The Book of Hebrew Questions in Genesis

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Those who, in the beginning of the books, ought to have set forth the arguments of the work, I am forced first to answer the curses, supporting the quip of Terentius, who gave the prologues of the comedies in defense of his scenes. For Luscius Lanuinus, like our own Luscius, urged him, and accused him of being a poet and a thief of the public treasury. He suffered the same from his rivals and the Mantuan vassals, so that when he had translated some of Homer's verses verbatim, he was called the compiler of the ancients. To whom he answered, that he was of great strength, to wrest the club of Hercules from his hand. But even Tullius, who stood in the citadel of Roman eloquence, the king of orators, and the illuminator of the Latin language, is accused by the Greeks of repudiation. It is not surprising, then, if against me, a little man, dirty pigs grunt, and pearls are trampled underfoot, when against the most learned men, and those who should have overcome envy with glory, a bruise flared up. But this happened with merit to those whose eloquence thundered in theaters, courts, oratories. For strength always has rivals in the forefather, But the envious found me hidden far away from the cities, the market, the disputes, and the crowds, so also (as Quintilian says) Wherefore I beseech the reader, if any, yet these things also, if any that in the books of the Hebrew Questions, which I have ordered to be written in all the Holy Scriptures, he should not seek eloquence, nor the charm of orators; but rather let him himself answer to the enemies for us, to grant pardon to the new work. For as we are humble and poor, and have neither riches, nor are we worthy to receive offerings, so they also know that they cannot have the knowledge of the Scriptures, that is, the riches of Christ, with the riches of the world. It will therefore be our study, either to those who suspect various things about the Hebrew books, to refute the errors, or to return to their authority those which seem to be scattered in the Latin and Greek codices; also to explain the etymologies of things, names, and regions, which do not resonate in our language, by means of the vernacular. And the more easily the emendation may be known, we shall first set forth the evidences, as they are with us, and from the collation of what follows, we shall indicate whether there is less, or more, or otherwise in them. Nor, indeed, do we accuse the Septuagint of the Interpreters of errors, as the envious bark, nor do we think our work, their censure: when they refused to betray to Ptolemy, king of Alexandria, the mystics and things in the Holy Scriptures, and especially those which promised the coming of Christ: lest the Jews should be seen to be quickening the second God which that great butcher of Plato did, because they were said to worship one God. But both the Evangelists, and our Lord and Savior, as well as Paul the Apostle, utter many things, as it were, of the Old Testament, which are not found in our codices. On which we will discuss more fully in their places. From which it is clear that those are more true examples, which agree with the authority of the New Testament. It is added to this that Josephus, who places the history of the Septuagint Interpreters, and who relates only the books of Moses translated by them: which we also confess to conform more than the rest to the Hebrews. But those who afterwards arose as interpreters, I speak of Aquila, and Symmachus, and Theodotius, have a very different opinion from that which we read. Finally (which may appease even our detractors) foreign merchandise only sails to those who want it: the peasants do not buy balsam, pepper, and palm fruits. But I will resume from Adamantius, whose name if it is permissible to combine small things with large ones, in my name it is more individual, that when in his homilies, which he speaks to the common people, he follows the common edition: in the tomes, that is, in the greater debate, overcome by the Hebrew truth, and surrounded by the ranks of his own people, he sometimes seeks the help of a foreign language. I say this one thing, that I would, with the envy of his name, also have the knowledge of the Scriptures, hanging on the tufts the images and shadows of ghosts, whose nature is said to be to frighten little ones, and to chatter in dark corners. Verse 1. "In the beginning God made heaven and earth." Most people think, as it is also written in the Altercation of Lasus and the Papis, and Tertullian argues in his book against Praxeus: also Hilary affirms in the exposition of a certain Psalm, in the Hebrew haberï, "In the Son God made heaven and earth": that it is false, the truth of the matter proves it. For both the Septuagint Interpreters, and Symmachus, and Theodotion, translated "in the beginning." And in Hebrew it is written, bresith, which Aquila interprets, "in the chapter": and not baben, which is called, "in the son." It can therefore be taken more according to the sense than according to the translation of the word about Christ: who is approved both in the very beginning of Genesis, which is the head of all the books, and also in the beginning of John the Evangelist, the founder of heaven and earth. Hence also in the Psalter (Ps. 39:8) he says of himself: "In the chapter of the book it is written about me," that is, at the beginning of Genesis. And in the Gospel "All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made" (John 1, 3). But this also must be known, that among the Hebrews this book is called bresith: they have this custom of putting names on the volumes from their beginnings. Verse 2. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the waters." Instead of what is written in our codices, it was carried, in Hebrew it has merefeth, which we can call, "incubates", or "nurses", in the likeness of birds, the eggs are animated by heat. From this we understand that it is not said of the spirit of the world, as some think, but of the Holy Spirit, who himself is the vivifier of all things from the beginning. But if he is the giver of life, he is consequently also the founder. But if the founder, and God. "Send out, he says, your Spirit, and they will be created" (Ps. 133:30). Verse 10. "And the congregations of the waters he called seas." It should be noted that all the gathering of waters, whether they are salty or sweet, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language, are called seas. Porphyry, therefore, in vain, is slandered to have called the evangelists to the ignorant, the evangelists a miracle, because the Lord walked on the sea, instead of the lake of Gennesaret, he called the sea, since every lake and gathering of waters are called seas. Verse 2. "And on the sixth day God finished his works which he had done." Instead of the sixth day, in Hebrew it has the seventh day. We will therefore condemn the Jews who boast of the leisure of the sabbath, because even then in the beginning the sabbath was dissolved, while God works on the sabbath, completing his works on it, and blessing the day itself because he has completed all things on it. Verse 8. "And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, facing the east." For paradise, in Hebrew it has a garden, that is, gan. For which Symmachus translated the "flowering paradise." Moreover, what follows, "against the east," is written in Hebrew mecedem, which Aquila put ἀπὸ ἀρχῆ ϛ: and we can say, "from the beginning." But Symmachus, ἐν πρώτη ϛ, and Theodotion, ἐν προτημι ϛ, which itself does not signify "the east," but "the beginning." From this it is most clearly proven that before God made the heavens and the earth, he had previously established a paradise, as it is also read in Hebrews, "But the Lord God had planted a paradise in Eden, from the beginning." Verse 11. "The name of one Phison." They think that this is the river Ganges of India. Verse 12. "Where (Al. there) is a carbuncle and a green stone." For the carbuncle and the prasino stone, others brought bdellium and onyx. Verse 15. "And the Lord God took the man and put him in the paradise of pleasure." For pleasure, the Hebrew has eden. They therefore now interpreted the Septuagint as pleasure. But Symmachus, who a little before had brought the flower into paradise, put here ἐν τῷ παρα δε ί σ ῳ τῆ ϛ ἀκτῆ ϛ, which itself sounds like pleasantness and delight. Verse 17. "On whatever day you eat from it, you will die." Symmachus is better interpreted as saying, you will be mortal. Verse 21. "And the Lord God sent ecstasy upon Adam." For ecstasy, that is, excess of mind, we have in Hebrew thardema, which Aquila καταϕοράν, Symmachus interpreted κάρον, that is, heavy and deep sleep. Finally, it follows: "And he slept." The same word is also used in Jonah's snoring sleep (1:5). Verse 23. "Now this woman shall be called bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, because she was taken from man." It does not seem to sound in Greek and Latin why a woman is called, because she was taken from a man: but the etymology is preserved in the Hebrew language. For he is called a man, and she is a woman. Rightly, then, the woman was called by him. Hence Symmachus also wanted to keep the etymology beautifully in Greek, saying: "This will be called ἀνδρὶ ϛ ὅ τι ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἐλ ή μφθη", which we can say in Latin "This will be called virago, because it was taken from a man." Moreover, Theodotius suspected another etymology, saying: "This will be called assumption because it was taken from a man." Indeed, these can be understood according to the variety of stress and assumption. Verse 1. "But the serpent was wiser than the beasts upon the earth." For sage in the Hebrew is arom, which Aquila and Theodotion interpreted panourgon: that is, wicked and vexatious. This word, therefore, shows more cleverness and cunning than wisdom. Verse 8. "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden at evening." In most of the codes for evening, it has afternoon: because τὸ δειλιν ό ν . We cannot translate the Greek discourse verbatim: for what is written in the Hebrew, larue aiom, which is translated by Aquila ἐν τῷ ἀνέμ ῳ τῆς ἡ μ έρας, that is, in the wind of the day. But Symmachus διὰ πνεύματο ϛ ἡ μ έρας, that is, by the spirit of the day. Moreover, Theodotion more clearly ἐν τῷ πνεύματι πρὸ ϛ κατάψυξιν τῆ ϛ ἡ μ έρας, so as to show the refreshment of the breathing air after the midday heat has passed. Verse 14. "You will walk on your chest and your belly." The Septuagint translators have added the belly: for the rest, in the Hebrew, he has only the chest: to reveal the cunning and cunning of his thoughts: that all his steps were wickedness and fraud. But also what follows: "You shall eat the earth." Apar is written for the earth, which we can call embers and dust. Verse 15. "He will keep your head, and you will keep his heel." It is better in Hebrew, "He himself will crush your head, and you will crush his heel", because our steps are hindered by the snake and the Lord will quickly crush Satan under our feet. Verse 16. "By multiplying I will multiply your sorrows and your groanings." For sorrow and groaning, in the Hebrew it has sorrows and conceptions. "And your conversion to the husband." For the conversion of Aquila, they transferred the company: Symmachus, appetite or attack. Verse 17. "Cursed is the earth in thy works." Here the works of worship are not of the country, as most people think, but sins are signified: as it is said in Hebrews. And Aquila does not disagree, saying: "Cursed is the ground because of you." And Theodotion: "Cursed lady in thy Transgression." Verse 20. "And Adam called the name of his wife, Life, because she is the mother of all living." He shows why Eve, that is life, is called by the fact that she is the mother of all living things. Indeed, Eve is transferred into life. Verse 24. And he cast out Adam, and made him dwell opposite the paradise of pleasure. And he established the Cherubim and the flaming torch, which was turned to guard the way of the tree of life. The Hebrew has a much different meaning than is here understood. For he said: "And he cast out Adam - there is no doubt that it was the Lord." - And he made to dwell before the paradise of pleasure Cherubim, and a flaming sword, which was turned and guarded the way of the tree of life. Not that Adam himself, whom God had cast out, made to dwell against the paradise of pleasure; but that when he cast him out before the gates of paradise he placed cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the porch of paradise, so that no one could enter. Verse 1. "And Cain conceived and gave birth, and said, I have acquired or possessed man through God." Cain is interpreted as acquisition or possession, that is, κτῆσι ϛ, whence, expressing his etymology, he says, canithi, that is, I possessed a man through God. Verses 4 - 5. "And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts: but upon Cain and upon his sacrifices he did not look, and Cain was greatly grieved." Hence Cain was able to know that God had accepted his brother's gifts and rejected his own: unless that interpretation is true, which Theodotion put forward. "And the Lord kindled upon Abel, and upon his sacrifice: but upon Cain, and upon his sacrifice he did not kindle." And we read that fire was wont to come from heaven to devour the sacrifice, and in the dedication of the church under Solomon, and when Elijah built the altar on Mount Carmel (2 Par. 7, 1; 3 Kings 18, 38). Verses 6 and 7. "And the Lord said to Cain: Why is your countenance fallen?" If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, have you sinned? Rest in peace, his conversion to you, and you will be his master. We are forced by necessity to dwell longer on each detail. Indeed, even now there is a much different meaning in the Hebrew than in the Septuagint translators: For the Lord said to Cain: "Why are you angry, and why is your countenance fallen?" Is it not true that if you do well, you will be forgiven, and if you do not do well, your sin will sit before the door? and to thee is his company: but thou shouldst rather rule over him. But what he says is this: "Why are you angry, and tormented by the bruise of envy against your brother, let all your transgressions be forgiven you"; or, as Theodotion says, "will it be acceptable," that is, "shall I undertake your duty, as I undertook your brother's?" But if you do wrong, immediately sin will sit before your porch, and you will be accompanied by such a gatekeeper. True, since you are of free will: I warn you that sin is not yours, but you are master of sin. But what the Septuagint translators made an error in is this: because sin, that is, attath is masculine in Hebrew, feminine in Greek. And those who interpreted it, rendered it masculine (as it was in the Hebrew). Verse 8. "And Cain said to Abel his brother." What the Lord has spoken is heard. It is superfluous, then, that which is found in the Samaritans and in our volume: "Let us pass into the field." Verse 15. "Everyone who kills Cain will pay seven vengeances." For the seven avengers, the Eagle has been interpreted in seven ways. Symmachus, the seventh. Theodotius, for a week. On which chapter is our Epistle to Bishop Damasus. Verse 16. "And he dwelt in the land of Naid." What the Septuagint translated Naid is called in Hebrew Nod: and it is interpreted as σαλευόμενο ϛ, that is, unstable and fluctuating, and of an uncertain seat. It is not, therefore, the land of Naid, as our common people think: but the sentence of God is fulfilled, that he wandered here and there a wanderer and a fugitive. Verse 25. And he called his name Seth. For God raised up for me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. Seth is properly called θέσι ϛ, that is, position. Therefore, because God had placed him instead of Abel, therefore he is called Seth, that is, a position. Finally, Aquila "And he called his name Seth, saying: Because God has set me another seed." Verse 26. "And he called his name Enos: here he hoped to invoke the name of the Lord God." As Adam is interpreted as man: so also Enos, according to the variety of the Hebrew language, is called man or man. And beautifully, because he had this term, it is written about him, Then was the beginning of invoking the name of the Lord, although most of the Hebrews think otherwise, that then for the first time idols were made in the name of the Lord and in his likeness. Verse 2. "He made them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, that is, man." But the name of man is suitable for both men and women. Verse 3. "And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begat in his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth." It should be known that until the flood, where in our codices, one is said to have begotten two hundred years and that runs out: in the Hebrew he has one hundred years, and the rest that follow. Verse 4. "And the days of Adam, after he begat Seth, were seven hundred years." Because he had erred in two hundred, he consequently put here seven hundred, whereas the Hebrew is here supposed to be eight hundred, and above a hundred. Verse 25. And Methuselah lived one hundred and sixty-seven years, and begat Lamech. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech eight hundred and two years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Mathuala, which he lived, were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. A famous question, and debated by all the Churches, that according to careful calculation, it is reported that Methuselah lived fourteen years after the flood. Indeed, when Methuselah was one hundred and sixty-seven years old, he gave birth to Lamech. Again Lamech, when he was one hundred and eighty-eight years old, begat Noah. And they take place together until the day of the birth of Noah, the year of Methuselah's life, three hundred and fifty-five. And in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, the Flood took place. And by this, taking the calculation by parts, it is convinced that there was a flood in the ninety-fifty-fifth year of Methuselah. Now if it is said that he lived more than nine hundred and sixty-nine years, there is no doubt that he lived fourteen years after the flood. And how is it true that only eight souls were saved in the ark? It remains, therefore, that as in most cases, so also in this there is an error in the number. Indeed, both in the books of the Hebrews and the Samaritans, I found it written thus: "And Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begat Lamech." And Methuselah lived, after she begat Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and begat Noah. From the day of the birth of Methuselah to the day of the birth of Noah, there are three hundred and sixty-nine years: to these add six hundred years to Noah, because in the six hundredth year of his life the flood occurred; Verse 29. "And he called his name Noah, saying: This one will make us rest from our works." Noah is interpreted as resting. Therefore, because under him all previous works rested through the flood, he was called rest. Verse 2. "And the sons of God seeing the daughters of men, because they are good." The Hebrew word Eloim is a common number, and indeed God and the gods are similarly called: because of this the Eagle, in the plural number, dared to call the sons of the gods intelligent Gods, Saints, or Angels. "For God stood in the assembly of the gods: but in the midst he judges the gods" (Ps. 81:1). Wherefore also Symmachus, following this sense, says: "Seeing the sons of the mighty the daughters of men," and the rest. Verse 3. "And the Lord God said: My spirit shall not abide in these men forever, because they are flesh." In Hebrew it is written: "My spirit will not judge these men forever, because they are flesh"; this is because the condition in man is fragile, I will not keep them tormented for eternity: but here I will restore to them what they deserve. Therefore it does not sound severity, as we read in our codes, but the clemency of God, while here the sinner is visited for his crime. Hence God, angry, speaks to some: "I will not visit their daughters when they have committed fornication, and their brides when they have committed adultery" (Hosea 4:14). And in another place "I will visit their iniquities with the rod, and their sins with scourges: nevertheless I will not take my mercy from them" (Ps. 88:33). Moreover, lest it should be seen that he was cruel in that he had not given sinners a place for repentance, he added: "But their days will be one hundred and twenty years," that is, they will have one hundred and twenty years to do penance. Human life, therefore, is not, as many err, contracted into one hundred and twenty years: but to that generation, one hundred and twenty years were given to repentance. For we find that after the flood Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and the others two hundred and three hundred years more. But because they disdained to do penance, God did not want to wait for the decree: but after cutting off the space of twenty years, he brought in the flood in the hundredth year appointed for doing penance. Verse 4. "There were giants upon the earth in those days, and after these things how the sons of God went in unto the daughters of men, and begat them." They were giants called men from the century. In the Hebrew he says: "They were falling in the land in those days, that is, the Annaphilim." And after this, as the sons of the gods went in to the daughters of men, and begat them: these were the mighty men from the beginning named. Symmachus interpreted the violent as falling, or giants. And the name of those who fall belongs to the angels and the children of the saints. Verse 9. "Noah, a just and perfect man in his generation, pleased God." He says significantly that in his generation he showed that justice had not been completed according to justice, but that justice had been done according to his generation. And this is what is said in Hebrew: "Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God", that is, he followed in His footsteps. Verse 14. "Make thee an ark of square wood." Instead of square sticks, we read bituminous in the Hebrew. Verse 16. "Gathering, make an ark, and finish it in the cubit above." For what it is, gathering the face of the ark, has in Hebrew, meridian, the face of the ark, which Symmachus interpreted more clearly, saying, διαϕανέ ϛ, that is, the clear face of the ark, wanting to understand the window. Verses 1 - 3. "And the water ceased, and the fountains of the deep were revealed, and the waterfalls of heaven." Instead of the revealed sources, closed and blocked, all translators translated. And for what follows: "The water ceased on the earth", and the rest, it is written: "And the waters returned from the earth, going and returning" (Ecclesiastes 1:7). Note, according to Ecclesiastes, that all waters and torrents return through hidden veins to the matrix of the abyss. Verses 6 and 7. "After forty days, Noah opened the door of the ark that he had made, and sent out a raven, and he went out and did not return to him until the waters were dried up from the earth." Instead of a door, a window is written in Hebrew. And of the raven it is said in another way: "He sent forth the raven and went forth, going forth and returning until the waters were dried up from the earth." Verse 18. "And the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth." Frequently the Septuagint Interpreters, not being able to translate the letter Heth, which sounds a double aspiration, into the Greek language, added the Greek letter Chi: in order to teach us that in such words the aspirate should be aspired, whence and in the present place, they translated Ham, for that which is Ham, from which even Egypt is called Ham in the language of the Egyptians to this day. Verse 27. "God shall enlarge Japheth, and dwell in the tents of Shem." Of Shem, the Hebrews; from Japheth, the people of the nations are born. Therefore, because the multitude of believers is large, the breadth received its name from the breadth which is called Japheth. But what he says: "And He will dwell in the tabernacles," is prophesied about us, who are involved in learning and knowledge of the Scriptures, expelled from Israel. Verse 29. "And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years." Behold, Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. From which it is clear, that one hundred and twenty years, as we said above, were given to that generation for penance, and not set aside for mortal life. Verse 2. "The sons of Japheth, Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras." To Japheth, the son of Noah, were born seven sons, who possessed the land in Asia from Aman and Taurus, the mountains of Syria and Cilicia, as far as the river Tanain. But in Europe as far as Gadira, leaving the names of places and nations: most of which have since been changed, the rest remain as they were. Now there are Gomer, Galataë Magog, Scythaë Madai, Medï Javan< Iones, from which also Greece and the sea of ​​Lonium. Thubal the Iberians, who and the Spaniards, from whom the Celtiberi, although some of them are suspicious of the Italians. Mosoch, Cappadocia: whence the city is still called Mazeca among them to this day: (further, the translators of the Septuagint, the Cappadocians think of Capthorim as Thiras, Thracians, whose name is not quite changed. I know that a certain Gog and Magog, both of the present place, and of Ezekiel, reported to the Goths recently in our land the history of the Bacchantes, which is shown whether it is true, by the end of the battle itself. They used to be called Gog and Magog. Verse 3. "The sons of Gomer, Aschenez, and Riphath, and Thogarma." Aschenez Greeks call Kings: Riphath, Paphlagones, Thogarma, Phrygas. Verses 4 and 5. "The sons of Javan, Elisa, and Tharsis, Cethim and Dodanim." From these the islands of the nations were divided in their lands. A man according to his lineage and his kinship and his nation. Of the Ionians, that is, the Greeks are born the Elishas, who are called Aeolides: whence also the fifth language of Greece is called the Aeolians, which they call πέμπτη διάλεκτο ϛ. Tharsis Josephus of Cilicas thinks that the letter of the aspiration θῆτα was viciously corrupted by posterity into ταῦ: whence also their metropolis is called the city Tarsus, glorious to Paul the apostle. Also, there are the Citii, from whom even to this day the city of Cyprus is called Citium. Dodanim, Rhodiï thus translated the Septuagint Interpreters. Let us read the books of Varro on the Antiquities, and Sisinius Capito, and the Greek Phlegon, and the rest of the most learned men: and we shall see almost all the islands, and the coasts of the whole world, and the lands adjacent to the sea, occupied by the Greeks, who, as we have said above, from the mountains of Amanus and Taurus, all the maritime places to the ocean are in possession of Britain. Verse 6. "The sons of Ham, Chus, and Mezraim, and Phuth, and Chanaan." To this day Chus is called Ethiopia by the Hebrews: Mesraim, Egypt: Phuth, Libya. From which the river of Mauritania is still called Phuth, and all the region around it is Phutensis. Many writers, both Greek and Latin, are witnesses of this fact. But why in one part of the climate only, the ancient name of Libya remained, and the rest of the land was called Africa, it is neither of this place nor of this time to discuss. Moreover, Canaan obtained the land which the Jews afterwards possessed, after they had driven out the Canaanites. Verse 7. "The sons of Chus, Saba, Aevila, Sabatha, Regma, and Sabathaca." Saba, from whom the Sabaeans, of whom Virgil The staff of the Sabaeans is the scepter of the sun. Evila, Getuli, in the remotest part of the desert of Africa we are united. Sabatha, from whom the Sabathens, who are now called Astabari. It is not known whether Regma and Sabathaca gradually lost their ancient terms, and what they now have for their old ones. Verse 7b. "The sons of Regma, Sheba and Dadan." Here Saba is written by the letter sin, but above by samech, from which we have said that the Sabaeans were called. Now it is interpreted as Saba, Arabia, for in the seventy-first psalm, where we have: "The kings of Arabia and Saba will offer gifts"; in Hebrew it is written: "Kings of Sheba, and Sheba": the first name by sin, the second by samech. Dadan is a tribe in the western region of Ethiopia. Verses 8 and 10. "And Chus begat Nimrod." He began to be powerful on earth. And after a little while: "And the head of his kingdom was," he says, "Bebel, and Arach, and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar." Nimrod, the son of Chus, seized an unusual tyranny among the people, and reigned in Babylon, which was called Babel from the fact that the languages ​​of the builders of the tower were confused there. For Babel is interpreted confusion. And he reigned also in Arach, that is, in Edissa, and in Achad, which is now called Nisibis: and in Chalanne, which was afterwards called Seleucia by King Seleucus, or at least what is now called Κτησιϕῶν. Verse 11. "From that land came Assur, and built Nineveh, and the city of Rebooth." From this land sprang up the empire of the Assyrians, who, from the name of Nini, the son of Bel, founded Ninum, a great city, which the Hebrews call Nineveh. The whole prophecy of Jonah belongs to either the fall or the repentance of this. But what he says: "Ninevem and the city of Rooboth", we do not think that they are two cities: but since Rooboth is interpreted as streets, it must be read thus: "And he built Nineveh, and the streets of the city." Verse 13 et seq. "And Mezraim begat Ludum, and Anamim, and Laabim, and Nephtuim, and Phetrosim, and Chasloim, from whom came the Philistines and the Capthorim." With the exception of the Laabim, from whom the Libyans were afterwards named, who were formerly called the Phutaei: and the Chasloim, who were afterwards called the Philistines, whom we corruptly call the Palestinians, the other six nations are unknown to us, because they were overthrown in the Ethiopian war, to the point of forgetting their past names. And they possessed the land from Gaza to the ends of Egypt. Verse 15. "And Chanaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, and the Gergeseans, and the Evaeans, and the Aracaeans, and the Sinaians, and the Aradians, and the Samaraeans, and the Amathaeans." Sidon was the first born of Chanaan, from whom the city in Phoenicia is called Sidon. Then Aracaeus, who founded Arcas, a town situated opposite Tripoli in the foothills of Lebanon. Not far from which there was another city called Sini, which was afterwards overthrown by the various events of the wars, and retained its original name only in its place. They are the Aradians, who possessed the island of Arad, separated from the Phoenician coast by a narrow strait. Samaraeans; to which Emessa, the noble city of Syria, the Heavens. Amath is still called by the Syrians as well as by the Hebrews, as it had been called among the ancients. The Macedonians, who reigned after Alexander in the East, called it Epiphania. No one thinks that Antioch was so called. Others, though not really, consoling their opinion as if it were a probable term, think that Emas was the first residence from Antioch to be called Edessa, and that it was the same as what was called Emath among the ancients. Verse 19. "And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, until you come to Gerar as far as Gaza, passing through Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Adam, and Seboi as far as Lyseh." Since the other cities, namely Sidon and Gerara, and Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Adama, and Zeboim, are known to all, this only seems to be noted, that Lise itself is what is now called Callirhoe, where the hot waters burst forth and flow down into the Dead Sea. Verse 22. "The sons of Shem, Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram." They hold part of Asia from the river Euphrates to the Indian Ocean. Now there is Elam, from which the Elamite leaders of the Persians. It has already been said of Assur that he founded the city of Nine. Arphaxad from whom the Chaldaeans, Lud from whom the Lydians, Aram from whom the Syrians, whose metropolis is Damascus. Verse 23. "The sons of Aram, Uz, and Ul, and Gether, and Mesh." Us, the founder of the Trachonitis and Damascus, held the principality between Palestine and Coelen Syria: from which the Septuagint Interpreters in the book of Job, where it is written in Hebrew, translated the land of Us, the region of the Ausitid, as if Usitid. Ul, from which the Armeniï Gether, from which the Acarnanii, or the Carii. Moreover Mes, for whom the Septuagint Interpreters said Mosoch, are now called Maeones. Verse 24 et seq. Arphaxad begot Shelah, and Shelah begot Heber. From Heber were born two sons, one whose name was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Jectan. Heber, from whom the Hebrews, by a certain prophecy, imposed on his son the name Phaleg, which is interpreted as division, from the fact that in his days the tongues were divided in Babylon. Verse 26 et seq. "Jectan begat Helmodad, and Saleph, and Asermoth, and Jare, and Aduram, and Uzal, and Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Evila, and Jobab." I could not find the later names of thirteen of these nations; but even at the present time, because they are far from us, they are either so called as the first, or they are unknown. And from the river Cophene they possessed all the country of India, which is called Hieria. Verse 28. "And Aran died before his father in the land where he was born in the region of the Chaldeans." Instead of what we read, in the region of the Chaldeans, it is found in the Hebrew, in ur chesdim, that is, in the fire of the Chaldeans. On this occasion the Hebrews tell a story of this kind: That Abraham was sent into the fire because he would not worship the fire which the Chaldeans worship, and being delivered by the help of God, he fled from the fire of idolatry: which is written in what follows, that Terah went out with his son from the country of the Chaldeans: for which it is said in the Hebrew, about the burning of the Chaldeans. And this is what is said now: "Aran died before the sight of his father