K. And everyone will excuse those who dwell in the villages, if they were taken captive and sinned against the best decision; for they are not at all enclosed by walls, and are less prudent than those who live in cities. And these would be blamed by everyone, and I think very justly, if, after defending themselves against the enemy and saving their property, they voluntarily surrendered themselves to them in the attacks of their opponents, and, defeated by their own cowardice, fell under the power of their opponents.

P. You said it well.

K. Look now at the Jews who live in the holy city, of which the God of all things says: "I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about it, and I will be glorified in the midst of it" (Zech. 2:5); and moreover those who are wise with the law; Wherefore (the prophet) said: "Happy are we, O Israel, that we know that which is pleasing to God" (Bar. 4:4). Do you not think that such people are completely inaccessible to demonic attacks, if only they would decide to live righteously and obey the Divine laws?

P. Exactly.

K. Crowds of pagans, having a coarser and more tractable mind, can quite naturally and easily be taken captive by the predator Satan, being deprived of help from above and not having the law as a tutor of children.

P. I think so.

K. Thus the Jews, who dwell in a city fortified with walls and protected by help from on high, having an educated mind, and knowing what is pleasing to God, then, not judging what was proper for them, having light-mindedly rejected the inheritance assigned to them, and falling away from the highest hope, if they do not sober up from their drunkenness, according to what is written, and do not restore their property at the coming of the year of redemption, that is, the coming of our Saviour, will remain and forever be under the power of the purchaser, that is, Satan. For "behold," says the Lord, "by your iniquities they have been sold for your sins," and "your mother has been set free" (Isaiah 50:1). But the utterly helpless multitude of the Gentiles, afflicted with a coarse and ignorant mind, and therefore given over to slavery to others, can always be redeemed by the mercy of God: for they will receive their inheritance, having been called to freedom in the year of abandonment, when Christ freed all the sunflower from the dominion of demons, removed it from the snares of sin, justified it by faith, and sanctified it by the Spirit, abolishing by His cross "the handwriting which was made concerning us" (Col. 2:11). 14). But the Levitical things are not alienable: the lot of the saints is unshakably observed, and they have a firm hope. In the same way, Christ once said to the most important Mary that she "chose the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). But to the small and the great priest, and to the people, and to all in general, belongs redemption and the steadfastness of hope in Christ.

P. Therefore Israel will sell her inheritance without knowing the year of redemption, but the Gentiles will have hope, and through Christ will be the return of the good things of nature.

K: I suppose so; and our word will be sealed in truth by the God of all, and in another way by the mouth of Ezekiel, in the distribution of property: "Thus saith the Lord God: If a prince gives any of his sons a gift, it shall also be inherited by his sons; this possession of them must be hereditary. But if he gives a gift of his inheritance to any of his servants, it shall belong to him only until the year of his deliverance, and then he shall return to the prince. Only to his sons should his inheritance pass. But the prince cannot take from the hereditary land of the people, driving them out of their possession; out of his own possession alone he may give to his children, lest any of My people be cast out of his possession" (Ezekiel 46:16-18). Is this saying clear to you, and does the meaning of what is said seem simple to you?

P. Nimalo; but I would very gladly learn this from you.

Palladius calls the High Priest the Elder, who received the lot to be the leader of the people subject to him. And so, since the holy priests were allotted the necessary and chosen inheritances, and since God decreed that they should be reserved for them forever and not be alienated, it was necessary for Him to make this clear. For if it should happen, he says, that one of the elders, that is, the priests, to divide something of his inheritance to his own children, then let it be confirmed, he says, and let the gift be inalienable from him who has received; for it is not from foreigners that this inheritance passes to anyone, but from priests to priests. And if he were to give it to any of the slaves, then he who received it would not possess permanently, but would be wholly restored to the elder in the "year of absolution" his inheritance. But to this is added the command that the priest should remove from himself the desire for the inheritance of others; for this, I think, means what is said: "Let not the elder take away from the inheritance of his people." Do you think this speech is sufficient to clarify the matter?

P. And very much.

K. Let it, then, proceed to the investigation of the spiritual meaning: for what is given in the law are images, and in the shadows is inscribed the image of truth.

P. Pravda.