The boiled arm, the bread and the wafer: Christ receives the gifts
Cyril: …and living way (Hebrews 10:20). After the man has come to the very doors of the holy tent and been shaved, and has burned his hair in the fire (Numbers 6:18), it says: ‘The priest shall take the boiled arm of the ram, and a loaf and a wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the one who made the vow; and taking them up again,’ it says, ‘he shall bring them as an offering before the Lord, and it shall be holy to the priest, like the breast of the portion set apart’ (Numbers 6:19–20).
Palladius: Then what would the law mean to show by this?
Cyril: In the God-inspired Scripture the arm is always understood as a type of what is strong, that is, of achievements done in strength; the unleavened bread, in turn, as a type of a holy and pure life; and the wafer, kneaded with oil and made into a flat cake, would show in itself what is gracious and sweet. One may very fittingly assign the role of the mediating priest to Emmanuel. So the one who has achieved the highest purity, and has brought a splendid offering to the all-pure God, lays upon his own hands, so to speak, the works that come from strength (clearly spiritual strength), as in the arm of the ram; a blameless life, understood as in the unleavened bread; and the sweetness and grace of a life lived in holiness, as in the wafer. These he offers up to God through Christ the mediator, who receives the gifts, as it were, from hand to hand, and honors the truly genuine worshipper with the highest honors, above all in this. That is why it says that the one who completes so holy and all-pure a vow, having laid them on his own hands, will hand them to the priest as an offering, a choice portion assigned to him, just like the breast of the ram, as the lawgiver decided. Just as we say that the arm signifies achievements that come from strength, or strength itself, so the breast of the ram signifies understanding and mind. For we have our understanding in our inward parts and in the breast. And divine Scripture often makes no distinction: sometimes it takes the head as a type of the mind, sometimes it uses the breast to indicate understanding. Holy and choice, then, and all but brought from hand to hand, and well received through him by God the Father, are the spiritual strength of those who are being made pure, and their understanding as well. For it is true to say that the saints could never succeed in doing what pleases God in any other way than through spiritual strength and a good understanding.
Palladius: Well said.
Cyril: He ordered the arm to be taken boiled, so as to drive away from the strength of the saints whatever is, so to speak, raw and out of keeping with what is fitting. For those dedicated to God must not be harsh, nor have a mind that is untempered; they must press on to achieve what belongs to virtue gently, tenderly and with great skill. In this way, and in no other, would the achievements of the saints be wholesome and fit food for God,…
Greek
τόν τε καὶ ζῶσαν ὁδόν. Μετὰ δέ γε τὸ ξυρᾶσθαι πρὸς αὐταῖς ἥκοντα ταῖς θύραις τῆς ἁγίας σκηνῆς, καὶ μὴν καὶ πυρὶ δαπανῆσαι τὴν τρίχα· «Λήψεται,» φησὶν, «ὁ ἱερεὺς τὸν βραχίονα ἑφθὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κριοῦ, ἄρτον τε καὶ λάγανον, καὶ ἐπιθήσει ἐπὶ τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ εὐξαμένου, καὶ αὖθις ἀναλαβὼν προσοίσει,» φησὶν, «ἐπίθεμα ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ ἅγιον ἔσται τῷ ἱερεῖ, καθὰ καὶ τὸ στηθύνιον τοῦ ἀφαιρέματος.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εἶτα, τί ἂν βούλοιτο δηλοῦν ὁ νόμος;
{ΚΥΡ.} Εἰς τύπον μὲν δὴ τοῦ ἰσχύοντος, ἤτοι τῶν ἐν ἰσχύϊ κατορθωμάτων, ὁ βραχίων ἀεὶ παρά γε τῇ θεοπνεύστῳ Γραφῇ νοεῖται, ζωῆς δὲ δὴ πάλιν ἁγίας τε καὶ καθαρᾶς, ὁ ἄζυμος ἄρτος, καὶ μὲν καὶ τὸ εὔχαρί τε καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ παραδείξειεν ἂν ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ, τὸ λάγανον ἐλαίῳ ματτόμενον, καὶ εἰς πλακοῦντα τελοῦν. Τοῦ δὲ μεσιτεύοντος ἱερέως τὸ πρόσωπον, περιθείη τις ἂν καὶ μάλα εἰκότως τῷ Ἐμμανουήλ. Ὁ τοίνυν ἁγνείαν τὴν ἀνωτάτω κατωρθωκὼς, καὶ ἀνάθημα λαμπρὸν προσκεκομικὼς τῷ πανάγνῳ Θεῷ, τὰ ἐξ ἰσχύος ἔργα, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τῆς πνευματικῆς, ὡς ἐν βραχίονι τοῦ κριοῦ, καὶ ζωὴν ἄμωμον, ὡς ἐν ἄρτῳ τῷ ἀζύμῳ νοουμένην, καὶ μέν τοι καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ καὶ τὸ ἐπίχαρι τῆς ἐν ἁγιασμῷ ζωῆς, ὡς ἐν τῷ λαγάνῳ, μονονουχὶ χερσὶν ἰδίαις ἐπιτιθεὶς, ἀναφέρει Θεῷ, διὰ μεσίτου Χριστοῦ, ὃς οἱονεί πως ἀπὸ χειρὸς εἰς χεῖρας δέχεται τὰς δωροφορίας, ταῖς ἀνωτάτω τιμαῖς, κἂν τούτῳ δὴ μάλιστα, τὸν γνήσιον ἀληθῶς καταγεραίρων προσκυνητήν. Ταύτῃτοί φησιν, ὅτι χερσὶν ἐπιθεὶς ἰδίαις, ὁ τὴν ἁγίαν οὕτω καὶ πάναγνον ἀποπεραίνων εὐχὴν, ἐπιδώσει τῷ ἱερεῖ ἐπίθεμα καὶ ἐξαίρετον, καὶ ἐκνεμηθὲν αὐτῷ, καθὰ καὶ τὸ στηθύνιον τοῦ κριοῦ, κατά γε τῷ νομοθέτῃ δοκοῦν. Ὥσπερ δὴ τὸν βραχίονα μήνυσιν εἶναί φαμεν τῶν ἐξ ἰσχύος κατορθωμάτων, ἤγουν τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτῆς, οὕτω καὶ τὸ στηθύνιον τοῦ κριοῦ, φρενός τε καὶ νοῦ. Κεκτήμεθα γὰρ ἐν σπλάγχνοις καὶ ἐν τῷ στήθει τὰς φρένας. Ἀδιαφορεῖ δὲ πολλάκις ἡ θεία Γραφὴ, καὶ ποτὲ μὲν εἰς νοῦ τύπον τὴν κεφαλὴν, ποτὲ δὲ τὸ στῆθος εἰς φρενὸς ποιεῖται δήλωσιν. Ἱερὰ δὴ οὖν καὶ ἐξαίρετα, μόνον δὲ οὐχὶ καὶ ἀπὸ χειρὸς εἰς χεῖρα προσκομιζόμενα, καὶ εὐπαράδεκτα δι' αὐτοῦ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, τῶν ἁγνιζομένων ἰσχὺς ἡ πνευματικὴ, καὶ μέν τοι καὶ φρένες. Εἴπερ ἔστιν ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἑτέρως γένοιτό ποτε κατορθοῦν δύνασθαι τοὺς ἁγίους τὰ ἁνδάνοντα Θεῷ, μὴ οὐχὶ δι' ἰσχύος τῆς πνευματικῆς, καὶ μέν τοι καὶ φρενὸς ἀγαθῆς.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἑφθὸν δὲ προστέταχε λαμβάνεσθαι τὸν βραχίονα, τὸ οἱονεί πως ὠμὸν, καὶ τὸ τοῦ καθήκοντος παράλογον τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ἰσχύος ἀποσοβῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἀποτόμους εἶναι χρὴ τοὺς ἀνακειμένους Θεῷ, οὔτε μὴν ἀκράτῳ κεχρῆσθαι τῷ νῷ, ἀλλ' εὐαφῶς τε καὶ ἁπαλῶς καὶ λίαν εὐτέχνως κατορθοῦν ἐπείγεσθαι τὰ εἰς ἀρετήν. Εἶεν δ' ἂν ὧδε καὶ οὐχ ἑτέρως τῶν ἁγίων τὰ κατορθώματα χρηστὰ καὶ ἐδώδιμα τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