Access to the Father through Christ alone; leaven and honey
Cyril: …the animal that has been gelded. For it says ‘bruised and crushed, cut and torn’ (Leviticus 22:24); for the passions in us are of every kind, and lead us, as it were, by a long road into weakness and impotence.
Palladius: The argument is convincing.
Cyril: Besides these things the law further declared that it is abominable to offer sacrifices to God through a foreign hand as well, saying: ‘And from the hand of a foreigner you shall not offer the gifts to the Lord your God’ (Leviticus 22:25). By this it is signified in type that the Father can be approached through Christ alone. For he is our truly unblemished and great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), the Mediator in the divine economy (1 Timothy 2:5). For as the inspired Paul writes: ‘In him we have gained access in the Spirit to the Father’ (Ephesians 2:18). So those who choose to consecrate their own souls to God the Father, with Christ as Mediator, ought to be free of blemish. ‘For you shall be holy,’ he says, ‘as I am holy’ (Leviticus 11:44).
Palladius: You have spoken excellently.
Cyril: Having set in order the ways of sacrifice as they concern cattle and sheep, the law comes to us through other figures as well, and urges most earnestly that those who are accustomed to do this must approach God without blame. For it says again in Leviticus: ‘Every sacrifice that you offer to the Lord, you shall not offer leavened. For you shall not offer any leaven or any honey from it to make a burnt offering to the Lord. You shall offer them to the Lord as a gift of firstfruits, but they shall not be brought up onto the altar for a fragrant aroma to the Lord. And every gift of your sacrifice shall be salted with salt. You shall not leave the salt of the covenant to the Lord out of your sacrifices; with every gift of yours you shall offer salt to the Lord your God’ (Leviticus 2:11–13). Leaven, then, would be a type of shrewdness, and not by any means only of the kind that is blamed, but of the other kind too, I mean the good kind that is praised, which the word of Wisdom also promises to give to the innocent (Proverbs 1:4). For the word ‘shrewdness’ is, in a sense, neutral. Honey, in turn, sometimes hints to us indirectly at bodily pleasure, as in the saying: ‘Do not give heed to a worthless woman; for honey drips from the lips of a prostitute’ (Proverbs 5:3). But at other times it gives a picture of good sweetness. For it is written: ‘Eat honey, my son, for the honeycomb is good, that your throat may be sweetened’ (Proverbs 24:13). So the law forbids that leaven and honey be brought for a burnt offering and sacrifice. It accepts them from the one who brings them as a gift and as firstfruits, but by no means carries them up for a fragrant aroma to God.
Palladius: Then explain, in turn, what the riddle means.
Cyril: The matter is hard to grasp, Palladius. For what it might mean that these things are by no means rejected, and yet are not carried up as a burnt offering and a sacrifice…
Greek
εὐνουχισθὲν ὁ νόμος ἀποκαλεῖ· θλαδίαν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἐκτεθλιμμένον, καὶ ἐκτομίαν καὶ ἀπεσπασμένον· παμποίκιλα γὰρ τὰ ἐν ἡμῖν πάθη, διὰ πολλῆς ὥσπερ ἄγοντα τρίβου πρὸς τὸ ἄναλκί τε καὶ ἀδρανές.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πιθανὸς ὁ λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Μυσαρὸν δὲ ὅτι πρὸς τούτοις ἐστὶ, καὶ διὰ χειρὸς ἀλλοτρίας, τὰς ἱερουργίας καταθύειν Θεῷ, προσαπέφηνε λέγων· «Καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς ἀλλογενοῦς οὐ προσοίσετε τὰ δῶρα Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν.» Δι' οὗ σημαίνεται τυπικῶς, ὡς διὰ μόνου Χριστοῦ προσιτὸς ὁ Πατήρ· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἄμωμος ἀληθῶς καὶ μέγας ἀρχιερεὺς, ὁ μεσίτης οἰκονομικῶς· ὡς γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος γράφει Παῦλος· «Ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν ἐν Πνεύματι πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα.» Μώμου δὴ οὖν ἀπηλλάχθαι πρέπει τοὺς οἵπερ ἂν ἕλοιντο τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς καθιεροῦν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, μεσιτεύοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· «Ἅγιοι γὰρ ἔσεσθε,» φησὶ, «καθὼς ἐγὼ ἅγιός εἰμι.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἄριστα ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καταρυθμίσας δὲ τῆς θυσίας τοὺς τρόπους, ὡς ἐν βουσὶ καὶ προβάτοις, καὶ δι' ἑτέρων ἡμῖν ἐπινοιῶν ἔρχεται, τὸ δεῖν ἀμωμήτως προσιέναι Θεῷ τοῖς τοῦτο δρᾷν εἰωθόσιν, εὖ μάλα παρεγγυῶν· ἔφη γὰρ πάλιν ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ· «Πᾶσαν θυσίαν ἣν ἂν προσφέρητε Κυρίῳ, οὐ προσοίσετε ζυμωτήν· πᾶσαν γὰρ ζύμην καὶ πᾶν μέλι οὐ προσοίσετε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, καρπῶσαι Κυρίῳ, δῶρον ἀπαρχῆς προσοίσετε αὐτὰ Κυρίῳ, ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον οὐκ ἀναβιβασθήσεται εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας Κυρίῳ, καὶ πᾶν δῶρον θυσίας ὑμῶν ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται. Οὐ διαπαύσετε ἅλας διαθήκης Κυρίῳ ἀπὸ θυσιασμάτων ὑμῶν, ἐπὶ παντὸς δώρου ὑμῶν προσοίσετε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν ἅλας.» Ζύμη μὲν οὖν πανουργίας ἂν εἴη τύπος, οὐχὶ πάντως γε καὶ μόνης τῆς κατεψεγμένης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἑτέρας, φημὶ δὴ τῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ ἐπαινουμένης, ἢν καὶ τῆς σοφίας ὁ λόγος, τοῖς ἀκάκοις ἔτι διδόναι κατεπαγγέλλεται. μέσον γάρ πώς ἐστι τὸ τῆς πανουργίας ὄνομα. Μέλι δὲ αὖ, ἡδονὴν μὲν ἔσθ' ὅτε τὴν σωματικὴν ἡμῖν πλαγίως ὑπαινίττεται, ὡς ἔν γε τῷ φάναι· «Μὴ πρόσεχε φαύλῃ γυναικί· μέλι γὰρ ἀποστάζει ἀπὸ χειλέων γυναικὸς πόρνης.» Ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἀγαθῶν γλυκασμάτων εἰσφέρει τὴν ὑποτύπωσιν. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι «Φάγε μέλι, υἱέ· ἀγαθὸν γὰρ κηρίον, ἵνα γλυκανθῇ σου ὁ φάρυγξ.» Ἀποφάσκει δὴ οὖν ὁ νόμος, τὸ προσκομίζεσθαι δεῖν εἰς κάρπωμα καὶ θυσίαν, ζύμην τε καὶ μέλι. Δέχεται μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ προσάγοντος εἰς δῶρον καὶ ἀπαρχὴν, ἀνακομίζει δὲ οὐδαμῶς εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας τῷ Θεῷ.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εἶτα τί τὸ αἴνιγμα διασάφει πάλιν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Δυσέφικτον, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τὸ χρῆμά ἐστι. Τί γὰρ ἂν βούλοιτο δηλοῦν, τὸ ἀπόβλητα μὲν οὐδαμῶς ποιεῖσθαι ταυτὶ, μὴ μὴν ἔτι καὶ εἰς κάρπωμα καὶ θυ