First part.
Of the building of the tower of Babel and the confusion of languages, as a punishment of the same, in general.
This chapter also belongs to the excellent and special example of the most holy patriarch Noah and his family, especially those who were pious and God-fearing from the same, so that we may see what faith and godliness were in these holy men, since great wickedness, envy and tyranny ruled and prevailed in the children of men.
(2) For a time after the Flood, the whole earth was in a blessed and good state, for the people of it all had the same language, which served not a little for unity and was especially useful for the preservation of doctrine and religion. For the fresh memory of the exuberant wrath of God, which God had shown in the Flood, kept their souls in the fear of God and reverence for their ancestors.
3 Ham, the son of Noah, first disturbs such a blessed state. For he goes down as one who had forgotten such great wrath, and first despises the authority of his father, whom he should honor,
and makes a mockery of him, as we heard above. After that he leaves his father and his pious brothers and wins a new kingdom on earth. Finally, from his eldest son, his grandson Nimrod is begotten, who strengthens himself through violence and tyranny and causes many a plague to the pious family of Noah, thus bringing about a power and dominion for himself and remains the sole master.
(4) Therefore, just as from Adam's two sons, born to him, two different peoples emerged (for Cain went out from his father, despised the true church and set up a special one without God's command), so this also happens here in the sons of Noah. For from Ham the false and lying church has its origin as from an origin of all godless being and wickedness. And this is the history, which Moses tells in this chapter as the beginning of the evil and sorrow, which arose against the church.
But what the sin of those who built the tower of Babel was, is not clearly expressed in this chapter. Therefore, of these two things, namely, of the building or tower, and of the sin of those who built it, one finds various thoughts and judgments, and the bolder each one is, the more freely and boldly he expresses his opinion of both.
pieces. So the common rabble also went to it and made up fables about it. They say that the tower was nine miles high, but since the language was confused and the third part of the tower was thrown down by strong winds and thunderstorms, the earth also sank, so that now no more than the third part still stands. But the height was so great that at the top of the tower one heard the angels singing.
But we leave such foolish fables and fairy tales aside, and it is more worthwhile to consider and think about what the sin of those who built the tower was, because it cannot really be understood thoroughly from the text.
Lyra is of this opinion that he thinks that this building was started and made by the descendants of Ham for this reason, so that if God wanted to punish the world once again with the Flood, they would have a place in which they would want to remain safe. That I do not believe this, however, is due to the clear and public promise which Ham also heard, namely, that it would not come to this, that the whole world would perish once again by the Flood. Ham knew well that in the flood the water had gone fifteen cubits high over all the high mountains. Therefore, I do not think that they could have been so foolish as to think that such a height could be built in the air and executed so that they could be safe from a flood.
(8) Therefore I consider that the greatest sin is that they say, "Come, let us build a city and a tower. For such words point to sure hearts, which rely on temporal fortune and force and not on God, also despise the church, because it is without all appearance and force.
(9) That Lyra therefore says that they wanted to create a safe place for themselves against the Flood with this building, I consider to be a hasty allegorical fable, so that the fathers wanted to depict such people, who could bravely despise God, and thought that they had protection and protection against God's wrath in their power. For from a safe and
If you think up and invent whatever you want about a raw heart that is without any fear of God, you still cannot sufficiently portray and depict the godless nature.
(10) And I have no doubt that this story gave rise to the fable of the giants who discussed how to lift the god Jupiter out of heaven, and for this purpose they set the mountains apart. Just as the fable of Deucalion is taken from the story of the Flood and written. For such things were also made known to the Gentiles from the preaching of the fathers. Therefore I think that this sin was nothing else than a very great security, hopefulness and contempt for God. For this is what the wicked are wont to do when they are puffed up by happiness and prosperity, that they think they are sitting on God's lap, become very defiant, and dare to do what they desire.
(11) Just as the sin of Harn was not only a sin against the church and religion, but also against the police (for at the same time he laughed at his father, the most holy patriarch, and despised his doctrine and religion; for, as we have just heard, he departed from his father and set up a new police force for himself): so Nimrod, his son's son, also sinned against the church spiritually and against the police worldly. First of all, he did not respect the right religion, and he also committed injustice and tyranny against his cousins, whom he expelled from their paternal border and seat. For there is no doubt about it: those who went after the morning, as Moses says, will have been Nimrod's and other descendants of Ham. For Moses clearly indicates this in the beginning of this chapter. Therefore such sins also had their punishments, of which Moses will report soon after.
(12) Therefore let these words be interpreted in the most severe and cruel way, which Moses puts simply, that they exhort and encourage one another to build a tower and a city. For thus Moses wants to say: Is this not a great hope and contempt?
How could they not have asked God about it and consulted Him, but have subjected themselves to such a great thing on their own initiative? They drove the pious race of Shem out of their land and seat, and intended to subjugate the whole world, but especially the church. Therefore, this sin is an abominable apostasy from the church, from the Word and the angels of God Himself to the devil, and includes not only the sins against the first table, but also against the other table.
Therefore, the emphasis is that they say, "Let us build a city and a tower," not to God, nor to His church, but to suppress it. Item: "Let US make a name." For those who speak in this way truly do not care that God's name be sanctified, but all their diligence and pretension is directed solely to making their name great and widely famous. And no doubt they will have bravely despised the small and lowly tabernacles of the holy fathers and brethren, because they have built so exquisitely and gloriously.
(14) Neither is it said in general that they say, "The top of the tower shall reach unto heaven. For this is not to be understood of the height alone; but by this they point to the place of worship, as if God dwelt first at this tower. For this is the way the devil uses to adorn himself with the title of deity, and wants us to take his idolatry and superstition for the right religion and worship.
In our time, the Church has no more deadly enemies than the Turk and the Pope. But now we see that they both boast of the name of God, and intend to preserve everything with this title. In the meantime, we must be scolded for heretics, devil's children, apostates and rebels.
(16) This has been the case throughout the ages, even in these first times before and after the flood; for here Ham's descendants are portrayed as despising the humility of the church, the fear of God, and the right worship of God, and not only did they build the city of Babylon according to worldly advice and counsel, but they also put a semblance of religion on it.
that it should be considered and believed that this place is first of all heaven and the most pleasant seat of God.
(17) Therefore it is true that it is said that every mameluke and apostate is a persecutor of his order from which he has fallen away. Because Ham and his descendants have left the church, he has neither sought nor undertaken anything else, except to suppress the church and to lift himself and his own up. So also the devil, after he has let go of God and the angels or the heavenly church and has departed from them, does nothing else but that he pursues God and the church with bitter and cruel hatred and resentment. And so that he may have a continuation of this, he disguises himself as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14, and subordinates himself to be God. In the same way, Nimrod makes himself a god in the middle of Babylon and creates his own church, so that he can suppress the real church.
(18) Now the pious and godly should do the same, namely, that after they have left the devil's church and fallen away from it, they also begin to be enemies of it. Thus, by the grace of God, we are holy deniers and apostates: for we have fallen away from the Antichrist and the devil's church, and have come to the Son of God and the true church, with whom we must also stand and fight and contend against the false church.
19 Thus Moses indicates here that the sin of apostasy was this, that the descendants of Ham, Nimrod and others fell away from God, from the Word, from the fathers and from the church, not only as far as the outward and worldly community is concerned, but much more as far as religion and worship are concerned; for they lived according to their vain inventions, lusts and desires.
020 For to raise up a tower, and to build a city, was no sin in itself, since the saints also did the same. And Assyria, who I believe to have been entirely holy, built the city of Nineveh, because he could no longer dwell beside the wicked. But the sin is most of all in the fact that they built on this building.
They despise Noah and the true church and strive for their own regime, and in addition respect and pretend to be those who are first of God and whom God listens to and gives happiness and welfare to; but Noah is abandoned and rejected by God.
