Commentary on Genesis 1 part 12/15

But if anyone should also wish to interpret according to the higher (anagogical) sense, he might say that, since the number seven is a symbol of rest, the one who does not wish to abide in it — because he does not choose that rest concerning which the Saviour says:

'Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls' — such a one comes to be under the flood of sin and under the punishment brought on because of wickedness.

And this comes to pass in the six-hundredth year not yet fulfilled, it being shown by a symbol that even in sensible things those who came to be under the flood were imperfect, using not even these as they ought.

For the six hundred have kinship with the six, being made up in six hundreds.

But if it is also needful to say something about the flood having come about on the twenty-seventh day, this might be said:

not every threat is confirmed, being either fulfilled or set aside according to us, even as also happened in the case of the Ninevites;

since therefore this number is a symbol of certainty — for three times three times three — for this reason a sure punishment was brought on in it against those who had not turned back but were unmovably set toward wickedness.

And he says the flood came about in the six-hundredth year, touching upon it from its extremity (i.e., counting from its very edge).

This is a custom of Scripture, even as the Saviour also says:

'For as Jonah remained in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.'

For if anyone should hold to this throughout in its entirety, saying that He remained for complete days, three days and three nights, he lies;

for at the sixth hour of the Preparation He was crucified — which day He calls (a day) by touching upon (that) day, so naming it — the night also being reckoned in, for to each whole day the preceding night is measured together with it, since it is the custom thus to reckon the nights along with the following days; after which came a most full night and the day of the Sabbath, then a night and the extremity of the Resurrection day, for He touched upon that also.

And thus, touching from the extremity both of the first interval of the day-and-night of the Preparation, and of that of the Lord's day, together with the whole day-and-night of the Sabbath, He is said to have passed three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

These things we have said as it were by way of digression, wishing to make clear that Scripture, customarily touching upon periods of time from their extremity, employs such modes of expression.

'On this day all the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the cataracts of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.'

This number is one that brings affliction.

And Moses himself ate no bread for forty days, and indeed the Saviour also fasted for this number of days — which, to those who do not carelessly pass by the divine Scriptures, will afford a consistent meaning.

Wherefore also the flowing of the water came about within so great a number of days. And someone might raise a question, setting alongside those things concerning the cataracts of heaven, namely that, since God summons the water of the sea and sends down the rain, how did the flood come about, the rain being produced from the sea as it were by a certain contrivance and going back again upon it?

To which it might be said that, first, the fountains of the deep, being broken up, supplied the abundant provision — for indeed, when He willed to restrain it, it is written:

'The fountains of the deep were covered over' — and then it is nothing improbable that God should also increase the quantity of the water, just as in the Gospels the five loaves were multiplied unto five thousand.

'On this day entered Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him, into the ark, and all the wild beasts according to their kind, and all the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing that moves upon the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind.'

'They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two of all flesh, in which is the spirit of life.'

'And the ones that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in, as God had commanded Noah.'

It is clear that the flood did not come about all at once, but there was given also a sign, as was said before, in order that the irrational animals might enter into the ark in an orderly way and not in a jumbled confusion, and so that, the water not rushing on all at once, no harm might come to the ark from the waters dashing against it.

And the entering also came about in order, Noah first, on whose account the others too were saved, then next the others in turn, and thus the irrational animals entered — which is to be noted that it came about by divine power;

for it was not a matter of human undertaking to bring in the untamed animals, unless it had come about by God's co-operation.

For it was not possible for their mode of life to be together, they being divided in their natures.

And he added the phrase 'in which is the spirit of life' by way of distinction from dead things.

Someone might note how then he made no mention of the clean animals, but of the unclean;

for he says that two by two they entered into the ark, and it is clear that these were the unclean ones;

to which someone might say that it is evident that, the unclean ones having entered, the clean ones also went in;

for if the lesser ones went in, it is clear that the better ones did too.

Then the phrase 'two by two' might also be understood concerning the clean ones, the passage showing that all entered according to pairs.

'And the Lord God shut the ark on the outside of him, and the flood came upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and the water was multiplied and lifted up the ark, and it was raised from the earth, and the water prevailed and was multiplied exceedingly upon the earth, and the ark was borne upon the surface of the water.'

And in keeping with the narrative itself, the ark was shut on the outside by the power of God, no man being on the outside.

For since he had happened to pitch it all over with bitumen within and without, but was not able to pitch on the outside the door which had not yet been shut, in order that no one might say that entrance was afforded to the water through the door, he added the security that came from God;

and this is manifold and abundant in resource.

And well too is the phrase 'it lifted up the ark' — smoothly and not all at once, according to the reason we set forth before.

'And the water prevailed exceedingly, exceedingly upon the earth, and covered all the high mountains that were under heaven;'

Fifteen cubits above did the water rise.

Superfluous are those who assert that men were saved by fleeing to the high mountains.

It accords with the will of God;

for God commanded Noah on account of righteousness to build an ark, saying that He would destroy all flesh, so that no one was saved outside the ark.

And concerning the water having risen fifteen cubits above, if anyone should wish to fix his attention upon the number, he will observe that it is taken up in many places of Scripture;

the steps of the temple were fifteen, and the word commands that a portion be given to the seven and also to the eight, this being understood in the sense that those who receive the Old together with the New give a portion to the seven and to the eight.

Plausibly might someone say that those who had become despisers of the mystery signified by the number came to be under the flood of wickedness.

For again in the Scriptures a consummation is signified by the multitude of the water, as in the passage 'What do you devise against the Lord? A consummation.'

For if anyone should reckon that the fleeting affairs of life, taken in place of a flood, when it is multiplied — the love of the many growing cold — will be a consummation, he would attentively understand it in the passage.

'And all flesh that moved upon the earth died, of the birds and of the cattle and of the wild beasts;'

'and every creeping thing that moves upon the earth, and every man, and all things that have the breath of life, and all that was upon the dry land, died.'

'And every thing that stood up, which was upon the face of all the earth, was blotted out, from man to cattle, and to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven;'

'and they were blotted out from the earth.'

For it signifies the destruction of all living things except those in the ark. But if one reckons it with a view to the deeper meaning of the unions, it means that even the irrational animals perished because they had come into being for the sake of use.

But according to the deeper meaning, everyone who has lost the state of being 'according to the image' and bears the image of the earthy man perished by the punishing water, having been split into the diverse dispositions of wild beasts and creeping things and the other irrational creatures, just as some hear it said:

'Offspring of vipers,' and others are serpents and scorpions, and yet others are dogs, according to what has been said.

And in general, having taken on the manifold nature of evil, they were fittingly dissolved by the corruption that comes from evil, this being what the water symbolically indicates.

These same ones are also earthy, inasmuch as they have lost the heavenly image;

and these same ones perished even upon the dry land, that of the evil which has nothing life-giving in it.

'And Noah alone was left, and those with him in the ark; and the water was raised upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.'

Fittingly Noah is saved, not partaking of evil, together also with those who were with him, inasmuch as they were being instructed by him, having risen above the flood of the allegorized water by fifteen cubits, reaching to the temple by means of the steps, and having fulfilled the things that were said above as indicated by the number.

'For many waters will not be able to quench love.'

'And God remembered Noah, and all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, as many as were with him in the ark.'

'And God brought a wind upon the earth, and the water subsided;

and the fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of heaven were covered over, and the rain from heaven was restrained.'

'And the water receded, going away from the earth; the water receded and was diminished after a hundred and fifty days.'

And the phrase 'remembered' must be understood in a manner befitting God, not as though from forgetfulness, but as He says concerning the impious:

'I do not know you, whence you are;

depart, you workers of iniquity;

I never knew you' — the 'knowing' here signifying the 'never' in the sense that He never held you as His own. He 'remembered,' not having forgotten — for the holy one is continually before God — but He said this concerning His 'remembrance' of him, with a view to bringing him to become the beginning of a race; and likewise also concerning the others.

of the flood, a wind having come upon it, on account of which the water subsided; this wind being either the will of God or a divine power entrusted with this task.

And in addition to this, the checking of the abysses and the restraining of the downpour from above also became a co-worker toward the subsiding.

'And the ark settled in the seventh month,' and what follows.

But let us look at the matter with a view to the deeper meaning.

The ark may be the Church, which saves those who cleave to her through right thoughts and works of virtue, she who also is seated on high.

For she is never in a lowly place; wherefore neither do the gates of Hades prevail against her;

she stands beside Christ in glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, since Christ too is on high — which is shown in the words, 'Behold, this one comes leaping upon the mountains,' that is, the prophets and Moses and the invisible powers.

