Ambrose of Milan — Commentary on Scripture

Genesis 31:32

Therefore none of the enemies can take your soul unless it has first been made empty. Do not be afraid of those who can plunder treasures of gold and silver; such people take nothing from you. They take away what you do not have, they take away what you are not able to possess, they take away not an ornament to your soul but a burden on it. They take away what does not enrich your heart but weighs it down; “for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be,” as you have heard in today’s reading. Many people shut in their gold with bars upon their gates, but they have no confidence in either their bolts or their barricades. Many people employ guards, but they too are generally more afraid of the guards. Many go to bed upon buried gold; their gold is beneath the ground, and so is their heart. Watch out, then, that you do not entrench your heart in the ground while you are still living. We have no need to be afraid of thieves who steal such gold; but you must watch out for the usurer who examines the wealth of your soul, if you have bargained for any coin of more serious sin. He…

Therefore none of the enemies can take your soul unless it has first been made empty. Do not be afraid of those who can plunder treasures of gold and silver; such people take nothing from you. They take away what you do not have, they take away what you are not able to possess, they take away not an ornament to your soul but a burden on it. They take away what does not enrich your heart but weighs it down; “for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be,” as you have heard in today’s reading. Many people shut in their gold with bars upon their gates, but they have no confidence in either their bolts or their barricades. Many people employ guards, but they too are generally more afraid of the guards. Many go to bed upon buried gold; their gold is beneath the ground, and so is their heart. Watch out, then, that you do not entrench your heart in the ground while you are still living. We have no need to be afraid of thieves who steal such gold; but you must watch out for the usurer who examines the wealth of your soul, if you have bargained for any coin of more serious sin. He confines your heart in the earth and buries your soul in the ground, where you have hidden your gold. He crushes your spirit with interest compounded a hundredfold and buries it in a heavy tomb, from which no one rises again. Follow the example of holy Jacob; he had no part in the vices of others, nor was he empty and devoid of his own virtues, but he was filled with the fruit of justice.

On Jacob and the Blessed Life

Genesis 31:32

Now let us consider how the just person ought to behave if enmity arises. First, let him avoid it; it is better to go away without strife than to settle down with contention. Next, let him possess a property that he can carry off with him so that he cannot be held under any obligation by the adversary but may say, “Identify whatever of yours I may have.” And Laban searched and found nothing of his with Jacob. He was a great man and truly happy who could lose nothing of his and possess nothing of another’s, that is, possess nothing too little and nothing to excess. Therefore the person who has no lack of anything has been perfected; the person who has nothing to excess is just—this is to observe the proper mean of justice. How powerful virtue is! Alliance with it brought gain but did not inflict loss. This is what perfection is; it gives the greatest advantage to those who hold to it but brings them no disadvantage whatsoever.Accordingly the man who desired to do harm to Jacob was not able to send him away empty. For the wise person is never empty but always has the garment of prudenc…

Now let us consider how the just person ought to behave if enmity arises. First, let him avoid it; it is better to go away without strife than to settle down with contention. Next, let him possess a property that he can carry off with him so that he cannot be held under any obligation by the adversary but may say, “Identify whatever of yours I may have.” And Laban searched and found nothing of his with Jacob. He was a great man and truly happy who could lose nothing of his and possess nothing of another’s, that is, possess nothing too little and nothing to excess. Therefore the person who has no lack of anything has been perfected; the person who has nothing to excess is just—this is to observe the proper mean of justice. How powerful virtue is! Alliance with it brought gain but did not inflict loss. This is what perfection is; it gives the greatest advantage to those who hold to it but brings them no disadvantage whatsoever.Accordingly the man who desired to do harm to Jacob was not able to send him away empty. For the wise person is never empty but always has the garment of prudence on himself and is able to say, “I was clad with justice, and I clothed myself with judgment,” as Job said. Surely these are the inner veils of the spirit, and no one can take them away except when someone strips them off by his own guilty action. In fact, Adam was found stripped so, and naked, whereas Joseph was not naked even though he had thrown off his external clothing, as he possessed the safe covering of virtue. Therefore the wise person is never empty. How could he be empty? He has taken from the fullness of Christ and keeps what he has received. How could he be empty? His soul is filled, for it guards the garments of grace it has received. We must be afraid that someone may lose the veil of blamelessness and that ungodly people may transgress the bonds of justice with onslaughts of sacrilege and persecution and snatch away the garment of the soul and of the spirit. This does not readily happen unless a person has first been stripped of his clothing by the voice of his iniquity. On this account David also says, “If there is iniquity in my hands, let me deservedly fall empty before my enemies. Let the enemy pursue my soul and take it.”

On Jacob and the Blessed Life

Genesis 31:33

But this pertains to the moral sense, whereas the mystical sense is that Laban, whose name means “lie that has been purified”—and even Satan transfigures himself into an angel of light—came to Jacob and began to demand his possessions from him. Jacob answered him, “Identify whatever of yours I may have,” that is, “I have nothing of yours. See if you recognize any of your vices and crimes. I have not carried off with me any of your deceits, and I have no share in your guile; all that is yours I have shunned as a contagion.” Laban searched and found nothing that was his. How happy is the one in whom the enemy has found nothing that he could call his own, and in whom the devil has come upon nothing that he could call his own, and in whom the devil has come upon nothing that he would recognize as his own. That appeared to be impossible in the case of humanity, but Christ supplied the model of it when he said in the Gospel, “The prince of this world will come, and in me he will find nothing.” Now whatever belongs to the devil is nothing, because he can have no lasting possession.

On Jacob and the Blessed Life

Genesis 31:34

Moreover, holy Rachel—that is, the church, or prudence—hid the idols, because the church does not know representations and figures of idols that are totally devoid of reality, but it knows the real existence of the Trinity. Indeed, it has destroyed darkness and revealed the splendor of glory.

FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 5.27

Genesis 32:13

Then, intending to ask for peace from his brother, Jacob slept in the encampment. Perfect virtue possesses tranquility and a calm steadfastness; likewise the Lord has kept his gift for those who are more perfect and has said, “My peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you.” It is the part of those who have been perfected not to be easily influenced by worldly things or to be troubled with fear or tormented with suspicion or stunned with dread or distressed with pain. Rather, as if on a shore of total safety, they ought to calm their spirit, immovable as it is in the anchorage of faith, against the rising waves and tempests of the world. Christ brought this support to the spirits of Christians when he brought an inner peace to the souls of those who had proved themselves, so that our hearts should not be troubled or our spirits be distressed. That this peace is beyond all understanding our apostolic teacher proclaimed when he said, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and feelings in Christ Jesus.” And so the fruit of peace is the absence…

Then, intending to ask for peace from his brother, Jacob slept in the encampment. Perfect virtue possesses tranquility and a calm steadfastness; likewise the Lord has kept his gift for those who are more perfect and has said, “My peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you.” It is the part of those who have been perfected not to be easily influenced by worldly things or to be troubled with fear or tormented with suspicion or stunned with dread or distressed with pain. Rather, as if on a shore of total safety, they ought to calm their spirit, immovable as it is in the anchorage of faith, against the rising waves and tempests of the world. Christ brought this support to the spirits of Christians when he brought an inner peace to the souls of those who had proved themselves, so that our hearts should not be troubled or our spirits be distressed. That this peace is beyond all understanding our apostolic teacher proclaimed when he said, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and feelings in Christ Jesus.” And so the fruit of peace is the absence of disturbance in the heart. In short, the life of the just person is calm, but the unjust person is filled with disquiet and disturbance. Therefore the ungodly person is struck down more by his own suspicions than people are by the blows of others, and the stripes of the wounds in his soul are greater than those in the bodies of people who are lashed by others.It is a sublime thing that someone is tranquil within himself and in agreement with himself. Externally, peace is sought through the anxious forethought of the emperor or the hands of the soldiers. Or it results from the favorable outcome of wars or some massacre among the barbarians, if they turn their own weapons on one another in a hostile move. Such a peace comes to pass through no power of ours, but it is a stroke of good fortune. Surely the glory of that peace is assigned to the emperor, but we have in us the benefit of inward peace, which is in the spirit and is held in the heart of every one of us. The benefit of this peace is greater in that temptations coming from a spirit of wickedness, rather than hostile arms, are repulsed. This peace that shuts out the enticements of the bodily passions and calms the disturbances arising from them is nobler than the peace that checks the attacks of barbarians; it is a greater thing to withstand the enemy shut up within oneself than the one that is far off.

On Jacob and the Blessed Life

Genesis 32:24

Therefore Jacob, who had purified his heart of all pretenses and was manifesting a peaceable disposition, first cast off all that was his, then remained behind alone and wrestled with God. For whoever forsakes worldly things comes nearer to the image and likeness of God. What is it to wrestle with God other than to enter upon the struggle for virtue, to contend with one who is stronger and to become a better imitator of God than the others are? Because Jacob’s faith and devotion were unconquerable, the Lord revealed his hidden mysteries to him by touching the side of his thigh. For it was by descent from him that the Lord Jesus was to be born of a virgin, and Jesus would be neither unlike nor unequal to God. The numbness in the side of Jacob’s thigh foreshadowed the cross of Christ, who would bring salvation to all people by spreading the forgiveness of sins throughout the whole world and would give resurrection to the departed by the numbness and torpidity of his own body. On this account the sun rightly rose on holy Jacob, for the saving cross of the Lord shone brightly on his line…

Therefore Jacob, who had purified his heart of all pretenses and was manifesting a peaceable disposition, first cast off all that was his, then remained behind alone and wrestled with God. For whoever forsakes worldly things comes nearer to the image and likeness of God. What is it to wrestle with God other than to enter upon the struggle for virtue, to contend with one who is stronger and to become a better imitator of God than the others are? Because Jacob’s faith and devotion were unconquerable, the Lord revealed his hidden mysteries to him by touching the side of his thigh. For it was by descent from him that the Lord Jesus was to be born of a virgin, and Jesus would be neither unlike nor unequal to God. The numbness in the side of Jacob’s thigh foreshadowed the cross of Christ, who would bring salvation to all people by spreading the forgiveness of sins throughout the whole world and would give resurrection to the departed by the numbness and torpidity of his own body. On this account the sun rightly rose on holy Jacob, for the saving cross of the Lord shone brightly on his lineage. And at the same time the Sun of justice rises on the person who recognizes God, because he is himself the everlasting Light.

On Jacob and the Blessed Life

Genesis 32:32

But Jacob limped because of his thigh. “On account of this the children of Israel do not eat the sinew even to the present day.” Would that they had eaten it and had believed! But because they were not about to do the will of God, therefore they did not eat. There are those too who take the passage in the following sense, that Jacob limped from one thigh. Two peoples flowed from his lineage, and there was then being revealed the numbness that one of them would presently exhibit toward the grace of faith. And so it is the people itself that limped by reason of the numbness of its unbelief.

On Jacob and the Blessed Life

Genesis 37:3

And so we are taught the proper nature of parental love and filial gratitude. It is pleasant to love one’s children and very pleasant to love them exceedingly, but often even parental love does harm to the children unless it is practiced with restraint; for it may give the beloved child free rein out of excessive indulgence or, by preference shown to one child, may alienate the others from the spirit of brotherly love. That son gains more who gains the love of his brothers. This is a more splendid manifestation of generosity on the part of the parents and a richer inheritance for the sons. Let the children be joined in a like favor, who have been joined in a like nature.…What wonder if quarrels arise among brothers over an estate or a house, when enmity blazed up among the sons of holy Jacob over a tunic? What then? Should we find fault with Jacob because he preferred the one son to the others? But we cannot take from parents their freedom to love the more those children whom they believe to be the more deserving, nor ought we to cut off the sons from their eager desire to be the mor…

And so we are taught the proper nature of parental love and filial gratitude. It is pleasant to love one’s children and very pleasant to love them exceedingly, but often even parental love does harm to the children unless it is practiced with restraint; for it may give the beloved child free rein out of excessive indulgence or, by preference shown to one child, may alienate the others from the spirit of brotherly love. That son gains more who gains the love of his brothers. This is a more splendid manifestation of generosity on the part of the parents and a richer inheritance for the sons. Let the children be joined in a like favor, who have been joined in a like nature.…What wonder if quarrels arise among brothers over an estate or a house, when enmity blazed up among the sons of holy Jacob over a tunic? What then? Should we find fault with Jacob because he preferred the one son to the others? But we cannot take from parents their freedom to love the more those children whom they believe to be the more deserving, nor ought we to cut off the sons from their eager desire to be the more pleasing. To be sure, Jacob loved the more that son in whom he foresaw the greater marks of virtue; thus he would not appear to have shown preference so much as father to son but rather as prophet to a sacred sign. And Jacob was right to make for his son a tunic of many colors, to indicate by it that Joseph was to be preferred to his brothers with his clothing of manifold virtues.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:8

Indeed, God’s grace shone on Joseph even in his boyhood. For he had a dream that when he was binding sheaves with his brothers—so it appeared to him in the vision—this sheaf rose up and stood straight, while the sheaves of his brothers turned and bowed down to his sheaf. Now in this the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that was to come was revealed. When they saw him at Jerusalem, the eleven disciples and all the saints bowed down; when they rise, they will bow down bearing the fruits of their good works, just as it is written, “Coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves.” Although his brothers disparaged the reliability of the dream out of their envy, still they expressed his interpretation of it in their own words when they replied, “Are you to be our king? Are you to rule over us?” For that vision indicated the King who was to come, and before him all human flesh would bow down with bended knee.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:10

Moreover, Joseph saw another dream and told it to his father and brothers, that the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him. On this account his father reproved him and said, “What will be the meaning of this vision that you have dreamed? Can it be that I and your mother and your brothers will come and bow to the ground before you?” Who is he before whom parents and brothers bowed down to the ground but Jesus Christ? Joseph and his mother with the disciples bowed down before him and confessed the true God in that body, of whom alone it was said, “Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you stars and light.” Further, what is the meaning of the father’s reproach but the hardness of the people of Israel? Christ comes from them according to the flesh, but today they do not believe that he is God and are not willing to bow down to him as their Lord, because they know that he was born from among themselves. Accordingly they hear his replies, but they do not understand them. They themselves read that the sun and moon praise Christ, but they are unwilling to believe this was…

Moreover, Joseph saw another dream and told it to his father and brothers, that the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him. On this account his father reproved him and said, “What will be the meaning of this vision that you have dreamed? Can it be that I and your mother and your brothers will come and bow to the ground before you?” Who is he before whom parents and brothers bowed down to the ground but Jesus Christ? Joseph and his mother with the disciples bowed down before him and confessed the true God in that body, of whom alone it was said, “Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you stars and light.” Further, what is the meaning of the father’s reproach but the hardness of the people of Israel? Christ comes from them according to the flesh, but today they do not believe that he is God and are not willing to bow down to him as their Lord, because they know that he was born from among themselves. Accordingly they hear his replies, but they do not understand them. They themselves read that the sun and moon praise Christ, but they are unwilling to believe this was said with reference to Christ. Therefore Jacob is mistaken in regard to the symbol, which refers to another, but is not mistaken in the love, which is his own. In him paternal love did not go astray, but rather there is depicted an affection for a people that was going to go astray.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:14

Therefore the patriarch did not refuse to believe in a dream so mighty, for in a twofold prophecy he prophesied both together; that is, he represented and personified the just man and the people, because the Son of God was going to come to earth to be loved by just men and denied by unbelievers. And so Jacob, in sending his son to his brothers to see if it was well with the sheep, foresaw the mysteries of the incarnation that was to come. What sheep was God searching for in the concern manifested even at that time by the patriarch? The very ones of whom the Lord Jesus himself said in the Gospel, “I did not come except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” “And he sent him to Shechem,” which name is interpreted as “shoulder” or “back.” That is, to those who did not turn to the Lord but fled from his face and turned away, an expression properly applied to the sinner, for “Cain went out from the face of the Lord,” and the psalmist says, “You will make them turn their back.” Now the just person does not turn away from the Lord but runs to meet him and says, “My eyes are ever toward…

Therefore the patriarch did not refuse to believe in a dream so mighty, for in a twofold prophecy he prophesied both together; that is, he represented and personified the just man and the people, because the Son of God was going to come to earth to be loved by just men and denied by unbelievers. And so Jacob, in sending his son to his brothers to see if it was well with the sheep, foresaw the mysteries of the incarnation that was to come. What sheep was God searching for in the concern manifested even at that time by the patriarch? The very ones of whom the Lord Jesus himself said in the Gospel, “I did not come except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” “And he sent him to Shechem,” which name is interpreted as “shoulder” or “back.” That is, to those who did not turn to the Lord but fled from his face and turned away, an expression properly applied to the sinner, for “Cain went out from the face of the Lord,” and the psalmist says, “You will make them turn their back.” Now the just person does not turn away from the Lord but runs to meet him and says, “My eyes are ever toward the Lord.” And when the Lord said, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah offered himself of his own accord and said, “Behold, here I am.” Simeon also waited to see Christ the Lord; after he saw him, because he had seen the Pardoner of sins and Redeemer of the whole world, he asked to be freed from the use of this flesh, just as he had been relieved of his sin, and said, “Now dismiss your servant, Lord, because my eyes have seen your salvation.” Zacchaeus too first gained the special privilege of having the Lord’s commendation bestowed on him for this, that he climbed a tree to see Christ. Therefore Joseph was sent by his father to his brothers, or rather by that Father “who has not spared his own Son but has delivered him for us all,” by that Father of whom it is written, “God, sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.”

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:15

“And Joseph was wandering about,” because he could not find his brothers. And it was right that he wandered about, for he was seeking those that were going astray. Yes, “the Lord knows who are his.” Indeed, Jesus also, when he was wearied from his journey, sat at the well. He was wearied, for he was not finding the people of God whom he was seeking; they had gone out from the face of the Lord. The person who follows sin goes out from Christ. The sinner goes out; the just person enters in. Indeed, Adam hid himself as a sinner, but the just person says, “Let my prayer enter in before you.”

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:17

Now Joseph found his brothers in Dothan, which means “desertion.” And where is the person who deserts God but in desertion? No wonder if they deserted who did not hear him saying, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Therefore Joseph came to Dothan, “and they saw him coming from afar, before he drew near to them, and they raged that they might kill him.” It is right that they were far off who were in desertion, and so they were raging, because Christ had not drawn near to them. For if the model of Christ had drawn near to them, they would surely have loved their brother. But they could not be near, for they were plotting fratricide. “Behold, that dreamer is coming. Now therefore come, let us kill him.” Were not the men who were saying such words plotting a sacrilegious fratricide, as Solomon says of them, “Let us remove the just one, because he is profitless to us”?

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:20

And in Genesis they also said, “And we shall see what will become of his dreams.” This is written in regard to Joseph, but it is fulfilled in regard to Christ, when the Jews said in the course of his passion, “If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in God; let him deliver him now, if he wants him.” But were those brothers so unholy as to kill their brother? And from what source do the merits of the mighty patriarchs derive, so that the law designates the tribes of the entire people by their names? How are names of holiness in accord with marks of crime? In this also they served as a model of the people; their own souls were not toiling under a burden of crime. This gave rise to all the enmity and the plotting of fratricide; the enmity is by way of figure, the holiness by way of love.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:21

Indeed, Reuben and Judah observed the holy bonds of brotherhood and desired to free Joseph from their hands. Judah receives the preference by his father’s blessing, and rightly so, when it is said to him, “The sons of your father shall bow down to you. A lion’s whelp is Judah, and he is the expectation of nations.” Surely this is appropriate to Christ alone, for whom it was in store that he should be worshiped by his brothers and awaited by the nations and that he should wash his tunic in wine by the passion of his own body, because he did not stain his flesh with any spot of sin.…Conferring together against that counsel, the brothers abused him in whom “the blessing prevailed over the blessings of the enduring mountains and was stronger than the desires of the everlasting hills.” Who did Joseph understand was being prefigured in himself? Only he who surpasses the merits of all people and possesses the summit of limitless power beyond the desires of all the saints, he whom no one matches in prayer. And so, in the case of the patriarchs, enmity is repaid through grace, for they are ex…

Indeed, Reuben and Judah observed the holy bonds of brotherhood and desired to free Joseph from their hands. Judah receives the preference by his father’s blessing, and rightly so, when it is said to him, “The sons of your father shall bow down to you. A lion’s whelp is Judah, and he is the expectation of nations.” Surely this is appropriate to Christ alone, for whom it was in store that he should be worshiped by his brothers and awaited by the nations and that he should wash his tunic in wine by the passion of his own body, because he did not stain his flesh with any spot of sin.…Conferring together against that counsel, the brothers abused him in whom “the blessing prevailed over the blessings of the enduring mountains and was stronger than the desires of the everlasting hills.” Who did Joseph understand was being prefigured in himself? Only he who surpasses the merits of all people and possesses the summit of limitless power beyond the desires of all the saints, he whom no one matches in prayer. And so, in the case of the patriarchs, enmity is repaid through grace, for they are excused from their guilt and made holy by the gift of revelation. For it is not so much a matter of blame in having said what refers to the people as it is a matter of happiness in having seen what refers to Christ. The people assumed the character of a sinner to receive the grace of their Lord and Redeemer. Assuredly grace destroyed guilt; guilt did not diminish grace.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:23

Accordingly, even at that time, the cross that was to come was prefigured in sign; and at the same time that he was stripped of his tunic, that is, of the flesh he took on, he was stripped of the handsome diversity of colors that represented the virtues. Therefore his tunic, that is, his flesh, was stained with blood, but not his divinity; and his enemies were able to take from him his covering of flesh but not his immortal life.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:27

And so that we may recognize that all this is a mystery in reference to the people and to the Lord Jesus, "Come, let us sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites." What is the interpretation of the name Joseph? Only that it means "God's grace" and "expression of God the highest." And so who is being sold? Only that man who "since he was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." … They sold him to traders; the latter bought a good fragrance from traitors. Judah sold him, the Ishmaelites bought him, and in our tongue their name means "holding their own God in hatred." Therefore we find that Joseph was bought for twenty gold pieces by one account, for twenty-five by another and thirty by another, because Christ is not valued at the same price by all people. To some he is worth less, to others more. The faith of the buyer determines the increase in the price. To one who is more pious, God is more valuable; to a sinner a Redeemer is more valuable. He is also more valuable to the people who have more grace. But he is more valua…

And so that we may recognize that all this is a mystery in reference to the people and to the Lord Jesus, "Come, let us sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites." What is the interpretation of the name Joseph? Only that it means "God's grace" and "expression of God the highest." And so who is being sold? Only that man who "since he was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." … They sold him to traders; the latter bought a good fragrance from traitors. Judah sold him, the Ishmaelites bought him, and in our tongue their name means "holding their own God in hatred." Therefore we find that Joseph was bought for twenty gold pieces by one account, for twenty-five by another and thirty by another, because Christ is not valued at the same price by all people. To some he is worth less, to others more. The faith of the buyer determines the increase in the price. To one who is more pious, God is more valuable; to a sinner a Redeemer is more valuable. He is also more valuable to the people who have more grace. But he is more valuable as well to the one to whom many things have been given, because he loves more to whom more has been forgiven. The Lord himself said just this in the Gospel in reference to the woman who poured ointment over his feet, bathed them with her tears, wiped them with her hair and dried them with her kisses. Of her Christ says to Simon, "Wherefore I say to you, her sins, many as they are, have been forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom less is forgiven, loves less."

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:27

Here too, so that you may note the symbolic representation of the Lord's passion, the patriarch Judah says, "Let us sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites and let not our hands be laid upon him." And earlier he had done well to say, "Do not lay hands upon him," which is what the Jews said in the Lord's passion, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death." Thus the word of Jesus could be fulfilled, signifying by what death he was going to die.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:31

Now the fact that they sprinkled his tunic with the blood of a goat seems to have this meaning, that they attacked with false testimony and brought into enmity for sin him who forgives the sins of all people. For us there is a lamb, for them a goat. For us the Lamb of God has been killed, who took from us the sins of the world, whereas for them a goat piled up sins and amassed offenses. Therefore “fill up the measure of your fathers.” And Jacob rightly lamented the losses to his posterity; as a father he wept for his lost son, and as a prophet he mourned the destruction of the Jews. Indeed, Jacob also tore his clothing; similarly, at the time of the Lord Jesus’ passion, the chief priest tore his robe. He exercised not a private role but an office with a public function. The curtain of the temple was also torn, so that it might be made clear by such signs that the mysteries had been profaned, the people stripped of the garments of salvation, and that the kingdom had been divided and was to be destroyed, because every divided kingdom will easily be destroyed.

On Joseph the Patriarch

Genesis 37:36

But as for what pertains to the moral interpretation, because our God wishes all people to be saved, through Joseph he also gave consolation to those who are in slavery, and he gave them instruction. Even in the lowliest status, people should learn that their character can be superior and that no state of life is devoid of virtue if the soul of the individual knows itself. The flesh is subject to slavery, not the spirit, and many humble servants are more free than their masters, if in their condition of slavery they consider that they should abstain from the works of a slave. Every sin is slavish, while blamelessness is free. On this account the Lord also says, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” Indeed, how is each greedy person not a slave, seeing that he auctions himself off for a very tiny sum of money? The person who has piled up what he is not going to use is afraid that he may lose all that he has piled up; the more numerous his acquisitions, the greater the risk he will run in keeping them.…Moreover, how is that person who is subject to lust not also a slave? First…

But as for what pertains to the moral interpretation, because our God wishes all people to be saved, through Joseph he also gave consolation to those who are in slavery, and he gave them instruction. Even in the lowliest status, people should learn that their character can be superior and that no state of life is devoid of virtue if the soul of the individual knows itself. The flesh is subject to slavery, not the spirit, and many humble servants are more free than their masters, if in their condition of slavery they consider that they should abstain from the works of a slave. Every sin is slavish, while blamelessness is free. On this account the Lord also says, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” Indeed, how is each greedy person not a slave, seeing that he auctions himself off for a very tiny sum of money? The person who has piled up what he is not going to use is afraid that he may lose all that he has piled up; the more numerous his acquisitions, the greater the risk he will run in keeping them.…Moreover, how is that person who is subject to lust not also a slave? First, he blazes with his own fires, and he is burned up by the torches within his own breast. To such people the prophet rightly says, “Walk in the light of your own fire and in the flame that you have kindled.” Fear takes hold of them all and lies in wait for each one when he is asleep; so that he may gain control over one object of desire, a person becomes the slave of them all. The one who makes his own masters is the slave to a wretched slavery indeed, for he wishes to have masters that he may fear; indeed, nothing is so characteristic of slavery as the constant fear. But that one, whatever his servile status, will always be free who is not seduced by love or held by the chains of greed or bound by fear of reproach, who looks to the present with tranquility and is not afraid of the future. Doesn’t it seem to you that a person of the latter kind is the master even in slavery, while one of the former kind is a slave even in liberty? Joseph was a slave, Pharaoh a ruler; the slavery of the one was happier than the sovereignty of the other. Indeed, all Egypt would have collapsed from famine unless Pharaoh had made his sovereignty subject to the counsel of a mere servant.

On Joseph the Patriarch