| 100 . Practical philosophy sets above the passions the man who practises the virtues. Contemplation establishes above visible things the man who attains spiritual knowledge, raising his intellect to the noetic realities akin to it. Third Century 1 . The person who combines spiritual knowledge with the practice of the virtues and practice of the virtues with spiritual knowledge is a throne and a footstool of God (cf. Isa. 66: 1) – a throne because of his spiritual knowledge and a footstool because of his ascetic practice. And the human intellect, purified of all material images and occupied or, rather, adorned with the divine principles of the noetic world, is a heaven itself. 2 . When any philosopher – any devout philosopher – fortified with virtue and spiritual knowledge, or with ascetic practice and contemplation, sees the power of evil rising up against him through the passions, like the king of the Assyrians rising up against Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kgs. 18: 13 – 16; Isa. 36: 1 – 2), he is aware that only with God’s help can he escape. He invokes God " s mercy by crying out silently and by striving to advance still further in virtue and knowledge; and he receives as an ally, or rather as his salvation, an angel, that is, one of the higher principles of wisdom and knowledge, who cuts off ‘every mighty man, warrior, leader and commander in the camp’ (2 Chr. 32: 21). 3 . Every passion has its origin in the corresponding sensible object. For without some object to attract the powers of the soul through the medium of the senses, no passion would ever be generated. In other words, without a sensible object a passion does not come into being: without a woman there is no unchastity; without food there is no gluttony; without gold there is no love of money, and so on. Thus at the origin of every impassioned stimulation of our natural powers there is a sensible object or, in other terms, a demon inciting the soul to commit sin by means of the sensible object. 4 . Attrition suppresses the actualization of sin; obliteration destroys even the thought of it. For attrition prevents the realization of the impassioned act, while obliteration completely annihilates all demonic motivation in the mind itself. |
| 359 from Leviticus 26 translation of 1917), in order to emphasize that they do not refer to Jeremiah. 360 the Jewish remnant most probably returned from the exile in 538 B.C.E., not in 537 as the Watch Tower Society insists. 361 texts in the book of Jeremiah are not referred to here” – O. Ploger, Aus der Spatzeit des Alten Testaments (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1971), p.69. 362 Tower Society attempts to explain this contradiction by arguing that Jehovah had denounced the cities of Judah for 70 years up to 537 B.C.E., but allowed the Gentile nations to carry on the denunciation up to the time of Zechariah, making it seem as if he was still denouncing the cities of Judah! – Ibid., pp. 13134. Also from a grammatical point of view it is difficult to uphold the idea that the seventy years here refer to a period that had ended many years in the past. The demonstrative pronoun “these” (Hebr. zeh) denotes something near in time or space. Commenting on the expression “these seventy years” at Zech. 1:12 Hebraist Dr. Seth Erlandsson explains: “Literally it says ‘these 70 years,’ also at 7:5 “now for 70 years.’ “(Letter ErlandssonJonsson, dated Dec. 23, 1990.) This is evidently the reason why Professor Hinckley G. Mitchell renders the phrase as “now seventy years’ in both texts. – H. G. Mitchell in S. R. Driver, A. Plummer, & C. A. Briggs (eds.), The International Critical Commentary. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1912), pp. 12324, 199200. 363 commentators. J.A. Thompson, for example, says: “In Zech. 1:12 the destruction of the temple in 587 B.C. and its rebuilding in 520515 B.C.” (The Book of Jeremiah. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980, p. 514.) Dr. Carroll Stuhlmueller observes that, “if we tabulate from the beginning of Babylon’s plans for the first siege of Jerusalem (590/589; 2 Kgs. 24:10 show up in a remarkably accurate way!” – Stuhlmueller, Rebuilding with Hope. A Commentary at the Books of Haggai and Zechariah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1988), p. 64. |
| 3832 Taylor, Mark, 390 suggests that in the transfiguration Moses and Elijah represent the law and prophets; but probably they are just harbingers of the end; cf. Moule, Mark, 70. 3833 For the latter view, see Brown, Essays, 181–84. The evangelist may use rhetorically less favored historical presents here (1:21) and elsewhere for vividness (as, e.g., in the Latin of Caesar Gallic War, passim), though scholars could criticize inconsistency in verb tenses (e.g., Dionysius of Halicarnassus 2 Amm. 12); on the importance of vividness, see Anderson, Glossary, 43,125 (cf. also 73). 3834 Diversity of perspectives on Elijah extended even to interpretations of biblical narratives; cf. Zeller, «Elija.» 3835 E.g., b. Móed Qat. 26a; Sanh. 113b, although such texts may reflect differing implications as to whether (perhaps " Abot R. Nat. 38, §103 B, till Messiah comes) or not (cf. Pesiq. Rab Kah. 9:4) he would die. Josephus " s words are more guarded (Ant. 9.28), probably accommodating Hellenistic skepticism. 3836 See Keener, Spirit, 20–22; Sipra Sh. M.D. 99.5.6; also Tg. Jon. on 1Sam 19and on 2 Kgs 6:1; 9:1,4. 3837 " Abot R. Nat. 2A; b. c Abod. Zar. 36a; Ber. 3a; Git. 42b; Hag. 9b; Qidd. 79a; Menah. 32a; p. Ber. 9:2, §3; Ter. 1(unclear here whether the activity in this text was in ancient Israel or the rabbinic period); Pesiq. Rab Kah. 11:22; he conversed with rabbis about unspecified or nonhalakic issues in b. B. Mesi c a 85b; Sanh. 113b; Yoma 19b-20a. Cf. his settling of questions pertaining to himself in b. Ketub. 106a (instructing R. Anan as he wrote Seder Eliyyahu Rabba and Seder Eliyyahu Zuta); Gen. Rab. 71:9. Elijah already appears as «greatly zealous for the law» (ν τω ζηλσαι ζλον νμου) in 1Macc 2:58. 3838 E.g., b. Ber. 4b; he appears as an executor of judgment against a sacrilegious man in b. Ber. 6b; as a bearer of news to a rabbi in b. Šabb. 33b (Simeon ben Yohai); Deut. Rab. 5(Meir); Targum Rishon to Esth 4(to Mordecai). For his knowledge of what God does, cf. |
| 4515 E.g., Diodorus Siculus 15.74.3–4; Babrius 136. Cf. 1 Kgs 22:30–38; also Josephus " s comments (cf. Begg, «Ahab»). But for some a «natural» death was one by nature and Fate without human violence (Aulus Gellius 13.1.5–8). 4519 LCL trans. Stoics advised focusing not on the time of death, which we cannot control, but on onés manner of life (Seneca Ep. Luci1. 93.7); Socrates faced his time bravely (Xenophon Mem. 4.8.6); see further comment on John 12:27–30 . 4520 E.g., Homer Od. 2.163–166; Euripides Medea 116–118; Apollonius of Rhodes 1.78–85; 2.65–66; Virgil Aen. 10.471–472. In the end, this sometimes increased suspense by increasing dramatic anticipation. On Fate as a plot-moving device, see Aune, Environment, 131,134; another deity in Chariton 1.1.3. 4522 Independently noted by Suggit, «Nicodemus,» 92–93; noted and questioned as unclear (admittedly true) by Hanson, Gospel, 42–43. Cf. 1Macc 13:9: πντα σα αν επης μν, ποισομεν, the people addressing Simon Maccabeus; T. Ab. 4:7A: και τι ν λεγη σοι, τοτο και ποει, God instructing Michael to heed Abraham " s words (also 12:5B, in a different context). 4524 Cf. Jesus» «double bind» in Tilborg, Love, 7. The demands of his relationship with her would put his honor at stake (cf. Malina and Rohrbaugh, John, 69). 4526 The term recurs in 4:28, where Jesus replaces the water of Jacob " s wel1. 4is significant for the use of the term, probably alluding to Gen 24:14–46 , which accounts for over half of the term " s occurrences of υδρα in the LXX. 4527 O1sson, Structure, 105, less reasonably supposes possible allusions to purification at Sinai. 4529 Reich, «Jars»; Safrai, «Home,» 741; Avigad, «Flourishing,» 59; idem, Jerusalem, 183; cf. Schwank, «Wasserkrüge»; Magen, «Yrwslym»; Gal, «T " syyt.» Many commentators have pointed to this reason for stoneware here, e.g., Schnackenburg, John, 1:332; Brown, John, 1:100; cf. Westcott, John, 37. Olsson, Structure, 48, objects that «stone ware» was usually made of hard clay. 4530 |
| 74 . It is by means of the more lofty conceptual images that the inner principle of Holy Scripture can be stripped gradually of the complex garment of words with which it is physically draped. Then to the visionary intellect – the intellect which through the total abandonment of its natural activities is able to attain a glimpse of the simplicity that in some measure discloses this principle – it reveals itselfas though in the sound ofa delicate breeze. This was the case with Elijah, who was granted such a vision in the cave of Horeb (cf. 1 Kgs. 19: 12). Horeb signifies fallow land just broken up, which is the firm possession of the virtues established through the new spirit of grace. The cave is the hidden sanctuary of wisdom within the intellect; he who enters it will mystically perceive the spiritual knowledge that is beyond perception, in which God is said to dwell. Therefore everyone who like Elijah truly seeks God will not only arrive at Horeb – that is, not only will he through ascetic practice attain the state of virtue – but will also enter the cave at Horeb – that is, as a contemplative he will enter into that hidden sanctuary of wisdom found only by those who have attained the state of virtue. 75 . When our intellect has shaken off its many opinions about created things, then the inner principle of truth appears clearly to it, providing it with a foundation of real knowledge and removing its former preconceptions as though removing scales from the eyes, as happened in the case of St Paul (cf. Acts 9: 18). For an understanding of Scripture that does not go beyond the literal meaning, and a view of the sensible world that relies exclusively on sense perception, are indeed scales, blinding the soul " s visionary faculty and preventing access to the pure Logos of truth. 76 . The Apostle Paul says that he had a partial knowledge of the Logos (cf. 1Cor. 13: 9 ). The Evangelist John states that he has seen His glory: ‘For we beheld His glory,’ he says, ‘the glory as of the only-begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth’ ( John 1: 14 ). |
| 7786 That the fragrance of anointing «filled the house» might recall the biblical image of God " s glory filling his house when it was consecrated (Exod 40:34–35; 1 Kgs 8:10–11; on Jesus» consecration as a new temple, cf. perhaps John 10:36 ). 4D. Judas " s Protest (12:4–6) That Judas was already intending to betray Jesus by this point (12:4; 13:2) in the story is not unlikely. In John " s story world, the opposition to Jesus is clear by this point, the sides are drawn (11:8), and the price of following Jesus is becoming clear (11:16). Even Paul " s passion narrative may recall the act of betrayal ( 1Cor 11:23 ); nor is it a datum the early Christians are likely to have invented, shaming as it would be to Jesus in their cultural context. 7787 That a betrayer was necessary suggests that it became difficult to locate Jesus when he was not teaching publicly. 7788 That the ointment would have been expensive, perhaps an heirloom, beyond the means of most people, would have been obvious. 7789 With Mark 14:5 , John reports that the ointment " s cost would have been nearly a year " s wages for an average worker (12:5); it would be more than most women would inherit, and may represent Mary " s entire inheritance (though given the fact that it may indicate a well-to-do Bethany family, it may not). Mary " s devotion makes sense against the backdrop of her brother " s restoration (the cause is less obvious in Matthew and Mark). Tradition assumes that disciples were sometimes entrusted with a rabbís funds. 7790 John " s remark that Judas was not concerned for the poor (12:6) underlines Judas " s evil character; he employs the same term for «unconcerned» here as he earlier employed for the hirelings who did not care for the shepherd " s flock in 10:13 7791 –a context in which false leaders of the flock also earn the title «thief» (10:1, 8, 10; 12:6). Whereas Mark contrasts the costly devotion of the woman ( Mark 14:3–9 ) with Judas " s betrayal for money ( Mark 14:10–11 ) by narrating them in succession, John implies the same contrast simply by transferring the tradition " s general distaste of bystanders for the woman " s sacrifice ( Mark 14:4–5 ; disciples in Matt 26:8–9) to Judas ( John 12:5 ) and mentioning his plans for betrayal (12:4) and his past theft (12:6). |
| 92 . Just as God in His essence cannot be the object of man’s spiritual knowledge, so not even His teaching can be fully embraced by our understanding. For though Holy Scripture, being restricted chronologically to the times of the events which it records, is limited where the letter is concerned, yet in spirit it always remains unlimited as regards the contemplation of intelligible realities. 93 . If you want to absorb the precise spiritual sense of Holy Scripture in a way that accords with Christ " s wishes, you must train yourself diligently in the interpretation of names, for in this way you can elucidate the meaning of all that is written. But you must not Judaic-wise drag the sublimity of the Spirit down to the level of the body and the earth, and limit the divine inviolate promise of spiritual blessings to things corrupt and transitory. 94 . Since a vow is a promise of some good thing offered by man to God, it may clearly be inferred that prayer is petition for the blessings bestowed by God on man with a view to his salvation and as a reward for the good inner state of those who make the prayer. Succour is the gift and growth, in the face of demonic attack, of virtuous qualities pursued through the practice of the ascetic life and of spiritual vision pursued through the life of contemplation. In the cry for such succour God naturally pays heed above all not to the loudness with which it is uttered but to the inner state of virtue and spiritual knowledge possessed by those who utter it. 95 . The evil and destructive kingdom of the devil – typified by the kingdom of the Assyrians (cf. 2 Kgs. 18: 11) – has organized a war against virtue and spiritual knowledge, plotting to pervert the soul through the soul " s innate powers. First it stimulates the soul’s desire to develop an appetite for what is contrary to nature, and persuades it to prefer sensible to intelligible things. Then it rouses the soul’s incensive power to struggle with all its might in order to attain the sensible object which it desires. Finally it teaches the soul’s intelligence how to contrive opportunities for sensual pleasure. |
| 96 . In His supreme goodness God has not only made the divine and incorporeal essences of noetic realities images of His unutterable glory, each in its own way reflecting, in so far as this is granted, the supra-noetic splendour of His unapproachable beauty; He also permeates with echoes of His majesty things that are sensory and far inferior to noetic essences. These enable the human intellect, mounted upon them and carried above all visible things, to journey towards God and to attain the summit of blessedness. 97 . Every intellect crowned with virtue and spiritual knowledge is appointed like the great Hezekiah to rule over Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kgs. 18: 1 – 2) – that is to say, over the state in which one beholds only peace and which is free from all passions. For Jerusalem means ‘vision of peace’. Through the forms which fill creation, such an intellect has the whole of creation under its sovereignty. Through the intellect creation offers as gifts to God the spiritual principles of knowledge that lie within it; and as gifts to the intellect it presents the qualities conducive to virtue which exist within it in accordance with the law of nature. Both through the principles of spiritual knowledge and through the qualities of virtue creation honours the intellect so admirably fitted to make right use of both – the philosophic intellect perfected in both intelligence and action through contemplation and the practice of the ascetic life. 98 . He who has attained the summit of virtue and spiritual knowledge through the practice of the ascetic life and contemplation naturally transcends every carnal and reprehensible passion; he also surmounts the condition of so-called natural bodies, that is, of beings subject to generation and corruption. In short, through contemplation he gains spiritual knowledge of the inner essences of all sensible forms and passes beyond them, raising his intellect to the divine realities that are akin to it. 99 . When, thanks to the hardships you have undergone in the practice of the virtues, you are appointed to dwell in the state of dispassion as though in Jerusalem and, freed from all the disturbance of sin, you practise, speak, hear and think nothing but peace ; and when, after that, you have received through natural contemplation an understanding of the nature of visible things – a nature which offers through you as gifts to the Lord the divine essences dwelling within it, and presents to you, as if presenting gifts to a king, the laws that lie within it – then you are ‘magnified in sight of all nations’ (2 Chr. 32: 23). For you are now above all things: through the practice of the virtues you have risen above natural bodies and the passions of the flesh, and through contemplation you have passed beyond the indwelling spiritual essences and qualities of all sensible forms. |
|
|
