Why the Kohathites carried the holy things on their shoulders
Cyril: …and a young bull from each, and they brought them before the tent. And the Lord said to Moses: Take these from them, and they shall be used for the works of service of the tent of witness, and you shall give them to the Levites, to each according to his service. So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their services, and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their services, under Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they have the services of the holy place: they shall carry them on their shoulders.’ (Numbers 7:3–9) Do you hear how the others were accustomed to move and carry things on wagons, but the Kohathites alone carried the holy things on their shoulders?
Palladius: And why was that?
Cyril: Because what ranks higher and is more sacred always calls, in some way, for greater sweat. In every way and without fail it brings with it, for those who are holier and, as it were, nearer to God, the need to toil and, beyond that, to endure hardship, and not in the same measure as the others. Or is what I say not true?
Palladius: Entirely true.
Cyril: In this order, then, the Levitical tribe performed its service. But I for my part think the arrangement fulfills the type of a mystery.
Palladius: What do you mean?
Cyril: The two clans, Gershon and Merari, seem to hint at the peoples under the law, I mean Israel, and the Kohathites at those sanctified in Christ through faith. The former had in their care the hangings of the court, the hide curtains of the tent, the coverings and the pillars, the capitals and the bases, the pegs and the screens, and, as Holy Scripture says, ‘all the extra things’ (Numbers 4:26), by which is meant what is not essential in the service. The Kohathites were entrusted with carrying the most holy things, the things through which Christ is signified, not in a single way, but rather in many ways and many forms: as the ark, as the table, as the golden lampstand, and as the golden altar of incense. For though he is simple by nature, as God, he is made known in many ways through the variety of his works. For the Word of the Father is, as all confess, living and active (Hebrews 4:12), and besides this he is life and light (John 1:4), and the scent of a spiritual fragrance. So those who devote themselves to the commandments given through Moses have the extra things of the tent as their service, for the law is of no use unless it is understood spiritually. But those entrusted with the most holy things are surely holy in Christ. They carry nothing extra, but bear, as it were, Emmanuel himself seated upon them.
Palladius: Well said.
Cyril: Consider this as well, if you will.
Palladius: What is that?
Cyril: Those entrusted with the extra things of the holy tent carry them on wagons. But the Kohathites carried the most holy things not on wagons, and not on anything else at all; they set them on their own shoulders and so went on their way.
Greek
καὶ μόσχον παρ' ἑκάστου, καὶ προσήγαγον ἐναντίον τῆς σκηνῆς. Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν, λέγων· Λάβε παρ' αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔσονται πρὸς τὰ ἔργα τὰ λειτουργικὰ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ δώσεις αὐτὰ τοῖς Λευΐταις, ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ λειτουργίαν. Καὶ λαβὼν Μωσῆς τὰς ἁμάξας καὶ τοὺς βόας, ἔδωκεν αὐτὰ τοῖς Λευΐταις. Καὶ τὰς δύο ἁμάξας καὶ τοὺς τέσσαρας βόας ἔδωκε τοῖς υἱοῖς Γεδσὼν κατὰ τὰς λειτουργίας αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰς τέσσαρας ἁμάξας καὶ τοὺς ὀκτὼ βόας ἔδωκε τοῖς υἱοῖς Μεραρὶ κατὰ τὰς λειτουργίας αὐτῶν, διὰ Ἰθάμαρ υἱοῦ Ἀαρὼν τοῦ ἱερέως· καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς Καὰθ οὐ δέδωκεν, ὅτι τὰ λειτουργήματα τοῦ ἁγίου ἔχουσιν, ἐπ' ὤμων ἀροῦσιν.» Ἀκούεις ὅπως τοῖς μὲν τὸ ἐφ' ἁμαξῶν ἄγειν τε καὶ φέρειν ἔθος, Κααθίταις δὲ μόνοις, εἰς ὤμους τὰ ἱερά;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τοῦ δὴ χάριν;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀεὶ γάρ πως ἐστὶν ἐν ἱδρῶτι μείζονι τὸ προὖχόν τε καὶ ἱερώτερον, παρέπεται δὲ αὐτῷ πάντη τε καὶ πάντως· τὸ χρῆναι πονεῖν, καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτῳ, τὸ τληπαθεῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἐν ἴσῳ τοῖς ἄλλοις, οἵπερ ἂν εἶεν καὶ ἁγιώτεροι, καὶ ἀγχοῦ δὴ μᾶλλον οἱονείπως Θεοῦ. Ἢ οὐκ ἀληθὲς ὅ φημι;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐν κόσμῳ μὲν οὖν τοιῷδε τὸ Λευϊτικὸν ἐλειτούργει γένος. Οἶμαι δ' ἔγωγε, μυστηρίου τύπον τὸ χρῆμα πληροῦν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πῶς δὴ φής;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐοίκασι γὰρ, οἱ μὲν δύο δῆμοι, Γεδσών τε καὶ Μεραρὶ, τοὺς ἐν νόμῳ λαοὺς ὑπαινίττεσθαι, φημὶ δὴ τὸν Ἰσραήλ· Κααθῖται δέ γε, τοὺς ἡγιασμένους ἐν Χριστῷ διὰ πίστεως. Οἷς μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἐν φροντίδι τὰ ἱστία τῆς αὐλῆς, αἱ δέῤῥεις τῆς σκηνῆς, τὰ καλύμματα καὶ οἱ στύλοι, κεφαλαί τε καὶ βάσεις, πάσσαλοί τε καὶ περιτανύσματα, καὶ ᾗ φησι τὸ Γράμμα τὸ ἱερὸν, «Πάντα τὰ περισσὰ,» δι' οὗ σημαίνεται τὸ τῆς λειτουργίας οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον. Οἱ δὲ, φέρειν ἐθαρσήθησαν τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ τὰ δι' ὧν Χριστὸς, οὐ καθ' ἕνα τρόπον, πολλαχῶς δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ πολυειδῶς σημαίνεται, ὡς κιβωτὸς, ὡς τράπεζα, καὶ ὡς χρυσῆ λυχνία, καὶ χρυσοῦν θυμιατήριον. Ἁπλοῦς γὰρ ὑπάρχων κατὰ φύσιν ὡς Θεὸς, τῇ τῆς ἐργασίας διαφορᾷ πολυτρόπως γνωρίζεται. Ἔστι μὲν γὰρ ὁμολογουμένως ζῶν τε καὶ ἐνεργὴς ὁ τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος, καὶ πρός γε τούτῳ ζωὴ, καὶ φῶς, καὶ νοητῆς εὐωδίας ὀσμή. Οὐκοῦν ὅσοι ταῖς διὰ Μωσέως προσεδρεύουσιν ἐντολαῖς, λειτουργίαν ἔχουσι τὰ περισσὰ τῆς σκηνῆς· ἀνωφελὴς γὰρ ὁ νόμος, εἰ μὴ νοοῖτο πνευματικῶς. Ὅσοι δὲ τεθάρσηνται τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, ἅγιοί που πάντως εἰσὶν ἐν Χριστῷ, περισσὸν οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' οἱονείπως αὐτὸν ἔποχον ἔχοντες τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἄθρει δὲ, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ τόδε.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τὸ τί δὴ φής;
{ΚΥΡ.} Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὰ περισσὰ τῆς ἁγίας σκηνῆς ἐγκεχειρισμένοι φέρουσιν ἐφ' ἁμαξῶν. Κααθῖται δὲ, τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων οὐκ ἐφ' ἁμαξῶν, οὐκ ἐφ' ἑτέρου του παντελῶς, ἀλλ' ὤμοις αὐτοῖς ἐπιθέντες ᾔεσαν.