037: On The Prayers and Curses Uttered By Noah When He Became Sober (Part 1)

ON THE PRAYERS AND CURSES UTTERED BY NOAH WHEN HE BECAME SOBER - Part 1^* *Yonge’s title, A Treatise on the Words that Noah Uttered When He Awoke from His Wine, or On Sobriety.

I. (1) Having examined in the preceding treatise what has been said by the lawgiver about wine and the nakedness which attends upon it, we will now begin to connect the following essay with the statements advanced in that work. Now in the sacred scriptures we come to the following words immediately after the account we have just been examining, "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew all that his younger son had done to Him." ⁽¹⁾ [Gen 9:23] (2) Sobriety is confessed to be a most advantageous thing, not only for souls but also for bodies, for it drives away the diseases which arise from immoderate repletion, and it sharpens the outward senses to an exceeding degree of acuteness, and it altogether prevents bodies from being weighed down so as to fall, but keeps them light, and raises them up, and incites them to the exercise of their appropriate energies, implanting in every part a promptness and vigour; and in short, sobriety is the cause of exactly as many good things, as drunkenness, on the contrary, is of evils. (3) Since then sobriety is most advantageous to those bodies to which the drinking of wine is naturally suitable, is it not much more so to souls, with which all perishable food is inconsistent; for what thing in human nature can be more noble than a sober mind? what glory can be more glorious? what wealth can be more rich? what authority more powerful? what strength more vigorous? of all admirable things what can be more admirable? Let there only be the eye of the soul fit to act, which is able to penetrate every where and to open every thing, being in no part hindered of dimmed by the suffusion of its own moisture; for being then most exceedingly sharpsighted as to its comprehension, and looking into wisdom itself, it will meet with images such as are intelligible only by the intellect, the contemplation of which attracts the soul and will not suffer it any longer to turn aside to the objects which belong to the outward senses. (4) And why should we wonder if there is no created thing equal in honour to a man who is sober in his soul, and gifted with acute vision? for the eyes of the body and the light which is appreciable by the outward senses are honoured in an excessive degree by all of us. Accordingly, many who have lost their sight, have voluntarily also thrown away life, thinking as far as they were concerned, that death itself was a lighter evil than such deprivation. (5) In proportion then as the soul is superior to the body, in the same proportion also is the mind better than the eyes; and the mind while it is free from injury and imperfection, not being oppressed by any of the iniquities or passions which are produced by insane drunkenness, renounces sleep as a thing which causes forgetfulness and hesitation in what is to be done; but it embraces wakefulness, and uses acuteness of vision, with respect to every object worthy of being beheld, being kept awake by exceedingly perfect memory, and committing actions which are in accordance with the knowledge that it acquires.

II. (6) Such then is the condition of the sober man; but when Moses speaks of Noah’s "younger son," he is not so much meaning to make a statement respecting his age, as to show the disposition with which those persons are endued who are inclined to innovation; since how could he have forced himself to see, what ought not to be seen, in defiance of all law and justice, or to divulge what ought to have been concealed in silence, or to bring to light what might have been kept in the shade at home, and to transgress all the boundaries which should confine the soul, if he had not been eager for change and innovation, laughing at what happens to others when he ought rather to lament over such accidents, and not to ridicule things which it was more natural and decent and proper to grieve for. (7) In many places indeed of the exposition of the law, Moses speaks of those who are somewhat advanced in age as young men, and on the other hand those who are not yet arrived at old age he entitles elders; not having regard to the number of their years, whether it be a short or a very long time that they have lived, but to the faculties of their soul, according to the way in which it is influenced, whether it be for good or for evil. (8) Accordingly he calls Ishmael when he has now lived a space of nearly twenty years a child, speaking by a comparison with Isaac who is perfect in virtue; for, says he, "he took bread, and a skin of water, and gave it to Agar, and put it upon her shoulder, and the child also, when Abraham sent them forth from his House." ⁽²⁾ [Gen 21:14] And again he says, "She put the child down under a pine tree;" and further on he says, "that I may not see the death of the child." And yet before Ishmael was born and circumcised, thirteen years before the birth of Isaac, and having been now weaned for more than seven years, he was banished with his mother, because he being illegitimate was mocking the legitimate son, as though he were on terms of equality with him. (9) But nevertheless, though in reality a young man, he is still called a child, being as it were a sophist put in comparison with a wise man; for Isaac received wisdom for his inheritance, and Ishmael sophistry, as when we define the characters of each we purpose to show in certain dialogues. For the same relation which a completely infant child bears to a full-grown man, the same does a sophist bear to a wise man, and the encyclical branches of education to real knowledge in virtue.

III. (10) And again in his great song he calls the whole people, when it is smitten with a desire of innovation by the name suited to foolish and infant age, entitling them "children." "For," says he, "the Lord is just and holy; have they not sinned against him, blameworthy children that they are? O crooked and perverse generation, is this the requital that ye offer to the Lord? is the people so foolish and not Wise?" ⁽³⁾ [Deu 32:5] (11) Therefore, he here distinctly calls those men children who deserve blame and have guilt in their souls, and who through folly and senselessness commit many errors in their actions which are not according to uprightness of life; not having regard to the bodily age of the children, but to the irrational and really childish condition of their minds. (12) Thus indeed, Rachel also, that is beauty of body, is represented as younger than Leah, who is beauty of soul. For the beauty of the body is mortal, but that of the soul is immortal; and all the things which are accounted honourable when judged of with reference to the outward senses, are all taken together inferior to the one single thing, the beauty of the soul. And it is in accordance with this principle that Joseph is always spoken of as young and as "the Youngest." ⁽⁴⁾ [Gen 49:22] For when he manages the flock "with his illegitimate Brethren," ⁽⁵⁾ [Gen 39:1] he is called young; and when his father prays for him, he says, "My youngest son whom I have prayed for, return to me." (13) This is the champion of all the power of the body and the unflattering companion of the abundant supply of external things, who has not yet found out any perfect good more valuable and honourable than that of the elder soul; for if he had found it, he would have departed and abandoned the whole of Egypt without ever turning back. But now he chiefly prides himself on his nourishing it and supporting it as a nurse; and when he who sees beholds the warlike and authoritative part of it overwhelmed in the sea and destroyed, he sings a hymn to God. (14) It is therefore a juvenile disposition, which is not yet able to tend the sheep with the legitimate genuine virtues, that is to say, to govern and superintend the irrational nature existing in accordance with the soul, but which still with its illegitimate brethren, honours the things which appear good, in preference to joining his legitimate brothers and to those things which really are good. (15) But he is spoken of as "youngest," even although he keeps on increasing and improving for the better, in comparison with the perfect man, who thinks nothing honourable but what is good. On which account he says in an encouraging manner, by way of exhortation, "Return to me," a phrase equivalent to, "Desire the elder opinion." Do not be in everything aiming at innovation, do now love virtue for herself alone; do not, like a foolish child dazzled by the splendour of the events of fortune, allow yourself to be filled entirely by deceit and erroneous opinions.

IV. (16) It has therefore been proved, that in many passages Moses is in the habit of calling a person young, having regard not to the age of the body, but to the desire of the soul for innovation; and also we will now proceed to show that he calls some persons elders, not because they are oppressed by old age, but as being worthy of honour and respect. (17) Who then of those persons, who are acquainted with the sacred scriptures, is ignorant that the wise Abraham is represented as less long lived than almost any one of his ancestors? And yet of all those who lived to the most extreme old age there is not one, as I think, who is called an elder, but he alone has this title given to him. Therefore, the sacred scriptures say, that "Abraham was now old and advanced in years," and, "The Lord blessed Abraham in all Things." ⁽⁶⁾ [Gen 24:1] (18) This appears to me to be added as a sort of explanatory cause for what has been said before, namely, why the wise man is called the elder. For when the rational part of the soul is made of a good disposition by the kind providence of God, and when it reasons not only about one species, but about everything which is presented to it, using older opinion, it then becomes blessed, and is itself the older part of the people. (19) Thus also he is accustomed to call the members of the assembly of the God-loving people which consists of the number of ten sevens, elders. For we read in the scripture the direction given to Moses, "Assemble for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you yourself know that they are Elders." ⁽⁷⁾ [Num 11:16] (20) Therefore, it is not only those persons who are looked upon by ordinary people as old men, inasmuch as they are hierophants, but those whom the wise man alone knows, whom he thinks worthy of the appellation of elders. For those whom he rejects, like a skilful money-changer, from the coinage of virtue, being alloyed, are all in their souls inclined to innovation; but those whom he wishes to make friends to himself, are of necessity well tested and approved, and elders as to their minds.

V. (21) Therefore, the scripture is seen to prove each particular of what I have said more plainly to those who have taught themselves to obey one injunction of the law. "For if," says the scripture, "a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and if she who is beloved bears him a child, and also she who is hated, and if the child of the wife who is hated be the first born, then, on the day on which he bestows on his sons the inheritance of his substance, he shall not be able to give the share of the first born to the son of her who is beloved, overlooking his real first born son, the child of her who is hated; but he must recognize the son of her who is hated as his first born, to give him a double share of all the possessions that belong to him, because he is the beginning of his children, and the rights of the first born belong to Him." ⁽⁸⁾ [Deu 21:15] (22) You observe here now that he never calls the son of the wife that is beloved the first born or the elder, but he often gives this title to the son of her who is hated; and yet he has already pointed out that the son of her who is beloved was in point of time the first, and the son of her who is hated the last, at the very beginning of this injunction; for he says, "If the beloved wife and she who is hated both bear children." But nevertheless the offspring of the first mentioned, even though it may be considerably earlier in point of time is looked upon as younger by right reason when it comes to decide between them. But the offspring of her who is spoken of in the second place, even though it may come after as to the time of its birth, is thought worthy of the more important and elder share. (23) Why so? because we say that she who is beloved is the symbol of pleasure, and she who is hated is the emblem of prudence. For the chief multitude of men love the company of the one to excess, inasmuch as she, from her own treasures, profers them most seductive charms and allurements, from the very first moment of their birth to the extremity of old age; but of the other they detest excessively the austere and very dignified look, just as silly children dislike the profitable but unpleasant reproofs of their parents and guardians. (24) And both the wives become mothers: the one bringing forth that disposition in the soul which loves pleasures, and the other that which loves virtue; but the lover of pleasure is imperfect, and in reality is always a child, even if he reaches a vast age of many years. But, on the other hand, the lover of virtue, though he is in old age as to his wisdom, while still in his swaddling clothes, as the proverb has it, will never grow old. (25) In reference to which Moses says very emphatically with respect to the son of virtue, which is hated by the generality of men, that "he is the beginning of his children," being, forsooth, the first both in order and precedency. And to him belong the rights of the first-born by the law of nature, and not by the lawless principle existing among men.

VI. (26) The prophet, then, in accordance with this law, and as it were shooting his arrows with happy aim at the appointed mark, in strict agreement with what has gone before, represents Jacob as younger in point of age than Esau (because from our very earliest birth folly is bred up with us, and the desire of what is honourable is engendered subsequently), but as older in point of power. In consequence of which Esau id deprived of his birthright as the elder son, but Jacob is very naturally invested with it; (27) and the arrangements made with respect to the sons of Joseph are consistent, if we examine them carefully and with much consideration; when the wise man, under the influence of immediate inspiration, having them both standing before him, does not put his hands on their heads, directing them as the youths are straight before him and immediately, but crossing his hands, so as to touch with his left the head of the one who appears to be the elder, and with his right that of him who seems the younger; and the elder one in point of age is called Manasseh, and the younger is called Ephraim. ⁽⁹⁾ [Gen 48:13] (28) And these names, if they are translated into the Greek language will be found to be symbols of memory and recollection; for the name Manasseh, being interpreted, means "from forgetfulness," and which by another name is called "recollection;" for he who comes to a recollection of what he has forgotten is advancing out of forgetfulness. But Ephraim being interpreted means "fruitbearing," a most appropriate appellation for memory; because the fruit which is the most useful and truly eatable for souls is lasting memory, which never forgets. (29) Memory, therefore, exists best when meeting with manly and solid natures, in respect of which it is looked upon as younger, having been brought forth late; but forgetfulness and recollection, almost from the earliest birth of a man, dwell alternately with every one, on which account recollection has the precedence in point of time, and is placed on the left hand by the wise man when he is arranging the two in order; but memory will share the chief honours of virtue, which the lover of God, receiving eagerly, will think worthy of a better portion by himself. (30) Therefore, the first man, being become sober, and knowing what his younger son had done to him, imprecates very terrible curses on him; for, in truth, when the mind recovers its sobriety, it does in consequence immediately perceive all that innovating wickedness has previously done to it, which, while it was intoxicated, it was unable to comprehend.

VII. (31) We must now then consider whom the wise man here curses; for this is one of the matters especially deserving of investigation, since he curses not the son who appears to have done the wrong, but his son, and his own grandson, of whom he has not mentioned any apparent sin at present, either small or great; (32) for the who from superfluous curiosity wished to see his father naked, and who laughed at what he saw, and who divulged what ought properly to have been concealed in silence, was Ham, the son of Noah; but he who bears the blame for the offences committed by the other, and who reaped the fruit of them in curses is Canaan; for it is said, "Cursed is Canaan the son, the servant, the servant of servants, shall he be to his Brethren." ⁽¹⁰⁾ [Gen 9:25] (33) And yet, as I said before, what sin had he committed? But they, who are accustomed to explain the formal, and literal, and obvious interpretations of the laws have perhaps considered this by themselves; but we, being guided by right reason, as it suggest itself to us, will interpret it according to the explanation which is ready to hand, having just made this necessary preface.