Ezekiel 43

And he brought me to the gate that looked toward the eastern way, and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was entering by the eastern way, and its voice was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone from his majesty. And I saw a vision according to the appearance that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and the appearance according to the aspect that I had seen beside the river Chebar, and I fell upon my face. And the majesty of the Lord entered the temple by the way of the gate that looked toward the east. And the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the house was filled with the glory of the Lord. And I heard one speaking to me from the house, and the man who was standing beside me said to me: Son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the footprints of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel forever; and the house of Israel shall no more pollute my holy name, they and their kings, by their fornications and by the ruins of their kings and in the high places: who built their threshold beside my threshold, and their posts beside my posts, and there was a wall between me and them, and they polluted my holy name by the abominations that they committed; for which reason I consumed them in my wrath. Now therefore let them put far away their fornication and the ruins of their kings from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them always. (LXX: "And he brought me to the gate that looked toward the east ÷ and he led me out ⁚, and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming by the way of the east, and the voice of the camp like the voice of many redoubling, and the earth shone out like lightning from the glory round about. And the vision which I saw, according to the vision that I had seen when I was entering to anoint the city, ÷ and the vision of the chariot that I saw ⁚ according to the vision that I had seen over the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord entered the house by the way of the gate that looked toward the east. And the spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the house full of the glory of the Lord. And I stood, and behold, a voice from the house of one speaking to me, and the man was standing beside me and said to me: Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne and the place of the footprint of my feet, in which my name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel forever; and the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, they and their leaders, in their fornication and in the murders of the leaders in their midst, when they set my threshold in their thresholds, and my posts beside their posts, and they made my wall as if joined between me and themselves, and they defiled my holy name by their iniquities which they were doing; and I crushed them in my fury and in slaughter. And now let them cast away their fornication and the murders of their leaders from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.") First we must speak about the variety of the translation. What the Seventy put, And he led me out, is not found in the Hebrew — for if he had been brought to the gate that looked toward the east, what need was there for him to be led out, since he had been brought in for this very purpose, to see what was happening at the eastern gate? —; next, where it is said, There was a voice (doubtless God's) like the voice of many waters — which John too confirms in his Revelation —, the Seventy put: And the voice of the camp like many redoubling; third, in the Hebrew we have: A vision according to the appearance that I had seen when he came to 'destroy' the city: and there came that one who at the beginning of this prophet was clothed in linen and had an inkhorn at his loins, together with six others, to 'destroy' the city, not to 'anoint' it, as the Seventy translated; and they, fourth, said: And the vision of the chariot that I had seen, which is not found in the Hebrew. Let us speak briefly on each point, as far as the difficulty of the explanation allows, lest, while we strive for brevity, the veil not only of Moses but also of the prophet Ezekiel remain upon us who desire to contemplate the truth of the Lord with unveiled face. The glory, therefore, of the God of Israel enters by the eastern way, by which it had also gone out when the city of the Lord was struck by fury; and it enters, or rather returns, to it because he had shown the temple of the Lord built upon the mountain. And yet what is said in what follows is much more: The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the house was filled with the glory of the Lord: for here only the glory of the God of Israel enters, but there it is said that the fullness of the glory of the Lord was in the temple — of which Isaiah too writes: I saw the Lord upon a throne high and lifted up, and the house full of his glory — by which, when with unveiled face we contemplate the glory of the Lord, we are re-formed into the image of the Creator. The voice of God also was like the voice of 'many' waters: that is, of all the peoples in the whole world, as John the evangelist interprets; or: Like the voice of a 'camp' and as the voice of many redoubling: so that he might know the mysteries of the army of God — understanding which, Jacob too called the name of that place Camps; of which it is also written elsewhere: The chariot of God is ten thousandfold, thousands of those rejoicing —; and one 'voice' is spoken of, of the camp and of the multitude, because of the one accord in the praise of God; and the voice 'is redoubled' of those singing to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Sabaoth; the earth is full of his glory. There follows: And the earth shone from his majesty, which was properly fulfilled at the coming of Christ, when the sound of the apostles went out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world; and it is fulfilled daily in believers and will be completed to perfection when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has been clothed with immortality. But what is added, And I saw a vision according to the appearance that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, for which the Seventy translated, When I entered to anoint the city, though it is clear according to the Hebrew, according to the Seventy it holds very great obscurity: how Ezekiel entered to 'anoint the city' for his prophecy — unless perhaps we say this, that the rebuke of the prophet is the anointing of the city, and the anointing with the oil of gladness, priestly and royal, and those who have willingly received it and been willing to hear become anointed ones of the Lord — of whom it is written: Do not touch my anointed ones, and do no evil to my prophets —; but that one can, according to the ἀναγωγὴν [anagogy, the higher sense], anoint the city — of which it is written: Glorious things are spoken of you, city of God — who has seen the vision of the chariot and of the mysteries of God which Ezekiel beheld over the river Chebar — which signifies 'burden and weight': for what is 'heavier' than the Babylonian rivers, by which David sat and wept when he remembered Zion — of which it is written: For the form of this world is passing away —? and I think that nothing in the confusion of this age is lasting, but that all things pass away and flow —; and whoever has considered these things will fall upon his face, understanding how far he is from the majesty of God, and will bend his knees to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

