Commentaries on Genesis

^A regarding the "extra matters" [at the end of verse 21 in Sirach] and so forth. And that of Ecclesiastes: "Do not play the wise man overmuch, lest you be struck with wonder." Moreover, there were not, at that time, any who were capable of discerning more subtle insights, neither among the Hebrews nor among the Greeks; furthermore, they considered unnecessary and truly foolish any knowledge not capable of leading to a good life and piety. One may find, however, that the New Testament is the goal of the Old, and that the Old serves as a pedagogical guidance toward the New. Hence, also, Moses, as a teacher of novices, tells nothing of the secret mysteries; yet he posited as fundamental the creation of the world by God and the unwritten laws of those who lived before the time of the people who followed his own legislation—for those laws they had received through divine visions that occurred to them according to their capacity. For God selected a certain people from the seed of Abraham, keeping it unmixed with others by means of various ordinances, and deemed it worthy of His special providence, which were things that needed to be preserved through them for the sake of the instruction of those who were to follow. For through them, it was necessary that God’s various economies be dispensed also to men. For Christ, under the law, dawned upon the whole of life for salvation, among whom the prophets had proclaimed His coming. Wherefore they were deemed worthy of a special providence, so that, by not mixing with other peoples, they might not suffer corruption, but might in due time hand on to others the fore-announcements of the coming of Christ, and how much care God had bestowed upon mankind from above, and how, through the legal ordinance, beginning from the promises made to Abraham, He had tutored everyone until the coming of Christ. ^D As for the obscurity of the Old Testament, the first cause is the weakness of the men of old, who stood in need of a veil commensurate with their worth. For Moses was not ignorant—for it was toward them that he held the veil, but not toward himself, nor when he turned toward the Lord. Therefore, there was no blame against those who were ignorant. "For if I had not come," says Christ, "and spoken to them, they would not have had sin." But the obscurity of prophecy is interpreted through its outcome. A second cause is the translation from the Hebrew language into another [Greek] tongue, which God economically ordained to happen through Ptolemy before the coming of Christ, at the time when He was about to be made known to all nations in common. That, by divine inspiration, the great Moses knew exactly both the most ancient things and those that were to follow for the most part, no one will deny. For by God’s inspiration . . .

^A having called upon him to be our fellow-worker, let us begin from this point. Whoever approaches the Holy Scripture must hear what is said, not as if men were speaking, but as if God were speaking through them. For just as a royal minister mimics the voice of the king, saying "I have commanded" or "I have granted," so the prophets offer their tongue as a reed to a scribe, according to the great David, as when they say: "If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the earth." Therefore, the oracles are of God, in whom there is no falsehood or irrationality. And it is necessary, whatever you are able to understand piously, to hold fast; but if anything exceeds your power, you must either learn from the Fathers or refer it to God, the source of knowledge, who teaches man knowledge.

The Book of Genesis

Genesis, therefore, is the writing of Moses, a man who saw God, as far as it was possible for him to see, to whom "God spoke mouth to mouth, in a form and not through riddles." But desiring to draw forth a fuller knowledge and to see God in a known way, he did not fail of his request, being hidden under the cleft of the rock; the cleft of the rock is the knowledge of the Father ^B through the Son who was incarnate for our sake. And he saw the things after God, which are the "back parts," from which the Creator of them is seen by analogy, which in all likelihood he grasped more than others. So then, attempting to lead the people entrusted to him toward the knowledge of God, and to set forth laws that lead to salvation, he used two kinds of writing: the one historical, the other legislative. The legislative is divided into the hortatory and the prohibitive; and the historical is divided into that which concerns the creation of the world, and that which is genealogical. The legislative part is divided into that which concerns the punishment of the ungodly, and that which concerns the honoring of the righteous. He set the historical before the legislative for this reason, that he might not present it as one merely declaring a narrative of ancient events. But taking ^C the beginning from above, even before the creation of the universe, he shows the Father of the world, and that this Creator is in truth a lawgiver. For it was necessary to be known, before the laws, who the lawgiver is. And so John also said first: "In the beginning..." ^D

was the Word," etc. Afterward, at last, he subjoins his laws.

^A Moses, however, diligently strives to show that it is the duty of him who is to use these divine laws to accommodate his life to the order and beautiful harmony of this universe; just as there, nothing is observed to deviate or fall short of its own harmony, so also our life should agree, namely, that our deeds should accord with our words, and our words should accord with our deeds. Other legislators immediately sanction laws prescribing a political life, and they determine the punishments by which delinquents are to be affected. Others first found a city, and then adorn it with laws, which they accommodate to that form of public life which they desire to obtain in that state. ^B Our Moses thought that the first method was in no way different from tyranny, because no place there appeared to be left for either exhortation or persuasion. The second method, indeed, he did not altogether reject, yet he did not think that it was in every respect well executed. Therefore, he departs from both, and follows a certain peculiar method. For he so tempered his legislation that he mixed in exhortation; and by this means he finished the business of legislation by encouraging and persuading rather than by force and compulsion. To initiate the work of legislation with a city built by human hands, whether by discourse or by fictitious oratory, he judged to be very obscure and abject, and thought it would be more humble than would befit the excellence of the laws which he was preparing to bring forth. Therefore, looking exactly with the eyes of his mind upon the beauty of these laws, and neglecting to build any city on the earth that might consist of artfully composed structures, ^C he hastened to the great city, namely the world; whose generation, having explained, he shows his laws to be, as it were, a living exemplar of this universe. For the force of these laws, if anyone considers them with more diligent judgment, is in every way consonant with the laborious machinery of the world. That those who, having abandoned the path of virtue and despised the divine office of the laws, fell into vices—not only as pests to the human race, but as enemies of the heavens and of the whole world—it appears that they did not bear this with impunity. For it signifies that such monsters of men were agitated not by customary, but by new and exquisite punishments, with water and fire, namely, the most powerful elements, demanding punishments and overflowing upon their heads.

^D Wherefore, when he places such a city before our eyes, and so illustrious a city, he transmits certain things in silence; yet he believed that nothing should be silenced regarding the nature of beings and thus the whole creation of things. For he aimed at this one goal, that he might draw the people away from the error of worshipping many gods, into which madness they had fallen while dwelling in Egypt. Therefore, he everywhere proposes one sole creator of the world. For Scripture sees that it is not so much toward exact knowledge [of hidden things] as toward piety—as it is good to have the counsel of Sirach—

^A in those things that exceed your works, be not curious, and what follows. Nor is the statement of Ecclesiastes regarding being over-wise to be disapproved: for why should you come to desolation? Moreover, the age was tempestuous, and the people were rude: neither the Hebrews nor the Greeks were able to grasp higher and keener questions of speculation, especially since those dogmas, which do not lead to living well and happily, and inducing piety, they rejected at that time as superfluous and foolish. But, if anyone looks into the matter more deeply, he will find that the New Testament is the aim of the Old, ^B and he will recognize that the Old represents, as it were, an institution and introduction to the New. Therefore, Moses, acting as a tutor for children, omits hidden mysteries, and sounds nothing high or lofty. He recounts first the creation of the world, then brings forward the laws, which the people of that time followed as a certain norm of life. For they were able to accept these from the divine visions, to the extent that it was possible, as they appeared divinely. Since God had chosen the seed of Abraham, whom He wished to be separated from the contagion of the rest of mankind, He preserved him with many most wholesome precepts, and deemed him worthy of His providence above the rest. To these He showed abundantly what it behooves those who are pushed by the desire of knowing dogmas, which were to be explained later, to hold. For, by the work and study of these, it was necessary for the divine miracles and the law to be communicated also to other mortals. ^C Christ, indeed, was among those who were subject to the law, and was born and deemed worthy of the special providence of God, lest they feel a foul corruption by being mixed with other peoples, and so that in His own time He might effectively demonstrate to other nations the saving advent of Christ, His oracles, and the care which God had fostered for the human race from the beginning, having begun with the promises to Abraham, and striving to instruct all for the advent of Christ.

That the Old Testament is somewhat obscure is due to no other cause than the obtuse hearts of the men of old. For they had need of a veil, since they could not endure the light on account of the excellence of the divine oracles. For their sharp-sightedness was not blinded by them. ^D Verily, Moses had the full knowledge of all mysteries; the veil was not on account of him, but for the sake of others, he covered his face. Nor did he use the veil when he was turned to the Lord, and converse with Him face to face. Therefore, because of their ignorance of the mysteries, they were not to be accused. Hear Christ saying: "If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin." Prophecy, indeed, is at first glance slightly obscure; but when it is compared to the affair and arrives at the event which it predicted, then at last it is manifest.

^A "For he who is hanged is accursed of God." [25.] Aquilas and Theodotion brought forth, "an accursed one of God, hanged." But the divine Apostle, addressing the Galatians, whom he calls senseless, in citing this passage, says neither "of God" nor "of God" [in the sense of the source]. And perhaps for this reason he omitted it, thinking the addition was above their capacity. Or perhaps some person removed it as blasphemous from the older codices. It is a hysteron proteron, however, that which says: "And he dies, and you shall hang him upon a tree"; for no one is driven to a cross after death, but rather he dies through the cross.

^B But how did He call the death by the cross alone accursed, even if it happens by an error of judges? For in similar or even worse crimes, at times other punishments are justly inflicted. And how will the oddity of the cause not seem strange, that for this reason one should take him down from the cross and bury him, because he is accursed of God? As if he would have had to remain if he were not accursed; although the contrary was what should be. And further, since He established the penalty of the cross for no sin or impiety, how did He cast this out now? Therefore, it is gathered from all sides that this was said only for the sake of Christ, who was about to become a curse for us. And because He was God, it is fittingly said, "curse of God." For being God, He sustained the curse for us. For that the cross is named a curse in no other way is shown by that which was said about Peter: "This he said, signifying by what death he would glorify God." For if it is a curse by nature, why, he says, will he glorify God, and not simply, he will die? For it is not the glory of God that which is by nature terrible, and a curse of God.

^A And it becomes perfectly clear. I can also report another cause of the obscurity, and it proceeds from this, that the Old Testament was translated into the Greek language by the industry and zeal of Ptolemy before the incarnation of Christ. Since all the dogmas of the most holy faith had to be opened up even to the Gentiles, so that they might more expediously fly to the true faith. But that Moses was instructed in the knowledge of antiquities, and foresaw and knew long before in his mind what was to come, I do not believe anyone would deny. For indeed, from divine inspiration, he acquired the knowledge of past, present, and, future things.

On the Creation of the World

Since the creation of the world is the subject before us, it must be known that the children of the Greeks say that the creation is co-eternal with God; for they posit some matter as co-eternal with God. Not being able, therefore, to find how anything will come to be from that which in no way and in no manner exists, and measuring the power of God by their own concepts, they fashioned for us an eternal matter; and saying that God is always a creator, they say that his works are always; and yet if matter is eternal, it is also unchangeable; for if it should change, it will receive change only according to the eternal, not becoming eternal, which is impossible. For being without quality, and without quantity, and without form, it will not admit of change according to any of these; and it will also be equal to God. For in what will you distinguish the eternal from the eternal? And how will one be acting, and the other being made? And it is a stroke of luck for God even that matter was found; for otherwise he would not have been a creator, being at a loss as to what he might do, and not being able to bring existing things into being from non-existing ones. But how, being alien to God and not having come into being from him, has it become receptive to the forms that come from him? For what affinity, or what kinship is there toward the forms, of the one sort from God, and of the other (not so)? And how, while making forms from nothing—which is ^B even greater—was he not able to make matter, which is worse? But why do I speak of forms? For the intelligible substances and [those that are] entirely bodiless, and our own soul, how did he bring them forth from nothing? For these having been removed from bodies, there is nothing left. Yet we know that bulk is always supplied to forms from the underlying things, in which it happens that matter is conceived together with the forms.

But how, too, is the world co-eternal with God? For it will be by necessity of nature, not by will, that it has existence. And what thanks will the works of this world render to God, having come into being not by his will, but by necessity of nature? ^C If, indeed, since he is a creator, the work of creation always existed, God not being able to restrain his creative impulses. But if this is so, why did he cease from creating, and not create a world at every moment? And how will the works not be constitutive of the divine essence, if, these not existing, he will not be a creator by nature? But how will he not be [the work] of the De- ^D miurge? For if the world is co-eternal with God, it will follow that the world was constructed not by the will of the Creator, but by necessity. What thanks, therefore, will the creatures pay to the Lord, if, beyond the will of the Creator, and thereby against his desire, they were brought into the number of existing things? But that which they propose is much more absurd: If he was a creator, it is a necessary consequence that he must perform his work, since he could in no way have inhibited the impulse or ardor of creating. But if this is true,

why did he refrain from creating, and not ^A immediately establish worlds? Furthermore, from this it will follow that creatures are supplements to the divine substance: for if they did not exist, the natural Artisan would not exist either. Additionally, what would prevent us from extending our thought to the point of declaring that the matter from which the world is compacted is coeternal with God and preceded the Artisan and is older than him? Oh, the absurdity! Moreover, since it is most manifest that simple things are older than composite ones, it would follow from the reasonings just mentioned that God—that most simple substance—exists as the same (so to speak) in relation to the world, which consists of parts and is seen to be composite; and this can be perceived by the mind, since they do not blush to declare God coeternal with composite things. How were the forms of the world commensurable with matter? For they say that the Creator found by some happy stroke of fortune just as much matter as would suffice for the construction of this most vast work; and in this, God's virtue or power is concluded and bounded as if it were weak. But this is completely foreign to what is eternal, and should not be predicated of it. Or (they continue their reasoning) he found matter greater than his power could handle, and thus the multitude of matter overwhelmed and overcame the power of God—if it is appropriate to speak of a "multitude" of matter, which is grasped by sophisticated reasoning (as the philosophers maintain). Subdued by necessity, therefore, he brought a part of that matter into creation, as far as he had the power to construct. The other part he left uncreated due to lack or defect of power. Or the Artisan found matter smaller than what was appropriate for his power. And so, against his will, he repressed what remained of his own power, when he saw no further matter lying at hand in which he might complete the business of the rest of creation. A truly excellent line of reasoning! If the Creator could place a bridle on a part of his own power, could he not have suppressed his entire power, and thus by an open example have shown that the world is by no means coeternal with himself?

But let us repeat this discourse regarding the world: ^C Either God found matter, when he took up the business of creation, that was equal or unequal to the world's magnitude. If it was unequal, it was discovered to be either greater or smaller. If you say that matter was smaller than the edifice of the world, from where did the rest, which pertained to the perfection of the world, draw its essence? If it was greater, then what remained stayed an inform and undigested mass, as if awaiting another manufacturer. If, however, matter presented itself as commensurable to the creation of the world, surely chance or some fortune preceded God and prepared the matter for the Creator for the future world, and adjusted it to the Creator's power. What, therefore, will prevent matter from being finite, since we observe it to have been made commensurable to the world (according to the opinion of the Greeks)? But if it were eternal and incorporeal, it would most clearly look toward the aforementioned affection, namely, that it should be limited by some end. But I desire to have explained to me how the world was created if it possesses the same eternity as God? It seems so to me, and this sentiment arises in my soul: That which is without time or lacks time is neither created nor ^D does it need to think of matter as older than the Creator; it is necessary to consider the matter—that which is placed before or is prior to the world—from which the world was produced by God, as coeternal. But if the simple is prior to the composite, and God is at once God while the world is composite, how are these things not entirely prior in thought to God, who happens to be coeternal with the composite things? And how was the form of the world measured out to the matter? For either God found by chance such a quantity of matter as he was able to order into a world, and the power of the one creating reached its limit—which is foreign to eternal things—or he found it more than his own power, and the multitude of matter overcame the power of God, if it is appropriate to speak of "multitude" in a matter grasped by thought, as the wise say. And consequently, of necessity, God created what he did from it, in accordance with the power he had that sufficed. And he left the rest uncreated through lack of power. Or, finding it smaller, he checked the excess of his own power against his will, finding nothing lying at hand for the remaining creation. But if he checked a part of his power, he could have checked the whole and not established the world as coeternal. Let us look again at the same argument concerning the world: either he found the matter commensurate with the magnitude of the world when he wished to construct it, or it was more than the need, or again, less; and if it was less, from where did the rest come to be? But if it was more, the excess remained unadorned, as if awaiting another creator. If it was commensurate, then chance is the measure for it before God, and it prepared it both for the need of the world and for his own power. But how did it not receive a limit, having been measured out to the world? An attribute alien to it, if it is eternal and incorporeal. But how has the world come to be if it is coeternal? For that which is timeless is uncreated, and that which is uncreated is without beginning. God alone is that which is without beginning, however you may take the meaning of "beginning"—whether by cause or by time; which indeed belongs only to the eternal. But is not God the Father of the world rather than its maker? Begetting it as the sun generates its light, but not working on it as a builder does a city. Even if it is possible for God to be "always creating," it was not possible for something generated to be "always" and to be extended simultaneously with the eternity of the one creating. Moreover, the one who said "creator" will not simultaneously set forth "creation."

Nor indeed does the building coexist with the builder, nor the ship with the shipwright. For the creation exists in the creator, but the thing created [exists] after the creator. If the world is simultaneous [with God] and nothing is new, then evil is simultaneous with the world; but if this is so, then evil is simultaneous with God, and this [evil] is either entirely without beginning, or is from Him. Both are absurd. If God is simultaneous with the world, then God is simultaneous with the evil demons. And if their evil is essential, whence is it? For it is not ancient. But if it is acquired, those who participate in that evil must pre-exist it; yet it was already said, according to them, that the world and evil are simultaneous. If God is simultaneous with the world, then simple things are simultaneous with composite things. And how do these things arise from those, [how can] things in potentiality [be] simultaneous with things in actuality, [how can] incomplete things [be] simultaneous with perfect things [which are] of a nature to be perfected from the incomplete? For example: men from children, fruits from seeds, growths from diminutions. ^A Likewise, the sun that brings things from the earth to perfection, as they say, [would be] simultaneous with all things that are generated in parts by succession, so that God might have nothing in potentiality—possessing indeed the definitions of them, but not at the same time creating each thing individually. And there will also be, at the same time, God and judgment, if indeed confinement in bodies is [a form of] judgment; and judgment will exist before the world. If God is simultaneous with the world, there is nothing new in the world, with destiny intertwined with providence, and with restorations happening always, and nothing probable or [new] in cycles, but [everything] having happened and about to happen in the same way; this is what they say [who hold it to be] newer, if God is simultaneous with all things at once.

Therefore, Moses rightly, having left behind their ^B follies and their impious and God-opposing notions, says: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth."

Chapter One

[alt-version omitted]

so too, by omitting the mention of the angels, he intended them to be understood under that which contains them. What, then, was the cause of this? If the Creator is known from the beauty of the creatures, and the angels are more excellent than the visible creatures, how was it not more necessary to set forth their creation? Did he, then, pass over the memory of them as being uncreated? Far from it, for in that way even the elements that were passed over in silence would be uncreated. ^A But in truth, he chose rather to stammer with the Jews, saying those things which they were able to hear at the time. For just as a teacher of children delivers to them the first elements, knowing that when they have learned these, other teachers will succeed him to deliver more perfect things, so he intended that they, having used sensible things as a kind of foundation, might be able also to hear something about higher things. Hence David, as though the people had been handed over to him as a master by another master, says: "Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights; praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his Hosts; for he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." ^B And the great Paul also says: "For in him all things were created, whether visible or invisible." For what is said to Job, "When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice," does not clearly prove that they were created before the heavens and the earth. For the stars were made on the third day. These things having been premised by us as necessary, we must proceed to a more specific interpretation, with God granting us strength.

CHAPTER ONE

VERS. 1. In the beginning God made heaven and earth. He calls the beginning "time," for from this point the time of created things began and had its first origin; such is the saying: "The beginning of a good way is to do just things," for by just deeds we move toward the blessed life. ^C For if you retreat from the subsequent times, you will find this time to be the limit from which the beginning took its start (Moses). Or he indicates that God, beginning to create, made these things first, just as ^D Procopius seems to have had the commentary of Acacius of Caesarea before his eyes. For this man has many things from all other interpreters that are similar to the Procopian explanation. But Procopius expressed his opinions in such a way that they seem not so much taken from elsewhere as thought out by his own study. At least this much is understood, that he wanted to carefully hide the traces from which it would appear that he had compiled them. Therefore, he sometimes inserts his own words, such as those that follow below, which I could nowhere else discover; at other times he puts the very words of others, such as those which belong to Chrysostom on this passage.

ὁ προηγούμενος τῆς Παρασκευῆς νύκτωρ χρόνος. Ὁ ἐπιὼν δὲ ἡμέρας ἑορτάσιμος τῇ τρίτῃ νυκτὶ συναριθμεῖται, ἐν ᾗ ἀνέστη. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκ σκότους τὰ πράγματα ἀνιχνεύεται καὶ εἰς φῶς προάγεται, τὰ νυκτερινὰ πρῶτον σκότη συνεκλογιστέον· ἵνα τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας φαίδρυνμα εὐκαίρως ἐντεῦθεν ἐπακολουθήσῃ. Ἄλλως τε πρέπει τῇ θείᾳ μεγαλειότητι ἐν τῇ τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργίᾳ ἀπὸ τῶν τὸ φέγγος ἐκχεόντων καὶ οὐσίαν ἐχόντων ἄρχεσθαι· οὐ μὴν ἀπὸ τῶν μὴ ὄντων, οἷς τὸ φῶς ἀπεκλείσθη, ἐξάρχεσθαι· ὧν καὶ ἡ κτίσις οὐ παραδέδοται.

^A Καὶ πῶς δεῖ περὶ τούτων ζητεῖν εἰ πρῶτα γέγονε; Ἐν γὰρ τῷ φῶς μὴ παρεῖναι, λέγεται σκότος καὶ νύξ. Οὕτω γὰρ τὸ μέλαν καὶ τὸ ἀφώτιστον τοῦ διαφανοῦς ἀέρος ὠνόμασται· ἃ τοῖς γεγονόσιν ἐπηκολούθηκεν, ὡς ἡ σκιὰ τῷ σώματι, λεγομένη μὲν, ἀνύπαρκτος δὲ καθάπερ ἐκεῖνα τυγχάνουσα. Εἰ δέ ποτε καὶ λέγειν τὸ γεγονέναι, ἄλλως τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτῶν ἐκδέχεσθαι χρή, ὡς ἐν τῷ Ψαλμῷ· «Ἔθου σκότος, καὶ ἐγένετο νύξ», καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ὑπὸ τίνος ἐγένετο· οὐδὲ τὸ «ἔθου» διήρθρωσε ποταπὸν τυγχάνει. Οὐδὲ εἶπεν, «Ἐποίησας σκότος», οὐδὲ «Γενηθήτω σκότος καὶ ἐγένετο σκότος», ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν δημιουργημάτων, ἀλλὰ μὲν τὸ «Φῶς, εἶπε, γενηθήτω». Τὸ δὲ σκότος ἐπηκολούθησεν ἐκ τοῦ σκιάσματος τῆς γῆς· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἡμέραν, τὸ δὲ νύκτα ἐκάλεσε τοῦ φωτὸς ἐν στερήσει γιγνόμενον. Καὶ ὥσπερ λέγομεν ὁρᾷν αὐτό, μὴ ὁρῶντες ἀληθῶς, ἐμποδιζόμενοι δὲ ὁρᾶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ· οὕτω καὶ τὸ καλεῖσθαι αὐτὸ φήσομεν οὐκ ἐν τῷ εἶναι, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ παρακολουθεῖν ἑτέρῳ ὄντι. ^B Τὸ γὰρ σκότος γενόμενον καὶ γενητὸν πῶς ἐστι καὶ ἀγένητον; Ἀγένητον μὲν οὐχ ὡς οὐ γενόμενον, ἀλλ’ ὡς τὸ γένεσιν ἐν ὑπάρξει μὴ λαβόν· γενητὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ τοῖς γινομένοις ἐπακολουθεῖν δίκην σκιᾶς, ὥσπερ τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων σωμάτων γιγνόμενα· ὧν τὸ γίνεσθαι μὲν ἡ αἴσθησις συνομολογεῖ. Οὐσίαις δὲ αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ μηδὲ εἶναι οὐκ ἐπιβάλλομεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ καθ’ ἑαυτὰς αἱ σκιαὶ, ἀλλ’ ἀφ’ ἑτέρου μέρους σώματος τὴν εἰκασίαν ποιοῦσι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ ἀήρ τὸ σκότος, εἰ καὶ μέλας ὥσπερ οὕτως τῇ φύσει· διαφανὴς γὰρ ὢν ἀλλοτρίῳ χρώματι τῷ τοῦ φωτὸς ὁρᾶται· οὗ μὴ παρόντος, τὸ ἀφώτιστον τοῦ ἀέρος καὶ οἱονεὶ μέλαν ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ μένον, σκότος καλεῖται, μὴ ὂν οὐσία. Εἰ καὶ φησιν Ἡσαΐας· «Ἐγὼ ὁ Θεὸς κατασκευάσας φῶς καὶ ποιήσας σκότος»· ἐπιφέρει γάρ· «Ὁ ποιήσας εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων τὰ κακὰ», ἅπερ ὁμοίως ἀνούσια. Οὐ πρωτουργὸν οὖν τὸ σκότος, ἀλλ’ ἀνυπάρκτως γινόμενον κατὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ φῶς παρακολούθησιν. Οὐ πρώτη τοίνυν ἡ νύξ· εἰ καὶ ἐν ἑορταῖς ὁ Μωϋσῆς προδιαναπαύει, ἐκ προλαβούσης νυκτὸς εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν τοῦ Σαββάτου οἱονεὶ προεόρτιον ἑορτὴν διδοὺς· ἐκ φυτικῆς ἐκεχειρίας τῆς ἐν νυκτὶ τὴν ἐκ λόγου διανάπαυσιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ προστακτικῶς παρέχων. ^C Εἰκότως οὖν οὐ φησι «Καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα, καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, νὺξ μία», ἀλλ’ «ἡμέρα μία». Ἡμέρα μὲν γὰρ ἐγένετο, ἐπειδὴ ἀπὸ τῆς πορείας τοῦ φωτὸς ἠριθμεῖτο τὰ διαστήματα πρωΐας καὶ ἑσπέρας· νὺξ δὲ οὐκ ἐγένετο, ἐπεὶ μὴ οὐσία τοῦ σκότους, ταύτης ἦν ποιητική. Εἰ δὲ φησιν ὁ Μωϋσῆς, «Ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα μία», ὡς ἐκ τούτου νύκτα πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας γενέσθαι νομίζεσθαι· ἀλλ’ οὖν οὐ τῇ τάξει τῶν ὀνομάτων, ^D ἀλλὰ καθ’ ὁδὸν εὑρεθήσεται ἡ τούτων κτίσις. Τότε γὰρ δὴ καλυφθήσεται καὶ νὺξ νοηθήσεται, ὅταν ὑπεξῃρημένη ᾖ ἢ ἀποῦσα ἡ αὐγή. Οὕτω γὰρ καλεῖται ἡ μελανία καὶ τὸ μέρος τοῦ ἀέρος τὸ ἀφώτιστον· ταῦτα γὰρ τῷ δημιουργήματι συμμετέπεται, οὐχ ἑτέρως ἢ σῶμα σκιᾷ, ἥτις οὐ καθ’ ἑαυτὴν ὑφέστηκε, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὰ προειρημένα. Εἰ δέ που γεγονέναι ταῦτα λέγονται, ἄλλως τὴν γένεσιν αὐτῶν ἑρμηνεύειν δεῖ, καθάπερ καὶ ἐνταῦθα: «Ποιεῖς σκότος καὶ γίνεται νύξ». Ἐνταῦθα οὐ μνημονεύει παρ' οὗ γέγονε. Οὐδὲ τὸ ρῆμα, ποιεῖς, ἐμφανῶς ὑποσημαίνει πόθεν ἐστίν. Οὐδὲ εἶπεν: «Ἐποίησας σκότος». Οὐδὲ ἐλάλησεν, ὥσπερ ἐν ἄλλοις συμβεβηκέναι συνίσταται: «Γενηθήτω σκότος». Ἀληθῶς δέ, ὅσον ἀφορᾷ εἰς τὴν κτίσιν τοῦ φωτός, ἐναργέσιν εἶπε λόγοις: «Γενηθήτω φῶς». Ἀλλὰ τὸ σκότος ἐπηκολούθησεν ἐκ τοῦ σκιάσματος τῆς γῆς. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ὄνομα τῆς ἡμέρας ἠξιώθη, τὸ δὲ τῆς νυκτὸς, καὶ ὅπερ ἀνεφύη ἐκ τῆς τοῦ φωτὸς στερήσεως. Καθάπερ φέφαμεν, ἡμεῖς ὁρᾷν τὸ σκότος, ἡνίκα αὐτὸ οὐκ ἀληθῶς καθορῶμεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἡ ὄψις ἡμετέρα ὑπὸ τούτων ἐμποδίζεται καὶ σκοτοῦται: οὕτως διαβεβαιωσόμεθα τὸ σκότος μὲν κτήσασθαι τὸ ὄνομα οὐκ ἐξ ἰδίας οὐσίας, ἀλλὰ διότι παρακολουθεῖ καὶ συμμετέπεται ἀεὶ ἕτερόν τι πρᾶγμα. Φαίνεται τοίνυν τὸ σκότος τρόπον τινὰ καὶ γεγονὸς καὶ οὐ γεγονὸς κατανοεῖσθαι. Οὐ γεγονὸς μὲν, οὐχ ὡς καθ’ ἑαυτὸ ἀγέννητον νοεῖσθαι δεῖ, ἀλλ’ ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ γενέσει οὐδεμίαν οὐσίαν ἐκτήσαντο. Γεγονὸς δέ, λάβε, ὅτι δίκην σκιᾶς ἀεὶ συνημμένα ἐστὶ τοῖς σώμασιν. Καθάπερ τὴν σκιὰν, ἧς τὸ ἡμέτερον σῶμα ἀρχή ἐστι, μηδὲν εἶναι καὶ ἡ αἴσθησις ὁμολογεῖ, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα συμβαίνειν οἴεσθαι χρή. Οὐδεμίαν οὐσίαν τῇ σκιᾷ προστίθεμεν. Οὐδαμῶς γὰρ ἐν τοῖς οὖσι κατατάττεται, ἀλλὰ φαντασίαν τινὰ καὶ εἰκασίαν, ὥσπερ εἰ καθ’ ἑαυτὰ εἴησαν, παρέχονται, μέχρις ἂν ἀφ’ ἑτέρου σώματος μέσου πορεύωνται. Μὴ δὲ σὺ τὸν ἀέρα καλέσῃς ζόφον, εἰ καὶ, ὥσπερ τοῦτο, μέλας ἐστίν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ διαφανής ἐστιν, ἀλλοτρίῳ φωτὸς χρώματι προσιόντος θεωρεῖται: οὗ τοῦ φωτὸς ἀπελθόντος, ἡ ἀμαύρωσις τοῦ ἀέρος καθ’ ἑαυτὴν ὥσπερ μένοντος μέλανος ζόφος καλεῖται, εἰ καὶ οὐ δύναται ἀναφέρεσθαι εἰς τὴν κατηγορίαν τῆς οὐσίας. Καίτοι Ἡσαΐας φησίν: «Ἐγὼ ὁ Κύριος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἕτερος: ὁ μορφῶν φῶς καὶ κτίζων σκότος», οὐ μὴν ἀποφαίνεται εἰς οὐσίας ἀριθμητέον εἶναι τὸν ζόφον εἴτε σκότος. Αὐτίκα γὰρ ὑποτέθεικεν: «Ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακόν: ἐγὼ ποιῶ πάντα ταῦτα». Μαρτυρεῖ ἑαυτὸν κτίζειν κακὸν, καίτοι οὐδὲ τοῦτο μεταξὺ τῶν οὐσιῶν κατατάττεται. Μὴ οὖν τις ἑαυτῷ πειθέτω τὸν ζόφον γεγονέναι πρότερον, ὅτε οὐδαμῶς ὑπέστηκε, ἀλλὰ πιστευέτω τότε δὴ ἐξορμηθέντα ὅτε

ὅτε ^A they inclined, ^A they made—so they said. Yet one ought to have said “brought forward,” which is what Moses would likely have said to those who introduce matter, as he was opposing them; for knowing that heaven and earth and the abyss did not pre-exist, but taking them as having been made beforehand, he introduced the arrangement from them. Therefore, the first day differs greatly from the others that followed it; for on it God created the things that exist from things that did not exist, whereas on the others He made nothing from non-existence, but rather from those things which He had produced on the first day. It is a wonder, moreover, how He first made heaven, then earth: the roof first, and after that the floor. Yet it is not paradoxical; for He is not subject to the necessity of nature, nor is He slavishly bound to an order prescribed by art. But such a great heaven, so vast and splendid, so excellently fashioned and enduring for so long a time, God fashioned with such ease, as if one were playfully constructing a small hut. Isaiah indicates this very thing, saying: "He who established the heaven as a vault, and stretched it out as a tent over the earth." From this passage certain people, or rather the majority, have concluded that the heaven is a hemisphere, while others have supposed it to be a sphere. But regarding its shape and stability, the Apostle says: "And of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Where, then, are those who say that the heaven revolves and who declare it to be spherical? For both of these notions are refuted by the words cited. ^B And that it has a beginning and an end, the prophets signify, the Scripture saying: "The sun went forth upon the earth, but it did not go up." And again: "From the edge of the heaven is its going forth, not its going up." But a sphere has no edge. And the Savior also says: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, He will send forth His angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together my elect from the edge of the heaven even to its edge." And Moses also says: "From the day that God created man upon the earth, and even to the edge of the heaven." And Isaiah: "The Lord of Sabaoth has commanded a war-waging nation to come from a land far away, from the edge of the foundation of the heaven." But indeed it is not even animate, even if Scripture personifies the whole world so that the discourse might be more emphatic, ^C as when it introduces rivers clapping their hands, and mountains leaping, and hills exulting.

On the Personification of the World

Again, the prophetic discourse makes use of personification for the greater clarity of what is being said. And again the prophet, having used personification, exhorts the walls and the city to weep night and day on account of the manifold calamities. And he also speaks of the excess of the evils. He says these things, not meaning that the visible creation is rational, but by using personification. For this is also characteristic of the prophets. And one prophet says that the pines wail, another that the trees rejoice, and the mountains leap, and the rivers applaud.

^A their hands, to bring us to learn the superabundance of good things, and, so to speak, to reach even the insensible. He often does this with sad things as well, introducing a vine bewailing, and wine, and mountains, and the coffered ceilings of the temple wailing ^B because of the magnitude of the evils. Wherefore the divine Apostle also says that creation groans and travails in labor, that he might demonstrate the superabundance of future blessings and the desire for deliverance from the evils that encompass us.

But furthermore, neither is the heaven eternal; for that which is eternal is incorporeal, and without form, and incomposite, and uncircumscribed.

Verse 2. And the earth was invisible and uncomposed

The theomachist Manes says that the word "was" signifies the eternity of matter. And yet, "he made" is placed before "was"; furthermore, the word "was" does not always signify eternity, as in the passage: "That man was noble among those from the sun's rising." Perhaps he also says "invisible" because there was not yet a human spectator of it, and even if there were, the light had not yet been created. That "uncomposed" signifies "unadorned" is clear from what he says elsewhere: "Making better, I composed you like the clay of a potter." For just as a potter rearranges the clay that is not yet adorned into whatever vessel he wishes, so I too, taking you as clay from the earth, rearrange you for the better.

^A that it is impossible for men to say what kind of thing you were fashioned from or what you have become. And why did He produce the heaven completed, while Scripture says He craftsman-like fashioned the earth little by little? So that, having learned His power in the superior element, you might be fully convinced that He could have brought forth even this one completed, just as He did that one. But, also for the sake of your own salvation, it became unfashioned; for it is a common table, and fatherland, and nurse, and mother of all, and a city, and a common tomb. ^B Therefore, so that you might not, considering how necessary its use is to you, honor it with divine honors, He shows it to you as formless and unadorned. For seeing its weakness in this way, we admire the One who both brought it forth and adorned it.

"And darkness was upon the face of the abyss," etc. They rave at length who, from these words, attempt to introduce the nature of evil or sin as unbegotten, as if Moses meant sin to be eternal, since he nowhere explained its generation, and furthermore used the substantive verb "was" in the mention of the present passage. But as regards this word, we have discussed it sufficiently above. I do not wish to be wordier on this same matter here. But (to answer them): how could Scripture speak of a thing that does not subsist, nor is placed in the number of beings? For what else would you judge darkness to be than the privation of light, which had not yet progressed by the works of God? ^C For then the nature of bodies, not having splendor from itself, was entirely without light or brightness. Therefore, the air and the water, the elements, were weighed down by gloom. Moreover, how is it possible that a nature be contrary to God? For if it is contrary to the Divinity, it will be either equal in power, or worse, or more powerful than God. If the power of the nature corresponds to the divine power, who will discern the battle of the contrariety? Neither will be able to effect anything, since the one will constantly be an impediment to the other. If it is believed to be worse or weaker, by what reason will it not be able to be inhibited by God, so that it does not do any of its works? But if it is stronger and more powerful, why did He not prohibit it, so that God might act over all things according to His own will and right? For one cannot say that a certain vicissitude consists between God and nature, of now commanding and now receiving the command. For thus it would be manifest, that He is sometimes powerful, and at other times actually impotent. For both are most foreign to that which is eternal. Or how will they be reconciled with each other, when they are contraries? ^D There will then be something that separates or disjoins them. That, indeed, is either equal, or worse, or fir-

perhaps impossible. Who, therefore, can be one who acts, and the other who undergoes, and vice versa? Because of these things, indeed, they admit neither passion nor change. To these, since they are contraries, they will be reduced under the same genus, which, as species, will be more powerful than both. For everything in its genus consists in what is cognate to it. They are not, therefore, contraries in every respect. But how will they be contraries, when they are not referred to the category of quality? For there is no contrary to substance. I could have adduced many things, if I had intended to speak about this matter now.

The reason the earth was invisible is the flooding of the abyss, which covered it. The abyss is a redundancy of waters, the end of which, if you inquire into its depth, you cannot reach. Wherefore, since there was such a depth of waters, and light had not yet been created, it happened that the earth could not be seen. Do not, therefore, marvel if darkness preceded the light. For darkness does not subsist by itself, but is apt to be illuminated, and needs the presence of light. For the air is susceptible to light, not existing as darkness insofar as it is air: it has acquired this accidentally. But that which exists in potentiality is accounted the beginning of that which is in actuality, and is judged friendly and cognate to it, so that through it, it might find its perfection. But as for what is said—that darkness was born from the obstruction of invisible or intellectual light—let us see if it has a congruous or probable reason. For, I ask you, tell me, what intellectual body can obscure light by its opposite? For God is that invisible light: life and illumination are drawn from this fountain by spiritual beings. Some have dared to say that the devil was that darkness: and have established that the abyss is the evil demons; and furthermore, that when God said: "Let there be light," the Son of God came forth or was born. It is truly a wonder that they are not ashamed to assert that the devil, the heaven, and the earth, which are all created things, are more ancient than the Son of God. Within his own creation the devil was good: but that he is now a calumniator and evil, he has from himself. "Over the abyss," he says, which was contained on all sides by those things that were created, just as the article ^A *tēs* suggests, that is, *this* one, just as in this place: "Above this water." For the container is accepted for the contained, which is very familiar to Holy Scripture. ^B

And the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters. Some wish the Holy Spirit to be understood here, which they gather from the fact that it is said: "The Spirit of God," which is said only of the Holy Spirit. For the Hebrew word signifies as if the Spirit were brooding over, warming, like a bird, the water, and moving it toward the generation of animals. By which we are taught that the elements possess no power so that they could, without blame, fulfill their operations by themselves: that is to say, to procreate animals or to brood; but that all these things are done by divine virtue. However, no Greek word was able to express these things perfectly by its own signification, wherefore it says: "Was moved" (*ferebatur*); which, indeed, is alien to the Holy Spirit, ^C unless perhaps someone, just as with those expressions: "God ascended, descended, and walked," also understands this form of speaking. But some have hissed away this sense. For not thinking it right that the uncreated should be numbered with the creature, they therefore wanted the Spirit of God ^D

^A to signify air or wind. But why, it is asked: the Spirit of God? As if all other things were not attributed to God. Furthermore, air or wind pertains more to God than the rest, since this element is closer to the subtle and incorporeal substances. Therefore they invoke that name by which Holy Scripture is accustomed to call the divine nature. But lest we attribute more than is fitting to the air, and so that we believe it to be something uncreated, Moses rightly added, "of God," by whose authorship, just as with other things, it obtained its essence. But that it is not contrary to the custom of Scripture to call air "Spirit" with the addition of the word "of God," let David be heard discoursing about the air and other things that are accustomed to be produced in this element: "He gives snow like wool, and scatters hoarfrost like ashes; He throws His ice like fragments," and so forth. And again: "He makes His wind to blow, and the waters flow." Does it not therefore appear from these things that "Spirit" is sometimes said in Scripture to be the air, and sometimes the wind, which is the work of God, and moves according to His will, and accomplishes such things as Moses recounts? It has seemed to some that the "Spirit of God" in this place is to be called the operation and efficacy of God, which fosters and governs the nature of the waters. Some declare that the grace of holy baptism ^B is at once announced from the foundations of the world being laid. Hence it happens that our cleansing, or rather purification, is performed with water rather than any other element. Since the beginning (as they say) of the world is water, and the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan. There are those who understand by the word "Spirit," the holy powers and virtues, just as they wished to interpret the word "abyss" to mean the contrary powers, over which presides the darkness, namely the devil.

VERS. 3. And God said: Let there be light, and there was light.

so that, by seeing the production of subsequent events, they might clearly learn that the Maker of these too is their Creator, having willed—not only by bringing forth, but by doing so ^A here with a voice—that the work should follow. This, God Himself has demonstrated to the blessed Job, saying: “When the stars were made, all my angels praised me” (Job xxxviii, 7). For it is evident that as He did with the stars, so He fulfilled all the things that came into being, them indeed being struck with wonder at the things occurring, and marveling how, together with the voice, substances came forth which were not before. Some say that “He said” is directed toward the Son and Word, regarding whom it is a difficulty, how if heaven and earth and all things were made by Him, is “He said” not applied to them as well? But there is nothing to prevent Him from having made those things first in silence through the Son, and now, for the instruction of those who hear, the voice having come to pass. For the Father does not converse as though to one ignorant—even if some most strongly assert that those former things were made by the Father, but these latter things by the Son, as being secondary to those, uttering words of madness.

And God saw the light, that it was good.

^A by instructing the intellectual powers, He spoke, wishing again to show them that it is not one power that creates and another that judges, but both proceed from one God. He joined judgment to creation, and the testing of the things that have been brought into being, at the same time checking beforehand those who dare to blame the visible creation and the existence of demons, and [checking] the godless heresy, those who, having fashioned a creator of evil, rise up against God.

^B And God divided between the light and between the darkness. For they are in no way mixed with one another, if indeed the one is a presence, and the other is established as a privation; these are incompatible with each other, as the existence of the one precludes the existence of the other.

VERS. 5. And God called the light, day: and the darkness he called night. Now, however, the structure of the day is different. For since the creation of the sun, day is the air illuminated by the sun's splendor in our hemisphere above the earth. Night is the shadow of the earth, which occurs when the sun has set. But at that time, namely at the beginning of all things, the day was not known according to the course of the sun, but the primogenial light, which was poured around on all sides, being contracted according to the measure defined by God, brought about the day, to which night then succeeded. Day, he says, He called it. A Greek word is used, which conveys a certain gentleness. For whatever is festive and cheerful, the Greeks are accustomed to call ^C—that is, placid and gentle. For this reason, we also call humanity or gentleness *hemerotēs*. Furthermore, we call other things *emera* (tamed)—that is, docile and peaceful. Night is called by the Greeks *nyx*, as if to say *nyttei* (it pricks)—that is, it pricks the man who is sleeping, ever and anon insisting: "Learn, O man, that you are mortal and a slave to sleep; why do you devise and think of things beyond your strength?" For *nyx* is *katanygē* (a pricking)—that is, a stimulation or admonition. Hence David says: "Speak in your hearts, and in your chambers, and be pricked," or be stung. Yet the Hebrew has "be silent." ^D Just as some king, who has ordered something to be done in some city, when it is finished, is accustomed to praise it in a notable way, and afterwards adapts it for the use he had in mind: in a similar manner, God commanded that light should arise, praised it once it had arisen, and afterwards disposed it in such a way that it might serve as a fit utility for the world. For this is what is meant by, "He divided between." For He did not desire that the darkness should not exist at all; for night is useful to men and to animals: to the former, who are resting, and to the latter, who are feeding; "For in it all the beasts of the field shall go forth."

^A it was intended for the use of the world. And this is gathered from the word “he separated” or “he divided.” For He willed that darkness also should exist by mutual succession or vicissitude. For night is useful for men and other living creatures. To the former it provides sweet rest; to the latter it grants the opportunity to go to pasture, as the royal Psalmist sings: “You make darkness and it becomes night, and in it all the beasts of the forest creep forth.”

And there was evening, and there was morning, one day.

change of the intervals of each; but ^A their meeting, which is called one day, keeps the same interval throughout, completing twenty-four hours.

Now, those who place the day before the night are opposed by the season of the festivals, and especially by the three-day period of our Savior’s burial and resurrection. For the laws everywhere place the nights before the days; as, for example, beginning with the feast of Unleavened Bread: “On the fourteenth day of the first month from evening you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening; seven days shall leaven not be found in your houses.” For it fixes the beginning of the unleavened bread from the evening of the ^B fourteenth day; and it defines the feast before the evening, because the night introduces it, leading the way. Thus also the law concerning fasting holds. Perhaps, then, the lawgiver signifies the transition from disorder to order, or that which has already happened according to the day that appeared out of darkness, and will be completed according to the future renewal? For the legislation is both a reminder of things past and a shadow of things to come. Just as the Sabbath is a symbol both of God’s rest from works already completed, and of the rest that remains for the people of God according to the imitation of God’s rest. And the Feast of Tabernacles is a memorial of the tents of Israel in the wilderness, ^C and a sign of the eternal tabernacles in which the saints shall dwell. So also, by beginning the festivals from the nights, it reminds one of the day that appeared after the long, as it were, pre-cosmic night, and it prophesies the true day that shall shine at the end, toward which even now the day is night: “The night is far spent, the day has drawn near,” the Apostle says, interpreting the symbol of the law. He adds, “Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the works of light,” ^D which the law indicates by leading those who celebrate before God out of night into day. In this way also we count the three days and nights of the Lord’s passion, reckoning the night of Friday, which led the way and contained the passion, and counting together with the third night, in which the resurrection occurred, the Sunday that follows it, because as things progress from darkness to light, the nocturnal darkness must be counted first, and the light of the day must follow. But in the case of creation, it is fitting that God should have begun from things that are brighter in essence, and not from the dark and lightless things, and those whose existence is not essential; nor is the creation of these enumerated. Thus, the day on which our Savior suffered, let it be added

to the preceding night of Preparation. The following day, the Lord's Day, is counted with the third night, in which He rose. For while things are drawn out from the darkness and brought into the light, the nocturnal shadows must be enumerated first, that the splendor of the day may more conveniently follow from them. Moreover, it befits divine majesty in the creation of the world to take its beginning from those things which shed splendor and whose substance exists; and not to begin from those things which are not, and to which light is denied. Their creation is not even handed down.

^A But in what way ought one to inquire concerning these things, whether they have been created first? For when light is not present, it is called darkness and night. For in this way the black and lightless part of the transparent air is named. These things have followed the created objects, just as a shadow follows a body, being called something, but being non-existent just as those are. Yet if at any time one speaks of them as having been brought to be, one must understand their generation in another way, as in the Psalm: "You set darkness, and it became night" (Ps. CIII, 20); and He did not say by whom it was made, nor did He clarify what sort of thing this "setting" is. Nor did He say, "You have made darkness," nor, "Let darkness be, and it became darkness," as is the case with the objects of creation, but rather, "He said, 'Let light be.'" But the darkness followed from the shadowing of the earth; and He called the one day, and the other night, because it came about in the deprivation of light. And just as we say that we see it, while not truly seeing it, but rather being hindered from seeing by it, so also we shall say that the naming of it is not in its being, but in its following another thing that is. For darkness, having come to be and being created, is in a way also uncreated. ^B Uncreated, not as if not having come to be, but as not having received generation in existence; and created because it follows upon things that are coming to be, in the manner of a shadow, just as shadows come from our own bodies; the sense agrees that the coming to be of these exists. But we do not attribute substances to them because they do not even exist; for shadows are not in themselves, but they make their appearance from another body. For air is not darkness, even if it is black by nature; for being transparent, it is seen by a foreign color, that of light; where this is not present, the lightless part of the air, and what remains as if black in itself, is called darkness, not being a substance. Even if Isaiah says, "I am the Lord, and there is no other; forming light, and creating darkness" (Isa. XLV, 6, 7); for he adds, "The One who makes peace and creates evils" (Isa. XLV, 7), which are likewise unsubstantial. Darkness is therefore not a primary creation, but one that comes to be unsubstantially according to its following the light. Night, therefore, is not first; even if in festivals Moses provides a rest beforehand, giving a pre-festival feast from the night that precedes the rest of the Sabbath; for he compels the rest of the soul in the day from the natural cessation that is in the night. ^C With good reason, therefore, he does not say, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one night," but "one day." For day came to be, because the intervals of morning and evening were counted from the course of the light; but night did not come to be, since the darkness is not a substance, of which it might be the maker. But if Moses says, "There was evening and there was morning, one day," as if from this night is thought to be first from the evening; yet it is not in the order of the naming

of the whole day, as it is necessary that night follows the day. For how is it possible for evening to occur if morning has not preceded it? The resurrection of the Savior could also be reckoned as a three-day event, if, according to Mark, He was crucified at the third hour, and from the sixth hour darkness occurred until the ninth hour over all the earth. Let one day be fulfilled as a type through these things until the ninth hour; let the second begin from the ninth hour, with the broad night already following; and let the third be reckoned from the Sabbath, joining with the twilight of the Sabbath that dawns toward the first day of the week. But if the night is first, ^A when it is said, "There was evening and there was morning," does the mind suggest inquiring whether evening occurred before the day came into being, or at the end of the day? And in the phrase, "And there was morning, one day," is it the morning of the first day or of the second that is beginning? For if it is of the first, with the things that followed joined to it, man will be found to have been created on the fifth day; and God will be found to have rested on the sixth day.

This is true if we take the word "morning" broadly, receiving it as part of the day, which it will be possible to understand similarly regarding the night. ^B Whence John the Evangelist, having said "morning," added, "while it was still dark"; and Mark, having placed "very early," added the sequence: "the sun having risen," each making the designation from the circumstances at hand. But if one were to receive "dawn" or "morning" as an indivisible boundary of night and day, taking nothing of the time from either side, how will it be a part of the day alone, or of the night, or of both? For it is as if it were an indivisible line finishing each of these, or rather, existing at the same point, serving as the beginning of the one and the end of the other. Therefore Moses, having taken the extremities of the times, signified the middle things through them, not intending to speak of a part of either side at the ^C extremities; but he numbers the days of the world, wishing to represent accurately that it is created. For God, the creator, does not stand in need of time. He does not, however, make the things that have come into being without order, but number establishes the order. Whence he did not say "first," but "one." For in things that belong to the same [moment] there is no "first" and "second"; but because the account has an order, for this reason, after the "one," the "second" is spoken of, and ^D after those, the others, for the sake of order. But if this is so, in any case they have the first also thought of beforehand...

which He called "one," both making known the suddenness of the creation and that God ordained the days, which were not yet, but because He is their Creator, first making "one day," ^A which, as the others did not exist yet, was not reasonably called "first." The rest that were added later held the order, having a designation according to which they came after the one, for the sake of the distance from it.

In the same manner, Scripture also calls [the first day] of the month "one," and "one of the Sabbaths." And indeed, it called the one day a duration, but not "first." For indeed, the second and third change the number. But the light, remaining the same and being called "day," makes it "one" from which it began, even if it continues to be called so further. For the same activity of light is in all the days; therefore all are one. After, then, God rested on the seventh from His works, it is brought in: ^B "This is the book of the heaven and the earth, when it was made, in the day God made the heaven and the earth." See, for even after the seventh, He called this one; perhaps it was spoken of concerning this "one" also in the Psalms: "This is the day which the Lord has made," since it was also about to receive the designation from the Lord, being called the Lord's Day; as therefore having been set apart for the Lord alone, it is called "one." For it also bears an image of the indivisible oneness in honor of the light that was made; for God being light, and the first thing made being light, and the first beautiful thing among created things, the Creator, deeming it worthy to receive the substance of unity, called this "one day." This day the Psalm also called "eighth," ^C as declaring the future state, because it lies outside of this hebdomadal time, and being "one" it is rightly depicted through the one. "For the day is," he says, "of the Lord, great and glorious," and again, "For you to desire the day of the Lord, and it is darkness and not light," it is clear that [it is so] for the unworthy. For the Word knows that day to be without evening and without end; therefore, as has been said, He also calls it "eighth," as being another, [yet] this present age is here. But the whole age also is signified through this. The saying of Scripture, "Ages of ages," signifies different states. And these things indeed [are said] concerning these matters. ^D

Those who wish the night to be first, say that "evening" was said instead of darkness, and "morning" instead of light. Since we call the beginning of the night "evening," and the morning is the opposite. As saying,

^A that in the beginning there was darkness, and after this the light, so that from this the darkness appeared to occupy the order of a night, and the light to have fulfilled the duration of a day, he added, "And there was evening and there was morning"; as if showing that the time of darkness came to be, like a certain night accustomed to begin from evening. After the light came to be, a certain day was seen to have occurred, naturally beginning from the morning. Consistently, therefore, he called the combination of both "one day" according to the now-prevailing [order]; for the light completed the same course which the sun now performs. First, therefore, they say, he mentioned the darkness, then the prevalence of light. For even if light is better, it is yet placed after; but he preserved for them the order of creation; for Scripture reckons the day beginning from the evening after the setting of the sun, not from the time of dawn at which the sun is accustomed to rise, since the darkness came into being first, having the order of night, and after this the light, having accomplished the day, reached the sunset. They also bring forward the Apostle, saying, "A night and a day I have passed in the deep," ^B which, however, is not a firm argument for the proof. For what [does it mean] but that he relates the order of the time during which the shipwreck occurred to him, as the night beginning when his ship was broken, and then he continued through the day that followed it in the deep. Then they bring forward the season of the feasts, and that the Lord rose at the time of night, as if working the resurrection on that very same day; so that in which the first things came into being, the re-creation of all things might also come to be. Whence, as all things having come into being in the darkness, then the light taking hold, he works the resurrection in the darkness, but shows it as the day is taking hold.

Vers. 6. And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it make a distinction between water and water.

^A came into existence simultaneously, as if nothing preceded it. But concerning that which is now being discussed, it was brought into effect only on the second day, subsisting in the midst of the waters. From this one may infer that the firmament stood in the midst of those things which preceded it. Nor would anyone call its creation superfluous. For while it took up no small force of the waters, as if upon its back, it came to pass that the remaining water flowed together more expeditiously and quickly into one collection, and the earth, suitable for habitation, emerged more swiftly once the inundation was removed. The first heaven, indeed, by reason of its immense distance, was in no way commensurate with the earth. Hence, its infinite expanse could have provided no help. But that middle heaven, which they call the "firmament," assumed a certain proportion with the habitable element; and the stars, being placed in this moderate and proper interval, most beautifully adorn and bring to maturity the things which the earth contains, drawing them forth by their heat. Indeed, even now, if the sun recedes but a little from us, it sends down to us weaker rays. Consequently, at the time when it is away, all things among us are both colder and darker. What, I pray you, would happen if the sun had been established in the first heaven? Certainly, those parts of the globe which now shine with cultivation and are inhabited would surely have been squalid and uncultivated, occupied by perpetual cold. ^B But if one should say that God had regard for the future creation or innovation of things, he will not at all be deluded. For God had determined to establish two most beautiful works: the one, indeed, subject to change and corruption, such as the present state now is, possessing things that are mutable in their intentions and not destroyed by nature—rational and intellectual beings; and the other, free from the evils of the present age, of which Christ has become the initiator according to the economy—the one of which we shall all partake after His glorious and second coming. To the present state, therefore, the place in which we now dwell—the region between the earth and the firmament—is a suitable abode; but for the future and more divine state, it is suitable to dwell in heaven, having become immutable, where even now Christ has taken His seat according to the economy, as the blessed Paul says: "That we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." ^C He names "the inner veil" the place which is above the heaven, and he calls Christ "high priest" as having initiated this state. For we shall be with Him, together with the invisible powers, if that saying is true: "For they are as the angels," and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. And Paul also says: "We shall be caught up... in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." So that for the two states, there are different dwellings. And the heaven which now occupies the role of our roof will be in the position of a floor. For the first is, as it were, the heaven of heaven. And David also says: "The heaven of heaven ^D is the Lord's; the earth, however, as much as He has given to us." Such, then, is the future state of the saints; whence the Scripture also calls such a state "the kingdom of heaven."

^A The name "heaven" belongs properly to the first, though by a certain analogy it is also more commonly used for that which is called the firmament. David teaches that there is one such heaven and that water stands above it, saying: "Who stretches out the heaven like a curtain, who lays the beams of his upper chambers in the waters." When, therefore, we read or hear in holy Scripture, "The heavens declare the glory of God," and "The Lord made the heavens," and "Our Father who art in heaven," one should not think the first heaven, which surpasses the second, is meant; rather, let us understand it to name the firmament and the entire region that stretches between it and the earth, which is called "heaven" and is divided into many heavens because of its height. Hence it is also said, "the birds of heaven," that is, of the air. And Jeremiah says the stork knows its path in the heaven. Not unlike this is that testimony of Scripture: "They ascend even unto heaven." For this reason, Moses, when blessing the tribe of Joseph, asks for them blessings from the moderate temperature of heaven, from the descent of dew, from the turnings of the sun and the conjunctions of the months, and from the top of the mountains and eternal hills, as if the land near us is governed and tempered by the proper and seemly order of these things. He does the same in recounting the curses or imprecations: "The heaven that hangs over you shall be of bronze," by which words he signified extreme and universal drought and the failure of the aerial waters. ^B Since, therefore, it shows that dew distills from the heavens, it is to be understood as the waters that reside above us in the aerial region, and that they encompass and surround on all sides that highest region which has merited the name of heaven. Paul says he was caught up to the third heaven, that is, to paradise, which is cultivated as a garden beneath the firmament, as Moses seems to teach; concerning which matter, it shall be spoken of later. Indeed, Ezekiel also testifies that the site of paradise extends to a high place, for he does not hesitate to call the garden the mountain of God. Thus, the firmament is also to be considered one heaven.

There are those who claim that its nature is little known and understood by us, although it is traditionally handed down by the common consensus of all theologians that it is compacted from water. ^C Nor are there wanting those who think its material is water, and that it subsists with God forming and composing it. Others teach that it is at least a certain part of water. Some affirm that the firmament was constructed from a third part of the waters, with the other two parts flowing, one on the earth and the other above the firmament; from which the language of the Hebrews calls it *chamaim*, a term which denotes crystal or frozen water. Since that part of the firmament which faces us is concave, some infer that its outermost or highest part

^A If the earth is not a sphere, it possesses no motion and no circular rotation; rather, it remains fixed in the middle of the waters, just like the earth, supporting the waters above it in an immovable position. If someone should insist on interpreting the phrase "under the heaven" as "under the hemisphere," one would be compelled by that passage—"Let the water under the heaven be gathered together"—to understand it as referring to both hemispheres, so that we might conceive of the seas being gathered not only under the visible one, according to us, but also under the other. That the entire earth stands upon the waters, and that there is no part of the earth devoid of water underneath it, as the earth is seen to be above it, is evident. For He says, "To Him who established the earth upon the waters; and He Himself founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers." Therefore, in that passage, "Let the water under the heaven be gathered into one gathering," only our face of the earth is to be understood; and only the heaven we see, to which it happens that this inhabited world is subject, is to be considered the heaven—for we believe there is no opposite inhabited world under the earth. ^B For if there were, Christ would have journeyed there too, and the rest of the events which happened to us would have occurred there—or similar ones—along with Adam, the serpent, and, if it happened, the flood. As for the water under the earth, it is uncertain whether it is suspended on high by the power of God or whether it is carried by a spirit.

They say that the heaven is called the "firmament" ^C either as being solidified from the yielding nature of the water, or for the purpose of distinguishing it from the nature of the things above it, which is fine, rare, and not graspable by any sense. The phrase "in the midst of the water" signifies the division of the waters on either side; for it says, "Let it be dividing between water and water." One should note, they say, how the order of existing things has been established for the instruction of invisible natures, which we were meant to learn, through the things that come into being, about the Creator, and to teach those of us born later. For, according to the blessed Paul, they serve the divine counsels for our salvation. At that time, God created light after the first creation from nothing, so that they might understand that they themselves had been brought into existence in this way; and likewise the first creations that came into being with them. Then, on the second day, He commanded the heaven to be made, according to the likeness of the former, so that they might think the first one, and those things with it, came into being in the same way. For He makes the second one similar in nature to the first; whence it is also called "heaven," even if the one was made from existing things and the other from non-existing things. This difference did not work a difference in nature, for the likeness provided the faith. ^D

^A And the same power adapts the existing thing into substance and makes another out of non-existence; for that, too, was made from that which did not exist. But the phrase, "And God made," is spoken to emphasize that the one who commanded is not different from the one who made. But most people, as has been said, say that the phrase, "God said," was not for the instruction of rational powers, but for the representation of the Only-Begotten; therefore, it is not written, "The firmament came into being," but rather, "And God made the firmament." And again, "God divided"—the phrase "Let there be a firmament" is the voice of the initial cause, while "He made the firmament" is the testimony of the creative and demiurgic power.

^B The firmament, therefore, introduced a division in the midst of the water and the water; for the flow of the waters was infinite, so as to exceed the proportion of the other elements; whence it is also called the abyss. For, since the essence of fire was necessary for the whole and was contrary to water, so that they might be destructive to one another, lest the fire, being more active, should consume the nature of water and provide the occasion for the destruction of the universe, God, in His providence, established such a nature of moisture that, remaining within the prescribed limits of this intricate machine, it might resist the element of fire, lest it be utterly consumed by it. Isaiah says: "It shall come to pass that all things shall be burned up with fire." And again: "Who says to the abyss, 'Be desolate, and I will dry up your rivers.'" For this reason, then, there is a multitude of waters.

But why was half the water placed above the firmament? Because He ordained that the substance of light—I mean that of the sun, and the moon, and the stars—which is fiery and abundant, should have its motion ^C upon the firmament. Now, the nature of fire is to soften and dissolve the crystalline substance which has solidified from the waters, and which is the firmament. Lest this should happen to the heaven, He necessarily created such a nature of water placed above it, as much as might keep it timely preserved; thus it pleased God to preserve it, even if by His will alone He could have done this, just as He did with the first heaven. For He could have preserved our own bodies without food and kept them in the same state, which is what He will do in the age to come. ^D The waters placed above do not only preserve the heaven, but also send down the flame of the sun and the moon; for if the heaven were transparent, the whole radiance would run upward, for fire is naturally inclined to rise; it was thickened, therefore, by the waters above, so that it might push back the radiance and cause it to move downward.

^A Some people, under the pretext of a supposedly higher understanding, have taken refuge in allegories, saying that "the waters" refers to spiritual powers; some, they say, are better and remain above, and because they are said to praise God, they are called the waters above the heavens; others are worse and have become earthly—those which, being turbulent and agitated by the storms of the passions, are called seas. This is but myth and nonsense. For even if the waters above the heavens are said to praise God, we do not on account of this posit that they have a rational nature; for neither are the heavens ensouled because "they declare the glory of God," nor is the firmament a sentient living being because "it proclaims the work of his hands." Even dew, frost, and burning heat are said to praise the Creator. But the meaning discerned in these things by those who have understanding is that they are complementary to the doxology of the Creator. Therefore, even the waters from the earth, the dragons, and all the deeps praise him. How, then, is the abyss presumed by you to be a multitude of worse powers, when it similarly praises the Lord just as the waters do—those in the heavens which are deemed better powers on account of their praise? And that other clever lie is also false: saying that the heaven is the contemplative powers and the firmament the practical ones.

^B “Let the water under the heaven be gathered together into one collection, and let the dry land appear: and it was so; and the water under the heaven was gathered together into their collections, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called seas.” If the nature of water is to flow, what does the divine command mean? For it would have arrived at the hollow places of the earth of its own accord. Furthermore, since the hollows were covered by the waters, with the moisture overwhelming the whole earth, how could the water flow into them when they were already filled with waters? To these objections, it will be answered in this way: Perhaps the nature of water was not fluid at the beginning, but was stable and thick. Moreover, it obtained the power of flowing only at the command and order of God. In response to these concerns, it will be aptly said, in order to drive away both difficulties, that the receptacles of the waters were hollowed out at the same time as the divine command—especially the greatest receptacles of the waters, ^C those which received the name of seas, were prepared in this way. If there were other smaller hollows, they were enlarged by the divine command so that the waters, which previously were flooding the entire surface of the earth, could flow down into them from the level ground. At the same time, the water also received the power to be held in the hollows of the sea, so that even if it were raised up, it would return again to itself. And the Ecclesiastes, saying this, declares: “All the torrents go into the sea, and the sea is not filled.”

^A Elsewhere Scripture says: “Or will you not fear me, says the Lord, who set the sand as a boundary for the sea?” For otherwise the Red Sea would have flooded the whole of Egypt, since its situation is lower than it.

But someone may wonder what reason might be assigned for the fact that God said: “Let the water be gathered into one collection;” and yet afterwards subjoined: “The waters were gathered into their collections.” From this it is lawful to infer that there is not one sea, but many. We answer thus: A collection of waters was called one with respect to the dry land, which itself is also one. As the earth is one, so also the sea is called one. Although it is one, it nevertheless receives many divisions and many gulfs, which they call seas. Those who have traveled the orb of the lands relate that the Red Sea and the Hyrcanian Sea are joined to the mouth of the great sea. Just as heaven is one in common, being the whole beneath the firmament, yet those specifically within it are divided into many; so there is one great sea which has been established—the Ocean—from which some channels flow into the deeper places of the world, from which the seas are formed, called in Holy Scripture collections and seas, being certain rivulets and mouths of the great collection. ^B He named the dry land, which is the same as the earth, differently according to a different conception; for just as the ability to laugh is proper to man, and "man" is the name or voice of the animal in whom the proper quality resides, so too the dry is the property and distinctive quality of the earth. It also possesses the cold, but this is held in common with water; just as that [water], while having this as its own, has in common with air the moist; and that [air], having the moist as its own, has in common with fire the hot; and fire, having the hot as its own, has in common with earth the dry, which has been established ^C as its own. And so, to each belongs a proper quality and a common one; according to the proper quality it is distinguished from the others, but it is joined to those that are near it according to the common one. For it was necessary that they be separated, so that they might preserve their own nature, and it was necessary that they be joined by some bond, so that from these the composition of bodies might be born, with one thing being linked to another according to a common quality. Wherefore God, the best artificer of imposing names upon things, called the dry land, and did not call the earth "the dry." For this name is, as it were, a property and a certain peculiar mark of nature, which we know to be innate in the earth. And just as the earth drew its name from thence, ^D and as before being placed under the heaven it is called earth, but as toward the moist substance it is called dry, so the prophet seems to mention them as distinct things, saying: “Yet once more I will shake the heaven and the earth and the sea and the dry land.” We stated, however, that it is the same thing called by a different conception—lest perhaps it had the name indicative of substance and the other that of quality; whence also, having been made with the heaven, it is called earth, just as that is properly heaven. But those things made after this: one was called strictly the firmament, and by name heaven; the other strictly the dry, and by name earth; for in one respect it is substance, in another respect it is quality that is prior. And He showed the utility of the first

saying, "Let the dry land appear," so that it might be suitable for the generation of plants and animals. And then, "God saw that it was good." Everywhere, "He called," is said in order to signify the end and effect of particular things, destined by the Creator. But upon all things, the phrase, "And it was so," appears to be set, so that it might signify this work following upon the will of God. In the case of the heaven, the phrase, "And God made the firmament," ^B serves to signify that the one who made it was not another besides the one who commanded it to be. And having taught us this once, for the rest He is content with, "It was so," so that we might understand in each case that it was God who made it; for one did not command while another did the making, but God did both. This is, indeed, significant of the divine substance of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; so that you might not be surprised later when you hear that the Son of God is the creator of the things that have come to be. For He says, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." For, "until now," signifies the continuous nature of the work; and "is working" and "I am working" signify the commonality of the work. And again, "Whatever He sees the Father doing, the Son also does in like manner"—not such things as these, but these very things; not things like these, but the very things; for He does not work some things and the Father others. And ^C He is said to "see" because nothing of the Father's work escapes Him. He shows that He brings everything forth by will. "For He did all things, whatever He willed," the Scripture says. And participating with Him in counsel, He participates also in the work, and does it in like manner; for this is what He added, showing not only that He does the same things, but also that He does them in like manner, which is to say, by will and power. For He brought this out more clearly by saying, "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wills," which is the very thing that constitutes the equality of the Father; "to whom He wills" is equivalent to saying, "by will alone." Whence also we are commanded to perform the baptism, which is a symbol of the new creation, in the invocation of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; since we are both buried with Christ in it ^D and rise again with Him, according to the divine Apostle; so that we might learn that we are being recreated by the Trinity, by whom we were created; for the same God is the natural provider both of being and of well-being. It should be noted that throughout the entire making of the world, "God said" is prefixed, and "God made," which signifies the creative power; for the creative power is signified most especially through this appellation; but the name "Lord" signifies that of a ruler and king.

^A Wherefore, when a precept was given to Adam, it is said: "The Lord God commanded Adam." For it is the role of a lord and king to give laws and commandments.

And God said: "Let the earth bring forth the green herb, seeding seed according to its kind, and fruit-bearing wood producing fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth." We must invert the syntax a little, so that no solecism may appear to be present, in this way: "Let the earth bring forth the green herb of grass according to its kind, seeding seed." For in this way the word "seeding" will be applied to the word "kind." Or perhaps that phrase must be separated slightly, so that this is the sense: "seeding seed." Such, therefore, will be the form of the construction: "And let it germinate, every seeding seed," that is, generating and producing. The earth, when it was freed from the inundation of the waters, is deservedly commanded to bring forth fruits. The divine voice, which happened then, is a certain chosen, perennial law, so that the earth might be obedient to that law until the end of the world. A similar law binds other creatures, which were created by the preceding imperial divine voice. I do not doubt ^C that the green herb and the little plants sprang forth and stood perfect from the beginning, and also produced their fruits and seeds. For we see that even animals did not emerge into this splendid construct imperfect, but perfect at the beginning of the creation; nor did they need the help of another, but sufficed for themselves. Furthermore, when He was planting and cultivating the paradise, He furnished it abounding with all kinds of fruits. For it was necessary that some seeds and fruits should be prepared for the animals, by which they might at length be fed. Wherefore the creation of animals follows, and does not precede the creation of plants and herbs. Yet animals are not of a worse condition than plants. For the same reasoning would compel us to believe that man is viler than other animals, since his creation was reserved for the last place. ^D Indeed, trees and animals preceded the creation of man. Where those had proceeded, there at length man, who as a certain king was about to use them and to curb them with his command, received his own creation. Some report that first in the generation of those things that are born...

[VARIE LECTIONES: entries preserved]

^B or grow up from the earth, whether spontaneously or from our sowing, whatever does not participate in a tree, as soon as it provides its own fruit, is taken away from the earth, fulfilling a certain order of grass for men; and that it cannot provide any other fruit, even if it has remained. For in contrast to these, He added: “And a fruitful tree yielding fruit.” For in the case of these, when the fruit has been taken, the tree remains, providing the same fruit to men in the proper season. The Scripture tells us that it speaks of fruit even in the case of grains, saying: “And it made fruit of the grain.” But here it is said in contrast to the phrase “bearing seed.” For the fruit of these—of barley, I mean, and wheat and the others—becomes seed for the sowing hereafter. And it says “according to its kind,” because every seed restores its own proper form in the fruits that come from it. ^C But if any change of this happens, and it should perhaps be returned as black from the wheat, it is not another kind, but as it were a disease and weakness of the seed; for it was blackened by being scorched by the excess of cold. Therefore, it is said that, if it obtains suitable soil and temperate airs, it returns to its ancient form. But the so-called darnel and the other degenerate seeds, which Scripture calls tares, are not produced from the transformation of wheat, but have arisen from their own proper principle, having a peculiar kind; these bear an image of the mixing of false teachers into the body of the Church. Regarding trees, He says: “Whose seed is in it,” since trees do not bear fruit in the same way as grains, such that it, having been cast into the earth in the place of seeds, would return a fruit similar to the previous one; although it happens that this occurs frequently, a part of them having been taken away is set into the earth, having a seminal power, and remaining in the same, they may give forth annual fruits; not according to the nature of grains, which are taken away as soon as they have performed their fruit. Hence, He reasonably added “upon the earth,” that is, established upon one place and remaining. Nor is it a matter of wonder if He called it seed in the case of trees, [meaning] the seminal power, since it is so named even in the case of men. But how, they say, has the command of God become the cause for the harmful things to spring up together, and the poisons? Because they are not absolutely harmful, but to another ^D

good, just as hemlock is to quail, or hellebore to starlings, because of some natural quality. Thus, ^A parts that are ruinous to the whole are useful for something. For even the ox is useful for agriculture, though its blood is a poison to us; yet in their own time, these things are also useful to us, as the sons of physicians know.

But how, they say, has Scripture said of herbs, “sowing seed,” and of trees, “fruit-bearing wood whose seed is in it,” when neither the reed, nor the couch-grass, nor the mint, nor the crocus, nor the garlic, nor the *butomum*, nor infinite other species of herbs, appear to bear seed? And we see many trees that use neither fruits nor seeds. To this we say that many of the things growing from the earth have their power in their foundation and root. Just as the reed, after its annual growth, sends forth from the root a shoot that has the principle of a seed and, spreading through the earth, acquires its succession in the roots, so that in each case either a seed exists or a certain seminal power resides within. And as for trees, the poplar, the elms, the willows, and the white poplars—even if they do not openly bear fruit—the branch underlying them, which some call the petiole, possesses ^B the power of the seed. For whatever things are naturally produced from branches usually send forth roots from that source. Perhaps the offshoots of the roots also have the character of seed, which gardeners break off and propagate the species.

Beyond this, those things which are more noble by nature have received a more prominent mention, insofar as they were to welcome man with their proper fruits and prepare an abundant diet for him. They point out that all things emerged at the moment of the command, each recognized by its own proper character. Nevertheless, the rose was at that time without a thorn; later, the thorn was yoked to the beauty of the flower, so that while we enjoy the delightful, we might have sorrow near at hand, remembering the sin for which the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles for us.

^C VERS. 15. *And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and to make a distinction between the day and between the night.*

These things which we have recounted so far are very similar to the preparation of a magnificent banquet. First, the place is cleaned, so that no filth may offend the guests. Then, the banquet is prepared and set out. Then, the lamps are lit. Finally, the way by which the guests may come, with preceding servants and ministers—namely, the brute animals; and most recently, there approaches to this banquet, as if its Lord and king, the rational creature, namely, man. Let no one think these things absurd, but let him remember Christ.

^A having taught us in parables that God prepared a banquet for mortals. As far as God is concerned, He invited us to a banquet that was remarkably lavish and wondrous, having brought us into a place that was both most pleasant and most beautiful, abounding in every delight, from whose dominion we fell away by following our own will and not God’s. ^B He teaches that the number of days was assumed for the sake of order, and on account of the weakness of our intellect. For otherwise, we would not have been able to keep track of the order of created things due to their multitude. Just as the bodies of natural things, as soon as they have progressed into essence, contain both color and magnitude at once, of which one is prior to the intellect and the other secondary, so also the world, created in order, was completed not by time but by a fitting and due harmony on all sides. For one part of the world was not formed, and then another part found wanting. Hence also the luminaries, on account of their excellence, are mentioned as having appeared on the fourth day. For if the tetrad, which in power is the decad, is held to be a precious and distinguished number, the monad, binary, ternary, and quaternary added together constitute the decade. Moreover, in the entire Scripture, the decade is celebrated with high praise. Moses gave ten commandments, and tithes are paid.

^C Some think that all things were created in order of time for the sake of teaching the spiritual and angelic powers, as we said above. Time, however, counted from the first day down to the present, shows the creation of things that happens by a certain mutual succession. The sun followed plants, herbs, and sprouts in the series of creation, so that no one might suspect it to be the author of the aforementioned things. Thus the creation of light long preceded it, lest anyone perhaps silently judge and suppose that the sun is the bestower of light, and for this reason divine worship be assigned to it. For what reason allows that the sun should be the source of light, since the creation of light preceded it? First, light was brought into the midst by the intervention of the divine voice; then, finally, the receptacle of light was created. For fire is one thing, and a lamp is another. For the sun was made as a kind of body for that light which lacks matter, since even composite things are divided into the subject and the quality which inheres in the subject. But once light and its subject have been compounded by the will of God, they cannot be separated by us except in speech or thought. To Him, however, who joined and coupled both, they are easily divisible. He gave a clear example of this in the burning bush, where He took away from the fire the power of burning, and left only the virtue of illumination and splendor, so that by that miracle He might turn Moses. The Psalmist agrees with this, saying: "The voice of the Lord divides flames of fire." ^D Although, therefore, only the sun and fire seem to bring forth light, nevertheless the day shone (even without the sun) throughout that long interval. For such is the power of God, that He can produce effects without substances. When among the Egyptians all things were wrapped in most obscure darkness for three days, the nourishing light refreshed the Israelites. That first-born light, which flashed like lightning from the beginning, filled and measured out the space of three days.

Furthermore, a certain discourse is handed down, yet hidden, that there will be

^A in the age to come a division of fire: the fiery light shall be yielded to the righteous, while the burning quality of the fire shall be attributed to the impious, so that they may be tormented in it eternally. The moon proves this, existing now as full, now as new, with the quality of light now approaching, now departing from the lunar body. And it is clearly possible to see its unilluminated part and its illuminated part; for even if you were to say that the light it possesses is borrowed and received from the sun, nevertheless, this happens and comes to be, whereas the sun, once it has received the light, never casts it off or lays it down. For to say that because it was made from the firmament, it received light for the first time, and for this reason needed a second creation, is not entirely reasonable. For none of the corporeal things were formed from non-existent things after the first day. Moreover, just as it said when the light was made: “And there was evening, and there was morning, one day,” ^B so too, regarding the making of the firmament before the sun was created on the second and third days, it is clear that even after the firmament, the primordial light made the two days just as it had made the first. God took the purest part of the primordial light and transferred it into the sun; the remaining part of the light He distributed among the moon and the other stars. From that time on, it was commanded by God that they should distinguish between day and night, a task which the primordial light had previously performed by divine command, with darkness and light alternating with one another in the manner that God had prescribed. Now, the sun is appointed to the measures of the day, and the moon to those of the night, whenever it is completed into its own cycle. For then it begins the night with its own light; for it was said regarding it that it is perfect to rule over all the night. Therefore, just as God once gathered together the water which previously covered the whole earth into one recepta- ^C cle, namely into the seas, rivers, and wells, so too did He gather together the light which had been diffused in abundance and created the sun, the moon, and the stars.

It must be known that the moon, immediately upon its creation, had received its own light in perfection and stood at the setting, while the sun occupied the eastern horizon; for one was commanded to rule the day, and the other the night; thus it was a full moon. It did not immediately undergo change, but later admitted a transformation for the sake of an operation beneficial to those of us on earth, or for the division of seasons and time. The sun, therefore, was rising—for it was dawn—while the moon was moving toward the setting, and they were opposed to one another; the one making the day and ruling it and going toward the west, while the other, having circled round to the eastern region, took hold of the place from whence it might rule the night. But if the moon was ^D created on the fourth day, how did it exist as full? For the days that preceded the luminaries are reckoned with the world and with creation. Since, therefore, being four days old, it would not have held the limit of the setting, nor would it have stood against the beginning of that night, being obliged to rule it; it therefore exceeds by eleven days, having proceeded on the fourth day.

These days, therefore, by which it surpassed the sun, it is accustomed to restore every year. For the lunar month contains twenty-nine days and a half. But the solar month contains thirty days, with the addition of the solar minutes, from which five days are added.

^B A question now arises whether these luminaries are fixed to the heaven and revolve with it, or whether they complete their revolutions while the heaven remains stable and immovable; and further, whether they perform their motions below this heaven. For Homer somewhere says (let this be mentioned for the sake of the Greeks): "The sun rose, leaving the very beautiful lake, [to ascend] into the bronze-covered heaven." And again: "From the gently flowing of the deep-running Ocean." Some declare that the luminaries wander in the air at a great distance from the heaven. And so, as appeared from what was said before, they would transmit the greater part of their light, as if into the upper region, and would finally transmit the remainder downward to us; furthermore, they would illuminate the heavens more than our region with their radiance. As it seems to me, they move through the surface of the heaven, extending their entire light to us. For it is not in vain that Scripture says, "God placed them in the firmament," and the word "placed" is not to be understood, as some would have it, in the sense of "fixed." Wherefore Joshua the son of Nun also exclaims, "Sun, stand still," and he did not say, "Heaven, stand still," which is what moves it. But the present passage differs from what is said concerning the birds, namely, "Let them fly in the firmament of heaven." For it is one thing for them to be *in* it, and another for them to be *above* it and in the high places.

^C Some, moved by solar eclipses, have supposed the moon to be placed below the sun; and those who do not believe the heaven to be a sphere inquire where it sets at night and where it goes. For they say it does not travel under the earth, but that after passing the western limit of the heaven, it runs toward the north, as if hiding under some wall, the waters preventing it from appearing and turning its splendor away from the earth, and in this manner it finally proceeds to the east by its circular motion. As a witness to confirm this opinion of theirs, they bring forward Ecclesiastes, saying, "The sun rises and the sun sets, and it hurries to its place where it arises. It passes toward the south and turns toward the north," etc. Wherefore, in winter, beginning its rising from the more southern part, it passes through a small space and makes the day short; but setting, and traversing a long circle, it makes the night long. For it traverses the whole west, the whole north, and the whole east, wishing to reach the furthest limit of the latter, namely the south. But rising from the middle, it produces an equinox; and proceeding from the northern region, it produces a longer day; but if it should rise from a different part, it adds length to the nights.

VERS. 14. And let them be for signs and for certain seasons and…

for days and for years. ^A Signs from the luminaries are necessary for human life, provided one does not inquire into the signs from them beyond what is reasonable. For much can be learned by long experience regarding rain, and much concerning droughts and the movement of winds, whether partial or universal, violent or gentle. For one of those things demonstrated by the sun the Lord has handed down to us, saying: “It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning: To-day there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering.” And the Lord also predicted that at the end, when all the elements perish, signs would appear in the sun and moon and stars. And these are His words: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, and the stars shall not give their light.” By “seasons” He means the changes of the seasons; and “for days” does not mean that they create the days, but that they govern the days, for day and night are older than the movement of the luminaries. For the Psalm says: “He set the sun to rule over the day, the moon and the stars to rule over the night.” For carrying light in itself, when it crosses our horizon, it provides the day, dissolving the darkness. But the sun and moon were also appointed for the formation and constitution of the year: the moon, by completing its course twelve times, produces a year; and the sun, having returned to the same point from which it began, establishes a year. That they contain signs, Scripture seems to insinuate. ^B For, repeating the utility of the stars, it says that they exist not only to provide light to mortals, but to rule over day and night, and to separate light from darkness. Therefore, they are also signs of days and nights and of the times composed of these, as well as the things which occur in them, which another translation called “appointed arrangements,” that is to say, feasts; just as he of Sirach says concerning the moon, that it was made for the manifestation of times and as a sign of a feast. It is also possible to understand “for signs” as referring to the exceptions, as when the sun and moon stand still, as in the time of Joshua the son of Nun, and when it moves backwards in the time of Hezekiah. ^C One might indeed find some stars appearing at certain times which are wont to signify some things, and as it were to announce good things or bad which descend from an angry or a benevolent God. But, passing these over, some people, by way of these, think that the detestable art of the Genethliacs—which is known everywhere to be doubtful and uncertain—is indicated. But in order that the vanity of this superstition may be discerned, I beg you to pay close attention to what follows. If anyone divides the twelfth part of the zodiac into thirty degrees, which the sun measures in its course; and then these parts are divided into sixty minutes, and each minute is further divided into sixty “seconds”—what, I ask, is the method by which it would be possible for the horoscope to attain exactly the moment, considering how ^D extremely swift is the heavenly motion, and how many minutes pass by while the astrologer, if he happens to be present, wishes to know with precision the position of the horoscope through the astrolabe? If…

this is altogether impossible, and there is such a difference between one minute and another, and one moment and another—with the one designating a king and the other a beggar—how can one not expose such an art as deceitful and uncertain? ^A Furthermore, is it not the most absurd thing to attribute to celestial signs (which are believed to be animals) the same effects and properties that terrestrial animals possess? For if anyone, they say, happens to be born in the hour of Aries, he has curly hair, a cheerful appearance, is magnanimous, capable in counsel, and wealthy; for Aries, they say, holds almost all these properties. Although it easily sheds its wool, it naturally receives back at once that with which it is clothed. They invent similar things about Taurus and the other signs. To these they ascribe events and our own counsels: indeed, they even refer our sins back to Him who created the stars, as if He were their author. Furthermore, they wish us, just like soulless things, to be carried here and there at the whim of the stars. In vain, therefore, would there be laws, counsels, exhortations, and judicial assemblies, if the evil that is in us were necessary.

^B If there is no creator of the stars, but they were brought into being spontaneously, they possess a spontaneous malice which they distribute among things. But who, if they came to be spontaneously, gave to the stars their mutual conjunctions and combinations, and their courses marked by such wonderful proportion? For you would not say that anything that comes to be spontaneously is artificial. For the same reason, He would not have created the world sufficient unto itself in all things. How is it that kings are not born continuously, since the stars take form and change daily? ^C Why, if all things are to be imputed to the stars, are certain priesthoods hereditary and dedicated to a single people? Furthermore, why are kingdoms also owed to the succession of children, which devolve upon sons and grandsons through several generations, if all things are to be assigned to the stars? Why do the children of the Hebrews undergo circumcision on the eighth day? Why do the priests among the Ishmaelites, when they have reached the age of ten, get marked with circumcision, and why among the Ethiopians are the knees of some cut, and among the Amazons is one breast removed? For it is not possible to say that they are all subject to the same sign, even if you wish to throw the blame on the climate of the heavens to which we are subject. For even the Jews, having been driven from Judea and scattered throughout all the climates of the habitable world, none the less all undergo circumcision on the eighth day. ^D Why, if you are to be listened to, seeing that from infinite ages the stars have had their motion, did the Christian nation only yesterday and recently shine forth in piety, and the ancient and established objects of veneration of the Greeks become extinguished? Why, if all are subject to fate, do some overturn it, some by speech and some by longer writings? For if it is the cause of what is done, it itself works its own dissolution. Rightly, therefore, does God, rebuking such people, say: "Stand with your astrologers of the heaven, those who see the stars, as to what is about to come upon you." These things He says to the daughter of the Chaldeans, who of all people understand these things best.

^A

Since, therefore, it is sufficiently manifest from what has been said, and from many other arguments which we have deliberately omitted, that astrology is unstable and ambiguous, I am truly surprised by the arguments upon which certain men, who claim to be philosophers, rely when they dare to propose that the stars have no force or power over a person’s birth, yet that they signify what a person’s life will be. Furthermore, the argument just mentioned powerfully proves that the stars are endowed with no power to indicate what a human life will be like. But these men, nonetheless, disagreeing with those who attribute some power to the stars in a person’s birth, blather the following: "How can it be that one person's configuration shows who their parents were, whether they were freeborn and honest, whether poor or rich, or the opposite of these? For how could current planetary ^B positions be the causative agents for those already born, and perhaps even deceased? For every cause must precede its effect." But they say, "It signifies that they were such people, it does not mean that the configuration caused them to be such." Again, how can one person’s configuration indicate not only that their parents were such, but also their children, brothers, friends, and servants? For each person would not be born from their own configuration alone, which is what is claimed, but also from the configurations of countless others. If, however, they claim the configurations for past events are "significative" and those for future events are "effective," what is the basis for this separation? What is the cause of such a transformation in the stars’ operation and power? They are compelled to say, therefore, that the stars signify, in some cases, for the sake of knowledge of certain more divine powers, and in others, for the sake of action—just as it is written in our own scriptures, that the creation of the world is for knowledge, and the commandments are for action, so that all things are conducted according to the will of God. They also introduce the prayer of Joseph: "For I have read in the tablets of heaven all that will happen to you and your children," as spoken by Jacob. Perhaps they also use the verse, "The heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll," to mean that the words contained therein are significant of future events, to be brought to completion through the unfolding of events.

Jeremiah effectively removes the fear ^C that stars seem to instill in the minds of men—a fear perhaps also rooted in the belief that the things indicated are "effective"—saying: "Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be afraid of the signs of the heavens, as the nations are afraid of them." To this, an objection is raised: If God foreknew what was to come, then the things denoted by the stars must necessarily come to pass, lest God, in His foreknowledge, be seen to err. To this we must respond that God foreknew, for instance, that Judas would be the betrayer, precisely because he was about to betray Him, moved by his own volition, which also held the power not to betray; he betrayed Him nonetheless. So, foreknowledge is not the cause of the action, but the action is the cause of the foreknowledge. ^D

For let no one commit adultery, and he is not foreknown by God to become an adulterer. But if he does commit adultery—even though he had the power, had he so willed, not to commit it—he himself, by willing it, has provided the cause for being foreknown by God ^A in such a way, given that the necessary foreknowledge preempts the contingent act; it is not a compelling knowledge, but an unerring and precise one. For God cannot lie; yet it is possible for God to have conceptual knowledge regarding contingent things—both that they will take place and that they will not. For example, if it is possible for Judas to remain an apostle, it is possible for God to entertain this thought concerning him, just as He could contemplate the contrary, namely, that he would be a betrayer. Since both are contingent, because in him—the individual ^B—there was the truth of the choice inclining towards betrayal, God, foreknowing the truth, will foreknow that Judas is to become a betrayer. Now, regarding that of which there is knowledge, it was possible for it to have happened otherwise, and God knew that, being able not to do so, he did it.

For neither is a prophet, when announcing that a thing will be, the cause of the outcome; he has merely revealed the future. Even the sons of physicians ^C predict future illnesses, not because they themselves cause them, but because their profession is to hinder and cure diseases. Hence we often read in the holy Scriptures that God commands the prophets to preach repentance, pretending to be ignorant of all things that are to come—whether they will be persuaded to repent or not—so that He might not seem to have provided, through His foreknowledge, the cause for their disobedience, making the hearers sink into despair. And He says somewhere to Jeremiah: "Perhaps they will hear and repent," ^D demonstrating the contingent balance of their own powers. And one who has learned beforehand that he is going to be good does not struggle so readily against wickedness, being persuaded that it will surely come to pass. For one must know that even though He foreknows those who are good, He knows that they will become such through struggles of this kind, and contests, and perseverance; naturally, therefore, God has blinded us to the future, so that no one, having foreknown [his future], then becoming slothful, might fight against the very foreknowledge of God, growing weak toward the acquisition of virtue; for foreknowledge would prove to be a hindrance to virtue. Many things happen from external causes not in our power that affect those things that are in our power, and if the former were annulled, the second would not exist. For instance, from the wickedness of tyrants comes the act of witnessing for God; for if the tyrants had not existed, some would not have witnessed, even if they had so wanted. But if anyone seeks to have what is in our power, as something entirely loosened from the universe, so that from these things that have happened to us we do not choose those things, he has forgotten that he is a part of the world, and he wishes to cut away the things that move and exercise what is in our power. Many other things occur, moreover, of which we are not the principle and cause; many things, besides, happen of which we are held to be the authors. But once the first causes are removed, not even the second will occur. For example, [of] the tyrants...

cruelty and savagery, if it did not intervene, there would be no martyrs. Nevertheless, it is possible—even if tyrants rage with their innate cruelty—that some be found who persist in the confession of the true faith, in no way denying Christ, provided they are determined to do so. But if one believes that we are entirely cut off from the universe, and that we have absolutely no power of choice as things have presented themselves, that man has certainly forgotten that he is a part of the world, and he attempts to cut off those things which move and exercise us.

^A Ver. 16. *And God made two great lights.* Something is called "great" in two ways. The one is great if it be compared to another; for example, an ant is large if compared to the little beasts of its own kind. The other is called great because it is great in itself, as in the present passage. For they are not called great as if they exceeded the other stars in size, but because they are so powerful in their magnitude that they are able to illuminate the heaven and all that is, by their own power. Furthermore, they complete their courses everywhere, appearing equally to all everywhere. Therefore, each luminary possesses magnitude, and they are in infinite ways greater than they appear to our own eyes. What he says, *they were made,* etc., is to be understood as a rendering of the cause, and it teaches that the Son did what the Father commanded to subsist and exist. Since it had not been stated how many lights there were, he added immediately: *And God made two great lights.* From which it is clearly evident that there is the same will and operation of the Father and the Son. What he says: *He placed them,* etc., is not equivalent to what he said, *He made*; nor does he want us to understand them as having been first formed and only afterwards transferred into the firmament, but rather what sense or reflection suggests: that their creation was prior to their placing. For the one pertains to substance, the other looks to the fact that it matches and fits the remaining parts of the world.

^C Ver. 20. *And God said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping thing of living soul: and the bird that may fly over the earth on the face of the firmament of heaven.* The earth and the heaven had been adorned with wondrous decoration; it was required that the air and the water also be adorned, as is learned from the present texts. Now at last, a sensitive animal enters into the world. Plants also are said to live, because they have a vegetative and augmentative soul, and because they know how to procreate their own kind; but they possess no sense. *Creeping things* (reptilia), he says, for everything that swims creeps in a certain way through the water, being dragged along by its body. There are some animals in the waters that have feet, and for that reason they dwell partly in the waters and partly on the land, such as seals, scallops, crocodiles, river-horses, frogs, and crabs. But in these, swimming excels. The other animals, which are wholly destitute of lungs through which air is inhaled, lead their lives entirely in the waters. They do, however, have gills, by which they take in and emit water, just as we do air. Wherefore, as soon as they are drawn out of the waters, they perish. Birds also proceed from the waters; for most birds spend their lives either mostly, or entirely, in the waters. Indeed, even the rest of the birds, which fly on high through the air, take their origin from the waters, on account of a certain kinship of the elements; for the air is resolved into moisture, and when it is condensed into clouds, it finally moves into water, and water, when evaporated, makes air.

διαφόρους ὁρμᾶς οἰακίζοντες· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πτηνῶν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν διανηχομένων τὸν ἀέρα τοῖς πτεροῖς. Πλὴν οὐδὲν τῶν πτηνῶν, διὰ τὸ πᾶσι τὴν δίαιταν ὑπάρχειν ἐκ γῆς.

«Τὰ πετεινὰ δὲ, ἔφη, ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς πετόμενα.» Ἐν γῇ γὰρ ἔχει τὴν δίαιταν· ἐξ αὐτῆς δὲ ἀνιόντα καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν καθιπτάμενα. ^B Ἡ γοῦν ἐπειδὴ τὰ πλεῖστα καὶ πρὸς τροφὴν ἡμῖν δεδομένα χαμαιπετῆ ἐστι, τῶν ἄλλων ὑψιπετῶν ὄντων, ἀπὸ τοῦ πλεονάζοντος καὶ ἀναγκαιοτέρου τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἴρηται· «τὸ δὲ, ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ,» διὰ τὴν ἐν ἀέρι πτῆσιν, ὃς οὐρανὸς ὀνομάζεται διὰ τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι. Ἀμέλει καὶ νέφη οὐρανὸς λέγεται παρὰ τῇ Γραφῇ, καὶ τὸν ὑετὸν οὐρανόθεν ἔρχεσθαι. Στερεώματι δέ φησι διὰ τὸ πυκνότερόν πως είναι συγκρίσει τοῦ αἰθερίου σώματος, καὶ μᾶλλον πεπιλημένον ταῖς κάτωθεν ἀναφοραῖς τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἡμῶν ἀέρα.

«Κατὰ γένος» δὲ ἐπ' ἀμφότερον τὸ «κατ’ εἶδος» σημαίνει· οἷον ἐν τοῖς ἐνύδροις τὰ μὲν ὀστρακόδερμα, τὰ δὲ μαλακόστρακα, ὡς κάραβοι καὶ καρκίνοι· ^C τὰ δὲ μαλάκια, ὧν ἡ σὰρξ ἁπαλή, οἷον σηπίαι καὶ πολύποδες· τὰ δὲ σελάχια, ὡς οἱ κυνίσκοι καὶ πάντα τὰ γαλεώδη· ἃ δὴ καὶ ζωοτοκεῖ τῶν ἄλλων ὠοτοκούντων. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὰ κητώδη καὶ τῶν λεπτῶν ἰχθύων ἀπειρα γένη· ὁμοίως καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν. Ἔοικε δὲ τῶν ἐνύδρων ἑρπετὰ μὲν κεκληκέναι τὰ σώματα, ψυχὰς δὲ ζώσας τὰς ψυχὰς λέγειν· κἂν γὰρ ἄλογος ᾖ, ζωτικὴν δύναμιν τῷ σώματι παρέχει. Ταύτας δὲ οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων καθὰ τὰ σώματα πεποίηκεν ὁ Θεός, ἀλλ' ἰδίῳ θελήματι τὴν ψύχωσιν καὶ τὴν κίνησιν ἐνεποίησεν· οὐ προϋποστάντων τῶν σωμάτων καὶ οὕτω ψυχουμένων. Ἑκάστου δὲ γένους τὰς ἀπαρχὰς ὥσπερ τινὰ τῆς φύσεως σπέρματα προβληθῆναι κελεύει· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ μετὰ ταῦτα διαδοχῇ ταμιεύεται ὅταν αὐξάνεσθαι καὶ πληθύνεσθαι δέῃ. Καὶ εἰκὸς ἀπὸ παντὸς ζώων γένους δύο γεγονέναι, καθάπερ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Οὕτως δὲ συζυγίαι μόναι ἦσαν ὅτε καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτὰ ἐνώπιον Ἀδάμ, ἵνα ὀνόματα ἐπιθῇ τούτοις ὧν ἤμελλε δεσπόζειν. ^D Ἔστι δὲ τεκμήρασθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ, ὅτι δύο εἰς τὴν κιβωτὸν εἰσφέρεται κατὰ τὸ τῆς κοσμοποιίας παράδειγμα. Εἰ δὲ πλείονα εἰσήχθη τὰ καθαρά, αἴτιον τὸ βούλεσθαι τὸν Νῶε θῦσαι μετὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν Θεῷ, καὶ τὸ βούλεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν τὰ χρησιμώτερα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πλείονα διασώζεσθαι.

Ὅτι δὲ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόσταξις ταῦτα δημιουργεῖ, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐνόντα τοῖς ὕδασιν ἐξ ιέναι προστάττεται, ὡς καὶ τὸ «Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ»· οὐ γὰρ ἐναπέκειτο πρὸ τοῦ πρὸς τὴν κίνησιν εἶναι, ἀλλὰ ῥῆμα Θεοῦ πρὸς ἑκάστην γένεσιν ἐπιφαίνεται.

^A Likewise, He commanded that the earth should flourish with herbs, flowers, and trees that were not present on the earth before, and the effect followed the command; similarly, it happens here. For Scripture does not simply add, "The waters brought forth," etc. What, then? "And God made great whales, and every living creature of the creeping things." Since He mentions the genus of whales ^B by way of exception because of their surpassing size, proving that He made these too, just as He did the smallest, by a mere command, He shows that they may be compared to mountains in the mass of their bodies, and often offer the appearance of islands when they swim up to the surface of the water. Wherefore do they not linger along the shores, but choose the so-called Atlantic Ocean to dwell in? Certain animals have been formed by God to serve man: others to lead us into the speculation and contemplation of the miraculous creation of the world: others to strike us with a certain fear, lest we grow torpid in negligence, void of all dread: others to yield food for man after the Fall. But those animals are by no means blessed with a spiritual blessing as humans are; rather, their blessing pertains to the procreation of offspring, which is brought about by the succession of the genus. This, indeed, although He did not explicitly state it regarding plants, He nonetheless wished to signify when He added thereafter: "And God saw that it was good." If it was good, surely He also intended it to endure. Certainly, there is a tacit hint here as to how great is the excellence of animals if they are compared with plants and trees. For plants were created for the sake of animals. Thus, since they were delighted and endowed with a blessing, one must certainly believe that the blessing also passed to those things, inasmuch as plants were created by God to assist animals. Moreover, plants and seeds receive their growth and maturity through the labor of tillers according to the power implanted in them by God. But animals grow and increase by a certain peculiar desire for mating and for begetting offspring. Therefore it is said: "God blessed them." By which words we are taught that they do not have from themselves that ardor for procreating their own kind, from which comes both the succession and increase of a genus.

^C Furthermore, it is beautifully related: "Increase and multiply." For from the very casting of the seed, they receive increase; from there, progress is made to perfection, and subsequently they hasten to beget their own kind. Thus, "increase" signifies that growth by which magnitude is received. "Multiplication" denotes expansion into a multitude and succession by means of coitus and commingling. But how did He command those devoid of reason? I consider it quite plain that the natural mode and ardor which exists in all animals for the propagation of their kind is a certain precept and a certain law of God. Thus (as Jonah teaches*) God commanded the whale and the morning worm. For whatever we know to be brought about by His will and providence must be believed to be the command or decree of God. But in what way does the blessing fitly follow the command or decree of God? If animals contribute anything to the multiplication of their own kind, it increases and multiplies by the command and decree of God, even though we might think the whole operation to be that of the animal. What He says: "Fill the waters in the ^D seas," is stated as it was in the case of humans: "Fill the earth," in order that, as regards the inhabitants of the water, every place may have those that swim; and as regards man, that the earth, capable of being inhabited, may have the man who fills it; nor is the argument harmed by the

fact that the earth is in some places scorched by excessive heat, and in others desolate from extreme cold, so that in neither environment is it convenient for man to dwell. If one wishes to blame the earth for the fact that it is uninhabitable due to certain mountains and solitudes, because they are not cultivated and frequented by mortals, he will certainly be in great need of hellebore. By no dissimilar reasoning, if one says that what was said, "Fill," etc., is false, he will be judged a fool, because many places in the waters are devoid of animals.

^C VERSE 24. And God said: "Let the earth produce a living soul according to its kind: cattle, and reptiles, and beasts of the earth according to their kind." And it was so. The necessity seemed to require that the earth, now that it had been adorned with trees and plants, should also be enriched with animals, just as was the sea. However, as regards the sea, he said: "reptiles of living souls," but here he says: "a living soul," yet not as if it were stored within the earth, so that the doors might be closed against the madness of the Manichaeans. Just as he powerfully commanded the earth to sprout, and the waters to bring forth reptiles, and the effect was immediately seen: so also in this place. Therefore, the earth did not bring forth what it already possessed, but rather acquired what it did not have, with God bestowing the power of efficacy. If it cast forth a soul which it had had, as they clamor, it would truly have despoiled itself of soul. Why then are they not ashamed to propose that the earth is animate? Swimming animals, which move about in the density of the waters, are judged in a certain way to be more imperfect than the rest. For they are deprived of memory, imagination, and habitual knowledge. Moreover, there is a greater dullness of the senses, and everywhere the body surpasses the movements of the soul. Wherefore, it is not without reason that it is noted concerning them, "reptiles of living souls," etc. But concerning land animals, so that their excellence may be discerned, he says: "a living soul." For they are very powerful in their senses and memory from the moment they are born. Therefore, he teaches that fish are indeed animated: but he indicates that terrestrial animals have souls by which they are governed in an orderly fashion, and he signifies by this something more than possessing a vegetative soul. Although they are brute animals, nevertheless they know how to testify by a natural voice to joy and sadness; and they understand if they are separated from one another, they know a lack of food, they know desire, and many other things. Isaiah says: "The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib." Not only the crib, but he recognizes a familiar voice, and the way by which he has traveled, so that he is able to lead him who is riding him along it.

^D The earth produces a soul, that you may know what the difference is between the soul of a beast and the soul of man. For the soul of brute animals is of the earth and is dissolved into the earth. For he says: "The soul of every living thing is its blood." But blood congeals into flesh and is condensed. Where the soul has been corrupted, it is turned back into the earth. For the souls of brute animals are on all sides implicated and interwoven with their bodies; therefore, they perish together with their bodies. It is manifest, therefore, that the souls of beasts are nothing but

^A a construction of elements, nor do they confirm the divine Scripture, but their own notions. Let no one blame God by bringing forward venomous and destructive animals, for they chasten our unbelief; for if you trust in the Lord, “You shall trample upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall tread upon the lion and the dragon,” just as the great Paul did, suffering no harm from the bite of the venomous viper. But if you are an unbeliever, do not fear the beast, but fear your own unbelief, on account of which you are liable to every destruction. If one should examine more closely what utility lies within brute animals, he would find that the tame nature of one represses our savagery and fury, while the care and diligence of another awakens us from our negligence; some animals cultivate temperance, and others know how to offer honor to their parents. And, to explain briefly what I mean, one who is formed in the image of God is always taught and incited to diligence by things of lower status. After he said, “reptiles, and beasts, and cattle,” he added to this whole series of the discourse, “and all the reptiles of the earth,” by which name he calls all things that live upon the earth and are unable to fly high, as birds are wont to do. And he says: “And God saw that they were good.” In this passage, he used the plural number as the singular, just as he did when speaking of the luminaries. He rightly adapted the singular number to the discourse concerning the luminaries. For although the stars and luminaries are very many, yet the light and the utility of them all is the same—namely, that being established, they provide light to the world. But in aquatic and terrestrial animals, there are very many differences in each kind, and their contemplation ^B is not common.

Ver. 26. And God said: Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

^A God, therefore, brought forth man, being good in Himself, and creating beings out of non-beings; and everything out of non-being is, relative to Him who is ever-existent, and every work relative to its Maker, less than He—otherwise there would be no difference. But if God is immutable and unchangeable, and is good by nature, it follows necessarily that the generated being—since it is created from non-being and must be inferior to its Maker—is changeable, and does not have the good within its own will by nature, but by participation derived from choice. For it stands, as it were, in the middle, capable of inclining wherever it wishes. For the Deity is good by nature, not having received this by participation; but every rational nature is constituted to be participant in goodness. In this participation, however, there exists "more" and "less," arising from what is in our power, as well as intensification and relaxation, the preservation of what has been acquired, and the loss thereof through negligence. If, therefore, it were not necessary for evil to exist, then neither should the good exist, nor should there be "that which is in our power," if the power of the opposite were cut away. For only the Deity is good substantially, who is also alone eternal. But if He is immovable, our good needed to be of a moving kind, so that the one might participate and the other be participated in; and that the participant might participate by will in that which is participated in. But where there is a will for participation, there is also, as has been said, "more" and "less"; thus, there is also the possibility of not willing. If there were a removal of the inclination toward the worse, there would also be a removal of the inclination toward the better; for an inclination is a movement from something—so, from that which is not of a certain kind toward that which is. But if the latter is good, then that from which one moves must also exist—that is, what he has abandoned, being able to move toward it or not to move toward it.

^C But if it were necessary for the created one—while having the power to be evil—to have the ability to choose the good, even in this way God does not escape the charge, according to you, for having provided the power. For if he has become good, he has become so of himself, for He provided him only with the power toward the good, just as He did toward evil. Therefore, if he has become evil, it is of himself, not of God who gave the power for the sake of the good. And what kind of judgment of the good would there be for those who participate in it, if its opposite were not present, and if the choiceworthy and the avoidable were not tested against one another, so that one might grasp the one and reject the other? It was necessary, then, that both should reside within us, even if the one is preferred by those who are negligent. Furthermore, which is prior: the creation, or the judgment concerning virtue and vice? It is clear that it is the creation. But if, before making them, God were to discriminate between those who are to be, producing some as those who will be good and preventing others, He would be passing judgment from the very beginning, awarding the prize of existence to some, while being honored by the non-existence of others—and He would be putting Himself to the test, if He were to [have] such...

power, while producing rational beings, and yet—foreknowing the others—not have created [note: correction for corrected text reading 'not otherwise'] those who participate in it. Therefore, so that you do not become evil, even though you have acquired evil from yourself, do you judge God to be evil? He is good in His being—I mean, by the very fact of His existence—not granting evil, nor punishing evil that has not come to pass, nor judging before He creates, nor confusing the order [of things] and bringing condemnation upon things not yet existent and not yet come to be. And, greatest of all, [you suggest] that He destroys beforehand, or rather suppresses, those who are destined to become good from the evil, or rather that He prevents and punishes them just as He does the wicked, having no reason to complain against them that they will not become good. But neither is He obliged to ^B bring forth those who are good in the first place, because of those who are sometimes born from them—or rather, always—as evil; for it is not possible to find a long succession of a lineage that has not also produced those who are evil, and for that reason become culpable. Thus, while you summon God to judgment, as it were, and presume to judge His works, you have also impiously dared to assault the works of creation.

That you are evil by your own power is made manifest by the one who is born of you and after you, yet is good; and that you have become good by your own power is made manifest by the one who is born of you and after you, yet is evil. For each of them, starting from contrary beginnings, has attained the opposites through himself, without having followed necessity by being so born. For the sake of one thing, it was necessary for another to be, or not to be for the sake of the other. But if you demand that God look toward the end, you recognize Him as unjust; for since the beginning and the end are distinct and contrary, by the one He would prevent the other—that is, the good by means of the evil. For he would be destroying the good in the beginning just as the evil at the end; and he concerns himself with the outcome while abandoning the beginning, even if it does not result in a similar end. For the characteristic activity and habit of both are alike. Therefore, since God is just, He has called Judas, honoring him by the call on account of his beginning; and He has called Paul on account of the end. For the good is no less good, even if the end be dissimilar; and the evil is evil, even if a similar end does not follow. Some, moreover, live a mixed life consisting of both good and evil, and it would not have been right for the good to be destroyed because of the evil. ^C But if these were distributed in equal measure, those who possess them would rightly be judged neither good nor bad, but would stand in the middle between the two, having both vice and virtue. And according to your view, if it were to prevail, you would wish to have these removed from the midst, while you desire only the good to be in the world. And yet it was more fitting that they should not exist on account of the evils, than that they should exist on account of the goods. What, I ask, do you think regarding the simpler sort to whom evil is not imputed, even if it be only... ^D

even if it were only or abundant? But neither is evil simply evil, since it becomes an instrument for Divine Providence, by which the good are exercised and proved, and through which they become what they are. For if we are called and accounted good because, being exercised by evils and afflicted by them, we have not yielded basely, certainly if that exercise or arena is destroyed, the good itself will be destroyed—just as if vipers were removed, the remedy which God has granted to mortals from them would also be taken away. For perhaps, while you do not wish for men to be evil, you do not desire for there to be demons, so that they might thus be tested and examined. If it were fitting that God should restrain and check the lesser evil in men, it would be much more necessary for the greatest evil to be inhibited in the demons. Thus there will be nothing left to exercise and prove the good; nay, the very existence of the good will be prevented. But it was fitting that the exercises should be different on account of the different states of those being exercised. It is fitting that the exercise should take ^A a greater or lesser form, whether regarding men or demons. But malice is judged to be malice precisely because it is exercised more or less against the good; and so, where there is good being exercised, there also is evil; and where there is evil being intensified and relaxed, there is entirely also good. But let us return to the subject at hand.

And God said: Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness.

^A the world was brought into existence, the honor of [divine] counsel is manifested. For the One who crafts [him] pre-figures by the writing of the Word that which is to be, and what sort of being it behooves him to be, and to what archetype he must refer his likeness, and upon what [basis] he will come to be, and by what [power] he will be activated once he has come into being, and over what things he will rule. But how is the more honorable [creature] last? Because, just as when a king is about to be brought in, it was necessary for the whole preparation to have been pre-arranged; and for this reason the heavens came first, the sun preceded, the light arrived before, the preparation for the feast anticipated the guests, and man finally came forth, to be a spectator of some things and master of others, so that he might admire the Creator through the things that are seen.

Of the beginning of the divine ^B image, he calls man [the image], and to manifest this, adds: "And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea." But how could there be one account of the rule of God and of the angels, even if we were to concede that God directed this utterance [to the angels]: "Let us make man according to our image"? And with good reason man is called the image of God, but the woman is not, because it does not [speak] regarding the form, but rather discourses regarding the image which is seen in imperial dignity, which the man alone possesses, under whose rule even the woman settles. For he says: "To your husband will be your turning, and he will have dominion over you." But the man is reported to be subject and subordinate to none of those things which are upon the earth; but just as God rules over all, so the man [rules] over all things on earth. For no one is superior to him according to this [dignity].

And the [phrase] "according to likeness" means to be mild and gentle and, to the extent of one's power, to be assimilated to God according to the principle of virtue. "Be, therefore," he says, "merciful, even as your Father." ^C Paul also says that he is again in labor with those who had fallen from this likeness, until Christ is formed in them. These words also herald an exact doctrine of religion. For Christ himself, putting on flesh, willed to restore and save the fallen man whom He had created. Wherefore, since God kept silence in the other works of creation, here He says, "Let us make," etc., so that where you know that you were created by Him, you learn also that you are both restored and preserved by Him. He speaks in the plural number: "Let us make," etc., so concerning one man, relying on His foreknowledge, He says in the plural number: "Let them have dominion."

Bringing man into this world, ^D so that he might enjoy both earthly and heavenly things, He provides him with the occasions of a double provision, mixing the divine with the earthly, so that being supported by both, he might…

enjoy each. ^A He enjoys God through his more divine nature, and the good things of the earth through his kindred sense, perceiving earthly things with great pleasure. And indeed, man came forth into this world like a king endowed with free will, entirely free and subject to no one's authority. Having received dominion over all other things, he beautifully represents the image of God in this. Yet he bears the image of God even more in his mind and reason. "For in the beginning was the Word," and Paul says, "We have the mind of Christ." And in man, both of these are seen, for "God is love," and we are invited to this love; for he says, "We shall be his disciples, if we love one another." The Divine looks upon all things and searches into all things, and He has provided us with senses and a searching intellect. And ours is one mind, which goes out through the sensory organs and grasps beings through a dissimilar similarity; for there, the One and the true simplicity of bodies exist. He has also received an upright bodily stature, and he reaches toward heaven; having obtained this as a mark of rule, while the others incline toward the earth, demonstrating their subjection ^B to him. He also has hands as ministers to assist the word.

He is naked of the defensive aids and coverings provided by nature, although he possesses dominion over others; this is, first, so that he might not become fierce and difficult of approach, and second, so that he might not become more slothful and negligent in ruling the others, having no need of those things which were created for his sake—whence also they preceded him in the order of creation. For just as the growth of things from the earth preceded these, which was required before the animals were created, perhaps some doctrine is also revealed through this: that the vital and psychic power is examined in three differences. One is the vegetative power, which those that possess it use for nourishment, growth, and the generation of their own kind; plants and trees alone participate in this. The sensitive power assumes sensation in addition to what has been said, which is found in the irrational animals. ^C The rational power, however, is a certain perfect and incorruptible thing, which man has received. And naturally he came last, as nature proceeded by a certain path to the perfect, following that path. Thus man has his constitution in these three: and Paul is a witness, praying for the Ephesians for the complete grace of body, soul, and spirit, having taken the body for the vegetative, the soul for the sensitive, and the spirit for the intellective power. For man, endowed with this spirit, rules over the animals that appear in this world, even the invisible ones, such as vices and demons, regarding whom the saint prays: "Do not deliver to the wild beasts the soul that confesses to Thee." And if you wish to understand the matter allegorically regarding fish and birds, you will find those over whom you ought to rule. ^D

^A As to the expression, "according to the image," some have perceived it as referring to the soul alone, as if the soul alone were formed according to the image of God. Others understand it of both body and soul, though principally of the soul. For they say: Every image is composed of matter and form; and neither exists without the other, but both are called images alike—even wood, for instance, because of the painting upon it, which is properly the image. Moreover, they say: Neither is the soul an image by itself, if virtue be not present. For this is its most divine form and image, according to which man is daily renewed, so that he may become conformed to Christ, that is to say, that he may receive the image of God. Nor does the soul possess the divine image with respect to the body; for by the same reasoning, brute animals would also bear the divine image. Nor, they say, does the substance of the soul itself possess the divine image by itself; for thus, even the wicked, who also have a soul, would bear the divine image before them. ^B Yet the soul is not called an image without the body; and man, having been made male and female, which are differences of bodies, was commanded: "Increase and multiply and fill the earth," which cannot be accomplished without the body. He received herbs and plants and trees by which he might be nourished, just as the other animals did. For if the soul, because of the divine character impressed upon it, is the image of God, who is himself properly and simply image and incomposite, it follows that the body, because of the divine character of the soul impressed upon it, is also an image of God. "For the face," says the Wise Man, "of a prudent man, his clothing, his gait, and his laughter reveal the man within." For this reason, the man, possessing a soul more godlike than the woman, extends the divine image as far as the body; for which cause he is not commanded by Paul to cover his head. Furthermore, the whole man, along with his body, is called a soul. For the image begins from the more principal part, and thus proceeds to the weaker and more imbecile. Wherefore the incarnation of the Word was extremely necessary, by which the collapsed and lost image was resumed, being wrought not only corporally but also spiritually; and the resurrection of the bodies is also necessary, which presents to the Maker him who was both formed according to the image of God and reformed.

^C But since the Apostle distinguishes the man from the woman, saying: "For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man"—yet Moses seems to offer no distinction, saying: "According to the image of God he made him; male and female he made them"—Paul followed his own speech, and accommodated the woman to him. But Moses reduced both sexes into the man; while speaking of one, he proposes both to us: "According to the image of God he made him." For if the woman claims her origin from the man, not undeservedly is she reduced into him as into her own root, which she has obtained by reason of the image on account of their common dignity and excellence. She therefore also possesses the divine image, because she was taken from the man. Wherefore he says: "Mu-" [she is the glory of the man, and as the woman is from the man, so the man is through the woman]. ^D

^A But "the head of the woman is the man," in which words he yet preserves the excellence for the man, immediately saying that "the head of the man is Christ." But that you may perceive an equal communion, he adds: "But all things are from God," etc., where he mingles and joins together those things which were by a certain order distinct. Wherefore he rightly added that the substance of both is from God. Therefore, if sometimes he speaks as if about one, saying "man," and sometimes he speaks of them in the plural number, it is sufficiently declared that the woman is of the same substance with the man, and that she is constituted under the same species with him. Which, if it is true, certainly it is because of the man that she is in the image of God. For both of them are susceptible to the same things, namely, they can imitate God, participate in the Holy Spirit, and assume virtue; to which image Paul also urges us, saying: "That you may be according to the image of the creator," ^B although we are now according to his image in the sense of substance. For every man, insofar as he is considered the creature of God, is able to receive reason. He is "according to the image of God," from which he cannot be separated or divided, and he is fit to participate in it. But if he becomes a participant in this according to operation, just as the protoplast from the beginning of things, he already contains within himself the operating image.

Some complain of those who say that the divine image consists now in the power of commanding, now in reason, now in intellect. They say that man alone is composed to the image of God. If the truth of this stands inviolate and untouched, I think it obvious that it is fitting that there be some peculiar cause for this appellation. For there are also invisible ^C and intelligible virtues, to which reason and the power of ruling are present. For Paul says: "Whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers," etc. And again: "That it might be known now to the Principalities and Powers." Hence he also calls the contrary powers thus, as if they had fallen from their order, saying: "For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against Principalities, against Powers," etc. Thus also they are called Archangels: "The Prince of the kingdom of the Persians stood before me,” etc., "Michael your prince," etc. The luminaries also, about which we have commemorated many things above, avail with a royal power, for they rule the day and the night. What reason, therefore, allows that man should be said to be formed to the image of God according to those things which we know to inhere in many other beings? And yet man alone is said to be constructed to the image of God. They say: ^D When God had fashioned sensible and intelligible things, he bound together and united the entire creation of both as if in man, who is held to be a participant of both natures, so that diverse works might not be believed to belong to diverse craftsmen. Therefore, those things which were separate in this universe, he drew into one, and made all things familiar and related to him. The substance of fruits is composed of the four elements; and the stars contribute something to their abundant growth. The enjoyment of these is most necessary for man. Hence a small portion of them is granted to animals in the service of men.

Paul says, "for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation." ^A Therefore, God created man as a secure pledge of friendship for the whole of creation, having fashioned him as a dual being so that creation might be joined to him not only by need but also by the affinity of nature. Thus, the labor of visible things is very useful to him, and the invisible Powers contribute no small benefit for his welfare, both because of kinship and because his service is directed toward God. Hence, He said that He made him "after the image," because he provided a certain rank of an image to the whole. For just as those in cities honor the image of the king or emperor in his absence, so God, being invisible to the whole of creation, set man in the place of an image, so that in serving him, all creatures might worship the divine (since it is invisible to them). But these things, having been shaken by sin, God strengthened through the economy concerning the Master, Christ, or rather, He even brought them to a better state, granting us preeminence over all creation. For by uniting our nature to Himself, He transformed our manner of life and our mortal nature into an immortal and immutable one; and it is said that he is worshipped by all of creation, as if he were an image of the united Godhead, through whom those who have been re-created with us into immutability through the resurrection imagine the divine essence, which is otherwise invisible. For now they are mutable, as the myriads of demons signify. And they bring forward Paul as a witness, saying, "In Him were created all things, both those in the heavens and those on the earth," instead of saying "re-created." He calls Him the image of the invisible God, as if He were showing the divine to creation, and the firstborn of all creation, as being the first to be brought into the new creation through the resurrection. ^B They say that it is most appropriate that "after our image" and "after our likeness" are joined together; for it is necessary that an image bear a certain imitation of that of which it is an image, even if it stands at a great distance, even in this case, a dissimilar likeness. God creates, and man also creates: the one possessing knowledge by nature, and the other receiving it in time; the one bringing forth substances, the other adorning the materials from which he cuts the majority of these things. God begets, and man also begets: the one without time, without matter, without passion, without division of himself; man generates in every way to the contrary. We perceive sensible things with affection and in a particular manner. If we learn something, it happens with time, and we are perfected in learning from others; but God possessed the knowledge of all things indivisibly, at once, and coeternally. God raises the dead with unspeakable power and in a moment; we also raise them by food, little by little, as the bodies are consumed; and

we repair and restore even dying fruits by the casting of seed into the earth through constant care, by which we represent an image of the resurrection. "For unless," He says, "the grain of wheat falling into the earth shall die" 13. To these things Paul writes similar things in his Epistle to the Corinthians. God is boundless, being everywhere and present to all indivisibly; since these things are incomprehensible, He has provided a small riddle for our mind; by which, as it exists within us, we receive an idea of the things in heaven; and shifting our thoughts from one place to another, He has given us, as it were, in an image, authority and power of judgment over beings, whence we are called gods. Hence the Holy Scripture warns: "Thou shalt not speak evil of the gods, nor shalt thou speak evil of the rulers of thy people" 14. He does not hesitate to call them gods and rulers, who were instructed with the faculty of commanding and judging according to the law of the Lord. Furthermore, God has given to him ^B also a representation of those things, as it were, in a riddle.

God has these two powers, subsistent and inseparable, existing from Himself and in Himself, the only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit; each of whom, according to a proper and peculiar reason, is from Him, even if they were of the same essence, inasmuch as they exist from one and the same essence. But that we might not linger in doubt as if about something impossible, He has bestowed upon our soul two powers, existing from it and in it, and inseparable from it and from each other: the reason, according to which we are called rational; and the vital power, according to which it holds its implanted and ever-abiding life, which it bestows upon the body. Therefore, the divine Scripture, desiring to lead us to the knowledge of these things, accommodates itself to us by using names which are known and familiar to us, when it makes words about God. For example: "In the beginning was the Word" 15, so that from the word which is implanted in our mind, we might be moved as if through an image to the knowledge of the Son. But the Spirit is proper to God, as the blessed Paul testifies: "For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God" 16. By these words, he warns us that from these things which are in us, we may arrive at the knowledge of the Holy Spirit from the divine substance. He has set before us a certain type or image of this in the first creation. For to hear that the Son of God is of the same substance and consubstantial with the Father does not appear foreign or strange to us, considering the things that are done by us. ^D But the argument which asserts that the Holy Spirit is also of the substance of God appeared incredible, whereas it was not at all incredible regarding the Son. Wherefore, although God could, by the same reasoning, form and fashion both the man and the woman, He does not do that which, as in the case of other animals, brings forth the genesis of both together;

^A but by taking a rib from the male, He fashioned the female, neither the former lacking what had been removed, nor the latter being imperfect. Thus, both are one flesh, as being of one essence, and as one being was to be born from both, they are naturally bound together by a bond of affection. So, if anything is consubstantial, it is not necessarily a son; but if anything is a begotten Son, it must necessarily be consubstantial. God still judges, and so also man administers justice; each bestows benefits. The Lord is good, the Lord is long-suffering, the Lord shows mercy, and man also shows mercy; each of these is a portion of the image. And having the quality of being holy is also counted among these, from which man, by falling, obscures the image and hears: "And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." And that saying, "Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect," when fulfilled, makes one an image in all things of the invisible God. Some say that the Son is the image of the Father, but that we, through Him, are likened to the Father as an image. But they say that because we had fallen from the image, God, wishing to recover it—since it was not possible to attain this all at once—prefigured it, as a painter outlining it within us through the worship of the Law. "For the Law," he says, "having a shadow of the good things to come." And one may further understand the shadow in our body—for our life on earth is a shadow—the image in our soul, and the likeness in our spirit.

VERS. 27. *So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.* God made man, he says, and in the image of God He made him. The creation of him who was made in the image has reached its end; then he repeats the account regarding his construction, and says: "Male and female He created them," which is understood as external to the prototype; for in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female. Thus, there is a dual nature that is likened unto God, which He placed first, and that according to which one becomes male and female, which is foreign to those things conceived of God. For humanity is situated as a medium between two extremes: between the divine and incorporeal nature, and the irrational and bestial life, of both of which man is a participant. ^D Regarding intellect and reason, male and female know no distinction or superiority. But regarding the sensitive composition, the male and female admit of difference and superiority. Yet intellect and reason are preferred in man, and the society and communion of a brute nature...

toward the sensitive composition, the male and female admit of difference. But for God, the divine is uncreated, whereas man is by nature created; and that which is created cannot be immutable. For the very passage from non-being into being is a certain motion and alteration. Whence He who knows all things before their coming into being, knowing that man has an affinity for such a change, provides in the image for the difference between male and female, which is adapted to the less rational nature. ^A And when the Word says, "God created man," by the indefinite nature of the expression, He signifies the whole human race; for Adam was not uniquely named for the creature, but it is a name for the created man—not for "who" he is, but for what he is in general. For in the divine foreknowledge and power, all humanity is included in the first formation. For there is nothing indefinite in God; rather, everything that comes to be is measured by the wisdom of the Maker. For the image is not in a part of the nature; therefore, every man is named "the whole," because by the power of God nothing has passed away, nor is it to come, but everything is present to the energy that encompasses the all. But male and female were provided last for the creature; for He who holds in His hand the ends of the earth knew by His wisdom how great the human race is in number, down to each individual.

Adam had not yet been made—that earthy formation—as the Hebrew tongue knows; and for this reason the Apostle calls him earthy who came from the earth. ^C But to be in the image of God is twofold: one part comes from God who creates, the other from the choice that acts. This is what is indicated by the words, "That you may be in the image of Him who created [you]." But by the present text, the creation itself is signified. Yet both reasons for attaining the image of God concurred in the first man, who was perfect, just as all other creations were. Then, foreknowing the slipperiness of our nature, while giving us communion with the whole, He made us male and female, in accordance with which is also: "Increase and multiply," which He did not say in the formation of the "in-the-image" one; for then we would not have had need of such generation. For this reason, He also pre-determined the time commensurate with the formation of men, so that, with the passage of the predestined souls, the prolongation of time might be completed, and thus the re-constitution of the whole might take place, and by the change of time, the human might be exchanged from the corruptible and earthy to the impassible and eternal. But the present text is an explanation of the words, "Let Us make man," which He also used in the case of the others, showing the pre-eminence of man.

all will be shaken, and then there will occur a renewal of all things. Furthermore, by the change and vicissitude of time, the mortal race will be rescued from corruptibility and fragility, and it will be transferred to that which is eternal and subject to no corruption. The present passage, however, is a kind of exposition of what it says: "Let us make man," etc., a method of usage which is observed in other places as well, so that he might clearly set forth the excellence of man who was created according to the image of God. Similarly, the exposition of the remaining things demonstrates the dignity and excellence of each one.

Then, according to the opinion of some, so that all things might be clearer, he added: "Male and female He created them," etc., which was indeed understood in a more general sense in the voice of God saying: "Let us make man." Just as when the discourse was about the luminaries, He said: "He made," etc., once a more universal proposition had been set forth, namely: "Let there be luminaries," indicating whether it was established for the dominion of the night or for the dominion of the day; in the same way here, He also says: "Let us make man." Then He narrates in detail how He made him, saying: "Male and female," etc. Among the irrational animals, He nowhere made mention of male and female. For in the same way, each obtained creation, while some emerged from the earth, others from the waters. In the creation of man, a certain distinction is recognized, in that they were not created in a similar manner. Although the mode of creation was different, yet we are taught that the substance of both is the same. But this is clear from what follows: "The Lord God formed man, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul." ^C If you consider the inner man, the substance of man is the image of God. If you look at the outer man, his substance will be earth or dust from the earth. Yet one and the same man is [one] by the composition which is fashioned from both. These things teach [us of] the image of God, where it says: "Male and female." Foods represent the body, by which it is nourished and cherished. The breath of life, inspired and bestowed from God, quite clearly affirms that we are animated according to the image of God. For whatever is granted to us from God leads us to the image or likeness of the Giver and Bestower, just as those who have received from Christ the inspiration of the Holy Spirit bear His image. But because our soul, on account of the fall of Adam, was stripped and divested of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit is breathed into it. ^D At the beginning of creation, the power which provides life had entered into man along with the Holy Spirit, so that this creature might be according to the image of God, as if it received both as one. For it is impossible for our intellect to bear the image of God if it has not been illuminated by the Holy Spirit. For, as Scripture has it, "if any man lacks the Holy Spirit, he is not of Him." Therefore, from the beginning of its creation, the soul obtained both vital force and the Holy Spirit alike. Indeed, it prophesied immediately, which is the property of the Holy Spirit, and lived in communion with Him. What He says, "into a living soul," is equivalent to this, as if He were saying: a living soul, just as that other expression: "And she became to me for a wife," that is, my wife. But the divine inspiration, by which the soul is made, is a certain bestowal from the substance of the One breathing, and yet it is not as if something were cut off from Him, or as if by way of generation.

^A Moreover, this quality, that you may understand the matter, is sanctification, just as the Savior also, by means of an intervening inspiration, bestowed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. For it is shown that the creation which was accomplished in the beginning of things through the Word is renewed in no other way than through the inspiration that belongs to the Savior. For He here expressed the form before the disciples by the mouth of inspiration. For He is the Word, and He possesses the Spirit inseparably, and He alone is able to restore to man the ancient happiness which we had lost. This God is said to fashion the dust taken from the earth with His hands. But let this not seem strange to you. The hands of God are the Son and the Holy Spirit. For according to Job: “You took clay from the earth, formed a living creature, and granted it the use of reason,” and he glorifies Him with the spirit. ^B But concerning this, as they say, what else could you call it but the person of the Holy Spirit, who bestows life and sanctification? Therefore, as can be gathered from the preceding, the inspiration is not the soul, but is believed to be the effector of the immortal soul. For since the soul did not exist, the Holy Spirit granted that it should exist, and constituted it holy by participation in Himself. For Scripture says: “The Spirit of God is He who made me; the Spirit of the Lord is He who teaches me.” And again: “You will send forth Your spirit, and they shall be created; and You will renew the face of the earth.” And by “face of the earth” he understands nothing other than the fall of Adam. For after the transgression, when our image had been utterly deported from the city of God, the Savior, restoring the brightness of faces that had been darkened and defiled, breathed into the disciples, commanding them to receive, not a soul (for they already had one), but the Holy Spirit. For the divine prophecy had predicted: ^C “God will help it [the face],” that is, the face which instead of divine inspiration had been defiled by ignominy, as if He were saying, “Recover through My obedience what you lost through your disobedience.” If, therefore, the mouth of God the Father is the fountain of the Spirit that strengthens the heavens, certainly no room is left for unbelief as to whether the inspiration of God the Word created the soul in Adam. “For He Himself,” says the Wisdom, “the Savior, has given me what I should say and what I should speak.”

The Spirit, therefore, having created the soul, causes it to be raised by the immaterial bond of inspiration toward Him whose inspiration it is, and makes it take ascents in the heart, using virtues as if they were foundations. ^D Just as we, being far distant from the solar ray, are joined to the sun and dwell with the sun, the extremities being joined by the intervening ray, so God by means of the intervening Spirit has drawn man to Himself, sending down into the face of Adam, as it were, a ray of His most pure nature, the substance of the immutable inspiration, so that it might be able to be joined to the Unbegotten; God being conceived of as far and near by reason of His great philanthropy. He breathes into the face, where the...

^A center of the senses has its dwelling, as if in some lofty tower, where the senses have found their abode. When He had said, "God made man, in the image of God He made him," etc., He added, "according to the likeness." For the first-born man was brought into the world armed and adorned with true piety, and therefore bore the image of God. But the latter man, as he strives continuously toward that perfection from which we fell, is formed and fashioned according to the likeness of God. The blessed John, as if interpreting this, says: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. But we know that, if He should appear, we shall be like Him." For since we are already according to the image, we hope to be also according to the likeness. It must be noted, moreover, that although some may hold a different view, man is spoken of not as three—earthly, animal, and spiritual—but as one.

VERS. 28. *And God blessed them, and God said to them: Increase and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.* ^B The structure of the dominion reflects the order of creation. For in the first place are the fish, then follow the birds, the third order is that of the quadrupeds, and so for the rest. The three children in the burning furnace, praising God, do not violate this order, saying: "Bless [the Lord], O heavens, and all things that move in the waters, etc. Bless the Lord, all the birds of the air, etc. Bless the Lord, the beasts and cattle, etc. Bless the Lord, O sons of men." It is necessary to remark that, having recounted the creation of the birds and the swimming creatures, He added: "And God blessed them," etc.; but having recounted the creation of the reptiles, quadrupeds, beasts, and cattle on the sixth day, ^C He did not add: "And God blessed them," etc., although it is evident to all that they increase by fertile offspring in their kind, just as the others do, by the will of God. Since, therefore, He made these on the day on which He also made man, as being very necessary to him, He joined the creation of man to theirs, and included them in the same blessing, since they were created on the same day.

The reason why these [land animals] were not specifically blessed is as follows: God commands the waters to produce the bodies of the souls and birds that dwell in the waters. But when it is a question of land animals, He names not bodies, but souls. For it seems to be appropriate to bodies that they increase and multiply. But regarding the souls of brute animals, it is not fitting to speak of one soul being born from another. But concerning man, it is not only permissible ^D to proclaim increase and multiplication, but also to speak of the rational soul, which takes on the increase of reason and intellectual habit: nay rather, the number of its speculations and the truth of its doctrines increase.

For this reason, it is written in Sacred Scripture: “Blessed are the children of the womb of those who keep the commandments of the Lord”; ^A which does not indeed apply to bodily or carnal children—for sinners are born of the righteous, and conversely. The following testimony of Scripture also pertains to this: “And thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” Then it is added: “Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.” According to the image, the earth is full, producing in itself a hundredfold fruit, as a field which the Lord hath blessed.

But why, some say, did He omit the sea-monsters and the wild beasts in the command "let them have dominion"? Because, they say, not all animals were created for man, but only those over which he is said to have dominion. Even reptiles, they say, are necessary for the sake of the medicinal uses derived from them. The race of serpents, however, is not reckoned among reptiles according to the custom of Scripture, but among wild beasts. For it is said: “The serpent was more subtle than all the beasts of the earth.” And again, “And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from his hand,” ^B concerning the viper that had bitten the hand of Paul. And in Leviticus: “These shall ye eat of the reptiles,” etc. Therefore, man does not have dominion over the great sea-monsters, nor over the wild beasts of the earth, but over the other things which are spoken of here and in the eighth Psalm. Yet, the blessing to "increase and multiply" is in some way communicated to them as well, so that these animals themselves might not be unaware that they have been blessed by the Lord.

VERS. 29. Behold, I have given you every herb. That is to say: I have declared you lords not only over the animals, but also over all things that are sown and planted. But He teaches that those things which require agriculture are assigned to man; the rest have fallen to the irrational animals. ^C Therefore, the conjunction "and" is redundant in the phrase: “and every green herb for food.” For Symmachus also delivers that passage without the "and." Thus, the reading should start from another beginning: “and to all the beasts of the earth,” etc.

Let us now inquire concerning the wild beasts, the birds, and the reptiles: for what reason, when many in these kinds are carnivorous, does the Word say to all of them: “I have given them the green herb”? Perhaps, therefore, in the beginning of the creation of the world, just as to man, nothing was given except the products of agriculture? For it is only long afterwards that Noah hears: “As the green herb I have given you all things,” including the animals. Thus, at the beginning, the life of the irrational animals did not include carnivory, ^D but it followed later for them as well. For how would the race of vultures have been nourished at the beginning? It is not likely that some animals would have died as soon as they were created, so that the carnivorous beasts could be fed by them; nor could they have remained without nourishment and continued to exist.

VERS. 31. And behold, it was very good. When the explanation of this work proceeded in detail, nowhere is it read that the particle "very" was added,

Lastly, when the animal most necessary, which was destined for this laborious machine, was provided—as if nothing further were lacking to that illustrious work—he ^A introduces the word "very," by which he sets forth the perfection of the creation. Hence he adds:

CAPUT II

^A "The heavens and the earth were finished," (he says). By mentioning the first heaven and the earth, he has, through these extremes, embraced also the intermediate things, describing the order of their adornment which they had received. Some say that the phrase, “And he saw that it was good,” etc., is generally attached to the particular parts, except in the work of the second day: for those intercalary words are not found in the Hebrew text regarding it. Furthermore, neither the firmament nor the dry land was yet adorned with its own ornament. But when all things were perfect, and the final hand had been added to all, then at last they were “very” good. And what is in itself neither beautiful nor good, if it be compared to the universe, is considered both beautiful and good. Forasmuch as the devil and the demons are not in themselves either beautiful or good, yet they render no common utility to this universe. Wherefore Sirach, wishing to instruct us, lest we rashly find fault with the particular works of God, says: ^B “Do not say: What is this? or what is that? for all things shall be sought out in their time.”

VERS. 2. “And God finished on the sixth day his work which he had made.” Regarding the six days, some again say that this number was set not to signify time, but rather the internal logic of God’s creation and the power of the number, as shall now be declared. Six is the first of all the perfect numbers. Now those numbers are called perfect which are composed of their own parts, without any defect or excess being observed. There are but four such numbers. The first is held to be six, of which the half is three, the third part is two, and the sixth part is one. When these are added together, six is formed. ^C Similarly, 28 is considered a perfect number. Its half is 14, its fourth part is 7, its seventh part is 4, its fourteenth part is 2, and its twenty-eighth part is 1. If these are added, they constitute 28. The remaining numbers, which are not perfect, if they are gathered by addition, either fall short or exceed. Those which feel a deficit in addition are called imperfect numbers; but those which, if gathered by addition, are in excess, are called abundant. Therefore, necessity required that the world, which was perfect and absolute in every way, should consist in the first and perfect number. To this, Moses himself also attests, when he repeats the whole of that work, as if from the very beginning, saying: ^D “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” If you wish to weigh the matter rightly, the heaven and the earth were not created in a day, but in the beginning, nor were all things created in one day. But I consider it manifest, when all things had now been made and

^A brought to pass by God. Well, therefore, is the addition made, "of the works which He made," ^A for it is added: but some say these are the works of the natures which complete the world; which, having come to be from the beginning until the sixth day, nature did not work, but God brought them forth. From the sixth day, however, nature fulfills its own course by the providence of God until the consummation of the world. From such works, then, He rests on the seventh day; since God never ceases working, Christ testifies in the Gospel according to John, saying, "My Father works even until now, and I work."

^B And He rested on the seventh day. By the rest He took on that day, God signified that the creation of the universe had been brought to an end. By the space of seven days, He described the whole cycle of days, although He could have determined that space by the interval of six days, in which He completed the creation of things. He wished the six days to be symbols of all things that He produced, but the seventh was ordained for this, that it should be an indication that on that day the creation of the universe had received its end. And lest anyone consider that day useless and abhor it, as if it were held by God to be unworthy of any work—just as some think those days worse in which no work is done—He ^C rightly added: "And God blessed the seventh day." For He did not judge it insufficient for His works and labors, but He appointed it so that it might be useful for vacation from works. Therefore, He did not disdain to adorn it with a blessing. He honored the rest with the works that occurred therein, but He willed the seventh to be a document that the nature of the universe was completed in it. And He sanctified it, that is, He separated it from the others, so that it might be a sign and a memorial of that fact. Just as we call feast days holy, because they contain the memory of some singular benefit given to us by God, so too is that saying: "Sanctify a fast," that is, separate and appoint a time ^D for fasting; hence, even to the Jews, the supreme Divinity commanded that they separate the seventh day for the worship of God, so that if the forgetfulness of God should perchance creep in, yet, even against their will, at length from that very day on which they take rest, they might be brought back to the memory of Him who made all things and rested on the seventh day.

And it came to pass so. These words ought to have been placed at this point: "Let us make man," and the rest, just as we have learned to have been done in the cases of the others. Then it was fitting that it be inferred: "And God made man." Yet we think it is clear to all, they say, that God used the imperative word and mode when He said: "Let us make man in our image and likeness," and that the responsive [word/mode] is silent, [in that…]

it is not written: "And it was so."] ^A Yet perhaps it is not written in its proper place, "And it was so," because it was not spoken regarding man alone, but regarding all the things mentioned before; in the same way as "God saw that it was good," which was omitted in the case of the second [day], was generally rendered at the end with the addition of "very." Perhaps someone would also say that it was rendered regarding all the things mentioned before the creation of man, or regarding, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed," and so on, so that it might be seen that certain things were given to man, and others to the remaining land animals. Some say that in the case of the others it was added rightly, as things that had come to be according to the command of God, to show that nothing happened contrary to the will of the One who commanded; but in the case of man, such a thing was superfluous, since God Himself was the worker, as if applying His own hands to the work. And in another way, it was redundant. For if the things brought to be for the sake of man were good, much more so is he for whose sake those things were made. Furthermore, before man was fashioned from the earth, there was no place for it, but after [He] added the forming to the creation, etc.

^B But in general, to make the whole matter clearer, it is useful to subjoin the following points concerning the creation of man. Some suppose that the soul came into the mortal body from the inspiration of God, just as the body was fashioned as if by hands. There are others who assert that that inspiration passed over into the soul or was converted into a soul. But others believe that that inspiration gave vital power to the man once he was finished. Others teach that the inspiration is the mind, which they hold to be separate from the soul, and that this is what is "according to the image," so that man consists of these three—mind, soul, and body—in a special unity. And one asks whether this inspiration is a property of the substance of God, or something foreign to it.

To all these things, some have replied in this way: When God had fashioned the human body from the earth and had animated it (as He knows is best) with a living and intellectual soul, He also instilled in it a natural desire for and knowledge of good. ^C Hence it is said: "That was the true light which illuminates every man coming into the world." For man is born having a natural inclination and aptitude toward the good. "For we are His workmanship," says Paul, "created for good works, which God prepared, that we should walk in them." Therefore, in as far as man has been good and just by his own free will and intent, he is said to have been created according to the image and likeness of God; which two things do not differ from one another. For man received the likeness toward God in his first formation; and we are images of God. ^D For, possessing this, even when he turned and became worse than he was when good, he did not become the opposite. For the desire, the readiness, and the knowledge toward the good were sown in us along with our nature; and this is what Paul says: "For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work

^A of the law written in their hearts." If this were present in the Gentiles who are outside the law, it is clear that the nature of man was created just and good from the beginning, bearing the image of God. But since it was necessary not only to have these things, but also to be a partaker of the Holy Spirit and to carry the shining characters of the divine nature, He breathed into him the breath of life; and this is the Spirit granted through the Son to the rational creature, shaping it into the highest form, that is to say, the divine one.

Yet the breath blown into him did not become the soul of man, nor did it become the mind. For if God is the one who breathed, and that which was breathed is from Him, it is altogether His own, that is, of His substance; how then did it change into the nature of the soul, or become mind? For the divine is immutable. But let this even be granted; why then did the soul and the mind not remain impervious to sin? For the divine Spirit would be not only mutable, but also susceptible to sin; and why is the soul not equal and similar in all, but there are so many differences in conditions, when God says, "I am, and I am not changed"? ^B If the soul is from Him, does God judge Himself?

Man was therefore sanctified by the inspiration, and through sin he cast it away. For God says, "My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh," that is to say, they only mind the things of the flesh. But since it pleased God and the Father to re-establish all things in Christ—that is, to bring them back to their original state—He breathed into the apostles the ancient gift, renewing it; and the nature of man became holy again, being transformed toward Him through sanctification and righteousness, according to what is said: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit." Now the Lord is the Spirit; so that even if the holy Scripture says that "God made man according to His image," but is silent about "according to likeness," it has done this as if both were sufficiently declared, as if nothing else were intended by "according to likeness," and not as if it were preserved for the age to come. For then we shall be like Christ, in accordance with incorruption and immortality, and the glory which He Himself shall bestow upon us. For the Apostle writes sometimes that, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ^D When God shall be

^A manifest, our life, then you shall be manifest with Him in glory." And elsewhere the same Paul teaches, "Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our humble body, that He may make it conformable to His glorious body." Although we are not even now devoid of His image or likeness, if it is only true that Christ is formed in us through the Holy Spirit. For Paul writes again, "My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you." For if we keep ourselves holy, then He is seen to be formed in us, and as it were flashing ^B forth His sensible characters to our minds.

Regarding the statement that it is not said, "He made man an image, but 'according to the image,'" so that the Son is the image, and man is the image of the image, it must be said that the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and he who has seen the Son has seen the Father. The Son is also seen in the consubstantial Spirit. For it is written, "Now the Lord is the Spirit." And where there is a total identity of substance, nothing superfluous or excessive can be found. Whatever you conceive in your mind as the Father, the same is the Son, except solely for the fact that He is the Father; and whatever the Son is, ^C the same is the Spirit, except for the fact that He is the Son. For each of these is a person. The likeness of the Holy Trinity, therefore, admits of no excess; wherefore, if man was created according to the image of the Son, he must also be believed to have been created according to the image of God. For all the characters of the divine Trinity shine forth in him, since there is one Deity, by nature, in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Whence also the expression, "according to our image," does not have the designation of one person, but of three. But when we shall come to that passage, I will set forth at greater length the opinions of others regarding these matters.

VERS. 4. *This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, etc.* That is to say, this book contains the instruction ^D of the fact that the heaven and the earth were created first, and that the creation of the rest succeeded along with them or upon them; and that it happened that the earth, being covered by the waters, had nothing of those things which were later created upon it. Similar to this is that place: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ," that is, signifying and indicating the doctrine of the generation. Now, indeed, it has kept silent about those things which received their essence after the creation of heaven and earth; for it was sufficient to have mentioned the contents under the term of heaven and earth, as if under the container. What it says, "In the day that He made heaven and earth," is the same as if it had said: The first works which God wrought were heaven and earth, and those things which are contained by them. "According to the time at which they were made," that is, before all things. For it is equivalent to this place: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." The time, therefore, at which He made them, he thus calls, and one would not be wrong to call it the principle of the first, or rather the single

^A day. Indeed, it took its beginning from the creation of heaven and earth.

Then he says: [VERS. 5, 6.] "The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground." That is, there did not yet exist the law concerning the generation of seeds which subsequently arose, through husbandry and rains—the time when, by the command of God, the earth immediately brought forth what did not exist before. Then he states the reason why that law of the present time did not yet exist: "Since no man had yet been born, and the earth was covered by the waters." For, he says, "a fountain was ascending from the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground." ^B Thus, they say, he signifies that water lay upon the earth. Just as we, too, when there has been much rain, are accustomed to say that the earth "is bubbling up," not as if it were giving forth a fountain, but signifying the abundance of water. For surely, some say, it is not a fountain that was watering the whole earth, leaping over mountains and plunging into the depths—for this would have been another deluge. For some have said that he means the fountain in Paradise, which watered the Paradise and divided into four heads; but this is mentioned later. Why, then, did these things take place before the grass had sprung up?

The third day was then at hand, in which there was also the separation of the waters and the bringing forth of fruits. Was the earth then, on that very day on which the waters were separated, in need of irrigation? By no means. ^C What, then, is the meaning of the statement—that after the water had just been separated, before it brought forth all manner of fruits, it was moist everywhere and teeming, and the earth was like one sweating, and covering its face, just as tends to happen during heavy rain? So that "it was watering" might be taken for "it was covering."

But a certain Hebrew says that the Hebrew text does not say "a fountain was ascending from the earth," but: "A certain species of mist or mist-like air, thick and dense, the rising of which from the earth he called the watering that covered the face of the earth." Whether it happened from the moisture, or by God's dispensation, he says, I cannot say. ^D Some say: Might it not be that, just as "the king's horse" is said, so all military cavalry is meant, and thus "a fountain" refers to every vein of the earth pouring forth drinkable water? And if they say also that it does not refer to the whole, but that the surface of the earth was being moistened—the best and primary part, capable of bearing fruit, which is also in need of the assistance of the fountains—it is well said. But the fruits also stand in need of the help of the fountains.

We must carefully observe such expressions, because they sometimes produce the greatest obscurities. Now, when he had spoken of the structure of the whole world, he immediately brought in: "God fashioned man; male and female He created them." He fashioned him on the sixth day and rested on the seventh. Adding also: "This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were created." From this point he takes up again the things that were made on the third day, and he takes up also those that were on the sixth.

^A But do not allow anyone to believe that the lesser works are being spoken of as greater, as some judge; for he also commemorates those creatures that followed the creation of heaven and earth. The present passage agrees with that one: "This is the book of the generation of men." For in these he also mingles the planting of paradise, the creation of the rest of the animals, and the wiles of the deceptive serpent. How then is the creation of the whole said to have been finished in one day? It is not unusual for Sacred Scripture to name many days as one. For Joshua the son of Nun, commanding the people, says: "Do not depart from the Lord in these days of today." For the present age is called today; and here, therefore, the many days are taken as one for the consummation of the world, and it is reasonably called one.

^B "And God formed man, dust from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life." The Divine Scripture makes such repetitions for the sake of supplying what was omitted, saying nothing contrary to what has already been said, which is what we were saying to those who claim that the creation of the firmament is a repetition of the creation of heaven. Having therefore said before that man was made according to the image of God, and male and female, here he also adds the method of the creation, which happens to be new compared to the rest of the animals. Just as with Christ, he tells the genealogy in order, how from David and Abraham He derived His lineage according to the flesh; but wishing to explain the manner of the birth being at a specific time, he added later: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise: when His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit."

^C "Dust from the earth," etc.; the word "taking" is missing. Yet it is not carelessly omitted; namely, lest we think that He first took the dust and then shaped it, but that we might understand that in the shaping God took both, and that they happened simultaneously. He calls "dust" the powdery part that flies on the surface of the earth, just as we also read concerning Shimei: "Throwing dust into the face of David." The argument therefore indicates that God did not take the best part of the earth to form man, but what was superfluous and as it were useless, so that it might appear that God indeed wished to make use of earth, but that He had prepared and adorned everything from His own infinite power; according to which the thing that was created is found to be entirely different from that of which it is composed. ^D He also wished to show us from this that we have received no beauty from thence, as being born from the filthiest earth, even though we have been born from it. Therefore, the Divine Scripture, wishing to show that we are nothing, says: "He remembered that we are dust, a spirit that goes forth and does not return," because being dissolved by death we do not expect any path of returning to life from our own strength.

^A Yet he who looking into the graves beholds dust, to keep him from despairing of the hope of men, fashioned the hope of the resurrection within that very creation. There is dust, and here is dust; that was changed by the power of the Artificer, and this is transformed by the wisdom of the Creator. And He does not create the soul before the body, so that it might not be a spectator of things coming into being; He does not cause the soul to be present at the creation, so that it might not boast as a fellow-worker with God; whereas in the case of irrational animals, the souls proceed along with the bodies. For such as the formation is, such is the dissolution; therefore they have no part in the resurrection. But the soul of man, having received a unique substance, provides life to the body, as if bound by a natural tie; having received this from God, not possessing it from elsewhere, it has no need to eat, yet without it the flesh cannot be nourished. It is not one soul that works in the senses and another in the intellect; one manifests both. It is generated simultaneously with the body, yet it is not sown at the same time. The bond is nature, which is sown along with the body. Coitus provokes the sowing, but divine movement ^B effects the formation. The soul is created when the image of the body has been established, with God accommodating the formation. For He says to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." Nature without God knows not how to make a man; for it is but a fashioning of matter, inciting the Creator to the granting of substance. But God breathes into the face of man, wishing to show by the most prominent part of the human body the dignity of the soul, because it excels all of man's substance.

"And he became," it says, "a living soul." It is clear that he became such at that time and not before. It is one thing to be the breath of life which makes man an animal being, and another to be the life-giving spirit which makes him spiritual. Whence Isaiah says: "Thus says the Lord God, who created the heaven and fixed it; who made the earth and that which is in it, and gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk ^C upon it." He says that the breath is given commonly to all the people upon the earth, but the spirit specifically to those who trample down earthly desires. Wherefore also the same Isaiah, distinguishing the aforementioned, says: "For a spirit shall go forth from me, and I have made every breath." He assigned the spirit specifically to God, who in the last times pours it out upon humanity through adoption, while the breath is common to creation and he calls it a work; but the created thing is different from the Creator. The breath is temporal, but the spirit eternal; and the breath, having flourished for a short time, ^D at a certain time…

departs, taking away all power of breathing and respiration, as it were, from the body in which it previously resided. The spirit, however, which embraces ^A the human being both from within and from without, remains stable and will never desert the human being. It indicates the operation of God when it says, "He fashioned and He breathed," where indeed He spoke appropriately, applying different terms to different natures. For that which is fashioned concerns the external human being, but the breath is sent forth from the interior. For if you wish to evaluate our creation and the constitution of our body, you find that the body is on the outside and appears to our sight, but the soul has gone into the interior, and is more akin to God than the body. For the soul knows God and is taught and instructed by Him; and that [the body] enjoys the resurrection because of the soul. Therefore, a greater ^B affinity for this is manifested, as it is created by the breath being sent forth from within. Rightly, however, as has been said earlier, did He say "breath of life," and not "spirit of life." For concerning our future condition, according to which we shall become immortal and immutable through the resurrection, with the grace of the Spirit prevailing over us both, the blessed Paul says: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death" (Rom. VIII, 2)—calling the grace of the Spirit the "Spirit of life." And again, the same Paul writes in this manner: "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" (I Cor. XV, 44). He proclaims that to be a natural body which is moved ^C by the presence of the soul. He confirms that to be a spiritual body which is contained by the grace of the Holy Spirit. For just as He calls God "mercy," because He is accustomed and able to show mercy, so also He names it the "Spirit of life," because He grants it as a gift to whomever He wishes; although the soul were destitute of the dignity of the spirit, but had received the breath from God so that the body might be recreated and moved by it and by respiration, and be preserved in the life which proceeds therefrom.

"And man became a living soul." When the soul first occupied the body, life followed. Wherefore Paul testifies, saying: "The first Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit" (I Cor. XV, 45). For the Spirit, through the intervention ^D of the resurrection, will lead us into that dignity and condition. For the Spirit entered into the fellowship of creation when the body and the soul were created. For there is one operation of the holy Trinity. For if we were not created by the Trinity, how would we be regenerated by the Trinity when we are baptized? Moreover, the sacrosanct and adorable body of Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit. Some interpret the following passage thus: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" (Luke I, 35), that is, the Spirit Himself, "and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

^A Since God wished to make man immortal, He Himself fashioned him with His own hands; for He knew that whatever might be fashioned by His own hand would necessarily be immortal, inasmuch as it was a work of immortality. For to things immortal, when immortality is added, immortality is received, ^B just as we become evil when malice is added to us. Man, therefore, is properly both together; yet neither of the things composing man constitutes him of itself.

VERS. 8, 9. *And the Lord God planted a paradise in Eden in the east, and He placed there the man whom He had formed.* That the paradise is on earth, and that the garden is cultivated there, Scripture makes sufficiently clear by saying: *And the Lord God made to spring up from the soil.* For while it says "from the soil," and "in the east," it clearly teaches that the paradise is situated under this heaven, under which there is both an east and an earth. But if you were to say that paradise is not a part of the world, nor that it was created with the other creatures—concerning which it is said, "God rested," etc.—surely you seem to me to think ill. If you were to posit that paradise is some supramundane place, tell me how He brought the formed, earthly man into it? How did God form there from the earth all the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, the man and the woman, and how was the deadly tree and the deceptive serpent there? Or what reason prevents the paradise from being in this world, since the rivers which flow from there are in our sight? ^C God demonstrated a certain singular love toward man because He did not permit him, in the manner of other animals, to wander here and there and seek his food; but He assigned him a place in which he might dwell, both choice and set apart from the rest, which the sunrise first illuminates with its splendor—the sun, I say, which makes habitation in this world grateful and pleasant for mortals, and exhilarates and delights the earth with its rays. ^D What it says, "He planted," demonstrates a certain distinguished care, by which God makes that place exquisite, and shows to what degree of dignity He situated man. Nor does this word, "planted," have less emphasis here than the word "formed" above. It would have sufficed to indicate that man was formed by God, but He wished to signify it by a peculiar word, that He might designate the excellence of the creation. Thus also in this place, although it was manifest that the paradise had been adorned with trees and plants by the counsel and command of God, yet to teach how great is the care with which He fosters man, He added the word "planted."

Eden was the place where the paradise was cultivated, which word in the Greek language signifies delights. Therefore, that garden was prepared in a most pleasant place, blooming with all the allurements of pleasure. Nor is that garden a small particle of the orb, but paradise is considered such a great part situated in the orb, that that most ample river, which irrigates the garden, at length flowing out of paradise, into four greatest [157/158]

^A rivers is produced. It is said, they assert, that the sources of the Tigris and the Euphrates flow from the mountains of Armenia; but paradise is not there. Nor do the sources of the other two rivers have paradise lying alongside them. Might it not be, therefore, that paradise is very far from the world we inhabit, and has a river flowing beneath the earth, containing many and abundantly flowing veins, which, indeed, overflow and are diverted into other channels? The remaining springs, agitated by the turbulence of internal force, have erupted ^B now in the mountains of Armenia, now elsewhere. Hence arise the sources of the rivers of which we were just speaking. But it would be better to speak not of sources, but of rivers, because Sacred Scripture nowhere lies, which commemorates the origins of the four rivers, and does not say "source," but "river." Therefore, the four rivers proceed from paradise through an intermediate channel. Now, the site of paradise is in an eastern region, as they say, with God Himself foreshadowing some mystery. For just as the stars, rising in the east, travel toward the west, so it was necessary for man, having been translated into paradise, to hasten toward death, ^C and then, from the resurrection of the dead, to come to another rising. For Christ, having come, made that which had perished to rise again. Wherefore it is written: "The Orient is His name, and beneath Him it rises"; that is, from the sepulchres. Just as those narrow stars, formed elsewhere, were placed in the heaven: so man, composed and formed outside of paradise, was brought into paradise. For it is not said in vain: "And the Lord God cast him out of the garden of Eden to till the earth from which he had been taken." ^D Some think that paradise blossomed only on the third day, when command was also given to the earth to germinate. There are those who think that the word "yet," which is added in the present passage, is redundant, because all things which God had created were already absolute and perfect. And so, by the aforementioned, He repeats as it were all things which God had previously created. Others, fixing their minds on the word "yet," say that paradise was only now depicted with the greenness of flowers and plants.

Man was brought into paradise. But what work was he to do there, when paradise abounded in all good things? The work, surely, was that by which he might exercise himself: the law of God and faith in the Creator. For if he kept these solicitously, he was working. For the Savior Himself calls a precept a work, saying: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent." To this points the testimony of Paul: "You are my work in the Lord." Certainly, it was necessary for man to beware of some one, although there was not yet a thief lying in wait. If he observed the precept, he would preserve for himself also paradise: lest by transgressing the precept he should summon destruction upon himself. Therefore the work or labor of man was this, that he should sedulously take pains not to transgress the set law, and not to contract for himself a bane. Or perhaps it counsels that

the work ^A of God's providence toward man is what is signified by what follows: "And he brought forth." For it signifies that by a mere command he brought about the springing forth from the earth. "And the tree of life was in the midst of the garden; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Why not at the edge, some ask, so that they might not, by seeing it frequently, be irritated and sin? Since the commandment regarding Adam was to revolve around these matters, it was necessarily established in the midst of the paradise, just as he who was to receive the commandment was also, as is reasonable, to be in the middle of the paradise and was to have the enjoyment of all things.

We ask, however, whether it lay in the nature of the trees, the one to vivify, the other to instill the knowledge of good and evil, or whether it should be considered otherwise. That indeed to the tree of life it belonged naturally to make him who ate of it immortal, is signified by the casting out of Adam who had transgressed the commandment, lest upon eating of it he should live for ever. For it does not speak of life simply (for they were living even without eating), but of immortality. But the other tree did not have in its nature the knowledge of contraries. For when they were commanded not to eat, lest they die, did they know that eating was evil and that death was a punishment for those transgressing? ^B If they were ignorant, the commandment was superfluous, and the death of those who transgressed in ignorance was absurd. But if they knew, the tree was superfluous for those who had the knowledge before they touched it; and the prohibition of knowing what they already knew was also superfluous. But if the tree had the knowledge, then the one who forbade it was envious, and the prohibition was superfluous; for it was necessary first to obtain the knowledge through eating, or else it gives place to free will, and only then would it be right to legislate the prohibition of evils.

How then is this to be understood? They had a mind capable of both good and evil, but they did not have the knowledge. Now God, wishing to give place to free will and at the same time to introduce the knowledge of contraries, pointed out the tree, forbade the eating, and threatened death to those who transgressed, so that they might know that to disobey was evil and to obey was good. The tree, therefore, through which each of these was known, he reasonably called by these names, that is to say, of obedience and disobedience. For this is what "good and evil" signifies; just as a place might be named from an event, such as the "Heap of Witness," a sign of the covenant which Jacob made with Laban; and the "Well of the Oath," not that this oath

generated itself, but that the swearing thereof happened at it. Thus, the injustice was the cause of the covenant struck between Laban and Jacob, of the enmity, and of the oath given and taken at the fountain. For these things happened around wells. Furthermore, the servants of Joab and Abner, meeting one another at the fountain, laid snares for each other 72. Hence that place was named so as to be called: the Well of Snares. Just as the law given to the Jews sometimes has the name of death, not containing death by its own nature, but because it brings it upon transgressors: so neither did the tree contain death within itself, nor did God Himself create death. For God created man for immortality, and made him an image of His own eternity; and God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living 73. But by the envy of the devil, death entered into the world, as the Wisdom of Solomon declares. Therefore, before the transgression, He encourages him to partake of the tree of life; for it was one of all those things of which He says, "Of every tree that is in paradise you shall eat," and it was in the middle, closer than the others that were set before him.

^B Some have placed the knowledge of good and evil in the fruit of that tree, and they say: the tree was good for one who would use it well and at the right time. But Adam was an infant; for solid food is unfit for those newly born. Similarly, a virgin who is corrupted before the lawful bond of marriage suffers the same thing as one who is wed. But to her it happens contrary to the marriage and the time that pleased the father; and she is punished, not because of the nature of the thing, but because of the manner of the transgression. Thus also Adam becomes liable to punishment, not as if he had laid hold of something forbidden, but because he arrogated to himself that which was prohibited by the law. At the same time, God also wished to test him through obedience; whence, for him who transgressed, death was found for his conversion. For having transgressed, he imprinted upon himself the wickedness which the devil, the inventor of it, had brought forth, having conceived pain, according to the Scripture; whence he is not permitted to partake of the tree of immortality. He clothed them in coats of skins, having decreed death for them; for these are not to be understood as the bodies; and before they were clothed in these, Adam says: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." ^C If, as they say, the bodies were invested for punishment, there will be no resurrection of them. And subsequently, from this, they hypothesize intelligible flesh, although the Savior says, "From the beginning, He created them male and female," which is proper to bodies. But how will "Increase and multiply" 76 fit souls? And how did He take dust from the earth ^D and form man, which pertains to the body; or how did He breathe into his face the breath of life, if the body was not of dust, but they were already spiritual beings? Therefore, let those who imagine these things—who, like certain sophists, define the flesh in an intelligible way—know that they are wandering far from the truth of the Scriptures. For if he had not been of earth, he would not have been called earth, nor would he return to it. Thus, it is clear that he was a creature of flesh and body from the beginning, and that he fell into death because of the transgression.

^A And what is the meaning of “he fashioned man,” which refers to the body; and what is the nudity of the body; and what is the meaning of the fig leaves covering him? It is therefore evident that man was possessed of a body even before the skins. Having been fashioned again, he became outside of Paradise, so that by not partaking of the tree of life, he might not possess this life as immortal in a mortal body, after it had once nested within him through the transgression. For it was not because God envied him that life; or why would Christ be sent from heaven, if He wished to deprive man of life for all time? It was necessary, then, that sin be deadened by death, so that once it had been consumed, man might thereafter partake of the life. He who defines the flesh as incapable of immortality is refuted by the text, which says that Adam was cast out even after the making of the skins of skin, lest by eating, he might partake of eternal life, as one who could clearly not die if he only partook of that food. Therefore, it followed that through death the root of sin should be destroyed from the body, so that not even the slightest particle of it remained to yield new shoots of sin. This often happens in the construction of temples; for if a fig tree happens to grow within them, and its roots pass through the joints of the stones, both hidden and visible, the dissolution of these stones follows of necessity; for it does not cease its growth unless every root is removed. When this has been done, the stones thereafter recover their original, intact state. Thus, therefore, the flesh is raised, with sin having been completely removed from its foundations; for at present, because of this, it disregards admonition, and even after baptism it commits offenses, and has accepted correction only through death, with God in the resurrection refashioning it like a potter, having been shattered by the fall. But now, who is so pure as not to admit a defiled thought, even if we strive to cut these away, so that no root of bitterness may springing up cause trouble? ^{B C} They say that He gave a law that was neither burdensome nor unsuited to the time; for it was an abstinence from one plant, when there were so many others preeminent in appearance and taste. Since no one existed then except Adam, what place could there be for “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” or “You shall not murder, you shall not steal,” or for matters concerning future immortality or immutability, when he was still an infant? He could not, therefore, having transgressed through negligence, blame the onerousness of the command, having received the commandment so that he might have within himself the rational faculty in operation, the power of which he was about to know, which would bring him the knowledge of good and evil, had he not awaited the command. And just as they say, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [did not] naturally [possess] such power, for it was something which happened... ^D

^A This was how it was called, and likewise that of life; for it was foolish to attribute such power to wood, which was clearly perishable and bore such fruit—or rather, a greater power. For every tree is more enduring than its own fruits. Just as He fixed a penalty for Adam upon his transgression, working more diligently to deter him from the transgression, so too, when encouraging him toward the keeping of it, He omitted to mention the kingdom of heaven, as it was a subject greater than the capacity of the one hearing it. For even to the Jews, after such a long passage of time, He did not promise this, but, as to those who were still infants, He promised a land flowing with milk and honey. He showed Adam another tree nearby, notable for its size and appearance, promising him its fruit—if he should keep the commandment—so that he would gain deathlessness and, being counted among the living, would partake of it forever. This is why He called it the tree of life (as if promising him the eating of it for the enjoyment of everlasting life). It is said by others that the other tree was a fig tree, and Scripture also suggests this.

^B “The name of the one is Pishon; this is the one that encompasses...” Scripture did not bring these things forward for the sake of ornate writing, as is the custom of those who write secular histories. Rather, since it had depicted the beauty of paradise, it necessarily delineates its expanse through these words. What then is the meaning of, "There is the fine gold, and the carbuncle, and the green stone"? For if it meant to serve as a geographer, it ought to have mentioned other precious things in that region; but it selects gold and two stones, the firstfruits of the priesthood. For the priest wore a golden plate and two stones on his breast. ^C Of these, the green stone is set aside for the priestly tribe, which explores the contemplation of heavenly things; but the carbuncle is for the royal tribe, since it is characteristic of fire both to burn and to give light, and of a king both to benefit and to punish. Hence, He set forth Judah in this—from whom comes Christ. Hence Isaiah makes God say to Jerusalem: "Upon my hands I have drawn your walls; behold, I am preparing the carbuncle, the stone,” speaking of the Savior. And again, "Behold, I place a stone in Sion," and so forth.

^D “In whatever day you eat from it, by death you shall die.” For he was a dead man, lying under the sentence, even if he seemed to be alive—just as Paul called those who had died in the hope of the resurrection "those who sleep," deeming that departure sleep, not death. But God, after the transgression, extended Adam’s life to nine hundred and thirty years, willing to establish and gather together the race of men. He did not execute the penalties of His threat to the point of dying, but He fulfilled His threats in such a way that man became mortal and of a frail condition. In this way He made the punishment more formidable than if He had inflicted it immediately. For...

He ^A does this so that the future generation might be led to modesty and deterred from sins. Although He threatened the most grievous things, by His goodness and clemency He tempered and cut short the gravity of the punishment. For He threatened death so that He might draw Adam and his descendants to modesty and virtue. For some say that death was not in reality a punishment for sin and a sort of penalty, but a thing long since decreed and ordained by Him as if it were to tend to the use and benefit of the universal creation. For surely, after having created them immortal, He would not have shifted to an extreme sentence on account of man's sin, moved by anger. Nor is the Divinity affected by anger or inflamed by other passions, although things of this sort are sometimes attributed to God for our sake. Nor was the anger of God so great that, on account of one act of eating and the transgression of one man, He would cast down all who were not yet born with condemnation; whereas, while so many works of impiety and injustice were being committed by the human race up to the advent of Christ, He nevertheless granted plenary remission to all. How, then, could God be inflamed with anger, when all things, before they come to pass, are known and explored by Him no less than those things which have already been done? If (as some indeed object) He wished to clothe us with immortality, what need was there of a commandment, on account of which we were to sin, and thereafter to feel the severe stings of His judgment? I respond: Since He is kind and gentle, and wished to bring the human race into an incorruptible and immortal condition, lest they should attribute that benefit to their own virtue, He acted in this way. He wished them to have gratitude toward Him, from whom they had received not only the fact that they exist, but also that they exist well. He also destined the present life as a training ground, and, as it were, a school for the future life. Then, by introducing death on account of sin, He wished that we should recognize our own infirmity, and then that we ourselves, and for our sake the spiritual powers and virtues, might the more desire the future gift, being about to obtain immortality for body and soul by the power of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 18. Non est bonum ut sit Adam solus: faciamus illi adjutorium, quod sit coram eo.

Again, observe the repetition, which however does not invalidate the preceding statements but supplies the method according to which the woman was constructed, which he had omitted to mention above. He now, therefore, introduces this method of the female creation into the discourse concerning the ^B paradise. For it would have been appropriate, and indeed more fitting, if the mode of the female creation had been conjoined to these words: "And man became a living soul." However, he separates the mention of the woman from the man, and describes her creation in the last place, so that it might appear that the nature of the man excels the woman. For the woman (even by the testimony of Paul [*]) was created on account of the man. But the cause is always superior to that which exists for its sake, just as man is superior to the Sabbath, as the Savior teaches in the Gospel [*]. Nevertheless, the man is not to be recognized as the efficient cause of the woman, as God is. But the man is to be believed to be the final cause, for the sake of which the woman was formed. Furthermore, God placed a similar example ^C before the eyes of Adam, so that he might learn that He is also his own Maker and Creator. ^D

^A That these present words are a repetition, is also evident from this. For the law was given in common to both, that they should abstain from the forbidden tree; moreover, both together, when they had transgressed the prescribed law, were punished. But some, following I know not what reasoning, reading the first part as a proanaphonesis, say that the woman incurred the sword of punishment, as one who had learned the precept of God from Adam, just as the later Jews learned the law after it had been given to their fathers. But it must be noted that, just as in the creation of the man, so in the formation of the woman, the counsel of God was premised, saying: "Let us make," etc. For the things which pertained to doctrine were equally necessary for the woman, since she was in no way inferior to the man in matters of piety and religious discourse. For the blessed Paul says: "Yet neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord." For even if she is secondary in the body, yet in the soul, which is immortal and rational, she differs in no way from the male, nor even according to the definition of substance. He calls her an "auxiliary," that is, a partner in all things pertaining to human life; and the phrase "according to him" signifies the parity of their nature. For it is possible for one to be helped by a superior or by an inferior, as from brute animals; but because none of those things were [created] according to Adam, nor could share in the ^B creation by God, she is more truly a handmaid and is subjected to his feet, according to the Psalmist.

Necessity now required that He should repeat in discourse those things which had been created. For he says that the Creator and Founder brought them to him whom He had set over them as lord and king. For it is the prerogative of a master to give names to his beasts and possessions. Therefore, God commands the man to impose names upon the creatures. Adam is obedient, and not without the singular prudence and skill which he received from God, he gives names to the creatures, which represent their substances as if in a mirror. Hence, that all things might be correctly distinguished by certain marks, he gave the woman a twofold name. One was taken from that to which she adhered, namely the man, of whom the woman is a great part. Wherefore some, interpreting that name, have called the woman a "virago," with the denomination made from the man. The other signifies that she is the mother of all living, as though [the source of] life. God both praised and confirmed all these names as though placed naturally, just as each creature seemed to require. Therefore, just as we have received from the first man, as if by succession, dominion over all living creatures, so we have also acquired the faculty from thence to distinguish and note things with their own proper words according to the variety of languages. At the same time, moreover, He introduced the discourse of the animals, so that He might conveniently propose an example according to which they were divided into male and female. For the man, he did not find a helpmeet ^C like himself, etc. Hence he clearly reveals that the male and female were not created at the creation of man as happened in the case of brute animals. God could have taken dust from the earth in creating the woman, and fashioned and formed the woman just as He had done with Adam; but ^D he devises a newer mode of creation, namely that from [the man's] division, desiring at the same time to implant in the man the disposition toward her, taking a small part from him and weaving onto it what was lacking, well and...

the most beautiful woman like a bridesmaid to her husband. Therefore Adam, stimulated by natural and innate impulses and all but fixed upon the woman, says: "This now is bone of my bones," recognizing the matter as it happened, though he had not perceived or seen it. For he was the image of God. Wherefore it is not without reason that men, though they may be full of ten thousand cares, are exhilarated upon seeing their wives and are released from all their cares. And not without merit was the woman called a helper. For it is her duty to manage the domestic affairs well, just as it befits the man to administer well those things which are outside the house. ^B

"Sopor" or ecstasy is mentioned for the reason that Adam was deprived of his customary faculty of perception, as God is accustomed to do at times, He who aptly brings His own works to their end. Thus also a sleep or ecstasy fell upon Abraham, when he was receiving the knowledge of things that were to happen long thereafter. For if He had taken the rib from one who was sober and vigilant in an imperceptible manner, he would have deemed the event to be some empty phantasy. If the rib had been taken from the side of Adam with sensation, he would certainly not have been able to endure the pain. Therefore, having been very elegantly removed from his customary state of perception, through divine revelation, he received the knowledge of the event as if in a dream. For the word "he slept" does not indicate, as some say, a brief sleep, in which God fashioned the woman at the same time He willed it, but it indicates a type of ecstasy; for such revelations were accustomed to occur even in the case of the prophets, who were often awake, yet, through divine energy, received the vision of those things which He wished to reveal to them as if in a dream. ^C

"He built," it says; for the law of building is to begin from some small starting point and to be carried forward to a perfect end through additions made in parts. For God immediately added to the small part that had been taken the rest. For in the case of Adam, He spoke separately of the creation of the body and of the soul after this; but in the case of Eve, He spoke only of the body, insofar as it is distinguished; thus showing that for those of the same substance, the creation is the same, and through divine energy the soul was joined to the body; which happened in the case of Adam, and still happens now, as bodies are formed in the womb, and according to the divine decree souls are immediately caused to dwell in them. And indeed, in the case of Adam, He said, "He breathed into," showing the divine energy; whence he who causes an unformed embryo to be aborted does not, according to the divine law, pay the penalty of murder, nor is he subject to punishment, because an imperfect embryo is not yet reckoned among men. ^D

It is similar to the case of the irrational animals, the phrase: "And He brought her to Adam." But there it was to see what he would call them, and He made them familiar, so that they might rule over them according to their own need; here, however, it is this: "Now this is bone of my bones," [declaring] of the same substance by a different intimacy.

But Adam spoke all these things inspired by the divine and prophetic Spirit. For he could not have known by his own powers from what matter and for what end the woman had been created. Therefore, the Lord in the Gospel, teaching that it is not fitting for a woman to be separated from her man, attributes the present utterance to God, saying: "For He who made them from the beginning, made them male and female," and said, "For this cause shall a man leave," etc. By these words, He sufficiently declares that the woman is entirely of the substance of the man. Most wisely, God fashions two from one, so that He might again constitute one from the two, joined together through matrimony. ^B And since the opportunity for sin proceeded from this side (for the woman was indeed formed from the side), the Savior, instituting the healing of the inflicted wound, opposed side to side. For the side of Him hanging on the cross was pierced by a lance, from which flowed life, which was then derived into all men, just as from the side of the woman death had permeated the whole mortal race. Just as Adam was oppressed by a deep sleep when the rib was extracted from his side, so Christ was overwhelmed by sleep, that is, death, when His side was opened by the lance. As Adam was cast out of paradise by the flaming and turning sword, and what turns, turns until it finds something resisting, so Christ offered His own side as a sort of firmament against the spear, opening the paradise that had been shut on account of the side, namely, the woman. For it was necessary that all things which tended toward the destruction of man, Christ should dissolve and wash away on the cross. Therefore, with a perceptible sword He quelled the flaming one, since no one had dared to oppose the turning one.

Notandum tamen arbitror (I consider it necessary to note), however, ^C that just as He did not say, "This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh," he did not sound forth in the same way: "Soul of my soul." For the nature of bodies is divisible: but incorporeal substances admit of no division. For soul does not beget soul, as bodies procreate bodies; wherefore a certain similarity is perceived between them. For He begat (Scripture attests) according to his likeness, and according to his image. But in souls, dissimilarity is found. For a just man is not always born of a just man, nor an unjust man of an unjust one. Adam begat Abel and Cain, and Isaac begat Esau and Jacob. As the exemplar, according to which the intelligible substances have been formed and expressed, admits of no division, so the image is considered indivisible. ^D Moreover, free will, which is in the mind, experiences mutations not according to substance, but from the variety of choice and purpose. Through which He elegantly exclaims: "Now this is bone of my bones." For only then had it first happened that the woman was constructed from the substance of the man. Symmachus and Theodotion, for "now," placed "once," interpreting "now" by "once."

VERS. 23, 24. Hence she shall be called woman, because she was taken from man. Some say that the woman was not so named because she was taken from man, but that she found the name of wife, because that word-

^A is an indication and, as it were, a sign of the conjunction which arises from the matrimonial union. And thus Paul separates the wife from the virgin, saying: “The wife and virgin are divided,” etc., discoursing on those who are married and those who are unmarried. But the marriage itself and the union with the man is contracted for the sake of the woman, because she draws her origin from the man. For not without cause is she joined to the man, as one who is of the same substance as he. Thence he explains the law which arises from this, saying: “The man shall leave,” etc. For since the man is, as it were, the leader and standard-bearer of the marriage bond, he explained the word in him. Furthermore, since legitimate marriages make parents, and the human race must persist according to them, the wife is rightly and necessarily preferred to the parents. “They shall be,” he says, “into one flesh,” certainly on account of the communion of substance, or on account of the effort which both contribute to the procreation of children.

The prophet, finally bringing to an end the discourse which he had regarding the creation of things, begins now to relate what manner of life man pursued ^B. And he proposes this goal for his work, that he may deliver in order and explain what various things were done by God with the mortal race thereafter. He proceeds to commit all these things to the monuments of literature.

VER. 25. *And they were both naked, the man, I say, and his wife, and they were not ashamed.* They necessarily did not have a knowledge of nakedness. For if it had been perceived by them, they would have easily been distracted from divine worship, and would have incubated with their whole heart upon this, so that they might prepare garments by which they might assist their nakedness. Nor were garments created together with man, because it was not fitting that they be either artificial or natural. For natural garments are the feathers, ^C the shaggy hair, and the thickness of hides, with which all brute animals are clothed. The garments, of which art became the cause, brought it about that men renounced leisure and gave themselves to labors. But labor harms us most, which leads us away from the worship of the Godhead, especially when God calls us back to the life which we led in paradise, saying: “Let us not be anxious with what garments we shall be clothed.” Other garments were prepared for man, if he had contained himself within the limits of the commandment. And they would have been angelic, the divine grace about to light up man in every way, being, as it were, rewards of virtue, which the devil by all his crafty cunning obstructed. There are those who teach that, since they were immortal, they did not need an external habit, nay rather that it would have been superfluous. For since they were immortal in spirit, a sense of nakedness did not at all reach them. Hence also in the universal resurrection, when we shall possess immortality, there will be no need for garments. For there would be no use for them.

^D If Adam and Eve were endowed with an immortal and incorruptible nature, what necessity was there to provide them with food? Why did God provide these for them? Through the commandment and the reward which would have flowed from it, God foreknew the perversity and mutability of human purpose. Wherefore He set before them food. How does it happen that He did not also bestow garments before the fall? Just as food, when they had no need of it, was given to them, so that through it they might be proven.

^A And that the nature regarding the nature itself might be changed, and they might perceive their nakedness—a perception they experienced because of disobedience—so that shame and hiding might serve as a conviction. For to the incorrupt, nakedness is not a source of shame. But having transgressed the commandment, He says, you were brought down to a mortal nature, and having been stripped of incorruption, you were clothed in shame. For this reason, He describes their first condition; for this contributes to what is to come. Some say that although they were of full age, in their knowledge they differed but little from children; for some were able to learn, while infants ^B are incapable of doing so, and thus, like children, they were not ashamed of being naked, as only reason knows shame. Hence, it happens that shame is not found even in irrational creatures. God, though able to implant this in Adam and those around him, who were of mature age, did not think it worthy of Himself to impose it, since they were about to receive it from sin. For shame is a remedy made by God for men against sin, rising up against the impulse of transgressions; for as much as one disregards this, he sins. Wherefore, when sin is taken away in the future age, it will come to pass that shame is also taken away. For what need will there be of a remedy, when the disease no longer harasses us?

CAP. III.

^C VERS. 1. *Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.* We grant indeed that the serpent possessed prudence just as other irrational creatures, but that it could reason or conclude anything by syllogism, we deny. Nor do we wish for anyone to believe, because the Holy Scripture represents it as speaking, that it was able to speak. Everything, therefore, must be referred to him who spoke through the serpent. But whence or by what arguments is it shown that Satan conversed through the serpent? This is easily proven. For Christ says in the Gospel: *He was a murderer from the beginning.* Nor is he called a murderer on account of the slaying of Abel, since Scripture does not declare that he was killed by the devil. Nor indeed could he have ^D given him to death, even if he had greatly desired it, had he not first been reduced to mortality. But the term "murderer" portends certain common and fatal snares for the entire human race. Wherefore, the Holy Scripture calls the serpent a "beast," although it ought to be placed in the number of reptiles. Some maintain that because of its innate cunning and inherent skill, he made the serpent an instrument and organ for that purpose, and gave to it the use of speech, which was otherwise lacking to it. Therefore, could the devil have bestowed the use of speech upon the serpent and changed its nature? By no means. For this is, as it were, a peculiar prerogative of God. But God, who prepares crowns for the contestants through the exercise of free will, seeing him considering how, if it were possible, he might approach them with deceit, allowed this, having prepared his own creation to speak, since even in the case of Job he permitted the destruction of many things, because he was watching, as if to say: "If I am permitted, I will test his feigned virtue, which he is thought to possess because of his wealth." A dialogue has such power, for the sake of the clarity of Scripture, to present ideas according to the structure of speech.

^A God, who proposes crowns to those who struggle valiantly through free will, having seen that the devil was observing man and had planned to ensnare him with fraud and deceit, allowed this to happen, and endowed His creature with the faculty of speech. For it is sufficiently clear to those who read Job how much God permitted the devil to corrupt and kill; the devil doing this so that, by such divine permission, he might prove the virtue of Job to be faked, and that he had adhered to the Lord, not relying on any certain and solid foundation, but on account of the riches which he had received in great number from God. For that dialogue, which we call Job, has this end in view, the Scripture itself teaching us under the form of a dialogue, and pouring forth such elegant and useful sentiments, that we may recognize the wiles of the versatile devil. It is also given us to know this from the temptations by which the wily devil solicited the Lord. For when he had discovered His intent, he did not refuse to go into the desert and there endure bitter hunger. For the devil believed that he could conquer and defeat Christ with food or meat, just as he had first deceived and corrupted man with food. The same happened on the pinnacle of the tower; then the same on the mountain, when all the kingdoms of the earth were displayed. Similarly, even now, God, not ignorant of what intent was rising in the mind of the devil, opened the mouth of the serpent, no differently than that of Balaam's ass. But since God had foreseen that man would aspire to divinity or wish to become a god, He first threatened him with death, and when he had transgressed the law set before him, He subjected man to death.

^B Now the serpent, they say, was pleasing to the woman, and she treated him as a delight on account of his remarkable nature and his skill in imitating everything. Just as in paradise there were three trees, yet different—for two were provided for food and life, the third so that human intelligence might be tested by it—so, regarding brute animals, there were also three differences. Some nourished and fed man; some helped him and, as it were, served him; others truly exhilarated him and delighted him with the sweet melody of their voice and various imitations. For the mind, which is constantly fatigued, needs such solace and recreation. Since, therefore, man was alone, so that he might have some delights and comforts, God bestowed such animals upon him. ^C But he drew the greatest comfort from the serpent, because he could miraculously imitate various things, and also remarkably knew how to flatter and cajole, although now he is hostile to us and is feared by us with all our might, as God has ordained. For that reason, therefore, he seemed most suitable to the devil, so that he might abuse him as an instrument and a tool for that evil which he was plotting against man. For families are always accustomed to being destroyed and subverted on account of the malice and perfidy of their domestics. For it is not without reason that it is handed down in Holy Scripture: "His enemies shall be those of his own household." The woman therefore thought that the serpent, whom she saw expressing all things with elegant imitation, could also imitate the human voice. But Adam, endowed with the wisdom which he had received from God, by the help of which he had imposed names upon things, and furthermore instructed by a certain foreknowledge of things or future events, would by no means have suffered these things that the woman did, if he had been addressed by the serpent first.

^D Moses, however, passes over in silence the one who spoke through the serpent. Christ alone manifestly revealed who he was. But Paul only hinted at him, observing the order of Holy Scripture, and adhering to the letter, saying: "I fear lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so also..."

^A He did not say, "as the devil," but "as the serpent," preserving, it is clear, the order of the context and the words. Yet he removes all doubt by adding the sequence: "So may your thoughts be corrupted from the simplicity that was toward Christ." Christ explicitly calls the devil a murderer and a liar. And how would he not be a liar, when God said, "Eat from every tree," and he himself said that God said, "Eat from no tree," and when God said, "You shall die," he said the opposite? And there is another lie: "For He knew that on the day you eat, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods," and so forth; thus showing the one who spoke to be both a liar and envious. Hence he is called the devil; from which also the Ophite heresy has arisen, making a god of the serpent, as if he intended to bestow some good upon us. And yet, for their own shame, he opened eyes that were well closed, which, when virtue is effective, are not opened, enduring a beneficial blindness. Therefore, before the transgression, man had eyes that looked at things with knowledge in order to guard it. Since these were applied to fit objects, man did not know evil—that is, he did not have the experience of it—according to the saying, "And Adam knew his wife," for he knew her even before. But when these were blinded, those that inclined toward evil were opened. ^B Whence the devil craftily deals with the woman, slandering God, while at the same time raising her up with promises of becoming like gods, hinting at the angels who fell with him, and casting down upon men from above the seeds of polytheism, which it was fitting should be brought forth from the mouth of the serpent, as if he were envious of this. And it will be to him. They say he craftily feigns ignorance, at once desiring to find a pretext for conversation with her, and at the same time so as not to appear openly a plotter by speaking things contrary to God. Whence the woman even corrected him; and he, as if having learned what he did not know, unsuspectingly introduced his plot. ^C God from the beginning of things did not teach men about any bodiless substance except Himself, immediately striking down from above the notion of polytheism, that is, wishing the opinion of believing that there are many gods to be utterly obliterated. Nor did the sacred Scripture, in all that interval of time which preceded the flood, make even the slightest mention of many gods. It mentions angels only in the times of Abraham, when men had already been fully instructed by divine Providence and various visions that He alone is God, who had brought forth this universal work. Whence Moses omitted mention of the devil, of whom those deceived men had no knowledge, but was content to have placed the instrument through which the devil contrived his snares and deceits. Neither are there lacking ^D those who say that God permitted the serpent to be used as an instrument, as it was...

^A Yet others maintain that the serpent prefigured the devil in a certain symbolic sense, and that without using any instrument, the devil inspired these counsels and arguments into the woman himself, without a sensory voice. Others say that God permitted the devil to use the serpent, a most abject animal, crawling upon the ground and generally leading its life in the caverns of the earth, so that the turpitude and infamy for which it was afterwards branded because of its malice might be manifest. Therefore, he raised up the serpent (as is likely) and desired to station it [before her]. Then the devil conversed with the woman through the serpent. But the woman, having beheld the serpent, did not shudder, because, having just been created by God, she did not yet know it. Furthermore, she was ignorant that the serpent was a creature meant to be included in the number of reptiles, and that it lacked the use of human speech. Since the situation seemed to prompt it, the devil stood as if in opposition to the woman.

The devil, approaching, brought forward things which were clearly in direct opposition to the divine utterances. ^B Yet some gather from the devil’s words that Adam and Eve had not yet tasted any food. For if the devil had seen them taking food, he would not have uttered the suggestion with which he tempted them, as if every food were forbidden to them. But the devil only knew, as is apparent, that man, just like other rational creatures and beings, was held by some law according to which they were ordered by God. But he was ignorant of the law to which man had to submit. For he would not have spoken the contrary at the very first encounter if that law had been known to him, fearing that he might not gain belief thereafter while plotting his snares. For the law was not given to man through a sensory voice; God imprinted this law upon the mind of man, and by this impression, it is to be understood as having been set down as if by an intervening voice. Adam, therefore, was instructed by hearing, just as we know it to have happened to the prophets, ^C who, by vision and hearing operating within them, are instructed as if in a dream, so that they seem to hear and see things that God reveals. Adam thought, and was as it were persuaded, that he was hearing God discussing those things which were not undeservedly unknown to the devil.

Adam and Eve had not yet eaten. For God had so ordered human nature that they would not, like brute animals, always rush headlong toward food, but would take care of their frame at fixed times. Therefore, the devil, observing that all other animals were eating, except for these, and not knowing the excellence with which man had been gifted by God, imagined that men were restrained from food by an edict of law. Therefore, as if reproaching the lawgiver for having enacted the law to no good end, he questions the woman. Hence, the woman did not without cause append a correction, ^D by which she corrected the devil’s words, saying: "The fruit of all the trees is granted to us by divine generosity. But we are kept away by law from the tree which rises in the midst of the paradise." She added: "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil," although Moses had kept silent about that. For the tree of life was also situated in the midst, the fruit of which was not forbidden. For how, had she not heard of the knowledge of good and evil from Eve, would he have interjected: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil"? However, the prophet, in [the section concerning] the giving of the law, did not mention that that tree was placed in the midst of paradise, although in the narrative of the paradise

^A For it would not have been stated by itself—even if the prophet had passed over it—nor would it have omitted the command which mentioned the divine [law], the one concerning the good and the evil, [while] adding those things which were not said: "which is in the midst of the paradise," and "you shall not touch it." But it had certainly been said: "in the midst," signifying the preeminence; and "you shall not touch it," for greater safety, just as [it was said] to know good and evil for the manifestation of the usefulness of the commandment. For indeed, how would she have spoken of herself, if the Prophet had [not] also passed over it?

There are two things which draw us away from the evil and join us to the better: promise and fear. On account of this, God threatened the punishment: "And He promised the tree of life." But the devil, entering upon a different path, dispels fear, ^B saying: "You shall not surely die," and he promises the opening of the eyes. This is why the Savior says in the Gospel that "he is a liar and the father of it," signifying that he was the first to give birth to a lie. And He did not say, "You will be as God," but "as gods," accustoming them not to consider God as great, nor to suppose that He [alone] is such, but that it is possible for others to become such as He is. Such were the poisons he brought to the woman, who, having heard of the commandment which she had received together with her consort, as also being of the same nature—therefore she was subjected to the same penalties. For she did not, as some say, receive the divine command from her spouse; for it is written that He commanded Adam, saying [things] which are followed by the fact that it is only said in Paradise; for after the formation of Adam and the preparation of the paradise, He says that he placed the man in it, and adds: "He commanded Adam." ^C The things, therefore, said in common are understood under the person of Adam, whose formation he had already mentioned. And having repeated after this the creation of the woman, he did not add that he also introduced her into paradise, as it appeared to be sufficiently declared by the things said before, just as [it was] regarding the giving of the commandment.

But to speak briefly about what has been said: God was invisible; but he who had received all things from Him was visible. He was instituted and instructed by the Lord with this law, namely, to abstain from the forbidden tree, so that he might always be reminded ^D that he was subject to another's jurisdiction. For walking together with his wife among the trees of paradise, seeing the forbidden tree, he was always reminded of the invisible God through the visible thing. In the same way, the image of a king, since he cannot be present to all the magistrates in his kingdom, places an image and statues by which the judges, being deterred as if he were present...

^A Rather, he doubles his effort, saying: for God did not say, "Do not touch it"; nor did this indeed bring any danger. But they, having a divine understanding, determined among themselves: "God said, 'Do not taste of the tree,' so let us not even touch it." So much were they intending to keep the commandment. But the serpent brought upon it an artifice alien to it, using a certain instrument connatural to him. For God, when He fashioned man, although He adorned him with the knowledge of many other things, yet among other things He implanted in him a longing for God. Detecting in man the fuel or spark of this, and in order to ensnare him all the more and draw him to the forbidden, the devil says, "You will be as gods," as if to say: "Now, while you are only men, you cannot converse perpetually with God; but this will happen when you have been raised to the number of the gods." He acts very cautiously, because he does not incite them to harbor enmity against God. The devil circumscribed the woman with an inordinate appetite for becoming like God. But she did not deceive the man, but leads him into her own opinion by persuasion. The witness of this matter is Paul, who says, "Adam was not deceived." Why, therefore, was he condemned? Because the woman persuaded him to send the forbidden food into his belly, so that, evidently, she might not perish alone. Just as even today some people, seeing what the true religion and certain faith is, yet yielding to the female sex, are not zealous for the true faith—not because they do not know the truth, but because they are simply led and persuaded. Some teach that Adam ate in ignorance, and that he did not know from whence the woman had plucked that fruit. But God, rebuking Adam, does not simply say, "Because you took the forbidden fruit," but: "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife," etc. If their opinion were true, certainly Adam would have cleared himself of the crime by pleading ignorance. But he is silent, and by his silence he testifies that he is liable to the fault. ^{B C} VERS. 6. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food. If the woman now finally saw and recognized the tree, then certainly something absurd would be concluded from this, namely, that she had received the law regarding a thing of which she was ignorant. But that is not the case. She had known the tree before she reached out her incontinent hands, and she looked upon it with excessive license and pleasure. Just as sometimes certain men, agitated by the excessive stimuli of Venus, have relations with a very ugly woman, making themselves a laughingstock to everyone, even though they themselves think her to be the most beautiful: so it happened to the woman. Pleasure and excessive license caused the forbidden tree to become pleasing to her. Therefore, not without reason does Solomon say in the Proverbs: "To a man who is a fornicator, every bread is sweet and pleasant." ^D VERS. 7. And the eyes of both were opened. Their eyes were not opened according to the words of the devil, so that man might now be a god and shine with the sharpness of the divine mind. What then? The wretches began to gaze upon their own miserable nakedness. Indeed, previously, when they were immortal, they had no need of a covering. That their nakedness appeared only now is not to be understood as if it had not been seen by them before; the reason is different. They had thought of nothing evil before, even though they perceived their nakedness with their eyes. For nakedness, considered in itself, is in no way shameful. Infants do not blush,

^A Adam and Eve, before they had sinned, had no need of shame; this they received after they had sinned, as a helper for the excision of sin. The beginning of shame is the blushing over the organs of generation, since the emotion dwelling in these is more intense than all others. God did not allow the marriage union to be irrational, but by the law of shame He restricted it. Whence, they devised for themselves a covering from fig leaves, not yet having experience of the marital union, but having acquired the shame regarding these things from God. Moreover, everyone who sins, sins as a blind man; when he sees afterwards what he has done, he cries out while being accused: "I did not see what I was doing." The conscience, however, makes them see after the fact. Just as someone striking a person who refused to listen says: "I am teaching you to hear"—for indeed he heard, but being drunk with emotion and passion, he did not pay attention to what was being said. Thus, the devil, since he himself had incurred the greatest danger from his own disobedience—namely, when he beheld his own condemnation—augured that a not dissimilar event would happen to them from their disobedience. He said to them the things that were similar, for he said: ^B "Your eyes will be opened," and "You will be as gods," foretelling that the passion would occur.

When they cast off immortality, the body was laid bare, and it was henceforth mere clay. Immediately then, the fountain of the invention of arts began to spring forth. Therefore, they stitch together leaves. But tell me, who taught man this? Man received intellect from God, inasmuch as he was created in His image. Wherefore, let no one wonder if men have devised certain new things and have discovered arts previously unknown. Some say that the first man was instructed in every virtue and possessed great freedom of speech. But having been stripped of that virtue and freedom, they were somewhat ashamed, recognizing into what evils they had been thrust from supreme happiness, since they had not yet arrived at an insensibility to evils. ^C Whence, they hide from God, who was walking in the garden, the Creator of all things. For if someone has sinned even slightly, he is reproved secretly by the common concepts of the mind, which God has impressed upon the human soul. For these always resound, such being the will of God: "Man, what have you done, that you have enslaved yourself to the foulest sin?" But if someone is sometimes immersed in the depth of sins, he does not hesitate to invent and stitch together defenses and patronages. But the Lord hissed at such vain patronages through the fig tree—to which when He came, He found no fruits, but only leaves. On account of this He had said: "May no fruit come from you forever." ^D Yet, it was not because of its own fault that the sensible fig tree did not bear fruit; but rather, because Israel had fallen into impiety, it was said: "There is no cluster in the vines, nor fig in the fig trees." They stitched together, therefore, fig leaves, procuring, as has been said, a plausible defense. Some say that these are symbols of their own sins; for the leaf of the fig, whenever it touches the body, causes itching. He is, therefore, his own prophet, demonstrating by the itching the nature of his transgression.

a certain itching. The prophet therefore immediately shows the itching of sin.

^A They themselves heard the Lord God walking in paradise in the evening; and before the transgression He did not walk away from them, but was with them. But since they had departed from Him, and He had departed from them—though indeed He walked about out of His goodness, providing a perception according to common notions so that they might turn back—this event happened in the evening, fittingly for those who had transgressed. For in virtue the light of truth blooms; but then the hour becomes evening and dark, driving toward night, when one places himself outside the light, becoming involved in ignorance and evil. As God says to the sinning soul: "I have likened your mother to night." Therefore, the light did not abandon them all at once, since they heard God in the evening. Now, to hide from the face of the Lord God is to depart from the pure thought concerning God; not as Cain did. For that man went out from the face of God, having made himself unperceptive of Him. But those who hide are not without awareness of the divine oversight; however, on account of the filth of sin, they do not have boldness. And the face of the Lord should be understood as the Son; for having wished to be transgressors of the commandment, they ceased to be illuminated by the image of God.

^B It is reasonable that they flee under the tree in the midst of paradise, which was the knowledge of good and evil. For he who hides from the face of God, not working virtue but [only] wanting to appear as though he is representing it to himself, hides under hypocrisy. But when someone who has become involved in sin receives a brief impression of awareness, as if to accept the notion of God through the creation in which He moves about, providing for all things and placing an order on each one of the whole, then he also turns back and knows that He overlooks and governs all things. And he hears the voice of God impressed upon his intellect, that nothing escapes God; and thus, having been shamed, he hides. For he who sins, not having God before his eyes, sins. But the saying "I was afraid" belongs to awareness; for the fear itself is for one who still has the judgment that evil is shameful and to be punished. And he says the cause of the fear is nakedness, which comes from having lost virtue, which was a divine garment. Thus also Paul exhorts: "Let us put on the armor of light," and "put on hearts of compassion."

^C It is good that "Lord" is added here to "God"; for when it concerned the Creator, it said: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; but when transgression followed, then it says, "the Lord," for it follows for the Lord to proceed against those who disobey [His commands; for punishment is needed, which fittingly comes from a master. And blessed is the

Lord of the saints, who then at the evening hour visited Adam; and now that time in which Christ expired upon the cross is called evening. For He suffered the bitter passion at those very same hours during which Adam ate until he was struck by the Lord with the penalty of condemnation, namely from the sixth hour until the ninth. Adam let the forbidden food into his belly at the sixth hour. For that hour is, as it were, a fixed rule established for men to take food. After this hour he hid in his lurking places. Toward the one hiding, as the evening drew on, God came, saying: "You have now sought things greater than yourself; I, to provide for you, assume things lesser. You desired to be equal to God, but I become equal to man. You desired to become God; it was fitting according to My will; and since you could not succeed against My will, I desire to become man. For He says: 'With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you.' You wished to seize My things, being unable; I take yours, being able." ^B

At midday the devil approached the woman, having watched her even before, waiting for a time opportune for conversation. For then, at last, when he perceives her famished and hastening to take food, he attacks. For he cannot force sin upon us against our will: but, so that something may be promoted, he uses the passions inherent in us like an evil counselor, and thus draws us into sin. But God grants that power to the devil, although He could entirely prevent sin, so that by experience we might learn how great an evil sin is, and the troublesome disturbance of the passions: and then recognize the magnitude of the benefit, when we receive the immortality of body and soul alike through the interceding resurrection. For some say, it is not credible that God was so enflamed by the grace of a single food that He would punish both with capital punishment. To God it had seemed good even before, that we should rather abhor the unspeakable sin. Wherefore He proposed a commandment, and gave laws, that He might convict even those sinners who deny it. But He does all this, not so that we might be entirely unpolluted by sin—which is impossible—but so that we might detest sin, and thence flee with swift foot, and thus be rendered partakers of heavenly grace. If we do not avoid sin according to the prescribed manner, we shall surely be cast out of the eternal tabernacles, as our Savior Christ has handed down. Therefore, that the flight from evil might be clear to us, He immediately reproved the first sinners, and grants pardon to the penitent. ^C For indeed, they were not immediately after the sentence passed by God affected with capital punishment: but death was delayed for 950 years. He did not, however, entirely remove death, which in no way argues for its cruelty: but He wished to obtain that which He judged to turn to His own glory. Therefore, immediately to man, as soon as he had joined himself to sin, God appeared, that He might draw him back to penitence ^D.

^A And now He appeared for conviction, but not as was His custom; rather, He appeared as if He were shaking and troubling the earth with His gait, that there might be an impression of wrath. Therefore, unable to bear the sound, they hid themselves under the tree upon which they had received the commandment, and from which they had eaten; for this He made clear by saying, "In the midst of the tree of the garden." For as soon as they ate, and received the sensation of shame at their nakedness, they covered themselves by plucking leaves from it. It was a fig tree, they say, not some strange tree as some suspect; for it was not the quality of the wood that held the transgression, but the delivering of the commandment. And if it were not so, the labors of the Maccabees, who suffered for the sake of swine's flesh, would seem small; since the food is cheap and minor. But the blessed ones did not look at the nature of the food, but at the transgression of the commandment, just as the martyrs, likewise, did not look at the food of idol offerings, but at the conscience concerning the Divine. He terrified, therefore, those around Adam with the impression of a more severe gait. Then, when they had come to a perception of their fault, and were repenting through the things they feared, He used more gentle words, producing in them a firm repentance for their convictions, and, as it were, setting boundaries to punishments which were not punishments, but only provided an impression of such, which were sorrows, and pains, and cares, and finally death—things which had been ordained by Him even before the sin, in that He gave the present state for the sake of discipline: and on this account He made them mortal and full of myriad calamities, that we might eventually, through the knowledge of the greatest goods, harvest their enjoyment.

^B And God called Adam and said to him: "Adam, Adam, where art thou?" What affectionate father so sought a lost child, lamenting that he was not seen in the accustomed places? For if He had wished to punish, He would have immediately brought down a penalty as upon one who had disobeyed, as one who had been persuaded by a deceiver, and who had deemed the Creator and Benefactor to be false and unfaithful, and who had thought to hide from the omnipresent One under the tree. But by the doubling of the calling, He shows the intensity of His desire; so David, having doubled it, calls back Absalom after his death; so also the Lord says, "Martha, Martha," correcting her as she was erring; for she thought she was doing something greater by laboring with the service. So also, "Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?" Some, therefore, say that the ^{C D} VERSE 9. And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: "Where art thou?" What father with such care and mercy sought the lost son, grieving that, forgetful of his own dignity, he had fallen into such misery? For if God had been prone to punish, He would have immediately exacted deserved penalties upon the disobedient. For he had faith in a wily deceiver, and deemed the most beneficent Creator to be a liar and unfaithful; he believed that he could be hidden from God, who is present everywhere, by hiding under a tree. That God, however, doubles his voice by calling out, indicates the vehemence of His desire. Just as David, when he calls for the slain Absalom, doubles his name. Thus the Lord, correcting the wayward Martha, says: "Martha, Martha."

^A And "Where are you?" instead of: "From whence have you descended, and where have you arrived?" Others say it is an affectation of ignorance, in order that by revealing His desire, He might grant him freedom of speech; and that by saying and hearing in an orderly manner, he might receive correction. Therefore, having taken courage, and perceiving that his failure to appear was worthy of blame, he looks toward making an apology. In this way, a servant who has sinned takes heart: he thinks he can escape the notice of his master. And we say regarding a friend: "I feigned ignorance, so as not to cause him grief."

^B "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, and I hid myself." Why did you hide? "I was afraid on account of the transgression; I hid on account of the nakedness." Truly he uttered a miserable voice: "I heard your voice"—that desired voice, that voice which granted me all things—"I understood what voice I had spurned." The statement clearly contains the accusation; for the nakedness, and the fear and shame that followed it, revealed the cause. But it is not easy for one who has erred to find a just excuse for his sin. Whence God, persisting in his exhortation, says: "Who told you that you are naked?" Not even then did He expose to the sun his sin, nor could He bear to speak, lest by the harshness of words He might make the rebuke inaccessible to him; but by inquiring and expressing doubt, He pointed out what had happened. For it would have been easy to say, "The transgression of the commandment brought this shame and fear upon you." But He does not act thus; rather, "Who told you these things?" Then, as if conjecturing: "Unless perhaps you have eaten from the tree?" And He prolongs the discourse so that He might dissolve [Adam's] fear. ^C When a servant who has sinned comes before his master, he feels either fear or confidence from the very first word, hearing him now railing harshly, and now chiding him mildly: "For did I forbid many things, warning you only once of My lordship? Therefore, the gravity of the commandment has not been the cause for you." But the phrase, "Who told you?" is exceedingly reproving, even with its gentleness. "For I, in making you, did not teach you this; for I considered nothing of what I created to be shameful; nor did I teach you to perceive anything evil in yourself."

^D And [Adam] is entirely shameless; he did not say, "I did not know," but, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave to me, and I ate," that is, she who was given to me for an aid. For I heard You saying, "I will make him a helper." Wickedness is fond of blaming others, and the cause of those who sin, not readily confessing the sin, but fabricating excuses for the failure. "But," God would have said, "I did not give the woman for this, that she should lead you in what you must do." But since He only wished for him to be corrected, this

He omitted the preceding words, so that He might not exasperate him all the more. But He now turns the discourse to the woman, so that, because she was a participant in the common sin, she might also be a participant in the common correction.

^A Vers. 13. *And the Lord God said to the woman: Why have you done this?* In order to show Himself peaceable toward the woman, He once again feigns ignorance, and inquires, and does not openly reproach the sin. Whereupon, having taken courage, she casts the whole burden upon the serpent, since he had been the author of all the evil. And God shows that He did not make these inquiries out of ignorance, but so that, having exposed them, He might bring them to a sense of the transgression. For He does not despise a defense made with truth; but He leaves her unexamined, at once sparing her as the weaker vessel, although He could have said: "And did you trust the serpent more than Me? What? Did he promise that you would be numbered among the gods, and did he not precipitate you into miserable death?" But He refrained from that harsher castigation. It is the custom that those who are deceived, when they have been circumvented, only then feel the guile and fraud. For in the beginning, pleasure so ensnares a man that the sense of evil cannot reach them at all. For reason, ^B whose duty it was to subvert and dissuade the sin, is obscured by pleasure, so that it does not hear God present and admonishing on the mountain. God, omitting the woman, hastens to the serpent. A wonderful judgment, you see. He interrogates the deceived; He does not interrogate the deceiver. Nor does He say, in order to exhort him to state his case: "Why have you done this?" But, as if thinking him evil and the author of evil, and entirely incorrigible and incurable, and unworthy of pardon, He thus addresses him: "Because you have done this," etc. In this manner, says David: *The ungodly shall not rise in judgment* (Ps. 1, 5). Not that they shall not awaken, but that they shall not be examined. But the threats which He intended for the serpent somewhat mitigated and soothed the wounds of those who had been circumvented. But how does He address the serpent?

Vers. 14. *Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle and above all the beasts of the earth. Upon your belly and breast you shall go.* You have subverted the human heart with your impostures; you have impelled man to cast forbidden foods into his belly. Wherefore you deservedly pay these penalties.

Vers. 15. *And you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.* Since you deceived as a friend, justly are you cast out as an enemy and foe. But the word of God, by which He addressed the serpent, went forth as a law. But why is the serpent subjected to punishment, when the devil had snared and circumvented man through fraud? He lashes the invisible devil with a visible wound; and He beats the visible instrument, which the devil used, with a visible punishment. For just as God, being invisible, left as a monument to man the visible tree, ^D even so ^C He subjects the dragon, the instrument of the invisible devil, to a curse; so that even if he does not see what the devil has suffered, yet seeing the dragon—who was once standing upright—suffering prostrate, he might analogously recognize the punishment from the chastisement of the instrument.

^A Likewise, one might understand the intention of Him who used it. A similar thing occurred in the Gospel regarding the swine that were cast into the sea, which the demons entered after begging to be allowed to do so, rather than being sent into the abyss. For Christ permitted this, so that by casting them into visible bodies—as it were, invisible ones in visible—He might render their punishment perceptible to us. God could indeed have willed to force the devil, through the serpent which he used as an instrument, to fall in his pride; just as happened in the Gospels in the case of the man troubled by many spirits, dwelling in the mountains and tombs by the compulsion of the demons, who, while still at a distance from Jesus, as Mark says, after doing Him homage, exclaimed: "What have I to do with thee, Son of God? I adjure thee, not to torment me." For the man seemed to be doing this according to appearances, but the demons were doing it, driven by necessity; they were no longer leading the man according to their own desire, but toward what was pleasing to God, and through him, they exhibited the great fear that had seized them at the presence of Christ, and they made manifest the invisible torments being inflicted upon them.

^B And now, indeed, He is able to do this. But since Adam and Eve were ignorant of the deceiver, and it was not useful at that time for man to know of anything else invisible, but rather that they should become accustomed to knowing only God and Lord of all, and that they should recognize Him alone as the Creator of the universe, He rightly omitted this. Yet, when He was punishing the serpent, He silently implied what great evils the devil would suffer. For the serpent is struck by a penalty above all serpents, beyond the cattle and beasts of the earth, regarding which the Savior says He has given to His disciples authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions. But while these rage with natural ferocity, the devil surpasses them, and for this reason is much more grievously tormented. For he deceived man by displaying a lofty intellect and certain delicate foods. But to show his fall, God says: "Earth thou shalt eat," etc. You shall no longer possess divinity, those boastful spirits shall depart. You shall crawl upon the earth, your dignity having lapsed into mud. This is sufficiently clear from the word "belly," etc. Just as, on the contrary, David says: "Thy law is in the midst of my belly." Hence those who are doing penance say: "Our belly hath cleaved to the earth," meaning, of course, those who have fallen from a heavenly intellect. "All the days of thy life," etc. Since each one, having turned toward his own particular way of life, fashioning a life for himself. ^{C D}

But some, judging that these things were spoken concerning the sentient serpent, have thought that the serpent was once upright.

^A This is not the reason. The devil commanded the serpent to stand erect facing the woman. And hence it is said, "Upon thy breast," etc., as if signifying that there would be no further thought of his using that instrument to deceive man. He says that the earth is its food; for we see that all reptiles feed on earth. That which he says, "I will put enmities," signifies that we have a perpetual war with reptiles. But this war also points to the hostile war which we wage perpetually with the devil. When the serpent presents itself to our sight, we shudder and take heed, otherwise having no regard for it. However, there is no time in which we do not blame the devil as the author of all evil. Hence, the worshippers of demons often teach that God, being good, does not need our worship: that evil demons are to be worshipped, lest they wish to harm us. It might indeed seem strange that God, who is good, placed mutual enmities between animals; but we shall cease to wonder if we consider that the simple man receives no small damage from custom and familiarity with evil. Therefore, it is necessary that enmities of this kind be established, so that the simple, having become more prudent, may bring forth that salutary saying: "For we are not ignorant of his devices," which is indeed said of the devil. For the same reasons that peace is harmful, war is judged useful. The most certain law of friendship is equality; for this is held to be the mother of friendship. ^B For between equals, friendships are for the most part glued together. Wherefore, that sentence is well spoken: "Evil communications corrupt good manners." Just as in unhealthy places the air blowing upon men stirs up clandestine diseases in them by its breath, so it is wont to happen through evil conversations and the commerce of very wicked men.

Following this, He sows hostile enmities between the seed of both. By his seed, he understands those who have been fashioned and formed according to his image; or else evil thoughts that lead us away from the truth; or dogmas that cry out against the truth. He calls them the seed of the woman who are born from her and are endowed with virtue; for the woman holds the type of the Church, or rather the thoughts of divine instruction, against which the wickedness of the adversary makes its attempts. The seed and child are not entirely the same, because of frequent miscarriages. The serpent will not fight against the seed, but against the woman; nor will the seed of the serpent resist the woman, but the seed of the woman. For the greatest evils always fight and contend with the greatest goods, and lesser things contend with their equals. ^C God, however, gives the outcome and does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. ^D The good God also discloses the snares of our adversary, showing that the devil is intent on this, to observe the increments of virtues, which he designates through the word "heel." He asserts that the head of human malice is impiety; for when this is taken away, the remaining vices are also removed.

^A From one genus the Word ^D passed to another. For as if speaking to the woman, all those things were said; but now, "He," he says, "will watch your head." For it was necessary that the statement, "I will put enmity," etc., be spoken concerning the weaker one, lest there be any place for deceit and guile. But concerning the man, as one who was not deceived, according to the testimony of Paul, it was fitting that the declaration be made, "He shall watch your head," as he is stronger and more suitable for fighting and guarding, so that he might not offer any beginning of deceit to it, just as with Eve, whom it followed, they say, on account of her utility; for he was cast out not for his own sake, just as the saints followed those taken captive to Babylon to become physicians and caretakers of the captives. But the devil does not reach the head of the wise man, but if anything, the heel, which would be the extremities of those things ^B contributing to virtue; for often, when he is unable to fight against the prior things, he lies in wait near human needs, so that through them he may trip us up—and the Psalmist says, "They will watch my heel." Concerning the visible serpent and the physical heel, the discourse is specifically made; for indeed, man strikes the whole body of the snake wherever he may, but especially the head, through which it is destroyed entirely; and the snake bites the whole body, but since it lies low, it reaches rather for the heel; for while the head is standing it is unable to reach it, since the other is above and able to take hold of its head. This hints at how much lower God has set the devil than us, whom we strike fatally if we become better, and if, along the path of life and action, we have not grown lazy, allowing him a path against us in what he calls the "heel." Such also is the saying, "Why should I fear in the evil day? The iniquity of my heel will surround me." For this, he says, is evil to me, if I become busy with the work of iniquity; whence the Lord says, "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions," showing that He also took away the injury of the heel, having utterly destroyed death and sin.

"And God said to the woman: Multiplying I will multiply your sorrows and your groaning." Again, ^C under the guise of one threatening, those things which had been foreseen by God beforehand are brought to pass, so that hatred of sin might be born in us, as we think upon those miseries that flow from it. Then let us admire and embrace the benefit of immortality, which will be provided at the last. He applies sorrow to the wound, so that He may heal our fall, no differently than a skilled surgeon who either cuts or cauterizes the defect of the body presented to him. For the sorrow that is according to God works salvation not to be repented of. Isaiah teaches the same: "If you turn and groan, then you shall be saved." He does not curse her, that she might not bring forth, since He had already blessed her, saying, "Increase and multiply."

^A For the gifts of God are such that He does not repent of them. "And your turning shall be toward your husband," He says; for when she has endured the necessities of labor pains, she does not refuse the marriage of her spouse, but rather places her hope of relief in him in the midst of the hardships she encounters. "And he shall rule over you," He says; for the creation from the beginning received equality, as it is written: "Let us make man," and again, "Let us make a helper for him." But not as a command: "Let a woman be made." But the deception of Eve destroyed her honor and rendered her enslaved. For Adam was not deceived, according to the divine Apostle, but the woman, having ruled badly over the man, became the cause of the transgression for him; as one who did not rule well, she is turned toward serving.

That sin produces slavery ^B is shown also by the wild animals; for before, man ruled over all. For they are led as if to a master, and Adam did not fear when seeing them; neither did his wife fear the serpent, but conversed with it as if with an acquaintance. But after the sin, man fell from his rule over them; and on the contrary, he himself trembles and fears them, though God, through philanthropy, left for him those things that are subject to him for the necessary service of life's needs, so that he might alleviate the sweat arising from punishment. And through these others, He instructs him, so that having learned what kind of being he has become from what he was, he might run back through repentance to his own rule, having recovered what is according to the image and likeness. When the wild animals saw this rule being kept, they were subject to him as to a master, for it was he who gave them their names; for even among servants, some who are in good standing are a terror to their fellow-servants, while those who have offended fear even the most casual of their fellow-servants. And even now, if man returns to his first dignity, he rules not only over wild beasts but also over demons, and not simply rules, but tramples them—which is the mark of an intensified rule. "For I have given you," He says, "power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy." And the Apostle says, "He will," he says, "subject Satan under our feet"; for it is no longer head and heel, but complete is the victory. Accordingly, even afterwards in Daniel, the wild animals, seeing the royal character, submitted in the pit; and the reptile fell from the hand of Paul, as it found no one lacking in sin—the cause of harm—due to which even now the woman is deprived of her rule. ^D For Paul, knowing this, forbids the woman to teach; for she did not teach well previously.

^A Yet he says that she should yield to the man, and he offers the cause: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, fell into transgression." But where it happens that the man is deceived and the woman remains undeceived, the order is immediately reversed, and he allows her to teach, saying: "For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband?" For everyone who guides toward salvation is established as the ruler of the one who is being saved. Thus, everywhere, virtue is a thing of rule, while sin is a thing of servitude—on account of which the woman is condemned to sorrow, sighing, and slavery, until Christ, born through a woman, destroyed the curse through his love for mankind. And since, being prone to sin, she was able to give birth to the Sinless One, the angel, running ahead, dissolved the sorrow with joy, making the "Rejoice" the beginning of his discourse. ^B And he added the cause: "The Lord is with you." For this image was a counterpart to Eve; for both were virgins, and Eve, while a virgin, sinned. But the one received sorrow from the serpent, and transmitted the sorrow to all the women who followed in all the ages and who also sinned; but the other received joy from God, and destroyed the curse of the race; and a birth without pain ended the one that occurs with many sorrows. Whence all blame the one, but all bless the other. And as if holding the person of Eve, she says: "For behold, from this moment all generations will call me blessed." By adding "from this moment" she distinguishes it from the past time in which, as the cause of sorrows and sighing, Eve was accused. And the saying had power immediately from the beginning. For when Christ stood spreading his most holy doctrine, a certain woman cried out: "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which you nursed."

But the words, "Toward your husband shall be your turning, and he shall rule over you," etc., Paul explains sufficiently, saying: "Husbands, love your wives." ^C Why? So that they may devise a deliverance from hardships for them; and he adds the excellence and the passionless nature of love: "Even as Christ also loved the Church." Then he says: "Let the women fear the men," setting them to work as servants to their husbands as lords. And again: "Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection." And so that she, upon hearing "He shall rule over you," might not think the lordship to be burdensome, he first placed the name of guardianship: "Toward your husband shall be your turning," that is, a refuge, a harbor, and a safety. ^D And it is yoked with beloved fear, and God has bound them together by the natural necessities of desire. And the blessed Paul, he says, has given us causes for the ascent, saying: "This mystery is great; but I speak concerning Christ and concerning the Church."

ἐκκλησίαν. ^A Ἡ Ἐκκλησία τοίνυν τέκνα ἐν λύπαις τίκτει· πόνος γὰρ τῆς ἀρετῆς προηγεῖται, καὶ λύπη μετάνοιαν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἀμεταμέλητον κατεργαζομένη· τίκτει δὲ αὐτὰ διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας· ἔπεται γὰρ τῇ μὲν ἀρετῇ πόνος, τῇ δὲ ἡδονῇ (ἐνταῦθα λείπει τι) γινόμενος· ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα Χριστὸν τὴν ἀποστροφὴν ἔχει παρ' αὐτοῦ κυριευομένη· ὡς ἂν κατὰ τὰς ὑποθήκας αὐτοῦ τὰ παρ' αὐτῆς τικτόμενα τῆς ἀρετῆς γεννήματα ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔχῃ τὴν τελεσιουργίαν.

^B Ὅτι ἤκουσας τῆς φωνῆς τῆς γυναικός σου, καὶ ἔφαγες ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι μὴ φαγεῖν, ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γῆ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις σου. Πάλιν ὁ ηὐλογημένος οὐ λαμβάνει τὴν κατάραν, ἀλλ' ἡ γῆ, δι' ἧς ἐπαιδεύετο· καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς, Ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γῆ, ἐπεὶ ἔμενε κατηραμένη καὶ καρπὸν οὐκ ἔφερεν· ὥσπερ εἶπε τῇ συκῇ, « Μηκέτι καρπὸς ἐκ σοῦ ἐξέλθοι, » καὶ ἐξηράνθη· ἀλλὰ προσέθηκεν· « Ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις σου, » ἵνα δείξῃ τὰς ἐπισυμβαινούσας τοῖς γεωργοῦσιν ἀποτυχίας, καὶ ὅτι μετὰ μυρίους ἱδρῶτας οὐδέν ἐσθ' ὅτε κομίζονται· καὶ τὸ θαυμαστόν· ποιήσας γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς καρπούς, οὐκ εὐλόγησεν αὐτούς, ὥσπερ τινὰ τῶν ζώων, καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον· τὴν γὰρ μέλλουσαν ἁμαρτίαν εἰδὼς, τὴν δι' αὐτῶν ἐφύλαξε τιμωρίαν· ἀφορούντων μὲν ἁμαρτάνουσιν, εὐθηνούντων δὲ λύουσι τῇ μετανοίᾳ τὰ πλημμελήματα· εἰ δὲ εὐλόγησεν ἅπαξ αὐτούς, ἀμεταμέλητον ἔμελλεν εἶναι τὸ χάρισμα.

^C Ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι. Κατεφρόνησας, φησί, τῶν μεγάλων, τύπτου ὑπὸ σμικρῶν· καὶ ἡ παιδεία γὰρ σύμμετρος οὐκ ἀναιροῦσα παντελῶς, ἀλλ' ἀνιῶσα βραχύ· τινὲς δὲ τοῦτο σημαίνειν φασὶν ἁπλῶς τὸ μὴ γίνεσθαι καμόντι πολλάκις καρπούς. Ἐν λύπαις, φησί, φαγῇ αὐτήν· ἐν λύπαις ἐκείνη τίκτει· ἐν λύπαις σὺ φάγε· ὅθεν οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν οὐδένα, κἂν τύχῃ πλουσιώτατος ὤν· ἡ δὲ λύπη λογικοῦ ἐστι παντός, οὐδενὸς τῶν ἀλόγων ἁπτομένη· διόπερ ὁ ὄφις οὐκ ἐπιτιμᾶται τῇ λύπῃ.

^D Ζήσεις τοίνυν ὀδυνηρῶς, καὶ λύσις ἔσται σοι τῶν κακῶν μόνος ὁ θάνατος. Καὶ ἀποστρέφεις εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθης· ἵνα σπείρῃ αὐτῷ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς ἀναστάσεως· ὁ γὰρ λαβών σε τότε, δύναται πάλιν λαβεῖν· ὅθεν εἶπε· « Καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ, » ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀφανισθήσῃ· τὸ γὰρ, Ἀπελεύσῃ, τὸ ἐπανελεύσῃ ἡρμήνευσε. « Καὶ φαγῇ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ, » μόνοις τρεφόμενος σπέρμασι· περὶ ξύλον γὰρ ἁμαρτών, τῆς αὐτομάτου τῶν ξύλων ἐν παραδείσῳ διαμαρτάνεις τροφῆς· τοιαύτη γὰρ ἄχρι τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ τῶν

ἀνθρώπων ἡ δίαιτα· οὕτως ἐπὶ τῆς δημιουργίας βοτάνην εἶπε, χόρτον, ἀντιδιαστέλλων τοῖς ξύλοις τὰ σπέρματα. ^B Ἐπιστατέον δὲ ὅτι πρὸς τὸν Ἀδὰμ μέμνηται τῆς ἐντολῆς, ᾧπερ αὐτὴν διαλεγόμενος δέδωκε, μάλιστα φροντίσαι ταύτης ὀφείλοντι τῆς φυλακῆς, εἰ καὶ ἐκοινώνει τῆς ἀκροάσεως ἡ γυνή· καὶ αὐτὴν γὰρ ἔδει φυλάττειν, καὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν διὰ ταύτην ἐδέξατο. Ἀλληγορίας δὲ νόμῳ, « Ἀκάνθας, φησὶ, καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι. » Τί γὰρ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἀκολουθίας οὐκ ἐπώδυνόν ἐστιν, ἡδονῶν τε καὶ μεριμνῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ φυομένων; Ταύτας γὰρ εἶναι τὰς ἀκάνθας ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐμήνυσεν· αἵτινες συμπνίγουσι τὸν ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ βαλλόμενον σπόρον, ἐὰν ὁ δεξάμενος μὴ εἰς βάθος τοῦτον ὑποδέξηται· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον, « Ὡς γῆ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἐρχόμενον πολλάκις ὑετὸν, καὶ τίκτουσα βοτάνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις, δι' οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους, ἀδόκιμος καὶ κατάρας ἐγγύς· ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν. » Ἐὰν οὖν τις διὰ μελέτης ταύτας ἀναβλαστῆσαι μὴ συγχωρήσῃ, σχήσει χόρτον ὅ ἐστι τρόφιμόν τι· πρῶτον γὰρ χόρτος ἐστὶ τὸ φυόμενον, ὡς καὶ ὁ Σωτήρ φησιν, εἶτα στάχυς· ἀγαθοῦ δὲ εἰσαγωγικὸν, χόρτον τέως φαγεῖν, τὰ πρῶτα τῆς ἀρετῆς· εἶτα στάχυν τὴν τελειότητα· ἐπὶ μόχθον οὖν ἡ ἀρετή· ὅπου καὶ ἡ καρδία τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιμελῶς ἐπὶ τὸ κακὸν ἔγκειται. ^C Διό φησι, « Πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου, » — « Ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου σου φάγῃ τὸν ἄρτον σου.» Οἰκείως δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὸ, « Ἕως ἀποστρέψῃς εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθης· » ἀναστὰς γὰρ ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐράνιον ἕξεις πολιτείαν, ἐν γῇ τῶν πραέων γενόμενος.

Παρατηρητέον δὲ ὡς τῷ μὲν ὄφει εἴρηται· « Ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῶν κτηνῶν πάντων· » τῷ δὲ Ἀδὰμ, « Ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς· » ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τούτοις ζητητέον, εἰ ἄφθαρτος ἦν Ἀδὰμ, πῶς ὑπεδέξατο τοῦτον φθορά; Εἰ δὲ φθαρτός, τί πλέον ἀπὸ τῆς ἀποφάσεως λεγούσης, ᾗ δ᾿ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε; Ἄφθαρτος οὖν μὲν ὁ γηγενὴς οὐκ ἐπλάσθη· οὐ γὰρ ἄφθαρτον τὸ ἀφ' οὗ πέπλασται· μετὰ δὲ τὴν πλάσιν ἐνεφύσησεν ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς· « Καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν. » Ἔχει τοίνυν ἄφθαρτον μὲν τὴν ψυχὴν, φθειρόμενον δὲ τὸ σῶμα· ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴν τοῦ σώματος τὴν πλάσιν ἔσχε δυναμένην ἀθανατίζεσθαι δι' αὐτεξουσιότητα τῶν καλῶν ἐπισκευαστῇ τροφῇ· μεσότητα γὰρ εἶχεν ἡ πλάσις θνητότητος δυναμένης ἀθανατίζεσθαι· ὡς καὶ νῦν ἐφ' ἡμῶν μεσότης τοῦ σπειρομένου μὲν ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγειρομένου δὲ ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ· οὐχ ἡ ἀφθαρσία τοίνυν ὑπέπεσε τῇ φθορᾷ, ὡς ἐξεναντίας ἐλπίζομεν τὴν σπειρομένην ἐν φθορᾷ ἐγείρεσθαι ἐν

ἐν ^A ἀφθαρσίᾳ· ἀλλὰ τὸ δυνάμενον ἐπισκευασταῖς ἀθανατισθῆναι τροφαῖς, εἰ τὴν ἐντολὴν ἐτήρησαν, τοῦτο μὴ τηρησάντων αὐτὴν τῶν τοιῶνδε τροφῶν καὶ τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀθανασίας ἐκπέπτωκεν· ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἔξω τινὲς τὸν κόσμον φασὶ φθαρτὸν μὲν, οὐ μὴν φθαρησόμενον.

Ἐξεκρούσθη οὖν, ἐκ τῆς ἀποφάσεως, τοῦ παραδείσου, ὃς οὐ δέχεται τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ζῶντας· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔφαγεν, ἡδύνατο μὴ ἀποθανεῖν· φύσει μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἀθάνατος, ἐπισκευαστὴν δὲ ἀθανασίαν δευτέρῳ λόγῳ καρπούμενος· οὐχ ἡ ἀπόφασις δὲ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν πεποίηκεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπόφασις τὸ προειπεῖν τὸ ἑπόμενον πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν ἢ τὴν ἀποεκλογήν, ἀλλ' ἀσφαλοῦς προσοχῆς παραγγελία, προαγόρευσις δὲ τοῦ ἀκολουθήσαντος τῷ παραβαίνοντι· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ἰατρῶν τὰ προφυλακτικὰ παραγγέλματα, ἀπόφασις τοῦ νοσεῖν ἢ τελευτᾷν, ἀλλὰ προαγόρευσις· ὁ δὲ μὴ φυλάξας ἐκ ῥαθυμίας, τοῦ τελευτᾷν αἴτιος· οὐδὲ αἱ τῶν προφητῶν προββήσεις ποιητικαὶ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας· οὐκοῦν οὐκ αἴτιος θανάτου Θεός, εἰσελθόντα δὲ φθόνῳ διαβόλου μετασκευάζει πρὸς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν ὑποσχόμενος καὶ δείξας, δευτέραν ταύτην διὰ δευτέρου ξύλου σταυροῦ καὶ θανάτου τοῦ δευτέρου Ἀδὰμ μηχανώμενος· ἐπεὶ γὰρ διὰ ξύλου θάνατος, διὰ ξύλου καὶ ἡ ζωή· τὸ γὰρ πολυποίκιλον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας τοῖς δι' ἀληθῆ μετάνοιαν ἐπιστρέφουσιν ἐπήγγελται λέγων· « Σήμερον μετ' ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. » Καὶ ῥύεται μὲν θανάτου, τίθησι δὲ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ἐν ᾧ τὰ ξύλα οὐχ ὡμοιώθη τῷ κάλλος τίμιον ἐσχηκότι πρότερον καὶ πάντα χρηστὸν λίθον ἐνδεδυμένῳ, ἕως εὑρεθῇ ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ γῆς λοιπὸν ῥιφέντι, τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ βεβηλωθέντων.

Ὅτι αὕτη μήτηρ πάντων τῶν ζώντων.

ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀνὴρ ἄμορφον καταβάλλει σπέρμα, ἡ δὲ διαπεπλασμένον εἰς ἀνθρώπου τύπον, καὶ ζῶντα προβάλλει τὰ γεννώμενα· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἔχει τὴν τιμὴν ὡς διδοὺς τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἡ δὲ ὡς τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα παρέχουσα μετὰ πλείστης ὅσης ταλαιπωρίας· ὅθεν καὶ ὁ νόμος κοινὸς κεῖται· « Ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα, θανάτῳ τελευτάτω. » ^D Οὐκ ἦν δὲ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ εἰδέναι ὡς ἐξ αὐτῶν πᾶν τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος ἔσται, μὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόγνωσιν ἐνεργήσαντος, ἐξ ἧς καὶ τοὔνομα τέθεικεν· πάντων δὲ τῶν ζώντων, φησί, τῶν πεφυτευμένων μητέρα ταύτην ἔχειν· οὐ γὰρ δήπου καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων· εἰ δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τύπον ἔχει, μήτηρ εἰκότως ἐστὶ τῶν ζώντων, κατὰ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν λέγοντα· « Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή· » ἐξ ἧς καὶ οἱ ἀπογεγραμμένοι πρωτότοκοι μετέχουσιν.

μετέχουσιν. ^A divine life, Christ indeed being the father, and the Church the mother of this.

VER. 21. *And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife ^B coats of skins, and clothed them.* He prepared a dead covering for him who had been deadened by sin. Some, as we have mentioned above, understand by the coats of skins the mortality of nature. Others say that by these skins it is hinted that, having been thrust down into a mortal condition, they began to think of mortal things, paying little heed to heavenly ones. The cause of this matter was the nakedness which then lay open to their eyes. *He made them coats of skins*, etc. Not out of underlying matter, but out of nothing, in the manner in which the eternal Creator created all things. But how did He undertake this labor, when He is reported to have rested on the seventh day from all His works? Some followers of allegory object: Did He slaughter oxen or sheep, and perform the duties of a tanner? But those who contradict them say: If the Creator was able to found an entire animal consisting of its ^C integral parts, would He not be able to form a single part of a body? But they never say that He makes any part incomplete. How did He make the blood in Egypt? Give me also the animals from which the part was derived. Others, being perplexed by both questions—both that they were made through the slaughter of animals, for the race of those slaughtered would have failed, the God having just created male and female but no one having yet been born; and that He would not have ordered animals to be slaughtered while meat-eating did not yet exist—being perplexed also by the fact that it was not made from underlying matter—for they say God ceased to create from nothing, as the whole world was completed—they did not know, they say, those who ask about these things, that "skins" are not only called those which are stripped from animals, but that the barks of trees also enjoy this name. From these, therefore, the coats were made, with God solving ^D the problem for them, because they, feeling their own nakedness, had sewn together for themselves fig leaves as best they could to cover the shame of their nakedness, and for this reason the work itself is called God's. Wherefore it is said in Job: *Who has given the woman the wisdom of garment-making?*

To these things it may be replied in this way: First, it is possible that they were made even from existing things, such as the elements that had already come into being, just as everything else was made after the first day; even as later He turned the water of the Nile into blood, having changed it into this. Second, if man was formed on the sixth day, and sinned at the sixth hour, and was rebuked in the evening which preceded the Sabbath, what prevented the skins of the coats being made for him then out of nothing? It was being said

that the things mentioned are a repetition; but in these it is the custom of Scripture to add things that were lacking. Nevertheless, that it says later on, after the expulsion from paradise and the flaming sword, the things concerning the name of the woman and the skins of the coats, although the order, it says, is reversed, do not be surprised: the order of the narrative has been switched.

^B Now those who are fond of allegories, after the aforementioned cavil, say: That which is said, “According to the image,” signifies the soul of man; but the man fashioned from the dust is understood to be that thin body which was worthy to live in paradise. Some call that the clarified body. But what the skin garments signify, is sufficiently clear from that utterance: “You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me with bones and sinews.” But they say that the soul previously used the clarified body as a vehicle, which is now enveloped in skins. Yet all the teachers of the Church contradict these men, as far as I can say: Clement in his third Stromata, and Dionysius, Bishop of the Alexandrians, in his interpretation of Ecclesiastes, and Peter, bishop and martyr of the same city, in his first discourse on the soul, and Athanasius again, of Alexandria, in his second discourse against the Arians and in the Life of the Great Anthony, and Theophilus who succeeded him in a letter written to those in Constantinople against those who held the opinions of Origen, and Cyril his successor in a letter written to the monks, and Irenaeus, Bishop of Lugdunum, in the third book of his treatise against heresies, chapters 59 and 65, and Justin the philosopher and martyr in his discourse on the resurrection, and Basil the Cappadocian in the 21st chapter of his Hexaemeron and in his homily on the first Psalm, and his brother Gregory in his treatise On Man, chapter 29; and Gregory the Theologian in his Apologeticus, and in many others, and in his second Theological Oration, and Methodius in his Aglaophon, from whom we have set forth some ideas in the preceding pages.

“Behold, Adam has become as one of us; lest perhaps he stretch out his hand,” and so forth. He speaks rebukingly, testing the understanding of Adam, who had been persuaded by the deception of the serpent; some have spoken of this in terms of mockery, others in terms of irony. But these things are in accordance with the words of the sentence before the things concerning the name of the woman and the skins were told; for because he had been deceived, having imagined great things due to his ignorance, it is well that after the sentence He humbles him with these words. He says, “Indeed, the things of your imagination have gone out;” for this reason, “as one of us” was spoken in relation to that imagination. Since the devil had said, “As gods,” it strikes at both: both what he thought would happen, and the fact that there are many gods, showing both the lie of that one and the ignorance of this one; at the same time, it also shows the change to the contrary from his divine hope.

For to the mortal condition he has fallen back. But they say that ^A the Hebrews write "God" and "gods" with the same letters and the same number of them. Hence some read: "You will be as God," and not: "You will be as gods." But since the present passage has the addition, "As one of us," it is sufficiently clear that the same expression was uttered above in the plural number: "As one," etc. For the devil had not said, "You will be gods," but, "You will be as gods," truly making himself out to be a god and esteeming the troop of apostate angels worthy of this name. Some extend these words to the angels: "As one of us," etc., just as if a king were to address his satellites in this manner. Some say: He does not say, "As one of us," or "As we," or "As I." But how does he say it? "As one of us." For that one fell from the heavens. Hence the Psalmist sings: "I have said: You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and you shall fall like one of the princes" (Ps. LXXXI, 6, 7). For he was a prince and a god, not in essence, but he fell because he had falsely made himself a god. Therefore he fell. Although there were many princes, one nonetheless fell by slipping. Not unlike this place is that one: "One of you will betray me" (Matt. xxvj, 21), ^B truly falling away from the apostolic order.

Chapter III

But having said, "Behold, he has become as one of us," etc., he pronounced it with emphasis, as if he had added the following: "That he might know good and evil." For those who do not use virtue have only this knowledge of good and evil; they know only what is good and evil, but do not distinguish between them so as to choose the good and flee the evil. Therefore, they use present things no differently than those wretched men about whom Isaiah cries out, saying: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil" (Isa. v, 20). ^C But what it says, "Lest perhaps he extend his hand," etc., is not to be understood as if God, stimulated by envy, had uttered those words. Envy is most alien to God. He used this speech fittingly to restrain them, not otherwise than as the Gospel history teaches, saying: "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; do not throw your pearls before swine" (Matt. vII, 6). For what reason? He adds the cause: "Lest at any time they trample them under their feet, and turning, they rend you" (Ibid.). For it does not behoove him who is defiled by the stain of sin and who remains in the mire of sins to feed on the tree of life. For from that it would come to pass that this food of life would be held in contempt. ^D But when the sinner is kept away from the tree of life, he will yearn for and desire with his whole heart the divine discipline and gospel teaching, sensing into what state he has been reduced. If he does not desire the food of life, it is better that he remain in his insanity and be more befouled in sins than that he should reject divine oracles. But he will reject them if he is led to the most holy dogmas in an untimely manner. The evil endures for a long time if the good is despised. Hardened by evil and sin, they never long for the good itself, [—], in glory immortal and able to enjoy the kingdom; but the unjust, d—

able to endure the punishment of the judgment.

The Tree of Life placed at a fitting time by His own command, granting him to take from it; but now, having sinned once, He does not wish him to remain in eternal life, lest, in addition to other things, he should deem the devil faithful and God envious. For so he would have thought himself a god. But now he has believed God when He said, "You shall die by death," and he has known himself, that he is by nature weak but was honored by the philanthropy of God. ^B Some say that this is not because the tree has such a nature that the immortal necessarily results for those who eat, nor that the other tree has the ability to make one know good and evil, but that God appointed the choice of these. As if He had placed this choice in any tree whatsoever, it would have turned out no less in this way, from the decision of God, not from the nature of the plant. Another says that the Divine does not doubt, even if It uses words that seem to contain doubt. For there are two primary principles: the one, that God is not as man; the other, that as a man instructs his son, so the Lord your God will instruct you. The first is a symbol of power and dominion; the second signifies that He is our instructor and teacher, so that our will may come forward. For that which says, "Lest perhaps," ^C is not a wavering of God, but a reference to man, who is wavering by nature, and an indication of the passion in him. For when some fantasy occurs to someone, three things immediately arise: an impulse from what appeared, a desire for what appeared, and third, a wavering hesitation of the soul, pulled to both sides, whether or not it should be chosen; and it is upon this third thing that the "lest perhaps" is brought to bear.

^D VERS. 22. And the Lord God sent him out from the paradise of pleasure, and what follows. For outside, God fashioned man out of clay, from which he was taken. Therefore, to soften the punishment a little, God commanded man to dwell opposite the paradise of pleasure, in this imitating a good and clement king, who does not impose a distant exile upon the offender, but a near one, commanding him to dwell in sight of the royal city; by which fact He signifies that it is to come to pass that he will soon be recalled and restored in full. Furthermore, He willed that paradise should be observed from time to time by his eyes, who remembering

^A his own fall, might also make his sons secure. They say, moreover, that those around Adam were disposed to believe that God dwells in the regions of paradise; whence He convinced them that He had not placed them far from the reach of His own care. But if Adam, who was not deceived, as Paul teaches, and sinned less, was cast out of paradise, how much more so the serpent, the author of evil, and the woman who submitted to the deception? Whence He reasonably passed them over in silence; although the woman is indeed understood under the name of Adam, which signifies "man." For saying, "God created man, male and female, and He called," he says, "their name Adam." The serpent, however, was in paradise, not as if he were worthy of that most pleasant life, but the reason is the same as that which is noted from those words which are recorded in Job: "The angels of God came to stand before Him." Thus it must also be understood concerning the serpent. But it must be remarked how it is said in the case of Cain: "Cain went out from the presence of God," yet now it is read of man: "He cast out (or expelled) Adam," etc., clearly expelling and relegating him while he still possessed a spark of desire, by which he was carried toward paradise. But because he was unworthy of the pleasure of paradise, he was drawn away from it. But that God did not cast man out of paradise as if he would never return thither, we are sufficiently taught by these words: "He placed him," etc., which certainly declare that man is still an object of care to the supreme Deity, and was not cast out so that all hope of returning was cut off. He placed him at the eastern side of the garden of Eden, fortifying him against evils by the benevolence of laws, which indeed would prohibit evil and lead him to the good—or rather, to man. Nor did He hide paradise, that is, the knowledge of the good, by which man, still gleaming, led his life in paradise.

Ver. 24. And He placed at the eastern side of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and the blade of a turning sword, to guard the way of the tree of life.

^A in places somewhat more remote. Thus, only terrifying and horrible visions frightened Adam; in some places fire appeared, striking terror; elsewhere, a fire gleaming in the form of a double-edged sword was seen. In other places, certain horrible kinds of animals struck fear into him. Nor, indeed, under the term Cherubim, are spiritual and invisible virtues to be understood. Since invisible creatures were not profitable to Adam, he needed visible and sensible creatures, by which he might be taught and instructed. Thus also the prophet Ezekiel, that he might better and more conveniently propose his prophecy to the Jewish people, saw Cherubim, which had four faces. But it is not possible to find any spiritual and invisible creature that has four faces. The Scripture is accustomed to call "Cherubim" whatever is powerful. This is evident from the fact that: "He who sits upon the Cherubim," means, he who is powerful to reign. For it takes "kingdom" for "throne." "He ascended upon the Cherubim," means, he comes with much and great power.

Some, speaking of the devil and whence he fell, ^B bring up the mention of the Cherubim. Nevertheless, they say, somewhere even God himself testifies, saying: "With the Cherubim I placed thee." Therefore, under the term Cherubim, they understand invisible virtues and powers. Some other person says that the flaming sword signifies a wall of fire, which surrounds paradise on every side. Others have employed another exposition, which is such: Nothing is done by God apart from his singular providence which does not provoke us to salvation. Thus, also, the sword is said to have been placed here for this same reason. For paradise would not be divine, nor should the word of Scripture be considered divine, unless it encompassed the severe threats which it levels against those unwilling to agree to the divine precepts. For the precepts of God reveal paradise to us, and likewise avert the bitterness of punishments. That the sword is taken for punishment or torment in the Sacred Scripture, I believe is known. For he says: "With the sword shall all the sinners of the people die." Although not all have fallen slain by the sword, it nevertheless signifies the punishment which was to fall upon the heads of all. And the Scripture holds again: "You Ethiopians are wounded by my sword." The sword is called turning, ^C indeed so that when a man has turned from vices to virtue, the sword also may turn, and no longer prohibit the entrance to a man who is endowed with virtue. If, therefore, anyone desires to enter paradise, he is led by these as if by the hand, with the Cherubim themselves signifying the knowledge of truth, of which it is necessary for him who wishes to enter into paradise to be a participant. For Cherubim, if anyone interprets the name, denotes a multitude of knowledge, or much knowledge. The sword is an indication of laborious discipline, which must in no way be neglected by one who covets the goods of paradise. For (as Scripture is witness), through many tribulations we attain the kingdom of God.

Some think it wonderful ^D and consider it as if incredible that Adam was created, transgressed the law of the Lord, and was cast out of paradise on the same day. Others resist them, saying: It is by no means surprising. Man could more easily be deceived in the beginning than if he had been for a long time addicted to the observance of the law. Furthermore, it would have been of no use to the man, already living outside of paradise, even if he had lived for a long time in paradise and had been delighted by its joys

^A nor after having arrived at the final exile, did he possess any consolation from his past enjoyment ^A regarding his present ills; rather, he felt greater pain through the memory of them.

But, they say, it would have been better for man not to have been created if he were about to fall into such great evils. God, either not knowing this, did not prevent it; or, foreknowing it, then created him, and thus did him an injustice. To which they answer: Therefore, according to your opinion, not even the good should have been created, who, besides their own existence, also obtained the gift of well-being, nor even the intellectual powers ^B because of the devil who fell away. But God, as He is good, created them; these, being endowed with free will, became evil through themselves. Moreover, He already knew of the future restoration to immortality through Christ. But why, they ask, did He hand him over to "the sweat of his brow" and to such great evils? Because nothing so harms the human soul as idleness, which sins even when such great afflictions are pressing upon it. Experience is witness to this, as are the events of old: "For the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." And, "The Beloved grew fat, thickened, and broadened, and kicked." And David, "When He slew them, then they sought Him, and they returned and rose early to God." And to Jerusalem, through Jeremiah, God says: "Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from you."

And even for the good, being humbled is profitable. "It is good for me," he says, "that I have been humbled, so that I might learn your statutes." And Jeremiah says, "It is good for a man when he bears the yoke in his youth; he will sit alone and keep silent." And for himself, he asks of God, "Do not spare me regarding alienation in an evil day." Furthermore, Paul, that great man, as if needing humiliation, says, "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, so that I should not be exalted," and what follows. For God, being able to perform the preaching without tribulations, allowed them, sparing those who preach. Hence He says to them: "In the world you have tribulation." And the Kingdom also has a narrow entrance. Thus, the painful things of the righteous no less than the good things manifest to us the ^C providence of God; and the threat of Gehenna is not lacking for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven; for the threat of the former brings about the attainment of the latter; for the promise of good things alone is not enough, if indolence is not disciplined by fear. ^D

CAPUT IV

^A VERS. 1. Adam indeed knew Eve his wife; and having conceived, she brought forth Cain, and said: "I have gotten a man through the Lord." If marriage did not precede the sin, but came to pass only after it, it is concluded that sin is the cause of the divine blessing according to which the mortal race has been increased and spread over the whole world. For indeed there were no nuptials in paradise before the rise of sin. If we are to be recalled to that from which we have fallen, and the Savior denies that there will be marriages in the universal resurrection, because death does not rage there, nor will it be: it is manifest that not even in the beginning of creation was there marriage in paradise. But neither was it necessary for the whole race of mortals to consist of two; but God, who creates (as Daniel says) a multitude of heavenly orders, He also led the race of men into great abundance. "He knew," etc., namely, by the intervention of marital connection; or he knew her, as is the custom of husbands to know their wives. Present passage is similar to this: "Elkanah knew Anna his wife." So too it is recorded concerning Rebecca: "She was a virgin, and no man had known her." That which is said, "Through the Lord," is stated more simply for "from the Lord." For in this way Joseph also said: "Is not the interpretation through God?" For it is one thing to be from someone, and another to be from someone, and another through someone. "From," signifies the matter; "from," denotes the efficient cause; "through," indicates the instrument, or as though by an instrument something comes to pass. But it has been demonstrated by Basil in those things which he writes to Amphilochius, that such things are to be taken indifferently in the Scripture; they say the Hebrew text has "to God," ^B instead of "in God." Observe now how the woman who previously persuaded her husband to sin, now, having fallen from paradise, has become better through discipline; for she ascribes the creation of the child born to her to God, as she retains the memory of the blessing, "Increase and multiply," as if it were sounding in her ears; and she who previously despised Him, now has fled for refuge to the Lord, not blaming marriage, but Him who also made this; and she who before this deceived her husband, later also instructed the child; for she sets a name upon him that is able to remind him of the gift of God, for which she even now gave thanks. And again, bearing another, Seth, she says: "God has raised up to me seed in place of Abel, whom Cain killed," and, mindful of the disaster, she gives thanks to God; and from the gift she calls the child, providing for him a perpetual subject for instruction. And she added ^C to bring forth his brother Abel, and Abel became a shepherd of sheep, but Cain was a worker of the earth. Some maintain that both were born from one conception, and therefore think them to be twins; and they think the same is implied by the word "added." See how in the sequence of generation he placed Cain according to the chronological order, ^D

^A but in his pursuits he places the just and pious man first. For animate things are by natural law superior to inanimate ones. Then the pastoral life gave a beginning, so that one might feed and rule himself and then others. For from these beginnings royal power arose. But Cain was called a rustic, and did not merit the name of husbandman, title of which Noe was held worthy. For the latter was more civilized and modest. Hence Noe is called a husbandman, but not a rustic. But the law of nature implanted in man stirred up and stimulated those brothers, so that they might show themselves grateful to God, the giver of all good things, whom we all worship and hold, although some who worship idols have a corrupted knowledge of Him. Compelled therefore by the law, Abel offers choice things, but the other offers gifts far too contemptible to be consumed by celestial fire. And so God, casting fire from heaven, consumed the sacrifice of Abel alone. For this we gather from the interpretation of Theodotion, who says: *He set on fire*. But Aquila rendered it: *He received consolation*; and Symmachus translated it: *He was delighted*; but the Syrian has: *He was satisfied*. But each of the interpreters looked to a peculiar end. Theodotion narrates how the Lord accepted the sacrifice, and alluded to the manner which we read concerning the sacrifice of Elias in the books of Moses and the books of Kings. Aquila teaches that God was appeased and had laid aside the anger with which He had burned against Adam, and thus accepted the sacrifice. Symmachus signifies that God was delighted with that sacrifice which consisted of living animals, and not of inanimate things. Since God Himself at the beginning of the creation of things rejoiced most in animate and self-moving creatures, which alone He exhilarated with a blessing. The Syrian teaches by that word, which he placed in his translation, that God preferred the sacrifices and gifts of Abel to those of Cain. But the Hebrew and the Syrian, they say, call both of them gifts.

^B Julian the impious, however, says: "It is indeed a wonderful thing that God, since He is life and the only one who gives life, should delight in the victims of animals." Certainly Pythagoras goes in a different direction from this, teaching that such sacrifices are hateful to the gods, and that one should sacrifice with grain and incense: that these sacrifices are pleasing to God. And Porphyry everywhere hands down that even from the earliest times the gods were pleased by incense. And that the offering of grain was invented later, due to the cause of famine. But Moses says: "If his hand cannot reach, his offering shall be fine flour." God also commands that bread, the first-fruits of the harvest, and a basket of ripening fruits be offered. David introduces God saying: "I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your sheepfolds." God therefore seeks piety and pious manner of life; He does not desire victims simply. For He praised Abel because he had offered firstlings and fat sacrifices. Wherefore the text has: "Of the fat ones." God also rebuked the Israelites many centuries later, saying: "When you bring the blind to be sacrificed (you say) it is not evil; and when you bring the lame and the sick (you say): It is not evil." And so that He might the more confound them, He adds: ^C "Bring it, I pray, to your governor, if he will be pleased with you, or

If he will receive your countenance." ^A By the same prophet He more gravely reproves the Jews, saying: "Cursed is the crafty one, when there is a male in his flock, and he vows and sacrifices that which is corrupted unto the Lord." ^B Posterity followed this form of sacrificing as if it were prescribed by God. For they thought that they were thus honoring the Divinity with the most exquisite worship. But it does not befit us to imitate them. For those first men were quite rude and simple, inasmuch as their clothing was the skins of animals, and they were ignorant of letters and of every more refined science. God received their victims and offerings with a grateful mind, not looking at what He saw being performed, but at the mind and the will of those offering. But that some allegorical sense may be elicited, remember that Abel is a shepherd of animals, that is, of the senses, leading them to true knowledge, and as a good shepherd putting reason, the charioteer, in charge of the passions. Cain, as a son of the earth, wallowed about the earth and was dragged along. ^C Nor is he called a farmer, although he wished to seem such; but he was a rustic. He followed this one thing alone, namely, that he might care for the body, of which he was studious beyond what can be said. Unto him this may aptly be said: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die." ^D But it differs from him who follows that scriptural utterance: "Whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." This oracle is observed as the norm of life by him who has merited to be called by God a farmer, and not a rustic.

On the difference between a gift and a sacrifice

A gift, moreover (that we may come to sacrifices), differs from a sacrifice. For he who immolates or sacrifices, when he has divided the animal, pours the blood upon the altar, and carries the meat home; but he who gives, seems to cede the whole thing and hand it over to the receiver. See, therefore, regarding the rite of sacrifices, the difference between him who seeks himself and him who seeks God—of whom the latter is called pious, the former a lover of self. Cain does not offer immediately, but by procrastinating and delaying, and he makes his offering, moreover, not from the first fruits. Nor does he give, but as it were distributes and divides with God. For such was the rite of Cain’s sacrifice. Abel slays the firstborn, not at all like the curious Cain, lest he should perhaps give something useless to God. Whatever he had immolated, he attributes and gives entirely to the Lord, nor does he make a division with Him. Whence the one may be called a giver, the other merely a distributor. But as for the order of the writer, I think this must be observed. The author, beginning to describe the birth of both, placed Cain before Abel by reason of time; but now, with the order reversed, when it has come to divine worship, he gives the precedence to Abel, saying: "And the Lord looked upon Abel and upon his gifts; but unto Cain and unto his sacrifices He did not look." ^B Thus not the order of birth, but the mind merits the prerogative. Cain, however, as he senses that his sacrifice was little pleasing to the Lord, took sadness as a sign. For joy is born in him who sacrifices purely and irreprehensibly. Furthermore, the sadness and pain would have been salutary, if they could have exhorted Cain to repentance, to which God Himself

^A impelling him, says: Quiesce—Be still. For to abstain from sin is man’s greatest good; the other is acknowledged to be shame for having done wrong. Cain was affected with sadness, not because of the sin, but because of the infamy by which he supposed he was marked, since he had not sacrificed rightly. Recta vero divisio—the correct division and distribution—is nothing other than the order according to which this world was constructed. All human actions ought to imitate that order: especially, however, this order is to be most strictly observed in the rendering of thanks. To give, possess, and return thanks to God is in itself pious and just. But it is reprehensible if you do not offer to God first the firstfruits of the first produce. It is not fitting that you should keep the firstborn for yourself and give to God those that were second in the order of birth, which is a sign or proof of no grateful spirit at all.

It must be read interrogatively, as if He were saying: Do you not think that you sinned, if you offered rightly? Let it be granted to you, and may you be considered worthy of pardon; yet how will you purge yourself here, because you did not divide rightly? The first part can also be understood as a defect, as one who has not sacrificed piously in all things. But the other part, which says, 'You sinned,' can be taken properly, as one who has transgressed of his own accord. Moreover, the unique remedy for sin is to be still and to no longer subject oneself to sin. ^B 'To you will be his conversion,' etc. Why do you torment yourself? That which you offered to Me will be restored to you. 'And you shall rule over him,' etc.; he will be in your power; you will be able to do with him as you wish. Be of good mind. I did not accept your offering. I left it to you. Others interpret this passage otherwise, in this manner: Abandon your sadness; flee from sin; nor let it trouble you that Abel has been preferred to you. You will command him again, as the firstborn, if you bear fruits worthy of repentance. Others, contradicting these, say that God is not speaking about the pious one, but about the deed that was committed. For He says to him that 'the turning and reference of this impiety is towards you,' so that He might demonstrate the voluntary nature of it. 'And you,' He says, 'shall rule over him'; for he was the first to begin to act impiously. And as a foundation for impiety, the rest of the transgressions follow, so that he is the leader and prince of every voluntary wrong. For He tries to calm his seething soul; for that impiety was from his anger. ^C Some say that this was spoken to Abel, as he bore the type of Christ who ruled over the Jews who killed him, even though he was killed by them.

Cain, however, to deceive his brother with guile, feigns kindness and brotherly love, saying: 'I pray, let us go out into the field.' He calls him into the fields, no doubt so that he might be a spectator of with how much equity he tilled the land, and might enjoy the most sweet fragrance of the various flowers. But when he had killed his brother in these places, he is asked by the Lord: 'Where is Abel your brother?' God does not inquire as one ignorant of the matter. For how could He, if He were ignorant of the matter, have subsequently rebuked Cain when he denied it? Why then does He inquire? Clearly so that He might urge him to seek a remedy for sin: at the same time, showing the magnitude of the sin, He intends to provide the sinner with an opportunity to grasp at repentance. ^D He also demonstrates in the universal law that sins proceed from ourselves. Moreover, he who confesses that he is a sinner, and does not cast the cause of sin onto another, does not hesitate to ask for pardon. However, he who transgressed of his own accord, and

then exchanged repentance for ^A shamelessness by claiming ignorance and saying he was not his brother's keeper—although there were only four humans, whom it is likely were not very far from one another, and who above all else were obliged to guard their brother—and further, who showed an atheistic mindset by not believing that the divine eye oversees all things—God says: "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me" (Gen. 4:10), stating this as a manifestation, just as elsewhere it is said: "Behold, the wages of the laborers who harvested your lands cry out to me" (Jas. 5:4). It is possible that "blood" is said here in place of "soul," and this is most dogmatic; for the Divine listens to the holy, even if they have died, assuming them to be living an immortal life, but it turns away from the prayers of the wicked, even if they enjoy health, considering them to be truly dead in soul. One might say that He remembers the "blood" because he hid the body; He mentions the shedding, and how the earth opened its mouth to receive the blood, and mentions "brother" repeatedly, so that by magnifying what had been done, He might bind the heart of the cruel.

^B "If you till the ground," and the rest. God proceeds to deliver his sentence with judicial order, for if He had left even after the murder [Cain] unpunished, he would have advanced to another even greater evil. But the question is asked: why did He not say to Adam, as He did to Cain, "Cursed are you"? Because Adam was honored by having received the breath of God. Thus also Noah does not curse the sinful Ham, because he had received a blessing from God, but he curses his son Canaan, because he was also similar to his father in his character. And the phrasing, "Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth," in the Hebrew has, as the others also interpreted, "Moving and unstable," that is, not remaining in one place but wandering. They say that this is also a most catholic maxim: for every wicked man is attended by some evils that are already present, and some that are yet to come; the future brings fears, and the present brings pains. Some also say that he possessed a perpetual trembling of the body, as he did not have the stability of his limbs derived from strength; for because he used the power of his body for evil, the tension was taken away from him, so that he was shaken and caused to tremble, being able neither to bring bread easily to his mouth, nor to drink after the unholy deed, nor to fulfill his necessary needs. ^D

the work of the earth, compelling him so that he did not even wish to rest. And what is worse, since the earth was cursed for him, it did not even yield fruits to provide comfort for his labors; which, even if it were a great evil, yet he happened to be burdened with continuous labors. ^A

85. *My iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven*, etc. As if he were saying: "My sin is so enormous that it exceeds all hope of forgiveness; and it is greater than what I could hope to have pardoned." There exists also another interpretation of this passage (as some say), which is as follows: "My sin weighs heavy and increases if I am dismissed unpunished. For unless I am condemned to death, I will be tormented all the more by the consciousness of my transgression. My sin will take on increase if You do not exact a penalty." For lack of despair belongs to the one who believes that he is still an object of care to God, and subject to His providence. Or perhaps Cain burst forth into these words, knowing with certainty that there is no greater destruction brought upon a man than that he should be neglected and abandoned by God. For he acknowledged that he had given an evil example to his descendants, by which the society of human life might be most gravely violated; and he himself feared this very example.

As for what is said: *Gemens et tremens eris super terra* [“Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth”], etc., some testify that he understood his life thereafter to be prolonged on earth, even though he was sent away by the Lord without being affected by the capital punishment. Therefore he exclaims: "My sin is greater if I am dismissed and not struck by the avenging sword. But if you drive me from Your sight and compel me to wander, I see destruction hanging over me. For whoever finds me will be armed for my slaughter." ^B

But this utterance is to be adapted to that which the Lord had uttered, saying: *Cursed is the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of thy brother. Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth.* For Cain thought that he was exposed as prey to all, since he would no longer be safe on the earth. For on his account the earth felt the curse, and he himself was most clearly destitute of divine aid, God having been kindled to anger on account of the wicked murder, and so much so that no aid would remain for him from the earth. ^C But God did in no way set Cain free from the necessity of trembling and groaning, wishing the atrocity of the punishments to be always present to those who had transgressed incurably. But He diligently took care lest he be killed, marking him with a certain peculiar sign. Some say that Cain did not wish to give God the power to judge him. Accordingly, wandering and tossed by the waves of his emotions, he thinks that if he is cast out from the possession of the earth, he is also to be driven from the sight of God. ^D Another sense may also exist in these words, as if he were saying: "My sin becomes greater, and I shall be punished more severely, if You allow me to survive and do not subject me to the ultimate penalty." For those whose nature is incurable because of their sins prefer death rather than to live in so many miseries which sin brings forth. Wherefore, regarding those who betrayed Jesus, the prophet says: *They shall desire if only they had been burned by fire.* “For if You cast me out from the earth, I shall also be hid from Your face, no longer existing; but since You do not cast me out from the earth (for this one must understand), I shall be trembling, suspecting everyone of seeking my destruction.”

^A But I wonder whom Cain feared, when no one existed on this earth except for himself and his parents. In the first place, the thought of the future terrified his wretched soul, for he imagined that there would be some kind of retaliation; just as he had basely committed murder, so he himself was to be killed by his descendants. He thought he would be abominable to them because of the shame of his example. To this was added the fear of the heavenly powers, which his mind presaged would be fierce avengers of such a heinous crime; for it is likely that the heavenly powers were seen by Cain, because sin had not yet prevailed or spread among many in that scarcity of men. Furthermore, he feared, as they say, snares from the regions of the world, which although they are very useful to mortals and were constructed to this end, yet know how to harm also the wicked. He also feared the snares of wild beasts and reptiles, which God created for the punishment of the impious. He also silently signifies the punishments he would inflict upon his parents, for whom he had been the author of new grief, as they had previously been ignorant of death. Some refer everything to the beasts and the regions of the world, as things that could not recognize the sign of God. But what else shall we call this sign than the will and commanding voice of God? For no token is given regarding such matters except by divine permission. Or take the present passage in this way: the sign with which He marked Cain is penitence. If a sinner lays hold of this, he is not easily destroyed. For it is indeed a great good to abstain from sin altogether. But once we have been stained by the defilement of sin, there is another and proximate harbor of security, namely to flee to penitence, which God zealously inculcates in us, rousing us periodically with salutary doctrine as we slumber, so that we may not succumb to the fraudulent deceiver.

^C VERS. 15. *And the Lord said to him: Nay, whosoever shall slay Cain shall be punished sevenfold.* Consider it said thus: This is not the proper punishment or condemnation for delicts, that a sinner should be killed by anyone who happens by. Rather, he will be avenged sevenfold, which indicates a complete punishment; for the number seven is very often used in Holy Scripture to signify perfection. For He says: “I will strike you seven times for your sins.” And again: “Render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom.” And in Leviticus: “I will add to instruct you with seven plagues for your sins.” Some interpret this passage more strictly, saying: It is necessary that Cain be punished seven times for the committed parricide. Aquilas rendered it thus: *He shall be avenged sevenfold.* But Symmachus translated it thus: *He shall give sevenfold punishment,* which some understood as: He will pay the penalty in seven generations. But the Hebrew places a full stop after the word “slaying.” For, as some relate, God repeats Cain’s statement, saying: Not, as I heard from you, will everyone kill you, that is, not

^A for the punishment of those who avenge Abel. For even if we spoke of a sevenfold penalty, it is nothing surprising; for it is not the way of a just judge to fix equal returns for equal things, but it is necessary that he who initiated the evil should pay back what is owed with an addition, so that he himself might become better and bring others to their senses. The Scripture always limits the number of the forgiveness of sins to seven. As, in the case of Peter asking seven times, the Savior says: “Up to seventy times seven,” speaking of the forgiveness of sins; for He did not pass to another number, but by multiplying the seven, He set within it the limit of forgiveness. Also, every seventh year the Hebrew was released from slavery, and seven weeks of years made the jubilee, in which, while the earth rested, there was a remission of debts, a release from slavery, and a new life, as it were, was established from above in the septenary number, receiving in a way the end of the old. These are types of the present age, which passes by us through the seven days, in which the penalties for more moderate sins take place.

^B Whether one speaks of the sins committed by Cain, or of the penalties fixed upon him by the Judge, one will find seven. For the first sin is envy at the preference shown to Abel. The second is the deceit with which he conversed with his brother, saying: “Let us go out into the field.” The third is slaughter—an addition of evil. The fourth is the slaughter of a brother. The fifth is a greater intensification, in that he was also the first murderer, leaving behind a wicked example for life. The sixth offense is that he caused grief to his parents. The seventh is that he lied to God, saying that he did not know where his brother was stationed. Whence He did not permit his destruction, for death is a gain to those who are being punished; but He extends the penalties over the duration of life, seeking punishments according to merit. ^C These things, then, must be said if we understand the sin committed to be that on account of which the vengeance happens. But if we wish to grasp the mode of retribution or punishment, this is how we must proceed; for both are handed down. The first penalty is the curse of the earth. The second: “You shall till the earth,” for a necessity was imposed upon him to be constantly laboring. The third: “It will not yield its fruit to you according to its capacity.” The fourth and fifth: “You shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth.” The sixth penalty is that which Cain himself mentions, saying: “If You cast me forth now from the earth, and I shall be hidden from Your face.” For what greater evil can befall a man than to be separated from the divine presence? The seventh is the imposition of the mark upon him, so that the punishment might not even be hidden, but proclaimed to all by a manifest sign, that this is the creator of unholy works. Others, however, say that the sins were seven in this way: he brought… ^D

did not divide rightly; he did not repent where he sinned; he served envy, which brought forth the slaughter; he deceived with guile by calling his brother into the fields; he perpetrated the slaughter; he lied to God; he thought that he could escape bodily punishments even against the will of God. For he imagined that he would die even if the divine will opposed it. Thus he believed that death would be an abolition and relief for him from the evils which the divine wrath might inflict. Others follow a different enumeration: He did not divide rightly; he scorned the divine law; he killed his brother, and he killed not simply a brother, but a righteous brother; he lied; he desired death when life and repentance were displeasing to him. Others explain it thus: He did not want Cain to be slaughtered, lest slaughter be added to slaughter, and while someone wished to expiate a slaughter with a slaughter, he would involve himself in a new slaughter. Furthermore, he wished to avenge the seven faults of Cain, namely the impiety he used in offering, the homicide, the fratricide, the fraud, the guile, the lying, and the contumacy. Perhaps it would be better to refer these to the seven spirits that rested upon him who came forth from the root of Jesse. It is probable that they had also dwelt upon Abel, a certain argument for which you could call the man's piety. Cain therefore did injury when they dwelt and lived in Abel. As long indeed as Cain lived on the earth, those sins were being expiated. For it is the work of excellent sadness to groan, and the sign of indwelling fear is to tremble. With these two he was abundantly enough tormented. Through groaning he was to be led to repentance, so that thence salvation might be open to him. Trembling was there to crush the man and render him weak because of the committed slaughter. The sign had been added, so that he might not fall by the hand of anyone. But the sin itself makes him sufficiently speechless and manifests him to all. For whoever saw him groaning and trembling,

^A even if he were ignorant of the deed performed, and did not know why the sign was impressed, nevertheless by inquiring he arrived at hearing him confess his wickedness and accuse himself. If confession follows, God seeks the penitence of the sinner more than his death. If Cain had been slain, I ask, how could vengeance have been exacted for the spirits he had offended?

Some draw an allegorical meaning from this. They say that Cain is a type of the Jews, whom Christ, who is prefigured by Abel, seeing them to be greedily intent upon his own slaughter, exclaims: "Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?" He testifies that their father is Cain, whom he calls Satan, as those who are like him. For he also says to the twelve disciples: "Did I not choose you? And one of you is a devil." Wherefore he calls him a murderer and a liar, just as he does his father, namely, the devil. But if we say that the devil is the father of these, who will his father be, or how is this to be understood: "And his father"? From this, the Jews, wishing to honor God with earthly sacrifices as the law directs, hear God saying through the prophet: "Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me." These words allude to the sacrifice of Cain, which the Lord did not accept. The Jews indeed sacrificed to the Lord rightly, but they did not divide rightly, always clinging to the types. Wherefore they are commanded to abandon that external rite of sacrificing and to withdraw from the shadow of the law. Christ was that good shepherd, whom Abel prefigured under a type. And since he is the firstborn of those who bear his image, he established the Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens, ^B concerning whom it is said: "To you shall be his turning." And if they had turned, they would have been written in the book of the living with us. But now, like Cain, conceiving the murder of the Savior out of envy, as those to be avenged sevenfold, they have become liable to many punishments, and continue as strangers, groaning and trembling. But that they should not perish entirely, they received a sign; for the remnant has been saved, as the Scripture testifies. They went out, too, like Cain, from the presence of God; and the Divine Power thus addresses us: "When you multiply prayer, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood." For they killed the leader and author of life. Moreover, they cried out: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." But this sacred blood, shed for us, cries out against the Jews, and according to the word of Paul, it speaks better than the blood of Abel.

VERS. 16. And Cain went out from the face of the Lord. These things are not to be taken with respect to place, or locally. For we do not understand even the entering into the presence of God locally, as is testified by that passage of the Psalmist: ^D "Enter before him with exultation." One walks before God by leaving outside all sins and all external things. Cain, therefore, went out, having rendered himself unworthy of the ^C presence of God, no longer capable of understanding of Him; therefore, he did not understand...

^A for the rest of his life that he should care for anything or for a bountiful God. Wherefore Scripture expressly states: «And dwelt in the land of Nod, over against Eden.» If one wishes to render the term Nod properly, one interprets it as «solum» (an unsettled land). For what seat would be more suitable for one who has fallen away from peaceful virtue, who produces concord and peace, than an unsettled and unstable soil, which you might deservedly call malice or vice? Well indeed did it say: «Over against, etc.» For vice is contrary to virtue. Adam was cast out by force, and did not depart of his own accord: for he still burned with the desire to remain in paradise. Hence God placed him over against paradise, as if He Himself were governing his dwelling. For to those who have sinned moderately, an opportunity is quickly offered to hasten toward repentance, so that having cast off sin, they may return to virtue. But the things which are handed down concerning Adam are not also reported of Cain. For he was neither expelled from the presence of God, nor is it read that he was placed by God so that he might have fixed seats there. Since he inclined with his whole heart toward evil, which, as they say, he embraced with both arms. Merely, therefore, he inhabits the unsettled land, bearing a disturbed conscience.

VERS. 17. And Cain knew his wife. It is not written: «Cain knew his sister,» but: «Cain knew his wife.» For this is the name appropriate to succession, which proceeds from mutual intercourse. God permits the marriage of brothers and sisters to the children of Adam. For since they had been divided from one blood, he wished to bind them more closely to one another with the bond of charity and to unite them. But when the human race had already increased and had taken on incredible growth, he forbade marriages of this kind, wishing to draw back those who were distant from one another in terms of lineage, through marriages once again toward unity and concord. But how, one asks, «did he build a city?» By what method is a city founded by one man? Especially when there was not yet a smith, nor a bronze hammer, nor iron. Furthermore, what city can consist of so few men? A cave or a small hut would have sufficed for them, let alone a city. Perhaps he deigned to call by this name the family which was living in one house. For man, if he should consider himself, is like a small city, so long as he governs his own soul after the likeness of a city. Or that house was quickly constructed and instituted, just as a large house or city, whence they also conceived in their minds a certain form and ^D methods of establishing a city. The first seeds of the city were scattered from there, because he saw the son begotten from him, and the rising progeny which was increasing in great quantity. Or of course Moses is mentioning in the first place those things which followed after a long interval of time. The saints everywhere testify that they do not have a lasting city here, but call their life a pilgrimage: but impious sinners, always thinking of earthly things and wrapped in earthly desires, establish cities, of whom David sings: «They called their names upon their lands» (Ps. XLVIII, 12).

If, however, one applies the mind to the anagogical sense, one will feel that the shepherd differs from the possessor. Abel the just was a shepherd, tending in reason his passions, and as if a leader of his own animals, of anger and desire. But the possessor is led, being held fast, being a certain pleasure-seeker and not master of his own senses; he dwells

^A in the tents, yet does not imitate those in his life who, frequently taking up increments of virtue, at length enter into the house. These, I say, exclaim: “How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.” For from the tents, he who progresses desires the courts, singing: “I will pass over to the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even unto the house of God.” The other brother is Jubal, who was the first to reveal the psaltery and the harp; and not without cause, for they have a certain proximity and affinity for holding men fast in pleasure, and that which operates through music is a snare to the ears. The other brother, Tubal, fashions weapons of war out of brass and iron. ^B For music, with its pleasant variety, deceives the hearing.

VERSES 23, 24. *But Lamech said these things: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to my wound, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy times seven.* I consider that in Sacred Scripture it is said simply: “Attend.” There is a difference between attending and hearing. For to attend is to hear something from nearby. But to hear is to perceive something in any way by the ears, whether it occurs from a nearby or a remote place. Others think that both are used indifferently in Sacred Scripture. But whoever wishes to hold the exact signification of both, let him receive them thus. To hear pertains to a voice, however it may be. To attend regards an articulate voice or a discourse, by which we are informed. Therefore, Lamech used this word here, saying: “Attend.” In the Hebrew it is read, they say, “seventy times seven.” Yet “seventy-seven” are written with the same marks. The Syriac has “seventy.”

From the discourse of Lamech, it is certainly conjectured that two men had been killed by him. ^C For a man can be said to be both one who holds the state of middle age and afterwards becomes an old man. But the youth is younger than either. Lamech, the son of Cain, since he was the seventh from Adam, speaks of himself as one who must undergo penalties ten times or more often and in many ways. For because God had marked Cain with a certain sign, he himself, truly regarding the sign, says: “I have slain a man,” meaning either Cain or another. And indeed Cain was punished on account of the slain Abel sevenfold, or seventyfold, or by the succession of the seventh generation. ^D Yet he has given these penalties, whether on account of his own sin, or on account of the gifts of the Spirit, which he injured in Abel. Moreover, Lamech has experienced grave penalties, as this number teaches, namely seventy times seven, or by the succession of the seventy-seventh generation. Lamech paid greater penalties, therefore, because Cain had heard nothing before about murder; but Lamech had recognized the cruelty of murder from the sign, and did not shudder to slaughter him whom others did not doubt to spare on account of the sign which they observed in him. Whence he looses the seven avenged persons of the fathers, that is to say, he dissolved the anger, having loosened in the seventh generation of the progenitors the angers against Cain; [alt-version omitted]

^A for it is said: in order to give satisfaction for Cain on account of Abel, and again in order to receive for himself, as his own soul—having been wronged by the sin—was needing that the vengeance be offered to him, just as one is offered for another.

Ezekiel the prophet shows such vengeance as being from God, saying: *Judico quoque te judiciis adulterorum et effundentium sanguinem, daboque te in sanguinem furoris et zeli: et tradam te in manus eorum, et destruent lupanar tuum.* ^B Thus also Aquila: "Everyone who kills Cain shall be avenged sevenfold," meaning that he has wronged himself; and from Lamech he is avenged in the seventy-seventh succession; for so many ^C are recorded in the genealogy from Jesus Christ unto Adam and God, according to Luke, in which generation both that of Cain and that of Lamech is avenged—that is to say, satisfaction is given; for the people, having killed Christ, submitted to the punishment: *"For all the blood," he says, "that is shed from righteous Abel unto Zacharias shall be avenged."*

But as to the "sevenfold," since some endure simple vengeance, according to the command: *"Thou shalt not avenge twice for the same thing,"* and others double for their sins, as Jerusalem in Isaiah; and others sevenfold: *"Pay our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom."* And seven plagues are spoken of in Leviticus; yet He who has ordered all things by measure and weight knows how to mete out vengeance to sins.

Thus, then, vengeance has been taken from both men—either according to the number, or on account of the quality of the penalty. But the number seven is a releasing number, as was said before, bringing rest in the week of days, and in the seventh month granting the day of atonement; and in the seventh year, the release of the land, and the remission of debts, and the freedom of slaves; and in seven times seven years, with the unit added, the jubilee, and all the things that Moses says were granted; and the seventy times seven is a releaser of sins. For to Peter, inquiring: *"How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?"* and putting forward the symbol of the seven who were avenged by Cain, ^D the Savior, taking up the case of Lamech, makes the gift abundant. *"Against me,"* He said, showing that it was not against God—for it would be a sin unto death, even if it has the same name; and the seventy weeks of years cut short over the people until Christ the Leader, also have the number of forgiveness in the five-hundredth year or thereabouts. Thus also the presence of Christ in the seventy-seventh succession from God comes to all, granting forgiveness; and not only in the things mentioned is the number seven honored, but perhaps also in hundreds and in thousands; *"For I have left," he says,

"seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal."*

Others say that "man" is one thing and "young man" is another, and that punishment was brought upon the whole earth because of the great outpouring of sin. But Lamech’s sin does not require a flood for its healing, but rather Him who takes away the sin of the world. Since Lamech saw the suffering of Cain, he condemns himself, stung by his conscience; such was the benefit provided to those who came after by the punishment of Cain. Some say that he dared two murders—for a man is one thing, a young man another, and a wound is one thing, a bruise another—and he denounces himself; for he who provides the deed is an enemy and an avenger. And they say he took the wives of those he had killed, for he confesses to them, not to the men. For in those days, licentiousness prevailed equally over all, and there were constant murders of men for the sake of women, and the women exchanged men not unwillingly; for they had their glory not in faithful love, but in a plurality of husbands; for in them the passion progressed toward incontinence, so that they even drew the sons of God, those from the lineage of Seth, to sexual union. *“Son of Adam, son of God”*; Lamech killed two of these, whose wives were Adah and Zillah. The righteous Enoch is also said to have been caught up by God, lest he too be deprived of life by Lamech; he believed he would not see death, and faith provided this grace to his nature—he who also proved Adam, being mortal and not dying, to be not naturally mortal, because they did not guard the commandment; for the one entered paradise, while the other was cast out. But neither Enoch nor Elijah abolished death; as Christ, ^B restoring nature in Himself, bestowed on those who are mortal by nature the gift of immortality along with all, even though through them He provided a type of the immortality to come, so as not to cast the choir of the righteous into despair. For He showed through Enoch how, in the time to come, the righteous shall be separated from the sinners; and through Elijah, how bodies are lifted up into the air.

Lamech, therefore, understood from the translation of the righteous man who those were whom he had slain. ^C Whence he accuses himself so greatly; for which reason the impious also hastened to slay him, ^D

not bear the sight of virtue. ^A Hence Noah alone is found righteous. For this reason they discovered two arts: the lyre for revels and metallurgy for war. The women, as a reproof of their corruption, bore giants and monsters, and signaled the coming calamity; for monsters foreshadow destruction and some terrible event. He announces vengeance to the women, as to descendants of Seth who were mourning the destruction of men. In Lamech, therefore, the sevenfold vengeance found its end, which is a sentence upon seven generations; their dissolution is their completion and fulfillment. Hence Moses says, "Requiting the sins of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." See, these are the seven avenging ones; for the third and fourth make the seventh. But how will the debt of seventy-seven times seven be established? The race of Lamech was mingled ^B with the race of Enoch and the descendants of Seth, and Noah alone was found righteous. And he did not mention "with his wife," as in the cases of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Abraham and Sarah, but passed it over in silence, so that we might know that there was an unlawful intent in her; for he cursed Ham and Canaan, who were born of her. Count the generations, therefore, and you will find the race of Canaan perishing under Joshua the son of Nun. Lamech spoke of the future not through divine grace, but by the providence of the Superior, as in the case of Balaam. Perhaps he also surmises the punishment due to him from Cain.

This Enos, the son of Seth, hoped to call upon the name of the Lord God. In the Hebrew, it is said, it is not so, but rather: "This man hoped to be called by the name of the Lord God," that is, to be called a son of God and divine. For all those who drew their origin from the race of Seth were righteous, whence Scripture, following itself, says afterwards: "And the sons of God saw the daughters of men," ^C that is, the righteous. For there was no intermingling of the sons of Seth with those of Cain.

CAPUT V

This is the book of the generation of men. He thus calls the narrative concerning Adam and his succession down to the present those things which follow; the preceding book of heaven and earth he assigned to those things which came into being before man. He calls "Genesis" the account which describes his creation.

And Adam lived 230 years, and begot according to his likeness, and so forth. It was fitting that men should be long-lived in the beginning, so that the race of men, drawn from one source, might not perish, in order that in a longer time they might beget more; and in the account of the succession, mention is made of the firstborn. And yet Seth is the third. But it was not proper that ^D [the succession should come] from Cain, being wicked, nor from Abel

who departed without offspring, for the memory of the succession to occur; ^A wherefore it is fittingly from Seth, who in a way was the firstborn. But the words, "according to his own likeness and according to his image," may more simply be taken to mean the same thing; and after the death of Abel, a son named Seth is born to Adam, most similar to the one according to the image and likeness of God, that is to say, to Adam. For Christ having died for us, we who believe are born, being reshaped through the Spirit into Christ; and the cause of this has become the death of Christ. "For unless the grain of wheat falling," and so forth.

We must know ^B that the Hebrew [text] always reckons genealogy by the hundred years; for example, it is written that Adam, at 230 years, begat Seth; but the Hebrew says 130.

Verse 4-22. *And Seth lived after he begat Enos, eight hundred and seven years,* etc. *And Enoch walked with God; and he was not found, for God took him.* See with what diligence the time that preceded the generation of children, and what followed thereafter, is recorded. That genealogy is constructed from those who are derived from Seth. The offspring of Cain are named sometimes, yet the time of their life is not recorded. For God does not seek to know the life of the impious, to whom on the last day it will be said: "Amen, amen, I know you not." For the hairs of the righteous are numbered by Him; "For the eyes ^C of the Lord," he says, "are upon the righteous." Observe also how Lamech is the seventh from Adam through Cain, but Enoch is the seventh through Seth. But the former tells his wives what evils await him, while the latter, by faith, was translated, according to the voice of Paul; for in the last times of the Sabbath rest that has appeared in Christ, Israel, indeed, is fearful, as one who has killed—not one of our own, as Cain did Abel, so as to be liable to sevenfold vengeance, but Emmanuel—in such a way as to be subject to seventy times seven punishments. But those who have believed in Christ shall not be found still seeking the things of Satan; for they shall be translated by God from ignominy to glory, from weakness to strength. And see also how on the ^D seventh day God rested from creating the world. And in the seventh generation God took the firstfruits of rational nature, Enoch, as a symbol of the consummation.

Paul says: "And his death was not found." But here no mention of this matter is made. How is this? Perhaps because of the depth of his understanding, his death could not be comprehended by anyone. For the spiritual man is judged by no one, since his principal part was translated by God to perfection and blessedness. But by what manner he employed the expression

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^A it translated, as sufficiently appears from those things that are recounted concerning Jezebel and Ahab, wherein it is said that the wickedness and malice of the woman changed her husband and led him ever to the worse. Thus, it also appears that the testimony of Paul is certain and true; for the death of Enoch, when he was translated in this way, which is an enemy unto Christ, was in no wise found. But if we wish to apply Elijah to this place, know that Elijah was assumed in a different manner and brought into the eternal tabernacles. Certain persons say: "By what reasoning will that declaration of Paul be true, that it is appointed for all men to die once, when we now acknowledge that Enoch and Elijah were snatched and translated with great swiftness, and that they will remain forever with their bodies?" The answer is given: Although they are not read to have died in the manner of men, yet by a certain divine reason, unexplored by us, they put off mortality. And in this manner, we ought to understand their death. But the Firstborn from the dead must be understood to be the Savior. If, then, after he had begotten Methuselah, Enoch was pleasing to God, certainly before he begat, as the Scripture teaches, ^B he was not grateful and acceptable to God. That, therefore, which God felt toward him in love, ought to be attributed to the repentance which he performed.

*Verse 29.* "This [Noah] shall comfort us." Behold, the prophet is immediately declared at the birth of the son, just as Zacharias also prophesied concerning John the Baptist, even as has been handed down to memory in the evangelical history. Thus, the birth of Noah was predicted by an ancient and most ample prophecy, in whom almost all hope was placed for them, and from whom they ought to have hoped for the greatest benefits. He was, indeed, the tenth from Adam in the genealogical series descended from Seth. Let those, I pray, who cling only to the letter, say how Noah provided a cessation from works for Lamech. Perhaps this testimony ought to be extended to Christ the Savior, for He is truly the rest of our labors, and is properly held to be just, as One who never sinned. ^C He provides that we may rest in good hope. Death also, if one wishes to examine the aforesaid things more broadly, can be said to have been a rest for the man.

CAP. VI.

*Verse 2.* "And the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful." Certain copies have: "The angels of God." Some think that Moses signifies by these words the apostate powers or fallen angels. But indeed, angels cannot enter into a treaty of Venus with women, for it is repugnant to nature, although demons abound in all malice. Some say that apostate angels slipped into the bodies of men to perform intercourse with women. But this happened only at that time, nor does Scripture teach that the same thing always happens to sinners. Yet it seems a wonder that this occurred only in that ancient age. That He calls men "angels," or "sons of God," the subsequent verses teach. For God said: "My Spirit shall not remain in these men." Behold, He does not name them angels in the repetition, but men; for the men henceforth became people mingling divine things with human ^D when they took the daughters of men unto themselves.

^A Indeed, it is established that injustice held sway far and wide in the world, even when the angels of God contended against injuries and offered violence to the daughters of men. Therefore, he calls the "sons of God" the chosen race—namely, the descendants of Seth and Enoch, whom Moses deems worthy of this name on account of the piety and justice which they observed, just as another divine oracle bears witness: "I said: Ye are gods," etc. Individuals who take their origin from the lineage of Cain are called men. These are the inventors of music, the zither, and the smith's art. But all these things are human inventions, as that passage warns: "After they had eaten and drunk, they rose up to play."

As long as the divine race was kept pure and undefiled by any external stain, it retained the name of angels inviolate; but after they had slipped into the foul affections of the flesh and lay with the daughters of men who had issued from the seed of Cain, it happened that these women brought forth for them—and not for God—monstrous and prodigious births, preferring mortal things and not immortal ones, thereby corrupting the beauty of human bodies, which God had bestowed—so much so that they exceeded the customary measure and strength in moderate degree. ^B But this was not such that they reached the clouds, or that one could move Sicily from its place and hurl it elsewhere, according to the myths and monstrous falsehoods of the Greeks: such are the fables they devised. Scripture is accustomed to call the most robust men, who are entirely addicted to sin, "giants." For it is written concerning the Persians and the Medes: "Giants are coming to fill my wrath, rejoicing and inflicting injury." They are called by this name, moreover, as foreigners, such as the Anakim among the Rephaim. And when Scripture narrates the deeds of Abraham, it says among other things: "The Syrians who smote the giants," that is, the robust ones. Similarly, when the deeds of David are described, giants are mentioned. But those who slew them were stronger, and yet they were not called giants. Do you wish to know the reason? They were just. Some say that the powerful are addressed by this name. It is not given to the just, however, when they vanquish enemies aided by divine help, lest such glorious successes be attributed not to divine but to human virtue. But Symmachus translates it thus: "Sons of the powerful," that is, of the holy ones, who, fortified by divine help, dared to resist adversaries.

^C VERS. 3. My Spirit shall not remain in man forever. The Spirit of God remains in those who, having cast aside earthly things, are raised to heavenly ones. Those who cling to earthly affections are called "flesh" by Scripture, namely, while they are immersed in the affections of the flesh. For it does not mean the flesh which is subject to the eyes. For if it were so, surely no mortal, since we all consist of flesh, would be made a partaker of the divine Spirit. Paul also says: "But they who are in the flesh cannot please God." If anyone looks to that visible flesh with which we all are clothed, he offends many who are deeply pleasing to God, among whose number are the saints. Again the Apostle says: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit." He calls the vices "flesh" here, which cause the flesh to be blamed. For they were still in the flesh, that is, they were still veiled in flesh.

He calls life an age. As David says, "Our age is in the illumination of your countenance," instead of "they will not complete the time of their life," for he spoke to these, not to others; for I will not fulfill for them the number of those many years.

^A VERS. 5-7. *And every figment of the thoughts of his heart was only evil throughout the days.* The Hebrew text does not have "throughout the days." As to "thought," the Hebrew has "intended" or "attended to." Here only. Elsewhere, if it is used, it signifies "repented" or "was consoled," meaning he accepted the petition of men when asked, as when the Jews asked for Saul, and God gave them Saul. For David was not yet fit, but was still young, and the kingdom belonged to Benjamin; yet even from Benjamin it was not done at random, since Benjamin was most closely joined to the tribe of Judah, so that Ephraim, who had reigned badly, might have no occasion for boasting to say, "God began from me" or "He chose [me]." But "he thought" and "intended" means he was pierced, he had a thoughtful mind.

^B The phrase "every one thinks carefully," and so on, spoken before the flood and after the flood, signifies that some natural evil tendency—the concupiscible part or something else—which God had granted for use, we have turned to evil. But the Hebrew, instead of "carefully," says, "The natural inclination of man is toward evil from his youth." It is understood among them also thus: "The figment of the heart of man is toward evil from his youth." Therefore, it does not speak of a natural [sin], but "the figment of the heart," that is, the self-governing mind, being inclined and taking pleasure in evils from youth; [man] was fashioned not to desire sexual intercourse, but for the procreation of children, not for fornication; just as the irascible part [was fashioned] for protection, not for cruelty.

^C But "He repented" and "the Lord was angered in spirit" are human modes of expression for our sake. For how would He who knows all things beforehand repent? But it is so that they might understand that those who suffer, suffer justly, and that they might repent as those who listen to a teacher: "I have repented that I handed over to you such great things," for the evil was done by them carefully and deliberately, which is what "in the heart" signifies; and "from youth," either from tender age, or because no one of such a sort is old [in virtue].

^D "Seeing" is also a human expression. For He saw them earlier, but now He is viewed as having seen them for the purpose of vengeance; for when He does not wish to punish those who sin, He is said not to see them, or even to be asleep. But He is awakened as

^A if from sleep, and having indulged them for a long time, He suddenly in the excess of His patience brings on the punishments. And as for the text "Every man considers," take this as having been pronounced universally, just as that other text: "Every brother will utterly supplant," and, "Every friend walks deceitfully." And the fact that Noah was no longer to be counted among the number of those criminals, for he bore the name of angel or son of God, as that divine oracle seems to warn: "I said: You are gods." Not unlike this, if you consider human affairs, is this oracle: "I said in my excess: Every man is a liar." For when you pursue contention and emulation, are you not men? That which he says, "Every thought," etc., touches with great gravity those who, agitated by diverse opinions, labor with great ^B effort to reconcile them and draw them to unity. Opposed to this speech is the Ecclesiasticus, saying: "The wise man meditates on good things in his heart all [his] days."

But it is beautifully written: "I will abolish man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth." For He by no means wishes to abolish man completely and reduce him to nothing, nor does He even wish to destroy his soul. What then? "He will blot him out from the surface of the earth." "From man even to cattle." Why, when He threatens to take only men from the midst, does He not hesitate to destroy also the remaining animals? Because animals were not created principally for their own sake, but for the sake of man, whom He wished them to serve. Since, therefore, destruction threatens man, not unworthily do the brutes also perish, ^C when he, for whom they were formed, no longer draws the breath of life. Yet God, being beneficent, preserved as many animals in number as He judged would be necessary for human life. Therefore, just as He created them two by two from the beginning of things, so, etc.

VERS. 8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Because Noah prepared himself for good works, he found grace before God. By works of virtue he insinuated himself into divine favor: and these works yielded the result that he attained divine grace. It is fittingly said "found," etc. For it indicates that Noah studied most greatly to find grace in the sight of the Lord, and eventually did find it. But when he had said "Just," that is, "perfect," etc., he added: "in his generation." Perhaps his malice had not yet polluted his deeds, but it still lay hidden in his breast. But God, not wishing ^D to accuse or to implicate Noah in any vice, does not call him "man," but "just," as if he were not one from that dregs of rogues. For it is handed down: "The malice of men was multiplied." What he says: "The time has come," etc., the Hebrew varies, putting "end" or "limit" for "time." What he says: "The generations of Noah," etc., is not to be understood as if those were to be drawn to others, but they pertain to Noah alone. For if that were the sense, he would have immediately added: "Noah begot three sons," which he refrains from doing. And so that we may see those things predicted of Noah alone, he adds: "A man just and of absolute

^A probity. It is also elegantly said: "The earth was corrupt before God," etc. For injustice ruins and corrupts the earth. It is not the flood that destroyed the earth, but rather it cleansed it; injustice laid waste the earth, to which the inundation spread across the world.

Vers. 14, 15. *Make for thyself*, he says, *an ark of wood which does not rot and of cedar*, etc. The Hebrew has: *Of square planks joined together.* It is also handed down to memory in Isaiah: "For the workman chooses timber which does not feel rot." The Hebrew there also reads *elect* (or *choice*). One asks what sort of shape we ought mentally to conceive the ark to have been. If you listen to me, I am led to believe that its shape was pyramidal or pointed in the likeness of a pyramid. From a length of ^B 300 cubits, and a breadth of 50 cubits, it was drawn up to a height of 30 cubits, and the top of the ark was narrowed so much that it did not exceed a cubit, whether you look at the breadth or the length. The lower dwellings of the ark have a double roof: those which rest upon these, a triple roof, as Symmachus clearly appears to teach, saying: *You will make it according to two and three stories.* Each of the roofs is divided by certain receptacles, so that animals of different kinds might be separated from one another. These receptacles the Septuagint translators call "nests"; but Symmachus calls them "huts." The pieces of wood from which the ark is put together are square, that is, so that much time is not spent in sawing and dividing them. Then, so that being woven and joined from ^C solid timbers, it might be firmer and stronger. And this is the most principal reason why it was constructed from solid timbers. For it was to be met by the peaks of mountains, and to undergo no small dangers while the swelling and surge of the sea raged. It could by no means have resisted these, had it not been joined together from solid oak. The receptacles, moreover, separated the animals, and aptly connected and wove together the whole edifice. But lest a watery moisture pour into the ark, that famous vessel was coated with bitumen inside and outside. It is also rightly added that the length exceeded the breadth. For in this manner it was moved more easily. For ships preserve this form together with the proportion. Furthermore, that form was ^D sufficiently fortified against the impending force of the waters. For it could not be overturned, or inclined, or rotated, or swept away transversely because of its shape, by the winds or the force of storms. The ark stood upon the water like an edifice firmly founded: nor could anyone have thought up a firmer shape for resisting storms and the violence of the waters. Moreover, if someone says that the bottom part of the ark was square, he does not think ineptly. For it was prepared, not so that it might head in some direction on a journey like a ship: but so that it might be firm and sufficiently safe against the impending dangers. It would have undoubtedly been soon submerged and depressed by the force of the tempest, if it had lacked a quadrangular form.

It is also not ineptly handed down that there was a use for the two lower roofs, which are distinguished from the supreme ones: and for the three

^A separate ones specially named; for since He made all the animals to be in the ark for a year, it was entirely necessary that provision should be made for suitable food sufficient for all for a year, and for a place for the excrement being discharged, capable of not troubling the animals and especially human beings. They say, therefore, that the roof which is lower and toward the bottom of the two-storied structure was assigned to the excrement; but the one above this, to the gathering of the food of the animals, so that the carnivorous ones might be well supplied with flesh, and the other animals, besides those introduced for preservation, might be supplied with food brought into the ark for the sake of nutrition, and those not of this kind might each be able to obtain suitable food. These things, then, pertain to the account of the two-storied lower sections. ^B But the three-storied structure after this was assigned to the animals according to the nests mentioned. And it is likely that the space of the lowest three-storied section was allotted to the kind of snakes and wild beasts, and that the higher ones were assigned to the cattle and to the rest of the more tame or gentle ones by rank and order. And it was necessary that man, as by nature the ruler of the irrational creatures [over which he has ridden], should thus also be in the highest space, concerning the third roof. It is also probable that the side door, which He said was to be made, was in the first roof from below, so that from there the animals entering might go to the appointed nests; for if it were from above, with much difficulty the animals would have ascended to the ark and descended to their own places. ^C But the safety of this closing door required a more divine power, no man from outside being any longer able to secure it so that water might not slip in; wherefore God closed and bolted it from behind Noah. And thus the flood took place. But after the flood, we have observed that Noah no longer opened a door as in the cases above, but a window, so that he might send forth the raven. And one might consider the observation forced, unless the other versions agreed, while they testify that the window was open for the raven by Noah. First, they say, God commanded Noah to prepare a door on the side part of the ark. Theodotion translated it "door," but Aquila rendered it "opening" or "window" or "valve" or some opening. Furthermore, there is mention of the food that was to be brought into the ark. For it is written: "And Noah brought in, etc." But that place into which the collection of dung would flow was elegantly passed over in silence by God. For He had left those things to be considered by Noah, who could easily prepare that place having followed the aforesaid. Apelles, a follower and intimate of Marcion, in that work in which he strives to convince that Scripture ^D is false, raised questions [index: entries preserved]

^A whether so great an ark could contain even the smallest portion of the animals existing upon the earth; ignorant, as some of the learned among the Hebrews have handed down, that the cubits were named not in the common way, but by the geometric ratio, which is called the power of the square number of three hundred. According to this ratio, the lower area would contain nine hundred thousand square cubits. Likewise, the width would comprise 2,500 cubits, and the height 900 cubits. For Moses, having been educated in all the learning of the Egyptians within the royal palace, was not ignorant of how and in what terms the measure of the cubits should be expressed so that it might be correctly understood by men. Since at that time geometric culture was in use among all people, and no one doubted how great it was. If we do not accept the cubit in this manner, that machine would certainly not have been capable of containing even four elephants together with the fodder with which they were to be fed. But what, then, does it mean when it says that the ark had been contracted at the top to the measure of a cubit? By the aforesaid cubits, which are understood according to [their] power, being tapered into a cubit, it results that the peak of the ark is ten cubits in length. The width, however, embraces two thirds. ^B Thus, therefore, it appears how the summit of the ark was gathered into a single cubit. But if anyone thinks that this interpretation is forced—namely, that we should understand the thirty-first cubit to constitute the height of the work—let him consider the Scripture, which is as follows: "The height of it shall be thirty cubits, and thou shalt contract the ark into a narrow space, and shalt finish it with a cubit measure." Hence I am led to believe that the height is signified by the thirty-first cubit. For it is read thus: "In a cubit thou shalt finish it above." The ark was constructed in this form so that it might have a certain smoothness, which would safely withstand the ferocity of the waves. ^C Nor did He wish that the waves should dash themselves against the ark as [they would] against some rock that presents height on every side. Most conveniently it is handed down that the door was prepared on an oblique side. For if it had received the door at the top, the ark would have been filled with water from the rain. But while it is set on the oblique side, it provides safety for those whom the ark was carrying. For they would not have been immune from danger, while the ark was being tossed by the waves, if the door had been in the highest place.

^D VERS. 17, 18. "Behold, I bring a flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the spirit under heaven. And whatsoever things are upon the earth shall die." By these words He demonstrates that both birds and terrestrial animals are to perish. For (as I think) the aquatic ones were saved. Since the inundation of waters could in no way inconvenience them, as they live by the aqueous humor. Hence, anyone may surely conjecture the reason why Noah did not bring aquatic animals into the ark. "Whatsoever things shall be upon the earth shall die," etc. A certain simpler person interpreted this passage thus: Noah, and those who had attached themselves to his side, were not upon the earth. They were being carried in that mystical vessel. But he who also contemplates hidden things, and to whose eyes all things are subject—he, knowing that where the treasure is, there also is the heart—speaks thus of Noah, whom he saved: "He was righteous, and had a treasure in heaven, nor was his conversation on earth, but in heaven." But God strikes a covenant with Noah.

CAP. VII.

Vv. 1-3. "You shall enter the ark, you and your sons," etc. Distinguish these words as we have been taught by a certain wise man: « And you shall enter the ark: » here pause slightly; « and your sons and your wife: » here again the voice must be held back for a little; « and the wives of your sons with you. »

The meaning of the present passage is this: He wished the men who were entering the ark to be defiled by no intercourse, but to remain pure. Accordingly, He brings them into the ark in such a way that, when they enter, God commands Noah to go first and take his place. Wherefore it is said: « You shall enter the ark. » He commands his sons to follow him together with their mother. For He says: « Your sons and your wife. » Thereafter He commands the wives of his sons to enter. For He says: « And the wives of your sons with you. » ^B For they were all to remain pure, with no occasion for lust left to those who had thus entered. For it was not fitting that, while the reptiles and all like animals were perishing, and the rest were drowning, those held in the ark should be busy with venereal love and the procreation of children. But when the storm of danger had been lulled and a peaceful expression had returned to the world, and necessity demanded that the world be filled with men, He brings them out as joined in the bond of matrimony, saying: « Go out, you and your wife, and your sons and your wives of your sons. »

It is well written: « Go out, you and your sons, » etc. For it is not that he possessed safety on account of his sons, but his sons remained alive on account of their father. ^C This is indeed confirmed below, when God says to Noah: « Because I have seen you righteous before Me in this generation. »

The statement recorded in the writings: « And you shall store up for yourself, that it may be for you and for them, » etc., is not said in passing, but contains a certain observation. For you must carry food into those dwellings in which you will reside, and to which the rest of the animals do not have access. For if you were to store food in those stalls which are destined for the brute animals, it would be continuously consumed by them as they eat it up, and a scarcity of nourishment would arise. Some doubt by what reason it was possible for the ark, given its size, to contain enough food to suffice for so many animals for the space of a year. ^D But let these men know that that whole structure was raised by the command of God for the sake of the future renewal of the human race. And therefore the brute animals did not need much fodder, as they were nourished by the blessing of the Lord. You have examples of this in Moses, who lived for forty days on the mountain, during which time he was not sustained by any human food. Thus food was brought by an angel to Habakkuk, and thus were Elijah and others fed. One might indeed ask: since the Law had not yet been given which would distinguish clean animals from unclean, why does God command Noah to...

^A produce the scientific arrangement of the Law? But in fact, God commands Noah to bring from all the animals two by two, a male and a female. Then, in the middle, regarding the clean ones, he no longer says two by two, but seven, whereas from those that are unclean, he says two by two. Again, at the end of the discourse, he says that Noah brought in two by two from all, and he does not mention the number seven. Perhaps, therefore, he is commanded to bring in two by two for each kind, a male and female, for the preservation of the species; but the addition was so that, having gone out, he might sacrifice to God? Did he therefore sacrifice seven from each kind, and also use them in the ark? ^B

VERS. 7. *And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife with him, into the ark, and the wives of his sons, because of the waters of the flood.*

The simpler person will say that Noah and those with him were not on the earth, for they were carried by wood; but one who perceives that where a man's treasure is, there also is his heart, will say regarding Noah that, having his treasure in heaven, he was so righteous that he was not still on the earth, but in heaven.

If, before the flood, they did not eat meat, why is it handed down that Abel was a shepherd of sheep? Or with what sacrifices did he appease God, if he was averse to eating them? And why were clean and unclean called such, since in the beginning God commands Noah to bring in two by two from all with him, but after these things, from the clean seven by seven? Then, when Noah brought everything into the ark, the Scripture does not specify that it was seven, but follows the first voice of God that it was two by two. Those, however, who do not want to accept that eating meat existed before the flood because of what was to be said to him, “Eat everything as the green herb,” have claimed that it was an overabundance among the clean. Bardasanes, however, dared to say that one person commanded “two by two” and another “seven by seven,” because the Hebrew language calls God by different names, and from these he desires to make two. Yet clean and unclean are not called such because they were actually so to the Creator—for indeed, above, when God brought forth the animals, he says, “And behold, all things were very good.” But among us and those of that time, they were so judged. For even God names the demons of the nations, not because they are gods, but because they were so called. It should be noted that, discussing the irrational animals, Scripture says: “He entered into Noah,” ^D that is, he did not bring them, but they came automatically to Noah; it is clear, therefore, that these things were brought to Noah by the command of God, just as they were to Adam when he was giving them their names. For to gather all things from everywhere was beyond the power of Noah.

where they are found everywhere; but how is it that all animals ^A from all the regions were brought to Noah? How indeed did all of them run into the ark? It is evident from this that it was the will of God and the divine command that gathered the animals to Noah, just as they also ran to Adam at God’s command, when he was giving them their names. It would have been impossible for Noah to search for animals from everywhere, especially since not all are found in all regions. Furthermore, upon what strength could he have relied to lead the winged kind into the ark? Therefore, it is not without reason that they were preserved in the ark as a kind of first-fruits and remnants from which animals might eventually sprout again, specifically so that that heresy which dreams of two architects of the world might not arise. For although all things happened in the manner we have set forth, certain restless, idle men do not cease to invent new and various gods.

VERS. 11. *In the second month.* If the second month follows immediately after the feast of the Passover, it is gathered that the flood happened at the time of the harvest, when the heat is most intense. Whence it is known that that rain occurred against the order of nature, especially since the moon in the second month is known to be in conjunction at a cubic number, which arises from three. ^B By saying, as they say, "the fountains of the abyss and the cataracts of the heavens," he gives a clear indication that the entire visible creation is surrounded by watery moisture. Hence those are wrong who imagine the heavens to be spherical and mobile. For the heaven is stationary, and it is a path for the stars moving within it. Nor is it to be believed that the stars and planets are fixed in the heaven. Thus the earth, returned to ancient barbarism, was again made formless and invisible. That rude confusion was brought about by the waters from below and above, flowing together again into an ancient mixture. Moreover, the account does not seem to be written in an order of sequence; he says twice that the inundation lasted forty days, then says that the water prevailed upon the earth for one hundred and fifty days: at the same time, the number of forty days is repeated. That ambiguity is resolved thus.

CAP. VIII

The inundation lasted for forty days while the violence of the storm raged continuously. After forty days had elapsed, God remembered Noah. Moreover, the inundation of the waters was so great that it held the earth covered for 150 days, in which the waters felt no decrease. When those days had vanished, then at last the waters began to lessen and decrease. What is delivered: "And God remembered Noah," is not to be understood as the common folk think, but in a divine manner, just as if He had never forgotten Noah. And ^C lest it seem strange to anyone, [consider] how He speaks concerning the impious: "I do not know you," that is, "I never had you in the number of my own." So in this place understand the words of the Lord, namely, "God remembered Noah," that He might bring him forth from the ark, to be the future beginning of the human race. As to what he says: "With the wind blowing, the water abated," let no one be surprised. For even from the beginning of creation, the Spirit or wind was borne above the water.

VERS. 4. *And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.* It is a wonderful thing that it is reported that the peaks of the mountains were ^D visible[...]*

*[Translator's note: The Latin translation of the Greek segment "Πῶς λέγει, Ἐφάνησαν αἱ ἀρχαὶ τῶν ὀρέων ἐν τῷ κατακλυσμῷ" appears to be cut off mid-sentence on this page; the translation follows the text provided.]*

in flood, and after this the dove that had flown out from the ark could not find a place to rest? This is because the water covered the tops of the mountains to fifteen cubits depth, and much mud had settled on the mountain peaks, so that it could not stand. Furthermore, the dove could not remain outside, for because it had been flying for a long time, it was slower in its flight, and at the same time it was finding it difficult to cut through the air, which was thick and humid; and again, it found nothing of its own kind. Therefore ^A even the raven returned, as the Hebrew has it. Regarding the ark, Josephus the Hebrew says in his *Antiquities* as follows: "The remains of which ark are shown even until now for proof of what happened on the mountain called Ararat, which happens to be in the middle of Armenia and the Parthian country towards the land of the Adiabenians." There are also other proofs of the flood that ^B occurred, which are easily demonstrated to those who wish to be unbelieving; for even until now, on the highest and most inaccessible mountains, remains of the sea are found, shells and oyster shells and the like, as we also have seen many times. It should be noted that on the twenty-seventh of the second month the flood begins, and on the twenty-seventh of the seventh month the ark sat upon the mountains; and on the twenty-seventh of the second month Noah goes out of the ark, on the same day on which the flood had occurred, so that it remained for a most complete year.

Chapter IX

^C And God blessed Noah and his sons. The question is asked why, after the flood, God spoke to Noah and those with him about living creatures: "As the green herbs I have given them to you," without having said this before. They say that what He omitted at the beginning, He now says, since the time after the flood is a renewal of creation. For if God had not commanded it, how did Abel eat? For it is clear that from what he ate he honored God, and he would not have offered it if he had not eaten it; and how was he ^D righteous if he ate from what God had not commanded? But to Adam, who had food from Paradise, the eating of meat was not necessary; moreover, creatures were created two by two, and it was necessary that they increase and multiply according to the voice of God. Whence it was not commanded immediately from the beginning. And so now, even if it had not yet been commanded by law to perform sacred rites, yet Noah, being righteous just like Abel, offered to God the first fruits of that which he labored over and possessed, deeming it just to give thanks to the One who gave. But the statement that he offered from all things to the altar should be understood consistently: for He says "all those things" that were also commanded afterwards to be brought through the law.

^A Verse 4. "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, which is its blood." By "soul" in this place He signifies the life, both of man and of the other animals; and by "life" that which is active through the blood. How then does He inquire of the beasts, which are not to rise again? But the answer is: He says "I will inquire," not for the coming universal judgment, but through the law that was to be established in the future; for the law commands that he who commits murder should suffer the same things, whether man or beast. Thus, then, He makes inquiry through those who avenge by the law. Another, however, says—as the literal sense is absurd—that we must say the "beasts" are the powers opposed to the soul that sins, from whose hand the death of the sinner shall be required. And he speaks of "trembling and fear" regarding the beasts, signifying the authority of the Master, and the mastery over all things by the mental faculties. But it is permitted for this to be interpreted as applying to the righteous, to whom even the beasts are subject ^B—as to Noah, and Daniel, and Paul, and those who preserve the image according to the fourth Psalm (Ps. VIII, 7); and for such as these no food is to be avoided. "For to the pure," says Paul (Tit. I, 15), "all things are pure." And in the Acts it is thus transmitted (Acts X, 15): "What God has cleansed, do not call common." Some say that it should be noted in this place that God, having fashioned the animals from the earth, gave all of them fruits to eat; but after the flood, He permitted the eating of meat, foreknowing that brute animals would everywhere be worshipped. Therefore, anticipating this, He accepts sacrifice from them, and commands that they be slaughtered and eaten, that we might hold them in contempt. ^C But by saying, "The blood of your lives will I require from all the beasts," He hints at the resurrection and the final judgment. Yet do not believe that the brute animals themselves will appear in the resurrection, and pay the penalty if they have ever caused harm. But this is the sense: If you are devoured by wild beasts (for all things are earth, both the devourers and the devoured), I shall require you from the earth itself, and I shall restore the lost nature of man. Below, also, He makes mention of the universal resurrection in the dialogue of Abraham with God. The same survives in the Book of Numbers, where He says (Num. XX, 28): "Aaron was released and was added (or brought) to his fathers." For addition occurs when a thing that has substance is added to another that has ^D substance. And again in the same place: "In the last days" (Num. XXIV, 14), etc., by which words He demonstrates, as if by design, the consummation of the days of this age. For to Moses, who is an object of admiration to all, what profit would that intimate familiarity with God have been, if, having been tossed by so many storms of tribulations, he possessed no happiness, or rather, if he did not even exist? And what is the meaning of what was said to Him by God in the thirty-second chapter of Exodus: "Blot me out of the book which You have written, if You do not forgive the people their..."

^A sins of the calf-making"? What was this book written by God, and in which Moses was enrolled? You will not say that it was the tablets of Moses, which he himself finally broke in a frenzy of indignation. The book of God, which contains the elect, remains whole and unharmed. The things that follow also prove the resurrection, namely, the blood of Abel crying out to God, and the translation of Enoch, which quite clearly confirms the reality of the resurrection. To this is added the fact that the clothing of the Israelite people did not wear out ^B in the wilderness for forty years, nor were their feet worn down; all these things are, as it were, symbols of the resurrection and instruct us to believe that there will be a resurrection of the dead some day, and that the pious will be placed in safety. To this pertains that passage of Deuteronomy: "That He might afflict you and test you, that He might do you good in the end," etc., which words certainly add strength to the matter of the resurrection. If we are blessed in this life, tell me, what kind of blessing is it? We are afflicted all the days of our life, and there is almost no moment free from danger. Moreover, old age itself, which not everyone reaches, is a disease. ^C Then, those who are old live for a short time, and are taken from this light with many tribulations. Surely no one would call this misery the enjoyment of blessedness: rather, everyone openly testifies that these are the punishments and most burdensome torments of life.

Regarding what is said: "Whoever sheds man's blood, for his blood it shall be shed," etc., it prescribes the condemnation which is inflicted by the judge's sentence on the murderer. In no dissimilar fashion the Savior says in Matthew: "All who take up the sword will perish by the sword." ^D However, "but you shall not eat flesh with the life, which is its blood," etc. He forbids us to eat raw [flesh], so that we may not, by eating and voracity, imitate beasts and eventually fall into mutual slaughter like wild animals. "That the imagination of the human heart is evil from his very youth," etc. The present passage has a certain affinity with that of David: "He remembered that they were flesh, a spirit that goes away and does not return." Yet let no one think that I created man in this way. He perished by his own doing, while he was unwilling to obey God. Another interprets this passage thus: I foresaw that the youth of posterity would be unstable and prone to faults. However, that inclination to evil will not last for all the days of life, as it did before the flood. Therefore, lay aside every fear. Not hereafter will I bring a universal destruction upon you. I will grant indulgence, and indeed a brief one, to youth on account of the slipperiness of that age. Another certain person says: He does not blame human nature, as is evident from the fact that He says: "From youth, or boyhood." For if He had blamed human nature, He would have said "from his very birth." But human nature is depraved by the ignorance of youthful desires, which are born from the suggestion of the devil. A rich witness to this matter is brought forward, Ecclesiastes, saying: "Youth and ignorance are vanity." By these words it is signified that ignorance agitates man and leads him through desire to sin.

Some generally express themselves thus concerning the flood, as if from this also we could learn of God's providence toward us; for not unexpectedly...

did He bring the terrible events, but He also foretold them, and not a short time before, but 120 years earlier. So that they might not through the length of time grow slack, the ark, appearing before their eyes, proclaimed God's threat. God did not wish to bring the flood, just as He does not desire to consign us to hell, but we force such a remedy to be applied. For both those who were overwhelmed by the flood were prevented from proceeding further in wickedness, and those after them gained much, as the source of evils was removed from their midst; for those who are always devising wickedness from themselves, what would they have become after the example? That virtue is saved when wickedness is punished, Noah has made clear, who is said to have found grace in the sight of God, while the others perished through ingratitude. For it was not as one who had received grace from God (for this is common to all men), but because he alone appeared grateful; he being the one to begin the new race, it was necessary that he be deemed worthy of divine grace. For the beginning and the end of the greatest grace is to come from men. Therefore, he also genealogizes him from his virtues; for the lineage of the upright toward the truth is virtue, concerning which He also says: «The time of all mankind has come before me.» Truly, nothing is as contrary to God as injustice. ^B He adds also the cause of the opposition, namely, that the earth was filled with injustice. And since time is thought by the base to be a deity, He shows that He is the Author of times and seasons, and sets a limit for them; as it is said elsewhere: « The time has departed from them, but the Lord is in us.» He placed times and seasons as boundaries and limits for things. What He says, «The time has come,» etc., clearly demonstrates that sins are already in array and have reached their peak. Therefore, the time of vengeance is near. In this manner it is said: «The iniquities of the Amorites are not yet fulfilled,» that is, they have not yet sinned to such a degree that their affairs have reached the rope; but there is still hope for repentance. Nor is it the same thing for one man and for a whole people to be filled with sins. In a people, it is possible to find all vices and sins. But in one man, it is impossible to find diverse vices. For by what reasoning could the same person be both lustful and chaste? Timid and bold? All of which are judged by excess and defect. It is, however, not impossible to see all virtues in one and the same man following one another in the most beautiful order. What He says: «The time of all mankind,» take it thus: All have sinned, ^{C D} inasmuch as no one has sins of such a nature that he could be forgiven; but He says «all» for the most part; for there were eight in the ark. Perhaps He now calls out a man where there is strife and jealousy, according to the Apostle, to whom Noah is not subject, surpassing in this the human…

condition. What is said, "Coram me," etc., if it be considered more deeply, signifies that no mortal knows the time at which each has fulfilled his duty. Hence it remains that he should eventually incline toward despair; and this is the reason why He added, "Coram me."

^A It is said also, "The earth was filled with iniquity from them," etc. For others are not punished because of those who sin, but the penalty is exacted from the guilty. It is clear from this that the deluge is not to be attributed to fate, in which those men were submerged and perished. For if the deluge had been fated, the cause of the deluge would have been added falsely, namely: "The earth was filled with iniquity from them." The time came, which would not have come if they had abstained from sin. "Enter thou," He says, "and all thy family with thee into the ark. For I have seen thee just before me in this generation," etc. Great indeed and efficacious is faith, when, because of one pious and just man, the salvation of many is sought. Perhaps in this passage the just Noah is extolled with praises, as one who not only ^B adhered to justice, but so educated his entire family that they embraced virtue with their whole heart. Therefore, not undeservedly, he is judged worthy alone to be snatched from the impending destruction. Elegantly, however, it is put: "I have seen thee just before me." For God considers human life otherwise than men do. Men follow external judgments; God Himself looks into the heart and the invisible mind. "In this generation," He says, that He might not seem to confuse and condemn those generations which had preceded, and to lead to despair those who were to follow, as if they, together with others who were propagated from him, had arrived at the height of malice. But what great thing is it to be deemed just by a comparison with the wicked? Perhaps as one of those who was held in the ark, he was believed to be perfect. For it is probable that they themselves were also distinguished by justice, on account of their continuous habit of life. For as to their morals, the just differ in nothing. Just as when He had spoken: "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?", He immediately added: "This is the generation of them that seek Him." In contrast to which is that which we now give: "The children of this world are wiser than the children of light in their own generation."

^C That which is said "perfect," must be understood as it is permitted concerning a man: which indeed Paul also explains in a certain way, saying of himself and those like him: "Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded." And again: "We speak wisdom among the perfect." Well, however, does He place justice and perfection before the pleasing of God; and it is not censurable now that he is called "man" regarding Noah, but because he preserved the image of God, whence he does not simply please Him; but the corruption of the earth, the sin of those who are earthy, of all those who are styled such; and it was so great that God Himself saw it, He who overlooks even great transgressions; for He does not bring wrath upon each day, ^D but when the cry ascends to Him by the measurelessness of sins, as Jonah says, and Moses concerning Sodom, then

He resolves to take vengeance, even though He had already found it out and explored it beforehand. By the word "corruption," both sin and the punishment for sin are understood. It is apparent that Noah's family was comprised of eight people. For they brought no servant into the ark, either because slavery was unknown at that time, or because they possessed no servants. Therefore, the "house" ^A is understood in two ways: one way as the building, and another way as the family—just as a "city" is sometimes used for the buildings, and at other times for the congregation of the citizens. He calls "generation" those among whom he lived, who were all marked by the same character, yet he alone was found more righteous than all. Indeed, he was truly righteous, since he was righteous before God. Certainly, it is a great thing to be righteous before God, especially when Scripture testifies that not even the stars are clean in His sight. And again: "No living man shall be justified before Thee" (Ps. CXLIII, 2). How distinguished, therefore, his justice and piety were, is sufficiently manifested by the fact that Noah appeared righteous before God.

Seven days later, when Noah had fled into the ark, the flood arose, God granting them even this space of time to depart unto repentance, especially when they beheld the ark—which represented the earth—full of animals of every kind. The equity of God is also manifest, in that He wished to wash away in the span of a few days sins committed from the beginning of all things, if only they had received repentance. The number seven is a symbol of the creation of the world, God Himself openly teaching that He is the creator ^B of the world and that He composed all things from nothing. He teaches also that He dissipates the world constructed by the flood. His own goodness drew Him to build the world, but the impiety and ingratitude of men, upon whom He had bestowed very many benefits, incited Him to destroy the world by the flood. Nor, He says, will He destroy every substance from the earth; but He says: "From the face of the earth," that is, from its surface, so that in the depth of the earth the vital power and potential of all seeds might be preserved. For roots are covered by the earth and bring forth others from themselves. "I will blot out," He says. For those who erase something induce darkness upon the letters, but the tablets remain unharmed. Wherefore God Himself, cutting off the impious generation of men, spared the substance of the race. For this reason, He speaks of "restoration" (or "rebuilding"); since ^C corruption is contrary to restoration. Yet, that which is corrupted does not altogether perish. Noah brings the greatest praise to righteousness, because he executed everything according to the divine prescription, just as it was commanded. This also must be given praise, that he preferred to hear God "enjoining" (as an employer) rather than "ordering" (as a master). For lords give orders, but friends enjoin. Yet in God, "commanding" holds the preeminence, even though the other is also frequently used by God.

But the flood began to rage at the solstice, when animals increase and apply themselves to procreation. All things are, therefore, more terrible, the more that the impiety of men is made known and exposed. It is likely that at the same time the world's mechanism was ^D

^A stirred up and man was fashioned. Now Noach is likened to Adam, because he initiates the second generation of the human race. Well indeed did he represent the flesh moving in corruption; for the flesh stirs up and excites the passions, and is in turn moved by the passions, a movement which becomes the cause of corruption for souls, just as self-control is the cause of salvation. But how is it that, when God remembers Noach, both the beasts and the wild animals, he makes no mention of his wife or children? Where there is harmony of all, there is no need of many names; for with the first, it is necessary that the household also be understood as included. Therefore, the prophet ^B, explaining the harmony or coherence of those living together as is proper, says: "Look to Abraham your father, and to Sara who brought you forth." He also adds: "He brought a wind upon the earth, and the water ceased." The water is not at all diminished and dried up by the wind; rather, it is stirred up and surges. For if the wind were to drive the waters away, the greatest of the seas would long since have been consumed and dried up. Therefore, he calls the divine Spirit that *wind*, by which all things come into being and are calmed; for it was not reasonable that so great a mass of water should be quieted by wind, but by an invisible and divine power. It is clear that for the first forty days the force of the surging waters was unspeakable; but for the other hundred and fifty, having it mildly, it no longer contributed ^C to its increase, but rather to the persistence of the exposure and the height. For, he says, after one hundred and fifty days, the fountains and the cataracts were revealed; they were therefore active before being held back. But after the hundred and fifty days the water was diminished; whether it subsided in those very days in which it swelled, or after so many others, is not sufficiently clear. The beginning of the flood took place on the twenty-seventh day of the vernal equinox, and the subsidence took place in the seventh month after that, at the autumnal equinox, the twenty-seventh day of the month; for this is the end of the first equinox and the beginning of the second, in which also the creation of the world occurred.

The raven and the dove are ^D as it were symbols of vice and virtue. For if the latter, going out a second time, found no rest, how could the raven? For the animal is not aquatic; but vice rejoices in the perturbation and surging of the passions, while virtue recoils from these, distressed at the very first sight, having neither rest nor footing in such things. Noach, very cautiously, once the fervor of the water had subsided, waits until he is commanded by God to leave the ark, just as he had entered it according to his command. But if we wish to weigh the matter rightly, Noach is a type of Christ, who is indeed our righteousness and rest, "not by the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his great mercy"—saying, "Come to me, all you that labor," and so forth. He delivers us from the earth which the Lord cursed, while becoming a curse for our sake and making all things new.

^A regarding piety; but by mixing themselves with the women of these [the descendants of Cain], and, instead of the circumcision of those being born and the sacrifices offered upon it, bringing to the demons what belonged to the sanctified peoples. And since all those on earth were condemned by God to destruction, so that the entire race might not perish, He bestows upon all in Christ the justification which is in faith and the remission of water, He who fashioned for us the Church as an ark, into which we spring and escape destruction; just as eight souls, as Peter says, were saved in the time of Noah through water: which also now saves you as an antitype, baptism.

^B VERS. 13. I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant. One must inquire whether it is a natural thing, as the visible rainbow is also, or whether it then comes to be when God makes a covenant with Noah, promising no longer to bring a flood. And some say that the [name of the] rainbow (iris) is not from nature, but from its shape; for it is round. He says, therefore, that there will never again be such a universal flood that the sun will be unable to cast its rays through the wet clouds and create a rainbow; but even if an entire nation, or a second, or even a third should be flooded, yet the portion of the air beyond it, being clear of clouds and sending its rays into the density of the clouds, will produce the rainbow. But one must inquire [into the fact] that this sign is not everywhere there is rain; for indeed, often for twenty days the rainbow has not appeared because of the continuity of the rain, while in other regions where there is a thinning of the rains it is seen. It is necessary, therefore, if some parts of the world are invaded by a flood, that there be dryness elsewhere so that the rainbow can be born. And this is a great sign, that floods do not rage everywhere.

There was, in fact, a rainbow even before the flood, for the reason that there had not been a universal flood. But at the time of the universal cataclysm, no rainbow was seen, for it could not exist because of the opacity of the air, the whole sky having been gathered into clouds. God also promises that no universal flood will be in the future. Some raise a question here, saying: "The Holy Scripture, under the term 'sign,' is accustomed always to signify something new, which is beyond the course of nature." If, therefore, the rainbow was present before the flood, for what reason will it now be considered new and unusual? But their objection is false. For in Exodus, God says to Moses: ^D "And this shall be a sign for you that I will be with you." But that God should be with men and with Moses is nothing new. Others say: "Perhaps the bow signifies other things, that is, the relaxation and intensity of earthly things; that the relaxation should not descend into a total loosening and discordance, nor the intensity be stretched until a rupture occurs, but that both must be balanced by measured limits." For the great flood, they say, came to pass, as He Himself says, "The fountains of the abyss were broken open," but not by any [mere] intensification. Furthermore, they say, the bow is not a weapon, but a work—

piece of darting equipment inflicting wounds, which is cast into the distance, remaining safe and inviolate, the one who hurls it. Thus, therefore, not all shall be overwhelmed by the flood, although some are to experience that calamity. The bow is, as it were, a visible sign of the invisible power of God adhering to the air, governing [the air's] tension and relaxation in a certain way. ^B

Vers. 18, 19. *And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah.* It was necessary, I think, to pass over Ham now in silence, or to mention the children of the others as well. They say that Canaan was also wicked. Therefore, as he shows him to be like his father, he conveniently separates him from the piety for which the remaining brothers were distinguished. Although they were all by nature sons of Noah, in character he was not his son. Wherefore we see that those who possessed the same bodies and souls do not differ in regard to their customs. Moreover, it can be elicited from this text that Canaan was the first to see the nakedness of his father, or rather of his grandfather. He reported it to his father, making a laughingstock of the good old man. Yet it was for the father to rebuke his son, and not to approach the nakedness of his father impiously and impudently. He neglects this himself, and blabs to his brothers what had happened. But whence shall these things be confirmed? From the text. For the Scripture says: "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him." ^C Yet Ham was not the younger son, but the second. But since grandfathers usually call grandsons "sons," he called the youngest of the grandsons, Canaan, thus. Whence he immediately added: "Cursed be Canaan," and what follows. Some say that he spoke properly of the younger one in relation to Ham, for Japheth was the youngest.

But there are those who assert that these things are primarily said of Ham. Their opinion, however, has no strength.

How is it that Ham, being himself also wicked, did not share in the same curse? Because if it had been said to him, "A servant of servants he shall be to his brothers," his brothers would have participated in the servitude, just as the brothers of Canaan became servants according to the curse for which Canaan was enslaved. But some say that he called Ham "Canaan" on account of the Canaanites, who were to participate with him in the punishment. Others say that Canaan indeed received the curse, not being alien to his father's choice; but Ham, having sinned against his father, was cursed in his son, who was worthy of the stings of the curse also from his own wickedness. And he suffered more severely, being punished through his child; for greater than the things we suffer are those of our children [which result] in calamity. And especially when we know that we have been the leaders and teachers ^D to them of their evil schemes. And otherwise, Ham did not receive the curse primarily, having once been blessed by God together with his brothers. For even Adam, having the breath of God, did not hear "Cursed be thou," as Cain heard. But if

some object, saying that if God remembered Chanaan the fourth son, He immediately subjoined: "These three are the sons of Noah," surely He erred; for four, and not three, sons of Noah should have been mentioned. To this objection, the adversaries answer thus: Because the father and the son pursued the same endeavors, and were equally depraved, He deservedly connects ^A both, and speaks of them both as if they were one. Some think that the genealogy and offspring of Cham are rightly described now, so that it is signified that he, although he now had a son himself, showed no reverence to his father, as befits a son; hence it is not without reason that he is named the "younger," inasmuch as he, like some seditious person, set himself against his parent.

Nor should it seem absurd to anyone that He also mentions Chanaan. For since he was the author and founder of the Chanaanites, his ignobility is rebuked even then by the presage of the divine Spirit, inasmuch as his region was to be taken from his descendants and assigned to a pious people. But the question is, how he served his brothers. This is easily proved. For the Gabaonites, who were descended from the lineage of Chanaan, served in bondage. For they were made servants to the Israelites, whose author was Sem. Although, therefore, He now seems to invoke curses upon the grandson, yet He primarily devotes ^B his descendants, who were held to be worthy of those dire imprecations. For no one would easily say that Chanaan himself was a slave: nay, as is evident by the authority of Scripture, many peoples and nations have sprung from him as from a fountain. Nor, moreover, is it said that he suffered any danger: his descendants, the Chanaanites and Amorrhites and others who held Palestine, together with the Sodomites, on account of the malice conceived in their souls and the fatal crime of idolatry, are cursed by the provident God, so that being terrified by that example, they might remember that parents are to be treated reverently and piously. For Scripture very often speaks of one thing, and predicts another under the same words, as if hidden, as it is possible to see in that place where Jacob is thought to curse his son Ruben.

But from these circumstances the sin of Cham is amplified: he holds his parent in contempt; he blathers about how shamefully his father lay; and he does not announce it to one of his brothers, but to both: if more had been present, he would have exposed that act to everyone; the act seemed ridiculous to him, to whom it should not have seemed so at all; it was a deed worthy of shame and caution, lest his infamy spread to others; nor did he announce it to those who were members of the household, but even to outsiders. Whence it is likely that not only his brothers knew of the turpitude of the deed, but others also who were standing outside, both men and women. Scripture indeed, to reconcile ^C mercy to the righteous man, adduces a thousand excuses. But the principal excuse, whereby he obtains pardon, is when it is written: "Noah began to be a husbandman." For he did not know how much wine was to be consumed, nor how it was to be drunk. Nor did he have knowledge of the manner of diluting the wine. Nor did he know that wine when fermenting, and when it had already calmed down, should be drunk. With all these things neglected, the son neither [showed] faith

^A respected paternal rights, nor treated his parent with dignity; nor did the salvation of the community, which they had just obtained in the mystical ark, touch the heart of the impious son, even though his father had been the principal author of it. Nor did the consideration of the flood, by which impiety had been punished, repress his fierce spirit, so that he might at least therefrom learn to act more temperately, lest he suffer something more grievous. Wherefore, not without reason, one warns us thus, saying: *Do not glory in the ignominy of your father* (Eccli. III, 12). For glory and ignominy, honor and disgrace differ most widely. Hence that impudent despiser was reduced from liberty to a servile condition.

But the question can be raised, what cause impelled Noah, who by the power of wine had knowledge, so that he gave himself to drunkenness? Perhaps (to give an answer) he had drunk wine rather freely, in order to drive away the sadness and fear which he had received from that calamity: and thus he consoled himself somewhat with wine. However, although Noah lay—in a way not very cautious or modest—it did not happen in public; his own house beheld him naked. For it is not at all the way of a holy man to be naked outside his own house. But from the aforesaid, one can conjecture that he did not drink all the wine that had been set out, practicing moderation in the measure of wine he saw fit to permit. Truly, he is judged intemperate who does not depart from banquets before all the cups have been drained. Moses used the word "to be inebriated" to mean to burn with wine or to warm oneself with wine. For one is considered drunk in two ways: namely, either when he is delirious, and neither his mind nor his foot does its duty. Such drunkenness is not without fault, and is the greatest proof of sin. The other mode of drunkenness is when minds have been warmed by wine. And this drunkenness can also befall a wise man.

Moses, moreover, here uses an elegant comparison. For he compares Noah to Adam, recently formed and fashioned. For each is reported to have emerged, one from Paradise, the other from the ark. Each begins agriculture after the flood. I rightly say "flood." For in the first creation of the world, the earth was in a certain way covered and inundated by water. For had the waters not held the earth, there would have been no need for the command: *Let the water be gathered into one congregation, and let the dry land appear* (Gen. I, 9).

^C There is also an inquiry as to whether the vine existed even before the flood, or whether Noah was its inventor. Some solve this question thus: The vine indeed was in the world before the flood. But wine was unknown, of which Noah became the inventor. Hence it happened that the discoverer of wine was the first to experience drunkenness. If wine existed before the flood, how is it that it is not handed down in memory who had used it? Perhaps, not without divine providence, neither the use of meat nor of wine was practiced before the flood. For if, as Scripture teaches, the madness of those mortals was so great that they had to be tamed by waters: what would have happened if the use of meat and wine had been known? Certainly no one could have suppressed or restrained their ferocity.

However, by the force of the divine utterance which was brought forth in the beginning of things, namely: *Let the earth germinate*, etc., the vine also puted forth even now, when all things had been dissipated and taken away by the present inundation. He says elegantly: *There shall no longer be an inundation of water*, as if another calamity were reserved for fire, when the world shall burn. Now let us dwell a little on allegory. The husbandman Noah planted and prepared a most beautiful vineyard, namely his own people in Christ. Noah was the first to drink of the wine: thus Chris- ^D

of whom he was the type, suffered. Noah was intoxicated: thus Christ was perfected by His passion. Noah was stripped naked in his own house: thus Christ was crucified by the Jews. Ham is a type of the Jewish people, who mocked Christ hanging upon the cross: whom they deemed, when they did not perceive His divine nature, to be ^A contemptible according to human nature. For Isaiah says: "We saw him, and he had no form nor beauty." The other two peoples are the faithful, who preceded the law and who followed the law. And this people is indeed called Japhet, that is, "breadth." For God and the Father has revealed to us His Son, concerning whom that oracle is uttered: "May he dwell in the tabernacles of Shem." For the intermediate partition being broken down, the last ones were admixed and joined to the first, holding the same path of faith and virtue. But Christ adjudged the Jews to perpetual servitude, saying: "Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. But the slave does not remain in the house for ever. If therefore the Son has set you free from servitude, you are free indeed."

Some take these words, "May he dwell in the tabernacles of Shem," etc., not as referring to Japhet, but to God Himself who expands. Because even in blessing Shem, he spoke thus: "Blessed be the God of Shem." But he addressed ^B Shem in a certain special manner. For the Holy Spirit knew that this man would be faithful, and that Abraham and Christ according to the flesh would descend from his race. Wherefore he desires that Japhet also may dwell in his tabernacles. "And let Chanaan be his servant," etc. Do you see how Noah spoke those things with a prophetic mouth? For indeed Madian—that is, the Mede—whom Japhet begot, occupied the most beautiful tabernacles and buildings of Shem, to wit, Media, which is no small part of the land of the Persians. It is possible in this passage to understand the Roman Empire, which invaded the tabernacles of Shem and Chanaan. And thus the oracles of Noah, which he utters in the manner of a blessing, turned into a curse. For ^C the Jews have served the Persians and the Romans: and Chanaan is still subject to servitude.

CHAPTER X

VERS. 2. *The sons of Japhet: Gomer and Magog, and Madai and Javan, and Thubal, etc.* These held the region which begins from the Taurus and Ammianus mountains, and extends itself towards Asia as far as the Tanais, and in Europe as far as Gades. They, whose father was Cham, sat down in the region which runs from Libanus and the Ammianus mountains and Syria towards the south. They occupied all the maritime coasts as far as the western sea.

Here is the catalogue of the sons of Japhet: Gomer, from whom [are] the Galatians; Magog, from whom [are] the Scythians; ^D Madai, from whom [are] the Medes; Javan, from whom [is] Ionia; Elisa, from whom [are] the Aeolians; Thobel, from whom [are] the Iberians; Mosoch, from whom [are] the Cappadocians derived.

Catalogue of the sons of Cham: Chus, from whom [are] the Chusaean Ethiopians; Mestraim, from whom [are] the Mestracan Egyptians; Phut, from whom [are] the Phutaeans in Africa; Chanaan, from whom the Chanaanites, who are now called Palestinians, derive their origin.

^A Catalog of the sons of Chus: Sava, from whom [are] the Sabaeans, a people of Ethiopia; Evila, from whom [are] the Getuli; Regma, from whom [is] Rame; Sabatha, from whom [are] the Astabaei; Sebacatha, from whom [are] the Sebachtheni; Judadan, from whom the Judadaean Ethiopians were created.

Below, where he composes the genealogy of those who come from Sem, he mentions another, Mosoch. These things which are handed down here must be carefully observed. They will greatly assist those who are about to read the prophets. For from this it will become known which part of the world, whether eastern or western, each person denominates according to his own language. He now explains what followed after. For it was at the construction of the Babylonian tower that diverse languages arose. There is also another Evila who boasts that Sem is his father.

^B Nimroth, who was a strong hunter and a giant before the Lord. Josephus relates that he became the author of the building of the tower, and the leader of those who attempted to raise that structure to heaven. He founded Nineveh. There is also in Arabia a city of the Jews called Nineveh. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon. From this, it is discovered that the seed of Cham, who had received the curse of slavery, was the first to rule over the land which Sem, having been blessed, had received under Noe. For this reason too, the divine Scripture calls Nimroth a giant, as one rising up against God and daring the works of a giant, and tyrannizing with such individual power that he prevailed over men, and this in a land which in no way belonged to him. For it is clear that, the portions having been openly allotted to each of the brothers, Nimroth from Cham is found reigning in the foreign land of Sem.

^C “And the Samaraean.” From these it is evident that the Samaraean was a son of Chanaan. For it says: “Chanaan begat Sidon his firstborn;” then, having named others, he adds: “And the Samaraean and the Amath,” from whom Samaria, the region of the Samaritans now in Palestine, has received its name. “Until you come to Gerara,” from which that region is now called Geraritica, situated above Daronia, distant 25 miles from Eleutheropolis toward the south. This was once the metropolis of the Philistines, in which kings were accustomed to reside. In the middle between the two deserts were situated Cades and Sur. Moreover, Sem did not exist without offspring, but for him also—the father of all the sons of Eber, who was the brother of Japhet the elder—sons were born, of whom the catalog is recorded here.

^D VERS. 21. To Sem himself also sons were born, the father of all the sons of Eber, the brother of Japhet the elder. Sons of Sem: Elam, from whom the Elymaeans, the most ancient of the Persians, descend; Assur, from whom the Assyrians draw their origin; Arphaxad, whom the Chaldaeans acknowledge as the author of their race; Aram, from whom the Syrians were born. Below he also relates that Camuel is the father of the Syrians; Lud, from whom the Lydians are descended in a long series of lineage. These inhabited regions, the location of which is from Asei and the Euphrates in the eastern parts, and they extend as far as the Indian Ocean.

The question is raised here: in what way is Japhet called the elder brother? Perhaps the reason is similar, according to the

than James the Major was held to be Esau, although in respect of time, he had been born the younger. And in this manner Japhet is considered the elder on account of the mystery of the nations, whose father Japhet is found to be older than Sem the Hebrew. Nor is he, as someone might perhaps suspect, of the same name as the last of the sons of Japhet. For among the Hebrews, they are not written with the same letters. Scripture says: ^A “Father of all the sons of Eber, brother of Japhet,” namely the brother of the elder Japhet. Whence one might conjecture that Japhet was the first son of Noah. As for what is said: “He knew what the younger son did to him,” etc., it is gathered that Cham was the youngest by birth among the sons of Noah. The sons of Aram are Jael, Gather, and Mosoch, who is also Uz, by whom Damascus was founded and Trachonitis occupied. The sons of Jactan inhabited the region of India, which is separated by the river Cophen, and the Syria bordering or adjacent to India. Hadora is a town of Arabia. Joab, etc. Therefore, as it appears, he held the name of his ancestors, namely Sem, and had it in common with the nation and lineage of Cham. “A Massa, etc.,” is a region of India, which is called by this name.

CAP. XI.

VERS. 7. Age, let us descend. These words are referred to the Son and the Holy Spirit, and not to the angels. For angels cannot create anything, but are creatures. It belongs to the Creator to form new languages. For He brought man, instructed with the faculty of speech, into the world, just as Job teaches. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to change languages, as we learn from the example of the apostles, to whom He offered the gift of languages under the appearance of fire. With a certain emphasis it is said: “Come.” For here the three persons of the holy Trinity are shown to us, just as also above, where it is handed down: “Let us make man.” But observe diligently how much sin harms the human race. It stripped us of immortality through Adam. It snatched from us through the flood the Holy Spirit, ^C lest My Spirit remain in them; but now He has divided the languages to all as well; not because God feared their unanimity, nor ^D of the son of Cush the Ethiopian, from whom Assur has been born. His kingdom was in Orech, and in Arphal, and Calane. And he waters Thiras, and Thobel, and Loxon in the land of the Assyrians. The children of the Greeks say that this is the Zoroaster who, having pressed on to the eastern regions, became the founder of the Bactrians. From thence the lawless things concerning the earth have been distributed. For this man has become the inventor of evil doctrine, of astrology, and of magic, as some say concerning this Zoroaster. But as the accuracy of the record contains, he was of the time of Nimrod the giant. And both, Nimrod and Zoroaster, are not separated by much in time. Epiph. in Adversus Haereses, Book I, p. 7.

^A of the tower, climbing to such a height, which was impossible, even if they were demonstrating their own preference. But out of love for mankind, He restrained them, as they were laboring in vain; and at the same time He wished that the whole earth should be inhabited, while those who spoke the same language were always staying together.

Some say that they did not wish to build the tower with the intention of ascending to heaven, but that they wanted simply to make a name for themselves and leave a memorial through great works. Therefore they say: "And let us make for ourselves a name before we are scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." For they knew that they would be scattered, as God had made this absolutely clear to them... even if they, seeking delay, were finding other excuses from time to time, such as that of building the tower. Others say that on account of the flood that had recently occurred, they suspected that another one might come to pass; hence they used bitumen as being better able to withstand water. This occurred in some part of the region of the Euphrates, as Phlegon and Herodotus relate. God, therefore, cut them off from the very root of such future offenses, that they might not attempt such impossible and at the same time useless tasks in vain. For He says: "And now anything they propose to do will not be withheld from them."

See the love for mankind; for He did not immediately proceed to divide the language, but as one about to exact an account in a court of justice, He puts forward His defense, saying: "Behold, one lip, and this they have begun to do." That is to say, let no one find fault with the division that resulted from this. For because they did not use their unity of voice for a good purpose, I have used the diversity for a good purpose; training us to make a defense to one another, even if we happen to have been wronged in the greatest matters, taking the Master as our example, who makes a defense to His servants.

Now, the statement "they came down" is spoken in a more human manner. For He who is incorporeal and fills all things, what manner of descent does He have? Even if some do strongly assume that the operation of God was a "descent" in order that they might know who did the work and for what purpose He did it, and that they might not think it happened by chance.

According to those who say that they did not intend to ascend to heaven, the phrase "unto the height of heaven" is simply an emphatic expression, according to the habit of Scripture. For regarding those who sail, David says: "They mount up to the heavens, and they go down to the depths." ^{B C} According to their languages. And yet, the construction of the tower and the division of the languages had not yet taken place; but Moses, the writer of these things, being of a time much later than these events, speaks through anticipation of the things that happened after. Nevertheless, it is possible from many places in Scripture to ^D

conjecture—and especially from the book of Joshua—that the divine Scriptures of the Old Testament were collected by the Holy Spirit by one of the more recent prophets, as they say, by Ezra the scribe. For in Joshua, when he recounts the divisions and the cities cast by lot and assigned to the tribe of Ephraim, the collector of the books of the Old Testament notes that the sons of Ephraim were not able to level certain cities to the ground, but that they remained unharmed until the times of the Egyptian King Pharaoh, who, coming with his forces against the kings of Israel, captured those cities. And again in the book of Judges, in the narrative of the tribe of Dan concerning Micah and his idol, it is noted there that those who were of the tribe of Dan continued to offer divine honors to that idol until the Babylonian transmigration. ^A

Vers. 12. And he begat Arpachsad.

Vers. 14. And he lived 130 years, etc.

Vers. 18. And he lived Phalec 130 years, etc.

Vers. 26. Tharah begat Abram and Nahor and Haran, etc.

^A in the seventieth year, but only when it was perfectly completed. Nor did Abraham arrive immediately when that year reached its end; rather, he was born long after in the later years of Tharah. Nor does Moses record Abraham in order to count him among the firstborn; but he mentions him as the first and principal one, and the most celebrated of his sons, who was indeed necessary above all for the telling of this history. There are those who have recorded that Tharah was the first to fashion statues and idols, trusting in the potter’s art using clay. That age was brought down to the twentieth generation, ^B and in such a great span of time, no one had been found who had died by natural death before his own parents. Therefore, that man justly lost the son who had invented an art contrary to God. Wherefore the Scripture holds, so that it might clearly signify the divine retribution: "And Arran died before Tharah his father in the land of his nativity" (Gen. XI, 28). And the name of the wife of Nahor was Melcha, etc. As we ponder this matter more deeply, we find that Melcha was the sister of Loth, and was married to Nahor, the brother of Abraham and Arran. For Sara was also the daughter of Arran, and sister of Melcha and Loth, as Josephus writes in the first book of his Antiquities. ^C For this reason, Abraham everywhere calls her his sister. She was his sister, however, not by his mother, but by his father. Similarly, it is the custom of Scripture to embrace kinsmen and blood relations under the name of "brother," just as grandsons are contained under the name of "sons." From this, one may surely understand that Arran preceded Abraham and Nahor in the number of his years. Although in the sequence of the narrative Abraham is placed in the first position, it does not happen that on that account he is to be considered the elder. That was a tribute to the honor of the patriarch.

Verse 31. And Tharah took Abram his son, and Loth the son of Arran, his son's son, etc.

is Jesus Nave. And the days of Thara in Charran were 205 years and he died, etc. He did not remain in Charran for 205 years, but spent the course of his life, which consisted of as many years, in that place.

CAPUT XII.

^A VERS. 5, 6. *And every soul, which they had acquired there, etc.* These were the two alone, Lot and Abram. For Nahor and those who were begotten of him remained in Charran. *Unto the place of Sichem, etc.* Sichem, Sicima, and Selom are in the suburbs of Neapolis. *From the east of Bethel,* etc. Bethel was previously called Namaus. If one travels from Jerusalem towards Neapolis, it is situated at the twelfth milestone to the right. The same city is also called Luza; it is counted among those towns which pertain to the tribe of Benjamin. There is the desert; it looks toward the east, and is not far from Bethel. Where God once appeared to Jacob. Hai, etc. That place is now desert, and is situated near Bethel toward the west.

VERS. 13. *Say, therefore, that thou art my sister.* It did not happen without divine Providence that Abraham was in fear, that he gave such instructions to Sara, and that Sara was taken from him. Thus He instructed Pharaoh, while avenging the just man and bestowing benefits upon him, that he might, together with ^B the nations, acknowledge God. At the same time, as is His custom, He indicates through a type what things were destined to befall his seed in that place.

VERS. 17. *And the Lord struck Pharaoh with great plagues.* It is sufficiently evident that God inflicted punishments before Sara could be touched by Pharaoh. For if He avenges an injury inflicted upon a just man, much more did He preserve her whole and undefiled. He allows Abraham to be tried by fear, so that having later received the offered help, he might both perceive it and accept it, and that He might render the just man more expert and ready in faith.

It will be worth the effort, now repeating these things, to explain the allegorical sense. ^C For God does not command Abraham to leave his people rashly; but because He had noticed in him something which He deemed worthy that that man should be placed under His own care, that is, faith, on account of which it was not right that he should any longer lead a life among idolaters, lest indeed he might suffer some damage, being still a novice in the faith, from impious conversation. Hence also the Saviour says: *If any man would come after me, and does not hate his father, and brothers and sisters, wife and children, he cannot be my disciple.* Nor does He seek that we should pursue human nature with hatred; but He wishes us to hate whatsoever can stand in our way, hindering us from hastening along the path toward the attainment of virtue. Wherefore the disciples say: *Behold, we have left all and followed thee.* Moreover, you would not say that anything of those things which are commanded to ^D Abraham by the divine voice is human. For he who commits sin is of the devil, and has him as a father, and a kindred constructed from him; from which He draws and leads out the just man, calling the earth itself a kindred (for it contains nothing divine). In order that, having thus put off the image of the earthly, he may take on the image of the heavenly; and He commands him to come into the land which God will show him—not a visible one, even if for the sake of a symbol this also…

has come about. For the land of Canaan is in a certain way a type of the invisible land, that is, of the kingdom of heaven: "For hope that is seen is not hope." ^B

Nor was He content to have said, "I will bless you," etc., but He adds: "And you shall be blessed," that is, worthy to have a blessing because of your outstanding excellence and growth in perfect virtue. He illuminates with a blessing those who bless him, and this not by the mere utterance of words, but by predestination and election, just as Abraham himself was predestinated and elected unto salvation. Those who curse such a man, He similarly subjects to a curse from the contrary, excluding them, that is, from predestination and election, so that they are driven from the kingdom of heaven. But that we may see this having occurred by a manifest example of Scripture, observe what follows. As many as received Abraham with a willing and kindly spirit obtained a blessing. The opposite befell those who pursued the opposite course, and they were subjected to a curse, as can be seen in the case of Abimelech. And what is said in Leviticus about the son of the Egyptian woman and the Israelitess who cursed an Israelite does not differ much from this passage: "Bring out the one who cursed outside the camp, and let the whole congregation stone him." 36 Therefore Paul teaches 37 that neither will those who curse inherit the kingdom of God by hereditary right. These things can be preached regarding invisible virtues, with the holy angels blessing the righteous man, but the devil with his apostate spirits cursing the righteous man. Wherefore the latter are prostrated by an exsecration. ^C Another thing also which the words of God contain is excellent, when He promises that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. For these, too, will cease to be tribes or families of the earth, when they are changed and begin living another life, moved by the example of holy Abraham. Although not all turn their minds to this life, the good and the pious will suffer no loss. Those who will disdain this life, which Abraham pursued in this age, separate themselves from eternal beatitude. This passage can also be accommodated to those who are to grasp the Christian faith from among the nations, leaving their own country, kin, and father's house, since they are now children of Abraham, who did likewise.

^D As to what is said, "I will make your name great," etc., we find this to have been fulfilled when God says: "I am your God." Then: "The God of Abraham." But a noble testimony to the patriarch's obedience is that he was obedient to the word, and departed from his country, leaving behind no remnants of his own in Charran. Loth is also to be commended, who gave himself as a companion to Abraham. He leads away with him riches, not to be a slave to them (since he did not refrain from sparing his only-begotten son when he heard the divine oracle), but to use them for necessary things. As for what is said, "The souls which they had made," etc., he understands his servants, of whose work and ministry he made use. For no one, as it is said, is slothful and idle in the house of the wise man. But he who had only just set foot in this region necessarily traverses its length so as to discover the form of the region. It is likely that Abraham also traversed its width, that he might know

know the height of divine things, as Paul also says in the Epistle to the Ephesians: “What is the breadth and length and depth and height.” He therefore scrutinized all these things, being testified of regarding the others from the greater. ^B

He comes to the place of Shechem, where there was the spring at which Christ sat, wearied by the toil of his journey; which plausibly suggests that from that greater engagement with theology, which is signified by the length, he came also to the discourse concerning the incarnation, according to the words spoken by Jesus: “Abraham desired to see my day; and he saw it and was glad.” But God was seen by Abraham, though He is invisible; for “no one has seen God at any time,” as the Gospel says. And Paul: “Whom no one of men has seen,” namely with the eyes, in the pure mind, just as intelligible things are seen; for it is not said that Abraham saw God, for the thing is by nature unattainable from birth. But this is of the philanthropy of God; for Isaiah says: “I saw God sitting.” But we are instructed from the things said to Abraham that it is God who gives Himself to be understood. For to see is also to understand, as Paul says: “For His invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” And Moses says: “I know you,” which he knew to be invisible by nature; and among sensible things, seeing first, then from the impression of the senses upon the mind we understand them; but intelligible things offer themselves to understanding, the mind not having performed any prior act other than its own purity; and sometimes discovery of God comes from the creations; for from the beauty of the creatures, the Creator of them is understood proportionately by the work, as is clear from the Hexaemeron, the name of the Lord being used in legislation. For contemplating the world, he knew the Maker, condemning the polytheistic error which his father had handed down to him. And consequently God gives Himself to him for understanding, by the education from hearing, “Go out from your land.” But hearing is the assent or persuasion of the things presented; but by the eye must be understood the apprehension and certainty that comes after progress; for the same things are known differently by one who is more of a beginner and by one who is progressing, and from the understanding, to one who is progressing, He promises, “And to your seed I will give the land.” Concerning which it has been said: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” ^C that is, also the heavenly [earth], which is the most perfect knowledge of God; this the righteous shall inherit and shall dwell forever upon it. He calls the child “seed”; for where there is a child, there is also seed; but not necessarily the reverse. So also in those things concerning the soul; so in the Psalms it says: “Seed of Abraham his servants, sons of Jacob his chosen ones,” but not conversely, as Paul says: “For not all who are of Israel are children of Abraham.” ^D

neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children.” ^A

Abraham, moreover, in order to declare the gratitude of his soul, brought to the altar sacrifices that were pleasing and acceptable to God. Truly, that altar was set up by him who followed the One calling him, and who was making incredible progress in true religion. But wishing to receive an even greater increase in religion, he withdrew from there to the mountain which was situated to the east of Bethel. Now Bethel, if one interprets the word, signifies the "house of God." This place, along with many others, resonates with that which is held in the Canticles: “My kinsman is like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bethel.” For there are many mountains and hills in the house of God, as is clear from that saying: “Behold he comes, leaping over the mountains, and jumping over the hills.” ^B Indeed, in true religion, if anyone wishes to consistently ascend to higher mysteries, it is possible: for we can climb a hill, and having progressed from the hill, overcome the highest mountain; there is also the power to move from plainer and lower places to higher mountains. Eleganter, the situation of this mountain is described as leaning toward the east. For it is illuminated from every side by the light of the sun, and from every side it shines clearly by the operation of various virtues. There are those who maintain that the mountain is Him who incarnated the Word; others opine that the Church is meant by this name. The saint therefore comes, led by the hand of God, and shining with clear light from the eastern tract of the house of God. We may also call the various institutions of religion, by which he came instructed and fixed the tabernacle ^C which he used for the progress of piety, the "east." For this versatile tabernacle holds the significance of one who is always progressing in religion. The house of God, indeed, remains solid and stable, and is not moved from its place. For so the Holy Scripture holds: “I will pass into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God.” Those who have approached this find blessedness, as the Psalm says: “Blessed are all who dwell in your house.” This testimony is uttered not of pilgrims, but of citizens and true inhabitants. For that testimony signifies a holy and pious life, although Abraham had not yet come to perfection at that time, but awaited it. For his name is only changed afterward, so that it may be a sign of perfection in a certain way. ^D

^A For the great feast is the perfection of virtue.

VERS. 7. And he built there an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord, etc. Either he inscribed that altar to the Lord, or he used more words by design, in order to show that Abraham had adored the Lord in spirit and in truth, and that he had obtained virtues through the gift of the highest and most perfect Good, which powers he also exercised in his life with God providing them. Hence, having taken up his tabernacle, he migrated to another place, and encamped in the desert, etc. For even if someone is perfect, he can never completely escape his enemies. ^B "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood." He does not say, It was not, but, "It is not." Therefore, it is the mark of a perfect man to wage war with enemies. And it is well written, "He extended his tabernacle in the desert." For the Savior also is tempted in the desert. For there, indeed, temptations usually rage most, because those who dwell there are, for the most part, destitute of the help of other mortals, from whose custom they have set themselves apart; for brother helped by brother is as a fortified city. ^C The soul that falls into temptation sees itself deserted by all, with God procuring this by his providence, not without cause. For if the outcome were revealed to mortals beforehand, that they would be victorious, that which is accomplished would not be significant. But it is shown to them again that God also fights on their side, so that they may not fall into despair even in such a state.

VERS. 10. There was, he says, a famine upon the land, etc. By this he means a spiritual famine which had gripped Abraham as he was being tempted. For he who lacks the bread that comes down from heaven ceases not to depart toward vices, as one exiled far from virtue—his true land. He assumes another habit which vices provide, which follow the scepters and auspices of the adversaries. ^D The opposing powers, having caught sight of his past virtue, hasten to their prince and explain the whole matter in order; nor do they stop until they have subjected the man to themselves and infused their own seed, so that a progeny fertile for the devil may be born from him. They induce an oblivion of previous virtue, and make him secure about the future; they try to enrich him with earthly things, with which, as with flatteries, they entice him and attach him to their dominion. But God alone is he who is able to save. "And the Lord struck Pharaoh with great and dangerous plagues," etc. By which deed, indeed, using it as an aid, Abraham fled the servitude which he was suffering under him. He would not have escaped this had he not left Egypt and returned to the earlier region which God had offered him, from which he had departed when he set out for Egypt. For in this way...

they say he departed ^A unto the imperfect as a perfect man, so that they might be benefited; he held virtue not as if it belonged to him by exclusive right, but as he was showing it to all, descending as a brother, so that once they had seen it, they might be able to love it.

Observe, they say, that the princes saw it; for among the ranks of those interpreted allegorically, there are some Egyptians who are purer, who also possess a great aptitude for contemplating virtue. These were not content merely with seeing it, but they also introduced it to the reason that governs them, along with praising it. And as regards history, it is appropriately fitted to the pleasure-seeking of the Egyptians; for, thinking that among the Egyptians there were some who would spare him, Abraham reasoned that, so they might not appear to be adulterers, they would murder him; hence he took his wife around as his sister, so that they would not snatch her away, as if he had escaped his fate by invoking the name of sisterhood.

^B The Syrian, they say, speaks thus: "He called upon the name of the Lord," that is, he invoked the land by the name of the Lord, since from then on it was the inheritance of God. For it had been said to him in Shechem: "To your seed I will give this land." And having come between Bethel and Ai, having made an altar, he invoked the land by the name of the Lord; just as Seth hoped to be called, he says not to pray, but to be called [and] named a man of God. But why did God appear to him first in Shechem? Because, they say, that place is the middle of the inheritance.

It is inquired, they say, whether Pharaoh had intercourse with Sarah, and on account of this gave gifts to Abraham; but if he did not have intercourse, why does Scripture not say so? Therefore, from the case of Abimelech it is possible to see that God did not permit it. For He who later did not permit it would not have allowed it the first time; but Scripture, while omitting many things in many places, ^C takes them up again in others. But why did He afflict Pharaoh, and not Abimelech, unless perhaps as one who had done something? And yet He did not blame Abimelech as one who had sinned, but hindered him from sinning. But Pharaoh was a sinner, and for this reason he was afflicted, so that Abraham might appear just, and that he himself might be known through Abraham. But Abimelech was just, as he himself also says: "Will you destroy a righteous nation?" And God Himself bears witness, and Abraham says: "For I said, Perhaps there is no fear of God in these places." And yet if he had known in the case of Pharaoh that there was a fear of God, how would he have brought this up in the case of Abimelech? Then God says to Abimelech: "Do not touch the wife of the righteous man and prophet; if not, you shall surely die." But if He destroyed Abimelech, who had [only] touched her, He would have certainly destroyed Pharaoh as well; why then did He afflict his household as well? Perhaps both them, as being sinners.

and had apprehended in Pharaoh, for what reason now is this transferred to Abimelech? Then God addresses Abimelech thus: "Thou shalt not touch the wife of this just man and prophet. If thou shalt touch her, thou shalt die the death." If Abimelech could not have escaped capital punishment if he had laid hands on the wife of Abraham, certainly Pharaoh would have had to be visited with death. How is it, then, that his ministers and servants are overwhelmed with calamities? Either because they themselves were infamous for sins, or because they had praised that woman with the highest encomiums before Pharaoh and had been the authors of Sarah being taken for the king.

Chapter XIII

VERS. 7. And there was strife between the herdsmen. The distinguished patience and fortitude of Abraham shine forth in this place. For he who had been saved by him, to whom so many good things had been extended through his benefit, ought to have yielded to Abraham and gravely rebuked his own herdsmen; but what happens? Abraham grants him the choice. Trusting in this, he chooses the more fertile places: the desolate and uncultivated ones, if you compare them to those, he leaves to Abraham. Does he not therefore show a philosophical spirit, since he bears the loss and contempt of himself so bravely and familiarly? ^B Although the opportunity of choosing had been given to Lot, and he added the better parts to his own domain, he nevertheless (which I consider is to be observed) gained no utility from that choice; but he who took possession of the remainder obtained a blessing.

VERS. 13. [1-4]. But the men of Sodom were very wicked. In other places, some say, we have observed what the difference is between the wicked and sinners, just as also in this passage: "Break the arm of the sinner and the wicked." But if we wish to examine the matter more deeply, we will find the wicked to be those who commit evils of their own accord and voluntarily. But sinners differ from these. For there are sinners who do not sin by will, but are drawn into error by pleasure and weakness. But it is to be observed that the wicked and sinners are accused more if they are wicked and sinners ^C in the sight of God. If "very" is added to these, as can be seen in this place, they are to be blamed more, just as the Deity acts with these, of whom the discourse now is.

Chapter XIV

VERS. 5. And the Zuzim in Ham. [In the city of Saba, the Septuagint interpreters read]. Saba is the town of the blessed Job, situated above Bethania. There are also two other villages of this name between Adara and Biblupolis. One is distant from the other fourteen miles. Seir is a mountain in the region of Edom. There he had his seat, specifically in Gebalena, Seir, from whose hirsute body the region found its name. Pharan is now a town above Arabia ^D facing the south: it is three days' journey distant from Aela towards the south. By this way the Israelites traveled, having departed from Mount Sinai. It is also conterminous with the Saracens dwelling in the desert, where Ishmael also dwelt. Cades is a city extending itself as far as Petra of Arabia, where Maria, the sister of Moses, died.

VARIAE LECTIONES. [See apparatus in scan]

^A *“And there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew.”* In place of this, the Septuagint has: *“To him who dwelt beyond the river.”* For having related the things that occurred beyond the Jordan, he then calls Abraham “the Hebrew,” as one who dwelt beyond the Jordan. He adds: *“And he dwelt by the oak of Mambre,”* showing why he called him the “Hebrew.” *“And he pursued after them unto Dan.”* Even now there is a village called Dan, distant some fourteen miles from Paneas on the road toward Tyre, which was also the border of Judea; from there the Jordan also flows out.

Verse 18. Melchisedech King of Salem.

If, however, those bold men are so confident because of the interpretation of names, it would follow by similar reasoning that the kings who reigned over Juda and Israel were not men, but angels, although the greater number of them were wicked and impious. For “Israel,” if you explain the word, indicates a “mind that sees God”; “Juda,” if you interpret that name, signifies “praise” or “hymn.” For God alone rules the mind that contemplates God and praise. Therefore, as the preceding arguments compel, according to their reasoning, the earthly or Israelite kings would be called not men, but angels or the Holy Spirit, although most of them were most wicked. ^D Furthermore, Jerusalem, if one seeks the meaning of its name, is rendered: “higher than death,” or “vision of peace.” Why, then, did he not rather look to Christ, who is our peace, through whom we have also known the Father, through whom we have been brought into the faith, He who made both things one? How is it that the “higher than death” has perished? And how is it that Israel has not seen Christ, through whom we have known even the Father Himself? And how is it that Melchisedech is the priest of God in the Holy Spirit, which is proper to a creature? For if he is a servant, he will praise God together with the angels: *“Praise the Lord, all His angels, ye ministers of His.”*

he recorded as being a priest of God? For to be a priest befits a creature. ^B If the Holy Spirit is a servant and a certain minister, he will surely praise God together with the angels, since it is handed down: *“Praise the Lord, all His angels, His ministers, who do His will.”* Furthermore, since it is the role of the Holy Spirit to sanctify, according to their way of thinking he is sanctified together with us. For he will not be able to sanctify himself. For that which sanctifies is more powerful than that which is sanctified. How, therefore, will the Spirit be God any longer, if he is sanctified by another? But as for the fact that the Son, namely Christ, is called a priest, understand him to be a priest according to his humanity. Hence he is also called Prophet and Apostle.

The adversaries object: “The Holy Spirit mapped out beforehand, by himself, the priesthood that was at some time to exist in honor of the Son.” What, then, of Aaron? Did he not also bear a type of Christ? What of Cyrus, king of the Persians? What of Joshua the son of Josedec? What of Zerubbabel? What, finally, of Moses, who in his own time, pointing out Christ, ^C says: *“The Lord will raise up a prophet for you, like me”*? Why, moreover, was Joshua son of Nun not [the type], he who led the Israelite forces across the Jordan and, bringing them into the Promised Land, first circumcised them with knives of stone? For in Christ we have been baptized and circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, but performed by the Spirit; and we have succeeded to the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. And those who have said that Melchizedek was an angel adduce these arguments: For Scripture declares him to be without father and without mother. Furthermore, if that which is greater blesses that which is less, what reasoning allows that Melchizedek, if he was a man, blessed Abraham, such a great man? And indeed, if, as they themselves confess, Melchizedek is a type of Christ, why do they not contemplate the quality of the things [themselves], and instead scrutinize the manner of the priesthood? For what absurdity is committed if Melchizedek follows Abraham with a blessing, even though he might have been lesser than Abraham? The order of generation is not looked upon here; rather, the mind of those who do this is weighed, as though shadowed by delineations of this kind. For if the argument of the adversaries is firm, then surely the ram by whose sacrifice Aaron is consecrated will be more precious than Aaron himself. Hence, in this place, I consider that what blesses is to be taken from the figure and type, not from the nature of the thing. But how will it correspond to an angel: *“Having neither beginning of days nor end of life”*, etc.? Paul accepts this as a type of Christ in another way. Hence he seeks the type, and clearly places it where it is said: *“King of righteousness and peace.”* ^D For in Christ we are justified, having cast off the burden of sin. In this we are reconciled to God the Father, whom Christ renders peaceful to us. But that he bestows a blessing upon Abraham is a sign that his priesthood excelled the Levitical priesthood. For we too are blessed by the true Christ, when we have overcome the princes of this age through spiritual warfare, not being too attached to worldly things, as those to whom God is everything: but despising all things compared to spiritual riches, which God will liberally bestow upon us. For Melchizedek blessed the triumphant Abraham—who even refused to accept anything from that immense booty—in his own possession.

^A And Melchisedech indeed blesses Abraham, saying: "Blessed be God the Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands." But our Lord Jesus Christ, our propitiation for all, says: "Holy Father, keep them in your truth." From this, Paul took the silence in Scripture regarding the time and lineage, as a symbol of true realities; and he shows that the change of the law and of the priesthood itself was foretold; which the Jews, thinking impossible, gainsaid regarding the preaching about Christ. And he shows the legal worship and the polity signified through Levi, who was in power in the loins of Abraham, and who was blessed and came to a better state through Christ, of whom Melchisedech was a type. Some say that the sensory war which Abraham waged was against the Persians. ^B But the patriarch did not consent to take anything from the king of Sodom, according to: "But let not the oil of a sinner grease my head." And otherwise, since he did not want a man to be considered the cause of the abundance of all things available to him, but God; wherefore, having accepted this, He immediately appears to him, and the seed that is to inherit wealth is promised to him from him according to the covenants. Symmachus translated *Ellasar* as Pontus; *Elam* as Scythians; and *Goiim* ("of the nations") as Pamphylia.

CHAPTER XV

VERS. 2. *This is Damascus Eliezer*, etc. The Syrian and Hebrew versions read: *Damascene Eliezer*, originating from Damascus. Some think this to be the faithful servant to whom he entrusted the care of all his domestic affairs.

VERS. 5. *So shall thy seed be*. Here the seed of the second testament is perhaps hinted at, which is compared to the stars of heaven. Because those who are to accept the second testament will live a pious life, and their future city will be heaven itself. Above, He demonstrated the seed of the old testament: and he likened it to the sand of the earth, because they follow the earthly worship of the law. It is the custom of God to indicate to Abraham through similitudes and types the things that were to come. Thus, through the things that happened in Egypt, He taught what would occur at His advent. Through the oblation of Isaac, He foreshadowed Himself as a victim, to be slain for the salvation of the whole world. He signified the ceremonies of the law through the animals and birds which He ordered to be slaughtered in this place. Abraham, therefore, had the power of both testaments ^D known and explored; and in particular, the type of Melchisedech contributed most to him for that matter.

VERS. 9. *Take me a heifer of three years old*. There are some who mention that Abraham vacillated a little in his faith at this point. For this reason, God immediately added: "Your seed will be a sojourner, etc." If, then, God spoke these things in anger, why does He make peace and a covenant with Abraham? Why are the sons punished for the curse which ought to have laid hold of the father himself? The response is that, they say, both Canaan and those from him of another who has sinned are cursed, and men are mortal on account of Adam.

It is not something new that has happened. For those who were born from Ham, even though he himself had sinned, were nonetheless subjected to punishments, bearing the curse. Similarly, the whole mortal race pays the penalties of the first parents. Is it not, therefore, fitting—if one must make a comparison—that while Abraham was exceedingly just, his descendants, even if they did not in all things follow the footsteps of their parent, should have been refreshed by a blessing? Nor was it fitting that Enoch be translated, or Elijah be caught up, although they were righteous; it was fitting for them to be afflicted because of the transgression of the primitive parents. It should not appear absurd, then, if those who are born of the righteous are repelled from salvation because they are unjust, while those born of the unjust obtain salvation, just as with proselytes. Therefore, let no one say that the faith of Abraham wavered; but because he had heard God saying: "Your seed shall inherit this land," he inquired as to the mode of the succession and the inheritance, namely, whether the nations would be driven out in one moment or gradually. But before all things, God prescribes the law to the patriarch in a few things. For the furnace represents fire; it is signified that God will accept sacrifices by fire sent down from heaven—not as if He had need of fire (for the fire did not consume everything), but He acts thus to instruct and educate us. Fire, if wood is not added, does not smoke, just as the sun is not darkened by smoke. But the sacrifice itself prefigured the legal victims which his descendants would offer. "Towards the setting of the sun, etc." Because it will not happen immediately, but with an interval of time intervening. He permits the affliction of the offspring of Abraham, so that at length, having been snatched from the storms of tribulations, they might more effectively acknowledge the Redeemer, and might also be known in the whole world because of the signs, by the intervention of which He released the Hebrews, the seed of Abraham, from Egyptian servitude. Abraham was stunned by the vision and feared, not as someone weak, but as someone perfect. "About the setting of the sun, etc." This passage insinuates how great a progress he made in religion. The time of the present life and condition passes away for him; a new progress of religion awaits him, which the blessing that anticipates him will grant. That ecstasy is not to be thought of as madness; rather, it is a kind of admiration, and a translation from visible things to invisible, as the Apostle argues: "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you." That dark fear is not a partaker of darkness, but of wisdom, and it is not common. Since that fear is indeed great, it is necessary that it be not presented to small men. Affined to this is also that which is said: "He made darkness His covering." For the contemplation and comprehension of supernatural and truly celestial dogmas produces not a little obscurity, even to learned and great men.

^C VERSE 17. *And a lamp of fire passed between those divisions, etc.* So that Abraham might contemplate those things which were being done. The lamps also signified certain greater things, which it behooved the patriarch to investigate. Nor was the fire seen for the first time when the covenant was being struck between God and Abram; the law also was promulgated through Moses by the intervention of fire. For since the law proposes rewards to the pious in the midst of fire, and establishes punishments for transgressors, the fire deservedly accompanied it, in order to portend that the impious are to be conflagrated, and to show us the light of the divine judgment.

^A For those who choose with certain judgment what is to be done, there is need of the illumination of God and of divine fear, which two things are manifested in this example, so that, to be sure, all things may be performed rightly. When the lamp passed through the divisions, the covenant of God was confirmed, saying: “To your seed I will give, etc.” It is elegantly added: “From the river even unto the river.” For the promise, which was extended to the seed of the holy patriarch, was virtue. This dwells between the rivers. Or it is signified: Tribulations will infest you, I say, you who will adhere to virtue. But you will stand firm, and as victors in the midst of the sea of tribulations. “And they will afflict them for four hundred years, etc.” The present passage does not conflict with that which we have in Exodus, where it is said: “After 430 years, the host of the Lord departed from Egypt.” For it is not written: “Having passed or completed 400 years, they departed,” but it is handed down thus: “After [x] years they departed from Egypt,” by which words thirty years can also be included. Furthermore, He judged the nation among whom the Hebrews served, by drowning them in the raging waters. But Scripture teaches that a great slaughter was brought upon the Egyptians. Therefore it is elicited from the preceding that, even if God burns us with the fire of tribulations for a time, yet all those things are done for a good end.

But it may be asked, why, when the Hebrews were servants in Egypt for only 215 years, it now reports or names 400 years? ^B To this question we proceed to meet the difficulty thus: In the land of Canaan, before the Hebrews entered Egypt, they were settlers and strangers, until, having left Egypt, they migrated in a body into the promised land, having ejected the ancient inhabitants of the land. For thus the royal Psalmist sings: “For when they were in number few and meager, and settlers or strangers in the land of Canaan and Egypt.” For in Exodus it says: Abraham, being 75 years old, migrated into the land of Canaan, and being 100 years old, he begot Isaac. Abraham, therefore, was a settler for certain years; and Isaac, being 60 years old, begot Jacob; and Jacob begets Levi when he was 87 years old; and Levi at 45 years old went down into Egypt. All the years spent in Canaan total 215. But the Apostle added 30, indicating both the things before the covenant which God made with Abraham, and the journey out of Egypt into the wilderness up to the giving of the Law, during the remaining time.

^D VERS. 16. *In the fourth generation, etc.* These, as some say, designate the time which was destined until the inhabitants of Palestine, after many and horrible crimes, should be struck by capital sentence. Or (which I judge more true) that time was as it were a boundary and limit, within which divine long-suffering wished to contain itself. For if that time were proposed to those impious peoples so that in it all malice might abundantly erupt, who would subsequently be punished with greater disasters, they would have been worthy of being punished even then, as those who had...

been cast out. ^A Abraham’s seed, and that the things which happened might become tokens. How then [is it said], "For not yet are the sins of the Amorites fulfilled until now"? It is to show that they are being cast out with good reason on account of their sins. For when He says, "He repented," He does not say this of what He Himself suffers—He does not suffer the same thing—but He represents the absurdity of what has occurred. And the angel who said to Balaam, "But if not, I would have killed you, but preserved the she-ass," did not wish to save the she-ass, but was seeking to strike fear into Balaam. Yet it is also possible that it is said as though the measure of sins had not yet been filled up. For there were righteous men in Palestine, Melchizedek the priest of God and many others; for he would not have been a priest and king in a simple sense if there were none who obeyed him. The phrase, therefore, "The sins of the Amorites are not yet fulfilled," means that a holy one had not yet ceased from among them; for ten righteous men save a city, and at that time there were not a few of them. It should be noted that a generation is 100 years. The fourth generation is reckoned after the death of Abraham, from Levi, who inhabited Egypt—Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses. But in Exodus he speaks of the fifth generation from Jacob. And well [it is said], "For they are not yet filled up," for as it says in Deuteronomy, "It is not because of your righteousness and the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the impiety of these nations the Lord your God will destroy them from before your face, and that He may establish the covenant which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." ^D On that day the Lord God made a covenant with Abraham, saying, "To your seed," etc. You see why the sacrifice preceded it, so that, as was the custom among the ancients, the covenant with Abraham might be established by an oath, as God was condescending to man's way and giving him assurance and proof. Therefore, since this was a custom among the Chaldeans, in that God alone had commanded it to be taken, He Himself added the rest. God, having appeared in the fire, passed through the midst; and the oath in its power was: "May it not happen to me as [it happened to] these." That this fulfilled the need for an oath, the divine Apostle has declared...

saying: "God promising to Abraham, when he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself," etc. ^A Moreover, it is worth observing by what testimonies Abraham was led to believe in God, and especially that he exhibited such faith, which was reckoned to him for righteousness. For the prophet teaches: "The just shall live by faith." And this faith, of which we now speak, is that which is first compared to a grain of mustard seed, and thus assumes such power that it can remove mountains. This faith is not recorded concerning anyone before Abraham, even if you examine all the holy books. ^B "But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace," etc. As the present words show, He incidentally foretold to Abraham also the end of his life. But if you consider the anagogical sense, you will understand that the wise man departs from life in peace. But one who is defiled by sins carries a troubled mind and confused reasonings. He who is pious and good, when he meets death, departs to parents like himself. Under these words, the immortality of the soul is also effectively announced. But not all fathers, if you look at the human race, are reported as his fathers and worthy of praise. He departs, however, to the approved in an honest and good old age. For many even of the wicked grow grey, and attain to aged old age.

^C VERS. 8. "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" These words are not those of one who had such faith in the Lord that that faith was reckoned to him for righteousness: one might object. But we answer this: he had sufficiently believed in the Lord before. But now he seeks some sure knowledge or some proof of those things which he had perceived by faith. That this is the case is sufficiently and evidently proven by what he immediately adds: "Take me a heifer of three years old." Some think that it is signified here: If you perform all things by which sin is restrained and put to flight, then at last you shall see and know what inheritance is to come to you. Others think it is no wonder if, at the beginning of his faith, he did not believe in all things, but doubted a little. For whom would not the magnitude and excellence ^D of the promise carry away, so to speak, off course? Namely, that he was to have a son; that his descendants would be a multitude as great as the stars. The Hebrew says that only those animals are mentioned here which, as victims, are placed upon the altar. Similarly, the Hebrew says that the Hebrew truth has [the word for] three years old or three-fold. For it indicates that three ages of land animals are offered according to the Scripture upon the altar; clearly in the case of the sheep and the goat: of the former, a ram, a sheep, and a lamb; of the latter, a goat, a young goat, and a kid; and in the case of the ox, you would name them proportionately. However, among the birds there are no differences in age; but the perfect turtle-dove must be offered upon the altar. And the pigeon is a fledgling of a pigeon; or perhaps these are symbols that the holy inheritance is to be obtained through the holy sacrifices, of which the ancients served in figure and shadow? In the Hebrew, however, there will be no mention of a pigeon at all; for the Hebrew for [the sacrificial] pigeon is *Ionah*; but what is written in the Hebrew book is [a term signifying] three years old, or threefold.

^A Yet, since it can also be said of another nestling of a bird, Aquila—as is expected—rendered it “pigeons,” though not quite honestly; but Theodotion, having said “a nestling of a pigeon,” avoided the ambiguity, and set down what was not placed in the Hebrew. Now that which is *Tobal*, ^A which admittedly denotes a nestling. But since a nestling also pertains to other birds, Aquila (as it appears) interpreted that name as a pigeon or a turtledove, although neither properly nor truly. But Theodotion set forth that word for a nestling of a pigeon, bringing to mind the avoidance of equivocation. He set down, therefore, certain things in his interpretation at this place, which the Hebrew text lacks.

We must not consider, as certain impious men babble, ^B that Abraham practiced at this place the illicit and condemned art of divination. Do you not perceive that all things are mixed and confounded, lest it should appear that what happened occurred by the observation of this or that thing? Nor does he appear to sacrifice and slaughter victims in the manner of those who inspect entrails, but he divides and dissects those animals. He believed quite abundantly, as it is shown, in God who said: “You shall beget sons; your seed shall be great and innumerable, and shall acquire by hereditary right the land of Canaan.” He sought, however, the mode and the time, not doubting at all concerning those things that were being said; but he desired to be instructed and taught openly concerning those things that were being promised. For he perceived clearly enough that if the race were to be propagated from himself alone, it would be a task requiring many years for that purpose, ^C and it would be necessary that the race be spread with an incredible increase if they were to possess that region, once the inhabitants were driven out. Wherefore, through the three animals, God shows three generations or ages, in which his descendants would serve a most grievous servitude, being afflicted with the greatest labors. For those animals have been attributed to us for servitude and food. The turtledove signifies the years in which they were to live in the desert, and eventually to return to the promised land, according to the habit of pigeons, which are accustomed to fly out and fly back again to their dovecotes. At the same time, it is predicted by what damages they were to be afflicted by the Egyptians and by what evils; and also, the incursions of all adversaries against them are premonished. ^D Yet, lest they perish entirely or despair, help is promised: for it will be that they shall be a care, and he himself will lead them out from all the ergastula and will assert them into liberty from that intolerable servitude. Just as Abraham was driving away the birds of prey, so God will ward off the enemies, lest they utterly extirpate you. But whence are these things learned? Namely, from that which he says: “Knowing, you shall know,” etc. Abraham attributed no faith to signs, as soothsayers are accustomed to do, but he believed God who was promising. Furthermore, God permitted that he should do those things. But those who follow the illicit art of divination do not imitate Abraham, though they may wish to defend themselves by his example: but they catch their divinations from external things and accidents happening from without. The things, however, that were about to happen to his descendants, he did not know from the inspection and consideration of the slaughter of those animals, just as the aruspices are accustomed to do. Therefore, let no one think that Abraham, having pursued signs, auguries, and entrails, understood the events that were to await his descendants. Insofar as it was lawful, he believed in them, yet he listened chiefly to the divine voice, as if those external things portended nothing sound. Nor are there wanting those who say that God granted it, because he was a Chaldean, that he should use such prestidigitations according to the custom of that nation. Wherefore, when he saw

as the carnivorous birds accustomed to feed on flesh, and thinking it signified something to him, he was struck with terror. But the oracle transferred the fear to his descendants. ^A Yet when he says, "Lord," etc., he effectively demonstrates that all things are subject and subordinate to divine command, and he also frankly confesses what had been troublesome to him from the beginning of those nuptials until that day. His husbandly soul was heavily burdened by the lack of children. His mental pain was exacerbated by wealth, for which there would be no successor from his own self. We must also understand the Egyptian river here by name; for it was called thus previously. The poet also signifies this by saying: And they stationed in the Egyptian river ships propelled by oars on both sides.

The Kenites lived near the Amalekites beyond the city of Petra, holding the adjacent places of Cydissus. The Kenizzites and Kadmonites were neighbors to Amana and Lebanon. ^B The Raphaim giants chose Hebron for their seat, and the Hittites were near them. The Perizzites lived in Palestine intermingled with the Canaanites. The Raphaim lived near Philadelphia, which is Ammon, in the surrounding region. The Amorites' habitation was near Bethel and extended across the Jordan as far as Philadelphia; these were ruled by King Seon. The Canaanites dwelt in Sidon and the places near to it. They lived scattered throughout the other parts of Palestine as well. Therefore, in this passage, when it names Canaanites, it specifically understands the Sidonians; for Sidon, the firstborn of Canaan, founded the city of Sidon by name. The Hivites held the region around Shechem in its breadth. The Girgashites had settled near Gadara and Gergesa, ^C the neighboring region and the wilderness which stretches out to the Lake of Tiberias. To the Jebusites had fallen Jebus, which is Jerusalem.

CAP. XVI.

^A Yet Sarah, a woman of wisdom and sanctity of life, when she had explored her own barrenness, deliberately avoided the embrace of her husband Abraham. But when it was certain that offspring was to be given to Abraham, so that it might come about in some way, she handed over her handmaid to her husband for concubinage, thinking that the son who would be born from that union would be common to her together with her husband, as she was his wife. One must observe the mind of the woman, prone toward her husband and not clouded by the jaundice of any envy. Meanwhile, Abraham is not to be defrauded of his own praise, because he did not attempt to approach the handmaid by his own authority, but awaited the command and instruction of his wife, whom he obeyed not burning with the fire of evil lust, but moved by a desire for offspring. Not after the manner of the intemperate, who out of negligence and hatred for their own wives consort more wantonly with handmaids, did he rush into the handmaid’s bed: rather, in regard to marital fidelity, he was more constant toward his wife at the time when he was joining himself in the embraces of the concubine. Furthermore, he tested his own fidelity to be even firmer when he was approaching the handmaid. For when he lay with the concubine, he had this end proposed: namely, that he might beget children. But he was so joined with his wife that, their minds being united, they were even one flesh by the power of divine love. ^B

Vers. 4. *And her mistress was despised,* etc. Opportuntely he called her mistress. For as soon as the relationship of mistress was noted, she was slighted by the handmaid in all things which had to be done. A prudent servant, however poor, is superior to an imprudent rich man, a neglected person to one who is glorious, an infirm person to a healthy one. For all these things, if they have prudence joined to them, in a wondrous way surpass their opposites. But where imprudence dwells, one sees only servile spirits who are subjected. The author does not report: "She treated her mistress with ignominy," but says: "And the mistress was despised and treated shamefully." He does not wish to accuse, but to demonstrate what happened.

Vers. 5. *I am wronged by thee,* etc. "By thee," she says, which does not equal "from thee," as some claim, as if she had said "from thee." For she does not accuse Abraham, to whom she rendered every reverence by calling him lord. But she thinks that a good man ought to be irreprehensible even toward his wife. That speech of Sarah's must be judged from the circumstance of the time. For immediately it is inferred: "Since I gave her to thee." ^C Abraham, sufficiently distinguished by wisdom and prudence, answers the indignant woman: "Behold, thy handmaid is." Behold, he cannot bear to call her either a woman or a bride, but designates her by a servile name, the one whom he had made pregnant. See how from the beginning he had received her without an affect of lust, but only with a desire for seeking offspring; now, not unwillingly, since his wife so wished, he separates himself from her consort. But Sarah expels from her house her who was already about to give birth for Abraham. For Hagar had fled, driven out by Sarah. For it does not appear in this type as though every soul willingly admits correction. But that soul which benignly admits correction is benevolently affected toward those who teach. But that which detests admonitions hates and flees the one who advises well, preferring bland words filled with adulation to useful ones. ^D

Vers. 7. *But the angel of the Lord found her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by that fountain, I say, which is on the way to Sur.* Hagar, being pregnant and having been somewhat exhausted by the trouble of the journey, rested there, that she might refresh her wearied strength. But the wilderness of Sur is that which faces Egypt. Through this, also, the Hebrews, having crossed the Red Sea, made their journey, as is evident in

about to be born of her; others, however, wishing it to be Christ, according to Isaiah, they say. And what angel speaks with such authority and blesses unto increase? God himself also shows this when speaking to Abraham concerning Ishmael: "Behold, I have blessed him," ^A declaring the blessing here. Others say that the angel did not speak his own words, but God’s, as the prophets did; whence she also called him God: "For she called," he says, "the name of the Lord who spoke to her, God has seen me." Clearly because of the Indweller; as if from the participation [of God] and the authority being granted, and because of the indwelling of God, those who partake are called gods; indeed, the angel speaking to Moses is also called [God]. "For," he says, "the angel of the Lord called him and said: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Therefore, as regards the ministry, these are the words of angels; but as regards the power, they are God’s. And Hagar is not an ordinary woman of the lowest station, since we see an angel deigning to speak to her; for it is likely that she was good. Otherwise, she would not have been given to Abraham by her mistress to live with. Her justice and fairness also become clear from her saying, "I am fleeing from Sarah, my mistress," and saying nothing evil about her. And how is the sincerity of her character not praiseworthy? For she confesses what she has suffered, that she has been struck by the presence—I mean the appearance of virtue and wisdom—and by the royal nature of the authority; for she cannot bear to look upon the height and greatness [of it], but she flees; for some flee not out of hatred for virtue, but out of reverence, judging themselves unworthy to live with their mistress. ^B

CHAPTER XVII.

And the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him: "Walk before me and be blameless"; either as one not yet blameless, or as one who is such, but always in need of working that which is blameless, so that he might always be blameless. But the phrase, "I will establish my covenant," [is] as a promise of a prize, and it is given to him who lives well before Him and becomes blameless. He adds also, "I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly." And why do they say, does God not multiply everyone who seems to be multiplied, but Abraham and those like him? It seems that one kind of multiplying is in our power, according to what is said, "Increase and multiply," but the other is from God, because of the words, "I will multiply you." And it is written, "God was increasing him." Multiplying a man means making many men; which is no wonder, for other nations have become populous. But [multiplying] Abraham meant making many Abrahams, as it were many Jacobs; according to the fact that holy children are to be born of them who will imitate both the works and the faith of their fathers; and by increasing him, he lifts him to greatness. ^{C D}

^A Having previously said, "Walk before me and be blameless," and having given promises upon this, by saying, "I will set my covenant between me and thee," he straightway gives it, accepting Abraham’s act of "falling upon his face," as if in this he were fulfilling the being blameless and walking before him. And again, as one who loves mankind, he gave himself to be seen by Abraham, deigning to be his God, saying, "I am thy God." For he is God of all in that he is the Creator of all, but of the holy he is God in a special sense, and he embraces their worship. And he speaks of the covenant with respect to the heir, for a son was coming into being who would walk blamelessly before him. And being astonished at the greatness of the promises, and that God should deign to be his God, he fell upon his face. And to him who fell to the ground he again confirms the covenant, as if arranging it with a beloved son, saying that he would be the father of spiritual nations—nations whom he would never separate from his care and providence. Even regarding the flesh, he was the father of many nations. For the Savior addresses the Jews in this way: "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." The name also is changed for him who is progressing, which indeed is not done rashly, but as an indication of progress toward better things, confirming the increments of virtue that he himself had begun. For then a person may truly confess that he has progressed if the testimony of a teacher draws near; but how much more is one to be considered to have progressed in religion if he is praised by God? ^B Yet he is not promoted to such increments of virtue without cause. For to him who lays the foundations of virtue, God adds the rest and leads the work to its end with a wondrous increase, according to that declaration: "Exceedingly, exceedingly." But the reason for such condescension and philanthropy is especially the economy of Christ, through whom God was about to make men gods. Therefore, he says, "And to thy seed after thee."

VERS. 8. Circumcidetis autem carnem praeputii vestri, et erit in signum foederis inter me et inter vos.

Let no one, therefore, think that circumcision is the covenant itself, but rather a sign and seal of the covenant, as the Apostle also teaches in the Epistle to the Galatians. What is that covenant? That he should be the God of Abraham and of his seed or descendants after him, as has been clearly set forth above. That covenant or testament, therefore, was as if confirmed and sealed with a seal; and it was permitted to no one to break or open it except to the only heir, who is Christ. For he, having given power to the testament by his own death, appeared as the heir and removed the seals, and manifested the mystic power of the testament, and has given it to all who desire it for their own transcription. As also the Apostle says to the Hebrews, that toward Abraham ^D

he demonstrated that the testament had as its written heir of God, namely, Christ. And in the Epistle to the Galatians it is written with great light thus: “Now this I say, that the testament that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.” He subjoins: “And my covenant shall be in your flesh,” etc. For the covenant of God is in the flesh of him who does not war according to the flesh, and in the flesh of him who always carries about the dying of Jesus in his body, as it will come to pass in the end. ^B

VERS. 14. And the uncircumcised man child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He pronounces that a male not circumcised must be cut off. But this seems strange. For the law punishes no crime committed without intent more violently. Indeed, it grants pardon to him who committed murder without intent. What sin or fault does an eight-day-old infant commit if it is not brought to circumcision? But the reference is therefore to be made to the parents, who are punished if they neglect the circumcision, or these things are said hyperbolically about the infant, so that it may appear how indignantly He bears it if infants are not circumcised: or, so that we may know that He will be inexorable to adults, if they have spurned circumcision. The Syrian does not have it in the passive, “shall be circumcised,” but reads thus: “Everyone who does not circumcise.” The Hebrew has it thus: “Everyone not circumcising.”

VERS. 16. I will bless her, and I will give thee a son also of her, etc. We read that this woman was the first to be blessed. Let us therefore use her as an example for exhorting women, that they may imitate her. But in order that Isaac might be holier, the mother along with the father obtains the blessing. That he might therefore be born lawfully and holy, he is born from both parents being blessed, of whom He says: “My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee,” the son of promise, as Paul teaches in the Epistle to the Galatians. Nor should it be passed over in silence here that he bears [the name] from the belly or womb. Hence his name is not changed afterward, as happened to Abram and Jacob, of whom the one is called Israel, and the other finally Abraham. “And kings of people shall be of him,” etc. How can this be attained from the historical sense? For from Esau indeed those who were procreated are recounted as dukes: but concerning him [Isaac] we read nothing, unless perhaps we are to understand the gentile kings, who were noted as having ruled the Idumeans. ^C

VERS. 19. God said to Abraham: Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed. My word is certain and firm and lacks all negation. Thy faith is a faith certain and removed from all doubt; it is modest, moreover, and decorous. Wherefore, that which thou hast presumed would come to pass through thy undoubted faith in me, shall absolutely come to pass. For the expression [“indeed”] clearly declares that it will be thus.

And thou shalt call his name Isaac. Note that from the womb God himself imposes the name Isaac. Therefore, He did not give him another name later, just as Abram was called Abraham and Jacob was called Israel.

VERS. 23. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham’s house. The custom of Scripture is to be observed in this place. For it seems to speak of two concerning Abraham. We should be warned of this. For it frequently speaks of God as if of two gods, and of the Lord as if of two Lords.

^A And God ascended from Abraham; it is clear that He had not ascended when He was speaking to Abraham. For He condescends to him, and—if I may say so—being from below, He makes arrangements concerning circumcision. We have become heirs of the goods promised to the saints. For it is as if God swore by Himself; for the Son, or the mystery concerning Him, was taken up as in the oath of the Father; for it is an established custom to swear by the Father as by the proper power of the Son. And this is what is meant by swearing by Himself; for both are one in substance. And Moses says elsewhere: "I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will swear in my right hand." And the right hand of the Father is the Son, through whom He produces all things, and controls and, as it were, lays hold of the rest. ^B Christ, therefore, is signified through the aforementioned sacrifices, by which the oath of the covenant is established. For as He is strong inasmuch as He is God, He is compared to the calf, a robust and strong animal. Inasmuch as He has become man and under the law, He is termed a heifer. A goat is spoken of as having been offered for our sins; for this was the sacrifice for sin according to the law; and a ram, leading the rational flocks. For Christ is our one leader, and we are His people and the sheep of His hand, whom if we follow, we shall find good pasture and rest in a fertile place, according to the Prophet, and we shall dwell in the sacred tabernacles. ^C He is also likened to the turtledove, charming those on earth with the Gospel proclamations. Towards Him the Bride, the Church from the Gentiles, says: "Show me thy face, and make me hear thy voice; for thy voice is sweet, and thy face is beautiful." He Himself is also the simple dove, having no guile; for no guile was found in His mouth. The three-year-old animals indicate, by the perfection of their age, the perfection of the Godhead in Christ. Inasmuch, however, as He has become flesh, He is recognized as being in a certain way divided into two, just as those animals were. Wherefore it is implied that there is a twofold speculation in contemplating Christ: one whereby His humanity is perceived, and another whereby His divinity is understood. But although there are two natures in Christ, nevertheless He remains one and undivided in both united natures, which we learn from these birds, which were not divided by any cutting, but ^D remained intact.

Occident ^A of the sun, a smoking furnace and lamps of fire passed through the midst of the divisions. For when the Law had first been given through Moses, in the last times of the age the Word became flesh, just as the fire was carried over the divisions. This mystery to those who were disobedient became a furnace and a flame of extreme and unbearable punishment, as David also says to the Father of all: “You shall make them like a furnace of fire at the time of your presence; O Lord, in your wrath you will confuse them, and fire will consume them.” 77 The time of the Father’s presence should rightly be understood as that of the incarnation, for the Son is the face and image of the Father. But to those who have recognized his epiphany, He is a lamp shining in the darkness, thinning the density of diabolical fog. This also God and Father says through Isaiah: “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until my righteousness goes forth like light, and my salvation burns like a lamp.” 78 For in Him we are justified and have overcome the power of death—to which we were consigned—being saved; and when the truth has appeared, the types had to cease.

Hence Hagar, having borne Ishmael, ceased to be high-minded against her mistress, ^B being driven out by Sarah, or rather fleeing from her, she is commanded by the angel who appeared to her to return and be humbled before her; for the service according to the Law, which travailled with Ishmael, was a bondmaid. For it did not possess the free Spirit, having carried the people of Egypt; and it thought great things against the evangelical proclamations, saying to the apostles: “Did we not strictly charge you not to teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” But it was fleeing, being overcome by time, and is commanded to submit. “For be humbled,” it says, “under the hands of your mistress.” For always the types serve the truths; and the Law, having been given by angels, is ordered by an angel to be humbled so that it might serve the truth. Thus the divine Apostle 80 allegorizes the two women into the two covenants; and the circumcision in the flesh also heralded that in the Spirit. For it was performed on the eighth day, on which Christ rose again, having destroyed the power of death, and breathed as a firstfruit of the Spirit upon his own disciples. “For the Spirit was not yet,” says John, ^C “because Jesus was not yet glorified,” calling the resurrection His glory. Therefore, no longer having a servile spirit, we have cried out: “Abba, Father,” according to the divine Apostle, while being in the hidden ^D

honoured, he was not yet glorified. But [he calls] the glory of Jesus his resurrection. We do not therefore bear servile spirits, so that we cry out ^A (as Paul 81 advises): "Abba, Father"; but we are Jews in secret, and we have the circumcision of the heart, which consists in spirit and not in the letter. And being thus instructed, we cry out: "Abba, Father."

CHAPTER XVIII

VERS. 1-3. "And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre. And he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men stood by him." And seeing them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and bowed himself to the ground, and said: "Lord, if I have found grace in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant." Some maintain that those three men were three angels. Others affirm that those who judaize are the ones who do not believe that, of those three, one is God and the other two are to be referred to the number of the angels. ^B Nor are there wanting those who teach that that history is a type of the holy and consubstantial Trinity. Because it is said to them, "Lord," etc., the unity of essence is declared; because three men appear, the trinity of persons is insinuated. Nor indeed do we see in the Hebrew text the ineffable tetragrammaton, the name of God, being placed there, which is predicated of God alone and is inscribed on the pontifical mitre. But if he was seen under the appearance of a man, as Scripture hands down, by what reason shall we say he has the form of a man, since he is incorporeal, nor can he be delineated by any form? For God is a spirit 81. Let not this objection render us perplexed, for we are not ignorant that God has sometimes appeared in a flame of fire, just as in this place he presents himself to be seen under a manly appearance and form. For when he wishes to offer himself to sight, in that way in which he can be perceived by the sense, he offers himself to be seen, and accommodates himself to the men to ^C whom he wishes to be seen. For it is impossible for human eyes to see and behold him as he truly is. Our sight, indeed, is clear and does not fail. But they cannot perceive that pure divine essence. Not unlike this is what Scripture writes, that God ate. For that which is handed down, that he ate, does not bring in some imagination or illusion: but it signifies that those things which were set before him were consumed by a certain divine power. For God does not eat, of whom it is said: "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls?" 82 So also he was seen in the form of a body, yet that body did not have the property of a mortal body. For it did not consist of flesh or blood. In that way the Holy Spirit came into our view in the likeness of a dove, and yet he was not a dove. Because he did not have the property which a dove has.

So also the Saviour was not transformed. For sacred Scripture ^D does not lie, saying: "Elias was seen and Moses" 83; they appeared clothed in bodies, although the soul, when it has departed from the body, lives alone and stripped of the body. Not in a similar manner are those things understood which Wisdom proclaims, saying: "I have killed my beasts and my victims; I have mingled my wine in a bowl" 84, etc. And that chapter of the book which Ezechiel devoured 85, etc., are taken just as those things which occur in the present text are taken. For under the body...

and sensible form they were being performed. "He lifted his eyes and saw," etc. For he could not have seen God, unless he had lifted his hidden eyes, with which it was not possible to discern God except by God’s permission. But he saw by the oak of Mambre, which means "by a vision." For even the names are appropriate to that vision. And he discerns God at midday, that is, in the purest and hottest light. ^A

"Running, he said, he worshipped." It is likely that Abraham ran towards him as if towards a familiar and intimate friend, for we have heard before that God was seen by him, and it is not now for the first time. Hence the old man, burning with great love for the Divinity, runs to meet him with a youthful, accelerated step. "And he saw them standing above him," etc.: which indeed signifies that their manner of life is on high, and not creeping on the ground as we do. It was truly marvelous to see men standing above him, yet not resting upon the earth or any other solid matter. Then, dividing his mind, he worships them as divinities, and invites them as guests to wash their feet, although we do not read that the washing followed. ^B

Everything in the house of the just man is done with great speed. For it is written of him: "And Abraham hastened to the tent." And again: "He ran with speed to the herd of oxen." And to his wife he says: "Hasten." And of the young man it is said, that "he made haste to do it," that is, the calf. Knowing them to be above human state, he did not dine with them as a host, ministering to them with a discerning eye. But being among the blessed, he stood by them; anticipating that which was later said to Moses: "But you, stand here with me." And he fears to touch a common table; he offers food to them as if he were slaying victims and giving holocausts, which are appropriate only to the Divinity. That he knew he had received God as a guest, he sufficiently demonstrates in what follows, saying: "By no means, Lord, who judgest the whole earth." ^C

But the hospitality of one who is a traveler and living in a tent must be carefully observed. For at that time, when those traveling are usually overcome by exhaustion from the heat, he himself sat before the tent while the sun was at its fiercest, at which time most mortals usually turn to rest to avoid it. But why did he undergo this labor? Because he thought he would suffer a heavy loss if any traveler had passed by without his knowledge and while he was sleeping. He does not entrust the service of the table to a servant, fearing servile sloth and indolence. But when affairs regarding wedding supplies and other matters concerning the provision of food arise, then he uses the service of servants. See, moreover, with what zeal he sat intent on every opportunity, namely, that he might be able to discern from afar the guests approaching. Then, with what humility he both worships one, and invites another to have his feet washed. Nor does he boast, as is the custom of others who declare the hospitality with which they entertain guests, saying: "I have a fatted calf which will be slaughtered," etc. But because the heat was raging, he first asks that they wash their feet, by which washing they might slightly refresh themselves as weary ones. And then at last, he offers the gifts of hospitality. ^D

^A Observe his lack of pride, how he both bows down and entreats them. For the host ought to possess a cheerful look, a readiness, and abundance, seeing that the guest who sees otherwise is ashamed.

On verse 12

On verse 16

On verse 17

^A Being just himself, he assumed others were the same, for each man judges others by what is within himself. Wherefore does he desire that the impious also be saved, and not just the righteous? It is as if he were asking: do not a few grains of salt preserve a great quantity of meat? Do not small thongs hold together the magnitude of buildings? If there is strength in timbers and bricks, and in salt for the meat, is there not then power in the righteous to save the unrighteous?

When God says, "If there are fifty righteous, I will pardon all," he understood well that the number of the righteous was not merely that amount there. As he desired to diminish the number, he spoke with a trembling heart, as a good servant, although he had sufficiently learned of God’s benevolence toward him. He had known this even from the fact that God, without anyone prompting Him, said, "Shall I hide from My servant Abraham what I am doing?" Therefore, He speaks with him as if he were a counselor called for deliberation. God grants the freedom of speech. The servant trembles, and with humility pleads the cause of the just before the just God. He adds, "I am earth and ashes," etc., by which phrase he indicates what is said: "He who humbles himself shall be exalted." As if he were saying: "I ought not to have dared to propose even just things in Your presence."

^B We learn from this the excellence of the power of the righteous. For if five had been found, the region and the cities would have been saved. So much does virtue prevail over vice. In some copies, the reduction goes down to ten. But Abraham did not reduce the number further, either to ten or to five, lest he appear to be supplicating only for Lot, and not rather for all men, as a pious man would. Jeremiah says, "Run through the ways of Jerusalem, and see and know and seek in her squares if you can find one who does judgment and seeks truth, and I will be merciful to her, says the Lord." Ezekiel witnesses to this: "And I sought among them for a man who was walking uprightly and standing before me in the time of wrath, so that I might not utterly destroy her, and I did not find him."

^C "Abraham stood before the Lord." This is a praise of Abraham. For it denotes the firmness of his piety, by which he was enabled to draw near. ^D They readily and promptly complied with Abraham, but they obeyed Lot only under compulsion, thus demonstrating the zeal they showed; not that he was more zealous than Abraham, but demonstrating the impiety of the Sodomites—who, besides not receiving strangers, also feared the violence for which he was most especially compelled to bring them to his house, at the same time

CAP. XIX.

VERS. 1. "And the two angels came to Sodom at evening." Three men come to Abraham at midday; at evening two angels enter Sodom. Some interpret these things as types, as if God were represented under them. Indeed, three go to Abraham, two come to Sodom. For "the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son," who has the Holy Spirit present and within Him by nature.

Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. Lot did not keep himself within the walls of his house, but had gone out and was walking about at the gate. He was truly linked by blood to Abraham, and he proved that relationship by hospitality, driven by which he sat at the gate in the evening; for he knew, first of all, the impiety of the Sodomites, relying upon which they would not, as was fitting, kindly receive any stranger. In the same manner, so that you may perceive the kinship, beyond the measure of time, Abraham busied himself around his tent, and as it were, forced those men to turn aside to him.

To Abraham, as he invited them, they complied easily and readily. But they did not agree to Lot until compelled by force; by this deed, the men made clear the generosity of their host. Yet it did not happen as though he were better than Abraham, but to show the immense cruelty and extreme

^A malice of those who, not only forgetting hospitality, were not welcoming the stranger, but—what is more monstrous—were abusing those arriving from abroad with insults and injury. Therefore, they allow themselves to be invited further, so that, as if lacking home and hospitality, they might further goad the man to demonstrate the hospitality by which he was persuaded, fearing that they might face some danger by spending the night in the open square.

Another, however, explains the present passage in this way: namely, that since Lot was not such a man as they had known Abraham to be, they turned aside to him only after hesitating. Therefore, lest they suffer any evil, they had to be compelled to enter the roof of Lot. This act is not unlike that which we read of in the book of Judges as having been perpetrated by the sons of Benjamin when they violated the wife of the Levite. But Lot was of such perfect hospitality that, for the sake of those impious men, so that the guests might not suffer harm, he offers his own daughters to be debauched. But God did not wish to completely exterminate the Sodomites before they had learned of the virtue of Abraham and Lot, who were conversing with them. Nor did He wipe out the remaining nations before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had dwelt in the land of promise. For in this way it was made manifest that their natures were incurable, as they would neither instruct themselves in saving precepts nor emulate others who were renowned for virtue. Thus God acts with respect to the universal destruction of a nation: the Word comes first, prescribes the precepts of piety, and destroys by slaughter those who do not obey the truth. For, as the Savior says, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin." But among the Sodomites, all things were so depraved and ulcerated that it was not possible to find even a good old man; for it says: "From the boy even to the old man," that is, the entire population together. For the public good, those who were before the doors are struck with blindness; for since they had previously abused their sight for evil, now they are prevented from doing so.

"And those men said to Lot: 'Is there anyone of yours still here?'" ^B Indeed, the angels did not address Lot with a promise of salvation until his utmost attentiveness toward his guests had shone forth from the conversation he had with the impure Sodomites. Therefore, so that some reward might be paid by the angels, as the price of his hospitality, he received the safety of his own, who perhaps were also considered worthy of salvation on account of the kinship of virtue.

However, it profited the woman little to have been led by the hands of the angels. Although she had already left the city, because she had looked back against the divine decree, she is reported to have been turned into a statue of salt.

VERS. 13. "We are destroying this place," etc. We as ministers indeed, but with God as the principal agent carrying this out through us. For, as the text has it, "The Lord rained fire from the Lord." But some understand the word "Lord" as being said of one of the two. But the sounder sense is that it is understood as "from the Lord," who remained with Abraham.

VERS. 14. "Lot went out to his sons-in-law," etc. In what way did he call them virgins' husbands above, when he now mentions sons-in-law? It seems he called the betrothed "sons-in-law," just as the New Testament calls Joseph the husband or man of Mary.

"His hand," etc. Therefore God does not exhort us from vices by words alone, but assists by action and the thing itself, just as it has been handed down to memory: "You held my right hand, and in your counsel you led me."

VERS. 17. "Save your soul," etc. Just as at the beginning of creation only Adam was deemed to have received the law or commandment, which nevertheless included his wife, so when it was said to Lot: "Look to your salvation, and do not look back," it was said not only to Lot, but also to his wife and daughters. But when the woman, with too little caution and little obedience to the divine command, cast her eyes backward, she was changed into a statue of salt, when she ought to have strongly overcome and tamed the inclination toward evil. It did not profit Lot’s wife at all to be protected by the angels and to depart from Sodom, because she looked back.

"And do not stay in all the surrounding region," etc. For we must not linger or settle in the region that lies adjacent to Sodom; for salvation is to be sought in the mountain. But Lot asks for the small city, as one who is unable to ascend the mountain or to dwell safely upon it.

^A And all things that spring from the earth. The Lord destroys not only the ungodly, but also their sustenance, such as may be Sodomitic and harmful. Among these is also the vine, concerning which it is written: "For of the vine of Sodom is their vine, and their vine-shoot is from Gomorrah."

The heat around Sodom makes things unbearable. In order, therefore, that the destruction by fire might not be attributed to the nature of the heat, the shower of fire does not occur at midday, but at dawn, when the air cools things somewhat. Whence Scripture adds the words, "He rained, and from heaven."

For he was afraid to dwell in Segor, even after hearing that "on thy account it shall not be overthrown." For this reason some say that those in Segor were not overthrown by fire, but swallowed up. Thus it was also called Bala, which, if you interpret the word, means "swallowed up." And this adds support to the daring act of Lot’s daughters, as if no one were left anywhere, not even in Segor. For surely Lot would not have fled to that place [had he thought otherwise].

Elsewhere, Scripture calls it Zoar. The Syrian, however, reads Zaari and Bala (12). ^B It was necessary that the one [Segor] be saved for the sake of Lot, but that the others be destroyed. For from this city Lot had the necessities and provisions in the mountain; for whence would he have had wine on the mountain?

And the Hebrew expresses it somewhat like this: "unto the subsider," referring to Segor. For if this were not so, how could the daughters of Lot have said, "There is no one on the earth who shall come in unto us"? For they thought that the entire human race had perished.

"Save thyself, save thy soul." That is, keep yourself safe, lest you make yourself a participant and partner in the sins of others, you who have escaped all the obstacles of the world. For "what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and meanwhile suffers the loss of his own soul?" Nor should you pursue vices, imitating the impure Sodomites. "For no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven."

We must, therefore, proceed straight ahead, neither turning our footsteps backward nor being carried off to the side, avoiding the allurements of the world, which hinder us greatly in that journey. For Scripture cries out: "Woe to those who do the work of the Lord Almighty negligently." Paul says: "Run so that you may obtain." For it is possible that if we delay, before we have cleansed our soul of filth, we may be overwhelmed by the sudden judgment of God.

The phrase, "In the neighboring region, etc.," signifies that we should be delayed by no manner of vice, but rather that we should even abhor the appearance of evil: and let us hasten toward the heavenly life, which has no particle of earthly dregs; and let us despise the present life, which abounds with all manner of miseries. For it is written: "The mighty of the earth have risen up against God, reaching unto the heights." Furthermore: "The vultures' young mount up on high, acting in the heavens." Therefore the divine Paul admonishes: "Seek those things which are above, not those which are upon the earth." When Lot was unable to escape to the mountain, he begged for the small city adjacent to the high mountain. For

virtue cannot be grasped immediately by those who seek it. Hence, Lot ascends slowly toward higher and more sublime things, gradually liberated from his affections. Furthermore, the life which the law prescribes is humbler than the evangelical life, which carries one upward. For the beginning of the good path is to do just things, just as catechesis is considered a sort of beginning of mystical speculation or doctrine. For to one who aspires to go out into a perfect man and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, a firmer food will subsequently be suitable. Paul handed down this order or disposition, saying: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." Then: "I would that all were as I myself am." Do you see the mountain, which he certainly understands here? It is added: "And Segor." "For to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife." "For everyone (he says) hath his proper gift from God: one after this manner, and another after that." In this way, also, the Savior says: "A grain cast into fertile ground brings forth fruit, one thirty, another sixty, another a hundred." Therefore, there is an unequal distribution of talents, but to one indeed five come, to others two are given, and to others one is offered, according to the inequality and diversity of natures or dispositions. Thus, also, the angel allowed Lot to obtain the second, although he did not essentially wish for it. From this it is clear that even the smallest successes of virtue do not arise in men without divine illumination. Indeed, with the sun risen, Lot enters the little town of Segor. The mind of Lot was indeed strong, yet not perfect. The mind of his wife, because it was soft and imperfect, deservedly felt destruction when she herself was transformed into a pillar of salt. For if the salt has lost its savor, it is fit for nothing more, says the Savior. But the mind, which was progressing strenuously in religion, as if by steps, Segor having been left behind, betook itself to the mountain, accompanied by prudence and spiritual fortitude as if by certain daughters. While he dwelt on the mountain, he was sublime; entering a cave, he was rendered humble. Hence we read in Holy Scripture: "He that walketh in justice, and speaketh truth, hateth gains of oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes, who stoppeth his ears lest he hear the blood judgment, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil." He, I say, shall dwell in a cave and on a firm rock. Furthermore, the rock signifies Christ because of His divine nature, which is not subject to any change. The cave portends the church, the lodging of the saints. The pious, sufficiently strengthened by divine aid, dwell here. Here dwell as many as desire to escape the judgment of the Lord, which shall be revealed in fire. But observe the historical sense diligently, and you will learn how one and the same time tends toward salvation for those who are progressing, and toward punishment for the incurable. For with the sun risen, the former are saved, the latter are exposed to be devoured by fire.

139 From heaven fire is sent down by which the Sodomites ^A are punished: and from heaven healthful rains drop down, by which it is known that neither heaven nor the stars are the cause of the fertility of crops, just as neither are the rains to be assigned to them. That God is the sole author of all these things, who turned the fire, contrary to the nature of fire, downward in place of rain. ^B

The angels command that they not look back. For they knew that they would perhaps rejoice seeing the calamity of these people. To rejoice at the calamities and miseries of others, granted, may sometimes be judged just, yet I do not consider it humane. For we are all held back by ignorance of the future. Or perhaps they would be slower to flee, overcome by grief and familiar friendship, while they watched them perish in such a miserable manner. Or, that a third cause may also be assigned, he says: It is not for you to scrutinize and inquire too scrupulously if God involves sinners in punishments. It suffices to know that God has punished those who ought to have paid the penalty for the enormity of their crimes. To wish to investigate the manner by which they have paid the penalty belongs to perversity and audacity, not to piety.

VERS. 29. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of that plain, He remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. Therefore, on account of Abraham, Lot reached safety. For it was not the smallest portion of salvation, as is evident from that which he said suppliantly: "Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?"

When he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt, ^C etc. From which words it is conjectured that he had not chosen one city alone, but all the cities of that land for habitation. As one who was an inhabitant of the whole land. Aquila thus renders it: According to the way of the whole earth.

Furthermore, we do not yet find that anyone drank wine intemperately when he wished to devote himself to the procreation of children. Only of Lot does Scripture say this. ^D

of the generation, and even unto the age, ^A because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water on the way as they came out of Egypt, and because they hired Balaam. Since they did not do this out of wantonness, but for the sake of procreation.

Lo, I lay down yesterday with our father. And Eve, being from Adam, became his wife. And the children of Adam mingled with one another. And God did not forbid it, perhaps so that being given to foreigners, they might not share in idolatry, another very great evil. ^B And the two daughters of Lot conceived from their father. Thus was the economy of God, just as ^C it was in the case of Tamar.

CAP. XX.

And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. The question arises how a king of the Philistines, having the freedom to take as many beautiful and fair women as he wishes, took Sarah who was ninety years old; and he himself was aged, and would not have left behind young women for older ones, if he had been moved by the impulse of intercourse. He was a just man, and he saw that Abraham was a just man, and that Sarah was such a one also, and he desired to raise up seed for himself from such a woman, deeming it to be the greatest boast to raise up seed from such a woman.

^A of the generation, and even unto the age. The cause is added: "Because they did not go out to meet those ascending from Egypt with bread and water. And then because they hired Balaam."

They made their father drink wine at night. Yet Joseph invites his brothers to drink wine at noon. As they say, "There is no one on earth who may come in to us," etc., it sufficiently argues that the daughters of Lot did not rush into this wickedness inflamed by the filthy fire of lust, but that they wished in this way to provide for the human race, which they believed had perished. Therefore, they deserve pardon.

^B VERS. 34. *Ecce dormivi heri cum patre*, etc. Thus was Eve taken from the body of Adam, to whom the bond of matrimony was joined. Thus the children of Adam joined in marriage with each other. God did not at that time forbid that custom of marriage, namely, that they might not be involved with foreign nations under the pretext of marriage in the crime of idolatry, than which there is nothing more monstrous. Then, so that the Jews might avoid the Moabites and Ammonites born from them, and those wholly immersed in idolatry, it is forbidden by law. For they were not so infamous for incest as they were for idolatry. However, the drunkenness of Lot is blamed for the calamity which afflicted the whole nation of the Sodomites, which that old man is said to have borne more impatiently as if by a certain commiseration.

VERS. 36. *Et conceperunt duæ filiæ Lot*, etc. Thus it had been arranged by Divine Providence, that they should become pregnant from that intercourse: just as not without Divine Providence was Tamar also impregnated.

Moreover, that deed seems to indicate, as if under a veil, two synagogues conceiving from one father, God, to bring forth, concerning which it is read: "Did not He, the very Father, possess you," that He might pour out the vital seed, that is, the vivifying Spirit, into men? For He eats and drinks with men, just as Scripture teaches, saying: "For the Son of man came eating and drinking." Here let this also be applied: "I lay down and slept." And this: "My sleep was sweet to me."

VERS. 57, 58. *Hic est pater Moabitarum*, etc. The Moabites invaded the region of Arabia bordering on Areopolis, once the metropolis of the Moabite race. The Ammonites occupied the part of Arabia which is adjacent to Philadelphia, and is called Ammon by the inhabitants. *Et nominavit nomen ejus Ammon*, etc. The son of my people, as if exulting with joy that the mother was not made of a foreign race.

^C VERS. 2. *Et misit Abimelech rex Gerar et tulit Saram*. It is asked why the king, stirred by the goads of lust, when he could have obtained many women endowed with liberal beauty, chose rather Sarah, an old woman who had already completed a hundred years of age. It is answered: He was a just man, and knew that Abraham also was a cultivator of justice and equity: whose not dissimilar [wife] he believed Sarah to be. Therefore, with great zeal he deemed it worthy to seek children or seed from such a woman.

Wherefore Scripture testifies in these words: "They praised her before him as beautiful," etc., namely, to show that Pharaoh, burning with lust, had carried her off: for which reason he was afflicted with no common punishments. But here nothing of the sort is commemorated. For the king believed her to be the sister of Abraham. For unless he had brought it into his mind to do that for the sake of religion and obtaining just seed, by what reason would he have heard God saying: "I know that you have done this with a pure heart, and I have spared you." But fornication never [bears] fruit.

^A It is said with a certain emphasis: "He did not touch her," just as it is said: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." This signifies being without sexual intercourse and without any other passive act, whether looking at or touching a woman. God, however, did not allow Abimelech to touch her; perhaps because he was one who in all things was strictly chaste. For such a thing is God-given. ^B "And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay a nation that is ignorant and righteous?" The righteous man is not in ignorance, but in knowledge. But here he refers to "ignorant" because Abimelech did not know that Sarah was the wife of Abraham. It should be noted that the word "ignorant" is marked with an obelisk, as it is not found in the Hebrew text. "And I knew that thou didst this with a pure heart." Abimelech claims to have done this in a pure heart and with clean hands, namely, the taking of Sarah; but God, while granting him one of the two [claims] through His testimony, leaves him to consider the rest, namely, that in the matter itself he was blameworthy. For even if he did not know this, he did not act justly in taking the sister of the stranger and guest for himself as a wife. "And I spared thee that thou shouldst not sin against me." He who sins against Abraham and Sarah, sins against God; and so it is with anyone who injures the righteous. ^C "For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live." Abraham is declared by the divine mouth to be a prophet. And what is that life which is promised to Abimelech? It is, of course, the celestial life, contrary to death, and knowing no death. It should be noted that the prayers of prophets are effective and contribute much to life, if they have poured out prayers to the Lord for someone.

Chapter XX

^A "And the men were very afraid." For the rumor of the cities devastated by celestial fire still clung to their ears, and the recollection of those things terrified human minds.

"For I said, Perhaps there is no fear of God in this place." From this it is possible to conjecture that those around Abimelech were not idolaters.

VERS. 12. "Verum vere soror mea est ex patre," etc. (But truly my sister she is, by my father, etc.). That which we provided above agrees with him, namely the interpretation of Aquila: "And Abraham said to Sarah his wife: My sister," etc. It is manifest, therefore, that Abraham spoke to Sarah, and not of that Sarah.

"She was indeed the sister of Lot," as Josephus says, and the cousin of Abraham. Yet Scripture includes cousins also under the name of brother. Thus we see Laban called Jacob brother.

VERS. 13. "Et factum est cum Deus me educeret ex domo patris mei," etc. (And it came to pass when God brought me forth from my father's house, etc.). When we leave behind the laws and customs in which we were nurtured, and the milk of our ancestors, we ought to consider that God is leading us out from that paternal house. You will recognize this from that, of what kind it is: "Everyone who commits sin is of the devil." But he who renounces sin entirely has been brought out from his father's house.

VERS. 16. "Ecce dedi mille didrachma fratri tuo," etc. (Behold, I have given a thousand didrachms to thy brother, etc.). It seems to me to have been said with a certain anger, not "to thy husband," but "to thy brother." "Henceforth see that you do not lie, tell the matter as it is, lest you be the author of some evil." Or he is angry with the woman because she pretended to be the sister of Abraham, nor did she freely confess herself to be his wife. ^B

All these things tend hither, that henceforth all may truly speak.

To this, that is not unlike: "I have not touched" or "handled you, although I was alone with you."

"In honor of thy face will they be," etc. For he did not commit abduction, as was fitting, as if he were to have her for a wife: but that he might enjoy the desired cohabitation. Ignorant, therefore, he inflicted an insult upon the woman.

Wherefore it is added: "With those who are with thee," etc. For he exhorts those women also to be witnesses of his ignorance, lest they prattle the contrary, and he himself be accused as guilty of injustice. ^C

Another interprets it thus: "In honor of thy face," etc. Let those silver pieces not be, he says, the wages of cohabitation, for I have not enjoyed that; but because I only saw thy face, I thought you should be honored with a gift. The memorable thing, however, is that this sum is not paid to Sarah, but to her husband.

VERS. 18. "Conclusit Deus omnem vulvam, ut ven-" ^D

they might give birth. Therefore, at least in this place, pregnant women are understood. As far as conception is concerned, no one could have easily explored whether wombs had been observed in such a short time.

CAPUT XXI.

VERS. 4. *And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.* Isaac is the first to be circumcised on the eighth day. These symbols are highly appropriate to Christ, in whom all types are gathered and directed. ^A

VERS. 6. *God hath made me to laugh, etc.* It signifies joy, which she herself explains immediately, saying: *For whosoever shall hear it will laugh with me.*

VERS. 7. *Who shall say unto Abraham, etc.* He himself gave the child a name, he himself with his own hands cut away the foreskin of the boy. Moved by this passage, some tradition holds that Abraham paid little attention to the lactation and infant age of Isaac. For he being perfect, he wished to care little for imperfect things. But the word "who" is usually placed in Holy Scripture concerning things that rarely happen and great matters, although they may happen frequently. For it must be a great and remarkable thing—even if such men are not found easily or rarely—that can describe how Isaac was nourished by maternal breasts. Or, as it says: "Who shall announce," it is put for that which we say commonly: "Who has reported?"

VERS. 8. *And the child grew, and was weaned.* It must be noted that it is nowhere said of the wicked: "They were weaned." Samuel was just, of whom the same is proclaimed. But Isaac would not have been weaned regarding spiritual nourishment, had it not been witnessed before this that "he grew." ^B Furthermore, it should be noted that it is not the custom among any to hold a feast at the weaning of children, but rather at their birth. Since it is knowledge that is written: the wicked, like Pharaoh and Herod, hold a feast for a birthday, loving the things of generation; but the just, like Abraham and Anna, hold a feast at the weaning of infants. Indeed, it is a great feast and a pleasant spectacle for God the Father to see one reborn in Christ—by His grace—abandoning the food of infants and having reached that of the perfect. It should also be noted that the weaning of Ishmael is nowhere recorded. Therefore, having been born twenty years, he is still called a child.

VERS. 10. *Cast out this bondwoman and her son, etc.* These things are understood manifestly from the words of history; nor are they to be understood in an underlying sense, as some suppose. For she was not indignant at the playing of the boys. Nor did she say only: "Cast out," but "he shall not be heir." Although these words were little pleasing to Abraham, yet the divine oracle sides with Sara, and the Divine Power commands him to obey his wife in the present business. Some think Ishmael was cast out by divine judgment because he was greatly depraved by malice, and on that account was admitted to no part of the paternal goods. Paul agrees with their opinion, saying: *As then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,* etc. Therefore he not only played, but perhaps struck Isaac. For under the distinction of "playing," Scripture also understands a fight or battle. Thus, in the books of Kings, Abner says to Joab: *Let the young men arise, and play before us.* Yet some think that the playing had a certain appearance of flight and persecution. Abraham ^C gave many gifts to his other sons, whom he had by Keturah. ^D

He assigned them goods, but altogether disinherited Ishmael, believing, as some teach, in the divine promise, the tenor of which was: "Ishmael shall grow into a great nation." Since he was sending both away empty-handed, there was no need to give any beast of burden. Yet let no one blame Abraham as inhuman, for he bestowed upon them a modest travel provision; he commended them to God, and entrusted the care of them to Him. Perhaps by not giving them a beast of burden he spared them, lest the care of tending the animal be added to the hardship of the journey. Some authors testify that the handmaid was banished by Abraham not only for the reason that he might live in peace with his wife, but that she was sent away because he had recognized that she was infected with malice. Why, therefore, did it seem grievous and inhuman to him at first to dismiss the handmaid? They respond: because of the boy. Nevertheless, at God’s command, he disinherits both, with a small provision, helping them so that they might not die on the way. For God left a small seed of legal justice for Israel: "I shall be for them a small sanctification in the lands where they shall be dispersed." But that the Israelites fell away was a grief no small matter to the Apostle, just as the exile of Hagar and Ishmael tormented the soul of Abraham. For Paul says: "I have great sadness and constant sorrow," etc. Abraham, who is known by divine oracle to be a prophet, also outlines the life which the descendants of Ishmael would follow. "Hear his voice," etc. The order was reversed because of his virtue. But of Eve, God speaks differently, saying: "To your husband will be your conversion, and he shall rule over you." "But going forth he wandered in the solitude," etc. For the mother of the Jews, having been repudiated, wanders for a long time and comes into danger of death. But if the Jews, weeping, cry out to God, I will open the eyes of their mind, and they shall see Christ, the living fountain, of whom David says: "For with thee is the fountain of life." ^A

It is necessary to make a certain comparison here: "Isaac was walking through the wilderness by the well of vision," that it might be seen that the handmaid wandered through the wilderness, but Isaac walks through the wilderness simply, and both arrive at a well. She, the handmaid, at the well of the oath; the just one, at the well of vision. Hers, the wandering; his, the seeing. One must know that after the wells of injustice, hostility, and wideness, is named the Well of the Oath. It is a symbol of the better things ^B to come (23).

"And the water ran out of the skin." From Hagar, who generates for slavery, and from him who is born of her according to the flesh, the water gathered into the skin has failed. And this is to be seen in the case of the Israel according to the flesh, when there are neither prophets nor wise men among them. But we must also fear for those who say they have believed in Christ but who remain infants in Christ, lest, if they do not progress (24), the water might fail. "And God heard the voice of the boy." We shall gracefully use this passage concerning the duty of children to pray, as they will be heard. And besides, we must not despise spiritual children, even if they have not yet been perfected; God will one day hear their voice. And it is wonderful that the angel of God, calling to Hagar from heaven, testifies that God has heard the voice of the boy. "And God opened her eyes." By anagogy, it is not possible to see the fountain of living water unless God, having dispelled the cloud from the eyes, ^C

VERS. 15. *Defecit aqua ex utre*, etc. I say that she feels the defect of waters, she who generates for servitude; and he suffers for want of water who was born of her into servitude. Because, as is handed down, the water in the skin had run out. This dryness of the skin can be seen among the Jews, who are led by the letter, not the spirit. Because there are neither prophets nor wise men among them. But I also fear for those who testify that they have believed in Christ, and yet are found to be untaught and infants in Christ, because they do not strive to progress in faith little by little.

VERS. 17. *Audivit Deus vocem pueri*, etc. The present passage is to be received and treated with affection, as we see that children who pray are heard. And indeed, spiritual children are not to be despised at all, even if they have not yet reached perfection. For God hears even the voice of the young. This, indeed, is most wonderful: that the angel of God, calling to Hagar from heaven, testifies that God has heard the voice of the boy.

VERS. 19. *Et aperuit Deus oculos ejus*, etc. It is impossible that one should catch sight of the fountain of living water, unless God, having dispelled the darkness of the eyes,

for our consideration. Some say the woman gave this name to the well, perhaps because the boy, when he drank, obtained salvation and recovered a life that had been lost.

VERS. 20. *And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan*, etc. For the angel had already long foretold that he would lead a rustic and wild life.

VERS. 23. *Now therefore swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me.* The just man does injury to no one. Although Abimelech had not even heard by report that anyone had been treated unjustly by Abraham, he nevertheless says: "Swear unto me by God," etc. Nor indeed had Abraham ever treated the seed or offspring of anyone unjustly. Nor, furthermore, had he been injurious to the name of Abimelech. Truly, he harms a name who disparages someone’s reputation. ^B

VERS. 25. *And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the wells of water*, etc. Once the pact was confirmed, he reserved no sadness for himself in his mind. For Abraham wished to preserve the sanctity of the covenants inviolate not only with his mouth, as others are accustomed to do, but with his soul as well. He does the same when he receives the double cave. But as for the seven ewe lambs, they say he set them apart in the sight of Abimelech, namely, as the price of the place, thus prudently suppressing the controversies that might arise from it. However, those who had sought the covenant eventually violated the sanctity of the treaty.

VERS. 32. *And they returned into the land of the Philistines*, etc. For it was said above that the borders of the Canaanites extended as far as Gerar. ^C

CAP. XXII

VERS. 1. *And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham.* God wished to make an experiment, whether he was willing to apply his mind to divine commands, or whether he would incline toward human nature by refusing the command of God.

There are some who maintain that Sarah was unaware of the commands that God had given to her husband, clearly so that she would not overturn the whole matter through womanly lamentation and maternal commiseration. For not even Eve gave good counsel to Adam; and perhaps the same would have happened here, while the word of God completely stirred up and stimulated Abraham against human ingenuity and nature.

VERS. 5. *Take thy son whom thou lovest*, etc. These words, in truth, would have moved every man except Abraham to pity and mercy. They reminded Abraham of paternal affections. It is to be noted that Abraham, and not Sarah, is tempted. Why, therefore, some ask, did she not see him setting out on a journey with two servants and chopping wood? ^D If he was simply undertaking a journey under the pretext of sacrificing victims to the Lord, why did Sarah not follow? I consider it pious and just, in doubtful matters and those that can be interpreted in either way, not to accuse the just, so that we might say that Abraham kept that matter hidden from her on account of the weakness of Sarah.

COMMENTARIES ON LEVITICUS

which was represented by the slaying of sheep and calves. The divine Apostle says: "Do not grieve over death as others who have no hope." But God prescribes the manner of mourning when he forbids the making of baldness upon the head and incisions in the body. For all things, says Paul, should be done decently and in order. However, it is commanded to us that we should value God more than parents. For he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. "They shall not take a woman divorced by her husband," etc. [XXI, 14.] For it is not only the priest’s duty to flee manifest evils, such as fornication, but he must also decline those evils which stain our reputation. Since a divorced woman is under suspicion. Truly, under this veil the Synagogue of the Jews is demonstrated: whether because she has committed fornication with many shepherds, as the Scripture holds, or because Christ, the most holy pontiff, did not admit her, cast off and divorced, into the spiritual society. "And if the daughter of a priest has been profaned," etc. [9.] For the Synagogue of the Jews was consigned to the fire, for it followed the pleasures of the Scribes and Pharisees and clung to human precepts. Therefore Isaiah cries out: "How has the faithful city of Sion become a harlot!" Mourning for her, Jeremiah says: "The Lord called thy name a leafy olive, beautiful in fruit and appearance, and with the noise of a great tumult the enemy has kindled a fire in it," etc. "He shall not uncover his head, or he shall not put off the pontifical fillet," etc. [10.] This verse most manifestly demonstrates Christ. For Christ, as Scripture teaches, anointed with the Holy Spirit, bears the true priestly vesture which he will never cast aside. For, "Thou," it says, "art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." This, therefore, is that which it says: "Thou shall not lay aside the pontifical fillet." If, however, it were written: Thou shall not lay aside the mitre, etc., we would have understood his kingdom also to be perpetual and never to be ended. "And he shall not rend his clothes." For mourning that is spent on the dead is contrary to life; nor does anything dead befit life. Nay, life has destroyed death. And "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Therefore Christ rebukes those who were lamenting the little daughter of the prince of the Synagogue in the presence of Him who was Life. But as for Christ shedding tears for the deceased Lazarus, it had a signification of love. Accordingly, he also wept moderately. He was mourning rather for human nature, if one inquires more diligently, which was subject to the most cruel tyranny of death. Therefore, he immediately demonstrated, as if under a type, when he restored the dead little girl to life, the mystery of the resurrection. Therefore the law, which permits other priests to mourn related persons, alluding to the symbol which most manifestly demonstrated Christ his pontiff, prohibited mourning in him. Wherefore he strove to preserve his majesty in types, not wishing even in shadows to violate the truth; and that he might teach it to be solid, firm, and immovable, he commands the pontiff not to depart from the sanctuary. Just as it behooves a priest to offer to God the gifts which the people bring, so it behooves the high priest to replenish the deficiency that exists in other priests with his own purity, and to reconcile them to God. Accordingly, he alone enters the Holy of Holies annually, as it pleases the Divine, lest perhaps He punish the ministers of the sacred rites. Again, he also shows that the Synagogue of the Jews is alien to Christ. For it was cast out from the unity with which He taught it to be joined; and the prophet testifies to this: "Because she is not my wife, nor am I her husband." But Paul betrothed the Church gathered from the Gentiles to present her as a chaste and irreproachable virgin to Christ. But Christ is not otherwise betrothed to impure souls; but he is joined to the pure as to virgins: cohabiting with whom, he makes them pregnant, that they may abound in good works, and he places them among his own kin. For he says: "Whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother." For the rest, the association of those who are necessary is honorable for us; but the familiarity of the incredulous little befits us, unless perhaps someone be preempted by a marriage to a spouse of a different religion. But persons of this sort are to be joined to us by faith. Although it is not permitted to a woman to perform the duty of teaching, yet she should strive by the manner of her life and honest conversation to win her husband. But the bride of Christ, who is betrothed to him by the new regeneration thereafter, is considered at once his daughter and spouse and perfected dove, regenerated through the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the offspring of Christ is lawful, not adulterous, as one produced by lawful marriage. Wherefore we are children of God, conserving the divine seed in us, according to John, namely the Holy Spirit, who does not cease to refashion us into a new creature. But that harlot, of whom she who had married Hosea was a type, together with the children whom she had born in fornication, is divorced and widowed. "In whomsoever there shall be anything reprehensible, he shall not approach to offer gifts to God," etc. [XXII, 2.] As far as I can conjecture, the discourse is concerning vices that offend the soul by their contact, such as those vices to which those are prone whom Scripture is accustomed to call *psychikous*, that is, animal. For I consider a natural bodily defect, which comes to us beyond our will but by the law of birth, by no means to be imputed to us as a vice; although, if one wishes to follow the literal sense, it is little fitting for a man with a defective body to perform the duties of the priesthood, such as one who is lame or one who cannot walk without a guide. Nevertheless, those things which are handed down here comprise certain greater things, and are to be extended to the vices of the soul, so that

we may see the things that are hidden. The Hebrew says: "I know that you fear God."

VERS. 13. *And lifting up his eyes, Abraham saw, and behold a ram in the thicket, caught by its horns.* The Syrian says: "Behold, a ram suspended," and does not say: "Caught." However, he does not add: "In the Sabek shrub." The *sabek* is a species of shrub from which the ram was hanging. For when it had climbed the thicket with its forelegs, caught in the thicket, it carried before it the form of the cross by the extension of its legs. The Hebrew ^A says: "The word *sabek* signifies remission." From this it happens that this word is not expounded, for it signifies many things. He called the cross of remission the cross of Christ. Thus Ezekiel, toward the end of his prophecy, called it the water of remission, which represented the liquid of baptism as if in a riddle. Therefore, there are two things that grant the remission of sins: the passion of Christ and baptism. The ram to be sacrificed appears entangled in thorns and a thicket, so that the bonds by which he lay bound might be removed for Isaac. The slaughtered ram redeemed Isaac from destruction; thus the Lord, having been slain, saved us from the impending eternal death. The Savior was thus burdened with bonds so that our own bonds might be loosened and dissolved. Observe something wonderful here. Abraham sees the ram, but he nowhere beholds God, nor does he see an angel speaking from heaven. Only a voice brought from heaven was heard. And he says: "This is nothing else than the word of God," as they say even today: "In the mountain God was seen." Truly, O Abraham, you did not see, but you heard God. But after he beheld the image of God, namely the ram, not wishing to conceal that mystery, he says: "So that descendants may say," etc. (For the prophecy concerns those who come later.) "Today in the mountain the Lord was seen," namely the only-begotten Son of God, who assumed flesh. Wherefore the Savior says in the Gospel: "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day." In this place, he understands the day to be his death. For in this manner does Scripture discourse about the dead, of which matter the present place may be an argument: "Sinners have drawn the sword, they have bent their bows,"— "but the Lord shall mock them. Because he sees that their day comes," that is, their death or destruction. Abraham saw the day, therefore, that is, the passion of Christ. And when? When he gazed upon the sheep or the ram. For from the sheep he beheld, he recognized the passion of Christ. "For as a sheep," says the prophet, "he shall come to the slaughter." ^B

And you did not spare your only-begotten Son for my sake, etc. As if to say: Nor shall I spare my most beloved Son for your sake. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Hence Paul, when he was marveling beyond measure at the kindness of God, writes: "He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up to death for us all."

146 The two servants who accompany the old man signify the servitude of the two peoples, of Israel and Judah, into which they have been thrust. For they too followed divine laws and divine precepts up until the advent of the third time, just as these did up until the third day. The servants do not ascend the mountain, but are ordered to sit at the roots of the mountain. Thus neither did they attain Christ by faith, he who ascended the cross to death for us all, we who have become hardened and calloused in sins, as we may tacitly infer from the nature of the donkey. Hardness is deduced thus: because the Jews have been separated from them. For the father and the son (as they say) say: "We will return to you." Whence it is permissible to learn of their future conversion to the faith at the end of the age after the fulfillment of the Gentiles. Therefore he concealed from them the immolation of the son, commanding that they wait here until they return. Thus Christ spoke in parables to the Jews, so as not to reveal the mystery to them. But to the disciples he says: "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God." After the example of Isaac, Christ carried the cross imposed on his shoulders outside the gates, where he suffered willingly and not under compulsion, obeying the paternal command. Hence he addresses Pilate thus: "You would not have any power over me, unless it had been given to you from above." The ram is subjected to ^C the slaughter: thus the body suffers in the place of the divine nature, which is incapable of suffering. For in this manner he says in the psalms: "Sacrifice and oblation you did not desire: but you fitted a body for me; you did not accept whole burnt offerings for sins. I said therefore: Behold I come, in the head of the book it is written of me." He calls the whole Pentateuch of Moses a book. The head and beginning of the whole work is Genesis, in which the present mystery is declared. Some call the whole of Scripture, in which the mystery of Christ is noted, a single head, since its scope and argument is Christ. There are very many heretical books, nor are they content with our scarcity. Concerning these he says: "Beware of possessing many books." — "By myself I have sworn, says the Lord." For he confirmed the sworn sacrifices of the New Testament in the form of his own sacrifice. Behold what and how great are the goods Abraham has attained, leaving behind his earthly kindred and following God who calls. From this descend the Apostles, who, having left father and boat, followed the word of God. We therefore, who have the same faith as Abraham, let us take up the cross, like Isaac the wood, and follow Christ. For we have already been taught this by the example of Abraham.

V. 20. And it came to pass after these things were done, that it was told to Abraham, saying: Behold, Milcha also hath born children to thy brother Nachor. Tharra had three sons, namely Abraham, Nachor, and Aram. To Abram is born Isaac. Nachor begets Bethuel, whose daughter Rebecca, who was his own cousin-german, Isaac takes to wife. For Isaac and Bethuel were cousins, if you count the degrees of relationship. Bethuel begets Laban, whose daughters were Lia and Rachel, the wives of Jacob, as will be related below.

CHAPTER XXIII

V. 2. And Abraham came to mourn and weep for Sara. A certain commiseration, which long companionship had produced; nor is the grief of Abraham signified by those words. For it does not say that Abraham wailed; but he came to lament his deceased wife. To this tends what it immediately adds: "And Abraham rose up from his dead," and he did not prefix that he had bewailed and deplored the lot of the deceased. "Thou art a king before God among us," etc. If all were kings before God, it is written here of Abraham out of abundance, that he is a king before God. But Abraham is deservedly called a king, ^A inasmuch as only the wise man is of free condition, and he reigns. Abraham, however, calls himself a foreigner and a stranger. Thus: "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Although they confessed him to be a king, he was not ashamed to worship those who perhaps were impious. But in this manner, while he bows himself even to the earth, he shows, just as he had commemorated above, that he is earth and ashes.

"The double cave," etc., there are two promontories having two cavernous recesses. One lies outside, the other is turned inward. There are two circuits, one which contains, the other which is contained.

Abraham only sought the cave. Ephron, seeing the man's prudence, also gave the land, thinking that benefits were to be bestowed liberally. "Take the silver of the land from me," etc. ^B As above he gave seven ewe-lambs to Abimelech, in order to settle altogether all disputes that might arise after this, so also in this place he counts out the price of the field, lest any controversy should arise thence afterward, and he should be cast out of the lordship of the field.

Ephron judges the quantity of the price, wherefore he seemed not lightly to honor Abraham. Abraham, without any hesitation or being struck by the magnitude of the price, paid it. A stater, as Origen says, is half an ounce, and contains two drachmas.

The price of the sepulcher was four hundred staters, as is plain from the text. For the number four is everywhere a symbol of affliction in Holy Scripture. For all money ^C proved and examined; it is even proved and sufficiently examined by merchants: with more exact currency or coin than the rest do merchants trade.

And with such money is the double cave purchased by Abraham. But what the author here states is of this kind: he paid such a price for the field as not even a public minister, who is wont to examine money by the scales, would reject. Thus it is said in Isaiah: "Thy silver is dross," etc., not, however, to all, but to some.

"And the field of Ephron," they say, "was established," that is, it was agreed upon. By great and public consensus that field was handed over to Abraham. But that double cave in a certain way represented the New and Old Testament under a certain kind of covering. ^D

CHAPTER XXIV

VERS. 1. Porro Abraham senuit, venitque in dies, et Dominus benedixit Abraham in cunctis. This is recorded in the Holy Scripture only of the pious, and is not attributed to the impious. ^A “Pone manum tuam super femur meum,” etc. The Greek interpreter renders the present passage more modestly. For the Hebrew and the Syrian call it the virile member, by which offspring is fashioned. To a just and temperate man, no member is shameful; but to the unjust, even the soul is defiled. Whence he says: “I adjure thee by Him who hath given me this seal (55).” For Abraham knew how displeasing to God is the flight to foreign ^B nations (54).

But why does he not command his son not to take a Canaanite woman, as his parents later commanded Jacob, but [gives the command] to his servant, even though Isaac was already a man, and of marriageable age? And if he were going to obey, it was likely that he would have enjoined it upon him rather; but if he were to disobey, the servant’s ministry was superfluous. Indeed, to say that since he had departed from his land by divine oracle, he did not think it right to send his son back to it, although reasonable, nevertheless displeases some, because [they argue] Jacob would not have been sent there by his parents if this were true. Was it perhaps because the servant held great sway in the house of Abraham, and was prudent and capable of counsel? This is what the text implies when it says: “And Abraham said to his servant, the elder, who ruled over all that he had.” For young masters are wont to obey such men as are generally wise, pedagogical, and possess the dignity that comes with age, just as they do their own fathers.

[The translation above incorporates the material from both columns.]

And so Abraham’s [foresight] is a marvel, that he prepared such a servant; who... [Next page begins]

whom, fearing failure, he encourages, giving him God as mediator and traveling companion, reminding him of the first benefit, namely, by which he was led out of that land, and whereby he became lord of so many things, and declaring God's promise to him, who had promised the land to him and his seed. For if this is true—and it cannot be false—then indeed God will so inform the maiden’s mind that she will willingly accompany you to this land.

The servant, obedient to his master's admonition, arrives there and meets no one, but immediately speaks with God, whom Abraham promised would be the companion of his journey and the arbiter of the business to be done. Thus he addresses God: "Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant success and prosperity to my journey today. You, Lord my God, although I am unworthy that you should place me under your protection, look upon my master. Nor do I ask as ifYou were bound to this by debt; far be it! I implore your mercy, which I may see active in the business of my master." For he who does many good works is saved by grace, not by works. But that he submits himself to divine mercy is a sufficiently great sign, in that he does not seek pleasure, nor riches, but investigates virtue and the maiden's hospitality. For Abraham, knowing that that family was adorned with hospitality, was thus induced to seek a wife for his son, who was distinguished by hospitality. And since she had been educated in such a generous family, he did not doubt that she, too, would be becomingly imbued with the virtue of hospitality upon her arrival. He also knew that hospitality was not the least cause of his own happiness. When he had set food before God, who was traversing the earth under a human guise, he received a son. When he had mixed flour so that cakes might be made therefrom, he heard that his descendants would be countless as the stars of heaven. But the maiden immediately gives a specimen of hospitality, while offering more than was requested. For she promises drink not only to him, but also promises that she will relieve the camels of their thirst.

^B "While you are still speaking, I shall say: Behold, I am here."

Regarding the efficiency of prayers that are justly made.

She graphically describes the maiden's liberal form, so that we may the more admire the girl’s chastity and temperance. For although the elegance of her form easily excelled all, she was, however, never compressed nor defiled by any man's intercourse. The Sacred Scripture attributes similar chastity to Joseph. Nor is the beauty of a form always the cause of unchastity, just as ugliness is not the cause of chastity. For it is not the body, but the choice and intent of these things that is the cause. The text doubles the phrase, "She was a virgin," to show chastity in both respects. For it is possible for a soul to be corrupted by wantonness while the body remains pure. But she, even going out where many assemble, drawing water, and not remaining hidden at home, and being so fair, and alone, had no knowledge of a man. Such a woman Paul seeks, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.

^C Both hospitality and chastity are shown. The former, in that she did not run and greet the man first; the latter, in that she showed such haste and eager perseverance. And neither became an obstacle to the other. Such great haste on the part of Rebecca was worthy of the house of Abraham. For even there, in the reception of strange guests, such was the haste. And if the water given was but water, yet she provided what she had. For hospitality is judged not in the abundance of gifts, but in the disposition of the mind. For God even praised a cup of cold water, and the

Chapter XXV

^A the widow’s two mites. She displayed such great readiness in deed and word. For it is possible to provide for those who ask, yet to do so grudgingly and with great annoyance, things which were absent in Rebecca. She imitates Abraham, who, when inviting guests, would address them as "Lord," and did not inquire whence they came and who they were. She, too, does nothing superfluous, but accomplishes only what is sought, with great promptness and alacrity.

He, observing the matter that was unfolding, was struck with wonder, marveling greatly at the girl’s virtue, perceiving nothing shameless, or lazy, or bitter.

VERS. 16. He also marveled at the virgin’s countenance, speech, and manner of walking. Abraham's servant applies another test, by which he tries to explore the virgin's mind perfectly, inquiring of what family she was born, and whether she could conveniently find lodging in her house. She, in no way turning away from that man as a busybody, mentions her lineage, then points out fodder and the rest. We, if our relatives and friends are to be received into our hospitality for even a single day, turn heaven and earth upside down and are indignant.

^B The servant is worthy of admiration, because he executes the command with such religious devotion. Before he takes food, he fulfills his master's mandate.

In accomplishing this business he passes over all earthly things, and mentions only divine things; namely, that Abraham appeared to the inhabitants as a king, and that that man was surely in the care of the Divinity. As a sign of this fact, he proposes his wealth and the wondrous birth of Sarah. Then he explains the words of his master, who, relying on divine favor, had said the virgin would willingly follow, as he says: "The Lord has spoken," etc., meaning he calls the will of God a word. First, indeed, he bows and worships the Divinity of heaven; then he brings forth gifts, by which he declares that he is truly a minister of a pious master. For a pious man ought to hold nothing as prior to an act of thanksgiving, by which he shows that he is not ungrateful toward God.

Neither does he listen to them saying: "Let the girl remain with us for ten days." Since this request was contrary to what he had previously stated: "Behold Rebecca before you, take her and depart." Since, therefore, he knew the man's constancy, as a good servant he hastens, lest he change his mind.

And "may you be in a thousand myriads," etc. This blessing is aptly added. For she had heard the servant recounting how many good things Abraham had attained through divine blessing, and how many were still hoped for.

^C The virgin is carried by an ass, seeking no false, soft luxuries in the manner of delicate women. Endowed with a solid and well-compacted body, she is carried on the ass, possessing natural, not painted, beauty. Wherefore, at the sight of the bridegroom, she leaps down from the ass.

Therefore, not without reason did Isaac embrace her with the highest love. For she brought the most powerful love-potion by which love is conciliated, namely, virtue. Conversing in a friendly manner with Isaac, she removed from his mind the longing for his mother Sarah. But let us dwell for a little while on the allegory. Christ betroths to himself not the near Synagogue of the Jews, but having departed to a foreign land, he joins to himself one who is remote and who was still living in the worship of idols, to whom he postpones the Synagogue of the Jews. The Father joins her to the Son in marriage. He uses the work of the apostles in place of servants, for Paul says: "For I have betrothed you to one man, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." To whom David also says: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people, and your father’s house, because the king will desire your beauty."

^D For just as Isaac, born in the final old age of both parents, signifies, if one seeks the meaning of the name...

delight and exultation, so has Christ, the Beloved, arisen in the final times, to fill us with great joy. The servant who procures a wife for Isaac is mentioned in the Scripture under no name. Why is this? Because He willed for him to be a type of the faithful and tested disciple. And just as Rebecca here runs to the fountain, so do the disciples in the final times prove the spiritual virgin at the waters. She was fit to draw forth the life-giving word from the saving fountains, and from there to bestow saving liquids upon others, just as Rebecca did for Abraham’s servant. For while they hold that hidden mystery under a shadow, they are not entirely void of the spiritual Israel. Just as camels do not differ at all from the beasts of burden, so the Jews do not differ in any way from the Gentiles. For that animal, if you consider the Law, is held to be unclean. But the Church receives those coming from both bodies, as much from the Jews as from the Gentiles. When the disciples observed her, they did not hesitate to adorn her with ornaments of ears and hands. The ornaments are the knowledge of God and the diligent performance of virtue. The disciples also announced to her the riches of God the Father, namely hope, life, and sanctification. Furthermore, Christ is called the only Son, because He alone is the natural Son of God, and the Lord and heir of all things. Rebecca, being asked if she was prepared to set out on the journey, did not unwillingly assent. So too, the Church, gathered from the Gentiles, ran most promptly to Christ. David prophesies of her, saying: "The ear of the Lord has heard the readiness of their heart." ^A Hence Christ, being joined to her, causes the oblivion of the dead Synagogue of the Jews, just as Isaac forgot his deceased mother. Yet the Synagogue can also be called mother. For Christ, if you consider the human nature, is said to be born from it. The prophetic voice also calls the Church in this way: "And it shall be that as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so will the Lord rejoice over thee." That elder, the steward of the affairs and the house of Abraham, rightly says: "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant success to my way before me this day." Likewise, the following prayer befits that servant: "Behold, I stood at the fountain of water," etc. Wherefore it behooves us to strive with all our might so that we too may stand at the fountain of water, lest that saying apply to us: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water."

Let us learn from this, when we pray, not to emit only a sensible voice, but in our heart to adore Him who examines hearts and reins. For it is written in the present account: "And before I ceased speaking in my mind." The phrase, "in my mind," ^B is marked with an obelus, as it is not found in the Hebrew text; yet it is gathered even from what follows. For he says: "And it came to pass before I ceased speaking in my mind..."

At present, he goes to it before he takes Rebecca, and before he is blessed by God, and subsequently he dwells with her. It is called the Well of Vision [(55)], because Isaac and Rebecca first saw one another there [(36)].

"And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening." The Syrian says the phrase, "He went out to meditate toward evening," means: "Isaac was coming from the field, and Isaac came from the land, and evening is present." But the Hebrew, he says, uses the word for "to play"; and he speaks similarly of both the place and the land.

Chapter XXV

Now he acts according to this, before he takes Rebecca, and before he is blessed by God, and afterwards he dwells with her. It is called the Well of Vision [(55)], because Isaac and Rebecca first saw one another there [(36)].

He who wishes to exercise himself in the contemplation of divine things must depart from the body, which he indicated now by the word *adoleschēsai*, which signifies to be intent upon something with great study and skill. Rightly it was not added as to what thing he was intent, since he had no conversation with a man or any other earthly thing; but he was entirely devoted to the contemplation of the Divine, or intent upon some thing which seemed to pertain to God. "He goes out in the evening," etc., which is a sign that it is difficult for anyone to free himself from the contagion of the body even in old age, so that he might occupy himself with the intellect in the contemplation of divine things.

VERS. 63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. Isaac had come from agriculture; he had come from the land, and evening is present. The Hebrew interpreter translates the word *adoleschēsai* as "to play." He speaks similarly of the place and the land.

36 Ps. x, 17. 37 Isa. lxii, 5. 38 Jerem. ii, 13.

NOTES. (55) Some say it is so called from... (36) See ibid.

^A They call a *theristron* [veil] the all-covering cloth. But why does the servant, having been sent by one for the sake of the embassy, report to another? “For he recounted,” it says, “to Isaac.” He brings the good news to the one for whom he was sent. And he encountered him first along the way. In any case, he surely told Abraham as well, even if it is not written. And why is Isaac said to enter not into the house of his father, but into that of his mother for the wedding? Because (37) the father, having taken many wives (38), also had many houses. For (59) "house" is also said of the collective body of a wife and children. Aquila rendered it: “He led her into the tent of Sarah, his mother.” ^B Since some have said that the servant of Abraham was a superstitious augur, who would predict future things from certain signs, they are entirely mistaken. For such an augur, as we just described, inquires into matters related to his own system or plan. But what affinity do drinking and providing drink have with a wife, which the servant of Abraham is investigating? Furthermore, an augur does not ask for something determined, but demands something infinite that might respond to his plan. He, however, having entered upon the opposite path, did not wish to conjecture one thing from another, but sought to see the very woman herself. Again, those who follow symbols of things do not seek to look upon the thing itself, nor do they know in what way they will see it, but simply desire something that might be of service to the present business. But he searches diligently to see whom the son of his master ought to take as a wife; he does not set out to explore superstitiously whether it is possible or not. ^C Therefore, prayer simply is one thing, and prayer with an addition—namely, conjectural prayer, which kind augurs pursue—is another. For the former demands the good itself; the latter desires a certain image of the good, not the good itself, but inquires whether it has had, or has, or will have the good through certain signs and symbols of things. Therefore, not as a vain augur, but as a faithful man who had committed himself entirely to God, he pours out his prayers to the Divine. “Blessed is the Lord,” etc. The Hebrew text sounds like this: “Be blessed by the Lord, why do you stand outside?” In a similar way, those words “He repented” and “He was angered,” if one interprets them from the Hebrew source, are taken with a certain harshness and are understood crudely. The words “That I may turn to the right or to the left,” etc., [are] instead of: “I shall seek for him a wife from wherever I might find one.” We shall not be able to say it is good or bad.

CHAPTER XXV

^D VERS. 1, 2. Abraham added and took a wife, by name Keturah. From the children of Keturah, very many nations arose, which inhabited the Troglodytic [region].

^A and Happy Arabia, and the region bordering upon these, and the Madianitic [region], and the city of Madian, which lies adjacent to the desert above Arabia, opposite Pharan, to the east of the Red Sea. Whence the nation of the Madianites [took its origin] from Madian, son of Abraham and Keturah. As is evident from this, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a descendant of Abraham and a kinsman of Moses.

From Apher, the grandson of Abraham and Keturah, Africa is so named. It is recorded in the first book of the Antiquities of Josephus. ^B There is said to be a distinction between "possessions" and "gifts." The former signifies property and whatever is fixed among one's assets; but "gifts" are those things handed over [by hand], the use of which is transitory.

*And full of days.* No one who is empty has been testified by Scripture to be full of days; but [of those] who might say: "From his fullness we have all received."

*And gathered to his people.* Abraham and Jacob were added to their people, but Isaac and Israel to their lineage. Nevertheless, in both cases it appears that Moses is well aware of an eternal life and of the world to come. ^C For no one is added to those who do not exist. Someone else says that one is said to be added to a people not yet in existence, for he is the beginning and forefather of the race. Therefore, to the one who is to be born through him, as though now already existing, [God] adds him, bestowing this upon him for the God-befitting nature of his virtues, so that he is even called to have been added.

^A *Ad fontem visionis*, etc. Those who truly know God and the sacred dogmas are said to dwell "at the fountain of vision." According to the names of his generations, that is, of his tribes. For these were the heads and leaders of the tribes, just as the Jews descended from the twelve patriarchs, divided into twelve tribes, and derived the names of the tribes from the patriarchs. It is evident that the Ishmaelites are the Agarenes, taking this name from Hagar, who bore Ishmael. In the end, they called themselves Saracens, deriving that name from Sarah. They occupied the entire wilderness, which extends from Assyria towards the rising sun as far as the Red Sea, and the region which is called Abatene and the adjacent wilderness as far as Egypt. "Twelve princes according to their nations," etc.

Ishmael, as it appears, dwelled in the sight of all his brothers, just as God had promised Hagar above. For he stayed under Egypt in the sight of his brothers who were related to him by his mother’s side; and under the Assyrians, he lived in the sight of his brothers who were joined to him by blood from his father’s line. The Ishmaelites lived in the middle, whom on one side the Israelites, inhabiting the promised land, touched, and on the other side, the sons whom Keturah had borne to Abraham.

Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca as his wife. He married her three years after the death of Sarah. Abraham, therefore, lived thirty-five years after the marriage of his son Isaac.

VERS. 22. *And she went to inquire of the Lord.* She went off, presumably to consult Melchizedek. Or, she sought a quiet place, set apart from the noise of men, where she devoted herself to prayers, asking God to reveal to her and make known to her what those movements of the infants in her womb meant.

VERS. 23. *And the elder shall serve the younger,* etc. He who affects to be greater and boasts that he is greater, shall be subjected to him who, by thinking humble things of himself, is considered lesser. ^B But as for the historical truth, you should know that the Idumeans, whose ancestor is Esau, served the Israelites after their return from the Babylonian captivity. When they [the Israelites] were rebuilding the city and the temple, the neighboring nations, led and guided by the Idumeans in the valley of Josaphat, resisted them. For having been pursued as far as that country, they perished, and those who survived were enslaved, according to the prophecy of Amos, Abdias, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Moreover, those who came to the faith of Christ served the holy disciples who descended from Jacob, and even to this day they serve those who descend from them. ^C

VERS. 24. *And her days were fulfilled to give birth,* etc. A question can be raised as to the women of whom the sacred Scripture pronounces the preceding words. But so that this question may be met immediately, it must be known that up to this point, those words have been spoken only of holy women.

*And his hand grasped the heel or sole of his brother,* etc. This had been predicted to her when she went to consult the divine oracle; and, that the event of the oracle might be proven by the reality itself, it happened that one held the other's heel with his hand. But that prodigy signifies that Jacob would have dominion over Esau, and would use his services as a minister and servant. For the heel or sole properly denotes servitude and labor. Alternatively, it means that Jacob would supplant his brother Esau (for this is also set forth in the supplantation which Esau suffered), by snatching away the right of primogeniture and the blessing, helped by which he would obtain dominion over his brother.

For he who in the struggle of wrestling catches the heel or foot of his opponent, is beyond all doubt the winner of the victory. That this is true is evident even from this expression: "Because I will extend my shoe over Edom." ^A Furthermore, that divine oracle, by which it is affirmed that the greater shall serve the lesser, portends that all those things which happened afterwards came to pass by divine nod and will. 154 And what are these things? The purchase of the primogeniture, and the blessing received by guile. Wherefore, Moses does not inappropriately mention the heel.

VERS. 27. *And the boys grew, and Esau was a man skillful in hunting, and a man of the field. But Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Unto Isaac, being forty years old, Rebecca bore children.* That wonderful birth preceded the death of Abraham by fifteen years.

Jacob was a simple man and dwelt in his house, that is, he labored under no evil, whether of his own or imported from elsewhere. He was open-hearted in all things, and did nothing through simulation. Nor does Moses intend for us to understand that Jacob was foolish when he attributes simplicity to him. For with what mouth would you call him foolish, who with such skill procured the paternal blessing for himself? He attributes the cause of the probity which shone forth in him to the sincere and incorrupt morals of the man. For he did not seek external friendships. He kept himself within his own house. Consequently, he was not stained by the contagious familiarity of others, which is accustomed to infect even noble characters. Nor shall I contend much if anyone believes that Jacob's manners were described by Moses so that the difference which existed between both Jacob and Esau might be seen. For the latter remained in the cold heavens, as a hunter, and lived in the open air: the former stayed at home.

*Dilexit Isaac Esau, etc.* If God by an oracle forewarned that the younger would rule over the older, why does Isaac embrace Esau with love? But Rebecca follows Jacob with love; constant familiarity begot that love. For Jacob never left the house: but always conversed with his mother in the house. Moreover, the oracles which were uttered concerning Jacob when she consulted God while pregnant also moved Rebecca's love. Yet the primary cause, which must be confessed to be always present with the just, was that this happened by the will of the Divine. As far as Isaac and Rebecca are concerned, they were certainly men, even if they were just. But in order that the shining probity of Jacob might not be attributed to the education of his parents, but that it might appear that he was of his own accord a lover of the equitable and the just, God willed these things to happen, so that it might be known at length that the blessing itself was also the work not of paternal education, but of divine Providence. Hence it happened that Isaac, ignorant of the guile that was being prepared, elevated Jacob by his blessing. Jacob, however, not unaware that the firstborn obtain the blessing, loves and cherishes the rights of primogeniture greatly. When Isaac felt that God was deliberately assisting and favoring Jacob, he himself wished to help Esau with prayer and blessing. But God elegantly permits Isaac, who was entirely intent upon Esau, to bless Jacob, who had slipped in secretly, while he yet intended to bestow the blessing upon Esau. Yet not so that Jacob, as some evil and fraudulent person, might merit the privileges of primogeniture. For he knew that his brother was unworthy of that privilege, which he so despised and vilified that he preferred a mess of lentils to it. But the sum and chief cause of the things which are transacted here is God. He did not wish that from Esau, the firstborn, bad descendants should one day lay claim to the dominion of the promised land.

Who, then, would not be marvelously moved hearing that which is said, "Isaac loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob"? The father's love faded, but the mother's remained unbroken. Therefore, if it should happen that a wicked man is loved and chosen, that love and that choice is momentary, and straightway vanishes into thin air. But if someone good is invited and chosen by the Lord, he will be endowed with perpetual immortality and will succumb to no destruction. The good man is sought for his own sake: but the wicked man is loved because of the advantages which proceed from him: thus Isaac loved Esau, not for himself, but for the hunting with which he fed and delighted his aged father.

*And Esau came from the field, failing.* Among the righteous, "failing" is said to be a "prostheis" (an addition); for by leaving the mortal life, they are added to the immortal life; but the wicked man undergoes a failing, hunger... 155 VERS. 29. *And Esau came from the field failing,* etc. For the good, a failure of this kind is a gain. For the dying fly up to eternal seats. But for the wicked, that failure is harmful. For he falls into a hunger for virtue, which is far more intolerable than if one were to...

^A be tormented by the lack of food and drink.

VERS. 31. *Sell me today thy birthright, etc.* Could he then have become the firstborn? But it was clearer than light that the firstborn were to receive the blessing, and the seed of the firstborn were to be honored. Therefore, the birthright having been transferred to Jacob, it followed at the same time that his seed should be in honor according to the right of the firstborn. The present passage, however, seems to cast upon Jacob the charge of avarice, a crime which ought surely to be foreign to a good man. For a good man is content with little and is a friend of temperance; moreover, he has a great zeal for doing good and being helpful to all. But in order that Jacob may be absolved from this crime, it must be known that riches are the greatest momentum for an evil person to commit sins. Therefore, Jacob judged it most necessary to strip him of his goods and to remove the matter and fuel of his vices, and to correct his fierce and intractable disposition, and to lead him back to better habits. He did not, therefore, harm his brother, but rather benefited him. The fact that he yielded the right of birthright, pleased by a dish of lentils, is a sufficiently great argument that he himself had deservedly fallen away from the benefits of the birthright. The Jews, however, constantly affirm that Jacob existed as the firstborn, to whose affirmation, that it may be believed, they say it naturally happens that he who is formed first in the maternal womb is born second in the order of generation.

VERS. 32. *Behold I go to die, etc.* The present passage is an oracle in reality. For thus human life rushes toward death.

VERS. 32. And he does not say simply: "What is the birthright to me?" But he adds: "What is this birthright to me?" ^B to wit, that which leads to virtue and bestows happiness. "I have, he says, other goods far more excellent than these: pleasure, evil desire, intemperance, and avarice, and whatever things are akin to these." Wherefore he added: *And Esau despised his birthright.*

He avoids this one as a civilized man avoids a rustic, and in turn as the rustic avoids the civilized one, whose neither counsels nor deeds can agree. For no society of harmony exists with him who flees harmony. Hence he basely trafficked the birthright as some salable thing. But this passage is to be applied to that which Paul writes concerning the Jerusalemites and the Corinthians, saying: "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, it is a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" Since even Esau, having received carnal things, handed over spiritual things, namely the birthright, to Jacob. We shall, however, be more cautious to receive, thinking that he who takes something earthly, pays back to the giver something spiritual. Moreover, if anyone were to say the present history is a type of both peoples, as much of the Christians as of the Jews, he will not, in my opinion, err. For thus Paul also argues somewhere concerning Isaac and Ishmael. The elder son everywhere fails, and is eventually disinherited; the younger, however, is praised and written as heir. What were promised to Abraham concerned the calling of the nations. But the law entered in, bringing the moment of greater things, and reproving the weakness of those who were before, so that thus at length it might be shown that faith, with grace intervening, is necessary for salvation. "For where," says the Apostle, "there is no law, there is no transgression." And again: "I knew not sin, but by the law." And again: "When the law came, sin revived, but I died." And again: "Sin is not imputed when there is no law." Since, therefore, we were most gravely wounded by the bite of the ancient serpent, we had great need of salvation, which comes through Christ, who frees us from every crime through faith and the abundance of His mercy, of whom Isaac is in some way an exemplar. For in that manner Paul also accepts the seed of Abraham. Isaac indeed (as we have given above) signifies exultation and joy. Thus also David, under the person of those who desire salvation through Christ, says: "My joy is that He frees me from those who have surrounded me in a hostile manner." Here does that prophetic oracle apply: "The Lord will make justice and exultation to arise before all nations: and we are led instead of death and sin, with joy and exultation." Wherefore, praising God, we say: "Let my soul exult in the Lord." ^C For He has clothed me with the garment of salvation, and with the tunic of temperance and gladness. Paul mentions this garment clearly, saying: "As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ." And again: "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."

And to Isaac was Rebecca given as a wife, etc. This diction denotes patience, and not without cause. For the trial of the Church consists in enduring calamities and bearing human misfortunes. For "In your patience (Scripture testifies) possess ye your souls." And again: "You have need of patience, that you may receive the promise, doing the will of God." Rebecca was barren. With difficulty at last: when Isaac had importuned the Deity with many prayers, the wife obtains fertility and bears two nations, one which looked to the law: the other, which depended upon the mere grace of Christ. Esau stood as the exemplar of the Judaic.

^A population. If one explains his name, it signifies an oak, by which name the stiffness of that rigid and intractable disposition is represented. Hence God says to the Israelites: "I know that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy forehead is of brass." He names Jacob "the supplanter," for the Christian people triumph through faith and escape sin and death. Moreover, Esau was red. Now, redness signifies anger and fury because of the color, which is peculiar to that affect. Furthermore, he was hairy and rough, by which he bore the image of a beast. For the Judaic people were given over to ferocity and cruelty, and inclined with their whole heart toward savagery. Driven by this, they violated the saints and prophets and, in the end, even butchered the Author of life. But Jacob is a type of the Christian people, who follow a peaceful and placid way of life in faith. Rebecca is said to be the mother of both. Thus the Lord joined to Himself the chaste virgin Church, serving Him for the spiritual generation of two peoples. For insofar as it relates to the goal of the Incarnation, He founded both into a new man, bringing peace and reconciling both in one Spirit. But the Judaic people, exulting by reason of time in the right of primogeniture, were little bound by a concordant peace with the new Christian people. Wherefore they struggle in the maternal womb, and the infants fight as it were, making signs of future enmities. But the oracle bestowed victory upon the lesser one, just as it was responded: "The greater shall serve the younger." Moreover, Moses graphically described to us the characters and lives of both. For Esau, being unrefined, lived in the country and delighted in hunting. Jacob was of a more civilized life, studious, easy of access, friendly and benevolent to all, sincere, dwelling in his house. The former was prone to intemperance, and was accustomed to exchange small things for great. The latter, however, was an insatiable lover of the good itself, and inquired with the utmost zeal into those things by which he might daily become better. The latter sold the food with which the belly would be fed and satisfied: the former bought it. Therefore, not without reason did he receive the name Esau, as being a man of the earth. Hence the great Apostle, moved by this, does not hesitate ^B to call him a fornicator and a profane man. The Judaic people too are rustic and afflicted with earthly things, sowers of wars and hastening to slaughter like Esau, who pursued and killed wild beasts. Whence that utterance, which is brought forth under the person of Christ, applies to them: "They have laid snares to destroy," and again: "In vain have they hidden the trap of their snare for me. In vain have they assailed my soul with reproaches. May the snare come upon them which they know not: and may the traps which they have laid catch them." For they suborned certain Pharisees together with the Herodians, who were collectors of tribute, to tempt Christ, asking whether it were lawful to give tribute to Caesar, etc.; by which things it is sufficiently clear that the Judaic people are hunters, who are ever panting to commit slaughter. But the new people are sincere and placid, inhabiting as it were a house or city adorned with the best laws, namely the Church, of which David sings: "God makes those of one mind to dwell in a house." The prophetic utterance complains of the Judaic people: "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy ways." 157 But the new people (he says) is exhilarated by those who said to me: "We shall go into the house of the Lord." And again: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord." Moreover, that habitation consists firmly in the fortitude of the spirit, and in a life that ^C shines with virtue.

VERS. 28. Isaac loved Esau because of the hunting, etc.; the Judaic people, being the firstborn, were judged worthy of love, because they offered to God the rectitude and probity of a legitimate life, and the labors of this as if they were food. For there were very many saints among the Jewish race. Hence Isaiah, blaming Jerusalem for having become a harlot, says: "Justice in her time has slept in her," that is, it rested and turned aside. But they did not always preserve the honor that is accorded to those who produce the works of virtue. Therefore, when they inclined toward earthly things, He granted that honor to the new people gathered from the Gentiles. Hence the Jews, invited to the wedding, refused to come, as the evangelical parable has it. Each of them had an excuse, which they offered to satisfy their earthly and carnal affections, just as Esau did. Wherefore, those who were called in their place succeeded to the honor of the primogeniture. These, although they were at first ignorant of Christian doctrine, were nevertheless most prompt in obeying the one who called. David predicted this same thing, saying: "A people whom I knew not, have served me, at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me." But of the Judaic people it is shouted: "The children of strangers have lied, the children of strangers have grown old and have halted from their paths," as if they were about to collapse into the condition of strangers, and no longer to walk in the right ways. For those are the right ways, and those which lead to Christ without error, which are the institutions of the law and the prophets. Since, therefore, they came to the end of the law and the prophets—namely, Christ—they halted, and dared to deliver the Author of life to death.

CHAPTER XXVI.

VERS. 1, 2. And Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines in Gerar. And the Lord appeared to him and said: Do not go down to Egypt, but dwell in the land which I shall tell you. As long as the Lord permits, one will dwell in the land. But if one tarries where he ought not, God abandons him and averts His blessings. And I shall establish my oath, etc.

^D The words of the oath of God do not conflict with one another. And by whom could God have sworn, unless by Himself? It is said however...

to swear on account of our weakness, who imagine, as in the case of men, that oaths differ from words, so also in the case of God. ^A The son is also praised as worthy of his father’s nobility. For He would by no means have confirmed the father’s blessings to the son by the sanction of an oath, had He not seen the son endowed with the same virtues as the father.

VERS. 5. All my precepts, my justices, and my legitimates, etc. If the Mosaic law was not yet promulgated, why do we read here that Abraham most diligently observed and kept it? He observed it just as the nations, who, while they do not have the law, do by nature the things found in the law. But it is especially to be noted concerning "my legitimates"—which the rest have rendered as "my laws"—that these were the laws of God, perhaps having no origin in time.

VERS. 8. And when days were extended to him in that place, it came to pass that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebecca his wife. Gazing upon Isaac playing with Rebecca, he let loose his tongue in these words: Rebecca is not the sister, but the wife of Isaac. From this it is concluded that it is not lawful for a man, when he is grown, to engage in playful behavior with his sister, nor for a father with his daughter. The Hebrews, however, transmit that it is expressed by that decent term for the sake of reverence, meaning sexual intercourse. ^B

VERS. 13. And going forward, he became greater, etc. Truly he is accounted great who preserves virtue in all things. In this way no wicked man can be called great. Nor is it the custom of Scripture to attribute such magnitude or excellence to the wicked. However, Moses, John, and the Lord Himself are called great in Scripture. But the addition "very" (valde) is to be noted, which is not applied lightly. For this is not referred to simply, but with respect to degree. For it is a slippery path. The present passage bears witness that for the diligent man, even the things concerning agriculture and other matters of life prosper, and the things that follow become many times greater than the first, according to the hundredfold barley. Wherefore David also says: They shall not be ashamed in an evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be filled.

VERS. 25. The Philistines stopped up, etc. From this it is gathered that the Philistines violated the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac's father. But observe the sincerity and probity of Isaac. For when he first heard that he must depart, he departed immediately, and did not set out to engage in litigation with those by whom he had been injured. Wherefore, as God greatly loved his patience, He appears to him and promises the land, so that he would not be tormented by excessive sadness, being as he was, as a stranger and sojourner, opportune and exposed to the injury of all. With this accords that which is said: Going on from there, he dug another well. To which is very similar that saying of Christ: If they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. But those who are too much given to their feelings utterly abolish the memory of benefits, and would rather suffer loss than accept benefits from those they hate. Those wells were even open for the Philistines who wished to draw from them, nor did Isaac claim them only for himself. Yet God meets Isaac when he had already dug many wells. Isaac’s servants dig. Wherefore it is said in the Gospel: If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. Hence it follows: If you were the children of Isaac, you would do the works of Isaac. And so let each one strive with supreme effort and desire to be a son of Isaac, and to truly understand these wells and dig them constantly within himself. Some say that Isaac...

was benevolent, and would not remember the injuries any further, he sought to fill in and cleanse those blocked-up fountains, desiring to overcome their injuries with his favors. The same names are given to the wells, a thing which is attributed to the honor of the parent. Nor does he leave any room for envy toward himself. ^A Abimelech, when he goes out to Isaac with his retinue, does so more with the intention of spying than for the sake of making a covenant; he is prepared for both war and peace: for war, if he perceived Isaac to be weaker; for peace, if he detected him to be stronger. Isaac addresses the new arrivals in a friendly manner, invites them courteously, and receives them with a banquet. Yet he does not mingle idle praises. For a prudent man does not flatter; rather, he detests blandishments of this kind. Where he perceived their power, he hastened to make them partakers of salt and the table. Meanwhile, however, I think it should be noted that the kings of the Gerarites were called Abimelechs, just as the Egyptians called their kings Pharaohs.

VER. 31. *And rising in the morning, etc.* Not only Isaac and Abimelech, but also their companions were bound by an oath. It was easy to abstain from mutual injuries, just as no struggle over injuries occurred between Abraham and Abimelech. But the present pact intimated that the Philistines should not, as other nations had been, be exterminated by the Israelites in the future. The Holy Scripture calls that nation now Canaanites, now Cappadocians. But after a time had finally passed, they were displaced.

VER. 33, 34. *Esau being forty years old took wives, etc.*, namely, years after the death of Abraham. But the wives of Esau are named differently elsewhere in Scripture. *And they departed from him in peace*, etc. For they feared mutual enmities between themselves. But now, as for peace, they are sufficiently confirmed by a covenant, as if it were to be perpetual.

^A *Therefore he called the name of the city, The well of the oath.* The Syrian has not: *city*. Nor is a city found in that region by this name. Therefore it would have been the name of the place, not of a city.

VER. 35. *And they contended with Rebecca, etc.* The Syrian reads: *they displeased Rebecca*. But the Hebrew: *They ceased not to irritate and provoke Rebecca to anger*. And in what way would they not have moved and exacerbated her, doing everything contentiously?

CHAPTER XXVII.

^B VER. 13. *Upon me be thy curse, O son, etc.* Rebecca trusted entirely in the divine promise, which sounded thus: *The greater shall serve the lesser*. Yet she was somewhat troubled, as is the way of human beings, by a certain anxiety, lest the blessing of a just parent might not alter the divine pronouncement.

But Isaac did not wish to bless Esau as if he preferred him to Jacob (for how would a good man prefer the worse to the better?), but since he knew that one had God for a friend through his own virtue, and that the other placed all his hope in the paternal blessing, he sought to promote him in this manner. Moreover, the diverse intentions and opinions of the parents do not disagree among themselves, but hasten toward one and the same end. For Rebecca labored that Jacob might obtain the goods of which he was worthy. But Isaac sought to correct the lack of the one who was worse in regard to virtue through his own mercy and compassion.

^B VER. 9. *Two kids, tender and good, etc.* From the preparation of this supper we can conjecture the size and natural health of the body in which Isaac flourished. For if in old age he used the food of two kids, and yet is called temperate, tell me, what was he like in his youth?

VER. 11. *And I will bring upon myself a curse, etc.* Jacob is wonderful for his remarkable piety toward both parents. He fears that he might provoke his father to anger: then he is anxious lest he appear not sufficiently obedient to his mother. Nobly indeed he says: *I will bring it upon myself.* For even if the father, having recognized the fact, having followed his paternal love and gentleness, will not scold me, yet my conscience will rebuke me because I have committed an act worthy of a curse. Indeed, we ought also to admire the mother for the outstanding benevolence with which she protects her son.

VER. 19. *I am Esau thy firstborn, etc.* Let someone certainly cast the charge of fraudulence against Jacob again, if he does not measure that which happened according to the standard of divine Providence. But Providence looks to this: that honorable things are not given to the unworthy. Let a spy discovered by an enemy say: "I am not an enemy, but I am defecting, and I am crossing over to you." Let a leader say that he is procuring peace through hostilities: or

even a king can sometimes assume the habit of a private individual, in order to accomplish what he deems to be in the interest of his subjects. A father of a family, wishing that nothing that is done in his own house should escape him, is not hindered from wearing a servant's garment, and in this way observing domestic matters. Someone says that Jacob said these things, lest, if his father had understood the fraud, he himself would be struck down by a curse. And you shall not call Jacob a liar for calling himself the firstborn of Esau. For he was indeed such, having obtained the privileges of the birthright through the intervention of an oath. But by the hunt he means the food, as Isaac supposed, prepared from caught wild animals, through which Jacob hunts for the paternal blessing. Since he had acquired by fraud the rights of the birthright, he also obtains by deceit the paternal blessing which Divine Providence was bestowing. ^A Fearful ^B lest his father, having perceived it, might curse him, he did not lie, saying that he himself was Esau the firstborn. For he had transferred to himself the birthright of Esau through the sale of the lentil pottage with oaths; and he calls it a hunt, as Isaac thought, that which was done through the hunted quadrupeds; but as Jacob was speaking, he meant the blessing of his father, through which he hunted. And having bought the firstborn rights by deceit, he received the dispensation of God regarding his father.

VERS. 20. *Cito invenisti*, etc. For he had not been present for as long a time as a hunter is accustomed to spend on a hunt. But the pious son, in answering, transfers the cause to God as the author. Isaac orders his son to approach, so that he might touch him. For no one, removed from the one blessing, can obtain the blessing. Therefore, first drawing near, he is touched. Then, drawing near again, he kisses his father.

VERS. 22. *Vox quidem est vox Jacob*, etc. For some testify quite ineptly that there was some similarity between the voice of Jacob and Esau. But the Hebrew seems to bring forward another interpretation, namely, that the father thinks those pious words, "God has provided before me today," were not prompted by Esau, a wild man. The Scripture seems to agree with this sense, which speaks only of the hands, that they were similar to the hands of Esau, namely, hairy. It reports nothing of this kind concerning the voice. For the father was not judging their character by the pronunciation, but by the sense of the words of each. "Are you my son Esau?" He added nothing else, but immediately begins the tapestry of the blessing, as if he were saying: You are my son Esau. And by these words he transmits and as if confirms the rights of the birthright to Jacob. But I believe this should be attributed to Divine Providence, that Isaac was unable to discern, by touch or voice or the eating of the wild game, the difference and to notice the deceit.

VERS. 27. *Ecce odor filii mei ut odor agri pleni*, etc. The Syrian says not "of the field," but "of the earth," planted with most fragrant buds and best fruits. Furthermore, as they say, odor is not sensible. For how could it retain any similarity? But without doubt he mentions that odor of which Paul also discourses, saying: "We are the good odor of Christ." It is probable that each one has a good odor, namely, of virtue, which is as it were the complement of those things which are in the field. On the contrary, vices are of a most foul odor, according to him who sings: "My wounds have stunk and rotted because of my foolishness." It is fitting, however, for the Lord to bless the field of virtue pouring forth the best odors. But these words must be understood concerning the celestial dew, which is instilled from the celestial region into the souls of the pious. The same must be thought concerning the fatness of the earth, which it has by receiving the seed and returning it a hundredfold. If his odor is the odor of a full field, which the Lord has blessed, the blessing will surely be of the Lord.

VERS. 29. *Et adorabunt te filii patris tui*, etc. These things are to be extended to all who are worthy of beatitude and blessing. But he who curses them is cursed. Hence it is said, that the one who curses or conjures shall not enter into the inheritance of the kingdom. This is to the point, what is read in Leviticus: "Bring forth the curser outside the camp, and let the whole people strike him with stones." "Sons of your father," etc., namely, those born of Esau. But just as David, having been declared king, suffered persecution from him who by the judgment of God had been driven from the kingdom: so Jacob, having obtained the blessing so that he might have dominion over his brother, experiences the opposite, himself adoring his brother. But the prophecy finds its effect in the seed.

VERS. 31. *Surgat pater meus*, etc. All these things depend upon the faith of Esau, as do the things that follow, when it says: "He cried out with a bitter and great cry, saying to his father: Bless even me, my father." But if anyone should look deeply into the present words, he has not entirely fallen from the blessing, which indeed those should note who think that Esau was entirely immersed in the cares of the world, and for that reason alien to hope in God. Yet the voice of one is great and bitter: but another is great and meanwhile sweet. But this bitter outcry has a certain analogy with the sorrow which is according to God.

^A And all his brothers. Yet Isaac had no other sons. Some, therefore, suppose that he means the Ammonites and the Moabites, for they served them—yet these things happened even before Jacob, and they were not born of Abraham, but of Lot. It would have been necessary to say, "The brothers of your father," not his own, Jacob's. Others say that he refers to those from Esau. For Esau himself was more powerful than Jacob, and he was worshiped by him when he returned from Mesopotamia. But if he says, "I have made him your lord," the word concerns the seed, so that "Yours" and "all your brothers" mean the same thing. Others say that Jacob is taken here in the person of Judah, who was born of him; and "his brothers" refers to the twelve tribes, for the tribe of Judah ruled over them. From it came the kings, from whom Christ came according to the flesh. Whence he brought the more precious part of the seed into the person of Jacob. So that, when he says, "I have made him yours," he speaks of the sons of Esau; but when he says, "and all his brothers," he signifies that the twelve tribes would be servants to Judah.

^B Nam etiamnum Arabes latrocinantur, et bellorum avidissimi feruntur. Jacobo quidem obvenit benedictio ex fertilitate et ubertate glebæ. Esauus vero accepit nullos terræ fructus, sed solummodo terræ ipsi concessa est habitatio, quamvis et ipsa quoque fecunda foret. Latrocinia enim exercuit, nec agriculturæ fuit intentus. Nec benedictionis verba habent: ‹ Det tibi Dominus, ut vivas super gladio tuo, › etc. Nulli siquidem talia elargiri solet cœleste Numen.

VERS. 40. Et erit quando abstuleris et solveris jugum ejus abs te, etc. Dixit enim supra: ‹ Super gladio tuo vives. › Gens namque ex ipso originem trahens bellicosissima fuit. Verum Syrus, erit, pro resipiscas, accipit, dicens: Si resipueris, et vitæ tuæ bellicosum institutum obmiseris, Deique timorem imbiberis, cognosces eum. Quidam simpliciter in hunc modum illa verba accipiunt: Tempus erit, quo jugum ejus excuties, libertateque frueris.

^C Voce magna et amara, etc. Non tam indignatur quod benedictionem nequit percipere, quam quod

^A he perceives his brother held worthy of the blessing: and ^B for that reason he had fallen from it. You may easily know that from the magnitude and bitterness of the outcry. ^C

"Your brother came with deceit, etc." How is it, therefore, that he immediately adds: "And he shall be blessed?" It is clear, therefore, from this, that not every deceit or fraud is considered culpable. Refer here to stratagems, and the skill of athletes, who seize the honor of the palm if they have won relying on cunning. To this place, therefore, it is equivalent, "With art"; as if he had said: He came with art. But a good man does nothing that is not done artfully. These things, indeed, we have interpreted in this manner simply; but let us repeat the same text a little more deeply. God desires to see the manner of living hidden in the law, wrapped in shadows and types, namely the letter: nor does He seek to behold it in the Jewish people otherwise than Isaac did the hunting of Esau. For the Jewish people had confirmed their faith at Horeb, saying: "All things, whatsoever God shall say, we will do and we will hear." But that people was a procrastinator, and knew nothing except to promise. Wherefore the supplanting people, that is, the new people, anticipated him by bringing what was sought. For God introduced faith as food. Therefore Christ, signifying the faith of the Samaritans, says: "I have food to eat, which you do not know." This food, so that it may appear what kind it is, he explains thus: "My food is that I may do the will of Him who sent me." The Savior indeed shows, as if proposing two sons under a type, that the first people did not stand by their promises, but the new people, although hesitantly, yet finally ran to the work of faith. In that manner also Esau hesitated. Jacob, who at first was weaving delays, simulating the hairiness of his brother, placed the desired foods before his father. For the new people also imitates the figure and form of the Jewish life. For whoever wishes to work something, applies his hands to the work. For as many as follow the dictate of faith, fulfill the law spiritually, pouring out the odor of a good fragrance, offering themselves to God the Father. For Christ, who brought the evangelical laws, says: "Do not think that I have come to dissolve the law." But those who follow Christ fulfill the law, assuming spiritual circumcision ^D in place of the carnal, and truly cultivating the Sabbatism in Christ, and truly showing the Jew who is in secret. And this is properly to have the hands of Esau, and not his voice. For we do not wish to embrace the ineptitudes and ravings of the Jews, nor do we wish to blaspheme the Lord by denying Him. But if we look at the blessing, not all things were consummated in Jacob, but in Christ, and in those who are justified through faith, absolved from all crimes. These have been made sons according to the promise of Isaac, so that they may scatter spiritual odors in Christ, who in the Song of Songs says: "I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys"; born from the earth, namely, in respect of humanity, and it is the odor of the knowledge of God and the Father. For Paul writes: "But thanks be to God, who always triumphs through us in Christ, and manifests the odor of His knowledge through us in every place." For he who knows the Father, knows also the Son. But through the works of the apostles we have come into the knowledge of the Son, who is for us the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth according to the participation of the divine nature. For the earth is fat for us, softened by spiritual rains to produce spiritual fruits. Nor is there a lack of abundance of grain, that is, of fortitude. For bread strengthens and confirms the heart of man. Nor is there an absence of the abundance of wine, that is, of joy. For wine exhilarates or gladdens the heart of man. For we have received the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions; and exulting in hope, we rejoice in awaiting the heavenly mansions, desiring to reign with Christ. For it has been said: "Let the nations serve you, and let princes adore you, and be the Lord of your brother." For Christ is, if you consider the flesh, the firstborn among many brothers, the divine nature joined to humanity. Wherefore we adore Him as the Lord of those who have been called into this brotherhood. "For who," he says, "in the clouds shall be likened to the Lord? and who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?" For to Him every knee shall bend of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. He who curses Him is cursed, and has fallen from God. But he who blesses Him is blessed, and abounds in heavenly goods. But he blesses who announces His divine glory. Isaac also deems Esau worthy of a blessing, bearing the type of Christ. For to Israel was given the blessing, while the law was promulgated by Christ through Moses. For in many ways (says Paul) God spoke to the fathers in the prophets. Indeed, Christ also teaches that His words are the law. For He says: "Not even an iota or a dot shall perish from the law, until all things have been done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, my words shall not pass away." Esau is devoid of bread and wine, that is, of the mystical blessing. For the ancient people was not held worthy of that honor. We through Christ are in peace, but the Israelites, having committed many battles, possessed the land of Canaan, which bears the type of the heavenly and spiritual land. Hence the Savior says: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." We, therefore, asserted into true liberty, relying on the Holy Spirit, approach Christ as a brother, because He assumed human nature, and we adhere to Him with much patience. But Israel is again drawn back into servitude as a man subject to the law, because of which death

COMMENTARIES ON GENESIS

^A sustains, which transgressions produce. For God says to Moses: "Go quickly, descend from here. For your people, whom you led out of the land of Egypt, have acted wickedly." Nay, Paul himself speaks of the law thus: "If anyone has transgressed the law of Moses, he is punished capitally upon the testimony of two or three witnesses." But Israel hesitated to cast off the yoke of the law when it was being called by Christ to the grace of faith and the liberal condition of faith.

VER. 41. *Then Esau said in his heart*, etc. How, then, could Rebecca know what Esau was plotting in his heart? It is sufficiently clear that Esau had already resolved to remove Jacob from the midst. For the word "said" sufficiently indicates this. He disclosed this plan of his to certain persons. In this place, he calls death an affection or passion. "He hindered himself, Esau, from receiving the blessing more quickly, by grumbling against Jacob and not clearing his own mind, so as to serve his brother willingly. But what Esau said in his mind, it is clear was reported to Rebecca not by man." Truly, Esau ought to have blamed himself, not others, for the fact that he was slow in attaining the blessing, although he was angry at Jacob and envied him, nor did he wish to acknowledge him as master. But they say: If Esau spoke these things to himself, namely that he might destroy his brother, I think it is manifest enough that this plan was not revealed to Rebecca by man.

We learn, therefore, from this to flee those who lay snares for us and plot our ruin. For the example of Jacob fleeing from Esau warns us that persecutions are to be fled. But to see divine help, divine visions were observed by Jacob, and he became the father of the twelve tribes of the people in this very flight and exile. Upon his return after his flight, he obtains the name Israel in place of Jacob.

VER. 45. *Why should I be deprived of both of you?* etc., as if he were a fratricide, considering the intended and conceived slaughter, already dead. Rebecca presents a convenient cause for exile to Jacob, namely the daughters of the Hittites, lest, while he was setting out for Mesopotamia against his father's will, he might either provoke his father or cast him into sadness. For we read above: "Esau's wives were quarreling with Isaac and Rebecca." From this we are also taught not to betroth ethnic wives to pious sons. Therefore also Rebecca laments, saying: "Why is life to me?" But the daughters of Canaan were evil, not in the eyes of Esau, but in the eyes of Isaac his father. "Esau envied Jacob because of the blessing," etc. So also the firstborn Israel envied the faithful, that is, the new people, since if you wish to consider the order, he was made first, and is reputed as the firstborn. But receiving the blessing, he was enriched by the grace of Christ. But the other, already exasperated, began to breathe slaughter and persecution, leaving no trickery unattempted. The apostles, however, strove to move from one city to another, just as they had been commanded by Christ. So also Jacob betakes himself to Laban, aided by Rebecca’s cleverness and Isaac’s prudence. He took for a wife one from those who adhered to idolatry. Thus the apostles, pertaining to the new people according to the judgment of the Church and her spouse, fleeing the closeness of the Jews, cry out: "It was necessary that the word of God be delivered to you first; but because you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord commanded us." It was legitimate, therefore, to beget children from ethnics and to become fathers of many. For Paul thus addresses those whom, when they were formerly Gentiles, he had converted to Christ: "For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you." Jacob, however, instituting his journey into Mesopotamia, receives a blessing no differently than the new people, augmented by the increase of faith. For as many as are contained in the new people have received Abraham’s blessing, having become co-heirs with the fathers. For they will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, according to the voice of the Savior, who, bestowing the blessing upon us, says: "Holy Father, keep them in your truth." On account of the firstfruits from the Israelites, the Church is understood as the mother of two peoples, who have been founded into one new man. For so also Rebecca was the mother of two.

CAP. XXVIII.

VER. 1. *Isaac therefore called Jacob and blessed him.* It is asked why Abraham did not bless Isaac, just as Isaac invoked auspicious and good things upon Jacob, and Jacob upon the twelve patriarchs? But I think it is manifest that he possessed a sufficient blessing, if only by the most holy testimony of God. "Of Bethuel the Syrian," etc. Because in the passage of time he became a Syrian. "From the well of the oath," etc. For at that fountain the princes of the Gerarites made peace with Isaac, which they confirmed by the religion of an oath. But it is written above: "The name of the city, Well of the Oath." But to Jacob, who was cast into sadness because he was being torn away from the sweetest habit of his parents and was being compelled to set out for another region, the angels serving the human race opportunely appear to console him. Thus God is always wont to be present to his own who are oppressed by adversities. The ladders signify ascent and descent. But Jacob had conceived a narrow opinion regarding the Deity, when he thought that he was leaving behind the rest of the world and was being contracted and contained in that one region alone to which he had been called and led by Him. This opinion of Jacob still savored of the remnants of idolatry. For other demons, in the manner of pagans, operate in one place and ^{B C D}

^A are worshipped. Jacob is therefore taught by the present vision that God is everywhere present, even though He dwells in heaven; and that He administers the whole nature of things, ruling even the angels who acknowledge His authority. Wherefore, as if seized by admiration, Jacob exclaims: “The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.” But as for what had occurred, when he suspected that the stone was the cause, he honored the stone, if not as he wished, at least as he was able. Thus the faithful people have rested in Christ, who is the elect and precious cornerstone. Nor is the faithful people forsaken by the Lord; it also possesses angels by whom it is aided, according to the pronouncement of Christ: “For you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” That descent of the angels, who are sent into ministry for those who are to be heirs of the kingdom of heaven, is signified by the ladder. Truly, Christ is set over the angels as Lord, to whom, as David testifies: “He shall give charge of thee, to keep thee in all thy ways”; from whom you will receive power, and you shall tread upon the lion and the dragon. For we tread upon snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy. Hence He speaks to us, as once to Jacob, in this way: “Behold, I am with you all days.” Furthermore, the blessed disciples were greatly enriched in Christ. For the fathers of innumerable nations were born from Christ. Thus Paul says: “For in Christ Jesus by the Gospel I have begotten you.” And, to return to a few points, so fruitful was the offspring of the apostles, which they produced through the doctrine of the Gospel, that, like sand lacking in number, Christians have been scattered throughout the whole world.

VERS. 18. And the stone was anointed with oil, etc. In this manner Emmanuel was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Furthermore, Emmanuel is raised from the dead, of which that upright stone is indeed a type, so that it might represent the form of a statue.

^A Some assert that, as God is said to be the way by the authority of Scripture, so also is He to be called the place in which Jacob, taking his rest, saw the ladder rising from earth to heaven. Wherefore, struck with horror, he says: “That place is religious, it is the house of God and the gate of heaven.” For as: “I am the door,” so also the place and the house is the Word of God in the God the Father who is in Him. Thus also He is called the gate of heaven. For through Him we enter into heaven, the highest palace of God. To this place, as if to one living and coming toward him, Jacob draws near.

^B “Perhaps,” they say, “the Lord is also, like the way, the place in which he rested and saw the ladder, whence he also called it fearsome, and the gate of heaven, and the house of God. For as, ‘I am the door,’ so also is the place and the house of the God who is in Him, and the God the Word is of the Father; and the gate of heaven, if it is the door through which we shall enter into heaven, the throne of God; to this place, as if to one living and coming toward him, Jacob met.”

If you connect this place here also, you will not have done so ineptly. It happened that when Laban heard the name of Jacob, the son of his sister, he went forth to meet him. The Hebrews note that when Jacob had departed from the holy land, the sun had set; but as he crossed the Jabbok and was coming to the crossing of the holy land, it shone on him again. For it is written: The sun rose for him when he had passed by the vision of God, that is, that place in which he had observed the divine vision, which place was called terrible because of its religion, namely the house of God and the gate of heaven. Stones in Sacred Scripture generally denote holy virtues. But Christ, that precious and excellent stone, is placed under the head of Jacob. But He who says: “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father,” etc., is called an angel. For Jacob himself confirms this sufficiently, saying: “The angel of God said to me in a dream.” And a little later: “I am God who appeared to thee in the place of God, where thou hast anointed the statue, and hast vowed to me.” Unless perhaps God spoke in the angel, as He appeared to Moses in the bush. Jacob calls the house of God the gate of heaven: but Scripture deems worthy of this name the place in which the ladder was seen. However, as we are instructed by the present passage, it can be gathered that Bethel was situated in the middle of Judea. “The land,” He says, “in which thou sleepest, to thee will I give it.” Judea lies open in breadth in four sections. Bethel, therefore, as the intermediate point, is situated, as the 76th Psalm teaches. It is not, therefore, without reason that Jacob sees the dream in this place. Why does he drench the stone with oil? Namely, so that with oil, as a kind of mark, he might distinguish it from the rest, so that upon returning from Mesopotamia he might be able to find it. But for that purpose the erection of the stone and noting the stone with a knife would have sufficed: but upon returning, if God had again offered Himself to be seen, he could have erected the stone and anointed it for God. Moreover, as it seems to me, I think that this all happened on account of the future anointing by which the tabernacle and the priests were to be consecrated. But to him who says: To him, who passed into Mesopotamia fortified only with a staff, was there no knife with which he might mark the stone? Thus it is answered by another question: How then did he have God? He could have marked that stone even by the friction of another stone, and there would have been no need for a knife for that purpose. A certain interpreter says that that ascent and descent of the angels signifies the journey of Jacob into Mesopotamia, and his return thence. And that he himself is aided by the help of the angels, so that he might be able to return safely to his fatherland in the postliminy. Primarily, however, through that ladder is shown the descent of Christ from heaven to us and the ascent. “This stone,” he says, “will be my house of God,” etc. Therefore he signed it with such care as if it were, and anointed it with oil, so that it might be the House of God. What truly is that house of God? Surely the house destined for prayer and supplications. “And he will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,” etc.

The garment is a vestment used for the sake of adornment, worn over the tunic. ^A For this reason, also, the woman who touched the fringe of the Savior’s garment was healed. For there was a peculiar power in it. And perhaps for this reason the soldiers vied with one another to tear it apart, so that each might have a portion, as if it were useful not for wearing, but because some medicinal power resided in it.

«And the Lord shall be my God.» For perhaps He was not yet [his God]; but Jacob was destined to become such as Abraham was at a later time, when he heard, «I am your God.» Therefore, the Lord God was with him, yet He did not yet offer Himself—being his Lord—to be his God; but [He did this] when He protected him, and when He gave him the living bread to eat, and to be clothed with Christ Jesus, and with the heart of compassion. ^B

VERS. 21. *And the Lord shall be to me for a God, etc.* Is it only now, after receiving so many benefits, that you wished to acknowledge the Lord as your God? Or perhaps He was not yet God to him, but was to be the God of Jacob, just as [He was the God] of Abraham when he heard this voice of God: «I am your God.» For the Lord God was not yet with him, but that came to pass then, when He protected him through his departure and return, and brought to him Christ Jesus and the bowels of compassion.

The garment that is put on over the tunic was the light of God, by which he was protected and covered on all sides. That the garment—or cloak—and the tunic differ, is evident both from this and from other places in Scripture: «If any man will sue you at the law and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.» And from this: «He has clothed me in a tunic of salvation, and with a cloak of gladness.» Furthermore, this was also lacking, so that the Lord God might be God to Jacob, namely, that instructed by the help of the Lord God he might return safe to his father’s house, outside of which, while he was and walked on the road that led to it, he was miraculously defended by divine aid. But at that time the Lord was not yet to Jacob for a God, nor was the stone the house of God. However, this comes to pass, so that we may learn that what follows is more perfect than what precedes.

I think that the stone which was first [a stone] later becomes the house of God. ^B Just as the word of God, which at first is small to those who are beginning, clarifies and brings to the knowledge of God him who has been perfected with progress. Such also is that which is in Daniel, when the stone cut from the mountain without hands became a great mountain.

Another interpreter has it thus: *The Lord shall be to me for a God, etc.* From these words it is conjectured that God was not previously his. And to Abraham God says: «I will be God to you.» Therefore, before this, He was not his God. He says, furthermore: «The statue which you have set up for me, the statue of God.»

How is one stone the house of God? And yet he did not make a house to God in that place, but an altar. But he says this: that if I return, I will give thanks to God by building an altar. If, therefore, I am saved, I shall be of God. For this is what «He shall be to me for a God» means. ^C

But it is sought in what way one stone was the house of God, especially since Jacob built no house, but at least an altar in that place. But this is the meaning of those words: When I have returned, I will give thanks to God by placing an altar. If, therefore, I shall have been brought back here safe, I shall be God’s. For that is what it signifies, which he says: «He shall be to me for a God.»

CHAPTER XXIX.

VERS. 1. *Jacob therefore lifted up his feet, and came into the land of the children of the East.* We have described above that Jacob bears before him the type of the new people who follow the most holy dogmas of Christ; the same Jacob also bears the character of the apostles, who, having left the people who delighted in slaughter, went forth to the Gentiles. Nor is the example of Moses found to be unlike this one, who also withdrew into Midian, and dealt similarly with virgins and shepherds. It is written: «The people that is created (or founded) shall praise the Lord.» ^D From those [Gentiles], however, the apostles endeavored to seek children, forming and begetting them by evangelical doctrine, saying: «You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You who in time past were not a people, but are now the people in Christ.» Therefore Christ, like Jacob, commands the shepherds to go away and feed the flock. He subjoins the reason: «For yet the day is high, nor is it time that the flocks should be gathered.» In this manner Peter commanded that they should do.

^A Elders or bishops, he says: «The elders who are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the glory that shall be revealed, feed the flock of Christ and of God.» Everywhere the Holy Scripture calls those shepherds who lead men, as it were, into a grassy place, into the Holy Scripture. Hence it is said: «Have care for the grass in the field, and cut the hay: and gather the mountain hay, that thou mayest have sheep, from whose wool thou mayest provide thyself garments.» Moreover, the holy teachers taught the philosophers of the Gentiles those things which they could by no means attain to by their own powers, giving them to drink of the vivifying water of the knowledge of Christ, and removing from the well, as Jacob did, the stone: which all of them combined and gathered together could not have moved. «For this is eternal life,» he says, «that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.» To the Samaritan woman he speaks thus: «If thou didst know the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.» To the Jews he says: «If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.» By the prophet he expostulates with the Jews, saying: «The heaven was astonished at this, and shuddered exceedingly, saith the Lord. For my people have done two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water.» But Christ lies hidden, as it were, in the deep stone, covered by a kind of obscurity. But the garrulous Greek philosophers, relying upon and occupied with infinite syllogisms, which they use in searching for the sacred liquor of life, could not reach the depth of truth. They did indeed discover by their reasoning that God exists, but they erred shamefully while they attributed the divine nature, as they pleased, even to creatures. Yet one shepherd, sent by Christ and instructed in sacred dogmas, is able to roll away the stone. This water Paul announced to the Athenians, while he preached of the Unknown God, and desired to prepare a Church from the Gentiles, like Jacob wooing Rachel, which is interpreted as a sheep, for the Lord. For Christ preached: «And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold,» etc. This one, therefore, he joined to Christ as a chaste virgin, having no spot or wrinkle. The Israelites, if you look at their first origins, had roots from the Gentiles. Wherefore Laban greets and kisses Jacob, and calls him, although he was an idolater, his flesh and his bone. For Abraham, having been educated in uncircumcision in the land of the Chaldeans, and trained according to the laws of the Greeks, received circumcision as the seal of his faith. Israel, therefore, is a kinsman to the Gentile people, though he was separated by the law: and at length both met in one body. For Christ took away the partition, abolishing the literal law and the circumcision which made a distinction. «For I will,» he says to the Father, «that as I and you are one, so they also may be one in us.» «For he himself is our peace, who hath broken down the wall.»

Some say that the flocks which were gathered at the well while it was yet much of the day remaining, signify that at the consummation, the Gentiles also shall be saved, coming to serve the Lord under one yoke, as the prophecy of Zephaniah has it. For the shepherds then agreeing in the good, and strengthened by concord, shall be able to remove the stone, and thence water men, just as Jacob did, who long ago showed the salutary fountain to the shepherds by uncovering it, and thence watering the flocks of Laban.

The stone, however, was great, it was a rock of stumbling, which the shepherds who were set over the flock had to remove, with each one bringing his own strength, as happens most often in synods and councils of bishops in settling heresies. But yet Jacob alone, aided by no external works, removed the stone.

Just as if someone should find a treasure hidden in a field, he does not immediately and imprudently bring it out into the open: so also it was necessary that the stone lid placed upon the well should be removed, until they who were to do so might quench their thirst, and afterwards be replaced, lest the use of the water should flow out to the unworthy. For those are considered unworthy who refuse to undertake the labor, the reward of which they receive in that salutary water, that they may thence drink and also provide for others, whom it is fitting to be refreshed by that liquor.

Jacob was a cousin of Laban. For Rebecca, who was the sister of Laban, had borne Jacob. Therefore he calls Laban brother, although he was his uncle. And thus also Abraham, when he said that Sarah was his sister, meant his cousin, as ^B some, the flocks gathered that the stone might be rolled away and watered, the day being still far advanced, say that the Gentiles in the consummation shall be saved, having come to serve under one yoke, according to Zephaniah; when the shepherds, having agreed upon what is good, and strengthened by that concord, shall be able to uncover the well seen by Jacob; for Jacob was before them, he who signifies Christ, and rolled away the stone, and watered the sheep of Laban, before they were yet born marked to Jacob. The great stone is the stone of stumbling. Which the shepherds gathered together for the common good must roll away, each one contributing his own strength. Such are the synods of bishops held concerning ecclesiastical questions. But Jacob alone uncovered the stone, having accomplished the work of all. ^C And Jacob being a cousin of Rachel; since one was the son of Rebecca, the other the daughter of Laban, who were brother and sister; he calls Laban, being his uncle, brother. Therefore when Abraham also says of Sarah, «She is my sister,» he calls her his niece, the daughter of Haran. Thus ^D

^A one must understand that which is said: «From the father.» For Haran, his brother, was the son of Terah. But not from the mother, as some say, is she called his sister. For nowhere does it appear that Terah married a second time. How then is she a sister by the father, but not by the mother? And Laban also calls his nephew brother. And Laban too [Jacob] calls the son of Nahor, that is to say, his grandson. For he was the son of Bethuel, son of Nahor.

The Scripture shows ^B that God provided to the righteous of that time not only an abundance of wealth, but also bodily strength and beauty, in order to provoke the nations to emulation and draw them to the knowledge of God.

VERS. 15. Quia frater meus es, servies mihi gratis? etc. Perchance it may seem absurd to some that Jacob takes two wives, and those sisters. But let such a one know that for the men of old, the greatest zeal was to beget much offspring, and he who abounded with many children was numbered among the blessed. Wherefore, in the ancient age, it was not imputed as a fault even if a man joined several wives to himself. The ancients received the fecundity of offspring before the law was given in place of a blessing. Even those who were governed by the Law judged many children to be a blessing of the Lord. To these it is said: «If you shall keep the law, there shall not be among the children of Israel one that is barren.» Yet it was not the law, but the promise, that bestowed fruitfulness. For it is not placed in us to be either fruitful or barren. But we who are in Christ and follow His dogmas, let us hasten to bring forth spiritual fruits, and yet let us not in the meantime despise marriage; but rather let us choose that which is better, namely, that we should cleave to God and in no way be torn away from Him, since Laban also says: «Shall you serve me for nothing?» Even the apostles, when they wished to show the magnificent titles of their calling, made mention of the multitude of believers, to whom Paul says: «My joy and crown.» For we have taught above that the person of Jacob sometimes designates the apostles, sometimes indeed Christ. For He was the firstborn among many brothers, who descended from heaven as a bridegroom. Nor did Jacob receive the daughters of Laban as wives without sweat, just as God does all things easily. «He shall not hunger, nor shall He labor,» testifies Isaiah. But if there are certain names which little befit Him, remember that this is done for our sake, to whom He adapts Himself. For He addresses the mother of the Jews, the Synagogue: «In all these things you have afflicted me with grief.» Paul also says: «Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.» Thus He is also said to labor, though not laboring, performing the greatest and most excellent works as if He were in toil ^C if the divine nature were to resist. Therefore Christ joined the Synagogue to Himself not without great reward and great labors. For Leah delineates this to us as if under a certain type. For if you interpret the name, it signifies «laboring» and «renewed.» For she labored greatly, having been exhausted by Egyptian servitude and oppressed by the tyranny of superstitions. But she was reclaimed and renewed to the paternal splendor and the sacrosanct worship of God, with idols rejected. And so Moses addresses her: «The Lord your God is one Lord.» «And you shall have no other gods beside Me.» Nevertheless, God had already long desired to prepare for Himself a Church from the body of the nations, rebuking the Judaic Synagogue as intractable. For He says to Moses: «I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people. Let me alone, that I may exterminate it, and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than it is.» But when the Jews were such as we have just depicted, they were necessarily instructed by these lesser things before they could arrive at the richest fruits of the Gospel. Therefore, when He desired the Church, which was to be gathered from the nations, He first joined to Himself the Synagogue, overwhelmed by Egyptian servitude, which the whole nature of things was pursuing. But once the septenary of the Synagogue was finished, He brings in God's sheep, that is, the younger and longed-for Church, for whom He does not even refuse to undergo the most grievous labors. Herod pursues her, the Pharisees plot traps, the princes do not abstain from insults; He is defiled with spittle, His back is lacerated with rods, He experiences the fury of soldiers, He is nailed to the cross. But Leah and Rachel were begotten by an idolatrous father, which fact certainly teaches that both Synagogues were gathered from the nations. Since even Abraham, the root and stock of the first Synagogue, was a Gentile. Leah's eyes were weak; and concerning her, Christ discourses thus: «Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind.» But He speaks otherwise concerning Rachel, who was beautiful, ^D saying: «But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.» To the mother of the Jews He says again, as the prophet testifies: «Behold, you have no eyes, nor is your heart beautiful.»

^A But Christ, calling the Church from the nations, says: «Your eyes are the eyes of a dove,» as the Psalmist has it. Moses and the angels betroth the Synagogue; but John betroths the Church, having been brought in as the sequester and arbiter to this spiritual marriage, crying out: «He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears him, and rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice.» Now the dowry for the nuptials is faith and mercy. For He says through the prophet: «I will betroth you to myself in justice and in judgment, and in mercy and in compassion. And I will betroth you to myself in the faith and knowledge of the Lord.» Furthermore, He says: «I will betroth you to myself forever.» But, so that you may discern the difference between the two, hear what He says concerning the Synagogue: «Because she is not my wife, nor am I her husband.» And again: «I gave her a bill of divorce into her hands.» For she has been rejected as an adulteress. For elsewhere He speaks of her thus: «If anyone dismisses his wife, and she, going away from him, has become the wife of another man, will he return to her again? Has not that land been polluted by pollution? And you have committed fornication with many shepherds, yet return to me, says the Lord. Lift up your eyes to high places and see where you have not been defiled. You sat by the ways, waiting for them like an Arab in the desert, and you polluted the land in your fornications and in your malice. You have become the brow of a harlot-woman, and you would not blush. Will you not cry out hereafter to me: You are my father and the guide of my youth?» These things pertain to the elder one. But to the younger one He nods to the one crying out: «Show me your face and send your voice to me.» For because of her, He was made man, since He spoke at the very end of time by Himself, and not through another. For when the time appointed for this thing had passed, He received the bride. Jacob, not in reality, but by a certain presumption, was saying that it was Rachel. When the day dawned, it was Leah. For the deceit was evident to Laban. Nor is it written concerning Leah: «He gave his daughter Leah to him for a wife.» But what is said: «He loved Rachel more,» etc., does not seem to signify that he therefore persecuted Leah with hatred. «But He opened her womb,» etc. The Lord opens the womb in the generation of the saints. Similarly, He opens the womb of the mind, so that it may generate the Word of God, of whom it may be considered as a mother.

^B Observe also how in this place the same has occurred as above concerning Jacob and Esau. Jacob, who was less loved, obtains the blessing: so also in this place, she who was less loved, produces the heir of the blessing, namely Judah, from whom Christ is born. And so that the sons of the beloved might not be preferred before all, He checked her fertility, so that not only because they were first in the order of birth, but because they were much earlier, the sons of Leah might have the honors without any impediment to primogeniture. These things, however, were arranged more through Judah, who in the order of generation was fourth among the sons of Leah. For Reuben was stripped of the honor of primogeniture: nor could Simeon and Levi hold the second place after the primogeniture, because of the faults which Scripture records. Therefore, in the blessings, Judah is found to be the firstborn. But the sons of Jacob, born as much from the wives as from the handmaids, distribute the paternal inheritance equally among themselves. Furthermore, God permits that Jacob should also receive children from the handmaids, that He might show, just as Paul teaches in Galatians, that with Him there is neither bond nor free, etc.

«Now my husband will love me,» that is, truly and properly. Or, as I explained above, she was loved by her husband, but she thought herself unloved, because she felt that her husband’s feelings were more enkindled toward Rachel. She named his name Reuben. If anyone rightly weighs the history, he finds that that name has great emphasis, as if she were saying (as the name indicates): See the son, O my dearest, whom the one who is loved does not provide for the lover, as she happens to be barren.

VERS. 53. «Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved.» Yet these words are not to be taken as if He hated Leah. But Scripture has: «The Lord, however, seeing that Leah was unloved.» Leah, who has weak eyes, «heard (says the Lord) that I am unloved.» For she thought that the Lord had not seen through her. But so that He might see again and again, she asks that He might hear her speaking. Or perhaps (she says) He heard me saying: «I am unloved.» «And Rachel seeing that she had not borne children to Jacob, etc.» It seems superfluous in this place that it says, «to Jacob»; just as also above in the account of things done.

COMMENTARIES ON GENESIS

^A of Abraham, when it was written: "Sara did not bear to Abraham." Yet, it is not superfluous, if one considers the anagogical sense.

CHAPTER XXX

^B VERSE 11. *And Leah said, With fortune, etc.* Indeed, there is also a proverb that says: "Do not enter into the house of your brother if you are afflicted by adverse fortune."

Thus also in Luke, discussing the parable of the sinner, he says: "By chance [forte fortuna], a certain priest was going down that road." And Paul: "They obtained the promises." And it is known that the same Paul used this expression frequently. What the meaning of this expression is, is clear even from that testimony of Scripture: "Joseph was a successful man," that is, everything went well for him, and he was fortunate in all things, with God giving him relief in all matters. Akin to this is also the saying: "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful, working," that is, obtaining.

^C Rightly did Issachar, the plowman, then sow, according to the blessing of Jacob concerning him.

VERSE 16. *And Jacob came from the field at evening, etc.* Conveniently, at that time the plowman Issachar sows, just as the blessing of Jacob, by which he blesses him, advises.

Moreover, it is worth noting that the patriarch's wives are everywhere spoken of as faithful and acknowledging God as the author of all good things. "For God (she says) has given me my wage." ^D "And God heard Leah." For she was not burning with evil lust, but moved by a desire for offspring, she asked for marital intercourse. Indeed, that she might obtain offspring, she had besought God with prayers.

*And opened her womb, etc.* The Lord opened Leah's womb first. Now He does not neglect Rachel either, but grants her fertility, having dispelled her sterility. A question may be raised: "Every firstborn," Scripture hands down, "opening the womb." If Reuben and Joseph opened the womb, the one of Rachel and the other of Leah, is it the Lord who is said to have opened the womb when He was closing and obstructing it? But this question is met by that which we have received as handed down above: "He closed and shut up every womb in the house of Abimelech." But truly, it would not be without merit to repeat the generation of Jacob from the beginning. The elder, that is, the Synagogue, brought forth before God. For Moses says: "Israel is my firstborn son." Isaiah also cries out: "I have reared and brought up children, and they have despised me." Yet those children were of free condition and noble because of their fathers, upon whom the yoke of the law was by no means imposed, which Paul also intimates by these words: "For I was once living without the law," adding the pronoun to the root of the genus. Nor, however, were they to remain free forever; rather, the four children born of the handmaids taught that they would undergo the servitude of the law. Dan and Naphtali, whom Bilhah bore, were assigned to Rachel. Gad and Asher, whom Zilpah brought forth, were ascribed to Leah, and they were younger than those who were born of Bilhah. But Rachel, bearing the type of the Church to be gathered from the Gentiles, claimed for herself the sons born of the handmaid. Indeed, the prophets are also counted among the free children of Jerusalem, being in a way the children of the Church to be constituted from the Gentiles, the mystery of which had already been predicted, while they held up Christ before the eyes of the ancients. Those, however, who succeeded these and were born into servitude despised Christ, the author of freedom. For the first are better than those who followed, as shines forth from that oracle of the prophet: "How has the faithful city, Zion, become a harlot, and is full of judgment? In which righteousness lodged, but now murderers." Truly it is shown by the very names that were imposed upon the sons of Bilhah that they were disciples of the Church, while the sons of Zilpah were enemies of the Church. For Dan denotes judgment, Naphtali signifies breadth. But all the prophets labored to this end, that they might preach Christ who would judge the world in righteousness. He will condemn Satan, who destroyed us, and restore salvation to us. And us, existing in great mourning, He will lead out of sorrow and groaning into joy by dilating our heart. "For, as Scripture holds, I have run the way of your commandments, for you have dilated my heart." And: "Our heart has been dilated toward you," he says somewhere to the Corinthians. And again: "Be dilated also yourselves, and do not draw the yoke with unbelievers." David, speaking under the person of those who have been affected by injuries, cries out: "Arise, and attend to my judgment, my God and my Lord, to my judgment." Similarly, the Lord also says: "Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out." From Zilpah were born Gad and Asher. Gad, if you explain the name, signifies temptation, and Asher riches. Such were the latest of the Jews. For they tempted Christ with the Herodians concerning the tribute, as if they were not even making an interrogation with feigned intent. Others, caught by the desire for gain, rejected the Son, saying to themselves: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours." Furthermore, Christ teaching that earthly riches should be sold—

and bestowed upon the poor, the Scribes and Pharisees, far from obeying this good advice, hung the Author of eternal life by the nose. They demanded tithes so exactingly, that even the tithes of anise, cumin, and fennel must be paid, always sounding the law of the Lord. But all these things happened at the time that preceded Christ’s incarnation, while Rachel was still hindered by sterility. But she will bring forth, and will be the foster-mother 171 of many and innumerable ones.

For Isaiah cries out: "Rejoice, O barren woman, who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor. For the children of the desolate one are more than those of her who has a husband." David agrees with this, singing: "Who makes the barren woman dwell in a house, a joyful mother of children." God addresses her thus: "Lift up your eyes, and look around at them all." And again: "Behold, these come from afar, these from the north, others from the region of the Persians." Regarding mandrakes, this is what is understood. The mandrake is a certain sleep-inducing herb, and it excites heaviness of the head. Rachel received this from Leah, when it had been brought by her firstborn, Reuben. That herb also explains the mystery of Christ. For He slept for our salvation, while He succumbed for us to a certain death, in which He was not abandoned, being God, as the Word. For He sufficiently declared that sleep is death when He bestowed resurrection upon us. Wherefore Paul also calls the dead "those who sleep." The firstborn, Reuben, found the mandrakes, brought them when found to his mother, and she shared them with her sister. For the first ones, who descended from Israel the firstborn, stumbled upon the treasure of the mystery of Christ; and when they had understood it perfectly, they brought it to their mother, Jerusalem, and bade her be of good heart and be saved. For before they set out to the Gentiles, the apostles imbued Judea with Christian doctrine, although not all received the faith. Leah, when she received the mandrakes, bore two sons, Issachar, which is interpreted as "reward," and Zebulun, that is, "good fragrance and blessing." For the Synagogue, receiving the mystery of Christ from the holy apostles as if from its own sons, became the mother of those who are advanced by God in reward and blessings. For faith is not lacking in reward. "He who believes in me," He says, "has eternal life." And Paul: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Behold, what more excellent thing can happen to a man than eternal salvation? "For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his own soul?" That blessing indeed follows the faithful, David is a sufficiently ample witness: "The blessing of the Lord be upon you." And again: "Blessed are you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." And Isaiah says to the Church: "I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children." Paul looked to this, saying: "Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing." What, then, prevents the faithful from prospering in all things? For "the way," he says, "of the righteous was straight." But regarding the Synagogue of the Jews, God thus prophesies: "I will obstruct her paths with thorns, and destroy her ways." But us, transporting into the highest tabernacles, He addresses the holy ministers, saying: "Open the gates, that the people who keep the truth may enter," apprehending the truth and preserving peace. And again: "Prepare the way for my people, and cast the stones out of the way," by all means the obstacles which beget sloth and lethargy. Rachel receives the mandrakes from her kinswoman and blood relative, Leah: thus the holy apostles offer the mystery of Christ to the Synagogue. The Church, composed of Gentiles, receives the mystery of Christ from the Synagogue and brings forth Joseph, and is declared the mother of a most populous people, and one that is always receiving increase. For the name Joseph, if you wish to interpret it, sounds "addition." Since the Church from the Gentiles has been added and joined to the Israelite flocks. Wherefore Christ proclaims: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold."

That people therefore increases, until in the end times Benjamin arises, that is, the "son of sorrow," namely that people which will be under universal judgment, when the son of iniquity, who is exalted above all that is called God or an object of worship, shall be revealed. "Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world, nor shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved." For the merciful God accommodates Himself to our weakness, when He brings in tribulations according to this saying: "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted 172 beyond your strength." Therefore, when Benjamin is born, that is, the people who will exist at the end of the age, and will be battered by many tribulations, Rachel also dies, that is, the Church of the faithful is translated to a better life. Which indeed will happen in its own time. But while we live in this world, we die to the flesh and the world, that we may live to God. "For you have died," He says, "and your life is hidden with Christ in God." For we must mortify our earthly members, as He also commands elsewhere, saying: "Fornication and impurity," etc. Then we, who are now of a perishable and fragile condition, shall put on immortality, death being abolished we shall be clothed with eternal life, infirmity shall yield to virtue, infamy shall pass away and glory shall succeed to its place, and time, subject to measure, shall be exchanged for eternity.

VERS. 27. *If I have found favor in your sight*, I have divined, etc. Here something seems omitted, and so that the sense may be perfect, in my view, it must be said: The phrase, *If I have found favor*, can indeed be understood according to the suppression of, *Abide with me*; to which the clause, *If you shall do this thing for me*, seems to be rendered, *I will again pasture*.

Or he may have looked to this: *Distinguish what is my reward*. *If I have found favor*, that is, if what I say is pleasing to you. Meanwhile, he provides the cause for the payment of the reward, ^A while he says: *I have augured*, as if he were protesting: "I owe you a reward by right, since I have been so greatly blessed for your sake." However, Laban, being a pagan augurer, who had not yet explored the powers of true religion—for there is no augury in Jacob—conjectured; but in order to signify that he had perceived some benefit, he says: *God has blessed me*. For to one who had obtained no utility, it would have sufficed to say: *I have augured*. But when he felt that he had been greatly enriched, he says: *God has blessed me*.

*And the Lord has blessed thee at my foot*, etc. Yet not with a spiritual blessing, nor in the heavens, nor in Christ. For the Apostle expounded these things so that the difference between blessings might be manifest. For Scripture knows the custom according to which one is blessed "at the foot." Yet primarily, God pours out a blessing upon the beautiful feet of those who announce peace. By a blessing, He also refreshed Egypt due to the arrival of Joseph. Therefore, not without reason did the Savior command the disciples, as they entered a house, to say: *Peace to this house* (Matth. x, 12). ^B When I provide for myself a house, that is, if I freely tend your flocks.

*And separate from thence*, etc. Give those flocks, he says, to your sons to pasture, namely the black sheep and the white and variegated goats. Deliver to me the white sheep and the black goats. And those sheep which henceforth are born black from white parents, and those goats which are born henceforth white or variegated from black mothers, these, I say, shall be owed to me by way of reward. If, however, you find with me any other sheep or goat than that which the law of the prescribed condition has granted, you shall rightly accuse me of theft. Or if anything should perish from the white or dusky ones, already separated, think that I have stolen it, and I will make satisfaction to you for it.

Laban easily admitted this condition. For he did not think that sheep of a different and diverse color would bear such offspring. Nor, moreover, did he judge that they would produce so many, so that his sons could deservedly say: "Jacob has taken all that is our father’s." But Jacob preferred those things which were not yet in the nature of things, but were expected to be given by God. ^C

Therefore, if we wish to confess the truth, he asks for nothing from Laban, but rather seeks from God. For our true justice, Christ, living, hears in the day which shall succeed this age, namely "tomorrow," and there was the distribution of the reward. He says, moreover: Whatever shall today be sprinkled with spots or dusky, see that they be removed from those from which I shall prepare a reward for myself. But those which henceforth shall exist marked with spots and dusky shall be owed to me by way of reward. For God will grant me "tomorrow," that is, subsequently, those which shall bear such colors, even though fathers and mothers differ in color from the offspring. In this manner, believers from the Gentiles do not retain the same color of salvation (if I may say so) with the first people. It suffices for them that they are such as the saving power of Christ [makes them]. For they are separated from the seed of Abraham, nor are they pastured together with those who are born to Christ from those who were not. When the shepherd waters the sheep with the staff of reproof, then are born the distinct and illustrious sons of Jacob, namely from the incredulous, those who are faithful to God, just as it is written: *From these stones God raises up seed to Abraham* (Matth. iii, 9). ^D Jacob received nothing which already existed in the name of a reward, but was refreshed by the hope of an unexpected offspring. Meanwhile, however, he sensed the incredible increases of that which did not yet exist in the nature of things, but was anticipated by hope.

Christ abandoned His ancestral home, namely heaven, and descended to earth, namely into the world, just as Jacob approaches Laban, who is a kinsman by blood but an alien in religion. Laban was a kinsman if you look at the succession of the race; he was an alien if you consider his vain superstition with your mind. Thus the world, if you consider the work of creation, was God’s own; but if you look at its impiety,

^A you will recognize it as alien to God. For it says: "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." Moreover, before he came to us clothed in flesh, and was still unknown, he nevertheless took care of us, kindly bestowing all things by which the present life is sustained, instilling prudence into human nature, and illuminating every man coming into the world; just as Jacob grazed the sheep of Laban for free, taking no wage, but at least hoping to become the father of legitimate children from two wives, just as God prepares for himself the faithful from two Synagogues. Leah gives birth before Rachel. Then the handmaids give birth. The care of household affairs does not yet touch Jacob, but it arises only then, when Rachel bears Joseph, who is called the "addition of God." For the Synagogue of the Jews gave birth into servitude under the Law. Christ did not yet openly confess his own house. For the stone temple, by whose worship they magnificently puffed themselves up, was not pleasing to Leah. On account of this he says to the Jews: "Heaven is my throne." But when the Church, collected from the Gentiles, exhibited her fruitfulness, and brought forth a new people, as if by way of addition, only then did he build himself a house, of which he speaks: "Putting my laws into their mind, and I will write them upon their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." For he dwells in us through the Spirit, who was not yet present, as John testifies: "For Jesus was not yet glorified." But when he had risen from the dead, then he began to reform us, and he breathed into the disciples, saying: ^B "Receive the Holy Spirit." Paul also testifies somewhere, saying: "But you have received the spirit of adoption, in which we cry: Abba, Father." For the spirit of servitude was in the Jews. Hence the eyes of Leah are reported to be weak, and according to the saying of Paul: "A veil is placed upon their eyes when Moses is read. But we, with unveiled face, behold the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror." For thus also Rachel had clear eyes, after whose birth-giving Jacob makes haste to return to his homeland. But Laban was changed somewhat, when he says that he was blessed by God. For the world, whether it wishes or not, cannot live without divine aid, although it may not confess that the goods by which it has been supported descend from God himself. Jacob demands his wage. For even God, permitting the world to live in its own way, upon the birth of a new people, demands from the world the wage of his own providence. And he judges as that wage those men who are more inclined toward believing. These, as in a type, the speckled and diverse-colored cattle set before us: sheep are wont to be preferred on account of the wool, which is more pleasing when it shows one color, and is not seen to be spotted and defiled. In this manner also Christ chose not the wise and the noble, but the foolish and weak of the world, that he might overturn the contrary. Furthermore, those who follow the dogmas of God are marvelous and varied both in deeds and in words. They also hold the mystery of Christ obscured, and as it were wrapped in darkness, just as it shines forth ^C from that saying: "For he has set darkness round about him." To these things Wisdom promises that it will give that you may be able to grasp more obscure discourses, the responses of the wise, and enigmas. Otherwise, in his works they show forth splendor and whiteness. For if your sins be as scarlet, says the Lord, "they shall become white as snow. And if they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool."

Verse 38. *In the channels*, etc. Take care that you may be able to understand these channels spiritually, just as the inscriptions of the psalms, which are inscribed for the peoples.

Verse 39. *And the sheep brought forth white-colored offspring.* Understand you the goats. For I think that "sheep" is used here improperly for goats. Because the pact agreed upon between them clearly teaches that white goats, which would be born thereafter, were to be rendered to Jacob in the name of wages. Unless perhaps another contract, contrary to the former, intervened, of which mention is perhaps made here, namely ^D that Jacob should receive white offspring from dark sheep. For Laban, when he had seen that the dark goats had brought forth white offspring, and that much profit had accrued to the just shepherd, did not hesitate to break the faith of the former pact, and entered into a pact different from the former with Jacob, by which it was provided that Jacob should acquire white offspring from dark sheep by way of wages. And this reason seems more likely. For Jacob himself later, rebuking the versatile disposition of Laban and his changeable heart, departs into these words: "If you should say: 'The spotted shall be your wage,'" etc.

As for what concerns the rods, those skilled in cattle-raising report that sheep and goats, if they look upon some color at the time of mating, bring forth offspring similar to this color. But some respond to their assertion: If this were natural, how is it that Laban did not use that same craft and skill? But in this place you should not by any means call that stratagem natural. Because an angel appeared to Jacob, and demonstrated the use of the rods, which produce this effect on the breeding of the sheep not of themselves, but through a certain hidden divine virtue.

When the sheep ceased to bring forth, he was no longer accustomed to place the rods. For there is a time to bear, and there is a time to conceive.

"True wealth is that which is of famous origin, such as was that of Jacob; but that which is of obscure origin, even if it be very great, such as was the wealth of Laban, is not properly called wealth."

That Christ was signified by the rods is sufficiently attested by Isaiah, who says: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend out of the root." David also sings: "Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me." For we have received consolation in Christ, and we have made Him our firmest support. For it is written: "The Lord supporteth the just." And to all of us who are likened to the flocks scattered throughout the whole world, He is the firmest support. And the storax rod is for the sake of death, for it is with aromatics that a corpse is embalmed. But the almond rod is a symbol of watchfulness. For the nut tree naturally induces wakefulness and banishes sleep. Hence Jeremiah has: "What seest thou, Jeremy? And I said, A rod of an almond tree. And the Lord said to me, Thou hast seen well. For I have watched over my words to perform them." Now Christ has been raised for us. The plane tree is one of those trees that grow to a tall height. Moreover, it indicates Christ's path and assumption into the high and highest heavens. For Peter says: "Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God." ^A Likewise, Paul is a witness that He was exalted and received a name which is above every name. The plane tree is indeed spoken of because the leaf spreads out together with the wood. Thus we are spread out through faith and charity, as if engrafted into Christ. For the law is narrow, and the mind of the idolaters is very disturbed, to whom God speaks through the prophet: "Learn to hear, ye that are afflicted." Paul also, after the spread of the faith, writes to the Corinthians who wished to decline into their former error: "Our heart is enlarged. You are not straitened in us. Be ye also enlarged towards those who seduce you." And so on. Thus David addresses Christ, taxing the narrowness of the law: "Thy commandment is exceeding broad." And again: "I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart." "And I walked in a broad place, because I have sought out thy justifications." Therefore Christ, understood in the likeness of the rod, sets Himself before us as dead, resurrected, and ascended into the heavens, enlarging the hearts of the faithful. Moreover, by the channels and vessels from which the rational flock drinks, understand the Scripture of Moses and the prophetic discourses, which pour forth the Word of the Father for us. For He says: "Draw water with joy out of the fountains of the Savior." ^B For there we shall find Christ, the rod of power, slain for us and the firstborn from the dead, and exalted in glory, and enlarging those who have drunk from thence. For Christ is the end of the law and the prophets, He who dispels the shadow of the law and removes the covering or veil of prophecy; and, by showing us the Word in Himself, bright and easy to behold, He promotes us to a spiritual birth and excites the ardor of conception, while one desires to appear variously adorned, according to virtue, namely in work and in word. Indeed, it is said in the person of the faithful: "For fear of thee, O Lord, we have conceived, and been as it were in pain, and have brought forth the spirit of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth." And again: "Behold, the Lord will come with power, and his arm shall have the rule; as a shepherd he shall feed his flock, and with his arm he shall gather the lambs, and he shall comfort those that are with young," that is, there will be spiritual solace for those who bring forth the divine word. Jacob, however, separated his sheep from the sheep of Laban. For the faithful are alone, and they do not wish to be defiled together with those who follow the vanity of the world. For the sheep of Jacob are distinct, and they shine by the clarity of their marks. ^C

CHAPTER XXXI.

Vers. 1. *And he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying: Jacob hath taken all that was our father's.* Behold how great is the abundance of those goods, which, although they were not yet there at the time when the wages were being established, nevertheless came to be in such great quantity in a short time, the just man being prospered and blessed by God. Thus also Christ is greatly enriched in the world, having acquired very many worshipers and adorers who cry out: "We are the people of thy pasture, and the sheep of thy hand." But the children of the world, seeing that their father has been despoiled of his most beautiful sheep—namely, those men who, living under Christ, have now been adorned with various virtues—take the matter most indignantly, muttering: "Jacob hath taken that which was our father's." They complain truly indeed. For Christ gathers the faithful as His own peculiar treasure from this world, saying to the Father: "All my things are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them." But now let us look at the wealth of Jacob. "He had," says Moses, "very many cattle, as well as oxen, menservants and maidservants, camels and asses." For, as the Holy Scripture teaches, the kingdom of heaven is like a casting-net cast into the sea, which makes a catch of every kind. For He calls servants to the liberty of the soul: to those who are under the law, in place of the shadow, He grants the truth, and constitutes them as a living sacrifice. He also receives the profane race, which is signified by the asses and camels, while He cleanses the profane from the error of believing that there are many gods, ^D

and truly associates them with the choir of the saints. But since Laban, with his children, bore the happiness of Jacob with an ill-will, Jacob hurried his departure for his fatherland, with God Himself commanding: "Return to the land of your father, and to your kindred," ^A that is, to where you were born, just as Jacob later explains it at greater length. God calls Jacob, and Jacob calls his wives, from which a great consolation is provided to the Churches, which the world persecutes for the sake of Christ. And this is that consolation: "Hear, O daughter, and see and incline your ear, and forget your people, and your father's house. Because the king has desired your beauty." Jacob also charges Laban, the father of these women, with the crime of injustice: just as Christ accuses the world of injustice, because it does not bring the faith which is owed to Christ as a wage. But all things are subject to Christ, when God the Father has taken them and assigned them to the Son. 176 Therefore the Son says to the Father: "Those whom you gave to me from the world were yours, and you gave them to me." This is that which he says: "God has taken all the flocks of your father, and given them to me." Moreover, the venerable brides of the Savior follow the caller with a ready spirit, as if they themselves had been sold by the world. For Christ redeemed the Churches not with intervening money, but with His own sacred blood. Therefore He claims them for Himself, and acquires them as if they were riches, along with their children, by the divine word. Know, however, that Laban was sufficiently understood by the prudent Jacob to have been happy and cheerful before he himself came into wealth, although he dissembled it. But his children brazenly reproach these things with a proud spirit. If anyone here grows rich, being separated from his own people, ^B and finds wealth through good arts, he will hear at his departure: "Return to the land of your father."

*Wealthy is he who here, according to God, exists outside his own generation; he will hear at his departure: "Turn back to the land of your father."*

VER. 13. I am, God declares, the one who appeared to you in the place of God, etc. Do you see whom he signifies as "angel" in this passage? Surely the Angel of the great counsel, the Son of God. This was He whom Jacob had seen on the ladder giving a sign of His descent to earth. Later, He also struggles with Jacob here: he calls Him both angel and man in that same place, but He Himself calls Himself God. "Your father has deceived me," that is, he has acted unjustly with me: by which words he accuses the inconstancy of Laban, who violated their mutual agreements very often, as the following will declare: "He changed my wage ten times." Below, he himself says to Laban: "You have defrauded my wage ten times, etc."; as if belittling the matter, as one who even begrudged those [things which were] minimal and most vile. Aquila renders: "ten numbers." Symmachus translates: "ten times." But the Hebrew reads thus: Laban made the pacts with Jacob void ten times, because he saw that the fetuses, which by right of wage were owed to Jacob, were being born more frequently. The Syrian says: "He changed my wage ten times"; that is, very often. For Laban said to Jacob: "Speckled and dark fetuses will be yours." Then, when he perceived that such [animals] were being born in the greatest quantity, he did not stand by his promises, but promises different fetuses. By this injustice and intemperance he is reported to have acted ten times. Therefore God says: "I have seen what Laban has done to you," although Laban is otherwise said to have done nothing by which he might be troublesome to Jacob. Jacob says: "What he covenanted to give me." Where did he covenant? Do not be troubled. It is the custom of Scripture that often it does not narrate certain things while they are happening, but explains them in their own place through other things, as is evident in Lamech, who says: "I have killed," etc., even though holy Scripture nowhere gives an indication of his homicide. "Changed" is put for "deprived."

VER. 17. And Jacob rising took his wives, etc. From here Jacob sets out, just as Christ migrated from the world with His brides and whole family, saying: "Arise, let us go hence." But the manner of his departure is not sensible, but spiritual. For there is not a change of place, but we are transformed in such a way that, we who until now have savored the things that are of the world, now repudiating the delights of the present age, we resolve to do those things which are pleasing and acceptable to God. ^B *One must flee from the worse, and receive from Him the useful, as did Jacob.*

"For we do not have a lasting city here, but we seek the one to come," Paul testifies. Another, however, teaches thus: "I exhort you, as strangers and pilgrims, to abstain from carnal desires." And Paul says again: "Do not be conformed to this world." Lest, clearly, while we study to be made conformed to the world, we make God our enemy. Wherefore the Savior preaches: "The world hates you." But God deters the world from killing and persecuting us, saying threateningly: "Take heed to yourself, lest you speak any evil to Jacob." He says not dissimilar things to Abimelech. For it always proceeds to the worse through the saints, as also to Balaam through Israel. Laban, however, accuses Jacob of the crime of sacrilege, as one who had stolen his gods. But the removal of idols was not the work of the Synagogue of the Jews, nor of those who were governed by the law: but the Church has removed the idols and the falsely named gods. For neither Leah nor her maids had stolen the idols by theft, but Rachel had committed that theft. The Church notes with infamy, as the eloquence of Isaiah teaches, the idols: "You shall cast away silver and golden images, and you shall crush them and scatter them like filthy water and dung." But the world, not having gods called by a false name, runs to Christ, if Laban struck a covenant with Jacob, his gods not being found. But a bond of covenant and 177 peace that will firmly endure is applied, namely the corner-stone, precious, which becomes the head of the corner and the foundation of Zion. For the statue of Jacob is a type of Christ. And other many stones are heaped together, which, as if under a type, demonstrate the apostles and the entire assembly of those who have been justified in Christ. For stones—

(having the prophetic utterance) are rolled upon the earth. For the disciples of Christ traveled over the entire world, offering the evangelical joy to the Gentiles. And Paul writes even to those who by faith found justification: "On which you also are being built into a habitation of God in the Spirit." Laban calls the heap of stones a hill of witness, but Jacob calls it "Hill of Witness," referring all things to Christ, whose types those were. For He Himself is the head and foundation of all who believe. And to Christ, who saves His own and leads them out of the sins of the world, ministering angels are always present. Jacob beheld these camps of angels, for the angel of the Lord surrounds the pious round about with most fortified camps, and will deliver them from all evils. For it is written: "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."

^A VERSE 26. *As captives, etc.* This voice convicts the evil man. For how would he not be evil, when he thinks most impiously concerning those who have profited him greatly? Thus also are many of those who have believed [the] fathers.

VERSE 32. *With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live before our brethren, etc.* Similar is this locution to that which Saul used against Jonathan, and to that which the brothers of Joseph used when the cup stolen was imputed to them. But the words of Jacob were pronounced with a threat, and as it were they determined the punishment by which that thief was to be afflicted. For Rachel, who had committed that theft, died at length when she was giving birth to Benjamin.

After he excused the crimes which were brought against him, and evidently proved that he had done no injury to Laban, he uses wrath as a counselor and judge. Wherefore he did not imitate the other mortals, who burn with anger before they clear themselves of the crimes of which they are accused: so unable are they to resist temptation.

VERSE 38. *Thy sheep and thy goats have not been sterile, etc.* Not dissimilar to this is that saying of Christ: "Those whom Thou gavest Me, I have kept, and none of them is lost." This voice suits holy bishops, that they may be imitators of Christ, just as that other voice also fits the same ones: "The rams of thy sheep I have not eaten." This history teaches that it is a quasi-peculiar virtue of a shepherd to use great liberty of speech. Let them eat spiritual offspring, therefore, as many as are in the flocks of sheep and goats. And let us not devour the rich who are in the flock.

^B *Daughters, my daughters,* etc. Laban lies while he says those things are his which were Jacob’s. Wherefore Jacob ingenuously and freely refutes his lie, showing that he had not taken anything from him. But these are the words by which he reproves him: "Know what is of thine with me." "And the cattle, my cattle," etc. The Scripture has sufficiently taught above that those which lacked spots were under the dominion of Laban, and those distinct with spots belonged to Jacob. He lies, therefore, when he confesses that those marked with spots are his. "And all things that thou seest are mine," etc. If anyone worthily, as the patriarch did, perceives those things which he himself saw in dreams, and in prophecies, and in other knowledges, he will surely contemn and deride Laban, who claims all those things for himself when he says: "All things that thou seest are mine."

^C VERSE 42. *And the fear of Isaac was with me, etc.* But who was that fear of Isaac? Surely He whom he feared, God. Jacob boasts that he too diligently observed this. Below also it is read: because Jacob swore by the fear of his father.

And the labor of my hands God saw, and reproved thee yesterday, etc., namely when it was being turned upside down while you were sleeping. "Bring stones," etc. It is written in Ecclesiastes: "A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones." But the stones are brought together by the command of Jacob, who was a type of Christ, so that the edifice might be completed on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, laid from living stones.

^A Verily the brothers of Christ, that is, the apostles ordained for this purpose, gather stones, executing that precept of the prophet: "Take with you many words, and turn to the Lord." If anyone, however, compares the gathered stones of which we have just discoursed, and from which the mound is constructed—if, I say, one compares them to the celestial and spiritual edifice, and to those things which are everywhere performed and announced in the Churches, whether you look to drink or to food, he will surely recognize how the stones were heaped up and the hill constructed, upon which they cared for the bodies.

"What shall I do to these today? If I hurt you in any way, I have harmed myself."

^B "Behold, no one is with us," etc., he says, meaning "alien." For we understood above: "Laban set his brothers apart on Mount Gilead."

"The hill of witness," etc. The Hebrews hand down that Laban gave the mound a Syriac name, and Jacob a Hebrew one. Wherefore it is expounded in two ways, with a slight change made. It is spoken in that way—"the hill of witness," etc.—just as we heard it said above concerning the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." ^C And "the vision which I saw, let God look between me and you," etc. It seems, indeed, that the mention of the vision, of which Jacob speaks, has been introduced into this place with little congruity. For what vision exists that subserves this discourse? Perhaps, in a prophetic manner, he observed the mystery of himself and Laban, and referred the speech to Him whose symbol Laban was held to be, and to the Lord, whose type Jacob fulfilled. Unless, perhaps, he speaks in this sense: The dream in which God was seen, who said: "Take heed to yourself, lest you speak evil with Jacob." This, I say, this dream and this vision is a sufficiently adequate testimony between me and between you.

And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. For he who swears, makes Him by whom he swears to be God. ^D Such, therefore, was the fear of God in Isaac, as was that boast of the Corinthians by which Paul swears. In these words, therefore, did Jacob swear: I will keep these things constantly; let the fear of my father Isaac, with which he feared God, be the witness. For otherwise the Savior is always with us. Isaiah says: "Sanctify the Lord Himself, and He shall be your fear." But he swears very beautifully to him, who lacked the fear of God, by the fear of his own father, reproving his impiety, as one who was not a fearer of God.

VERS. 55. And having turned, he went to his place. The place of the evil one, because of his malice, is at hand. But the place of him who continuously makes progress in virtue, although it may be distant, is not, however, as good as the evil one in

his own land. Would that the wicked might be able to come into his own region, which might some day carry him back to his own place.

CHAPTER XXXII

He truly, who walks along his own way—namely, through Him who says, "I am the way," etc.—has the angels of God as companions.

Angels, moreover, occur ^A to the supreme commander of the Lord's powers, Christ, whom Jacob represents in type. Those angels are called the camps of God. But attend diligently: when he was making his journey into Mesopotamia, he saw in a dream the ladder set up to heaven and the angels; when he was pasturing his flocks, he again sees angels, and hears God. Returning, however, to his homeland, he beholds camps. Then, when he had been thoroughly separated from Laban, he perceives the angels of God occurring to him. They are called the camps of God for the sake of distinction; for there are also many other camps, such as those of demons and contrary powers. Thus we discern that demons dwell, as it were, in camps within the sepulchers.

Observe, however, in this place another kind of blessing. For the inferior blesses the superior. Beyond all controversy, that which is less is blessed by the better. Some, indeed, say that those camps appeared to Jacob so that he might not fear his brother Esau, namely, by reflecting that the Lord of hosts protects him, and that the God of Jacob is his helper and assistant. Wherefore he says: "Rouse thyself to meet me, and see." To this same cause they assign the struggle by which he wrestled with the angel until the morning time. The camps in this place are called the armies of the celestial powers, over whom Michael the archangel is set, that he may guard and govern the people of Israel, as is manifest from Daniel. Jacob sent messengers before him, etc.; Jacob is everywhere held to be the more excellent ^B by right of primogeniture and is safe through divine aid. He does not, however, refuse to insinuate himself to his brother and to capture his benevolence, calling him lord without base adulation. In fact, therefore, he fulfilled that oracle of divine Scripture: "As much as is in you, living peaceably with all men." And that also: "The servant of the Lord must not fight." For, as the proverb has it, "A mild answer turns away wrath." But he does not attribute all things to that gentle insinuation of his: he turns to prayers, and gives thanks to God, whom he confesses to be the author of his goods, for the benefits received. Everywhere, moreover, Jacob is known to keep that salutary precept: "The greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you will find grace before the Lord." Peace he also prefers to all goods. In this manner he vanquished Esau’s wrath and envy, and compelled him to tears—not feigned, but true. Thus also Christ, having suffered persecution contrary to expectation among the Jews, fled abroad, having set out into the region of the Gentiles, saying: "I have left my house; I have forsaken my heritage. I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest; it has uttered its voice against me. Therefore I have hated it." To this place also that other [passage] corresponds: "Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee: there they shall see me." As soon, therefore, as he arrived in Galilee, just as Jacob in Charran, he pastured the sheep of Laban—that is, of the world, which had been occupied by the service of idols. He built a twofold synagogue there, and regenerated very many through grace, so that by adoption they might become children of God. He is afflicted by the world and the nobles of the world. At length, with divine grace intervening, Christ and the world come together into a concordant peace, just as peace is established between Jacob and Laban. ^C

And again, in the last times, Christ will unite to Himself Israel by a covenant, namely, [that] of the persecutors, after the example of Jacob and Esau. This He preached through the prophet: "For the children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without priesthood, and without manifestation. And afterwards the Israelites shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and they shall be amazed at the Lord and His goods in the last time." For now, lacking all things who are under the law, it awaits Christ returning from the calling of the Gentiles, that it may be coupled to them.

See how he rejoices in a fertile offspring of children, under the example of many flocks. Jacob returns from Charran. Because of the messengers sent [ahead], he is received kindly by his brother Esau. Here again, that also is to be noted which is said through the prophet: "Behold, I will send you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and manifest day of the Lord comes. He shall turn the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbor, lest I come and strike the earth utterly." He will reconcile Israel to Christ, with ancient hatred cast out. And he will offer hospitable gifts to Christ, namely, hope no longer delayed for long times. For grace will follow in the footsteps of the coming Christ from the heavens, together with the holy angels. ^D

It seems, however, that the fear of Jacob was quite

^A vehement. But if we look more deeply into the matter, the contrary will appear. He feared, namely, that the seed of Abraham, in which he expected the promises of God to receive their fulfillment, might suddenly perish. He sent his messengers ahead to his brother, lest Esau should perhaps think that he was approaching as an enemy, because he had lingered for such a long time among foreigners.

Although as a man he was afraid, yet as a believer he by no means decided to look to flight for his own safety. He made the journey trusting in God in all things, and he placated Esau, relying on the passage of a long time, which had diminished the strength of his hatred. For he had lived in exile from his homeland and his parents for twenty years, apart from the days he took for the journey.

Now he calls the angel God, from whom he had received the command: "Return to the land of your birth," etc., who was also the very God of Abraham and Isaac. Although they are two, of whom He is called God, nevertheless God is one. We must be cautioned about this because of the similarity of the phrasing.

Regarding what is written: "It is sufficient for me from all righteousness," etc., Aquila translates: "I have been made distant from all mercy and all truth." But those words are of one declaring gratitude, as if he were to say: "It is enough for me, and it abounds."

"Make an interval between flock and flock," etc. Generals are accustomed to doing this when the army is marching, so that the ranks of the troops may not be confused and thrown into disorder.

^B "And rising that night, he took his two wives," etc., up to the passage that says: "He limped on one thigh." Jabbok is a river of Arabia, which today is called the Jambyces. But who was that person called in Scripture both human and God, who struggled with Jacob? He was surely He who "spoke in many and various ways to the fathers," namely the most holy Word of God, who is both human and God and the Angel of great counsel, whom the holy men of God have beheld, as has he who says: "That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, and our hands have touched, concerning the word of life." When Jacob had beheld this Word and Life, he exclaims: "I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved." He was then seen, and he underwent the struggle of wrestling with Him. For he was left alone on the other bank, and had not yet crossed the river, which is called, if you interpret the name, "Struggle." For Christ does not struggle with those who have crossed the river, regarding them in the number of His own and crowning them as victors of the world. Moreover, the name of the torrent is "Struggle," because the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence. And the gate is too narrow, and the way is confined that leads to life. But these were omens for those who, descended from Jacob, would reject the grace of baptism, and would have Christ Emmanuel as their enemy. "For he who is not with me, is against me." Those who struggle in the night and in the darkness of ignorance are inevitably conquered. For they entered into a plan, as David testifies, which they cannot carry out. They are not illuminated, nor do they enjoy the splendor of light. Nor has the morning star arisen in their hearts. Wherefore the prophet prophesies: "For them who were expecting light, darkness has arisen. Waiting for it, they walked in gloom." Hence Paul writes of the faithful: "We are not of the night nor of darkness, but sons of light, sons of the day." That these have indeed been better than the disobedient Jews, the same Paul demonstrates, adding to the aforementioned words: "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the works of light, and let us walk honestly as in the light."

The Jews, therefore, walking in the night and wrapped in darkness, were weakened and defeated, since they could not walk upright. And this is what it means when it says: "His thigh withered," that is, those who came from his lineage, becoming numb, went limping. For the thigh signifies the seed, according to what Abraham adjured his servant who was to go into Mesopotamia. This oracle also agrees with this: "A leader shall not be wanting from Judah, nor a prince from his thighs." Therefore those born of Jacob limped, just as Christ foretold through David: "Strange children have lied to me, strange children have grown old, and have gone halting out of their paths." Therefore Paul commands: "Lift up the hanging hands and the feebler knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest the limping be increased by and by, but rather may it be healed." Otherwise, limping recovers its former health through faith in Christ and charity. Those who store these virtues in the depths of their souls have the true dawn and the true light, for whom Christ no longer struggles, insofar as they are moving in the light. This is taught by these words: "Let me go, for the dawn is rising." They also say: "O God,

my God, at dawn I approach you." And this: "In the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I will appear before you, and you will see me." He teaches, indeed, in a few words that ^A Jacob should constrain himself and ask for salvation. For what stood in the way lest he depart a victor? Or in what way could the one overcome have hindered Jacob from going? Wherefore Jacob, the righteous one, foreseeing his purpose, seeks a blessing, knowing who he was. This is confirmed by that which was said to Moses: "Leave me alone, that I may blot them out, and I will make you into a great nation." Moses, sensing the goodness of God willing to save, replies: "Forgive them this sin. If not, blot me out of the book of life which you have written." He blesses Jacob by changing one name for another, making him from a practical one into a speculative one, and he who had once been a supplanter and strong, he makes a seer of God. For Israel, if the name is explained, signifies a mind that discerns God. For Israel finally knew Him whom at first he had not obeyed.

Although in the beginning not all believed, yet the remnant according to the election of grace, according to the tenor of Scripture—that is to say, the disciples, and as many as had faith in their teaching, who had been supplanters and firm in the law—attained salvation. For since they were blameless in the justifications of the law, they received the knowledge of Christ, which they knew to be more excellent and better than the legal cult. For God speaks through a certain prophet: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Therefore, Paul, though he was irreproachable regarding the righteousness of the law, considered it a loss on account of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ. ^B He commands Timothy: "Train yourself for godliness. For bodily training is of little profit. But godliness is useful for everything, having the promise of the present life and the future." Indeed, Christ also says: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." He will have the greatest power among God and men. For it belongs to a powerful and conquering soul to know God, even if he now sees in a mirror and in a riddle. For he who hastens to God transcends carnal things. Yet God does not reveal his name to Jacob. For every name in reality signifies the substance and nature of the thing. But the nature of God cannot be comprehended by earthly things, just as sensible things cannot by God created. Hence, none of those names by which he is called signifies his substance, but at least they demonstrate certain of his operations toward us. Thus he is named: Existing, or (by a coined name) The One Who Is. For from him all things that exist are derived. He is called light, life, power, and virtue, as he who is the provider of them. Thus he is called the only-begotten, the character, and the splendor of the Father, namely, so that from human words we may hunt for some knowledge of him. He is also called mercy, justice, redemption: because he pities us, redeems us, justifies us, and consults for our salvation. Jacob, having discovered that no name of God expresses his substance, nor is any name peculiar to God, as to a man, calls the place in which those things had happened: The Form of God. ^C Hence also David sings: "O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!" Which Christ says was spoken of himself, when he resolved the sacred language into these words which follow: "Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise."

"I have seen," he says, "God face to face." From this it is proven that it is possible for man to see God, but in the way in which he offers himself to be seen. Since in Exodus God speaks to Moses: "No one shall see my face and live." If, indeed, Jacob lived after he saw God, it is clear that this was a benefit from God, just as it had happened in the case of Gideon. With the sun having risen, he narrates, the form of God vanished. He himself, however, with his hip nerve violated, limped. For with the Jews illuminated, the struggle ceased; and Christ ascended into heaven. But the limping of the Israelites was not removed. That they limp in general, and do not walk with a straight body, happens because they obey God but little. Some, as we have received from a certain learned man, profess that the devil struggled with Jacob in the guise of Esau, wishing to defeat him. But an angel stood by as an assistant to Jacob, by whose aid the devil could do nothing. Lest, therefore, Jacob think he had defeated the adversary (which would have been absurd) by his own virtue, being aided by much external help: but that he might recognize the presence of the angel, the nerve was touched. Upon which contact, the limp followed. But the present passage, since it contains some obscurity, is explained thus:

"And an angel wrestled with him until the rise of the dawn," that is, the assisting angel. For they also use the name of a man for angels. ^D "And he saw that he did not prevail against him": that is, Jacob saw that the devil did not prevail against him. And the angel touched his hip, wishing to signify himself as present. As Jacob noticed his presence, he did not let him go until, besides the victory, a blessing was also obtained. But what is written: "He saw that he did not prevail against him," etc., does not lack ambiguity. For who saw? And who did not prevail? If a man knew that he could do nothing against Jacob, Christ the man did not touch the hip of Jacob. If, indeed, a man knew that Jacob could do nothing against him, it can be Christ. Some think the angel was not God, as Jacob had conjectured, to have wrestled with him. For he later infers: "The angel who delivered me from my youth." Truly he knew that the angel was the wrestler. Yet he was not unaware that God was working through the angel. Therefore, as some object, he could not depart unless he said: "Let me go." He gives the occasion for saying those things which were said afterwards. For Jacob was eager to speak those things, but he hesitated a little. Having received confidence, however, he asks for the blessing.

Through this faith he found the name Israel, as one who beheld God. For no one has ever seen God. Indeed, in another place, when he had buried the gods of Laban together with their earrings in the ground, Jacob heard: "Israel shall be your name." See how, out of piety, Jacob abhorred the earrings, even though their material was precious, and committed them to the dark earth along with the idols. Scripture recalled the earrings to signify the purity and sincerity of Jacob’s religion.

Jacob then inquired and said: "Declare to me your name." Scripture does not speak of an angel, as one who questioned him. But it says: "What is your name?" Jacob asks that his name be revealed to him. For how could the angel have been ignorant of Jacob’s name, when it is clear by the authority of Scripture that the angel had often called out Jacob’s name? ^A For this reason, the angel engaged in a wrestling match with Jacob, so that he might be rendered bolder and more spirited, and less afraid of Esau, whom he feared most. Therefore, he adds: "Since you have been strong against God, you shall also be strong against men." He calls the angel a man, because he was seen in human form. But he calls him God because of the command of God, which he was bringing and announcing. Thus, we read that Moses was also called "God to Pharaoh," but Aaron was the intermediary as a prophet. For when Moses had a weak voice, he used Aaron as a prophet, who, having received the message from Moses, would announce it to Pharaoh. Thus, Moses held Aaron in the place of a prophet, while he himself occupied the place of God to Pharaoh, explaining the will of the Divine to Pharaoh through the prophet Aaron. ^B However, as far as one may conjecture from the present passage, it appears that Jacob was in doubt as to whether Esau was approaching with a hostile or peaceful intent. Thus, when he had sent all his possessions to the other bank, he stood alone on the nearer bank, intent, if his brother should approach in peace, to cross over quickly to his own, which was easily done. But if he were to proceed to meet him in a hostile manner, he intended that Esau should satisfy his wrath on him—by whom he had been injured—and that he should send away his wives along with his children unharmed.

VERS. 32. *Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew, which has become numb, etc.* They do not abstain from the sinew because it has withered, but they hold a prohibition against eating it because it touched the sinew of him who had appeared in human form; so that they might always remember that God wrestled with Jacob in human form, and that they might not in the future disbelieve, hearing that the same One was incarnate in the last times, so as to save the human race from eternal destruction. For the transcendent mysteries are difficult for mortals to believe unless the most certain evidences of the truth exist.

CHAPTER XXXIII

VERS. 10. *As if I had seen the face of God.* Therefore he bowed down to him seven times, as if falling on his knees before God. ^C

VERS. 14. *Until I come to my lord in Seir, etc.* When Jacob was hastening to his father, so as not to give his brother another cause for envy—as one who was to be more pleasing and acceptable to his father—he passes over in silence what he intended to do; but he cleverly pretends in his speech what he is not doing. Thus Abraham, wishing for the sacrifice of Isaac, says to his servants or slaves, whom he had intended to hide the whole matter from: "Stay here. I and the boy will go over there and worship, and come back to you." Yet he did not expect that he and his son would both return, although that happened eventually beyond hope. But he answered: *The children, whom God has favored me with, etc.* Aquila interpreted it: *Which God gave to your servant.* Symmachus: *Which he bestowed.* ^D

VERS. 17. *Jacob sets out for Succoth, etc.* Symmachus explains Succoth as "tabernacles." Jacob, they say, having returned from Mesopotamia after the delay, extended his habitation from the Dead Sea as far as Scythopolis, and as far as the forest of Acrabith. Then he sent gifts to his parents, which he chose from all his goods. When he had seen God, he began to dwell in tabernacles as a stranger and sojourner in this

^A world, as David bears witness somewhere: "Forgive me, for I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." Thus Paul writes to the perfect: "We have no abiding city here, but we seek the one that is to come."

VERS. 20. *And he called the God of Israel, etc.* He especially implores the help of the God of Israel, besides whom there is no other God.

CHAPTER XXXIV

VERS. 1, 2. *And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of that land.* As soon as Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of that land, saw her, he took her and lay with her, etc. He came into Salem, a city of the Shechemites, etc. Hence Dinah went out to see the virgins of the region, just as it is customary for virgins of equal age to visit one another. But Shechem, the son of Hamor, set his mind upon Dinah—that is, he loved her.

VERS. 3. *He spoke to the heart of the virgin.* That is, he applied comforts and blandishments, soothing her mind. Or he said those things that he knew would be most pleasing to the maiden: from which it is clear that he did not overcome her against her will nor by force, but as one consenting. Wherefore God, loathing his inclination toward lust, did not ^B assist him as He did in the cases of Sarah and Rebekah, who were desired by Pharaoh and Abimelech.

Dinah was defiled as soon as she went out from her father's tabernacle. Wherefore let a faithful soul carefully beware that it does not go out from the house of God. Otherwise it will be polluted and contaminated by foreign religions, which will corrupt our souls. "For one thing I have asked of the Lord," says David, etc. But if it happens to any faithful person that he is seduced through a perverse religion after leaving the house of God, it does not befit us to kill them who have deceived, even if we were priests, like Levi, or subjects, like Simeon—for this name, if you interpret it, signifies obedience. We must remember Him who said to Peter: "Put your sword into its sheath," etc. Effort must also be exerted so that Christ may not speak to us as it is evident He spoke to His children to Jacob: "You have made me hated, so that I appear evil to the inhabitants of the land." One must endure with a strong spirit in tribulations, blessing those who curse; we must be patient in any tribulation and not utter threats. Let us refer our cause to God; to Him belongs vengeance, and He will reward, judging justly. Moreover, it is a more enormous crime and sin if we pursue those who are repentant with hatred, after the example of Levi, who raged against the Shechemites, who had already accepted the pledge—namely, circumcision—in order to be under the same rites and religion as the Israelites.

VERS. 5. *But Jacob heard that the son of Hamor had defiled Dinah, etc.* The Hebrew text does not have "the son of Hamor," but only the word "Hamor" is placed in the Hebrew. Whence we can conjecture that not only the son but also the father had lain with Dinah, which was indeed considered a most grievous sin. It seems to accord with this sense that which is said below: "The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor, and spoke to them with guile, because they had defiled their sister."

Behold, the plural number is used in that same place, as if both had cast ^C shame upon the virgin. And again: "Do they intend to treat our sister as a harlot?"

*As they heard, they were grieved.* That is, the indignity of the matter moved them. "It shall not be so," that is, what they proposed shall by no means succeed.

*And they were circumcised, etc.* Some say that circumcision did not profit them for this reason, that they did not receive the sign of circumcision for the sake of religion, but the princes for the sake of pleasure and the subjects out of fear. Moreover, it was a type of that which was most ungodly. And it seems to me that what is written below ^D struggles to support this: "The sons of Jacob answered Shechem, and spoke to them with deceit, because they had defiled their sister." For he spoke in the plural. And again, "Shall they treat our sister as a harlot?"

they are a type of the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened afterward.

*At the sons of Jacob fell upon the wounded, etc.* Namely, all the sons of Jacob.

Nevertheless, Jacob was later indignant at that cruel crime. For he thought that they, because they had received circumcision in favor of the king, would live religiously.

CHAPTER XXXV.

VERS. 2. *Remove the foreign gods, etc.* Remove the foreign gods, namely those which Rachel stole and which you took in the destruction of the city of the Sichemites. The present example teaches the followers of the true religion in what manner one must enter into the house of the Lord, especially at that time when we are washed in the sacred liquid of baptism. Wherefore we say there: "I declare war against you, O Satan, and against your pomp and all your worship." We also change our clothing, namely by putting off the old man and putting on the new, who is being renewed unto the image of him, namely God, who created him. We also lay aside all the desires of the flesh, just as earrings.

What it says: *Arising let us go up to Bethel,* etc., is a prophecy of the calling of the nations, rising up into the house of God. For this is what is signified under the word Bethel. There we shall recognize the elect stone, which has been made the head of the corner, namely Christ. We shall indeed see him anointed by the Father for the joy and exultation of all who are under heaven.

VERS. 16. *Beyond the tower of Gader, etc.* Perhaps he did not move to that place immediately, but after some space of time had intervened. For God had commanded that he should stay in Bethel.

VERS. 18. *But Rachel called the name of her son, Filius doloris mei (Son of my sorrow).* But the father called him Benjamin. Paul, when he had previously persecuted the Church, afterward became a "son of powers." For Benjamin sounds "son of virtues." But Symmachus rendered it: "Son of the right hand."

VERS. 22. *These are the sons born to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, etc.* Benjamin is also numbered among these, who, although he was not born in Mesopotamia but in Ephrata, had nevertheless been sown and conceived in Mesopotamia.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

VERS. 8. *And Esau lived in Mount Seir, etc.* From the things said previously it is clear that Esau had lived in Mount Seir before the arrival of Jacob. But why is it read now: *He went into Mount Seir?* Perhaps he had a dwelling in Mount Seir, but he did not live there entirely on account of his father, with whom he mostly associated. But when Jacob had arrived from a foreign land, he moved his dwelling elsewhere.

But Scripture called the wives of Esau differently above and here. For there it set down Judi, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bassemath, daughter of Edom the Hivite. Here, however, it wrote Adan ^B daughter of Edom the Hittite, and Elibaman daughter of Ænan, son of Sebegon the Hivite: and Bassemath, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nabæoth. Elsewhere it calls the daughter of Ishmael, Maelleth.

VERS. 20. *The sons of Seir the Horite, etc.* whom the sons of Esau drove out, having their seats at Petra. But Eusebius, in his book *On the Names of Places*, reports that Ænan is now a desert place, vast and devoid of human cultivation, between Ælia and Diospolis: and that ^C a fountain gushes forth there, to which the natives have honored a certain idol.

NOTES.

(56) Those who were circumcised for the sake of the king. And these things are set forth in the aforementioned codex. (57) Anonymous in the Catena Lipsiensis.

This is Anah, who found Aemamin in the wilderness. The Syrian, instead of Aemamin, has: "Who found the water." But the Hebrew word *Aemin* almost signifies water. For this word was left behind, and slightly altered. ^A

Vers. 31. And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned a king over the sons of Israel, etc.

In the cities that were built.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Vers. 3. Because he was to him the son of old age, etc.

were held worthy to be numbered among the flock of disciples, and to be the first to bend their knees to Christ after the resurrection. But those who were driven by madness to deliver their brother to death could not be fittingly compared to the stars. ^A Judas and Reuben, for whom the young man’s safety was a care, offered good counsel. For otherwise they despised the ways of the rest of the brothers. Indeed, Simeon and Levi, as they had already been somewhat tainted by slaughter, were easily moved to murder. For, driven by remarkable audacity, they alone wounded and slaughtered the Shechemites. Wherefore Jacob immediately blamed that act, and under threat of life, subjected them to a curse for that slaughter. "And they brought an evil report against Joseph," etc. Symmachus has: "And Joseph brought an evil report against them"; to which interpretation the Syrian also assents; and to speak briefly, he did not cease to accuse his brothers to their father as wicked and unrefined: on account of which thing he brought upon himself no small envy. But Aquila translates: "They brought a report," that is, the brothers repeatedly concocted false crimes, by which they might make the adolescent hated both by his father and by his enemies. God, however, by provoking him to the pursuit of virtue, predicts the splendor of his future dignity; for which reason the brothers ought rather to have rejoiced. For God was not about to act unjustly in deciding to honor him. But when they thought they were pursuing their brother with hatred, they in fact persecuted God Himself. For He was not the cause of the dream; God had presented it to the youth. And if He predicted the truth, how will you suppress the truth? If He lies, and he recounts not a dream but a figment: why do you envy him for an empty thing? But, that we may subject the matter more evidently to our eyes, they labored with the disease of Cain, whom Envy drove to fratricide. The recollection of the dream increased this disease. Moreover, the sheaves signify the time. The rising of one indicates the splendor of glory. He therefore predicted the time in which these things were to be.

^A The sheaves in the night vision are presented to his eyes. Because he had received a prophecy on account of the future famine, [signifying] that he would rule over all Egypt, and be adored by his brothers.

Jacob, while he rebuked the adolescent, somewhat broke the envy of the brothers: and he bruised the generous and proud spirits of the adolescent, which he had conceived from the night vision, showing it to be in some way impossible, since his mother was dead. But the elder, as Scripture notes, stored that matter in the depth of his heart, in no way doubting the outcome.

The brothers were deliberating how they might kill the holy Joseph. But God not only bestows upon us good things, but also knows how to lead our malice toward a good end by His providence, so that malice, whether it wills or not, is forced to praise Joseph. For every slave-trader extols with praises him whom he prepares to sell, in order that he may receive a greater price. The cistern was lacking water; thus the sepulcher of the Savior, whom Judas sold—as Judas sold Joseph—was empty of a corpse.

Ruben, however, was acting strenuously in all matters, and was moving every stone, so that the adolescent might be rescued from the present danger. For thus he hoped he would be reconciled to his father for the injury he had done to Balla, his father’s concubine.

VERS. 34. *His sons and daughters*, etc. Hence it is evident that Jacob had other daughters besides Dina: unless one contends that granddaughters are included under the name of daughters.

And he would not admit consolation, saying: "I will go down," etc. "Rachel weeping for her children, and would not admit consolation: because they are not."

Meanwhile, God does not reveal to Jacob that Joseph was led into Egypt and still draws the vital air: lest perhaps, miserable and sick with grief, he might hinder the divine Providence, which subsequently accomplished what we read occurred in Egypt and at the exodus. At length, however, it became known to Jacob that Joseph was still alive. For God, appearing to Jacob in a vision, says: "Be of good courage; and [put aside] your empty..." ^C

^A lamentation, for your son Joseph will close your eyes when you are dying." ^B Just as Joseph, had he remained in his father's house, would not have had Egypt find a man who could skillfully proceed to meet the impending necessity of famine; so, if the only-begotten Son of God had remained in the glory of the Father, hidden from us, the entire world would have suffered the loss of its salvation.

The remaining historical contemplation concerning Joseph is as follows, if one seeks the allegorical sense. A son was born of Rachel, who was younger: nor did he suffer from his eyes, as Leah did. Leah signified the ancient Synagogue. For they have eyes, but do not see, according to the prophecy of the Prophet. For they did not behold Christ, who was announced in many ways and by many means in the Law. But Rachel, the younger Synagogue, endowed with beautiful eyes, saw Him: which name, if you translate it into Latin, denotes a flock. For she is the bride of the good shepherd, who says: "My sheep hear my voice." But He addresses the Jews through a certain prophet: "I will not feed you: that which dies, let it die: and that which fails, let it fail." He, therefore, is the good shepherd, bearing the primacy in all things and taking the lead. Christ is also called a sheep in relation to the flesh or the human nature He assumed. For it is written: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Indeed, He differs from the animals that were sacrificed under the Law. For, as Scripture teaches, the blood of bulls and goats cannot abolish sins. Since, therefore, He is the firstborn among many brothers, He is called the sheep of the Church, as one who is about to enlarge the Church. For the name Joseph designates the addition of God. To the Church it is said: "Lift up your eyes, and look around, and see all. Behold, they are gathered together and have come to you." And again: "Behold, these come from afar, these from the north, others from the sea, others again from the region of the Persians." Luke also reports in the Acts: "And the Lord was adding to the Church daily those who should be saved." And again: "A multitude of both men and women was added daily, believing in the Lord and the Church."

Christ, however, if you consider the measure of time, was according to His humanity younger than the prophets and Moses, just as Joseph, if you consider his age, was younger than his brothers. For he was seventeen years old. But this number, which is composite, also designates the composition of Christ. For this number, when it has completed a decade, turns back upon itself and reduces the numbers to unity. Hence it is called a reciprocal number: and in Scripture, it is a sign of perfection. Therefore, Scripture testifies that he who excelled others in divine work had received ten talents: and then, because he had acted excellently, the same Scripture is witness that he received, by way of reward, ten cities, with God justly compensating all things. Someone from the flock of the saints says that the barren woman has brought forth seven, that is, those who are many. That number is accustomed to measure perfect numbers. That number in this place denotes that Christ is perfect in regard to his divinity and humanity. For the number ten is a symbol of the Divinity: the number seven represents humanity. But this number is distant from the number ten by three. But when the number seven is added to the number ten according to the composition of seventeen, [it signifies] the excess of the triad, that is, the Divinity; this is God the Word from the Father; in the other, humanity, which is counted among the lesser things. Regarding the divine nature, Christ is eternal: in respect of humanity, know that He assumed human nature in the latter times. The same also, Christ the eternal, is proven by that saying, "was," as is to be seen in John: "In the beginning was the Word." Christ existed also under time according to His humanity. For we read: "He was twelve years old." And he was pasturing his father's flocks together with his brothers born of the handmaids Zilpha and Balla, etc. For Christ went about the whole of Judea, gathering the lost sheep of Israel. For God (as the most holy Paul teaches) "was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."

Under King Jeroboam, the ten tribes of the Israelites defected from the true religion, and choosing Samaria, they worshipped the golden calves. In this way, the whole nation was divided and went off into two factions. Therefore, God, accusing that nation through the prophet Ezekiel, cries out, inveighing against two women defiled by whoredom. "Son of man, two women were born of one mother: and they committed whoredom in Egypt while they were still adolescents: there their breasts were crushed: there their maidenhead was defiled. The name of the greater is Aolla, and of the other Oiba. These came into my [presence], and they bore sons and daughters. Samaria is Aolla, and Jerusalem Oliba." But the Son, who was born to us, feeds together with those who are born in servitude and whoredom. For still the Israelites were being ruled by those who held authority over them by reason of the Law, although Christ was proclaiming His most holy doctrine and was imbuing them with the true religion, while He was calling all back to the right way. Moreover, He Himself was the way. For He said: "I am the way." But the doctors of the Law wandered from the true way, and were feeding their own disciples with thorns and thistles, nor were they compelling them into lush pastures, that is, to the doctrine of the Gospel. Furthermore, they kept assailing Christ with curses, calling Him a Samaritan, a glutton, a demoniac, using the familiarity and work of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Therefore, God...

through Isaiah He addresses them in this way: "Woe to them, for they have withdrawn from me. They are unhappy and miserable, because they have acted impiously toward me. I redeemed them, and they spoke lies against me." And again: "Their princes shall fall by the sword for the unskillfulness of the tongue." ^A But the Father loved in an extraordinary way Christ coming after the prophets and the good men in the last days, as is hinted by the rectitude of the father. But he was hateful to the Pharisees because of the variety of glory with which the Father clothed him, as he seems to have been clothed with a tunic of various or diverse colors, as was Joseph. For he was life, light, purifying the dead, ruling the sea, and walking upon the high sea. The Jews, bearing these things with a far from equitable mind, said: "What shall we do? For this man does many signs and miracles." Furthermore, they kindled the fire of envy, because they knew that the time would come when Christ would be worshipped by the whole people of the Jews, and indeed by the whole world. Therefore they cried out: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us take possession of his inheritance." David, showing their anger, says: "The Lord has reigned, let the peoples be angry." Just as Joseph was sent by his father to look upon his brothers, the shepherds, so too Christ was ordered by the Father to go to see the Israelites, how they in part feed and in part are fed. Joseph did not find his brothers in Shechem, but in Dothaim. Shechem, if one proposes the significance of the name, signifies "shoulder." But this limb of the body indicates vehement and great labor of the body, just as that also: "Give your heart to your shoulders," that is, to the desire of working. Furthermore, the same word signifies strength. But the name Dothaim, if one seeks its meaning, is "defect." Therefore the Jews were caught by Christ not in labors or works of the law or of virtue, but in a great defect of justice and of virtue. For there was no just man, not even one. There was no one who did what is good, not even one. For with their voice alone, as they are reproached by the prophet, they honored God: their heart had withdrawn far from Him. For they adhered only to human precepts and constitutions, neglecting divine authority. But they knew him who was spiritually announced through Joseph. For these are the words of blessed John, by which that is proven: "Many of the princes believed in him, but they were whispering because of the Pharisees." Although they knew him, ^B nonetheless they laid violent hands upon him, slaughtering the author of life, and they cast him as it were into a cistern, namely, into the abyss of death. Therefore David sings: "You have brought my soul back from hell. You have saved me from those who go down into the pit."

Just as Joseph was mourned as if dead in his father's house, and meanwhile lived in Egypt and was resplendent in royal power: so Christ is indeed thought to be dead among the Jews, but among the Gentiles He is believed to live and reign for ever. ^C

VERS. 24. A pit (or cistern, he says) was void of water, etc. Water is a sign of life. There was, therefore, a cistern which had dried up, a symbol of hell. But the boy was taken out of it, just as Christ from the dead. Joseph, drawn out of the cistern, is sold to the Ishmaelites, whose trade was concerned with aromatics, and he went into Egypt. For it was necessary that among other aromatics the ointment of temperance should be imported into that region. Thus Christ, reviving, came into the region of the Gentiles, with the spiritual Ishmaelites surrounding him—that is, those who obey God in all things. For these are considered the ointment of Christ, who are redolent with the fragrance of virtues, and they bring that ointment to those who do not have it, who in a certain way bought Christ, leaving all things and following Christ to trade for that precious pearl. Now the first in that flock were the holy disciples, who also brought Christ, clothed in the habit of a servant, to the Gentiles. Reuben, the firstborn, inhibited the brothers from committing that unworthy crime. Judah, the head of the royal tribe, took that matter also most indignantly. Thus, as many as have attained the dignity of the firstborn even among the Jews, and have been called to the kingdom of heaven, certainly admitted the teaching of Christ, and bore with difficulty those things which the rash crowd of the Jews perpetrated against him. Just as the reported slaughter of the son cast Jacob into sadness, so the killing of Christ affected the heavenly Father with sadness: and the heavenly Father is reported to have been so exasperated that He could not be swayed by the prayers of any saint, as often happens on account of slain prophets, where He is sometimes read to be softened by prayers. Indeed, He displayed inexorable anger on account of the slain only-begotten.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

VERS. 9. Go in to the wife of your brother, etc. God afterwards, when He was giving the law through Moses to the Jews, ordained the same thing, prescribing that seed should be raised up for a dead brother. Because at that time no certain promise of resurrection was yet current, they used to console those whom they were accustomed to mourn by the raising up of this kind of offspring. Or indeed God had communicated this law to Abraham, to whom He had spoken in this way.

is handed down: "For I know that he will command his children and his household after him, to keep the ways of the Lord God, to do justice and judgment."

VERS. 18. *The signet and the staff, etc.* They say the ancients were accustomed, according to ancestral custom, to wear an ornament of this kind on their neck and hands. And they were also accustomed to crown their hair, which was considered among them a sign of nobility and strength. The Syrian interpreter understood it as "an hour-glass." The ancients held a staff by a certain ancestral law. Above all, however, the kings of Babylon carried a scepter or staff. Thus, in this place, that staff or scepter was a symbol ^A of the kingdom that would arise from him. For David sings in the Psalms: "Judah is my king." Yet let no one be offended if he hears the holy Scripture mentioning that someone committed enormous crimes. It is more for us to admire the providence of God: even though she sinned, desiring free offspring after the death of the one to whom she had been joined in lawful marriage. Thus also he, having lost his wife, sought offspring. They say that in the Testament, God bears witness to him that Judah had long known her while she was still a virgin; and he wept for her iniquity. Those who do not raise up seed to Christ, God puts to death, as the sons of Judah, whom he begot by the Canaanitess.

*And she conceived by him, etc.* Thus there was a certain dispensation, as also in the case of the daughters of Lot; for it was not from wantonness, but from a desire for children, that the event occurred. ^A And she conceived by him, etc. Thus not without divine providence were the daughters pregnant by their father Lot. But that incest is to be imputed not to lust, but to a desire for offspring.

Wherefore she immediately resumed the habit that became a widow, and which she had put off. What it says: "Bring her out, that she may be burned, etc.," clearly sets before our eyes how horrible a crime fornication was among the ancient mortals, especially the pious.

*Having learned she was his daughter-in-law, he would not again know her.* This is what David also did after Absalom had entered unto his concubines. For an act done with knowledge is wicked and illicit, as the prophet Amos also declares, saying: "And the son and his father went in to the same young woman, to profane the name of their God." ^B But Judah, when he knew her to be his daughter-in-law, henceforth abstained from her bed. David later imitated his example, when his concubines had been defiled by his son Absalom. For if anyone knowingly and deliberately does such things, he defiles himself with a nefarious and impious crime, as is evident from the prophet Amos, saying: "Son and father have gone in to the same girl, to profane the name of their God."

*Lest we be mocked, etc.* Namely, because she brings this matter forth, or lest we be considered as having been mocked by the woman's deceits. How is it that the hedge was broken for you? When a hedge is dissipated so that all may pass through it, that dissipation is called a "breaking through": which indeed happens in this place also, while the first draws back his hand, so that the second might emerge into this light. Some divine that this was said to the first: "Because you have broken through the hedge, making a way for your brother to come out."

*What then does the hedge now mean?* They say, therefore, that with twins being born, after the birth of the first, the second emerges after an interval. What then does it say: "Breaking through the hedge," that is, acting as an interval, after which you were to come out after the one who stretched out his hand first, did you come out ahead? Or did it perhaps call the entry of the hand in this way? ^B What then does the hedge signify? Namely, that as if born of twins, the first yielded to the second, and this one attained the right of primogeniture. What is it that it says: "Breaking the hedge, that is, making an interval"? Namely, you ought to have been born into this world second in the order of birth, but you anticipated the brother, who had put forth his hand. Perhaps he called by this name the entrance of the hand, which he withdrew into the womb.

VERS. 27. *He bound the scarlet thread, etc.* Because twins cannot easily be separated and distinguished due to their likeness, and because of this the firstborn might be unknown. The natural order of birth declared Zarah the firstborn, who had put forth his hand; but God pronounced Phares the firstborn, from whom the royal lineage of David arose. Even Christ was born of this lineage according to the flesh. This wondrous birth is a symbol of the calling of the nations, namely, that the Jews were indeed called first, but the nations attained the rights of primogeniture. Yet the Israelites also will finally acknowledge the sacrifice of Christ. For the sanctified blood of Christ is demonstrated by the scarlet thread.

CAP. XXXIX – XLVII.

VERS. 2. *And the Lord was with Joseph, so that he was a man to whom all things turned out prosperously, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.* ^C 191 [VERS. 7.] *And the wife of his master cast her eyes upon Joseph, etc.* Youth makes the chastity of Joseph more admirable to us. It is probable that that lustful woman embellished her appearance with external aids and makeup, so that she might the more easily ensnare the youth in the flower of his age. Christ was also among the nations under the person of the apostles, who carried his stigmata about in their bodies, not being conformed to the world, but far removed from carnal affections. But with false

^A accusations they were circumvented and, as if inciting sedition, were frequently cast into chains. Yet he kept in mindful memory that word of Christ: “If you were of the world, the world would love what is its own. But because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you,” just as that wicked woman pursued Joseph with hatred to the end. Nevertheless, they shall be spread abroad among the nations, with the grace of Christ reconciling to them those by whom they were to be more grievously harassed with tribulations. Thus the prison keeper was delighted by the industry of Joseph. For the apostles, in their very perils and labors, as wise men explaining sacred mysteries to the rest, became known to magistrates and provincial governors. These, persuaded that they also possessed by the Spirit of God the knowledge of things to come, like grain-dealers and procurators, permitted them to provide food to those who labored with a famine of divine knowledge. By this holy fodder of the divine word, Christ acquired for God and the Father a region of the nations: just as Joseph attached all of Egypt to the dominion of Pharaoh.

But that he did not commit adultery with the wife of his master, he was inhibited by divine law, which was inscribed upon his soul and warned that adultery was not to be committed. Moreover, as it appears, he feared her husband, who was joined in matrimony to a most lustful woman. Furthermore, what reason permits that a eunuch could lie with a wife in the manner of a true spouse? But, as it appears to me, since he was set over the king’s household, he obtained that name on account of his office, though he was by no means otherwise a castrated man or a eunuch. ^B Furthermore, a certain person teaches that in Holy Scripture, eunuchs and castrates are sometimes spoken of who are not in reality castrated, but are thought to be of that condition, just as the blessed Isaiah calls the relatives of Daniel and the three children, in a prophetic manner, castrates and eunuchs, saying to Hezekiah: “And from your sons who shall go forth from you, whom you shall beget, they shall take, and they shall make them eunuchs in the house of the king of the Babylonians.” ^C Thus Christ calls them anointed, who did not have an external anointing, but nevertheless possessed the piety of the anointed.

The archimagirus is the attendant and, as it were, the spatharius. Regarding what is said: “He was a man getting on,” the Syrian rendered it: “He was a man acting prosperously,” just as he says a little below: “The Lord knew his master, that God was prospering whatever he did”; or rather, as also regarding Samson it is handed down to memory: “The Spirit of the Lord directed him.” And this is more appropriate in this place.

Joseph descended into Egypt, since Christ was also delivered to the nations. “For behold,” he says, “we are going up to Jerusalem,” and so forth. Joseph, when he had first come into Egypt, was gravely vexed and afflicted. Thus Christ suffered persecution not only by the Jews, but also by the Gentiles. Then they worshipped religiously him whom they had persecuted as an enemy. Just as Joseph is sold to the Ishmaelites: so Christ is delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. Both were attacked by false crimes. Joseph, detained by the woman, left his mantle to the intemperate woman. Thus the Savior, when he was dead and buried, rising again left his garments in the sepulcher. Joseph is cast into prison: Christ is consigned to burial. Joseph commands the captives: Christ’s empire extends itself over the living and the dead. But behold with what constancy of soul Joseph was endowed. Although he was oppressed in prison and servitude, he nonetheless possessed true liberty in his soul. In prison he dwells, who was honored with royal dignity, if you behold his dreams. Nor was his faith violated by doubt, so that he would cry out impiously. Where now are those magnificent dreams? If you believe that Joseph hesitated in faith, you are wandering from the whole heaven. For why does he interpret the dream for the servants of Pharaoh, if he distrusts divine oracles, and does not rather persuade them by his own example that his dreams contain nothing sane? No one could know Joseph from his brothers. For envy was concealing the truth, and was leading his genius into a servile condition. Nor was it permitted to know Joseph from his mistress, the wife of Potiphar. For she was falsely accusing him as an unchaste man and a pursuer of another’s marriage. But who provided a brilliant testimony to Joseph? The Father; when he would say and repeat: “My beloved Son.” Thus neither was it permitted for Christ to come into knowledge on account of the envy of the Jews. Nor was he acknowledged among the nations on account of the hatred of the Greeks with which they pursued Christ. ^D For Christ was

the destroyer of idols, a matter which the Greeks bore with great indignation. Nor was he recognized by those who were stuck in the mire of heresy. For to them he was unknown, just as it was unknown to the Ishmaelites who he was. Both parties believed him to be a slave, who, however, if you consider his birth, was free and noble. But heretics live by the sword, seeking their livelihood while they construct pestilential snares for souls: just as the blessing of Ishmael has it. There is nothing that savors of heaven and heavenly doctrine to be found among those people, even as it is with those who are born of the free woman, as we are, the type of whom is Jacob, who is blessed by the dew of heaven and the fertility of the earth. The Ishmaelites are occupied with their dealings, they rage with the sword and commit slaughter. Thus heretics, spurning heavenly doctrine, hasten toward the slaughter of unhappy souls. If, however, you wish to hunt for the certain knowledge of Christ, listen to the Savior saying: "This is my beloved Son, hear him." ^A Indeed, if we consider the age of Joseph, he was still in the very flower of his youth, and he was also blazing with its fire. Therefore, his chastity deserves greater admiration from everyone. From the outside, he was being battered by the intemperance of a most lustful woman. He grieved in his soul for the Egyptian woman, whom he saw rushing with full and overflowing abandon into the pit of destruction. That this can be gathered from the gentleness of his words, which carry with them the power of counsel, is evident. For he said nothing harsh toward her; even though he knew that, save for not obtaining her desire, she would easily bear everything else because of her passion, he reminded her instead of piety and justice. The former, from the fact that he was well treated by his master; the latter, from the fact that God, who is also the Judge of hidden things, sees all things. At the same time, he also humbly implied that he did not refuse the act like a philosopher, but as a faithful and God-fearing man. He further shows that he was not only chaste, but also faithful and pious.

^B Everywhere he demonstrated his aptitude for ruling, having become superior to his brothers, and ruling the house of his master after the master himself; and in the prison, while serving the jailer with his body, he ruled in his soul.

Some assert that Joseph spent two other years in prison beyond the former ones, because, having abandoned the help of God, he had placed his hope in the royal cupbearer, seeking help from him. But I judge this to be false. For it did not happen without the providence of the Divinity that, by interpreting dreams, he should thus go forth from prison to the kingdom.

VERS. 14. *Without God will the salvation of Pharaoh not be answered*, etc. Aquilas translates in this way: *Without me, God will not answer salvation.* The Syrian has it thus: *We will not answer.* Not undeservedly does he call the providence of God toward Egypt, "salvation." For that is, as it were, the scope of the interpretation of that dream. But the sense agrees with what was said: "Is not the interpretation of them from God?"

VERS. 15. *For I was stolen by theft from the land of the Hebrews*, etc. He calls it the land of the Hebrews, which had not yet come into the dominion of the Hebrews. But by faith, he anticipates what was to be.

^A Ver. 23. *The butler did not remember Joseph*, etc. And this happened not without divine providence. For God willed that mention of Joseph be made then, when the time for ruling had arrived.

The dream of Pharaoh includes cows and ears of grain. For by the animals whose ministry we use in cultivating fields, and by the fruits which the earth produces, there was signified to King Psomphthonphanech fertility and a comfortable tempering of the air.

*Psomphthonphanech* translates to "he has revealed hidden things." According to the Syrian, "he who knows hidden things." Philo the Jew says that in the language of the Egyptians it is expressed by a single name, *oneirocriten*, that is, an interpreter and judge of dreams. ^B [XL, 51] *Because God has made me forget all my labors.* Pious and just men, like those setting up a statue to God, have always given thanks for benefits received, a custom which Joseph here also imitated in the imposition of names, just as Moses did in Exodus. Two sons were born to Joseph from the daughter of the priest. Manasses signifies the oblivion of evils and dangers; Ephraim signifies increase and breadth. For just as the Gentiles, who are counted among the children of the kingdom, brought forth fruits from the holy mother the Church, and oblivion of adverse things is induced in them; for he says: *They shall forget their first tribulation, and it shall not ascend into their heart.* For above their head is praise, exultation, and joy shall take hold of them. *Sorrow, sadness, and mourning have fled.* They will come, therefore, in the passing of time into the oblivion of evils, and will receive increase, being transferred from earthly things to heavenly, from corruption to immortality, from ignominy to glory, from infirmity to strength. Lastly, the remainder of Israel, pressed by an intelligible famine and having laid aside their arrogance, will be applied to them, contending toward Christ and seeking to be fed by him, just as the brothers came to Joseph to buy grain. Christ will receive those who come, yet not without Benjamin, that is, the new people. Having accepted them with unanimous consent, he will lead them as if into his own house, namely the Church; he will wash them in the laver of regeneration, and with the mystical bread and wine he will refresh and feed them. Not even a clod of earth was assigned to them before they had brought their father Jacob. Thus Christ will receive the Israelites with the new people, but not without the holy Fathers. The lot which we hope for will be given to us just as it was to them. Just as they, although dead according to faith, *did not attain the promises* according to the divine Paul, God providing something better for us, namely that they should not be consummated without us: so we in turn will await the Fathers. For we shall all together enjoy the kingdom of heaven, although we are different in times and very far apart. According to another sense, Pharaoh urges the inhabitants of the holy land to migrate to him in Egypt, and promises many things to persuade them. But they, though they ought to have endured in adversities and remained in the holy land offered by God, having fallen into the delights of the world and preferring earthly things to eternal, while they thought they had escaped the adverse things that impended at home, were imprudently dragged into foul servitude, though they had been noble and freeborn, as they were descended from noble and free parents. Therefore, the pleasure of the world, which usually applies us to the worse part, must be fled with a swift foot.

[XLII, 7.] *And he spoke harsh things to them*, etc. Perhaps, because Benjamin did not appear anywhere among the brothers, he thought they had wronged him as well. For this reason he judged that they should be addressed more angrily. Hence, when he heard that he was still alive and unharmed, he burned with a desire to see him. But what he says, *He bound Simeon in their sight*, etc., tacitly indicates that afterward, when they had departed, he honored him. For by this act he wanted to terrify the brothers somewhat.

^C When the brothers related to their father Jacob what Joseph had said, they passed over the prison in silence. And in place of what had been said by Joseph: *“Let him be held in prison,”* etc., they say: *“Leave him here with me.”* Just as regarding the words, *“If you do not, you will die,”* they say: *“And I will return your brother to you, and you will trade in the land”*; lest they make Jacob reluctant to send Benjamin.

But Jacob’s mind was tested and troubled by a greater fear when he beheld the silver, fearing lest some evil deceit lay hidden.

Joseph orders Simeon, the second in the law of birth, to be bound, as if he matched himself in accordance with some proportion of age by taking his rank into account. For he who is second among many, in some way corresponds to the penultimate one. Since indeed the first is opposed to the last. Or, as I think, bonds were cast upon him,

that most things which pertained to the tragedy of Joseph were done by his own impulse and persuasion. For if he, being the second among the brothers in terms of age, had joined with the eldest who was advising better things, with the foremost and chief men agreeing among themselves, that crime would certainly have been prevented.

[XLIII, 11] *Bring him gifts, etc.* As if the Egyptian land does not produce such fruits? Nay, it produces them in the greatest abundance. For the Ishmaelites, who had bought Joseph, were accustomed to import those fruits into Egypt. [32] *For it is an abomination to the Egyptians, etc.* For piety is an abomination to the impious. ^A *For piety is an abomination to the sinner.* Joseph wisely instructs his brothers to tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds. Fearing that they might perhaps be accused of lying, they say everything just as they were commanded, and confess themselves to be shepherds. *And the younger according to his age, etc.* (Thus he had arranged them, so that Benjamin would be found near Joseph.) [34] *And the portion of Benjamin was increased, etc. These words foretell the apostle Paul to us under a certain figure.

[XLIV, 10] *And now as you say, so shall it be: with whomsoever the cup shall be found, he shall be my servant, etc.* The brothers had not said: "He shall be your servant," but, "Let him die." However, that which concerns the cup is not performed without Joseph's singular prudence, that he might inquire and explore the minds of the brothers, how they were affected toward Benjamin. When he discovers their brotherly and genuine benevolence, he no longer contains himself, but honestly reveals who he is. ^B *What a man is who is like me,* that is, each one. But he was very cautious, and did not even endure to say the word for "augur." [16] *We do not dare to open our mouths, etc.* Thus they will say to Christ: "God has found the injustice of thy servants," etc. He indicates those things which had happened to Joseph: and also the dreams which had preceded. Pharaoh and his servants rejoiced, etc., clearly because they knew that not a slave, but a nobleman born of a noble stock was ruling over them.

[18] *And eat the marrow of the land, etc.* The Syrian translates this as "the good things of the land." He says this so that they might be more effectively persuaded. [20] *But let not your eye spare your vessels, etc.* That is to say, disregard all things. [22] *Five changing garments,* that is, various. The Syrian has "pounds" or "shekels," just as above, where he says that Joseph had submitted to his brother Benjamin a portion which exceeded the shares of the remaining brothers by five times. [24] *Do not contend in the way, etc.*, that is, mutually accusing and blaming yourselves for those things which you cruelly committed against me, fearing with what mouth or with what countenance you wish to recount those things to your parent. ^C

[XLVI, 3] *And I will bring you back from thence, etc.* at the end or consummation, just as the 71st Psalm seems to suggest: "For this reason my people shall return here, and many days shall be found among them." [7] *But also his daughters and daughters of his daughters, etc.* He ordered these and his sons-in-law to be summoned, fearing lest they should lapse into idolatry. [8] *Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, etc.* The names are recited so that we may know, henceforth, where they are counted after having left Egypt, how incredible were the increases they received, from the power of God, who increased them for this purpose. ^D [10] *Jamin.* Hence the Jaminites are derived. *The sons of Phares, Rom,* from whom Christ descended according to the flesh. [21] *Aroiles and Arieles,* villages of Palestine. The sons of Benjamin.

NOTES (61') The sons of Benjamin. The son of the Egyptian codex.

[483] jamin Ros, from whom the Romans flow as from a head. Wherefore the blessed Paul says, perhaps referring himself to this genealogy: “I have been born indeed.” Arad, whence [comes] Aradus. ^A

[23] *Filii Dan, Asim.* It was fitting that the seed of the serpent should be small and modest. Judah was sent beforehand, most importantly, as one who had given proof of his probity and prudence in the defense which he carried out for Benjamin. Furthermore, because he was most agreeable to Joseph for a long time, since already of old, when the other brothers were preparing violence, he himself had advised what was salutary and had protected the safety of Joseph.

[28] *In the city of Heroum, etc.* Perhaps this is that city of Heroum, whose mention by Manetho is reported by Josephus. For it is evident in Exodus that the sons of Israel built the city of Rameses. Nevertheless, he anticipates in this place what happened later.

*They are shepherds of men, etc.* Wherefore, according to Josephus, Manetho calls the Jews shepherds.

[XLVII, 4] *Jacob came into Egypt to Joseph, etc.* From Goshen they betook themselves into the interior of the Egyptian kingdom, where Pharaoh resided. ^B

[9] *Few and evil, etc.* To Pharaoh, who was wondering at the longevity of Jacob, Jacob replies: “My days are few and evil, if they are compared with the days of my fathers.” For no one before him had endured such and so great tribulations. He wished that Pharaoh might grasp from this that that nation was blessed by God, for which reason the men of that nation were long-lived, and abounded in all the riches of the earth because of the piety which they offered to the supreme Deity.

[16] *Bring your cattle, and I will give you bread, etc.* Joseph does not speak these things in anger, but so that they might not be disturbed by the danger of famine while they care for their herds; and from this they might find favor in the sight of Pharaoh, and be praised for their well-kept livestock. ^C

[21] *He made the people into bondmen for himself, etc.* He acquired the entire people and the land for Pharaoh, except for the land of the priests.

*The land destined for the priests he did not add to the dominion of Pharaoh.* Because he gave the priests homes in Dosi, that is, daily rations. For Symmachus interpreted it as a constitution, or a fixed measure, or a tribute. He excellently subjects the Egyptians to tribute and makes them servants, ^D so that henceforth no sedition might be stirred up in that kingdom, and they might be preserved in peace. Moreover, the fifth parts were deposited and reserved for them as a comfort, should either famine or war rage. [alt-version omitted]

[31] *And Israel adored at the top of his staff,* that is, he adored the insignia of the kingdom which Joseph administered. Others say that Jacob, in the manner of old men, held a staff. Therefore, as Joseph approached, he bowed his head and offered the appearance of one adoring. Therefore, with the head bowed, the Egyptian adoration was performed at the top of the staff. For it is written: “He adored the top of his staff.”

VERS. 5. *They shall be to me as Reuben and Simeon,* that is, as tribunes and princes.

CHAPTER XLVIII

VERS. 6. *They shall be called by the name of their brethren,* that is, they will not have their own and, as it were, peculiar tribes, but those born of them will be reduced into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

Therefore, Joseph is as it were duplicated or geminated, Ephraim and Manasseh being received into the tribes in his stead.

^A "And Israel beheld the sons of Joseph." It is clear that he beheld them through his other senses, apart from his eyes, that is, through prophetic insight. ^B VERSE 8. "But Israel could not see," etc. Of course, he was unable to discern them with his eyes, because they had grown dim from old age. He saw, therefore, with prophetic spirit.

But piety is always preferred to nature. Thus Isaac is preferred to the firstborn Ishmael, thus Jacob to the firstborn Esau, thus Joseph to his brothers, thus Ephraim to Manasseh. Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it upon the head of Ephraim, so that his head seemed to support two right hands, one of his father and the other of his grandfather. But his younger brother shall be greater than he, for we see that later on Ephraim ruled over the ten tribes by royal authority.

VERSE 19. "And his seed shall be a multitude of nations," etc. For from him came forth Jesus Nave (Joshua), who stood as a true type of Christ, as is recounted in the Book of Numbers. For this reason, the blessing of Joseph is directed toward him. Jacob had intended to bless the sons of Joseph, for he thought the others would abhor them as being born of an alien woman. And so that he might declare that he was imbuing them with a blessing by the authority and command of the Divine, he calls to mind those things he had seen at Luz. At the same time, he also exhorts and instructs his sons in piety. Furthermore, he demonstrates that the growth of the nation is to be attributed to divine benevolence. In this way, Christ also brought the faithful to the Father, and we have attained the right of being children of God, and are named brothers of the saints, and have been enrolled in the choir of the patriarchs. We have attained the dignity of the firstborn just as Reuben did, because we have been obedient to the divine will after the example of Simeon. For we who are last have become first by being obedient to Christ. Indeed, the great David shows: "A people whom I have not known has served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me." These are they who were born from the Church of the nations, as if from an alien mother; and they are counted among the holy race because of the love with which the father embraced the son, just as Jacob did Joseph. And although we are children of God, we are nonetheless children of Christ as well, who, as has been said, leads us to Joseph.

"The sons who are born to you will be yours," etc. For this reason, Christ says to the Father: "Those whom you gave me were from the world; and you gave them to me, and I am glorified in them." Moreover, we have spoken above concerning the sepulcher of Rachel, that is, the Church. The passage, "In Bethlehem," etc., seems to signify that we might be buried together with Christ, who was born there, and that we might hasten toward a better life, freed from the corruption of the body, concerning which matter he says to the Father in the Psalms: "Command, O God, thy strength; perform, O God, this which you have done for us." But in very truth, the power of the Father is the Son, through whom we obtain immortality, through whom the Father recognized us, just as the father Jacob recognized the sons of Joseph when Joseph replied to his inquiry: "They are my sons." The Father has embraced us with singular love and has deigned to grant us spiritual union, just as Jacob, when his grandsons had approached, kissed and embraced them. For this reason, the divine Paul says: "You who were once far off have been made near." And again: "But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God." For he looks upon and recognizes those who are familiarly disposed toward the Son, just as he showed himself to be placid in Egypt to those whose homes were smeared with the blood of the lamb. For he says: "I will see you and will protect you." But Jacob addresses his son in this manner: "Behold, I am not deprived of your face. Indeed, God has set before my eyes your seed (that is, your sons)." Just as Joseph, as far as his brothers were concerned, had perished entirely, so Christ, as far as the Jews to whom he had come were concerned, was considered plainly dead, as one who had been subjected to final punishment. For so they thought. But he ascended to the Father, rising by the power of his Divinity, by which act his own people was made manifest, as it is handed down: "A holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people for his possession," of whom he speaks just as Joseph did: "Behold I and the children whom God has given me." Brought in like those children, we have worshipped. He applied Manasseh, the elder by birth, to the right hand of Jacob, so that he might be in the sight of the grandfather. But he did this seeking that Manasseh be blessed even more by the grandfather's right hand; and he wished the opposite to happen to the younger. But the grandfather, changing his hands in the form of the cross, placed his right hand on the younger and his left on the senior. For they are worshippers, both the first people and the one that succeeded it, with not Moses, nor the prophets (for the law is of little effect for salvation), but Christ himself leading us into this grace, through whom we have been led into this grace. He had also determined to prefer the Israelites to the nations, just as Joseph wished the first place to be given to Manasseh. For he says: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But when the Israelites were given over to impiety in all things, the Father preferred to them those who by the reckoning of time were second. And we who were last have become first, and the first have been reduced to the place of the last. Jacob, however, when he blessed the young men, named God, who fed him, and the Angel who saved him in all dangers, always joining to God the Father the Son, who is called by the prophet the Angel of Great Counsel. Jacob reveals the power of the mystery to Joseph, who bore the contempt of the elder with an uneasy mind, namely, that he himself is also to be advanced to great honors and dignities. For even Israel is exalted in those who are preserved according to the prophet, who says: "A remnant shall be saved." But the brother younger by birth will overcome the one elder by birth in many ways. But it is suggested as if under a veil that the nations will overcome the Israelites in infinite multitude, if you look at the sincerity of faith. If you look at external pomp and magnificence,

Ephraim is preferred over Manasseh. For his kingdom contained ten tribes under it. He also received Shechem, as a kind of prerogative. For Jacob says: "And I have given thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite, with my sword and with my bow." In earlier parts he called the Amorite the prince of that region. But it is evident from the book of Judges that all who are propagated from the stock of the Canaanites are called Canaanites. Moreover, the Amorites and the Hivites were neighbors. Why then does he say: "With my sword and with my bow," etc., when nevertheless he did not consent to the deed of Levi and Simeon, and afterwards rebukes and condemns them for it in the blessings? I answer: Although he did not desire that evil deed to be committed, yet since what is done cannot be made undone, he rightly took upon himself the deed of his sons. For what they acquired increased the father’s domain by right. Indeed, he even imputes the slaughter of the Shechemites to himself, and for this reason, as some claim: he implored the aid of the Divine, whose presence he experienced, as is evident from the fact that a chilling horror had taken hold of the neighbors, nor did they dare to take up arms, and [he feared] that they would pursue the enemy, who were few—which Jacob believed would happen, and he was not a little afraid. As far as related to the cruel deed of Levi and Simeon, if the neighbors had wished to avenge it, Jacob would indeed have perished with his own. For how would the few have withstood the many? Saved therefore by divine aid, he rightly ascribed the acquisition of the Shechemites to himself, which indeed he would have lost if he had been killed with his own by the neighbors. ^A Joseph therefore receives Shechem, as if honored with this gift above others. Thus Christ, that he might evidently teach that all things are subject to his dominion, comes to distribute the true region of the Shechemites among all. For in this manner the psalm testifies: "I will be exalted, and I will divide Shechem, and will mete out the valley of tabernacles," ^B clearly as his own and as heir of all. For by hereditary right he has been made heir of all goods. "His inheritance," as the Scripture has it, "is all nations, and his dominion the ends of the earth." Wherefore in the following lines David sings: "He rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion."

CHAPTER XLIX.

VERS. 1, 2. *And Jacob called his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob; hearken unto Israel, your father.* Earthly fathers, if they die, transmit their goods to their sons; but spiritual fathers, desiring to migrate from this world into eternal tabernacles, transmit the good offered by God to their sons through the intervention of a blessing. Thus Isaac, now at the extremity of old age, prepared to bless Esau. Thus Jacob intended to favor with a blessing the grandchildren brought before him by Joseph. Now, however, he predicts what is about to happen to all his sons in a prophetic manner. And the Scripture calls what is said here not blessings, but rather prophecies; for some of those tribes are rebuked rather than blessed. ^C He who rules one family, leaves his goods to one family if he dies. But they who govern an entire nation impart a blessing to the whole nation, as is proven by the example of Moses. For everyone desires to hand down an inheritance of goods to his successors. Yet God derives grace from one principle to many. And the things recorded as done here were a type of the true principle, which is Christ, who transmits good from himself to his own; and having crossed into heaven, he communicates spiritual gifts to his own, just as he had already ordained before. By these gifts he made men sons of God, reforming them into his own image, as is clearly conjectured from that which he says to the apostles: "He that receiveth you, receiveth me"—of which thing Moses was indeed a more manifest type, not exercising rule over carnal men, but rather over spiritual and obedient ones. The knowledge of future things also reached Jacob, who foretold these things; and he mentions by accident also those things that have been done, and through these he outlines, as it were, the future. Reuben therefore ascends the paternal ^D

^A bed, which he defiled, etc. Thus also the Jewish people committed incest. For God, having freed the Synagogue from Egyptian servitude, first betrothed it to Himself, as a neglected young woman, by the communion of the divine law. He made it so fruitful that she bore very many children. But they corrupted this one, defiling her with alien seed, they who hand down the commands of God, mixing human sanctions and constitutions with the sacrosanct oracles. Regarding these, Isaiah speaks in this manner: “How has the faithful city of Sion become a harlot? In which judgment lodged, but now murderers. Your silver is reprobate. Your taverns mix wine with water,” through adulterous doctrines, which are accustomed to mix the worse with the better. Wherefore, He accuses her as a harlot through Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “You have defiled the land with your fornications.” And again: “A harlot’s forehead has been made for you; are you not ashamed?” And again: ^B “You have played the harlot with many shepherds.” But the Savior explains the manner of harlotry to the Pharisees who were accusing the disciples because they would take food with unwashed hands, saying: “Why do you transgress the commandment of God? For God said: Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you. But you say: If a man says to his father or mother, Corban (which is a gift), whatever is from me will go to your benefit. And moreover you do not allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, and you make void the word of God by your constitution, which you have handed down.” Hence the Church, incorrupt and one which deeply abominates harlotry, says: “My kinsman is to me, and I to him.” Reuben therefore committed incest with Balla. The firstborn people, which is exposed as a son of profanation, defiled the Synagogue of the Jews with incest, which is called Balla, that is, antiquated. For it is disfigured by wrinkles. But a new people has come forth, of whom David says: “A people which is created shall praise the Lord.” For there is a new creation in Christ according to the testimonies of Scripture. But Jacob addresses Reuben: “You are my strength, and the beginning of my children.” Strength indeed, because in him was the foundation of the faith: the beginning of the children, who were promised to Abraham. For to him and his seed was the promise, and not through Reuben the seed of the promise, which is Christ. Or he says: “My strength, etc.,” because in the firstborn and in the people snatched from Egyptian servitude, many and great signs of fortitude were issued. But that people was hard and stubborn, partly indeed in obeying God, and partly, because they laid hands upon Christ, which he here designates as the insult to the father. Justly, therefore, they hear: “Stiff-necked men and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.” ^C Christ also upbraids the Jews: “Which of the prophets have your fathers not killed? And you fill up the measure of your fathers.” A bold and obstinate people, therefore, and bringing insults like water, that is, having an intolerable assault and attack against whomever he institutes. But remaining in the metaphor, so that he might not be carried away against the multitude, he says of Reuben: “You will not boil over.” For boiling water, once raised up, is poured out, and seems in a way to be much. Since the number of the Israelites can be easily counted, in respect to those who have obtained faith from the Gentiles. Or perhaps the Holy Spirit uttered these words for the sake of consolation, lest, having been completely seized by fervor, he perish, giving him, to be sure, the hope of salvation. For hot and poured-out water is wont to perish. And now too he stretches snares for the paternal bed, busying himself with surrounding the bride, the Church, and deceiving her, blaspheming her, and teaching dogmas which are in opposition to the holy doctrine. Wherefore the Savior says: “Search the Scriptures; for you seem in them to have eternal life. And these bear witness concerning me, and you do not wish to come to me, that you may have life.” And again: “If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. For he wrote concerning me.” And again: “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter, nor do you allow those who want to enter to go in.” What he says: “You defiled my bed,” etc., some interpret as that he pierced the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which the Spirit of the Father rested, as the prophet testifies: “The spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him; the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him.” But that Reuben himself was not excluded from salvation, Moses is a sufficiently rich witness, saying: “Let Reuben live and not die.” For he did not want to consent either to the killing or to the selling of Joseph. Salvation, however, he will obtain, as in Egypt, clearly if the starving world shall seek spiritual food, which it will receive from Christ, whose type is Joseph, who divides grain among the Egyptians and the Gentiles, and from the circumcision, his brothers. Another, however, teaches that it is signified in Chronicles that the birthright of Reuben was transferred to Joseph. But Aquila explains this passage thus, beginning from: “Hard and stubborn, etc. By receiving more abundantly and by commanding out of abundance, you bubbled over like water. You will not be more abundant.” By which words he signifies that the tribe of the Reubenites would never possess the height of affairs, nor would it have any prerogative beyond the rest. So also, beyond life and kingdom, the Lord promises, saying: “I have come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.” Omitting this, Moses, as if under a figure, desires life for him, saying: “Let Reuben live,” and let not the stain of sin contracted from Adam's sin follow him, with God sparing and forgiving him. But he committed adultery having used superfluous pleasure. Hence it is said that he received superfluously, and from an abundant...

^A portion provided to him. 'Symeon and Levi are brothers,' etc. After the fruitlessly received admonitions of the prophets, and those who were already failing and saying: 'Lord, who has believed our report?' For the Synagogue of the Jews was given over to whoredom, when it followed diverse doctrines. Therefore, God reproaches the Jews through the prophet, saying: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.' Moreover, the word of God descends to us. But those parricides, who put the saints to death, exclaim: 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and his inheritance shall be ours.' Then, not content with having slain the prophets, they also murder the apostles. Everything here, therefore, is demonstrated to us by the present prophecy. Dinah, the daughter, was born last from Leah. Thus, the last multitude of the Synagogue, in which Christ was clothed with flesh in the last times, scarcely departing, just as Dinah, from the paternal tabernacle—that is, from the legal manner of life—has been mingled with the indigenous, namely, the holy apostles, in regard to doctrine; I say, with apostles no longer living in the Jewish fashion, but who were regarded as foreigners. Receiving from these the seeds of evangelical doctrine, ^B the Synagogue was as it were violated by the beautiful bridegroom, Christ, namely, by Christ who was speaking through the apostles. On account of which matter the priestly race, namely Levi—that is, the people joined or chosen—was indignant. Moreover, the people who were subject to the priests in all things and obeyed them, which indeed was designated by the word 'Symeon.' For the priests and the people, who adhered to these, did not cease to call the conversion of the faithful and their sound doctrine a corruption of morals, saying: 'Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.' Then, finding fault with the pious because they did not live according to the Jewish rite, they knew that circumcision was held in the highest honor by the pious. But which one? Namely, that which consists in the spirit and not in the letter. For they showed the Jews that they bore about the spiritual circumcision and the Jew who is in secret. Yet, although they knew these things, they nevertheless did not abstain from slaughtering them. Just as they profaned their hands with the blood of the prophets and apostles, so they did also with the blood of Christ. Therefore, they deliberately adhered to injustice. For they agreed and conspired among themselves, and they did not perpetrate these things casually, imprudently, and in ignorance of the facts. Jacob, therefore, foreseeing in his spirit the pernicious nature of this conspiracy of theirs, says: 'Far be it from me to follow their counsel; far be it, indeed, far be it that I should even pollute my mind with the thought of that wicked plan. Nor indeed shall I conceive their wicked counsels in my mind.' Therefore, Isaiah says: 'Woe to their soul. For they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just man: for he is unprofitable to us.' And David says: 'Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners.' And again: 'The princes have gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.' And again: 'I have hated the assembly of the malignant, and I will not sit with the wicked.' ^C Therefore, the prophet calls the saints men in this place. But he indicates Christ to us under the title of "bull." Driven by furies, the Jews slaughtered the saints with the desire of invading his inheritance, and they killed Christ, as we have stated above. A not insignificant cause of this murder was that Christ dissuaded them from base desires. But Christ is called a bull, because that animal is robust and is appointed for divine worship on account of its purity and cleanliness. But He is the Son of the Lord of hosts, who, I say, admitted no sin, but offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. But as to what he says, 'They destroyed the nerves,' etc., that happened either when they pierced His nerves on the cross, or when they slaughtered His saints, who are and remain dead until the resurrection. Christ, ^D like a calf whose nerves have been cut, fell to the ground, by His own will, so that He might redeem us, sustaining and enduring the death of the flesh. Yet, He was not held by death. But the Jews fled the borders of their fatherland and were dispersed in Israel, while the nations behold God, of whose nourishing light they themselves are deprived. This indeed is said of those who cut the hams of the bull, and not of all. For we can say of those who did not lend themselves as partners to perpetrating this most iniquitous murder, what is read in Deuteronomy: 'Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it.' God commanded those who had not committed the murder to say these words, washing their hands over the slaughtered heifer in the valley: namely, those who were closest to the town in whose territory the homicide had been perpetrated, and near which the corpse lay. Moreover, that heifer also is considered a type of Christ. The Jews uttered a contrary voice to this saying, crying out: 'His blood be upon us and upon our children.' But Moses took away the curse from the Levites when they took up arms at Raphidim because of the defection of the people and the making of the calf, and spared neither their brothers nor their sons. Hence, the curse by which they were to be dispersed was turned into a blessing, and the Levites receive the first fruits of the cities from the other tribes: which they inhabited as guests and pilgrims, not otherwise than as perfect Christians and true worshippers of the Godhead dwell in this world. 201 For since there are two most principal offices in the Law, namely the priesthood and the kingdom, Levi receives the priesthood, for which he was destined before he was born, when his father Jacob said: 'Of all that you shall give me, I will give you tithes.' But Levi will be found to be the tenth among the sons of Jacob, if you begin the counting from the last. But that manner of counting is to be received on account of Christ, who in the extreme age declared the end to be the beginning, coming and finally bringing a blessing at the end of the extreme age. Moreover, the curse of Levi having been turned into a blessing, the curse of Simeon was doubtless also turned into a blessing. For they fell upon the Sichemites by common counsel and act, on account of which matter they merited a common curse. Wherefore those same

^B must have been the first authors of that absurdity. For this reason Moses did not deign to bless him.

The Hebrew does not agree with the Greek version. I shall, however, note the sense of the Hebrew: “Simeon and Levi are brothers, vessels or instruments of reproach. Into their counsel let my soul not enter; and in their congregation let not my glory dwell. Because in their anger they killed men, and in their self-will they broke down a wall.”

By the walls, one may understand the princes who were powerful in that city, and who preserved and protected it like a most fortified wall. The question is asked: since Simeon and Levi were only two, how could they destroy the Sichemites? The Scripture solves this question by saying: “On account of the pain of the circumcision,” which on the third day is very severe, when the Sichemites, tormented by pain, could not rise or proceed bravely to meet the enemy.

VERS. 8. *Judah, your brothers shall praise you*, etc. Jacob blamed the preceding sons for certain offenses and judged them unworthy of the future prophecy; but concerning Judah, as being the better, he prophesies the following. For he perceived in his spirit through which of his sons the calling of the nations, announced to himself and to his fathers, was to be accomplished. Coming, therefore, to the fourth son, namely Judah, he commemorates in passing the oracle which says: *Kings shall come forth from your loins.* He teaches that the kingdom also will reach its end through his succession, through whom the royal lineage consisted. At the same time, he also demonstrates the time of the calling of the nations, by which he signifies to us also Him through whom the calling occurred, namely Christ, on account of whom Judah was promoted above the others to royal dignity. The tribe of Judah, from the times of Moses’ rule, commanded the other tribes by the command of God. In the dedication of the tabernacle, they offered gifts first. In the division of the land, the other tribes received their portion by lot, but this tribe received its own part without a lot; and after the death of Joshua, God commanded this tribe to lead in the destruction of the Canaanites; and everywhere we shall find this tribe leading. For even if the Judges came from different regions, yet in general the tribe of Judah led the whole nation. And much more so from the kingdom of David, and downwards, until the captivity in Babylon, and after the return. And in the Paralipomena, his genealogy is placed in the first position. It is likely that the same tribe held the kingdom also in the times which followed, until the advent of the Savior; even if we do not have a divine record relating [history] up to that point.

^A For the Word testifies that it [the tribe] led the tribes until the race was enslaved by the Romans. And for this reason the whole nation is called after it, and not after Reuben, who was the firstborn, although the firstborn were honored according to the law; nor after Levi, who was the elder and was honored with the priesthood; nor even after Joseph, who was governor of Egypt, and who, along with his brethren and his descendants, ruled the nine tribes for a very long time. And why not after Benjamin, which was the metropolis of the whole nation, being in the lot [of the tribes]? But the tribe of Judah was sovereign from the beginning, and led all the others so long as they were autonomous according to the prophecy. Now, they were free and autonomous up until the times of Augustus, under whom, Christ having appeared, the whole nation was enslaved. At which time Herod, a foreigner, first ruled, and Augustus, who also entrusted the authority to him along with the senate, being by race from Antipater the Ascalonite, a temple-servant of Apollo, and of a Cyprine mother from the Arabs. For this man, having killed Hyrcanus, the last of the succession of high priests, emerged at the helm of the Jewish kingdom. And simply, as under the rule of the Romans, other governors and generals from different nations are appointed, while the whole power is called that of the Romans; so among the Jews, the whole power belonged generally to the tribe of Judah, while the individual kings and governors ^B were sometimes chosen from other tribes.

^C But now let us go back a little, and examine the prophecy of Jacob. That the prophecy of Jacob does not concern the fourth son, from whom that tribe descends, is clear enough from the words, which are as follows: "Hear what shall happen in the last days." For how could these words look toward him who was living at that time? Furthermore, the brothers did not praise Judah. For what remarkable thing did that Judah do, such that he could deserve the praise of his brothers? These words should rather have been attributed to Joseph, whom Judah even himself worshipped before that prophecy was brought forth by Jacob. Furthermore, this which is said is greater than what would befit Judah: "Thou hast crouched as, a lion, thou hast slept." Especially, however, that which is written does not square with Judah: "Until they come, for whom things are reserved." He was the expectation of the nations, etc., which words signify the time at which He, of whom this discourse is held, is to come. Many from the whole nation, and not from the tribe of Judah alone, were declared princes and kings, such as Moses, Joshua, Deborah, and those who follow after in the course of years. The Holy Scripture testifies that these were chosen not from the tribe of Judah, but from others. Indeed, the first king, Saul, belonged to another tribe. The kings who proceeded from the Davidic line did not even last five hundred years, that is, until the Babylonian captivity: nor did they rule over the whole nation; but at least three tribes did not acknowledge their empire in all things. There were other leaders and kings who held the governance of the remaining tribes. For the entire kingdom, upon the death of Solomon, split into two factions. Then, after the Babylonian captivity, for over five hundred years until the advent of Christ, they used an aristocracy, during which time the priests shone with royal dignity. It is, therefore, manifest enough, I think, that this prophecy is not to be extended to that first Judah, nor to his successors, that is, "There shall not fail a prince from Judah," etc., but is to be drawn to the entire tribe, as if it said in this manner: The tribe of Judah shall not cease to rule until He comes, for whom it is reserved, who, that He might govern the nations, was expected from that promise which was made to Abraham. Let it be said therefore to the whole tribe: "Let thy brothers praise thee: because thou art preferred above the remaining tribes." To the same it belongs to be an emperor in routing enemies. For the words of the prophecy are those which counsel this: "Thy hands shall be on the back of thy enemies." Then, in order that the imperial dignity may be apparent, it is written: "Judah is a lion's whelp." ^D

^A Patriarch Jacob, extolling himself magnificently on account of this tribe, says: "From my shoot, son, you have ascended," that is, you have proceeded from me, indicating by these words the growth and decline of that tribe. "Crouching, you have slept as a lion," etc., is said on account of his boldness and courageous spirit against the enemy. He further signifies that he took his seat upon the royal throne, which he had obtained by hereditary right, with such firmness that he could not be torn away or dislodged from it. The name of lion is bestowed upon that tribe, because a lion, if he lies down, is seen to be more terrible on account of the breadth of his chest. Wherefore he admires Judah as terrible and strong, as if no one were easily found who would rouse him and cast him down from the royal throne and royal dignity. Not long after, he reports that he will be the expectation of the nations, who is not to appear before the prince and leader in Israel has failed.

^B Truly, here it is handed down that the kingdom will be transferred from the tribe of Judah into Himself. For when Christ was born, the scepter was taken away from Judea, with the entire nation reduced to servitude by the Romans. Wherefore, blessed Luke, noting the times more diligently, says that the end of the Jewish kingdom was the beginning of the doctrine of Christ, which indeed happened in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was administering the kingdom of the Jews as governor. Saint Matthew likewise reports: "But when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Wise Men from the East came to Jerusalem," etc., by which words he clearly demonstrates the calling of the Gentiles, and that the Jews at that time were governed by foreigners. These things indeed happened in the last days, as the prophecy of Jacob has it. At this time, the kingdom of Christ was visible among the nations, and from that time nothing remarkable was done by prophets, priests, at home or in war. Since, with their liberty most plainly taken away, they were serving the Romans. For the temple was profaned when they came (as the prophecy of Jacob implies) set apart for him. And what are those things? Namely: "Judah, thy brothers shall praise thee." These too, according to another sense, are reduced to Christ, who is also called Judah, as is Jacob in some places. For the prophet says: "Jacob my son; I will take him. Israel my chosen, my soul shall receive him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, etc.; and in his name shall the Gentiles hope." He is also ^C called by the name of David, as is evident from the eighty-eighth Psalm: "He shall call upon me: Thou art my father. And I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him for ever." And again: "His seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon perfect for ever." Solomon, in the seventy-first Psalm, which is inscribed to Solomon, also says things not abhorrent from David, concerning whom these things seem to be proclaimed. That psalm clearly expresses what we have given so far: "He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. And all nations shall serve him."

Furthermore, that Judah is Christ, who according to the flesh was born from the tribe of Judah, according to the testimony of the divine Apostle. The name truly signifies praise, or a hymn sung. But to whom does it more fittingly belong than to Christ, that he should be magnificently praised, who, performing admirable virtues for his brothers, namely the apostles, was a source of wonder? Concerning whom it is held in the Psalter: "I will declare thy name to my brothers." But to the women, with whom Mary came accompanied, Christ says: "Announce to my brothers that I ascend to my Father." The disciples first regarded him as a prophet, while he was performing such notable miracles. But afterwards, when they learned that the enemy and the murderer of the human race had been conquered by him, and that death and the invisible powers had been vanquished by him, they worshipped him as God. Furthermore, who can deny that his hands were on the back of the enemies, when he drove out demons with doctrine and miracles? Hanging from the cross with stretched-out hands, he put all enemies to flight and forced them to turn their backs. Whence we read in David: "I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them, and I will not turn from the persecution until they fail. I will crush them, and they shall not be able to stand. They shall fall under my feet." And those enduring these things will not even dare to strike back, according to that oracle: "No advantage shall the enemy receive from him, and the son of iniquity shall no longer hurt him." This indeed happened chiefly then, when, committing his spirit to the Father, stripped of flesh he descended into the place of the enemies; and though he was life itself, he destroyed death and the adverse powers; which it is likely, at his first coming, when they thought him a naked man, they had decided to circumvent and insult as a man of vile and extreme condition. But when they knew him to be more august than man, they indeed turned their backs and fled. But he, extending his hands, pursued the fugitives with his divine arrows. Even now he turns to flight and routs those who seize upon him as an enemy and wage wars with the Church, with an invisible arrow. Having accepted the spoils, which are the rewards of victory, he will be worshipped by the sons of the Father: namely, the angels in heaven and the celestial powers will worship him. The apostles among us will do the same, and the nations knowing him to be God, and receiving from him the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the devil, who turns his back to us, yea, he is crushed and trampled underfoot, on account of the excellent virtue of Christ the victor.

This which he says: "On the back," etc., can be said of the Jews, who persecuted him with hostile hatred: who, although in this age they escape his hands, yet in the last days they will confess him. For these are the sons of God the Father according to the voice of Isaiah: "I have brought up children and exalted them: but they have rejected me." The same saying also corresponds to his brothers according to the flesh, who at first hesitated in faith. They were admiring the miracles of Christ, but meanwhile they were offended, seeing him not observe the ceremonies of the law. For of no

small difference in the eating of foods did he discourse: "Not that which enters into the mouth defiles a man," etc. But that the Sabbath was not to be observed too superstitiously, he signified with these words: "For the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." Therefore, as the doubting ones said: "If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For no one does anything in secret, and seeks to be manifest himself." But the evangelist adds to this immediately, inferring: "For neither did his brothers believe in him." Moreover, after the passion and ascension of the Lord, there was no longer any place for incredulity for his brothers. ^A Since Jeremiah had foreseen these things in the spirit, he speaks somewhere of Christ in these words: "For your brothers and the house of your father, even they have reproached you, and they cry out after you. They are gathered, do not hasten among them. For they will say good things about you." That these things have been produced into effect, there is no one who does not know. Consequently, also James, writing to the twelve tribes, begins thus: "James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ," etc. Truly, when necessity demanded that the mysteries of his birth and death be understood by prophecy, not without reason does he add: "The lion's whelp is Judah." Because Christ was born from a royal tribe, and is the Son of the Almighty, who can tame his adversaries by a word alone, according to the prophet who declares: "The lion shall roar, and who will not fear?"

VER. 9. From my shoot, O son, you have ascended, etc. For Christ according to the flesh was from the seed and root of Jacob, who was declaring these things. Indeed, he was born from the shoot and noble root of the holy Virgin through the Holy Spirit. For the Scripture says somewhere: "A rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse." For he himself is truly the rod of virtue, which God sent to us from Sion. This comforts and supports all, existing as a rod of righteousness and of the kingdom. This rightly and gently pastures the flocks of the saints; but it crushes as a potter's vessel those who do not wish to be pastured by him. He himself is the rod which was stored in the holy tabernacle, and was brought into the Holy of Holies, budding forth nuts, which indeed foreshadow the resurrection for us. For the wood of the nut tree puts to flight slumbers and induces vigils. But in order to announce to us the death of Christ, he adds: "Couched down as a lion, and as a lion's whelp." ^B Since the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father. Moreover, Scripture is accustomed to call death a sleep. But by the expression "couched down," etc., the voluntary death of Christ is signified to us. But Christ had been able to overcome all as a strong and vigorous lion, powerful in strength. Nor was he held by death, as they supposed, who delivered him to the cross. Rather, he lay down willingly. Just as a lion is terrible not only when awake, but also when sleeping, so Christ was terrible not only before the cross, but even on the cross, and was designating great miracles: he does not say, "you sleep," etc., but "you have slept." For so great is the certainty of prophecy, that those things which have not yet been done, holy men of God assume to be given as effected, since that which is done cannot become undone. But with God that which is to be is already done, and all time is certain and present before him. Akin to this is that utterance of Scripture: "They dug my hands and my feet. They have numbered all my bones." That which it says, "Who shall rouse him?" signifies in a wonderful way the resurrection, and him who rouses and provokes us to seek God. He indicates also that he lay down willingly, and did not need the assistance of another. For the Father shall raise him up according to the Scripture saying: "Whom the Father hath raised from the dead." He himself, however, raised himself, according to that which he says: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

Moreover, Aquila clearly translated the present passage, saying: "The lion's whelp is Judah, from spoils and captivity you have ascended, my son, bending you have couched." But Symmachus [translates] in this manner: "The lion's whelp is Judah, from hunting, my son, you have ascended, and limping you have sat down." ^C Through all of which is clearly signified to us the resurrection of our Savior, and as it were a flight from a certain hunt, namely, from hell. The fact that he says he limped and sat down and did not fall, signifies quite clearly by the limping his death, and by the sitting, that he was not snatched away like the souls of other mortals. ^D He also declares the time under these words: "A commander shall not fail out of Judah," that is, princes commanding this nation shall not fail. For upon the kingdom of the Jews being cut off, the people gathered from the nations took on incredible increases. For at that time no holy person was left among the Jews. For all the holy and good ones failed. Which indeed is demonstrated by the following: "Binding his foal to the vine." For the true vine bound and joined to itself the new people, who previously had been unbridled and untamed. He will also bind with the shoot of his vine, that is, with his word and charity, the people of the ancient synagogue to himself. Unless perhaps one believes the circumcised people to be bound and constrained to the antiquity of the law. Or he understands the vine as Israel: but by the foal he denotes the people gathered from the nations. For that is a beast of burden.

^A He was compared to brute beasts; nay, the Savior himself calls the gentiles dogs. But he also joined the gentiles to the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, by removing the hedge and pulling down the partition. These he has bound to Israel with the bond of charity. Thus, those which were previously wild, having laid aside their ferocity, are so tamed that, once bound, they do not kick back or bite the bond, but patiently bear these things, in no way ravaging the vineyard. ^B He says truly: "And the foal," etc., as if from one and the same she-ass, that is, faith born in both peoples. One might indeed say that these things were ordained to happen, when the Lord said (as is contained in Matthew): "Go into the village that is opposite you." Moreover, the prophecy shows that he was not to be ridden like an earthly king on horses and chariots. That proud pomp would be absent. He will be carried on an ass and a yoked foal, like some poor man and one of the lowest class. This Zechariah expressed in his prophecy, saying: "Rejoice, daughter of Zion: behold your king comes to you, meek, sitting on an ass," etc. ^C But that he was to be stained by his own blood, having his flesh transfixed by a spear or lance, is sufficiently declared by the following words: "He will wash his robe in wine." When the supreme and celestial powers beheld this one taken up into heaven, they cried out according to the prophecy of Isaiah: "Who is this who comes from Edom? The redness of his garments from Bosor?" And again: "Why are your garments red, and your clothes as if you had trodden the grapes in the winepress?" By the garment, he signifies his own people, whom he cleansed and purified with his own blood. For wine is a symbol of those who have believed and have been baptized into his death, or because by the Holy Spirit and the Word of truth he was to purify his own flesh. ^D As to the fact that he cared little for the Jews, who were rushing upon him driven by mad rage, but rejoiced greatly in our salvation, since he was subject to no passion according to his divine nature, he says: "His eyes are brighter than wine." The metaphor is taken from drunkards, who are usually more cheerful. It also indicates the joy which is taken from the mystical wine, which, offering it to his disciples, he says: "Take, drink; this is the blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins." At the same time, he also teaches through those words that he looks down upon all, as many as believe in him, with great benevolence. For it is in some way a property of wine to be looked upon by men with pleasure.

VERS. 12. "His teeth are white," etc. Milk perhaps demonstrates to us the sincerity and purity of the mystical food. For he gave the image or likeness or type of his own body to his disciples, no longer admitting and accepting the bloody sacrifices of the law. Therefore, by the whiteness of the teeth, he signified the purity of the mystical bread by which we are nourished. For according to the divine David: "Sacrifice and oblation you did not desire. But a body you have prepared for me." Thus truly it is clear that, since speech proceeds from the teeth, while they are conspicuous for their whiteness, they also emit speech that is pure and sincere. Under those words is proposed to us the integrity of judgment and the purity of doctrine and speech, by which we are fed and nourished. He shows, moreover, that he attempts as if impossible things by washing his garments, since it is another who corrupts and defiles them. But he himself, existing immune from sin, destroyed death through those things by which the rest are dead. Wherefore (as some think) he says: "And his eyes are pure above wine." For no one has been justified in the law. All men, from the first Adam, who did not perform in deed what evil desire dictated, could not restrain themselves from yielding to the desire of the eyes. But Christ was devoid of the stain of sin, even regarding his eyes. "Above wine," he says, namely, cleansed or refined from almost everything.

VERS. 13. "Zebulun will dwell by the harbor of the sea, and by the harbor of ships: his border reaches even to Sidon," etc. Blessing him, Moses speaks thus: "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out," that is, in the quiet and security of the land. Because you have gone forth, and as it were have been brought into that part of the land which is adjacent to the sea, and is refreshed and helped by the goods of both land and sea. And this is the meaning of the blessing which Moses bestows upon him. Sometimes, however, prophecy is explained either by the similarity of events or by the interpretation of a name, which they call etymology. Moreover, Zebulun, if you explain the word, denotes a good way and a blessing. But they are truly considered blessed who, through faith in Christ, have attained righteousness. Truly, these can exclaim: "Blessed are we by the Lord, who created heaven and earth." Concerning them Isaiah writes: "The way of the righteous is right, and the way of the righteous is prepared." Inviting them into his hallowed and divine hall, God says: "Open the gates, and the righteous nation that keeps the truth, searching for righteousness, and observing peace, shall enter." But lest anything hinder them and perchance they stumble, and grasp good things with hesitation, he commands the sacred ministers to pave the way, saying: "Go through my gates, and cast the stones from the ground." Shall we not then rightly pronounce the Israelites blessed, and happy in their ways, as many as have honored the faith? James testifies that these were to inhabit the seacoast and live among the nations, with both coming together and gathering themselves under one shepherd, Christ. Even Holy Scripture attributes a maritime region to the nations, saying: "The region of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, Galilee of the nations, and the rest who dwell in places near the sea, have seen a great light," namely, the light of Christ. Israel, therefore, being a neighbor together with those who were dwelling in maritime places, has been illuminated. And this is what is said, to prosper in the ways. For Christ says: "As long as you have the light, walk in the light, lest the darkness wrap you about." Therefore, Israel, who once dwelt alone and refused Gentile society, has been joined to the gentiles. For the partition of the hedge has been destroyed, and the law set in precepts has been rendered void. And in this way, the two peoples have coalesced into one. Therefore it will be in the port,

to Christ alone, referring all persuasions. For when it has escaped the fierce tempest of the law, as it were, it has finally arrived at the grace of Christ, just as merchant ships hasten into a port as into a safe place. "For it shall extend even unto Sidon," etc.—because of the excellence of the spiritual union, it will fill the cities that were once impious and persecuted and despoiled those who worship God. Rebuking these through the prophet, God says: "Truly what have you to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of the Philistines? Will you pay me back a reward? Or if you revenge yourselves against me, I will very swiftly and speedily return a recompense upon your own head. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried away my desirable and most beautiful things into your temples. And you have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the children of the Greeks, that you might remove them far from their own borders."

VERS. 14, 15. *Issachar is a strong ass lying down between the borders; he saw rest that it was good, and the land that it was best, and he put his shoulder to carry. And he became a servant under tribute,* etc. ^A The part of Galilee which looks to the sea and the west is opposite the region of the Zabulonites; Nephthalim obtained this. But Issachar obtained the places which, with respect to these, verge toward the east. Jacob therefore teaches that Issachar rested in the midst of these tribes; for he is in the middle between Joseph and Zabulon. He chose this part of the land because he was addicted to agriculture.

Issachar, however, that you may grasp the significance of the name, indicates reward. For the Father gave them almost as a reward to the Son, of whom He says: "And I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." And again: "Behold the inheritance of the Lord, children: the reward of the fruit of the womb." He calls the Lord Jesus, and calls the fruit of the womb Him who was born of a woman, who received them as a reward, as many as from both peoples believed. Concerning these He says: "Whom thou hast given me out of the world, they were thine, and thou hast given them to me." And they indeed, eagerly seeking Him who is beautiful by Himself, say: "The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves, more to be desired than gold and many precious stones." The Spouse also says: "I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired." That people, which shines with the sincerity of faith, will contemplate the divine lots—that is, it will obtain the heavenly goods which it anticipates by hope. David prophesies of them, saying: "My lots are in thy hands." Inclining its spirit toward these, it rests, and is persuaded by constant and certain faith that it will acquire them. Therefore it refuses no labors, it avoids no dangers, procuring for itself the inheritance of the future kingdom and the fertile land like a diligent farmer, according to Osee who says: "Sow for yourselves to justice, and reap the fruit of life. Kindle for yourselves the light of knowledge, seek the Lord, until the plants of your justice come." The blessed Paul desires things not unlike this: "He that will supply seed to the sower, and bread for food, will multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the fruits of your justice, that having always all sufficiency, you may abound in every good work." There are some who hand down that by Zabulon are signified the Israelites, who fled to the sacred anchor of the faith, agreeing with the one Law and Christian doctrine, being constituted as it were in the middle between the two peoples. For the Lord testifies: "I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill." For he who observes the precepts does not in any way infringe upon the Law. Therefore, to one asking him what path of life he should hold so that he might obtain salvation, he replied: "Keep the commandments." For Christ, not by destroying but by fulfilling the Law, showed us the way of justice. Moreover, he elegantly calls doctrine "rest." For He Himself cries out: "Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you." He calls his flesh a "fat land." For this is what flows with milk and honey. Seeing these things, the apostles, and receiving power from God, prepared themselves to labor and became husbandmen of the Lord, tilling the earth—that is, preaching the humanity of Christ and spreading it throughout the whole world.

VERS. 16-18. *Dan shall judge his people, as also another tribe in Israel. Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that bites the horse’s heels that his rider may fall backward. I will look for thy salvation, O Lord,* etc. In this place we are reminded of Samson, who will finally arise from that tribe. And that the illustrious strength of the man might be shown to us, he does not hesitate to compare him to a serpent lurking in the way, which overthrew the rider, so afflicting the horse's heel that it could not rise again except by divine power. For Samson, while he was still among the living, was intolerable to his enemies; but dying, he was more cruel than while living, taking vengeance on his enemies. Moreover, the tribe of Dan, although it was less populous than the other tribes (for Dan begat only one son, as was noted above), will nevertheless be counted among the tribes. But Dan, if you come to the significance of the name, signifies judgment. Some have understood by the word "Dan" the devil, the most bitter persecutor of the human race; who judges those deceived and circumvented by him, intending crimes for them, as will be set forth in the Apocalypse. He never ceases to lie in wait for those who...

^A keep to the path of virtue. But Judas Iscariot, who arose from the tribe of Dan, in whom the devil was lurking, betrayed the Lord. Moreover, he sought the path of justice with treachery. For Christ says: "I am the way of life," in which Judas seemed falsely to walk and rest. In this, the devil bitingly escaped the heel of the horse, that is, the flesh of Christ. For of the traitor the Savior testifies: "He that eateth bread with me, lifted up his heel against me." Christ, therefore, as the horseman—as is read at the end of the first dialogue of God with Job—fell backward in death, that is, in the end of the days, he who also waited until he should rise again from death by the command of the Father and live.

Some understand under Dan the scribes and Pharisees, who were powerful with judicial authority, who set upon Christ, and as far as lay in them, struck him from the number of the living. There are others who assert that the sacred choir of the apostles is signified by Dan. For these are the judges and magistrates appointed over the faithful by God. A rich witness of this matter is Paul, writing somewhere: "Know you not that we shall judge angels: how much more things of this world?" They shall judge, but as imitators of the supreme Judge, God. Hence Isaiah handed down: "Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in judgment." Already long ago the tribe of the Judaites governed the nation of the Jews, and the priests exercised judicial power. For it says: "The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth." But by the authority of Christ, judgment fell to the apostles, of whom God speaks to Jerusalem in this way: "Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee." For those who were sons at that time attained to paternal authority and gravity. But to Christ it is said: "You shall make them princes over all the earth." For through the apostles, the proclamation of Christ is spread, and his mystery is announced to the whole world. They shall judge also what is expedient and what is not for the faithful. He speaks of these, that they shall rule the faithful with as much authority as the tribe of the Judaites governed the rest of the Jewish people. Nor yet shall they be void of misery who will hold the reins of empire. For the people who will persecute them will be as a serpent ^B lying in wait for the way, and inflicting bites on the horse's hoof, that is, giving grievous and laborious bites. "He shall watch thy head, and thou shalt watch his heel." For they sustained and suffered the same thing that the leg of a limping horse suffers, which turns as it were backward and sinks. The rider, thrown onto the ground, awaits him by whom he may be saved. Thus the apostles await the kingdom of heaven prepared for them from the foundations of the world, being blessed according to the word of the Savior: "They have finished their course, keeping the faith." "But the temptation shall try him: but he shall try the heel," etc. By which words he teaches that that tribe would be warlike and would conquer its enemies. For when by hereditary right they had obtained the region beyond the Jordan together with the Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they sent their youth, well-instructed in arms, so that they might be the vanguard and be auxiliaries to their brethren in routing the enemy. They rushed with an attack upon the enemy, which indeed was called a temptation, and they stoutly routed him. Moreover, since their region was that of the Arabs and was in some places mountainous and in others flat, they were opportune for the incursions of robbers, whom they strenuously drove from their borders.

But the name Gad, if you inquire into the meaning of the word, signifies temptation or probation. However, it designates the proud people of the Pharisees and Scribes. For they were inflamed with anger on account of Christ's doctrine and miracles, and also because of the acclamations with which he was received, entering the city, by the shouting populace: "Hosanna to the son of David." They were also vexed that they laid their garments for him along the way. At first indeed they said: "Do you see that we prevail nothing? Behold, the whole world is gone after him." Finally, however, so that they might provoke the Romans and experience their indignation, they conspire and send some of their disciples with the Herodians, questioning him deceitfully whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar. But Christ opposes this answer to their fraudulent temptation: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God, the things that are God's." Then, when he cast the merchants out of the temple, as those who had made an emporium out of his Father's house, they tempt Christ again, asking: "By what authority dost thou these things?" But he opposed to their temptation the question concerning the baptism of John. Some have transferred Gad to Christ, but have named the people setting snares for him "temptation." But Christ immediately avenged himself upon them.

^C VERS. 20. Asher, his bread is fat, and he shall give victuals to princes, etc. Again, he foretells that an abundance will be present for the tribe that obtained the maritime region. For through its labors, the region of the Jews will overflow with all abundance, while those things which are suitable for royal delights are imported from foreign regions. Not unlike these things does Moses prophesy, saying: "He shall be acceptable to his brethren because of the distribution of good things." But his lot fell around Ptolemais and Sidon. Therefore his bread is mentioned as fat. But if you interpret Asher, it signifies riches. Otherwise, it truly represents to us him in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For Christ is the treasure hidden in the field, and the precious pearl. He, under the person of wisdom, says: "Riches and glory are with me: I who look upon and consider the earth." Thus David says: "Thou hast enriched it." The testimony of Paul also makes for this: "You are enriched in him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge." For he who, being rich, became poor, has made us all opulent. He is that delicate bread, descending from heaven and giving life to the world. Truly also it is bread in respect to the celestial powers invisible to us. For it nourishes the celestial orders and all the magistrates. Indeed, also in the sacred ^D [This page ends here]

^A world He contributes nutrients to teachers, revealing mysteries and laying open the way of all virtues, that receiving freely from this source, they may also freely proclaim and feed their own disciples, being chosen stewards of the house of the Lord, that they may give them their ration at the proper time. Doing this, Paul writes: "I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, that you may be strengthened" 76. The holy teachers themselves also testify that they receive consolation from the gifts descending from heaven, while God 210 enriches them with spiritual gifts. Asher, therefore, signifies Christ, and as many as are enriched by receiving Him.

Ver. 21. *Naphtali is a spreading terebinth, producing beautiful branches.* This prophecy also will fit Christ and the faithful. For Jeremiah speaks to Jerusalem: "God called your name a fair and shady olive tree. At the sound of the circumcision, a fire was kindled upon it" 77. For when it was necessary to be diligently pruned by the pruner, it was consumed by fire, not recognizing the present husbandman. But we have been grafted into the true vine, that is to say, Christ. The cultivator of this vine (as Christ teaches) is the heavenly Father. He prunes the fruitless branches, and cleanses the fruitful ones, that they may bring forth more abundant fruit. The wise John also reported the same thing about the trees in his writings: "Already the axe is laid to the root. The sterile tree shall be cut down and cast into the fire" 78. Zechariah also says: "And there shall be a lamentation in Jerusalem, like the lamentation of the felled tree in the field" 79. Again He addresses Jerusalem: "Open, O Lebanon, your gates, that fire may devour your cedars. Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen" 80. The prophet, or rather God who speaks through the prophet, compares Jerusalem to Lebanon, because it contained, as it were, odorous plants, the priests serving the legal worship, and the leaders of the people. But the city was burned: the men who inhabited it gave themselves over to signal mourning, seeing the Romans as lumberjacks, putting all the nobles to death. But Christ, who brought that destruction upon them, was the "spreading" shoot (according to the prophecy of Jacob) in the sense of waiting expectantly. For it always flourishes with unceasing movements so that it may endure, and throughout the whole world that is under heaven, it is continually expanded. Indeed, God long ago announced this through the prophet Ezekiel in these words: "I will take from the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it in its place; from its summit, I say, I will crop off a tender twig, and I myself will plant it upon an high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it shall bring forth a branch, and shall bear fruit, and it shall be a majestic cedar, and there shall dwell under it all fowl and every bird; in the shadow of its branches they shall dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and have exalted the low tree, have withered the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish. I the Lord have spoken and have done it" 81. Therefore, from the midst of Lebanon He took a shoot from the most select cedar, and planted for us the tribe of Judah, which was more excellent than the others. From this, Christ was born according to the flesh. He also hung upon the wood of the cross. He reduced the moisture of the Law into dryness, and humbled the high things so that they might appear no different from briars and thickets and the remaining shrubs. We, who were humble, have recovered the flower. And this is that which the Lord says: "I will make the desert into pools, and the thirsty land into springs of water. I will place in the land destitute of moisture, the cedar, the box tree, the myrtle, and the cypress and the fir. Instead of humble grass shall rise the myrtle and the tall cypress" 82. Among the trees just enumerated, the cedar, experiencing no rot, signifies the immortality of the faithful. The box tree represents the solid constancy of the mind, lacking all levity. The myrtle portends the pious who are always flourishing and diffusing sweet odors. The cypress is a type of virtue and celestial doctrine descending from on high with the wonderful fragrance of the Spirit. The fir denotes the bright and shining rays of justice. Therefore, no one will deny that the statement "Naphtali is a spreading shoot" must be directed to Christ and His own. Hence, Christ preaches in the Gospel: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; to those sitting in the shadow of death light has dawned" 83. Christ, however, gave beauty to that shoot by His own light. At first, indeed, He was God, although He was ignored as being God, not only by others, but even by the disciples. Yet when He even powerfully commanded the sea, 211 they say with admiration: "Who is this? for the sea and the winds obey Him" 84. But after He rose from the dead, He was adored. While the knowledge of Him increases in us also, He appears "fairer than the children of men." We also, making progress in piety and every virtue, like the generation of the pious, hear him saying to us: "The King has desired your beauty" 85. Moreover, grafted into the wood of the cross, we bear fruit.

Vers. 22, 23. *Joseph is a fruitful son, a fruitful son beside a fountain: the daughters ran upon the wall. They exacerbated him and shot at him; the masters of the arrows were hostile to him, etc.* He recounts the plots which his brothers suborned against him. Nor does he omit the divine aid, by which he was delivered from all evils. Ultimately, He brings in a blessing as a reward for the patience and clemency which he used toward his brothers. "Turn to me," that is, approach me, draw near to me. As regards the growth of Christ, we have explained this in those things which we gave concerning Naphtali. For He returns to the pristine glory which He had before the world was created. Although according to the flesh He appears humble, nevertheless He has been exalted by God even according to the flesh, so that He might receive the name which is above every name, as Paul teaches 86. Let every knee bow to Him.

^A of all those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. This is that blessing of which it is written elsewhere: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." He is said to be "increased" because of our calling. Moreover, since He is the Creator of the ages, He is called "younger" with respect to those who, before His advent, pleased God and were called sons, even though they were servants by nature. On this account, he is not improperly called by Paul, Christ, the second man from heaven. Even in the Gospel He calls Him the "last" who had done the will of the Father. However, the saints imitate Him, striving to follow in His footsteps as far as we can follow Him. Or, mention is made of imitation or emulation, because the Pharisees and Scribes hated Him, as being the heir of the paternal goods. Therefore, they did not cease to overwhelm with reproaches Him who performed so many works of virtue and miracles. They took up stones to cast at Him; finally, they subjected Him to capital punishment, indulging in their hatred. But rising again, He was taken up by the Father, who says: "Approach me, or turn." He also heard: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." They therefore devised evil counsels by which they might destroy Him, just as arrows shot from a bow, so inciting the people against Him. But they were crushed by the hand of the powerful Jacob, that is, of God and the Father, who is the Lord of hosts or powers. Therefore, He is blessed with a heavenly blessing, namely, as we have advised above, adored even by the angels. He also experienced an earthly blessing, as David teaches: "Let all the earth adore me, and sing to me." But those good and fertile lands are the disciples of Christ, gleaming with every virtue. Regarding this land, it is said to the Son: "You have looked upon the earth and inebriated it, you have also enlarged it so that you might enrich it." His twofold generation is also signified, one of the father, the other of the mother, whose breasts He sucked, existing as a true man, not merely in appearance. The same prophet, indicating this, says: "He shall eat honey and butter." Therefore, He is blessed on account of the mother's breasts and womb. For He was made man, and in all things was obedient to the word of the Father. Although He was man, yet in divine manner He surpassed all the ancient fathers, illustrous though they were.

For thus David testifies: "Who in the clouds is like the Lord? Or who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?" These are they who are called eternal mountains and hills standing over all things that are upon the earth. And why should not the Lord provide, since He is God and the giver of all good things? Therefore they say: "And of his fullness we all have received." For the crown of glory will be placed upon the head of our Savior, from whom it will pass to all the saints, who will receive the diadem of unfading glory. Since they are partakers of His afflictions, they will not undeservedly be partakers of His glory.

VER. 27. "Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall eat the prey, and in the evening he shall divide the spoil," etc. The Hebrew text has: "Preeminence or spoils." Jacob, however, predicts that bold and rash crime which they committed against their own brothers in Gibeah. Refer here also to the rape of the virgins. As to what he says, "In the morning he shall eat," it is put for "he shall wage war." In this manner he addresses him: "He shall not sleep until he eats his prey, and drinks the blood of the wounded." What he says, "He shall distribute the food," etc., understand it thus: Where they shall have seized the virgins, they will divide the captives among themselves. The present prophecy also demonstrates Saul who was born from the tribe of Benjamin, who persecuted David—who bore the type of Christ—in a hostile manner. But in the end of times, and as it were in the evening of the ages, there proceeded from the same tribe Paul, who distributed widely to all believers spiritual food, although at first he was a very fierce persecutor and enemy of the Church. But later, truly dividing the spoils of demons, those whom he rescued from the power of the demons by the preaching of the Gospel, he assigned to the princes of the Church, having imitated Christ, who says that He is that hero who would bind the strong man and plunder his spoils. Those words of the psalm also signify Paul: "There is Benjamin the younger in ecstasy, the princes of Juda their leaders; the leaders of Zabulon, the leaders of Nephthalim." For the disciples, since they were Jews by nation, were constituted their leaders, who had joined themselves to Christ through faith. With these was Paul also, saying: "Whether we are foolish, we are foolish for God; or whether we are wise, we are wise for you." Others say that in the order of generation Benjamin succeeded Joseph, whom Rachel bore, both of them. Therefore, through Benjamin is signified the new people, who, like a wolf, will snatch the divine and evangelical doctrine: and with the greatest speed will decline the incursions of foreign shepherds, as if they were incursions of dogs. "For who," they cry with Paul, "shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Nay, the pious overcome all afflictions and dangers, saying: "To me, to live is Christ; and to die, is gain." What finally is it to be wondered at, if the faithful are compared to wolves? For the Savior also says: "I am as a panther to Ephraim, and as a lion to the house of Juda. I will go and I will snatch, and there shall be none to rescue." Isaiah also calls the faithful the beasts of the field: "The beast of the field shall honor me. The sirens and the daughters of the ostriches. Because I have given water in the wilderness, and rivers in the dry place, to give drink to my chosen race, my people whom I have acquired, that they might tell of my virtues." He calls the faithful "beasts," as those who turn away from the blandishments of the devil, and rush upon him, being terrible, not allowing themselves to be tamed by him. The pious are called "sirens," on account of the eloquence with which they excel in teaching and establishing the dogmas of our religion, and on account of the hymns by which they praise the supreme Godhead. But that he will hasten with the greatest promptness to the food of divine doctrine is declared by that which is written: "In the morning he shall eat." He who teaches is in some way said to "feed," which Paul indeed demonstrating, says: