Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Genesis 22:17

In the former promise there was only the statement; here an oath is interposed, which the holy apostle writing to the Hebrews interprets in this way, saying, “God, meaning to show the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed an oath.” And again, Scripture says, “Men swear by one greater than themselves.” “But God, because he had no one greater by whom he might swear,” “ ‘I swear by myself,’ said the Lord.” It was not that necessity forced God to swear (for who would exact the oath from him?), but as the apostle Paul has interpreted it, that by this he might point out to his worshipers “the immutability of his counsel.” So also elsewhere it is said by the prophet, “The Lord has sworn nor will he repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”12At that time in the first promise there is no reason stated why the promise is given, only that he brought him forth and “showed him,” Scripture says, “the stars of heaven, and said, ‘So shall your seed be.’ ” But now he adds the reason on account of which he confirms with an oath the promise whic…

In the former promise there was only the statement; here an oath is interposed, which the holy apostle writing to the Hebrews interprets in this way, saying, “God, meaning to show the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed an oath.” And again, Scripture says, “Men swear by one greater than themselves.” “But God, because he had no one greater by whom he might swear,” “ ‘I swear by myself,’ said the Lord.” It was not that necessity forced God to swear (for who would exact the oath from him?), but as the apostle Paul has interpreted it, that by this he might point out to his worshipers “the immutability of his counsel.” So also elsewhere it is said by the prophet, “The Lord has sworn nor will he repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”12At that time in the first promise there is no reason stated why the promise is given, only that he brought him forth and “showed him,” Scripture says, “the stars of heaven, and said, ‘So shall your seed be.’ ” But now he adds the reason on account of which he confirms with an oath the promise which will be steadfast. For he says, “Because you have done this thing and have not spared your son.” He shows therefore that because of the offering or passion of the son the promise is steadfast. This clearly points out that the promise remains steadfast because of the passion of Christ for the people of the Gentiles “who are of the faith of Abraham.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 9.1

Genesis 22:17

It is written in the prophet speaking in the person of the Lord, “I have used similitudes by the ministries of the prophets.” What this statement means is this: Although our Lord Jesus Christ is one in his substance and is nothing other than the Son of God, nevertheless he is represented as various and diverse in the figures and images of the Scripture.For example, as I recall we have explained in what precedes that Christ himself was Isaac, in type, when he was offered as a holocaust. Nevertheless the ram also represented him. I say furthermore that he is exhibited also in the angel who spoke to Abraham and says to him, “Lay not your hand on the boy.” For he says to him, “Because you have done this thing, I will certainly bless you.”
He is said to be the sheep or the lamb that is sacrificed in the Passover, and he is designated as the shepherd of the sheep. He is also described, no less, as the high priest who offers the sacrifice.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 14.1

Genesis 22:17

But what does it profit me, if the seed of Abraham, “which is Christ,” should possess “the cities of his enemies for an inheritance” and should not possess my city? If in my city, that is in my soul, which is “the city of the great king,” neither his laws nor his ordinances should be observed? What does it profit me that he has subjected the whole world and possesses the cities of his enemies if he should not also conquer his enemies in me, if he should not destroy “the law which is in my members fighting against the law of my mind and which leads me captive in the law of sin”?So therefore let each one of us do what is necessary that Christ may also conquer the enemies in his soul and in his body, and, subjecting and triumphing over them, may possess the city even of his soul. For in this way we are made to belong to his portion, the better portion, which is “as the stars of heaven in glory,” that also we might be able to receive the blessing of Abraham through Christ our Lord, “to whom belongs glory and sovereignty forever and ever. Amen.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 9.3

Genesis 24:1

But indeed, we should not fail to notice from these things that are reported by the literal meaning, what generations and of what sort they are, which are propagated from Keturah.For if we remember these things, we will be able to recognize more easily those things that are said about the diverse nations in the Scriptures. For example, as when it is said that Moses took as his wife the daughter of Jethro, priest of Midian, this Midian is found to be a son of Keturah and Abraham. We know therefore that Moses’ wife is from the seed of Abraham and was not a foreigner. But also when it is written, “the queen of Kedar,” it should be known no less that also Kedar descends from the very stock of Kedar and Abraham.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.2

Genesis 24:11

“In the evening,” therefore, she came to the waters. We have already spoken above about evening. But behold the prudence of the servant. He does not wish to take a bride for his master, Isaac, unless he finds a virgin becoming and beautiful in appearance, and not only a virgin, but one whom a man has not touched. She must be one whom he should discover drawing water. He does not wish to betroth another to his master.He does not give her jewelry unless she is such a person. He does not give “earrings”; he does not give “bracelets.” She remains simple, unlearned, unadorned. Do we suppose that Rebekah’s father, a rich man, did not have bracelets and earrings that he might place on his daughter? Was he so negligent or greedy that he would not give jewelry to his daughter? But Rebekah does not wish to be adorned with Bethuel’s gold. The jewelry of a barbarous and ignorant man is not worthy of her. She needs jewels of the house of Abraham because patience is adorned from the house of the wise man. Rebekah’s ears, therefore, could not receive their beauty, unless Abraham’s servant come and…

“In the evening,” therefore, she came to the waters. We have already spoken above about evening. But behold the prudence of the servant. He does not wish to take a bride for his master, Isaac, unless he finds a virgin becoming and beautiful in appearance, and not only a virgin, but one whom a man has not touched. She must be one whom he should discover drawing water. He does not wish to betroth another to his master.He does not give her jewelry unless she is such a person. He does not give “earrings”; he does not give “bracelets.” She remains simple, unlearned, unadorned. Do we suppose that Rebekah’s father, a rich man, did not have bracelets and earrings that he might place on his daughter? Was he so negligent or greedy that he would not give jewelry to his daughter? But Rebekah does not wish to be adorned with Bethuel’s gold. The jewelry of a barbarous and ignorant man is not worthy of her. She needs jewels of the house of Abraham because patience is adorned from the house of the wise man.
Rebekah’s ears, therefore, could not receive their beauty, unless Abraham’s servant come and himself adorn them; nor could her hands receive jewelry except that which Isaac sent. For she wishes to receive golden words in her ears and to have golden deeds in her hands. But she could not previously receive or deserve these things unless she had come to the wells to draw water. How will you, who do not wish to come to the waters, who do not wish to receive the golden words of the prophets in your ears, be able to be adorned with instruction, adorned with deeds, adorned with character?

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.4

Genesis 24:13

Observe how many things take place at waters, so that you too may be invited to come daily to the waters of the Word of God and stand by its wells, as also Rebekah used to do, of whom the Scripture says, “The virgin was very beautiful; a virgin, a man had not known her.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10

Genesis 24:14

Here, then, a woman proclaims Christ to the Samaritans, and at the end of the Gospels also the woman who saw him before all the others tells the apostles of the resurrection of the Savior.

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.179

Genesis 24:15

Rebekah came to the wells daily; she drew water daily. And because she spent time at the wells daily, therefore, she could be found by Abraham’s servant and be united in marriage with Isaac.Do you think these are tales and that the Holy Spirit tells stories in the Scripture? This is instruction for souls and spiritual teaching which instructs and teaches you to come daily to the wells of the Scripture, to the waters of the Holy Spirit, and always to draw water and carry home a full vessel just as also holy Rebekah used to do. Otherwise he could not have been joined to so great a patriarch as Isaac, who “was born by promise.” It is only by drawing water and by drawing so much that she could give a drink not only to those who are at home but also to Abraham’s servant, and not only to the servant. She also had such an abundance of water that she drew from the wells that she could also water the camels “until,” the text says, “they stopped drinking.”2 All these things that are written are mysteries. Christ wishes to espouse you also to himself, for he speaks to you through the prophets…

Rebekah came to the wells daily; she drew water daily. And because she spent time at the wells daily, therefore, she could be found by Abraham’s servant and be united in marriage with Isaac.Do you think these are tales and that the Holy Spirit tells stories in the Scripture? This is instruction for souls and spiritual teaching which instructs and teaches you to come daily to the wells of the Scripture, to the waters of the Holy Spirit, and always to draw water and carry home a full vessel just as also holy Rebekah used to do. Otherwise he could not have been joined to so great a patriarch as Isaac, who “was born by promise.” It is only by drawing water and by drawing so much that she could give a drink not only to those who are at home but also to Abraham’s servant, and not only to the servant. She also had such an abundance of water that she drew from the wells that she could also water the camels “until,” the text says, “they stopped drinking.”2
All these things that are written are mysteries. Christ wishes to espouse you also to himself, for he speaks to you through the prophets, saying, “I will espouse you to me forever, and I will espouse you to me in faith and in mercy, and you shall know the Lord.” Because therefore he wishes to espouse you to himself, he dispatches that servant to you in advance. That servant is the prophetic word. Unless you have received it first, you cannot be married to Christ.
Know, however, that no one untrained and inexperienced receives the prophetic word, but he who knows how to draw water from the depth of the well, who knows how to draw in such quantity that it may be sufficient also for these who appear irrational and perverse, whom the camels represent. [So that person] may be able to say, “I am a debtor to the wise and to the unwise.” … So therefore Rebekah, which means “patience,” when she saw the servant and contemplated the prophetic word, “puts the water jar down” from her shoulder. For she puts down the exalted arrogance of Greek eloquence and, stooping down to the lowly and simple prophetic word, says, “Drink, and I will water your camels.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.2

Genesis 24:15

But you say perhaps, if the servant represents the prophetic word, how is he given a drink by Rebekah, to whom he rather ought to give a drink?Consider therefore whether it may be as follows. Although, on the one hand, the Lord Jesus is “the bread of life,” and he himself feeds the hungry souls, on the other hand, he admits that he hungers when he says, “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.” Again, on the one hand, although he is “the living water” and gives drink to all who thirst, on the other hand, he says to the Samaritan woman, “Give me to drink.” So also, although the prophetic word gives drink to the thirsting, it is nevertheless said to be given a drink by these when it receives the exercises and vigilances of the zealous. A soul such as this, then, which does all things patiently, which is so eager and is undergirded with so much learning, which has been accustomed to draw streams of knowledge from the depths, can be united in marriage with Christ. Unless therefore you come daily to the wells, unless you daily draw water, not only will you not be able to give a drink to oth…

But you say perhaps, if the servant represents the prophetic word, how is he given a drink by Rebekah, to whom he rather ought to give a drink?Consider therefore whether it may be as follows. Although, on the one hand, the Lord Jesus is “the bread of life,” and he himself feeds the hungry souls, on the other hand, he admits that he hungers when he says, “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.” Again, on the one hand, although he is “the living water” and gives drink to all who thirst, on the other hand, he says to the Samaritan woman, “Give me to drink.” So also, although the prophetic word gives drink to the thirsting, it is nevertheless said to be given a drink by these when it receives the exercises and vigilances of the zealous. A soul such as this, then, which does all things patiently, which is so eager and is undergirded with so much learning, which has been accustomed to draw streams of knowledge from the depths, can be united in marriage with Christ.
Unless therefore you come daily to the wells, unless you daily draw water, not only will you not be able to give a drink to others, but also you yourself also will suffer “a thirst for the Word of God.” Hear also the Lord saying in the Gospels, “Let him who thirsts come and drink.” But, as I see it, “you neither hunger nor thirst after justice,” and how will you be able to say, “As the deer pants after the fountains of water, so my soul pants after you, O God. My soul has thirsted after the living God; when shall I come and appear before his presence”?

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.3

Genesis 24:16

This is not written of her in vain. Nevertheless the meaning of the statement disturbs me: “She was a virgin, whom no man had known.” It is indeed as if a virgin were something other than one whom a man has not touched. And what does the addition seem to mean in reference to a virgin that it should be said, “A man had not known her”? Is there indeed another virgin whom a man has touched?I have often said already that in these stories history is not being narrated but mysteries are interwoven. I think therefore that something such as this is indicated in this story. Just as Christ is said to be the husband of the soul, to whom the soul is married when it comes to faith, so also, contrary to this, he who also is called “an enemy” when “he sows tares among the wheat” is called the husband to whom the soul is married when it turns away to faithlessness. It is not sufficient, therefore, for the soul to be pure in body; it is necessary also that this most wicked man “has not known it.” For it can happen that someone may possess virginity in body, and knowing that most wicked man, the devil…

This is not written of her in vain. Nevertheless the meaning of the statement disturbs me: “She was a virgin, whom no man had known.” It is indeed as if a virgin were something other than one whom a man has not touched. And what does the addition seem to mean in reference to a virgin that it should be said, “A man had not known her”? Is there indeed another virgin whom a man has touched?I have often said already that in these stories history is not being narrated but mysteries are interwoven. I think therefore that something such as this is indicated in this story.
Just as Christ is said to be the husband of the soul, to whom the soul is married when it comes to faith, so also, contrary to this, he who also is called “an enemy” when “he sows tares among the wheat” is called the husband to whom the soul is married when it turns away to faithlessness. It is not sufficient, therefore, for the soul to be pure in body; it is necessary also that this most wicked man “has not known it.” For it can happen that someone may possess virginity in body, and knowing that most wicked man, the devil, and receiving darts of concupiscence from him in the heart destroy the purity of the soul. Because, therefore, Rebekah was a virgin “holy in body and spirit,” for this reason the Scripture doubles her praise and says, “She was a virgin; a man had not known her.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.4

Genesis 24:20

Rebekah is found “at a well.” Rebekah in turn finds Isaac “at a well.” There she gazed upon his countenance for the first time. There “she dismounted from the camels.” There she sees Isaac, who was pointed out to her by the servant. Do you think these are the only words related about wells?

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.5

Genesis 24:63

Are you not yet moved to understand that these words are spoken spiritually? Or do you think that it always happens by chance that the patriarchs go to wells and obtain their marriages at waters? He who thinks in this way is “a sensual man” and “does not perceive these things which are of the Spirit of God.” But let him who wishes remain in these understandings, let him remain “a sensual man.” I, following Paul the apostle, say that these things are “allegories,” and I say that the marriages of the saints are the union of the soul with the Word of God: “For he who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit.”But it is certain that this union of the soul with the Word cannot come about otherwise than through instruction in the divine books, which are figuratively called wells. If anyone should come to these and draw from these waters, that is, by meditating on these words should perceive the deeper sense and meaning, that one will find a marriage worthy of God; for [that person’s] soul is united with God.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.5

Genesis 24:64

Rebekah followed the servant and comes to Isaac. The church followed the prophetic word, to be sure, and comes to Christ. Where does she find him? “Walking,” the text says, “at the well of the oath.” On no occasion is one withdrawn from wells; on no occasion does one stand apart from waters. Rebekah is found “at a well.” Rebekah in turn finds Isaac “at a well.” There she gazed upon his countenance for the first time. There “she dismounted from the camels.” There she sees Isaac, who was pointed out to her by the servant.Do you think these are the only words related about wells? Jacob also goes to a well and finds Rachel there.… But also Moses finds Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, at a well. … She also “dismounts from the camels,” that is, she departs from vices; she casts off the irrational senses and is united with Isaac. For it is worthy that Isaac pass “from virtue to virtue.” He who is the son of virtue, that is, of Sarah, is now united and joined with patience, which is Rebekah. And this is to pass “from virtue to virtue” and “from faith to faith.” But let us come also to the Go…

