First part.
How Jacob prepares his sons for the curse and blessing he will proclaim to them; and how he proclaims the curse to his son Reuben.
And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the days to come. Come in multitude, and hear, ye children of Jacob, hear your father Israel.
Now this chapter is somewhat obscure and difficult, and that for the reason that it has many masters and interpreters who disagree about the understanding, and of whom one holds this, the other that, even so that we must make a smooth and straight path out of a wicked crooked one, on which we go. But we want to do what we can.
2 Jacob awakens his sons and calls their attention to the fact that he wants to speak of excellent, noteworthy things, namely, the promise and the threat. And in truth it is a great thing to say and proclaim something about things to come.
(3) But we know from the Scriptures, and from living experience, that the divine promises and threatenings, when they are fulfilled, and go forth, as it were, in full swing and full course, are yet to be seen at all contrary. For the people of Israel had good promises; but when you look at history and how they are now, it seems that they are the poorest people and have been abandoned altogether, and that God is either not true in His promises, or does not pay much attention to them Himself: as we have had several examples of this from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
For their histories indicate nothing else than that they have been without God, or that God has forgotten them and no longer cares for them, and has freely allowed their enemies and adversaries to reign, to triumph, and only to rage and rage against the godly innocent people.
(4) In the same way the people of Israel were severely afflicted by their neighbors, their enemies, the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Idumeans, the Egyptians and others, so that nothing was less in the day than that they should have a divine promise. And what can be more miserable than the history of the patriarch Jacob, which is full of all kinds of miseries and tribulations? But is this the promise and blessing he had? Does it mean to have a gracious God, to have life and eternal bliss? Truly, the godly have the opposite before their eyes, and, as it seems, all this is in fact contrary to everything that is offered and presented to them in the promises, which reason judges to be false and untruthful, and as it is said: That it is evil for the pious and good for the wicked.
5 Therefore faith belongs to the promise, which keeps and lives in the word of the promise. For where there is no faith to keep the promise and to live in it, it is true that the things which the godly encounter are utterly contrary to the promise, so that people are driven to despair. Therefore the multitude of the Jews who burned incense to other gods cried out, Jer. 44:16, 17, 18.He said to the prophet, "We will not obey the word you speak to us in the name of the Lord, but we will do according to all the word that comes from our mouths, and we will burn incense to the Melechites of heaven and offer drink offerings to them, as we and our fathers, our kings and princes, did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we also had bread enough, and we prospered, and saw no evil. But since that time we have ceased to burn incense in Melecheth of heaven.
chern and drink offerings, we have suffered all want, and perished by the sword and by hunger" etc.
This was the cause of all idolatry among the people of Israel, even in the wilderness, as the 78th Psalm v. 8 testifies, that there was an apostate and disobedient kind, "whose heart was not steadfast, and their spirit did not hold faithfully to God. For they desired to be led and governed in such a way that they would not have to live in the faith of the promise, but wanted to have it all present, by which they would live. On the other hand, God wanted them to keep the faith and not to gape or stand after the things that would do them good and be pleasant at the present time. Therefore they raged and were angry, as if they wanted to say: God should not feed us with words, but should now hand over to us in cash what we need. Thus they desired what was contrary to the will and government of God, and when they did not immediately receive what they asked and desired, they sought another God from that time on. And the same perverse nature of human hearts is described in the same Psalm: "They did not keep the covenant of God, and would not walk in His law, and forgot His deeds and His wonders that He had shown them," Psalm 78:10, 11; likewise in the 106th Psalm, v. 13: "But they soon forgot His works, they did not wait for His counsel," which is to say, they did not want to believe. And Stephen also reproaches them with the same thing in Acts 7:43: "And you worship the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God Remphan" etc.
Therefore, one must diligently observe and pay attention to this in the holy scriptures, which contain completely different histories than the scriptures of the Gentiles, which have no divine promise in them. On the other hand, God gives His people rich promises, but at the same time He tries them and tests their faith, and teaches them that they must live more on words than on bread, as Genesis Deut. 8:3 says: "God humbled you and made you hungry and fed you with food that you and your fathers never had.
that he may make known to thee that man shall not live by bread alone, but by all things that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord.
(8) This is to be diligently kept in mind, that God promises well, and yet always delays a little with that which He has promised before He gives it, and so tempts us that we may presently be in want and have to live in want, that He may instruct us in the faith of the promise, and that the same faith may be strengthened and confirmed, and that we may learn to trust God, not only when things are well and there is enough, but also when things are bad and there is want or need. The pope and all his doctors or teachers do not have such faith, nor do they know anything about it.
(9) This is the most important thing in all of Scripture, that we may know God in His promises and understand them correctly. For he also helps in deed and finally in work, but he first tests faith in the promise that he will let us lack what we need, so that we may learn to trust him and not tempt him, as the Jews did; for they immediately followed strange gods, if God did not immediately give them everything they desired, according to their liking and what he had in mind; for they could not wait for his counsel.
(10) Against this impatience so many exhortations are given in the prophets and psalms, as Hab. 2:3: "The prophecy shall yet be fulfilled in its time, and shall at length come to pass, and not remain without. But whether it be polluted, wait for it; it shall surely come, and not be pardoned." And in the 27th Psalm v. 14: "Harvest thou the Lord, be thou confident and undaunted, and wait for the Lord." But the Jews did not see this and did not want to learn it, so they chose other gods and sought gods like Astaroth and Baal, who would help them soon and immediately, without believing in the promise that they would feel the help and grasp it with their hands. As they then in their pride presumptuously said to Jeremiah Cap. 44, 17: "We will do according to all the word that proceeds from our mouth" etc.; in short, we do not want your word.
hear. As if they wanted to say: We want to have a God who will hear us immediately and give us everything we desire, not who will delay so long with help.
11 God does not intend to destroy or abandon His own, but rather to fulfill His promise most abundantly; as St. Paul testifies of Him, saying Eph. 3:20: "Who is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or understand."
(12) Therefore God wants us to be people who can be patient in the face of adversity, and who will surely hope and wait for Him to give abundantly and richly what He has promised. Jacob also learned and attained the same, since the promise of the future seed was given to him and the land of Canaan to his descendants, and since Joseph was raised to such great honor and glory during his lifetime.
13. But the flesh is so sure and so wicked that it not only despairs of the promises of God, but also despises the threats. For the same are also spoiled, that they are not so soon fulfilled; therefore the flesh does not believe God, when he threatens already for a long time. And when the despisers and foolish people hear that there is still a judgment and punishment to come against sin, oh! they say, that will be forgiven! meanwhile I would have money to count! However, God wants us to fear His threat and wait for His promise, which cannot be done otherwise than in faith.
(14) But if the world asks for none, it is as much as if it whistles at a goose. For God is patient, and both delay with his promises and threats before he fulfills them; but he does not lie about them, and will finally repay what he has delayed so long, either by punishing the wicked so much more severely, or by showing the pious, godly so much greater and richer benefit. For he will come at last, and he will come well.
15 Therefore the Scripture commands and teaches both, saying, Fear God and believe Him; and as the 147th Psalm v. 11. says:
"The Lord is pleased with those who fear him, who hope in his goodness"; item in the 2nd Psalm v. 11: "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." And faith must believe and fear that which is invisible, as Noah feared the punishment of the flood, which he did not see, and hoped for a redemption, which he also did not see before his eyes. We believe in the Lord Christ, whom we do not see, and believe that he will come on the last day and raise us from death and transfigure us, as Paul says Phil. 3, 20. 21. but will punish the wicked who do not know God and do not obey the gospel, 2 Thess. 1, 8. 1, 8. Thus the godly fear the threats and put their trust in the promise: but the ungodly fear, or believe, or hope nothing, nor ask after any God.
16 So Jacob began the speech he gave to his sons, "Gather around," dear sons, and listen to me, and I will teach you what will happen in the future. I am now making my will, and I would like you always to keep it in strict remembrance, that you fear the Lord, the right true God. I will preach to you and tell you of divine threats and promises, that you may have a God whom you should fear and in whom you should hope. This is what Jacob means by calling his sons' attention so that he may keep them in fear of the threat and in faith in the promise of God. As if he wanted to say: "I know that many of you will become wicked, disobedient boys and that there will be a loose rabble among you, who will be idolaters and despisers of God, who threatens with his wrath and also promises mercy: as Moses also, likewise Samuel and David and many others have prophesied of their descendants. However, among these my descendants there will be some who will fear God and trust in Him. For their sake this is said. The others despised this God, who thus delayed with His help; indeed, they would not have regarded the God. Therefore they worshipped all the gods of the heathen, as 2 Chron. 36, 14. is said. And
The books of the judges and kings also testify that they heaped idols, as it were, over all the land.
(17) As we have done in the Papacy, when we have made it much coarser, and have heaped and filled everything with nothing but idolatry of the deceased saints. One honored Erasmus, that he should give him money and goods; the other Margaretha, that she should help the women in need of children; and the Virgin Mary was honored by everyone as a mediatrix and emergency helper in all the needs at hand. No one wanted to hope and expect help and salvation from God. A woman who wanted to give birth desired only present help, therefore she did not call upon God, but upon Margaretha. The peasants, however, called upon St. Christopher, St. George and many other saints.
(18) So the flesh despises God with his threat and with his promise of salvation. For because he thus withholds salvation, and because something is long absent, he is despised. No one wants to get used to exercising his faith a little, but people want to live without faith and enjoy the goods that are present and available. They want to have their bellies full, but they let go of the certain promise; for although it speaks of invisible things, they will surely come and be fulfilled at last.
19 For this reason, Jacob is now awakening his sons with the utmost diligence to recognize his prophecies, which he will proclaim to them beforehand: that they may learn to understand God's wrath against sin from the threats held out to the three sons, Reuben, Simeon and Levi; but from the promises given to the others, they may recognize God's grace and mercy.
20 This is the most important teaching and the content of this chapter, why God threatens and promises, and where He wants this to be meant and understood, namely, that He may practice or test the faith in His word. And whoever wants to act with God must learn that "he does not live on bread alone, but on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord," Deut. 8:3.
When there is a lack of bread, one should therefore not call upon a foreign god, but should strengthen the heart with faith in God's word, and thus say: God has promised me that he will be my God and my Lord: if he now wants me to die of hunger, then let him do so, but I will hope in him.
21 For there must be faith and the fear of God in the hearts of men. For promise and faith belong together, and threat and fear also belong one to the other. Promise is nothing without faith, and again there is no true faith without promise; just as there is no fear where there is no threat. But God tempts and tests us with both. And because the world does not want to suffer or endure this temptation, it therefore despises both, and does not fear him who threatens, and does not believe him who gives the promise.
V. 3. Reuben, my first son, you are my strength, and my first power, the chief in sacrifice, and the chief in the kingdom.
22. This speech is full of threat, although it also has some promise and blessing in it; but there is more curse in it. And all this is spoken as an example to others, and to frighten them with it. For though Reuben's sin was forgiven, because he had grieved enough over it and repented, and had also labored with the greatest diligence to save Joseph, and at last, after the sin he had committed, had again held his father in great honor, yet, because the sin was so great and abominable, it was not profitable or good that it should remain unpunished; but he must be punished as an example to all the other descendants. For otherwise the descendants might have said, "If Reuben could have done this and gone unpunished, why should I not be free to do it?
023 And now it was a great and abominable sin, the incest of his father's wife, that he should reproach the whole house and family, and his father with his father's wife.
the other brothers and sons of Bilhah. What could be said that was more unjust and shameful than that he had defiled his father's wife while he was still alive and while his other sons were still alive? Because it was such a shameful, wicked and outrageous deed, Reuben did not have to go unpunished for it, and therefore a very sharp and severe threat is set in this place.
(24) The father arises and reproaches him with all the honor and glory he had before, and holds out to him a punishment which he would have remain with the descendants: not that God would destroy or condemn those also who read this abominable and detestable example; but that they should have Reuben thus as an example of the severe judgment and wrath of God, which should be presented to others as a terror.
(25) This therefore must have been done, first of all, among the people under the law. For though there is mercy and forgiveness of sins among the people under the law, yet there is not only mercy there, nor only the pure kingdom of the gospel and grace; but there is also a part of the political or worldly regime, where there must also be examples of punishment. There Master Hans must wield the sword, use the gallows and the wheel, to frighten and teach others, even though sin is already forgiven. Just as a thief is forgiven for his sin, he must still be hanged on the gallows. The sin is indeed forgiven by God to those who are punished in the body; but the cane-master or executioner does not forgive them, that he should not do to them the punishment determined by law; Master Hans does not forgive them, but does them their right; as St. Paul says Rom. 13, 4: "The authorities do not bear the sword in vain, they are God's servant, an avenger for punishment on him who does evil." And yet the thief or the man who kills is not condemned, nor are other wrongdoers, if they repent and believe in Jesus Christ. And after death the thief does not feel or feel the shame of having been hanged on the gallows; but the
The descendants will look at the disgrace and think, "If you steal, you will have to pay for it.
This is a necessary doctrine that must be kept in the world. That is why they say of the Emperor Maximilian that whenever he went to court, he uncovered his head and greeted it with these words, saying: God greet you, you holy righteousness. For where there was no punishment, we would achieve nothing with our preaching and forgiveness of sins, and the mob would shamefully misuse the teaching and preaching of God's grace and mercy for the sake of all courage and sin.
27 Because the kingdom of this people was also political or worldly, a special punishment had to be set for such a shameful evil deed, to frighten the others, so that they would know that there was also a God who threatens and punishes, and not only promises mercy. The church also has its punishment, namely, the ban; although one asks less for it than for worldly punishment. So Reuben, because of his sin, was presented to the others as a mirror, in which the wantonly disobedient boys and those who revile and dishonor their parents should be reflected and looked at, so that this very shameful evil trouble could be countered. That is why God did not want it to go unpunished in the secular government. And if the authorities are late with the punishment, the evildoers will still be punished by God.
028 Now therefore the father saith unto Reuben: Thou shouldest have been chief, but now thou shalt not be, neither shalt thou have that for which thou wast born: I will take it from thee, and deprive thee of all that was thine by right and by birth. This is a very severe curse: the greatest among the brethren becomes the very least. Birth gave you this glory, that you should be my firstborn son, my strength and power, and the chief of the kingdom: but sin has taken all this away from you and robbed you of it.
29. the Hebrew word on sometimes means
Pain; as, above in 35 Cap. V. 18, Rachel called her son benoni, that is, a son of my sorrow, because she had a hard time in childbirth. But in this place it means something else, as also in Deut. 21, where Moses gives a commandment about the firstborn sons of two wives, namely, the one whom the man loves and the other who is hostile. "He shall," says Moses there, v. 17, "acknowledge the son of the hostile for the firstborn, that he may give him double all that is present; for the same is his first power." There Moses speaks of no punishment or harm, but of power or might. Therefore this is the honor and glory of the firstborn, that they are called the first power or might of the Father.
(30) Now others interpret this somewhat obscenely, which I do not like at all, namely, that in the first year of marriage love tends to be most heated, and therefore the first and noblest power is to beget children. But I think that the firstborn son is called the first force because he is the first. The other sons are also a force by which the family is increased in strength and power. For the father is strong when he has many sons, all of whom are his strength or power, and his family becomes strong because of the many children. But the first son is the first strength; when he is born, the parents soon think that they may build a house and bring forth food, and how they may nourish their house and all their heirs or descendants. But if it pleases you to follow the other interpretation or opinion, that is, the work of childbearing and the ardent love of the young spouses, you may well do so.
(31) But I think that this interpretation is more proper and rhymes better here. For Jacob means to say: My strength began with you; you are the first pillar of my house. Then I became a father of the house: that is what you began. But now see what thou hast lost. Thou art now deprived of such great honor and glory because of thy sin. You have only the privilege
1924 D. xi. i". is7. Interpretation of Genesis 49:3. w. n. sssv-AW. 1925
for the time being, but my house is neither built nor improved by you, for you have fallen away from the glory of the firstborn. For you were not only my firstborn, or my strength, my first pillar, but you were also lord over all your brothers, and two parts of the inheritance belonged to you; and this by two rights, namely, that you were the chief in the sacrifice (the Latin interpreter has given this: potior in donis: the chief in the gifts, namely, which are brought to God. Lyra, however, understands it from the gifts, so the people are used to give to each other) and for the sake of the regiment and dominion. For both of these things were due to the firstborn, as the same right is commanded in Deut. 21:17. Therefore two parts of the father's goods fell to him, and the other brothers had to obey and be submissive to him; but he was greater, holier and richer than all the others.
32 Therefore this is the correct description of the firstborn, namely, what it is, since he says: "The chief in sacrifice and the chief in the kingdom," that is, the firstborn has the glory of the priesthood, the administration and rule over the doctrine and word, and also over the police. This was truly a great honor, and the Jews had to keep this order, even though God did not always follow it. For He is free from the law and is Lord over all laws. Which examples do not abrogate the order instituted by God, but God Himself has thus exempted them, and no one has been allowed to transgress the same law. But what our Lord God does differently, no one can prevent him from doing.
In the 1st book of Chronicles, Cap. 6, v. 1. v. 1, it is said that the firstborn of Reuben was given to Joseph's children; as we have just heard, chap. 48, v. 5, where Jacob said to Joseph, "Your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in Egypt before I came to you, shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon." So Joseph is a double child, having received as much as two others.
34. but this way and order with the firstborn is probably under the law so ordered.
but in the kingdom of Christ the law ceases. For our Lord, the right firstborn priest and king, abolishes the law. But in the world, when there are many sons, the youngest inherits the father's house according to civil law.
35 But all this, as Jacob spoke, seems to have been cut short. For he uses such words, which are called abstracta in grammar, which are therefore also somewhat obscure. With us it would be clearer if he had expressed it in concretum, as it is called in the school. But he wants to say so much: The honor and glory would have been due to you; you should be my firstborn, my strength and first power, the chief in the sacrifice and the chief in the kingdom, that is, you were priest and prince.
(36) But I will leave the Hebraists to their quarreling; for I know not how to help myself, and to extricate myself from the confusion which the grammarians introduce. They draw the word seeth in various ways, one from there, the other from there. Which word no doubt has its origin from the word nasa, which has a very broad meaning. For it means: to take, to accept, to carry, to lift up, to deceive, to forgive; as, in the 8th Psalm v. 3: "Thou hast prepared one, os, power" (the Hebrew word, v8, means power, strength, kingdom), and in the prophet Daniel Cap. 11, 38. maussim and often elsewhere more: and means such a strength, which is a power to rule and reign. Above in the 4th chap. V. 7. it says, "If thou be godly, thou art pleasant." There it is written in Hebrew seeth, which means forgiveness. Item, of David it is written: I have chosen him to carry the ephod before me; so it is certain that it means to carry. For this rule is to be diligently remembered and well kept, namely, that from the construction in which the words are set one to another, the right proper meaning and understanding is to be inferred and taken. Thus Saul says to Samuel, 1 Sam. 15, 30: "I have sinned, but now honor me before the elders." There it says in the Latin text: Bear my sin, which should better have been given: take away or forgive. So it says Joh. 1, 29. where John the Baptist says: "Behold.
1926 L. n, 167-1SS. Interpretation of Genesis 49:3. w. n, ssss-rsss. 1927
God's Lamb who bears the sin of the world." And above, Cap. 45, 27, it has been said of Joseph: "He sent chariots to his father Jacob to lead him."
(37) Therefore one should be careful whether this word is put to the word "sin" or to a bodily thing, as, slugen, breath, hand, voice etc., as, levare oculos, is to cast the eyes over; levare vocem, is to speak or cry aloud; capita levare, to lift up the heads, is to be joyful; item, levare faciem vel assumere, to lift up the face, is as much as to honor, to regard; as in the 62nd Psalm v. 2. it is written, "How long will ye judge unjustly, and prefer the person of the wicked?" that is, honor? as if to say, Ye shall not regard the sinner. So the other commandment says, "You shall not uselessly use or take the name of God your Lord.
38 Therefore, one should pay attention to the circumstances and "constructive", how the words are placed to each other. As is the case in other languages, especially in Greek and German, since often the same words, after being placed in various ways with other words, also have various meanings. As when one says in the Latin language: gerere rem, to direct a thing; gerere bellum, to wage war; gerere magistratum, to lead the regiment; morem gerere, to be at one's will etc. Therefore, when this word seeth is put to the word "sin," it means as much as to pardon or forgive and take away the sin. As, Jerusalem will be called, neseth avon, that is, forgiveness of sin or iniquity, and Ps. 32:1 says, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven," that is, he who is delivered from his sins, to whom they are pardoned and forgiven. I use this rule, that I interpret the words according to their construction and after they are put together. I know that something else is indicated when I say of a bodily thing, levare saccum, to take up the sack, and that another is, levare faciem, to look upon one cheerfully; as 1 Kings 2: Non potero levare faciem meam ad Joab, fratrem tuiim: I should not come before his face.
(39) But let every man take care, and especially they that handle the holy scriptures, that they have a certain simple understanding of the scriptures, and that they walk not about and go astray, as the rabbis of the Jews, and the scholastics of the priesthood, have done, and as the lawyers that read in the law do, who strive for and against words that have more than one meaning. Therefore, the theology of the scholastics is nothing but a mere delusion. One must, they say, teach and believe in this way, or in another way. It is the same in law and philosophy. I remember that I once read Accursius, who could not go further in a dark passage and now listed various opinions: it could either be understood this way, or this way, or differently; he did not know, as he himself freely confessed. And I liked about the jurist that he confessed the same so freely and sincerely. For where one thus introduces and attracts various opinions, that is nothing else than that one does not know or understand it correctly.
40 But he that understandeth a thing aright doubteth not, neither bringeth in divers opinions, neither saith he that it must be understood this way or that. Therefore, beware of the rabbis with the utmost diligence, for they hinder the study of the holy Scriptures, they do not take care to interpret or interpret the words in the same way and in the right way. And if I am to read such uncertain Scripture, in which the words mean so many different things, I would rather read Virgil and Ovid. But I am hostile to the various opinions and views that the rabbis have in Scripture, and I detest them altogether.
41 Therefore I hold that in this place is the right and true understanding, as if Jacob would say to Reuben, Thou art the firstborn, my strength, and my first power, not in my person, but the strength of my house, the beginning of my seed, in whom the priesthood and kingdom shall begin. He acts or speaks nothing of bodily strength, that Jacob should have abstained four and fourscore years, and never have felt that seed come from him.
until he lay with Leah and she became pregnant with Reuben. For what is the use of stating or believing such things in this place? A young boy who is strong and healthy can hardly keep the seed with him. And Moses himself could not do it, who forbids it in the law. Even Ambrose could not refrain from it, who prays in a hymn sung in church: Ne polluantur corpora etc., that is, that our bodies not be polluted, yes, that is even more, it sometimes happens to those who are husbands. For the nature of men is such that they have such bodies, that they are fit and skillful for the rearing of children.
Therefore Jacob looked to the power by which his lineage would be expanded and multiplied. As if to say, "My descendants will be innumerable, of which you are the first king and the head, to whom the honor of this great lineage belongs, and you are not only the beginning of the people who will come from me, but you also have the glory, seeth, of the lifting up, which I said belonged to the priestly office. For we know that in the Old Testament there were many sacrifices and slaughterings of cattle, by which God was propitiated and sins forgiven, not by the power of sacrifices, but by faith in the sacrifice to come.
43 Therefore Jacob wanted to say this much: The people were to be reconciled to God through your sacrifice, which came to you because of the right of the firstborn: "You are the chief in sacrifice, and the chief in the kingdom," you are the head and the beginning of my lineage: the increase of my house arises from you. Above this, the priestly dignity is due to you, that you should be a preacher who reconciles people with God. Therefore, now admit what a great good you have lost.
44 This is indeed a very serious sermon and a terrible punishment, so that he scolded Reuben harshly. I would have wept myself to death over it, if Jacob had addressed me thus. He holds up to "him" all the glory that he could have had
The first power of the kingdom was to have the honor of the priesthood and the kingdom, which was glorious and splendidly great, not for the sake of Emperor Augustus or Alexander the Great or Scipios, but for the sake of the house of the patriarch Jacob, who had the promise of eternal blessedness and of the future Messiah.
V. 4. He went along recklessly, like water. You shall not be the chief.
(45) Here again the rabbis give us a hard time about grammar, and if it were certain, we could take the right understanding out of it without any difficulty. But they themselves make it obscure with their glosses and points, as this text is torn apart by them in many ways. For since they draw it against the spirit to a strange understanding, they have had to seek forced and strange interpretations, which is a rather devilish sophistry in the holy Scriptures.
Jerome has given it: You are poured out like water; and in this he has followed the rabbis, which I do not like. For he draws or points to it as to a vessel, out of which the water that is in it is poured down to the bottom, so that not a drop remains in it; which cannot be done with oil. Therefore I will state my opinion: The Hebrew word pachas does not actually mean to pour out, but to walk or be led wildly and rudely; as the philosophers in the schools say of that which is moist: Humidum est male terminabile termino proprio, that is: What is moist cannot hold itself in its place; and of what is dry they say: Siccum est male terminabile termino alieno, that is: What is dry can hold itself and needs no other limiting body. Water itself cannot set a goal, but where it is only open, it flows out, or where it is not contained, it has its free outflow, that it flows here and there; this is the nature and kind of water and all liquid bodies. But if you throw a pebble or any other stone into a vessel, it has its own place, since it remains by itself.
(47) So then, I say, pachas is the name of that which is wild and unstable, which goes. So, says Jacob to Reuben, you also are a pachas. You are great because of the glory that has come upon you, but you pass away like the waters, falling as it were with a tempest, as a blind man, on your evil desire and lust; you are not constant, you do not remain in your own place, where you were appointed; you act like the waters, which are also unstable, and easily pass away where they can only break out.
48 Hence it comes that in the prophet Jeremiah and also Zephaniah the prophets are called reckless and unstable, who recklessly and thoughtlessly wash away whatever comes into their mouths, and also make the people wild and unstable; as in the papacy the poor people were miserably led about, that they ran to and fro, there to Jacob, there to Catharines or Barbara etc. There, too, everything that was taught and done was frivolous, uncertain, and unstable.
(49) But they that rule in the police, and in the church also, must not be pachas; for that is not fitting for them: they shall not be swayed, nor be moved with every wind of doctrine, Eph. 4:14. They shall not be as the reed which the wind bloweth to and fro, but shall abide in their appointed place, as an immovable rock, which neither the whirlwind nor the tempest can overthrow or sweep away. The Elbe rushes over, but the stone rock remains, although the fast water, which rushes down from the mountain, otherwise takes everything away with it and throws it to the ground, which it only finds on the field. In the same way, there should be a teacher and ruler in the church, in the house and in the secular police, who has his own goal and measure, so that he knows how to remain and persevere, and that he does not run with a storm, like a blind man, soon there and soon there;
(50) So let every ruler be at one with himself and be constant, and let him not soon give ear to the flatterers and to what the courtiers bring. If a sovereign follows one flatterer here, another there, and is led by the nose
he will not be a good ruler. It is also said of the false prophets in Jer. 23:32: "They deceive my people with their lies and loose theidings. Such loose, frivolous strings are also those who teach the pope's lies and loose theidings; as can be seen in the Sophists of Leo. And in the prophet Isaiah in 28. cap. V. 10. they are also met with, as he says: "Give here, give there; wait here, wait there; here a little, there a little." Therefore it is necessary for us to be constant: we should be steadfast, brave and rocky, so that we are not swayed or swayed by all kinds of winds of doctrine, Eph. 4:14.
51 Jacob therefore saith unto Reuben, Thou wast the firstborn; but thou hast despised the great, the glorious, the important things, thou hast gone lightly astray, as the waters go by, thou hast not been content with thy wedded state. This is my opinion of this text; for I cannot agree with the uncertain doubtful and loose delusion of the Jewish rabbis. It is necessary in all of life to have something certain and constant to hold on to at all times, but it is especially necessary in church doctrine; that is why David prays in Psalm 51, v. 12: "Give me a new certain spirit. Whoever does not want to be constant will finally lose the ministry and the word, which is certain. Therefore David asks for a certain spirit that does not doubt or waver, that does not go to and fro in error; as Jacob says that there was such an uncertain spirit in Reuben, as if to say to him, "You have acted like a reckless fool; you have followed your evil desires, you do not fear God, you do not believe Him; you have not lacked the gift of the firstborn, but you have lacked faith, for you have not thanked God.
052 Therefore he added unto them, saying, Thou shalt not be chief. There he takes from him both the glory of the priesthood and also of the rule. You shall not be called priest or prince in my house, which would have been your due according to nature. But thou shalt not reign over thy other brethren, neither shalt thou be in charge of the priesthood, and shalt
not to be placed above others, neither in the regiment nor in all other dealings. Genesis, Deut. 33, 6, says in the blessing of Reuben thus: "Reuben shall live and not die, and his rabble shall be few." There he interpreted this text: He shall not be multiplied, he shall not be like the other tribes, but shall be inferior to them.
For you went up to your father's bed, and there you defiled my bed with your ascension.
(53) That is a hard word, and he speaks in the plural as of many beds, makes it very hard. You have entered my bedchamber and taken your father's bed. The Jews introduce more strange lewd things here and in other places, which I do not like to think about. But this much Jacob wants to say: The sleeping chamber of my wife Bilhah was mine, I should lie with her in the bed; but you have robbed me of it. And by this is actually understood not the bed, but what happens in the bed. For the Jews lie when they say that Reuben did not weaken his stepmother, but threw his father's bed out of his mother's hut. In truth, this was a shameful act of murder and a real incest. Jacob kept silent about it up there, but now that he is to die, he no longer keeps quiet about it.
The rabbis quarrel about the word chilel, and turn a transitive tense word into an intransitive one, as it is called in grammar. I understand it as transitive and put an accusative to it, saying, "Thou hast defiled my bed." As also 1 Chron. 6, I. is said of Reuben just with the same words: "He has defiled his father's bed" etc. There it is a transitive verb, and must be such in this place. And that we have given from the Latin "with ascending," ascendendo, they interpret that it should mean, ascendit, he has ascended, that is, as they interpret it, it is no longer my bed: the same is indeed a too forced understanding. But I have no desire for such a mind, which is thus forced by force, and if I don't teach or work on anything, then I'm in no mood for it.
