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| On Genesis.
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On Genesis.1139
| 1139These fragments are excerpts from a
Commentary on Genesis, compiled from eighty-eight fathers,
which is extant in manuscript in the Vienna library. They are
found also in a Catena on Matthew, issued at Leipsic in
1772. |
Gen. i. 5 And it
was evening, and it was morning, one day.
Hippolytus. He did
not say1140
“night and
day,” but “one day,” with reference to the name of
the light. He did not say the “first day;” for if he
had said the “first” day, he would also have had to say
that the “second” day was made. But it was right to
speak not of the “first day,” but of “one day,”
in order that by saying “one,” he might show that it
returns on its orbit and, while it remains one, makes up the
week.
Gen. i. 6 And God
said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water.
Hipp. On the first day God
made what He made out of nothing. But on the other days He did
not make out of nothing, but out of what He had made on the first day,
by moulding it according to His pleasure.
Gen. i. 6, 7. And let it divide between water
and water: and it was so. And God made the firmament; and
God divided between the water which was under the firmament, and the
water above the firmament: and it was so.
Hipp. As the
excessive volume of water bore along over the face of the earth, the
earth was by reason thereof “invisible” and
“formless.” When the Lord of all designed to make the
invisible visible, He fixed then a third part of the waters in the
midst; and another third part He set by itself on high, raising it
together with the firmament by His own power; and the remaining third
He left beneath, for the use and benefit of men. Now
at1141
| 1141 This
must refer, I suppose, to the words, “And it was so.” | this point we have
an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur
in the Septuagint.
Gen. iii. 8 And they heard
the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden at even.
Hipp. Rather they
discerned the approach of the Lord by a certain breeze. As soon,
therefore, as they had sinned, God appeared to them, producing
consciousness of their sin, and calling them to repentance.
Gen. xlix. 3
Reuben, my first-born, thou art my strength, and the first of my
children; hard to bear with, and hard and self-willed: thou hast
waxed wanton as water; boil not over.1142
Aquila. Reuben, my first-born, thou art my
strength, and the sum of my sorrow: excelling in dignity and
excelling in might: thou hast been insensate as water; excel
not.1143
Symmachus. Reuben,
my first-born, and beginning of my1144
| 1144
“My” (μου) is wanting in Origen’s
Hexapla. | pain: above measure grasping, and
above measure hot as water, thou shalt not more excel.1145
| 1145
οὐκ ἔσῇ
περισσότερος. |
Hipp. For there was a
great display of strength made by God in behalf of His first-born
people from Egypt. For in very many ways was the land of the
Egyptians chastised. That first people of the circumcision is
meant by “my strength, and the first of my children:”
even as God gave the promise to Abraham and to his seed. But
“hard to bear with,” because the people hardened itself
against the obedience of God. And “hard,
self-willed,” because it was not only hard against the obedience
of God, but also self-willed so as to set upon the Lord.
“Thou hast waxed wanton,” because in the instance of our
Lord Jesus Christ the people waxed wanton against the Father. But
“boil not over,” says the Spirit, by way of comfort, that
it might not, by boiling utterly over, be spilt abroad,—giving it
hope of salvation. For what has boiled over and been spilt is
lost.
Gen. xlix. 4 For thou
wentest up to thy father’s bed.
Hipp. First he
mentions the event,—that in the last days the people will assault
the bed of the Father, that is, the bride,1146
the Church, with intent to corrupt her;
which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her
by blasphemies.
Gen. xlix. 5. Simeon and Levi, brethren.
Hipp. Since from
Simeon sprang the scribes, and from Levi the priests. For the
scribes and priests fulfilled iniquity1147
| 1147
ἐξαιρέσεως
αὐτῶν, “of set
purpose.” | of their own choice, and with one mind
they slew the Lord.
Gen. xlix. 5 Simeon
and Levi, brethren, fulfilled iniquity of their own choice. Into
their counsel let not my soul enter, and in their assembly let not my
heart contend; for in their anger they slew men, and in their passion
they houghed a bull.
Hipp. This he says
regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the
Lord. And that he means this conspiracy, is evident to us.
For the blessed David sings, “Rulers have taken counsel together
against the Lord,”1148
and so forth. And of this
conspiracy the Spirit prophesied, saying, “Let not my soul
contend,” desiring to draw them off, if possible, so that that
future crime might not happen through them. “They slew men,
and houghed the bull;” by the “strong bull” he means
Christ. And “they houghed,” since, when He was
suspended on the tree, they pierced through His sinews. Again,
“in their anger they houghed a bull.” And mark the
nicety of the expression: for “they slew men, and houghed a
bull.” For they killed the saints, and they remain dead,
awaiting the time of the resurrection. But as a young bull, so to
speak, when houghed, sinks down to the ground, such was Christ in
submitting voluntarily to the death of the flesh; but He was not
overcome of death. But though as man He became one of the dead,
He remained alive in the nature of divinity. For Christ is the
bull,—an animal, above all, strong and neat and devoted to sacred
use. And the Son is Lord of all power, who did no sin, but rather
offered Himself for us, a savour of a sweet smell to His God and
Father. Therefore let those hear who houghed this august
bull: “Cursed be their anger, for it was stubborn; and
their wrath, for it was hardened.”1149
But this people of the Jews dared to
boast of houghing the bull: “Our hands shed
this.”1150
| 1150 After
“this” (τοῦτο) the word
“blood” (τὸ
αἷμα) seems to have been dropped. | For this is
nothing different, I think, from the word of folly: “His
blood” (be upon us), and so forth.1151
Moses recalls1152
the curse against Levi, or, rather converts
it into a blessing, on account of the subsequent zeal of the tribe, and
of Phinehas in particular, in behalf of God. But that against
Simeon he did not recall. Wherefore it also was fulfilled in
deed.1153
| 1153
[By the sin of Annas and Caiaphas, with others, the tribe of Levi
became formally subject to this curse again, and with Simeon
(absorbed into Judah) inherited it. But compare
Acts iv. 36 and vi.
7.] | For Simeon
did not obtain an inheritance like the other tribes, for he dwelt in
the midst of Judah. Yet his tribe was preserved, although it was
small in number.1154
Gen. xlix. 11 Binding
his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt to the choice
vine,—the tendril of the vine,—he will wash his garment in
wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape.
Hipp. By the
“foal” he means the calling of the Gentiles; by the other,
that of the circumcision: “one ass,” moreover, that
is to signify that the two colts are of one faith; in other words, the
two callings. And one colt is bound to the “vine,”
and the other to the “vine tendril,” which means that the
Church of the Gentiles is bound to the Lord, but he who is of the
circumcision to the oldness of the law. “He will wash his
garment in wine;” that is, by the Holy Spirit and the word of truth, he will
cleanse the flesh, which is meant by the garment. And “in
the blood of the grape,” trodden and giving forth blood, which
means the flesh of the Lord, he cleanses the whole calling of the
Gentiles.
Gen. xlix. 12–15 His eyes
are gladsome with wine, and his teeth white as milk. Zabulun
shall dwell by the sea, and he shall be by a haven of ships, and he
shall extend to Sidon. Issachar desired the good part, resting in
the midst of the lots. And seeing that rest was good, and that
the land was fat, he set his shoulder to toil, and became a
husbandman.
Hipp. That is, his
eyes are brilliant as with the word of truth; for they regard all who
believe upon him. And his teeth are white as milk;—that
denotes the luminous power of his words: for this reason he calls
them white, and compares them to milk, as that which nourishes the
flesh and the soul. And Zabulun is, by interpretation,
“fragrance” and
“blessing.”
Then, after something from Cyril:—
Hipp. Again, I
think, it mystically signifies the1155
sacraments of the New Testament of our
Saviour; and the words, “his teeth are white as milk,”
denote the excellency and purity of the sacramental food. And
again, these words, “his teeth are white as milk,” we take
in the sense that His words give light to those who believe on
Him.
And in saying, moreover, that Zabulun will dwell by the
sea, he speaks prophetically of his territory as bordering on the sea,
and of Israel as mingling with the Gentiles, the two nations being
brought as it were into one flock. And this is manifest in the
Gospel. “The land of Zabulun, and the land of
Nephthalim,” etc. And you will mark more fully the richness
of his lot as having both inland territory and seaboard.
“And he is by a haven of ships;” that
is, as in a safe anchorage, referring to Christ, the anchor of
hope. And this denotes the calling of the Gentiles—that the
grace of Christ shall go forth to the whole earth and sea. For he
says, “And (he is) by a haven of ships, and shall extend as far
as Sidon.” And that this is said prophetically of the
Church of the Gentiles, is made apparent to us in the Gospel:
“The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of
the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat
in darkness saw great light.”1156
In saying, then, that he, namely
Zabulun, would inhabit a territory bordering on the sea, he plainly
confirmed that, just as if he had said that in the future Israel would
mingle with the Gentiles, the two peoples being brought together into
one fold and under the hand of one chief Shepherd, the good (Shepherd)
by nature, that is, Christ. In blessing him Moses said,
“Zabulun shall rejoice.”1157
And Moses prophesies, that in the
allocation of the land he should have abundance ministered of the good
things both of land and sea, under the hand of One. “By a
haven of ships;” that is, as in an anchorage that proves safe,
referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. For by His grace he
shall come forth out of many a tempest, and shall be brought hereafter
to land, like ships secure in harbours. Besides, he said that
“he extends as far even as Sidon,” indicating, as it seems,
that so complete a unity will be effected in the spirit’s course
between the two peoples, that those of the blood of Israel shall occupy
those very cities which once were exceeding guilty in the sight of
God.1158
| 1158
[In thus spiritualizing, the Fathers do not deny a literal sense
also, as in “Aser,” p. 166, infra; only they think
that geography, history, etc., should pay tribute to a higher
meaning.] |
After something from Cyril:—
Hipp. And
“that the land was fat;” that is, the flesh of our
Lord: “fat,” that is, “rich;” for it
flows with honey and milk. The parts of the land are marked off
for an inheritance and possession to him—that means the doctrine
of the Lord. For this is a pleasant rest, as He says
Himself: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden,”1159
etc. For
they who keep the commandments, and do not disclaim the ordinances of
the law, enjoy rest both in them and in the doctrine of our Lord; and
that is the meaning of “in the midst of the lots.” As
the Lord says, “I am not come to destroy the law and the
prophets, but to fulfil them.”1160
For even our Lord, in the fact that He
keeps the commandments, does not destroy the law and the prophets, but
fulfils them, as He says in the Gospels. “He set his
shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman.” This the
apostles did. Having received power from God, and having set
themselves to labour, they became husbandmen of the Lord, cultivating
the earth—that is, the human race—with the preaching of our
Lord.
Gen. xlix. 16–20 Dan
shall judge his people, as himself also one tribe in Israel. And
let Dan become a serpent by the way, lying on the path, stinging the
horse’s heel; and the horseman shall fall backward, waiting for
the salvation of the Lord. Gad—a robber’s troop shall
rob him; and he shall spoil it1161
| 1161
κατὰ
πόδας, “quickly,”
“following close.” |
at the heels. Aser—his bread shall be fat, and he shall
furnish dainties to princes.
After something from
Cyril, Apollinaris, and Diodorus:—
Hipp. The Lord is
represented to us as a horseman; and the “heel” points us
to the “last times.” And His “falling”
denotes His death; as it is written in the Gospel: “Behold,
this (child) is set for the fall and rising again of
many.”1162
We take the
“robber” to be the traitor. Nor was there any other
traitor to the Lord save the (Jewish) people. “Shall rob
him,” i.e., shall plot against him. At the heels:
that refers to the help of the Lord against those who lie in wait
against Him. And again, the words “at the heels”
denote that the Lord will take vengeance swiftly. He shall be
well armed in the foot1163
| 1163 [An
important hint that by “heel,” in Gen. iii. 15, the “foot” is understood,
by rhetorical figure.] |
(heel), and shall overtake and rob the robber’s troop.
Aquila. “Girded, he
shall gird himself;” that means that as a man of arms and war he
shall arm himself. “And he shall be armed in the
heel:” he means this rather, that Gad shall follow behind
his brethren in arms. For though his lot was beyond Jordan, yet
they (the men of that tribe) were enjoined to follow their brethren in
arms until they too got their lots. Or perhaps he meant this,
that Gad’s tribesmen were to live in the manner of robbers, and
that he was to take up a confederacy of freebooters, which is just a
“robber’s troop,” and to follow them, practising
piracy, which is robbery, along with them.
Whereas, on the abolition of the shadow in the
law, and the introduction of the worship in spirit and truth, the world
had need of greater light, at last, with this object, the inspired
disciples were called, and put in possession of the lot of the teachers
of the law. For thus did God speak with regard to the mother of
the Jews—that is to say, Jerusalem—by the voice of the
Psalmist: “Instead of thy fathers were thy
sons;”1164
that is, to those
called thy sons was given the position of fathers. And with
regard to our Lord Jesus Christ in particular: “Thou wilt
appoint them rulers over all the earth.” Yet presently
their authority will not be by any means void of trouble to them.
Nay rather, they were to experience unnumbered ills and they were to be
in perplexity; and the course of their apostleship they were by no
means to find free of peril, as he intimated indeed by way of an
example, when he said, “Let (Dan) be,” meaning by that,
that there shall be a multitude of persecutors in Dan like a
“serpent lying by the way on the path, stinging the horse’s
heel,” i.e., giving fierce and dangerous bites; for the bites of
snakes are generally very dangerous. And they were “in the
heel” in particular, for “he shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel.”1165
| 1165
Gen. iii 15. [The rhetoric here puts the heel
for the foot to emphasize the other part of the prophecy, i.e., the
wounded heel coming down on the biter’s head.] | And some did persecute the holy
apostles in this way even to the death of the flesh. And thus we
may say that their position was something like that when a horse
stumbles and flings out his heels. For in such a case the
horseman will be thrown, and, falling to the ground, I suppose, he
waits1166
| 1166
περιμένει
τὸν ζῶντα. | thus for some one
alive. And thus, too, the inspired apostles survive and wait for
the time of their redemption, when they shall be called into a kingdom
which cannot be moved, when Christ addresses them with the word,
“Come, ye blessed of my Father,”1167
etc.
And again, if any one will take the words as
meaning, not that there will be some lying in wait against Dan like
serpents, but that this Dan himself lies in wait against others, we may
say that those meant thereby are the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites
who, while in possession of the power of judgment and instruction among
the people, fastened like snakes upon Christ, and strove impiously to
compass His fall, vexing Him with their stings as He held on in His
lofty and gentle course. But if that horseman did indeed fall, He
fell at least of His own will, voluntarily enduring the death of the
flesh. And, moreover, it was destined that He should come to life
again, having the Father as His helper and conductor. For the
Son, being the power of God the Father, endued the temple of His own
body again with life. Thus is He said to have been saved by the
Father, as He stood in peril as a man, though by nature He is God, and
Himself maintains the whole creation, visible and invisible, in a state
of wellbeing. In this sense, also, the inspired Paul says of
Him: “Though He was crucified in weakness, yet He liveth by
the power of God.”1168
Aser obtained the parts about Ptolemais and
Sidon. Wherefore he says, “His bread shall be fat, and he
shall furnish dainties to princes.” This we take to be a
figure of our calling; for “fat” means
“rich.” And whose bread is rich, if not ours?
For the Lord is our bread, as He says Himself: “I am the
bread of life.”1169
And who else will furnish dainties
to princes but our Lord Jesus Christ?—not only to the believing
among the Gentiles, but also to those of the circumcision, who are
first in the faith, to wit, to the fathers, and the patriarchs, and the
prophets, and to all who believe in His name and passion.
Gen. xlix. 21–26
Nephthalim is a slender1170
thing, showing beauty in the shoot.
Joseph is a goodly son; my goodly, envied son; my youngest son.
Turn back to me. Against him the archers took counsel together,
and reviled him, and pressed him sore. And their bows were broken
with might, and the sinews of the arms of their hands were relaxed by
the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob. Thence is he who
strengthened Israel from the God of thy father. And my God helped
thee, and blessed thee with the blessing of heaven above, and with the
blessing of the earth which possesseth all things, with the blessing of
the breasts and womb, with the blessing of thy father and thy
mother. It prevailed above the blessings of abiding mountains,
and above the blessings of everlasting hills; which (blessings) shall
be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the temples of his brothers, whose
chief he was.
Hipp. Who is the son
goodly and envied, even to this day, but our Lord Jesus Christ?
An object of envy is He indeed to those who choose to hate Him, yet He
is not by any means to be overcome. For though He endured the
cross, yet as God He returned to life, having trampled upon death, as His God and Father
addresses Him, and says, “Sit Thou at my right
hand.”1171
And that
even those are brought to nought who strive with the utmost possible
madness against Him, he has taught us, when he says, “Against Him
the archers took counsel together, and reviled Him.” For
the “archers”—that is, the leaders of the
people—did convene their assemblies, and take bitter
counsel. “But their bows were broken, and the sinews of
their arms were relaxed, by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,”
that is to say, by God the Father, who is the Lord of power, who also
made His Son blessed in heaven and on earth. And he (Naphtali) is
adopted as a figure of things pertaining to us, as the Gospel
shows: “The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan,”1172
etc.; and, “To them that sat in
darkness light has arisen.”1173
And what other light was this but
the calling of the Gentiles, which is the trunk, i.e., the tree of the
Lord, in whom engrafted it bears fruit? And the word,
“giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot,”
expresses the excellency of our calling. And if the words,
“giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot,” are
understood, as perhaps they may, with reference to us, the clause is
still quite intelligible. For, by progressing in virtue, and
attaining to better things, “reaching forth to those things which
are before,”1174
according to the word of the blessed Paul, we rise ever to the higher
beauty. I mean, however, of course, spiritual beauty, so that to
us too it may be said hereafter, “The King greatly desired thy
beauty.”1175
After something from Apollinaris:—
Hipp. The word of
prophecy passes again to Immanuel Himself. For, in my opinion,
what is intended by it is just what has been already stated in the
words, “giving increase of beauty in the case of the
shoot.” For he means that He increased and grew up into
that which He had been from the beginning, and indicates the return to
the glory which He had by nature.1176
| 1176 The
text is τοῦτο
πάντως
κατάγεται
ὀρθῶς ἔχειν
ὑπειλημμένον. | This, if we apprehend it correctly,
is (we should say) just “restored” to Him.
For1177
| 1177 This
passage, down to the word “inseparably,” was transcribed by
Isaac Vossius at Rome, and first edited by Grabe in the
Annotations to Bull’s Defens. fid. Nic., p.
103. | as the only
begotten Word of God, being God of God,1178
| 1178
“God of God,” Θεὸς
ὑπάρχων ἐκ
Θεοῦ. Hippolytus uses here the
exact phrase of the Nicene Council. So, too, in his Contra
Noetum, chap. x., he has the exact phrase, “light of
light” (φῶς
ἐκ φωτός). [See
my concluding remarks (note 9) on the last chapters of the
Philosophumena, p. 153, supra.] | emptied Himself, according to the
Scriptures, humbling Himself of His own will to that which He was not
before, and took unto Himself this vile flesh, and appeared1179
| 1179 The
words from “and appeared” down to “so
hereafter” are given by Grebe, but omitted in Fabricius. | in the
“form of a servant,” and “became obedient to God the
Father, even unto death,” so hereafter He is said to be
“highly exalted;” and as if well-nigh He had it not by
reason of His humanity, and as if it were in the way of grace, He
“receives the name which is above every name,”1180
according to the
word of the blessed Paul. But the matter, in truth, was not a
“giving,” as for the first time, of what He had not by
nature; far otherwise. But rather we must understand a return and
restoration to that which existed in Him at the beginning, essentially
and inseparably. And it is for this reason that, when He had
assumed, by divine arrangement,1181
the lowly estate of humanity, He said,
“Father, glorify me with the glory which I had,”1182
etc. For
He who was co-existent with His Father before all time. and before the
foundation of the world, always had the glory proper to Godhead.
“He” too may very well be understood as the “youngest
(son).” For He appeared in the last times, after the
glorious and honourable company of the holy prophets, and simply once,
after all those who, previous to the time of His sojourn, were reckoned
in the number of sons by reason of excellence. That Immanuel,
however, was an” object of envy,”1183
is a somewhat doubtful phrase.
Yet He is an “object of envy” or “emulation” to
the saints, who aspire to follow His footsteps, and conform themselves
to His divine beauty, and make Him the pattern of their conduct, and
win thereby their highest glory. And again, He is an
“object of envy” in another sense,—an “object
of ill-will,” namely, to those who are declared not to love
Him. I refer to the leading parties among the Jews,—the
scribes, in sooth, and the Pharisees,—who travailed with bitter
envy against Him, and made the glory of which He could not be spoiled
the ground of their slander, and assailed Him in many ways. For
Christ indeed raised the dead to life again, when they already stank
and were corrupt; and He displayed other signs of divinity. And
these should have filled them with wonder, and have made them ready to
believe, and to doubt no longer. Yet this was not the case with
them; but they were consumed with ill-will, and nursed its bitter pangs
in their mind.
After something from Cyril:—
Hipp. Who else is
this than as is shown us by the apostle, “the second man, the
Lord from heaven?”1184
And in the Gospel,1185
He said that he
who did the will of the Father was “the last.”1186
| 1186
ὁ ἔσχατος. Several
manuscripts and versions and Fathers read ἔσχατος with Hippolytus
instead of πρῶτος. Jerome
in loc. remarks on the fact, and observes that with that reading
the interpretation would be quite intelligible; the sense then being,
that “the Jews understand the truth indeed, but evade it, and
refuse to acknowledge what they perceive.” Wetstein, in his
New Test., i. p. 467, also cites this reading, and adds the
conjecture, that “some, remembering what is said in
Matt. xx. 16, viz., ‘the last shall be
first,’ thought that the ‘publican’ would be called
more properly ‘the last,’ and that then some one carried
out this emendation so far as to transpose the replies too.” | And by the words, “Turn back
to me,” is meant His ascension to His Father in heaven after His
passion. And in the phrase, “Against Him they took counsel
together, and reviled Him,” who are intended but just the people
in their opposition to our Lord? And as to the words, “they
pressed Him sore,” who pressed Him, and to this day still press
Him sore? Those—these “archers,”
namely—who think to contend against the Lord. But though
they prevailed to put Him to death, yet “their bows were broken
with might.” This plainly means, that “after the
resurrection” their bows were broken with might. And those
intended are the leaders of the people, who set themselves in array
against Him, and, as it were, sharpened the points of their
weapons. But they failed to transfix Him, though they did what
was unlawful, and dared to assail Him even in the manner of wild
beasts.
“Thou didst prevail above the blessings of
abiding mountains.” By “eternal and abiding mountains
and everlasting hills,” he means the saints, because they are
lifted above the earth, and make no account of the things that perish,
but seek the things that are above, and aspire earnestly to rise to the
highest virtues. After the glory of Christ, therefore, are those
of the Fathers who were most illustrious, and reached the greatest
elevation in virtue. These, however, were but servants; but the
Lord, the Son, supplied them with the means by which they became
illustrious. Wherefore also they acknowledge (the truth of this
word), “Out of His fulness have all we received.”1187
“And my God helped thee.” This
indicates clearly that the aid and support of the Son came from no one
else but our God and Father in heaven. And by the word “my
God,” is meant that the Spirit speaks by Jacob.1188
Euseb. “The sinews
of the arms.” He could not say, of “the hands”
or “shoulders;” but since the broad central parts of the
bow are termed “arms,” he says appropriately
“arms.”
Hipp.
“Blessings of the breasts and womb.” By this is meant
that the true blessing from heaven is the Spirit descending through the
Word upon flesh. And by “breasts and womb” he means
the blessings of the Virgin. And by that of “thy father and
thy mother,”1189
| 1189
Grabe adduces another fragment of the comments of Hippolytus on this
passage, found in some leaves deciphered at Rome. It is to this
effect: Plainly and evidently the generation of the
Only-begotten, which is at once from God the Father, and through the
holy Virgin, is signified, even as He is believed and manifested to be
a man. For being by nature and in truth the Son of God the
Father, on our account He submitted to birth by woman and the womb, and
sucked the breast. For He did not, as some fancy, become man only
in appearance, but He manifested Himself as in reality that which we
are who follow the laws of nature, and supported Himself by food,
though Himself giving life to the world. | he means also the blessing of the Father
which we have received in the Church through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Gen. xlix. 27
“Benjamin is a ravening wolf; in the morning he shall devour
still, and till evening he apportions food.”
Hipp. This thoroughly
suits Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. For when he was
young, he was a ravening wolf; but when he believed, he
“apportioned” food. This also is shown us by the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the tribe of Benjamin is among the
first persecutors, which is the sense of “in the
morning.” For Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin,
persecuted David, who was appointed to be a type of the
Lord. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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