Paraphrasis in Dionysium Areopagitam

Where of beasts? According to "He lay down, he slept as a lion"; and again, "As a leopard going along the way of the Assyrians." Where of other animals? As, "But I am a worm, and not a man." And where as a plant? As in David, "a vine"; or in another prophet, "an olive tree." Where of stones of many forms? As the "sapphire"; and in Amos, the "adamant." And [of] women’s adornments, as, "In a golden-woven garment." Where of barbarian armaments? Perhaps as that, "Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one"; for the sword is a barbarian weapon, as the phylarchos tribal leader records. When, again, we hear of God and divine pottery, as, "I will grind them as clay of the streets." And a refining pot: "You have tested them by fire, as silver is refined." And horses, as, "And you caused your horses to trample many waters." And chariots: "The chariot of God is ten-thousand-fold." And thrones: "Your throne, O God, is forever." And feasts, as in the Gospel, when the fatted calf and the rest happen upon the finding of the prodigal son.

And again, when we hear of God being drunken, "And He awoke like one who is drunk from wine." And becoming drunk, and sleeping: "Why do You sleep, O Lord?" What, then, should one say concerning [the phrases]: "And the Lord was angry," and "Why have You angered us?" and "The Lord was grieved," and "The Lord swore," and "He repented," and "He cursed," and "He grew weary"? And what of the manifold and crooked [descriptions] of the failures of the promises? He calls them "sins"—the failures of the promises—because of some predictions that, due to their immediate nature, seem not to have reached their end, of which it is possible to cite a few from many: that which was said to Jacob, "Become lord over your brother," and the things concerning the permanence of those in the kingdom of the seed of David, which in the manifest [sense] failed of their outcome. But according to...