Firstborn exchanged for Levites; sacred vs common enrollment
‘Oversee every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and take their number from name, and you will take the Levites for me—I the Lord—instead of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and the Levites’ cattle instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel’s cattle. And Moses oversaw, in the manner the Lord commanded him, and all the firstborn males according to number from name from a month old and upward, from their oversight, came to be twenty-two thousand, seventy-three and…’
Palladius: You speak well; yet let the mind down unto a test, trusting Christ the giver of every good.
Cyril: Understand then that in the first enrollment, every male was sought, and twenty-year-old—that is, the thoughtful and manly, and in peaks of being able to succeed at whatever God would wish. And let the word concerning this be enough for us. For it has been made, as I think, holding very sufficiently. And in these two enrollments, every male from Levi’s tribe is set into the divine and holy votes. And from the other multitude, no longer every male simply, but the firstborn, and from a month old altogether and upward is what is numbered.
Palladius: I say so.
Cyril: Therefore I will say that; and again the word will walk for me not off the mark, according at least to what is likely and not unpersuasive; for there was a reminder of manliness together and of the prudence understood in Christ, and as in a type a seeking, the male was being enrolled, not
Greek
Ἐπίσκεψαι πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἄρσεν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ μηνιαίου καὶ ἐπάνω, καὶ λάβε τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν ἐξ ὀνόματος, καὶ λήψῃ τοὺς Λευίτας ἐμοὶ, ἐγὼ Κύριος, ἀντὶ πάντων τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ τὰ κτήνη τῶν Λευιτῶν ἀντὶ πάντων τῶν πρωτοτόκων ἐν τοῖς κτήνεσι τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ ἐπεσκέψατο Μωσῆς, ὃν τρόπον ἐνετείλατο Κύριος αὐτῷ καὶ ἐγένετο πάντα τὰ πρωτότοκα τὰ ἀρσενικὰ κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἐξ ὀνόματος ἀπὸ μηνιαίου καὶ ἐπάνω, ἐκ τῆς ἐπισκέψεως αὐτῶν, δύο καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες, τρεῖς καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ διακόσιοι. Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν, λέγων· Λάβε τοὺς Λευίτας ἀντὶ πάντων τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ τὰ κτήνη τῶν Λευιτῶν ἀντὶ τῶν κτηνῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔσονται ἐμοὶ οἱ Λευῖται· ἐγὼ Κύριος· καὶ τὰ λύτρα τριῶν καὶ ἐβδομήκοντα καὶ διακοσίων οἱ πλεονάζοντες παρὰ τοὺς Λευίτας ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· καὶ λήψῃ πέντε σίκλους κατὰ κεφαλὰς κατὰ τὸ δίδραχμα τὸ ἅγιον· λήψῃ εἴκοσιν ὀβολοὺς τοῦ σίκλου, καὶ δώσεις τὸ ἀργύριον Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ, λύτρα τῶν πλεοναζόντων ἐν αὐτοῖς.» Ὡς βαθὺ τὸ χρῆμα καὶ δυσέφικτον, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τὸ προσβαλεῖν δύνασθαι, φημὶ δὴ τοῖς ὧδε διεσταλμένοις, λεπτῶς τε καὶ ἀκριβῶς.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ λέγεις· καθίει δ' οὖν ὅμως τὸν νοῦν εἰς βάσανον, Χριστῷ τῷ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ δοτῆρι πίσυνος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Σύνες δὴ, ὅτι ἐν ἀπογραφῇ τῇ πρώτῃ, πᾶν μὲν ἦν ἄρσεν, καὶ εἰκοσαετὲς τὸ ζητούμενον, τουτέστι τὸ ἔμφρον τε καὶ ἀνδρεῖον, καὶ ἐν ἀκμαῖς τοῦ δύνασθαι κατορθοῦν, ἃ ἂν βούλοιτο Θεός. Ἐχέτω δὲ ἅλις ἡμῖν ὁ περὶ τοῦδε λόγος. Πεποίηται γὰρ, ὡς ἐγῷμαι λίαν ἀποχρώντως ἔχων. Ἔν γε ταυταινὶ ταῖν δυαῖν ἀπογραφαῖν, ἅπαν μὲν ἄρσεν τὸ ἐκ φυλῆς Λευῒ, ταῖς θείαις τε καὶ ἱεραῖς ἐντάττεται ψήφοις. Ἀπό γε τῆς ἑτέρας πληθύος, οὐκέτι πᾶν ἄρσεν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρωτότοκον, ἀπὸ μηνιαίου δὲ σύμπαν καὶ ἐπάνω τὸ ἀριθμούμενον. Καὶ ἡ μὲν τῶν Λευιτικῶν βρεφῶν ἀπαρίθμησις, δύο καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες· ἡ δὲ τῶν πρωτοτόκων δύο καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες καὶ τρεῖς καὶ διακόσιοι καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα. Εἶτα θεσπίζει Θεὸς, ἀντὶ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τοὺς Λευίτας ἀνατίθεσθαι δεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὑπερτεροῦν ἤτοι πλεονάζοι ἀριθμῷ τὸ δημοτικὸν εὑρίσκεται, διακοσίαις ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ τρισὶ κεφαλαῖς, δεδικαίωκεν ὁ νομοθέτης, προσκομίζεσθαι δεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τὰ λύτρα τῇ φυλῇ τῇ Λευιτικῇ, ὡς ἂν καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ποιοῖντο τὰς λειτουργίας, καὶ ἀναφέροιεν τὰς λατρείας, μισθὸν ὥσπερ τινὰ τὴν ἀπερισπάστου προσεδρείας τουτονὶ κομιζόμενος παρ' αὐτῶν. Ἢ οὐκ ἐν τούτοις φὴς τὴν τῶν προκειμένων περίνοιαν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Φημί.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν ἐκεῖνο ἐρῶ· καί μοι πάλιν ὁ λόγος οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ βαδιεῖται, κατά γε τὸ εἰκὸς καὶ οὐκ ἀπιθάνως ἔχον· ἤτε μὲν γὰρ ἀνδρίας τε ὁμοῦ καὶ φρονήσεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ νοουμένης ἀνάμνησις ἦν, καὶ ὡς ἐν τύπῳ ζήτησις, ἀπεγράφετο τὸ ἄρσεν, οὐκ
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius. Book 4 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 4 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 4 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 4)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 4)
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.