Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God promises Abraham offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and at the same time the land of Canaan. Then secondly, in verse 9, He gives a sign of this promise, namely the sacrificial animals, by which He also ratifies His covenant with Abram. Thirdly, in verse 13, He promises that He will bring Abraham's descendants into Canaan after 400 years.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 15:1-21
1. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying: Do not fear, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward is exceedingly great. 2. And Abram said: Lord God, what will You give me? I shall go childless, and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer. 3. And Abram added: But to me You have given no offspring, and behold, my household servant will be my heir. 4. And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: This one shall not be your heir, but he who shall come forth from your own body, him you shall have as heir. 5. And He led him outside, and said to him: Look up to heaven, and count the stars, if you can. And He said to him: So shall your offspring be. 6. Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7. And He said to him: I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land, and that you might possess it. 8. But he said: Lord God, how can I know that I shall possess it? 9. And the Lord answered: Take for Me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old she-goat, and a three-year-old ram, and also a turtledove and a pigeon. 10. And taking all these, he divided them through the middle, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide. 11. And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12. And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and dark horror seized him. 13. And it was said to him: Know for certain that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not their own, and they shall be subjected to servitude and afflicted for four hundred years. 14. But the nation which they shall serve, I will judge; and after this they shall come out with great substance. 15. But you shall go to your fathers in peace, buried in a good old age. 16. But in the fourth generation they shall return here; for the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet complete up to the present time. 17. And when the sun had set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a torch of fire passing between those divided pieces. 18. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. 19. The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20. and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim also, 21. and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Verse 1: I Am Your Protector and Your Reward
'After these things had transpired,' that is, after the war and victory at Sodom were concluded, and thanks had been given to God through Melchizedek; when Abram feared that the Babylonians might renew the war, or that the Canaanites, enticed by envy or the hope of plunder, might attack him as one laden with spoils: God, wishing to reward his piety, fortitude, and virtue, appeared to Abram and strengthened him, declaring that he had nothing to fear from the Assyrians or the Canaanites; for He held him dear and in His care, and would be his guardian, protector, and rewarder.
'In a vision' -- not in sleep, but in a vision in which Abram, while awake, saw an angel representing God, in an assumed body: either with his bodily eyes, or more likely with the eyes of his mind, and with this angel he entered into a covenant. So say Tostatus, Pererius, and Oleaster.
I am your protector. In Hebrew anochi magen lach, 'I am your shield, I am your buckler, I will protect you like a shield, and receive all the weapons of your enemies.' Hence the Septuagint translates, 'I am your hyperaspistes' (shield-bearer), who goes before you and protects you with my shield, as captains in battle have their shield-bearer going before them. See here how God consoles and protects the just and His friends. Thus He protected David, Psalm 5:13: 'Lord, You have crowned us as with a shield of Your good will.' And Psalm 117:6: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me.'
There is a well-known emblem in Alciatus of a soldier who made his shield, with which he had caught the weapons of all his enemies, into a boat, by which he crossed a river that was impassable on foot, and then kissing the shield said: 'This was my true and only friend, both when I was hard pressed on land and when hard pressed at sea.' Such a shield, everywhere and in all things, God was and is to Abraham and to other Saints.
And your reward shall be exceedingly great, as if to say: Because you have acted so piously, holily, and bravely, O Abram, and because you rejected the cheap reward of the king of Sodom, chapter 14, verse 22, for this reason I will repay your faith, patience, fortitude, charity, and obedience with a reward exceedingly great, one that far surpasses your labors. So say Sts. Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Cajetan.
Note here the word 'reward,' against the heretics: for where there is a reward, there is merit of good works, which earns this reward.
This reward is, first, temporal, namely the multitude and greatness of his family and posterity, as is clear from verse 5. Secondly, it is spiritual and eternal, as if to say: I Myself, who am God, the ocean of all good things, will be your reward, prize, and objective beatitude, O Abram. David sings the same in Psalm 15: 'The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; You are He who will restore my inheritance to me. The lines have fallen for me in goodly places; indeed, my inheritance is excellent for me.' And Psalm 72: 'What have I in heaven, and apart from You what do I desire upon earth?' And when St. Thomas Aquinas, praying at Naples, heard from the crucifix of Christ: 'You have written well of Me, Thomas; what then will be your reward?' he answered: 'Nothing other than You, Lord' -- for You are my hope, my reward, my love, and my everything. Therefore the wicked lie who say in Malachi 3:14: 'It is vain to serve God.'
Some add, thirdly, that by 'I am your protector' the gift of perseverance is promised to Abraham; and by 'and your reward,' his eternal election is signified and revealed to Abraham, and indeed an election efficacious unto glory. But this, while mystical, is uncertain.
Verse 2: What Will You Give Me? -- Damascus Eliezer
'What will You give me?' As if to say: I believe, Lord, that You will bestow many goods and riches upon me, but whom will they serve? For I am childless; I lack a son and heir. Abram knew that God had promised him a son in chapter 12, verse 7, nor does he doubt God's faithfulness; but in so great and so desired a matter, he fears lest by his own fault he may have turned away or overturned God's promise. For desire and love fear all things, even those that are safe; nor do they rest until they possess the beloved object, the thing so longed for.
The son of the steward. In Hebrew it is ben mesec. Gennadius and Diodorus explain it as 'son of Mesec, who is my handmaid, originally from Damascus.' Secondly, Vatablus translates: 'the son of the leaving of my house,' that is, the one to whom I have left and entrusted all the care of my domestic affairs -- namely, my steward and manager. Thirdly and more properly, Oleaster and Forster translate: 'the son of the running of my house,' that is, the one who runs about through my house, as a household manager does, in dispensing and administering things. For mesec is derived from the root meaning 'to run about,' which is the proper function of stewards. Hence the Chaldean and Theodotion translate: 'the son of my household management or stewardship.' Now by a Hebraism the abstract is used for the concrete, namely 'running' for 'runner,' 'stewardship' for 'steward.' Hence Aquila translates: 'the son of the one who gives drink to my house,' that is, as St. Jerome translates in his Hebrew Questions: 'the son of the steward of my house,' for the steward procures and provides food and drink for the household.
'This Damascus Eliezer' -- supply: 'will be my heir,' because I lack a son. Gennadius and Diodorus think that Eliezer is called Damascus, that is, 'Damascene,' because he was born of a Damascene mother.
Secondly, Tostatus, Delrio, and Honcala think that this servant's proper name was Damascus, who was the son of Eliezer, as if to say: 'Damascus, son of Eliezer.'
Thirdly, and most genuinely as it seems, Damascus in Hebrew Dammesec is derived from mesec, which preceded; the prefixed letter dalet being the article which the Syrians use in place of the Hebrew demonstrative he. 'Damascus' therefore, or Dammesec, means the same as 'this mesec,' that is, 'this steward,' which the Flemish would commonly say den Procureur. And so, from the quasi-perpetual and hereditary office of stewardship, this servant was called Damascus, although his proper name was Eliezer. St. Jerome, Tostatus, and others report that from this Damascus the city of Damascus was founded. Therefore others, more ingeniously than truly, judge that Damascus is derived from dam ('blood') and sac ('sack'), as if to say 'a sack of blood,' that is, of red wine. Hence the Greeks also claimed that Damascus was so named, as if from haima ('blood,' that is, wine) and saccus ('sack'): and because there was great fertility and abundance of wine there, they imagined that Bacchus dwelt in a sack in that place. But this was a fabrication of the Gentiles, who were ignorant of this Damascus, Abraham's steward, and therefore sought out the origin of the name from the etymology of Damascus.
Verse 3: My Homeborn Servant
'My homeborn servant' -- my household slave, that is, a servant born in my house, as the Hebrew has it.
Verse 4: He Who Comes from Your Own Body
'And immediately.' See how quickly God comes to meet the distresses and anxieties of His own.
'From the womb' -- From the belly. It is a Hebraism.
Verse 5: Count the Stars
'Count the stars.' It was therefore night, not moonless, but cloudless, serene and starry. From this it is evident that the stars, even the visible ones, are innumerable to us. For, as St. Augustine says, the more keenly one gazes at the stars, the more one sees in the sky. So he himself says in Book XVI of The City of God, chapter 23; likewise St. Basil, Eusebius, Aristotle, Plato, and Seneca as cited by Pererius. The telescope reveals far more stars which cannot be seen with the naked eye. Therefore, when some from Ptolemy and the astronomers count only 1,022 stars, they count only those that are conspicuous, brilliant, and most notable to sight.
Note: God commands Abram to count the stars, both because he was an astronomer, and because he was accustomed to gaze often at them, and to sigh and long for heaven, as our Holy Father Ignatius also used to do. Hence Orpheus, as quoted by Clement in Book V of the Stromata, calls Abraham an astronomer, when he sings: 'One above all, who traces his origin from the Chaldean race; he knew the stars of heaven, and the paths of the constellations, and how the sphere revolves in its orbit.'
'So shall your seed be' -- as if to say: Like the stars shall your posterity be, O Abram, both literally, the carnal posterity of the Jews, which you properly here request; and allegorically, the spiritual posterity of believers and Christians: for these are the sons of Abraham; both because they imitate his faith and piety; and because Christ, the son of Abraham according to the flesh, is the parent of all Christians; and this is what, as St. Ambrose and St. Augustine attest, Christ said in John 8:56: 'Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; he saw it, and was glad.'
Note that the posterity of Abraham, both carnal and especially spiritual, is rightly compared to the stars of heaven, because this posterity, like the stars: first, is innumerable and very great (which is primarily intended here in the literal sense); second, is most exalted and heavenly; third, is constant, most orderly, and eternal; fourth, is most powerful; fifth, is most famous; sixth, is most splendid and glorious, and will be so especially after the resurrection: 'Those who are learned shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who instruct many unto justice, like stars for all eternity' (Daniel 12). The stars therefore signify illustrious faithful, such as the Doctors. And the Church alludes to this when she sings: 'May your standard-bearer St. Michael lead them into the holy light, which You once promised to Abraham (where? if not here, and in verse 1) and to his seed.'
Note secondly: The carnal sons of Abraham, namely the Jews, were an explicit figure of the spiritual sons of Abraham, namely Christians: first, in their most numerous multiplication; second, in their most harsh vexation and affliction in Egypt; third, in that most fortunate crossing of the Red Sea when 3,000 Egyptians were drowned; fourth, in their food, namely heavenly manna, by which they were nourished in the desert for 40 years; fifth, in the bronze serpent, which all who had been bitten by serpents would look upon and be healed; sixth, in the 40-year pilgrimage through the desert, led by the heavenly column, through so many dangers and temptations; seventh, in their introduction into the promised land, led by Joshua, that is, Jesus the son of Nave; eighth, in the abundance of wine, honey, and oil in the land of Canaan. For all these things can easily be applied spiritually to Christians.
Verse 6: Abram Believed God -- Justification
'Abram believed God' -- who was promising a thing so difficult and impossible by nature, namely that from Sarah, old and barren, he would beget a son, and through him innumerable descendants, like the stars of heaven.
Note: This faith of Abraham was not bare and unformed, as the Innovators would have it; but was clothed and formed with works of submission, obedience, reverence, charity, and other virtues, as is clear from the preceding and following passages, and from the Epistle of James, chapter 2, verse 21.
'And it was reckoned' (by God, or by the judgment of God, which is sincere and cannot be deceived) 'to him unto justice.' In Hebrew it is vaiachschebeha lo tsedaka, 'and He reckoned it,' namely faith, God reckoned 'to him unto justice,' that is, unto greater justice (for Abram was already justified before, as is clear from verse 1 and the preceding chapter), and so that he might appear more just before God, and truly be so. For God judges things as they truly are in themselves; otherwise God's judgment would be in error.
Therefore the Innovators wrongly attempt to prove from this passage their imputed justice. For Moses would then have said: God imputed the justice of Christ to Abraham. But he says the contrary, namely that God reckoned to Abraham himself not the faith of Christ, but the faith of Abraham himself unto justice, because, on account of Abraham's faith and such heroic acts of faith, He held and judged him to be just, indeed more just than before. For through these intrinsic acts of faith, not by denomination, nor by imputation, but truly and intrinsically, Abram was justified and grew in justice.
Note: This statement, 'Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to him unto justice,' is general, and pertains to all the preceding events. For Abram through faith was made just from being unjust, and through faith grew in the justice already attained. For Sacred Scripture here intends to propose Abram as the father of faith and the model of justification. Yet it places this statement here rather than elsewhere, because to believe that such and so great a posterity, both carnal and spiritual, would be born from spouses who were elderly, barren, and infirm, was a difficult act of faith, and a most ample one, tacitly embracing all other things to be believed. I have said more about this passage in Romans 4:3.
Verse 7: You Shall Possess
'You shall possess' -- through your descendants.
Verse 8: How May I Know?
'How may I know?' Abram does not doubt God's promise (for otherwise his faith would not have been reckoned to him unto justice), but only wishes to know the manner of it, and desires that some sign, symbol, and likeness of what he had believed be shown to him. So say Theodoret, St. Chrysostom, and St. Augustine. That this is so is clear from God's response, who, assenting to Abraham's request, gives such a sign by which He sets before his eyes the manner and order of the future possession. Secondly, Abram here desires that God confirm His promise, and not annul it on account of any demerits of his descendants, says Rupert and Tostatus. Thirdly, Abram here seeks a sign not so much for himself as for his posterity, namely that through this sign his descendants might believe more firmly. So says Cajetan.
Verse 9: The Covenant Animals
'Take for me a three-year-old heifer,' etc. First, for the purpose of a covenant, which I wish to make with you according to your custom and rite, and to ratify by the slaying and dividing of these animals. Second, so that after entering into a covenant with Me, you may sacrifice them to Me. Third, so that through these things I may foreshadow and signify to you what is to befall your descendants, partly joyful, partly sorrowful, before they enter into possession of the land of Canaan, promised to them by Me. So says Pererius.
'A three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old she-goat, and a three-year-old ram, and also a turtledove and a pigeon.' All these are symbols of things to come after Abram, in his posterity, namely the Hebrews.
First, therefore, this 'three-year-old heifer,' untamed, signifies the first generation of the Hebrews and their freedom in Egypt in the time of Joseph: for then they freely and lavishly, like a young heifer, pastured on the riches of Egypt. Second, the 'three-year-old she-goat' signifies the second generation of the Hebrews, whom after Joseph the Egyptians began to milk like a goat, enriching themselves by the labors and servitude of the Hebrews. Third, the 'ram,' hard and horned, signifies the third generation of the Hebrews, most numerous and strongest, and therefore oppressed with the harshest servitude by the Egyptians, when Moses was born. Fourth, the 'two birds,' not divided like the rest, but offered whole in sacrifice, signify that after 400 years the Hebrews would fly forth free and whole from Egypt, to worship God, both in the desert and in Canaan. The 'turtledove,' which moans, signifies the 40 years of mourning in the pilgrimage through the desert. Hence the turtledove in Hebrew is called tur, from tur, that is, to think, to meditate, because the turtledove seems to speak within itself, like those who talk to themselves while meditating. The 'pigeon,' being sociable, signifies the time of Joshua, when the Hebrews dwelt joyfully and peacefully in the promised land. For 'pigeon' in Hebrew is gosal, that is, a young pigeon, or a chick, as the Chaldean translates. For the Hebrews, having recently entered Canaan under Joshua, were in it like fledglings.
The 'dissection of the quadrupeds' signifies the various afflictions of the Hebrews in Egypt; the whole birds signify the end of these afflictions. The 'flight of birds' to the carcasses signifies Og, Sihon, Amalek, and other enemies invading and harassing Israel during its pilgrimage. 'Abram driving away the birds' signifies the providence of God, protecting and defending the Hebrews on account of the merits of Abraham. So say Theodoret and Diodorus of Tarsus.
Tropologically, concerning prayer and the various distractions in it that must be driven away like birds, see St. Gregory in Book XVI of the Moralia, chapter 20.
You will ask why God willed that these terrestrial animals be three years old. I respond: first, because three-year-old animals are mature in size, age, and strength; second, symbolically, because the Egyptian servitude lasted through three generations, namely Kohath, Amram, and Moses.
Tropologically, whoever strives for the promised land in heaven, as a true Hebrew and son of Abraham, should take: first, a three-year-old heifer, that is, threefold humility -- namely, let him humble himself before superiors, equals, and inferiors; second, a three-year-old she-goat, that is, threefold penance -- namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction; third, a three-year-old ram, that is, threefold fortitude -- so that he may bravely endure for the faith and the service of God the loss of wealth, honor, and body or life; fourth, let him take the turtledove, that is, chastity and prayer; and the pigeon, that is, simplicity and meekness; fifth, let him drive away the birds, that is, the temptations of demons.
Mystically, that is physically, St. Ambrose says in Book II of On Abraham, chapter 8: The heifer, he says, represents the earth, the she-goat water, the ram the air, which is strong like a ram, shaking earth and water with winds and storms. For these must be offered to God. Morally, the heifer is the flesh, the she-goat is the senses, the ram is the word. 'Our flesh is a heifer: it labors to sow, it labors to gather, it labors to bring forth, it is wearied by innumerable labors. Hence the Greeks call it damalin from damasthai lian, because it is tamed exceedingly. But our senses, like goats, leap forth as if by a certain bound. They are ready at every occasion, whether at the sight of feminine beauty, or the scent of some sweetness; by hearing likewise and by touch they are moved swiftly, by which they also bend the constancy of the soul. The ram is vehement, just as our speech is also efficacious in action, leading the flock by a certain order of life and deeds.' These three, therefore, must be offered to God. So says St. Ambrose.
Allegorically, these animals signified Christ and the sacrifice of Christ, by which the new covenant of Christians with God was ratified. The ram, therefore, or sheep, signifies the innocence of Christ; the she-goat signifies the likeness of sinful flesh in Christ; the heifer, the strength and patience of Christ in enduring labors; the turtledove, the purity and chastity of Christ; the pigeon, which is without gall, the incomparable meekness of Christ, which He especially wished us to love and imitate, saying: 'Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart.' So says Lyra.
Verse 10: He Divided Them through the Middle
'He divided them through the middle.' He split them by cutting from head to tail. God seems here to institute the rite of striking a covenant, so that in the covenant they would cleave and divide the animals, that is, the covenant victims, and pass between the parts thus divided, calling down upon themselves a similar death and splitting if they should violate the covenant. Hence the Jews thereafter observed this rite, as is clear from Jeremiah chapter 34, verse 18. The Chaldeans likewise: for among the Chaldeans, says Diodorus of Tarsus, an oath is considered more secure when they ratify it by the cutting of animals, calling down the same fate upon transgressors. So also the Romans and Latins: 'They stood, and confirmed the covenant over a slain sow.' I have said more on this matter in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 25, and will say more in Exodus 24:8.
'The parts opposite each other.' He placed those parts corresponding to each other on either side, leaving a space in between for passing through. Abram did all these things by the instinct and command of God, although Moses does not express this.
'He did not divide the birds' -- because they did not serve the symbolic purpose of the covenant. St. Ambrose, in Book II of On Abraham, chapter 8, says: 'For the just are not divided; to whom it is said that they should be simple as doves. For a mind directed toward the grace of Christ saw that this world is full of iniquity; but that modesty, faith, and sincerity are subject to no passions; whereas avarice and the cares of the world, by which those who have the pleasures of riches are suffocated, are torn apart and divided. Hence riches (divitiae) are so called because they divide (dividant) the mind, and split it asunder, and pull it in different directions, and do not allow it to be uncorrupted and whole.'
Verse 11: Abram Drove Away the Birds
'He drove them away.' Correctly: for this is what the Hebrew signifies, from the root naschab, that is, he removed, he drove out. So say the Chaldean, Vatablus, and others, and this is the true and genuine translation. For it is certain that Abram drove away the birds from his victims, since otherwise they would have devoured them. But the Septuagint, reading with different vowel points, translates it contrarily: 'Abram sat with them,' which is however also true; for Abram sat at a distance with the birds he had driven away: for these, once driven off, sat at a distance, gaping at the victims and desiring to return to them.
In like manner, when a Bishop celebrates a solemn Mass, deacons on either side hold fans to drive away flies and gnats, lest they fall into the chalice: just as Abram drove away the birds that descended upon the victims, says Turrianus in the Apostolic Constitutions of St. Clement, Book VIII, chapter 12.
St. Ambrose notes, in Book II of On Abraham, that no commendation of haruspicy, by which the Gentiles divined from the flight or chattering of birds, is to be taken from this passage, which however Valesius hints at in his Sacred Philosophy, chapter 30, where he seems to paganize, and therefore incurred the censure of the Roman Index.
Verse 12: A Deep Sleep Fell upon Abram
'And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram.' This sleep of Abraham was partly natural, from the excessive daytime labor of killing, dividing, and sacrificing the victims, and driving away the birds from them; and partly it was sent upon Abraham by God, just as He sent a deep sleep upon Adam in Genesis 2:21. For in both places the same Hebrew word tardema appears, which the Septuagint translates as ecstasy. Caught up therefore in ecstasy, Abram saw the servitude of his descendants (as is clear from the following verse) in Egypt, and seeing this, he was seized with horror and anguish. So say Philo, Pererius, and others.
Symbolically, this sleep signified that God, as it were sleeping and dissembling for a time, would permit the affliction of the Hebrews: hence it happened at the setting of the sun, that is, when Joseph died, who was their patron with Pharaoh. Secondly, Pererius thinks that this sleep of Abraham signifies that Abram would die beforehand, and would not see the calamity of his people.
Allegorically, St. Augustine refers these things to the disturbance that will occur at the end of the world, in Book XVI of The City of God, chapter 24.
Verse 13: Four Hundred Years of Affliction
'In a land not their own.' That is, partly in Egypt, partly in Canaan.
'And they shall subject them to servitude, and afflict them for four hundred years.' Note that these 400 years must be referred partly to 'they shall afflict,' and partly to 'your seed shall be a stranger,' which preceded. For the Hebrews did not serve in Egypt, indeed did not even dwell there, for 400 years, but only 215, as I shall show in Exodus 12:40. The meaning is therefore, as if to say: From this time, when I shall soon give you, O Abram, the promised seed, and cause Isaac to be born to you, until the departure of your descendants from Egyptian servitude into Canaan, 400 years shall flow, during which Isaac and your descendants shall partly be strangers here in Canaan and in Egypt, and partly shall serve and be afflicted in Egypt.
Note that these 400 years must be reckoned from the birth of Isaac (for these things concern the descendants of Isaac, and not of Ishmael), which occurred in the 100th year of Abraham, which was 25 years from his calling, Genesis 12:4. For from this 100th year of Abraham until the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, 405 years elapsed. But Scripture usually omits small numbers, and therefore here omits five years. So says Pererius, following St. Augustine. Or if you require an exact calculation, begin these years from the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael from the house of Abraham; for then Isaac alone remained in the house of Abraham, his sole heir, and heir of these promises. Hence Genesis 21:12, where the expulsion of Ishmael is commanded, God says to Abraham: 'In Isaac shall your seed be called. But I will also make the son of the handmaid into a great nation, because he is your seed.' So says Torniellus. For this expulsion of Ishmael occurred in the 103rd year of Abraham, when Isaac was five years old, as I shall say in chapter 21.
Verse 14: I Will Judge That Nation
'I will judge.' I will punish most severely with the Egyptian plagues, Exodus 7 and following.
'With great substance' -- with great wealth, both their own and that of the Egyptians. For they shall spoil Egypt, Exodus chapter 12, verse 36.
Verse 15: You Shall Go to Your Fathers in Peace
'You shall go to your fathers in peace' -- you shall depart by a calm, peaceful, and happy death. Hear St. Ambrose, in Book II of On Abraham, chapter 9: 'Some have thought that the fathers are the elements of which our flesh consists while we live, and into which we are dissolved. But we who remember that our mother is the Jerusalem which is above, we assert that those are the fathers who preceded us in merit of life and in order. There was Abel, the pious victim; there was the pious and holy Enoch; there was Noah: it is to these that the passage of Abraham is promised.'
'In a good old age' -- advanced, mature, at 175 years of age.
Verse 16: In the Fourth Generation
'But in the fourth generation they shall return here.' 'In the fourth generation,' that is, in the fourth century, or the fourth hundred years, namely after 400 years. For a generation, or the span of human life, is defined as 100 years, Sirach 17:8.
It can be taken secondly, with Pererius, that 'generation' here is understood properly, as that by which a father begets a son; for after the descent of Jacob into Egypt, there were four generations in the line of Judah, of those who were born from Judah in Egypt: Hezron, who was the grandson of Judah, begat Ram (that is the first). Ram begat Amminadab (the second). Amminadab begat Nahshon (the third). Nahshon begat Salmon, who entered the land of Canaan promised by God to the Jews (the fourth).
You will object: The Septuagint, in Exodus 13:18, reckons not four but five generations here. I respond: The Septuagint reckons from the sons of Jacob exclusively; for they count Perez himself, the son of Judah. For Perez begat Hezron, but not in Egypt, rather in Canaan. For Hezron, together with his father Perez, his grandfather Judah, and his great-grandfather Jacob, entered Egypt from Canaan, as is clear from Genesis 46:12 and 26. And therefore this fifth generation is here omitted.
'For the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet complete.' Note: For 400 years God tolerated the sins of the Canaanites, until, that is, the measure of sins, predetermined by God for their punishment and destruction, was filled by them. When it was filled, and the Canaanites were expelled and destroyed, He substituted the Hebrews in their place and region.
Note secondly: The iniquities of the Amorites and Canaanites (as is clear from Leviticus 18, and Deuteronomy 9 and 12) were principally three. First, idolatry, by which they even sacrificed their own children by burning them in fire to their gods. Second, unjust oppressions of strangers and the poor. Third, indiscriminate marriages with blood relatives and kin. Furthermore, unspeakable lust, not only of males with males, but even with beasts. These things were so abominable that the land could no longer endure them, but was compelled to vomit them out, as Scripture says.
Where note thirdly: In this life God especially punishes public and shameless sins that are destructive to human society. Human society is held together chiefly by three things: first, religion and piety toward God; second, equity and justice; third, right discipline of living and good moral conduct. Against the first, atheism and idolatry sin; against the second, robberies and oppressions of the innocent; against the third, indiscriminate and unspeakable lust.
Finally, St. Gregory, explaining Ezekiel chapter 3, 'If the just man turns from his justice and commits iniquity, I will place a stumbling block before him,' says: 'This must be considered by us with trembling, that the just and omnipotent God, when He is angry at preceding sins, permits the blinded mind to fall into still others.' So He permitted the Canaanites to fall into one and another crime, until their measure was filled. Therefore a great punishment from God is the impunity of sinning, granted to the sinner for his graver punishment and damnation. From this passage, therefore, learn first that whatever we sin comes, as it were, into one heap before God, so that when the measure is filled, certain destruction falls upon us. Let us therefore not think sins are light, even small ones, because they add something to this heap. Learn second, that it is a grace when God quickly punishes sins: for by this the heap of sins decreases. Conversely, it is a great anger of God when He long delays and dissembles: for then the heap of guilt grows, and consequently also of punishment. Learn third, that God tolerates the impious up to a certain limit, which they cannot transgress without God's punishment. Learn fourth, that when in a republic or city, or in a prince or any other person, sins have reached their summit, then the certain vengeance of God is imminent. Let us therefore avert it by swift repentance.
Verse 17: The Smoking Furnace and Lamp of Fire
'There was darkness.' Abram saw all these things in ecstasy, as the Septuagint has it, verse 12. So says St. Augustine, Book II of the Retractations, chapter 43.
A smoking furnace. A furnace burning and erupting with smoky flame; this furnace is a symbol and image of the metaphorical furnace, namely the Egyptian servitude in clay and brick, which the Hebrews baked in their kilns; hence their servitude is called the iron furnace of Egypt, Deuteronomy 4:20.
Symbolically, St. Ambrose says in Book II of On Abraham, chapter 9: 'By the likeness of a furnace, human life seems to be expressed, which, entangled and enwrapped in the iniquities of this world, not having the clarity of true brightness and the splendor of sincere light, inwardly seethes like a furnace with diverse desires, and pants with certain fires of longings; outwardly it is covered as with a certain smoke, so that it may not see the face of truth, until the Lord Jesus directs His heavenly lamps, that is, the brilliance of His glory.'
A lamp of fire. The Hebrews call a lamp of fire a torch, or a burning brand. This lamp, therefore, was a burning torch and a sign of God, who was generally accustomed in the Old Testament to appear in fire, as I said in Hebrews 12:29.
Note: In striking covenants, those making the covenant were accustomed to pass between the divided victims, calling down upon themselves a similar death and division if they should violate the covenant, as I said in verse 10. Therefore by this passing of the lamp or torch through the middle of the animals, God confirms His covenant with Abram: for in place of God, an angel, represented and hidden in this torch, passes through. Abram also, who enters into a covenant with God, must be understood to have passed through in the same way, or rather to have seemed to himself to pass through. For Abram seemed to himself to see all these things in a vision.
Secondly, this lamp or torch signified the column of fire and cloud, by which God separated the Hebrews from the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Exodus chapter 13, verse 21. And thereafter He led them through the desert into the promised land.
Furthermore, the lamp is God Himself, by its very passing as it were inviting the Hebrews to their exodus from Egypt, according to Sirach 50:31: 'The light of God is His footprint,' that is, one follows the footsteps of the light going before, namely of God. For God, going before the camp of the Hebrews in the column of fire and cloud, led them out and showed and went before them on the way through the desert. Moreover, Clement of Alexandria in his Exhortation to the Greeks represents God speaking thus to the people in the very column of shining and burning fire: 'If you obey, light; if you do not obey, I will send fire upon you.' Finally, the smoking furnace is the judge troubling and tormenting the impious on the day of judgment; while the passing lamp is the brief purgatory, by which the pious are refined, that they may pass into eternal life.
Allegorically, this passing torch signified the glory of God, of faith and grace, which would pass from the Jews to the Gentiles. So says Rupert.
Anagogically, this torch signifies the day of judgment and the fire of the conflagration of the world, which will separate the elect and the reprobate, those to be saved and those to be damned. So says Augustine, Book XVI of The City of God, chapter 24.
Finally, this torch passing between the divided parts of the animals consumed and burned them together with the pigeon and turtledove; and this so that in this way the sacrifice of Abraham might be completed, and so that by this sign God might attest that this sacrifice of Abraham was pleasing to Him. For in this way God accepted by fire the sacrifice of Abel, Gideon, Manoah, Solomon, and others, as I said in chapter 4, verse 4. So says Chrysostom, Homily 37.
Verse 18: From the River of Egypt to the Euphrates
'From the river of Egypt.' This river is a branch of the Nile, which enters the Mediterranean Sea between Rhinocolura and Pelusium; hence it is called elsewhere the torrent of Egypt, or of the desert: on which see Ribera on Amos chapter 6, number 15.
Verse 19: The Eleven Nations
'The Kenites.' Note: Under Joshua, the Hebrews possessed the land of only seven nations.
You will say: How then is the land of eleven nations here promised to them? For ten are named here, to which if you add the Hivites, whom Scripture names elsewhere, you will have eleven. The Abulensis responds that this promise concerns not only the Hebrews, but all the descendants of Abraham, and so God here includes also the portion of land that would fall to Esau, Abraham's grandson, and to the Edomites; again, the portion that would fall to the sons of Ammon and Moab, to whom God gave the territory of two nations as a favor to Abraham, their uncle. With these three subtracted, eight remain; now of these eight, the land of the Rephaim, or giants, is elsewhere included under the Amorites; with these therefore subtracted, only seven nations remain, which the Hebrews possessed according to God's promises.
But it is more true that all these things concern, not the Edomites, nor the Ammonites and Moabites, but only the Hebrews, the descendants of Isaac and Jacob; for these are the seed of Abraham, to whom God assigns His promises. Therefore St. Augustine in Question 21 on Joshua responds better, and Pererius following him, that in Scripture a twofold promised land is posited: the first, which the Hebrews possessed under Joshua, which contained only seven nations; the second, which the same possessed under David and Solomon, when the kingdom of the Jews was most flourishing, and this latter encompasses the eleven nations that are here promised to Abraham; not as though the Hebrews under Solomon inhabited all this land, but that the whole of it was subject and tributary to them.
Thirdly and best, St. Jerome and Andreas Masius respond, in their commentary on Joshua chapter 1, verse 4, that God did not give the Hebrews the entire land here promised to them, because they themselves did not observe the conditions of the promise and covenant, namely the law and worship of God. Hence it is said repeatedly in the Book of Judges that the Canaanite still dwelt in the land, and that God left them the Jebusite, who would test Israel. For this reason, therefore, although these nations in total were eleven, nevertheless only seven are commonly named, as can be seen in Deuteronomy 7:1 and Joshua 24:11. Furthermore, sometimes only six are named: for the Girgashites are omitted, because they were fewer and less significant; hence Scripture includes them under others.