Letters (CSEL) 1 part 37/85

'Shall not he who falls rise again?' 'And setting out from Hazeroth they encamped in Rithmah'; for which above, in this same book, we read: 'After the people set out from Hazeroth, they encamped in the wilderness of Paran.' Now this is the fifteenth station. And it is to be noted that the remaining eighteen stations, of which a catalogue is now briefly described, from Rithmah to Ezion-geber—that is, up to the thirty-second station—are contained under the name of the wilderness of Paran. In which we perceive that all the things which are written were done at various times; and because they are not distributed among the individual stations, they shall by us too be spoken of in common, that afterwards we may come to the rest.

Rethma is translated 'sound' or 'juniper,' although many maintain that 'arceuthos' among the Greeks signifies a different kind of tree. Yet the first of the Songs of Ascents, according to the Hebrew truth, has the word 'juniper,' where it is written: 'What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, against a deceitful tongue?' And the prophet answers: 'The sharp arrows of the mighty, with the coals of junipers'; for which in our reading stands 'desolating coals.' They say, moreover, that this wood keeps fire for a long time, so that if a live ember be covered over with its ashes, it will last even for a whole year.

From this we learn that after the graves of lust and its thresholds we pass over to the wood which keeps its heat for a long time, so that we may be fervent in spirit and, with a clear sound and a voice lifted on high, may proclaim the Gospel of the Lord. From this station, then, up to the thirty-second, histories of this sort are contained: twelve spies are sent to the Holy Land; a cluster of grapes is carried back on a pole, and the Passion of Christ is briefly shown forth; the people of the Jews murmur, dreading the assault of the giants; they fight against Amalek and the Canaanite when God is unwilling, and, being defeated, they understand what sacrifices they ought to offer in the Holy Land; Dathan and Abiram and the sons of Korah rise up against Moses and Aaron and are swallowed by the yawning of the earth;

The high priest, armed with a censer, enters as a mediator between the dead and the living, and the running wrath of God is stayed by the priest's voice; the rod of Aaron puts forth both flower and leaves, and its living dryness is preserved as an everlasting memorial; there is as yet no Temple and already there are temple-keepers, as yet no priests and Levites, yet they have offered sacrifices, and the mystical discourse describes their portions; a red heifer is burned up as a holocaust, and its ash is a purifying sprinkling. The figures of all these demand their own books, and I judge it better to be silent than to say too little. 'And setting out from Rethma they pitched camp in Remmon Phares.' The sixteenth station, which is interpreted in Greek 'roas diairesis,' in Latin 'the division of the pomegranate,' which others call the granate apple.

The fruit of this tree is understood in the Scriptures in a twofold way: either as the bosom of the Church, which covers the whole multitude of believers with its rind, or as the variety and harmony of the virtues, according to that which is written: 'And the multitude of believers had one heart and one soul'; and thus the several grades are divided in such a way that all are held together in the same joining. 'And setting out from Remmon Phares they pitched camp in Lebna.' The seventeenth station, which we can render as 'bricks,' though certain ones, translating it Lebona, have wrongly interpreted it 'whiteness.'

We read of Egyptian bricks in Exodus, over which the people groaned in their making; we read in Malachi of them, in place of which Idumaea, after its destruction, strives to lay back polished stones; and of the brick in Ezekiel, upon which the picture of the besieged Jerusalem is portrayed. From these we learn that in the journey of this life, and in passing from one thing to another, we now grow and now diminish, and after the ecclesiastical order we often migrate to the works of bricks. 'And setting out from Lebna they pitched camp in Ressa.' The eighteenth station is rendered 'bridles.' For if after our progress we go down again to the works of mud, we must be bridled, and our wandering and headlong course must be directed by the reins of the Scriptures.

This word, as far as memory suggests, I know that I have found nowhere else in the Holy Scriptures among the Hebrews, except in that apocryphal book which by the Greeks is called 'Leptē,' that is, the Little Genesis; there, in the building of the tower, it is put for a 'stadium,' in which boxers and athletes are trained and the swiftness of runners is tested. The psalmist too says: 'With bridle and bit bind fast the jaws of those who do not draw near to you'; and the apostle: 'Know you not that those who run in the stadium all indeed run, but one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain.' 'And setting out from Ressa they pitched camp in Caaltha.' The nineteenth station is interpreted 'church.'

The wandering steps of the runners are drawn back by bridles to the church, and they hasten to enter again the doors which they had before abandoned. 'And setting out from Caaltha they pitched camp on Mount Sapher.' The twentieth station is interpreted 'beauty,' and it is set upon a mountain of comeliness, of which the beginning of the fourteenth psalm also sounds forth: 'Lord, who shall dwell in your tabernacle, or who shall rest upon your holy mountain?' See what bridles avail: they draw us back from vices, they lead us in to the choirs of the virtues, and they make us dwell in Christ, the most beautiful mountain. This is the stone, according to Daniel, cut from the mountain without hands, which grew into a great mountain and filled all the earth; this, according to Ezekiel, wounded the prince of Tyre;

to this mountain in Isaiah and Micah the peoples flow together, saying: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will declare to us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.' 'And setting out from Mount Sapher they pitched camp in Arada.' The twenty-first station is rendered 'wonder.' How beautiful the order of the marches, how excellent the fabric of the believers! After the work of the brick we are bridled; after the bridles we are led into the church; after dwelling in the church we ascend to Christ the mountain, and, set there, we are amazed and marvel, so that our speech is surpassed in his praises, as we find in him those things which neither eye has seen nor ear heard nor have they ascended into the heart of man.

'And setting out from Arada they pitched camp in Maceloth.' The twenty-second station is rendered 'assemblies.' For in this consists the multitude of believers, the Church of the firstborn, the harmony of all the virtues. Then indeed we can say: 'Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!' and: 'The Lord makes those of one manner to dwell in a house.' 'And setting out from Maceloth they pitched camp in Thaath.' The twenty-third station can be understood also as 'beneath,' but we shall better interpret it 'fear.' You have come to the church, you have ascended to the most beautiful mountain, in astonishment and wonder you confess the greatness of Christ, you see there many companions of your virtue: 'be not high-minded, but fear.'

For 'the Lord resists the proud, but to the humble he gives grace,' and 'let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.' 'The mighty shall be mightily tormented.' Fear is the guardian of the virtues; security leads easily to a fall. Whence also in a certain psalm, after the prophet had said: 'The Lord rules me and I shall lack nothing; in a place of pasture there he has set me,' he joins fear, which is the guardian of blessedness, and adds: 'Your rod and your staff, they have comforted me.' And the sense is: while I dread torments, I have kept the grace which I had received. 'And setting out from Thaath they pitched camp in Thare.' The twenty-fourth station, which some render 'malice' or 'pasture'—nor would they err, if it were written with the letter ayin;

but now, since there is a double aspiration in the final syllable, the cause of error is manifest. By this same word and with the same letters I find written the name of father Abraham, who in the aforesaid apocryphal volume of Genesis, having driven off the ravens that were laying waste men's grain, obtained the name of 'driver-away' or 'expeller.' And so let us too imitate Thare and, being watchful, let us drive off the birds of heaven which hasten to devour the wheat sown by the wayside. For Abraham the patriarch also, as a type of Israel, divided the members of the victims and did not suffer the sacrifices to be devoured by the birds; and the ravens from the valleys pluck out the scornful eye; and the true Moses and Elijah leads the Ethiopian woman and is fed by ravens. If you have fear, you will be watchful;

if you are watchful, the lion will not be able to enter the folds of your sheep. Refer this either to the prelates of the churches or to the keeping of your soul, into which the devil strives to enter through the various openings of the vices. 'And setting out from Thare they pitched camp in Methca.' The twenty-fifth station is rendered 'sweetness.' You have ascended on high, you have admired the choirs of the virtues, you have feared a fall, you have driven off the plotters: forthwith the sweet fruit of labor follows you, and, in the manner of letters, the sweetness of the fruits will make up for the bitterness of the roots, and you will say: 'How sweet are your words to my throat, above honey to my mouth!' And you shall hear the Bridegroom singing to you: 'Your lips distill honey, my sister, my spouse.' For what is sweeter than discipline?

What is better than learning? What is sweeter than the Lord? 'Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.' Whence also Samson, who had driven off from his fruits the birds and foxes that lay waste the vines, and had bound the lion and slain it as it roared, found honeycomb in the mouth of the dead beast. 'And setting out from Methca they pitched camp in Asmona.' The twenty-sixth station in our tongue sounds 'haste,' according to that which is written in the psalm: 'Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt.' For 'ambassadors' we read in the Hebrew 'those making haste,' so that, after we have reaped the sweet fruits of labor, we should not be content with rest and leisure, but again pressing on to further things, forgetting the things behind, may stretch ourselves forth to the things that are to come.