(21) Therefore, in this history, the ungodly nature is depicted, with all the attitudes, practices, attitudes and thoughts of all the ungodly, but especially of the hypocrites, who consider themselves holy and God's closest friends, and who want to rule and be powerful on this earth. And if one wanted to give this sin another name, one could call it a real blasphemy, blasphemy of the name of God, a sin against the third commandment of the Sabbath, and an abominable idolatry, by which the honor of the living God is turned into a calf, that is idolatry in the heart. And such sins do not remain alone, but give birth to others, namely hatred and enmity against the true church, persecution, tyranny, murder, robbery, fornication and adultery. For the false church is always a persecutor of the true and right church, not only spiritually by false doctrine and unrighteous worship, but also physically by strangulation, violence and tyranny.
(22) Moses says that this sin was followed by the confusion of languages as a punishment. This seems to have been a small punishment, but it is really a terrible and horrible punishment, if one wants to think about the great damage that followed this confusion and separation of the languages. For where there is a single language, it is first of all a strong help and encouragement for people to keep together and live in unity with one another. And this is also the origin of the saying in which it is said: "Like and like like like each other. For a German likes to talk and deal with someone who is of his own kind and language. But since there are many different and unequal languages, there is not only no companionship, but there also grows in the heart resentment and enmity against such a people whose language one cannot understand. So
a Frenchman is an enemy of a German and despises him; but the Italians despise and hate all other nations that do not speak their language.
(23) Therefore, from this confusion of tongues, it can be seen and felt that their hearts have been divided and divided among themselves, their customs have been perverted, and all their thoughts, ways, and customs have been changed; that such a division of tongues may rightly be called an origin and cause of all evil and misfortune; for it has at the same time created disorder and confusion in the worldly and domestic government.
(24) And even though this has been a great pity and harm, it is nothing against the fact that through this separation of languages the church has also become disordered, disturbed, and given place and cause to innumerable idolatries and superstitions. For who would not see that the Magisterium has almost been abolished by this change of languages? For Eber, who undoubtedly kept the first and right language, could not teach and instruct the others, whose language he did not know and who could not understand him.
(25) Therefore, in the New Testament, this is a great blessing and an extraordinary miracle, that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit, through various languages, gathered all the nations into one body, the head of which is Christ. For Christ brings them all to one faith through the gospel, even though the various languages remain, and tears down the wall and the fence, not only by reconciling us to God through his death and speaking to us in a new language, but also by making peace and unity by heart, so that we, like various flocks, are brought under one shepherd and gathered into one sheepfold. This help and benefit of the Lord Christ is common to us all; therefore the disparity that is in the outward life neither harms nor hinders.
(26) Therefore, for this gift also, we have to thank him, that he has made this most severe punishment, which has been an origin and cause of all unhappiness and disunity, through
His Holy Spirit and brought to us a holy unity, although the diversity and inequality of languages remains. For where this mediator, Christ, is not recognized, there is disunity and abominable blindness in the hearts as well as in the languages.
(27) Therefore, if we look through all the histories of all peoples and times, we find that from this disparity and diversity of languages arose many uprisings, wars and great changes in customs and religion, as well as many thoughts and delusions of the people. That is why God wanted to turn around and abolish such a great plague and misery by a new miracle.
(28) If I do not understand an Italian, he does not understand me: therefore a natural cause of anger and enmity grows between us. But if we both understand Christ, then we love one another as our members, which we are among one another. But where Christ is not, there still reigns this Babylonian plague, namely the division of languages, which certainly also causes a division of hearts and makes not only the household government and police, but also religion and the church restless and disorderly.
(29) This abominable punishment admonishes and warns us to beware that we do not become disparaging of the word, or prefer ourselves to others, as if we were more pious and holy. Because the descendants of Ham did this, a terrible punishment followed, which, as one might say, caused more damage to the human race than the Flood itself. For the flood alone destroyed the people who were at one time, but that punishment lasts until the end of the world; although Christ has helped us in this through his spirit. But how very small is this portion who accept the word and believe! The other large group is divided in itself with the heart, as with the language, and does the most pleasant service to the devil, who is a father and founder of all wars and disunity.
Thirdly. Because we have now heard about the
Sin and punishment of those, who built the tower, it is not without use, that one counts the time together, namely, how many years there were between the Flood and this son Peleg, under whom the tower of Babel was built and the separation and confusion of the languages happened. Now almost a hundred years passed after the flood, when this happened, and at the same time Noah was seven hundred years old; whom during his life, when he reigned and preached to them of such great wrath of God, all his church and the lineage of the holy fathers despised these godless people, namely Ham with his grandchildren, who soon forgot such great and terrible wrath of God. This must have offended the pious Noah and his descendants that his descendants looked at him and warned him in vain of what they were about to do. That is why the same holy man is laughed at again as an old fool and fantasist.
(31) Therefore, if we want to compare our trials, crosses and troubles with this suffering, plague and temptation of the holy father, they are nothing compared to it. For although we see great unhappiness, misery and calamity in the world, we do not see it for long, and are therefore more blessed that we will be taken out of such a bad world the sooner. Noah, however, had to see the wickedness of his ill-bred descendants at four and a half hundred years. What do we think, what kind of misery he will have to see during this time? Therefore, in this case, the pious son Shem was far superior to his father, who had to see this misery much longer and lived for five hundred years after the Flood. Therefore, they are martyrs, to whom all people should look at all times and learn to be patient according to their example.
32 St. Peter 2 Epist. 2, 7 preaches about Lot the righteous that his soul was tormented and martyred because he had to watch the ungodly and shameful works of the Sodomites. And of Mary, Simeon says Luc. 2, 35, that a sword had passed through
their soul will go. For holy people cannot look at the wickedness of the world without great pain and sorrow in their hearts. But, as I said, our cross and suffering, even of those who have been before us and will be after us, is nothing compared to those holy fathers who have had to see such a perverse nature and wickedness of the world for five hundred years and more.
Therefore let us also patiently suffer such sad images and arrows of Satan, which he shoots into our hearts. For we shall not have it better than the holy fathers before us; though, as I have said, we have it much better because we have a shorter time to live. This is what I recently wanted to tell you as a preface to this chapter. Now let us also look at the text.
Second part.
Of the Tower of Babel and its punishment in particular.
V. 1, 2: Now all the world had one tongue and language. And they went eastward, and found a plain land in the land of Sinear, and dwelt there.
34 I have said about the word mikkedem, morning, in the second chapter above. For my opinion is this, that the morning or Orient is called this country, which is closest from the country Canaan to the morning; as in the books of the kings also the Arabs are called children of the morning.
(35) What place Sinear is is known from the tenth chapter; for that is the name of the land of old, which afterward was called Babylon.
V. 3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and lime. And they took goat to stone, and clay to lime.
This is a clear testimony that the city of Babylon and the tower were built of bricks or burnt stones, just as Rome was built of bricks. And methinks that this manner of building was still new at that time, from which one had previously, since
They did not know how to burn bricks, nor did they know how to use lime to brick them together.
V. 4 And they said: Come, let us build us a city and a tower, and let the top thereof reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name: for we may be scattered abroad.
(37) What does this mean, and how did this word come to their tongue, that they prophesy to themselves that they would be scattered abroad? Do they prophesy, as Caiaphas did John 11:49, 50, and speak things they do not know? For this commonly happens, that the wicked, as Solomon also says, Proverbs 10:24, prophesy their own misfortune, and what they fear befalls them. As also Ezekiel says Cap. 11, 8. 9.: "The sword that you fear, that I will bring upon you, says the Lord God. I will thrust you out from there" etc. Again, the hope of the godly is not in vain, but what they hope for and believe will surely come to pass and they will not lack it. But this is not a prophecy of Caiphas, but has another cause.
(38) And in such texts I generally follow this rule, that just as the words and deeds of the godly cannot be understood in any other way than from their mind and heart, so I also believe that the words and deeds of the wicked cannot be understood unless one knows the mind and mood of the spirit that drives them, namely, the devil. Now this is always his mind and spirit, that he is at the same time contrary to God Himself and the church. Just as the thoughts, words and deeds of the godly are directed solely to the glory of God and the benefit and salvation of the church. Whoever is guided by this goal and rule, no pretense or glitter, which the devil always uses in his words and works, can deceive or seduce him. For whoever hears that this or that word or work does not agree with God's word, and says that it comes from the devil, he judges and says right. Then he is also right in you when he says it.
and says that this was said or done out of a sense and intention to lie and strangle.