'And when', he says, 'I had fallen down, the majesty of the Lord entered the temple by the way of the gate that looked toward the east; and at once the spirit lifted me up — for lying down I was not able to go on — and brought me into the inner court — for I had fallen outside —; and behold, I who had earlier beheld the glory of the God of Israel coming by the eastern way saw his house filled with the glory of the Lord, and I heard the voice of one speaking to me from the inner house' — what it said, Scripture does not relate, unless perhaps that saying of the apostle: And I heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for men to speak —.

But that man, he says, who was standing beside the prophet spoke to him; and we plainly understand him to be the Lord: for to whom could what follows apply, Son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the footprints of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel forever, except to him who dwells in the Church in the midst of the sons of Israel who see God? — and 'he dwells forever', not as in the temple of Solomon, for a time; and 'his place' is that of which it is written: And his place was made in peace, which surpasses all understanding; and 'the place of the footprints of his feet', as the apostles say: Let us worship in the place where his feet stood, and he said 'stood' beautifully: for in the Church the feet of the Lord stand, in the Synagogue they walk and pass by —; and so that we may know that this is said of the Church, there is joined: And the house of Israel shall no more pollute my holy name, which properly pertains to those who, being of holy life, abide in the Church; but who those are who earlier polluted the holy name of God, he sets out more plainly: They and their kings, the people as much as the priests, by their fornications, by which they committed fornication away from God, and by the ruins of their kings, who vainly take to themselves the royal name through pride; finally there follows: And in the high places — for an arrogant mind offends God, a humble one calls forth mercy —: who, after pride, or rather through pride, built their threshold beside the threshold of God, and their posts beside his posts.

He showed me that there was an angel who measured the building, and he showed me these things; and he was very like Michael, who was given the responsibility of looking after the people.

Let the silly women laden with sins, who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, always learning and never arriving at the knowledge of the truth, hear these things according to the letter: that it is a mind joined to God, not nearness to the churches and a dwelling close to God, that calls forth clemency upon itself, and that rather the indignation of the Lord is stirred up when there is an unworthy inhabitant in consecrated places. They built, he says, their threshold beside my threshold, so that there was no difference between sacred and profane, and their posts beside my posts, so that there was one entrance for laity and priests — whence the apostle too says: But let a man prove himself, and so approach the body and blood of the Lord —; and to make what he was saying weightier, he joins in the following verse: And there was a wall between me and them, so that a very short wall divided the priestly sacrifices and the places of the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ. And they polluted, he says, my holy name by the abominations that they committed. What does nearness of dwelling profit, and a wall standing between our cell and the altar of the Lord, when in the things we do in secret, which it is shameful even to speak of, the name of the Lord is defiled and polluted? I think this: that no one pollutes the name of the Lord except him who has seemed to believe in his name and to be reckoned by his title; and as he who earlier believed in Christ takes the members of Christ and makes them members of a harlot, so he pollutes the name of the Lord who earlier received faith in his name — otherwise the heathen and the Jew, since they are polluted and defiled, or rather defilement itself and pollution, cannot pollute and defile the name of the Lord; but those pollute it to whom it is said: Through you my name is blasphemed among the nations —; for these causes, therefore, I consumed them in my wrath, because they did these things that we have described.

And yet the merciful Lord again commands the prophet to bid them remove their former fornications far from themselves, and to abandon the ruins of their kings and princes and drive them away, not so much from themselves as from God; and he at once promises the rewards of good work, saying: And I will dwell in the midst of them — of whom it is said in the Gospel: There stands in the midst of you one whom you do not know —; and he will dwell not for a short time, as in the Synagogue, but forever, which is borne out in the Church of Christ.

