The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved in his readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac. He is stayed from the act by an angel. Former promises are renewed to him. His brother Nachor’s issue.
The faith and obedience of Abraham is proued in his redines to sacrifice his sonne Isaac. 11. He is stayed from the act by an Angel. 16. Former promises are renewed to him. 20. And his brother Nachor hath also much issue.
1After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.Dopo avvenute queste cose, Dio tentò Abramo, e gli disse: Abramo, Abramo. Ed egli rispose: Eccomi.VVHICH things being done, God tempted Abraham, and said to him; Abraham, Abraham. But he answered: Here I am.Quæ postquam gesta sunt, tentavit Deus Abraham, et dixit ad eum: Abraham, Abraham. At ille respondit: Adsum. 2He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.E quegli disse: Prendi il tuo figliuolo unigenito, il diletto Isacco, e va' nella terra di visione: e ivi lo offerirai in olocausto sopra uno de' monti, il quale io t'indicherò.He said to him: Take thy only begotten sonne, whom thou louest, Isaac, and goe into the Land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust vpon one of the mountaines which I wil shew thee.Ait illi: Tolle filium tuum unigenitum, quem diligis, Isaac, et vade in terram visionis, atque ibi offeres eum in holocaustum super unum montium quem monstravero tibi. 3So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.Abramo adunque alzatosi, che era ancor notte, imbastò il suo asino, e prese seco due giovani, e Isacco suo figliuolo: e avendo tagliate le legna per l'olocausto, s'incamminò verso il luogo assegnatogli da Dio.Therfore Abraham rising vp in the night, sadled his asse: taking with him two young men, and Isaac his sonne: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.Igitur Abraham de nocte consurgens, stravit asinum suum, ducens secum duos juvenes, et Isaac filium suum: cumque concidisset ligna in holocaustum, abiit ad locum quem præceperat ei Deus. 4And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.E il terzo giorno, alzati gli occhi, vide da lungi il luogo:And the third day, lifting vp his eyes, he sawe the place afarre of:Die autem tertio, elevatis oculis, vidit locum procul: 5And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass; I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.E disse a' suoi giovani: Aspettate qui coll'asino: io, e il fanciullo anderemo fin colà con prestezza, e fatta che avremo l'adorazione, torneremo da voi.and he said to his young men: Tarie you here with the asse: I and the boy going with spede as farre as yonder, after we haue adored, wil returne to you.dixitque ad pueros suos: Expectate hic cum asino: ego et puer illuc usque properantes, postquam adoraverimus, revertemur ad vos.
6And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,Prese eziandio le legna per l'olocausto, e le pose addosso ad Isacco suo figliuolo: egli poi portava colle sue mani il fuoco, e il coltello. E mentre camminavano tutti e due insieme,He tooke also the wood of the holocaust, and laid it vpon Isaac his sonne: and him selfe caried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they went on together,Tulit quoque ligna holocausti, et imposuit super Isaac filium suum: ipse vero portabat in manibus ignem et gladium. Cumque duo pergerent simul, 7Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?Disse Isacco a suo padre: Padre mio. E quegli rispose: Che vuoi, figliuolo? Ecco; disse quegli, il fuoco, e le legna: dov'è la vittima dell'olocausto?Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou sonne? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victime of the holocaust?dixit Isaac patri suo: Pater mi. At ille respondit: Quid vis, fili ? Ecce, inquit, ignis et ligna: ubi est victima holocausti ? 8And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.E Abramo disse: Iddio si provvederà la vittima per l'olocausto, figliuol mio. Andavano adunque innanzi di conserva:And Abraham said: God wil prouide vnto him selfe the victime of the holocaust, my sonne. They went on therfore together:Dixit autem Abraham: Deus providebit sibi victimam holocausti, fili mi. Pergebant ergo pariter. 9And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.E giunsero al luogo mostrato a lui da Dio, in cui egli edificò un altare, e sopra vi accomodò le legna: e avendo legato Isacco suo figlio, lo collocò sull'altare sopra il mucchio delle legna.and they came to the place which God had shewed him, wherin he builed an altar, and laid the wood in order vpon it: and when he had bound Isaac his sonne, he laid him on the altar vpon the pile of wood.Et venerunt ad locum quem ostenderat ei Deus, in quo ædificavit altare, et desuper ligna composuit; cumque alligasset Isaac filium suum, posuit eum in altare super struem lignorum. 10And he put forth his hand, and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.E stese la mano, e diè di piglio al coltello per immolare il suo figliuolo.And he stretched forth his hand, and caught the sword, for to sacrifice his sonne.Extenditque manum, et arripuit gladium, ut immolaret filium suum.
11And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.Quand'ecco l'Angelo del Signore dal ciel gridò, dicendo: Abramo, Abramo. E quegli rispose: Eccomi.And behold an angel of our Lord from heauen cried, saying: Abraham, Abraham. Who answered: Here I am.Et ecce angelus Domini de cælo clamavit, dicens: Abraham, Abraham. Qui respondit: Adsum. 12And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.E quegli a lui disse: Non stendere la tua mano sopra il fanciullo, e non fare a lui male alcuno: adesso ho conosciuto, che tu temi Dio, e non hai perdonato al figliuol tuo unigenito per me.And he said to him: Stretch not forth thy hand vpon the boy, neither doe thou any thing to him: now haue I knowen that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thine onlie begotten sonne for my sake.Dixitque ei: Non extendas manum tuam super puerum, neque facias illi quidquam: nunc cognovi quod times Deum, et non pepercisti unigenito filio tuo propter me. 13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.Alzò gli occhi Abramo, e vide dietro a sé un ariete preso per le corna tra' pruni, e se lo tolse, e in olocausto lo offerse in vece del figlio.Abraham lifted vp his eyes, and saw behind his backe a ramme amongst the briers sticking fast by the hornes, which he tooke and offered an holocaust in stede of his sonne.Levavit Abraham oculos suos, viditque post tergum arietem inter vepres hærentem cornibus, quem assumens obtulit holocaustum pro filio. 14And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon, even to this day, it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.E pose nome a quel luogo, il Signore vede. D'onde fino a quest'oggi si dice: Sul monte il Signore provvederà.And he called the name of that place, Our Lord seeth. Wherupon euen to this day it is said, In the mountaine our Lord wil see.Appellavitque nomen loci illius, Dominus videt. Unde usque hodie dicitur: In monte Dominus videbit. 15And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:E l'Angelo del Signore per la seconda volta chiamò Abramo dal cielo, dicendo:And the angel of our Lord called Abraham the second time from heauen, saying:Vocavit autem angelus Domini Abraham secundo de cælo, dicens:
16By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:Per me medesimo io ho giurato, dice il Signore: perché hai fatta una tal cosa, e non hai perdonato al figlio tuo unigenito per me:By my owne selfe haue I sworne, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thine onlie begotten sonne for my sake:Per memetipsum juravi, dicit Dominus: quia fecisti hanc rem, et non pepercisti filio tuo unigenito propter me: 17I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore; thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.Io ti benedirò, e moltiplicherò la tua stirpe, come le stelle del cielo, e come l'arena, che è sul lido del mare: il tuo seme s'impadronirà delle porte de' suoi nemici:I wil blesse thee, and I wil multiplie thy sede as the starres of heauen, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: thy sede shal possesse the gates of his enemies,benedicam tibi, et multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas cæli, et velut arenam quæ est in littore maris: possidebit semen tuum portas inimicorum suorum, 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.E nel seme tuo saran BENEDETTE tutte le nazioni della terra, perché hai obbedito alla mia voce.and in thy sede SHAL BE BLESSED al the nations of the earth, because thou hast obeyed my voice.et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terræ, quia obedisti voci meæ. 19Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.Tornò Abramo da' suoi servi, e se ne andarono insieme a Bersabee, e ivi egli abitò.Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.Reversus est Abraham ad pueros suos, abieruntque Bersabee simul, et habitavit ibi. 20After these things, it was told Abraham, that Melcha also had borne children to Nachor his brother.Dopo che queste cose furono avvenute così, fu recata ad Abramo la novella, che Melcha avea ancor ella partoriti de' figliuoli a Nachor fratello di lui,These things so being done, it was told Abraham that Melca also had borne children to Nachor his brother,His ita gestis, nuntiatum est Abrahæ quod Melcha quoque genuisset filios Nachor fratri suo: 21Hus, the firstborn, and Buz, his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians,Hus primogenito, e Buz suo fratello, e Camuel padre de' Siri.Hus the first be gotten, & Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Sirians,Hus primogenitum, et Buz fratrem ejus, et Camuel patrem Syrorum, 22And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,E Cased, e Azau, e anche Pheldas, e Jedlaph,and Cased, and Azau. Pheldas also & Iedlaph,et Cased, et Azau, Pheldas quoque et Jedlaph, 23And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: these eight did Melcha bear to Nachor, Abraham’s brother.E Bathuel, da cui nacque Rebecca: questi otto figliuoli partorì Melcha a Nachor fratello d'Abramo.and Bathuel, of whom was borne Rebecca: these eight did Melcha beare, to Nachor Abrahams brother.ac Bathuel, de quo nata est Rebecca: octo istos genuit Melcha, Nachor fratri Abrahæ.
24And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.E una sua concubina, chiamata Roma, partorì Tabee, e Gaham, e Tahas, e Maacha.And his concubine, named Roma, bare Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.Concubina vero illius, nomine Roma, peperit Tabee, et Gaham, et Thahas, et Maacha.
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Year of the World 2135, Year before Christ 1869.
Challoner
God tempted, etc. God tempteth no man to evil, James 1:13. But by trial and experiment, maketh known to the world and to ourselves, what we are; as here by this trial the singular faith and obedience of Abraham was made manifest. (Challoner)
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Thy only begotten, or thy most beloved, as if he had been an only child; in which sense the word is often taken, 1 Paralipomenon 29:1. Ismael was still living; but Isaac was the only son of Sara, the most dignified wife.
Lovest. Hebrew, "hast loved" hitherto; now thou must consider him as dead. He has been to thee a source of joy, but now he will be one of tears and mourning.
Menochius
Of vision. Septuagint, "high," being situated on Mount Moria, by which name it was afterwards distinguished, ver. 14. (Menochius)
Haydock
Every word in this astonishing command, tended to cut Abraham to the heart; and hence we may the more admire his strength and disinterestedness of his faith. He could hope, in a manner, against hope, knowing in whom he had trusted, and convinced that God would not deceive him, though he was at a loss to explain in what manner Isaac should have children after he was sacrificed. (Haydock)
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In the night: de nocte, Hebrew, "very early in the morning."
Calmet
His son, 25 years old, without perhaps saying a word to Sara about the intended sacrifice; though some believe, he had too great an opinion of her faith and constancy, not to reveal to her the order of God. The Scripture is silent. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Holocaust. These were probably the only sacrifices yet in use. (Calmet)
Menochius
The conversation of Isaac could not fail to pierce the heart of his father. (Menochius)
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The place. Mount Moria, on part of which the temple was built afterwards; and on another part, called Calvary, our Saviour was crucified, having carried his cross, as Isaac did the wood for sacrifice.
Haydock
His son: having first explained to him the will of God, to which Isaac gave his free consent; otherwise, being in the vigour of his youth, he might easily have hindered his aged father, who was 125 years old, from binding him. But in this willingness to die, as in many other particulars, he was a noble figure of Jesus Christ, who was offered because it was His will. (Haydock)
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Haydock
To sacrifice; a thing hitherto unprecedented, and which God would never suffer to be done in his honour, though he was pleased to try the obedience of his servant so far. The pagans afterwards took occasion, perhaps, from this history, to suppose, that human victims would be the most agreeable to their false deities: (Calmet) but in this misconception they were inexcusable, since God prevented the sacrifice from being really offered to him, in the most earnest manner, saying, Abraham, Abraham, as if there were danger lest the holy man should not hear the first call. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Hast not spared. Thus the intentions of the heart become worthy of praise, or of blame, even when no exterior effect is perceived. (Haydock)
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Calmet
He took; God having given him the dominion over it. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Will see. This became a proverbial expression, used by people in distress, who, remembering how Abraham had been relieved, endeavoured to comfort themselves with hopes of relief. Some translate the Lord will be seen, which was verified when Christ was crucified. (Menochius)
Or, he will provide, alluding to what was said, ver. 8.
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Stars and dust, comprising the just and sinners.
Haydock
Gates, shall judge and rule. (Haydock)
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Hus, who peopled Ausitis in Arabia, the desert, where Job lived.
Calmet
Syrians, called Camiletes, to the west of the Euphrates; or father of the Cappadocians. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Concubine, or wife, secondary in privileges, love and dignity. Though Nachor did not, perhaps imitate the faith and virtue of his brother Abraham, but mixed various superstitions with the knowledge of the true God; yet we need not condemn him, for having more wives than one. (Haydock)
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God tempted, etc.... God tempteth no man to evil, James 1.13; but by trial and experiment maketh known to the world, and to ourselves, what we are, as here by this trial the singular faith and obedience of Abraham was made manifest.
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1. Tempted.] God tempteth none to euil (as S. Iames teacheth) but by God tempteth not to euil, but by experience maketh knowen what vertue is in men. Isaac figured Chists diuinitie, the Rāme his humanitie. Iac. 1. 13. trial and experiment maketh men knowen to the world, as here Abrahams Heb. 11, 19. S. Aug. li. 16. c. 32. ciuit. Theod. q. 72. in Gen. faith and singular obedience were manifested, when he doubted not To offer his only begotten in Sacrifice, accounting that God is able to raise vp euen from the dead. VVherupon he receiued his sonne againe in parable, that is, in figure and mysterie of Christ dead and aliue againe. Isaac also in this action signified the diuinitie of Christ which suffered not, and the ramme among the briers figured his humanitie, that should be offered in Sacrifice to God.
The third prophecie in the office before Masse on Easter eue. And the first on whitsuneue.
Concordance Iudith. 8. Heb. 112.
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This historie is clere, and a most notorious example of perfect obedience.
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It is a gratful and religious thing, by naming of places, to cō serue the memorie of Gods benefites, that posteritie may know them. S. Chrisost. ho. 48. in Gen.
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Nachors progenie is here mentioned to shew whence Rebecca came, whom Isaac maried.
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Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 10
Accordingly, to begin with, Isaac, when led by his father as a victim, and himself bearing his own “wood,” was even at that early period pointing to Christ’s death; conceded, as He was, as a victim by the Father; carrying, as He did, the “wood” of His own passion.
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 13
… But, because these had been mysteries which were being kept for perfect fulfilment in the times of Christ, Isaac, on the one hand, with his “wood,” was reserved, the ram being of fered which was caught by the horns in the bramble;
Tertullian † AD 220 Five Books in Reply to Marcion 2
Should tempt the faithful sire and seer, to whom
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.16
In Genesis: “And God, tempted Abraham, and said to him, Take thy only son whom thou lovest, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell thee.”
Alexander of Lycopolis † fl. AD 300 Of the Manichæans 24
… of the Church, that He gave Himself up for the remission of sins, obtains credit from the vulgar, and appears likewise in the Greek histories, which say that some “surrendered themselves to death in order to ensure safety to their countrymen.” And of this doctrine the Jewish history has an example, which prepares the son of Abraham as a sacrifice to God.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.71
71. Abraham was a great man, a patriarch, the offerer of the new sacrifice,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 42
[2.] What meaneth, “to prove him”? Did not He know what would be said by him? We cannot assert that. What then is the meaning of the expression? We may discover it from the Old [Testament]. For there too it is said, “And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Take thy beloved son whom thou lovest” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 25
And he shows another thing too, by saying, that “God tempted Abraham.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.7
… That we should believe this to be true of men is nothing wonderful, for even the Lord Himself was tempted, and of Abraham the scripture bears witness that God tempted him.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.28
… Woe unto the adversities of this world, once and again, and for the third time, from the desire of prosperity; and because adversity itself is a hard thing, and makes shipwreck of endurance! Is not the life of man upon earth a temptation, and that without intermission?
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.14
… And this searching trial of faith we read that the Divine righteousness brought about also in the case of the grandest of the patriarchs; where it is said: “And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham.”
Pseudo-Clement The Clementine Homilies 3.39
… And whereas it is written, ‘And the Lord smelled a scent of sweetness,’ it is the part of one in need; and his being pleased with the fat of flesh is the part of one who is not good. But his tempting, as it is written, ‘And God did tempt Abraham,’
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 4.15
… And hence the Word, with a view of conveying to Abraham the idea of ‘Only-begotten,’ says, ‘Offer thy son thy well-beloved
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.25
… The man just accuses himself rather than others. For he is just who does not spare himself, and who does not suffer his secret actions to be concealed. See now how just Abraham was! In his old age he begat a son according to promise, and when the Lord demanded him for sacrifice he did not think he ought to refuse him, although he was his only son.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood 1.8
… nor yet Elias after the slaughter of the 100 soldiers, and the captain, and the torrents of blood which he caused to be shed by the destruction of those who sacrificed to devils. For if we were to concede this, and to examine the bare deeds in themselves apart from the intention of the doers, one might if he pleased judge Abraham guilty of child-murder
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 2
… For what, let me ask, looks more amiss than for a father to slay with his own hands his only and legitimate son? (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 5
… Neither then do thou suffer any of the slavish and ignoble passions to be present unto thee, but go up alone into the mountain where he went up, where no second person is permitted to go up. And should any such thoughts attempt to go up with thee, command them with authority, and say, “Sit ye there, and I and the lad will worship and return to you;” (
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Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 31
… Let us think over the things which have taken place from the beginning. For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he wrought righteousness and truth through faith? Isaac, with perfect confidence, as if knowing what was to happen, cheerfully yielded himself as a sacrifice.
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.5.4
4. Righteously also the apostles, being of the race of Abraham, left the ship and their father, and followed the Word. Righteously also do we, possessing the same faith as Abraham, and taking up the cross as Isaac did the wood,
St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh 6
Sarah had lulled Isaac, who as a slave bare the Image of the King his Master on his shoulders, even the sign of His Cross; yea, on his hands were bandages and sufferings, a type of the nails.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 2.6
… For that rock was a thing already created, and after the mode of its action was called by the name of Christ, whom it signified; like the stone placed under Jacob’s head, and also anointed, which he took in order to signify the Lord; or as Isaac was Christ, when he carried the wood for the sacrifice of himself.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 14
… But intent upon offering up a pure victim, he would not defile it with tears, or with any opposition. Mark too with what gentleness Isaac asks, “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”: and what was the father’s answer? “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” (
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.25
… give me my certificate of retirement, as sovereigns do to their soldiers; and, if you will, with a favourable testimony, that I may enjoy the honour of it; if not, just as you please; this will make no difference to me, until God sees what my case really is. What successor then shall we elect? God will provide Himself
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 3
… but if well, why smitest thou Me?” ( John xviii. 23 .) and manifested His gentleness more than if He had held His peace. And as this one speaketh with his father from the altar, so too doth He from the Cross, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” What then said the Patriarch? (
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.17
66. Isaac feared the Lord, as was indeed but natural in the son of Abraham; being subject also to his father to such an extent that he would not avoid death in opposition to his father’s will.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 1
… For how shalt such an one be less than Abraham? He saw not his son stretched out a corpse, but only looked to do so. So if he gain in the comparison by his purpose to slay and his stretching forth his hand to take the knife, (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 16.32
… And the Angel of the Lord called unto him from heaven, and said, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy beloved son for my sake.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 86.3
… But Abraham in his riches was poor, humble, reverencing all commands, and obeying them. So true was it that he counted all those riches for nothing, that on God’s command he was ready to sacrifice his son,
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.6
In Genesis, to Abraham: “And the Angel of the Lord called him from heaven, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not spared thy son, thy beloved son, for my sake.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.21
… “And the angel of the Lord called him from heaven, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not spared thy beloved son for my sake.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… But if to the Father, I ask first, how? For it was not by Him that we were being oppressed; and next, On what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father, Who would not receive even Isaac, when he was being offered by his Father, but changed the sacrifice, putting a ram in the place of the human victim?
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.97
97. He believed that he when old could beget a son, and judged himself when a father able to sacrifice his son; nor did his fatherly affection tremble when duty aided the right hand of the old man,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 3
[6.] But if you will, let us listen too to the voice itself. What then was the voice? “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon Isaac, neither do thou any thing unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy son, thy well-beloved, for My sake.” (
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St Melito of Sardis † AD 180 Melito, the Philosopher 9
The knowledge of the Lord —that which makes men to know Him. To Abraham He says: “ Now I know that thou fearest the Lord;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.2.1
… This also is made a subject of inquiry by some, viz., who the angel was that, speaking from heaven to Abraham, said, “Now I know that thou fearest God, and on my account hast not spared thy beloved son, whom thou lovedst.”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 9.64
… by the occasion being meant the occasion, not of obtaining but of declaring knowledge, as we learn from His words to Abraham, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not withheld thy beloved son, for My sake
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 9.71
… for, as we said above, God’s knowledge is not the discovery of what He did not know, but its declaration. The fact that the Father alone knows, is no proof that the Son is ignorant: He says that He does not know, that others may not know: that the Father alone knows, to shew that He Himself also knows. If we say that God came to know the love of Abraham
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 Homilies on the Psalms 1
… But Abraham, after being for a long time unknown—the word of God came to him when he was seventy years of age—was, upon his proving himself faithful to the Lord, admitted to intimacy with God by the following act of high condescension: Now I know that thou fearest the Lord thy God, and for My sake thou hast not spared thy dearly loved son
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.28
… However, since Christ’s enemies do not yield even to these considerations, I wish, though knowing that they have a heart harder than Pharaoh, to ask them again concerning this. In Paradise God asks, ‘Adam, where art Thou ’ and He inquires of Cain also, ‘Where is Abel thy brother
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 14.7
… And that what I have said is not conjectural, the event demonstrated; for after this sacrifice, no one vowed such a vow unto God. Therefore also He did not indeed forbid this; but what He had expressly enjoined in the case of Isaac, that He directly prohibited;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 64
… For He also endured that many lowly things should be said concerning Him for the salvation of the hearers. For the, “Adam, where art thou?” ( Gen. iii. 9 ), and, “That I may know whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it” ( Gen. xviii. 21 ); and, “Now I know that thou fearest God” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 180.3
… For it is no falsehood to call a day joyous because it renders men joyous, or a lupine harsh because by its bitter flavour it imparts harshness to the countenance of him who tastes it, or to say that God knows something when He makes man know it (an instance quoted by yourself in these words of God to Abraham, “Now I know that thou fearest God”).
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.12
Again, “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven; neither the Son, but the Father.” For He is ignorant of this, as making others ignorant ; that is, in that He did not so know as at that time to show His disciples: as it was said to Abraham, “Now I know that thou fearest God,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Good of Marriage 22
… forasmuch as Abraham, being bidden to slay his son, fearless and devoted, spared not his only son, whom from out of great despair he had received
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 44.16
… And we speak of a “sullen sky.” Not that there is any such feeling in the clouds, but because men are affected with sullenness at the sight of such an appearance of the skies, it is called sullen for this reason, that it makes us sullen. So also God is said to “know” when He causes us to know. God says to Abraham, “Now I know that thou fearest God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 59.1.8
… This interpretation indeed we can also accept, namely, “Rise up to meet me,” as if “help me.” But that which he hath added, “and see,” must be understood as, make it to be seen that I run, make it to be seen that I am guided: according to that figure wherein this also hath been said to Abraham, “Now I know that thou fearest God.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.14
… Wherefore the firmness of his faith was not without reason proved, and when the grace of God, which had for a while left him to prove him, came to his aid, it was said: “Lay not thine hand on the lad, and do nothing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest the Lord, and for my sake hast not spared thy beloved son.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
… and if not I will know,” and again, “Now I know that thou fearest God”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 10.39
… lib. lxxxiii. q. 60; lib. 1 de Trinit., c. 12; in psalm vi., init.; in ps. xxxiv. serm. 2). He mentions also another thing that may be understood of the same Son, namely that Almighty God sometimes speaks in a human manner, even as He says to Abraham, Now I know that thou fearest God (
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.12
79. It is better to make no vow than to vow what God does not wish to be paid to Him to Whom the promise was made. In the case of Isaac we have an example, for the Lord appointed a ram to be offered up instead of him.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.98
98. The father offered indeed his son, but God is appeased not by blood but by dutiful obedience. He showed the ram in the thicket
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 1.2
… for example, wood, stone, cattle, and other things of that kind. Not, however, the wood which we read Moses cast into the bitter waters to make them sweet, nor the stone which Jacob used as a pillow, nor the ram which Abraham offered up instead of his son;
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 93.30
… “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” And again, it is of the same Church that it is said with respect to the multitude of her members: “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 16.32
… for God was not previously ignorant of this. Then, having offered up that ram instead of Isaac his son, “Abraham,” as we read, “called the name of that place The Lord seeth: as they say this day, In the mount the Lord hath appeared.”
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 6
… and thus looking forward ‘he saw it, and was glad .’ And when he was tried, by faith he offered up Isaac, and sacrificed his only-begotten son—he who had received the promises. And, in offering his son, he worshipped the Son of God. And, being restrained from sacrificing Isaac, he saw the Messiah in the ram
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 16.32
… that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess by inheritance the cities of the adversaries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.8
71. Admit, therefore, that Christ, as touching His Godhead, cannot be called inferior [to the Father]. Christ speaks to Abraham: “By Myself have I sworn.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 2
… He wishes to be the first in bestowing benefits, and not to seem to be the first, but to be returning a kindness. Which God also has done in the case of men. He purposed to give His own Son for us; but that He might not seem to bestow a favor, but to be indebted to us, He commanded Abraham to offer his son,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 79.5
… “To Abraham were the promises made. As I live, saith the Lord, I swear by Myself, because thou hast obeyed My Voice, and hast not spared thine own beloved son for Me, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea, and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 3
Orth. —When then you hear God saying to Abraham “Because thou hast not withheld thy son thy only son,”
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Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 32
… For from him have sprung the priests and all the Levites who minister at the altar of God. From him also [was descended] our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh. From him [arose] kings, princes, and rulers of the race of Judah. Nor are his other tribes in small glory, inasmuch as God had promised, “Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.20
… For when (the apostle) says, “Not (the righteousness) which is of the law, but that which is through Him,” he would not have used the phrase through Him of any other than Him to whom the law belonged. “Our conversation,” says he, “is in heaven.” I here recognise the Creator’s ancient promise to Abraham: “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 1
… to God’s Law—is enough to prevent Israel from priding himself on the notion that “the Gentiles are accounted as a little drop of a bucket,” or else as “dust out of a threshing-floor:” although we have God Himself as an adequate engager and faithful promiser, in that He promised to Abraham that “in his seed should be blest all nations of the earth;”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 236.3
… to it shall the Gentiles seek.” “I have called thee…for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles”; and thus then God remained a priest although He did not receive the sceptre of Judah, and King of all the earth; so the blessing of Jacob was fulfilled, and in Him
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 28
… What then is that which is stated? There had been a promise made to Abraham, saying, “Unto thee will I give the earth, and to thy seed, and in thy seed shall all the nations be blessed.” ( Gen. xii. 7 ;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Commentary on Galatians 3
How on the Gentiles? It is said, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed:” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 76.1
… “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to thy seed,’ which is Christ.” And the promise to which the apostle refers is this: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 88.11
… Nevertheless, you who have by schism severed yourselves from the seed of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 93.51
… This faith therefore is, as we say, spread abroad throughout all nations, which are according to God’s testimony blessed in the seed of Abraham.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 10.32
… For though this was so, he did not on that account pronounce that the way it self had no existence. This, I say, is the universal way for the deliverance of believers, concerning which the faithful Abraham received the divine assurance, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 19.22
But it may be replied, Who is this God, or what proof is there that He alone is worthy to receive sacrifice from the Romans? One must be very blind to be still asking who this God is. He is the God whose prophets predicted the things we see accomplished. He is the God from whom Abraham received the assurance, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 22.3
Wherefore, not to mention many other instances besides, as we now see in Christ the fulfillment of that which God promised to Abraham when He said, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen 5
… The Church herself addresses you out of the mouth of a mother’s love: “I, whom ye view with wonder throughout the whole world, bearing fruit and increasing, was not once such as ye now behold me.” But, “In thy Seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen 7
… Ye saw not what was foretold and fulfilled concerning the human birth of Christ, “Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a Son;” but you see the Word of God which was foretold and fulfilled unto Abraham, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.41
41. Besides this wonderful agreement between the types and the things typified, the adversary may be convinced by plain prophetic intimations, such as this: "In thy seed shall all nations be blessed." This was said to Abraham,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 1.23
… In conclusion, the Testament is said to have been given to the flames by certain men in the time of persecution. Now let its lessons be read, from whatever source it has been brought to light. Certainly in the beginning of the promises of the Testator this is found to have been said to Abraham: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.8
… "Then," says the apostle, "then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." And again he says, "Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." And the same apostle shows that the seed of Abraham belongs to all nations from the promise which was given to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.14
… But you not only close your ears in disbelief against what is said, but you even thrust out your tongues in madness to speak against what is already being done. Abraham heard the promise, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.36
… though, even if that had been proved, the consequence would have been that they would not be our fathers, according to your earlier assertion, seeing that we had not followed their deeds: yet neither should we on their account be severed from the companionship of unity, and from the seed of Abraham, in which all nations of the earth are blessed.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.39
… You look at the tares throughout the world, and pay no heed to the wheat, although both have been bidden to grow together throughout the whole of it. You look at the seed sown by the wicked one, which shall be separated in the time of harvest, and you pay no heed to the seed of Abraham, in which all nations of the earth shall be blessed.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.65
… Then I too will rejoin again your own words, What is that to us? What is it to all the nations of the earth? What is it to those who praise the name of the Lord from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same? What is it to all the earth, which sings a new song? What is it to the seed of Abraham, in which all the nations of the earth are blessed?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.50
… from the river unto the ends of the earth;" and, "I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession;" and that the covenant of God made with Abraham may be quoted in behalf of our, that is, of the Catholic communion, in which it is written, "In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed;"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 1.25
… I begin the statement of His doings among men with Abraham. To this man, indeed, was given by an angelic oracle an intelligible promise, which we now see in its realization. For to him it was said, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 1.4
… I need not have said, it was a scantling; once it was Abraham only. Consider, brethren; it was Abraham alone throughout all the world at that time; throughout the whole world, among all men, and all nations; Abraham alone to whom it was said, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 38.10
… and the other whom for His mercy’s sake He did not reject; that it might be fulfilled which had been promised to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 41.1
… For in whose Name are all nations called and blessed, but in His whom they think not to have been the Christ? For this Son of David, that is, “of the seed of David according to the flesh,” is the Son of Abraham. Now if it was said to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 79.9
9. Let the Church then say those last words also, “If ye had believed Moses, ye would believe me also; for he wrote of me;” for that I am His body of whom he wrote. And of the Church did Moses write. For I have quoted the words of Moses “In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 6.9
… just as it was said of Abraham’s seed, and the Apostle Paul expounds it, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed; he said not, In seeds, as in many, but as in one, and in thy seed which is Christ.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 9.9
… whence also the water-pots are said to be “according to the purification of the Jews:” nevertheless, that the prophecy was proclaimed to all other nations also is manifest, forasmuch as Christ was concealed in him in whom all nations are blessed, as it was promised to Abraham by the Lord, saying, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 12.2
… and not without reason God saith, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: this,” saith He, “is my name for ever.” Rather let us remember what was promised to Abraham himself: for this was promised to Isaac, and also to Jacob. What do we find? “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.13
… Sometimes when they are ashamed to be thought blind, they say they have seen what they have not seen. Do we in this way point out the Church, my brethren? Is it not open? Is it not manifest? Has it not possessed all nations? Is not that fulfilled which so many years before was promised to Abraham, that in his seed should all nations be blessed?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 40.15
… He has suffered; let us “suffer with Him.” He has been glorified; we shall be “glorified with Him.” “I have declared Thy righteousness in the great congregation.” How great an one is that? In all the world. How great is it? Even among all nations. Why among all nations? Because He is “the Seed of Abraham, in whom all nations shall be blessed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 72.19
… “And there shall be blessed in Him all the tribes of the earth.” For in Him is fulfilled that which hath been promised to Abraham. “For He saith not, In seeds, as though in many; but as though in one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ.” But to Abraham is said, “In thy Seed shall be blessed all the tribes of the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 73.1
… What was there in the thigh of Abraham, where he put his hand in swearing? What was there there, except that which even then was promised to him, “In thy seed shall be blessed all nations”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 80.9
… 14 ). Although these things have been done, “Turn Thou nevertheless.” “Look from heaven and see, and visit this vineyard.” “And perfect Thou her whom Thy right hand hath planted” ( ver. 15 ). No other plant Thou, but this make Thou perfect. For she is the very seed of Abraham, she is the very seed in whom all nations shall be blessed:
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 152
… of David, the Son of Abraham,” and the blessed Peter in the Acts says David “being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he seeing this before spake of his resurrection,” and God says to Abraham “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 24
… the prophetic lore assisting our knowledge, so that we have no manner of doubt about that which we know to have been predicted by such sure oracles. For hence it is that the Lord says to Abraham: “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 63
… Holy Ghost, fertilizes His unpolluted Church with the same blessed Spirit, that by the birth of Baptism an innumerable multitude of sons may be born to God , of Whom it is said, “who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God .” It is He, in Whom the seed of Abraham is blessed by the adoption of the whole world
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GOD TEMPTED ABRAHAM, by giving and setting before him a signal object and matter of heroic virtue and obedience, for this end, that he might display, sharpen, perfect, and finally crown his virtue hidden in his soul. But the Devil tempts by setting before illicit attractions, for this end, that he might draw man into sins and hell: of which evils God is not the intender, for He tempts no one in this manner and for this end. Seneca also saw this through a shadow, in the book On Providence: "God," he says, "educates good men, as stern fathers educate their sons, more harshly, and says: Through hard works, pains and losses they gather strength: virtue withers without an adversary; and in his presence it is sharpened, and amid adversities it remains in its state, and whatever happens it draws to its own color, as the sea does rivers. Behold a match worthy of God, a strong man composed with evil fortune: a spectacle worthy of God. Fortune, like a gladiator, seeks for itself the strongest as equals, passes over others with disdain: it tests fire in Mutius, poverty in Fabricius, exile in Rutilius, torment in Regulus, poison in Socrates, death in Cato." Far more does our God test fire in Lawrence, beasts in Ignatius, stones in Stephen, the rack in Vincent, wheels in Catherine, the sword in Dorothy. Seneca continues: "The intemperance of prosperity is most dangerous. Great men sometimes rejoice in adverse things, just as brave soldiers in wars. You know the helmsman in a storm, the soldier in battle. The gods will follow this principle in good men, which teachers follow in their disciples, who demand more labor from those in whom there is more certain hope of learning." "This is the purpose of God, which is that of a wise man: to show that these things which the crowd desires, which it fears, are neither good nor evil: therefore he sets them before both good and evil men." They are not evils, except to those who bear them badly. "What is the duty of a good man? to offer himself to fate (God): it is great consolation to be swept away with the universe: God has removed all evils from him, namely, shameful deeds." "Those who are patient are born as an example. God is outside patience, they are above patience. Therefore God says to them: I have given you solid goods; in each one that which has been tested is most solid." "Let the good say: We have been deemed worthy by God, in whom he might test how much human nature could endure. The best soldiers are sent to the hardest tasks." These and more things Seneca scattered throughout. The Hebrews note that Abraham was tempted ten times by God: first, when he was commanded to leave his country and kindred, and to go as a sojourner into an unknown land; second, when on account of famine he was commanded to sojourn in Egypt; third, when his wife was taken from him by Pharaoh, and he himself underwent danger of life, and his wife danger of chastity; fourth, when on account of the quarrels of servants he was forced to separate from Lot, whom he had nourished and loved as a son; fifth, when he most powerfully defeated four kings, so that he might free Lot from captivity; sixth, when Hagar, whom he had taken as a wife, being already heavy with child by him, at the instigation of Sarah, he cast out of his house; seventh, when being old he was commanded to be circumcised; eighth, when through king Abimelech his wife was taken from him; ninth, when he again cast out of his house his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael, first at Sarah's instigation, then at God's command: tenth, when he was commanded to immolate his son Isaac: and because this was the gravest of all, therefore Moses alone calls this a temptation. AND HE SAID TO HIM, at night through a vision, as appears verse 3. BEHOLD, I AM HERE. In Hebrew hinneni, behold I, namely as it were a servant ready in body and soul, so that I may obey you, and may devote myself and all that is mine to your will: what therefore do you ask of me?
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Take thy son. The Hebrew words strike and wound the soul of Abraham more sharply, for they have: Take now thy son, thy only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac. And the Septuagint: Take thy son, thy beloved son, whom thou lovest, that Isaac. As many words here, so many are the goads, so many are the temptations. First, "take," he says, not oxen, not servants, but "thy son." Second, and him "thy only son," if thou hadst many, thou wouldst easily give one of many; now thou hast an only-begotten, and him I demand that thou sacrifice to me. Third, "whom thou lovest," in Hebrew, whom thou hast loved, namely continually, hitherto without any cessation or diminution of love: both because Isaac was of the sweetest character, most reverent and obedient to his father; and because his father had begotten him in old age by a miracle; and because through Isaac the greatest posterity had been promised to Abraham, and all blessing, and Christ himself, through whom he hoped for eternal life. Wherefore in offering his son, he was at the same time offering all his hopes, and all the good things promised to him, to God. Fourth, "Isaac," as if he said: Give me thy Isaac, thy laughter, thy joy, thy heart. This name struck and wounded the ears and soul of the father in a wonderful way: for now he was to be not Isaac, but Abel; not Benjamin, but Benoni; not laughter, but mourning. See Origen, homily 8. Fifth, "thou shalt offer"; he does not say: Thou shalt give him to be offered, but thou with thy own hands shalt slay him, burn him, sacrifice him. Sixth, "to me" (for this is understood here); Abraham knew that God abhorred human victims; he knew that in Isaac all his seed and all good things had been promised to him: could he not therefore say: How then, O Lord, as if forgetful of all these things or repenting, dost thou command that thy Isaac and mine be slain, and sacrificed to thee? Seventh, "for a holocaust," so that neither body nor any part of the body be left to the father, but all Isaac be reduced to ashes and as it were annihilated. Eighth, "take now," not tomorrow, not in the morning, but now, this night, this hour. Behold, in how many and how great ways Abraham was tempted and proved, what a palm of obedience did he bear! See with what lofty and steadfast spirit he swallowed and overcame all these things; so that thou mayest rightly say of him what King Pyrrhus said of Fabricius the Roman: "It is easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from his purpose." Hence see his promptness and speed; for that very night he obeyed, and went forth to sacrifice Isaac. St. Augustine treats and weighs this entire chapter excellently, sermon 72 On the Seasons, and St. Ephrem On Abraham and Isaac. Thine only son. Because Isaac alone was the son of the promise, begotten by a miracle, uniquely beloved of Abraham, and the heir and propagator of his line and family; for Ishmael had already been cast out from the house of Abraham, as it were disinherited, and is not reckoned as a son of Abraham. The mother of the Maccabees imitated the example of Abraham before Antiochus, she who offered seven sons to death, and urged them on to martyrdom. The same did the holy Felicity and Symphorosa, and other mothers, and especially that one whom Prudentius mentions in the hymn on St. Roman the Martyr, who when she saw her little son beaten most severely with harsh straps by Asclepiades the prefect of Antioch on account of the faith of Christ, watched steadfastly without tears, and even rebuked her little son as he asked for a drink of water, saying: "Wait for that cup, which the infants slain in Bethlehem once drank, forgetful of milk and breasts: look upon Isaac, who when about to be sacrificed saw the altar and the sword, and of his own accord offered his neck." Meanwhile the torturer tears the skin with hair from the crown. The mother cries out: "Endure, my son; for soon thou shalt go to him who shall now clothe thy head, stripped in shame, with a royal diadem." The boy joyfully laughs at the rods and the pains of his wounds; he is condemned, led with Roman to execution. They came to the place of slaughter: the executioner demands the boy, whom the mother had carried out in her embrace, she gives him, and delays for nothing but a kiss. And: "Go," she says, "my sweetest son"; while the executioner strikes his neck with the sword, she sings: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Behold thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid." When she had said this, she catches the severed head of the boy in a cloth spread out, and applies it to her breast. Roman is then cast into fire, but a rain arose and extinguished it. The executioner cuts out Roman's tongue: yet he speaks nonetheless. INTO THE LAND OF VISION. In Hebrew it is, go into the land of Moriah, which namely was afterwards called Moriah by Abraham, verse 14. Mount Moriah is Mount Sion, on which Solomon built the temple. Note: Moriah, first, with Oleaster can be derived from the root marar, that is bitter, or from mor, that is myrrh: because the mount of Moriah is fertile in myrrh, aloes and cinnamon; or rather because this mount was bitter both to Abraham offering and to the son being offered. Whence Pagninus and from him our Barradius, vol. II, lib. III, cap. xi: Moriah, he says, is said, as it were mori, that is my myrrh, and iah, that is God, as if to say: My myrrh is God. Second, Moriah can be derived from the root iare, that is he feared, because on this mount the Lord was afterwards to be worshipped, and as it were present to be feared and adored; whence the Chaldean translator rendered it, go into the land of divine worship. Third, Moriah can be derived from the root iara, that is he taught, because thora, that is law and doctrine, was to go forth from Sion and Moriah, Isaiah II, 3. Fourth and best, Our author with Symmachus derives Moriah from the root raa, that is he saw, and renders it the land, or mount of vision. Fifth, Barradius in the place cited: Moriah, he says, is said, as it were more iah, that is, God teaching, or rain of God. Why the land of vision? First, because this place was high and conspicuous, so that it could be seen from a distance. Thus Villalpando, lib. III On the Temple, cap. v. Second, because on Sion and Moriah the Prophets received their visions, and there Christ visible man appeared, Baruch III, last verse. Third and best, because God showed this mount Moriah to Abraham, vers. 4, and was seen by him there, and he himself saw and regarded Abraham with his own eyes and regard, both of his mercy, when he forbade the son to be immolated; and of his beneficence, when he most abundantly rewarded such obedience of Abraham: see vers. 14. Note second, from Diodorus of Tarsus: Mount Moriah was divided into many hills and hillocks: for in the Eastern part of mount Moriah was Sion, in which was the citadel of David; next to which in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite bought by David, Solomon built the temple, as is evident II Paralipomenons III, vers. 1. Another part of Moriah remained outside the city of Jerusalem, and was afterwards called the mount of Calvary, on which both Isaac, and Christ signified by Isaac, was immolated, as St. Jerome teaches, and St. Augustine, lib. XVI On the City cap. XXXII, where he thus says: "Jerome the presbyter wrote that he had learned most certainly from the elders of the Jews, that Isaac was immolated there, and Adam buried, where afterwards Christ was crucified." So also Borchardt in the Description of the Holy Land, and Genebrard, lib. I Chronography. They assert that in the same tract of the mount there are three hills, or mounts, which sometimes are called by one appellation Sion, sometimes they receive peculiar names. The first is Sion, which on account of its height is called by this name: for Sion signifies a watchtower. The second, Moriah. The third, the mount of Calvary. In Sion the city of David, and the citadel; in Moriah the temple; on the mount of Calvary Christ was put to the cross. Some Hebrews add that Abel and Cain sacrificed on Moriah, likewise Noe soon after the flood; but they assert these things rashly and without foundation. Abraham therefore here by his sacrifice as it were initiated and consecrated mount Moriah into a temple of posterity and of Christ, and likewise the mount of Calvary into the altar of Christ. Note third: For Moriah Aquila rendered, katephane, that is bright: because on Moriah was the temple, in which was the debir, that is the oracle of God, and the law, and the Holy Spirit teaching men truth, illuminating the Prophets, and inspiring them with oracles: thus St. Jerome. Allegorically, the mount of Calvary where Christ was crucified, was the mount of Moriah according to the five etymologies already given, namely first, on account of the bitterness of the cross. Second, on account of the holocaust which Christ offered there to the Father. Third, because there he sanctified the law of the Gospel by his death. Fourth, it was the land of vision, because in it Christ crucified exhibited an admirable spectacle to earth and heaven. Fifth, because there God taught us from the chair of the cross the way to heaven; for, as St. Augustine says, tract. 119 in John, "That wood, where the limbs of the dying one were fixed, was the chair of the master teaching." Again, the mount of Calvary was Moriah, that is rain of God, because the rain of the blood of God was poured forth on it. Finally it was Moriah, that is bright and illuminating, because Christ illuminated all men with the rays of his cross. Wherefore when the sun beheld another sun on the cross illuminating the world, it merited to withdraw its rays. Secondly, Moriah is the Church, first, because it itself teaches to bear the cross of Christ, and by the holy Sacraments, as it were by a certain myrrh, preserves us from the putrefaction of sin. Secondly, because in it is the fear of God and His true worship. Thirdly, because it teaches the law and the Word of Christ. Fourthly, it is a land of vision, because from it alone through true faith are invisible things seen, and those things which are in heaven. Again, because it is visible throughout the whole world; for, as Isaiah says, cap. II, it is a mountain in the top of mountains. Besides this, it has seers, that is, Prophets. Fifthly, it has a teacher, the Holy Spirit, who teaches it all truth. Again, the Church by the Word of God and sacred preaching, as it were by heavenly rain, irrigates the parched hearts of men. Finally, it is a mountain that illuminates, because just as heaven has the sun, so the Church has Christ illuminating the whole world. Thirdly, Moriah is the Blessed Virgin, in whose womb the temple, that is, the humanity of Christ, was built. First, because the Blessed Virgin in the passion of Christ was a sea of bitterness. Secondly, because she offered both Christ and herself to God in perpetual holocaust. Thirdly, because she herself was the ark of the covenant containing the law of God. Fourthly, she was a land of vision. For what is more worthy of sight than the Virgin Mother of God? Again, for Moriah the Septuagint translates it as a high land: thus nothing was more exalted than Mary beneath God. Fifthly, because she was a teacher of the Apostles after the death of Christ. Again, she herself, like the fleece of Gideon, received most abundantly the heavenly dew of grace and the rain of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Mary is the star of the sea, and the woman clothed with the sun, who illuminates the whole world. Morally, in the land of vision Isaac, the type of Christ, was offered: would that therefore the Christian soul were a land, not of forgetfulness, but of vision! would that always before eyes wet with tears, it might have its Isaac hanging from the cross! would that, as He with His hands described it in blood, so it in its heart with perpetual memory might inscribe Him! Isaiah XLIX: "Behold," He says, "I have described thee in my hands." Would that in this land of vision the true Isaac might always be seen by holy thought! would that He might always be immolated by holy meditation! This He demands, saying, Canticles VIII: "Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm," as if to say: Just as a signet ring impresses its figure upon wax: so Christ crucified might impress His cross, His sorrows and His love upon thy heart, according to that of St. Augustine, lib. De S. Virg. cap. LV: "He is wholly figured in your heart, who for you was fixed upon the cross."
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ABRAHAM RISING IN THE NIGHT. "In the night," that is, very early in the morning, at dawn, before light. For the Hebrew has, Abraham rose early in the morning. Here no mention is made of Sarah; whence it appears that he did all these things without her knowledge (since she loved her Isaac too tenderly). Thus Josephus, St. Chrysostom and Pererius. St. Augustine, however, serm. 73, Nyssenus and Procopius think that Sarah was aware and consenting to the immolation of her son.
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ON THE THIRD DAY. Abraham dwelt in Geraris, says St. Jerome; from there to Sion and Moriah is a journey of three days. By Geraris, understand not a city, but a region; for, as Abulensis rightly observes, Abraham seems then to have dwelt in Bersabee, as is gathered from the preceding cap., vers. 31. Whence also after the immolation he returned to Bersabee, as is evident in this cap., vers. 19. For although from Bersabee to Sion the journey is only one day, yet Abraham, because he was laden with things necessary for the sacrifice, proceeded so slowly that he arrived at Sion and Moriah only on the third day; and in this sense St. Jerome said the journey was three days. This three-day period increased Abraham's temptation: for, as Origen says: "For three days Abraham walks, so that throughout the whole way he might be torn by thoughts, here urged by the precept, there resisted by affection for his son: so that throughout this whole space of struggle he might receive, on this side affection, on that side faith; on this side love of God, on that side love of flesh; on this side the grace of present things, on that side the expectation of future things; Abraham is also commanded to ascend the mountain, that is, heavenly things, so that the height of the place might signify the sublimity of faith and obedience in action." Hence also Theodoret says that Abraham in this temptation, as it were in agony and death, was for three days and nights, just as Christ was for three days, partly on the cross and in passion, partly in death, sepulcher and hell. HE SAW THE PLACE. From some sign given by God he knew where and on which hill of the mountain of Moriah he ought precisely to immolate his Isaac. The Rabbis, whom Abulensis follows, hand down that this sign was a column of fire appearing in the summit of the mountain of Moriah, around the hill of Calvary.
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After he had adored. After he had sacrificed. It is a metalepsis; for adoration is wont to be joined with sacrifice. WE SHALL RETURN TO YOU. Melchior Canus, lib. II De Locis, cap. IV, wishes Abraham to have lied here; for he himself thought to kill and immolate his Isaac. Secondly, Cajetan, "we shall return," namely according to the ordinary course of natural causes: for supernatural things are excepted. Thirdly, others, "we shall return," namely if life shall be our companion, if God shall will it. Fourthly, Thomas Anglicus, "we shall return," that is, I shall return, not Isaac, so that the plural is put for the singular. But I say truly, Abraham asserts that he with Isaac shall return, because he was certain, and believed with certainty that God would either free Isaac from death, or raise him up after he had been killed and immolated. For from Isaac he expected the blessed seed, and the greatest posterity: for God had promised him this, and this is what the Apostle says, that Abraham against hope (of nature) believed in hope (of grace and divine promise), thinking "that God is able even to raise up from the dead," Heb. XI, 19. Thus Origen and St. Augustine, lib. XVI De Civit. XXXII, and others. See here the blind, but lofty faith, hope and obedience of Abraham, to which nothing is difficult, nothing impossible, nothing incredible.
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AND HE LAID UPON ISAAC, so that he might be a type of Christ bearing the cross. Thus Prosper, part. I Praedict. cap. XVII and XVIII. Isaac was then at least 25 years old, says Josephus, Abraham 125, Sara 115. But the Hebrews hand down that Isaac was 37 years old. Aben-Ezra and Burgensis err, saying that Isaac was only 12 years old. For how could a boy of twelve years carry so great a pile of wood for three days, as much as was required to burn him as a whole burnt offering? although to burn him entirely and reduce him to ashes, Abraham ought to have cut wood from neighboring places and added it. FIRE AND SWORD, a sword to slay his son, fire to burn him as a victim and whole burnt offering to God. Tropologically, the sword is mortification, fire is charity, by which Abraham immolated his son, and we ought to immolate to God our affections, passions, sorrows, crosses and all things that are ours.
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WHERE IS THE VICTIM? This conversation with his son wonderfully wounded the heart of Abraham again; and it caused the wound inflicted upon him by God to break open afresh.
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AND WHEN HE HAD BOUND ISAAC. See Josephus relating how Abraham first declared to his son God's will concerning his immolation, and he answered eagerly that he owed his life to God the giver, and would return it to him who asked for it with a joyful heart. Why then did the father bind him? I answer first, lest, if he wished, he could break away. Most fully therefore Isaac gives to God both his will and his power. "The father binds," says St. Ambrose, "his son with bonds by his own hands, lest the son, fleeing and burned by the force of fire, should incur sin." Secondly, lest he should produce some natural motion implanted, uncontrolled and involuntary, and a resistance unbecoming the sacrifice, in the very slaying itself. Thus Cajetan. Thirdly, so that he might be a type of Christ, fastened with nails to the cross. Tropologically, thus Religious bind and constrain themselves to God through vows, and offer to him their will and their power.
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HE TOOK UP THE SWORD. Abraham would have preferred to die and be immolated himself rather than to immolate his son: for by nature fathers desire their sons to survive them, because through them the line and family of the father is propagated, so that with the death of a son, they feel not only themselves but also the hope of their posterity to die and be extinguished. The bitterness of the matter was increased by the fact that he himself placed upon his son's shoulders the wood with which he was to be burned; that he carried in his own hands the fire and the sword with which he would slay his son; that he himself built the altar, and arranged the wood upon it, and placed his son upon it bound hand and foot, and raising his right hand with great courage, he brandished the sword at his neck, and this with eyes that were cheerful and dry: for no tears of his are recorded, no groaning, no turning away of his face. Following the example of Abraham, St. Ambrose says, in book I On Abraham, chapter VIII: "How many fathers, after their sons were killed by martyrdom, returned more joyful from their tombs?" Abraham's obedience was also imitated by Abbot Mutius, in Cassian, book IV, chapters XXVII and XXVIII, who at the command of his senior wished to cast his own eight-year-old son into a flowing river. "Whose faith and devotion," says Cassian, "was so acceptable to God that it was immediately approved by divine testimony. For it was straightway revealed to the senior that with this obedience he had fulfilled the work of the patriarch Abraham." Note here that this example of Mutius is more to be admired than imitated: for it exceeds the ordinary laws of obedience and prudence. For a man cannot command the death of himself or his own, as God can, who is Lord of life and death, and consequently a subject cannot obey a man commanding such things. Thus Mutius here, blinded as it were by the fervor of obedience, committed and submitted his entire judgment concerning the quality and outcome of the deed to his senior, whom he knew to be a prudent and holy man, and wished by this act and attempt to show prompt obedience and mortification of his paternal affection toward his child by casting him away: but he did not intend to drown him. For he knew that his senior had all this matter and his child in his care: nor did he doubt that he would so arrange, after testing his obedience and the mortification of his paternal affection, that not only would sin be excluded both in commanding and in obeying, but also that provision would be made for his child. For the senior could revoke the command on the very way, or station some in the river to prevent the casting away of the child (as he in fact did), or prevent the death of the child in other ways. Therefore Mutius resigned this entire matter to the prudence and providence of the senior commanding him. For prudence is required more in the one commanding than in the parent. You will ask, whose virtue was greater, that of Abraham immolating or of Isaac being immolated? St. Chrysostom marvels at the virtue of both, and does not know which to prefer. Hear him in homily 48 on Genesis: "O religious soul! O strong mind! O immense strength of spirit! O reason overcoming all human affection! Whether should I admire the strong spirit of the patriarch, or the so constant obedience of the boy: that he neither resisted nor took the deed ill; but yielded, and obeyed what was being done by his father, and like a lamb with silence lay upon the altar; awaiting his father's right hand?" Listen also to Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in the Chain of Lipomani: "Behold," he says, "a marvelous trial of the patriarch, which would have made him either sacrilegious if he despised God, or cruel if he killed his son: unless by a certain singular and truly divine patience he had tempered the matter between religion and piety, not denying to God in hope what he had received from God against hope; therefore Isaac, his sweetest son to himself, a sweeter victim to God, he despised in order to preserve; he destines to slay, lest he slay; secure that he cannot displease God by a deed which was being done under God's authorship. O a new spectacle and truly worthy of God! in which it is difficult to determine whether the priest be more patient, or the victim. The color of neither the striker nor the struck varies, the limbs are not shaken with trembling, the eyes are neither downcast nor fierce: no one begs, no one trembles; no one excuses himself, no one is disturbed." And then comparing them with one another, and setting the acts of one against the acts of the other: "He," he says, "draws forth the sword, he offers his neck. With one vow, one devotion, lest anything be profane, carefully and patiently is performed what is celebrated by the other; he carries the wood by which he shall be burned, he builds the altar. Under such—I say not humanity, but nature itself—fear they are joyful. Affection yields only to piety, piety to religion: religion favors both, the sword stands amazed in the middle, suspended without any hindrance, conferring glory upon the terrible slaughter, not crime. What is this? Behold savagery passes into faith, and crime is transformed into a sacrament; a parricide returns without bloodshed, and he who was immolated lives. Both therefore are an example of glory and brightness; both are the worship of God, an admirable testimony to the age. Happy would the world be, if all thus became parricides." For Isaac therefore these reasons stand: first, that it is of greater fortitude to undergo death for God than to inflict it on others: for Martyrs are stronger than soldiers; but Isaac was truly here a Martyr, because for the act of virtue, namely that he might obey God, he offered himself to certain death. For the father extended his sword against him, and would have given him a lethal blow, had not God turned it aside. Thus indeed St. John the Evangelist, Daniel and others are truly Martyrs, because they were exposed to boiling oil, to lions, etc., although they were not harmed by them, God protecting them. For on their part and on the part of the torment, naturally and necessarily they were to die. That therefore God by miracle preserved them in life detracts nothing from the nature of things, nor from their virtue or martyrdom. Second, Abraham grieved in mind only; but Isaac offered himself to the torments of both mind and body and to death. Third, foreseen weapons wound less: Abraham during three days' journey composed his mind to the immolation of his son; but Isaac, thinking of nothing less at the very altar, suddenly requested by his father for immolation, immediately offered himself willingly. For, as Aristotle teaches, lib. III Ethic. cap. VIII, it seems to be more of a brave man to be unafraid in sudden terrors than in foreseen ones. Fourth, Isaac was twenty-five years old, in the flower of age, still hoping to live a hundred years, and to have much offspring and family, all of which by offering himself to death for love of God he cut off, and broke all his hopes: for this reason death is most bitter to the young, which is more tolerable to the old. Fifth, Isaac wished to be bound by his father, he ascended the altar, he offered his neck, he certainly awaited the blow. But I say with Pererius: The virtue of Abraham was greater than that of Isaac, first, because Abraham loved the life of his son Isaac more than his own, and more than Isaac himself would love his own life; and this first, because Isaac was the only son of his most beloved wife; second, because Isaac was his most loving and obedient son; third, because in old age he had begotten him by great miracle; fourth, because Isaac was most innocent and most holy; fifth, because in the life of Isaac alone all God's promises made to him rested. Second, because Abraham was tortured throughout the entire three days by the thought and machination of a most atrocious deed; but Isaac only for a moment at the very instant of immolation. And so although as regards foresight it was less, yet as regards duration the trial and tribulation of Abraham was greater. Third, because Abraham had the greatest trials concerning faith, in that the promises of God made to him seemed to be utterly abolished by the death of Isaac; indeed the Hebrews hand down that then a demon appeared to him in the form of an angel, and deterred him with most grave words from immolating, as from an impious and most cruel thing, and contrary to God's will; and some apply to this those words of Paul to the Hebrews XI: "By faith Abraham offered his firstborn son Isaac, when he was tried"—namely by the devil, they themselves say. Fourth, it was more atrocious for the father to kill the son than for the son to be killed: for he indeed, struck down by a single blow, would have drawn death in almost a point of time; but Abraham would have had long and manifold sorrow, first, in slaughtering his son; second, in cutting him up limb by limb in the manner of sacrifice, then burning him and reducing him to ashes without any remains of him, and finally in perpetual memory recalling that he had thus immolated and lost his son. Whence God himself commends the obedience not of Isaac, but of Abraham, and on account of it promises that he will bless Isaac, cap. XXVI, vers. 3: "A divine voice held, says St. Ambrose, his hand, and occupied the blow of the one striking with his right hand." See how God sometimes drives his own to extremes and to the rope, or permits them to be driven, so that they may transfer and commit all their hope and will to God and God's aid and will; then in the very article of extreme necessity, and on the threshold of death, he is present and comes to their aid. For with this faith and hope unto the end animated, Abraham offered Isaac, as the Apostle says in Hebrews XI, 19: "Accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead, whence also he received him in a parable," so that namely Isaac would be a parable, a story, a memorable example for all ages, which all ages of men would remember and celebrate, and would propose to themselves for imitation, so that when God through himself or through his own commands us something, however arduous and difficult, having the example of Isaac before our eyes, we may offer ourselves confidently and generously, and undertake the commanded thing, certain that God will be present, will unfold the entangled, will overcome the arduous, will turn to our good, praise and glory ignominy, infirmities, hardships, deaths and all evils which we fear, as he did for Isaac. Hence the memory of this immolation has been celebrated in the most ancient images of all peoples. Witness is Gregory of Nyssa cited in the Council of Nicaea II, act. 4, can. 2: "I have seen, he says, the image of its description often, and I could not pass by without tears, when it so effectively and to the life set before the eyes the history of that matter." If therefore you are tempted, despised, grieved, weakened, saddened, defamed, mortified, tortured, indeed even hanged, burned, imitate Isaac: it is a small thing, think of eternity. Armed with this thought, generous faithful have overcome all love of parents, of the flesh and of themselves, indeed even torments and deaths. Thus Liberatus the Abbot, Boniface, Rusticus and others solicited by the Vandals to Arianism: "It is better," they said, "to endure momentary torments than to undergo eternal torments." The king ordered them placed in a ship and burned in the sea; they sang confidently: "Glory be to God on high: behold now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation;" when the fire was kindled, it was often extinguished: therefore the king, struck with shame and fury, commanded them to be killed with oar-staves. Witness is Victor of Utica, lib. IV Persecut. Wandal. Thomas More responded the same to his wife; and thus he overcame her love, as Abraham his son's. Again, note here that the truly obedient, such as Isaac was, cannot die. Climacus relates, Gradus 4 De Obedientia, that Achacius, wonderfully exercised in obedience, when after death he was called forth from the sepulcher by a certain old man, and was asked whether he was dead, answered: "The obedient cannot die."
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ABRAHAM, ABRAHAM. St. Ambrose gives three causes of this repetition, lib. I De Abraham, cap. VIII: "A divine voice held, he says, in a certain way his hand, and occupied the blow of the one striking with his right hand. He did not call once, first, lest he either did not hear fully, or thought it a chance voice; second, thus he called him back as he had commanded, vers. 1; third, he repeated the voice, as if fearing he would be forestalled by the eagerness of devotion, and one voice could not recall the impetus of the one striking."
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DO NOT EXTEND YOUR HAND. "I did not command this," says St. Chrysostom, hom. 47, "that the work be completed, nor do I wish that your son be killed, but that your obedience be made manifest to all. Therefore do not do anything to him. I am content with your will, and from this I crown you and proclaim you." Thus God often deals with us; He commands and demands a difficult deed, but when He sees your obedient will, content with that, He restrains the execution. Whence the same, hom. 49: "The Patriarch," he says, "became a priest of the boy, and by his intention indeed bloodied his right hand and offered a sacrifice; but by the ineffable mercy of God, having received his son safe and sound, he returned, and on account of his will he is proclaimed, and is crowned with a shining crown, and he contended in the greatest struggle, and in all things declared the piety of his mind." Now I know, -- that is, I have made you known, says St. Augustine, Quaest. LVIII, and Gregory, lib. XXVIII Moral. cap. VII. Secondly, "now I know," that is, now by that deed of yours I have made it manifest and clearly knowable. Thus Diodorus and Pererius. Thirdly and most plainly, "now I know," namely by experience, as if to say, Now I have truly experienced it: for God speaks here in the manner of men, who, when they have made trial of something, think that they know it perfectly. THAT YOU FEAR, -- that you love, worship, revere God, and obey Him in all things and strive to please Him; for all these things are embraced by the fear of God, and so this fear of the saints is filial and is nothing other than love, worship and honor of God.
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A RAM CAUGHT BY THE HORNS IN THE THICKET. This was a true ram, brought from elsewhere by an angel, and it adhered to the thicket, or, as it is in Hebrew, in the entanglement, namely of thorns and branches, so that it would not escape Abraham, but would be ready for him to sacrifice. The Hebrews hand down that these things took place on the first day of the seventh month, which is called Tishri; and from this the Jews celebrate on that day the Feast of Trumpets, because then they would sound with the horns of rams, in memory of Isaac being freed from immolation, and the ram being substituted in his place. Allegorically, just as the ram for Isaac, so Christ was immolated for us, says St. Augustine, book XVI of the City of God, chapter XXXII. Secondly, St. Ambrose and Cyril say that for Isaac the ram, that is, for the divinity the humanity of Christ was immolated. Anagogically, the ram succeeds Isaac, that is, to passion succeeds resurrection, to infirmity strength, to death immortality, says Theodoret. Again, this ram adhering by its horns and suspended in the thicket, signifies Christ suspended on the cross, says Ambrose, who adds that Abraham here saw the day of the immolation and passion of Christ. And this is what Christ says, John VIII, 56: "Abraham your father exulted that he might see my day; he saw it, and was glad;" and from this the place was called by the Lord, the Lord will see, or will appear, as follows. The Septuagint, retaining the Hebrew word Sabec, as if a proper name of a certain tree, translate it, and behold one ram held by the horns in the tree Sabec; or, as Procopius reads from the Syriac translation, and behold one ram hanging in the tree Sabec, and he says that ram appeared as if ascending in the tree Sabec, and not only by the horns, but also by the front feet having adhered in the branches of that tree, and by that figure Christ ascending into the tree of the cross, hanging in it, affixed to it by nails and adhering to it was represented. And the same thing St. Ambrose considers, book I of Abraham the Patriarch, chapter VIII, where first he reads thus: "And behold one ram suspended by the horns in the thicket Sabec." Then he adds: "Who is signified, except him of whom it is written, Psalm CXLVIII: He hath exalted the horn of his people? Our horn Christ is lifted up and exalted from the earth: Abraham saw him in this sacrifice, he beheld his passion; and therefore the Lord himself says of him: Abraham desired to see my day: he saw it, and was glad; whence Scripture says: Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord saw, so that they say to this day: In the mount the Lord appeared, that is, that he appeared to Abraham revealing the future passion of his body, by which he redeemed the world; showing also the manner of passion, when he showed the ram suspended by the horns. That thicket is the gibbet of the cross." Thus Ambrose. St. Athanasius also noted, in the book of Questions to Antiochus, Question XCVI, that it pertains also to the mystery that Sabec is interpreted as remission, or forgiveness which Christ merited for us through the cross: "The plant," he says, "Sabec, is the venerable cross. According to the Hebrews Sabec seems to be remission and forgiveness; but the ram which adhered to Sabec at the plant, which Abraham offered as a holocaust for Isaac, prefigured Christ immolated for us on the cross." Fourthly, many observe subtly, among whom is Leo a Castro, book VI of the Apology, and in chapter XXIX of Isaiah, when Christ on the cross said: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani, he alluded to the same plant Sabec, so as to indicate that he was that ram hanging and suspended from the tree Sabec, that is on the cross, which the Lord under the type of another ram hanging from the plant Sabec had once shown to Abraham; and therefore for this reason he used that word sabacthani rather than another, so that by the name itself he might recall to the faithful the memory of that plant Sabec, from which that other ram had hung, and show himself then to be fulfilling that figure most abundantly; for the word sabacthani seems to be inflected from the name Sabec, although it also has its own Syriac root sebac, that is, he left.
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AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF THAT PLACE: THE LORD SEES. That is to say, Abraham gave this name to the place in which he sacrificed his son, namely adonai iire, that is, The Lord will see, or sees, and this from the fact that he himself, when his son asked him about the victim in verse 8, answered adonai iire, that is, The Lord will see, or will provide a victim. Thus Vatablus, Lipomanus, Oleaster, Pererius and others. From the word iire, that is will see, the name Moria was made, that is vision; whence this mountain was called Moria, that is of vision, as is evident in verse 2 in the Hebrew. Moria therefore is the same as adonai iire, that is, The Lord will see. Again from iire, and the ancient name Salem (for thus Jerusalem was formerly called, as is evident in chapter XIV, verse 18), the name Jerusalem was formed; for Moria was in Jerusalem. Thus Andreas Masius in Joshua, chapter X. Secondly, St. Augustine, book XVI On the City of God, chapter XXXII: It is said, he says, this place is God sees, that is, God made himself to be seen, when he appeared to Abraham through an angel, verse 11. Thirdly, the Hebrews, the Chaldean and Pererius: This mountain, they say, was called The Lord sees, because the Lord on this mountain saw the affliction, obedience and sacrifice of Abraham, and accepted it, and provided for the afflicted Abraham, through the angel staying Abraham's sword, and through the ram substituted for Isaac. Fourthly, this mountain is said to be "The Lord sees," because on this mountain the temple was to be built, in which God would see and hear the prayers of suppliants. Whence the Chaldean thinks that Abraham by his sacrifice here destined this mountain Moria, or Sion for the temple, and predicted that it would be built there. For thus the Chaldean has it: "And Abraham said before the Lord: Here shall serving generations be, therefore it was said on this day: On this mountain Abraham before God sacrificed." WHENCE EVEN TO THIS DAY IT IS SAID: ON THE MOUNTAIN THE LORD WILL SEE, -- understand, this or that deed, or thing was done. For when men narrate something that happened, or was done on the mountain of Sion, or on Moria, they say it was done on the mountain, which is named, "The Lord will see," that is to say, Even at this time, when I Moses write these things, this mountain is called from that time "The Lord sees," or "will see," because namely on the same mountain Abraham sacrificed to God saying: "The Lord will see," or "will provide himself a victim, my son"; and because on the same God was seen by Abraham, as the Septuagint translates, when he appeared to him through an angel. Secondly, "even to this day it is said," etc., that is to say, Even to this day by this saying of Abraham, "The Lord will see" and will provide, we use it as a proverb, when placed in straits, we hope and invoke God's help. For we hope that, just as on this mountain Moria the Lord saw both the affliction and the piety and obedience of Abraham and Isaac, and had mercy on them: so likewise he will see, regard, hear and deliver us and our descendants, especially when praying on this same mountain and temple of Moria, in any affliction. Thus St. Jerome, Cajetan and Pererius. This same proverb is to be used by Christians, so that in every tribulation they may betake themselves to the mountain of Moria, that is to the mountain of the temple, to the mountain of hope and prayer, and say: The Lord will see and will provide for all my necessity. Thus St. Gordius the Martyr, trusting in hope in God, willingly offered himself to the Prefect and to torments; he orders the whips, wheels, racks, and every kind of torture to be prepared. Gordius, lifting his eyes to heaven, pronounced that verse of the psalm: "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man shall do to me, and I will not fear evils, because thou art with me." He then willingly provokes torments upon himself, and if any delays intervene he rebukes them, and finally with a cheerful countenance willing himself into the punishment of fire, he threw himself in, as St. Basil says, in the sermon On Gordius. Note: For iire, that is will see, the Hebrews now read with other points ierae, that is will be seen, as if to say: "Whence even to this day it is said, On the mountain the Lord will be seen," that is will appear and come to aid. But the sense comes to the same thing; for when God sees us, then likewise he is seen by us. But St. Ambrose, Eucherius, Vatablus and Lipomanus thus expound it, as if this were a prophecy concerning Christ, that is to say, "On the mountain the Lord will be seen," that is, Christ the Lord will appear on this mountain and temple of Sion, when he will preach in it, and on the mountain of Calvary, when he will be crucified on it; whence also the Septuagint translates: "On the mountain the Lord was seen."
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AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CALLED ABRAHAM A SECOND TIME, -- because he called him first, when he forbade him to sacrifice his son, verse 11. By this angel Origen understands the Son of God: The Son of God, he says, just as among men he was found in the form of a man, so here among angels he was found in the form of an angel, not as if he had assumed an angelic nature, but because he undertook the office of angels, which is to announce the will of God. But the Fathers teach the contrary throughout, namely that this angel was an angel, not the Son of God; for it is evident from what follows that he speaks as a legate of God and utters the words of God as if he were a herald of God; therefore he was an angel, not the Son of God.
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BECAUSE THOU HAST DONE THIS THING. Hence it appears that Abraham by this obedience of his and the victim of his son merited, at least by congruity, that Christ should be born from his stock rather than from another, indeed from the same Isaac; and consequently Isaac himself merited the same thing. For this is the reward of obedience, which God immediately subjoins, saying: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Thus Pererius. See what it is to obey God; see how pleasing, how great in merit before God obedience is. Excellently St. Jerome (or whoever is the author), in the epistle On Circumcision: "When," he says, "He spares not His only Son on earth, He commands the stars to be numbered for sons in the heavens." Why the seed of Abraham is compared to stars I have said in chapter XV, verse 5.
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THY SEED SHALL POSSESS THE GATES, -- namely the cities of the Chanaanites under Josue; of the Philistines, Ammonites, Syrians, etc. under David and Solomon. It is a synecdoche; for by gates are understood cities; for he who occupies the gates occupies the city. Thus Christ occupied the gates of hell and hell itself, and despoiled it. Thus also the Apostles and their successors subdued Rome and almost all the cities of the world to Christ, to Christ's faith and the Church.
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IN THY SEED SHALL ALL NATIONS BE BLESSED, -- that is to say, In Christ who shall be born from thee, as seed, that is thy offspring, nay God's, blessed, all nations shall obtain justice, grace, salvation and glory. See what is said to the Galatians III, 16.
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THAT MELCHA ALSO HAD BORNE CHILDREN TO NACHOR. Here is woven the genealogy of Nachor, both for the sake of Abraham, whose brother he was, and on account of Rebecca, whom Abraham sought as a daughter-in-law for himself, and as a wife for his son Isaac, so that from her it might be clearly established that the descent of Jacob and the Jacobites, namely all the Israelites, was both maternal and paternal.
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From the word pilegesh, concubine, it seems there is no doubt that concubinage was familiar; and a concubine was made.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 1 « Quae postquam gesta sunt, tentavit Deus Abraham », « obiieiendo illi insigne obiectum et materiam heroicae virtutis et obedientiae, hoc fine ut eius virtutem in animo latentem ostenderet, acueret, perficeret ac tandem coronaret » (Lap.). « Tentabat affectum patris, si Dei praecepta praeferret filio nec paternae pietatis contemplatione vim devotionis inflecteret » (Amór.). « Non ut disceret ipse, quae sciebat, sed ut ignorantes doceret, quam iusta de causa patriarcham diligeret. Hac de causa tres dies et totidem noctes amoris divini in eo periculum fecit. Nam patriarcha medius inter naturam constitutus et fidem, cum utrimque stimularetur, fidei dedit palmam victoriae » (Theodoret.). « Et dixit ad eum : Abraham, Abraham ». Uti v. 141 Vulg. LXX nomen duplicant. « A4 ?l/e respondit : Adsum ».
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v. 9: « Adt illi : Tolle filbum tuum unigenitum » tuum, « quem dilgis, Isaac et vade ?n terram Visionis, atque ibi offeres eum $n holocaustum super unum montium , quem monstravero tibi ». « Omnibus istis verbis intendit hoc, ut magis et magis accendat carnalem amorem patris erga filium, ut postea praeponat amorem Dei suo carnali amori et, cum vicerit, gloriosior sit victoria » (Hugo). « Quot hic verba, tot sunt stimuli , tot tentationes » (Lap.). ulla apud Iudaeos perseverasset traditio, sacrificium Abrahae in Calvariae monte ' obtinuisse, nullus unquam neque Iudaeus neque Romanus ausus esset, eum locum extremis suppliciis desecrare.
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v. 3 « Igitur Abraham de nocte », i. e. mane, « consurgens stravit asimum suum , ducens secum duos iuvenes et Isaac filium suum ; cumque concidisset ligna in holocaustum , abiit ad locum, quem praeceperat ei Deus », Sara de itineris scopo haud edocta (EpAr.), quae fortasse male consuluisset viro, uti Eva Adamo (Proc.). Id eo etiam fit probabilius, quod neque Isaac edoctus fuerit.
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v. & « Dce autem tertio elevatis oculis vidit locum procul ». Monet HZer., reapse de Gerar ad montem Moria esse trium dierum iter. Deus « et intervallo loci iusti probavit virtutem. Cogita autem, quid eo triduo probabile sit pertulisse iustum, dum secum mandatum perpenderet et quod ipse suis manibus tam dilectum filium esset mactaturus, re nulli communicata, et obstupesce pium religiosumque ac prudentem ipsius animum » (Chrys.).
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v. 5 « Dixitque ad pueros suos : Exspectate hic cum asino; ego et puer illuc usque properantes , postquam adoraverimus , revertemur ad vos ». Variis modis student antiquiores Abrahamum a mendacio excusare. « Prophetavit, quod ignorabat », inquit Amr. ; Cat. suggerit spem, resuscitatum iri mox (cf. Hebr. 11,19) filium , e quo sibi semen a Deo fuerit promissum; Bonfr. putat locutum esse de se uno plurali, aut conditionem subintellexisse « si vita comes fuerit ». In quo utebatur restrictione utique legitima ad servos rei veritatem celandam.
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v. 6 « Tulit quoque ligna holocausti et imposuit super Isaac filium suum ». « Ligna Isaac sibi vexit, Christus sibi patibulum crucis portavit » (Amór.). Recte ex his censet Ca?. aetatem Isaac coniectura aliqua definiri posse, qui triduo patrem pedes comitatus fuerit et nunc ligna in collem comportet. Vix tamen puto eum praeter pueritiam, « magnam adolescentiae partem peregisse » : quaestio v. 7 puerum sapit potius. « /pse vero portabat in manibus ignem et gladium. Cumque duo pergerent simul », v. "1 « dizit [saac patri suo : Pater mi. At tlle respondit : Quid vis, fili? » Verbotenus Ecce ego, fili; unde perspieias eius formulae etiam aliis locis sensum. « Considera hic, quaeso, iusti cruciatum , quomodo tulit auribus, quomodo potuit respondere puero, quomodo non est confusus mente, quomodo filio occultare potuitid, quod futurum erat » (CÀrys.). « Ecce, inquit, ignis et ligna : ubi est victima holocausti? » nv animale gregariis minus, ovis aut capra. Ergo praetendebat Abraham holocaustum minoris cuiusdam animalis, ergo tantum solummodo erat lignorum pondus , quod puer robustus ferre posset : neque dicitur Isaac omnia ligna solus tulisse, sed quaedam fortasse gestabat.
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v. 8 « Dixit autem Abraham : Deus providebit sibi victimam holocaust, fili mi. Pergebant ergo pariter »
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v. 9 « et venerunt ad locum, quem ostenderat ei Deus, in quo aedificavit altare et desuper ligna composuit ; cumque alligasset Isaac filium suum, posuit eum in altare super struem. lignorum ». Post composita ligna Jos. inducit Abrahamum filium, quid consilii esset, edocentem. Ligabatur hic utique volens, patris generosum pro aeíate imitatus animum; non autem videtur probabile (Per., Mar.), fuisse tum triginta septem annorum, qui numerus excogitatus est a credentibus sacrificatum esse puerum, quo anno mortua est Sara. Teneras victimas affectat Deus. Ligatus est, ne indecens aliquis, dum iugularetur, motus sacrificii sanctitati obesset (Ca?.) et, « ut esset typus Christi clavis affixi cruci » (Lap.).
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v. 10 « Extenditque manum et arripuit gladium, ut immolaret filium suum ». Hoc actu pater, quantum in se erat, sacrificium , quod iussus fuerat, reapse praestabat atque intentione « consummatam hostiam » (Chrys.) offerebat. Sacrificia humana apud circum incolentes nationcs erant usitata : 4 Reg. 16, 3; Ps. 105 (106), 38. Iisdem postmodum indulsere Moabitae : cf. 4 Reg. 3, 27 et inscriptionem eorum regis Mesae. Indulgebant Aramaei (4 Reg. 17, 31), indulgebant Phoenices et Carthaginienses, quorum vel deus Cronos filium immolaverat (Sanchuniathon). Factum Abrahae utique demonstrat, Deum a populo electo sacrificia humana non esse requisiturum neque grata sibi illa fore : si enim grata fuissent à quoquam, a nullo fuissent gratiora quam ab ipso Abraham. Tamen factum Gen. 22 non habet explicitam eorum sacrificiorum prohibitionem : cf. quae diximus ad Iud. 11. Gratuito autem asserit Dilim., hac narratione innui, Hebraeos antiquitus, uti alios Semitas ef Chananaeos, sacrificiis humanis indulsisse, postea illa respuisse et horrorem, quo eadem habuerint, hac efficta de Abraham narratione expressisse. — Quomodo Deus sacrificium humanum imperare potuerit, cf. Per.
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v. 11 « Et ecce ang elus Domini de coelo clamavit » ad ipsum « dicens : Abraham, Abraham. Qui respondit : Adsum ». « Tenuit quodammodo manum eius divina vox et ictum vibrantis occupavit dexterae » (Ambr.). v. 19 « Dixitque et - Non extendas manum tuam super puerum, neque facias illi quidquam. Nunc cognovi », iam sufficienter perspicio neque argumenío indigeo ulteriore, « quod temes Deum et non pepercisti unigenito filio tuo propter me ».
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v. 13 « Levavit Abraham oculos suos viditque post tergum » — pro *n* Sam. LXX Syr. Ps. Ion. pluresque Codices hebr. 3n; Chald. utramque lectionem copulat — « arietem ?nter vepres » — "302 in dumeto, ubi rami invicem interseruntur, Aq. &v cvyveàv., Symm. &v £vxóo, LXX £y qusó Xa6tx — « haerentem cornibus; quem assumens obtulit holocaustum pro filio ».
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v. 1& « Appellavitque nomen loci illhus : Domnus videt ». Verba sunt eadem atque v. 8, ergo Dominus providet. Ergo si hinc derivatur nomen Mor?a , non est (cf. Ges.) explicandum « a Deo electus », neque « & Deo datum ad videndum — visio Dei ». Sequens sententia utique & posteriore aliquo addita est, fortasse a redactore : « Unde usque hodie dicitur : In monte Dominus videbit », vel potius providebit. Punctavere utique Masor. niphal (LXX 6997), et Chald. Syr. (in monte Aoc) retulere ad montem Sion, in quo diu postea Deus manifestabatur; verum, si ita verba accipiantur, proverbium reapse non fluxit e facto Abrahae, quod tamen affirmat textus, sed e facto aliquo recentiore. Verum sensum attingebat iam Her.,licet tum adhuc verbum reddebat passive : « Hoc autem apud Hebraeos exivit in proverbium , ut, si quando in angustia constituti sunt et Domini optant auxilio sublevari, dicant : In monte Dominus videtur, hoc est : sicut Abrahae misertus est, miserebitur et nostri ». Imo verba S. D. innuere videntur, eius aevi Hebraeos proverbium eo sensu adhibuisse : Deus tempore et modo sibi placito providebit nobis, sicut Abrahae providit in monte. Et notant Vat., Bonfr. aliique verba esse eadem atque v. 8 nx? embx. « Abraham igitur advertens, quod ipse inscius prius dixerat, id prophetiam eius fuisse quod postea evenit, ex eo appellavit montem : Dominus videbit, i. e. providebit. Quae tamen appellatio longius transferri potest ad firmándam eorum omnium, qui in calamitatibus sunt, Dei fiduciam, ut, in quacumque re ardua et calamitosa fuerint, minime deficiant animo, sed humana destituti ope ad divinam confugiant .» (Per.).
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v. 18 « Vocavit autem angelus Domini Abraham secundo de coelo, dicens » : — illud secundo crediderim consilio essc seriptum , quo attendat lector 5s angelum de coelo Abraham allocutum esse, v. 11 et v. 15. Pro n'J3X significatio generalior « iterum », « rursus » nusquam demonstratur : habet igitur h. 1l. vox utique emphasin aliquam. Eam repetere poteris e facto, angclum reapse locutum esse bís. Quodsi hoc non omnem removeat dubitationem, perpendas, quaeso, rationem, qua ante collecta in unum haec documenta sacra apud Hebraeos traditio asservabatur. Circumferebatur ea sc. oretenus, maxime si non unice, apud singulas tribus recitabatur, non omnia forsan apud omnes neque iisdem ubique verbis. Et unam equidem earum traditionum tandem colligendarum scriptisque consignandarum rationem crediderim fuisse hane, quod eae variis in locis nimium deformarentur, imo deperirent. Fingo iam duas redactori praesto fuisse sacrificii Abrahae narrationes : unam e qua, ceteroqui fortasse magis integra, ob sententiarum v. 11 et 15 similitudinem exciderint v. 11-14 narrata, auditorque in opinionem adduceretur (iunge v. 16 immediate versui 10) Abraham filium reapse immolasse humanaque sacrificia Deo non esse prorsus exosa; alteram fortasse quoad v. 1-10 narrata non ita completam, sed alterum angeli alloquium distincte referentem : erat'tum gravissima profecto ratio, cur redactor priorem narrationem e secunda compleret , adscripta etiam voce secundo. |
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v. 16 « Per memetipsum iuravi, dicit Dominus ». Hebr. 6,13: « Abrahae namque promittens Deus, quoniam neminem habuit, per quem iuraret, maiorem , iuravit per semetipsum ». Cf. Ex. 32,13. Hominum mores.imitatur Deus : cum hi promissis iuramento firmatis maiorem fidem adhibeant, iurat et ipse (CArys.). Formula nw" nx3, praeter h. 1., in Pentateucho solum legitur Num. 15,28 : formula sc. iuramenti maxime solemni Deus nonnisi perraro utitur. Sequentes promissiones fuerant factae iam antea (Per.), tamen h.1. omnes simul et quoad aliqua distinctius (Caz.) confirmantur. « Qwia fecisti hanc rem et non pepercisti filio tuo unigenito propter me » (cf. v. 12) :
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v. 171 « benedicam tibi » (19,9) « et multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas coeli et. velut arenam, quae est in littore maris » (cf. 13,16; 15,5; 17,9. 6; 18, 18); « possidebit semen tuum portas inimicorum suorum ». Haec ultima promissio non fuerat antea totidem verbis pronuntiata, tamen cf. 12,3 et 15,15. Phrasis videtur (cf. 24,60) fuisse tum usitatior, exprimens plenum de inimicis triumphum. Cf. Per.
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v. 18 « Et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terrae, quia obedisti voci meae ». Cf. 12,3; 48,18, ubi dicebatur 2n £e, hic paulo distinctius 2n semzne tuo; quod semen intelligitur, uti praecedentibus membris, tota Abrahae electa posteritas, imprimis utique Christus.
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v. 19 « Reversus est Abraham ad pueros suos abieruntque Bersabee simul et habitavit ibi ». Arg. — Haec genealogia describenda erat primum, quia Genesis, antequam ab uno patriarcha ad alterum progrediatur, prioris fratrum, si qui recensebantur, genealogiam absolvere consuevit. Ita ante Sethitaruni Generationes recensentur Cainitae, ante Generationes Sem Iaphetidae et Chamitae : ergo ante Generationes Ismael etIsaac dicendum erat de posteris Nachor et Aran, seu Lot qui filius Áran exstitit. De Lot in ipsis Abrahae actis dicebatur : supplenda ergo supereret genealogia Nachor. Quae ideo etiam adscribitur, quod Rebeceae, futurae Isaac uxoris, origines pandat. Licet utique primitus (cf. v. 20) genealogia ab Aramaeorum repetenda sit traditione, tamen a s. auctore compendio proponitur ita, ut vel Laban origo supprimatur, 25,29 supplenda.: Quoniam tota compendio traditur atque fere parentheseos instar, ideo eliam non ornatur titulo nrw nx, parentheses quippe non solent titulis distingui. quae nota, licet aliqua huius genealogiae nomina demonstrentur postmodum fuisse tribuum, non sequitur omnia fuisse : an exstitit specialis aliqua tribus Nachor, Bathuel? Ergo etiam Hus et Aram potuere esse individua, a quibus nullae distinctae ortae sint tribus. An est ita creditu difficile, Nachoridas aliquos habuisse nomina Hus et Aram, quae filii et nepotis Som fuissent propria, cum diu post inter Hebraeos reperiantur viri Aram et Maacha (1 Par. 7, 34; 11, 43)? Praeterea, cum exstiterint gentes aliquae nominibus iisdem aut perquam similibus, num illud est penitus absonum, exstitisse in vastis Arabiae et Syriae tractibus tribus duas nominum Aram et Hus? Sed demus, nomina Hus et Aram h. 1. ad easdem atque 11, 22 sq. referri gentes. Licet individui homines singuli singulos habeant patres, at una gens e variarum tribuum mixtione orta pluribus potest gloriari progenitoribus : id factum scimus in Samaritanis, Romanis etc. Facile igitur concedemus gentem Hus coaluissc e Nachoridis quibusdam ct Horraeis (36, 28) Aramaeis admixtis, et Aramaeis ipsis ab Aram Semi filio progenitis se postmodum adiunxisse Nachoridas Camuele ortos, et Chaldaeis Arphaxade natis accessisse item Nachoridas aliquos, sc. Cased. Formula omnino indeterminata genealogia praecedentibus copulatur : non dicitur post omnia narrata aut «nico nuntio Abraham certior factus esse de universa fratris progenie; nomina didicit fortasse deinceps, cum non ita rari essent, qui e Syria per Palaestinam peregrinarentur Aegyptum versus.
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v. 20 : « His ita gestis nuntiatum est Abrahae, quod Melcha quoque » (cf. 11,29) « genuisset filtos Nachor fratri suo » :
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v. 91 « Hus primogenitum, et Buz fratrem eius, et Camuel patrem Syrorum » vel Aram,
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v. 22 « et Cased, et Azau, Pheldas quoque et lediaph » , LXX 'Iex3ág;
22:23
v. 23 « ac Bathuel, de quo nata est Rebecca. Octo istos genuit Melcha Nachor fratri Abrahae ». Alios quatuor genuit uxor secundaria. v. 2* « Concubina vero illius nomine Roma » — Sam. nom, Syr. ivovi (), LXX 'Psopa, sed Lagarde '"Pérya, Hebr. Chald. ww — « peperit Tabee et Gaham et Tahas , et Maaca ». Arg. — Narrandum illud erat cum ob Sarae dignitatem, tum quod 25,67 ad illud funus alludatur. Hoc caput, uti cap. 1^, vividissime antiquissimos mores depingit. Hethaei Abrahamum v. 6 titulo salutant x2, qui apud ipsos, uti apud Ismaelitas (cf. quae diximus p. 395), videtur in usu fuisse. Ib. vide de rmx v. 4.9..20 et napi v. 18. Usurpantur termini /egales : ap v. 177. 20 significatione « confirmatus est » (cf. alios textus legales Lev. 25,30 ; 27,18. 17. 19), 3v*n v. ^ (cf. Lev. 22,10; 25,47; Ps. 38,13 ad Genesin alludens; 3 Reg. 17,1). Nomen Machpelah v. 9.17. 19 iis textibus (25,9; 49,29 vel 30; 50,13) adscriterminandus : alias omittitur, v. g. v. 20. Quid vero in nn *23 prodat scriptorem À (Kn.), dum 27,86 nn m3 redactori concedatur (DilIm.), legitur nn sine illo *, et sequuntur immediate alia nomina * ornata, ut sit evidens, auctorem unum eundemque illud * modo adscribere, modo omittere. Cap. XXIII
22:1
… They appear, among others, to Hagar (Gen. 16:7), to Abraham (Gen. 18:1-2; 22:1-18), to Lot (Gen. 19:1), to Jacob (Gen. 28:12). In the Old Testament there is no explicit mention of the creation of the angels, but it is implicit in the fact that the one God is described …
… They overlook a fact, which is the key to the interpretation of the whole account: Yahweh's intention to put the patriarch to the test (tentavit: Gen. 22, 1); God did not will the actual immolation of the son, but the interior sacrifice of obedience. …
MORIA. - Region ('ereq ham-Mōrijjāh), where Abraham went from Beersheba to sacrifice his son Isaac (v.) on the mountain that the Lord would show him. After three days of travel he saw the mountain of the sacrifice, called "the Lord sees" (Gen. 22:1, 4, 14). The vague indications and the divergence of the versions in the form of the name (Septuagint: "exalted land"; Aquila: "evident"; Symmachus: "of the vision"; Vulgate: "terra …
… The prototype of evangelical renunciation can be seen in the obedience of Abraham as he goes up to sacrifice Isaac (v.), the son of the Promise (Gen. 22:1-19).
… God's intervention in favor of Isaac was meant to make it understood that he condemned the sacrifices of newborns (Gen. 22, 1-18). Circumcision did not exist among the Semites, and Abraham perhaps derived it from the Egyptians, from the time of his first stay in their country (Gen. 12); but it became the sign …
22:2
… Firstborn were the object of the greatest affection (cf. Gen. 22:2, 12, 16; Ios. 6:26; II Reg. 3:27; Zach. 12:10). God therefore calls Israel "his firstborn" (Ex. 4:22 ff.; Eccli. 36:14; cf. Ier. 31:9). And "beloved son" (Lk. 20:13: ἀγαπητός) is equivalent …
22:3
… Below is represented the sacrifice of Abraham, according to the biblical text with the two servants (Gen. 22, 3), the ass, a ram caught in the tree and the words in Hebrew « and behold a ram » (ibid. 22, 12); above Abraham, distinguished with his name in Greek, is the divine hand that stops …
22:4
This proper name is never mentioned in the texts that recount the construction of the Temple (II Sam. 24:25; I Chron. 21:26; II Kings 6; II Chron. 3), and moreover the hill of the Temple, the lowest among those surrounding it, could not have been seen from afar as Gen. 22:4 supposes.
22:9
… are offered to God; later it implies the concept of a table ("table of Yahweh" Mal. 1:7, 12; Ez. 41:22). The first mentioned is that of Noah, Gen. 8:20; Abraham erects altars at Shechem, near Bethel, at Mamre, on Moriah, Gen. 12:7 ff.; 13:18; 22:9; Isaac at Beersheba, Gen. 26:25; Jacob at Bethel, Gen. 28:18; 35:14; Moses at Rephidim, with twelve masšebāth, at the foot of Sinai (Ex. 17:15; 24:4). The primitive form seems …
22:11
… They have care of men: they save Lot (Gen. 19), Isaac (Gen. 22:11), the three young men in the furnace (Dan. 3:49). They bring men's prayers to God and bring back his graces (vision of Jacob's ladder, Gen. 28:12). One of them, Raphael, acts as a …
22:12
… Below is represented the sacrifice of Abraham, according to the biblical text with the two servants (Gen. 22, 3), the ass, a ram caught in the tree and the words in Hebrew « and behold a ram » (ibid. 22, 12); above Abraham, distinguished with his name in Greek, is the divine hand that stops him and the words likewise in Hebrew « do not lay your hand »; (ibid. 22, 13); nearby are Isaac …
22:13
… Its original meaning according to the biblical conception is not the offering of food to the deity, something that would be in open contrast with the spirituality of Yahweh; nor is it communion of table with God, since the first biblical sacrifices (ibid. 4:3 ff.; 8:20; 22:13) are total immolation without a sacrificial banquet. …
… 22, 3), the ass, a ram caught in the tree and the words in Hebrew « and behold a ram » (ibid. 22, 12); above Abraham, distinguished with his name in Greek, is the divine hand that stops him and the words likewise in Hebrew « do not lay your hand »; (ibid. 22, 13); nearby are Isaac with his name in Hebrew and the altar lit for the sacrifice. …
22:16
… him and through him: "May Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem" (Gen. 9:25 ff.; cf. Rom. 1:16; 11:13-27). Among the Semites he chooses the line of Abraham, who will be "a source of blessing for all peoples" (Gen. 12:1-3; cf. 13:14-17; 17:1-9; 18:18 f.; 22:16 ff.) and makes with him a solemn covenant (ibid. 15:8-21; 17), for whose fulfillment he pledges his omnipotence. …
22:18
… All the messianic prophecies bear this imprint (see, for example, Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; Ps. 2:8; 21:26-29; Is. 2:2; 60:4 ff.; Jer. 3:17; Dan. 2:44; Mal. 1:15). In the New Testament the texts that affirm the universalist character of the Church, the kingdom …
… Elizabeth (v. 42), who, "filled with the Holy Spirit" (v. 41), completed it by giving its profound reason in the blessed fruit of her womb, in whom precisely, according to the messianic promises to the Patriarchs, "all nations" would be "blessed" (Gen. 22:18; 26:4; 28:14, and Jn. 1:16 and Gal. 3:8-16). Theologically those words are essential: without them the angelic message would remain incomplete, neglecting the true reason for the "Dominus …
22:20
Abraham continued to maintain relations with N. even when he separated from him to go to the land of Canaan (cf. ibid. 22:20), and later he wished to give his son Isaac a wife, Rebecca, from his brother's household (ibid. 24). From the same family Jacob took his two wives Leah and Rachel (ibid. 29). …
22:21
Between Harrān and Ur (v.) of the Chaldees the relations must have been not only commercial but also based on ethnic affinity; for the inhabitants of these two centers appear in antiquity to have been linked by similar social customs and above all by the identical worship of the moon. Gen. 22:21 ff. derives from the lineage of Nahor, Aram, perhaps the eponym of a group of Arameans, and Kesed, the eponym of the Kaldu, "Chaldeans." Such correspondences presuppose an immigration …
22:23
BATHUEL (Hebrew: Bethá'el). - Son of Nahor and father of Rebekah (Gen. 22:23; 24:24). When Eliezer, Abraham's servant, asked for Rebekah as a bride for Isaac, B. appears only to give his consent (Gen. 24:50). Exegetes explain with various hypotheses the secondary …
REBECCA. - Daughter of Bethuel, niece of Nahor (Gen. 22:23) and wife of Isaac (Hebr. …
22:24
1. M., son of Nahor, brother of Abraham (Gen. 22:24), from whom descends a branch of the Arameans, which settled between Hermon and the mountains of Bashan east of the Jordan and formed the kingdom of M. or Maachathi. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.