Homilies on Genesis 46–67

Homily 51

HOMILY 51 "Now, there was famine in the land, besides the previous famine that happened in the time ofAbraham."l NeE AGAIN [451] I would like to resume your instruction by taking up the theme of the sermon of the day before yesterday. So that you may be quite clear where we broke off the sermon then and where we should take it up today, it is necessary for us to provide reminders for you, dearly beloved. You see, even though you, distracted as you are with many concerns, have forgotten, yet it is my task to refresh your memory, so that the sermon due to be delivered today may be the fresher for the reminder. You know that previously we dealt with Rebecca's godliness, from there moved on to Esau and Jacob, and reached the point where Esau gave away his birthright for the e~oyment of some stew, and for love of food forfeited the right of precedence. Now, this did not happen without purpose, but, rather, so that.there might be fulfilled God's prediction which said, "I have loved Jacob, but hated Esau:'2 You see, since he is God and knew ahead of time what was going to happen, he foretold, as well, the one man's virtue and the evil attitude of the other. (2) Now, what is the meaning of this incident involving the birthright? Even if on that previous occasion time did not allow us to explain it to you, dearly beloved, still we must instruct you in it now. In olden times, you see, it was held in the highest esteem, and this is the basis of that esteem. The God of all wished to liberate the Israelite people from Egypt and free them from the tyranny of Pharaoh in view of the promise to the patriarch, while, at the time, Egypt was resisting and en1 . Cen 26.1. 2. Mal 1.2-3. 56 HOMILY 51 57 deavoring to restrain them; so after the various plagues the Lord inflicted the final plague and, as if with his own hands, caused the Egyptians to expel the Israelite people. He commanded the firstborn of all the Egyptians all of a sudden to be wiped out, you remember, and iri every house wailing and weeping could be noticed; nor did they think the punishment had stopped at that point, but instead they expected that death would proceed along that path and reach everyone. (3) So, since death was the lot of [452] all the firstborn in Egypt, whereas the Israelites remained unharmed thanks to grace from on high, the God of all demonstrated in this way also his favor to them, and, instead of destruction of those firstborn, he ordered that the Jews' firstborn in future be offered to him. Hence also the tribe of Levi were set aside for priestly duties, and from that time not only human beings' firstborn were offered to God but also those of animals and everything. The command was given for a price to be paid for both human beings and unclean animals. Even if, however, this prescription about the firstborn was made in a later age, nevertheless already from the very beginning those who opened their mothers' womb seem to have enjoyed a particular distinction.3 So, this privilege, which Esau enjoyed by nature, he transferred to his brother, on account of his own lack of self-control. Whereas one lost even what was given him by nature, the other received as a bonus for himself what he did not get from nature. Since this had been promised earlier in an oracle, hence Rebecca gave him that name by calling him Jacob, which is translated "supplanting", as Esau, too, said after the blessing bestowed on him by his father, in his lament, "'Rightly was he named Jacob: now he has supplanted me a second time, taking my blessing after taking my birthright : "4 (4) Notice the keen perception of the people of old, or rather God's great wisdom, in that women did not see to the naming 3. As De Montfaucon takes satisfaction in laboring at this point, Chrysostom is less than logical in quoting a later event, the Egyptian captivity, to explain his earlier instance of Esau's birthright. 4. Gen 27.36. 58 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM of their children idly or by chance, but by the child's name they...