Silver pillars and the resonant gospel; oil for the lamp
Cyril: …of Christ. The silver shows that he shone out like light, flashing as God with rays the mind perceives. And the bronze overlaid with silver hints to us, indirectly, that the word he has spread over the earth, that is, the preaching of the gospel, is bright and resonant. For bronze rings clear, and silver is very bright and gleaming. This is true of the gospel preaching: one can see that the Savior’s word has the clearness and purity of the highest piety, and that it resounds, as it were, through the whole inhabited world. And if anyone prefers to see the holy apostles and evangelists figured in such pillars, his reasoning will be sound. For they are truly silvered, as it were, because they have come to share in Christ, who gives light. That is why it says, ‘And the brightness of the Lord our God shall be upon us’ (Psalm 90:17). They are also called ‘the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:14), and they all but stand on bronze overlaid with silver. For their support is, as it were, the bright and most resonant word they use. ‘For the Lord,’ it says, ‘will give a word to those who preach the good news with great power’ (Psalm 68:11). And it is written, ‘Beautiful too are the feet of those who bring good news of good things’ (Romans 10:15).
Palladius: The explanation is deep, but it comes close to the truth.
Cyril: Now that the commands about the court are complete, he turns to the preparation of oil, perfume and incense, saying: ‘And you, command the sons of Israel, and let them bring you pure oil from olives, free of dregs, beaten, to burn for light, so that a lamp may burn continually in the tent of witness, outside the veil that is over the covenant. And Aaron and his sons shall burn it from evening until morning before the Lord, a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations, from the sons of Israel’ (Exodus 27:20–21).
Palladius: And what does this mean?
Cyril: What it shows is most necessary, and I call the riddle a wise one. With the seven lamps (Exodus 25:37), which always burn and shine in the holy tent, we do well to compare the enlightenment that comes through Christ, which never fails in its power to shine into the mind of believers and to kindle it, or in other words to fill it. For the number seven in a way suggests completeness everywhere, as when it says, for instance, ‘The barren woman has borne seven’ (1 Samuel 2:5), that is, very many, as many as were needed to be enough. Aaron lights the lamps, and so do the rest, the priests who came after him. For the enlightenment from Christ is kept, as it were, unquenched in the churches through the uprightness of those to whom the priesthood has fallen, who make the minds of believers bright by their sound teaching of the mysteries. This, I think, is what is meant by lighting the lamps from evening until morning. And by darkness I take him to mean the deception that comes from the devil, a kind of night of the mind that comes over people, namely the…
Greek
δ' ἂν εἴη καὶ τοῦδε Χριστὸς, φωτὸς μὲν ὅτι διέλαμψε δίκην, αὐγαῖς δηλονότι ταῖς νοηταῖς ἀστράπτων ὡς Θεὸς, τοῦ ἀργύρου σημαίνοντος. Ὅτι δὲ λαμπρὸς καὶ εὐηχὴς ὁ περὶ γῆν αὐτῷ πεποίηται λόγος, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὸ κήρυγμα τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν, τοῦ περιαργύρου χαλκοῦ πλαγίως ἡμῖν ὑπεμφαίνοντος. Εὐηχὴς μὲν γὰρ καὶ ὁ χαλκὸς, λαμπρὸν δὲ δὴ λίαν καὶ διαφανὲς τοῦ ἀργύρου τὸ χρῆμα. Ἔνεστι δὲ τοῦτο τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς κηρύγμασι, καὶ κατίδοι τις ἂν, τοῦ Σωτῆρος τὸν λόγον, ἔχοντα μὲν τῆς εἰς ἄκρον εὐσεβείας τὸ διειδές τε καὶ καθαρὸν, ὅλην δὲ ὥσπερ περιβομβοῦντα τὴν οἰκουμένην. Εἰ δὲ δή τις ἕλοιτο τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους καὶ εὐαγγελιστὰς ὡς ἐν τοῖς τοιοῖσδε τυχὸν ἀνατυποῦσθαι στύλοις, λογιεῖται τὰ εἰκότα. Καὶ γάρ εἰσιν ἀληθῶς ὥσπερ ἠργυρωμένοι, διὰ τὸ ἐν μεθέξει γενέσθαι Χριστοῦ τοῦ φωτίζοντος. Τοιγάρτοι φησί· «Καὶ ἔσται ἡ λαμπρότης Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς.» Ὀνομάζονται δὲ καὶ «Τοῦ κόσμου φῶς,» χαλκῷ δὲ περιαργύρῳ μονονουχὶ καὶ ἐμβεβηκότες. Ἔρεισμα γὰρ αὐτοῖς, ὥσπερ τῷ λαμπρῷ καὶ εὐηχεστάτῳ κεχρῆσθαι λόγῳ. «Κύριος γὰρ,» φησὶ, «δώσει ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ.» Ὡραῖοι δὲ καὶ οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων τὰ ἀγαθὰ, γέγραπται.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Βαθὺς μὲν ὁ λόγος, πλὴν, ἀληθείας ἐγγύς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Συμπεπερασμένων δὴ οὖν καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς αὐλαῖς τεθεσπισμένων, εἰς ἐλαίου τε καὶ μύρου καὶ μὴν καὶ θυμιαμάτων μετατρέπει κατασκευὴν, οὕτω λέγων· «Καὶ σὺ, σύνταξον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· καὶ λαβέτωσάν σοι ἔλαιον ἐξ ἐλαιῶν ἄτρυγον, καθαρὸν, κεκομμένον εἰς φῶς καῦσαι, ἵνα καίηται λύχνος διαπαντὸς ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ἔξωθεν τοῦ καταπετάσματος τοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς διαθήκης, καὶ καύσει αὐτὸ ὁ Ἀαρὼν καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἀφ' ἑσπέρας ἕως πρωῒ, ἐναντίον Κυρίου, νόμιμον αἰώνιον εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ τί δὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀναγκαιοτάτην ἔχει τὴν δήλωσιν, καὶ σοφὸν εἶναί φημι τὸ αἴνιγμα· ἑπτὰ μὲν γὰρ λύχνοις, καιομένοις. τε ἀεὶ καὶ φαίνουσιν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ, τὸν διὰ Χριστοῦ φωτισμὸν παρεικαστέον εὖ μάλα, διαρκῶς ἔχοντα πρὸς τὸ ἐλλάμπειν δύνασθαι καὶ ἀνακαίειν, ἤτοι ἀναμεστοῦν, τῶν πιστευόντων τὸν νοῦν. Ἀριθμὸς γάρ πως ὁ εἰς ἑπτὰ τὴν τῆς τελειώσεως δήλωσιν ὑπεμφαίνει πανταχῆ. Ὡς ἔν γε τῷ φάναι τυχὸν, «Στεῖρα δὲ ἔτεκεν ἑπτὰ» τοῦτ' ἔστι, πλεῖστά τε καὶ ὅσα ἐχρῆν εἶναι πρὸς αὐτάρκειαν. Ἀνακαίουσι δὲ τοὺς λύχνους Ἀαρών τε καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ, οἱ καὶ μετ' αὐτὸν ἱερεῖς. Ἄσβεστος γὰρ ὥσπερ ὁ παρὰ Χριστοῦ φωτισμὸς ἐν Ἐκκλησίαις σώζεται ταῖς τῶν ἱερᾶσθαι κεκληρωκότων ἐπιεικείαις, οἳ ταῖς εἰς ὀρθότητα μυσταγωγίαις τὸν τῶν πιστευόντων καταλαμπρύνουσι νοῦν. Τουτὶ γὰρ, οἶμαι, ἔστι τὸ ἀνακαίεσθαι τοὺς λύχνους ἀπὸ ἑσπέρας ἕως πρωΐ. Σκοτίαν δὲ οἶμαι τὴν ἐκ διαβόλου πλάνησιν, καὶ νοητὴν ὥσπερ τινὰ νύκτα κατὰ νοῦν ἀνθρώποις συμβαίνουσαν, τὰ τῶν