The Lion and the Dove

Furthermore, he implored God, as one making a prayer against evil. When he met his brother, he appeased his temper through courtesy and flattery, and he extinguished the malice. For what does he say to Isaiah? 'I have seen your face, as if one had seen the face of God.' If Jacob said these things so that he might conquer his brother through deceit, he spoke badly; but if he said them so that he might escape fear, he used cunning well.

Therefore, become wise as the serpent; do not be angry, do not be venomous, but be wise and innocent as the doves. A dove can be taken for both evil and virtue; and how, listen: if you are thoughtless and without discernment, and experienced only in evil, the Scripture indicts you as foolish. For Ephraim, it says, is like a senseless dove, not having a heart. If, therefore, having fled from senselessness, you achieve innocence, you possess perfect understanding, not mixing it with evil; and you hear from the Lord, 'Become wise as the serpent, and innocent as the doves.'

Do not then, brother, read the Scriptures simply, and take the images for evil, dividing them, giving this to one and another to another. Do you wish, therefore, to learn? Pay close attention to the things being said. The Scripture calls a lion; for it says, 'The roar of a lion, Judah; from a seedling, my son, you have risen; having risen, you lay down sleeping like a lion.' In this way, 'as a lion' signifies the brave; for it also sets the same image for the righteous: 'For the righteous, it says, has trusted like a lion.' The righteous, therefore, is brave, not in doing evil, but in repelling what is brought upon him by the wicked.

It also calls the Savior a lion, because he is from a royal tribe. Just as the lion is king among the four-footed animals, so the tribe of Judah reigned among the Jews, from whom the Savior arose. And do not think, beloved, that it is unworthy of Christ to be depicted as a lion; for the Scripture shapes this image even upon His Divinity. Listen, then, to what the prophet says: 'A lion shall roar, and who will not fear?' The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy? Therefore, as much as is possible, both the fearsome and the royal, Christ is depicted as a lion.

But the devil is also called a lion, not as one powerful or fearsome, but as a ravager, as a tyrant, as a destroyer. And the blessed Apostle Peter says concerning this: 'Behold, your enemy the devil goes about like a lion, seeking to devour a soul.' Therefore, divide the readings into interpretations, lest your mind mix things that seem contrary to the text. The Scripture said lion and lion; but one is according to the royal and powerful, and the other according to the destructive and poisonous. Thus the Scripture shapes both the righteous and the impious through a single image: 'The righteous,' it says...