De Benedictionibus Jacob Patriarchae [Incertus]

ON THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCH JACOB. What is to be understood concerning the blessings with which the patriarch Jacob blessed his sons? Are they to be understood historically or allegorically, when he says, "Gather together, sons of Jacob, that I may announce to you what is to come in the last days" (Gen. 49:2)? And if from these words it seems to sound more allegorical than historical? Response. Both, indeed, both history and allegory: history concerning the division of the land of promise, which divisions were to be divided among their descendants; and allegory, concerning Christ and the Church in the last times to come. But the foundations of history must first be laid, so that the summit of allegory may be more fittingly superimposed upon the earlier structure. "Ruben, my firstborn, you are my strength, the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority. You have been poured out like water, do not increase; because you have mounted your father's couch and defiled his bed" (Gen. 49:4). The meaning, however, is this: You are my firstborn, greater among the children, and you ought, according to the order of your birth, to receive the priesthood and the kingdom, the inheritance which is due by right to firstborns. This indeed is shown in the bearing of honor and prevailing strength. But because you have sinned, and like water which is not held in any small vessel, you have flowed out in the rush of pleasure; therefore I command you that you sin no more, and that you be among the number of your brothers, paying the penalty for your sin, because you have lost the order of the firstborn.

The beginning of sorrow is every firstborn, because the bowels of the parents are stirred for him. Simeon and Levi are brothers, vessels of iniquity waging war. Let my soul not enter into their counsel, and let my glory not be in their assembly: because in their fury they killed a man, and in their will they undermined a wall. Cursed is their fury, because it is stubborn; and their indignation, because it is harsh. I will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel (Ibid., 5-7). It signifies, moreover, that it was not of their own counsel that they killed the federated men, Shechem and Hamor, and contrary to divine law shed innocent blood in a time of peace and friendships, and, as if seized by some fury, driven by cruelty, they overturned the walls of the host city (Id. XXXIV, 26). Hence he says, cursed is their fury, because it is stubborn, and the rest. And I will scatter them in Israel. For Levi did not receive his own inheritance, but had few cities to inhabit among all the scepters (Joshua xxi). Concerning Simeon, it is written in the book of Joshua that he also did not receive his own portion, but received something from the tribe of Judah (Id. xix, 1, 2). Judah, your brothers will praise you: your hands are on the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father will adore you. Judah is a lion's cub; for prey, my son, you have ascended, resting you have lain down like a lion, and like a lioness. For who will rouse him?

Because Judah is interpreted as confession or praise, it is rightly written of Judah: "Your brothers will confess you," or "they will praise you." And although there is a great mystery concerning Christ, nevertheless according to the letter it signifies that kings would be generated through the line of David, and that all tribes would adore him. For it does not say "sons of your mother," but "sons of your father." And what follows, "You have gone up for plunder, my son," shows that he would lead captive peoples, and according to a more sacred understanding, that he ascended on high and led captivity captive. Or, which I think better, captivity signifies the passion, the ascent signifies the resurrection. "Tying his foal to the vine, and his she-ass to the vine." That is, the foal of the ass on which Jesus sat (John 12:14), that is, the Gentile people, he joined to the vine of the Apostles, who are from the Jews; and he tied to the vine, or, as it is in the Hebrew, Soreth, that is, the chosen vine, the she-ass on which he sat, the Church gathered from the nations. But what it says, "My son," makes a conversion to Christ from Judah himself, because Christ is about to do everything. [For what is said, "The scepter will not be taken away from Judah, nor the leader from his loins, until the one who is to be sent comes; and he himself will be the expectation of the nations" (Gen.

(Genesis 49:8-11): It signifies that princes from the tribe of Judah would not fail until the time when Christ was born, who, sent by the Father, is the expectation of the nations. Zebulun will dwell on the seashore and at the anchorage of ships, reaching as far as Sidon. Issachar, a strong ass lying between the boundaries: he saw that rest was good, and that the land was excellent; and he put his shoulder to bearing, and became a serving tribe (Ibid., 13-15). Because above he had said that Zebulun would possess the shores of the great sea and would touch Sidon and the other cities of Phoenicia, now he returns to the inland province, and makes Issachar, who is to possess the most beautiful region in Galilee near Naphtali, a dweller by his blessing. He calls him a bony or strong ass, and says he put his shoulder to bearing; because he labored greatly in tilling the land and in transporting to the sea what was produced in his territories, also bringing tribute to the kings. The Hebrews say that by metaphor it is signified that, meditating on the Holy Scriptures day and night, he devoted his study to labor; and therefore all serve him, as if bearing gifts to a master. Dan will judge his people just as another tribe in Israel. Let Dan be a snake in the path, a horned viper on the trail, biting the horse's hoof so that its rider falls backward. I will await your salvation, O Lord (Gen. 49:16-18). Samson, a judge in Israel, was from the tribe of Dan (Judges 13:2).

Therefore, he says this: Now, seeing in spirit that your Nazirite Samson grows his hair, and after cutting down his enemies triumphs, that in the likeness of a serpent and a basilisk he blocks the roads and permits no one to pass through the land of Israel; but also if anyone reckless, trusting in his own strength like the speed of a horse, should wish to plunder it in the manner of a robber, he will not be able to escape. He speaks entirely through the metaphor of a serpent and a horse. Therefore, seeing your so strong Nazirite, that he died because of a harlot, and dying killed our enemies (Judges 16:30), I thought, O God, that he himself was Christ your Son: but because he died and did not rise again, and again Israel was led into captivity, another Savior of the world and of my race is to be awaited, that he may come for whom it is reserved, and he himself is the expectation of the nations. Gad, girded, will fight before him, and he himself will be girded from behind (Genesis 49:19). It signifies that Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the sons whom he had sent across the Jordan into possession, returning after fourteen years, found a great battle against them from the neighboring peoples, and having defeated the enemies, fought bravely. Read Joshua and Paralipomenon. Naphtali, a deer let loose, giving utterances of beauty; or, Naphtali, a well-watered field (Ibid., 21). The Hebrew word means both, Arata Seluha.

It signifies that hot waters arise in that tribe, or that the streams of the Jordan overflow the Lake of Gennesaret. The Hebrews, however, wish that because of Tiberias, which seemed to have knowledge of the Law, a watered field and eloquent words of beauty were prophesied. The released stag shows early crops and the swiftness of a more fertile land. But it is better if we refer everything to the teaching of the Savior, that the Savior taught there especially, as is also written in the Gospel (Matthew 4:15-16). My son Joseph increasing, my son increasing and fair of aspect: the daughters ran down upon the wall; but they provoked him, and quarreled, and envied him, having javelins. He sat in the stronghold of his bow, and the bonds of his arms and hands were loosened by the mighty hand of Jacob. Thence a shepherd went forth, the stone of Israel (Genesis 49:22-24). The sons of Joseph, who are so beautiful that the whole crowd of Egyptian maidens from houses and towers and windows look out at you, your brothers envied you and provoked you to anger, wounded by the arrows of envy and the darts of jealousy. But you placed your bow and your weapons of fighting in God, who is a strong fighter: and your bonds, with which your brothers bound you, were loosened and broken by him, so that from your seed the tribe of Ephraim is born, strong and steadfast, and like a harder stone unconquered, also ruling over the ten tribes of Israel.

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf: in the morning he will eat the prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoils (Ibid., 27). That this is a most manifest prophecy concerning the apostle Paul, which has been spoken, is clear to all; that in his youth he persecuted the Church, in his old age he was a preacher of the Gospel. The Hebrews, however, have said this: The altar on which victims were sacrificed, and the blood of the offerings was poured at its base, was in the portion of the tribe of Benjamin. This, they say, signifies that the priests sacrifice the victims in the morning, in the evening they divide those things which have been contributed to them by the law; placing the bloodthirsty wolf, the voracious wolf, upon the interpretation of the altar, and the divider of spoils upon the priests, who, serving the altar, live from the altar. This, however, is historical. Spiritually, however, in Reuben it shows the person of the prior people of the Jews, to whom it is said by the Lord, "Israel, my firstborn" (Gen. XLIX, 3; Exod. IV, 22). For indeed, according to what was due to the firstborn, it was his to receive the priesthood and the kingdom. It is added, "my strength." Certainly, because from that people the foundation of the faith, from that people the strength of God, who is Christ, came. How, however, is he himself the beginning of sorrows, unless because he always did injury to God the Father; because he turned his back to him, and not his face? He is first in the houses, because the words of God (Dom. III, 2), and the legislation, and the Testament or promise were first entrusted to him.

Go, greater in command; indeed, because of the greatness of their strength, since that same people ruled more abundantly than others in this world. But it was poured out like water, sinning against Christ, which is not held in a vessel: it was poured out by the impulse of pleasure, so that for that reason it added, "Do not grow further"; because that people, after it was scattered throughout the whole world, was greatly diminished. But why it deserved such things, he subjoined thus: "Because you ascended the bed of your father." Moreover, it proclaims the audacity of the firstborn people, who ascended the bed of their father and stained his couch, when the Lord's body, in which the fullness of divinity was reposing (Colossians 2:9), was seized on the cross and defiled with iron. Simeon and Levi, brothers, vessels of iniquity waging war. By Simeon and Levi are understood the Scribes and Pharisees and Priests of the Jewish people. For the Scribes of the Jews were from Simeon, and from the tribe of Levi were the chief priests, who formed a plan to seize Jesus by deceit and kill him. Concerning which plan he says, "Let my soul not enter into their counsel": for he shuddered at such great crimes, which the Jews were about to commit in the last times. Because in their fury they killed the man: that is, Christ, of whom it is said, "Behold the man, whose name is Orient" (Zechariah 6:12); and elsewhere, "A woman will encompass a man" (Jeremiah 31:22). They undermined the wall: that is, they pierced with a lance that most strong spiritual wall which guards Israel.

Cursed is their fury, because it is stubborn: indeed, when inflamed with fury and anger, they offered Christ to Pontius Pilate, saying, "Crucify, crucify." And their indignation, because it is harsh: while they demanded Barabbas the robber and demanded that the prince of life be crucified. I will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel: because some of them believed, some remained in unbelief. For those who separate from them and come to the faith are said to be divided; but those whose homeland and temple have been overthrown, and whose unbelieving race is scattered throughout the world, are said to be scattered. Judah, your brothers will praise you. Through this Judah, the true confessor Christ is expressed, who was born from his tribe according to the flesh. His brothers will praise him: namely, the Apostles and all his co-heirs, who through the adoption of the Father have become sons of God, and brothers of Christ through grace, of whom he himself is the Lord by nature. Your hands on the necks of your enemies: for with those same hands and with the same trophy of the cross, he both covered his own and bent the enemies and adversarial powers. According to which the Father also promises him, saying, "Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a footstool for your feet" (Ps. 109:1-2). The sons of your father will adore you: when many of the sons of Jacob adore him, saved through the election of grace (Rom. 11:5). The lion cub of Judah: when by being born he became a little child, as it is written, "A little child has been born to us" (Isa. 9:6).

To the prey, my son, you ascended: that is, ascending the cross, you redeemed captive peoples; and those whom the adversary had invaded, you, dying, snatched away; finally, returning from the underworld, you ascended on high, leading captivity captive (Ps. 67; Eph. 4:8). Resting, you lay down, like a lion: most manifestly Christ lay down in the passion, when with bowed head he gave up the spirit; and when in the tomb he rested secure, as if in a certain bodily sleep. But why like a lion, and like a lion's cub? In his sleep he was a lion, when he accomplished this not by necessity, but by power, as he himself says: No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down (John 10:18). And what he adds, And like a lion's cub: for he died whence he was born. Well, therefore, did Christ rest like a lion, who not only did not shrink from the bitterness of death, but even in death itself conquered the dominion of death. And what he says, Because he will raise it up? because no one but he himself, according to what he says: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will revive it (John 2:19). The leader from Judah will not fail, and the rest. This is most manifestly referred to Judah. For a long time there was from his seed an unblemished succession of the kingdom among the Jews, until Christ was born, as we said above. Tying his foal to the vine. His foal is the people from the Gentiles, upon whom the burden of the Law had never yet been imposed. He joined this to the vine, that is, to the Apostles who are from the Jews.

For the vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:7). And to the vine his she-ass. He says, I am the true vine (John 15:1). To this vine, therefore, he ties his she-ass, namely the slow-paced synagogue, weighed down by the heavy burden of the Law. He washed his robe in wine: either his flesh in the blood of the passion, or the holy Church in that wine which will be poured out for many in remission of sins. And in the blood of the grapes his cloak. The cloak is the Gentiles, whom he joined to his body: as it is written, I live, says the Lord, unless I clothe myself with all these as with a garment. His eyes are more beautiful than wine. The eyes of Christ are the Apostles and Evangelists, who provide the light of knowledge to the Church: their precepts surpass the austerity of the wine of the ancient Law, because they are far lighter. And his teeth are whiter than milk. The teeth are the holy teachers, who cut men off from errors and, as if by eating, transmit them into the body of Christ. Moreover, the teachers of the Church have been made whiter by the milk of the old Law. Zabulon will dwell on the seashore and at the station of ships. Zabulon is interpreted as Dwelling of strength, and signifies the Church. She dwells on the seashore and at the station of ships, so that she may be a refuge for believers and show the harbor of faith to those in peril.

This, with unshaken firmness, looks upon the shipwreck of the Jews and the storms of heretics, who are carried about by every wind of doctrine; and though it is beaten by the waves, it is not broken. It extends, moreover, as far as Sidon, that is, as far as the Gentiles. It is also read in the Gospel that some Apostles were taken from there, and that the Lord often taught in those places, as it is written: The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtalim, a people who sat in darkness saw a great light (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:15ff.). Sidon is interpreted as Hunter or Huntress. Who are the hunters, if not the Apostles? Who, as we said above, were taken from those places, of whom it is said: I will send many hunters, and they will hunt you on every mountain (Jeremiah 16:16). Issachar, a strong ass. Issachar, which is interpreted as Price, refers to the people of the Gentiles, whom the Lord purchased with the price of his blood. This Issachar is written as a strong ass, because the Gentile people were at first like a brute and lascivious animal, standing on no reason, but afterwards willingly bore the yoke of evangelical discipline. Here, lying between the boundaries, he saw that rest was good, and the land very good. But to lie between the boundaries is to await the end of the world in rest, to seek nothing of those things which are now in the midst, but to desire the ultimate things.

The strong ass sees rest and the best land, when simple gentility raises itself to the strength of good work because it tends toward the homeland of eternal life. Hence it also puts its shoulder to the plow, because, as it desires to reach the promised rest, it willingly bears all the burdens of the commandments. Hence it has become a servant of tributes, that is, offering to Christ the king the gifts of its faith and the offerings of good works. Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes in Israel. Let Dan be a serpent on the path, a horned viper in the byway, and the rest. Some say that the Antichrist is foretold through these words from this tribe, because in this place Dan is asserted to be both a serpent and a biter, and because among the tribes of Israel Dan first encamped to the north (Num. 2:25), signifying him who says he sits in the sides of the north, and of whom the prophet says figuratively, From Dan the neighing of his horses was heard (Jer. 8:16). He is called not only a serpent, but also a horned viper. For *cerata* in Greek means horns. Therefore that serpent is said to be horned, through whom the Antichrist is worthily asserted, because against the life of the faithful he will be armed with the bite of pestilential preaching and also with the horns of power. But who does not know that a byway is narrower than a path?

Dan becomes a snake on the path, because in the breadth of the present life it provokes them to walk, to whom it flatters as if sparing them: but it bites on the path, because it consumes with the poison of its error those to whom it grants liberty. It becomes a cerastes in the footpath, because it attacks those whom it finds faithful and who constrain themselves within the narrow ways of the heavenly precept, not only with the wickedness of crafty persuasion, but also oppresses them with the terror of power; and in the harshness of persecution, after the benefits of feigned sweetness, it exercises the horns of power. That horse whose hooves the cerastes is said to bite signifies this world, which through its own pride foams in the course of fleeting times. And because Antichrist strives to seize the extremities of this world, this cerastes is said to bite the horse's hooves. For to bite the horse's hooves is to strike and touch the ends of the age. So that its rider falls backward. The unbelieving people of Judea, caught in the snares of their own error, await Antichrist instead of Christ. Well does Jacob in the same place suddenly turn into the voice of the elect, saying, I will await your salvation, O Lord: that is, not as the unfaithful await Antichrist; but I faithfully believe in the true Christ, who is to come for our redemption. Amen.