Thare in the land of his birth, in the fire of the Chaldaeans," which is to say that he was consumed by fire, not wanting to worship the fire. And afterwards the Lord spoke to Abraham: "I am the one who brought you out of the fire of the Chaldeans." Verse 29. And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram's wife's name, Saraï, and Nahor's wife's name, Melcha daughter of Aran. And the father of Melcha, he is the father of Jesca. Aran, the son of Thare, the brother of Abraham and Nahor, begat two daughters, Melcham, and Sarai, whose surname was Jescan, δυώνυμον. From whom Melcham married Nahor, and Sarai Abraham: for marriages between uncles and brothers' daughters had not yet been forbidden by law, which were instituted among the first men, even between brothers and sisters. Verse 4. "Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he came out of Chara." An unsolvable question arises, for if Terah, Abraham's father, when he was still in the Chaldea region, seventy years old, gave birth to Abram, and afterwards died in Charra in the two hundred and fifth year of his age: how now after the death of Thare, when Abram was leaving Charra, it is mentioned that he was seventy-five years old: when from the birth of Abraham until the death of his father, it is taught that there were one hundred and thirty-five years. That tradition of the Hebrews, which we have said above, is therefore true, that Thara came out with her sons from the fire of the Chaldeans, and that Abram, being fenced in Babylon by fire, because he would not worship it, was delivered by the help of God; and from that time the days of his life, and the time of his age, are reckoned from when he confessed the Lord, rejecting the idols of the Chaldeans. It is possible, however, that since the Scripture has left it uncertain, a few years ago Thara set out from Chaldaea and came to Charran, where he died. Or at least he came to Charran immediately after the persecution, and stayed there longer. If any one, therefore, is contrary to this exposition, let him seek another solution: and then he will rightly disprove what has been said by us. Verses 9 and 10. "And Abram departed, and went into the wilderness: and there was a famine upon the earth." And in the present, and in many other places, for the desert, to the south, it is written in Hebrew. So we must note this. Verses 15 and 16. "And Pharaoh's princes saw her, and praised her before Pharaoh, and brought her into Pharaoh's house: and Abram did good for her: and he had sheep, and flocks, and asses, and servants, and maidservants, mules, and camels." It is true that the body of holy women is not stained by force, but by the will; However, the disgusting necessity can be excused in another way because, according to the book of Esther, whatever women pleased the king among the ancients, he was for six months in various pigments and women's treatments, and then finally went to the king. And so it can happen that after Sarai had pleased the king, while her entrance to the king was being prepared for a year, and Pharaoh had given Abraham many gifts, and Pharaoh was afterwards smitten by the Lord, she was still untouched by his ongoing intercourse. Verse 1 et seq. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that was his: and Lot with him into the desert. And Abram was very rich in cattle, and silver, and gold, and went from whence he came into the wilderness unto Bethel. He is said to have ascended after being delivered from Egypt. But this sense is contradicted by what follows: how could he have been so rich when he came out of Egypt? This is resolved by that Hebrew truth, in which it is written: Abram was heavily burdened, that is, βαρις σϕόδρα : for he was burdened with the weight of Egypt. And though they appear to be riches in cattle, gold, and silver, yet if they are Egyptian, they are heavy for a holy man. In short, not as we read in the Septuagint, He went from whence he came into the wilderness as far as Bethel: but as it is written in Hebrew: He went on his journey through the South as far as Bethel. Therefore he departed from Egypt, that he might not enter the wilderness which he had left with Egypt, but that he might come by the south, which is opposite to the north, to the house of God, where his tabernacle had been between Bethel and Gai. Verse 13. "And the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful in the sight of God." It is added here in the Septuagint, superfluously, in the sight of God, since the inhabitants of Sodom among men [Al. all], they were evil and sinners. But he is said to be a sinner in the sight of God, who can be seen as righteous among men, as it is said of Zacharias and Elizabeth in the proclamation, that they were both righteous in the sight of God (Luke 1:6). And it is said in the Psalter. Not everyone living will be justified in your sight (Ps. 142:2). Verses 14 and 15. "Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are now to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and to the sea, because all the land that you see, I will give it to you and to your seed." He established the four climates of the world, east and west, north and south. But what is read in all the Scriptures, it is sufficient to have said here once, that the sea was always placed for the west, because the region of Palestine is so situated that it has the sea on the west side. Verses 2 and 3. "And King Bale, this is Segor." All these agreed at the valley of Salsa, that is, the sea of ​​Salt. In the Hebrew tongue, it is called κατάποσις, that is, devouring. The Hebrews therefore convey that in another place of the Scriptures this same one is named Salisa, and they say again, μόσχος τριετίζουσα, that is, the crushing calf, because it was swallowed up by the third movement of the earth (1 Samuel 9:4; Isaiah 15:5). And from the time when Sodom and Gomorrah, Adama and Zeboim were overthrown by the divine fire, she is called the little one. Indeed, Segor is translated into a small language called Syra Zoara. But the valley of the Salts, as it is written in this same book, in which before there were wells of bitumen, after the wrath of God and the rain of sulphur, was turned into the sea of ​​the Dead: which is called by the Greeks λίμνη ὰσϕαλτῖτις, that is, a pool of bitumen. Verse 5. "And the giants set up Carnaim in Astaroth, and the mighty nations together with them, and the Ominaeans in the city of Sava, before they reached Sodom." The four kings who set out from Babylon killed the giants, that is, the Raphaim, the mighty men and all [Al. also] of Arabia, and Zozim in Hom, and Emim in the city of Sava, which is still called so to this day. But Zuzim and Emim are interpreted as terrible and terrible: for which the Septuagint, translating the sense rather than the word from the word, put the strongest nations. Moreover, the Bahem, for whom they said, ἅμα αὐτοῖς, that is with them, they thought were written by he, drawn from the similitude of the element, when it is written by heth. For when Bahem is written with three letters: if it has a middle he, it is interpreted, in them: but if heth, as in the present case, signifies a place, that is, in Hom. Verses 7 - 8. "And returning, they came to the fountain of judgment, this is Kadesh." It is said by anticipation, that which was afterwards so called. Now it signifies the place at Petra, which is called the source of judgment: because there God judged the people. "And they smote all the country of the Amalekites and the Amorites that sat in Asasonthamar." This is the town now called Engaddi, fertile in balsam and palm trees. Moreover, Asasonthamar, in our language, echoes, the city of Palms. For the palm tree is called Thamar. But it should be known for what follows a little later: "And they drew up an array against them for war in the valley of Seddim: which Aquila interprets τῶν περιπεδίνων, Theodotius, τῶν άλσῶν, signifying pleasant groves." Verse 11. "And they took away all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorrah." For cavalry in Hebrew it has rachus, that is, substance. Verse 13. And he who had fled told Abram that he had passed. But he himself was sitting at the oak tree of Mambre Amorris brother Eschol and brother Auna, who were conspired with Abraham. For what we have put forward, transitory, in Hebrew it is written ibri, for this is expressed transitory. But what he says: at the oak of the Mambre of the Amorites, we read better in the Hebrew, at the oak of the Mambre of the Amorites, the brother of Escol: and the brothers did not translate Auna, as the Septuagint did, but Aner: to show that Mambre and Escol, and Aner were Amorrheans and Germanic, confederates of Abraham. Verse 14. "And he pursued them as far as Dan." To the town of Phoenicia, which is now called Paneas. And Dan is one of the sources of the Jordan. For the other is called Jor, which is interpreted as ῤ εῖτρον: that is, a stream. Two sources, therefore, which are not far from each other, unite into one stream, henceforth called Jordan. Verses 18 and 19. "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and he himself was a priest of the Most High God, and blessed him." Since our little work is a collection of Jewish questions or traditions, let us therefore state what the Hebrews think about this. They say that this is Shem, the son of Noah, and, counting the years of his life, they show that he lived until Isaac, and that all the firstborn of Noah, until Aaron became priest, were priests. Moreover, Salem is called the king of Jerusalem, which was formerly called Salem. But Melchizedek, the blessed apostle to the Hebrews (7:3), without mentioning father and mother, refers to Christ, and through Christ to the Church of the Gentiles. For all the glory of the head is related to the members, because having the foreskin, he blessed Abraham with the circumcision, and in Abraham the Levite, and through the Levite Aaron: of which later the priesthood. From which he wishes to gather, that the priesthood of the Church having a foreskin, blessed the circumcised priesthood of the Synagogue. And what he says: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 90, 4): our mystery is signified in the word order: not by Aaron sacrificing irrational victims, but by offering bread and wine, that is, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. Verses 2 and 3. "Lord God, what will you give me?" And I am going without children: and the son of Masek of my motherland, this Damascus Eliezer. And Abram said: Behold, you have not given me a seed: and the son of my mother-in-law will be my heir. Where we have, and the son of Masech of my vernacular is written in Hebrew, when is mesech bethï which the Eagle carried, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ποτίζοντος οἰκίαν μου : that is, the son of the giver of drink to my house. But Theodotius, καὶ υἱὸ ϛ τοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας μου: that is, and his son, who is over my house. What he says is this: I am dying childless, and the son of my manager, or governor, who administers and distributes all the provisions of my family, and is called Damascus Eliezer is translated, God my helper. From this they say that Damascus was founded and named. Verse 7. "I am God, who brought you out of the country of the Chaldeans." This is what we said a little before in the Hebrew haberï who brought you out of Ur Chesdim, that is, about the burning of the Chaldeans. Verses 10 and 11. "And he set them against each other's faces: but he did not separate the birds." And the birds came down upon the corpses and upon their divisions, and Abram sat with them. His exposition of the sacrament does not belong to the present essay. We only say this, because instead of what we have stated, the Hebrew has: And the birds descended upon the corpses, and Abram drove them away. For it was by his merit that Israel was often freed from distress. Verse 12. "At sunset, a trance fell upon Abram." For ecstasy in the Hebrew thardema, that is, καταϕορά, is read, which we have above translated into sleep. Verse 16. "And in the fourth generation they shall return hither." There is no doubt that these who were of the seed of Abraham The question is how it is written in Exodus: And in the fifth generation the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 13:18). On which chapter we have published a small volume. Verse 2. "Behold, the Lord hath shut me up, that I should not bear: therefore shall I go in unto my handmaid, that I may have children by her." It is carefully noted that the procreation of children is written in the Hebrew building. For it is read there, I will go in to my handmaid, if by any means I may be edified from her. And see that this may not be what is said in Exodus: God blessed the midwives, and they built themselves houses (Exodus 1:20). Verse 7. "And the angel of the Lord found her over a spring of water in the desert at the spring on the way to Sur." Consequently the Egyptians hastened to go by the road of Sur, which leads through the wilderness to Egypt. Verse 11. "And he called his name Ishmael; because God heard my humility. Ishmael is interpreted, the hearing of God. Verse 12. "Here shall be a rustic man." His hand shall dwell upon all, and the hand of all his brethren. For a farmer in Hebrew it is written phara, which translates as onager. And it signifies that his seed shall dwell in the desert, that is, the Muslims, wandering and in uncertain habitations, who attack all the nations with which the desert is joined from the side, and are attacked by all. Verse 3 et seq. "And the Lord spoke to him, saying: Behold my covenant with you: and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations, and your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, because I have made you the father of many nations." It should be noted that wherever we read the Testament in Greek, there in the Hebrew language there is a covenant, or agreement, that is, berith. And the Hebrews say that from his name, God, which is with them the Tetragrammaton, he literally added to Abraham and Sarah: for he was first called Abram, which is interpreted, the exalted father: and afterwards he was called Abraham, which is translated the father of many: for what follows the Gentiles is not mentioned in the name, but is heard. Nor is it to be wondered at, why, when among the Greeks and with us the letter A is seen to be added, we should say that the Hebrew letter is added; for the idiom of that left-handed person is, indeed, to write with he, but to read with a, just as, on the contrary, they often pronounce the letter A with he. Verses 15 and 16. "And God said to Abraham: You shall not call your wife Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." They are mistaken who think that Sarah was first written by one R, and later another R was added to it. And because R is the number of a hundred among the Greeks, they suspect many nonsenses about his name: since of course, however they wish to change the name to it, it must have a Hebrew, not a Greek, meaning, since the name itself is Hebrew. But no one, calling someone in another language, takes the etymology of the term from the other. Sarai was therefore first called by sin, res, iod: therefore, when the iod was removed, that is, the 1st element, the letter he was added, which is read by A: and she was called Sarah. Now the cause of the name thus being changed, is this, as was said before, my prince, of only one house of the mother of the family. But afterwards it is said absolutely, prince, that is, ἄρχουσα. For it follows: "I will give you a son from her, and I will bless him, and he will be among the nations, and kings of the peoples will be from him." They signified, not as we read in the Greek: God said to Abraham: Sarai your wife shall not be called her name Sarai; It is written in the Hebrew: you shall not call her name Sarai, that is, you shall not say to her, you are my prince: for the future of all nations is already the prince. Some strongly suspect that before it was called a leprosy, and afterwards a prince: when the leprosy is called sarath, which in our language indeed seems to have some resemblance; but in the Hebrew it is completely different. For it is written by sade, and res, and ain, and thau: which is manifest to differ much from the preceding three letters, that is, sin, res, and he, with which Sara is written. Verse 17. "And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, What if a son be born at a hundred years old, and Sarah give birth at a ninety-year-old?" . And after a little: "And you shall call his name Isaac." The opinion is different, but the etymology is the same, why he was called Isaac. For Isaac is interpreted as laughter. Others say that because Sarah laughed, that is why he was called laughter, which is false. But others say that Abraham laughed, which we also prove. For after Abraham's laughter, his son Isaac was called, then we read that Sarah also laughed. It should be known, however, that four in the Old Testament were called without any veil, by their names before they were born: Ishmael, Isaac, Solomon, and Josiah. Read the scriptures. Verse 6. "And Fastina said unto him, Mix together three measures of fine flour." Because three measurements seem to be absolutely stated here, and it is an uncertain measurement, I have therefore added that in the Hebrew it has three grains, that is, three jars: so that we may know the same mystery both here and in the Gospel, where the woman is said to leaven three grains of flour (Matthew 13:33). Verse 10. "And he said: I will come back to you at this time and at this hour, and Sarah will have a son." For the hour, we read life in the Hebrew as an order or sense: I will return to you in the time of life as if he had said, if I live, if life was accompanied by this ἀνθρωποπάθως, how and the rest. Verse 12. "And Sarah laughed to herself, saying: It has not happened to me until now, and my master is old." It is read much differently in the Hebrews. And Sarah laughed to herself, saying: After I have been afflicted, and pleasure has come to me? At the same time note that where we put ourselves, it is written in Hebrew to eat pleasure. Symmachus translated this passage in this way: After I have grown old, has youth come to me? Verse 32. "And he said: Is it, Lord, if I speak?" . Which is written in Greek, μ ή τι κριεύ ἐὰν λαλ ή σω . Secondly, Abraham spoke to the Lord: what he said does not seem to sound clearly. Therefore in the Hebrew it is written more clearly: Do not, I beseech you, be angry, Lord, if I have spoken. For because the questioner seemed to confine the Lord with an answer, he moderates what he asks with a preface. Verse 14. "And he spoke to his nobles, who had taken his daughters." Because afterward Lot's two daughters are said to have been virgins (about whom he himself had said not long ago to the people of Sodom: Behold my two daughters who have not known a man), and now the Scripture mentions that he had husbands; some think that those who had husbands remained in Sodom, and that those who were virgins went out with their father. As the Scripture does not say, the Hebrew truth must be explained, in which it is written: Lot went out and spoke to the spouses who were about to receive his daughters. The virgin daughters had not yet been married. Verse 21. "And he said unto him, Behold, I have marveled at thy face." In the Hebrew he has: Behold, I have received your face: that is, I am satisfied with your prayers. Which Symmachus, interpreting according to the meaning, says, Verse 28. "And behold, a flame ascended from the earth like the steam of a furnace." For which we read in Hebrews, Behold, the fire went up, as if it were an anathymosis of a furnace: which we can say of vapor, or smoke, or embers. Verse 30. "And Lot went up from Segor, and sat on the mountain, and his two daughters with him." For he was afraid to sit in Segor. The question is why, when he first preferred the flight of the mountain Segor, and wanted to be happy in his dwelling, now he migrates from Segor to the mountain again? We will answer that the conjecture of the Hebrews about Segor, that it was frequently destroyed by earthquakes, was called Bale first, and afterwards Salisah: and Lot feared, saying, If while the other cities still stood, this one was often overthrown: how much more now in a common ruin will it not be delivered? And on account of this occasion of infidelity, he also gave the beginning of intercourse to the daughters. For he who had seen the rest of the cities ravaged, and this one standing, followed by the help of God, was freed; surely he ought not to have wandered about that which he had heard granted to him. That, therefore, which is said to be the excuse of the daughters, because they thought that the humanity of the race had failed, and therefore slept with the father, does not excuse the father. Finally, to the Hebrews, what follows: Verse 35. "And he did not know when he had slept with him, and when he had risen from him," they add from above, as if it were incredible, and that the nature of things does not allow him to marry someone who does not know. Verse 36 et seq. And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father, and the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the younger, and she gave birth to a son, and called his name Ammon, that is, the son of my people. He is the father of the children of Ammon. Moab is translated from patre and the whole name has etymology. But Ammon, whose name is given as the cause of the name, the son of my race, or as it is better in Hebrew, the son of my people, is derived in this way, so that in part the sense of the name is in part the word of Ammi, from whom the Ammonites were called, they are called my people. Verse 12. "In truth, my sister is from my father, but not from my mother." That is, Aran is his brother's daughter, not his sister's. But because in the Hebrew it has: in truth the sister is inea, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and it sounds rather that she was the sister of Abraham, we say as an excuse for her, that such marriages were not yet forbidden by law at that time. Verses 9 and 10. "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing": what follows, "with his son Isaac," is not found in the Hebrew. This, therefore, is explained in two ways by the Hebrews: either that he made the idols for sport, according to what is written elsewhere: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exod. 32:6): or that against Isaac, as if of an older age, he claimed for himself the firstborn by sport and sport. When Sarah heard this, she did not take it: and this is approved by his words, saying: "Cast out this handmaid with her son." For the son of the handmaid will not be an heir with my son Isaac. Verse 14. "And he took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the little one, and sent her away." When Isaac was born, Ishmael was thirteen years old. And after his weaning, he and his mother are expelled from the house. Among the Hebrews, however, there is a different opinion, some asserting that the period of weaning is fixed at the fifth year, others claiming the twelfth year. Therefore, in order to choose a shorter age, we assumed that after eighteen years Ismael was cast out with his mother, and it does not agree that he was already sitting on his mother's neck as a teenager. It is true, therefore, that the idiom of the Hebrew language, that every son, in comparison with his parents, is called an infant and a little one. Nor is it surprising that a barbarian language has its own characteristics: since even today all the children of Rome are called infants. Abraham therefore placed the loaves and the bottle on Hagar's shoulder: and having done this he gave the child to his mother, that is, he delivered him into her hands, commended him, and thus sent him out of the house. And what follows: Verse 15 et seq. And he threw the boy under the fir-tree, and as he went away, he sat down on the opposite side, as if shot by an arrow. For he said: I will not see the death of my little one. And he sat opposite him. And immediately it is added: "The child cried out and wept, and God heard the voice of the child from the place where he was." And the angel of God said to Hagar from heaven, and the rest, let no one move. For in the Hebrew after this, what is written. I will not see the death of my child, so it is read, that Hagar herself sat opposite the child, and lifted up her voice, and wept, and God heard the voice of the child. For while the mother was weeping and lamenting the death of her son miserably, God heard the boy: about whom he had promised Abraham, saying: But I will also make the son of your handmaid into a great nation (Gen. 17:20). Otherwise, the mother herself did not mourn her own death, but that of her son. God therefore spared him, for whom he had been weeping. Finally, in the sequels it is said: Get up and take the child and hold his hand (Gen. 21:18). From which it is clear that he who was held was not a burden to his mother, but to the count. But that which is held by the hand of the parent shows anxious affection. Verse 22. "And Abimelech said, and Ochozath his son-in-law, and Phicol the captain of his army." With the exception of Abimelech and Phicol, the third name that is read here is not found in the Hebrew volume. Verses 30 and 31. And he said: You shall take these seven sheep from me, that they may be a witness to me, because I dug that well. That is why he called the name of that place the well of the oath, because they both swore there. Where it is read here, the well of the oath, in Hebrew it is called bersabee. The reason why he was so called is twofold: either because Abimelech took seven lambs from the hand of Abraham: for the seven are called the Sabeans: or because they swore there: because the oath of the Sabeans is similarly called. But if we read this name above before this case, let us know that it was said through prolepsis, just as Bethel and Gilgal, which, of course, up to the time when they were so called, were called differently. And it is to be noted both from the former, and from the present passage, that Isaac was not born at the oak of Mambre, or in Aulon Mambre, as it is said in the Hebrew, but in Geraris, where Beersheba is still a town to this day. This province, not long ago, from the division of the governors of Palestine, was called Salutaris. The Bible is a witness to this fact, which says: And Abraham dwelt in the land of the Philistines (Genesis 21:34). Verse 2. "And God said to him: Take your only-begotten son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the high ground and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you about." It is difficult to translate the idiom of the Hebrew language into Latin speech. Now where it is said, Go to the high ground, the Hebrew has Moria, which Aquila translated τὴν καταϕανῆ, that is, bright: Symmachus, τής οπτασίας, that is, of vision. The Hebrews therefore say that this is the mountain on which the church was later built in the area of ​​Orna Jebusae, just as it is written in the Chronicles: And they began to build the church in the second month, on the second day of the month, on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1). Who is therefore interpreted as enlightening and shining, because there is given, that is, the oracle of God and the Law and the Holy Spirit, who teaches men the truth and inspires prophecies. Verses 3 and 4. "And he went to the place which God had told him on the third day." It should be noted that it is a three-day journey from Geraris to Mount Moriah, that is, the seat of the church, and consequently it is said that he arrived there on the third day. Some, therefore, wrongly think that Abraham dwelt at that time at the oak of Mambrë, since from there to Mount Moriah is scarcely a full day's journey. Verse 13. "And Abraham lifted up his eyes: and behold, a ram was held behind his back by his horns in a bush σαβεκ". Eusebius of Emisenus has said a ridiculous thing in this place: σαβεκ, speaking, is said to be a goat, which rises with straight horns and to pluck the branches of a lofty tree. Again it was interpreted as an eagle, which we can call a thorn, or a thorn: and in order to interpret the force of the word, condense and entwined with each other. And it appeared, he says, that the ram was held in its horns. But in this very place, the Septuagint and Theodotius seem to have interposed the name σαβεκ in their horns. Indeed, συχ - νεών, which is also written by Symmachus, is literally from which it is evident that the word σαβεκ is not the interpretation of the stems condensed, and interwoven like a net, but the name of the bush, which is so called in Hebrew. Verse 14. And Abraham called the name of that place. The Lord sees: as they say today, the Lord sees on the mountain. For what he has here he sees, it is written in Hebrew, it will be seen. And this became a proverb among the Hebrews, that if they were ever placed in distress, and desired the Lord's help to relieve them, they should say, The Lord will be seen on the mountain: that is, as he had mercy on Abraham, so he will have mercy on us. Hence, even now, the ram given as a sign is used to sound the horn. Verse 20 et seq. And they told Abraham, saying: Behold, Melcha also gave birth to the sons of your brother Nahor, Us his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians, and Kased. The firstborn son of Nahor's brother Abraham by Melcha's wife, which Aquila put and Symmachus, is written by the letter sin: but here the letter samech is put: from which it is clear that the word σαβεκ is not the interpretation of condensed races, and interwoven like a network of bushes, but the name of the bush, which is so called in Hebrew. But I, diligently inquiring, found συχ - νεών by the samech letter written frequently. Verse 14. "And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord sees: as they say today, the Lord sees on the mountain." For what he has here he sees, it is written in Hebrew, it will be seen. And this became a proverb among the Hebrews, that if they were ever placed in distress, and desired the Lord's help to relieve them, they should say, The Lord will be seen on the mountain: that is, as he had mercy on Abraham, so he will have mercy on us. Hence, even now, the ram given as a sign is used to sound the horn. Verse 20 et seq. "And they told Abraham, saying: Behold, Melcha also gave birth to the sons of Nahor, your brother's firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians, and Kased." The firstborn of Nahor's brother Abraham, by Melcha his wife, the daughter of Aran, was born Us: from whose line Job descends, as it is written at the beginning of his volume: There was a man in the land of Us, whose name was Job. Therefore, some wrongly consider that Job is of the family of Esau, since that which is found at the end of the book itself, by that which was translated from the Syrian language, and the fourth is from Esau, and the rest that is contained there, is not found in the Hebrew volumes. He was the second born of Melcha Buz, whom the Septuagint wanted to transfer to Bauz. And from this family is the divine Balaam (Num. 24:3 et seq.; Jos. 13:22), as the Hebrews tell, who in the book of Job is first called Eliu a holy man and a prophet of God, later through disobedience and desire for gifts, while he wants to curse Israel, he is called a divine term: and it is said in the same book that Eliu's son Barachiel was angry (Job. 32:2), descended from the root of Buzi. But Camuel is the father of Damascus. For she is called Aran, which is here written for Syria: and by the same name it is read in Isaiah. Chased is also the fourth, from which Chasdim, that is, the Chaldaeans, were afterwards called. Verse 2. "And Sarah died in the city of Arboc, which is in the valley of this is Chebron, in the land of Canaan." What is set down here, which is in the valley, is not found in the authentic codes. The name of the city of Arboc was gradually corrupted by writers and readers. For it is not to be supposed that the Septuagint Interpreters translated the name of the Hebrew city, barbarously and corruptly, and in a different way than it is said in their own. For the tree means nothing at all. But it is called arbee, that is, four, because there Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob were founded: and Adam himself, the prince of the human race, as will be shown more clearly in the book of Jesus. Verse 6. "Hear us, Lord, you are our king from God, bury your dead in our chosen tomb." For a king he has a prince in Hebrew, or a leader. For Nasi is not called a king, but a leader. Verse 16. "And Abraham heard Ephron, and Abraham Ephron weighed the silver, which he had spoken in the ears of the sons of Heth." In Hebrew, as we have stated here, his first name is written Ephron, according to Ephran. For after he had been prevailed upon to sell the sepulchre, for silver, though under the coercion of Abraham, the letter vau, which among them is read as o, was removed from his name; Let those who sell tombs know, therefore, and are not forced to accept the price, but extort also from those who are unwilling, that their name will be changed, and that something of their merit will perish, when even he who unwillingly accepted is reproached. Verse 9. "And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him upon this word." The Hebrews relate that he swore in his sanctification, that is, in his circumcision. But we say that he swore in the seed of Abraham, that is, in Christ, who was to be born from him, according to Matthew the Evangelist, who says: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). Verse 22. "And the man took a golden earring, the weight of which was a two drachm." The bace, which in this place is written for the didrachm, is half an ounce: but the secel, which in Latin is corruptly called a shekel, has a weight of an ounce. Verse 43. "Behold, I stand upon a fountain of water, and the daughters of the people of the city shall come forth to draw water: and there shall be a virgin to whom I shall say, Give me to drink a little water from thy pitcher," etc. It is written in Hebrew: Behold, I stand by a spring of water, and there will be a young girl who will go out to draw: and I will say to her, Give me a little water to drink from your jar, and so on. For a young woman also, which in the Greek language is called νε ᾶ νις, we read there alma, which indeed is also found in Isaiah. For in that place where it is written in our codices: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear (Isa. 7:14), the eagle translated: Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear. In Hebrew it is read: Behold, the soul will conceive and give birth. It should be noted, then, that the word alma is never written except of a virgin, and has the etymology, ὰπόκρυϕος, that is, hidden. Indeed it is written in Job: Where is wisdom to be found? And what is the place of understanding? and shall be hidden from the eyes of every living being (Job. 28:21). Where we have just said, it will be hidden, in Hebrew it is called naalma, because of the declension of the word, which is shaped differently. Something similar to this, although it is declined in the masculine gender, and is written in the books of the Kingdoms, from the person of Elisha speaking to Giezï And the Lord hid from me (4 Kings 4, 27). Therefore alma, which is interpreted as hidden, that is, virgin, guarded with excessive care, seems to me to be of greater praise than virgin. For a virgin can be next to the apostle in body, and not in spirit. But when she is hidden, she who is a virgin has ἐπίστασιν (growth) of virginity, so that she is both a virgin and hidden. And what is hidden, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language, is consequently also a virgin; But what a virgin does not immediately follow, so that it is hidden. We read this same word in Exodus about Mary, the virgin sister of Moses (Exodus 2:8). Let the Jews therefore point out that alma is placed somewhere in the Scriptures, where it sounds like a young woman only, and not a virgin: and we grant them that what is said among us in Isaiah: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and give birth, does not mean a hidden virgin, but a young woman already married. Verse 59. "And they sent away Rebecca their sister, and her substance, and Abraham his servant, and the men that were with him." In the Hebrew it has: And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. Indeed, it was fitting that a virgin, going to the wedding without her parents, should be comforted by a nurse. Verses 62 and 63. "And he himself dwelt in the land of Austrï, and Isaac went out to exercise in the field at evening." The land of the South, signifies Gerara, whence he had once been brought by his father to sacrifice. But what he says, And he went out to exercise in the field, which is called in Greek, ἀδολεσχῆσαι, is read in Hebrew: And Isaac went out to speak in the field, evening already approaching. It means, according to that, that the Lord prayed alone on the mountain, even Isaac, who was in the type of the Lord, to pray, as if a righteous man had gone out of the house: and either at the ninth hour, or before sunset, he offered spiritual sacrifices to God. Verse 65. "And he took a sackcloth and covered himself." It is called the theristum pallium, a kind of Arab garment even now, with which the women of that province are veiled. Verse 1 et seq. And Abraham added, and took a wife, and her name was Keturah, and she bore him Zamram, and Jeksan, and Madan, and Midian, and Jesboc, and Sue. And Jeksan begat Sheba and Dadan. And the sons of Dadan were Asurim, and Latusim, and Laomim. And the sons of Midian, Jephar, and Apher, and Enoch, and Abida, and Aledea. All these were the sons of Cetur. And Abraham gave all that Isaac had. And he gave gifts to the children of the concubines he had, and sent them away from his son Isaac, while he was still living in the East, to the eastern land. In the Hebrew language, cetura is interpreted as "coupled", or "joined". For this reason the Hebrews suspect that Hagar, having changed her name, is the same Hagar, who, after Sarah's death, passed from concubine to wife. And it seems that the age of Abraham must be excused, lest the old man, after the death of his old wife, should be accused of having indulged in new marriages. Leaving that which is uncertain, we say this, that the sons of Abraham born of Keturah, according to the historians of the Hebrews, occupied Τρωγλοδύτην and Arabia, which is now called Εὐδαίμων, as far as the borders of the Red Sea. It is said that one of the descendants of Abraham, who was called Apher, led an army against Libya, and there, having defeated his enemies, settled there, and that his descendants were called Aphrica from the name of Atavi. Alexander, who is called Polyhistor, and Cleodemus, surnamed Malchus, are witnesses to this fact, retracing the barbarous history in the Greek language. But what he says, "And the sons of Dadan were the Asurim, and the Latusim, and the Laomim": they think that the Asurim were transferred into merchants: the Latusim, forging metals of brass and iron; Others contend that they were called the Asurim from this, and that they were the Syrians, and that the regions of India occupied by most of the sons of Abraham from Cetur. Verse 8. "And Abraham died in a good old age, old and full, and was gathered to his people." It was wrongly added in the Septuagint of Interpreters: "And Abraham died failing," because it is not fitting for Abraham to fail, and to be diminished. And that which we have put, "in a good old age, old and full": in the Greek codes it is put "full of days." While this seems to explain the sense, that he has set himself full of light and the works of the day, yet it does more to ἀναγωγήν, if he is simply supposed to be full. Verses 13 – 18. “And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael in their names and in their generations. Nabajoth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Cedar" and the rest, until that place where he says: "And they dwelt from Evila to Sur, which is against the face of Egypt, when they came to the Assyrians, it fell in the sight of all their brothers." Twelve sons were born to Ishmael, of whom the first born was Nabajoth, from whom all the region from the Euphrates to the Red Sea is called Nabatean to this day, which is part of Arabia. For their families, towns, and villages, and fortified castles, and their tribes are celebrated by this appellation: from one of these, Cedar is called in the desert, and Duma another region, and Theman to the south, and Cedema to the eastern quarter. But what we read at the end of this chapter, according to the Septuagint, "he dwelt against the face of all his brothers" (Gen. 13:18): is more true what we have stated: "he died in the face of all his children, surviving children, and no one had previously been overtaken by death." Jacob also points out to Laban that the brothers are called sons, saying: "What is my sin, that you have pursued after me and that you have searched all my vessels?" What did you find out about all the containers in your house? Let it be placed before my brothers and your brothers: and let them judge between us" (Ibid. 35). Nor can we believe that the Scripture mentions that Jacob, apart from his children, had any brothers with him. Verses 21 - 22. "And Rebecca his wife conceived, and his children moved in her." For motion, the Septuagint Interpreters put ἐσκίρτων, that is, they played, or kicked: what the Eagle carried, the children in her womb were broken. But Symmachus διέπλεον, that is, they were carried on the surface in the likeness of a ship. Verse 25. "And the first came out all red, like a hairy skin." Where we put hairy, in Hebrew it has seir. Hence also Esau, as we read elsewhere, was called Seir, that is, hairy. Verse 30. "And Esau said to Jacob: give me a taste of that red cooking, because I was failing, therefore its name was called Edom." Red, or yellow, in the Hebrew language is called Edom: therefore, because he sold his first-borns with red meat, yellow, that is, the name Edom was drawn. Verse 12. "And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year a hundredfold of barley." Although Isaac sowed in a strange land, yet I do not think that he had such a fruitful bushel of barley. Wherefore I think it is better that which is found in the Hebrew, and Aquila also translated: "And he found in that year a hundredfold valued," that is, ἑκατὴν εἰκασμένον. For although in the same letter both the estimation and the barley are written, yet the estimations are read saarim, but the barley is sori. But the Scripture being silent about the kind of crops which multiplied a hundredfold, seems to me to have shown the multiplication of all virtues in him. Finally, they follow: Verse 13. "And the Lord blessed him, and the man became great, and he walked and went, and was magnified, until he became exceedingly great." But the happiness of the multiplied barley, I do not know if it can make anyone glorious. Verse 17. "And Isaac departed thence, and came into the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there." For a valley, it has a torrent in Hebrew. For Isaac, after he had been magnified, could not dwell in the valley. And he dwelt in the brook, of which it is written: "He shall drink of the brook in the way" (Psalm 19:7). Of which also Elijah was not perfect, like Christ: therefore he withered him with a torrent (3 Kings 17:7). Our Lord, indeed, was also delivered in the torrent: dedicating our regeneration and the sacrament of Baptism. Verse 19. "And Isaac's children dug in the valley of Gerar, and found there a well of living water." And here for the valley, torrent is written; for a well of living water is never found in the valley. Verse 21. "And they dug another well, and they quarreled also over it, and he called its name Enmity." For enmities, which Aquila and Symmachus translated, τἡν άντικειμένην and ὲναντίωσιν, that is, against and opposite, Satan has in the Hebrew. Whence we understand Satan, the opposite is to be interpreted. Verse 22. "And they dug another well, and did not quarrel with them: and his name was called breadth." For breadth, in Hebrew it has rooboth, to prove what we said above: "He himself built the city of Nineveh, and rooboth", that is, its streets (Gen. 10). Verse 26. "And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ochozath his son-in-law, and Phicol the captain of his army." For "Ochozath the bridegroom," in Hebrew he has "the college of his friends": so that it signifies not so much a man, as a company of friends that came with the king, among whom Phicol was also the leader of his army. Verses 32 and 33. "And the servants of Isaac came, and told him of the well which they had dug: and they said unto him, We have found water: and he called its name Satiety." I do not know how it is said in the Septuagint Interpreters: "And Isaac's children came and told him about the well which they had dug: and they said to him, We have found no water: and he called its name an oath." For what is the etymology of being called an oath because they did not find water? On the contrary, in the Hebrew, to which interpretation Aquila and Symmachus agree, this signifies that they have found water, and therefore the well itself is called fullness. "and the city was called Bersabee", that is, a well of abundance (Gen. 21): for although we asserted that it was called Bersabee above from the word of the oath, or from the sevenfold number of sheep, which is called Sabee, yet now, from the fact that water was found, Isaac, alluding to the name of the city which was thus called, declined a little letter, and instead of the shrill of the Hebrews, with which Sabee begins, he put the Greek sigma, that is, the Hebrew samech: otherwise, and according to the law of allegory, after so many wells at the end of the virtues, it is by no means appropriate that Isaac should not have found water at all. Verse 11. "Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a light man." Where we read hairy, in Hebrew it is written seir. Whence afterwards the mountains of Seir, and the region in which he was occupied, we have spoken of this and above. Verse 15. "And Rebecca took the clothes of her eldest son Esau, which were very desirable at home." And in this passage the Hebrews report that the first-born served as priests, and that they had priestly garments, in which they offered sacrifices to God, before Aaron was elected to the priesthood. Verse 36. "And Esau said, his name is justly called Jacob." For he supplanted me, behold, the second time. Jacob is interpreted as a supplanter. He alluded to the name, therefore, of the fact that he had deceived his brother by art. He was therefore called Jacob before, because he had seized his brother's plant in its spring. Verse 40. "And thou shalt serve thy brother: and it shall be when thou shalt lay him down, and loose his yoke from thy neck." It signifies that the Idumeans will serve the Jews, and that the time will come when they will throw off the yoke of slavery and oppose their rule. But according to the Septuagint Interpreters, who said: "And it shall come to pass, when thou hast cast off the yoke, and loosened the yoke from thy neck," the sentence seems to be suspended, and not complete. Verse 19. "And Jacob called the name of that place Bethel, and Ulammaus was the name of the city before." From what he had said above: "how terrible this place is, it is not here but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven": now he puts a name on the place, and calls it Bethel, that is, the house of God, which place was called before Luza, which is interpreted as "nut", or "tonsil". Hence, some people ridiculously think that the Hebrew word ulam is the name of a city: when ulam is translated "before." So the order of the reading is: "And he called the name of that place Bethel, and before that Luza was the name of the city." All the ancient writings are full of the word ulam, or elam, which signifies nothing else but "before," or "prior," or "hallway," or "overthreshold," or "posts." Verse 27. "Then complete his week: and I will give you this also." After Liam had deceived Jacob and taken Rachel as his wife, he was told by his father-in-law Laban that he should complete seven days after the wedding of his former sister, and thus accept Rachel, for whom he would again serve others for seven years. Therefore, not, as some wrongly estimate, after seven years Rachel married the others, but after seven days of the marriage of the first wife. For it follows: "And he went in to Rachel, and loved Rachel more than Liam, and served her another seven years" (Gen. 29:30). Verse 32. "And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Reuben." For the sake of brevity of reading, I want to say the etymologies of the names of all the patriarchs as well. And he called his name Reuben, he said, saying: Because the Lord saw my humility. Reuben is interpreted as the son of the vision. Verse 33. "And she conceived," he says, "a second son, and said: Because the Lord heard me because my husband hated me, and gave me this one also; and he called his name Simeon." Since he was heard, he put the name Simeon. For Simeon interprets the hearing. Of the third truth it follows: Verse 34. "And she conceived again, and gave birth to a son, and said: Now my husband will be with me, because I have borne him three sons: therefore she called his name Levi." When we read, "My husband will be by my side", Aquila interpreted, "my husband will be attached to me", which is said in Hebrew, ilave, and is translated differently by the teachers of the Hebrews, so that they say: "My husband will follow me", that is, I do not hesitate about the love in me of my husband, he will be my companion in this life, and his love will lead me to death and will follow me: for I bore him three sons. Verse 35. "And she conceived, and gave birth to a son, and said: Now I will confess to the Lord about this, and for that reason she called his name Judah." It is called Judas' confession. From the confession the name of the confessor has been said. Nevertheless, here the confession is taken as an act of thanksgiving, or as praise, as is frequently the case in the Psalms and in the Gospel (Matthew 11:25): "I will praise you, O Lord, Father of heaven and earth", that is, I thank you, or I glorify you. Verses 5 and 6. "And Bala conceived, and bore Jacob a son: and Rachel said: The Lord hath judged me, and hath heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan." He expressed the reason for the name, that judgment is interpreted from the fact that the Lord had judged himself. Verses 7 and 8. "And Bala, Rachel's handmaid, conceived again, and gave birth to a son according to Jacob: and Rachel said: God made me dwell in a dwelling with my sister, and I grew strong and called his name Nephthalim." The cause of the name Nephthalim is explained here in a much different way than is written in the book of Hebrew names. Whence also Aquila says, συνανεστρεπεσεν με ο Θεος , και συνανεστραφην , for which in Hebrew it is written, nephthule eloim nephthalethi . Hence, from conversion, or from comparison, because both sounds, conversion, or comparison, he gave the name Nephthalim to his son. But what follows Verses 10 and 11. "And Zelpha, Leah's handmaid, bore Jacob a son: and Leah said, In fortune, and called his name Gad." Where we ask, in fortune, and in Greek it is called ἐν τύχ ῃ, which can be said to be an event. But we can say "in preparation". For Ba can sound as a preposition "in" and "came". Therefore, from the event, or preparation, which is called gad, Zelph's son was called Gad. It follows: Verses 12 and 13. "And Zelpha, the handmaid of Leah, bore a son according to Jacob: and Leah said, Blessed am I, because women bless me: and she called his name Asher, riches." Riches were added to evil, that is, πλοῦτος, when the etymology of the name Asher is placed on the authority of Scripture, which says: "Blessed am I, and women bless me." And from the fact that he is called blessed by men, he called his son blessed; Asher, therefore, is not of wealth, but is called blessed, as long as it is in the present place. For in others, according to the ambiguity of the word, riches may also be so called. Verses 17 and 18. "And God heard Liam, and conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son, and said to Liam, God has given me my reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband, and he called her name Issachar." The Septuagint Interpreters published the etymology of this name, "it is a reward." Of course, not, as most people misread with the added pronoun, it is to be estimated that it is written thus, "which is wages," but the whole name is interpreted, "is wages." Indeed, it is called "is," and sachar, "merchandise." And this because the entrance of the mandrake son of Reuben, who was owed to Rachel, had bought for himself a husband. It follows: Verses 19 and 20. "And Leah conceived again, and gave birth to a sixth son, Jacob, and said to Leah, God has endowed me with a good dowry. At this time my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons: and he called his name Zabulon." Where we have put it, "he shall dwell with me," and the Septuagint has translated "he shall love me": in the Hebrew it has jezbuleni. And there is a sense, because I have given birth to six sons to Jacob, therefore I am already secure: for my husband will live with me. Whence also my son is called habita-culum. Badly and violently, therefore, in the Book of Names, Zabulon, the flow of the night is interpreted. Verse 21. "And after this she gave birth to a daughter, and called her name Dinah." This is translated into a cause, which the Greeks more significantly call δίκην. For the cause of Jurgis existed in Sicimi. After the children, and the names of the parents are to be placed. Lia is interpreted as laboring. Rachel, the sheep, whose son Joseph, from the fact that the mother had chosen to add another, is called an increase. Verses 32 and 33. "I will pass through all your cattle today, separate from it every cattle that is variegated and discolored: and every cattle of one color in the lambs and variegated and discolored in the goats, will be my reward and my justice will answer me on the morrow, when my reward comes before you, everything in which there was no variegated and discolored in the goats and in the lambs, will be stolen from me" and so on. Much has been confused with the Septuagint Interpreters, and up to the present day I have not been able to find any of ours who could explain clearly what was said in this passage. If you wish, said Jacob, to serve you another seven years, do what I need. Separate all the discolored and variegated, both the sheep and the goats, and give them into the hands of your children. And again from both herds, white and black cattle, that is, of one color, give me. If, therefore, anything of the white and black, which are of one color, is born of a variety, it shall be mine; but if anything of one color, yours. I don't need a difficult thing. The nature of cattle does with you, so that whites are born from whites, and blacks from blacks: my justice will be with me, while God respects my humility and labor. Laban gladly took the option given him, and doing as Jacob requested, he separated Jacob and his sons by a three-day journey, so that no one from the neighborhood of the cattle would be born of deceit. And so Jacob contrived a new trick, and fought against the nature of the white and black cattle with natural skill. For three rods, poplars and almonds and pomegranates, although the Septuagint had styracins and nutmegs and sycamores, peeling it from one side, he made the rods of various colors, so that wherever he left the bark on the rod, the old color continued: but where he had removed the bark, a white color spread. Jacob observed, therefore, and at the time when the cattle were brought up, and after the heat of the day they went eagerly to drink, he placed discolored rods in the canals, and after admitting the rams and goats, in the very eagerness of drinking, he made the sheep and the goats come up, so that out of a double desire, while they drink greedily and come up from the seas, they might conceive such offspring as the shadows of rams and goats ascending from above were contemplated in the mirror of the waters. For from the rods placed in the canals, the color of the images was also varied. Nor is it surprising that this is the nature of women's conception, so that those who have seen, or conceived mentally in the extreme heat of pleasure, that they conceive, produce such a foal: since this very thing is also said to have happened in the herds of mares among the Spaniards, and Quintilian, in that controversy in which the matron who gave birth to an Ethiopian was accused, argues in his defense that this is the nature of conceptions, which we have said above. But after the children were born, and the variegated and discolored lambs from the white and one-colored flocks, Jacob separated them, and caused them to be at a distance from the former flock. And if they were born of one color, that is, white or black, he delivered them into the hands of the sons of Laban: and he placed the rods which he had peeled, in the canals where the water was poured, and they came to drink against the cattle, so that they might conceive at the time when they came to drink. Verses 41 and 42. "And the cattle conceived against Jacob's rods, the rods which he had placed in front of the cattle in the troughs to conceive in them, and he did not put them in the sheep's folds; and they became late Laban, and temporary Jacob. This is not found in the Septuagint Inter-pretes, but instead of serotini and temporary, I do not know what else, which does not belong to the sense, they translated. But what the Scripture says is this: Jacob, prudent and cunning, kept justice and equity even in the new art. For if all the lambs and kids produced different kinds of cattle, there was some suspicion of trickery, and Laban would clearly have been envious of this. Therefore he controlled everything in such a way that he himself would receive the fruit of his labor and that Laban would not be completely robbed. If ever the sheep and goats were brought up in the first season, because the spring is the best for the offspring, he would place the staff before them, so that various offspring would be born. But whatever sheep and goats sought the mares late, he did not set his eyes before them, that cattle of one color might be born. And whatever was first born was his own, because it was discolored and varied: whatever came later, Laban: for the cattle of one color, both black and white, were born. And in that place where it is written, "that they may conceive in rods": in the Hebrew it has jeamena. I cannot express the force of the Hebrew word except in circumlocution, for jeamena is properly called the extreme heat in intercourse, by which the whole body is shaken, and the end is close to the parent's pleasure. Verses 7 and 8. "And your father lied to me, and changed my wages ten times, and God did not allow him to harm me." If he had said, this cattle of the variety shall be thy reward, every cattle of the variety was born. And if he had said, your wages will be of one color, every cattle was born of one color. Instead of what we put, "he changed my wages ten times," the Septuagint Interpreters put, "ten lambs," guided by some opinion, since the Hebrew word sounds more like a number than lambs. Finally, and from the consequences, it is proved that the condition of Laban always changed with each offspring. If he saw the birth of a variety of cattle, after the calving he would say, "I want that in the future I will have a variety of births." Again, when he saw cattle of one color being born (for Jacob, hearing this, did not put his rods in the gutters), he said that they should beget future offspring of one color for themselves. And what more? Laban always changed the condition of his flock, or Jacob, up to ten times. And whatever he proposed to be born, it turned into the opposite color. But lest in six years ten births should seem incredible, read Virgil (Georg. II), in which it is said: And the nature of the Italian sheep is said to be the same as that of Mesopotamia. Verse 19. "And Rachel stole the idols of her stone." Where we now read idols, it is written theraphim in Hebrew, which translates as Aquila μορϕώματα, that is, figures or images. This is because we know what the book of Judges (17:5) sounds like therapy. Verse 21. "And he passed over the river, and came to Mount Gilead." Not that at that time Galaad was called a mountain; but through anticipation, as we have often said, he is called by that name by which he was afterwards called. Verse 41. "And you changed my wages to ten lambs." The same error as above, for the number is to be read for lambs. Verse 46. "And Jacob said to his brothers, Let us gather stones." And they gathered the stones together and made a heap, and ate upon it. And Laban called him a pile of witnesses. A heap in the Hebrew language is called gal: this is a true testimony. Again, in the Syriac language, a heap is called igar: evidence of sedutha. Jacob therefore called the pile of testimony, that is, Galaad in the language of the Hebrews, but Laban called himself, that is, the pile of testimony, igar sedutha, in the language of his people. For he was a Syrian, and had changed the ancient language of his parents to the language of the province in which he lived. Verses 1 and 2. "And the angels of God met him, and Jacob said as he saw them: 'These are the camp of God', and he called the name of the place 'Castrá'." Where the camps were placed here, in the Hebrew it has manaim, so that we may know, if it is sometimes placed in another place without interpretation, which place it signifies. And beautifully, as he was about to go to his brother's enemy, he was received by a chorus of angels accompanying him. Verses 9 and 10. "And Jacob said: 'God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, 'Return to your land, and I will bless you,' I am inferior to all your mercy and all your truth, which you have done for your servants." For what we have set forth, I am less, I do not know what else, which disturbs the sense, is contained in the Greek and Latin codes. Verses 27 and 28. "And he said to him, ``What is your name?'' He said: "Jacob". And he said to him, "Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be called Israel, because you have become strong with God, and you will be strong with men." Josephus, in the first book of the Antiquities, thinks that Israel was so called, because he stood against the Angel: which I, after searching diligently, could not find in the Hebrew at all. And why do I need to seek the opinions of individuals, when he himself explains the etymology of the name? Your name will not be called, he says, Jacob, but Israel will be your name. Why? It is interpreted by Aquilä ὅ τι ἤ ρξας μετὰ θεοῦ , Symmachus: ὅ τι ἤ ρξω πρὸς θεόν , the Septuagint and Theodotiö ὅ τι ὲνιχήσας μετὰ θεοῦ . For Sarith, which is derived from the word Israel, sounds like a prince. Therefore the meaning is: Thy name shall not be called a supplanter, that is, Jacob: but thy name shall be called prince with God, that is, Israel. For as I am a prince: so also thou, who was able to wrestle with me, shall be called a prince. But if you could fight with me, who am God, or an angel (as most people interpret it differently), how much more with men, that is, with Esau, whom you need not fear. And that which is interpreted in the book of names, Israel, a man seeing God, or a mind seeing God, almost worn out by the language of all, seems to me to be interpreted not so much truly as violently. For here Israel is written by letters, iod, sin res, aleph, lamed, which is interpreted as the prince of God, or the direct one of God, that is, εύθύτατος θεοῦ. But a man seeing God is written with these letters, aleph, iod, sin, just as a man is written from three letters and is called he: but a man seeing from three, res, is aleph, he, and is called raa. Moreover, el from two aleph and lamed: and is interpreted as God, or strong. Therefore, although they are of great authority, and the shadow of their eloquence oppresses us, those who translated the man of Israel, or God who sees the mind: we are more of the Scriptures, and of the Angels, or of God. we are led by the authority of him who called himself Israel, rather than by any secular eloquence. And that which follows afterwards: Verses 29 and 30. "And he blessed him there, and Jacob called the name of that place 'The face of God': for I saw God face to face, and my soul was saved." In Hebrew it is called phanuel, so that we may know that it is the same place, which in the other volumes of the Holy Scripture, as it is written in Hebrew, Phanuel is read in Greek. Verses 1 and 2. "And he divided the children over Liam and Rachel, and over the two handmaids, and placed the handmaids and their children first: Liam and his children the last, and Rachel and Joseph the last, and he passed before them." Not, as most people estimate, he made three teams, but two. Finally, where we are, he divided, and placed the Eagle, ήμίσευσεν, that is, he divided it in half: so that he would make one wedge for the handmaids with their little ones, and another for Leah and Rachel, who were free, with their children: and the first he would make the handmaids go, the second free; Verse 17. "And Jacob built a house there, and he built a tabernacle for his cattle, therefore he called the name of that place Tabernacle." Where we have tabernacles, in Hebrew it is read sochoth. And there is still to this day a city beyond the Jordan of this name in the part of Scythopoleos, of which we have written in the book of Places. Verse 18. "And Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, when he had come from Mesopotamia, Syria." An error arises as to how Salem, the city of Shechem, is called when Jerusalem, in which Melchizedek reigned, was formerly called Salem. Aur, therefore, is both a city of the same name: which we can also find about several places in Judea that the name of the city and the place are the same in different tribes. or at least that Salem, which is now named for Shechem, we say here to be translated finished and perfect: and that which was afterwards called Jerusalem, to be translated peaceful in our language. For both, with a slight accent, this word sounds. The Hebrews relate that Jacob's thigh of the lame man recovered there, and was healed: for this reason the same city obtained the name of the cured and perfected. Verses 20 and 21. "And Emor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of the city, saying, These men are peaceable to us." Where now the Septuagint Interpreters have translated peaceable, Aquila has translated, ἀπηρτισμενους, that is, finished and perfected, for which in Hebrew it is read salamim. From which it is clear that what we said above about Salem is true. Verse 25. "And they entered the city diligently, and slew every male." For what in Greek is read ἀσϕαλῶς, that is, carefully: in Hebrew it is written, bete, that is, boldly and confidently. Verse 6. "And Jacob came to Luzam in the land of Canaan, which is Bethel." Behold, it is most clearly proved, that Bethel is not Ulam-maus, as was said above, but Luzam, that is the tonsil, which was spoken of before. Verse 8. "And Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died, and was buried near Bethel." If Rebecca's nurse by the name of Deborah died, as the translators of the Septuagint also translated here, and the word itself is the Hebrew meneceth: we cannot know why they put the substance there, here nurse. Verse 10. "And God said unto him, Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel." For a long time no name was imposed on him by an angel, but what was to be imposed by God was foretold. What is to be imposed by God is foretold. Therefore, what is promised to be there, will be taught here to be fulfilled. Verse 16. "And it came to pass, while Chabratha was drawing near to the land of Canaan, that Ephratha should come, she gave birth to Rachel." The Hebrew word Chabratha, in the consequences, where Jacob speaks to Joseph: "But when I was coming from Mesopotamia, Syria, your mother Rachel died in the land of Canaan, on the way to the Hippodrome, so that I could come to Ephrath" (Gen. 11.8); I don't know what they wanted, the Septuagint Interpreters translated the Hippodrome: and immediately there, where it is said in Hebrew: "And they buried her on the road to Ephrath, this is Bethlehem" ( Gen. 35:19 ), again the Septuagint put the Hippodrome instead of Ephrath: since of course if Chabratha is the Hippodrome, Ephrath cannot be the Hippodrome. And Aquila translated this thus: "And it happened καθ ἁ δὸν τῆς γῆς , that is, on the journey of the earth, entering Ephrath." But it is better if it be translated: "In the chosen time of the earth, when Ephrathah shall enter." Moreover, it signifies the spring season, when everything bursts into flower, and the season of the year is chosen: or when those passing along the road pick and choose from the neighboring fields whatever comes to hand, invited by different flowers. But Ephrata and Bethlehem are the names of one city, under a similar interpretation. Indeed, he was turned into a fruitful house and into a house of bread: because of him bread, who says that he came down from heaven (John 6). Verse 18. "And it came to pass when his soul let him go, for indeed he was dying: he called his name 'Son of my sorrow'; but his father called his name Benjamin. In Hebrew the similitude of the name echoes; for the son of my pain, whose name the dying mother imposed, is called Benoni. But the son of the right hand, that is, of virtue, which Jacob changed, is called Benjamin. Wherefore they are mistaken who think that Benjamin should be interpreted as the son of days. For when the right hand is called jamin, and ends in the letter "n", the days are indeed also called jamin, but it ends in the letter "m". Verse 21. "And Israel went forth, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Ader." The Hebrews want this to be the place where the church was later built: and the tower of Ader means the tower of the flock, that is, the congregation and the group: which is also testified by the Prophet Micah, saying: "And you are the cloud of the flock, O daughter of Zion" (Mic. 4:8), and so on. At that time Jacob had tents across the place where the church was later built. But if we follow the order of the road, there is a place of shepherds near Bethlehem, where either a flock of angels sang at the rising of the Lord: or Jacob fed his flocks, placing a name on the place: or, what is more true, a certain prophecy of the future was already then shown to be a mystery. Verse 27. "And Jacob came to his father Isaac in Mamre, the city of Arbee, this is Hebron." For Arbee in the Septuagint he has a field: when Chebron is situated on the mountain. The same city is also called Mambre, so called in ancient times by Abraham's friend. Verse 4. "And Adah bore Esau Eliphaz." This is Eliphaz, whose Scripture is recorded in the volume of Job. Verse 19. "These sons of Esau, and these their leaders, he is Edom, and these sons of Seir..." Esau, and Edom, and Seir, is the name of one man: and why it is called variously has been said above. And what follows: Verse 20. "...the land of the inhabitants of Chorra," and the rest. After having enumerated the sons of Esau, he repeats it more deeply, and explains who, before Esau, were rulers in the land of Edom from the tribe of the Chorae, which in our language is translated "children." Let us carefully read Deuteronomy (II, 21), where it is written more clearly, how the sons of Esau came and killed the Chorae, and possessed their land by inheritance. Verse 22. "And the sons of Lothan were Chorri and Aemam: and Lothan's sister Thamna." This is Thamna, of which it was said above. And Thamna was the concubine of Eliphaz, the first-born son of Esau, and from her Amalek was born. On this account he was remembered by the Chorae, because the first-born of the sons of Esau had taken a concubine from one of their daughters. But what is said is "Theman, Kenez, and Amalek," and let us know the rest of the terms imposed on the regions of the Idumeans from these. Verse 24. "It was Ana who found Jamin in the desert, when he was feeding the donkeys of his father Zebeon." Among the Hebrews many and various things are debated about this chapter; for among the Greeks and ours there is silence on this point. Others think that the seas are called ajamim. For the seas are written in the same letters, with which even now this discourse is described. And they want him, while he was feeding his father's donkeys in the desert, to have found bodies of water, which, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language, are called seas: that is to say, he has found a pond, the discovery of which is difficult in the desert. Some think that the warm waters in the neighborhood of the Punic language, which is the border of the Hebrew, are signified by this term. There are those who think that the onagers were thus admitted to the asses, and that they found intercourse of this kind, so that the swiftest of these asses were born, which are called jamim. Most people think that he first ascended the herds of mares from donkeys in the desert, so that new animals were born against the nature of mules. Aquila translated this passage in this way: He is Ana who found σύν τούς ᾿ Εμίμ. And Symmachus likewise τούς ᾿ Εμίμ, which interpretation signifies a plural number. The Septuagint, however, and Theodotion translated it equally, saying: ton jamim, which indicates a singular number. Verse 33. "And Jobab the son of Zara, of Bozrah, reigned in his stead." Some suspect that this is Job, as it is added at the end of the volume itself. On the other hand, the Hebrews assert that he was descended from Nachor, as has already been said above. Verse 3. "And Israel loved Joseph above all his children, because he was the son of old age: and he made him a coat of many colors." For a different coat, Aquila interpreted the coat of ἀστραγάλειον, that is, the coat of the talar. Symmachus, a shirt with sleeves, whether it came down to the ankles, and the hands of the craftsman were of wonderful distinct variety, whether it had sleeves: for the ancients used more colobis. Verse 28. "And they sold Joseph the Ishmaelite twenty pieces of gold." For gold, in Hebrew, it has silver. For the Lord ought not to have been sold with cheaper metal than Joseph. Verse 36. "But the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Phutiphar, the eunuch, Pharaoh's chief magician." In most places, the Bible mentions the chefs, that is, the leaders of the cooks, as the teachers of the army. Joseph was therefore sold to the captain of the army and of the warriors, not to Petephre, as it is written in Latin, but to Phutiphar the eunuch. When it is asked, how is it said to have a wife afterwards? The Hebrews relate that Joseph was bought by this man because of his excessive beauty in a disgraceful ministry, and that his manliness had been withered by the Lord. and that his daughter was Aseneth, whom Joseph later married. Verse 5. "And she added, and gave birth to a son, and called his name Selom; and this was in Chazbi when she gave birth to him. The Hebrew word is here used for the term of the place, which Aquila translated for the matter, saying: "And he called its name Selom." And it happened that he lied in childbirth after he gave birth to Selom. For after he had given birth to Selom, his birth stopped. Chazbi is therefore not the name of a place, but a lie. Hence also in another place it is written: "The work of the olive shall be false," that is, the olive shall not bear fruit (Abacus 3:17). Verse 12. "And being comforted, Judas went up to those who were shearing his sheep: he, and Hiras his shepherd, the Odollamites." For a shepherd, a friend is read. But the word is ambiguous, because both names are written with the same letters: but the friend is read ree, the shepherd is read roe. Verse 14. "And he sat at the gate of Enam, which is at the crossing of Thamna." The Hebrew word, on the other hand, is translated into the eyes. Therefore it is not the name of a place; but there is a sense: He is sitting at a crossroads, or at a junction, where the traveler must look more carefully, that he may take the path of walking. Verse 26. "And Judas knew it, and said: She is more just than I, because I did not give her to my son Selom." In the Hebrew he says, she was justified by me, not because she was just, but because she had done less evil in comparison with him, by no means a vague ignominy, but by wanting children. Verse 29. "And behold, his brother came out, and said, 'Why is the wall broken for your sake?' And he called his name Phares. Instead of walls, Aquila and Symmachus transferred the division, which is called in Hebrew, beacons. Therefore, from the fact that it divided the second membrane, it received the name of division. Hence the Pharisees, who had separated themselves from the people as if they were righteous, were called divided. Verse 30. "After this, his brother came out, in whose hand was the scarlet; and he called her name Zara. This name means east. Therefore, either because he appeared first, or because most of the righteous were born from him, as is contained in the book of Chronicles (1 Par. 2 et seq.), he was called zara, that is, the east. Verse 1. "After these words, the chief of the winemakers of the king of Egypt sinned." Where we have placed ourselves, the chief of the winegrowers, has written in Hebrew masec, that word which we read a while ago in the name of the servant Abraham, whom we can call a butler after the manner of the common people. Nor should it be considered a mean duty, since among barbarian kings to this day it is of the greatest dignity, to hold out a cup to the king. Verses 9 and 10. "And behold, a vine in my sight, and in the vine three fields, and it sprouting three fields." The Hebrew word signifies three whips, and three branches, or shoots, which are called by them sarigim. Verse 16. "And I saw three baskets of chondrites placed on my head." Instead of three baskets of chondrites, the Hebrew has three baskets of flour. Verse 2. "And behold, seven oxen came up from the river, beautiful to look at, chosen for their meat, and they were feeding in the achi." Twice in Genesis is written achi, and the word is neither Greek nor Latin. But the Hebrew himself is also corrupted: for it is said in ahu, that is, in the marsh. But because the letter vau among the Hebrews and iod are alike, and differ only in size: instead of ahu, the Septuagint Interpreters translated achi, and according to their custom to express the double aspiration, heth the Hebrew letter, joined the Greek letter χ. Verse 16. "And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying: Without God it will not be answered to greet Pharaoh." In the Hebrew he has it differently: "Without me, God will return peace to Pharaoh." Finally, Symmachus, in his manner, translated more openly: "Not I, but God will answer peace to Pharaoh." Verse 29. "Behold, there will come seven years of great abundance in all the land of Egypt." I wonder how we have interpreted the Hebrew word sabee, which we have interpreted above, abundance, or satiety, in the well which Isaac's servants dug at the end: now translating the Septuagint very correctly, they have there interpreted an oath, since both the oath and seven, and satiety, and abundance, as the place and order demanded, can be understood. But also in the sequels, wherever abundance is read, the same word is written in Hebrew. Verse 43. "And the messenger cried before him, and set him over all the land of Egypt." For which Aquila translated: "And he cried kneeling before him." Symmachus himself, interpreting the Hebrew discourse, says: "And Αβρεχ cried out before him." Hence it seems to me that not so much a messenger, or kneeling, which can be taken in saluting or adoring Joseph, is to be understood as that which the Hebrews deliver, saying that the father is tender, and to be translated in this language; since it is called father, rech is the most delicate or the most tender; the Scripture signifying, that according to prudence indeed he was the father of all: but according to age the most tender youth and child. Verse 45. "And Pharaoh called the name of Joseph Saphaneth Phanee, and he gave him Aseneth the daughter of Phutiphar, the priest of Heliopoleos, as his wife." Although in Hebrew this name sounds like the returner of hidden things, yet since it is used by an Egyptian, it must have the meaning of that language. It is therefore interpreted in the Egyptian language Saphaneth Phanee, or as the Septuagint wanted to translate, Ψονθομϕανηχ, Savior of the world, because he saved the world from the imminent destruction of famine. It should be noted that he married the daughter of his former master and buyer, who at that time was the local pontiff Heliopoleos. For it is not true that without the eunuchs they are opposed to that idol, as the truth of the Hebrews is confirmed by the suspicion of what we have said before. Verses 50 et seq. "And two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine came, whom Aseneth, the daughter of Phutipharis, the priest of Heliopoleos, bore to him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, because God made me forget all my labors, and all my father's house. And he called the name of the second Ephraim, because God made me grow in the land of my humility. Observe for the sake of the question, which will be put forward a little later about the sons of Joseph, that before the time of famine, when Jacob entered Egypt, Joseph had only two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh calling from him that he should be forgetful of his labors: for so in Hebrew it is called oblivion. Ephraim, because God increased him. And from this term is transferred into our language increase. Verse 11. "And bring gifts to the man, some resin and honey, frankincense and stacten, and turpentine, and nuts." Or, as Aquila and Symmachus translated, the almond. Therefore we have put this chapter, so that we may know that where in our codices thyme is found, in Hebrew it is necotha, which the eagle carried away. Whence the house of nochota, which is read in Isaiah (39, 2), is most evidently meant the chamber of the incense, or chest, because in it different spices are stored. Verse 34. "And they drank, and were intoxicated with him." The idiom of the Hebrew language is to put drunkenness for satiety, as there "The sprouting shall be intoxicated in his drops" (Ps. 64:11), no doubt, but the earth irrigated by the rains. Verses 1 and 2. "And put the silver of each one in the mouth of the bag, and put my silver into the bag of the younger one." For bag, it has perone, or folle, in Hebrew. For κόνδυ, that is, the cup, which we also read in Isaiah (LI, 17), Aquila, the cup, Symmachus carried over the bowl. Verses 9 and 10. "Come down therefore to me, that you may not stand still, and dwell in the land of Gesen in Arabia." Here Arabia is added: for it is not found in the Hebrew volumes. Hence the error grew, that the land of Gesen was in Arabia. Moreover, if, as is the case in our codices, a geses is written at the end of the m, which I do not like at all, it signifies the ground has been filled; for the heather is turned into rain. Verse 17. "And Pharaoh said to Joseph: "Say to your brothers, do this, load your vehicles, and go to the land of Canaan." For vehicles, which the Septuagint and Theodotius interpreted, τὰ πορεῖα, the rest translated beasts. Verse 21. "And he gave them food on the way." The word seda, which here is interpreted by all in agreement, ἐπισιτισμός, that is, food, or sitarcia, is also found in the Psalter. For where ours read: "Blessing his widow I will bless" (Psal. 211, 15), (though in most codices for a widow, this is for χιρα, some read θήραν), in Hebrew it has seda, that is, "Blessing his food I will bless." Moreover, the bird can sound the game more than the crops; although it is the custom of the Egyptians to call it far, because they are now corrupted. Verses 26 and 27. "Therefore all the souls which entered Egypt with Jacob, and which came out of his thighs, besides the wives of the sons of Jacob, sixty-six souls; and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, nine souls. All the souls, therefore, which entered with Jacob into Egypt, seventy-five. There is no doubt that, with the exception of Joseph and his sons, the sixty-six souls that came out of Jacob's thighs entered Egypt. For thus, and little by little, the number calculated by each person was appro-bat, and is found in the Hebrew volumes. But what we read in the Septuagint: "And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were nine souls," let us know that in the Hebrew for nine, there are two. For Ephraim and Manasseh, before Jacob entered Egypt and the time of famine fell, were born of Aseneth the daughter of Putiphar in Egypt. But also that which we read above: "Now the sons of Manasseh, whom his concubine Syra bore to him, were Machir, and Machir begot Gilead; And the sons of Ephraim the brother of Manasseh, Suthalaam, and Thaam: but the sons of Suthalaam were Edem" has been added: if indeed what we read afterwards is described as having been done in anticipation. For at the time when Jacob entered Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh were not of that age to be able to beget children. From which it is clear that all the souls that entered Egypt from Jacob's thighs were seventy, while sixty-six entered afterwards and found three souls in Egypt, namely Joseph with his two sons, and Jacob himself was the seventieth. The Septuagint Interpreters also translated this fact in Deuteronomy (10:22), that Jacob entered Egypt with seventy souls. If, therefore, any one contradicts our opinion, he will make the Scriptures contradict each other. For the Septuagint Interpreters themselves, who here said that seventy-five souls entered Egypt through πρόληψιν, with Joseph and his descendants, mentioned in Deuteronomy that only seventy entered. If, on the contrary, it is opposed to us, how in the Acts of the Apostles (VII), in Stephen's sermon it is said to the people, that seventy-five souls entered Egypt; it is an easy excuse. For Saint Luke, who is the writer of history itself, should not have sent the volume of the Acts of the Apostles to the Gentiles to write anything contrary to that Scripture which had already been disseminated to the Gentiles. And of course the authority of the Septuagint Interpreter at that time was of greater opinion than that of Luke, who was unknown and lowly, and not of great faith among the nations [Al. nations] was led Now this is to be generally observed, that wherever the holy apostles or apostolic men speak to the people, they are generally abused by these testimonies, which had already been spread among the nations, although most of them betray Luke the Evangelist as a proselyte ignorant of the Hebrew letters. Verse 28. "He sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to meet him at the city of heroes in the land of Ramesses." In the Hebrew it has neither the city of heroes, nor the land of Ramesses, but only Gesen. Some of the Jews assert that Gesen is now called Thebaid. And what follows later: "He gave them to possess the best land in Egypt in Ramesses", they call the village Arsenoit so called in the past. Verse 31. "And he said to him, swear to me." And he swore to him and blessed Israel against the top of his staff. And in this passage some falsely pretend that Jacob worshiped the top of Joseph's scepter, because apparently honoring his son, he worshiped its power, whereas in the Hebrew it is read much differently: "And he worshiped, says he, Israel at the head of the bed", that is, after the son had sworn to him that he was sure of the request he had asked, he worshiped God at the head of his bed. For a holy man, and a man devoted to God, being oppressed by old age, he had his bed so arranged, that he himself, lying down, was ready for prayer without any difficulty. Verse 1. "And it was told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took two sons with him, Manassen and Ephraim." And from what we have said above, it is shown that Joseph had only two sons for that place, Ephraim and Manassen. For if, after many years, when Jacob died with his father, he brought only two sons to be blessed, certainly at that time, when his sons had not ceased to beget, being small and nursing, at the entry of his father and brothers, he could not have grandchildren from them. Verse 2. "And Israel having been strengthened, he sat upon the bed." I do not know the reason why the Septuagint Interpreters rendered the same word in different ways; I say this one thing boldly, that the very word metta, which they have here translated into a bed, where we said above that Jacob worshiped, they named a staff rather than a bed. Verses 5 and 6. And now, behold, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine, Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben, and they will be like Simeon to me. And those whom you beget after these things shall be yours. They will be called in the name of their brothers. If anyone doubted that seventy souls of the children of Israel had entered Egypt, and that Joseph, at the time when Jacob entered, had not nine, but only two sons, this is confirmed by the present chapter. For Jacob himself speaks that he had two sons, not nine. But what he says, Ephraim and Manasseh, as Reuben and Simeon will be to me, signifies that, as Reuben and Simeon will be two tribes, and they will be called by their names; so Ephraim and Manasseh will be two tribes, and they will produce two peoples, and so they will inherit the land of promise, just like my children. And the rest, he said, the children whom you bear after my death, showing that they were not yet begotten at that time, shall be yours. "In the name of their brethren they shall be called into their inheritance." They will not, he says, receive land separately, nor will they have their own cords, like the rest of the tribes, but they will be mixed in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, as if they were appendages of the people. Verse 22. "And I gave you Sicima, chief among your brethren, which I took from the hands of the Amorites with my sword and arrow." Sicima was declined according to Greek and Latin custom. Otherwise, in Hebrew, it is called sich, as John the Evangelist also testifies (4, 5): although it is wrongly to read Sichar, the error has crept in: and now Naples is the city of the Samaritans. Therefore, because the Hebrew language translates itself into a shoulder, he alluded nicely to the name, saying: "And I will give you one shoulder." For the chief thing, that is, ἐξαίρετον, one thing is written in Hebrew. But the fact that he says that he possessed her in the bow and the sword, he calls this justice, by which the stranger and the sojourner, having killed Shechem and Emor, deserved to be delivered from danger. For he feared, as we read above, lest the neighboring towns and fortresses should rise up against him because of the overthrow of the united city ( Gen. 34 ): and the Lord did not allow them to harm him. Or at least it should be understood in this way: I will give you Sicima, which I bought in my strength, that is, in money, which I acquired with much toil and much sweat. But what he says, about your brothers, shows that he gave it to the tribe of Joseph without lot. In fact, Joseph was buried in the same place, and his mausoleum can still be seen there today. Verses 3 and 4. "Ruben, my first-born, you are my strength and the beginning of my children, hard to strike and hard with impudence, and insults, as you do not boil water." For thou hast ascended upon thy father's bed. Then you violated the bed when you came up. It is written in Hebrew: "Ruben, my firstborn, you are my strength, and the head of my children." Greater to bear, and greater in strength. You are poured out like water, do not add. For thou hast ascended thy father's bed, and defiled the bed in the ascent." And the meaning is this: "You are my first-born, the greatest of children, and you owed, according to the order of your birth, the inheritance which was due by right to the first-born, and to receive the priesthood and the kingdom: for this is shown in the bearing of the burden and the mighty strength." But because you have sinned, and like water that is not held in a vessel, you have been poured out by the rush of pleasure, therefore I command you to sin no more, until you are in the number of your brothers, bearing the penalty of sin, because you have lost the order of the firstborn. Verses 5 and 6. "Simeon and Levi, the brothers, have completed the iniquity of their invention. Let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not my liver be rivaled in their assembly, because in their fury they have killed men, and in their desire they have unnerved the bull." We are compelled by necessity, according to the purpose of the work, to repeat at length those things which are at variance with the Hebrew truth. For it is read there, "Simeon and Levi, the brothers, the instruments of iniquity, their weapons." Let not my soul enter into their secret, and let not my glory be wasted in their assembly, because in their fury they slew a man, and in their lust they smothered the wall" (Gen. 34). But it signifies that it was not of their own design that Shechem and Emor slew the confederate men, and, contrary to the right of peace and friendship, shed innocent blood, and, as if in a kind of fury, carried away with such cruelty, overthrew the walls of the host city. Whereupon he continues and says: Verse 7. "Cursed is their fury, because it is bold; and their anger, because I will divide them harshly in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel. For Levi did not receive his own inheritance, but in all his sceptres, he had a few cities to live in. It is written about Simeon in the book of Jesus (Joshua 19) that he did not receive his own cord, but received something from the tribe of Judah. In the book of Chronicles (1:4) it is written more clearly, that when he had multiplied and had no place of possession, he went out into the wilderness. Some prophetically slain men, the Apostles, and the bull under the influence of the Pharisees, interpret Christ. Verse 8. "Judah, your brothers will praise you." Because Jude, confession, or praise is interpreted, it is consequently written: "Judah, your brothers will confess to you" or, your brothers will praise you. Verse 9. "Your father's children will worship you." Judah, the lion's cub, you came up from the sprout, my son, crouching down like a lion, and like a lion's cub. Who will raise him up? . Although there is a great mystery about Christ, yet it is prophesied to the letter, that kings would be born from Judah through the line of David, and that all the tribes would worship him. For he does not say, sons of your mother, but sons of your father. And what follows, from the seed, my son, has in the Hebrew, from the captivity, my son, you have come up; in order to show that he was going to lead the captive peoples: and according to the more sacred intelligence, that he had ascended on high, and had led the captive into captivity (Ps. 67). Or what I think better, the captivity signifies the suffering, the ascent the resurrection. Verse 11. "Tying his young to a vine, and a donkey's young with a cord." In the Hebrew it says thus: "Tying his colt to the vine, and to Sorech, my son, his colt," that is to say, the colt of the colt on which Jesus sat, that is, he joined the Gentile people, the vineyard of the Apostles, who are of the Jews. And to Sorec, that is, to the chosen vine, he tied the ass, on which he sat, the assembled church from the nations. But what he says, my son, he does to Judas himself, that Christ is going to do all these things. But this should also be known, that where we read: "Tying his chicken to the vine", for the chicken in the Hebrew it can be read, his city, according to the same sense shown in other words the Church, about which it is written elsewhere: "A city cannot be hidden on a mountain" (Matthew 5, 14). And "the rush of the river makes the city of God happy" (Ps. 45:5). Verses 14 and 15. "Issachar longed for good, resting among the clergy, and seeing rest because it was good, and the land because it was rich: he put his shoulder to work and became a husbandman." In Hebrew it is written thus: "Issachar became a bone ass, reclining between the borders, and seeing rest, because it is good, and the land, because it is beautiful: he bowed his shoulder to carry it, and he served as a tribute." Because he had said above of Zabulon, that he would possess the shores of the great sea, and would also touch Sidon and the other Phoenician cities; now he returns to the inland province, and Issachar, because he is about to possess the most beautiful country in Galilee near Nephthalim, makes him an inhabitant with his blessing. And he calls the ass a bony one, and a shoulder devoted to carrying it, because in the labor of the land, and in carrying to the sea the burdens which arose in its borders, it labored a great deal, and also carried tribute to the kings. The Hebrews say that it is signified by a metaphor that, meditating on the Holy Scriptures day and night, he gave his zeal to work, and therefore all the tribes should serve him, bearing gifts as if to a master. Verses 16 et seq. "Dan will judge his people, as one of the scepters of Israel." Let Dan be a snake in the road, a ruler in the path, biting the horse's hooves, so that his rider falls backwards. Samson, a judge in Israel, was from the tribe of Dan. Thus he says: Now seeing in the spirit your Samson the Nazarene nourish the hair, and triumph over the slain enemies; that, like a snake and a ruler besieging the roads, he will not permit anyone to pass through the land of Israel; but even if a reckless man, trusting in his strength, as in the speed of a horse, wants it from the robbers after the popular custom, he will not be able to escape. And he speaks all through the metaphor of the serpent and the horse. Seeing, therefore, that your Nazarene was so strong, that he himself died for the sake of a harlot, and while dying killed our enemies, I thought, O God, that Christ was your Son; but because he died, and did not rise again, and Israel was taken captive again, another Savior of the world and of my race must be presented to me, so that he may come to whom he has been restored, and he will be the expectation of the nations. Verse 19. "Gad the thief will rob him, and he will rob the plant." We have interpreted according to the Hebrew. But where we put the checkerboard, there it is written gedud, to allude to the name gad, which can be expressed more significantly ε ὔ ζωνος, that is, girded, or ready. And all this is, that Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, returned to the children whom he had sent into possession across the Jordan, after fourteen years, he found a great battle against them of the neighboring nations, and fought bravely against their vanquished enemies. Read the book of the Ship of Jesus (Joshua XIII), and Chronicles (1, 5). I am not ignorant that there are more mysteries in the blessings of the patriarchs, but it does not belong to the present essay. Verse 21. "The naphthalene bush, loosed, giving beauty in the generation." In Hebrew it is written thus: "The irrigated field of Nephthalim, giving words of beauty," signifying that warm waters are born in it for the tribe, or that it is irrigated on the lake of Gennesaret, flowing by the Jordan. But the Hebrews wanted, because of Tiberias, which seemed to have knowledge of the Law, to irrigate the field, and to prophesy words of beauty. Moreover, where we irrigate the field, and the Septuagint put στέλεχος ἀνειμένον, that is, a loose bush, in Hebrew it is read ajala sluaa, which can also be translated by a deer sent out, because of the temporary crops, showing the speed of the more fruitful land. But it would be better if we refer everything to the teaching of the Saviour, which he taught there, or especially, as it is also written in the Gospel. Verse 22 et seq. "Joseph's son was raised, his son was raised above the fountain; the daughters walking in unison over the wall. And they exasperated him, and contended, and were angry with him, having arrows. He sat in his strong bow, and the chains of his hands were broken, from the hands of the Strong Jacob, from there the stone of Israel will be fed by the God of your father" and the rest. Because the Septuagint Inter-priests disagree in most things, we have expressed instead their interpretation, as it is found in the Hebrew. And this is the meaning of the chapter, O Joseph, who is therefore called so, because God has added you to me, or because you will be the greatest among your brothers (indeed she was the strongest of the tribe of Ephraim, as we read in the books of Kings and Chronicles); O, I say, my son Joseph, who art so beautiful that the whole multitude of the girls of Egypt gaze upon thee from the walls, and towers, and windows of Egypt. It is true that you have placed your bow and weapons of war in God, who is a strong champion: and your bonds with which your brothers bound you have been loosened and broken by Him, so that Ephraim may be born from your tribal seed, strong and steadfast, and like a harder stone invincible, also ruling over the ten tribes of Israel. Verse 27. "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, he will eat in the morning, and in the evening he will give food." It is clear to all that the most obvious prophecy is about the apostle Paul, that in his youth he persecuted the Church, in his old age he was a preacher of the Gospel, yet in Hebrew it is read thus: Benjamin, a wolf raping, or catching, will eat the prey in the morning, and will divide the spoils in the evening. This is what the Hebrews published: The altar, on which the victims were sacrificed, and the blood of the victims was poured at the base of it, was in the part of the tribe of Benjamin. This, they say, therefore signifies that the priests sacrifice the victims in the morning, and in the evening they divide those which have been given to them by the people according to the Law, placing a bloodthirsty wolf and a ravenous wolf upon the interpretation of the altar, and the division of the spoils upon the priests, who serve the altar, and live from the altar. There is an obvious discrepancy between the manuscript of blessed Jerome and the Masoretic tradition.