But you, son of man, show the house of Israel the temple, and let them be confounded by their iniquities, and let them measure the structure, and let them blush for all that they have done. The figure of the house and of its structure, its exits and entrances, and its whole design, and all its precepts, and its whole order and all its laws, show them; and you shall write it in their sight, that they may keep all its distributions and its precepts and do them. This is the law of the house on the summit of the mountain: all its bounds round about are the Holy of Holies; this therefore is the law of the house. (LXX: "And you, son of man, show the house of Israel the house, and they shall cease from their sins, and its vision and its arrangement, and they themselves shall bear their torment for all that they have done. And you shall describe the house and its preparation, and its exits and its entrances, and its substance, and all its precepts, and all its ordinances and all its laws you shall show them; and you shall describe it before them, and they shall keep all my justifications and all my precepts and do them. And the description of the house on the top of the mountain: all its boundaries round about the Holy of Holies; this is the law of the house.") It is no small task to demonstrate to hearers what you have beheld with the eyes of the flesh or with the mind, so that they too may seem to have seen it with you — for which reason Josephus writes that those who were sent by Joshua son of Nun to describe the land were γεωμέτρας [geometers, land-surveyors], and possessed in the proper sense the art of geometry, which belongs to philosophers —. To the house of Israel, therefore — of those who behold God with the mind — the house is shown, that is, the temple which Ezekiel beheld situated on a mountain, and not only on a mountain but, as is now said, on the summit of the mountain; and let us by no means think it to be that one which is related in the books of Kings and Chronicles to have been built by Solomon: for that one is of another order and measure, and has great diversity in every detail, and is so far inferior to the temple which is now shown to Ezekiel that not only its worshipers and sacristans, but even its builder Solomon himself sinned and offended the Lord — although afterward he did penance, writing the Proverbs, in which he says: At last I did penance, and I looked back so as to choose discipline —; but this one, which is shown to Ezekiel and through Ezekiel to the house of Israel, is such that whoever has beheld it with the mind ceases from his iniquities, not from some but from all — or, as is contained in the Hebrew: is confounded —, and bears his torment for all that he has done — and he bears the torment of his iniquities who has ceased to commit his past sins —. And it greatly profits him who has sinned before to see the house of God and to know the principles of its whole structure — let him both desist from sinning and, having a longing for it, say to the Lord: 'Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house, and the place of the dwelling of your glory', and again: 'One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, when I have begun to live and to be with Christ, who is the life of believers' —.

There follows: Its exits and entrances, 'of the house' being understood — the exits, that is, of those who go out to those who are outside, and the entrances of those who through the discipline of teachers penetrate to the inner parts —. 'And all', he says, 'its design (or substance, as the Seventy translated: which pertains not so much to the nature of the house as to its furnishings and riches), and all the precepts, and the whole order and all the laws of the temple you shall show them, who have borne the torment of their iniquities and have ceased, or been confounded, over the things they had done before; and for this reason you shall show them, that they may keep all that has been commanded: for it profits nothing to know the design of the house and all its distributions — of which it is written: Many mansions with the Father, and again: He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel (or of the angels of God) — unless you do what has been commanded'.

But the house, and the law of all the precepts of God, and the city which is established on the summit of the mountain, must be believed to be that one of which it is written: A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden, and: The rush of the river gladdens the city of God: which plainly refers to the Church of God, and it is situated on that mountain which is at the peak of all mountains and by which the prince of Tyre was wounded; and all the bounds and boundaries of this house are the Holy of Holies — in that house, that is, in the tabernacle that was made by Moses and in the temple that was built by Solomon, only the inner parts, where the Cherubim were and the mercy seat and the ark of the covenant and the table of incense, were called the Holy of Holies; but in this house, which is shown to Ezekiel and which is established on the summit of the mountain, all its boundaries are reckoned among the Holy of Holies —; and what is added, This is the law of the house, pertains either to past matters, of which we have already spoken, or to those which are to be spoken of afterward.

