Serpent type: human likeness, God who gives life
“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14–15) The serpents were biting those of Israel in the desert; then the God of all commanded Moses to set up a bronze serpent: “And it shall be,” he says, “if a serpent bites a human, and he looks toward the serpent, he shall also live.” (Numbers 21:8–9) What then is the riddle? And why is the one who looks at the serpent saved? Therefore the Only-begotten Word of God, existing as life by nature, became in the likeness that is as we are—that is, human (Romans 8:3); and the human is evil and as it were the serpent; yet even if he became as we are, if someone looks to him, he conquers death. And what is it to look to him, except precisely to understand carefully the mystery upon him? For then one will see him in the likeness of the evil ones—that is, of humans—yet life-giving as God, and making the bites of the evil serpents vanish. So there is one Lord and Son, the same one, both life-giving as God and in the form of the evil ones through economy.
The children, having “the palm branches, went out to meet him, and were crying: Hosanna; blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.” (John 12:13)
Greek
«Καὶ καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσε τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐν αὐτῷ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.» ἔδακνον τοὺς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον οἱ ὄφεις· εἶτα προστέταχεν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς τῷ Μωϋσεῖ ὄφιν ἀναθεῖναι χαλκοῦν· «καὶ ἔσται, φησίν, ἐὰν δάκῃ ὄφις ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐμβλέψῃ εἰς τὸν ὄφιν, καὶ ζήσεται.» τί τοίνυν ἐστὶ τὸ αἴνιγμα; διὰ τί δὲ ὁ ἐνορῶν τῷ ὄφει σώζεται; ζωὴ τοιγαροῦν κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχων ὁ Μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, γέγονεν ἐν ὁμοιώματι τῷ καθ’ ἡμᾶς, τουτέστιν ἄνθρωπος· πονηρὸν δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ οἷον ὁ ὄφις· ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ γέγονε καθ’ ἡμᾶς, εἴ τις εἰς αὐτὸν ἴδοι, νικᾷ τὸν θάνατον. τί δέ ἐστι τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν, ἢ ὅτι πάντως τὸ ἀκριβῶς κατανοῆσαι τὸ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ μυστήριον; τότε γὰρ αὐτὸν ὄψεται ἐν ὁμοιώματι μὲν τῷ τῶν πονηρῶν, τουτέστιν ἀνθρώπων, ζωοποιὸν δὲ ὡς Θεὸν, καὶ ἀφανίζοντα τὰ τῶν πονηρῶν ὄφεων δήγματα. εἷς οὖν ἄρα Κύριος καὶ Υἱὸς ὁ αὐτός, καὶ ζωοποιὸς ὡς Θεὸς καὶ ἐν εἴδει τῷ τῶν πονηρῶν δι’ οἰκονομίαν.
Οἱ παῖδες ἔχοντες «τὰ βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων ἐξῆλθον εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐκραύγαζον· Ὡσαννά· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.»
About this text
Cyril’s court treatise on right faith for Arcadia and Marina (CPG 5219). One Son, Word made flesh — not two Christs. English from Pusey’s Greek.
English follows Pusey’s 1877 Greek of De recta fide ad Arcadiam et Marinam. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Pusey, De recta fide ad reginas (Oxford, 1877) (Greek · CPG 5219 §§1–100)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.