After the Passover type: God leads by the desert road, not Philistia
ON ADORATION AND WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH — BOOK THREE. That it is impossible to escape the death from sin, and the devil’s greed, except through the sanctification that is according to Christ; and that justification is not in law but in Christ. Therefore since the manner of the sacrifice was being carried through very well for those from Israel, and the firstborn of the Egyptians had already perished, and Christ as in a type was driving the destroyer away from those sanctified, then at last, running out from the land of those who ruled them, and hastening to arrive at the one promised to them, they do not run straight into it, but were being carried round as it were by turnings onto the other side of the straight way. For he writes again thus: ‘And when Pharaoh sent the people out, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, because it was near. For God said: Lest the people repent when they see war, and turn back into Egypt. And God led his people round by the way into the wilderness toward the Red Sea.’
Palladius: What then is the hidden thing even in this?
Cyril: It must be examined thoroughly, if it seems good. For understand that although a road lying straight before them was at hand, and it was possible for those shortening the journey to arrive quickly (for ‘near,’ he says, ‘was the land of the promise’), clearly he was carrying them away by another—the one in a long circuit—the Creator of all things having known beforehand their readiness toward apostasy, and what still bent unrestrainedly toward cowardice of old.
Palladius: The word is not any clearer.
Cyril: One must go then unto the spiritual contemplation: those setting out from a worldly life and demonic greed, as from some Egyptians’ land— a straight and altogether short road carries them off toward sanctification, and unto
Greek
ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΠΡΟΣΚΥΝΗΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΤΡΕΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΡΙΤΟΣ. Ὅτι ἀμήχανον διαφυγεῖν τὸν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας θάνα τον, καὶ τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου πλεονεξίαν, εἰ μὴ δι' ἁγιασμοῦ τοῦ κατὰ Χριστόν· καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐν νόμῳ ἡ δικαίωσις, ἀλλ' ἐν Χριστῷ. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδήπερ τῆς θυσίας ὁ τρόπος τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ εὖ μάλα διεπεραίνετο, καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων πρωτότοκα διολώλει λοιπὸν, ἀπεσόβει δὲ τῶν ἡγιασμένων ὡς ἐν τύπῳ Χριστὸς τὸν ὀλοθρευτὴν, τότε δὴ μόλις τῆς τῶν κρατούντων ἐκθέοντες γῆς, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην αὐτοῖς ἀφικέσθαι διασπεύδοντες, οὐκ εὐθυδρομοῦσιν εἰς αὐτὴν, περιαγωγαῖς δὲ ὥσπερ ταῖς ἐπὶ θάτερα τῆς εὐθείας ἀπεκομίζοντο. Γράφει μὲν γὰρ ὧδε πάλιν· «Ὡς δὲ ἐξαπέστειλε Φαραὼ τὸν λαὸν, οὐχ ὡδήγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς ὁδὸν γῆς Φιλιστιεὶμ, ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἦν. Εἶπε γὰρ ὁ Θεός· Μήποτε μεταμελήσῃ τῷ λαῷ ἰδόντι πόλεμον, καὶ ἀποστρέψῃ εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Καὶ ἐκύκλωσεν ὁ Θεὸς λαὸν αὐτοῦ ὁδὸν τὴν εἰς ἔρημον εἰς τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν θάλασσαν.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τί δὴ ἄρα κἀν τούτῳ τὸ κεκρυμμένον·
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἐκβασανιστέον, εἰ δοκεῖ. Σύνες γὰρ ὅτι παρακειμένης ὁδοῦ τῆς ἐπ' εὐθείας αὐτοῖς, καὶ βραχυποροῦντας ἐξὸν ἀφικέσθαι συντόμως (Ἐγγὺς γὰρ ἦν, φησὶ, τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἡ γῆ), δῆλον ὅτι δι' ἑτέρας αὐτοὺς ἀπεκόμιζε, τῆς ἐν κύκλῳ μακρῷ, τὸ ἕτοιμον εἰς ἀπόστασιν, καὶ τὸ ἀσχέτως ἔτι κατανενευκὸς εἰς δειλίαν τῶν πάλαι προεγνωκὼς ὁ πάντων Δημιουργός.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐδέν τι μᾶλλόν ἐστι σαφὴς ὁ λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἰτέον δὴ οὖν ἐπὶ θεωρίαν τὴν πνευματικὴν, τοὺς ἀπὸ ζωῆς κοσμικῆς καὶ δαιμονιώδους πλεονεξίας, ὥσπερ τινὸς γῆς Αἰγυπτίων ἀπαίροντας, ὁδὸς εὐθεῖα καὶ ὀλίγη παντελῶς ἀποφέρει πρὸς ἁγιασμὸν, καὶ εἰς
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius. Book 3 of a seventeen-book dialogue — not the whole work.
English follows Migne PG 68 (Aubert reprint). The PDF and a cleaned text of the same print were checked against each other. This page is Book 3 §§1–10 of seventeen. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 68 De adoratione Book 3 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 3 §§1–10)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 3)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.