The Lord as the Levites’ lot; tithes, priestly shares, and the Levites’ cities
Cyril: …says the Lord’ (Numbers 18:20). So too the Savior: when someone once came to him and asked how he might have eternal life (Matthew 19:16), he said, ‘You know the commandments: You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal’ (Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19), and the rest of that kind. The man declared openly that he had kept such commandments, and he asked further, adding, ‘What do I still lack?’ (Matthew 19:20). The Savior answered, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’ (Matthew 19:21). Those, then, who wish to serve God without distraction, and who think they must follow him, have to withdraw from earthly things, make him alone their lot, and grow rich on their hope in him, as is sung in the Psalms: ‘Delight in the Lord, and hope in him, and he will act’ (Psalm 37:4–5). So he sets apart the tithes for the Levites, in return for the labor of their service (Numbers 18:21). For the toil of the saints is not unpaid: their honors are choice and their rewards splendid. For the Savior says, ‘Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will put on (Matthew 6:25); but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’ (Matthew 6:33). Again, he gives the name ‘sins’ to the victims slain for sins. These too would be types of Christ, who was sacrificed for us and endured the slaughter in order to abolish the sin of the world (John 1:29). And the offerings for sin may be eaten only by those who perform the sacred rites (Leviticus 6:26, 29). For it is fitting that the holy body of Christ be shared not by unholy souls but by chosen and pure ones, to whom one might apply the words, ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession’ (1 Peter 2:9). To those appointed to minister are reserved the arm, the jaws, and also the stomach (Deuteronomy 18:3). For the chosen race must have in it the power to act and to accomplish, and this is the arm; and also speech, plainly the speech that teaches, of which the jaws are a type; and besides these, the stomach, which very aptly signifies fruitfulness. For must not the one who is truly known to God be active, most eloquent, and most fruitful as well?
Palladius: Certainly.
Cyril: So he made the tribe of Levi a tribe without an allotment, and gave himself to it as its special lot. Yet he wisely did not let them seem to be set wholly apart from the rest by receiving nothing at all; he measured the matter out, as it were, and gave them a little for their necessary use. For it is written thus: ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses on the west of Moab, by the Jordan, opposite Jericho, saying: Command the sons of Israel, and they shall give the Levites, from the allotments of their possession, cities to dwell in; and they shall give the Levites the outskirts of the cities round about them. And the cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their reserved lands shall be (Numbers 35:1–3)…
Greek
φησὶ Κύριος.» Καὶ γοῦν ὁ Σωτὴρ, προσελθόντι ποτὲ καὶ ἐρομένῳ τινὶ, ὅπως ἂν ἔχοι ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, «Τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας, φησὶ, τὸ, Οὐ φονεύσεις, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, Οὐ κλέψεις,» καὶ τὰ συγγενῆ. Τοῦ δὲ, ὅτι τῶν μὲν τοιούτων γένοιτο φύλαξ ἀναφανδὸν εἰρηκότος, προσερομένου δὲ καὶ προστεθεικότος τὸ, Τί ἔτι ὑστερῶ; «Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε, πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει μοι.» Ἀνάγκη δὴ οὖν τοὺς ἀπερισπάστως τῷ Θεῷ λειτουργεῖν ἐθέλοντας, ἕπεσθαί τε δεῖν οἰομένους αὐτῷ, ἀποφοιτᾷν μὲν τῶν ἐπιγείων, κλῆρον καὶ αὐτὸν ποιεῖσθαι μόνον, καὶ τῇ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλπίδι καταπιαίνεσθαι, κατὰ τὸ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς ᾀδόμενον· «Κατατρύφησον τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ἔλπισον ἐπ' αὐτὸν, καὶ αὐτὸς ποιήσει.» Ἀφορίζει τοίνυν τὰ ἐπιδέκατα τοῖς Λευΐταις, εἰς ἀντίδοσιν τοῦ πόνου τῆς λειτουργίας αὐτῶν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀμισθὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις ὁ πόνος, ἀλλ' ἐξαίρετοι μὲν αἱ τιμαὶ, περιφανῆ δὲ τὰ γέρα. «Μὴ γὰρ δὴ μεριμνᾶτε, φησὶν ὁ Σωτὴρ, τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν, τί φάγητε, καὶ τῷ σώματι τί ἐνδύσησθε· ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν.» Ἁμαρτήματα δὲ ὀνομάζει πάλιν, τὰ ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν σφαζόμενα. Τύποι δ' ἂν εἶεν καὶ ταῦτα Χριστοῦ, τοῦ δι' ἡμᾶς τεθυμένου, καὶ ὑπομείναντος τὴν σφαγὴν, ἵνα καταργήσῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, ἐδεστὰ δὲ μόνοις τοῖς ἱερουργοῖς τὰ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Πρέποι γὰρ οὐ ταῖς ἀνιέροις ψυχαῖς τὸ χρῆναι μεταλαχεῖν τοῦ ἁγίου σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἀπολέκτοις καὶ καθαραῖς, αἷς ἄν τις ἐπιφωνήσειε τὸ, «Ὑμεῖς δὲ γένος ἐκλεκτὸν, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον, λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν.» Ἐξῄρηνται δὲ τοῖς εἰς τὸ λειτουργεῖν ἐπιτεταγμένοις, ὅ τε βραχίων καὶ τὰ σιαγόνια, καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸ ἔνυστρον· ἐνεῖναι γὰρ δεῖ τῷ ἀπολέκτῳ γένει τὸ πρακτικὸν καὶ δραστήριον· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ βραχίων· καὶ μέντοι καὶ λόγον, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τὸν διδακτικὸν, οὗ τύπος τὰ σιαγόνια· προσέτι δὲ καὶ τὸ ἔνυστρον, δι' οὗ τὸ καρπογόνον εὖ μάλα σημαίνεται. Ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ πρακτικὸν καὶ ἐλλογιμώτατον, καὶ μέντοι καὶ γονιμώτατον εἶναι χρὴ τὸν ἀληθῶς καὶ Θεῷ γνώριμον;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πάνυ μέν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν ἀπόκληρον μὲν τὸ Λευϊτικὸν ἐποιεῖτο γένος, καὶ κλῆρον αὐτῷ τὸν ἐξαίρετον ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδούς. Τό γε μὴν εἰσάπαν ἔξω τεθεῖσθαι τῶν ἄλλων δοκεῖν, διά γε τὸ μηδὲν ὅλως ἑλεῖν, οὐκ ἠφίει χρησίμως· συνεμέτρει δὲ ὥσπερ τὸ χρῆμα, βραχύ τι δοὺς εἰς ἀναγκαίαν ἀπόλαυσιν· γέγραπται γὰρ ὡδί· «Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν ἐπὶ δυσμῶν Μωὰβ παρὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην, κατὰ Ἱεριχὼ, λέγων· Σύνταξον σοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ δώσουσι τοῖς Λευΐταις ἀπὸ τῶν κλήρων κατασχέσεως αὐτῶν πόλεις κατοικεῖν, καὶ τὰ προάστεια τῶν πόλεων κύκλῳ αὐτῶν δώσουσι τοῖς Λευΐταις· καὶ ἔσονται αὐτοῖς αἱ πόλεις κατοικεῖν, καὶ τὰ ἀφορίσματα αὐτῶν ἔσται