26. Jesus the Son of Nun, the successor of Moses, was amazed; and came to him and said, "Hast thou heard that Eldad and Modad are prophesying? They were called, and they came not; my lord Moses, forbid them [2054] ." "I cannot forbid them," he says, "for this grace is from Heaven; nay, so far am I from forbidding them, that I myself am thankful for it. I think not, however, that thou hast said this in envy; art thou jealous for my sake, because that they prophesy, and thou prophesiest not yet? Wait for the proper season; and oh that all the Lord's people may be prophets, whenever the Lord shall give His Spirit upon them [2055] !" saying this also prophetically, whenever the Lord shall give; "For as yet then He has not given it; so thou hast it not yet."--Had not then Abraham this, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph? And they of old, had they it not? Nay, but the words, "whenever the Lord shall give" evidently mean "give it upon all; as yet indeed the grace is partial, then it shall be given lavishly." And he secretly alluded to what was to happen among us on the day of Pentecost; for He Himself came down among us. He had however also come down upon many before. For it is written, And Jesus the son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him [2056] . Thou seest the figure everywhere the same in the Old and New Testament;--in the days of Moses, the Spirit was given by laying on of hands; and by laying on of hands Peter [2057] also gives the Spirit. And on thee also, who art about to be baptized, shall His grace come; yet in what manner I say not, for I will not anticipate the proper season.
27. He also came down upon all righteous men and Prophets; Enos, I mean, and Enoch, and Noah, and the rest; upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for as regards Joseph, even Pharaoh perceived that he had the Spirit of God within him [2058] . As to Moses, and the wonderful works wrought by the Spirit in his days, thou hast heard often: This Spirit Job also had, that most enduring man, and all the saints, though we repeat not all their names. He also was sent forth when the Tabernacle was in making, and filled with wisdom the wise-hearted men who were with Bezaleel [2059] .
28. In the might of this Spirit, as we have it in the Book of Judges, Othniel judged [2060] ; Gideon [2061] waxed strong; Jephtha conquered [2062] ; Deborah, a woman, waged war; and Samson, so long as he did righteously, and grieved Him not, wrought deeds above man's power. And as for Samuel and David, we have it plainly in the Books of the Kingdoms, how by the Holy Ghost they prophesied themselves, and were rulers of the prophets;--and Samuel was called the Seer [2063] ; and David says distinctly, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me [2064] , and in the Psalms, And take not thy Holy Spirit from me [2065] , and again, Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the land of righteousness [2066] . And as we have it in Chronicles, Azariah [2067] , in the time of King Asa, and Jahaziel [2068] in the time of King Jehoshaphat, partook of the Holy Ghost; and again, another Azariah, he who was stoned [2069] . And Ezra says, Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them [2070] . But as touching Elias who was taken up, and Elisseus, those inspired [2071] and wonder-working men, it is manifest, without our saying so, that they were full of the Holy Ghost.
29. And if further a man peruse all the books of the Prophets, both of the Twelve, and of the others, he will find many testimonies concerning. the Holy Ghost; as when Micah says in the person of God, surely I will perfect power by the Spirit the Lord [2072] ; and Joel cries, And it shall come to pass afterwards, saith God, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh [2073] , and the rest; and Haggai, Because I am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts [2074] ; and My Spirit remaineth in the midst of you [2075] ; and in like manner Zechariah, But receive My words and My statutes which I command by My Spirit, to My servants the Prophets [2076] ; and other passages.
30. Esaias too, with his majestic voice, says, And the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and godliness; and the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him [2077] ; signifying that the Spirit is one and undivided, but His operations various. So again, Jacob My servant,.....I have put My Spirit upon Him [2078] . And again, I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed [2079] ; and again, And now the Lord Almighty and His Spirit hath sent Me [2080] ; and again, This is My covenant with them, saith the Lord, My Spirit which is upon thee [2081] ; and again, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me [2082] , and the rest; and again in his charge against the Jews, But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit [2083] , and Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within them [2084] ? Also thou hast in Ezekiel (if thou be not now weary of listening), what has already been quoted, And the Spirit fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord [2085] . But the words, fell upon me we must understand in a good sense, that is "lovingly;" and as Jacob, when he had found Joseph, fell upon his neck; as also in the Gospels, the loving father, on seeing his son who had returned from his wandering, had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him [2086] . And again in Ezekiel, And he brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldæa, to them of the captivity [2087] . And other texts thou heardest before, in what was said about Baptism; Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you [2088] , and the rest; a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you [2089] ; and then immediately, And I will put My Spirit within you [2090] . And again, The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord [2091] .
