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1. “And without question is the great mystery of godliness” (1 Tim. 3:16), that is, Christ; the word about Him is very profound and the economy of His incarnation is worthy of wonder. And it may not be clear to those who want to consider it simple, but to prudent people, and not without difficulty: since enlightened by Divine grace, they become wise and insightful and versed in the writings of the law and the prophets. So the divine Peter, who had an advantage in the number of disciples and was superior to others, rightly confessed the faith; I heard from Christ the following: “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). For God the Father secretly guides us with the word about the Son and thus restores us to our previous state, leading us to Him as the Savior and Redeemer; because “no one can come to Me,” says the Savior, “unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). So, so that in all, so to speak, Holy Scripture, understanding the word about Him and gathering faith pure from errors, we have a heart unshaken by the cursed double-mindedness and intoxicated, and not fall into confusion from ignorance, let us listen to God, who speaks through the mouth of the prophets: “Because they love to wander, they do not hold back their feet, therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in them” (Jer. 14:10 ). Therefore, with countless images he confirms us in the truth and usefully represents faith in Him, which was accomplished over time, making it seem like bright images of knowledge about Him. So we will see this in what happened regarding Joseph, if again what I said is true. And what is written about Him reads like this: “This is the life of Jacob. Joseph, seventeen years old, tended cattle... together with his brothers, when he was a boy, with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought bad rumors about them to... their father. Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and they made him a coat of many colors. And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and they hated him and could not speak friendly to him” (Gen. 37:2-4). 2. The writer of the book made an exact calculation of those who descended from Esau. The Holy Scriptures have taught us as to who came from whom, what land each inhabited, and who ruled over whom, although none of them did anything significant or worthy of memory. But the word almost passes the attention of the rest, only by naming them, it stops, as it were, on the divine Joseph and offers a bright story about those who descended from the tribe of Jacob. So, the youngest of all the others, Joseph (he was seventeen years old), did not shy away from the work of a shepherd, but together with the other brothers he applied diligence to the same occupations, not idleness, so pleasant for youth and always preferring, as it were, kindly, not avoiding the premature cares of everyday life and not loving licentiousness most of all, as one who is still among the youth, but like an old man, already at peace thoughts, possessing a mind firmly established, using an old mind and showing the beauty of his future lordship, he rightly deserved surprise from the blessed and loving father and was especially worthy of love and care before others. For “a son in old age,” it is said, “he will grow up” (Gen. 37:3). What does this mean? Our speech refers to the dispositions existing in us. The love of parents for children is generally the same for everyone and in no way less for one than for another. But often nature gains dominance over the mind and reveals its power over it, convincing it to give at least a little something from Others to those most in need, as to those people who need more intense care. In other words, with many people born, the excess of love seems to be completed and stops at the last, and the one born after the others, as it were, delights and transfers to himself the love that should have been shown to those born before. For the human mind is inclined to news and does not shy away from satiety with what has already happened; but about what has not yet come, or what has recently been acquired, he cares greatly and has a stronger love for it. So, more than all other sons, the divine Jacob loved Joseph, “because he was the son of his old age” (Gen. 37:3). And he should know that although he had Leah as his wife in Harran, he loved Rachel more, who gave birth to Joseph and, when she died, Benjamin. Moreover, let us say that both of them were sons of old age; and Joseph’s ability for everything better was not equal to all others, and this was the reason that the elder felt especially disposed towards him and was favorable. For Jacob, in all likelihood, was convinced that he would be famous and famous. And how could someone who, neglecting the pranks of his youth, turn into a husband not deserve surprise? For this reason, blessed Jacob did something new for him compared to his other sons: he sewed him multi-colored (under) clothes and decorated him with the most distinctive garments. What was the consequence of this? Those born of Zilpah and Bilhah were excited by this to anger and were brought into the most inappropriate sadness; Finally, those born from a free woman, that is, from Leah, became envious of the young man. The young man did not do them any offense, but his father’s love for him and the good abilities of the boy kindled in them the fire of unjust envy: and they wounded him with their tongues, reproaching and accusing him for something for which the young man could only be reproached by his enemies. This, I think, is what the words mean: “And Joseph brought evil rumors about them to... their father” (Gen. 37:2). So, for them, slander and reproaches emanating from an unbridled tongue subjugated to envy were, as it were, light struggles and the beginnings of wicked plans; They were inflamed with even stronger enmity for the following reason: God foretold the young man that in time he would be glorious and worthy of general attention, would be superior to his brothers and would be crowned with the highest honors. This, I think, was a call that aroused the youth to the desire for virtue. For just as gymnastics teachers, anointing young men with oil, arouse in them the greatest courage through this and encourage them to courageously endure difficulties, telling them in advance about the rewards that are generously distributed for victory by the stewards of the competition, about the approval, praise and applause of the audience, so the God of all, when he sees a gifted soul, distinguished by a proven and bright mind and ready for the best, then calls her to do goodness, foretelling the future and carefully arousing in her a readiness for virtue. So a vision and a voice from above once came to this young man, I mean Joseph, and he, I think, being surprised, reported this to his brothers, saying: “Listen to the dream that I saw: behold, we are knitting sheaves in the middle of a field; and behold, my sheaf rose up and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves stood round and bowed down to my sheaf. And his brothers said to him, “Will you really reign over us?” will you really rule over us? And they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words” (Gen. 37:6-8). So, look how envy intensifies in them and how the meaning of dreams provided, as it were, some food for envy. For how could those who at first were very much tormented by the fact that he was honored with such a difference from others could bear the thought of honoring and worshiping, and granting him such an honorable and high position? However, it deserves attention how envy always has an impious attack and how it comes through the same evil. We will find her like some wild beast, blind and struggling with God. For note that when God foretold to Joseph the brightness of future glory, they should have clearly imagined that God, who judges the right, would not extol with the highest honors those unworthy to receive them, and then rejoice over his brother, as giving great hope and honored by the Divine determination about him. They did not do this, but were even more excited to envy and raged like wild animals, almost reproaching God for promising him glory and foretelling that everyone’s attention would be drawn to him. We will find this accomplished in relation to Cain and Abel. Precisely, when God honored the sacrifice of Abel with all sorts of approval and, having sent down fire from heaven, accepted the gift, but did not heed the sacrifice of Cain, then the latter immediately accepted into himself a foul-murdering envy, and, as if taking out his anger against the heavenly decrees, approaches his brother with deceit and kills him. For envy always ends there. But what could be the meaning of these visions? We will take the sheaf to mean time. The raising of one sheaf may indicate its future glorification. So, the sheaf, which the other sheaves worshiped, foretold that the time would come when the divine Joseph would be glorious, that all the other brothers would fall before him and be subordinate to him. But Joseph’s dreams were not limited to this; Having seen something else of the same kind, he again told about it to his blessed father and his brothers. “And he saw another dream and told it... to his brothers, saying: behold, I saw another dream: behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worship me. And he told his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have