Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Abraham begets six children from Keturah and dies. Second, in verse 12, the children and death of Ishmael are recounted. Third, in verse 20, Rebecca bears Jacob and Esau to Isaac; of whom the younger is preferred by God over the elder. Fourth, in verse 29, Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a dish of food.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 25:1-34
1. Now Abraham took another wife named Keturah: 2. who bore him Zamram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. 3. Jokshan also begot Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were the Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. 4. But from Midian came Ephah, and Epher, and Enoch, and Abida, and Eldaah: all these were the sons of Keturah. 5. And Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac: 6. but to the sons of his concubines he gave gifts, and he separated them from his son Isaac, while he himself was still living, toward the Eastern region. 7. Now the days of Abraham's life were one hundred and seventy-five years. 8. And failing, he died in a good old age, and of advanced years, and full of days: and he was gathered to his people. 9. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the double cave, which is situated in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, opposite Mamre, 10. which he had purchased from the sons of Heth: there he was buried, and Sarah his wife. 11. And after his death, God blessed his son Isaac, who dwelt near the well named "of the Living and Seeing One." 12. These are the generations of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to him: 13. and these are the names of his sons in their designations and generations. The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebaioth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14. Mishma also, and Dumah, and Massa, 15. Hadad, and Tema, and Jetur, and Naphish, and Kedemah. 16. These are the sons of Ishmael: and these are their names by their settlements and encampments, twelve princes of their tribes. 17. And the years of Ishmael's life were one hundred and thirty-seven, and failing he died, and was gathered to his people. 18. Now he dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which faces Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he died in the presence of all his brothers. 19. These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac. 20. Who, when he was forty years old, took as wife Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, the sister of Laban. 21. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and He heard him, and granted conception to Rebecca. 22. But the little ones struggled in her womb, and she said: If it was going to be thus for me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord. 23. Who answering, said: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be divided from your womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger. 24. Now the time of giving birth had come, and behold, twins were found in her womb. 25. He who came out first was red, and entirely hairy like a hide: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming out held the sole of his brother's foot with his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob. 26. Isaac was sixty years old when the little ones were born to him. 27. When they had grown up, Esau became a man skilled in hunting, and a man of the field; but Jacob was a simple man dwelling in tents. 28. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob. 29. Now Jacob cooked a stew: and when Esau came to him from the field, exhausted, 30. he said: Give me some of this red stew, for I am utterly exhausted. For this reason his name was called Edom. 31. Jacob said to him: Sell me your birthright. 32. He answered: Behold, I am dying, what good will the birthright do me? 33. Jacob said: Swear to me then. Esau swore to him, and sold his birthright. 34. And so, having received bread and a dish of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went away, making light of having sold his birthright.
Verse 1: Now Abraham Took Another Wife
Sarah was dead, Hagar had been sent away by God's command, and was perhaps also dead: therefore Abraham took another, a third, wife, so that through him offspring might be multiplied among the nations as well. This took place after Isaac had married Rebecca (about which see the preceding chapter), and consequently after the year 140 of Abraham's life.
Allegorically, the sons of Hagar are pagans and infidels, while the sons of Keturah are heretics, who persecute the sons of Isaac, that is, the faithful and Catholics. So say Origen and St. Augustine, Question 70.
NAMED KETURAH. The Hebrews, Lyra, and Thomas the Englishman think that she was the same as Hagar, called Keturah, that is, "perfumed with incense," because after being expelled from Abraham's house, she devoted herself to chastity, prayer, and the worship of God, whose symbol is incense and the burning of incense. They add that Abraham, after Sarah's death, sent Isaac to bring back Hagar, or Keturah. But these are inventions of the Jews, which Abulensis and Cajetan refute at length. It seems that both Keturah and Hagar were handmaids, or slaves of Abraham; for if they had been freeborn, they would not be called concubines in verse 6.
Note: Abraham married Keturah after the death of Sarah, who died at the age of 127, when Abraham was 137 years old. Being that many years of age, he married Keturah and raised six children from her; for Keturah was vigorous and fertile. Moreover, God, who had given Abraham the power of begetting from Sarah beyond nature, also assisted his power of begetting from Keturah, and supplied what was lacking in him.
Verse 2: Midian
From whom the Midianites descended: these therefore are the posterity of Abraham through Keturah known to us; the rest are unknown. Josephus relates, however, that they inhabited Arabia Felix, as far as the Red Sea.
Verse 3: The Sons of Dedan Were the Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim
These are names of nations and peoples who drew their origin from the sons of Dedan. So says Vatablus, and it is clear from the Hebrew. Perhaps they were so named from the craft of each; for Asshurim, according to St. Jerome, signifies merchants; Letushim, smiths of iron and bronze; Leummim, of many tribes and peoples, that is, possessors or rulers. The Chaldean translates: dwelling in camps, in tents, and on islands.
