Questions on the Octateuch 1 part 4/17

And he not only said this, but also did it, and deemed him worthy of every kind of care;

'For,' it says, 'Pharaoh commanded men concerning Abraham, to send him on his way together with his wife and all that he had.'

It is clear, then, that as soon as Sarah was seized, the Governor of all bound Pharaoh with disease;

and the disease blunted his desire, and the hunter, though holding the prey within his nets, did not enjoy the catch.

that Sarah was kept unharmed; and in the account concerning Abimelech, has [Scripture] not clearly shown this? For Sarah was then about to bear Isaac;

therefore, so that Abraham's seed should not become suspect, the divine Scripture there clearly shows that Abimelech did not touch her.

And from this, as well as from that, one must recognize that nature itself taught even the barbarians that adultery is wicked and worthy of punishment;

for indeed Pharaoh showed this by reproaching Abraham;

and Abimelech said to the God of all:

'Lord, will You slay a nation that is ignorant, though it is righteous? Did he himself not say to me, "She is my sister," and did she herself not say to me, "He is my brother"? In purity of heart and in righteousness of hands I have done this.'

And the author has also recorded God's reply:

'For,' it says, 'God said to Abimelech in a dream:'

'I too knew that you did this with a pure heart, and I spared you, so that you would not touch her, so that you would not sin against Me;'

'for this reason I did not let you touch her.'

'Now therefore restore the woman to the man, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you shall be saved, you and all your house.'

'But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die.'

But the divine word teaches us that He does not allow the lovers of righteousness, when they are about to sin through ignorance, [to fall into it];

it is clear, then, that He also prevented Pharaoh from sinning, since he had taken Sarah as a wife, according to the law of marriage, [thinking her] Abraham's sister.

But since Abimelech was, as is likely, better than Pharaoh, He taught the latter [Pharaoh] the transgression of his act through chastisement,

but to this one [Abimelech] He Himself did not grant forgiveness for the injury and the offense, but waited for the one who had been wronged to ask for it;

and He deemed him worthy of a gentle visitation, and with mild words pointed out the transgression that had been dared.

Whence did Melchizedek trace his lineage? Since the divinely-inspired Paul says [he was] 'without father, without mother, without genealogy', who could know the truth? It is likely that he was from among those nations that inhabited Palestine,

for he happened to be both king and priest of them, and priest of the God of all;

'for,' it says, 'he was priest of God Most High.'

Wherefore the patriarch Abraham also offered to him the tithes of the spoils,

and, being righteous and a friend of God, he [Abraham] reaps the blessing from him.

For he bore the type of the Lord's priesthood.

Therefore he gave back to Abraham bread and wine, as one accustomed, it may be, to offer such things to the God of all.

For it was necessary that the type be shown even in this.

How is Abraham called faithful, when he said to God, 'By what shall I know this, that I shall inherit it?' The phrase 'by what shall I know this' belongs not to one who disbelieves, but to one who longs to learn the manner of the inheritance.

For since he saw countless multitudes dwelling in Palestine, he wished to learn by what means he would receive dominion over that land — whether by the law of war or without war, while those people remained alive, or were destroyed, or were driven out.

For this reason, after the sacrifice, the God of all said:

Know for certain that your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not its own;

and they shall enslave them and afflict them and humble them four hundred years;

but the nation to whom they shall be enslaved I will judge.

And after these things they shall come out here with much substance;

but you shall go to your fathers in peace, nourished to a good old age.

And in the fourth generation they shall return here;

for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up until now.

From the divine answer one can perceive the character of the question:

'By what shall I know that I shall inherit it?' — he was taught how long a time they would sojourn and how they would suffer hardship, and of how much providence they would be deemed worthy, since those who would wish to make war upon them would be punished, while these would reap the fruits of theirs; and that he himself, having had no experience of these things, would end his life in peace.

He also taught the reason for the delay, lest anyone suppose that, because of the multitude of the inhabitants, the sovereign God was unable to hand over to them the dominion of that land;

for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up until now,

he says — meaning, they have not yet committed deeds worthy of utter destruction;

for it is not fitting that punishment be inflicted before the sin, on the basis of foreknowledge;

But that they had pious men among them at that time is clear from Melchizedek, and Abimelech, and those who dwelt in Hebron;

for they too deemed the patriarch worthy of much attendance and honor;

and one may hear them crying out:

You are a king from God among us;

Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs.

Therefore after the sacrifices he added:

Know for certain that your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not its own;

and in the fourth generation they shall return here.

For this reason he commanded that three of the clean quadrupeds be sacrificed, each three years old, to signify the three generations who would continue as sojourners;

and the turtledove signified that generation which, as it were, flew off and went out of Egypt, but pitched its tent in the wilderness;

for this bird is a lover of the desert.

But the dove signified the other generation, which received the promised land;

for this creature is tame and fond of dwelling among houses.

For this very reason he did not divide the birds, as hinting at deliverance from slavery, but he divided the quadrupeds, since that signified the affliction in Egypt.

And the birds that swooped down upon the divided pieces, which the patriarch drove away from the sacrificial victims, foreshadowed the murderous intent of the Egyptians;

which the sovereign God rendered ineffective, thereby confirming his promises to Abraham;

for just as in the type Abraham drove away the flesh-devouring birds, so the honor shown to Abraham brought punishment upon the Egyptians.

And the fact that, about sunset, the smoking oven and the flames of fire were seen signified, on the one hand, that the sacrifices were accepted;

but it also foreshadowed the manifestation of the God of all that would come to pass at the end of the foretold time;

for he also appeared through fire both to Moses the lawgiver and, after this, to all the people;

and besides this it also taught that he would later legislate that these animals be offered.

But some say that God, wishing to show the promise to be sure, made the covenant according to the prevailing custom;

for, as they say, it was customary to make oaths by dividing the sacrificial victims in two.

But I have set down both this view and that, so that my readers may accept whichever seems truer.

Many of the licentious take as an occasion for lust the fact that the patriarch Abraham had a concubine; yet each of the things done is to be judged by the intent of those who do them.

So then, let us likewise examine the matter of Hagar in this way.

If indeed we find the patriarch to have been enslaved by desire, let us call the matter blameworthy;

but if it was his own wife whose nature disclosed the affliction, who said that the Maker had fashioned her womb barren, who made known her longing for child-bearing, and who for this reason entreated him to go in to Hagar, that through her she might obtain a child for herself — in what did Abraham sin, seeing that at that time neither nature nor any written law forbade polygamy, and his wife, though barren, urgently besought her husband to unite with the maidservant, not that he might be enslaved to sensual pleasure, but that he by nature, and she by adoption, might be called parents of the child? For that this godly man was superior to shameful pleasure is attested not only by this, but also by what follows.

For when Hagar, having conceived, took her pregnancy as an occasion for arrogance, and raged against her mistress, Sarah was greatly displeased, and cried out against the patriarch — not rightly;

but he, receiving her intemperate outburst with great gentleness, handed the maidservant over to her for chastisement, not even waiting for the child she was carrying to be born;

for behold, he says, your maidservant is in your hands; deal with her as seems good to you.

...not nobility of birth, but looking to the sign, they should keep unquenched the memory of him who gave it;

and that this is true, the wilderness bears witness;

for having spent forty years in it, they considered circumcision unnecessary, being separated from the nations and living as their own people among themselves.

But when at last they were being led into the promised land, then again the God of all commanded Joshua the son of Nun to circumcise them all;

and thus to hand over to them the dominion of the land.

For they were about to come near to foreign nations, and for this reason they necessarily needed the seal that would separate them from the nations of other stock.

But if the Jews are proud of their circumcision, let them learn that not only the patriarch was circumcised, but also Ishmael the half-slave, and the house-born servants, and those bought with silver, and the Idumeans, and those descended from Keturah.

The Egyptians also learned circumcision from the Israelites;

Circumcision, then, does not make men righteous.

For all these are accused as impious by the divine Scripture;

therefore circumcision did not justify even Abraham, but faith declared him righteous;

and virtue rendered him more illustrious.

Circumcision was given as a sign of faith.

Divine Scripture says that the angels ate in the tent of Abraham; and the same Scripture says that Abraham saw men.

If, then, one must attend to the bare letter, it was men, not angels, who ate;

but if we unfold the meaning, they ate as they appeared [to eat].

For just as they themselves, and their Lord, though possessing an incorporeal nature, appeared to have bodies;

so they appeared to eat, not really bringing the food to mouth and stomach;

but consuming it in whatever manner they willed.

For it belongs to the height of folly to pry curiously into the manner of things ineffable.

Therefore no one could justly blame Lot on account of the union.

For he was ignorant of what was being done.

But the matter of the drunkenness carries a certain blame mixed with pardon,

for being utterly distressed and distraught, as one stripped of all existing things at once, and besides all else even of his own wife, he endured his daughters offering him wine beyond what was needful,

inasmuch as he did not know what was being contrived, but suspected that what was happening was a diversion and a consolation.

But those women are altogether innocent of blame.

For having seen the four cities and all the villages burned up by the rain of fire, and those dwelling in Zoar swallowed up—for this is also what the name signifies

(for Zoar is interpreted 'swallowing'), they supposed that human nature had been utterly destroyed;

and seeing the desolation that prevailed, and foreseeing in advance the weakness of old age, they wished to contrive both offspring for their race and some consolation for themselves.

Employing this reasoning, and not enslaved to desire, they took wine as their accomplice, and by his greater drinking they stole away the perception of the one who had begotten them, and they made their father the sower.

Why then did God not prevent the unlawful union? He foresaw the impiety of the race that would come from it.

For the Moabites served Chemosh, and the Ammonites served Milcom.

Therefore, so that the Israelites, mingling with them as kinsmen, might not partake in their impiety, He did not prevent the unlawful marriage,

so that in this way at least He might render them foul and detestable to the Jews.

And the God of all makes this clear also, declaring through Moses the lawgiver:

'An Ammonite and a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation, even forever.'

It seems altogether harsh that Ishmael, while still young, should have been driven out of his father's house with only his mother and a skin of water. Yet this very thing plainly demonstrates the virtue of Abraham.

For when Sarah said, 'Cast out the slave girl and her son,' he did not obey;

but when God commanded, he immediately followed the word with the deed—

and this, although he was tenderly disposed toward Ishmael.

For when God promised him offspring from Sarah, he himself said:

'Let this Ishmael live before you.'

But nevertheless, though loving the child dearly, he did that which the Master commanded;

and he trusted the divine promises to such a degree

that, having given him neither male nor female servants, neither gold nor silver, he sent the child away from the house—

but only a few loaves of bread and a skin of water and his mother.

For he knew that the promise of the One who had commanded was not false;

and God had promised him that He would make him into a great nation, since he had indeed been counted worthy to be of his own planting.

For as soon as the child wept, longing for a drink, an angel sent from God showed her a well full of drinkable water;

and that He also gave the multitude of offspring as He had promised, the things now seen bear witness;

for from the borders of Egypt as far as Babylon, the desert is full of this race.

Abraham, moreover, also gave names to places out of his piety;

for having planted a field at the well of the oath, he called the name of that place 'the Everlasting God.'

If God foreknows all things, for what reason did He test Abraham? Not that He himself might learn what He already knew, but that He might teach those who did not know how very justly He loved the patriarch.

For this reason, over the course of three days and as many nights, He put his divine devotion to the test;

for the patriarch, standing midway between nature and faith, and being pierced from both sides, awarded the prize of victory to faith.

But God, having shown his piety, prevented the sacrifice.

'They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the carved idols of Canaan.'

'And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to me, and offered them up to your lovers.'

Then, to show the excess of the outrage, He added this:

'beyond all your fornications.'

He, then, who condemns those who dare such things—how could He himself have consented to accept an only-begotten child offered up by a father? But indeed these things were a shadow of the dispensation accomplished on our behalf;

for on behalf of the whole world the Father offered up His beloved Son;

for Isaac was a type of the divinity, and the ram a type of the humanity;

and the length of time itself corresponded exactly;

for there were three days and three nights, both here and there.

What is the meaning of 'Put your hand under my thigh'? He was sending the chief of his servants concerning a marriage,

knowing that the race of Canaan was accursed, but that his own kindred had been counted worthy of blessing.

Since, then, he had received both the blessing and the promise of good things in his seed, he ordered the servant to place his hand there where he himself had also received the sign of faith;

for having believed the divine promises, he received the seal of circumcision;

and he ordered him to place his hand there, so that, remembering both the divine promise and the circumcision, he might not defile the Master's noble lineage by a marriage with a foreign race.

And it must be understood that although the hand was placed under the thigh, the oath was sworn by the God of all;

for he said, 'I make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son Isaac from among the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell,' and so on.

And the servant's question was exceedingly wise;

for fearing the oath, he requested that the terms of the marriage be made clear to him.

'For if,' he says, 'the betrothed girl should be unwilling to come here, but instead bids the suitor go to her, do you command your son to return to that nation?' But the patriarch Abraham, knowing that the divine call had brought him out from there, yet had received no divine law concerning the marriage,

but he himself, having been raised in piety, wished to betroth a wife for the boy from his own kindred household;

that former course he forbids to be done, inasmuch as it was prohibited by divine law;

but this latter matter he entrusts to divine providence.

He did not offer that prayer merely as a symbolic gesture, as some exceedingly foolish people have supposed, but since he had taken God as a helper in the betrothal, he requested that certain signs be shown to him, by which he wished to know whether the betrothal was pleasing to God.

And the sign was not bodily beauty, nor the distinction of family, nor anything else that is thought splendid, but hospitality and kindliness and gentleness of disposition;

for he says, 'Let it be that the young woman to whom I say, "Tilt down your water jar that I may drink," and who says to me, "Drink, sir, and I will water your camels also until they finish drinking"—she is the one you have prepared for your servant Isaac;'

'and by this I shall know that you have shown mercy to my master Abraham.'

For since the patriarch was distinguished by being adorned with these excellent qualities, he wished the bride also to correspond in character to her father-in-law, lest a contrary disposition should give rise to some strife and contention.

That these things were not merely symbolic but expressive of faith and piety is taught, first, by the earnestness of the prayer;

and next, by his waiting upon the counsel of God;

for the divine Scripture teaches this:

'And the man observed her closely and kept silent, in order to know whether the Lord had prospered his way, or not.'

For while she was drawing water and bringing the stream to the camels, he was waiting to see whether she would supply the need to all of them according to his request;

and when the camels had finished drinking, he immediately brought out the tokens of the betrothal.

And having learned her lineage and her kinship with his master, the man, it says, was pleased, and worshiped the Lord and said:

'Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his righteousness and his mercy from my master;'

'and as for me, the Lord led me on the way into the house of my master's brother.'

And his whole discourse proclaims the piety of his disposition; and indeed even after the discourse, it points to the same purpose:

for when those who had begotten the maiden agreed to the marriage, he immediately worshiped the Lord;

and what follows likewise holds to the same intent:

'Do not detain me,' he says, 'for the Lord has prospered my way.'

'For the Lord,' it says, 'seeing that Leah was hated, opened her womb.' God, wishing to establish the Israelite race, thereby shows that it received its abundance of offspring not according to the sequence of nature, but according to the generosity of grace;

and that race obtained this providential care, since Christ the Master, the only-begotten Son of God, was destined to spring forth from it according to the flesh.

And since the patriarchs were accustomed also to build altars to God in the places where they encamped, it is likely that she went to one of these and implored the God of all, and he made known to her the things that were to come.

For indeed, in the case of the patriarch Abraham too, it was not because he was at a loss how to sustain him in Palestine that God allowed him to go away into Egypt;

but in order that he might display to the Egyptians the man's piety, and might spur them on to emulate the patriarch's virtue.

But Isaac he commanded to remain, and surrounded him with an abundance of necessities, showing that he was able to provide these very things to the father as well, which he now generously gave to him.

For when everyone was in want and there was scarcity of necessities and the land had become barren, he himself sowed and received an abundant crop.

For what reason did Isaac wish to give the blessing to Esau? According to the law of nature:

for the firstborn were both foremost, and received a double portion.

'for his venison was food to him;'

and such attentive service is sufficient to soften even the most savage of men — how much more, then, a father, and indeed a loving father.

One might also find that the divine Apostle repaid with very many blessings those who had ministered to him.

Whence did Rebekah have such confidence that Jacob would indeed obtain the blessing? And she had such confidence as to say:

'Upon me be your curse, my son; only listen to my voice.' She had known beforehand from the God of all that the elder would serve the younger;

believing that prophecy, she employed every means, so that Jacob might receive the paternal blessing.

Why in the world did God not reveal his own intention to Isaac? So that God's providential care for Jacob might become manifest:

and this is shown by the fact that Isaac was eager to bless Esau,

while the divine grace, even against Isaac's intention, drew the blessing to Jacob.

And Isaac himself came to understand this; for though he had used every means and sent Esau out to hunt, yet when Jacob brought the food, he asked repeatedly whether he was indeed Esau the firstborn;

and he not only asked, but also laid his hands upon his body.

Then, when Esau came in, though astonished at what had happened, Isaac was not angered as one deceived by his child, but recognized the divine purpose and confirmed the blessing he had given.

Then does it not seem that Jacob lied when he said, 'I am Esau, your firstborn'? He had purchased the privileges of the birthright,

and therefore, in calling himself the firstborn, he was speaking the truth.

What, then, is the meaning of the blessing? Christ the Master was destined to spring forth from him according to the flesh — the expectation of the nations, the Savior and Master of the whole world;

foreseeing these things, the patriarch says:

'Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field which the Lord has blessed.'

And that divine Scripture often calls the world a 'field,' the Lord himself is witness, when in the holy Gospels he interprets the parable:

'for,' he says, 'the field is the world;'

'and he who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.'

See, then, in Jacob the salvation of the whole world:

therefore he prays for him the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth,

which, according to the ready and surface sense of the letter, signify the grace from above and the abundance of earthly goods;

but according to the interpretation of the 'field,' it hints, through the dew, at the deity of Christ the Master, and through the fatness of the earth, at the humanity taken from us.

'He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, and as drops falling upon the earth.'

For just as the dew descends invisibly, but once it gathers below it becomes visible, so also God the Word, being invisible, appeared on earth through the flesh, and lived among men, and was manifested in the flesh, according to the divine Apostle.

And the wheat and the wine are also a figure of the divine mysteries;

and what follows agrees with this word:

'and let peoples serve you;'

'and rulers shall bow down to you;'

'for the kings of Tarshish,' it says, 'and the islands shall bring gifts;'

'the kings of the Arabians and of Sheba shall bring gifts, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him.'

This blessing he confirmed also when he sent him away to Mesopotamia:

'You shall become,' he says, 'an assembly of nations, and may the Lord give you the blessing of Abraham your father.'

And what the blessing is, it is easy for one who wishes to learn to discern:

for the God of all said to Abraham:

'In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.'

Why in the world, after receiving so many blessings, does Jacob flee his brother and journey away alone, deprived of the necessities of life? God's providential care is shown more clearly in what appear to be misfortunes:

for those who are in prosperity do not so readily perceive how many good things they enjoy;

so that, returning with abundance, he might himself come to know how great is the providence of the God of all, and might teach others as well.

This providential care God made known to him at once through the vision:

for he showed him a ladder reaching all the way up to heaven itself,

and the holy angels ascending and descending upon it.

And he himself, standing above, both encouraged him and drove away his fear;

and the angels signified the divine ministry:

for concerning these the blessed Paul also said, 'Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who are about to inherit salvation?' And each of these things alone was sufficient to instill courage in the patriarch:

for he is taught that nothing is neglected, nor left uncared for, by the God of all;

but he himself governs all things, employing the holy angels as his ministers.

He also gave him the same blessing which he had given both to his father and to his forefather, concerning both the abundant increase of his seed and concerning the Master of the world:

'For in your seed,' he says, 'shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.'

Then he also promises him providential care in the matters that lay immediately before him:

'Behold,' he says, 'I am with you, keeping you in whatever way you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not forsake you until I have done all that I have spoken.'

For having set upright the stone which he had placed under his head, he poured oil upon it;

and this practice can even now be found being done by many women who have believed in the Lord.

For it is customary in the divine shrines to anoint with oil the lattice-screens of the sanctuaries, and the reliquaries of the holy martyrs;

and this shows the nobility of the soul;

for the Lord who loves mankind accepts even small things, approving the intention of what is done.

Many make Jacob's having had four wives a pretext for licentiousness. One ought to examine the intention of each of the things that were done;

for judging in this way we shall find that the patriarch Jacob had betrothed Rachel alone, but was joined to Leah against his own intention.

Indeed, as soon as he perceived the deception, he was indignant and cried out against his father-in-law;

and he came together with Bilhah not out of love of pleasure, but for the consolation of his lawful wife;

for since Rachel was distressed on account of her childlessness, and foolishly said,

‘Give me children, or else I shall die,’ the patriarch piously rebuked her and pointed her to the maker of nature, and showed that it is not marriage that fashions children, but God, the lawgiver of marriage;

‘Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb?’ Yet, comforting her soul all the same, he yielded to her request: she asked him to come together with her maidservant, so that she might call the child born of her as her own.

This also happened in the case of Zilpah;

for again, when Leah ceased bearing, she implored him to sow that field also.

These things hint at no love of pleasure whatsoever, but show the man's forbearance, and how eagerly he sought to attend to his wives.

Besides this, one must also consider that at that time there was no law forbidding polygamy, and that those who became fathers of many children were then reckoned thrice blessed;

and that this is true, the divine promises bear witness;

for the God of all said to Abraham:

‘Look up to heaven and see the stars, if you are able to number them,’ and He added:

‘So shall your seed be.’

‘And like the sand which is upon the seashore, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’