought in clauses of
repetitive or antithetical balance: but, unlike the Hebrew, its clauses are
further regulated by strict equivalence of syllabic measure. But though in this
latter respect it seems to approach to the forms of Western verse, ancient or
modern, yet the resemblance is but superficial: Syriac verse is not measured by
feet -- whether determined by syllable quantity, as in Greek and Latin, or by
accent, as in English and other modern languages. Thus the metre of Syriac
poetry is substantially the "thought-metre" (as it has been well called) of
Hebrew, reduced to regularity of form by the rule that each of the lines into
which the balanced clauses fall, shall consist of a fixed number of syllables.
There is no systematic rhyme; but the nature of the language which by reason of
its uniformity of etymological structure abounds in words of like terminations,
often causes correspondences of sound amounting to rhyme, or at least to
assonance. The lines are very short; not exceeding twelve syllables, sometimes
confined to four. Ephraim, though not the actual inventor, was the first master
of this metrical system, the first to develop it into system and variety. [311]
His favorite metres are the five-syllabled and the seven-syllabled. In his more
elaborate poems, such as the Nisibene series, which are rather Odes than Hymns,
the strophes or stanzas into which the lines are arranged are often long and of
complicated structure, each strophe consisting of many lines (ranging from four
up to fourteen or more) of various lengths according to a fixed scheme rigidly
adhered to throughout the poem -- sometimes throughout a group of cognate poems.
In other poems, especially in Hymns intended for popular or ecclesiastical use,
where simplicity of structure is suitable, the lines which compose each strophe,
whatever their number, are of uniform length. So easily do the Syriac tongue,
and the genius of Syriac literature, lend themselves to this scheme of short,
syllabically equal clauses, that (as has been already stated) many even of the
Homilies are metrical; arranged not indeed in strophes, but in continuous
succession of brief stichoi, all of one and the same length -- usually of seven
syllables; a sort of blank verse, but a blank verse with no animating accents,
no varying pauses. A Homily so constructed would fatigue the ear of a modern
audience by its monotony: but inasmuch as some portions of Ephraim's Homilies
were used in certain ecclesiastical Offices, probably recited in a sort of
chant, it may be that in such use we have the explanation of their
quasi-versified structure. In point of literary value as poems, a high place
cannot be claimed for these Hymns. Some of them indeed have much of the
devotional fervor, and not a little of the human pathos, of the Psalms of David:
others show something of the antithetic point and epigrammatic terseness of the
Proverbs of Solomon. Yet the devout aspirations and confessions of the poet are
too often forced and artificial in their utterance; in his funeral dirges we
seem here and there to detect the false note of the professional mourner in the
effort to exhaust all possible topics of grief; in all his poems he tends to
prolong the series of his parallelisms to a wearisome length and with an
iteration that, though laboriously varied, is tedious, -- an iteration that has
no precedent in the poetry of the Old Testament, save in one or two of the
latest Psalms, such as the CXXXVI^th with its recurring burden "For His mercy
endureth for ever," or the CXIX^th with its artificial arrangement (often
emulated in Syriac Hymnody) by which each of the twenty-two letters of the
alphabet in turn is made to head each one of eight consecutive verses in praise
of the Law of the Lord. On the whole, it must be admitted that the greater
qualities of poetry, such as abound everywhere in nearly every writer of the
Hebrew Scriptures, -- of truth in rendering the inmost feelings of man's heart
in words of absolute simplicity, of aspiration that rises without effort to the
highest things of God -- to these Ephraim's Hymns have no claim. For these
shortcomings in his poetry, two main causes may be assigned. One is in the man
himself, -- or rather, in his mode of life. Naturally, he was prone to feel for
and with his fellow-men; for the sorrows of the bereaved, the cares of the
toiling poor whose lot (as he proved in the last and best episode of his
history) moved him to sympathy and active succour. He can be simple accordingly
when he deals with the homely facts of life. But the main tenor of his course
was ascetic; he looked on this life and the life beyond -- on man and to God --
with a vision clouded by the gloom of unnatural solitude and self-mortification.
An assiduous student of Scripture, he had an ear for its threatenings rather
than its promises and consolations; dread and dismay entered into his heart more
deeply than hope; the "Stand in awe and sin not" of the Psalmist was more
familiar to his spirit than the "Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous." The
perpetual proneness to tears on which his biographers dwell with admiration, and
which he seems to have thought it right to foster, has its reflex in his
writings, in the hysterical overflow of his fears, his lamentations and his
self-reproach. He had lived as an anchorite till his nature became morbid, and
its moral fibre was weakened. But to reach the highest levels in religious
literature, whether in prose or in poetry, a man must be sane, his mind healthy
and strong, -- with a health and strength sustained and exercised by wholesome
daily contact with the lives of other men. The second cause is to be found in
the method, above described as his -- developed though not actually invented by
him, and made his own -- which he chose as the vehicle of his thoughts and
emotions. The "thought-metre" of the Hebrew poets was regulated (as we have
seen) by balance of sense, not of sound -- member answering to member, verse by
verse, in equivalence or contrast of substance merely, not of verbal form: and
in this metre, which has been happily likened to the alternating beat of a
bird's wings as it mounts aloft, they had shown it to be possible to attain the
highest reach of sublime expression of the utmost that man's spirit can conceive
of God and Heaven. The Syriac Hymnists had the unhappy idea of effecting a
compromise between their two contrasted models, the Hebrew and the Greek; and to
this end they compelled their verses into conformity by syllabic measure, of
sound, as well as of sense. This artificial structure has an effectiveness of
its own, and is suited to the popular ear; but it is incapable of the elevation
which the earlier and simpler method attained without effort. As its Semitic
parallelism of substance excluded Syriac poetry from the variety in topic and
largeness in conception of the Greek, so this grecized regularity of form
hampered its efforts to rise to the upper regions where the Hebrew is at home.
The wings are free and ample by whose regulated stroke Hebrew poetry is borne,
and they carry it to the supreme height: in Syriac poetry the flight is too
commonly low and feeble, because its wings are clipped. In the former we are
conscious of a uniformity as of the unconstrained waves of the sea, following in
a succession of endless change -- a uniformity that is majestic: in the latter
we detect the uniformity of the water-wheel, that with artificial movement draws
up and dispenses the waters of the well in vessels of fixed measure -- a
uniformity that is mechanical and monotonous.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 12: IX.--THE SELECTIONS INCLUDED IN THE PRESENT COLLECTION.
========================================================================

The specimens of Ephraim's compositions offered in these selections are: -- (1)
The Nisibene Hymns, (2) The Hymns of the Nativity, (3) The Hymns for the
Epiphany, (4) Three Homilies (i., On our Lord; ii., On Reproof and Repentance;
iii., On the Sinful Woman). Of (2) the Nativity Hymns, the first thirteen are
reprinted from the version by the Rex. J. B. Morris (Oxford, 1847), made from
the Roman Edition of the Syriac Works of Ephraim. The rest of the series as
translated (six [312] in number, making nineteen in all) were unknown when that
edition was completed in 1743. These latter, and also (3) the Epiphany Hymns
(with one exception) [313] have since come to light in the Nitrian collection of
the British Museum, and were printed by Professor Lamy in his St. Ephraim (Tom.
I, cc.1-144; Tom. II., cc.427-504), 1882-1889. In the same edition (Tom. I.,
cc.145-274; 311-338) were first printed (4) the three Homilies. [314] Our
translations of these follow Lamy's text, with here and there a slight variation
where errors seem to exist. These two series of Hymns belong to the
ecclesiastical class: their titles appropriate them to two great Festivals of
the Church, and portions of these are embodied in Syriac Rituals still in use.
Of the two Homilies, the former was written for the Feast of the Epiphany, like
the Hymns which precede it. The Nisibene Hymns (1) are translated from the text
as first printed by Dr. Bickell (1866), whose edition, like that of Dr. Lamy,
rests upon mss. of the Nitrian collection. [315] They also were unknown to the
Roman editors of the last century, and to the English translator of 1847; and
they have not till now appeared in English. The series when complete consisted
of 77 Hymns. Of these the first division (I.-XXXIV.) treat of the fortunes of
the Church in Nisibis, Carrhena [Haran], and an unnamed city (probably Edessa).
[316] The remainder (XXXV. to end) deal with the topics of Death and the
Resurrection. The present selection comprises 46 of these, namely: -- of the
first division, the first 21, those which relate to Nisibis and which are the
Nisibene Hymns proper; of the second division, two series -- one of 8 hymns
(XXXV.-XLII.) in which Death and Satan hold monologue or dialogue, -- the other
of 17 (LII.-LXVIII.), similar in character, but with Man as a third
interlocutor.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 13: X.--PROBABLE DATES OF HIS WORKS.
========================================================================

Of the compositions contained in this volume, none yields internal evidence of
its date, except the Nisibene Hymns of the first division. Hymns XXXV.-XLII.
(not included here), apparently belong to the later (or Edessene) period of
Ephraim's life, and to the reign of Valens, -- i.e., they are later than the
year 363. The 21 Hymns which stand first in our collection may confidently be
assigned to the year of the third siege (350) and the thirteen following years.
Hymn I. was indubitably composed while the siege was still urgent; Hymns I. and
III. immediately after the deliverance; Hymns IV.-XII. deal with the fortunes of
the city and country in a troubled time of invasion that succeeded; the rest
(XIII.-XXI.) treat of the four successive Bishops of Nisibis under whom Ephraim
lived -- Jacob, Babu, Valgesh, and Abraham. The last-named is not elsewhere
recorded except by Elias of Nisibis, but the death of Valgesh is known to have
occurred in 361. [317] The Hymns therefore which celebrate the accession of
Abraham to the See (XVII.-XXI.) must be placed in the interval, 361-363, the
latter being the year when Ephraim with all the Christian population of the city
was driven out by Sapor. Hymns XIII.-XVI., being written while Valgesh was
Bishop -- for they compare him with his two predecessors -- fall into the
interval between the year of the siege (350) which they speak of as past, -- and
the year of the death of Valgesh (361). Bickell assigns IV.-XII. to the months
of Sapor's invasion in 359; XIII.-XVI. to 358 and 359; XVII.-XXI. to 363, in the
short space between Julian's death and the surrender of Nisibis. It is probable
that most of his Hymns that are definitely controversial belong, like most of
his controversial writings, to the years of his later life, at Edessa. And as we
have seen, the earliest of them that can be confidently dated, is not earlier
than 350. But it would be hasty to conclude that he had composed no Hymns before
that date, and that in the Nisibene Hymns of the siege we have the first fruits
of the vine of his vision. In 350 he must have been over forty -- perhaps over
fifty years of age; and it is highly improbable that a fertility which proved to
be so abundant, did not begin to manifest itself at a much earlier age; or that
a literary offspring of such bulk and importance was all produced in the last
five and twenty years of a long life. The earlier authorities concerning his
life give no definite information on this head; and the Syriac Life is vague in
its statements and untrustworthy in its chronology. The account given of
Barhebræus, a well-informed but very late writer (thirteenth century), can
hardly be accepted as embodying any genuine tradition, but has probability in
its favor: -- "From the time of the Nicene Council (he writes [318] ), Ephraim
began to write canticles and hymns against the heresies of his time," -- for few
of his hymns are without a polemic spirit, though (as has been said) those that
are purely controversial seem to be of a later period. A much later author
indeed, Georgius "Bishop of the Arabians" (writing in 714) warns us that there
is no evidence to assign any of Ephraim's writings to the twenty years' interval
between the Nicene Council and the year 345 -- "especially (he adds) to the
years before 337." [319] This writer, however, is here arguing in support of the
claim of Aphrahat to be an independent author, against those who regarded him as
a disciple of Ephraim; and he rests his case on the ground that whereas the
Demonstrations of Aphrahat are (as we shall see presently) dated from 337 to
345, no composition of Ephraim's can be shown to have been written so early. And
it must be admitted that the earliest date (as above noted) that can be fixed
with certainty for any of Ephraim's innumerable productions in 350, -- thirteen
years later than Aphrahat's earlier Demonstrations. Against this is to be set
the tradition of Ephraim's presence at Nicæa, implying as it does that even in
325 he had made himself a notable person, -- and the probability that one who
has left such ample proof of the copiousness of his literary gift, must have
begun to exercise it before a date at which he would have passed his thirtieth
year (supposing his birth to have been in 306), or even have entered middle life
(if we place it at the beginning of the century). The two writers were
unquestionably contemporary, and as yet no sufficient data have been discovered
to determine to which of them seniority belongs.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 14: SECOND PART
========================================================================

Aphrahat the Persian Sage. 1. Name of Author of Demonstrations long Unknown. --
The author of the Demonstrations, eight of which appear (for the first time in
an English version) in the present volume, has a singular literary history. By
nationality a Persian, in an age when Zoroastrianism was the religion of Persia,
he wrote in Syriac as a Christian theologian. His writings, now known to us as
the works of Aphrahat, were remembered, cited, translated, and transcribed for
at least two centuries after his death; but his proper name seems to have been
for a time forgotten, so that in the mss. of the fifth and sixth centuries the
Demonstrations are described as composed by "the Persian Sage," or "Mar Jacob
the Persian Sage;" and a writer of the eighth century, who had made a minute
study of these writings and ascertained their date, admits that he has been
unable to find out "who or what he was, his rank in the Church, his name or
abode." Not only so, but the name Jacob assigned (rightly or wrongly) to him has
led to a confusion of identity. His works have been ascribed for many hundred
years -- from a date not long after their composition down to quite recent
times, to an earlier Jacob, the famous and saintly Bishop of Nisibis in the days
of Constantine the Great. It is not until the tenth century that the true name
of "the Persian Sage" emerges to light as Aphrahat, by which he is
unhesitatingly designated by several well informed and accurate authorities of
that and the three succeeding centuries., and under which he is known to modern
scholars. 2. Their Subjects, and Arrangement. -- The Demonstrations are
twenty-two in number, after the number of the letters of the Syriac alphabet,
each of them beginning with the letter to which it corresponds in order. The
first ten form a group by themselves, and are somewhat earlier in date than
those which follow: they deal with Christian graces, hopes, and duties, as
appears from their titles: -- "Concerning Faith, Charity, Fasting, Prayer, Wars,
Monks, Penitents, the Resurrection, Humility, Pastors." Of those that compose
the later group, three relate to the Jews ("Concerning Circumcision, the
Passover, the Sabbath"); followed by one described as "Hortatory," which seems
to be a letter of rebuke addressed by Aphrahat, on behalf of a Synod of Bishops,
to the clergy and people of Seleucia and Ctesiphon; after which the Jewish
series is resumed in five discourses, "Concerning Divers Meals, The Call of the
Gentiles, Jesus the Messiah, Virginity, the Dispersion of Israel." The three
last are of the same general character as the first ten, -- "Concerning
Almsgiving, Persecution, Death, and the Latter Times." To this collection is
subjoined a twenty-third Demonstration, supplementary to the rest, "Concerning
the Grape," under which title is signified the blessing transmitted from the
beginning through Christ, in allusion to the words of Isaiah, "As the grape
[320] is found in the cluster and one saith, Destroy it not" (lxv.8). This
treatise embodies a chronological disquisition of some importance. 3. Dates of
Composition. -- Of the dates at which they were written, these discourses supply
conclusive evidence. At the end of section 5 of Demonstr. V. (Concerning Wars),
the author reckons the years from the era of Alexander (b.c.311) to the time of
his writing as 648. He wrote therefore in a.d.337 -- the year of the death of
Constantine the Great. Demonst. XIV. is formally dated in its last section, "in
the month Shebat. in the year 655" (that is, a.d.344). More fully, in closing
the alphabetic series (XXII.25) he informs us that the above dates apply to the
two groups -- the first ten being written in 337; the twelve that follow, in
344. Finally, the supplementary discourse "Concerning the Grape" was written (as
stated, XXIII.69) in July, 345. Thus the entire work was completed within nine
years, -- five years before the middle of the fourth century, -- before the
composition of the earliest work of Ephraim of which the date can be determined
with certainty. 4. Extent and Limits of their Circulation. -- These
Demonstrations, though they fell far short of attaining the unbounded popularity
which was the lot of the countless Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim, appear to have
won for themselves a recognized place in Syriac literature. It is true that, in
striking contrast with the overwhelming numbers of mss. containing portions,
great or small, of Ephraim's works, which are to be met with in nearly every
collection of Syriac written remains, one complete and two incomplete copies are
all that have reached us of this series of twenty-three treatises; and extracts
or quotations from them very rarely occur. [321] Yet it is clear that
compositions which were thought worthy at an early date of translation into at
least one foreign tongue, must have had some considerable reputation in the
country of their origin; and it may be presumed that these two or three mss. (of
the fifth and sixth centuries), are the survivors of a fairly large number of
which the majority have perished. The Armenian translation is probably the
earliest evidence now extant of the circulation (though under a wrong ascription
of authorship) of the Demonstrations, of which it comprises nineteen. Armenian
scholars seem to agree in the belief that it was made in the fifth century,
before its original was more than a hundred years in being. An Ethiopic
translation of the discourse "On Wars" is extant, but there is no evidence that
it formed part of a version extending to all or any of the remaining twenty-two,
nor is its date even approximately determinable. The manuscript evidence hardly
reaches so far back as that of the Armenian version. The oldest extant ms. of
these discourses (Add.17182 of the British Museum) contains the first ten, and
is dated 474. With it is bound up (under the same number) a second, dated 512,
containing the remaining thirteen. A third (Add.14619) of the sixth century
likewise, exhibits the whole series. A fourth (Orient, 1017), more recent by
eight centuries, will be mentioned farther on. Of the three early mss., the
first designates the author as "the Persian Sage" merely, as does also the
third: the second prefixes his name as "Mar Jacob the Persian Sage." Among
Syriac authors, the first to show an acquaintance with these treatises, at a
date prior to that of the earliest of these mss., is Isaac of Antioch, known as
"the Great," whose literary activity belongs to the first half of the fifth
century. In his works passages have been pointed out [322] which are evidently
borrowed with slight change from the Demonstrations, -- especially from that
Concerning Fasting, and (though less distinctly) from that Concerning Faith. The
imitation, however, is tacit, and Isaac nowhere names the work (or its author)
whence he derived the illustrations and even the expressions he uses in treating
of these topics. Before the close of the same century, we find evidence that
they were known -- by repute, though apparently no farther -- to a Latin writer
of Western Europe, Gennadius of Marseilles, the continuator of St. Jerome's work
De Viris Illustribus, who wrote about the year 495. Though mistaken (as will
presently be shown) about their parentage, and incorrectly informed as to their
number (which he supposes to be twenty-six), Gennadius states their titles with
such an approach to accuracy, as to leave no room for doubt that the discourses
he describes are those of which we now treat. He shows himself aware that they
are in Syriac, but gives no hint that he has ever seen them, or that he is able
to read them. [323] In the seventh century, or (however) early in the eighth,
tokens appear of a revival of interest in them. Georgius, "Bishop of the Arabs,"
[324] a Jacobite prelate, having been applied to by one Joshua an anchorite for
information concerning the "Epistles" (as he styles them) of "the Persian Sage"
and their authorship, wrote (in Syriac) in the year 714 a very full and
elaborate reply, in which he cites at length passages from several of them,
including those (above referred to) in which the dates of writing are stated
with precision, -- and he infers from these dates, that the author, of whose
name he professes himself to be ignorant, wrote too early to be a disciple of
Ephraim. To this inference we may safely assent, even though we hold that
Ephraim wrote and taught earlier in the century than Georgius endeavours to
place him. The point to be noted is, that this learned and acute writer, though
he had by careful study made himself familiar with the Demonstrations, neither
knows, nor can guess at, the name of their author, nor can he record any
tradition concerning his identity. He can only tell what he has learned from
their contents, that they were written from 337 to 345, by one who was a monk,
and a cleric; and that they were characterized by certain peculiarities of
doctrine. 5. Ascribed to Jacob of Nisibis. -- Thus it appears that the series of
discourses now known as the Demonstrations of Aphrahat, were imitated, and
transcribed, and translated, into Armenian, and their titles cited by a Latin
biographer, and their contents minutely investigated by an able critic, within
the four centuries that followed the time of their composition; while through
all that long period the name of Aphrahat had passed out of memory, and the
"Persian Sage" simply, or else with the addition of an ambiguous and misleading
name, "Jacob, the Persian Sage," was the designation by which their author was
usually known. As we have seen, the scribes of two mss., of the fifth and sixth
centuries, and Georgius in the early eighth, confine themselves to the former;
and the scribe of the sixth, thirty-eight years later than the earlier of the
other two, uses the latter. Misled by it, the Armenian translator, and Gennadius
in his biographical work, fell into the error of identifying the Jacob who wrote
the Demonstrations with a namesake, the earlier and more conspicuous Jacob of
Nisibis, of whom we have had occasion to speak in treating of the life of
Ephraim. But of this celebrated personage no writings are recorded, nor was he a
Persian, [325] but a native of Nisibis (in his time a city of the Roman Empire),
in 338, seven years before the completion of the treatises in question. As Jacob
of Nisibis is thus too early to be the author of them, so, on the other hand,
Jacob of Sarug, whom Assemani suggested in correcting the mistake of Gennadius,
[326] is too late; for he was not born till more than a century after the date
of the last Demonstration. 6. Reappearance of the Name of Aphrahat. -- It is not
until some years after the mid-die of the tenth century, that the "Persian Sage"
first appears under his proper name, -- of which, though as it appears generally
forgotten in the Syriac world of letters, a tradition had survived. -- The
Nestorian Bar-Bahlul (circ.963) in his Syro-Arabic Lexicon, writes thus: --
"Aphrahat [mentioned] in the Book of Paradise, is the Persian Sage, as they
record." -- So too, in the eleventh century, Elias of Nisibis (Barsinæus,
d.1049), embodies in his Chronography, a table, compiled from Demonstr. XXIII.,
of the chronography from the Creation to the "Era of Alexander" (b.c.311), which
he describes as "The years of the House of Adam, according to the opinion of
Aphrahat, the Persian Sage." [327] -- To the like effect, but with fuller
information, the great light of the mediæval Jacobite Church, Gregory Barhebræus
(d.1286), in Part I. of his Ecclesiastical Chronicle, in enumerating the
orthodox contemporaries of Athanasius, mentions, after Ephraim, "the Persian
Sage who wrote the Book of Demonstrations;" [328] and again in Part II.,
supplies his name under a slightly different form, as one who "was of note in
the time of Papas the Catholicus," "the Persian Sage by name Pharhad, of whom
there are extant a book of admonition [al., admonitions] in Syriac, and
twenty-two Epistles according to the letters of the alphabet." [329] Here we
have not only the name and description of the personage in question, but a
fairly accurate account of his works, under the titles by which the mss.
describe them, Epistles and Demonstrations; -- and moreover a sufficient
indication of his date, in agreement with that which the Demonstrations claim:
for one who began to write in 337 must have lived in the closing years of the
life of Papas (who died in 334), and in the earlier years of the life of
Ephraim. So yet again, a generation later, the learned Nestorian prelate,
Ebedjesu, in his Catalogue of Syrian ecclesiastical authors, [330] writes,
"Aphrahat, the Persian Sage, composed two volumes with Homilies that are
according to the alphabet." Here once more the name and designation are given
unhesitatingly, and the division of the discourses into two groups is correctly
noted; but the concluding words appear to distinguish these groups from the
alphabetic Homilies. Either, therefore, we must take the preposition rendered
"with" to mean "containing," -- or we must conclude that Ebedjesu's knowledge of
the work was at second-hand and incorrect. Finally, in a very late ms., [331]
dated 1364, is found the first or chronological part of Demonstration XXIII.,
headed as follows: -- "The Demonstration concerning the Grape, of the Sage
Aphrahat, who is Jacob, Bishop of Mar Mathai." Here (though the prefix "Persian"
is absent) we have the author's title of "Sage"; and the identification of the
"Aphrahat" of the later authorities with the "Jacob" of the earlier is not
merely implied but expressly affirmed. Here, moreover, we have what seems to
account for the twofold name. As author, he is Aphrahat; as Bishop, he is Jacob
-- the latter name having been no doubt assumed on his elevation to the
Episcopate. [332] Such changes of name, at consecration, which in later ages of
the Syrian Church became customary, were no doubt exceptional in the earlier
period of which we are treating. But the fact that Aphrahat was a Persian name,
bestowed on him no doubt in childhood -- when he was still (as will be shown
presently) outside the Christian fold -- a name which is supposed to signify
"Chief" or "Prefect," and which may have seemed unsuited to the humility of the
sacred office -- supplies a reason for the substitution in its stead of a name
associated with sacred history, both of the Old and of the New Testament. Here
finally we have the direct statement of what Georgius had justly inferred from
the opening of Dem. XIV., that the writer was himself of the clergy, and in this
Epistle writes as a cleric to clerics.We have now brought together all the known
authorities who yield information concerning this collection of treatises, and
its author. It remains that we should put into a connected form the facts to
which they testify, and point out the inferences yielded by their notices, and
by the treatises themselves.7. His Nationality Persian, and Probably Heathen. --
That the author was of Persian nationality, is a point on which all the
witnesses agree, except the fourteenth-century scribe of the ms. Orient.1017,
who however is merely silent about it. The name Aphrahat is, as has been already
said, Persian -- which fact at once confirms the tradition that he belonged to
Persia, and helps to account for what seems to be the reluctance [333] of early
writers to call him by a name that was foreign, unfamiliar, unsuited to his
subsequent station in the Church, and superseded by one that had sacred
associations. As a Persian, he dates his writings by the years of the reign of
the Persian King: the twenty-two were completed (he says) in the thirty-fifth,
the twenty-third in the thirty-sixth of the reign of Sapor. [334] -- Again: as a
Persian of the early fourth century, it is presumable that he was not originally
a Christian. And this is apparently confirmed by the internal evidence of his
own writings; for he speaks of himself as one of those "who have cast away
idols, and call that a lie which our father bequeathed to us;" and again, "who
ought to worship Jesus, for that He has turned away our froward minds from all
superstitions of vain error, and taught us to worship one God our Father and
Maker." [335] -- But it is clear that he must have lived in a frontier region
where Syriac was spoken freely; [336] or else must have removed into a
Syriac-speaking country at an early age; for the language and style of his
writings are completely pure, showing no trace of foreign idiom, or even of the
want of ease that betrays a foreigner writing in what is not his mother-tongue.
It is clear also that, at whatever age or under whatever circumstances he
embraced Christianity, he must have taken the Christian Scriptures and Christian
theology into his inmost heart and understanding as every page of his writings
attests. 8. Evidence that he was a Cleric, and a Bishop. -- We have already seen
that Georgius in his study of the Demonstrations perceived the indications which
prove the writer to be of the Clergy. He goes farther, and notes that the sixth
(Concerning Monks) is evidently written by a monk. He might have added, what is
yet more important, that the fourteenth (which he rightly fixes on as evidently
written by a cleric) can hardly have been written by one of lower rank than that
of Bishop. The translation of the opening sentence of this discourse (which is
an Epistle to the Bishops, Clergy and people of the Church of Seleucia and
Ctesiphon) is disputed; for "we being gathered together have taken counsel to
write this Epistle to our brethren...the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, and the
whole Church" (XIV.1) may be read so as to make the "Bishops, Priests, etc.,"
either, the "we" who write, -- or, the "brethren" who are written to. [337]
Whichever construction is adopted, the fact remains that Aphrahat here writes on
behalf of a body of men assembled in council, who through him admonished their
"dear and beloved brethren" whom they designate (farther on) as "the Bishops,
Priests and Deacons...and all the people of God who are in Seleucia and
Ctesiphon." It is not conceivable that any body of men but a synod of Bishops
(with their clergy and people present and assenting) would, in that age of the
Church, have taken upon itself to meet and consult and address such an epistle
of admonition and implied rebuke to that great see, the seat of the "Catholicus
of the East," [338] the prelate who in the oriental hierarchy was inferior in
dignity to the Antiochian Patriarch alone, and in authority almost coequal with
him. And it may be safely assumed that the writer of the Epistle was one --
probably the chief -- of the Bishops in whose name it is written. If we accept
the late, but internally probable, statement of the Scribe of ms. Orient.1017
(above mentioned), that "the Persian Sage" was "Bishop of the monastery of Mar
Mathai," we arrive at a complete explanation of the circumstances under which
this Epistle was composed. For the Bishop of Mar Mathai was Metropolitan of
Nineveh, and ranked among the Bishops of "the East" only second to the
Catholicus; and his province bordered on that which the Catholicus (as
Metropolitan of Seleucia) held in his immediate jurisdiction. The Bishop of Mar
Mathai therefore would properly preside in a Synod of the Eastern Bishops, met
to consider the disorders and discussions existing in Seleucia and its suffragan
sees. It thus becomes intelligible how an Epistle of such official character has
found a place in a series of discourses of which the rest are written as from
man to man merely. The writer addresses the Bishops, Clergy, and people of
Seleucia and Ctesiphon in the name of a Synod over which he was President, a
Synod probably of Bishops suffragan to Nineveh, and perhaps of those of some
adjacent sees. Thus the admonition comes officially from "Mar Jacob Bishop of
Mar Mathai;" but the thoughts, and language, and literary form are the
production of Aphrahat personally, and he accordingly embodies it as fourteenth
in his alphabetic series of twenty-two treatises, in which it is duly
distinguished by its initial letter nun, the fourteenth of the Semitic alphabet.
It certainly breaks the sequence of subjects, coming after and before treatises
relating to Judaism: but for the alphabetic sequence it is essential. -- This
alphabetic arrangement was overlooked or ignored (as it seems) by the Armenian
translator, who has omitted four of the twenty-two and transposed others,
placing the fourteenth apart from the rest, -- although in Demonstr. XXII.
(which however is not included in the Armenian version) the author recites all
their titles, arranging them in their order, and noting that it is the order of
the alphabet. [339] In the Syriac original the fact is beyond question that
Demonstr. XIV. is an integral part of the series; and we may rely with
confidence on the internal evidence it yields of the high ecclesiastical rank of
the writer [340] -- evidence confirmed by, and in its turn confirming, the
statement of the fourteenth-century scribe who makes him Bishop of the second
see of the East. [341]Reverting to the subject of the Persian nationality of
Aphrahat, we note that this monastery of Mar Mathai was on the eastern, that is,
the Persian, side of the Tigris, not far from what once was Nineveh and is now
Mosul, on the precipitous mountain Elpheph (now Maklob) where it still stands,
though ruinous, and is known by the name of Sheikh Matta, and is occupied by the
Metram (or Metropolitan) and a few monks.9. His Writings little Concerned with
Current Controversies. -- To the remoteness of his see, and probably of the
place of his obvious origin and abode, from the centres of religious thought and
controversy, is probably due the notable absence from these discourses of all
reference to the great theological questions that had employed, and in his time
were engrossing, the leading minds of Christendom. He began to write within ten
years after the Nicene Council and the Arian controversy, and the disputations
that grew out of it were still ripe, and continued to abound long after. The
writings of Ephraim show how vehemently in Aphrahat's lifetime, or possibly a
few years later, the theologians of Nisibis and of Edessa deemed themselves
bound to strive for the Faith against Arians, Anomoeans, Apollinarians, -- and
not less against the surviving or revived heresy of home-grown production --
that of Bardesan. [342] But in Seleucia and Ctesiphon it is not heresy, but
strife, self-seeking, and neglect of duty, that are censured by the Synod
through the letter which we know as Demonstr. XIV., and the errors which the
Bishop of Mar Mathai combats for the benefit of those whom he addresses are the
errors of the Jews who refused and resisted the creed and the customs of the
Church. There is in one place (Demonstr. III.9) a passing reference to the
heresiarchs of the second and third centuries, Valentinus, Manes, and Marcion;
but it merely amounts to a brief statement in which the false teaching of each
is summed up in a sentence, each followed by the question, Can one who holds
such doctrine find acceptance before God by his fasting? No later heresy is even
mentioned. These facts not only confirm the tradition which places him at
Nineveh, but they go far to account for the obscurity in which his name and his
writings lay so long. In an age of excited controversy, these quiet hortatory
discourses, marked by no striking eloquence of style or subtlety of reasoning,
dealing with no burning question of the time, nor with any disputes more recent
than those of the two previous centuries, or those between Jew and Christian,
would hardly attain to more than a local circulation; and when they penetrated
to Edessa or other such centres of Syriac theological life, would awaken but a
languid interest. That they did so penetrate is certain; for of the existing
mss. whence we derive their text, one (the oldest) was written in Edessa in 474,
and Isaac of Antioch, who knew and imitated them, before that time, was a
disciple of Zenobius of Edessa. But the paucity of such mss., and still more the
oblivion which so long covered the name of Aphrahat, prove, either, that the
work failed to attain popularity -- or, that it provoked some prejudice which
led to its practical suppression. It would be difficult, however, to point out
anything in it to which exception could be so seriously taken as to be a bar to
its acceptance. None of the errors which so keen a critic as Georgius detected
in its theology -- even if we admit the justice of his censure -- is such as to
shock the orthodoxy of the fourth or fifth century.10. Possibly Suspected of a
Nestorian Tinge. -- Yet it is possible that theological prepossession may
indirectly have brought about the disfavour or at least disuse into which the
Demonstrations fell. In Edessa there was an institution known as the "School of
the Persians," to which as it seems disciples from Persia resorted for
theological instruction. From Ibas, Bishop of Edessa (435-457), who was infected
with Nestorianism, the Nestorian taint passed to Maris, a Persian (and through
him to Persia generally), and likewise to Maro, a teacher in the school. After
the death of Ibas, the Persian and others who had followed him were expelled
from Edessa, by Nonnus his orthodox opponent and successor; and the school was
finally closed by the next Bishop, Cyrus, in the reign of Zeno [343] (who died
491). These facts may well be supposed to have raised a prejudice against all
writings coming from a Persian source; and the works of "the Persian Sage,"
absolutely free though they are from any thought or phrase which could be
construed as favouring or tending in the direction that led to the errors of
Nestorius, may have come undeservedly under the ban issued against the School of
the Persians and all that was connected with it, by the orthodox zeal of Cyrus.
It is probable that his writings were read in that school, and that he himself
may have studied them in early life. Prescribed in Edessa, the centre of Syriac
theology, these discourses would be effectually checked in their circulation in
all churches of Syriac-speaking Christendom that were anti-Nestorian. [344]11.
Their Popularity in the Armenian Church. -- How the book made good and held its
footing in the Armenian Church is perhaps more difficult to explain. It is not
indeed the only instance in which an author, of whom no works are extant in
their original tongue, has survived and been widely known in a translation. A
notable example is that of Irenæus, of whose great work on Heresies, so well
known in its early Latin dress, but a few fragments have reached us, through
citations, in Greek. There is no obvious ecclesiastical channel through which
the knowledge of the writings of Aphrahat can be supposed to have reached
Armenia, unless by way of Edessa, before they fell (as above suggested) into
discredit in that city. But it is to be borne in mind that from and after the
close of the fourth century "greater (i.e. Eastern) Armenia was ruled as a
dependency of Persia, by Persian Kings." [345] Of these the earlier at least
were Christians, and their policy led them to promote the Syriac language and
literature, as against the Greek, among their people; until, under the
Catholicus Isaac (d.441), the Armenian tongue was reduced to writing (in the
characters then invested by Mesrob), and a beginning made of an Armenian sacred
literature by the translation of the Scriptures into Armenian from the Syriac.
Versions of the works of Syriac divines would naturally follow before long. That
among these Ephraim's Commentaries were conspicuous we have already mentioned
(p.147): that those of a Syriac Divine of Persian nationality should be passed
over is unlikely -- a Divine too of such repute as to have won the honourable
title of "the Persian Sage," and who as occupant of a great Persian see was also
known as Jacob of Mar Mathai, metropolitan of Nineveh. How readily his assumed
name would lead to his being confused with his far more widely known namesake of
Nisibis, we have already pointed out; and it is obvious that the name, once
attributed and accepted, would lend fictitious vogue to the book.12. First
Printed in an Armenian Version. -- The mistake of the Armenian translator
became, in later times, the means of first making the work -- though not the
name -- of Aphrahat known to European scholars. The Armenian version, containing
nineteen of the Demonstrations (XX. being omitted), was printed at Rome in 1756,
edited, with a Latin version, by Antonelli. Its text is derived from a
transcript made in 1719, after an ancient copy in the Armenian Monastery at
Venice, by order of the Abbot Peter Mechitar, and presented by him to Pope
Clement XI. for the Vatican Library. In this edition, entitled S. Patris Jacobi
Episcopi Nisibeni Sermones, the discourses are not merely ascribed to Jacob of
Nisibis, but the theory is advanced by the editor, that the Armenian text is the
original. It is hardly necessary to point out that the alphabetic arrangement of
the twenty-two discourses -- which is not and could not be reproduced in
Armenian, [346] a language with an alphabet of thirty-eight letters -- is alone
sufficient to expose the impossibility of this idea. 13. Recovery of the
Post-Syriac Original. -- The Syriac text, so long forgotten, was first
discovered among the mss. of the great Nitrian collection in the British Museum,
by Dr. Cureton, whose name is so honourably known as a great Syriac scholar, and
editor of Syriac documents. He did not live, however, to accomplish his desire
of publishing it, but bequeathed that task to his still more eminent successor,
in the leadership of Syriac studies in England, the late Dr. William Wright,
then assistant keeper of mss. in the British Museum, and afterwards Professor of
Arabic in the University of Cambridge. To him is due the admirable editio
princeps of the Syriac text of all the twenty-three Demonstrations (from the
mss.14617 and 17182), issued in London, 1869. He did not, however, carry out his
intention of adding to this work a second volume, containing an English
translation of the whole.Since then, another edition of the series of twenty-two
has been published in Paris (Firmin-Didot, 1894), as the first volume of a
Patrologia Syriaca, under the general editorship of Dr. R. Graffin, lecturer in
Syriac in the Theological Faculty of the Catholic Institute of Paris. This
excellent work includes a Latin Version, and is preceded by a learned and
copious Introduction, in which all questions relating to Aphrahat and his
writings are fully treated, -- both of which are the work of Dom Parisot,
Benedictine Priest and Monk.14. Was Aphrahat Prior to Ephraim? -- In thus
placing Aphrahat first as their projected series of Syriac Divines, the learned
editors follow the opinion which, ever since Wright published his edition, has
been adopted by Syriac scholars -- that Aphrahat is prior in time to Ephraim.
This is undoubtedly true (as pointed out above) in the only limited sense, that
the Demonstrations are earlier by some years (the first ten by thirteen years,
the remainder by five or six) than the earliest of Ephraim's writings which can
be dated with certainty (namely, the first Nisibene Hymn, which belongs to 350).
It is then assumed that Ephraim was born in the reign of Constantine, therefore
not earlier than 306, and that Aphrahat was a man of advanced age when he wrote
(of which there is no proof whatever), and must therefore have been born before
the end of the third century -- perhaps as early as 280. It has been shown above
(p.145) that even if we admit the authority of the Syriac Life of Ephraim, we
must regard the supposed statement of his birth in Constantine's time as a
mistranslation or rather perversion of the text. Thus the argument for placing
Ephraim's birth so late as 306 disappears, while for placing Aphrahat's birth no
argument has been advanced, but merely conjecture; and the result is, that the
two may, so far as evidence goes, be regarded as contemporary. It is true that
Barhebræus, in his Ecclesiastical History, reckons Aphrahat as belonging to the
time of Papas, who died 335; but it is to be noted that in the very same context
he mentions that letters were extant purporting to be addressed by Jacob of
Nisibis and Ephraim to the same Papas, -- and though he admits that some
discredited the genuineness of these letters, he gives no hint that Ephraim was
too young to have written them. In fact he could not do so, for in the earlier
part of this History he had already named Ephraim as present at the Nicene
Council in 325, and had placed his name before that of Aphrahat in including
both among the contemporaries of the Great Athanasius. [347]15. His Use of Holy
Scripture. -- Concerning the canon and text of the Books of the Bible as used by
Aphrahat, -- a subject hardly within the scope of this Introduction -- a few
words must suffice.In citing the Old Testament, he shows himself acquainted with
nearly all the Books of the Jewish Canon, and with some, but not all, of the
deutero-canonical books commonly called Apocrypha -- with Tobit, Ecclesiasticus
(and perhaps Wisdom), and Maccabees, but not Judith, Susanna, Bel and the
Dragon, or Baruch. He follows the Peshitto rather than the Greek, but not seldom
departs from both; and he shows a knowledge of the Chaldee Paraphrase.His New
Testament Canon is apparently that of the Peshitto; -- that is to say, he shows
no signs of acquaintance with the four shorter Catholic Epistles, and in the one
citation which seems to be from the Apocalypse, it has been shown to be probable
that he is really referring to the Targum of Onkelos on Deut. xxxiii.6. [348]
But he omits all reference also to the longer Catholic Epistles, except 1 John.
He also passes over (of St. Paul's Epistles) 2 Thessalonians, Titus, and
Philemon. But as regards the last, its shortness accounts for the omission; and
as to the former two, he can hardly have been unacquainted with them, inasmuch
as he knew 1 Thessalonians and 1 and 2 Timothy. He designates the writer of
Hebrews as "the Apostle," probably meaning to ascribe it to St. Paul.In citing
the Gospels, he seems sometimes to follow the Diatessaron, which, as we have
said, was in the hands of his contemporary Ephraim, and which is known to have
circulated largely in the East until far on in the following century. Sometimes,
however, his references seem to be to the separate Gospels as commonly read. It
cannot be claimed for the Peshitto that he always or even usually follows its
text; nor yet does he uniformly agree with the Curetonian, or with the probably
earlier form of the Syriac Gospel recently discovered by Mr. Lewis. With each of
these last, however, his text has many points of coincidence. In the rest of the
New Testament, we can only say that he must have had before him a text which
diverged not seldom from the Peshitto. [349] 16. Literary and Theological Value
of his Writings. -- From the Demonstrations, eight have been selected for the
present volume, viz.: I. Of Faith (with Letter of an Inquirer prefixed); V. Of
Wars; VI. Of Monks; VIII. Of the Resurrection of the Dead; X. Of Pastors; XVII.
Of Christ the Son of God; XXI. Of Persecution; XXII. Of Death and the Latter
Times. Of these, one only (XVII.) is controversial, -- directed against the
Jews: it is painfully inadequate in the treatment of its great theme, -- so
inadequate as to suggest the surmise that doubts may have arisen about the
orthodoxy of the writer, such as to discredit his works, and to account for the
neglect in which they lay (as we have seen) for centuries. But in all his
writings his mastery of the Scriptures, of the Old Testament especially, is
conspicuous; and in many of them, especially in those of a hortatory character,
there is much force of earnest persuasiveness, rising at times into eloquence.


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  CHAPTER 15: EPHRAIM SYRUS THE NISIBENE HYMNS.
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Translated By REV. J. T. Sarsfield Stopford, B.A. 1. The Siege of Nisibis
(I.-III.). 2. The Persian Invasion (IV.-XII.). 3. The Bishops of Nisibis
(XIII.-XVI.). 4. Abraham Their Successor (XVII.-XXI.). 5. Concerning Satan and
Death (XXXV.-XLII., LXII.-LXVIII.).


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  CHAPTER 16: NISIBENE HYMNS. HYMN I. O GOD OF MERCIES WHO DIDST REFRESH NOAH, HE TOO REFRESHED THY MERCIES
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1. O God of mercies Who didst refresh Noah, he too refreshed Thy mercies. He
offered sacrifice and stayed the flood; he presented gifts and received the
promise. With prayer and incense he propitiated Thee: with an oath and with the
bow Thou wast gracious to him; so that if the flood should essay to hurt the
earth, the bow should stretch itself over against it, to banish it away and
hearten the earth. As Thou hast sworn peace so do Thou maintain it, and let Thy
bow strive against Thy wrath! R. Stretch forth Thy bow against the flood, for
lo! it has lifted up its waves against our walls! 2. In revelation, Lord! it has
been proclaimed, that that lowly blood which Noah sprinkled, wholly restrained
Thy wrath for all generations; how much mightier then shall be the blood of Thy
Only Begotten, that the sprinkling of it should restrain our flood! For lo! it
was but as mysteries of Him that those lowly sacrifices gained virtue, which
Noah offered, and stayed by them Thy wrath. Be propitiated by the gift upon my
altar, and stay from me the deadly flood. So shall both Thy signs bring
deliverance, to me Thy cross and to Noah Thy bow! Thy cross shall cleave the sea
of waters; Thy bow shall stay the flood of rain. 3. Lo! all the billows trouble
me; and Thou hast given more favour to the ark: for waves alone encompassed it,
mounds and weapons and waves encircle me. It was unto Thee a storehouse of
treasures, but I have been a storehouse of debts: it in Thy love subdued the
waves; I in Thy wrath, am left desolate among the weapons; the flood bore it,
the river threatens me. O Helmsman of that ark, be my pilot on the dry land! To
it Thou gavest rest in the haven of a mountain; to me give Thou rest also in the
haven of my walls! 4. The Just One has chastened me abundantly, but it He loved
even among the waves. For Noah overcame the waves of lust, which had drowned in
his generation the sons of Seth. Because his flesh revolted against the
daughters of Cain, his chariot rode on the surface of the waves. Because women
defiled him not, he coupled the beasts, whereof in the ark he joined together,
all pairs in the yoke of wedlock. The olive which with its oil gladdens the
face, with its leaf gladdened their countenances: for me the river whereof to
drink is wont to make joyful, lo! O Lord, by its flood it makes me mournful. 5.
The foulness of my guilt Thy righteousness has seen, and Thy pure eyes abhor me.
Thou hast gathered the waters by the hand of the unclean, that Thou mightest
make for me purification of my guilt; not that in them Thou mightest baptize and
purify me, but that in them Thou mightest chasten me with fear. For the waves
will stir up to prayer, which shall wash away my guilt. The sight of them which
is full of repentance, has been to me a baptism. The sea, O Lord, which should
have drowned me, in it let Thy mercies drown my guilt. In the Red Sea Thou didst
drown bodies; in this sea drown Thou my guilt instead of bodies! 6. An ark in
Thy mercy Thou didst prepare, that Thou mightest preserve in it all the
remnants. That Thou shouldest not desolate the earth in Thy wrath, Thy
compassion made an earth of wood. Thou didst empty them one into the other; Thou
didst render them back one unto the other. But my lands have thrice been filled
and emptied again; and now against me the waves rebel, to overwhelm the remnant
that has escaped in me. In the ark Thou didst save a remnant; save in me, O
Lord, yea in me a leaven. The ark upon the mountain brought forth; let me in my
lands bring forth my imprisoned ones! 7. O Lord, gladden Thou in me the
imprisoned ones of my fortresses, Thou Who didst gladden those prisoners with
the olive leaf! Thou sentest healing by means of the dove to the sick ones that
were drowning in every wave; it entered in and drove out all their pains. For
the joy of it swallowed up their sorrow, and mourning vanished away in its
consolation. And as the chief of a host gives heartening to the fugitives, so
the dove disseminated courage among the forsaken. Their eyes tasted the sight of
peace, and their mouth hasted to open in Thy praise. As the olive leaf in the
waves, save Thou me, that Thou mayest gladden in me the prisoners of my
fortresses! 8. The flood assails, and dashes against our walls: may the
all-sustaining might uphold them! It falls not as the building of the sand, for
I have not built my doctrine upon the sand: a rock shall be for me the
foundation, for on Thy rock have I built my faith; the secret foundation of my
trust, shall support my walls. For the walls of Jericho fell, because on the
sand she had built her trust. Moses built a wall in the sea, for on a rock his
understanding built it. The foundation of Noah was on a rock; the dwelling place
of wood it bore up in the sea. 9. Compare the souls which are in me, with the
living things that were in the ark; and instead of Noah who mourned in it, lo!
Thy altar mourning and humbled. Instead of the wedded wives that were in it, lo!
my virgins that are unmarried. Instead of Ham who went forth from it and
uncovered his father's nakedness, lo! workers of righteousness, who have
nourished and clothed apostles. In my pains, O my Lord, I rave in my speech;
blame me not if my words provoke Thee! Thou puttest to silence the prosperous
when they murmured: have mercy on me as on them that were silenced aforetime!
10. Before Thy wrath Thou madest a house of refuge, and all the nations rebelled
against it. Noah was refreshed in rest, that his dwelling-place should give rest
according to his name. Thou didst close the doors to save the righteous one;
Thou didst open the floods to destroy the unclean. Noah stood between the
terrible waves that were without, and the destroying mouths that were within:
the waves tossed him and the mouths dismayed him. Thou madest peace for him with
them that were within; Thou broughtest down before him them that were without:
Thou didst speedily change his troubles, for light to Thee, O Lord, are hard
things. 11. Hear and weigh the comparison of me with Noah, and though my
suffering be light beside his, let Thy mercy make our deliverance alike; for lo!
my children stand like him, between the wrathful and the destroyer. Give peace,
O Lord, among them that are within, and humble before me them that are without;
and give me twofold victory! And whereas the slayer has made his rage threefold,
may He of the three days show me threefold mercy! Let not the Evil One overcome
Thy lovingkindness: seeing he has assailed me twice and thrice overcome Thou
him! Let my victory fly abroad through the world, that it may earn Thee praise
in the world! O Thou who didst rise on the third day, give us not over to death
in our third peril!


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  CHAPTER 17: HYMN II. THIS DAY ARE OPENED, OUR MOUTHS TO GIVE THANKS
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1. This day are opened, our mouths to give thanks. They who opened the breaches,
have opened my sons' mouths. Thank the Merciful, who has delivered the men of
our city, nor thought at that time of exacting the debts that were due by us.
When they rose up they that took us captive, the worlds in our deliverance,
tasted of Thy graciousness. R. From all that have mouths, glory be to Thy grace!
2. He has saved us without wall, and taught us that He is our wall: He has saved
us without king and made us know that is our king: He has saved us, in each and
all, and showed us that He is All: He has saved us in His grace and again
reveals, that freely He has mercy and quickens. From every boaster, He takes
away his boasting, and gives it to His own grace. 3. The sound of all mouths, is
too little for Thy praise: for lo! in the hour when our light was smoking, and
was at the point to be quenched (seeing that all is easy to Thee) of a sudden it
awoke and shone! Who has seen these two marvels, that for him whose hope was cut
off, hope has sprung up and increased; the hour of mourning has been turned into
good tidings? 4. This is a festival day, whereon hang the feasts: for if wrath
had taken us captive, lo! our feasts too had ceased. Whereas our peace has
conquered and triumphed, lo! our festivals resound. This blessed day supports
all: upon it depends the city, on the city depends the people, on the people
depends peace, on peace depends all. 5. Out of these breaches, Thou hast
multiplied triumphs. Praise unto the Triune God goes up from the three breaches;
for that He descended and repaired them, in His mercy which restrains wrath. He
smote the enemy who understood not that He was teaching us. He taught those
within, for in His justice He made the breaches; He taught those without, for in
His goodness He repaired them. 6. Speak and give glory, my delivered ones on
this day; old men and boys, young men and maidens, children and innocents, and
thou, O Church, mother of the city! For the old men have been rescued from
captivity, the youths from torture, the sucklings from being dashed in pieces,
the women from dishonour, and the Church from mockery. 7. He came to us with
hardness; we were afraid for a moment: He came in gentleness, and we rejoiced
for an hour. He turned and left us for a little, we wandered without end; like a
beast of prey which is trained by blandishments and by fear, but if so be that
men turn from it, rebels and strays and becomes savage in the midst of peace. 8.
He punished us and we feared not; He rescued us, and we were not shamed: He
straitened us and our vows were multiplied; He enlarged us and our crimes were
multiplied. When He constrained there was a covenant, when He gave
breathing-space there was straying. Though He knew us He lowered Himself to
establish us. In the evening we exalted Him; in the morning we rejected Him.
When necessity left us, faithfulness left us. 9. He afflicted us by the
breaches, that He might punish our crimes: He raised the mounds that thereby, He
might humble our boasting. He made a breach for the seas that thereby, He might
wash away our pollution. He shut us in that we might gather together in His
Temple. He shut us in and we were quenched; He set us free and we went astray.
We are like unto wool, which passes into every colour. 10. We know that when the
blessed sons of Nineveh repented, it was not because of mounds they repented,
nor yet by means of waters, nor was it by reason of a breach, nor yet by reason
of bows; it was not at the sound of the bowstring they feared and repented. They
harkened to a feeble voice; they caused their little ones to fast; they made
their youths chaste, they made their kings humble. 11. Thou smotest us and we
justified Thee, for it befel not by chance; Thou deliveredst us and we gave
thanks, for it was not that we were worthy. Thou hadst mercy on us not because
Thou erredst, in hoping that we should repent. It was manifest to Thee that when
Thou hadst mercy on us we strayed. Thou knewest that we had sinned; Thou knewest
that we are sinners: with our iniquity that has been and is, Thou wast
acquainted when Thou hadst mercy on us.12. Weigh our repentance, that it may
outbalance our crimes! But not in even balance, ascends either weight; for our
crimes are heavy and manifold, and our repentance is light. He had commanded
that we should be sold for our debt: His mercy became our advocate; principal
and increase, we repaid with the farthing, which our repentance proffered.13.
Ten thousand talents for that little payment, our debt He forgave us. He was
bound to exact it, that He might appease His justice: He was constrained again
to forgive, that He might make His grace to rejoice. Our tears for the twinkling
of an eye we gave Him; He satisfied His justice, in exacting and taking a
little; He made His grace to rejoice, when for a little He forgave much.14. Ten
thousand are the crimes that He has pardoned; ten thousand tongues, are unable
to suffice, in presence of His goodness. He has pardoned us and we have not
pardoned; we have requited to Him contrariwise; the guilt committed we write up
afresh. "Pardon, O Lord," we cry; "Requite, O Lord," we pray: "pardon" verily
when we have done wrong; "requite" verily when wrong is done us.15. Yea not as
those without, have we laboured for our lives. They have raised their mounds,
but we not even our voices: they have broken through the wall, but we -- not
even the chains, the frail chains on our heart within have we broken. God has
rejected the diligent, for the sake of the slothful; He has rejected the labour
done without, though He was rejected from within.16. He has set free them that
talked, and smitten the silent; the wall was beaten, and the people were
instructed: He spared them that can suffer, He smote that which knows no
suffering. For instead of souls that feel, He smote the stones that feel not,
that He might chasten us. In His love He spared our bodies, and hasted to smite
our wall.17. Who has ever seen, that a breach became as a mirror? Two parties
looked thereinto; it served for those without and those within. They saw therein
as with eyes, the Power that breaks down and builds up: they saw Him who made
the breach and again repaired it. Those without saw His might; they departed and
tarried not till evening: those within saw His help; they gave thanks yet
sufficed not.18. Let the day of thy deliverance, arouse thee from sloth! When
the wall was broken through, when the elephants pressed in, when the javelins
showered, when men did valiantly, then was there a sight for the heavenly ones.
Iniquity fought there; mercy triumphed there; lovingkindness prevailed below;
the watchers shouted on high.19. And thine enemy wearied himself, striving to
smite by his wiles, the wall that encompassed thee, a bulwark to thine
inhabitants. He wearied himself and availed not; and in order that he might not
hope, that if He broke through He should also enter and take us captive, he
broke it through and not once only; and was put to shame, nor was that enough,
even unto three times, that he might be shamed thrice in the three.20. Let my
happiness by God's grace, be also multiplied in thy midst! Whereas in thee my
crimes have been many, many be in thee my fruits! Whereas in thee I have sinned
in my youth, in thee let there be mercy for my old age! By the mouth of thy sons
pray for thy son, for I have sinned beyond my ability, and have repented below
my ability; I have scattered above measure, and have gathered below measure.


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  CHAPTER 18: HYMN III. FIX THOU OUR HEARING, THAT IT BE NOT LOOSED AND WANDER!
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1. Fix thou our hearing, that it be not loosed and wander! For it is a-wandering
if one enquire, who He is and what He is like. For how can we avail, to paint in
us the likeness, of that Being which is like to the mind? Naught is there in it
that is limited, in all of it He sees and hears; all of it as it were speaks;
all of it is in all senses. R., Praise to the One Being, that is to us
unsearchable! 2. His aspect cannot be discerned, that it should be portrayed by
our understanding: He hears without ears; He speaks without mouth; He works
without hands, and He sees without eyes. Because our soul ceases not nor
desists, in presence of Him Who is such; in His graciousness He put on the
fashion of humankind and gathered us into His likeness. 3. Let us learn in what
way that Being is spiritual and appeared as corporeal; and how it also is
tranquil and appears as wrathful. These things were for our profit; that Being
in our likeness was made like to us that we may be made like Him. One there is
that is like Him, the Son Who proceeded from Him, Who is stamped with His
likeness. 4. O Nisibis, hear these things, for, for thy sake these things were
written and spoken. Both to thyself and to others, thou hast been in the world a
cause of strife and of disputations. Mouths over thee, O thou that wast shut up,
even over thee mouths sang; when thou didst triumph and wast enlarged, in thee
mouths were opened, for lamentation and for thanksgiving. 5. The prayer of thy
inhabitants, sufficed for thy deliverance; it was not that they were righteous,
but that they were penitent: according as they were disgraced, so did they haste
to submit to the rod. In transgressions and in triumphs they had like part. They
whose crimes were great, so be their fruit great; they who triumphed in their
sackcloth, have triumphed also in their crowns. 6. The day of thy deliverance,
is king of all days. The Sabbath overthrew thy walls, it overthrew the
ungrateful; the day of the Resurrection of the Son, raised again thy ruins; the
day of Resurrection raised thee according to its name, it glorified its title.
The Sabbath relaxed its watch; for the making of the breaches, it took blame to
itself. 7. In Samaria hunger prevailed, but in thee fulness prevailed. In
Samaria there broke in and came on her, abundance of a sudden; but in thee there
roared and came in on thee a sea of a sudden. In her was eaten a child, and it
saved her alive; in thee was eaten the body, living and all life-giving; of a
sudden He delivered them, the Eaten delivered the eaters. 8. We know that the
Blessed wills not the afflictions, that have been in all ages; though He has
wrought them, it is our offences that are the cause of our troubles. No man can
complain against our Creator; it is for Him to complain against us, who have
sinned and constrained Him, to be wrathful though He wills it not, and to smite
though He desires it not. 9. The Earth, the vine, and the olive, are in need of
chastisement. When the olive is bruised, then its fruit smells sweet; when the
vine is pruned, then its grapes are goodly; when the soil is ploughed its yield
is goodly. When water is confined in channels, desert places drink of it; brass,
silver and gold, when they are burnished shine. 10. If then it be that man, by
chastening makes all things goodly; and if he who despises and rejects
chastening, is hated and all rebels against him; then by that which he chastens,
let him learn Him that chastens him; since whoso chastens does so that he may
profit thereby. For whoso chastens his servants, does so that he may possess
them; the good God chastens His servants that they may possess themselves. 11.
Let thy afflictions be, books to admonish thee, for the thrice-besieged, suffice
to become for thee, books to meditate therein, every hour on their histories.
Because thou despisedst the two Testaments, wherein thou mightest read thy life,
therefore He wrote for thee, three hard books wherein thou shouldst read thy
chastisements.12. Let us avert by that which has been, the thing that is yet to
be; let us be taught by that which has come, to escape that which is coming; let
us remember that which is past, to avoid that which is future. Because we had
forgotten the first stroke, the second fell on us; because we forgot the second,
the third bore heavy on us. Who will yet again forget!


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  CHAPTER 19: HYMN IV. MY GOD, WITHOUT CEASING, I WILL TREAD THE THRESHOLD OF THY HOUSE
========================================================================

1. My God, without ceasing, I will tread the threshold of Thy house; I who have
rejected all grace, I will ask with boldness, that I may receive with
confidence. R., Our hope, be thou our Wall! 2. For if, O Lord, the earth,
enriches manifold, a single grain of wheat, how then shall my prayers, be
enriched by Thy grace! 3. Because of the voices of my children, their sighs and
their groans, open to me the door of Thy mercy! Make glad for their voices, the
mourning of their sackcloth! 4. O firstborn that wast a weaned child, and wast
familiar with the children, the accurst sons of Nazareth, hearken to my lambs
that have seen the wolves, for lo! they cry. 5. For a flock, O my Lord, in the
field, if so be it has seen the wolves, flees to the shepherd, and takes refuge
under his staff, and he drives away them that would devour it. 6. Thy flock has
seen the wolves, and lo! it cries loudly. Behold how terrified it is! Let thy
Cross be a staff, to drive out them that would swallow it up! 7. Accept the cry
of my little ones, that are altogether pure. It was He, the Infant of days, that
could appease, O Lord, the Ancient of days. 8. The day when the Babe came down,
in the midst of the stall, the Watchers descended and proclaimed, peace -- may
that peace be, in all my streets for all my offspring. 9. Seventy and two old
men, the elders of that people, sufficed not for its breaches. The Babe it was,
the Son of Mary, that gave peace on every side. 10. Have mercy, O Lord, on my
children! in my children call to mind Thy childhood, Thou Who wast a child! Let
them that are like Thy childhood, be saved by Thy grace! 11. Mingled in the
midst of the flock, are the cry of the innocents, and the voice of the sheep,
that call on the Shepherd of all, to deliver them from all. * * * * * * * * * *
*13. There is a joy that is affliction, misery is hidden in it; there is a
misery that is profit, it is a fountain of joys, in that new world.14. The
happiness that my persecutor has gained, woes are hidden in it; therefore I
rejoice. The wretchedness that I have gained from him, happiness is concealed
for me in it.15. Who will not give praise, to Him that has begotten us, and can
beget again, from the midst of evil rumours the voices of glad tidings!16. Thou
Healer of all, hast visited me in my sicknesses! Payment for Thy medicines, I
cannot give Thee, for they are priceless.17. Thy mercies in richness, surpass
Thy medicines: they cannot be bought, they are given freely, it is for tears
they are bartered.18. How, O my Master, can a desolate city, whose king is far
off, and her enemy nigh, stand firm without aid of mercy?19. A harbour and
refuge, art Thou at all times. When the seas covered me, Thy mercy descended and
drew me out. Again let Thy help lay hold on me!20. Apply to my afflictions, the
medicine of Thy salvation, and the passion of Thy help! Thy sign can become, a
medicine to heal all.21. I am greatly oppressed, and I hasten to complain,
against him that troubles me. Let Thy mercy, my Lord, take the bitterness from
the cup, that my sins have mixed.22. I look on all sides, and weep that I am
desolate. Very many though be my chiefs and my deliverers, one is He that has
delivered me.23. My young men have fled, O Lord, and gone forth, and are like
chickens, which an eagle pursues; lo! they hide in a secret place: may Thy peace
bring them back!24. The sound of my grape-gatherers, lo! my ears miss it, for
their voices fail. Let it resound with the glad tidings, O Blessed One of Thy
salvation!25. A voice of terror, I have heard on my towers; as my defenders cry,
while they guard my walls. Still Thou it with the voice of peace!26. The noise
of my husbandmen, shall speak peace without my walls: the shouting of my
dwellers shall speak peace within my walls, that I may give peace without and
within.27. Make an end, O Lord, of the mourning, of this Thy pure altar, and of
Thy chaste priest, who stands clothed in mourning, covered over with
sackcloth!28. The Church and her ministers shall give praise for Thy salvation;
the city and its dwellers. Be the voice of peace, O Lord, the reward of their
voices!


