Homilies on Numbers 12.3–12.4

“Begin for him the well,” it says. This is the sense: set the well as the beginning of all things, as the Apostle too says that he is the beginning and the firstborn of all creation, and in him all things were created. “Begin for him the well,” then, that is: confess that the well is the beginning of all things. But it can also be understood in this way, so that the words seem to be directed in the person of Moses to the people, exhorting and saying: Give your heart a beginning, so that it may begin to understand what the well is from which the spiritual waters are to be drawn and the people of believers refreshed. “Begin for him,” then, that is, for Israel, this well: so that anyone who sees God with his heart may draw the mystical sense from the depths. It does not seem to be said in vain, then, that Moses, that is, the law, gathers us to this well. For it can happen that someone seems to come to this well, but unless he is gathered by Moses he is not accepted by God. Marcion thinks he has come to this well, and Basilides, and Valentinus; but because they did not come through Moses, nor receive the law and the prophets, they cannot praise the Lord God from the springs of Israel. Those who are of this kind, then, do not come to the well which the princes dug and the kings hewed. But do you want me to show you from the Scriptures to which wells they come? There is a certain salt valley, in which valley there are wells of bitumen; for all … and iniquity does not go up, but always goes down to the lowest and infernal places. So every heretical opinion and every act of sin is placed in the valley, and is salty and bitter. For what sweetness, what pleasantness can sin have? It also has something more. For if you have come to a heretical opinion, if you have come to the bitterness of sin, you have come to the wells of bitumen. Bitumen is the food and fuel of fire. If, then, you too have tasted water from these wells, if you have taken up a heretical sense, if you have taken in the bitterness of sin, you will prepare in yourself the kindling of fire and the burnings of Gehenna. And therefore to those who do not wish to drink water from that well which princes and kings dug, but from these which are in the valley of sin and feed the fuel of fire, it is said: “Walk in the light of your fire and of the flame which you have kindled for yourselves.” What, then, is sung at this well? “Begin the well for him. Princes dug it, kings hewed it.” The princes and the kings can indeed be seen as the same; but if it is necessary to distinguish them, let us understand the princes to be the prophets. For they placed the meaning and the prophecy about Christ dug down and sunk in the depth of the letter; and therefore one of them said: “If you do not hear in secret, your soul will weep.” And again another prophet says to the Lord: “How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you!” These, then, are the princes who dug this well, and the kings are those who hewed it. When he said “hewed” (excuderunt), it comes from hewing out, not from cutting down; for what is either cut or shaped in stone is said to be hewn. The princes, then, as somewhat lower, are said to dig the well, that is, to sink a certain depth as in soft earth. But those whom he calls kings, as more eminent and stronger, penetrate not only the depth of the earth but also the hardness of the rock, so that they may reach deeper waters and search out (if it can be said) the very veins of the abyss in it, knowing that God's judgments are a great abyss. These kings, then, who can search out such deep and hidden things of the well, we may rightly call the apostles, one of whom said: “But God has revealed it to us through the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” Since, then, through the Spirit they too can search out the depths of God and penetrate the high and deep mysteries of the well, they are therefore said to be kings, who have hewn this well even in rock and penetrated the hard and difficult secrets of knowledge. And that the apostles too can be called kings I think can easily be proved from what is said of all believers: “But you are a royal race, a great priesthood, a holy nation.” If, then, they call those kings who believed through their word, how much more are they themselves to be held kings, who make kings? And it is easily gathered from this too: if kings are named from ruling, all who rule the churches of God will rightly be called kings, and much more rightly those who by their sayings and writings rule the very ones by whom the churches are ruled. And for this reason the Lord is rightly called King of kings. For unless these, and the others who imitate them, are kings, he will not seem to be King of kings. And the apostle Paul himself, writing to the Corinthians and rebuking them as with a kind of irony, says: “Without us you reign; and would that you did reign, so that we too might reign with you!” In this he certainly declares that the Corinthians ought to be kings and that he wishes to reign with them, but he blames their pride, which did not yet match the merit of the honor they assumed. All these princes, then, dig this well, and the kings of the nations hew it. For the apostles are above all kings of the nations, who gathered the nations to the obedience of faith and laid open to all the knowledge of Christ, “in whom are hidden the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God,” going around the world according to the Lord's command and fulfilling what was commanded, to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and by this they hewed, that is, laid open, the knowledge of the well and brought it to the knowledge of all nations. And what we now have in hand, what has been read to us, is a well, as is the whole Scripture of the law and the prophets together; the writings of the Gospels and the Apostles too, all together, are one well, which cannot be dug or hewn unless kings and princes are found. For truly they are to be held kings and truly princes who can take away the earth from