(39) I followed this rule when I wanted to give my judgment and opinion of the Pope's teaching. Because I saw that this teaching did not want to agree with God's word, I concluded from the beginning that such teaching was from the devil and directed to deceive and kill people with it. No pretense that the desperate rogue and land cheat deceived the whole world could lead me away from this opinion, nor could it penetrate me. Because this rule is therefore not lacking when one wants to judge and rightly interpret the words and works of God and the devil, the pious and the wicked, we do right when we also follow it in this text.
40 The descendants of Harn, as Nimrod and the others, had overrun this land, which had come to Shem as an heir of the promise of God and was due to him. And because they were tyrannical heads, they desired not only to drive the family of Shem out of it, but also to establish a new police and church for themselves. Although it is not described what they did against the right church and the right ruler of it, Noah and his pious descendants, it can still be understood from the same actions, because we want to look at our adversaries' work and intentions a little more diligently at the present time. For Satan remains who he is, and this is his business for and for, that he incites the ungodly and drives them against the true church.
41. Because Noah and the other godly fathers saw that they were thus oppressed and afflicted, and that new acts of worship were being performed before their eyes, they prophesied out of their reason, even though they were certain from memory and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit what the punishment would be, and concluded: "Behold, Adam was punished after he sinned in Paradise, and the punishment of the same sin is still hanging around our necks with all of us. Thus Cain was punished for the death he had committed against his brother, and for his
The people of the world were also punished by God for their ungodly delusions, and the whole world was finally destroyed by the Flood for the sake of sin. Therefore, it will certainly not pass without punishment that they have subjected themselves to tyranny and at the same time have confused, falsified and corrupted religion. Since God had promised that He would no longer destroy the world with the Flood, they concluded from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that a punishment would follow; so that just as they, the wicked, put all their effort and strength into suppressing the true church, so the true church would be preserved and scattered throughout the world.
(42) And this prophecy, because it was intended to strengthen and comfort the true church and all believers, was not spread by Noah in a corner or secretly, but publicly in many places with a strong spirit: for this reason it was made known and revealed to the generation of the wicked, who could not have so completely thrown to the wind and despised it, even though they surely despised such words of the Holy Spirit. For so it is with the wicked, that though they know that they sin, and that the punishment is not far off, yet the certainty drives back the fear, and they break through freely.
(43) So these words indicate here that they may have had such a conscience, which was confused and upset, but nevertheless they continued safely and despised all punishments. Just as Ovid says of Medea: "I see what is better, I agree with it; but still I follow evil." I have also heard at one time that Carlstadt said here in this place, where he had graduated several doctors, that he knew well that it was a sin to make doctors of theology, and yet he did it. This is truly not a small sin, that one is so hardened against his conscience that he boasts of his sins with knowledge and will.
44 So now we have, as far as this text is concerned, what the mind and spirit of the wicked and the devil is, from which we can easily understand and judge their words.
It is not enough for this godless generation of Ham to know that it sins against him, that it expels pious and God-fearing people from theirs: but it also laughs at the punishments and makes fun of the serious threats that it hears from the father Noah. Just as our papists smile with pity when they hear that we threaten them with the future of the Lord Christ and the last judgment. For so they think: If we have such a long time, there is no need for us.
(45) The wicked do the same thing. They hear from the father Noah the punishment of dispersion, and yet they say with great certainty, "What, shall we be dispersed? But let us first build a city and a tower, that we may receive a name, and that it may be remembered what we have done. So they do not entirely believe that there will be a scattering; they are not sure that it will not happen, but they go on about it and prepare to start a new building for the contempt of the church of the pious. Therefore, these are the very proudest words of Satan and his children against God.
Thus we see that the papists act in the same way; therefore it is impossible that the tyranny of the popes can last much longer. For Rome is so defiled and burdened with all kinds of sin, shame and vice that it cannot be worse than hell itself. In addition, they also practice an abominable idolatry, irritate and embitter kings and princes, so that they confirm their godless nature and suppress the truth. Now it cannot be lacking, they must be in such great sins so not at all without fear of the punishments, which we also prophesy to them; and yet they boast and, as the prophet Isaiah Cap. 48:4, they have "a brazen face" and act as if they fear nothing. That is why they do not renounce their ungodly nature, but boldly continue and increase it.
47 Thus the godless being always keeps its way, that it mocks and laughs at God in both parts, namely in hope and fear. For these two affects are in
one another in the ungodly; just as they are also with one another in the pious, and those who have the right faith. Although the pious always fear more than they hope, hope and faith finally become the strongest in them and overcome fear. On the other hand, in the wicked, even though they have fear, the strongest thing is unbelief, unfaithfulness and malice, which drive out all fear and make them safe, so that they despise danger and pass through it freely. But at last it befalls them that they fear, and they lack hope; as we see that the godless generation of Ham was miserably scattered, but Noah remained and was preserved with his own.
Therefore this whole history should be interpreted and drawn to the consolation of the church, which, although it is challenged and plagued in many ways by the wicked, finally wins and is on top; but the wicked perish and are prophets of their own misfortune. As Caiphas prophesies Joh. 11, 48.: "If we leave him, the Romans will come and take our land and people", and in the prophet Hosea Cap. 7, 12. it also says: "I will punish them as one preaches in their gathering."
V. 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the children of men were building.
(49) What the wicked feared, and what they surely despised out of exuberant malice, as said above, they now encounter. Therefore, this is a correct theological text, which also shows us how both the pious and the wicked should think and feel. For we see that this is how it happens: while the sinner is at work and in heat, he does not see God, does not speak of Him, does not feel Him either. For he thinks that God neither sees nor feels what he is doing.
50 Thus, when Adam brought the apple to his mouth, he did not think of the word. Therefore, if you now want to look into his conscience as it was then, you will find that he does not care much more about God and His word, except as if God were a dead and void thing; as such thoughts are of the
Psalm 10 v. 11: "The wicked says in his heart: God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it. For so Cain thinks, when he makes himself over his brother and strangles him, that God is asleep and does not see what he is doing. And this happens because God is long-suffering and does not let the punishment go soon when one has earned it.
Thus the pious make me believe that God is asleep and closes his eyes, while they cry and sigh for salvation and help, but God is silent with help and salvation. Therefore there are so many such laments in the Psalms; as Ps. 13, 2. ff. 44, 24. ff. 35, 23. 7, 7. 10, 12: "Lord, how long will you forget me? Why do you sleep? Get up! Wake up! Lift up your hand" etc. And such sayings, in which God indicates that He sees everything that people do, and nothing is hidden from His eyes, but He is such a God who does not want godless beings etc., belong mostly to the comfort of the church.
(52) Therefore, the Scriptures speak here of how God is minded when He pretends not to see the wicked's iniquity, nor to hear the prayer of the pious. This is the mind of God, and this is what we think, and we seriously think that God is asleep, because he either does not punish sin soon, or does not hear the prayer of the pious as soon as possible.
Thus the text says here that God has descended, as if He had not been present before. For while the wicked continued ardently in this presumption and contempt, and the prophecy of righteous Noah was laughed at, everyone thought that God was not at home and did not know what the children of Ham were dealing with. But when the measure of sin is full, God descends, that is, only then does one feel that He is present and angry. Thus it is written in Genesis 22:12: "Now I know that you fear God," as if God had not known about Abraham before.
(54) In the same way, the papists also think that God has died and can neither see nor hear, and that he is not present; therefore, they certainly continue to rage against the church, oppressing and persecuting it in many ways. For
they say, as it is written in the 73rd Psalm v. 11: "What should God ask of them? What should the Most High regard them for?"
For this is the way of sin, that it lies and rests for a time, as I said above in chapter 3, while the day is hot, that is, while lust and sin reign, and man, being overtaken and devoured by the devil, does not respect God's word, but surely despises it, as if God were asleep, or were nothing at all.
(56) In the evening, when the heat abates and the day becomes cool, God begins to stir in Paradise, walks around in it, and His voice is heard, which is no longer friendly and sweet, as it was before the sin, but terrifying, so that Adam cannot bear it. Therefore, he hides himself under the trees, wanting neither to hear nor to see God, but he cannot be hidden.
The poets have pretended that when the hound of Cerbern barks in hell, the souls in it are terrified. But actually it is a real fright when one hears the voice of the angry God, that is, when one feels and senses the conscience. For then one feels that God, who before was nowhere, is everywhere, and of whom one before thought he was asleep, now hears and sees everything and his anger burns like a fire, rages and strangles.
This is the kind of language that the Scriptures use and to which one must become accustomed. God leads down, but not physically or personally, for he is everywhere; but he lets himself be noticed, ceases to be long-suffering, and begins to discover, punish, and remit sin. So that safe men, who before thought he was far away and his wrath, now see that he is all too near to them, and are terrified of him.
(59) Therefore this text belongs to the end that we may be frightened by it and learn to beware of sin. For God will not remain silent forever, but just as he frightened Adam, Cain and the whole world with the Flood with his future and present until death, so he will also attack us once where we do not forestall him through repentance.
To the pious, however, this descent of the Lord is a very joyful and pleasant thing, which is why they always desire and wish for it through their heartfelt prayers, even though they often doubt it because of the weakness of their flesh. For the pope, the Turk and other enemies of the church let themselves be seen as if they have taken hold of themselves by force in such a way that nothing can be taken away from them by any strength. But God will descend in His time and disperse both the Pope and the Turks. For against such our weakness and the security of the wicked, the Scriptures testify that God will finally descend, visit and open eyes, ears and mouth. The godly believe this, but weakly, but the wicked despise it all the more surely.
61 And so this example should also serve us to learn from it that the longer God tolerates idolatry and other sins and remains silent about them, the more unbearable His wrath will be when it is revealed. Therefore we should consider it a great blessing that he does not leave our sins unpunished for so long; just as the 30th Psalm, v. 6, admonishes the church to give thanks that his wrath is short and lasts for a moment and that he delights in life. "Weeping lasts through the evening," he says, "but joy in the morning." And Ps. 89:31, 33: "If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my statutes, I will punish their sin with a rod, and their iniquity with plagues." Therefore this is a wrath of grace, when the punishment hastens and keeps us from sin.
(62) But if God is silent about sin and looks through the fingers, as it were, an unbearable wrath follows, of which there is no end. For such a wrath was the flood, and this one, of which Moses says here that God lets the descendants of Ham have happiness even while they sin, and lets them continue in their sins until they build a city and a tower. But the disaster that comes upon them after that is all the greater.
(63) Therefore, we should not doubt it, but consider it certain that the Turk is the one.
and Pope, who live so long in happiness, have the most terrible judgment and punishment before them, the like of which no man has ever felt or experienced since the beginning of the world. For so long has God never kept silent about a man's ungodly nature and highest blasphemies; therefore their punishment will be far more severe and greater than the Flood, this dispersion here and the punishment of Sodom has been. For it will be an everlasting wrath.
(64) Moses says that God does not descend alone, but descends "to see," and I have said how this is to be understood. For until now God has shown Himself and revealed Himself as if He did not see. Thus the wicked also considered it and were certain that God did not notice such their intention.
But that he calls these tyrants and proud builders Adam's children or "children of men" shows a special contempt. And he does it in the same way as he did in chapter 6, v. 2. 3. above, namely, that he makes a distinction between the right and the wrong church and between the children of God and the children of men. For he calls the children of men those who do not have God's word and are cursed and damned hypocrites. With what, saith he, do such deal? They build a city and tower against me and my church. Which is truly a ridiculous presumption, because they are the children of men.
For this reason, it is a comfort to the true church that God not only sees, but also laughs at the wicked who set themselves against them, the plots and schemes with which they circumvent; as Psalm 2:4 says, "He who dwells in heaven laughs at them, and the Lord mocks them. But their laughter is dangerous and deadly, for it is followed by the fierce wrath of God and scattering. "He will," says David Ps. 2:5, "one day speak to them in his wrath, and with his fury he will terrify them."
67 That we therefore see that the pope, following the example of Nimrod, is also building a fortress to crush the church with it, because he is setting the Turk and the world on us, should not frighten us; for without a doubt
God laughs at his futile attempts and will also overthrow him with his wrath one day.
(68) So the Holy Spirit comforts the true church, which is plagued by the church of the devil, that it should not think that God does not respect it. The Lord, he says, sees what the wicked are up to, and now he is preparing to descend, so that they may also experience and see that their plots are hidden from God, however surely they laugh at all threats, and make themselves believe that their power cannot be increased or broken; but, he says, they will see themselves deceived.
Now God does not use storm armor or anything else to break down walls and throw them down, but only causes their languages to be confused. This is actually a wonderful way to fight against cities and to break down walls, but it is the most certain and easiest way; as Christ also testifies in the Gospel Luc. 11:17: "Every kingdom that is divided against itself becomes desolate. For if their languages had not been confused, neither would their hearts have been divided. But now, because of the confusion of languages, by which also the hearts are separated from one another, there fall Babylon, Nineveh, Jerusalem, Rome, and in sum all the kingdoms.
V. 6 And the Lord said, Behold, there is one people and one language among them all, and they have begun to do this; they will not cease from all that they have undertaken to do.
70 The word samam is well known, for it means to undertake something with a certain intention and to consider it, whether it be good or evil; as it also means here: They have undertaken to do such a thing, have set it in their minds so stiffly and will not let themselves be turned away from this undertaking. This is said as if it were a complaint of God, and he was saddened by such an undertaking of men, who were so sure and did not turn their backs on Noah and the godly Shem to their great harm.
All these things are prescribed for our consolation. For our faith is weak and the cross hard and heavy, even if we are patient. Therefore, when we see such attacks of the wicked and mighty upsets, we think that the church is about to be overthrown and that the wicked will take over and overwhelm everything.
Against such thoughts of despair this text goes mightily. For thus the Holy Spirit wants to say: You must not look only at what men think and intend; for they are stiff-necked, proud and sure men. But rise a little from the earth and go up to heaven with your thoughts, and see what God is up to and how he is minded; who indeed is not idle nor asleep, but looks upon such security of men with sorrow, and grieves him as much as you. Therefore have no doubt, he will come one day and put to shame such stubborn people, who are of such a stiff-necked mind and nobility. Thus the words of God show the sobs and groans of the God-fearing, who are frightened and offended by such a stubborn opinion of the wicked, who are certain in their hearts that they want to accomplish what they have set out to do, even without the thanks and will of our Lord God.
Thus we see that after the holy fathers saw so many astonishments of godless people who revile and blaspheme God and His word, they also had to deal with this challenge of a weak faith; otherwise they would not have lamented and sighed in such a way that God Himself was also caused to indicate to them for their consolation that such behavior of the godless also hurt Him. Now follows the punishment.
V. 7, 8, 9: Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that none may hear another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad, and they ceased to build the city. Therefore their name is called Babylon, because the Lord there confused the language of all the countries, and scattered them abroad into all the countries.
This is the description of the terrible punishment from which war, death and all kinds of misfortune have arisen throughout the world. For no one can believe that this punishment has ceased, but it continues and still continues, and therefore the church in particular feels great discomfort. For how often has it happened that for the sake of a small ceremony, in which nothing special was involved, the churches have become divided. So Pope Victor put all the Oriental churches under ban, because they did not want to keep the Easter feast at the time when the Occidental ones kept it. For the Oriental ones kept it on the day when the Jews still keep it today, but the Occidental ones preferred to use Christian liberty.
Such things also happen in the secular regiment, and in countries and republics they are actually no more harmful plague than separation. For what would the Turk have gained from us Germans, or could still harm us, if we had been one and had stood together with the same mind, spirit and nobility? But because we are divided for the sake of a paltry title, he is gradually making Germany tired and weary and taking one country after another.
76 So that we also are struck and punished with the confusion of languages; and all kingdoms have felt this plague from the time that Babylon was built. For Sallust has well and truly said that a weak and small good soon increases and becomes great where one lives in unity; but where one lives in discord and is divided, no good is so great, it rises above it and deteriorates. And the Greeks have a beautiful fable of Eris, who incites people to discord and strife by means of a golden apple: I almost wanted to say that such a fable has its beginning and origin from this history. For the sacred stories have become known also to the pagans through oral speeches.
77 Therefore, this most harmful plague in the world, namely discord and disunity, should be called a Babylonian calamity by proverb, thereby reversed and turned into
Basically, religion, secular laws and order, good morals and what is good in this whole life is disturbed; as the examples are simultaneously in the church, secular and domestic government before eyes.
(78) What this means, that Moses here and elsewhere speaks in the plural, since he says only of One God, I have indicated above in the first chapter, namely, that it is a sure testimony of the Holy Trinity that we believe that One God is: the Father, who begets; the Son, who is begotten; and the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. And let us ask nothing of it, that the Jews make such a mockery of it, that they say that God has thus spoken with the angels. For we are not created in the image of angels, but they, the angels, are God's image with us. Yes, as the words testify, we believe that the same God is in the three persons of an inseparable being and unity. For the angels cannot confuse languages, but this is a work of the Creator, who alone can change and abolish a language; just as he alone can create that one speaks a language. But a creature cannot do this. The angels can take language from a human being, as many examples of Scripture show; but in a human being they can neither create nor change it.
79. Therefore, we should keep this right opinion and understanding, that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, that is, the one Godhead itself, speaks to itself here and says: "Let us descend. Therefore, this descent is a work of the one God Himself, of which the angels cannot be partakers, so that He may frighten and crush the wicked after they have committed sin.
And thus Moses indicates that in the divine essence or in the one God there are more persons than one. But how it would happen and what this union of persons would be, he does not explain: for this should be reserved for the honor of the New Testament, which clearly expresses all three persons, namely, that in God there is one person who begets; one who is begotten;
and another that proceeds from the Father and the Son, namely the Holy Spirit. That therefore the article of the Trinity in the Old Testament was included in the common faith, in which the holy fathers died and were saved. Therefore we should not allow the godless and blinded Jews to deprive us of such testimonies. For such clear words, and which are so properly set, are not to be counterfeited, and to be forcibly directed and drawn to an unskilful opinion and understanding.
Third part.
From the genealogical register of the ancestors of Christ from the Flood to Abraham.
V. 10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arphachad, two years after the flood.
This last part of the eleventh chapter cannot be considered as if there were anything special in it, since it reports nothing else but the families of the fathers; but in truth this narration of the families is very necessary, especially for the sake of our time, which has to have such an example. For we hear that after the confusion of languages, not only in the secular and domestic government, but also in the church, many a disorder and confusion has taken place. So that we do not get such ideas and think that the devil had so much power and authority that he was able to completely take away the light of the Word, which is there as a sun, from the world and devour the church at once, the generation of the pious is prescribed for us, so that we may see that through God's mercy something of the church has still been preserved and that it has not been destroyed to the ground.
82) So after Seth there remained of the church Methuselah and Noah with his family. But after the Flood, when the ungodly generation of Ham multiplied rapidly, and
Having made everything full of troubles, the Church was ruled by Noah with his son Shem and his grandchildren. So that we see that the article of our faith is true, that we believe that there is a holy catholic church at all times, from the beginning of the world to the end. For God has always kept a people with whom the Word has remained and through whom religion and pure doctrine have been preserved in the world, so that everything would not fall into a godless nature and there would be no knowledge of God among the people.
Therefore, this register and narrative of the generations of the pious holds before us the most noble main doctrine that God has never completely abandoned His Church, whether it has been stronger at one time and weaker and smaller at another. Just as the doctrine has been purer at one time and darker at another. And in the face of such great wickedness of the world and the enemies of the word, we should also hold on to such hope; just as Christ also comforts us Matth. 24, 22, that the days of the last time will be shortened, namely so that the church will be preserved and the Antichrist will not turn everything into vain error and lies.
These grandsons of Shem are the heirs of the promise of Christ, which God has therefore preserved and protected, so that there may be persons in whom the church or the Word may be found. For this cannot be separated from each other: where the Word is, there is also the church, there is the Spirit, there is Christ and everything; as ungodly also the Pope cries out against it, and does not want the church to be there, since he is not a head.
(85) And the fathers followed one another in the flesh; as also afterward in the law the priesthood stood upon such persons as came from one another in the flesh or after the flesh. But in the New Testament the church is not bound to certain persons of one sex according to the flesh. For Christ has not begotten children in the flesh, but the church is free of all such things, and is where the Word is. Again, where the Word is not, even though there are titles, ranks, and offices, the church is not there, because God is not there either.
86) Furthermore, we have similar examples in other lines that followed these, which testify that God, out of His special counsel and according to His unspeakable mercy, never rejects the human race in the time of His wrath and anger, so that He does not leave anything left over from the church and keeps a small group, as Isaiah chap. 1, 8. 9. and chap. 10, 20. says. This is how Jeremiah, Daniel and others were preserved in the time of the Babylonian prison. God raised them up and kept them with Himself through the promise of the Word, so that they could also pass on a church to their descendants.
Therefore, when the wickedness and sins of the ungodly synagogue became full in Roman times, a remnant was preserved as a seed, through which the Gentiles also came to the knowledge of Christ. So that the church in the world has always been preserved by God through him who crushed the serpent's head.
88) After this consolation, which this narration holds out to us from the account of the years, it is also lovely that one can see from it what form and condition the church had, and who those were who governed it, and at what time and with whom each one lived.
89 Noah lived after the flood four and a half hundred years. Who will now judge and say what trouble and work he will have had, that he has punished the godless Nimrodic church? what it also cost him for pleas and supplications, that he kept the pious in himself, that they did not go to the godless? Of course, not a day has gone by that the good old man has not had to fight and contend against agitation, mobs and sects. That is why I said above that these fathers are the most distinguished martyrs, because they have fought so many battles against the wicked and for such a long time.
90 And Noah saw his seed unto the tenth generation. For he died when Abraham was eight and fifty years old. Shem lived after Abraham five and thirty years. Therefore he lived with Isaac an hundred and ten years.
years, and with Jacob and Esau fifty. O how beautiful a church has this been, which has been ruled for such a long time by so many fathers who lived at the same time with each other! For this is how God wanted it, that among so many adversities such lights of the church should shine, so that not everything should turn to idolatry.
(91) But of all these, the pious Noah is the highest and noblest, who had seen the previous world for such a long time, and now hoped that his descendants, who were begotten from him, would be warned by the terrible example of the Flood, turn back to it, abide by the word, and keep themselves in the fear of God.
But the good old father misses far. For when barely a hundred years had passed after the Flood, Nimrod set upon the pious race, drove them out of his own, and following the example of his father Ham, who had made a mockery of his father, who was drunk not with wine but with sorrow, he set up for himself a new church and new services.
So the church has had the same form and happiness from the beginning of the world until now. We would also like to meet the upsets and create counsel; but these examples teach us that, as Christ says Matth. 18, 7, upsets must come, and Paul 1 Cor. 11, 19: "There must be mobs among you.
Therefore, let us be patient and learn to tolerate the devil's fierce raging and blows, so that he may take it upon himself to break up and weaken the church, but to strengthen his church. For we are no better than the fathers, who, with much sweat and with great toil and labor, have accomplished scarcely so much as to preserve the word, and have only delivered some from the devil's jaws.
95 For the Nimrodic church had almost swallowed up Abraham himself. He was held back by the word of the Lord,' which indicated to him that he should let the godless people go and look for another land. This, I believe, was done by Shem himself. For because he had the regiment
As he led the church and had the promise of Christ, he was held in great honor by his grandchildren and his ministry was actually God's ministry. What he also commanded and commanded, his grandchildren accepted as a word and commandment of God.
96) Because it is written in Genesis 25:22 that Rebecca asked the Lord for advice, I understand that she asked Shem, to whom God had commanded the government of the church, for advice; for Shem died when Jacob and Esau were fifty years old; and then God speaks Himself when the saints, who are full of the Holy Spirit, speak. About this time the kingdom began in Egypt, for as history indicates, Abraham went down into Egypt. Therefore, the most important lesson in this chapter is to see where the church was at that time and by which fathers it was ruled, which fathers also lived at the same time.
