The sacred order and the Levites' portion: the Lord himself
Palladius: Well said.
Cyril: The sacred things, then, are kept in an order that admits no confusion; for it is fitting that they be so, and not otherwise.
Palladius: You are right.
Cyril: He assigns to both, as it were, a common lot: the offerings brought by those in their charge. And whatever anyone offers to God as a dedication or a sacrifice, he says, must belong to the priests and the Levites together. For the God of all spoke thus to Aaron: ‘You shall have no inheritance in their land, and you shall have no portion among them; for I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel. And to the sons of Levi, see, I have given every tithe in Israel as their lot, in return for their services, for the service they perform in the tent of witness. And the sons of Israel shall no longer come near the tent of witness, to incur a deadly sin; but the Levite himself shall perform the service of the tent of witness, and they themselves shall take their sins. It is a perpetual statute throughout their generations; and among the sons of Israel they shall inherit no inheritance. For the tithes of the sons of Israel, whatever they set apart for the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an offering, as their lot. Therefore I have said to them: Among the sons of Israel they shall inherit no lot.’ (Numbers 18:20–24)
And in Deuteronomy, as if bringing the same word round again, he says something like this: ‘The priests, the Levites, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or lot with Israel. The Lord’s offerings by fire are their lot; they shall eat them. They shall have no lot among their brothers; the Lord himself is his lot, as he told him. And this is the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer sacrifices, whether a calf or a sheep: you shall give the priest the arm, the jaws, and the stomach; and the firstfruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and the first of the shearing of your sheep you shall give him. For the Lord has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand before the Lord God, to minister and to bless in his name, he and his sons, for all time.’ (Deuteronomy 18:1–5)
See, then, how the sacred race is not ranked with the people, and is in a way marked off from the rest, not only by the duties of its ministry but already by the difference of its hope. For to those who live an earthbound life, who cling to earthly things and thirst for the things of the moment, which pass by like shadows, it may fittingly be said: ‘This is your portion, this is your lot, the portion for your disobedience to me, says the Lord.’ (Jeremiah 13:25) But to those who have prized the holy and blameless life, and who are already chosen out for their virtue, it is very right to say: ‘You shall have no inheritance in their land, and you shall have no portion among them; for I am your portion and your inheritance… (Numbers 18:20)
Greek
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐν τάξει δὴ οὖν τῇ ἀσυγχύτῳ τὰ ἱερά· πρέποι γὰρ ἂν ὡδὶ, καὶ οὐχ ἑτεροίως ἔχειν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ λέγεις.
{ΚΥΡ.} Κοινὸν δὲ ὥσπερ ἀμφοῖν ἀπονέμει κλῆρον, τὰς τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρα δωροφορίας, καὶ ἅπερ ἀνοίσειέ τις εἰς ἀνάθημα καὶ θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ, ταῦτα δεῖν εἶναί φησιν ἱερέων τε ἅμα καὶ Λευϊτῶν. Ἔφη γὰρ οὕτω πρὸς Ἀαρὼν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός· «Ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτῶν οὐ κληρονομήσεις, καὶ μερὶς οὐκ ἔσται σοι ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὅτι ἐγὼ μερίς σου καὶ κληρονομία σου ἐν μέσῳ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς Λευΐ· Ἰδοὺ δέδωκα πᾶν ἐπιδέκατον ἐν Ἰσραὴλ ἐν κλήρῳ ἀντὶ τῶν λειτουργιῶν αὐτῶν, ὅσα αὐτοὶ λειτουργοῦσι λειτουργίαν ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ οὐ προσελεύσονται ἔτι οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου λαβεῖν ἁμαρτίαν θανατηφόρον, καὶ λειτουργήσει ὁ Λευΐτης αὐτὸς τὴν λειτουργίαν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ αὐτοὶ λήψονται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτῶν· νόμιμον αἰώνιον εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ οὐ κληρονομήσουσι κληρονομίαν· ὅτι τὰ ἐπιδέκατα τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὅσα ἐὰν ἀφορίσωσι Κυρίῳ, ἀφαίρεμα δέδωκα τοῖς Λευΐταις ἐν κλήρῳ· διὰ τοῦτο εἴρηκα αὐτοῖς· Ἐν μέσῳ υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ οὐ κληρονομήσουσι κλῆρον.» Ἐν δέ γε τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ τὸν αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ἀνακυκλώσας λόγον, ὧδέ πή φησιν· «Οὐκ ἔσται τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τοῖς Λευΐταις ὅλῃ φυλῇ Λευῒ μερὶς, οὐδὲ κλῆρος μετὰ Ἰσραήλ. Καρπώματα Κυρίου ὁ κλῆρος αὐτῶν· φάγονται αὐτά. Κλῆρος δὲ οὐκ ἔσται αὐτοῖς ἐν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν· Κύριος αὐτὸς κλῆρος αὐτοῦ, καθότι εἶπεν αὐτῷ. Καὶ αὕτη ἡ κρίσις τῶν ἱερέων τὰ παρὰ τοῦ λαοῦ παρὰ τῶν θυόντων τὰ θύματα, ἐάν τε μόσχον, ἐάν τε πρόβατον· καὶ δώσεις τὸν βραχίονα τῷ ἱερεῖ, καὶ τὰ σιαγόνια, καὶ τὸ ἔνυστρον, καὶ τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τοῦ σίτου σου, καὶ τοῦ οἴνου σου, καὶ τοῦ ἐλαίου σου, καὶ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῶν κουρῶν τῶν προβάτων σου δώσεις αὐτῷ· ὅτι αὐτὸν ἐξελέξατο Κύριος ἐκ πασῶν τῶν φυλῶν σου, παρεστάναι ἔναντι Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ, λειτουργεῖν καὶ εὐλογεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας.» Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν ὅπως ἀσύντακτον τῷ λαῷ τὸ ἱερόν ἐστι γένος, καὶ διεσχοίνισταί πως τῶν ἄλλων· καὶ οὐχὶ δὴ μόνοις τοῖς κατὰ τὴν λειτουργίαν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἤδη καὶ τῇ τῆς ἐλπίδος διαφορᾷ. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ τὸν χαμαιπετῆ διαζῶσι βίον, καὶ τοῖς ἐπιγείοις προστετηκόσι καὶ δεδιψηκόσι τὰ πρόσκαιρα, καὶ ἐν ἴσῳ σκιαῖς παρελαύνοντα, λέγοιτ' ἂν εἰκότως· «Αὕτη ἡ μερίς σου, οὗτος ὁ κλῆρός σου, μερὶς τοῦ ἀπειθεῖν ὑμᾶς ἐμοὶ, λέγει Κύριος.» Τοῖς δὲ τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ἀμώμητον ἐκτετιμηκόσι ζωὴν, καὶ ἀπολέκτοις ἤδη δι' ἀρετὴν, εὖ μάλα ῥητέον· «Ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτῶν οὐ κληρονομήσεις, καὶ μερὶς οὐκ ἔσται σοι ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὅτι ἐγὼ μερίς σου καὶ ἡ κληρονομία σου,