the well, that is, remove the surface of the letter, and from the inner rock where Christ is bring out spiritual meanings like living water. It befits only those, then, to do this who are either kings or princes: kings so called because they have driven the reign of sin from their body and prepared the reign of righteousness in their members. For it befits him to teach others who has first himself done what he teaches. For so it is written that whoever does and teaches men so, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And to be great in the kingdom is to be a king. “Kings of the nations hewed it,” it says, “in their kingdom, when they ruled over them.” For in truth they cannot dig this well nor open the hidden veins of living water unless they have first held dominion over the barbarous nations. For if they have tamed whatever in them was wild in actions and whatever was barbarous in conduct, and have subjected it to the royal mind and ruled over it, so that henceforth they act not like Gentiles but lawfully, these are truly kings, examining the depths of the well and searching out the secret and mystical things of the word of God. After this, “and from the well,” it says, “they set out for Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the grove which is in the plain of Moab, from the top of the high mountain which looks toward the face of the desert.” These names, which seem to be names of places, by the meanings they designate in their own language seem to show a sequence of mystical things rather than mere names. “For setting out,” it says, “from the well, they come to Mattanah.” For Mattanah is interpreted “their gifts.” You see, then, that if anyone drinks from this well which kings and princes dug, he at once advances to having gifts to offer to God. And what is it that man offers to God? That very thing which is written in the law: “My gifts, that is, my givings.” From the things God has given, then, men nonetheless make offerings to God. What has God given to man? The knowledge of himself. What, then, does man offer to God? His faith and love. This is what God asks of man. Indeed it is written thus: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and keep all his commandments, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?” These are the gifts, these the presents that must be given to the Lord. And we give these gifts of our heart to the Lord after we have known him and, by the knowledge of his goodness, have drunk from the depth of his well. But observe how the prophet said: “And, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you?” Let those blush at these words who deny that it lies in man's choice to be saved. How would God ask of man, unless man had in his power what he ought to offer to God when he asks? There are, then, things that are given by God and things that are offered by man. For example, it lay in the man that one mina made ten minas, or one mina made five minas; but it was from God that the man had the mina from which he could make ten minas. And when he offered ten minas from himself, he received again from God no longer money but authority and rule over ten cities. Again, God asked Abraham to offer him his son Isaac on whatever mountain he would show him. Abraham fearlessly offered his only son, laid him on the altar, and drew the knife to slay him; he is at once restrained, and a ram is given him as a victim in place of his son. You see, then, that what we offer to God remains ours; but it is asked of us so that in these things our love toward God and our faith may be proved. So much for what we said, that the sons of Israel set out from the well and came to Mattanah, which is interpreted “their gifts.” And from Mattanah we come to Nahaliel, which is interpreted “from God.” What from God? After we have offered the things that are from us, we come to obtain the things that are from God. For when we have offered him our faith and love, then he himself bestows on us the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, of which the Apostle says: “But all things are from God.” And from Nahaliel we come to Bamoth, which is interpreted “the coming of death.” What death do we understand the coming of here, but that by which we die with Christ, so that we may also live with him, and by which we ought to put to death our members which are on earth? And again: “For we were buried with him through baptism into death.” If anyone, then, keeps the order of this saving journey, he must travel through each of these stages we have mentioned and come, after many things, to this place which we said signifies the coming of death. And as we are taught from the Scriptures, there is a death that is an enemy of Christ, and one that is his friend. He does not speak, then, of that death which is an enemy of Christ, of which it is said, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death,” which is the devil; but of this death by which we die with him so that we may also live with him; according to which death God says: “I will kill, and I will make alive.” For he kills so that we may die with Christ, and makes alive so that we may live with him. We must desire, then, to come to Bamoth and most readily to receive the coming of this blessed death, so that we may deserve to be made alive with Christ. “And from Bamoth,” it says, “to the grove which is in the plain of Moab, from the top of the high mountain which looks toward the desert.” If we walk this way, which the reasoning of the explanation has asserted consists not so much of names of places as of the advances of the soul, after all these things we come to the grove, or (as it is in other copies) to Iana, which is interpreted “ascent,” or “top of the mountain.” Through these, then, one comes to that most famous grove of the divine paradise and the pleasant delights of the ancient dwelling, or certainly to the top of perfection and the summit of blessedness: so that one can also say oneself that he has raised us up with him and made us sit in the heavenly places in Christ. You see how far one comes from the well?

Moses, then, sends to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with peaceful words, saying: “We will pass through your land; we will go by the road; we will not turn aside into a field or into a vineyard. We will not drink water from your cistern; we will go by the king's highway until we have passed your borders. And Sihon did not allow Israel to pass through his borders. And Sihon gathered all his people and went out to make war against Israel in the desert, and came to Jahaz, and engaged Israel; and Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and they took possession of his land.” The literal account is plain; but let us pray to the Lord that we may be able to see something worthy of its inner meanings. Sihon has a double interpretation: either “unfruitful tree” or “proud.” Israel, then, sends envoys to Sihon: it sends to the unfruitful tree, sends to the proud and arrogant one. And this Sihon is king of the Amorites, whose name is interpreted “those who lead into bitterness,” or “those who speak.” Moses, then, sends to Sihon king of the Amorites with peaceful words, saying: “We will pass through your land.” If according to the spiritual understanding we say that King Sihon bears the figure of the devil, because he is proud and unfruitful, I think you ought not to wonder that I have called him a king, when you hear our Lord and Saviour himself saying of him in the Gospels: “Behold, now the ruler of this world comes, and he finds nothing in me.” And again: “Behold, now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” If, then, he is said in the Gospels to be the ruler of the whole world, it ought not to seem absurd if he is compared to Sihon king of the Amorites, or to any other kings of the nations. And he is called ruler of the world not because he created the world, but because there are many sinners in this world. And because he is the ruler of sin, he is therefore also called ruler of the world: namely in those who have not yet left the world and turned to the Father. For it is in this sense that it is also said that “the whole world lies in the evil one.” For what does it profit us to say that our ruler is Christ, if by our deeds and works we are shown to be ruled by the devil? Or is it not plain under what ruler the shameless, the incestuous, and the unjust man acts? Can such a man say, “I act as one placed under Christ,” even if he seems to be enrolled under the name of Christ? Where Christ holds rule, no uncleanness, no iniquity is admitted, nor can unjust desire have any place. In this way, then, Christ will rightly be called the ruler of virtues, and the devil the ruler of wickedness and of all iniquity. Israel, then, sends envoys to the king of the Amorites, the king of those who provoke to bitterness, the unfruitful king, the proud king. How will the devil be shown to be proud, how arrogant? It is he who said: “By my strength I will do it, and by the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the borders of the nations and plunder their strength, and I will shake the inhabited cities, and I will seize the whole world in my hand like a nest.” And again this proud and arrogant one says: “I will ascend into heaven; I will set my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on a lofty mountain, above the high mountains which are to the north; I will ascend above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High.” Do you still ask whether he is proud and arrogant? Rather, both he is proud and arrogant, and so is the one who is, as it were, his only-begotten, of whom it is written that “he exalts himself above everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as if he were God.” Everyone, then, who is arrogant and proud is either a son of this proud one or his disciple and imitator. And therefore the Apostle says of someone: “Lest, puffed up, he fall into the judgment of the devil”; showing by this that everyone who is puffed up will be condemned by a judgment like the devil's. We, then, are the ones who wish to pass through this world so as to reach the holy land promised to the saints; and we send with peaceful words to Sihon, promising that we will not dwell in his land nor stay with him, but only pass through, and walk by the king's highway, and turn aside nowhere, neither into a field nor into a vineyard, nor even drink water from his cistern. Let us see, then, when we promised these things, when we declared these words to the devil. Let each of the faithful recall, when he first came to the waters of baptism, when he received the first seals and approached the font of salvation, what words he used there and what he renounced to the devil: that he would not use his pomps, nor his works, nor obey any of his services and pleasures at all. And this is what is foreshadowed by these words of the law, that Israel does not turn aside into his field or into his vineyard. And he promises that he will not drink water from his cistern either. For the faithful man will no longer take a drink of devilish discipline, not of astrology, not of magic, not of any teaching at all that teaches anything against the piety of God. For he has his own springs, and drinks from the springs of Israel, drinks from the springs of salvation; he does not drink water from the cistern of Sihon, nor, abandoning the spring of living water, gather for himself broken cisterns. And he professes that he will walk by the king's highway. What is the king's highway? Doubtless the one which says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And rightly royal: for he is the one of whom the prophet says: “O God, give your judgment to the king.” We must walk by this way and turn aside nowhere, neither into his field nor into his vineyard: that is, the mind of the faithful must no longer turn aside either to the works or to the thoughts of the devil. How, then, do we wish to pass the borders of the Amorites in peace? The Amorites can be taken as the unbelievers who are in this world; and they are interpreted, as we said above, either “those who lead into bitterness” or “those who speak.” How unbelievers and the faithless lead God into bitterness needs no explanation; but “those who speak” can be drawn to this meaning, that all unbelievers and those who act under the devil as their ruler know only how to speak, and they speak empty things: for example, their poets, astrologers, and some of the philosophers too, who speak empty and vain things. But the kingdom of the faithful, which is from God, is not in word but in power. We wish, then, to pass through the world peacefully; but this very thing provokes the ruler of the world the more, that we say we do not wish to remain with him, nor to stay, nor to touch anything of his: hence he is the more exasperated, hence he is puffed up and angry, and stirs up persecutions against us, raises dangers, and threatens torments. And therefore it says: “Sihon gathered all his people and went out to fight against Israel.” Who is all the people of Sihon, whom he rouses against Israel? The rulers and judges of the world, and all the ministers of wickedness, who always attack and persecute the people of God. But what does Israel do? “He came,” it says, “to Jahaz.” Jahaz is interpreted “fulfillment of the commandment.” If, then, we too come to this place, that is, to the fulfillment of the commandments, even if this proud Sihon, the arrogant devil, comes against us with all his army and fights against us, even if he rouses all his demons against us, we overcome him if we fulfill the commandments of God. For to fulfill the commandments is to overcome the devil and all his army. And then the apostolic prayer will be fulfilled in us, which says: “And God will crush Satan under our feet swiftly.” And what the Lord says: “Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” For none of all these things will be able to hurt us if we come to Jahaz, that is, if we keep the commandments and precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.