The unfaithful Synagogue, and the law for the high priest
Cyril: …condemnation. Yet the woman cast out by her husband is by no means free of blame either, for she would not be driven from her husband’s home without some cause. Those who have been brought into so holy a ministry, then, must keep away not only from evils whose guilt is plain and open to view, but also, I think, from anything that might bring with it a name for wickedness, a poor opinion of them, or the indecency of lying under a great many suspicions. The passage also seems to hint at the misfortune of the Synagogue of the Jews. Because she played the harlot with many shepherds, as it is written (Jeremiah 3:1), Christ did not receive her into spiritual fellowship: Christ the wholly pure priest, who offers himself to the Father for us as a choice gift, who is holy with us in his humanity, although he himself sanctifies the whole creation, since he is God from God. He made the mystery plainer still when he said: ‘And if the daughter of a priest profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes the name of her father; she shall be burned with fire.’ (Leviticus 21:9) For the Synagogue of the Jews has been given over to the flame as unholy and profane, because she followed the opinions of the scribes and Pharisees and devoted her whole mind to the commandments of men (Matthew 15:9). So it was very just that she heard the prophet say: ‘How have you become a harlot, faithful city of Zion, full of justice?’ (Isaiah 1:21) Having played the harlot, then, and utterly disregarded the spiritual Bridegroom from above, she has become fuel for the fire. So the prophet Jeremiah too sheds bitter tears over her and says: ‘A beautiful olive tree, well shaded in appearance: so the Lord called your name. At the sound of its circumcision a fire was kindled against it; great is the affliction upon you. Its branches have become useless, and the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you.’ (Jeremiah 11:16–17) To turn away from what is right, then, and to seek to attach oneself to shameful and unholy teachers, is a form of spiritual harlotry.
Palladius: That is my view too.
Cyril: In what has been said, the types are rather faint and not very clear in the case of the other priests, but in Aaron, who bears the image of Christ, they shine out, as it were. For he said again: ‘And the priest who is great among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been consecrated to put on the garments, shall not take the turban from his head’—that is, shall not take off the mitre—‘and shall not tear his garments. He shall not go in to any dead person; he shall not be defiled for his father or for his mother. He shall not go out of the holy place, and shall not profane what is consecrated to his God, because the holy anointing oil of God is upon him. I am the Lord.’ (Leviticus 21:10–12) ‘He shall take as his wife a virgin of his own kindred. A widow, a woman cast out, a woman profaned, or a harlot, these he shall not take; but he shall take as his wife only a virgin from his own people. And he shall not profane his offspring among his people.’ (Leviticus 21:13–15)
Greek
ἔχει τὴν κατάῤῥησιν. Ἀκαταιτίατος δὲ οὐδαμῶς ἡ ἐκβεβλημένη. Πάθοι γὰρ ἂν οὐκ εἰκῆ, τὸ ἀποσείεσθαι δεῖν τῆς τοῦ συνόντος ἑστίας. Χρὴ τοιγαροῦν, τοὺς εἰς τὴν οὕτω σεπτὴν λειτουργίαν ἠγμένους, οὐχὶ δήπου μόνων τῶν ἐμφανεστάτην καὶ ἀκατακάλυπτον ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς ἐχόντων τὴν κατάγνωσιν ἀποσχέσθαι κακῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντὸς, οἶμαι, πράγματος,ᾧπερ ἂν ἕποιτο φαυλότητος δόξα, καὶ ὑπόληψις οὐκ ἀγαθὴ, καὶ ἐν πολλαῖς ἄγαν ὑποψίαις τὸ ἄσεμνον. Ἔοικε δὲ ὁ λόγος, καὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίων Συναγωγῆς τὴν συμφορὰν ὑπαινίττεσθαι, ἢν ὅτι πεπόρνευκεν εἰς ποιμένας πολλοὺς, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, οὐ προσήκατο Χριστὸς εἰς πνευματικὴν κοινωνίαν, ὁ πάναγνος ἱερεὺς, ὁ δῶρον ὥσπερ τι ἐξαίρετον ἑαυτὸν ἀνατιθεὶς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῷ Πατρὶ, ὁ μεθ' ἡμῶν ἅγιος κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, καίτοι πᾶσαν αὐτὸς ἁγιάζων τὴν κτίσιν, ὡς ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ Θεός. Σαφεστέραν δὲ τοῦ μυστηρίου τὴν δήλωσιν ἀπετέλει λέγων· «Καὶ θυγάτηρ ἀνθρώπου ἱερέως, ἐὰν βεβηλωθῇ τοῦ ἐκπορνεῦσαι, τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς αὐτὴ βεβηλοῖ, ἐπὶ πυρὸς κατακαυθήσεται.» Δέδοται γὰρ εἰς φλόγα, ὡς ἀνοσία καὶ βέβηλος, ἡ τῶν Ἰουδαίων Συναγωγὴ, ταῖς τῶν Γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων ἀκολουθοῦσα γνώμαις, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώπων ἐντάλμασιν ὅλον ἑαυτῆς ἀναθεῖσα τὸν νοῦν. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ σφόδρα δικαίως ἤκουε τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· «Πῶς ἐγένου πόρνη, πόλις πιστὴ Σιὼν, πλήρης κρίσεως;» Ἐκπεπορνευμένη τοίνυν, καὶ ἀλογήσασα παντελῶς τοῦ ἄνωθέν τε καὶ πνευματικοῦ νυμφίου, πυρὸς γέγονε τροφή. Τοιγάρτοι πικρὸν ἐπ' αὐτῇ καταστάζων δάκρυον καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἱερεμίας φησίν· «Ἐλαίαν ὡραίαν εὔσκιον τῷ εἴδει ἐκάλεσε Κύριος τὸ ὄνομά σου· εἰς φωνὴν περιτομῆς αὐτῆς, ἀνήφθη πῦρ ἐπ' αὐτήν· μεγάλη ἡ θλίψις ἐπὶ σέ. Ἠχρειώθησαν οἱ κλάδοι αὐτῆς, καὶ Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων ὁ καταφυτεύσας σε, ἐλάλησεν ἐπὶ σὲ κακά.» Τρόπος οὖν ἄρα πορνείας τῆς νοητῆς, τὸ ἀπονεύειν ὀρθότητος, καὶ διδασκάλοις προσκεῖσθαι ζητεῖν αἰσχροῖς τε καὶ ἀνοσίοις.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὕτω φημί.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ ἀμυδρότεροι μὲν τῶν εἰρημένων οἱ τύποι, καὶ οὐκ ἄγαν εὐφανεῖς ἐπί γε τῶν ἄλλων ἱερέων, ἀναλάμπουσι δὲ ὥσπερ ἐν Ἀαρὼν εἰκόνα φοροῦντι Χριστοῦ. Ἔφη γὰρ πάλιν· «Καὶ ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἐπικεχυμένου ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ἐλαίου τοῦ χριστοῦ, καὶ τετελειωμένου ἐνδύσασθαι τὰ ἱμάτια, τὴν κεφαλὴν οὐκ ἀποκιδαρώσει,» ἤτοι οὐκ ἀπομιτρώσει, «καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια οὐ διαῤῥήξει, καὶ ἐπὶ πάσῃ ψυχῇ τετελευτηκυίᾳ οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται, ἐπὶ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐ μιανθήσεται, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται, καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ἡγιασμένον τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ ὅτι τὸ ἅγιον ἔλαιον τὸ χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Ἐγὼ Κύριος. Οὗτος γυναῖκα παρθένον ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ λήψεται, χήραν δὲ καὶ ἐκβεβλημένην καὶ βεβηλωμένην καὶ πόρνην, ταύτας οὐ λήψεται, ἀλλ' ἢ παρθένον ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ λήψεται γυναῖκα. Καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ.