Ash and water, and victims matched to the sin
Cyril: …And for those who have been defiled, the cleansing is the ash with water (Numbers 19:17). For the Savior’s passion is the ransom from sin; he sanctifies us through water, through which we gain not the removal of the filth of the flesh, as it is written (1 Peter 3:21), but the washing away of the defilements in our souls. For ‘Wash yourselves,’ it says, ‘and become clean’ (Isaiah 1:16): so a prophetic word commanded us long ago.
Palladius: So in the calf, as in an image and in types, the death of Christ, suffered because of us and on our behalf, is sketched in outline.
Cyril: You understand very well. And besides this, I think you would also be struck with wonder if you looked at another point.
Palladius: Which one?
Cyril: If the leader sins, it says, together with those under him, or if the multitude under his hand sins by itself, the victim shall be a calf. But if the leader is caught in faults of his own, let him bring, it says, a he-goat from the goats. And if it is one of the people, the victim shall no longer be male but female. If you like, I will also read the laws on these cases, for it says this: ‘If the ruler sins, and unintentionally does, against any of the commandments of the Lord his God, one thing that ought not to be done, and transgresses, and the sin that he committed in it becomes known to him, he shall bring as his gift a he-goat from the goats, a male without blemish, for the sin. He shall lay his hand on the head of the he-goat, and they shall slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the whole burnt offerings before the Lord; it is a sin offering. And the priest shall put some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger on the horns of the altar of whole burnt offerings, and he shall pour out all its blood at the base of the altar of whole burnt offerings. And he shall offer up all its fat on the altar, like the fat of a peace offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him’ (Leviticus 4:22–26). And besides these: ‘If one soul of the people of the land sins unintentionally, by doing, against any of the commandments of the Lord, one thing that ought not to be done, and transgresses, and the sin that he committed in it becomes known to him, he shall bring a she-goat from the goats, a female without blemish; he shall bring it for his sin’ (Leviticus 4:27–28). And after setting out how the sacrifice is to be made, he says: ‘If he brings a sheep as his gift for sin, he shall bring a female without blemish’ (Leviticus 4:32). Do you see, Palladius, the depth of the mystery, sketched for the people of old as in a mirror and in shadows? For the bringing of victims matches, as it were, the size of the transgressions. A calf was offered for ruler and people alike, perhaps because the two had been sick with one common sin; but one kid for one, that is, for one soul. For Christ offered himself for all together, as is pictured in the calf, a weighty and great victim: ‘For where sin abounded,’ it says, ‘grace abounded all the more’ (Romans 5:20). And like a kid and a sheep…
Greek
τευμα. Κάθαρσις δὲ τοῖς μεμολυσμένοις, ἡ σποδιὰ μετὰ ὕδατος. Λυτήριον γὰρ ἁμαρτίας, τοῦ Σωτῆρος τὸ πάθος, ἁγιάζων ἡμᾶς δι' ὕδατος, δι' οὗ κερδανοῦμεν οὐ σαρκὸς ἀπόθεσιν ῥύπου, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐν ψυχαῖς μολυσμῶν τὴν ἀπόνιψιν· «Λούσασθε» γὰρ, φησὶν, «καὶ καθαροὶ γίνεσθε·» καὶ προφητικὸς ἡμῖν ἄνωθεν διεκελεύετο λόγος.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἐν μόσχῳ δὴ οὖν ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι καὶ τύποις, ὁ δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ σκιαγραφεῖται θάνατος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Συνίης εὖ μάλα, καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτῳ καταθαυμάσαις ἂν, οἶμαι, καὶ εἰς ἐκεῖνο βλέπων.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τὸ ποῖον;
{ΚΥΡ.} Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἁμάρτοι, φησὶν, ὁ ἡγούμενος ὁμοῦ τῶν ὑπεζευγμένων, εἴ τ' οὖν αὐτὴ καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἡ ὑπὸ χεῖρα πληθὺς, μόσχος ἔσται τὸ θῦμα. Ἐναλοὺς δὲ πταίσμασιν ἰδικοῖς ὁ ἡγούμενος, προσκομιζέτω, φησὶ, χίμαρον ἐξ αἰγῶν. Εἰ δὲ δή τις εἴη τῶν ἐν λαοῖς, ἄρσεν μὲν οὐκέτι, θῆλυ δὲ ἔστω τὸ σφάγιον· Ἀναγνώσομαι δὲ, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖσδε νόμους, ἔφη γὰρ ὧδε· «Ἐὰν δὲ ὁ ἄρχων ἁμάρτῃ, καὶ ποιήσῃ μίαν ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἢ οὐ ποιηθήσεται ἀκουσίως, καὶ πλημμελήσῃ, καὶ γνωσθῇ αὐτῷ ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἣν ἥμαρτεν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ προσοίσει τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ χίμαρον ἐξ αἰγῶν, ἄρσεν ἄμωμον, περὶ ἁμαρτίας· καὶ ἐπιθήσει τὴν χεῖρα ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου, καὶ σφάξουσιν αὐτὸν ἐν τόπῳ, οὗ σφάζουσι τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, ἁμαρτίας ἐστί. Καὶ ἐπιθήσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ δακτύλῳ ἐπὶ τὰ κέρατα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, καὶ τὸ πᾶν αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐκχεεῖ παρὰ τὴν βάσιν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, καὶ τὸ πᾶν στέαρ αὐτοῦ ἀνοίσει ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ὥσπερ τὸ στέαρ θυσίας σωτηρίου, καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ.» Καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις, «Ἐὰν δὲ ψυχὴ μία ἁμάρτῃ ἀκουσίως ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ τῆς γῆς, ἐν τῷ ποιῆσαι μίαν ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν Κυρίου, ἣ οὐ ποιηθήσεται, καὶ πλημμελήσῃ, καὶ γνωσθῇ αὐτῷ ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἣν ἥμαρτεν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ οἴσει χίμαιραν ἐξ αἰγῶν, θήλειαν ἄμωμον οἴσει περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ τῆς θυσίας τὸν τρόπον, ὅπως ἂν γένοιτο, διειπών· «Ἐὰν δὲ πρόβατον προσενέγκῃ,» φησὶ, «τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, θῆλυ ἄμωμον προσοίσει αὐτό.» Συνίης οὖν, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τοῦ μυστηρίου τὸ βάθος, ὡς ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ καὶ σκιαῖς τοῖς ἀρχαιοτέροις ἀνατυπούμενον; Ἰσομοιρεῖ γὰρ ὥσπερ τῷ μεγέθει τῶν πλημμελημάτων, ἡ τῶν θυμάτων προσαγωγή· καὶ μόσχος μὲν ἧν ὑπὲρ ἄρχοντός τε καὶ λαοῦ, κοινὴ τάχα που καὶ μίαν ἠῤῥωστηκότοιν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Ἔριφος δὲ εἷς, ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς, ἤτοι μιᾶς ψυχῆς· ἑαυτὸν γὰρ προσκεκόμικεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἅμα μὲν ὑπὲρ πάντων, ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι τῷ μόσχῳ, βαρεῖ τε καὶ μεγάλῳ θύματι· «Ὅπου γὰρ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, φησὶν, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις.» Ἐρίφου δὲ καὶ προβά