Questions on the Octateuch 1 part 7/17

for those Egyptians too shared in the injustice, imitating the cruelty of the king.

For this very reason, in giving the law, he also said:

'If your son asks you, saying,'

'What is the Passover?' you shall say:

'On this day the Lord God brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, and delivered our firstborn, when the destroyer struck the firstborn of the Egyptians.'

For this reason he charges those who keep this feast to gird themselves in the garb of travel;

for it says, 'Let your loins be girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staves in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste.'

Now Philo interpreted 'Pascha' as 'crossings-over';

but Symmachus, as 'passings-over';

while Theodotion set down 'phasech,' the Hebrew word itself.

And the name signifies the salvation of the firstborn of the Hebrews.

For he commanded them to take a bunch of hyssop, and, dipping it in the blood of the slaughtered sheep, to anoint the doorposts and the lintel, so that when the destroyer entered to strike the firstborn of the Egyptians, seeing the blood, he would pass over the houses of the Hebrews.

Not that the incorporeal nature had need of such signs, but that through the symbol both they had to learn God's providential care, and we, who sacrifice the spotless lamb, had to recognize the type that had been prefigured beforehand.

He commands them, then, to take not only yearling lambs from the sheep, but also kids from the goats;

not that they should sacrifice both the one and the other together;

but that he who had a sheep should sacrifice that;

and he who lacked a sheep, the kid.

He instructs them to take it on the tenth day of the first month, so that they might prepare it before the feast;

and on the fourteenth, toward evening, it was to be slaughtered.

for it was on this very evening that the Master Christ also was handed over to the Jews.

He commanded it to be eaten with bitter herbs, in remembrance of the most bitter life in Egypt and the most grievous slavery.

And through the unleavened bread he signifies not only the urgency of the journey and the improvised character of the food, but also that it is fitting to carry away not even a trace of the Egyptian way of life.

For thus also the Lord interpreted it in the Gospels, when he said, 'Take heed of the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees.'

For this reason he also commands that the leftover meat be burned, and not kept over until the next day;

thereby compelling them to invite those in need to share in the feast.

But all these things are riddles of our mysteries;

for we too anoint with the blood of our Lamb, not only the lintel but also the two doorposts;

outwardly, cleansing and sanctifying the tongue and the lips;

but inwardly understood, the lintel stands for the rational faculty, and the two doorposts for the irascible and the concupiscible parts.

It befits us also neither to eat it raw nor boiled, but roasted with fire.

for we do not look to the letter alone, but search out the meaning;

nor indeed do we introduce human reasonings into the divine oracles;

for this is what Isaiah also accused certain people of, namely, mixing water with the wine.

but we make use only of the divine fire, the grace of the Holy Spirit.

As for not leaving any of the meat until the next day, we understand it thus: that the life to come has no need of symbols;

for in that life we see the very realities themselves.

But the bones of the sheep are broken by those who wrongly understand the divine oracles, and who attempt to twist them to their own impiety.

As for taking it not only from sheep but also from goats, this again proclaims the divine love for mankind;

for it was not only on behalf of the righteous, but also on behalf of sinners, that the Master Christ endured the saving passion.

And he himself taught us to understand it in this way;

for he likened the assembly of the saints to lambs;

but that of those who are not such, to goats;

for the law commanded that a goat be offered for sin.

And of those who partake of the divine mysteries, some partake as of the sheep, inasmuch as they have acquired perfect virtue;

but others as of the goat, blotting out through repentance the stains of their sins.

Thus also our Savior nourished those who had gathered together, not only from loaves of wheat, but also from loaves of barley.

And to us also the Master commanded that we have our loins girded, and our feet shod, and our lamps burning, as servants awaiting their master.

But whereas the Hebrews, being delivered from the Egyptians and led into the land of Canaan, had this garb for that reason, we have it as those passing from this life into another.

For this reason the divine Paul also exhorts us, crying out, 'Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened.'

For indeed Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us, and he has added:

so let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

And from of old the God of all foretold the salvation of the nations.

For indeed he commanded that the proselytes should partake of the Passover;

for he called the proselyte 'geiōras' (a sojourner), and granted him equality under the law;

for he says, 'he shall be as one native to the land.'

And it shall be eaten in one house.

The faithful observe this by partaking of the divine mysteries only in the one church of God, while abhorring the assemblies of the heretics.