I prefer to confess and say frankly that I do not understand it.
55 But with this text it can be seen that what Jacob says here is spoken, through the figure eclipsis or reticentia, which is called aposiopesis, namely, when the speech is cut short, or that the words are only half spoken and something is concealed; as when one becomes angry, or otherwise because of other affects. As Virgil says: Quos ego! Sed praestat motos componere fluctus. This figure is very frequent in all languages. So in this place Jacob also says to Reuben, "Thou hast gone up to thy father's bed; there thou hast defiled my bed." At these words, no doubt, the other sons were all frightened, and will have said, weeping: Alas, my dear father, how sharp these words are that you speak; dear one, change or soften the grievous sentence that you have spoken against your son. Therefore we want to help this text by the figure of eclipse. For I do not like the interpretation of the rabbis, that they say: It is no longer my bed.
This is, by the way, a frightening and very sharp sermon, put into few words, and Reuben will undoubtedly have stood there before all his brothers with great shame and a frightened heart. His father Jacob has been silent until now; but now that he is to die, he truly leaves behind him a sad, sharp and grieved valete. For this is truly a terrible judgment against Reuben, and yet not in one syllable is any consolation added to it, but almost in all letters and rattles he takes his life and yet does not kill him; as Moses also says Deut. 33, 6: "Reuben shall live, and his rabble shall be few"; and he has also been the very weakest tribe, which has never accomplished anything glorious. In the book of Judges, 5 Cap. V. 15, Deborah reproaches him for being proud and slothful, saying, "Reuben thought highly of him, and separated himself from us." Reuben also had this infirmity.
57Therefore, this has truly been a severe and horrible punishment for his sin.
followed. He was not denied forgiveness of sins, as we said above, but the punishment still remained: not that the Father wanted it, for he says in clear words, "You are my strength," as if to say, "I would have liked you to keep this first honor, but you lost it through your own fault.
(58) How is it, then, that he is so hard on his firstborn son? Answer: Jacob is a patriarch to whom great glorious promises were made that he would become great and have many descendants, and Reuben was the father of a tribe. Therefore it was necessary that the killing took place beforehand. For Jacob was afraid that his descendants, whom he knew would be many and mighty, would also commit the sin of his firstborn son. Therefore he punished him as an example to the others, to deter them from committing the same sin. For not all the children of the promise who are children according to the flesh have received the Holy Spirit, but the majority of the people have become completely carnal and have boasted only in their carnal advantage.
59 Therefore it was useful and good to have such a memory of a terrible punishment, which is always granted for and for. Otherwise they might have said, "Oh, there is nothing wrong with my sleeping with my stepmother, for our father Reuben did the same. So it was necessary for the sake of the descendants that Jacob had spoken so harshly against Reuben, namely, that they should beware of such bloodshed and remember that this tribe had been so humiliated and greatly weakened because of the bloodshed Reuben had caused and committed with his stepmother.
60 And though it is true that the other brethren have prayed for Reuben, yet the father would not be moved, because the sin was so great, and not because he wished Reuben to die.
but that he might be saved and learn the greatness of the same sin, and that the memory of this punishment might always remain among the same people, saying, "Reuben deserved this terrible curse because of his great sin. Thus we also proclaim forgiveness of sins to adulterers, thieves, and slayers: but that the unruly mob and the common people may be somewhat restrained and compelled by fear of chastisement and punishment, we do not forbid that they should not be hanged or put to death, lest others also fall into all manner of sin and disgrace. Absalom sinned even more grievously than Reuben, but behold what a miserable and sorrowful end he came to, dying so miserably in his sins.
(61) Therefore, let the people always remember such punishment, that they may have a lesson in it for and for, by which they may be warned to be more on guard against such bloodshed and other such sins. For God is hostile to them and abhors them; just as this tribe has therefore been the poorest and most despised among all descendants. So there is no good word in all this blessing, and might well be called a maledictio, that is, a curse.
Second part.
From the curse that Jacob announces to Simeon and Levi.
V. 5. The brothers Simeon and Levi; their swords found murderous weapons.
62 In this place also the grammarians are not one with each other about the mind and the words. For the word mecheroth they interpret, first, that it means a dwelling; then, they understand by it a sword. We want to understand it in this way, that Jacob wanted to say: Simeon and Levi are brothers not only in nature, but also in wickedness; one is as pious as the other; they are brothers, yes, brothers, they are vessels or instruments of iniquity. For
if you wanted to interpret it: their dwellings, as the Jews interpret it, that would give no sense at all; but one gives it much better thus: Their swords are murderous weapons. Furthermore, the Greeks took the word machaera from Hebrew, just as the word framea is Hebrew, and the Germans have many Hebrew words in their language.
For this reason Jacob also rejects these two and sets another example or punishment against the slayers, murderers of fathers and brothers; just as he also set a punishment against incest before. For both of these sins are harmful in the governments of the countries and cities. Therefore he cursed these brothers for the sake of the children after the flesh in the descendants who would live afterwards, so that they would not use such examples by force to defend their sin and shame. Jacob knew well that they would not all become children according to the spirit, but that the greater part would remain carnal; and because among them the church had to be appointed and provided with laws and world order from time to time, these examples of punishment were necessary so that they would abstain from blood shame and unjust death. After that there was a constant war between Judah and Ephraim, who were brothers. But the priests of the tribe of Levi brought Christ to the cross, and, as some testify, Simeon is said to have been Judah Iscariot's father; and they want this to be the reason why Simeon was not also listed in Moses' blessing.
64 Therefore it occurred to Jacob the patriarch, when he was about to die, that he was thinking: Perhaps the descendants of Simeon and Levi will also become bloodthirsty and patricides. For children commonly follow the manner and nature of their fathers, and so their poison and evil is spread among all their descendants. Therefore he does not speak of these two brothers alone, but of all their descendants, as if he wanted to say: They will also become bloodhounds like their fathers. But if they are changed by the Holy Spirit, then they will be changed.
They must be pious and godly, just as Reuben gave signs of true repentance on several occasions and others. Jacob, however, did not change his prophecy or prophecy, nor did he cancel the punishment; indeed, he made their wickedness grievously great. "Their swords", he says, "find murderous weapons", which only cut, stab and kill people by force. So he sees that the descendants would also become like them if they were not corrected by the Holy Spirit; and therefore he punishes them so severely that they would be admonished and warned by the example of these two brothers, and would know how to refrain from such cruel deeds and deaths and would not sin in this way. The brothers Simeon and Levi, says Jacob, are desperately wicked boys, who have only a desire to strike death and unrighteous violence, that their swords are weapons to practice murder and tyranny with.
65 And indeed this blessing, or rather this curse, was finally fulfilled in Caiaphas, Annas, and the other chief priests, who fiercely persecuted Christ and the apostles. For these two tribes, Simeon and Levi, persuaded the whole multitude of the Jews before Pilate that they should ask to release Barabbas and crucify Jesus.
The holy patriarch saw all this so many centuries before, and concluded that nothing good would come from these two tribes. Many prophets and holy men have come from them, but from the Holy Spirit. But the paternal blood has always snorted with "wrath and murder", as Paul says in Acts 9:1. For this reason it was useful to have an eternal memory of these sins and the punishment that followed.
67 Jacob sees the stories that have happened in his house; he also sees the examples of his ancestors, what happened to Abraham for the sake of Ishmael and what happened to Isaac for the sake of Esau. Therefore he thought, "By my life, I who am the father of the divine promises, in which the eternal goods are so abundantly offered; yes, I say, while I myself am still there....
when I am fresh and healthy and rule the church, this happens: what will happen to the descendants after my death?
68 And in this way Moses also speaks Deut. 31, 27: "For I know your disobedience and stubbornness. Behold, because I live with you this day, ye have been disobedient against the Lord; how much more after my death?" So Jacob saw me that the descendants would be of two kinds: a part of them who would be saved through faith in the promise of the Savior of the whole world, who would come from Jacob's flesh. They were truly counted among the number of the children of Israel or of God; for they have added to the glory of the flesh, that they were Abraham's seed, also the promise of the Messiah, and therefore they are also called by the prophet Isaiah the remnant of Jacob. The other part, however, would be the carnal Israelites, who would boast of the seed of Abraham and other fathers. Just as even today the Jews pride themselves and despise all other nations, and promise themselves that they will become lords over heaven and earth. Yes, they will get hellish fire on their heads.
69 Therefore John the Baptist punishes them very harshly, Matth. 3, 9. 10: "Do not think that you want to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father. I say to you: God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees. Therefore, whatever tree does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." Item, there further V. 12.: "And he has his shovel in his hand; he will sweep his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn with everlasting fire." The chaff on the threshing floor were the Israelites according to the flesh; the same, he says, shall be cast into everlasting fire; which at last shall prove the end. All the prophets have also inculcated the same thing in them to excess; but they have achieved nothing at all with it, so that they have finally been slain by the people and the false prophets.
70 So today the Church is also
gathered from the saints and the ungodly. But we cannot persuade the papists that they are Simeon and Levi: they also want to be Abraham's children and ascribe to themselves the name and title of the church.
For this reason Jacob wanted to establish such a horrible memory of this sin and the punishment of his sons, that they had something to reproach their brazen foreheads and iron necks with. But they could not be softened or improved by any sermon or example; indeed, they still retain their iron foreheads to this day; just as our papists are also hardened and hardened. All the prophets have been slain over this.
Therefore Jacob thinks, "If my sons have been allowed to do such evil deeds in my lifetime: Reuben has gone up to his father's camp, which is indeed a wicked outrageous deed (for what honor can it be to do such an unrighteous deed to one's father and mother, to bring his parents to horrible contempt and disgrace, since Jacob himself was still alive and present and had himself witnessed such a sin and disgrace? If he had been born of a pagan or Canaanite father, he should have paid homage to him by the guidance of nature: but now he does so to me, his father, who have divine promise and according to it teach and govern my church and community. Even though I have forgiven and pardoned his sin, there must still be a punishment for the sake of the descendants who will live hereafter, because the sin is so abominable and great. For Reuben could not have despised and trampled underfoot his father more shamefully than with this very incest. Therefore, he may bear this punishment as an example to frighten others into learning to obey God and their parents, or they may know that they will be subject to the executioner and the devil himself.
73And cannot these examples be sufficiently impressed upon the people at all times, since Jacob, the patriarch, himself
taught and preached, his sons have sinned so shamefully. And we must not think that he saw such things and preached them before without great pain. You well remember, he will have said, how with such great diligence and faithfulness I have exhorted you to believe in God and to honor your parents; and you have also heard many other salutary sermons concerning spiritual things and also concerning the worldly police. But these godly sermons all unnoticed and even put aside, you have not refrained from reviling your father, nor from killing your brother. I do not condemn you eternally, but only announce to you the punishment of God, which will pass over your house and your family, so that others may be deterred from committing the same sins.
74. and from this it is seen what a vain and futile boast it is that the Jews boasted that they had come from the fathers according to the flesh, where the Holy Spirit and grace were not present. For look at the descendants of Jacob, from whom Christ was born, as we will hear in the blessing of Jude.
75 And this prophecy or curse was not in vain, but passed over the whole generation of Simeon and Levi, except a few, as Moses, Aaron, Samuel, and some others, who separated themselves from the wicked; and in the Acts of the Apostles, Cap. 6, v. 7, it is written that a great multitude of priests were converted to the obedience of faith. Otherwise the prophets now and then complain about the tyranny of the priests, who raged against the pious godly teachers and who always thirsted for their blood. These were all Simeon's and Levi's brothers and descendants.
V. 6 My soul shall not enter into their council, neither shall my glory be in their church.
76 Jacob does not speak here of the soul of a single person, but of all descendants. For he calls his "soul" and his "honor" the whole people and all the saints, who are not according to the flesh alone, but
would also be true Israelites according to the spirit; as Paul describes them Gal. 6, 16. He knew well that he was promised by God that he would have many and glorious descendants. He commands his descendants to beware of these boys. As if he wanted to say: I admonish and beg you to beware of the example and advice of these two brothers: what is of my body and soul, beware of them. And this I will have testified with this my last will, that my soul shall not come into their council, neither shall it unite with their church and assembly. For thus it is written in the Hebrew, "my honor," not that which concerns my person alone, but that of all the people that would come from Jacob. All those who shall ever be born of me, may God preserve and keep them from uniting with such a church and from granting their thing; But let my people and my blood remember to keep the divine promise and commandments, and not to depart from the faith, nor to turn away from the right works of faith, and to turn to the evil works of the lost, as these tyrants and slayers, even the abominable murderers of fathers and brothers, Simeon and Levi, have done.
(77) As this hard speech and request was necessary for the blood and descendants of Jacob at that time, so it should be repeated and diligently practiced at all times and throughout the world. And we should ask God not to let us fall into such horrible vices. God forbid that we become fratricides, for these are far too crude. There have been truly horrible cases and unheard-of examples of patricide and incest among the people, the like of which can hardly be found in the histories of the pagans. It is the devil. So great is the power and tyranny of the devil that the holier the people, the more wicked and evil they are. The richer and brighter the light of the word shines, the greater the contempt of the word. Jacob is also concerned about his descendants, especially Simeon and Levi, that nothing good will come from them,
but he proclaims the very worst of them beforehand.
78 He does not speak of grace, but of nature. For we are by nature the children of wrath, and are therefore also inclined and bent upon all manner of sins, upon abominable murder, fornication, robbery, etc., where grace would not help and save us. Therefore Jacob curses such a corrupt nature, which is so very shameful and evil, by which also these vessels of sins have been blindly driven, and prays that God will keep the descendants by the promise and in His grace.
For in their wrath they have slain the man, and in their boldness they have spoiled the ox.
79 The commentators have various opinions about this text. Jerome and many others interpret the first part as referring to the men who were slain in Shechem because of the desecration of Dinah, and say that here the singular is used synecdochically for the plural, that is, by the word "man" "men" are to be understood; but the other part they refer to Joseph, which I do not like, and I think that both should be understood of Joseph alone. For that these brethren sold Joseph, and slew so much of them, is so great a sin, that it was needful that a memorial should have been kept of it, for an example, and for the terror of wicked men, who would follow Simeon and Levi in it.
(80) And Jacob at that time had in mind and looked upon all the descendants. He knew well that the priests would rage and rage cruelly against the prophets and other godly people, as Simeon and Levi trampled their brother Joseph underfoot during his life and grieved their old father to death. This was truly a great contempt for paternal authority and can never be made great enough.
(81) Now there was no other cause of such great enmity against their brother, but only the love and favor which the Father bore to this Son. Therefore are
They were thus embittered against him and hated him so fiercely, and decided among themselves that they would not spare their father's old age, nor Joseph's life, but would only rage against Joseph in the most horrible way, and would enfeeble and kill his father with sorrow and pain, which he had to bear for two and twenty years, regardless of all the commandments and promises of God, which Jacob, as a very faithful bishop and teacher, had held out to his whole house. These were the fruits of such godly and diligent teaching. It would not have been surprising if thunder and lightning had struck it.
82 Therefore I understand these words from no one else but Joseph alone. For the men of Shechem had well deserved the punishment, and the other countrymen and neighbors had admitted it and consented that Jacob should keep their place of land. But Joseph sinned against his brethren nothing, but that he had chosen a dream without any interpretation, or desire to rule over his brethren; which was signified and signified that the sun and eleven stars were inclined before him. He was a very pious innocent youth, whom the father loved very much, and Simeon and Levi also sinned so much more grievously because of it; for they had no cause for such cruel tyranny as they exercised over him.
For this reason they were justly rejected and punished with this physical curse. And if the Holy Spirit had not, by special gifts, raised up some prophets from their descendants (as many excellent men came from them, such as Moses, Aaron, Samuel and others), this tribe would have remained unknown and despised.
84 But it is asked here, Why these two, Simeon and Levi, are called brethren, when the ten others also were brethren? Lyra and some of the other Hebrews answer very well, namely, that Moses wanted to put these two together in an abominable sin, because they were companions when they killed their brother. For Reuben had rebelled and multiplied,
1944 k. xi, is-iss. Interpretation of Genesis 49:6. w. ii. ssao-ssss. 1945
that they should not kill Joseph, and had devised counsel how they should not slay or kill him, but rather cast him into the pit, that he might deliver him out of the hands and tyranny of his brethren. But because he stank with them at that time, and had no reputation for the incest which he had committed, Simeon and Levi despised him therein also.
Judah did nothing against Joseph, and he advised them to sell him, so that he might save his brother's life. The other brothers, Dan, Asher and Naphtali, were not the founders or initiators of this cruel tyranny. For Moses said that Joseph had always been with the sons of the concubines and had stood by them. Therefore Simeon and Levi despised Reuben with the other sons born of the maidens, and with the great pride and pride of the two brothers, the same sons of the concubines must have been despised and rejected. But where Zebulun and Issachar did something, they did it not out of their own discretion, but on the advice and instruction of these two. For they were twelve or thirteen years old when this sin was committed.
86 For this cause Simeon and Levi were the first founders and ringleaders that Joseph was sold, who after Reuben were more excellent in age and glory than the rest. Therefore Jacob is angry with them now that he has learned the matter, though he does not disinherit them, but concludes that the children after the flesh and their descendants will be ungodly, who will do no good. Except for a few, such as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, who were not born of the flesh, but by the grace of God were godly and holy. For God sometimes makes the worst out of the best and the best out of the worst. Just as Petro, when he denied the Lord Christ, became an excellent, fearless man who then freely confessed Christ. In the same way, Paulo, who before was a blasphemer and persecutor of Christ, became a great apostle.
Otherwise, where it is without God, they remain the worst, as can be seen in the Levites Korah and Dathan, who sat down against Moses, who was called by God and performed miraculous signs. This was Simeon's and Levi's family, whom they were like when they tried to kill Moses and Aaron. Yes, look at Miriam and Aaron, who also murmured against Moses.
(87) Jacob therefore willed that this example should stand there, that the descendants should have it before their eyes for ever, and remember it in their hearts. For what could be more unjust, says Jacob, than that Simeon and Levi should do such violence to my dearest son, born of my most noble wife, while I myself still govern the church and teach the gospel of the future seed, and with such great diligence inculcate in them the commandments of God? Joseph was also very harsh and unkind to his brothers, especially Simeon and Levi, because he was afraid they would have strangled Benjamin.
008 Therefore the guilt is all of them together upon these two brethren, of whom Jacob saith, For in their anger they slew the man. For though they did not indeed slay him, yet they did not lack good will, and they refrained from slaying him, when Reuben and Judah would not have withstood them. This is clear from their words when they say, Cap. 37:20, "Come, and let us slay him, saying that an evil beast hath devoured him." There was not only the will, but rather a fierce anger and nonsense, yes, it was also the right action; and he would have had to die in the same hour, if the other brothers had not opposed their nonsensical action and resisted it. And Joseph could not see or think anything else than that now the danger of death was present. That is why Judah also says Cap. 42:21: "This we did unto our brother, that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear him." Item there v. 22. Reuben also says, "Now his blood is required. "etc. They speak traun
even before Joseph, whom they considered the lord of the land, no other than as if his blood had been shed. For there was a perfect purpose, which is counted and counted for the work; for the will to slay Joseph was perfect with them. Therefore Jacob says, "They have slain the man." And for this reason he calls Joseph a man, because he was so excellent and great, as if to say, They have slain me an excellent man. I mean that he became a man, the man that the whole world does not have.
89. And he can truly be compared to the great men of the Old and New Testaments, to Moses, to David. Should they remain unpunished for having slain the holy youth and such a great man? It is still enough that they are not destroyed and annihilated. And the same is done for my sake, says Jacob, God spares them, that they are not utterly cut off, as they would have deserved with their sins. But I want the descendants to always remember this death they committed against their father and brother, so that their children's children and those who will be born from them may learn how to honor their parents and love their brothers. Therefore, my dear sons and grandsons, who want to be true Israelites, take care that you do not become Simeonites and Levites: always flee from these murderers of brothers and fathers.
When the other brothers heard this sad and sharp sermon, no doubt their tears would have run down their cheeks, they would have sighed miserably, and even Joseph; and the father would not have been able to pronounce this curse without sighing and weeping. Truly, I would not be able to speak out or hear this without great movement of the heart and all the bowels.
91. But the world and the wicked do not allow the wrath and curse of God to move them; and yet this curse has been much applied to those who have been spiritual Israelites. As, David, Solomon and others more are
were moved by this example to think for and for how they should honor their parents and have them before their eyes. But Absalom and others despised it. I do believe that Simeon and Levi were saved as far as their souls were concerned, but the shame and stain remained on their entire family. And it was indeed such an example, which ought to have been remembered for good, that thereby the descendants might be awakened and admonished to show due reverence to their parents and brethren, lest they also bring upon themselves the same curse and punishment which Reuben, Simeon, and Levi bore: Behold, dear child, how it hath befallen Simeon and Levi. As we now exhort the youth to be obedient to their parents and schoolmasters, lest they get the thief-stealer and Satan for a master, and must follow and obey the same.
(92) The Hebrew word razon means will; as, in the 51st Psalm, v. 20: "Do well to Zion according to thy mercy," or good will, and here means so much that they have willed to slay their brother, though they have not done the same, and that the same will be counted for the work. Just as the jurists also condemn him who is found to be certain of intending to do something evil, namely, if it does not stand with him who has undertaken to do something, that he cannot do it.
(93) Now Jacob's saying, "And in their will they destroyed the ox," has the same meaning as the previous words, except that it repeats in other words what he said before. For often in the Scriptures the same thing is expressed in different ways, so as to indicate that it is certain. As Joseph was given two different dreams, both of which had the same meaning, that is, through the sheaves and through the sun, moon and stars. And we have heard that in the dreams of Pharaoh by the ears and cows also one was meant. According to this, the prophets also very often use this figure, that is
is called tautoIoZia, when one repeats the same thing with other words, to express that what they have proclaimed is certain, and that it will thus come. So Isaiah very often speaks the same thing with two different sayings. So also in this place it is said of Joseph that they slew him, "They slew the man, and they slew the ox." This is a peculiar way, which the holy scripture needs for and for, and belongs to the fact that thereby the listeners should be strengthened, so that they do not doubt what is said.
94 The word sheor means more than one thing. Those who understand this text of the men of Shechem interpret it to mean wall; in which sense it will be used later in the blessing of Joseph. Shir means song; sharah means dominion, wall, or perhaps kingdom; it is often used in the third book of Moses; and the word shor is everywhere understood to mean ox.
The newer or present Jews commonly use the word shorbor, which Lyra also remembers, and say that it is an ox, of which they fable that it is fattened with the grass on the mountains and also in the valleys, that it is slaughtered on the last day, and that those who are to be saved will eat of its flesh. As Mahomet also writes in his Alkoran about the fish Leviathan, which is a great Welsh fish in the sea, of which in the 104th Psalm is written v. 26: "There are whale fish, which you have made to jest in the sea" etc. From the same fish Mahomet also lets himself dream that he will be nourished in this life and that he will serve a beautiful virgin afterwards etc. But I want to let go of the lie heiding.
(96) The word sheor in the Hebrew language means not only wall, but also ox. Therefore one should read at this place: They have choked my ox sheerly. And Genesis 5 Mos. 33, 17. says of Joseph, "His glory is like a firstborn ox." A firstborn ox is highly praised in the Scriptures, because it feeds and provides for the house, and one was not allowed to sacrifice an ox before the
He was like the head of the household and a pillar of the house. And the heathen also abstained from using the same oxen for plowing; for they not only plowed, but also threshed. Therefore the works or labor of the ox are highly praised in the law. Solomon also says Prov. 14:4: "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean; but where the ox is busy, there is much income." The law also forbids, Deut. 25:4, that the ox that threshes should have its mouth tied.
97. Therefore Jacob wants to say this much: The man, who in the long time of the drought not only fed all Egypt, but also all of us, who otherwise, where it would have been without him, would have had to die of hunger, and whom I loved especially, because he was born in my age, and whom everyone held dear and valuable because of his good nature and great godliness: They have taken away the strength of this ox, says Jacob, but they have not killed him, and would gladly have prevented him from being the firstborn, or father and king, and from succeeding me most closely in my family. Now, however, he has been raised to such great glory that he has yet to become a father in Egypt and in my whole house. Oh, how their counsel and their will, their secretum, have gone on so finely!
Such examples and deeds of the wicked should always be taught and held up to the church or congregation of God, so that we may know how their attempts are hindered and thwarted by God, so that they may gain a clean course, even though they lack neither great power nor wisdom. How Jacob finely illustrates this to his sons, namely, when he says: "How finely you, Simeon and Levi, prevented Joseph from being the firstborn and the dear son of the father! Behold, he is now a prince, and feedeth us all.
(99) Thus the tyrants, with their atrocious and bloodthirsty edicts and counsels, accomplish nothing but to raise the godly whom they persecute to ever greater glory and, at last, to eternal bliss; for they also want to bring peace and happiness.
1950 L. xi. iN-isi. Interpretation of I Genesis 49:6, 7. W. ii. rsss-seii. 1951
The pope could not tolerate the same ox and pious man. So the pope also strangled the holy martyr John Huss, could not tolerate the same ox and pious man. But what benefit did he get from the murder? He is dead now. What does, I say, the pope get out of it? From that time on, praise God, the light of the gospel began to shine much more clearly in the hearts of the godly than before, and Christ began to kill him with the spirit of his mouth, 2 Thess. 2, 8.
In this way, God willed that there should be an example in the whole world of how Simeon and Levi were punished for being murderers of fathers and brothers, so that we would not follow them and become like them, because, unfortunately, we see that such sins are often committed in the world with all violence, when people are safe, and are tempted by Satan, so that they will not let themselves be forced and restrained either by laws or by examples of punishment.
V. 7: Cursed be their anger because it is so fierce, and their wrath because it is so troublesome. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
There is nothing more harmful among the people and in the whole government than fierce anger, cruelty and tyranny, especially against the blood of the brothers and against our own flesh. Therefore Jacob calls it an accursed anger, that it is so fierce and strong, that is, so tyrannical and fierce.
102 Now where the curse of these two brothers and the dispersion were fulfilled cannot easily be seen from the histories. There is no doubt that the tribe of Levi and the other sons of Israel had no inheritance and no place of their own in the land, and the same is well known of Simeon's descendants. Although this curse seems to be very small and light, it is true that if it is considered and considered correctly, there is a great wrath in it.
But all things are reserved for grace, which has made of the worst sinners the very best pastors or shepherds of souls.
As the example of Paul testifies, who was a great persecutor and blasphemer, and yet by God's grace became the highest apostle, and worked more than any of the other apostles. So from the tribe of Levi came great prophets and rulers, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Samuel, Korah, very excellent men, that it also seemed as if God had forgotten this threat and curse. And you will not easily find such excellent men in any other tribe, except the tribe of Judah. For whom shall we compare with Moses, Aaron, Samuel, item, Zechariah, John the Baptist and many other great men? all of whom were of this lineage. And Deut. 33:8 ff. Moses prophesied great things in the promise of the tribe of Levi, although Jacob does not speak a good word of it here, not considering such excellent great men who came from this tribe.
For this reason I have said above that this rule should be diligently observed, namely, that God may indeed be angry and punish, but that He does so with mercy and compassion for the sake of repentant sinners. When he proclaimed that Nineveh was to be turned back and destroyed, and the Ninevites turned to God after hearing the admonition, the threat was changed and God spared them. But if they had continued and persisted in their sins, ruin would undoubtedly have followed, and they would have perished.
105 And Jacob, understanding and knowing the manner and nature of Simeon and Levi, because they had slain the men of Shechem, and sold Joseph, thought that their seed would be no less tyrannical when they came into the regiment, unless grace came and broke it. Thus, I say, he thought: If they come to the regiment, they will not do well. They are by nature so vicious, cruel and bloodthirsty that if it were to be hoped that some offspring would be born from them, one could not doubt that those same offspring would also be bloodthirsty.
become greedy, fierce and tyrannical. Therefore, God forbid the example.
106. But God's grace is all possible. Thus Korah arouses a great uproar and he himself perishes. But the great miracle follows that, since he was swallowed up with all his possessions, his children are still preserved, who were praised afterwards for their great virtue, since they wrote many beautiful psalms, which can easily be compared with the psalms of David; and yet they were of the family of Levi and Korah. But those who followed the cruel tyranny of their father according to the blood and cursed flesh, and original sin, they perished. But the others, who were preceded by the grace and mercy of God, were holy and blessed.
Therefore, God keeps this rule for and for. He holds up his threat to people and yet chooses something good out of evil people and sinners. As from the whole human race, which was lost because of sins, he still makes some blessed. As Cain and his descendants were lost, and yet many were undoubtedly converted. Thus Ishmael, the Edomites and Moabites were enemies of the people of God, and yet among them many also came to the true knowledge of God and were saved. For Christ was born of a Cananite and a Moabite. These are exceptions of grace and special gifts; but nature always proceeds in the curse, as Levi's and Simeon's curse was: the kind is not good. I condemn, says Jacob, the evil kind and nature, because of which also some pious people will fall and suffer, although they will be set apart from the others by God's grace.
(108) What harm and misfortune these tribes suffered is not known, nor is it all understood in the Scriptures. It is enough that it is shown that they had no inheritance or property of their own in the land of Canaan. Simeon received a small piece of land and a corner, as it were, in the tribe of Judah, which tribe had a very large portion.
Simeon was allowed to stay in one place in the land of Judah, and it was not a small pity, even in time.
(109) And was not this a small trial, that the Levites had no part or inheritance with their brethren, but as it is said in Deut. 10:9, "The Lord is their inheritance. For they have eaten of the sacrifice of the people, and have dwelt in some suburbs, being scattered now and then through all the tribes, without kingdom or government. They were shepherd boys and cow milkers, who had to feed themselves now and then scattered among the other tribes. Although it is honest and praiseworthy to be fed by the inheritance of the Lord and by the sacrifice. But it is a miserable life because of the wickedness and great avarice of men. Grace God to those who are to feed on it! In Nehemiah and other places you can see how they fed the Levites, and how they feed us now.
(110) For the Christians also have a commandment and a commandment that they should keep the priests and ministers of the word, as Christ says Luc. 10:7: "A laborer is worthy of his hire"; and 1 Cor. 9:14: "The Lord hath commanded that they which preach the gospel should feed on the gospel." But some are better fed than others, and they are done more good. Some are also kept small enough, but they are almost all maintained together in such a way that they need more. In addition, the parishes and the goods that belong to them are not hereditary. In the same way, we have to think that it also happened with the Jews. Both citizens and peasants in the other tribes kept the Levites poor enough, so that this prophecy and curse of Jacob affected them hard enough, and that also pious holy men had to experience the same curse, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, who did not have much other good, although they did much hard work and accomplished many great things for the sake of God. And they themselves boast of this before God; as it says in 1 Sam 12:3, where Samuel says: "You know that I do not want anyone's
No one has taken oxen or donkeys, nor has anyone done violence or injustice" etc.
The pious also had to bear the curse, but they suffered with patience and overcame such poverty with patience in faith. The other tribes have for their entertainment, as the prophet Malachi laments Cap. 3, v. 8. 9, gave only the lees of their goods; as the Hebrew says. What they themselves did not like was good for the priests.
(112) Hence the terrible misfortune of idolatry in the tribe of Levi, even in that part which was holy (for I am not speaking of the priesthood of Jeroboam), that they devised such practices that they might gain much. Because they were despised and neglected for the sake of the right true worship and the pure sound doctrine, they invented other worship services, which had a great appearance, and were outwardly before the eyes of the people, that they enjoyed them, so that the priests might be more honored and obtain money and goods with them. Such were the services they performed for Baal Peor, Astaroth and Camos, to which all the people gave with great willingness and devotion, and were thus justly punished for their foolishness. And since they gave nothing before or gave evil and unfaithfully for the preservation and spreading of the right true worship, they then made the Baalites and other idolatrous priests rich and honored them with the highest willingness. Thus 1 Kings 18:19 Jezebel fed and sustained four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred other prophets who practiced false worship in the groves.
The same thing happens in our times to faithful priests, to whom farmers and citizens do not give much more than black bread, and as the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 30, v. 20. V. 20: They are fed with bread in tribulation, and with water in distress etc. Therefore, God is also provoked to wrath by their false worship, sacrificial mass, purgatory, indulgences and invocation of the dead saints.
As Paul says in 2 Thess. 2, 10-12: "For not having received the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God will send them strong errors, that they may believe the lie. That all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness." Hence the glory and power of the pope and his bishops have become so great, for they are now princes and lords over the whole world. But why do they preach the gospel and wait so diligently for souls? Not at all. Why then? Because they practice idolatry with indulgences and sacrificial masses. This gives them much money and goods, with which they have erected great monasteries and convents, and the most magnificent palaces, which the Turk could not do with all his money and goods. They did not want to listen to the right priests and pastors, so God sent them powerful errors, so that they would honor the God of Moses, as Daniel proclaimed in the 11th chapter, v. 38. V. 38. and honored the God of whom their fathers knew nothing with gold, silver, precious stones and jewels. This is how we want it.
And if the light of the gospel should go out, and the darkness, from which God would graciously protect us, should again prevail, the common people would be no less senseless, and the people would give much money and goods with even greater eagerness and foolishness to confirm the errors than has happened before. For the nature of men is idolatrous and superstitious, flees from the right true God, from right worship and fear of God: but the trust in their self-devised worship and works they always exalt very highly. From this the priests become rich and great lords. Just as in the papacy there was no number or measure of useless giving and gifts. The barefoot monks have deceived and sucked the people with their lying theatrics in a very gruesome way with the rosaries and ten Our Fathers; they stopped at all the doors. The people took a liking to this and accepted such things with great eagerness, and even gave freely and, as they say, with both hands.
hands to it. But what is now being directed at schools and ministers of the Word must all be designed to be most evil, as the common people judge of it; yes, they would also like to rob the church ministers of the spoils of Egypt, which they still have left over from the papacy.
So some holy men, priests and Levites among the people of Israel, bore this punishment because of their father's sin; though they were not like their father, they bore this curse. But the others, who did not follow the example of Moses and Samuel and their godliness, were much worse than Simeon and the other descendants. They have completely given in to the idolatrous worship and persecuted the true prophets, and have not abstained from the sin that Jacob so vehemently cursed.
How today the pope in Rome deals with it only according to his highest diligence, that he strangles pious godly people, and is such a horrible fratricide that no one can understand his cruelty, neither with words nor with thoughts. Above this, he also robs the whole world and seizes all earthly goods by force. So great is the wrath of God against the ingratitude of men. Because they do not want to listen to the good, pious pastors, they may listen to the evil and murderers, the Simeons and Levites, who are cursed by nature, and because of that are drawn to idolatry and all kinds of sins.
But a few godly and pious people in the same lineage, who were preceded and preserved by God's grace, thought that it was their due to be satisfied with what God had bestowed upon them and allowed them to have, and so they said, "We will be content with the fact that the Lord is our inheritance, and He will abundantly reward, restore and repay us for what we lack in this life.
118) How nowadays pious and godly church servants in such great tribulations and hardships are able to maintain themselves with this consolation?
since they conclude with themselves: The Lord of glory himself was crucified and died for us, so why should we not also suffer with patience when something unpleasant happens to us?
And truly, if we were not helped by God's grace and mercy, we would also fall into the same sins that Jacob, the father, imposes on his sons, Simeon and Levi, and for which he chides them so severely. And if I had remained a monk, I would also help to persecute Christ with other enemies of the gospel of this time, and pious godly teachers who oppose the papacy. But grace has changed my nature so that I would not join the enemy and shed innocent blood. For this reason, the punishment of these two brothers should be diligently remembered. For this has been the cause of many great sins among the wicked, who thereafter have wrought false worship and idolatry, and have also caused the persecutions of holy pious people.
120. but Moses countered this curse with a beautiful, glorious blessing, Deut. 33:9, so that you may understand from it that this tribe is not completely deprived of all blessings, even though Jacob took everything from it in this place; but he wants to condemn the evil nature and the old example with it. But Moses preached to those who would be among the spiritual descendants, saying, "He that saith to his father and to his mother, I see him not; and to his brother, I know him not; they keep thy speech. "etc. Then Moses interprets the curse and moderates or softens it, as if to say: Levi, you were cursed by Jacob, if you want to follow nature and boast that you belong according to the flesh among the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Levi etc. Therefore it is necessary that you put on a different nature and say: I do not know you etc., and that you do not rely on the paternal blood and defy it, if you want to teach and keep the commandments of the Lord correctly. As stated in the 45th Psalm v. 11.
which seems to be taken from here: "Listen, daughter, look at it, and incline your ears, forget your people and your father's house" etc. Therefore, you will have to become a different man, regardless of how or who your grandfather, father, and all your flesh and nature have been. Yes, you must be of such a mind that you say, "I know nothing of my fathers and brothers, etc. I know only the Lord Himself, and will boast of Him alone; as John 1:13 says, "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God."
(121) But this admonition the Levites and Simeonites despise; therefore they know of nothing more to boast of than that they are born of the lineage of the fathers, and therefore cannot be rejected of God. But Moses teaches the opposite and says: "You shall say, 'I know not the blood, neither my father nor my brother. And Paul says Rom. 9, 8: "These are not the children of God, which are children after the flesh: but the children of promise are counted for seed." And the same is also firmly concluded in this place. For Simeon and Levi are children, and come of the blood that is blessed, and yet are accursed and scattered.
But they boasted nothing less because of the blood of the father, and hold a disgust for the promise and grace. As the pope also always drives and repeats some piece: We are the Church, we are the Church; therefore we cannot err and the others shall obey us. Against this glory it is said here, "Cursed be their wrath." Therefore, that you may be saved from this curse, hearken to this admonition of Moses, and say, "I know you not. "etc. We are not the church because of the ordinary succession as it came to us from the ancestors, but we believe in the Son of God.
123) So we have heard two curses of three sons of Jacob, which are very hard and sad, which Moses alleviates afterwards, when he says Deut. 33, 6: "Ru
etc., which Jacob also wants to have understood in this way; "but his people are few," says Moses. Item, Simeon shall be scattered; but if he shall say to his father and mother, I know you not, he shall not abide in the curse of nature and blood; but if not, he shall have no happiness, shall be wicked and ungodly; as Caiphas and Annas were afterwards. Now follows the fourth blessing, which is very glorious.
Third part.
From the blessings and promises so received by Judah.
Judah, thou art, thy brethren shall praise thee. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's children will bow down to you. Judah is a young lion. You have come up high, my son, by great victories. He hath bowed down, and lain down like a lion, and like a lioness: who shall rise up against him?
124 Now this is a beautiful and glorious promise, for he says nothing evil of Judah, but only the very best and most glorious, even though this tribe also had very wicked kings. Therefore, as he is silent here about all curses, so he did not even think about blessings above, and only presented nature as an example, as he now extols grace in this place. For in this tribe there have been godless kings, such as Jeroboam, Ahaz, Shallum, Manasseh, and others; and yet nothing but good is said here of Judah.
The cause and origin of this great rich blessing is the one flower, which should come into the world from this people of God, namely, Christ Jesus, for whose sake all good things must be said, not of nature, but of grace. And this is a peculiar wisdom or revelation, that he distinguishes it so clearly in this tribe from the seed; to which light belongs not only prudence of reason and worldly understanding, but a peculiar spirit, which was in this Shepherd; for it is not
He was not a political or secular shepherd, but a shepherd of his flock and of his church, to which church he preached such great and certain things.
No doubt the sons of Jacob waited with great longing and weeping and groaning for the other thing their father was about to say, because they were very upset and frightened when they heard such harsh and cruel curses. And it was indeed very hard that the father, now that he was to die, had shown himself to be so hard and stiff-necked, and as it seems, so cruel, in rejecting the three sons. Then they will have cried and prayed: Oh not, dear father etc. Nevertheless he continues, but does not change at all what he once said or ordered for the sake of the descendants; for he has well seen that their vices and sins would have to be prevented with imprisonment and other punishments.
(127) And Judah also could not refrain from weeping, and it occurred to him that he would have feared what would become of him, or of the rest, because the three were so rejected? He will have thought: Help God! What will become of me! Now it comes to you. Very sad thoughts will have risen in his heart about his sins and vices, about the fornication he committed with Tamar, and about the advice he gave them to sell Joseph. It is a frightening thing when consciences are frightened and terrified, especially when such a great patriarch preaches; and there was no other consolation, except that they should still live and have descendants. I would truly have died of sorrow and tears, and would have said: Stop it, dear father, I am dying of sorrow.
(128) And soon there followed a sweet dew and a sweet balm, and restored their hearts. For Judah is blessed temporally and spiritually, and the father says to him: "Judah, you are", that is, you are the firstborn prince, father and head of my people. Joseph also has many blessings, and Judah would have deserved to be blessed by his father.
should have cursed; but that God may show and prove that He gives His blessings by grace and not by merit, therefore He applies this blessing to Judah; that we may know what we are, that we are by God's goodness and grace alone. As Augustine says: We know that we are what we are by God's grace. We know that we are creatures out of God's goodness, not out of merit. It has pleased God that no one should boast except in the Lord.
But Jacob prefers Judah and sets him above his other brothers, saying, "Your brothers will praise you," that is, you will be famous, great and glorious in the sight of all the others, so that your brothers will also praise you. etc. And at last it came to pass, as Jacob hath declared here before.
130 And Jacob saith, Thou shalt not only be glorified among thy brethren, but thou shalt also be victorious against thine enemies. Thou shalt have many enemies: but be of good cheer, and do not fear; there is no need.
But very few have believed these promises, as Obed, David, and those like them; the rest have not believed. And yet it is a certain and firm word, in which he promises him honor and victory against the enemies. "Thy hand," saith he, "shall be upon the neck of thine enemies:" that is, thine enemies shall not overpower thee, but shall flee before thee, and thou shalt hasten after them. And "thy father's children shall bow down to thee," as if to say, "Those who have the same origin and power from their father shall all be called the seed of Jacob, but thou shalt be the captain and prince of the people; they shall hold thee in honor, and wonder at thee. The same was subsequently fulfilled both in the others, but especially in David. And Jacob has very magnificently portrayed the great power and strength of Judah, when he calls him a young lion. For there is no doubt that more and greater things were accomplished than are written in the Scriptures. Just as the curses against Cain and Ishmael are not all described.
But these promises are to be understood in spirit and faith, even concerning the temporal. As can be seen in the history of David, where it seems as if God had forgotten him and what he had promised him, because it was so difficult for him to be chosen and confirmed as king. And since he was already chosen, he could not have a certain place or seat in the whole kingdom for ten years. That is why there were so many psalms, all of which were made because of the countless dangers and persecutions he suffered at the hands of Saul. And at last, having come to the kingdom, he falls shamefully into great abominable sin, and is very severely afflicted, having borne the punishment for such sin, and having been in distress.
For this reason I said in the beginning of this chapter that the divine promises require and want faith, and that the two things, promise and faith, belong together: they are correlativa, as they are called in the schools. For without the promise we cannot believe, and without faith the promise is nothing and out of force, if we want to accept it according to the deed and the work. Therefore it is necessary that a man who has divine promise knows this art rightly and well, which Paul teaches and describes in the example of Abraham, Rom. 4:18; to believe in hope where there is nothing to hope for, and to hope in a thing and believe it, when it is already all absurd. For if a man does not know this, he will not be able to stand and will never be saved.
As we have in the New Testament the promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the sacraments and in the gospel. But if you look at the work itself and want to follow the judgment and understanding of the flesh and the eyes, you will have to judge that nothing can be less true than that which is proclaimed and promised to you of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the gospel. For we see before our eyes that men die and are buried with great dishonor, that they are also eaten by worms.
and consumed, so that no animal's carrion is more shameful or disgusting than the dead body of man. Does this mean to have an eternal life, to be miserably destroyed and buried in the earth, to be consumed and turned back into dust and ashes, and the same so utterly hideous and disgraceful that, as the dead bodies are commonly painted, toads are born from the brain of man and snakes from the intestines? Still, the faith there should certainly conclude, hold and hope that there will be a resurrection and the body will come back to life.
It is such a great and wonderful art to believe and hope, and faith is well described in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Chapter 11, v. 1. V. 1: "Faith is a certain confidence in what one hopes for, and not doubting what one does not see. For Noah believed that he would be preserved in the flood, when he saw with his own eyes that the whole world was drowned and perished. And he that knoweth not this art is not a Christian, neither shall he be heir of the things which are spoken of and promised to the faithful in the word.
In the same way, when the history of David is compared with these words of Jacob, it seems very strange and contrary to this promise. For if David had not been full of faith, he would never have done and suffered what is told in his history and story. Behold how he fought with such great courage against Goliath, and suddenly laid him low with a stone; how he so boldly and confidently mocked and despised the magnificent words and threats of that same great giant. Shall we think that he did this without faith? Yes, that is how David was minded: I have a favorable and gracious God, therefore I will confidently continue and fight against this proud Philistine. He could not see God, as he saw before his eyes the great giant who mocked the witness of Israel and offered him battle.
He went out to comfort the enemy, so that he did not doubt that with God's help he would put him down and slay him, as the story of 1 Sam. 17:36 ff. testifies.
137 So you will see nothing else in the other histories of David, but only wonderful fights and quarrels, and especially when it is described how he broke the marriage and killed Uriah. This was truly a terrible trial, and everything went against hope, since he defiled himself with the very grave vices of adultery, murder and blasphemy, for which sin he was afraid that he would be rejected and condemned by God; therefore he prays the 51st Psalm v. 13: "Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Therefore, if we had looked at his life and the whole history with all his works, we could never have believed that this prophecy of Jacob would be fulfilled. The enemies raged against him everywhere, both within the country and from without, and everything was full of despair, so that no one could think that he should have attained the kingdom and how he would remain in it, since he had already obtained it. Yet he tore through and overcame the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Syrians, and wherever he turned, he was always victorious over his enemies.
139 Therefore this must be understood spiritually, so that faith holds fast to the promise, as David himself says in Psalm 21:2: "O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength"; item in Psalm 44:5-7: "God, you are the same my king who promised Jacob help. Through you we will crush our enemies; in your name we will subdue those who oppose us. For I do not rely on my bow, and my sword cannot help me" etc. He is a king of faith and his kingdom is also a kingdom of faith, and even though he is a temporal king, he was nevertheless equipped and surrounded with divine promises at all times.
140. and this is the right way how to
read the histories of the saints, which are to be preferred to all writings in which the stories of Hannibal, Scipio, Alexander the Great, and other pagans are described. Which histories, though highly praised by the Greeks and also by the Latin writers, are not at all to be compared with these histories; for they lack this spiritual honor and have no promise, and therefore they are of little account and altogether uncertain. But although in the histories of the saints small and bad things are described, as it seems, they are in truth very great and glorious in themselves. For here it is not a nation, or the Philistines and Moabites, etc. that is overcome, but the prince of this world, who wanted to destroy and annihilate this small little kingdom. Therefore, in the sight of God, these histories are very glorious and delicious, for they are more important and have greater merit than all other writings, which are uncertain and contain such stories that are accidental, especially before the fact, and cannot boast of how they will turn out or what outcome they will have, but only when they have already happened.
The kingdom of the people of Israel, too, is being challenged with such great weakness and hardship that it seems as if it would fall away at any moment, especially when sin and the punishment they had to suffer for it have fallen in, as after David's adultery with Bathsheba, and often more. But it still remains constant in such heavy temptations for the sake of the promise. For "Judah is a young lion" who comes from robbery, or who brings great spoils from the enemies, not only because he took much silver and gold from the Moabites, Ammonites and Syrians, so that the temple was built afterwards, but there have been many more excellent histories against the devil, who resisted him and set himself against David's kingdom with all his power and might.
142. "He knelt down," says Jacob, "and encamped," that is, he made a well...
kingdom, in which he has also had peace and tranquility to some extent; "who will rise up against him? Who wants to wake up the young lion? No one has ever rebelled against him, whether it was Moab, or Ammon, or Absalom, or anyone else: All who have rebelled against him have come to evil, and have not prospered. For he is a king of promise and faith, mightier than all the earth, devil and hell.
But up to this point the Jews go along with us in this sense and easily put up with the interpretation for the sake of their honor; but that which now follows in the text: "The scepter of Judah shall not be taken away," etc., they have so shamefully falsified and torn apart with their glosses that no other place in all the holy Scriptures is so shamefully corrupted and defiled by the wicked desperate boys.
V. 10: The scepter shall not be taken from Judah, nor a master from his feet, until the coming of Shiloh, and the nations shall cleave unto him.
(144) The matter and the meaning of these words are clearer than that he could be denied or concealed; and we have also spoken of this in our book against the Jews. But the Jews argue against them as if they were nonsensical, just as the pope today opposes the very bright and certain light of the gospel. Such people are not men at all, but devils. For to turn away from it, to despise it, and to be hostile to what one does not understand, or to think, perhaps through error or ignorance, that it is not true, that is human: but to persecute the revealed and recognized truth, that is utterly diabolical. Therefore, it is not human, but devilish falsifications, so that the Jews have corrupted this text. Just as the papists and the lions' asses, overcome by their own judgment and conscience, feel and understand that they are defending an evil, ungodly cause, and yet they do not stop persecuting and killing our people. Since
It is not man against man, but the devil and the princes of the air contend against us. It is truly a frightening thing to knowingly and deliberately fight against the known truth, so that you must confess and say yourself: I know well that the people have a good cause; but let us also help to destroy them ourselves with God and His word.
So the Jews cannot deny, nor open their mouths against it, that we conclude from this text that the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem have now lain low for fifteen hundred years; which is the manifest truth, and brighter than the noonday light can be. This scepter of Judah, the young lion, as the text says, which the lion has ordered and rightly taken, will stand and will not be taken away from him until the hero comes. But when he comes, the scepter will also cease and last no longer.
146. Now it is evident and known to everyone that this prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled fifteen hundred years ago. Therefore we now surely and confidently despise the mockery of the Jews, which they are doing against us. For the matter is certain, clear and bright, and has been sufficiently confirmed by obvious experience. The kingdom or scepter has fallen, the Jews are scattered over the whole world, therefore the Messiah has certainly come, against which future the scepter should be taken from Judah.
(147) But because they cannot deny this, they go out against the words which are written in this place, as if they were nonsense, and try as they may to avoid it, that they may not agree with us, but that they rather put this article, saying, Messiah shall not come till after fifteen hundred years: when in this place the contrary is said, that he shall come when the scepter shall be taken from Judah; as experience clearly proves. And the kingdom itself is expressly meant by your tribe. But Jerusalem, which was the royal seat, does not now reign, has not had a scepter within fifteen hundred years, and
1968 L LI, 206-208. interpretation of Genesis 49:10. w. II, WSS-M00. 1969.
There is no sign at all that they could ever again come to the kingdom or reign. Therefore Christ must have come from necessity, and it also follows that the Jews do not fight so hard for their delusion out of ignorance, but that they contradict the revealed and recognized truth, as the pope also does; that I can never be sufficiently surprised, nor could I have believed, that the mischievousness and wickedness of men should be so great, and that the prince of this world should be so powerful in his children, whom Paul calls Eph. 2:2 "children of unbelief".
But these are truly the works of the devil, knowing, confessing and understanding that a thing is true, and yet not wanting to accept it or publicly confess it, yes, rather brazenly and stiff-neckedly contradicting it and saying: "We do not want to know about your ways", Job 21, 14; item Luc. 19, 14: "We do not want this one to rule over us", and as it says in Psalm 2, v. 3: "Let us break their bands" etc. But what will finally happen? Answer: Just what follows there in the 2nd Psalm v. 5: "He will one day speak to them in his wrath, and with his fury he will terrify them." But they do not believe the same threat until faith comes into their hands; just as it finally happened to the Jews what God had threatened them before. The same will finally happen to the pope and his companions. But, as I have said, this thing is so certain that it needs no proof. Therefore, let us now look at the text.
But I do not desire to recount all the falsifications of the Jews that have come from the devil. There is such a storming and raging against this text that it is a wonder. Satan cannot stand the light, and where he sees it rising, he storms against it with all his might, so that he may only extinguish it, he throws stones and dirt at it. We oppose the Jews with the fifteen hundred years of fulfillment; they serve us and rhyme with the clear words of this text.
150. however, without other lie theidings, they have mainly two arguments, which they
drive. For first of all, while we understand the word "scepter" or rod to mean a kingdom, as it is also written in the 45th Psalm, v. 7, where he calls the very scepter a scepter of the kingdom, they interpret it to mean a mace, that is, punishment, fear and persecution. And those who follow the same understanding like themselves very much in it and are considered the noblest and best. But the text just before these words is repugnant to the understanding: The lion is such a scepter, against which no one may lay himself. Therefore he does not speak of such a scepter, which is to suffer something, but of the kingdom of the lion, which is already erected, firm, and insurmountable against all gates of hell, so that no one could lay himself against it. Therefore he says, "The scepter shall not be taken from Judah until the hero come"; and adds, "nor a master from his feet." The same word, mechokek, means, lawgiver, regent, or prince; it may be called a chancellor, court judge, or scribe, that is, one who makes laws and writes mandates. It comes from the word chok, which is in the 2nd Psalm v. 7. "I will preach of such a manner." Therefore the kingdom and the princes together with their rulers will remain. And even if the word "ruth" or "scepter" should be understood to mean persecution (as the kings of Egypt and Assyria were ruths to this people), the passage that immediately follows these words in the text does not suffer from this interpretation, namely, when it says, "another master from his feet," that is, Judah will retain ruths, or as they are called by the evangelists, the high priests and elders of the people. Which word is taken from Moses, who appointed two and seventy men of the elders of Israel to help him govern the people; and they remained afterward for ever in the kingdom of Israel, even among the kings; and the Jews called them Sanhedrin, the great council.
151) Although they think up a distortion of the former word, they cannot draw the other word to any other mind,
and remain this mind and opinion certain and firm. The proper kingdom shall not be taken from Judah, nor a master from his feet. By the way, the reader must be reminded of the peculiar way of speaking of the Hebrews, which is also used by St. Paul in the Apostles' Tale in chapter 22, v. 3, where he says: "I was educated in this city. V. 3. where he says: "I was brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught with all diligence in the law of my father" etc. For the counselors who teach and govern the people have their hearers sitting at their feet. Therefore Jacob says: "There will be no lack of such masters and rulers in this kingdom.
But now all things together are utterly desolate. Where is Jerusalem now? Where is the great council and the audience? The Jews have not had them for fifteen hundred years. Therefore, without a doubt, the Messiah has come.
They also drag the word shiloh back and forth and interpret it in various ways. But I like the opinion of Bernhard Ziegler, who says that it comes from schiljah; as one of the rabbis challenges the deity of Christ with this argument and argues against it, namely, since he says: "Since he was from the head to the feet in his mother's womb, schiljak, how could he be God? We call it the afterbirth, as Deut. 28, 56. 57. says: "A woman among you, who before lived tenderly and in lusts" etc., "she will devour the afterbirth, or give it to her son and daughter", that is, the children who are fruits of her womb. There it is put continens pro contento, as it is called in the schools, that is, the afterbirth for the uninfant little children. That is why I like this etymology, that is, the derivation of the word, which the grammar brings along, very much.
But the others reproach us and say: and the other letter h, which is put at the end, the two letters are to be signs, thereby one recognizes the female gender of the word, in which gender the word schiloh is put here. But this does not bother me; because the Latin people
have many words of the masculine gender, especially those that are proper or baptismal names, but which end in the suffix of words of the feminine gender, such as Cotta, Cinna. That is why I like it better to read schiloh than schilo.
For some of the rabbis interpret the word shiloh also for the place of the tabernacle; which tabernacle, as we know, from the lines of Joshua, was sometimes in Shiloh, sometimes elsewhere; as the Lord saith unto David, when he would build him an house, 2 Sam. 7:6, 7: "I have not dwelt in any house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt unto this day; but I have walked in the tabernacle and in the tabernacle where I went with all the children of Israel" etc. There he gives to understand that the tabernacle before David's lines had not been in a certain place or tribe. Therefore they draw this piece in the text: "until the hero comes", to the king Saul, to David and Jeroboam, who lived after the destruction of Shiloh. But the thing itself and the whole history is against this interpretation, as they themselves sufficiently notice, only that they would like to mislead the simple inexperienced people in these words and the right understanding of them.
For the word shiloh means a son of the womb or of the afterbirth, and ends, as words do, which are of the female gender, as one speaks in grammar; and that for the sake of the first promise, so given to Adam, Gen. 3, 15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. The same shall bruise thy head"; and as Eve says afterwards Cap. 4, 1: "I have the man, the Lord." There it is clearly said that the seed of the woman, that is, the son of the virgin will come and destroy the power and the kingdom of the devil.
The holy fathers and prophets have diligently observed this promise and have made it even clearer, as Isaiah Cap. 7, 14 says: "Behold, a virgin is with child and will bear a son" etc. The same Abraham and Isaac have also practiced and practiced, in addition to their descendants always impressed that they have the same common
and would very well like to be known. For he was not to be the seed of a man, nor was he born of a father, but is the son of a virgin.
(158) And Jacob is also speaking of this female here, when he says: "This kingdom of the lion and this lion, which has been ordered by God Himself and placed in the kingdom, will stand and be ruled by princes and elders of the people and by its rulers until the coming of the virgin's son, that is, the son of the womb, the afterbirth, as one might say. We are not children of the body, not seed of the afterbirth, but are man's seed, which came out of the loins of the Father into the afterbirth. But he grows and is born without male seed; as the angel says to Mary Luc. 1, 35. "That which is born of thee"; he does not say that which is born of Joseph. Your son will be a virgin's son, will be a fruit of the afterbirth, will be a shiloh, that is, only a fruit of his mother's womb, will have no father on earth.
159 Therefore, behold how beautiful and glorious sermons the fathers took from this one word, both before and after the flood, all of which, with the prophets, also describe the Messiah as truly being the blood of David, but as being a son of the afterbirth alone; and have looked at the third and fourth chapters of this first book of Moses, where Cap. 3, v. 15. it is said, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head"; and Cap. 4, 1. "I have the man, the Lord." And is truly an excellent passage in Scripture, and are very beautiful arguments, that our faith may be confirmed and strengthened, and is also signified thereby, what the holy fathers have taught from the beginning unto the prophets and Christ Himself, yea, even unto our time, and unto the end.
160 Therefore we reject and even condemn the nonsense of very wicked men who presume to obscure this doctrine from us. For Jacob did not use a special word in vain, but he wanted to praise this son, who was promised to him and to the other fathers. And we also enjoy this day from God's
Grace of the bright light of the Gospel, by which the word shiloh is explained and interpreted to mean the Virgin and also the Son of God at the same time. This grammar pleases me well and I rest in it with the highest confidence.
The last part of this text the bloodthirsty rabbis draw on their evil lusts and cruelty, because they only snort with eitelem murder and death. For they declare it thus: Under the kingdom of the Messiah we want to bring all the Gentiles under us, we want to kill and slay all the kings of the whole world, as the Pope and the Turk also do. Therefore they interpret this text without any reason and against the grammar: The nations will be terrified of him and he will weaken them; for in the Hebrew it says: "The nations will cling to him" and have refuge in him.
The Scripture does not want the kings or rulers to be killed, but to remain and be instructed and chastened in the kingdom of God; as the 2nd Psalm v. 10 says: "Let yourselves be instructed, you kings, and let yourselves be chastened, you judges of the earth" etc. The Hebrew word lakah means to hear, to obey, and to be obedient, and according to the Chaldean it is interpreted: The nations will be obedient and obey him; and they nevertheless falsify the right natural understanding of these words against the same Chaldean interpretation; as the same also accedes to our opinion, and clearly interprets the word shiloh, that it is the Messiah.
This is why this is a beautiful golden text, which is especially good to remember, namely, that the kingdom of Christ will not be such a kingdom as David's kingdom was, which indeed lasted until Christ. But of David it is said in 1 Chron. 29, 3, that he was a man of war and shed much blood, and therefore could not build a house or temple for the Lord. Therefore the kingdom that was ruled with weapons or armor, with sword and external force, has now ceased, and the kingdom of Shiloh that followed is not such a mighty or bloody kingdom, but consists only in hearing the word,
obey it and believe that it will be governed or administered; as it is said in Psalm 110 v. 2: "The Lord will send the scepter of your kingdom out of Zion"; Isaiah 2:3: "The law will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"; Romans 1:16: "The gospel is a power of God that saves all who believe in it"; Psalm 110 v. 34: "Behold, he will send the scepter of your kingdom out of Zion. 1:16: "The gospel is the power of God that saves all who believe in it." In Psalm 68:34: "Behold, he will give power to his thunder," that is, to his preaching. There is divine power and wisdom in this word; whoever believes it will be saved.
164 Therefore it is a very mighty kingdom in the word against death, sin and devils, and against all their power and tyranny, which has power to help, to save and to protect to eternal salvation.
The rabbis of the Jews know nothing of these things, neither do the Papists and the Turks: but it behooves us to impress these things diligently upon the people, and that we may well remember and keep this excellent distinction between the kingdom of Christ and the other kingdoms, and also David's kingdom. For this much Jacob meant to say: The kingdom of David my son, which cannot be ruled without sword and bodily weapons, will not last forever, but it will be followed by the kingdom of Shiloh, which alone will be ruled by word. As Christ says Marc. 16, 15: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." For the word is very powerful, which can help and save from the hand of death and the devil, and from the power of hell, and can bring people into the kingdom of God. Therefore the nations shall obey this king, that is, they shall be ruled by word: it shall be with preaching, that shall be the sign, so that the kingdom of Christ may be distinguished from the other regiments of this world, which are ruled by the sword and bodily force. "The weapons of our knighthood," says Paul 2 Cor. 10:4, "are not carnal, but mighty in the sight of God, to disturb the fortifications. "etc. For thus says a minister of the gospel: I absolve you, I baptize you, I declare and declare you to be a
I proclaim to you the forgiveness of your sins, I promise and offer you victory over the devil. Believe, and you will be saved.
166 Therefore Jacob speaks very actually, as one who is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and has even had a sharp face from afar, when he says: Velo Velo jikhat ammim; that is: The nations will adhere to him and obey him. And the same word is also written in the Proverbs of Solomon in 30 Cap. V. 17: "An eye that mocks the father, and despises to obey the mother, the ravens must peck it out at the brook." In which place in the common Latin interpretation (for it is not by Jerome) it is wrongly written: partum instead of auditum matris, that is: And despises the birth of his mother, instead of: "And despises to obey his mother." But Solomon speaks there of the fourth commandment, and of the honor which children owe to their parents. And it serves very well to confirm the meaning of this text that the jikhat means so much as obedience. For the gospel is a hearing, as Isaiah speaks, when he says Cap. 53, 1. "Who believes our preaching?" This shiloh will not rule with sword, with fire, or otherwise with external force, but with hearing and teaching of faith; and not only the Jews will obey him, but all the nations of the whole world.
The Hebrew word, am, is a well-known word, which in my understanding means people, but with respect to God; as Hosea says in 1 Cap. V. 9: "Ye are not my people (ammim), neither will I be yours." I will call that my people, which is not my people etc.; that it may thus be understood together, Deus, populi et populus Dei, that is, God of the people and the people of God. So Isaiah says in 31 Cap. V. 7. 8. 9. that all idols over the whole world shall be lifted up and thrown away, and that in all the world there shall be unity in the obedience and service of the one God. For so says the prophet there: "In that day shall every man cast away his idols of silver and of gold, which your hands have made sin for you. And Assyria shall fall, not by man's sword, and shall be destroyed.
1976 D- n. 214-21". Interpretation of Genesis 49:10-12, W. II, ssos-ssis. 1977
shall be torn, not by the sword of man: yet shall he flee from the sword, and his young men shall become tame; and their rock shall depart for fear, and his princes shall flee from the banner, saith the Lord, which hath fire in Zion, and hearth in Jerusalem."
So the kingdom of Shiloh is a kingdom of the word, for he calls and rules his people by word alone, without weapons and external force. But those who do not want to hear the word do not belong to the kingdom of Christ. Therefore the people should let themselves be drawn with the word. Therefore the people should let themselves be drawn by the word and not be forced in a servile way with rods, prisons and blows, as in worldly regimes the people are forced to obey by force. And so it has been fulfilled, as it is proclaimed here by the patriarch Jacob and the prophets before.
The kingdom of the church has not wielded a sword, but has its power only from the word, and that from the mighty word of the Holy Spirit, so that God has drawn the hearts to believe. That is why it is added here quite strangely in the text: "The nations will adhere to the same" and obey it. This is said so much: The word will make and order this kingdom; the people will be gathered by the word alone and come to this shiloh.
V. 11. 12. He will tie his fill to the vine, and his ass's son to the noble branches. He shall wash his garment in wine, and his mantle in the blood of the vine. His eyes will be redder than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
170. Moses here has given the grammarians much cross and torment, or else they have inflicted the plague and torment on themselves; as we have heard of the word shiloh and the obedience of the peoples, where there is also innumerable confusion because of the disparity of the various understandings, and also because of the ignorance of the interpreters, among whom none understands the matter itself.
The Jews are always dreaming of the sword and are bloodthirsty, through the
whole holy scripture. Just as the pope does not intend to rule the church with words, but with force, and both with physical and spiritual tyranny, namely, with the sword and ban. For God has given them a wrong mind, so that they do not know what the Scriptures are, what the Church is, or what Christ is. Yes, even Gregory, who was a bishop before the tyranny of the papacy began, did not know Christ very well, nor did he understand the word of the gospel very well: therefore, the statutes of men have taken over the whole papacy with great violence, and it is no wonder that they could not come out of the torture and confusion because of the darkness and ignorance in the heavenly doctrine.
172. But fact itself teaches that the church was gathered by the word alone, and not by outward force or the sword; just as even now we compel no one by force to the knowledge of the gospel. And yet men are caught by the word, and gathered together unto one doctrine and one faith, as many as will be godly and members of the church of Christ.
The rabbis, however, not only torture the mind in this place, but also the grammar or the text miserably for the sake of the letter, which they say is superfluous. For this reason, I have no help from any interpreter, and must seek and pick out the right natural understanding of these words alone.
174 But above all I reject the interpretation of Lyra and the other interpreters, even the very best, who understand this text to mean the tribe of Judah, as if Jacob had spoken nothing more of Christ after the previous words. For they admit that the former words are spoken of the king; but what follows they all refer to the tribe of Judah. But it seems to me to be a very clumsy thing if we want to take it for granted that the Holy Spirit broke off the speech so soon after he had begun to speak of Shiloh and Christ, and that he no longer wanted to remember him. The Glossa ordinaria, as it is called, Lyra
and Burgensis lead among each other quarrels with interpretations, and one wants to have this, the other another. Therefore, I must follow my spirit, because I have no one else to follow.
Lyra interprets it thus: The tribe of Judah shall be so fruitful and rich even before the coming of Christ, that they shall bind the son of the ass to the vine, and that one vine or branch shall bear so much wine as to load an ass. But this is useless talk. For even in our country, and not in the Promised Land alone, a vine could easily be so fruitful that it would bear enough wine to load an ass. And I do not understand how the rhyme of tying a donkey to the vine could mean loading the donkey with wine. Therefore, so that it would not be so clumsy and unrhymed, they say that it should be spoken hyperbolically, that is, that one makes a thing greater than it is in itself; as it should be in the other piece, where he says, "He will wash his clothes in wine"; as Job also speaks of his happiness through this figure, in 29 Cap. V. 6: "When I washed my footsteps in butter, and the rocks poured me streams of oil." But all this does not serve the proper understanding of this text.
For this reason we must not allow the sayings of Christ to be torn asunder, of whom Jacob began to say that he would be the Lord of the Gentiles, and that the nations of the whole world would hear him and obey him. With the same intention of speaking of Christ, let us remain, and let no strange figures, as, hysteron proteron etc., poetize and draw here. But where we lack understanding, let us leave the mastery to the Holy Spirit, only that we do not admit that the text thus becomes confused and torn; for I will rather confess that I do not understand.
I also understand these words to mean that at the time of Christ, or when the Messiah or Shiloh comes, this will happen, that the donkey's son will be tied to the vine. But this is not true, that
in the tribe of Juda so superfluously much vines have been. And if this had been so, what has the donkey to do with the vineyard? And he is not bound to the vine to bear grapes, but to drink and become full of wine. Therefore the words seem to have this meaning, that the donkey is to be fed and made drunk with grapes and wine as otherwise with other food. The donkey shall have good days and drink wine.
178 The Hebrew word sorek means a chosen vine, and one thing is said as much as another, "He will bind his fillings to the vine," and that he says, "and to the noble branches." Isaiah on 5 Cap. V. 1. is also the same word, saying, "My cousin has a vineyard in a fat place. "etc. It was with the Jews a special kind of noble vine; from there also the word "Sirach" comes. And I hold that this is the right understanding: At the time of the Messiah there will be such great glory, abundance and fruitfulness that even the donkeys and the donkey's colts will eat grapes and grapes. The donkeys shall eat something sweet, shall drink their fill.
179 And it is not spoken hyperbolically, that is, to make it greater than it is in itself; but it is spoken actually, only that by a figure the ass is called, as above, "a young lion," and means this much, that the asses shall not eat chaff or hay at that time, but that among the fruits is the very best and most delicious, as wine is, "which maketh glad gods and men," as is said in the book of Judges, Cap. 9, v. 13. V. 13. For wine is the most noble of all fruits in the whole world, refreshing and gladdening the heart of man, from which both divine and natural men become merry and joyful. They all become merry from wine. And in the Proverbs of Solomon it is written in 31 Cap. V. 6. 7. "Pray strong drink to them that perish, and wine to the afflicted souls, that they may drink, and forget their miseries, and remember their calamities no more." For wine cultivates cheerfulness in men,
To give him courage and form. Therefore he will bind the donkey and the colt and the donkey's son to the vine and to the noble branches, so that he will have a stable there and be fed with choice grapes, and so that the holy donkey will be drunk with the very best juice.
180: According to nature, it is very unusual that the donkey should be tied to the vine, and he might better have said the same of the goat or the deer, which delight in the vine. But the vineyard or the grapes do not serve the donkey, but thistles and chaff. Therefore I understand Jacob to be speaking through the Holy Spirit of the wonderful kingdom of Christ and of his riches, in which the donkeys and young asses also eat grapes and drink wine and become drunk. As Paul says to the Ephesians in 5 Cap. V. 18, 19, 20: "And be not drunk with wine, whereof a disorderly manner ensues; but be full of the Spirit, and speak one to another of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing unto the Lord in your hearts; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ", which is also said of the apostles, Acts 2, 4. 2, 4: "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit," and spoke of the great deeds of God.
So the godly become full of the Holy Spirit that they cannot abstain from leading out and giving thanks to God, confessing and praising Him, and teaching and speaking the word of the gospel. Such people were the apostles and martyrs when they were drunk with the Holy Spirit. For this is the noblest kind of vine, of which Wisdom says in Proverbs 9 Cap. V. 5: "Come, partake of my bread, and drink of the wine that I give," and you will drink and be drunk, but with spiritual drunkenness.
182. so I understand this text here, that in Christ and in the time of Christ we are to become drunk with the riches of his house, as the 36th Psalm v. 9. says, that is, we are to receive the Holy Spirit from the Word and hearing, from which we become other men; as a drunken man
much differently than one who is sober and hungry. For the former is merry, laughs, rejoices, sings and rejoices or exults: but the latter is afraid and anxious, he is sad and can do nothing but complain.
183) Now Jacob rejoices for his own sake and for the sake of all his descendants because of these riches, and says, "He will bind his fullness to the vine. As if to say, "Such a kingdom will be the kingdom of Christ and of my shiloh: he will not rule with law or sword, which is the instrument or tool of the law, and makes men sad, lean, weary and despondent, but he will fill them with his goods, he will make the subjects of his kingdom drunk and glad, and they will become different people, and will be fed, not with chaff, but with grapes, and with the very best grapes, so that they will be full and full. But spiritually they will be drunk, so that people will not think or see anything different about them, except how they judge the apostles to be full of sweet wine, Acts 2:13. 2, 13.
184 For is it not a great sacrilege in the sight of the people that Peter and the other apostles should stand up and teach and preach, when they have not yet asked permission of the proper authorities, either spiritual or temporal. But they are full of the Holy Spirit. Therefore they set out freely and travel through all the streets of the city of Jerusalem, preaching about the crucified Christ, whose name was hated by all the people and was even offensive. Yes, they go and rebuke the Jews severely because of the unjust violence and cruelty they practiced on the righteous man when they crucified him, and the apostles are not afraid of anyone in all of this, nor are they afraid of the great violence of the priests and elders. And at last, when they had been beheaded and heard, and had been commanded that they should speak no more in the name of Jesus, they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.
(185) No preacher of the law will ever do this; indeed, he will fear Caiphas, the rulers and the chief priests.
The apostles, on the other hand, defy all their power and tyranny, thinking that heaven and earth are ours, for Christ is King of heaven and earth. They are drunk with the Holy Spirit, so they speak of the great deeds of God without any timidity or fear of the chief priests and fill the whole city with their sermons.
After that they attacked the whole Roman Empire in the same way, and punished the idolatry of the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians, and in all this they do not hold themselves otherwise than as if they were lords of the whole world. They appear before kings and princes and proclaim to them that they will die and perish if they do not hear and accept the teaching of Christ, who suffered and rose again. They ridicule and scoff at the majesty and great power of the Roman Empire and of all nations; and this is done not only by men, such as the apostles and their disciples, but also by women, and they are so proud and defiant that they are not afraid and terrified of any torture: even if they are burned or drowned, they do not ask anything about it. Does it not seem then that they are drunk and mad? What is it that the most miserable people and fishermen, yes, even women and virgins, set themselves against such a great monarchy and attack it, as in the time of the Romans there was monarchy, in which there was so much power and all kinds of wealth, money and goods? Reason had to conclude that they were mad and senseless, and the wise men of the world did not think otherwise than that they were mad and foolish and that the devil possessed them.
187 They say of Anastasia, who was a virgin, that when the judge threatened to kill her, she answered, "She has done nothing wrong. And when he reproached her: She had despised the idols, which she had trodden down and burned, she is said to have laughed at the judge and said how she had honored her gods most highly; for she had purified them by fire, and from the mice and cobwebs, and from the cobwebs she had burned.
from the dust, so that they were surrounded, but some she cooked and gave to the poor. Yes, she said, give me your Roman gods, too, and I will play with them as I played with my father's gods. For if they are gods, as you say they are, let them protect and defend themselves against a poor woman. That is to make the ass drunk.
This is a drunkenness of faith and of the promises of the Holy Spirit, as Paul interprets it, whom he poured out on us abundantly at the time of the Messiah, preaching and spreading, so that they all became full of the Holy Spirit, despising death and the devil, and overcoming all adversity.
This was done primarily at the time of the martyrs. But it is necessary for the whole church, and for us today, that we become drunk with the Holy Spirit, and that we not fear the pope and all tyrants and devils' fierce wrath, raging and fury. For this is the voice and glory of the church, that we are bound to the vine, that we should become full of the Holy Spirit. Christ has called us and bound us to his vineyard, that is, to his spiritual gifts, with the most loving bond, so that he may fill us with fear of none of the things that can harm us.
Oh, God would that we understood the divine promises and imprinted them on our hearts, namely, that our sins are forgiven, that death and the devil are conquered, and hell is extinguished and destroyed; as all this is gloriously praised in the 91st Psalm, v. 13: "You will walk on lions and vipers, and tread on young lions and dragons. He who believes this firmly drinks in these promises, as it were, and is delicately nourished by these vines, and is a lord of death.
191. I also have Satan as an enemy, who is so fiercely hostile to me and has often been after my life; but when he has done something to me by force, I have easily despised it, and have never asked for it, even if he should take this life from me, since I know that
all the hairs on my head are counted. But when he attacks us with false doctrine and that the enthusiasts plague the poor consciences with it, then we have much more to do and the fight is much harder than where one should defend oneself against external and public violence. And here we also despise all men, and all wisdom and hope or defiance of the world, and tear through it. For we are drunk, not with the wine, which makes such a wild and disorderly life; But this is a holy drunkenness, whereby we are accustomed to discipline, and to use diligence, to govern and to arrange our morals so that it may be useful and wholesome for us in this life, and that we may beware of fornication and all shame and immorality, so that we may abstain from even the slightest cursing, and have such a tongue that can only bless, heal and comfort. For true pious Christians do not curse and blaspheme, nor do they swear a false oath, as drunkards and senseless people do; but from this spiritual drunkenness follows a fine wholesome life, when they abstain from all vice and sin, and only speak and praise the commands of God.
192 This drunkenness shall now reign in the time of the Messiah: when the nations shall adhere to him and obey him, they shall become drunk and joyful, and defy the devil and death, so that the world will consider them to be senseless and delusional people, and yet they will be good, pious and useful people in human affairs, who also love their enemies in this world, and arrange their lives so that they are not disorderly, desolate or wild. As indeed we Christians do no harm to anyone, but desire with all our hearts to be useful and to serve everyone, even though they are hostile to us. For we are spiritually drunk, have forgiveness of sins, redemption from death and hell, and mock the devil and the pope, who rages and rages more cruelly than Diocletian and all tyrants have done. Although the pope with his cardinals is much more foolish and clumsy than Diocletian, who was nevertheless a wise and prudent prince, these are the most cruel and cruel of all tyrants.
They are nothing but rough asses, without all senses and understanding. Therefore I do not respect the pope at all, and the more he is angry, the less I give it. I know that we will also judge the angels, 1 Cor. 6:3, and also emperors, kings and other evil worms with all princes and angry squires.
193 So this promise of the Holy Spirit is signified by the likeness of drunkenness in this text, as one becomes drunk on the very noblest wine. For as a drunken man becomes bolder and more courageous than he otherwise is; as the poet says, Tunc pauper cornua sumit, that is: Then also a poor man is proud and courageous, and sets himself up as if he wanted to cut wounds, so that one alone may set himself against a hundred others: So this spiritual drunkenness, which is also holy and wholesome, gives much more courage to the godly, who are puffed up by divine power through this shiloh, which has bound the ass to the vine and noble branches, that they should mock the devil with all his scales and tread him underfoot. This, I hold, is the right natural understanding of this text.
Now one must also interpret why he calls us donkeys and asses. Jerome only touched on it a little and thought of it recently when he says: "That Jesus Christ took the colt of the ass, on which he sat, that is, the people of the Gentiles, to the vineyard of the apostles who came from the Jews, and tied to the noble vine, that is, the chosen vine, the ass, on which he sat, that is, the church gathered from all nations. I do not dislike this way. A donkey is a simple and stupid animal, but it is nevertheless very delicious, because it carries Christ, the Savior of the world. So we are also the donkey, the ass, and the colt on which Christ rides through the whole world. But this likeness is somewhat mitigated when you realize that the patriarch saw the use or manner that was in his time and among his people, which most of all used the ass. A horse is a warlike animal and armed for battle; as it is described in the Book of Job at 39 Cap.
V. 22, 23: "A horse mocks fear, and is not afraid, and does not flinch from the sword, though the quiver rings against it, and both spear and lance shine. The donkey, however, is not at all fit for war, but only to carry such burdens as are to be carried in the house. Just as Jacob was led to Egypt on donkeys with his household and small children. For it is a servile and domestic animal, just as donkeys are still used today as they were in the time of the fathers, except that we use horses. Therefore Jacob does not say here that the horse is to be tied to the vine, but directs his speech to his time, in which they primarily used donkeys to carry such burdens as one has to carry in the house.
195. but the patriarch adds to what he has said here, saying, "He shall wash his robe in wine, and his mantle in the blood of the vine." This is no less inconsistent and strangely spoken than that he said of the ass, how the same should be bound to the vine, and to the very noblest branches. Yes, this seems more like a curse than a blessing. For what can be more clumsy or inconsistent than to wash the clothes in the red wine? In that way you would rather defile them than wash them. And the Scripture commends the white garments; how then can it be understood of such outward washing according to the letter?
But what follows is the most absurd, because he says: "His eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. For this is rather an infirmity or disease of the eyes, which physicians call a river, than, in the Proverbs of Solomon, 23 Cap. V. 29. 30.: "Where is woe? Where is sorrow? Where is strife? Where is lamentation? Where are wounds without cause? Where are red eyes?" (there it says in our Latin text: suffusio) "namely, where one lies with wine, and comes to drink up what has been poured out." Such redness of the eyes is shameful and is an infirmity or defect in the eyes. Those who are always mad and full get red eyes; hence the German saying: You have on the eyes
drink, drink once on the ears. Therefore this does not apply to the tribe of Judah, that it should be spoken hyperbolically, nor can it be applied to wealth or abundance, unless you want to understand by it a curse and fault or infirmity.
197 But let the understanding and the thing which I have said to be certain be diligently kept in mind, namely, that the patriarch speaks of the promises of Christ or Shiloh, to whom we shall obey and cleave in his word. As Paul also says Rom. 1, 5: "Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to establish the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles"; item Rom. 10, 16: "But they are not all obedient to the gospel." The kingdom of Christ consists in the obedience of faith, and the same thing Paul calls the promise of the Spirit; as also Christ Ap. Gesch. Cap. 1, v. 4, "that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father"; item, also there v. 8: "Ye shall receive power of the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you." This promise is found in all the prophets, that blessing shall come upon all nations through the seed of the woman; and this rich and unspeakable blessing he willed to signify in these unrhymed and obscure words; as indeed it is a great thing, not easily understood or comprehended, that the Holy Ghost is given through Christ to all them that hear his word, and believe on him. For whosoever heareth this Shiloh, which is the blessed seed, shall receive the promise made to Adam, Abraham, and the rest of the fathers. So this is very certain and constant.
198 Now let us see how the washing of the garments is to be done. It was very common in those lands for them to wear white garments of fine linen, especially at the high feasts; as is said of the rich man Luc. 16:19. And Solomon also says in Ecclesiastes Cap. 9, v. 8: "Let your clothes always be white" etc. And the Turks keep the same thing today,
and all the nations that dwell in the east. Likewise, in the resurrection of Christ, the angels appeared in white garments, Marc. 16, 5, which is a sign of life and immeasurable joy. The Romans used purple and scarlet garments. But how will the white garment be washed in the red wine? This is an inconsistent, clumsy thing, just like the tying of the donkey to the vine.
For this reason this passage must also be understood of the riches of the Holy Spirit, that when it is given, everything will flow with milk and honey and delicious wine, in which they will also wash their clothes; and there will be no need of water, for there will be wine in abundance everywhere. Therefore, because it is so inconsistent, necessity compels us to depart from the carnal understanding, as Augustine used to say, or to abstain from the washing of the bodily garments, and to give ourselves to this spiritual or allegorical understanding. For this, according to the letter, never happened in the tribe of Judah, much less under Christ.
200 Now this is the right and proper understanding, namely, that Christ threw His own under the cross; as He says Matt. 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." But is this a bodily blessing, to die, to be crucified, to be consumed with the sword and fire? Yes, we would more cheaply call that a curse. Therefore it is a new speech in that richness of the spirit, after which godly men speak with new tongues.
For as I have said, if we could believe what a great thing is the forgiveness of sins, even of those which are still present and remain in our flesh, that God would not impute them to us or condemn us for them; yea, that he would deal with us in this way, as though there were no sin left in us at all, and crown us with eternal life; that he would be our Father, and that we should be his dear children, and eternally blessed; as Mark 16:16 says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. 16, 16: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved": then only would we understand this. For those who believe are
holy asses and colts, bound to the vine, and are drunk with the Holy Spirit.
As the holy martyrs, and the holy virgins, Agatha, Lucia, and many others, were bound to the vine, they took death for a joke, sin and hell for nothing. And because they were sure of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and also of the good gracious will of the Heavenly Father, they were joyful and fearless even in the midst of death.
Thus they say of Vincentius, the excellent martyr, that when he was first beaten with knuckles and then tortured, and forced to walk barefoot through burning coals, he said that he was walking on roses. Thus he mocked the cruel torture, as it were, and laughed at the burning coals and took the fiery iron for a game and joke. All this shows how great the riches of the promise of Shiloh are.
If we should die, or if any pestilence, theurge, war, and all the fierce wrath of the devil and hell should fall, we shall also, if we believe, say: I wanted to cheat you, you shameful devil etc. The church has truly believed and still shows itself with such great courage. For this is to become truly drunk with the wine of the Holy Spirit and to speak with new tongues of the great deeds of God.
205. and there the prophets also saw, as, Amos Cap. 9, 13.: "And the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall be fruitful." The kingdom of Christ is a delicious reign. Whoever believes that he has a gracious God, yes, that he has God for a Father; that Christ, the Son of God, has destroyed death, sin, hell and the devil: should he not be glad and rejoice in this? Yes, he should go through iron mountains and through all kinds of adversity with an undaunted and unconquerable mind, and should certainly consider it that everything flows from pure honey, milk and delicious wine. Yes, he should also go through it with the highest joy.
praise and glorify God with joy and gratitude, as He is no longer mortal, but leads an eternal life.
206 We should all be of this mind. For these are the promises in Christ Jesus, as Paul speaks of them, which do not give the purse full of gold or silver, but make the heart full of joy, peace, and assurance of eternal life: all of which we see in the apostles, Peter and Paul, and in the martyrs, Vincent and others, who do not allow themselves to be challenged at all, even when Annas and Caiphas are angry; yes, they completely despise their threat, not unlike the angels in heaven.
And we laugh this day also at the terrible lightning of the papal ban that is upon us. For we believe in Shiloh and are among those who follow him, obey him and believe in him. Therefore, I am sure that nothing can harm me, but everything must serve me for good and salvation.
208. But that we still tremble, are so frightened and fearful, is the fault of the weakness that is still left in us, and does not come from faith, but is a remnant of the old Adam, who feels sin and fears the wrath of God; especially in us, who under the papacy have been taught to tremble, to doubt and to flee from Christ. And it is still difficult for me now to discard and throw away the teaching of the pope, not only because of the old man, but also because of the weakness of faith, after which I am still afraid to look at Christ. And we have certainly hardly begun to hope to call upon Christ as our Savior, that he would come through death, temptation or war and redeem us; which we were not allowed to ask for under the papacy. Although I still think of this redemption through the future of Christ in great weakness and desire it for the sake of the shameful and damned teaching of the pope.
So we have to fight against this damage of original sin in three ways.
First of all, one must learn the doctrine, which the pope has obscured and which has also taken away the promises, that we did not know what Christ was, but were completely Gentiles, Turks and Jews. But now that we have become the firstfruits of God's creatures, as Jacobi says in 1 Cap. V. 18, we must wean ourselves from the papal leaven, which still clings to us until it is completely swept out, and we must get used to the riches and faith of the promise. Third, the grumbling of the flesh must then also be forced and stopped.
But you are so much more blessed, who bring to this beautiful light of pure doctrine only the corrupt nature, not evil habit and ungodly teaching. Therefore we should thank God that we have been baptized and absolved on the promise of the forgiveness of sins. But if there are any remaining sins in us, they are not imputed to us. Likewise, we are also called to the certain hope of eternal life and the kingdom for which we wait, and to contempt of death and the devil. Let us only become more fully drunk with the consolation and joy of the grace and benefits of Christ Jesus, for which cause the ass is bound to the vine and noble branches, that is, to the most excellent and best vine, that he may drink good muscatel and Corsican.
211 In this way we also understand this piece, that he says: "He will wash his garment in wine", namely, red; because the wine in the land of Canaan was commonly red; and that he then says: "his coat in grape blood". For by the blood the Scripture understands the red color, as Deut. 32, 14. says: "And watered him with good grape blood," that is, with the very best red wine. This is the characteristic and nature of this language; grape blood is red wine. And this is a repetition (tautology), as above also with the tying up of the donkey, since he also repeats the same opinion twice and expresses it with different words.
But what kind of washing is this?
1992 L. XI. SSS-WI. Interpretation of Genesis 49, II. 12. W. II. ssso-ssss. 1993
I have said that the commentators do not agree on this, and I have indicated what my opinion is. The Glossa ordinaria, as it is called, interprets it spiritually from the passion of Christ; which is not an evil interpretation, but it is still somewhat strange. But this must be said and diligently kept, that we are all baptized into the death and blood of Christ JEsu, that we may be washed; as 1 Cor. 6:11. is said, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified by the name of our Lord JEsu, and by the Spirit of our God." The blood of Christ must also be counted among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as it is said 1 Pet. 1, 2: "Through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of JEsu Christ." For the Holy Spirit was not given, but only through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who obtained the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and this riches of wine and grape blood, and in addition that we have been so wonderfully renewed, all this was obtained through the blood of Christ. Therefore it is not evil spoken, that we are baptized and absolved in the blood or in the power of the blood of the Son of God: Christ with his blood must be present.
Among the papists the word still remains that they said: The sacraments flowed from the pages of Christ; for they have their power from the wounds and blood of Christ; therefore it is a very fine, good, and godly word. And the gospel, as we hear, and the adherence, as one obeys and gives ear to the shiloh, is the very same blood of Christ, as St. Peter calls it, 1 Pet. 1, 2, "for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of JEsu Christ." Those who hear the gospel word of Christ are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, the Son of God. It is all the beautiful red blood of Christ. Which therefore may be understood, that all things are purchased by the power of the blood of Christ, which we have by the Holy Ghost in word, in baptism, in the Lord's Supper, in absolution, in consolation; and all things for the remission of sins, and for eternal life.
Life belongs to the blood of the Son of God.
214 For this reason, those who interpret this text in this way, even though it is not actually spoken in this way, are in fact speaking the truth. For the gospel, the Lord's Supper and baptism do not have to be separated from the blood of Christ, since they are all in the same; as Paul says several times in Eph. 1, 7, Cap. 2, 16. He has reconciled and cleansed all things by his blood etc. After that, actually speaking, we are washed daily by the word, and that we give ear to the shiloh, obey it, and cleave to it. As Paul exhorts Col. 3:9, 10, saying, "Put off the old man with his works; and put on the new"; item, 1 Cor. 15:53: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." This poor, miserable life is like a garment, and as St. Peter calls it, a hut, about which the saints or believers complain harshly, 2 Cor. 5:4: "For while we are in the hut, we long and are weighed down; for we would rather not be unclothed, but clothed"; we would gladly keep the old robe and put on the paschal robe.
215) Now this garment is washed daily in red wine, the most delicious juice, or in the great abundance and richness of the promise and blessing of the seed of the woman; which blessing is understood by this figure or similitude.
We are first made drunk, like the donkey and the donkey's son, from the wine in this vineyard, that is, from the divine promise in the Holy Spirit, which is the vine, the grape, and the wine, so that we become proud and despisers of the devil and death. But what is left of the old man, he washes and cleanses, until we rise again incorruptible; then we will be clean. In the meantime we have been upright with forgiveness of sins, and certainly have eternal life in hope, and are full of wine or Holy Spirit, and are washed in the bath wherein the old man is killed and washed, and is renewed from day to day.
In this way the holy fathers spoke of the kingdom of Christ with a full mouth and great joy from the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And from this it is easy to see what their speeches and sermons were. It is true that Jacob did not teach and preach these things only in this last hour or day of his life, but what he received from Abraham and Isaac he diligently taught and impressed upon his children and his children's children, namely, how the kingdom of Christ would be very glorious and rich, and that there would be a washing away and cleansing of sins in those who are spiritually drunk.
As Agatha is said to have said to the executioner: If you do not crush my body, I will not be able to enter into life; so, she says, I should be dealt with, and I will enter paradise. In the same way Vincentius considered the torture as a game and a joke. In them the spirit killed the cursed and unruly flesh. And he acts in the same way with us when he reproaches the Turks for tearing us apart and strangling us, or when we are otherwise afflicted with other misery and tragedy; then he washes our clothes in blood in the midst of the dungeon, torture and torment. And then we should think that Christ speaks these words to us: "I will wash you not only with water, but with the very best wine, if you can only be quiet and patient; only keep quiet for me. So that one understands this will of God even in the midst of death, does this not mean to be drunk?
But now we want to come to the last part, where he says: "His eyes are redder than wine" etc. The whole text speaks, as is now often said, of the drunkenness and riches of Christ's gifts, and that we are so wonderfully changed that, having before feared the last day and fled death, suffering and plague, we now desire Christ's future and cry out: Come, dear Lord, come. When we are afflicted, we thank God for it, and are washed as in a bath with the best wine. So we keep the same matter and opinion in this place, namely, that Jacob here
Describe the fullness, abundance and drunkenness we received from divine promise and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
220 In the interpretation of the word chaklili, I follow Solomon, who is very fine in the Hebrew language, as we have just quoted a saying from Prov. 23:29, where the word chakliluth means the redness of the eyes, which comes from excessive drinking of wine, which is a very strange deformity of the face and eyes. And I cannot understand it in this place otherwise than from too great drunkenness and fullness, whence comes such affliction of the eyes. For just as those who are always drunk have this defect or affliction in the flesh, and shout about it in the wine houses, blaspheme, curse, and make a noise; as can be seen in our citizens and farmers, who now and then howl and listen to the beer in the houses where beer is served, even during the sermon: So again, spiritual drunkenness makes people cheerful, courageous and proud, so that they praise God, give thanks and praise and extol His divine grace and benefits.
For this reason Jacob wants to indicate here that in the time of Christ he himself will have red eyes in all his own and will be like a full and drunken man: he will look like a mad and full man, not in the sight of God, but in the sight of the world, which considers those who belong to Christ to be fools and senseless. For he who speaks of the life to come, and despises everything that the world marvels at, people consider him foolish and nonsensical. Just as the Italians, when they want to be very clever and wise, and hear that someone believes in Christ and hopes for the future and eternal life, they call him Bon Christian.
Thus, in the eyes of the Roman Cardinals, we Christians are like blocks and sticks, mad, full people. Behold, they say, how red they look, who can do nothing but preach about their Christ. They take us for drunken and shameful people, yes, for fools, donkeys and children, who have poured wine on their clothes,
and still stink from yesterday's food and drunkenness, from which their eyes are so red. This is what the pope reproaches us with, and the martyrs have also had to hear the same, as if they were insane and mad, so that they underestimate the Roman Empire, mock and laugh at the imprisonment and torture they have been subjected to. They take us for drunken people, who can no longer see as sharply as others, who are much wiser, wiser and more learned in worldly matters than we are, who do not blink as much as those whose faces have been weakened and spoiled by gluttony and daily feasting, who lie day and night in bed and drink their eyes away.
The white teeth also mean foolishness, milk children, milk eaters. They will eat milk, he wants to say, as the little children nurse. But before God we will be fed with rich milk and honey. For he does not mean that which the Jews dream of, namely, that there will be so much milk in the tribe that its teeth will become white from the fact that they always eat or use so much milk; for in this way both Turk and Pope could also become white: but it means a constant continuance (as he also wants the tying to the vine to last forever), that we will never cease to have white teeth and red eyes, or to wash our clothes in wine.
For the grammarians get very angry here and rack their brains over the letter j, which is superfluous. But it means an entelechia, as they call it in Greek in the schools, that is, not both a skill, but rather such an effect that lasts forever, so that Christianity should be a constant washing, binding, and such a white milk color that lasts forever, that we never cease to drink milk.
(225) The whole Christian life is not a drowsy idle skill; as the philosophers make a distinction between actus and habitus, that is, between the work and the skill; and as in the schools they have defined or described faith thus, that it is a skill, and that it is not a skill.
that nevertheless such a skillful faith does nothing more than that it alone brings forth the work of faith. These are nothing but monstrous and strange words, which they themselves have not understood. And with these dreams of theirs they have obscured faith, and have thus mixed the theology and philosophy of Aristotle. For this reason, we should always let them go with their skills and the difference between faith and the work of faith.
226 And we are to know that the patriarch Jacob wanted to express and indicate in this place that this binding and other things, of which he says, will last forever and go on forever. He does not describe such a Schiloh, which binds only once and goes thereafter soon again away. As the asses' heads to lions babble and wash uselessly of faith, and say that in no place in the holy scriptures is it taught that the Holy Ghost is given by faith; yet all the books of the prophets and apostles plainly say the same.
This hearing and washing of clothes, and the white teeth are actually such a thing, which should and must last forever. For have we not forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake? And this is a Christian who always, whether he sleeps, wakes, stands or walks, and no matter at what moment it may be, is so minded in his heart that he says: I believe in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for me for the forgiveness of sins. He always believes this without ceasing, and he could not or would not be a Christian if he did not believe this every moment. This faith the sophists deny to lions, that is, they deny the substance and the right essence of the Christian faith and life.
For this reason I consider that I have attained and met the right and proper understanding of this text. The Jews' clumsy interpretation, however, and the vanity they introduce here, I will pass over and have the grammar commanded to the Hebrews; for they say that the letters j and h are threefold.
are superfluous. I do not attribute this to myself, that I have such a perfect understanding of the Hebrew language; and at present there is no one, and in my opinion there was also no one in the times of the apostles, who could have mastered this language properly and completely. It is enough that we deal with studying this language and grow and increase in it, because we cannot reach perfection in it, so that we could speak and judge as Samuel, David and Isaiah spoke. Therefore, I do not know what the opinion of the superfluous letters might be. It would have been enough if he had said osor and not osri.
229 But it seems as if he wanted to use a special word or name, which comes from the name of the ancestors or a people, or should mean the same. As these words "Eber", "Edom" and "Moab" are also names of persons: and if you add the letter, it becomes patronymica, gentilia or possessiva, so that the fathers or peoples are understood. I would have liked to say the same thing here, but I do not dare to do it, that the word osri means as much as, vinculator, one who always binds; so that it is not such a work that perishes and ceases, but that this binding is understood as always inheriting from one to the other, which binding has never ceased, but which was as it were hereditary to all the lines of the apostles and fathers, as Augustine and the others.
I also understand the word chaklili to mean that it should always last for and for, even from one to the other with the red eyes. Likewise, that in the donkey's son children are conceived. But I cannot say anything certain about it.
The letter h is such a letter and ending, which means the female gender, but especially a relative and affix, as it is called in the Hebrew grammar, as it is written here iroh, serekah etc. Therefore I would like to interpret it in this way, that Christ and the church, which is his filling, are one, that is, the bridegroom and the bride.
are One Body, as one would say, suus et sua, pullus et pulla, are One and One in the Church. My beloved is mine, that is, he is mine and I am his. Therefore we are one. I am Christ's and Christ is my righteousness and wisdom and justification. I am his filling. Again, he is my sin who says, I am your sin-bearer; and I say to him also thus, You have borne my sin; you are the Lamb of God, who bear the sin of the world. Here the Bridegroom and the Bride are joined together in One Spirit, and all that they have is made common between them.
232 Hence Christ complains so much in the 40th Psalm, v. 13, when he says: "For sorrows have surrounded me without number; my sins have taken hold of me, that I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head" etc.; item in the 41st Psalm, v. 5: "Lord, be merciful to me, heal my soul; for I have sinned against you. There he simply becomes a colt and ass, or the church; Christ becomes his body, and says, "I have sinned against you," when he has never sinned anything; he lays the sins that are ours upon himself, and imputes them to himself. Why does he do this? Answer: He does it because he concludes: She is my bride, I am her bridegroom; therefore her sin is mine, and my righteousness is hers. This I say as one who has thus guessed, and not that I would have thus agreed for certain, and I would rather that it should have the opinion of these letters than that I should thus be certain.
Let us diligently consider this great, rich, and bodily blessing of Judah, and oppose it to all the strange and weird dreams of the papists and scholastics, who not only have confused the text of the Bible and the beautiful bright light of the promises with frightening darkness, so that no one has been able to understand or know the doctrine of Christ and his kingdom, or what good we can expect from him; but even now they want to extinguish and destroy by force and sword the light of the gospel that is rising again. And they have already for a long time used the sword and the word against each other in the church and its kingdom.
They have finally laid aside the word altogether and kept only the sword, although the opposite is clearly taught here. For in this whole speech of Jacob there is nothing at all of external force.
He has said that the Shiloh alone will rule by the word and reign over his church; and we have reminded above that this should be diligently remembered. On the other hand, the pope boasts insolently and with great hope, saying: "The emperor's sword is in my hand, and even though the emperor has it in his scabbard, he may not draw it unless I allow him to do so. Thus they have perverted and changed the kingdom of Christ, which is spiritual, into an external kingdom, which deals with the sword.
235 Therefore we are to learn that the kingdom of Christ consists in the nations obeying him in his word. For Christ has determined that he will be present and powerful through the word; and where the word is heard, he will confirm it with signs, as Marc. 16:20 says. He promised this, and he keeps it without sword, without death, without wounds, blood and war.
I am baptized and taught only by the Word, and I am also absolved, and I partake of the Lord's Supper; but with the Word and through the Word is the Holy Spirit and the whole Holy Trinity, working the blessedness of men, as the words of baptism read.
In this way Jacob depicts a wonderful kingdom, which is not at all like the worldly regimes, which are administered by law and external weapons, and are therefore also kingdoms of commandments, laws and external weapons. But this is a kingdom of promise, where God alone is present and works all things through the Word; for thus teach all the promises and prophets.
For this reason, the difference between the secular authorities and the church government should always be carefully noted. The weapons and secular kings are to serve so that there may be peace in the kingdom of Christ, so that the gospel may be spread.
to teach and spread the gospel: but this kingdom is not to be administered or governed by laws; for laws do not make Christians, but the word and the holy sacraments, as, the Lord's Supper and baptism, etc. make and build the kingdom of Christ.
This is to be learned and kept with the utmost diligence, that we do not become like the pope, the monks and the sophists, who are the most abominable enemies of the church and congregation of God; as now the sophists of Louvain, Paris and Cologne do nothing but incite and arm the kings and princes against us. And what is written in Proverbs 1:16 rhymes with them: "Their feet hasten to shed blood" etc. They do not teach, nor do they understand what the kingdom of Christ is or what happens in it. May God punish them and forbid them.
240 So Jacob says clearly, "The nations will follow him," and obey. It will happen with the promise, and the Shiloh will be present, and will work and be powerful through our tongue and mouth. But we teach and administer the holy sacraments without all outward power and sword, and yet are born children of the eternal kingdom through the Word, baptism and communion or Lord's Supper. And Isaiah also clearly says the same in Cap. 11, 6. 9.: "The wolves shall dwell with the lambs, and the leopard with the goats. A little boy shall drive calves and young lions and fatlings together. "etc. "Nowhere shall anyone perish on my holy mountain; for the land is full of the knowledge of the Lord, as it is covered with the waters of the sea." The Christians will not hurt anyone or make war on this whole mountain, that is, they should become Christians in the way the Turks and Mahometists dream of; but the knowledge of the Lord Christ will abound as the sea overflows and breaks out over the whole wide world. This knowledge of Christ will bring about the laying down of weapons and arms, and the turning of swords into plowshares, etc., Is. 2, 4, namely, as far as the kingdom of Christ is concerned.
241. from this description of the empire
Christ's pope is still far, who is a tyrant and enemy of the church and congregation of God; and because he can do nothing with the ban, he now resorts to fire and sword. As his sophists to lions, the coarse unlearned asses, only deal with it, that we should be unjustly inflicted with cruel tyranny and sword. But we are by God's grace now understanding, learned and mighty in words to teach, to admonish, to overcome and to punish the unruly. But the pope does not ask about all of you, even those who contradict him he kills with the sword and burns with fire. This was not done by the apostles, whose successors and heirs to the throne he boasts of; but they teach that the adversary is to be punished by the word, which is in accordance with sound doctrine.
242 We have heard the same thing, that in the other parts of this blessing of Jacob, it is actually taught, in which he describes with this unrhymed speech the riches and immeasurable promise of the Holy Spirit, which was brought to us through Christ. For this gift of the Holy Spirit does not bring with it external weapons or fire, which the pope now uses, but it brings with it such good as makes one drunk. And the Holy Spirit with his gifts is this wine and vineyard, to which Christ binds his fill, that is, the church and her descendants, the fill and but the fill. For this kingdom shall not cease, and shall be fed for ever with riches, and with the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
This, I have said, is the right and proper understanding and interpretation of these words. For Jacob speaks not of the fleshly vineyard and asses or fillings, but of the asses and fillings of the other fillings unto the end of the world. The Holy Spirit is never of the church, but always finds some whom he makes drunk.
244 In the time of John Huss the church seemed to be destroyed, and yet God filled both him and his companion Jerome of Prague with the Holy Spirit and spiritual drunkenness, so that one or two men could fill all the nations of the Germans, Bohemians and Spaniards.
have despised. A man has resisted the Council and the whole world. That is to become quite drunk with the Holy Spirit and to become a fool and a heretic, yes, an arch-heretic, before the sages and saints of this world. But the Holy Spirit does not ask for their judgment, and God takes away his saint or his fillings and raises him up, leaving those to be Epicurian swine, and to remain blocks and sticks, who know nothing at all about holy or spiritual things.
These are true gifts of the Holy Spirit, which make people drunk with the very rich knowledge of the Son of God. As John Huss, when he was led to the torture, prayed with great courage and undaunted heart: Jesus, Son of God, who suffered for us, have mercy on me! This is not said without the Holy Spirit. No one else could have said this, except he who was drunk with this wine. Now he was one of the fullnesses that are bound to the noble vine.
Not only are we made drunk with the Spirit, and know what is the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and strength, Isa. 11:2, but we are also washed daily. For sin is still in our flesh, and the spirit and the flesh are contrary to one another. But the promise of the Holy Spirit works in us, and always washes his garment, namely, us, all the time of our life. For he always sweeps out the sin that is still left in us, and we are thus washed and cleansed, not with water, but with wine and grape blood, with reddish wine, that is, with the full gifts of the Holy Spirit.
For sin is not blotted out, as the sophists dream, with our repentance, readiness, and atonement; which the rude asses of Louvain falsely put in their articles the other day, namely, that after baptism and absolution no sin at all remains in man. For if the same foolish and loose theology should stand, that after baptism there is no sin left in us, what need is there of washing? Does not Christ say John 15:1, 2: "My Father is a vinedresser.
Every branch of mine that bringeth forth fruit shall he cleanse." The vine is pure, and yet is purified, as it is written Revelation 22:11: "Let him that is godly become more and more godly." We are not in the perfect being, but must still become godly, and so continue, or turn from one virtue to another, from day to day, from one purification to another, and those who are sanctified must still be sanctified.
This is not understood by the sophists, who always want to presuppose this: No sin is to be cleansed, but one should only accumulate much merit, which we can also sell to others. As I, when I was still a monk, used to confess daily, to read, to fast, to pray, to hold sacrificial masses, to the end and for the cause that I could communicate and sell something from the vigils, masses and other works to the laity. For this the monks took money, grain and wine; as there are still many letters and seals from such buying and selling of the monks and priests, in which they have committed themselves to the people: We want to have given you N. for a bushel of grain our fasting, vigilance, prayer, discipline, mass etc., all by virtue of this ordinary contract and bill of sale etc. So we used to write in our letters and sell our good works. For we were, in our opinion, completely pure after baptism and had no sin at all.
And the same thing is still taught by the Sophists of Louvain and Paris. But when the temptation came, we were all terrified, even pale at it, and there was nothing more confused, more terrified or more afraid than our conscience. No one was more afraid of death, of God's judgment and of hell than the monks. I am well aware and guilty of how terrified I have been of God's judgment and of the face of Christ, as a severe judge and tyrant.
250 And the papists today still keep this most ungodly
Opinion, and if the death goes along, they tremble and frighten just as much. If they are monks, they hold their patrons up to them and imprint them as Augustine, Franciscus, Dominic etc. But is this not a pitiful and frightening thing? But if they are laymen, they become monks and still put on caps at the hour of death, and may still defend such godless beings with violence and unreasonable cruelty; which violence they exercise on those who do not want to follow them.
For this reason we should give thanks to God, who have Christ, the bishop of our souls, to whom we can lift up our eyes and hearts with a good and happy conscience and say: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us, which we could never have done before this time. Therefore beware of such theologians, and believe that we must always be washed from day to day, and that the old leaven must also be swept out. For we are not so pure as the law requires of us, nor are we so perfect and fiery in faith and love. Therefore, we must always pray and sigh that we may grow in purity from day to day.
252 And this is what Jacob means here, when he says: "He will wash his garment. That is, he will wash the church in this life, which is still defiled and stained according to the flesh. But in the other and future life he will present the church or congregation of God to have no wrinkle or spot, but to be clean. In the meantime, we need to pray always: "May your name be sanctified, forgive us our debts, and do not lead us into temptation" etc., Matth. 6, 9. 12. 13.
253 Let us always let the sophists go with their vain glory, so that they may dream that they may say: I am holy, I have purified myself through my repentance and confession; all the good I will now do is superfluous, I will sell the same to the peasants and laymen, so that I may only feed my body well and do it good etc.
254 But a truly Christian life is one in which one daily believes in the vine.
That is, to the word, and to become drunk with the gifts of the Holy Spirit or with the word. Secondly, not only to become drunk with the Spirit and filled with joy, which is the most salutary drunkenness for the new man, but also to be washed in wine after the old man. The old rogue must still be washed, not with soapy water, but by the Word, by the blood of the Son of God, which is sprinkled among us through the ministry of preaching. For when we teach and preach, we do nothing else, except that we pour out and distribute the power of the blood of Jesus Christ among the people; as was said above in 1 Pet. 1, 2. In the church we are not to teach Aristotle or the Pope's decrees, but we are to preach the blood of Christ, the Son of God, so that it may purify us from day to day until I am completely clean, so that I can meet the Savior Christ when he comes and go under his eyes.
(255) Here also belongeth the troubles of the eyes, or the dull, full, drunken eyes of Christ in his people and believers. Which trouble must be understood not only when we ourselves are drunk, but when we have the Holy Spirit, and are daily swept and cleansed from the old leaven. After this we should also care for others, and teach and govern them. For the eye in the Scriptures signifies a ruler or teacher, and by the teeth also are understood the teachers, which are to bite and to blast the vices and sins. This is a right and good allegory, indeed, it is the spiritual and right proper sense of the text.
256 Therefore, when I am drunk and have the Holy Spirit in His gifts, as in faith, in the knowledge of Christ, baptism and the Word, which are the greatest of all gifts and the most delicious, which lead us to life, and also have the bath for the old man, then God the Lord thrusts me into His harvest, and so our Lord God sets me on the wheel and on the disc.
257 For one must have church servants.
who teach the Word, and there must be the ministry of preaching, which cannot be dispensed with. They cannot all wait for the Scriptures. The necessity of this life requires all kinds of craftsmen, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, etc., as Sirach Cap. 38, 26. ff.; these all cannot be dispensed with in a city. They are not to leave all the agriculture, the housekeeping, the administration of the police and other offices or works of this common life. Therefore, certain special days are appointed and ordered for preaching, on which days the laity or the common people are to come together to hear God's word; there, indeed, the eyes must be red and the teeth white.
258. But this trouble of the eyes is shameful, does not look well, is not beautiful, as in the golden yellow rainbow, and in the brown eyes, which from the Greek are called love eyes; nor are the eyes shining like fire from love or anger, or otherwise from other violent affects or desires, as they are seen in dogs and wolves: But here the corners of the eyes are defiled or stained with this redness, that is, the ministers of the word, who are the eyes in the church, by which office God executes the tying to the vine and the cleansing of the garments, are not beautiful, but contemptible and shameful, without any beautiful form, and are looked upon when they speak, like fools and drunken people, as if they had drunk too much yesterday; have eyes as if they had lain in salt, like salt meat.
So the servants of Christ are scorned and despised because of this drunkenness of the Holy Spirit. For they speak not that which is gladly heard, that which pleaseth men, that which is fair, and comely, and acceptable unto men; they have not such fair love's eyes as maidens have, but have sorrowful eyes, and that are shamefully red. For carnal men have no desire to hear God's word; as Paul says 1 Cor. 2:14: "The natural man hears nothing of the Spirit of God; it is foolishness to him." One soon says: It is a
full of fools, a hostile person, a heretic etc.
260. Such a ministry is the ministry of preaching according to the judgment of the whole world, which is quite pure and beautiful in the sight of God, for there are not red eyes, but angels' eyes. But because it is such a hostile and contemptible doctrine, not pleasant and fun to listen to, yes, it rather punishes and enrages the listeners, and speaks of such things that do not rhyme with reason at all, and which are quite contemptible and foolish: therefore people cry out and say: The apostles and other ministers of the gospel "are full of sweet wine", Acts 2, 13. 2, 13. And yet these eyes are very pleasing to God, who govern, teach, raise up and comfort the poor afflicted hearts with the Word.
261 After that the teeth are also "whiter than milk," for they are full of consolation. And though they bite, yet they hold up to men that which is very good and sweet. The punishment done by the preaching ministry does not kill, but rather heals and helps the poor frightened consciences. And even though we punish very severely and set our teeth on edge with punishments, scolding and banishing, the teeth are as white as milk, that is, the punishment of Christ's servants is wholesome and sweet.
In this way, I have said, I understand this text of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of the ministry of preaching, by which the Holy Spirit is distributed among the people, and thus the kingdom of Christ is appointed and established. The church hears the drunken, and the red eyes, and the white teeth, and are all washed daily by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of heat, as it is written, Isa. 4:4, unto life eternal. For thus the patriarch has painted and described the church with unrhymed words; and in the same words one should seek a spiritual understanding and not an allegorical one. For they are real and clear words, and there is no allegory in them. But one must have other eyes, ears, and senses than carnal men have.
Christ does and judges all things with the word alone, not needing a sword. The world knows nothing of this;
because it does not understand or believe that the Word can accomplish such great things. As Christ says Jn 14:17 about the Holy Spirit, "whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. It hears the gospel, it sees that we are baptized, that we use the Lord's Supper, but it does not see that the Holy Spirit is powerful through the Word and our ministry, which, I say, it does not know, and yet it is present when we preach and distribute the sacraments, but it is there as in a dream.
But they that believe, and are moved by the Holy Ghost through the word, know and receive the Holy Ghost, though it seemeth not so in the sight of the world. Therefore it is a different word and a far different government than that of a man, namely, God's word, which he speaks through us and through which he is powerful in the church. He judges all things by the word alone: he enlightens people with it; he raises them up and makes them blessed by it; therefore it is a word of promise, of grace, of eternal life and blessedness.
The world knows nothing of this power of the word, and yet it is so, namely: as Christ casts out devils in the gospel by the word, so the servant of Christ also says to the sinner: I absolve you of all your sins. And it also happens in this way. For it is not the word of a man, from whose voice the devil will not flee. And even if all lawyers and philosophers would gather all their books, nothing would come of it. But the absolution of the servant of Christ is certainly followed by the redemption from the devil and sin. If the Holy Spirit gives you grace to believe, he casts out Satan and death with one word.
And in that part, the Pope also exalted himself above Christ, since he made his decrees and ordinances equal to the words of God. But we do not want to hear the Pope speak in the church, but God alone, as the 60th Psalm v. 8. says: "God speaks in his sanctuary, I am glad of it", that is, among the crowd or assembly of those who have been called and baptized, God should speak in his sanctuary.
hear and speak alone. But where the hearing of God is not, always flee away as far and as much as you can. For it is decreed by God that Christ alone will speak in His church and will not tolerate or suffer any other teacher besides Himself; as the voice of the Father from heaven says, Matth. 17, 5: "This is the one you shall hear. Likewise he also says Joh. 10, 27.: "My sheep hear my voice." But we want to point to the secret chamber of the pope's decrees.
Because the salvation and blessedness of my soul compels and presses me, I will be bound to the vine and to the noble branches like a colt; I am a poor ass, but I like to eat good grapes and drink good wine. I will be washed in the blood of this shiloh, and with the blood of grapes, or gifts of the Holy Ghost; I will also hear my chaklilim, which have red eyes, which are despised, and white teeth in the world, because they punish me, and teach Christ: they bite me with their teeth, but they seek not my destruction, but my salvation.
But let us trample underfoot the rude asses of Paris and lions, whom God has given in a wrong way, so that they do not know the difference between God's word and a man's word. But is this not a terrible punishment, that they are so rude and ignorant that they do not know this?
Therefore let us learn that in the church or congregation of God only the word of God is to be taught and heard, and that this is to be done so that we may be sure of it, according to the command of the eternal Father, who says Matth. 17, 5: "You shall hear him," and also of the Son, who says Joh. 10, 5: "My sheep do not know the voice of strangers. So all Scripture contends against the doctrine of men, of the pope, cardinals, and sophists etc., and gathers and keeps us in the sheepfold, wherein Christ alone is the one shepherd. There we go in and out; and whithersoever Christ leadeth us, there we find pasture everywhere; without and within he bindeth us to the vine, and washeareth our garment through the red eyes and white teeth.
(270) Up to this point we have had the most important part of these promises; the others, which follow, are almost all temporal promises, so Jacob passes through them briefly.
Fourth Part.
From the blessings and promises on Zebulun, Zsashar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali.
V. 13. Zebulun shall dwell at the ford of the sea, and at the ford of the ships, and shall reach unto Sidon.
271 The blessing of Zebulun is short, and seems that the patriarch Jacob made prophecies or divinations from the meaning of the names in many tribes. As then he said of Judah, "Thy brethren shall praise thee." So he says afterwards of Gad, "Gad, gedud, armed, will lead the army"; item, of Dan, "Dan, jadin, will be judge" etc. So it seems here also that he looked at the word sabal, which means to dwell with one. Therefore Leah also gave the name to this son when she said: "Now my husband will join me again" etc., Gen. 29, 34. And therefore also Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, has her name.
272 But now he says: "Zebulun will dwell", he will become a real Zebulun "at the ford of the ships", so that he reaches Sidon with his side. Now it would be necessary to have a good geography and a map of the Promised Land, which would be somewhat better than the common table. Many have labored very hard over this description and worked diligently in it, and I do not know whether they have understood it all, or achieved and attained it, according to which they labored. For the scripture is not one with them in many places. In the tablets that are commonly used, Aster is painted in the place where Sebulon is placed here. For to the same Aster are attributed the harbors and fords of the sea, which is the location of Sebulon.
lon. But how the same rhymes, let them see; unless thou wilt understand the ford beyond the sea, toward midnight, and toward Antioch.
Sidon is the outermost border of the Promised Land, as well as Joppa, Caesarea, Ptolemais, Tyre etc. Read the 19th chapter of the book of Joshua and almost the whole book, and you will see how these tribes were divided, whether it rhymes with this text and whether the tablets also agree with it. For I leave it undecided and command it to the grammarians and geographers.
274 Jacob blesses Zebulun and assigns him a certain dwelling place before the others, namely, the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, which he does not do to any other tribe. But he blesses this tribe and praises it from the place of the dwelling, namely, that it should dwell on a shore rich in harbor, where the ships lie at anchor; of which nothing is written in the holy scriptures. For in no place is it read what Zebulun did, as he used this anchor. For the power of the two cities Tyre and Sidon remained, which were as it were the queens of the sea; as Tyre is called in the prophets the strength of the sea, because it was the most powerful city among those that were situated at the sea, and a glorious and highly famous trading city, which all nations remember and praise in their writings and books. So that the tribe of Zebulun never had these cities, although Jacob says here, "He will dwell in the land where Tyre and Sidon were.
275 But it is clear from this text that at the time of the patriarch Jacob the city of Tyre was not yet built, but Sidon, which is older than Tyre. After that, however, Tyre arose and became much more powerful and famous than Sidon. As in our time Venice is in the Adriatic Sea, so at that time Tyre, the island, was situated on a very solid rock, so that it was not conquered by Alexander the Great without great difficulty, toil and labor. But in Jacob's time, it was either very unknown or not yet built, and in subsequent times it was not built.
Times it has become such a great trading city, which has been famous over the whole world.
276 Therefore the certain dwelling of Zebulun is at Sidon and Tyre, almost to Mount Carmel and the city of Ptolemais. This is the summa and content of this text, that the Father promises Jacob full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and leaves this certain promise, although it is physical, namely that Zebulun should occupy this place.
277 And though the promises are bodily, yet faith shall come that Zebulun shall dwell in thy land. For the devil is not only hostile to our souls for the sake of the life to come, but is also hostile to our possessions and food, our dwelling place, our bodies and other goods of this life. But no matter how fiercely he rages and rages, and how hard he persecutes the church, here the Holy Spirit sets a goal for the devil, as if to say: "Even though you rage and rage through the sea, through the Philistines, through the Syrians, you will still have to leave this place to my son Zebulun, which I have chosen and determined for him beforehand.
278 This faith shall be diligently considered and regarded in these bodily promises. So Judah is a lion also in the flesh or in the world and has the reign until the Shiloh comes, who will then remain until the end of the world, in the midst of his enemies. The kingdom of Judah must nevertheless remain until the Shiloh, when the devil is already very angry. No doubt the devil will have been diligent to cut off both the political or outward kingdom and the spiritual kingdom of this people; and he could easily have driven out all and every tribe, if the Holy Spirit had not first declared that this border should be Zebulun's, and the others should have their border in other places. And Joshua hereafter appointed the lot, as it is here prescribed and ordained, and set every tribe in his place; which tribes also were thus circumscribed in their bounds, preserved and kept.
279. after that it is also to be noticed that
2014 L. Xl, WI-2A. Interpretation of Genesis 49:13. w. n. ssai-ssas. 2015
all bodily promises and the belief in them necessarily includes the belief in the spiritual promise. For whoever wants to call upon God must conclude in his heart and believe that God is reconciled to him, that He is favorable and gracious to him, and that He wants to hear him. Even though the sophists of Louvain strongly dispute this doctrine and are hostile to it, it is nevertheless certain and the truth. You will never call upon God the Father, the Almighty Creator, who created you, feeds you with food and delivers you from all evil, unless you believe and are certain that you have a gracious God in him.
So today we cry out against the pope and the last fierce wrath of Satan, and pray for the worldly government, for peace for princes and all the needs of this time, not only for the word, but also for the belly and the daily bread. But we could not pray earnestly and rightly if we did not believe that God was our Father, and that He would hear us and be gracious to us. Thus it is all drawn to the One Christ, as Paul says Col. 1, 16. 17. All creatures and all things in heaven and on earth are brought together into this sum and into one Christ, so that he should be the mediator, whether we ask for spiritual or physical goods.
In this way, the Holy Spirit speaks through Jacob of the physical promise, which is nothing unless faith in the spiritual promises is added. For this is why it is often said in the histories of this people how the children of Israel cried out to God the Lord and were not heard or redeemed. For they wanted to propitiate God with sacrifices and by always slaughtering and heaping up the sacrifices; yes, that is even more, they also sacrificed their children to Him, and their own bodies, which they stabbed with knives and awls until they became bloody, or otherwise led a hard and strict life. But they were idolatrous people and honored God with self-proclaimed worship; therefore they were not heard.
282. So Ahaz also wanted to be a very holy and godly king, who would
God, called upon the gods of Syria and many others, but God did not hear him. So does the pope, who always heaps prayer and other supposed services with the utmost diligence: they go barefoot, command the people to fast, and that they should confess their sins and go to the sacrament; but with all this, God is more angered than reconciled, or softened to show help.
283 We have the promise in Psalm 50:15: "Call upon me in time of trouble, and I will deliver you"; in Psalm 145:18, 19: "He does what the godly desire. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in earnest"; item in Psalm 32, v. 2: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit." We keep this promise and rely on the fact that we are reconciled with God and that he hears our sighs and prayers.
The pope with the whole bunch of monks cannot call upon God properly, for they come before God's face and boast of their merits and self-invented services, as the Baalites did. And because of this superstition and reliance on works, the prophets always had to argue with the people of Israel, who condemned all their supposed worship and their entire kingdom as being maligned and rejected by God.
Therefore, I say, all bodily promises comprehend in themselves faith in the spiritual promises. God will not give even a morsel of bread to those who cry out for it when they have no faith, unless he grants us bodily goods as the unworthy, just as he grants some goods to his enemies and the wicked. But that he may be favorable to us, and nourish and protect us out of a fatherly heart, for this faith is necessary even in outward worldly works,' and when one asks for something that is also very carnal. I must always take hold of God the Father, who has a Son in whom he has revealed and transfigured himself.
286 There has never been anything holier or more godly than the outward chastisement of the
false prophets: they let their children go through the fire, and burned their heart-loving children and fruits of their body without any mercy or compassion. By this they wanted to honor and serve God, as it is said in the prophet Micah on 6 Cap. V. 7. it is said: "Shall I give my first son for my transgression? or the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" But the prophet answers there and says v. 8: "It is told thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee, to keep the word of God, and to love, and to be humble before thy God." But the idolaters cried out against this, saying that such things were heresy, ungodly and unrighteous. For it is always greater diligence and heat among men to hold above superstition and idolatry than to accept and hold fast to the right doctrine and true faith; as is well to be seen today in the Papacy, and the world is at all times full of examples.
Now I could not tolerate or endure the work, the vigilance and mortification of the body, which I had borne and tolerated before, when I was still a monk. For since I had begun to study the good arts and philosophy at the university in Erfurt, and had grasped and learned so much in them that I had become a master, I could have taught and instructed the youth there again, following the example of others, or I could have continued and studied further. But I left my parents and relatives and, against their will, went to the monastery and put on a cap. For I had allowed myself to be persuaded that I believed I would be doing God a great service in the same condition and with such hard, hard work.
But the Scripture testifies and says Romans 14:23: "Everything that does not come from faith is sin," and again, everything that comes from faith is righteousness. Therefore, where one has a house and farm and administers the worldly government, and in this entire temporal or carnal life, we should always pray in faith in the Mediator Christ, and we should consider it certain that such prayer is pleasing to God, and that it also
be heard. In our time we have achieved a wonderful victory against the pope through prayer and faith. Even though there is no lack of external weapons and swords, the church overcomes the pope and kills him with prayer alone, thus taking away his weapons and the flash of the ban even from his own subjects and companions. And we want to do something even greater, if we will persevere in faith and prayer.
289 So Zebulun was set by his father in this place of the land, which is at Sidon, a mockery and a scorn to Satan, who raged fiercely against it, even to all the gates of hell. And he remained there as long as he kept the faith: but when he forsook it, and when sins prevailed, he was carried into Assyria; and it was in vain that the Israelites opposed it, crying out and boasting that they were God's people.
For this is what God the Lord has diligently done through the prophets, always reproving the people: This is my people who believe and call upon me as such a God, as I have revealed myself; for thus I will be known and honored and not otherwise. But where this faith ceases, and this calling or prayer is also in vain, they are no longer God's people; but I will call those my people who believe that I am the Father of Christ, the promised Shiloh; these I will hear and keep in the land which I have given them to possess; the others I will cast out and reject.
291 But what this tribe did and what they handled, the scripture does not express. It may well be that they carried grain, oil, wine and cattle from the fruits of the land to the nearby cities of Tyre and Sidon, and in turn brought goods from those cities into their country. And it seems that they had fellowship with the heathen that dwelt round about, more for covetousness and ungodliness than for any other necessity, and that they profited thereby. For they soon found themselves
fall to the idolatry of the Sidonians, Astaroth etc. And being thus defiled by the idolatry and fellowship of the Gentiles, they perished and were reduced to ruins.
V. 14. 15. Jashar shall be a legged ass, and shall lie down between the borders. And he saw the rest that it is good, and the land that it is pleasant; but he hath straitened his shoulders to bear, and is become an interest-bearing servant.
This tribe is more correctly named in the common tablets as Zebulun. For he dwelt with the other two, Zebulun and Naphtali, in the borders of Mount Tabor, as Joshua Cap. 19, 10. ff. testifies and Matth. 4, 15. also states; in addition, the same is also indicated Isa. 9, 1, 2. Jerome says that Mount Thabor was at the end or border of the four tribes of Ephraim, Jashar, Zebulun and Naphtali; and Asher was at evening, Ephraim at noon, Naphtali at midnight, but Jashar was almost in the middle of the Galilean country.
But why does he use this metaphor or simile, that he calls him a "legged donkey," that is, one who cannot get tired, who has strength, who is not only strong in flesh and veins, but is all legged? And what might he mean by that which follows, robez, that is, one who lies down, as the four-footed animals do when they draw the legs to the body; likewise in the word hamish ketajim, that is, border? The grammarians have a great cross to bear, for they want the word saphat with the point on the left to be called lip, but if the same word has another point on the top of the right side, then it is called saddle or reef, on which the donkeys carry their load, and they quarrel with each other, and no one has yet been able to decide; so I cannot decide the same quarrel either.
But it is the same word that is written in Ps. 68, 14: "When you lie in the field" etc. In the same place they torture themselves very much, and one is drawn here, the other there. But I will leave the interpretation of the newer Gram.
The author of this book is not to be confused with the historians and rabbis who interpret the word to mean saddle, reef, or burden of donkeys or oxen, and in that place keep the common Latin translation and that of St. Jerome, which reads: Si dormieritis intermedios terminos, as we have given it in German: "Wenn ihr zu Felde lieget zwischen den Grenzen" ("When you lie in the field between the borders"). For the captains and chiefs in war must make the camps between the borders and ends of the countries.
Isaschar is a good priest, is such a tribe, who has a desire for good peace, who has nothing so dear and valuable as peace and a good room; even if he should bear a great burden and burden about it, he suffers it all with patience, so that he may only have peace and peace. He is a lazy priest, as they say, he would have wood hewn on him, that he might only have peace; but he is wise. He was situated in the best part of the Galilee, around Mount Thabor on the Jordan, between Asher, Zebulun, Ephraim and Naphtali. He had his brothers and relatives as neighbors in all the places around, and was enclosed and protected in the midst of them like a border.
So I interpret it that he did not live on the outermost borders, but that he was surrounded everywhere with the help of his brothers and thus had good peace and quiet, and where he had to suffer or tolerate something about it or spend money or serve others, he refused none of them only for the sake of peace and a good room. There may have been good lazy priests, but they were wise.
In this way the Holy Spirit has ordained this tribe to dwell within the borders of the other tribes, and has assigned to it a rich and fertile land, in which it lies down like a donkey with legs, bought with labor or money, that it may have peace and rest. There he lies like a lazy father. If he is asked to give money or a lap, or to perform any other service, whatever it may be, he does not refuse; for he wants to have his peace and good quarters unhindered, and he will gladly stay there.
He may be an ass, but he is not without understanding: he suffers much, gives much, costs much, endures and endures much, that he may possess only the good land, and is even of the leg, and can suffer all things; he lies between the borders, and has the country of the other tribes, which reach to the border of the heathen, lying about him like a wall and strong fortress.
Therefore this is also a bodily promise, and is to be understood in the same way as we interpreted the one above from Zebulun. And God has thus preserved this rest for them according to His promise, as long as they lived in faith and fear of the Lord.
But he adds: "And he saw that the rest was good," that is, he had a desire for it. Because it is a fine thing around the rest; as a farmer on the next village here with us to Dabrun is to have said: Whoever has two cows, should gladly give the one to the other, so that one may only keep peace. It is better to have one in good peace than two in war. "It is better to have one hand full of peace, than both fists full of trouble and sorrow," as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes Cap. 4, 6.
This donkey, he says, will so much more easily tolerate and endure everything; for he will have no desire for war, but will see that rest is a fine pleasant thing in the good fertile land, and will think it is better to lose the money than the land. Therefore he holds and bends his shoulders to bear what will be imposed on him, gladly bears the burden imposed on him, and has, says the text, "become an interest-bearing servant," not only of his judges and kings, but perhaps also of strangers, that he might buy peace only with gold and silver, or with whatever he could; and it is well bought. For much greater expense and much more must be expended if one is to fight for the border with war and weapons.
302 Thus the bodily blessing of this tribe is confirmed, which they kept as long as they had the spiritual blessing. But when the spiritual blessing came to an end, they lost their fields and land and were taken to Assyria and settled there.
303) Last of all, notice also that he points this 'so finely to the name; for Jsaschar has the name of wages, as if to say, a day laborer. Therefore also Lea gave this name to her son. And Judas Iscarioth is thus called of wages, because he sold Christ for wages. This is also what he sees in this tribe, namely, that he takes pleasure in his wages and is satisfied with his portion and does not desire the portion of others. But I will let go of the useless talk of the Jews, who are inclining their shoulders to the law, so that he will apply himself to it and labor under it.
V. 16-18. Dan will be a judge among his people, like another generation in Israel. Dan shall become a serpent in the way, and an adder in the stairs, and shall bite the horse in the heel, that his rider may fall back. Lord, I wait for your salvation.
304 Now here is a play on words: dan jadin, that is, Dan shall be judge. But it seems as if this is spoken in general, and that nothing more is assigned to this tribe than to the others, which were separate and distinct, so that each tribe had its judges, officials and house fathers for itself. Therefore what is said here about Dan belongs to his house regiment, and not to the political or worldly regiment, so that he should rule and reign over others; as if he wanted to say: The office and status of this tribe is agreed with his name; as he is called, so he will also have a judgment, the promise will be firm and immovable. Dan shall not perish, but shall remain to judge his tribe, as every tribe among the others hath its judge, and its rule, and its people, according to the law of Moses; yet shall he rule his tribe, that he may rule the others also. What a blessing was fulfilled in Samson, as we shall say.
But in which place his inheritance was, one must see from the geographical tables, namely, in the inheritance of Benjamin
by the sea, as Simeon's inheritance was in the tribe of Judah. For these four tribes were at an angle toward the south. But toward the north, and after the tribe of Zebulun and Ephraim, they took the city of Laish, which they called by their father's name Dan, as it is written in the book of Judges, 18 Cap. V. 27. ff.
306 And what Jacob saith of the serpent, so doth Lyra apply unto Samson, which bit the cattle and the footmen of the Philistines. For he never had such an army as the other captains or judges of the people of Israel; but he himself alone, without foreign help and weapons, being driven by the Spirit, directed the most important things; he broke the cords and bands, so that he was bound as if they were thread or yarn, as one is wont to do; he laid down great bands of horsemen and servants, and with one ass's chin he slew a thousand men at once, Judg. 15:15, and many trembled before him and fled; and at last, when he should have died, he slew and slayed more men than others while they lived. Judg. 16, 30.
For this reason Samson was a miraculous warrior and savior above all others, who did everything through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which drove him to it, even in death. That is why Moses portrays him so wonderfully, as his whole life is full of great miraculous works. "He will," he says, "become a serpent," not against his people, but against his enemies and adversaries. And says One Thing twice: "He will be an adder on the path," which, when it is trampled underfoot, soon stings and takes venomous vengeance on the one who trampled it. So did Samson, whether he was in Israel or with the Philistines at Gath or Esthaol, he trusted in God and attacked the enemy with the same storm.
308 And in no history, neither of the Gentiles nor of the Holy Scriptures, is such an example found of such a strong, unconquerable warrior, who could have laid himself against a whole nation and fought against it, and who won so many glorious victories.
He was not unequal to others in body and form, although he had greater strength and was very impetuous and fierce.
309 Therefore Moses says: He shall be put down or cast down, that is, the Philistines shall humble him, so that his horsemen shall fall back like a serpent or an adder. He will carry no weapons, have no sword, no bow or horse, but will seize the jaws of an ass, and with them do a great battle, the like of which others could not do with force and the greatest artillery: he will bite like a serpent. Yea, he bindeth the foxtails and fires together, and setteth on fire with them the fruits of the Philistines, and burneth them; and when he is at last come into their hands and power, they have not been able to subdue him, or to deliver him from all fear and danger. Such a war has never been waged with any people. That is why Samson is rightly compared to a snake. For even though it has no weapons or weapons, it still knocks down both horse and rider with its poisoned sting. But I think that they did not understand this until it was accomplished and the prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled.
The other interpreters follow a different opinion and interpret this text thus: He will judge the people as one tribe, that is, all the people. Which is not true. For it is nowhere found that one judge ruled the whole nation of Israel. Therefore it is spoken synecdochically: "He will be judge in his people, like Israel", that is, he will judge a part, so that Gideon, Jephthah, Deborah are understood in the nominative, not in the accusative, as one speaks in grammar. As the other tribes judge, so will this one judge; as the Lord says to David 2 Sam. 7:7: "Have I ever spoken to any of the tribes of Israel, to whom I have commanded to feed my people Israel?"
311 It is a common opinion among all Christian or ecclesiastical writers that the Antichrist would come from the tribe of Dan, which they had named under the serpent.
and such an opinion has been accepted and approved by everyone as a noble article of faith. But the opinion does not rhyme with this text at all, and is quite wrong and unjust. Where it came from, I do not know; but it is also found in the oldest writers, and has always been a common rumor from the beginning of the church that the Antichrist would come, as St. John I Ep. 2, 18. says: "There are many antichrists."
312 They have said that he will be born in Babylon of the tribe of Dan, and this lie has gone through all the churches or congregations, so also that I have often wished that our forefathers had held and impressed the doctrine of Christ on the people with such earnestness and diligence.
313. But whether one should take an allegory or a secret interpretation from the name Dan, I do not know; because this word "Dan" means as much as judgment, as Gen. 6, 3. says: "The people do not want to let my spirit punish them anymore" etc., so that it will be drawn that the Antichrist will lead the office of a judge and not of a savior. This, I say, I do not know. Truly the pope has made the church full of laws and invented statutes of men, and has even extinguished and destroyed the word and the faith in the divine promises. Dan, that is, the pope can do nothing, but only vain decrees and decrees, and such Danite laws shit. But according to the letter, no one will be able to understand that the Antichrist will be born in Babylon and will be circumcised in the Jewish way.
And I believe that the devil has invented this fable, and that he has invented this gloss, so that he may lead our thoughts away from the real present Antichrist. For among all the high schools and papist teachers there is not one who considers the pope to be the Antichrist; they are all of the opinion that he will come from Babylon. But in the meantime, while they are dreaming of him and waiting for him, they are oppressed and devoured by the real true Antichrist, namely, the Pope of Rome, who is a true Danite and comes from Babylon.
Babylon, not from that which is in Assyria, but from Rome, which is the right Babylon, wherein Dan, that is, the pope reigns.
For this reason the devil has deceived us with his trickery and blinded our minds and eyes, so that we would not be able to see the Antichrist sitting in the holy city. For it is through the devil's counsel and lies that the Antichrist should sit in the church, and yet not rule with God's law, promise and grace (for he could not do that), but contrary to it all. Where Christ, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, forgives sin, redeems consciences from sins, death, hell and the power of the devil, the Pope of Rome, on the other hand, has filled the world with innumerable cords and lies before we have seen the same or can judge from it. For what else does he do, since he sits in the temple of God, but that he lays ropes, so that he only catches the poor consciences, and also kills them with his foolish innumerable laws and unnecessary human statutes of eating, drinking, clothing and such foolish works more, and flashes and thunders horribly against those who do not want to obey him, and even gives them to the devil?
316 This is what it means to teach against Christ and his gospel. For Christ redeems us from the power of the law of God, from the accusation of the law or the Ten Commandments, and from the obligation of the outward ceremonies of the law. But the pope has said that even our hair, food, drink, house, wife etc., and everything else that is living, is subject to sin and defiled, where it is not permitted by him and sanctified in his decrees.
317 In this way this Danite with his laws has extinguished the gospel, and was born and came from the right Babylon, namely from Rome; as Augustin also calls Rome the other Babylon, which began and arose, since that Babylon has declined. And Dan or the Pabst is the right serpent in the way of Christ, who with his poison and violence kills those who walk in it.
I say this only so that you may know how to reject evil and choose good. If the sophists of Paris and Louvain heard this interpretation, they would cry out: I teach heresy, and that would be against the accepted opinion of the fathers, which has now been taught and spread in the church for almost a thousand years. But be it the opinion of the church or the opinion of the synagogue, it is truly not right and is actually not appropriate here. For the text speaks of the blessing of the tribe of Dan and not of the curse. Jacob apparently cursed Levi and Simeon; but here the opposite is promised, namely, that Samson would redeem his tribe with the others who were soon to be with him.
319. But if someone likes the allegory, he may understand it spiritually of the Roman Babylon, and of the shameful monster, the Pope of Rome, who is the real devilish Dan; "For he has annihilated and devoured the Church, especially those who have grown up and come of age, who have relied on their monastic life and works; whose soul, body and goods he has corrupted, and what God wanted to be good, wholesome and free, he has made harmful and damnable. The cursed wretch of Rome. One should curse him.
320) Finally it is asked: Why Jacob added this piece: "Lord, I wait for your salvation"? Some answer thus: Because Samson should have become such a great and excellent man that he could have been taken for the Messiah himself, the patriarch Jacob did this as a warning, that however great things Samson would accomplish, one should still wait for the real true Messiah. But how much the same may apply, others may see. To my mind it is not the right opinion of this text. For in the people of Israel before Samson there were some who were by no means inferior to Samson in the great things they did. Gideon, with a small band, defeated a great and mighty army of Midianites. Jephthah smote the Ammonites, and there were other strong and mighty men.
There have been more noble captains in Israel, of whom the same may be said.
Methinks not that these words must be applied to Christ, of whom Jacob spake above in the tribe of Judah; but he speaketh generally of salvation, according to the manner of the holy scriptures, wherein salvation is often set for victory; as, 1 Sam. 11:13. Saul says, "No one shall die on this day, for the Lord has given salvation to Israel today," that is, he has given victory; and David says in his last words, 2 Sam. 23:5, "My salvation has not yet fully sprouted," as if to say, "I have also brought about salvation and many victories, but they cannot be compared with Christ.
322 But Samson is almost the last savior in the book of Judges. For Samuel comes soon after him, and the people ask for a. King. Then Saul, David, Solomon follow one after the other, and the twelve tribes are gathered into One Kingdom and One People. But before that it was a scattered and torn kingdom. For God raised up judges from this tribe and from another, as the book of Judges testifies. Therefore the tribes were scattered and were often very divided among themselves, as can be seen in the song of Deborah in the book of Judges, chapter 5, which accuses almost all the tribes of having been abandoned by them, since they had been silent in the meantime, or had been trading on the sea. "Why," she says Judg. 5:16, 17, "do you remain among the hurdles, hearing the bleating of the herd, and think highly of yourself, and separate yourself from us? Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And why did Dan dwell among the ships?" The Ephraimites revolted against Jephthah when he returned and conquered the Ammonites, because they said to him. Judges. 12:1: "Why did you go to battle against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you?" And earlier in 8 Cap. 1 of the book of Judges, the people of Ephraim also quarreled fiercely with Gideon because he did not call them when he went to battle against the Midianites.
323 Therefore, in the time of the judges, many great miraculous things were accomplished;
2028 L. Ll. 264-266. interpretation of Genesis 49:16-18. w. ii. SS8S-2S8S. 2029
But the people never obeyed a single captain: God ruled them piecemeal, as it were, so that each tribe had its own captain, only that sometimes those who lived closest to one another kept together, as Manasseh and Zebulun; but all Israel was never gathered together under one head, but only under the kings.
324 I understand this to mean that this great man and patriarch Jacob foresaw that much grave calamity and danger would come upon this people, from whom Christ was to be born, and that they would therefore have to be specially governed and preserved by God; and that this could not be done without great struggle and trouble among the heathen and enemies, of whom he knew that they would devote all their power and utmost ability to destroy and exterminate these new guests in the land of Canaan.
For he will have thought thus, as one who prophesies and proclaims things to come: It will be a new unheard-of thing when they begin to drive the Canaanites out of their place, as God has promised them that they should do. Then the Canaanites will call their neighbors, brothers-in-law and blood friends to them and ask for help, so that they may protect and preserve their borders; then great heavy uprisings will follow, by which the Israelites must be plagued very hard. Therefore, they will need divine help to defeat and overcome their enemies and take the land. You, O Lord my God, he will say, have promised this land to my descendants until the future of Shiloh; but because there is great danger that they will encounter from the inhabitants and neighbors of the land, I pray that you will come to their aid and give victory to your people, that you will not allow the Israelites to be destroyed for the sake of your promise and word.
326 So this piece is rightly added to awaken faith, which is also necessary in bodily things. As Isaac must first of all have received by faith
before he was bodily begotten by Abraham. For if Abraham had not believed that he would certainly be born of him, that is, that God would be true in His promise, he would never have begotten him.
In this way, the faith of physical things, which are not yet seen, is the same as the faith of justification and forgiveness of sins, by which we conclude and believe that God is favorable and gracious to us, and will faithfully and surely give what He promises.
328 Therefore Jacob desires and prays here for the children of Israel and for his descendants, saying, "Lord, I will wait for your victory. But where? Answer: In my seed, and in this land which is promised unto him, until the coming of Shiloh. And what I say unto this Dan, I will remind and admonish you all, that ye believe not, neither be dismayed for the danger that is to come. If one day the enemies, the Philistines and the Syrians, want to rule over you, and will plague you very hard and trample you underfoot, you should not become fainthearted, but wait for the help that is promised to you by God. For there is no doubt about it, my seed will inherit this land up to the Shiloh. This promise I will give you and teach you, and I will have it spread out by you, and you shall keep it and hold fast to it. God will not forsake you, but you will take the land that is promised to you, even though all things go over and over and the whole world should break over it. And as I wait for victory, so you should also hope and wait for happiness and salvation for yourselves, and that you will be preserved.
329 Therefore this word that Jacob says, "Lord, I wait for your salvation," is a word of faith also in these bodily things, which one cannot ask or expect from God, unless we believe with certain faith that God cares for us, is favorable to us, forgives our sin, and wants to help us in all kinds of distress and danger, not only spiritual, but also in bodily needs. For thus
Jacob also strengthened this tribe of Dan and all the others, as if to say: Be undaunted, God will not leave you; as it says in the 27th Psalm v. 14: "Wait for the Lord, be confident and undaunted, and wait for the Lord."
V. 19. Gad equipped, will lead the army, and again lead around.
The grammarians have agonized over the correct meaning of these words. In the two words gad gedud, that is, "Gad armed," he alludes to the name, as also in the preceding; but what is meant by this I do not know. Neither do the Hebrews and all the commentators. For what we Christians do not understand or interpret, neither can they; for they have not the understanding or sense of the sacred Scriptures. But to read the Scriptures without faith in Christ is nothing else than to walk in darkness; as Christ says John 8:12: "I am the light of the world." And because the Jews are deprived of this light, it is impossible for them to understand even one passage or saying of the promise. As that which is said of Shiloh in the blessing of Judah is unknown to them, for they do not walk in the light. And when they come upon such sayings, they boast of their works and worthiness, and in the meantime let themselves dream and invent such a Messiah as Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar were. Those who read the holy scriptures with such a heart would spend their time much better if they read Ovid's Metamorphoses.
331 Such people are also the sophists of Louvain and Paris, who are drowned and perverted in the delusion of their works, which they have conceived in themselves, and are deprived of the light of faith and of Christ. But when they teach in the best way, they inculcate in the people the works of love and the outward letter of the law. Therefore, it is not possible for them to understand or act rightly on the holy Scriptures. For it is as much as if one would seek the day or the light in the dark night.
332. so now I want to put their opinions on
count. Gad means among the Hebrews as much as, blessed, from where also this son of Jacob got the name; but from there comes gedud, which is a common and well-known word and means as much as murderer, and not a lawful army, but a bunch or assembly of murderers or soldiers, who are sent out on a skirmish, or to destroy and plunder the country; as 2 Kings. 24, 2. It is said of Jehoiakim, "And the Lord sent upon him soldiers out of Chaldea, out of Syria, out of Moab, and out of the children of Ammon." And 2 Kings 13:20 reads thus, "When Elisha was dead, and they had buried him, the men of war of Moab fell into the land of that same year." From this we may infer that they are such a band of warriors as roam now and then and spoil the country, but not those who fight with a lawful army: the vanguard, the lost band, the roving band, of which the Turkish tyrant has many, who often fall out, and attack and damage the neighbors round about. The Easterners call it the "sackman".
In the county of Mansfeld, which is my fatherland, there is an image hewn or carved like a great giant, which is called "Gedud"; and the inhabitants of the country say that there was a war there between the bishops and Emperor Henry the Sixth, and that at the same time this word "Gedud" is said to have been heard. But where it came from, I do not know; whether perhaps Jews lived in the place, or whether it came from the devil.
334 Therefore Jacob says that a band of soldiers or other robbers and murderers will fall into the tribe of Gad because of the enemies who were their neighbors, such as the Moabites, Ammonites, Syrians and others. This tribe will have to suffer that the soldiers will attack, rob and plunder them, and the nearest villages or spots on the borders they will plunder especially to their liking, but with a lawful army they shall not be warred against, as Jerome interpreted it in Latin; for he dwelt on the borders of Israel. Therefore both horsemen
2032 LI. SSS-L70. Interpretation of Genesis 49:19, 20. w. n. 2SSS-SSS1. 2033
and footmen, Syrians, Ammonites and Moabites attacked this tribe very hard with robbery and plunder, and destruction of the land. But with this hope Jacob still holds up: "Lord, I wait for your salvation", as if he wanted to say: We will not possess the land without great effort and work; but still we want to keep it with God's grace and help. The soldiers will attack Gad, plunder him and plunder him; but he will also plunder and plunder, and his enemies will plunder and plunder him again. But how? Answer: Because I will wait for your salvation.
This seems to be the most simple mind. I will leave it up to the Hebrews and grammarians to come up with something better. In the 94th Psalm, v. 21, there is also the same word, jagodu, since the common Latin translation reads: Captabunt in animam justi, which is: "They are ravening for the soul of the righteous. The same should have been better rendered thus: Concursant, turmatim conveniunt, as our German reads: "They arm themselves," they run together etc. For he complains of the chief priests, Pharisees, and false prophets, who gather and heap themselves together, and help one another, and counsel with one another against the right teachers, that they may thus deprive the people of the right doctrine. Just as today the sophists of Louvain and Paris are gathering against us, killing our brethren and tearing the poor churches apart, twisting and wounding all they can or may. These are now our gedudim. We have given it thus in the Psalm: "They arm themselves against the soul of the righteous", that is, they are lions, parisians, kohls.
336 In the same way Jacob also says here: The soldiers will gather together and assemble a bunch of robbers and will attack this tribe, which is situated so that the neighbors can easily offend it; there they will rob it and capture some. But Dau will be on their heels again, he will come after them, he will run after his murderers and robbers of Moab and Ammon with divine help. As he said above of Judah
"The hand of Judah will be on the neck of your enemies," indicating that Judah will rule over his enemies. Likewise it is written in Isa. 10:27: "In that day shall his burden depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck." In this way Gad will not overcome his enemies, but will protect himself and rush after the enemies at his heels, and in turn press them and drive them away with God's help. Therefore, Jacob tells his descendants to trust in God so that they may be safe from enemies by His help and assistance.
Now I would like to put Elijah and Jehu, the king of Israel, into this tribe; as we have indicated in the German Bible in the blessing Moses 5 Mos. 33, 21. And it seems that Moses actually meant this; but primarily I think that Elijah is to be put and counted there. But I may not say it with certainty. The text 1 Kings 17:1 clearly says that Elijah was the Thisbite from the citizens of Gilead, which almost reads as if he belonged to the tribe of Gad. But nevertheless, not everything rhymes with each other. Because there are two kinds of Gilead, in the tribe Gad and also in Manasseh. As in Germany there are two kinds of Pannonia: the one is called Pannonia superior, that is Eastern Austria, the other Pannonia inferior, that is Ungerland. So Gilead has always been divided into two tribes; one part was held by Gad, the other by Manasseh. Therefore I would like to place Elijah in the part of Gab, which is the highest Gilead. Jehu was anointed king in Ramoth, but it does not follow that he was born in the tribe of Gad. Therefore I cannot conclude anything certain from this; and this question also belongs more to the blessing of Moses, Deut. 33, 20. But I keep the previous understanding, namely, that Gad had to suffer much from the neighbors, whom he nevertheless, since they attacked him, drove away with God's help.
V. 20. From Asher comes his fat bread, and he will give cute food to the kings.
Here nothing is said of the war or lamentation of the gedudim. The fat bread,
means the fertile land. For the Hebrew word, leckem, not only means bread, but generally includes all food, including the fruit of the trees. You will not easily find the same in any other language. That is why Jacob wants to say so much: Asser is the most beautiful tribe because of the fertility of the land, and also because of the abundance or richness of the things that belong to the necessities of this life, and that very good wine grows there, as well as oil and other grains, as in a fat and fertile place, on the border of the sea and almost in the best place of the Galilean land; As we have just described the place where Issachar dwelt, about Mount Thabor, and from Thabor unto the sea, and, as the Jews say, unto Sidon; though I doubt it somewhat. But this is certain, that in Galilee there is a very good and fertile land, so that the tribe of Asher might rightly be called Bethlehem.
339. but he makes this fruitfulness and abundance very great, because he says, "He will give the kings sweet food," that is, his grain and other fruits of the earth will be so good and delicious that they will also be carried on the tables of kings and princes; as it is said of Nabal, 1 Sam. 25:36: "Then he had prepared a meal in his house like a king's meal." Indeed, Mount Carmel is highly praised for its great fertility, which was close to the tribe of Asher. Therefore Jacob proclaimed to the tribe of Asher nothing unpleasant, but only the very best, and said, It shall be a good land, that kings may eat thereof.
V. 21. Naphtali is a swift deer, and gives beautiful speech.
340 This tribe is situated on the farthest border of the holy land toward the north, near the Syrians, and reaches to Damascus and Mount Lebanon. But the words of the patriarch Jacob are very obscure and have been understood by almost no one. The Jews bring forth nothing else, except that Naphtali is a fast
As a deer is the very fastest animal, so the land of Naphtali shall bring forth its fruit quickly, which shall be offered in the temple, where God is praised and glorified with very beautiful speeches. As if the same could not be said of the other tribes, such as Judah and the others. Therefore, they are harsh and Jewish interpretations that do not know anything about the promises.
341. it pleases me better that the quickness of the hind is drawn to the hunt and salvation, or else to the tenderness and beautiful form; as if he wanted to say that this tribe would become highly famous and very tender, as a hind or roebuck is wont to be, namely, the most beautiful and loveliest among the wild animals; as Solomon says Prov. 5, 18. 19: "Rejoice in the woman of your youth. She is as lovely as a hind, and as lovely as a deer." Because the tribe of Naphtali was first in Syria, toward Damascus and Lebanon, the neighbors were able to attack it and do it wrong and violence, just as the hind is subjected to hunting, so that she is oppressed. The kings of Syria have had many opportunities to exercise their tyranny and hunting there, but this tribe has nevertheless been saved from the same snares by the faith of the fathers, that is, the promises made, and by divine protection; it has always escaped from the hounds and from the spears of the hunters, so that it has nevertheless remained whole and unharmed.
342 Thus I understand it, although others want to understand it in another way. As there is no place in the whole of the holy scriptures that has been torn and pulled to and fro in so many ways as this chapter. It is said in the German proverb: "Where there are many ways, there is none good. Ignorance gives birth to many opinions. Because the Jews do not understand the things in themselves, that is why they write all sorts of understandings or interpretations.
343. methinks this mind is the closest, and which rhymes with the thing most very best. For we keep these two
perfect sayings, that Jacob should speak first of the spiritual promise of Christ, and then of the bodily blessing of the other tribes. For this is the promise, This land will I give unto thy seed after thee; and out of it shall be held up the bodily promises unto the other tribes, that they may be protected and preserved until the Babylonian prison, or the future of Christ. For that prison has not so completely destroyed and annihilated everything that there should not still remain some who have come again from all over the world into the Promised Land. Therefore, it was necessary not only to give them this land, but also to preserve it, and God often saved them from their enemies, their neighbors, even though they always wanted to destroy and even exterminate the Israelites, and they themselves sometimes disagreed with each other.
The devil has always been an enemy to this people for the sake of the divine promise and for the sake of the church that was gathered among the people. For although there were always many idolatrous people among them, there was no doubt that God was honored and recognized there; as the 76th Psalm, v. 2, testifies, where it says: "God is known in Judah, in Israel His name is glorious"; and in the 147th Psalm, v. 20, it says: "Thus He does not do to a Gentile, nor does He let them know His rights. Even if they were not all righteous and pious, the right church was still there and the right doctrine of God was heard among the people of Israel. Therefore, these two things of which we have spoken are certain, namely, of the Shiloh and of the temporal blessing and preservation of all the tribes in particular, as we have heard of Gad, Aeser, and Dan.
345 Jacob also says of Naphtali, "The neighbors will hunt him down and attack him and pursue him, which neighbors will dare to catch him and even devour him; but he will be called a hind who has been saved and not caught or kept in the snares of the enemies. Therefore I hold that this mind is the right natural one.
The mind of all the tribes is the same: I will give them this land and keep it; although we do not know the history of each tribe in particular. As for the tribe of Gad, I cannot tell how it has been plagued by the robberies and raids of the gedudim, and how it has resisted such danger and protected itself against it. So the hunting dogs will plague and pursue the tribe of Naphtali, they will chase it with spears and nets; but it will be called and shall be called to me a boisterous Hind that is saved.
346 The histories also testify that Naphtali suffered much, and the king of Assyria attacked him first, as seen in the 9th chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah. But although this does not agree with the interpretations of the others, it is not at all contrary to the matter itself and the promises. For as the spiritual promise was fulfilled in Judah, so the temporal promise was also fulfilled in the other tribes.
347 But what does he mean by the following words, when he says: "And gives beautiful speech"? Others interpret it of the sacrifice; but the same belongs to all the other tribes, and especially to Benjamin, wherein Jerusalem was situated. Therefore I do not know what kind of speech this may be; and as others interpret it, I do not like it, and yet I know nothing else to say about it. Some relate it to the song of Deborah, Judges. 5:1, who was a prophetess of the tribe of Ephraim, and called the son of Abinoam of the tribe of Naphtali, and called him to gather a host against Sisserah. And when she had overcome him, she sang the beautiful song, which Jacob called a beautiful speech in this place. This may be so, because we have nothing better to follow. But the word imre, which Jacob used here, still lies in our way. For it would rhyme better with this song if he had said simre.
348 But if I wanted to write a poem, I would rather interpret it this way: Because Naphtali was the outermost tribe in the land of Canaan, situated very close to the Syrians, it often passed through them.
The people of the Holy Land have been taught and accustomed by so much adversity and affliction to take care of God's word with greater diligence and love, as the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 28, v. 19: "Only the adversity or accident teaches to remember the word. 28, v. 19: "Only the trial" or the accident "teaches us to pay attention to the word"; and in the common saying: "Sour makes sweet; the cross and persecution or affliction makes the word taste sweet to us. For he who is idle and secure does not let himself be moved by the comfort that God gives him in the Word, does not ask anything about honest things, much less about that which is divine; as Isa. 26:16, 17 says: "Lord, when there is trouble, they seek you; when you discipline them, they cry out in fear. Just as a pregnant woman, when she is about to give birth, is afraid and cries out in her pain, so it is with us before your face"; and in the 78th Psalm, v. 34: "When he strangled them, they sought him and turned early to God."
349 But when there is happiness, and that everything goes according to our will, we become lazy and corrupt; for happiness makes fools of men. As the pope is deafened by the abundance of all things and by security, and is choked by the cords of Satan. A poet says: Stultitiam patiuntur opes, that is to say: Those who are rich, have good days and rest, these become too horny to live in all pleasure and do not do anything honest or serious, but always go about with joking and fooling. But to those who are tempted, tormented and martyred, the sleeping sickness is driven away, so that they learn to cry out and ask God for help and salvation.
(350) Of this understanding I think that it does not rhyme badly with this text; and yet I do not want to have taken away from others their opinion, because one is not sure of the right actual understanding, namely, that when people are driven out and persecuted, they flee to God, call upon Him with prayer and thanksgiving, praise, extol and glorify the dear God; which are very beautiful and lovely speeches of our mouth, and a very beautiful praise and excellent worship, namely.
That we first offer our bodies in anguish and distress, and then offer the sacrifice of praise to God; as the 50th Psalm v. 14. 15. teaches, "Offer up thanksgiving to God"; but it says just before, "Call upon me in distress."
This interpretation flows from two promises, as I said above. The land was given to the people of Israel, after which they were promised that they would be preserved against the fierce wrath of the devil and the surrounding nations, who had taken upon themselves to destroy this people, whom God had chosen for Himself, that the Savior Christ should be born of them; for this reason all things must be done.
Fifth part.
Of the blessings and promises of God upon Joseph and Benjamin.
V. 22. Joseph will grow, he will grow like a spring.
Now Rachel follows with her sons, whom she bore to the patriarch Jacob, and the blessing of these sons is just as dark as the previous ones were. The word, ben porath, actually means increase, and here one should draw, which Jacob put on before Joseph, Gen. 48, 3. 4.: "The Almighty God appeared to me in Lus, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said to me: pere urebeh: Behold, I will make you grow, and increase" etc. But this appearance happened when he fled from the men of Shechem, because Rachel had died to him, and Bilhah of Reuben had been weakened, which he had to abstain from, so that there was no hope left at all how he would be multiplied and grow. And yet God said to him: "I will make you grow" etc. Therefore Jacob repeated this promise when he saw Ephraim, thinking that this growing and multiplying must concern Joseph, who was born of the most noble woman and whom he considered the firstborn. And because it pleased the Holy Spirit otherwise, who taught him that Judah should be the father of Christ,
2040 n. 27S-S7". Interpretation of I Moses 49, 32. D. n. "ooi-soot. 2041
He has placed two tribes in the descendants of Joseph. And in this place he looketh out the name of Ephraim the son of Joseph, saying, ben porath, that is, a son of increase, or of growing.
353 And in the word den one should notice the way of speaking that the Hebrew language has. For where this word is put to such a word as signifies a thing which is not alive, it signifies no son, but signifies the very same thing that we say in Latin, res, a thing, or ens; as when I say, Thou art a son of death, death is not the father, but such a thing as has no life in it. Likewise, when one says, filius gladii, filius vaginae, that is, a son of the sword, a son of the sheath. And in the prophet Jeremiah, Clagl. 3, 13: filii pharetrae, sons of the quiver, which there is called arrows. And in the 80th Psalm v. 15. 16. it says: "Seek out this vine, and keep it in the building, which thy right hand hath planted, and which thou hast firmly chosen for thyself." There he calls the son a vine and speaks of the people of Israel. The same is written in Isa. 5, 1: "My beloved has a vineyard in a fat place." There it says in Latin: in cornu filio olei, hoc est, in angulo, qui est res pinguis, locus fertilis, etc., in a fat or fertile place.
354 Therefore, when Joseph ben porath is called a son of increase, it does not mean a natural son or a son of man, but the son of such a thing that has no life, that is, a son of increase. As if to say, He will be something fruitful, and will bear much fruit, not only of the land, but also of the whole tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh, which will have much people, and will grow to be a great multitude of people. For he does not speak of the person of Joseph, but of the descendants of the tribe, and he praises them for their fruitfulness, and that they will grow and increase so much.
355. others interpret it: a son of a branch; and I will not dispute that it may be called a branch or a small tree; as Jerusalem in the 48th Psalm v. 3. a beautiful fruitful branch.
is called. But here Jacob speaks more generally of a fruitful thing than of a tree or forest; for he understands by this the multitude of this tribe, and especially Ephraim, which had a great multitude of people.
And he adds still more and says: "as at a spring", as if he wanted to say: He will thus grow and bring forth fruit, like a tree that is planted by a well. And it seems as if David had seen here in the 1st Psalm, since he says v. 3: "He is like a tree planted by the rivers of water" etc. For where it is dry and arid, it also tends to be unfruitful. Therefore also the 24th Psalm v. 2. says: "For he hath founded it upon the seas, and prepared it by the waters." For without water we cannot live, and all villages and cities are commonly built on the waters.
357 Now in this way Jacob praises the place or seat where this tribe dwelt, saying, There shall be a fruitful thing with this tribe, which is by a fountain and streams of water. By this he indicates that this people will grow and increase miraculously, and that it will become a very numerous tribe; as can be seen from the book of Judges and also of Kings. Ephraim had a beautiful kingdom and many excellent men and noble captains, although they were godless. In addition, he also had excellent prophets. From Manasseh came Gideon, a pugnacious prince, and Jephthah, and other excellent men. And David says in the 60th Psalm v. 9: "Mine is Manasseh, Ephraim is the power of my head", is the noblest power and strength of my people, is the best people I have, "and Gilead is mine", which is also good for me. From this it may well be seen that David also thought highly of Ephraim and Manasseh. And so the blessing of Jacob has been fulfilled, who says that these two tribes, like a spring that springs up forever, will grow beautifully and be multiplied.
The daughters join the regiment.
358. almost all commentators, and even Jerome, tell a fable about the beautiful
Joseph, who is said to have been so exceedingly handsome and beautiful that the virgins and women looked after him with great crowds from the walls, towers and windows where he walked through the streets. But these are Jewish fables and lies. For Jacob does not speak of the person of Joseph, but of the whole tribe that came from him.
359 Therefore we say that the word shur comes from scharar, which means to have the regiment or rule, to fight and win. Therefore Sarah also has the name, that is, Sarah should be a mistress, an overcomer and a true housemother; for she will have many temptations, which she must overcome and thus conquer. Therefore, we would rather give it in Latin, which is also better: Filiae incedunt super regimine, that is, as we have also translated it: "The daughters step forward in the regiment. Since this is also to be noted, that here the plural is allied with the singular; as it is common in the Scriptures, that adjective and noun have different numerus (number).
The word does not mean to walk around, but to walk along stately and splendidly; as Juno says in Virgil: Ast ego, quae divum incedo regina, etc., to swan about and step majestically in.
Therefore, Jacob will say, my Joseph will become the most beautiful tribe, his kingdom will grow miraculously and increase abundantly. But what will become more? The daughters, he says, will stand in regiment, that is, the cities and daughters of the cities will be gathered into a fine order and regiment, in which there shall be good laws, discipline and customs.
362 And this is also a peculiar way of speaking in the holy Scriptures, when one says: "The cities and daughters of the cities", which is often used in the book of Joshua; and Jerusalem is called Zech. 9, 9. a "daughter of Zion". And therefore the pope has drawn the same names to the church, when he said that the small churches are daughters of the great parishes; for the highest churches he has called the parish or episcopal see.
Now this is the right understanding of these words, that he wants to say: This will be a beautiful kingdom, will be very well ordered and arranged with laws, with officials and other necessary statuses, will not be a rebellious loose bunch of people; as Ahab is praised because of the beautiful and glorious rule, which he kept in the people of Israel, although he was a godless Baalite king. For Jezebel said to him 1 Kings 21:7, "What kingdom would there be in Israel if you did this?" These are temporal goods, so that God blessed this tribe, that it should be great and fruitful, and should have a police or regiment well ordered with princes, persons in authority, and soldiers of war. But he will not have or use all this with peace and tranquility. For thus follows further in the text:
V. 23, 24: And though the archers anger him, and war against him, and persecute him; yet his bow shall stand firm, and the arms of his hands strong, by the hands of the mighty one in Jacob.
This is a Hebrew way of speaking: viri sagittarum, that is, men of arrows, who are good shooters; as they also say, filius vaginae, that is, a son of the sheath, and as it is written in the 127th Psalm v. 4: "As arrows in the hand of a strong man, so do the young boys go" etc. Jacob tells how it will be with this tribe and what luck he will have. He will have adversaries and suffer much, but he will still prevail.
By these archers I do not mean the tribe of Judah, as others would have it, but the Syrians, who plagued this kingdom greatly and were excellent archers; as Ahab was shot with an arrow by a Syrian and died of it. At that time there were also very good soldiers and archers, and they were more needed in battle than those who had swords and slings, as even now the Turks shoot with many arrows. But those who use big guns still overcome all those who fight great battles with them.
2044 D- XI, 2S0-282. interpretation of Genesis 49:23, 24. w. II. sms-soog. 2045
366. For this reason, these Syrians will often plague and afflict this kingdom, attacking it with weapons and persecuting it with bitter envy and hatred, and will want to bring it down and destroy it for the sake of happiness, so that they will grow and increase; But especially because the voice of God and his word are taught and heard there, as the prophets speak to the people, there will be great enmity, which cannot be settled, between this tribe and the Syrians, but not the tribe of Judah; although the latter has also attacked Ephraim several times. But the Syrians have raged against them much more grievously, and several times they have shot at them fiercely, that they might destroy and cut off this people: as it is written in the 137th Psalm, v. 7: "Purge out, purge out, even to their ground."
367. but he will sit in his fortress, let them rage, let the mighty archers from Syria come here; here are also people, their bow can also shoot. "The arms of his hands are strong", that is: he also has a fist, Ephraim is also able to do something with his fist, bow and arrows. But this is the difference between them: there with the Syrians are more archers, who are stronger, more armed and in all ways greater. But whence they have this their strength he indicates, saying, "by the hands of the mighty one in Jacob." The Hebrew word, abir, in some places means ox; but it is often and commonly attributed to God; as, in the 132nd Psalm v. 2. 5: "David swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob." We have translated it, mighty.
This is truly a great glory, that Jacob may speak thus: The bow, the arrows, the fists and the arms are firm, strong and powerful. But whence come they the same? Answer: "By the hands of the Mighty One," who is the God of Jacob. Now because God has promised, He will also preserve this tribe, which is a fruitful thing, that is, mighty and powerful of many people, whose "daughters," that is, cities, "stand forth in the" political "regiment. But the adversaries have bittered him very hard and have been at loggerheads with him; for the devil contends against the godly,
not only with bodily weapons, but also with spiritual weapons. Yet his bow remained firm, and his arm strong and unconquerable, not by his own strength, but by the hands of the Mighty One in Jacob.
For this is the right Christian teaching, which is also held up to us in the 44th Psalm, v. 7, where he says: "For I do not rely on my bow, and my sword cannot help me. It is true that one must have weapons in readiness and everything else that is necessary to administer the regiment with them, and how one should govern both in peace and in war; one must, however, also do something, must use the means that are available, must take counsel and consider everything well; but when all this is ready and well ordered, one should by no means rely on it, but should pray, as in the 70th Psalm, v. 2. Psalm v. 2: "Make haste, O God, to save me, O Lord, to help me"; and in Psalm 124 v. 8: "Our help is in the name of the Lord" etc. For the adversaries are far superior to us in counsel and strength.
From them are come shepherds and stones in Israel.
This piece is somewhat obscure because of the peculiar way of speaking in the Hebrew language. But the word "stone" is taken in the Scriptures by a simile for a corner, for a ruler, a head or king. As, Hezekiah was a corner or head of the people. And Jacob wants to say so much that in this tribe of Ephraim there will be shepherds and stones. For he needs the singular for the plural, which is. One for many. As then the same figure is common in all languages, as that the Latins say: Romanus proelio victor: The Roman has kept the victory in the quarrel, that is, the Romans have conquered etc.
371. and this word "stone" is not taken or understood for a king alone, but for all the shepherds and rulers in this tribe; for the same before David held the reign with Manasseh; as it is written in the 78th Psalm v. 67. 68: "He rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim; but chose the
Tribe of Judah" etc. But after David and Solomon Jeroboam reigned, as 1 Kings 1:31 ff, and the Lord raised up the kingdom of Israel; there were many excellent kings and prophets, such as Ahaz, Hanain, Jonah, Micah and many others, and before them Elijah and Elisha, who were shepherds and shepherds. And the word "shepherd" means in the Holy Scriptures both, namely, to rule physically and spiritually; as, in the 2nd Psalm v. 9: "Thou shalt smite them with a scepter of iron."
372 Therefore it has been a great grace that this tribe has had so many glorious stones, prophets, and kings; although many have been idolatrous, yet they seem to have repented before their death, for the Scriptures say of many, "And he slept with his fathers.
By the way, God has preserved this kingdom and nation for the sake of the elect; just as He still makes His sun rise over the wicked and over the good. Yes, heaven and all creatures serve the unrighteous or the wicked much more than the righteous and the pious; and yet the wicked are well off only for the sake of the pious. The wicked enjoy the blessings of the saints and believers, to whom they are enemies, since all good things happen to them only for the sake of the fellowship and good deeds of the pious.
374 Therefore, even though several of the kings of the people of Israel were ungodly and false prophets were among them, the Lord says to Elijah, 1 Kings 19:18: "I have left me seven thousand men. etc. For the sake of the same crowd God also preserved the ungodly and idolatrous. Likewise the hundred prophets, whom Obadiah hid, who were trampled under the feet of the wicked, when they had to flee into misery: they were the ones who protected and preserved the land.
So today the papists hold the reigns and have power and authority in the world; there the sun shines with them, and everything stands very well and is full. But our parish priests and church servants suffer lack and are despised.
and are cast out; as it is written in Ecclesiastes, Cap. 8:14: "There are righteous, and it is as if they had the works of the wicked; and there are wicked, and it is as if they had the works of the righteous."
Therefore the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh has had some excellent men who have been "stones," that is, princes and prophets. For God is an excellent and wise ruler, who even through the most evil authorities can administer the regiments and police, and keep peace and also judgment in pregnancy, one time better than another. They also had the word of God in the tribe; and although few of them accepted it, some were still devout and godly, and seven thousand remained who did not bow their knees to Baal, as is said above in 1 Kings 19:18.
V. 25. You are helped by your father's God.
This is a very great and rich promise, and Moses is right in saying that which is written in Deut. 4:7: "Where is there such a glorious people, to whom the gods draw so near, as the Lord our God, when we call upon him? "For this is a great glory, where one has God for a helper in all that one does. Therefore the kingdom of Israel was not such a kingdom, where everything that was done in it was done by chance, as it was with the Roman or Persian empire, but a certain word was conceived and understood.
It is God, says Jacob, who helps this kingdom and the prophets; for the sake of the seven thousand, that is, for the sake of the elect, the kingdom of Israel must have the word to be taught publicly and must have a police force. For the company of the seven thousand men will undoubtedly not have run to the idols or images at Dan or Bethel, but served and called upon God in the temple at Jerusalem. Hosea, the prophet, labored eighty years to "teach" the people and to punish idolatry, and will no doubt have converted many. Likewise, Jonah and Micah have also converted many to the pure sound doctrine and
Genesis 49:25. w. n. soi2-sois. 2049
Amos also taught in the kingdom of Ephraim and preached in the kingdom of Ephraim. Amos also taught and preached in the kingdom of Ephraim.
Thus God raised up many prophets for the children of Israel, from which it can be sufficiently understood that he was the helper of this people. But Jacob says: "From your father's God", that is, who made the promise to your father, or, my God, whose promise I have, He will not abandon you, but will help you in everything.
And from the Almighty dn are blessed, with blessings above from heaven, with blessings from the depths that lie nuten, with blessings on breasts and bellies.
Here he understands only recently the bodily blessing. Shaddai and, as the Greeks speak, πολύμαστος, is the God, who all he
who nourishes, who feeds and sustains all things in general, who has many breasts. For the Hebrew word, shad, means breast; as then he calls it a blessing of breasts and bellies.
381 And it is truly a fine description, which he gives in short and glorious words. The whole heaven, he says, shall be thine, the earth and the sea, and all that is therein shall be thine. Almost in the same way Isaac blesses his son Esau Gen. 27, 28. above, saying to him: "God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and corn and wine the abundance." So in this place Jacob says, "The heavens shall serve thee, and the sea, and all that the earth hath. It is truly a great blessing when God gives good weather, rain early and late, plus the sun and comfortable winds to the fruits that grow from the earth. For where it does not rain, everything withers and perishes when it is so exceedingly dry. But when the power of heaven is there, as those who cultivate the field may wish and desire, then the soil does not bring thorns or thistles, but good grain and other fruits, which are not injured or spoiled by excessive heat, dander, hail, or such other accidents that damage the fruits of the field and trees. Truly, the farmers are over such fertility of the year, because
Everything is so plentiful and well-disposed, cheerful and in good spirits, that they may use it all; which gift is very rare in our times.
382 The depth that lies below means not only the great sea that goes around the whole world, but all deep waters, as, the stagnant waters, lakes and puddles.
Finally, he also promises him the blessing of the womb and belly, so that he may recently understand the fruitfulness of men and cattle, and everything that is created for the need of men. All this, he says, will be fruitful. The mothers shall not only be fruitful, but shall also have milk enough to suckle and nourish the little children. The cows shall give calves, milk, butter and cheese, likewise the sheep and oxen shall give meat.
Now these are truly great bodily benefits, but because they are so common and happen almost daily, they are despised. I have often calculated and found that people consume more milk than wine. The flocks of sheep are like clouds that rain nothing but milk. But we pass by such gifts and despise them, because they have become so contemptible because of age and the fact that they are used daily; and yet they are nothing but miracles and immeasurable benefits of God.
385. Again, it is also a very heavy curse if we are deprived of them; as the prophet Hosea threatens the same misfortune to the ungrateful, when he says Hos. 9, 14: "Give them barren bodies, and dried up breasts." Mothers are praised because of fertility and childbirth, and are adorned and graced by God with these gifts before men. The fruit is wonderfully nourished by blood and milk in the womb and when it is already born. For this reason, greater benefits are seen in women than in men; which fornicators neither see nor marvel at, but pious, godly husbands recognize and praise such wonderful works of God. And so far it has been said of the blessing of men and cattle.
2050 L- n, 2SK-288. interpretation of I Genesis 49, 26. w. ii. svis-Mi?. 2051
V. 26. The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of my forefathers, according to the desire of the high ones of the world; and shall come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crowns of the Nazarite among his brethren.
This text is somewhat obscure; and I have often said that I do not like the gloss of the Jewish rabbis, who draw these words and others more to the person of Joseph. "The blessings of your father," says Jacob, "go stronger," that is, what has been promised to me, your father, is still much greater than the blessings of my forefathers. You, my firstborn son, and your sons, whom I have adopted as children, have greater gifts than the gifts of your forefathers, which they have used in this life. I have begotten twelve sons that God might multiply my house, and have seen the children born of these my sons, so that I went down to Egypt with seventy souls, menservants and maidservants excepted: these are truly great glorious gifts.
387 For Abraham hath bought a special place in the land of Shechem, where he buried Sarah: but Ephraim and Manasseh shall have and possess two great parts in the land of Canaan, and shall be wonderfully multiplied, and shall grow, that a great nation may be of them. Therefore, says Jacob, the blessing of your father upon you is greater and stronger, and there was none before me of our forefathers who became so strong and mighty as you have multiplied and grown Joseph in your sons. Abraham and Isaac had nothing more than a foot wide or no space at all from this land to Shechem. Therefore the promises made to me have been fulfilled in you.
388 That he adds: "according to the desire of the high ones in the world", the Jews draw this on their desire and lust. For they interpret and replace the words "according to the desire" with "end," and do this for no other reason than that they may lie about how the tribe of Ephraim will have and possess the whole world. As they have often dreamed of more such lies
They have gone against the clear and bright Scriptures, and have especially torn up this chapter with their most harmful glosses.
389 Of the tribe of Judah, Jacob says, "The nations shall cleave unto Shiloh" and obey; and in the 72nd Psalm, v. 8, it is written, "He shall reign from sea to sea, and from the waters even unto the end of the world. Likewise in the 19th Psalm v. 5. it is written, "Her cord goeth forth into all the earth, and her speech unto the end of the world"; and in the 2nd Psalm v. 8. it is written, "Cry from me, and I will give thee the heathen for an inheritance." There the kingdom over the whole world is promised not to Ephraim, but to Judah, and moreover not to Judah in the flesh, but to the Shiloh or Messiah. Why then do the Jews ascribe the rule over the whole world to Ephraim, since they were taken captive under King Hezekiah and carried away to Assyria, so that they had no hope of returning to the land of Israel, and there they had no prophecy nor any prophet with them, but were rejected and scattered among the Gentiles without all hope and promise of the Second Coming? But when Judah was taken captive by the king of Babylon, he was not altogether deprived of all hope and promise, but had comfort that after seventy years they should be brought again into their own land. And he also had prophets who went to Babylon with them, namely Daniel, Ezekiel etc. There was a certain promise and hope of salvation. But the ten tribes had no word at all, and all hope of returning to the land was cut off from them. And they never returned, except under the Lord Christ, when the prophecy of the Shiloh was fulfilled, to whom the nations were to cleave and obey.
Therefore the Jews obviously falsify and blaspheme this text, because they interpret it in such a way that the tribe of Ephraim should arrogate to itself the rule over the whole world. Therefore this piece is given in Latin: Usque ad desiderium collium in mundo, that is: "according to the desire of the high ones in the world.
of the world"; and thus want to have rejected the rabbis' interpretation. And in this place is the same Hebrew word that Moses uses, Deut. 5:21, where he says: "Do not lust after your neighbor's wife.
391 But the "high ones" are taken by a likeness and understood for kings and kingdoms of the world. And Jacob will say this much, Ephraim, thy kingdom is like a kingdom of this world, that it may contend; as David often contended with the Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites, and took their land. But the worldly rulers and regiments have had no prophets, no word, no worship ordered by God Himself, but have arisen and been gathered about as God scatters the rain and makes His sun rise on the good and on the evil, Matt. 5:45. But this kingdom is established and ordered with a certain word and certain laws, and has many glorious men of valor, prophets and rulers. But as the rulers of the world desire and wish that they may have riches, a blessed government, and a fruitful land, with all the necessities of life: so, says Jacob, you also have such a kingdom, "according to the desire of the rulers of the world. Joseph will have that which the worldly rulers desire and covet. This, he says, will be on Joseph's head and on no other tribe. For Judah and the other tribes have their own land which they possess.
392 "They shall come upon the head of Joseph" etc. With these words he repeats the same thing he said before, only that they are different words. But who the Nazirites were, can be inferred from the description of Moses 4 Mos. 7, 2. ff. Samson was a Nazarite, hence Nazareth has the name; and of Christ it says in the 132nd Psalm v. 18: "But over him his crown shall blossom", which one would give in Latin, nazareitas ejus. And Matth. 2, 23: "He shall be called Nazarenus" comes from the Hebrew word nasir, which means to separate and to be holy. For the Nazarenes had their special ceremonies, did not drink wine or anything that made them drunk, nor did they shave their heads.
In the times of the father they have not been yet, or, however, have not been so famous yet. Also their religion and life is not described in the histories. Moses, as it seems, was the first who wrote about this way and use. But it was such a religion, which either granted a certain time, as Paul shaved his head at Kenchrea,Ap.Hist. 18, 18, and such were Nazarites a month or two after each man's good pleasure; or else it was such a vow that vouchsafed for and for as long as they lived, as was Samson's vow.
394 Therefore Jacob magnifies the blessing of Joseph, not only that he will have all the good things that a king of this world would desire or obtain, but also that it will come to him with a certain word of God, and that he will be kept like a Nazarite, so that this blessing will be special and excellent compared to other tribes, and will have a great advantage over the others, except for the tribe of Judah.
395 And I believe that this title, or name, Nazir, hath deceived the Ephraimites, and made them somewhat proud, that they have persuaded themselves, and made themselves believe, that nothing could be done, or ought to be done, without their counsel and power; as therefore they reproached Gideon, Judges. 8:1, saying, "Why hast thou done this unto us, that thou calledst us not when thou wentest to battle against the Midianites?" and quarreled fiercely with him. From this carnal honor, I say, the descendants of Joseph became proud and puffed up, especially since the glory of the firstborn was added, which their father Joseph had obtained when he was born of the most noble wife of his father Jacob.
V. 27. Benjamin is a ravening wolf; in the morning he will devour prey, but in the evening he will divide the spoil.
396 This is a short blessing, and that very much has been interpreted on the apostle Paul, but according to the allegory or secret interpretation. Although it is almost a mind
2054 XI. 2A>. 2S1. Interpretation of I Moses 49, 27. 28. W. II. soso-soss. 2055
is according to the letter. For he devoured St. Stephen like a wolf, and after that he distributed the spoil over the whole world, leading and administering the apostleship and the church, and thus spreading the teaching of the gospel from time to time.
397 Many point to King Saul, who destroyed and plundered the Amalekites and then governed the kingdom. But it does not run well that he should be called a wolf who wages war by God's command. The wolf does not wait until the sheep are condemned to death or for the command of the shepherd, but rages and rages against the poor innocent sheep without and against the will of the Lord.
I understand that this tribe was like a ravening wolf because the Levite's wife was weakened. For the sword of Benjamin devoured and consumed forty thousand men out of all the tribes of Israel in two battles. After this there was no tribe more godly than Benjamin, not only for St. Paul's sake, but also because they had joined the tribe of Judah against Jeroboam the king and the other tribes of Israel, when they might have joined the other tribes for more just cause; for he was Joseph's brother in the flesh. His seat or dwelling was between Ephraim and Manasseh; he had Judah on the south.
Sixth part.
Of the blessings and promises so Jacob laid upon his sons; item, how Jacob commanded his sons to bury him in Canaan, and thereupon died.
V. 28. These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, each with a blessing.
399. Moses says in general of all and every son of Jacob, how the father has blessed every one of them with a blessing of his own.
blessed them. But with Levi, Simeon and Reuben it seems that he did not bless them, but rather cursed them. How then does he say here that each one received his special blessing from the Father, when these were cursed with express words? For he says of them: "Cursed be their wrath, that it is so fierce" etc. And, "My glory be not in their church."
I answer thus: The patriarch Jacob has condemned the example and sin of the murder they committed against their brother and the blood shame of Reuben, but he has not cursed or rejected Reuben at all; he has only said of him that he should not grow, that he should not be the ruler, and has taken from him the firstborn, or the priesthood and rule, that he should not have two parts, but should be content with a small part, and should not die. As Moses says Deut. 33:6, "Reuben shall live and not die, and his people shall be few"; he interpreted these words of Jacob, saying, "Thou shalt not be chief," that is, thy people shall be few.
Levi is blessed very gloriously in the 5th book of Moses. But Simeon is the most despicable tribe, because he is cursed by his father, and Moses is silent about him and does not remember him with a word. Jerome, as I said above, is of the opinion that Simeon is not remembered because Judas Iscarioth was born of the same tribe. But whoever wants to, may believe the same. Jacob does not want them to perish at all, but to be preserved until the dispersion in Jacob. He does not give them a special seat, dwelling or honor, as he does Judah or Joseph, and accuses and punishes them of a very great evil and abominable vice, and asks that God will save him and his own from it. "My soul", he says, "come not into their counsel", that is, my descendants, and "my honor", that is, the right Israel. Therefore Simeon, like Reuben, lived without honor and in contempt among the other tribes, without special gifts; yet for the sake of Jacob his father, he will be included among the descendants and the twelve tribes.
counted. And until now it has been spoken of every man's blessing, as Moses calls it.
402 From this we should take examples and make comparisons between our revelations and those which the holy fathers had. For this was an excellent and very clear prophecy or prophecy of the Shiloh or Messiah, the son of the virgin, in the blessing of Judah, when I said that Shiloh is called as it were the son of a womb or virgin. For the same birth was only a virgin birth, out of the womb of his mother (in Hebrew schiljah), was lischt a son, so from the loins would have come or born. In addition, this virgin Son was to become both King and Lord of the world, who would tie the head to the vine and wash his robe in wine, that is, he would bring forgiveness of sins, salvation from death, and make us all blessed.
This is a very high revelation of the Son, who is to come from the body and at the same time be a Lord in divine nature and power. For to wash the robe, to have eyes red and teeth whiter than milk, to take away sin, to bite and devour, this is not only due to the son of a virgin, but also to be the Son of God.
404 For this reason the fathers had great light and knowledge of the two natures in Christ. And Jacob indicates in this place what the holy fathers' discourses and sermons were about the Seed of the woman, namely, the same or similar to those we have heard from him, which he received from the other fathers before him, namely, about the Son of the Virgin and his kingdom, who would purify the whole world and make the faithful drunk with the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts; as St. Paul abundantly interprets the same to the Romans and Galatians.
405 Therefore glorious prophecies are now held out to us in this place; but if we were to compare them with the New Testament, we have a far clearer prophecy. For the fulfillment, and the fact that this Savior was now presented and sent
which is much greater and more excellent than that which is first promised; only that we do not take heed of it, and do not inquire much about the unspeakable majesty and infinite riches of the Holy Spirit which is given to us; as Paul says in Titus 3:6: "Which he hath abundantly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
406. For this reason, the prophets and the whole Bible should be read with great diligence; and I, indeed, when I compare these things with one another, am angry with myself and ashamed of myself and of my life, and I am sorry that I should live, because, now that Christ has been presented and has come, we are nevertheless so cold, and regard our gifts so lightly, and believe the word so weakly; when the fathers believed with so great constancy, and lived in the faith of the promise, by which they overcame great danger and many troubles. If you want to compare them with us, they were the last, but they became the first; and since we were the first, we have now become the last. For they have so firmly clung to the promises of the future Shiloh that when we are compared to them, we are cold, sleepy and lazy in the face of this richness and great glory of the presentation and appearance of our Messiah.
If it were not a sin for us to pay so little attention to the great majesty of divine works, one would do himself harm. For is this not a great gift and glory, that even a woman in distress can baptize and say, "I deliver you from death, the devil, sin and all misfortune, and give you eternal life; I make a child of the devil into a child of God. But this riches of the Spirit have become small among us, so that we do not consider them so great, because they happen daily, and yet they are a true thing in themselves. A minister of the gospel who preaches and baptizes is a greater prophet than Jacob or Moses were: the clarity of our prophecy far surpasses that clarity. They have had the same spiritual food, drink and faith: but our goods are so rich that
could also absolve a child and transfer it from the realm of the devil to the realm of God; and this by nothing else but by the word; as Isaiah Cap. II, v. 6. 8. says: "A little boy shall drive calves and young lions and fatlings together," etc., "and an infant shall delight in the hole of the adder, and a weaned man shall put his hand into the basilisk's den."
408 Therefore also St. Peter 2 Ep. 1, 19 says: "We have a firm prophetic word, and you do well to pay attention to it. O beloved, he wants to say, pay attention to it, only hold fast to it with faith, for it is a sure thing. We have holy baptism, salvation from death and sins. For the Son of God Himself says John 3:16: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
409 In this way we should now hold our glory and riches, which we have in the New Testament, against the revelation of the fathers in the Old Testament, that we may be awakened and revived by this great light, and so accept and keep the gospel with a joyful heart.
But it is a shameful thing, and to be pitied and wept over, that we are so very slothful, and that the pestilence of sleep has taken us so completely, that we regard so little such great gifts, and keep ourselves so drowsy. The shameful damn "sin, which always clings to us and makes us sluggish," as it says to the Hebrews in 12 Cap. V. 1, does not allow us to trust, praise and thank God with such diligence, fervor and wonder as the greatness of this thing itself demands. For it would not be a miracle if one believed that he would die of joy.
411 Therefore I often complain and am sorry that I cannot believe, although I know that what is presented to us in the Word is true; which I have not only learned from the holy Scriptures, but also experience itself has taught me this in many a challenge and has assured me of it. For this reason, I often wish that I could only go out of the filth of my flesh.
I hope to be delivered from so many obstacles to faith, either by the last day, for which I wait with great eagerness and for which I have a great desire, or in some other way, however it may happen. For I am ashamed and disgusted of the shameful unbelief in the great riches of the many promises, so that we are overwhelmed and made drunk, as it were, when I consider and see that the holy patriarchs had such great faith in the promises that had not yet been fulfilled or put into practice. And other holy godly men also complain of this, in whom nature also contends against faith, and cannot keep the old man in check and subdue him so hard that he should not contend against the spirit.
412 Then there are also the scholastics and the pabst's scholastics, who teach and hold that we must still be in doubt, as if we were not already by nature disputing the promise. Therefore it is a cursed nonsense to the sophists of Louvain, who may impudently say that in no place is it taught in the holy Scriptures that through faith in Christ we are given forgiveness of sins and given eternal life.
413. Since the holy fathers lived in the promise, they believed that which Jacob said of the Shiloh, who would bind the full to the vine. And all the prophets cry out that we have forgiveness of sins through faith. And against so many and such glorious testimonies of the Holy Spirit, these swine and asses dare to deny this teaching. Is it not an abominable and strange monstrosity that we in the church should teach and keep that which we do of ourselves, because we are broken and corrupted by original sin?
414. But this is to be repeated often and diligently, that we learn to honor the ministry of preaching, and thank God that we are even more excellent prophets than the fathers and prophets were in the Old Testament. For now also a child or a woman can say to me: "Be of good cheer, my dear son, I proclaim forgiveness to you.
of sins, absolve yourself etc. Is it not then, that whosoever heareth and believeth these things hath remission of sins and eternal life? Is it not a great and dreadful frenzy and nonsense to teach that we should doubt it, and to say that all this is not held out to us in the holy Scriptures, and even to argue vehemently that the Scriptures are utterly contrary to this doctrine? O what a frightful time this is, and full of great danger, into which we poor children have come and fallen!
(415) There is no doubt that he who gives and distributes the holy sacraments is a prophet, and he who receives and believes them is also a prophet. For these are the words of a great prophet who says, Matt. 26:26, 28: "This is my body, this is my blood." Christ is the prophet who was promised in Deut. 18:15, 18, 19, when Moses said, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from you and from your brothers, and you shall obey him. I will," says the Lord, "put my words in his mouth; he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And whosoever will not hear my words, which he shall speak in my name, of him will I require it." Shall we then not believe this prophet, when to this promise is added a grave threat, which at last will disgrace and damn the raving and blasphemous spirit of the sophists to lions?
416 Therefore it is necessary that we magnify and magnify the dear ministry of the church, which is our glory. For our faith now holds not only to the promises, but also to that which was promised and is now given to us. We now have the Lord Himself speaking to us, holding out to us much more glorious and clear promises than those given to the fathers. In baptism Christ says: I redeem and deliver you from the power of the devil, and hand you over to my heavenly Father. Then I must truly believe that Christ does not lie; and the more firmly I believe, the holier and more blessed I am. And we have no reason to doubt everywhere, since we have no reason to believe.
Christ himself promises forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And yet the rough asses may say that one must not believe such promise, but rather doubt it.
417 I cannot think of such blasphemy or say anything about it; I am moved violently in my heart. For what do unholy people do but confirm original sin, which otherwise, by its nature, they do not like to believe? Because of this, I am often bitterly angry with myself, because I would gladly believe with such great faith as truth, certainty and assurance of promise demand and want, so that I could break through a brazen mountain, and fearlessly despise all danger and harm that may occur to me; yet the law in my members contends against me and takes me captive. Now the sophists praise and extol this evil, depraved and shameful nature to lions, and teach the very same thing that nature otherwise compels us poor men to do. It is as if I said to a fornicator or a thief, "You do not sin in this, but do right in this, that you commit fornication according to your desire and indulge in other sins and defilements; since nature itself brings this about, that young people are inclined to fornication; just as all men by nature are also inclined and inclined to other vices and sins, to pride and avarice, and such sins more.
418 The sophists do not understand what is faith or what is unbelief. Therefore they condemn Christ in his speech, and also condemn as heretics those who teach that one should believe the promises of Christ. No one will be able to make such horrible and infernal nonsense of the devil great enough; it truly surpasses all understanding, and no one can sufficiently explain it with words. Nothing more abominable can be spoken or conceived than that they force and drive people to sin. It is good, they say, that you are not sure of your faith; Christ does not speak the very words of the promise to you, and if you doubt the forgiveness of sins, you are a Christian.
This is the theology of the pope and his theologians, and is the Antichrist himself. The Turk is still a little more modest, and does not want to be so rude, who confesses that Christ is a prophet and that he sits at the left hand of God. But the rude asses of lions obviously deny that Christ is a prophet. Although they say the same thing in word, they contradict it in deed, saying, "We do not have forgiveness of sins and eternal life through Christ. They deny and reject, as much as is in them, the beautiful bright sayings, which are full of comfort and life, as is the one when the Baptist John says John 1:29: "Behold, this is the Lamb of God, which bareth the sin of the world"; item, when St. Peter says Acts 10:43. 10, 43: "Of this all the prophets testify, that through his name all who believe in him shall receive forgiveness of sins." Likewise he also says Ap. Gesch. 4, 12: "There is no other name given to men, wherein we shall be saved."
I say this to exhort and awaken you to the contemplation and high admiration of the faith of the dear fathers, and of our glory and revelations which we have in the New Testament; that we may weep for our weakness and unbelief, which is unworthy of the great things offered and presented to us in the gospel. For since salvation is now much nearer to us, as Paul says Rom. 13:11, we believe almost with difficulty, and are weak, so that we fall in with the word of God. The fathers were very fervent in their faith in the Christ who was to come, and who was yet to be sent, in whom they gloried and overcame the devil, as well as all the afflictions they encountered. But we do not become particularly joyful about the promises of Christ, who is now present and reigning. And about this the whole papacy goes on and condemns this doctrine publicly.
421 Let us therefore be diligent to magnify our glory in the New Testament, and from day to day to grow and increase in knowledge.
nce he has believed in Christ, that is, in faith, who does not doubt, but has had the assurance of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life in Christ. For whoever believes this is a true Christian and is included in the number of the children of God.
422 The raging, senseless, and blasphemous sophists are not men, and, what is more, they are not worthy to be called swine, but are to be called devils, and to be reckoned among devils, because they presume to teach before the Christian church against the Holy Spirit, that one should doubt the grace of God and the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake. The Turk, as I said before, is not at all impudent; for if he had the Holy Scriptures, he would certainly never dispute this.
423 But we must learn to magnify and exalt our rich blessings, which are far greater and more glorious than the blessings which the fathers had. We have the keys, the gospel, the holy sacraments and abundant forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, which is offered and presented to us in many ways. May our dear Lord God help us through the Holy Spirit and His grace to accept and keep all this with firm faith.
V. 29-32. And he commanded them, and said unto them: I am gathered unto my people, bury me with my bitters in the cave of the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the twofold cave that lieth toward Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for an inheritance burying. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac also, and Rebekah his wife. And I buried Leah there, in the field, and in the cave that was bought of the children of Heth.
Enough has been said about this cave above. But here you see that the holy father Jacob died in very great faith. For these blessings sufficiently indicate what he confessed and taught, and also how he lived. In this Shiloh, he has given
In the same he dies in peace, and commands his sons to bury him, not in Egypt, but with his fathers in the land of Canaan; not only for the sake that the people may have an everlasting remembrance of their fathers in the land, lest they flee again to Egypt, or else to the help of the heathen, but also that they may know thereby to remember that the fathers had the promise, and so remembered: Those sleep with us with whom God spoke, from whom we received the word and promise that we should not follow strange gods. This was a great important reason why Jacob wanted to be buried in the field, namely, for the testimony and preservation of the preaching and right teaching among the descendants. This was not the only reason, but he also indicated that he hoped and waited for the resurrection of the dead, which would take place in the resurrection of Christ, as many were raised with Christ, Matt. 27:52, 53, and appeared to many.
425 This then was the first cause, that the people might have an everlasting and living remembrance of their father, that they might know that they were not born of the Gentiles, but of the Father who had the promise, who preached of the virgin Son, in whom Jacob himself also believed; and the same faith their descendants have also kept, and still keep.
And though I am weak, I do not doubt, but hold to the gospel, though Satan opposes it, and sin, which clings to nature; which evil the sophists of lions presume to magnify, and provoke the flesh to superstition and godlessness, which otherwise drives us poor men to doubt.
427 The other cause of this burial is, that I certainly believe that these fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, were among those who rose again together with Christ. Therefore Jacob diligently commands and commands that they should lay him and bury him in the burial place of the fathers. And this is the confession of his faith, whereof
He wanted it to be written not only in the word he taught while he was still alive, but also in his death and burial, so that their descendants would always have this memory before their eyes, and that they would hear the fathers who, as it were, held up to them from their graves the very teaching they had also held up to them in the past while they were still alive, namely, about the bodily promise of the land and about the blessed seed. There they lie, they should say, who have told us and taught us: Therefore we will also now believe and wait for that which is promised to us.
Thus truly the prophets believed, as their writings testify; though there was not one of them who did not complain of his own weakness, and desire that he might have been stronger in faith; as we also are weak, and yet desire and sigh that we may have a perfect faith, and so be assured in our conscience that we may not at all doubt the grace and benefits of Christ, which he has shown us.
429 Therefore let us rejoice that we are worthy of this nonsense and persecution which we must now suffer for this confession; and let us pray for our enemies, that some may be converted from those who are now allowed to doubt the doctrine and faith of Christ so brazenly before our ears and during our lifetime, and who dare to destroy them. Let the Lord have mercy on those who are yet to be converted, and let the devil take away the others.
V.33. And when Jacob had finished the commandments unto his children, he put his feet together upon the bed, and passed away, and was gathered unto his people.
430. you have heard above this way of speaking, that the holy scripture calls the death of the saints, yes, also Ishmael's death, "to be gathered to the people of his fathers." So in this place it is not said that Jacob died, but he put his feet together on the bed, became weak, and was gathered to his people. For the Holy Spirit has thus willed to describe this with special diligence, so that he may give us
that the fathers died believing in the promise and hope of future immortality and eternal life. For if they had been papists, bishops or cardinals, who scoff at the future life of both the righteous and the wicked and consider it only a fable, they would not have ordered their burial so diligently in a certain specific place.
431 These are truly great, glorious, full words, when Moses says: "He was gathered to his people. And this is such a way of speaking that belongs entirely to the saints and the godly. And I therefore hold that Ishmael also was saved; for it is also written of him Gen. 25:17, "He was gathered to his people." Therefore this way of speaking should be dear and pleasant to us, because it shows that the saints have fallen asleep in faith and hope of the resurrection from the beginning of the world.
432 Those who dispute whether the saints have been brought into the bosom of the fathers, limbus patrum, as they were called, or whether they have been received into the fellowship of angels, argue about it without ceasing; and it is a vain thing for them to argue about it. It is better that we stick to your certain word, as we have said several times above; which word testifies that after this life there is a people. For Jacob hath not ascended up to heaven, neither hath he gone down to hell. Where then did he go? God has a special place or container in which the saints and elect rest without death, torment or hell. But how this place is called, or what kind of place it is, no one knows; but it is certain that a people are called and are there.
The rabbis of the Jews write all sorts of things they can and like. But Christ alone says, Luc. 16, 22, that Lazarus died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's womb. This interpreter and teacher is to be believed, for he is God and man. The bosom of Abraham is the place to which all the righteous or believers are led and taken after death, and Abraham is therefore attracted to it.
because he was a father of the promise. Noah is not mentioned here, nor Adam, who were also gathered in the same womb. For Adam is not the first among those who died, but Abel, who was strangled by his brother Cain. Enoch was taken away alive from the Lord, so that he would not see death, and yet he is not called the bosom of Adam or Abel, but of Abraham: either because the promise made to Adam was not so clear, or else for some other reason.
434 As it is said of us in the church that we are gathered to our people through baptism, the gospel, and the sacrament, and that we know that we are among our people, so when we die in the promise of Christ made to Abraham, we are also led and received by the angels into the bosom of Abraham, or to our people. And we have often said that the promises of the fathers belong to the resurrection and the life to come, and not only to this temporal life, but also to the other spiritual and eternal life, in which the works of this natural life, how we are nourished and begotten, and such other works more, will cease. But where this same people is, we do not know.
The pope writes that there are four orders of the dead. The first is the hell of the damned. The other is purgatory. And Thomas Aquinas says that hell is the middle point, as it were, where purgatory is. With the same, however, is the third district or place of the underage children who have not been baptized. The fourth place, they say, is limbus patrum, the bosom of the fathers, where the blessed were before the resurrection of Christ.
These are all dreams and human poems. Peter and Paul clearly say, Eph. 6, 12, that the evil spirits hover in the air, and 2 Petr. 2, 4 is also said that God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them into hell with chains of darkness, and delivered them to be kept for judgment. I am well satisfied with this, and
does not want to seek something higher than what was taught by the apostles. The Holy Scripture does not even think of the purgatory, but it is the devil's poem that the papists have several fairs and want to chase the money with it. The sophists hold it with the pope for the sake of Thomas, but Thomas does not concern us. Augustin commemorates the sweeping fire in several places, but he speaks very darkly. Therefore I do not believe that these four orders are true. For the Scripture does not speak in this way, but testifies that the dead saints are gathered to their people, or to those who believed in the Messiah and waited for his future; just as Adam died with all his descendants in the faith of Christ. But how they are kept in special places, we do not know.
437 We have enough proof that the Scripture testifies that from the beginning of the world those who believed in the seed of the woman were not lost, and that they were not forgotten, but were gathered to their people. But what the same place is, no man can tell.
433 I have drawn a rough likeness above of the life of the fruit in the womb. For there is no one among all men now living who can know where he was the first two years he lived in his mother's womb, and when he was born into the world and sucked his mother's milk. He does not know what the days and nights or times were like, or even who they were that governed him and waited on him: and yet he lived then, and united body and soul with each other, and was fit and skilled for all natural works. Therefore, this is the most certain argument and sign that God wants to preserve man wonderfully in a way that is completely unknown to him, the man himself. Behold the great misery and hard feelings of those who are afflicted and weighed down with the falling sickness and insanity, by which they are so far from themselves that it seems as if they are completely deprived of all their senses. Yes, even at night, when we lie down and sleep, we do not know in which place we are sleeping, whether we are with friends or enemies.
How is this such a great folly and sacrilege, that we want to enclose the divine wisdom and grasp it in the narrow human reason! Can we not think that he will preserve and uphold the soul, that I cannot know where I am, and yet I am in a certain place, because he does the same thing every day, as the examples we have just told indicate.
440. Therefore, we should give glory to God and honor Him by believing that His wisdom is immeasurably great and that He has more and more wonderful ways of preserving us than we can comprehend with our senses and intellect. He preserves and sustains us differently in the womb, differently in the cradle, differently in sleep, and differently when we are sick. We have enough from this that we know that the saints in the Old Testament died in faith in the Christ to come, and that the godly in the New Testament, dying in faith in the same Christ who has now come, will be gathered to their people.
But how or what kind of place it is, we do not know. But it is certain that it is not an evil place, and that they are not tormented or afflicted with any pain, but rest in God's grace. Just as in this life they sleep soundly and are in God's and the dear angels' protection and shield, and are not afraid of any danger, even if they were in the midst of the devils: so also after this life the souls of the righteous are in God's hand, as it is written in the Book of Wisdom in 3 Cap. V. 1.
442 But what manner of rest there is, or how it is, no one has ever known, except those who were raised with Christ, or whom he raised from the dead, such as Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, and others, as well as the widow's son of Nain, and the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus.
443 But there is no doubt, those who are gathered to their people rest in peace. Yes, you say, but how is this done? Tell me how it is that you sleep, or in what way the fruit is preserved in the womb. Your mother has felt well.
that you stirred and moved in her womb and lived, but you do not know how you lived, felt with your hands and saw. You also sucked your mother's breasts, not knowing anything about it; and now you want to know and understand how God keeps you in peace and preserves you after death!
For this reason we are to believe that there is a special place for the elect, where they all rest, except for those who, according to God's will, should rise with Christ. For God was pleased to honor the day of the firstfruits, the resurrection of Christ, with their resurrection. And I believe that Joseph also was raised from the dead, all of whom lay in the graves until the future of Christ. This we are to believe, and not to inquire so forwardly and exactly into the manner of this rest. Rather, let it be your command and concern that you be one of God's people and believe that Christ has risen from the dead. God will see to it that you will also be among the people of the elect, who made and made it possible for you to be healthy and alive in the womb, in the cradle and in sleep.
It is truly a wonderful thing that God makes us more like unreasonable animals in sleeping, waking, and other things. For the soul of man sleeps in such a way that all the senses are buried, as it were, and our bed is like a grave, in which there is nothing troublesome or burdensome. So also in this place, where the dead are led, there is no pain at all, but, as they say, they rest there in peace; just as no sign of any pain or trouble is felt by those who have been raised from sleep and are now awake, although they do not know what has happened in the meantime while they were asleep. The same thing happens when a man is raptured in his mind, which they call ecstasis; as Augustine tells of a rapture that he himself and also his mother are said to have had, that neither of them knew anything about it, since they again came to themselves, in which place they had been.
446 Therefore the death of the saints is honest, and as the 116th Psalm v. 15. says, it is precious and worthy in the sight of the Lord. The cows and oxen have no place where they are gathered, as the saints have, although we do not know it in this life, as we do not know many other things either. I have often tried to remember the moment of time when I either fall asleep or wake up again, but I have never been able to grasp it, or that sleep has not overtaken me and entered me before I thought or meant it. Our death and resurrection will be the same. We go there and come back on the last day, before we become aware of it, also do not know how long we have been out.
447 Therefore we say that there is no purgatory, or limbus patrum (bosom of the fathers), in which they say that there should still be a certain hope, waiting for salvation; but the same is nothing but the poetry of some crude unlearned sophist. For this very hope and expectation would afflict them; as the saying is Proverbs 13:12, "Hope consuming the heart"; as we suffer in hope, though we are not ashamed of it. But those people of God after this life suffer no anguish of longing for salvation, but sleep the softest sleep and in good quiet rest; as Christ Matth. 5, v. 39. says of the daughter of Jairus: The maiden is not dead, she lives and rests etc.
448 Lastly, that Jacob put his feet together on the bed indicates that this was a special way of the people. And Moses shows that Jacob sat in bed while he talked with his children; but when he had finished talking, he laid his head on the bed, and on the bed he drew up his feet again. This also shows that he willingly and with knowledge gave up his spirit in faith and hope in the future Lord Christ. He put his legs from the earth on the bed and said: "I am going there in the name of Christ.