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  CHAPTER 20: HYMN V. CAUSE TO BE HEARD IN THY GRACE, THE TIDINGS OF THY SALVATION: FOR AN HEARING HAS BEEN MADE, A PATH OF PASSAGE
========================================================================

1. Cause to be heard in Thy grace, the tidings of Thy salvation: for an hearing
has been made, a path of passage; our minds have been downtrodden, by messages
of terror. R., Praises to Thy victory! Glory to Thy Dominion! 2. Comfort Thou
with profits, though small and scanty, those that have had harvest, of hurt by
their labour: at a time of profit, they have gained but loss. 3. It is manifest
that He has stood, portioning wrath upon earth: loss and profit in anger He
divided. There are whom He has cast down of a sudden, and there are whom He has
puffed up of a sudden. 4. To teach us that He can, chastise in all ways; when He
saw the persecutors, were terrible before mine eyes, He laid me out before my
children, and they my beloved chastised me. 5. Lo! He taught me to fear, Himself
and not man: for when there was none to smite us, His wrath gave command of a
sudden, and every man stretched himself out, and chastised himself. 6. In like
manner that Babylonian, who struck down all kings when he was confident and
hoped that there was none to smite him, God caused that by his own hands, he
should strike himself down. 7. His majesty and his mind, of a sudden became mad
together: he rent and cast off his garments; he went forth and wandered in the
desert; he drove himself out first, and then his servants drove him out. 8. He
showed to all kings, whom he had led captive and brought down, that not by his
own power, could he have overcome: the power that struck him down, was that
which punished them. 9. I have stood and borne, O my Lord; the blows of my
deliverers. Thou art able in Thy grace, to make me profit by the smiters: Thou
art able in Thy justice to punish me by my helpers. 10. The day when the host
was bold, to come up against Samaria; their plenty and their pleasure, their
treasures and their possessions, they cast away and forsook and fled. He crowned
her by her persecutors. 11. My beloved ones crowned me, and my deliverers healed
me. Through the guilt of my dwellers, my helpers chastised me, give me drink
from Thy vines, of the cup of consolation! 12. The corn and the vine, preserve,
O my Lord, by Thy grace! Be the husbandman cheered, by the vine of the
grape-gatherer; be the vinedresser glad, in the corn of the husbandman!13. They
are joined each to each, the corn and the grape. In the field the reapers, wine
can make cheerful, in the vineyard the dressers, bread strengthens in turn.14.
These two things have power, to comfort my troubles: the Trinity has power, to
comfort more exceedingly; whom I will praise because of a sudden, I was
delivered through grace.15. But the man whose life, is preserved through grace,
if he goes away to murmur, at the loss of his goods, he is thankless for the
grace, of Him who had pity on him.16. Of His own will He destroys, one thing
instead of another. He destroys possession, and spares the possessor: He
destroys our plants, instead of our lives.17. Let us fear to murmur, lest His
own wrath be roused, and He spare the possessions, and smite the possessor; that
we may learn in the end, His mercy in the beginning.18. Let us learn against
whom, it is meet for us to murmur. Learn thou to murmur, not against the
Chastener, but against thine own will, that made thee sin and thou wast
punished.19. Let us put away murmuring, and turn unto prayer: for if the
possessor dies, his possessions also cease for him; but while he survives, he
seeks to recover his losses.20. Let consolations be multiplied, in mercy to my
dwellers: let the remainder and residue, console us in the midst of wrath; and
cause Thou us to forget in the residue, the mourning of our devastation!21. Heal
and increase O my Lord, the fruits Thy wrath has left! They seem to me like sick
ones, that have escaped in pestilence. Make me to forget in these weak ones, the
suffering of the many!22. While I speak, O my Lord, I call to mind that this too
is the month, when the blossom pined, and dropped off in blight, may it return
to soundness, to be a consolation!23. For these escaped the pestilence, that
carried off their brethren. The vines though voiceless, wept when before them, a
multitude was cut down and felled, of trees that they loved.24. The company of
plants, lo! the earth misses! The roots for the husbandmen, weep and cause them
to weep. Their beauty had spread and gave shade, and it was torn away in one
hour.25. The axe came nigh and struck; and struck the husbandman; the blow was
on the trees, and it caused the husbandman to suffer; every axe that smote, he
bore the pain of it.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 21: HYMN VI. I WILL RUN IN MY AFFECTIONS, TO HIM WHO HEALS FREELY
========================================================================

1. I will run in my affections, to Him who heals freely. He who healed my
sorrows, the first and the second, He who cured the third, He will heal the
fourth. R., Heal me, Thou Son the First Born! 2. My sons, O my Lord, drank and
were drunken, of the tidings which wrath had mixed; and they rushed on my
adornments, and spoiled and cast away my ornaments; they rent and spared not, my
garments and my crowns. 3. They uncovered me and I was made bare. Because I was
shamed a little, by means of that stripping, the first and the second, because I
was shamed a third time, lo! they have stripped me a fourth time. 4. For they
have seized and taken away my garments, my ornaments and my gardens. On the
sackcloth that girds my altar, look Thou, O my Lord, and have pity on me! Let
the sackcloth be to me, O my Lord, the breastplate of salvation! 5. Lo! it is
not by the hand of the chaste, that Thou hast chastised me, O my Master! For lo!
his shame is before him, and behind him his disgrace; for as to his marriage,
adultery is better than it. 6. Lo! his daughter is his wife, and his sister his
consort; and his mother whence he came forth, he turns again and takes her to
wife! The heavens are astonished that thus, he provokes Thee, and lo! he
prospers. 7. And though, O my Lord, my crimes are many, are my offences so
heavy, that Thou shouldst make over a chaste woman, mother of chaste daughters,
to foul Assyria, mother of defiled daughters? 8. Restrain him that he come not,
and wag at me his head, and stamp on me his heel, and rejoice that the voice of
his fame, thus troubles the world; and be uplifted yet a little! 9. My sons, O
my Lord, have seen my nakedness, yea have uncovered me and wept. Uncover Thou me
before my children, who are pained by my pain, and let not those mock at me, the
accursed that have no pity! 10. My lands had brought forth fruits and pleasant
things; good things in the vineyard, abundance in the fields. But as I rested
secure, of a sudden wrath overtook me. 11. The husbandmen were plundered, the
spoilers heaped the grain; what thou had borrowed and sown these destroyed. With
one's debt his hunger, haply will also remain unsatisfied, for his bread is
snatched from him. 12. The husbandman, O my Lord, is plundered, for he lent to
the earth; she has received the deposit, and given it to a stranger; she has
borrowed it of the husbandman; and paid it to the spoiler.13. Be jealous over me
who am Thine, and to Thee, O my Lord: am I betrothed! The Apostle who betrothed
me to Thee, told me that Thou art jealous. For as a wall to chaste wives is the
jealousy of their husbands.14. Samson stirred up seas, because he was mightily
jealous over his wife, though she was greatly defiled, and was divided against
him. Keep Thy Church, for no other, has she beside Thee!15. Whoso is not
jealous, over his spouse despises her. Jealousy it is that can make known, the
love that is within. Thou art called jealous, that thou mayest show me Thy
love.16. The nature of woman is this; it is weak and rash: it is jealousy keeps
it, under fear every hour. Thou hast been named among the jealous, that Thou
mightest make known Thy solicitude.17. Every man has been master, of something
that was not his own; every man has gone forth gathering, something that he
scattered not. The day of confusion, I have prepared for myself by my crimes.18.
How shall they bear the suffering, the labourers and tillers? In the face of the
vinedresser, they have cut down the vines and driven away the flocks of the
husbandman; his sowing they have reaped and carried off.19. They had yoked
cattle sown and harrowed, they had ploughed, planted, nurtured. They stood afar
and wept; and they went away bereft of all. The labour was for the toilers, the
increase for the spoilers.20. The rulers, O my Lord, maintained not, order in
the midst of Thy wrath. If they had willed it they might have kept order, but
our iniquity suffered it not. Though wrath had greatly abated, wrath compelled
them to spoil.21. To whom on any side, shall I look for comfort, for my
plantations that are laid low, and my possessions that are laid waste? Let the
message of the voice of peace, drive away my sadness from me!22. Give me not
over; lest it be thought that Thou, hast given me a writing of divorce, and sent
me away and driven me out! Let them not call me, O my Lord, the forsaken and the
disgraced!23. I have not anything, to call to mind before Thine eyes, for I am
wholly despised. Call Thou to mind for me, O my God, this only that none other,
have I set before me beside Thee!24. Who would not weep for me, with voice and
wailing? for before the days of full moon I was chaste and crowned; and after
the days of full moon, I was uncovered and made bare.25. My chaste daughters of
the chambers, wander in the fields; for the wrath that makes all drunken, has
caused my honourable women to be despised. Let Thy mercy which gives peace to
all, restore these beloved ones to honour!26. My elder daughters and my younger,
lo! they cry before Thee; the damsels with their voices, they that are aged with
their tears; my virgins with their fasts, my chaste ones with their
sackcloth!27. Mine eyes to all the streets, I lift up and lo! they are deserted.
There are left of a hundred ten, and a thousand of ten thousand. Give Thou peace
and fill my streets, with the tumult of my dwellers!28. Bring back them that are
without, and make them glad that are within! Mighty is Thy grace, that Thou
extendest it within and without. Let the wings of Thy grace gather my chickens
together!29. Let the prayer of my just men, save my fugitives! The unbelievers
have plundered me, and the believers have sustained me. In them that believe put
Thou to shame them that believe not!30. There came together on one day, two
festivals as one: the Feast of Thine Ascension, and the Feast of Thy Champions;
the feast that wove Thy Crown, and the memorial of the crowning of Thy
servants.31. Have thou mercy because there were doubled for us, these feasts on
one day; and there were doubled for us instead of them, even the two feasts in
one, suffering from the voice of ill tidings, and mourning from desolation!32.
Give peace to my festivals! for both my feasts have ceased; and instead of
rejoicing, of my remnants in festivals, tremblings and desolations meet me in
every place.33. Bring home mine that are far off, make glad mine that are nigh;
and in the midst of our land shall be preached, good tidings of joy; and I shall
render in return for peace, praise from every mouth!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 22: HYMN VII. WRATH CAME TO REBUKE, THE GREEDY WHO IN THE MIDST OF PEACE, BARGAINED, DEFRAUDED AND PLUNDERED
========================================================================

1. Wrath came to rebuke, the greedy who in the midst of peace, bargained,
defrauded and plundered. In calamity the greedy have waxed rich: lo! what was
theirs they have scattered, what was not theirs they have gathered. R., Give
peace, O Son, to our land! 2. Twenty years my troubles, have been like branches,
O my Saviour! which are kept back throughout winter, but when it is time to
shoot forth, my troubles shoot forth: with our fruit our heart ripens. 3. Nisan
is the time of buds: in it the ill tidings budded. When our delights crowded on
us, then crowded on us our ills. At the time of winnowing of wheat, came the
winnowing of cities, 4. For the three brethren in Babylon fled not from the fire
that men kindled, because they were steadfast: from lust they fled, because they
were perfect. 5. The fire of them that have triumphed, is able to turn the black
kids into white: the fire of vain men is able to make the lambs into spotted
leopards. 6. How great will be my cries, to be cried at any alarm! How great my
indignation to ripen at every ill tidings! How great my harvests, to perish
every mouth! 7. For the crimes of my sons He has chastened me, in their
struggling for my deliverance. The people who deliver me, bring chastisement
upon me. Restrain ye your sins, and lo! my chastisements are restrained! 8. In
ill tidings they are afflicted; in time of wrath they are tortured; in time of
peace they are distressed; for when every man breathes freely, and all are
unthankful for grace, they render thanks on behalf of every man. 9. Their
sackcloth is humble for my sake; their ashes are sprinkled in my affliction;
their prayer is for my victory; their fast for my deliverance: Lo! the debt is
on my ascetics, the guilt with my nobles. 10. Great is in every age, the folly
of the wise; the scribes and elders envied and killed the teacher, who taught
all people the Law of Moses. 11. Wisdom in this age is a possession that brings
loss: he who has a little folly, very small is his guilt; but he who has a
little prudence, his iniquity passes measure. 12. They build with their words,
and overthrow in their deeds; for the teachers were many and foolish, but the
mouth of the judge is both of these things, the judge and the accuser.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 23: HYMN IX.
========================================================================

...My afflictions are as Job's. Thy justice delivered him; let Thy grace have
mercy on me! 2. In these two things is profit; that neither should the just, be
weary in supplication, nor should the rebellious, multiply transgression. 3.
With the sons Thou labourest, to chastise and help them; and that the fathers
should not be grieved, by the sound of the scourge, they left me in peace. 4.
Look, O my Lord, on my woods without, how they have been cut down! behold, O my
Lord, my breasts within, that they are too weak, for me to bear my beloved ones!
5. With swords they have cut off, my wings that are without; again the fire
kindles, in my bosom within, the incense of burnt offering. 6. The
sun-worshippers have killed, my sons in the plain: and they that offer to Baal,
have sacrificed my bulls in the city, my sheep with my babes. 7. In my fields is
lamentation; in my halls wailing; in my vineyards terror; in my streets
confusion. Who can suffice for me? 8. The Evil One who dealt treacherously, and
disturbed me with his words, stirred up trouble within, so that my inward part,
is wholly as my outward part. 9. With what face, O my Lord, shall I call on Thee
to send, a camp of holy ones, to guard my bosom, which is full of uncleanness?
10. With Thy new leaven, Thou hast chastened creation. Make Thou the old leaven,
which ensnares and humbles, to be like the new leaven! 11. By the manifest
striving, of Thy power let us conquer; lest error should crown, those that
strive for Thee, cleaving to them with blandishment! 12. If we look into our
time, it is like our deceit; [350] -- for in the years of truthfulness, we
practised divinations, -- and secretly used enchantments.13. If I look into the
time, it provokes and into light, -- brings secret things, that our deceit may
be shamed, -- which wore the raiment of Truth.14. Verily it is truth, that
overcomes all; [351] -- and the sea with its bitterness, cannot trouble it, --
for it is pure in its nature.15. In wisdom Thou hast made it, O my Lord, that it
has laid bare our lust. -- That the foolish should come to nought, and should
not be encouraged, -- Truth has withheld the crown.16. On the tottering walls,
whereon Thou hast given me victory, -- the unthankful repay Thee, with sacrifice
and libation, which provoke Thee openly.17. If it were at that time, sacrifices
had been offered; -- there had been room even, for delusion to suppose, -- that
in these I was delivered.18. Through the multitude of deliverances, Thou hast
rebuked two things: -- the delusion of graven images, and the teaching of
magicians; -- for in Thee, O my Lord, have I been delivered!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 24: HYMN X. MY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN SLAIN
========================================================================

1. My children have been slain; and my daughters that are without me, -- their
walls are overthrown, their children scattered, -- and their holy places trodden
down. R., Blessed is Thy chastisement! 2. The fowlers have taken, my doves out
of my strongholds, -- which quitted their nests, and fled to the caves; -- in
the net have they taken them. 3. After the manner of wax, that melts before the
fire, -- thus melted and dissolved, the bodies, of my sons before the heat --
and the drought of my strongholds. 4. And instead of streams, of milk that used
to flow, -- for my sons and my little ones, milk fails the sucklings, and water
the weaned children. 5. The suckling falls, from its mother and gasps, --
because it cannot suck, nor can she give suck: -- they breathe out their spirit
and die. 6. How is it possible, that Thy grace can refrain -- the welling of its
stream, when it is not possible to restrain -- the abundance of its flow? 7. And
why has Thy grace, shut up its mercies, -- and withheld its streams, from the
people that cry, -- for one to moisten their tongue? 8. And there was a pit,
between them and their brethren; -- like the rich man who cried, and there was
none to answer, -- to moisten his tongue. 9. And as into the midst of fire, the
wretched ones were cast; -- and heat in the midst of thirst, the fire was
blowing, -- and kindling upon them. 10. Their carcases were melted, and
dissolved by the heat; -- they that had thirsted gave in turn the earth to
drink, -- of the reek of their bodies. 11. And the fort that with thirst, had
killed, its dwellers, -- it drank in its turn of the flux from the corpses, --
that were melted by thirst. 12. Who has seen a people -- that were burning with
thirst, -- while there surrounded them a wall of water and they could not --
moisten their tongue!13. Surely with the judgment of Sodom, were my beloved
judged, -- and my children smitten, with the torment of Sodom; -- though that
was but for one day.14. The torment of fire, though it be for one hour, O my
Lord, -- in lingering thirst, is a lingering death, and a subtle punishment.15.
After my sorrows, O my Lord, and my bitter sufferings, -- this is the best
comfort, wherewith Thou hast comforted me, -- that Thou hast multiplied my
afflictions.16. The medicine that I hoped, it is sorrow decreed; -- the binding
up that I looked for, it is bitter calamity, -- that it seeks to work for me.17.
And whereas I hoped to escape, from the midst of the storm; -- worse for me is
the storm in it, even in the harbour, -- than that in the sea.18. Whereas I
thought in my folly, that I should anchor and escape -- from the midst of the
Gulf; my sins have cast me back -- again into the midst of it.19. Look, O my
Lord, on my limbs, how the swords are thick in me, -- and have left their mark
on my arms; and the scars of the spears, -- are planted in my sides!20. Tears in
mine eyes, and in my ears ill rumours, -- wailing in my mouth, and mourning in
my heart! -- Add no more, O my Lord, to me!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 25: HYMN XI. THY CHASTENING IS, AS A MOTHER OF OUR INFANCY:--HER REBUKE IS MERCIFUL, IN THAT THOU HAST RESTRAINED,--THE CHILDREN FROM FOLLY, AND THEY HAVE BEEN MADE WISE!
========================================================================

1. Thy chastening is, as a mother of our infancy: -- her rebuke is merciful, in
that Thou hast restrained, -- the children from folly, and they have been made
wise! R., Glory be to thy justice! 2. Let us search out Thy justice; for who is
sufficient -- to measure its help? since by it the wanton -- are oftentimes made
chaste. -- 3. Oftentimes Thy hand, O my Lord, has made the sick whole, -- for it
is the healer in secret of their diseases, -- and the fount of their life. 4.
Exceeding gently, the finger of Thy justice, -- in love and compassion, touches
the wounds -- of him that is to be healed. 5. Exceeding mild and merciful, is
her cutting to him that is wise: -- her sharp remedy, in its mighty love, --
consumes the corrupt part. 6. Exceeding welcome her wrath, to him that is
discerning; -- but her remedies are hated, of the fool who has delight -- in the
trouble of his limbs. 7. Exceeding eager is she, to bind the cut she has made;
-- when she has smitten she pities, that from between these two -- she may breed
healing. 8. Exceeding welcome her wrath, and her anger pleasant, -- and sweet
her bitterness, sweetening bitter things -- that they may be made pleasant. 9. A
cause of negligence is Thy indulgence to the careless; -- a cause of profit, is
Thy rod among the slothful -- so that they become as traffickers. 10. The cause
of our affliction, it is Thy justice; -- the cause of our carelessness, it is
Thy graciousness, -- for our understanding has turned foolish. 11. Pharaoh
hardened himself, because of Thy graciousness; -- for when the plagues were
stayed, his cruelties waxed strong, -- and he lied to his promises. 12. Justice
requited him, because he lied greatly against her, -- even Grace her freeborn
sister; yea she restrained him again -- that he should not again provoke.13.
Rebuke, O my Lord, my guide, for it has been false as Egypt -- my prayers
testify, that I am not as she, -- for Thy door have I not forsaken.14. Let Thy
cross, O my Lord, which stands, in my breaches that are open, -- repair again
the breaches that are hidden; for instead of those without, -- those within have
cleft me asunder!15. A sea has broken through, and cast down, the watch tower
wherein I had triumphed. -- Iniquity has dared to set up, a temple wherein I am
shamed: its drink-offering chokes me.16. My prayers on my walls, my persecutors
have heard: -- the sun and his worshippers, are ashamed of their magicians, --
for I have triumphed by Thy cross.17. All creatures cried out, when they saw the
struggle, -- while Truth with falsehood, on my battered walls, fought and was
crowned conqueror.18. The force of Truth, chastised falsehood: -- in its
chastisement it felt Truth, and through its own sins, it earned her victory.19.
I have great alarm; for since my deliverance, -- the honourable and mighty, who
were devoted to my altar, have built in me high places.20. My seven senses, O my
Lord, even though they had been as fountains of tears, yet my tears were too
little -- to lament our ruin.21. The streets that were in sackcloth, and ashes
cried out, -- disturbed by the play, akin to that which was, -- in the
wilderness before the calf.22. Poison seeks and wears, the beauty of lilies; --
and though their buds may conceal, and hidden disguise it, -- it blossoms in
their bitter flowers.


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  CHAPTER 26: HYMN XII. I WILL CALL IN MY AFFLICTION, ON THE POWER THAT SUBDUES ALL
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1. I will call in my affliction, on the Power that subdues all; -- that is able
to subdue, the Captor in his wrath, -- as it overcame Legion. R., Glory to His
grace! 2. The Evil One has repaid me my brethren, debts that he borrowed not of
me: -- the good God likewise has repaid me, mercies that I lent Him not. -- Come
and marvel ye at these two things! 3. The good God has divided and given, my
misdeeds to His grace, -- my offences to His justice; His mercy has blotted out
my misdeeds -- His judgment has requited my offences. 4. Sin was exceeding
wroth, and abode in alarm, -- when she saw how grace, put restraint on freedom,
that she might overcome transgressions. 5. Glow Thou, O my Lord, and send down
Thy love, break out and pour forth Thy wrath! -- Thy wrath to destroy, Thy love
to rescue -- the captives from the captor! 6. The days wherein the Evil One,
decreed to cast me forth, -- as with a sling into perdition, in them the good
God has bound up and kept -- my soul in the bundle of life. 7. The men of speech
who keep not silence, from praising continually, -- who have kept me in the
midst of waves, and supported me that I fell not, let them give praise in my
stead, O my Lord! 8. For who has at any time sufficed, in presence of the grace,
-- of the mercies which surrounded him, that I should suffice to praise -- the
mercies that encompass me?


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  CHAPTER 27: HYMN XIII. CONCERNING MAR JACOB AND HIS COMPANIONS
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Concerning Mar Jacob and his Companions. 1. Three illustrious priests, after the
manner of the two great lights, -- have carried on and handed down one to
another, the See and the Hand and the Flock. -- To us whose mounting was great
for the two, this last is wholly a consolation. R., Glory to Thee Who didst
choose them! 2. He Who created two great lights, chose for Himself these three
Lights, -- and set them in the three dark seasons of siege that have been. --
When that pair of Lights was quenched, the other shone wholly forth. 3. These
three priests were treasures, who held in their faithfulness, -- the key of the
Trinity; three doors they opened for us; -- each one of them with his key,
unlocked and opened his door. 4. In the first was opened the door, for the
chastisement that befel us; -- in the next was opened the door, for the King's
power that came down on us, -- in the last was opened the door, for the good
tidings that came up for us. 5. In the first was opened the door, for battle
between two hosts; -- in the next were opened doors, for the kings from either
wind; -- in the last was opened the door, for ambassadors from either side. 6.
In the first was opened the door, for battle because of misdeeds; -- in the next
was opened the door, -- for the kings because of strife; -- in the last was
opened the door, for ambassadors because of mercies. 7. Lo! in these three
successions, as in a mystery and a figure, -- wrath is likened to the sun; it
began under the first; -- it waxed strong under the next; it sank and was
quenched under the last. 8. Three figures the Sun also, shows forth in the three
quarters: -- its rising is keen and bright; its meridian strong and
overpowering; -- and like a torch that is burnt out, its setting is mild and
pleasant. 9. Small yet bright is its rising, when it comes to waken sleepers; --
hot and overpowering its meridian, when it comes to ripen the fruits; -- tender
and pleasant its setting, when it reaches its consummation. 10. Who is this
daughter born of vows, enviable above all women, -- whose successions thus
proceed, and her ranks are thus manifold, -- and her degrees thus ascend, and
her teachers thus excel. 11. Do these similitudes belong, only to the daughter
of Abraham, -- or to thee too, O daughter, born of vows, whose adorning is
according as thy beauty? -- for as thine occasion, so was thy help, and as thy
help so was its minister.12. According to the measure of her need, there came to
her the supply of her need. -- Her fathers were as was her birth; her teachers
were as was her understanding; -- her training as was her growth; her raiment as
was her stature.13. Grace weighed out to her and gave all these things as in the
scales; -- she laid them in her balance, that therefrom there might be profit;
-- she drew them into succession, that therefrom might be perfection.14. In the
days of him that was first, peace abounded and peace vanished; -- in the days of
him that was next, kings came down and kings went back; -- but in the days of
the last, hosts assailed and hosts retreated. -- 15. By the first order came in,
it came in with him and went out with him; -- by the next the diadem that
gladdened our churches, came nigh and withdrew far away; -- but by the last
there dawned on us, grace that was not thankfully received.16. Against the wrath
that was first, the labour of the first contended; -- against the heat that was
at noon, the shade of the second stood up; -- against peace that was thankless,
the last multiplied warnings.17. For the first invader of the land was the first
and illustrious priest; -- for the second invader of the land, was the second
and merciful priest: -- but the prayers of him that was last, repaired our
breaches secretly.18. Nisibis is set [352] upon waters, waters secret and open:
-- living streams are within her; a noble river without her. The river without
deceived her; the fountain within has saved her.19. The first priest was her
vinedresser; he made her branches to grow even unto heaven. -- Lo! being dead
and buried within her, he has become fruit in the midst of her bosom: -- when
therefore the pruners came, the fruit that was in her midst preserved her.20.
The time of her pruning came; it entered and took from her her vinedresser, --
that there should not be one to pray for her. She made haste in her subtlety; --
He laid in her bosom her vinedresser, that she should be delivered through her
vinedresser.21. Be ye wise like Nisibis, O ye daughters of Nisibis, -- for that
she laid the body within her, and it became a wall without her. -- Place ye
within you the living body, that it be a wall for your lives!


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  CHAPTER 28: HYMN XIV. UNDER THE THREE PASTORS,--THERE WERE MANIFOLD SHEPHERDS
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1. Under the three pastors, -- there were manifold shepherds; -- the one mother
that was in the city, -- had daughters in all regions. -- Since Wrath has
destroyed her dwellings, -- Peace shall build up her churches. R. Blessed be He
who chose out those three! 2. The kindly labour of the first, -- bound up the
land in her affliction: -- the bread and wine of the next, -- healed the city
when site was broken: -- the sweet speech of the last, -- sweetened our
bitterness in affliction. 3. The first tilled the land with his labour, -- he
rooted out of her the briars and thorns: -- the next fenced her round about, --
he made a hedge for her of them that were saved: -- the last opened the garner
of his Lord, -- and sowed in her the words of her Lord. 4. The first priest by
means of a fast, -- closed up the doors of men's mouths: -- the second priest
for the captives, -- opened the mouths of the purse: -- but the last pierced
through the ears, -- and fastened in them the ornament of life. 5. Aaron
stripped off from the ears, -- the earrings and made a calf. -- That lifeless
calf in secret, -- pierced and slaughtered the camp: -- those who had fashioned
his horns, -- he ripped them up with his horns. 6. But our priest who was the
third, -- pierced through the ears of the heart: -- and fastened there the
earrings he had fashioned, -- of the nails that were fixed in the cross, --
whereon his Lord was crucified, -- and gave life to His fellow-men. 7. A son
unto death the fire brought forth; -- Death feeds upon all bodies: -- the son of
Death who surpassed Death, -- upon the souls of men he fed. -- The calf forsook
his provender, -- for men's minds were the food for him. 8. To the first Tree
that which killed, -- to it grace brought forth a son. -- O Cross offspring of
the Tree, -- that didst fight against thy sire! -- The Tree was the fount of
death; -- the Cross was the fount of life. 9. The son that was born to Death, --
all mouths were opened to curse him. -- He devoured bodies and souls, -- and
multiplied the disgrace of his father. -- But the Cross caused to pass away the
rebuke, -- of its father that first Tree. 10. The two sons were even as were --
the two mothers that bare them. -- The calf which the fire brought forth, -- the
fire consumed in the midst of the people: -- the Cross the offspring of grace,
-- divided good gifts to all creation. 11. O my tongue hold thy peace and be
silent of the histories of the Cross that press to be told! -- for my mind of a
sudden has conceived, -- and lo! pangs of travail smite it: -- it has conceived
these among the last, -- and they strive to become the firstborn. 12. The babes
struggled in the womb; -- the elder made haste to come forth: -- the younger
desiring the birthright, -- laid his hand upon his heel; -- that which he
obtained not by birth, -- he obtained by the mess of pottage.13. After the like
sort these later histories, -- lo! they make light of the former ones, -- that
themselves may come forth and take the birthright. -- Let us bring forth the
history of our fathers, -- for lo! the histories of the Cross -- are the
firstborn of all creatures.14. For if that which has no beginning -- is the
first of all created things, -- its histories also are the firstborn, -- for
they are elder than all creatures. -- Let the histories of Thee, O my Lord,
yield place, -- that we may tell of Thy ministers!15. The first in degree of
doctrine, -- His eloquence was like as was his degree; -- the next who was
second in degree, -- his interpretation mounted to the height of his degree; --
the last who was third in degree, -- his eloquence was great as he was.16. The
first in his simple words, -- gave milk unto his infants; -- the next in his
plain sayings, -- gave victual to his children; -- the third in his perfect
sayings, -- gave meat to his that were of perfect age.17. She too the daughter
of instruction, -- mounted from degree to degree, -- along with her teachers and
fathers. -- A young child she was with the first; a simple maid was she with the
next; -- she came to perfect age in the third.18. The first dealing with her as
a child, -- loved her and taught her to fear; -- the next as with a damsel,
rebuked her and make her glad; -- the third as with one fully instructed, -- was
to her a solace of pleasantness.19. Even the Most High with the daughter of
Jacob, -- gave blandishment and the rod to her childhood; -- and in her
frowardness and full age, -- gave part in the sword and the Law; -- and
according to her discipline and instruction, -- He came to her in mildness and
pleasantness.20. The first that begat the flock, -- his bosom bare her infancy;
-- the next of glad-some countenance, -- cheered with song and made glad her
childhood; -- the last grave of countenance, -- lo! he guards her chastity in
her youth.21. The first priest who begat her, -- gave milk to her infancy; --
the next priest interpreted, -- and gave victual to her childhood; -- the third
priest nourished her, and gave meat to her perfect age.22. The wealthy father
who was first, -- laid up treasures for her childhood; -- the next for her
maturity -- multiplied provision for her journey; -- the third the goodly olive
tree, -- multiplied oil in her vessels.23. When she comes before Him who is
rich, -- she will show the treasure of the first; -- when she comes before the
Saviour, she will show the saved ones of the next; -- when she goes forth to
meet the Bridegroom, -- she will show the oil of her lamps.24. Before Him who
rewards the weary toilworn, -- she will offer the labour of the first; -- before
Him who loves cheerful givers, -- she will show the almsgiving of the next; --
before Him who judges doctrines, -- she will offer the discourse of the last.25.
And I the sinner who have striven to be -- the disciple of these three, -- when
they shall see Him of the Third Day, -- that he has closed the door of His
chamber, -- may these three pray Him for me, that He keep the door open a little
while for me!26. May the sinner press into and enter -- rejoicing and fearing to
behold! -- May the three masters call in -- the one disciple in their grace! --
May he gather up under the table -- the crumbs that are full of life!


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  CHAPTER 29: HYMN XV. IF THE HEAD HAD NOT BEEN RIGHT,--HAPLY THE MEMBERS HAD MURMURED:--FOR WHEN BECAUSE OF A PERVERSE HEAD--THE COURSE OF THE MEMBERS IS PUT ASTRAY,--THEY ARE WONT TO LAY THE BLAME ON THE HEAD
========================================================================

1. If the head had not been right, -- haply the members had murmured: -- for
when because of a perverse head -- the course of the members is put astray, --
they are wont to lay the blame on the head. R. Blessed be He who chose thee the
pride of our people! 2. If now on one that is all goodly, -- on it we lay our
hatred; -- how much more if we were hateful! -- Yea even God though He is kind,
-- bitter men complain against Him. 3. Be like the head O ye members! -- Get
repose in his purity -- and pleasantness in his tranquillity; -- in his sanctity
renown, -- and in his wisdom learning! 4. Get discernment in his mildness, --
and chastity in his gravity, -- and bounty in his poverty! -- As he is fully and
altogether fair, -- let us be altogether fair with him! 5. See ye how meted and
weighed -- are his words and his actions! -- Take heed how even his steps --
keep the measure of peace! -- With all his might he holds the bridle of all
himself. 6. He was master over his youth; -- he bound it in the yoke of
chastity: -- his members were not enticed by lust; -- for they were kept under
the rod: -- his will he had in subjection. 7. For he was ready beforehand for
his degree, -- as he was ready beforehand in his conversation, -- as he laid his
foundations securely. -- He became Head in his youth, -- when they made him
preacher to the people. 8. Excellent was he among preachers, -- learned was he
among scholars, -- and understanding was he among the wise: -- chaste was he
among his brethren, -- and grave among his familiar friends. 9. In two abodes
was he -- a solitary recluse from his early days; -- for he was holy within his
body, -- and solitary within his dwelling; -- openly and secretly was he chaste.
10. But although we my brethren -- have put astray those measures, -- and we
have lost that savour, -- and have become teachers to ourselves, -- unto the
perfection that called us. 11. Yet that measure of Truth -- preserves itself in
its vessel: -- Truth chose it because she saw it chose her; -- she has preserved
in it her fragrance and savour, -- from the beginning to the end. 12. The Head
both chaste and grave, -- that was not wrathful nor hard, -- nor transgressed
even as we did, -- set and kept his own measures, -- and cast a bridle on his
thoughts.13. He gave example in his person, -- that as he kept the measure of
his time, -- so was it meet that we should know our time. -- We have become
strangers to our time, -- for we have been witless in the time of
discernment.14. In the beginning the blast of the wind -- in its might chastens
the fruit; -- then in the meantime the might of the sun: -- but when its
mightiness is passed, -- its end gathers his sweetness.15. But we -- they that
were first chastened us; -- and also they that came next rebuked us; -- and they
that were last added sweetness to us: -- then when the time of tasting us
arrives, -- great was our savourlessness.16. For we came to maturity, -- that we
might wean the children from wantonness, -- and lead them to gravity: -- but our
old age stood in need -- that we should be rebuked as youths.17. Accordingly he
in kindness endured, nor did he make use of force, -- that he might increase
honour to our old age: -- and even if it knew not its degree, -- let him be
magnified who knew its time!18. And if one say that for the multitude, -- force
and the rod should govern it; -- even as for the thief fear, -- and for the
spoiler threatening, -- and for fools open shaming.19. Yet if with the head as
first, -- the members had hasted to move as second, -- they would have drawn
that which was third, -- and the whole body from the end -- would have followed
after them.20. They that were second despised those that were first, -- and that
were third those that were second: -- the degrees were set at naught one by
another. -- While these within despised one another, -- they were trodden down
likewise by those without.


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  CHAPTER 30: HYMN XVI. HEREIN IS A MIRROR TO BE BLAMED,--IF ITS CLEARNESS IS DARKENED--BECAUSE THERE ARE SPOTS ON ITS SUBSTANCE
========================================================================

1. Herein is a mirror to be blamed, -- if its clearness is darkened -- because
there are spots on its substance; -- for the foulness that is on it becomes -- a
covering before them that look on it. R. Blessed be He Who polished our mirror!
2. For that comeliness is not adorned in it, -- and blemishes are not brought to
view in it, -- it is altogether a damage to comely things; -- seeing that their
comeliness gain not -- adornments as their profit. 3. Blemishes are not rooted
out by it, -- likewise adornments are not multiplied by it. -- A blemish that
remains is as a loss; -- that there is no adornment is a defect: -- loss is met
together with defect. 4. If our mirror be darkness, -- it is altogether joy to
the hateful; -- because their blemishes are not reproved: -- but if polished and
shining, -- it is our freedom that is adorned. 5. Twofold is the loss in defect,
-- for the hateful and for the goodly; -- in that the goodly gain no crown, --
and likewise the hateful get no adorning: -- the mirror divides the loss. 6.
Never does the mirror drive -- by compulsion him that looks therein: -- so
likewise grace which followed -- upon the righteousness of the Law, -- does not
possess the compulsion of the Law. 7. Righteousness was unto childhood, -- its
adorner of compulsion; -- for when mankind was in childhood, -- she adorned it
by compulsion, -- while she robbed it not of its freedom. 8. Righteousness used
blandishment, -- and the rod to deal with childhood; -- when she smote it she
roused it; her rod restrained frowardness, her blandishment softened the minds.
* * * * * * * * * * * 9. [If one turn from the Gospel,] wherewith we are adorned
to-day, my brethren, -- to another gospel he is a child: -- in a time of
greatness of understanding, -- he is become without understanding. 10. For in
the degree of full age, -- he has gone down to childhood; -- and he loves the
law of bondmen, -- which when he is confident smites him, -- and when he
rejoices buffets him. 11. Whatsoever ornament is compulsion, -- is not true but
is borrowed. -- This is a great thing in God's eyes, -- that a man should be
adorned by himself: -- therefore took He away compulsion.12. For even as of His
prudence -- in its own time He employed compulsion, -- so likewise of His
prudence, -- He took it away at a time -- when gentleness was desired in its
stead.13. For as it is befitting to Youth, -- that it should be made to haste
under the rod; -- so is it very hateful that under the rod -- Wisdom should be
brought to serve, -- that compulsion should be lord over her.14. Behold
therefore how likewise -- God has ordered my successions -- in the pastors I
have had, -- and in the teachers He has given me, -- and in the fathers He has
reckoned unto me!15. For weighed out according to their times -- were the helps
of their qualities; -- namely in him in whom it was needful, fear; and in whom
it was profitable, heartening; and in whom it was becoming, meekness.16. By
measure He made my steps advance: -- to my childhood He assigned terror;
likewise to my youth, fear; -- to my age of wisdom and prudence, -- He assigned
and gave meekness.17. In the frowardness of the degree of childhood, -- my
instructor was a fear to me: -- his rod restrained me from wantonness, -- and
from mischief the terror of him, -- and from indulgence the fear of him.18.
Another father He gave to my youth: -- what there was in me of childishness, --
that was there in him of hardness; what there was in me of maturity, -- that was
in him as meekness.19. When I rose from the degrees -- of childhood and of
youth, -- there passed away the terror that was first, -- there passed away the
fear that was second; -- He gave me a kind pastor.20. Lo! for my full age his
food; -- and for my wisdom his interpretations; -- and for my peace his
meekness; -- and for my repose his kindness; -- and for my chastity his
gravity!21. Blessed is He who as in a balance -- weighed out and gave me
fathers: -- for according to my times were my helps; -- and according to my
sicknesses my medicines; -- and according to my comelinesses my adornments!22.
We then are they that have disturbed -- the succession and fair order; -- for in
a time of mildness -- lo! we crave for hardness, -- that Thou should rebuke us
as though we were children!


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  CHAPTER 31: HYMN XVII. CONCERNING ABRAHAM, BISHOP OF NISIBIS
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Concerning Abraham, Bishop of Nisibis. 1. Suffer, O Lord, that even my
lowliness, should cast into Thy treasury its farthing, even as the merchant of
our flock, who made increase of his talent of Thy doctrine, and has departed and
entered Thy haven. I will speak of the shepherd, under him who has become head
of the flock; who was disciple of the Three, and has become our fourth master.
R., Blessed be He Who has made him our comfort! 2. In one love will I cause them
to shine, and as a crown will I weave them, the splendid blossoms, and the
fragrant flowers of the teacher and of his disciple, who remained after him as
Elisha; for the horn of his election and he was consecrated and became head, and
he was exalted and became master. R., Blessed be He Who made him chief! 3. And
they in heaven rejoiced for the flock, that by the pastor whom they fed, they
feed it; the abode of the shepherds under him rejoiced, because they saw the
succession of their degrees. He took and set him as a mind in the midst of the
great body of the church, and his members came round him to buy of him life,
doctrine, new bread. R., Blessed be He Who made him their treasury! 4. He chose
him from the multitude of shepherds, because he had given trial of his
stedfastness; the time tested him in the midst of the flock, and length of days
proved him as a crucible; for that he gave proof in his person, He made him a
wall for many. Let thy fasting be armour to our country, thy prayer a shield to
our city, let thy censer purchase reconcilement. R., Blessed be He Who has
hallowed thy sacrifices! 5. The Pastor who has been parted from his flock, fed
them on spiritual pastures, and by his exalted staff, he defended them from
secret wolves. Fill thou up the room of thy master, which thirsts for the sound
of his melody; set up thyself as a pillar, in the city of the trembling people;
support her with thy prayers. R., Blessed be He Who has made thee our pillar! 6.
He has committed the Hand to his disciple, the Throne to one that is worthy of
it, the Key to one that is proved faithful, the Flock to one that has excelled.
To thy hand belongs the laying-on, to thy offering propitiation, and to thy
tongue consolation. May peace adorn thy Dominion; be the watchmen within and the
congregations without. R., Blessed be He Who has chosen thee for rejoicings! 7.
May thy doctrine abound, in deeds more than words! In saying few words, till
Thou our land with labour, that by much tillage the scanty seed may become rich,
the increase of the old seed, may come among us thirtyfold, and thy new seed
sixtyfold. R., Blessed be He Who multiplies an hundredfold! 8. The wrath that
was against thee ceases, because peace flows over thee altogether; the jealousy
against thee is quenched, for thy love hourly flames forth: thou hast broken the
string of envy, that it should smite none in secret; slander that confounds, to
it thy ear turns not, for open truth is pleasing to thee. R., Blessed be He Who
adorned thy members! 9. Thou shalt give counsel in the midst of thy people, like
Jethro among the Hebrews; thou shalt altogether go with him, who for thy profit
counsels thee, thou shalt altogether flee from him, who otherwise counsels thee:
Rehoboam shall be a sign to thee; thou shalt choose counsels of profit, thou
shalt refuse counsels of envy. R., Blessed be He Who has counselled comfort! 10.
The gift that has been given thee, from on high it flew and came down: thou
shalt call it by a name of man, thou shalt not bear it in another power, lest
haply to its place there should come, Satan in his guile, supposing, that the
sons of men have given it to thee, so that this freeborn gift should serve in
bondage to man. R., Blessed be He Who has handed down his gift! 11. Thy master
is painted in thy person; lo! his likeness is on thee altogether; parted from us
one with us is he. In thee we shall see those three, the excellent ones who are
parted from us. Thou shalt be unto us a wall as Jacob, and full of tenderness as
Babu, and a treasury of speech as Valgesh. R., Blessed be He Who in one has
painted them!12. I, too, the offscouring of the flock, have not withholden aught
that was meet: I have painted the similitude of these two, in the colours of
these two; that the sheep may see their adornment, and the flock their beauties.
And I who have become a lamb endowed with speech, unto Thee, O God of Abraham,
in the posture of Abram will give Thee praise. R., Blessed be He Who has made me
His harp!


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  CHAPTER 32: HYMN XVIII. O THOU WHO ART MADE PRIEST AFTER THY MASTER, THE ILLUSTRIOUS AFTER THE EXCELLENT, THE CHASTE AFTER THE GRAVE, THE WATCHFUL AFTER THE ABSTINENT, THY MASTER FROM THEE HAS NOT DEPARTED
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1. O thou who art made priest after thy master, the illustrious after the
excellent, the chaste after the grave, the watchful after the abstinent, thy
master from thee has not departed; in the living we see the deceased: for lo! in
thee is his likeness painted; and impressed upon thee are his footprints, and
all of him shines from all of thee. R., Blessed be He Who in His stead has given
us thee! 2. The fruit wherein its tree is painted, bears witness concerning the
root. Hitherto there has not failed us, the savour of his sweetness. His words
thou showest forth in bodily act, for thou hast fulfilled them in deed. In thy
conversation is painted his doctrine, in thy conduct his exposition, in thy
fulfilment his interpretation. R., Blessed be He Who has made thy lustre to
excel! 3. The last pastor who was exalted, and became head unto the members, the
younger who obtained the birthright, not for price like Jacob, not in jealousy
like Aaron, whose brethren the Levites envied him, but by love obtained he it
like Moses, though he was older than Aaron. In thee thy brethren rejoiced as in
him. R., Blessed be He Who chose thee in unanimity! 4. There is no envy or
jealousy, among the members of the body; for in love they give ear unto him,
with tenderness they are visited by him. A watch tower is the head unto the
members, for on every side he looks forth. Exalted is he yet meek in his
graciousness, even to the feet he humbleth himself, that he may turn away harm
from them. R., Blessed be He Who instilled thy love into us! 5. A small thing
verily had this been, if by an old man apostasy were overcome. Old age in its
prudence submitted; youth in its season conquered; for a youthful combatant
endured, the hateful conflict waged, by force that was full of apostacy, which
like smoke waxed and passed: with its beginning was its end. R., Blessed be He
Who blew upon it that it vanished! 6. The voice of the cornet on a sudden amazed
and called Thee to battle. Thou wentest up like a new David, by Thee was subdued
a second Goliath. Thou wast not untried in combat, for a secret warfare day by
day, Thou art waging against the Evil One. Exercise in secret is wont to attain
the crown openly. R., Blessed be He Who chose Thee for our glory! 7. In face of
trial Job trained his body and his mind, and in temptation he was victorious.
And Joseph conquered in the chamber; Ananias and his company in the furnace, and
in the midst of the den Daniel. Satan did foolishly, when in tempting, he
confirmed their victory openly. R., Blessed be He Who has multiplied shame on
him! 8. And the husbandman who apostatized and was urgent, to sow thorns with
his left hand; zealous against him was the righteous husbandman, stopped and cut
off his left hand. He filled His own right hand and sowed in the heart the words
of life; and lo! our understanding is tilled, by His prophets and His apostles.
By Thee may our souls be tilled! R., Blessed be He Who chose Thee for our
husbandman! 9. And if so be Thy words are too little, till Thou our land with
deeds, that amid much tillage, stock and root may be strengthened. Better is a
goodly deed, than the hearing of ten thousand words. Thy seed shall yield an
hundredfold, and the after crop sixtyfold, yea that which grows of itself
thirtyfold. R., Blessed be He Who multiplied Thy increase! 10. That light should
be darkened it is not meet, that salt should lose its savour it is not right;
defilement for the head is not seemly, nor yet foulness for the mirror. Nor if
medicines have lost their savour sicknesses also are not cured; and if so be the
torch is quenched, the stumbling also are many. Thy light shall chase away our
darkness. R., Blessed be He Who hath made Thee our lamp! 11. Appoint for thee
scribes and judges, exactors also and dispensers, overseers also and officers:
to each assign his work, lest haply by care should be rusted, or by anxiety
should be distracted, the mind and the tongue, wherewith thou offerest
supplication, for the expiation of all the people. R., Blessed be He Who makes
illustrious Thy ministry! 12. That he should purge his mind, and cleanse also
his tongue; that he should purify his hands, and make his whole body to shine;
this is too little for the priest and his title, who offers the Living Body. Let
him cleanse all himself at all hours; for he stands as mediator, between God and
mankind. R., Blessed be He Who has cleansed His ministers!


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  CHAPTER 33: HYMN XIX. THOU WHO ANSWEREST TO THE NAME OF ABRAHAM, IN THAT THOU ART MADE FATHER OF MANY
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1. Thou who answerest to the name of Abraham, in that Thou art made father of
many; but because to Thee none is spouse, as Sarah was to Abraham, -- lo! Thy
flock is Thy spouse; bring up her sons in Thy truth; spiritual children may they
be to Thee, and the sons be sons of promise, that they may become heirs in Eden.
R., Blessed be He Who foreshowed Thee in Abraham! 2. Fair fruit of chastity, in
whom the priesthood was well pleased, youngest among Thy brethren as was the son
of Jesse; the horn overflowed and anointed Thee, the hand alighted and chose
Thee, the Church desired and loved Thee; the pure altar is for Thy ministry, the
great throne for Thy honour, and all as one for Thy crown. R., Blessed be He Who
multiplied Thy crowning! 3. Lo! thy flock, O blessed one, arise and visit it, O
diligent one! Jacob ranged the flocks in order; range Thou the sheep that have
speech, and enlighten the virgin-youths in purity, and the virgin-maids in
chastity; raise up priests in honour, rulers in meekness, and a people in
righteousness. R. Blessed be He Who filled Thee with understanding! 4. Guard
thou the sheep that are whole, and visit them that are sick, and bind up them
that are broken, and seek out them that are lost; feed them in the pastures of
the Scriptures, and give them drink or the spring of doctrine: let the truth be
a wall unto thee, let the cross be a staff unto thee, and truthfulness be peace
unto thee. R., Blessed be He Who multiplied Thy virtues! 5. Let there be with
Thee in Thy flock, the power that was with David; for if he plucked a straying
lamb, from the mouth of the lion, how meet is it for Thee, O exalted one, to be
zealous to snatch from the Evil One the souls that are precious above all, for
by nothing can they be bought, save by the blood of Christ! R., Blessed be He
Who was sold and bought all! 6. Unto Moses Joshua ministered, and for the reward
of his ministry, from him received the right hand. Because to an illustrious old
man thou hast ministered, he too gave thee the right hand. Moses committed unto
Joshua, a flock of which half were wolves; but to thee is delivered a flock,
whereof a fourth yea a third is sanctified. R., Blessed be He who adorned thy
flock! 7. Let the love of Moses abide in thee, for his love was a discerning
love, his zeal a discreet zeal. When Korah and Dathan sundered themselves, he
sundered the earth from beneath them; by sundering he made the sundering to
cease. In Eldad and Medad he made known, that his good will was altogether this
that all the people should prophesy. R., Blessed be He who in His good will was
reconciled! 8. The poor estate of Elijah, Elisha loved above wealth; a poor man
gave to a poor man, a gift that was great above all. Because thou hast loved the
poverty, of thy master who in secret was rich, the fountain of his words shall
flow from thee, that thou mayst become a harp for the Spirit, and mayst sing to
thyself inwardly His good will. R., Blessed be He who made thee His treasure! 9.
There is none that envies thy election, for meek is thy headship; there is none
angered by the rebuke, for thy word sows peace; there is none terrified by thy
voice, for pleasant in thy visitation; there is none that groans against thy
yoke, for it labors instead of our neck, and lightens the burden of our souls.
R., Blessed be He who chose thee for our rest 10. Contend not with the mighty,
despair not of the outcast; soften and teach the rich, exhort and win the poor;
with the harsh join the forbearing, and the long suffering with the wrathful;
catch them that are evil by them that are good, and them that spoil by them that
give, and the defiled by means of the sanctified. R., Blessed be He who made
thee our hunter! 11. Take to thee ten thousand medicaments, and arise and go
forth among the sick; to the diseased offer medicine, and to him that is sound a
preservative; not one medicine only shalt thou offer, for the sickness lest
haply it be not meet: offer many remedies, that the sickness may find healing;
likewise thou shalt learn experience. R., Blessed be He who laboured to heal our
wounds! 12. May the land be according to thy desire; may the vineyard be
according to thy husbandry; may the flock be in the midst of thy dwelling, and
the sheep sound under thy staff! Mayest thou be a great Head, and we the jewels
of thy crown! May we be beautiful in thee and thou be beautiful in us! for they
are goodly each in the other, people and priest when they are at one. R.,
Blessed be He who has sowed among us unity!13. Hearken to the Apostle when he
saith, to that virgin whom he had espoused; I am jealous over you with jealousy,
with a jealousy verily of God, not of the flesh but of the spirit. Be jealous
therewith thou also in pureness, that He may know what she is and whose she is.
In thee may she cherish, and in thee may she love, Jesus the Bridegroom in
truth. R., Blessed is he whose zeal is holy!14. As are her masters, so are her
manners: for with the teacher that lags a laggard is she, and with him that is
noble, excellent is she. The Church is like unto a mirror, for according to the
face that gazes into it, thus does it put on the likeness thereof. For as is the
king so also his host, and as is the priest so also his flock; according as
these are it is stamped on them. R., Blessed be He Who stamped her in His
likeness!15. Without a testament they departed, those three illustrious priests;
who in Testaments used to meditate, those two Testaments of God. Great gain have
they bequeathed to us, even this example of poverty. They who possessed nothing
the blessed ones, made us their possessions; the Church was their treasure. R.,
Blessed is he who possessed in them his possessions!16. The priest Jacob the
noble, with him she was ennobled as he was: because he joined his love to his
jealousy, with fear and love he was clothed. With Babes a lover of bounty, for
money she redeemed the captives. With Valgesh a scribe of the law, her heart she
opened to the Scriptures. With thee then may her profit be manifold! R., Blessed
be He Who has magnified her merchantmen!


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  CHAPTER 34: HYMN XX. O VIRGIN-YOUTH THAT ART BECOME BRIDEGROOM, MOVE TO A LITTLE JEALOUSY THY MIND, TOWARDS HER WHO IS THE WIFE OF THY YOUTH: CUT OFF THE ATTACHMENTS WHICH SHE HAD, IN HER GIRLHOOD WITH MANY OTHERS
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1. O virgin-youth that art become bridegroom, move to a little jealousy thy
mind, towards her who is the wife of thy youth: cut off the attachments which
she had, in her girlhood with many others; rebuke her and call together her
affections, that she may know what she is and whose she is. In thee may she
desire yea love, Christ the Bridegroom of truth. R., Blessed be He Who betrothes
her to His Only Begotten! 2. Be jealous O husbandman against the tares, which
have sprung up and entangled themselves among the wheat. Easy is it to root up
the thicket, rather than the despised: if a slight breeze bears it, it attacks
the sowing and conquers it. That which three husbandmen have sown, may it return
in threefold measure! thirty-fold and sixty and an hundred! R., Blessed be He
Who makes rich thine increase! 3. A new shepherd for him it is right, that he
should oversee the flock in new wise, and should know what is the number of it,
and should see what are its needs. A flock it is that was purchased with the
blood, of that chief of the shepherds. Call thou and cause to pass each sheep by
its name, for it is a flock whereof the name is written, and its reckoning in
the Book of life. R., Blessed be He Who will require the number thereof! 4. Lo
the spouse of thy Lord is with thee! keep her from all harm, and from men that
deal corruptly, and call the congregations by their own names. The name of her
spouse is set on her; let her not go a whoring for another name, for she was not
baptized in the name of man; with Names wherein she was baptized let her make
confession, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. R., Blessed be He by
Whose Name she is called! 5. The Apostle her betrother was jealous over her,
that she should not be corrupted by names, yet not by names that were false, but
not even by names that were true; not by Cephas yea not by his name. They who
were true betrothers, set the Name of her betrothed upon her; the false
betrothers like whoremongers, set their own names on the flock. R., Glory be to
Thy Name, our Creator! 6. The stamp on living creatures, O my brethren, no man
destroys openly; and a name that is signed to a letter, no man adds to or
alters: whoso effaces the stamp is a thief; and whoso alters the name is a
falsifier. The name of Christ has been altered; names of falsehood lo! have been
set, upon the congregations that have been corrupted. R., Blessed be He Who has
called His flock by His Name! 7. Look at the Prophets and Apostles, how like
they are each to the other! By the Prophets the Name of God, was set on the
flock of God; and by the Apostles the Name of Christ, was set on the Church of
Christ. The false betrothers also are like one another for by their names are
called, the congregations who commit whoredom with them. R., Blessed be He in
Whose Name we were sanctified!


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  CHAPTER 35: HYMN XXI. JOHN WHO WAS A TORCH, LAID BARE AND REBUKED THE WANTON ONES: THEY MADE HASTE AND QUENCHED THE TORCH, THAT THEY MIGHT LET LOOSE THE DESIRE OF THEIR LUST
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1. John who was a torch, laid bare and rebuked the wanton ones: they made haste
and quenched the torch, that they might let loose the desire of their lust. Be
thou a lamp in brightness, and make the works of darkness cease, that whensoever
thy doctrine shines, no man may dare at its rising, to give ear to the lusts of
darkness. R., Blessed be He Who made thee our lamp! 2. A great blessing was
hidden in it, even in the reproof of Elijah. Elisha ministered unto him and
sought, a twofold reward of his ministration. Twofold glory it gave to him, for
in double measure was he clad with his virtues. Thou who hast loved the reproof
of Valgesh thy master rich in gifts, mayest thou inherit the treasure of his
wisdom! R., Blessed be He Who makes thy Doctrine rich! 3. May greediness be
overcome by thy fasting even as by the fasting of Daniel! May lust be confounded
before thy body, like as it was confounded before Joseph! May lust of money be
overcome by thee! like as it was overcome before Simeon, Mayest thou bind on
earth even as he, and loose on high after his likeness; for thy faith is even as
his! R., Blessed is He Who committed to thee His ministry! 4. Thy chastity be as
Elisha's, and thy celibacy Elijah's, the covenant with thine eyes as Job's, thy
tender mercies as David's; without envy as Jonathan, thy firmness as Jeremiah's,
thy gentleness the Apostles'! Thine be the ancient things of the prophets, thine
the new things of the Apostles. R., Blessed be He Who filled thee with their
treasures! 5. Be a crown to the priesthood, and in thee be the ministry made to
shine! Be a brother to the elders, likewise an overseer to the deacons; be a
master to youth, a staff and a hand to old age; be a wall to the consecrated
virgins. In thy conversation may the covenant prevail, and the Church in thy
comeliness be adorned. R., Blessed be He Who chose thee to be priest! 6. In thy
poverty be brought to nought, the hateful custom of the house of Gehazi; in thy
sanctity be abolished, the abominable custom of the house of Eli; in thy unity
be done away, the treacherous greeting of the lips of Iscariot the deceiver!
Pour forth all our thought, and form it anew from the beginning! R., Blessed be
He Who in thy crucible refines us! 7. In thy conversation let Mammon be put to
shame, who has been lord over our freedom! Let the disease be done away from us,
which is customary with us and pleasant to us; abolish the causes that have
maintained, customs that are full of harm! Evil things have possessed us through
custom: let good things possess us through custom! Be thou, O Lord, the cause of
help to us. R., Blessed be He Who chose Thee in order to our life! 8. Let evil
customs be cut off: let not the Church possess wealth; that she be sufficed let
her possess souls, and if thus she be sufficed let it be in marvellous measure!
And let not her deceased be buried in the cutting off of hope heathenishly, with
vestments and wailing and lamentation; for the living is clothed in raiment, but
the deceased his all is a coffin. R., Blessed be He Who to our dust turns us
again! 9. A cause of evil is the lust, also the greediness of the house of Eli,
and the thievishness of the house of Gehazi, and the reviling of Nabal. These
hateful well-springs close thou up, lest there be a great outpouring, and there
come from it defilement, and even thou be reached by its overflow. The Lord
restrain their outpourings! R., Blessed be He Who dried up their over-flowings!
10. For the old man commit speech to him; for the young enjoin silence on him;
for the stranger who comes in unto thee, learns of thee from thy discipline,
namely who speaks first, and who second and third: and if every man keeps his
mouth, and every man knows his degree, they will call thee happy. R., Our Lord
perform thy desire! 11. Let the voice of thy truth be single and thy assumed
voices without number; the image of truthfulness on thy heart, and on thy face
all aspects, sadness, gladness, and feebleness. To him that errs show that thou
art wrathful, to him that is chaste show that thou art glad. Be single towards
the Godhead, and to mankind be manifold. R., Blessed be He Who with all men is
all things! 12. If thou hearest an evil report, from truthful men that deceive
not, pour forth tears that thou mayst quench the fire that burns in others; let
them that are wise pray with thee, and appoint thou a fast for them that have
knowledge, and let thy dwelling be in mourning, for him who is lost in sin, that
he may turn back in repentance. R., Blessed be He Who found the sheep that was
lost!13. To every man give not thy ear, lest liars overwhelm thee; to every man
lend not thy foot, lest vile ones misguide thee; to every man give not thy soul,
lest the insolent trample thee. Keep thy hand from the false man, lest he gather
thorns into thy hand. Be far off and near at hand. R., Blessed be He Who is near
though far!14. Lo the fame of the new king, resounds and comes into the world!
To the spoiled he is a comfort, and to the spoilers a terror. On the covetous
vomiting has come, that they may render up all that they have swallowed. Let
them be put to fear from before thee also, that between a priest and a righteous
king, the former customs may be done away. R., Blessed be He Who was angry, and
turns and has mercy!15. There is that finds opportunity and ventures, and there
is that forces and compels his will. One thinks that judgment is reserved, and
another that it is not to be at all. There is that steals and quenches his
thirst, and there is that steals and thirsts to steal. The rich steal and the
poor; but the hungry steal by measure, and the full steal without measure. R.,
Blessed be He Who has searched out all wills!16. But now has He given
opportunity, and every man has shown his will, of what kind it is and to what it
is like, and what he has chosen for himself rather than what. He has removed
temptation from every man, lest even he who is not hateful should deny him. He
has given us opportunity that we may understand, that better think this power is
chastisement which profits much. R., Blessed is He Who for our profit rebukes
us!17. For He wills not by compulsion, to cast his yoke on our neck; He gave us
opportunity and we waxed proud, that so when we rebelled and were punished, we
might love His light yoke, might choose His pleasant staff. Our rest is very
wearisome to us, for in His compulsion is restfulness, and in His yoke is
lightening. R., Blessed be He Whose labour is pleasantness!18. The whole world
like a body, had fallen into a heavy sickness; for in the fever of heathenism,
it burned and pined and fell. The right hand of tender mercy touched it, and
dealt with its soul in pity; and cut off speedily its heathenism, for that was
the cause of its sickness, and it was purged and sweated and restored. R., Glory
be to the Hand that has healed!19. The land shall have peace in thy days, for it
has seen thee that thou art full of peace. In thee shall the churches be built,
and shall be clothed with their ornaments, and their books shall be opened in
them, and their tables shall be spread, and their ministers shall be adorned;
from them shall go up thanksgiving, as first fruits to the Lord of peace. R.,
Blessed is He Who revives our Churches!20. Let thy prayer go up to heaven, with
it let reconciliation go up! May the Lord of Heaven rain down His blessings upon
our [ ], and His consolations upon our afflictions, and His gathering upon our
dispersion: may He waken His jealousy with His love; may His righteousness
avenge our disgrace, may His grace blot out our iniquity! R., Blessed is He Who
blesses His flock!21. The first priest and first king, even as if depicted each
in the other, were balanced as if in scales. So too Valgesh and so too the son
of that king, for they were gentle and calm. May these latter be like each to
other; the priests be shining lights, the king be glowing lights, likewise
illustrious judges! R., Blessed be He Who has enlightened our souls!22. From the
king's office laws, and from the priest's office propitiations. That both should
be mild is hateful; that both should be strong is grievous. Let one be strong
and one be tender; in prudence and in discretion, let fear with mercy be
mingled. Let our priesthood be tender, likewise our king strong. R., Blessed be
He Who has mingled our helps!23. Let the priests pray for the kings, that they
may be a wall to mankind! From beside the kings be victory; and from beside the
priests faith! May victory save our bodies, and faith our souls! May kings put
an end to war; priests put an end to strife! May disputing and quarrelling
cease! R., Blessed be the Son of Him Who gives peace to all! Praise to Thee for
Thy gift!


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  CHAPTER 36: HYMN XXXV. CONCERNING OUR LORD, AND CONCERNING DEATH AND SATAN
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Concerning Our Lord, and Concerning Death and Satan. 1. The Voice made
proclamation: and they gathered and came; the hosts of the Evil One, together
with his ministers. The army of the tares was gathered altogether, for they saw
that Jesus had triumphed, to the grief of all them on the left hand, for there
was none of them but had been tormented. They began one by one to relate all
whatsoever they had endured. Sin and Hell were terrified: Death trembled and the
dead rebelled; and Satan because sinners rebelled against him. R., To Thee be
glory because the Evil One saw Thee and was troubled! 2. Sin cried aloud; she
gave counsel to her sons, to the demons and the devils, and unto them she said,
Legion the head of your ranks is not, the sea has swallowed him and his company;
and likewise ye my sons if ye despise, this Jesus will destroy you. Ye who in a
snare took Solomon, it is therefore a reproach to you, that ye should be
overcome by his disciples, takers of fish and ignorant men; for lo! they have
taken the draught of men, which had been taken by us. 3. This is great, above
all evils (saith the Evil One, concerning our Saviour); for this suffices Him
not that He has spoiled us, but likewise on us He has begun retribution for
Jonah son of Amittai. On Legion therefore He was avenging him when He seized and
cast him into the sea. Jonah emerged, after three days and came up; but Legion
yea not after a long season, for the depth of the sea closed upon him at the
command. 4. I tempted Him, after his past, with pleasant bread, but He desired
it not. To my grief I strove to learn a psalm, that by His psalm I might take
Him as a prey: I paused and learned it a second time, but He made my second
trial to be vain. I brought Him up to a mountain and showed Him all possessions;
I gave them to Him and He was not moved. Better was it for me in the days of
Adam, who gave me no great trouble in teaching him. 5. The Evil One ceased, from
his activity and said, A cause of idleness to me, is this Jesus; for lo! the
publicans and harlots take refuge in Him. What work shall I seek for myself? I
who was master to all men, to whom shall I be a disciple? Sin again said, It
must be, that I forsake, therefore, and change from that which I am; for this
Son of Mary who is come, as a new creation, has created mankind. 6. Gluttonous
Death, lamented and said, I have learned fasting, which I used not to know; lo!
Jesus gathers multitudes, but as to me, in His feast a fast is proclaimed for
me. One man has closed my mouth, mine who have closed the mouths of many. Hell
said I will restrain my greed; hunger, therefore, is mine: this Man triumphs as
at the marriage, when He changed the water into wine, so He changes the vesture
of the dead into life. 7. And moreover, God made a flood, and washed the earth,
and purged her crimes; fire and brimstone again He sent on her, that He might
make white her stains. By fire He gave me the Sodomites, and by flood the
Giants. He closed the mouth of the hosts of Sennacherib, and opened the mouth of
Hell. These things and such as these, I loved. But now, in place of deadly
visitations of justice, He has wrought in His Son, the quickening of the dead by
grace. 8. Prophets and righteous men, said the Evil One, unto his companions,
have been seen by me; and though their strength was exceeding mighty, there was
in them a savour of that which is mine; for the stuff whereof the sons of man
are made, is near akin to our heaven. This man has clothed Himself with the body
of Adam, and is troubling us, for our leaven has no power on Him. He is man,
therefore, and God; for His manhood in His Godhead is intermingled. 9. Adam was
seen by me, that fountain from whence flowed all races of men; his children has
been sought out by me, and proved one by one. Yet have I not seen from the
beginning a man, of whom one part was of God, and the other half, man. Moses,
who shone in his splendour, I tempted again, and in his tongue I made him to
err; but this man, yea, not in His mind, for pure exceedingly is the fountain of
His thoughts. 10. The lust of the body, is in all bodies; for even while they
sleep, it wakes in them. Him, who in his waking hours keeps himself pure, by
means of a dream, I disturb. The dregs of the body are stirred in him, by a
shaking movement in secret inwardly. The sleeping and the waking besides, I
trouble alike. This is He Who alone keeps Himself pure, Whom not even in a dream
can I disturb, Who even in His sleep is pure and holy. 11. But separate was even
His childhood, from that of the children who have been seen by me; for I have
not seen in Him any part of that which is of me. I was afraid of His childhood;
therefore, I stirred up Herod, that among the infants He might be slain. Because
of this also that He escaped, I was greatly afraid, for our mystery how did He
find out! He received the offerings of the Wise Men; He scorned us and departed
and escaped from our sword.12. Children have been seen by me, sons of righteous
men; yea, also youths, sons of chaste women; and I have moved them from the
womb, one by one, and I have seen in them our leaven. For they were wrathful men
and revilers, yea, also furious and gluttonous; fruits were they that by
instruction were to be ripened and sweetened. But this man from His first
planting, was a good fruit that possessed sweetness, wherewith sinners were made
sweet.13. Even while He was an infant, He was a teacher of the sons of men, by
the splendour that was upon Him. Even the priest as he carried Him was amazed at
Him. In the prudence of old men was He clad. Joseph stood aloof from Him: His
mother gloried in His presence. He was a help in His childhood, to every one
that saw Him; He was a profit to them that knew Him from the day when He entered
into the world, He was a helper of mankind by His excellencies.14. From whence
has it sprung up before me, this fruit of Mary, the grape whereof the wine is
not according to nature? For lo! I stand between doubts. To turn away and leave
Him, I am afraid, lest by His teaching, they should be sweetened, they, who have
acquired by bitterness. But again to tread on Him and crush Him, is a terror to
me, lest haply He turn and become new wine unto sinners, and when they are
drunken therewith, lo! they forget their idols.15. Lo! I am afraid of both
things, as well His death, as also His life. Then unto the Evil One His
ministers made answer and counselled Him. Though both these things be grievous,
somewhat lighter to us is the trouble, that we should choose His death rather
than his life. Let Death tell us whether any one from among the righteous, has
ever from the first been aroused again. The sons of the Giants and the renowned
ones, there is none that has issued forth from her, even Hell, the Devourer.16.
The blowing of the wind, a man may feel after; but the Son of Mary, who shall
search him out? for when He wept, by His tears He robbed me; and again when I
bid Him cast Himself, from the holy Temple, I thought, that it was through fear
He cast Himself not: yet when they threw Him from the hill-top, He flew through
the air. On the well again when He was weary He sat. His variableness I
understand not, for on the dry land alike and on the water He walks.17. I have
seen Him that He hungered, as a Son of man; yet this was done away by the bread
which He multiplied. From the beginning I proved Him and I came to Him; He
questioned me as though He knew me not; but this, too, was done away, when He
showed that He knew our secrets. Again He chose Iscariot, as though He knew him
not; then He turned and showed that He knew him, though he was binding and
loosing. I was mistaken in Him, for He was baptized and emerged and overwhelmed
me.18. But one token there is which I have seen in Him that heartens me
exceedingly above all. For while He was praying I saw Him and was glad, because
He changed colour and was afraid: His sweat was as drops of blood, because He
felt that His day was come. This is pleasant to me, exceedingly above all, if it
be not that deceiving He has deceived me therein. But if beguiling He has
beguiled me, this is both for me and for you alike, my ministers.19. Then
shouted the host of devils and said, Hateful is the sign that we see in thee,
for never from the beginning has it thus happened to thee. In prompt counsels
thou wast excellent: the Son of Mary captures our cities, while thou art
prolonging thy discourse. Arise, go forth, let us fight with Him, for this were
to us a reproach, that we being many should be overcome by one. And if thou art
in pain or fear, give us counsel for the battle and stay thou behind.20. This
Jesus out of His own words it is, that I shall teach Him, and war with Him; for
He said that he, even Satan, is divided, himself against himself, and that he
cannot stand. Though He desires to fight with us, He has given us arms which are
against Himself, gage and divide for me His disciples, for if ye divide them,
with these you will conquer them, even with Eve and the serpent, the weak
powers, whereby I conquered the first Adam.21. Death unto the Evil One, made
answer and said to him, Wherefore tarriest thou not according to thy wont? for
lo! it is those that are despised and least, that thou ensnarest after thy
custom: Jesus Who is great above all, wherewith hast thou sought to ensnare Him?
The experience of His weapons moves thee to fear, which He hurled against thee
when he was tempted of thee. Thou and I with thy followers, the host of us is
too little for the battle with Him, the Son of Mary. 22. I counsel, then, if
this our strife permits us to do anything: go thou into that disciple, let
thyself loose, that head may speak with heads; and let loose all thy host, let
it go and stir up the Pharisees. And beware, lest thou speak contentiously as
thou art wont. If thou be a god, descend from hence, with fondness kiss them and
betray Him; and, lo! we will bring on Him the envy and the sword of the Levites.


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  CHAPTER 37: HYMN XXXVI. OUR LORD SUBDUED HIS MIGHT AND CONSTRAINED IT, THAT HIS LIVING DEATH MIGHT GIVE LIFE TO ADAM
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1. Our Lord subdued His might and constrained it, that His living death might
give life to Adam. His hands He gave to the piercing of the nails, instead of
the hand that plucked the fruit: He was smitten on the cheek in the judgment
hall, instead of the mouth that ate it in Eden. And because his foot bore Adam
thence, His feet were pierced. Our Lord was stripped, that He might make us
modest: with the gall and vinegar He made sweet the bitterness of the serpent,
which he had poured forth into mankind. R. Blessed is He Who gave me the victory
and quickened the dead to His glory! 2. (Death.) -- If Thou be God show Thy
power; and if Thou be man, feel our power. And if it be Adam that Thou seekest,
get Thee hence! because of his transgressions he is shut up here; Cherubim and
Seraphim await not, in his stead to pay his debt. There is none among them
mortal, so as to give his life in his stead. Who can open the mouth of hell, and
plunge and bring him up from her, who has swallowed him and keeps a hold on him,
and that forever! 3. I am He who has conquered all the wise men; and lo! in the
corners they are heaped for me in hell. Come, enter, son of Joseph, and see
terrible things; the limbs of the giants, the mighty corpse of Samson, and the
skeleton of the stubborn Goliath; Og, moreover, the son of the giants, who made
for himself a bed of iron and lay thereon, from whence I hurled him and cast him
down; that cedar I laid low to the gate of hell. 4. I by myself alone have
conquered multitudes, and one may single-handed seek to conquer me. Prophets and
priests and men of renown have I carried off; I have conquered kings in their
armies, and mighty men in their hunts, and righteous men in their excellencies.
Streams of corpses are hurled by me into hell, and though they pour into her she
is athirst. Though one be near or though he be far off, the end brings him to
the gate of hell. 5. Silver I despised at the hand of the rich, and their
offerings corrupted me not. The lords of slaves never once persuaded me, to take
a slave instead of his lord, and a poor man instead of a rich man, or an old man
instead of a child. As for wise that are able to charm wild beasts, their charms
enter not into my ears. Hater of persuasion all men call me; and I the thing
that is commanded me that I do. 6. Who is this, or whose son is He, or what His
lineage who has conquered me? The book of families is by me; lo! I went in and
read and studied the names from Adam till now, and not one of the dead do I
forget. Family by family, lo! they are written, upon my limbs. Because of Thee,
O Jesus, I went in and made a reckoning, that I might show Thee that there is
none that escapeth my hands. 7. Yet were there two men (that I lie not) whose
names have escaped me in Hell. For Enoch and Elijah came not to me. In all the
world I have sought them; yea thither where Jonah descended, I descended and
sought and they were not. And though I suppose that into Paradise, they have
entered and escaped, a mighty Cherub guards it. The ladder Jacob saw, what if
haply by it they have entered into Heaven! 8. Who is there that has measured the
sand of the sea, and has spilt only two grains? This harvest wherein every day
there labour, diseases as harvesters, I alone carry the handfuls and gather them
up; other gatherers in making haste, drop handfuls. Vintagers overlook clusters;
but two grapes have escaped me, in that great vintage which I alone have
plucked. 9. I am He that has taken (said Death), on sea and on dry land, all
prey in chase. Eagles of the air come to me; yea and dragons of the deep:
creeping things and fowl and cattle; old men, youths and children. These will
convince Thee, O Son of Mary, that this my power rules over all. Thy Cross how
shall it conquer me, who by a tree lo! I have prevailed and conquered from old
time? 10. But I was desirous to speak yet farther, for I am not wanting in
words; yea words are not to be sought by me, for lo! deeds call on me close at
hand. Not as you do I make promise, to the simple of secret things, that
forsooth there is to be a resurrection at some time or other. If then Thou art
very powerful, give a present pledge, that Thy distant promise also may be
believed. 11. Death ended his speech of derision: and the voice of our Lord
sounded into Hell, and He cried aloud and burst the graves one by one.
Tremblings took hold on Death; Hell that never of old had been lighted up, into
it there flashed splendours, from the Watchers who entered in and brought out
the dead to meet Him, who was dead and gives life to all. The dead came forth,
and the living were ashamed, they who thought that they had conquered the Life
Giver of all. 12. But who gave me the day of Moses, (said Death) who made a
feast for me? For that lamb that was slain in Egypt gave me, from every house
the first fruit: heaps and heaps of the first born, at the gate of Hell he piled
me them. But this Lamb of the festival, has robbed Hell; of the dead He has
taken title and carried them off from me. That lamb filled the graves for me;
but this has emptied the graves that were full.13. The death of Jesus to me is a
torment; I prefer for myself His life rather than His death. This is the Dead
whose death (lo!) is hateful to me; in the death of all men else I rejoice, but
His Death, even His, I detest; that He may come back to life I hope. While He
was living He brought to life and restored three that were dead; but now by His
death, at the gate of Hell they have trampled on me, the dead who have come to
life, whom I was going to shut in.14. I will haste and will close the gates of
Hell, before this Dead, Whose death has spoiled me. Whoso hears will wonder at
my humiliation, that by a dead man who is without I am overcome. All the dead
seek to go forth, but this one presses to enter in. A medicine of life has
entered into Hell, and has restored life to its dead. Who then has brought in
and hidden from me, that living fire wherein have reposed, the cold and dark
recesses of Hell?15. Death has seen the Watchers in Hell; the immortal instead
of the mortal; and he said Confusion has entered our abode, for in these two
things is torment to me: That the dead have come forth out of Hell, and the
Watchers that die not have entered therein. Lo! one at the pillow in this tomb,
has entered and sat down by it, and a second his companion at His feet. I will
entreat of Him and will persuade Him, with His pledge to ascend and go to His
Kingdom.16. Be not wroth against me, gracious Jesus, for the words that my pride
has spoken before Thee! Who is there that when seeing Thy Cross, shall have
doubted that Thou art man? Who is there that shall have seen Thy Power, and
shall not believe that Thou art also God? Lo! thus by these two things I have
learnt to confess that Thou art man and likewise art God! For as much as the
dead in Hell repent not, go up among the living, O Lord, and preach
repentance.17. O Jesus King, receive my supplication, and with my supplication
take to Thyself a pledge, even Adam the great pledge accept for Thyself, him in
whom are buried all the dead; even as when I received him, in him were hidden
all the living. The first pledge I have given Thee, the body of Adam; go Thou up
therefore and reign over all; and when I shall hear Thy trumpet, I with mine own
hand will lead forth the dead at Thy Coming.18. Our King living has gone forth
and gone up, out of Hell, as Conqueror. Woe He has doubled to them that are of
the left hand; to evil spirits and demons He is sorrow, to Satan and to Death He
is pain, to Sin and Hell mourning. Joy to them that are of the right hand, has
come to-day. On this great day therefore, great glory let us give to Him, who
died and is alive that, unto all He may, give life and resurrection!


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  CHAPTER 38: HYMN XXXVII. DEATH WAS WEEPING FOR HER, EVEN FOR SHEOL, WHEN HE SAW HER TREASURY THAT IT WAS EMPTIED
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1. Death was weeping for her, even for Sheol, when he saw her treasury that it
was emptied. And he said, Who, then, has plundered thy riches? Gehazi stole and
was discovered; I am stealing every day, but theft has not been laid to my
charge. I am sent to Kings, in their sicknesses, their guards are set around
them, guards are also at their gate. The soul of kings I snatch and I go forth.
R., Blessed is He Who has broken the sting of Death by His Cross! 2. All women
grieve that are barren; Sheol rejoices because of her barrenness; she is
desolate if so be that she brings forth. The all-compelling Power constrained
it, even the bosom that was barren and cold, and it rendered back though wont to
deny its debts. Rebekah, when the two babes afflicted her, asked for death. How
great then the pain of Sheol, when there smote her strange pangs; the dead were
roused and brake forth and came out from her bowels. 3. Is this then perchance
that saying, which was heard by me from Isaiah? (but I despised it) when he
arose and said, "Who hath heard such a thing as this? that the earth should
travail in one day, and bring forth a nation in one hour." Is it this that has
come to pass? or else, is it reserved for us hereafter? And if it be this it is
a vain shadow that I thought I am a king; I knew not it was but a deposit I was
keeping. 4. Two utterances that were different, have I heard from him, even this
Isaiah. For he said that a virgin should conceive and bring forth; and he said
again that the earth should bring forth. But lo! the Virgin has brought Him
forth, and Sheol the barren has brought Him forth; two wombs that contrary to
nature, have been changed by Him; the Virgin and Sheol both of them. The Virgin
in her bringing forth He made glad; but Sheol He grieved and made sad in His
Resurrection. 5. I saw in the valley that Ezekiel, who quickened the dead when
he was questioned; and I saw the bones that were in heaps and they moved. There
was a tumult of bones in Sheol, bone seeking for his fellow, and joint for her
mate. There was there none that questioned, or that was questioned, whether
those bones lived. Unquestioned, the voice of Jesus, the Master of all creatures
quickened them. 6. Sheol was made sorrowful when she saw them, even the
sorrowful dead made to rejoice. She wept for Lazarus when he went forth, "Go in
peace thou dead that livest, bewailed by two houses of mourning." Within and
without were lamentations for him; for his sisters wept for him when he came
into the grave unto me, and I wept for him as he went forth. In his death there
was weeping among the living; likewise in Sheol is great mourning at his
resurrection. 7. Now it is that I have tasted the taste of his sorrow, even of
him who weeps over his beloved. The dead that are thus beloved of Sheol, how
dear were they to their fathers! The limbs which I severed and carried away, lo!
they are shorn away and carried off from me. If I thus suffer for the departure
of him, the youth who was restored to life, blessed is He Who had compassion on
the widow; in her only son He gave peace to her dwelling that had been made
desolate. 8. Lo! this suffering which I cause men to suffer in their beloved
ones, in the end on me it gathers itself altogether. For when the dead shall
have left Sheol, for every man there will be resurrection, and for me alone
torment. And who is he then that shall bear for me all these things, that I
shall see Sheol left alone, because this voice which has rent the graves, makes
her desolate and sends forth the dead that were in her midst? 9. If a man reads
in the Prophets, he hears there of righteous wars. But if a man meditate in the
story of Jesus, he learns of grace and tender mercy. And if a man think of
Jesus, that He is a strange God it is a reproach against me. No other strange
key into the gate of Sheol could ever be fitted. One is the key of the Creator,
that which has opened it, yea, is to open it at His Coming. 10. Who is he that
is able to join the bones, save that Power which created them? What is it that
shall reunite the shreds of the body, save the hand of the Maker? What is it
that shall restore the forms, save the finger of the Creator? He, who created
and turned and destroyed, is He that is able also to renew and raise up. Another
God is unable to enter in and restore creatures not his own. 11. But were he
another Power, I should be very joyful that He is coming to me. Into the bosom
of Sheol He would descend and learn that One alone is God. Mortals that have
erred and preached that there are Gods many, lo! they are bound for me in Sheol,
and their Gods have never grieved because of them. One God do I know, and His
Prophets and His Apostles do I acknowledge.


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  CHAPTER 39: HYMN XXXVIII. MY THRONE WAS SET FOR ME IN SHEOL: AND ONE AROSE THAT WAS DEAD, AND HURLED ME FROM IT
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1. My throne was set for me in Sheol: and one arose that was dead, and hurled me
from it. Every man feared me alone, and I feared no man. Terror and trouble were
among the living, rest and peace among the dead. In a man that was slain lo!
there has entered into Sheol He that takes her captive. I used to take all men
captive: the Son of Captivity Whom I took captive has taken me captive. He Whom
I took captive has led her away and is gone to Paradise. R., Blessed is He Who
has quickened the dead of Sheol by His Cross! 2. All men complain much against
me; and I against one only have complained. Who is there among men so just as I?
Has corruption touched my integrity? I held all men in affection, and whoso
hates me knows it; I know not all my days what a bribe is. The person of a king
have I not accepted. By me is preached equality, for bondman and his lord in
Sheol I make equal. 3. Before God it is that I minister, with Whom is no
acceptance of persons. What other is there that endures as I do, I that am
cursed when I do good? Perversely are requited to me the benefits I have
rendered. Though my deeds are goodly, my name is not goodly. Yet my mind rests
in its integrity: in God it is that I comfort myself; for though He is good He
is denied every day and endures it. 4. The old I remove from all sufferings,
likewise the young from all sins. Secret contention I quell in Sheol; in our
land there is no iniquity: it is Sheol and Heaven alone, that are removed from
all sins; this earth that lies between, in her iniquity dwells. He therefore
that is prudent will either go up into Heaven, or, if that be too hard, will go
down to Sheol which is easy. 5. To one man because of one that is dead, every
man hastes to comfort him. But for me though many of my dead have come to life,
there is none that comes in and comforts me. Satan came in, against Whom, had
been proclaimed seven woes even against him; though mightily the Son of Mary had
trodden on him, yet uplifted is his spirit; for he is the serpent that strives
though bruised. Better is it for me to fall and worship, before this Jesus Who
has conquered me by His Cross. 6. When He enters at the gate of Sheol, in place
of John who preached before His coming, then will I cry "Lo! He that quickens
the dead is come; Thy servant am I from henceforth, Jesu! Because of The Body I
reviled Thee, for it covered Thy Godhead. Be not angry, O Son of the King,
against Thy treasury; at Thy command I have opened and closed. Though my wings
be very swift it is at thy nod I haste to every quarter. 7. All that have been
raised were not first born; for our Lord is the First-born of Sheol. How can any
that is dead go before Him, that power whereby he was raised? There are last
that are first, and younger that have become first-born. For though Manasseh was
first-born, how could it be that Ephraim should take the birthright? And if the
second born was set before him, how much rather shall the Lord and Creator
prevent all in His Resurrection! 8. Lo! John as a herald declares that he is
later, though he was elder-born; for he said, "Behold a man cometh after me, and
yet He was before me." For how could he be before Him, that Power in Whom he
preached? For everything that comes to pass because of another thing, is after
that other even though it seem to be before. For the cause which called it into
being, is elder than it and before it in all things. 9. The cause of Adam was
elder than all creatures, which were made for him, for to him even to Adam He
had respect continually, the Creator even while he was creating. Thus though
Adam as yet was not, he was elder than all creatures. How much more then, my
Lord, must this Thy manhood be elder, which in Thy Godhead is, from eternity
with Him that begat Thee! To Thee be praise and through Thee to Thy Father from
us all! 10. To Thee be praise for Thou art the first, in Thy Godhead and in Thy
manhood! For even though Elijah was first to go up, he was not able to prevent
Him, for whose sake he was taken up. For his type depended on Thy verity: and
even though the types apparently are before Thy fulfilment, it is before them
secretly. Creatures were before Adam; he was before them because for his sake
they were made. 11. O my Lord, work for me this resurrection, not of Thy
compulsion but of Thy love. For Thy compulsion gives life to sinners also:
Iscariot would rather again choose for himself the death of Sheol, than the life
of Gehenna. Work for me then the resurrection that is of Thy mercy; and even
though Thy justice permits not, let there be occasion for Thy grace. This only
let it remember for me, that in it I have sought refuge.


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  CHAPTER 40: HYMN XXXIX. THERE HAVE COME TO ME RANSOMERS FROM AMONG THE SAINTS, BUT NONE HAS PLUNDERED ME LIKE THE SON OF MARY
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1. There have come to me ransomers from among the saints, but none has plundered
me like the Son of Mary. For lo! Elijah brought a dead man to life; and even
though he himself escaped from my hands, yet had I consolation after him, for
the dead man whom he quickened, I carried off from him. By Elisha son of
Shaphat, I was beaten as with rods, for he brought two dead men to life. By one
staff I in turn bore away both the prophet and the dead whom he had raised. R.,
Blessed is He Who cleft the tombs of Sheol by His voice! 2. I feared him even
Gehazi when I saw, him lay the staff upon the youth. The thief took the staff
away and returned; Elisha came and bowed himself; laid himself low as the child
and raised himself up, and walked hither and thither. I marvelled at the new
mysteries which I saw there, which restored but one youth to life. It was well
with me then when those were but mysteries, and not now when the dead have
rebelled and conquered me. 3. Moses when I saw the mighty splendour upon his
face, I feared him: yet not according to what I feared befel it me. Nisan in
Sheol he caused to spring for me; for a pasture, a pasture of corpses, of six
hundred thousand fell. -- This lowly and despised whom I contemned, has healed
the sick and the diseased: to others He has multiplied bread, but our bread even
ours from our mouths He snatches. 4. A mighty feast there was in Sheol, when I
swallowed up Korah and his company. A great delight Satan made for me, when he
made strife among the Levites. A fount of milk and honey, made he flow for me in
a dry place, when the congregation of transgressors went down to Sheol. -- Lo!
the righteous have lived and come forth: Moses sent down the living thither, but
Jesus has revived and brought up the dead. 5. It was well with me then, in the
day of the zealous, those in whose swords I had delight. Phinehas the zealous
pierced and gave me, on the head of his spear for my delight, Zimri and Cozbi
both together; on the head of his lance he presented them to me. To whom then
were there ever two fatted oxen, offered on the head of a spear? -- But instead
of Cozbi, daughter of princes, the daughter of Jairus has Jesus rescued from my
hands. 6. The censer of Aaron caused me to fear, for he stood between the dead
and the living and conquered me. The Cross causes me to fear more exceedingly,
which has rent open the graves of Sheol. The Crucified Whom on it I slew, now by
Him am I slain. Not very great is his reproach, who is overcome by a warrior in
arms. Worse to me is my reproach than my torment, in that by a crucified man my
strength has been overcome. 7. The lance of Phinehas again has caused me to
fear, for by the slaughter he wrought with it he hindered the pestilence. The
lance guarded the tree of life, it made me glad and made me sad; it hindered
Adam from life, and it hindered death from the people. But the lance that
pierced Jesus, by it I have suffered; He is pierced and I groan. There came out
from Him water and blood; Adam washed and lived and returned to Paradise. 8. The
Sadducees were as a mouth for me, and disputed with Him after my mind, that
there is no rising of the dead at all. Jesus answered them in a saying, which I
alone understood; He spake aloud the hateful word and saddened me, "I am the God
of him even of Abraham, and God is not the God of the dead." It was well with me
then these were but words, and He had not yet showed me the life of the dead
indeed. 9. Jesus son of Nun, slew thirty kings, and filled the graves and pits
for me; he laid waste Jericho and filled Sheol. But this Jesus who is come, has
wasted the graves of their dead, and has filled the cities of the upper world.
Wherefore thus when lo! they are like in their names, are they unlike in their
doings? That gave me the body of Achor, but this snatched from me the body of
Lazarus. 10. Moses trod down that Egyptian, with his meekness he mingled
justice. Whence has this new law sprung for me, "If one smite thee on thy cheek,
turn to him thy other cheek, and see that thou hate him not?" Instead of the
strong man of zeal who trod down and slew, a new man of mercy has risen for us.
Samuel hewed Agag in pieces, but Jesus healed the paralytic. 11. Tender mercy
which had as it were waxed less, lo! in this time has waxed great. And moreover
it was then detested, lest through it one should transgress the commandment; for
without mercy Saul and Ahab, were slain because they desired, to have mercy on
the evil ones, and they were not slain who were deserving of punishment. In my
time Jesus has changed this, by giving life to all men and having compassion on
His slayers. 12. I remember Samson that lion's whelp, who brake and gave me the
pillars of Philistia; also that mighty man of valor Abner son of Ner, took for
me that fleet wild roe, Asahel son of Zeruiah, and smote him and cast him on the
ground. Benaiah in the holy temple slew Jacob, justly as it is written. --
Because justice has restrained her sword, henceforth penitents shall rejoice in
grace.13. David measured the Edomites, by line and line and destroyed them. How
merciful then art Thou, O Son of David! David's justice was twofold, when he put
to death two lines, and saved one full line alive. -- Lo! the Son of David
teaches us, "Forgive thy brother even unto seventy times seven." There justice
was measured; but here clemency is without measure.14. Of zeal and strength
David was possessed; the lion and the bear he slew together. He left that mighty
lion and hasted, to meet the strong giant. With a stone he quenched his light,
and his soul left him and he perished. But Jesus cried to the young man that was
dead "Young man!" Even the dead to Him are sleepers. That young man He brought
to life and rescued from me. The despised swine He drowned for me in the sea.15.
The Levites slew because of the calf, their fathers and their brethren. Jephthah
by his own hands was ready to slay his daughter. The King of Moab on the wall,
was sacrificing his first-born son: In presence of his sword I rejoice. -- By
Jesus the sword was blunted; yea the fever was rebuked, the sister of Sheol: the
mother-in-law of Simeon was healed, but the fame of her healing smote Sheol with
pain.16. This Jesus though he be the Son of the Just One, all that He preaches
is grace. But to me this His grace is torment. Envy is the cause of pleasure to
us, for Envy at the beginning mixed for me the first shedding of blood. Why is
it guilty in the sight of the Son of Mary Who is come commanding, "Thou shalt
not be angry against thy brother?" He has taken away the sword from between
brethren; while in the sword of Cain I had pleasure from the beginning.17. An
honeycomb in the midst of the skeleton, Samson found -- was it then a mystery?
This Jesus has multiplied for us mysteries. Amid billows of mysteries have I
fallen, which show me in parable the life of the dead, in all mysteries and in
all types. "Out of the eater came forth meat" was Samson's parable. But to me it
has befallen contrariwise; for the eater has come forth to me out of the meat,
for out of Adam lo! has come the Son of Adam Who has destroyed me.18. Just men
likewise have robbed me manifold, when by them was preached the rising of the
dead: but they mingled with my sorrows great consolation. By the prayer of Asa
and Hezekiah, I was fed upon the dead, yea I feasted upon corpses. Elijah slew
the prophets of Baal and gave them to me, who on the bread of Jezebel had waxed
fat. The righteous has constrained me to devour, but Jesus has compelled me to
disgorge all that I had eaten.19. I was afraid because of the sprinkled blood,
which Moses sprinkled on every door; for though the blood of the slain, it was
that which saved the living. Blood from of old I feared not, save that blood
that was on the doors, and this moreover that was on the Tree. The blood of the
slain is a delight, and is as sweet perfume: but the blood of Jesus is to me a
terror; for whenever I come and smell His blood, the savour of life that lurks
therein terrifies me.20. Priests and pontiffs, anointed men and kings, who
foreshow types of the rising of the dead, have never triumphed through their
crosses. Crowns and diadems were set on them; and when I engaged in struggles
with them, I was smitten sometimes and sometimes also I smote. But this
carpenter's son with his crown of thorns, has humbled and cast down my pride, in
His shame and His dying: Sheol has seen Him, yea, and fled from before Him.21.
When the sea saw Moses and fled, it feared because of his rod, and likewise
because of his glory. His splendour and his rod and his power, the rock also saw
which was cleft. But Sheol when her graves were rent, what saw she in Him even
in Jesus? -- Instead of splendour He put on the paleness of the dead and made
her tremble. And if His paleness when slain slew her, how shall she be able to
endure, when He comes to raise the dead, in His Glory!


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  CHAPTER 41: HYMN XL. THE EVIL ONE PERCEIVED HIS GREAT HUMILIATION, AND BOASTED HIMSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS SERVANTS: HE SPOKE GREAT WORDS TO PERSUADE THEM AND SAID: |THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH I POSSESS, LITTLE OF IT IS BY NATURE
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1. The Evil One perceived his great humiliation, and boasted himself in the
presence of his servants: he spoke great words to persuade them and said: "The
knowledge which I possess, little of it is by nature; and much of it, yea all of
it, is by learning. I to myself have been master, and have exercised my
understanding. Without a teacher I have learnt all; I have armed myself with
every weapon, and have won by it the crown which I desired among mankind." R.,
Blessed is He that has come and undone the snares of sin! 2. Among the Pharisees
I clothed myself in hatred, that I might contend with Him, even the Son of Mary.
Wrath like a bow rained shafts; boldness railed upon Him; fury rebelled against
Him; ingratitude slandered Him; envy and jealousy in their wrath, strove with
Him; and blasphemy took up stones. The Healer came in and stood among the sick,
and I stirred up the diseased in contention against Him. 3. Because He fell not
under reproach, it was in questions that I took refuge. Many times did I stir up
occasions, but I saw that my falsehood was rebuked, and my impudence was made
known, and my vain babbling was despised. To the windings of contention I betook
myself. Everywhere that I disputed with Him, all my labor was as chaff, and the
word of truth scattered it on every side. 4. I saw that there is a warrior and a
mighty lord, in cunning within man: [and the snake that is without makes it
fear.] His lusts within him is coiled continually; his jealousy hisses like a
serpent. Deadly desires he begets, and of a fever he is in dread. Command as a
drug, is able to quell derision, which smites unto destruction. It is love that
avails to break the sting secret and bitter of the tongue. 5. Who is more
foolish than men, who rather than for himself cares for his dwelling! The
garments that are in his chest he examines daily, and a worm is lurking in his
members. The rents that are in his clothes he mends, but a rent is made in his
soul. His house is lighted up but his heart is dark. He shuts up his senses but
opens his windows. He closes his door and guards his money; his mouth is open
and the treasure of his thought is stolen. 6. The fool makes more of his beasts
than of himself, for he cares for his possessions rather than for his soul. Good
seed he sows in his ground; in his heart he sows tares. His understanding is
thrown open and cast down; but at the fences of his vineyard he labours. He
chooses and plants vine-plants; while his mind is a vine of the vines of Sodom.
He keeps off the wild ass from his sowing; but the wild boar of the wood devours
his thoughts. 7. I am a furnace to the sons of men, and in me are tried their
counsels. Therefore is it lawful to me to weave deceit. I teach the Chaldean
art: by reason of the true things that befall, the false things are believed. In
the midst of Egypt I closed men's eyes; I showed insects, men thought they were
though they were not. By closing men's eyes I teach the signs of the Zodiac,
though they are not in the heavens. 8. By reason of my swiftness I fly and see,
and I show beforehand to the soothsayer; they who err concerning me count me a
prophet. But sometimes I make bold; and I ask that for an hour, secret things be
revealed to me, that true men may be proved by me even as Job, likewise
deceivers as Saul. For the one I revealed his sorcery; and for the other I
purged his truth and he was praised.


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  CHAPTER 42: HYMN XLI. THE EVIL ONE SAID, |I FEAR HIM, EVEN JESUS, LEST HE DESTROY MY ARTS
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1. The Evil One said, "I fear Him, even Jesus, lest He destroy my arts. For lo!
I am thousands of years old, and never have I had repose. I have seen nothing
established, that I have turned from and left. There has come One making the
unchaste pure: there is sorrow since He has destroyed all that I had built. Many
have been my labours and my teachings, that I might cover all creation with all
evils. R., Blessed is He Who came and laid bare the wiles of the Crafty One! 2.
I matched my speed with the swift, and I outstripped them: I waged war; the
tumult of multitudes was armour to me. In the tumult of the people I rejoiced,
because it gave me ready room, for grievous is the onslaught of multitudes. By
the strength of multitudes I raised a great mountain, a tower I stretched unto
heaven. If they waged war with the Height, how much more shall they conquer Him
whose warfare is on earth? 3. As time serves and as help offers, I wage war, but
cautiously. The people used to hear that God is one; they made for themselves a
multitude of gods. And when they saw the Son of God, they made haste to the One
God, that as though confessing God they might deny Him, and as though in zeal
might flee from Him; so that they in all times perverse shall be found to be
without God. 4. Lo! I am ancient of many years, and no infant have I ever
rejected. The burden of children have I ofttimes borne, so that from the
beginning I might make them acquire habits that are not goodly, that their
faults might grow up with them. But there are foolish fathers, who do not crush
the seed that I have sown in their sons; and there are some who like good
husbandmen, root up faults from the mind of their children. 5. As with a chain I
have bound men with sloth, and they sat in idleness. I have drawn away their
senses from all good things; their eyes from reading, their mouths from singing
praise, their understanding from doctrine. For hurtful and vain fables how eager
are they; for empty talk how ready! If the word of life fell among them, they
either thrust it from them, or rose and went forth from its presence. 6. How
many Satans are there among men! and me even me alone every man curses. For lo!
the anger of men -- it is a devil that grinds him every day. Demons are like
wayfarers, who depart if they are compelled: but against anger though all
righteous men adjure, it is not rooted out from its place. Instead of pernicious
envy, every one hates a weak and wretched demon. 7. The enchanter is put to
shame with the wizard, who every day tames serpents. The viper that is within
him is out of his power; for the lust that is within him he tames not. Secret
sin like an asp, when it breathes on him he is scorched. Even when he takes the
viper through his cunning, delusion smites him secretly. He lulls the snake by
his incantations: he wakens against himself mighty wrath by his incantations. 8.
I set my stings and I sat and waited: who is long-enduring as I with all? Beside
the patient-spirited I sat, and step by step I bewitched him, so that he came
unto despair. Him who was ashamed of his transgressions, habits subdued him:
little by little I mastered him, till he became under the yoke, till he came in
to it and was used to it and did not even wish to go forth. 9. I perceived and
saw that the long-enduring is he that can subdue all. At the time when I
conquered Adam, he was but one. I left him till he had begotten children, and I
sought for myself another task, for idleness is not to my taste. I counted the
sands of the sea, that thereby I might make my spirit patient, and might prove
my memory whether it would suffice, for the sons of men when they were
multiplied. Before they were multiplied, I proved them in many things. 10. The
servants of the Evil One disputed with him, and they refuted his words with
their rejoinder. "But lo! Elisha brought the dead to life, and conquered death
in the upper chamber, and brought to life the widow's son. Lo! now is he in
bondage in Sheol." But because the reasoning of the Evil One was very powerful,
with their own words he refuted their words. "How has Elisha been overcome? Lo!
in Sheol he brought the dead to life by his bones." 11. "If Elisha, who was of
small power, was great in might in the midst of Sheol, and if so be he brought
one dead to life therein, how many dead then will be raised therein, by the
death of Jesus the mighty! Hence even from this consider ye, how much greater
therefore is Jesus, than we my comrades. For lo! by His craftiness He deceived
you, and ye sufficed not to determine His greatness when ye compared Him to the
prophets. 12. "Your consolations are of small power," said the Evil One to them
of his company. "For He Who brought Lazarus to life though dead, how can Death
suffice against Him? And if Death conquers Him, it is that He wills to be
subdued unto him; and if so be He wills to be subdued, fear ye greatly, for He
dies not in vain. He has wrought in us great terror, lest when dying He may
enter in to raise Adam to life."13. Death looked forth from within his den, and
marvelled when he saw our Lord crucified, and he said "O raiser of the dead to
life where art thou! Thou shalt be to me for meat, instead of the sweet Lazarus,
whose savour lo! it is still in my mouth. Jairus' daughter shall come and see
this Thy cross. The widow's son gazes on Thee. A tree caught Adam for me:
blessed be the Cross which has caught for me the Son of David!"14. Death opened
his mouth and said, "Hast Thou not heard, O Son of Mary, how Moses was great and
excellent above all? became a God and wrought the works of God? slew the
first-born and saved the first-born? turned aside the pestilence from the
living? To the mount I went up with Moses, and He Whose glory be blessed gave
him to me from hand to hand. For however great the son of Adam becomes, dust he
is and to his dust returns, because he is of the ground."15. Satan came with his
servants, that he might see our Lord cast into Sheol, and might rejoice with
Death his Counsellor; and he saw Him sorrowful and mourning, because of the dead
who at the voice of the Firstborn, lived and came forth thence even from Sheol.
The Evil One arose to console Death his kinsman. "Thou hast not destroyed as
much as thou wast able. Even as Jesus is in thy midst, to thy hand shall come
they that have lived and that live.16. "Open for us to see Him, yea and mock
Him: let us answer and say, Where is Thy power? For lo! three days have passed
for Him, and let us say to Him, O Thou of three days, Who didst raise Lazarus,
when he had lain four days, raise Thine own self.'" Death opened the gates of
Sheol, and there shone from it the splendour of the face of our Lord; and like
the men of Sodom they were smitten; they groped and sought the gate of Sheol,
which they had lost.


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  CHAPTER 43: HYMN XLII. THE EVIL ONE WAILED |WHERE NOW, IS THERE A PLACE FOR ME TO FLEE TO FROM THE RIGHTEOUS? I STIRRED UP DEATH TO SLAY THE APOSTLES, THAT I MIGHT BE SAFE FROM THEIR BLOWS
========================================================================

1. The Evil One wailed "Where now, is there a place for me to flee to from the
righteous? I stirred up Death to slay the Apostles, that I might be safe from
their blows. By their deaths now more exceedingly am I cruelly beaten. The
Apostle whom I slew in India is before me in Edessa: he is here wholly and also
there. I went there, there was he: here and there I have found him and been
grieved." R., Blessed is the might that dwells in the hallowed bones! 2. The
bones that merchantmen carried, or was it then that they carried him? For lo!
they made gain each of the other. But for me what did they profit me? yea they
profited each by each, while to me from both of them there was damage. O that
one would show me that bag of Iscariot, for by it I acquired strength! The bag
of Thomas has slain me, for the secret strength that dwells in it tortures me.
3. Moses the chosen carried the bones, in faith as for gain. And if he a great
prophet believed, that there is benefit in bones, the merchant did well to
believe, and did well to call himself merchant. That merchant made gain, and
waxed great and reigned. His storehouse has made me very poor: his storehouse
has been opened in Edessa, and has enriched the great city with benefit. 4. At
this storehouse of treasure I was amazed, for small was its treasure at first;
and though no man took from it, poor was the spring of its wealth. But when
multitudes have come round it, and plundered it and carried off its riches,
according as it is plundered, so much the more does its wealth increase. For a
pent-up spring, if one seeks it out, when deeply pierced it flows forth mightily
and abounds. 5. It is evident that Elisha was a fountain in a thirsting people:
and because they that thirsted sought him not out, his outflow was not great.
But when Naaman sought him out, he abounded and poured forth healing. The
fountain into the midst of a fountain, he took him and plunged him; for in the
river he cleansed the leper. Jesus the Sea of benefits, into Siloam sent the
blind man whose eyes were opened. 6. Gehazi, with the staff that brought to life
the dead, was unable to raise the child. And how could the famous prophet have
been brought up by the sorceress? We were they that mocked Saul, for instead of
one demon whom he questioned, two demons came up and mocked him. From the bones
of Elisha learn also of the bones of Samuel; for though Elisha's bones brought
to life the dead, the sorcerers could not bring up the dead, the living and
sacred bones. 7. And though I asked this petition, He who gives all gave it not
to me. For though the demons were troubled, by the bones of some priest, or
magician or wizard, of Chaldean or soothsayer, yet I was aware that this was but
mockery. In two ways I cause men to err: either I make the Apostles to lie, or I
make my Apostles like the Apostles. 8. The party of the demons lo! it is
spoiled; the party of the devils endures stripes: though there be none that
lifts the rod openly, the demons cry out with pain; though there be none that
fetters and binds, the spirits hang bound. This silent judgment, which is calm
and still, and works not even by questioning, the one power that is all
sufficing, lo! it dwells in the bones of this second Elisha. 9. He gave judgment
unto His Twelve, that they might judge the twelve Tribes. And if so be that they
are to judge the sons of the great Abraham, this is then no great matter, that
they shall judge demons now. And unless they make the crucifiers fulfil the
judgment that is to be, by our judgment shall they be proved. For worse than we
did they cry out, in presence of the Apostles the judges of the tribes. 10. For
a wolf was Saul the Apostle, and on the blood of the sheep I reared him; and he
waxed strong and became a singular wolf. But nigh to Damascus suddenly, the wolf
was changed into a sheep. He said that the Apostles, are to judge Angels; for by
the Angels he signified the priest as it is written. If so be then they are thus
powerful, woe to the demons from the strokes of their bones!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 44: HYMN LII. CONCERNING SATAN AND DEATH
========================================================================

Concerning Satan and Death. 1. I heard Death and Satan, as they disputed, which
was the more powerful, among men. R., To Thee be glory, Son of the Shepherd of
All, Who deliveredst His flock from the secret wolves that devoured it, the Evil
One and Death! -- 2. Death showed his power, that he conquers all; Satan showed
his guile, that he makes all to sin. -- 3. Death, To thee, O Evil One, none
hearkens save he that wills: to me he that wills and he that wills not, even to
me they come. -- 4. Satan, Thine, O Death, is but the force of tyranny: mine are
snares and nets of subtlety. -- 5. D., Hear, O Evil One, that who so is subtle
breaks off thy yoke: but none is there that is able to escape my yoke. -- 6. S.,
Thou, Death, on him that is sick provest thy might: but I over them that are
whole, am exceeding powerful. -- 7. D., The Evil One prevails not over all those
that revile him: but for me he that has cursed me and he that curses me, come
into my hands. -- 8. S., Thou, Death, from God, hast gotten thy might: I alone
by none am I helped, when I lead men to sin. -- 9. D., Thou, O Evil-One, like a
weakling: while like a king I exercise my dominion. -- 10. S., Thou art a fool,
O Death, not to know how great am I: who suffice to capture free will, the
sovereign power. -- 11. D., Thou, O Evil One, like a thief, lo! thou goest
round: I like a lion break in pieces and fear not. -- 12. S., To thee, O Death,
none does service or worship: to me kings do service of sacrifice as to God. --
13. D., On Death there are many that call, as on a kind Power: on thee, O Evil
One, none has called or calls. -- 14. S., Markest thou not this, O Death, how
many there are: who in sundry fashions call on me and make oblation? -- 15. D.
Hated is thy name, O Satan, nor canst thou clear it: thy name every one curses,
hide thy reproach. -- 16. S., Thine ear, O Death, has waxed dull, that thou
hearest not: how against thee all men groan, conceal thyself. -- 17. D., My face
is shown to the world, for I am guileless: not like thee who without guile canst
not abide. -- 18. S., Thou hast not in aught surpassed me for it is true: that
thou art hateful as I to the sons of men. -- 19. D., Of me all men are afraid as
of a lord: but as for thee they hate thee as the Evil One. -- 20. S., For thee,
O Death, they hate thy name, and also thy work: my name they hate but my
delights they greatly love. -- 21. D., To bitterness of teeth is turned, this
thy sweetness: penitence of soul cleaves ever unto thy lusts. -- 22. S., Sheol
is hated because in her is no repentance: a pit that swallows and closes on all
movements. -- 23. D., Sheol is a gulf wherein whoso falls shall rise again: sin
is hated because it cuts off the hope of man. -- 24. S., Though I mislike
penitents, I give place for repentance: thou cuttest off hope from the sinner
who dies in his sin. -- 25. D., It was of thee that at first his hope was cut
off: for he whom thou hast not caused to sin dies happily. -- 26. Blessed is He
who raised against each other those cursed servants: that we might see them as
they have seen us and mocked at us. -- 27. This that we have seen of them is a
pledge, my brethren: of what we shall see of them hereafter when we rise again.


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  CHAPTER 45: HYMN LIII. COME, LET US HEAR HOW THEY CONTEND FOR VICTORY: THE GUILTY ONES WHO NEVER HAVE CONQUERED, NOR WILL CONQUER
========================================================================

1. Come, let us hear how they contend for victory: the guilty ones who never
have conquered, nor will conquer. -- 2. Death said unto the Evil One, In the end
the victory is mine: for Death is master of the close, as a conqueror. -- 3.
Satan, This were to be Death indeed, wert thou able: to bring to death a living
man, by means of lusts. -- 4. D., Lo! I who behold the dead, both good and bad:
the righteous who despise thee, O Evil One, me they despise not. -- 5. S., This
dying of the body, is sleep for a time: think not, O Death, that thou art Death,
who art as a shadow. -- 6. D., Thee, O Evil One, the just have conquered, yea
will conquer: but these that have conquered thee, lo! I conquer. -- 7. S., Even
this that thou bringest to death the just, is not of thyself: because of Adam
whom I conquered, they drink this cup. -- 8. D., Lo! Sheol is full of the men of
Sodom, and the Assyrians: and the giants who were in the flood, who is like me?
-- 9. S., These, O Death, all of them, by me were slain: I am he that caused
them to sin so that they perished. -- 10. D., Joseph who conquered thee I
conquered, O Satan: in the chamber he conquered thee but I conquered, and cast
him into the tomb. -- 11. S., Moses who conquered thee, O Death, by sprinkling
of blood: he conquered thee in Egypt, but at the rock, who conquered him? -- 12.
D., Elijah who feared thee not, O Satan: fled before Jezebel's face, because he
feared me. -- 13. S., Aaron who withstood thee, O Death, with smoke of incense:
to him I gave earrings of gold: and he fashioned a calf. -- 14. D., Thou wentest
down to contend with Job, and he conquered thee and came up: but I, after he had
conquered thee, then conquered him. -- 15. S., David who by his sackcloth stayed
that pestilence: him on the house-top I conquered, who had conquered Goliath. --
16. D., Jehu who destroyed the house of Baal, the temple of the Evil One: was
unable to destroy Sheol, the stronghold of my realm. -- 17. S., Solomon who
snatched from thy mouth, a child by his judgment: him in his old age I made a
builder of idol-altars. -- 18. D., Samuel who in respect of gold scorned thee, O
Satan: him I conquered, the conqueror, who conquered bribes. -- 19. S., Samson
who in respect of the lion's whelp, scorned thee, O Death: through Delilah,
frail vessel, I yoked him to the mill. -- 20. D., Josiah from his childhood
despised thee, Evil One: but me not even in his old age, could he withstand. --
21. S., Hezekiah withstood thee, Death, when he overcame the bound of life: I
misled him and he neglected the miracle, and showed his treasures. -- 22. D.,
John who conquered thee, Evil One, and absolved and baptized: I extinguished
that torch, which had disclosed thee. -- 23. S., Simon overcame thee, when he
brought to life that blessed woman: in a woman he overcame thee and by a woman I
overcame him and made him deny. -- 24. S., Apostles and prophets with one voice,
curse thee, O Death: "Where is the victory of Death, and the sting of Sheol?" --
25. Thy Lord in Sheol thou hast shut up, O cursed servant: God hates thee and
also man, hold then thy peace. -- 26. S., It was the will of Him who gives life
to all, that shut him in Sheol: it was thou that called Him to this, when thou
madest Adam sin. -- 27. O comrade of Nabal who in the wilderness reproached his
lord: abhorred be thy mouth which said to Him, "Fall down and worship me!"


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  CHAPTER 46: HYMN LIV. HEAR, O FREEDOM, THE DISPUTE OF TWO SERVANTS: HOW THEY ARE CONVICTED BY EACH OTHER, THAT THEY ARE POWERLESS
========================================================================

1. Hear, O Freedom, the dispute of two servants: how they are convicted by each
other, that they are powerless. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory by Whose humiliation
Adam was exalted: and by Whose death he was raised, and regained Eden! -- 3. If
then the Evil One overcome thee, great is the shame: Death his comrade has
convicted him, as being weak. -- 4. And if again Death subdue thee, lo! what
reproach: for the Evil One his comrade derides him, as but a shadow. -- 5. Their
dispute is for thee a mirror, wherein thou mayest see: that they both are but as
chaff, before thy breath. -- 6. Yea and Prophets and Apostles, in their
promises: assure thee that they like flowers, shall fade at the rising. -- 7.
S., Thou, Death, art he whom they hate, the quick and dead: for every
combination thou dissolvest, and destroyest. -- 8. D., It is not open death that
kills, O Satan: thy death which is secret kills the sons of men. -- 9. S., My
name is not hateful as thine, for the angel: showed himself in Satan's likeness
to Balaam on the way. -- 10. D., How fit is this thy name, O Satan: who hast
erred and made unwary Adam err, from the way! -- 11. S., Wander not like one
ignorant, and lose thy cause: dispute, O Death, if thou are competent, for
replying. -- 12.D., I know that thou art wily, O Satan: so that thou out of sand
canst twist a snare. -- 13. S., Thy disputing, Death, is ended: for he who is
worsted: when his words fail and are ended, begins to rail. -- 14. D., Among all
I am conqueror, and by thee am I worsted? Let Adam persuade thee whom I have
overcome, O Satan! -- 15. S., I am he who bound Adam, and cast him before thee:
the mighty man whom my wiles had bound, thou didst come and subdue. -- 16. D., I
am he who have been crowned anew, with a diadem in the world: for Adam, chief of
the mighty, I hold captive in Sheol. -- 17. S., I killed him by secret death,
even Adam when he sinned: thou, Death, hast slain one that was dead, killed by
me. -- 18. D., In thy desire to conquer, Evil One, thou hast made thyself hated:
for thou art Death as well as Satan, and this seems a little thing to thee. --
19. S., Thou hast then been silenced, Death, as a weakling: for neither in words
nor in deeds, hast thou strength to stand. -- 20. D., It is for thy evil thou
conquerest, O Evil One, if thou discernest: thy crown is wholly of shame, if
thou perceivest. -- 21. I shall be defeated and thou shalt be cursed, O Satan:
it is well for me to be ignorant, and not mischievous. -- 22. Blessed be the
Just One who divided them, though they were quite of one mind: Blessed be the
Good One who made us of one mind, when we were divided. -- 23. I will overcome
the Evil One through Thy forgiveness, O All-Merciful: and I shall overcome death
through Thy Resurrection, O All-Life-giver!


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  CHAPTER 47: HYMN LV. LO! THE EVIL ONE REPROACHED DEATH
========================================================================

1. Lo! the Evil One reproached Death, and was in turn reproached: from each and
to each and against each, were their taunts. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory, Son of
the Lord of All, Who diedst for all: for He was raised to give life to all, in
the day of His Coming! -- 3. S., Jonah who conquered thee, and returned back
from Sheol, became my advocate in asking, why sinners were spared? -- 4. D.,
Slander not, O Evil One, the son of Amittai: he showed a face of anger, that
they might praise thee more. -- 5. S., Quite powerless is all thy persuasion, O
tyrant Death: for there pleases me nothing, of all thou hast said. -- 6. D., For
when was the word of truth pleasing to thee? A gulf is between thee and
truthfulness, O lying one. -- 7. I am righteous all my days, with nought to
repent: I am he that rescues from thee the sons of men. -- 8. S., Proclaim thy
repentance, Death, thou art well come: lo! Saul also among the prophets, great
cause of scorn. -- 9. If thou, Death, be justified, then for myself: I cut not
off hope, likewise, of repentance. -- 10. D., No idol with my Lord have I made,
O hater of thy Lord! lo! thou by dead idols, slayest the living. -- 11. S., That
thou, Death, art half of me, I know, and I half of thee: if half of me repents,
it repents, but I marvel. -- 12. D., Thy partner am I in share, but not in sin:
mine are the slain and thine the slayers, whom thou madest sin. -- 13. S., My
craftiness weeps for itself, when I dispute with thee: my wiles mourn over me,
when I meet thee. -- 14. D., Workers of witchcraft and soothsayers, with all
their offences: the fire that thou kindledst in the world, in Sheol I have
quenched. -- 15. S., Thou penitent who strainest out gnats, and swallowest the
just: the chaste shall rend thee, who cry, from within thy belly. -- 16. D., It
is the treasure-house where I keep all the righteous: their resurrection
threatens ill to thee, who didst persecute them. -- 17. S., The greedy one who
carries all creatures, in his bowels: lo! he casts up to me that I am robbed, of
my possessions. -- 18. D., Before the stroke lament not, for it has not yet
reached thee: the day will come when thou shalt cry out, and I shall hear and
rejoice. -- 19. The fire will come that shall strip off thee thy very skin: as
by the potsherd thou didst strip the skin of Job. -- 20. D., The savour of sloth
begins, as if to hover on me; it is then a dream that I ceased, for a short
space. -- 21. It was not that words failed me, and therefore I was silent: it is
for the time I grieve, that has passed idly. -- 22. The hurt done by thy speech
is very great: would I had not heard it! For my whole mind is intent upon my
work. -- 23. This humankind that is lost, was undone by wandering thought:
slothfulness, with negligence, brought it under yoke. -- 24. The madness of
desire bid for wealth, and bought it: contention with boastfulness, were the
sureties. -- 25. With persistence for strength, I wage my war: and if I neglect
but a little, my sway is naught. -- 26. By continual dropping, I clean the
rocks: for continual dropping can dissolve even a mountain. -- 27. Habit even
over nature, becomes master: it trains and leads even lions, as beasts of
burden. -- 28. Habit, repose, and increase, with persistence; by these is
freedom conquered, though stubborn above all. -- 29. If its will be firmly set,
it breaks the fetters; but if lax, a fragile net, can capture it. -- 30. If so
be that Freedom shouts, we are scattered: but if she be silent we gather
together, to mock at her. -- 31. Let us cease from much speaking, lest it lead
to much sloth: with one mind let us assail the wall, and lo! it is broken down.
-- 32. S., Go thou and see to diseases, and I to snares: for to me sins and to
thee pestilences, are great solace. -- 33. And even though I have paused, I have
not paused from my cares: for my will at no time rests, but is ready.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 48: HYMN LVI. WITH FREEDOM IS THY STRUGGLE, O EVIL ONE: IT CAN CAST ON THEE A MUZZLE, IF IT SO PLEASE
========================================================================

1. With Freedom is thy struggle, O Evil One: it can cast on thee a muzzle, if it
so please. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory in whose victory we have gained strength:
and in whose resurrection we defy even Death itself! -- 3. Lo! again these two
exposed each other, how weak both are: Death reminded the Evil One of thy
mightiness (O Freedom). -- 4. Thy fire is in thy nest, O Death, and thou
perceivest not: the fate of the departed, to thee is overthrow. -- 5. Lo! Death
and the Evil One proclaim thy mightiness (O Freedom): yea, the Evil One calls to
mind thy faith. -- 6. If then these that were against thee are on thy side: this
is a great thing that thy persecutors have become thy heralds, -- 7. D., I
confess, O Evil One, that as usury: I lay up the King's treasures, till His
Coming. -- 8. S., I, O Death, rather deny that this belongs to God: this
treasure of subtlety, which I have stored. -- 9. D., Thy coinage is fraudulent,
then, O Satan: that into the treasuries of God, is not received. -- 10. S., A
new coinage do I coin, in kingly wise: lo! my merchantmen bring loss, into the
world. -- 11. God created everything out of nothing: and I created great sin out
of nothing -- 12. D., Closed and bound be thy mouth, Evil One, who art thus
bold: to set thyself, lo! in comparison with the Creator. -- 13. S., To me, O
Death, it is lawful to dare and speak: thy tongue, even thine, is a slave, and
under fear. -- 14. D., A gulf is henceforth between us, O Satan: for madly
against thy Lord, lo! thou assailest. -- 15. S., Wherefore doubtest thou, O
Death, of our concord? Be to us comrade and member: and lo! we reign. -- 16.
Come, draw we our pair of swords, against mankind: I secretly, thou openly, and
lo! we end them. -- 17. Sin and Sheol they too gave counsel to those two: saying
"If ye be divided, ye are undone." -- 18. See the waters how if dispersed, they
run low: but if gathered they gain strength, and thus ye likewise. -- 19. If
divided ye perish, as the feeble: but yoked together ye reign, as the mighty. --
20. Love melts down many, as in a furnace: and makes one powerful mass, that
overcomes all. -- 21. In it are wisdom and cunning, and force and power: it is
greater far than an image of sixty cubits. -- 22. Be reconciled, let us assemble
and go, against that party: which if it be at one can never be defeated. -- 23.
These things the troublers discoursed, and gathered and came: Thy day, Lord,
will gather them, into Gehenna. -- 24. Through Thy mercy, Lord, will I worship
Thee, when I have risen: at Thy trumpet I will praise Thy Son, when I am purged.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 49: HYMN LVII. LISTEN, MY BRETHREN, TO DEATH, MOCKING THE EVIL ONE: THAT CAUSED THE HEAD OF OUR RACE TO SIN, AND ITS MOTHER
========================================================================

1. Listen, my brethren, to Death, mocking the Evil One: that caused the head of
our race to sin, and its mother. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory that by Thy
humiliation, Satan is subdued: and that Thy abasement has exalted Adam, who was
abased. -- 3. D., Thy great nakedness shall be seen, by the sons of Adam; as
thou mockedst his nakedness, when thou madest him sin. -- 4. Eve will cease from
that serpent, and rail at thee: for thou, O Dragon, wast he that beguiled her
simpleness. -- 5. Abel will see him, even, Cain, who has come to thee: the
disciple of his wrath will blame his cursed master. -- 6. S., Noah who conquered
the flood, as it were death: by the mouth of Ham I laughed at, when wine
overcame him. -- 7. D., Noah was not harmed, but thy garment, wherewith thou
clothedst him: even cursings, he put on, and became a slave. -- 8. S., Lot who
overcame anger which is, thy likeness, Death: to his daughters I gave such
counsels, as were pleasing to me. -- 9. D., And Lot's wife who was thy vessel
hearkened, to thy counsel: may half of thee be dried up, as thy whole vessel was
dried up! -- 10. Gehenna be overturned, upon thy head: as thy malice overturned
Sodom, its dwellers! -- 11. Floods of fire be stirred against thee, in the
resurrection: who against Moses and Elijah, didst stir the people! -- 12. Let
the just mock thee at the last, and Joseph rejoice! whose brethren mocked him,
set on by thee! -- 13. Let vapour of smoke come in, and choke thy senses: as the
waters of the sea choked, the senses of the wicked! -- 14. Let chaste women also
mock thee, by whose counsel: the daughters of Midian mocked, the foolish people!
-- 15. Flame be kindled on thy head, for Samson's sake: for by a woman thou
shavedst his locks, that lion of strength! -- 16. S., Saul whom I conquered by
envy, by witchcraft conquered thee: for he asked for and brought up Samuel, out
of his grave. -- 17. D., Slander not the living dead, for he came not up: thou
wast he that came up in the phantom for thou wast worthy. -- 18. Let the
commandment hang thee over the flame, thou Evil One! for by thee they hanged
Absalom, upon a tree. -- 19. In the fire mayst thou see thyself humbled, among
vile women! for Solomon by thee was degraded, among profane women. -- 20.
Justice be measured to thee, as thou didst inflame her! even Jezebel who
devoured the prophets, thou kindledst her. -- 21. In fire mayst thou justly
burn, who madest them drunken! the two whom Elijah burnt up, when they went up
and assailed him. -- 22. On thee also be coals heaped! may he see and rejoice:
that Naboth in whom thou heapedst, a pile of stones! -- 23. Be thou clad in
scorn in the day of judgment, before all beholders! who clothedst Gehasi in a
leprosy, by means of thy theft. -- 24. With lightning for a dart be thou
pierced, O Satan! who in the heart of Josiah, didst fix thy darts. -- 25. Sink
thou in the dregs of Gehenna, O Satan! who didst sink Jeremiah in the mire of
the pit. -- 26. Daniel escaped from the pit, whither thou didst cast him: may he
have comfort in seeing thee, in the furnace for ever! -- 27. Be thy wickedness
returned on thy head, Hater of man: as his wickedness was returned on the head,
of Haman thy fellow! -- 28. May the King's Bride mock thee, as did Esther: when
thou beseechest her in the judgment-day, to plead for thee! -- 29. Fire released
the righteous ones, whom thou hadst bound: a mighty bond be to thee, the flame
of fire! -- 30. Be thou torn in sunder, and may the seven brothers, see thy
defeat: the sons of Shemuni who by thy wolves, were torn in sunder! -- 31. May
fire triumph over thy pate, as thou didst mock: the two heads of Nazarites, sons
of the barren! -- 32. May fire make mock of thy head, for mother and daughter:
triumphed over John's head, when thou didst madden them! -- 33. Flame triumphed
over thy head, O Evil One: for on the charges thou didst triumph, over John's
head!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 50: HYMN LVIII. LO! DEATH WAS PROMPT BEFOREHAND, TO MOCK SATAN
========================================================================

1. Lo! Death was prompt beforehand, to mock Satan: him who was doomed to become
a mockery at the last. -- 2. R., Glory to Thee Who by Thy crucifixion, didst
conquer the Evil One: and by Thy resurrection gain victory, likewise over Death!
-- 3. And for our Lord's sake Death spake curses on him: who was the cause of
His shame, and crucifixion. -- 4. D., The fiery pit be thy grave, O Satan: who
blasphemedst the Voice from the grave, that rent the graves -- 5. My Lord I
know, and the Son of my Lord, O thou Satan! thou hast denied thy Lord, and
crucified the Son of thy Lord. -- 6. This is the name that fits thee, "Slayer of
thy Lord": when He appears Whom thou slewest, He shall slay thee. -- 7. At thee
shall every one shake the head, for by thee the chiefs: shook their heads at
Him, the Lord of life. -- 8. A bruised reed under the feet, of the just shalt
thou be: for through thee they put a reed in His hand, Who upholds all. -- 9.
With a crown of thorns was He crowned, to signify: that He took the diadem of
the kingdom, of the house of David. -- 10. With a crown of thorns was He
crowned, the King of kings: but He took the diadem of the king, of those that
shamed him. -- 11. In the robes of mockery that they gave him, in those He
mocked them: for He took the raiment of glory, of priests and kings. -- 12. To
vinegar is thy memory akin, O thou Satan: who didst offer vinegar for the
thirst, of the Fount of Life. -- 13. The hand shall every man lift against thee
who strengthenedst the hand that smote Him by Whose hand, all creatures stand.
-- 14. He was smitten by the hand and He cut off the hand, of Caiaphas: the hand
of the priesthood is cut off, in the cutting off of the unction. -- 15. On the
pillar again they stretched Him, as for scourging: Him Whose pillar went before,
to guide their tribes. -- 16. The pillar on the pillar, He was scourged: He
removed Himself from out of Zion, and its fall came. -- 17. When they put two
beams together, to form the Cross: He broke them, even the two staves, the
guardians of them. -- 18. Ezekiel put together the sticks, the two in one: in
the two beams of the Cross, their staves have ceased. -- 19. The two sticks, as
it were wings, bore the people: lo! his two staves were broken, even as his
wings. -- 20. The bosom and wings of the Cross, He opened in mercy: its pinions
bowed and bore the nations, to go to Eden. -- 21. It is akin to the Tree of
Life, and unto the son of its stock: it leads its beloved that on its boughs,
they may feed on its fruits. -- 22. Go howl and weep, Evil One, for me and for
you: for not one of us shall enter the "Garden of Life." -- 23. S., Now that
thou hast confessed O Death, come let me tell thee: that all this discourse of
thine, to me is idle talk. -- 24. I will go and watch the snares, which I have
set: thou too, Death, fly and look after, all that are sick. -- 25. Our Lord has
brought both to nought, on either hand: the Evil One shall be brought to nought
here, and Death hereafter there.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 51: HYMN LIX. LO! DEATH FOR US ON SATAN, INFLICTS VENGEANCE
========================================================================

1. Lo! Death for us on Satan, inflicts vengeance: come let us hear his shame and
rejoice, for he rejoiced in our shame. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory from Thy
flock, from Thee: are subdued both Death and Satan, under Thy Feet! -- 3. D.,
Evil ones shall be hung upright, but thou, head downward: for, reversely, thou
crucifiedst, Simon on the tree. -- 4. S., Touching all else I am silent, Death,
for my time wanes: Simon himself conjured me, "Crucify me thus." -- 5. Were it
the just that cursed me, I had not grieved: the curse of Death unto me, is worse
than hell. -- 6. D., The shame of our Lord I have not spoken of, it is too great
for my mouth: that I should weigh and compare His Passion, with Thy torment. --
7. Twelve judgment thrones shall He set, for His Twelve: for by the twelve
tribes thou, even thou, shall be condemned. -- 8. A halter unbought shalt thou
hang thee, O thou Satan: as that Thy disciple hung him, a halter for a price. --
9. Haply yon hell in mercy, shall be emptied: and thou shalt dwell there alone,
with Thy ministers. -- 10. Manifold are Thy curses, and how shall I count them?
Lo! the sum of all thy curses, is on thy members. -- 11. The evil in the fire
shall stab thee, who madest them evil: they shall upbraid thee "wherefore,
broughtest thou us hither?" -- 12. Sinners shall rail against thee, and haply
their threats: shall be worse to thee than the torment, of yonder hell. -- 13.
These shall be unto thee there, all of them Satans: as thou hast been to them
here, the one Satan. -- 14. The Watchers shall seize and hurl thee down, calling
to mind: how through thee men hurled their Lord, from the height to the depth.
-- 15. All men will run to stone thee, not forgetting that through thee the
maddened people ran, to stone their Maker. -- 16. On thee, Evil One, from all
mouths shall be, the spitting of wrath: for through thee they spat on Him Whose
spittle, gave sight to the blind. -- 17. On thee, Evil One, from all tongues,
shall be all curses: for through thee men blasphemed Him, Who opened dumb
mouths. -- 18. Blessed is He Who avenged our wrong, though in silence: and
stirred up Death against the Evil One, to fall upon him! -- 19. Sound we
Hosannas, my brethren, as did Gideon: [353] who when he sounded, the oppressors,
fell on one another!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 52: HYMN LX. O WHAT AMAZEMENT BEFEL THE EVIL ONE, OF A SUDDEN, MY BRETHREN: WHEN THE SINFUL WOMAN WAS CORRECTED, AND GAINED WISDOM!
========================================================================

1. O what amazement befel the Evil One, of a sudden, my brethren: when the
sinful woman was corrected, and gained Wisdom! -- 2. R., Glory to the One Who
alone, conquered the Evil One; and to Him yea Him be also confession, Who
vanquished Death! -- 3. The Evil One marvelled "Where is her laughter? where her
perfumes? where her dancing and outward ornament, and inward wickedness?" -- 4.
Instead of that light laughter, she is given up to tears: She has cut off her
hair to wipe the dust, off the feet of Jesus. -- 5. Naught lasts in her of any
doctrine, nor abides in her: from our instruction she has escaped and cast away,
all that I taught her. -- 6. She has denied us and our acquaintance, and even as
though: she had never seen me she has blotted my image, out of her mind. -- 7.
The living leaven of Jesus flew to her, Jesus was silent: but she made bold to
press and enter, though none called her. -- 8. She forgot our love of many
years, and in the twinkling of an eye: from between me and her she removed it,
and set Death there. -- 9. For instead of laughter weeping delights her, and
instead of paint: a shower of tears, and instead of ornament, a sad countenance.
-- 10. Zaccheus I made chief of extortioners, and her I made: chief of wantons;
my two wings, Jesus has broken. -- 11. If so be Zaccheus becomes his disciple,
and if so be she: becomes his hearer, henceforth they fetter, my craftiness. --
12. Carved images henceforth are a mockery and the carvers: a derision, and the
worshippers a laughing-stock. -- 13. I shut men's eyes that they might not
perceive, that they are carved images: Jesus opens their eyes to see that they
are the works of men's hands. -- 14. If Jesus has chosen for Himself preachers,
then our preaching: whereof the whole world is full, is put to silence. -- 15.
For lo! the Chaldeans with the soothsayers, and lo! the wizards: with the
diviners they are smitten and the priests, with all evil ones! -- 16. Ye priests
are ended and have given up the Ghost from henceforth, depart ye diviners!
become husbandmen, the Chaldeans likewise, shall close their books. -- 17. If
the Hebrews have become His disciples, who by all miracles: were not subdued,
who of the nations, shall not obey him? -- 18. If he begins to set straight the
reverse, He brings to naught our speech: henceforth He will not hesitate against
us, He who rebukes all men. -- 19. In that I was worshipped in all temples, our
disgrace is greater: than our honour was, for all men spit, upon our altars. --
20. Flesh of sacrifice becomes abhorred, into fragments: idols are broken, and
carven images burn, under their pots. -- 21. All our work becomes a
laughing-stock, and a ruin: all that we have built, and a mockery, all that we
have taught. -- 22. The secret mysteries that I taught them, laboriously: are
about to be spread abroad, on the housetops. -- 23. Of the Egyptians I was more
proud, than of any nation: for they used to worship even, the onions and garlic.
-- 24. Lo! I fear lest even here, where delusion was so great: truth shall
prevail that there exceedingly, Jesus may reign. -- 25. And if when He was an
infant, and fled and went down, Egypt marvelled: yea lulled him -- this
strangler of babes, loved their Babe. -- 26. Was it a pledge He went down to
give her, as a betrother: giving assurance that when of full age, He will also
take her to wife? -- 27. Pharaoh cannot set his foot firm, for this is no
stammerer: that he should deceive Him, and no bondman, that he should lie unto
Him. -- 28. Moses smote and the Egyptians rebelled, and he chastised the people:
and the Hebrews rebelled -- Jesus is smitten, and gives life to all. -- 29. This
is hard to understand that not by force; lays He His yoke: on the rebellious: He
was rebuked, and He instructs others. -- 30. The spittle of His mouth, wiped off
and took away, the shame of Adam: by the smiting of His cheeks, He rooted out
our wrathfulness, from His disciples. -- 31. By the nails which he received, He
made me to suffer. I rejoiced when I crucified Him: and I knew not that He was
crucifying me, in His crucifixion.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 53: HYMN LXI. IN WISDOM LET US HEARKEN TO DEATH, O MY BELOVED: HOW HE ACCUSES US FOR OUR WEEPING, AND FOR OUR MOURNING
========================================================================

1. In wisdom let us hearken to Death, O my beloved: how he accuses us for our
weeping, and for our mourning. -- 2. R., To thee be praise Who cameth down, to
follow Adam: and foundest Adam and also in the children of Adam. -- 3. And
rightly perhaps he says, "Ye slay: without mercy and lo! ye weep, as though
merciful." -- 4. Ye have made me as a cruel one, O ye murderers: for ye slay one
another, without my help! -- 5. While Death was but desiring to come, the sword
came before him: let us see then against whom cries out, the blood of the slain.
-- 6. Against you cry out the strangled, who were suffocated: for it shames me
of the rope, of their strangulations. -- 7. They take away from me even my rest,
for without me: how could the strangled and the slain, enter Sheol? -- 8. Lo!
your infants are cast out, as those in Egypt: your sons have ye sacrificed to
demons, O demoniacs! -- 9. While Death was but desiring to taste, of your
corpses: Cain refreshed me beforehand, with blood of man. -- 10. While I was but
desiring to wait patiently, till Adam should die: before I had power ye gave me
power, over your bodies. -- 11. Cain with his sword overthrew, the gate of
Sheol: for it was closed and before the time, he first opened it. -- 12. He by
treading made the way of Sheol, without my help: for in the way ye have trodden
out for me, lo! I walk therein. -- 13. Nine hundred years I sat and waited, for
Adam to die: but Cain not even a day, endured his brother. -- 14. Robbers upon
the highways, are worse than I: I am slumbering while they, are watching to
slay. -- 15. Lo! your slaughtered in the graves, and your murdered in your ways;
and your strangled upon your stakes! -- 16. "If I rebelled against my lord, yea
and slew him: who was he that slew these here," said Jehu. -- 17. And if I Death
have taken, your departed: the strangled, the slain, and the slaughtered, who
was it slew them? -- 18. Ye are Satan to each other, and the Evil One is
abhorred: ye are pestilence to each other, and Death is blamed! -- 19. Your own
will to you is Satan, yea and a murderer: but of Death and of Satan, all men
complain. -- 20. Poison of Death ye give also to drink, each to other: lo! how
many Deaths have ye, beside me. -- 21. Wiles, stratagems, yea and snares, sword
and poison: how many Deaths from you and in you, lo! are there born. -- 22. The
judge in the judgment-hall, is a second Death: he slays for secret reward, but I
for naught. -- 23. I have seen bribery and marvelled at it, that ran and outran
me: how many slain does bribery, slay, and none perceives! -- 24. I am ashamed
that so unskilfully, I conduct myself: if I take even one corpse, all men
perceive it. -- 25. In the houses weeping and in the streets, also wailing: and
even unto the gates of Sheol, they groan over me. -- 26. Groan over yourselves
that ye are thus hateful, and ye hate me: Sheol henceforth shall groan over you,
O murderers! -- 27. With torture, scourging and fire, yea with stoning: ye put
to death the sons of men, and ye are proud! -- 28. I am more modest than you and
merciful, also reverent: for with reverence I bear away, your departed. -- 29.
On the bed I deal gently, with him that is sick: and quietly I lay him to sleep,
for but a while.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 54: HYMN LXII. LO! DEATH, THE KING OF SILENCE, COMPLAINS, MY BRETHREN
========================================================================

1. Lo! Death, the King of silence, complains, my brethren: that we have filled
his abode with the wailing, of Hope cut off. -- 2. R., To Him be great praise
Who comest down, to us here below: and suffered and rose again and in His Body,
raises our bodies! -- 3. While we weep like madmen, at the gates of Sheol:
hearken what Death says, reproaching us. -- 4. It shames me, says Death, that
ye, have overcome me: the half of Sheol suffices not, to contain your slain. --
5. For alien corpses together, lie heaped in Sheol: there are two divisions
there, the dead, the slain. -- 6. Whereas I should complain that ye have wronged
me, lo! ye are weeping: ye have burst the gate of Sheol, and done me hurt. -- 7.
For ye are like unto an infant, which while yet weeping: laughs again as ye
also, over your dead. -- 8. For there is no discretion in your mourning, and no
understanding: in your laughter -- for to me ye seem like, to a weaned babe. --
9. One hour weeping and wailing, and after a little: both jesting and
wantonness, as of children. -- 10. For ye are unable to become, perfect men:
that weep not yea and laugh not, as the discreet. -- 11. Touching your books we
are grieved, that they have toiled over them: who should read them unto you,
even the divine Scriptures. -- 12. The readers are crying aloud, for ye are
deaf: this their crying proves concerning you, that ye are as stocks. -- 13. For
since the reader and the interpreter, are crying aloud: your ears therefore are
heavy, or else your hearts. -- 14. For if there were with you an ear, open to
persuasion: it were meet to hear little, and to do much. -- 15. But because its
hearing is closed, whoso knocks at it: the voice returns back to him, who sent
it forth. -- 16. There is no crying with me of mine, I am not deaf: none that
reads or interprets for me, I am not dull. -- 17. The breath that is from Him
commands me, sons the God of truth: and with the command there follows, also the
fulfilment. -- 18. With me is no holding back, no turnings aside: I wot no arrow
even, could outstrip me. -- 19. But your voices are scorned by me, when ye are
weeping: over the graves of your departed, in the cutting off of hope. -- 20.
Were it possible or permitted, when ye are weeping: I would go forth and tell
you, to your faces. -- 21. "I am endeavouring to give, an account of the death:
and your voices disturb me, that I err in my count." -- 22. Ye nations, let not
your understanding, become childish: like that nation whose intelligence, was
never great. -- 23. In which prudence bestows not itself, as in a fool: for its
thoughts are darkness, without discernment. -- 24. For your infants and your
sons, in the resurrection: they shall be foremost to come forth, as the first
fruits -- 25. Then after them shall come the just, as victorious: last shall
come forth the sinner, as put to shame. -- 26. For although in the twinkling of
an eye, they be quickened: yet is it in order that their ranks, come forth from
Sheol. -- 27. Prophets come forth and Apostles, and holy Fathers: following them
in due array, according to command. -- 28. Lo! that which now is sown, in random
mixture: is yielded back in great order, as garden-herbs. -- 29. For though one
in the sowing, should mix all seeds: that which is earlier than its fellow,
prevents its fellow, -- 30. And not as their going down was confused, so
disordered shall be: their coming up from the earth, for its order is fixed. --
31. Lo! I have been against myself, in what I have said: for secret things which
ye comprehended not, from me ye have learned. -- 32. Instead of the tears that
profit not, which are at the tomb: pour them forth in your prayer, in the midst
of the Church. -- 33. For to the dead there is profit in these, and likewise to
the living: weep not with a weeping that afflicts, both dead and living!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 55: HYMN LXIII. WHO SHALL WEIGH THE RECOMPENSE OF ABRAHAM? WHOM I MARVELLED AT WHEN HE BOUND, HIS ONLY SON
========================================================================

1. Who shall weigh the recompense of Abraham? whom I marvelled at when he bound,
his only son. -- 2. R., To thee be glory, Voice that bringest to life the dead
in Sheol: and they have come up as preachers, of His Son Who quickens all! -- 3.
At that time I came forth in haste, to see the marvel: how that his knife was
drawn out, against his beloved. -- 4. I gathered my manifold memories, from all
quarters: and I collected my spirit to marvel, at that illustrious one. -- 5.
How therefore can ye read, that great story? ye have despised the reading of it,
in your very ears. -- 6. The sword of Jephthah rebukes, him that laments: his
daughter was to him a mirror of life from the dead. -- 7. She gave herself for
her father, so commend ye: your life to the Father of all, in the hope of your
end. -- 8. In the womb then did ye not make trial, of a mystery of Sheol? yet in
Sheol ye had more rest, than in the womb. -- 9. It is stubborn in you to stand
up against, my mighty will: for lo! to succour them I take away, your departed.
-- 10. By the king of Moab who slew, his son with his hands: he is put to shame
who laments, for the departed one. -- 11. He was a profane man, lo! according,
to what you read: but ye are doctors and teachers, as ye suppose. -- 12. He
endured, but ye are furious, in your mourning: against the will of the Lord of
all, while ye are weeping. -- 13. I fear however to let pass, the story of Job:
through this feeble mouth of mine, for I am unworthy. -- 14. So in like manner I
turn aside, from mention of their bones: though I praise Him who granted, that
they should come to me. -- 15. Dishonour not your members, by your sins: for in
Sheol the bones are despised, of evildoers. -- 16. Whenever I see the body of
one of the evil: I trample on it and curse, even his memory. -- 17. But wherever
I see a bone, of one of the just; I set it apart and honour it, and do it
worship. -- 18. Ye feeble ones understand not, all my ordinances: with you
orders are confused, for ye are blind. -- 19. It is Moses alone that I know, to
have honoured like me: the bones of that Joseph whom I magnify. -- 20. But Moses
did such honour, to one pure body: but I to the body and the bones, of all the
righteous. -- 21. Brightly shine the bones of Prophets, and of Apostles: a lamp
to me in darkness, are all the righteous. -- 22. I worship Him Who lightens for
me, the darkness of Sheol: the splendour of Moses who was so great, was as the
sun to me.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 56: HYMN LXIV. O FEEBLE ONES, WHY WEEP YE, OVER YOUR DEAD: WHO IN DEATH ARE AT REST FROM SORROWS AND SINS?--2
========================================================================

1. O feeble ones, why weep ye, over your dead: who in death are at rest from
sorrows and sins? -- 2. R., Glory to Him Who endured all, for the sake of all
men: yea tasted death for the sake of all, to bring all to life -- 3. I reveal
unto you, that even Satan, though much content: at your weeping, yet laughs
much, at your mourning. -- 4. In mockery he winks at me and nods to me, as a
jester: "Come let us laugh at sinners, for lo! they are mad." -- 5. Truly they
have given up remembrance of that fire, which I have hidden for them: and lo!
the fools are drunken with weeping, for their departed. -- 6. Instead of weeping
as though, without provision: I had plundered and sent forth their dead, lo!
they are mad. -- 7. The souls of the evil are to be afflicted, till the judgment
day: and these weep over the graves, like to madmen. -- 8. They care not for
their own sins, that haply to-morrow: they must go in shame of face, to join
their dead. -- 9. And thus shall all be put to shame alike, family by family: in
Sheol the wretches shall repent without avail. -- 10. Leave the drunken and the
madman, until that day: wherein each shall shake off his wine wherewith he was
maddened. -- 11. I will go to gather them, like children: that they may play the
wanton and the madman, until they perish. -- 12. Lo! I have revealed to you the
mystery, the secret of my comrade: go forth therefore, depart, amend, in
repentance. -- 13. Leave me, I too will depart, I will see to my affairs: that
with open face I may give my account to my Lord. -- 14. I know that the wind as
it blew, has borne away my words: for ye are the same whom I, ofttimes have
proved. -- 15. I remember Jeremiah how he, compared boldness: to the Indian who
changes not his skin, though it is of freedom. -- 16. For this too belongs to
it, even to freedom: that it binds itself by the will, as though by nature. --
17. For so powerful is the will, in them that are free: that it may be likened
to nature, through its workings. [354]


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  CHAPTER 57: HYMN LXV. MAN, O DEATH, DESPISE THOU IT NOT, THAT IMAGE OF ADAM: WHICH LIKE A SEED IS COMMITTED TO EARTH, TILL THE RESURRECTION
========================================================================

1. Man, O Death, despise thou it not, that image of Adam: which like a seed is
committed to earth, till the Resurrection. -- 2. R., To thee be glory Who didst
descend and plunge, after Adam: and draw him out from the depths of Sheol, and
bring him into Eden! -- 3. Death, I marvel at this seed, and at your words: for
lo! after five thousand years, it springs not yet. -- 4. M., Its present state
passes away, as winter does: and as a handful of corn it comes in the
resurrection, to the garner of life. -- 5. D., That there is vintage-time, lo! I
know, but I have not seen: the dead at any time sown, or yet reaped. -- 6. M.,
There is coming a reaping, O Death, that will leave thee bare: and the Watchers
shall go forth as reapers, and make thee desolate. -- 7. D., When did I become
husbandman, instead of vine-dresser? who has turned Sheol the wine-press, into a
tilled field? -- 8. M., Does not the seed then teach thee, which decays and
dies: and is cut off from hope, yet from the rain, recovers hope? -- 9. D., A
dream have ye seen ye feeble ones, of life from the dead: for in waking time the
resurrection, ye do not see. -- 10. M., Thy drowsiness hinders thee, that thou
seest not: the multitudes of mysteries which cry aloud, of the resurrection. --
11. D., I know that seeds come to life, but I have not seen: bones that grew in
Sheol, and sprang and came up. -- 12. M., All thy discourse is like thyself, for
lo! Ezekiel: has taught thee how in the valley, the dead come to life. -- 13.
D., Trees have I seen how in summer, they put on their garments: but bones in
their nakedness, are cast into Sheol. -- 14. M., Moses broke by his splendour,
thy heart, O Death: the son of Adam has regained and put on, the glory of Adam.
-- 15. D., Our law in Sheol is this, to keep silence: for you are words and for
me deeds, O feeble ones. -- 16. M., How are the aged passed over if thou be
vinedresser? He Who hindered thee from taking their lives, the same quickens
all. -- 17. The babe in the womb confutes thee, which is as buried there: to me
it proclaims life from the dead, but to thee despoiling. -- 18. The despised
flower despises thee, for it is shut up and passed over: yet though lost it is
not lost, but blossoms again. -- 19. The chick cries out from the egg, wherein
it is buried: and the graves are rent by a Voice, and the body arises. -- 20.
For a body too is the chick, that is in the egg: lo! its body to our body
proclaims, the life from the dead. -- 21. With the locust thy plea is
overthrown, and ended, O Death: for in coming forth from the dust it teaches,
the life from the dead. -- 22. D., I had been content if already, the
resurrection had been: for the day of resurrection had disturbed me less, than
your judgments. -- 23. Merciful is the Son of the Highest, yea good and just:
and will not harshly avenge on me, the death of Adam. -- 24. Have ye then no
understanding, to perceive this: that your father laid on you, this retribution?


