The order of the types, and the manna as Christ
Cyril: …before the patterns of the holy tent had been shown at all, and the commands about it given, God uttered the oracle about the golden jar (Exodus 16:32–34), since he knew what was to come. After the whole tent had been set up, we shall find in Numbers that Aaron’s rod was brought into the Holy of Holies (Numbers 17:10). And in Leviticus God gave further laws about the lampstand and the table in the first tent (Leviticus 24:1–9). And Paul, most wise and learned in the law, leaves out nothing at all of what took place, but recalls the first things, the middle ones and the last.
Palladius: Very well said. Then explain each thing clearly and point by point; for surely there is a deep meaning in them.
Cyril: Yes, you are right; for that is how the matter truly stands. I will make the jar the starting point of my account. God sent the manna down like rain on the people of Israel in the wilderness; for this was their food and bread from above, from heaven (Exodus 16:4). But what was done did not stop at things of sense. As through a type and a shadow, it leads us up to understand that in due time the Word would come to us from above and from the Father, as bread from heaven, just as the divine David hints to us when he says: ‘He gave them the bread of heaven; man ate the bread of angels’ (Psalm 78:24–25). We certainly do not say that the physical manna was the bread from heaven and of angels. For a spirit is fed spiritually, and a body according to its own nature, that is, bodily. The food of angels, the bread fit for the heavens and for the spirits above, is the Word who is from God the Father. So the manna signified Christ. Yet the type is of no use unless the truth has been received. For it is a shadow of the truth, not made chiefly for its own sake, but so that it might paint in itself a picture of something better. That is why Christ gave the crowds of the Jews a wise rebuke, because they admired, not him as the truth, but Moses, the servant of the types. For he said: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has given you the manna; but the bread of God is he who came down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the living bread’ (John 6:32–33, 51). So it was in making the manna an image of the Word who came down from above, from heaven, that God gave the oracle about the jar. It is written thus: ‘And Moses said: This is the word which the Lord commanded: Fill the omer with manna, to be laid up for your generations, so that they may see the bread which you ate in the wilderness, when the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt. And Moses said to Aaron: Take one golden jar, and put into it a full omer of manna, and lay it up before God, to be kept for your generations, as the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be kept’ (Exodus 16:32–34). For just as we were saying that the ark, holding the divine word, signified Emmanuel, since the Word of God was within, as in a…
Greek
πρὶν ὅλως τοὺς περὶ τῆς ἁγίας σκηνῆς ὀφθῆναι τύπους, καὶ τὰ ἐπ' αὐτῆς γενέσθαι προστάγματα, τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ χρυσῇ στάμνῳ κατεχρησμῴδησε λόγον, εἰδὼς τὸ ἐσόμενον. Μετὰ δέ γε τὴν πῆξιν τῆς ὅλης σκηνῆς ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς εὑρήσομεν τὴν ῥάβδον τὴν Ἀαρὼν εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἰσκεκομισμένην. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Λευϊτικῷ προσεπενομοθέτει Θεὸς περί τε λυχνίας, καὶ μὴν καὶ τραπέζης τῆς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ σκηνῇ. Νομομαθὴς δὲ ὑπάρχων ὁ σοφώτατος Παῦλος, παρίησι μὲν ὅλως τῶν γεγονότων οὐδὲν, διαμέμνηται δὲ πρώτων τε καὶ μέσων καὶ τελευταίων.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἄριστα ἔφης. Φράζε δὴ οὖν ἕκαστα σαφῶς καὶ διεσταλμένως· βαθὺς γάρ που πάντως ὁ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἐστι λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ναὶ, λέγεις ὀρθῶς. Ἔχει γὰρ ὧδε τὸ χρῆμα κατὰ ἀλήθειαν. Ποιήσομαι δὲ τῶν διηγημάτων καὶ τὴν στάμνον ἀρχήν. Ὑετοῦ μὲν γοῦν δίκην καθίει Θεὸς τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ τὸ μάννα κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον· τροφὴ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ ἄρτος αὐτοῖς ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Ἀλλ' ὅτι μὴ μέχρι τῶν αἰσθητῶν τὸ δρώμενον ἦν· ἀναφέρει γάρ τε ὥσπερ διὰ τύπου καὶ σκιᾶς ἐπὶ τὸ χρῆναι νοεῖν, ὅτι παρέσται κατὰ καιροὺς ὁ ἄνωθεν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐκ Πατρὸς Λόγος, ὡς ἄρτος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ὡς καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν Δαβὶδ ὑποφαίνει λέγων· «Ἄρτον οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, ἄρτον ἀγγέλων ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος.» Καὶ οὔτι πού φαμεν τὸ μάννα τὸ αἰσθητὸν ἄρτον εἶναι τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀγγέλων. Τρέφεται μὲν γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα πνευματικῶς, σῶμα δὲ αὖ κατ' ἰδίαν φύσιν, τοῦτ' ἔστι, σωματικῶς. Τροφὴ δὲ ἀγγέλων καὶ ἄρτος ὁ πρέπων οὐρανοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἄνω πνεύμασιν, ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος. Τὸ μάννα δὴ οὖν ἐδήλου Χριστόν. Οὐδὲν δὲ ὁ τύπος τὸ ὠφελοῦν ἔχει, μὴ τῆς ἀληθείας εἰσδεδεγμένης. Σκιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐκείνης, οὐ δι' ἑαυτὸ κυρίως γεγονὸς, ἀλλ' ἵνα τι τῶν ἀμεινόνων ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ ζωγραφῇ. Διὰ τοῦτο Χριστὸς τοῖς Ἰουδαίων δήμοις σοφὴν ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ἐπίπληξιν, ὅτι μὴ μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ὡς ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλὰ Μωσέα θαυμάζουσι, τῶν τύπων τὸν ὑπουργόν. Ἔφη γὰρ οὕτως, «Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, Μωσῆς ὑμῖν δέδωκε τὸ μάννα· ὁ γὰρ ἄρτος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς, καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ. Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν.» Εἰκόνα δὴ οὖν τὸ μάννα τιθεὶς τοῦ ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταφοιτήσαντος Λόγου, τὰ ἐπί γε τῇ στάμνῳ κεχρησμῴδηκε Θεός. Γέγραπται δὲ οὕτως· «Εἶπε δὲ Μωσῆς· Τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα, ὃ συνέταξε Κύριος, Πλήσατε τὸ γομὸρ τοῦ μάννα, εἰς ἀποθήκην εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, ἵνα ἴδωσι τὸν ἄρτον, ὃν ἐφάγετε ὑμεῖς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ὡς ἐξήγαγεν ὑμᾶς Κύριος ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου. Καὶ εἶπε Μωσῆς πρὸς Ἀαρών· Λάβε στάμνον χρυσοῦν ἕνα, καὶ ἔμβαλε εἰς αὐτὸν πλῆρες τὸ γομὸρ τοῦ μάννα, καὶ ἀποθήσεις αὐτὸ ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰς διατήρησιν εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, ὃν τρόπον συνέταξε Κύριος τῷ Μωσῇ. Καὶ ἀπέθετο Ἀαρὼν ἔναντι τοῦ μαρτυρίου, εἰς διατήρησιν.» Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐλέγομεν ὅτι τὸν θεῖον ἔχουσα λόγον ἡ κιβωτὸς ὑπεδήλου τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ· Θεοῦ γὰρ ἦν Λόγος ὡς ἐν