The Embrace of the Right Hand
And His right hand, taking hold of me and drawing me toward Himself, makes me light for the upward flight; so that, sent there and yet not parted from the Archer, I rather come to rest.
Then she turns her words to the daughters of the Jerusalem above (Song of Songs 2:7; Galatians 4:26). Her words are an appeal, made under oath, to make love abound and grow ever greater, until He who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4) brings His will to fulfillment.
By the left hand, it seems, she hints at the good things of the present life, which she already enjoys; by the right, at the expectation of the things to come, held in promises. Their use, she says, as has been said, lies in promises and hopes. And it is well said that she is embraced by the right hand and that her head rests on the left. For the things of the present life, however useful and admired they may be thought, must be placed beneath the head of the perfect soul, supplying the body only with what it needs, as a pillow does for the head. But the things of the age to come, since they are divine and stand above human nature, she hinted at as surpassing by speaking of the embrace.
Or perhaps, since hands are a symbol of actions, the actions of the left hand signify what belongs to the body and those of the right what belongs to the soul; and these, being on the right, have received the better lot and hold the needs of the body in their embrace. For as the embracing hand is above and holds within its arm what it embraces, so the actions directed toward the goal of the life to come hold fast every irrational movement of the body and keep life well ordered and bound together; and no one is able to plot against the soul that the Bridegroom has embraced.
Greek
εὐθύνεται ὑπὸ ‹69.1284› τὸν σκοπὸν τὸ βέλος· ἡ δὲ δεξιὰ αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἑαυτόν με διαλαβοῦσα καὶ ἐφελκυσαμένη, κούφην με πρὸς ἄνω φορὰν ἀπεργάζεται· κἀκεῖ πεμπομένην, καὶ τοῦ τοξότου μὴ χωριζομένην, μᾶλλον ἐπαναπαύεσθαι. Εἶτα πρὸς τὰς θυγατέρας τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ τρέπει τὸν λόγον. Ὁ δὲ λόγος παράκλησίς ἐστιν ἐν ὅρκῳ προσαγομένη, τοῦ πλεονάζειν καὶ ἐπαύξειν ἀεὶ τὴν ἀγάπην, ἕως ἂν ἐνεργὸν ἑαυτοῦ ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα, ὁ θέλων πάντας ἀνθρώπους σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. ∆ιὰ μὲν τοῦ εὐωνύμου τὰ τοῦ παρόντος βίου αἰνίττεται, ὡς ἔοικε, καλὰ, ὧν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἤδη ἔχει· διὰ δὲ τῆς δεξιᾶς, τὴν τῶν μελλόντων ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις προσδοκίαν· ὧν τὴν χρῆσιν ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις, ὡς λέλεκται, καὶ ἐλπίσι προσκεῖσθαί φησιν. Εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ φάναι, τῇ μὲν δεξιᾷ περιλαμβάνεσθαι, τῇ δὲ ἀριστερᾷ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπαναπαύεσθαι· δεῖ γὰρ τὰ τοῦ παρόντος βίου κἂν πολὺ νομίζηται χρηστὰ καὶ περίβλεπτα, ὑποτετάχθαι τῇ κεφαλῇ τῆς τελείας ψυχῆς, μόνην τὴν ἀναγκαίαν χρείαν παρέχοντα τῷ σώματι, ὡς τὸ προσκεφάλαιον τῇ κεφαλῇ. Τὰ δὲ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, ἐπειδὴ θεῖα ὄντα ἐπάνω τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐφέστηκε φύσεως, διὰ τῆς περιλήψεως τὸ ὑπερέχον ᾐνίξατο, Τάχα δὲ, ἐπειδήπερ αἱ χεῖρες πράξεών εἰσι σύμβολον· αἱ δὲ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς χειρὸς πράξεις τὰ τοῦ σώματος σημαίνουσιν, αἱ δὲ τῆς δεξιᾶς, τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς· δεξιὰ ὄντα τὸν ἀμείνω κλῆρον εἴληχε, περιέχονται τὰς σωματικὰς ἀνάγκας. Ὡς γὰρ ἡ περιλαμβάνουσα χεὶρ καὶ ἐπάνω ἐστὶ καὶ ἐντὸς ἀγκάλην ἔχει τὸ περιληφθὲν, οὕτως αἱ πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς μελλούσης ζωῆς ἀποτεταγμέναι πράξεις, πᾶν κίνημα τοῦ σώματος ἄλογον περισφίγγουσαι, εὔτακτον καὶ συνδεδεμένην φυλάττουσι τὴν ζωήν· οὐδ' ἑνὸς ἐπιβουλεύειν δυναμένου τῇ περιληφθείσῃ ὑπὸ τοῦ νυμφίου ψυχῇ. 2