seen?” shall I and your mother and your brothers come to bow down to the ground before you? His brothers were annoyed with him, and his father noticed this word” (Genesis 37:9-11) The old man is skillful and distinguished by the highest prudence. He understands the power of visions; however, he forbids the boy, saying: “Shall I and your mother and your brothers come to bow down to the ground before you?” And who would have thought? How wise and necessary is the method of prohibition! It nobly forbids envy among the listeners and in some way pacifies the young man filled with excessive arrogance and calls for meekness. It does not allow the boy, because of the hope of dreams, to be arrogant over his brothers, and also to recklessly neglect the veneration of his father, even to almost prematurely admire in him the advantage of future glory. For look how wisely he raises the power of visions to a certain outcome. Meanwhile, Rachel, who gave birth to Joseph, had already died, he said: “Shall I and your mother” bow down to you? He did this, as I said recently, both in order to humble the pride of the young man’s mind, and in order to lull the envy of his brothers that had aroused against him. Nevertheless, he himself expected that things would be like this; because he listened to his son’s words with some attention and did not consider them worthy of oblivion, although he accused them of vanity. He kept them and confidently believed that they would soon be fulfilled. After the narrative of the dreams, “His brothers went to feed their father’s cattle in Shechem” (Gen. 37:12). Then, after a short period of time, the father convinces the boy to go see the brothers. “And Israel said to Joseph, Do not your brothers feed in Shechem? go, I will send you to them. He answered him: here I am. And he said to him: Go, see if your brothers are healthy and if the cattle are safe, and bring me an answer” (Gen. 37: 13-14). He promises to go with the greatest readiness, rises and leaves the Hebron valley. When he was crossing the desert, then someone met and asked him why he was going, where and to whom. He immediately answered: “I am looking for my brothers; tell me where do they graze? And the man said, “They left hence, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan” (Gen. 37:16-17). When he arrived here, he was unexpectedly subjected to slander. Envy now found it timely to fulfill what had long been planned. Those born from the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah were determined to kill him. For they said: “Behold, there comes a dreamer; Let's go now and kill him, and throw him into some ditch, and say that a predatory beast ate him; and we will see what will happen from his dreams. And Reuben heard and delivered him from their hands, saying: We will not kill him. And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood; throw him into the pit that is in the wilderness, and do not lay hands on him.” And he said this “to deliver him from their hands and return him to his father” (Gen. 37:19-22). So, having taken off his multi-colored underwear, they lowered Joseph into the ditch, not dead, but in the thought that he would die in a short time. When some Ishmaelites, merchants of incense, went to Egypt, then, on the advice of Judah (who loudly said that they should not destroy a brother), they sold the boy for twenty “pieces of silver” (Gen. 37, 28), according to the appointment of those who wanted to buy him. And Joseph was taken to Egypt. Reuben then, not knowing what had happened, came to the ditch. Since he did not see the boy, thinking that he was in danger, he tore his clothes and blamed Joseph on the other brothers, saying: “The boy is gone, but I, where can I go?” (Gen. 37, 30.) He almost says this: how will I return to my father, or how would he even accept us when we do not have his beloved son with us? And what will we say when the father asks about the boy? They, having soaked multi-colored clothes in goat’s blood, brought them to their father, inventing words filled with deceit and flattering. For they said: “We have found it; see whether these clothes are your son’s or not” (Gen. 37:32). Then the father began to cry and, not knowing about the envy of his sons and their wicked intentions, exclaimed, saying: “A predatory beast ate him; Surely Joseph was torn to pieces” (Gen. 37:33). Due to the misfortune with his son, he was overcome with such despondency that he completely lost sleep and did not accept consolation. For “he did not want to be comforted and said: I will go down to my son in the grave with sorrow” (Gen. 37, 35). Thus, after the word of history has been completed, the mind must again turn to the exploration of the inner meaning; and, as if on certain shadows, sensually sketched, bringing the colors of truth, he makes the beauty of intuition very magnificent. 3. Joseph was given birth to the youngest Rachel, who was beautiful in appearance and had a pleasant look in the bright gaze of her eyes, while Leah was not so. Why? Because, as it is written, “Leah was weak-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful in form and beautiful in face” (Gen. 29:17). But Leah, we said, means the mother of the Jews, that is, the synagogue. We took evidence of this from her eyes and from the interpretation of the name. For truly the internal and mental vision of the Jewish synagogue is not beautiful and is very painful: because the Jews “have... eyes, but do not see,” according to the word of the prophet (Ps. 113:13; Jer. 5:21; Is. 6:9-10). They did not know what Moses wrote and were not able to contemplate the mysteries contained in it, which Immanuel wrote in various ways. Leah means “worker,” as we have already said elsewhere. For the Jewish synagogue labored in the law of Moses, bearing a heavy and unbearable burden. Therefore, Christ called the Jews, as those who labored and were burdened, to liberation through faith, saying: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). That was Leah. Rachel's eyes were very pure. For the Church of the Gentiles beholds the glory of Christ and in Him the Father; She was called to communion with the mental Bridegroom, that is, Christ, after the first. She is the youngest, without “defect” (Eph. 5:27), while the first has become worn out and, because she has become outdated, has become close to “corruption” (Heb. 8:13). Rachel is also interpreted as “God’s flock of sheep.” For the Church is the flock of the Savior, who speaks to the Jews through one of the holy prophets: and said: “I will not shepherd you: let the one who dies, let her die, and the one who perishes, let her perish, and let those who remain eat the flesh of one another” (Zech. 11:9). About us: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them; and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life” (John 10:27–28). So He is the good shepherd and He is first in everything. He was also called a sheep after he became like us. So the wise John pointed to Him to the Jewish people, saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Countless lambs were slain in the image of the law, but not one of them took away the sin of the world. “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). The sin of the world was taken away by the unblemished, true, unblemished sacrifice. Thus He was counted among us “like a sheep” (Is. 53:7). And therefore he can also be called a son of the Church, as “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). You should also know that Joseph means “the addition and increase of God.” For the holy society of the children of the Church is constantly being added to and growing. That is why it is said to her: “Lift up your eyes and look around - they are all gathering, coming to you” (Isa. 49:18; Isa. 60:4). And again: “Behold, some will come from afar; and behold, some are from the north and the sea, and others from the land of Sinim” (Isa. 49:12). It is also written in the Acts of the Apostles, in one place that the Lord “added daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47), and in another place: “And more and more believers were added to the Lord, a multitude of men and women” (Acts 5:14). Therefore, as I have already said, the mental Joseph, that is, those who are in Christ, rightly means the application of God. But our word would not have strayed from its purpose if it had carefully named those who believed in Him in the same way as He Himself. For He Himself is “the head: but the body and the part”—we (Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:30; 1 Cor. 12:27). And He is the vine; and we have grown together with Him like rods, connected with Him through sanctification by unity in the Spirit (cf. John 15: 1-2, 5). But “life...,” it is said, “Joseph, seventeen years old” (Gen. 37:2). And that he was very young, even through this, I think, Scripture could show us. We also call Emmanuel Himself the youngest of all, attributing seniority in time to his former ones, such as Moses and the prophets; examining the power of what is written, we will think that something else is meant through this. For the very number of years, perhaps, will depict for us the deep mystery of the economy with the flesh. And how, I will try to explain this as much as possible, as I have already said in another place, as long as I remember. 