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 58: HYMN LXVI. HOLD YOUR PEACE, O MORTALS SAID DEATH), A LITTLE WHILE: AND BE LIKE ME WHO AM SO SILENT, IN THE MIDST OF SHEOL
========================================================================

1. Hold your peace, O mortals (said Death), a little while: and be like me who
am so silent, in the midst of Sheol. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory, Watcher, that
didst come down, after them that slept: and utter the voice from the Tree, and
waken them! -- 3. Ye are grieving, yea, weeping, for him that has gone: as
though he came to grind for me, the mill in Sheol. -- 4. Great is the peace I
give, unto the wearied: I wax not weary as you, nor weary them. -- 5. I hear all
manner of curses, from thankless men: the sons of Adam are like Adam, who was
thankless to his Lord. -- 6. Contrary one to the other are your voices, and your
doings: with your voices ye weep and in your doings, ye fight daily. -- 7. I
heard weeping and I thought to myself, that none labours: I saw toiling and I
thought to myself, that no man dies. -- 8. The struggles of man made me think,
that he is not mortal: his great weeping made me think, that to-morrow he is
not. -- 9. Hear and let me be your counsellor, if ye be willing: for these two,
these burdens, are very bitter. -- 10. Cease a little while from this toil, and
from this weeping: toil ye and weep as mortals, who to-morrow vanish. -- 11. Ye
are frantic with weeping, for your departed: and ye struggle in toiling, for
your possessions. -- 12. It is well with the infants that die, and blessed are
they: for they are freed from the misery, whereunto ye are cast. -- 13. Suffer
me to go to Sheol, and there to say: "Happy are ye silent dead, how tranquil are
ye!" -- 14. Hear the conclusion of our own words, If there be a resurrection:
weep not ye, neither labour as though strangers. -- 15. Ye straggle as one who
was to live, here forever: and ye weep as one who never, should rise again. --
16. Hear my words, if there be with you place for hearing: and prepare you
provision that when I call ye may answer. -- 17. For I hearken even I, to Him
that calls me: and will restore your bodies, with your treasures. -- 18. Let
there be peace between us, until that day: and when ye come forth I will cry and
say, "Depart in peace!" -- 19. Come ye, you and I even now, shall give glory: to
Him that brings to death and to life, that He may give aid. -- 20. Praise from
us all be to thee, O Lord, the living Sacrifice! Who by the sacrifice of Thy
Body hast given life to quick and dead. -- 21. Praise to Him Who clothed Himself
in our body, and died and rose again: He died in us and we live in Him, blessed
be He Who sent Him!


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  CHAPTER 59: HYMN LXVII. COME YE, LET US HEAR HOW DEATH CONVICTS THE PEOPLE: THAT HARSHER THAN DEATH WAS THEIR SWORD, AGAINST THE JUST
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1. Come ye, let us hear how Death convicts the People: that harsher than Death
was their sword, against the just. -- 2. R., To Thee be glory, Who by Thy
sacrifice, hast redeemed our disgrace: and Whose death was instead of all
deaths, that Thou mightst raise all! -- 3. It was not Death indeed that
crucified Jesus, but it was the People: how hateful then the People, that are
yet more hateful than I! -- 4. Into the pit they cast Jeremiah, the miry pit:
but I in Sheol allotted, honour to his bones. -- 5. Naboth they bruised to death
with stones, as though he were a dog: how good am I who have never stoned, even
a dog! -- 6. The Hebrew women in famine, ate their children: Sheol is good who
delivers and gives them up, without difficulty. -- 7. To the widow I gave her
son, by the hand of Elijah: to the Shunamite her beloved, by the hand of Elisha.
-- 8. The Hebrew women in greed, ate their children: Sheol gave up the dead and
learned, to fast soberly. -- 9. Sheol was not indeed Sheol, but its semblance:
Jezebel was the true Sheol, who devoured the just. -- 10. The sons of the
prophets and the prophets, she slew and cast down: to heaven Elijah escaped,
from her fury. -- 11. How many deaths instead of one Death, were among the
People! and how many Sheols instead of one, were there also! -- 12. Samaria and
Jezrael her daughters, in Israel: and Zion and Jerusalem her sister, in Judea.
-- 13. Prophets and just men in Judea, and in Israel: in these two abysses, they
were drowned. -- 14. Why then is Sheol hated, and she alone: though there be
many that are hateful, rather than she? -- 15. The dead of the men of Judah, to
me are right hateful: yea, abhorred by me are their bones, in the midst of
Sheol. -- 16. Would that then I had a way to cast them out: to cast their bones
thence from Sheol, for they cause her to rot. -- 17. I wonder at the Holy
Spirit, that He thus dwelt: in the midst of a People whose savour stank, as
their conversation. -- 18. Onions and garlic are the heralds of their doings: as
is the food so is the understanding, of this defiled people. -- 19. Through the
supplication of all that bow, and worship Thy Father: have mercy on Thy
worshipper, who is thankless for Thy love. -- 20. From Hebrews and Aramæans, and
also from the Watchers: to Thee be praise and through Thee to Thy Father, be
also glory! -- 21. For that I have a mouth to Death, who is without mouth: may
the Son Who is all mouths, hold back my offence from His Father!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 60: HYMN LXVIII. O, DEATH, BE NOT THOU BOASTFUL, OVER THE JUST
========================================================================

1. Man., O, Death, be not thou boastful, over the just: the sons of thy Lord who
at His command, come to dwell with thee. -- 2. R., To thee be glory that by Thy
command, Death has reigned: and by Thy Resurrection has been humbled to low
estate! -- 3. Death., Herein am I exceeding great, according to thy saying: that
though I be bond-man I trample on them that are free. -- 4. M., Adam was chosen
and ruler, and under his yoke: thou, Death, and the Evil One, thy fellow, became
bondmen. -- 5. D., This is our pride that lo! the slaves have become lords:
Death, and Satan, his fellow, have trampled on Adam. -- 6. M., Lo! the humbling
of thee and thy fellow, accurst servants! how Enoch trampled on you both, and
rose aloft and reigned. -- 7. D., If so be Enoch made me grieve, yet have I
comfort for on Noah's dust in Sheol, lo! I trample. -- 8. M., Tremble, O Death,
before man, for though a servant, the yoke of his dominion reigns on all
creatures. -- 9. D., I rejoice then that they are no mean foes that I have
overcome: for according to the greatness of the vanquished, he is great that
overcomes. -- 10. M., Well does thy voice sing triumph, O Death, over the just:
for Enoch and Elijah have broken thy pair of wings. -- 11. D., I know how to
weigh my sorrows with my comforts: in place of two, lo! many are come and
coming. -- 12. M., All that are come and coming to thee dwell as sojourners, and
depart from thy abode as Lazarus. -- 13. D., This thy saying hurts me not,
rather it heals me: for Lazarus who rebelled against me, I again subdued. -- 14.
M., Make answer, O Death, and argue what constrained him, to be raised unless it
were a mystery, showing forth his resurrection. -- 15. D., Ye are famous in
arguing as idle ones, while I labour in my task to discern and perform -- 16.
M., Thou wast well prepared for argument, what has checked thee? The truth of
our resurrection has constrained thee by its reputations. -- 17. D., Ye have
made me hated by you, though I be not hateful: I am he that gives rest to your
aged, and your afflicted. -- 18. Ye have made me as one that troubles, O ye
mortals: Adam brought death upon you, and I bear the blame. -- 19. Gently will I
expose you, for I am a slave, and ye are they that by your sins have made me
king. -- 20. The will of Adam roused me for I was at rest: I was dead and ye
quickened me, that ye might die by me. -- 21. I accuse the lying ones, who slew
and denied it: for Adam slew himself and charges me. -- 22. The beginning of
strife was the accursed serpent which has rightly been crippled: which crept,
entered, and set enmity between me and you. -- 23. Satan is passed by and it is
against me that ye are roused: go, strive with the Evil One who made you
transgress. -- 24. He is my comrade and I deny it not, but though he be much
hated, what need that I be blamed for him. I deny him henceforth. -- 25. Hearken
to my words, O mortals, and I will console you: I have afflicted you and I
confess the life from the dead. -- 26. For there begins to steal into my ears a
voice of preparation: of the trumpet that holds itself ready to sound. -- 27.
Hear my words and put much oil into your lamps: for hindrance from my part there
is none for you. -- 28. Yet, Know ye that even although I have said these
things, dear is the sound of your voice in the solitude of Sheol. -- 29. For man
has been weighed by me, and great is his peace: for snakes and fishes and birds
come to meet him. -- 30. But it is a marvel that to the Watchers, too, his
converse is dear: yea, the Evil One in Gehenna, desires his presence. -- 31. Ye
shall have life from the dead, O ye mortals, and I who am bereft shall be bereft
in the midst of Sheol. -- 32. Let praise ascend from all to Thee Who quickenest
all, and from every quarter gatherest the dust of Adam!


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 61: NINETEEN HYMNS ON THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST IN THE FLESH. 
========================================================================

Translated, I.-XIII., By REV. J. B. Morris, M.A., [Oxford Library of the
Fathers]; XIV.-XIX. By REV. A. Edward Johnston, B.D.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 62: HYMNS ON THE NATIVITY. HYMN I. THIS IS THE DAY THAT GLADDENED THEM, THE PROPHETS, KINGS, AND PRIESTS, FOR IN IT WERE THEIR WORDS FULFILLED, AND THUS WERE THE WHOLE OF THEM INDEED PERFORMED!
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This is the day that gladdened them, the Prophets, Kings, and Priests, for in it
were their words fulfilled, and thus were the whole of them indeed performed!
For the Virgin this day brought forth Immanuel in Bethlehem. The voice that of
old Isaiah spake, [355] to-day became reality. He was born there who in writing
should tell the Gentiles' number! The Psalm that David once sang, by its
fulfilment came to-day! [356] The word that Micah once spake, [357] to-day was
come indeed to pass! For there came from Ephrata a Shepherd, and His staff
swayed over souls. Lo! from Jacob shone the Star, [358] and from Israel rose the
Head. [359] The prophecy that Balaam spake had its interpreting to-day! Down
also came the hidden Light, and from the Body rose His beauty! The light that
spake in Zachary, to-day shined in Bethlehem! Risen is the Light of the kingdom,
in Ephrata the city of the King. The blessing wherewith Jacob blessed, to its
fulfilment came to-day! That tree likewise, [the tree] of life, brings hope to
mortal men! Solomon's hidden proverb [360] had to-day its explanation! To-day
was born the Child, and His name was called Wonder! [361] For a wonder it is
that God as a Babe should show Himself. By the word Worm did the Spirit foreshow
Him in parable, [362] because His generation was without marriage. The type that
the Holy Ghost figured to-day its meaning was [explained.] He came up as a root
before Him, as a root of parched ground. [363] Aught that covertly was said,
openly to-day was done! The King that in Judah was hidden, Thamar stole Him from
his thigh; to-day arose His conquering beauty, which in hidden estate she loved.
Ruth at Boaz' side lay down, because the Medicine of Life hidden in him she
perceived. To-day was fulfilled her vow, since from her seed arose the Quickener
of all. Travail Adam on the woman brought, that from him had come forth. She
to-day her travail ransomed, who to her a Saviour bare! To Eve our mother a man
gave birth, who himself had had no birth. How much more should Eve's daughter be
believed to have borne a Child without a man! The virgin earth, she bare that
Adam that was head over the earth! The Virgin bare to-day the Adam that was Head
over the Heavens. The staff of Aaron, it budded, and the dry wood yielded fruit!
Its mystery is cleared up to-day, for the virgin womb a Child hath borne! [364]
Shamed is that people which holds the prophets as true; for unless our Saviour
has come, their words have been falsified! Blessed be the True One Who came from
the Father of the Truth and fulfilled the true seers' words, which were
accomplished in their truth. From thy treasure-house put forth, Lord, from the
coffers of Thy Scriptures, names of righteous men of old, who looked to see Thy
coming! Seth who was in Abel's stead shadowed out the Son as slain, by Whose
death was dulled the envy Cain had brought into the world! Noah saw the sons of
God, saints that sudden waxed wanton, and the Holy Son he looked for, by whom
lewd men were turned to holiness. The brothers twain, that covered Noah, [365]
saw the only Son of God who should come to hide the nakedness of Adam, who was
drunk with pride. Shem and Japhet, being gracious, looked for the gracious Son,
Who should come and set free Canaan from the servitude of sin. Melchizedek
expected Him; as His vicegerent, looked that he might see the Priesthood's Lord
whose hyssop [366] purifies the world. Lot beheld the Sodomites how they
perverted nature: for nature's Lord he looked who gave a holiness not natural.
Him Aaron looked for, for he saw that if his rod ate serpents up, [367] His
cross would eat the Serpent up that had eaten Adam and Eve. Moses saw the
uplifted serpent that had cured the bites of asps, and he looked to see Him who
would heal the ancient Serpent's wound. Moses saw that he himself alone retained
the brightness from God, and he looked for Him who came and multiplied gods by
His teaching: [368] Caleb the spy bore the cluster on the staff, and came and
longed to see the Cluster, Whose wine should comfort the world. Him did Jesus
son of Nun long for, that he might conceive the force of his own surname: for if
by His name he waxed so mighty, [369] how much more would He by His Birth? This
Jesus that gathered and carried, and brought with him of the fruit, was longing
for the Tree of Life to taste the Fruit that quickens all. For Him Rahab too was
looking; for when the scarlet thread in type redeemed her from wrath, in type
she tasted of the Truth. For Him Elijah longed, and when Him on earth he saw
not, he, through faith most throughly cleansed, mounted up in heaven to see Him.
Moses saw Him and Elijah; the meek man from the depth ascended, the zealous from
on high descended, and in the midst beheld the Son. They figured the mystery of
His Advent: Moses was a type of the dead, and Elijah a type of the living, that
fly to meet Him at His coming. [370] For the dead that have tasted death, them
He makes to be first: and the rest that are not buried, are last caught up to
meet Him. Who is there that can count me up the just that looked for the Son,
whose number cannot be determined by the mouth of us weak creatures? Pray ye for
me, O beloved, that another time with strength endued, I in another legend may
so set forth their foretaste, as I am able. Who is adequate to the praising of
the Son of the Truth that has risen to us? For it was for Him the righteous
longed, that in their generation they might see Him. Adam looked for Him, for He
is the Cherub's Lord, and could minister an entrance and a residence hard by the
branches of the Tree of life. Abel longed after Him, that in his days He might
come; that instead of that lamb that he offered, the Lamb of God he might
behold. For Him Eve also looked; for woman's nakedness was sore, and He capable
to clothe them; not with leaves, but with that same glory that they had
exchanged away. The tower that the many builded, in mystery looked for One, who
coming down would build on earth a tower that lifts up to Heaven. Yea the ark of
living creatures looked in a type for our Lord; for He should build the Holy
Church, wherein souls find a refuge. In Peleg's days earth was divided into
tongues, threescore and ten. [371] For Him Who by the tongues, to His Apostles
divided earth. Earth which the flood had swallowed up, in silence cried to her
Lord. He came down and opened Baptism, and men were drawn by it to Heaven. Seth
and Enos, Cainan too, were surnamed sons of God; for the Son of God they looked,
that they by grace might be His brethren. But little short of a thousand years
did Methuselah live: He looked for the Son Who makes heirs of life that never
ends! Grace itself in hidden mystery was beseeching on their behalf that their
Lord might come in their age and fill up their shortcomings. For the Holy Spirit
in them, in their stead, besought with meditation: [372] He stirred them up, and
in Him did they look on that Redeemer, after whom they longed. [373] The soul of
just men perceive in the Son a Medicine of life; and so it felt desires that He
might come in its own days, and then would it taste His sweetness. Enoch was
longing for Him, and since on earth the Son he saw not, he was justified by
great faith, and mounted up in Heaven to see Him. Who is there that will spurn
at grace, when the Gift that they of old gained not by much labour, freely comes
to men now? For Him Lamech also looked who might come and lovingly give Him
quiet from his labour and the toiling of his hands, and from the earth the Just
One had cursed. [374] Lamech then beheld his son, Noah, -- him, in whom were
figured types relating to the Son. In the stead of the Lord afar off, the type
at hand afforded quiet. Yea Noah also longed to see Him, the taste of whose
assisting graces he had tasted. For if the type of Him preserved living things,
Himself how sure to bestow life upon souls! Noah longed for Him, by trial
knowing Him, for through Him had the ark been established. For if the type of
Him thus saved life, assuredly much more would He in person. Abraham perceived
in Spirit that the Son's Birth was far off; instead of Him in person he rejoiced
to see even His day. [375] To see Him Isaac longed, as having tasted the taste
of His redemption; [376] for if the sign of Him so gave life, much more would He
by the reality. Joyous [377] were to-day the Watchers, [378] that the Wakeful
came to wake us! Who would pass this night in slumber, in which all the world
was watching? Since Adam brought into the world the sleep of death by sins, the
Wakeful came down that He might awake us from the deep sleep of sin. Watch not
we as usurers, who thinking on money put to interest, watch at night so oft, to
reckon up their capital, and interest. Wakeful and cautious is the thief, who in
the earth hath buried and concealed his sleep. His wakefulness all [comes to]
this, that he may cause much wakefulness to them that be asleep. Wakeful
likewise is the glutton, who hath eaten much and is restless; his watching is to
him his torment, because he was impatient of stint. Wakeful likewise is the
merchant; of a night he works his fingers telling over what pounds are coming,
and if his wealth doubles or trebles. Wakeful likewise is the rich man, whose
sleep his riches chase away: his dogs sleep; he guards his treasures from the
thieves. Wakeful also is the careful, by his care his sleep is swallowed: though
his end stands by his pillow, yet he wakes with cares for years to come. Satan
teaches, O my brethren, one watching instead of another; to good deeds to be
sleepy, and to ill awake and watchful. Even Judas Iscariot, for the whole night
through was wakeful; and he sold the righteous Blood, that purchased the whole
world. The son of the dark one put on darkness, having stripped the Light from
off him: and Him who created silver, for silver the thief sold. Yea, Pharisees,
the dark one's sons, all the night through kept awake: the dark ones watched
that they might veil the Light which is unlimited. Ye then watch as [heaven's]
lights in this night of starry light. For though so dark be its colour yet in
virtue it is clear. For whoever is like this clear One, wakeful and prayerful in
darkness, him in this darkness visible a light unseen surrounds! The bad man
that in daylight stands, yet as a son of darkness deals; though with light clad
outwardly, inly is with darkness girt. Be we not deceived, beloved, by the fact
that we are watching! For whoso does not rightly watch, his watch is an
unrighteous watch. Whoso watches not cheerfully, his watching is but a sleeping:
whoso also watches not innocently, even his waking is his foe. This is the
waking of the envious one! a solid mass, compact with harm. That watch is but a
trafficking, with scorn and mockery compact. The wrathful man if he wakes,
fretful with wrath his wake will be, and his watching proves to him full of rage
and of cursings. If the babbler be waking, then his mouth becomes a passage
which for sins is ready but for prayers shows hindrance. The wise man, if so be
he that watches, one of two things chooseth him; either takes sweet, moderate,
sleep, or a holy vigil keeps. [379] That night is fair, wherein He Who is Fair
[380] rose to come and make us fair. Let not aught that may disturb it enter
into our watch! Fair be kept the ear's approach, [381] chaste the seeing of the
eye! hallowed the musing of the heart! the speaking of the mouth be cleared.
Mary hid in us to-day leaven that came from Abraham. Let us then so pity beggars
as did Abraham the needy. To-day the rennet fell on us from the gentle David's
house. Let a man show mercy to his persecutors, as did Jesse's son to Saul.
[382] The prophets' sweet salt [383] is to-day sprinkled among the Gentiles. Let
us gain a new savour [384] by that whereby the ancient people lost their savour.
Let us speak the speech of wisdom; speak we not of things outside it, lest we
ourselves be outside it! In this night of reconcilement let no man be wroth or
gloomy! in this night that stills all, none that threatens or disturbs! This
night belongs to the sweet One; bitter or harsh be in it none! In this night
that is the meek One's, high or haughty be in it none! In this day of pardoning
let us not exact trespasses! In this day of gladnesses let us not spread
sadnesses! In this day so sweet, let us not be harsh! In this day of peaceful
rest, let us not be wrathful in it! In this day when God came to sinners, let
not the righteous be in his mind uplifted over sinner! In this day in which
there came the Lord of all unto the servants, let masters too condescend to
their servants lovingly! In this day in which the Rich became poor for our
sakes, let the rich man make the poor man share with him at his table. On this
day to us came forth the Gift, although we asked it not! Let us therefore bestow
alms on them that cry and beg of us. This is the day that opened for us a gate
on high to our prayers. Let us open also gates to supplicants that have
transgressed, and of us have asked [forgiveness.] To-day the Lord of nature was
against His nature changed; let it not to us be irksome to turn our evil wills.
Fixed in nature is the body; great or less it cannot become: but the will has
such dominion, it can grow to any measure. To-day Godhead sealed itself upon
Manhood, that so with the Godhead's stamp Manhood might be adorned.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 63: HYMN II. BLESSED BE THAT CHILD, WHO GLADDENED BETHLEHEM TO-DAY!
========================================================================

Blessed be that Child, Who gladdened Bethlehem to-day! Blessed be the Babe Who
made manhood young again to-day! Blessed be the Fruit, Who lowered Himself to
our famished state! Blessed be the Good One, Who suddenly enriched our
necessitousness and supplied our needs! Blessed He Whose tender mercies made Him
condescend to visit our infirmities! Praise to the Fountain that was sent [385]
for our propitiation. Praise be to Him Who made void the Sabbath by fulfilling
it! Praise too to Him Who rebuked the leprosy and it remained not, Whom the
fever saw and fled! Praise to the Merciful, Who bore our toil! Glory to Thy
coming, which quickened the sons of men! Glory to Him, Who came to us by His
first-born! Glory to the Silence, [386] that spake by His Voice. Glory to the
One on high, Who was seen by His Day-spring! Glory to the Spiritual, Who was
pleased to have a Body, that in it His virtue might be felt, and He might by
that Body show mercy on His household's bodies! Glory to that Hidden One, Whose
Son was made manifest! Glory to that Living One, Whose Son was made to die!
Glory to that Great One, Whose Son descended and was small! Glory to the Power
Who did straiten His greatness by a form, His unseen nature by a shape! With eye
and mind we have beheld Him, yea with both of them. Glory to that Hidden One,
Who even with the mind cannot be felt at all by them that pry into Him; but by
His graciousness was felt by the hand of man! The Nature that could not be
touched, by His hands was bound and tied, by His feet was pierced and lifted up.
Himself of His own will He embodied for them that took Him. Blessed be He Whom
free will crucified, because He let it: blessed be He Whom the wood also did
bear, because He allowed it. Blessed be He Whom the grave bound, that had
[thereby] a limit set it. Blessed be He Whose own will brought Him to the Womb
and Birth, to arms and to increase [in stature]. Blessed He whose changes
purchased life for human nature. [387] Blessed He Who sealed our soul, and
adorned it and espoused it to Himself. Blessed He Who made our Body a tabernacle
for His unseen Nature. Blessed He Who by our tongue interpreted His secret
things. Let us praise that Voice whose glory is hymned with our lute, and His
virtue with our harp. The Gentiles have assembled and have come to hear His
strains. Glory to the Son of the Good One, Whom the sons of the evil one
rejected! Glory to the Son of the Just One, Whom the sons of wickedness
crucified! Glory to Him Who loosed us, and was bound for us all! Glory to Him
Who gave the pledge, and redeemed it too! Glory to the Beautiful, Who conformed
us to His image! Glory to that Fair One, Who looked not to our foulnesses! Glory
to Him Who sowed His Light in the darkness, [388] and was reproached in His
hidden state, and covered His secret things. He also stripped and took off from
us the clothing of our filthiness. [389] Glory be to Him on high, Who mixed His
salt [390] in our minds, His leaven in our souls. His Body became Bread, to
quicken our deadness. Praise to the Rich, Who paid for us all, that which He
borrowed not; [391] and wrote [His bill], and also became our debtor! By His
yoke He brake from us the chains of him that led us captive. Glory to the Judge
Who was judged, and made His Twelve to sit in judgment on the tribes, and by
ignorant men condemned the scribes of that nation! Glory to Him Who could never
be measured by us! Our heart is too small for Him, yea our mind is too feeble.
He makes foolish our littleness by the riches of His Wisdom. Glory to Him, Who
lowered Himself, and asked; [392] that He might hear and learn that which He
knew; that He might by His questions reveal the treasure of His helpful graces!
Let us adore Him Who enlightened with His doctrine our mind, and in our hearing
sought a pathway for His words. Praise we Him Who grafted into our tree His
fruit. Thanks to Him Who sent His Heir, that by Him He might draw us to Himself,
yea make us heirs with Him! Thanks to that Good One, the cause of all
goods!Blessed He Who did not chide, because that He was good! Blessed He Who did
not spurn, because that He was just also! Blessed He Who was silent, and
rebuked; that He might quicken us with both! Severe His silence and reproachful.
Mild His severity even When He was accusing; for He rebuked the traitor, and
kissed the thief.Glory to the hidden Husbandman of our intellects! His seed fell
on to our ground, and made our mind rich. His increase came an hundredfold into
the treasury of our souls! Let us adore Him Who sat down and took rest; and
walked in the way, so that the Way was in the way, and the Door also for them
that go in, [393] by which they go in to the kingdom.Blessed the Shepherd Who
became a Lamb for our reconcilement! Blessed the Branch Who became the Cup of
our Redemption! Blessed also be the Cluster, Fount of medicine of life! Blessed
also be the Tiller, Who became Wheat, that He might be sown; and a Sheaf, [394]
that He might be cut! [Blessed be] the Architect Who became a Tower for our
place of safety! [395] Blessed He Who so tempered the feelings of our mind,
[396] that we with our harp should sing that which the winged creatures' mouth
knows not with its strains to sing! Glory to Him, Who beheld how we had pleased
to be like to brutes in our rage and our greediness; and came down and was one
of us, that we might become heavenly!Glory be to Him, Who never felt the need of
our praising Him; yet felt the need as being kind to us, and thirsted [397] as
loving us, and asks us to give to Him, and longs to give to us. His fruit was
mingled with us men, that in Him we might come nigh to Him, Who condescended to
us. By the Fruit of His stem He grafted us into His Tree.Let us praise Him, Who
prevailed and quickened us by His stripes! Praise we Him, Who took away the
curse by His thorns! Praise we Him Who put death to death by His dying! Praise
we Him, Who held His peace and justified us! Praise we Him, Who rebuked death
that had overcome us! Blessed He, Whose helpful graces cleansed out the left
side! [398]Praise we Him Who watched and put to sleep him that led us captive.
Praise we Him Who went to sleep, and chased our deep sleep away. Glory be to God
Who cured weak manhood! Glory be to Him Who was baptized, and drowned our
iniquity in the deep, and choked him [399] that choked us! Let us glorify with
all our mouths the Lord of all creatures!Blessed be the Physician Who came down
and amputated without pain, and healed wounds with a medicine that was not
harsh. His Son became a Medicine, that showed sinners mercy. Blessed be He Who
dwelt in the womb, and wrought therein a perfect Temple, that He might dwell in
it, a Throne that He might be in it, a Garment that He might be arrayed in it,
and a Weapon that He might conquer in it.Blessed be He Whom our mouth cannot
adequately praise, because His Gift is too great for skill of orators [to tell];
neither can the faculties adequately praise His goodness. For praise Him as we
may, it is too little.And since it is useless to be silent and to constrain
ourselves, may our feebleness excuse such praise as we can sing.How gracious He,
Who demands not more than our strength can give! How would Thy servant be
condemned in capital and interest, did he not give such as he could, and did he
refuse that which He owed! Ocean of glory Who needest not to have Thy glory
sung, take in Thy goodness this drop of praise; since by Thy Gift Thou hast
supplied my tongue a sense for glorifying Thee.


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  CHAPTER 64: HYMN III. BLESSED BE THAT FIRST DAY OF THINE, LORD, WHEREWITH THIS DAY OF THY FEAST IS STAMPED!
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Blessed be that first day of thine, Lord, wherewith this day of Thy Feast is
stamped! Thy day is like Thee, in that it shows mercy unto men, in that it is
handed down and comes with all generations. This is the day that ends with the
aged, and returns that it may begin with the young! a day that by its love
refreshes itself, that it may refresh by its might us decayed creatures. Thy day
when it had visited us and passed, and gone away, in its mercy returned and
visited us again: for it knows that human nature needs it; in all things like
unto Thee as seeking us. The world is in want of its fountain; and for it, Lord,
as for Thee, all therein are athirst. This is the day that rules over the
seasons! the dominion of Thy day is like Thine, which stretches over generations
that have come, and are to come! Thy day is like unto Thee, because when it is
one, it buds and multiplies itself, that it may be like Thee! In this Thy day,
Lord, which is near unto us, we see Thy Birth that is far off! Like to Thee be
Thy day to us, Lord; let it be a mediator and a warranter of peace. Thy day
reconciled Heaven and earth, because therein the Highest came down to the
lowest. Thy day was able to reconcile the Just One, who was wroth at our sins;
Thy day forgave thousands of sins, for in it bowels of mercy shone forth upon
the guilty! Great, Lord, is Thy day; let it not be small upon us, let it show
mercy according as it used to do, upon us transgressors! And if every day, Lord,
Thy forgiveness wells forth, how exceeding great should it be upon this day! All
the days from the Treasure of Thy bright day gain blessings. All the feasts from
the stores of this feast have their fairness and their ornaments. Thy bowels of
mercy upon Thy day make Thou to abound unto us, O Lord! Make us to distinguish
Thy day from all days! for great is the treasure-house of the day of Thy Birth;
let it be the ransomer of debtors! Great is this day above all days, for in it
came forth mercy to sinners. A store of medicines is this Thy great day, because
on it shone forth the Medicine of Life to the wounded! A treasure of helpful
graces is this day, for that on it Light gleamed forth upon our blindness! Yea,
it also brought a sheaf unto us; and it came, that from it might flow plenty
upon our hunger. This day is that forerunning Cluster, in which the cup of
salvation was concealed! This day is the first-born feast, which, being born the
first, overcomes all feasts. In the winter which strips the fruit of the
branches off from the barren vine, Fruit sprang up [400] unto us; in the cold
that bares all the trees, a shoot was green for us of the house of Jesse. In
December [401] when the seed is hidden in the earth, there sprouted forth from
the Womb the Ear of Life. In March [402] when the seed was sprouting in the air,
a Sheaf [403] sowed itself in the earth. The harvest thereof, Death devoured it
in Hell; which the Medicine of life that is hidden therein did yet burst open!
In March when the lambs bleat in the wilderness, into the Womb the Paschal Lamb
entered! Out of the stream whence the fishers came up, [404] He was baptized and
came up Who incloses all things in his net; out of the stream the fish whereof
Simon took, out of it the Fisher of men came up, and took him. With the Cross
which catches all robbers, He caught up unto life that robber! [405] The Living
by His death emptied Hell, He unloosed it and let fly away from it entire
multitudes! The publicans and harlots, the impure snares, the snares of the
deceitful fowler the Holy One seized! The sinful woman, who was a snare for men,
He made a mirror for penitent women! The fig that cast its fruit, that refused
fruit, [406] offered Zacchæus as fruit; the fruit of its own nature it gave not,
but it yielded one reasonable fruit! The Lord spread His thirst over the well,
and caught her that was thirsty with the water that He asked of her. He caught
one soul at the well, and again caught with her the whole city: [407] twelve
fishers the Holy One caught, and again caught with them the whole world. As for
Iscariot, that escaped from His nets, the strangling halter fell upon his neck!
His all-quickening net catches the living, [408] and he that escapes from it
escapes from the living. And who is able, Lord, to tell me up the several
succours that are hid in Thee? How shall the parched mouth be able to drink from
the Fountain of the Godhead! Answer today the voice of our petition; let our
prayer which is in words take effect in deeds. Heal us, O my Master; every time
that we see Thy Feast, may it cause rumours that we have heard to pass away. Our
mind wanders amid these voices. O Voice of the Father, still [other] voices; the
world is noisy, in Thee let it gain itself quiet; for by Thee the sea was
stilled from its storms. The devils rejoiced when they heard the voice of
blasphemy: let the Watchers rejoice in us as they are wont. [409] From amongst
Thy fold there is the voice of sorrowfulness; O Thou that makest all rejoice,
[410] let Thy flock rejoice! as for our murmur, O my Master, in it reject us
not: our mouth murmurs since it is sinful. Let Thy day, O Lord, give us all
manner of joy, with the flowers [411] of peace, let us keep Thy passover. In the
day of Thy Ascension we are lifted up: [412] with the new Bread shall be the
memorial thereof. O Lord, increase our peace, that we may keep three feasts of
the Godhead. Great is Thy day, Lord, let us not be despised. All men honour the
day of Thy birth. Thou righteous One, keep Thou the glory of Thy birth; for even
Herod honoured the day of His birth! The dances of the impure one pleased the
tyrant; to Thee, Lord, let the voice of chaste women be sweet! Thee, Lord, let
the voice of chaste women please, whose bodies Thou guardest holily. The day of
Herod was like him: Thy day too is like Thee! The day of the troubled one was
troubled with sin; and fair as Thou art is Thy fair day! The feast of the tyrant
killed the preacher; in Thy feast every man preaches glory. On the day of the
murderer, the Voice [413] was put to silence; but on Thy day are the voices of
the feast. The foul one in his feast put out the Light, that darkness might
cover the adulterers. The season of the Holy One trims lamps, that darkness may
flee with the hidden things thereof. The day of that fox [414] stank like
himself; but holy is the feast of the True Lamb. [415] The day of the
transgressor passed [416] away like himself; Thy day like Thyself abideth for
ever. The day of the tyrant raged like himself, because with his chain it put to
silence the righteous Voice. The feast of the Meek One is tranquil like Himself,
because His sun shines upon His persecutors. The tyrant was conscious that He
was not a king, therefore to the King of kings he gave place. The whole day,
Lord, suffices me not to balance Thy praise with his blame. May Thy Gracious day
cause my sin to pass away, seeing that it is with the day of the impure one,
that I have weighed Thy day! For great is Thy day beyond comparison! nor can it
be compared with our days. The day of man is as of the earthy: the day of God is
as of God! Thy day, Lord, is greater than those of the prophets, [417] and I
have taken and set it beside that of the murderer! Thou knowest, O Lord, as
knowing all things, how to hear the comparison that my tongue hath made. Let Thy
day grant our requests for life, since his day granted the request for death.
The needy king swore on his feast that half his kingdom should be the reward of
the dance! Let Thy feast then, O Thou that enrichest all, shed down in mercy a
crumb of fine wheat flour! From the dry land gushed the Fountain, which sufficed
to satisfy the thirst of the Gentiles! From the Virgin's womb as from a strong
rock sprouted up the seed, whence was much fruit! Barns without number did
Joseph fill; [418] and they were emptied and failed in the years of the famine.
One true Sheaf gave bread; the bread of Heaven, whereof there is no stint. The
bread which the First-born brake in the wilderness, [419] failed and passed away
though very good. He returned again and broke the New Bread [420] which ages and
generations shall not waste away! The seven loaves also that He brake failed,
[421] and the five loaves too that He multiplied were consumed; [422] the Bread
that He brake exceeded the world's needs, for the more it was divided, the more
it multiplied exceedingly. With much wine also He filled the waterpots; they
drew it out, yet it failed though it was abundant: of the Cup that He gave
though the draught was small, very great was its strength, so that there is no
stint thereto. A Cup is He [423] that contains all strong wines, and also a
Mystery in the midst of which He Himself is! The one Bread that He brake has no
bound, and the one Cup that He mingled has no stint! [424] The Wheat that was
sown, [425] on the third day came up and filled the Garner of Life. [426] The
spiritual Bread, as the Giver of it, quickens the spiritual spiritually, and he
that receives it carnally, receives it rashly to no profit. This Bread of grace
let the spirit receive discerningly, as the medicine of Life. If the dead
sacrifices in the name of devils were offered, [427] yea eaten, not without a
mystery; at the holy thing of the offering, how much more does it behove us that
this mystery be circumspectly administered by us. He that eateth of the
sacrifice in the name of devils, becomes devilish without all contradiction. He
that eateth the Heavenly Bread, becomes Heavenly without doubt! Wine teaches us,
in that it makes him that is familiar therewith like itself: for it hates much
him that is fond of it, and is intoxicating and maddening, and a mocker [428] to
him! Light teaches us, in that it makes like unto itself the eye the daughter of
the sun: the eye by the light saw the nakedness, and ran and chastely hid the
chaste man. [429] As for that nakedness it was wine that made it, which even to
the chaste skills not to show mercy! With the weapon of the deceiver the
First-born clad Himself, that with the weapon that killed, He might restore to
life again! With the tree wherewith he slew us, He delivered us. With the wine
which maddened us, with it we were made chaste! With the rib that was drawn out
of Adam, the wicked one drew out the heart of Adam. There rose from the Rib
[430] a hidden power, which cut off Satan as Dagon: for in that Ark a book was
hidden that cried and proclaimed concerning the Conqueror! There was then a
mystery revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge!
[431] The accomplishment came after the type, in that the wicked one was brought
low in the place in which he trusted! Blessed be He Who came and in Him were
accomplished the mysteries of the left hand, and the right hand. [432] Fulfilled
was the mystery that was in the Lamb, and fulfilled was the type that was in
Dagon. Blessed is He Who by the True Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our
destroyer as He did Dagon! In December when the nights are long, rose unto us
the Day, of Whom there is no bound! In winter when all the world is gloomy,
forth came the Fair One Who cheered all in the world! In winter that makes the
earth barren, virginity learned to bring forth. In December, that causes the
travails of the earth to cease, in it were the travails of virginity. The early
lamb no one ever used to see before the shepherds: and as for the true Lamb, in
the season of His birth, the tidings of Him too hasted unto the shepherds. That
old wolf saw the sucking Lamb, and he trembled before Him, though He had
concealed himself; for because the wolf had put on sheep's clothing, the
Shepherd of all became a Lamb in the flocks, in order that when the greedy one
had been bold against the Meek, the Mighty One might rend that Eater. [433] The
Holy One dwelt bodily in the womb; and He dwelt spiritually in the mind. Mary
that conceived Him abhorred the marriage bed; let not that soul commit whoredom
in the which He dwelleth. Because Mary perceived Him, she left her betrothed: He
dwelleth in chaste virgins, if they perceive Him. [434] The deaf perceive not
the mighty thunder, neither does the heady man the sound of the commandment. For
the deaf is bewildered in the time of the thunderclap, the heady man is
bewildered also at the voice of instruction; if fearful thunder terrifies the
deaf, then would fearful wrath stir the unclean! That the deaf hears not is no
blame to him; but whoso tramples [on the commandments] it is headiness. From
time to time there is thunder: but the voice of the law thunders every day. Let
us not close our ears when their openings, as being opened and not closed
against it, accuse us; and the door of hearing is open by nature, that it might
reproach us for our headiness against our will. The door of the voice and the
door of the mouth our will can open or close. Let us see what the Good One has
given us; and let us hear the mighty Voice, and let not the doors of our ears be
closed. Glory to that Voice Which became Body, and to the Word of the High One
Which became Flesh! Hear Him also, O ears, and see Him, O eyes, and feel Him, O
hands, and eat Him, O mouth! Ye members and senses give praise unto Him, that
came and quickened the whole body! Mary bare the silent Babe, while in Him were
hidden all tongues! Joseph bare Him, and in Him was hidden a nature more ancient
than aught that is old! The High One became as a little child, and in Him was
hidden a treasure of wisdom sufficing for all! Though Most High, yet He sucked
the milk of Mary, and of His goodness all creatures suck! He is the Breast of
Life, and the Breath of Life; the dead suck from His life and revive. Without
the breath of the air no man lives, without the Might of the Son no man
subsists. On His living breath that quickeneth all, depend the spirits that are
above and that are beneath. When He sucked the milk of Mary, He was suckling all
with Life. While He was lying on His Mother's bosom, in His bosom were all
creatures lying. He was silent as a Babe, and yet He was making His creatures
execute all His commands. For without the First-born no man can approach unto
the Essence, to which He is equal. The thirty years He was in the earth, Who was
ordering all creatures, Who was receiving all the offerings of praise from those
above and those below. He was wholly in the depths and wholly in the highest! He
was wholly with all things and wholly with each. While His body was forming
within the womb, His power was fashioning all members! While the Conception of
the Son was fashioning in the womb, He Himself was fashioning babes in the womb.
[435] Yet not as His body was weak in the womb, was His power weak in the womb!
So too not as His body was feeble by the Cross, was His might also feeble by the
Cross. For when on the Cross He quickened the dead, His Body quickened them,
yea, rather His Will; just as when He was dwelling wholly in the womb, His
hidden Will was visiting all! For see how, when He was wholly hanging upon the
Cross, His Power was yet making all creatures move! For He darkened the sun and
made the earth quake; He rent the graves and brought forth the dead! See how
when He was wholly on the Cross, yet again He was wholly everywhere! Thus was He
entirely in the womb, while He was again wholly in everything! While on the
Cross He quickened the dead, so while a Babe He was fashioning babes. While He
was slain, He opened the graves; [436] while He was in the womb, He opened
wombs. Come hearken, my brethren, concerning the Son of the Secret One that was
revealed in His Body, while His Power was concealed! For the Power of the Son is
a free Power; the womb did not bind it up, as it did the Body! For while His
Power was dwelling in the womb, He was fashioning infants in the womb! His Power
compassed her, that compassed Him. For if He drew in His Power, all things would
fall; His Power upholds all things; while He was within the womb, He left not
His hold of all. He in His own Person shaped an Image in the womb, and was
shaping in all wombs all countenances. Whilst He was increasing in stature among
the poor, from an abundant treasury He was nourishing all! [437] While she that
anointed Him was anointing Him, with His dew and His rain He was anointing all!
The Magi brought myrrh and gold, while in Him was hidden a treasure of riches.
The myrrh and spices which He had prepared and created, did the Magi bring Him
of His own. It was by Power from Him that Mary was able to bear in Her bosom Him
that bears up all things! It was from the great storehouse of all creatures,
Mary gave Him all which she did give Him! [438] She gave Him milk from Himself
that prepared it, she gave Him food from Himself that made it! He gave milk unto
Mary as God: again He sucked it from her, as the Son of Man. Her hands bare Him
in that He had emptied His strength; and her arm embraced Him, in that He had
made Himself small. The measure of His Majesty who has measured? He caused His
measures to shrink into a Raiment. She wove for Him and clothed Him because He
had put off His glory. She measured Him and wove for Him, since He had made
Himself little. The sea when it bore Him was still and calmed, and how came the
lap of Joseph to bear Him? The womb of hell conceived Him and was burst open,
and how did the womb of Mary contain Him? The stone that was over the grave He
broke open by His might, and how could Mary's arm contain Him? Thou camest to a
low estate, that Thou mightest raise all to life! Glory be unto Thee from all
that are quickened by Thee! Who is able to speak of the Son of the Hidden One
who came down and clothed Himself with a Body in the womb? He came forth and
sucked milk as a child, and among little children the Son of the Lord of all
crept about. They saw Him as a little Child in the street, while there was
dwelling in Him the Love of all. Visibly children surrounded Him in the street;
secretly Angels surrounded Him in fear. Cheerful was He with the little ones as
a child; awful was He with the Angels as a Commander: He was awful to John for
him to loose His shoe's latchet: He was gentle to sinners that kissed His feet!
The Angels as Angels saw Him; according to the measure of his knowledge each man
beheld Him: according to the measure of each man's discernment, thus he
perceived Him that is greater than all. The Father and Himself alone are a full
measure of knowledge so as know Him as He is! For every creature whether above
or below obtains each his measure of knowledge; He the Lord of all gives all to
us. He that enriches all, requires usury of all. He gives to all things as
wanting nothing, and yet requires usury of all as if needy. He gave us herds and
flocks as Creator, and yet asked sacrifices as though in need. He made the water
wine as Maker: and yet he drank of it as a poor man. Of His own He mingled
[wine] in the marriage feast, His wine He mingled and gave to drink when He was
a guest. In His love He multiplied [the days of] the aged Simeon; that he, a
mortal, might present Him who quickeneth all. By power from Him did Simeon carry
Him; he that presented Him, was by Him presented [to God]. He gave imposition of
hands to Moses in the Mount, [439] and received it in the midst of the river
from John. In the power of His gifts John was enabled to baptize, though earthy,
the heavenly. By power from Him the earth supported Him: it was nigh to being
dissolved, and His might strengthened it. Martha gave Him to eat: viands which
He had created she placed before Him. Of His own all that give have made their
vows: of His own treasures they placed upon His table.


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  CHAPTER 65: HYMN IV. THIS IS THE MONTH WHICH BRINGS ALL MANNER OF JOY
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This is the month which brings all manner of joy; it is the freedom of the
bondsmen, the pride of the free, the crown of the gates, the soothing of the
body, that also in its love put purple upon us as upon kings. This is the month
that brings all manner of victories; it frees the spirit; it subdues the body;
it brings forth life among mortals; it caused, in its love, Godhead, to dwell in
Manhood. In this day the Lord exchanged glory for shame, as being humble;
because Adam changed the truth for unrighteousness as being a rebel: the Good
One had mercy on him, justified and set right them that had turned aside. Let
every man chase away his weariness, since that Majesty was not wearied with
being in the womb nine months for us, and in being thirty years in Sodom among
the madmen. [440] Because the Good One saw that the race of man was poor and
humbled, He made feasts as a treasure-house, and opened them to the slothful,
that the feast might stir up the slothful one to rise and be rich. Lo! the
First-born has opened unto us His feast as a treasure-house. This one day in the
whole year alone opens that treasure-house: come, let us make gain, let us grow
rich from it, ere they shut it up. Blessed be the watchful, that have taken by
force [441] from it the spoil of Life. It is a great disgrace, when a man sees
his neighbor take and carry out treasure, and himself sits in the treasure-house
slumbering, so as to come forth empty. In this feast, let each one of us crown
the gates of his heart. The Holy Spirit longs for the gates thereof, that He may
enter in and dwell there, and sanctify it, and He goes round about to all the
gates to see where He may enter. In this feast, the gates are glad before the
gates, [442] and the Holy One rejoices in the holy temple, and the voice
resounds in the mouth of children, and Christ rejoices in His own feast as a
mighty man. At the Birth of the Son the king was enrolling all men for the
tribute-money, that they might be debtors to Him: the King came forth to us Who
blotted out our bills, [443] and wrote another bill in His own Name that He
might be our debtor. The sun gave longer light, and foreshadowed the mystery by
the degrees which it had gone up. [444] It was twelve days since it had gone up,
and to-day is the thirteenth day: a type exact of the Son's birth [445] and of
His Twelve. Moses shut up a lamb in the month Nisan on the tenth day; a type
this of the Son that came into the womb and shut Himself up therein on the tenth
day. [446] He came forth from the womb in this month in which the sun gives
longer light. The darkness was overcome, that it might proclaim that Satan was
overcome; and the sun gave longer light, that it might triumph, because the
First-born was victorious. Along with the darkness the dark one was overcome,
and with the greater light our Light conquered!Joseph caressed the Son as a
Babe; he ministered to Him as God. He rejoiced in Him as in the Good One, and he
was awe-struck at Him as the Just One, greatly bewildered."Who hath given me the
Son of the Most High to be a Son to me? I was jealous of Thy Mother, and I
thought to put her away, and I knew not that in her womb was hidden a mighty
treasure, that should suddenly enrich my poor estate. David the king sprang of
my race, and wore the crown: and I have come to a very low estate, who instead
of a king am a carpenter. Yet a crown hath come to me, for in my bosom is the
Lord of crowns!"With rival words Mary burned, yea she lulled Him, [saying,] Who
hath given me, the barren, that I should conceive and bring forth this One, that
is manifold; a little One, that is great; for that He is wholly with me, and
wholly everywhere?The day that Gabriel came in unto my low estate, he made me
free instead of a handmaid, of a sudden: for I was the handmaid of Thy Divine
Nature, and am also the Mother of Thy human Nature, O Lord and Son!Of a sudden
the handmaid became the King's daughter in Thee, Thou Son of the King. Lo, the
meanest in the house of David, by reason of Thee, Thou Son of David, lo, a
daughter of earth hath attained unto Heaven by the Heavenly One!How am I
astonied that there is laid before me a Child, older than all things! His eye is
gazing unceasingly upon Heaven. As for the stammering of His mouth, to my
seeming it betokens, that with God its silence speaks.Who ever saw a Child the
whole of Whom beholdeth every place? His look is like one that orders all
creatures that are above and that are below! His visage is like that Commander
that commandeth all.How shall I open the fountain of milk to Thee, O Fountain?
Or how shall I give nourishment to Thee that nourishest all from Thy Table? How
shall I bring to swaddling clothes One wrapped round with rays of glory?My mouth
knows not how I shall call Thee, O Thou Child of the Living One: for to venture
to call Thee as the Child of Joseph, I tremble, since Thou art not his seed: and
I am fearful of denying the name of him to whom they have betrothed me.While
Thou art the Son of One, then should I be calling Thee the Son of many. For ten
thousand names would not suffice Thee, since Thou art the Son of God and also
the Son of man, yea, David's Son and Mary's Lord.Who hath made the Lord of
mouths to be without a mouth? For my pure conception of Thee wicked men have
slandered me. Be, O Thou Holy One, a Speaker for Thy Mother. Show a miracle that
they may be persuaded, from Whom it is that I conceived Thee!For Thy sake too I
am hated, Thou Lover of all. Lo! I am persecuted who have conceived and brought
forth One House of refuge for men. Adam will rejoice, for Thou art the Key of
Paradise.Lo, the sea raged against Thy mother as against Jonah. Lo, Herod, that
raging wave, sought to drown the Lord of the seas. Whither I shall flee Thou
shalt teach me, O Lord of Thy Mother.With Thee I will flee, that I may gain in
Thee Life in every place. The prison with Thee is no prison, for in Thee man
goes up unto Heaven: the grave with Thee is no grave, for Thou art the
Resurrection! [447]A star of light which was not nature, shone forth suddenly;
less than the sun and greater than the sun, less than it in its visible light,
but greater than it in its hidden might, by reason of its mystery.The Morning
Star cast its bright beams among the darknesses, and led them as blind men, and
they came and received a great light: they gave offerings and received life, and
they worshipped and returned.In the height and the depth two preachers were
there to the Son: the bright star shouted above; John also preached below, two
preachers, an earthly and a heavenly.That above showed His Nature to be from the
Majesty, and that below too showed his Nature to be from mankind. O great
marvel, that His Godhead and His Manhood each was preached by them.Whoso thought
Him earthly, the bright star convinced him that He was heavenly; and whoso
thought Him spiritual, John convinced him that He was also corporeal.In the Holy
temple Simeon carried Him, and lulled Him, [saying,] "Thou art come, O Merciful
One, showing mercy on my old age, making my bones to go into the grave in peace.
In Thee shall I be raised from the grave into Paradise!"Anna embraced Him, and
put her mouth to His lips, and the Spirit dwelt upon her own lips. As when
Isaiah's mouth was silent, the coal [448] which approached his lips opened his
mouth; so Anna burned with the Spirit of His mouth, yea, she lulled Him,
[saying,] "Son of the Kingdom, Son of the lowliness, that hearest and art still,
that seest and art hidden, that knowest and art unknown, God, Son of Man, glory
be unto Thy Name."The barren also heard, ran, and came with their provisions:
the Magi came with their treasures, the barren came with their provisions.
Provisions and riches were suddenly heaped up in the house of the poor. The
barren woman cried out, as at that which she looked not for, Who hath granted me
this sight of thy Babe, O Blessed One, by whom the heaven and earth are filled!
Blessed be thy Fruit, which made the barren vine to bear a cluster.Zacharias
came and opened his venerable mouth and cried, "Where is the King, for whose
sake I have begotten the Voice that is to preach before His face? Hail, Son of
the King, to whom also our Priesthood shall be given up!"John approached with
his parents and worshipped the Son, and He shed glory upon his countenance; and
he was not moved as when in the womb! Mighty miracle, that here he was
worshipping, there he leaped.Herod also, that base fox, that stalked about like
a lion, as a fox crouched down, and howled, when he heard the roaring of the
Lion, who came to sit in the kingdom according to the Scriptures. The fox heard
that the Lion was a whelp, and as a suckling; and he sharpened His teeth, that
while He was yet a child the fox might lie in wait and devour the Lion ere He
had grown up, and the breath of His mouth should destroy him.The whole creation
became mouths to Him, and cried concerning Him. The Magi cried by their
offerings! the barren cried with their children, the star of light cried in that
air, lo! the Son of the King!The Heavens were opened, the waters were calmed,
the Dove glorified Him, the voice of the Father, louder than thunder, was
instant and said, This is my beloved Son. The Angels proclaim Him, the children
shout to Him with their Hosannas.These voices above and below proclaim Him and
cry aloud. The slumber of Sion was not dispersed by the voice of the thunders,
but she was offended, stood up, and slew Him because He aroused her.


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  CHAPTER 66: HYMN V. AT THE BIRTH OF THE SON, THERE WAS A GREAT SHOUTING IN BETHLEHEM
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At the birth of the Son, there was a great shouting in Bethlehem; for the Angels
came down, and gave praise there. Their voices were a great thunder: at that
voice of praise the silent ones came, and gave praise to the Son. Blessed be
that Babe in whom Eve and Adam were restored to youth! The shepherds also came
laden with the best gifts of their flock: sweet milk, clean flesh, befitting
praise! They put a difference, and gave Joseph the flesh, Mary the milk, and the
Son the praise! They brought and presented a suckling lamb to the Paschal Lamb,
a first-born to the First-born, a sacrifice to the Sacrifice, a lamb of time to
the Lamb of Truth. Fair sight [to see] the lamb offered to The Lamb! The lamb
bleated as it was offered before the First-born. It praised the Lamb, that had
come to set free the flocks and the oxen from sacrifices: [449] yea that Paschal
Lamb, Who handed down and brought in the Passover of the Son. The shepherds came
near and worshipped Him with their staves. They saluted Him with peace,
prophesying the while, "Peace, O Prince of the Shepherds." The rod of Moses
[450] praised Thy Rod, O Shepherd of all; for Thee Moses praises, although his
lambs have become wolves, and his flocks as it were dragons, and his sheep
fanged beasts. In the fearful wilderness his flocks became furious, and attacked
him. Thee then the Shepherds praise, because Thou hast reconciled the wolves and
the lambs within the fold; O Babe, that art older than Noah and younger than
Noah, that reconciled all within the ark amid the billows! David Thy father for
a lamb's sake slaughtered a lion. Thou, O Son of David, hast killed the unseen
wolf that murdered Adam, the simple lamb who fed and bleated in Paradise. At
that voice of praise, brides were moved to hallow themselves, and virgins to be
chaste, and even young girls became grave: they advanced and came in multitudes,
and worshipped the Son. Aged women of the city of David came to the daughter of
David; they gave thanks and said, "Blessed be our country, whose streets are
lightened with the rays of Jesse! Today is the throne of David established by
Thee, O Son of David." The old men cried, "Blessed be that Son Who restored Adam
to youth, Who was vexed to see that he was old and worn out, and that the
serpent who had killed him, had changed his skin and had gotten himself away.
Blessed be the Babe in Whom Adam and Eve were restored to youth." The chaste
women said, O Blessed Fruit, bless the fruit of our wombs; to Thee may they be
given as first-born. They waxed fervent and prophesied concerning their
children, who, when they were killed for Him, were cut off, as it were
first-fruits. The barren also fondled Him, and carried Him; they rejoiced and
said, Blessed Fruit born without marriage, bless the wombs of us that are
married; have mercy on our barrenness, Thou wonderful Child of Virginity!


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  CHAPTER 67: HYMN VI. BLESSED BE THE MESSENGER THAT WAS LADEN, AND CAME
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Blessed be the Messenger that was laden, and came; a great peace! The Bowels of
the Father brought Him down to us; He did not bring up our debts to Him, but
made a satisfaction to that Majesty with His own goods. Praised be the Wise One,
who reconciled and joined the Divine with the Human Nature. One from above and
one from below, He confined the Natures as medicines, and being the Image of
God, became man. That Jealous One when He saw that Adam was dust, and that the
cursed serpent had devoured him, shed soundness into that which was tasteless,
and made him [as] salt, wherewith the accursed serpent should be blinded.
Blessed be the Merciful One, who saw the weapon by Paradise, that closed the way
to the Tree of Life; and came and took a Body which could suffer, that with the
Door, that was in His side, He might open the way into Paradise. Blessed be that
Merciful One, who lent not Himself to harshness, but without constraint
conquered by wisdom; that He might give an ensample unto men, that by virtue and
wisdom they might conquer discerningly. Blessed is Thy flock, since Thou art the
gate thereof, and Thou art the staff thereof. Thou art the Shepherd thereof,
Thou art the Drink thereof, Thou art the salt thereof, yea, the Visitor thereof.
Hail to the Only-Begotten, that bare abundantly all manner of consolations! The
husbandmen came and did obeisance before the Husbandman of Life. They prophesied
to Him as they rejoiced, [saying,] "Blessed be the Husbandman, by Whom the
ground of the heart is tilled, Who gathereth His wheat into the garner of Life."
The husbandmen came and gave glory to the Vineyard that sprang of the root and
stem of Jesse, the Virgin Cluster of the glorious Vine. "May we be vessels for
Thy new Wine that renews all things." "In Thee may the Vineyard of my
Well-beloved that yielded wild grapes [451] find peace! Graft its vines from Thy
stocks; let it be laden entirely from Thy blessings with a fruit which may
reconcile the Lord of the Vineyard, Who threatens it." Because of Joseph the
workmen came to the Son of Joseph saying, "Blessed be Thy Nativity, Thou Head of
Workmen, the impress whereof the ark bore, after which was fashioned the
Tabernacle of the congregation that was for a time only!" [452] "Our craft
praises Thee, Who art our glory. Make Thou the yoke which is light, yea easy,
for them that bear it; make the measure, in which there can be no falseness,
which is full of Truth; yea, devise and make measures [453] by righteousness;
that he that is vile may be accused thereby, and he that is perfect, may be
acquitted thereby. Weigh therewith both mercy and truth, O just One, as a
judge." "Bridegrooms with their brides rejoiced. Blessed be the Babe, whose
Mother was Bride of the Holy One! Blessed the marriage feast, whereat Thou wast
present, in which when wine was suddenly wanting, in Thee it abounded again!"The
children cried out, "Blessed He that hath become unto us a Brother, and
Companion in the midst of the streets. Blessed be the day which by the Branches
[454] gives glory to the Tree of life, that made His Majesty be brought low, to
our childish age!"Women heard that a Virgin should conceive and bring forth a
Son: honourable women hoped that thou wouldest rise from them; yea noble ladies
that Thou mightest spring up from them! Blessed be Thy Majesty, that humbled
Itself, and rose from the poor!Yea the young girls that carried Him prophesied,
saying, "Whether I be hated or fair, or of low estate, I am without spot for
Thee. I have taken Thee in charge for the bed of Childbirth."Sarah had lulled
Isaac, who as a slave [455] bare the Image of the King his Master on his
shoulders, even the sign of His Cross; yea, on his hands were bandages and
sufferings, a type of the nails.Rachel cried to her husband, and said, Give me
sons. [456] Blessed be Mary, in whose womb, though she asked not, Thou didst
dwell holily, O Gift, that poured itself upon them that received it.Hannah with
bitter tears asked a child; [457] Sarah and Rebecca with vows and words,
Elizabeth also with her prayer, after having vexed themselves for a long time,
yet so obtained comfort.Blessed be Mary, who without vows and without prayer, in
her Virginity conceived and brought forth the Lord of all the sons of her
companions, who have been or shall be chaste and righteous, priests and
kings.Who else lulled a son in her bosom as Mary did? who ever dared to call her
son, Son of the Maker, Son of the Creator, Son of the Most High?Who ever dared
to speak to her son as in prayer? O Trust of Thy Mother as God, her Beloved and
her Son as Man, in fear and love it is meet for thy Mother to stand before Thee!


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  CHAPTER 68: HYMN VII. THE SON OF THE MAKER IS LIKE UNTO HIS FATHER AS MAKER!
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The Son of the Maker is like unto His Father as Maker! He made Himself a pure
body, He clothed Himself with it, and came forth and clothed our weakness with
glory, which in His mercy He brought from the Father. From Melchizedek, the High
Priest, a hyssop came to Thee, a throne and crown from the house of David, a
race and family from Abraham. Be thou unto me a Haven, for Thine own sake, O
great Sea. Lo! the Psalms of David Thy Father, and the words also of the
Prophets, came forth unto me, as it were ships. David Thy father, in the hundred
and tenth Psalm, twined together two numbers as it were crowns to Thee, and came
[to Thee], O Conqueror! With these shalt Thou be crowned, and unto the throne
shalt Thou ascend and sit. A great crown is the number that is twined in the
hundred, wherein is crowned Thy Godhead! A little crown is that of the number
ten, which crowns the Head of Thy Manhood, O Victorious One! For Thy sake women
sought after men. Tamar desired him that was widowed, and Ruth loved a man that
was old, yea, that Rahab, that led men captive, was captivated by Thee. Tamar
went forth, and in the darkness [458] stole the Light, and in uncleanness stole
the Holy One, and by uncovering her nakedness she went in and stole Thee, O
glorious One, that bringest the pure out of the impure. Satan saw her and
trembled, and hasted to trouble her. He brought the judgment to her mind, and
she feared not; stoning and the sword, and she trembled not. He that teacheth
adultery hindered adultery, because he was a hinderer of Thee. For holy was the
adultery of Tamar, for Thy sake. Thee it was she thirsted after, O pure
Fountain. Judah defrauded her of drinking Thee. The thirsty womb stole a
dew-draught of Thee from the spring thereof. She was a widow for Thy sake. Thee
did she long for, she hasted and was also an harlot for Thy sake. Thee did she
vehemently desire, and was sanctified in that it was Thee she loved. May Tamar
rejoice that her Lord hath come and hath made her name known for the son of her
adultery! Surely the name she gave him [459] was calling unto Thee to come to
her. For Thee honorable women shamed themselves, Thou that givest chastity to
all! Thee she stole away in the midst of the ways, who pavest the way into the
kingdom! Because it was life that she stole, the sword was not able to put her
to death.Ruth lay down by a man in the threshingfloor for Thy sake; her love
made her bold for Thy sake, O Thou that teachest all penitents boldness. Her
ears refused [to listen to] any voices for the sake of Thy voice.The live coal
that glowed went up into the bed, of Boaz, lay down there, saw the High Priest,
in whose loins was hidden a fire for his incense! [460] She hasted and was a
heifer to Boaz, that should bring forth Thee, the fatted Calf.She went gleaning
for her love of Thee; she gathered straw. Thou didst quickly pay her the reward
of her lowliness; and instead of ears of corn, the Root of Kings, and instead of
straws, the Sheaf of Life, didst Thou make to spring from her.


