Holy works on Sabbath; spiritual circumcision; Jericho; Hebrew slave
the needing for the day of the Sabbaths to be made holy by us; ‘For remember,’ he says, ‘the day of the Sabbaths to make it holy.’ And we will finish this also very reasonably, if we appear caretakers of holy works, sabbatizing intelligibly; and a clear under-type of the matter would be—the priests in the temple on Sabbath profaning the Sabbath, and blamelessly working the sacred things, and completing sacrifices, and sheep-slaughtering, and doing all the things unto God’s glory unhindered. Or did not Christ bring forward this very thing to the Jews’ blames, when they were naming a loosing of the law upon him having healed the paralytic on Sabbath?
Palladius: I will remember.
Cyril: And a human is also circumcised on Sabbath, according to the Savior’s voice, the law not rebuking; for the type almost also testifies clearly that it would be fitting and very reasonably for those sabbatizing in Christ—that is, for those ceasing from sin, and being made holy through faith—that the circumcision in spirit be practiced according to the eighth, that is the resurrection day; for thus Christ has been raised. And since he lived again, having dissolved death’s power, he sealed at once his own acquaintances with the Holy Spirit, and this is the circumcision in spirit. For he breathed in saying: ‘Receive Holy Spirit.’ Or does Paul not also say that the circumcision as in understanding is practiced thus? For he insisted that those having believed must have been circumcised with a circumcision not hand-made—that is by spirit. And I would add that we would not reasonably cease from the things unto spiritual manliness, and from crushing enemies, and from conquering in Christ those having stood against, when sabbatizing intelligibly; and again I will bring forward for you as an image that ancient Joshua, having taken Jericho together with those from Israel according to the seventh day—that is, on the Sabbath.
Palladius: Therefore then the Sabbath would bring in for us, as it seems, only an idleness from baseness and sins—at least as far as it comes unto truth—the thing almost only sketched as still in types for the more ancient ones.
Cyril: Thus I say; and in another manner it would also show Christ’s mystery very clearly.
Palladius: What then do you say?
Cyril: The law said somewhere again: ‘And if you acquire a Hebrew servant, he will slave for you six years, yet in the seventh year he will go away free for a gift.’ And these things in Exodus. And again in Deuteronomy thus he says: ‘And if your brother the Hebrew, or the Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he will slave for you six years, and in the seventh you will send him out free from you; and whenever you send him out free from you, you will not send him out empty; you will provision him a provision from your sheep, and from the grain and from your inheritance; just as the Lord your God has blessed you, you will give to him.’ For all the other time, before our Savior’s sojourn, Israel was being h
Greek
τὸ ἁγιάζεσθαι δεῖν πρὸς ἡμῶν τὴν τῶν Σαββάτων ἡμέραν· «Μνήσθητι γὰρ, «φησὶ,» τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν Σαββάτων ἁγιάζειν αὐτήν.» Ἀποπερανοῦμεν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ λίαν ἐπιεικῶς, εἰ ἁγίων ἔργων ἐπιμεληταὶ φαινόμεθα, σαββατίζοντες νοητῶς· εἴη δ' ἂν τοῦ πράγματος ὑποτύπωσις ἐναργὴς, τὸ ἐν Σαββάτῳ τοὺς ἱερέας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τὸ Σάββατον βεβηλοῦν, καὶ ἀμωμήτως ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἱερὰ, καὶ πληροῦν θυσίας, καὶ μηλοσφαγεῖν, πάντα τε δρᾷν τὰ εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ ἀδιακωλύτως. Ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ ταῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίωνμομφαῖς αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο παρεκόμισεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅτε δὴ λύσιν ἐπεφήμιζον αὐτῷ τοῦ νόμου τεθεραπευκότι τὸν παράλυτον ἐν Σαββάτῳ;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Μεμνήσομαι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Περιτέμνεται δὲ καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐν Σαββάτῳ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνὴν, οὐκ ἐπιτιμῶντος τοῦ νόμου· παρεγγυᾷ γὰρ ὁ τύπος καὶ μονονουχὶ διαμαρτύρεται σαφῶς, ὅτι πρέποι ἂν καὶ μάλα εἰκότως τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ σαββατίζουσι, τουτέστι, τοῖς καταλήγουσιν ἁμαρτίας, καὶ ἁγιαζομένοις διὰ πίστεως, ἡ ἐν πνεύματι περιτομὴ πραττομένη κατὰ τὴν ὀγδόην, τουτέστι τὴν ἀναστάσιμον ἡμέραν· ἐγήγερται γὰρ οὕτω Χριστός. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀνεβίω, τὸ τοῦ θανάτου καταλύσας κράτος, κατεσφράγισεν εὐθὺς τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ γνωρίμους, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡ ἐν πνεύματι περιτομή. Ἐνεφύσησε γὰρ λέγων· «Λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἅγιον.» Ἣ οὐχ οὕτω πράττεσθαι τὴν ὡς ἐν νοήσει περιτομὴν καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησι; Περιτετμῆσθαι γὰρ δεῖν περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ, τουτέστι πνεύματι, διισχυρίσατο τοὺς πεπιστευκότας. Προσθείην δ' ἂν ὅτι, τῶν εἰς ἀνδρείαν τὴν πνευματικὴν, καὶ τοῦ συντρίβειν ἐχθροὺς, καὶ νικᾷν ἐν Χριστῷ τοὺς ἀνθεστηκότας, οὐκ ἂν καταλήξαιμεν εἰκότως, νοητῶς σαββατίζοντες· εἰκόνα δέ σοι παροίσω πάλιν τὸν ἀρχαῖον ἐκεῖνον Ἰησοῦν, ὁμοῦ τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ ᾑρηκότα τὴν Ἱεριχὼ κατὰ τὴν ἑβδόμην ἡμέραν, τουτέστιν, ἐν τῷ Σαββάτῳ.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀργίαν οὖν ἄρα τὸ Σάββατον μόνον ἡμῖν, ὡς ἔοικε, τῶν ἐκ φαυλότητος καὶ ἁμαρτιῶν εἰσκομίσειεν ἂν, τόγε ἧκον εἰς ἀλήθειαν, τὴν ὡς ἐν τύποις ἔτι τοῖς ἀρχαιοτέροις μονονουχὶ σκιαγραφουμένην.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὕτω φημί· καθ' ἕτερον δὲ τρόπον, τὸ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον παραδείξειεν ἂν καὶ μάλα σαφῶς.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τίνα δὴ φής.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἔφη που πάλιν ὁ νόμος· «Ἐὰν δὲ κτήσῃ παῖδα Ἑβραῖον, ἓξ ἔτη δουλεύσει σοι, τῷ δὲ ἔτει τῷ ἑβδόμῳ ἀπελεύσεται ἐλεύθερος δωρεάν.» Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ ταυτί. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ πάλιν οὕτω φησί· «Ἐὰν δὲ πραθῇ σοι ὁ ἀδελφός σου ὁ Ἑβραῖος, ἢ ἡ Ἑβραία, δουλεύσει σοι ἓξ ἔτη, καὶ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ ἐξαποστελεῖς αὐτὸν ἐλεύθερον ἀπὸ σοῦ· ὅταν δὲ ἐξαποστελεῖς αὐτὸν ἐλεύθερον ἀπὸ σοῦ, οὐκ ἐξαποστελεῖς αὐτὸν κενόν· ἐφόδιον ἐφοδιάσεις αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς κλήρου σου· καθὼς ηὐλόγησέ σε Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, δώσεις αὐτῷ.» Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλον ἅπαντα χρόνον, πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιδημίας, πνεύματι δουλείας ὁ Ἰσραὴλ κατ
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius. Book 7 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 7 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 5 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 7)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 7)
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.