Moreover, the Lord God ordained by law that the firstborn of both cattle and sheep be offered, reminding them of the salvation of their own firstborn;

For he himself had no need of the sacrifices, but was providing for their benefit.

For the law itself makes this clear:

If your son should ask you, saying:

'What is this?' you shall say to him, 'With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.'

And when Pharaoh hardened himself against sending us out, the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of cattle.

Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every male that opens the womb;

and every firstborn of my sons I redeem.

And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and immovable before your eyes,

for with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Therefore each of these things came about not for God's need, but for the benefit of the people.

Some say that the sea was divided into twelve parts, and that each tribe crossed by itself;

But I think that the sea was cut in two;

for this too the divine Scripture teaches:

'and the water was a wall to them on the right, and a wall on the left.'

And the way was broad, proportioned to the multitude of those passing through;

for it says, 'he led them through the deep as through a wilderness.'

And this shows the spaciousness of the way.

Yet that other account, too, does not injure the doctrine of piety.

For both this and that are works of divine wonder-working;

Nevertheless, one ought to follow the truth of the divine Scripture.

And the most righteous Judge handed Pharaoh over, together with his whole army, to utter destruction by water, since it was by water that he had destroyed the infants of the Hebrews.

What kind of tree was it that sweetened the water at Marah? It is superfluous and foolish to inquire into things that Scripture has passed over in silence.

It is enough for us to learn that through the tree the bitter water was changed into a sweet quality.

For this too prefigures our salvation.

For the saving wood of the cross sweetened the bitter sea of the nations.

How is what was said by the apostle to be understood: 'all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;'

'and all drank the same spiritual drink;'

'for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them;'

'and that rock was Christ'? The old things were a type of the new; the law of Moses was a shadow, while grace is the reality.

Since, then, the Egyptians were pursuing the Hebrews, and the Hebrews, having crossed the Red Sea, were delivered from the bitter dominion of the Egyptians;

the sea holds the type of the baptismal font;

and the cloud, of the Spirit;

and Moses, of the Savior Christ;

and the rod, of the cross;

and the Egyptians, of the demons;

and the manna, of the divine food;

and the water from the rock, of the saving blood.

For just as they, after crossing the Red Sea, enjoyed both the strange food and the marvelous stream;

so also we, after the saving baptism, partake of the divine mysteries.

Thus the sea too was called baptism, even though no one was baptized in it;

for Israel passed through it dusty rather than drenched.

For an incorporeal nature has no need of food.

Thus it was called 'bread of heaven,' since it was brought down from above;

not from heaven itself, but from the air.

Thus also the birds that pass through the air are called 'birds of heaven.'

For this is what the word 'manna' means.

And the narrative itself teaches this:

for it says, 'when the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was.'

So the question itself became the name.

And Symmachus rendered 'like a wafer in honey' as 'like a starch-cake in honey.'

And the 'gomor' was a Hebrew measure.

And the lawgiver teaches that it was the tenth part of the three measures;

and as Josephus said, it holds three and a half Attic cotylae.

For, teaching them a life free from anxious cares, he promised to provide them each day with their necessary food;

but they, disbelieving, kept back a part of what had been gathered for the next day;

for that the corruption was not owing to the nature of the manna itself is testified by the Sabbath, on which what had been gathered on the day of preparation remained unspoiled;

and this is also testified by the manna that was preserved in the ark for many generations.

He taught them to keep the commandment,

but he did not hinder the course of nature.

For the sun rises, and the moon likewise; the clouds travail with rain, the winds blow, women give birth, and so too do the races of irrational creatures.

With what weapons did they fight against Amalek? When the Egyptians had been drowned, their bodies, together with their weapons, were cast up onto the shore;

Having despoiled these, they used them in their wars.

So too was the power shown in the type of the truth.

For just as, when the servant stretched out his hands, Amalek fell, so too, when the Master stretched out his hands, the devil's host was destroyed; and in that battle as well, he who bears the same name as our Savior set up the trophy, having then received this title, and having employed chosen men as fellow-workers, just as the Master Christ employed the holy apostles as his ministers.

What does it mean, 'You shall be to me a peculiar people out of all the nations'?

Is not all the earth mine? I am, he says, the maker and master of all, and as maker I provide for all.

But you I have consecrated to myself as a kind of chosen people.

And you shall be to me a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

For just as he preferred the Levites, though they were Israelites, above the other tribes, and set them apart for the divine ministry—not neglecting the others, but through these providing care for those—

so also he chose the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

First, because from them the Master Christ was to spring forth according to the flesh;

and then, by the things done for them, displaying his own power, and teaching all men the way of the knowledge of God. Now when these things had been spoken,

all the people answered and said:

All that God has said we will do, and we will hearken.

This covenant of the people resembles a kind of signed bond.

Hence, having transgressed their own agreement, they were subjected to the curses of the law, from which the Master Christ freed those who had believed in him.

For, he says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.

As for the word 'peculiar,' Symmachus rendered it 'chosen.'

For from these things they reckoned that it was fitting that their mind should be all the more purified.

For this reason there were also sounds of trumpets, crashes of thunder, darkness, tempest, and fire upon the summit of the mountain, and an indescribable smoke sent forth,

so that through all these he might soften their stony heart.

For since they had witnessed the punishments inflicted on the Egyptians, but had not themselves undergone the experience of chastisement, through these things he terrifies them as one would children,

so that they might not only love him because of his ineffable benefits, but also fear him because of the punishments.

For this reason he also said concerning the priests:

'Let the priests who draw near to the Lord God be sanctified, lest the Lord depart from them.'

For since it was likely that they would grow overconfident, inasmuch as they had been entrusted with the divine ministry, he teaches that it is especially fitting that those appointed to minister to God should be superior to earthly things.

How is one to understand, 'You shall have no other gods beside me'? Those who confess the one essence of the Trinity keep the law of this divine utterance.

For they will not tolerate deifying anything else besides the divine nature.

But those clothed with the disgrace of Arius and Eunomius directly transgress the divine law, confessing the Son to be God, yet calling him a creature and alien to the divine essence.

For while God says, 'You shall have no other gods beside me,' these men introduce another god.

An idol has no subsistence whatsoever;

but a likeness is an image and representation of something that exists.

Since, then, the Greeks fashion forms that do not really subsist—sphinxes, tritons, and centaurs—

and the Egyptians fashion dog-faced and ox-headed figures, he calls 'idols' the imitations of things that do not subsist;

whereas 'likenesses' are the representations of things that do subsist, such as the sun and moon, the stars, men, wild beasts, reptiles, and things similar to these.

He commands that these should be neither worshiped nor served.

He does not forbid both without reason;

but since it happens that some worship out of human fear, yet do not serve idolatry in their soul, he taught that each of these is impious.

What does it mean that 'God is a jealous God'? The law holds the position of a husband, and the people that of a wife.

And this the Master God taught us through Isaiah, saying:

'Where is this bill of your mother's divorce?' And through Jeremiah:

'As a wife is faithless to the one who lives with her, so has the house of Israel and the house of Judah been faithless to me, says the Lord.'

'If a man sends away his wife, and she goes and becomes another man's, will he ever return to her again? Will not that woman be utterly defiled? Yet you have played the harlot with many shepherds, and would you return to me?, says the Lord.'

And the apostle also says that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.

For the married woman is bound by law to her living husband;

but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband, so that she is not an adulteress if she becomes another man's.

So you also have been put to death to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead.

For this reason he calls himself a jealous God,

employing human terms, to frighten them and compel them to be prudent. For just as a husband with a careless wife, admonishing her, says:

'I am jealous; I cannot bear to see you conversing with another man,'

so the Master God, wishing to free them from superstition, called himself not only jealous but also a consuming fire.

That such jealousy is a mark of tender affection, God himself made clear through Ezekiel, saying:

'Therefore my jealousy shall depart from you';

that is, when I loved you, I made use of jealousy;

but having rejected you, I have also extinguished the jealousy.

This he has also made clear through another prophet:

'I will not visit punishment on your daughters when they play the harlot, nor on your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.'

Jealousy, then, is indicative of love.

How is justice preserved, when children are punished for their fathers? With the Master God, the threats of punishment are greater than the punishments themselves.

And this is easy to learn from the divine Scripture.

For, he says, every uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised on the eighth day, shall be utterly destroyed.

But one can find that those who had been circumcised were destroyed in various ways in the wilderness,

while those who remained uncircumcised obtained the promise made to their forefathers.

For these Joshua circumcised at Gilgal. Likewise he threatened utter destruction upon the houses that had leaven in them;

but he did not carry out the punishment according to the threat.

So here too, since he cares for them as one who loves children and is concerned for their upbringing, he terrifies them with threats, and says:

'visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,'

For that it is impious to attend to the bare letter, God himself teaches by legislating the opposite:

'Children shall not die for the fathers,' he says, 'nor fathers for the children;'

'but each shall die for his own sin.'

And through the prophet Ezekiel he says:

What is this proverb to you, who say:

'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth have been set on edge'? As I live, says the Lord, this proverb shall not continue to be used, but the teeth of those who eat the sour grapes shall be set on edge;

'for all souls are mine.'

And what follows has the same sense.

But I think that the threat rather displays the divine loving-kindness

toward the fathers who had sinned;

but if the offspring and descendants should emulate the wickedness of their fathers and ancestors, I will bring on the punishment;

but the piety of the ancestors will procure salvation for their race for a long time;

'for,' he says, 'showing mercy to thousands and ten thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.'

One might also find in the historical narrative the truth of the divine sayings.

'For in the fifth generation,' it says, 'the sons of Israel went up out of Egypt.'

But though they had served the gods of the Egyptians in Egypt, neither their fathers nor their forefathers paid the penalty;

but they themselves, having emulated the impiety of those men, were punished;

inasmuch as, after so great a benefaction and countless wonders, they did not spurn impiety; whereas their children, having loved God the Savior, enjoyed the promise made to their ancestors.

And we see the truthfulness of the promise made to the patriarchs;

for the nations obtained the blessing through the seed of Abraham. Since, then, they were about to worship the calf, he further threatens punishment.

'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain'? Some say it forbids applying God's title to vain things, that is, to idols;

while others hold it forbids one who has sworn an oath from swearing falsely.

But I think that the divine law commands that, apart from teaching, or prayer, or some necessary need, one should not utter the divine title.

For indeed some are accustomed, even while jesting and laughing, to utter the venerable name at random with their tongue.

This, I think, the divine law forbids.

For if most people are accustomed to keep their more costly garments for feast-days, it is much more right to reserve the divine name for prayers and teachings.

For he added: 'that your manservant and your maidservant may rest, and your ox and your beast of burden and all your cattle, and the stranger who sojourns with you.'

And why did he not command that this be observed on another day? One might say this also about any other day—why he chose this one and not another.

Yet this day had a certain reason able to persuade the harshness of the Jews, in that the God of all created everything in six days, and on the seventh did nothing, but honored it with a blessing.

For this is also what he added: 'that in six days the Lord your God made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them;'

'and he rested on the seventh day and sanctified it.'

'But if you make me an altar of stones, you shall not build them of hewn stones;'

'for you have laid your tool upon it, and it has been defiled'? Because both those who fashioned the timbers of the tabernacle, and those who worked the gold, the silver, and the bronze, used iron—no one, I think, would dispute this.

And that the priests also slaughtered the sacrifices with knives, and flayed and cut them up, this too, I think, is beyond dispute.

One must therefore ask how it is that iron did not defile these things, yet it defiled the hewn stones.

It is therefore clear that he brings about one thing by means of another.

For since they spent forty years in the desert, continually breaking camp and changing places, he forbade altars to be built of worked stones, so that, once they had taken possession of the promised land, the neighboring peoples might not perform sacrifices to demons upon these altars.

For this reason he commanded that these be constructed either of earth or of natural, unhewn stones;

since either of these is easily taken apart.

And that after the construction of the temple it was not permitted to sacrifice anywhere else, the law itself teaches.

And if the law prevented sacrificing outside the temple, it likewise forbade building an altar there as well;

to offer sacrifice at that place.

He therefore commands that the one who does not lay hold of this freedom, but embraces slavery instead, should take this sign as a mark of shame.

Moreover, the sign, being made through the ear, also signifies obedience; and, being done at the door, signifies that the master does not permit him to go forward on his own.

'Our lifetime is for the illumination of your countenance.'

and thus he called human life [an age].

Why does he command the one who has killed unintentionally to flee? He is healing their murderous disposition, and teaching that if killing unintentionally makes one liable to punishment, much more is killing with intent worthy of chastisement.

Moreover, he also makes those who are cutting wood, and those who are hurling stones, more careful, and indeed causes those who do any other such thing to be afraid and to tremble, lest they unintentionally harm someone nearby or at a distance.

And he also curbs the anger of the relatives of the slain man by the flight of the slayer.

What does 'formed' mean? They say that once the body has been fully fashioned in the womb, the embryo is then ensouled.

For indeed, the Maker, having first formed the body of Adam, then in this way breathed in the soul.

The lawgiver, therefore, commands that if a pregnant woman miscarries as a result of a fight, then, if the infant comes forth already formed, that is, shaped, the matter is to be called murder, and the one who did it is to undergo the same punishment;

but if it comes forth unformed, it is not to be reckoned as murder, since what was aborted had not yet been ensouled;

but the one responsible is to pay a fine.

Thus also the Lord taught;

'for,' he says, 'from him to whom much has been given, much will also be required.'

How is 'you shall not revile the gods' to be understood? He calls the judges 'gods,' as being entrusted to judge in imitation of the God of all.

For having said, 'God stood in the assembly of gods, and in the midst he judges gods,' he added:

'How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to sinners? Judge for the orphan and the poor; do justice to the humble and the needy.'

'Rescue the needy and the poor;'

'deliver him out of the hand of the sinner.'

Then, accusing them, he added:

'They did not know, nor did they understand; they walk about in darkness.' And he also shows forth his own generosity.

'You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.'

'But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.'

Thus also here it says, 'You shall not revile the gods, nor speak evil of a ruler of your people.'

For what reason does he forbid eating meat taken by wild beasts? He is teaching them a more rational way of life, and enjoining that they have nothing bestial about them.

For wild beasts do not sacrifice first, and then eat in this way.

For this reason, a little later he also commands them to take care even of their enemies, and not to overlook the straying ox of one who is hostile toward them, but to bring it back to the house of the enemy, and to help up the fallen beast of burden, and by such acts of kindness to contrive reconciliations.

And through these things he teaches that the lawgiver of the Old and the New Testament is one and the same, and that he who gave this law also bestowed the gospel.

'You shall not appear before the Lord your God empty.' When going to worship the Lord God, offer him such gifts as you are able.

He teaches that, if we have means, we should pray to God along with caring for the poor;

but if we choose a life of poverty, our soul should not be empty of good things, but should possess the wealth of virtue.

What is 'the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits,' and what is 'the feast of ingathering at the end of the year'? He calls Pentecost 'the feast of the firstfruits';

And the feast of completion at the close of the year, that of Tabernacles.

And teaching this he added:

'Three times in the year shall every male of yours appear before the Lord your God' — that is, at the feast of Passover, and at Pentecost, and at Tabernacles.

Passover reminds them of the exodus out of Egypt and the freedom that was granted;

Pentecost, of the entrance into the land of promise;

for there, after sowing, they offered the firstfruits of the produce;

for in the wilderness they ate bread that was neither sown nor ploughed.

Tabernacles depicts their way of life in the wilderness;

for dwelling in tents they spent forty years.

At these feasts he commanded them to assemble together at the divine temple,

so that they might both call to mind the divine gifts, and be bound together in concord and friendship;

and, being lovers of festivity, they might not revel about the precincts of demons, but rather enjoy the festal banquet in the temple of him who made them and supplies good things.

'You shall not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice with leaven'? They offered unleavened loaves at the altar;

but he forbids offering leavened loaves,

teaching intelligible things through things perceived by sense.

For since unleavened bread is made without delay, on the spot,

whereas the leavened loaf retains something of the old leaven,

the law forbids mixing anything of the Egyptian teaching with things divine.

Thus also the Lord said to his sacred disciples:

'Beware of the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees.'

How is one to understand, 'You shall not boil a lamb in its mother's milk'? I have often said that through all these precepts he is teaching them humaneness.

Some, then, say that the law forbids the eating of what has only just been born;

others, that it forbids boiling it together with its mother's milk,

for in a certain sense this boils the mother along with it as well.

He also forbids offering to God, at one and the same time, the mother and the offspring born of her,

and he likewise commanded them, when they found a bird's nest, not to catch the mother along with the young;

for this would be to wipe out the whole race of birds.

How is one to understand, 'I will fulfill the number of your days'? He means the life appointed for men;

that is, I will bring you to reach a ripe old age.

What is meant by, 'I will send the hornets before you'? Just as he sent frogs and gnats and the dog-fly upon the Egyptians, so upon the Canaanites and the other nations he sent the hornets.

This shows the surpassing power of God: