Book Of Genesis - From The Latin Vulgate - Chapter 15
INTRODUCTION.
The Hebrews now entitle all the Five Books of Moses, from the initial words, which originally were written like one continued word or verse; but the Sept. have preferred to give the titles the most memorable occurrences of each work. On this occasion, the Creation of all things out of nothing, strikes us with peculiar force. We find a refutation of all the heathenish mythology, and of the world’s eternity, which Aristotle endeavoured to establish. We behold the short reign of innocence, and the origin of sin and misery, the dispersion of nations, and the providence of God watching over his chosen people, till the death of Joseph, about the year 2369 (Usher) 2399 (Sal. and Tirin) B.C. 1631. We shall witness the same care in the other Books of Scripture, and adore his wisdom and goodness in preserving to himself faithful witnesses, and a true Holy Catholic Church, in all ages, even when the greatest corruption seemed to overspread the land. H.
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This Book is so called from its treating of the Generation, that is, of the Creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it Bereshith, from the word with which it begins. It contains not only the History of the Creation of the World, but also an account of its progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of Joseph.
The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.
Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY
This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock’s notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock’s Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:
Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.
Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers’ marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.
Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.
Other special characters.
Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as .
Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.
Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.
The half symbol (½) and three-quarters symbol (¾) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.
Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber’s copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].
Chapter 15
God promiseth seed to Abram. His faith, sacrifice and vision.
[1] Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.
His itaque transactis, factus est sermo Domini ad Abram per visionem dicens : Noli timere, Abram : ego protector tuus sum, et merces tua magna nimis.
[2] And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.
Dixitque Abram : Domine Deus, quid dabis mihi? ego vadam absque liberis, et filius procuratoris domus meae iste Damascus Eliezer.
[3] And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.
Addiditque Abram : Mihi autem non dedisti semen, et ecce vernaculus meus, haeres meus erit.
[4] And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.
Statimque sermo Domini factus est ad eum, dicens : Non erit hic haeres tuus, sed qui egredietur de utero tuo, ipsum habebis haeredem.
[5] And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
Eduxitque eum foras, et ait illi : Suscipe caelum, et numera stellas, si potes. Et dixit ei : Sic erit semen tuum.
[6] Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
Credidit Abram Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam.
[7] And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.
Dixitque ad eum : Ego Dominus qui eduxi te de Ur Chaldaeorum ut darem tibi terram istam, et possideres eam.
[8] But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?
At ille ait : Domine Deus, unde scire possum quod possessurus sim eam?
[9] And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.
Et respondens Dominus : Sume, inquit, mihi vaccam trienem, et capram trimam, et arietem annorum trium, turturem quoque et columbam.
[10] And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.
Qui tollens universa haec, divisit ea per medium, et utrasque partes contra se altrinsecus posuit; aves autem non divisit.
[11] And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
Descenderuntque volucres super cadavera, et abigebat eas Abram.
[12] And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
Cumque sol occumberet, sopor irruit super Abram, et horror magnus et tenebrosus invasit eum.
[13] And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.
Dictumque est ad eum : Scito praenoscens quod peregrinum futurum sit semen tuum in terra non sua, et subjicient eos servituti, et affligent quadringentis annis.
[14] But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.
Verumtamen gentem, cui servituri sunt, ego judicabo : et post haec egredientur cum magna substantia.
[15] And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.
Tu autem ibis ad patres tuos in pace, sepultus in senectute bona.
[16] But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.
Generatione autem quarta revertentur huc : necdum enim completae sunt iniquitates Amorrhaeorum usque ad praesens tempus.
[17] And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
Cum ergo occubuisset sol, facta est caligo tenebrosa, et apparuit clibanus fumans, et lampas ignis transiens inter divisiones illas.
[18] That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.
In illo die pepigit Dominus foedus cum Abram, dicens : Semini tuo dabo terram hanc a fluvio Aegypti usque ad fluvium magnum Euphraten,
[19] The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,
Cinaeos, et Cenezaeos, Cedmonaeos,
[20] And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
et Hethaeos, et Pherezaeos, Raphaim quoque,
[21] And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
et Amorrhaeos, et Chananaeos, et Gergesaeos, et Jebusaeos.
Commentary:
Ver. 1. Fear not. He might naturally be under some apprehensions, lest the four kings should attempt to be revenged upon him. --- Reward, since thou hast so generously despised earthly riches. H. --- Abram was not asleep, but saw a vision of exterior objects. v. 5.
Ver. 2. I shall go. To what purpose should I heap up riches, since I have no son to inherit them? Abram knew that God had promised him a numerous posterity; but he was not apprized how this was to be verified, and whether he was to adopt some other for his son and heir. Therefore, he asks modestly, how he out to understand the promise. --- And the son, &c. Heb. is differently rendered, "and the steward of my house, this Eliezer of Damascus." We know not whether Eliezer or Damascus be the proper name. The Sept. have "the son of Mesech, my handmaid, this Eliezer of Damascus." Most people suppose, that Damascus was the son of Eliezer, the steward. The sentence is left unfinished, and must be supplied from the following verse, shall be my heir. The son of the steward, filius procurationis, may mean the steward himself, as the son of perdition denotes the person lost. C.
Ver. 6. Reputed by God, who cannot judge wrong; so that Abram increased in justice by this act of faith, believing that his wife, now advanced in years, would have a child; from whom others should spring, more numerous than the stars of heaven. H. --- This faith was accompanied and followed by many other acts of virtue. S. Jam. ii. 22. W.
Ver. 8. Whereby, &c. Thus the blessed Virgin asked, how shall this be done? Lu. i. 34. without the smallest degree of unbelief. Abram wished to know, by what signs he should be declared the lawful owner of the land. H.
Ver. 9. Three years, when these animals have obtained a perfect age.
Ver. 12. A deep sleep, or ecstasy, like that of Adam. G. ii. 21, wherein God revealed to him the oppression of his posterity in Egypt, which filled him with such horror (M.) as we experience when something frightful comes upon us suddenly in the dark. This darkness represents the dismal situation of Joseph, confined in a dungeon; and of the Hebrews condemned to hard labour, in making bricks, and obliged to hide their male children, for fear of their being discovered, and slain. Before these unhappy days commenced, the posterity of Abram were exposed to great oppression among the Chanaanites, nor could they in any sense be said to possess the land of promise, for above 400 years after this prophetic sleep. H.
Ver. 13. Strangers, and under bondage, &c. This prediction may be dated from the persecution of Isaac by Ismael, A. 2112, till the Jews left Egypt, 2513. In Exodus xii. and S. Paul, 430 years are mentioned; but they probably began when Abram went first into Egypt, 2084. Nicholas Abram and Tournemine say, the Hebrews remained in Egypt full 430 years. from the captivity of Joseph; and reject the addition of the Sept. which adds, "they and their fathers dwelt in Egypt, and in Chanaan." On these points, we may expect to find chronologists at variance.
Ver. 14. Judge and punish the Egyptians, overwhelming them in the Red sea, &c. H.
Ver. 16. Fourth, &c. after the 400 years are finished; during which period of time, God was pleased to bear with those wicked nations; whose iniquity chiefly consisted in idolatry, oppression of the poor and strangers, forbidden marriages of kindred, and abominable lusts. Levit. xviii. Deut. vi. and xii. M.
Ver. 17. A lamp, or symbol of the Divinity, passing, as Abram also did, between the divided beasts, to ratify the covenant. See Jer. xxxiv. 18.
Ver. 18. Of Egypt, a branch of the Nile, not far from Pelusium. This was to be the southern limit, and the Euphrates the northern; the two other boundaries are given, Num. xxxiv. --- Perhaps Solomon's empire extended so far. At least, the Jews would have enjoyed these territories, if they had been faithful. M.
Ver. 19. Cineans, in Arabia, of which nation was Jethro. They were permitted to dwell in the tribe of Juda, and served the Hebrews. --- Cenezites, who probably inhabited the mountains of Juda. --- Cedmonites, or eastern people, as their name shews. Cadmus was of this nation, of the race of the Heveans, dwelling in the environs of mount Hermon, whence his wife was called Hermione. He was, perhaps, one of those who fled at the approach of Josue; and was said to have sowed dragons' teeth, to people his city of Thebes in Beotia, from an allusion to the name of the Hevites, which signifies serpents. C. --- The eleven nations here mentioned were not all subdued; on account of the sins of the Hebrews. M.
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