The sign of Jonah, the almond rod, and the lamp and loaves
Cyril: …he was able to accomplish, without effort and with ease, anything whatever beyond what is likely or reasonable, he said to those who were asking for a sign: ‘This generation is evil; it asks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights’ (Matthew 12:39–40). So the sign that the Son is God by nature and was begotten of God the Father, a sign truly renowned and plain to all and enough to bring the truly fair-minded to faith, is this: he abolished death and corruption and blossomed again into life. ‘For he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep’ (1 Corinthians 15:20) ‘and the firstborn from the dead’ (Colossians 1:18). And the sign has been given to the sons of the disobedient (Numbers 17:10), so that they may know that Christ has become high priest over us by the vote of God the Father, ‘holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens’ (Hebrews 7:26), as it is written.
Palladius: Well, Aaron’s rod did blossom for us; the sacred word has just shown us that. But it blossomed with almonds (Numbers 17:8), and I cannot make out what the riddle is.
Cyril: In the first place, Palladius, there is nothing unlikely in supposing that the rod was cut from an almond tree; it was the custom among the people of old to use staffs of this kind as well. But if we must also fit to it an explanation suited to spiritual contemplation, I would mention in turn something that is widely repeated, and that seems to some people worth believing: that a rod of almond wood is not without power to cause sleeplessness if it is laid near a person’s head, perhaps producing this effect through natural powers, by the will of God. And he who knows all things, the Maker of the universe, will in some way confirm this for us himself when he says to Jeremiah: ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ And Jeremiah said, ‘A staff of almond wood.’ To this God says: ‘You have seen rightly, for I am keeping watch over my words, to perform them’ (Jeremiah 1:11–12). The almond rod, then, would fittingly be understood as a symbol of sleeplessness. And Christ’s return to life from the dead was an awakening, as if from sleep. That is why he also says through the lyre of the Psalmist: ‘I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord upheld me’ (Psalm 3:5).
Palladius: What you say is true.
Cyril: About the lamp and the table in the first tent, it is written again as follows: ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Command the sons of Israel, and let them take pure oil, beaten, for the light, to keep a lamp burning continually outside the veil in the tent of witness. And Aaron and his sons shall burn it from evening until morning before the Lord continually, a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations. On the pure lampstand you shall burn the lamps before the Lord until morning. And you shall take fine flour and make of it twelve…’ (Leviticus 24:1–5)
Greek
πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ὑπέρ γε τὸ εἰκὸς καὶ λόγον ἀποπεραίνειν ἀμογητὶ καὶ εὐκόλως δυνάμενος, τοῖς τὸ σημεῖον αἰτοῦσιν ἔφασκεν· «Ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη πονηρά ἐστι· σημεῖον αἰτεῖ, καὶ σημεῖον οὐ δοθήσεται αὐτῇ, εἰ μὴ τὸ σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ τοῦ προφήτου. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἦν Ἰωνᾶς ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας, οὕτως ἔσται ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας.» Οὐκοῦν διαβόητον ἀληθῶς καὶ περιφανὲς σημεῖον, καὶ ἀρκοῦν εἰς πίστιν τοῖς γε ὡς ἀληθῶς εὐγνώμοσι, τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν εἶναι Θεὸν καὶ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς πεφυκέναι τὸν Υἱὸν, τὸ καταργῆσαι τὸν θάνατον καὶ φθορὰν, καὶ ἀναθάλαι πρὸς ζωήν. «Γέγονε γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, καὶ πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν.» Καὶ δέδοται τὸ σημεῖον τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνηκόων, ὡς ἂν εἰδεῖεν ὅτι ψήφῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἀρχιερεὺς γέγονεν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ὁ Χριστὸς, «ὅσιος, ἄκακος, ἀμίαντος, κεχωρισμένος ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, καὶ ὑψηλότερος τῶν οὐρανῶν γενόμενος,» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀλλ' ἐξήνθησε μὲν ἡμῖν ἡ ῥάβδος ἡ Ἀαρών· τουτὶ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως ὁ ἱερὸς ὑπέδειξε λόγος· ἐξήνθησε δὲ κάρυα· καὶ τί δὴ τὸ αἴνιγμα, νοεῖν οὐκ ἔχω.
{ΚΥΡ.} Μάλιστα μὲν, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τὸ ἀπεικὸς οὐδὲν, ἐκ καρύας εἰλῆφθαι τὴν ῥάβδον ὑπονοεῖν. Καὶ ἦν ἐν ἔθει τοῖς πάλαι τὸ καὶ τοιοῖσδέ τισιν ἀποκεχρῆσθαι σκήπτροις. Εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ λόγον ἡμᾶς ἐφαρμόσαι δεῖ τὸν τοῖς θεωρήμασι πρέποντα, φράσαιμ' ἂν ἐκεῖνο πάλιν, ὃ ἐκτεθρύλληταί πως, δοκεῖ δὲ εἶναί τισι καὶ ὡς ἐν πίστει δεκτὸν, τὸ μὴ ἀνικάνως ἔχειν τὴν ῥάβδον τὴν καρυΐνην ἀϋπνίαν ἐμποιεῖν, εἰ πρός γε τὸ κάρα κέοιτό τινων, τάχα που δυνάμεσι φυσικαῖς ἐνεργοῦσαν τὸ χρῆμα κατὰ θέλησιν Θεοῦ. Πιστώσεται δέ πως εἰς τοῦτο ἡμᾶς καὶ αὐτὸς λέγων πρὸς Ἱερεμίαν ὁ πάντα εἰδὼς, καὶ τῶν ὅλων Δημιουργός· «Τί σὺ ὁρᾷς, Ἱερεμία; «Ὁ δὲ, Βακτηρίαν» λέγων «καρυΐνην· καὶ δὴ πρὸς τοῦτο Θεός; «Ὀρθῶς ἑώρακας,» φησὶν «ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐγρήγορα ἐπὶ τοὺς λόγους μου, τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτούς.» Ἀϋπνίας οὖν ἄρα σύμβολον νοοῖτ' ἂν εἰκότως ἡ ῥάβδος ἡ καρυΐνη. Γρηγόρησις δὲ ὥσπερ ἐξ ὕπνου γέγονεν ἡ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβίωσις τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Ψάλλοντος λύρας φησίν· «Ἐγὼ ἐκοιμήθην καὶ ὕπνωσα, ἐξηγέρθην, ὅτι Κύριος ἀντελάβετό μου.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Λύχνου δὲ καὶ τραπέζης πέρι, τῆς ἔν γε τῇ πρώτῃ σκηνῇ, γέγραπται πάλιν ὡδί· «Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν λέγων· Ἔντειλαι τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ λαβέτωσαν ἔλαιον καθαρὸν, κεκομμένον εἰς φῶς, καῦσαι λύχνον διαπαντὸς, ἔξωθεν τοῦ καταπετάσματος ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου· καὶ καύσουσιν αὐτὸ Ἀαρὼν καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ ἑσπέρας ἕως πρωῒ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἐνδελεχῶς, νόμιμον αἰώνιον εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν. Ἐπὶ τῆς λυχνίας τῆς καθαρᾶς καύσετε τοὺς λύχνους ἐναντίον Κυρίου ἕως εἰς τὸ πρωΐ. Καὶ λήψεσθε σεμίδαλιν, καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτὴν δώδεκα