Silver, gold, bronze, iron; Achan’s theft harms all Israel at Ai
bronze would signal; and strength and power, iron being very hard, and fighting against every material. Of which if someone should choose to share, although having the best rank beside God, and being measured among warriors, and indeed also having become distinguished by spiritual good courage, he will strike against God, and having chosen to pain the fellow-armed and helper with counterfeit turnings-aside, will lie under the angers from there.
Palladius: You have spoken well. For I would agree. Yet tell me that, having carried the word a little off from the deed and the history: why to the Lord the silver and the gold, and the bronze and iron, and not rather—either as useless perhaps, or as knowing how to defile—were they sent out from the camp? for the power of the spiritual contemplation has shown them abominable.
Cyril: Because, Palladius, every brightness, and wisdom and wealth, and indeed also strength, will fittingly and holily be dedicated to God. For his is the glory and all brightness, wealth and wisdom, and power. But if someone should choose from him, and be enriched from the Lord’s treasury—clearly the intelligible wealth—and have glory and understanding, and spiritual strength, he will be conspicuous and enviable. And if he should wish to take these from the world, he will be detestable and hated beside the virtue-loving God at least, and will be under judgment and justice. For pleasure-loving will altogether follow wealth; and neighbor at once to brightness and superiorities is contempt; and to powers greed has been fixed beside; and to the wisdom in the world, the ugly in doctrines, even if the tongue of those who have written those things should have the well-sounding. Some such thing Paul also says: ‘If anyone among you is wise, let him become foolish, that he may become wise; for the wisdom of this world is foolishness beside God.’ Achan therefore, not taking from Christ’s treasury, but as from Jericho’s world, strikes against God. And the harms from there and the things coming from divine anger were going not upon only the one condemned upon these, but were mistreating the whole synagogue; for having become without share of the help from above, Israel once most hard to take was weak and without strength.
Palladius: And how or from where might we learn that the word upon this is true?
Cyril: From what has been written next. For after the things according to Jericho and the things upon it done brightly and young-heartedly by all Israel, Joshua sent men from Jericho into Ai, saying: ‘Going up reconnoiter Ai. And the men went up and reconnoitered Ai, and returned toward Joshua, and said toward him: Let not all the people go up, but about two thousand or three thousand men let them go up, and let them besiege the city out. Do not lead up all the people there; for they are few. And about three thousand
Greek
χαλκός· ἰσχὺν δὲ καὶ δυναστείαν, σκληρὸς ὢν ἄγαν ὁ σίδηρος, καὶ τῇ ὕλῃ πάσῃ μαχόμενος. Ὧν εἴπερ τις ἕλοιτο μεταλαχεῖν, καίτοι τὴν ἀρίστην τάξιν ἔχων παρὰ Θεῷ, καὶ ἀναμετρούμενος ἐν πολεμισταῖς, καὶ μὴν καὶ πνευματικαῖς εὐψυχίαις γεγονὼς ἐκπρεπὴς, προσκρούσει Θεῷ, καὶ κιβδήλοις παρατροπαῖς καταλυπεῖν ᾑρημένος τὸν σύνοπλόν τε καὶ ἀρωγὸν, ταῖς ἐντεῦθεν ὀργαῖς ὑποκείσεται.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης. Συναινέσαιμι γὰρ ἄν. Πλὴν, ἐκεῖνό μοι φράσον, βραχὺ τοῦ πράγματος καὶ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀποκομίσας τὸν λόγον· διατί Κυρίῳ τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ τὸ χρυσίον, καὶ ὁ χαλκὸς καὶ σίδηρος, καὶ οὐχὶ δὴ μᾶλλον, ἢ ὡς ἄχρηστα τυχὸν, ἢ ὡς καταμολύνειν εἰδότα, τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἐξεπέμπετο· μυσαρὰ γὰρ δέδειχεν αὐτὰ τῆς πνευματικῆς θεωρίας ἡ δύναμις.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὅτι, ὦ Παλλάδιε, λαμπρότης μὲν ἅπασα, σοφία τε καὶ πλοῦτος, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἰσχὺς, πρεπόντως τε καὶ ὁσίως ἀνακείσεται τῷ Θεῷ. Αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ πᾶσα λαμπρότης, πλοῦτός τε καὶ σοφία, καὶ δύναμις. Ἀλλ' εἰ μέν τις ἕλοιτο παρ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ θησαυροῦ Κυρίου πλουτίζοιτο, πλοῦτον δηλονότι τὸν νοητὸν, δόξαν τε καὶ σύνεσιν, καὶ ἰσχὺν ἔχει πνευματικὴν, περίοπτος ἔσται καὶ ζηλωτός. Εἰ δὲ δὴ βούλοιτο ταυτὶ παρὰ τοῦ κόσμου λαβεῖν, βδελυρὸς ἔσται καὶ ἀπηχθημένος παρά γε τῷ φιλαρέτῳ Θεῷ, καὶ ὑπὸ κρίσιν ἔσται καὶ δίκην. Ἕψεται γὰρ πάντως τῷ μὲν πλούτῳ τὸ φιλήδονον, λαμπρότητι δὲ καὶ ὑπεροχαῖς γείτων εὐθὺς ἡ ὑπεροψία· δυναστείαις γε μὴν παραπέπηγεν ἡ πλεονεξία· σοφίᾳ δὲ τῇ ἐν κόσμῳ, τὸ ἐν δόγμασιν ἀκαλλὲς, κἂν εἰ τὸ εὔηχες ἔχοι τῶν ἐκεῖνα γεγραφότων ἡ γλῶττα. Τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησιν· «Εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐν ὑμῖν σοφὸς, μωρὸς γενέσθω, ἵνα γένηται σοφός· ἡ γὰρ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, μωρία παρὰ Θεῷ ἐστιν.» Ἄχαρ δὴ οὖν, οὐκ ἐκ θησαυροῦ Χριστοῦ λαβὼν, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἀπὸ κόσμου τῆς Ἱεριχοῦς, προσκρούει Θεῷ. Τὰ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν βλάβη καὶ τὰ ἐκ θείας ὀργῆς συμβαίνοντα, οὐκ ἐπὶ μόνον ἐχώρει τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖσδε κατεγνωσμένον, ἀλλ' ὅλην ἐκάκου τὴν συναγωγήν· ἀμέτοχος γὰρ γεγονὼς ἐπικουρίας τῆς ἄνωθεν, ἀδρανής τε καὶ ἄναλκις ἦν ὁ πάλαι δυσαλωτότατος Ἰσραήλ.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ πῶς ἢ πόθεν ἀναμάθοιμεν, ὡς ἔστιν ἀληθὴς ὁ ἐπὶ τῷδε λόγος;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀπό γε τῶν ἐφεξῆς γεγραμμένων. Μετὰ γὰρ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἱεριχὼ καὶ τὰ ἐπ' αὐτῇ λαμπρῶς καὶ νεανικῶς εἰργασμένα παρὰ παντὸς Ἰσραὴλ, ἀπέστειλεν Ἰησοῦς ἄνδρας ἀπὸ Ἱεριχὼ εἰς Γαῒ, λέγων· «Ἀναβάντες κατασκέψασθε τὴν Γαΐ. Καὶ ἀνέβησαν οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ κατεσκέψαντο τὴν Γαΐ, καὶ ἀνέστρεψαν πρὸς Ἰησοῦν, καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτόν· Μὴ ἀναβαινέτω πᾶς ὁ λαὸς, ἀλλ' ὡσεὶ δισχίλιοι ἢ τρισχίλιοι ἄνδρες ἀναβαινέτωσαν, καὶ ἐκπολιορκησάτωσαν τὴν πόλιν. Μὴ ἀναγάγῃς ἐκεῖ τὸν λαὸν ἅπαντα· ὀλίγοι γάρ εἰσι. Καὶ ἀνέβησαν ἐκεῖ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιοι
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius. Book 5 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 5 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 5)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 5)
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.