Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Abraham, commanded by God to sacrifice his son, obeys; but is stopped by an angel. Second, in verse 15, he receives an ample reward and blessing for his obedience. Third, in verse 20, the lineage of Nahor and Rebecca is recorded, she who was to be the wife of Isaac.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 22:1-24
1. After these things were done, God tested Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. 2. He said to him: Take your only-begotten son, whom you love, Isaac, and go into the land of Vision, and there offer him as a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show you. 3. So Abraham, rising up in the night, saddled his donkey, taking with him two young men and Isaac his son. And when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went to the place which God had commanded him. 4. And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off, 5. and he said to his young men: Wait here with the donkey; I and the boy will go with all speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, we will return to you. 6. And he took the wood of the holocaust and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as the two went on together, 7. Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What do you wish, my son? Behold, he said, here is fire and wood; where is the victim for the holocaust? 8. And Abraham said: God will provide Himself a victim for the holocaust, my son. So they went on together, 9. and they came to the place which God had shown 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. 10. And he stretched forth his hand and took the sword to sacrifice his son. 11. And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven cried out, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. 12. And he said to him: Do not stretch out your hand upon the boy, nor do anything to him; now I know that you fear God, and have not spared your only-begotten son for My sake. 13. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw behind him a ram caught among the briars by its horns, which he took and offered as a holocaust instead of his son. 14. And he called the name of that place: The Lord sees. Whence even to this day it is said: On the mountain the Lord will see. 15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying: 16. By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord; because you have done this thing, and have not spared your only-begotten son for My sake, 17. I will bless you, and I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore; your seed shall possess the gates of their enemies, 18. and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. 19. Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Beersheba together, and he dwelt there. 20. After these things, it was told to Abraham that Milcah also had borne sons to Nahor his brother: 21. Huz the firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of the Syrians, 22. and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash and Jidlaph, 23. and Bethuel, from whom Rebecca was born: these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24. And his concubine, named Reumah, bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.
Verse 1: God Tested Abraham
GOD TESTED ABRAHAM -- by giving and presenting to him a notable object and material for heroic virtue and obedience, with this purpose: that He might reveal, sharpen, perfect, and finally crown the virtue lying hidden in his soul. But the devil tempts by presenting allurements, with this purpose: to drag a man into sins and hell; of which evils God is not the author, for He Himself tempts no one in this manner and with this end.
Even Seneca saw this, though dimly, in his book On Providence: "God," he says, "raises up good men harshly, as strict fathers do their sons, and says: Let them gather strength through hard labors, sorrows, and losses; virtue languishes without an adversary; in the adversary's presence it is sharpened, and amid adversities it remains in its state, and draws whatever happens into its own color, as the sea draws rivers. Behold a spectacle worthy of God: a brave man matched against evil fortune -- a sight worthy of God. Fortune, like a gladiator, seeks the bravest as her equals and passes over others with disdain: she tests fire in Mucius, poverty in Fabricius, exile in Rutilius, torture in Regulus, poison in Socrates, death in Cato." Far more does our God test fire in Lawrence, wild beasts in Ignatius, stones in Stephen, the rack in Vincent, the wheel in Catherine, the sword in Dorothy.
Seneca continues: "Most dangerous is the excess of prosperity. Great men sometimes rejoice in adversity, no differently than brave soldiers in wars. You recognize the helmsman in the storm, the soldier in battle. The gods will follow this method with good men, just as teachers with their pupils, who demand more labor from those in whom the hope of learning is more certain."
"This is the purpose of God, which is also that of a wise man: to show that the things which the crowd desires and the things which the crowd dreads are neither good nor evil; therefore He presents them to the good as well as the evil." They are not evils except to the one who bears them badly. "What is the duty of a good man? To offer himself to fate (to God): it is a great consolation to be swept along with the universe. God has removed from him all evils -- namely shameful deeds."
"Those who endure are born as an example. God is beyond suffering; they are above suffering. God therefore says to them: I have given you solid goods; and the most solid thing of all is that which He has tested." "Let the upright 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 are scattered throughout Seneca.
The Hebrews note that Abraham was tested ten times by God: first, when he was commanded to leave his homeland and kindred, and go as a stranger 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 to his life, and his wife to her chastity; fourth, when on account of quarrels between their servants he was forced to separate from Lot, whom he had nurtured and loved as a son; fifth, when he fought most bravely against four kings to liberate the captive Lot; sixth, when Hagar, whom he had taken as a wife and who was already pregnant by him, he expelled from his household at Sarah's urging; seventh, when as an old man he was commanded to be circumcised; eighth, when his wife was taken from him by King Abimelech; ninth, when again he expelled his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael from the house -- first at Sarah's instigation, then by God's command; tenth, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. And because this last was the most grievous of all, Moses alone calls it a "temptation."
AND HE SAID TO HIM -- at night, through a vision, as is clear from verse 3.
HERE I AM. In Hebrew hinneni, "behold, I" -- that is, as a servant I am ready in body and soul to obey You, and to devote myself and all that is mine at Your bidding. What therefore do You ask of me?
Verse 2: Take Your Son
TAKE YOUR SON. The Hebrew words sting and goad Abraham's soul even more, for they read: Take now your son, your only one, whom you have loved, Isaac. And the Septuagint: Take your son, that beloved one of yours, whom you have loved, that Isaac. As many words as there are here, so many are the goads, so many the temptations.
First, He says "take" -- not oxen, not servants, but "your son." Second, and him "your only one" -- if you had many, you could easily give one of many; but now you have an only-begotten, and him I demand you sacrifice to Me. Third, "whom you love" -- in Hebrew, "whom you have loved," that is, continuously, up to now without any cessation or diminution of love: both because Isaac was of the sweetest character, most respectful and obedient to his father; and because his father had begotten him in old age through a miracle; and because through Isaac the greatest posterity had been promised to Abraham, and every blessing, and Christ Himself, through whom he hoped for eternal life. Therefore by offering his son, he was at the same time offering all his hopes and all the goods promised to him to God. Fourth, "Isaac" -- as if to say: Give Me your Isaac, your laughter, your joy, your darling. This name wonderfully struck and wounded the father's ears and soul, for now he would be not Isaac but Abel; not Benjamin but Ben-oni; not laughter but mourning. See Origen, Homily 8. Fifth, "you shall offer" -- He does not say: You will give him to be offered, but you with your own hands shall slaughter, burn, and sacrifice him. Sixth, "to Me" (for this is understood here): Abraham knew that God detested 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 or repentant of all these things, do You command that my Isaac -- and Yours -- be killed and sacrificed to You? Seventh, "as a holocaust," so that neither the body nor any part of the body might be left to the father, but the whole of 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.
See how many and how great were the ways in which Abraham was tested and proved, and how great a palm of obedience he won! See with what lofty and steadfast spirit he swallowed and overcame all these things -- so that you may rightly say of him what King Pyrrhus used to say of the Roman Fabricius: "It is easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from his purpose." Hence see his promptness and speed: for on that very night he obeyed and went out to sacrifice Isaac.
The whole of this chapter is excellently examined and weighed by St. Augustine, Sermon 72 On the Seasons, and by St. Ephrem, On Abraham and Isaac.
Only-begotten. 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, having already been cast out of Abraham's house, was not reckoned as Abraham's son, being as it were disinherited.
The mother of the Maccabees imitated Abraham's example before Antiochus, she who offered her seven sons to death and urged them to martyrdom. Saints Felicity and Symphorosa did the same, and other mothers; and especially that woman whom Prudentius mentions in his hymn on St. Romanus the Martyr. When she saw her little son being most cruelly beaten with whips at Antioch by the prefect Asclepiades for the faith of Christ, she watched steadfastly without tears, and even rebuked her little son when he asked for a drink of water, saying: "Wait for that cup which the slain infants of Bethlehem once drank, forgetful of milk and breasts. Look to Isaac, who, when he saw the altar and the sword for his sacrifice, willingly offered his neck." Meanwhile the torturer tore the skin with the hair from the top of his head. The mother cried out: "Endure, my son; for soon you will come to Him who will clothe with a royal diadem your head now stripped bare in disgrace." The boy, rejoicing, laughs at the rods and the pain of wounds; he is condemned, and led with Romanus to execution. They arrived at the place of death: the executioner demands the boy, whom the mother brought forth in her embrace; she gives him without delay, save for a kiss. And she said: "Go, my sweetest child." 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 Your servant, and the son of Your handmaid." When she had said this, she caught the severed head of the boy in her unfolded cloak and pressed it to her breast. Romanus was then thrown into the fire, but a rainstorm arose and extinguished it. The executioner cut out Romanus's tongue, but he spoke nonetheless.
INTO THE LAND OF VISION. In Hebrew it is: go into the land of Moriah, which was later called Moriah by Abraham, verse 14. Mount Moriah is Mount Zion, on which Solomon built the temple.
Note: Moriah can first, with Oleaster, be derived from the root marar, that is, "he was bitter," or from mor, that is, "myrrh": because Mount Moriah is fertile in myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon; or rather because this mountain was bitter both for Abraham who was sacrificing and for the son being sacrificed. Whence Pagninus and from him our Barradius, volume II, book III, chapter 11: Moriah, he says, is so called as if from 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 mountain the Lord was henceforth to be worshipped, and feared and adored as present; whence the Chaldean translates: "go into the land of divine worship." Third, Moriah can be derived from the root iara, that is, "he taught," because the Torah, that is, the law and doctrine, was to go forth from Zion and Moriah, Isaiah 2:3. Fourth and best, our Translator with Symmachus derives Moriah from the root raa, that is, "he saw," and translates it as the land or mountain of vision.
Fifth, Barradius at the cited place: Moriah, he says, is so called as if from more iah, that is, "God teaching," or "God raining."
Why "the land of vision"? First, because this place was high and conspicuous, so that it could be seen from afar. So Villalpando, book III On the Temple, chapter 5. Second, because on Zion and Moriah the Prophets received their visions, and there Christ appeared visible as man, Baruch 3, last verse. Third and best, because God showed this mount Moriah to Abraham, verse 4, and there He was seen by him, and He Himself saw and regarded Abraham with His eyes and regard, both of His mercy, when He forbade the sacrifice of the son, and of His beneficence, when He most amply rewarded Abraham's great obedience: see verse 14.
Note second, from Diodorus of Tarsus: Mount Moriah was divided into several hills and small peaks. On the eastern part of Mount Moriah was Zion, where the citadel of David stood; next to which, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite purchased by David, Solomon erected the temple, as is clear from 2 Chronicles 3:1. Another part of Moriah remained outside the city of Jerusalem, and was later called Mount Calvary, on which both Isaac and Christ (signified by Isaac) were sacrificed, as St. Jerome teaches, and St. Augustine, book XVI of The City of God, chapter 32, where he says: "The priest Jerome wrote that he learned most certainly from the elders of the Jews that Isaac was sacrificed, and Adam buried, in the very place where Christ was later crucified." So also Burchard in his Description of the Holy Land, and Genebrard, book I of the Chronography.
They assert that in the same mountain range there are three hills or peaks, which are sometimes called by the single name Zion, and sometimes receive their own particular names. The first is Zion, which is called by this name on account of its height: for Zion signifies a watchtower. The second, Moriah. The third, the Mount of Calvary. On Zion was the city of David and the citadel; on Moriah the temple; on the Mount of Calvary Christ was put on the cross.
Some Hebrews add that Abel and Cain sacrificed on Moriah, and likewise Noah immediately after the flood; but they assert this rashly and without foundation. Abraham therefore, by his sacrifice here, as it were inaugurated and consecrated Mount Moriah as the temple for his posterity and for Christ, and likewise the Mount of Calvary as the altar of Christ.
Note third: For Moriah, Aquila translates katephane, that is, "luminous": 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 the truth, illuminating the Prophets, and inspiring oracles in them. So St. Jerome.
Allegorically, the Mount of Calvary where Christ was crucified was Mount Moriah according to the five etymologies already given: namely first, because of the bitterness of the cross. Second, because of the holocaust which Christ there offered to the Father. Third, because there He ratified the Evangelical law by His death. Fourth, it was the land of vision, because there Christ crucified presented 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 on John: "That wood where the limbs of the dying One were fixed was the chair of the teaching Master." Again, the Mount of Calvary was Moriah, that is, the rain of God, because the rain of God's blood was poured out upon it. Finally, it was Moriah, that is, luminous and illuminating, because Christ enlightened all men with the rays of His cross. Wherefore, when the sun beheld another Sun illuminating the world from the cross, it rightly withdrew its rays.
Second, Moriah is the Church: first, because the Church teaches us to bear the cross of Christ, and preserves us from the corruption of sin by the holy Sacraments, as by a kind of myrrh. Second, because in it is the fear of God and His true worship. Third, because it teaches the law and the Word of Christ. Fourth, it is the land of vision, because from it alone, through true faith, invisible things and the things of heaven are seen. Again, because it is visible throughout the whole world; for, as Isaiah says, chapter 2, it is a mountain on the top of mountains. Moreover, it has seers, that is, Prophets. Fifth, it has the Holy Spirit as its teacher, who teaches it all truth. Again, the Church, by the word of God and sacred sermons, waters the dry hearts of men as with a heavenly rain. Finally, it is an illuminating mountain, because as the sky has the sun, so the Church has Christ illuminating the whole world.
Third, 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. Second, because she offered both Christ and herself to God as a perpetual holocaust. Third, because she was the ark of the covenant containing the law of God. Fourth, she was the land of vision. For what is more worthy of sight than the Virgin Mother of God? Again, for Moriah the Septuagint translates "high land": so nothing was higher than Mary below God. Fifth, because she was the teacher of the Apostles after the death of Christ. Again, she, like the fleece of Gideon, most abundantly received 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 was offered as a type of Christ: would that the Christian soul might be a land not of forgetfulness but of vision! Would that it might always have before its tear-filled eyes its Isaac hanging from the cross! Would that, as He inscribed it in His hands with His blood, so it might inscribe Him in its heart with perpetual memory! Isaiah 49: "Behold, I have inscribed you on My hands." Would that in this land of vision the true Isaac might always be seen, by holy meditation! Would that He might always be sacrificed, by holy contemplation! This He demands, saying in the Song of Songs 8: "Set Me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm" -- as if to say: As a signet ring imprints its image on wax, so let Christ crucified imprint His cross, His sorrows, and His love upon your heart, according to that saying of St. Augustine, On Holy Virginity, chapter 55: "Let Him be wholly figured in your heart, who for you was fixed on the cross."
Verse 3: Abraham Rising Up in the Night
ABRAHAM RISING UP IN THE NIGHT. "In the night," that is, very early in the morning, at twilight, before dawn. For the Hebrew has: Abraham rose early in the morning. Sarah is not mentioned here; whence it seems that Abraham did all this without her knowledge (since she loved her Isaac too tenderly). So Josephus, St. Chrysostom, and Pererius. St. Augustine, however, Sermon 73, and Gregory of Nyssa and Procopius think that Sarah was aware of and consented to the sacrifice of her son.
Verse 4: On the Third Day
ON THE THIRD DAY. Abraham was living in Gerar, says St. Jerome; from there to Zion and Moriah is a three-day journey. By Gerar, understand not the city, but the region; for, as Abulensis rightly says, it seems that Abraham was then living in Beersheba, as is gathered from the preceding chapter, verse 31. Whence also after the sacrifice he returned to Beersheba, as is clear from this chapter, verse 19. For although from Beersheba to Zion is only a one-day journey, nevertheless Abraham, because he was laden with things necessary for the sacrifice, proceeded so slowly that he arrived at Zion and Moriah only on the third day; and in this sense St. Jerome said it was a three-day journey.
This three-day period increased Abraham's trial: for, as Origen says: "Abraham walks for three days, so that along the whole way he might be torn by thoughts -- on one side by the pressing command, on the other by the resisting love for his son: so that throughout all this space they might receive a battle -- on one side affection, on the other faith; on one side the love of God, on the other the love of the flesh; on one side the grace of present things, on the other 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 Theodoret also says that Abraham, in this trial, was in a kind of agony and death for three days and nights, just as Christ was for three days: partly on the cross and in His passion, partly in death, the tomb, and hell.
HE SAW THE PLACE. From some sign given by God he recognized where and on which hill of Mount Moriah precisely he was to sacrifice his Isaac.
The Rabbis, whom Abulensis follows, report that this sign was a pillar of fire appearing on the summit of Mount Moriah, around the hill of Calvary.
Verse 5: After We Have Worshipped
After we have worshipped. That is, after we have offered sacrifice. It is a metalepsis; for adoration is usually joined to sacrifice.
WE WILL RETURN TO YOU. Melchior Cano, book II of The Theological Places, chapter 4, holds that Abraham lied here; for he himself intended to kill and sacrifice his Isaac. Second, Cajetan: "we will return," that is, according to the ordinary course of natural causes, for supernatural things are excepted. Third, others: "we will return," that is, if life permits, if God wills. Fourth, Thomas the Englishman: "we will return," that is, I shall return, not Isaac -- the plural being used for the singular.
I say truly: Abraham asserted that he would return with Isaac because he was certain, and firmly believed, that God would either free Isaac from death, or raise him up once killed and sacrificed. For from Isaac he expected the blessed seed and a very great posterity: for God had promised him this, and this is what the Apostle says -- that Abraham believed against hope (of nature) in hope (of grace and the divine promise), judging that "God is able to raise even from the dead," Hebrews 11:19. So Origen and St. Augustine, book XVI of The City of God, chapter 32, and others. See here the blind but lofty faith, hope, and obedience of Abraham, for whom nothing is difficult, nothing impossible, nothing incredible.
Verse 6: And He Laid It upon Isaac
AND HE LAID IT UPON ISAAC -- so that he might be a type of Christ carrying the cross. So Prosper, part I of the Predictions, chapters 17 and 18.
Isaac was then at least 25 years old, says Josephus; Abraham was 125, Sarah 115. The Hebrews, however, report that Isaac was 37 years old. Aben Ezra and Burgensis err in saying that Isaac was only 12 years old. For how could a boy of twelve have carried so great a pile of wood for three days as was required to burn him as a holocaust? Although to burn him entirely and reduce him to ashes, Abraham would have had to cut and add wood from nearby places.
FIRE AND A SWORD -- the sword for slaying the son, the fire for burning him as a victim and holocaust to God.
Tropologically, the sword is mortification, the fire is charity, by which Abraham sacrificed his son; and we too must sacrifice our affections, passions, sorrows, crosses, and all that is ours to God.
Verse 7: Where Is the Victim?
WHERE IS THE VICTIM? This conversation with his son once again wonderfully wounded Abraham's soul, and caused the wound inflicted upon him by God to open afresh.
Verse 9: And When He Had Bound Isaac
AND WHEN HE HAD BOUND ISAAC. See Josephus narrating how Abraham first declared to his son God's will concerning his sacrifice, and the boy cheerfully replied that he owed his life to God who gave it, and would gladly return it to Him who was reclaiming it. Why then did the father bind him? I answer: first, lest, if he wished, he might flinch. Thus Isaac most completely gives God both his will and his power. "The father," says St. Ambrose, "ties the bonds upon his son with his own hands, lest the son, by fleeing and being burned by the force of the fire, incur sin." Second, lest in the very act of slaughter he make some natural, involuntary, and uncontrolled movement or resistance unbecoming to the sacrifice. So Cajetan. Third, so that he might be a type of Christ, affixed to the cross with nails.
Tropologically, thus Religious bind and constrain themselves to God through vows, and offer Him their will and their power.
Verse 10: He Seized the Sword
HE SEIZED THE SWORD. Abraham would have preferred to die and be sacrificed himself rather than sacrifice his son: for fathers naturally wish their sons to survive them, because through them the father's line and family is propagated, so that by the death of a son they feel not only themselves but also the hope of their posterity dying and being extinguished.
What increased the bitterness of the matter was that he himself laid upon his son's shoulders the wood on which the boy was to be burned; that he carried in his own hands the fire and the sword with which he was to slaughter his son; that he himself built the altar, laid the wood upon it, and placed upon it his son bound hand and foot; and with great courage, raising his right hand, he aimed the sword at his son's neck -- and all this with cheerful and dry eyes: for no tears of his are recorded, no groans, no turning away of his face.
Thus, by Abraham's example, St. Ambrose says, book I On Abraham, chapter 8: "How many fathers, after their sons were killed in martyrdom, returned more joyful from their tombs?"
The Abbot Mutius also imitated this obedience of Abraham, as told in Cassian, book IV, chapters 27 and 28. On the command of his superior, he was willing to throw his own eight-year-old son into the river. "His faith and devotion," says Cassian, "was so acceptable to God that it was immediately confirmed by divine testimony. For it was revealed immediately to the superior that, by this obedience, he had fulfilled the work of Abraham the patriarch."
Note here that this example of Mutius is more to be admired than imitated: for it exceeds the ordinary laws of obedience and prudence. A man cannot command the death of himself or his own, as God can, who is the Lord of life and death; and consequently a subject cannot obey a man commanding such things. Therefore Mutius here, as if blind with the ardor of obedience, committed and submitted all his own judgment about the nature and outcome of the act to his superior, whom he knew to be a prudent and holy man; and by this act and attempt of his he wished only to show prompt obedience and the mortification of fatherly affection toward his offspring by casting it off -- but he did not intend to drown the child. For he knew that the superior had this entire matter, and both himself and his child, in his care: nor did he doubt that the superior would ensure -- once his obedience and the mortification of paternal affection had been tested -- that he would dispose of the affection and everything else in such a way that not only would sin be excluded, both in commanding and in obeying, but the child would also be cared for. For the superior could revoke the command on the way itself, or station some men in the river to prevent the casting in of the child (as he in fact did), or prevent the child's death by other means. Therefore Mutius resigned this entire matter to the prudence and providence of the superior who commanded him. For prudence is required not so much in the one obeying as in the one commanding.
One may ask whose virtue was greater: that of Abraham who sacrificed, or Isaac who was sacrificed? St. Chrysostom marvels at the virtue of both and does not know whom to prefer. Hear him in Homily 48 on Genesis: "O devout soul! O strong mind! O immense strength of spirit! O reason, conquering every affection of human nature! Shall I admire more the courageous spirit of the patriarch, or so constant an obedience in the boy -- that he neither resisted nor took the deed ill, but yielded and obeyed what was done by his father, and like a lamb lay down in silence upon the altar, awaiting his father's hand?"
Hear also Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in the Catena of Lipomanus: "Wonderful was the patriarch's trial, which would have made him either sacrilegious if he despised God, or cruel if he killed his son -- had he not, by a singular and truly divine patience, tempered the matter between religion and natural love, not denying to God in hope what he had received from God against hope. Therefore he scorned Isaac, his most sweet son, as a still sweeter victim for God, in order to preserve him; he resolved to slay, in order not to slay; secure that he could not displease by a deed that had God for its author. O new spectacle and truly worthy of God! In which it is hard to determine whether the priest or the victim is more patient. Neither the striker's nor the one about to be struck changes color; no limbs tremble; eyes are neither downcast nor fierce: no one begs, no one trembles; no one excuses himself, no one is disturbed." And then, comparing them to each other and contrasting the acts of each: "The one draws the sword, the other bares his neck. With one vow, one devotion -- lest anything be profane -- what is performed by the one is carried out diligently and patiently by the other. The one carries the wood on which he is to be burned, the other builds the altar. Under such fear -- I will not say of humanity, but of nature itself -- they are joyful. Feeling alone yields to love, love to religion: religion favors both; the sword stands amazed in the middle, suspended by no impediment, having rendered glory, not guilt, to the terrible sacrifice. What is this? Behold, brutality passes into faith, and crime passes into a sacrament; the parricide returns without blood, and the one who was sacrificed lives. Both are therefore an example of glory and splendor; both are worship of God, an admirable testimony of the age. Happy would the world be, if all became parricides in this way."
For Isaac, therefore, these reasons stand: first, that it is a matter of greater fortitude to undergo death for God than to inflict it upon others: for Martyrs are stronger than soldiers. Isaac was truly a Martyr here, because for the sake of an act of virtue -- namely, to obey God -- he offered himself to certain death. For his father stretched the sword over him and would have dealt him the fatal blow, had God not averted it. Thus St. John the Evangelist, Daniel, and others are truly Martyrs, because they were exposed to boiling oil, lions, and the like, even though they were not harmed by them, God protecting them. For on their part and on the part of the torment, they naturally and necessarily would have died. That God preserved them alive by a miracle detracts nothing from the nature of reality, nor from their virtue or martyrdom.
Second, Abraham suffered in soul only; but Isaac offered himself to torments of both soul and body and to death. Third, foreseen blows strike less hard: Abraham, over the three-day journey, composed his soul for the sacrifice of his son; but Isaac, on the very altar, thinking of nothing less, was suddenly asked by his father for the sacrifice and immediately offered himself cheerfully. For, as Aristotle teaches, Ethics book III, chapter 8, it seems to be a mark of a braver man to be fearless in sudden terrors than in foreseen ones. Fourth, Isaac was 25 years old, in the flower of his age, still hoping to live a hundred years and have a large family and progeny -- all of which he cut short by offering himself to death for the love of God, and broke off all his hopes. For this reason death is most bitter to the young, while it is more bearable for the old. Fifth, Isaac willingly allowed his father to bind him, ascended the altar, offered his neck, and waited most certainly for the blow.
I say truly 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 loved his own life; and this for the following reasons: first, because Isaac was his only-begotten son from his most beloved wife; second, because Isaac was his most loving and most obedient son; third, because he had begotten him in old age by a great miracle; fourth, because Isaac was most innocent and most holy; fifth, because all the promises of God given to him rested upon the single life of Isaac.
Second, because Abraham was tortured for the entire three days by the thought and contrivance of the most atrocious deed; but Isaac only for a moment when the actual sacrifice was imminent. And so, although with respect to foresight Isaac's trial was lesser, yet with respect to duration Abraham's trial and tribulation was greater.
Third, because Abraham had the greatest trials concerning faith, since the promises God had made to him seemed to be utterly destroyed by the death of Isaac. Indeed, the Hebrews relate that a demon then appeared to him in angelic form, and with the most serious words tried to frighten him from sacrificing, as from an impious and most cruel act, contrary to the will of God. And some apply to this those words of Paul in Hebrews 11: "By faith Abraham offered his firstborn son Isaac, when he was tempted" -- namely by the devil, they say.
Fourth, it was more terrible for the father to kill his son than for the son to be killed: for Isaac, struck with one blow, would have drunk in death in a mere instant. But Abraham would have had a long and manifold grief: first, in slaying his son; second, in cutting him limb from limb according to the sacrificial rite; then in burning him and reducing him to ashes without any relics remaining; and finally, in perpetually remembering that he had sacrificed and lost such a son. Hence God Himself commends not Isaac's obedience but Abraham's, and on account of it promises to bless Isaac, in chapter 26, verse 3: "The divine voice, says St. Ambrose, held back his hand, and forestalled the stroke of his brandished right arm."
See how God sometimes drives His own to the extreme and to the very rope's end, or permits them to be driven, so that they may transfer and commit all their hope and will to God and to God's help and will; and then at the very moment of utmost necessity, at the very threshold of death, He is present and comes to their aid. For animated by this faith and hope to the very end, Abraham offered Isaac, as the Apostle says in Hebrews 11:19: "Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, whence also he received him in a figure," so that Isaac would be a figure, a story, a memorable example for all ages, which people of every age would remember and celebrate, and propose for their own imitation, so that when God through Himself or through His ministers has commanded us to do something, however arduous and difficult, having the example of Isaac before our eyes, we may confidently and generously offer ourselves and undertake the task commanded, certain that God will be present, that He will untangle what is complex, overcome what is arduous, and turn shame, weakness, afflictions, death, and all the evils we fear into our good, our praise, and our glory, as He did for Isaac. Hence the memory of this sacrifice has been celebrated in the most ancient images of all nations. Witness is Gregory of Nyssa, cited at the Second Council of Nicaea, act. 4, canon 2: "I have seen the depiction of it many times, and I could not pass by without tears, so effectively and vividly did it place the history of the event before my eyes." If therefore you are tempted, despised, suffering, weakened, saddened, defamed, put to death, tortured, even hanged or burned, imitate Isaac: it is but a little while; think of eternity.
Armed with this thought, generous believers have overcome all love of parents, of the flesh, and of self, and even torments and deaths. So Liberatus the Abbot, Boniface, Rusticus, and others, when solicited by the Vandals to embrace Arianism, said: "It is better to endure momentary punishments than to undergo eternal torments." The king ordered them to be placed on a ship and burned at sea; they confidently sang: "Glory to God in the highest: behold now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation." When the fire was lit, it was repeatedly extinguished. Therefore, struck with shame and fury, the king ordered them to be killed with oar handles. The witness is Victor of Utica, book IV of the Persecution by the Vandals. Thomas More gave the same answer to his wife; and thus he overcame love for her, as Abraham overcame love for his son.
Again, note that one who is truly obedient, as Isaac was, cannot die. Climacus reports, in Step 4 On Obedience, that Achatius, wonderfully trained in obedience, when he was called from the grave after death by a certain elder and asked whether he had died, replied: "One who is obedient cannot die."
Verse 11: Abraham, Abraham
ABRAHAM, ABRAHAM. St. Ambrose gives three reasons for this repetition, book 1, On Abraham, chapter 8: "The divine voice, he says, in a certain way held back his hand, and forestalled the stroke of his brandished right arm. He did not call just once: first, lest he either not fully hear, or think it an accidental voice; second, He called him back in the same way as He had commanded, in verse 1; third, He repeated the call, as though fearing that He might be forestalled by the eagerness of Abraham's devotion, and that a single call might not be able to recall the momentum of the one about to strike."
Verse 12: Do Not Extend Your Hand
DO NOT EXTEND YOUR HAND. "I did not command this," says St. Chrysostom, homily 47, "so that the deed would be completed, nor do I wish your boy to be killed, but that your obedience may be made manifest to all. Therefore do nothing to him. I am content with your willingness, and from this I crown you and proclaim you." So God often deals with us: He commands and demands a difficult deed, but when He has seen a willing obedience, content with that, He holds back the execution. Whence the same Chrysostom, homily 49: "The patriarch became the priest of the boy, and in his resolve he bloodied his right hand, and offered the sacrifice; but through the ineffable mercy of God, having received back his son safe and sound, he returned, and he is praised for his willingness, and is crowned with a shining crown, and fought the supreme contest, and through all things declared the piety of his mind."
Now I have known -- that is, I have caused you to be known, says St. Augustine, Question 58, and Gregory, book 28 of the Moralia, chapter 7.
Secondly, "now I have known," that is, now through that deed of yours I have made it manifest and evidently knowable. So Diodorus and Pererius.
Thirdly, and most plainly, "now I have known," namely through experience, as if to say: Now I have actually tested you. For God here speaks after the manner of men, who, when they have made trial of something, consider that they have perfectly known it.
THAT YOU FEAR -- that you love, worship, and revere God, and that you obey Him in all things and strive to please Him; for the fear of God embraces all these things, and so this holy filial fear is nothing other than the love, worship, and honor of God.
Verse 13: A Ram Caught among the Thorns
A RAM CAUGHT AMONG THE THORNS BY ITS HORNS. This was a real ram, brought from elsewhere by an angel, and it was caught in the thorns, or, as the Hebrew has it, in a thicket, namely of thorns and branches, lest it escape Abraham, but be ready for the one about to sacrifice. The Hebrews relate that this happened on the first day of the seventh month, which is called Tishri; and that from this the Feast of Trumpets is celebrated by the Jews on that day, because they then sounded ram's horns in memory of Isaac's liberation from sacrifice and the ram substituted for him.
Allegorically, just as the ram was sacrificed for Isaac, so Christ was sacrificed for us, says St. Augustine, book 16, The City of God, chapter 32. Secondly, St. Ambrose and Cyril say that the ram was substituted for Isaac, that is, the humanity of Christ was sacrificed in place of His divinity.
Anagogically, the ram succeeds Isaac, that is, resurrection succeeds suffering, strength succeeds weakness, immortality succeeds death, says Theodoret.
Again, this ram caught by its horns and suspended among the thorns signifies Christ suspended on the cross, says Ambrose, who adds that Abraham here saw the day of Christ's sacrifice and passion. And this is what Christ says in John 8:56: "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see My day; he saw it and was glad." And from this the place was called "The Lord will see," or "will appear," as follows. The Septuagint, retaining the Hebrew word Sabec as the proper name of a certain tree, translates: "and behold one ram caught by its 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 the ram appeared as if ascending in the tree Sabec, and was caught not only by its horns but also resting on its front legs in the branches of that tree, and that this figure represented Christ ascending onto the tree of the cross, hanging on it, nailed to it, and clinging to it. St. Ambrose also considers this at length in book 1 of On the Patriarch Abraham, chapter 8, where he first reads thus: "And behold one ram suspended by its horns in the thicket Sabec." Then he adds: "Who is signified, if not He of whom it is written, Psalm 148: He has exalted the horn of His people? Our horn, Christ, was raised and exalted from the earth. Abraham saw Him in this sacrifice, he looked upon 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 has seen,' so that people say today: 'On the mountain the Lord appeared,' that is, He appeared to Abraham revealing the future passion of His body, by which He redeemed the world; also showing the manner of the passion, when He showed the ram suspended by its horns. That thicket was the wood of the cross. Thus Ambrose. St. Athanasius also noted, in the book of Questions to Antiochus, Question 96, that it also pertains to the mystery that Sabec is interpreted as "remission" or "pardon," which Christ merited for us through the cross: "The plant Sabec is the venerable cross. According to the Hebrews, Sabec seems to mean remission and pardon; and the ram that clung to the plant in Sabec, which Abraham offered as a holocaust for Isaac, prefigured Christ sacrificed for us on the cross."
Many scholars shrewdly observe, among whom is Leo de Castro, book 6 of the Apology, and on chapter 29 of Isaiah, that when Christ said on the cross "Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani," He was alluding to the same plant Sabec, to indicate that He was that ram hanging and suspended from the tree Sabec, that is, on the cross, which the Lord had long ago shown to Abraham under the type of another ram hanging from the plant Sabec. And therefore He used that very word "sabachthani" rather than another, so that by the name itself He might recall to the faithful that plant Sabec from which the other ram had hung, and show that He was at that time most fully fulfilling that figure. For the word "sabachthani" seems to be derived from the name Sabec, although it also has its own Syriac root, sebac, that is, "he forsook."
Verse 14: The Lord Sees
AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF THAT PLACE: THE LORD SEES. That is, Abraham gave this name to the place where he had sacrificed his son, namely adonai yireh, that is, "The Lord will see" or "sees," and this from the fact that he had answered his son when he asked about the victim, in verse 8: adonai yireh, that is, "The Lord will see" or "will provide the victim." So Vatablus, Lipomanus, Oleaster, Pererius, and others. From the word yireh, that is "he will see," came the name Moriah, that is "vision"; whence this mountain was called Moriah, that is, "of vision," as is clear from verse 2 in the Hebrew. Moriah therefore is the same as adonai yireh, that is, "The Lord will see."
Again, from yireh and the ancient name Salem (for thus Jerusalem was formerly called, as is clear from chapter 14, verse 18), the name Jerusalem was formed; for Moriah was in Jerusalem. So Andreas Masius on Joshua, chapter 10.
Second, St. Augustine, book 16 of The City of God, chapter 32: This place is called "God sees," that is, God caused Himself to be seen, when He appeared to Abraham through the angel, in verse 11.
Third, the Hebrews, the Chaldean, and Pererius say: This mountain is called "The Lord sees" because the Lord on this mountain saw the affliction, the obedience, and the sacrifice of Abraham, and accepted it, and provided for the afflicted Abraham, through the angel who stayed Abraham's sword, and through the ram substituted for Isaac.
Fourth, this mountain is called "The Lord sees" because on this mountain the temple was to be built, in which God was going to see and hear the prayers of suppliants. Hence the Chaldean thinks that Abraham, by his sacrifice here, designated this mount Moriah, or Zion, for the temple, and predicted that it was to be built there. For thus the Chaldean has it: "And Abraham said before the Lord: Here will generations be serving God; therefore it was said on this day: On this mountain Abraham sacrificed before God."
WHENCE TO THIS DAY IT IS SAID: ON THE MOUNTAIN THE LORD WILL SEE -- understand: this or that thing was done or accomplished. For when people narrate something that happened or was done on Mount Zion, or on Moriah, they say it was done on the mountain whose name is "The Lord will see," as if to say: Even now, at this time when I, Moses, write these things, this mountain is thence called "The Lord sees" or "will see," because on it Abraham sacrificed to God saying: "The Lord will see" or "will provide a victim for Himself, my son"; and because on it God was seen by Abraham, as the Septuagint translates, when He appeared to him through the angel.
Secondly, "to this day it is said," etc., as if to say: To this day we use this saying of Abraham, "The Lord will see" and will provide, as a proverb, when placed in difficulties, we hope for and invoke God's help. For we hope that, just as on this mount Moriah 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 posterity, especially when praying on this same mount and temple of Moriah, in whatever affliction. So St. Jerome, Cajetan, and Pererius.
The same proverb should be employed by Christians, so that in every tribulation they may betake themselves to Mount Moriah, that is, to the mount of the temple, to the mount of hope and prayer, and say: The Lord will see and will provide for my every need.
Thus St. Gordius the Martyr, trusting in his hope in God, voluntarily offered himself to the Governor and to torments. The Governor orders whips, wheels, racks, and every kind of torture to be prepared. Gordius, raising his eyes to heaven, pronounced that verse of the psalm: "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do to me, and I will not fear evils, for You are with me." He then voluntarily provoked the torments upon himself, and rebuked any delays, and at last with a cheerful countenance willingly cast himself into the punishment of fire, says St. Basil, in his sermon On Gordius.
Note: For yireh, that is "he will see," the Hebrews already with different vowel points read yeraeh, that is "he will be seen," as if they were saying: "Whence to this day it is said: On the mountain the Lord will be seen," that is, He will appear and come to aid. But the meaning comes to the same thing; for when God sees us, He is likewise seen by us.
But St. Ambrose, Eucherius, Vatablus, and Lipomanus explain it as though this were a prophecy about Christ, as if to say: "On the mountain the Lord will be seen," that is, Christ the Lord will appear on this mountain and temple of Zion, when He will preach there, and on Mount Calvary, when He will be crucified there. Hence the Septuagint also translates: "On the mountain the Lord was seen."
Verse 15: The Angel Called Abraham a Second Time
AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CALLED ABRAHAM A SECOND TIME -- because the first time he called him was when he forbade him to sacrifice his son, in 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 likeness of a man, so here among the angels He was found in the likeness of an angel, not as though He assumed angelic nature, but because He here undertook the office of an angel, which is to announce God's will. But the Fathers commonly teach the contrary, namely that this angel was an angel, not the Son of God; for it is clear from what follows that he speaks as God's envoy and announces God's words as though he were a herald of God; therefore he was an angel, not the Son of God.
Verse 16: Because You Have Done This Thing
BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS THING. From this it appears that Abraham, by this obedience of his and the offering of his son, among other things merited, at least by congruent merit, that Christ should be born from his stock rather than from another, indeed from this very Isaac; and consequently Isaac merited the same. For this is the reward of obedience, which God immediately adds saying: "In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." So Pererius.
See what it is to obey God; see how pleasing and how great a merit obedience is before God. St. Jerome (or whoever the author is) says splendidly in the letter On Circumcision: "When he does not spare his only son on earth, he is commanded to count the stars as his children in heaven." Why the seed of Abraham is compared to stars I have discussed in chapter 15, verse 5.
Verse 17: Your Seed Shall Possess the Gates
YOUR SEED SHALL POSSESS THE GATES -- namely the cities of the Canaanites under Joshua; of the Philistines, Ammonites, Syrians, etc. under David and Solomon. It is a synecdoche; for by "gates" he means cities; for whoever occupies the gates occupies the city. So Christ occupied the gates of hell and hell itself, and despoiled them. So also the Apostles and their successors subdued Rome and nearly all the cities of the world to Christ, to the faith of Christ, and to His Church.
Verse 18: In Your Seed Shall All Nations Be Blessed
IN YOUR SEED SHALL ALL NATIONS BE BLESSED -- that is, in Christ who will be born from you, as your seed, that is, your offspring, indeed God's blessed offspring, all nations shall obtain justice, grace, salvation, and glory. See what has been said on Galatians 3:16.
Verse 20: Milcah Also Had Borne Sons to Nahor
THAT MILCAH ALSO HAD BORNE SONS TO NAHOR. Here the genealogy of Nahor is woven, both on behalf of Abraham, whose brother he was; and also on account of Rebecca, whom Abraham sought as a daughter-in-law for himself and a wife for his son Isaac, so that from this the lineage, both maternal and paternal, of Jacob and the Jacobites, that is, of all the Israelites, would be clearly established.
Verse 24: His Concubine
From the word pilegesh (concubine), there seems to be no doubt that concubinage was common; and that she was made a concubine.