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Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12
Complete historical editorial footnotes. These notes retain the original edition’s wording; individual note authors are unspecified.
English translation and editorial credits: Edwin Hamilton Gifford (reviser), Richard William Church (earlier translation; allocation uncertain).
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This passage supplies a complete answer to the suspicion of a quasi-Nestorian tendency referred to in note 6, on xi. 20. See x. 19, note 2, on the title Θεοτόκος.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-1 · Original source
1. Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet, the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He also was made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry.
The Present Participle (καταξιούμενοι) means that the Candidates for Baptism were already on the way to be admitted to Holy Communion. Compare Cat. i. 1, where the same Candidates are addressed as “partakers of the mysteries of Christ, as yet by calling only, but ere long by grace also.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-2 · Original source
1. Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet, the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He also was made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry.
Aubertin remarks on this passage that “this spiritual Lamb, consisting of head and feet, can be received only by the spiritual mouth.” This explanation, however true in itself, cannot fairly be held to express fully the meaning of Cyril. See the section of the Introduction referred to in the Index, “Eucharist.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-3 · Original source
1. Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet, the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He also was made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry.
Ex. xii. 9: the head with the feet. The same figurative interpretation is given by Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. I. ii. § 1): “In Christ there is a twofold nature; and the one—in so far as He is thought of as God—resembles the head of the body, while the other may be compared with the feet,—in so far as He, for the sake of our salvation, put on human nature with the same passions as our own.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-4 · Original source
1. Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet, the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He also was made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry.
᾽Ιωάννῃ τῷ Θεολόγω. The title is given to Moses by Philo Judæus (Vita Mos. III. § 11), to Prophets by Eusebius (Demostr. Evang. ii. 9), to Apostles by Athanasius (de Incarn. § 10: τῶν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος θεολόγων ἀνδρῶν), and especially to St. John, because the chief purpose of his Gospel was to set forth the Deity of Christ. See note on Revel. i. 1, in Speaker’s Commentary, and Suicer, Thesaurus, Θεολόγος.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-5 · Original source
1. Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet, the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He also was made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry.
Carpocrates, Cerinthus, the Ebionites, &c. See Irenæus (Hær. I. xxv. § 1; xxvi. §§ 1, 2).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-13 · Original source
3. Let the Jews, then, be led astray, since they so will: but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not, as heretics say, of the will of man and woman, but of {{small-caps|The Virgin and the Holy Ghost according to the Gospel, {{small-caps|Made Man, not in seeming but in truth. And that He was truly Man made of the Virgin, wait for the proper time of instruction in this Lecture, and thou shalt receive the proofs: for the error of the heretics is manifold. And some have said that He has not been born at all of a virgin: others that He has been born, not of a virgin, but of a wife dwelling with a husband. Others say that the Christ is not God made Man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that not He—the pre-existent Word—was made Man; but a certain man was by advancement crowned.
Dr. Swainson (Creeds, Chap. vii. § 7), speaking of the Creed of Cyril of Jerusalem, says that “the words σαρκωθέντα καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα}} are found in it, but no reference whatever is made to the birth from the Virgin.” The present passage, and that in Cat. iv. § 9, “begotten of the Holy Virgin and the Holy Ghost,” seems to shew that such a clause formed part of the Creed which Cyril was expounding. The genuineness of both passages is attested by all the mss. and Dr. Swainson was mistaken in charging the Editors of the Oxford Translation with having omitted to “mention that Touttée was himself doubtful as to the words within the brackets” [ἐκ Παρθένου καὶ Πνεύματος ῾Αγίου]. The brackets are added by Dr. Swainson himself, and Touttée had no doubt of the genuineness of the words: on the contrary he believed them to be part of the Creed itself. His note is as follows: “The words of the Virgin and Holy Ghost I have caused to be printed in larger letters as if taken from the Symbol: although they are wanting in the Title of this Lecture and in § 13, where the third Article of the Creed is referred to. But they are read in nearly all the Latin and Greek Symbols, and are referred to in Cat. iv. § 9.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-14 · Original source
3. Let the Jews, then, be led astray, since they so will: but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not, as heretics say, of the will of man and woman, but of {{small-caps|The Virgin and the Holy Ghost according to the Gospel, {{small-caps|Made Man, not in seeming but in truth. And that He was truly Man made of the Virgin, wait for the proper time of instruction in this Lecture, and thou shalt receive the proofs: for the error of the heretics is manifold. And some have said that He has not been born at all of a virgin: others that He has been born, not of a virgin, but of a wife dwelling with a husband. Others say that the Christ is not God made Man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that not He—the pre-existent Word—was made Man; but a certain man was by advancement crowned.
ἐνανθρωπήσαντα}}. The word occurs in the true Nicene formula, where, as Dr. Swainson thinks, it is “scarcely ambiguous,” “it is defective.” Both the Verb and the Substantive ἐνανθρώπησις are constantly used by Athanasius to denote the Incarnation in a perfectly general way, without any indication of ambiguity or defect. In the Creed proposed by Eusebius of Cæsarea instead of ἐνανθρωπήσαντα we find ἐν ἀνθρώποις πολιτευσάμενον; and in the Expositio Fidei ascribed to Athanasius, but of somewhat doubtful authenticity, the Incarnation is described thus ἐκ τῆς ἀχράντου παρθένου Μαρίας τὸν ἡμέτερον ἀνείληφεν ἄνθρωπον Χριστὸν ᾽Ιησοῦν. In the Apollinarian controversy the attempt was made to interpret ἐνηνθρώπησεν as meaning not that “He became Man,” but that “He assumed a man,” i.e. that “the man was first formed and then assumed” (Gregory, Epist. ad Cledon, quoted by Swainson, p. 83), or else merely that “He dwelt among men.” But the context of the passages in which Cyril uses the word (iv. 9; xii. 3) clearly shews that he employed it in the perfectly orthodox sense which it has in the Nicene Formula and in Athanasius.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-15 · Original source
3. Let the Jews, then, be led astray, since they so will: but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not, as heretics say, of the will of man and woman, but of {{small-caps|The Virgin and the Holy Ghost according to the Gospel, {{small-caps|Made Man, not in seeming but in truth. And that He was truly Man made of the Virgin, wait for the proper time of instruction in this Lecture, and thou shalt receive the proofs: for the error of the heretics is manifold. And some have said that He has not been born at all of a virgin: others that He has been born, not of a virgin, but of a wife dwelling with a husband. Others say that the Christ is not God made Man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that not He—the pre-existent Word—was made Man; but a certain man was by advancement crowned.
See below, § 21 ff. Cyril means that the direct proof cannot be given at once, because there are many errors to be set aside first. Compare the end of § 4.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-16 · Original source
3. Let the Jews, then, be led astray, since they so will: but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not, as heretics say, of the will of man and woman, but of {{small-caps|The Virgin and the Holy Ghost according to the Gospel, {{small-caps|Made Man, not in seeming but in truth. And that He was truly Man made of the Virgin, wait for the proper time of instruction in this Lecture, and thou shalt receive the proofs: for the error of the heretics is manifold. And some have said that He has not been born at all of a virgin: others that He has been born, not of a virgin, but of a wife dwelling with a husband. Others say that the Christ is not God made Man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that not He—the pre-existent Word—was made Man; but a certain man was by advancement crowned.
Athanasius (contra Arian. Or. I. § 9) quotes as from Arius, Thalia, “Christ is not Very God, but He, as others, was made God (ἐθεοποιήθη ) by participation.” The Eusebians in the Confession of Faith called Macrostichos (a.d. 344) condemned this view as being held by the disciples of Paul of Samosata, “who say that after the incarnation He was by advance made God, from being made by nature a mere man.” The orthodox use of the word Θεοποιεῖσθαι is seen in Athan. de Incarnat. § 54: αὐτὸς ἐνηνθρώπησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-18 · Original source
3. Let the Jews, then, be led astray, since they so will: but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not, as heretics say, of the will of man and woman, but of {{small-caps|The Virgin and the Holy Ghost according to the Gospel, {{small-caps|Made Man, not in seeming but in truth. And that He was truly Man made of the Virgin, wait for the proper time of instruction in this Lecture, and thou shalt receive the proofs: for the error of the heretics is manifold. And some have said that He has not been born at all of a virgin: others that He has been born, not of a virgin, but of a wife dwelling with a husband. Others say that the Christ is not God made Man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that not He—the pre-existent Word—was made Man; but a certain man was by advancement crowned.
Amos ii. 8: they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge (R.V.).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-29 · Original source
6. Cain and Abel succeeded in the second generation of mankind: and Cain was the first murderer. Afterwards a deluge was poured abroad because of the great wickedness of men: fire came down from heaven upon the people of Sodom because of their transgression. After a time God chose out Israel: but Israel also turned aside, and the chosen race was wounded. For while Moses stood before God in the mount, the people were worshipping a calf instead of God. In the lifetime of Moses, the law-giver who had said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, a man dared to enter a place of harlotry and transgress. After Moses, Prophets were sent to cure Israel: but in their healing office they lamented that they were not able to overcome the disease, so that one of them says, Woe is me! for the godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none that doeth right among men: and again, They are all gone out of the way, they are together became unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one: and again, Cursing and stealing, and adultery, and murder are poured out upon the land. Their sons and their daughters they sacrificed unto devils. They used auguries, and enchantments, and divinations. And again, they fastened their garments with cords, and made hangings attached to the altar.
Ps. xviii. 9. The “feet,” interpreted allegorically, mean the Humanity, and the “darkness” the mystery of the Incarnation. See Euseb. Demonstr. Evang. vi. 1, § 2.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-41 · Original source
8. The Lord heard the prayer of the Prophets. The Father disregarded not the perishing of our race; He sent forth His Son, the Lord from heaven, as healer: and one of the Prophets saith, The Lord whom ye seek, cometh, and shall suddenly come. Whither? The Lord shall come to His own temple, where ye stoned Him. Then another of the Prophets, on hearing this, saith to him: In speaking of the salvation of God, speakest thou quietly? In preaching the good tidings of God’s coming for salvation, speakest thou in secret? O thou that bringest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain. Speak to the cities of Judah. What am I to speak? Behold our God! Behold! the Lord cometh with strength! Again the Lord Himself saith, Behold! I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall flee unto the Lord. The Israelites rejected salvation through Me: I come to gather all nations and tongues. For He came to His own and His own received Him not. Thou comest and what dost Thou bestow on the nations? I come to gather all nations, and I will leave on them a sign. For from My conflict upon the Cross I give to each of My soldiers a royal seal to bear upon his forehead. Another also of the Prophets said, He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under His feet. For His coming down from heaven was not known by men.
Cf. Epist. Barnab. § 13: “For had He not come in flesh, how could we men have been safe in beholding Him? For in beholding the Sun, which being the work of His hands shall cease to be, men have no strength to fix their eyes upon him.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-53 · Original source
13. These things the Jews read, but hear not: for they have stopped the ears of their heart, that they may not hear. But let us believe in Jesus Christ, as having come in the flesh and been made Man, because we could not receive Him otherwise. For since we could not look upon or enjoy Him as He was, He became what we are, that so we might be permitted to enjoy Him. For if we cannot look full on the sun, which was made on the fourth day, could we behold God its Creator? The Lord came down in fire on Mount Sinai, and the people could not bear it, but said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; and let not God speak to us, lest we die: and again, For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, and shall live? If to hear the voice of God speaking is a cause of death, how shall not the sight of God Himself bring death? And what wonder? Even Moses himself saith, I exceedingly fear and quake.
