Theophany and the Unity of the Trinity
“May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and have mercy on you, may the Lord lift up his face upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26). In order to show three persons, he did not say once: “the Lord bless you and shine upon you and give you peace,” but a third time he named him “Lord.”
And just as when a Persian prophet speaks divinely, bearing a voice from the person of the Father having such a saying: “Be strong, Zerubbabel, because I am with you; and my good word and my spirit are in your midst” (Zechariah 2:5); and Isaiah, saying that his mission has become similar to the similar ones of the self-existent substances, and in a few words indicating all their communion, cries out: “And now the Lord, the Lord has sent me and his spirit” (Isaiah 6:8). For he did not simply name a second time “Lord, Lord” and thus “his spirit,” but so that he might also show the substances and the one divinity and will.
And David also, for he himself rises by such a heading and makes all his songs full and proclaims, in what way he had faith according to these words: in Psalm 105: “Who is a god beside the Lord, and who is a god besides our God? The God who girds me with power”; in Psalm 70: “You are my God, the one who takes hold of me. My God, his mercy himself will come to my aid. My God will show me in my enemies”; in Psalm 95: “Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth, sing to the Lord, bless his name”; for having named a third time either Lord or God, he demonstrated the Trinity.
But also Hannah, praying toward the kingdoms, called upon the Trinity saying: “Adonai, Lord, Eloi Sabaoth” (1 Samuel 2:1). For “Adonai” is interpreted with the Hebrew voice as “Lord”; and again with the Greek voice he said “Lord.” And a third time in Hebrew he said “Eloi Sabaoth,” which is: God of hosts, or of powers. And now also Elijah...
The Thessian, in the third history of kings, having prayed to revive the son of the Sidonian widow who was dead, breathed a third time into him and thus raised him up, showing not only through this that he himself in prayer called upon the life-giving Trinity, but also teaching us to believe and glorify no other way.
And encouraging the water-bearers to 'dip twice' and 'dip thrice', he indicated that the three highly-praised hypostases work equally and similarly everywhere in all things.
And if you wish, I will once again make known to you from a divine voice that which is moving. For in the book of Genesis, at the tower, God and Father spoke the blessed hypostases toward his own Son and his own Holy Spirit, saying: 'Come, let us descend and let us pour out their tongues there, so that each might not hear the voice of his neighbor' (Genesis 11:7).
And Moses, as I think, showing the equality of the Trinity, set forth one vine in three stocks, saying that this other stock is nowhere more advanced, so that no one might think this hypostasis to precede that one, but that we all believe the three are joined in one divinity.
For this reason also the God-breathed Scripture forbade making steps at the altar, in which the Trinity is glorified, so that the divine hypostases might not be defined as being men according to some sort of gradation.
And simply the Old Testament, bearing a type of the new, discourses mystically and in anticipation, rather alluding in many things than stating in one; and stating more than alluding to the mystery revealed later, so that it might neither strike the unhearing and not yet stable and receptive of theophany with a blunt blow, nor perhaps cause complete harm; for the one was of infinity, and the other of inhumanity. And often also whatever was expressed here to us obscurely,
Greek
εὐλογήσαι σε κύριος καὶ φυλάξαι σε, ἐπιφάναι κύριος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπί σε καὶ ἐλεήσαι σε, ἐπάραι κύριος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπί σε καὶ δῴη σοι εἰρήνην». 18.5 ἵνα δηλώσῃ τρία πρόσωπα, οὐκ εἶπεν ἅπαξ· «κύριος εὐλογήσαι σε καὶ ἐπιφάναι σοι καὶ δῴη σοι εἰρήνην», ἀλλὰ τρίτον ὠνόμασεν «κύριον». 18.6 Καὶ ὣς ἡνίκα προφητεύουσιν Ἀγγαῖος μὲν θεόχρηστον ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ πατρὸς φέρων φωνὴν οὕτως ἔχουσαν· «ἴσχυε, Ζοροβάβελ, διότι ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι· καὶ ὁ λόγος μου ὁ ἀγαθὸς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα μου ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν»· 18.7 Ἠσαΐας δὲ ἐξ ὁμοτίμων τῶν αὐτοτελῶν ὑποστάσεων ὁμότιμον τὴν ἀποστολὴν γεγενῆσθαι λέγων καὶ ἐν ὀλίγῃ ῥήσει πᾶσαν κοινωνίαν αὐτῶν ἐνδεικνύμενος καὶ βοῶν· «καὶ νῦν κύριος κύριος ἀπέσταλκέν με καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ». 18.8 οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς δεύτερον ὠνόμασεν «κύριος κύριος» καὶ οὕτω «τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ», ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ τὰς ὑποστάσεις καὶ τὴν μίαν δηλώσῃ θεότητα καὶ θέλησιν. 18.9 ∆αυῒδ δέ καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀρήγει τῷ τοιῷδε κεφαλαίῳ καὶ ᾠδῆς ἔμπλεα πάντα ποιεῖ καὶ ἐκφαίνει, ὅπῃ πίστεως ἔσχεν κατὰ τάσδε τὰς λέξεις· ἐν μὲν ιζʹ ψαλμῷ· «τίς θεὸς πάρεξ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ τίς θεὸς πλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν; ὁ θεὸς ὁ περι ζωννύων με δύναμιν»· 18.10 ἐν δὲ νηʹ· «σὺ ὁ θεὸς ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ. ὁ θεός μου, τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ αὐτοῦ προφθάσει με. ὁ θεός μου δείξει μοι ἐν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου». 18.11 ἐν δὲ ϟεʹ· «ᾄσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινόν, ᾄσατε τῷ κυρίῳ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, ᾄσατε τῷ κυρίῳ, εὐλογήσατε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ». 18.12 τρίτον γὰρ ὀνομάσας ἢ κύριον ἢ θεὸν τὴν τριάδα παρεδήλωσεν. 18.13 Ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἅννα εἰς τὰς βασιλείας προσευχομένη τὴν τριάδα ἐπεκαλέσατο εἰποῦσα· «ἀδωναί, κύριε, ἐλωεὶ σαβαώθ». 18.14 ἑρμηνεύεται γὰρ τῇ ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ τὸ «ἀδωναί»· κύριος· καὶ πάλιν ἑλλάδι φωνῇ εἶπεν «κύριος». καὶ τρίτον ἑβραϊστὶ ἔφη «ἐλωεὶ σαβαώθ», ὅπερ ἐστί· θεὲ στρατιῶν ἤτοι δυνάμεων. 18.15 ἤδη δὲ νῦν καὶ Ἠλίας ὁ Θεσβίτης ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν βασιλειῶν ἱστορίᾳ, τῆς Σιδωνίας χήρας τὸν υἱὸν νεκρὸν ὄντα ἀναβιῶναι εὐξάμενος, τρίτον ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ οὕτως ἀνέστησεν, 18.16 ἐκ τούτου μονονουχὶ σημάνας, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τὴν ζωοποιὸν ἐπεκαλέσατο τριάδα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμᾶς μὴ ἄλλως πιστεύειν καὶ δοξάζειν διδάξας. 18.17 Καὶ τοῖς ὑδροφόροις δὲ παρακελευόμενος «δισσεύσατε» καί «τρισσεύσατε», τὰς τρεῖς πανυμνήτους ὑποστάσεις ἰσοδυνάμως καὶ ὁμοτίμως πανταχοῦ ἐν πᾶσιν ἐνεργεῖν παρεδήλου. 18.18 Εἰ δὲ βούλεσθε, γνώριμον ὑμῖν καὶ ἐκ θείας φωνῆς αὖθις τὸ κινούμενον ποιήσω. 18.19 ἐν γὰρ βίβλῳ γενέσεως, ἐν τῇ πυργοποιΐᾳ ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τὰς μακαρίας ὑποστάσεις ἐξέφηνεν πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ πνεῦμα εἰρηκώς· «δεῦτε καταβάντες συγχέωμεν ἐκεῖ αὐτῶν τὰς γλώσσας, ἵνα μὴ ἀκούσωσιν ἕκαστος τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ πλησίον». 18.20 Καὶ Μωϋσῆς δὲ τὴν ἰσότητα τῆς τριάδος, ὡς οἶμαι, δηλῶν ἐξέθετο μίαν ἄμπελον ἐν τρισὶ 18 πυθμέσι, τοῦτον τοῦ ἄλλου πυθμένος οὐδαμοῦ προβαθέστερον εἰρηκώς, ἵνα μή τις τὴν ὑπόστασιν ταύτην ἐκείνης προτερεύειν νομίσῃ, ἀλλὰ τὰς τρεῖς ἐν μιᾷ συντείνειν θεότητι πάντες πιστεύωμεν. 18.21 ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ θεόπνευστος γραφὴ ἐκώλυσεν ἐν τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἡ τριὰς δοξάζεται, ἀναβαθμοὺς ποιεῖν, ὥστε μὴ ὡς ἐν βαθμοῖς διορίζεσθαι ἀνθρώπους καθ' ὕφεσίν τινα εἶναι τὰς θείας ὑποστάσεις. 18.22 Καὶ ἁπλῶς ἡ παλαιὰ διαθήκη τύπον φέρουσα τῆς νέας μυστικῶς καὶ προμηθεστάτως διαλέγεται, αἰνιττομένη μᾶλλον ἐν πολλοῖς ἢ φράζουσα ἐν ταὐτῷ· καὶ φράζουσα πλέον ἤπερ αἰνισσομένη τὸ ὕστερον ἐκφανθὲν μυστήριον, ὅπως μήτε πλήξῃ τῇ ἀθρόᾳ προσβολῇ τοὺς ἀμυήτους καὶ οὔπω ὄντας σταθερούς τε καὶ δεκτικοὺς τῆς θεοπτίας, μήτε μὴν εἰς τὸ παντελὲς ζημιώσῃ· 18.23 τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἀπειρίας, τὸ δὲ ἀπανθρωπίας. 18.24 πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ἅπερ τυχὸν ἐνταῦθα ἡμῖν δυσεφίκτως ἔφρασεν,
About this text
Didymus the Blind defends the full divinity of Father, Son, and Spirit against those who rank them.
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Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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