Seven Exegetical Works

The Patriarchs (De Patriachis)

THE PATRIARCHS (De patriarchis) INTRODUCTION tDMBROSE COMPOSED The Patriarchs as a written com- ~. mentary rather than a sermon or a treatise developed from a sermon. It has often been joined in the manuscript tradition with Joseph, but existence of an intrinsic relationship between the two works is very doubtful.1 Since there is reference in the present work to Ambrose's Explanation of the Gospel According to Luke, itself dated ca. 390, The Patriarchs must be placed in the same period, most likely in 390 or 391.2 Exegesis of the scriptural blessings of the patriarchs and the symbolic or typological interpretation of them has a long history in Christian literature from Tertullian on.3 The Patriarchs , a typical example of the genre, is derived from Hippolytus .4 One of a number of such works which enjoyed popularity in the fourth century,5 it relies heavily on Jacob's 1 On this point, and on the work in general, see Dudden 684; Palanque 442-43, 540. 2 See Palanque 540 (with a date after 390); Dudden 684 (ca. 390); Paredi 439 (about 391); U. Moricca, Storia della letteratura latina cristiana 2.1,380 n. 372 (ca. 389). 3 See M. Simonetti, Note su antichi commenti alle Benedizioni dei Patriarchi (Annali delle Facolta di Lettere, Filosofia e Magistero 28, Universita di Cagliari, Cagliari 1960) and the brief but useful review by J. Smit Sibinga in Vigiliae Christianae 18 (1964) 238-39. 4 See Simonetti, n. 3 above. For specific examples, see W. Wilbrand in Biblische Zeitschrift 10 (1912) 338 n. 2 and O. Bardenhewer in Literarische Rundschau 24 (1898) 201. The text of Hippolytus, i.e., his commentaries on the blessings of Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, appeared in 1953 as volume 27 of the Patrologia Orientalis, with a translation in French. The original Greek text of his Blessing of Jacob is extant, but only fragments of the Isaac and Moses. Jacob and Moses exist in both Armenian and Georgian versions. See J. Quasten, Patrology 2 (Westminster, Md. 1953) 165-66, 174-76. 5 For the popularity enjoyed by works of this kind, and discussion of specific works, including The Patriarchs, see H. Moretus, "Les Bene· 241 242 SAINT AMBROSE blessings, or prophecies, imparted in Genesis 49; there is also frequent reference to Moses' blessing of the tribes of Israel in Deuteronomy 33. Many of the patriarchs are taken to represent Christ in one respect or another; Benjamin is a figure of the Apostle Paul. The work is marred by occasional references of an anti-Semitic tenor, notably in one passage.6 No translation of The Patriarchs has apparently been published . dictions des patriarchs dans la litterature du iv" au viii" siecIe," Bulletin de litll!rature ecclesiastique 3rd seL (1909) 398-411; (1910) 28-40, 83-100. 6 Viz., 2.9. THE PATRIARCHS ilHEN WE READ that he was blessed who was blessed by his father, and that he was cursed who was cursed by his father,! we learn above all else what great reverence to show our parents. And God gave this privilege to parents so as to arouse respect in the children. The formation of the children is, then, the prerogative of the parents. Therefore honor your father, that he may bless you.2 Let the godly man honor his father out of gratitude, and the ingrate do so on account of fear. EYen if the father is poor and does not have plenteous resources to leave to his SOllS, still he has the heritage of his final blessing with which he may bestow the wealth of sanctification on his descendants. And it is a far greater thing to be blessed than it is to be rich. (1.2) Joseph hurried to receive a blessing.3 Indeed, he presented his sons Manasse and Ephraim, and Jacob blessed them.4 Because Jacob had twelve sons, and Paul, as one chosen later, was going to be the thirteenth Apostle, a thirteenth tribe would thus be sanctified from the descendants of Manasse and Ephraim and divided between them both. Thus Paul would not appear outside the enumeration of the tribes of the fathers; as an outstanding preacher of both the Old and the New Testaments, he would readily confirm that the inheritance of a father's blessing was of help to himself as well. (1.3) What signal mysteries there are in thisl Joseph took his sons, who were born to...