On the Blessings of the Patriarchs

The blessing of Reuben.

Reuben, my firstborn; thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in dominion. The sense of the letter is clear, since blessed Jacob received Reuben as his first son by Lia his wife: who, if he had conducted himself worthily of so great a father, the birthright and the kingdom would have belonged to him. Hence he calls him firstborn, as one to whom the gifts of the firstborn were owed. But he also names him his strength, because the vigor of dominion ought to have inclined toward him. However, he did not utter these things indicatively, as though he either foresaw or wished that things would be so; but that he might exhort him to penitence through these words, when he should recall from how great a dignity he had fallen by sinning.

Hence he says: and the beginning of my sorrow. For the beginning of his sorrow was that, the reins of chastity being broken, he rushed unbridled to defile his father's wife: which deed is to be believed to have stung him with no small sorrow. And it is rightly called the beginning of sorrow, because the remaining brothers too were accused by blessed Joseph before their father of a most wicked crime.

And what he says: excelling in gifts, pertains to the birthright, which was owed to him as the firstborn. But what he adds: greater in dominion, plainly declares that it belonged to him that kings of the rest of the brothers should be raised up from his seed.

And what he says: thou art poured out as water, has this sense: As water, which is not contained by a vessel, flows in whatever direction, and where a lower place presents itself, falls there with its whole force; so thou didst contain thy lust by no marital measure, but wherever the impulse of pleasure enticed thee, there thou didst pour out the sink of thy concupiscence. But when he adds: mayest thou not increase, he forbids him further from such and similar shamefulness. Whence also the Lord says to Cain: hast thou sinned? Be still.

To what these things tend, the following words attest: Because thou didst go up to thy father's couch, and didst defile his bed. For plainly by these words the crime of incest, which he had committed with Bala, his father's concubine, is set forth with aggravation. And lest this perhaps seem forced to anyone, because it was said beforehand: I will announce to you the things that are to come in the last days; let him hear what the book of Paralipomenon says on this matter: The sons also of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: for he indeed was his firstborn: but since he had defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, and he was not reckoned as the firstborn.

Typically, however, this Reuben the firstborn designates the Jewish people, who was the firstborn of God, according to that which the Lord says of him to Moses: Israel is my firstborn son; and blessed Jeremiah: Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase. Who was his strength, when in the Patriarchs and Prophets and all other most valiant men he fought bravely against idolatry and the impure throng of all vices.

Who nevertheless afterward became the beginning of his sorrow, when, at the coming of the Savior, remaining in unbelief, he refused with swollen mind to receive his teaching. Whence the Lord, seeing the city of Jerusalem, is said to have wept, and at the raising of Lazarus is reported to have shed tears for the blindness of that people.

But when it is said, excelling in gifts, it is shown indeed that this same people preceded in the gifts conferred by God: but that there would follow the Church of the Gentiles, which was to be endowed with the same and much greater charisms. But when it is added, greater in dominion, it is not to be wondered at if that nation is honored, which first believed by the prerogative of the fathers, since blessed Paul the Apostle says that in every way it is much more the Jew.

He adds meanwhile: Thou art poured out as water, considering in mind the unbridledness of that people, which was in no way restrained by the vessel of the law and of the divine precepts to a measure; but, casting off the bonds of all the precepts of God, poured out with all effort the streams of its speech unto the killing of the Savior. For that speech, whether good or bad, is signified by water, divine Scripture bears witness, which says of the good: The words from the mouth of a man are as deep waters; and likewise of the bad: He who lets out water is the beginning of strife. But what he adds: mayest thou not increase, shows that this same people, as we also see with our eyes, is diminished to a very small number among all nations.

Why he suffered these things, the following words attest: Because thou didst go up to thy father's couch, and didst defile his bed. By the father's couch we understand the flesh of the Savior. Nor is it a wonder. By the father's couch he understands the Gentiles, and the Lord's body, because this same people was created by him: for it is written of him: All things were made through him. And by the bed the same body is understood, which was, as it were, defiled by the Jews, when, at their acclamation, the Lord was both hung upon the cross and pierced by the lance, and was drenched with his own blood.

The blessing of Simeon and Levi.

Simeon and Levi, brothers, vessels of iniquity waging war. The sense of the letter is clear: because these two brothers, in order to avenge the violation of their sister, deceived Sichem and his father Hemor under a well-arranged peace and feigned friendships. He calls them vessels of iniquity waging war, because it was exceedingly unjust to have pretended friendship, and afterward to have betrayed it.

Let not my soul come into their counsel; that is, cursing all feigned peace. Whence also blessed David makes imprecation against all such feigners: Who speak peace with their neighbor, but evils are in their hearts. Give to them according to their works. But what he adds: And into their assembly let not my glory come; he was unwilling indeed to glory in such a victory, and rather in such slaughter, in which the valor of a warrior could not be praised, but rather the falsity of a deceiver be exposed.

Because in their fury they killed a man, and in their self-will they undermined a wall. By the man Sichem must be understood, and by him all who were slain on his account. The undermining of the wall is not indeed read in the book of Genesis as having been carried out there in that place: but this was drawn from the custom of warriors, who from afar, the earth being undermined by tunnels, are wont to destroy the foundations of walls and set fire to them, whereby the burnt stones bring down the firmness and stability of the walls.

Now let us see with how great a censure this deed is struck. Cursed, he says, be their fury, because it is stubborn; and their indignation, because it is hard. For their fury proved stubborn, because it could neither be soothed by blandishments, nor mitigated by gifts. And their indignation was shown to be hard, since it could not be softened even by the slaying of those who had committed the outrage, but did not hesitate rather to rage against the whole city.

But what he says: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel, properly pertains to Levi, who was dispersed through the whole of Israel, not having received a portion of his own, but by dwelling in the cities and suburbs of them, as is said here, he was dispersed and divided. For it is the custom of sacred Scripture, when speaking of those who cleave to it, to foretell in general those things which are wont to happen not to all, but to some. Whence also the Lord says to James and John: Can you drink the cup which I am about to drink? My cup indeed, he says, you shall drink. Yet John did not drink the cup of the passion by the shedding of blood.

But as far as pertains to the prophecy of things to come, by Simeon and Levi the Scribes and Pharisees are designated: for it is clear that the princes of the priests were of Levi. Who were vessels of iniquity waging war, having a heart, according to the Lord's reproach, full of iniquity and rapine. But they warred against the Lord not with a battle of arms, but with crafty guile, seeking how they might overthrow with false arguments the truthful words and deeds of the Lord.

Which the holy man detesting says: let not my soul come into their counsel; that is, cursing that counsel which the Jews, gathering together, spoke: What do we do, because this man works many signs? And the rest. And he was unwilling that his glory should be in their assembly; unwilling, that is, to glory in their multitude, who, the more numerous they were, the worse they were: even then fulfilling in deed the sense of Scripture, which says: Glory not in wicked sons, if they be multiplied.

He renders the reason, moreover, why he abominates the counsel and assembly of such men, saying: Because in their fury they killed a man, and in their self-will they undermined a wall. For in their fury they killed a Man, namely the Lord Savior, of whom Zachariah says: Behold the Man: the Orient is his name, crying out to Pilate: away with him, away with him, crucify him. And in their self-will they undermined a wall, because, fulfilling their own will, they both crucified the Lord and pierced his side. Which wall is rightly called ours, because by its defense we are guarded from the hostilities of spiritual enemies. Of which it is promised to holy Church in these words: The city of our strength is Sion the Savior: a wall and a rampart shall be set upon it.

Which deed the holy man pierces through with a most powerful spearpoint of curse, saying: Cursed be their fury, because it is stubborn; and their indignation, because it is hard. For they had a stubborn fury, and a hard indignation, because they could neither be brought by divine miracles to believe him to be God, nor did they spare, in persecuting him even unto death, one who was as an innocent man doing them no harm.

But what he adds: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel; this is what we now see. This same people, disinherited from their ancestral soil, pays throughout all nations, for a testimony to our faith, the penalties of its faithlessness. Which also blessed David prophesied in the psalm, in the person of our Lord, saying: My God hath shown me concerning my enemies: slay them not, lest at any time they forget thy law: scatter them by thy power. And rightly are they said to be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel; because the holy Church, which is the supplanter of vices, is rightly called Jacob; and that which strives to see God in purity of mind is called by the name Israel; through which the Jews wander divided and scattered; which, spread abroad in the four quarters of heaven, sustains them wandering daily.

The blessing of Judah.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you: your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies. The sons of your father shall bow down to you. By these words the modesty of this man is shown according to the letter, and likewise his abundance of strength: because, namely, in dealing civilly with his brothers, he was seen to have such modesty that he was held worthy of praise by all—which is difficult, that is, to have the goodwill of all among so many brothers. But he also so abounded in fortitude that he was able to bend the necks of his enemies. That he was very powerful also in eloquence, the speech testifies, by which he pleaded before Joseph his own and his brothers' necessity. Moreover the historian Josephus relates that he was able to do very much with words. Furthermore, that he was held preeminent in strength among his brothers, the Chronicles testify, which relate in this manner: Now Judah, who was the strongest among his brothers, from his stock princes sprang forth.

But what follows: The sons of your father shall bow down to you, plainly entrusts to Judah the kingdom which had been taken away from Reuben, saying that he was to be bowed down to by his remaining brothers—which certainly befits royal dignity.

But mystically, through Judah was already then prefigured he who was born of his stock according to the flesh, our Lord and Savior; whom all his brothers praise, that is, those believing in him: whence he himself, first among those who believed in him, directed a command through the women from the tomb, saying: Go, and tell my brothers. But lest we think this dignity attributed only to the apostles, that they be called his brothers; he himself testifies that this dignity is to be given to all who believe in him, saying: Whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother. Him therefore his brothers praise; that is, the whole Church, which still on earth is exiled from the heavenly inheritance, or which has already gone ahead to heaven. Whence the psalm: Let the heavens and the earth praise him. And in the Apocalypse John: Give praise to our God, all his servants, and you who fear him, small and great.

Whose hand is on the necks of his enemies; because, according to the testimony of the Gospel: The Father has given all things into his hands. He himself also agrees with these words, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. And the Father speaks to him: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet. Whom the sons of his father adore; that is, all who through him are adopted into the dignity of sons, according to what the Apostle says: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

There follows: Judah is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, you have gone up: resting you have lain down as a lion, and as a lioness: who shall rouse him? As far as concerns the surface of the letter, the strength of the kings descended from the stock of Judah is prefigured by these words: such as we read blessed David to have been, and blessed Hezekiah, and each of the others who, most humbly serving the Godhead, subdued the forces of their enemies by his gift, like a lion and a lioness, and became so terrifying to enemies that no one dared to provoke them to battle, as though they were resting: the books of Kings are witnesses of this matter.

But typologically he calls the Lord Savior a lion's whelp, as though sprung from a leonine lineage; that is, begotten of royal stock. And well is he called a lion's whelp, whose nature is said to be that, newly born, it sleeps for three days, then, roused by the father's roar, rises up. This figure most beautifully corresponds to the Lord's sleep; by which, sleeping for three days, he cries out to the Father: But you, Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up. But once raised he went up to the prey; because, despoiling hell, he carried up with him to the heights, triumphing, all the just as an excellent prey. As a lion, and as a lioness he lay down; because he who wished to sleep through the flesh in the tomb, triumphed over his enemies like a victorious lion. And what follows: Who shall rouse him, is understood as meaning, except the Father?

For no one—I do not say of mortal men, but not even any of the Angels—except him of whom the apostle Peter said to the Jews: Whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he come who is to be sent: and he shall be the expectation of the nations. This sentence is understood by the faithful more clearly than light, because for so long the people was ruled by rulers and leaders of its own nation, until our Lord and Savior should come, who was to be sent by the Father. He who is the expectation of the nations; because, namely, God the Father waited so long for the nations unto repentance, until through the coming of his Son he should recall them from the worship of idolatry to knowledge of himself.

For whether the Jews were led away to Babylon, they always had rulers over them from their own nation; or whether they returned from Babylon, until the foreign king Herod was set over them: and their chief affairs were governed by the high priests, until it came to Aristobulus, who, first after the return from Babylon, being high priest, placed a diadem upon himself and declared himself king. And likewise his successors, until, with Jewish affairs collapsing, and Hircanus, the last king of the Jews, being reduced to extreme evils, Herod, a foreigner, received the Jewish kingdom from Caesar Augustus. In whose time, according to this prophecy and the testimony of the Gospel, he who was to be sent, our Lord and Savior, came.

Binding his colt to the vine, and his ass's foal, O my son, to the choice vine. By this arrangement of words it is shown that blessed Jacob is not speaking to Judah, but rather concerning him who was to be sent; for one speaking to a son who says, O my son, and adds your colt or your ass, most manifestly speaks of him whom he had foretold above was to be sent: whom we read to have used, when coming into Jerusalem, an ass and a colt, yet neither of them were bound to a vine or a choice vine. It remains, therefore, that nothing historical be sought in these words, but that the whole be understood as spoken typologically. For the Lord and Savior bound his colt to the vine, when he subjected the untamed people of the nations to the precepts of the Apostles, who were begotten from the Jewish vine, of which Isaiah says: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel.

He also bound to the vine, that is, to the Church, his ass, that is, the Synagogue, which at the end of the age, recalling it from unbelief, oppressed under the yoke of the law, he shall subject to the discipleship of the Church, and so there shall be one flock, and one shepherd; and according to the testimony of blessed Zechariah, those two rods shall be joined together, and shall become one in the hand of the Lord.

He shall wash his garment in wine, and his cloak in the blood of the grape. It is well known to be an idiom of Hebrew speech that one and the same thing is repeated in different words, as here. For what is wine, but the blood of the grape? But as much as the surface of the letter is inconsistent (for no one washes either a garment or a cloak in wine), so much the more is it commended by a more gracious understanding within. For the Savior washed his garment in wine, and his cloak in the blood of the grape, because, hanging on the cross, he wished the sacred flesh which was his garment to be drenched with his own blood.

There follows: His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. The Savior's eyes are proclaimed more beautiful than wine, because the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are conferred through Christ are proven more excellent than the wine of the law. For that the Savior's eyes signify the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Zechariah testifies, saying: Upon one stone there are seven eyes; which Isaiah enumerates, saying: The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. These are more beautiful than the wine of the law that failed at the wedding, because through the law comes the knowledge of sin, but through the grace of the Holy Spirit its remission is granted to us. And according to the Gospel, the law indeed was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

But what is said: And his teeth whiter than milk: by the teeth must be understood the preachers of the New Testament, who, breaking up spiritual foods—that is, expounding them—send down to us many very useful things into the belly of memory. Milk, however, not unfittingly is taken as the doctrine of the Old Testament, which was seasoned for the still-beginning people, as yet too weak for perfect food. Jesus therefore has teeth whiter than milk, because he made the preachers of his Church conspicuous with the cleanness of purity. For how far the followers of the Gospel differ from those observing the legal ordinances, blessed Peter is witness, who says: You could not be justified in the law: in this, everyone who believes is justified. These teeth, therefore, are white, because, washed in the font of baptism, they are rendered most pure from the stains of sins. But of the observers of the law nothing of the sort is related; rather it is only said, that Whoever shall do these things, shall live in them.

Moreover, all who serve the law carnally are under a curse, that same Law saying terribly: Cursed is everyone who does not continue in the commandments of this law, to do the things that are written in it.

The Blessing of Zebulun.

Zebulun shall dwell on the shore of the sea, and in the harbor of ships, reaching as far as Sidon. According to the history, the location of that lot which he was to receive in the land of promise, by God's gift, is foretold: namely, that the land of his possession would begin on one side from the sea, and be bounded on the other by the torrent, as is manifestly declared in the book of Joshua the son of Nun, where the distributions of their possessions are marked out: whence also mention is made here of Sidon, which is adjacent to the sea.

But according to mystical understandings, Zebulun signifies the firstfruits of the holy Church; from whose tribe some of the holy Apostles are believed to have been, because they dwelt constantly on the shore of the sea, inasmuch as, gaining their livelihood from it by hand and craft, they were called by the Lord to the summit of the apostolate, according to the prophecy of blessed David saying: The princes of Judah their leaders, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. They also dwell in the harbor of ships, because they rest trustingly in secure peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. For ships are understood to be the Church, which in a most trustworthy harbor seek and find their Lord, the port of salvation. And well is it added: Reaching as far as Sidon; because, namely, this same holy Church was not confined to one corner of the world, but by growing arrived even unto the peoples of the nations.

For Sidon is interpreted "hunting," signifying, as has been said, the gentile world following the worship of idolatry with wild-beast-like manners, as though pursuing the dens of the desert. Which afterward, by the net of the Lord's preaching, and the barking of the holy Apostles, deserved to be admitted within the enclosures of the holy Church.

The Blessing of Issachar.

Issachar is a strong ass lying down between the borders. He saw that rest was good, and the land that it was excellent, and he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, and became a servant to tribute. By these words this tribe is signified as one about to give itself to the study of the law's teaching, and to be more readily moved to the searching out of God's commandments. For it is said to have seen that rest was good, and the land that it was excellent; that is, to have tasted in mind how sweet it was to occupy the mind with God's commandments. And therefore it is said to have bowed its shoulder to bear burdens, that is, to have turned its mind with all effort to searching out the words of the divine utterance: and by this to have brought gifts and honor to it, as to a master and teacher, from all who were beneath it.

The book of Chronicles agrees with this understanding, which says thus of this tribe: Of the sons of Issachar also, men learned, who knew each season, to direct what the princes ought to do, two hundred leaders.

Now this ass bears the type of the strong gentile people, which before it had the Lord as its rider was brutish, and impatient of bridles was borne along at its own pleasure. But after it deserved to have the Lord as its rider, it borrowed from him the name of a strong ass. It saw that rest was good, hearing from its rider: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. And it looked upon the land, that it was very good; because, having left behind the empty teachings of the philosophers, it turned itself most zealously to the reading of sacred Scripture. Whence, because it learned among other things that it is not the hearers of the law who are justified, it is added: it put its shoulder under to bear the burden; that is, it subjected the whole of its power to the divine commandments, and especially in the love of God and neighbor. For the neighbor is not loved if he is not borne.

And it is added: and became a servant unto tribute; for it pays, as it were, a certain tribute daily, hearing from the Apostle: Render to all their dues: to whom fear, fear; to whom honor, honor; to whom tribute, tribute; and the rest.

The Blessing of Dan.

Dan shall judge his people, as also another tribe of Israel. Let Dan be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, biting the horse's heels, that its rider may fall backward. I will wait for thy salvation, O Lord.

Historically indeed it is foretold not only of the other nobler tribes, but also of Dan, that he would be a future prince to Israel, and by way of description it is set forth what manner of man he would be. For Samson is prefigured by these words, who was after the manner of a snake and a terrible serpent: and that he might be represented as more terrible, he is described as horned on account of his surpassing power and strength. There, then, in the time of his rule he beset the ways and paths of the Israelite kingdom, lest any of the enemies should presume by force to invade the land of his dominion. But if any more savage foe, trusting in his own swiftness and strength as of a horse, wished to attack him, presently, his soles being gnawed away and the strength of his footing consumed, he would cast his pursuer down to the ground.

And lest anyone, deceived by error, should think him more than a man, presently he added, saying who truly was the prince to be awaited: I will wait for thy salvation, O Lord; whose type indeed this man in some part anticipated.

Now this Dan prefigures Antichrist, who is to be as a serpent in the way, and a horned snake in the path: because to those walking in the way and path of God's commandments he sets himself, as far as in him lies, as an obstacle, armed with a twofold cunning against them: for in the serpent his craftiness is prefigured, because he seeks cunningly to deceive those who hold to the way of the Lord by the tread of their works. But in the horns his fury is shown, which he will use against those whom he could not deceive by cunning contrivance. For cerastes in Greek are called cornua (horns) in Latin; and therefore this serpent is described as horned. When therefore Antichrist, coming, shall have done great signs before the eyes of onlookers, and brought down fire from on high, he is a serpent in the way.

But when he turns to inflict punishments and torments on those who do not believe him, he becomes a horned snake in the path; because he strives with the horns of his power to subdue to himself those walking along the narrow path of the Lord. And while he exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, he bites the horse's heels, that its rider may fall backward: because he takes away worldly glory from those who do not consent to him for this purpose, that, enticed by the love of present goods, they may fall there, where they do not see. For to fall backward is to rush, in a desperate and shameless way, into a place where you do not see, and afterward to come into outer darkness. For he who falls upon his face blushes for what has been done behind him; but he who falls backward, as we have already said, with impenitent heart nurses wrath for himself unto the day of wrath.

And lest anyone, on account of the great loftiness of his miracles, should think Antichrist ought to be worshipped as God, he added: I will wait for thy salvation, O Lord; as if to say: although Antichrist shines with many marks of miracles, yet for me it is Thy salvation, which in Hebrew is called Jesus, that is to be awaited, that coming he may crush his power with eternal chastisement, and finding me among his faithful ones, may grant me a blessed dwelling.

The Blessing of Gad.

Gad, being girded, shall fight before him, and he himself shall be girded backward. The literal sense is plain to readers of the Book of Joshua the son of Nun; because Gad, who sought and received from Moses an inheritance beyond the Jordan, deserved to obtain it on this condition, that, girded with arms, he should go before Israel, joined with Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh, fighting against adversaries; which afterward he did under Joshua. Yet, the enemies having been subdued, when he returned back to his own possession, he was compelled to withstand the incursions of the neighboring peoples. This, then, is what is said, that first he was girded and fought before his brothers, and afterward was girded again for battles.

Spiritually, however, it signifies the elect from among the Jews, who stood forth as, so to speak, leaders for the new people, and led them into the land once promised. Such were the prophets and holy patriarchs, who pierced with the arrows of their words idolatry, the mother of all vices, and its innumerable offspring. Who nevertheless will be girded again upward, because in the last times, when the fullness of the Gentiles has entered in, they will be roused to renewed conflicts, which are to be theirs with Antichrist and his satellites. For now they do not have their inheritance across the streams of the Jordan, because through the grace of Baptism they do not enter the Church, but remain dwelling apart from their brothers, abiding in the ceremonies of the law.

The Blessing of Asher.

Asher, his bread is fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings. According to the letter, indeed, fertility of land seems to be promised to this tribe; for it had in the lot of its possession Mount Carmel, notable for its fertility; and it likewise bordered on the sea, and thereby it is not doubtful that it offered to its kings the dainties of both sea and land, in which it itself abounded.

By these words, however, are foretold the holy men who were to come from the Synagogue, whose bread is fat; that is, the prophetic teaching overflowing with the fatness of the Holy Spirit. One of whom, inflamed with insatiable eagerness, cried out: Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness. They minister their dainties to kings; because to those who desire to hold the kingdom of just moderation in themselves and in those subject to them, they show forth beforehand the royal rule.

The Blessing of Naphtali.

Naphtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty. As blessed Jerome teaches, we learn that in the Hebrew it is not "a hart let loose," but "a well-watered field," and that by "a well-watered field" is signified the abundance of hot waters, which most plentifully well forth in the outskirts of Tiberias. Yet the tradition of the Hebrews is that this city was most devoted to the divine commandments; and thereby the well-watered field signifies the most abundant teaching of the teaching masters, which was wont to inebriate the hearts of the ignorant, like a certain stream, to bring forth the fruits of understanding; and this is set forth below, when it says: giving words of beauty.

But we understand by Naphtali the holy preachers of the Church, who, sent to the holy Church, knew how to make leaps of understanding after the manner of harts, and to climb undauntedly the mountains of contemplation, and thus to give words of beauty to the peoples: so that what they learned, lifted up in the height of contemplation, this they might diligently minister to those placed below.

The Blessing of Joseph.

Joseph is a growing son, a growing son, and comely to behold. According to the letter, indeed, blessed Jacob foresaw that the tribe of Joseph would abound in innumerable offspring; whence he was also father of two tribes, as he had foretold above in blessing them. Whence, as if blessing two tribes, he repeated: a growing son.

Now it is established that Joseph in type went before the Savior, because he feeds Egypt, failing with famine, with the grain of the word of God: and, sold by his brothers the Jews, even to this day he nourishes the Church of the Gentiles. To whom it is said, a growing son, and comely to behold: for he, the Son of God, who is likewise the Son of Man, grew in a certain manner, when he took to himself the people of Israel—who through the transgression of the law dishonored God—in the Apostles and the rest of the faithful of that time. He is likewise a growing son, when also among the Gentiles he spread abroad the knowledge of his name, and in them grows even to the end of the world through the illumination of faith and works. And this same Joseph is comely to behold, because he is beautiful above the sons of men in form.

The daughters ran to and fro upon the wall. But they provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him, having darts. As far as pertains to the deed itself, he calls his brothers "daughters" on account of the disgrace of their inhumanity. For it was not of a manly and firm resolve to wish either to destroy an innocent brother or to sell him; but rather of feminine fickleness. They ran to and fro upon the wall, because they thought they had found an invincible plan concerning him, that he should not be their future king. They provoked him, stripping him of his coat of many colors, and afflicting him with unworthy insults. They quarrelled with him, and envied him, having darts: Shalt thou indeed be our king? Or shall we be subject to thy rule? Whence above it was said: His brethren therefore envied him. And they had darts; that is, hearts prepared to do harm. Whence of the Jews desiring to kill the Lord it is said: The arrows of little children have become their wounds.

According to the mystical sense, however, the daughters are understood as the Jews, who are reckoned under a feminine appellation, because, forsaking the Lord and the solid teaching of our Savior, and clinging to Pharisaic superstition, they were troubled in mind. For those to whom solid sense is lacking, and whose mind wavers in various fluctuation, are reckoned by the Apostle under the name of women, saying of evil teachers: Who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. They ran to and fro upon the wall, when they thought they had found the most secure counsel, Caiaphas saying: It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. They provoked him, when, moved as it were with weariness at their unbelief, he said: O perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? They quarrelled with him, saying: How long dost thou take away our life?

And they envied him, while they say in their council: What do we, for this man doth many miracles? If we let him alone so, all will believe in him. And likewise: Do you see that we prevail nothing? Behold, the whole world is gone after him. They had darts, of which it is written: The arrows of little children have become their wounds.

His bow rested upon the strong one, and the bands of his arms and hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a shepherd, the stone of Israel. The historical sense, as far as it is given to be understood, is this. By the bow is understood the mind foreknowing things to come. For upon a bow an arrow is set, that it may strike from afar: and a mind presaging future things is wont to send forth the arrows of its sentences afar off. Such, then, is what is said: his bow rested upon the strong one, as if to say: his mind rested, afflicted on every side with tribulations: upon the strong one, that is, made firm in God, and by the arrows of sentences, foretelling by them what was to be, striking future times with barrenness.

But what he says: And the bands of his arms and hands were loosed, refers to the time when, by the command of Pharaoh, he was released from prison, and, as is said here, the bands of his arms and hands, by which he had been ordered to be bound in prison, were loosed by the hands, that is, by the power of the mighty one of Jacob, namely of Almighty God, by whose help Jacob became renowned in power.

Moreover, that which he adds: thence he came forth a shepherd, the stone of Israel, refers to Christ, who came forth from Jacob, that is, drawing his origin from him. He is well called the stone of Israel, because he is strength to him who believes in him.

But this sentence suits the Savior in this way. His bow sat in the strong one; that is, the sentence of chastisement, by which the Jews were to be smitten who refused to receive him, but persecuted him even unto death; it sat in the strong one, that is, it was determined beforehand with stable unchangeableness together with the Father, who says: Amen I say to you, there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone. And: Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate.

But the bonds of his arms and hands were loosed by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob, when the bonds of the sepulchre were untied, and to him, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob, that is, by the power of the Father, resurrection was not denied.

From thence, moreover, went forth the shepherd, and the stone of Israel; that is, from God the Father the Lord and Savior went forth, and presented himself to human sight, just as he himself said: I went forth from the Father, and came into the world.

The God of your father shall be your helper, and the Almighty shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep lying beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. He invokes upon his son the help of the God of his father, namely of him by whose help he remembered himself to have been delivered from so many dangers, and whom he had come to know as omnipotent through the benefits bestowed upon him. But what he says: with blessings of heaven above, pertains to the rain and the temperateness of the air, by which the earth is made fruitful with crops, and the growth of trees is nourished. But what he adds: with blessings of the deep lying beneath, pertains to the fertility of the earth, which, like the hollow of a sponge, is watered by the vapors of the deep, so that it may not easily be dried up by the fires of the sun and rendered useless through dryness.

With blessings of the breasts and of the womb he blesses him, that he may increase with numerous offspring, lest he be condemned, that is, by the sterility either of men or of women.

Moreover he says: The blessings of your father have been strengthened by the blessings of his fathers; namely so that Joseph should not doubt that what holy Jacob promised him would come to pass—not as though it were to proceed from his own blessing as if it were something new, but because they had long ago been promised to his fathers, that is, Abraham and Isaac. For this is what he says: the blessings of your father have been strengthened, as if he were saying: do not receive these blessings of your father as though they were his own peculiar property, nor as though given only once; but because they were given first by God to my fathers, and not once, but repeatedly. And hence it is that I, upon you, pour out upon your head, by the authority of the Lord, these same blessings which were promised to me and to my fathers.

Now to the Lord and Savior, God Almighty and the Father stood forth as helper, as he cried out in the psalm: Help me, O Lord my God: save me according to your mercy. For he who, by an undivided deity, grants help to all who are called upon, having himself been made man and made a little lower than the angels, needed not only paternal but also angelic assistance, namely for the manifestation of the twofold substance in himself. Hence it is that he cries out: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And in the Gospel: An angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him. But the Almighty himself blessed him, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

With blessings of heaven above, and with blessings of the deep lying beneath he blessed him, when, according to the Apostle: He gave him a name which is above every name, that at his name every knee should bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. With blessings of the breasts and of the womb he exalted him, when, in the children of the Church—some, the catechumens, as it were still lying within the breasts of the mother, others, in the manner of those already born, sucking the maternal breasts—he grants that he be blessed throughout the whole world. For those who have not yet grown into the strength of faith, but are being drawn to it through teachers, hear from the Apostle: My little children, of whom I am again in labor, until Christ be formed in you.

But those who have indeed already received the first rudiments of faith, but have not yet fully grown together in the firmness of doctrine, hear from the same: I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able; but neither indeed are you able even now.

There follows: Until the desire of the everlasting hills should come. Here nothing is historical, but the whole resounds with the divine. For he foretells that the people of Israel are to be sustained by these blessings for so long, until the desire of the everlasting hills should come. For by hills are understood the saints established in the Church, who, although they excel by the merit of their virtues, nevertheless, out of most devout humility, remember that they are hills. Whence the psalm: Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills justice. For it is agreed that the desire of these was always the coming of the Lord Jesus. Whence Moses first: I beseech you, Lord, send whom you will send. And blessed Simeon received an answer from the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death before he had first seen the Christ of the Lord. These are called eternal hills, because they are known to have been created by God unto eternity.

For their intention is not, as with the foolish, changed into different things; but always tending toward eternity and clinging to the Eternal One, they themselves also have changed their name from his eternity. For of the foolish it is said: The fool is changed like the moon: but of the truly wise: The wise man remains like the sun.

There follows: Let them be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brothers. These blessings were upon the head of Joseph; because through Christ all praise and blessing is rendered to the Father. Whence he himself says to the Father: Father, glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. And rightly are they said to be upon his head; because the head of Christ is God. And he himself is called the Nazarite among his brothers; because he himself, by a special dignity, is holy, which is what "Nazarite" means. Of him the Scripture most truly says, that he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth; and whom God the Father anointed with a special anointing above his companions.

The blessing of Benjamin.

Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoils. The tradition of the Hebrews, together with the agreement of blessed Jerome, holds that by these words is signified the altar of Jerusalem, which is known to have been built in the tribe of Benjamin. This, in the manner of a ravenous wolf, devoured the morning sacrifice by the burning of fire; but in the evening of the day, when the sacrifices and the ceremonies of the victims had been completed, it was accustomed to divide among the priests and Levites those remains which were owed by the mandate of the law for the sustenance of the priests.

By this knowledge, moreover, is signified blessed Paul, who was to come from the same tribe, who, in the manner of a ravenous wolf, in the morning, that is, in his youth, ate; since, while consenting to the death of blessed Stephen, and receiving letters from the chief priests and elders of the Jewish people to Damascus and to the other cities, however many saints he tore apart by various slaughter, so many prey did he devour, as it were a ravenous wolf. Yet in the evening he divided the spoils, when, cast down by the voice and vision of the Lord, he distributed within the holy Church, to the faithful there established, the fitting nourishment of divine doctrine: to some, as to little ones in Christ, giving the milk of wisdom; and to certain ones, still compassionating, he grieves with them after the manner of one in labor; but to the more perfect he hands over the solid food of doctrine.

For that the spoils signify the divine commandments, David is a witness, saying: I will rejoice over your words, as one who finds much spoil. And blessed Isaiah says of the Apostles: They shall rejoice before you, as they rejoice in the harvest: as they exult who divide the spoils.