Selected Notes on the Pentateuch and Other Books (Selecta on Genesis – Selecta on Exodus)

Selected Notes on the Pentateuch and Other Books

Origen of Alexandria

c. AD 230–250

The short Greek remains of Origen’s comments on the first books of the Bible and on Job and Ezekiel: the ‘Selecta’ (selected comments printed in Migne’s Patrologia Graeca under his name) and short annotations gathered from commentary-chains. They are brief, scattered notes rather than complete works, and the attribution of some is uncertain. We found no English translation of these.

Selecta on Genesis

Preface

The holy apostles and disciples of our Saviour were scattered over the whole world. According to tradition, Thomas received Parthia by lot, Andrew Scythia, and John Asia. John stayed among the people there and died at Ephesus. Peter seems to have preached in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia to the Jews of the dispersion. At the end he came to Rome and was crucified head downward, since he himself asked to suffer in this way. What need is there to speak of Paul? He fulfilled the Gospel of Christ from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum, and later was martyred at Rome under Nero.

Note 1

2 “And God said: Let the earth sprout plant of grass, sowing seed according to kind and according to likeness.” We should not pass over the fact that the wording, “God said: Let the earth sprout plant of grass, sowing seed according to kind and according to likeness,” might seem to be a grammatical error. “Sowing” does not fit easily with “plant of grass.” How then can it be understood without a grammatical error, since most people will suppose that “sowing” is said of “plant of grass”? It is possible to read it with a slight pause, at a mid-point mark, like this: “Let the earth sprout plant of grass.” Then, after the break, add “sowing seed according to kind.” So it would be: “Let the earth sprout plant of grass, according to kind sowing seed,” with “sowing seed” attached to “kind.” 3 “Increase and multiply.” Increase means growth in size. Multiplying means succession into a multitude through union.

4a “And God said: Let us make man according to our image and according to likeness.” First we must settle where the “according to the image” lies: in the body or in the soul. Let us first look at the arguments of those who hold the first view. Melito is one of them, and he left writings on God having a body. They find that members are ascribed to God: eyes of God looking upon the whole world, and his ears inclined to the petition of the righteous. “The Lord smelled a fragrant aroma.” “The mouth of the Lord spoke these things.” There are also God’s arm, hands, feet and fingers. So they say outright that these teach nothing other than the shape of God. “How,” they say, “was God seen by Abraham, and Moses, and the saints, if he had no form? And if he had a form, what character could it be but the human one?” And they collect countless sayings that name members of God. We must contend with them first from the wording. Against those who know nothing beyond the letter, we will set passages that contradict their assumption. From Zechariah: “Seven are the eyes of the Lord that look upon all the earth.” But if God has seven eyes and we have two, then we were not made according to his image.

4b Again, we have no wings, but about God it says in the ninety-first psalm, “Under his wings you will hope.” If he has wings and we are wingless creatures, then man was not made according to the image of God. And how can the heaven, which is spherical and always in motion, be God’s throne, as they suppose? And how is the earth the footstool of his feet? Let them explain it to us. Is the body from the knees to the soles that of the one who contains all that lies between heaven and earth? The earth lies in the middle of the whole universe and is contained by him, as geometrical proofs show. So are God’s soles with us, or with those on the opposite side of the earth? Do they fill our whole inhabited world, or take up somewhat more or somewhat less? Are his feet kept apart by the seas and rivers, or do they also tread upon the waters? And how is it that the one whose throne is a heaven so vast, and whose footstool is the earth, is found walking only in paradise, or appears to Moses only on the summit of Sinai? Whoever holds such opinions about God, will he not be called a fool?

5 Then, having said much to overturn such an opinion, he adds: 6 Someone who says that “according to the image” is not in the body but in the rational soul will offer a view that should not be despised, once he understands what powers the soul has. The power of knowing in a human being is able to judge and to do good, to act justly and to be strong, and in a word to accomplish every good. These powers were made in him by God according to the image. The Apostle shows clearly in the letter to the Corinthians that actions mark out the image, and not the shape of the body. He says: “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, so let us also bear the image of the heavenly one.” The one who lives according to the flesh and does the works of the flesh bears the image of the earthly. The one who by the Spirit puts to death the actions of the flesh bears the image of the heavenly. In another letter too, when he teaches how one must live, he adds to the commandments: “that you may become according to the image of the one who created [you].” The Lord is patient, and the patient person has the “according to the image of God.” The Lord is righteous and holy, and the Lord is compassionate and merciful. Therefore the one who loves righteousness and holiness, who does and keeps the Savior’s commandment, “Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate,” and “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” becomes an image of God in every respect.

7a “And rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and all the cattle, and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth.” We should observe that in the list of the creation of living creatures, the sea monsters are one thing and the [creeping things of souls] another. And although man is now said to rule over the fish of the sea, the class of sea monsters and the class of wild beasts are passed over in silence. We must not suppose that these are left out for no reason, when it could have been written: “And let them rule over the fish, and the sea monsters of the sea, and the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the sky, and the cattle.” Consider also whether, because of this silence, it is possible that not all living creatures came to be for the sake of man. Rather, only those he is said to rule did: the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle of the earth, and perhaps also the reptiles of the earth, because of the very necessary uses of medicines made from them. But these great sea monsters and the wild beasts of the earth did not come to be for man’s sake. Otherwise their naming would have been added to the authority given to human beings.

7b We do not find in Scripture that the class of snakes is placed among the reptiles, but among the wild beasts. [The text here is unclear and the wording appears corrupt:] “For the serpent… legs above its feet, to leap with them on the earth. And these you may eat of them: the locust and those like it, the akris and those like it, the attakes and those like it, and the ophiomachês and those like it. And every reptile among the winged creatures that has four feet is an abomination to you, and by these you will be made unclean.” So man rules neither the great sea monsters nor the wild beasts, perhaps because from the beginning they were not made for his sake. Something similar to what is written here about what is under man’s authority is said in the eighth Psalm: “You have subjected all things under his feet, sheep and all oxen, and moreover the cattle of the field; the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, that pass through the paths of the seas.” Here too the sea monsters and the wild beasts are passed over in silence.

8 “And on the sixth day God completed his works which he made.” Some people think it absurd that God should have completed the world over several days, like a builder who cannot finish a building without many days. They say that all things came to be at one time, and from this they build their argument. They think the list of the days, and of what happened in them, was given for the sake of order. For this argument they could plausibly use the verse: “He spoke, and they came to be; he commanded, and they were created.” 9 “This is the book of the origin of heaven and earth, when it came to be, in the day when the Lord God made heaven and earth.” The word “book” is not found in this place at all among the Hebrews. It is an error of a Hebrew scribe, who was misled by the same error that appears in Aquila: “This is the book of the offspring of Adam,” and in the Seventy: “This is the book of the origin of men.” For the scribe supposed that a “book” had been left out in this place too, and so he added it.

10 “And God planted a garden in Eden toward the east, and put there the man whom he had formed. And God made to spring up out of the earth every tree beautiful to look at and good for food.” When we read this and rise above the myths and the literal sense, and ask what those trees are which God tends, we say that there are no trees perceptible to the senses in that place. 11 By the same author. In the translation the phrase “a garden in Eden” is set down, with the translator using the Hebrew word itself. The proper meaning of “Eden” is “sweet” or “delightful.” The Hebrews have handed down that the place in which the Lord God planted the paradise, or garden, is called Eden. They say it is the middle of the world, like the pupil of the eye. For that reason they say the river Pheison is interpreted “mouth of the pupil,” since the first river flows out of Eden. What they hand down is this: Eden, which means “delight,” existed before the garden came to be, for the garden was planted in it.

12 “And the gold of that land is good.” When our mouth is changed by virtue, and the soul gains mastery over good thoughts, then it feeds good doctrines. The word hinted at these things when it said “good gold.” “And the name of the second river is Geon; this is the one that circles the whole land of Ethiopia.” Ethiopia is in Hebrew Chous, which also means “darkening.” So it is named from Ethiopia, that is, from Chous, because of the dark color of skin which he had beyond his other brothers. 13 “And he put him in the paradise.” Those who are born again through divine baptism are put in the paradise, that is, in the Church, to work the spiritual works that are within. They receive a commandment to love all the brothers and to eat the coming fruit through endurance, as it was said: “From every tree that is in the paradise you shall freely eat.” But a person breaks the commandment of the one who gave him new birth when he uses the reasonings of the serpent, loving some people as good and hating others as wicked. This is the tree of knowing good. Whoever tastes of it dies unhindered. It is not that God made the death, but that the man hated his neighbor. For God did not make death, nor does he delight in the destruction of the living. He is not moved by the passion of anger, nor does he devise some act of vengeance, nor is he changed to suit the condition each person deserves. Rather, he made all things in wisdom, having determined beforehand that they should be judged under a spiritual law. For this reason he says to Adam: “In the day that you eat, you shall die the death.” In this way he assigned to each deed, whether good or bad, the fitting result that naturally follows it. It is not a matter of contrivance, as some suppose who are ignorant of the spiritual law.

14 “And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” What should we understand by the garments of skin? It is quite silly, like an old woman’s tale, and unworthy of God, to suppose that God took skins from some animals, killed or dead some other way, and made the shapes of tunics by sewing the skins together like a cobbler. Others avoid this absurdity and say the garments of skin are nothing other than the bodies. That is plausible and can win agreement, but it is not clearly true. For if the garments of skin are flesh and bones, how does Adam say before this: “This now is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh”? Some, then, caught in these difficulties, declared that the garments of skin are the deadness with which Adam and Eve are clothed, having been put to death because of sin. But these people too cannot easily explain how God, and not sin, brings deadness on the one who transgressed. Besides, they are forced to say that flesh and bones are by their own nature not perishable, if our fathers received the deadness later, because of sin. And if paradise is some divine place, let them say how each of the bodily members, which were not created in vain, carried out its own function there. As for the word “nostril” in Aquila and Symmachus, or “face” in the Seventy, for the one who was formed and into whom God breathed the breath of life, we must say this: one should not cling to the letter of Scripture as if it were the truth, but should look for the treasure hidden in the letter.

15 “And he stationed the cherubim.” It is not only the ministering spirits, sent out for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation, who guard the way to the tree of life. Opposing powers also guard it, hindering those who wish to approach the tree of life. 16 “And Cain said to Abel his brother, ‘Let us go out into the plain.’” In the Hebrew, what Cain said to Abel is not written. Aquila and his company showed this, and the Hebrews say that this saying is kept in a hidden (apocryphal) writing, and that it [is placed] here in the Septuagint version. 17 “And Cain said to the Lord God, ‘My sin is too great for me to be forgiven.’” He did not judge rightly. He despised the divine law. He killed a brother, and on top of that he killed a righteous man. He lied. He asked for death, rejecting life and repentance.

18 “And he begot [a son] according to his own form and according to his own image.” Against those who think that the image of God is one thing and the one made in the image another, we must say this: if Adam is one and his image another, then there is a third, in whose image Adam was made. They will use the text, “Lord, in your city you will despise their image,” and the text, “Surely man walks about in an image.” But we must ask how Adam’s form differs from his image. 19 “And Enoch pleased God after he begot Methuselah.” If he pleased God after he begot Methuselah, then according to Scripture he was not pleasing before this. Clearly he pleased God through repentance, when he begot “the sending away of death,” which they [had] before he begot him. 20 “And God said, ‘I will wipe out man, whom I made, from the face of the earth.’” He does not say simply “I will wipe out,” but “from the earth.” For what was made is not by nature wiped out entirely, since what was made was made in the image of God.

21 “These are the generations of Noah,” and so on. If this had been written in the more ordinary way, “These are the generations of Noah” would have been followed by “Noah begot three sons.” But as it is, his generation concerns righteousness. So “These are the generations” is put first, and then is added, “being a righteous man.” 22 “Noah was well-pleasing to God. And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.” Earlier the text says: “Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-eight years, and fathered Noah. And after fathering Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and sixty-five years. All the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and fifty-three years, and he died.” And it says, “Noah was five hundred years old, and he fathered three sons.” In this we find a discrepancy of sixty-five years in Noah’s age. But here the Scripture says that Noah was well-pleasing to God, as it is also written about Enoch. For when Enoch pleased God, then God also took him up. In the same way, then, the divine Scripture did not count to Noah the sixty-five years before he became well-pleasing. So too with Abraham: the sixty years before he knew God were not counted as life for him. The same is true of thirty years for Enoch, twenty years for Saul, forty years for Solomon, and seventeen years for Hezekiah. And a discrepancy of fifteen years is found concerning Methuselah as well.

23 “And the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with injustice. And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted, because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.” Injustice corrupts the earth, but righteousness saves it. And everyone who sins, as far as it depends on him, corrupts the earth. The earth did not become corrupted in the flood (for then it was washed clean of its corruption), but in injustice. What corrupted the way of God is not spirit but flesh. For “the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God,” and “those who live in the flesh cannot please God.” 24 “Two by two from all you shall bring into the ark, to feed with yourself. They shall be male and female.” Because God wanted the people who entered the ark to remain pure from intercourse, he brings them in this way, and by the manner of their entering he commands them to spend their time in the ark. For it was not fitting, while their own kind were perishing, that these should be busy with marriage-beds and the begetting of children. But when the terrors had passed and need called for the earth to be filled with people again, he sends them out as married couples, saying: “Go out, you and your wife, and your sons, and the wives of your sons.”

25 “And from all the clean animals bring in to yourself seven by seven, male and female; and from the animals that are not clean, two,” and so on. Someone might ask how this was said to Noah as though he knew the difference between clean and unclean, when the law had not yet distinguished clean from unclean. So it is worth considering whether Noah knew these things not in the sense of “when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature the things of the law,” but from the natural law. 26 “Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood of water came upon the earth.” Perhaps “of water” is added here to mark it off from a flood that is going to come by fire. 27 “And there went in to Noah into the ark two by two from all flesh.” As to the literal text, someone might ask why it is not said that the unclean went in two by two and the clean seven by seven, but the clean are passed over in silence. But consider whether the answer lies in the words “from all flesh,” where only the unclean are indicated by “from all flesh.”

28 “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.” How had Noah increased and multiplied, when he had not yet fathered anyone after the flood? Perhaps, then, “Increase and multiply” should not be understood bodily. But if it is not bodily here, because of Noah, it is clear that it was in line with the intention of the spiritual law in the beginning as well. 29 “And the trembling and the fear of you shall be upon all the wild animals of the earth,” and so on. Someone does violence to the literal text by claiming that every living creature is afraid when it sees a human being, even the wild animals in the wilderness. But perhaps it is better to understand the wicked powers as the wild beasts of the earth, and the other kinds likewise, as suffering fear from the righteous man, with trembling upon such beings. For the wicked powers fear the righteous man.

30 “Only, you shall not eat flesh with the life-blood in it. For I will also require your blood, the blood of your souls. From the hand of all the wild beasts I will require it.” Since the wording on its face is unfitting, we must say that the “beasts” are opposing powers. The soul that sins dies, and the death of the one who has sinned will be required from the hand of those powers. It is also possible to take it of the cattle, since the Law commanded that a bull that gores be stoned. 31 “For in the image of God I made man.” God says, “In the image of God I made man.” The image of the invisible God is the Savior. So, according to the Scripture, the Savior is also God. 32a “Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.” Why, when the Scripture has said, “And the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth,” did it add, “And Ham was the father of Canaan”? If it had to mention the sons, it should have mentioned all of them, and not Canaan alone. Canaan himself also became ungodly, as the history shows. So the Spirit, wishing to show the father’s kinship with his son, in a way separates Ham from the godliness of his brothers by the addition, “Ham was the father of Canaan.” All were sons of Noah by birth, but this one was not a son in character; he was the father of a child like himself. That is why it is stated so emphatically: “He was the father of Canaan.” The Hebrew who said these things also brought forward a tradition of this kind, and added a proof for the tradition. According to it, Canaan was the first to see the shameful nakedness of his grandfather, and he reported it to his father alone, mocking the old man. Ham, who ought, like his brothers, not to have approached his father in an ungodly way, but rather to have rebuked the first one who saw and slandered, was himself persuaded. He went in, saw, and reported it to his brothers.

32b This too would seem a fable if the proof were not strong. For it says, “Noah awoke from his sleep and knew what his younger son had done to him.” Ham was not his youngest son, but his second, since the order is “Shem, Ham and Japheth.” If the Scripture had wanted to point out the youngest, it would have said Japheth. But since grandfathers always call their grandchildren, and their distant descendants, “sons,” the Scripture says that Noah learned that the youngest of his descendants, Canaan, was the one who had done this. That this is how it stands, the divine saying immediately adds: “And he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.’” If someone wonders why Ham, who was himself ungodly, did not receive the same curse as his son, let him understand this: if it had been said to Ham, “He shall be a slave of slaves,” his brothers would also have shared in the slavery, just as the brothers of Canaan became slaves under the curse, since Canaan was declared their slave.

33 “All flesh shall not die again.” He promises that he will no longer bring a flood over the whole world, even though the mind of men is set on evil from youth. It is no longer so every day, as it was before the flood. He grants a small measure of pardon to the young because of how easily that age slips. Therefore he says, “I will not again curse the earth because of the works of men, because the mind of man is diligently set on evil from youth.” That is to say, “I foresee that youth will be prone to slipping in the days to come. So do not be afraid. For this reason I will no longer bring complete destruction on you.” 34 “And Noah began to be a man of the soil, and planted a vineyard, and drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was uncovered in his house.” Noah did not know the nature of wine, that it makes drunk. The Scripture bears witness to this by saying “began,” and “was uncovered.”

35 Of the same author. Earthly wine strips the mind bare of the knowledge of intelligible things. 36 Of the same author. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was like that: like the wine that uncovered Noah. 37 Of the same author. Even if Noah was drunk and uncovered, it was nevertheless in his own house. For it belongs to a holy person not to be uncovered outside his own house. 38 “He was a giant hunter before the Lord God.” The hunter is not now placed among the righteous. And watch whether it is not so at any other time either. 39 “Now the whole earth was one lip, and there was one voice for all.” To those who do not understand the words “I and the Father are one,” and who for that reason deny that the Son has his own distinct existence, we will bring forward the text, “The whole earth was one lip, and there was one voice for all.” And if we ask what difference there is between lip and voice, we will say that the voice is assigned to the spoken language, and perhaps the lip to the thought; or else the other way round.

40 “Come, let us go down and confuse their tongue there, so that each one may not hear the voice of his neighbor.” The confusing of tongues is a mark of evil. A mark of virtue is the time when the whole company of believers had one heart and one soul. If you keep watch in this way as you read the Scripture, you will find that wherever there is a multitude of numbers, wherever there is schism, division, disagreement and the like, these are marks of evil. But wherever there is unity and concord and great power in words, these are marks of virtue. 41 “And Terah lived seventy years, and he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.” Terah, when he was seventy years old, fathered the father of the nation that keeps the feast, [the “seven”], that is, the week. But I pause to ask whether he fathered the three as triplets. Otherwise, being seventy years old, he could not have become the father of all three by one woman. Yet the text does not show that he had more than one wife.

42 “And Abram went down into Egypt to live there as a stranger, because the famine had grown strong on the land.” Abraham did not settle in Egypt as a resident; he stayed there as a foreigner, because the famine had grown strong on the land. 43 “Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were then living in the land.” The Canaanites lived in the land as settled residents, not as foreigners passing through. So the wicked settle in the land; they do not live in it as strangers. 44 “If you go to the left, I will go to the right; and if you go to the right, I will go to the left,” and what follows. Although the choice was granted to Lot out of Abraham’s gentleness, we should notice that the one who chose did not enjoy what he chose, while the one who yielded found that what was left to him was blessed.

45 And God said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you now are, to the north and the south, and the east and the sea, for all the land that you see I will give to you.” Encouragement from God follows those who succeed in virtue. After Abraham had yielded the choice to his brother, and Lot had chosen the finest and most fruitful region, God appeared to Abraham and won over his soul with words of encouragement and kind promises. It was almost as if he said: “You despised this earth, the least of things and perceptible to the senses. I will give you the earth of the meek, the land in the country of the living.” For he says, “Lift up” the eyes of your mind, “and look from the place where you now are.” The righteous man’s place is virtue, from which he watches eagerly for the things that are hoped for, and awaits what is laid up in the heavens. If it were not so, how much land could he be expected to see with bodily eyes? Or how far could he stare, turning his face round about in a circle?

46 “And they took the horse, all that belonged to Sodom.” The Sodomites are now for the first time said to have the “horse,” and this is said of them as wicked men. 47 “And one of those who had escaped came and reported it to Abram the Crosser.” Abraham is called “the Crosser” because he crossed over from the land of the Chaldeans, passed through Mesopotamia, and came to the regions of the Canaanites. Aquila and his school also render the word as “Hebrew.” 48 And he said to him: “Look up to heaven and count the stars, if you can number them. So shall your seed be.” He says that the offspring of the holy man’s soul would become so many and of such quality, in both number and brightness, because God worked with him. These offspring themselves display the divine blessing. 49 And he said: “Master and Lord, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” and what follows. It was not the way of the man whose faith was counted to him as righteousness to disbelieve, as someone might suppose. Rather, having believed earlier, he now asks also for knowledge about the things he had believed. God does not make a law for Abraham to sacrifice; rather, the most ancient people confirmed their oaths by such rites.

50 “In the fourth generation they will return here; for the sins of the Amorites have not yet been filled up, until now.” The 400 years were granted so that Abraham’s seed might multiply and the signs might take place. How then can it say, “The sins of the Amorites have not yet been filled up”? To show that they are driven out justly, because of sin. In the same way, when Scripture says, “I repented,” it does not describe what God himself feels, and he does not feel what the words say. It shows instead how out of place the thing that happened was. And a little later: Long ago there were righteous men in Palestine, Melchizedek and many others. For Melchizedek would not simply have been a priest if there had been no one to obey him. So “not yet filled up” means “the holy man among them has not yet died out.” They had not yet been filled up and made complete in their sins. For ten righteous men save a city, and at that time there were not just a few.

51 “They will afflict them four hundred years.” Why does the Apostle name thirty extra years, covering the Covenant he made with Abraham, the journey from Egypt in the wilderness, and the giving of the law? What is said here does not conflict with what is written in Exodus. There it says, “After four hundred and thirty years the host of the Lord went out of Egypt,” while here it says “after four hundred.” But we must notice that it does not say they went out when the four hundred years had been completed, but “after four hundred years,” and the thirty years make this clear. 52 “And her mistress was dishonored in her presence.” The text deliberately does not make clear by whom, so that we might search and discover this: virtue is naturally dishonored when it has given birth to the preliminary studies. It is not necessarily dishonored by Abraham. It is dishonored either by the maidservant, or by those who rejoice in her offspring before the better things are born.

53 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham.” Look up the meanings of the names, for they were named with real power by the Holy Spirit. And this too must be known: names indicate a state of character, a settled condition, and qualities. From these one can see what the person named is fitted for. 54 “Abraham said to God: Let this Ishmael live before you.” Abraham was asking something exceptional for Ishmael. He was not content with “let him live,” so he added “before you.” For living before the Lord belongs only to the blessed and the holy. 55 “Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in days.” Perhaps the phrase “advanced in days” is applied only to the righteous. [If that is so,] no wicked person has advanced. 56 “And Abraham drew near and said: Do not destroy a righteous man together with an ungodly one.” This is a commendation of Abraham. It shows how firm his piety was, and that is why he was able to draw near. But “drew near” must not be understood in a bodily sense.

57 “Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom.” Lot was not inside Sodom but beside the gate. I would say that Abraham sat outside his tent, out of hospitality, watching for travelers even at an unusual hour (for it was midday). In the same way his relative, who imitated his ways, sat by the gate and urged passers-by to come in, even when evening had already come. He knew above all the ungodliness of those in Sodom, and that there was no rest for strangers there. 58 “And he pressed them, and they went into his house.” Lot was not the kind of man Abraham was. So they were reluctant to turn aside to him, and they needed to be pressed. 59 “The men at the door of the house they struck with blindness.” It is for their good that they are struck with blindness, since they used their sight badly. Blindness hinders them from sinning.

60 “And he overthrew all these cities, and all the surrounding region, and all who lived in the cities, and everything that grows from the earth.” The Lord destroys not only the ungodly but also their foods, which are Sodomite and harmful. Among these is the vine, about which it is written: “Their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah.” 61 “And his wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” It did Lot’s wife no good to have been taken hold of by the angels, even though she went out of Sodom, since she turned back. 62 “But Abimelech did not touch her.” The words “did not touch” carry weight, as in “it is good for a man not to touch a woman.” That means not only avoiding intercourse but also not being stirred by passion in any other way, whether by looking at a woman or touching her. In fact God did not allow Abimelech to touch her. Perhaps he does the same for everyone who is supremely [of sound mind], for such self-control is a gift from God.

63 “And Abraham said to his servants, ‘Sit here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over as far as that place, and when we have worshipped we will return to you.’” He said this because he had reasoned that God is able to raise even from the dead. 64 “Abraham took the wood for the whole burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.” In the same way Christ, with his own cross on his shoulder, suffered outside the gate. He was not forced into the suffering by human strength. He went by his own will, and by the will of God, the Father. 65 “Look, Milcah also has borne sons to Nahor your brother: Uz the firstborn,” and so on. Milcah is interpreted “kingdom” [or “queen”]. Uz: “one taking counsel.” Nahor: “rest of light.” Buz: “despised.” Kemuel: “resurrection of God.” Aram (the Syrians): “lofty.” Chesed: “falsehood.” Hazo: “seeing.” Pildash: “fall of one in need,” or “fall of poverty.” Jidlaph: “abundance of [hand/time],” or “take a hand.” Bethuel: “dwelling of God,” or “daughter of God.” Rebekah: “patience.” Reumah: “expected vision.” Tebah [or Tahash]: [something being chewed over, as with the cud]. Tahash: “silence.” Maacah: “empty bowel.”

66 “Look, I am standing by the spring of water.” So we must make it our earnest aim to stand by the spring, so that the words “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water” may not fit us as well. 67 “And the young woman to whom I say, ‘Lower your jar,’” and so on. This request is fitting for the elder of Abraham’s household, and suits the man who ruled everything that was his. And notice his wisdom, and what kind of sign he sets. 68 “The man was watching her closely and kept silent, to find out whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.” From this we can learn that it is good for the one who prays not to pray with a voice that can be heard by the senses, but in the heart, to the one who searches hearts and kidneys. 69 “Isaac was traveling through the desert, by the well of vision.” This is a fitting journey for the holy man. Because of his deep withdrawal from the world he travels through the desert, and because of his contemplation of the things of God he travels by the well of vision.

70 “And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening.” Whoever is going to speak about divine things must go out from earthly things. This is what the text here calls “to meditate.” It does not add with whom he spoke, and reasonably so, since this kind of conversation does not take place among human beings. It is either with God, or a person’s own conversation with himself. 71 By the same author. The words “toward evening” are a symbol that a person can speak about the more divine things with real understanding only with difficulty, and only when he has reached old age. 72 “Abraham added and took a wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran,” and so on. From the children of Keturah came very many nations. They settled the Troglodyte desert, Arabia Felix and the lands stretching on from it, including the land of Midian. The city of Midian lies next to the desert beyond Arabia, opposite Pharan, to the east of the Red Sea. From there comes the nation of the Midianites, named after Midian, son of Abraham and Keturah. So it is clear from this that Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a descendant of Abraham and a relative of Moses.

73 By the same author. Keturah is interpreted “smaller” or “lower” [uncertain]. Jokshan: “release,” or “he will release.” Shuah: [strong people]. Sheba [or Shaban]: “turning away.” Teman: “their failings,” or “those being completed.” Dedan: “sufficient judgment,” or “singleness.” Reuel: “strong friend,” or “shepherding of God.” Nebdeel: “serving God.” Asshurim: “settled,” or “those making straight.” Letushim: “hammerers.” Ephah: “needy,” or “lacking.” Epher: “dust,” or “earthen,” or “ashes.” Hanoch: “your grace.” Abida: “height of my father.” Ephron: “dust,” or “earthen,” or “ashes.” Shaar: “noon.” Dumah: “silence.” Mamre: “from vision.” Massa: “lifting up.” Ishmael: “hearing of God.” Hadad: “measure being emptied.” Nebaioth: “prophecy.” Teman: “completion.” Kedar: “darkening.” Jetur: “banished.” Naphish [Greek: Kaphes]: “refreshment.” Mishma: “attention,” or “hearing.” Kedemah: “in front.” Massam: “from spices [or sweetenings].” Havilah [Greek: Euilat]: “in labor.” Shur: “wall.” 74 “Settle in the land that I tell you, and live as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you.” If someone lives as a foreigner in the place where God’s command says he should settle, God is with him and blesses him. But if someone settles where he should not even live as a foreigner, God is not with him and will not bless him.

75 “Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my commands, my ordinances, and my laws.” The law of Moses had not yet been written, yet Abraham kept what was commanded. He kept it as the nations do who do not have the law but do by nature the things of the law. They show the work of the law written in their hearts, and their conscience bears witness to them, as the Apostle says. 76 “And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley of Gerar and found there a well of living water.” Everyone who prays to be a child of Isaac should be eager to understand these wells and to dig them within himself. 77 “Moving on from there he dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it.” By not resisting those who wronged him, he shows that he was truly without pretense. So God approved his patient endurance and appeared to him and promised him the land. He was not to lose heart because, as a foreign resident, he was exposed to those who wanted to do him wrong. In this he was fulfilling what is said on every occasion: [“if they persecute you”].

78 “And he said: ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob.’” Isaac recognized the devout voice, which Esau could never have spoken: “What your God has delivered before me.” Recognizing it, Isaac said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob.” 79 “And he said: ‘Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a full field which the Lord has blessed.’” Clearly this was not a smell perceived by the senses. For what smell could be compared to the smell of a field? Rather, it was probably the kind of fragrance the Apostle claimed to have when he said, “We are the fragrance of Christ to God in every place.” I think that each virtue has its own fragrance, which helps to fill out the virtues. In the same way, on the opposite side, vices stink, as the one who said, “My bruises stank and festered.” It is fitting for the Lord to bless the field of virtues that is fragrant to him.

80 “And he said to him: ‘Behold, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you. Now then, child, listen to my voice: get up and run away to Mesopotamia.’” From this we learn that we must run away from those who plot against us and flee persecutions, even if we are counted worthy of visions as Jacob was. One may be comforted by seeing what followed for Jacob as he fled from Esau. He was counted worthy of visions and became the father of twelve tribes. And when he came back from the flight caused by persecution, he became Israel instead of Jacob. 81 “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” The daughters of Canaan are evil. They were evil not in Esau’s eyes but in the eyes of Isaac, his father. 82 “And the Lord God, seeing that Leah was hated, opened her womb.” He opens the womb for the birth of holy ones. According to the spiritual law, he opens the womb of a soul so that the one who is to be the mother of God’s Word may bear him.

83 By the same author. For she, the elder in time, was the first to bear to God the synagogue and the multitude of the Jews. 84 “And Laban said to him: ‘If I have found favor before you, I would have taken omens; for God has blessed me because of your coming.’” There is no divination in Jacob. But Laban says, “I would have taken omens,” as one who was a stranger to Jacob’s way of life, though he was not completely a stranger to it. To “I would have taken omens” he adds, “for God has blessed me because of your coming.” 85 “And Jacob took for himself rods of storax, of walnut, and of plane.” The three rods are symbols. They are either the three powers of the soul: the rational, the spirited, and the desiring. Or they are the three kinds of contemplation: of bodies, of bodiless things, and of the Holy Trinity. Or, in general terms, the practical life is meant by the walnut, the contemplative life by the storax, and by the plane tree he hinted at this world and the contemplation of it. Stripping off its green means renouncing it. The green of the practical life is the love of pleasure. The green of contemplation is being occupied with bodies. As for the green in the other two interpretations, examine that for yourself.

86 The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and to your family, and I will be with you.” When Jacob had borne fruit and grown rich while living outside his family, then the Lord told him, “Return to the land of your father.” We should understand the Lord to say something like this when we come to our departure, as we are about to go away to our fathers. He also gives a prize to the one who returns to the land of his father and to his family. I think the Lord was present to him in dreams. 87 “But your father deceived me and changed my wages ten lambs.” Aquila said “ten in number”; Symmachus said “ten times in number.” So, as the Hebrew says, Laban broke his agreements with Jacob ten times, because the offspring born in Jacob’s name were very many and Laban begrudged him. The two other versions made this plain: “And you cheated me of my wages by ten ewe-lambs.” But there is no mention at all of lambs that he had agreed to give me. Nowhere does it appear that he made such an agreement; it is clear from what Jacob himself says. In the same way, the text does not show Lamech killing anyone, but he is called to account, so that from the account the deed becomes clear. It is the same here. So Scripture often reveals, through someone explaining it, things it did not explain when they were done.

88 “Your sheep and your goats did not miscarry, and I did not eat the rams of your flocks.” The boldness of a good shepherd shows in these words, and we should be zealous to imitate it. Let those in the flocks of sheep and goats bear spiritual fruit, and let us not devour the rich ones of the flock. And since his gods were not found, a covenant was made with the God-inspired Jacob; and the world, when it threw away its falsely named gods, became a friend of Christ. 89 Jacob said to his brothers, “Gather stones,” and they gathered stones. In Ecclesiastes it is also written: “A time to cast stones, and a time to gather stones.” They are gathered at the command of Jacob, who was a type of Christ, so that the building may be completed on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ our Lord himself as the cornerstone, built of living stones, when it becomes a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. “And Laban turned back and went to his own place.” For the wicked man, because of his evil, his place is near. But for the one who travels by way of progress, since his place is far away, the labor is not small.

90 “And the angels of God met him.” The Lord says, “I am the way.” So angels of God meet the one who travels this way. 91 “And he commanded them, saying, ‘This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, I have lived with Laban.’” Out of respect he sincerely calls his elder brother his lord. Moreover, a humble reply turns away anger. As a man he was afraid; but trusting God, he did not flee, but went on. 92 “And he crossed the ford of the Jabbok.” The Jabbok is a river of Arabia, now called the Iambikes. 93 “And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him,” and so on. Who else could the one called both man and God be, wrestling and contending with Jacob, than the holy Word of God, who spoke to the fathers in many parts and many ways, who is given the titles Lord and God? He also blessed Jacob and named him Israel, adding, “for you have prevailed with God.” The men of that time saw the Word of God in this way, just as the apostles of our Lord said: “What was from the beginning, we have seen with our eyes, and we have looked at, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.” Jacob also saw this Word and life, and goes on to say, “For I have seen God face to face.”

94 “Now Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a coat of many colors.” The coat of many colors is the best condition of soul, adorned with the virtues. 95 “And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his sons, they hated him, and could not speak anything peaceable to him.” The one who hates is unable to speak anything peaceable to the one he hates. So let us put away hatred, so that we may be able to speak peaceable words. 96 “The Midianites sold Joseph into Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s eunuch, the chief cook.” In this place Aquila and Symmachus give the name Potiphar as “Eutiphar,” and in another place “Eutiphare.” The interpretation of the present name is set beside the word itself; the explanation of the other will appear in what follows.

97 “But Onan, knowing that the offspring would not be his, whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, poured it out on the ground.” Everyone who sows into the flesh, and stores up the works of the flesh in the earth, is like Onan. That is why he is put to death by God. 98 “And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man.” Like someone shooting at a target, he stretched his ruling faculty toward its mark, and so he always hit it. Scripture uses this expression in many places. 99 “And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Joseph.” Because the holy man was in the Egyptian’s house, the house is blessed, along with the possessions and the field of the Egyptian. But this is not a spiritual blessing. 100 “And it happened after these things that the king of Egypt’s chief cupbearer and chief baker sinned against their lord, the king of Egypt.” I think that the phrase “They sinned against the king of Egypt” can be understood by analogy of the martyrs: they sin against the spiritual king of Egypt, but not against God. For they seem to sin against the law of the world, which is opposed to the law of God.

101 “For I was stolen away by theft from the land of the Hebrews, and here too I have done nothing.” By the words “Here I have done nothing” he hints that he did nothing of the kind the native Egyptians do. And it was an Egyptian deed to lie with the master’s wife. 102 “Joseph answered and said to him: This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days.” It was also said earlier that the three branches are three days. So “three days” is presented both through branches and through baskets, since Providence made use of both, with examples fitting each man’s own way of life, to set forth three days. You could find the same sort of thing in the rest of the Scriptures too: the same thing made clear through examples that seem different. 103 “And on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants.” One of those before us observed that a person is worthless who honors the things of birth and welcomes the day of his own birth. We confirm that account, since we find something similar in the case of Herod, when Herodias’ daughter danced and John’s head was cut off. And nowhere is a righteous person shown celebrating a birthday.

104 “And after two years’ time, Pharaoh saw a dream. He thought he was standing by the river,” and so on. The person who trusts in things that flow away and are unstable thought he was standing on the river, from which the things that seem to bring prosperity come up, when his cattle are fat. But these are certainly devoured by worse ones. Compare the word “he thought” with the words “I thought we were binding sheaves.” In the second dream he says, “As though the sun and the moon and the stars were bowing down to me.” Again, the chief cupbearer says: “In my sleep there was a vine,” and so on. And the chief baker says: “I thought I was carrying three baskets of bread on my head,” and so on. 105 By the same author. The narrator of the text says, “He thought he was standing on the river,” not beside the bank of the river. But Pharaoh says, “I thought I was standing beside the bank of the river,” not on the river. Now the affairs of Egypt, that is, the affairs of the worldly, begin with better things, of which plenty is the symbol, and end in what is more bitter, of which famine is the type. The same can be seen in the account of the rich man. For the seven years of plenty were, so to speak, his: he received his good things in his lifetime, clothed in purple and fine linen and feasting splendidly every day. But it ends for him in the opposite, as he receives the evil things after his departure from here. You could see the same in those who travel the broad and roomy road, whose end is destruction, while those whose beginning is the narrow and pressed way have life as their end. Therefore: “Woe to those who are filled, for they will hunger; and to those who laugh, for they will weep.” “Blessed are those who mourn and weep, for they will be comforted.”

106 “And behold, seven cows were coming up as if out of the river,” and so on. Pharaoh’s dreams were of cows and ears of grain. The things by which the land is farmed, and what it produces, became for the king advance signs of plenty and of barrenness. 107 “Pharaoh woke up, and he slept and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears were coming up on one stalk, choice and good.” Joseph saw not ears but sheaves, while the Egyptian saw not sheaves but ears. Again, the chief cupbearer sees the three stems as three days, but the king sees the seven ears on one stalk as the connected seven years. So the one word “stalk” receives a different interpretation. If anyone ever explains Scripture differently, then, he should not be thought to be forcing it. One more thing is worth noting. In the years of plenty, seven ears come up on one stalk. In the famine there are seven ears, but no longer on one stalk. Another version says “on one reed.”

108 “When morning came, his soul was troubled. He sent and called all the interpreters of Egypt and all its wise men.” “Of all Egypt”: how did he call the interpreters and the wise men? We must ask this at once with regard to the wording. We must also ask, with regard to the deeper meaning, whether Pharaoh needs Egyptian interpreters as though they were wiser. We say “of all Egypt” because it follows from “all the interpreters of Egypt and all its wise men.” 109 “And Pharaoh told them his dream, and there was no one to report it to Pharaoh.” I do not think they were completely silent. They said everything except the actual interpretation of the dreams. But someone will ask, “How did Pharaoh know whether the interpreters and wise men of Egypt were getting the dreams right or not?” To this the Hebrew used to say that Pharaoh, when he saw the dream, also saw its interpretation, but that this had slipped from his memory. So as he listened to each man speak, he could not recall what he knew he had seen. This is why he was astounded at Joseph and at once advanced him, entrusting to him all Egypt, its grain, and the safety of the Egyptians. For as soon as Joseph explained the dreams, Pharaoh was reminded that these were the same things that had been shown to him before.

110 “Joseph answered Pharaoh and said, ‘Without God, no saving answer will be given to Pharaoh.’” Joseph is right to begin with God. Notice that to the woman he said, “And I will do this evil thing, and sin before God.” And to the eunuchs in the prison he says, “Is not the interpretation of them through God?” 111 “And Pharaoh said to all his servants, ‘Shall we [find] such a man, who has the Spirit of God in himself?’” Pharaoh saw that Joseph had made clear the solution of the dream, which had slipped from his memory. He saw that this was more than human, and so he said that Joseph had the Spirit of God in him. 112 By the same author. Pharaoh too was compelled to speak of one God. This agrees with what was said earlier about the solution of the dream. 113 “And a herald proclaimed before him.” The Hebrew has “Abrech,” which properly means “tender father.” It is fitting that he called Joseph a tender father, since Joseph, though tender in age, showed the Egyptians a fatherly, saving leadership. The word indicates nothing other than bending the knee, for the herald’s cry is plain.

114 “And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name [Psonthomphanech].” This is interpreted as “the one to whom the future was revealed.” Aquila has “[Saphamreano].” Symmachus has “[Daphthphane],” meaning “he revealed hidden things.” 115 “And he gave him Asenath, daughter of Petephres, priest of Heliopolis, as his wife.” “Putiphar” is the name of the father of the woman married to Joseph. Someone may suppose that this is a different man from the one who bought Joseph. The Hebrews, however, do not understand it that way. From an apocryphal writing they say he is the same man, who became both Joseph’s master and his father-in-law. They also say that this Asenath accused her mother before her father of having plotted against Joseph, and said that her mother was not the one plotted against. He gave her in marriage to Joseph, and he was eager to show the Egyptians as well that no such wrong had been done against his house.

116 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “because God has made me forget all my toils and all those of my father.” That God made him forget all his own toils is plainly a good thing. But whether Joseph also forgot everything that belonged to his father Jacob, and God did this to him as well, needs investigation. God does not make Joseph forget the words of Jacob and of his sons. Perhaps the word “toils” is meant to serve for both halves, so that it reads: “all my toils and all the toils of my father.” 117 He called the name of the second Ephraim, “because God has made me grow in the land of my humiliation.” In a mystical sense, spiritual Egypt is the land of the righteous man’s humiliation. So the Apostle speaks of “the body of our humiliation.” In the Psalms it says, “Our life has been humbled to the dust.” And again, “You humbled us in a place of affliction.”

118 Joseph was ruler of Egypt, and he sold to all the people of the land. When Joseph’s brothers came, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. The sons of Jacob were not “peoples of the land,” so he did not sell to them. He gave their silver back to them twice. It was fitting that the sons of Israel should receive their grain freely. 119 Of the same. The text is charming about these same men. When they buy, it calls them “sons of Israel.” When they bow down to Joseph, it calls them “Joseph’s brothers.” But Benjamin bows down neither to Esau nor to Joseph. That is why the temple comes to stand in his portion. 120 “Yes, for we are in sin concerning our brother, because we overlooked the distress of his soul when he was begging us.” The word “he was begging” comes from what the text passes over in silence, for it is nowhere recorded how he begged.

121 Reuben answered and said to them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not wrong the boy’? And you did not listen to me. See, his blood is being required.” Earlier it was said that Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites while Reuben was not there. After the sale Reuben went back to the pit and did not see Joseph in it, and he tore his garments. He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there, and I, where am I to go?” He does not seem to have learned from his brothers that Joseph had been sold. So perhaps he thought Joseph had been killed, and that is why he now says, “See, his blood is being required.” 122 Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will rise and go, so that we may live.” Perhaps he is prophesying that Benjamin was going to be with the tribe of Judah.

123 “I will take him; require him from my hand. If I do not bring him back to you,” and so on. Judah reckoned that none of the things that can happen to a man would happen to Benjamin [as a man]. So he makes this promise to his father, in a prophetic way, I think. 124 “Take some of the fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down to the man gifts: resin, a little honey, incense, storax, terebinth, and nuts.” Gifts are carried to Joseph from the fruits of the land, things Egypt does not have: resin, honey, incense, storax, terebinth, and nuts. Earlier too, “the camels were laden with incense, resin, and storax,” but not with honey, terebinth, and nuts as well. 125 Of the same. The Midianites bring down three kinds of goods into Egypt along with Joseph. The sons of Jacob add three others to these and bring them to Joseph. Still, it is the seed of Abraham that brings both the first set and the second. It was fitting that the lesser goods should come from Abraham’s illegitimate children and the greater from his legitimate ones, since Egypt had need of these.

126 They said, “We are being brought in because of the silver that was returned in our sacks at the beginning. It is so that he may bring false charges against us, attack us, and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” It is implausible that men who thought themselves in such a predicament would worry about their donkeys, unless the passage is to be read allegorically. 127 He said to them, “Be at ease. Do not be afraid.” It seems that the man in charge of Joseph’s house said this, having been helped toward reverence for God by Joseph. 128 “Benjamin’s portion was made greater than the portions of all, fivefold compared with theirs.” It was made greater either because of Jerusalem, or as a type of the apostle Paul. And Joshua, who was of the tribe of Ephraim, divided the land among the other tribes. 129 “For God sent me ahead of you, to leave you a remnant.” Since God sent Joseph ahead of his brothers into Egypt for the life of many, it is clear that in sending him to Egypt God made use of the zeal and the choice of his brothers for the plan concerning Joseph and the life of many. So there are times when God makes use of the sins of others, and plans what is his own for the salvation of other people.

130 “So now it was not you who sent me here, but God, and he made me like a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler of all the land of Egypt.” The one who rules over bodily things and never yields to them could say, “God made me lord of all the land of Egypt.” 131 “And do not spare the eyes of your possessions, for all the good things of Egypt will be yours.” Whatever there is in the land that is called Egypt in a figurative sense, it does not belong to the Egyptians but to Israel. For this reason, at the exodus, the Hebrews also stripped the Egyptians and took vessels of gold and silver, and whatever good thing there was in Egypt. 132 “And I will bring you up to the end.” This is a promise fitting for God: not only to bring up, but also to carry the one brought up through to the end.

133 Of the same. To those who look in the Pentateuch for the life after this one, we will say: since the one who said “I will bring you up” does not lie, he did bring him up later in this life, and after the exodus he brought him up, when afterward Joseph laid his own hands on the bodily eyes of Jacob. And God brought Israel up, leading him, after the end of his life, to the end that is with himself. 134 “And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath, and the sons of Israel took up Jacob their father.” The one who came to the well of the oath is Israel, bringing with him, I think, Jacob and all that was his. But the one who rises from the well of the oath is Jacob; for it was not Israel who needed raising up, but Jacob. Then after this, it is not the sons of Jacob but the sons of Israel who have taken up Jacob their father, since he needed to be taken up.

135 Of the same. Pharaoh sent wagons to carry not Israel but Jacob. Jacob went into Egypt, but he did not go down. For it was to Israel that it was said, “Do not be afraid to go down into Egypt.” 136 “Jacob went into Egypt, and all his seed with him.” Here it is called the seed of Jacob, though earlier it was the sons of Israel. Still, if Jacob and all his seed went into Egypt, yet Er and Onan did not go in, then they were not the seed of Jacob. 137 “His daughters and the daughters of his daughters.” It is clear that, since he had his daughters with him, he also brought along his sons-in-law. For he could not bear to send his daughters out of his house, lest they turn to idolatry. 138 Of the same. If Jacob has no daughters, how do his daughters go down into Egypt? So let it not be taken allegorically. The text goes on to say that thirty-three came from Leah, and that a daughter was named Dinah.

139 “And these are the names of the sons of Israel who went into Egypt.” These names are of the sons not of Jacob but of Israel, and they went in, not down, into Egypt. 140 “The firstborn of Jacob, Reuben,” and so on. Though he said above that these were the names of the sons of Israel, now he says that Reuben is the firstborn of Jacob. 141 Of the same. It should be noted that along with the sons born to Jacob in the land of Canaan, he also counts the sons of Joseph who were in Egypt. For this contributes to the later passage near the end, where he says: “Ephraim and Manasseh are mine, like Reuben and Simeon.” 142 “And Israel said to Joseph, ‘I will die from now on, since I have seen your face, for you are still alive.’” It is a wonder that one who lived in Egypt was not harmed by the Egyptians and remained in a life according to God. That is why Jacob, marveling, said to Joseph, “For you are still alive.”

143 “Your servants have been shepherds of sheep from childhood until now.” ... “And they said to Pharaoh, ‘We have come to live as foreigners in the land.’” They speak boldly to Pharaoh about being shepherds. Then, so that Pharaoh would not be disturbed, they say, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land.” 144 And Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Let them live in the land of Goshen.” In the Tetrapla, from which the copy was also taken over to agree with the sequence in the Hebrew and the other editions, it is shown that the Septuagint has in some places been rearranged, so that what came first became last and what came last became first. This is what happened here, and for that reason we have set out the proper order. It is this: “We your servants will live in the land of Goshen” is joined to “And Pharaoh said to Joseph: Let them live in the land of Goshen.” Then: “And if you know that there are among them...” and so on.

145 “And if you know that there are capable men among them, appoint them rulers over my cattle.” Pharaoh wants to appoint the capable men of Israel as rulers over Egyptian cattle. But if anyone in Israel is a capable man, let him flee the wish that lies behind such an offer. “And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from him.” Having blessed a righteous man, he would not have gone out from him. We must ask whether anyone who blessed a holy person ever went away from him. Here Jacob goes out as the one who has blessed; but earlier Jacob goes in as the one who has obtained blessings. 146 “And Joseph brought all the silver into Pharaoh’s house.” And where else should all the silver of Egypt and Canaan have been, if not in Pharaoh’s house? 147 “And they brought their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the donkeys.” Joseph does this not out of harshness, but so that the people would not wear themselves out feeding the animals, and so that afterward they might receive the animals back as a favor from Pharaoh. “And nothing is left to us before our lord except our own body and our land.” Of sinners it is said, “because they are flesh.” So here too the Egyptians, being flesh, say that what is left to them is not a soul, but their own body and their land. We should understand that this is what all who are strangers to God would say.

148 “So that we may not die before you, and the land be laid waste, acquire us and our land.” The Egyptians want to live before Pharaoh, not before God. 149 By the same author. The Egyptians want to become Pharaoh’s possession, as the saints are God’s. 150 “For the famine had prevailed over them.” Clearly this means the Egyptians; for it is never said of Israel that the famine prevailed over them. 151 “And Jacob, having strengthened himself, sat on the bed.” He sat after being strengthened so that he could speak the God-inspired words. For I think Jacob was the one who was troubled, but Israel was the one who was strengthened, who also blessed the sons of Joseph, and what follows. In that passage the name Jacob is not used in connection with the boys. 152 “And he said to me: Behold, I will increase you and multiply you.” Either the ungodly man does not increase, or he does not increase from God. You may say the same about the word “multiply.” For it is God who says these things when he blesses.

153 “Ephraim and Manasseh are mine; they shall be mine like Reuben and Simeon.” Ephraim is like Reuben, for both are firstborn. Manasseh is like Simeon, for each was second son to his mother. “And the offspring whom you father after these shall be under the name of their brothers; they shall be called in their inheritances.” He means that Joseph’s other children, who will be born later, will be placed in the distribution of the inheritance under the tribes named after their brothers. 154 “And Israel, seeing the sons of Joseph, said: Who are these to you?” and what follows. The phrase “Israel, seeing the sons of Joseph” will seem to contradict “Jacob’s eyes were heavy with old age,” unless perhaps the eyes’ inability to see and Israel’s seeing the offspring of Joseph are the same thing, since God had shown him what was going to happen. 155 “And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim.” This is because the prophets followed along, understanding what they were prophesying. Indeed, afterward the tribe of Ephraim took the lead over the ten tribes. For from Ephraim descended the blessed Joshua son of Nun, who is mentioned in Numbers and was a true type of Christ. For this reason Joseph’s blessing is carried over to him.

156 “May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.” And he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. You will use this text well on the point that in prayer the more honored person stands in front. “Bending down you lay down like a lion and like a lion’s cub.” “You lay down” signifies the death that came by the plan of salvation. Christ is a lion to those who have become completely wild like beasts, but to those who are still beginners he is a cub.

Notes on Genesis

Note 7

4a “I am bringing rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. And I will wipe out every living thing that I made from the face of the earth, from man to beast.” Why did he destroy the multitudes of people with the flood? He wanted to wipe out the race of Cain. But the tribe of the godly had become mixed with it, and so it shared in the punishment. Wishing to make a kind of new beginning for life, he preserved Noah and his sons with their wives. Noah was godly and righteous, sprung from the piety of his kinsmen, and he hated the mixing in of lawlessness. He did not do these things, as some say, out of anger and regret. For these are human passions, and the divine nature is free from passions. Besides, regret belongs to those who learn the nature of things only after experience. Then, learning by experience that they planned wrongly, they regret it. But God sees what will happen after many generations as if it had already happened. Since he sees ahead and knows beforehand, he governs everything accordingly. Why then does he regret, when he arranges everything according to his own foreknowledge? So when it is said of God, regret is a change in his plan. “I regret,” he says, “that I made Saul king.” This means: I decided to stop him and appoint another.

4b So it is here too: “I considered that I had made man.” He decided to destroy the human race. But since he loves humanity, he kept Noah as seed for the race. And since he created the kinds of animals without reason for human use, these were destroyed along with humans, except those kept safe in the ark with Noah. For God the Master commanded that two of each kind of the animals considered unclean be saved, and seven of the clean. He was going to permit people to eat meat, and those he was raising would offer sacrifices of reverence to him. So he ordered that more of the clean animals be preserved: three pairs for the increase of the kind, and the one left over for sacrifice. For right after [the ending] of the punishment, Noah offered a thank offering to God, “from all the clean cattle and from all the clean birds,” it says. So it is clear that this is why God ordered seven of each clean kind to be brought into the ark: so that Noah, by offering the one animal from each kind, would not destroy the pairs.

16 “And the Lord God shut the ark from outside.” The security of the door, once shut, needed a more than human power.

Note 19

“And he overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region and all who lived in the cities.” “And his wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” The Lord destroys not only the ungodly but also their foods, which are Sodomite and harmful. Among these is the vine, about which it is written: “Their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah.” As soon as Lot was brought safely to the city, the fire was brought on the cities, a sign of the end that is coming. She did not become simply a pillar, but especially a pillar of salt, because of the words, “You are the salt of the earth.” You can also apply to the pillar of salt the words, “But if the salt becomes foolish?” Lot did not go up to the mountain at once, as he had been told, but first went to Zoar, because he had no confidence in himself about going up to the mountain.

Note 23

“Land of four hundred didrachmas.” Note that four hundred is the price of a tomb, because the four and the hundred are harmful numbers. If you search the Scriptures for similar cases, you will find them.

Note 37

“Shall we really come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you on the ground?” Clearly Joseph’s mother had died before the dreams. So might we say that Mary and Joseph are foretold as going to bow down to Christ?

Note 43

(8) Verse 22. “And he said to them, ‘Peace be to you [or: God be gracious to you], do not be afraid.’” This man seems to have been helped toward true reverence for God by Joseph.

Note 46

(9) Verse 34. “We are men who raise livestock.” “Every shepherd of sheep is an abomination to the Egyptians,” but not to the Hebrews. So if he stands over us as a shepherd, he is an abomination to the Egyptians. But if he is a hired hand, he may even be a friend to the Egyptians.

Selecta on Exodus

Note 1

“And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And when you go away, you will not go away empty.” This promise had been given beforehand to Abraham, when God said, “After these things they will come out from here with their belongings.”

Note 2

“And Pharaoh’s heart grew strong, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had commanded them. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart has become heavy, so that he will not send the people away.’” The phrase “Pharaoh’s heart has become heavy,” spoken by the Lord after Aaron’s rod turned into a serpent and swallowed up the rods of the magicians, deserves a closer look. Is it something different from “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened,” which is said many times, and from “grew strong”? For this too is said: “And Pharaoh’s heart grew strong, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken.” It seems to me that a heart which yields to divine things is softened. It does not have the strength to stand against the divine, and it is not weighed down or dragged below to earth and matter. But a heart which strains against the divine will and opposes it is hardened and pushes back like a stone. It throws off the word, and in arrogance resists it with a falsely named strength. Such a heart, dragged down by wickedness, which tends downward, must necessarily become heavy. Yet these things do not happen to the heart in the same sense, even though growing strong and becoming heavy both happen to one and the same wicked heart. For in one case, as it is said somewhere, the heart becomes stony and is hardened. In the other, it does not give way to the divine nature as to something stronger. Rather, it takes its stand to fight against God, and so is said to be strong.

Note 3

“And Moses said to him, ‘As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord, and the thunders will stop, and the hail, and there will be no more rain.’” For the Maker of all has nature yielding to his command.

Note 4

From the same author. It should be noted that Moses does not work all his wonders with the rod, but also with his hands and with a word, so that the many would not suppose that the rod accomplished them through magical deceptions.

Note 5

“Let each one take a sheep for the households of the families,” and what follows. He says they are to take the sheep from the tenth day and keep it until the fourteenth. They are to name it, saying, “This sheep is sacrificed for so-and-so and so-and-so,” with no more than ten names. On the fourteenth it is sacrificed between the evenings, as the fifteenth begins. So from the taking to the sacrifice there are five days, when the light of the moon is full.

Note 6

“You shall have a perfect male sheep, a year old.” Christ is the sheep of a year. For the year shows that he lacks nothing and has nothing deficient.

Note 7

“And the whole multitude of the congregation of the sons of Israel shall slaughter it toward evening.” We are commanded to slaughter the sheep toward evening, because our true sheep, the Savior, also came into the world at the last hour.

Note 8

“And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, in the houses,” and what follows. We sacrifice, and we anoint our houses with the blood. I mean the body, if the anointing is faith in him, through which I believe that the power of the destroyer is made ineffective. After we have been anointed, that is, have believed in Christ, then we are commanded to come to the eating. The meat is to be neither raw nor boiled in water, but roasted with fire.

Note 9

“Everyone who eats leaven, that soul will be destroyed out of Israel.” A person will be destroyed on account of leaven! The God of all, who gives the laws, destroys the man with leaven in his house on the day of unleavened bread just as he destroys the adulterer, the fornicator and the corrupter of boys. Is this in keeping with God? Is this in keeping with the heavenly law? But I would answer that if you have the leaven of wickedness, and do not destroy every trace of the leaven of evil from your ruling faculty (for this is your true house), then the God of all lays down by law that you be destroyed, because you did not throw the old leaven out of yourself. For when you come into the season of new things, you must become new and keep nothing that is old. “The old things have passed away,” and so on. See how the feast of unleavened bread had to be kept in the month of new things.

Note 10

“You shall touch the lintel and both doorposts with some of the blood that is by the door.” The lintel, as one of those before us has explained, stands for the rational part of the soul; the two doorposts stand for the spirited part and the desiring part.

Note 11

By the same author. We do not drive out the destroyer by some device once he has got inside. Rather, so that he may not slip in at all, we set up a guard by means of the law. The guard and the security is this: the lintel and the doorposts of the entrance are marked with the blood of the lamb.

Note 12

“And it happened at midnight that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt.” God brings these deadly plagues through angels. So too in the books of Kingdoms we learn how in a single night the angel destroyed 185 thousand of the Assyrians.

Note 13

“This is the law of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it. And every household servant, and anyone bought with money, you shall circumcise him, and then he shall eat of it,” and so on. Following what has been set out, this is a third law, which the Lord spoke again in addition to the two laws. Pay attention to the precision of Scripture: the Lord did not give this law about the Passover at the beginning. For if he had said, while they were still in Egypt, before Israel departed from Egypt, “No foreigner shall eat of it. And every household servant, and anyone bought with money, you shall circumcise, and then he shall eat of it,” the great mixed crowd that came out of Egypt would not have come out. So he kept this law back, so that after those who wished had come out, another law might be given. And a little later. If we interpret these things allegorically with reference to our soul, we shall say that the household-born are the words that have grown up with us and been cultivated in us, which begin to take their stand from notions born in us. The bought-with-silver are all those that come to us from outside, from teaching and from lessons. He says, then, that all are to be circumcised and cleansed, both the household-born and the bought. But we must receive no foreigner, that is, we must not admit a foreign teaching. For he does not admit a foreigner who wishes to profane the feast of the Lord. And a little later. If you eat the words of God in the Church, but also eat in a synagogue of the Jews, you transgress the commandment that says, “It shall be eaten in one house.” And if you share in the words of God in one house, the Church, and then leave it and suppose you are sharing in God in a heretical assembly, when the commandment says, “It shall be eaten in one house,” you are not eating in one house. Understand, then, that the Church is the one house. So never eat of the lamb once you have gone outside the Church.

Note 14

“And you shall not carry any of the meat out of the house.” A word of the Church must not be carried as an envoy outside the Church, just as the meat is not to be carried outside the house. I mean into a synagogue of Jews or of heretics. For that is like throwing pearls before pigs.

Note 15

“No uncircumcised person shall eat of it.” Every offspring of the soul that is intelligible, and passes beyond material things (and the material things are the female ones), must be circumcised and cleansed, so that in this way a person may share in the meat of the Passover. The proselyte also becomes like one native to the land. For God does not prefer well-born seed; he welcomes the choice of the will.

Note 16

From the same. By “uncircumcised in the flesh” he means the person who has not cut away fleshly things, just as “uncircumcised in the eyes” means the person who looks at what he should not. From the same. See to it that none of you is uncircumcised in heart, that none has failed to be circumcised with the circumcisions that the Word teaches we should undergo. Which ones are these? Some people are reproached as being uncircumcised in the ears, and all who have not been circumcised in their hearing are unclean. A person is uncircumcised in the lips when he does not cut away hostile and unclean words. In the same way one can speak of someone as uncircumcised in the flesh, the one who has not cut away fleshly practices. One can also speak of someone as uncircumcised in the eyes, the one who sees what he should not and does not cleanse his power of sight. And a person is uncircumcised in the flesh when he does what he should not do.

Note 17

“Then the sons of Israel set out from Sokchoth and camped at Othom, beside the wilderness.” In Numbers it is written that the sons of Israel encamped “from Boutha to the mouth of Iroth, which is opposite Beelsepron, next to Borra.”

Note 18

“And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the cavalry of the Egyptians, and third-men [tristatai] over them all.” These are either men able to fight against three, or men who in the battle line stand in the third rank, behind the front-rank man and the second-rank man. Others say that they built large chariots for use against the enemy, big enough to hold three, so that one drove and the other two fought. Or it may mean men who rode on three horses; for the ancients in wars, when they went out as charioteers, rode on two or three horses. Or he calls the “third-man” the one who, when the king is seated, stands third, or has the third seat. Such was David beside Saul, as you will find in the first book of Kingdoms.

Note 19

“There God set before him ordinances and judgments, and there he tested him.” When God tests, he tests for a person’s benefit, not to do him harm. This is why it was said, “God cannot be tested by evils.” The word adds this a little later: “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God, I will not bring on you any of the disease that I brought on the Egyptians.” So the one who bears trials nobly is crowned. The case of the devil is different: he tests in order to put to death those who obey him. God tests without being ignorant of what will happen, but he gives the person freedom to do what he wishes, because of free will.

Note 20

“This is the word which the Lord spoke: Sabbaths, a holy rest to the Lord, tomorrow.” I am recording what has been said about the sabbath. First, according to the plain wording, so that people may see what the letter means. Second, according to the higher sense, in which I would say that a sabbath day has come upon the righteous person who has put an end to the works of the world, who glorifies God and is at leisure for him; who does not depart from the place where Christ stands; who does not light a fire that burns, in that he does not sin at all; and who does not lift burdens. Every sin is a heavier burden than a mountain. This is why the Psalmist said, “Like a heavy load they have weighed heavily on me.” There would also be another recording of the sabbath, according to which “a sabbath rest remains for the people of God,” a rest that is sacred and holy. The one who has done all his works is judged worthy of that sabbath, giving his leisure to nothing but the contemplation of truth and wisdom. We have set these things alongside because Moses here makes mention of keeping the sabbath.

Note 21

“And you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it.” Christ is likened to a rock because he cannot be shaken or moved. For the divine and supreme nature is firmly fixed in what is good.