Fragments on Genesis (from catenae — of Acacius and others)

FRAGMENTS ON GENESIS

Fragments excerpted from the Commentary on Genesis collected from LXXXVIII Fathers, which exists in a manuscript in the Vienna Library. (In Galland.) These also exist in the Chain on Matthew edited at Leipzig in the year 1772, entitled: SEIRA... ON THE OCTATEUCH AND THE BOOKS OF KINGS... edited by Nicephorus, hieromonk... at Leipzig... in the year 1772. Volume one.

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

^A HIPPOLYTUS: He did not say a nychthemeron, but one day, to signify the light. He did not say "first day," for if He had said "first day," it would have been necessary to say that a second had also been made. But it was fitting not to say "first," but "one," so that by saying "one," He might show it returning in a cycle and constituting a week, while yet remaining one.

And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water.

On the first day, God made whatever He made from things that were not. But on the other days, He did not make them from things that were not, but changed those which He had made on the first day, as He willed.

And let it be separating between water and water. And it was so. And God made the firmament; and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and between the water which was above the firmament. And it was so.

HIPPOLYTUS: Since the abundance of water was being carried over the face of the earth, for this reason the earth was invisible and unformed. When the Lord of all wished to make the invisible visible, then He fixed the third part of the waters in the midst; the third part He separated, taking it up by His own power into the firmament; and the third part He left below for use and enjoyment by men. (Where an asterisk is placed. These things are read in the Hebrew, but do not exist among the Septuagint interpreters.)

^B And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the paradise at evening.

HIPPOLYTUS: They understood the presence of the Lord rather through a certain breeze. Therefore, immediately when they had sinned, God appeared to them, instilling a sense of the sin and inviting them to repentance.

Ruben my firstborn, you are my strength, and the beginning of my children, hard to bear, and hard and self-willed. You behaved insolently like water, do not boil over.

Ruben, my firstborn, you are my strength, and the head of my pain. Excessive in rising and excessive in power; you were amazed like water, do not excel.

Ruben, my firstborn, and the beginning of my pain. To take in excess, and boiling over from excess like water, you shall not be more excellent.

^C AQUA: Ruben my firstborn, you are my strength, and the head of my pain. Preeminent in dignity, preeminent in strength; you were astonished [like] water, do not excel.

SYMMACHUS: Ruben my firstborn and the beginning of my pain. Receiving abundantly and boiling over from abundance like water, you shall not be more excellent.

^D

^A Toward the people, his firstborn out of Egypt, a great demonstration of power was made by God. For the region of the Egyptians was punished by Him in many ways. "That first people from circumcision is my strength and the beginning of my children," as God had promised the covenant to Abraham and his seed. But he was hard to bear, since the people became hardened against the obedience of God. And [he was] hard and stubborn, because he was not only hard toward obedience to God, but also became stubborn enough to lay hands upon the Lord. "You have committed an outrage," because through our Lord Jesus Christ, the people offered outrage to the Father. But the Spirit says, "Do not bubble over," for the sake of consolation, so that by bubbling over completely he might not be poured out, giving him still a hope of salvation. For that which has bubbled over and been poured out has perished.

^B *Gen. XLIX, 4: For you went up to your father’s bed.*

HIPPOLYTUS: First of all, he sets forth the event: that in the last days the people will plot against the bed of the Father, that is, the bride, the Church, wishing to corrupt her. This is what they still do today, while plotting against her through their blasphemies.

*Gen. XLIX, 5: Simeon and Levi are brothers.*

HIPPOLYTUS: Since from Simeon come the scribes, and from Levi the priests. For the scribes and priests perpetrated iniquity; and by their own will conspiring in one opinion, they slew the Lord.

*Gen. XLIX, 5-6: Simeon and Levi are brothers; they have brought to completion the iniquity of their purpose. Let not my soul come into their council, and let not my liver contend in their congregation; because in their wrath they slew men, and in their desire they hamstrung a bull.*

^C This he says concerning the conspiracy with which they were to band together against the Lord. That he speaks of this gathering is clear to us; for the blessed David chants: "The rulers were gathered together against the Lord," and the rest. The Spirit foretold this event, saying, "Let not my liver contend," wishing to rescue them so that, if possible, that future evil might not be brought to pass by them. "They slew men, but they hamstrung a bull." By the strong bull, He points to Christ. They hamstrung Him when, nailed to the wood, they pierced His sinews. "In their wrath they hamstrung a bull." See the meaning of the statement: ^D "They slew men, but they hamstrung a bull." They covered the saints with death, and they remained dead, awaiting the time of resurrection. But as a calf hamstrung, Christ in a certain way bowed down to the earth, though He willingly underwent the death of the flesh; yet He did not become subject to death. But even if He died as a man, yet according to the nature of His divinity, He remained alive. For the bull is Christ, as an animal most robust and pure and fit for sacrifice. But the Lord of powers, the Son, who did not commit sin, [gave] Himself...

for us in an odor of sweetness to God and the Father. Let those, therefore, who have thus severed the sinews of the venerable bull hear: “Cursed be their anger, for it is stubborn; and their wrath, for it is hardened.” But the people of the Jews have dared to boast that they severed the sinews of the bull: “Our hands have shed this blood.” For I think it is nothing other than this that they have foolishly said: “His blood be upon us,” and the following. Moses revokes the curse against Levi; or rather, he converts it into a blessing on account of the zeal which that tribe afterwards witnessed for God, and on account of Phinehas. But the curse against Simeon he did not revoke: wherefore the outcome also confirmed it. For Simeon did not obtain a lot of inheritance like the other tribes, but dwelt in the midst of Judah. Nevertheless, it was preserved, although small in number.

Gen. xlix, 11: “Binding his foal to the vine, and to the tendril the foal of his ass; he shall wash his robe in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape.”

HIPPOLYTUS

“His eyes are joyous from wine, and his teeth are white as milk. Zabulon shall dwell by the sea, and himself by the harbor of ships, and shall reach unto Sidon. Issachar has desired the good, resting in the midst of the lots. And seeing the rest that it is good, and the land that it is fertile, he put his shoulder under to labor, and became a husbandman.”

HIPPOLYTUS

^C Then, after some things from Cyril.

HIPPOLYTUS

^A that his words become light to those who believe through him.

When he says that Zabulon will dwell by the sea, he predicts that he will occupy the region adjacent to the sea, and that Israel will be mingled with the nations, seeing that the two peoples are being led into one flock. This is clear in the Gospel: "The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim," and what follows. You should understand the provision from both land and sea more physically. And "by the haven of ships"—that is, as if in a safe harbor, anchoring the cables of hope in Christ. By this, he signifies the calling from the Gentiles, because the grace of Christ will go out into all the earth and all seas. For he says, both "by the haven of ships" and "it shall extend even to Sidon." That these things were predicted regarding the Church from the Gentiles is declared to us by the Gospel: "The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people sitting in darkness saw a great light." ^B Thus, when he says he will dwell—Zabulon, that is—in the region adjacent to the sea, he confirmed it clearly, as if saying that henceforth Israel would be mixed with the nations; for the two peoples are being gathered into one flock, and under the hand of one who has become, by nature, a good chief shepherd, that is, Christ. Blessing him, Moses said: "Zabulon shall rejoice," and Moses prophesies that under the hand of one, in the lot of the land, he will have the good things from both land and sea. "By the haven of ships"—that is, as in a safe harbor, anchoring the cables of hope in Christ. For, having departed from much turbulence, he will henceforth be moored by His grace, just as ships are in harbors. And he says it will extend even to Sidon, indicating, as it seems, that such a union of the two peoples will take place through the spiritual course, that those born of the blood of Israel will even ascend to the very cities of the Gentiles that had been weighed down by great guilt and accusation before God.

After Cyrillus some things:

HIPPOLYTUS: "And the land that it is fat." This is the flesh of our Lord. Fat, that is to say, rich; for this is that which flows with honey and milk. ^C The places of the land destined for him as an inheritance and possession, that is, the teaching of the Lord; for this rest is good, as He Himself says: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden," and what follows. Since those who guard the commands, not renouncing the legal ordinances, find rest both in those and in the teaching of our Lord: which is between the two inheritances; just as the Lord says: "I came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill." For our Lord, by observing the precepts, does not dissolve the law and the prophets, but fulfills them, as He says in the Gospels.

"He bowed his shoulder to labor, and became a husbandman." This the apostles did; ^D

they received the power from God and, having submitted themselves to labor, became husbandmen of the Lord, tilling the earth—that is, the human race—through the preaching of our Lord. ^A

Genes. XLIX, 16-20: "Dan shall judge his people, as also one tribe in Israel. And let Dan be a serpent in the way, sitting on the path, biting the horse's heel; and the rider shall fall backward, awaiting the salvation of the Lord. Gad, a band of pirates shall plunder him; but he shall plunder it by the heels. Aser, his bread is fat, and he shall give delicacies to princes."

After some things from Cyril, Apollinaris, and Diodorus: HIPPOLYTUS: The Lord is indicated to us by the rider, and by the heel the end of time. That he shall fall signifies His death, as it is written in the Gospel: "Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising again of many." We understand the "pirate" as the schemer; and there was no other schemer of the Lord than the people of the Jews. He "will plunder," that is, he will scheme against Him. By "at the heels," the help from the Lord to those who plot against Him is indicated to us. And "at the heels" means that the Lord will speedily take vengeance. His foot will be well armed, and he will himself plunder the found band of pirates. ^B AQUILA: "Girded, he will gird him"; that is, being armed and a warrior, he will arm him. And he will be armed in the foot; or rather it wishes to say this, that Gad, armed, will follow after his brothers. For although his lot was beyond the Jordan, nevertheless they were commanded to follow their brothers armed, until they too had obtained their own lots. Or perhaps he wishes to hint that the Gadites were to live in the manner of brigands, and to take to themselves a fellowship of brigands, and to follow them, and similarly to perform plunder.

Since the shadow in the law had been in a way withdrawn, and the true and spiritual worship had been introduced, the world stood in need of greater light: therefore, the divinely inspired disciples were called henceforth to this, and were enrolled into the lot of those who were teachers of the law. ^C For so it was said by God to the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem, through the voice of the psalmist: "Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee"; that is, those who are called thy sons obtained the place and order of the fathers. And to our Lord Jesus Christ: "Thou shalt establish them as princes over all the earth." And after a few things, although the ruling was not to be for them entirely devoid of calamity; for they were to experience rather innumerable evils, and to be hindered; nor were they to find the course of the apostleship altogether immune from dangers, which He indicated as in the figure of an example when He said: "Let it be"—that is, it will be in Dan, the crowd of persecutors as a serpent on the way, sitting on the path, biting the horse's heel. ^D That is, inflicting dire and inescapable bites; as the bites of serpents and vipers are wont to be dangerous. And they shall be fixed by the heel: for he shall crush thy head, and thou...

shalt lie in wait for his heel ^A. In this way did some plot against the holy apostles, so as to bring upon them even the death of the flesh. And indeed we say that they suffered such a thing as might befall the foot of a horse that has stumbled and, as it were, slipped backward: for the rider shall be thrown off and, having fallen to the ground, I suppose, he still awaits the Living One, breathing. But the divine disciples have also awaited the time of their own salvation, in which they shall be called into a kingdom undisturbed by any agitation, when Christ shall exclaim to them: Come, ye blessed of my Father 12, and what follows.

And again, if one should not wish to understand some as lying in wait for Dan after the manner of serpents, but rather that Dan himself is plotting for others, we shall say that by that Dan are denoted the Scribes and Pharisees, the hypocrites, who, while they ought to have been judging the people and leading them, ^B set themselves against Christ like serpents, and impiously strove with implanted bites to cause him who was walking on a high and perfectly smooth path to fall. Yet although the Rider fell, having voluntarily undergone the death of the flesh, nevertheless he rose again, having the Father as his helper and restorer to life. For since the Son is the power of God and the Father, he restored his own temple to life. Therefore, he who had undergone danger as a man is affirmed to have been saved by the Father, although in his nature he exists as God, and he himself holds together the entire visible and invisible creation in a good state. Thus, understanding this also, the divine Paul says of him: For though he was crucified out of weakness, yet he lives by the power of God 13.

