Беседа LXI

“And these begot Jacob: Joseph 724 was seventy years old, tending his (father’s) sheep with his brethren” (Gen. 37:2). 1. Again I want to lead you to an ordinary meal and, in order, continuing what was said before, offer you spiritual food from the Scripture now read. And what we have read today is enough to teach us all how harmful envy is and how this destructive passion has shown all its strength, extending even to kinship. But in order for our conversation to proceed in order, we must touch upon the very beginning of the reading. “And these,” says the Scripture, “begat Jacob.” Look how the wondrous prophet (Moses), having promised to tell us the genealogy of Jacob, suddenly moved on to the story of his son. Having said: “These begot Jacob,” and leaving, as it should have been in order, the story of the children born of Jacob and then further descended from his children (as he did regarding Esau), he immediately hurried to Joseph, a young man, almost the last of all the brothers, and said: “Joseph was seventy years old, tending sheep with his brothers.” Why does it mean the number of years to us? In order to teach you that youth cannot in the least be an obstacle to virtue - in order to fully show you both the young man’s obedience to his father, and his disposition towards his brothers, and their cruelty in how, despite all his disposition towards them and his very age, capable of arousing sympathy for himself, they did not retain brotherly love, but from the very beginning, noticing in him an inclination towards virtue and his father’s love for him, they began to envy him. “But,” it is said, “he brought evil slander against Joseph to his father Israel.” Look how evil it is! They are planning to shake their father’s love, and they are inventing something against their brother that did not happen, and by doing this they only did what they revealed their envy. To make sure that you have only discovered their secret intention, look: the father, even after their slander, loves his son and even prefers him to all his brothers. “And Jacob,” says the Scripture, “loved Joseph more than all his sons, as if he were a son in his old age; and make him a variegated robe” (Gen. 37:3). What does it mean: “loving Joseph more than all his sons, as if he were a son in his old age”? Since Joseph was born to him towards the end and in his very old age, that is why he loved him more than others. In fact, as children become more desirable in old age, they attract parental love more and more. But so that we know that it was not this alone that attracted the father and prompted him to be preferred to his brothers, Divine Scripture shows us by noting that after Joseph another son was born. If love followed only the natural order (in which sons were born), then the last son would have been even more kind to him, because he was truly already the son of old age and was born when the righteous man had already reached the last age of life. So what can I say? The fact that special grace from above made the young son beloved to his father, and for his spiritual virtues elevated him above all (brothers). And that he loved him because he had a son of old age, this reason is indicated in Scripture in order not to arouse the obvious envy of the brothers 725. This is a dangerous passion; when it takes possession of the soul, it does not leave it before it brings it to the last degree of recklessness; wounding the soul in which she was born, she imagines the one to whom envy is directed differently than she wants; it further elevates his glory, nobility and fame; and this is a new, gravest blow to the envious person. Look here how this wondrous young man 726, knowing nothing about what is happening between the brothers, treats them as brothers, and, moreover, as half-brothers; he trusts them in everything and speaks with great simplicity; and they, carried away by envy, even come to hate him. “When his brothers saw,” it is said, “that his father loved him more than all his sons, they hated him and could not speak anything peacefully to him” (Gen. 37:4). Look at the extent to which they begin to hate him, who has not offended them in any way. “And there is nothing for anyone to say to him peacefully.” What does it mean: “nothing can be said to him peacefully”? Since passion took possession of them, and hatred increased every day, they, as if captive and enslaved by this passion, began to treat him treacherously, so that they could not even speak to him calmly. And note that (Scripture) indicated the very source of hatred, that it came from envy. “When the brethren saw,” it says, “the father loved him more than all his sons.” The father's love aroused envy of Joseph; but this love was attracted to the young man by his virtue. They should compete with their brother, imitate his character, in order to win their father’s love themselves; but this did not even occur to them; on the contrary, they all revealed a common hatred for their brother, beloved by their father. And how the enemies, feeding the anger hidden within, could not even speak to him peacefully, but treated him insidiously. But this wonderful (young man), maintaining brotherly love for them and not suspecting anything, trusted them as brothers, and did everything he could for them. 2. It was this passion (envy) that at the very beginning led Cain to fratricide. Just as Joseph’s brothers, for the love that his father showed him, began to hate him, plot evil against him and were ready to kill him every day, so Cain, because his brother’s gifts were more pleasing to God (than his gifts), decided to kill his brother, and said to him: “Let’s go to the field” (Gen. 4:8). You see that this one (Abel), without any suspicion, trusting his brother in everything, goes with him, and beyond all expectation he becomes a victim of a criminal hand. Likewise, the wondrous Joseph, not knowing about the malice of his brothers, treated them as brothers, and told them his dreams, in which God revealed to him his future greatness and the subordination of his brothers to him. “Having seen,” says Scripture, “a dream, he told 727 to his brethren. And I said to them: listen to my dream 728 of this. I see us 729 knitting sheaves in the middle of the field; and my sheaf rose up, and a hundred more upright; your sheaves turned and bowed down to my sheaf. His brethren decided for him; will food, reigning, reign over us, or ruling, will you dominate us? And he added to hate him even more, for his dreams and for his words” (Gen. 37:5-8). That hatred towards him had appeared even earlier, Scripture previously explained to us so that we would not think that only from here their enmity towards him began. “I added to hating him,” that is, their hatred and enmity towards him increased even more. And look at the extreme blindness! They themselves interpreted his dream. It cannot be said that in ignorance of the future they began to hate their brother; on the contrary, the hatred intensified in them because they learned the future from dreams. Great madness! Having learned this, they had to show him favor all the more, pluck out the root of hatred in themselves and completely destroy the feeling of envy in themselves. But their meaning darkened - and they began to harbor even greater hatred for him, not noticing that they were doing everything against themselves. Why do you, pathetic, unfortunate people, display such hatred when you know both his character and the fact that the revelation in a dream shows God’s obvious favor towards him? Do not think that you can change what was foretold to him by God himself. As you yourself interpreted the dream, so it will come true in a short time, even if you come up with thousands (obstacles). The Benevolent and Wise Lord of all, demonstrating the might of His power, often allows for various difficulties in affairs in order to, having brought His intentions to fruition, reveal the greatness of His omnipotence. But such is envy: it cannot think about it at all; Being completely, so to speak, captivated by it, a person does everything against his salvation. And these, as a result of the interpretation of the dream, began to hate even more. And the wonderful Joseph, having seen another dream, told it not only to his brothers, but also to his father. “Like the sun,” he said, “and the moon and ten stars bow down to me. And his father forbade him and said to him: What is this dream that you saw? When food comes, will your mother and your brothers bow down to the ground? And when 730 his brethren saw it, his father 731 kept this word” (Gen. 37:9-11). The father, knowing that his brothers were jealous of him, reproached his son; but he himself, comprehending the meaning of the dream and guessing that it was a revelation of God, paid attention to what was said. But that’s not what the brothers did. What then? They became even more envious. Why are you freaking out? Why are you acting like crazy? Don’t you see that the repetition of the dream did not happen by chance and in vain, but to convince you that the omens will fully come true, so that you give up your impulses to kill (your brother) and think that you are planning the impossible? You had to, having assimilated the properties and thoughts of your brother, honor his future greatness for your own glory. And if you didn’t want to think about it, at least you should have considered that your enmity relates not to your brother, but to the Lord himself, who has already revealed his future glory. But they, as I have already said, not ashamed of nature itself and not paying attention to the favor towards him from above, from day to day only intensified their hatred and secretly kindled a flame within themselves. Meanwhile, neither the father nor the young man suspected anything or imagined that they could reach such a frenzy. Therefore, when the brothers went to the flocks, the father said to Joseph: “Your brothers do not feed food in Shechem: come, and I will send you to them. And he said to him, “Behold,” (Gen. 37:13). Do you see how the father loved the children? Do you see how obedient your son is? “And Israel said to him: Go, see, if your brethren and sheep live well, and command them” (Gen. 37:14). 3. All this happened so that both Joseph’s disposition towards his brothers and their murderous intention against him would be revealed. At the same time, the image of the future was also meant: in these events, as in the shadow, the events of (Gospel) truth were pre-depicted. Just as Joseph came to visit his brothers, and they, not respecting either the brotherhood or the reason for his visit, first wanted to kill him, and then sold him to foreigners, so our Lord, out of His love for mankind, came to visit the human race 732, taking on our characteristic flesh and deigning to become our brother. Paul exclaims about this, saying: “Not from the angel 733 when he received, but from the seed of Abraham, from whom he must be made like the brethren in all things” (Heb. 2:16-17). But the ungrateful Jews plotted to kill the Physician of souls and bodies, who daily performed countless miracles, and carried out their murderous plan, and crucified the One who, for the sake of our salvation, deigned to take the form of a slave. But these, having betrayed the Lord to crucifixion, fulfilled their intention; and Joseph’s brothers, although they had a plan, did not put it into action. The image had to contain less truth (transformable); otherwise it would not be an image of the future. Therefore, here (the future) was destined only, as it were, in the shadows. But notice a wonderful thing. They did not kill, but sold and brought his clothes to his father, staining them with the blood of a goat, wanting to convince (the father) that the young man had been torn to pieces. Do you see that all this happened in such a way that, as in the shadow, there was one image of things and the truth was preserved? But let's return to the order of the story. “And his father sent his ambassador,” it is said, “and he came to Shechem. And the erring man will find it in the field; So the man asked him, saying: What are you looking for? And he said: I seek my brethren, and tell me where they feed” (Gen. 37:14-16). Look at how carefully he looks for his brothers - he works, scouts, does everything to see them. “I said to him 734: I heard them saying: Let us go to Dophaim. And Joseph went... and I found. Having foreseen him from afar, before he approached, he plotted evilly to kill him” (Gen. 37:17-18). At the same time, think about the providential wisdom of God: they had the intention of killing him; and He who arranges everything and disposes of everything allows all sorts of obstacles to appear in order to further glorify His ascetic and bring his dreams to fulfillment. “I foresaw,” it is said, “him... and evilly intended to kill him. Each one said to his brother: behold, this dreamer is coming. Now come, let us kill him and throw him into the pit, and we will say: the beast devours him: and we will see that his dreams will be” (Gen. 37:18-20). Do you see, they decided to kill him, fearing the fulfillment of his dreams? But they had to learn that what was foretold by God himself could not fail to happen. They consult with each other, formulate a plan, revealing their malice; and the All-Wise and Benevolent God arranges it in such a way that the attackers themselves unwittingly contribute to the commission of future events. When they agreed to the murder, and in their intention had already committed a crime, “having heard,” it is said, “Reuben took him out of their hands and said: We will not kill his souls, ... do not shed blood; entrust him to this pit 735 and to the desert; but lay not your hands on him 736: lest he take him out of their hands, and give him to his father” (Gen. 37:21-22). Look: even this one does not dare to openly snatch his brother (from their hands); but, wanting to hold back their impulse to kill for now, he says: “Do not shed blood, but throw it into the ditch.” Wanting to explain to us the intention of Reuben, Divine Scripture says: he did this, “let him take him away and give him to his father.” At the time when they had such a meeting, Joseph was not yet with them; after the end of their conversation, “Joseph came,” it said, “to his brethren.” They should hasten to their brother, hug him, find out what their father told them; and they rush like fierce beasts when they see the lamb. “And he stripped off Joseph’s colorful robe, and ate him, throwing him into the pit. The ditch is thin and there is no name for water.” As Reuben advised, so they did. Having abandoned him, he was “grayed to eat bread” (Gen. 37:23–25). Oh, cruelty! Oh, inhumanity! He had come such a long way, looked for them with such care in order to see them and tell his father about them; and they, like some barbarians and savages, listening to Reuben’s advice not to shed their brothers’ blood, decided to starve him to death. But the Humane-loving God soon delivered him from the fury of his brothers. “When you sat down,” says the Scripture, “to eat bread, you saw” the Ishmaelite travelers going to Egypt, and “Judah said: What good is it if we kill our brother and hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, but let not our hands be upon him, as we are our brother and our flesh” (Gen. 37:25-27). 4. Notice how before Reuben prevented a greater evil with a lesser evil, and now Judah advises selling his brother in order to save him from death. And all this happened so that, even against their will, the Divine prophecies would be fulfilled, and so that (Joseph’s brothers) would serve the providence of God. Having accepted the advice of Judah and brought him “out of the den, he sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty gold coins” (Gen. 37:27-28). What a criminal exchange! What disastrous self-interest! What an illegal sale! Have you decided to sell someone who is related to you by blood, whom your father loves so much, who came on a date with you, who has never offended you in any way, and sell him to the barbarians going to Egypt? How crazy this is! What hatred! What envy! If you do this, frightened by his dreams, in the conviction that they will come true, then why are you striving for the impossible and with your actions starting a fight with God, who foretold this to him? And if you do not attribute any meaning to dreams and consider them nonsense, then why are you undertaking something that exposes you to eternal constant shame and brings constant sorrow to your father? But, oh, the power of passion, or better yet, blood-stained determination! When someone gives himself over to a lawless cause and is immersed in lawless thoughts, he no longer sees the vigilant Eye in front of him, is not ashamed of nature itself and nothing else that can arouse compassion in him, as happened with these. They did not think about the fact that he was their brother, or that he was so young, that he was so dear to his father, or that he, who had never experienced living on a foreign side, among foreigners, should go to such a country and live with barbarians: abandoning all common sense, they thought only of one thing, to satisfy, as they planned, their envy. And in intention they became fratricides; and the sufferer endured everything generously. The High Right Hand protected him and made all his sorrows bearable and easy for him. Thus, when we enjoy favor from above, then, even if we are among barbarians, in a foreign land, we can lead a life better than those who live at home and enjoy all kinds of services; and, on the contrary, even if we lived in our own home and apparently enjoyed complete peace, but, being deprived of help from above, we are the most miserable of all. Great is the power of virtue and the powerlessness of vice, and this is especially clearly shown by the present narrative. Who, tell me, do you consider pitiful and worthy of many tears - those who did so much harm to their brother, or the one who was given into slavery to foreigners? Of course, those. Imagine how this wondrous young man, raised among many servants, constantly in the arms of his father, was suddenly forced to endure heavy slavery, and moreover, among wild people who were no better than the beasts themselves. But the Lord of all things made these people meek, and gave him great patience. Having sold their brother, Joseph's brothers were in the state of people who had achieved their goal, because they had removed from themselves the brother they hated. “Return then,” says the Scripture, “Reuben to the pit, and you will not see 737 Joseph 738 and tear your robe to pieces. And he turned 739 to his brethren and said: “There is no youth, but who am I going to?” (Gen.37:29-30). The Divine Scripture above showed us that Reuben gave advice to throw Joseph into the pit with the intention of delivering him from fratricidal hands and returning him to his father. Now, when Reuben saw, it is said that he had not achieved his goal, he tore his clothes and said: “There is no youth, so who am I going to?” What will we, that is, say (to the father) in our justification, and especially I, who is considered the eldest of you? He thought Joseph had been killed. But since their desire had already been fulfilled, and, having sent their hated brother to a foreign land, they satisfied their passion, now they began to come up with all the ways to deceive their father and hide their criminal complicity from him. Having slain, it is said, “a goat of goats,” and having anointed (Joseph’s) clothes with blood, “he brought it to his father, and said:... know whether your son’s robe is there or not” (Gen. 37:31–32). Why are you crazy people deceiving yourselves? Even if you managed to deceive your father, you will not hide from that vigilant Eye, which you should fear most of all. But such is human nature, especially the carelessness of many people! They consider only fear and shame before people in real life as important, and do not think about the future Last Judgment and eternal unbearable torment; they only care about how to avoid reproach from people. These too thought so and decided to deceive their father. “And the father knew,” it is said, “the robe and the word: “My son’s robe is, the beast ravages him: the beast snatches Joseph” (Gen. 37:33). And truly, he suffered cruelly from them, as from animals. “And Jacob tore his robe, and put sackcloth on his waist, and wept for his son for many days” (Gen. 37:34). And what tears these people deserved, not only because they sold their brother to strangers, but also plunged their father, already in his ripe old age, into such grief! “And 740 his sons and daughters 741 gathered to console him; and did not want to be comforted, saying: “For I will go down to my son lamenting into hell” (Gen. 37:35). 5. I think that this was a new blow for them. Seeing what strong love the father expressed for the one who was no longer there, who was considered torn to pieces by beasts, the brothers were even more consumed with envy. But for their cruelty to their brother and father they do not deserve any leniency. As for the Midian merchants, they, in turn, become instruments of God’s providence, and resell Joseph to Pentephry, the archmagir of the 742 pharaoh. You see how Joseph little by little moves forward, revealing his virtue and patience in everything, so that, like a fighter who fought courageously, he will be crowned with a royal crown, and so that the fulfillment of dreams will show those who sold him that all their deceit did not bring them any benefit. Such is the power of virtue that even through persecution it achieves greater glory. Truly, there is nothing stronger, there is nothing more powerful than virtue, not because it in itself has such power, but because the one who acquires it also uses help from above. And with such help and assistance, he is stronger than anyone; he is invincible; he is elusive not only to human slander, but also to the machinations of demons. Knowing this, we will avoid not suffering, but atrocities. Evil deeds constitute real suffering. Whoever intends to do evil to his neighbor does not harm him at all; and if he does any harm, it is only in real life, and he is preparing endless punishments for himself, unbearable torments. And we cannot avoid them except if we dispose ourselves to be ready to endure evil, and, according to the teachings of the Lord, we pray for those who do us evil. This will prepare us a great reward and make us worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, which may we all inherit, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. The particle δὲ – “zhe” is not read here in Zlat. according to Alex., Lucian. and many other sp. and ev. T. The meaning is this: Jacob loved Joseph primarily over other children for his good spiritual qualities; but he did not reveal this reason, but pretended that he loved Joseph more than other children because Joseph was the son of his old age. In fact, Jacob was afraid that he would arouse even more envy in Joseph’s brothers if he clearly showed that Joseph was better in soul than them, and therefore personally deserves more love than they do. αὐτὸ – “and” (Slav. B.), read in Alex., Lucian. and other sp., at Zlat. missing according to Cottonian. and many more other sp. and ev. t. Zlat.: μοῦ τοῦ ἐνυπνίου according to sp. Dorothea; in Alex., Lucian. and others, as well as in Hebrew. t., μοῦ – “me or mine” is not read, as in Slav. B. Zlat. ἡμᾶς according to Monak. (“de Lag”. Genesis gr.) and some. others (“Holmes”), as well as Heb. T.; in Alex. and Lucian. sp., with which Slav agrees. B., – ὑμᾶς – “you”. αὐτὸν – “to him” (Slav. B.), read in Lucian. and so on. sp. according to Heb. t., at Zlat. absent according to Tsar. Ven. (VI at "Holmes") αὐτοῦ – “his” (Slav. B.), read in Lucian. and others according to Heb. t., at Zlat. cannot be read according to Tsittav. (“de Lag”. Genes. gr.) and some. etc. (“Holmes”). ἐπισκεψόμενος τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος . δήπου – “when” and the second ἐπιλαμβάνεται – “accepts” from Zlat. the text of the Ming Patrology is not readable. Further, for the sake of brevity, the saint obviously omits from the Bible. text some expressions usually read in sp. Greek translation, somehow: ὁ ἄνθρωπος: ἀπηρκασιν ἐντεύθεν – “man: having left here”, γὰρ – “bo”, πρὸς αὐτοὺς – "to them". εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦτον according to sp. Cotton., Bodleian., Dorothea and many others. others and heb. T.; in Alex. and Lucian. sp., with which Slav agrees. B., – εἰς ἕνα τῶν λάκκων τούτων – “one from these ditches.” Further words: ἐζήτει γὰρ - “being careful”, placed in brackets in Slav. B. and found in the Aldin Bible and two books. (“Holmes”) and absent in Hebrew. t., are not read by Zlat. Zlat.: οὐχ ὁρᾷ according to Alex. and so on. sp.; in Lucian. – οὐχ εὗρε – “did not find.” The words: ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ - “in the ditch”, usually read in the book, are absent from Zlat. Zlat.: ἀνέστρεψεν; in Lucian. – ἐπέστρεψε; in sp. Cotton., Dorothea and Eugenia (32 in “Holmes”) – ὑπέστρεψεν – “returned” according to Heb. t. Πάντες – “all”, read in Lucian. and so on. sp. and ev. t., is absent from Zlat. Words: καὶἦλθον - “and came”, read in Lucian. and so on. sp., are absent from Zlat. according to Heb. t. and Paris. sp. (71 for Holmes). The chief of the bodyguards, or according to Jerome - “chief of the soldiers.” You might be interested in: