Book 12 opens: why Levi’s chosen priests were still examined
ON ADORATION AND WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH — BOOK TWELVE. On the priesthood.
Cyril: We have now spoken plainly about the sacred vestment, and also about the sacrifices which God ordained must be carried out at the consecration of the priests. But since countless things were declared in the oracles concerning them, about their ministry and purifications, and about the exact propriety they need if they are to live in strictest keeping with the law, polished to a spiritual refinement, I think I must say one thing before all the rest.
Palladius: What is that?
Cyril: The tribe sprung from the blood of Levi was an offering dedicated to God and chosen out of all the tribes, and the law gave this family the duty of serving as priests, God granting it this honor as its special portion. Yet he did not leave the priestly company altogether unexamined, nor did he simply open the office to anyone at all on the ground that he was of Levi’s blood. He ordered that they be inquired into, and very minutely, so that no one who happened to suffer one of the censured defects should be unacceptable to God and make his approach blemished, and, all but rushing into the tent of witness with unwashed feet (Exodus 30:19–21), give offence, even without meaning to. And again it is written thus in Leviticus (Leviticus 21:16–19): ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Say to Aaron: A man of your family throughout your generations who has a blemish in him shall not come near to offer the gifts of his God. No man who has a blemish in him shall come near: a man who is blind, or lame, or has a stunted nose, or a clipped ear, or a man who has
Greek
ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΠΡΟΣΚΥΝΗΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΤΡΕΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΔΩΔΕΚΑΤΟΣ. Περὶ ἱερωσύνης. Στολῆς μὲν οὖν πέρι τῆς ἱερᾶς, καὶ μέντοι καὶ θυσιῶν, ἃς δὴ καὶ ἀποπεραίνεσθαι δεῖν ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν ἱερέων τελειώσεσιν ἐθεσμοθέτει Θεὸς, εἴρηται σαφῶς. Μυρίων δὲ ὅσων ἐπ' αὐτοῖς κεχρησμῳδημένων, λειτουργίας τε πέρι καὶ καθαρισμῶν, καὶ ἀκριβοῦς ἐμμελείας τῆς ἔν γε τῷ χρῆναι βιοῦν ἐννομώτατά τε καὶ ἀπεξεσμένως εἰς νοητὴν ἀστειότητα, οἶμαι δεῖν ἔγωγε καὶ πρό γε τῶν ἄλλων ἐκεῖνο εἰπεῖν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τὸ ποῖόν τι φής·
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀνάθημα γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἀπόλεκτον ἐκ πασῶν τῶν φυλῶν, ἡ ἐξ αἵματος ἦν τοῦ Λευὶ, καὶ νόμος ἐδίδου τῷ γένει τὸ ἱερᾶσθαι δεῖν, ἔκκριτον αὐτῷ τὸ ἐπὶ τῷδε γέρας ἀπονέμοντος Θεοῦ· πλὴν οὐκ ἀβασάνιστον ὁλοτρόπως τὴν ἱερουργὸν ἠφίει πληθὺν, οὐδὲ ἀνῆκεν ἁπλῶς τοῖς τυχοῦσι τὸ χρῆμα, διά γε τὸ ἐξ αἵματος εἶναι Λευΐ· πολυπραγμονεῖν δὲ δεῖν ἐκέλευε καὶ σφόδρα λεπτῶς, μὴ ἄρα τι τῶν κατεψεγμένων ἀῤῥωστῆσαι συμβὰν, ἀνεθέλητον εἴη Θεῷ, καὶ μεμωμημένην ποιοῖτο τὴν πρόσοδον, μόνον δὲ οὐχὶ καὶ ἀνίπτοις εἰσθέων ποσὶν εἰς τὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνὴν προσκρούοι καὶ οὐχ ἑκών. Γέγραπται δὲ οὕτω πάλιν ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ· «Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν λέγων· Εἶπον Ἀαρών· Ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ γένους σου εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, τινὶ ἂν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος, οὐ προσελεύσεται προσφέρειν τὰ δῶρα τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ. Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ᾧ ἂν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος, οὐ προσελεύσεται, ἄνθρωπος τυφλὸς, ἢ χωλὸς, ἢ κολοβόρινος, ἢ ὠτότμητος, ἢ ἄνθρωπος ᾧ ἐστιν ἐν