97 After this, this chapter also reminds us that after people were allowed to eat meat, they became much weaker, and began to bear children and die sooner than before. As we have therefore eaten death with an apple before, so we shall henceforth sooner catch our death with all kinds of food and gluttony. For if we were content with simple food, and did not use foreign spices to give pleasure, we would undoubtedly be able to live longer.
When I was young, I remember that many of the rich drank water and used the simplest food, which was easy to prepare. Some of them hardly started drinking wine in their thirties. Nowadays, children are accustomed to wine, not bad and small, but strong and foreign wines, even distilled or distilled wines, which are drunk sober. What wonder is it then that they hardly reach half their lifetime and the very fewest live to see their fiftieth year? Just as the devoured apple caused and brought death upon us, so we lose it,
If we have anything left of life, by gluttony and all kinds of food and drink.
V.11. And Shem lived after that (when he had begotten Arphachad) five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
99 Here it might surprise the reader why Moses, since he tells the whole life of Shem, does not add the words: "and died" as he did above (Cap. 5, 8.)? But this is easy to report. Moses wanted to use the word "died" so that the example of the resurrection and eternal life, which God had shown to the first world in the person of Heuoch, would be all the clearer and more evident. And is this why Moses wanted to boast so that even if a careless reader, who said of all the others: "He died", would come to Enoch, he would have to keep still (since it is not said of him: "He died", but: "God took him away") and think where God had accepted him, where he was and what he was doing? For such thoughts lead even an inattentive reader to conclude that there is a certain hope of immortality and of another life, which is not before the world, but before God.
100 Here also another question arises: How Arphachad was begotten two years after the flood, because he is the third son of Shem? as Moses indicated in the previous chapter (v. 22). For the first son of Shem was Elam, from whom the Persians came; and the kingdom of Babylon belonged to him, but he was driven out of it by Nimrod. Assyria is counted for the other son, who did not want to be with the cursed idolatry of Nimrod and also went away to Assyria and built the city of Nineveh there. These two are followed by Arphachad, of whom Moses says that he was born two years after the Flood, and yet also expressly says that Shem was a hundred years old when he begat Arphachad. Now Shem was a hundred years old at the time of the flood etc.
One answers this, the other that. But first of all, it is not such a great danger, if one does not actually
can know. For the other, that I answer nevertheless also something on it, it is not inconvenient that one understands this, so Moses here says, that Arphachsad was commanded two years after the Flood, from the time, when the Flood began; that this is the opinion, that Arphachsad was born two years after, when the Flood had begun. But the flood lasted one year and ten days.
102) But this is raised, and some say, How then, if this be so, can this be true, that Elam and Assyria were born before Arphaxad; for then they must all three have been born in one year? Answer: This does not hinder us either, if we put at the same time that for the first time two of them were born with each other at once. But as I said, our faith is not endangered by this, even if we do not know this. For it is certain that the Scriptures do not lie. What is therefore brought up and said, which serves to save the honor and glory of Scripture, is useful and good, even if it is not so completely certain.
V. 12, 13: Arphachad was five and thirty years old, and begat Salah; and after that he lived four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Here you see that the fathers, after such great damage and sorrow to the human race, hastened to beget children, otherwise they would have abstained from them longer because of sadness and heartache; as Adam and Eve abstained after their son Abel was strangled by his brother.
Salah was thirty years old and begat Eber, and lived four hundred and three years after that, and begat sons and daughters. Eber was four and thirty years old, and begat Peleg; and after that he lived four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. Peleg was thirty years old, and begat Regn; and lived after that two hundred and ninety years, and begat sons and daughters. Regn was two and thirty years old, and begat Serug; and lived after that two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. Serug was thirty years old, and begat Nahor; and lived two hundred years after that.
year, and begat sons and daughters. Nahor was nine and twenty years old, and begat Tarah; and after that he lived an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. Tharah was seventy years old, and begat Abram, Nahor and Haran.
104 Here we come to the boar, of which Moses spoke above (Cap. 10, 21.) and called Shem the father of all children boar. Now I have said above why this happens, namely, first of all, for the honor of the Lord Christ; then also because around the time of this boar the terrible confusion of the languages occurred. Because Sem especially loved his lineage and wanted to honor it above others, he chose him to be the regent and high priest of the church, so that it might be known where the church and the Lord Christ came from. Therefore, it can be seen that this boar was a very high man who held on to the pure doctrine, the faith and the promise of the first fathers in the midst of the desolation that Nimrod caused in the church of God.
105 Because of his constancy and virtue, the church received its name from him by the authority and power of the holy patriarch Sem, and it is called Hebrews, who have kept the doctrine and faith of this holy father Eber, and the church has kept this name until the time of the Lord Christ.
Therefore let us despise and reject the thoughts and imagination of Rabbi Solomon, who seriously pretends that the Hebrews were thus called from the passage through the river Euphrates, and who is followed in this opinion by Burgensis, who has a desire for such wrangling. Lyra understands it better, although he does not indicate the cause of this name so clearly, namely, that the children of Eber have kept the pure doctrine and true religion, which Eber had diligently preserved and defended, so that it would not be counterfeited by Nimrod and the other apostates. And Abram was also from this church, who lived with Eber throughout his life. Therefore he was also called an Eberian, that in the promise he had
and lived in the faith of Eber. For Eber died when Abraham had already been dead four and sixty years.
(107) Thus you have the history of the first world, which Moses therefore so diligently described, that it might be known how the promise of Christ has continued to come and to be propagated throughout the ages. Therefore, if anyone wants to call this the history of the first church, he will not be mistaken, for the Holy Spirit cares nothing for the ungodly. So they too will soon be forgotten among men and buried in hell. But that God takes care of the right church, we see, and therefore the Holy Spirit so diligently shows how it was planted from the beginning of the world.
For this reason, the church has always held this first book of Moses in high regard and esteem. For if one were to lose this one book, one could not know how the church would have fared for two thousand years.
We, who have followed these patriarchs for so long, hold these holy rulers of the first church, Adam, Seth, Noah and Shem, high and dear, and judge from our cross and suffering, which makes our short life much easier and more bearable, that their hardship must have been far, far greater. For they had to stand and fight against the devil's and the world's fury, turmoil and temptation for many hundreds of years, and finally, through faith in the promise of the woman's seed, they were victorious and overcame all adversity, until they were finally reclaimed from this battle by God, leaving behind them a generation that was well educated and followed in the footsteps of its ancestors. Therefore, although the Church has never sat in peace and constant tranquility, it has endured and remained standing in the most cruel storms and temptations.
(110) That such a treasure and good deed may be remembered forever, Moses has faithfully and diligently described all these things in these eleven chapters, so that he may also teach us, who have heard the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
The fact that we have and keep our faith and religion healthy, pure and righteous is what drives us to believe that the ungodly will fall in our time, but the church will prevail and triumph.
To the Christian reader D. Martin Luther.
Therefore, I hope that this work of mine and its interpretation will be of some use and pleasant to devout Christians. I also have no doubt that we, who have fallen into this old age and frenzy of the world, will not be blamed. No one will blame us, but will gladly take it as a good thing, if we have not everywhere attained the spirit of such great and noble men, who were rulers of the first world and planted and handed over the doctrine and religion with the right worship pure and unadulterated up to Abraham, who after the first two thousand years ruled the world from then on. We want to act and declare the same history, as much as God gives us grace for our undertaking and diligence. To God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory for these and all other benefits forever and ever, Amen.
Fourth Part.
From the holy father Abraham.
Here we will start the third part of this first book of Moses. The first describes the history of the first world up to the Flood; the second describes what happened after the Flood up to Abraham; all of which is a very short history when compared with those stories of which the world thinks much. But in this it surpasses all the glorious histories of the world, in that it shows both that God spoke to the holy man and that the promise of the future Christ happened to the patriarch Shem on condition that Japheth also should be made a part of the same promise. This promise shone forth at the same time like a sun, so that the pious people could see the day of the Lord.