Justin M. (Tryph. § 100): “Eve, when she was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death: but the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the Angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-63 · Original source
15. Learn also another cause. Christ came that He might be baptized, and might sanctify Baptism: He came that He might work wonders, walking upon the waters of the sea. Since then before His appearance in flesh, the sea saw Him and fled, and Jordan was turned back, the Lord took to Himself His body, that the sea might endure the sight, and Jordan receive Him without fear. This then is one cause; but there is also a second. Through Eve yet virgin came death; through a virgin, or rather from a virgin, must the Life appear: that as the serpent beguiled the one, so to the other Gabriel might bring good tidings. Men forsook God, and made carved images of men. Since therefore an image of man was falsely worshipped as God, God became truly Man, that the falsehood might be done away. The Devil had used the flesh as an instrument against us; and Paul knowing this, saith, But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity, and the rest. By the very same weapons, therefore, wherewith the Devil used to vanquish us, have we been saved. The Lord took on Him from us our likeness, that He might save man’s nature: He took our likeness, that He might give greater grace to that which lacked; that sinful humanity might become partaker of God. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It behoved the Lord to suffer for us; but if the Devil had known Him, he would not have dared to approach Him. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. His body therefore was made a bait to death that the dragon, hoping to devour it, might disgorge those also who had been already devoured. For Death prevailed and devoured; and again, God wiped away every tear from off every face.
Death is here called “the dragon,” as in xiv. 17 he is called “the invisible whale,” in allusion to the case of Jonah.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-67 · Original source
15. Learn also another cause. Christ came that He might be baptized, and might sanctify Baptism: He came that He might work wonders, walking upon the waters of the sea. Since then before His appearance in flesh, the sea saw Him and fled, and Jordan was turned back, the Lord took to Himself His body, that the sea might endure the sight, and Jordan receive Him without fear. This then is one cause; but there is also a second. Through Eve yet virgin came death; through a virgin, or rather from a virgin, must the Life appear: that as the serpent beguiled the one, so to the other Gabriel might bring good tidings. Men forsook God, and made carved images of men. Since therefore an image of man was falsely worshipped as God, God became truly Man, that the falsehood might be done away. The Devil had used the flesh as an instrument against us; and Paul knowing this, saith, But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity, and the rest. By the very same weapons, therefore, wherewith the Devil used to vanquish us, have we been saved. The Lord took on Him from us our likeness, that He might save man’s nature: He took our likeness, that He might give greater grace to that which lacked; that sinful humanity might become partaker of God. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It behoved the Lord to suffer for us; but if the Devil had known Him, he would not have dared to approach Him. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. His body therefore was made a bait to death that the dragon, hoping to devour it, might disgorge those also who had been already devoured. For Death prevailed and devoured; and again, God wiped away every tear from off every face.
On Christ’s descent into Hades compare iv. 11; xiv. 19; and Eusebius (Dem. Evang. x. 50), and Athanasius (c. Arian. Or. iii. 56): “The Lord, at Whom the keepers of hell’s gates shuddered and set open hell. The Lord, Whom death as a dragon flees.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-68 · Original source
15. Learn also another cause. Christ came that He might be baptized, and might sanctify Baptism: He came that He might work wonders, walking upon the waters of the sea. Since then before His appearance in flesh, the sea saw Him and fled, and Jordan was turned back, the Lord took to Himself His body, that the sea might endure the sight, and Jordan receive Him without fear. This then is one cause; but there is also a second. Through Eve yet virgin came death; through a virgin, or rather from a virgin, must the Life appear: that as the serpent beguiled the one, so to the other Gabriel might bring good tidings. Men forsook God, and made carved images of men. Since therefore an image of man was falsely worshipped as God, God became truly Man, that the falsehood might be done away. The Devil had used the flesh as an instrument against us; and Paul knowing this, saith, But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity, and the rest. By the very same weapons, therefore, wherewith the Devil used to vanquish us, have we been saved. The Lord took on Him from us our likeness, that He might save man’s nature: He took our likeness, that He might give greater grace to that which lacked; that sinful humanity might become partaker of God. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It behoved the Lord to suffer for us; but if the Devil had known Him, he would not have dared to approach Him. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. His body therefore was made a bait to death that the dragon, hoping to devour it, might disgorge those also who had been already devoured. For Death prevailed and devoured; and again, God wiped away every tear from off every face.
Isa. xxv. 8. The first clause, He hath swallowed up death for ever (R.V.), is mistranslated in the Septuagint.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-69 · Original source
15. Learn also another cause. Christ came that He might be baptized, and might sanctify Baptism: He came that He might work wonders, walking upon the waters of the sea. Since then before His appearance in flesh, the sea saw Him and fled, and Jordan was turned back, the Lord took to Himself His body, that the sea might endure the sight, and Jordan receive Him without fear. This then is one cause; but there is also a second. Through Eve yet virgin came death; through a virgin, or rather from a virgin, must the Life appear: that as the serpent beguiled the one, so to the other Gabriel might bring good tidings. Men forsook God, and made carved images of men. Since therefore an image of man was falsely worshipped as God, God became truly Man, that the falsehood might be done away. The Devil had used the flesh as an instrument against us; and Paul knowing this, saith, But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity, and the rest. By the very same weapons, therefore, wherewith the Devil used to vanquish us, have we been saved. The Lord took on Him from us our likeness, that He might save man’s nature: He took our likeness, that He might give greater grace to that which lacked; that sinful humanity might become partaker of God. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It behoved the Lord to suffer for us; but if the Devil had known Him, he would not have dared to approach Him. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. His body therefore was made a bait to death that the dragon, hoping to devour it, might disgorge those also who had been already devoured. For Death prevailed and devoured; and again, God wiped away every tear from off every face.
Cat. xii. 5. For εὑρεῖν the recent Editors with mss. A.R.C. and Grodecq. have ἐρεῖν.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-76 · Original source
17. My statement, however, promised to declare also the time of the Saviour’s and the place: and I must not go away convicted of falsehood, but rather send away the Church’s novices well assured. Let us therefore inquire the time when our Lord came: because His coming is recent, and is disputed: and because Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Moses then, the prophet, saith, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: but let that “like unto me” be reserved awhile to be examined in its proper place. But when cometh this Prophet that is expected? Recur, he says, to what has been written by me: examine carefully Jacob’s prophecy addressed to Judah: Judah, thee may thy brethren praise, and afterwards, not to quote the whole, A prince shall not fail out of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until He come, for whom it is reserved; and He is the expectation, not of the Jews but of the Gentiles. He gave, therefore, as a sign of Christ’s advent the cessation of the Jewish rule. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ is not yet come: if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David, he is not yet come that was expected. For I am ashamed to tell of their recent doings concerning those who are now called Patriarchs among them, and what their descent is, and who their mother: but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles, what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine. Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah.
ἐξεταζόμενον, a clear instance of the Gerundive, or quasi-Future, sense of the Present Participle, common in Cyril. “This intention is not fulfilled in the sequel of these Lectures” (R.W.C.).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-80 · Original source
17. My statement, however, promised to declare also the time of the Saviour’s and the place: and I must not go away convicted of falsehood, but rather send away the Church’s novices well assured. Let us therefore inquire the time when our Lord came: because His coming is recent, and is disputed: and because Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Moses then, the prophet, saith, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: but let that “like unto me” be reserved awhile to be examined in its proper place. But when cometh this Prophet that is expected? Recur, he says, to what has been written by me: examine carefully Jacob’s prophecy addressed to Judah: Judah, thee may thy brethren praise, and afterwards, not to quote the whole, A prince shall not fail out of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until He come, for whom it is reserved; and He is the expectation, not of the Jews but of the Gentiles. He gave, therefore, as a sign of Christ’s advent the cessation of the Jewish rule. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ is not yet come: if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David, he is not yet come that was expected. For I am ashamed to tell of their recent doings concerning those who are now called Patriarchs among them, and what their descent is, and who their mother: but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles, what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine. Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah.
According to Cyril (§ 19, below) and other Fathers, the continuance of Jewish rulers ceased on the accession of Herod an Idumean. Compare Justin M. (Tryphon §§ 52, 120); Eusebius (Demonstr. Evang. VIII. 1). On modern interpretations of the passage see Delitzsch (New Commentary on Genesis), Briggs (Messianic Prophecy, p. 93), Cheyne (Isaiah, Vol. II. p. 189), Driver (Journal of Philology, No. 27, 1885).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-82 · Original source
17. My statement, however, promised to declare also the time of the Saviour’s and the place: and I must not go away convicted of falsehood, but rather send away the Church’s novices well assured. Let us therefore inquire the time when our Lord came: because His coming is recent, and is disputed: and because Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Moses then, the prophet, saith, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: but let that “like unto me” be reserved awhile to be examined in its proper place. But when cometh this Prophet that is expected? Recur, he says, to what has been written by me: examine carefully Jacob’s prophecy addressed to Judah: Judah, thee may thy brethren praise, and afterwards, not to quote the whole, A prince shall not fail out of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until He come, for whom it is reserved; and He is the expectation, not of the Jews but of the Gentiles. He gave, therefore, as a sign of Christ’s advent the cessation of the Jewish rule. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ is not yet come: if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David, he is not yet come that was expected. For I am ashamed to tell of their recent doings concerning those who are now called Patriarchs among them, and what their descent is, and who their mother: but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles, what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine. Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah.
A full and interesting account of the Jewish Patriarchs of the West established at Tiberias from the time of Antoninus Pius till the close of the 4th century is contained in Dean Milman’s History of the Jews, Vol. III. Compare Epiphanius (Hæres. xxx. § 3 ff.).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-83 · Original source
17. My statement, however, promised to declare also the time of the Saviour’s and the place: and I must not go away convicted of falsehood, but rather send away the Church’s novices well assured. Let us therefore inquire the time when our Lord came: because His coming is recent, and is disputed: and because Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Moses then, the prophet, saith, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: but let that “like unto me” be reserved awhile to be examined in its proper place. But when cometh this Prophet that is expected? Recur, he says, to what has been written by me: examine carefully Jacob’s prophecy addressed to Judah: Judah, thee may thy brethren praise, and afterwards, not to quote the whole, A prince shall not fail out of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until He come, for whom it is reserved; and He is the expectation, not of the Jews but of the Gentiles. He gave, therefore, as a sign of Christ’s advent the cessation of the Jewish rule. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ is not yet come: if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David, he is not yet come that was expected. For I am ashamed to tell of their recent doings concerning those who are now called Patriarchs among them, and what their descent is, and who their mother: but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles, what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine. Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah.
Ps. ii. 7, 9. The passage is interpreted by Cyril (xi. 5) of the eternal generation of the Son: here it refers to His Incarnation, or perhaps is meant only to identify the Son of God with him who “shall rule with a rod of iron.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-86 · Original source
18. But again thou askest yet another testimony of the time. The Lord said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee: and a few words further on, Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron. I have said before that the kingdom of the Romans is clearly called a rod of iron; but what is wanting concerning this let us further call to mind out of Daniel. For in relating and interpreting to Nebuchadnezzar the image of the statue, he tells also his whole vision concerning it: and that a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, that is, not set up by human contrivance, should overpower the whole world: and he speaks most clearly thus; And in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, and His kingdom shall not be left to another people.
Sep. τοῦ ἀποκριθῆναι, a frequent meaning of the Hebrew בישִּׁהָלְ, by which the Greek Translators understood the answer of Darius to the Letter of Tatnai and his companions. Both A.V. and R.V. render the word “to restore.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-88 · Original source
19. But we seek still more clearly the proof of the time of His coming. For man being hard to persuade, unless he gets the very years for a clear calculation, does not believe what is stated. What then is the season, and what the manner of the time? It is when, on the failure of the kings descended from Judah, Herod a foreigner succeeds to the kingdom? The Angel, therefore, who converses with Daniel says, and do thou now mark the words, And thou shalt know and understand: From the going forth of the word for making answer, and for the building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and three score and two weeks. Now three score and nine weeks of years contain four hundred and eighty-three years. He said, therefore, that after the building of Jerusalem, four hundred and eighty-three years having passed, and the rulers having failed, then cometh a certain king of another race, in whose time the Christ is to be born. Now Darius the Mede built the city in the sixth year of his own reign, and first year of the 66th Olympiad according to the Greeks. Olympiad is the name among the Greeks of the games celebrated after four years, because of the day which in every four years of the sun’s courses is made up of the three (supernumerary) hours in each year. And Herod is king in the 186th Olympiad, in the 4th year thereof. Now from the 66th to the 186th Olympiad there are 120 Olympiads intervening, and a little over. So then the 120 Olympiads make up 480 years: for the other three years remaining are perhaps taken up in the interval between the first and fourth years. And there thou hast the proof according to the Scripture which saith, From the going forth of the word that Jerusalem be restored and built until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Of the times, therefore, thou hast for the present this proof, although there are also other different interpretations concerning the aforesaid weeks of years in Daniel.
