Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 52–58
Augustine, Sermones 1-18 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Vetere Testamento)
Sermon V
dolet caput? Qui dimittunt Deum, et eunt ad ligamenta diabolica, victi sunt a diabolo. Contra si cui suggestum fuerit, secundum corpus fortasse efficere remedia diaboli, unde alius sanatus esse dicitur, quia accepto ab illo sacrificio suo, deserit persequi corpus, quia cor obtinuit: ergo cuicumque suggesta fuerint ista remedia scelerata, et dixerit, Moriar potius, quam talibus remediis utar; si vult Deus, flagellat et liberat me; si novit quia necessarium est, liberet me; si autem scit quia debeo exire de hac vita, sive contrister, sive laeter, sequar voluntatem Domini. Ecce enim post parvum tempus qua fronte exiturus sum ad Dominum? Non enim hoc mihi praestant remedia diaboli, quod praestat Deus, vitam aeternam. Quare ergo damno animae meae emo paucos dies corpori meo? Qui haec dicit, et non it, nec applicat cor suum ut faciat mala remedia, utique vincit. Unam rem dixi exempli gratia; videtis certe jam quanta diabolus suggerit. Vides illum certe languere, vides anhelantem in lecto, vides vix moventem membra, vix moventem linguam, lassus iste diabolum vincit. Multi coronati sunt in amphitheatro pugnantes ad bestias: multi in lecto vincentes diabolum coronantur: videntur non se movere posse, et intus in corde tantas vires habent, tantam pugnam exercent. Sed ubi est occulta pugna, ibi occulta victoria.
has a headache? Those who abandon God and go to diabolical amulets have been conquered by the devil. On the other hand, if it has been suggested to someone that the devil's remedies are perhaps effective as regards the body, since another person is said to have been cured by them, because, having received his sacrifice from that person, the devil ceases to persecute the body, since he has gained possession of the heart: then whoever has had these wicked remedies suggested to him, and has said, "Let me rather die than use such remedies; if God wills, He scourges and frees me; if He knows that it is necessary, let Him free me; but if He knows that I must depart from this life, whether I am sad or glad, I shall follow the will of the Lord. For see, after a little time, with what face am I going to depart to the Lord? For the devil's remedies do not furnish me with what God furnishes, eternal life. Why then do I buy a few days for my body at the loss of my soul?" Whoever says this, and does not go, nor applies his heart to making use of evil remedies, certainly conquers. I have mentioned one thing by way of example; you surely see already how many things the devil suggests. You see that man languishing, surely; you see him panting in bed, you see him scarcely moving his limbs, scarcely moving his tongue: that weary man conquers the devil. Many have been crowned in the amphitheatre fighting against the beasts: many are crowned in bed conquering the devil: they seem unable to move, and yet within, in the heart, they have such great strength, they wage so great a fight. But where the fight is hidden, there the victory is hidden.
CAPUT XXXIV. — 37. Martyres imitandi. Quare ista diximus, fratres? Ut quando celebratis natalitia martyrum, imitemini martyres; nec putetis ideo vobis deesse posse occasiones coronae, quia modo desunt tales persecutiones. Nec modo enim desunt quotidie persecutiones a diabolo, sive per suggestionem, sive per molestias aliquas corporis. Tu tantum scito te habere Imperatorem, qui jam praecessit in coelum: dedit tibi viam qua sequaris, tene te ad illum. Noli cum viceris, per superbiam tibi tribuere, quasi de viribus tuis luctatus fueris: sed praesume de eo qui dedit vires, ut vinceres, quia ipse vicit saeculum (Joan. XVI, 33): et semper coronaris, et martyr hinc exies, si omnes tentationes diaboli superaveris.
Chapter XXXIV. — 37. The martyrs are to be imitated. Why have we said these things, brethren? So that when you celebrate the birthdays of the martyrs, you may imitate the martyrs; and that you may not think that occasions for a crown can be lacking to you because such persecutions are lacking now. For even now there is no lack of daily persecutions from the devil, whether through suggestion or through some afflictions of the body. Only know that you have a Commander who has already gone before into heaven: He has given you a way by which to follow; hold fast to Him. Do not, when you have conquered, attribute it to yourself through pride, as though you had wrestled by your own strength: but put your confidence in Him Who gave you the strength to conquer, because He Himself has conquered the world (John 16:33): and you are always being crowned, and you will depart hence a martyr, if you have overcome all the temptations of the devil.
SERMO V. De luctatione Jacob cum angelo. Habitus paulo ante Pascha.
Sermon V. On Jacob's wrestling with the angel. Preached a little before Easter.
1. Boni imitandi, mali vero donec ultimo judicio discretio fiat, tolerandi. Haec maxime regula disciplinae necessaria est viro christiano, ut verbum Dei
1. The good are to be imitated, but the wicked are to be tolerated until the separation is made at the last judgement. This rule of discipline is especially necessary for a Christian man, that the word of God
Editors' notes and page, col. 52
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: fortasse efficere› · call in col 52
Ita duo Mss. Editi vero, efficit.
So two manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have efficit.
(printed under page 30)
(2) ‹anchor: autem scit› · call in col 52
Duo Mss. carent verbo, scit. Non male, si haberent, sin autem.
Two manuscripts lack the word scit. Not badly, if they had sin autem.
(printed under page 30)
(3) ‹anchor: animae meae› · call in col 52
Editi, damno animam meam.
The printed editions have damno animam meam.
(printed under page 30)
(4) ‹anchor: semper coronaris› · call in col 52
Duo Mss., coronaberis.
Two manuscripts have coronaberis.
(printed under page 30)
(5) ‹anchor: diaboli superaveris› · call in col 52
Editi addunt clausulam: Conversi, etc., sed haec abest a Mss.
