The seven eyes of the Lord and the two olive branches
Cyril: …and one on the left.” And I asked and said to the angel who spoke in me, “My lord, what are these?” And he said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”’ (Zechariah 4:3–5) So the blessed prophet asked, ‘What are these, my lord?’ And the divine angel, after inserting a short account (Zechariah 4:6–10), interprets the vision and refers the making of the lampstand to Christ, saying of the seven lamps on it, ‘These are the eyes of the Lord, which look upon the whole earth.’ (Zechariah 4:10) For if we must say something in rather bodily terms, the Godhead sees us with countless eyes and surveys human affairs, ‘knowing what is in the darkness,’ as it is written, ‘and the light is with him’ (Daniel 2:22). For if God puts light even into us who are in the world, he would surely be rich in it himself, since he has it in his own nature before all others. Or if some suspect that this is not so, it is perhaps time to cry out to those who have chosen to think that way: ‘Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, be wise at last. He who planted the ear, does he not hear? Or he who formed the eye, does he not perceive?’ (Psalm 94:8–9) ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes.’ (Hebrews 4:12–13) Christ, then, gives light to all things and watches over all things. That is why he also said through one of the prophets: ‘I am a God who is near, says the Lord, and not a God far off. Shall anything be hidden from me?’ (Jeremiah 23:23–24) For nothing could escape the mind that knows all things. Or do I not seem to you to have examined this very well?
Palladius: Entirely so.
Cyril: But the prophet saw something unusual about the lampstand, for olive branches were there, and so he asked further: ‘What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on the left? And I asked a second time,’ he says, ‘and said to him, “What are the two branches of the olive trees that are beside the two golden spouts, which pour out and draw up the golden oil vessels?” And he said to me,’ he says, ‘“Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” And he said to me, “These are the two sons of richness, who stand beside the Lord of all the earth.”’ (Zechariah 4:11–14)
Palladius: Then what need did the blessed prophet have to ask yet again? For he says, ‘I asked a second time’ (Zechariah 4:12).
Cyril: Would you not say, Palladius, that it is wise and fitting for those who have chosen to think rightly in every respect to make their inquiries about any necessary matter precise and carefully refined?
Palladius: I would.
Cyril: Well then: when the prophet saw olive shoots teeming with tender, fresh leaves, he called them olive trees, and not branches from olive trees. Then the divine angel kept silent, waiting for a more thoughtful and…
Greek
ἐξ εὐωνύμων. Καὶ ἐπηρώτησα, καὶ εἶπα πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον τὸν λαλοῦντα ἐν ἐμοὶ, λέγων, Κύριε, τί ἐστι ταῦτα; καὶ εἶπε πρὸς μὲ, λέγων, Οὐ γινώσκεις τί ἐστι ταῦτα; Καὶ εἶπα, Οὐχὶ, Κύριε.» Ὁ μὲν οὖν μακάριος προφήτης διεπυνθάνετο λέγων, Τί ἐστι ταῦτα, Κύριε; Βραχὺ δὲ διήγημα παρενθεὶς ὁ θεσπέσιος ἄγγελος διερμηνεύει τὴν ὅρασιν, καὶ τὴν τῆς λυχνίας κατασκευὴν εἰς Χριστὸν ἀναφέρει λέγων περὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ λύχνων ἑπτὰ, «Οὗτοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου, ἐπιβλέποντες ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν.» Εἰ γὰρ χρή τι καὶ τῶν παχυτέρων εἰπεῖν, μυρίοις ὅσοις ἡμᾶς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὸ θεῖον ὁρᾷ καὶ κατασκέπτεται τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, γινώσκων τὰ ἐν τῷ σκότει, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, «Καὶ τὸ φῶς μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.» Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐν κόσμῳ τὸ φῶς ἐνίησι Θεὸς, καταπλουτήσειεν ἂν αὐτὸ καὶ πρό γε τῶν ἄλλων ἐν ἰδίᾳ φύσει λαχών. Ἢ εἴπερ οὐχ ὧδε ἔχειν ὑποπτεύουσί τινες, ὥρα που τάχα τοῖς ὧδε φρονεῖν ἑλομένοις ἐπιφωνεῖν, «Σύνετε δὴ ἄφρονες ἐν τῷ λαῷ, καὶ μωροί ποτε φρονήσατε. Ὁ φυτεύσας τὸ οὖς, οὐχὶ ἀκούει; ἢ ὁ πλάσας τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, οὐχὶ κατανοεῖ; Ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐνεργὴς, καὶ ἠκονημένος μᾶλλον μαχαίρας διστόμου, διικνούμενος μέχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος, ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν, καὶ κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι κτίσις ἀφανὴς ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ. Πάντα δὲ γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ.» Φωτίζει δὴ οὖν καὶ ἐφορᾷ πάντα Χριστός. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἔφασκε δι' ἑνὸς τῶν προφητῶν· «Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ οὐχὶ Θεὸς πόῤῥωθεν. Μὴ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ κρυβήσεταί τι;» Λάθοι γὰρ ἂν οὐδὲν τὸν πάντα εἰδότα νοῦν. Ἢ οὐκ ἄριστά σοι ταῦτα διεσκέφθαι δοκῶ;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀσύνηθες δέ τι περὶ τὴν λυχνίαν ὁ προφήτης ὁρῶν, ἐλαιῶν γὰρ ἦσαν κλάδοι, προσεπυνθάνετο λέγων, «Τί αἱ δύο ἐλαῖαι αὗται αἱ ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς λυχνίας καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων; Καὶ ἐπηρώτησα,» φησὶν, «ἐκ δευτέρου, καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτόν· Τί οἱ δύο κλάδοι τῶν ἐλαιῶν, οἱ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τῶν δύο μυξωτήρων τῶν χρυσῶν, τῶν ἐπιχεόντων καὶ ἐπαναγόντων τὰς ἐπαρυστρίδας τὰς χρυσᾶς; Καὶ εἶπε πρός με,» φησὶν, «Οὐ γινώσκεις τί ἐστι ταῦτα; Καὶ εἶπα, Οὐχὶ, Κύριε. Καὶ εἶπέ μοι· Οὗτοι οἱ δύο υἱοὶ τῆς πιότητος παρεστήκασι τῷ Κυρίῳ πάσης τῆς γῆς.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τίς οὖν ἄρα γέγονε χρεία τῷ μακαρίῳ προφήτῃ, τοῦ καὶ εἰς αὖθις ἀναπυθέσθαι δεῖν; Ἐπηρώτησα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκ δευτέρου.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ φαίης ἂν, ὦ Παλλάδιε, σοφόν τε εἶναι καὶ πρέπον, τοῖς γε ὅλως ὀρθὰ φρονεῖν ᾑρημένοις, ἀκριβεῖς καὶ ἀπεξεσμένους τὰς ἐφ' ὅτῳ οὖν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ποιεῖσθαι πεύσεις;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Φημί.
{ΚΥΡ.} Κλῶνας δὴ οὖν ἐλαιῶν θαλῷ βρύοντας ἁπαλῷ καὶ νεοθαλεῖ τεθεαμένος ὁ προφήτης, ἐλαίας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἐλαιῶν ὠνόμαζε κλάδους. Εἶτα σεσιώπηκεν ὁ θεσπέσιος ἄγγελος, τὴν ἐμφρονεστέραν καὶ