Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople

he had celebrated at Zeugma. Ch. 106. Andreas himself, writing to the stewards of the Church of Hierapolis after the letter of communion had been brought from Alexandria: "I," he said, "both embrace peace, and communicate with all the most holy bishops everywhere, and with the most holy bishop Sixtus, and Cyril, and Maximian, and Rabbula, and those of Melitene, and all the Pontics," and he declares that, having professed the catholic faith, he will be most tenacious of peace.

EPHESIAN EPISTLES OF ANDREAS OF SAMOSATA

FRAGMENT. Is extant in the Works of St. Anastasius Sinaita, below, tom. LXXXIX, col. 291.

ANNO DOMINI 471.

GENNADIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

NOTITIA. (Mich. Lequien, *Or. Christ.*, t. I, p. 217.)

In the 11th year of the Emperor Leo, in the year of Christ 458, Gennadius, a presbyter of Constantinople, succeeded Anatolius; in the following year he issued a synodical decree against the Simoniacs, signed by very many bishops, among whom appeared those prelates of Egypt who had betaken themselves to Constantinople while the impious Timothy Aelurus was raging against the Alexandrian Church. The Tables of Theophanes assign him thirteen years of his episcopate, and Nicephorus the same, plus two months. Hence it follows that he died in the year 471. Malthaeus Cygala, in his series of the patriarchs of Constantinople, narrates that he died on the island of Cyprus while returning from Jerusalem.

SECOND NOTITIA. (From the Catalogue of Nicephorus the monk, Leipzig, 1772, Proleg.)

St. Gennadius, a presbyter of the Church of Constantinople, in the year 458, after Anatolius had departed from earthly things, was raised to the patriarchal throne. He set Marcian, who had first embraced the superstition of the Cathari but had converted to the Church, as steward for the rectification of ecclesiastical affairs; and through him he decreed that the presbyters of individual regions should receive what had been offered in each of their own churches, whereas previously all things were attributed to the Great Church. Furthermore, the holy patriarch would ordain no one who could not recite the Psalter from memory.

In the year 459, he himself, having gathered a synod of seventy-three suffragan bishops, wrote an encyclical letter in his own name and theirs against the Simoniacs. Indeed, he abounded in the gift of working miracles. For instance, he healed by his prayers the withered hand of a painter who had presumed to paint the Savior in the guise of Jupiter. Afterward, he [appointed] Eleutherius the martyr, one of the clerics...

reproaching him, wrote in these words: "Holy martyr Eleutherius, your soldier lives disorderly; and for that reason he must either be corrected by you, or else altogether cut off"; and that cleric died at that very time. After this, when Gennadius had come to the altar by night for the sake of prayer, he saw a certain diabolical vision, and rebuking the demon, he heard it crying out that it would indeed yield while he was alive, but afterwards would surely afflict the Church. Having heard this, and being overcome with fear and offering many prayers to God, a little later, in the year 471, he put off his corruptible body.

Gennadius’s writings. The aforesaid encyclical letter; Commentaries on the prophet Daniel; Many homilies; Against the anathematisms of Cyril; and the commentaries which are found in this collection, which we cannot attribute to another, even if the name of Gennadius of Constantinople is not appended to them, since no other Gennadius is to be found among the ecclesiastical writers. ^A Fragments of these (as Cassiodorus himself says) Facundus published in book 2, chapter 4.

NOTICE OF BINNIUS REGARDING THE FOLLOWING EPISTLE

Since Emperor Leo had for a long time argued in vain with Pope Leo about calling an universal synod, he finally requested that he send legates from his side to Constantinople, who, together with Gennadius, the most vigilant prelate of that see, might purge the Churches from the Eutychian heresy and from the Simoniacal stain. Therefore, with Domitian and Geminianus, bishops and legates from the apostolic see, being present, Gennadius summoned bishops from the neighboring provinces. Once the council had begun, according to custom, the first thing of all that was set in order was the strengthening of the decree of faith published in the Council of Chalcedon; for the heretics were attempting to shatter and utterly overthrow it with frequent blows. Then, all those letters which both the bishops of the East and the most holy anchorites had written were read aloud there. To remove the Simoniacal stain which was disfiguring the Constantinopolitan Church, they issued that canon which is contained below in the encyclical letter of this council. All other acts except for the fragment placed below have perished. See Baronius, year 459, numbers 1, 2, and 3.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF PATRIARCH GENNADIUS AND THE HOLY SYNOD WITH HIM TO ALL THE MOST HOLY METROPOLITANS AND TO THE POPE OF ROME

^B To the most God-beloved fellow minister, Gennadius, and the holy synod dwelling in the royal city, and the holy synod assembled in Christ-loving royal city of Constantinople.

Our Master and God and Savior Jesus Christ, having entrusted the preaching of the Gospel to his holy disciples, and having sent them forth throughout the entire inhabited world to teach men, clearly commanded that what they had received from him freely, they should also share with men freely, not acquiring for themselves for its sake brass, or silver,

or gold, or any property, or anything at all worldly or material, or any bond of iniquity, such persons, in accordance with the judgment of their own avarice, are earthbound; for they hold that there is no reward for heavenly and spiritual gifts, but rather that which is earthly and perishable. This commandment he entrusted not only to them, but also to us, whom he has deigned to bring into their rank and place; and it is fitting that, just as they did then, we too should now ^A accurately guard and observe these things, and not indulge in sophistry regarding unsophisticated matters, nor cast dice upon danger. "Freely," he says, "you have received, freely give; do not acquire brass, nor silver, nor gold in your belts." The logic of this commandment is simple and clear, having nothing complicated or difficult to grasp, nor does it require sophistical interpretation. "From me," he says, "you have received the dignity of the priesthood. If you paid me something small or great for it, and it was sold by me, you too sell it to others; but if you received it freely, you too give it freely." What is clearer than this commandment? And what is more profitable to those who obey it? Woe, indeed, to those who have set their minds to acquire the gift of God, or to give it, by means of money. For they are caught in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity, according to the judgment of Saint Peter, and are seized by their own malice.

Wherefore, the canon of the holy and blessed Fathers of the holy and great ecumenical synod gathered at Chalcedon ^B is in harmony with this Dominical law, which is clearly set forth by us in these very words:

«If any bishop makes an ordination for money, and brings down to sale the grace which cannot be sold, and ordains for money a bishop, or chorepiscopus, or presbyter, or deacon, or any other of those who are counted among the clergy, or appoints for money an economus, or advocate, or parish-steward, or any other at all of the clergy, for his own foul gain: he who has attempted this, being convicted, shall be in danger of losing his own rank; and he who is ordained shall profit nothing from the ordination or the promotion which is made in the manner of trade, but let him be foreign to the dignity or the office to which he attained for money. And if anyone should appear as a broker or intercessor for these foul and unlawful gains, he too, if he be a cleric, shall fall from his own rank; but if he be a layman or a monk, let him be anathematized.» ^{C D}

Most beautiful and most pious are these precepts of the canon of the holy Fathers, which repel and thwart every satanic incursion and every diabolical attempt that is directed against the spiritual gift. For he does not wish the promotion of ordination to take place or be received by means of money in any way whatsoever, neither from him who performs it, nor from him who receives the promotion of ordination; but he does not permit money to be given either before the time of ordination, or after, or during the very time of ordination, regarding it as entirely an act of bribery in this matter.

^A Nevertheless, since now, even though these things have been clearly forbidden, certain persons have been detected in the Church of the Galatians disregarding and transgressing these salutary and humane commands for the sake of base gain and avarice; it seemed good to us also to renew these commands along with the holy synod which is assembled in this reigning new Rome, so that without any device, or any pretext, or any cunning stratagem, we may utterly cut away this loathsome and impious custom which, I know not how, has crept into the most holy Churches; so that when the announcement of those being ordained is made by the bishops in a pure manner and without any huckstering, the grace of the Holy Spirit may descend from above. Regarding those who now—I know not whether by making their promotion through money, and not working with a pure hand—bring it about that it descends upon the one being promoted according to the voice of the Gospel, rather than the grace of the Holy Spirit being drawn back, ^B know therefore, most religious and in all respects most holy man, that anyone whom we may convict of such a thing—be it a bishop, a chorepiscopus, a visitor, a presbyter, a deacon, or anyone at all of the canon, or a layman—is condemned by the common decree of the bishops and by common vote, just as the canon of the holy Fathers previously spoken of declares regarding this. For grace must always be grace, and money must nowhere intercede in its stead. Let him therefore be, and indeed he is, excommunicated and alienated from all priestly dignity and ministry, and subject to the curse of anathema, both he who thinks to acquire it through money, and he who promises to provide it for money, whether he be cleric or layman, and whether he be convicted of doing so or not; because it is not possible that things which cannot be joined should be reconciled, nor that mammon should agree with God, or that those who serve him should serve God. This is the Lord’s own undoubted decision: "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. vi, 24).

Relying upon these things to the best of our ability, and obeying them, together with Him who said these things, we have pronounced a decision against those who violate these laws. Let your holiness also take care, with all diligence, to make these things known through transcriptions to the most holy bishops who are under you, and to the visitors, and to all the others, so that in one spirit and one soul all of us Christians together, ^C being locked in battle against the common enemy, we may be able, with God's help, to cut out the root of avarice which has been planted in us by him, along with all the offshoots of those evils. I greet all the brotherhood that is with you in Christ. Being strong in the Lord, pray for us, most holy brother.

To this encyclical letter, along with Gennadius himself, seventy-three others have subscribed.

ADDITION OF STEPHANUS BALUZIUS

The decree of this Council against simoniacal maneuverings exists in Balsamon, and from there in the editions of the Councils. However, the subscriptions of the Bishops are missing in both; these are presented by Petrus Lambecius from an ancient manuscript copy of Busbeck, which is now preserved in the imperial library. They exist

^A in the imperial manuscript and in the Colbertine one as edited, except that they are not contained ^B in the aforementioned codices. However, they do exist in codex 4262 of the Colbertine library. Follow the subscriptions.

Gennadius, Bishop of Constantinople of New ^C Rome, I have subscribed. — John, Bishop of the metropolis of Heraclea, I have subscribed. — Anastasius, Bishop of the metropolis of Ancyra, I have subscribed. — Eunomius, Bishop of the metropolis of Nicomedia, I have subscribed. — Peter, Bishop of the metropolis of Nicaea, I have subscribed. — Pergamius, Bishop of the metropolis of Antioch in Pisidia, I have subscribed. — Paul, Bishop of the metropolis of Marcianopolis, I have subscribed. — Nunechius, Bishop of the metropolis of Laodicea, I have subscribed. — Peter, Bishop of the metropolis of Gangra, I have subscribed. — Carterius, Bishop of the metropolis of Claudiopolis, I have subscribed. — Agapitus, Bishop of the metropolis of Rhodes, I have subscribed. — Eleutherius, Bishop of the metropolis of Chalcedon, I have subscribed. — Stephanus, Bishop of the metropolis of Hierapolis (Euphratensis), I have subscribed. — Gregorius, Bishop of the metropolis of Adrianopolis, I have subscribed. — Lucianus, Bishop of the metropolis of Bizye, I have subscribed. — Eunoius, Bishop of the metropolis of Mytilene, I have subscribed. — Thalassius, Bishop of the metropolis of Parium, I have subscribed. — Maximus, Bishop of the metropolis of Laodicea in Syria, I have subscribed. — Gerontius, Bishop of the metropolis of Seleucia, I have subscribed. — Eustathius, Bishop of Parnassus, I have subscribed. — Neliras, Bishop of Gaza, I have subscribed. — Theodosius, Bishop of Canopus, I have subscribed. — Anatolius, Bishop of Athens, I have subscribed. — Stephanus, Bishop of Prusa, I have subscribed. — Cyriacus, Bishop of Apollonias, I have subscribed. — Acacius, Bishop of Antandrus, I have subscribed. — Plutarchus, Bishop of Plataea, I have subscribed. — Cyriacus, Bishop of Carphi, I have subscribed. — Aphobius, Bishop of Coronea, I have subscribed. — Macedon, Bishop of Mandra, I have subscribed. — Rufinus, Bishop of Aegae, I have subscribed. — Palladius, Bishop of Andros, I have subscribed. — Photinus, Bishop of Otrus, I have subscribed. — Eutropius, Bishop of Aureliopolis, I have subscribed. — Joannes, Bishop of Ecelisina, I have subscribed. — Photinus, Bishop of Thermae, I have subscribed. — Hypatius, Bishop of Germe, I have subscribed. — Sabbatius, Bishop, I have subscribed. — Eudoxius, Bishop of Bosporus, I have subscribed. — Basilius, Bishop of Nauclea, I have subscribed. — Poemen, Bishop of Clysma, I have subscribed. — Apollo, Bishop of Pithanus, I have subscribed. — Esaias, Bishop of Naucratis, I have subscribed. — Isaac, Bishop of Thynis, I have subscribed. — Helpidius, Bishop of Tamistheos, I have subscribed. — Marion, Bishop of Cyna, I have subscribed. — Theotecnus, Bishop of Asena, I have subscribed. — Atticus, Bishop of Malena, I have subscribed. — Theotimus, Bishop of Acmonia, I have subscribed. — Chariton, Bishop of Appia, I have subscribed. — Serenus, Bishop of the metropolis of Maximianopolis, I have subscribed. — Maximus, Bishop of Zagylis, I have subscribed. — Athanasius, Bishop of the Zoitae, I have subscribed. — Plusammon, Bishop of the Niciotae, I have subscribed. — Papas, Bishop of the Eleitae, I have subscribed. — Theonas, Bishop of the Boutitae, I have subscribed. — Apollo, Bishop of Antiphrae, I have subscribed. — Agathus, Bishop of Pericci- ^D densis, I have subscribed. — Peter, Bishop of Hephaestus, I have subscribed. — Apollonius, Bishop of Athribis, I have subscribed. — Peter, Bishop of Dystheos, I have subscribed. — Harpocras, Bishop of Tanis, I have subscribed. — Paul, Bishop of Sebennytus, I have subscribed. — Aristoteles, Bishop of the Echineti, I have subscribed. — Photius, Bishop of Babylon, I have subscribed. — Augustinus, Bishop of New Marciana, I have subscribed. — Joannes, Bishop of Nicopolis in Armenia, I have subscribed. — Julianus, Bishop of—

of the new Marcian, I have subscribed. — John, bishop of Nicopolis of Armenia, I have subscribed. — Julian, bishop of Cos, I have subscribed. — Sabbatius, bishop of Anchialus, I have subscribed. — Stratocles, bishop of Proconnesus, I have subscribed. — John, bishop of Trajanopolis, I have subscribed. — Maximus, bishop of Libya, I have subscribed. — Theodosius [al. Theodulus, according to Leunclavius and Harduin] bishop of Tranopolis, I have subscribed. — Marinus, bishop of Epiphaneia, I have subscribed. — Basil, bishop of Alexandria, I have subscribed. — John, bishop of Germanicia, I have subscribed. — Indimus, bishop of Irenopolis, I have subscribed. — Timotheus, bishop of Doliche, I have subscribed. — Fonteianus, bishop of Sagalassus, I have subscribed. — Docimasius, bishop of Maroneia, I have subscribed. — Jovinus, bishop of Debeltum, I have subscribed.

GENNADIUS: DOGMATIC FRAGMENTS

^A From Facundus of Hermiane, *On the Defense of the Three Chapters*, book II, p. 76 seq., Sirmond edition.

Woe to me for the evils! Alas, alas! For whence could anyone at present find a starting point? What [blasphemies] of Cyril of Egypt, and what blasphemies have I encountered, and what blasphemies have I heard! Who, indeed, will give water to my head, and to my eyes a fountain of tears? And I will weep for this day and night: "Because his tongue has extended falsehood, and not faith; it has grown strong upon the earth." Certainly, peace to sinners is a deception: "For because of this," he says, "their pride has possessed them to the end; they have thought and spoken in malice; they have spoken iniquity on high; they have set their mouth in heaven, and their tongue has passed over the earth." These are the Psalmist's words. But those former ones are the prophet Jeremiah's. Well done, O blessed Paul. "There shall arise," he says, "out of your own selves men speaking perverse things, to draw away ^B disciples after them." Woe to the evil of Alexandria, his intimate [friend], and to this second [person] now who is his own, whose corruption we weep for, and who corrupts [others]. The mystery of iniquity is now entirely at work, and I fear lest perhaps he who holds it back may be taken out of the midst. Well done, O prophet Jeremiah. Likewise, upon that voice, a terrible ecstasy has come upon the earth.

^C The prophets prophesy iniquity: "the priests have clapped their hands, and my people have loved such things." For what is the least, or what is mediocre in these? He has hurled every preeminence of blasphemy against the holy Fathers, against their predecessors the Apostles, against the Saviour Himself, [and] has meditated upon His resurrection. He injures indeed the assumed humanity [taken] from us and for us: he contends that His divine nature is subject to passions, and that it is impassible.

Furthermore, responding to the first chapter of the same holy Cyril, where he said: *If anyone does not confess Emmanuel to be God in truth, and therefore the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God, for she bore carnally the Word of God made flesh, let him be anathema*; he is to be anathematized, "O whited wall"; for it is most just that you, likewise, should experience from them an indignation similar to that which Ananias, the prince of the priests of the Jews, experienced when he moved his tongue against the disciples of Christ. And the rest, which anyone who wishes will find in the same work.

From Philip the Solitary, *Dioptra of the Christian Life* (Biblioth. Patrum XXI, 611).

For there is knowledge which can be explained in speech, without speech: and there is knowledge with speech. For there are many who possess knowledge indeed, but not speech, like the unlearned, and who are not able to signify and teach clearly what they have in their mind, and to bring it forth, until God has imparted speech to them.

From Ang. Mai, *Vet. script. Biblioth.* VII, 250.

Gennadius, a bishop, also speaks thus concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son: We believe in one... Gennadius of Constantinople, from the second discourse *To Parthenius*.

[GENNADII PATRIARCHAE CP.]

[Being God, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit: [A] the Father has; the Holy Spirit, in that He is from the Father, in that He has the Son; the Son, in that He proceeds from the Father and the Son.]

[From the Gnomical Collection of Georgidius (Ang. Mai, Spicileg. Rom. VI, 611).]

Drinking wine with moderation, not to the point of satiety, You shall harvest strength secure and genuine. Having been sated with wine and with food beyond measure, You shall not control your unruly pleasures.

FRAGMENTS OF THE SAME ON GENESIS

(From the Catena of the monk Nicephorus, Leipzig 1772, the title of which is: A Chain of one hundred and fifty-one commentators on the Octateuch, etc.)

CHAPTER ONE

VER. 1. "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." ^B There are those who contend that God, desiring to create all things, should not have brought forth creation so late, but long before. But this statement is not only rash, but also foolish. For God, since He is eternal and believed to be so, would always, if He had so willed, have had the same status for those who wish to speak this way, even if He had made what was made ten thousand times ten thousand years earlier. For at all times it would equally have been distant by an infinite interval from the creature; however much our mind is borne backward and carried towards superior ages, it will never be able to fully attain to the eternal God who is without beginning. Therefore, having rejected this empty and audacious care, let us rest in studying what has been handed down. Otherwise. As the Law takes its beginning at the time of spring, so too does the New Testament—that is, the Passion of the Lord—and perhaps the creation of the world also.

There were not lacking those who asserted that heaven and earth had been created by the angels, indulging, if I am not mistaken, in the fables of Plato, ^C the wisest of the Greeks, who contended that the intelligible and rational are as much older than the sensible as they are in reality more excellent. Such things that man taught; I remember hearing a certain Platonist declaiming them with a proud mouth. But as for the soul, although we do not doubt to call it more recent, yet it is not more recently made by God; for God would not have permitted that to happen, that what is older should be directed by what is younger. For in speaking, as in acting, He embraces both what is uncertain and what is obvious. Plato, therefore, contended that the soul, both in origin and in virtue, is prior and older than the body—a mistress, that is, and a lady over a servant. Therefore, some agreeing with these, as I said, and not finding in this passage their creation expressly commended by the Scriptures, and perhaps, moreover, by human reason, undervaluing the power of God as if He were unequal to such a great work by Himself and stood in need of the help of His creatures, ^D they themselves imagined that a certain spiritual world had existed before the creation of heaven and earth. Whence the blessed...

Moses ^A saying, *In the beginning God created heaven and earth*, does not record the true beginning of creation; for there would exist another, far more ancient, in which He had established the invisible and rational natures. But it was right for those who had applied their mind precisely to the teaching of the Spirit to seek the truth. For from this you would find the clear refutation of that plausible deceit; not only is heaven, which is more honorable than the earth, not found to have been created before it, but together with it; indeed, even the nature of light, which is without doubt better than darkness, was nevertheless brought forth later. Then seeds, and after this trees, and then you see the species of birds, cattle, and land animals, and over all these, man. If they should say that each of these—even if the later is more honorable than the earlier—does not in the least refute our argument, because we do not compare sensible things with sensible things, but spiritual things with sensible things, and for this reason we have said that spiritual things were created before [sensible things]; we shall answer this too, that the soul of man, though it be spiritual and rational, possessed its generation later than the flesh. ^B For God first fashioned man [from] dust from the earth, and then after this breathed into his face the breath of life. And this also the prophet Zacharias declares, saying: *Fashioning the spirit of man in him*. Thus, the dogma of Plato is false, but the statement of Moses is true: *In the beginning God created heaven and earth*; for even according to human reason, this is far more consistent than that. For it is according to the best reason for the better to be added to the lesser, or rather, to the worse. For progress in all things takes place from the imperfect to the perfect. Whence not even the spiritual was first, but the psychic came to be, and then the spiritual. But, as they say, for the better [things] to be set before the worse, produces the opposite: an advancement of the worse and a diminution of the better. Which, indeed, no one would dare to think of the most wise Creator of all. And ^C after a few words: But one must by no means agree with those [people]; since nothing else has led most of them to those perverse opinions concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit more than these distorted interpretations of the origin of things. For, holding to many creations for certain, and rejecting the one and only beginning of all creatures, they have invented certain grades and orders of gods, distinguishing them as great, and greater, and greatest. If it had been firmly established to them that God created nothing outside of Him before those things which are handed down by Moses, they would never have wandered from the right doctrine concerning the holy Trinity. For, knowing that the whole is divided into these two, into the Creator and creatures, and ^D that the former is uncreated and ingenerate, while the latter are created and generated, they ought to have professed one or the other of these. For they would either have taught that the Son and the Holy Spirit were created out of nothing, and were to be numbered among the other creatures brought forth within the six days, and not to God, and would not have exalted them above the powers of creation; or, having rejected so impious an error,

they would not, by truly confessing them both to be God, have then ranked them among the things created, bestowing upon them as some wonderful gift the allowance that they had preceded all other things. ^B

VERS. 2. *And darkness was upon the face of the deep.*

Darkness does not refer to some evil nature, as the nonsense of the godless Manichaeans would have it, but rather the absence and failure of light.

*And the Spirit of God was moving over the waters.*

Some earlier interpreters understood this as the Holy Spirit, because of the added word "of God," being led thereto by a pious and faithful mind; for they try to prove from this that He also is the author of creation. But this proof is neither accurate nor unassailable. For first of all, if by that "Spirit of God" the Holy Spirit is signified, what is to prevent one from interpreting the passage "He shall blow His Spirit, and the waters shall flow" (Ps. CXLVII, 18) in a similar fashion, not as referring to the air, but to the Holy Spirit? Secondly, the word "was moving" clearly exposes the absurdity of this interpretation; for one would not say this even of an animate creature, much less of the uncreated and blessed nature of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, this blessed Moses himself uses this same word in reference to the ark, saying that it moved upon the waters, but never of any animate creature, even though many and countless animals swim through and upon the waters. Furthermore, the very sequence of the narrative indicates the air; for having set forth the name of the Creator, the writer ^C proceeds logically to speak of the things created.

VERS. 6. *And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters, and it was so.*

Although God could have brought the entire, self-sufficient nature of things to perfection with a single gesture, and needed no time or days for this, He nonetheless created all things within six days, revealing Himself, as we have said, to beings endowed with reason through this orderly, stepwise creation. Having established the first natures, He brought forth the nature of light from nothing, teaching them clearly that He is capable of making things that are not. But since it was necessary to teach them that He is also the author of those things which existed before the light, and that He created all things equally from nothing, He remains silent about spiritual things until He describes the fashioning of man; at that time, He brought forth from nothing a soul not unequal to spiritual natures. Now, from the pre-existing waters, He commands to be produced a firmament similar to the heaven that had come into being before; by this means, He teaches them that He is the maker of both the heaven and the waters: of the heaven, in that He fashioned another like it; of the waters, in that He created from them whatever He willed ^D according to His power. Yet according to this one reason, the heaven had to be formed in the first place, and afterwards constituted in another form. For

^A it was impossible for the earth to appear as long as it was covered by such a great abundance of waters. But now that the firmament has been established in the midst of the waters, and some have been raised above it, while others have been gathered into their collections, the earth has rendered itself ready for the appropriate need of its inhabitants, and has received the world that now belongs to it. Furthermore, the firmament itself was necessarily brought into being for this reason, as was the withdrawal of the waters above it. The firmament was needed because the sun, along with all the stars, was to be placed upon it; and the withdrawal of the waters above the firmament was also necessary. For this reason the firmament received its constitution within the waters; for since it was made from them, it is naturally crystalline. Yet since the fiery substance was neighbor to it, it would naturally have been heated thereby. ^B Therefore, in order that the firmament might not suffer this and subsequently fail in its station, but instead might remain forever untiring and ageless, the wise Master-Artisan God contrived the withdrawal of the waters above it. The chilling effect produced by the waters counters the heat coming from the stars, and through this balanced struggle between them, the stability of the firmament is preserved. Furthermore, the accurate providence of God concerning all things is demonstrated both by this moderate division of the nature of the waters, and by the fact that our salvation in Christ was foreordained from the beginning; for from the very first, God divided creation into two orders, and fittingly assigned each its own parts and its own place. For to men still subject to change and sin, and for this reason set under ^C the law, He granted this earthly dwelling; but to the same men, once established by the grace of Christ in a perfect and entirely sinless state, He will open the heavens, where Jesus has entered as our forerunner. The firmament is so called, perhaps, because of the rationale of its creation: that from the moist, fluid, and liquid nature of the waters, it received a firm and stable form.

VERS. 22. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let the birds multiply upon the earth.

God did not explicitly pronounce this same blessing over the trees and the seeds, even though it was ordained that they too should grow and multiply in the passage of time. What then is the cause of this? It seems to me that by this, God wishes to instruct us, first, that He ^D cares more for those things which are endowed with sense and life than for those which have sense alone; and second, that while trees and seeds are to be preserved in the future by the labor of agriculture according to the design of God, all animals are to be preserved through their association with one another. Therefore, lest it seem that they bring about this movement through their own voluntary impulses, but rather that they are urged toward this for the preservation of their kind by the commandment of the One who made them, it is with good reason that He explicitly pronounced this blessing over them.

VERS. 25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind.

For what reason, on the fifth day, did He command the swimming creatures and the birds to come forth from the waters, yet on the sixth ^A commanded the land animals to be brought forth, at the very time He intended to fashion man from the earth on that same day? Since everything was made equally for the sake of man, and yet not everything provides the same utility to him (for those things from the waters serve only for his food, while these terrestrial ones provide for many other services, without some of which we could not even live), the Creator God rightly judged it proper that those things which are more necessary to us, and which in a way approach closer to our need, should be brought into existence for us on the same day and from the same earth. He has indeed fashioned in both categories things that seem entirely useless to us, or even to be feared, so that we should not be carried away by excessive pride or think immoderately, supposing that everything was made solely for our utility. From these things we learn most excellently that, had it not been ordained by God, none of the other things would have been subject to us; but rather, being untamed and becoming savage in their impulses, they would have been like wild beasts, and would, in fact, have destroyed us.

VERS. 26.

And God said: Let us make man after our image and likeness.

"After our image," that is to say, so that he, being composed of both the sensible and the intelligible essence, might be in the rank of our image, ^B showing that it belongs to rational beings, as if to those of us to whom He entrusted the dominion of the whole world, as it were, of a house. For, to speak simply, the divine Scripture teaches us about God through the names current among us; so that, even if I hear it said that God is the head of Christ, I will not understand the force of what is said until I have considered and perceived exactly what is the prerogative of the head among us, and then have transferred that understanding to the matter at hand. And the same applies to all other things of this kind. So, then, I will also understand "after our image," having first sought out the use of an image among us; and having understood it, I will honor the image for the sake of the one whom it represents. For my thought concerning these things is clearly led back to Him. The Lord Himself says in the Gospels: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me; and inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of these least, ye have not done it unto me." He added, however, "according to the likeness," because an image must necessarily have a likeness to Him whose image it is. ^C Our images, therefore, since they are images of bodies, are themselves corporeal, some referring to the archetype by colors, others by form. But the image of the Divinity, since God is incorporeal, must also have this likeness to Him. Nor are there wanting in us not a few indications of this kind. So I recognize that God provides for all things, from the fact that I myself provide for many; that He is immense and present to all, because even with a very small mind I am present wherever I wish; that He knows the affairs of

^A all men, from the fact that I myself provide for some; that He is an incorruptible judge, because this also pertains to me; that He is invisible and immortal to all, from the fact that I myself possess such a soul; that He is Creator and Maker, from the fact that I also perceive myself capable of creating. But besides these, there are countless things showing, as far as is possible, our likeness to the Archetype. Since this is obvious, that just as the image of men, being similar in shape to man, seems indeed to have feet and a head, but in reality has nothing of this kind except the shape alone; so, or rather much more so, the things which belong to me by likeness to the divine are surpassed by the divine nature. For God is Himself eternal, and brought me—along with all other things—out of nothing into existence; but ^B I fashion my image out of a certain matter which came into light together with me.

It is necessary, however, for me to explain to you briefly and clearly, according to my ability, what "after the image" means. Scripture is accustomed, for the most part, to use things among us when discoursing about God, and to make its teaching plain through things that are known to us. For when you hear that God has stretched out the heaven with His hand, or that darkness is under His feet, you do not think that God truly has hands or feet (for the divine is simple, because it is also incorporeal), but that through the hand, by analogy to our own, you understand *operation* to be signified, since we work with our hands; and through the foot, *presence*, since we arrive wherever we wish with our feet. You should think the same way concerning all such expressions, and in no other way; thus, also, interpret "the image." ^C Therefore, the image has this power among us: it often signifies to us that which is unseen, and through the image we think that the one who is absent is present. Since, therefore, the Lord God is altogether invisible and incomprehensible to every created nature, and moreover is in need of nothing, He made man in the image of God for the creation, and manifested him as king of every creature, in order that the honor owed to Him by the creation might be received through men, and that He might be worshipped with the deserved honor; and so that it might be apparent to all that all sensible things—namely, the earth, the sea, the natures of animals, and the air—were created for the use of men. But if anyone finds fault with us for asserting the same thing regarding the angels, we shall dismiss him to Paul, who says: *Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?*—thereby resolving every charge of contention. In whatever way, therefore, on earth the subjects and friends of kings honor their images, and attend to them with the same worship as they do the kings themselves, so too do the creatures of God, the Lord of all things. Those who venerate the Creator, [venerate] the image

and the care due to it they still exercise even now in every way, while those who have fallen into apostasy, having no respect for the Maker, have rejected the image and continue to plot for its destruction.

However, having said, "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness," He added: "And let them have dominion over the fish, and over the birds, and over the beasts of the earth, and over the cattle," showing that not by necessity or force are all things subject to him, but that, as an image of the Divine, He has entrusted the rule of all things to him.

CAP. II

VERS. 22. « And the Lord God built the rib which He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam. »

Since God willed that there should be in man a greater love for woman according to nature, He formed her from him; [He took it] neither from the front, lest she might be thought to be formed to face him in opposition, nor again from behind, lest she might be considered less honorable, but from the side, which is somehow in the middle, so that in being between, she might appear to have a middle place of equal honor and subjection in relation to the man.

CAP. III

VERS. 2. « Now the serpent was more subtle than all the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. »

He calls the serpent Satan here because of his power to harm, just as the Savior also says: "I beheld Satan falling from heaven like lightning" (Luke x, 18). And: "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions" (ibid. 19), and so forth.

VERS. 8. « And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. »

"And the eyes of both were opened," he says. It is asked whence the serpent learned that these things would happen to them. For that it is not within the power of demons to foresee future events is certain, since this is the exclusive property of God and of those to whom God grants it. Hence the prophet addresses the demons thus: "Tell us the things that are to come, and we shall know that you are ^C gods" (Isa. xli, 23). I say, therefore, that since he was most subtle according to the testimony of Scripture concerning him, and clever at seeing great things from small ones and many things from few, he conjectured the result from the words God spoke to Adam. For they are as follows: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Being prudent, he understood from the name of the tree what was to happen: namely, that they would be invigorated once they had partaken of that food. For this is what is signified by "eyes being opened." And with their innate torpor invigorated, they were to be inflamed regarding nuptial pleasures. Which

having come to pass for them, the sense of shame must necessarily follow, and in this way they would come to the discernment of good and evil. But furthermore, that the divine Scripture knows how to speak of the "opening of the eyes" as an invigoration, the first Book of Kings ^A shows. For when Saul was warring against the Philistines and had adjured the people that no one should take food before evening, Jonathan his son had not heard of this. Having then entered a certain forest, he encountered a swarm of bees, and extending the tip of the scepter he held in his hand, he dipped it into the honeycomb and turned his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened. After learning of the curse of his father thereafter, he said: "My father has troubled the land: see, because I tasted a little of this honey, my eyes have been enlightened" [I Reg. xiv, 29]. Let us think, therefore, that similar things happened ^B to the first humans when their eyes were opened. For it is manifest that they had not been closed before. For the woman saw, it says, that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to look upon. Thus, therefore, according to my own opinion and judgment, the serpent knew to foretell these things to the woman from the very name of the tree; but he acted maliciously on his own account in saying, "You shall not surely die," lying, and by inserting the phrase "as gods." For they did not become such by eating it, but on the contrary, they immediately recognized in themselves the passions of the flesh, and they realized that they were truly condemned to death by the very fact that their nature was altered and they were stirred toward the procreation of children. ^C

< And they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. >

I believe that the Lord God instilled shame in them after the transgression, so that even by this they might be curbed from the progress of sins. It seems, however, that God's commandment to them was in all respects concerning the fig tree. For it would not be the case that, immediately after the tasting, when shame came upon them, they would leave the tree in question to wander around and find something with which to cover themselves; nor, sensing the divine presence, would they have hidden themselves under that very thing concerning which they had transgressed, had they not been suddenly caught by Him while almost still in the act of eating. Note must also be taken here that man was created on the sixth day, brought ^D into paradise, subjected to the law concerning the tree, and, having transgressed it, was cast out. For he had not yet partaken of anything else when he was tempted by the serpent to the tasting of this one.

< And Adam called the name of his wife, Life, because she was the mother of all the living. >

Just as that, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother," which Adam uttered by divine revelation, the Savior in the Gospels asserts to have been said by God the Creator from the beginning [Mark x, 7]; so here too, the blessed Moses says that God, as it were, prompted Adam, that

^A regarding the idea of him making for himself tunics [f*] instead of leaves out of skins, according to a divine revelation imparted to him, he called it the operation of God.

VERS. 22. « And the Lord God said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil. »

He torments Adam severely with these words, that by this gentle rebuke he might understand as well as possible the deception of the serpent, which said: You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. For what, he says, is still lacking to Adam of those things for which he hoped? He has received in full what the serpent had announced regarding the outcome of his action. Behold, therefore, he has learned precisely how he has become as one of us.

« And now lest perhaps he reach forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. »

Henceforth, he says, depart. For it was not possible that the transgressor of the divine command, and one addicted to the servitude of death through sin, should still eat of the tree of life. For this is surely the food of immortals, but man had rendered himself unworthy of immortal life.

VERS. 23. « And he placed Cherubim, and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. »

The Cherubim are invisible powers. These, he says, having been appointed to the guardianship of paradise, are fashioned into the appearance of a flaming and ever-moving sword, and thus exclude Adam from the entrance.

CAP. IV.

VERS. 4. « And the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings; but Cain and his sacrifices he considered not. »

Some have inquired here, for what reason the prophet swapped the denominations of the names, calling the offering of fruits a sacrifice, and the offering of sheep a gift. ^C But to me they do not seem to signify anything different in any way, and are only distinguished in various senses by the language of Scripture, since both designate one and the same thing, according to that of Paul, who joins both together: To offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ^D However, some bring forward reasons for this matter: the first, because men were not yet eating animals; the second, because Scripture is accustomed to adumbrate future things through enigmas. When, therefore, they say, sacrifices were first to be required and then rejected, not undeservedly is the ungrateful offering of Cain called a sacrifice. But it escapes no one how vain and how juvenile this argument is. For the saving cross of the Lord is also called a sacrifice: In the consummation of ages, for the destruction of sin, he hath appeared by his sacrifice [Heb. ix, 26]. Now he who, if

that reason held valid, would call the death of the Lord by the same name? ^A

CHAPTER VI

VERS. 3. "And the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

The descendants of Seth are called "sons of God" by a special designation, that God might show his paternal care for them, just as, if I am not mistaken, when he says of the sons of Jacob: "I have brought up children and exalted them" [Isa. 1, 2].

VERS. 3. "And their days shall be a hundred and twenty years."

"Their days," he says, "shall be a hundred and twenty years": that is to say, long life is of no benefit to those who are so addicted to the passions. For this reason, he will cut short their life, for the most part, to the number of one hundred and twenty years. And indeed, as their life was little by little being diminished, he fixed it at that length of time for the patriarchs thereafter. With this exposition of ours Josephus ^B also agrees, speaking thus: "For human life was already being cut short, and became shorter until the birth of Moses, who lived one hundred and twenty years."

Now, since it has seemed to some that this decree concerning the flood was spoken in the five-hundredth year of Noah, as if it were to come to pass after a number of so many years (and it did indeed come to pass in the six-hundredth year of Noah), they, calculating the time, said that God had anticipated his own decree by twenty years. Which is altogether absurd, for God always delays punishments, and lingers rather than hastens. Some, therefore, accepting the former part of this interpretation, and acknowledging the aforementioned decree as being the threat of destruction to men by means of the flood, have taken a stand against the following parts, that is, those concerning the definition of time. For they say that God did not by any means speak these things in the five-hundredth year of Noah, even if the author previously said that "Noah was five hundred years old"; ^C whence they say that God did not speak these things to Noah, but that they were put forth in an absolute and general manner, so that what they signify could only be understood by conjecture; as was fitting, being uttered long before those hundred and twenty years, which he did not reveal to Noah until the decision was already about to be carried out. In this way, some have attempted to free that interpretation from all blame.

But I, passing over this long sequence, think it more probable, and truer, and much more obvious to say that this sentence, "Their days shall be a hundred and twenty years," looks to the wickedness of the sons of Seth and defines the life of those who were thereafter, not of those who lived before the flood or up to the flood. That other decision of God, where he says, "I will destroy man whom I have made from the face of the earth," was given because men were sliding down from worse to the worst ^D and intends the total ruin of all things by the flood.

VERS. 4. "And after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them; the same were the giants, men of renown from the beginning." ^A Since the sons of God had departed from God and entered into unlawful marriages, that race of most impious men was born, whose impiety has been celebrated so many times thereafter. For Scripture is accustomed to call those "giants" who are given over to excessive impiety and arrogance, and who trust in their own strength in all things. Whence the Psalmist says: "A giant shall not be saved by the multitude of his strength."

CHAPTER VIII

VERS. 15, 16. "And the Lord God spoke to Noe, saying: Go out, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and the wives of thy sons," and the rest.

Some, considering the diverse order in which the entry and exit of Noe into the ark are narrated according to Scripture, have offered a not inelegant reason for this matter. For when he was entering the ark, Scripture attests that his sons entered immediately after Noe, then his wife, and finally the wives of his sons; ^B but now, as he goes out, his wife follows him first, and then his sons go out with their wives. They say, therefore, that this is the case, and that they entered singly and exited as married couples, because those dwelling in the ark had to abstain from conjugal relations, but once they had gone out, they were commanded through the blessing of God to increase and multiply again.

CHAPTER IX

VERS. 4. "Except that you shall not eat flesh with blood and life."

God, if I am not mistaken, forbids us to eat flesh with blood for this reason: that blood performs the function of the soul for animals that lack reason—and the soul is not to be eaten by us.

VERS. 25. "And he said: Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."

He curses Chanaan, not Cham, because it is just, in my judgment, that he who sinned against his father should pay the penalty in his child. ^C And for this reason also, the sons of Sem were later to occupy the region of Cham: "And Israel went into Egypt, and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Cham." The Chanaanite land was usurped, and some of the Chanaanites were slaughtered, while others, like the Gabaonites, were oppressed so that they were forced to become water-bearers and laborers.

"May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem: and may Chanaan be his servant."

Through the blessing of Sem, he even included Japheth.

It is clear that, while God kindly received Japheth, He would prioritize the house of Sem.

CHAPTER XIV.

VERS. 13. "And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew." ^B He was called "the Hebrew" [transitor] because he could not approach them except by crossing the rivers. In the Syriac language, the word for "transitor" means the same as "Hebrew," from which the entire race of Abram received this name.

CHAPTER XV.

VERS. 2. "And Abram said, Lord, what wilt thou give me? I go childless."

I mean, I am not superior to the common nature; rather, I too must depart from this life as other men do. What profit, then, do Your gifts bring to me, being childless and having no heir of my possessions?

CHAPTER XVII.

VERS. 10. "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee in their generations; every man child among you shall be circumcised."

It is worth inquiring why the circumcision is given not at the birth of Israel, ^C but at that of Isaac, even though it was to be counted among the Old Covenants. By this, it seems to me, He was hinting that it served to prepare for grace, but that in itself it was not what could fully bring about the blessing; nor could the promises be realized through the manner of life under the Law. For those living under the Law were so far from bringing the Gentiles into the communion of salvation that they themselves often lapsed into the others’ idolatries. That He commanded circumcision to be performed upon infants still eight days old made it clear that it is not a teaching of virtue, ^D for that age is incapable of any such instruction. It is merely a sign by which those marked with it may be distinguished from the rest, just as soldiers are distinguished from civilians by royal insignia. And the command for the foreskin to be cut away was intended so that they would never cease to remember that they are cherished by the Divine Providence, by which their race was brought forth from a sterile and age-withered womb beyond all human help. Thus, this birth of Isaac offers a figure of the resurrection of men from the dead. Furthermore, that even servants born from various nations were commanded to be circumcised foreshadowed that the Gentiles too would participate in the blessings of the promise in Christ.

CHAPTER XIX.

VERS. 33. "And they made their father drink wine that night."

He seems to mean Jacob; for he himself was named Israel.

^A This must be observed concerning Holy Scripture: that apart from sin, it considers that there is nothing evil in us. Accordingly, whenever it recounts things useful or harmful to us, it praises the one and censures the other, so that it may seem to urge us toward the former and turn us away from the latter. But when it narrates such things as are committed with an innocent spirit, like the act of Lot, it abstains equally from praise and from blame, lest it might excite carnal men and those given over to pleasures.

CHAPTER XX. VERS. 42. "For she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife." For she is truly my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother.

CHAPTER XXII. VERS. 13. "And behold, a ram caught by its horns in the thicket Sabec." Some interpret Sabec as "remission," while others take it as "arduous," referring this word to the ram. Perhaps it is nothing other than the name of the thicket.

CHAPTER XXIV. VERS. 2. "And Abraham said to his eldest servant of his house, who was over all that he had: Put your hand under my thigh." ^B Abraham did this for the following cause: he was not ignorant that circumcision had been given to him by God as a sign by which he might be distinguished from other men. Therefore, he was anxious that his descendants, by observing the law of circumcision, should remain set apart from external ^C peoples. Aiming at this, he reasoned within himself, as is likely, that if the wife of Isaac were sought among the neighbors, being close to her own kin, the transition from idolatry to true piety would be difficult or even impossible. But if a bride were taken from his own homeland and his own kin, she would most easily conform to the character of her husband. Furthermore, he remembered well that the nations who at that time inhabited Palestine had been rejected by God; he did not think it right that Isaac should take a wife from a people hostile and offensive to God. For this reason, he commands the servant, as he touches the circumcision, to swear by the Lord, the author of circumcision, that he will observe these words. ^D Some tradition holds that this servant is the same one whom Abraham had mentioned earlier, saying: "But the son of Masec, my handmaid, he shall be my heir." For it seems he had selected him as heir for that reason, because he had found him, throughout his entire life, most devoted and friendly to himself.

CHAPTER XXV. VERS. 22. "And she went to consult the Lord."

^A He went, as it seems, to a certain place where it often happened that God appeared to them. Some say that she also went to Melchizedek. Nor is this absurd; for there is no reason why you should say that he was already deceased at that time.

CHAPTER XXVII

CHAPTER XXVIII

CHAPTER XXXI

CHAPTER XXXII

^A of Jacob's thigh, while he was wrestling with him."

As Jacob was overcome with fear, God sent this vision to refresh the soul of the righteous man. Indeed, He "saw that he could not overcome him" — as if to say, He understood that His adversary was mastering Him; for God had wished to wrestle with him in such a way, and even to appear inferior. And He "touched the breadth of the sinew of his thigh" that was wrestling, so that through this pain, if I am not mistaken, the memory of this vision might remain fixed for Jacob.

VERS. 26. "And he said to him: Let me go, for the morning is up. He answered, I will not let you go, unless you bless me."

"And he said to him: Let me go; for the morning is up." It is evident that by these words God revealed to the mind of Jacob that it was none other than God who appeared. But it was not proper for God to be seen by humans. Whence, I think, the blessed Jacob, understanding this, says: "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." And God said to him: "Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name." And by the placing of the name, He signified who He was who appeared to him.

VERS. 27, 28. "And he said: What is thy name? And he answered: Jacob. And he said to him: Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: because thou hast been strong against God, and shalt prevail against men." ^B

Israel is interpreted as "seeing God." "Because thou hast been strong against God, and shalt prevail against men." In these words He revealed to him more clearly the reason why the vision had taken place. For a man cannot overcome Him whom even God could not conquer.

VERS. 28. "Jacob asked him, and said: Tell me thy name. And he said: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place." ^C

Then, regarding him who wished also to know the name of the One who appeared, He reproves him for asking more than was proper; and then, having recalled him to moderate behavior, He blesses him more kindly. Therefore, the patriarch, marveling at the event, adds: "For I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved." He says this because, having been deemed worthy to behold God so clearly, he nevertheless suffered no harm, having drawn so close. ^D

CHAPTER XXXIII.

VERS. 7. "His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? This therefore was the cause of their hatred and envy, both for his dreams and for his words."

Not without reason does he explain the causes for why the brothers were so envious of Joseph. First, indeed, because of the father's special affection towards him; which they attempted to extinguish with accusations, but in vain, because Jacob was already old, and...

^A loved him beyond measure. He tells of a second and a third cause for their hatred: the dreams.

Verse 8. "He saw also another dream, and told it to his father and to his brethren, and said: Behold, I have dreamed another dream: as though the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars worshipped me."

Although his mother was already dead at that time, it is not absurd if, with the sun and the eleven stars, the moon also was seen by him worshipping him. For dreams do not always correspond exactly with realities. For in many and very grave respects, they very often differ from them. Here, however, no such great difficulty occurs, since the other mothers of his brothers were still alive, and Rachel herself, although in reality she could not worship him, being dead, nevertheless did so in the person of Jacob by power.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Verses 27-30. "And when she was in labor, there appeared twins in her womb. And in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth his hand, on which the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying: This shall come out first. But he drawing back his hand, the other came out, and the woman said: Why is there a partition divided for thee? And therefore she called his name Phares. After this his brother came out, in whose hand was the scarlet thread: and she called his name Zara."

When the twins were being born, and one put forth his hand, the midwife tied a scarlet thread on his finger, so that, not being distracted by the other cares of her office, she might not be ignorant of the firstborn. But when, as he drew his hand back again, the brother came out who was thought to be about to be born later, the midwife, wondering, said: "Why is there a partition divided for thee?" She said this of him because, the order being changed as if a partition were divided, ^B he had been born contrary to expectation in the place of the former. She called him Phares from the things that had been done, and named the other Zara. Yet things that were to come were also signified by these. For Phares obtained the birthright, being born before Zara, because from his lineage Christ Jesus, God over all, was to proceed according to the flesh. Moses inserted this entire narrative concerning Judah into the history of Joseph, not only because those events occurred around the same time—otherwise, countless other things would have had to be recounted—but because in all of Scripture nothing occurs that is of greater importance, and which coheres more closely with the chief end of the sacred page. For the genealogy of Christ according to the flesh is traced through Phares ^C from Judah, the son of Israel. Since, therefore, the Jews, bearing ill that the salvation of the Gentiles was to be fulfilled in Christ, were about to reject the preaching and accuse the Gospel, as if it admitted into its company none but ignoble and vile and unclean men, the prophet rightly refutes ^D them with this his

the people that take such pride in their own nobility, even though they were descended from a Canaanite mother. Thus, he also teaches that the nations were rightly saved. For it is manifest that the other patriarchs also took Canaanite wives; for whence else would they have received them? Moses, however, mentioned this only in the case of Judah, because this tribe was much more excellent than the others, and in order that it might be known to all that our Lord Jesus Christ was to take His flesh from this progeny—even that of a harlot. There was no reason, then, to reject the Gentiles on account of the ignobility of their race, rather than admitting them on account of the nobility of their character.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Chapter XLII.

CHAPTER XLVII.

upon the head of the bed, or upon the top of the bed.

CHAPTER XLIX.

VERS. 3. « Ruben, my firstborn, you are my strength, and the beginning of my children, hard to bear, and hard and headstrong. » Ruben, my firstborn, and the beginning of my children: that is to say, the first one begotten by me, in whom, as the firstborn, I had my strength and a durable line, contending by succession against the fallibility of a corruptible and weak nature. "Hard to bear, and hard and headstrong."

VERS. 4. « You overflowed as water, let you not increase. » You overflowed uncontrollably—that is, thoughtlessly—and, rushing toward unlawful action more vehemently than you ought, you sinned. He means the unlawful intercourse that took place with Bilhah. But before he explains the matter, he very prudently puts forward: « Let you not increase as water, » thereby snatching him ^B—before the accusation and cross-examination—from the punishment that, as far as the deed of the transgression goes, would justly have been inflicted upon him. For this very reason, he also makes the beginning of his discourse concerning him such as to be sufficiently constructive toward the reasonableness of a plea for mercy. Therefore, the phrase « Let you not increase as water » means this: May it not turn out for you, because of the transgression that happened to you concerning your father’s bed through rashness, that you fall away from the blessing of the increase of your lineage. May you not pay the penalty for this by not becoming a father, with the heat of nature in you—which creates offspring—having grown cold and extinguished, similar to water separated from fire. Thus it is evident that now, in the form of a blessing, he foretells the future increase of the tribe. Indeed, he deemed him worthy of forgiveness, and of not falling away from the leadership of the tribe, because he was aware of some other virtue in him, and especially because he did not agree with his brothers to kill Joseph, but rescued him.

VERS. 8. « Judah, your brothers shall praise you: your hands shall be upon the back of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. » That is, you shall rule over both kinsmen and foreigners, and you shall be praiseworthy before all.

VERS. 9. « Judah is a lion's whelp: from the shoot, my son, you have ascended; crouching, you laid down as a lion, and as a lion's whelp; who shall rouse him? » The phrase « From the shoot, my son, you have ascended » is instead of « You have increased, » as if having sprouted from some good root—namely, me—as a flourishing shoot. But « as a lion, and as a lion's whelp » expresses the same meaning in parallel, just as in the passage: « What is man, that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that you visit him? » ^C But the words « crouching, you laid down; who shall rouse him? » indicate the stability of his possession upon the land. For it is similar to the saying: « If you sleep among the inheritances. » And, in fact, while the other tribes were frequently being warred upon and led away captive, for the most part, his tribe ^D suffered nothing from those attacking and fighting against him.

He says, therefore: "You shall be fearsome, like a lion, to all."

VERS. 10. "The ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved." ^A

Some have thought that these promises were not fulfilled, because this tribe of Judah, having also been led into captivity by the Babylonians, lost its kingdom. They do not observe that even in those days, Judah nevertheless continued to lead the other tribes, and as they returned to Jerusalem, it initiated the return through Zerubbabel, and afterward, against the Macedonian assaults, it led the whole people, until, after the advent of the Savior, they were made prisoners by the Romans and have been entirely cast out of their fatherland.

VERS. 11. "Binding his foal to the vine, and to the choice vine the colt of his ass." ^B

Having said, indeed, "until he comes for whom it is reserved," the prophet moves once and for all from the tribe to the person of Christ, and henceforth says everything concerning Him, and what follows. While these things could indeed be understood by those of cruder perception regarding the whole tribe of Judah—insofar as it was allotted a portion abundant in vines—in reality, however, they refer to our Savior Christ: "And he is the expectation of the nations." For in Him, the common and universal salvation of men has come to pass.

He here begins his discourse regarding those things which have been recorded in the holy Gospels. For our Lord Jesus Christ, wishing to demonstrate that He was of His own accord undergoing the punishment of the cross, and doing so at the time of the feast of the Passover, so as to fulfill the prophecy promulgated concerning Himself, which says: "Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, your King comes to you, just and saving, He is meek, and riding upon a beast of burden, and a young foal of a beast of burden," ^C hastened to enter Jerusalem; and therefore He commanded some of the disciples to go to the village that was opposite, and finding there an ass tied with her colt, to untie them and bring them to Him. And sitting upon it, He enters the city as one of the many, lest by an extraordinary and splendid entry He might seem to have intended to captivate it for Himself; showing rather that the matter truly stood thus, and that it was the manifest power of God which brought all these things to an end.

"He shall wash his robe in wine." ^D

He refers to the teaching. He shall render it more brilliant in that respect, for it is that which stains others. For it is not the nature of wine to cleanse garments, but to stain them; and it is proper to death to destroy those who die, not to make them more illustrious. [alt-version omitted] Yet these things were perfected in Christ, who, after a three-day death, obtained immortal flesh through the resurrection. And not without cause is the Passion compared to wine. He even called it the blood of the grape, hinting from afar at the mystical use of wine we now enjoy.

^A

VERS. 11. "His eyes are cheering from wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk."

That is, as if burdened by a stupor or drunkenness from the passion, he shall rise again more brightly. For the eyes of those made drunk are of this sort: mostly closed, with the eyelid covering the pupil, yet slightly, and themselves wondrously, opened, like those who look with an angry and bitter gaze. And indeed the teeth of such people, because they are washed round about with wine, appear white, their lips being drawn back on all sides; this is perfectly manifest. They understood the heaviness of the eyes as the death of Christ, because this was beheld by all; but the whiteness of the teeth as the resurrection, because that occurred more in secret, and not so openly for all to see.

VERS. 16. "Dan shall judge his people, as one tribe in Israel."

He foretells the authority of this tribe, long to be held through Samson, saying this: that a judge so powerful shall arise from it that he will easily dominate the twelve tribes, as if he were over only one.

VERS. 17. "And let Dan be (that is, let there be to Dan) a serpent in the way, sitting on the path, biting the horse’s heel; and the rider shall fall backward, awaiting the salvation of the Lord."

As if to say, just as a serpent in the way, having bitten the heel of a passing horse, of necessity overturns the rider as well, so that no other hope of salvation is left to him except divine help; so also the woman, having cast down Samson through deceit, overturns the entire people relying upon him, until, having again obtained divine assistance, he takes vengeance on those who wronged him. But he prophesies that which is to come in the imperative mode, saying, "Let there be," as it is in the prophet: "Let the earth fail from the face of the Lord." And rightly he likened the deception through the woman to a serpent, since the same serpent previously deceived Adam through the woman. ^C

VERS. 27. "Benjamin is a ravening wolf; he shall eat still in the morning, and at evening he shall give food."

I am not unaware that some have interpreted this regarding the apostle Paul, as being from the tribe of Benjamin—and not ineptly, nor gratuitously. Nevertheless, I consider it more proper to extend this prophecy to the whole tribe in common. ^D For to this tribe such a thing happened after the people had received the land of promise: this Benjamin lapsed into a Sodomite-like insolence. For a certain Levite, traveling with his own wife, had arrived at the city of Gabaa, and there was no one who would shelter them with hospitality. But behold, a certain old man of the tribe of Ephraim who was living among them saw him staying in the square, and invited him into his own house; but the sons of Benjamin, surrounding the house, demanded the man for violence and wantonness. Here, when finally oppressed by necessity, he [offered] to them his wife in place of...

human person. And because under dire necessity he had offered his own wife to them instead of himself, they took the woman, and so far abused her with their mockery, that she could not survive even until dawn. The Levite therefore, having taken the dead body of his wife the following day and brought it into his own house, divided it into twelve parts, and having sent them to every tribe, in this way revealed the crime to all. For this reason a war arose between Benjamin and the rest. Benjamin was victorious in the first and second battle, and slew forty thousand men of Israel. But in the final conflict he was defeated, and suffered such a slaughter that he nearly perished entirely. Most of the survivors seized wives for themselves from their neighbors, because the people had sworn that no one would voluntarily join in marriage with them. ^B All these things are predicted in this verse, both the blind fury of Benjamin, and the double victory (for he says, "he shall eat," signifying indeed twice, as the added word "yet" implies), and that he himself was eventually made food for the others. These things can also be understood of Benjamin in another way, because he met with the same fortunes as Judah. Whence he conquered his enemies very often, so that he even became wealthy from their spoils; but after a long time, at the setting of the Jewish fortunes, he was finally defeated by his enemies.

FRAGMENT OF THE SAME GENNADIUS ON EXODUS.

CAP. XXVI. VERS. 35. "And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the candlestick opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle; and you shall put the table on the north side of the tabernacle." ^C

I believe the light of the sensible stars is signified by the candlestick; the earth by the table; and the provision of things we derive from the earth by the setting forth of the loaves. That first tabernacle is called holy. But after the second veil is the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden censer, and the rest. This is a figure of the future constitution; just as the former is of the present life. Therefore, the golden censer seems to me to indicate that it is acceptable to God; but the manna signifies the heavenly and spiritual food of the Savior; and the rod of Aaron, which had budded, [signifies] the eternal and perfect priesthood of Christ succeeding

^A Aaron’s rod that blossomed, that the priesthood will proceed toward something ever-flourishing and perfect in Christ; and the tablets of the covenant, the fleshy tablets of the hearts of the new covenant; and the gold in all things, that the things to come are more precious than present things. And above the ark were the Cherubim of glory, over-shadowing the mercy seat. There was a golden leaf made for the Jews upon the ark, and they called this the mercy seat, from the fact that God used to speak to them, being propitiated, when they asked concerning pressing matters what was to be done by Him. Upon this, two standing Cherubim were made, being symbols of the divine seat; therefore, through the mercy seat which constructed the throne, I believe it was signified that He who is on the throne is present, and, being propitiated, overshadows it.

FRAGMENTS ON THE PSALMS

ON PSALM ONE

^B “And he shall be like the tree.” After this, let us take what is said by Aquila: “transplanted.” For whence is the tree, of which the discourse speaks, transplanted unto the divisions of the waters? For either, having been rooted in the Father, it is transplanted for the benefit of many, so that others also might partake of His image, which is taken according to the transplantation—not that He is not in the Father (for He is), but that He has come to be among others as well. Or, according to another application, it is the soul of the Savior, which He assumed, transplanted hence into paradise, where the Gospel also says that after the passion He was present, narrating that He said to the penitent thief: ^C “Today you will be with me in the paradise of God.” But He was transplanted there, so that those who are worthy of Christ’s company might be illuminated by Him with the light of knowledge, progressing in the contemplation of things that are, according to the wisdom of God. We have understood these things in this way, because it is said properly of trees that they bear fruit. But “to give” is more appropriate to living beings, and especially to rational ones. It must be asked, if there is a time (speaking of wisdom as the fruit of the tree of life) when it does not have fruit—it is not holy, because it is not said that it “shall bear its fruit in its season,” but that “it shall give its fruit in its season.” But the time of its giving is the fitness of the one who receives. For as far as it is concerned, it is always ready to give its fruit. ^D Now, what the leaf of life, that is, of wisdom, is, which does not wither, is worthy of consideration. Verily, this...

is also to be seen in the wisdom regarding the universe, in which the Creator of all things has made all things. For some things come to be primarily, while others occur as a consequence, for the sake of those which exist primarily. For the rational animal exists primarily, but for its use [exist] the cattle and the things that spring from the earth. Might it not be, then, that the reasons for the things that came to be primarily are the fruits of the tree of life, and the things created for their sake are the leaves, of which nothing is in vain, nor is anything worthy to be utterly despised as vile, so that it should deserve to fall and perish, if it is not guarded? And furthermore, what follows: *And everything that he does shall prosper.* For it is permissible to make necessary use of those things which come to pass by way of consequence. The fruit of Christ would be primarily doctrine, the food of the more perfect, just as humans consume fruits, but cattle consume leaves. It is also possible to call some fruits of Scripture those which the more learned grasp, and leaves those by which the simpler are nourished. Of the man who is called blessed, and is compared to the tree of life, his fruits could be called his primary works, such as benevolence and the pursuit of wisdom; his leaves, however, are his vital motions, which are by no means worthy of being neglected, nor worthy of perishing, because everything is done with intent even for the glory of God.

Some add the second [term] thus: but neither does the Hebrew text have it, nor has any of the interpreters made use of such a repetition of the word. ^C

Vers. 3. *O ye sons of men, how long will ye be slow of heart?*

That phrase, *Sons of men*, some will think to have been said periphrastically, as is the custom among the Greeks to say: "Sons of the Achaeans." Others, however, beginning from the Savior, who in many places is called the Son of Man, will wish to investigate the reason also regarding other men, who are often not called simply "sons of men." But truly, insofar as the Savior is concerned, it would by no means be a mere periphrasis when He is named the Son of Man, since it is said: *He hath given him power also to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man* (John v, 27). Therefore, in general, it must be known that the appellation "man," when it is spoken of the saints, ^D is taken as a reproach, as in that passage: *I have said, Ye are gods, and [all of you are] children of the Most High; but ye shall die like men* (Ps. LXXXI, 6, 7). But when sinners are called cattle and beasts, then it is put to praise, according to that passage: *O Lord, thou shalt save both man and beast* (Ps. XXXV, 8).

FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS FROM THE COMMENTARIES OF THEODULUS, FROM THE CATENA OF CRAMER, AND ALSO FROM THE MUNICH CODEX

I

From the Catena of Theodulus, Old Patristic Library, vol. VIII, 589.

^A CH. I. VERS. 29. "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters."

By that one term, "unrighteousness," he has encompassed all the sins they committed against one another, and he details them one by one in what follows. And he calls "wickedness" [malitia] that which arises from the labor of creating some evil; "avarice" [pleonexia], the harm done in the desire for more; "malice" [kakia], the zeal to afflict one's neighbor; "envy" [phthonos], the spite felt at the good fortunes of a neighbor; "murder" [phonos], the impulse leading as far as slaughter; "strife" [eris], blameworthy contention; "deceit" [dolos], the plots and machinations for the ruin of brothers; "malignity" [kakoetheia], corruptness of character. "Whispering" [psithyrismos] is speaking ill of those present, under one's breath; "backbiting" [katalalia] is slander against those who are absent; "haters of God" [theostygeis] does not mean those who are hated by God (for that is not what he intends to show here), but those who hate God. "Despiteful" [hybristas] are the bold and abusive; "proud" [hyperephanous] are those who swell with pride against those who do not possess what they possess; "boasters" [alazonas] are those who brag about what they do not possess, as if they possessed it; "inventors of evil things" [epheuretas kakon] are those who, in addition to ancient evils, devise new, innovative ones. "Disobedient to parents" [goneusi apeitheis] are those who are ungrateful even to their own parents. ^B "Without understanding" [asynetous] are those who are devoid of conscience, than whom there is nothing more foolish. "Covenant-breakers" [asynthetous] are those who do not abide by the agreements they have made with others. "Without natural affection" [astorgous] are the cruel and friendless. "Implacable" [aspondous] are the irreconcilable and those who store up old grudges. "Unmerciful" [aneleēmonas] are those who are unyielding and inflexible toward mercy. "Boasters": For if he who acts rightly, by using boastfulness, makes his good deeds empty, what punishment would he be worthy of who boasts in his sins? "Inventors of evil things": This is the custom of those who practice and study them, not of the ignorant. "Covenant-breakers, unmerciful": [Separating themselves from all, that is, hating and turning away from everyone].

^A "Who, having known the righteous judgment of God." He shows again that they commit sin while possessing knowledge. By "righteous judgment," he refers to the commandments; for the Mosaic Law clearly and sharply commands, judging those who do such things worthy of death; this, then, is the righteous judgment and commandment of God. He posits two charges: doing [evil] and cooperating with those who do it, and inciting one’s neighbor toward evil.

II. From Cramer's Catena with Various Readings from the Munich Manuscripts

CAP. V. ^B

VERS. 13. "For until the law sin was in the world."

That life which is in this world, subject to sin and death, and therefore had need of the law—the law, I mean, that both manifests and prohibits sin—was first initiated for us by Adam, since he was created before all and transgressed. Whoever, therefore, has sprung from him through the successions of generations dies deservedly, inheriting the nature of the first parent. But of all those who were condemned to death, some hasten to death also through their own sins which they have committed, while others perish solely on account of the condemnation of Adam; such are infants. Therefore, he now says: "Death passed into all men, in whom all have sinned," using "all" for "many," just as he does in what follows. "For if through the transgression of the one the many died"—he says "the many" for "all." But now, "death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin." For how could those who are not capable of acting, discerning, or choosing be liable for a transgression? Such is the explanation of that which was said: "Until the law sin was in the world."

VERS. 16. "And not as through one who sinned, so is the gift." ^C

For the one sin of the first parent became the cause of condemnation for all, and all suffered the penalty of that sin. But grace abolished not only that [sin], but also many others, graver than that one, which were devised and committed voluntarily by those who came after, rendering our nature entirely immune to the fall and righteous.

VERS. 17. "For if by the transgression of the one," etc.

After he sufficiently demonstrated the excellence of grace through comparison, he now concludes and builds up that which he chiefly intended, saying: "For if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one," and the things that follow. For here he uses the conjunction for "therefore." "If, therefore," he says, "by the transgression of one man, and through one transgression, death reigned, much more those who..." ^D

receive the abundance of grace in one Christ, as has been demonstrated, will reign in eternal life." ^A

"That just as sin reigned in death." ^B

He says it is therefore indisputable that, just as sin strengthened its own power in death and through death, so also does grace, providing justification to all in Christ, possess a kingdom without successor in eternal life.

Chapter VI

VERS. 1. "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin," etc.

Having spoken the preceding things for the establishment of the doctrine concerning grace in Christ, he perceived therefrom an objection born to him; and setting this objection forth, he constructs its strongest refutation as if from the person of one contradicting, saying: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid!" "Does it follow," he says, "from what I have said, that we ought to commit sin, and thereby make grace greater and more abundant, if indeed its nature grows in proportion to the multitude of our sins?" (This is very similar to the passage: "Some say we claim, 'Let us do evil that good may come.'") "God forbid!" he says. First, of course, he rejects such a sentiment as unworthy of all discussion; then he brings forward irrefutable proofs to argue its absurdity, saying: "For we who died to sin, how shall we still live in it?" This, he says, carnal and unbelieving men might perhaps presume to say; but for us it is utterly impossible that those who have once died to sin should live to it again. ^C

VERS. 3. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus," etc.

He says: "You know this absolutely, that the baptism of Christ has a type of Him—namely, of His death and resurrection." But we who have received this by faith, it is evident that we have received it upon these hopes, that, just as Christ was raised from the dead into glorious adoption (for this is the meaning of "Through the glory of the Father"), so we also, having become participants of His death through baptism, might be partakers of that unblemished, unfading, and most blessed life. ^D

VERS. 6. "Knowing this, that our old man," etc.

By "old man" he means the corruptible and passible one; since age—or senescence—to whomsoever it may come, brings him into corruption.

^A It is not, however, as something sinless that it is being destroyed, but as something subject to sin. Therefore, he says, it is rendered "inactive" with regard to sin. For this reason he did not simply say that the body is destroyed, but the "body of sin." For this, which is now corruptible, will put on incorruption; and being now mortal, it will put on immortality, as our Lord Christ transforms the body of our lowliness to be conformed to the body of His glory.

"For he who has died," he says, "has been justified from sin." What does he mean by this? To sin is the lot of those who live the present life, since it is they who have the Law; but to those who have died, neither condition appertains. For the Law does not discourse with the dead—for how could it, with one who does not even hear?—nor does sin harass such a one. Therefore, he says, to one who has died, there is nothing in common with sin; nor does sin have any claim over him, since he is no longer subject to transgression.

VERS. 8. "Now if we died with Christ," etc.

Just as Christ died, he says, so we die; and just as Christ lives, so we shall live. It is fitting, therefore, that you should look to Him; and just as it is impossible for Him who died once to sin, and then rose again to God, to die again, so too ought you, using a most just conclusion, to conform your life henceforth to the life of Christ, as those who, relying on hope, have passed over to this life from the former one.

^C VERS. 12. "Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body."

Drawing an argument from Christians, and showing that sin in no way reigns in them any longer, since after baptism they are no longer carnal (though we possess this only by faith, not by effort; for we are not born impassible and immortal, as that was reserved for the time of the general resurrection for some inscrutable reason), he offers them counsel that is moderate and possible. For he did not say, "Therefore, do not sin"—for that belongs to an impassible and immortal nature—but, "Let not sin reign in your mortal body," that is, do not let it have mastery over you. Nor should you, in the manner of slaves, any longer consent to do what is commanded by it in the desires of your body, nor offer your own members as satellites to it for the cooperation of iniquity. Flee iniquity, considering it a hostile foe to you; take refuge in God, and prepare yourselves to Him as immortals, according to the uprightness of righteousness. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." He knew that a carnal man would be ready to use grace to sin with impunity. Foreseeing this, he objects the argument to himself, saying:

VERS. 15. "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? God forbid."

You are not ignorant, he says, that it is fitting for you to remain constant in your resolutions, and that each one should accept as master over himself in his works the one whose mandates he has learned to obey, whether it be sin or righteousness. For what is stated obscurely—whether of sin or of obedience unto righteousness—is to be understood as being either of sin unto obedience, or of righteousness. ^A

VERS. 17. "But thanks be to God, that you were slaves of sin." Thanks be to God, he says, that you were slaves of sin; obtain righteousness instead of sin, choosing to have righteousness—rather than that former master—as your Lord. You have received and approved the form of doctrine to which it is fitting you should henceforth carefully conform your lives. I am carried away into such language, and I use examples of human habits, because the weakness of your flesh compels me to reach for virtue. ^B

VERS. 19. "For just as you presented your members to serve uncleanness." For as you presented your members, he says, and so forth. He has taken the connective here to replace the "therefore." You must, therefore, he says, just as you formerly surrendered your whole selves to lawlessness for the practice of every kind of uncleanness, so now, distancing yourselves from those things altogether, you must study to proceed with all diligence toward the holiness of righteousness. For you know, he says, that time in which you were subject to the commands of sin; how you did nothing at all in common with righteousness. ^C

VERS. 21. "What fruit then did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?" And yet I would gladly ask you now with what zeal you fulfilled that fine slavery to sin, and what is the fruit of this great devotion of yours? Is it not corruption, and uncleanness, and death, and all things full of shame? Are these things, then, he says, similar to your present state, or do they differ only by a small and incidental amount, rather than being altogether and entirely different? For having exchanged sin for God, and knowing what is pleasing to Him, you now reap the fruit of sanctification—that is, sinlessness; which is to say, from this it will come to pass that you remain immortal. ^D

CHAPTER VII.

VERS. 4. "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ." Come then, he says, let us confirm this very thing from the law itself. You are surely well-versed in the law, knowing exactly this: that the law is master over a man as long as he lives. For instance, a wife under a husband, while the husband lives, is bound by law. Accordingly, if he is alive and she looks to another, she shall be judged an adulteress; but when he has died, she is released from the law, and she will dwell with whomsoever she wishes; she will escape the charge of adultery. So it is, brothers, with your own situation. For you have become, by believing, [members] of the body of

^A Christ; but He, having died to the law, has risen from the dead to a new life. Therefore, since you too are in Him, you have died to the law, and you will bring forth fruit by His resurrection, even as you [are transformed].

VERS. 5. «For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were through the law,» etc.

The divine Scripture uses the name "flesh" in two ways. Sometimes it designates by it the bodily form itself, as when the Savior says to the disciples about Himself after His resurrection: «Spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have»; at other times, it does not mean the nature itself, but its passions, as is the case in the passage set before us. For ^B it did not say "when we were in the flesh" as if we were currently devoid of flesh, but as those who have passed over in Christ to immortality and impassibility. For often, as I have already said, it describes what we believe concerning Christ as if it were present for us. For it says that when we were still in the previous life of the flesh, the passions in our members were being worked toward sins through the law; that is, our actions were being imputed to sin through the law. But being wounded by this [sin], we were of necessity sent to death. For these things mutually strengthened one another, and our nature was led into error. Iniquity grew strong through the law, death was strengthened through sin, while the law necessarily dominated mortals who were therefore prone to sin. The law, therefore, brought forth sin, and sin begat death. Death, through the passions, rendered our nature prone to sin, and it was necessarily established within the law.

VERS. 6. «But now we have been released from the law of death in which we were held.»

But now, he says, we have been released from the law that held us, ^C so that we might serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. It behooves us, therefore, from this time forward to conduct ourselves as men who have become immortal and spiritual, and not as men who are still corruptible and aging, and who are on that account forced to serve the law. The Apostle distinguished spirit from letter, and newness from oldness, and by these very terms he demonstrates a vast difference between the realities.

VERS. 7. «What shall we then say? Is the law sin?» etc.

«For I would not have known concupiscence,» he says, «unless the law had said: You shall not covet.» He does not mean that the commandment planted in me a concupiscence which I did not have, for concupiscence is natural. But [he means] that, before the law had instructed me through the prohibition, I did not know that concupiscence was something blameworthy and evil. ^D

Now, however, I have learned this through the commandment. ^A For when this [law] measured out for me the concupiscence inherent in my nature, and did not allow its use to be unrestrained, but rather fenced it in and encompassed it with set boundaries, sin, finding an occasion through it—that is to say, having gained strength and assistance—then tripped me up into excess and rendered active in me all the forbidden concupiscence. For the [words], "It has worked in me all concupiscence," implies the forbidden kind.

^B "For apart from the law, sin is dead."

"For apart from the law," he says, "sin is dead." For the law, by forbidding, establishes the sinful act; as if it had not enjoined upon me the abstention from it, and I had been accustomed to it, I would not have been liable for a transgression. For where there is no law, there is neither transgression. For sin is not imputed when there is no law. "But I was alive apart from the law once." The [word] "I" is now put for "man," but he speaks concerning Adam. "But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." I, for my part, who as man possessed life before the law, when the commandment came, it—through the previously dead sin, which had revived—took this away from me. "And the commandment which was unto life, this was found to be unto death; and I have suffered something lamentable, and truly pitiable, being harmed by the benefit, and by the help that was given to me for life, by this I lost life. For sin, having taken occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me." For the accursed sin, having gained a pretext through the commandment, and having become stronger than my own weapons, through this very thing having led me astray, slaughtered me. He discusses, however, the matter of sin as if it were alive, subsisting, and deceiving man, according to the custom of the divine Scripture. Thus, the blessed [Apostle] even introduces righteousness as an agent, saying, "Righteousness will walk before him." And Solomon [does the same] for wisdom; and in general, in the divine Oracles, there is much of such an idiom. ^C

"So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."

"So that," he says, "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." The conjunction here is simply thrown in; but by the same designation he denotes both the law and the commandment. Yet he calls the commandment holy, because it removes [one] from sin and keeps [one] away

from it; just, because it rewards the obedient justly, and punishes those who disobey; good, because it leads one to the good, and was given by God because of His goodness. Therefore, he says, the law is not sin, since it makes known to me what is base and restrains me from acting upon it; but on the contrary, it is holy, and just, and good.

^B VERS. 13. "What then is good, has it become death to me?"

What then is good, he asks, has it become death to me? Far from it; but sin has. I shall not therefore, he says, blame the good for my evil. But I accuse sin, and I hate it, and with it I shall never willingly enter into a pact. In order, he says, that sin might appear to have worked death in me through the good. For it harmed me through the good, and through this very thing its nature was revealed for what it is; in order, he says, that it might become, through the commandment, exceedingly sinful and sin itself. For it is convicted by the law, he says, as to how great and how serious an evil sin is. For the law, which bids me guard against it and was given as an aid, sin has, by seducing me, turned into a murderer against me.

VERS. 14. "For we know that the law is spiritual."

Proceeding to defend the law and excluding it from every accusation, I know, he says, that the law is spiritual; as if he said, it is perfect and complete, demanding the perfect virtue that becomes those who are immortal. But what happens to me? Surrounded by mortal and corruptible flesh, subject to many passions, I have been handed over, as it were, into a downfall; sold under sin. He says "sold" in place of "as if sold"; for it is an idiom proper to the Scriptures to speak without the adverb of similitude concerning things that are frequently already stated; such as these: *Our God is a consuming fire*; *You were slaves of sin*; *Who is my creditor to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold*; and that utterance of our Savior in the holy Gospels: *Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin*. For truly, everyone is a slave to that by which he has been conquered.

^D VERS. 15. "For what I do, I do not understand."

After he said, "I have been sold under sin," and because of this has been established under the rule of a tyrant and in the condition of servants, he consequently adds: "For what I do, I do not understand." For this is the property of a servile condition, not to be master of one's own mind, but to be subject to the commands of a master. Frequently therefore, he says, I do that which I did not choose. In these words

"For what I do, I do not know," he does not mean that he is ignorant. For how, if someone does something, could it be permitted for him to be ignorant of it? Or how would such behavior be reckoned as a fault against him? ^A For it is like that expression which the Savior says in the Gospel: "I do not know you; depart from me." It is put here to mean: "I frequently do something, not claiming it for myself, not rejoicing in it, nor being pleased with it according to my intent; in a word, not obeying myself, but another." And that this is so, he says, is evident. "For what I will, that I do not do; but what I hate, that I do." That is to say: whatever I wish for myself, I do none of these things. But I do the opposite; and those things which I hate, I would never have willed for myself. By such things, he says, he transgresses that natural and universal law of the Savior: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do also to them; for this is the law and the prophets."

^B VERSE 16. "If then I do what I will not, I consent to the law that it is good."

If, therefore, he says, I do what I will not, for that reason I confess the law to be good. For those acts which it, by censuring, forbids to me, I myself have already condemned, even though in practicing them I do wrong.

VERSE 21. "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good."

The law, he says, is therefore shown from these things to desire what is in agreement with my own will regarding the good, since the evil appears to both of us, to me and to it, as the same thing.

VERSE 22. "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man."

^C "For I delight," he says, "in the law of God according to the inward man," and so on. For here he used "for" instead of "therefore." For he wished to draw a conclusion from all that he had said from this verse: "We know that the law is spiritual." But this, "I delight in the law of God according to the inward man," designates the rational part within us, and I rejoice and am glad in its commandments. But I see another law in my members warring against this one, and forcibly dragging me off as if I were its captive, and behaving toward me as though I were a servant. For the things which it commands, and of which it bids me to take hold, this other law compels me to abstain from. He calls the "law of sin in his members" the will and purpose of the passible flesh; since it is the property of every law to command those subject to it to do what seems good to it. I, therefore, he says, do not obey the law in which I delight, but that in which I do not delight. ^D I do not do what I will; but what I do not will, that I do. And the law of the members dominates me more than the law of God, and struggling against it, I am not able to resist. Per

^Aceiving the divine law, I know what is to be done and what is to be avoided; I have knowledge of virtue, but hindered from following it by the flesh, the help that comes from it is not granted to me. The law of my members, however, rushes forth in an unrestrained manner, and by waging war, it carries off spoils.

VER. 24. « Wretched man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? »

He does not say, "a bad man," or "a perverse man," but "wretched." By judging and showing himself to be one who indeed tends toward the good in his mind, but who is drawn toward the evil by the passions of the flesh, he ^B rightly called himself wretched, as one worthy of mercy, not a perverse man to be pursued with hatred. But it is wonderful, first of all, that he adds, "Who?" showing through the interrogation the difficulty of the situation. Who then, he says, is so powerful as to be able to snatch me from the tyranny of this body, through which I am dragged toward sin and die? For he calls it the "body of death" because it is the cause of death, deriving its name from the outcome. Having sufficiently demonstrated the necessity and the magnitude of the matter, showing the benefactor with acts of thanksgiving and hymns, he proceeds saying: *Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord*; that is, thanks to the merciful God who has granted us immortality, ^C incorruption, and impassibility through the wonderful dispensation according to Jesus Christ our Lord, who cried out to us with a loud voice: *Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.*

VER. 25. « So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. »

Having rendered the due praise to the benefactor, he returns to the subject at hand. I, therefore, am the same person who is a servant of God and of sin; sin divides me from God through the passions of the flesh. Having sufficiently shown the imperfection of the law regarding justification, he introduces the perfection of grace, saying: *There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,* and the rest. ^D But behold, he says, the grace through Christ has freed us from this condemnation. For, being translated to an impassible and immortal life through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and having become entirely spiritual, we are set free from sin and from the death that comes through it.

CHAPTER VIII

^A Ver. 3. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh."

The law, he says, prescribed justice, but because of our flesh it could not bestow it upon us; this God has granted us in Christ. For when He had sent His own Son, ^B possessing the same flesh as we do, both passible and capable of sin—for by "the likeness of sinful flesh" he means flesh that is capable of sin, just as "in the likeness of man" is said instead of "having become man"—when God had sent His own Son in this flesh because of sin—that is, when He came to challenge sin—He judged and condemned sin in the flesh, condemning it in that very place, while at the same time preserving it [the flesh] untouched and entirely unconsumed. Or interpreting it otherwise: "He condemned sin in the flesh because of sin"—meaning that since His flesh was sinless and therefore not subject to death, God condemned sin in it, as though the death of the Lord had not surrounded His flesh as a legal punishment. By the resurrection from the dead, He transformed that flesh into impassibility. And so, finally, the justice of the law is fulfilled in us, as we are united to Him through faith, and become spiritual instead ^C of carnal. This is consistent with what the Apostle says in Antioch in Pisidia: "By all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses, in Him everyone who believes is justified."

Ver. 5. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh."

Just as, he says, those who are corrupt must necessarily have a corrupt mind, so it is fitting that those who are incorrupt should have an incorrupt mind. Each possesses reasoning faculties proportional to their own nature. For "the mind of the flesh is death," he says—that is, it brings about death and provokes God to punishment. But "the mind of the Spirit is life and peace," that is, it bestows immortality and friendship with God.

Ver. 7. "Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God."

For it is impossible, he says, for the will of the flesh ever to concur and enter into friendship ^D with the will of God, which is made known to us through the Law. For God presents Himself as impassible, while the flesh is passible. It is impossible, therefore, for those who follow the mind of the flesh and become participants in that nature to please God. For as much as they are near to it, they depart from God, and they are as distant from virtue as mortality is from immortality.

Ver. 9. "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you."

^A Of Gennadius and Theodoret. But you, he says, have passed from mortality to immortality, having been made spiritual from carnal; and he brings forward an indubitable proof of this statement: "If so be," he says, "the Spirit of God dwell in you." For then, in addition to the gift of adoption, they were also receiving other graces for the working of miracles, the Spirit being given to them for these things and for the revealing of those things that were as yet obscure. Therefore, he says, the grace of the Spirit which dwells in you abundantly demonstrates that you have been translated from the carnal life to the spiritual life.

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

"Now if any man," he says, "have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." In the same way as we who are from Adam are said to be of Adam, because we are partakers of his nature, so those who are united to Christ by the participation of the same Spirit are said to be of Christ. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." If, therefore, Christ is recognized, he says, in you, through the participation of his Spirit, just as the body is excluded from immortality because of sin, so, on the contrary, the Spirit is far from death because of righteousness. He calls the spiritual body "Spirit," ^B naming the participant by that which is participated in, just as in the Gospels: "That which is born," he says, "of the Spirit, is spirit."

VER. 11. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you."

There is no way to doubt, he says, that those who have been counted worthy to become temples of the Holy Spirit and partakers of Christ, are on that account partakers of his resurrection from the dead unto immortal life.

VER. 12. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh."

Having contended through everything, and shown that it no longer behooves them to be of Adam—that is, to live a life subject to passions and under the law—but to be of Christ—that is, spiritual and pure—recapitulating those things that were said at length in the foregoing, he brings forward a clear and concise admonition, saying that they ought not henceforth to give themselves over to the passions of the flesh. Why? "For if," he says, "you live after the flesh, you shall die." For the destruction of such a life, he says, is corruption. "But if through the Spirit you do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live." If, however, he says, you strive to live according to the grace of the Spirit dwelling in you, ^D

keeping yourselves inactive toward such deeds of the body, you will attain immortality. ^A

VERS. 14. "For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." For those who are governed by the Spirit of God—that is, the spiritual, not the animal men—are assured that they are truly sons of God. He said this by way of opposition to those who under the Law were called sons of God, and toward whom God exercised a singular care beyond other men. "You spoke in a vision to your sons," he says; and: "I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High." In opposition to these, then, he designates Christ’s disciples, saying: "These are the sons of God." ^B

VERS. 16. "The Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God. [VERS. 17.] And if sons, then heirs." For "the Spirit himself" refers to the substance of the Holy Spirit; but he calls "our spirit" the grace given by Him, which he is accustomed to call the proper possession of those who receive it. As in these places: "When you are gathered together and my spirit"; and, "May your spirit be preserved entire"; and, "May your soul and body be preserved." For just as the sun is the very body of the sun, yet it is also called by the same name as the whole, referring to the ray from it. We say of certain places that they have the sun, while others are without the sun—not because the substance of the sun is changed, but because its light is sent to ^C one place while being blocked by certain obstacles from another. So also does the divine Scripture refer by the same name both to the Holy Spirit and to the grace which arises from Him. ^D

"If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him." Having shortly before touched upon the comparison with the old [law], and by the placing of them side-by-side having made the excellence of grace known; then, fearing that because of its magnitude the disciples might be in doubt, having confirmed it by the participation of the Holy Spirit, he passes on accordingly to consolation, and exhorts them to shrink from no danger in suffering for such things. For this instruction was extremely useful and necessary, as many wars were assailing the disciples from other quarters at the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel. Therefore, he says, it behooves those who seek glory through Christ to undergo temptations for it, just as Christ himself did. For the sharing of sufferings produces a sharing of the reward. "I, therefore," he says, "when I ponder, and compare all the tribulations of the present age with the blessings promised to us in Christ, I find them to be small and as nothing."

^A For the expectation of the creature waits expectantly for the revelation of the sons of God. Such, he says, is the superiority of the glory revealed to us, that it is manifest that the creature's expectation—that expectation, namely, which it has had for a long time—waits for the revelation of the sons of God, because up to this time our life is hidden with Christ in God.

The entire sense, however, is this. We men are frequently accustomed, after the outcomes of events, to receive into our memories as clear things that were previously obscure. For example, if someone is discovered to have done something good, or conversely, evil, we immediately come forward, saying: "He appeared to be such a person long ago, and he was revealed by his bearing. I, for one, recognized who he was immediately from this trait." And, in general, by collecting such signs of past events in relation to the present action, we confirm for ourselves the latter by the former.

The Evangelist says something similar about the disciples of the Lord, that at first they did not understand the things arranged concerning Him. But after He rose from the dead, they knew that these things had been written about Him, and they believed the Scripture and the words which Jesus had spoken. Now, therefore, since the blessed Paul has received through the grace of the Spirit the understanding of the dispensation in Christ, and has known that it was decreed by God from above, and that He chose us before the foundation of the world, he teaches things that were previously hidden. For he says that the design of this creation itself proclaims the Gospel now manifested, and clearly and evidently awaits the revelation of the sons of God; for God certainly did not create all the sons of men in vain. ^{B C}

VERS. 20. ‹For the creature was subjected to vanity, not willingly.›

He calls our fleeting and corruptible life "vanity"; wherefore, he says, was everything intent upon the service of corruptible things, and yet it cares not for the hope and such expectations which God has commanded it? This, however, he said as a personification. It is a frequent idiom in Sacred Scripture to attribute voice and actions to inanimate things: just as, of course, in the fourth book of Kings: "For Joas, king of Israel, sent," he says, "to Amasias, king of Juda, saying: The thorn that is in Libanus sent to the cedar that is in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife." And not only so, but in the book of Judges, Joatham, the son of Gedeon and Jeroboam, said, he says, to the men of Sichem: "The trees went to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree: Reign," etc. ^D

And holy Scripture is altogether full, as I said, of such things. ^A Since this is so, it was not inadvertently that the Apostle used this figure of speech. Or perhaps it was also for the sake of the angels, so that what is said of the greater might be understood as spoken of the entire creation.

Vers. 21. "Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption."

Even now, he says, it endures, since it must also enjoy our liberty. For then it will cease to serve corruption; that is, it will no longer provide service for us while we are still corruptible. For we know how much change and corruption the creation of the elements undergoes at present. And indeed, we know that the angels themselves have not yet by nature attained immutability—not only from those who have sinned and on that account fallen from heaven, but also from the words which Paul spoke concerning them, as if it were possible for them to sin: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, let him be anathema."

Vers. 22. "For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now."

It is known to all, he says, that the nature of the creation is ^B until now in misery along with us, and as it were eager and preparing itself for the common regeneration.

Vers. 23. "And not only they, but we ourselves also, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves."

Why do I say these things about the creation? he asks. But we ourselves are the head of creation, for whose sake and with whom all things are being renewed. Having received the firstfruits of the Spirit, we have conceived such a desire for the things to come that we are grieved at the delay and bear the postponement with difficulty; rather, we yearn to possess the whole already. And declaring what the adoption is, he says we desire the redemption of our body, that is, for our body finally to be released from corruption and sin and death. Whereas above, as if he had already attained immortality, he cried out thanksgivings; now again, as if he had not yet attained this, ^C but still desired to obtain it, he adds: "For by hope we were saved; for in hope," he says, "is our salvation."

Vers. 26. "Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmity."

Or it may be interpreted in this way: Our nature, he says, is weak, and according to this is the new regeneration. But the promised things are great and divine, and such that they cannot even be grasped by the mind. Yet for the belief in such great things, we receive no small assistance from the Spirit. For those things which are even beyond our asking, and concerning which we do not ^D know how we ought to pray—that is, which are

beyond human mindfulness and prayer—this grace of the Holy Spirit given to us brings about in an ineffable manner, and the first fruits give us confidence regarding the whole. For just as the wedding pledges which spouses give to one another guarantee the marriage that is to follow, and the documents concerning the terms upon which they are given compel them to be brought to completion, so I believe the first fruits of the Spirit—that is, the partial gift of the Spirit, which is a pledge of our inheritance—confirms to us the grace which will be fully given in its own time. We ought not, therefore, to refuse the labors that must be undergone for its sake. ^A And by this word, "intercede," he said metaphorically that we are able to be of mutual benefit in our needs through intercessions.

VERS. 27. “But He who searches the hearts knows what the desire of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to God.”

Through these words, “He who searches,” he shows that God is not ignorant, but accurately knows those things which concern us; for indeed we ourselves deem those things which we would accurately learn to be worthy of searching and greater investigation. Hence they harmonize: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God,” and in the prophet Sophonias: “In that day, says the Lord, in which I will search Jerusalem with lamps.” God, therefore, he says, to whom all things concerning men are manifest, does not ignore the intention of our spirit, ^B but knows it to be according to His own will, and tending toward the end which He has appointed; this is what is said, “according to God.” He pleads to God, therefore, that those whom He loves may obtain the perfection of holiness—that is, that through the resurrection they may pass over into a life that is immortal, immune to passions, and entirely beyond decay. For He knows the gift is not yet perfect. He calls the faithful “saints.” For the name of holiness is taken in two ways: namely, from faith and from an excellent life. Or he calls those “saints” who have been sanctified through prayer. Or he says “for the saints,” that is, he pleads for holy works that are pleasing to God, or for people who desire holiness. He did not say “he asks,” but “he intercedes,” signifying an ardent and solicitous prayer. ^C

VERS. 28. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Certainly indeed, he says, all unanimously confess that God never abandons those who love Him, but disposes all things that happen to them for their ^D good.

serves to bring about for the good, ^A inasmuch as he has also called those who are according to His good purpose; from this point, however, he also began to prepare a defense concerning the rejection of the Jews.

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

He predestined this, he says, and also imparted the adoption to others. He did not thereby cause any loss to the Son. ^B For He has such excellence over all, and He is the first among the firstborn of the brethren. — [Cod. Monac.] "He says 'conformed to the image of His Son'; that is to say, of the sonship of His body. Wherefore he also added: 'In order that He might be the firstborn'."

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son."

Since God is for us, he says, shall we fear any other of all things? And having so unsparingly given His own Son for us, will He be stingy toward us in granting the rest? Are not all things secondary to God in comparison to the love He has for us? It is ^C opportune here to observe that while holy Paul now says the Son was given up by the Holy Spirit for us, in the Epistle to the Ephesians he says that the Son did this of His own accord: "For Christ," he says, "loved us, and gave Himself up for us." What else does this teach us, but that the will of the Spirit and the Son regarding human salvation is one?

"Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who condemns?"

If those who wish to do so summon us to judgment and accuse us, they cannot in any way defend themselves against the sentence of God, which is established with us and for us. He means to say that it is possible for no one to take from us those things which God has previously bestowed upon us. ^D Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to overturn our election, once God has chosen us for the enjoyment of future things, nor can anyone prevent Him from granting us what is expected. And above all, concerning that true justification in which we shall be established—where we will not be subject to sin—would there then be anyone capable of causing a change in our condition? Thus, it is not fitting to fear those who persecute us, because it is impossible for them to take from us the goods which we hope will be ours in the coming age. Therefore he spoke of election and justification, showing that we are, indeed, already predestined from this life unto those goods by election, but are established in the enjoyment of them through justification. He calls justification the impossibility of sin-

sinning, for this is true justification. ^A From this he signifies the steadfastness of what is given to us; for we who are sinning do not remain for all time in the things given, hence he said it is not possible for it even to be overturned by anyone.

• *Christus Jesus qui mortuus est, imo qui et resurrexit.* ^B To the confirmation of what was said before he proceeds, and says: *Christus qui mortuus est, imo qui et resurrexit,* and the rest. For he did not add this to dissolve some future objection from some people, as some have supposed; because no such ground for contradiction arose from what he had said before, as we find with other objections. For who would have taken it up against Paul, that while God the Father justifies us, Christ the Son will not allow it? Certainly no one. Therefore, the Apostle did not intend to contend and fight in vain against things not objected. But it was very necessary for him, as we have already said, to prove and further confirm God’s mercy toward men. Therefore, he added to the aforementioned: *Christus qui mortuus est, imo qui et resurrexit, qui est ad dextram Dei, qui etiam interpellat pro nobis.* Is it not enough? What more, he says, is lacking to you? There is no change to be feared; it is finished; the work has reached its end; nothing is lacking for our salvation. Christ has died, and better still, he has risen and obtained the first honors with God, and sends forth his love toward us. From these things it is manifest that Christ has called us as he has himself, as the whole [body] will follow the firstfruits, and the rest of the body will be given over to the head. For his mission regarding our salvation having been fulfilled, when he is now exalted, he will draw us as himself according to his promise: *For when,* he says, *I am exalted, I will draw all things to myself.* But for our full persuasion he has now embellished the discourse with figures through the word "intercedes," just as we said a little above concerning the Holy Spirit. ^C

VERS. 55. • *Quis nos separabit a charitate Christi?* After he exalted the love of God toward us, and the gratitude that we ought henceforth to have toward such a benefactor, he proceeds saying that it is not fitting for us to be separated from the love of Christ by any of the evils that happen to men.

VERS. 56. • *Quia propter te mortificamur tota die.* ^D These things were foretold by the prophet David concerning the steadfastness of the Maccabees for the law. For what wonder, he says, shall we do, if we display a benevolence toward God equal to that of the ancients, we who have been adorned not with equal, but with a much greater grace?

And since he has declared the purpose of his own intention, so that he might not appear to be speaking out of arrogance, he immediately added what follows. ^A *“But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.”* We have, however, he says, the power to overcome these things in superabundance, not of ourselves, but through Him who loved us. *“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life.”*

Now, by death he signifies all grievous things, since death is the end of all such things; but by life, all things that are luxurious and good, since life, again, is the end of all such things. He calls them angels and principalities and powers, invisible substances which are invoked by these various names corresponding to the ministries in which they serve: angels, from announcing divine things to men; principalities, from governing either cities or nations in general over which they are set; and powers, because they are mighty for carrying out the commandment of God. *“Bless the Lord,”* for he says, *“all you His angels, mighty in strength, who do His word”* (Ps. cii, 20). ^B By things present, he collectively refers to all things at hand; by things to come, likewise, all things expected; by height and depth, heavenly things, that is, and earthly things. He added also this, “nor any other creature,” signifying the excess of his love toward God, and that for the sake of this love he is prepared to struggle against things that are and things that are not. Yet, by these words, “nor things to come,” he clearly shows that he does not love God for the sake of something, nor in hope of some rewards, but loves this very thing—loving God—judging it to be worthy of all zeal in itself. Therefore, he says, none of the things enumerated above will separate us from the love of God, on account of His ineffable benevolence toward us, which He demonstrated having accomplished it through our Lord Jesus Christ. ^C

CHAP. IX.

*“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bearing me witness.”*

Having thus invigorated them throughout all things so that they might believe firmly in the Gospel, and without hesitation endure all the trials to be undergone for its sake, he wishes to respond to the objection proposed to him, and one most vigorous indeed. For since in the preceding chapters, by casting out the Law, he had established grace in many ways, and especially by the Law itself, and had said that those who receive it are truly sons of God—those whom God has now called from an ancient decree of predestination—he foresaw the Jew immediately standing against him, and proposing that objection so often celebrated by them. For those Jews who were obstructing the apostles and the preaching of the Gospel used to say that one of two things must necessarily exist: either the Gospel is false, or God is a liar. For if, they say, what you preach is true, ^D

and the promises made to our fathers regarding us have not been fulfilled by the deed—for ^A indeed, He promised to Abraham that He would transmit his blessings to his seed, but now, in place of us, He has received the Gentiles, who are unclean and aliens—if, therefore, your preaching is the outcome of those promises, it is manifest that God has deceived our fathers. But if it is not holy to say this of God, then you and your preaching are false. By constantly casting this argument against the apostles, they became the cause of no small troubles and commotions for them. For by these persuasive speeches they deceived the hearts of the simple, turned them away from salvation, and heaped intolerable persecutions upon ^B the apostles.

III. Fragmenta quae sequuntur, supplentur e codice Monacensi.

VERS 19-21. "For who hath resisted His will? O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"

Another, however, interpreted this passage in this way: "You ask me, 'Who hath resisted His will?' But I say to you: You, before all others, are the one who replies against God. For you are surely someone, and you would never admit that you are no one. Yet by contradicting God, how do you not resist Him? Therefore, you are caught by your own ^C words; and by the very things you presumed to deny, you confess your opposition; and you have become your own accuser rather than mine. For you ask, 'Who hath resisted?' Are you someone? For if you confess yourself to be a nobody, I concede that you have no right to find fault with God for his treatment of men. But if you are someone, then, even if you deny it a thousand times, God is proved just, and carries off the victory, beginning with you. But there is a matter concerning the present question about which I have wondered, which I wish to impart to you, dearest Peter. Certain people, when attempting to interpret this passage of the Epistle and failing, did not hesitate to accuse the holy Paul due to their own lack of judgment. For they said that he did not speak these words, ^D 'O man, who art thou that repliest against God?' to solve the objections of his adversaries, but rather that he spoke in reproach and rebuke, and all but confirmed the accusation brought by them against God. For if He does not render an account of the matter, but instead puts forward the power of the good God, he shuts the mouth of the one who argues; but by following that line of reasoning, he is clearly convicted of admitting that God does not govern human affairs according to justice, but by arbitrary power. And they say it befits men to be content with the things God has disposed concerning them, like vessels fashioned by potters, and not to contend in judgment against Him who made them evil—and then He reproaches them because they are evil. Those who say such things, if nothing else, ought at least to have understood that

^A if the Apostle had foreseen that he could not, according to their statement, withstand these propositions, he would not have proposed this question himself; for in no way could he have done this, nor would he have provided his adversaries with handles for the ruin of his own preaching, as if proposing to sustain the role of his adversaries rather than his own—a thing which not even the most foolish of men would do. But it is not so. Relying, I think, on Christ and fighting for the truth, he left no occasion for his adversaries; but just as he brought the most powerful refutation of all other objections, so also of this one, and having stopped the mouths of the blasphemers, he introduces another from an example appropriate to the matter, turning their opinion more and more and establishing piety. "Does the clay," he says, "say to Him who fashioned it: Why did you make me so?" By this, he says, you are convicted by yourself. Standing against God, you accuse Him and say: "Why does He still find fault?" By positing these words ^B for "Who has resisted His will?", he interprets the sense of the preceding words; by which, in the case of Moses, God is shown to be merciful, but in the case of Pharaoh, severe.

"Whom He also called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles."

Paul therefore intends to say in these things that it was said very well both to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion," and to Pharaoh: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you." For, he says, God wishing to make His own power known to all—by which He will punish those worthy of wrath and have mercy on those worthy of mercy—dealt with the matters concerning the Egyptians and the Israelites, setting this before the world as a lesson of His own just judgment. For the people around Pharaoh being completely wicked and impious, and worthy of undergoing the ultimate punishment, He put off the punishment against them in His long-suffering, and allowed him to be lifted up against His own people. But when they were already conspicuous and notorious for their cruelty, He openly destroyed them, and, having had mercy on the people of the Israelites, He saved the whole race. This is the sense of the apostolic ^C utterance. But it is lacking in completion as it stands; you find fault with this, so that the complete sense might be: "What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and so that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared for glory—do you find fault with this?" Having therefore finished what pertains to the present objection up to this point, he proceeds to the solution of the question, consequently returning from the digression to the earlier points. For when he said "which He prepared for glory," which was spoken concerning the Jews, he subjoined: "Whom He also called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles," so that now he almost says that God with just judgment and foreknowledge has called us who

have run to Him from among the Jews and Gentiles, having left behind those who did not wish to come; and what has happened to us is nothing new compared to what happened before. ^B

VERS. 26. "And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living God." He demonstrates, therefore, also from the prophets, that it was foretold that those who should run to Him justly from among the Jews and from among the Gentiles would be called, but those who did not wish to come would be left behind. He first brings forward the voice of Hosea, through which he foreshadowed regarding the Israelites: for some, their captivity and rejection, but for others, again, their restoration from captivity and the calling of the nations. Then he brings forward the word of Isaiah, crying that almost all of Israel, save for a few, would fall away.

VERS. 32, 33. "For they have stumbled at the stone of stumbling, as it is written: 'Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal; and everyone who believes in Him shall not be put to shame.'" One must know, however, that the expression "stone of stumbling" does not exist in the prophecies of Isaiah in a collected manner, as it is quoted now by the Apostle, but rather in parts. For in the beginning of the book of Isaiah it is written concerning the Lord according to the version of Aquila, with which the apostolic text agrees: "He Himself shall be your dread, and He Himself shall be your terror; and He shall be for a sanctuary, and for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of scandal." And after much: "Behold, I cast into the foundations of Zion a precious, elect, corner stone, honorable; and he who believes shall not be put to shame." And it is possible for one who looks accurately at each part of the expression to clearly perceive that in one place a stone is cited simply, while in the other the Lord is interpreted according to His divine majesty. ^C

CHAPTER X

VERS. 1, 2. "Brethren, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God for Israel is for salvation. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." These things, then, he says, I have said concerning them, not intending to do them an injury, but being compelled by the truth; since my own benevolence toward them is so great that I pray for their salvation. And showing the probability of this affection, he said: "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God." I know, he says, and I bear witness that they have undertaken a war against the Gospel with a divine zeal—for I myself was once one of them—yet that zeal is lacking in true knowledge. ^D For not understanding the magnitude of the justice, that it is only through divine grace that men would attain it, they foolishly contend to establish what seems good to them and to attain justification through their own works, contradicting the justice that is now given to us by God in Christ.

^A “For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone who believes.” Christ therefore perfects the intention of the law, granting justification to all who come to Him through faith in Him. “For Moses writes of the righteousness that is from the law, that the man who does these things shall live in them.” By way of comparison with the law, showing the zeal of grace, he says, Moses says, that a man is not justified by the law beforehand until he has fulfilled all the commandments of the law. “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Therefore, what was said concerning that giving of the law also applies to us now regarding the grace of Christ. We ought not, therefore, to doubt either concerning the descent of the Savior from heaven or concerning His return again from the dead; but believing with a perfect heart, we must also confess the grace with our tongue. For this happens for us when we do this, so that through justification we may obtain salvation as well. He has habitually distinguished between “unto righteousness” and “unto salvation”; he has attributed the former to the faith of the heart, and the latter to the confession of the mouth, for both are aptly connected to each other; for Christ, he says, justifies those who believe in Him with the heart, but saves those who confess Him with the mouth. ^B “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Perhaps by setting forth the voice of Isaiah, “Lord, who has believed our report?” he seems to confirm from this what he had previously said well, “How will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” For he says, “So then faith comes by hearing.” This is that which he said a little before, that it is necessary for the one who desires to believe to hear first the teaching concerning Him in whom he is to believe. “And hearing by the word of God”—that is, the teaching itself comes to those who teach through divine operation. ^C CAP. XI. “I say then, has God cast away His people?” By this addition he indicates that others are not the people of God, even if they claim the same ancestor according to the flesh. “But what does the divine response say to him? I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” And at the same time, from this place of the Holy Scripture, it is established that even in former times many of them had been rejected. This, however, “in Elias,” is said for “by Elias.” “Even so then, at this present time, a remnant according to the election of grace has come to pass.” ^D Nothing therefore, as it seems, has happened that is new in the present time, since even now some out of every kind

^A of our people. Just as then, according to the word of Scripture, not even one would have been saved had God not left for Himself the seven thousand men—that is to say, had divine grace not kept them in the mindset of piety—so I think it is even now.

VERS. 6. “If however by grace, it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.”

The Apostle did not wish to speak lightly, but he set these things forth thus, striving to show that the law and grace are entirely incompatible and cannot coexist, but that one must necessarily be ousted by the other. ^B Therefore, if we are chosen by grace, the access to and faith in Christ is easy. For we do not need works in order to run to and believe in Christ, but only reason and choice are sufficient. For He receives us according to the election of grace, not on account of works. If grace calls and receives us, we do not have a need for works for this purpose. For if we were to have a need for works, grace would no longer remain grace.

And not only will this consequence follow if we suppose that we need works in order to come to and believe in Christ, but also another similar thing. For if we suppose that it is necessary for us to come [to Him] from works, it is manifest that grace is destroyed; for if it is not destroyed, neither does the work remain a work, for grace does not allow a work to exist at all, but rather demonstrates the election ^C as gratuitous. For grace and work are entirely separated from one another by nature; and to work, a wage follows, and not grace; but grace is given, not as the payment of a wage, but as a gift and munificence. It is manifest, therefore, that grace possesses the nature of a favor. If anyone thinks to obtain grace through works, he destroys grace as much as in him lies, and grace no longer remains grace, and again, works do not remain works; for they do not preserve their own nature. For a wage follows works, but grace does not; since, therefore, grace provides the favor, even if one should attempt to attain it through works, the attempt will be in vain, as the works will no longer be able to remain works. For there will be no wage for them, since grace has preceded them; and he labors in vain to receive through works what grace has already freely offered. “If, however, by grace,” he says, “it is no longer of works.” For if it is conceded that what comes from works is grace, grace is destroyed; again, if it is from works, it is no longer grace. ^D If the existence of grace is admitted, work is no longer work.

VERS. 8. “God gave them a spirit of compunction.”

Or, a spirit of compunction, meaning a very sluggish will, which has need of conversion and correction.

VERS. 11. “I say then, Did they stumble that they should fall? God forbid! But by their trespass, salvation is to the nations, so as to provoke them to jealousy.”

Having therefore sufficiently refuted the faction of the Jews—those who were puffed up in vain on account of the law—and having shown their total exclusion to be their own fault and not to be imputed to the preaching of the Gospel, so that neither they themselves, nor those who have believed concerning them, might [think of them] as altogether

lost and look upon them with complete despair, he adds: "I say then, Did God cast away his people? God forbid. Did they stumble that they should fall?" Do I mean to say that their sin is entirely irremissible? ^A For here, too, he uses "that" according to his custom. God forbid! On the contrary, when they stumbled, [the Gentiles] were called, that by this they might be provoked to jealousy towards them, and might not remain forever in their fall. "But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee." You will understand the first-fruits to be Christ the Lord, as having come from them according to the flesh, and having initiated the adoption through the resurrection; the root to be Abraham, as the first of the [whole] race; the lump and the branches to be the whole people. "Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in." Here, too, the word "that" typically signifies the outcome. For you will say, in your haughty bearing, ^B "Because they were lopped off, therefore I was grafted in." Therefore, by contemplating the cause both of their excision and of your insertion, be wise and be afraid. "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved." Lest, he says, you should think something great and wonderful about yourselves, and be deceived as if you were wiser than others, learn briefly another mystery, more fearful, showing the ineffable providence of God toward all; for when the Israelites, ^C save for the fact (for he says "in part") that they were blinded and thrust aside salvation, God transferred it to you. Nevertheless, when you all have been adopted, grace will again encompass them all. "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." He says that those gifts which God promised to Israel through the prophet are without repentance, saying, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer," and what follows; and the calling [is] through the Lord. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." The phrase, therefore, "hath concluded," is equal to, "The law entered that the offence might abound." For God did not make these men unbelievers, ^D but gave them saving commandments; but because they acted wickedly, this resulted. Nor did He give the commandments for this reason, that He might drag them into unbelief, but this result came about because of their unbelief. Of the same type are the other things of those things previously set forth, such as: "Blindness in part has happened to the Gentiles" he says. When, therefore, all have come to the faith, then Israel also believing will be saved. He calls those the "Israel" who have remained in Judaism. For, "Thou shalt put them to flight," says the Scripture, "and in the remainder [that is, in the remnant] thou shalt make ready their face." And thus all Israel shall be saved.

For the hardening of Israel has happened in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in. For it was not so that the Gentiles might be saved that some of Israel were hardened, but rather, because of those who were hardened, that followed. And that saying, "They have disobeyed your mercy, that they also may obtain mercy." And all things of this kind are expressed in the accusative mode, though they do not bear an accusative sense.

CHAP. XII.

^AVER. 1. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service."

Having thus far extended his discourse on dogma in what has preceded, from this point he proceeds purely to moral instruction. He does this indeed in all his Epistles, and rightly so. For it is necessary, I think, that one who wishes to live in the best manner should know and believe in God, first that He exists, and then that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him through a good life. But Paul proceeds from what was premised to his conclusion, and from those things by which he concluded his dogmatic teaching, he took the beginning of his ethics.

^BVER. 3. "For I say, by the grace that is given me."

Or, "by the grace of God that is given me," he said, in place of, "since I have received from divine grace the authority to teach you these things."

VER. 7. "Whether ministry, in ministering; or he that teacheth, in doctrine."

By ministry, he means the capacity inherent in some for serving those in need; by doctrine, absolute counsel; by exhortation, mutual instruction; by simplicity, the absence of guile and envy; by cheerfulness, a mind prompt for mercy, showing compassion with joy. This, however, belongs to the analogy of faith, not merely to prophecy, but is common to all gifts, and all other things have a relation to the same. "Whether ministry, in ministering." See how the gifts are enumerated without discrimination. The small is placed ^C first, the great, last. By this very thing, the Apostle teaches us not to be puffed up or exalted.

VER. 17. "Render to no man evil for evil."

Since many of men, when the divine law commands that we should not avenge ourselves against the wicked [with like deeds], being stirred by anger and emulating injustice, call this folly and, saying that a love of peace is unworthy of a man, are led into the pursuit of greater harm, the Apostle exhorts us to flee these things, so that we may not, out of anger, follow our own thoughts as if they were better than God's command, but rather that we should obey Him, saying that those [other ways] are void.

CHAP. XIII.

VER. 1, 2. "Let every soul be subject to higher powers; for there is no power but from God; and those that are, are ordained of God. Therefore"

^A he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, shall purchase to themselves damnation."

At the beginning of the evangelical preaching, it was difficult for men, held fast by their previous customs, to receive the Gospel, which promised things above the human mind and was preached by unlearned and poor men. For this reason, there was at that time a great distribution of gifts, putting them to shame that they were not learning those things which were taught by the Apostles. But becoming partakers of the Spirit, and as if seeing with their eyes the things preached because of the power given to them by the Spirit for the working of miracles, they despised present things, wealth, glory, and royalty itself. From this, the matter was about to proceed into factions, as they thought it superfluous to remain in their previous state after Christ, the opinion being confirmed especially by this very Epistle to them. For through the whole course of the Epistle, he exhorted them that, having been translated into Christ, they should no longer live ^B according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The Apostle, therefore, foreseeing this, gives them a doctrine accommodated to them, saying: "Let every soul be subject to powers." And he did not say, "to those exercising power," but "to powers," that by the dignity [of the office] he might teach them to honor those who are established in it, and that the dignity might not suffer injury through the malice of some.

VER. 7. "Render therefore to all their dues: tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor."

Tribute and custom are one and the same thing. Certainly, in the preceding verse he said to pay tributes: "For therefore you also pay tributes." But now he has distinguished the same: either wishing to say this, that whether one wishes to call it tribute or custom, we must pay it; or he said this, by the one indicating the payment of public funds, and by the other ^C debts to private possessors. "Fear, to whom fear," for instance, to those in authority; "honor, to whom honor," for instance, to friends and generally to one's neighbor.

CHAP. XIV.

VER. 6. "He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it."

The discourse is about the observation of days. Both, therefore, he says, use the same aim: namely, honor to God. For the one who observes the day thinks he is fulfilling the law of God; and the one who is indifferent about this holds every day, as having been created by God, in equal honor. Likewise also regarding he who eats.

And concerning those who, because of the infirmities of the body, die to the passions and live in Christ.

VER. 11. "For it is written: As I live, saith the Lord, that every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Clearly, indeed, through this testimony is established the perfect equality of the Son with the Father. For Isaiah, from the person

of God speaking thus: "I am God, and there is none else. By myself I swear, justice shall go forth from my mouth, and it shall not return; for unto me every knee shall bow." ^A Since the prophet spoke these things in this way, Paul accepted them as applying to the Lord Christ; nor would he have ever done this if he had not understood Christ to be true God, just as the Father is.

VERS. 15. "For if because of food your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died." ^B Very admirably, therefore, does he rebuke this action: first, by the lightness of the pretext, saying "because of food"; second, by the person concerning whom the sin revolves: "your brother"; third, by the result of the fault, naming it outright as "destruction"; fourth, by him in whom the audacity falls: "for whom," he says, "Christ willingly died"; fifth, because he causes piety to be blasphemed; sixth, because not for these or such like enjoyments did we come to the faith of Christ, but to live in the possession of righteousness—that is, of innocence, and peace, and joy. For from sin comes offense; and from offense comes the condemnation of sorrow. With sin removed, therefore, those things which proceed from it are removed at the same time. But with righteousness introduced, peace and joy are rightly brought in along with it. And when he says "in the Holy Spirit," he shows the author of such great blessings.

VERS. 22. "You have faith? Have it to yourself." ^C For as if someone, contradicting these words—"It is good not to eat meat"—were to say, "What then? Shall I deny my faith because of this man?" The Apostle says, "I do not bid you to act against your faith. On the contrary, I even exhort you to stand firm in it. But I advise you not to scandalize your brother because of it; let the faith which you have suffice with God alone as its witness." For it is possible in this way both for you to preserve your faith and not to inflict harm upon your brother.

"Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves." ^D But here also, resisting, he seems to resolve the objections. For as if someone were to say: "If, therefore, I do not eat because of the weak man, am I not becoming like him?"—the Apostle says, as it were: "God forbid! For your faith remains uncorrupted in the sight of God, and not only do you inflict no harm upon yourself, but if you do not eat for the sake of the salvation of your brother, you receive blessedness." "For blessed," he says, "is he who does not judge himself in what he approves"—that is, he who has a conscience bearing witness to him, not only in that in which one abstains from foods for the sake of his brother's salvation, but in every work which, through accurate testing, he judges to be good and then performs, with his conscience bearing witness to him.

CHAPTER XV

VER. 3. "For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me."

This has a double meaning. It can be interpreted as spoken by the Son to God the Father, both because the Only-Begotten took upon himself the blasphemies of men against the Father, and because he took upon himself the punishment that those who blasphemed God deserved for their blasphemies. ^A

VER. 5, 6. "Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

He calls Him "the God of patience and comfort" because He bestows patience and comfort, just as He is called the God of mercy and the God of compassion. The phrase "grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus" means: no longer divided according to the old customs of your fathers, but united according to the heavenly man. And when he says "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," he means the God who, by the resurrection from the dead, assured us regarding His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that He had called us into adoption, which He had promised first, having overseen this first. Furthermore, concerning the phrase "May God grant you, that with one accord you may glorify God," he is not referring to one God and another, as he has spoken of God many times; rather, in the second instance, he has placed the same name again instead of a pronoun. It would have been clearer if expressed thus: "May God grant you to be of the same mind, that with one accord you may glorify him." But now, instead of "him," he has put "God," which is a peculiarity of Scripture, as in the passage: "The Lord rained fire from the Lord"—that is, from himself; and, "The Lord grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord"; and, "Thy righteousness is as the mountains of God"; and other such things. ^{B C}

VER. 24. "I hope, as I pass through, to see you, and to be brought on my way thither by you, if first I shall have enjoyed your company for a while."

"Enjoyed your company for a while" stands for: "enjoyed being received by you." Or he said this [meaning] he was going to go to them again, since the blessed Paul came to Rome more than once. ^D

VER. 29. "And I know that, when I come to you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ."

"I know," he says, "that when I arrive among you, I shall have and shall impart to you much comfort from the Gospel of Christ." The Gospel of Christ is worthy of a thousand praises among you. Similar to this is what he says in another place: "That is, that I may be comforted together in you by that which is common to both, your faith and mine."