Christ from afar, and in this hope overcome what the ungrateful world and the fierce enemy, Satan, would inflict on them in terms of unhappiness, misery and distress.
112) Now follows the third part or the third book, in which not only a new generation but also a new promise is mentioned. For why would we not call this a new world or generation, to which a new word is sent down from heaven? And this is a precious ornament and a special honor that God shows Abraham by speaking to him and holding out to him the promise of the seed in which all nations shall be blessed.
You will not find such things in any secular histories. For what is special and praiseworthy in them all belongs to the honor and special freedom given to man by God, since he is commanded to rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, that is, in secular histories you will find nothing else than such stories, which were arranged and accomplished by human reason, wisdom and skill. In contrast, God's word is a much greater and nobler treasure and gift. Just as the Spirit, by whom the hearts of Christians are governed, is a greater gift than reason can ever be. Therefore, these are all temporal things, but these are heavenly and divine things, for which reason we rightly esteem them great and marvel at them.
114. Although many patriarchs were still alive in Abraham's time (for when Noah died, Abraham was eight and fifty years old, but Shem lived after Abraham's death one and thirty years, so also after him some of his ancestors lived): We rightly say that a new world and a new church began with Abraham, because God begins to distinguish His church from all nations anew with Abraham, and adds a very clear and glorious promise of the Lord Christ, in whom all nations shall be blessed.
(115) Therefore, we are justly starting a new book here, because a new light is shining down from heaven, indicating that out of
Abraham's generation Christ shall be born; preaches also in the most delightful way about his ministry, namely, that he will bring blessing to the whole world, that is, do enough for the sins of the world, in this way reconcile us again to God and give us eternal life. To this comfort also comes this, that he announces and determines the place where Christ shall be born. For since the land of Canaan is promised to the lineage of Abraham, and Christ is to be born of Abraham's lineage, it is certain that Christ will be born in the land of Canaan and of the Jews. Such. The church did not have such light before Abraham; therefore, a new church is coming into being and growing, because a new word is beginning to shine.
V. 27. 28. This find the families of Tarah: Tarah begat Abram, Nahor and Haran. But Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Tharah in his fatherland at Ur in Chaldea.
This is one of the darkest and most difficult texts in the Old Testament; therefore it has caused many questions, which a diligent reader will find here and there in the old and new teachers. Whether or not I would lack the right understanding, I will protect myself with St. Paul's opinion and do right by it according to my discretion. For since he also comes about such difficult matters, he says in 1 Tim. 1, 4 that one should not pay attention to the genealogical registers, because they give rise to innumerable questions. There is another error, however, that ambitious minds consider this a great praise and glory, if they can judge freely from difficult and dark sayings of Scripture and then defend their opinion stiffly and firmly; and this is a disease that is implanted in our frail nature, from which an interpreter of Scripture should diligently guard against.
117 Such dark sayings can also be found in pagan books, which are usually called a grammarian's cross, that is, over which one must toil and agonize. Sharp-witted minds may well try their hand at them, for there is no danger in doing so; but in the sacred Scriptures
One must hold fast to the truth alone and defend it stubbornly. But about dark things, and there is something doubtful, one should let others judge.
The first question in this text is whether Abraham, because he is mentioned here in the first place, was the firstborn or not? and about this question Lyra and Rabbi Solomon come to a hard and serious discussion. Lyra says that he was not the firstborn, and makes his calculation thus: Sarah, he says, was Haran's daughter, but Abraham was only ten years older than his wife. For so he speaks below in the 17th Cap. V. 17: "Shall a child be born to me a hundred years old, and Sarah ninety years old?" Therefore it seems to be impossible that Abraham should have been older than his brother Haran, whose daughter is only ten years younger than Abraham.
This is a strong proof based on calculations. For if Abraham is only ten years older than his brother's daughter, and yet is made older than his brother, it follows that Haran was at most eight years old when Sarah was born. Now this does not add up at all.
120 Why, you may say, is Abraham placed first? To this Augustine gives this answer: One should not look at how among Abraham and his brother one followed the other in birth, but one should pay attention to the fact that here is pointed to the future honor and glory, so that Abraham has surpassed all his brothers. For he must be placed in front as the head and the tribe of the following generation. This is Lyra's opinion, against which truly nothing can be raised, if Sarah was a bodily daughter of Haran. However, she may have been brought by the mother whom Haran married as a widow, or she may have been taken by Haran himself as a daughter; so that she is called Haran's daughter, but not a biological daughter. And so in this way Sarah was Haran's daughter, Lyra's argument and proof concludes nothing.
(121) Rabbi Solomon does not take this account into consideration, and concludes according to the letter that Abraham was the firstborn; in which, although he honors and praises Abraham as a father of the Jews, as the Jews gladly and diligently do, I myself am of the opinion that I believe he was the firstborn.
The other question is much more difficult, but neither Lyra nor other teachers have paid attention to it; namely, that Abraham loses sixty years. For the calculation, so the text brings with itself, is easy. Tharah was seventy years old when he begat Abram: but now Abram, being five and seventy years old, goeth forth from Haran, wherein Tharah died. If you add these years together, you will find a hundred and five and forty years. But since the history counts the years of Tharah, it reports clearly that he died after he had lived two hundred and five years. Therefore the question is, how can these years be proved?
Now it is not at all appropriate to follow bold people in such a case, who, as soon as such a heavy trade occurs, may therefore say that it is an obvious error, and boldly and without shame dare to improve other people's books. For my part, I do not yet know how to answer such a question, since I have diligently collected and calculated the years of the world. Therefore, with humble confession of my lack of understanding, I now conclude, as is reasonable (for only the Holy Spirit knows and understands all things), that God, out of certain counsel, has thus ordained that these sixty years should be lost to Abraham, so that no one would dare to prophesy something certain about the end of the world from the certain reckoning of the years of the world. For although God knows the signs of the last day and wants them to be seen and seen, he does not want anyone to know anything certain about this day, nor even the year, so that devout Christians may practice their faith and fear of God in anticipation of this most wonderful and joyful day.
I don't know any other way to answer this question.
(124) And I have said these things concerning these first two questions, lest any man should weep that I knew not of such questions, or that I had not read of them. Even if we are lacking in this, that we believe that Abraham was the firstborn, it is still such a lack that does no harm to the faith, nor does it condemn us. I have not expressed this opinion for the sake of praise, but I know that God does not distribute His gifts so that we can rule over others and have power, or despise the opinions and good will of others, but so that we can serve those who need our advice and help in such cases.
125 It is easy to understand that the text goes on to say that Haran died before his father in the land where he was born. For he wants to indicate that Haran died before Abraham left Chaldea with his father Tharah. But I will gladly pass over the Jewish gossip about this, which Lyra also relates, namely, that Haran was thrown into a fire and thus died, but Abraham was preserved in the fire because he had a stronger faith. For Joshua is more to be believed, who clearly says in his 24th chapter, v. 2: "Your fathers dwelt in time past beyond the water," that is, in the land of Mesopotamia, "Tharah, Abraham's and Nahor's father, and served other gods." This is a much different testimony than the one the lying Jews give to Abraham, which faith they praise only for the sake of fleshly glory and honor, so that they may have such a father to boast of all the more. But if they want to praise him as the Scriptures praise him, they must confess that he was a godless idolater, for Joshua testifies to this.
Therefore this is a terrible example, that Nimrod's mob or heresy has multiplied at Babylon in such a way that it also defiles and corrupts the descendants of the saints with its poison. The pious man Sem kept the right worship and did not deviate from the pure doctrine, but how he is despised by the Nimrodites.
and have been mocked, since even Tharah, Nahor, and Abram step away from him and go to Satan's church!
How we should therefore be warned and admonished by such an example, to lay aside all security and live in the fear of God, since we see that not only these fathers, who were related to one another, were led into error and idolatry, but also the right tribe of the church itself, as Tharah and Abraham. So this is also a glorious and beautiful example of God's grace and mercy, that He does not reject such idolatrous people, but keeps them from their error and sets them right again by His word.
