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The City of God Against the Pagans
Book XV |
Book XVII
ARGUMENT
IN THE FORMER PART OF THIS BOOK, FROM THE FIRST TO THE
TWELFTH CHAPTER , THE PROGRESS OF THE TWO CITIES, THE
EARTHLY AND THE HEAVENLY, FROM NOAH TO ABRAHAM, IS
EXHIBITED FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE: IN THE LATTER PART, THE
PROGRESS OF THE HEAVENLY ALONE, FROM ABRAHAM TO THE
KINGS OF ISRAEL, IS THE SUBJECT.
CHAPTER 1
WHETHER, AFTER THE DELUGE, FROM NOAH TO
ABRAHAM, ANY FAMILIES CAN BE FOUND
WHO LIVED ACCORDING TO GOD
IT is difficult to discover from Scripture, whether, after the deluge, traces of the holy city are continuous, or are so interrupted by intervening seasons of godlessness, that not a single worshipper of the one true God was found among men; because from Noah, who, with his wife, three sons, and as many daughters-in-law, achieved deliverance in the ark from the destruction of the deluge, down to Abraham, we do not find in the canonical books that the piety of any one is celebrated by express divine
testimony, unless it be in the case of Noah, who commends with a prophetic benediction his two sons Shem and Japheth, while he beheld and foresaw what was long afterwards to happen. It was also by this prophetic spirit that, when his middle son — that is, the son who was
younger than the first and older than the last born — had sinned against him, he cursed him not in his own person, but in his son's (his own grandson's), in the words, "Cursed be the lad Canaan; a servant shall he be
unto his brethren." Now Canaan was born of Ham, who, so far from covering his sleeping father's nakedness, had divulged it. For the same reason also he subjoins the blessing on his two other sons, the oldest and youngest, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall gladden Japheth, and he shall dwell in the houses of Shem." And so, too, the planting of the vine by Noah, and his intoxication by its fruit, and his nakedness while he slept, and the other things done at
that time, and recorded, are all of them pregnant with prophetic meanings, and veiled in mysteries.
CHAPTER 2
WHAT WAS PROPHETICALLY PREFIGURED
IN THE SONS OF NOAH
The things which then were hidden are now sufficiently revealed by the actual events which have followed. For who can carefully and intelligently consider these things without recognizing them accomplished in Christ? Shem, of whom Christ was born in the flesh, means "named." And what is of greater name than Christ, the fragrance of whose name is now everywhere perceived, so that even prophecy sings of it beforehand, comparing it in the Song of Songs, to ointment poured forth? Is it not also in the houses of Christ, that is, in the churches, that the "enlargement" of
the nations dwells? For Japheth means "enlargement." And Ham (i. e. , hot), who was the middle son of Noah, and, as it were, separated himself from both, and remained between them, neither belonging to the first-fruits of
Israel nor to the fullness of the Gentiles, what does he signify but the tribe of heretics, hot with the spirit, not of patience, but of impatience, with which the breasts of heretics are wont to blaze, and with which they disturb the peace of the saints? But even the heretics yield an advantage to those that make proficiency, according to the apostle's saying, "There must also beheresies, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." Whence, too, it is elsewhere said, "The son that receives instruction will be wise, and he uses the foolish as his servant." For while the hot restlessness of heretics stirs questions about manyarticles of the catholic faith, the necessity of defending them forces us both to investigate them more accurately, to understand them more clearly, and to proclaim them more earnestly; and the question mooted by an adversary becomes the occasion of instruction. However, not only those who are openly separated from the church, but also all who glory in the Christian name, and at the same time lead abandoned lives, may without absurdity seem to be figured by Noah's middle son: for the passion of Christ, which was
signified by that man's nakedness, is at once proclaimed by their profession, and dishonored by their wicked conduct. Of such, therefore, it has been said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." And therefore was Ham cursed in his son, he being, as it were, his fruit. So, too, this son of
his, Canaan, is fitly interpreted "their movement," which is nothing else than their work. But Shem and Japheth, that is to say, the circumcision and uncircumcision, or, as the apostle otherwise calls them, the Jews and
Greeks, but called and justified, having somehow discovered the nakedness of their father (which signifies the Savior's passion), took a garment and laid it upon their backs, and entered backwards and covered their father's nakedness, without their seeing what their reverence hid. For we both honor the passion of Christ as accomplished for us, and we hate the crime of the Jews who crucified Him. The garment signifies the sacrament, their
backs the memory of things past: for the church celebrates the passion of Christ as already accomplished, and no longer to be looked forward to, now that Japheth already dwells in the habitations of Shem, and their wicked brother between them.
But the wicked brother is, in the person of his son (i. e. , his work), the boy, or slave, of his good brothers, when good men make a skillful use of bad men, either for the exercise of their patience or for their advancement in wisdom. For the apostle testifies that there are some who preach Christ from no pure motives; "but," says be, "whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." For it is Christ Himself who planted the vine of which the prophet says, "The vine of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel;" and He drinks of its wine,
whether we thus understand that cup of which He says, "Can ye drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" and, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," by which He obviously means His passion. Or, as wine is
the fruit of the vine, we may prefer to understand that from this vine, that
is to say, from the race of Israel, He has assumed flesh and blood that He
might suffer; "and he was drunken," that is, He suffered; "and was naked,"
that is, His weakness appeared in His suffering, as the apostle says,
"though He was crucified through weakness." Wherefore the same apostle
says, "The weakness of God is stronger than men; and the foolishness of
God is wiser than men." And when to the expression "he was naked"
Scripture adds "in his house," it elegantly intimates that Jesus was to
suffer the cross and death at the hands of His own household, His own
kith and kin, the Jews. This passion of Christ is only externally and
verbally professed by the reprobate, for what they profess. they do not
understand. But the elect hold in the inner man this so great mystery, and
honor inwardly in the heart this weakness and foolishness of God. And of
this there is a figure in Ham going out to proclaim his father's nakedness;
while Shem and Japheth, to cover or honor it, went in, that is to say, did it
inwardly.
These secrets of divine Scripture we investigate as well as we can. All will
not accept our interpretation with equal confidence, but all hold it certain
that these things were neither done nor recorded without some
foreshadowing of future events, and that they are to be referred only to
Christ and His church, which is the city of God, proclaimed from the very
beginning of human history by figures which we now see everywhere
accomplished. From the blessing of the two sons of Noah, and the cursing
of the middle son, down to Abraham, or for more than a thousand years,
there is, as I have said, no mention of any righteous persons who
worshipped God. I do not therefore conclude that there were none; but it
had been tedious to mention every one, and would have displayed
historical accuracy rather than prophetic foresight. The object of the writer
of these sacred books, or rather of the Spirit of God in him, is not only to
record the past, but to depict the future, so far as it regards the city of
God; for whatever is said of those who are not its citizens, is given either
for her instruction, or as a foil to enhance her glory. Yet we are not to
suppose that all that is recorded has some signification; but those things
which have no signification of their own are interwoven for the sake of the
things which are significant. It is only the ploughshare that cleaves the soil;
but to effect this, other parts of the plough are requisite. It is only the
strings in harps and other musical instruments which produce melodious
sounds; but that they may do so, there are other parts of the instrument
which are not indeed struck by those who sing, but are connected with the
strings which are struck, and produce musical notes. So in this prophetic
history some things are narrated which have no significance, but are, as it
were, the framework to which the significant things are attached.
CHAPTER 3
OF THE GENERATIONS
OF THE THREE SONS OF NOAH
We must therefore introduce into this work an explanation of the
generations of the three sons of Noah, in so far as that may illustrate the
progress in time of the two cities. Scripture first mentions that of the
youngest son, who is called Japheth: he had eight sons, and by two of
these sons seven grandchildren, three by one son, four by the other; in all,
fifteen descendants. Ham, Noah's middle son, had four sons, and by one of
them five grandsons, and by one of these two great-grandsons; in all,
eleven. After enumerating these, Scripture returns to the first of the sons,
and says, "Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a giant on the earth. He was
a giant hunter against the Lord God: wherefore they say, As Nimrod the
giant hunter against the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was
Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land
went forth Assur, and built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: this was a great city." Now this
Cush, father of the giant Nimrod, is the first-named among the sons of
Ham, to whom five sons and two grandsons are ascribed. But he either
begat this giant after his grandsons were born, or, which is more credible,
Scripture speaks of him separately on account of his eminence; for
mention is also made of his kingdom, which began with that magnificent
city Babylon, and the other places, whether cities or districts, mentioned
along with it. But what is recorded of the land of Shinar which belonged to
Nimrod's kingdom, to wit, that Assur went forth from it and built Nineveh
and the other cities mentioned with it, happened long after; but he takes
occasion to speak of it here on account of the grandeur of the Assyrian
kingdom, which was wonderfully extended by Ninus son of Belus, and
founder of the great city Nineveh, which was named after him, Nineveh,
from Ninus. But Assur, father of the Assyrian, was not one of the sons of
Ham, Noah's son, but is found among the sons of Shem, his eldest son.
Whence it appears that among Shem's offspring there arose men who
afterwards took possession of that giant's kingdom, and advancing from it,
founded other cities, the first of which was called Nineveh, from Ninus.
From him Scripture returns to Ham's other son, Mizraim; and his sons are
enumerated, not as seven individuals, but as seven nations. Arid from the
sixth, as if from the sixth son, the race called the Philistines are said to have
sprung; so that there are in all eight. Then it returns again to Canaan, in
whose person Ham was cursed; and his eleven sons are named. Then the
territories they occupied, and some of the cities, are named. And thus, if
we count sons and grandsons, there are thirty-one of Ham's descendants
registered.
It remains to mention the sons of Shem, Noah's eldest son; for to him this
genealogical narrative gradually ascends from the youngest. But in the
commencement of the record of Shem's sons there is an obscurity which
calls for explanation, since it is closely connected with the object of our
investigation. For we read, "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children
of Heber, the brother of Japheth the elder, were children born." This is the
order of the words: And to Shem was born Heber, even to himself, that is,
to Shem himself was born Heber, and Shem is the father of all his children.
We are intended to understand that Shem is the patriarch of all his
posterity who were to be mentioned, whether sons, grandsons, great-grand-
sons, or descendants at any remove. For Shem did not beget Heber,
who was indeed in the fifth generation from him. For Shem begat, among
other sons, Arphaxad; Arphaxad begat Cainan, Cainan begat Salah, Salah
begat Heber. And it was with good reason that he was named first among
Shem's offspring, taking precedence even of his sons, though only a
grandchild of the fifth generation; for from him, as tradition says, the
Hebrews derived their name, though the other etymology which derives
the name from Abraham (as if Abrahews) may possibly be correct. But
there can be little doubt that the former is the right etymology, and that
they were called after Heber, Heberews, and then, dropping a letter,
Hebrews; and so was their language called Hebrew, which was spoken by
none but the people of Israel among whom was the city of God,
mysteriously prefigured in all the people, and truly present in the saints.
Six of Shem's sons then are first named, then four grandsons born to one of
these sons; then it mentions another son of Shem, who begat a grandson;
and his son, again, or Shem's great-grandson, was Heber. And Heber begat
two sons, and called the one Peleg, which means "dividing;" and Scripture
subjoins the reason of this name, saying, "for in his days was the earth
divided." What this means will afterwards appear. Heber's other son begat
twelve sons; consequently all Shem's descendants are twenty-seven. The
total number of the progeny of the three sons of Noah is seventy-three,
fifteen by Japheth, thirty-one by Ham, twenty-seven by Shem. Then
Scripture adds, "These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their
tongues, in their lands, after their nations." And so of the whole number
"These are the families of the sons of Noah after their generations, in their
nations; and by these were the isles of the nations dispersed through the
earth after the flood." From which we gather that the seventy-three (or
rather, as I shall presently show, seventy-two) were not individuals, but
nations. For in a former passage, when the sons of Japheth were
enumerated, it is said in conclusion, "By these were the isles of the nations
divided in their lauds, every one after his language, in their tribes, and in
their nations."
But nations are expressly mentioned among the sons of Ham, as I showed
above. "Mizraim begat those who are called Ludim; and so also of the
other seven nations. And after 'enumerating all of them, it concludes,
"These are the sons of Ham, in their families, according to their languages,
in their territories, and in their nations." The reason, then, why the children
of several of them are not mentioned, is that they belonged by birth to
other nations, and did not themselves become nations. Why else is it, that
though eight sons are reckoned to Japheth, the sons of only two of these
are mentioned; and though four are reckoned to Ham, only three are
spoken of as having sons; and though six are reckoned to Shem, the
descendants of only two of these are traced? Did the rest remain childless?
We cannot suppose so; but they did not produce nations so great as to
warrant their being mentioned, but were absorbed in the nations to which
they belonged by birth.
CHAPTER 4
OF THE DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES,
AND OF THE FOUNDING OF BABYLON
But though these nations are said to have been dispersed according to their
languages, yet the narrator recurs to that time when all had but one
language, and explains how it came to pass that a diversity of languages
was introduced. "The whole earth," he says, "was of one lip, and all had
one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that
they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. And they said
one to another, Come, and let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.
And they had bricks for stone, and slime for mortar. And they said, Come,
and let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top shall reach the
sky; and let us make us a name, before we be scattered abroad on the face
of all the earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower,
which the children of men builded. And the Lord God said, Behold, the
people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do:
and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined
to do. Come, and let us go down, and confound there their language, that
they may not understand one another's speech. And God scattered them
thence on the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city and the
tower. Therefore the name of it is called Confusion; because the Lord did
there confound the language of all the earth: and the Lord God scattered
them thence on the face of all the earth." This city, which was called
Confusion, is the same as Babylon, whose wonderful construction Gentile
history also notices. For Babylon means Confusion. Whence we conclude
that the giant Nimrod was its founder, as had been hinted a little before,
where Scripture, in speaking of him, says that the beginning of his kingdom
was Babylon, that is, Babylon had a supremacy over the other cities as the
metropolis and royal residence; although it did not rise to the grand
dimensions designed by its proud and impious founder. The plan was to
make it so high that it should reach the sky, whether this was meant of one
tower which they intended to build higher than the others, or of all the
towers, which might be signified by the singular number, as we speak of
"the soldier," meaning the army, and of the frog or the locust, when we
refer to the whole multitude of frogs and locusts in the plagues with which
Moses smote the Egyptians. But what did these vain and presumptuous
men intend? How did they expect to raise this lofty mass against God,
when they had built it above all the mountains and the clouds of the
earth's atmosphere? What injury could any spiritual or material elevation
do to God? The safe and true way to heaven is made by humility, which
lifts up the heart to the Lord, not against Him; as this giant is said to have
been a" hunter against the Lord." This has been misunderstood by some
through the ambiguity of the Greek word, and they have translated it, not
"against the Lord," but "before the Lord;" for ejnanti>on means both
"before" and "against." In the Psalm this word is rendered, " Let us weep
before the Lord our Maker." The same word occurs in the book of Job,
where it is written, "Thou hast broken into fury against the Lord." And
so this giant is to be recognized as a "hunter against the Lord." And what
is meant by the term "hunter" but deceiver, oppressor, and destroyer of
the animals of the earth? He and his people therefore, erected this tower
against the Lord, and so gave expression to their impious pride; and justly
was their wicked intention punished by God, even though it was
unsuccessful. But what was the nature of the punishment? As the tongue
is the instrument of domination, in it pride was punished; so that man,
who would not understand God when He issued His commands, should be
misunderstood when he himself gave orders. Thus was that conspiracy
disbanded, for each man retired from those he could not understand, and
associated with those whose speech was intelligible; and the nations were
divided according to their languages, and scattered over the earth as seemed
good to God, who accomplished this in ways hidden from and
incomprehensible to us.
CHAPTER 5
OF GOD'S COMING DOWN TO CONFOUND THE
LANGUAGES OF THE BUILDERS OF THE CITY
We read, "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the
sons of men built:" it was not the sons of God, but that society which
lived in a merely human way, and which we call the earthly city. God, who
is always wholly everywhere, does not move locally; but He is said to
descend when He does anything in the earth out of the usual course,
which, as it were, makes His presence felt. And in the same way, He does
not by "seeing" learn some new thing, for He cannot ever be ignorant of
anything; but He is said to see and recognize, in time, that which He causes
others to see and recognize. And therefore that city was not previously
being seen as God made it be seen when He showed how offensive it was
to Him. We might, indeed, interpret God's descending to the city of the
descent of His angels in whom He dwells; so that the following words,
"And the Lord God said, Behold, they are all one race and of one
language," and also what follows, "Come, and let us go down and confound
their speech," are a recapitulation, explaining how the previously intimated
"descent of the Lord" was accomplished. For if He had already gone down,
why does He say, "Come, and let us go down and confound?" — words
which seem to be addressed to the angels, and to intimate that He who was
in the angels descended in their descent. And the words most
appropriately are, not, "Go ye down and confound," but, "Let us
confound their speech;" showing that He so works by His servants, that
they are themselves also fellow-laborers with God, as the apostle says,
"For we are fellow-laborers with God."
CHAPTER 6
WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND
BY GOD'S SPEAKING TO THE ANGELS
We might have supposed that the words uttered at the creation of man,
"Let us," and not Let me, "make man," were addressed to the angels, had
He not added "in our image;" but as we cannot believe that man was made
in the image of angels, or that the image of God is the same as that of
angels, it is proper to refer this expression to the plurality of the Trinity.
And yet this Trinity, being one God, even after saying "Let us make," goes
on to say, "And God made man in His image," and not "Gods made," or
"in their image." And were there any difficulty in applying to the angels
the words, "Come, and let us go down and confound their speech," we
might refer the plural to the Trinity, as if the Father were addressing the
Son and the Holy Spirit; but it rather belongs to the angels to approach
God by holy movements, that is, by pious thoughts, and thereby to avail
themselves of the unchangeable truth which rules in the court of heaven as
their eternal law. For they are not themselves the truth; but partaking in
the creative truth, they are moved towards it as the fountain of life, that
what they have not in themselves they may obtain in it. And this
movement of theirs is steady, for they never go back from what they have
reached. And to these angels God does not speak, as we speak to one
another, or to God, or to angels, or as the angels speak to us, or as God
speaks to us through them: He speaks to them in an ineffable manner of
His own, and that which He says is conveyed to us in a manner suited to
our capacity. For the speaking of God antecedent and superior to all His
works, is the immutable reason of His work: it has no noisy and passing
sound, but an energy eternally abiding and producing results in time. Thus
He speaks to the holy angels; but to us, who are far off, He speaks
otherwise. When, however, we hear with the inner ear some part of the
speech of God, we approximate to the angels. But in this work I need not
labor to give an account of the ways in which God speaks. For either the
unchangeable Truth speaks directly to the mind of the rational creature in
some indescribable way, or speaks through the changeable creature, either
presenting spiritual images to our spirit, or bodily voices to our bodily
sense.
The words, "Nothing will be restrained from them which they have
imagined to do," are assuredly not meant as an affirmation, but as an
interrogation, such as is used by persons threatening, as e. g. , when Dido
exclaims,
"They will not take arms and pursue?"
We are to understand the words as if it had been said, Shall nothing be
restrained from them which they have imagined to do? From these three
men, therefore, the three sons of Noah we mean, 73, or rather, as the
catalogue will show, 72 nations and as many languages were dispersed over
the earth, and as they increased filled even the islands. But the nations
multiplied much more than the languages. For even in Africa we know
several barbarous nations which have but one language; and who can doubt
that, as the human race increased, men contrived to pass to the islands in
ships?
CHAPTER 7
WHETHER EVEN THE REMOTEST ISLANDS RECEIVED
THEIR FAUNA FROM THE ANIMALS WHICH WERE
PRESERVED, THROUGH THE DELUGE, IN THE ARK
There is a question raised about all those kinds of beasts which are not
domesticated, nor are produced like frogs from the earth, but are
propagated by male and female parents, such as wolves and animals of that
kind; and it is asked how they could be found in the islands after the
deluge, in which all the animals not in the ark perished, unless the breed
was restored from those which were preserved in pairs in the ark. It might,
indeed, be said that they crossed to the islands by swimming, but this
could only be true of those very near the mainland; whereas there are some
so distant, that we fancy no animal could swim to them. But if men caught
them and took them across with themselves, and thus propagated these
breeds in their new abodes, this would not imply an incredible fondness
for the chase. At the same time, it cannot be denied that by the
intervention of angels they might be transferred by God's order or
permission. If, however, they were produced out of the earth as at their
first creation, when God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living
creature," this makes it more evident that all kinds of animals were
preserved in the ark, not so much for the sake of renewing the stock, as of
prefiguring the various nations which were to be saved in the church; this, I
say, is more evident, if the earth brought forth many animals in islands to
which they could not cross over.
CHAPTER 8
WHETHER CERTAIN MONSTROUS RACES OF MEN ARE
DERIVED FROM THE STOCK OF ADAM OR NOAH'S SONS
It is also asked whether we are to believe that certain monstrous races of
men, spoken of in secular history, have sprung from Noah's sons, or
rather, I should say, from that one man from whom they themselves were
descended. For it is reported that some have one eye in the middle of the forehead; some, feet turned backwards from the heel; some, a double sex,
the right breast like a man, the left like a woman, and that they alternately
beget and bring forth: others are said to have no mouth, and to breathe only
through the nostrils; others are but a cubit high, and are therefore called by
the Greeks "Pigmies: " they say that in some places the women conceive
in their fifth year, and do not live beyond their eighth. So, too, they tell of
a race who have two feet but only one leg, and are of marvelous swiftness,
though they do not bend the knee: they are called Skiopodes, because in
the hot weather they lie down on their backs and shade themselves with
their feet. Others are said to have no head, and their eyes in their
shoulders; and other human or quasi-human races are depicted in mosaic in
the harbor esplanade of Carthage, on the faith of histories of rarities. What
shall I say of the Cynocephali, whose dog-like head and barking proclaim
them beasts rather than men? But we are not bound to believe all we hear
of these monstrosities. But whoever is anywhere born a man, that is, a
rational, mortal animal, no matter what unusual appearance he presents in
color, movement, sound, nor how peculiar he is in some power, part, or
quality of his nature, no Christian can doubt that he springs from that one
protoplast. We can distinguish the common human nature from that which
is peculiar, and therefore wonderful.
The same account which is given of monstrous births in individual cases
can be given of monstrous races. For God, the Creator of all, knows where
and when each thing ought to be, or to have been created, because He sees
the similarities and diversities which can contribute to the beauty of the
whole. But He who cannot see the whole is offended by the deformity of
the part, because he is blind to that which balances it, and to which it
belongs. We know that men are born with more than four fingers on their
bands or toes on their feet: this is a smaller matter; but far from us be the
folly of supposing that the Creator mistook the number of a man's fingers,
though we cannot account for the difference. And so in cases where the
divergence from the rule is greater. He whose works no man justly finds
fault with, knows what He has done. At Hippo-Diarrhytus there is a man
whose hands are crescent-shaped, and have only two fingers each, and his
feet similarly formed. If there were a race like him, it would be added to the
history of the curious and wonderful. Shall we therefore deny that this
man is descended from that one man who was first created? As for the
Androgyni, or Hermaphrodites, as they are called, though they are rare,
yet from time to time there appears persons of sex so doubtful, that it
remains uncertain from which sex they take their name; though it is
customary to give them a masculine name, as the more worthy. For no one
ever called them Hermaphroditesses. Some years ago, quite within my own
memory, a man was born in the East, double in his upper, but single in his
lower half — having two heads, two chests, four hands, but one body and
two feet like an ordinary man; and he lived so long that many had an
opportunity of seeing him. But who could enumerate all the human births
that have differed widely from their ascertained parents? As, therefore, no
one will deny that these are all descended from that one man, so all the
races which are reported to have diverged in bodily appearance from the
usual course which nature generally or almost universally preserves, if
they are embraced in that definition of man as rational and mortal animals,
unquestionably trace their pedigree to that one first father of all. We are
supposing these stories about various races who differ from one another
and from us to be true; but possibly they are not: for if we were not aware
that apes, and monkeys, and sphinxes are not men, but beasts, those
historians would possibly describe them as races of men, and flaunt with
impunity their false and vainglorious discoveries. But supposing they are
men of whom these marvels are recorded, what if God has seen fit to create
some races in this way, that we might not suppose that the monstrous
births which appear among ourselves are the failures of that wisdom
whereby He fashions the human nature, as we speak of the failure of a less
perfect workman? Accordingly, it ought not to seem absurd to us, that as
in individual races there are monstrous births, so in the whole race there are
monstrous races. Wherefore, to conclude this question cautiously and
guardedly, either these things which have been told of some races have no
existence at all; or if they do exist, they are not human races; or if they are
human, they are descended from Adam.
CHAPTER 9
WHETHER WE ARE TO BELIEVE IN THE ANTIPODES
But as to the fable that there are
Antipodes, that is to say, men on the
opposite side of the earth, where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who
walk with their feet opposite ours, that is on no ground
credible. And,
indeed, it is not affirmed that this has been learned by historical
knowledge, but by scientific conjecture, on the ground that the earth is
suspended within the
concavity of the sky, and that it has as much room
on the one side of it as on the other: hence they say that the part which is
beneath must also be inhabited. But they do not remark that, although it be
supposed or scientifically demonstrated that the world is of a round and
spherical form, yet it does not follow that the other side of the earth is
bare of water; nor even, though it be bare, does it immediately follow that
it is peopled. For Scripture, which proves the truth of its historical
statements by the accomplishment of its prophecies, gives no false
information; and it is too absurd to say, that some men might have taken
ship and traversed the whole wide ocean, and crossed from this side of the
world to the other, and that thus even the inhabitants of that distant region
are descended from that one first man. Wherefore let us seek if we can find
the city of God that
sojourns on earth among those human races who are
catalogued as having been divided into seventy-two nations and as many
languages. For it continued down to the deluge and the ark, and is proved
to have existed still among the sons of Noah by their blessings, and chiefly
in the eldest son Shem; for Japheth received this blessing, that he should
dwell in the tents of Shem.
CHAPTER 10
OF THE GENEALOGY OF SHEM,
IN WHOSE LINE THE CITY OF GOD IS PRESERVED
TILL THE TIME OF ABRAHAM
It is necessary, therefore, to preserve the series of generations descending
from Shem, for the sake of exhibiting the city of God after the flood; as
before the flood it was exhibited in the series of generations descending
from Seth. And therefore does divine Scripture, after exhibiting the earthly
city as Babylon or "Confusion," revert to the patriarch Shem. and
recapitulate the generations from him to Abraham, specifying besides, the
year in which each father begat the son that belonged to this line, and how
long he lived. And unquestionably it is this which fulfills the promise I
made, that it should appear why it is said of the sons of Heber, "The name
of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided." For what can
we understand by the division of the earth, if not the diversity of
languages? And, therefore, omitting the other sons of Shem, who are not
concerned in this matter, Scripture gives the genealogy of those by whom
the line runs on to Abraham, as before the flood those are given who
carried on the line to Noah from Seth. Accordingly this series of
generations begins thus: "These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an
hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood. And
Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and
daughters." In like manner it registers the rest, naming the year of his life in
which each begat the son who belonged to that line which extends to
Abraham. It specifies, too, how many years he lived thereafter, begetting
sons and daughters, that we may not childishly suppose that the men
named were the only men, but may understand how the population
increased, and how regions and kingdoms so vast could be populated by
the descendants of Shem; especially the kingdom of Assyria, from which
Ninus subdued the surrounding nations, reigning with brilliant prosperity,
and bequeathing to his descendants a vast but thoroughly consolidated
empire, which held together for many centuries.
But to avoid needless prolixity, we shall mention not the number of years
each member of this series lived, but only the year of his life in which he
begat his heir, that we may thus reckon the number of years from the flood
to Abraham, and may at the same time leave room to touch briefly and
cursorily upon some other matters necessary to our argument. In the
second year, then, after the flood, Shem when he was a hundred years old
begat Arphaxad; Arphaxad when he was 135 years old begat Cainan;
Cainan when he was 130 years begat Salah. Salah himself, too, was the
same age when he begat Eber. Eber lived 134 years, and begat Peleg, in
whose days the earth was divided. Peleg himself lived 130 years, and begat
Reu; and Reu lived 132 years, and begat Serug; Serug 130, and begat Nahor;
and Nahor 79, and begat Terah; and Terah 70, and begat Abram, whose
name God afterwards changed into Abraham. There are thus from the
flood to Abraham 1072 years, according to the Vulgate or Septuagint
versions. In the Hebrew copies far fewer years are given; and for this either
no reason or a not very credible one is given.
When, therefore, we look for the city of God in these seventy-two nations,
we cannot affirm that while they had but one lip, that is, one language, the
human race had departed from the worship of the true God, and that
genuine godliness had survived only in those generations which descend
from Shem through Arphaxad and reach to Abraham; but from the time
when they proudly built a tower to heaven, a symbol of godless exaltation,
the city or society of the wicked becomes apparent. Whether it was only
disguised before, or non-existent; whether both cities remained after the
flood, — the godly in the two sons of Noah who were blessed, and in their
posterity, and the ungodly in the cursed son and his descendants, from
whom sprang that mighty hunter against the Lord, — is not easily
determined. For possibly — and certainly this is more credible — there
were despisers of God among the descendants of the two sons, even before
Babylon was founded, and worshippers of God among the descendants of
Ham. Certainly neither race was ever obliterated from earth. For in both
the Psalms in which it is said, "They are all gone aside, they are altogether
become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one," we read further,
"Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as
they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord." There was then a people of
God even at that time. And therefore the words, "There is none that doeth
good, no, not one," were said of the sons of men, not of the sons of God.
For it had been previously said, "God looked down from heaven upon the
sons of men, to see if any understood and sought after God;" and then
follow the words which demonstrate that all the sons of men, that is, all
who belong to the city which lives according to man, not according to God,
are reprobate.
CHAPTER 11
THAT THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE IN USE AMONG MEN
WAS THAT WHICH WAS AFTERWARDS CALLED HEBREW,
FROM HEBER, IN WHOSE FAMILY IT WAS PRESERVED
WHEN THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES OCCURRED
Wherefore, as the fact of all using one language did not secure the absence
of sin-infected men from the race, — for even before the deluge there was
one language, and yet all but the single family of just Noah were found
worthy of destruction by the flood,— so when the nations, by a prouder
godlessness, earned the punishment of the dispersion and the confusion of
tongues, and the city of the godless was called Confusion or Babylon,
there was still the house of Heber in which the primitive language of the
race survived. And therefore, as I have already mentioned, when an
enumeration is made of the sons of Shem, who each founded a nation,
Heber is first mentioned, although he was of the fifth generation from
Shem. And because, when the other races were divided by their own
peculiar languages, his family preserved that language which is not
unreasonably believed to have been the common language of the race, it
was on this account thenceforth named Hebrew. For it then became
necessary to distinguish this language from the rest by a proper name;
though, while there was only one, it had no other name than the language
of man, or human speech, it alone being spoken by the whole human race.
Some one will say: If the earth was divided by languages in the days of
Peleg, Heber's son, that language, which was formerly common to all,
should rather have been called after Peleg. But we are to understand that
Heber himself gave to his son this name Peleg, which means Division;
because he was born when the earth was divided, that is, at the very time
of the division, and that this is the meaning of the words, "In his days the
earth was divided." For unless Heber had been still alive when the
languages were multiplied, the language which was preserved in his house
would not have been called after him. We are induced to believe that this
was the primitive and common language, because the multiplication and
change of languages was introduced as a punishment, and it is fit to ascribe
to the people of God an immunity from this punishment. Nor is it without
significance that this is the language which Abraham retained, and that he
could not transmit it to all his descendants, but only to those of Jacob's
line, who distinctively and eminently constituted God's people, and
received His covenants, and were Christ's progenitors according to the
flesh. In the same way, Heber himself did not transmit that language to all
his posterity, but only to the line from which Abraham sprang. And thus,
although it is not expressly stated, that when the wicked were building
Babylon there was a godly seed remaining, this indistinctness is intended
to stimulate research rather than to elude it. For when we see that
originally there was one common language, and that Heber is mentioned
before all Shem's sons, though he belonged to the fifth generation from
him, and that the language which the patriarchs and prophets used, not
only in their conversation, but in the authoritative language of Scripture, is
called Hebrew, when we are asked where that primitive and common
language was preserved after the confusion of tongues, certainly, as there
can be no doubt that those among whom it was preserved were exempt
from the punishment it embodied. what other suggestion can we make,
than that it survived in the family of him whose name it took, and that this
is no small proof of the righteousness of this family, that the punishment
with which the other families were visited did not fall upon it?
But yet another question is mooted: How did Heber and his son Peleg each
found a nation, if they had but one language? For no doubt the Hebrew
nation propagated from Heber through Abraham, and becoming through
him a great people, is one nation. How, then, are all the sons of the three
branches of Noah's family enumerated as founding a nation each, if Heber
and Peleg did not so? It is very probable that the giant Nimrod founded
also his nation, and that Scripture has named him separately on account of
the extraordinary dimensions of his empire and of his body, so that the
number of seventy-two nations remains. But Peleg was mentioned, not
because he rounded a nation (for his race and language are Hebrew), but on
account of the critical time at which he was born, all the earth being then
divided. Nor ought we to be surprised that the giant Nimrod lived to the
time in which Babylon was rounded and the confusion of tongues
occurred, and the consequent division of the earth. For though Heber was
in the sixth generation from Noah, and Nimrod in the fourth, it does not
follow that they could not be alive at the same time. For when the
generations are few, they live longer and are born later; but when they are
many, they live a shorter time, and come into the world earlier. We are to
understand that, when the earth was divided, the descendants of Noah who
are registered as founders of nations were not only already born, but were
of an age to have immense families, worthy to be called tribes or nations.
And therefore we must by no means suppose that they were born in the
order in which they were set down; otherwise, how could the twelve sons
of Joktan, another son of Heber's, and brother of Peleg, have already
founded nations, if Joktan was born, as he is registered, after his brother
Peleg, since the earth was divided at Peleg's birth? We are therefore to
understand that, though Peleg is named first, he was born long after Joktan,
whose twelve sons had already families so large as to admit of their being
divided by different languages. There is nothing extraordinary in the last
born being first named: of the sons of Noah, the descendants of Japheth
are first named; then the sons of Ham, who was the second son; and last
the sons of Shem, who was the first and oldest. Of these nations the names
have partly survived, so that at this day we can see from whom they have
sprung, as the Assyrians from Assur, the Hebrews from Heber, but partly
have been altered in the lapse of time, so that the most learned men, by
profound research in ancient records, have scarcely been able to discover
the origin, I do not say of all, but of some of these nations. There is, for
example, nothing in the name Egyptians to show that they are descended
from Misraim, Ham's son, nor in the name Ethiopians to show a
connection with Gush, though such is said to be the origin of these nations.
And if we take a general survey of the names, we shall find that more have
been changed than have remained the same.
CHAPTER 12
OF THE ERA IN ABRAHAM'S LIFE FROM WHICH A NEW
PERIOD IN THE HOLY SUCCESSION BEGINS
Let us now survey the progress of the city of God from the era of the
patriarch Abraham, from whose time it begins to be more conspicuous, and
the divine promises which are now fulfilled in Christ are more fully
revealed. We learn, then, from the intimations of holy Scripture, that
Abraham was born in the country of the Chaldeans, a land belonging to the
Assyrian empire. Now, even at that time impious superstitions were rife
with the Chaldeans, as with other nations. The family of Terah, to which
Abraham belonged, was the only one in which the worship of the true God
survived, and the only one, we may suppose, in which the Hebrew
language was preserved; although Joshua the son of Nun tells us that even
this family served other gods in Mesopotamia. The other descendants of
Heber gradually became absorbed in other races and other languages. And
thus, as the single family of Noah was preserved through the deluge of
water to renew the human race, so, in the deluge of superstition that
flooded the whole world, there remained but the one family of Terah in
which the seed of God's city was preserved. And as, when Scripture has
enumerated the generations prior to Noah, with their ages, and explained
the cause of the flood before God began to speak to Noah about the
building of the ark, it is said, "These are the generations of Noah;" so also
now, after enumerating the generations from Shem, Noah's son, down to
Abraham, it then signalizes an era by saying, "These are the generations of
Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And
Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the
Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's
wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife Milcah, the daughter of
Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah." This Iscah is
supposed to be the same as Sarah, Abraham's wife.
CHAPTER 13
WHY, IN THE ACCOUNT OF TERAH'S EMIGRATION, ON
HIS FORSAKING THE CHALDEANS AND PASSING OVER
INTO MESOPOTAMIA, NO MENTION IS MADE OF HIS
SON NAHOR
Next it is related how Terah with his family left the region of the
Chaldeans and came into Mesopotamia, and dwelt in Haran. But nothing is
said about one of his sons called Nahor, as if he had not taken him along
with him. For the narrative runs thus: "And Terah took Abram his son,
and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his
son Abram's wife, and led them forth out of the region of the Chaldeans to
go into the land of Canaan; and he came into Haran, and dwelt there."
Nahor and Milcah his wife are nowhere named here. But afterwards, when
Abraham sent his servant to take a wife for his son Isaac, we find it thus
written: "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his lord, and of
all the goods of his lord, with him; and arose, and went into Mesopotamia,
into the city of Nahor." This and other testimonies of this sacred history
show that Nahor, Abraham's brother, had also left the region of the
Chaldeans, and fixed his abode in Mesopotamia, where Abraham dwelt
with his father. Why, then, did the Scripture not mention him, when Terah
with his family went forth out of the Chaldean nation and dwelt in Haran,
since it mentions that he took with him not only Abraham his son, but also
Sarah his daughter-in-law, and Lot his grandson? The only reason we can
think of is, that perhaps he had lapsed from the piety of his father and
brother, and adhered to the superstition of the Chaldeans, and had
afterwards emigrated thence, either through penitence, or because he was
persecuted as a suspected person. For in the book called Judith, when
Holofernes, the enemy of the Israelites, inquired what kind of nation that
might be, and whether war should be made against them, Achior, the leader
of the Ammonites, answered him thus: "Let our lord now hear a word
from the mouth of thy servant, and I will declare unto thee the truth
concerning the people which dwelleth near thee in this hill country, and
there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy servant. For this people is
descended from the Chaldeans, and they dwelt heretofore in Mesopotamia,
because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were
glorious in the land of the Chaldeans, but went out of the way of their
ancestors, and adored the God of heaven, whom they knew; and they cast
them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and
dwelt there many days. And their God said to them, that they should
depart from their habitation, and go into the land of Canaan; and they
dwelt," etc., as Achior the Ammonite narrates. Whence it is manifest that
the house of Terah had suffered persecution from the Chaldeans for the
true piety with which they worshipped the one and true God.
CHAPTER 14
OF THE YEARS OF TERAH,
WHO COMPLETED HIS LIFETIME IN HARAN
On Terah's death in Mesopotamia, where he is said to have lived 205
years, the promises of God made to Abraham now begin to be pointed out;
for thus it is written: "And the days of Terah in Haran were two hundred
and five years, and he died in Haran." This is not to be taken as if he had
spent all his days there, but that he there completed the days of his life,
which were two hundred and five years: otherwise it would not be known
how many years Terah lived, since it is not said in what year of his life he
came into Haran; and it is absurd to suppose that, in this series of
generations, where it is carefully recorded how many years each one lived,
his age was the only one not put on record. For although some whom the
same Scripture mentions have not their age recorded, they are not in this
series, in which the reckoning of time is continuously indicated by the
death of the parents and the succession of the children. For this series,
which is given in order from Adam to Noah, and from him down to
Abraham, contains no one without the number of the years of his life.
CHAPTER 15
OF THE TIME OF THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM,
WHEN, ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD,
HE WENT OUT FROM HARAN
When, after the record of the death of Terah, the father of Abraham, we
next read, "And the Lord said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house," etc., it is not to be
supposed, because this follows in the order of the narrative, that it also
followed in the chronological order of events. For if it were so, there would
be an insoluble difficulty. For after these words of God which were
spoken to Abraham, the Scripture says: "And Abram departed, as the
Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him. Now Abraham was
seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran." How can this be
true if he departed from Haran after his father's death? For when Terah
was seventy years old, as is intimated above, he begat Abraham; and if to
this number we add the seventy-five years which Abraham reckoned when
he went out of Haran, we get 145 years. Therefore that was the number of
the years of Terah, when Abraham departed out of that city of
Mesopotamia; for he had reached the seventy-fifth year of his life, and
thus his father, who begat him in the seventieth year of his life, had
reached, as was said, his 145th. Therefore he did not depart thence after
his father's death, that is, after the 205 years his father lived; but the year
of his departure from that place, seeing it was his seventy-fifth, is inferred
beyond a doubt to have been the 145th of his father, who begat him in his
seventieth year. And thus it is to be understood that the Scripture,
according to its custom, has gone back to the time which had already been
passed by the narrative; just as above, when it had mentioned the
grandsons of Noah, it said that they were in their nations and tongues; and
yet afterwards, as if this also had followed in order of time, it says, "And
the whole earth was of one lip, and one speech for all." How, then, could
they be said to be in their own nations and according to their own tongues,
if there was one for all; except because the narrative goes back to gather up
what it had passed over? Here, too, in the same way, after saying, "And
the days of Terah in Haran were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran," the
Scripture, going back to what had been passed over in order to complete
what had been begun about Terah, says, "And the Lord said to Abram,
Get thee out of thy country," etc. After which words of God it is added,
"And Abram departed, as the Lord spake unto him; and Lot went with
him. But Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of
Haran." Therefore it was done when his father was in the 145th year of his
age; for it was then the seventy-fifth of his own. But this question is also
solved in another way, that the seventy-five years of Abraham when he
departed out of Haran are reckoned from the year in which he was
delivered from the fire of the Chaldeans, not from that of his birth, as if he
was rather to be held as having been born then.
Now the blessed Stephen, in narrating these things in the Acts of the
Apostles, says: "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto
him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's house, and come into the land which I will show thee." According
to these words of Stephen, God spoke to Abraham, not after the death of
his father, who certainly died in Haran, where his son also dwelt with him,
but before he dwelt in that city, although he was already in Mesopotamia.
Therefore he had already departed from the Chaldeans. So that when
Stephen adds, "Then Abraham went out of the land of the Chaldeans, and
dwelt in Charran," this does not point out what took place after God
spoke to him (for it was not after these words of God that he went out of
the land of the Chaldeans, since he says that God spoke to him in
Mesopotamia), but the word "then" which he uses refers to that whole
period from his going out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelling in
Haran. Likewise in what follows, "And thenceforth, when his father was
dead, he settled him in this land, wherein ye now dwell, and your fathers,"
he does not say, after his father was dead he went out from Haran; but
thenceforth he settled him here, after his father was dead. It is to be
understood, therefore, that God had spoken to Abraham when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran; but that he came to Haran with
his father, keeping in mind the precept of God, and that he went out
thence in his own seventy-fifth year, which was his father's 145th. But he
says that his settlement in the land of Canaan, not his going forth from
Haran, took place after his father's death; because his father was already
dead when he purchased the land, and personally entered on possession of
it. But when, on his having already settled in Mesopotamia, that is,
already gone out of the land of the Chaldeans, God says, "Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house," this
means, not that he should cast out his body from thence, for he had
already done that, but that he should tear away his soul. For he had not
gone out from thence in mind, if he was held by the hope and desire of
returning,— a hope and desire which was to be cut off by God's command
and help, and by his own obedience. It would indeed be no incredible
supposition that afterwards, when Nahor followed his father, Abraham
then fulfilled the precept of the Lord, that he should depart out of Haran
with Sarah his wife and Lot his brother's son.
CHAPTER 16
OF THE ORDER AND NATURE OF THE PROMISES OF GOD
WHICH WERE MADE TO ABRAHAM,
God's promises made to Abraham are now to be considered; for in these
the oracles of our God, that is, of the true God, began to appear more
openly concerning the godly people, whom prophetic authority foretold.
The first of these reads thus: "And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
and go into a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee and magnify thy name; and thou shall be
blessed: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse
thee: and in thee shall all tribes of the earth be blessed." Now it is to be
observed that two things are promised to Abraham, the one, that his seed
should possess the land of Canaan, which is intimated when it is said, "Go
into a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation;"
but the other far more excellent, not about the carnal but the spiritual seed,
through which he is the father, not of the one Israelite nation, but of all
nations who follow the footprints of his faith, which was first promised in
these words, "And in thee shall all tribes of the earth be blessed." Eusebius
thought this promise was made in Abraham's seventy-fifth year, as if soon
after it was made Abraham had departed out of Haran because the
Scripture cannot be contradicted in which we read, "Abram was seventy
and five years old when he departed out of Haran." But if this promise
was made in that year, then of course Abraham was staying in Haran with
his father; for he could not depart thence unless he had first dwelt there.
Does this, then, contradict what Stephen says, "The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he
dwelt in Charran?" But it is to be understood that the whole took place in
the same year, — both the promise of God before Abraham dwelt in
Haran, and his dwelling in Haran, and his departure thence,— not only
because Eusebius in the Chronicles reckons from the year of this promise,
and shows that after 430 years the exodus from Egypt took place, when
the law was given, but because the Apostle Paul also mentions it.
CHAPTER 17
OF THE THREE MOST FAMOUS KINGDOMS OF THE
NATIONS, OF WHICH ONE, THAT IS THE ASSYRIAN, WAS
ALREADY VERY EMINENT WHEN ABRAHAM WAS BORN
During the same period there were three famous kingdoms of the nations,
in which the city of the earth-born, that is, the society of men living
according to man under the domination of the fallen angels, chiefly
flourished, namely, the three kingdoms of Sicyon, Egypt, and Assyria. Of
these, Assyria was much the most powerful and sublime; for that king
Ninus, son of Belus, had subdued the people of all Asia except India. By
Asia I now mean not that part which is one province of this greater Asia,
but what is called Universal Asia, which some set down as the half, but
most as the third part of the whole world, — the three being Asia, Europe,
and Africa, thereby making an unequal division. For the part called Asia
stretches from the south through the east even to the north; Europe from
the north even to the west; and Africa from the west even to the south.
Thus we see that two, Europe and Africa, contain one half of the world,
and Asia alone the other half. And these two parts are made by the
circumstance, that there enters between them from the ocean all the
Mediterranean water, which makes this great sea of ours. So that, if you
divide the world into two parts, the east and the west, Asia will be in the
one, and Europe and Africa in the other So that of the three kingdoms then
famous, one, namely Sicyon, was not under the Assyrians, because it was
in Europe; but as for Egypt, how could it fail to be subject to the empire
which ruled all Asia with the single exception of India? In Assyria,
therefore, the dominion of the impious city had the pre-eminence. Its head
was Babylon,-an earth-born city, most fitly named, for it means confusion.
There Ninus reigned after the death of his father Belus, who first had
reigned there sixty-five years. His son Ninus, who, on his father's death,
succeeded to the kingdom, reigned fifty-two years, and had been king
forty-three years when Abraham was born, which was about the 1200th
year before Rome was founded, as it were another Babylon in the west.
CHAPTER 18
OF THE REPEATED ADDRESS OF GOD TO ABRAHAM, IN
WHICH HE PROMISED THE LAND OF CANAAN TO HIM
AND TO HIS SEED
Abraham, then, having departed out of Haran in the seventy-fifth year of
his own age, and in the hundred and forty-fifth of his father's, went with
Lot, his brother's son, and Sarah his wife, into the land of Canaan, and
came even to Sichem, where again he received the divine oracle, of which it
is thus written: "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him,
Unto thy seed will I give this land." Nothing is promised here about that
seed in which he is made the father of all nations, but only about that by
which he is the father of the one Israelite nation; for by this seed that land
was possessed.
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