Fragments on Ezekiel · §2 · Cyril of Alexandria

Noah, Daniel, Job, and the Cedar

It seems, then, that he likens to Noah those who, through faith in God, serve him well; to Daniel, those who are wise and clear-sighted; and to Job, in turn, those who please him through endurance, clearly meaning endurance in anything at all that is praised.

“And I will take from the chosen parts of the cedar, from its top” (Ezekiel 17:22). He likens to cedars, tall and most beautiful, those who are from Israel. Among them the chosen part, and, as it were, a kind of heart, was the blessed David. From him God the Father took and planted Emmanuel, who also rose up into a great cedar and received all into his own shade (Ezekiel 17:23). And so, from then on, the whole world under the sun came to know the power and authority of God, who can do all things.

For he has brought low the green tree, and has made the dry tree grow and sprout again (Ezekiel 17:24), that is, the Church from among the Gentiles, which by the devil’s…

Greek

Ἔοικε τοίνυν τῷ μὲν Νῶε παρεικάζειν τοὺς διὰ πίστεως τῆς εἰς Θεὸν εὐεργετοῦντας αὐτῷ· τῷ γε μὴν ∆ανιὴλ τοὺς σοφούς τε καὶ διορατικούς· Ἰὼβ δὲ πάλιν τοὺς διά γε τῆς ὑπομονῆς, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τῆς εἰς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ἐπαινουμένων, εὐαρεστοῦντας αὐτῷ. Καὶ λήψομαι ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιλέκτων τῆς κέδρου ἐκ κορυφῆς. Cat. f. 208. Κέδροις μὲν ἀπεικάζει ταῖς ὑψηλαῖς καὶ εὐκοσμοτάταις τοὺς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, ἐν οἷς τὸ ἐπίλεκτον, καὶ οἱονεί τις καρδία γέγονεν ὁ μακάριος ∆αβὶδ, ἐξ οὗ λαβὼν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ κατεφύτευσε τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὃς καὶ εἰς κέδρον ἀνέστη μεγάλην, καὶ εἰσεδέξατο πάντας εἰς ἰδίαν σκιάν· ἔγνω τε λοιπὸν ἡ ὑφήλιος σύμπασα τὴν τοῦ πάντα ἰσχύοντος Θεοῦ δύναμίν τε καὶ ἐξουσίαν. Τεταπείνωκε γὰρ τὸ ξύλον τὸ ὑγρὸν, φῦναι δὲ καὶ ἀναβλαστῆναι παρεσκεύασε τὸ ξύλον τὸ ξηρὸν, τουτέστιν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίαν, ταῖς τοῦ διαβόλου

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Cyril of Alexandria's comments on single verses of Ezekiel, kept in the catenae: the wings of the living creatures, the disciples as doves on the mountains, why Noah, Daniel and Job are named, the cedar shoot planted from David's line, the ordinances that were not good, the Levites who fed on the flock and muddied its water, and the promise of one shepherd, which Cyril reads of Christ. A fresh English translation from the Greek.

A fresh English translation made from the Greek text printed in PG 70 (Fragmenta in Ezechielem). No published English version was used for its wording.

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Translated from PG 70 (Greek)

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