Tyrannius Rufinus

In his own words on Genesis

• Genesis 49:3

  It seems to me that, according to the mystical interpretation, Reuben may play the role of the first Jewish people, that is, the firstborn and the beginning of the children, as the prophet says: "Israel is my firstborn." The words of God in fact were first addressed to that people. And the Scriptures relate that that people was hard and reckless. About whom the prophet says, "Whatsoever this people says, is hard." Elsewhere he says again about the Jews, "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart." And these people offended God the Father when they turned their back to him and not their face. They defiled the concubine's bed into which they got, that is, the law of the Old Testament, which they often stained with their transgressions. Paul teaches us that the concubine symbolically represents the law of the Old Testament by saying, "Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman: these are the two Testaments"; and Hagar, who was the concubine, clearly is the figure of the Old Testament.One indeed was the perfect dove or mother, the church that, as a chaste virgin and as a queen for her bridegroom the king, is united through the gospel to Christ.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.5

• Genesis 49:6-7

  As for the historical account, it seems that in this passage [Simeon and Levi] are reproached because, through deceit and fraud, they slaughtered Shechem, the son of Hamor, who after sleeping with their sister had tried to associate himself with the family of Israel. They also destroyed the whole people [of Shechem], so that Israel himself, their father, said to them, "You made me odious in this world." Therefore he curses their cruelty and their recklessness and declares he will scatter them amid the people of Israel, and that from them the Levites and the priests who do not have their own inheritance of land will descend.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.7

• Genesis 49:8

  This can be referred to the historical Judah as well as to those kings who were his descendants. They broke the back of their enemies by administering the kingdom of that people. But this can also be fittingly referred to Christ, who is praised with good reason by his brothers, that is, by the apostles whom he himself called brothers in the Gospel. And his enemies, on whose back is his hand, appear to be those whom the Father promised to place under his feet by saying, "Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet." They are enemies as long as they are unbelieving and unfaithful, and for that reason they are struck on the back. But after their conversion they become brothers and praise the One who, by summoning them to the adoption of the Father, has made them his coheirs and brothers. It is said correctly that the back of the enemies is struck by Christ. All those who worshiped the idols turned their back to God, as the Lord, through the prophet, accused them by saying, "They turned their backs to me, and not their faces." Therefore he strikes their back so that after being converted they may turn their back to the idols and raise their forehead to God and may accomplish what is written here: "Your father's sons shall bow down before you." In fact, they adore him when they have become sons of the Father and have received the spirit of adoption in which they cry out, "Abba, Father." No one calls Jesus Christ Lord except those who are in the Holy Spirit.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.5

• Genesis 49:9

  "Judah is a lion's whelp: from the shoot, my son, you have gone up." With good reason the one who was crucified and resurrected with Christ is called "young lion," as Paul, who was rightly considered to be a Judah, said when he confessed his sin: "For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." And Paul asserts that the essence of Christ [lit. "what Christ is"] is in himself when he proclaims, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." Therefore a young lion is either the one who sleeps with Christ, because he died for sins, or the one who is resurrected with Christ, because he lives for God.And the son has sprouted from the shoot. Without doubt the reference here is to the one who, being a wild olive tree, was grafted onto the good olive tree. He rejected the vulgar and gross morals of the carnal nature, remaining in Christ, the true vine, through the spirit of adoption, thereby producing much fruit from his precepts. And since he is so, reclining, he sleeps like a lion. The wise man has the confidence of the lion, especially when he can assuredly assert, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." No fear, no threat, no temptation can awaken him; his decisions are firm, and his mind is stable.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.11

• Genesis 49:9

  "Having crouched, you slept as a lion and as a whelp." It is evident that the actions of crouching and sleeping signify the passion and death. But let us see why he sleeps as a lion and a whelp. With regard to the sleep of the whelp it has been already said above that it can very conveniently be referred to Christ, who, after being buried for three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, completed, as was expected, the sleep of death. But I believe that the expression "as a lion" must be interpreted in this way: the death of Christ marked the defeat and the triumph over the demons. In fact, our lion captured all the prey that the hostile lion had conquered after destroying and crushing the man. Then, by coming back from the underworld and ascending on high, he made slavery his captive. Therefore in his sleep the lion won and defeated every evil and destroyed the one who had the power of death. And like a whelp he woke up on the third day.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.6

• Genesis 49:9

  The mystical interpretation, according to which the lion's whelp not only symbolically but also literally signifies Christ, is much more suitable to this passage. In fact, the Physiologus writes with regard to the lion's whelp that after its birth it sleeps for three days and three nights; then the lair itself awakens the sleeping whelp, as if it was shaken by the noise and the roar of the father. Therefore this whelp rises from the shoot: he was born from the Virgin, not from a seed but from a shoot. So Christ was born without sexual intercourse with a man and without the natural seed, like a bough or a branch. In this manner the reality of the assumption of the flesh from the Virgin is clearly demonstrated, and the contact with human or natural seed is excluded in the holy shoot.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.6

• Genesis 49:10

  "And he will be the expectation of nations." Since we propose to investigate once and for all the moral meaning of the text, we need to look inside ourselves for those nations who expect from confession such purification and perfection of the senses. We can certainly see the nations inside ourselves as all the passions of our soul, which are more restless in our youth and, in a sense, act like pagans.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.11

• Genesis 49:10

  This passage clearly refers to Judah. It appears that until the birth of Christ there was no lack of princes from the family of Judah or of heads from its sides, until Herod came, who according to the history written by Josephus was a foreigner and usurped the throne of Judea through his plots. As soon as this happened and a head from the sides of Judah was lacking, the one to whom the kingdom had been reserved immediately came.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.7

• Genesis 49:11

  "Binding his foal to the vine." Here we understand "foal" as the sense itself (intelligence, reason) on account of the renewal of life: that same sense which elsewhere the Lord calls "child," when he says, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." When one unites with the Lord and becomes a single spirit with him, he binds his foal to the vine by saying, "It is good for me to cleave close to God." "And his ass's foal to its branch." That branch or rather that tendril, as we have interpreted it above, can be understood as the subtle and flexible intelligence of knowledge. When the ass's foal, that is, the senses of the soul, are bound to it, they prevent the soul itself from falling.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.11

• Genesis 49:11

  "He shall wash his robe in wine and his garment in the blood of grapes." These words, on the basis of the historical account, will appear to signify a fertile land full of vineyards or, in a hyperbolic manner, the abundance of wine. But the mystical explanation will give them a nobler sense. Christ's robe washed in wine is interpreted with good reason as the church, which he himself has purified in his blood and is spotless and faultless. "You were not redeemed through silver and gold," the apostle says, "but through the precious blood of the only-begotten Son of God." And therefore in the wine of that blood, that is, in the bath of regeneration Christ washes the church. And we are buried with him through baptism in his death and in his blood.… But let us see how he will wash his garment in the blood of grapes. The garment appears to be a more intimate cloth, which is closer to the body than the robe. Those who, after they had been washed with the bath and had become his robe, reached the sacrament of the blood of grapes, that is, a more intimate and more secret mystery; they in a sense participate in his garment. In fact, the soul is washed in the blood of grapes, when it has begun to grasp the meaning of that sacrament. After perceiving and comprehending the virtue of the blood of the Word of God, the soul will become more receptive as it is purer. Each day it is washed in order to improve in its knowledge.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.9

• Genesis 49:11

  This is appropriately and exclusively said about Christ. He that said, "I am the true vine" bound his foal to the vine. Therefore he binds his foal and his ass's foal to this vine. His foal is the people of the nations, onto whom certainly the burden of the law had never been imposed and among whom no one but he had ever held the first position. His ass's foal are those, who coming from the first people symbolized here by the she-ass, were elected for salvation and about whom the prophet says, "If the sons of Israel are like the sand of the sea, the rest shall be saved." After rejecting the she-ass who preferred to wear the yoke of the law in its infidelity, the foal born from it is elected, that is, a new people coming from the old one through faith is adopted and associated to the people of the nations. Therefore Christ is called "vine" because he has received the human nature, to which the Word of God binds his foal, that is, unites his people and associates it with that way of life that he followed in the flesh, so that the foal that has been bound may become with him son of God and coheir of Christ.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.8

• Genesis 49:12

  We have already discussed many times about the nature and quality of Christ's limbs, and it seems to be superfluous to repeat again the same things in this passage. So his teeth whiter than milk are those who can chew and grind with their teeth the strong and solid food of the Word of God to extreme fineness, those about whom the apostle in his epistle to the Hebrews says, "Solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil." About the still imperfect Corinthians he says, "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food." Since they are superior to those who live on milk, his teeth are therefore white, that is, those who can take and eat solid food are superior to those who still need milk like babies. That is why in the law those animals which ruminate and bring back to their teeth the food that they had previously eaten, in order to make it very fine for their feeding, are called pure animals. And so in the most consistent manner his teeth are said to be white. All those who are perfect and, by explaining through worthy and proper interpretations the food of the Scripture, administer to the church the subtle and fine intelligence, which is called spiritual, must be pure and free and faultless, so that they may never be told, "You, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself?"

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.10

• Genesis 49:12

  And also Christ's eyes will be like this, those eyes which bring the light of knowledge to the whole body, according to what is written in the Gospel: "The lamp of your body is the eye." Therefore these eyes are made graceful: a word of knowledge is seasoned with salt to be pleasing to the audience. The one who proclaims the word of knowledge is not said to be "made graceful" just because he has in himself the grace but because he also acts in order that his listeners may have the grace. In fact, "after comprehending that, the wise man will become wiser." His eyes are made graceful by wine because nothing is watery, nothing is fluid, nothing is cold in the word of knowledge. It is like a wine that cheers the human heart and is sprinkled on the wounds of the victims of robbers. This means that the wounds of the listeners, their sins, are not only soothed by the sweetness of oil but are also purified by the harshness of wine.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.10

• Genesis 49:13

  But the fact that he extends as far as Sidon, that is, to the hunters, might mean that this man also tries to be among those to whom it was said, "Catch us the little foxes that spoil the vineyards." Therefore Zebulun extends to the hunters, so that he may learn to hunt, in case some wild animals or cunning foxes, that is, ferocious demons or damaging thoughts, should enter his heart and try to destroy the vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth. In order to catch them, he has become a good hunter against bad thoughts.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.11

• Genesis 49:14

  Above we have taken into consideration that one who erred because of the threefold impulse of the soul (as a weakness of the entire soul), which is divided into carnal passion symbolized by Reuben, into anger symbolized by Simeon and into ill-directed prudence symbolized by Levi. But then we have shown this person when he repents in the figure of Judah and is largely converted in the figure of Zebulun. In Issachar, which means "reward," we see this man wait for the reward of his good works; and since he has not only driven away the evil but has also wished for the good, he rests in the midst of his lots. In the midst is the one who, according to the warning of the Wisdom, turns neither to the left nor the right, that is, who stays and walks on the right path of virtue. Here the "lots" can be interpreted in this manner: "lot" is understood as that which allows people to obtain a part of the inheritance. This does not appear to happen casually, as the pagans think, but is decreed by the judgment and the division of God. Therefore in this moral explanation we must understand the "lots" to be the commandments of God through which the heavenly inheritance will be obtained. So this already converted man hopes in the reward for his actions and rests in the midst of the lots, that is, in the midst of the commandments of God, "seeing that the rest is good and that the land is fertile." After driving away and suppressing the internal fight of his thoughts, which lasted as long as the flesh in him opposed the desires of the spirit and the spirit those of the flesh, his spirit eventually took rest in God. He has seen that the rest is good, since Jesus could by now say to him, "Come and rest awhile." But he also sees that the land is good. When did he see that the land is good? When he purified his flesh from vices and passions, he saw that the land was fertile and fruitful.… We must consider him to be a farmer of his land. He is the one who constantly breaks and furrows with the plough of the Word of God and with the ploughshare of Scripture the fields of his soul and the fallow lands of his heart, and waters the plantations of faith, of charity, of hope and justice with the springs of Israel, and employs any method of agriculture in the field of his soul.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.14

• Genesis 49:17

  The path indicates a more narrow way, which demonstrates that he does not walk along that wide and spacious way leading to death but along that narrow way full of obstacles leading to life. He bites the heel of the horse and so does what the apostle Paul said: "I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." He acts in this manner so that the rider may fall backwards. He always fears elations and heights and prefers his soul to fall from an evil height to an honest humility, in order to learn from Christ, who is modest and gentle in his heart. It is typical of those who progress to fear elation. And finally a very important apostle like Paul said, "A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to keep me from being too elated." And so the soul, after being recalled from elation and led back to the humility of Christ, waits for the salvation of the Lord.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.17

• Genesis 49:19

  And therefore, according to a similar process, the moral sense develops: that man of ours, after confessing his error, by his repentance turns out to be converted through knowledge and shows a significant progress, so that he is tempted by the enemy and the strength of his soul and the soundness of his intentions are tested. In fact, the Scripture says, "The one who is not tempted is not credible." No one will ever reach perfection if he is not first tested in temptations.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.20

• Genesis 49:20

  Since Asher means "blessed," the bread of that one whom, after being recalled from error to penitence, we lead step by step to the present state of blessedness, after his conversion, after the spiritual knowledge, after the victory over temptations, is, to be sure, called "fat." He eats that bread "which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world," and that bread is fat for him.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.21

• Genesis 49:21

  With regard to the third explanation, the interpretation of the name Naphtali is that indicated by his father when he blesses him, that is, "leafy tree" or "vine." There was that man of ours, who a bit earlier fed on fat bread and offered food to princes (that bread that comforts the heart of people8). Now, as a second phase, Christ, the true vine, has shown for him a splendid fruit through which he may now cheer with wine the heart that he had comforted before with bread. In both cases it seems to me that he has reached such a stage of progress that he may even obtain the sacraments of priesthood. But if we prefer to interpret Nephthalim as "tree," which shows its beauty in its fruits, instead of "leafy vine," what will ever be the tree showing its beauty in the fruits but the Wisdom of God? About her Solomon says, "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her."

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.24

• Genesis 49:22

  What is the significance of the fact that only Joseph among all the brothers is called son three times? In accordance with the limits of my point of view, I understand that the first time Joseph was born [to his father] as a son, because he was born of Rachel when his father did not hope any longer to obtain an offspring. But then Joseph was, in a sense, born to his father a second time as a son, because it was announced to Jacob that he was alive, when he was by now convinced of his death. And finally he becomes his son for the third time when, by instructing [Joseph] and educating him with doctrine and erudition and all the virtues through which he was able to see God, he had begotten him also in the spirit. On the other hand, it would not be correct for Jacob to call Joseph the youngest son, since he is older than Benjamin, unless we must understand that he is the youngest in the teaching of his father.

• Genesis 49:26

  Now then, with regard to the third sense, that man, being renewed and increased through the spiritual steps, ascends to the greatness of Joseph, who, thanks to the progress of his faith and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, rose to such an extent that he became the victim of envy. Therefore by what garlands braided by our words will that man be crowned for whom, after fighting, and completing his race and preserving his faith, God, the just Judge, keeps in store the crown of justice? About him the father says, "Joseph is a son increased." And who is so increased as that one who, after his errors and fall, is renewed and returned through the different stages of virtue to such a degree that he reaches the greatest victory? But since he rises little by little, for this reason he is said to be increased in the single stages. In fact, first he began to be increased in Judah through confession. Then he is increased again in Zebulun because he dispelled the obscurity of darkness. Then he is increased again in Issachar because the reward for his works was increased. He is increased again in Dan when he began to keep a correct capacity of judgment in the context of his free will. He is increased again in Gad because he resisted temptation. He is finally increased in Asher when he reached beatitude. In an appropriate manner Joseph also is called "increased son," because he obtains already the goods to come. But he is also called "envied son," that is, the one who is set as a model to be imitated by the righteous and will receive the zeal of envy and hatred from the wicked. Also the apostle speaks about the good and the bad zeal and with regard to the evil zeal of the Jews says, "They make much of you, but for no good purpose." And with regard to the good zeal, he says about himself, "I feel a divine jealousy for you." But he is also called "the youngest son." Why should not that one who put off the old man with his actions, resurrected in Christ and walking in the renewal of life, be called the youngest son? And this new man will be called "son" three times. The first was his birth according to the flesh, the second the birth through conversion and baptism. The third is the birth also defined as regeneration, which is the resurrection of the dead.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.27

• Genesis 49:27

  "At evening he will divide the food." The evening is that final time when Paul is converted. Thus we also call evening the time of our conversion in which we are now. Then he will divide the food, then he understands that in the law it is necessary to divide the letter from the spirit and will know that "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Since after being enlightened by the grace of the Lord, Paul begins to divide and separate in the law the spiritual realities from the corporeal ones, he is said to divide the food at evening. In fact, although meditating all day long on the law, he had not done that before.

  THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 2.29