Letter 96: Your brother, my admirable friend, is admired for his character; you are admired for your eloquence.

To the same. What was signified by Jacob putting on the skins of the kids. You apply yourself keenly to the meanings, and you hunt sharply for the hidden riddles. Jacob, putting on the skins of the kids and obtaining the blessing of his father, prefigured our Lord and Savior, who received the sinful nature without sin, and put to death its passions in himself. For this is what the dead skins signify — the mortality and corruption of our fallen nature, which Christ assumed not to be contaminated by it but to destroy its power from within. Just as Jacob wore the goat skins on the outside while remaining himself underneath, so Christ clothed himself in our mortal flesh while retaining his divine nature unchanged. And just as Isaac's blessing, once given, could not be revoked even when the deception was discovered, so the blessings that Christ obtained for humanity through his incarnation, death, and resurrection cannot be taken away, for they rest not on human merit but on divine decree and the accomplished work of salvation.

ΡΑΓ΄. – ΤΟ ΑΥΤΩ. Τί ἡνίξατο, τὰ τῶν ἐρίφων δέρματα ὁ Ἰακώβ περιθέμενος. Ὀξέως ἐπιβάλλεις τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασι, καὶ δριμέως θηρεύεις τὰ κεκρυμμένα αἰνίγματα. Τὰ δέρματα τῶν ἐρίφων ὁ Ἰακὼβ περιθέμενος, καὶ τὴν εὐλογίαν τοῦ πατρὸς πορισάμενος, τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτῆρα ᾐνίξατο, τὴν ἐναμάρτητον (87) φύσιν ἀνα- μαρτήτως δεξάμενον, καὶ τὰ πάθη αὐτῆς ἐν ἑαυτῷ θανατώσαντα · τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ ἡ τῶν νεκρῶν δερμά- των περίθεσις· ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν ἐριφῶδες λοιπὸν ἐν τῇ φύσει κατέλιπε, τῆς εὐωνύμου στάσεως καὶ κρίσεως ἄξιον. ᾿Αλλὰ νεκρώσας αὐτῆς τὰ γήϊνα μέλη, καὶ βρῶσιν προσφιλῆ τῷ Πατρὶ προσεκόμισε, τὴν ἡμε- τέραν ἀεὶ πεινῶντι σωτηρίαν, καὶ ἡμῖν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἀναφαίρετον εὐλογίαν ἐπήγασεν. ΤΑΔ΄. – ΕΡΜΙΝΩ ΚΟΜΗΤΙ (96). Τὸ, « Κλαῦσὸν ἐπὶ νεκρῷ, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπε φῶς, » οὐχὶ πάντας τοὺς τεθνεῶτας λέγει καταθρηνεῖσθαι· ἀλλὰ τὸν ἔργοις νεκρωθέντα, καὶ τὴν ζῶσαν ἀναστροφὴν μὴ μετελθόντα, κλαίεσθαι βούλεται, ὡς τοῦ μέλλοντος Β φωτὸς ἀποτυχόντα. Υ.Σ. – ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΩ (80). Οὐκ ἔστιν, ὦ τᾶν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ζῆλός σου κατ' ἐπὶ· γνωσιν, οὔτε, ὡς φὴς, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐκ τῶν αὐτοῦ νόμων ἀμύνεις, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τινὰς ἐξελαύνων. Ὁ μὲν τὰρ τοὺς θεοκαπήλους ἀπήλαυνε, τοὺς ἐμπόριονς ἀνάκτορον δείξαντας. Σὺ δὲ τοὺς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβῶς πρεσβεύοντας διώκεις ἐμμανῶς, σύγχυσίν τινα καὶ ἀνάκρασιν, καὶ τροπὴν τὴν εἰς σάρκα τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου κατηχῶν, ἢ ἀλλοιῶν τὴν θείαν φύσιν εἰς σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα, ἢ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ἀθετῶν. Οὐ τοίνυν τὸν Κύριον μιμῇ, ἀλλὰ τὸν στρατηγὸν τοῦ ἱεροῦ, τοὺς ἀποστόλους διώκοντα, καὶ κηρύσσειν τὴν εὐσέ- βειαν κωλύοντα. ΘΕΟΔΩΡΩ Εἰ μὴ τὴν ἀρετὴν μᾶλλον τῆς κακίας ἐπιποθοῦμεν PNG. - ΕΠΙΚΤΗΤΩ (96). Τι ἔστι, « Τὸ ποτήριον τῆς πτώσεως, καὶ τὸ κόνδυ τοῦ θυμοῦ. » Τὸ ποτήριον πτώσεως καὶ κόνδυ θυμοῦ τιμωρίας τοῖς πταίσασιν ἀπειλεῖ Θεὸς εἰς διόρθωσιν, ποτὲ μὲν Βαβυλωνίοις, ποτὲ δὲ ᾿Ασσυρίοις ἐγχειρίζων· ἅπερ ἐκποθέντα ὑπὸ Ἑβραίων, αὐτοὺς μὲν ἐμέθυσε, βελτίονος δὲ ζωῆς οὐκ ἠξίωσεν. Ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς, ἐπὶ ξύλου ποτήριον πιὼν, καὶ πικρίαν ἱάτρευσε, καὶ εὐφροσύνην ἐπήγαγεν. ΡΞΓ΄. – ΚΟΜΙΤΙ Δυσχεραντέον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις παρανομουμένοις.