And these are the measures of the altar in the truest cubit, which had a cubit and a handbreadth (or palaesten [handbreadth]): in its bosom was a cubit, and a cubit in breadth, and the delimitation up to its lip, and round about one handbreadth: this also was the trench of the altar. And from the bosom of the earth to the lowest ledge two cubits, and the breadth of one cubit; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge four cubits, and the breadth of one cubit. And the 'ariel' itself of four cubits, and from the 'ariel' upward four horns. And the 'ariel' twelve cubits in length by twelve cubits of breadth, squared with equal sides. And the ledge fourteen cubits of length by fourteen of breadth in its four corners; and the crown round about it of half a cubit, and its bosom of one cubit round about; and its steps turned toward the east. (LXX: "And this is the measure of the altar in the perfect cubit — a cubit and a παλαιστῆς [handbreadth] —: its bosom in height by a cubit, and a cubit of breadth, and a 'gisus' along its lip round about of one handbreadth. And this is the height of the altar: from the depth of the beginning in its bosom up to the great mercy seat which is beneath, of two cubits, and the breadth of a cubit; and from the lesser mercy seat up to the greater mercy seat four cubits, and the breadth of a cubit. The 'ariel' of four cubits, and from the 'ariel' up to the upper parts of the horns one cubit. And the 'ariel' itself had twelve cubits in length, and twelve cubits in breadth, of four corners on each of its sides. And the mercy seat of fourteen cubits in length by fourteen cubits in breadth on its four sides; and its 'gisus' round about, encircling it by half a cubit, and its circuit by a cubit round about; and its steps looking toward the east.") It is written: The abyss and wisdom, who will search them out? and: O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God!: whose depth is profound, and who will find it? It is a great matter if we wish to compare the temple of Solomon with this temple, and all its parts and those of the tabernacle; and since that is most difficult, for the present let us compare, in a small part, the altar which was shown to Ezekiel with the altar which we read of in Exodus: there an altar of five cubits in length and five cubits in breadth, that is, square, and of three cubits in height is described; here, departing from the five senses, it tends toward unity, in which a perfect or truest cubit is set down, to which a handbreadth is joined, that is, a παλαιστής, having, as we said above, the sixth part of a cubit; and in its bosom, that is, the altar's, there was a cubit, namely the one that received the things which were consumed by fire, and in its breadth another cubit, so that the inner parts too, that is, the secret places and spaces of the altar which are shown in breadth, might be bounded within one cubit. And as for what follows, And the 'delimitation' up to its lip — for which Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion put 'boundary' —, the Seventy again translated 'gisum' — of which word, as I already said before, I cannot know the reason, nor say confidently to what language it belongs, except to advise the reader of this, that where I have now translated 'delimitation', above I rendered 'crown'; and this is briefly shown, that round about the altar itself, that is, at its margin and circle, there was a lip bent back and, as it were, a crown in the manner of a lily, having very great beauty in appearance —; which 'delimitation', or 'gisus', extended round about in the breadth of one handbreadth, or παλαιστοῦ.

But the 'pit' of the altar, or 'depth' and 'height', for which in the Hebrew 'gab' is set down, was of two cubits from the bosom of the earth up to the lowest ledge, or up to the greatest mercy seat, and its breadth of one cubit: for the lower parts, deep and clinging to the earth, are contained in the dual number — which was also set down for the unclean animals —, but the upper parts, reaching to the ledge or mercy seat — which Theodotion called by the Hebrew name itself, 'azara' [ledge, enclosure] — have a breadth of one cubit, so that the dual number passes over to the single, and the good of marriage, which is lower, attains to the blessedness of unity. And as for what follows, And from the lesser ledge up to the greater ledge four cubits, and the breadth of one cubit — for which in the Seventy is set down: And from the lesser mercy seat up to the greater mercy seat, and Theodotion in both places translated 'azara' —, this is to be understood: that the lesser mercy seat is the stone cut from the mountain without hands, and the great mercy seat is the stone itself which grew into a great mountain and filled the whole world; or, according to another sense, the lesser mercy seat is when he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and the great mercy seat when he received back the glory which he had with the Father before the world was made: for first we come to know the humbler things of Christ, and so we arrive at the height of his divinity; and yet the mercy seat of both natures, that is, of the lesser and the greater, pertains to the mystery of one altar. And between the two mercy seats, the lesser and the greater, there were four cubits, signifying the four elements of the world, which themselves too arrive at the breadth of one cubit — and this is to be noted, that in the measure of the altar the first cubit in breadth is coupled to none but is perfect in its own unity, while the second cubit of breadth grows to the top after two cubits, and the third cubit, after the lesser and greater mercy seat, tends through the four elements to the mystery of one cubit: so that the one and the second and the third cubit in the altar of the Lord are by no means said to be first, second and third, but one and one and one —.

And the 'ariel' itself was of four cubits, and from the 'ariel' upward four horns (or, as is said in the Seventy, and from the 'ariel' up to the upper parts of the horns one cubit): 'ariel', as most suppose, means 'my light is God' — about which we have spoken more fully in the prophet Isaiah too, where it is written: Woe to you, city 'ariel', which David stormed (or surrounded) —, but, as I think, 'lion' or 'strong one of God' — a name which refers properly to the altar, in which there is either the illumination of God, or the lion and his strength, as Jacob says to Judah: A lion's whelp, my son, Judah; to the prey, son, you have gone up. Resting you lay down as a lion, and as a lioness: who will rouse him? —; and it is of four cubits and has four horns, or the upper parts of the four horns are bounded by one cubit: so that the measure of the Gospels and the strength running out into the whole world may be shown under the illumination of God and the strength of the lion, and may pertain to the one cubit of the divine confession.

And so that the obscurity of the present passage may little by little become clearer, there follows: And the 'ariel' twelve cubits in length by twelve cubits of breadth, square with equal sides, which no one doubts pertains to the twelve tribes which are written in the Revelation of John, and to the number of the apostles, about whose mystery I remember having spoken above; along the four sides — the sides of the world — twelve cubits each together make forty-eight cubits — of the priestly cities —, so that, with these as it were foundations distributed through the whole world, the strength of the Church may be made firm.

Furthermore: The ledge (for which the Seventy translated mercy seat, Theodotion, as above, 'azara', Symmachus περίβολον, that is, 'circuit') was of fourteen cubits of length by fourteen of breadth, in its four corners; and the 'crown' round about it of half a cubit (for which again the Seventy translated 'gison'), and the bosom (or, according to Symmachus, 'consummation') of it (and 'perfection') of one cubit round about: this covertly shows that our Lord, who is truly called the mercy seat, not only for our sins but for the whole world, came through fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and again through another fourteen to the captivity of Jeconiah, and by the mystery of the same number descended to earthly things, so that in the third tesseriscedecade [set of fourteen], and by the mystery of the divine number, he might save the four corners of the world — of which it is written: Many will come from the east and from the west and from the north and the south, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven —. And what follows, And the crown (or gisus) round about it — 'of the mercy seat' being understood — had half a cubit, and the 'bosom' of the mercy seat itself (or consummation and perfection, which Symmachus translated περιγραφήν [outline, circumscription]) had one cubit, signifies this: that both sinners and the righteous are saved by the propitiation of the Lord — as the apostle Paul says: We have been reconciled to God in the blood of his Son —; and of sinners it is said that they have the measure of half a cubit round about: who nevertheless are saved by the mercy of the Creator — according to what is written in the psalm: For nothing you will save them —; of the righteous: that they are saved in the one number, single and perfect and imitating the one divinity — as the apostle says: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself —. But as for what is set down at the end of this testimony, And its steps turned toward the east, by the steps of this mercy seat we ought to understand either the twenty-four books of the Old Testament, which had harps in the Revelation of John and crowns on their heads, or the mystery of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in which true propitiation is given to us; and to speak more openly: the number of the steps is left uncertain for this reason, that with however much zeal we may have been able to climb to higher things, we may think that we are still to be placed in the inner things, and may ponder that saying of the psalm: They will go from strength to strength.

And he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the rites of the altar on whatever day it shall have been built, that a holocaust may be offered upon it and blood poured out. And you shall give to the priests and Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach me, says the Lord God, that they may offer me a calf of the herd for sin. And taking some of its blood, you shall put it upon the four horns, and upon the four corners of the ledge, and upon the crown round about, and you shall cleanse it and expiate it. And you shall take the calf that has been offered for sin, and you shall burn it in a separate place of the house outside the sanctuary. And on the second day you shall offer a he-goat of the goats without blemish for sin, and they shall expiate the altar as they expiated it with the calf. (LXX: "And he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the precepts of the altar on the day on which it shall have been made, that holocausts may be offered upon it and blood poured out upon it. And you shall give to the priests and Levites who are of the seed of Saddoch, and who draw near to me, says the Lord God, that they may minister to me a calf of the oxen for sin. And they shall take of its blood, and shall put it upon the four horns of the altar, and upon its base round about, and they shall cleanse and expiate it. And they shall take the calf for sin, and it shall be burned in a separate place of the house outside the Holy Place. And on the second day they shall take two kids of the goats without blemish for sin, and they shall expiate the altar as they expiated it with the calf.") After he had shown the prophet the altar and its cubit and two cubits, and again a cubit and four cubits and, thirdly, a cubit, and also twelve cubits by another twelve, and the four horns of the altar, and the 'ariel' of twelve cubits by twelve cubits, and the ledge, that is, the mercy seat, of fourteen cubits by fourteen cubits, and also its crown and bosom of half a cubit and one cubit round about, and the steps toward the east whose number is uncertain, the man in whose hand were the reed and the cord spoke, and he teaches him how, once the work of the altar is completed, the altar ought to be expiated and consecrated.

And first a victim is offered, and it is given to the priests of the race of Levi who are of the seed of 'Sadoc' — why the Seventy name him 'Saddoch' I am not able to know. And 'Sadoc' means 'righteous' —. And there is offered, according to the Seventy and Theodotion, a 'calf', according to Symmachus a 'bull', which in Hebrew is called 'phar' — and many passages of the Scriptures, and especially the epistle of Barnabas, which is held among the apocryphal scriptures, name him who was sacrificed for us a 'calf' —; and a he-goat of the goats is offered on the second day: whence also those who are to keep the Passover take from the flock a lamb and a kid, and those who could not keep the first Passover keep it in the second month: of which the one pertains to the righteous, the other to the penitent. But if the translation of the Seventy pleases us — who said: And on the second day they shall take two kids without blemish for sin —, what we are about to say is bold indeed, but nevertheless the opinion of others must be set down plainly, who say that two kids without blemish were offered at the altar of the Lord after the passion of the Lord: James and Stephen, of whom the one was of the number of the apostles, the other was the chief of the seven chosen for the ministry of the Lord — this is the James who saw the Savior transfigured on the mountain, who with the Lord and Peter and John beheld the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue rising, who in the κατάλογῳ [catalogue, list] of the apostles — in which the names are joined in pairs — is placed before his brother: him Herod killed, and as it were sacrificed as a kid without blemish on the second day after the passion of the Savior; Stephen too, whose wisdom and teaching no one could resist, and who saw the Son of man standing at the right hand of the Father, and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, the Jews overwhelmed with stones; and as the apostle names certain of the believers the firstfruits of Achaia and of Asia, so these too were the firstfruits of the martyrs, whom the confession of Christ afterward crowned —. And this is to be noted, that the calf is offered whole as a holocaust, and the fatness of its body is consumed by divine fire — for even if we had known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know him according to the flesh —, but James and Stephen, who were offered on the second day, or the he-goat, which according to the Hebrew is related to have been offered, is indeed offered as a victim, but the holocaust is reserved to the preeminence of the Lord. And that the blood is taken — of which Peter speaks: We have been redeemed from our vain manner of life of paternal tradition by the precious blood of Christ; and the apostle Paul teaches: You have been redeemed with a price, and in another place: Making peace through the blood of his cross, whether on earth or above the heavens — signifies this: that by the blood of the Savior the four horns of the altar are purified — that is, the four regions of the world —, and the crown of the mercy seat, or the bases round about, is sprinkled, so that all things may be cleansed and the propitiation may be firm. And for this reason, on the second day, either two kids — of which we spoke above — or a he-goat is taken, because it is an animal always hastening to the heights and suffering no danger on precipices, and it finds a way there where for the other animals there is destruction — whence also in the Greek language 'a flock of she-goats and he-goats' is called 'the dwelling of the lofty', that is, 'αἰπόλιον', as if 'αἰπυ-πόλιον': since αἰπύ signifies, as it were, 'lofty', and πολεῖν 'dwelling' —. Furthermore, the altar of Christ is expiated with blood, so that the prayers of the saints may reach God clean. This too is to be noted, that according to the Hebrew Ezekiel himself, as a priest, is ordered to take the calf and to make the holocaust and to sprinkle its blood round about, on the altar as well as on the corners and the crown, or base; but the Seventy translators show that other priests do this, of whom it was said: And you shall give to the priests and Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach me.

And when you have finished expiating it, you shall offer a calf of the herd without blemish, and a ram of the flock without blemish; and you shall offer them in the sight of the Lord, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and shall offer them as a holocaust to the Lord. For seven days you shall make a he-goat for sin daily, and a calf of the herd and a ram of the flocks without blemish they shall offer. For seven days they shall expiate the altar and cleanse it, and they shall fill its hand; and when the days are completed, on the eighth day and onward the priests shall make your holocausts upon the altar, and those which they offer for peace; and I will be appeased toward you, says the Lord God. (LXX: "And when you have completed the expiation, they shall offer a calf of the oxen without blemish, and a ram of the sheep without blemish; and you shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them, and shall offer them as holocausts to the Lord. For seven days you shall make a kid for sin daily, and a calf of the oxen and a ram of the sheep, without blemish, they shall make for seven days; and they shall expiate the altar and cleanse it, and they shall fill their hands; and they shall complete the days; and it shall be, from the eighth day and onward the priests shall make your holocausts upon the altar, and for your salvation; and I will receive you, says the Lord God.") After the altar and its measures on the top of the mountain had been shown, and again its expiation and consecration had been shown to the prophet through one calf without blemish and a he-goat or two kids, of which we have referred the first to the Lord Savior and the two following to the apostles and ministers, then, lest in the consecration of the spiritual altar, which properly pertains to the Church, the Law and the Prophets should seem excluded, for this reason, once the altar has been consecrated, a calf without blemish is taken, and a ram; and they are offered in the sight of the Lord, and the sons of Zadok, that is, the priests of the righteous, sprinkle salt upon their heads: so that both the Law and the Prophets may be seasoned with the savor of the Gospel; nor is there any sacrifice — according to the command of the Law and the interpretation of the apostle, who says: Let your speech be seasoned with salt — which lacks salt. And both are offered as a holocaust to the Lord, so that the fatter body — the letter, which is signified in the Law — and the cloud of prophecy may, by the fire of the Lord — that is, by the Holy Spirit, of whom Paul says: Fervent in spirit — be converted into a spiritual and fine substance. Do we wish to know more openly who is the calf of the herd without blemish, and the ram of the sheep with the purest fleece? Let us understand Moses and Elijah — of whom the first was the meekest among all men who dwelt on the earth, the other in ardor of faith was like Moses, whence he also dared to say: I alone am left —. But that in the Hebrew it is written, 'You shall offer' a calf, and in the Seventy, 'They shall offer', the priests, raises no question — for Ezekiel himself too, to whom these things are said, is of the number of the priests, of full and perfect age: and the grace of prophecy increased his priestly rank; and Moses and Elijah, that is, the Law and the Prophets, are seen on the mountain with the Lord, announcing to him what he was going to suffer in Jerusalem —.

And when the altar has been expiated, for seven days a he-goat or kid is offered for sin daily, and a calf of the herd and a ram of the flocks without blemish, so that through these sacrifices over seven days the altar may be expiated to perfection: in the seven days is shown the sabbath rest which, according to the apostle, is reserved for the people of the Lord, in which we hope for eternal and true rest and may by no means do the servile work of sins; and in the he-goat and the calf and the ram are shown three general offenses to which the whole race of mortals is subject: for we sin either in thoughts or in speech or in deed — thought is referred to the ram, which is the first of all sins and from which the other two sins are born; and the kid, or he-goat, to utterance and speech, which always disputes about loftier things; but deeds are properly assigned to the calf, which is bound over to the plowshare and to labor and to earthly works —. These, therefore, without blemish, we ought to offer to God through the seven days of the true and perfect sabbath, and to expiate the altar, so that our prayer may reach God clean.

And what is added, And they shall cleanse it, and shall fill its hand, as both the Hebrew and the other translators rendered it, signifies this: that the gifts of the altar itself too, for whose expiation the sacrifice is offered, must be filled up, just as it is offered for the priests and the people and the high priest, lest anything should seem to have stood empty in the sight of the Lord; for which the Seventy put: And they shall cleanse it, and shall fill their own hands, so that 'the priests' is understood, who, when they have been full of good works — for this is what full hands signify —, once the sabbath is past, may come to the eighth day of the resurrection — and say with the apostle: We have risen with Christ —, and beyond the eighth may tend toward heavenly things, and offer for us holocausts, or those offerings which are for the peace of our sins and for our salvation, so that, through the fire of the Holy Spirit, all that we think, speak and do may be converted into spiritual substance, and the Lord, delighted with sacrifices of this kind, may become placable toward us.