^C Asher received by lot the regions around Ptolemais and Sidon, and for this reason he says: His bread is rich, and he shall give delicacies to princes. We take this as a figure of our own calling. For that which is rich is luxurious. But what bread is more luxurious than ours? For our bread is the Lord, as he himself says: I am the bread of life 14. And who else shall give food to princes than our Lord Jesus Christ? Not only to those from the nations who believe, but also to those from the circumcision who hold the primacy in faith, that is, to the fathers, and patriarchs, and prophets, and to all who believe in his name and in his passion.

Genes. xlix, 21-26: Naphtali is a spreading stem, giving ^D beauty in its growth. Joseph is an overgrown son, my overgrown, envied son; my youngest son, turn back to me. Against whom they taking counsel cursed, and the lords of the arrows aimed at him. And their bows were broken with power, and the nerves of the arms of their hands were loosened by the hand of the powerful One of Jacob. Thence is he who strengthened Israel by the God of thy father. And my God helped thee, and blessed thee with the blessing of heaven from above, and the blessing of the earth having all things, on account of the bene

benediction of the breasts and the womb, the benediction of thy father and thy mother; it prevailed over the blessings of the everlasting hills, and over the blessings of the eternal hills: these shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of those of whom he was the leader.

HIPPOLYTUS: ^A What other son has been increased and envied unto this day, but our Lord Jesus Christ? Indeed, envied, or rather sought after with envy by those who delight to pursue him with hatred, yet not altogether overcome. For although he endured the cross, yet as God he returned to life and trampled upon death, with God and Father himself acclaiming and saying: "Sit thou at my right hand" (Ps. cix, 1), and what follows. For that they too who gave birth to the greatest madness against him have succumbed, he teaches when he says: "Against whom they conspiring even cursed him, the lords of arrows." For by convening synod after synod, the lords of arrows, that is, the princes of the peoples, took bitter counsel. But their bows were broken, and the nerves of their arms were loosened by the hand of the mighty One of Jacob, that is, of God and the Father, who is the Lord of hosts, who also caused the Son to be blessed in heaven and on earth. And he himself is taken as a type of our affairs, as the Gospel declares: "The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of sea beyond Jordan" (Matt. iv, 15), and what follows. "And to those sitting in darkness light has sprung up" (ibid. 16). And what other light was this, if not the calling of the Gentiles, which is the shoot, that is, the wood of the Lord, upon which being grafted, it bears fruit? ^B But by the words: "Giving beauty in the shoot," he signifies to us the abundance of the calling. But if the words should be understood as applying also to us—"giving beauty in the shoot"—the argument would not be inconsistent. For as we always progress in virtue and arrive at better things, or, according to the voice of blessed Paul, "stretching forward to the things that are before" (Philipp. iii, 13), we are always striving toward a more splendid beauty; spiritual beauty, I say, so that it may be said to us in turn: "The king has desired thy beauty" (Ps. xliv, 12).

Post nonnulla Apollinarii: HIPPOLYTUS: ^C Again the word of prophecy seeks out Emmanuel himself. Since, I think, there is nothing else signified by it than what he has just said, "giving beauty in the shoot"; for he speaks of him increasing with increments into that which he was from the beginning, and signifies his being carried back to the natural nobility which is in him. This is altogether rightly understood to be what he had assumed. For seeing that the only-begotten Word of God, being God from God, ^D himself according to the...

Scriptures ^A emptied himself, lowering himself voluntarily into what he was not, and put on this lowly flesh, and appeared in the form of a servant, having become obedient to God and the Father unto death; wherefore he is later also said to be superexalted; and as if not possessing it owing to his humanity, he receives, in the manner of a gift, the name which is above every name, according to the words of blessed Paul. But in truth of the matter, the thing was not a gift, as if it were a beginning of things not naturally in him—far from it; but rather it should be considered a return and a resurgence to that which was in him from the beginning, essentially and inseparably. Wherefore also, when he had been clothed in the humility of the flesh by way of economy, he says: Father, glorify me with the glory which I had ^B, and the following. For he was always in divine glory, coexisting with his own Begetter before every age and time and the foundation of the world.

It is also appropriately understood as an "adolescent" or "younger." For he appeared in the last times of the age, and after the glorious and love-worthy choir of the holy prophets, and simply and once to say, after all those who, before the time of the incarnation, were reckoned in the order of sons on account of their virtue. But how the Emmanuel is said to be "envied" is in a way ambiguous. Indeed, he is to be envied or emulated by the saints, who, studying to follow in his footsteps, are fashioned according to his divine beauty and, making him the model of things to be done, ^C carry away the best glory of all. But he might also be understood as "the envied" in another way by those said not to love him; I mean, the leaders of the Jews, that is, the Scribes and Pharisees, who, bearing within themselves a bitter zeal and making his incomparable glory the subject of their envy, sought to entrap him in many ways. For Christ had already recalled to life the dead who were already stinking and corrupt, and performed other divine signs; wherefore it was right for them, being struck with wonder at these things, to believe and no longer to doubt. But they did nothing of the sort; instead, they were vexed by envy and conceived bitter grief in their souls.

After some words of Cyril: ^D HIPPOLYTUS: Who is this other, than as it is demonstrated to us by the Apostle, the second man, the Lord from heaven? And in the Gospel, he said that the last one did the will of the Father. With the words, however, “Turn back to me,”

^A the assumption into heaven to the Father after the Passion is made clear to us. By the words, “Against him they deliberated and reviled,” who else is signified but the Jewish people against our Lord? And, “they kept watch for him;” for who have kept watch for him, and even to this day still keep watch? They are the masters of arrows, who think they have fought against the Lord. For even if they prevailed in putting him to death, yet their bows were crushed with power. It is clearly shown to us that after the resurrection their bows were crushed with power; that is to say, the leaders of the peoples, who, as if in battle array against the Lord, sharpened their arrows to inflict wounds—and all but struck him, because they did what was unlawful, and dared even to rush upon him like wild beasts.

“You prevailed over the blessings of the lasting mountains.” ^B By eternal and most lasting mountains and everlasting hills, he signifies the saints, because they have been removed from earthly things, and desire nothing of falling things, but seek the things that are above, and strive with all their might to reach the sublime heights of virtue; following, therefore, the glory of Christ, are those also who are most notable among the Fathers and who attained to the culmination of virtue. For they were servants; but the Lord is the Son, who supplied to them those qualities by which they themselves became glorious. Wherefore they also profess that, "of his fullness we all have received."

“And may the God of my father help you.” It is clearly shown to us that the help and assistance of the Son is from none other than the Father and our God who is in the heavens. By the words, “My God,” ^C it is shown that the Spirit speaks through Jacob.

"The sinews of the arms." He could not say of the hands or shoulders; but since the broad parts in the middle of a bow are called arms, he properly calls them arms.

“Blessing of the breasts and womb.” By this it is signified to us that the blessing from heaven is the Spirit, having descended through the Word into the flesh. But by the breasts and womb, he denotes the blessings of the Virgin. And the words, “of your father and mother,” ^D this designates the blessing of the Father which we received in the Church through our Lord Jesus Christ.

...the generation through a woman, and that he sucked the breasts. By no means, however, did he become man in appearance only, as some suppose, but as one who is truly what we are, himself following the laws of nature, he even endured nourishment, although he himself gives life to the world. And as regards these words, “the blessing of father and mother,” the generation of the Only-Begotten from God and the Father, and that which took place through the holy Virgin, is clearly and effectively indicated, according to which he is believed and was seen to be man. For existing naturally and truly as Son of God and the Father, for our sake he endured that generation which was through a woman and a womb, and he sucked the breasts. For he was not, as it appears to some, man in appearance; but the same one truly appeared as what we are who follow the laws of nature, and he used nourishment, although he himself gives life to the world.

^A *Gen.* XLIX, 27: *Benjamin lupus rapax; mane comedet adhuc, et ad vesperam dat escam.* It applies entirely to the apostle Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. For when he was young, he was a ravenous wolf; but after he believed, he provided food. This is also declared to us through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the tribe of Benjamin at the beginning—which is what "morning" signifies—persecutes. For Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, persecuted David, who stood as a type of the Lord.

II.

III.