The tithe to Aaron points to Christ; Levi is counted apart
Cyril: …die.’ (Numbers 18:32) Do you see the mystery of Christ, still in shadows, as it were, and shining out beforehand in types? For the one who receives tithes has himself been tithed, as the blessed Paul says (Hebrews 7:9). But at that time the type was in Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18–20); in the times of Moses it was kept again, as it were, in Aaron, who signifies in himself Christ, the Priest of priests, who leads and presides over the holy tent, that is, the Church: the Holy of holies and the God of gods, to whom we owe all the fruit we bear. For it is written: ‘All who are round about him shall bring gifts’ (Psalm 76:11). But the things of Moses are still in types, while now the true guardians of the Gospel’s commands gladden their Redeemer with spiritual fruit.
Palladius: Well said.
Cyril: That the Levitical tribe is chosen and set apart from the others he makes plain in this way. He commanded the common people to be counted and an exact reckoning to be made of the general multitude, not because the Creator did not know. For the drops of rain are numbered by him, as it is written (Job 36:27), and nothing could escape that pure mind. He did it so that those who read the sacred Scriptures might know very clearly that those who are joined to God and bear the name of his people go into the registers kept with God and into the book of life, are counted among those he knows, and are already in the remembrance of the Master of all. So the common people were enrolled; but God set the chosen and holy tribe apart, as it were, by itself, and in no way let it stand in equal rank with the others, but reserved for it, as it were, the foremost portion, saying to Moses, wisest of men: ‘As for the tribe of Levi, see that you do not include their number in the count, nor take it among the sons of Israel’ (Numbers 1:49). For the lot of the holy is set apart, and their honors are of the highest. And perhaps the enrollment is in other books as well; for the inspired Daniel saw not one book, but, as he himself says: ‘The court sat, and books were opened’ (Daniel 7:10). So the enrollment matches each one’s measure. And the tribe assigned and dedicated to the divine services is set apart, as it were, from the rest of the multitude; and he made plain the manner of the Levites’ ministry, saying at once: ‘Take the tribe of Levi, and you shall set them before Aaron the priest, and they shall minister to him; and they shall keep his charges and the charges of the sons of Israel before the tent of witness, to do the work of the tent. And they shall keep all the furnishings of the tent of witness and the charges of the sons of Israel in all the work of the tent. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron your brother and to his sons the priests; these are given to me as a gift from the sons of Israel. And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons over the tent of witness, and they shall keep their priesthood and all that concerns the altar and what is within the veil; and the outsider who touches it shall die’ (Numbers 3:6–10). So the…
Greek
ἀποθάνητε.» Ὁρᾷς τὸ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς ἔτι, καὶ προαναλάμπον ἐν τύποις; ὁ γάρ τοι δεκάτας λαμβάνων δεδεκάτωται, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου φωνήν. Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ὁ τύπος ἐν Μελχισεδὲκ, ἐν δέ γε καιροῖς κατὰ Μωσέα, τετήρηται πάλιν ὡς ἐν Ἀαρὼν, τὸν τῶν ἱερέων ἱερέα Χριστὸν ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ σημαίνοντι τὸν ἡγούμενον, καὶ προεστηκότα τῆς ἁγίας σκηνῆς, τοῦτ' ἔστι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὸν Ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ Θεὸν τῶν θεῶν, ᾧ πᾶσα καρποφορία πρὸς ἡμῶν ὀφείλεται. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι «Πάντες οἱ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ, οἴσουσι δῶρα.» Ἀλλ' ἐν τύποις μὲν ἔτι τὰ Μωσαϊκὰ, πνευματικαῖς δὲ νυνὶ καρποφορίαις τὸν ἑαυτῶν κατευφραίνουσι Λυτρωτὴν, οἱ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν θεσπισμάτων γνήσιοι φύλακες.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀπόλεκτον δὲ ὅτι τὸ Λευϊτικόν ἐστι γένος, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐξῃρημένον, φανερὸν ποιεῖ κατὰ τοιόνδε τινὰ τρόπον· Ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι προστέταχε τὸ δημοτικὸν, καὶ τῆς ἀγελαίου πληθύος ἀκριβῆ ποιεῖσθαι τὸν ἐκλογισμὸν, οὐκ ἠγνοηκὼς ὁ Δημιουργός. Ἠρίθμηνται γὰρ αὐτῷ σταγόνες ὑετοῦ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τι διαλάθοι νοῦν τὸν ἀκήρατον, ἀλλ' ἵν' εἰδεῖεν καὶ μάλα σαφῶς οἱ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐντυχόντες Γράμμασιν, ὅτι τῷ Θεῷ προσκείμενοι καὶ λαὸς αὐτοῦ κεχρηματικότες, ἐν ἀπογραφαῖς ἴενται ταῖς παρὰ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆς, καὶ ἐναρίθμιοι τοῖς γνωρίμοις, καὶ ἐν μνήμαις ἤδη τοῦ πάντων Δεσπότου. Οὐκοῦν ἀπεγράφετο μὲν τὸ δημοτικὸν, ἀνὰ μέρος δὲ ὥσπερ ἐτίθει Θεὸς τὸ ἀπόλεκτόν τε καὶ ἱερὸν γένος, καὶ οὐκ ἐν ἴσῃ τάξει τοῖς ἄλλοις ἠφίει ποθὲν, μοῖραν δὲ ὥσπερ αὐτῷ τὴν προὔχουσαν ἀπεταμιεύετο, λέγων πρὸς Μωσέα τὸν σοφώτατον· «Ὅρα τὴν φυλὴν Λευῒ, οὐ συνεπισκέψῃ τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐ λήψῃ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ.» Ἐξαίρετος γὰρ τῶν ἁγίων ὁ κλῆρος, καὶ ἐν ὑπεροχαῖς τὰ γέρα. Καὶ τάχα που καὶ ἐν βίβλοις ἑτέραις ἡ ἀπογραφή· τεθέαται γὰρ οὐ μίαν ὁ θεσπέσιος Δανιὴλ, ἀλλ' ᾗ φησιν αὐτός· «Κριτήριον ἐκάθισε, καὶ βίβλοι ἠνεῴχθησαν.» Οὐκοῦν ἀναλόγοις τοῖς ἑκάστου μέτροις, ἡ ἀπογραφή. Ἐξῄρηται δὲ ὥσπερ τῆς ἄλλης πληθύος τὸ ταῖς θείαις ἱερουργίαις ἐκνεμηθὲν καὶ ἀνακείμενον γένος, καὶ τόν γε τῆς τῶν Λευϊτῶν ἱερουργίας τρόπον διεσάφει λέγων εὐθύς· «Λάβε τὴν φυλὴν Λευῒ, καὶ στήσεις αὐτοὺς ἐναντίον Ἀαρὼν τοῦ ἱερέως, καὶ λειτουργήσουσιν αὐτῷ, καὶ φυλάξουσι τὰς φυλακὰς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰς φυλακὰς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἔναντι τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἔργα τῆς σκηνῆς· καὶ φυλάξουσι πάντα τὰ σκεύη τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ τὰς φυλακὰς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ πάντα τὰ ἔργα τῆς σκηνῆς. Καὶ δώσεις τοὺς Λευΐτας Ἀαρὼν τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου, καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἱερεῦσι· δεδομένοι δόμα οὗτοί μοί εἰσιν ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ καταστήσεις ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου. Καὶ φυλάξουσι τὴν ἱερατείαν αὐτῶν, καὶ πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν βωμὸν, καὶ ἔσω τοῦ καταπετάσματος· καὶ ὁ ἀλλογενὴς ὁ ἁπτόμενος, ἀποθανεῖται.» Οἱ μὲν οὖν