4. Divine Scripture usually represents numbers composed of several units, according to the fulfillment of their sum, as symbols of perfection. So, for example, if someone wanted to measure the number ten and examine it, he would again start from one, just as he would bring it to the end. Similarly, regarding the number seven: starting from the first, he would reach in order to the seventh; then, having measured the number of days to the end, he will reach the first again. Thus, our Holy Scripture makes such numbers as signs of perfection. So in the division of talents it is said that he who reached the pinnacle of hard work according to God received ten talents (Matthew 25:14-29) and, in addition, he was given ten cities for his possession (Luke 19:17). That He will commensurate the rewards in every way and in every case to the perfection of praise, it is their dispenser, that is, Christ, who has shown in what has just been said, and that a barren woman will give birth to seven, as one of the saints said (cf. Jer. 15:9), putting the number “seven” instead of “many,” then this number can be considered perfect by those accustomed to counting. So, when it is said about Joseph that he was seventeen years old, then we will attach the meaning to this that Emmanuel in one Christ and the Son is composed of two perfect ones, Divinity and humanity. For we cannot accept the opinion of some who think that this Divine church, which God brought the Word from the Holy Virgin, was devoid of a rational soul. But He was perfect both in Divinity and in humanity, only being formed into one ineffably and beyond understanding. So the number ten means and, as it were, divinely indicates to us perfection in the Divine. And the same perfection in humanity, in turn, can be indicated to us by the number seven, which is less than ten in the Trinity, but is contained in it and, as it were, subordinate to it. For after ten, seven had already joined. In the prerogative of the Trinity, that is, the Divinity, God the Word originated from the Father; and human nature is in a lower position and below the glory of God. And God the Word is conceived as pre-existing, and human nature as having ascended to Him. Thus, it is necessary to put the number ten in front, and seven is added to it later. For “Joseph...,” it is said, “was seventeen years old” (Gen. 37:2). Note, in addition, the temporality and at the same time the originlessness (I mean in relation to time) of Emmanuel. In Joseph, as in an image, there was a number of years; but the word was added: “byashe.” For it was called to being, mentally represented in the likeness of us, and to the number of years according to humanity, the Word, although He was God. But in any case, the word “byash” is attached to Him, because It is conceived and is, as truly co-eternal with God and the Father, and, as the divine John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). So, I will say again: the divine Joseph was seventeen years old and tended his father’s flocks together with the brothers born of Zilpah, I say, and Bilhah, that is, from maidservants. For the Word, made man by God, went around the whole land of Judea, as if gathering the lost sheep of the house of Israel and calling them to love God and the Father. “Because,” as Blessed Paul writes, “God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). Thus, Emmanuel shepherded together with those born into slavery and, as it were, from two slaves they received illegal and unfree descent; because after the reign of Jeroboam, ten tribes broke away from Jerusalem, moved and settled in Samaria, prompted to do so by Jeroboam. But they were mistaken and worshiped golden heifers there. Therefore, through the mouth of Ezekiel, God accused them, as if they were two harlots, saying: “Son of man! there were two women, daughters of the same mother, and they committed fornication in Egypt, committed fornication in their youth; there their breasts were crushed, and there their virgin breasts were corrupted. Their names are: the big one is Ogola, and her sister is Ogoliva. And they were Mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters; and were called Oholah Samaria, and Oholibah Jerusalem” (Ezek. 23:2-4). Thus, made like us, the Son shepherded together with those born from slavery and at the same time from fornication. For the Israelites were still led by leaders appointed by the law, although at the same time Christ was already teaching and leading those who came to Him, and leading them to the path of truth. He Himself was on this path. That is why he said: “I am the way” (John 14:6). But the scribes and Pharisees, and those who had the glory of men versed in the law, fed the people in thistles, thorns, in error, in the teachings and commandments of men; and He is “in the blazing pasture” and on the grass, as if the most blooming, that is, on the beautiful and wonderful knowledge of the Gospel teachings. And they were lazy and careless shepherds, moreover, greedy for bribes and suffering from extreme greed: “milk” eating, “dressing in waves” and “fat” slaughtering, according to the word of the prophet (Ezek. 34:14, 3); bribe-takers and ambitious, and in any case considering it unimportant to work for the benefit of the sheep. He was “the good shepherd,... laying down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10, 14–15). But just as those born of Zilpah and Bilhah launched an evil slander against Joseph, so the grossest crowd of wicked Pharisees slandered Emmanuel and dared to plot against His glory, wickedly calling Him a Samaritan (John 8:48), a wine drinker (Matthew 11:19) and, moreover, possessed by a demon (John 8:48). 48), enjoying the assistance of Beelzebub in order to be able, I say, to cast out evil spirits from the sick (Matthew 12:24-27). Therefore, Emmanuel Himself, through the mouth of the prophet, cried out against the unbridled tongue of the Jews, saying: “Woe to them, that they have departed from Me; perdition to them, because they have fallen away from Me! I saved them, and they spoke lies against Me” (Hos. 7:13). And again: “Their princes will fall by the sword for the insolence of their tongue” (Hos. 7:16). So a daring and shameless crowd of Pharisees raged against Christ. And this, I think, means that Joseph’s brothers launched an evil slander against him. But Joseph was loved, it is said, by his father, “because he was the son of his old age” (Gen. 37:3). For there were other shepherds, beautiful and good, before the appearance of our Savior in the world and in the flesh; and before all others, the divine Moses and those who after him tended the verbal flocks in order. But only with special distinction did the Father love the Son, although he was last after all others and appeared in the last times of the age. Thus it was fitting for Jacob to have Joseph as a son of old age. God is not aging, beginningless and without growth, but always all-perfect. Therefore, prudently not allowing our word to be in error regarding what is appropriate, we will say that Emmanuel was born to God and the Father as a son of old age in the sense that he appeared in the last times of the age, that is, the present, and since after Him there is no one else; because we do not expect salvation from others. Him alone will be enough, since, we say, the salvation and life of the world does not lie in anyone else. So it is “He who will shepherd us forever,” according to the words of the Psalmist (Ps. 47:15), and we will be subordinate to the Beloved Himself, who appeared in the last times of the age, as I said recently, with flesh, who existed before as God; because we affirm that He is co-eternal with the Father. So, Joseph was loved by his father with special distinction; his father even gave him multi-colored clothes, making it like a chosen gift and a clear proof of his inherent love for the boy. But for Joseph’s brothers this was also an irritation of envy and a pretext for hatred, as the very outcome of the matter will show. And the Pharisees raged against the Beloved, that is, Christ, because He was clothed with various kinds of glory from God and the Father. For He deserved wonder in various, I think, respects: sometimes as a life-giving one, and sometimes as a light and capable of sanctifying those in darkness, as one who cleanses lepers and very easily raises up the dead who are already stinking, as one who rebukes the seas, and who walks even on the very waves of his own will. So even the Jews, perplexed and burned by the unbearable flame of envy, said to each other: “What should we do? This Man does many miracles” (John 11:47). The multi-colored clothing thus serves as a divinatory indication of the manifold glory with which God the Father clothed the Son, who was made like us in humanity. Of course, as far as His own nature is concerned, He Himself is the Lord of glory, although because of the similarity to us, He carefully says: “Father!... glorify Your Son” (John 17:1). So are those born of maidservants aroused to sorrow, for the reasons that I spoke about recently? And besides, they fell into suspicion because of the narration of dreams. For knowing in advance that they themselves would in time be subordinated and worship Joseph, and that he would be greatly exalted and would finally achieve such glory that even his parents would worship him, they gnashed their teeth and finally made the decision to kill him. The Jews were also offended and not a little upset, knowing that Emmanuel would become higher than the holy forefathers themselves and would receive worship from all the people, even moreover, from the whole earth. And