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  CHAPTER 69: HYMN VIII. THAT THY RESURRECTION MIGHT BE BELIEVED AMONG THE GAINSAYERS, THEY SEALED THEE UP WITHIN THE SEPULCHRE, AND SET GUARDS
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That Thy Resurrection might be believed among the gainsayers, they sealed Thee
up within the sepulchre, and set guards; for it was for Thee that they sealed
the sepulchre and set guards, O Son of the Living One! When they had buried
Thee, if they had neglected Thee and left Thee, and gone, there would have been
room to lie [and say] that they did steal, O Quickener of all! When they
craftily sealed Thy sepulchre, they made Thy Glory greater. A type of Thee
therefore was Daniel, and also Lazarus; one in the den, which the Gentiles
sealed up, and one in the sepulchre, that the People opened. Lo! their signs and
their seals reproved them. Their mouth had been open, if they had left Thy
sepulchre open. But they went away because they had shut Thy sepulchre and
sealed it, and closed up their own mouths. Yea they closed it, and when they had
senselessly covered Thy sepulchre, all the slanderers covered their own heads.
But in Thy Resurrection Thou persuadest them concerning Thy Birth; since the
womb was sealed, and the sepulchre closed up; being alike pure in the womb, and
living in the sepulchre. [461] The womb and the sepulchre being sealed were
witnesses unto Thee. The belly and hell cried aloud of Thy Birth and Thy
Resurrection: The belly conceived Thee, which was sealed; hell brought Thee
forth which was closed up. Not after nature did either the belly conceive Thee,
or hell give Thee up! Sealed was the sepulchre whereto they had entrusted Thee,
that it might keep the dead [safe], Virgin was the womb which no man knew.
Virgin womb and sealed sepulchre, like trumpets, proclaimed Him in the ears of a
deaf people. The sealed belly and the closed rock were amongst the accusers. For
they slandered the Conception as being of the seed of man, and the Resurrection
as being of the robbery of man; the seal and the signet convicted them, and
pleaded that Thou wert of Heaven. The people stood between Thy Birth and Thy
Resurrection. They slandered Thy Birth, Thy Death condemned them: they set aside
Thy Resurrection, Thy Birth refuted them; they were two wrestlers that stopped
the mouth that slandered. For Elijah they went and searched the mountains: [462]
as they sought him on earth, they the more confirmed that he was taken up. Their
searching bare witness that he was taken up, in that it found him not. If then
prophets that had had forewarning of Elijah's ascension, doubted as it were of
his going up, how much more would impure men speak slander of the Son? By their
own guards He convinced them that He was risen again. To Thy Mother, Lord, no
man knew what name to give. Should he call her Virgin, her Child stood [there];
and married no man knew her to be! If then none comprehended Thy Mother, who
shall suffice for Thee?For she was, alone, Thy Mother; along with all, Thy
Sister. She was Thy mother, she was Thy Sister. She along with chaste women
[463] was Thy betrothed. With everything didst Thou adorn Her, Thou ornament of
Thy Mother.For she was Thy Bride by nature ere Thou hadst come; she conceived
Thee not by nature after Thou wast come, O Holy One, and was a Virgin when she
had brought Thee forth holily.Mary gained in Thee, O Lord, the honours of all
married women. She conceived [Thee] within her without marriage. There was milk
in her breasts, not after the way of nature. Thou madest the thirsty land
suddenly a fountain of milk.If she carried Thee, Thy mighty look made her burden
light; if she gave Thee to eat, it was because Thou wert hungry; if she gave
Thee to drink [it was], because Thou wert thirsty; willingly if she embraced
Thee, Thou, the coal of mercies, didst keep her bosom safe.A wonder is Thy
Mother. The Lord entered her, and became a servant: the Word entered her, and
became silent within her; thunder entered her, and His voice was still: the
Shepherd of all entered her; He became a Lamb in her, and came forth
bleating.The Belly of Thy Mother changed the order of things, O Thou that
orderest all! The rich went in, He came out poor: the High One went in, He came
out lowly. Brightness went into her and clothed Himself, and came forth a
despised form.The Mighty went in, and clad Himself with fear from the Belly. He
that giveth food to all went in, and gat hunger. He that giveth all to drink
went in, and gat thirst. Naked and bare came forth from her the Clother of
all.The daughters of the Hebrews that cried in the Lamentations of Jeremiah,
instead of lamentations of their Scriptures, used lulling-songs from their own
books: a hidden Power within their words was prophesying.Eve lifted up her eyes
from Sheol and rejoiced in that day, because the Son of her daughter as a
medicine of life came down to raise up the mother of His mother. Blessed Babe,
that bruised the head of the Serpent that smote her!She saw the type of Thee
from the youth of Isaac the fair. For Thee Sarah, as seeing that types of thee
rested on his childhood, called him, saying, O child of my vows, in whom is
hidden the Lord of vows.Samson the Nazarite shadowed forth a type of Thy
working. He tore the lion, the image of death, whom Thou didst destroy, and
caused to go forth from his bitterness the sweetness of life for men.Hannah also
embraced Samuel; for Thy righteousness was hidden in him who hewed in pieces
Agag as [a type] of the wicked one. He wept over Saul, because Thy goodness also
was shadowed forth in him. [464]How meek art Thou! How mighty art Thou, O Child!
[465] Thy judgment is mighty, Thy love is sweet! Who can stand against Thee? Thy
Father is in Heaven, Thy Mother is on earth; who shall declare Thee? [466]If a
man should seek after Thy Nature, it is hidden in Heaven in the mighty Bosom of
the Godhead; and if a man seek after Thy visible Body, it is laid down before
their eyes in the lowly bosom of Mary.The mind wanders between Thy generations,
O Thou Rich One! Thick folds are upon Thy Godhead. Who can sound Thy depths,
Thou great Sea that made itself little?We come to see Thee as God, and, lo! Thou
art a man: we come to see Thee as man, and there shineth forth the Light of Thy
Godhead!Who would believe that Thou art the Heir of David's Throne? A manger
hast Thou inherited out of [all] his beds, a cave has come down to Thee out of
all his palaces. Instead of his chariots a common ass's colt, perchance, comes
down to Thee.How fearless art Thou, O Babe, that dost let all have thee [to
carry]: upon every one that meets with Thee dost Thou smile: to every one that
sees Thee, art Thou glad-some! Thy love is as one that hungers after men.Thou
makest no distinction between Thy fathers and strangers, nor Thy Mother and
maidservants, nor her that suckled Thee and the unclean. Was it Thy forwardness
or Thy love, O Thou that lovest all?What moves Thee that Thou didst let all that
saw Thee have Thee, both rich and poor? Thou helpedst them that called Thee not.
Whence came it that Thou hungeredst so for men?How great was Thy love, that if
one rebuked Thee, Thou wast not wroth! if a man threatened Thee, Thou wast not
terrified! if one hissed at Thee, Thou didst not feel vexed! Thou art above the
laws of the avengers of injuries.Moses was meek, and [yet] his zeal was harsh,
for he struggled and slew. Elisha also, who restored a child to life, tore a
multitude of children in pieces by bears. Who art Thou, O Child, whose love is
greater than that of the Prophets?The son of Hagar who was wild, kicked at
Isaac. [467] He bore it and was silent, and his mother was jealous. Art Thou the
mystery of him, or is not he the type of Thee? art thou like Isaac, or is it not
he that is like Thee?


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  CHAPTER 70: HYMN IX. COME REST, AND BE STILL IN THE BOSOM OF THY MOTHER, SON OF THE GLORIOUS
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Come rest, and be still in the bosom of Thy Mother, Son of the Glorious.
Forwardness fits not the sons of kings. O Son of David, Thou art glorious, and
[yet] the Son of Mary, who dost hide Thy beauty in the inner chamber. To whom
art Thou like, glad Babe, fair little One, Whose Mother is a Virgin, Whose
Father is hidden, Whom even the Seraphim are not able to look upon? Tell us whom
Thou art like, O Son of the Gracious! When the wrathful came to see Thee, Thou
madest them gladsome: they exchanged smiles one with another: the angry were
made gentle in Thee, O sweet One. Blessed art Thou, little One, for that in Thee
even the bitter are made sweet. Who ever saw a Babe that was gladsome when in
arms to those that came near him, lo! reached Himself unto them that were far
off? Fair sight [to see] a Child, that takes thought for every man that they may
see him! He that hath care came and saw Thee, and his care fled away. He that
had anxiety; at Thee forgat his anxiety; the hungry by Thee forgat his victuals;
and he that had an errand, by Thee was errant and forgot his journey! O still
Thyself, and let men go to their works! Thou art a son of the poor, learn from
Thyself that all the poor had to leave their work to come. Thou who lovest men,
hast bound men together by Thy gladsomeness. David, that stately king, took
branches, [468] and in the feast amongst the children as he danced, he gave
praise. Is it not the love of David Thy father that is warm in Thee? That
daughter of Saul! her father's devil spake in her: she called the stately [king]
a vile fellow, because he gave an ensample to the elders of her people of taking
up branches with the children in the day of praise to Thee. Who would not fear
to lay it to Thee that Thou art forward? For lo, the daughter of Saul who mocked
the child, cut off her womb from childbearing; because her mouth derided, the
reward of its mouth was barrenness. [469] Let mouths tremble at blasphemy, lest
they be shut up! Refrain, O daughter of Sion, thy mouth from Him, for He is the
Son of David, Who is gladsome before thee. Be not unto Him as the daughter of
Saul, whose race is extinct. Because Elijah restrained the desire of the body,
he withheld rain from the adulterous; because he kept under his body, he
withheld dew from the whoremongers, who let their fountains be loosely poured
out. Because the hidden fire of the lust of the body ruled not in him, to him
the fire from on high was obedient. And since he subdued on the earth the lust
of the flesh, he went up thither where holiness dwells and is at peace.Elisha
also who deadened his own body, quickened the dead. The resurrection of the dead
was in the usual course by a sanctification not in the usual course; He raised
the child, because he purified his soul like a weaned child.Moses, who divided
and separated himself from his wife, divided the sea before the harlot. Zipporah
though daughter of a heathen priest kept sanctity: with a calf the daughter of
Abraham [470] went a whoring.


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  CHAPTER 71: HYMN X. IN THEE WILL I BEGIN TO SPEAK, THOU HEAD THAT DIDST BEGIN ALL CREATED THINGS
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In Thee will I begin to speak, Thou Head that didst begin all created things.
[471] I, even I will open my mouth, but it is Thou that fillest my mouth. [472]
I am the earth to Thee, and Thou art the husbandman. Sow Thy voice in me, [473]
Thou that sowedst Thyself in the womb of thy Mother. "All the chaste daughters
of the Hebrews, [474] and the virgins' daughters of the chief men, are
astonished at me! For Thee doth the daughter of the poor meet with envy, for
Thee, the daughter of the weak with jealousy. Who hath given Thee to me? "O Son
of the Rich One, Who abhorred the bosom of the rich women, who led Thee to the
poor? for Joseph was needy and I also in want, yet Thy merchants have come, and
brought gold, to the house of the poor." She saw the Magi: her songs increased
at their offerings; "Lo! Thy worshippers have surrounded me, yea thy offerings
have encircled me. Blessed be the Babe who made His Mother a harp for His words:
"And as the harp waiteth for its master, my mouth waiteth for Thee. May the
tongue of Thy Mother bring what pleases Thee; and since I have learnt a new
Conception by Thee, let my mouth learn in Thee, O new born Son, a new song of
praise. "And if hindrances are no hindrances to Thee, since difficulties are
easy to Thee, as a womb without marriage conceived Thee, and a belly without
seed brought Thee forth, it is easy for a little mouth to multiply Thy great
glory. "Lo! I am oppressed and despised, and yet cheerful: mine ears are filled
with reproof and scorn; and it is a small thing to me to bear, for ten thousand
troubles can a single comfort of Thine chase away. "And since I am not despised
by Thee, O Son, my countenance is bright; and I am slandered for having
conceived, and yet have brought forth the Truth who justifies me. For if Tamar
was justified by Judah, how much more shall I be justified by Thee!" David Thy
father sung in a psalm of Thee before Thou hadst come, that to Thee should be
given the gold of Sheba. [475] This psalm that he sung of Thee, lo! it, whilst
Thou art yet a child, in reality heaps before thee myrrh and gold. And the
hundred and fifty Psalms that he wrote, in Thee were seasoned, because all the
sayings of prophecy stood in need of Thy sweetness, for without Thy salt all
manner of wisdom were tasteless. [476]


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  CHAPTER 72: HYMN XI. THE VIRGIN MOTHER TO HER CHILD
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(The Virgin Mother to Her Child.) I shall not be jealous, my Son, that Thou art
with me, and also with all men. Be Thou God to him that confesses Thee, and be
thou Lord to him that serves Thee, and be Brother to him that loves Thee, that
Thou mayest gain all! When Thou didst dwell in me, Thou didst also dwell out of
me, and when I brought Thee forth openly, Thy hidden might was not removed from
me. Thou art within me, and Thou art without me, O Thou that makest Thy Mother
amazed. For [when] I see that outward form of Thine before mine eyes, the hidden
Form is shadowed forth "in my mind," O holy One. In Thy visible form I see Adam,
and in Thy hidden form I see Thy Father, who is joined with Thee. Hast Thou then
shown me alone Thy Beauty in two Forms? Let Bread shadow forth Thee, and also
the mind; dwell also in Bread and in the eaters thereof. In secret, and openly
too, may Thy Church see Thee, as well as Thy Mother. He that hates Thy Bread is
like unto him that hates Thy Body. He that is far off that desires Thy Bread,
and he that is near that loves Thy Image, are alike. In the Bread and in the
Body, the first and also the last have seen Thee. Yet Thy visible Bread is far
more precious than Thy Body; for Thy Body even unbelievers have seen, but they
have not seen Thy living Bread. They that were far off rejoiced! their portion
utterly scorns that of those that are near. Lo! Thy Image is shadowed forth in
the blood of the grapes [477] on the Bread; and it is shadowed forth on the
heart with the finger of love, with the colors of faith. Blessed be He that by
the Image of His Truth caused the graven images to pass away. Thou art not [so]
the Son of Man that I should sing unto Thee a common lullaby; for Thy Conception
is new, and Thy Birth marvellous. Without the Spirit who shall sing to Thee? A
new muttering of prophecy is hot within me. How shall I call Thee a stranger to
us, Who art from us? Should I call Thee Son? Should I call Thee Brother? [478]
Husband should I call Thee? Lord should I call Thee, O Child that didst give Thy
Mother a second birth from the waters? For I am Thy sister, of the house of
David the father of us Both. Again, I am Thy Mother because of Thy Conception,
and Thy Bride am I because of Thy sanctification, Thy handmaid and Thy daughter,
from the Blood and Water wherewith Thou hast purchased me and baptised me. The
Son of the Most High came and dwelt in me, and I became His Mother; and as by a
second birth I brought Him forth so did He bring me forth by the second birth,
because He put His Mother's garments on, she clothed her body with His
glory.Tamar, who was of the house of David, Amnon put to shame; and virginity
fell and perished from them both. My pearl is not lost: in Thy treasury it is
stored, because Thou hast put it on.The scent of her brother-in-law slunk from
Tamar, whose perfume she had stolen. As for Joseph's Bride, not even his breath
exhaled from her garments, since she conceived Cinnamon. [479] A wall of fire
was Thy Conception unto me, O holy Son.The little flower was faint, because the
smell of the Lily [480] of Glory was great. The Treasure-house of spices stood
in no need of flower or its smells! Flesh stood aloof because it perceived in
the womb a Conception from the Spirit.The woman ministers before the man,
because he is her head. Joseph rose to minister before his Lord, Who was in
Mary. The priest ministered before Thy ark by reason of Thy holiness.Moses
carried the tables of stone which the Lord wrote, and Joseph bare about the pure
Tablet in whom the Son of the Creator was dwelling. The tables had ceased,
because the world was filled with Thy doctrine.


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  CHAPTER 73: HYMN XII. THE BABE THAT I CARRY CARRIES ME, SAITH MARY, AND HE HAS LOWERED HIS WINGS, AND TAKEN AND PLACED ME BETWEEN HIS PINIONS, AND MOUNTED INTO THE AIR
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The Babe that I carry carries me, saith Mary, and He has lowered His wings, and
taken and placed me between His pinions, and mounted into the air; and a promise
has been given me that height and depth shall be my Son's. I have seen Gabriel
that called him Lord, and the high priest the aged servant, that carried Him and
bare Him. I have seen the Magi when they bowed down, and Herod when he was
troubled because the King had come. Satan also who strangled the little ones
that Moses might perish, [481] murdered the little ones that the Living One
might die. To Egypt He fled, Who came to Judea that He might labour and wander
there: he sought to catch the man that would catch himself. In her virginity Eve
put on the leaves of shame: Thy Mother put on in her Virginity the garment of
Glory that suffices for all. She gave the little vest of the Body to Him that
covers all. Blessed is she in whose heart and mind Thou wast! A King's palace
she was by Thee, O Son of the King, and a Holy of Holies by Thee, O High Priest!
She had not the trouble nor vexation of a family, or a husband! Eve, again, was
a nest and a den for the accursed serpent, that entered in and dwelt in her. His
evil counsel became bread to her that she might become dust. Thou art our Bread,
and Thou art also [of] our race and our garment of glory. He that has sanctity,
if he be in danger, lo! here is his Guardian! He that has iniquity, lo! here is
his Pardoner! He that has a devil, here is the Pursuer thereof! They that have
pains, lo! here is the Binder up of their breaches. He that has a child, let him
come and become a brother to my Well-beloved! [482] He that has a daughter or a
young woman of his race, let her come and become the bride of my Glorious One!
He that has a servant, let him set him free, that he may come and serve his
Lord. The son of free men that bears Thy yoke, my Son, shall have one reward;
and the slave that bears the burden of the yoke of two masters, of Him above and
of Him below, there are two blessings for him, and two rewards of the two
burdens. [483] The free woman, my Son, is Thy handmaid: also if she who is in
bondage serve Thee, in Thee she is free: in Thee she shall be comforted, because
she is freed; hidden apples in her bosom are stored up, [484] if she love Thee!
O chaste woman, long ye for my Well-beloved, that He may dwell in you; and ye
also that are impure that He may sanctify you! ye Churches also, that the Son of
the Creator Who came to renew all creatures, may adorn you! He received the
foolish who worshipped and served all the stars; He renewed the earth which was
worn out through Adam, who sinned and waxed old. The new formation was the
creature of its Renewer, and the all-sufficient One repaired the bodies along
with their wills.Come ye blind, and without money receive lights! Come ye lame,
and receive your feet! ye deaf and dumb, receive your voice! come thou also
whose hand is cut off; the maimed also shall receive his hands.It is the Son of
the Creator Whose treasure-houses are filled with all manner of helps. Let him
that is without eyeballs come to Him that makes clay and changes it, that makes
flesh, that enlightens eyes.By the small portion of clay He shows that it was
with His hand that Adam was formed: the soul of the dead also bears Him witness,
that by Him it was that the breath of man was breathed in; by the last witnesses
He was accredited to be the Son of Him Who is the First.Gather ye together and
come, O ye lepers, and receive purification without labour. For He will not wash
you as Elisha, who baptized seven times in the river: neither will He trouble
you as the priests did with their sprinklings. Foreigners and also strangers
have betaken themselves to the Great Physician.The rank of strangers hath no
place with the King's Son; the Lord makes not Himself strange to His servants,
[or conceal] that He is Lord of all. For if the Just makes the body leprous, and
Thou purifiest it; then, the Former of the body hateth the body; but Thou lovest
it.And if it be not Thy forming, being Just, Thou wouldest not have healed it;
[485] and if it were not Thy creature, when in health, Thou wouldest not have
afflicted it. The punishments that Thou has cast upon it, and the pains which
Thou hast healed, proclaim that Thou art the Creator's Son.


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  CHAPTER 74: HYMN XIII. FOR THE EPIPHANY
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(Compare Hymn II. For the Epiphany.) 1. In the days of the King whom they called
by the name of Semha, [486] our Lord sprang up among the Hebrews: and Semha and
Denha [487] ruled, and came, King upon earth, and Son in Heaven; blessed be His
rule! 2. In the days of the king who enrolled men in the book of the dead, our
Redeemer came down and enrolled men in the book of the living. He enrolled, and
they also: on high He enrolled us, on earth they enrolled Him. Glory to His
Name! 3. In the days of the king whose name was Semha, the type and the Reality
met together, the king and the King, Semha and Denha. His Cross upon His
shoulders, was the sign of His Kingdom. Blessed be He Who bare it. 4. Thirty
years He went in poverty upon the earth! The sounds of praise in all their
measures let us twine, my brethren, to the years of the Lord, as thirty crowns
to the thirty years. Blessed be His Birth! 5. In the first year, that is
chieftain over the treasures and Dispenser of abundant blessings, let the
Cherubim who bare up the Son in glory, [488] praise Him with us! He left His
glory, and toiled and found the sheep that was lost. To Him be thanksgiving! 6.
In the second year, let the Seraphim praise Him yet more with us. They that had
proclaimed the Son Holy, [489] by and by saw Him when He was reviled among the
gainsayers; He bore the contempt and taught praise. To Him be Glory! 7. In the
third year, let Michael and his followers, that ministered to the Son in the
highest, praise Him with us. They saw Him on the earth when He was ministering,
washing feet, cleansing souls. Blessed be His lowliness! 8. In the fourth year,
let the whole earth praise Him with us. It is but small for the Son, and it
marvelled because it saw that it entertained Him in its bed that is so very
mean. He filled the bed, and filled the Heaven. To Him be Majesty! 9. In the
fifth year, the Sun shone unto the earth. With its breath let it praise our Sun
Who brought His breadth down low, and humbled His mightiness, that the subtle
eye of the unseen soul might be able to look upon Him. Blessed be His
brightness! 10. In the sixth year again, let the whole air praise Him with us,
in whose wide space it is that all things are made glorious, which saw its
mighty Lord that had become a little Child in a little bosom. Blessed be His
dignity! 11. In the seventh year, the clouds and winds rejoiced with us and
sprinkled the dews over the flowers, for they saw the Son who enslaved His
brightness and received disgrace and foul spitting. Blessed be His
Redemption!12. In the year also that is eighth, let the fields give praise, that
suckle their fruits from His fountains. They worshipped because they saw the Son
in arms and the pure One sucking pure milk. Blessed be His good pleasure!13. In
the ninth year, let the earth glorify the might of her Creator, Who laid seed in
her in the beginning that she might bring forth all her produce; for it saw
Mary, a thirsty land, who yielded the fruit of a Child that was a wonder, yea, a
marvel. [Then] it praised Him more exceedingly, for that He was a great Sea of
all good things. To Him be exaltation!14. In the tenth year, let the mount Sinai
glorify Him, it which trembled before its Lord. It saw that they took up stones
against its Lord; He received stones, Who should build His Church upon a Stone.
[490] Blessed be His building!15. In the eleventh year, let the great sea praise
the fists of the Son that measured it, [491] and it was astonished and saw that
He came down, was baptized in a small water, and cleansed the creatures. Blessed
be His noble act!16. In the twelfth year, let the holy Temple praise Him, that
saw the Child when He sat amongst the old men: the priests were silent when the
Lamb of the Feast bleated in His feast. Blessed be His propitiation!17. In the
thirteenth year, let the crowns praise with us the King who conquered, that died
and was crowned with a crown of thorns, and bound upon Adam a great crown at His
right hand. Blessed be His Apostleship!18. In the fourteenth year, let the
passover in Egypt praise the Passover that came and passed over all, and instead
of Pharaoh sunk Legion, [492] instead of horses choked the devil. Blessed be His
vengeance!19. In the fifteenth year, let the lamb of the gluttons praise Him:
since our Lord was so far from slaughtering it as Moses did, that He even
redeemed mankind with His own Blood. He that feeds all, died for all. Blessed be
His Father!20. In the sixteenth year, let the wheat praise by its type that
Husbandman, [493] Who sowed His Body in the barren earth, since it covers all,
spreads itself out and yields new Bread. Blessed be the Pure One!21. In the
seventeenth year, let the Vine praise the Lord that garnished it. He planted a
vineyard, souls were as vineplants. He gave peace to the vineyard, but destroyed
the vineyard that brought forth wild grapes. Blessed be its Uprooter!22. In the
eighteenth year, let the Vine which the wild boar out of the wood had eaten,
praise the True Vine which trimmed Himself, and kept His fruit, and brought the
fruits to the Lord of the Vineyard. [494] Blessed be His Vintage!23. In the
nineteenth year, let our leaven praise the true leaven which worked itself in
among those that were in error, and drove them all together, and made them one
mind by one Doctrine. Blessed be thy doctrine!24. In the twentieth year, let
salt praise Thy living Body, wherewith are salted the bodies and the souls of
all the faithful, and faith is the salt of men wherewith they are preserved.
[495] Blessed be Thy preserving!25. In the twenty-first year, let the waters of
the desert praise Thee. They are sweet to them afar off, they are bitter to them
[496] that are near, who did not minister to Him. The [chosen] people and the
nations were bitter in the desert, and He destroyed them. They were sweetened by
the Cross which redeemed them. Blessed be Thy pleasantness!26. In the
twenty-second year, let arms and the sword praise Thee: they sufficed not to
kill our adversary. It was Thou that killed him, even Thou who didst fix the ear
on, which Simon's sword cut off. Blessed be Thy healing!27. In the twenty-third
year, let the ass praise Him, that gave its foal for Him to ride on, that loosed
the bonds, that opened the mouth of the dumb, that opened also the mouth of the
wild asses [497] when the race of Hagar gave a shout of praise. [498] Blessed be
the praise of Thee!28. In the twenty-fourth year, let the Treasury praise the
Son. The treasures marvelled at the Lord of treasures, when in the house of the
poor He was increasing, Who made Himself poor that He might enrich all. [499]
Blessed be Thy rule!29. In the twenty-fifth year, let Isaac praise the Son, for
by His goodness he was rescued upon the Mount from the knife, and in his stead
there was the victim, the type of the Lamb for the slaughter. [500] The mortal
escaped, and He that quickens all died. [501] Blessed be His offering!30. In the
twenty-sixth year, let Moses praise Him with us, for that he was afraid and fled
from his murderers. Let him praise the Lord that bore the spear and that
received the nails in His hands, in His feet. He entered into hell and spoiled
it, [502] and came forth. Blessed be Thy Resurrection!31. In the year which is
the twenty-seventh, let the eloquent speakers praise the Son, for they found no
cloke to save our cause. He was silent in the judgment-hall, and He carried our
cause. Honour be to Him! 32. And in this year let all judges praise Him, who, as
being just men, killed the ungodly; let them praise the Son who died for the
wicked, as being good. Though Son of the Just One, He gave them all manner of
good things in abundance. Blessed be His bowels of mercy!33. In the eight and
twentieth year, let all mighty men of valour praise the Son, because they
delivered not from him who took us captive. He only is to be praised, who being
slain showed us life. [503] Blessed be His delivery!34. In the twenty-ninth
year, let Job praise Him with us, who bore sufferings for himself, and our Lord
bore for us the spitting and the spear, and the crown of thorns, and scourges,
contempt and reproach, yea mocking. Blessed be His mercy!35. In the year that is
thirteenth, let the dead praise Him with us, because they are quickened, and the
living, because they have turned to repentance, [504] because height and depth
were set at one by Him. Blessed be He and His Father!


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  CHAPTER 75: HYMN XIV. BLESSED BE HE WHO BECAME BEYOND MEASURE LOW, THAT HE MIGHT MAKE US BEYOND MEASURE GREAT) 
========================================================================

(Resp. -- Blessed be he who became beyond measure low, that he might make us
beyond measure great) 1. Of the Birth of the Firstborn, let us tell on His
Feast-day. [505] -- He gives on His day, secret comforts. -- If the unclean King
at his feast, in memory of his day, -- gave the gift of wrath, the head in a
charger, -- how much more shall the Blessed, give blessings to him -- who sings
praise at His Feast! 2. Let us not count our vigil like vigils of every day. --
His feast, its reward, exceeds an hundredfold. -- For this feast makes war, on
sleep by its vigil; -- speaking it makes war, on silence by its voice; -- clad
with all blessings, it is chief of feasts, -- and of every joy. 3. To-day the
angels, and the archangels, -- descended to sing -- a new song on earth. -- In
this mystery they descend, and rejoice with the vigil-keepers. -- At the time
when they gave praise, blasphemy abounded. -- Blessed be the Birth by which, lo!
the world resounds -- with anthems of praise. 4. For this is the night that
joined, the Watchers on high with the vigil-keepers. -- The Watcher came to make
watchers in the midst of creation. -- Lo! the vigil-keepers are made comrades
with the Watchers: -- the singers of praise are made, companions of the Seraphs.
-- Blessed be he who becomes, the harp of Thy praise! -- and Thy grace becomes
his reward. 5. The Birth then of the Firstborn, I will sing and tell how -- the
Godhead in the womb wove itself a vesture. -- He put it on and came forth in
birth, in death again put it off; -- once he put it off, twice He put it on. --
On the left He wore it, then took it off thence, -- and laid it at the right. 6.
He dwelt in a narrow bosom, the Might that rules all. -- While He was dwelling
there, He held the reins of the whole: -- to His Father He made offering, that
He might fulfil His Will: -- Heaven was filled by Him, and every creature. --
The Sun entered the womb, and in the height and the depth -- his splendour
abode. 7. He dwelt in the wide bosoms, of all the creatures; -- too narrow to
hold, the greatness of the Firstborn. -- How then sufficed for it, that bosom of
Mary? -- Marvellous if it sufficed, bewilderment if it sufficed not. -- Of all
bosoms that held Him, one bosom sufficed for Him, -- His, the Supreme Who begat
Him. 8. The bosom that held Him, if it held Him Wholly, -- equals the wondrous
bosom, of the Supreme Who begat Him. -- But who dare say the bosom, that is
narrow weak and lowly, -- is equal to His, Who is the Supreme Being? -- He dwelt
there of His mercy, though so great is His Nature: -- it is without bound. 9.
Reconciling Peace, sent to the nations! -- gladdening Brightness, that camest to
the sad! -- Mighty Leaven in silence, overcoming all! -- Patient One that hast
taken, man after man in Thy net! -- Happy he who has welcomed, thy joy in his
heart, -- and forgot his groans in Thee! 10. They sounded forth peace, the
Watchers to the vigil-keepers. -- Among the vigil-keepers the good tidings, were
announced by the Watchers. -- Who would sleep on that night, which has waked all
creatures? -- For they bear good tidings of peace, where warfare had been. --
Blessed is he who has pleased, the Divine Majesty by his silence, -- when
speaking moved His wrath! 11. Watchers mixed with watchers, they rejoiced that
the world came to life. -- The Evil One was shamed who was king, and had woven a
crown of lies; -- and set up his throne, as God in the world. -- The Babe laid
in the manger, cast him from his dominion. -- The Sun rendered worship, doing
Him homage by his Magi; -- in his worshippers he worshipped Him.12. God saw that
mankind, worship things created: -- He put on a created body, that in our custom
He might capture us. -- Lo! in this our form, He that formed us healed us; --
and in this created shape, our Creator gave us life. -- He drew us not by force:
blessed be He Who came in ours, -- and joined us in His!13. Who would not
marvel, at Mary, David's daughter, -- bearing an infant, and her virginity kept!
-- She lays Him on her breast, and lulls Him with song and He rejoices. -- The
Angels raise hymns, the Seraphs cry "Holy," -- the Magi offer, acceptable gifts,
-- to the Son Who is born.14. O great above measure, immeasurably made low, --
praised beyond praises, debased to humiliation! -- the tender mercies laid on
Thee, bowed Thee down to all this; -- let Thy grace bow me down, though evil to
give praise! -- Happy he who becomes, a fountain of voices, -- all praising Thee
in all!15. He was servant on earth; He is Lord in Heaven. -- Heir of height and
depth, He became a stranger: -- Whom men judged in guile, He is judge in truth:
-- He Whose face they spat on, breathes His Spirit on theirs: -- He Who held the
frail reed, is become the staff of the world, -- which grows old and leans on
Him.16. He Who rose to wait on His servants, now sits to be worshipped. -- Whom
the scribes despised, before Him Seraphs cry "Holy." -- This praise Adam
desired, to steal privily. -- The serpent which made him fall, saw to what
height he was raised: -- he crushed it because it deceived him; the feet of Eve
trod it down, -- which had sent venom into her ears.17. The wife proved barren,
and withheld her fruit; -- but the bosom of Mary, holily conceived. -- To wonder
at fields, and to admire plants -- she needed not who received, and rendered
what she borrowed not. -- Nature confessed its defeat; the womb was aware of it,
-- and restored what Nature gave not.18. Mary was defeated, in the judgment by
Elizabeth. -- She that was barren pleaded, that the Will which prevailed -- to
close the open door, has opened the closed. -- He has made childless the married
womb; He has made fruitful the virgin womb. -- Because the People were accurst
faithless, He made her that was married, -- held from bearing before the face of
the maiden.19. He Who could give moisture, to breasts barren and dead, -- caused
them to fail in youth, made them to flow in age; -- forced and changed nature,
in its season and out of its season. -- The Lord of natures changed, the
Virgin's nature. -- Because the People were barren, He made her that was aged,
-- a mouth on behalf of the damsel.20. And as He began at birth, He went on and
fulfilled in death. -- His Birth received worship; His Death paid the debt. --
As He came to His Birth, the Magi worshipped Him; -- again He came to His
Passion, and the thief sought refuge in Him -- Between His Birth and Death,
midway He set the world: -- in birth and Death he gave it life.21. Thousand
thousands stand, and ten thousand thousands haste. -- The thousands and ten
thousands, cannot search out the One: -- for all of them stand, in silence to
serve. -- He has no heir of His Throne, save the Son Who is of Him. -- In the
midst of silence is the enquiry into Him, when the watchers come to search Him
out, -- they attain to silence and are stayed.22. The Firstborn entered the
womb, and the pure Virgin was not harmed. -- He stirred and came forth in her
travail, and the fair Mother was troubled by Him. -- Glorious and unseen in
entering, humble and manifest in issuing; -- for He was God in entering, and He
was man in issuing. -- A marvel and bewilderment to hear: fire entered the womb;
put on a body and came forth!23. Gabriel chief of Angels, called Him "My Lord":
-- he called Him "My Lord," to teach that He was his Lord, not his fellow. --
Gabriel had with him, Michael as fellow: -- the Son is Lord of the servants;
exalted is His Nature as His Name. -- No servant can search Him out; for the
greater the servant, -- He is great above His servant.24. When they stand before
Thee, the watchers with songs of praise, -- they know not in what part, they
shall discern Thee. -- They have sought Thee above in the height; they have seen
Thee below in the depth: -- they have searched for Thee in the midst of heaven;
they have seen Thee in the midst of the abyss: -- they have discerned Thee
beside Him that is worshipped; they have found Thee in the midst of the
creatures: -- they have come down to Thee and sung Glory to Thee.25. Thou art
all wonderful, in all parts where we seek Thee. -- Near art Thou, -- and far,
and who may attain to Thee? -- No seeking avails, that its stretch should reach
unto Thee. -- Whereon it stretches to reach Thee, it is checked and stops, -- it
falls short of Thy mountain; Faith reaches thither, -- and Love with prayer.26.
The Magi also sought Him, and in the manger when they found Him, -- instead of
scrutiny worship, they offered Him in silence; -- for empty strivings, oblations
gave they Him. -- Seek thou too the Firstborn, and if thou find Him in the
height, -- instead of troubled questionings, open thy treasures before Him, --
and offer Him thy works.


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  CHAPTER 76: HYMN XV. BLESSED IS HE ABOVE ALL IN HIS BIRTH!
========================================================================

Resp. -- Blessed is He above all in His Birth! (bis). 1. Celebrate, O nations,
this feast, first fruits of all feasts; -- recount the sufferings that were, and
the wounds and pains, -- that we may know what plagues, He healed, the Son Who
was sent. R., Blessed be He Who sufficed to heal our pains! 2. Celebrate, O
saved nations, Him Who saves all in His Birth. -- Even my feeble tongue, has
become a harp through His mercy. -- The excellency of the Firstborn, in His
Festival let us sing. R., Blessed is He Who has made us meet for His Feast! 3.
How then can any one, admire a physician, -- until he hear and learn, what were
the pains he healed? -- And when our plagues are proclaimed, then is our Healer
magnified. R., Blessed be He Who is exalted in our pains! 4. Created things were
worshipped: because the worshipper was foolish, -- he used to worship all
things; but One they worshipped not. -- He came down therefore in mercy and
broke, the yoke that enslaved all. R., Blessed is He Who loosed our pains! 5.
The mercies of the Highest were revealed; He came down and set free His
creature. -- In this blessed month, wherein are made releases of slaves, -- the
Lord underwent bondage, to call the bond to freedom. R., Blessed is He Who
brought freedom! 6. The Lord of the months chose Him, two months for His doings.
-- His Conception was in Nisan, and His Birth in Conun. -- In Nisan He
sanctified them that were conceived; and them that were born He set free in
Conun.R., Blessed be He Who makes glad His months!7. The Sun revealed in
silence, his worshippers to his Lord: -- it was grievous to him, a servant, to
be worshipped instead of his Lord. -- Lo! creation is glad, that the Creator is
worshipped.R., Blessed is the Child that is worshipped.8. The months wore three
crowns, and crowned Him in His triumphs. -- Blessed is the Sun for His Birth,
and for His Resurrection desired, -- and for His Ascension blessed; the months
have borne Him crowns.R., Blessed be He Who has triumphed in His months!9.
Unveil and make glad thy face, O Creature, in our feast. -- Let the Church sing
with voice; Heaven and earth in silence! -- Sing and praise the Child, who has
brought release for all!R., Blessed be He Who has annulled the bonds!10. When
fools did reverence to the Sun, in reverence to him they disgraced him. -- But
now when all know he is a servant, in his course his Lord is worshipped; -- all
servants rejoice, that as servants they are reckoned.R., Blessed be He Who
ordered their natures!11. We have done perverse things, who have become servants
of servants. -- Lo! our freedom compelled him, a servant, to become lord to us:
-- the Sun, the servant for all, we have made Lord for all.R., Blessed is He Who
to Himself has turned us!12. And the Moon too which was worshipped, has been set
free by His Birth. -- For 'tis strange that by her light, which enlightens the
eyes, -- by it the eyes were darkened, that they gazed on her as a God.R.,
Blessed be the beam that has enlightened us!13. Fire commended Thy Birth, which
drew away worship from it. -- The magi used to worship it: they who have
worshipped before Thee. -- They left it and worshipped its Lord; they exchanged
fire for the Fire.R., Blessed is He Who has bathed us in His light!14. In place
of the senseless fire that eats up its own body of itself, -- the magi adored
the Fire Who gave His Body to be eaten. -- The live coal drew near and
sanctified, the lips that were unclean.R., Blessed is He Who has mixed His Fire
in us!15. Delusion blinded men, to worship created things: -- fellow servants
were worshipped, and the God of all was wronged. -- He Who is to be worshipped
came down to His birth, and gathered to himself worship.R., Blessed is He Who by
all is worshipped!16. The All-knowing saw, that men worship things that were
made: -- He put on a body that was made, that in our custom He might take us
captive, -- and by a body that was made, drew us to the Creator.R., Blessed be
He Who drew us with guile!17. The Evil One knew how to harm us; and by lights he
blinded us, -- by possessions he hurt us, through gold he made us poor, -- by
the graver's graven images, he made us a heart of stone.R., Blessed is He Who
came and softened it!18. They graved and set up stones, whereon men should
stumble. -- They set them not on the highway, for the blind to stumble on: --
they called them Gods, that on them with open eyes men might stumble.R., Blessed
is He Who exposed the idols which they feared!19. Sin had spread its wings, and
covered all things, -- that none could discern, of himself or from above, the
truth. -- Truth came down into the womb, came forth and rolled away error.R.,
Blessed is He Who dispelled Sin by His Birth!20. For Mercy endured not, to see
the way hindered. -- When He came down for conception, He opened the way and
made it easy: -- when He came forth in birth, He trod it and marked its
miles.R., Blessed is the peace of Thy Way!21. He chose the Prophets; they
cleared the way for the people: -- He sent the Apostles; they smoothed paths for
the nations. -- The snares of the Evil One were shamed, when feeble men cleared
them away.R., Blessed is He Who made our paths plain!22. The graven images
blinded, their gravers in secret: -- they graved eyes on stone, and darkened the
eyes of the soul. -- Praise to Thy Birth that opened, the sight that was
blinded.R., Blessed be He Who has restored sight!23. Let women praise Her, the
pure Mary, -- that as in Eve their mother, -- great was their reproach, -- lo!
in Mary their sister, -- greatly magnified was their honour.R., Blessed is He
Who sprang from women!24. Let the nations praise Thy Birth, that they have
gained eyes to see, -- how their wine has made them reel; and they have seen
their own humiliation? -- They come to know themselves, and worship Him who has
rescued them.R., Blessed is He Who has taught repentance!25. Its worship mankind
-- had spread everywhere: -- Him Who is to be worshipped it sought not, that
worship should be paid Him. -- But He endured not -- worshippers that err.R.,
Blessed is He Who came down and is worshipped!26. The gold of the idols
worshipped Thee, that Thou didst treat it as alms; which availed not apart, for
the uses of life. -- It hasted to Thy purse, as it had hasted to the manger.R.,
Blessed be He Whom Creation has loved!27. The frankincense worshipped Thy Birth,
which had served demons. -- It sorrowed then in its vapour: it exulted when it
saw its Lord. -- Instead of being the incense of delusion, it was an oblation
before God! R., Blessed is Thy Birth which is worshipped!28. The myrrh
worshipped Thee for itself, and for its kindred ointments. -- The hands that
bore its ointment, had anointed abominable graven images. -- To Thee the perfume
was sweet, from the anointing wherewith Mary anointed Thee.R., Blessed is Thy
savour which is sweet to us!29. The gold that had been worshipped worshipped
thee, when the magi offered it. -- That which had been worshipped in molten
images, gave worship to Thee. -- With its worshippers it worshipped Thee, it
confessed that Thou art He that is to be worshipped.R., Blessed is He Who
claimed worship for Himself!30. The Evil One fled and his hosts, he that used to
exult in the world. -- In the high places they sacrificed heifers to him, in the
gardens they slew bulls for him. -- He swallowed up all creation, he filled his
belly with prey.R., Blessed be He Who came and made him disgorge!31. Of him the
Lord said, that he had fallen from Heaven. -- The Abhorred One had exalted
himself; from his uplifting he has fallen. The foot of Mary has trod him down,
who bruised Eve with his heel.R., Blessed be He Who by His Birth laid him
low!32. Chaldeans went about, in all places and led astray: -- the preachers of
delusion, were shamed through the world, -- they were shamed and overcome, -- by
the preachers of truth.R., Blessed be the Babe Whom they preached!33. Sin had
spread out, her nets for the draught. -- Praise be to Thy Birth that captured,
the nets of delusion. -- The soul took flight on high, which had been taken in
the deep.R., Blessed is He Who prepared for us wings!34. His Will was able, even
by force to rescue us. -- But since it was not force that made us guilty, it was
not by force He purged us. -- The Evil One by enticement enslaved us: Thy Birth
enticed to give us life.R., Blessed be He Who planned and gave us life!35. The
creatures complained that they were worshipped; in silence they sought release.
-- The All-Releaser heard, and because He endured it not He came down, -- put on
the form of a servant in the womb, came forth, set free Creation.R., Blessed be
He Who made his Creation his gain!36. Mercy was kindled on high, at the voice of
Creation that cried out: -- Gabriel was sent; he came and gave tidings of Thy
Conception. -- When Thou camest to the Birth, Watchers gave tidings of thy
coming forth.R., Blessed be by Thy Worship above all!37. For greater is the joy
of the Birth than the Conception. -- Yea it was one angel, that brought us
tidings of Thy Conception: -- but in the joy of Thy Birth, a multitude of
Watchers brought tidings.R., Blessed be Thy tidings in Thy day!38. Glory to Thee
I too in Thy day, will offer, O Thou that art worshipped! -- Take of the fruit
that is mine; and give me mercy which is Thine! -- For if the evil that is in me
gives gifts, how much more shalt Thou give Who art good!R., Blessed is Thy
wealth in Thy servant!39. The two things Thou soughtest, in Thy Birth have been
done for us. -- Our visible body Thou hast put on; Thy invisible might we have
put on: -- our body has become Thy clothing; Thy Spirit has become our robe.R.,
Blessed be He Who has been adorned and has adorned us!40. Height and depth were
amazed, that Thy Birth subdued the rebels. -- For that we gave Thee hostages,
Thou gavest us the Paraclete: -- when the hostages went up from us, the Captain
of the host came down to us.R., Blessed be He Who took away and sent down!41.
Come ye mouths of all and pour forth, and be in the likeness of waters, and
wells of voices! May the Holy Spirit come, -- and sing glory through us all, to
the Father Who has redeemed us through His Son!R., Blessed is He above all in
His Birth!


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  CHAPTER 77: HYMN XVI. GLORY TO ALL OF THEE FROM ALL OF US!
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(Resp. -- Glory to all of Thee from all of us! (bis.) 1. Who then that is mortal
man, can declare concerning the All-Life giver, -- Who quitted the height of His
Majesty, and abased Himself to humility? -- Thou Who exaltest all in Thy Birth,
exalt my weak mind, -- to declare of Thy Birth; not that I should search out Thy
Majesty, -- but that I should proclaim Thy grace. R., Blessed be He Who conceals
and reveals in His discourses! 2. It is a great marvel that the Son, dwelt
wholly in a body; -- abode therein wholly and it sufficed for Him; dwelt therein
though not bounded thereby. -- His Will was wholly therein; His bounds reached
wholly to His Father. -- Who is sufficient to tell, how though He dwelt wholly
in a body. -- He likewise dwelt wholly in all? R., Blessed is He Who though
without bounds was bounded! 3. Thy Majesty is concealed from us; Thy Grace is
revealed before us. -- I will be silent, O Lord of Thy Majesty; and I will tell
of Thy grace. -- Thy grace clove to Thee, and bowed Thee down to our vileness:
-- Thy grace made Thee a babe; Thy grace made Thee man: -- it straitened, it
enlarged, Thy Majesty. R., Blessed be the might that became little and became
great! 4. Glory to Him Who became lowly, though lofty He was by His nature! --
He became in His love the firstborn of Mary, Firstborn though He be of Godhead.
-- He became in name the offspring of Joseph, offspring though He be of the Most
High. -- He became by His own Will man, God though He be by His Nature. --
Glorified be Thy Will and Thy Nature! R., Blessed be Thy Glory which put on our
image! 5. Yea, O Lord, Thy Birth, has become mother of all creatures; for it
travailed anew and gave birth, to mankind which gave birth to Thee. Thou wast
born of it bodily; it was born of Thee spiritually. -- All that Thou camest for
to birth, was that man might be born in Thy likeness. -- Thy Birth became the
author of birth to all. R., Blessed be He Who became a youth and to all gave
youth! 6. When man's hope had broken down, hope was increased by Thy Birth. --
Good tidings of hope they bore, the Heavenly Ones to men. -- Satan who cut off
our hope, his own hope by his own hands had cut off. -- when he saw that hope
was increased: Thy Birth became to the hopeless, -- a fountain teaming with
hope.R., Blessed be He Who bore the tidings of hope!7. The day of Thy Birth is
like Thee, for it is desired and loved as Thou. -- We who saw not Thy Birth, and
its flame as in its own time, -- in this Thy day we see Thee, even as Thou wast
a babe; -- beloved by all men, lo! in Thee the Churches rejoice; -- Thy day
adorns and is adorned.R., Blessed be Thy day which was ordained for us!8. Thy
day has given us a gift, to which the Father has none other like; -- It was not
Seraphim He sent us, nor yet did Cherubim come down among us; -- there came not
Watchers or Ministers, but the Firstborn to Whom they minister. -- Who can
suffice to give thanks, that the Majesty which is beyond measure -- is laid in
the lowly manger!R., Blessed be He Who gave us what He had won!9. That
generation Thy Birth made glad, and our generation Thy day makes glad: twofold
was the happiness of that generation, for they saw Thy Birth and also Thy day:
-- less is the happiness of them that come after, for the day of Thy Birth they
see only. -- Yet because they that then were, doubted, greater is the happiness
of them that come after, -- who though they have not seen Thee have believed in
Thee.R., Blessed be Thy happiness that is added to us!10. The Magi exalted from
afar; the Scribes murmured near at hand; -- the prophet showed his message, and
Herod his wrath; -- the scribes showed their doctrine, the Magi showed their
offerings. It is a marvel that to Him, the Babe, they of His own house hasted
with their swords, and they that were strangers with their offerings.R., Blessed
be Thy Birth which has stirred up all!11. The bosom of Mary amazes me, that it
sufficed for Thee, Lord, and embraced Thee. -- All creation were too small, to
conceal Thy Majesty; -- Heaven and earth too narrow, to be in the likeness of
wings, [506] to cover Thy Godhead. -- Too small for Thee was the bosom of earth;
great enough for Thee was the bosom of Mary. -- He dwelt in the bosom and healed
in her bosom.R.,12. He was wrapped meanly in swaddling clothes, and offerings
were offered Him. -- He put on garments in youth, and from them there came forth
helps: He put on the waters of baptism, and from them there shone forth beams:
-- He put on linen cloths in death, and in them were shown forth triumphs; with
His humiliations, His exaltations.R., Blessed be He Who joined His Glory to His
Passion!13. All these are the changes of raiment, which Mercy put off and put
on, -- when He strove to put on Adam, the glory which he had put off. -- He was
wrapped in swaddling-clothes as Adam with leaves; and clad in garments instead
of skins. -- He was baptized for Adam's sin, and buried for Adam's death: -- He
rose and raised Adam into Glory.R., Blessed be He Who came down and clothed him
and went up!14. Though Thy Birth had sufficed, for Adam's sons as for Adam; -- O
Mighty One Who didst become a babe, in Thy Birth anew hast Thou begotten me! --
O pure One Who wast baptized, let Thy Washing wash away our filth -- O Living
One who wast buried, may we gain life in Thy death! -- I will praise all of Thee
in Him that fills all.R., Glory to all of Thee from all of us!


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  CHAPTER 78: HYMN XVII. PRAISE TO THEE FROM EVERY MOUTH ON THIS DAY OF THY BIRTH!
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(Resp., Praise to Thee from every mouth on this Day of Thy Birth!) 1. Infants
were slain because of Thy Birth, Thou Giver of life to all -- But because He Who
was slain was a King, our Lord the Lord of Kingdoms, -- the tyrant in subtlety,
gave for Him slain hostages, -- clad in the mysteries of His slaying: the ranks
of heaven received, -- the hostages that they of earth offered. R., Blessed be
the King who magnified Him! 2. All the Kings of the house of David, transmitted
and hauled on each to each, -- the throne and crown of the Son of David, as
guardian of a deposit. -- In one they reached their bound and limit, when He
came, the Lord of all things, -- and took away from them all things, and cut off
the transmission of all things.... R., Blessed be He Who is clad in that which
is His! 3. The doves moaned in Bethlehem, that the serpent destroyed their
offspring. -- The eagle betook himself to Egypt, to go down and receive the
promises. -- Egypt rejoiced in Him that there came, abundance for payment of
debts, -- which had failed the sons of Joseph. Among the sons of Joseph He
laboured and paid -- the debts of the sons of Joseph. R., Blessed is He Who
called Him out of Egypt! 4. The Scribes read daily, that the Star arises out of
Jacob. -- For the People were the Voice and the reading, for the nations the
rising of the Star and the interpretation: -- for them were the Books and for us
the facts; for them boughs and for us fruits. -- The Scribes read in things
written; the Magi saw in things done, the outshining of that which was read. R.,
Blessed be He Who added to us their books! 5. Who is able to tell, of the
withdrawal and the appearings, -- of the shining star that went, before the
bearers of the offerings? -- It appeared and proclaimed the crown; it was hid
and concealed His Body. -- It was for the Son in twofold wise, herald and
guardian; -- it guarded His Body, it proclaimed His Crown. R., Blessed is He Who
has given wisdom to them that proclaim Him! 6. The tyrant gazed on the Magi, as
they asked "Where is the son of the King?" -- While his heart was gloomy, he
sought for himself a cheerful countenance. -- With the sheep he sent wolves,
that should kill the Lamb of God. -- The Lamb went down to Egypt, that thence He
might judge them, -- whence He had saved them.R., Blessed be He Who yet again
subdued them.7. The Magi declared to the tyrant, "When thy servants joined us,
-- the bright star withdrew itself, yea the paths hid themselves." -- The
blessed ones knew not, that the king had sent bitter foes, -- murderers as if
worshippers, to destroy the sweet fruit, -- whereof the bitter eat and are made
sweet.R., To Thee be glory, Medicine of life!8. When there the Magi received,
commandment to go and seek Him. -- it is written of them that they saw, that
bright star and rejoiced. -- Thus it is known that it had been withdrawn;
therefore rejoiced they at its aspect. -- It was hid and hindered the murderers,
it arose and called the worshippers; -- it overthrew a part and it called a
part.R., Blessed be He Who has triumphed in both parts!9. The abhorred one who
slew the children, how did he overlook the Child? -- Justice hindered him that
he thought, the Magi would return to him. -- While he stayed waiting to seize,
the Worshipped and His worshippers, -- everything escaped his hands, the
offerings and the worshippers took flight, -- from the tyrant to the Son of the
King.R., Glory to Him who knows all counsels!10. The blameless Magi as they
slept, meditated on their beds: -- sleep became a mirror, and a dream rose on it
as light. -- The murderer they saw and trembled, as his guile and his sword
flashed forth. -- He taught the men guile, he sharpened the sword to sharpness:
-- the Watcher taught the sleepers.R., Blessed is He who gives prudence to the
simple!11. The simple who believe have known, two Comings of Christ: -- but the
foolish scribes have not even perceived one Coming. -- Yet the nations have life
in the first, and shall rise again there in the second. -- The People whose mind
is blinded, the first Coming has dispersed; -- the second shall blot out their
memory.R., Blessed be the King Who is come and is to come!12. When the Saviour
arose as the blind, the Sun showed forth his beams, -- and they were clothed in
darkness: the Brightness sent forth his light, -- and He brought the sons of the
stars, to make manifest the sons of darkness. -- For lo! among you is the star,
but on your eyes the veil.R., To Thee be glory, newborn Sun!13. Prophets
declared concerning His Birth, but they made not plain the time thereof. -- He
sent the Magi, and they came and showed of its time. -- Yet the Magi who made
known the time, made not plain who the Child should be. -- A star of splendid
light, in its course showed who the Child was, -- how splendid was His
lineage.R., Blessed be He Who by them all was pointed out!14. They scorned the
trumpet of Isaiah, which sounded forth His pure Conception, -- they silenced the
lute of the Psalms, which sang of His Priesthood; -- the harp of the Spirit they
hushed, which sang again of His Kingdom; -- under deep silence they closed up,
the great Birth that joined the cry -- of them above with them below.R., Blessed
be He Who appeared in the midst of silence!15. His voice was the secret key that
opened the mouths of the Magi. -- Whereas preachers were silent in Judah, they
made their voice sound through creation; -- and the Gospel which those had
scorned, these who came from far took and departed. -- The scorners began to
hear their own orders from strangers, who cried out the name of the Son of
David.R., Blessed be He Who by our voice has put them to silence!16. Whereas the
People scorned offerings, and brought them not to Him the Son of the King, -- He
sent His herald to the nations, and caused them to come with their offerings: --
yet not all of them caused He to come, for it could not suffice for them, -- the
narrow bosom of Bethlehem; but the bosom of Holy Church, -- enlarged itself and
contained her children.R., Blessed be He Who has made the barren fruitful!17.
The slayers of Bethlehem mowed down the tender flowers that among them -- should
perish the tender seedling, wherein was hidden the Bread of life. -- But the ear
of corn that has life had escaped, that it should come to the sheaves in
harvest: -- the grape that escaped when young, gave itself to the treading, --
that its wine might give life to souls.R., Glory to Thee, Treasury of life!18.
The murderers went into a paradise, full of tender fruits: -- they shook off the
flowers from the bough, blossoms and buds they destroyed, -- unblemished
oblations he offered, the persecutor unwittingly. -- To him woe, but to them
blessing! Bethlehem was first to give, virgin fruits to the Holy One.R., Blessed
is He Who receives the first fruits!19. The Scribes were silenced in envy, the
Pharisees in jealousy. -- Men of stone cried out and gave praise, who had a
heart of stone. -- They applauded in presence of the Stone, the rejected that
has become the Head. -- Stones were made flesh by that Stone, and obtained
mouths to speak; stones cried out through that Stone. R., Blessed be Thy Birth
that has caused stones to cry out!20. The Star that is written in Scripture, the
nations beheld from afar, -- that the People might be shamed which is near; O
People instructed and puffed up! which by the nations hast been in turn
instructed, how and where they saw, -- that vision whereof Balaam spake; a
stranger he who spread abroad concerning it, -- strangers they who saw it.R.,
Blessed is He Who has provoked to jealousy them of His own house!21. Let my
supplication draw nigh to Thy Door, yea my poverty to Thy Treasury! -- Give to
me my Lord without measure, as God unto man! -- And though Thou increase gifts
as Son of the Blessed, and though Thou add to them as Son of the King; -- though
I be thankless as are all creatures of dust, as Adam so is the son of Adam, --
and as the Blessed so too is the Son of the Blessed.R., Praise be to Thee Who
art like unto Thy Father!


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  CHAPTER 79: HYMN XVIII. PRAISE BE TO HIM WHO SENT HIM!
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Resp. -- Praise be to Him Who sent Him! (bis) 1. Blessed art thou, O Church, for
lo! in thee is the sound, -- of the great feast the festival of the King! --
Sion is deserted, her gates are sore athirst, -- and forsaken of festivals. --
Blessed thy gates that are open yet not filled, -- and thy halls that are
enlarged yet suffice not! -- In the midst of thee lo! is the sound, of the
nations that cry out, and have put to silence the People. 2. Blessed art thou, O
Church, that in thy festivals, -- the Watchers rejoice amid thy festivity! --
for one night the Watchers gave praise, -- on the earth which withheld and
refused praise. -- Blessed thy voices that have been sown and reaped, -- and in
Heaven stored up in garners! -- Thy mouth is a censer, and thy voices as
perfumes, breathing vapour in thy festivals. 3. Blessed art thou, O Church, that
all oblations, -- are brought unto thee in this feast. -- The Magi once among
traitors, offered them to the Truth. -- Blessed thy abode that He bowed Himself
and dwelt therein, Son of the King Who is worshipped with gifts! -- Gold from
the West, and spices from the East, -- are offered in Thy Festivals. 4. Blessed
art thou, O Church, that there is not with thee, -- a tyrant King slayer of
babes! for he killed in Bethlehem the little ones at random, -- that he might
put to death the Child that gives life to all. -- Blessed thy children that are
envied and worshipped, -- by Kings, for those are promised for Thy worship, --
the crowns of the East: -- he who trod down thy dear ones, shall be trodden down
by thy beloved. 5. Blessed art thou, O Church, for lo! over thee, -- Isaiah too
exults in his prophecy, -- "Lo a Virgin shall conceive and bear, -- a Son" Whose
name is great mystery! -- O interpretation revealed in the Church! -- two names
that were joined and became one; -- "Emmanuel," -- God be with thee ever, Who
joined thee with His members! 6. Blessed art thou, O Church, in Micah who cried
out, -- "A Shepherd shall come forth from Ephrata": -- for He came to Bethlehem
to take -- from thence the rod of Jesse and to rule the nations. -- Blessed thy
lambs that are sealed with His seal, -- and thy sheep that are kept by His
sword! -- Thou art, O Church, -- the abiding Bethlehem, -- for in thee is the
Bread of Life! [507] 7. Blessed art thou, O Church, for lo! in thee rejoices, --
Daniel also the man beloved, -- who foretold that the glorious Messiah shall be
killed, -- and the city of holiness be laid desolate at His killing! -- Woe to
the People that was rejected and is not converted -- Blessed the nations that
were called and turned not away! -- The bidden guests refused, -- and others in
their stead enjoyed their banquet. 8. Blessed art thou, O Church, for on thy,
lute, lo! King David sings psalms in thee! In the Spirit he sings of Him "Thou
art My Son and I -- this day have begotten Thee" in the glories of holiness. --
Blessed thy ears that have been purged to hear! -- On His day watch thou as His
Body and call on Him; -- be taught by Sion, -- which saddened His Feast; make
Him glad Who has gladdened thee. 9. Blessed art thou, O Church, that all
festivals -- have taken flight from Sion and sheltered with thee! -- In the
midst of thee the wearied Prophets have found rest, -- from the labour and the
reproachthey bore in Judah. -- Blessed the books unrolled in thy temples, -- and
the festivals celebrated in thy shrines! -- Sion is forsaken, -- and lo! today
the nations shout in thy festivals. 10. Blessed art thou, O Church, in ten
blessings, -- which our Lord has given as a mystery complete: -- for on ten all
the numbers hang, therefore art thou perfect by ten blessings. -- Blessed thy
crowns that are twined -- with all blessings mixed in every crown! -- O blessed
one, -- with every blessing crowned, on me too send thy blessing! 11. Blessed
art thou, Ephrata, mother of Kings, that from thee sprang the Lord of diadems!
-- Micah gave thee tidings that He is from everlasting, and the span of His
times is not comprehended. -- Blessed thine eyes which first of all discerned
Him! -- thee He deemed worthy to see Him when He appeared, -- Chief of
benediction, -- and Beginning of gladness, thou didst receive first of all.12.
Blessed art thou, Bethlehem, that the towns envy thee, -- and the fortified
cities! -- As they envy thee, so the women envy Mary, -- and the virgins
daughters of princes. -- Blessed the maiden in whom He deigned to abide, -- and
the city wherein He deigned to sojourn; -- a poor maiden, -- and a small city,
He chose Him to humble Himself.13. Blessed art thou, Bethlehem, that in thee was
the beginning, -- for Him the Son Who from everlasting is in the Father! -- It
is hard to comprehend, that before Time He is, -- Who in thee made Himself
subject to Time. -- Blessed thine ears, for in thee first was heard the cry --
of the Lamb of God who exulted in thee! -- Narrow though thy manger, -- He
spread Himself on all sides, and was worshipped of every creature.14. Blessed
art thou too, Mary, that thy name -- is great and exalted because of thy child!
-- Thou canst tell then how and how long -- and where He dwelt in thee, the
great One in small room. -- Blessed thy mouth that praised and enquired not, --
and thy tongue that glorified and questioned not! -- For His Mother was
uncertain concerning Him, -- even while she carried Him in the womb; who then
shall suffice to comprehend Him?15. O Woman, thou whom no man knew, -- how can
we behold the Son thou hast borne? -- For no eyes suffice to stand -- before the
transfigurations of the glory, that is on Him. -- For tongues of fire abide in
Him -- Who sent tongues by His Ascension. -- Be every tongue warned, -- that our
questioning is as stubble, and as fire our scrutiny.16. Blessed is he the priest
who in the sanctuary, -- offers to the Father the Son of the Father, -- the
fruit that is plucked from our tree, though it be wholly of the Divine Majesty!
-- Blessed the hands that are hallowed and offer Him! -- and the lips that are
spent in kissing Him! -- The Spirit in the Temple -- longed for His embrace; and
at His Crucifixion rent the veil and went forth.17. The Archangel gave thee
greeting, -- as the earnest of holiness -- Earth became to him new Heavens, --
when the Watcher came down and sang glory on it. -- The sons of the Highest
encompassed thy habitation -- because of the Son of the King that dwelt in thee.
-- Thy abode below, -- to the Heaven above was made like by the host of
Watchers.


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  CHAPTER 80: HYMN XIX. BLESSED BE THY BIRTH THAT GLADDENS ALL CREATURES!
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(Resp. -- Blessed be thy Birth that gladdens all creatures!) 1. The first year
wherein, our Saviour was born, -- is source of blessing, and ground of life; --
for by it are borne, -- manifold triumphs, the sum of all help: -- as the first
day of "the beginning," -- the great pillar of all creatures, -- bears the
building of Creation; -- so the year of the Firstborn bears help for man. 2. In
the second year, of our Saviour's Birth, -- the Magi exult, the Pharisees mourn:
-- treasures are opened, -- kings are hastening, and infants are slain. -- For
in it are offered in Bethlehem, -- oblations precious and terrible; -- for while
love made offering of gold, -- hatred offered infants by the sword. 3. The day
of the All-Lightening, exults in His birth; -- a pillar of radiance, which
drives away, by its beams -- the works of darkness. After the type of that day,
wherein light was created, -- and sundered the darkness that spread -- over the
fair beauty of Creation; -- the radiance of our Saviour's birth -- came in to
sunder the darkness that was on the heart. 4. The first day the source and the
beginning, -- orders the roots, to make all things grow. -- Our Saviour's day --
is praised far above it, a tree planted in the world. -- For His Death is as the
root in the earth; His Resurrection as the head in heaven; on all sides His
words reach as boughs; likewise His Body as fruit for the eaters. 5. Let the
second day, sing praise to the Birth -- of the second Son, and His voice which
first -- commanded the firmament and it was made, -- divided the waters that
were above, and gathered the seas that were under. -- He Who divided waters from
waters, divided Himself from the Watchers and came down to man. -- For the
waters which at His command were gathered. -- He cleft the fountain of life and
gave drink. 6. Let the third day weave with divers hymns -- the crown of psalms
and with one voice present it -- for His Birth who gave growth -- of buds and
flowers, on the third day. -- But now He the All-giver of growth, -- has come
down and become the All-holy Flower; from the thirsting earth has sprang forth
and gone up, -- that he may decorate and crown the conquerors. 7. Let the fourth
day praise, first among the four, -- His Birth Who created as the fourth day --
the two lightgivers, -- which fools worship, and are sightless and blind. -- The
Lord of Lightgivers has come down, -- and from the womb has shone on us as the
Sun. -- His splendours have opened the eyes of the blind: -- His rays have given
light to the wandering. 8. Let the fifth day laud Him Who created -- on the
fifth day creeping things and Dragons -- of whose kind is the serpent. -- He
deceived with guile our mother, a maid void of counsel. -- The deceiver who had
mocked the maid, -- by the Dove was exposed as false, -- which from a virgin
bosom sprang, and came forth -- the Wise that trod down the crafty. 9. Let the
sixth day laud Him who created -- on Vesper-day Adam, whom Satan envied; as a
feigned friend -- cheered him in offering poison in his food. -- The medicine of
life reached them both, -- put on a body and came near to both. -- The mortal
tasted Him and lived through Him; -- the devourer who ate Him was left void. 10.
Let the seventh day hallow the Holy One, -- Who halloweth the Sabbath, and gave
rest to all that live. -- The Blessed One Who wearied not -- has care for
mankind, and has care for the beasts. -- When Freedom fell under the yoke, -- He
came to the Birth and became bond to make it free: -- He was smitten on the face
by servants in the judgment hall; -- He broke the yoke that was on the free, as
Lord. 11. Let the eighth day, which circumcised the Hebrews, -- praise Him Who
commanded his namesake Joshua -- to circumcise with a flint -- the people
circumcised in body, while the heart was profane within. -- Lo! as the eighth
day, as a Babe, -- to circumcision He came Who circumcises all. -- Though the
sign of Abraham is on His Flesh, -- the blind daughter of Sion had defiled
it.12. Let the tenth day sing, praises in its turn. -- For God the first letter
of Jesus (goodly name!), is ten in numbering. -- He Who is as a lamb, turns back
the numbers. -- For when the number goes up to ten, it is turned back to begin
again from one. O great mystery of that which is in Jesus, Whose might turns all
creation back again!13. The All-Purifier Firstborn in the day of His purifying,
-- purified the purification of the firstborn and was offered [508] in the
Temple: -- the Lord of offering needed offerings, -- to make offering of birds.
-- In His Birth were fulfilled the types, -- in His purification and
circumcision the allegories. -- He came and paid over debts in His coming down;
-- in His Resurrection He went up and sent down treasures.


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  CHAPTER 81: FIFTEEN HYMNS FOR THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY. 
========================================================================

Translated by REV. A. Edward Johnston, B.A.


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  CHAPTER 82: HYMNS FOR THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY. HYMN I. TO THEE BE PRAISE FROM THY FLOCK IN THE DAY OF THY EPIPHANY!
========================================================================

Resp. -- To Thee be praise from Thy flock in the day of Thy Epiphany! 1. The
heavens He has renewed, for that fools worshipped all the luminaries: -- He has
renewed the earth, for that in Adam it was wasted. [509] -- That which He
fashioned has become new by His spittle: -- and the All-Sufficing has restored
bodies with souls. 2. Gather yourselves again ye -- sheep and without labour
receive cleansing! -- for one needs not as Elisha -- to bathe seven times in the
river, nor again to be wearied as the priests are wearied with sprinklings. 3.
Seven times Elisha purified himself in a mystery of the seven spirits; -- and
the hyssop and blood are a mighty symbol. -- There is no room for division; --
He is not divided from the Lord of all Who is Son of the Lord of all. 4. Moses
sweetened in Marah the waters that were bitter, -- because the People complained
and murmured: -- Thus he gave a sign of baptism, -- wherein the Lord of life
makes sweet them that were bitter. 5. The cloud overshadowed and kept off the
burning heat from the camp; -- it showed a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which
overshadows you in baptism -- tempering the flaming fire that it harm not your
bodies. 6. Through the sea the People then passed, and showed a symbol -- of the
baptism wherein ye were washed. The People passed through that and believed not:
-- the Gentiles were baptized in this and believed and received the Holy Ghost.
7. The Word sent the Voice to proclaim before His Coming, -- to prepare for Him
the way by which He came, -- and to betroth the Bride till He should come, --
that she might be ready when He should come and take her from the water. 8. The
voice of prophecy stirred the son of the barren woman, -- and he went forth
wandering in the desert and crying, -- "Lo! the Son of the Kingdom comes! --
prepare ye the way that He may enter and abide in your dwellings!" 9. John
cried, "Who comes after me, He is before me: -- I am the Voice but not the Word;
-- I am the torch but not the Light; -- the Star that rises before the Sun of
Righteousness." 10. In the wilderness this John had cried and had said, --
"Repent ye sinners of your evils, -- and offer the fruits of repentance; -- for
lo! He comes that winnows the wheat from the tares." 11. The Lightgiver has
prevailed and marked a mystery, by the degrees he ascended: -- Lo! there are
twelve days since he ascended, -- and to-day this is the thirteenth: -- a
perfect mystery of Him, the Son, and His twelve!12. Darkness was overcome to
make it manifest that Satan was overcome; -- and the Light prevailed that he
should proclaim -- that the Firstborn triumphs: darkness was overcome -- with
the Dark Spirit, and our Light prevailed with the Lightgiver.13. In the Height
and the Depth the Son had two heralds. -- The star of light proclaimed Him from
above; -- John likewise preached Him from beneath: -- two heralds, the earthly
and the heavenly.14. The star of light, contrary to nature, shone forth of a
sudden; -- less than the sun yet greater than the sun. -- Less was it than he in
manifest light; -- and greater than he in secret might because of its
mystery.15. The star of light shed its rays among them that were in darkness, --
and guided them as though they were blind; -- so that they came and met the
great Light: -- they gave offerings and received life and adored and
departed.16. The herald from above showed His Nature to be from the Most High;
-- likewise he that was from beneath showed His Body to be from humankind,
mighty marvel! -- that His Godhead and His Manhood by them were proclaimed!17.
Thus whoso reckons Him as of earth, the star of light -- will convince him that
He is of Heaven: and whoso reckons Him as of spirit, -- this John will convince
him that He is also bodily.18. John drew near with his parents and worshipped
the Sun, -- and brightness rested on His Face. -- He was not moved as when in
the womb. -- Mighty marvel! that here he worships and there he leaped!19. The
whole creation became for Him as one mouth and cried out concerning Him. -- The
Magi cry out in their gifts; -- the barren cry out with their children; -- the
star of light, lo! it cries out in the air, "Behold the Son of the King!"20. The
heavens are opened, the waters break forth, the dove is in glory! -- The voice
of the Father is stronger than thunder, -- as it utters the word, "This is My
Beloved"; -- the Watchers brought the tidings, the children acclaimed Him in
their Hosannas.


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  CHAPTER 83: HYMN II. NEARLY IDENTICAL WITH HYMN XIII
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(Nearly identical with Hymn XIII. On the Nativity.) (Resp. -- To Thee be praise
Who in this feast makest all to exult!) 1. In the time of the King whom they
called by the name Semha [510] -- our Lord was manifested among the Hebrews. --
Thus Semha and Denha [511] reigned together, -- the King on earth and the Son on
high -- blessed be His power! 2. In the days of the King who wrote down men in
the taxing, -- our Saviour came down and wrote down men in the Book of Life; He
wrote and was written; -- on high He wrote us, on earth He was written; glory to
His Name! 3. His Birth was in the days of the King whose name was Semha. --
Symbol and truth met one another; -- King and King, Semha and Denha. -- That
kingdom bore His Cross; blessed be He Who took it up! 4. Thirty years abode He
on earth in poverty. -- Voices of praise in all measures, -- let us weave my
brethren for our Lord's years; -- thirty crowns for thirty years; Blessed be His
number! 5. In the first year, mistress of treasure and filled with blessings, --
let the Cherubin give thanks with us, they who bear -- the Son in glory Who gave
up His glorious state, -- and toiled and found the sheep that was lost; -- to
Him be thanksgiving! 6. In the second year let the Seraphin multiply
thanksgiving with us; -- they who cried "Holy" to the Son, and turned and saw
Him -- among unbelievers put to shame. -- He endured scorn and taught us glory;
to Him be glory given! 7. In the third year let Michael and his hosts give
thanks with us; -- they who were wont to serve the Son on high, -- and saw Him
on earth doing service. -- He washed men's feet and cleansed men's souls;
blessed be His meekness! 8. In the fourth year let all the heavens give thanks
with us! Too narrow for the Son it shall burst to see -- how He lay on the couch
of despised Zaccheus. -- He filled the couch and had filled the heavens; -- to
Him be thanksgiving! 9. In the fifth year let the Sun that burns the earth with
its heat -- give thanks to our Sun that He straitened His largeness, -- and
tempered His force that the eye might endure to see Him; -- the inward eye of a
pure soul; blessed be His radiance! 10. In the sixth year again let all the air
give thanks with us, -- in the vastness whereof all things exult. -- It saw its
great Lord that He became -- a little babe in a lowly bosom; blessed be His
honour!11. In the seventh year let the clouds and winds sound the trumpet with
us, -- they whose dew sprinkles the faces of the flowers, -- yet saw they the
Son that He subdued His brightness, -- and endured scorn and shameful spitting;
-- blessed be His salvation!12. Yet again in the eighth year let Creation give
glory, -- from whose fountain the fruits draw nurture. -- She adored when she
saw the Son at the breast, -- pure babe nurtured by pure milk; blessed be His
good pleasure!13. In the ninth year let the earth give glory, which when her lap
is watered then brings forth the root. -- She saw Mary an unwatered soil --
whose fruit that she yielded is a mighty sea; to Him be exultation!R., To Thee
be glory, Son of the Lord of all, Who givest life to all!14. In the tenth year
let Mount Sinai give glory, which melted -- before its Lord! It saw against its
Lord -- stones taken up: but He took stones -- to build the Church upon the
Rock; blessed be His building!15. In the eleventh year let the great sea give
thanks -- to the hand of the Son Who measured it! And it wondered to see how He
came down and was washed -- in humble waters, He that cleanses Creation; blessed
be His triumph!16. In the twelfth year let the holy Temple give thanks -- which
beheld the Child as He sat -- among the elders: the doctors were silenced -- as
the Lamb of the feast bleated in the feast; blessed be His atonement!17. In the
thirteenth year let diadems with us give thanks -- to the King Who triumphed and
was crowned -- with a crown of thorns: He wove for man -- a mighty diadem at His
right hand; blessed be He That sent Him!18. In the fourteenth year let the
Passover of Egypt give thanks -- to the Passover that came and made passover for
all, -- and instead of Pharaoh overwhelmed Legion, -- and instead of horsemen
drowned demons; blessed be His retribution!19. In the fifteenth year let the
lamb of the flock give thanks, -- that our Lord slew it not as did Moses, -- but
redeemed by His Blood mankind. -- He the Shepherd of all died for all; blessed
be He That begat Him!20. In the sixteenth year let the seed-corn in mystery give
thanks -- to that Husbandman Who gave His Body for seed -- in a barren soil that
corrupts all things. -- It proved fertile and yielded new bread; blessed be He
that is pure!21. In the seventeenth year let the Vine give thanks to our Lord,
-- the Vineyard of truth, wherein souls were -- as the scions. He gave peace to
this vineyard, but laid waste that vineyard which bare wild grapes; blessed be
the Uprooter!22. In the eighteenth year let our leaven give thanks -- to the
leaven of truth that penetrates and draws -- all minds and makes them to become
-- one mind in one doctrine; blessed be His doctrine!23. In the nineteenth year
let the Salt give thanks for Thy Body. -- O blessed Babe it is the soul -- that
is the salt of the Body, and Faith -- the salt of the soul whereby it is
preserved; blessed be Thy preservation!R., Glory to Thy Epiphany, O God and
Man!24. In the twentieth year let temporal wealth with us give thanks, -- which
men that are perfect have cast off and abandoned -- because of the "Woe"; and
have gone and loved -- poverty because of its beatitude; blessed be He Who
desired it!25. In the one-and-twentieth year let the waters give thanks that
were sweetened -- in a mystery of the Son. In the honey of Samson -- the nations
tasted bitterness therein that destroyed them: -- they had life in the Cross
that redeemed them; blessed be its pleasantness!26. In the two-and-twentieth
year let arms and the sword give thanks, -- for they could not slay our
Adversary. -- Thou art He Who slew him as Thou art He Who restored -- the ear
that Simon's sword cut off; blessed be Thy healing!27. In the
three-and-twentieth year let the ass likewise give thanks, -- that gave the colt
whereon He should ride; -- He opens likewise the mouth of wild asses, -- the
offspring gave Him praise; blessed be the praise of Thee!28. In the
four-and-twentieth year let wealth give thanks to the Son! -- Treasures were
amazed at the Lord of treasures, -- how He grew up among the poor. -- He made
Himself poor that He might make all rich; blessed be His participation!29. In
the five-and-twentieth year let Isaac give thanks to the Son -- Who in the mount
saved him from the knife, -- and became in his stead the lamb to be slain. --
The mortal escaped, and He died Who gives life to all; blessed be His
offering!30. In the six-and-twentieth year let Moses with us give thanks, -- who
feared and fled from the slayers; -- let him give thanks to the Son, for He it
was Who on His feet -- entered Sheol and spoiled it and came forth; blessed be
His Resurrection![31. In the seven-and-twentieth year let the eloquent Orators
-- give thanks to the Son, for they could not find -- means whereby we should
prevail in our judgment: -- He was silent in judgment and made our judgment
prevail; to Him be applause!]32. In the seven and twentieth year let all Judges
give thanks, -- who as being just have put to death illdoers; -- let them give
thanks to the Son Who instead of the evil -- died as being good, though He was
Son of the Just One; blessed be His mercies! 33. In the eight-and-twentieth year
let them give thanks to the Son, -- all the mighty men who saved us not -- from
the captors. One is to be worshipped, -- Who was slain and laid hold and saved
us; blessed be His deliverance!34. In the nine-and-twentieth year let Job with
us give thanks, -- who bare sufferings in his own behalf: -- but our Lord bare
on our behalf -- the spitting and the stripes, the thorns and the nails; blessed
is His compassion!35. In the year that is the thirtieth let them give thanks
with us; -- the dead that have lived through His dying, -- the living that were
converted in His Crucifixion, -- and the height and the depth that have been
reconciled in Him! Blessed be He and His Father!


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  CHAPTER 84: HYMN III. CHRIST WITH CHRISM, LO!
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(Resp. -- Christ with chrism, lo! He is sealing the newborn lambs in His flock!)
1. Christ and chrism are conjoined; the secret with the visible is mingled: the
chrism anoints visibly, -- Christ seals secretly, the lambs newborn and
spiritual, the prize of His twofold victory; for He engendered it of the chrism,
and He gave it birth of the water. 2. How exalted are your Orders! For she that
was a sinner anointed, as a handmaid, the feet of her Lord. But for you, as
though His minister, Christ by the hand of His servants, seals and anoints your
bodies. It befits Him the Lord of the flock, that in His own person He seal His
sheep. 3. Since then she, that sinner, stood in need of forgiveness, the
anointing was for her an offering, and by it her love reconciled her Lord. But
you who are the flock, among the profane and unbelievers, the Truth by the
chrism is your seal, to separate you from the strayed. 4. From the peoples he
separated the People, by the former seal of circumcision; but by the seal of
anointing, the peoples He separates from the People. When the peoples were in
error, the People He separated from the peoples; now when the People has erred
from Him, He separates the peoples from thence. 5. Of the dust of the pure soil,
Naaman bore away and returned to his place; that he by this holy dust, might be
separated and known from the unclean. The chrism of Christ separates, the sons
of the mystery from strangers: and by it they that are within are separated, and
known from them that are without. 6. The oil which Elijah multiplied, might be
tasted with the mouth; for the cruse was that of the widow, it was not that of
the chrism. The oil of our Lord that is in the cruse, it is not food for the
mouth: the sinner that was a wolf without, it makes him a lamb in the flock. 7.
The chrism of the meek and lowly One, changes the stubborn to be like its Lord.
The Gentiles were wolves and feared, the severe rod of Moses. Lo! the chrism
seals them and makes, a flock of sheep out of the wolves! And the wolves that
had fled from the rod, lo! they have taken refuge in the Cross! 8. The leaf of
olive arrived, brought as a figure of the anointing; the sons of the Ark
rejoiced to greet it, for it bore good tidings of deliverance. Thus also ye
rejoiced to greet it, even this holy anointing. The bodies of sinners were glad
in it, for it brought good tidings of deliverance. 9. The oil again that Jacob
poured, upon the stone when he sealed it, that it should be between him and God,
and that he might offer there his tithes; lo! in it is a symbol of your bodies,
how by chrism they are sealed as holy, and become temples for God, where He
shall be served by your sacrifices. 10. When Moses had sealed and anointed, the
sons of Aaron the Levite, the fire consumed their bodies; the fire spared their
vestments. But ye my brethren blessed are ye, for the fire of grace has come
down, has consumed utterly your offences, and cleansed and hallowed your bodies!
11. As for the anointing of Aaron my brethren, it was the vile blood of beasts,
that it sprinkled in the horns of the altar. The anointing of truth is this;
wherein the living and all-lifegiving Blood, is sprinkled inwardly in your
bodies, is mingled in your understandings, is infused through your inmost
chambers.12. The anointed priests used to offer, the slain bodies of beasts; Ye,
O anointed and excelling, your offerings are your own bodies. The anointed
Levites offered, the inward parts taken, from beasts: ye have excelled the
Levites, for your hearts ye have Consecrated.13. The anointing of the People was
-- a foreshadowing of Christ; their rod a mystery of the Cross; their lamb a
type of the Only begotten; their tabernacle a mystery of your Churches; their
circumcision a sign of your sealing. Under the shadow of your goodly thing, sat
the People of old.14. Thus the truth is likened, to a great shadowing tree: it
cast its shade on the People; it struck its root among the peoples. The People
abode under its shadows, whose shadows were its mysteries; but the Gentiles
lodged on its bough, and plucked and ate of its fruits.15. As for the anointing
of Saul to be king; the sweeter was its savour, so much fouler was the savour of
his heart. The Spirit struck him and fled. Your anointing which ye have is
greater; for your minds are censers, in your temples the Spirit exults, a
chamber forever shall ye be unto Him.16. As for the anointing of David my
brethren; the Spirit came down and made sweet savour, in the heart of the man
wherein He delighted; the savour of his heart was as the savour of his action.
The Spirit dwelt in him and made song in him. Your anointing which ye have is
greater, for Father and Son and Holy Ghost, have moved and come down to dwell in
you.17. When the leper of old was cleansed, the priest used to seal him with
oil, and to lead him to the waterspring. The type has passed and the truth is
come; lo! with chrism have ye been sealed, in baptism ye are perfected, in the
flock ye are intermixed, from the Body ye are nourished.18. What leper when he
has been cleansed, turns again and desires his leprosy? Ye have put off
transgressions -- forsake it! None puts on the leprosy he had put off. It has
fallen and sunk -- let it not be drawn out! It is wasted and worn -- let it not
be renewed! Let not corruption come out upon you, whom the chrism of Christ has
anointed!19. The vessel moulded of clay, gains beauty from the water, receives
strength from the fire; but if it slips it is ruined, it cannot be afresh
renewed. Ye are vessels of grace; be ye ware of it, even of justice, for it
grants not two renewals.20. How like are ye in comparison, with the Prophet whom
the fish yielded up! The Devourer has given you back for he was constrained, by
the Power Which constrained the fish. Jonah was for you as a mirror, since not
again did the fish swallow him, let not again the Devourer swallow you: being
yielded up be ye like Jonah!21. Goodly ointment on the head of our Lord did Mary
pour; its savour was fragrant through all the house. Likewise the savour of your
anointing, has been fragrant and perfumed the heavens, to the Watchers on high;
doing pleasure to Satan its savour is overpowering; to God its odour is
sweet.22. The crowds in the desert were like unto sheep that have no shepherd.
The Merciful became their shepherd, and multiplied to them the pasture of bread.
Yea, blessed are ye that are perfect, that are sealed as lambs of Christ, that
of His Body and Blood are made worthy; the Pastor Himself is become pasture for
you!23. Out of water He made the wine, He gave it for drink to the youths in the
feast. For you who are keeping the fast, better is the unction than drink. In
His wine the betrothed are wedded, by His oil the wedded are sanctified. By His
wine is union; by His oil sanctification.24. The sheep of Christ leaped for joy,
to receive the seal of life, that ensign of kings which has ever put sin to
flight. The Wicked by Thy ensign is routed, iniquities by Thy sign are
scattered. Come, ye sheep, receive your seal, which puts to flight them that
devour you!25. Come, ye lambs, receive your seal, for it is truth that is your
seal! This is the seal that separates, them of the household from strangers. The
steel circumcised alike, the gainsayers and the sons of Hagar. If circumcision
be the sign of the sheep, lo! by it the goats are signed.26. But ye, who are the
new flock, have put off the doings of wolves, and as lambs are made like to the
Lamb. One by changing has changed all; the Lamb to the wolves gave Himself to be
slain; the wolves rushed and devoured Him and became lambs; for the Shepherd was
changed into a Lamb; likewise the wolf forgot his nature.27. Look on me also in
Thy mercy! be not branded on me the seal, of the goats the sons of the left
hand! let not Thy sheep become a goat! For though to justify myself I sufficed
not, yet to be a sinner I willed not. Turn thine eyes, O my Lord, from what I
have done, and seek not only what I have willed. 28. From them that write and
them that preach, from them that hear and them that are sealed, let glory go up
to Christ, and through Him to His Father be exaltation! He Who gives words to
them that speak, and gives voice to them that preach, has given understanding to
them that hear, and consecrates chrism for him that is sealed.


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  CHAPTER 85: HYMN IV. BLESSED BE HE THAT BLOTS OUT IN WATER MISDEEDS THAT ARE WITHOUT MEASURE!
========================================================================

(Resp. -- Blessed be He that blots out in water misdeeds that are without
measure!) 1. Descend my sealed brethren, put ye on our Lord, -- and be rejoined
to His lineage, for He is son of a great lineage, -- as He has said in His Word.
2. From on high is His Nature, and from beneath His Vesture. -- Each that puts
off his vesture, commingled is that vesture, with His Vesture forever. 3. Ye too
in the water, receive from him the vesture, -- that wastes not or is lost for it
is the vesture that vests -- them that are vested in it forever. 4. But the
blessed Priest, is daysman between two: -- the covenant shall be made before
Him, He is daysman of his Lord, -- and surety on our part. 5. The Godhead in the
water, lo! has mingled His leaven; -- for the creatures of dust, that leaven
raises up, -- and the Godhead joins them. 6. For it is the leaven of the Lord,
that can glide into the bondman, -- and raise him to freedom; it has joined the
bondman to the lineage, -- of Him the Lord of all. 7. For the bondman who has
put on Him, Who makes all free in the waters, -- though bondman he be on earth,
is son of the free on high, -- for freedom he has put on. 8. The freeman who has
put on, that Angel in the waters, -- is as the fellow of servants, that he may
be made like to the Lord, -- Who became bondman unto bondmen. 9. He Who enriches
all came down, and put on poverty, -- that He might divide to the poor, the
stores that were hidden, -- out of the treasure-house of the water. 10. The
lowly one again that has put on, the Giver of all greatness, in the water, --
even though he be base in the sight of fools, yet is great in the sight of the
Watchers, -- for that he is clad in greatness. 11. For like as He Who is great,
Who became lowly in His love, -- by the unbelievers was persecuted, and by the
Watchers was worshipped, -- was made lowly and makes the lowly great.12. Thus
let him be lowly who is great, that in him the lowly may be great: -- Let us be
like to Him Who is greater than all, Who became less than all: -- He was made
lowly, and makes all men great.13. The meek man who has put on Him Who is great,
in the water, -- though humble be his countenance, very great is his
discernment, -- for He Who is exalted above all dwells in him.14. For who could
be found to despise the bush of thorn, -- the despised and humble, wherein the
Majesty in fire, -- made its dwelling within?15. Who again could be found, to
despise Moses, -- the meek and slow of speech, -- when that excelling glory --
dwelt upon his meekness?16. They that despised him despised his Lord; the wicked
that despised him -- the earth swallowed up in anger; the Levites who scorned
Him, -- the fire devoured in fury.17. Of Him Christ commanded, "Thou shalt not
call him Raca," who is baptized and has put Him on; for whoso despises the
despised, despises with him the Mighty.18. In Eden and in the world, are
parables of our Lord; -- and what tongue can gather, the similitudes of His
mysteries? -- for He is figured all of Him in all things.19. In the Scriptures
He is written of; on Nature He is impressed; -- His crown is figured in kings,
in prophets His truth, His atonement in priests.20. In the rod was He of Moses,
and in the hyssops of Aaron, -- and in the crown of David: to the prophets
pertains His similitude, to the Apostles His Gospel.21. Revelations beheld Thee,
proverbs looked for Thee, -- mysteries expected Thee, similitudes saluted Thee,
parables showed types of Thee.22. The Covenant of Moses looked forward to the
Gospel: -- all things of old time, flew on and alighted thereon, in the new
Covenant.23. Lo! the prophets have poured out on Him, their glorious mysteries;
-- the priests and kings have poured out upon Him, their wonderful types: --
they all have poured them out on all of Him.24. Christ overcame and surpassed,
by His teachings the mysteries, -- by His interpretations the parables; as the
sea into its midst -- receives all streams.25. For Christ is the sea, and He can
receive -- the fountains and brooks, the rivers and streams, that flow from the
midst of the Scriptures.


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  CHAPTER 86: HYMN V. BLESSED BE HE THAT ORDAINED BAPTISM, FOR THE ATONEMENT OF THE SONS OF ADAM!
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(Resp. -- Blessed be He that ordained baptism, for the atonement of the sons of
Adam!) 1. Descend, my brethren, put on from the waters of baptism the Holy
Spirit; -- be joined with the spirits that minister to the Godhead! 2. For lo!
He is the fire that secretly, seals also His flock, -- by the Three spiritual
Names, wherein the Evil One is put to flight. 3. John when he cried and said
"This is the Lamb of God," -- thereby showed concerning the Gentiles that they
are Abraham's children. 4. This is he that testified of our Saviour, that with
fire and the Spirit He should baptize. -- Lo! the fire and the Spirit, my
brethren, in the baptism of truth. 5. For greater is Baptism than Jordan that
little river; -- for that in streams of water and oil, the misdeeds of all men
are washed out. 6. Elisha by seven times washing, cleansed Naaman's leprosy: --
in Baptism are cleansed the secret misdeeds in the soul. 7. Moses baptized the
People in the midst of the sea, yet availed not -- to wash their heart within,
that was full of the defilements of misdeeds. 8. Lo! the priest in the likeness
of Moses purges the defilements of the soul; -- and with oil of anointing, lo!
he seals new lambs for the Kingdom. 9. Samuel anointed David to be king among
the People: -- but lo! the priest anoints you to be heirs in the Kingdom. 10.
For with the armour that David put on, after the anointing he fought -- and laid
low the giant who sought to subdue Israel. 11. Lo! again in the chrism of
Christ, and in the armour that is from the water -- the haughtiness of the Evil
One is humbled, who sought to subdue the Gentiles.12. By the water that flowed
from the rock, the thirst of the People was quenched. Lo! in the fountain of
Christ, the thirst of the peoples is quenched.13. The rod of Moses opened the
rock, and the streams flowed forth; and they were refreshed by its draught, who
had grown faint with thirst.14. Lo! from the side of Christ flowed the stream
that bestowed life. -- The Gentiles drank that were weary, and in it forgot
their pains.15. With Thy dew besprinkle my vileness, and my crimes in Thy blood
shall be atoned! -- And I shall be, O my Lord, at Thy right hand, and with Thy
Saints I shall be joined!


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  CHAPTER 87: HYMN VI. BLESSED BE HE WHO WAS BAPTIZED THAT HE MIGHT BAPTIZE YOU, THAT YE SHOULD BE ABSOLVED FROM YOUR OFFENCES
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(Resp. -- Blessed be He Who was baptized that He might baptize you, that ye
should be absolved from your offences.) 1. The Spirit came down from on high, --
and hallowed the waters by His brooding. -- In the baptism of John, -- He passed
by the rest and abode on One: -- but now He has descended and abode, -- on all
that are born of the water. 2. Out of all that John baptized, -- on One it was
that the Spirit dwelt: -- but now He has flown and come down, -- that He may
dwell on the many; -- and as each after each comes up, -- He loves him and
abides on him. 3. A marvel it is that surpasses all! -- To the water He went
down and was baptized. -- The seas declared it blessed, -- that river wherein
Thou wast baptized: -- even the waters that were in heaven envied, -- because
they were not worthy to be Thy bath. 4. A marvel it is, O my Lord, now also, --
that while the fountains are full of water, -- it is the water of baptism, --
that alone is able to atone. -- Mighty is the water in the seas, -- yet is it
too weak for atonement. 5. Thy might, O my Lord, if it abides, -- within the
humble it exalts him; -- like as royalty if it abide -- within the desert gives
it peace. -- Water by Thy might has triumphed -- over sin, for Life has
encompassed it. 6. The sheep exulted when they saw -- the hand draw nigh to
baptize them. -- Receive, O ye sheep, your sealing; enter and be mingled in the
flock! -- for more than over all the flock, -- over you rejoice the Watchers
to-day. 7. The Angels and the Watchers rejoice -- over that which is born of the
Spirit and of water: -- they rejoice that by fire and by the Spirit, -- the
corporeal have become spiritual. -- The Seraphins who sing "Holy" rejoice, --
that they who are made holy have been increased. 8. For lo! the Angels rejoice
-- over one sinner if he repent: -- how much more do they now rejoice -- that in
all churches and congregations, -- lo! Baptism is bringing forth -- the heavenly
from the earthly! 9. The baptized when they come up are sanctified; -- the
sealed when they go down are pardoned. -- They who come up have put on glory; --
they who go down have cast off sin. -- Adam put off his glory in a moment; -- ye
have been clothed with glory in a moment. 10. A house that is of dust when it
has fallen, -- by means of water can be renewed: -- the body of Adam that was of
dust, -- which had fallen by water has been renewed. -- Lo! the priests as
builders -- afresh renew your bodies. 11. A great marvel is this of the wool, --
that it can take every dye, -- as the mind takes every discourse. -- By the name
of its dye it is called; -- as ye who were -- baptized when "Hearers," -- have
gained the name of "Recipients."12. The common waters he sanctified -- even
Elisha through the Name that is secret. -- In them washed the leper openly, --
and was cleansed by the Power that is secret: -- the leprosy was done away in
the water, as transgressions in Baptism.13. To-day, lo! your offences are
blotted out, -- and your names are written down. -- The priest blots out in the
water; -- and Christ writes down in Heaven. -- By the blotting out and the
writing down -- lo! doubled is your rejoicing.14. Lo! mercy has dawned to-day;
-- and from bound to bound it stretches: -- the sun has sunk and mercy has
dawned. -- Justice has drawn in her wrath; Grace has spread forth her love, --
lo! she pardons and quickens freely.15. The sheep that beforetime were in the
fold -- lo! they hasten forth to greet -- the new lambs that have been added to
it. -- They are white and are clad in white; -- within and without white are
your bodies as your vestments.16. From every mouth "Blessed are ye," -- on every
side "Blessed are ye." -- Sin from you is driven out, -- and the Holy Spirit on
you is dwelling. -- The Evil One is become sad of countenance; -- the Good God
makes glad your countenance.17. The gift that ye have received freely, -- cease
not from watching over it: -- this pearl if it shall be lost -- cannot again be
sought out, -- for it is like to virginity -- which if it be lost is not to be
found.18. May ye from all defilement -- be kept by the power of your white
robes! -- and he whose freedom has defiled itself -- may it be able to wash
itself clean by his weeping! -- For me who am servant of the community -- may
the supplication of the community win pardon!19. To the author who has toiled in
words, -- be reconciliation in rest! -- to the teacher who has toiled with
voice, -- be forgiveness through grace! -- to the priest who has toiled in
baptizing, -- let there come the crown of righteousness!20. From every mouth
with one consent, -- of those beneath and those above, -- Watchers, Cherubin,
and Seraphin, -- the baptized, the sealed, and the hearers, -- let each of us
cry aloud and say, -- "Glory to the Lord of our feasts!"


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  CHAPTER 88: HYMN VII. BLESSED IS HE WHO ATONED YOUR SINS, THAT YE MIGHT RECEIVE HIS BODY WORTHILY!
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(Resp. -- Blessed is He Who atoned your sins, that ye might receive His Body
worthily!) 1. The flock of Jacob came down -- and stood round the well of water.
-- In the water they put on the similitude of the wood that was covered by it.
-- Mysteries these and types of the Cross, -- wherein the parables are
interpreted. 2. There are shown in these rods similitudes, -- and in the sheep,
parables. -- The Cross in the rods is figured, and in the sheep the souls of
men. -- His wood was a mystery of our Wood; -- likewise his sheep a mystery of
our flock. 3. The sheep of Christ rejoice, -- and stand round the laver of
baptism; -- in the water they put on the likeness -- of the living and goodly
Cross -- whereon gaze all things created, -- and all of it is stamped on them
all. 4. At the well Rebecca received -- in her ears and hands the jewels. -- The
Spouse of Christ has put on -- precious things that are from the water: -- on
her hand the living Body, -- and in her ears the promises. 5. Moses drew water
and watered the sheep -- of Jethro the priest of sin. -- But our Shepherd has
baptized His sheep -- Who is the high priest of truth. -- At the well the flocks
were dumb, -- but here the sheep have speech. 6. The People passed through the
water and were baptized: -- the People came up on dry land and became as
heathen. -- The Commandment was savourless in their ears; -- the manna corrupted
in their vessels. -- Eat ye the living Body, -- the medicine of life that gives
life to all! 7. To the sons of Lot Moses said, -- "Give us water for money, --
let us only pass by through your border." -- They refused the way, and the
temporal water. -- Lo! the living water freely [512] given, -- and the path that
leads to Eden! 8. From the water Gideon chose for himself -- the men who were
victorious in the battle. -- Ye have gone down to the victorious waters: -- come
ye up and triumph in the fight! -- receive from the water atonement, -- and from
the fight the crowning! 9. Ye baptized, receive your lamps, -- like the lamps of
the house of Gideon; -- conquer the darkness by your lamps, -- and the silence
by your hosannas! -- Gideon likewise in the battle -- triumphed by the shout and
the flame. 10. David the King longed after -- the water of the well, and they
brought it him; -- but he drank it not, for he saw that with blood of men it was
bought. -- In the midst of the water ye have revelled -- that was bought with
the blood of God. 11. Out of Edom the prophet saw -- God coming as one that
presses the grapes. -- He made ready the winepress of wrath, -- He trod down the
peoples and delivered the People. -- He has turned and ordained Baptism; -- the
peoples live, the People is come to nought.12. In the river Jeremiah buried --
the linen girdle that was marred; -- and [the People] waxed old and decayed. --
... -- The peoples that were decayed and marred, -- by the waters have been clad
in newness.13. In Siloam, [513] the blessed stream -- the priests anointed
Solomon. -- His youth was had in honour; -- his old age was despised. -- Through
the pure waters ye have been clad -- in the purity of Heaven.14. The fleece that
was dry from the dew, -- Jerusalem was figured in it: -- the bason that was
filled with water, -- Baptism was figured in it. -- That was dry after the
manner of its type; -- this was full after the manner of its symbol.15. The
wearied body in water -- washes and is refreshed from its toil. -- Lo! the laver
in which are hidden -- refreshing and life and delights. -- In it wearied Adam
had rest -- who brought labour into the creation.16. The fountain of sweat in
the body -- is set to protect against fever: -- the fountain of Baptism -- is
set to protect against the Flame. -- This is the water that avails -- for the
quenching of Gehenna.17. He who journeys through the desert, -- as armour takes
to himself water -- against all-conquering thirst. -- Go ye down to the fountain
of Christ, -- receive life in your members, -- as armour against death.18.
Again, the diver brings up -- out of the sea the pearl. -- Be baptized and bring
up from the water -- purity that therein is hidden, -- the pearl that is set as
a jewel -- in the crown of the Godhead.19. Sweet water in his vessel -- the
seaman lays up as a store; -- in the midst of the sea he lays up and keeps it,
the sweet in the midst of the bitter. -- So amidst the floods of sin, -- keep ye
the water of Baptism.20. The woman of Samaria said to our Lord, -- "Lo! verily
the well is deep." -- Baptism though it be high, -- in its mercy has stooped
down with us: -- for the atonement is from above -- that has come down unto
sinners.21. "He that drinks the water that I shall give him, -- verily never
again shall he thirst." -- For this holy Baptism, -- for it be ye athirst, my
beloved; -- never again shall ye be athirst, -- so that ye should come to
another baptism.22. In the baptism of Siloam -- the blind man washed, and his
eyeballs -- were opened and enlightened by the water; -- he cast off the
darkness that was on them. -- The hidden darkness ye have cast off; -- from the
water ye have been clad in light.23. His hands Pilate washed -- that he might
not be of them that slew. -- Ye have bathed your bodies, -- your hands together
with your mouths. -- Go in and be of them that eat, -- for this medicine of life
gives life to all.24. "Come after Me and verily I will make you -- fishers of
men." -- For instead of a draught of that which perishes, -- they fished for the
draught that is forever. -- They who had taken fishes for death, -- baptized and
gave life to them that were to die.25. An hundred and fifty fishes were taken --
by Simon's net from the water; -- but there were taken by his preaching, -- out
of the bosom of Baptism, -- ten thousands and thousands of men, -- a draught of
the sons of the Kingdom.26. Lo! our priest as a fisher -- over the scanty water
is standing; -- he has taken thence a great draught -- of every shape and of
every kind; -- he has drawn up the draught to bring it near -- to the King of
kings, most high.27. Simon took the fishes and drew them up, -- and they were
brought near before our Lord: -- Our priest has taken from out of the water, --
by the Hand which he received from Simon, -- virgins and chaste men who are
brought near -- in the festival of the Lord of feasts.28. In Thy mercy I adjure
Thee pardon me, -- for in mercy Thou too hast sworn, -- Rabboni, "In the death
of him that dieth, -- I have no pleasure, but in his life." -- Thou hast sworn
and I have adjured: -- O Thou Who hast sworn, pardon him who has adjured!


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  CHAPTER 89: HYMN VIII. HAPPY ARE YE WHOSE BODIES HAVE BEEN MADE TO SHINE!
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(Resp. -- Happy are ye whose bodies have been made to shine!) 1. God in His
mercy stooped and came down, -- to mingle His compassion with the water, -- and
to blend the nature of His majesty -- with the wretched bodies of men. -- He
made occasion by the water -- to come down and to dwell in us: -- like to the
occasion of mercy -- when He came down and dwelt in the womb: -- O the mercies
of God -- Who seeks for Himself all occasions to dwell in us! 2. To the cave in
Horeb He stooped and came down, -- and on Moses He caused His majesty to dwell;
-- He imparted His glorious splendour to mortals. -- There was therein a figure
of Baptism: -- He Who came down and dwelt in it, -- tempers within the water --
the might of His majesty, -- that He may dwell in the feeble. -- On Moses dwelt
the Breath, -- and on you the Perfecting of Christ. 3. That might then none
could endure; -- not Moses chief of deliverers, -- nor Elijah chief of zealots;
-- and the Seraphin too vail their faces, -- for it is the might that subdues
all. -- His mercy mingled gentleness -- in the water and by the oil; -- that
mankind in its weakness -- might be able to stand before Him -- when covered by
the water and the oil. 4. The captive priests again in the well -- hid and
concealed the fire of the sanctuary, [514] -- a mystery of that glorified fire
-- which the Highpriest mingles in Baptism. -- The priests took up of the mire,
-- and on the altar they sprinkled it; -- for its fire, the fire of that well,
-- with the mire had been mingled; -- a mystery of our bodies which in the water
-- with the fire of the Holy Spirit have been mingled. 5. The famous Three in
Babylon -- in the furnace of fire were baptized, and came forth; -- they went in
and bathed in the flood of flame, they were buffeted by the blazing billows. --
There was sprinkled on them there -- the dew that fell from heaven; -- it loosed
from off them there -- the bonds of the earthly king. -- Lo! the famous Three
went in and found a fourth in the furnace. 6. That visible fire that triumphed
outwardly, -- pointed to the fire of the Holy Ghost, -- which is mingled, lo!
and hidden in the water. -- In the flame Baptism is figured, -- in that blaze of
the furnace. -- Come, enter, be baptized, my brethren, -- for lo! it looses the
bonds; -- for in it there dwells and is hidden -- the Daysman of God, -- Who in
the furnace was the fourth. 7. Two words again our Lord spake -- which in one
voice agree in unison: -- He said, "I am come to send fire," -- and again, "I
have a baptism to be baptized with." -- By the fire of Baptism is quenched the
fire, -- that which the Evil One had kindled: -- and the water of Baptism has
overcome -- those waters of contention -- by which he had made trial -- of
Joseph who conquered and was crowned. 8. Lo! the pure fire of our Redeemer --
which he kindled in mankind of His mercy! -- Through His fire He quenched that
fire -- which had been kindled in the defiled and sinful. -- This is the fire
wherein the thorns -- are burnt up and the tares. -- But happy are your bodies
-- that have been baptized in the fire -- which has consumed your thickets, --
and by it your seeds have sprung up to heaven! 9. Jeremiah in the womb He
sanctified and taught. -- But if the lowly bosom of wedlock -- was sanctified in
conceiving and bringing him forth, -- how much more shall Baptism sanctify --
its conception and its bringing forth -- of them that are pure and spiritual! --
For there, within the womb -- is the conception of all men; -- but here, out of
the water, -- is the birth whereof the spiritual are worthy. 10. For Jeremiah
though sanctified in the womb, -- they took up nails and cast him into the pit.
-- Holy was the prophet in his befoulment, -- for clean was his heart though he
was in the mire. -- Be ye afraid, my brethren -- for lo! to-day is washed away
-- your secret befoulment, -- and the abomination of your sins. -- Turn not
again to uncleanness, -- for there is but one cleansing of your bodies! 11. The
presumptuous who is baptized and again sins, -- is as the serpent that casts its
slough and again puts it on, that is renewed and made young, and turns again --
-- putting on anew its skin of old; -- for the serpent does not -- cast off its
nature. -- Cast ye off the tempter -- the corrupter of souls, -- even the old
man; -- let it not make old -- the newness ye have put on!12. Elisha cast the
wood into the water, and made the heavy float and the light sink: -- their
natures were exchanged in the water. -- There a new thing came to pass not
according to nature. -- How much easier then, O Lord, -- is this for Thy grace;
that in the water should sink -- transgression which is heavy, -- but that the
soul which is light -- should be drawn forth and raised up on high!13. Joshua,
son of Nun, on Jericho -- laid a curse on its walls and a doom on its fountains.
-- They whom Joshua cursed to their destruction, -- again in the mystery of
Jesus have been blessed. -- There was cast into them salt, -- and they were
healed and sweetened: -- a mystery of this salt, -- the sweet salt that came
from Mary, -- that was mingled in the water, -- whereby was healed the
noisomeness of our plagues.14. Lo! quiet waters are before you, -- holy and
tranquil and pleasant; -- for they are not the waters of contention -- that cast
Joseph into the dungeon; -- nor yet are they the waters, -- those waters of
strife, -- beside which the people strove, -- and gainsaid in the wilderness. --
There are waters whereby -- there is reconciliation made with Heaven.15. Hagar
saw the spring of water, -- and from it she gave drink to her forward son, him
who became as a wild ass in the wilderness. -- Instead of that fountain of water
is Baptism. -- In it are baptized the sons of Hagar, -- and are become gentle
and peaceful. Who has seen rams [515] like these, -- that are yoked, lo! and
labour -- along with tame bullocks, -- and the seed of their tillage is reaped
an hundredfold!16. In the beginning the Spirit that brooded -- moved on the
waters; they conceived and gave birth -- to serpents and fishes and birds. --
The Holy Spirit has brooded in Baptism, -- and in mystery has given birth to
eagles, -- Virgins and Prelates; -- and in mystery has given birth to fishes, --
celibates and intercessors; and in mystery of serpents, -- lo! the subtle have
become simple as doves!17. Lo! the sword of our Lord in the waters! -- that
which divides sons and fathers: -- for it is the living sword that makes --
division, lo! of the living from the dying. -- Lo! they are baptized and they
become -- Virgins and saints, -- who have gone down, been baptized, and put on
-- the One Only begotten. -- Lo! many have come boldly to Him!18. For whoso have
been baptized and put on Him -- the Only begotten the Lord of the many, -- has
filled thereby the place of many, -- for to him Christ has become a great
treasure: -- for He became in the wilderness -- a table of good meats, -- and He
became at the marriage feast -- a fountain of choice wines. -- He has become
such to all in all things, -- by helps and healings and promises.19. Elisha was
the equal of the Watchers -- in his doings, glorious and holy. -- The camp of
the Watchers was round about him; -- thus let Baptism be unto you, -- a camp of
guardians, -- for by means of it there dwells in the heart -- the hope of them
that are below -- and the Lord of them that are above. -- Sanctify for Him your
bodies, -- for where He abides, corruption comes not near.20. They are no more,
the waters of that sea -- which by its billows preserved the People, -- and by
its billows laid low the peoples. -- Of contrary effect are the waters in
Baptism. -- In them, lo! the people have life; -- in them, lo! the People
perishes: -- for all that are not baptized, -- in the waters that give life to
all, -- they are dead invisibly.21. They are no more, the waters of that sea --
which were tempestuous, and boiled against Jonah, -- and plunged into the depths
the Son of Amittai. -- Though he fled he was bound in the prison-house; -- God
cast him in and bound him -- in dungeon within dungeon; -- for he bound him in
the sea. -- and He bound him in the fish. -- For him Grace stood surety, -- and
she opened the prison and brought forth the preacher.22. The Prophets have
called the Most High a fire, -- "a devouring fire," and "who can dwell with it?"
[516] -- The People were not able to dwell in it; -- its might crushed the
peoples and they were confounded. -- In it, with the unction ye have been
anointed; -- ye have put Him on in the water; -- in the bread ye have eaten Him;
-- in the wine ye have drunk Him; -- in the voice ye have heard Him; -- and in
the eye of the mind ye have seen Him!


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  CHAPTER 90: HYMN IX. BLESSED IS HE WHO CAME DOWN
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(Resp., Blessed is He Who came down, and sanctified water for the remission of
the sins of the children of Adam!) 1. O John, who sawest the Spirit, -- that
abode on the head of the Son, -- to show how the Head of the Highest -- went
down and was baptized -- and came up to be Head on earth! -- Children of the
Spirit ye have thus become, -- and Christ has become for you the Head: -- ye
also have become His members. 2. Consider and see how exalted ye are; -- how
instead of the river Jordan -- ye have glorious Baptism, wherein is peace; --
spreading her wings to shade your bodies. -- In the wilderness John baptized: --
in Her pure flood of Baptism, -- purely are ye baptized therein. 3. Infants
think when they see its glory, -- that by its pomp its might is enhanced. -- But
it is the same, and within itself -- is not divided. -- But the might which
never waxes less or greater -- in us is little or again great; -- and he in whom
is great understanding, -- great in him is Baptism. 4. A man's knowledge, if it
be exalted, -- exalted also is his degree above his brethren; -- and he whose
faith is great, -- so also is his promise; -- and as is his wisdom, so also his
crowning. -- As is the light, which though it be all goodly -- and equal all of
it with itself, -- yet goodlier is one eye than another. 5. Jesus mingled His
might in the water: -- put ye Him on my brethren as discerning men! -- For there
are that in the water merely -- perceive that they are washed. With our body be
our soul washed! -- The manifest water let the body perceive, -- and the soul
the secret might; -- that both to the manifest and to the secret ye may be made
like! 6. How beautiful is Baptism -- in the eye of the heart; come, let us gaze
on it! -- Like as by a seal ye have been moulded; -- receive ye its image, --
that nought may be lacking to us of our image! -- For the sheep that are white
of heart -- gaze on the glory that is in the water: -- in your souls reflect ye
it! 7. Water is by nature as a mirror, -- for one who in it examines himself. --
Stir up thy soul, thou that discernest, -- and be like unto it! -- For it in its
midst reflects thy image; -- from it, on it, find an example; -- gaze in it on
Baptism, -- and put on the beauty that is hidden therein! 8. What profits it him
that hears -- a voice and knows not its significance? -- Whoso hears a voice and
is devoid -- of the understanding thereof, -- his ear is filled but his soul is
empty. -- Lo! since the gift is abundant, -- with discernment receive ye it. 9.
Baptism that is with understanding -- is the conjunction of two lights, -- and
rich are the fountains of its rays. -- ...... -- And the darkness that is on the
mind departs, -- and the soul beholds Him in beauty, -- the hidden Christ of
glory, -- and grieves when the glory fails. 10. Baptism without understanding --
is a treasure full yet empty; -- since he that receives it is poor in it, -- for
he understands not -- how great are its riches into which he enters and dwells.
-- For great is the gift within it, -- though the mean man perceives not -- that
he is exalted even as it. 11. Open wide your minds and see, my brethren, -- the
secret column in the air, whose base is fixed from the midst of the water --
unto the door of the Highest Place, like the ladder that Jacob saw. -- Lo! by it
came down the light unto Baptism, -- and by it the soul goes up to Heaven, --
that in one love we may be mingled.12. Our Lord when he was baptized by John --
sent forth twelve fountains; -- and they issued forth and cleansed by their
streams -- the defilement of the peoples. -- His worshippers are made white like
His garments, -- the garments in Tabor and the body in the water. -- Instead of
the garments the peoples are made white, -- and have become for Him a clothing
of glory.13. From your garments learn, my brethren, -- how your members should
be kept. -- For if the garment, which ever so many times -- may be made clean,
-- is duly kept for the sake of its comeliness, -- the body which has but one
baptism -- manifold more exceeding is the care of its keeping, -- for manifold
are its dangers.14. Again the sun in a house that is strait, -- is straitened
therein though he be great: -- but in a house that is goodly and large, -- when
he rises thereon -- far and wide in it he spreads his rays; -- and though the
sun is one and the same in his nature, -- in divers houses he undergoes changes:
-- Even so our Lord in divers men.


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  CHAPTER 91: HYMN X. GLORY TO HIM WHO CAME AND RESTORED IT!
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(Resp. -- Glory to Him Who came and restored it!) 1. Adam sinned and earned all
sorrows; -- likewise the world after His example, all guilt. -- And instead of
considering how it should be restored, -- considered how its fall should be
pleasant for it. -- Glory to Him Who came and restored it! 2. This cause
summoned Him that is pure, -- that He should come and be baptized, even He with
the defiled, -- Heaven for His glory was rent asunder. -- That the purifier of
all might be baptized with all, -- He came down and sanctified the water for our
baptism. 3. For that cause for which He entered into the womb, -- for the same
cause He went down into the river. -- For that cause for which He entered into
the grave, -- for the same cause He makes us enter into His chamber. -- He
perfected mankind for every cause. 4. His Conception is the store of our
blessings; -- His Birth is the treasury of our joys; -- His Baptism is the cause
of our pardon; -- His Death is the cause of our life. -- Death He alone has
overcome in His Resurrection. 5. At His Birth a star of light shone in the air;
-- when He was baptized light flashed from the water; -- at His Death the sun
was darkened in the firmament; -- at His Passion the luminaries set along with
Him; -- at His Epiphany the luminaries arose with Him. 6. Revealed was His Glory
because of His Majesty; -- revealed was His Passion because of His Manhood; --
revealed was His Love because of His Graciousness; -- revealed was His Judgment
because of His Justice. -- He has poured forth His attributes, on them that were
His. 7. That whoso has looked on His Glory and despised Him, -- may look again
on His Glory and worship Him; -- and whoso has scorned to taste of His
Graciousness, -- may fear lest he be made to feel His justice; -- He has poured
forth His helps on His worshippers. 8. Lo! the East in the morning was made
light! -- lo! the South at noonday was made dark! -- The West again in turn at
eventide was made light. -- The three quarters represent the one Birth; -- His
Death and His Life they declare. 9. His Birth flowed on and was joined to His
Baptism; -- and His Baptism again flowed on even to His Death; -- His Death led
and reached to His Resurrection, -- a fourfold bridge unto His Kingdom; and lo!
His sheep pass over in His footsteps. 10. And like as, save by the door of
birth, -- none can enter into creation; -- so, save by the door of resurrection,
-- none can enter into the Kingdom, -- and whoso has cut off his bridge, has
brought to nought his hope. 11. He put on His armour and conquered and was
crowned; -- He left His armour on earth and ascended, -- that if any man desires
the crown, -- he may resort to the armour and win by it -- the crown of victory
which he yearns after.12. He fulfilled righteousness on earth, and ascended. --
But if He, the All-cleanser, was baptized, -- What man is there that shall not
be baptized? -- for grace has come to baptism -- to wash away the foulness of
our wound.13. The compulsion of God is an all-prevailing force; -- [but that is
not pleasing to Him which is of compulsion,] [517] -- as that which is of
discerning will. -- Therefore in our fruits He calls us -- who live not as under
compulsion, by persuasion.14. Good is He, for lo! He labours in these two
things; -- He wills not to constrain our freedom -- nor again does He suffer us
to abuse it. -- For had he constrained it, He had taken away its power; -- and
had He let it go, He had deprived it of help.15. He knows that if He constrains
He deprives us; -- He knows that if He casts off He destroys us; -- He knows
that if He teaches He wins us. -- He has not constrained and He has not cast
off, as the Evil One does: -- He has taught, chastened, and won us, as being the
good God.16. He knows that His treasuries abound: -- the keys of His treasuries
He has put into our hands. -- He has made the Cross our treasurer -- to open for
us the gates of Paradise, -- as Adam opened the gate of Gehenna.


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  CHAPTER 92: HYMN XI. LET THE BODIES REJOICE WHICH THE EVIL ONE HAD MADE NAKED, THAT IN THE WATER THEY HAVE PUT ON THEIR GLORY!
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(Resp. -- Let the bodies rejoice which the Evil One had made naked, that in the
water they have put on their glory!) 1. Give thanks, O daughter, that thy
crownings have been doubled; -- for lo! thy temples and thy sons rejoice. -- The
dedication of thy temples is in the ministration; -- The dedication of thy sons
is in the anointing. -- Blessed art thou that at once...... -- ......the
tabernacle for them that dwell in thee, -- and the Spirit has abode upon thy
sons! 2. Our Lord opened up Baptism -- in the midst of Jordan the blessed river.
-- The height and the depth rejoiced in Him; -- He brings forth the first fruits
of His peace from the water, -- for they are first fruits, the fruits of
Baptism. -- The good God in His compassion will bring to pass -- that His peace
shall be first fruits on earth. 3. Moses stretched out the temporal Tabernacle;
-- the priests bathed themselves in water, -- and went in and ministered; and
were stricken and punished, -- because their heart within was not cleansed. --
Blessed art thou that in the Passover of the great Passion, -- the priests by
the savour of their oblations, -- lo! are cleansing souls in thee! 4. Great was
the mystery that the Prophet saw, -- the torrent that was mighty. -- Into its
depths he gazed and beheld -- thy beauty instead of himself; thee it was he saw,
for thy faith passes not away, -- thou whose flood unseen shall overwhelm -- the
subtleties of idolatry. 5. Though John was great among them that are born of
women, -- yet he that is little is greater than he, -- in this that his baptized
were again baptized, -- in the baptism that was of the Apostles. -- Blessed art
thou that thy priest is greater than he -- in this alone that forever -- abides
his baptism. 6. The baptism that was of Siloam -- did not bring mercy to the man
that was laid there -- who for thirty and eight years awaited it, -- for he was
a respecter of the persons of the Levites. -- Blessed art thou that thy healing
is in thee for all men, -- and thy priests are devoted and ready -- for all that
are in need of thy help. 7. The Prophet healed the waters that were unwholesome,
-- and cured the disease of the land that was barren, -- so that its death was
done away and its region resounded, for its offspring increased and its bosom
was filled. -- Greater is Thy grace, Lord, than Elisha's! -- Multiply my lambs
and my flocks -- at the great stream of my fountain! [518] 8. Great is the
marvel that is within thy abode; -- the flocks together with the Shepherds, --
those at the stream of the waters, -- two unseen with one manifest who baptizes.
-- Blessed is he who is baptized in their fountains! -- for three arms have
upheld him, -- and three Names have preserved him!


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  CHAPTER 93: HYMN XII. BLESSED IS HE WHO WENT DOWN AND WAS BAPTIZED IN JORDAN, AND TURNED BACK THE PEOPLE FROM ERROR!
========================================================================

(Resp. -- Blessed is He Who went down and was baptized in Jordan, and turned
back the People from error!) 1. In Baptism Adam found again -- that glory that
was among the trees of Eden. -- He went down, and received it out of the water;
-- he put it on, and went up and was adorned therein. -- Blessed be He that has
mercy on all! 2. Man fell in the midst of Paradise, -- and in baptism compassion
restored him: -- he lost his comeliness through Satan's envy, -- and found it
again by God's grace. -- Blessed be He that has mercy on all! 3. The wedded pair
were adorned in Eden; -- but the serpent stole their crowns: -- yet mercy
crushed down the accursed one, -- and made the wedded pair goodly in their
raiment. -- Blessed be He that has mercy on all! 4. They clothed themselves with
leaves of necessity; -- but the Merciful had pity on their beauty, -- and
instead of leaves of trees, -- He clothed them with glory in the water. --
Blessed be He that has mercy on all! 5. Baptism is the well-spring of life, --
which the Son of God opened by His Life; -- and from His Side it has brought
forth streams. -- Come, all that thirst, come, rejoice! -- Blessed be He that
has mercy on all! 6. The Father has sealed Baptism, to exalt it; -- and the Son
has espoused it to glorify it; -- and the Spirit with threefold seal -- has
stamped it, and it has shone in holiness. -- Blessed be He that has mercy on
all! 7. The Trinity that is unsearchable -- has laid up treasures in baptism. --
Descend, ye poor, to its fountain! -- and be enriched from it, ye needy! --
Blessed be He that has mercy on all!


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  CHAPTER 94: HYMN XIII. HYMN OF THE BAPTIZED
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Hymn of the Baptized. (Resp. -- Brethren, sing praises, to the Son of the Lord
of all; Who has bound for you crowns, such as kings long for!) 1. Your garments
glisten, my brethren, as snow; -- and fair is your shining in the likeness of
Angels! 2. In the likeness of Angels, ye have come up, beloved, -- from Jordan's
river, in the armour of the Holy Ghost. 3. The bridal chamber that fails not, my
brethren, ye have received: -- and the glory of Adam's house to-day ye have put
on. 4. The judgment that came of the fruit, was Adam's condemnation: -- but for
you victory, has arisen this day. 5. Your vesture is shining, and goodly your
crowns: -- which the Firstborn has bound for you, by the priest's hand this day.
6. Woe in Paradise, did Adam receive: -- but you have received, glory this day.
7. The armour of victory, ye put on, my beloved: -- in the hour when the priest,
invoked the Holy Ghost. 8. The Angels rejoice, men here below exult: -- in your
feast, my brethren, wherein is no foulness. 9. The good things of Heaven, my
brethren, ye have received: -- beware of the Evil One, lest he despoil you. 10.
The day when He dawned, the Heavenly King: -- opens for you His door, and bids
you enter Eden.11. Crowns that fade not away, are set on your heads: -- hymns of
praise hourly, let your mouths sing.12. Adam by means of the fruit, God cast
forth in sorrow: -- but you He makes glad, in the bride-chamber of joy.13. Who
would not rejoice, in your bridechamber, my brethren? -- for the Father with His
Son, and the Spirit rejoice in you.14. Unto you shall the Father, be a wall of
strength: -- and the Son a Redeemer, and the Spirit a guard.15. Martyrs by their
blood, glorify their crowns: -- but you our Redeemer, by His Blood glorifies.16.
Watchers and Angels, joy over the repentant: -- they shall joy over you my
brethren, that unto them ye are made like.17. The fruit which Adam, tasted not
in Paradise: -- this day in your mouths, has been placed with joy.18. Our
Redeemer figured, His Body by the tree: -- whereof Adam tasted not, because he
had sinned.19. The Evil One made war, and subdued Adam's house: -- through your
baptism, my brethren, lo! he is subdued this day.20. Great is the victory, but
to-day you have won: -- if so be ye neglect not, you shall not perish, my
brethren.21. Glory to them that are robed, glory to Adam's house! -- in the
birth that is from the water, let them rejoice and be blessed!22. Praise to Him
Who has robed, His Churches in glory! -- glory to Him Who has magnified, the
race of Adam's house.


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  CHAPTER 95: HYMN XIV. HYMN CONCERNING OUR LORD AND JOHN
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Hymn concerning our Lord and John. (Resp. -- Glory to Thee, my Lord, for Thee --
with joy Heaven and earth worship!) 1. My thought bore me to Jordan, -- and I
saw a marvel when there was revealed -- the glorious Bridegroom who to the Bride
-- shall bring freedom and holiness. 2. I saw John filled with wonder, -- and
the multitudes standing about him, -- and the glorious Bridegroom bowed down --
to the Son of the barren that he might baptize Him. 3. At the Word and the Voice
my thought marvelled: -- for lo! John was the Voice; -- our Lord was manifested
as the Word, that what was hidden should become revealed. 4. The Bride was
espoused but knew not -- who was the Bridegroom on whom she gazed: -- the guests
were assembled, the desert was filled, -- and our Lord was hidden among them. 5.
Then the Bridegroom revealed Himself; -- and to John at the voice He drew near:
-- and the Forerunner was moved and said of Him -- "This is the Bridegroom Whom
I proclaimed." 6. He came to baptism Who baptizes all, -- and He showed Himself
at Jordan. -- John saw Him and drew back, -- deprecating, and thus he spake: --
7. "How, my Lord, willest Thou to be baptized, -- Thou Who in Thy baptism
atonest all? -- Baptism looks unto Thee; -- shed Thou on it holiness and
perfection?" 8. Our Lord said "I will it so; -- draw near, baptize Me that My
Will may be done. -- Resist My Will thou canst not: -- I shall be baptized of
thee, for thus I will it." 9. "I entreat, my Lord, that I be not compelled, --
for this is hard that Thou hast said to me, -- I have need that thou shouldst
baptize Me;' -- for it is Thou that with Thy hyssop purifiest all." 10. "I have
asked it, and it pleases Me that thus it should be; -- and thou, John, why
gainsayest thou? -- Suffer righteousness to be fulfilled, -- and come, baptize
Me; why standest Thou?"11. "How can one openly grasp -- in his hands the fire
that burns? -- O Thou that art fire have mercy on me, -- and bid me not come
near Thee, for it is hard for me!"12. "I have revealed to Thee My Will; what
questionest thou? -- Draw near, baptize Me, and thou shalt not be burned. -- The
bridechamber is ready; keep Me not back -- from the wedding-feast that has been
made ready."13. "The Watchers fear and dare not -- gaze on Thee lest they be
blinded; -- and I, how, O my Lord, shall I baptize Thee? -- I am too weak to
draw near; blame me not!"14. "Thou fearest; therefore gainsay not -- against My
Will in what I desire: -- and Baptism has respect unto Me. -- Accomplish the
work to which thou hast been called!"15. "Lo! I proclaimed Thee at Jordan -- in
the ears of the people that believed not and if they shall see Thee baptized of
me, -- they will doubt that Thou art the Lord."16. "Lo! I am to be baptized in
their sight, -- and the Father Who sent Me bears witness of Me -- that I am His
Son and in Me He is well pleased, -- to reconcile Adam who was under His
wrath."17. "It becomes, me, O my Lord, to know my nature -- that I am moulded
out of the ground, -- and Thou the moulder Who formest all things: -- I, then,
why should I baptize Thee in water?"18. "It becomes thee to know wherefore I am
come, -- and for what cause I have desired that thou shouldst baptize Me. -- It
is the middle of the way wherein I have walked; -- withhold thou not
Baptism."19. "Small is the river whereto Thou art come, -- that Thou shouldst
lodge therein and it should cleanse Thee. -- The heavens suffice not for Thy
mightiness; -- how much less shall Baptism contain Thee!"20. "The womb is
smaller than Jordan; -- yet was I willing to lodge in the Virgin: -- and as I
was born from woman, -- so too am I to be baptized in Jordan."21. "Lo! the hosts
are standing! -- the ranks of Watchers, lo! they worship! -- And if I draw near,
my Lord, to baptize Thee, -- I tremble for myself with quaking."22. "The hosts
and multitudes call thee happy, -- all of them, for that thou baptizest Me. --
For this I have chosen thee from the womb: -- fear thou not, for I have willed
it.23. "I have prepared the way as I was sent: -- I have betrothed the Bride as
I was commanded. -- May Thy Epiphany be spread over the world -- now that Thou
art come, and let me not baptize Thee!"24. "This is My preparation, for so have
I willed; -- I will go down and be baptized in Jordan, -- and make bright the
armour for them that are baptized, -- that they may be white in Me and I not be
conquered."25. "Son of the Father, why should I baptize Thee? -- for lo! Thou
art in Thy Father and Thy Father in Thee. -- Holiness unto the priests Thou
givest; -- water that is common wherefore askest Thou?"26. "The children of Adam
look unto Me, -- that I should work for them the new birth. -- A way in the
waters I will search out for them, -- and if I be not baptized this cannot
be."27. "Pontiffs of Thee are consecrated, -- priests by Thy hyssop are
purified; -- the anointed and the kings Thou makest. -- Baptism, how shall it
profit Thee?"28. "The Bride thou betrothedst to Me awaits Me, -- that I should
go down, be baptized, and sanctify her. -- Friend of the Bridegroom withhold Me
not -- from the washing that awaits Me."29. "I am not able, for I am weak, --
Thy blaze in my hands to grasp. -- Lo! Thy legions are as flame; -- bid one of
the Watchers baptize Thee!"30. "Not from the Watchers was My Body assumed, --
that I should summon a Watcher to baptize Me. -- The body of Adam, lo! I have
put on, -- and thou, son of Adam, art to baptize Me."31. "The waters saw Thee,
and greatly feared; -- the waters saw Thee, and lo! they tremble! -- The river
foams in its terror; -- and I that am weak, how shall I baptize Thee?"32. "The
waters in My Baptism are sanctified, -- and fire and the Spirit from Me shall
they receive; -- and if I be not baptized they are not made perfect -- to be
fruitful of children that shall not die."33. "Fire, if to Thy fire it draw near,
-- shall be burnt up of it as stubble. -- The mountains of Sinai endured Thee
not, -- and I that am weak, wherein shall I baptize Thee?"34. "I am the flaming
fire; -- yet for man's sake I became a babe -- in the virgin womb of the maiden.
-- And now I am to be baptized in Jordan."35. "It is very meet that Thou
shouldst baptize me, -- for Thou hast holiness to purify all. -- In Thee it is
that the defiled are made holy; but Thou that art holy, why art Thou to be
baptized?"36. "It is very right that thou shouldst baptize Me, -- as I bid, and
shouldst not gainsay. -- Lo! I baptized thee within the womb; -- baptize thou me
in Jordan!"37. "I am a bondman and I am weak. -- Thou that freest all have mercy
on me! Thy latchets to unloose I am not able; -- Thy exalted head who will make
me worthy to touch?"38. "Bondmen in My Baptism are set free; -- handwritings in
My washing are blotted out; -- manumissions in the water are sealed ; -- and if
I be not baptized all these come to nought." 39. "A mantle of fire the air
wears, -- and waits for Thee, above Jordan; -- and if Thou consentest to it and
willest to be baptized, -- Thou shalt baptize Thyself and fulfil all."40. "This
is meet, that thou shouldst baptize Me, -- that none may err and say concerning
Me, -- Had He not been alien from the Father's house, -- why feared the Levite
to baptize Him?'"41. "The prayer, then, when Thou art baptized, -- how shall I
complete over Jordan? -- When the Father and the Spirit are seen over Thee, --
Whom shall I call on, as priest?"42. "The prayer in silence is to be completed:
-- come, thy hand alone lay thou on Me. -- and the Father shall utter in the
priest's stead -- that which is meet concerning His Son."43. "They that are
bidden, lo! all of them stand; -- the Bridegroom's guests, lo! they bear witness
-- that day by day I said among them, -- I am the Voice and not the Word.'"44.
"Voice of him that cries in the wilderness, -- fulfil thou the work for which
thou camest, -- that the desert whereunto thou wentest out may resound -- with
the mighty peace thou preachedst therein."45. "The shout of the Watchers has
come to my ears; -- lo! I hear from the Father's house -- the hosts that sound
forth the cry, -- In Thy Epiphany, O Bridegroom, the worlds have life.'"46. "The
time hastes on, and the marriage guests -- look to Me to see what is doing. --
Come, baptize Me, that they may give praise -- to the Voice of the Father when
it is heard!"47. "I hearken, my Lord, according to Thy Word: -- come to Baptism
as Thy love constrains Thee! -- The dust worships that whereunto he has
attained, -- that on Him Who fashioned him he should lay his hand."48. The
heavenly ranks were silent as they stood, -- and the Bridegroom went down into
Jordan; -- the Holy One was baptized and straightway went up, -- and His Light
shone forth on the world.49. The doors of the highest were opened above, -- and
the voice of the Father was heard, -- "This is my Beloved in Whom I am well
pleased." -- All ye peoples, come and worship Him.50. They that saw were amazed
as they stood, at the Spirit Who came down and bare witness to Him. -- Praise to
Thy Epiphany that gladdens all, -- Thou in Whose revelation the worlds are
lightened!


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  CHAPTER 96: HYMN XV. IN THE BIRTH OF THE SON LIGHT DAWNED,--AND DARKNESS FLED FROM THE WORLD,--AND THE EARTH WAS ENLIGHTENED
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1. In the Birth of the Son light dawned, -- and darkness fled from the world, --
and the earth was enlightened; then let it give glory -- to the brightness of
the Father Who has enlightened it! 2. He dawned from the womb of the Virgin, --
and the shadows passed away when He was seen, -- and the darkness of error was
strangled by Him, -- and the ends of the earth were enlightened that they should
give glory. 3. Among the peoples there was great tumult, -- and in the darkness
the light dawned, -- and the nations rejoiced to give glory -- to Him in Whose
Birth they all were enlightened. 4. His light shone out over the east; -- Persia
was enlightened by the star: -- His Epiphany gave good tidings to her and
invited her, -- "He is come for the sacrifice that brings joy to all." 5. The
star of light hasted and came and dawned -- through the darkness, and summoned
them -- that the peoples should come and exult -- in the great Light that has
come down to earth. 6. One envoy from among the stars -- the firmament sent to
proclaim to them, -- to the sons of Persia, that they might make ready -- to
meet the King and to worship Him. 7. Great Assyria when she perceived it --
called to the Magi and said to them, -- "Take gifts and go, honour Him -- the
great King Who in Judea has dawned." 8. The princes of Persia, exulting, --
carried gifts from their region; -- and they brought to the Son of the Virgin --
gold and myrrh and frankincense. 9. They entered and found Him as a child -- as
He dwelt in the house of the lowly woman; -- and they drew near and worshipped
with gladness, -- and brought near before Him their treasures. 10. Mary said,
"For whom are these? -- and for what purpose? and what is the cause -- that has
called you to come from your country -- to the Child with your treasures?" 11.
They said, "Thy Son is a King, -- and He binds crowns and is King of all; -- and
great is His power over the world, -- and to His Kingdom shall all be obedient."
12. "At what time did this come to pass, -- that a lowly woman should bring
forth a King? I who am in need and in want, -- how then could a king come forth
from me?"13. "In thee alone has this come to pass -- that a mighty King from
thee should appear; -- thee in whom poverty shall be magnified, -- and to thy
Son shall crowns be made subject."14. "Treasures of Kings I have not; -- riches
have never fallen to my lot. -- My house is lowly and my dwelling needy; -- why
then proclaim ye that my Son is King?"15. "Great treasure is in thy Son, -- and
wealth that suffices to make all rich; -- for the treasures of kings are
impoverished, -- but He fails not nor can be measured."16. "Whether haply some
other be for you -- the King that is born, enquire ye concerning Him. -- This is
the son of a lowly woman, -- of one who is not meet to look on a King."17. "Can
it be that light should ever miss -- the way whereon it has been sent? It was
not darkness that summoned and led us; -- in light we walked, and thy Son is
King."18. "Lo! ye see a babe without speech, -- and the house of His mother
empty and needy, -- and of that which pertains to a king nought is in it: -- how
then in it is a king to be seen?"19. "Lo! we see that without speech and at rest
-- is the King, and lowly as thou hast said: -- but again we see that the stars
-- in the highest He bids haste to proclaim Him."20. "It were meet, O men, that
ye should enquire -- who is the King, and then adore him; -- lest haply your way
has been mistaken, -- and another is the King that is born."21. "It were meet, O
maiden, that thou shouldst receive it, -- that we have learned that thy Son is
King, -- from the star of light that errs not, -- and plain is the way, and he
has led us."22. "The Child is a little one, and lo! he has not -- the diadem of
a king and of a throne; -- and what have ye seen that ye should pay honour to
Him, -- as to a king, with your treasures?"23. "A little one, because He willed
it for quietness' sake, -- and meek now until He be revealed. -- A time shall be
for Him when all diadems -- shall bow down and worship Him."24. "Armies he has
none; -- nor has my Son legions and troops: -- in the poverty of His mother He
dwells; -- why then King is He called by you?"25. "The armies of thy Son are
above; -- they ride on high, and they flame, -- and one of them it was that came
and summoned us, -- and all our country was dismayed."26. "The Child is a babe,
and how is it possible -- He should be King, unknown to the world? -- And they
that are mighty and of renown, -- how can a babe be their ruler?"27. "Thy babe
is aged, O Virgin, -- and Ancient of Days and exalted above all and Adam beside
Him is very babe, -- and in Him all created things are made new."28. "It is very
seemly that ye should expound -- all the mystery and explain it; -- who it is
that reveals to you the mystery of my Son, -- that He is a King in your
region."29. "It is likewise seemly for thee to accept this, -- that unless the
truth had led us we had not wandered hither from the ends of the earth, -- nor
come for the sake of thy Son."30. "All the mystery as it was wrought -- among
you there in your country, -- reveal ye to me now as friends. -- Who was He that
called you to come to me?"31. "A mighty Star appeared to us -- that was glorious
exceedingly above the stars, -- and our land by its fire was kindled; -- that
this King had appeared it bore tidings to us."32. "Do not, I beseech you, speak
of -- these things in our land lest they rage, -- and the kings of the earth
join together -- against the Child in their envy."33. "Be not thou dismayed, O
Virgin! -- Thy Son shall bring to nought all diadems, and set them underneath
his heel; -- and they shall not subdue Him Whom they envy."34. "Because of Herod
I am afraid, -- that unclean wolf, lest he assail me, -- and draw his sword and
with it cut off -- the sweet cluster before it be ripe."35. "Because of Herod
fear thou not; -- for in the hands of thy Son is his throne placed: -- and as
soon as He shall reign it shall be laid low, -- and his diadem shall fall on the
earth beneath."36. "A torrent of blood is Jerusalem, -- wherein the excellent
ones are slain; -- and if she perceives Him she will assail Him. -- In mystery
speak ye, and noise it not abroad."37. "All torrents, and likewise swords, -- by
the hands of thy Son shall be appeased; -- and the sword of Jerusalem shall be
blunted, -- and shall not desire at all to kill."38. "The scribes of the priests
of Jerusalem -- pour forth blood and heed not. -- They will arouse murderous
strife -- against me and against the Child; O Magi, be silent!"39. "The scribes
and the priests will be unable -- to hurt thy son in their envy; -- for by Him
their priesthood shall be dissolved, -- and their festivals brought to
nought."40. "A Watcher revealed to me, when I received -- conception of the
Babe, that my Son is a King; -- that His diadem is from on high and is not
dissolved, -- he declared to me even as ye do."41. "The Watcher, therefore, of
whom thou hast spoken -- is he who came as a star, -- and was shown to us and
brought us good tidings -- that He is great and glorious above the stars."42.
"That Angel declared to me -- in his good tidings, when he appeared to me, --
that to His Kingdom no end shall be -- and the mystery is kept and shall not be
revealed." 43. "The Star also declared again to us -- that thy Son is He that
shall keep the diadem. -- His aspect was something changed, -- and he was the
Angel and made it not known to us."44. "Before me when the Watcher showed
himself, -- he called Him his Lord before He was conceived; -- and as the Son of
the Highest announced Him to me: -- but where His Father is he made not known to
me."45. "Before us he proclaimed in the form of a star -- that the Lord of the
Highest is He Who is born; -- and over the stars of light thy Son is ruler, --
and unless He commands they rise not."46. "In your presence, lo! there are
revealed -- other mysteries, that ye may learn the truth; -- how in virginity I
bare my Son, -- and He is Son of God; go ye, proclaim Him!"47. "In our presence
the Star taught us -- that His Birth is exalted above the world and above all
beings is thy Son, -- and is Son of God according to thy saying."48. "The world
on high and the world below bear witness to Him, -- all the Watchers and the
stars, -- that He is Son of God and Lord. -- Bear ye His fame to your lands!"49.
"All the world on high, in one star, -- has stirred up Persia and she has learnt
the truth, -- that thy Son is Son of God, -- and to Him shall all peoples be
subject."50. "Peace bear ye to your lands: -- peace be multiplied in your
borders! -- As apostles of truth may ye be believed -- in all the way that ye
shall pass through."51. "The peace of thy Son, it shall bear us -- in
tranquillity to our land, as it has led us hither; -- and when His power shall
have grasped the worlds, -- may He visit our land and bless it!52. "May Persia
rejoice in your glad tidings! -- may Assyria exult in your coming -- And when my
Son's Kingdom shall arise, -- may He plant His standard in your country!"53. Let
the Church sing with rejoicing, -- "Glory in the Birth of the Highest, -- by
Whom the world above and the world below are illumined!" -- Blessed be He in
Whose Birth all are made glad!


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  CHAPTER 97: THE PEARL. SEVEN HYMNS ON THE FAITH.
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Translated by REV. J. B. Morris, M.A., [Oxford Library of the Fathers]


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  CHAPTER 98: THE PEARL, SEVEN HYMNS ON THE FAITH. HYMN I. ON A CERTAIN DAY A PEARL DID I TAKE UP, MY BRETHREN
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1. On a certain day a pearl did I take up, my brethren; I saw in it mysteries
pertaining to the Kingdom; semblances and types of the Majesty; it became a
fountain, and I drank out of it mysteries of the Son. I put it, my brethren,
upon the palm of my hand, that I might examine it: I went to look at it on one
side, and it proved faces on all sides. I found out that the Son was
incomprehensible, since He is wholly Light. In its brightness I beheld the
Bright One Who cannot be clouded, and in its pureness a great mystery, even the
Body of our Lord which is well-refined: in its undividedness I saw the Truth
which is undivided. It was so that I saw there its pure conception, -- the
Church, and the Son within her. The cloud was the likeness of her that bare Him,
and her type the heaven, since there shone forth from her His gracious Shining.
I saw therein His trophies, and His victories, and His crowns. I saw His helpful
and overflowing graces, and His hidden things with His revealed things. 2. It
was greater to me than the ark, for I was astonied thereat: I saw therein folds
without shadow to them because it was a daughter of light, types vocal without
tongues, utterances of mysteries without lips, a silent harp that without voice
gave out melodies. The trumpet falters and the thunder mutters; be not thou
daring then; leave things hidden, take things revealed. Thou hast seen in the
clear sky a second shower; the clefts of thine ears, as from the clouds, they
are filled with interpretations. And as that manna which alone filled the
people, in the place of pleasant meats, with its pleasantnesses, so does this
pearl fill me in the place of books, and the reading thereof, and the
explanations thereof. And when I asked if there were yet other mysteries, it had
no mouth for me that I might hear from, neither any ears wherewith it might hear
me. O thou thing without senses, whence I have gained new senses! 3. It answered
me and said, "The daughter of the sea am I, the illimitable sea! And from that
sea whence I came up it is that there is a mighty treasury of mysteries in my
bosom! Search thou out the sea, but search not out the Lord of the sea! "I have
seen the divers who came down after me, when astonied, so that from the midst of
the sea they returned to the dry ground; for a few moments they sustained it
not. Who would linger and be searching on into the depths of the Godhead? "The
waves of the Son are full of blessings, and with mischiefs too. Have ye not
seen, then, the waves of the sea, which if a ship should struggle with them
would break her to pieces, and if she yield herself to them, and rebel not
against them, then she is preserved? In the sea all the Egyptians were choked,
though they scrutinised it not, and, without prying, the Hebrews too were
overcome upon the dry land, and how shall ye be kept alive? And the men of Sodom
were licked up by the fire, and how shall ye prevail?"At these uproars the fish
in the sea were moved, [519] and Leviathan also. Have ye then a heart of stone
that ye read these things and run into these errors? O great fear that justice
also should be so long silent!" [520]4. "Searching is mingled with thanksgiving,
and whether of the two will prevail? The incense of praise riseth along with the
fume of disputation from the tongue, and unto which shall we hearken? Prayer and
prying [come] from one mouth, [521] and which shall we listen to?"For three days
was Jonah a neighbour [of mine] in the sea: the living things that were in the
sea were affrighted, [saying,] "Who shall flee from God? Jonah fled, and ye are
obstinate at your scrutiny of Him!"


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  CHAPTER 99: HYMN II. WHEREUNTO ART THOU LIKE? LET THY STILLNESS SPEAK TO ONE THAT HEARS
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1. Whereunto art thou like? Let thy stillness speak to one that hears; with
silent mouth speak with us: for whoso hears the stammerings of thy silence, to
him thy type utters its silent cry concerning our Redeemer. Thy mother is a
virgin of the sea; though he took her not [to wife]: she fell into his bosom,
though he knew her not; she conceived thee near him, though he did not know her.
Do thou, that art a type, reproach the Jewish women that have thee hung upon
them. Thou art the only progeny of all forms which art like to the Word on High,
Whom singly the Most High begot. The engraven forms seem to be the type of
created things above. This visible offspring of the invisible womb is a type of
great things. [522] Thy goodly conception was without seed, and without wedlock
was thy pure generation, and without brethren was thy single birth. Our Lord had
brethren and yet not brethren, since He was an Only-Begotten. O solitary one,
thou type exact of the Only-Begotten! There is a type of thine in the crown of
kings, [wherein] thou hast brothers and sisters. Goodly gems are thy brethren,
with beryls and unions as thy companions: may gold be as it were thy kinsman,
may there be unto the King of kings a crown from thy well-beloved ones! When
thou camest up from the sea, that living tomb, thou didst cry out. Let me have a
goodly assemblage of brethren, relatives, and kinsmen. As the wheat is in the
stalk, so thou art in the crown with princes: and it is a just restoration to
thee, as if of a pledge, [523] that from that depth thou shouldest be exalted to
a goodly eminence. Wheat the stalk bears in the field; thee the head of the king
upon his chariot carries about. O daughter of the water, who hast left sea,
wherein thou wert born, and art gone up to the dry land, wherein thou art
beloved: for men have loved and seized and adorned themselves with thee, like as
they did that Offspring Whom the Gentiles loved and crowned themselves withal.
It is by the mystery of truth that Leviathan is trodden down of mortals: the
divers put him off, and put on Christ. In the sacrament of oil did the Apostles
[524] steal Thee away, and came up. They snatched their souls from his mouth,
bitter as it was. Thy Nature is like a silent lamb in its sweetness, of which if
a man is to lay hold, he lifts it in a crucial form by its ears, as it was on
Golgotha. He cast out abundantly all His gleams upon them that looked upon Him.
2. Shadowed forth in thy beauty is the beauty of the Son, Who clothed Himself
with suffering when the nails passed through Him. The awl passed in thee since
they handled thee roughly, as they did His hands; and because He suffered He
reigned, as by thy sufferings thy beauty increased. And if they showed no pity
upon thee, neither did they love thee: still suffer as thou mightest, thou hast
come to reign! Simon Peter [525] showed pity on the Rock; whoso hath smitten it,
is himself thereby overcome; it is by reason of Its suffering that Its beauty
hath adorned the height and the depth.


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  CHAPTER 100: HYMN III. THOU DOST NOT HIDE THYSELF IN THY BARENESS, O PEARL!
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1. Thou dost not hide thyself in thy bareness, O pearl! With the love of thee is
the merchant ravished also, for he strips off his garments; not to cover thee,
[seeing] thy clothing is thy light, thy garment is thy brightness, O thou that
art bared! Thou art like Eve who was clothed with nakedness. Cursed be he that
deceived her and stripped her and left her. The serpent cannot strip off thy
glory. In the mysteries whose type thou art, women are clothed with Light in
Eden. [526] 2. Very glistening are the pearls of Ethiopia, as it is written, Who
gave thee to Ethiopia [the land] of black men. [527] He that gave light to the
Gentiles, both to the Ethiopians and unto the Indians did His bright beams
reach. The eunuch of Ethiopia upon his chariot [528] saw Philip: the Lamb of
Light met the dark man from out of the water. While he was reading, the
Ethiopian was baptised and shone with joy, and journeyed on! He made disciples
and taught, and out of black men he made men white. [529] And the dark Ethiopic
women [530] became pearls for the Son; He offered them up to the Father, as a
glistening crown from the Ethiopians. 3. The Queen of Sheba [531] was a sheep
[532] that had come into the place of wolves; the lamp of truth did Solomon give
her, who also married [533] her when he fell away. She was enlightened and went
away, but they were dark as their manner was. The bright spark which went down
home with that blessed [Queen], held on its shining amid the darkness, till the
new Day-spring came. The bright spark met with this shining, and illumined the
place. 4. There are in the sea divers fishes of many cubits, and with all their
greatness they are very small; but by thy littleness the crown is made great,
like as the Son, by whose littleness Adam was made great. For the head is thy
crown intended: for the eye thy beauty, for the ear thy goodliness. Come up from
the sea, thou neighbour to the dry land, and come and sojourn by the [seat of]
hearing. Let the ear love the word of life as it loveth thee! In the ear is the
word, and without it is the pearl. Let it as being warned by thee, by thee get
wisdom, and be warned by the word of truth. Be thou its mirror: the beauty of
the Word in thine own beauty shall it see: in thee it shall learn how precious
is the Word on High! The ear is the leaf: the flesh is the tree, and thou in the
midst of it are a fruit of light, and to the womb that brings forth Light, thou
art a type that points. Thee He used as a parable of that kingdom, O pearl! as
He did the virgins that entered into it, five in number, clothed with the light
of their lamps! To thee are those bright ones like, thou that art clad in light!
5. Who would give a pearl to the daughter of the poor? For when it hangs on her,
it becomes her not. Gain without price that faith, all of which becomes all the
limbs of men. But for no gold would a lady exchange her pearl.It were a great
disgrace if thou shouldst throw thy pearl away into the mire for nought!In the
pearl of time let us behold that of eternity; for it is in the purse, or in the
seal, or in the treasury. Within the gate there are other gates with their locks
and keys. Thy pearl hath the High One sealed up as taking account of all.


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  CHAPTER 101: HYMN IV. THE THIEF GAINED THE FAITH WHICH GAINED HIM, AND BROUGHT HIM UP AND PLACED HIM IN PARADISE
========================================================================

1. The thief gained the faith which gained him, [534] and brought him up and
placed him in paradise. He saw in the Cross a tree of life; that was the fruit,
he was the eater in Adam's stead. The fool, who goes astray, grazes the faith,
as it were an eye, [535] by all manner of questions. The probing of the finger
blinds the eye, and much more doth that prying blind. the faith. For even the
diver pries not into his pearl. In it do all merchants rejoice without prying
into whence it came; even the king who is crowned therewith does not explore it.
2. Because Balaam was foolish, a foolish beast in the ass spoke with him,
because he despised God Who spoke with him. Thee too let the pearl reprove in
the ass's stead. The people that had a heart of stone, by a Stone He set at
nought, [536] for lo, a stone hears words. Witness its work that has reproved
them; and you, ye deaf ones, let the pearl reprove today. With the swallow [537]
and the crow did He put men to shame; with the ox, yea with the ass, [538] did
He put them to shame; let the pearl reprove now, O ye birds and things on earth
and things below. 3. Not as the moon does thy light fill or wane; the Sun whose
light is greater than all, lo! of Him it is that a type is shadowed out in thy
little compass. O type of the Son, one spark of Whom is greater than the sun! --
The pearl itself is full, for its light is full; neither is there any cunning
worker who can steal from it; for its wall is its own beauty, yea, its guard
also! It lacks not, since it is entirely perfect. And if a man would break thee
to take a part from thee, thou art like the faith which with the heretics
perishes, seeing they have broken it in pieces and spoiled it: for is it any
better than this to have the faith scrutinised? The faith is an entire nature
that may not be corrupted. The spoiler gets himself mischief by it: the heretic
brings ruin on himself thereby. He that chases the light from his pupils blinds
himself. Fire and air are divided when sundered. Light alone, of all creatures,
as its Creator, is not divided; it is not barren, for that it also begets
without losing thereby. 4. And if a man thinks that thou art framed [by art] he
errs greatly; thy nature proclaims that thou, as all stones, art not the framing
of art; and so thou art a type of the Generation which no making framed.Thy
stone flees from a comparison with the Stone [which is] the Son. For thy own
generation is from the midst of the deep, that of the Son of thy Creator is from
the highest height; He is not like thee, in that He is like His Father.And as
they tell, two wombs bare thee also. Thou camest down from on high a fluid
nature; thou camest up from the sea a solid body. By means of thy second birth
thou didst show thy loveliness to the children of men.Hands fixed thee, when
thou wast embodied, into thy receptacles; for thou art in the crown as upon a
cross, and in a coronet as in a victory; thou art upon the ears, as if to fill
up what was lacking; thou extendest over all.


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  CHAPTER 102: HYMN V. O GIFT THAT CAMEST UP WITHOUT PRICE WITH THE DIVER!
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1. O gift that camest up without price [539] with the diver! Thou laidest hold
upon this visible light, that without price rises for the children of men: a
parable of the hidden One that without price gives the hidden Dayspring! And the
painter too paints a likeness of thee with colours. Yet by thee is faith painted
in types and emblems for colours, and in the place of the image by thee and thy
colours is thy Creator painted. O thou frankincense without smell, who breathest
types from out of thee! thou art not to be eaten, yet thou givest a sweet smell
unto them that hear thee! thou art not to be drunk, yet by thy story, a fountain
of types art thou made unto the ears! 2. It is thou which art great in thy
littleness, O pearl! Small is thy measure and little thy compass with thy
weight; but great is thy glory: to that crown alone in which thou art placed,
there is none like. And who hath not perceived of thy littleness, how great it
is; if one despises thee and throws thee away, he would blame himself for his
clownishness, for when he saw thee in a king's crown he would be attracted to
thee. 3. Men stripped their clothes off and dived and drew thee out, pearl! It
was not kings that put thee before men, but those naked ones who were a type of
the poor and the fishers and the Galileans. For clothed bodies were not able to
come to thee; they came that were stript as children; they plunged their bodies
and came down to thee; and thou didst much desire them, and thou didst aid them
who thus loved thee. Glad tidings did they give for thee: their tongues before
their bosoms did the poor [fishers] open, and produced and showed the new riches
among the merchants: upon the wrists of men they put thee as a medicine of life.
4. The naked ones in a type saw thy rising again by the sea-shore; and by the
side of the lake they, the Apostles [540] of a truth, saw the rising again of
the Son of thy Creator. By thee and by thy Lord the sea and the lake were
beautified. The diver came up from the sea and put on his clothing; and from the
lake too Simon Peter came up swimming and put on his coat; [541] clad as with
coats, with the love of both of you, were these two. 5. And since I have
wandered in thee, pearl, I will gather up my mind, and by having contemplated
thee, would become like thee, in that thou art all gathered up into thyself; and
as thou in all times art one, one let me become by thee! Pearls have I gathered
together that I might make a crown for the Son in the place of stains which are
in my members. Receive my offering, not that Thou art shortcoming; it is because
of mine own shortcoming that I have offered it to Thee. Whiten my stains!This
crown is all spiritual pearls, which instead of gold are set in love, and
instead of ouches in faith; and instead of hands, let praise offer it up to the
Highest!


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  CHAPTER 103: HYMN VI. WOULD THAT THE MEMORY OF THE FATHERS WOULD EXHALE FROM THE TOMBS
========================================================================

1. Would that the memory of the fathers would exhale from the tombs; who were
very simple as being wise, and reverend as believing. They without cavilling
searched for, and came to the right path. He gave the law; the mountains melted
away; fools broke through it. By unclean ravens He fed Elijah at the desert
stream; and moreover gave from the skeleton honey unto Samson. They judged not,
nor inquired why it was unclean, why clean. 2. And when He made void the
sabbaths, the feeble Gentiles were clothed with health. Samson took the daughter
of the aliens, and there was no disputing among the righteous; the prophet also
took a harlot, and the just held their peace. He blamed the righteous, [542] and
He held up and lifted up [to view] their delinquencies: He pitied sinners, [543]
and restored them without cost: and made low the mountains of their sins: [544]
He proved that God is not to be arraigned by men, and as Lord of Truth, that His
servants were His shadow; and whatsoever way His will looked, they directed also
their own wills; and because Light was in Him, [545] their shadows were
enlightened. 3. How strangely perplexed are all the heretics by simple things!
For when He plainly foreshadowed this New Testament by that of the Prophets,
those pitiable men rose, as though from sleep, and shouted out and made a
disturbance. And the Way, wherein the righteous held straight on, and by their
truths had gone forth therein, that [Way] have these broken [546] up, because
they were besotted: this they left and went out of; because they pried, an evil
searching, [yea,] an evil babbling led them astray. They saw the ray: they made
it darkness, that they might grope therein: they saw the jewel, even the faith:
while they pried into it, it fell and was lost. Of the pearl they made a stone,
that they might stumble upon it. 4. O Gift, which fools have made a poison! The
People were for separating Thy beauteous root from Thy fountain, though they
separated it not: [false] teachings estranged Thy beauty also from the stock
thereof. By Thee did they get themselves estranged, who wished to estrange Thee.
By Thee the tribes were cut off and scattered abroad from out of Sion, and also
the [false] teachings of the seceders. Bring Thyself within the compass of our
littleness, O Thou Gift of ours. For if love cannot find Thee out on all sides,
it cannot be still and at rest. Make Thyself small, Thou Who art too great for
all, Who comest unto all! 5. By this would those who wrangle against our Pearl
be reproved; because instead of love, strife has come in and dared to essay to
unveil thy beauty. It was not graven, since it is a progeny which cannot be
interpreted. Thou didst show thy beauty among the abjects to show whereto thou
art like, thou Pearl that art all faces. The beholders were astonied and
perplexed at thee. The separatists separated thee in two, and were separated in
two by thee, thou that art of one substance throughout. They saw not thy beauty,
because there was not in them the eye of truth. For the veil of prophecy, full
as it was of the mysteries; to them was a covering of thy glistering faces: they
thought that thou wast other [than thou art], O thou mirror of ours! and
therefore these blind schismatics defiled thy fair beauty.6. Since they have
extolled thee too much, or have lowered thee too much, bring them to the even
level. Come down, descend a little from that height of infidelity and
heathendom; and come up from the depth of Judaism, though thou art in the
Heaven.Let our Lord be set between God and men! [547] Let the Prophets be as it
were His heralds! Let the Just One, as being His Father, rejoice! that Word it
is which conquered both Jews and Heathens!7. Come, Thou Gift of Holy Church,
stay, rest in the midst of Her! The circumcised have troubled Thee, in that they
are vain babblers, and so have the [false] doctrines in that they are
contentious. Blessed be He that gave Thee a goodly company which bears Thee
about!In the covenant of Moses is Thy brightness shadowed forth: in the new
covenant Thou dartest it forth: from those first Thy light shineth even unto
those last. Blessed be He that gave us Thy gleam as well as Thy bright rays.


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  CHAPTER 104: HYMN VII. AS IN A RACE SAW I THE DISPUTERS, THE CHILDREN OF STRIFE, [TRYING] TO TASTE FIRE, TO SEE THE AIR, TO HANDLE THE LIGHT: THEY WERE TROUBLED AT THE GLEAMING, AND STRUGGLED TO MAKE DIVISIONS
========================================================================

1. As in a race saw I the disputers, the children of strife, [trying] to taste
fire, to see the air, to handle the light: they were troubled at the gleaming,
and struggled to make divisions. The Son, Who is too subtle for the mind, did
they seek to feel: and the Holy Ghost Who cannot be explored, they thought to
explore with their questionings. The Father, Who never at any time was searched
out, have they explained and disputed of. The sound form of our faith is from
Abraham, and our repentance is from Nineveh and the house of Rahab, [548] and
ours are the expectations of the Prophets, [549] ours of the Apostles. 2. And
envy is from Satan: the evil usage of the evil calf is from the Egyptians. [550]
The hateful sight of the hateful image of four faces is from the Hittites. [551]
Accursed disputation, that hidden moth, is from the Greeks. The bitter [enemy]
read and saw orthodox teachings, and subverted them; he saw hateful things, and
sowed them; and he saw hope, and he turned it upside down and cut it off. The
disputation that he planted, lo! it has yielded a fruit bitter to the tooth. 3.
Satan saw that the Truth strangled him, and united himself to the tares, and
secreted his frauds, and spread his snares for the faith, and cast upon the
priests the darts of the love of pre-eminence. They made contests for the
throne, to see which should first obtain it. There was that meditated in secret
and kept it close: there was that openly combated for it: and there was that
with a bribe crept up to it: and there was that with fraud dealt wisely to
obtain it. The paths differed, the scope was one, and they were alike. Him that
was young, and could not even think of it, because it was not time for him; and
him that was hoary and shaped out dreams for time beyond; all of them by his
craftiness did the wicked one persuade and subdue. Old men, youths, and even
striplings, aim at rank! 4. His former books did Satan put aside, and put on
others: the People who was grown old had the moth and the worm devoured and
eaten and left and deserted: the moth came into the new garment of the new
peoples: He saw the crucifiers who were rejected and cast forth as strangers: he
made of those of the household, pryers; and of worshippers, they became
disputants. From that garment the moth gendered and wound it up and deposited
it. The worm gendered in the storehouse of wheat, and sat and looked on: and lo!
the pure wheat was mildewed, and devoured were the garments of glory! He made a
mockery of us, and we of ourselves, since we were besotted! He showed tares, and
the bramble shot up in the pure vineyard! He infected the flock, and the leprosy
broke out, and the sheep became hired servants of his! He began in the People,
and came unto the Gentiles, that he might finish.5. Instead of the reed which
the former people made the Son hold, others have dared with their reed [552] to
write in their tracts that He is only a Son of man. Reed for reed does the
wicked one exchange against our Redeemer, and instead of the coat of many
colours, [553] wherewith they clothed Him, titles has he dyed craftily. With
diversity of names he clothed Him; either that of a creature or of a thing made,
when He was the Maker.And as he plaited for Him by silent men speechless thorns
that cry out, thorns from the mind has he plaited [now] by the voice, as hymns;
and concealed the spikes amid melodies that they might not be perceived. [554]6.
When Satan saw that he was detected in his former [frauds]; that the spitting
was discovered, and vinegar, and thorns, nails and wood, garments and reed and
spear, which smote him, and were hated and openly known; he changed his
frauds.Instead of the blow with the hand, by which our Lord was overcome, he
brought in distractions; and instead of the spitting, cavilling entered in; and
instead of garments, secret divisions; and instead of the reed, came in strife
to smite us on the face.Haughtiness called for rage its sister, and there
answered and came envy, and wrath, and pride, and fraud. They have taken counsel
against our Redeemer as on that day when they took counsels at His Passion.And
instead of the cross, a hidden wood hath strife become; and instead of the
nails, questionings have come in; and instead of hell, apostasy: the pattern of
both Satan would renew again.Instead of the sponge which was cankered with
vinegar and wormwood, he gave prying, the whole of which is cankered with death.
The gall which they gave Him did our Lord put away from Him; the subtle
questioning, which the rebellious one hath given, to fools is sweet.7. And at
that time there were judges against them, [555] lo, the judges are, as it were,
against us, and instead of a handwriting are their commands. Priests that
consecrate crowns, set snares for kings.Instead of the priesthood praying for
royalty that wars may cease from among men, they teach wars of overthrow, which
set kings to combat with those round about.O Lord, make the priests and kings
peaceful; that in one Church priests may pray for their kings, and kings spare
those round about them; and may the peace which is within Thee become ours,
Lord, Thou that art within and without all things! [556]


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 105: THREE HOMILIES
========================================================================

Translated by REV. A. Edward Johnston, B.D., I. On Our Lord. II. On Admonition
and Repentance. III. On the Sinful Woman.


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  CHAPTER 106: THREE HOMILIES. ON OUR LORD.
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1. Grace has drawn nigh to mouths, once blasphemous, and has made them harps;
sounding praise. Therefore let all mouths render praise to Him Who has removed
from them blasphemous speech. Glory to Thee Who didst depart from one dwelling
to take up thy abode in another! that He might come and make us a dwelling-place
for His Sender, the only-begotten departed from [being] with Deity and took up
His abode in the Virgin; that by a common manner of birth, though only-begotten,
He might become the brother of many. And He departed from Sheol and took up His
abode in the Kingdom; that He might seek out a path from Sheol which oppresses
all, to the Kingdom which requites all. For our Lord gave His resurrection as a
pledge to mortals, that He would remove them from Sheol, which receives the
departed without distinction, to the Kingdom which admits the invited with
distinction; so that, from [the plan] which makes equal the bodies of all men
within it, we may come to [the plan] which distinguishes the works of all men
within it. This is He Who descended to Sheol and ascended, that from [the place]
which corrupts its sojourners, He might bring us to the place which nourishes
with its blessings its dwellers; even those dwellers who, with the possessions,
the fruits, and the flowers, of this world, that pass away, have crowned and
adorned for themselves there, tabernacles that pass not away. That Firstborn Who
was begotten according to His nature, was born in another birth that was
external to His nature; that we might know that after our natural birth we must
have another birth which is outside our nature. For He, since He was spiritual,
until He came to the corporeal birth, could not be corporeal; in like manner
also the corporeal, unless they are born in another birth, cannot be spiritual.
But the Son Whose generation is unsearchable, was born in another generation
that may be searched out; that by the one we might learn that His Majesty is
without limit, and by the other might be taught that His grace is without
measure. For great is His Majesty without measure, Whose first generation cannot
be imagined in any of our thoughts. And His grace is abundant without limit,
Whose second birth is proclaimed by all mouths. 2. This is He Who was begotten
from the Godhead according to His nature, and from manhood not after His nature,
and from baptism not after His custom; that we might be begotten from manhood
according to our nature, and from Godhead not after our nature, and by the
Spirit not after our custom. He then was begotten from the Godhead, He that came
to a second birth; in order to bring us to the birth that is discoursed of, even
His generation from the Father: -- not that it should be searched out, but that
it should be believed; -- and His birth from the woman, not that it should be
despised, but that it should be exalted. Now His death on the cross witnesses to
His birth from the woman. For He that died was also born. And the Annunciation
of Gabriel declares His generation by the Father, namely [the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee]. [557] If then it was the power of the Highest,
it is plain that it was not the seed of mortal man. So then His conception in
the womb is bound up with His death on the cross; and His first generation is
bound up with the declaration of the Angel; in order that whoso denies His birth
may be confuted by His crucifixion, and whoso supposes that His beginning was
from Mary, may be admonished that His Godhead is before all; so that whoever has
concluded His beginning to be corporeal, [may be proved to err hereby that His
issuing forth from the Father is narrated]. The Father begat Him, and through
Him created the creatures. Flesh bare Him and through Him slew lusts. Baptism
brought him forth, that through Him it might wash away stains. Sheol brought Him
forth, that through Him its treasures might be emptied out. He came to us from
beside His Father by the way of them that are born: and by the way of them that
die, He went forth to go to His Father; so that by His coming through birth, His
advent might be seen; and by His returning through resurrection, His departure
might be confirmed. 3. But our Lord was trampled on by Death; and in His turn
trod out a way over Death. This is He Who made Himself subject to and endured
death of His own will, that He might cast down death against his will. For our
Lord bare His cross and went forth according to the will of Death: but He cried
upon the cross [558] and brought forth the dead from within Sheol against the
will of Death. For in that very thing by which Death had slain Him [i.e., the
body], in that as armour He bore off the victory over Death. But the Godhead
concealed itself in the manhood and fought against Death, Death slew and was
slain. Death slew the natural life; and the supernatural life slew Him. And
because Death was not able to devour Him without the body, nor Sheol to swallow
Him up without the flesh, He came unto the Virgin, that from thence He might
obtain that which should bear Him to Sheol; as from beside the ass they brought
for Him the colt whereon He entered Jerusalem, and proclaimed concealing her
overthrow and the destruction of her children. With the body then that [was]
from the Virgin, He entered Sheol and plundered its storehouses and emptied its
treasures. He came then to Eve the Mother of all living. This is the vine whose
fence Death laid open by her own hands, and caused her to taste of his fruits.
So Eve the Mother of all living became the well-spring of death to all living.
But Mary budded forth, a new shoot from Eve the ancient vine; and new life dwelt
in her, that when Death should come confidently after his custom to feed upon
mortal fruits, the life that is slayer of death might be stored up [therein]
against him; that when Death should have swallowed [the fruits] without fear, he
might vomit them forth and with them many. For [He Who is] the Medicine of life
flew down from heaven, and was mingled in the body, the mortal fruit. And when
Death came to feed after his custom, the Life in His turn swallowed up Death.
This is the food that hungered to eat its eater. So then, by one fruit which
Death swallowed hungrily, he vomited up many lives which he had swallowed
greedily. The hunger then which hurried him against one, emptied out his greed
which had hurried him against many. Thus Death was diligent to swallow one, but
was in haste to set many free. For while One was dying on the cross, many that
were buried from within Sheol were coming forth at His cry. [559] This is the
fruit that cleft asunder Death who had swallowed it, and brought out from within
it the Life in quest of which it was sent. For Sheol hid away all that she had
devoured. But through One that was not devoured, all that she had devoured were
restored from within her. He, whose stomach is disordered, vomits forth both
that which is sweet to him and that which is not sweet. So the stomach of Death
was disordered, and as he was vomiting forth the medicine of life which had
sickened it, he vomited forth along with it also those lives that had been
swallowed by him with pleasure. 4. This is the Son of the carpenter, Who
skilfully made His cross a bridge over Sheol that swallows up all, and brought
over mankind into the dwelling of life. And because it was through the tree that
mankind had fallen into Sheol, so upon the tree they passed over into the
dwelling of life. Through the tree then wherein bitterness was tasted, through
it also sweetness was tasted; that we might learn of Him that amongst the
creatures nothing resists Him. Glory be to Thee, Who didst lay Thy cross as a
bridge over death, that souls might pass over upon it from the dwelling of the
dead to the dwelling of life! 5. The Gentiles praise Thee that Thy Word has
become a mirror before them, that in it they might see death, secretly
swallowing up their lives. But graven images were being adorned by their
artificers; and by their adornments were disfiguring their adorners. But Thou
didst draw them to Thy cross; and while the beauties of the body were disfigured
upon it, the beauties of the mind shone forth upon it. Then, as for the Gentiles
who used to go after gods which were no gods, He Who was God went after them,
and by His words, as by a bridle, turned them from many gods to the One. This is
that Mighty One, Whose preaching became a bridle in the jaws of the Gentiles,
and led them away from idols to Him that sent Him. But the dead idols, with
their closed mouths, used to feed on the life of their worshippers. On this
account Thou didst mingle in their flesh that blood of Thine, by which death was
enfeebled and laid low; that the mouths of their devourers might be driven away
from their lives. Also because Israel slew Thee and was defiled by Thy blood,
that idolatry, that had been engrafted upon him was driven away from him on
account of Thy blood. For he was weaned from that heathenism through Thy blood;
because that from it, he had never before been weaned. 6. But Israel crucified
our Lord, on the plea that verily He was seducing us from the One God. But they
themselves used constantly to wander away from the One God through their many
idols. While then they imagine they crucify Him Who seduces them from the One
God, they are found to be led away by Him from all idols to the One God; to the
end that because they did not voluntarily learn of Him that He is God, they
might by compulsion learn of Him that He is God; when the good which had accrued
to them through Him should accuse them concerning the evil which their hands had
done. Thus even though the tongue of the oppressors denied, yet the help with
which they were helped convicted them. For grace loaded them beyond their power,
so that they should be ashamed, while laden with Thy blessings, to deny Thy
person. And also Thou didst have mercy on those, whose lives had been made food
for dead idols. For the one calf which they made in the desert, [560] pastured
on their lives as on grass in the desert. For that idolatry which they had
stolen and brought out in their hearts from Egypt, when it was made manifest,
slew openly those in whom it was dwelling secretly. For it was like fire
concealed in wood, which when it is gendered from within it, burns it. For Moses
ground to powder the calf and caused them to drink it in the water of ordeal;
[561] that by drinking of the calf all those who were living for its worship
might die. For the sons of Levi ran upon them, those who ran to [help] Moses and
girded on their swords. [562] For the sons of Levi did not know whom they should
slay, because those that worshipped were mingled with those that worshipped not.
But He, for Whom it was easy to distinguish, distinguished those who were
defiled from those who were not defiled; so that the innocent might give thanks
that their innocence had not passed [unseen by] the Just One; and the guilty
might be convicted that their offence had not escaped [the eye of] the Judge.
But the sons of Levi were the open avengers. Accordingly Moses set a mark upon
the offenders, that it might be easy for the avengers to avenge. For the draught
of the calf entered those in whom the love of the calf was dwelling, and
displayed in them a manifest sign, that the drawn sword might rush upon them.
The congregation therefore which had committed fornication in [the worship of]
the calf, he caused to drink of the water of ordeal, that the mark of
adulteresses might appear in it. From hence was derived that law about women,
[563] that they should drink the water of ordeal, that by the mark that came on
adulteresses, the congregation might be reminded of its fornication that was in
the worship of the calf, and be on its guard with fear against another
[fornication]; and remember the former [fornication] with penitence of soul; and
that when they were judging their women, if they played the harlot against them,
they might condemn themselves, who were playing the harlot against their God. 7.
To Thee be glory who by Thy cross hast taken away the heathenism in which both
circumcised and uncircumcised were caused to stumble! To Thee be praise, the
medicine of life, Who hast converted all that are baptised, to Him Who is life
of all, and Lord of all! The lost that are found bless Thee; for by the finding
of the lost, Thou hast given joy to the angels that are found and were not lost.
The uncircumcised praise Thee, for in Thy peace the enmity that was between is
swallowed up, for Thou didst receive in Thy flesh the outward sign of
circumcision, through which the uncircumcised that were Thine, used to be
accounted as not Thine. For Thou didst make as Thy sign the circumcision of the
heart; by which the circumcised were made known, that they were not Thine. For
Thou didst come to Thine own [564] and Thine own received Thee not; and by this
they were made known that they were not Thine. But they to whom Thou didst not
come, through Thy mercy cry out after Thee, that Thou wouldst satisfy them with
the crumbs which fall from the children's table. 8. God was sent from the
Godhead, to come and convict the graven images that they were no gods. And when
He took away from them the name of God which decked them out, then appeared the
blemishes of their persons. And their blemishes were these; -- They have eyes
and see not, and ears and hear not. [565] Thy preaching persuaded their many
worshippers to change their many gods for the One. For in that Thou didst take
away the name of godhead from the idols, worship also along with the name was
withdrawn; that, namely, which is bound up with the name; for worship also
attends on the Name of God. Because, then, worship also was rendered to the
Name, by all the Gentiles, at the last the worshipful Name shall be gathered in
entirely to its Lord. Therefore at the last worship, also shall be gathered in
completely to its Lord, that it may be fulfilled that all things shall be
subjected to Him. Then, He in His turn shall be subjected to Him Who subjected
all things to Him. [566] So that that Name, rising from degree to degree, shall
be bound up with its root. For when all creatures shall be bound by their love
to the Son through Whom they were created, and the Son shall be bound by the
love of that Father by Whom He was begotten, all creatures shall give thanks at
the last to the Son, through Whom they received all blessings; and in Him and
with Him they shall give thanks also to His Father, from Whose treasure He
distributes all riches to us. 9. Glory be to Thee Who didst clothe Thyself in
the body of mortal Adam, and didst make it a fountain of life for all mortals.
Thou art He that livest, for Thy slayers were as husbandmen to Thy life, for
that they sowed it as wheat in the depth [of the earth], that it may rise and
raise up many with it. Come, let us make our love the great censer of the
community, and offer on it as incense our hymns and our prayers to Him Who made
His cross a censer for the Godhead, and offered from it on behalf of us all. He
that was above stooped down to those who were beneath, to distribute His
treasures to them. Accordingly, though the needy drew near to His manhood, yet
they used to receive the gift from His Godhead. Therefore He made the body which
He put on, the treasurer of His riches, that He, O Lord, might bring them out of
Thy storehouse, and distribute them to the needy, the sons of His kindred. 10.
Glory be to Him Who received from us that He might give to us; that through that
which is ours we might more abundantly receive of that which is His! Yea through
that Mediator, mankind was able to receive life from its helper, as through a
Mediator it had received in the beginning death from its slayer. Thou art He Who
didst make for Thyself the body as a servant, that through it Thou mightest give
to them that desire Thee, all that they desire. Moreover in Thee were made
visible the hidden wishes of them that slew [Thee] and buried [Thee]; through
this, that Thou clothedst Thyself in a body. For taking occasion by that body of
Thine, Thy slayers slew Thee, and were slain by Thee; and taking occasion by Thy
body, Thy buriers buried Thee, and were raised up with Thee. That Power Which
may not be handled came down and clothed itself in members that may be touched;
that the needy may draw near to Him, that in touching His manhood they may
discern His Godhead. For that dumb man [whom the Lord healed] with the fingers
of the body, discerned that He had approached his ears and touched his tongue;
[567] nay, with his fingers that may be touched, he touched Godhead, that may
not be touched; when it was loosing the string of his tongue, and opening the
clogged doors of his ears. For the Architect of the body and Artificer of the
flesh came to him, and with His gentle voice pierced without pain his thickened
ears. And his mouth which was closed up, that it could not give birth to a word,
gave birth to praise to Him Who made its barrenness fruitful in the birth of
words. He, then, Who gave to Adam that he should speak at once without teaching,
Himself gave to the dumb that they should speak easily, tongues that are learned
with difficulty. 11. Lo, again, another question is made clear: -- We enquire in
what tongues our Lord gave the power of speaking to the dumb, who from all
tongues came unto Him? And although this be easy to know, yet our soul impels us
to that knowledge which is greater than this. That [knowledge] then is, to know
that through the Son the first man was made. For in this fact, that through Him
speech was given to the dumb, the sons of Adam, we may learn that through Him
speech was given to Adam their first father. And here also defective nature was
supplied by our Lord. He, then, Who was able to supply the defect of nature, --
it is manifest that through Him is established the supplying of nature. But
there is no greater defect than this, when a man is born without speech. For
since it is in this, in speech, that we excel all the creatures, the defect of
it is greater than all [other] defects. He, then, through Whom all this defect
was supplied, -- it is manifest that through Him all fulness is established. But
because through Him the members receive all fulness in the womb secretly,
through Him their defect was supplied openly; that we might learn that through
Him in the beginning the whole frame was constituted. He spat then on His
fingers and placed them in the ears of that deaf man; and He mixed clay of His
spittle, and spread it upon the eyes of the blind man; [568] that we might learn
that as there was defect in the eyeballs of that man who was blind from his
mother's womb, so there was defect in the ears of this [man]. So then, by leaven
from the body of Him Who completes, the defect of our formation is supplied. For
it was not meet that our Lord should have cut off anything from His body to
supply the deficiency of other bodies; but with that which could be taken away
from Him, He supplied the deficiency of them that lacked; just as in that which
can be eaten, mortals eat Him. He supplied then the deficiency, and gave life to
mortality, that we may know that from the body in which fulness dwelt, the
deficiency of them that lacked was supplied; and from the body in which life
dwelt, [569] life was given to mortals.12. Now the Prophets performed all
[other] signs; but on no occasion supplied the deficiency of members. But the
deficiency of the body was reserved, that it should be supplied through our
Lord; that souls might perceive that it is through Him that every deficiency
must be supplied. It is meet, then, that the prudent should perceive that He Who
supplies the deficiencies of the creatures, is Master of the formative power of
the Creator. But when He was upon earth, our Lord gave to the deaf [and dumb],
[the power] of hearing and of speaking tongues which they had not learned; that
after He had ascended, [men] might understand that He gave to His disciples [the
power] of speaking in every tongue.13. Now the crucifiers supposed when our Lord
was dead that His signs had died with Him. But His signs manifestly continued to
live through His disciples; that the murderers might know that the Lord of the
signs was living. Beforehand His murderers made trouble, crying out that His
disciples had stolen His corpse. But, afterwards, His signs performed through
His disciples, filled them with trouble. For His disciples, who were supposed to
have stolen the dead corpse, were found to be raising to life the dead corpses
of others. But the ungodly were terrified and said; -- "His disciples have
stolen His body;" that they might be held in contempt when it should be
discovered. But the disciples, who [they said] stole the dead body from the
living guards, were found to be assailing Death in the name of Him Who was
stolen; that [Death] might not steal the life of the living. So then, before He
was crucified, He gave the deaf the power of hearing, that after He was
crucified, all ears should hear and believe in His resurrection. For beforehand
He confirmed our hearing by [the word] of the dumb whose mouth was opened, that
it should not doubt concerning the preaching of the Word. Our Redeemer was in
every way equipped, that in every way He might rescue us from our captor. For
our Lord did not merely clothe Himself in a body, but also arrayed Himself in
members and in garments; that through His members and His garments, they that
were afflicted with plagues might be encouraged to approach the treasury of
healing, that they who were encouraged by His mercy might approach His body and
they who were dismayed by His terror might approach His vesture. For with one
woman her fear suffered her merely to approach the hem of His raiment; [570] but
with another, her love impelled her even to approach His flesh. [571] Now by her
who received healing by His garments, those were put to shame who did not
receive healing from His words; and by her who kissed His feet, he was rebuked
who did not desire to kiss His lips.14. Now our Lord bestowed great gifts
through small means; that He might teach us of what they are deprived who have
scorned great things. For if from the hem of His garment, healing like this was
secretly stolen, could He not assuredly heal when His word distinctly granted
healing? And if defiled lips were sanctified by kissing His feet, how much more
should not pure lips be sanctified by kissing His mouth? For the sinful woman by
her kisses received the grace of His sacred feet, which had come with toil to
bring her remission of her sins. She was refreshing the feet of her Healer with
oil freely, for freely had He brought her the treasure of healing for her
sickness. For it was not for the sake of his stomach that He Who satisfies the
hungry was a guest; but for the sake of the sinful woman's repentance He Who
justifies sinners made Himself a guest. 15. For it was not for the dainties of
the Pharisees that our Lord hungered, but for the tears of the sinful woman He
was an hungered. For when He was satisfied and refreshed by the tears for which
He hungered, He turned and rebuked him who had bidden Him to the food that
passes away, that He might show that it was not for the sake of food for the
body that He had become a guest, but for the sake of help to the soul. For it
was not for the sake of pleasure that our Lord mingled with gluttonous men and
winebibbers, as the Pharisee supposed; but that in their food as mortals He
might mingle for them His teaching as the medicine of life. For even as it was
in the matter of eating that the Evil One gave his deadly counsel to Adam and
his helpmeet, so in the matter of eating the Good Lord gave His life-giving
counsel to the sons of Adam. For He was the fisherman Who came down to fish for
the lives of the lost. He saw the publicans and harlots rushing into prodigality
and drunkenness; and He hastened to spread His nets amongst their places of
assembly, that He might capture them from food that fattens bodies, to fasting
that fattens souls.16. Now the Pharisee made great preparations for our Lord in
His banquet; and the sinful woman did but little things for Him there. Yet he by
his great dainties displayed the smallness of his love to our Lord; but she by
her tears displayed the greatness of her love to our Lord. Thus he that had
invited Him to the great banquet was rebuked because of the smallness of his
love; but she by her few tears atoned for the many follies of her offences.
Simon the Pharisee received our Lord as a prophet; because of the signs, and not
because of faith. For he was a son of Israel, who when signs drew near, himself
also drew near to the Lord of the signs; and when the signs ceased, he also
stood naked without faith. This man also when he saw our Lord with signs,
esteemed Him as a prophet; but when our Lord ceased from signs, the doubting
mind of the sons of his people entered him. This man if He had been a prophet,
He would have known that this woman is a sinner. But our Lord for Whom in every
place all things are easy, here also did not cease from His signs. For He saw
that because He had ceased a little from signs, the blind mind of the Pharisee
had turned away from Him. For he had said in error, This man, had He been a
prophet, He would have known. In this reflection therefore the Pharisee doubted
concerning our Lord, whether He were a prophet or no; but by this very
reflection he learned that He is Lord of the prophets; so that from the source
from which error entered him, from that source our Lord might bring help to
Him.17. Our Lord then told him the parable of the two debtors; and made him
judge; that by his tongue He might catch him in whose heart the truth was not.
One owed five hundred dinars. Here then our Lord showed to the Pharisee the
multitude of the offences of the sinful woman. He then who imagined concerning
our Lord that He did not know that she was a sinner, in the result heard from
Him how great was the debt of her sins. The Pharisee, then, who imagined that
our Lord did not know who she was, and what was the reputation of the sinful
woman, was found himself not to know who our Lord was, and what was His
reputation. Thus he was reproved in his error, who did not even perceive his
error. For the knowledge that he was assuredly erring eluded him in his error.
But he received a reminder from Him Who came to remind them that err. The
Pharisee had seen great signs done by our Lord, as Israel by Moses; but because
there was not faith in him, that those prodigies which he saw might be conjoined
with that faith, a little cause hindered and annulled them. Had this man been a
prophet, he would have known that this woman is a sinner. For he let slip the
wonders that he had seen, and blindness readily entered into him. For he was of
the sons of Israel, whom terrible signs accompanied up to the sea, that they
might fear; and blessed miracles surrounded in the waste desert, that they might
be reconciled; but through lack of faith, for a slight cause, they rejected them
[saying]; As for this Moses who brought us up, we know not what has become of
him. [572] For they ceased to regard the mighty works that had been surrounding
them. They perceived that Moses was not near them; so that for this cause that
had come near, they drew [near] to the heathenism of Egypt. For Moses was for a
little removed from before them, that the calf that was before them might
appear, that they might worship it openly also; for they had been secretly
worshipping it in their hearts.18. But when their heathenism from being inward
became open, then Moses also from being hidden openly appeared; that he might
openly punish those whose heathenism had revelled beneath the holy cloud which
had overshadowed them. But God removed the Shepherd of the flock from it for
forty days, that the flock might show that its trust was fixed upon the calf.
While God was feeding the flock with all delights, it chose for itself as its
Shepherd the calf, which was not able even to eat. Moses who kept them in awe
was removed from them, that the idolatry might cry aloud in their mouths, which
the restraint of Moses had kept down in their hearts. For they cried: Make us
gods, to go before us. [573] 19. But when Moses came down, he saw their
heathenism revelling in the wide plain with drums and cymbals. Speedily, he put
their madness to shame by means of the Levites and drawn swords. So likewise
here, our Lord concealed His knowledge for a little when the sinful woman
approached Him, that the Pharisee might form into shape his thought, as his
fathers had shaped the pernicious calf. But when the Pharisee's error came to a
head within him, then the knowledge of our Lord was manifested against it and
dispelled it; I entered into thy house; thou gavest Me no water for My feet: But
she has moistened them with her tears. Therefore her sins which are many are
forgiven her. [574] But the Pharisee when he heard our Lord naming the sins of
the woman, many sins, was greatly put to shame because he had greatly erred. For
he had supposed that our Lord did not even know that she was a sinner. Our Lord
had before shown Himself as though not knowing her for a sinner. For He allowed
him who had seen His signs, to show the doubt of his mind, that it might become
manifest that his mind was bound in the ungodliness of his fathers. But the
physician, who by his medicines brings out the hidden disease, is not the helper
of the disease but its destroyer. For while the disease is hidden, it rules in
the members, but when it is made manifest by medicines, it is rooted out. So
then the Pharisee saw great things and doubted about small things. But when our
Lord saw that his littleness made little of great things in his mind, He
speedily showed him not only that she was a sinner, but even the multitude of
her sins; that he might be put to shame by little things, -- he who had not
believed in wonders.20. God gave room to Israel to enlarge its heathenism in the
wide desert; whom God cut short with whetted sword, that their idolatry might
not be spread abroad among the Gentiles. So our Lord allowed the Pharisee to
imagine perverse things, that He might in turn duly reprove his pride. For
concerning those things which the sinful woman was doing rightly, the Pharisee
was thinking wrongly. But our Lord in His turn rebuked him, concerning the right
things which he had wrongly withheld: I entered thy house; thou gavest Me no
water for My feet. Behold the withholding of that which was due! But she has
moistened them with her tears. Behold the payment of what was due! Thou didst
not anoint Me with oil. Behold the token of neglect! But she has anointed My
feel with sweet ointment. Behold the sign of zeal! Thou didst not kiss Me.
Behold the testimony of enmity! But she has not ceased to kiss My feet. Behold
the sign of love! So then, by this enumeration our Lord showed that the Pharisee
owed Him all those things and had withheld them; but that the sinful woman had
come in and rendered all those things which he had withheld. Because then she
had paid the debts of him who wrongfully withheld them, the Just One forgave
her, her own debt, even her sins.21. Now the Pharisee, while he was doubting
concerning our Lord, that He was not a prophet, pledged himself to the truth
unawares, in saying -- Had this man been a prophet, he would have known that
this woman is a sinner. Therefore, if it should be found that our Lord knew that
she was a sinner, He is, according to thy word, O Pharisee, a prophet. Our Lord,
therefore, hastened to show both that she was a sinner, and that her sins were
many; that the testimony of his own mouth might confute him as a liar. For he
was companion of those that said: Who is able to forgive sins, but God only?
[575] For from them our Lord received testimony, that, therefore, He Who is able
to forgive sins, is God. Thenceforth, then, the contention was this, that our
Lord should show them whether He was able to forgive sins or no. So He speedily
healed the members that were visible, that it might be made sure that He had
forgiven the sins that were invisible. For our Lord cast before them the word
which was expected to catch him that said it; so that when they should rush
forward to catch Him by it, according to their wish, they might be caught by Him
according to His wish. Fear not, My son, thy sins are forgiven thee. [576] While
they were hastening to catch Him on the charge of blasphemy, they pledged
themselves unawares to the truth. For Who is able forgive sins but God only?
Accordingly, our Lord confuted them [as though saying]: "If I shall have shown
that I am able to forgive sins, even though ye do not believe in Me that I am
God; yet abide ye by your word, which determined that whoso forgives sins is
God." Therefore that our Lord might teach them that He forgives sins, He forgave
that man his hidden sin, and caused him to carry his bed openly; that by the
carrying of the bed which carries [those that lie on it], they might believe in
the slaying of the sin that slays.This is a wonderful thing, that while our Lord
there called Himself the Son of man, His adversaries, unawares, made Him to be
God as forgiving sins. Accordingly, while they supposed that they had ensnared
Him by their craftiness, He entangled them in their craftiness; He made it a
testimony to His truth. So their evil thoughts became unto them as bitter bonds;
and that they might not free themselves from their bonds, our Lord strengthened
them by giving strength to him [to whom He said]; -- Arise, take up thy bed and
go into thine house. [577] For the testimony could not again be undone, as
though He were not God; inasmuch as He forgave sins. Nor yet could it be falsely
affirmed that He had not forgiven sins; for lo! He had healed [men's] limbs. For
our Lord bound up His hidden testimonies in those which were manifest; that
their own testimony might choke the infidels. Accordingly our Lord made their
thoughts to war against them, because they had warred with the Good One, who by
His healing power warred against their diseases. For that which Simon the
Pharisee imagined, and that which the scribes his companions imagined, they
imagined in their hearts secretly; but our Lord spread it forth openly. Our Lord
represented their hidden imaginations before them, that they might learn that
His knowledge reveals and shows their secret things(;) so that though they had
not recognized Him by His open signs, they might recognize Him when He
represented their secret imaginations; and that if only but by this, -- that He
searched out their hearts, -- their hearts might perceive that He was God; --
that at least when they saw that their imaginations could not be hidden from
Him, they might cease from imagining evil against Him. For they had imagined
evil in their heart; but He exposed it openly, by this [word] Why are ye
imagining evil in your heart? So that by this, that our Lord perceived their
hidden imagination, they should recognize His hidden Godhead. For that Godhead,
by this very thing that they in their error were reviling it, was by that
reviling made known to them. For they reviled our Lord in the body, and supposed
that He was not God, and cast Him down below from on high; but by the body He
was made known to them as being God, by that body which was found passing to and
fro amongst them. For they, by casting Him down to the depth, attempted to show
this, that God Who is above, cannot in bodily wise be born below. But He by His
passage up to the height, taught them this; that for the body also that is sent
down below, it is not its nature to pass up to the height rather than down to
the depths; so that by the body which from below passed on high upwards in the
air, they might learn of God that by His grace He descended down below from on
high. 22. But why instead of a stern reproof did our Lord speak a parable of
persuasion to that Pharisee? He spoke the parable to him tenderly, that he,
though froward, might unawares be enticed to correct his perversities. For the
waters that are congealed by the force of a cold wind, the heat of the sun
gently dissolves. So our Lord did not at once oppose him harshly, that he might
not give occasion to the rebellious to rebel again. But by blandishment He
brought him under the yoke, that when he had been yoked, He might work with him,
though rebellious, according to His will. Now, because Simon was proudly minded,
our Lord began humbly with him, that He might not be to him a teacher according
to his folly. For if that Pharisee retained the Pharisees' pride, how could our
Lord cause him to acquire humility, when the treasure of humility was not under
his hand? But since our Lord was teaching humility to all men, He showed that
His treasury was free from every form of pride. But this was for our sakes, that
He might teach us, that whatever treasuries pride enters into, it is by
boastfulness that it gains access to them. On this account let not thy left hand
know what thy right hand doeth. [578] Our Lord then did not employ harsh
reproof, because His coming was of grace: He did not refrain from reproof,
because His later coming will be of retribution. For He put men to fear in His
coming of humility; because it is a fearful thing to fall into His hands [579]
when He shall come in flaming fire. [580] But our Lord bestowed the most part of
His helps rather by persuasion than by reproof. For the gentle shower softens
the earth and penetrates all through it: but violent rain binds and hardens the
face of the earth, so that it does not receive it. For a harsh word excites
wrath, and with it are bound up wrongs. And when a harsh word has opened the
door, wrath enters in, and at the heels of wrath, along with it enter in
wrongs.23. But because all helps attend on humble speech, He who came to render
help employed it. Observe how mighty is the power of a humble word; for lo! by
it vehement wrath is put down, and by it the billows of a swelling mind are
calmed. But hear whence this was. That Pharisee thought, had this man been a
prophet, he would have known. Contempt as well as blasphemy can be discerned
here. Hear how our Lord in reply encountered this: Simon, I have somewhat to say
unto thee. Love and reproof can be discerned here. For this is a word of love
such as friends use with their friends. For when an adversary reproaches his
adversary, he speaks not to him like this; for the madness of anger does not
allow enemies to speak reasonably one to another. But He Who prayed for them
that crucified Him, that He might show that the fury of anger had no power over
Him, was about to put to the question those that crucified Him, that He might
show that He was governed by reason and not by anger.24. Accordingly, our Lord
placed a word of conciliation at the beginning of His speech, that by
conciliation He might pacify the Pharisee, into whose mind discord and division
had entered. He was the physician who ranged His cures against the things
hurtful [to men]. Our Lord then shot forth this word as an arrow, and set in the
head of it conciliation as the barb. And He anointed it with love, that soothes
the members; so that when it flew into him who was full of discord, he was at
once changed from discord to harmony. For straightway upon hearing that humble
voice of our Lord, saying, -- Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee, that
secret despiser returned his answer, Say on, Lord. For the sweet voice entered
his bitter mind, and begot of it pleasant fruit. For he who before this voice
was one that secretly despised, after this voice became one that openly
honoured. For humility, by its sweet utterance, subdues even its adversaries
into rendering it honour. For it is not over its friends that humility tests its
power, but over its enemies it exhibits its victories.25. Thus the heavenly King
arrayed Himself in armour of humility, and so conquered the bitter one, and drew
from him a good answer as a sure pledge [of victory]. This is the armour
concerning which Paul said, that by it we humble the loftiness that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God. [581] For Paul had received the proof of it
in himself. For as he had been warring in pride, but was conquered in humility,
so is to be conquered every lofty thing which exalteth itself against this
humility. For Saul was journeying to subdue the disciples with hard words, but
the Master of the disciples subdued him with a humble word. For when He to whom
all things are possible manifested Himself to him, giving up all things else, He
spoke to him in humility alone, that He might teach us that a soft tongue is
more effectual than all things else against hard thoughts. For neither threats
nor words of terror were heard by Paul, but weak words not able to avenge
themselves: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? [582] But the words which were
thought not even capable of avenging themselves, were found to be taking
vengeance by drawing him away from the Jews and making him a goodly vessel. He
who was full of the bitter will of the Jews, was then filled with the sweet
preaching of the cross. When he was filled with the bitterness of the
crucifiers, in his bitterness he made havoc of the churches. But when he was
filled with the sweetness of the Crucified, he embittered the synagogues of the
crucifiers. Our Lord then strove with humble voice with him, who had been
warring against His churches with hard bonds. Thus Saul, who had been binding
the disciples with bitter chains, was bound with pleasant persuasions; that he
might not again cast the disciples into bonds; since he was bound by the
Crucified, Who puts to silence evil voices, whom all they that were set against
Him could not bind or injure. But when Paul ceased from binding the disciples,
he himself was bound with chains by the persecutors. But when he was bound with
chains, he loosed the bonds of idolatry by his bonds. 26. Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? He who had conquered His persecutors in the world below,
and ruled over the angels in the world above, spoke from above with humble
voice. And He Who while He was upon earth had denounced ten woes against His
crucifiers, when He was in heaven, did not denounce even one woe against Saul,
His persecutor. Now, our Lord denounced woe to His crucifiers, that He might
teach His disciples not to be dismayed by His murderers. But our Lord spoke in
humility from heaven, that in humility the heads of His church might speak. And
if any one should say, "Wherein did our Lord speak humbly with Paul? for lo! the
eyes of Paul were grievously smitten;" let him know that it was not from our
merciful Lord that this chastisement proceeded, who spoke those words in
humility; but from the vehement light that vehemently shone forth there. And
this light did not strike Paul by way of retribution on account of his deeds,
but on account of the vehemence of its rays it hurt him, as he also said: When I
arose, I could discern nothing for the glory of the light. [583] But if that
light was glorious, O Paul, how did the glorious light become a blinding light
to thee thyself? The light was that which, according to its nature, illuminates
above, but contrary to its nature, it shone forth below. When it illumined
above, it was delightful; but when it shone forth below, it was blinding. For
the light was both grievous and pleasant. It was grievous and violent towards
the eyes of the flesh; and it was pleasant and lightful to those who are fire
and spirit. [584]27. For I saw a light from heaven that excelled the sun, and
its light shone upon me. [585] So then mighty rays streamed forth without
moderation, and were poured upon feeble eyes, which moderate rays refresh. For,
lo! the sun also in measure assists the eyes, but beyond measure and out of
measure it injures the eyes. And it is not by way of vengeance in wrath that it
smites them. For lo! it is the friend of the eyes and beloved of the eyeballs.
And this is a marvel; while with its gentle lustre it befriends and assists the
eyes; yet by its vehement rays it is hostile to and injures the eyeballs. But if
the sun which is here below, and of kindred nature with the eyes that are here
below, yet injures them, in vehemence and not in anger, in its proper force and
not in wrath; how much more should the light that is from above, akin to the
things that are above, by its vehemence injure a man here below who has suddenly
gazed upon that which is not akin to his nature? For since Paul might have been
injured by the vehemence of this sun to which he was accustomed, if he gazed
upon it not according to custom, how much more should he be injured by the glory
of that light to which his eyes never had been accustomed? For behold, Daniel
also [586] was melted and poured out on every side before the glory of the
angel, whose vehement brightness suddenly shone upon him! and it was not because
of the angel's wrath that his human weakness was melted, just as it is not on
account of the wrath or hostility of fire that wax is melted before it; but on
account of the weakness of the wax it cannot keep firm and stand in presence of
fire. When then the two approach one another, the power of the fire by its
quality prevails; but the weakness of the wax on the other hand is brought lower
even than its former weakness.28. But the majesty of the angel was manifested in
itself; the weakness of flesh in itself could not endure. For my inward parts
were turned into corruption. [587] But yet men see men, their fellows, and faint
before them: Yet it is not by their bright splendour that they are moved, but by
their harsh will. For servants are terrified by the wrath of their masters, and
those that are judged tremble through fear of their judges. But this did not
befall Daniel on account of threatening or anger from the angel; but on account
of his terrible nature and prevailing brightness. For it was not with
threatening, the angel came to him. For if he had come with threatening, how
could a mouth full of threatening become full of peace, when it came, saying,
Peace be unto thee, thou man of desire? [588] Thus that mouth that was a
fountain of thunderings -- for the voice of his words was like the voice of many
hosts, [589] that voice became to him a fountain teeming with and containing
peace. And when [the voice] reached the terrified ears which were athirst for
the encouraging greeting of peace, there was opened and poured out [for Daniel]
a draught of peace. And by the angel's later [word of] peace, those ears were
encouraged, which had been terrified by his former voice first. For [he said],
Let my Lord speak because I have been strengthened. [590] But because in that
heart-moving vision the fiery angel was about to announce nothing concerning
Him, [the Lord], on this account that majesty [of the angel] was forward to give
the salutation of peace to the lowliness [of the prophet]; that by the
gladdening salutation which that awful majesty gave, the dread should be removed
which lay on the mind of the lowliness and that was terrified. 29. But what
shall we say about the Lord of the Angel, Who said to Moses, -- No man shall see
Me and live? [591] Is it on account of the fury of His anger, that whoso shall
see Him shall die? Or on account of the splendour of His Being? For that Being
was not made and was not created: so that eyes which have been made and created
cannot look upon it. For if it is on account of His fury that whoso shall look
upon Him shall not live, lo! He would have granted to Moses to see Him because
of His great love to him. Accordingly, the Self-Existent by His vision slays
them that look upon Him; but He slays, not because of harsh fury but because of
His potent splendour. Because of this He in His great love granted to Moses to
see His glory; yet in the same great love He restrained him from seeing His
glory. But it was not that the glory of His majesty would have been at all
diminished, but that weak eyes could not suffice to bear the overpowering
billows of His glory. Therefore God, Who in His love desired that the vision of
Moses should be directed upon the goodly brightness of His glory, in His love
did not desire that the vision of Moses should be blinded amidst the potent rays
of His glory. Therefore Moses saw and saw not. He saw, that he might be exalted;
he saw not, that he might not be injured. For by that which he saw, his
lowliness was exalted; and by that which he saw not, his weakness was not
blinded. As also our eyes look upon the sun and look not upon it; and by what
they see are assisted; and by what they see not, are uninjured. Thus the eye
sees, that it may be benefited; but it ventures not [to look], that it may not
be injured. So then through love God hindered Moses from seeing that glory that
was too hard for his eyes: As also Moses through his love prevented the children
of his people from seeing the brightness that was too strong for their eyes. For
he learned from Him Who covered him, and spread His hand, and hid from him the
splendour of the glory, that it might not injure him; so that he also should
spread the veil and conceal from the feeble ones the overpowering splendour,
that it might not hurt them. Now when Moses saw that the sons of perishable
flesh could not gaze upon the borrowed glory that was on his face, his heart
failed within him; for that he had sought to dare to gaze upon the glory of the
Eternal Being; in whose floods, lo! those above and those below are plunged and
spring forth; the depths whereof none can fathom; the shores whereof none can
reach; whereof no end or limit can be found.30. Now if any one should say, "Was
it not then possible for God [to bring it to pass] that Moses should look upon
that glory and not be injured; and that Paul likewise should look upon the light
and take no hurt?" Let him that says this understand that though it is possible
for the power and overruling force of God, that the eyes should change their
nature; yet it is inconsistent with the wisdom and nature of God that the order
of nature should be confused. For, lo! it is also easy for the arm of the
artificer to destroy [his fabrics]; but it is inconsistent with the good sense
of the artificer to ruin goodly ornaments. And if any one wishes to say,
concerning something which to himself seems meet; -- "It were meet for God to do
this;" let him know that it is meet for himself not to speak thus concerning
God. For the chief of all things meet is this: that a man should not teach God
what is meet. For it becomes not man to become God's instructor. For this is a
great wickedness, that we should become teachers to Him, of Whom these created
mouths of ours are unable to tell, in the formation of His handiwork. For it is
an unpardonable iniquity, that the mouth in its boldness should teach what is
proper to that God by Whose grace it learned to speak at all. If any one then
shall say, "It had been meet for God to do this," I also, because I have a mouth
and a tongue, may say, "It had been meet for God not to give to man freedom by
which he thus reproaches Him Who is not to be reproached." But I do not dare to
say that it was not meet for Him to give it; lest I also make myself an
instructor of Him Who is not to be instructed. For because He is just, He would
have been reproached by Himself, had He not given freedom to men, as though
through grudging He had withheld from lowly man the gift that makes great.
Therefore He gave it betimes by His grace, that He might not be justly
reproached by Himself; even though through freedom, His own gift, lo!
blasphemers wickedly reproach Him.31. Now why were the eyes of Moses made to
shine because of the glory which he saw, while on the contrary [the eyes of]
Paul, instead of being made to shine, were made utterly blind? Yet we may be
sure that the eyes of Moses were not stronger than those of Paul; for they were
akin in one brotherhood of blood and flesh. But another power through grace
sustained the eyes of Moses; whereas no power was added in mercy to the eyes of
Paul, beyond their natural power, which in wrath was taken from them. But if we
say that their natural power was taken away from them, and that [it was] on this
account he was defeated and overcome by the overpowering light, -- for had their
natural power remained, they would have been able to endure that supernatural
light. Yet let us be sure of this, that as often as anything transcendent is
revealed, that surpasses and transcends our nature, our natural power is not
able to stand before it. But if on the other hand another power beyond our
natural one is added to us, then by that power received by us in excess of and
beyond nature, we shall be able to stand before any strange thing which comes
upon us supernaturally. 32. For, lo! the power of our ears and eyes is in us and
is formed in us in its natural manner; and yet our sight and hearing cannot
stand before mighty thunderings and lightnings; first, because they come with
vehemence; and secondly, because their potency suddenly surprises and astounds
our feebleness. This is what happened to Paul. For the potency of the light
suddenly surprised his feeble eyes and injured them. But the greatness of the
voice brought low his strength and entered his ears and opened them. For they
had been closed up by Jewish contentiousness as by wax. For the voice did not
plough up the ears, as the light injured the eyeballs. Why? but because it was
meet that he should hear, but not that he should see. Therefore the doors of
hearing were opened by the voice as by a key: but the doors of sight were shut
by the light that should open them. Why then was it meet that he should hear?
Clearly because by that voice our Lord was able to reveal Himself as being
persecuted by Saul. For He was not able to show Himself by sight as being
persecuted; for there was no way whereby this should be, that the son of David
should be seen fleeing and Saul pursuing after Him. [592] For this happened in
very deed with that first Saul and with the first David. The one was pursuing;
the other was being persecuted; they both of them saw and were seen, each by the
other. But here the ear alone could hear of the persecution of the Son of David;
the eye could not see that He was being persecuted. For it was in [the person
of] others He was being persecuted, while He was Himself in heaven; -- He Who
beforetime had been persecuted in His own person while He was upon earth.
Therefore the ears [of Saul] were opened and his eyes were closed. And He Who by
sight could not represent Himself before Saul as persecuted, represented Himself
by word before him as persecuted; when he cried and said; -- Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou Me? Accordingly, his eyes were closed, because they could not
see the persecution of Christ; but his ears were opened, because they could hear
of His persecution. So then although the eyes of Moses were bodily eyes, as
those of Paul, yet his inward eyes were Christian; for Moses wrote of Me, [593]
but the outward eyes of Paul were open, while the inward [eyes] were shut. Then
because the inward eyes of Moses shone clear, his outward eyes also were made to
shine clearly. But the outward eyes of Paul were closed, that by the closing of
those that were outward, there might come to pass the opening of those that were
inward. For he who by the outward eyes was not able to see the Lord in His
signs, he when those bodily eyes were closed, saw with those within. And because
he had received the proof in his own person, he wrote to those who had their
bodily eyes full of light; -- May He illumine the eyes of your hearts. [594]
Therefore the signs manifested to the external eyes of the Jews, profited them
not at all; but faith of the heart opened the eyes of the heart of the Gentiles.
But because, had Moses come down in his accustomed aspect from the mountain,
without that shining of countenance, and said, "I saw there the glory of God,"
the faithless fathers would not have believed him; so also, had Paul, without
suffering blindness of his eyes, said, "I heard the voice of Christ," the sons
who crucified Christ would not have received it as true. Therefore He set on
Moses as in love, an excelling sign of splendour, that the deceivers might
believe that he had seen the Divine glory; but on Saul, as on a persecutor, He
set the hateful sign of blindness, that the liars might believe that he had
heard the words of Christ; that so thou might not again speak against Moses, and
that these might not doubt concerning Paul. For God set signs on the bodies of
the blind, and sent them to those who were in error, who used to make signs upon
the borders of their garments. But they remembered not the signs on their
garments, and in the signs of the body they greatly erred. The fathers who saw
the glory of Moses, did not obey Moses; nor did the sons who saw the blindness
of Paul believe Paul. But three times in the desert they threatened to stone
Moses and his house with stones as dogs. [595] For all congregation bade stone
them with stones. [596] And thrice they scourged Paul with rods as a dog on his
body. [?] [597] Thrice was I beaten with rods. [598] These are the lions who
through their love for their Lord were beaten as dogs and were torn as flocks of
sheep, those flocks that used to stone their guardian shepherds, in order that
ravening wolves might rule over them.33. But the crucifiers who corrupted the
soldiers with a bribe, they perhaps said concerning Paul; -- "The disciples have
bribed him with a bribe; therefore he associates with the disciples." For those
who by the giving of a bribe strove that the resurrection of our Lord might not
be preached, slandered Paul with the name of a bribe, that his revelation might
not be believed. Therefore the voice astonished him, and the light blinded him,
that his astonishment might pacify his violence, and his blindness might put to
shame his slanderers. For the voice astounded his hearing in this, that it said
meekly to him; -- (Saul, why persecutes thou Me?): and the light blinded his
sight, that when the slanderers should have said that he had received a bribe,
and thereby was suborned to lie, his blindness which had been brought about by
that light might confute them, showing that it was through it that he had been
driven to speak what was true. So that those who supposed that his hands had
received a bribe, and that because of it his lips lied, might know that his eyes
had given up their light and because of this his lips proclaimed the truth. But
again for another reason the meek voice accompanied the overpowering light;
namely, that as it were from meekness unto exaltation our Lord might produce
help for the persecutor; in like manner as also all His helps were produced,
from lowliness unto greatness. For our Lord's meekness continued from the womb
to the tomb. And observe that greatness comes close upon His lowliness, and
exaltation on His meekness. For whereas His greatness was observed in divers
things, His Divinity was revealed by glorious signs; that it might be known that
the One Who stood amongst them, was not one but two. For His nature is not
humble nature alone, nor is it an exalted nature alone; but there are two
natures that are mingled, the one with the other; the exalted and the humble.
Therefore these two natures show forth their qualities; so that by the quality
of each of the two, mankind might distinguish between the two; that it might not
be supposed that He was merely one, -- He Who was two by commingling: but that
it might be known that He was two in respect of the blending, though He was one
in respect of His Being. These things our Lord, through His humility and
exaltation, taught to Paul also in the way to Damascus.34. For our Lord appeared
to Saul in meekness, since meekness was close to His greatness; that because of
His greatness it might be known Who He is Who spake meekly. For even as His
disciples preached on earth of our Lord in meekness and in exaltation, -- in the
meekness of His persecution, and in the exaltation of His signs, -- so also our
Lord preached of Himself in meekness and in exaltation in Paul's presence -- in
the exaltation of the potency of the light which flashed, and in the meekness of
that meek voice which said; Saul, why persecutest thou Me? -- so that the
preaching of Him which His disciples preached concerning Him in presence of
many, should be like to that preaching which He preached concerning Himself. But
even as, if He had not spoken meekly, it would not have been made known there
that He was meek, so, had He not appeared there as an overpowering light, it
would not have been made known there that He was exalted.35. And if thou
shouldst say; "What necessity was there that He should speak humbly? Could He
not have convinced him also through the greatness of the light?" Know, thou that
questionest, that this rejoinder may be returned to thee; that because it was
necessary that He should speak humbly, He therefore spoke humbly. For by Him Who
is wise in all things, there was done there nothing that was not meet to be
done. For He Who has given knowledge to artificers to do each thing severally
with the instrument meet for it, does He not Himself know that which He gives
others the power of knowing? Therefore whatsoever has been wrought or is being
wrought by the Godhead, that very thing that is wrought by Him at that time, is
for the furtherance of [God's] working at that time, even though to the blind
the Divine orderings seem contrariwise. But that we may not restrain by
constraint of words a wise enquirer, one that wishes to grow by true persuasion
as the seed by the rain-drops; know, O enquirer, that because Saul was a
persecutor, but our Lord was endeavouring to make him persecuted instead of
persecutor, therefore He of His wisdom made haste to cry -- Saul, why
persecutest thou Me? -- in order that, when Saul who was being made a disciple,
heard Him Who was making him a disciple, saying, Why persecutest thou Me? he
might know that the Master Whose servant he was becoming, was a persecuted
Master, and so might quickly cast away the persecution of his former masters,
and might clothe himself in the persecuted state of his persecuted Master. Now
any master who wishes to teach a man anything, teaches him either by deeds or by
words. But if he teach him neither by words nor by deeds, the man cannot be
instructed in his craft. So that, even though our Lord did not teach Paul
humility by deeds, yet by voice He taught him endurance of persecution which He
could not teach him by deed. For before our Lord was crucified, He taught His
disciples humble endurance of persecution by deed. But after He had finished His
persecution by crucifixion, as He said, Lo! all things are finished. [599] He
could not vainly return and begin again anything which once for all had been
wisely finished. Or why again do ye seek for the crucifixion and shame of the
Son of God?36. For even though our Lord in His grace had beforetime brought the
majesty of His Godhead into humility, yet afterwards in His justice He willed
not again to bring back to humiliation the littleness of manhood which had been
made great. But because it was necessary that the persecuting disciple should
learn endurance of persecution, while yet it was impossible that the Master
should again come down and be persecuted afresh; He taught him by voice that
which could not be taught by deeds. Saul, why persecutest thou Me? The
explanation of which utterance is this; -- "Saul, why art thou not persecuted in
Me?" But in order that Saul might not suppose that it was because of His
weakness our Lord was persecuted, the strength of the overpowering light which
shone upon him, convinced him. For if the eyes of Saul could not endure the
shining of that light, how could the hands of Saul bind and fetter the disciples
of the Lord of that light? But his hands had fettered the disciples, that he
might learn their power in their bonds; while his eyes could not endure the
beams, that by their strength he might learn his own weakness. But had not the
power of that light shone upon him, when the Lord said to him; Saul, why
persecutest thou Me? Then because of the madness of the pride wherein Paul was
set up at that time, he would perhaps have said this to Him, "I am persecuting
Thee for this reason, because Thou hast said, Why persecutest thou Me? For who
is there that would not persecute Thee, when Thou, with such strength, troublest
Thy persecutor with these feeble cries." But the humility of our Lord was heard
in the voice, and the power of the light shone forth in the beams. So Paul could
not despise the humility of the voice, because of the glory of the light. 37.
Thus were his ears brought into discipleship to the voice which he heard,
because his eyes sufficed not to endure the beams which they saw. That marvel of
the dawning of the light was shed forth upon his eyeballs and did them hurt; and
the voice of the Lord of the light entered his ears, but did them no harm. But
between the light and the Lord of the light, which ought to have been the
stronger? For if the light which was created by Him was so overpowering, how
much more overpowering He by Whom this very light was created! But if the Lord
of the light was overpowering, as indeed He is overpowering, how did His voice
enter the hearing and not harm it? even as that light which hurt the sight? But
hear the wonder and the marvel which our Lord wrought by His grace. For our Lord
willed not to humble that light which is His; but He being Lord of the light
humbled Himself. But as the Lord of the light is greater than the light which is
His, so great is the glory that the Lord of the light should humble Himself
rather than humble the light.38. As also in the night, while He was praying, it
is written; -- There appeared to Him an angel strengthening Him. [600] But here
all mouths, celestial and terrestrial, are insufficient to give thanks to Him by
Whose hand the angels were created; that He was strengthened for the sake of
sinners by that angel who was created by His hand. As then the angel from above
stood in glory and in brightness, while the Lord of the angel, that He might
exalt man who was degraded, stood in degradation and humility; so also here that
light flashed forth in manifestation; but the Lord of the light, for the sake of
helping one persecutor, spoke with humble voice and lowly words.39. For this
cause therefore that light which was overpowering, because it was not
diminished, entered the eyeballs with overpowering manifestation and injured
them. But the Lord of the light, because He had lowered Himself in order to
help, His lowly voice entered the ears that had need and helped them. But in
order that the help of that voice which had become lowly, might not fail Him,
therefore the strength of that light was not lowered, in order that because of
that light, which was not lowered, the help of that voice which was lowered,
might be believed. But this is a marvel, that until our Lord made Himself lowly
in voice, Paul was not made lowly in deed; for even as, before He came down and
clothed Himself in a body, our Lord was in exaltation with His Father; yet in
His exaltation men did not learn humility; but when He humbled Himself and came
down from His exaltation, then by His humbleness humility was soon among men; so
again after His resurrection and ascension He was in glory at the right hand of
God His Father, but by that His exaltation, Paul did not learn humility.
Therefore He that was exalted and sat at the right hand of His Father, ceased
from glorious and lofty speech, and He cried as one wronged and oppressed, with
feeble and meek words, saying, -- Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Thus,
humble words prevailed over harsh bridles. For by humble words, as by bridles,
the persecuted led the persecutor from the broad way of the persecutors into the
narrow way of the persecuted. And since all the signs that were done in the Name
of our Lord did not convince Paul, our Lord made haste to meet with humility him
who was hastening on the way to Damascus in the vehemence of pride. Thus by His
humble words, the harsh vehemence of pride was checked.40. He then Who used
humble words with Paul His persecutor, He also used humble sayings with the
Pharisee. For so great is the power of humility that even God Who overcomes all
did not overcome without it. Humility was able also in the wilderness to bear
the burden of the stiff-necked people. For against the people who were more
stubborn than all men, was set Moses who was more meek than all men. For God Who
needs not anything, when He had set free the people, afterwards had need of the
humility of Moses, that this humility might endure the wrath and murmuring of
the People that provoked him. For humility alone could endure the gainsayings of
that people, which the signs of Egypt and the prodigies (wrought) in the desert
could not subdue. For when pride had wrought divisions amongst the people,
humility by its prayer used to close up their divisions. If then the humility of
the Stammerer endured six hundred thousand, how much more exceedingly did the
humility of Him, Who gave speech to the Stammerer endure? For the humility of
Moses is a shadow of the humility of our Lord.41. Our Lord then saw that Simon
the Pharisee did not believe the signs and wonders which he had seen. He came to
him to persuade him with humble words; and humble utterances overcame him, whom
mighty wonders had not overcome. What then are the wonders which that Pharisee
had seen? He had seen the dead raised to life, the lepers cleansed, the blind
with eyes opened. These signs compelled that Pharisee to entertain our Lord as a
prophet. But he who entertained Him as a prophet, changed so as to despise Him
for one who had not knowledge, saying (namely); -- Had this man been a prophet,
He would have known that this woman -- who had approached Him -- is a sinner.
But we may despise the Pharisee and say, Had he been a man of discernment, [601]
he would have learned from that sinful woman, who approached our Lord, not that
He was a prophet, but the Lord of the Prophets. For the tears of the sinful
woman testified, that it was not a prophet they were propitiating, but Him, Who,
as God, was wroth with her sins. For, because the prophets sufficed not to raise
sinners to life, the Lord of the prophets came down to heal those who were in
evil case. But what physician is there who hinders the smitten, that they should
not come to him, O blind Pharisee, as it befel that she came to our Physician!
For why did the smitten woman approach Him, -- she, whose wounds were healed by
her tears? He Who had come down to be a fountain of healing amongst the
diseased, was proclaiming this; -- Let every one that is athirst, come and
drink. [602] But when the Pharisees, this man's companions, murmured at the
healing of sinners, the Physician taught concerning His art, that the door is
opened for the diseased and not for the whole, for they that are whole need not
a physician but they that are sick. [603] Therefore the praise of the physician
is the healing of the diseased; -- that the shame of the Pharisee who reproved
the praise of our physician may be greater. But our Lord used to show signs in
the streets; and also when He entered into the house of the Pharisee, He showed
signs which were greater than those He had shown outside. For in the street He
made whole the bodies that were sick, but within He healed the souls that were
diseased. Outside, He raised to life the mortality of Lazarus: but within, He
raised to life the mortality of the sinful woman. He restored the living soul to
the corpse from which it had gone out; and He expelled from the sinful woman the
deadly sin which dwelt within her. But the blind (Pharisee) who was insufficient
for great things, because of the great things which he saw not, belied those
small things which he had seen. For he was a son of Israel who attributed
weakness to his God, and not to himself. For (Israel said), Though He smote the
rock and the waters flowed, can He also give us bread? [604] But when our Lord
saw his weakness, that it missed the great things and, because of them, the
small things also, He hasted to put forward a simple word, as though for a babe
that was being reared on milk, and was not capable of solid food. 42. For by
that wherein thou knewest, O Pharisee, that our Lord was not a prophet, by that
very thing it was proved that thou didst not know the prophets. For by this that
thou saidst; -- Had this man been a prophet, he would have known, thou showest
herein that (in thy esteem) whoever is a prophet knows all things. But lo! some
matters were hidden from the prophets; how then dost thou attribute the
revelation of all hidden things to the prophets? But this unwise teacher who
perverted the scriptures of the Prophets, did not even understand what he read
in the scriptures. For it was not only that the greatness of the Lord was not
discerned by that Pharisee, but he did not even discern the weakness of the
prophets. For our Lord, as knowing all things, allowed that sinful woman to come
in and receive His peace. But Elisha, as one ignorant, said to the Shunamite; --
Peace to thee and peace be to the child. [605] Accordingly he who supposed that
our Lord was proved not to be a prophet, was himself proved not to know the
Prophets. When the mind contains malice and cannot refrain, then that malice
which is in it, is cunning in finding a pretext for opening a door; but in case
that pretext, in which the deceiver takes refuge is confuted, he knows that
within this there is another concealed which he may employ.Now observe this son
of Israel, how he was like Israel in stubbornness. For heathenism was bound up
in the mind of the People; therefore Moses was taken away from them, that the
wickedness that was within them might become manifest. But that they might not
be put to shame, and that it might not be known how they were seeking idols,
they first sought for Moses, and then for idols. As for this Moses, we know not
what has become of him. [606] And if God, Who cannot die, brought thee out of
Egypt, why dost thou seek for a man, who at some time must die? Yet they did not
desire Moses, that he should become a god to them; because Moses could hear and
see and reprove; but they sought for a god who could neither hear nor see nor
reprove. But whensoever Moses shall have died, what shall remain of him? For
behold, thy God is a living God, and lo! He has revealed Himself to thee by
living testimonies. For the bright cloud was at that time overshadowing them,
and they had the pillar of light in the night-time. Water flowed for them from
the rock, and they drank its streams. They were delighted every day by tasting
that manna, the fame of which we have heard. How was Moses far from thee? Behold
the signs of Moses surround thee. Or how does the person of Moses profit thee,
when thou hast such a guide as this? If thy garments wear not old, and a
temperate air refreshes thee, if the heat and the cold do not hurt thee, and
thou hast rest from war, and art far removed from the fear of Egypt, -- what
thing then was lacking to Israel that he sought for Moses? Open heathenism was
lacking to him. For it was not for Moses that he sought, but on the pretext of
Moses' absence he followed after the calf. Thus briefly have we showed, that
when the mind is full of anything, but an opposing reason meets it, then it
forces it by violence to open for it a door to that which it desires.43. Thou
too, O Pharisee, athirst for blasphemy, what sawest thou in our Lord, to show
that He was not a prophet? For lo! the things that belong to the Lord of the
Prophets were seen in Him. For the gushing tears made haste to proclaim that
they were shed as before God. The sorrowing kisses testified that they sought to
win over the creditor to tear up the debt-bonds. The goodly ointment of the
sinful woman proclaimed that it was a bribe of penitence. These medicines the
sinful woman offered to her Physician, that by her tears He might wash away her
stains, by her kisses He might heal her wounds, by her sweet ointment He might
make her evil name sweet as the odour of her ointment. This is the Physician who
heals men by the medicines which they bring to Him. These marvels were shown at
that time; but to the Pharisee instead of these there appeared blasphemy. For
what could be established in the weeping of the sinful woman, but that He can
justify sinners? Else, judge thou in thy mind, O blind teacher, why was that
mournful weeping in the joyful feast, so that, while they were making merry with
food, she was in bitterness with her tears? Because she was a sinner, her deeds
were unchaste, and these (deeds) she was wont to do. But if at that time, from
the wantonness of sinners she was turned to chastity, then acknowledge, thou who
saidst He is not a prophet, that He is One who makes those chaste that have been
wanton. For by this, that thou knowest that she is a sinner, and by this, that
thou seest her now penitent, search out where is the power that changed her. For
he ought to have fallen down and worshipped Him Who, while silent, in His
silence turned to chastity those sinners whom the Prophets by their vehement
utterances could not turn to chastity. A wonderful and marvellous thing was seen
in the house of the Pharisee; a sinful woman that sat and wept, and she who wept
said not wherefore she wept; nor did He at Whose feet she sat say to her, Why
weepest thou? The sinner did not need with her lips to petition our Lord,
because she believed that He knew, as God, the petitions that were hidden in her
tears. Nor did our Lord ask her, What hast thou done? For He knew that by her
pure kisses she was atoning for her transgressions. So then she, because she
believed that He knew the things that were hidden, offered to Him her prayers in
her heart; for knowing secret things He had no need of the outward lips. If then
the sinner, because she knew that our Lord was God, sought not to persuade Him
with her lips; and our Lord, because as God He discerned her thoughts, therefore
questioned her not; dost not thou, O tyrant Pharisee, from the silence of both
understand the position of both; that she was praying as to God in her heart,
and that He as God was in silence searching out her thoughts? But the Pharisee
could not see and understand these things, because he was a son of Israel who
though perceiving, saw not, and though he heard, understood not. Though then our
Lord knew that that Pharisee thought evil thoughts concerning Him, He confuted
him gently and not harshly. For sweetness came down from on high to break down
the bitterness with which the Evil One had stamped us. Therefore our Lord taught
that Pharisee of Himself and in Himself, as though saying, Even as I, though I
knew the evil things in thy heart, yet gently persuaded thee, so though I knew
the evil things of this woman, I mercifully received her. But let us hear how
long-suffering was drawn after the hasty thought, so as to draw it from haste to
understanding. A certain creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred dinars,
and the other fifty dinars. -- (Be not wearied, O hearer, at the length of the
repetition of the parable, lest thou be contrary to Him Who in the parable was
long-suffering for the sake of giving help.) -- At length, when neither of them
had wherewithal to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them dost thou think
would love him more? Simon said to Him, I suppose that he, to whom more was
forgiven. Our Lord said to him, Thou has rightly judged. Our Lord in His justice
commended the perverse (Pharisee), because of the right judgment, which he had
judged, though he in his wickedness had answered the good Lord concerning the
mercy He had wrought. Now many things are laid up in this parable; for it is a
treasury full of many helps. Why then did our Lord require that the Pharisee
should pass judgment for Him between the two debtors? Was it not that the
greatness, coming after the littleness, might show itself that nothing of the
littleness was drawn after the greatness? For our Lord, since He knew the secret
things, was long-suffering and questioned Simon, that those might be put to
shame who, though not knowing, were hasty to blame, but not to enquire. For if,
O man, before I heard thy judgment passed, I judged not of it, why didst thou,
before thou heardest from Me, the case of the sinful woman, hastily blame? Now
this was done for our instruction, that we might be swift to enquire, but slow
to pass our sentence. For had that Pharisee been long-suffering, lo! that pardon
which our Lord in the end gave to the sinful woman, would have taught him
everything. Long-suffering is wont to acquire all things for those that acquire
it.44. But again; through the forgiveness of the two debtors, our Lord led into
forgiveness him who was in need of forgiveness, yet in whose eyes the
forgiveness of debts was hateful. For though the debts of the Pharisee himself
needed forgiveness, yet the forgiveness of the debts of the sinful woman was
hateful in his eyes. For had there been this forgiveness of debts in the mind of
the Pharisee, it would not have been in his eyes disgraceful that that sinful
woman should have come for forgiveness of her debts to God and not to the
priests; for the priests could not forgive sins such as those. But this sinful
woman from the glorious works which our Lord did, believed that He could also
forgive sins. For she knew that whoso is able to restore the members of the
body, is able also to cleanse away the spots of the soul. But the Pharisee,
though he was a teacher, did not know this. For the teachers of Israel were wont
to be fools, put to shame by the despised and vile. For they were put to shame
by that blind man to whom they said; -- We know that this man is a sinner. [607]
But he said to them: -- How did He open my eyes? lo! God hears not sinners.
[608] These are the blind teachers who were made guides to others; and their
perverse path was made straight by a blind man.45. But hear ye the marvel that
our Lord wrought. Because that Pharisee supposed that our Lord did not know that
the woman who touched Him was a sinner; our Lord made the lips of the Pharisee
like the strings of a harp; and by his very lips He sang how she was trampling
under foot his sins, though he knew it not. And he who as though he knew had
blamed, was found to be a harp, whereto another could sing of that which he
knew. For our Lord compared the sins of the sinful woman to five hundred dinars,
and caused them to pass into the hearing of the Pharisee by the parable which he
heard; and again brought them forth from his mouth in the judgment he gave;
though Simon knew not, when he was judging, that those five hundred dinars
denoted the sins of the sinful woman. And (the Pharisee) who thought concerning
our Lord that He had not knowledge of her sins, was himself found not to have
knowledge of them, when he heard of those debts in the parable, and gave
judgment concerning them with his voice. But when it was explained to him at
last by our Lord, then the Pharisee knew that alike his ears and also his lips
were, as it were, instruments for our Lord, through which He might sing the
glories of His knowledge.For this Pharisee was the fellow of those scribes,
whose sentence by their own mouths our Lord gave against them; -- What then will
the Lord of the vineyard do to those husbandmen? [609] They say unto Him,
against themselves: -- He will terribly destroy them, and will hire out the
vineyard to husbandmen who will render unto Him the fruit in its season. This is
the Godhead to which all things are easy, which by the mouths, the very mouths
that blasphemed it, pronounced the sentence of those very mouths against
them.46. Glory then be to Him the Invisible, who clothed Himself in
invisibility, that sinners might he able to draw near to Him. For our Lord did
not repel the sinful woman as the Pharisee expected; inasmuch as He descended
from the height which no man can reach unto, altogether in order that lowly
publicans, like Zaccheus, might reach unto Him. And the Nature which none can
handle, clothed Itself in a body, altogether in order that all lips [610] might
kiss His feet as the sinful woman did. For the sacred soul was hidden within the
veil of flesh, and so touched all unclean lips and sanctified them. Thus He Whom
His appetite was supposed to invite to feasting, His feet invited to tears; He
was the good Physician, who came forth to go to the sinful woman who was seeking
Him in her soul. She then anointed the feet of our Lord, who (anointed) not His
head, -- she who was trodden down in the dust by all. For those Pharisees who
justified themselves and despised all (else), trod her down. But He the
Merciful, Whose pure body sanctified her uncleanness, had pity on her. 47. But
Mary anointed the head of our Lord's body, [611] as a token of the better part
which she had chosen. And Christ prophesied concerning that which her soul had
chosen. While Martha was cumbered with serving, Mary was hungering to be
satisfied with spiritual things by Him Who also satisfies us with bodily things.
So Mary refreshed Him with precious ointment, as He had refreshed her with His
exalted teaching. Mary by the oil showed forth the mystery of His mortality, Who
by His teaching mortified the concupiscence of her flesh. Thus the sinful woman
by the flood of her tears, in full assurance was rewarded with remission of sins
from beside His feet; and she who had the issue of blood, stole healing from the
hem of His garment. But Mary received blessing openly from His mouth, as a
reward of the service of her hands upon His head. For she poured out on His head
the precious ointment, and received from His mouth a wonderful promise. This is
the ointment which was sown above and yielded fruit below. For she sowed it on
His head and gathered its fruit from between His lips; -- She shall have a name
and this memorial in every place where My Gospel shall be preached. [612]
Accordingly, what she then received of Him, He is able to cause to pass unto all
generations: and in no generation can any hinder it. For the ointment which she
poured upon His head, gave its odour in presence of all the guests and refreshed
Him; so also the goodly name which He gave her, passes down through all
generations and brings honour to her. Even as all who were at the feast were
sensible of her ointment; it was meet that all who come into the world should be
sensible of her triumph. This is a loan whereof the increase is exacted in all
generations.48. Now Simeon the priest, when he took Him up in his arms to
present Him before God, [613] understood as he saw [Him] that He was not
presenting Him, but was being himself presented. For the Son was not presented
by the servant to His Father, but the servant was presented by the Son to his
Lord. For it is not possible that He, by Whom every offering is presented,
should be presented by another. For the offering does not present him that
offers it; but by them that offer are offerings presented. So then He Who
receives offerings gave Himself to be offered by another, that those who
presented Him, while offering Him, might themselves be presented by Him. For as
He gave His body to be eaten, that when eaten It might quicken to life them that
ate Him; so He gave Himself to be offered, that by His Cross the hands of them
that offered Him might be sanctified. So, then, though the arms of Simeon seemed
to be presenting the Son, yet the words of Simeon testified that he was
presented by the Son. Therefore we can have no dispute concerning this, because
that which was said put an end to dispute; -- Now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace. [614] He then who is let depart to go in peace to God, is
presented as an offering to God. And in order to make known by whom he was
presented, he said, -- For lo! mine eyes have seen Thy mercy. [615] If there was
no grace wrought on him, why then did he give thanks? But rightly did he give
thanks, that he was thought worthy to receive in his arms Him, Whom angels and
prophets greatly desired to see. For lo! mine eyes have seen Thy mercy. Let us
understand then and see. Is mercy that which shows mercy to another, or is it
that which receives mercy from another? But if mercy is that which shows mercy
to all, well did Simeon call our Lord by the name of the mercy that showed mercy
to him, -- Him Who freed him from the world which is full of snares, that he
might go to Eden which is full of pleasures; for he who was priest said and
testified that he was offered as an offering, that from the midst of the
perishing world he should go and be stored up in the treasure-house which is
kept safe. For one for whom it may be that what he has found should be lost, to
him it belongs to be diligent that it should be kept safe. But for our Lord it
could not be that He should be lost; but by Him the lost were found. So then,
through the Son Who could not be lost, the servant who was very desirous not to
be lost, was presented. Lo! mine eyes have seen Thy mercy. It is evident Simeon
received grace from that Child Whom he was carrying. For inwardly he received
grace from that Infant, Whom openly he received in his arms. For through Him Who
was glorious, even when He was carried, being small and feeble, he that carried
Him was made great.49. But inasmuch as Simeon endured to carry on his weak arms
that Majesty which the creatures could not endure, it is evident that his
weakness was made strong by the strength which he carried. For at that time
Simeon also along with all creatures was secretly upheld by the almighty
strength of the Son. Now this is a marvel, that outwardly it was he that was
strengthened that carried Him Who strengthened him; but inwardly it was the
strength that bore its bearer. For the Majesty straitened itself, that they who
carried it might endure it; in order that as far as that Majesty stooped to our
littleness, so far should our love be raised up from all desires to reach that
Majesty. 50. So likewise the ship that carried our Lord; it was He that bare it,
in that He stayed from it the wind that would have sunk it. Peace, for thou art
shut up. While He was on the sea, His arm reached even to the fountain of the
wind, [616] to shut it up. The ship bare His manhood, but the power of His
Godhead bare the ship and all that was therein. But that He might show that even
His manhood needed not the ship, instead of the planks which a shipwright puts
together and fastens, He like the Architect of creation, made the waters solid
and joined them together and laid them under His feet. So the Lord strengthened
the hands of Simeon the Priest, that his arms might bear up in the Temple the
strength that was bearing up all; as He strengthened the feet of Simeon the
Apostle, that they might bear themselves up on the water. And so that name which
bore the first-begotten in the Temple was afterwards borne up by the
first-begotten in the sea; that He might show that as in the sea the drowning
was borne up by Him, He did not need to be borne by Simeon on the dry ground.
But our Lord bare Simeon up openly in the midst of the sea to teach that also on
the dry land He supported him secretly.51. Accordingly, the Son came to the
servant; not that the Son might be presented by the servant, but that by the Son
the servant might present to His Lord Priesthood and Prophecy, to be laid up
with Him. For prophecy and priesthood, which were given through Moses, were
handed down, both of them, and reached to Simeon. For he was a pure vessel, who
sanctified himself that he might be like Moses, capable for both of them. There
are small vessels which are capable for great gifts. There are gifts for which
one is capable, by reason of their grace; yet many are not capable for them, by
reason of their greatness. Thus, then, Simeon presented our Lord, and in Him
offered both these things; so that that which was given to Moses in the
wilderness, was received from Simeon in the Temple. But seeing that our Lord is
the vessel wherein all fulness dwells, when Simeon was offering Him before God,
he poured over Him (as a drink-offering) those two (gifts), priesthood from His
hands and prophecy from His lips. Priesthood continued on the hands of Simeon,
because of his purifications; and prophecy dwelt in operation upon his lips,
because of revelations. When then these two powers saw Him who was Lord of both,
they two united together and poured themselves into the vessel that was capable
of both; that could contain priesthood and kingdom and prophecy. That Infant
then, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes, because of His graciousness, clothed
Himself in priesthood and prophecy because of His Majesty. For Simeon clothed
Him in these, and gave Him to her who had wrapped Him in swaddling clothes. For
when he gave Him to His mother, he gave along with Him the priesthood; and when
he prophesied to her concerning Him, This (child) is set for the fall and rising
again, [617] he gave prophecy also with Him.52. Then Mary received her firstborn
and went forth. He was outwardly wrapped in swaddling clothes, but secretly He
was clothed with prophecy and priesthood. Whatsoever then was handed down from
Moses, was received from Simeon, but continued and was possessed by the Lord of
both. So then the steward first, and the treasurer lastly, handed over the keys
of priesthood and prophecy to Him who has authority over the treasurer of them
both. Therefore, His Father gave Him the spirit not by measure, [618] because
all measures of the spirit are under his hand. And that our Lord might show that
He received the keys from the former stewards, He said to Simeon: To thee I will
give the keys of the doors. [619] But how should He have given them to another,
had He not received them from another? So, then, the keys which He had received
from Simeon the priest, them He gave to another Simeon the Apostle; that even
though the People had not hearkened to the former Simeon, the Gentiles might
hearken to the latter Simeon.53. But because John also was the treasurer of
baptism, the Lord of the stewardship came to him to receive from him the keys of
the house of reconciliation. For John used to wash away in common water the
blemishes of sins; that bodies might become meet for the garment of the Spirit,
given by our Lord. Therefore, because the Spirit was with the Son, He came to
John to receive from him baptism, that He might mingle with the visible waters
the invisible Spirit; that they whose bodies should feel the moistening of the
water, their souls should feel the gift of the Spirit; that even as the bodies
outwardly feel the pouring of the water upon them, so the souls inwardly may
feel the pouring of the Spirit upon them. Accordingly, even us our Lord when He
was baptised, was clothed in baptism and carried baptism with Him, so also when
He was presented in the Temple, He put on prophecy and priesthood, and went
forth bearing the purity of the priesthood upon His pure members, and bearing
the words of prophecy in His wondrous ears. For when Simeon was sanctifying the
body of the Child who sanctifies all, that body received the priesthood in its
sanctification. And again, when Simeon was prophesying over Him, prophecy
quickly entered the hearing of the Child. For if John leaped in the womb and
perceived the voice of the Mother of our Lord, [620] how much more should our
Lord have heard in the Temple? For lo! it was because of Him that John knew (so
as) to hear in the womb. 54. Accordingly, each one of the gifts that was stored
up for the Son, He gathered from their true tree. For He received baptism from
the Jordan, even though John still after Him used to baptise. And He received
priesthood from the Temple, even though Annas the High Priest exercised it. And
again, He received prophecy which had been handed down amongst the righteous,
even though by it Caiaphas in mockery platted a crown for our Lord, and He
received the kingdom from the house of David, even though Herod held the place
and exercised it.55. This is He Who flew and came down from on high; and when
all those gifts which He had given to those of old time saw Him, they came
flying from every quarter and rested on Him their Giver. For they gathered
themselves together from every side, to come and be grafted into their natural
tree. For they had been grafted into bitter trees, namely into wicked kings and
priests. Therefore they hastened to come to their sweet parent-stock; namely to
the Godhead Who in sufficiency came down to the people of Israel, that the parts
of Him might be gathered to Him. And when He received of them that which was His
own, that which was not His own was rejected; since for the sake of His own He
had borne also with that which was not His own. For He bore with the idolatry of
Israel, for the sake of His priesthood; and He bore with its diviners, for the
sake of His prophets; and He bore with its wicked dominion, for the sake of His
holy crown.56. But when our Lord took to Himself Priesthood from them, He
sanctified by it all the Gentiles. And again, when He took to Himself prophecy,
He revealed by it His counsels to all nations. And when he wove His crown, He
bound the strong One who takes all men captive, and divides his spoils. These
gifts were barren, with the fig-tree, which while it was barren of fruit made
barren such glorious powers as these. Therefore as being without fruit, it was
cut off, that these gifts might pass forth from it and bring forth fruit
abundantly among all the Gentiles.57. So He, Who came to make our bodies abodes
for His indwelling, passed by all those dwelling-places. Let each one of us then
be a dwelling-place for Him Who loves me. Let us come to Him and make our abode
with Him. This is the Godhead Whom though all creation cannot contain, yet a
lowly and humble soul suffices to receive Him.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 107: ON ADMONITION AND REPENTANCE.
========================================================================

1. Not of compulsion is the doctrine; of free-will is the word of life. Whoso is
willing to hear the doctrine, let him cleanse the field of his will that the
good seed fall not among the thorns of vain enquirings. If thou wouldst heed the
word of life, cut thyself off from evil things; the hearing of the word profits
nothing to the man that is busied with sins. If thou willest to be good, love
not dissolute customs. First of all, trust in God, and then hearken thou to His
law. 2. Thou canst not hear His words, while thou dost not know thyself; and if
thou keepest His judgments while thy understanding is aloof from Him, who will
give thee thy reward? Who will keep for thee thy recompense? Thou wast baptised
in His Name; confess His Name! In the Persons and in the naming, Father and Son
and Holy Spirit, three Names and Persons, these three shall be a wall to thee,
against divisions and wranglings. Doubt not thou of the truth, lest thou perish
through the truth. Thou wast baptised from the water; thou hast put on Christ in
His naming; the seat of the Lord is on thy person and His stamp on thy forehead.
See that thou become not another's, for other Lord hast thou none. One is He Who
formed us in His mercy; one is He Who redeemed us on His cross. He it is Who
guides our life; He it is Who has power over our feebleness; He it is Who brings
to pass our Resurrection. He rewards us according to our works. Blessed is he
that confesses Him, and hears and keeps His commandments! Thou, O man, art a son
of God Who is high over all. See that thou vex not by thy works the Father Who
is good and gracious. 3. If thou art wroth against thy neighbour, thou art wroth
against God; and if thou bearest anger in thy heart, against thy Lord is thy
boldness uplifted. If in envy thou rebukest, wicked is all thy reproof. But if
charity dwell in thee, thou hast on earth no enemy. And if thou art a true son
of peace, thou wilt stir up wrath in no man. If thou art just and upright, thou
wilt not do wrong to thy fellow. And if thou lovest to be angry, be angry with
the wicked and it will become thee; if to wage war thou seekest, lo! Satan is
thy adversary; if thou desirest to revile, against the demons display thy
curses. If thou shouldst insult the King's image, thou shalt pay the penalty of
murder; and if thou revilest a man, thou revilest the image of God. Do honour to
thy neighbour, and lo! thou hast honoured God. But if thou wouldst dishonour
Him, in wrath assail thy neighbour! 4. This is the first Commandment, -- Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy soul, and with thy might
according as thou art able. The sign that thou lovest God, is this, that thou
lovest thy fellow; and if thou hatest thy fellow, thy hatred is towards God. For
it is blasphemy if thou prayest before God while thou art wroth. For thy heart
also convicts thee, that in vain thou multipliest words: thy conscience rightly
judges that in thy prayers thou profitest nought. Christ as He hung on the
height of the tree, interceded for His murderers; and thou (who art) dust, son
of the clay, rage fills thee at its will. Thou keepest anger against thy
brother; and dost thou yet dare to pray? Even he that stands on thy side, though
he be not neighbour to thy sins, the taint of iniquity reaches unto him, and his
petition is not heard. Leave off rage and then pray; and unless thou wouldst
further provoke, restrain anger and so shalt thou supplicate. And if he (the
other) is not to encounter thee in fury, banish rage from that body, because it
is holden with lusts. 5. Thou hast a spiritual nature; the soul is the image of
the Creator; honour the image of God, by being in agreement with all men.
Remember death, and be not angry, that thy peace be not of constraint. As long
as thy life remains to thee, cleanse thy soul from wrath; for if it should go to
Sheol with thee, thy road will be straight to Gehenna. Keep not anger in thy
heart; hold not fury in thy soul; thou hast not power over thy soul, save to do
that which is good. Thou art bought with the blood of God; [621] thou art
redeemed by the passion of Christ; for thy sake He suffered death, that thou
mightest die to thy sins. His face endured spitting, that thou mightest not
shrink from scorn. Vinegar and gall did He drink, that thou mightest be set
apart from wrath. He received stripes on His body, that thou mightest not fear
suffering. If thou art in truth His servant, fear thy holy Lord; if thou art His
true disciple, walk in thy Master's footsteps. Endure scorn from thy brother,
that thou mayest be the companion of Christ. Display not anger against man, that
thou be not set apart from thy Redeemer. 6. Thou art a man, the dust of the
earth, clay, kinsman of the clod; thou art the son of the race of beasts. If
thou knowest not thy honour; separate thy soul from animals, by works and not by
words. If thou lovest derision, thou art altogether as Satan; and if thou
mockest at thy fellow, thou art the mouth of the Devil; if against defects and
flaws, in (injurious) names thou delightest, Satan is not in creation but his
place thou hast seized by force. Get thee far, O man, from this; for it is
altogether hurtful; and if thou desirest to live well, sit not with the scorner,
lest thou become the partner of his sin and of his punishment. Hate mockery
which is altogether (the cause of weeping), and mirth which is (the cause of)
cleansing. And if thou shouldst hear a mocker by chance, when thou art not
desiring it, sign thyself with the cross of light, and hasten from thence like
an antelope. Where Satan lodges, Christ will in nowise dwell; a spacious
dwelling for Satan is the man that mocks at his neighbour; a palace of the Enemy
is the heart of the mocker. Satan does not desire to add any other evil to it.
Mockery is sufficient for him to supply the place of all. Neither his belly nor
yet his purse can (the sinner) fill with that sin of his. By his laughter is the
wretch despoiled, and he knows not nor does he perceive it. For his wound, there
is no cure; for his sickness, there is no healing; his pain, admits no remedy;
and his sore, endures no medicine. I desire not with such a one to put forth my
tongue to reprove him: enough for him is his own shame; sufficient for him is
his boldness. Blessed is he that has not heard him; and blessed is he that has
not known him. Be it far from thee, O Church, that he should enter thee, that
evil leaven of Satan! 7. Narrow is the way of life, and broad the way of
torment; prayer is able to bring a man to the house of the kingdom. This is the
perfect work; prayer that is pure from iniquity. The righteousness of man is as
nothing accounted. The work of men, what is it? His labour is altogether vanity.
[622] Of Thee, O Lord, of Thy grace it is that in our nature we should become
good. Of Thee is righteousness, that we from men should become righteous. Of
Thee is the mercy and favour, that we from the dust should become Thy image.
Give power to our will, that we be not sunk in sin! Pour into our heart memory,
that at every hour we may know Thy honour! Plant Thou truth in our minds, that
we perish not among doubts! Occupy our understanding with Thy law, that it
wander not in vain thoughts! Order the motions of our members, that they bring
no hurt upon us! Draw thou near to God, that Satan may flee from thee. Cast out
passions from thy heart, and lo! thou hast put to flight the enemy. Hate thou
sins and wickedness, and Satan at once will have fled. Whatsoever sins thou
servest, thou art worshipping secret idols. Whatsoever transgressions thou
lovest, thou art serving demons in thy soul. Whensoever thou strivest with thy
brother, Satan abides in peace. Whensoever thou enviest thy fellow, thou givest
rest to Devils. Whensoever thou tellest the shortcoming of others who are not
present, thy tongue has made a harp for the music of the devil. Whensoever
hatred is in thy soul, great is the peace of the Deceiver. Whensoever thou
lovest incantations, thy labour is altogether of the left hand. [623] If thou
lovest unseemly discourse, thou preparest a feast for demons. For this is the
worship of idols, the working of the lusts (of the flesh). 8. If so be thou
givest a gift in pride, this is not of God. If thou art lifted up by reason of
thy knowledge, thou hast denied the grace of God. If thou art poor and proud,
lo! thy end is in thy torment. If thou art haughty and needy, lo! thy need is
toward thy destruction. If thou art sick and criest out, lo! thy trouble is full
of harm. If thou art in need of food, yet thy mind longs for riches; thy
distress is with the poor, but thy torment with the rich. If thou shalt look
unchastely, and shalt desire thy neighbour's wife, lo! thy portion shall be with
the adulterers, and thy hell with the fornicators. Let thine own fountain be for
thyself, and drink waters from thy well. Let thy fountains be for thyself alone,
and let not another drink with thee. [624] Require purity of thy body as thou
requirest of thy yoke-fellow. Thou wouldst not have her commit lewdness, the
wife of thy youth, with another man; commit not thou lewdness with another
woman, the wife of a different husband. Let the defilement of her be hateful in
thine eyes; keep aloof from it altogether. Chastity beseems the wife; purity is
as her adornment; law becomes the husband; justice is the crown for his head.
Desire not thou the bed of thy neighbour lest another desire thy bed. Preserve
purity in thy marriage, that thy marriage may be holy. His conscience reproves
the man, who corrupts the wife of his neighbour. He fears, and deceives through
terror, whoso has engaged in fornication. Darkness is dearer to him than light,
whose manner of life is not pure. Every hour he stands in dread, who commits
adultery secretly. The adulterer is also a thief who breaks into houses in
darkness. The very place reproves him, where he does the evil and wickedness. He
enters the chamber and sins; in the darkness he does his will. The time will
come when it shall be disclosed, when his secret deeds shall be manifested. With
what eyes dost thou look towards God in prayer? What hands dost thou raise when
thou askest pardon? Be ashamed and dismayed for thyself, that thou art void of
understanding. If when thy neighbour see thee, thou art ashamed and dismayed,
how much more shouldst thou be ashamed before God Who sees all? Thou art like
the sow, [625] thy companion, that wallows altogether in mire. Even in seeing,
thou mayest sin, if thy mind is not watchful; and in hearing thou mayest
transgress, if thou dost not guard thy hearing. The fornicator's heart waxes
wanton through speech that is full of uncleanness. The passion hidden in the
mind, sight and hearing awaken it. 9. He puts on garments of shame who desires
to commit fornication, that from the lust of raiment, lewdness may enter and
dwell in his heart. Make thou not snares of thy garments for that which is
openly wanton. Speak not a word in craftiness, nor dig thy neighbour's well.
Look not after the harlot; be not snared by the beauty of her face. She is even
as the dog that is mad, yea, much more bold than it. Modesty is removed from her
face, she knows not what shame is. With spitting accept her person; with
reviling meet herself; with a rod pursue her like a dog, for she is like one,
and to be compared with such. Reject the sweetness of her words lest thou fall
into her net. She empties purses and wallets, and her gains are without number.
Flee from her, for she is the daughter of vipers, that she tear not in pieces
thy whole body. 10. Thou shalt not slander any man, lest they call thee Satan.
If thou hatest the name, go not near to the act; but if thou lovest the act, be
not angry at the name. Count thyself rebuked first of all by the beasts and
birds, how that every kind cleaves to its kind; and so agree thou with thy
yokefellow. Rejoice not in men's dishonour, that thou become not a Satan
thyself. If evil should happen to him that hates thee, see thou rejoice not,
lest thou sin. If thine adversary should fall, be thou in pain and mourning.
Keep thy heart with all diligence, [626] that it sin not in secret; for there is
to be a laying bare of thoughts and of actions. Employ thy hands in labour, and
let thy heart meditate in prayer. Love not vain discourse, for discourse that
shall be profitable alike to the soul and the body lightens the burden of thy
labour. 11. Does the poor man cry at thy door? Arise and open for him gladly:
refresh him when he is wearied; sustain his heart, for it is sad. Thou knowest
by experience the affliction of poverty: receive not others in thy house, and
drive not out the beggar. Have thou also a law, a comely law for thy household.
Establish an order that is wise, that the abjects laugh not at thee. Be careful
in all thy doings, that thou be not a sport for fools; be upright and prudent,
and both simple and wise. [627] Let thy body be quiet and cheerful, thy greeting
seemly and simple; thy discourse without fault, thy speech brief and savoury;
thy words few and sound, full of savour and understanding. Speak not overmuch,
not even words that are wise; [628] for all things that are over many, though
they be wise are wearisome. -- To them of thy household be as a father. Amongst
thy brethren esteem thyself least, and inferior amongst thy fellows, and of
little account with all men. With thy friend keep a secret; to those that love
thee be true. See that there be no wrangling; the secrets of thy friends reveal
not, lest all that hear thee hate thee and esteem thee a mischiefmaker. With
those that hate thee wrangle not, neither face to face nor yet in thy heart. No
enemy shalt thou have but Satan his very self. Give counsel to the wife thou
hast wedded; give heed to her doings; as stronger thou art answerable that thou
shouldst sustain her weakness. For weak is womankind, and very ready to fall. Be
thou as a hawk, when kindled (to anger), but when wrath departs from thee, be
gladsome and also firm, in the blending of diverse qualities. Keep silence among
the aged; to the elders give due honour. Honour the priests with diligence, as
good stewards of the household. Give due honour to their degree, and search not
out their doings. In his degree the priest is an angel, but in his doings a man.
By mercy he is made a mediator, between God and mankind. 12. Search not out the
faults of men; reveal not the sin of thy fellow; the shortcomings of thy
neighbours, in speech of the mouth repeat not. Thou art not judge in creation,
thou hast not dominion over the earth. If thou lovest righteousness, reprove thy
soul and thyself. Be thou judge unto thine own sins, and chastener of thy own
transgressions. Make thou not inquiry maliciously, into the misdeeds of men. For
if thou doest this, injuries will not be lacking to thee. Trust not the hearing
of the ear, for many are the deceivers. Vain reports believe thou not, for false
rumours are not few.13. Regard not spells and divinations, for that is communion
with Satan. Love not idle prating, not even in behalf of righteousness.
Discourse concerning thyself begin thou not, even in behalf of what is becoming.
Flee and hide thyself from wrangling, as from a violent robber. See that thou be
not a surety in a loan, lest thou sin. According as thou hast, assist him,
(even) the man that is poorer than thou. Mock not the foolish man; pray that
thou be not even as he. Him that sins blame not, lest thou also be put to
confusion. To him that repents of his sins be a helper and counsellor, and
encourage him that is able to rise. Let him hold fast hope in God, and his sin
shall be burned as stubble. Visit the sick and be not wearied, that thou mayest
be beloved of men. Be familiar with the house of mourning, but a stranger to the
house of feasting. Be not constant in drinking wine, lest thy shortcomings
multiply. Cast a wall round thy lips, and set a guard upon thy mouth; endure
suffering with thy neighbour and share also in his tribulation. A good friend in
tribulation is made known to him that loves him. In charity follow the deceased,
with sorrow and with offerings, and pray that he may have rest in the hidden
place whither he is going.14. When thou standest in prayer, cry in thy soul:
Have mercy on me, I am a sinner and weak; be gracious, O God, to my weakness,
and grant strength to me to pray a prayer that shall be pleasing to Thy Will.
"Punish Thou not mine enemies, take not vengeance on them that hate me; but
grant them in Thy grace that they may become doers of Thy Will." At the time of
prayer and petition, in contemplations such as these continue thou. Bow thy head
before the Mighty One.15. Do not thou resist evil, for he is evil from the Evil
One, whoso resists evil. [629] Keep not back aught from any man, that if he
perishes thou mayest not be blamed. Change not thy respect for a man's person,
according to goods and possessions. Make all things as though they were not and
God alone were in being. If thou shalt ask of thy neighbour and he shall not
give thee according to thy wish, see that thou say not in anger a word that is
full of bitterness. Oppose not thou [fit] seasons, for many are the changes. Put
sorrow far from thy flesh, [630] and sadness from thy thoughts; save only that
for thy sins thou shouldst be constant in sadness. Cease not from labour, not
even though thou be rich, for the slothful man gains manifold guilt by his
idleness.16. Be thou a lover of poverty, and be desirous of neediness. If thou
hast them both for thy portion, thou art an inheritor on high. Despise not the
voice of the poor and give him not cause to curse thee. For if he curse whose
palate is bitter, the Lord will hear his petition. If his garments are foul,
wash them in water, which freely is bought. Has a poor man entered into thy
house? God has entered into thy house; God dwells within thy abode. He, whom
thou hast refreshed from his troubles, from troubles will deliver thee. Hast
thou washed the feet of the stranger? Thou hast washed away the filth of thy
sins. Hast thou prepared a table before him? Behold God eating [at it], and
Christ likewise drinking [at it], and the Holy Spirit resting [on it]: Is the
poor satisfied at thy table and refreshed? Thou hast satisfied Christ thy Lord.
He is ready to be thy rewarder; in presence of angels and men He will confess
thou hast fed His hunger; He will give thanks unto thee that thou didst give Him
drink, and quench His thirst.17. O how gracious is the Lord! O how measureless
are His mercies! Happy the race of mortals when God confesses it! Woe to the
soul which He denies! Fire is stored up for its punishment. Be of good cheer, my
son, in hope; sow good [seed] [631] and faint not. The husbandman sows in hope,
and the merchant journeys in hope, thou also lovest good [seed]; in the hope
look for the reward. Do not thou aught at all without the beginning of prayer.
With the sign of the living cross, seal all thy doings, my son. Go not forth
from the door of thy house till thou hast signed the cross. Whether in eating or
in drinking, whether in sleeping or in waking, whether in thy house or on the
road, or again in the season of leisure, neglect not this sign; for there is no
guardian like it. It shall be unto thee as a wall, in the forefront of all thy
doings. And teach this to thy children, that heedfully they be conformed to it.
18. Yoke thyself under the law, that thou mayest be a freeman in very truth.
Work not the desire of thy soul apart from the law of God. How many commandments
must I write, and how many laws must I engrave; which, if thou desirest thy
freedom, thou canst learn all from thyself? And if thou lovest purity, thou wilt
teach it to others also. Let nature be thy book, and all creation thy tables;
and learn from them the laws, and meditate things unwritten. The sun in his
course teaches thee that thou rest from labour. The night in her silence cries
to thee that a limit is set to thy works. The earth and the fruit of the tree
cry that there is a season for all things. The seed thou sowest in the winter,
in the summer thou gatherest its harvest. Thus in the world sow seeds of
righteousness, and in the Resurrection gather them in. The bird in its daily
gleaning reproves the covetous and his greed, and rebukes the extortion that
grasps the store of others. Death, the limit of all things, is itself the
reprover of all things.19. Take thou refuge in God Who passes not away nor is
changed. Restrain laughter by suffering, and mirthfulness by sorrow. Console
suffering by hope, and sadness by expectation. Believe and trust, thou that art
wise, for God is He Who guides thee; and if His care leaves thee not, there is
nothing that can harm thee. If one man by another man, the lowly by the great,
can be saved, how much more shall the refuge of God preserve the man that
believes? Fear not because of adversaries who with violence come upon thee. He
will watchfully guard thy soul, and hurtful things become profitable. No one
shall lead thee by compulsion, save only where there is freedom. No one falls
into temptation, that passes the measure of his strength. There is no evil in
chastisement, if so be that freedom is willing. The doings are not perverse of
freedom, its will is perverted.20. To men that are just and upright, temptations
become helps. Job, a man of discernment, was victorious in temptations. Sickness
came upon him, and he complained not; disease afflicted him and he murmured not;
his body failed and his strength departed, but his will was not weakened. He
proved perfect in all by sufferings, for as much as temptations crushed him not.
Abraham was a stranger, from his place, his race [and his kindred]. But by this
he was not harmed; nay rather he triumphed greatly. So Joseph from the house of
bondage was made to rule as king of Egypt. They of the company of Ananias and
Daniel delivered others from bondage. See then, O thou that art wise, the power
that freedom possesses; that nothing can injure it unless the will is weakened.
Israel with sumptuous living waxed fat, and kicked, [632] and forgot his
covenant. He worshipped vain gods, and forgot the nature of his creation. The
bondage that was in Egypt he forgat in the repose of the desert. As often as he
was afflicted, he acknowledged the Lord alone; but when he was dwelling in
repose, he forgot God his Redeemer. Seek thou not here repose, for this is a
world of toil. And if thou canst wisely discern, change thou not time for time;
that which abides for that which abides not; that which ceases not for that
which ceases; nor truth for lying; nor body for shadow; nor watching for
slumber; nor that which is in season for that which is out of season; nor the
Time for the times. Collect thy mind, let it not wander among varieties which
profit not.21. No one in creation is rich but he that fears God; no one is truly
poor but he that lacks the truth. How needy is he, and not rich, whose need
witnesses against him that even from the abject and the beggars he needs to
receive a gift. He is truly a bondman, and many are his masters: he renders
service to money, to riches, and possessions. His lords are void of mercy, for
they grant him no repose. Flee, and live in poverty; (as) a mother she pities
her beloved. Seek thou refuge in indigence, who nourishes her children with
choice things; her yoke is light and pleasant, and sweet to the palate her
memory. The sick in conscience alone abhors the draught of poverty; the
fainthearted dreads the yoke of indigence that is honourable. Who has granted to
Thee, Son of man, in the world to find repose? Who has granted to thee, thing of
dust, to be rich amidst poverty? Be not thou through desires needy and looking
to others. Sufficient for thee is thy daily bread, that comes of the sweat of
thy face. Let this be (the measure of thy need, that which the day gives thee;
and if thou findest for thyself a feast, take of it that which thou needest.
Thou shalt not take in a day (the provision) of days, for the belly keeps no
treasure. Praise and give thanks when thou art satisfied, that therein thou
provoke not the Giver to anger. In purity strengthen thyself, that thou mayest
gain from it profit. In everything give thanks and praise unto God as the
Redeemer, that He may grant thee by His grace, that we may hear and do His
Will.Thou to whom I have given the counsel of life, be not thou negligent in it.
From that which is other men's (doctrine) have I written to thee; see thou
despise not their words. And if I depart before thee, in thy prayer make mention
of me. In every season pray and beseech that our love may continue true. But as
for us, on behalf of these things let us offer up praise and honour to Father,
to Son, and to Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 108: ON THE SINFUL WOMAN.
========================================================================

1. Hear and be comforted, beloved, how merciful is God. To the sinful woman He
forgave her offences; yea, He upheld her when she was afflicted. With clay He
opened the eyes of the blind, so that the eyeballs beheld the light. [633] To
the palsied He granted healing, who arose and walked and carried his bed. [634]
And to us He has given the pearls; His holy Body and Blood. He brought His
medicines secretly; and with them He heals openly. And He wandered round in the
land of Judea, like a physician, bearing his medicines. Simon invited Him to the
feast, to eat bread in his house. [635] The sinful woman rejoiced when she heard
that He sat and was feasting in Simon's house; her thoughts gathered together
like the sea, and like the billows her love surged. She beheld the Sea of Grace,
how it had forced itself into one place; and she resolved to go and drown all
her wickedness in its billows. 2. She bound her heart, because it had offended,
with chains and tears of suffering; and she began weeping (with herself): "What
avails me this fornication? What avails this lewdness? I have defiled the
innocent ones without shame; I have corrupted the orphan; and without fear I
have robbed the merchants of merchandise, and my rapacity was not satisfied. I
have been as a bow in war, and have slain the good and the bad. I have been as a
storm on the sea, and have sunk the ships of many. Why did I not win me one man,
who might have corrected my lewdness? For one man is of God, but many are of
Satan." 3. These things she inwardly said; then began she to do outwardly. She
washed and put away from her eyes the dye that blinded them that saw it. And
tears gushed forth from her eyes over that deadly eyepaint. [636] She drew off
and cast from her hands the enticing bracelets of her youth. She put off and
cast away from her body the tunic of fine linen of whoredom, and resolved to go
and attire herself in the tunic the garment of reconciliation. She drew off and
cast from her feet the adorned sandals of lewdness; and directed the steps of
her going in the path of the heavenly Eagle. She took up her gold in her palm
and held it up to the face of heaven, and began to cry secretly, to Him who
hears openly: "This, O Lord, that I have gained from iniquity, with it will I
purchase to myself redemption. This which was gathered from orphans, with it
will I win the Lord of orphans." 4. These things she said secretly; then began
to do openly. She took up the gold in her palm, and carried the alabaster box in
her hands. Then hastily went she forth in sadness to the perfumer. The perfumer
saw her and wondered, and fell into questioning with her; and thus he began to
say to the harlot in the first words he spoke: "Was it not enough for thee,
harlot, that thou hast corrupted all our town? What means this fashion that thou
showest today to thy lovers -- that thou hast put off thy wantonness and hast
clothed thyself in modesty? Heretofore, when thou camest to me, thy aspect was
different from today's. Thou wast clothed in goodly raiment, and didst bring
little gold; and didst ask for precious ointment, to make thy lewdness pleasant.
But lo! today thy vesture is mean, and thou hast brought much gold. Thy change I
understand not; wherefore is this fashion of thine? Either clothe thee in
raiment according to thy ability, or buy ointment according to thy clothing. For
this ointment becomes not or is suited to this attire. Can it be that a merchant
has met thee, and brings great wealth; and thou hast seen that he loves it not,
the fashion of thy lewdness? So thou hast put off thy lewdness and hast clothed
thyself in meekness, that by various fashions thou mayest capture much wealth.
But if he loves this fashion because he is a chaste man in truth, then woe to
him! Into what has he fallen? Into a gulf that has swallowed up his merchandise.
But I give thee advice, as a man that desires thy welfare, that thou send away
thy many lovers who have helped thee nought from thy youth, and henceforth seek
out one husband who may correct thy lewdness." 5. These things spake the
perfumer, in wisdom, to the harlot. The sinful woman answered and said to him,
to the perfumer after his discourse, "Hinder me not, O man, and stop me not by
thy questioning. I have asked of thee ointment, not freely, but I will pay thee
its value not grudgingly. Take thee the gold, as much as thou demandest, and
give me the precious ointment; take thee that which endures not and give me that
which endures; and I will go to Him who endures, and will buy that which
endures. And as to that thou saidst, about a merchant; a Man has met me today
Who bears riches in abundance. He has robbed me and I have robbed Him; He has
robbed me of my transgressions and sins, and I have robbed Him of His wealth.
And as to that thou saidst of a husband; I have won me a Husband in heaven,
Whose dominion stands for ever, and His kingdom shall not be dissolved." She
took up the ointment and went forth. 6. In haste went she forth; as Satan saw
her and was enraged; and was greatly grieved in his mind. At one time he
rejoiced, and again at another he was grieved. That she carried the perfumed
oil, he rejoiced in his inward mind; but that she was clad in mean raiment -- at
this doing of hers he was afraid. He clave then to her and followed her, as a
robber follows a merchant. He listened to the murmurs of her lips, to hear the
voice of her words. He closely watched her eyeballs (to mark) whither the glance
of her eyes was directed; and as he went he moved by her feet (to mark) whither
her goings were directed. Very full of craft is Satan, from our words to learn
our aim. Therefore our Lord has taught us not to raise our voice when we pray,
that the Devil may not hear our words and draw near and become our adversary. So
then, when Satan saw that he could not change her mind, he clothed himself in
the fashion of a man, and drew to himself a crowd of youths, like her lovers of
former times; and then began he thus to address her: "By thy life, O woman, tell
me whither are thy footsteps directed? What means this haste? For thou hasteth
more than other days. What means this thy meekness, for thy soul is meek like a
handmaid's? Instead of garments of fine linen, lo! thou art clothed in sordid
weeds; instead of bracelets of gold and silver, there are not even rings on thy
fingers; instead of goodly sandals for thy feet, not even worn shoes are on thy
feet. Disclose to me all thy doing, for I understand not thy change. Is it that
some one of thy lovers has died, and thou goest to bury him? We will go with
thee to the funeral, and with thee will (take part with thee) in sorrow." 7. The
sinful woman answered and said to him, (even) to Satan, after his speech: "Well
hast thou said that I go to inter the dead, one that has died to me. The sin of
my thoughts has died, and I go to bury it." Satan answered and said to her,
(even) to the sinful woman after her words: "Go to, O woman, I tell thee that I
am the first of thy lovers. I am not such as thou, and I place my hands upon
thee. I will give thee again more gold than before." 8. The sinful woman
answered and said to him, even to Satan after his discourse: "I am wearied of
thee, O man, and thou art no more my lover. I have won me a husband in heaven,
Who is God, that is over all, and His dominion stands for ever, and His kingdom
shall not be dissolved. For lo! in thy presence I say; I say it again and I lie
not. I was a handmaid to Satan from my childhood unto this day. I was a bridge,
and he trode upon me, and I destroyed thousands of men. The eyepaint blinded my
eyes, and (I was) blind among many whom I blinded. I became sightless and knew
not that there is One Who gives light to the sightless. Lo! I go to get light
for mine eyes, and by that light to give light to many. I was fast bound, and
knew not that there is One Who overthrows idols. Lo! I go to have my idols
destroyed, and so to destroy the follies of many. I was wounded and knew not
that there is One Who binds up wounds; and lo! I go to have my wounds bound."
These things the harlot spake to Satan in her wisdom; and he groaned and was
grieved and wept; and he cried aloud and thus he spake: -- "I am conquered by
thee, O woman, and what I shall do I know not." 9. As soon as Satan perceived
that he could not change her mind, he began to weep for himself and thus it was
that he spake: "Henceforth is my boasting perished, and the pride of all my
days. How shall I lay for her a snare, for her who is ascending on high? how
shall I shoot arrows at her, (even) at her whose wall is unshaken? Therefore I
go into Jesus' presence; lo! she is about to enter His presence; and I shall say
to Him thus: "This woman is an harlot." Perchance He may reject and not receive
her. And I shall say to Him thus: "This woman who comes into Thy presence is a
woman that is an harlot. She has led captive men by her whoredom; she is
polluted from her youth. But Thou, O Lord, art righteous; all men throng to see
Thee. And if mankind see Thee that Thou hast speech with the harlot, they all
will flee from Thy presence, and no man will salute Thee." 10. These things
Satan spake within himself, nor was he moved. [637] Then he changed the course
of his thought, and thus it was that he spake. "How shall I enter into Jesus'
presence, for to Him the secret things are manifest? He knows me, who I am, that
no good office is my purpose. If haply He rebuke me I am undone, and all my
wiles will be wasted. I will go to the house of Simon, for secret things are not
manifest to him. And into his heart I will put it; perchance on that hook he may
be caught. And thus will I say unto him: By thy life, O Simon, tell me; this man
that sojourns in thy house is he a man that is righteous, or a friend of the
doers of wickedness? I am a wealthy man, and a man that has possessions, and I
wish like thee to invite him that he may come in and bless my possessions." 11.
Simon answered and thus he said to the Evil One after his words: "From the day
that (first) I saw Him I have seen no lewdness in Him, but rather quietness and
peace, humility and seemliness. The sick He heals without reward, the diseased
He freely cures. He approaches and stands by the grave, and calls, and the dead
arise. Jairus [638] called Him to raise his daughter to life, trusting that He
could raise her to life. And as He went with him in the way, He gave healing to
the woman diseased, who laid hold of the hem of His garment and stole healing
from Him, and her pain which was hard and bitter at once departed from her. He
went forth to the desert and saw the hungry, [639] how they were fainting with
famine. He made them sit down on the grass, and fed them in His mercy. In the
ship He slept [640] as He willed, and the sea swelled against the disciples. He
arose and rebuked the billows, and there was a great calm. The widow, [641] the
desolate one who was following her only son, on the way to the grave He consoled
her. He gave him to her and gladdened her heart. To one man who was dumb and
blind, [642] by His voice He brought healing. The lepers He cleansed by His
word; to the limbs of the palsied [643] He restored strength. For the blind man,
[644] afflicted and weary, He opened his eyes and he saw the light. And for two
others who besought Him, [645] at once He opened their eyes. As for me, thus
have I heard the fame of the man from afar; and I called Him to bless my
possessions, and to bless all my flocks and herds." 12. Satan answered and said
to him, to Simon after his words: "Praise not a man at his beginning, until thou
learnest his end; hitherto this man is sober and his soul takes not pleasure in
wine. If he shall go forth from thy house, and holds not converse with an
harlot, then he is a righteous man and no friend of them that do wickedness."
Such things did Satan speak in his craftiness to Simon. Then he approached and
stood afar off, to see what should come to pass.13. The sinful woman full of
transgressions stood clinging by the door. She clasped her arms in prayer, and
thus she spake beseeching: -- "Blessed Son Who hast descended to earth for the
sake of man's redemption, close not Thy door in my face; for Thou hast called me
and lo! I come. I know that Thou hast not rejected me; open for me the door of
Thy mercy, that I may come in, O my Lord, and find refuge in Thee, from the Evil
One and his hosts! I was a sparrow, and the hawk pursued me, and I have fled and
taken refuge in Thy nest. I was a heifer, and the yoke galled me, and I will
turn back my wanderings to Thee. Lay upon me the shoulder of Thy yoke that I may
take it on me, and work with Thy oxen." Thus did the harlot speak at the door
with much weeping. The master of the house looked and saw her, and the colour of
his visage was changed; and he began thus to address her, (even) the harlot, in
the opening of his words: -- "Depart thou hence, O harlot, for this man who
abides in our house is a man that is righteous, and they that are of his
companions are blameless. Is it not enough for thee, harlot, that thou hast
corrupted the whole town? Thou hast corrupted the chaste without shame; thou
hast robbed the orphans, and hast not blushed, and hast plundered the merchants'
wares, and thy countenance is not abashed. From him thy heart [and soul] labour
[to take]. But from him thy net takes no spoil. [646] For this man is righteous
indeed, and they of his company are blameless."14. The sinful woman answered and
said to him, even to Simon when he had ceased: "Thou surely art the guardian of
the door, O thou that knowest things that are secret! I will propose the matter
in the feast, and thou shalt be free from blame. And if there be any that wills
me to come in, he will bid me and I will come in." Simon ran and closed the
door, and approached and stood afar off. And he tarried a long time and proposed
not the matter in the feast. But He, Who knows what is secret, beckoned to Simon
and said to him: -- "Come hither, Simon, I bid thee; does any one stand at the
door? Whosoever he be, open to him that he may come in; let him receive what he
needs, and go. If he be hungry and hunger for bread, lo! in thy house is the
table of life; and if he be thirsty, and thirst for water, lo! the blessed
fountain is in thy dwelling. And if he be sick and ask for healing, lo! the
great Physician is in thy house. Suffer sinners to look upon Me, for their sakes
have I abased Myself. I will not ascend to heaven, to the dwelling whence I came
down, until I bear back the sheep that has wandered from its Father's house, and
lift it up on My shoulders and bear it aloft to heaven." Simon answered and thus
he said to Jesus, when He had done speaking: -- "My Lord, this woman that stands
in the doorway is a harlot: she is lewd and not free-born, polluted from her
childhood. And Thou, my Lord, art a righteous man, and all are eager to see
Thee; and if men see Thee having speech with the harlot, all men will flee from
beside Thee, and no man will salute Thee." Jesus answered, and thus He said to
Simon when he was done speaking: -- "Whosoever it be, open for him to come in,
and thou shalt be free from blame; and though his offences be many, without
rebuke I bid thee [receive him]."* * * * * * * * * * *15. Simon approached and
opened the door, and began thus to speak: -- "Come, enter, fulfil that thou
willest, to him who is even as thou." The sinful woman, full of transgressions,
passed forward and stood by His feet, and clasped her arms in prayer, and with
these words she spake: -- "Mine eyes have become watercourses that cease not
from [watering] the fields, and to-day they wash the feet of Him Who follows
after sinners. This hair, abundant in locks from my childhood till this day, let
it not grieve Thee that it should wipe this holy body. The mouth that has kissed
the lewd, forbid it not to kiss the body that remits transgressions and sins."
These things the harlot spake to Jesus, with much weeping. And Simon stood afar
off to see what He would do to her. But He Who knows the things that are secret,
beckoned to Simon and said to him: -- "Lo! I will tell thee, O Simon, what thy
meditation is, concerning the harlot. Within thy mind thou imaginest and within
thy soul thou saidst, I have called this man righteous, but lo! the harlot
kisses Him. I have called Him to bless my possessions, and lo! the harlot
embraces Him.' O Simon, there were two debtors, whose creditor was one only; one
owed him five-hundred [pence], and the other owed fifty. And when the creditor
saw that neither of these two had aught, the creditor pardoned and forgave them
both their debt. Which of them ought to render the greater thanks? He who was
forgiven five hundred, or he who was forgiven fifty?" Simon answered, and thus
he said to Jesus, when He had done speaking: -- "He who was forgiven five
hundred ought to render the greater thanks." Jesus answered and thus He said:
"Thou art he that owes five hundred, and this woman owes fifty. Lo! I came into
thy house, O Simon; and water for My feet thou broughtest not; and this woman,
of whom thou saidst that she was an harlot, one from her childhood defiled, has
washed My feet with her tears, and with her hair she has wiped them. Ought I to
send her away, O Simon, without receiving forgiveness? Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, I will write of her in the Gospel. Go, O woman, thy sins are forgiven
thee and all thy transgression is covered; henceforth and to the end of the
world." May our Lord account us worthy of hearing this word of His: -- "Come,
enter, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom made ready for all who shall
do My will, and observe all My commandments." To Him be glory; on us be mercy;
at all times. Amen! Amen!


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/hymns-and-homilies-of-ephraim-the-syrian/
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