The suspected wife and the judgment seat of Christ
Cyril: ‘…and is clean, she shall be free of guilt and shall conceive offspring.’ (Numbers 5:28) That is what the law says. And I would say that the divine Paul, gathering very aptly into a few thoughts what is set out at length in these writings, writes to us: ‘For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive back what was done through the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.’ (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Palladius: I think that is rightly said. But explain carefully each point of what has been decreed.
Cyril: He commanded that the woman suspected of adultery, when she faces a charge that has no proofs, be brought to the priest and stand in the sight of God (Numbers 5:15–16); and this, I think, means that all are going to stand before Christ (Romans 14:10). Next, he commanded that the gift offered for her be barley meal, not sprinkled with frankincense, not moistened with oil; for it is a sacrifice of jealousy, which brings sin to remembrance (Numbers 5:15). It is plain, then, that from each person’s life a kind of odor, as it were, rises up to God: against those who have let themselves slide into carelessness it brings the charge of every monstrous deed, but for those who have striven earnestly to live rightly and well it bears witness to their genuineness. That is why we say, and with very good reason, that the gifts of those who are not under suspicion consist of fine wheat flour, with frankincense added and oil poured over it (Leviticus 2:1). For it will surely follow that a life which stays human, of which the fine wheat flour would also be a type, must be reckoned as fragrance and gladness before God, who loves virtue. But barley meal would be a very clear sign of a spurious and beastlike life. For to be unrestrained in appetite, and to want to rush without a bridle into monstrous pleasures, is somehow more fitting for cattle, and not at all becoming to a human being. That is why the woman accused of a spurious life brought barley meal to God without frankincense and oil, that is, without fragrance and gladness; for it is a sacrifice that brings sin to remembrance. And where sin is brought to remembrance, how or from where could gladness come? For the one on trial is not in hope of crowns, but in fear of punishment and fire. Besides this, the woman is brought to the judge with her head uncovered (Numbers 5:18), that is, not in her usual and fitting adornment. And what would be the reason for this? The charges are of unseemliness, and the indictment is for shameless conduct. Remember that Paul, who was learned in the law, does not allow a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered (1 Corinthians 11:5), and takes the law of nature (1 Corinthians 11:14) as his proof that she must be covered: ‘For her hair,’ he says, ‘is given to her as a covering.’ (1 Corinthians 11:15) So the woman, accused of unseemliness, was no longer in seemly adornment. But she is uncovered in another sense too. For all things are naked before the eyes of the Judge (Hebrews 4:13), and no one at all could escape the notice of him who searches hearts and inward parts (Psalm 7:9), who also says through the voice of the prophet: ‘I am a God who is near, says the Lord, and not a God far off. Shall anything be hidden from me?’ (Jeremiah 23:23–24) Yet the law hints again, in a riddle, that Christ is the one who judges. For it said that living and…
Greek
ἡ γυνὴ, καὶ καθαρὰ ᾖ, καὶ ἀθώα ἔσται, καὶ ἐκσπερματιεῖ σπέρμα.» Ταυτὶ μὲν, ὁ νόμος. Φαίην δ' ἂν ὅτι τὸ τῶν γεγραμμένων πέρι σχολαίως ἐν ὀλίγαι· ἐννοίαις εὖ μάλα συνενεγκὼν, ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν γράφει Παῦλος· «Τοὺς γὰρ πάντας ἡμᾶς φανερωθῆναι δεῖ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν εἴτε ἀγαθὰ, εἴτε φαῦλα.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οἴομαι μὲν ὀρθῶς εἰρῆσθαι ταυτί· πλὴν τὰ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ τῶν τεθεσπισμένων διασάφει λεπτῶς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Τὴν ἐν ὑποψίαις τοῦ μεμοιχεῦσθαι γυναῖκα, ὅταν ἐλέγχων ἐρήμην ὑπομείνῃ γραφὴν, ἄγεσθαι προστέταχε πρὸς τὸν ἱερέα, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἑστάναι Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦτο, οἶμαι, ἐστὶ τὸ μέλλειν ἅπαντας παραστήσεσθαι τῷ Χριστῷ· εἶτα τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς προσάγεσθαι δῶρον κρίθινον ἄλευρον, οὐ λιβάνῳ διαπεπασμένον, οὐκ ἐλαίῳ δεδευμένον· θυσία γὰρ ζηλοτυπίας ἐστὶν, ἀναμιμνήσκουσα ἁμαρτίαν. Πρόδηλον οὖν ὅτι τῆς ἑκάστου ζωῆς ὀσμή τις ὥσπερ ἄνεισι πρὸς Θεὸν, τοῖς μὲν παρειμένοις ἐπὶ τὸ ῥᾴθυμον τὴν ἐφ' ἅπασι τοῖς ἐκτοπωτάτοις ἐπιφέρουσα γραφὴν, τοῖς δέ γε βιοῦν ὀρθῶς ἄριστα διεσπουδακόσιν, ἐπιμαρτυροῦσα τὸ γνήσιον. Ταύτῃτοί φαμεν, καὶ σφόδρα εἰκότως, τῶν μὲν οὐκ ὄντων ἐν ὑποψίαις, τὰ δῶρα τὴν ἐκ πυρῶν σεμίδαλιν ἔχειν, προσόντος λιβάνου, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἐλαίου καταχεομένου. Ἕψεται γὰρ πάντως τῇ τέως ἀνθρωπίνῃ ζωῇ, ἧς ἂν εἴη καὶ τύπος ἡ ἐκ πυρῶν σεμίδαλις, τὸ ἐν εὐωδίᾳ τε καὶ ἱλαρότητι καταλογίζεσθαι δεῖν παρά γε τῷ φιλαρέτῳ Θεῷ. Νόθου δὲ καὶ ζωῆς κτηνοπρεποῦς σημεῖον ἂν γένοιτο καὶ μάλα σαφὲς, τὸ κρίθινον ἄλευρον· κτηνοπρεπέστερον γάρ πως, καὶ οὐκ ἐοικὸς ἀνθρώπῳ λίαν, τὸ ἀκρατὲς εἰς ὄρεξιν, καὶ τὸ ἀχαλίνως ἰέναι θέλειν εἰς ἐκτόπους ἡδονάς. Ταύτῃτοι κρίθινον ἄλευρον, ἡ ἐπὶ νόθῳ ζωῇ κατηγορουμένη γυνὴ, προσεκόμιζε τῷ Θεῷ, λιβάνου τε καὶ ἐλαίου δίχα, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, εὐωδίας τε καὶ ἱλαρότητος· θυσία γάρ ἐστιν ἀναμιμνήσκουσα ἁμαρτίαν. Ὅπου δὲ ἀνάμνησις ἁμαρτίας, πῶς ἂν ἢ πόθεν εἴη τὸ ἱλαρόν; Οὐ γὰρ ἐν ἐλπίδι στεφάνων ὁ κρινόμενος, ἀλλ' ἐν φόβῳ δίκης καὶ πυρός. Καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις, ἀκατακάλυπτος ἡ γυνὴ προσάγεται τῷ κριτῇ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, οὐκ ἐν τῷ συνήθει καὶ πρέποντι κόσμῳ. Καὶ τίς ἂν γένοιτο τοῦδε λόγος; Ἀκοσμίας γὰρ τὰ ἐγκλήματα, καὶ βδελυρίας ἡ γραφή. Μέμνησο δὲ ὅτι γυναῖκα ἀκατακάλυπτον οὐκ ἐᾷ προσεύχεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, νομομαθὴς ὢν ὁ Παῦλος, τοῦ κατακαλύπτεσθαι δεῖν αὐτὴν τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον εἰς ἀπόδειξιν ἑλών. «Ἡ γὰρ κόμη,» φησὶν, «ἀντὶ περιβολαίου δέδοται αὐτῇ.» Οὐκέτι οὖν ἐν κόσμῳ τὸ γύναιον ἦν, διαβεβλημένον ἐπ' ἀκοσμίᾳ. Ἀκατακάλυπτον δὲ, καὶ ἑτέρως· γυμνὰ γὰρ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ κρίνοντος τὰ πάντα ἐστὶ, λάθοι δ' ἂν ὅλως οὐδεὶς τὸν ἐτάζοντα καρδίας καὶ νεφροὺς, καὶ διὰ προφήτου φωνῆς ὥδε λέγοντος· «Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ οὐχὶ Θεὸς πόῤῥωθεν. Μὴ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ κρυβήσεταί τι;» Πλὴν ὅτι Χριστὸς ὁ κρίνων ἐστὶν, αἰνιγματωδῶς ὑποφαίνει πάλιν. Ὕδωρ γὰρ, ἔφη, ζῶν τε καὶ καθα