Gifts to sons stand; gifts to servants go back
Cyril: …ministers, and he has commanded that these be kept for them forever and never be lost, the passage must mean this. For if it should happen, he says, that one of the leaders, that is, of the ministers, gives part of his own lot to his own children, let what was given stand fixed, he says, and let the gift never pass away from the one who received it. For the lot does not pass to someone of another race, but from priests to those who are consecrated. But if he gives it as a favor to one of his household servants, the one who received it, he says, will not hold it securely; his lot will surely return to the leader in the year of release (Ezekiel 46:17). He further commands the minister to put away any desire for the lots of others; for this, I think, is the meaning of ‘the leader shall not take any of the inheritance of his people’ (Ezekiel 46:18). Has the account been enough to make the matter clear to you?
Palladius: Fully.
Cyril: Then let it be put to the spiritual test; for the things in the law are types, and the shape of the truth is engraved in the shadows.
Palladius: True.
Cyril: So the lots that pass from fathers to children are secure and lasting, but those that pass from masters to servants can be lost and go back again; for this is what the sacred Scripture said.
Palladius: I understand.
Cyril: Now we who have been justified by faith have one leader, Christ (Matthew 23:10), who has as his own lot that of God the Father. That is why he said, when he addressed him as if in the form of prayer, ‘All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine, and I am glorified in them’ (John 17:10). And the inspired Singer sings somewhere that, having ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men (Psalm 68:18; Ephesians 4:8). For some he placed in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers (1 Corinthians 12:28); and to one is given a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8), and the gifts akin to these. In a word, he enriches the souls of those who love him with his own good things. Secure, then, and firmly founded is the possession of these gifts for those who are both ministers and free. But for those who have the spirit of slavery (Romans 8:15), that is, for those of Israel, who do not accept the faith of freedom but still lie under the yoke of profane and loathsome sin, even the grace given through Moses can be lost and taken away; that grace is the knowledge in the law, which leads like a tutor toward the truth (Galatians 3:24). They have no lot at all with the saints and no portion with Christ. ‘For to him who has,’ he says, ‘more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away’ (Matthew 25:29; Luke 8:18). That Israel is left without a lot, since it did not accept the faith and has not been made glorious with the honors that belong to freedom, the Savior made plain, bringing forward, as I think, the force of this very law. For he spoke thus to those who chose to disobey:
Greek
ἱερουργοῖς ἐκνενέμηνται κλῆροι, καὶ τούτους αὐτοῖς ἐσαεὶ διασώζεσθαι καὶ ἀναποβλήτους εἶναι προστέταχεν, ἀναγκαίως ἐκεῖνο δηλοῖ. Εἰ γὰρ γένοιτο, φησὶν, ἕνα τῶν ἡγουμένων ἤτοι τῶν ἱερουργῶν, τοῖς ἰδίοις διανεῖμαι τέκνοις ἐξ ἰδίου κλήρου τινὰ, πεπήχθω, φησὶ, τὸ δοθὲν, καὶ ἀνεκποίητον ἔστω τῷ λαβόντι τὸ δῶρον. Οἴχεται γὰρ οὐκ ἐπί τινα τῶν ἀλλογενῶν ὁ κλῆρος, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἱερέων εἰς ἱερούς. Εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ ἑνὶ τῶν οἰκετῶν χαρίσαιτο, κεκτήσεται, φησὶν, οὐ βεβαίως ὁ λαβὼν, ἀναδραμεῖται δὲ πάντως ἐπὶ τὸν ἡγούμενον, ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῆς ἀφέσεως, ὁ κλῆρος αὐτοῦ. Προσεπιτάττει γε μὴν ἀποσείεσθαι τὸν ἱερουργὸν τοῦ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐφίεσθαι κλήρου, τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, ἐστὶ τὸ, οὐ μὴ λάβῃ ὁ ἀφηγούμενος ἐκ τῆς κληρονομίας τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ἆρά σοι γέγονεν ἀποχρῶν ὁ λόγος εἰς τὴν τοῦ πράγματος διασάφησιν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ μάλα.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἴτω δὴ οὖν εἰς βάσανον τὴν πνευματικήν· τύποι γὰρ δὴ τὰ ἐν νόμῳ, καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ μόρφωσις ἐγκεχάρακται ταῖς σκιαῖς.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθές.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν κλῆροι μὲν ἀσφαλεῖς καὶ μένοντες, οἱ ἐκ πατέρων εἰς τέκνα, ἀπόβλητοι δὲ καὶ ἀνόπιν ἰόντες, οἱ ἐκ δεσποτῶν εἰς τοὺς οἰκέτας· τοῦτο γὰρ ἔφη τὸ Γράμμα τὸ ἱερόν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Συνίημι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Εἷς δὲ ἡμῶν τῶν ἐν πίστει δεδικαιωμένων καθηγητὴς, ὁ Χριστὸς, κλῆρον ἔχων ἴδιον, τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἔφασκεν, ὅταν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐποιεῖτο τοὺς λόγους ὡς ἐν σχήματι προσευχῆς, ὅτι «Πάντα τὰ ἐμὰ, σά ἐστι, καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς.» Ψάλλει δέ που καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Μελῳδὸς, ὅτι ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος, ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· οὓς μὲν γὰρ ἔθετο ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον διδασκάλους, καὶ ᾧ μὲν δέδοται λόγος σοφίας, ἄλλῳ δὲ λόγος γνώσεως, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀδελφά. Καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀγαθοῖς τὰς τῶν ἀγαπώντων αὐτὸν καταπιαίνει ψυχάς. Βεβαία δὴ οὖν καὶ ἐρηρεισμένη τοῖς ἱερουργοῖς τε καὶ ἐλευθέροις τῶν δεδωρημένων ἡ κτῆσις. Τοῖς δὲ τὸ δοῦλον ἔχουσι πνεῦμα, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, τὴν ἐλευθέραν πίστιν οὐ προσιεμένοις, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ ζυγὰ κειμένοις ἔτι τῆς βεβήλου καὶ βδελυρᾶς ἁμαρτίας, ἀπόβλητος καὶ ἀφαιρετὴ καὶ ἡ δοθεῖσα χάρις διὰ Μωσέως, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ ἐν νόμῳ γνῶσις, παιδαγωγοῦσα πρὸς ἀλήθειαν. Καὶ κλῆρος μὲν ὅλως μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων οὐδεὶς, μερὶς δὲ οὐδεμία μετὰ Χριστοῦ. «Τῷ γὰρ ἔχοντι,» φησὶ, «δοθήσεται καὶ περισσευθήσεται, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος, καὶ ὃ δοκεῖ ἔχειν ἀρθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ.» Ὅτι δὲ ἀπόκληρος ὁ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν πίστιν οὐ προσηκάμενος, οὐδὲ τοῖς εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἀξιώμασιν ἐκλελαμπρυσμένος, διαμεμήνυκεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, τὴν τοῦδε τοῦ νόμου, καθάπερ ἐγῷμαι, δύναμιν παρακομίζων εἰς μέσον. Ἔφη γὰρ ὧδε τοῖς ἀπειθεῖν ἑλομένοις·