The Single Eye and the Locked Garden
Since, then, he says, your eye is one in that it looks toward the one, and your soul is one because it is not divided among differing dispositions, and the set of your neck is perfect, for it has taken the divine yoke upon itself, for this reason we confess that you have given us heart by these wonders (Song of Songs 4:9). This is what 'the ornament of your neck' means, namely the Lord's yoke (Matthew 11:29). That is, through yourself you have put into us a kind of soul and mind for perceiving the light. For in you, as in a mirror, we behold the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2). And by saying it twice they lend credibility to what is said.
'A garden locked' (Song of Songs 4:12). It is shut to the world, but open to the heavenly bridegroom. And the spring is sealed (Song of Songs 4:12) with the Holy Spirit, with whom we are anointed after baptism. For the virtues are signified by the spices (Song of Songs 4:14). By the trees of Lebanon he means the prophets. The myrrh and aloes show that Christ, once buried, came into fellowship with the saints who had gone before; for He went down into Hades and brought them up.
'On the cross,' he says, 'accepting death for the sake of mankind'; but the heart keeps watch (Song of Songs 5:2), in that as God He plundered Hades. That is: what has your beloved done, or what do you have from your beloved (Song of Songs 5:9)? By the lips dripping myrrh (Song of Songs 5:13) he means lips that confess His death. 'His legs are pillars of marble' (Song of Songs 5:15). These might also be bases, for those who are being built are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). In due order, after the belly (Song of Songs 5:14), he praises the legs, which he says are pillars of marble set on bases of gold (Song of Songs 5:15).
Greek
ἐνεργείας, καὶ τῆς μὲν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὁρώσης, τῆς δὲ ἑτέρας περὶ τὰ μάταια πλανωμένης, ἐπειδὴ περὶ μόνην τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὴν φύσιν ἀνέῳκται τῆς νύμφης ὁ καθαρὸς ὀφθαλμὸς, ἀργεῖ δὲ ὁ ἕτερος, τούτου χάριν ἑνὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προσάγουσιν οἱ φίλοι τὸν ἔπαινον· ἀδελφὴν μὲν αὐτὴν καλοῦντες, διὰ τῆς ἀπαθείας συγγένειαν· νύμφην δὲ, διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Λόγον συνάφειαν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν, φησὶν, ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου εἶς ἐν τῷ ‹69.1289› πρὸς τὸ ἒν βλέπειν, καὶ ψυχὴ μία διὰ τὸ μὴ πρὸς διαφόρους διαθέσεις μερίζεσθαι, καὶ ἡ θέσις τοῦ τραχήλου σου τὸ τέλειον ἔχει, τὸν θεῖον ζυγὸν ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς ἀραμένη (τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ἐνθέματι τραχήλου σου, εἶτ' οὖν ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου ζυγὸς), τούτου χάριν ὁμολογοῦμεν ὅτι τοῖς θαύμασιν ἡμᾶς ἐκαρδίωσας· ὅπερ ἐστὶ ψυχήν τινα καὶ διάνοιαν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ φωτὸς κατανόησιν δι' ἑαυτῆς ἡμῖν ἐνεποίησας. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν σοὶ τὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιον, ὡς ἐν κατόπτρῳ, κατανοοῦμεν· διὰ δὲ τῆς δευτερώσεως ἀξιοπιστίαν προτιθέασι τῷ λεγομένῳ. Κῆπος κεκλεισμένος. Κέκλεισται μὲν τῷ κόσμῳ, τῷ δὲ ἐπουρανίῳ νυμφίῳ ἠνέῳκται. Ἡ δὲ πηγὴ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι ἐσφράγισται, ᾧ χριόμεθα μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα. Αἱ γὰρ ἀρεταὶ μὲν διὰ τῶν ἀρωμάτων σημαίνονται. Ξύλα δὲ τοῦ Λιβάνου τοὺς προφήτας φησίν. ∆ιὰ δὲ τῆς σμύρνης καὶ τῆς ἀλόης, ὅτι ἐνταφιασθεὶς ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκοινώνησε τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν ἁγίοις· κατελθὼν γὰρ εἰς ᾅδου τούτους ἀνήγαγεν. Ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ, φησὶ, τὸν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων ἀναδεχόμενος θάνατον· ἀγρυπνεῖ δὲ ἡ καρδία, καθ' ὃ ὡς Θεὸς τὸν ᾅδην ἐσκύλευσεν. Ἤγουν, τί πεποίηκεν ὁ ἀδελφιδός σου, ἢ τί ἀπὸ ἀδελφιδοῦ σου ἔχεις; Τὰ στάζοντα σμύρναν λέγει τὰ ὁμολογοῦντα χείλη τὸν θάνατον. Κνῆμαι αὐτοῦ στύλοι μαρμάρινοι. Εἶεν δ' ἂν οὗτοι καὶ βάσεις. Οἱ γὰρ οἰκοδομούμενοι ἐποικοδομοῦνται τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν. Ἀκολούθως τὰς κνήμας μετὰ τὴν κοιλίαν ἐπαινεῖ, ἅς φησι στύλους εἶναι 4