Eli’s sons, the added fifth, and priests kept from the dead
Cyril: …inspired Paul said. So it was necessary that the portion of what was brought be consecrated to God, according to the law that fitted each offering, and that the ministers be sustained with the rest of the body of the sacrifice. But if anyone kept back the whole gift entirely for himself and spent it on his own needs, having burned none of it, he was charged under the law as one who had eaten holy things. This is just what the sons of Eli the priest did: they seized and profaned the sacred offerings before the sacrifices were made, and said most impiously to those who came to sacrifice, ‘Give meat for the priest to roast’ (1 Samuel 2:15). But those deeds, being deliberate and plainly insolent, were punished accordingly. ‘But if,’ he says, ‘someone, either overtaken by forgetfulness or not knowing exactly what the laws require, should do any such thing, let him bear a penalty: let him repay the same amount without fail, and let him add to it a fifth as well,’ that is, the fifth part of the value; ‘for in this way he will be cleared of the charges and will ward off the harm that comes from ignorance’ (Leviticus 22:14; Leviticus 5:15–16). If, then, what is done in ignorance is not free from indictment, what would anyone think of what is done out of madness and audacity? Those, then, who have the care of the sacred things must refrain from seeking to claim anything for themselves before the sacrifice; otherwise let them know that, having committed grave offenses, they will incur punishment and come under the wrath of God. Or do you say that this is not true, my friend?
Palladius: It is entirely true.
Cyril: He made it clear that those who serve as priests must be holy and washed clean, and must shake off with all their strength any frame of mind that is in some way dead and cold, and not alive to virtue; for he says: ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: They shall not be defiled for the dead among their people, except for the nearest of their household: for father and mother, for sons and daughters, for a brother, and for a virgin sister who is close to him and has not been given to a husband; for these he may be defiled. He shall not be defiled suddenly among his people, so as to profane himself. And you shall not shave a bald patch on your heads for the dead, and they shall not shave the beard from their faces, nor cut gashes in their flesh. They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God; for they offer the sacrifices of the Lord, the gifts of their God, and they shall be holy’ (Leviticus 21:1–6). For if one looks closely into the truth of the matter, another man’s death would bring no defilement at all on anyone. Bodily deadness, however, may be a type of the deadness that is inward and in souls, by which anyone who comes near it must be defiled, whether by consenting to it or by doing the same deeds. For it would befit the saints to keep away from dead works and to stay as far from them as they can, and it is good not to keep company with those who are sick with such things. For it is written: ‘Whoever touches pitch…
Greek
σπέσιος ἔφη Παῦλος. Ἦν οὖν ἄρα ἀνάγκη καθιεροῦσθαι Θεῷ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ προσκομισθέντος, κατὰ τὸν ἑκάστῳ πρέποντα νόμον, παραμυθεῖσθαι δὲ τῷ λοιπῷ σώματι τῆς θυσίας τοὺς ὑπουργούς. Εἰ δὲ δή τις ὅλον ὥσπερ διόλου τὸ δῶρον ἀπονοσφίσαιτο, καὶ ταῖς ἰδίαις ἀπονενέμηκε χρείαις, τεθυμιακὼς οὐδέν· ὡς ἅγια κατεδηδοκὼς, ἐγράφετο νόμῳ. Τοῦτό τοι δεδράκασιν οἱ Ἡλὶ τοῦ ἱερέως υἱοὶ, πρὸ θυσιῶν ἁρπάζοντες καὶ βεβηλοῦντες τὰ ἱερὰ, καὶ τοῖς εἰς τὸ θύειν ἥκουσιν, ἀνοσιώτατα λέγοντες· «Δὸς κρέας ὀπτῆσαι τῷ ἱερεῖ.» Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα μὲν ὡς ἑκούσια καὶ γυμνὴν ἔχοντα τὴν ὕβριν, ἀναλόγως ἐκολάζετο. «Εἰ δὲ δὴ γένοιτο, φησὶν, ἢ λήθῃ συνηρπασμένον, ἢ τὸ τοῖς νόμοις δοκοῦν οὐκ ἀκριβῶς ἐγνωκότα, δράσαι τι τοιοῦτον· ζημίαν ὑπομενέτω· καὶ ἀποτιννύτω μὲν τὸ ἴσον ἀμελητί· προσεπαγέτω δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὸ ἐπίπεμπτον,» τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὴν τοῦ τιμήματος πέμπτην μοῖραν· «καὶ ἀπολύσεται γὰρ οὕτω τὰ ἐγκλήματα, καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς ἀγνοίας διακρούσεται βλάβη» Ὅτε τοίνυν τὸ ἀγνοηθὲν, γραφῆς οὐκ ἐλεύθερον, τί ἂν οἴοιτό τις τὸ ἐξ ἀπονοίας καὶ θράσους; Παραιτητέον δὴ οὖν οἷς ἐν φροντίδι τὰ ἱερὰ, μηδὲν πρὸ θυσίας οἰκειοῦσθαι ζητεῖν· ἢ ἴστων, ὅτι δεινὰ πεπλημμεληκότες, ὀφλήσουσι δίκην, καὶ ὑπὸ θείαν ἔσονται κίνησιν. Ἢ οὐκ εἶναι φὴς ἀληθὲς τὸ χρῆμα, ὦ τᾶν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἁγίους δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἐκνενιμμένους εἶναι χρὴ τοὺς ἱερατεύοντας, ἀποσείεσθαι δὲ καὶ μάλα νεανικῶς τὸ οἱονείπως νεκρὸν καὶ ἀπεψυγμένον φρόνημα, καὶ τὸ μὴ ἔμπνουν εἰς ἀρετὴν, διεσάφει λέγων· «Εἶπον τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἀαρὼν, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς οὐ μιανθήσονται ἐν τῷ ἔθνει αὐτῶν, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ τῷ ἔγγιστα αὐτῶν, ἐπὶ πατρὶ καὶ μητρὶ, καὶ υἱοῖς καὶ θυγατράσιν, ἐπ' ἀδελφῷ, καὶ ἐπ' ἀδελφῇ παρθένῳ τῇ ἐγγιζούσῃ αὐτῷ, τῇ μὴ ἐκδεδομένῃ ἀνδρὶ, ἐπὶ τούτοις μιανθήσεται. Οὐ μιανθήσεται ἐξάπινα ἐν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ εἰς βεβήλωσιν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ φαλάκρωμα οὐ ξυρηθήσεσθε τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ νεκρῷ, καὶ τὴν ὄψιν τοῦ πώγωνος οὐ ξυρήσονται, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς σάρκας αὐτῶν οὐ κατατεμοῦσιν ἐντομίδας. Ἅγιοι ἔσονται τῷ Θεῷ αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσουσι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτῶν· τὰς γὰρ θυσίας Κυρίου δῶρα τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτῶν αὐτοὶ προσφέρουσι, καὶ ἔσονται ἅγιοι.» Μίασμα μὲν γὰρ ἀνδρὶ γένοιτ' ἂν παντελῶς οὐδὲν, ὁ ἑτέρου θάνατος, εἰ τόν γε τῆς ἀληθείας πολυπραγμονοίη τις λόγον. Νεκρότης γε μὴν ἡ σωματικὴ, τύπος ἂν εἴη τῆς ἔσω καὶ ἐν ψυχαῖς, ὑφ' ἧς ἀνάγκη καταμιαίνεσθαι τὸν ἀγχοῦ γεγονότα, ἢ κατὰ θέλησιν, ἢ κατὰ ταυτοεργίαν· νεκρῶν γὰρ ἔργων ἀποφοιτᾷν καὶ ὡς ἀπωτάτω φέρεσθαι, πρέποι ἂν ἁγίοις, καὶ τοῖς τὰ τοιάδε κατηῤῥωστηκόσι μὴ εἰς ταυτὸν ἰέναι, καλόν. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι «Ὁ ἁπτόμενος πίσσης,