understanding this, they said: “This is the heir; let us go, kill him and take possession of his inheritance” (Matthew 21:38; Mark 12:7), while blessed David clearly says to the Only Begotten who became man: “All the nations created by You will come and worship before You, O Lord” (Ps. 85:9); and in another place he directly exposes the envy of the Israelites themselves towards Christ and their wicked anger against Him, saying: “The Lord reigns: let the nations tremble!” (Ps. 98:1). So, having sufficiently demonstrated the cruel and indomitable envy of the Jews, we will now speak about their intolerable and disgusting atrocities, pursuing the word of history everywhere and going back to the very goal of the incarnation of the Only Begotten. For this is what the course of speech leads us to. 5. The command of the Father prompts the divine Joseph to go to Shechem to see if the brothers are in good health, where and how they are tending their flocks. And he sets off on his journey as soon as he finds them, and not in Shechem, but on the contrary, gone to Dophaim. But as soon as they saw him walking, they laughed at the unpleasant and hated young man, saying: “Behold, the dreamer is coming” (Gen. 37:19). When they wanted to kill him, Reuben prevented this; and thus they threw him into one of the ditches, without taking into account the advice of Reuben. A little later, having pulled the young man out of the ditch, they sold him to the Ishmaelites who were going to Egypt. And Reuben, returning to the ditch and not finding the boy in it, thinking that he had already been killed and that this was the work of the wickedness of the murderers, felt no small heaviness in his heart. And Joseph was taken to Egypt; the father began to cry and spent his life in sorrow for a long time. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself was sent from God and the Father with the goal of seeing the Israelis whether they were living in good health, obviously spiritual, and whether the sheep entrusted to their care remained in good pasture, not removed from the care of the shepherds. But they ended up not in Shechem, but in Dophaim. Shechem means "shoulder". And this part of the body can be a sign of fornication; because inspired Scripture is in the habit of using the shoulder either as an image of strength, or as an image of action. For example, the words: “turn your heart to the road, to the path” (Jer. 31:21) are used in relation to fornication. Dofaim, in turn, means “great lack.” So the Israelites were exposed not as devoted to fornication in virtue, and not in that for which they would gain glory for themselves according to the law, but in a great deficiency, obviously in relation to truth and all honesty. For there was “no one righteous, not even one; there is none who does good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10, 12; Ps. 13:3; Ps. 52:4). But, as God says in one place through the mouth of the prophet, they brought Him honor only with their tongue, but they turned their minds in another direction and distracted their hearts far from fulfilling what was prescribed by the Law of Moses (Isa. 29:13, Matt. 15:8; Mark 7:6). They diligently studied only the teachings and commandments of men. But they recognized the Beloved, the mental Joseph, who came in flesh; because the blessed Evangelist John said that “many of the rulers believed in Him; but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess” (John 12:42). Thus, having come to know Him, they raged against Him: because they killed Him and, as it were, threw Him into a ditch, the unfortunate ones, into the deep and dark abyss of death, that is, into hell. In this way, the divine David also designated Him to us, speaking as if on behalf of Christ to the Heavenly Father and God: “Lord! You brought my soul out of hell and revived me, so that I would not go to the grave” (Ps. 29:4). Pay attention to the power of the Holy Scriptures and the great accuracy of their speech: “the ditch...,” it is said, “was empty; there was no water in it” (Gen. 37:24), through which “hell” is clearly and clearly depicted before us. And how, I will now tell you about this. Water can be a symbol of life, as life-giving. “There was no water,” it is said, in the ditch: for hell can rightly be thought of as a house and the place of those deprived of life. However, the youth was brought out of the pit. And Christ was raised from the dead; because Christ could not remain in hell, on the contrary, he even drained him, because he said to the prisoners: “Come out” (Is. 49, 9). there were merchants of incense. And Christ rose and came out of the den. But leaving Judea, He went over to the land of the pagans, because He was carried away by the mental Ishmaelites, that is, those who obey God: because this is how this name is interpreted. Again the blessed disciples, who listened with their ears to the instructions of Christ and became the first fruits of those who were glorified by obedience and faith and praises exceeding the law. For in justice such can be thought of as merchants of incense, since they are fragrant with the sacrament of Christ and gloriously express in their souls the appearance of every virtue. They in some way bought Christ, leaving everything glorious in the law, buying “one pearl of great price,” according to the parable of the Savior himself (Matthew 13:46). They translated Christ to the pagans, ministering the Gospel and preaching Him throughout the entire sunflower as God and Lord, and as a chosen stone, neglected by the stewards who followed the law and worldly wisdom, but chosen and honored by God and placed “at the head of the corner” (Ps. 117:22; cf.: Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20, 17; cf.: Is. 28, 16; But just as Reuben prevented his brothers from killing Joseph, so Judah had difficulty enduring their same intention. Reuben was the firstborn; and Judah was from the tribe called to reign. Thus, those who are like the firstborn, even if they were from the Jews, and those who are called to the Kingdom of Heaven through the preaching of Christ, with great difficulty endure daring attacks on Him. For there was at that time, truly there was, both in Jerusalem and in other countries of the Jews, a considerable number of people who were grieved by the dishonor to which Christ was subjected, and who sympathized with His sorrow. His father also mourned Joseph; because “I did not want to be comforted,” it is said (Gen. 37:35). From this we can see that the Heavenly Father and God were not a little upset by the frantic and foul-killing attacks of the Jews on Christ. They insulted Him so much that He refused consolation and allowed almost no one to offer prayers for them. For often the prophets persistently asked Him and begged Him to save Israel, although He acted beyond all words in evil towards the prophets. But God often showed him mercy out of His goodness, since those in danger were His household. When they made a daring attack on Christ Himself, then the Father became inexorable and His anger indomitable. For it was no longer any prophet who was offended, but the Savior of all, the Lord of the prophets, that is, Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. 1. The purpose of inspired Scripture is to signify the mystery of Christ in countless things. Scripture can be likened to a glorious and wondrous city, which has not one image of the king, but very many and placed in plain sight in all places. For see how it does not omit any of the circumstances related here, but counts all of them. And even if the word of history contains something even unsavory, it does not consider it as such, as long as through it the goal it proposes is well achieved. He has no goal - to present an account of the lives of the saints, not at all; on the contrary, his goal is to depict before us the knowledge of the sacrament through the fact that the word about it could be clear and true; and would not at all deserve censure as having deviated from the truth. This is how the mystery of the Savior’s economy is again depicted before us in Judah, as well as in Tamar. “At that time Judah departed from his brothers and settled near an Adollamite whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there the daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her. She conceived and gave birth to a son; and he called his name Ir. And she conceived again, and gave birth to a son, and called his name Onan. And she gave birth to a son... and called his name Shelah” (Gen. 38:1-5). So Judah had these three sons. When the young men reached adulthood, then Judah took Tamar and gave her in marriage to his firstborn, that is, Ira. Since this latter was evil in the eyes of God, he was deprived of life before the birth of children; because “the Lord killed him,” it is said, “(Gen. 38:7). Then the father convinces Avnan to cohabit with his brother’s wife and restore the seed of the deceased. And he, since he said that what was born would not belong to him, violated the law of the usual method of childbirth, spilling the seed on the ground, and did not give it to her. He soon died from Divine wrath (Gen. 38, 7). 8-10). When this happened, Judah was already afraid to bring his third son to her for cohabitation, I mean Shiloh. And the reason for such fear was that “he would not die,” as it is said (Gen. 38:11), he cited the youth’s youth as a reason for rejecting marriage. It is written “And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law...: Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up. For he said...: He would not have died like his brothers. Tamar went and began to live in her father’s house” (Gen. 38:11). Then, after a considerable time, Tamar began to feel burdened by the anticipation of marriage. She had already begun to understand that her father-in-law would not fulfill what he had promised her, but that, on the contrary, he was only making excuses, offering a delay and giving hope for the fulfillment of what was expected in the future. And what is she up to finally? “And they told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his cattle. And she took off the garment of her widowhood, covered herself with a veil, and, covering herself, sat down at the gate of Enaim, which is on the road to Timna. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she was not given to him as a wife. And Judas saw her and considered her a harlot, because she had covered her face” (Gen. 38:13-15). Then he was carried away by lust for her; and when the woman asked for a reward for herself, he promised to send her a goat; when she demanded a deposit in anticipation of what was promised, he gave her a rod, a ring and a necklace (Gen. 38:18), that is, some of the jewelry worn around the neck. Someone believes, and quite rightly, that Judas, like a Chaldean, did not neglect what relates to decoration; because the Chaldeans, who loved jewelry, had their arms and necks shining with gold and sometimes laid wreaths on their very hair. And this became their custom and was considered decent for a man, it was a sign of the highest degree of nobility and was not far from the glory of courage. When all this was completed, Judas went to where he first intended to go; and she returned to her father’s house and was in the bright hope that she had finally conceived in her womb. When Judas found out about this, he said that this woman should be killed as if she had committed fornication. But just as his word was already close to fulfillment, she showed him the rod and so on, saying: “I am pregnant from the one whose things these are.” And she said: “And she said: find out whose seal and belt and cane this is. Judah found out and said: She is more right than me, because I did not give her to Shelah my son. And I didn’t know her anymore. During her birth, it turned out that she had twins in her womb. And during childbirth her hand appeared...; and the midwife took it and tied a red thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” But he returned his hand; and behold, his brother came out. And she said: how did you dissolve your barrier? And his name was called Perez. Then his brother came out with a red thread on his hand. And his name was called Zar” (Gen. 38:25-30). I quoted the literal words of Scripture. But they again contain the meaning of what is more necessary for good. What kind of meaning is this and in what kind it appears here, we will consider this, and in a short time. 2. I think, first of all, it should be said that although in the inspired Scripture there are persons of obvious glory who are nevertheless exposed in deeds that are not very honest, nevertheless, since God through them often accomplishes something necessary for our spiritual benefit, we must far remove from ourselves the thought of being tempted by this as something harmful. If we consider it important to be wise and reasonable, then we should not lose sight of what we have done prudently aimed at our benefit. For let us take into account the fact that the blessed prophet Hosea once took himself a harlot wife and did not refuse such a shameful marriage, and even called himself the father of her hated children, whose names were: “not my people” (Hos. 1:9) and “I will no longer have mercy” (Hos. 1:6). What it is and why it was done, we will not hesitate to say. Since those who seemed to be the most glorious among the Israelites opposed the prophetic preaching, and the Divine word was unpleasant for them, God from time to time did it through the saints, so that even in the deeds themselves, looking at the future, as if written brightly and clearly on a board, they would turn their minds to finding what is useful, to preferring what is useful, both themselves would move on, and they would convince others. Thus, they knew that in time they would be “not my people” and would be counted among those who had not received mercy if they were cruel and disobedient, or if they were ill with something similar and would be exposed on all sides. The cohabitation of the prophet with a harlot (Hos. 1:2-3) was an image of God, as if he cohabited with a certain harlot and the most vile woman in a certain way with the synagogue of the Jews, and even had the hated birth of children from her. Thus, thinking about the methods of the dispensation that existed in times, we will rightly free Tamar herself, I say, and Judah as well, from the censure and accusation of fornication; on the contrary, we will consider their union as foreseen by God. For she wanted to have a free child, having lost her legal partner; he did not have great guilt for wanting to get along with another when his first wife died. In any case, this union and physical birth can provide us with images of spiritual communication and mental birth. For in this way, and not otherwise, the human mind could be guided on the path to truth. 3. So Judas went down and came to a man whose name was Iras. He was a goat herder and skilled in herding. And seeing Sheba there, he made her his wife, and then the mother of three sons: I mean Er, Abnan and Shiloh. Ir means “skinned,” that is, “carnal,” while Avnan means “stricken of the heart”; and the third is “extraction” or “liberation” and “reconciliation.” The only-begotten Word of God also came down from heaven, as if from some holy land, truly glorified and having the glory of royal dignity that naturally belongs to Him. The face of Judas may indicate this to us; because the meaning of his name is “praise” or “glorification.” The tribe of Judah was the most royal of all others and was placed at the height of advantages. Therefore, the divine Jacob, bringing down a blessing on him, says: “Judas! Your brothers will praise you” (Gen. 49:8). The wise Paul also testified that “from the tribe of Judah” Christ came (Heb. 7:14), praised by all creation. So, the only begotten Word of God descended and came to blessed Moses, who was then tending the flock in the desert of Midian. It appeared to him in the form of fire in a bush (Ex. 3:1ff.) and through him in some way entered into an alliance, as it were, with a foreign Canaanite wife, the synagogue of the children of Israel in Egypt, just as Judah undoubtedly did with the shepherd’s daughter Sheba, whose name means “exaltation” and “raising.” For the Jewish synagogue was called, as it were, to a relationship with God and became no longer humiliated and trampled underfoot, having a low position of slavery, but high and glorious. She was delivered, as it were, from an iron furnace and “from a house of slavery,” according to what is written (Ex. 13:3). Then from this synagogue in Egypt, as if from a foreign tribe and serving idols, three nations arose, who were in the position of sons in relation to God and were born, as it were, from the same mother, but separated by birth in time. And how, we will talk about this in a short time. Judah married Tamar to his first son Er, who was the firstborn. When God destroyed him as an evil one, Avnan, who was second both by birth and in time, immediately became his successor in marriage to her. He, since he did not want to raise the seed of his brother, died like the first, since Divine wrath led him to this. Then the father did not allow the third, that is, Shiloh, to marry her, fearing that he would die along with the first. And what this means, I will try to say, with the help of God. The first synagogue formed in Egypt, which we called foreign because it had become very wild at that time, living in Hellenic morals and customs, God, transforming it through living according to the law, showed it to be a new synagogue and, so to speak, different in comparison with the first. And this is Tamar. Notice how there is a mystery in the interpretation of names. Tamar means “lack” or “wavering.” The Jewish synagogue was shaken and truly suffered a deficiency and loss. How or in what way? For the service of the law did not remain unshakable at all, but gave way to the service of the spirit. And finally the synagogue of Christ was introduced, accusing the first as having no integrity. Christ also betrothed the Church to himself as a certain pure virgin (Eph. 5:27), leaving the ancient one and the first. Therefore, the Jewish synagogue is rightly thought of as a deficiency and wavering. And that in the law no one is justified before God, and that in the Jewish synagogue there was no communion with the peace of God (“for the law brings forth wrath,” as it is written, Rom. 4:15), this can be hinted at by the generation of the children of Judah who cohabited with Tamar. The original ir is “skinned” or “earthly”. since he was angry, he was condemned to death. The first people also appeared truly evil, murmuring against God and saying: “Can God prepare a meal in the desert? Behold, He struck the stone, and waters flowed out and streams flowed. Can He also give bread? (Ps. 77:19-20.) But even when those sent to inspect the land of promise returned, it was as if those who were about to perish immediately cried childishly, offending with their unbelief God, who is able to do everything. Therefore, they perished, and none of them entered the land of promise, but “their bones fell in the wilderness,” as it is written (Heb. 3:17; sn.: Num. 14:29). So, the first-born Ir, that is, evil and carnal, was the first to perish, not having any fruit of piety; because this very thing can indicate to us, as if in an image, childlessness again, since the sensory serves, as it were, as an image of the mental. Then the second after him, as if a certain son of God, who redeemed and brought him out of the house of slavery, is the people who followed those who crossed the Jordan, under the leadership of Joshua (Joshua) and inherited the land of promise. Then he was under the leadership of the judges, but he also fell from the wrath of heaven; because Avnan was truly, that is, “stricken at heart,” since he madly deviated towards polytheism, leaving the one by nature and truly God. Therefore, he died and was enslaved to foreigners. The book of the so-called Judges teaches us about this. So this one died in childlessness, like Ir, sowing seed on nothing, that is, on the earth. Hence it is natural that he received absolutely no fruit and could not restore the seed to his brother. The middle and, as it were, the second people in time, also slowed down, through piety according to the law, appearing instead of the disobedient, as if to restore themselves to God and appear as a new people, as if newly arising through works. For this, I think, divinationally means restoring the seed to one’s brother. When two were thus destroyed for blessed reasons (since one was evil and the other was heartbroken), the father forbade the third to have fellowship with Tamar, fearing that he too might perish and be destroyed. For the third people, so to speak, and the youngest, who were in the last time of the holy prophets (after whom the Divine Baptist soon appeared, showing Him who came from heaven, that is, Christ), God did not allow to be captured into the hands of the Jewish synagogue and did not want to bear fruit from it, fearing that they too would perish. “For the law produces wrath” (Rom. 4:15), and absolutely no one is justified by the law (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). Look how well Shiloh represents the image of the last and believing people. His name means "extraction" or "liberation." For when Divine wrath seemed to destroy those descended from the tribe of Israel for their wicked deeds against Christ and for their unbearable fury against Him, then those who believed were, as it were, taken out from the beast and were in some way freed from the bonds with which they would have been bound as punishment. The "remnant" is saved, according to the Scriptures (Rom. 9:27; Isa. 10:22). So God said in one place through the mouth of the prophet: “As sometimes a shepherd plucks out of a lion’s mouth two legs or part of an ear, so the children of Israel will be saved” (Amos. 3:12). Thus, Shiloh in this regard is correctly called extraction or plucking out. And that those who believed and were taken out of the crowd of the dead refuse to communicate with Tamar, that is, from bearing fruit in the law, you can easily learn from the following words of the blessed one. Paul about the praise of those who live according to the law: “But whatever was gain for me, I counted loss for Christ’s sake” (Phil. 3:7). So the youngest Shiloh did not touch Tamar. Therefore, she remained a widow and spent a lot of time in this state. For since God did not allow the Jewish synagogue to bear fruit yet, it was called and indeed remained, as it were, a widow and childless, and deprived of a husband, a mental groom. Christ himself said in one place: “for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband” (Hos. 2:2). So was there really no reason for this? Was she really unworthy of God's care? Don't assume it. Although she was convicted of every kind of extreme wickedness, yet in the last times of the age God, according to His characteristic goodness, will have mercy on her; and she herself will bear fruit that is a sign of Christianity. But that she will come to Christ after the pagans, we learn no less than before from what is written. Judah, having gone up to “shear his cattle” (Gen. 38:13), had communication with Tamar on the way and in between; He allowed her to have the rod and the ring and the necklace, promising to send him a goat. For Christ, having his own and most necessary concern for receiving the fruits of the verbal flock, who obviously believed and were sanctified in the spirit, will have superficial, as it were, and not entirely diligent communication in the spirit with the synagogue of the Jews for a time, but will reveal to the fruitful the wisdom that comes from Him. He will, as it were, also offer Himself to her, just as he does to us, as a rod of strength, as the image and likeness of God and the Father (because this means a ring), as “more beautiful than the sons of men” (Ps. 45:3), since this, I think, means a necklace. For everything that serves for decoration can be represented as a sign of beauty. He also sends her a goat, that is, he grants remission of sins, since the goat, according to the law, was slaughtered for sin and divinely indicates the remission of sins. Tamar, however, is saved, although he has already been destined for death and has undergone extreme punishment. Tamar was condemned as having committed harlotry. However, she is saved because she showed her a rod, a ring and a necklace. And she clearly confessed that she conceived in her womb from Judas and had fruit from him. In time, Christ will free the Jewish synagogue itself from due punishment if it carries with itself the signs of its communication with Him, and clearly shows that it conceived from Him. For those who themselves wished to gain glory for themselves by faith in Christ say this: “For the sake of thy fear, O Lord, I received in the womb, and was sick, and gave birth to the spirit of thy salvation, which I created also on earth” (Is. 26:18). Tamar, having experienced the pangs of giving birth to twin babies, finally gave birth to them. Then the first-born released his hand, but when he picked it back again, although this hand already had a scarlet bandage, the second baby came forward as if some obstacle had been stopped; and then the first one comes out, the last one. And this can serve as a clear sign for us that the Gentiles were called before those who came from the tribe of Israel, and that the chosen ones in the last times received the glory of the firstborn. But undoubtedly Israel itself will follow those, accepting the sacrifice of Christ; because scarlet is an image of the holy blood. So, who is this, “who destroyed the barrier that stood in the middle” (Eph. 2:14) and, in the sense of the firstborn, called the second, and set the first back? Obviously, Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. Now we must proceed to the rest of the story of Joseph, the beginning of which we have already made, since the story of Judah and Tamar, introduced in the middle, has already been brought to its proper end. Having replaced the divine Joseph in the person of Christ, we said that he was thrown from the brethren into the ditch, taken out from there again and sold to the Ishmaelites, who were merchants of the most fragrant aromas and their sellers in those countries that were deprived of them. Adding to this, we said that he was taken by them to the land of Egypt. Then we are taught what this event means, namely, that the Only Begotten, having allowed Himself to be exhausted (Phil. 2:7) and becoming like us, called the brother of those who live on earth, and above all the Israelites, suffered death and bore the cross, descended to hell, the image of which was the ditch. But only He rose again and withdrew from the Israelites. It was given, as it were, to the merchants of mental incense, that is, to the holy Apostles, who, fragrant with His scent, went to the land of the pagans, bringing Him, who had taken the form of a servant, through gospel preaching to those who did not know Him. For He is preached as having come for us in the flesh and appearing in the “form of a servant” (John 1:14; 1John 4:2; Phil. 2:7). This, I think, means the taking of Joseph by the Ishmaelites to Egypt. What happened to him to suffer there? What was he supposed to do? Let's look at this, if you like. While still young and in his prime, he defeated the insolence of the Egyptian woman, almost driven by a great force to do something that should not have been done; because she firmly and shamelessly grabbed his clothes and, without measure, intensely forced him to sin against his will. He, leaving even his clothes, ran away from a rudely dissolute woman and was not captivated by passion. After that he was slandered, and this woman turned all the blame on him; however, when accused of a vile act, he remained prudent and magnanimous. However, he also received power over the “prison,” as it is said (Gen. 39, 22; sn.: Gen. 39, 1–23). Christ was also among the pagans, I mean in the person of the holy Apostles, who said about themselves that they bore His wounds on their bodies (Gal. 6:17). For they did not want to be conformed to the worldly minded and were very far from carnal lusts. This is always the life of saints. But for this reason, slander was arranged against them, and they were also slandered by those who were accustomed to consider it burdensome for people who want to live in Christ, they were subjected to temptations and were prisoners. But they remembered the words of Christ: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But since you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19), just as the promiscuous woman undoubtedly hated Joseph. However, they also spread in the labors themselves, since the grace of God gave peace to those who had to work the most. For Joseph, as I said, the jailer, was very pleased with. Then Joseph explained the dreams of Pharaoh's eunuchs, I mean the butler and the baker, who were also in bonds. And therefore, the divine Joseph served as the subject of great surprise, as it is said (Gen. 40, 16; Gen. 41, 12ff.; sn.: Gen. 40, 1–23). When Pharaoh himself saw in a dream that there would be a short period of prosperity and then a difficult time due to hunger, and he saw under the image of first fat and lean cows, and then full and dry ears of corn, and when the wise men of Egypt could not say anything and completely denied the opportunity to explain the meaning of dreams, it was testified about Joseph that he was able to do this. And he came and explained the dream. Then Pharaoh, surprised, made him manager and leader of his region (Gen. 41, 40; sn.: Gen. 41, 1–57). For Christ was also persecuted, as I said recently, as if in the person of the holy Apostles. But those who are now being discussed, being in the works themselves, as very wise and capable of explaining the hidden to many, first became known to some who had power in the world, and then to the rulers of the earth themselves, who, believing that they even possessed knowledge of the future, by the revelation of God in the Spirit, conceded to them the right to be stewards and princes of the nations, and also to distribute to those who felt the hunger of teaching pure teaching leading to life, then there is the Divine and heavenly word, and to communicate the best education leading to everything. They also acquired (or, better, through them Christ) to God and the Father the land of the pagans, just as Joseph undoubtedly acquired the land of Egypt to Pharaoh. Joseph, in addition, had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, born of Asenath, daughter of Petephrius, who was a priest (Gen. 46:20). And Manasseh means “forgetting the evils that have happened”; and Ephraim, “increase and addition to the better” (cf.: Gen. 41, 51–52). For, as if from the sacred mother, that is, the Church, fruits came, and those called from the pagans, who were brought to oblivion of labors and sorrows, were numbered among the sons of God through faith in Christ. It is said “former sorrows will be forgotten... and will not come to the heart.” Praise will be on their head, and joy and gladness will surround them (Isa. 65:16-17). Illness, sadness and sighing were removed. So in time they will come to the oblivion of evils, and will move on to growth, reaching the sweet limit of hope. For they will pass from earthly to heavenly, from time-measurable to time-transcending, from corruption to incorruptibility, from dishonor to glory, from weakness to strength. Meanwhile, while the famine continued and intensified, the sons of Jacob went down to Egypt to buy grain. Then, when, in the midst of a conversation with his brothers, Joseph almost reproached them as a joke (he said that they came to the land of Egypt not for bread, but rather to spy on it) and demanded Benjamin, his younger brother, and insisted that if they did not present the boy, they would not leave the land of Egypt unpunished: then Benjamin was brought in, whom his father had barely let go with them. When they came with the boy, he had already invited them into his house, and after washing with water, he fed them with bread and gave them wine to drink (Gen. 42–43). For the Jews, as if oppressed and oppressed by an unbearable hunger, obviously mental, lowering their eyebrows, humbling their pride and arrogance, in time will come to Christ, asking Him for bread, holy and spiritual, I mean, and life-giving. He will not accept them except together with a new people, the image of which can be Benjamin. And when they come in unanimity and like-mindedness, he will gladly accept them and introduce them, as it were, into his home, that is, into the Church. Then, having washed them with clean water, that is, the bath of rebirth, he feeds them with bread and gives them wine to drink. This word is full of mystery. However, let us add to this the following: Joseph confessed to his brothers when they came with Benjamin, and in addition, he honored them with a meal, as I said recently. Without giving them any inheritance, he only ordered them to go home and bring their father, that is, Jacob, to him. When his father arrived and saw him alive along with his children, then, and only then, Joseph allocated them the land, the best of all (Gen. 44-47). And this may be a clear sign that Christ will accept the Israelis who turn to Him in the last times of the age, that is, when they unite in unanimity with the new people. For this is, as I said, Benjamin. However, it is not without the holy forefathers that we will be given our inheritance in hope. Just as they, although they died by faith, according to the words of the wise Paul, “did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that they would not achieve perfection without us” (Heb. 11:39-40): so we will wait for our forefathers, so that we will not achieve perfection without them. Thus, together with the holy forefathers, we, the first, middle and last peoples, will receive the best and not made by hands portion of the Kingdom of Heaven in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. About Joseph and his sons Ephraim and Manasseh 1. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). But, I believe, no good seems so valuable and chosen as that received through Christ. For He became, as it is said, “a mediator between God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5), and thus “we have access... in one Spirit” to the Heavenly “Father” and God (Eph. 2:18). That is why He said: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). In Him and through Him is all the fullness of grace and the bright gift of inheritance, because God, “being rich, for your sakes became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich,” we will be enriched (2 Cor. 8:9) and, ascending into the glory of the Holy Fathers, we will be able to participate in the hope that befits them. You will learn the true word about this by turning your mind's eye to the Holy Scriptures. And in them it is written like this: “After this they said to Joseph: Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.... They told Jacob and said: Behold, your son Joseph is coming to you. Israel gathered his strength and sat up on his bed. And Jacob said to Joseph: God Almighty appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said to me: Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will make of you many nations, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession. And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you in Egypt, they are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben and Simeon, will be mine; and your children who are born of you after them will be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. When I was walking from Mesopotamia, Rachel died... in the land of Canaan, on the road, not reaching Ephrath a little, and I buried her there on the road to Ephrath, which is now Bethlehem" (Gen. 48:1-7). Blessed Jacob reached a good old age, as it is written (Gen. 48:10; sn.: Gen. 25:8; Gen. 15, 15) Since he was withdrawing from the world, he intended to bless those who came from Joseph. And since they were born from a foreign mother, Asenath, the daughter of the priest Petefri, so that any of the sons of Israel would not disdain them and consider them a generation alien to their tribe and different from it, the divine Jacob wisely and carefully tries to make it clear to Joseph himself and his other sons that, following the Divine definitions, he assimilates all those who descended from them into his kinship. For “God appeared to me...,” he says, “... in the land of Canaan” (Gen. 48:3) and clearly promised that I would be the father of many nations and that I would spread among the nations and “many nations” (Gen. 48:4). At the same time, he convinces them to honor God with true opinions about Him. It also teaches you to consider your closest relatives as your own, especially those descended from them, although they also descended from a foreign mother. 2. Briefly tracing the literal text of history, we will now say that so we, justified by faith, became sons of God in Christ and household in relation to the saints, since He is a mediator and through Himself connects us with Himself, with the Father and with the faces of the saints, just as, without a doubt, Joseph, as if by mediation, made Ephraim and Manasseh the sons of his father and included them in list of patriarchs. For “today,” it is said, “your two sons, born to you in... Egypt, they are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben and Simeon, will be mine” (Gen. 48:5), that is, they will be among the firstborn and will be numbered among those who are in my obedience; because Reuben was the firstborn, and the name Simeon is interpreted in the meaning of “listening.” And we became through faith, “the last are first” (Matthew 19:30) and the glory of the firstborn was inherited by the people from the pagans. But they were awarded this honor because of obedience and obedience. Christ Himself testified to them, saying: “People who did not know, who worked for Me, listened to Me in the hearing of the ear” (Ps. 17:44-45). For even if we came from a mother who was, as it were, a foreigner for the reason that the Church was called from among the pagans, the agency of Emmanuel is sufficient for us to unite us through Him with God and the Father, and to be included in the lot of the saints, and to elevate us to the glory befitting them, and to reveal us as a sacred race (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9). Notice how, out of love for blessed Joseph, he places the latter’s sons in the ranks of his sons. So we too are beloved in Christ, and since through Him in the Spirit we were born of spiritual birth, we became acceptable to the Father, as I said recently; We are also ranked among the saints who came before us. However, although we are even called sons of God and the Father, we will again be in subjection to the One who brings us and unites us to Himself, that is, Christ. For look how blessed Jacob, after numbering Ephraim and Manasseh among his children, says: “Thy children who are born of you after them will be yours” (Gen. 48:6). So, do you understand that although we will be called sons of God and the Father, we will nevertheless belong to Christ? And this, I think, means what He said to the Father: “they were Yours, and You gave them to Me:... and I was glorified in them” (John 17:6,10). Then Jacob says that Rachel was buried in Bethlehem. Let us remember that we often called Rachel the image and prototype of the Church of the Gentiles. I think that someone would not be lying if they wanted to say that the Church has passed into some other life, obviously into a better and more excellent worldly one; because, having died to the world for the reason that she did not want to think about worldly things, she lived for God spiritually in Christ in an evangelical life. For even if it exists in the world because of life in the flesh, it is, as it were, hidden, lacking worldly splendor, even almost buried by Christ. And this, I think, means what the wise Paul told us: “For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3); because you understand that while Rachel was buried in Bethlehem and was still invisible, Emmanuel himself was almost hidden, since he had not yet been born of the Holy Virgin. So, let us praise this death of the Church, which raises us to the beginnings of a holy life in Christ. I think it is necessary to add the following: having accepted Joseph’s children among his children, the father, since their mother died, gives a commandment about her. Therefore, having indicated the place where she was buried, he urged nothing other than that they should take care of her. God and the Father also commanded the Son about the Church and urged him to take care of it, since it was defeated by death due to an ancient curse. Therefore, the divine David cried out to the Heavenly Father and God: “Your God has destined for you strength. Confirm, O God, what You have done for us!” (Ps. 67:29). For almost without even showing the body possessed by death, he begged that by the power of God and the Father, that is, the Son, He would free us from corruption and raise us again to our original state, that is, to a blessed and pure life in Christ. 3. And that Israel, being the firstborn and honorable by the distinctions of the birthright, lost the glory inherent in it, and that the grace of such bright glory passed on to a new people who came from the pagans, we learn about this no less than before from the further narrative. For it is said: “And Israel saw the sons of Joseph and said: Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, These are my sons whom God has given me here. Jacob said: Bring them to me, and I will bless them. The eyes of Israel were dull with age; he could not see clearly. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I did not hope to see your face; but behold, God has shown me your children also. And Joseph brought them away from his knees and bowed down to him with his face to the ground. And Joseph took both... Ephraim in his right hand against Israel's left, and Manasseh in his left against Israel's right, and brought them to him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, although he was the youngest, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh. He placed his hands this way with intention, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph and said: God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has shepherded me from the time I have existed until this day, the Angel who delivers me from all evil” (Gen. 48:8-16). The youths appeared; the elder asked whose they were. To this Joseph answered: my two sons. Then, when they were brought to him and were close to him, he honored them with kisses and hugs. So, do you understand how we, so to speak, unknown to God and the Father, become known and close in Christ? He accepts us, and very willingly, since the Son gives testimony for our affinity with Him and thus honors us with love and calls us to unity, obviously mental and spiritual. The image of love, and a very clear one, can be a kiss, and unity can be a hug. Therefore, the wise Paul writes in his Epistle to those who believed in Christ, saying, in one case, that now “those who once were far off have become near” (Eph. 2:13), obviously when Christ brought us, and in another case: “Now having come to know God, or, better yet, having received knowledge from God” (Gal. 4:9). God and the Father honors and recognizes only those who have a spiritual affinity with the Son and have been enriched from Him and through Him by spiritual rebirth, just as He undoubtedly made those in Egypt anointed with the blood of the lamb known to Himself, saying: “And I will see the blood and pass by you, and there will be no destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12, 13). Being very happy with his son, that is, Joseph, Jacob said: “I did not hope to see your face; but behold, God has shown me also your children” (Gen. 48:11). For as for the Jews, the Father was deprived of the Son, because thinking that He would be held back by the gates of hell and, together with others, would lie like a dead man, they put Him to death. But God did not allow the Leader of Life to be in the power of death. Thus He came to life, and the Father saw Him again, as well as the race that came from Him and in Him, that is, those who believed, “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people taken for an inheritance” (1 Pet. 2:9). Christ Himself rejoices over them, saying: “Here am I and the children whom God has given me” (Heb. 2:13; Is. 8:18; cf. Gen. 48:9). And Joseph brought them to his father; they bowed to him. Then, while Manasseh, who was the firstborn, stood on the right hand, and the younger Ephraim on the left, Jacob, changing the position of his hands, honored Ephraim by laying his right hand on him, and honored Manasseh, as it were, with a second honor, laying his left hand on him, and in this position began to bless them. For we were accepted as the first worshipers and as the people who followed, and it is not Moses and not the prophets who bring us to God (since the law was not able to grant salvation), but the Son Himself; “before that,” as I said, “the imams are brought” (Eph. 2:18; cf.: Rom. 5:2). And He had the goal of putting Israel above the crowd of pagans, since Joseph placed Manasseh at the right hand of his father. Since he unspeakably disrespected Him, the Father preferred those second in time, that is, the pagans. And “the first became last, and the last first” (Matthew 19, 30) Jacob blessed the youths, calling God his nourisher and the Angel his deliverer (Gen. 48:15-16), and thus completely joining the Son to God and the Father, who is also referred to through the mouth of the prophet as “the great angel of counsel” (Isa. 9:6). So, all grace and the appearance of all blessings and care for us can only be through the Son from the Father. So the divine Paul says: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:2). Meanwhile, it was hard for the divine Joseph to see the firstborn as if placed behind the younger. But the father explained the power of the sacrament, saying: “and from him will come a people, and he will be great; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and from his seed will come a numerous nation” (Gen. 48:19). Then, a little later: “and he placed”, it is said, “Ephraim above Manasseh” (Gen. 48:20). As for the will of Christ, Israel did not lose its glory. So He said clearly: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Since he was “blinded,” as it is written (Rom. 11:7), and, despising the calling of him who called him to salvation, remained disobedient, he was placed on the left hand, having less glory. True, he is blessed and exalted precisely in his saved part: and this is the “remnant,” according to the word of the prophet (Is. 10:22). But the Church of the Gentiles is greatly exalted; it spreads to the assemblies of nations and more than Israel, having the advantage of an immense multitude of believers. For we are crowned with one and equal grace, both Israelites and Gentiles, who have believed and been justified in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: