Беседа LIII

“Now Esau was about forty years old, and he gave birth to the wife Judith, the daughter of Beel 494 of the Hittite, and Bashemath 495, the daughter of Elom of Hiv 496. And he resisted Isaac and Rebekah” (Gen. 26:34–35). 1. Today, if you wish, let us continue in order what follows after what was said yesterday, and as far as is available to us, we will explain each of the words (of Scripture) in order to profitably return from here to our homes. So, let's look at the beginning of the passage we read. “Now,” says the Scripture, “Esau was about forty years old, and he killed the wife of Judah, the daughter of Beel the Hittite, and Bashemaba, the daughter of Elon the Hive. And he resisted Isaac and Rebekah." See how you can learn a lot from these few words. Why did (Scripture) tell us the number of years of Esau? Not without a purpose, but so that from here we can recognize Isaac’s old age. It is clear that he was already in old age. If we remember what was said before, that when he took Rebekah he was forty years old, and when his children were born, he was sixty, then we learn that he was now in extreme old age, having already lived to be a hundred years old. Since (the writer of everyday life) intends to tell us after this how Isaac’s eyes became dull from old age, for this purpose he indicated to us the number of Esau’s years, so that from here we could see the exact number of years of Isaac’s life. That’s why he said: “Esau was forty years old.” Further, so that we may know the folly of this son, who took wives for himself from tribes from which he should not have taken, (Scripture) shows us that one of his wives was from the tribe of the Hittites, and the other from the Hivites, although he should not have done this, knowing with what care the patriarch (Abraham) ordered his household to bring a wife for Isaac from a related tribe, and - that their mother Rebekah came from Harran. But Esau, hastening to take such wives for himself, from the very beginning already showed the disorder of his morals. And to show the bad character of his wives themselves, Scripture says: “they resisted Isaac and Rebekah.” What could be worse than such a corruption of morals, when those who should give every honor (to the elders in the house) not only do not do this, but are also ready for strife? And all this in the description of life is not noticed to us without a purpose, but so that after this, seeing Rebekah showing special affection towards Jacob, you understand that she did not do it unfairly. However, in order not to prevent the order (of events), we will follow the words of Scripture. “It came to pass that Isaac became old, and his eyes became dull to see.” Because of old age, he says, he could no longer see; “And he called Esau, his eldest son, and said to him: my son 497,... behold, he is old, and does not know the day of my death. Now take your weapon, including your bow, and go out into the field and catch your fish, and make food for me as I love it: and bring it to me, so that my soul may bless you before I even die” (Gen. 27:1-4). Notice here, beloved, the ineffable wisdom of God and how the father gives such a command to Esau, showing natural love; and the All-Wise and Compassionate Lord, through Rebekah, arranges for the fulfillment of His prophecy, teaching us how great the power of virtue and meekness of morals is. He, both by birthright and by his father’s disposition towards him, thought to have an advantage, suddenly lost everything because he did not want to do what he should have done; and this one, since he was virtuous in himself, and had help from above, received his father’s blessing against his will. There is no one stronger than the one who is helped by the highest right hand! Take careful note of everything in order to know the wondrous dispensation (of God) - how for one, with help from above, everything is favorable, so that the blessing of the father passes to him, and the other loses everything, destroying himself through the corruption of his morals. “Rebekah,” it is said, “heard Isaac speaking to her son Esau. Esau went out into the field to catch his father's catch. Rebekah spoke to her youngest son 498" (Gen. 27:5-6). Why is it added here: “to the lesser”? It is said above that “Isaac called his eldest son”; therefore, so that we know to whom Rebekah is now speaking, and it is noted: “to the least” i.e. Jacob. “I heard your father talking to your brother Esau, and saying: Bring me fish, and make food for me, so that I may bless you with food before the Lord before I die.” This, I heard, your father said to your brother Esau. “Now, my son 499, listen to me, as I commanded you: when you go to the sheep, take from there two goats that are soft and good, and I will create food for your father, as he loves; And you shall bring it to your father, and it shall be eaten, for may your father bless you before he dies 500” (Gen. 27:6-10). 2. Notice the mother’s love, or better yet, God’s dispensation, because God himself moved her to such an intention and arranged everything this way. Do you see the beautiful intention of the mother? Look how careful Jacob is and how in his answer he shows the meekness of his disposition. “Speech,” says Scripture, “to his mother: Esau my brother is a shaggy man, and I am a smooth man; lest my father touch me 501, and I will be despised before him, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing” (Gen. 27:11-12). Great was the nobility of spirit and respect for his father in this son! I am afraid, he says, that my efforts will not lead me to the opposite, so that I will not seem to be an opponent of my father’s intentions and, instead of blessing, will not incur a curse on myself. What about Rebekah, this wonderful wife who loved her son so much? Since she did this not only of her own free will, but also served as an instrument to fulfill the divine prophecy, she uses all her efforts to destroy her son’s fear and inspire courage, so that he would carry out this advice. She does not promise him that he can deceive his father and hide; but what? “Your oath is upon me,” he says, “child: listen to my voice, and bring it to me” (Gen. 27:13). If, he says, something like this happened, you yourself would not suffer any harm. Therefore, do not be afraid, but boldly “listen to my voice” and do what I advise you. Truly, this is what a mother’s love consists of: to be ready to endure everything for her son. With these words she was able to destroy fear in her son. “Go and take it and bring it to your mother 502 and create 503 ... food, as his father loved. And Rebekah took up the good clothes 504 of her oldest son that were in her house, and clothed 505 Jacob her youngest son. And cover his muscles with goat skins, and his naked neck. And he gave the food and bread that he had made in the hand of Jacob his son. And bring it to your father” (Gen. 27:14–18). Notice here, along with love, the great wisdom of Rebekah. It was said above that one (of her sons) was “shaggy” and the other “smooth”; Therefore, she dressed Jacob, as the Scripture says, in the clothes of Esau, covered him with skins, giving him such an appearance on all sides so that the deception would be successful, put food and bread in his hands, and thus prepared him to go to his father. But look again here, how all this was a work of divine grace. When we do everything that depends on us, then we receive God’s help in abundance. Precisely so that we do not be lazy and remain inactive, (God) wants us to bring something of ourselves, and then He shows His assistance. Not everything comes from help from above, but we need to bring something to us; and does not demand everything from us (God), knowing our extreme weakness, but following His love for mankind, and wanting to have some reason to show His generosity, He expects feasible labor on our part. So it was now. As soon as Jacob and Rebekah did what was necessary on their part, Jacob listened to his mother’s advice, and she did everything that depended on her, then the good Lord helped them easily do what was most difficult, namely, so that the deception would not be revealed to Isaac. So, when Jacob brought food to his father, he asked him: “Who are you, child? And Jacob said to his father 506: I, Esau, your firstborn, have done to you 507 as you said to me: rise, sit, and eat 508 of my catch, so that your soul may bless me” (Gen. 27:18-19). Imagine with what concern Jacob pronounced these words. If from the very beginning he told his mother: I’m afraid, so as not to bring an oath on myself instead of a blessing, then in what fear should he have been now, performing this task? But as God contributed to this, everything happened successfully. Well, someone will say, did God really facilitate such a lie? Don’t just experience, beloved, what happened; but find out the goal, since this was not done for the sake of any worldly gain, but (Jacob) tried to receive a fatherly blessing. Otherwise, if i.e. If you simply judge events and do not look for goals everywhere, then be careful not to call the patriarch a child killer, and Phinehas a murderer. But just as he was not a child killer, on the contrary, he was more child-loving than anyone else, so this one was not a murderer, but only an extraordinary zealot. Each of them did what was pleasing to God; and therefore one is rewarded from above with a great reward for obedience, and the other is glorified for zeal. And “a hundred Phinehas,” it is said, “and propitiate” (Ps. 105:30). So, if murder and the slaughter of children were approved in them, because they were carried out according to the will of God, and we pay attention not to the events themselves, but to their purpose, and to the intention of those who committed such deeds, then all the more so here (in the story of Jacob) we must reason in this way. 3. So, do not look at the fact that what Jacob said was a lie, but think that God himself arranged everything this way, wanting to fulfill his prophecy. And in order to be sure that God contributed to all this and made the difficult easy, look how the righteous man could not notice the deception, but, believing the words of Jacob and tasting with pleasure the dishes brought, rewards him with blessings. Yes, and Esau does not return from fishing until after everything is over, and thus everything shows us that this matter happened according to the intention of God. “Speech,” says the Scripture, “Isaac: what is this, which you soon found, O child? And he said, The Lord thy God hath been made before me” (Gen. 27:20). Jacob stood still with fear, and his fear increased; and all this happened so that we would know through this how the humane Lord does not unconditionally reveal His providence, but when He sees a lot of jealousy on our part. Do not, beloved, ignore this confusion (in Jacob), but note that there was danger for him on all sides: he was afraid and trembled, so that because of the blessing he would not fall under the curse. “And Isaac said,” it is said further, “509: draw near to me, and I will touch you, child, whether you are my son Esau, or neither” (Gen. 27:21). Judging by (Jacob's) voice, the righteous man was somewhat doubtful; but since the dispensation (of God) had to come to fulfillment, He did not allow him to find out the deception. “Now come near,” it is said, “Jacob 510, and touch him, and say: A voice is the voice of Jacob: the hand is the hand of Esau. And I did not know him” (Gen. 27:22–23). Do you see how (Scripture) shows that all this was the work of God’s grace, which arranged it in such a way that Isaac did not recognize anything that had been done, and Jacob received his father’s blessing? “And without knowing him,” says (Scripture), “his hand became like the hand of Esau... And he said: Are you 511 my son Esau?” (Gen.27:23–24). Here again, Divine Scripture shows that the righteous man still hesitated; he said: “If you were my son Esau,” so that from this we could again see that the father did everything, being defeated by natural love; and God arranged everything this way, foreseeing the future and, according to virtuous morals, denoting and revealing his chosen ones. "And he said (Jacob): I". After (Isaac) asked: “If you are my son Esau” and (Jacob) answered: I, (Isaac) said: “Bring me, and a pit from your catch, son, may my soul bless you” (Gen. 27:25). As soon as Jacob was now freed from anxiety, he brought food to his father, also brought wine, and (the father) drank, and said to him: “Come closer to me and kiss me, child. And when he drew near, he kissed him, smelled his robe, and blessed him, and spoke” (Gen. 27:26-27). Note the discretion of 512 Divine Scripture. When Isaac asked: “if you are Esau”, and he answered: “I am”, and the father touched him, and still hesitated a little, coming into some bewilderment and suspicion from his voice, and again asked: “if you are my son Esau”, and he answered him: “I am”, and brought him (food), and he ate, - then, as it is said, “bless him and bless him.” So that anyone would not think that Isaac attributed his blessing to the face of Esau, and not to the one whom he kissed, for this reason the Divine Scripture mentioned that he both kissed and blessed the one whom he himself kissed. “And the smell,” it is said, “I smell his robe, and bless him, and say: Behold the stench of my son, as the fields are filled with the stench, the Lord bless him: and may the Lord give you 513 from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, and 514 abundance of wheat and wine” (Gen. 27:27-28). Let him give, he says, to “you” who brought the food, to the one whom I kissed. “And let the heathens work for you.” Notice how he first asked him for an abundance of necessities, and then for dominion over languages, thereby predicting both his future prosperity and the multiplication of his descendants. “And the princes will worship you” (Gen. 27:29). He asks not only for the conquest of languages, but also for princes. “And be lord to your brother.” Look how the righteous, without knowing it, serves the purpose of God. And all this was arranged so that it was the son worthy of his virtue who received the blessing. “And the sons of your father will worship you.” Scripture usually calls all offspring sons; so here the words: “the son of your father” mean the same as if someone said: having descended from the seed of Esau, because Isaac had no other children besides these two. “Curse you, cursed; bless you, blessed one." This is the crown of blessing, this is the main thing of all blessings - to be blessed! Do you see God's love for mankind? The one who was afraid that instead of blessing he would incur curses on himself, not only receives such an abundance of blessings from his father, but those who would attempt to curse him are also cursed for him. Let us learn from this that if anyone wants to arrange his affairs according to the will of God, he receives such assistance from above that he feels it in the very course of his affairs. Who will not be amazed and surprised by the ineffable providence of God in the fact that Esau did not return from fishing before the goal of this plan was achieved, and Jacob, having received a blessing from his father, had already left him. This is precisely what blessed Moses instills in us when he adds here: “And it came to pass that when Isaac had ceased to bless Jacob his son: and it came to pass when Jacob went out from the presence of Isaac his father; and Esau his brother came from fishing” (Gen. 27:30). 4. Look how, after the removal of that one, this one immediately comes, not simply and not without a purpose, but so that he, too, knowing nothing, would bring food and learn from the father himself the whole course of the matter. If he had managed to catch his brother, then, perhaps, carried away by rage, he would have killed him; if he wanted to (do) this after, he would have done it even more during the incident itself. But the right hand of God protected the boy, making him worthy of blessing, and depriving him (Esau) of both blessing and primacy. Having come, it is said, “make that food for your father too..., and saying 515 let my father arise and eat from his son’s catch, so that your soul may bless me” (Gen. 27:31). See how the righteous man becomes restless again and how he is troubled in spirit. Hearing (the words of Esau), he said: “Who are you? And he said: I am your firstborn son Esau” (Gen. 27:32). Notice how he, thinking a lot about (his) business, was not satisfied with the answer: “I am Esau”; but he also added: “...firstborn. Isaac was terrified with great horror and said: who caught the fish and brought it to me? And he ate from everyone before he came to you, and you blessed him, and he would be blessed” (Gen. 27:32-33)? This is how the righteous man, having come into difficulty and telling him about what happened, inflicts a severe wound on him by adding the words: “Bless him, and blessed will he be.” And the righteous man did this because the wisdom of God guided his lips, so that Esau, having learned everything exactly, would already see that he could no longer benefit from either the birthright or the real catch. Hearing this, the Scripture says, “Esau cried out with a great and bitter voice” (Gen. 27:34). What does it mean: “with a great and bitter voice”? With these words, Scripture means annoyance and extreme anger, which (Esau) was filled with when he learned what had happened. “And he said: bless me too, father. And he said to him, “Your brother has come with flattery, taking your blessing” (Gen. 27:34-35). Your brother, says your father, having warned you, has delighted in a great abundance of all blessings. But so that you know that grace from above contributed to the mistake of the righteous man, look how he himself admits this, saying: “your brother came with flattery”; he seems to be justifying himself to his son and explaining to him that, out of ignorance, I poured out blessings on him and was ready to give them to you; but he, having come with deception, took your blessing; he received what was prepared for you; It wasn't my fault that this happened. And “said,” it is said, “Esau: righteously his name was called Jacob; for I have already taken 517 this second time 518, taking my primacy and now taking my blessing” (Gen. 27:36). It was not in vain, he says, that he received such a nickname: his name means “stammering,” which he did to me, depriving me of both primacy and blessing. What next does Esau (say) to Isaac? “Didn’t you leave me a blessing, Father 519?” Isaac answered him: know that I poured out all the blessings on him, if I made him lord over you. Notice how Isaac immediately begins with this, and says nothing else, but only predicts slavery and subordination to Esau: “If I have made thee his master, and made all his brethren his servants, and supported him with wheat and wine: what shall I do to thee, O child” (Gen. 27:37)? There is nothing more left. If I made him your master, all my brothers his slaves, and I wished him abundance in everything he needed, then what else remains? And “Esau said to his father: is food one blessing for you, father? Bless me also” (Gen. 27:38). After the father said: “And we blessed him, and he will be blessed,” and explained to him all the blessing (given to Jacob), Esau says: Bless me too, father. Is this the only blessing you have? Can't you deign your blessing to me, your beloved firstborn, whom you sent to fish? He embarrassed his father with such words; “I was moved,” it says, “to Isaac, and cried out with the voice of 520...Esau, and wept.” He saw that his father was at a loss and could not and did not want to change what had already been done; and so he adds crying to the scream, wanting to bring his father into greater compassion. Then Isaac, taking pity on him, “said to him: Behold, from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and from the dew of heaven from above; and by your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother; It will be when you overthrow him and cut him off with a yoke from your neck” (Gen. 27:39-40). Since you yourself, he says, want to receive a blessing from me, then know that it is impossible for me to do something contrary to the will of God; however, I also ask you (from God) for the pleasure “from the dew of heaven”; know that you will lead a military life. “By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother.” 5. But hearing this, no one should be surprised that Jacob after this, fearing his brother, becomes a stranger and retires to a foreign (land); No one, judging by this beginning, should think that the prophecy did not come true. If the Lord promises something, then, even if at first we saw some cases contrary to the promises, we will not be embarrassed: after all, it is impossible for (God’s promises) to be completely unfulfilled. And this happens so that the righteous, in all cases becoming more and more glorified, clearly show us all the abundance of the power of God (acting in them). And you can see this in the life of every righteous person if you carefully consider all the stories about them; That's what happened now. Do not look at the fact that (Jacob) immediately fled, but think about his subsequent glory - that, after some time, this very brother, who had become terrible for him, showed him such respect; and after disasters in a foreign country, he came to such great glory that his descendants spread to countless numbers and a whole nation began to be called by his name. Now the Divine Scripture, showing us such anger of his brother that he was plotting murder, says: “And Esau was hostile to Jacob for the blessing with which his father blessed him” (Gen. 27:41). And that this was not just temporary anger, (Scripture) shows us the especially great power of his malice: “at enmity with you,” he says, i.e. He was constantly at enmity, persistent in anger, so that from his very words his intention, hidden in the depths of his soul, became obvious. “It is said,” it is said, “in the mind 521: Let the days of my father’s mourning draw near, so that he may kill Jacob my brother” (Gen. 27:41). Truly, the angry one is no less mad than the angry ones themselves. Look how this demon, having entered, makes them mad, like those who are raging, and encourages them to do everything contrary to the evidence; they do not see anything sensibly, and do not do anything as they should, but they do everything like people with damaged feelings, who have lost the very ability to reason. Likewise, those inflamed with anger do not recognize those present, do not remember kinship, friendship, decency, or dignity, and generally do not take anything into consideration, but completely carried away by anger, they rush into the abyss. What could be more pitiful than them when, defeated and enslaved by passion, they even go so far as to kill? Therefore, blessed Paul, wanting to pluck out the very root of evil, writes the following admonition: “Let all anger, and wrath, and crying... be taken away from you with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). Not only, he says, do I not want you to be angry and enraged, but I also don’t want you to say anything to your neighbor with a “cry,” meaning here the cry that comes from anger. When passion is aroused within and the heart is puffed up, then the tongue can no longer utter words quietly, but, revealing the disposition of the spirit, is prompted to speak to one’s neighbor with a cry. So, this blessed one, wanting those who listen to him to live in constant peace, says: “all wrath,” i.e. all grief, no matter what the cause, “and all rage, and every cry... may it be taken away from you.” Then, wanting to dry up the very root of evil and make it fruitless, he says: “With all malice.” He who lives in such a state of mind is always at home, free from earthly worries, is not afraid of either a storm or a shipwreck, but, as if sailing in a time of silence or remaining in a safe harbor, he spends real life without any excitement, and, moreover, he also prepares for himself the enjoyment of endless and ineffable blessings, which may we all be able to achieve, by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Zlat.: Βεὴλ τοῦ Χετταίου; in Lucian. sp. (according to “de Lag.”) – Αἰλὼμ τοῦ Εὐαίου – “Elom the Hivite”; reading Slav. B. "Veoha Hetteina" agreed with Sistine. edition 1586; in Alex. sp. this corresponds to Βεὴρ, according to Hebrew. "Beer." Βασεμὰθ; in Lucian. sp. read Μασεθὰμ - “Masefam”. ᾿Ελὼμ τοῦ Εὐαίου according to Alex. and many more other sp.; in Lucian. – Βαὶωρ τοῦ Χετταίου – “Beorah of Hettein”; reading Slav. B.: “Elona Hetteina” agrees with Koislian. and other sp. and ev. t. Further words: καὶ εἶπεν, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ, καὶ εἶπεν - “and speech: se az. And speech” (Slav. B.) in Zlat. are not read according to the Bodleian. and 130 sp. ("de Lagarde" Genesis gr.) or omitted for brevity; in Lucian. sp. they are readable. ; in Lucian. sp. this corresponds to: καὶ Ῥεβέκκα εἶπε πρὸς Ιακωβ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν νεώτερον - “Rebekah said to Jacob his youngest son" (Slav. B.); the last reading is closer to Heb. t. Zlat. υἱέ μου; in Lucian. μου - “my” is not readable. Zlat. πρὸ τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτὸν according to Alex. and other sp., and also Heb. T.; in Lucian. sp. αὐτὸν – “to him” is not read, as in Slav. B. ὁ πατὴρ without addition; μου - “my” (Slav. B.), read in Lucian. and other sp., according to Heb. t. Zlat.: τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ according to plural. Greek sp. and ev. T.; in Lucian., Bodleian. and Alex. sp. αὐτου – “our own” is not read, as in Slav. B. Words: ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ - “his mother” (Slav. B.), usually read in Greek. sp. according to Heb. t., at Zlat. omitted, as in Ferrar. sp. (Holmes has 106. ῾Ησαῦ – “Esau”, usually read in Greek. sp., as in Hebrew. t., at Zlat. omitted. Αὐτὴν – “by it” (Slav. B.) is not read in Zlat. according to Alex., Monac., Tsittav. and other sp., as well as Heb. t.; in Lucian. read. Zlat.: τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ according to Alex., Lucian. and many. other sp. and ev. t. πεποίηκά σοι according to sp. Dorothea; in Lucian. and so on. Lists, like the Heb. t., σοῖ – “to you” is not read. ἐκ according to sp. Dorotheus and reading from Kirill Alex.; in Lucian. and many more sp. ἐκ or ἀπὸ – “from” is not read. τῶ Ιακὼβ – “Jacob” is not read in Zlata. πρὸς ᾿Ισαὰκ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ - “to Isaac his father” is not read in Zlata. Εἰ σὺ εῖ᾿ ὁ υἱός μου according to sp. Dorothea and some etc.; instead in Lucian: σὺ εῖ᾿ ὁ υἱός μου - “Are you my son” (Slav. B.). Zlat.: Κύριος according to German. Greek sp. (18, 72, etc. in “Holmes”), in Lucian., Alex. and others according to Heb. t. – ὁ Θεὸς – “God” (Slav. B.). Καὶ – “and” in Lucian. sp. omitted. Words: τῷ πατρὶ – “to father” (Slavic B.), read in Alex. and other sp. according to Heb. t., omitted from Zlat., as in Lucian. and other sp. Zlat.: φωνὴν μεγάλην σφόδρα καὶ πικρὰν according to sp. Dorothea; instead in Lucian., Alex. and other sp., according to Heb. t., – φωνὴν μεγάλην καὶ πικρὰν σφοδρα – “with a great and bitter voice.” Instead of ἰδοὺ - “se” (Slav. B.) in Zlat. read here, according to Lucian. and many more sp., only ἤδη – “already”. Zlat.: τοῦτο, which is not read in Lucian. sp. Οὐχ ὑπελίπου μοι εὐλογίαν according to Alex. sp. and ev. t.; instead in Lucian. reads: οὐχ ὑπολέλειπτό μοι εὐλογία - “is there a blessing left for me.” To φονῇ - “with a voice” there is an addition: μεγάλῃ - “great” (Slav. B.), located in the Bodleian. (Swete) and a few other sp. (Holmes), not read by Zlat. according to Lucian., Cotoponian. and other sp. The words: “Esau” and “his own,” usually read in the book, are omitted here from Zlat., obviously for the sake of brevity of speech. You might be interested in: