K. And so, if you wish, you have the opportunity, if you wish, to listen again to the speaker in one place: "Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the children of thy people" (Lev. 19:18); in another place again: "If there be a dispute between people, let them bring them to court and try them, let them acquit the righteous, and condemn the guilty; and if the guilty person is worthy of beatings, then the judge shall order him to be laid down and beaten in his presence, according to his fault, according to the account; forty lashes may be given to him, and no more, lest thy brother be disfigured by many blows before thy eyes" (Deuteronomy 25:1-3).

P. But what is the reason for us to give the condemned only forty strokes? And how, explain to me, does this greater number shame some?

In many ways, the mystery of Christ is beautifully written before us through the ancient commandment, and as it were, the saving passion is depicted for us, in which and through which we are freed from everything that had the power to cause evil and plunged us into incurable calamities. And, as I said recently, the forgiveness of debtors, which occurs after seven years, mysteriously indicates the time of forgiveness of all, for we are justified in Christ and taught to say in prayer to the Father and God who is in heaven: "Forgive us our debts"; — so here, too, the attainment of forty lashes in the punishment of those who are beaten or beaten indicates the most desirable time for us to build the Only-begotten with the flesh, at which time "by His stripes we were healed" (Isaiah 53:5; cf. 1 Pet. 2:24) "He was wounded for our sins, and bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5), when the Israelites boldly reproached Him, and Pilate struck blows at His back, but we are exempt from punishment and punishment: for of old there were "many wounds to the sinner," according to what is written (Psalm 31:10); but Christ was scourged for us: for as He died for all, so He was scourged for all, being alone equal to all. And if you divide the forty-day number into five eights, you will find the number five and eight useful for the designation of this time, for the Only-begotten came in the fifth part of the time, according to the Gospel parable (Matt. 20:1-16): a certain man hired laborers in the vineyard, going out about the hour of the first, third, and sixth, ninth and eleventh; And He rose on this day, having destroyed the power of death and destroyed with it the mother of corruption brought from without, that is, sin, with the destruction of which scourging is necessarily abolished, as well as punishments and punishments for it. Therefore the law does not permit the blows to go beyond the number of forty, thereby establishing as it were the measure of punishment until the coming of Christ, and indicating the time of atonement: for the images contain in themselves the beauty of the truth. It should also be known that Israel, having offended God, wandered in the wilderness for forty years: because God swore an oath not to bring them into the land of promise. And this was the limit of anger for them; and when that time was past, the wrath ceased, and their descendants crossed the Jordan, and entered the land, and the indignation did not pass beyond the fortieth year. So also this event is clearly served by the infliction of some up to forty strokes, because the time that followed was the time of absolution, bringing us the mysterious passage through the Jordan and the stone knives, that is, circumcision in the spirit and the governorship of Jesus: for Christ became our guide, after Moses and the law.

P. I agree.

K. Therefore, in order that judicial cases may be properly and incorruptibly decided, and the forms of covetousness destroyed, "judges and overseers," it is said, "that they may judge the people with righteous judgment; do not pervert the law, do not look at persons, and do not take gifts, for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and turn the cause of the righteous" (Deuteronomy 16:18-19): for the law considered it necessary, and quite right, that those who were appointed to judge should be above the passion of covetousness, and out of love for anyone should not allow a violation of the duty to do what is right and irreproachable; but that, rejecting deviation in the other direction, as an impious deed, and weighing each deed according to the law, they should imitate the Judge of all, that is, Christ, of whom the law itself clearly foretold, acknowledging Him as God and Judge. And he said thus: "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it, and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me, like the rest of the nations that are around me,' then you shall set a king over you, whom the Lord your God will choose; From among thy brethren thou shalt set a king over thee; thou shalt not set a stranger over thee [a king] who is not thy brother" (Deuteronomy 17:14-15): for we must flee as far as possible from the ministry of creation apart from the Creator God, incline to the words of truth and call as it were to holy ground, that is, to the promise of God through faith in Christ; and thus to set over ourselves the prince and judge of the Son born of God, although He appears in the flesh, and says of us: 'I have anointed My King over Zion, My holy mountain; I will declare the decree" (Psalm 2:6-7). Of course, we will not accept anyone else but Him, and we will not offer the yoke of strangers: "You have one Teacher, Christ" (Matt. 23:8). The unfortunate Jews are outside because of unbelief, and have not accepted Christ as prince and judge, although He came down from heaven by the will and goodwill of God the Father, but in addition they have even chosen a strange man as their ruler, the son of perdition, that is, the Antichrist, a foreigner and a foreigner, and not descended from the blood of Israel, although the law clearly stated: "Thou shalt not appoint a foreigner over thee [a king] who is not thy brother" (Deuteronomy 17:15). They also heard Christ Himself, saying: "I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me; but if any man come in his name, you will receive him" (John 5:43): for Christ has come to the glory of God the Father. And the son of iniquity will come in due time, not to the glory of God the Father, for this, I think, means: "in the name of the Father," but having laid upon his head, wretched one, the name of the Godhead: for he will sit in the house of God, "pretending to be God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4). But the Jews would never have worshipped him, nor accepted him as Christ, if they had kept the law, for he had clearly foretold that Christ would come from the race of Israel. And they, having rejected this as worn-out, will receive a stranger and a foreigner.

P. Therefore they "shall eat of the fruit of their ways" (Proverbs 1:31) and will suffer a punishment worthy of their shameful folly.

K: You've said right; for God who judges righteously will reward each one fully according to his deed. And we have said enough about this. To those who are appointed to judge others and placed in a seat befitting judges, the law still cries: "Give no heed to vain ears, Do not follow the majority to evil, and do not decide lawsuits, departing from righteousness in the majority" (Exodus 23:1-2). And after a few words, then again: "Do not pervert the lawsuits of your poor. Turn away from unrighteousness" (23:6-7): for it is most proper for those who have the power to judge to be blameless in their words, and it is necessary for him who is to pass judgment on each of the subjects of the accusation, according to the definition of the Lawgiver, to speak the truth. And with benefit is added the following: "And thou shalt not indulge the poor in his lawsuit" (Exodus 23:3): for when the one who is judged is not rich, then it is convenient and easy for those who judge to lean on two sides; For, on the one hand, it is easy to offend a man who is oppressed by poverty, and on the other hand, poverty is sometimes not enough to induce him to violate the requirements of justice, and to excite to mercy the milder of the judges. Thus, the law forbids both oppression and compassion to those who are in poverty and misery, preserving intact the beauty of righteous judgment and everywhere appointing the judge as the guardian of justice: for "seek righteousness, righteousness," he says (Deuteronomy 16:20), because to offend the law, even if it seemed that there was something good in it, in justice does not seem sinless; for there is "righteousness, seek righteousness," according to what is written (Ecclesiastes 7:16). Thus, truly goodness needs art, and untimely mercy will not escape the accusation of offense against the law. For this reason, he corrects those who are seen in lighter offenses with the shame of scourging. See, then, how servile this work is and how unworthy of a free man; but do not be surprised: for there was a spirit of slavery in them (Romans 8:15). For this reason the punishment of blows is no longer combined with the commandments given through Christ, as of old with the law, but is offered that which is more befitting of the free: brilliant and worthy of receiving gifts, the beginnings and promises of spiritual blessings, and the grace due to good works, and no longer a threat, but more an exhortation to virtue. For Moses spoke to the most ancient as to slaves, as a servant and a slave; But Christ is with the sons, as the Son, and as with the brothers by adoption, being truly and unquestionably from God the Father the Son.

P. That's right.

K. The law punishes the murderer with death, and restrains unbridled insolence by the retribution of an equal, and punishes intolerable rage with intolerable punishment and extraordinary calamities, having carefully tested beforehand the intention of the actor; and if the crime is committed voluntarily, then it takes away mercy. Nor does he allow love for one another to be put to shame, if it is weakened by inopportuneness and its application to that in which it is least needed, as it were, to effeminacy: for he said thus: "If any man with the intention of killing his neighbor deceitfully, let him take him to death from My altar" (Exodus 21:14). But if the injury of the victim of violence from the beater comes only to exhaustion, then he moderates the punishment and commands that this harm be paid with money, for he also said this: "When they quarrel, and one man strikes another with a stone or a fist, and he does not die, but lies down in bed, then if he gets up and goes out of the house with a stick, he who strikes will not be guilty [of death]; only let him pay for the cessation of his work, and give him to be cured" (Exodus 21:18-19). This is commanded by the law; The Saviour, proposing the law of the most perfect Virtue, says: "Whosoever smites thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other" (Matt. 5:39, cf. Luke 6:29). As for slaves, the law decrees the following: "If a man smites his servant or his maidservant with a stick, and they die under his hand, he shall be punished; but if they survive a day or two, they shall not punish him, for it is his silver" (Exodus 21:20-21). Thus he punishes excessive anger with death: for God has not suffered to take the very life of those who are in our power and under our yoke, only because we, by virtue of our dominance, have become their masters. But he urges to combine mercy with anger, determining the supreme punishment for the murderer: "If they survive a day or two," he says, "they should not punish him, for this is his silver": for he almost says: what happened to the victim, after he had somehow recovered from the injury, is no longer the work of the anger of the one who struck him; for no one would want to lose his own slave, whom he bought with silver and acquired with money for him. But if someone were an unwitting murderer, then the law determines that he should be punished by eternal exile, dissolving punishment and involuntary crime by moderate philanthropy, very prudently not placing him on a par with voluntary crimes. And he commanded that three cities be set apart, which he called refuges (Deut. 4:41 ff.); it is there that he exiles those who flee from involuntary crimes. And again he determines the time of absolution even for these who are in such an unfortunate situation, namely, the death of the high and chief priest. He writes in this way in the book of Numbers: "But if he pushes him accidentally, without enmity, or throws anything at him without intention, or any stone from which he can die, without seeing him, drops on him so that he dies, but he was not his enemy, and did not wish him harm, then the society shall judge between the murderer and the avenger of blood according to these decrees; and the society must save the murderer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and must return his society to the city of his refuge, whither he fled, that he may dwell there until the death of the high priest, who is anointed with holy oil" (Num. 35:22-25). And then, after a few words: "And after the death of the high priest, the murderer was to return to the land of his domain" (35:28).

P. Thus, the end of their exile is the death of the priest we have just mentioned.

K. This is the outer covering for images; and within the shadows is the mystery of Christ.

P. In what way?

K. Perhaps it is not unreasonable, Palladius, to think that they are like murderers of their own souls, and that they did not stoop to such a miserable state of their own voluntarily, but as if they were forced to transgression and offense to God, "for the thinking of the heart of man is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21) and by virtue of the law that reigns in the flesh (Rom. 7:21). 23-25) of indomitable lust. Wherefore the wretched soul of man was punished by expulsion from the world and from the body, and having settled as it were in some city of refuge, in the innermost regions of death, it remained there for a long time, and was scarcely released when Christ, the High Priest, died, who, having suffered death for all, descended into hell, opened the doors to those who were in hell, and freed them from their bonds, saying, "To the prisoners, 'Come out,' and to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves'" (Isaiah 49:9).

P. How clear is this speech!