to be, namely, learned men who are well-suited to perceive mysteries. In other contexts, the eyes frequently mentioned in the sacred scriptures usually signify the intellectual power of the soul.

Beyond this, the term "eyes" can represent various things. First, presence is indicated by the eyes, as we read in Job: "Neither did I remove evils from my eyes." Indeed, things that are present are said to be "before the eyes," and they are removed from the eyes when they are no longer present. This follows the popular verse:

Who is far from the eyes, is far from the heart's threshold.

This same meaning is intended by Isaiah when he wrote, "And eye to eye they shall see"—that is, they shall look face to face, just as the Blessed shall contemplate God. Conversely, when it is said in Hosea that "consolation is hidden from the eyes," Saint Jerome explains that this means consolation should not be admitted. Similarly, Jerome interprets the "turning of eyes away from the Sabbaths" in Ezekiel as failing to contemplate the rest of God, which is found in the knowledge of the scriptures. Furthermore, when Deuteronomy says that "gifts blind the eyes of the wise," the eyes here represent judgment.

In another sense, eyes are sometimes used to signify the natural judgment of good and evil, as found in Jeremiah. Many people possess these eyes but do not see, for they perform evil deeds. Hence, the "mind" with which we act is called the "eye of the body," and a "single eye" demonstrates a right intention; just as an "evil eye" in Matthew expresses a wicked intention. Because of this, in the Book of Numbers, "falling with eyes open" is, according to the opinion of Lauretus, nothing other than sinning knowingly. Thus, in the Psalms, when it says "the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters," it describes those who are ready to commit crimes; and the "eyes of a handmaid are on the hands of her mistress" when the soul is enslaved to voluptuous desires—though others interpret the eyes of servants on their masters' hands as meaning that the servants expect favor and fear punishment from their lords.

These, then, are the eyes to be "plucked out" that Christ spoke of in the Gospel. One must not understand these as eyes of flesh, as some heretics impiously and foolishly suggest; they take this as an opportunity for slander, calling Christ's commands severe in order to embitter the sweetness of the Christian yoke. But these people, in the view of Chrysostom, Cyprian, and others, are quite dull-witted and cannot penetrate the mystical sense of the Gospel reading. For that passage should be understood not as referring to physical eyes, but to those friends who must be shunned and removed because their company brings ruin to our souls, or because they offend us with their bad example or try to lead us away from the right path of salvation with wicked exhortations.

Furthermore, there are many gestures and dispositions of the eyes that denote vices. Regarding "winking with the eyes" in the Psalms, Saint Augustine explains this refers to the hypocrite who does not show on his face what resides in his heart. Elsewhere, Saul did not look upon David with "upright eyes," which is why many use these eyes to manifest envy. Likewise, "dimming eyes" show the blindness of the Jews. Indeed, the "closed eyes" in Isaiah indicated the Hebrews who did not recognize Christ. Again, the "terrible eyes" in Job demonstrated the cruelty of the Jews toward Christ. Similarly, in the same book of Job, "the eye that saw me gave witness to me." Lauretus, in his *Sylva Allegoriarum*, interprets this as the Hebrew people, to whom Christ had been foretold by the prophets and whose presence at his coming testified to it. Finally, the eyes blind from birth to which Christ restored light in John signify the blind minds of heretics, which Christ illuminated by his coming. Lastly, regarding the "eyes like those of a man in the horn of the beast" in Daniel, Saint Jerome asserts that these words mean the Antichrist will be a man and not a demon. Also, in Ezekiel, the "darkened right eye that shall be obscured" is that knowledge which the Antichrist falsely claimed for himself. To conclude, when eyelids are attributed to God, Saint Jerome interprets them as the incomprehensible judgments of Almighty God.

According to Goropius, the word for "ear" in the first language was *Oor*, meaning "origin." Its mystical meaning may be that we should hear nothing that is not referred back to our first origin. Thus, the Psalmist assigns ears to God to suggest to us the power of God, who perceives everything so clearly that nothing escapes Him. And elsewhere, when he writes that "the ears of the Lord are toward their prayers," Saint Basil explains that these are the Angels who offer our prayers to Almighty God