The pope makes of his saints vain pure angels, yes, rather wooden idols and sticks, which have nothing human about them. The holy Scriptures, however, show that the most distinguished heroes of the Church were human, that is, they often fell and sinned and yet were again accepted by the gracious and merciful God. Therefore, such examples serve very usefully to instill the fear of God in the heart and to maintain faith or trust in the grace and mercy of God.
V.29. 30. Then Abram and Nahor took wives. Abram's wife's name was Sarai, and Nahor's wife's name was Milcah, Haran's daughter, who was a father to Milcah and Iishca. But Sarai was barren, and had no child.
The teachers are almost all of this opinion, that they consider Iisca to be the one who was called Sarai above and whom Abraham took as his wife. But it seems to me that this is why Haran is called the father of Milcah and Iishca, so that Moses could show that Sarai was not a natural daughter of Haran, but was either his stepdaughter or a daughter taken in his place. But I do not want to prevent anyone from following what he thinks is most similar to the truth; nevertheless, our faith must not suffer any danger because of this.
130] But the fact that the Scripture says that Sarai was barren is because we have
see that bearing children at the same time was praised and glorified as a great blessing of God; as the Scripture refers to Sarai's barrenness as a special sorrow and misery. With this misery the Almighty God punishes or rather tempts this holy man in this sinful life, in which we are as in hell because of sin, so that while all the wicked have many children and servants and a large family, he alone must have a barren marriage. However, God did not want to tempt Abraham alone in this way, but this had to serve so that this miracle and God's mercy, power and truth would be all the more powerfully proven and praised, namely that Sarah, as a barren woman who was now obsolete and unfit to bear children, nevertheless gave birth to a son, from whom such a large nation and such a large family was begotten and built.
(131) So also in this text we should pay attention to the fact that the Holy Spirit makes a distinction between the hereditary disease of nature, which is corrupted by sin, and His work, that is, bearing children, and does not cancel this gift and blessing for the sake of the corrupted nature, but also in this corrupted nature, which goes about in fornication and fierce lust like an unreasonable animal, praises the gift of bearing children as an excellent blessing from God. For if this were not so, the Scriptures would not have thought of the barrenness of Sarah, who is married to Abraham.
V.31, 32: And Tarah took Abram his son, and Lot his son Haran's son, and Sarai his son Abram's wife, and brought them from Ur of Chaldea, that he might go into the land of Canaan: and they came to Haran, and dwelt there. And Tharah was two hundred and five years old, and died in Haran.
This is the other knot, but easier to untie and more correct than the first. For the fact that this text seems difficult is due to the fact that in the 7th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, v. 2. 3, Stephen says that God of glory appeared to Abraham when he was still
Moses said that Abraham had been in Mesopotamia before he lived in the land of Haran, and that he had said to him, "Go out of the land and from your friendship, and go to a land that I will show you." But here Moses says that Abraham went to Haran according to his father's will; and in the following chapter he says that Abraham was called out of Haran by divine command after his father's death, which occurred in the land of Haran. Whoever now wants to remain humble with his wisdom and not indulge his thoughts too much, could easily bring together and unite what Moses and Stephen say; and I will also indicate my opinion of this below in the 12th chapter. For here it is enough to say that Tharah and his family, seduced by the Nimrodic mob, have left the faith and become idolaters. However, since he is admonished by the holy patriarch Shem, he undertakes to leave the Nimrodic society.
133) Of the third question, which arises here, we must also say something, and is a grammatical question: What is Ur in Chaldea? whether it is a name of a place, or of an idol in Chaldea; because ur means a light or fire, as also Urim is called 2 Mos. 28, 30. the little badge, which Aaron had to wear on his ephod, of which the Lord gave an account. But even though it cannot be said for certain what it was, it is certain that it had the name of light or radiance. And I am of this opinion that I consider it that Ur was a name of a place, which was thus called, as often happens, from the idolatrous worship that went on there especially in the Schwang. In Germany we also have such names of places, but they have been attached to them for other reasons, as Lichtenfels, Lichtenstein, Lichtenberg.
But it can be seen that this false worship was caused by God showing His grace to the fathers by a light or fire that fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifices that were done in honor of God. For this was a sign that God was pleased with such sacrifice and service, as Elijah had done.
History 1 Kings 18:38; and God commands in the Law, Deut. 6:12, that the fire on the altar should burn and never be extinguished, from which the sacrifices had to be kindled and burned; and the pagans also followed this, as the histories indicate. So I think that Nimrod's mob, according to the example of the right religion, set a special fire, so that the right worship of the fathers would be held in low esteem and despised, as if they had nothing special nor something ahead of them. From this fire the name of the place subsequently fell, that Ur was called a city, in which this service was most flourishing and the people ran to it; as afterwards there was a great running to Jerusalem among the Jews, and in our times to Rome. And Joshua Cap. 24, 2. shows that Tarah himself, Nahor and Abraham followed this idolatry and considered it right.
135 That the examples of all times in the world teach that the word of truth and the right worship are despised by the common multitude of the people. For this reason, when new teachers appear, their ears are pricked, and they proceed in the same way as Genesis 5, B., Cap. 29, 19, "that the drunkard may go with the thirsty. The false teachers are nimble and ready to teach, so the common people are exceedingly eager to hear; and by this the word and the right services are lost.
The Anabaptists come with a new doctrine that children should not be led astray, because they are without reason and do not understand the Word, and therefore cannot have faith. Because the common man of us does not hear such things, he falls in with them and accepts the doctrine with great acclaim. Thus the sacrament-obsessives Zwingli, Oecolampad and their like argue that Christ, when he says: "This is my body," does not mean that he distributes his body with or under the bread, but that only bread is taken and wine drunk, and not Christ's body and blood.
137. the common man thinks of such teachers.
But we, who do not let ourselves be led astray from Christ's word, he considers to be neither purer nor better than the papists themselves. This is the custom of the world, which has a disgust for God's word; and what is new, it accepts and considers it right. And this is what made the city of Ur, of which Moses speaks here, famous, so that it received a name and became famous before other cities in Chaldea because of its new worship.
The Hebrew word chasdim means the Chaldeans. But I am of the opinion that for the sake of the new worship Ur is called ur chasidim, as if you wanted to say: a city of the saints; as Rome was called the most distinguished church and head of all other churches. But Moses reverses the word, as if he wanted to say: You are not chasidim, saints, but chasidim, Chaldeans; because the prophets have pleasure in such interpretations of one word to another, as Micah Cap. 1, 11. shaanan nenut zaanan and Hosea Cap. 10, 5. beth el calls beth aven.
139 And the footsteps of such idolatry, as the histories of the pagans testify, remained with the Persians for a long time afterward. For the king of Persia had a sacred fire, which the histories call Orimasda with a mutilated Hebrew word; the same was led before him on a horse with all its glory; just as the pope has the body of the Lord Christ, as he calls it, led before him on a horse, which is unhorsed but beautifully adorned; but he deceives both himself and others with it, for it is not the body of the Lord Christ, but only bread. For Christ does not want that when bread is carried around for the spectacle, his body should be there, but when it is taken or eaten according to his order and appointment in the church. But the pope misuses this splendor to confirm and affirm his error about the one form of the sacrament.
Thus godless nature and superstition remain one time like the other. For although the outward practices and signs or the outward service of God are changed, the same sense and precept remain.
men. Just as the pope does not use today's day of the sacred fire to worship it, but he has other practices and ungodly practices, which, although they seem to be different, are of the same opinion.
141) Therefore, as it was in Ur in Chaldea almost from the beginning of the world, so it remains until the end of the world; for the people leave the word, persecute the faith, and take up something new, which alone must be the right service of God, as they dream. But the Jews hold
that Ur was not the name of a place, but a fire where those who condemned Nimrod's idolatry were thrown; as they tell a fable about Abraham and Haran. But I do not follow their opinion, but hold that it was the name of a place, to which there was a great gathering from all places as to a very holy service; as afterwards the most distinguished services were at Jerusalem, Bethel and Shechem, in which places God revealed Himself to the fathers by various ways and works.