31. He endued with wisdom the soul of Daniel, that young as he was he should become a judge of Elders. The chaste Susanna was condemned as a wanton; there was none to plead her cause; for who was to deliver her from the rulers? She was led away to death, she was now in the hands of the executioners. But her Helper was at hand, the Comforter, the Spirit who sanctifies every rational nature. Come hither to me, He says to Daniel; young though thou be, convict old men infected with the sins of youth; for it is written, God raised up the Holy Spirit upon a young stripling [2092] ; and nevertheless, (to pass on quickly,) by the sentence of Daniel that chaste lady was saved. We bring this forward as a testimony; for this is not the season for expounding. Nebuchadnezzar also knew that the Holy Spirit was in Daniel; for he says to him, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, of whom I know, that the Holy Spirit of God is in thee [2093] . One thing he said truly, and one falsely; for that he had the Holy Spirit was true, but he was not the master of the magicians, for he was no magician, but was wise through the Holy Ghost. And before this also, he interpreted to him the vision of the Image, which he who had seen it himself knew not; for he says, Tell me the vision, which I who saw it know not [2094] . Thou seest the power of the Holy Ghost; that which they who saw it, know not, they who saw it not, know and interpret.
32. And indeed it were easy to collect very many texts out of the Old Testament, and to discourse more largely concerning the Holy Ghost. But the time is short; and we must be careful of the proper length of the lecture. Wherefore, being for the present content awhile with passages from the Old Testament, we will, if it be God's pleasure, proceed in the next Lecture to the remaining texts out of the New Testament. And may the God of peace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, count all of you worthy of His spiritual and heavenly gifts:--To whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
[1970] Matt. xii. 32.
[1971] At the end of this section there follows in the Coislin ms. a long interpolation consisting of two parts. The former is an extract taken word for word from Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio Catechetica, ii. c, which may be read in this series: 'All' hos Theou Logon akousantes ....sundromon echousan te boulesei ten dunamin. Of the second passage the Benedictine Editor says: "I have not been able to discover who is the author. No one can assign it to our Cyril, although the doctrine it contains is in full agreement with his: but he explains all the same points more at large in his two Lectures (xvi. xvii.). The passage is very ancient and undoubtedly older than the eleventh century, which is the date of the Cod. Coislin. Therefore in the controversy of the Latins against the Greeks concerning the Procession of the Holy Ghost it is important to notice what is taught in this passage, and also brought forward as a testimony by S. Thomas (Aquinas), that "The Holy Ghost is of the Godhead of the Father and the Son (ex Patris et Filii divinitate existere)." To me indeed these words seem to savour altogether not of the later but of the more ancient theology of the Greeks, and to be earlier than the controversies of the Greeks against the Latins." This second passage is as follows:-- "For the Spirit of God is good. And Thy good Spirit, says David, shall lead me in the land of righteousness. This then is the Spirit of God in which we believe: the blessed Spirit, the eternal, immutable, unchangeable, ineffable: which rules and reigns over all productive being, both visible and invisible natures: which is Lord both of Angels and Archangels, Powers, Principalities, Dominions, Thrones: the Creator of all being, enthroned with the glory of the Father and the Son, reigning without beginning and without end with the Father and the Son, before the created substances: Who sanctifies the ministering spirits sent forth for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation: Who came down upon the holy and blessed Virgin Mary, of whom was born Christ according to the flesh; came down also upon the Lord Himself in bodily form of a dove in the river Jordan: Who came upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost in form of fiery tongues; Who gives and supplies all spiritual gifts in the Church, Who Proceedeth from the Father: Who is of the Godhead of the Father and the Son; Who is of one substance with the Father and the Son, inseparable and indivisible."
[1972] Cf. Cat. iv. 33; vii. 6. Irenæus, Hæres. III. xxi. 4; IV. ix. 1. In Eusebius, E.H. V. 13, Rhodon says that Apelles attributed the prophecies to an adverse spirit and rejected them as false and self-contradictory. Similar blasphemies against the holy Prophets are imputed to Manes by Epiphanius (Hæres. lxvi. 30).
[1973] Matt. xxviii. 19. The same text is used with much force by S. Basil (De Spir. S. cap. xxiv.).
[1974] Cat. xi. 4, note 3. See Newman's notes on Athanasius, Contra Arian. Or. I. viii. 1; Ib. Or. III. xxv. 9; Ib. xxvii. 3. Marcion's doctrine of three first principles (trion archon logos) is discussed by Epiphanius (Hæres. xlii. 6, 7). See also Tertull. Contra Marcion. I. 15; Euseb. Hist. Eccles. V. 13.
[1975] sunaloiphen, iv. 8; xi. 16; xv. 9.
[1976] Cat. xvii. 13. Epiphanius (De Mensuris et Ponder. c. 14): "And he (Hadrian) found the city all levelled to the ground, except a few houses, and the Church of God which was small: where the Disciples, on their return after the Saviour was taken up from the Mount of Olives, went up into the upper chamber: for there it had been built, that is on Sion." Cf. Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, c. xiv. 3: "Within the precincts of that Mosque (of the Tomb of David) is a vaulted Gothic chamber, which contains within its four walls a greater confluence of traditions than any other place of like dimensions in Palestine. It is startling to hear that this is the scene of the Last Supper, of the meeting after the Resurrection, of the miracle of Pentecost, of the residence and death of the Virgin, of the burial of Stephen."