Therefore she is seated upon the rock, the unbreakable word of piety.

'For the foundations of God are in the holy mountains,' which are also the city of God;

'for God has founded her forever.'

'For he awaited,' it says, 'the city that has the foundations, whose designer and maker is God.'

And the mountains might also be the ninety-nine sheep that remained, which did not fall under deception.

But if one should wish to expound also by means of the number, one might say that through it the steadfastness of the divine Church is indicated;

for this number is square, and the same is also cubic;

for three times three is nine, and thrice that is twenty-seven.

And 'Ararad' is interpreted as 'witness of descent';

and God bears witness to the one who takes refuge upon the Church through his manner of life, who is one untouched by the storm;

'If you pass through water, rivers will not overwhelm you,' and again:

'We went through fire and water, and you brought us out into refreshment.'

And it is well too that the flood is completed within a year;

for when the true Sun illumines and shines upon our understanding, then every distressing circumstance of the soul departs out of the way.

'And Noah opened the window of the ark,' and what follows.

Here too the literal statement is not unclear;

but if you look toward the anagogical sense, you will search out the things concerning the opening — that a fitting recognition of the seasons belongs to the righteous man, and is both for his own benefit and for that of others.

For there is a time when it is fitting to shut, and a time when it is fitting to open;

thus, when the Saviour opened, it was said to those around Cleopas:

'Was not our heart burning within us, when he opened the Scriptures to us?' But also the words 'Open to me the gates of righteousness' you will consider whether they bear upon the passage; and the command in Isaiah, 'Open, you rulers,' you will consider as belonging to the same sequence;

and the being shut, according to what has been said:

'Do not cast the holy things to the dogs;'

for whenever someone becomingly shuts or opens, this one is an imitator of Noah.

'And he sent forth the raven,' and what follows.

Not all those under the Church are of the same conduct, but some are doves and some happen to be ravens, being symbols of dispositions and characters.

And the dove is a sign of a pure life, for she is ranked among the clean and is offered for sacrifice, whereas the raven has neither of these.

According to this understanding, the history concerning Elijah must also be taken, how ravens fed him;

for whenever a teacher removes an unclean person from his uncleanness so as to change him from his way of life, he has as nourishment the one who is being benefited.

This same one, I mean such a one who has the character of the raven, even if he seems to happen to be under the righteous man, when he has gone out as into a contest against temptation, does not return.

But do not marvel if the righteous man sends such a one out into training, seeing that a divine oracle also says:

'My child, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation;'

wherefore he does not return either, being someone unstable and unable to endure the tempest amid temptation.

'And he sent forth the dove,' and what follows.

The prelude and foundation of the true manner of life is readiness for temptations;

concerning the zealous the oracle says, in addition to these things:

'If you sleep in the midst of the lots, the wings of a dove overlaid with silver, and her back parts in the greenish gleam of gold.' To such a soul the Word says:

'My fair one, my dove.' For because such a soul happens to be steadfast, even if it comes into temptations and is sent forth outside those who benefit it, it returns unwaveringly to the one who benefits it, especially when it is aware that the end of temptation has not yet come, so as to lay hold of land.

For it is also fitting not to strain against measure without limit;

wherefore the righteous man too stretches out his hand, giving aid and extending help.

This we have expounded because of its clarity.

'And having waited yet another seven days, again he sent her forth.'

Fittingly again he sends forth the dove, and she returns having an olive twig in her mouth.

For the zealous man does all things with reason;

therefore she brought to the righteous man works that preserve the light, a sign of not casting himself upon his own, but rather of drawing toward the teacher, toward evening, near at last to the end.

And having been sent forth a third time, she no longer returns;

for after so many advances she has at last become self-sufficient to be apart from a teacher.

'And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year,' and what follows.

Since the literal text is clear, we must discuss at length the matters pertaining to its deeper meaning.

He who has ascended on high through nobility of soul beholds wickedness brought to its end, having stripped away the veil that comes from temptations and having risen above these very things.

The fact that it came to rest on the twenty-seventh signifies stability;

for the number is both a square and a cube.

'Go forth from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives,' and what follows.

We have noted before this that at the beginning of the flood it was fitting to say, 'Enter into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you,' but now, 'Go forth from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives.'

For it was necessary then—inasmuch as all mankind was being destroyed—that in some manner they should not indulge in marriage and give themselves to license; but now he is fittingly commanded to go forth together with his wife, and the sons together with their own wives.

Fittingly he himself is told to go forth, while concerning the animals he is commanded to bring them out, as being their king and master, appointed by God.

The oracle observes that all went forth, none being harmed.

'And Noah built an altar.'

Even though Noah did contribute something toward his own salvation by constructing the ark, sealing it securely with pitch, and doing the rest, yet he did not attribute it to himself, but in thanksgiving he builds an altar.

Fittingly, before this we were saying that he reasonably brought into the ark a greater number of the clean animals;

for he was going to offer sacrifice from among them.

And though it was not yet enjoined by law to offer sacrifice, nevertheless, being a righteous man—just as Abel also brought to God from the fruits of his labor and of what he possessed—he deemed it right to offer firstfruits in thanksgiving to the One who had given them.

The statement that he offered upon the altar 'from all' must be understood with discernment.

For there are three kinds of things offered in sacrifice:

of the animals among the cattle, the calf and the sheep, and of these [birds], also the dove.

And this can be found from the Scriptures, that when something is stated universally, it is proper to take it accordingly [with due qualification];

for as to 'And all flesh shall see the salvation of God,' one must not suppose it means absolutely all, but that which is capable of it, which is human nature.

'And the Lord said to Abram:'

'Go forth from your land and from your kindred and from the house of your father, into the land that I will show you;'

'and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will magnify your name, and you shall be blessed; and I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse;'

'and in you shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.'

God does not command Abraham to depart from his land and his kindred arbitrarily, but because He perceived in him something worthy henceforth to be set under His guardianship—namely, faith in Him; and it was not fitting that one having faith in God should remain among the wicked;

for his father was an idolater.

For often the company of the wicked harms the earnest, and especially when they are newly established.

For this very reason the Savior also proclaims:

'If anyone wishes to come after me and does not hate his father and his brothers and sisters, and moreover his wife and children, he cannot be my disciple.'

The Lord said this not to instill hatred of one's own kin, but that if any of these should become an impediment to virtue, it must be hated for virtue's sake; and having done this, the disciples said:

'Behold, we have left all and have followed you.'

This, then, is now also enjoined upon the patriarch, God promising to show him a land in which he might dwell, to make him into a great nation, to bless him and magnify his name and render him blessed, so that those who bless him should obtain blessing from Him, while those who curse him should incur a curse from Him.

In addition to these things, He promises him by way of pledge that in him all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed—all of which is not merely human, as we shall learn from the anagogical interpretation, beginning here to ascend to the higher meaning.

Of every sinner the devil is the father, according to what is said:

'Everyone who commits sin is of the devil.'

For just as he who does the will of God becomes His offspring—'For everyone,' it says, 'who does righteousness has been born of God'—so he who commits sin is of the devil and of its father.

And it also has kinship, namely the constitution that derives from this father.

God therefore urges him to come forth out of this, calling it 'land'—for there is nothing heavenly but all things earthly in the adversary devil—so that having thus put off the image of the earthly, he might take up the image of the heavenly.

Something of this sort is set forth in a psalm, spoken to the Church gathered from the nations:

'Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline your ear, and forget your people and the house of your father, for the king has desired your beauty, and he is your Lord.'

For since she had already begun to stir from idolatry, the Word, rousing her with a prophetic eye, calls her 'daughter,' urging her both to hear and to see—the Word of God being at once heard and seen by a pure heart—and in addition to this to incline her ear, so that thereby she might forget her own people and, renouncing her father, be freed from him; and He adds also the reason, the very one which we said was present in the patriarch, namely beauty of soul;

for nothing so adorns the soul as virtue.

One must therefore forget all earthly things, which are divided into the aforementioned categories.

He tells the earnest man to come into a land which God will show him—not a visible one, even if for the sake of a symbol this too accompanied it, but an invisible one;

for hope that is seen is not hope.

And what of His making him into a great nation, after taking it according to the literal sense? For it is plain that this also came to pass historically.

But he truly becomes a great nation when he is adorned with virtues.

It is evident that... more...

his name becoming great and renowned by reason of the virtue that dwells in him, and by reason of the honor that follows from the spiritual blessing;

for a good name is more to be chosen than riches, and a good reputation makes the bones fat.

He is not content merely to bless, but goes on further, saying:

'And you shall be blessed,' becoming worthy of blessing through his greatness and his progress toward perfect virtue; and he blesses also those who bless him, not by bare utterance, but by the choice and election of those whom he himself chooses.

Likewise, those disposed contrary to him shall fall under a curse.

And this is evident to one who reads the histories, in which it is shown that as many as gladly received him were blessed, while as many as treated him unworthily came under a curse, as did Abimelech.

These things can also be said concerning the invisible powers: the holy angels blessing the earnest man and being blessed, while the devil and the demons curse him and fall under a curse.

Furthermore there will be yet another achievement: that in him all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed, being delivered from being tribes of the earth through their imitation of him in holiness, no longer setting their minds on earthly things.

The earnest man is set forth for this, that through imitation all the tribes of the earth might be blessed in him, even if not all should come and, by their own choice, separate themselves from this [earthliness].

'And Abram went, just as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him.'

'And Abram was seventy-five years old when he went out from Haran.'

'And Abram took Sarah his wife and Lot his brother's son and all their possessions that they had acquired, and every soul that they had gained in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and they came into the land of Canaan.' This is a great testimony to the patriarch, that he journeyed thus, just as God had spoken to him; and it is also to the credit of Lot that he accompanied Abram.

The oracle attests both the time at which he went out and that they brought out from Haran all that they had acquired, and every soul they had gained, and thus came into the land of Canaan.

And this in itself would deserve the greatest commendation: that without lingering, without being bent by the ties of kindred, of friends, or of the other things that tend to keep one from departing from one's homeland, he disregarded all, becoming obedient to the divine command.

It is an addition, as we said before, that he journeyed thus, just as God had spoken to him.

For it often happens that a man does what is commanded, yet does not accomplish it in the way the commander intended.

Here it came to pass just as God commanded, both the motive of the deed being brought about divinely and the outcome according to the purpose of the One who commanded.

Not so do those who give alms in order to be seen by men act, who accomplish the deed indeed, but go astray in the manner of what is done.

But the blessed Paul was not so; rather, when saying, 'Be imitators of me,' he did not simply enjoin this, but went on to add, 'as I also am of Christ'—not in appearance but in truth.

Again the Savior, saying, 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,' leads His hearers to consider, so as to learn both the manner and the working and the causes of gentleness and humility.

The patriarch brings along also his possessions, not as one enslaved to them—he who was not even enslaved to his own only-begotten son—but having taken them for his needs.

And these things, spoken for the sake of the literal history, are sufficient for profit; to which must be added that the phrase 'to bring out from Haran' and 'the souls that they had acquired' makes plain that he brought along with him those of his household whom he had won over to his own manner of life.

For, as it is written, no one is slow in the house of a wise man.

The interpretation according to the higher, anagogical sense also holds great profit for the one able to make all things smooth and plain.

For the seats of the senses are, as it were, holes or burrows.

God, therefore, wills to raise him up and away from the objects of sense-perception.

And the possession in these things, prudently acquired, the holy man takes along with himself as useful for his perfection with respect to the intelligible realities — or does not the perfect man, beside his great endowments, also possess the ordered adornment, the smiling of the teeth and the stepping of the foot? And he also brings along his wife, who is fittingly interpreted as 'my beginning' (or 'my rule').

For the wise man exists together with wisdom, either being ruled by her or having his rule from her, and having her as his consort, according to the Solomonic saying.

I took her, namely wisdom, to live together with me, and I became a lover of her beauty.

And she bears prudence for a man.

He also brings along Lot his nephew, concerning whom we might discourse as follows.

Abram is a son of God by reason of righteousness — for everyone who does righteousness has been born of God — and on this account he is a partaker of the divine and invisible and supernatural mysteries; and such a man has as brother the one who wisely refashions the objects of sense.

For such a thing contributes to the perfect man.

And the son of this one is Lot, who is interpreted as 'a turning-aside that has been redeemed.'

For insofar as he is not a son of the wise man but of the one occupied with sensible things, he is a 'turning-aside,' being slightly shaken away from the objects of sense; but insofar as he is under the holy man and follows him, he exists as 'redeemed,' receiving this as the beginning of the understanding of divine and supernatural things.

This man, then, and this manner of being, Abram brought along, wisely receiving even the objects of sense.