The bird not divided, and the flour offering without oil
Cyril: …upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart’ (Matthew 11:29). The priest, then, it says, will take the turtledove and nip it with his fingernail (Leviticus 5:8), for that is how light birds are killed. Yet he will not cut it off completely; he clearly means the head. For so the death of Christ was accomplished, not for division but for union. That is why at the beginning, too, when he laid down the law for the Passover, he commanded that the lamb be sacrificed, and yet, he says, ‘It shall be eaten in one house, and you shall not carry any of its flesh outside’ (Exodus 12:46). For Christ is in no way divided (1 Corinthians 1:13); he is one, whole in each and in all. And he himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), gathering us into union, both with one another in oneness of soul and, through himself, with God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). That the death of Christ has brought us not division but union, the bird showed indirectly by being sacrificed without its head being cut clean off the neck. And that he sanctifies the Church with his own blood (Hebrews 13:12) would be signified by the sprinkling of the tent and the things in it with the bird’s blood. One turtledove is for sin, and one, again, for a whole burnt offering; and through both Christ is understood, both dying for us and being offered to the Father as a whole burnt offering for a fragrant aroma (Ephesians 5:2), and offering himself up as the exchange for the life of all.
Palladius: Well said.
Cyril: The law, moreover, brings the form of the sacrifice down to something very easy to obtain, and commands that it be made in proportion to each person’s means. In this way it cuts away at every point any hesitation over the best offerings, and leaves those who choose slackness without excuse. Again it writes as follows: ‘If his hand cannot find a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his gift for the sin he committed a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, for sin. He shall not pour oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, because it is for sin. And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest, taking from it a full handful, shall lay its memorial portion on the altar of the whole burnt offerings of the Lord; it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin he committed in any one of these, and it shall be forgiven him. And what is left shall belong to the priest, like the offering of fine flour’ (Leviticus 5:11–13). But in these provisions the manner of the sacrifice no longer points to Christ; it hints to us at the life of the one who offers, his approach in Christ, and his consecration to God. For fine flour is offered, the substance from which bread is made, and bread is a type of life. But the law says that it must not be sprinkled with frankincense, nor moistened with oil (Leviticus 5:11), and quite rightly it states beforehand the wise and necessary reason for this: that it is for sin. From sin, gladness, which is understood in the oil, would be utterly and in every way far removed, and so would fragrance, which is perhaps understood in the frankincense. It could not be disputed that the sin in us is truly a gloomy and scentless thing. But there will richly abound…
Greek
ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, καὶ μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ.» Λήψεται τοίνυν τὴν τρυγόνα, φησὶν, «ὁ ἱερεὺς, καὶ ἀποκνίσει τῷ ὄνυχι. Σφάζεται γὰρ οὕτω τὰ ἐλαφρὰ τῶν στρουθίων. Πλὴν, οὐκ εἰσάπαν ἀποτεμεῖ, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τὴν κεφαλήν. Πέπρακται γὰρ οὕτως ὁ Χριστοῦ θάνατος, οὐκ εἰς μερισμὸν, ἀλλ' εἰς ἕνωσιν. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἐπὶ τὸ Πάσχα τιθεὶς νόμον, καταθύεσθαι μὲν προστέταχε τὸν ἀμνὸν, πλὴν «Ἐν οἰκίᾳ βρωθήσεται,» φησὶ, «μιᾷ, καὶ οὐκ ἐξοίσετε τῶν κρεῶν αὐτοῦ ἔξω.» Μεμέρισται γὰρ οὐδαμῶς ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀλλ' εἷς ὁλοκλήρως καὶ ἐν ἑκάστῳ καὶ ἐν πᾶσίν ἐστι, καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, συλλέγων ἡμᾶς εἰς ἕνωσιν τήν τε πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐν ὁμοψυχίᾳ, καὶ τὴν δι' ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς Θεὸν ἐν Πνεύματι. Ὅτι τοίνυν οὐ μερισμοῦ πρόξενος, ἀλλ' ἑνώσεως πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ Χριστοῦ γέγονε θάνατος, ἐδήλου πλαγίως τὸ θύεσθαι μὲν τὸ στρουθίον, οὐ μὴν καὶ εἰσάπαν ἀποκείρεσθαι τοῦ σπονδούλου τὴν κεφαλήν· ὅτι δὲ ἁγιάζει τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι, κατασημήνειεν ἂν, τὸ τῷ αἵματι τοῦ στρουθίου καταραίνεσθαι τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ. Μία δὲ τρυγὼν ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτίας, καὶ μία πάλιν, εἰς ὁλοκαύτωμα, νοεῖται δὲ δι' ἀμφοῖν ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ ἀποθνήσκων ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, καὶ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ὁλοκαυτούμενος τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ἁπάντων ζωῆς ἑαυτὸν ἀνατιθείς.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὑποβιβάζει γε μὴν ὁ νόμος καὶ εἰς τὸ λίαν εὐπόριστον τῆς θυσίας τὸν τρόπον· καὶ ἀναλόγως τοῖς ἑκάστου μέτροις ποιεῖσθαι προστάττει, τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ὄκνον ὑποτεμνόμενος πανταχῆ, καὶ ἀπροφάσιστον καθιστὰς τοῖς ἑλοῦσι τὸ ῥᾴθυμον. Γράφει δὲ ὧδε πάλιν· «Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ εὑρίσκῃ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ζεῦγος τρυγόνων, ἢ δύο νεοσσοὺς περιστερῶν, καὶ οἴσει τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ, περὶ οὗ ἥμαρτε, τὸ δέκατον τοῦ οἶφι σεμιδάλεως περὶ ἁμαρτίας. Οὐκ ἐπιχεεῖ ἐπ' αὐτὸ ἔλαιον, οὐδὲ ἐπιθήσει ἐπ' αὐτῷ λίβανον, ὅτι περὶ ἁμαρτίας ἐστὶ, καὶ οἴσει αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸν ἱερέα, καὶ δραξάμενος ὁ ἱερεὺς ἀπ' αὐτῆς πλήρη τὴν δράκα αὐτοῦ, τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῆς ἐπιθήσει ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων Κυρίου, ἁμαρτία ἐστί. Καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς, περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἥμαρτεν ἀφ' ἑνὸς τούτων, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ. Τὸ δὲ καταλειφθὲν ἔσται τῷ ἱερεῖ, ὡς θυσία τῆς σεμιδάλεως.» Ἀλλ' ἔν γε δὴ τούτοις, περὶ Χριστοῦ μὲν οὐκέτι, τὴν δὲ τοῦ προσάγοντος ζωὴν, καὶ τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ πρόσοδον, καὶ τὴν εἰς Θεὸν ἀφιέρωσιν, ὁ τῆς θυσίας ἡμῖν ὑποφαίνει τρόπος. Προσφέρεται μὲν γὰρ σεμίδαλις ἄρτου γένεσις. Ζωῆς δὲ τύπος, ὁ ἄρτος· ἀλλ' οὔτε λιβάνῳ καταπάττεσθαι δεῖν αὐτὴν, οὔτε μὴν ἐλαίῳ δεδεῦσθαι λέγει, σοφήν τε καὶ ἀναγκαίαν τοῦ τοιοῦδε τὴν ἀφορμὴν εὖ μάλα προαναφωνῶν, ὅτι περὶ ἁμαρτίας ἐστὶν, ἧς ἂν εἴη πάντη τε καὶ πάντως ἀπωτάτω τὸ ἱλαρὸν, ὡς ἐν ἐλαίῳ νοούμενον, καὶ μέν τοι τὸ εὐῶδες, ὡς ἐν λιβάνῳ τυχόν· εἴη δ' ἂν οὐκ ἀμφίλογον, ὅτι χρῆμα στυγνὸν καὶ ἄοσμον ἀληθῶς, ἡ ἐν ἡμῖν ἁμαρτία. Καταπλουτήσει δὲ ἐφ'