Verse 4: Epher
His son Afer gave his name to the city and region of Africa, as Josephus teaches from Alexander Polyhistor and Cleodemus; although others, following Solinus, would have Africa named from Afer, the son of Libys and Hercules. Some think that from these sons of Keturah descended the Brahmins, who are the wise men and, as it were, the religious of the Indians, and that they were called Brahmins, as if "Abrahamins"; whence the Brahmins also worship a certain Perabrama, as the most ancient of the gods, who seems to be the first of their fathers.
Verse 6: But to the Sons of the Concubines
Of Hagar and Keturah. From this it is clear that Abraham did not neglect Hagar and Ishmael, even though he had sent them away from himself; but he sent them gifts from time to time.
Note that these concubines were true wives (for they are so called in verse 1 and elsewhere), but of lower rank and generally slaves. Hence the primary wife was and was called the mistress. Thus Abraham gave to Iscah in chapter 11, verse 29, the name Sarai, that is, "my princess" or "my mistress." This primary wife was married with prior betrothal, a stated dowry, and solemn rite, and was the mother of the family and partner with her husband in all goods, and the governess of the house; finally, her son was the heir of the father. The concubines commonly and ordinarily had nothing of this sort; but they generally remained slaves, and of servile condition. So say Pererius and others.
GIFTS. Gold, silver, garments, cattle, etc.
HE SEPARATED them, lest they should contend with Isaac and disturb him in the possession of the Promised Land. Again, lest their descendants should infect the children of Isaac with their idolatry and vices.
TOWARD THE EASTERN REGION. Note: The descendants of Ishmael bordered closely on the descendants of Isaac, toward the East. Those born of Keturah, however, dwelt beyond the Ishmaelites further to the East, and therefore they are always called in Scripture "the sons of the East," of whom there is frequent mention. See Arias in his book Canaan, chapters 3 and 4.
Verse 8: And Failing
As if to say: Abraham did not die of disease, nor by any violence inflicted from without, but from old age, as his natural moisture, warmth, and strength failed.
HE DIED. Abraham died 40 years after the death of his father Terah, 35 years after the marriage of Isaac (which occurred in the year 140 of Abraham, the year 40 of Isaac), when Esau and Jacob, born to Isaac at age sixty, were already 15 years old. For although Moses narrates the birth of Jacob and Esau later in this chapter after the death of Abraham, it actually occurred before. For Moses wished to recount all the deeds, life, and death of Abraham together, and then to pursue the deeds of Isaac and Jacob separately in order. Therefore some things are joined here by anticipation, although they happened later, because they belong to the same subject; and for the same reason other things are placed after, although they happened earlier, by hysteron proteron.
Note: Abraham was born in the year 292 after the Flood; he lived 175 years; therefore he died in the year 467 after the Flood. Noah died in the year 350 after the Flood, when Abraham was 58 years old. Shem the son of Noah, who was the ninth ancestor of Abraham, lived 502 years after the Flood; and so Shem outlived Abraham by 35 years. Eber, the sixth ancestor of Abraham, died in the year 561 after the Flood; therefore he outlived Abraham, his sixth great-grandson, by 94 years. Eber died, accordingly, in the year 109 of Jacob's life, just as Shem died when Jacob was 50 years old.
Note second: Abraham died in the year of the world 2123, when Ishmael was 89 years old and Isaac was 75, and he saw the two sons of Isaac as well as the twelve sons of Ishmael, all princes of as many peoples. The sons of Keturah at that time were about 30 years old. For Abraham had married Keturah a little after the year 140 of his age, as I said.
Note third: From the death of Abraham until the descent of Jacob into Egypt, which occurred in the year 130 of Jacob's age, 115 years elapsed; from the death of Abraham until the exodus of Moses and the Hebrews from Egypt, 330 years elapsed. Since Moses at that time, at the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, was eighty years old, it follows that he was born 250 years after the death of Abraham.
Note fourth: This is the chronology of Abraham's life. Abraham, at the age of 75, was called by God from Chaldea and set out for Haran; at the age of 85 he married Hagar, and at 86 Ishmael was born to him; at 99 he was circumcised; in the same year Sodom was burned by heavenly fire; at 100 Isaac was born to him; at 105 Isaac was weaned and Ishmael was expelled from the house; at 125 the sacrifice of Isaac occurred; at 135 Terah died; at 137 Sarah died; at 140 he gave Rebecca as wife to Isaac; at 160 his grandsons Jacob and Esau were born to him from Isaac; at 175 Abraham died.
IN A GOOD OLD AGE, maturely and in his time, whether you consider his age or his grace; his age, because he was very old, and without sickness; his grace, because he departed full of merits. For, as Philo says in his book "Who is the Heir of Divine Things," a certain Prophet rightly said that he would rather live one day with virtue than a thousand years in the shadow of death, that is, in sin and a wicked life.
FULL OF DAYS, satiated with living, as the Hebrew has it, and desiring to be dissolved.
Aristotle complained that nature had granted five or ten centuries of life to animals, while for man, born for such great things, a much shorter limit was set. But the faithful person knows this: "I know that I ascend in order to descend, grow green in order to wither, grow up in order to grow old, live in order to die, die in order to be blessed forever." Time flies, says Cicero, and this life is nothing other than a race toward death, in which, as St. Augustine says, no one is permitted to stand still even a little, or to go a little more slowly. Wise therefore is the one who throughout his whole life has learned to live, or rather to die, and knows that this body is a heavy burden for noble souls, and therefore desires that it be restored to the earth whence it came, and dust be returned to dust, so that the spirit, free, may fly to the fathers and to the angels and to God.
If Abraham, satiated with life, desired death when he was going to Limbo, why should not a Christian desire death when he is going to heaven? Blessed Thomas More, about to be beheaded, when the executioner asked for pardon as was customary, gave him a kiss and a gold coin, saying: "You will bestow on me today a benefit that no mortal has ever bestowed or been able to bestow." Hear St. Theodora running to the place of execution and contesting with the soldier who, by exchanging clothes, had freed her from prison lest she be violated, about who should be martyred: "I did not choose you as a guarantor of my death, but I desired you as a guardian of my modesty; it is against me that the sentence was passed, which was passed on my behalf. I shall certainly die innocent, lest I die guilty. Here there is no middle ground: today I am either guilty of your blood, or a martyr of my own," as St. Ambrose relates, in book 2 of On Virgins.
HE WAS GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE, as if to say: Abraham put off mortality, like all others, entered the way of all flesh, and from the state of the living here passed over to the state of the fathers, dwelling in the other life.
From this phrase, Theodoret, Cajetan, Lyra, and Pererius conclude: first, that the human soul is immortal; second, that the souls of the dead do not live in solitude, but in community and in fellowship, as if in a people, whether they are in heaven or in Limbo, as they were in the time of Abraham; third, that it is said of the wicked, such as Rehoboam, Ahaz, and others, as well as of the good: "He slept with his fathers"; but it is said almost only of the good and the just, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Aaron: "He was gathered to his people." Fourth, St. Augustine (Question 268), Tostatus, and Burgensis understand by "people" the company of the angels, to which Abraham and the other holy fathers were gathered. But more simply and more naturally, Rupert and others understand by "people" the company of just men, to which the just are gathered at death, just as a ripe harvest is gathered from the fields and collected into the barn. Fifth, Burgensis notes that in the Old Testament we read: "He was gathered to his people," that is, to Eber, Noah, Abel, Seth, Adam, and others awaiting blessedness in Limbo; but in the New Testament, in which pure souls immediately fly to heaven, it is said: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," etc. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord."
For the epitaph of Abraham, see Ecclesiasticus chapter 44, verse 20, where it says: "Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations, and none was found like him in glory, who kept the law of the Most High," etc.
Burgensis adds that before Abraham no one of the fathers descended to Limbo; but that Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, and all the just before Abraham first went to Purgatory, on account of the venial sins they had committed: because, he says, of them it is said that they died; but of Abraham it is first of all said that he was gathered to his people, namely in Limbo.
But this is not improbable. For Abel died a martyr, and therefore went to Limbo, not to Purgatory. Likewise Noah was a just and perfect man, indeed he walked with God. Therefore these and others went to Limbo; yet they are not said to have been gathered to their people, because at that time there was not yet a people and multitude of the just in Limbo; but they, by dying, gradually gathered and constituted this people. For when Abel was killed, there was no one in Limbo, but he was the first to go there.
Here ends the third part of Genesis, which extends from the birth of Abraham to his death, at which point Pererius also ends his third volume of Commentary on Genesis.
Verse 11: He Blessed Isaac
He did good to Isaac, by enriching him.
Verse 14: Mishma Also, and Dumah, and Massa
These are the proper names of three sons of Ishmael. The Hebrews use them combined as a proverb, saying, masma, duma, vemassa. By which they wish to signify that much is to be heard, kept silent about, and endured; what the Greeks express as "bear and forbear." For masma in Hebrew signifies hearing, duma silence, massa endurance. Which the Italians express as: "Hear, see, be silent, if you wish to live in peace."
Verse 15: Tema
From whom came the city and region of Teman, to the south of Edom, whose king was Eliphaz, the friend of holy Job, who is therefore called the Temanite.
Verse 17: He Was Gathered to His People
From this phrase the Hebrews conclude that Ishmael, after mocking and tormenting Isaac, when he had been expelled from Abraham's house, changed his mind and life, lived rightly, and was therefore saved. See what was said on verse 8.
Verse 18: Havilah
This is a region, not of India, but situated near the desert of Shur, between Egypt, Assyria, and Palestine; about which see chapter 2, verse 11. The descendants of Ishmael therefore possessed all that tract which extends from the Persian Gulf to Assyria, which is today thought to be called Cabana.
IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL HIS BROTHERS, because Ishmael dwelt in the midst of his brothers; for he had Isaac to the West and the sons of Keturah to the East.
HE DIED IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL HIS BROTHERS. For "died," the Hebrew has naphal, that is, "he fell," as if to say: While his brothers were standing, living, and watching, Ishmael fell and died; and this somewhat prematurely, at the age of 137, while his other relatives and brothers lived longer; for Isaac lived 180 years. Ishmael died 48 years after the death of Abraham: for he was born in the year 86 of Abraham. Abraham lived 175 years in all. Others explain it thus: "he fell," that is, his lot fell, as if to say: Ishmael dwelt among his brothers, as the Septuagint, Chaldean, and Arabic versions translate. But no mention of lot is made here. Hence Pagninus translates: and he died.
Verse 20: Of Bethuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia
As if to say: Bethuel was a Syrian, originally from that part of Syria which is called Mesopotamia. On this, note first: "Syrian" in Hebrew is called Arammi, as if you would say "Armenian"; and Syria is called Aram, as if you would say Armenia. It seems therefore from this Hebrew word that Syria, broadly extending as I shall soon say, was once called Armenia, from Aram the son of Shem, grandson of Noah, Genesis 10.
Second, among the ancients Syria extended far and wide, and comprised many regions, distinguished by various surnames, as is evident from 2 Kings chapter 10, verses 6 and 8.
First, the region in which Damascus is situated is called Aram Dammesec, that is, Syria of Damascus.
Second, the Syria in which Zobah is situated is called Aram, or Syria of Zobah. This is the one that lies between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and was called, by a corruption of the Hebrew word Zobah, Hollow Syria, and by the Greeks Coele-Syria, because of the plain sunk down from the slopes of the mountains (which is what Zobah signifies in Hebrew).
Third, Aram naharaim, that is, Syria of the two rivers, is Mesopotamia, which is also called Interamnis, because it is situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris. The same is called Aram Padan, as if you would say, Syria of the plains. For padan in the Ishmaelite language signifies a field, or a level region. Hence also the most noble river of Italy is called the Padus (Po), because it flows for a long distance through level regions. Thus Bethuel is here called a Syrian, because he was a Mesopotamian, that is, originally from Haran, a city of Mesopotamia.
Fourth, there is Syria of Maacah; so called from Maacah, the son of Nahor by his wife Reumah, Genesis chapter 22, last verse.
Verse 21: And He Prayed
In Hebrew it is iethar, that is, "he prayed much and insistently," lovingly appeasing God with a gentle and sweet prayer. Hence St. Chrysostom considers that Isaac prayed for twenty years for the removal of Rebecca's barrenness, and only in the twentieth year did he obtain it; for Isaac married Rebecca in the year 40 of his age, and only in the year 60 did he beget Jacob and Esau from her. "So that we too," he himself says in Homily 49, "emulating the just man, may be constant in divine prayers, whenever we have asked something from God. For if that just man, endowed with such virtue and having such great grace with God, showed such constancy and zeal in continually praying to God, so that Rebecca's barrenness was removed: what shall we say, who are weighed down by such heavy burdens of sins; and yet if we have shown some zeal and diligence for a short time, we grow sluggish and recoil, unless we are heard immediately," etc.
Note. God willed that the holy women Sarah and Rebecca (as also Rachel and Hannah) should be barren for a time, to teach us that the blessed seed, namely Christ, was born from Sarah and Rebecca (as also the most holy men, Joseph from Rachel and Samuel from Hannah) not by the powers of nature, but by the pure gift of God, through a miracle, and given to the world. So says St. Chrysostom. God had therefore decreed that Jacob and Christ should be born from Rebecca, but not without the mediation of secondary causes and the prayers of Isaac obtaining it.
Verse 22: The Little Ones Struggled in Her Womb
The Septuagint translates eskirtoun, which St. Ambrose renders as "they leaped for joy"; St. Augustine, "they were eager"; in Hebrew it is iitrotsetsu, which St. Jerome translates as "they kicked"; Aquila, "they were crushed against each other"; Symmachus, epalaion, that is, "they wrestled," as if they were wrestlers.
These boys therefore were shaking, pushing, and pressing each other, as each eagerly strove to be the first to exit the mother's womb and be born, so as to be the firstborn.
Note: This contest and this struggle of the little ones Jacob and Esau was done not by the force of nature, but by the direction of God, as a presage that Jacob and Esau, once born, would struggle and contend with each other over the birthright and primacy, as is evident from verse 23. Hence Jacob held the sole of Esau's foot, as if wanting to supplant him lest he exit the womb first. So Rupert says: "The posture of each shows who was the leader of the contest within; namely, Esau, struck by Jacob, seems to flee, while Jacob, holding his foot with his hand, displays the figure of one pursuing and striking the defeated back." He adds allegorically that by this struggle of Jacob and Esau is signified the struggle of Christians with the Jews.
The Scholastic History, and St. Ambrose in book 4 of On the Faith, chapter 4, and St. Augustine as cited by Denis the Carthusian (though so far I have found nothing of the sort in St. Augustine) think that this collision was similar to the leaping of John the Baptist in his mother's womb, and therefore that both Jacob and John the Baptist were sanctified in the mother's womb. They confirm this from the fact that the Apostle in Romans 9 asserts that God loved Jacob before he had done anything good, and while he was still in his mother's womb. But by the same reasoning, one would have to say that Esau was also sanctified in the womb. Therefore the leaping of St. John was one thing, and the collision and struggle of Jacob and Esau was another, and the mind of the Apostle is also different, as I explained on Romans 9. This opinion of theirs therefore lacks a foundation, and seems to be asserted rashly.
Thus the lives and deeds of illustrious men have often been presignified by portents and presages. Socrates saw in a dream a young swan growing feathers in his lap, which immediately, sprouting wings, flew up on high and produced the sweetest songs: this was of course Plato, the disciple of Socrates, who shone among the philosophers in wisdom and eloquence. Hence the next day, when Plato was commended to Socrates by his father: "This is," he said, "the swan that I saw." Diogenes Laertius testifies to this in his Life of Plato.
The mother of St. Dominic, when pregnant, seemed to see in a dream that she held in her womb a puppy carrying a torch in its mouth, with which, when brought into the light, it would set the world on fire. By this dream it was signified that St. Dominic would inflame people throughout the whole world with the splendor of his holiness and teaching.
St. Thomas Aquinas, while still an infant, turning over a piece of paper, indeed eating it, signified how studious he would be when grown up.
From the mouth of St. Ephrem as a boy, his parents saw a vine going forth that filled the entire surrounding region, signifying how far his teaching and virtue would spread.
AND SHE WENT TO CONSULT THE LORD on Mount Moriah through Melchizedek. So say Eusebius, Gennadius, Theodoret, and Diodorus. Likewise Chrysostom in Homily 50 says that Rebecca consulted God through a priest, and through the same received an answer from God. Hence he adds: "See how great the dignity of the priests was even then."
Second, the Jerusalem Paraphrase and the Hebrews translate: She went to seek mercy in the house where Shem was preaching. For Shem the son of Noah was still alive: for he died when Jacob was in his fiftieth year. Moreover, the Hebrews think that Melchizedek was Shem: and thus this interpretation of theirs would coincide with the first one of Eusebius.
Third, most easily and most plainly, Theodoret, Diodorus, and Procopius consider that Rebecca, alarmed in spirit, went to a nearby domestic altar and there prayed to God, who through an angel replied what follows: "Two nations are in your womb, and the elder shall serve the younger." From which Rebecca understood that Jacob would be preferred over Esau, and that the birthright and the paternal blessing would belong to him.
Verse 23: Two Nations
TWO NATIONS -- two sons who will be the fathers and heads of two nations, namely the Jews and the Edomites, adversaries to one another. See Amos 1:11.
THE GREATER SHALL SERVE THE LESSER. -- The firstborn Esau shall serve the younger Jacob, not in his own person (for we read that this never happened; indeed rather Jacob submitted himself to Esau), but in his posterity. For the Jews, descendants of Jacob, as sole heirs of Abraham possessed the promised land of Canaan, and were enriched with God's blessings, and the Edomites, descendants of Esau, served them in the time of David and Solomon, as is clear from 2 Kings chapter 8. And although they later threw off the yoke, they were again subjugated by Hyrcanus, received circumcision, and coalesced into one nation with the Jews, as Josephus attests, Antiquities XIV, chapter 17. Hence Pliny and others sometimes confuse the Edomites with the Jews.
Allegorically, the Jews, although they are more ancient, will serve and be placed after the Christians in the Church, in grace and salvation, just as the old law served the new, Romans 9:10.
Tropologically, evil tyrants serve the good Martyrs, because by their persecution, crosses, and torments they prepare and fashion for them eternal crowns. Moreover, often the wicked will be subjected to the good in this life; but certainly and always they will be subjected to them after the day of judgment; for then the just shall judge the nations and shall rule over peoples. So St. Augustine, Sermon 78.
Secondly, in the just the greater serves the lesser, that is, the flesh serves the spirit, and vices yield to virtues, says Origen.
Tropologically, Esau represents the wicked, on account of twelve analogies, says Pererius.
The first is that Esau was prior and more honored among men, but Jacob before God: thus the wicked in this life surpass the good in nature, talent, prudence, nobility, strength, beauty, and wealth, and are esteemed by men, while before God they are inglorious and ignoble; the complete opposite is true of the good.
The second is that the greater shall serve the lesser; thus indeed the wicked in this world seem to dominate the good, but in truth they serve them, and serve their glory and crowns, as I have said.
The third: the conflict between Jacob and Esau signifies the constant struggle and fight that exists between the wicked and the good.
The fourth: Esau comes out first, but Jacob holds his heel. Thus the beginnings of the wicked are happy and prosperous, but their ends are mournful and fatal for eternity.
The fifth: Esau was entirely hairy, which signified his rough manners, fierce spirit, crafty disposition, and lustful inclination: such are the wicked.
The sixth: Esau was a hunter and farmer. Thus the wicked are wholly devoted to the earth and earthly goods.
The seventh: Esau sold his birthright for a cheap dish of lentils. Thus the wicked exchange the right of adoption as children of God, and the hope of eternal life, for the most worthless goods.
The eighth: Esau thought little of his loss. Thus the reprobate count for nothing the loss of divine grace and heavenly glory.
The ninth: Esau, by marrying Canaanite wives, gravely offended his parents. Thus the wicked, when they attach themselves to evil companions, gravely offend God and the Church.
The tenth: Esau at last perceived his evils and losses, and groaned, wept, and repented, but with a vain and empty repentance. The reprobate practice a similar repentance in Wisdom 5.
The eleventh: Esau hated Jacob and persecuted him. Thus the wicked persecute the good.
The twelfth: Isaac loved Esau because he ate from his hunting; but Rebecca loved Jacob simply and absolutely, because he was good and holy. Thus the wicked are not to be loved except in a qualified way, because their artificial works and corporeal inventions are useful to the commonwealth; but the elect and holy, as they are great and honored before God, are to be loved and honored simply and absolutely.
Verse 25: And He Was Entirely Hairy Like a Skin, and His Name Was Called Esau
Infants are usually born smooth; but Esau was born hairy all over his body, by God's design, so that his rough and harsh character, manners, and future life might be prefigured.
Esau therefore, being born, appeared not so much an infant as a fully grown man by his hairiness and shagginess, and hence he was called Esau, as if asui, that is, "made perfect" and "complete": for he was hairy like a mature man. Secondly, from the same he was also called Seir, that is, "hairy." Thirdly, he was called Edom, that is, "red," both from his red color and more especially from the red pottage for which he sold his birthright to Jacob, as is clear in verse 30. So St. Jerome on Obadiah, Cajetan, Oleaster, and Pererius.
Again St. Jerome on Amos 2:9: "From which (oak) word, Philo, the most eloquent man among the Hebrews, thinks Esau was called droinon, that is, oaken and sturdy, although Esau can also be understood as noema, that is, a thing made, so as to refer to evil works." But how Esau could be named from an oak, I do not see; for the oak in Hebrew is called ela, not Esau, unless perhaps Philo derives Esau from another root.
IMMEDIATELY THE OTHER COMING FORTH HELD HIS BROTHER'S FOOT WITH HIS HAND. -- His position was as if he wanted to go first, or to come out of the womb together with his brother, as though he were striving to precede him, or at least to claim the right of the firstborn along with him. This happened not naturally, but by God's design and arrangement. See what was said on verse 22.
AND THEREFORE HE CALLED (Isaac the father, whose it was to give the child a name) HIM JACOB. -- For Jacob means the same as "supplanter," as is clear in chapter 27:36, or "one who holds the foot." (For ekeb means "foot" or "heel"), and thus "one who deceives and supplants."
Eucherius has an allegory in Book II, chapter 46, namely that Jacob is Christ, who supplanted Esau, that is, the Jews.
Verse 27: A Farmer
The Septuagint has agroikos, that is, "rustic." In Hebrew it is: Esau was a man of the field, that is, he constantly and willingly spent his time in the field, far from the city, seldom at home, almost always living in the open country.
A SIMPLE MAN. -- In Hebrew it is tam, which the Septuagint translates as aplastos, that is, "unfeigned," as if you said, without deceit or guile. Symmachus translates it atomos, that is, "without blame." Aquila has aplous, that is, "not double, but simple." Properly tam means the same as "upright, innocent, complete, perfect"; for the root tamam means "to perfect, to complete."
A simple man, therefore, is an upright man who devotes himself to God alone and to virtue, and does not wander through many byways and unlawful things. So Job is called a simple man. And so this simplicity is opposed not to prudence, but to guile and falsity; and this simplicity is truth, purity, sincerity and innocence of soul, free from falsity, pretense and sin, and unmixed, says St. Chrysostom. So Cicero, in De Finibus Book II, says: "We love what is true, that is, faithful, simple, constant; and we hate what is vain, false, deceitful, such as fraud, perjury, malice, injustice." By this simplicity Jacob obtained from God every prosperity, so that this motto is rightly attributed to him: "Prudent simplicity, abundant felicity."
HE DWELT IN TENTS -- he kept himself at home. So the Septuagint. For the houses of the ancients, especially the patriarchs, were tents or tabernacles, as if to say: Jacob at home devoted himself to a quiet life, domestic duties, and the cultivation of his soul. So Cajetan.
Rightly did Hesiod say: "It is better to be at home, and it is harmful to wander abroad." The Hebrews, according to Lyra, understand by "tents" the schools that Jacob frequented to learn wisdom and the fear of God. There was one, they say, the school of Melchizedek or Shem, a second of Eber, a third of Abraham. Hence the Chaldean translates: Jacob was an upright man and a student (hearer) of the house of instruction, which is nothing other than a school. If this is true, see how ancient schools and academies are. Such also was, in the time of Joshua 15:15, Kiriath-sepher, that is, the city of letters, as you might say, an Academy. On the antiquity and origin of the individual academies, see Middendorp.
Tropologically, St. Gregory, Moralia Book V, chapter 7: "The devout," he says, "withdraw from distractions to the inner secrets of the mind, and there rest as if in the bosom of tranquility; these are the tabernacles of the pious."
Verse 28: Rebecca Loved Jacob
Because Jacob was more quiet, more gentle, more agreeable than Esau, and because Rebecca had heard from God in verse 23 that he was to be preferred over his elder brother.
Verse 29: Pottage
Of lentils, as is clear in verse 34. This was Egyptian lentil, says St. Augustine on Psalm 46, which is tasty and pleasant, according to Athenaeus Book IV, and Gellius Book XVII, chapter 8.
This food is called pulmentum ("pottage") because it was made in the manner of porridge: for just as porridge is made from rice, peas, and beans, so also from lentils. Moreover, any prepared food can be called pulmentum: for the first food of the ancients, including the Romans, was porridge, according to Pliny, Book XVIII, chapter 8; hence the early Romans were called "porridge eaters": and from this any food was called pulmentum.
Verse 30: Give Me of This Red Pottage
Pleasantly reddish, perhaps because it was colored with saffron, coriander, or a similar condiment; for Zeno ordered that grains of coriander, which are red, be mixed into Alexandrian lentil soup. The Hebrew indicates Esau's excessive greed and gluttony: for it reads: "Cover me, overwhelm me, fill me, with that red, red stuff." For the more learned Hebrews derive haliteni from the root ata, which means to cover and to overwhelm.
EDOM -- that is, red, ruddy, blood-colored, as I said at verse 25.
Verse 31: Sell Me Your Birthright
Sell your protokeion, that is, the right of your primogeniture.
The first question here is: what was the right of the firstborn in the law of nature? I answer that it was fourfold. The first was that the firstborn was the prince of the brothers, and as it were their father and lord, so that the brothers would bow before him, as is clear in chapter 27:29, and chapters 32 and 33; for the firstborn succeeded to the paternal dignity. And this is what Isidore of Pelusium says in the Catena: that firstborn sons succeeded to the kingdom and to the patriarchal dignity.
The second was that in the division of the paternal inheritance, each brother received a single share, but the firstborn received a double share, as is clear in Deuteronomy 21:17. So Theodoret.
The third was that after the Flood, the firstborn was the priest of the family; hence also in the law of Moses, the Levites were chosen for the priesthood in place of all the firstborn of Israel, Numbers 3:12. Likewise, the firstborn succeeded their parents in the pontificate, as is clear in Numbers 20:28. So St. Jerome, Rupert, Tostatus, and Eucherius, chapter 44.
Hence the Hebrews, and Eucherius among them, explain it thus: "Sell me your birthright," that is, sell me your priestly garment (and consequently the priesthood itself), with which firstborn sons customarily clothed themselves as priests when offering sacrifices to God. They add that Rebecca clothed Jacob in this garment when he stole the blessing of his father from his brother Esau, Genesis 27:15. However, this right of priesthood was granted to some who were not firstborn, such as Abraham, and this by a special disposition and election of God: because Abraham was faithful, and the father of the faithful, while his other brothers seem to have been unfaithful and idolaters.
The fourth was that the father at death gave a special blessing to the firstborn, as is clear in chapter 27:4. This blessing was then highly esteemed, and was often of great value and efficacy before God.
Abulensis and Lipomanus add that the firstborn on feast days and at public banquets used to bless his brothers and nephews, as their elder. But this is nowhere expressly stated.
The second question is whether Esau sinned in selling, and Jacob in buying, the right of the firstborn.
Note: The right of the firstborn was primarily temporal: for it was the right of preeminence among the brothers, and the right to a double portion of the inheritance. Secondarily, however, it had annexed to it a spiritual right, namely the right of priesthood, and the right to the father's blessing.
Cajetan thinks that Esau only sinned by gluttony, and that he only sold the birthright insofar as it was something temporal, just as one may now lawfully sell a consecrated chalice, if one sells the chalice for as much as it is worth in itself, and does not demand more on account of the consecration.
You will say: How then does the Apostle, in Hebrews 12:16, call Esau profane? Cajetan answers that Esau was materially profane, selling at so cheap a price the birthright to which so holy a thing was annexed, which he despised, just as one would be profane and called profane who sold a consecrated chalice for some dainty morsel.
But I say first: Esau sinned first by gluttony; second, by contempt for sacred things, because he sold the birthright, to which the right of priesthood was annexed, for such cheap food; third, he seems to have sinned by simony, because he sold the entire right of the firstborn, and consequently the right of priesthood, which was spiritual. For this reason he is called profane by the Apostle in Hebrews 12: for properly and formally no one is profane except one who violates and profanes a sacred thing by selling or polluting it. Esau therefore sinned because he preferred his belly to virtue, food to honor, gluttony to the priesthood and blessing.
I say secondly: Jacob, in buying the right of the firstborn from Esau, did not sin. First, because he intended only to buy the primary right of the firstborn, which was temporal and saleable; just as a field to which the right of patronage is annexed can be sold and bought, says Lipomanus.
You will say: At least Jacob sinned by injustice, because he bought so great a thing for so cheap a price. I answer that he did not sin, because Esau, willingly and knowingly, wanted to sell so great a thing cheaply, because he despised it, as is clear in verse 34. But no injustice is done to one who is willing and knowing, indeed to one who is squandering and despising what is his own.
Secondly, Jacob did not sin in buying this right, because taught by his mother he knew that this right belonged to him by God's disposition and gift, and had been transferred from Esau to him. For Rebecca had heard this from an angel in verse 23. Again, she had indicated the same to Jacob, as is sufficiently gathered from the fact that when she, in chapter 27, boldly urged Jacob to seize the blessing from his brother, Jacob did not excuse himself on the ground of injustice, as if the blessing were due not to him but to his brother as firstborn -- which he certainly would have done had he not known the contrary from his mother's teaching. For he was a just man, of tender conscience; but he only objected the danger of his father's anger, should his father discover the deception.
But neither Jacob nor Rebecca had dared to reveal this revelation of God, this disposition and transfer of the birthright from Esau to Jacob -- neither to Esau himself, fearing his anger, nor to Isaac, lest they afflict him with grief: for Isaac loved Esau dearly. Now therefore Jacob, having obtained the opportunity to claim and confirm his right, through the voluntary cession of his brother on account of the red pottage given to him by his brother on this condition, did not neglect it but accepted it. Therefore Jacob did not properly buy his brother's property here, but cleverly extracted his own property from an unjust possessor. Hence when he says "Sell," it means the same as "give, hand over, indeed restore the right due to me." See Cajetan, Summa II-II, Question 100, article 4.
Verse 32: Behold, I Am Dying
Esau used the pretext of necessity for his greed and gluttony: for it is clear in verse 34 that he sinned by gluttony and contempt for the birthright. For there is no doubt that in so wealthy a household as Isaac's, Esau his son could have had bread, meat, and other foods to eat. The fragrance, therefore, the color, and the desire for the lentils that Jacob had cooked was so great in Esau that he said he would die unless they were given to him immediately. So Cajetan and Pererius. On the kinds and harms of gluttony, see St. Gregory, Moralia XXX, chapter 27.
Verse 33: Swear Therefore to Me
That you yield to me the right of the firstborn, and that you will peacefully allow me to enjoy it.
Verse 34: He Went Away Thinking Little of It
Note Esau's obstinacy and impenitence; secondly, his faithlessness and perjury: for the reason he thought little of having sold this right was that he did not intend to keep his contract, here confirmed by an oath. Hence in fact, without any scruple, he wanted to claim this right for himself as if he had not alienated it or ceded it to Jacob.
Tropologically, more profane and worthless than Esau are sinners who offend God for a cheap morsel, or for the enticement of honor and vanity. And so they sell to the devil not only their soul, but also God's grace and the right to the heavenly inheritance: for this is the right of the firstborn of Christ and of Christians, which Christ the Only-begotten obtained for them by His death and blood, and sealed for those born in baptism by incorporating them into Himself.
Rightly therefore the Wise Man says in Proverbs 6:26: "The price of a harlot is scarcely one loaf of bread, but a married woman captures the precious soul of a man." Again, Antonius in the Melissa, Part I, Sermon 16: "The devil," he says, "says: Give me the present, give God the future; give me your youth, give God your old age; give me your pleasures, give Him your useless body. O how great is the danger that hangs over you, how many unexpected calamities threaten!"
On this point St. Chrysostom, Homily 50: "Hearing these things," he says, "let us learn never to neglect the gifts given to us by God, nor to lose great things for the sake of small and worthless ones. For why, tell me, when the kingdom of heaven and those ineffable goods are set before us, do we go mad with desire for riches -- things that are momentary and often do not last until evening -- and prefer them to things that are perpetual and everlasting? And what could be worse than this madness? Since we are deprived of those goods on account of our excessive love for these, and can never enjoy these purely."