Questions on the Octateuch 1 part 1/17

Other learned men too have undertaken to resolve the seeming difficulties in the divine Scripture, unfolding the sense of some and setting forth the causes of others, and, in a word, making clear what does not appear so to most people.

But you, in particular, dearest of my sons, Hypatius, have urged me to do this, having strongly maintained that this work too would be beneficial to many.

For this reason, then, although my body is not in good condition, I have chosen to undertake this labor;

not trusting in myself, but in him who has commanded that these things be written thus.

For it is his part to disclose the meaning hidden within the letter;

for he himself, even in the sacred Gospels, both delivered his teaching in parables and provided the interpretation of what was spoken enigmatically.

Having therefore besought to obtain from him a ray of intellectual light, I shall attempt to venture boldly into the innermost sanctuaries of the all-holy Spirit.

But before all else it must be known that not all who ask have the same purpose in their questioning; rather, some ask impiously, thinking to refute the divine Scripture;

at one time as if it taught things not right, at another as if it taught contrary things.

But others inquire out of love of learning, and desire to find what is sought.

Those, then—God helping me to say it—we shall stop their blasphemous mouths, by demonstrating both the harmony of the divine Scripture and its excellent teaching;

and to the latter we shall offer, as best we can, the resolution of the questions raised.

I shall make the beginning of creation the starting point of these inquiries;

for this is the beginning and prelude of the divinely inspired Scripture.

Why then did the writer not place theology before the creation of all things? Divine Scripture is accustomed to measure out its lessons to those being instructed, offering to the perfect the perfect teachings, but to the imperfect the elementary ones, suited to their capacity.

Since, then, the Egyptians deified the visible creation, and Israel, having lived among them for a very long time, partook of this impiety, he necessarily offers them lessons concerning creation, and teaches explicitly both that it had a beginning of its existence, and that it has as its maker the God of all.

Yet neither has he omitted the account of theology.

For to declare that heaven and earth, and all the other parts of creation, are things that came into being, and to show that the God of all is their maker, was to offer a theology sufficient for the people of that time.

For he made known the beginning of the former things;

but he was not able to discover the beginning of the latter.

Having thus known God to be eternal, and having named him maker of the universe, and a good maker, he most wisely joined the theological to the natural-philosophical teaching.

Besides, those who were being taught these things had already previously learned of God's eternity.

For the divinely-inspired Moses, having been sent to Egypt by the God of all, was commanded to say to his kinsmen:

'He who is has sent me to you.'

Now 'he who is' is indicative of eternity;

and it is clear to those who love learning that those words were spoken before this present writing.

For he delivered that teaching to them while they were still dwelling in Egypt;

but he composed this present writing in the wilderness.

Why then did he not mention the creation of the angels? Those who were being given the Law had nothing firm and steadfast in this regard;

for instance, immediately after so many ineffable wonders, they proclaimed the image of the calf to be a god;

and those who so readily deified the likenesses of beasts—what would they not have done, had they received knowledge of the invisible natures? For this reason, up until the perfection attained by Abraham, the God of all conversed with none of the men of old through an angel;

but in the case of Hagar, the divinely-inspired Moses first made mention of an angel;

for Hagar, according to the divine apostle, is a type of the old covenant;

for, he says, 'this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem.'

for, he says, 'ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.'

'For if the word spoken through angels proved firm...'

And most fittingly the God of all, through an angel, both reminded her of her servitude and foretold what concerned the child who was to be born.

But that angels and archangels, and whatever other incorporeal being there is, apart from the Holy Trinity, possess a created nature, the divine Scripture clearly teaches us.

'Praise him,' it says, 'all his angels; praise him, all his hosts.'

And, teaching the reason, it adds:

'For he spoke, and they came to be; he commanded, and they were created.'

And again, in another psalm: 'He who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.'

And the three blessed youths, weaving their divine hymn in the furnace, having spoken that most excellent and most fitting prelude:

'Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord'—they immediately went on to add: 'Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord; bless the Lord, all you hosts of the Lord.'

But indeed, I think it superfluous to speak at length about these things;

for the whole of divinely inspired Scripture is full of this teaching.

Do the angels exist prior to heaven and earth, or did they come into being together with them? I, for my part, consider such inquiries to be superfluous.

For what benefit would accrue to those who have learned the exact time of the creation of the angels? And I know too that the divine apostle charged the admirable Timothy:

'to charge certain persons not to teach other doctrine, nor to give heed to myths and endless genealogies.'