'And setting out from Asmona they pitched camp in Museroth.' The twenty-seventh station sounds 'bonds' or 'disciplines,' so that we may proceed with hastening step to the masters, and wear down their thresholds, and count the precepts of the virtues and the mysteries of the Scriptures as eternal bonds, according to that which is said in Isaiah: 'And the Sabaeans, tall men, shall pass over to you and shall be yours; they shall walk behind you, bound with manacles'; and: 'Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.' There are in the Scriptures twofold bonds, which, as long as Samson broke them, he conquered his enemies. And in Ecclesiastes we read of the harlot: 'a bond in her hands'; and, from the person of the Lord who says: 'Let us break their bonds and cast their yoke from us'; and elsewhere:

'The snare is broken and we are delivered.' But the bonds of Christ are voluntary and are turned into embraces. Whoever has been bound with these will say: 'His left hand is under my head and his right hand shall embrace me.' 'And setting out from Museroth they pitched camp in Baneiacan.' The twenty-eighth station is translated 'the sons of necessity' or 'of gnashing.' If you begin from the number one and, gradually adding, arrive as far as the seventh, the twenty-eighth number is produced. Who are these sons of necessity? Let the psalm itself teach us: 'Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams.' What is that great necessity which is laid upon the unwilling?

When you have been instructed in the divine Scriptures and have known their laws and testimonies to be the bonds of truth, you will contend with your adversaries, you will bind them and lead them captive in bonds, and out of enemies once and captives you will make free men of God, so that suddenly you may say with Zion: 'I, barren and not bearing, removed and captive, and who has reared these? I, forsaken and alone, and where were these?' You marvel at Isaiah: recognize the mysteries of the same psalm: 'The voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in magnificence, the voice of the Lord breaking the cedars,' so that, after he has broken the adversaries and shaken the peoples of the nations before deserted, the harts may be prepared upon the mountains, and the Beloved may be as the son of the unicorns, and in his temple all may declare his glory.

Furthermore, as to our rendering 'sons of gnashing,' refer it to that sense, that through fear of punishment and of that place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, the crowds that believe, forsaking the bonds of the devil, submit their necks to Christ the Lord. 'And setting out from Baneiacan they pitched camp on Mount Gadgad.' The twenty-ninth station is interpreted 'messenger' or 'expedition and girding'—or rather, what we more truly judge, 'katarachōn,' that is 'cutting.' Not otherwise can we, the masters, make disciples and believers into sons of necessity, unless we slay their teachers. Let us be cruel in slaying them; let not our hand spare to draw out the shoulder or the tip of the ear from the mouth of the lion.

'Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently, and who withholds his sword from blood.' Whence David also says: 'In the morning I slew all the sinners of the land.' But concerning the messenger and the girding we can briefly say this, that we supply to the sons of necessity great goads unto virtue, when we announce to them the rewards of things to come and have taught them, girded, to enter into battles. Whichever of these three the master does, he stands upon the mountain. 'And setting out from Mount Gadgad they pitched camp in Ietabatha.'

The thirtieth station is interpreted 'goodness,' so that, when we have come to the perfect man, to the priestly grade and to the age of the fullness of Christ—in which Ezekiel too was, by the river Chobar—we may be able to sing with David in the thirtieth psalm: 'In you, Lord, I have hoped; let me not be confounded forever.' For the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. 'And setting out from Ietabatha they pitched camp in Hebrona.' The thirty-first station is interpreted 'parachōrēsis,' that is 'passing' or 'passage.' To this comes the true Hebrew, that is 'perantēs' and passer-over, who can say: 'Passing by, I shall see this great vision'; of whom the psalmist also sings: 'And those who passed by did not say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you.'

For the fashion of this world passes away, and therefore the saints long to pass over to better things and, not content with their present state, they groan daily: 'These things I remembered and poured out my soul within me, for I shall pass over into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even unto the house of God.' It would be much, if I wished to gather examples from all the Scriptures upon the word of passing over. 'And setting out from Hebrona they pitched camp in Asion-Gaber.' The thirty-second station is translated 'the timbers of a man' or 'the hewings of a man,' which is said more significantly in Greek 'pelekēmoi andros,' and is written with the letter ayin, not, as the Greeks and Latins err, with gimel.

Whence in the wilderness comes the multitude of timbers, save that the discipline of the diligent and careful master is shown, who cuts shapeless woods and hews them and makes diverse vessels which are necessary in a great house? The 'timberings of a man' can figure the thickets and every kind of tree, and through this the multitude of believers, as David says: 'We found it in the fields of the wood.' Thus far the wilderness of Pharan contains eighteen stations, which, though described, are not set down in the catalogue of the earlier journey. 'And setting out from Asion-Gaber they pitched camp in the desert of Sin, which is Cades.' It is asked why the eighth station is now said to be the thirty-third.

But it must be known that the former is written with the letter samech and is interpreted 'bramble' or 'hatred,' whereas this is written with tsade and is rendered 'commandment.' And that which is joined to it, Cades, is not, as most suppose, said to mean 'holy,' but 'changed' or 'transferred.' We read in Genesis, according to the Hebrew truth, where Judah, thinking Tamar a harlot, sends her gifts, and the intermediary of the gifts asks where is the 'cadesa?'—that is, the 'strumpet,' whose habit has been changed from that of other women. In many places also we find this same thing.

But if it is interpreted 'holy,' it must be understood 'by contraries' (kata antiphrasin), just as the Parcae (Fates) are so called from the fact that they by no means spare (parcere), and 'bellum' (war) because it is by no means fair (bellum), and 'lucus' (grove) because it by no means shines (lucere). In this station Miriam dies and is buried, and because of the waters of contradiction Moses and Aaron offend the Lord and are forbidden to cross the Jordan, and when messengers have been sent to Edom, passage is sought and not obtained. Who would not have feared, after such great advances, the murmuring of the people and the offense of the leaders and the crossings of the way denied?

It seems to me that in Miriam prophecy is dead, and in Moses and Aaron the law and the priesthood of the Jews find their end imposed, in that they themselves are neither able to cross over into the land of promise nor to lead the believing people out of the wilderness of this world. And note that after the death of prophecy and the waters of contradiction they cannot cross the carnal and earthly Edomite, and with many prayers and effort they do not obtain the way, but Edom goes out against them with a great people and with a strong hand. The interpretation of the name also fits with death and offense and the denied crossing. For where there is commandment, there is sin; where there is sin, there is offense; where there is offense, there is death. This is the station of which the psalmist sings: 'The Lord shall shake the wilderness of Cades.'

'And setting out from Cades they pitched camp on Mount Or, at the border of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up Mount Or according to the commandment of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year of the going forth of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. And Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Or. And the Canaanite king Arad, who dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard that the children of Israel had come.' It is the thirty-fourth station, which most interpret 'light,' nor would they err if it were written with the letter aleph; others 'skin,' and they too would say true if ayin were placed; some 'hole,' which could be accepted if it had the element heth.

But since it is read with he, it is rather understood 'mountain,' and it can be read: 'Aaron the priest went up to the mountain of the mountain,' that is, to its summit. From which we observe that the high priest died not on the mountain simply, but on the mountain of the mountain, so that a place worthy of his merits might be shown. And he dies in that year in which the new people was about to enter the land of promise, at the farthest borders of the land of the Idumaeans. And although on the mountain he left the priesthood to his son Eleazar, and the law leads those who fulfill it to the summit, yet that very height is not beyond the streams of the Jordan, but at the farthest borders of earthly works. And the people mourn him thirty days. Aaron is mourned, Jesus is not mourned.

In the law is the descent to the depths below; in the Gospel, the passage to paradise. The Canaanite too hears that Israel had come, and in the place of the spies, where they knew the people had once offended, they join battle and lead Israel captive. And again in the same place they fight: the victor by his vow is conquered, the conquered prevail, and the name is called Horma, that is 'anathema.' To say these same things is no toil to me and is necessary for readers, that the human condition ever fluctuates on the road of this world, and one dies in the valley, another in the fields, another on the mountain—nor on the mountain simply, but on the mountain of the mountain, that is, on the lofty summit.

And when the enemy, having invaded us who are bereft of God's aid, has led us captive, let us not despair of salvation, but let us again arm ourselves for battle. It can come to pass that we conquer where we were conquered, and triumph in the same place where we were before captive. 'And setting out from Mount Or they pitched camp in Selmona. And setting out from Selmona they came to Phinon.' These two stations, the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth, are not found in the order of the history, but in place of them it is written: 'Going forth from Mount Or by the way of the Red Sea, that they might go around the land of Edom.' From which it is shown that they were set at the borders and circuit of the land of Edom. Nor is it read according to custom:

'setting out from Mount Or they pitched camp in Selmona or in Phinon,' but after the circuit of the land of the Idumaeans it comes at last and says: 'The children of Israel setting out pitched camp in Oboth.' Nor did it say: 'they set out from this and that place,' because it had passed over the two stations in silence, which, though it kept silent in the reckoning, it rendered in the sum. The first station, Selmona, is interpreted 'a little image'; the second, Phinon, diminutively 'mouth'—understand it from mouth (os, oris), not from bone (os, ossis). In these, Aaron being dead, they murmur against the Lord and Moses, they loathe the manna, they are wounded by the serpents, and, in a type of the Savior who triumphed over the true and ancient serpent on the gibbet, the poisons of the devil are overcome.

Whence also the little image is preserved as gazing upon the passion of the Son of God, the true and expressed image, and what one believes with the heart, one confesses with the mouth, reading that saying of the apostle: 'With the heart one believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' And at the same time note that each station is called diminutively (hypokoristikōs), because we see in part and prophesy in part, and now we see through a glass in a riddle. 'And setting out from Phinon they pitched camp in Oboth.' The thirty-seventh station is rendered 'magi' or 'pythons,' or according to the words of Elihu 'great flagons,' which, when they are full of new wine, without a vent burst forthwith.

The magi fought against Moses and Aaron, and by a woman who was at Endor and had, according to the Seventy translators, a python spirit, according to the Hebrews a magic art, the king of Israel is mocked. Many are the tricks and innumerable the snares by which human souls are captured; but let us say, trusting in the Lord: 'The snare is broken and we are delivered'; and: 'If I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for you are with me. A thousand shall fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand: we will not fear the assault and the noonday demon,' but we will stop our ears lest we hear the voices of the enchanters, and we will disregard the songs of the sirens.

After the image of God, which is shown in the reason of the heart, and the confession of faith, which is uttered by the mouth, serpents rise up and evil arts provoke us to war. But we who have a most precious treasure in earthen vessels, which can be broken, so that of one hardly a potsherd remains in which a little water can be drawn, let us surround our heart with all watchfulness. 'And setting out from Oboth they pitched camp in Hieabarim, on the borders of Moab.' The thirty-eighth station sounds 'heaps of the passing stones.' There are holy stones which are rolled over the earth, smooth, polished, and by their roundness like the running of wheels. There are also others which the prophet bids to be taken out of the way, lest the feet of those walking stumble against them.

Who are these that walk? Surely the wayfarers and passers-by who hasten through this world to other stations. But as to what is said, 'on the borders of Moab,' and it is written above, 'in the wilderness which faces Moab toward the rising of the sun,' it shows according to the letter that up to this point they were on the borders of the land of the Idumaeans, and now they come to the boundaries of Moab, passing over from one province to another. For labor must not always be given to one virtue, but, as it is written, 'they shall go from virtue to virtue,' one must pass from one to another, because they cleave to one another and are so bound together among themselves that whoever lacks one lacks all. And yet to pass from one to another belongs properly to those who consider the rising of the Sun of righteousness.

'And setting out from Hieabarim—or, as it is had in the second place among the Hebrews, Hihim—they pitched camp in Dibon-Gad.' The thirty-ninth station is interpreted 'temptation bravely understood.' For this I found written otherwise in the order of the history. For after they had pitched camp in Hieabarim on the borders of Moab toward the rising of the sun, it is read: 'Setting out thence they turned aside to the torrent Zared. And setting out from this place they pitched camp beyond the Arnon, which is in the wilderness of the borders of the Amorite, because the Arnon is set at the boundaries of the Moabites and Amorites.' And after these things they came to the well, where Israel sang this song:

'Spring up, O well, which the princes dug, and the leaders of the peoples opened, in the giver of laws and in his staff.' And from the wilderness to Matthana, and from Matthana to the torrents of God, and from the torrents of God to the high places, and from the high places to the valley which is in the region of Moab, on the summit of Phasga, which looks toward the desert. Some, interpreting these places on the borders of the Amorites, think they are not stations but passages, and that an extraordinary exposition ought not to prejudice the catalogue of stations. Others, however, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, do not wish regions to be signified, but through the names of places

the advances of the virtues are signified, that after the magi and the gathering of stones we frequently come to the torrents of Zared, which is interpreted 'a strange descent,' and, set in the descent, we pass over to the Arnon, which sounds 'a curse,' which is set at the borders of the Amorites, who are either 'bitter' enemies or 'speak much' being puffed up. But if we have passed over the boundaries of Moab, who was begotten of incest and departed from the true father, at once a well meets us, which no one of the common people dug, no ignoble one, but princes and leaders who give laws to the peoples.