Rebekah followed the servant and comes to Isaac. The church followed the prophetic word, to be sure, and comes to Christ. Where does she find him? “Walking,” the text says, “at the well of the oath.” On no occasion is one withdrawn from wells; on no occasion does one stand apart from waters. Rebekah is found “at a well.” Rebekah in turn finds Isaac “at a well.” There she gazed upon his countenance for the first time. There “she dismounted from the camels.” There she sees Isaac, who was pointed out to her by the servant.Do you think these are the only words related about wells? Jacob also goes to a well and finds Rachel there.… But also Moses finds Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, at a well. …
She also “dismounts from the camels,” that is, she departs from vices; she casts off the irrational senses and is united with Isaac. For it is worthy that Isaac pass “from virtue to virtue.” He who is the son of virtue, that is, of Sarah, is now united and joined with patience, which is Rebekah. And this is to pass “from virtue to virtue” and “from faith to faith.” But let us come also to the Gospels. Let us see where the Lord seeks rest when he was “wearied from the journey.” “He came,” Scripture says, “to the well and sat upon it.”17
You see that everywhere the mysteries are in agreement. You see the patterns of the New and Old Testament to be harmonious. There one comes to the wells and the waters that brides may be found; and the church is united to Christ in the bath of water.
You see how great a heap of mysteries presses upon us. We cannot treat all the things that present themselves. These things at least ought to stimulate you to listen, to assemble. Even if we hurry over some things for the sake of brevity, you yourself even, when you read the text again and inquire into it, may dispel the mystery and discover … that the Word of God, finding you also at the waters, may take you up and unite you with himself, that you may be made “one spirit” with him in Christ Jesus our Lord. “To him belongs glory and sovereignty forever and ever. Amen.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.5

Genesis 25:1

However, beyond this which we are taught from the law of God, if we also are in touch with some of these instructions that appear to be on the outside in the world—for example, as the knowledge of literature or the theory of grammar, as geometry or mathematics or even the discipline of dialectic—and we bring over to our purposes all these things which have been sought from without and we approve them in the declaration of our law, then we will appear to have taken in marriage either foreign wives or even “concubines.” And if, from marriages of this kind, by disputing, by discussing, by refuting those who contradict, we shall be able to convert some to the faith, and if, overcoming them with their own reasonings and skills, we shall persuade them to receive the true philosophy of Christ and the true piety of God, then we shall appear to have begotten sons from dialectic or rhetoric as if from some foreign wife or concubine.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.2

Genesis 25:1

Indeed, Keturah, whom Abraham, now an old man, obtains in marriage means thymiama, which is incense or a pleasing fragrance. He also in fact was saying, just as Paul said, “We are the pleasing fragrance of Christ.” But let us see how someone becomes “Christ’s pleasing fragrance.” Sin is a foul affair. In fact, sinners are compared with pigs that wallow in sins as in foul dung. And David, as a repentant sinner, says, “My sores have putrified and are abscessed.”12If there is therefore any one of you in whom there is now no odor of sin but an odor of justice, the sweetness of mercy, if anyone, by praying “without ceasing” always offers incense to the Lord and says, “Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice,” this man has married Keturah. In this way, therefore, I think the marriages of the elders are interpreted more fittingly; in this way the unions entered by the patriarchs in their now final and weakened age are understood nobly; in this way I hold the necessary begetting of children should be reckoned. For young men are…

Indeed, Keturah, whom Abraham, now an old man, obtains in marriage means thymiama, which is incense or a pleasing fragrance. He also in fact was saying, just as Paul said, “We are the pleasing fragrance of Christ.” But let us see how someone becomes “Christ’s pleasing fragrance.” Sin is a foul affair. In fact, sinners are compared with pigs that wallow in sins as in foul dung. And David, as a repentant sinner, says, “My sores have putrified and are abscessed.”12If there is therefore any one of you in whom there is now no odor of sin but an odor of justice, the sweetness of mercy, if anyone, by praying “without ceasing” always offers incense to the Lord and says, “Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice,” this man has married Keturah. In this way, therefore, I think the marriages of the elders are interpreted more fittingly; in this way the unions entered by the patriarchs in their now final and weakened age are understood nobly; in this way I hold the necessary begetting of children should be reckoned. For young men are not so well fitted as old men for such marriages and for offspring of this kind. For to the extent that someone is feeble in the flesh, to such an extent will he be stronger in virtue of the soul and more fit for the embraces of wisdom.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.1-2

Genesis 25:1

[One] who wishes to show himself to be a child of Abraham by doing the works of Abraham in accordance with the Savior’s explanation need not literally have sexual intercourse with a handmaid or take another wife in old age after the death of his wife. We also learn from this quite clearly that we must interpret the whole story of Abraham allegorically and make each thing he did spiritual, beginning with the command, “Go forth from your land, your kindred, and your father’s house, into the land that I will show you.” This statement is made not only to Abraham but also to everyone who will be his child.

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.67

Genesis 25:1

The holy apostle always offers us opportunities for spiritual understanding and shows the zealous signs by which one may recognize in all things that “the law is spiritual.” Though few, these signs are nevertheless necessary.Paul says, discussing Abraham and Sarah in a certain passage, “not weakened in faith.” Scripture says, “He considered his own body dead, since he was almost a hundred years old, and Sarah’s womb dead.” This man, therefore, whom Paul says to have been dead in his body at the age of 100 and to have begotten Isaac more by the power of his faith than by the fertility of his body, Scripture now relates has taken a wife named Keturah and has begotten more sons from her when he seems to have been about 137 years old. For Sarah his wife is recorded to have been ten years younger than he. Since Sarah died in her 127th year, it shows that Abraham was more than 137 years old when he took Keturah as his wife. What then? Are we to suppose that inducements of the flesh have flourished in so great a partriarch at that time? And shall he who is said to have been dead long ago in…

The holy apostle always offers us opportunities for spiritual understanding and shows the zealous signs by which one may recognize in all things that “the law is spiritual.” Though few, these signs are nevertheless necessary.Paul says, discussing Abraham and Sarah in a certain passage, “not weakened in faith.” Scripture says, “He considered his own body dead, since he was almost a hundred years old, and Sarah’s womb dead.” This man, therefore, whom Paul says to have been dead in his body at the age of 100 and to have begotten Isaac more by the power of his faith than by the fertility of his body, Scripture now relates has taken a wife named Keturah and has begotten more sons from her when he seems to have been about 137 years old. For Sarah his wife is recorded to have been ten years younger than he. Since Sarah died in her 127th year, it shows that Abraham was more than 137 years old when he took Keturah as his wife.
What then? Are we to suppose that inducements of the flesh have flourished in so great a partriarch at that time? And shall he who is said to have been dead long ago in his natural impulses now be supposed to have been revived for passion? Or, as we have already often said, do the marriages of the patriarchs indicate something mystical and sacred, as also he suggests who said of wisdom: “I decided to take her as my wife”?
Perhaps, therefore, already at that time Abraham also thought something like this. And, although he was wise, for this very reason never-theless he knew that there is no end of wisdom, nor does old age impose a limit on learning. For when can that man who has been accustomed to share a marriage in that manner in which we indicated above, that is, who is accustomed to have virtue in marriage, cease from such a union? For indeed the death of Sarah is to be understood as the consummation of virtue. But a man of consummate and perfect virtue ought always to be engaged in some learning. The divine language calls this learning his wife.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.1

Genesis 25:1

In this way also you can, if you wish, be a husband of marriages of this kind. For example, if you freely practice hospitality, you will appear to have taken her as your wife. If you shall add to this care of the poor, you will appear to have obtained a second wife. But if you should also join patience to yourself and gentleness and the other virtues, you will appear to have taken as many wives as the virtues you enjoy.Thus it is, therefore, that Scripture recounts that some of the patriarchs had many wives at the same time, that others took other wives when previous wives had died. The purpose of this is to indicate figuratively that some can exercise many virtues at the same time; others cannot begin those that follow before they have brought the former virtues to perfection. Accordingly Solomon is reported to have had many wives at the same time, to whom the Lord had said, “There was no wise man like you before you and there will not be after you.” Because therefore the Lord had given him an abundance of prudence, “like the sand of the sea,” that he might judge his people “in wisd…

In this way also you can, if you wish, be a husband of marriages of this kind. For example, if you freely practice hospitality, you will appear to have taken her as your wife. If you shall add to this care of the poor, you will appear to have obtained a second wife. But if you should also join patience to yourself and gentleness and the other virtues, you will appear to have taken as many wives as the virtues you enjoy.Thus it is, therefore, that Scripture recounts that some of the patriarchs had many wives at the same time, that others took other wives when previous wives had died. The purpose of this is to indicate figuratively that some can exercise many virtues at the same time; others cannot begin those that follow before they have brought the former virtues to perfection. Accordingly Solomon is reported to have had many wives at the same time, to whom the Lord had said, “There was no wise man like you before you and there will not be after you.” Because therefore the Lord had given him an abundance of prudence, “like the sand of the sea,” that he might judge his people “in wisdom,” for this reason he could exercise many virtues at the same time.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.2

Genesis 25:11

“The Lord blessed Isaac,” the text says, “and he dwelt at the well of vision.” This is the whole blessing with which the Lord blessed Isaac: that he might dwell “at the well of vision.” That is a great blessing for those who understand it. Would that the Lord might give this blessing to me too, that I might deserve to dwell “at the well of vision.”What kind of person can know and understand what the vision is “which Isaiah the son of Amos saw”? What kind of person can know what Nahum’s vision is? What kind of person can understand what that vision contains which Jacob saw in Bethel when he was departing into Mesopotamia, when he said, “This is the house of the Lord and the gate of heaven”? And if anyone can know and understand each individual vision or the things that are in the law or in the prophets, that one dwells “at the well of vision.” But also consider this more carefully, that Isaac deserved to receive such a great blessing from the Lord that he might dwell “at the well of vision.” But when shall we sufficiently deserve to pass by, perhaps, “the well of vision”? He deserved…

“The Lord blessed Isaac,” the text says, “and he dwelt at the well of vision.” This is the whole blessing with which the Lord blessed Isaac: that he might dwell “at the well of vision.” That is a great blessing for those who understand it. Would that the Lord might give this blessing to me too, that I might deserve to dwell “at the well of vision.”What kind of person can know and understand what the vision is “which Isaiah the son of Amos saw”? What kind of person can know what Nahum’s vision is? What kind of person can understand what that vision contains which Jacob saw in Bethel when he was departing into Mesopotamia, when he said, “This is the house of the Lord and the gate of heaven”? And if anyone can know and understand each individual vision or the things that are in the law or in the prophets, that one dwells “at the well of vision.”
But also consider this more carefully, that Isaac deserved to receive such a great blessing from the Lord that he might dwell “at the well of vision.” But when shall we sufficiently deserve to pass by, perhaps, “the well of vision”? He deserved to remain and dwell in the vision; we, what little we have been illuminated by the mercy of God, can scarcely perceive or surmise of a single vision.

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.3

Genesis 25:11

What more can we say about the death of Abraham than what the Word of the Lord in the Gospels contains, saying, “Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read how he says in the bush: ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? Now he is not God of the dead but of the living. For all those are living.” Let us also therefore choose this kind of death, as also the apostle says, that “we may die to sin but live to God.” For indeed the death of Abraham should be understood to be such, which death has amplified his bosom so much that all the saints who come from the four parts of the earth “may be borne by the angels into the bosom of Abraham.”

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.3