The printed editions add the closing formula Conversi, etc., but this is absent from the manuscripts.
(printed under page 30)
(6) ‹anchor: cum angelo› · call in col 52
In editis deest, cum angelo. Sed in Mss. nonnullis et in Possidii Indiculo, cap. 8, habetur; ipsumque capitulum Genesis, quo Jacobi lucta cum angelo refertur, praelectum esse ante concionem patet ex sectione 6.
In the printed editions cum angelo is wanting. But it is found in some manuscripts and in the Indiculus of Possidius, ch. 8; and that the very chapter of Genesis in which Jacob's wrestling with the angel is related was read before the sermon is clear from section 6.
(printed under page 30) (*) ‹anchor: SERMO V› · call in col 52 Emendatus ad cl. r. v. Sirm.
Corrected against cl. r. v. [manuscripts] and Sirm. [Sirmond's edition].
(printed under page 30)
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO V› · call in col 52
Alias, 1 ex Sirmondianis.
Elsewhere, the 1st of the Sirmondian sermons.
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audiat. cum est in hoc saeculo, ut attendat eum qui venit saeculum salvare primo per misericordiam, et postea discutere per judicium. Et ideo Dominus noster Jesus Christus imitandum se nobis praebuit; ut quoniam christiani sumus, aut ipsum imitemur, aut alios qui eum imitati sunt. Sunt e⟨n⟩im quidam eorum qui christiani vocantur et non sunt, quos partim digessit Ecclesia, tanquam stercora; ut sunt omnes haereses, et omnia schismata, quae etiam comparantur sarmentis infructuosis de vite praecisis, et paleis quas ante ventilationem de area ventus rapit: sunt autem alii, qui intus mali sunt, et ipsa communione catholica continentur; quos necesse est toleret christianus bonus usque in finem, quia ventilatio messis hujus areae non erit nisi dies judicii. Haec semper cantavimus vobis, et in nomine Christi arbitramur quia haerent pectoribus vestris. Istae lectiones quae vobis leguntur, numquid modo primum vobis leguntur, et non eaedem quotidie repetuntur? Sicut autem lectiones Dei quotidie opus est ut repetantur, ne saeculi mala et spinae nascantur in cordibus vestris, et effocent semen quod ibi seminatum est: sic oportet et sermonem Dei vobis semper repeti, ne obliti dicatis vos non audisse, quod dicimus nos dixisse.
may hear, while he is in this world, that he should pay heed to Him Who came to save the world first through mercy, and afterwards to examine it through judgement. And therefore our Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself to us to be imitated; so that, since we are Christians, we may either imitate Him, or others who have imitated Him. For there are some of them who are called Christians and are not, whom the Church has in part discharged like dung; such are all the heresies and all the schisms, which are also compared to fruitless branches cut off from the vine, and to the chaff which the wind snatches from the threshing-floor before the winnowing: but there are others who are evil within, and are held within the catholic communion itself; these the good Christian must tolerate until the end, because the winnowing of the harvest of this threshing-floor will not be until the day of judgement. These things we have always sung to you, and in the name of Christ we judge that they cling to your breasts. These readings which are read to you, are they now read to you for the first time, and are not the same ones repeated daily? But just as the readings of God need to be repeated daily, lest the evils and thorns of the world spring up in your hearts and choke the seed that has been sown there, so too the word of God must always be repeated to you, lest, having forgotten, you say that you have not heard what we say we have said.
2. Debita remittenda inimicis. Inimicus sic diligendus, ut tamen corripiatur. Accedunt multi, et modo tempus est ut in nomine Dei festinent accipere gratiam Baptismi, credentes dimitti sibi omnia peccata quae antea commiserunt, prorsus omnia; et exire inde nihil debentes Domino: quemadmodum servus ille, qui rationem reddebat domino suo, et invenit illum debere decem millia talentorum; sic tamen recessit nihil debens, non quia nihil ipse debebat, sed quia ille misericors erat, dimisit omnia, et debitorem absolvit. Et tamen, fratres, quomodo nos terruit vehementer idem ipse servus? Quia noluit dimittere conservo suo, vel differre solutionem centum denariorum, replicavit illi dominus decem millia talentorum, quae illi dimiserat (Matth. XVIII, 23-34). Ili ergo qui exituri sunt de Baptismo nihil debentes, et absoluti omnibus peccatis, caveant ne si quis in illos peccaverit, et noluerint ipsi dimittere, non solum deinceps non illis dimittatur, sed etiam omnia quae dimissa fuerant, replicentur. Nemo ergo dicat: Quis istud facit, aut quis istud fecit? Dicendo sibi istud homines moriuntur. Dilige inimicum tuum, dicit Dominus: et tu, Quis istud facit? Quia ipse non fecit, putat quia nemo potuit facere. Res in corde est: unde vides quis illud facit? Putas enim quia non dimisit ille qui clamat? Forte enim aliquando clamat aliquis, et jubet caedi hominem, et putas quia non dimisit. Quare? Tu quando caedis filium tuum, tenes odium in corde tuo? Ergo res in corde est: solus Deus videt si dimissum est. Aliquando enim non caedit aliquis, videtur parcere manu, et saevit in corde, et optat male homini intus, et vult eum necari: tenet contra illum malam voluntatem, quamvis nihil illi corporaliter reddere videatur.
2. Debts are to be remitted to enemies. An enemy is to be loved in such a way that he is nevertheless corrected. Many are coming forward, and now is the time for them to hasten, in the name of God, to receive the grace of Baptism, believing that all the sins which they committed before are forgiven them, absolutely all; and that they come out from it owing nothing to the Lord: just as that servant who was rendering account to his lord, and the lord found that he owed ten thousand talents; yet he went away owing nothing, not because he himself owed nothing, but because that lord was merciful, forgave everything, and absolved the debtor. And yet, brethren, how vehemently has that same servant terrified us? Because he would not forgive his fellow servant, or defer the payment of a hundred denarii, his lord charged against him again the ten thousand talents which he had forgiven him (Matt. 18:23–34). Let those, then, who are about to come out of Baptism owing nothing, and absolved from all sins, beware lest, if anyone sins against them and they themselves will not forgive, not only will they not be forgiven henceforth, but even everything that had been forgiven will be charged against them again. So let no one say: Who does this, or who has done this? By saying this to themselves men die. Love your enemy, says the Lord: and you [say], Who does this? Because he himself has not done it, he thinks that no one could do it. The matter is in the heart: from where do you see who does it? For do you think that the man who shouts has not forgiven? For perhaps someone sometimes shouts, and orders a man to be beaten, and you think that he has not forgiven. Why? When you beat your son, do you hold hatred in your heart? Therefore the matter is in the heart: God alone sees whether it has been forgiven. For sometimes someone does not beat, he seems to spare with his hand, and he rages in his heart, and inwardly wishes the man ill, and wants him to be killed: he holds an evil will against him, although he seems to repay him nothing bodily.
Editors' notes and page, col. 53
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 53
Mss., et postea discretione per judicium.
The manuscripts have et postea discretione per judicium.
(printed under page 31)
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E contra sunt, qui corporaliter videntur quasi reddere; sed corporalis illa correptio quasi dilectio est: ad bonam vitam vult illum pervenire: et tanto magis vult eum corripi, quanto illum amat. Sic et Deus numquid non nos diligit? non ad hoc nos hortatur, ut diligamus inimicos nostros, ut quomodo possumus, similes illi simus? Nam sic dixit: Estote autem vos perfecti, sicut Pater vester qui in coelis est; qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos (Matth. V, 48, 45). Quanta ergo dilectio est in Domino, quando pro peccatoribus et impiis Christum crucifigendum misit, et pretio sanguinis ejus nos redemit, qui ei inimici eramus, amando ea quae fecit pro eo qui fecit? Cum ergo ista faceremus, misit Deus, sicut Apostolus dicit, Filium suum (Galat. IV, 4); et eum pro nobis impiis, ab aliis impiis occidendum tradidit. Et si nondum fidelibus tantum munus datum est, quid ergo servatur fidelibus? Ecce quomodo Deus diligit homines. Attendamus, fratres; numquid non illos flagellat? numquid non illos corripit? Si non illos corripit, unde fames? unde aegritudines? unde pestilentiae et morbi? Omnes enim istae correptiones Dei sunt. Sicut ergo ille diligit, et tamen corripit: sic et tu, si habes aliquem in potestate, quamvis serves affectum dilectionis, noli tamen negare flagellum correptionis. Quia si negaveris, non tenebis dilectionem: quia ille moritur in peccatis, qui forte correptus ea relinqueret; et magis tibi imputatur verum odium.
On the other hand there are those who in bodily fashion seem as it were to repay; but that bodily correction is as it were love: he wants that man to come to a good life, and the more he loves him, the more he wants him to be corrected. So too God, does He not love us? Does He not exhort us to this, that we love our enemies, so that, as far as we can, we may be like Him? For thus He said: But be you perfect, as your Father Who is in heaven; Who makes His sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and rains upon the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:48, 45). How great, then, is the love in the Lord, when for sinners and the ungodly He sent Christ to be crucified, and redeemed us by the price of His blood, us who were His enemies, loving the things He made in place of Him Who made them? While, then, we were doing these things, God sent, as the Apostle says, His Son (Gal. 4:4); and handed Him over for us ungodly ones to be killed by other ungodly ones. And if so great a gift was given to those not yet faithful, what then is kept for the faithful? Behold how God loves men. Let us pay attention, brethren; does He not scourge them? does He not correct them? If He does not correct them, whence famine? whence sicknesses? whence pestilences and diseases? For all these are corrections of God. As, then, He loves and yet corrects, so you too, if you have someone in your power, although you keep the affection of love, do not however withhold the scourge of correction. For if you withhold it, you will not keep love: because that man dies in his sins who, perhaps, if corrected, would have abandoned them; and real hatred is rather imputed to you.
3. Luctandum, ut Christi charitatem et patientiam imitatione prosequamur. Nemo ergo dicat: Quis istud potest? Contendite hoc implere in cordibus vestris; tenete, ut diligatis. Luctamini, et vincetis. Christus enim ibi vincit. Contra quid luctamini? Contra peccatum luctamini, contra verba hominum male dicentium: Ergo non te vindicas? ergo remanebis indefensus, et non illi ostendis? o si mecum haberet! Luctamini, et vincite. Si enim vellet Christus jubere terrae, quando a Judaeis tanta passus est, ut aperta sorberet persecutores ejus, non posset? Si ergo qui habuit potestatem, sic eos pertulit, quousque levaretur in crucem, et pendens in cruce ait, Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt (Luc. XXIII, 34); tu, serve redempte sanguine crucifixi Domini tui, non imitaberis Salvatorem tuum? Quid enim illi opus erat tanta pati, cui licebat et non pati? Nam sic dixit, Potestatem habeo ponendi animam meam, et potestatem habeo sumendi eam: nemo tollit eam a me; sed ego pono eam, et iterum sumam eam (Joan. X, 18). Et sic fecit. Quid enim factum est, fratres? Pendebat in cruce, quomodo Competentibus legimus: at ubi vidit completas in se omnes Scripturas, ut illi darent etiam acetum, Perfectum est, ait: et inclinavit caput, et emisit spiritum; quasi ad hoc staret, ut impleretur. Cum vellet ergo, animam suam posuit. Et ideo ille Deus erat, illi homines, qui juxta illum erant crucifixi. Ille citius
3. We must struggle so as to follow the charity and patience of Christ by imitation. Let no one therefore say: Who can do this? Strive to fulfil this in your hearts; hold fast, so that you may love. Struggle, and you will conquer. For Christ conquers there. Against what do you struggle? Struggle against sin, against the words of men who speak evil: So you do not avenge yourself? so you will remain undefended, and you do not show him? Oh, if only he had to deal with me! Struggle, and conquer. For if Christ had wished to command the earth, when He suffered so much from the Jews, to open and swallow up His persecutors, could He not have done so? If, then, He Who had the power thus bore with them, until He was lifted up on the cross, and hanging on the cross said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34); will you, servant redeemed by the blood of your crucified Lord, not imitate your Saviour? For what need was there for Him to suffer so much, Who was free also not to suffer? For thus He said, I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it up: no one takes it from Me; but I lay it down, and I shall take it up again (John 10:18). And so He did. For what was done, brethren? He was hanging on the cross, as we read to the Competentes: but when He saw all the Scriptures fulfilled in Himself, so that they gave Him even vinegar, It is finished, He said: and He bowed His head, and gave up the spirit; as if He stood for this, that it be fulfilled. When He willed, then, He laid down His life. And therefore He was God, they were men, who were crucified beside Him. He
Editors' notes and page, col. 54
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 54
Mss, sed illa quasi corporalis correctio, dilectio est.
The manuscripts have sed illa quasi corporalis correctio, dilectio est.
(printed under page 31)
(2) ‹anchor: tenete› · call in col 54
Victorinus Ms. omittit, tenete. Forte legendum, tenete Christum; ut infra. n. 6.
The Saint-Victor manuscript omits tenete. Perhaps one should read tenete Christum, as below, n. 6.
(printed under page 31)
(3) ‹anchor: ut impleretur› · call in col 54
Mss. habent, quasi ad hoc adhortaretur ut impleretur.
The manuscripts have quasi ad hoc adhortaretur ut impleretur.
(printed under page 31)
(a) ‹anchor: in cruce, quomodo› · call in col 54
Forte, quod modo.
Perhaps, quod modo.
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moritur, illi tardius. Et cum jussum esset ut corpora deponerentur de cruce propter sabbatum, ut sepelirentur, invenerunt illos latrones viventes, et eis crura fregerunt; Dominum autem jam defunctum, et tamen unus ipsorum lancea percussit latus ejus, et profluxit sanguis et aqua (Joan. XIX, 30-34). Ecce pretium tuum. Quid enim profluxit de latere, nisi sacramentum quod accipiunt fideles? Spiritus, sanguis, et aqua. Spiritus quem emisit, et sanguis et aqua quae de latere profluxerunt. De ipso sanguine et aqua significatur nata Ecclesia. Et quando exivit sanguis et aqua de latere? Cum jam dormiret Christus in cruce: quia Adam in Paradiso somnum accepit, et sic illi de latere Eva producta est. Ecce ergo pretium tuum. Imitare humilitatem et vestigia Domini tui, et noli dicere, Quis istud facit? Est circa te forte et qui non facit. Sed in illa turba si tu feceris, sic tibi computabitur, quomodo si invenias in area unum granum, et paleas infinitas. Difficile invenis duo grana simul juncta: sed inter grana palea commixta est. Sic inter eos qui servire volunt Deo, strepitus et multitudo est malorum hominum circumdans illos undique; quia quocumque se verterint, non inveniunt nisi malos suasores. Esto ergo ut granum, et noli curare de palea. Veniet tempus ut separetur. Ideo cantavimus, Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta (Psal. XLII, 1). Ecclesia illud dicit gemens inter peccatores. Putatis, fratres, quia ad hoc vult se discerni Ecclesia, ut ab haeresibus tanquam sarmentis praecisis separetur? Jam ab ipsis separata est. Numquid ita dicit Ecclesia, Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam, ut a parte Donati, aut ab Arianis, vel a Manichaeis segregetur? Non se rogat discerni, nisi ab his qui ei mixti sunt, quos oportet ut toleret usque in finem. Sed hoc dicit, Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam: id est, ne cum ipsis judicer et perdar in die judicii. Nam nunc dictum est, Dimitte zizania crescere (Matth. XIII, 30): et tolerantur modo mali a bonis, in die judicii separandi.
dies sooner, they more slowly. And when it had been ordered that the bodies be taken down from the cross because of the sabbath, so that they might be buried, they found those robbers alive, and broke their legs; but the Lord already dead, and yet one of them pierced His side with a lance, and there flowed out blood and water (John 19:30–34). Behold your price. For what flowed from the side, if not the sacrament which the faithful receive? The Spirit, the blood, and the water. The Spirit which He sent forth, and the blood and water which flowed from the side. By that very blood and water the Church is signified as born. And when did blood and water come forth from the side? When Christ was already sleeping on the cross: because Adam received sleep in Paradise, and thus Eve was brought forth from his side. Behold then your price. Imitate the humility and the footsteps of your Lord, and do not say, Who does this? Perhaps there is near you also one who does not do it. But in that crowd, if you do it, it will be reckoned to you as if you were to find on a threshing-floor one grain and countless chaff. You hardly find two grains joined together: but among the grains chaff is mixed. So among those who wish to serve God there is the din and multitude of evil men surrounding them on every side; for wherever they turn, they find nothing but evil persuaders. Be therefore as the grain, and do not care about the chaff. The time will come for it to be separated. That is why we sang, Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from a nation not holy (Ps. 42:1). The Church says this groaning among sinners. Do you think, brethren, that the Church wishes to be distinguished for this purpose, that she may be separated from the heresies as from cut-off branches? She is already separated from them. Does the Church say, Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause, in order to be set apart from the party of Donatus, or from the Arians, or from the Manichaeans? She asks to be distinguished only from those who are mixed with her, whom she must tolerate until the end. But this is what she says, Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause: that is, let me not be judged and perish with them on the day of judgement. For now it has been said, Let the tares grow (Matt. 13:30): and the evil are tolerated by the good for the present, to be separated on the day of judgement.
4. Jacob et Esau figurae populi Christiani et Judaici. Et ideo Jacob ille, qui modo lectus est, populum significat christianum: ipse est enim minor filius; quia populus Judaeorum Esau est. De Jacob quidem nata est gens Judaeorum, sed in figura magis Esau Judaei intelliguntur: quia populus major reprobatus est, populus autem minor primatum accepit. Cum etiam in utero luctarentur, et taedium mater pateretur, quia impellebantur vi⟨s⟩cera ejus, ait: Quid mihi sic? Melius mihi erat sterilitas, quam ut hoc paterer. Dictum est ei a Domino, quod duo populi in utero ejus confligerent, et duae gentes, et quia major serviet minori (Galat. XXV, 22, 23). Quod dictum est cum in utero essent, hoc dictum est iterum in benedictione Isaac, cum benediceret minorem; putabat autem se benedicere majorem. Personam Legis ferebat Isaac. Videtur Lex data Judaeis: et ipsum regnum datum est Christianis. Attendite quia Lex videtur regnum promittere. Judaeis dicitur, Propterea auferetur a vobis regnum, et dabitur genti facienti justitiam
4. Jacob and Esau figures of the Christian and the Jewish people. And therefore that Jacob, who has just been read, signifies the Christian people: for he is the younger son; while the people of the Jews is Esau. From Jacob indeed the nation of the Jews was born, but in the figure the Jews are rather understood as Esau: because the elder people was rejected, while the younger people received the primacy. When moreover they were struggling in the womb, and the mother was suffering weariness, because her inward parts were being pushed, she said: Why is it thus with me? Barrenness were better for me than that I should suffer this. It was said to her by the Lord that two peoples were contending in her womb, and two nations, and that the elder shall serve the younger (Gen. 25:22–23). What was said while they were in the womb was said again in the blessing of Isaac, when he was blessing the younger, though he thought he was blessing the elder. Isaac bore the person of the Law. The Law seems to have been given to the Jews: and the kingdom itself has been given to the Christians. Observe that the Law seems to promise the kingdom. To the Jews it is said, Therefore the kingdom shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation doing justice
Editors' notes and page, col. 55
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(Matth. XXI, 43). Auferetur ab Esau, et dabitur Jacob. Hirsutus natus erat et pilosus Esau, id est plenus peccatis; haerebant in illo peccata: ille autem ut acciperet primatum, accepit pelles haedorum in brachiis; et sic illum benedixit pater, palpans brachia ipsius, et inveniens hirsutum. Sed illi capilli et peccata portabantur a Jacob, non haerebant in Jacob. Sic ergo et Ecclesia Dei aliena peccata portat, non sua, tolerans usque in finem; sicut et Dominus Jesus Christus aliena portavit. Et benedixit minorem pater. Et quomodo benedixit? Mysterium sanctum, quales futuri erant. Volunt enim oculos acutos Scripturae. Benedixit filium suum minorem: et videtur deceptus quasi benedixisse alium pro alio. Venit ille qui ierat ad venationem, apportans quod pater jusserat, et dicit: Pater, manduca, sicut voluisti. Dixit Isaac: Quis es tu? Et ille: Ego sum Esau filius tuus major. Et dicit: Ergo tu es Esau? Quis est autem jam qui attulit mihi escam, et manducavi, et benedixi illum, et benedictus est (Gen. XXVII, 31-40)? O irasci deceptori! o irasci fallaci! Imo dic: Quare me decepit? quare me fefellit? tollat benedictionem illam frater ipsius, et sit in malis. Nonne clamat haec res in mysterio facta, ut major serviat minori? Accipit ergo talem et ipse benedictionem. Sed subjunxit: Eris servus fratris tui. Cum ille diceret, Numquid finitae sunt benedictiones, benedic et me; ait, Cum illum talem feci, tibi quid habeo dare? Et dixit: Benedic et me, pater. Et extorsit, et accepit benedictionem prope similem, a rore coeli et fertilitate terrae omnem abundantiam. Et subjecit statim, Et servies fratri tuo. Et erit tibi sic, cum solveris jugum ejus a cervice tua. Quid est illud quod dictum est, Et erit tibi sic, cum solveris jugum ejus a cervice tua; nisi quia ostendit illos, quos Esau praefigurabat, sic esse peccatores, ut in potestate haberent, et in libero arbitrio, mutari et fratri conjungi?
(Matt. 21:43). It will be taken away from Esau, and it will be given to Jacob. Esau was born hairy and shaggy, that is, full of sins; sins clung to him: but the other, in order to receive the primacy, took kids' skins upon his arms; and so the father blessed him, feeling his arms and finding him hairy. But those hairs and sins were carried by Jacob; they did not cling to Jacob. So, therefore, the Church of God also carries the sins of others, not her own, bearing with them until the end; just as the Lord Jesus Christ also carried those of others. And the father blessed the younger. And how did he bless? A holy mystery, of what kind they were to be. For the Scriptures want sharp eyes. He blessed his younger son: and he seems to have been deceived, as though he had blessed one in place of another. The one who had gone off to the hunt came, bringing what his father had ordered, and says: Father, eat, as you wished. Isaac said: Who are you? And he: I am Esau, your elder son. And he says: So you are Esau? Who then is he who brought me food, and I ate, and I blessed him, and he is blessed (Gen. 27:31–40)? Oh, to be angry with the deceiver! oh, to be angry with the cheat! Rather say: Why did he deceive me? why did he trick me? Let his brother take away that blessing, and let him be in evil plight. Does this thing, done in mystery, not cry out that the elder should serve the younger? So he too receives such a blessing. But he added: You shall be your brother's servant. When the other said, Are the blessings finished? bless me too; he says, Since I have made him such, what have I to give you? And he said: Bless me too, father. And he wrested it out, and received a blessing nearly similar, all abundance from the dew of heaven and the fertility of the earth. And he added at once, And you shall serve your brother. And it shall be so for you, when you loose his yoke from your neck. What is that which was said, And it shall be so for you, when you loose his yoke from your neck; except that he showed that those whom Esau prefigured were sinners in such a way that they had it in their power, and in free choice, to be changed and joined to their brother?
5. Judaei Christianorum servi. — Attendite mysterium. Ecce Judaeus servus est Christiani. Et hoc manifestum est, et implevit orbem terrarum, sicut videtis, Jacob. Et ut noveritis quia de futuro dicebantur ista, considerate ipsam historiam, et videte quia non sunt impleta in ipsis duobus, Major serviet minori (Id. XXV, 23). Ditatus enim legitur Esau multum, et regnare coepit in tota abundantia (Id. XXXVI, 7). Ille autem Jacob, ut pasceret oves alienas. Et cum coepisset redire, et timere fratrem suum, sicut modo legebatur, mittit munera nescio quanta pecorum, mittit et servum qui dicat, Ecce munera fratris tui (Id. XXXII, 18). Noluit eum videre, priusquam muneribus placaret; et postea illum acceptis muneribus vidit. Et cum ad eum Jacob venisset, adoravit eum a longe (Id. XXXIII, 3). Quomodo ergo, Major serviet minori, quando minor videtur adorare majorem? Sed ideo ista in historia non sunt impleta, ut intelligantur de futuro dicta. Minor filius accepit primatum, et major filius perdidit primatum. Ecce Jacob implevit terram,
5. The Jews are the servants of the Christians. — Attend to the mystery. See, the Jew is the servant of the Christian. And this is manifest, and Jacob has filled the whole world, as you see. And so that you may know that these things were spoken of the future, consider the history itself, and see that it was not fulfilled in those two themselves, The elder shall serve the younger (Gen. 25:23). For Esau is read to have been made very rich, and to have begun to reign in all abundance (Gen. 36:7). But Jacob, he [went off] to pasture another's sheep. And when he had begun to return, and to fear his brother, as was read just now, he sends I know not how many gifts of cattle, he sends also a servant to say, Behold the gifts of your brother (Gen. 32:18). He would not see him before he had appeased him with gifts; and afterwards, once the gifts were accepted, he saw him. And when Jacob had come to him, he bowed down before him from afar (Gen. 33:3). How then, The elder shall serve the younger, when the younger is seen to bow down before the elder? But the reason these things were not fulfilled in the history is so that they may be understood as spoken of the future. The younger son received the primacy, and the elder son lost the primacy. See, Jacob has filled the earth,
Editors' notes and page, col. 56
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 56
Mss., quales viri erant.
The manuscripts have quales viri erant.
(printed under page 32)
(2) ‹anchor: fratri conjungi› · call in col 56
Sic nostri omnes Mss. At editi, mutare se et fratri conjungi.
So all our manuscripts. But the printed editions have mutare se et fratri conjungi.
(printed under page 32)
(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 56
Forte, vili. [reading uncertain: the word is badly printed in the scan]
Perhaps, vili.
(printed under page 32)
(b) ‹anchor: Ille› · call in col 56
Forte, iit. [reading uncertain: the word is badly printed in the scan]
Perhaps, iit.
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tenuit gentes et regna. Jussit imperator Romanus, jam Christianus, ut ad ipsam Jerusalem non accederent Judaei. Et sparsi per orbem terrarum, facti sunt quasi custodes Librorum nostrorum. Quomodo servi, quando eunt in auditorium domini ipsorum, portant post illos codices, et foris sedent; sic factus est filius major filio minori. Nam aliquando movent aliqua in Scripturis; et de Judaeorum codicibus certi aliquid cognoscitur. Ideo ergo sparsi sunt, ut nobis Libros servent. Major ergo minori servit. Videte enim cum quanta dignitate sit populus Christianus, et in quanta defectione sit populus Judaeorum. Quando forte ausi sunt vel modicum movere se contra Christianos, quae illis contigerint audistis in recenti tempore. Ergo modo verum est, Major serviet minori. Quomodo ergo illa benedictio, Erit tibi a rore coeli et a fertilitate terrae? Quomodo minorem, sic et majorem benedixit. Sed majori dictum est, Et eris servus fratris tui. Et erit hoc, cum solveris jugum ejus a cervice tua. Quanti sunt qui solverunt jugum a cervice sua, et facti sunt fratres nostri. Quanti Judaei crediderunt, attendite. Et modo, si quem Judaeum inveneris, et evangelizaveris illi Dominum Jesum Christum, et crediderit, nonne solvit jugum a cervice sua? Et quanta hoc fecerunt primis temporibus fidei millia? Omnino qui tunc crediderunt, sicut legimus, ex servis facti sunt fratres et cohaeredes.
held nations and kingdoms. The Roman emperor, already a Christian, ordered that the Jews should not approach Jerusalem itself. And, scattered throughout the world, they have become as it were the custodians of our Books. Just as slaves, when their masters go into the lecture hall, carry the codices behind them and sit outside, so the elder son has become [this] to the younger son. For sometimes certain things in the Scriptures raise a difficulty, and from the codices of the Jews something certain is learned. That, then, is why they have been scattered: to keep the Books for us. So the elder serves the younger. For see with what great dignity the Christian people stands, and in what great decline the people of the Jews. When they perhaps dared to stir themselves even a little against the Christians, you have heard what befell them in recent times. So now it is true: The elder shall serve the younger. How then [stands] that blessing: It shall be yours from the dew of heaven and from the fruitfulness of the earth? As he blessed the younger, so he blessed the elder too. But to the elder it was said: And you shall be the servant of your brother. And this shall be when you loose his yoke from your neck. How many there are who have loosed the yoke from their neck and have become our brothers! How many Jews have believed, take note. And now, if you find some Jew and proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ to him as the gospel, and he believes, has he not loosed the yoke from his neck? And how many thousands did this in the first times of the faith? Altogether those who believed then, as we read, from slaves became brothers and co-heirs.
6. Lucta Jacob cum angelo. Non ergo Ecclesia quae dicit, Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta, ab Esau se vult discerni, a quo jam discreta est, sed a Christianis malis. Iste enim Jacob, in quo figuratur populus Christianus, audistis quemadmodum luctatus sit cum Domino. Dominus enim illi apparuit, id est, angelus gestans personam Dei: luctatus est cum illo, et volebat illum tenere et comprehendere. Luctabatur ille; praevaluit, et tenuit; cum teneret, non dimisit ⟨ni⟩si benedictus. Dominus det, fratres, explicare tantum mysterium. Luctatur, praevalet; et vult benedici ab eo cui praevaluit. Quid est ergo quod luctatur, et vult tenere? Ait Dominus in Evangelio, Regnum coelorum vim patitur, et qui vim faciunt, diripiunt illud (Matth. XI, 12). Hoc est quod dicebamus jamdudum: Luctare, ut teneas Christum, ut diligas inimicum (Supra, n. 3). Tenes enim Christum hic, si inimicum dilexeris. Et quid dicit ipse Dominus, id est, angelus in persona Domini, cum praevaleret, et teneret eum? Tetigit latitudinem femoris ejus, et exaruit, et ideo claudicabat Jacob. Dicit ei: Dimitte me, jam enim mane est. Et ille: Non
6. Jacob's wrestling with the angel. So the Church which says, Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from a nation not holy, does not wish to be distinguished from Esau, from whom she is already distinguished, but from bad Christians. For this Jacob, in whom the Christian people is figured, you have heard how he wrestled with the Lord. For the Lord appeared to him, that is, an angel bearing the person of God: he wrestled with him, and wished to hold him and seize him. He wrestled; he prevailed and held on; when he held him, he did not let go except being blessed. May the Lord grant, brothers, that so great a mystery be explained. He wrestles, he prevails, and he wishes to be blessed by him over whom he prevailed. What is it, then, that he wrestles and wishes to hold on? The Lord says in the Gospel: The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who do violence seize it (Matt. 11:12). This is what we were saying a while ago: Wrestle, so as to hold Christ, so as to love your enemy (above, n. 3). For you hold Christ here, if you love your enemy. And what does the Lord Himself say, that is, the angel in the person of the Lord, when [Jacob] was prevailing and holding him? He touched the broad part of his thigh, and it withered, and therefore Jacob was lame. He says to him: Let me go, for it is already morning. And he: Not
Editors' notes and page, col. 57
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: aliquando movent› · call in col 57
Editi, movent nos. Abest, nos, a Mss.
The printed editions have movent nos. Nos is absent from the manuscripts.
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(a) ‹anchor: non accederent Judaei› · call in col 57
Sirmondus hoc loco putat indicari Constantinum magnum, qui, teste Chrysostomo in 3 adversus Jud. homil., Judaeos, quod urbem suam contra interdictum instaurare aggressi essent, amputatis auriculis male multatos in diversas regiones sparsit, ut terrori caeteris essent, ne idem in posterum conarentur. Sed profecto Judaei Severo imperante jam erant patrio solo exclusi, ex Tertulliano in Apolog., cap. 21, et lib. contra Jud., cap. 13. Imo ipsos longe ante Severum Adrianus prohibuerat Jerosolymorum accessu, ex Eusebio, lib. 4 Histor., cap. 6. Itaque hic non singularem hominem, sed eum prae oculis habet Augustinus, qui Romanum imperium gerebat, eo quo loquitur aevo jam christianus.
Sirmond thinks that Constantine the Great is indicated in this place, who, as Chrysostom attests in the 3rd homily against the Jews, because the Jews had set about restoring their city against the prohibition, cut off their ears, punished them severely, and scattered them into various regions, to be a terror to the rest, lest they attempt the same thereafter. But certainly the Jews were already shut out of their native soil in the reign of Severus, according to Tertullian in the Apology, ch. 21, and in the book against the Jews, ch. 13. Indeed Hadrian, long before Severus, had forbidden them access to Jerusalem, according to Eusebius, History, book 4, ch. 6. And so Augustine here has before his eyes not one particular man, but whoever held the Roman empire, already a Christian in the age in which he is speaking.
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(b) ‹anchor: filio minori› · call in col 57
Vid. Enarr. in Psal. 40, n. 14, et in Psal. 56, n. 9.
See the Enarrationes on Psalm 40, n. 14, and on Psalm 56, n. 9.
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te dimitto, nisi benedixeris me. Et benedixit illum: quomodo? Mutando illi nomen. Non vocaberis Jacob, sed Israel: quoniam praevaluisti cum Deo, praevalebis et cum hominibus (Gen. XXXII, 24-28). Ista benedictio est. Videte unum hominem: ex parte tangitur, et arescit; et ex parte benedicitur. Ipse unus homo ex parte aruit, et claudicat; et ex parte benedicitur, et viget.
let you go, unless you bless me. And he blessed him: how? By changing his name. You shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: since you have prevailed with God, you shall prevail also with men (Gen. 32:24–28). This is the blessing. See one man: in one part he is touched, and withers; and in another part he is blessed. The one same man in one part has withered, and limps; and in another part is blessed, and is strong.
7. Angelus teneri nolens quid significet. Quid est autem (quantum Dominus suggerit, dicimus, sine praejudicio melioris intellectus): quid est, Ecce mane jam venit, dimitte me? Hoc est quod Dominus dicit post passionem mulieri, quae volebat illi tenere pedes: Noli me tangere; nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem (Joan. XX, 17). Quid est hoc? Nam et cum legeretur ipsa lectio, tractavi inde aliquando, quomodo diceretur, Noli me tangere; nondum ascendi ad Patrem. Quare? Nemo illum tetigit corporaliter, nisi cum ascendit ad Patrem? Adhuc hic erat, palpavit cicatrices discipulus qui non credebat. Quomodo ergo nolebat se tangi, nisi quia hoc figurate dictum est? Illa mulier Ecclesia erat: et hoc est, Noli me tangere, noli me carnaliter tangere; sed qualis sum, aequalis Patri. Noli me tangere: quia non me, sed carnem meam tangis. Dicit enim in evectione profectus sui Paulus, Et si noveramus secundum carnem Christum, sed nunc jam non novimus; et, Vetera transierunt, ecce facta sunt nova; omnia autem ex Deo (II Cor. V, 16-18). Quid est, Et si noveramus secundum carnem Christum, sed nunc jam non novimus? Quia quando eum carnaliter noveramus, non putabamus nisi quia homo erat tantum: at vero postquam gratia ejus illuxit nobis, intelleximus Verbum aequale Patri. Tenebat ergo, et luctabatur, quasi cum carnali habitu Jacob amplecti volens. Ille autem dicebat, Dimitte me; carnaliter: quia ecce jam mane est, ut spiritualiter illumineris: id est, Noli me putare hominem. Dimitte, quia jam mane est. Mane in luce veritatis intelleximus, et sapientiae, per quam facta sunt omnia. Ipsa perfrueris, cum nox ista transierit, hoc est, iniquitas hujus saeculi. Tunc enim fiet mane, cum venerit Dominus, ut ita a nobis videatur, quemadmodum ab Angelis videtur. Quia nunc videmus per speculum in aenigmate, tunc autem facie ad faciem (I Cor. XIII, 12). Teneamus ergo hoc, fratres, quod dictum est, Dimitte me, quia jam mane est. Sed ille quid dixit, Non te dimittam, nisi me benedixeris? Quia per carnem nos prius benedicit Dominus. Norunt fideles quid accipiunt; quia per carnem benedicuntur; et sciunt quia non essent benedicti, nisi caro illa crucifixa daretur pro saeculi vita. Quomodo autem benedicitur? Quia praevaluit Deo, quia tenuit fortiter, et perseveravit, et de manibus non dimisit, quod amisit Adam. Teneamus ergo, fideles, quod accepimus, ut benedici mereamur.
7. What the angel's unwillingness to be held signifies. But what is it (we say it as far as the Lord suggests, without prejudice to a better understanding): what is it, Behold, morning has now come, let me go? It is what the Lord says after the passion to the woman who wished to hold His feet: Do not touch Me; for I have not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17). What is this? For when that very reading was being read, I once treated from it how it was said, Do not touch Me; I have not yet ascended to the Father. Why? Did no one touch Him bodily except when He had ascended to the Father? He was still here, the disciple who did not believe felt His scars. How then did He not wish to be touched, unless because this was said figuratively? That woman was the Church: and this is, Do not touch Me, do not touch Me carnally; but [touch Me] as I am, equal to the Father. Do not touch Me: because you touch not Me, but My flesh. For Paul says in the elevation of his progress, And if we had known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know [Him]; and, The old things have passed away, behold, new things have been made; but all things are from God (2 Cor. 5:16–18). What is, And if we had known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know [Him]? Because when we knew Him carnally, we thought only that He was merely a man: but after His grace shone upon us, we understood the Word equal to the Father. So Jacob was holding on and wrestling, as if wishing to embrace Him in a carnal manner. But He was saying, Let Me go; carnally: for behold, it is now morning, that you may be enlightened spiritually: that is, Do not think Me a man. Let go, for it is now morning. Morning we have understood in the light of truth, and of wisdom, through which all things were made. You will enjoy it fully when this night has passed, that is, the iniquity of this age. For then it will be morning, when the Lord has come, so that He may be seen by us as He is seen by the angels. For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). Let us hold fast, then, brethren, to what was said, Let Me go, for it is now morning. But what did he say, I will not let you go unless you bless me? Because the Lord first blesses us through the flesh. The faithful know what they receive; that they are blessed through the flesh; and they know that they would not be blessed unless that flesh had been crucified and given for the life of the world. And how is he blessed? Because he prevailed over God, because he held on strongly, and persevered, and did not let go from his hands what Adam lost. Let us hold fast then, faithful ones, to what we have received, that we may deserve to be blessed.
8. Jacob et benedictus et claudicans. Pars arida
8. Jacob both blessed and limping. The withered part
Editors' notes and page, col. 58
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: carnali habitu› · call in col 58
In Mss., quasi cum carnali habitu.
In the manuscripts, quasi cum carnali habitu.
(printed under page 33)
(2) ‹anchor: putare hominem› · call in col 58
Sic in Mss. At in editis deerant isthaec verba, carnaliter: quia ecce jam mane est, ut spiritualiter illumineris: id est, Noli me putare hominem. Dimitte.—In B., super hanc vocem, hominem, notatur in margine, subaudi, « tantum. » M.
So in the manuscripts. But in the printed editions these words were wanting: carnaliter: quia ecce jam mane est, ut spiritualiter illumineris: id est, Noli me putare hominem. Dimitte. — In B., over this word hominem, it is noted in the margin: understand "only." M.
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