Nevertheless, I shall state what I take to be consonant with the purpose of divine Scripture;

We have been taught that the divine nature alone is uncircumscribed, inasmuch as it is uncreated, without beginning, and eternal;

whereas things that began to exist evidently have a circumscribed existence.

Therefore, even while calling the nature of the angels incorporeal, we affirm that their hypostasis is circumscribed.

For indeed the Lord Christ said that each of mankind has been assigned to the guardianship of one angel;

'See,' he says, 'that you do not despise one of these little ones who believe in me;'

'for their angels continually behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.'

And divine Scripture also says that an angel is set over each nation.

And the great Moses also says in his song:

'When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.'

If, then, one angel was appointed to rule over these people and another over those, and each of mankind is subject to the care of one angel, it is quite clear that they possess a circumscribed essence.

But if this is true—as indeed it is—then they stand in need of place.

For only the divine, as being uncircumscribed, is not in a place.

But if that which is circumscribed exists in a place, how is it possible for the angels to have existed prior to heaven and earth? For when that which bears does not yet exist, how can that which is borne exist? 'But,' say some, 'one must maintain that the angels existed prior to heaven and earth;'

'for,' he says, 'if the angels did not exist, how was the God of all being hymned?' But those who say this do not realize that this argument makes the angels both without beginning and eternal;

for if the God of all needed those who hymn him, and always had these hymning him, then the angels would be co-eternal with the God of all.

But if it was not always so, but he created them when he so willed, then there was some age in which the God of all had none to hymn him.

Therefore the Lord God has no need of those who hymn him;

for he possesses a nature devoid of need;

but it is through goodness alone that he has granted existence to angels, and to archangels, and to all creation;

and they render service of guardianship to the God of all, as the divine apostle testifies, exclaiming:

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation? It is therefore quite clear that we stand in need of their assistance,

but God, being in no way whatsoever in need of anything, yet being an abyss of goodness, willed to impart being even to those who did not exist at all in any way.

But indeed, those who insist that the angels existed before heaven and earth put forward against us, as though it were a strong and unanswerable point, that saying spoken by the God of all things to Job:

"When I made the stars, all my angels praised me."

And they fail to perceive that it was on the fourth day, together with the sun and the moon, that the God of all things brought forth the stars.

It is likely, rather, that the angels were created together with heaven and earth, so that, seeing the light being created out of no underlying substrate, and the firmament being fixed fast in the midst of the water, and the moist substance being separated from the earth, and the earth being adorned in every manner with sprouting growths together with the divine word, and all the other things coming to be according to the divine will, they might learn, through the very things they see, that they too possess a created nature, having received their being from him.

For indeed the divine apostle joins them together with the world, saying, "We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men."

But I say this not as a definitive pronouncement;

for I think it is rash to speak dogmatically about matters concerning which the divine Scripture does not speak explicitly;

but I have said what I supposed to be in keeping with pious reasoning.

This, however, is necessary to know: that all things that exist, except the Holy Trinity, have a created nature.

And once this is agreed upon, it does no harm to the doctrine of piety to say that the hosts of the angels came into being before heaven and earth.

But as for contending about words to no useful purpose, to the ruin of those who hear, the divine apostle explicitly forbids this.

"If the earth already existed, how did it 'come to be'?" For the writer says:

"And the earth was..." This question is foolish and utterly senseless;

for "In the beginning God made heaven and earth" does not declare the earth to be eternal, but says that it received its being after heaven, or together with heaven.

Moreover, the writer did not speak in an unqualified manner, saying merely

"And the earth was," but joining it together with what follows: "And the earth was invisible and unformed" — that is, it did indeed come into being through the God of all things;

but it was still invisible, since water lay upon it, and unformed, not yet adorned with vegetation, nor yet having brought forth meadows in bloom, and groves, and fields of grain.

Did Moses not teach us that God also created the waters? And yet, having said,

"And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was upon the deep," he thereby showed that the nature of the waters was created together with the earth.

And also, when the God of all things legislated concerning the Sabbath, he spoke as follows:

"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh is the Sabbath, a rest to the Lord your God."

"For in six days the Lord God made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them."

so that it is clear that absolutely everything existing within these — whether visible or invisible, whether perceptible to sense or to mind — except the divine essence, has a created nature.

"Blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth" — the Lord who made heaven and earth — he then added:

"the sea, and all that is in them."

"If God created the light, how is it that he himself made the darkness? For these are contrary to one another." They are indeed contrary to one another, but both are necessary for mankind.

For the one cooperates with men toward labor and industriousness, and points out the things that are seen, and brings it about that their Maker is praised;

while the other gives men rest and renewal, and dissolves the toil that arises from labor, and gathers men back home, while granting the wild beasts freedom to range for food;

for it says, "You appointed darkness, and it became night, in which all the beasts of the field will go about,"

"the young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking their food from God;"

"they will lie down in their dens;"

"man will go forth to his work and to his labor until evening."

Having said these things, he marvels at the greatness of the Maker's works, and says:

"How great are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom."

That darkness, then, is necessary we have learned precisely;

but that it is not some substance, but an accidental thing, is easy to learn:

for it is the shadow cast by heaven and earth;

and for this reason it vanishes when the light rises.

But light is a substance, and it truly subsists; even when it sets it rises again, and even when it departs it returns;

for just as our own body is a certain substance, while the shadow produced through it is an accident and not a substance, so also heaven and earth, the greatest of bodies, are distinct substances;

and the shadow produced by them, when light is not present, is called darkness;

but when light enters, it makes the darkness vanish.

One could also learn this from another example as well:

for a house that has no windows is filled with darkness;

but when a lamp is brought in, it is illumined — not because the darkness moves elsewhere,

for it has no subsistence, but is a thing without hypostasis, but rather because it is utterly destroyed by the presence of the light.

For it is a shadow formed by the roof, the floor, and the walls, and then dissolved by the gleaming rays of the light.

This we see coming to pass every single day:

for as the light withdraws, the shadow of heaven and earth produces the darkness;

and when it rises again, this darkness is dissolved.

Darkness, therefore, is not an uncreated substance, nor indeed any created hypostasis, but a necessary function arising out of created things, one that proclaims the wisdom of God.

At once, then, the prophet praises the God of all things on this very account as well, saying:

"He who made light and formed darkness."

And he has set down each of the two verbs most fittingly:

"made" in reference to the light, but "formed" in reference to the darkness;

for it is an accident, being formed and being dissolved.

And the thrice-blessed youths, too, when they called all creation to hymn-singing, joined night together with day, and coupled darkness together with light;

since it is by the succession of these two that time is measured, and the life of men is constituted.

"What spirit was borne upon the water?" To some it seems to be the all-holy Spirit, giving life to the nature of the waters and prefiguring beforehand the grace of baptism;

but I think that other explanation is more true, namely that here "spirit" refers to the air.

For having said that he made heaven and earth, and having mentioned the waters by way of the deep, he necessarily mentioned the air as well, since it extends from the surface of the water all the way up to heaven;

for it is the nature of air to be borne upon the bodies that lie beneath it.

And it was most fittingly that he said "was borne upon" and not "lay upon";

for "was borne upon" indicated the mobile substance of the air.

But if someone does not accept this explanation, since it is written,

"His spirit will blow, and the waters will flow,"

that he called the wind "spirit" in this way is clear even if I do not say so;

for when the East Wind or the South Wind blows, frozen water naturally melts.

'Let there be light,' and, 'Let there be a firmament': He does not command someone else to create, but calls the things that are not into being.

Here the command is [identical with] the will.

For, as it says, 'Whatsoever God willed, that he made.'

But if in creating He also made use of a certain word, it is clear that this was not for the sake of the inanimate elements, but for the sake of the invisible powers.

so that they might know that at His command the things that are not come into being.

'And God saw that it was good': in order to persuade the ungrateful not to find fault with what the divine judgment calls good.

Is there one heaven or two? Since the divine Scripture teaches that in the beginning God made heaven and earth, and then, after the creation of light, states that on the second day the firmament came to be, the question of those who raise it displays great foolishness.

For the one [heaven] is before the light, the other after the light.

For it says, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide the water from the water.'

Then, having spoken thus, [Scripture shows] how the word became deed.

For this is what 'and it was so' shows.

It also teaches how it came to be.

For it says: 'And God made the firmament, and God divided the water which was under the firmament from the water which was above the firmament.'

'And God called the firmament Heaven.'

But the former heaven was not called a firmament; rather it was named heaven from the beginning.

For this [second heaven] received its name from the thing itself; since it was constituted from the flowing substance of the waters, and this fluid nature became most compact, it was also called solid, that is, 'firmament.'

Then, as it lies above and fulfills for us the function of the former heaven, it was additionally called 'heaven.'

The God of all divided the nature of the waters in two.

He set part above the firmament, and left part below, so that the part lying above, by its moisture and coldness, might not allow the fire of the luminaries to damage the firmament, while the part remaining below might nourish with its vapors the air, which is dried out and parched by the fire lying above.

Therefore, whoever disbelieves in the second heaven also steps outside the straight path.

And he who attempts to count more heavens follows myths, despising the teaching of the divine Spirit.

Divine Scripture names 'the heavens' in the plural, saying, 'the heavens of the heavens,' because the Hebrew tongue knows how to name neither 'heaven' nor 'water' in the singular.

One could find many such instances also in the Greek tongue.

For no one names the city Athens in the singular, but 'Athens' in the plural.

Divine Scripture, therefore, did not say 'heavens of heavens' as though there were many heavens, but kept to the idiom of the Hebrew tongue.

Since, in another psalm, teaching us this more clearly and setting aside the idiom of that tongue, it thus said:

'The heaven of heaven belongs to the Lord' — so that it is clear that, just as this [lower] heaven is our roof and the earth our floor, so also the visible heaven has as its roof the heaven lying above it.

Why, having spoken of one gathering-together of the waters, does it afterward indicate many? For it says, 'The water under the heaven was gathered together into their gatherings-together.'

There is one gathering-together of the waters.

For the seas are joined to one another.

Some are joined below through certain subterranean passages;

others also at the surface itself.

Again, it named the gatherings-together in the plural, since the Indian Sea is one thing, the Pontic another, and the Tyrrhenian yet another;

and the Propontis is one, the Hellespont another, the Aegean yet another, and again the Ionian Gulf another.

And again, beyond, there lies the greatest sea, which some call the Atlantic, and others the Ocean.

For this reason, insofar as the waters are joined together, it called it one gathering-together;

but insofar as they are divided, [it called them] gatherings-together.

Why did God command inedible plants to sprout? There are many kinds of irrational animals:

some are called wild beasts, others cattle;

and some are creeping things, others birds.

God prepared food beforehand for all of these; and He made these things also for the sake of the needs of human beings.

Indeed, it also says that these are nourished for our sake:

For it says: 'He who makes grass to spring up for the cattle, and green herb for the service of man.'

What, therefore, is useless to this one is useful to that one; and the things not necessary for human beings are fitting for the creatures that came into being through it.

Moreover, foreseeing that afflictions would also come upon human beings — since, because of sin, they had received the sentence of death — God commanded the earth to bring forth not only edible plants, but also herbs that ward off the evils of these afflictions.

And one could learn this more accurately from those who have practiced the medical art.

For when mixed with other herbs, they become remedies against evil and providers of health.

When the luminaries were created, what became of the earlier light? The Lord God both makes out of things that are not, and fashions out of things that are;

for He created the former heaven out of things that were not, but made the second out of the waters.

Thus He brought forth the earth, which was not.

And He commanded it to bring forth the kinds of trees and of seeds.

And thus He created the light as He willed.

But just as, by means of the firmament, He divided the nature of the waters, setting part above and leaving part below, so also, dividing that [primal] light as He willed, He fashioned the great luminaries and the small ones.

What is the meaning of 'for signs, and for seasons, and for years, and for days'? The sun, by rising and setting, makes the days.

And by running through the southern and northern regions, it completes the yearly cycle.

This [sun] also produces the turnings, which divine Scripture called 'seasons.'

For, moving from the equinoctial point toward the north, it produces spring.

Then, returning from there as far as these bounds, it brings about the summer solstice.

And as it proceeds from there toward the south, autumn comes about.

And returning again, it produces winter.

And from the course of the moon we learn the number of the months.

For in thirty days, lacking six hours, it completes its own course;

for this reason we call the number of so many days a 'month.'

since they also call the moon 'mēnē.'

But as for 'for signs,' we do not understand it as the foolish do.

For not even Pythagoras, nor Socrates, nor Plato, nor the Stoics accepted the vain talk of astrology.

But if those nurtured on myths abhorred the impiety of this myth, who that believes the divine words would tolerate arguments that are not only impious but also utterly foolish? Divine Scripture, then, calls 'signs' the knowledge of the time for sowing, for planting, for pruning, for cutting timber suitable for shipbuilding and for construction;

from this, also those who engage in seafaring have learned when it is fitting to set sail, and when to bring the ship to anchor;

and when it is necessary to spread the sail, and when to take it down;

for experience has thoroughly taught them the risings and settings of the stars.

Often we too, upon seeing a comet, or a 'bearded' star, or a 'beam' star, have learned thereby either of an attack of enemies, or an invasion of locusts, or the destruction of cattle or of men.

These, then, are what he called 'signs' — not those things full of all folly and impiety.

Why in the world did he make the plants before the luminaries, but the animals after them? The animals have eyes, and could not have endured the excess of the light;

but this light, once distributed among the small and great luminaries, sends forth a radiance proportioned to the sight of animals;

whereas the nature of plants has no share in sensation.

For what reason did he not bless the plants, yet said to the animals, 'increase,' and so forth? By his mere will he at once filled the whole earth with meadows, cornfields, and every kind of herb and tree;

but the irrational animals he brought forth two by two;

and reasonably, therefore, he conferred the blessing upon them, so that through abundant offspring some might fill the seas and lakes and rivers, others the air, and others the earth.

With some of them we frighten [children], and with others we even discipline them;

and we do both of these things, working out for them every good order.

Since, then, the Lord God foreknew that we would incline toward slothfulness, he prepared beforehand the wild beasts like certain whips and bogeys, so that by frightening us with them he might draw us to himself, and prepare us to call upon him for an ally.

But just as the mature despise both bogeys and whips, so those nurtured in virtue do not dread the attacks of wild beasts;

...acknowledging its servitude; and again, when Noah was entering the ark, the lion followed like a sheep, as did the leopard, and the fiercest of the creeping things;

for they saw in him the godlike marks of the divine image; thus also the viper, having fastened its teeth in the apostle's hand, and not finding there the looseness and slackness of sin, leapt back at once and sprang into the fire, as though exacting a penalty from itself, because it had attacked a body to which it had no claim whatsoever.

But we fear the wild beasts, because we do not possess the way of life that belongs to virtue;

and even so, caring for those who are slothful, God allotted to the beasts the more desolate places, and assigned to them the season of night for their sustenance;

for, he says, 'in it all the beasts of the forest shall creep forth.'

and to the creeping things he gave holes in the earth, so that, hiding themselves in them, they might not harm the race of men;

but so that, remaining altogether unharmed, we might not come to despise them, as though they were quite unable to do harm;

there are times when he who wisely governs our affairs permits two or three out of many myriads either to be stung by scorpions or bitten by serpents;

so that we, fearing lest we suffer something similar, might call upon God our maker for aid, and beseech to be guarded by that all-mighty providence.

Besides, in other respects too, wild beasts are not without use to us;

for from these too the disciples of physicians prepare many remedies against harm.

Let no one, then, examining the beast merely in itself, find fault with the Maker, but let him seek out its usefulness;

since the human body too has great beauty and harmony, and its members have their uses;

yet it also has mucus, and spittle, and foul-smelling dung that is discharged;

but no one in his right mind disparages the creature on account of these things;

for to live apart from these is among things impossible, since it is by being watered through these that the body flourishes;

for it has need of phlegm, and blood, and both kinds of bile;

but just as it is constituted through these, so also through these it perishes;

for an excess or a deficiency of any one of the things mentioned dissolves the living being.

So again, if someone should cut off one joint of the fingers, he will see it as entirely useless; but joined to the rest, it renders the greatest service to the body.

Thus, then, it is fitting for us also to act in this way: not to examine each part of creation merely in itself, but to inquire whether it is useful to the whole;

since fire too is capable of burning;

and it destroys not only bodies, but also burns down houses, ships, and crops;

yet nevertheless it is one of the four elements by which all things are held together, and apart from it, it is among things impossible for mortal nature to survive.

Water likewise floods the earth, tears down houses, and destroys very many who sail upon it;

it also harms those who allow themselves to drink at the wrong time and without measure; yet no one, unless quite deranged, has called water destructive.

for this same water waters the earth, and nourishes the plants, the irrational animals, and the nature of men;

so then, let us also examine each of the other things in the same way, not scrutinizing it merely in itself, as to whether it is harmful or beneficial,

but whether it contributes some usefulness to the common good.

For wild beasts do indeed revere man on account of the authority given to him over them from the beginning, but sometimes they hold him in contempt, as one who has transgressed the divine law;

for wicked slaves too are accustomed to spit upon those who have been appointed by their masters to direct them, whenever they see them deprived of their authority on account of their own offenses.

To whom did God say, 'Let us make man according to our image and likeness'? Certain of the ill-named heretics said that he spoke this to the angels, and even to the wicked demons — these senseless fools not understanding that, of God and of angels and of demons, neither the essence nor the image is the same;