Darius the Mede (Dan. v. 31) succeeded Belshazzar as king in Babylon b.c. 538, the date assigned in Dan. ix. 1 to the prophecy of the 70 years. But “Darius the king” in whose 6th year (b.c. 516) the Temple was finished (Ezra vi. 15) was Darius Hystaspis, king of Persia, whom Cyril here confounds with “Darius the Mede.” He also fails to distinguish the rebuilding of the Temple, b.c. 516, from the rebuilding of the City by permission of Artaxerxes Longimanus, b.c. 444 (Nehemiah, ii. 1).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-90 · Original source
19. But we seek still more clearly the proof of the time of His coming. For man being hard to persuade, unless he gets the very years for a clear calculation, does not believe what is stated. What then is the season, and what the manner of the time? It is when, on the failure of the kings descended from Judah, Herod a foreigner succeeds to the kingdom? The Angel, therefore, who converses with Daniel says, and do thou now mark the words, And thou shalt know and understand: From the going forth of the word for making answer, and for the building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and three score and two weeks. Now three score and nine weeks of years contain four hundred and eighty-three years. He said, therefore, that after the building of Jerusalem, four hundred and eighty-three years having passed, and the rulers having failed, then cometh a certain king of another race, in whose time the Christ is to be born. Now Darius the Mede built the city in the sixth year of his own reign, and first year of the 66th Olympiad according to the Greeks. Olympiad is the name among the Greeks of the games celebrated after four years, because of the day which in every four years of the sun’s courses is made up of the three (supernumerary) hours in each year. And Herod is king in the 186th Olympiad, in the 4th year thereof. Now from the 66th to the 186th Olympiad there are 120 Olympiads intervening, and a little over. So then the 120 Olympiads make up 480 years: for the other three years remaining are perhaps taken up in the interval between the first and fourth years. And there thou hast the proof according to the Scripture which saith, From the going forth of the word that Jerusalem be restored and built until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Of the times, therefore, thou hast for the present this proof, although there are also other different interpretations concerning the aforesaid weeks of years in Daniel.
In speaking of three supernumeracy hours in the year instead of nearly six, Cyril seems to follow the division of the diurnal period into twelve parts, not twenty-four. The Jews had derived this division either from the Egyptians, or more probably from the Babylonians: see Herodotus, II. 109.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-91 · Original source
19. But we seek still more clearly the proof of the time of His coming. For man being hard to persuade, unless he gets the very years for a clear calculation, does not believe what is stated. What then is the season, and what the manner of the time? It is when, on the failure of the kings descended from Judah, Herod a foreigner succeeds to the kingdom? The Angel, therefore, who converses with Daniel says, and do thou now mark the words, And thou shalt know and understand: From the going forth of the word for making answer, and for the building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and three score and two weeks. Now three score and nine weeks of years contain four hundred and eighty-three years. He said, therefore, that after the building of Jerusalem, four hundred and eighty-three years having passed, and the rulers having failed, then cometh a certain king of another race, in whose time the Christ is to be born. Now Darius the Mede built the city in the sixth year of his own reign, and first year of the 66th Olympiad according to the Greeks. Olympiad is the name among the Greeks of the games celebrated after four years, because of the day which in every four years of the sun’s courses is made up of the three (supernumerary) hours in each year. And Herod is king in the 186th Olympiad, in the 4th year thereof. Now from the 66th to the 186th Olympiad there are 120 Olympiads intervening, and a little over. So then the 120 Olympiads make up 480 years: for the other three years remaining are perhaps taken up in the interval between the first and fourth years. And there thou hast the proof according to the Scripture which saith, From the going forth of the word that Jerusalem be restored and built until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Of the times, therefore, thou hast for the present this proof, although there are also other different interpretations concerning the aforesaid weeks of years in Daniel.
Ps. cxxxii. 6. The Psalmist refers to the recovery of the Ark, but Cyril interprets the passage mystically of Christ, and the place of His Nativity.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-93 · Original source
20. But now hear the place of the promise, as Micah says, And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art thou little to be among the thousands of Judah? For out of thee shall come forth unto Me a ruler, to be governor in Israel: and His goings forth are front the beginning, from the days of eternity. But assuredly as to the places, thou being an inhabitant of Jerusalem, knowest also beforehand what is written in the hundred and thirty-first psalm. Lo! we heard of it at Ephrathah, we found it in the plains of the wood. For a few years ago the place was woody. Again thou hast heard Habakkuk say to the Lord, When the years draw nigh, thou shalt be made known, when the time is come, thou shalt be shewn. And what is the sign, O Prophet, of the Lord’s coming? And presently he saith, In the midst of two lives shalt thou be known, plainly saying this to the Lord, “Having come in the flesh thou livest and diest, and after rising from the dead thou livest again.” Further, from what part of the region round Jerusalem cometh He? From east, or west, or north, or south? Tell us exactly. And he makes answer most plainly and says, God shall come from Teman (now Teman is by interpretation ‘south’) and the Holy One from Mount Paran, shady, woody: what the Psalmist spake in like words, We found it in the plains of the wood.
Hab. iii. 2: (R.V.) O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. The Septuagint gives a different sense: In the midst of two lives (or, living beings) shalt Thou be known: when the years draw nigh Thou shalt be recognised: when the time is come, Thou shalt be shewn. The two latter clauses seem to be different renderings of the same Hebrew words.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-95 · Original source
20. But now hear the place of the promise, as Micah says, And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art thou little to be among the thousands of Judah? For out of thee shall come forth unto Me a ruler, to be governor in Israel: and His goings forth are front the beginning, from the days of eternity. But assuredly as to the places, thou being an inhabitant of Jerusalem, knowest also beforehand what is written in the hundred and thirty-first psalm. Lo! we heard of it at Ephrathah, we found it in the plains of the wood. For a few years ago the place was woody. Again thou hast heard Habakkuk say to the Lord, When the years draw nigh, thou shalt be made known, when the time is come, thou shalt be shewn. And what is the sign, O Prophet, of the Lord’s coming? And presently he saith, In the midst of two lives shalt thou be known, plainly saying this to the Lord, “Having come in the flesh thou livest and diest, and after rising from the dead thou livest again.” Further, from what part of the region round Jerusalem cometh He? From east, or west, or north, or south? Tell us exactly. And he makes answer most plainly and says, God shall come from Teman (now Teman is by interpretation ‘south’) and the Holy One from Mount Paran, shady, woody: what the Psalmist spake in like words, We found it in the plains of the wood.
ἑξῆς. This clause comes before the preceding quotation: Cyril misplaces them. In the Vatican and other mss. of the Sept. and in some Fathers ζώων (“living creatures”) is found in place of ζωῶν “lives;” but the latter reading is evidently required by the interpretation which follows in Cyril. Origen (de Principiis, I. 4), who recognises both readings (“In medio vel duorum animalium, vel duarum vitarum, cognosceris,”) interprets the “two living beings” of the Son and the Spirit. Eusebius (Demonstr. Evang VI. 15) observes that ζωων is to be read as perispomenon from the Singular ζωή, and interprets it of Christ’s life with God, and life on earth. Theodoret says, in commenting on the passage, “To me it seems that the Prophet means not “living beings” (ζῶα) but “lives” (ζωάς), the present life, and that which is to come, between which is the appearance of the Righteous Judge.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-96 · Original source
20. But now hear the place of the promise, as Micah says, And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art thou little to be among the thousands of Judah? For out of thee shall come forth unto Me a ruler, to be governor in Israel: and His goings forth are front the beginning, from the days of eternity. But assuredly as to the places, thou being an inhabitant of Jerusalem, knowest also beforehand what is written in the hundred and thirty-first psalm. Lo! we heard of it at Ephrathah, we found it in the plains of the wood. For a few years ago the place was woody. Again thou hast heard Habakkuk say to the Lord, When the years draw nigh, thou shalt be made known, when the time is come, thou shalt be shewn. And what is the sign, O Prophet, of the Lord’s coming? And presently he saith, In the midst of two lives shalt thou be known, plainly saying this to the Lord, “Having come in the flesh thou livest and diest, and after rising from the dead thou livest again.” Further, from what part of the region round Jerusalem cometh He? From east, or west, or north, or south? Tell us exactly. And he makes answer most plainly and says, God shall come from Teman (now Teman is by interpretation ‘south’) and the Holy One from Mount Paran, shady, woody: what the Psalmist spake in like words, We found it in the plains of the wood.
The following note is slightly abridged from the Edition of Alexandrides of Jerusalem. “Previous Editions read ἔξ ὄρους φαρὰν κατασκίου δασέος. This reading is found in Cod. Vat. and other mss. of the Septuagint, but φαράν is omitted in the Aldine and many other copies nor was it read in the mss. of the Sept. in Jerome’s time, as is clear from his comments on the passage. In the mss. of Cyril, Ottob. R.C.V. Monac. I. and II. it is wanting. Paran is the name of the desert towards the S. of Palestine lying between it and Egypt (Gen. xxi. 21; Num. i. 12). There was also a Mount Paran (Deut. xxxiii. 2). But since Cyril applies the prophecy to Bethlehem, and the “shady thickly-wooded mountain” of Habakkuk is identified with “the plains of the wood” of David, we may safely conclude that Cyril did not read φαράν in his copies of the Septuagint, nor write it in his Lecture: but the reading crept in from the later copyists, accustomed to the reading φαράν in the Septuagint.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-98 · Original source
20. But now hear the place of the promise, as Micah says, And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art thou little to be among the thousands of Judah? For out of thee shall come forth unto Me a ruler, to be governor in Israel: and His goings forth are front the beginning, from the days of eternity. But assuredly as to the places, thou being an inhabitant of Jerusalem, knowest also beforehand what is written in the hundred and thirty-first psalm. Lo! we heard of it at Ephrathah, we found it in the plains of the wood. For a few years ago the place was woody. Again thou hast heard Habakkuk say to the Lord, When the years draw nigh, thou shalt be made known, when the time is come, thou shalt be shewn. And what is the sign, O Prophet, of the Lord’s coming? And presently he saith, In the midst of two lives shalt thou be known, plainly saying this to the Lord, “Having come in the flesh thou livest and diest, and after rising from the dead thou livest again.” Further, from what part of the region round Jerusalem cometh He? From east, or west, or north, or south? Tell us exactly. And he makes answer most plainly and says, God shall come from Teman (now Teman is by interpretation ‘south’) and the Holy One from Mount Paran, shady, woody: what the Psalmist spake in like words, We found it in the plains of the wood.
In the Hebrew the word used is a Participle, and describes what Isaiah sees in a prophetic vision; “Behold, the damsel—with child.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-104 · Original source
22. But the Jews say again, This was said to Ahaz in reference to Hezekiah. Well, then, let us read the Scripture: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. And the sign certainly must be something astonishing. For the water from the rock was a sign, the sea divided, the sun turning back, and the like. But in what I am going to mention there is still more manifest refutation of the Jews. (I know that I am speaking at much length, and that my hearers are wearied: but bear with the fulness of my statements, because it is for Christ’s sake these questions are moved, and they concern no ordinary matters.) Now as Isaiah spoke this in the reign of Ahaz, and Ahaz reigned only sixteen years, and the prophecy was spoken to him within these years, the objection of the Jews is refuted by the fact that the succeeding king, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, was twenty-five years old when he began to reign: for as the prophecy is confined within sixteen years, he must have been begotten of Ahaz full nine years before the prophecy. What need then was there to utter the prophecy concerning one who had been already begotten even before the reign of father Ahaz? For he said not, hath conceived, but “the virgin shall conceive,” speaking as with foreknowledge.
See the story of Pyrrha and Deucalion in Pindar, Ol. ix. 60: ἄτερ δ᾽ εὐνᾶς κτησάσθαν λίθινον γόνον, and in Ovid. Metam i. 260 ff.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-126 · Original source
27. But both Greeks and Jews harass us and say that it was impossible for the Christ to be born of a virgin. As for the Greeks we will stop their mouths from their own fables. For ye who say that stones being thrown were changed into men, how say ye that it is impossible for a virgin to bring forth? Ye who fable that a daughter was born from the brain, how say ye that it is impossible for a son to have been born from a virgin’s womb? Ye who falsely say that Dionysus was born from the thigh of your Zeus, how set ye at nought our truth? I know that I am speaking of things unworthy of the present audience: but in order that thou in due season mayest rebuke the Greeks, we have brought these things forward answering them from their own fables.
Athena was said to have sprung armed from the head of Zeus: Pindar, Ol. vii. 65: κορυφὰν κατ᾽ ἄκραν ἀνορούσαισ᾽ ἀλάλαξεν ὑπερμάκει βοᾷ. Cf. Hes. Theog. 924.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-127 · Original source
27. But both Greeks and Jews harass us and say that it was impossible for the Christ to be born of a virgin. As for the Greeks we will stop their mouths from their own fables. For ye who say that stones being thrown were changed into men, how say ye that it is impossible for a virgin to bring forth? Ye who fable that a daughter was born from the brain, how say ye that it is impossible for a son to have been born from a virgin’s womb? Ye who falsely say that Dionysus was born from the thigh of your Zeus, how set ye at nought our truth? I know that I am speaking of things unworthy of the present audience: but in order that thou in due season mayest rebuke the Greeks, we have brought these things forward answering them from their own fables.
Ib. ii. 24. In Lev. xii. 8 one pair only of turtles is prescribed, to be offered for the mother, not for the child. But the reading τὰ ζεύγη in Cyril is confirmed by that in St. Luke, τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν. See the authorities in Tischendorf.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-138 · Original source
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of His good pleasure: the Temple into which He was then carried up on the fortieth day: the pairs of turtle-doves, which were offered on His behalf: and Symeon who then took Him up in his arms, and Anna the prophetess who was present.
σεμνύνεται. Rivet, misled by a double error in the old Latin version, “veneratur,” accused Cyril of approving the worship of the Virgin Mary.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-141 · Original source
33. Since God then beareth witness, and the Holy Ghost joins in the witness, and Christ says, Why do ye seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth? let the heretics be silenced who speak against His humanity, for they speak against Him, who saith, Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Adored be the Lord the Virgin-born, and let Virgins acknowledge the crown of their own state: let the order also of Solitaries acknowledge the glory of chastity for we men are not deprived of the dignity of chastity. In the Virgin’s womb the Saviour’s period of nine months was passed: but the Lord was for thirty and three years a man: so that if a virgin glories because of the nine months, much more we because of the many years.
ἀσαγῆ, a rare word, formed from σάγη, “harness.”
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-48 · Original source
10. But who is this that cometh down?  He says in what follows, And with the sun He endureth, and before the moon generations of generations. And again another of the Prophets saith, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just and having salvation. Kings are many; of which speakest thou, O Prophet? Give us a sign which other Kings have not. If thou say, A king clad in purple, the dignity of the apparel has been anticipated. If thou say, Guarded by spear-men, and sitting in a golden chariot, this also has been anticipated by others. Give us a sign peculiar to the King whose coming thou announcest. And the Prophet maketh answer and saith, Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just, and having salvation: He is meek, and riding upon an ass and a young foal, not on a chariot. Thou hast a unique sign of the King who came. Jesus alone of kings sat upon an unyoked foal, entering into Jerusalem with acclamations as a king. And when this King is come, what doth He? Thou also by the blood of the covenant hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Compare Justin M. (Tryph. § 77), Euseb. (Demonstr. Evang. L. VII. c. i. 317).
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-103 · Original source
22. But the Jews say again, This was said to Ahaz in reference to Hezekiah. Well, then, let us read the Scripture: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. And the sign certainly must be something astonishing. For the water from the rock was a sign, the sea divided, the sun turning back, and the like. But in what I am going to mention there is still more manifest refutation of the Jews. (I know that I am speaking at much length, and that my hearers are wearied: but bear with the fulness of my statements, because it is for Christ’s sake these questions are moved, and they concern no ordinary matters.) Now as Isaiah spoke this in the reign of Ahaz, and Ahaz reigned only sixteen years, and the prophecy was spoken to him within these years, the objection of the Jews is refuted by the fact that the succeeding king, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, was twenty-five years old when he began to reign: for as the prophecy is confined within sixteen years, he must have been begotten of Ahaz full nine years before the prophecy. What need then was there to utter the prophecy concerning one who had been already begotten even before the reign of father Ahaz? For he said not, hath conceived, but “the virgin shall conceive,” speaking as with foreknowledge.
Eurip. Bacchae. 295; Ovid. Metam. iv. 11.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-128 · Original source
27. But both Greeks and Jews harass us and say that it was impossible for the Christ to be born of a virgin. As for the Greeks we will stop their mouths from their own fables. For ye who say that stones being thrown were changed into men, how say ye that it is impossible for a virgin to bring forth? Ye who fable that a daughter was born from the brain, how say ye that it is impossible for a son to have been born from a virgin’s womb? Ye who falsely say that Dionysus was born from the thigh of your Zeus, how set ye at nought our truth? I know that I am speaking of things unworthy of the present audience: but in order that thou in due season mayest rebuke the Greeks, we have brought these things forward answering them from their own fables.
Codd. Mon. i, A: ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς Θεός. Bened. ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς αὐτός.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-129 · Original source
28. But those of the circumcision meet thou with this question: Whether is harder, for an aged woman, barren and past age, to bear, or for a virgin in the prime of youth to conceive? Sarah was barren, and though it had ceased to be with her after the manner of women, yet, contrary to nature, she bore a child. If, then, it is against nature for a barren woman to conceive, and also for a virgin, either, therefore, reject both, or accept both. For it is the same God who both wrought the one and appointed the other. For thou wilt not dare to say that it was possible for God in that former case, and impossible in this latter. And again: how is it natural for a man’s hand to be changed in a single hour into a different appearance and restored again? How then was the hand of Moses made white as snow, and at once restored again? But thou sayest that God’s will made the change. In that case God’s will has the power, and has it then no power in this case? That moreover was a sign concerning the Egyptians only, but this was a sign given to the whole world. But whether is the more difficult, O ye Jews? For a virgin to bear, or for a rod to be quickened into a living creature? Ye confess that in the case of Moses a perfectly straight rod became like a serpent, and was terrible to him who cast it down, and he who before held the rod fast, fled from it as from a serpent; for a serpent in truth it was: but he fled not because he feared that which he held, but because he dreaded Him that had changed it. A rod had teeth and eyes like a serpent: do then seeing eyes grow out of a rod, and cannot a child be born of a virgin’s womb, if God wills? For I say nothing of the fact that Aaron’s rod also produced in a single night what other trees produce in several years. For who knows not that a rod, after losing its bark, will never sprout, not even if it be planted in the midst of rivers? But since God is not dependent on the nature of trees, but is the Creator of their natures, the unfruitful, and dry, and barkless rod budded, and blossomed, and bare almonds. He, then, who for the sake of the typical high-priest gave fruit supernaturally to the rod, would He not for the sake of the true High-Priest grant to the Virgin to bear a child?
Ib. v. 43. Cf. 2 John 7.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-11 · Original source
2. But the sons of the Jews by setting at nought Him that came, and looking for him who cometh in wickedness, rejected the true Messiah, and wait for the deceiver, themselves deceived; herein also the Saviour being found true, who said, I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: but if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. It is well also to put a question to the Jews. Is the Prophet Esaias, who saith that Emmanuel shall be born of a virgin, true or false? For if they charge him with falsehood, no wonder: for their custom is not only to charge with falsehood, but also to stone the Prophets. But if the Prophet is true, point to the Emmanuel, and say, Whether is He who is to come, for whom ye are looking, to be born of a virgin or not? For if He is not to be born of a virgin, ye accuse the Prophet of falsehood: but if in Him that is to come ye expect this, why do ye reject that which has come to pass already?
See Cat. iv. 9, notes 3, 4.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-17 · Original source
3. Let the Jews, then, be led astray, since they so will: but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not, as heretics say, of the will of man and woman, but of {{small-caps|The Virgin and the Holy Ghost according to the Gospel, {{small-caps|Made Man, not in seeming but in truth. And that He was truly Man made of the Virgin, wait for the proper time of instruction in this Lecture, and thou shalt receive the proofs: for the error of the heretics is manifold. And some have said that He has not been born at all of a virgin: others that He has been born, not of a virgin, but of a wife dwelling with a husband. Others say that the Christ is not God made Man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that not He—the pre-existent Word—was made Man; but a certain man was by advancement crowned.
Ps. lxxii. Title, and v. 6.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-43 · Original source
9. Afterwards Solomon hearing his father David speak these things, built a wondrous house, and foreseeing Him who was to come into it, said in astonishment, Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Yea, saith David by anticipation in the Psalm inscribed For Solomon, wherein is this, He shall come down like rain into a fleece: rain, because of His heavenly nature, and into a fleece, because of His humanity. For rain, coming down into a fleece, comes down noiselessly: so that the Magi, not knowing the mystery of the Nativity, say, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? and Herod being troubled inquired concerning Him who was born, and said, Where is the Christ to be born?
Zech. ix. 9, quoted above, § 10.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-85 · Original source
17. My statement, however, promised to declare also the time of the Saviour’s and the place: and I must not go away convicted of falsehood, but rather send away the Church’s novices well assured. Let us therefore inquire the time when our Lord came: because His coming is recent, and is disputed: and because Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Moses then, the prophet, saith, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: but let that “like unto me” be reserved awhile to be examined in its proper place. But when cometh this Prophet that is expected? Recur, he says, to what has been written by me: examine carefully Jacob’s prophecy addressed to Judah: Judah, thee may thy brethren praise, and afterwards, not to quote the whole, A prince shall not fail out of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until He come, for whom it is reserved; and He is the expectation, not of the Jews but of the Gentiles. He gave, therefore, as a sign of Christ’s advent the cessation of the Jewish rule. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ is not yet come: if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David, he is not yet come that was expected. For I am ashamed to tell of their recent doings concerning those who are now called Patriarchs among them, and what their descent is, and who their mother: but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles, what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine. Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah.
ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν πρᾶξις, Cod. A.
Editorial footnote · S. Cyril, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Lecture 12, editorial note cite_note-143 · Original source
34. But let us all by God’s grace run the race of chastity, young men and maidens, old men and children; not going after wantonness, but praising the name of Christ. Let us not be ignorant of the glory of chastity: for its crown is angelic, and its excellence above man. Let us be chary of our bodies which are to shine as the sun: let us not for short pleasure defile so great, so noble a body: for short and momentary is the sin, but the shame for many years and for ever. Angels walking upon earth are they who practise chastity: the Virgins have their portion with Mary the Virgin. Let all vain ornament be banished, and every hurtful glance, and all wanton gait, and every flowing robe, and perfume enticing to pleasure. But in all for perfume let there be the prayer of sweet odour, and the practice of good works, and the sanctification of our bodies: that the Virgin-born Lord may say even of us, both men who live in chastity and women who wear the crown, I will dwell in them; and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. To whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.