Two Books by Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, About Cain and Abel.

Latin Text from public domain Migne Editors, Patrologiae Cursus Completus.

Translated into English using ChatGPT.

Table of Contents Book One Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Book Two Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X.

Book One

Chapter I.

In the next book, there is a discussion of the transition from the birth of Cain and Abel; and through them, as well as through Esau and Jacob, it is shown that two opposing human sects are being foreshadowed.


1. In the higher realms, we have, to the best of our ability, apprehended the sense of what the Lord has revealed and have arranged it in a manner in which the fall of Adam and Eve can be understood. Now, since the fault does not lie with them, but rather, what is worse, a more wicked heir has been found, we shall now continue with the following history and proceed with the divine events that are connected according to the Scriptures, in our work.

2. But Adam knew Eve his wife, who conceived and bore Cain, and said: I have acquired a man with the help of God (Gen. IV, 1). What we acquire, how, and by whom we acquire it is commonly considered: how, as from matter; by whom, as the author; by what, as through some instrument. Does he say this here: I have acquired a man with the help of God, so that you understand God as the instrument? Certainly not: but so that you understand God as the author and operator. Where he attributed more to God, since he said: I acquired man through God, so that we should defer all successful outcomes more to God than arrogate them to ourselves.

3. And he added to obey Abel (Ibid. 2). When something is added, what was before is taken away. And this is gathered from the parts of arithmetic, or the thoughts of the mind: for when a number is added, another number is made, the higher one is abolished: and the new thought that approaches excludes the previous one. Therefore, when Abel is added, Cain is taken away. Which is more fully understood by the interpretation of the names. For Cain is called acquisition, because he acquired everything for himself: Abel, who with devout attention of a pious mind referred everything to God, arrogating nothing to himself like the older brother, but giving everything to the creator that he had received from him.


So there are two sects under the name of two brothers fighting against each other, and opposed to each other. One which attributes everything to its own mind as the principal, and as it were to a certain thought, and the author of all sense and movement; that is, which ascribes all inventions to human genius. The other which ascribes everything to God as the operator and creator of all things, and subjects everything to the helm of God as its parent and ruler. The former is signified by Cain: the latter is called Abel. There are two sects which one soul gives birth to, and they are called sisters, because they are founded in one womb. But they are contrary, because it is necessary for them to be divided and separated when they have been brought forth with a certain birth of the soul. For two combatants cannot forever inhabit one dwelling. Finally, when Rebecca was giving birth to two natures of human character, one of evil and the other of good, and she felt them struggling within her womb (for Esau was a figure of wickedness, while Jacob portrayed goodness), she wondered what this conflict that the conceived offspring displayed might be, and she sought advice from God in order to reveal the suffering and to provide a remedy. Therefore, in response to the prayer, the following answer is given: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body (Gen. XXV, 23). If you refer this to the soul, you will understand that it is the same mother of good and evil, because both flow from the same source of the soul. But this requires sober and true judgment, so that, having rejected evil, it may nourish what is good and strengthen it. Therefore, before it gives birth to what is good, that is, reverence owed to God, may it offer everything to Him and not prefer itself. But when it has given birth to the confession that is offered to God, it lays aside the swelling of its heart. Therefore, God added the good doctrine of the soul to Abel and took away the wicked doctrine from Cain.

Chapter II.

In the figure of Cain, the Jews, and in Abel, the Christians. On this occasion, certain things are connected with the fathers, but especially the burial of Isaac, through whom the incarnation of Christ is expressed, and of Moses, through whom the same teaching is expressed. Finally, the burials of Moses and Christ are compared to each other.


However, in this place, I understand the mystery of the two peoples according to Scripture more, that God by adding the faith of his Church took away the perfidy of the wayward people, since the very words seem to signify this, with God saying: 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body.' (Gen. XXV, 23). This figure preceded the Synagogue and the Church in these two brothers, Cain and Abel. By Cain is understood the murderous people of the Jews, who persecuted the blood of their Lord and Creator and of his brother, so to speak, according to the birth of the Virgin Mary. By Abel is understood the Christian who adheres to God, as David also says: But for me, to cleave to God is good (Ps. 72:28), so that he might attach himself to heavenly things and separate from earthly things. Elsewhere he says: My soul has fainted for your word (Ps. 118:81), because he put order in his way of life and his use not in earthly pleasures, but in knowledge of the word. From this it is known that what we read in the Books of Kings is not written in vain, but carefully and meticulously, when it says: And he was gathered to his fathers (1 Kings 2:11 and 21). For it is understood and given that he was similar in faith to his fathers. Hence it is clear that it is related not to the burial of the body, but to the sharing of life.

Lastly, it is thought that the account of Isaac was not superficially written because, in seeking the appearance of his body that was attached to his soul, he was determined to be of his own kind; because he adhered to the customs of his father. However, when referring to his kind, it is well said, not to his people, as in other places. For we read in other places that those who were attached to their people were not as outstanding as him: the one who is similar to a few, not to many. There were more in his people than in his kind; and it is considered more outstanding to be similar to a few than to many. Therefore, the one who was born of God by promise, who was chosen for the sacrifice of proving piety, who was satisfied with the companionship of one wife, that is, the society of wisdom alone, of that divine kind which is one and always fitting for itself, was not to be falsely represented as an imitator of common vulgarity according to divine Scripture. For where there is labor, teaching, meditation, there is a common community with many and a certain popular fellowship. For many people make progress by listening, whom he called the people. But where perception is not acquired through a non-human tradition, but through a clever collection without the use of labor, there the sublime sincerity of the incorruptible kind is found. And therefore Isaac is read as being assigned to his own kind rather than to the people, so that you may recognize him as a diligent imitator of divine things rather than of human things.

7. Blessed is that mind which, surpassing the nature and essence itself, deserves to hear what was said to Moses when he was separated from the people: 'But you stand with me' (Deut. V, 31)! For just as in Isaac, a type of the Lord's incarnation surpassing the course of human generation, overcame his predecessors, so that in him there was not common and popular grace, but a special prerogative excelled, as the reading teaches: For the promises were said to Abraham and his seed: not to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ (Galat. III, 16): so also in Moses there was the figure of the future Teacher, who was to teach the law, preach the gospel, fulfill the old covenant, establish the new, give heavenly nourishment to the people, exceeding even human dignity to such an extent that he was given the name of God, as we have it written, with the Lord saying: 'I have made you like God to Pharaoh' (Exod. VII, 1). For he, the conqueror of all passions, not being captivated by any worldly allurements, who had, according to the purity of his heavenly demeanor, withdrawn all that conversation of his after the flesh from him, governing his mind, subjecting his flesh, and chastising it by a certain royal authority, was called by the name of God, after whose likeness he had formed himself by the abundance of perfect virtue.

8. And therefore, we do not read about him as we do about others, because he died in a state of deficiency: but he died through the word of God (Deuteronomy 34:5). For God neither experiences defection or diminution, nor does he undergo addition. Hence, the Scripture also adds: 'For no one knows his burial place until this day' (ibid. 6), so that you understand it as a translation rather than his demise. For death is a certain separation of the soul and body. Therefore, he was dead through the word of God, as Scripture says, not according to the flesh; so that you may observe not the message of death, but the gift of grace expressed, who was transferred rather than abandoned, of whom no one knows the burial. For who on earth could detect his remains, whom the Son of God Himself showed to be with Him in the Gospel (Matt. XVII, 3)? Finally, even Elijah was seen together, who was transferred in a chariot, not buried or known to be dead (2 Kings II, 11)? For he lives who is with the Son of God. But Moses indeed is said to be dead, but through the word of God, by which all things were made, he is dead. By the word of God, however, the heavens are established. Therefore, through the word of God, there is not a fall of the work, but a firmament. Therefore, he is not apprehended as having relapsed into the earth by the dissolution of the body, but as having been endowed and bestowed by the operation of the heavenly word, so that his flesh received more rest than a tomb.


9. However, a proper distance is maintained between the master and the servant. To understand the prerogative of the master, we read of the favor shown to the servant, as with Moses, because no one knows where he is buried. But with Christ, his burial was taken away from the earth (Isaiah 53:8), for according to the mystery of the law, he was expecting redemption, so that he may rise again. But here, according to the gift of the Gospel, he was not expecting redemption, but giving it. And therefore, his burial was not unknown, but elevated, which the created world could not hold for long; for through him, all creatures hastened to be lifted up from the bondage of corruption. Therefore, no one knows the burial place of Moses, because everyone knew his life. But we have seen the burial place of Christ; however, we do not know it now, those of us who have acknowledged His resurrection. For His tomb should have been known, so that His resurrection might be revealed; and therefore, in the Gospel (Matthew 27:60 et seq.), the tomb is described in detail: it is not sought in the law, because although the law announced His resurrection (Isaiah 11:10), the series of the Gospel has fully confirmed it for us.

Chapter III.

By the process of human wisdom represented in Abel and Cain, who were not found in Christ alone, it is indicated; by the order in which each of the brothers is named, as well as by their functions, it is signified that Abel, although younger, is superior to his brother.


Therefore, let us complete what we have proposed: Abel added, he said, to obey, that is, to produce a better Eve who had sinned heavily before, the decision to abolish the error of the previous judgment. I lie if this is not confirmed in all. For we are born in such a way that before there is a weak sense of infancy in us, later knowing only the care of the body in childhood, having no worship, having no observance of the divine. And to prove the birth of Jesus Christ from a virgin by a clear novelty of nature, the prophet says: Behold, a virgin will conceive in her womb and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel: he will eat butter and honey, before he knows how to refuse evil or choose good. He will not believe in wickedness, in order to choose what is good (Isaiah VII, 14 et seq.). And later: Before the child knows how to call his father or mother, he will receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of Assyria (Isaiah VIII, 4). For he alone was not captivated by the vanity and carnal swelling of this world; because he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, far different from each one of us who are foolishly exalted in the mind of the inflated flesh. Therefore, no one is without sin, not even an infant of one day: but he did not commit sin. And thus in us, Cain is born before Abel, preferring himself: afterwards Abel is generated, in whom there is reverence for divinity. Therefore, first evil creeps in, then goodness is recognized. Where goodness is, there is justice; where justice is, there is holiness, that is, Abel who clings to God.

11. And it happened, he said, that Abel became a shepherd of sheep, but Cain worked the land (Gen. IV, 2). It is not insignificant that even though Cain was born first, as the reading teaches, Abel was preferred in this place; nor is the order of names the same as the order of nature. What does the change of order mean; that it should remember the younger one first, when the state of life and the use of work are described? Let us inquire into the difference of duties, so that we may gather the cause of preference. To work the land is to use it before grace, to pasture sheep. For this is like that of a certain teacher and prince, and rightly an elder has begun what is elder, a younger has preferred what is more recent, which would bear no thorns, no prickles, subject to no judgments. Finally, guilty of sin, Adam was dismissed from paradise's pleasures, so that he might work the land. Therefore, rightly, where these brothers are born, the order of nature is also preserved in preaching: where discipline of living is expressed, the elder is preferred before the younger; for although younger in age, he is more excellent in virtue. For innocence is younger in time than evil, and in a certain sense more aged by the nobility of merits. Indeed, old age is venerable not by years grown grey, but by character. And the age of senescence, it is said, is a blameless life. Therefore, wherever generation is expressed, let Cain come first; wherever preaching of discipline is made, let Abel run ahead. Who would deny that even youth and itself in the beginnings of young adulthood fervently burn with the various allurements of passions? But when a more mature age is succeeded, as if by the storm of a youth's lasciviousness being dissipated, tranquility is restored and the weary soul withdraws its ship into certain quiet harbors. Thus, the tumultuous movements of our youth are calmed by the steady presence of faithful old age.

Chapter IV.

To prefer vice to virtue is a sign of ignorance; this is exemplified by Esau and Jacob, as well as by two scriptural women: one representing virtue, the other representing pleasure. Ultimately, the arts of the latter are described.


12. Therefore, do not hesitate when reminded by such examples of nature, that malice precedes in time, but youthfulness in weakness. It has the pay of that age, but virtue has the prerogative of glory, by which the unjust often yields to the just. The faithful divine Scripture is a witness to this matter, which teaches that Esau, by the surname of folly, patiently yielded his birthright to his brother Jacob, to the extent that he said: Why should I have the birthright? (Gen. XXV, 32)? But those whom that man put before, this man, endowed with the surname of exercise, sought to deserve. Does it not seem to you that Esau, like a defeated man in a contest, and considering himself inferior due to his own weakness of mind, yielded the crown to the victor, whom he saw was not swayed by any enticements of passions, the very dust of which he himself could not endure? Why, he says to me, do I desire preeminence? For among the lazy, there are no insignia of virtue; among the wise, they are considered first; for the studies of virtue are certain instruments. Therefore, just as a warrior cannot be without weapons, so virtue cannot be without exercise. Hence, the Lord says in the Gospel: \"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force\" (Matthew 11:12). And elsewhere: \"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you\" (Matthew 6:33). They promise rewards to those who are not sleeping or idling, but to those who are vigilant and laboring. And there is a reward prepared for labor, which, although it may not be pleasing to grace, is nevertheless fruitful for a prize.


This is what the law teaches, as we find it written: If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and both bear him sons, the beloved and the hated, and the firstborn is the son of the hated wife; on the day he divides his inheritance among his sons, he may not grant the firstborn status to the son of the beloved wife, skipping over the son of the hated wife. But he must acknowledge the firstborn son of the hated wife and give him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength and to him belong the rights of the firstborn (Deut. XXI, 15 et seq.). How deep are the secrets of mysteries hidden in the letters! Recognize, o soul, your offspring, and seek the mystery of that dreadful woman. Within yourself you will find it, if you seek. Repeat your thoughts, reread your senses, and you will recognize to whom the firstfruits are due. For indeed, two women dwell in each of us, differing in enmities and discord, like certain jealousy-filled disputes filling the house of our souls. One of these, to us, is sweet and lovable, the charming mediator of grace, which is called pleasure. We consider this one as our companion and domestic friend: the other one we believe is fierce, rough, and wild, whose name is virtue.

Therefore, with a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks. For indeed, since it cannot possess true beauty of nature, it entices with the appearance of affected beauty through false dyes, not truth. Adorned with a company of vices and surrounded by a chorus of wickedness, the leader of crimes attacks the wall of the human mind with such contrivances of words: 'Peace offering is to me; today I fulfill my vows.' For this reason, I have advanced to meet you, desiring to find your face. I have woven my bed with fine linen and spread carpets from Egypt. I have spread my bed with saffron, and my house with cinnamon. Come, let us enjoy friendship until dawn; come, and let us wrestle with desire (Prov. VII, 14 et seq.). For through the mouth of Solomon we see this form of harlot expressed. For what is more similar to harlotry than secular pleasure, which enters through the window of its house, tempting the eyes with its first enticements; and it quickly penetrates if you, looking out into the street, namely the public ways of those passing by, do not direct the gaze of your mind to the internal mysteries of the law. She certainly is the one who, like a kind of bed woven with stronger ties, has entangled us in the bonds of a community, so that whoever reclines on it is bound; and she covers the surface of her body with the veil of shameful deceit, to seduce the minds of young men in the absence of her husband, that is, by disregarding the law. For the law is absent for those who commit sins, for if it were present, they would not commit them; and therefore it says: For my husband is not at home: he has taken the longest journey, with a bundle of money received in his hand (Ibid., 19, 20). What shall I say this is, except perhaps because the rich think there is nothing that does not yield to their money, and they want the law to be for sale in their favor? Pleasure spreads its own scents, because it does not have the scent of Christ, it displays treasures, promises kingdoms, guarantees continuous loves, offers unknown sexual encounters, disciplines without a tutor, conversations without a monitor, a life without worries, soft sleep, insatiable desire. Seducing him, she said, with many flattering words, and binding him with the snares of her lips, she led him home. But he, following her, is caught in a trap. The royal hall shone with luxurious splendor, its walls adorned with carved designs, and the damp floors floated with wine. The ground burned with perfume, covered with thorns of fish, and slippery with withered flowers. There, there was a commotion of feasting, the clamor of those singing, the violence of those arguing, the harmony of those dining, the noise of those dancing, the laughter of those laughing, the applause of those reveling, everything confused, nothing in the order of nature. Dancing prostitutes, boys with curled hair, the crudeness of revelers, the belching of eaters, the thirst of drunkards, yesterday's gluttony, today's drunkenness, the cups of those who drink, filled with a stronger stench of intoxication than if only the wine were aflame. She herself, standing in the middle, says, 'Drink and get drunk, so that each one falls down and does not rise again.' He is the first with me, he who is the most lost of all. He is mine, who is not his own. He is more pleasing to me, who is more harmful to himself. The golden cup of Babylon, intoxicating all the earth, drank my wine. So let the more foolish one turn to me, and to those in need of wisdom, I command, saying: Use hidden breads sweetly, and drink water secretly sweeter. Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. Our life will pass like the traces of a cloud, and like a mist it will be dispersed (Prov. IX, 17). Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are, and make use of the creatures as in our youth, quickly. Let us fill ourselves with precious wine and ointments, and let not the flower of the time pass by us. Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither. Let no meadow be untouched by our luxury: let us everywhere leave signs of our joy (Wisdom 2:8 et seq.). All these things are left behind, and one will not carry anything with them except what they have received through the pleasure of the body. Finally, I have embraced this philosophy; and there is no truer one, except for that which asserts that the good is what is pleasant and enjoyable. Therefore, believe in either the philosophy or the wisdom of Solomon.

Chapter V.

Virtue, seeking healthier pleasures, rejects the pursuit of pleasure; it teaches how to resist diabolical temptations, from whom and even temporal things must be sought, and how harmful they are to the wicked; it invites to the feast of wisdom, and it explains how its intoxication differs from drunkenness; and finally, it reveals the evils of greed.


15. His auditis, velut cervus sagittatus in jecore haeret saucius. Quem miserans virtus, et casurum cito videns, improviso occurrit, verita ne inter moras illecebris demulcentibus mens capiatur humana. Palam, inquit, apparui tibi non quaerenti me. Ne fallat imprudentem, et circumveniat te mulier effrenata et luxuriosa quae non novit pudorem: sedet in foribus domus in sella, palam in plateis advocans praeitereuntes (Prov. IX, 14 et 15). Now therefore, my son, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. For she has cast down many wounded, and there are innumerable whom she has slain. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death (Prov. VII, 24 et seq.). Therefore, remove from yourself a perverse mouth and put far away from you unjust lips. Let your eyes look right ahead (Prov. IV, 24 et 25): do not focus on a deceitful woman (Prov. V, 2). For the lips of an adulterous woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the path of life; her ways wander aimlessly, but she does not know it. Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Be more like him who leaps over mountains and transcends hills, looking through windows, standing above nets. The chains of pleasure are evil. It delights the eyes, soothes the ears, but corrupts the mind: it tells many lies, adds falsehood, subtracts truth, promises money, offers gold; but takes away discipline (Prov. VIII, 10). But you, rather accept discipline than money, and knowledge rather than tested gold. For precious stones are better. I will not conceal from you what is the sum of its benefits, lest I seem to hide those things which displease in pleasure, and to overshadow those which please. For it elevates and exalts the mind with persuasive words, showing all the kingdoms of the earth, saying: 'All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' But beware that you are not carried away by passing and fleeting things, in which there is great temptation.


16. Certainly, the Lord Jesus taught you how to resist such temptations. The devil had first set a snare of gluttony, saying: If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread (Matthew 4:3-4). The Lord replied: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. He loosened this snare with these words. Then the devil set a second snare of arrogance, which often strangles a good mind running on successful paths. And he took him, he said, to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written that he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and that they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone (cf. Matthew 4:6). Therefore, when the Lord Jesus could have easily thrown himself without any danger, since he had the power of spiritual flight, in order to avoid any form of boasting, he replied to the devil: 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test' (cf. Matthew 4:7). At the same time, he taught us to beware of doing the will of the devil. If therefore boasting should truly be avoided, how much more should no one boast false things for true things? The third snare of greed and ambition remains. It shows on a mountain placed all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time (Ibid., 8, et seq.). Well, in a moment, because they cannot be long-lasting. Wait a little while, and they quickly pass. Therefore, those who pursue them seem to themselves to be on a mountain, but they are not perpetual, as it is written: I have seen the wicked exalted and lifted up above the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by, and behold, he was not (Ps. XXXVI, 35). But whoever does these things seems to worship the devil, whose god is the stomach, and his glory is in shameful things. But you, seek glory in God, who says to you: 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him' (Matthew 4:10), from whom you receive eternal things, not temporal ones.

However, if these things also delight anyone, let them be sought in moderation from the true source of all. For even the possessions that the devil seems to have for himself are actually someone else's, as he himself said: 'All this authority I will give you, and their glory; for it has been delivered to me' (Luke 4:6). Therefore, hope in him, even though the briefness of life does not require a long provision for the journey; hope in him who created the entire creation, who temporarily handed it over to the devil, not for him to possess, but to test. For a crown could not exist without a competition. The doubtful were to be tested, so that the deserving could be crowned.

So, he gave these things to the devil, because in them is the punishment of the recipient, if he does not know how to use them. For what is a treasure to a luxury-loving person, if not the expense of luxury? Therefore, one is not considered luxurious, but rather frugal. And so, use those things as if you were frugal, so that when you eat a lot, you do not become detestable. For vigilance and torment are for the gluttonous person. And below: If you are forced to eat, rise and vomit, and it will refresh you, and you will not bring weakness to your body. Therefore, gluttony kills many, frugality none: countless wines have harmed, no self-control has saved. Most among the feasts spill souls, and fill their tables with their own blood. To others, rawness snatched voice and sense: and if rawness was not harmful to some, drunkenness brought their ruin. Indeed, drunkenness drove others into crime; although it itself is a crime, it reduced others to poverty. Finally, may Christ exclude the audacious: When the master of the house enters, he says, and has shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying: Open to us. And he will answer, saying: I do not know where you are from, depart from me, all workers of iniquity. Then you will begin to say: We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets. And he will say to you: I do not know where you are from (Luke 13:25-27). Have you heard what he said about those who eat? Now listen to what he says about those who fast: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst now, for they will be satisfied (Luke 6:21). And further: Woe to you who are full, for you will hunger (ibid., 25).


19. But do you want to eat, do you want to drink? Come to the banquet of wisdom which invites everyone with great preaching, saying: Come and eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you (Prov. 9:5). Do songs delight and soothe the feasting? Listen to the exhorter, listen to the Church singing, not only in songs, but also in the Song of Songs: Eat, my friends, and drink, and be intoxicated, my dears (Song of Songs 5:1). But this drunkenness makes the sober; this drunkenness is of grace, not of intoxication. It generates joy, not stumbling. Do not fear that in the banquet of the Church there will be lacking pleasant smells, sweet foods, different drinks, or noble guests, or respectable attendants. What is more noble than Christ, who both serves and is served in the banquet of the Church? Attach yourself to the side of this reclining guest and unite yourself with God; do not despise the table that Christ has chosen, saying: I entered my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spices: I ate my bread with my honey, and I drank wine with my milk. In the garden, that is, in the paradise, there is a banquet of the Church, where Adam was before he committed sin. There Eve reclined before she created and gave birth to guilt. There you will harvest myrrh, that is, the burial of Christ; so that buried with him through baptism into death, just as he rose from the dead, you may also rise. There you will eat the bread that strengthens the heart of man. You will taste honey, by which the sweetness of your throat's passages is enhanced. You will drink wine with milk, that is, with splendor and sincerity: whether it be because pure simplicity is present, or because of immaculate grace, which is taken for the remission of sins, or because it nourishes the little ones with its consolations, so that they, weaned from delights, may grow into the fullness of perfect age. Therefore, join in this feast. Or do you fear that a narrow house and a small place of the feast will confine you? O Israel, how great is the house of the Lord, and the vastness of His possession! Great, and without end, lofty, and immense (Baruch. III, 24). There were those giants, who from the beginning were of great stature, knowing battle. The Lord did not choose them. And rightly so, because they knew battle, not peace. And therefore learn peace, that you may be chosen by God. But perhaps you might think the unadorned greatness of the house, and the pleasure of the pillars may attract you: wisdom has built itself a house, and it has shone with seven pillars. The Lord Jesus himself also mentions that there are many mansions with his Father (John XIV, 2). In this house, therefore, you will feast on food for the soul and drink for the mind, so that afterwards you will never hunger or thirst. For whoever eats, eats until satisfaction; and whoever drinks, drinks until drunkenness.

20. But this drunkenness is the guardian of chastity: that drunkenness of wine is the fuel of lust, through which the internal organs are steamed by meats, the soul is set on fire, the spirit is consumed. Cruel is the stimulus of crimes, which never allows the affected to remain quiet. It boils at night, gasps during the day, wakes up from sleep, leads away from business, recalls from reason, takes away counsel, disturbs lovers, causes the fallen to stumble, lies in wait for the chaste, inflames through drinking, and is kindled through use. There is no limit to sinning, and an insatiable thirst for wickedness can only be extinguished by the death of love. And therefore the Apostle says: Flee from fornication (I Cor. VI, 18); so that by a swift flight, we may avoid the cruelty of the raging mistress and be able to escape from her foul service.

21. For what can I say about greed, with its insatiable desire for money, and a certain lust for wealth, which believes that the more it has taken away, the more it is impoverished? Envious of all, worthless to itself, destitute in the midst of great riches, it weakens its desires because of its abundant wealth. There is no limit to its greed, where there is no measure of its desires. It inflames the soul, it feeds itself with its own fire, so much so that it is different in this regard, that the former is an adulteress of beauty, while the latter is of the earth. It shakes the elements, cuts through the sea, digs up the earth, wearies the heavens with prayers, and is pleasing neither in fair weather nor in stormy, bringing condemnation upon yearly profits and exposing the offspring of the earth. But this is the affliction of the soul, not of the body. Furthermore, Ecclesiastes says: There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, riches being hoarded up to the hurt of their owner (Eccle. V, 12). And elsewhere: He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver (Ibid., 9). And: There is no end of their acquiring (Baruch 3, 18). If you seek treasures, receive the invisible and hidden ones that are in the highest heavens, not the ones you seek in the veins of the earth. Be poor in spirit, and you will be rich in any measure; for life is not in the abundance of riches, but in virtue and faith. These riches will truly make you rich, if you are rich in God.

Chapter VI.

Virtue is attained through enthusiasm and hard work. This is proven by the example of Jacob, who achieved primacy over his brother; and the mystical teachings about Abraham, Moses, and the same two brothers are explained.

You have heard the mysteries of pleasures, you have also heard the gifts of our resources, which I thought should not be covered with furniture, but demonstrated by naked speeches of Scriptures; so that they would shine with their own light, and emit their own voice to each other. For the moon does not usually need an interpreter. It has an interpreter of the brightness of its light, with which the whole world is filled. To them, enlightenment is faith without a witness, a certain, so to speak, unclaimed witness that does not need the testimony of others, as it suddenly pours itself out before the eyes of all. Therefore, our works are not reported, but they cry out and report themselves. Indeed, I will not pass over the fact that this is considered laborious in our case; faith is demanded, desire is required, deeds are sought. For the Lord Jesus defined the duties of human devotion with these three things, saying: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7). And below: Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man (ibid., 24).


23. Whoever pursues these things diligently will receive the primacy of blessing, just as the patriarch Jacob, who by continence and faith trampled upon the traces of human passions. He said: 'God has had mercy on me, and I have everything' (Gen. XXXIII, 11). Therefore, may we deserve this mercy through faith, study, and works, by which disciplines Israel found the grace of God, and through it, everything. For he rejoiced not in the riches of this world, but in the disciplines of virtues. We heirs substitute for ourselves, whom holy Abraham substituted in Isaac his son, considering all his works as inheritance to a wise and just man, not leaving any hereditary right to the sons of slaves or slave women, but only gifts of donation. For perfect virtues receive the entire inheritance of glory, while something of little value is sprinkled on common and mediocre things. Therefore, Hagar, who is called a foreigner in Latin and a sojourner, and Keturah, which signifies fragrance, are not heirs. For whoever makes use of the intermediate disciplines, resident, is not an inhabitant of wisdom. Sprinkled with fragrance, one is not filled by fruit. However, food conveys health, not fragrance, because fragrance is the messenger of fruits. Therefore, recognizing the main disciplines, we acknowledge that they should be preferred by the residents.

24. This is according to natural disposition. But truly, according to the mystery, Abraham, the father of nations, legally transmitted his entire inheritance to his legitimate seed, which is Christ, who was a stranger in this land; so that he might bring the fragrance of this life rather than its fruits. When the mind hears this, it turns away from pleasure and joins virtue, admiring the grace of true beauty, pure affection, simple thought, moderate attire; that is, not in the persuasion of speech, but in the manifestation of the Spirit, as the form of apostolic sentiment, dressed in the splendor of wisdom and piety, shining more precious than gold, taking on the chorus of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice, which burned with the fragrance of disciplines, instilling reverence, and pouring forth grace. Therefore, moved by such things, he chose pursuits of virtue, to which Jacob, a man full of exercise, directed his mind. And for this reason, he is led to be a shepherd of sheep (Gen. XXX, 31 and seq.); because it is considered more excellent to govern his body and senses and their pleasures, and to keep a measure of desire, so that he does not wander like a wandering sheep, than to rule peoples or preside over cities. For it is more difficult for someone to control himself than to rule others. To conquer the mind, to restrain anger, and to bring together in one the conflicting laws of the body and the soul, is the task of a certain immortal man whom the gates of hell could not capture. Finally, the Legislator himself claimed this responsibility for himself, to feed the sheep of Jethro (Exod. III, 1), who is called superfluous, and to act in the desert: because he compelled the irrational and superfluous loquacity of common speech to certain indiscreet mysteries of sober doctrine. Therefore, the shepherds of sheep were an abomination to the Egyptians. For all those who are devoted to the passions of the body and indulge in their own pleasures, they turn away from the interpreter of the word and the teacher of virtue with a certain curse. And therefore, through these enigmas, Moses taught that sacrifices are pleasing to God, which every fool avoids, that is, the works and precepts of virtue. And so, Abel, the shepherd, is read as opposed to Cain, the worker of the land, who, as a foolish man, could not bear the expressed form and appearance of virtue in his brother.

Chapter VII.

By indicating the double defect of Cain’s sacrifice, he shows that three vices can creep into our offerings; he also brings forward divine testimonies by which the same vices are forbidden.

25. And it came to pass, after some time, that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruits of the earth (Gen. IV, 3). There are two faults: one is that he brought it after some time, and the other is that he brought it from the fruits, not from the first fruits. However, sacrifice is commendable both for its promptness and for its grace. Hence it is commanded: If you make a vow, do not delay in fulfilling it. For it is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it (Eccle. V, 3, 4). For when you delay, you do not fulfill it. A wish is a request for blessings from God with a promise to fulfill a duty. And so, when you obtain what you have asked for, it is ungrateful to delay the promise. However, sometimes forgetfulness creeps in among those who are negligent or proud. It is the mark of a dull heart to claim credit for achievements and the good that one does or that one receives from God, instead of attributing it to their own virtues, and not to the grace of the Creator, but to consider oneself the author of their own blessings. The third kind is a sin of lesser importance, but of supreme arrogance, namely those who do not deny God as the giver of good things, but attribute to themselves through their own prudence and the merits of their virtues whatever happens. Therefore, they consider themselves worthy of divine favor, because they do not appear in any way unworthy of receiving such divine benefits.

26. So that nothing of this kind happens to you, where your desire becomes a sin for you, the law informs and instructs you, with the Lord who gave the law saying: Be careful not to forget the benefits of the Lord your God, and do not keep His commandments and judgments, and His righteousness which I command you today; when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and begun to live in them, and your sheep and cattle have multiplied, and you have become wealthy with silver, gold, and all your possessions, and your storehouses are full, do not become proud and forget the Lord your God (Deut. VIII, 11 et seq.). So if you forget the Lord, when you have forgotten yourself. But if you realize that you are weak, you will recognize that God is above all, and you will not be able to forget, so that you may pay him the reverence that is due.

27. Now learn how each person is admonished not to attribute the source of his goods to himself. Do not say, it says, in your heart: My power and might have produced for me this great virtue, but in your mind you will have the Lord your God; for He gives strength to perform virtuous acts (Ibid. 17 and 18). Hence, the Apostle well, as the interpreter of the law, did not boast in his own strength, but called himself the least of the Apostles, and whatever he was, he attributed it to the grace of God, not to his own merit, and acknowledged that we possess nothing that we have not received. For what do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (I Cor. IV, 7) Therefore, you have learned to follow humility rather than arrogance; to strive for diligence rather than power. You have received helpful teachings, do not neglect the useful tools of medicine, by which every deadly wound is excised.

28. He also who justifies himself, let him not be inflated with the swelling of his heart; and he received a salutary command, resulting from this oracle: Do not say in your heart, when the Lord your God begins to consume those nations from before you, saying: It is on account of my justice that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land: but it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord will destroy them from before your face (Deut. 9:4-5). It is not because of your justice, nor because of your goodness, nor because of the fairness of your heart that you enter to possess this land, but because of the wickedness of the nations the Lord will destroy them before your eyes, and he will fulfill the covenant he swore to your ancestors. The covenant is a perfect gift of God's grace; for God does not give anything imperfect: but perfect virtue is, and the works of virtue. However, the covenant is called the inheritance of goods that is transferred. It is called Testament both in a human and divine sense, as the things that are truly good are confirmed by the testimony of heavenly mandates. And it is called Testament because it is dedicated with blood: the old in type, the new in reality. In this Testament we hold the pledge of divine grace; for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for all of us. Therefore, the Apostle, proclaiming the perfection of grace, says: How will he not also give us all things with him (Rom. VIII, 32)?

Chapter VIII.

The qualities by which the offering of Abraham's sacrifice is pleasing to God are expressed, namely swiftness, perseverance, and faith. God commands swiftness in both Testaments, which he himself exhibits when he not only gives quickly, but also goes before us.


29. Therefore, the first thing to be grateful for is the swiftness of the solution. Indeed, when Abraham was commanded to offer his son as a holocaust, he did not wait for days like Cain did, but he rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two young men with him, along with his son Isaac. After cutting the wood for the holocaust, he rose and went to the place that God had told him, on the third day (Gen. 22:3). First, notice the prompt and eager desire to sacrifice; there was no delay in expectation, except until the oracle was heard. Then, in preparing his donkey and taking care of everything himself, he undertook all the necessary obedience and prepared for the sacrifice. And with these two virtues, faith and hope, accompanying him, he led his own victim, certain of God’s power and secure in his goodness.


30. But as He said on the third day, or what should be continuous and perpetual devotion. For time is divided into the past, present, and future. Hence, we are reminded that there should be no forgetfulness of God's past, present, or future blessings, but rather a steadfast memory of His grace and unwavering obedience. Or because the one who sacrifices should believe in the unity, the splendor, and the light of the Trinity. For indeed, to the one who sacrifices faithfully, the day shines, and there is no night. And so, in Exodus, Moses says: 'We will go for a journey of three days and offer a sacrifice to the Lord our God' (Exod. III, 18). But also elsewhere, when God appeared to Abraham by the oak tree of Mamre: Looking up, Abraham saw with his own eyes, and behold, three men were standing before him. And when he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground and said: 'Lord, if I have found favor in your sight' (Gen. XVIII, 2 and 3). He sees three, worships one. He offers three measures of a likeness. For although God is immense, he still holds the measure of all things, as it is written: Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with a span, and enclosed the whole earth in his hand (Isaiah 40:12)? Therefore, in each individual person of the Trinity, within the secret recesses of the mind, that is, in the spiritual likeness, the holy Patriarch offered this sacrifice to the Father. This is the likeness, which that woman in the Gospel grinds: For, she says, one will be taken and the other left (Matthew 24:41). Let the Church be assumed, let the Synagogue be abandoned. Or a good mind is assumed, an evil one is abandoned. But so that you may know that Abraham also believed in Christ: Abraham, he said, saw my day and rejoiced (John VIII, 56). And whoever believes in Christ, believes also in the Father. And whoever believes perfectly in the Father, believes in the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there are three measures, one likeness, that is, one sacrifice which was offered to the venerable Trinity with a certain measure of devotion, and with suitable fullness of piety.


31. Still, learn the swift ardor of devotion: He ran, he said, and took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant, and hastened to make it (Gen. XVIII, 7). Devotion is diligent everywhere, and therefore it was an acceptable gift to God. You have it elsewhere, so that you may anticipate the sunrise with prayer: Meet it, he said, at the sunrise (Sap. XVI, 28). You have it in the Gospel, with the Lord Jesus saying: Zacchaeus, come down quickly (Luc. XIX, 5). And because he had obtained what he desired, to see Christ; and he had obtained more, to be seen and called by Christ, he hastened and descended, and received him with joy; and therefore the Lord approved his affection, and rewarded him quickly, saying: Because today salvation has come to this house (ibid., 9). For the Lord hastened to do a favor; and therefore he did not wait to promise and later fulfill, but he first did it, and later declared it. For he said: Salvation has come: which indeed was of the one who was to come, not promising. Therefore, the just man commends his vow with swiftness. And our fathers hastened to eat the Passover, having their loins girded, and their feet shod with shoes, and carrying burdens of the body, so that they would be ready for the passage; for the Passover of the Lord is a passage from sufferings to exercises of virtue. And therefore it is called the Passover of the Lord; because even then in that Lamb the truth of the Lord's Passion was announced, and now it is celebrated by his grace.


32. Go quickly, therefore, and search for this, my soul; so that you may quickly also hear, just as Jacob heard: What is this that you have found so quickly, my son (Gen. XXVII, 20)? And he answered according to the teaching: What the Lord your God has handed over into my hands. God gives quickly; for He said, and things were made; He commanded, and they were created. For the word of God is not, as someone says, a work, but a working, as you have written: My Father works until now, and I work (Joan. V, 17). He surpasses all things; for He is before all things, as the Father, and in all things as the same Father, penetrating all things. For He is strong and sharp, and sharper than any sword, penetrating even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow. He anticipates the thoughts of all, of whom the Father God says: 'Now you will see if my Word comprehends you, or not' (Num. 11:23). For where God is, there is the Word, as He said: 'We will come and make our dwelling place with him' (John 14:23). And as you have read in other places about God: I stood here before you (Exod., XVII, 6): so also the Word says: Before you stood under the fig tree, I saw you (John I, 48). And about him it is said: The Word, that is, the Son of God, stands in the midst of you whom you do not know (Ibid., 26). For wherever the saints are, there the Word of God fills the hearts of each one, encompassing the seas and the lands. And though he is here, he is also elsewhere; not changing his place, but surely filling it with his presence. For the Word of God is everywhere, going through all things and in all things, leaving no place to be immune from itself. And where it is present, it has always been; and where it has been, it is present. And for this reason, one who knows that the Word of God is swift, quickly asks and quickly obtains.

Chapter IX.

Pharaoh is accused because of his delay in obeying. Humility, secrecy, and brevity are commended in prayer, with a rebuke of verbosity. The Lord has taught the form of prayer; and finally, for what things should one especially pray?

33. But Pharaoh, who was devoted to beliefs and vain superstitions (Egypt being filled with frogs, which produced empty sounds and noisy clamor), when Moses said to him: 'Appoint a time for me to pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, so that the Lord may exterminate the frogs' (Exod. VIII, 9); though he should have been compelled by such great necessity to pray, and not delay any longer, he replied: 'Tomorrow'; idle and negligent, intending to destroy Egypt by incurring the punishment of delay. And so, when he obtained these things, he became ungrateful; and being lifted up in his mind with his flesh, he forgot God.

34. However, humility commends prayer. For indeed, that Pharisee was rebuked who enumerated his fasts as if they were benefits, and as if he were reproaching God, and he recounted himself as devoid of sins. But the tax collector who stood far off was commended, for he refused to lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying: 'Lord God, be merciful to me, a sinner' (Luke 18:13). And for this reason, divine judgment preferred him, saying: 'For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted' (Ibid., 14). For he is justified who confesses his own sin, as the Lord Himself has spoken: 'Declare your iniquities, that you may be justified' (Isaiah 43:26). And David says: 'A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit' (Psalm 51:19). And again: 'A contrite and humbled heart, O God, You will not despise' (ibid.). Jeremiah also says: 'The soul in distress and the anxious spirit cry out to You' (Baruch 3:1). Therefore, Pharaoh (Exodus 5:2) and the Assyrian king who said, 'Which of the gods of these nations can deliver his land out of my hand? Because the Lord your God will deliver Jerusalem out of my hand' (2 Kings 18:35). They were cast down by their exaltation. But the righteous, like Jacob, refers all the good things he has achieved to God the Author, saying about all the things he knows have prospered for him: 'For the Lord God delivered them into my hands' (Gen. 27:20). Therefore, this is a better fulfillment of their wishes, as David also says: 'Sacrifice the sacrifice of praise to God, and pay your vows to the Most High' (Ps. 49:14). To praise God is to commend and fulfill a vow. And so that Samaritan is preferred to others, who, having been cleansed from leprosy according to the Lord's command, alone returned to Christ praising God and giving thanks. Concerning him, Jesus says: 'Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'... And he said to him: 'Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well' (Luke 17:18).

And there is also the discipline of commendable speech and prayer, that we do not divulge the prayer, but we hold hidden mysteries, just as Abraham held, who made cakes of ashes (Gen. XVIII, 6). The fathers also held, who cooked the sprinkled dough that they had brought from Egypt, making cakes of ashes, which are called in Greek 'egkryphia', because they are hidden in ashes; signifying that yeast which that Gospel woman concealed (Luc. XIII, 21) in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened, also indicating the need to pound down the teaching of mysteries. What the Lord taught more explicitly in the Gospel, saying: But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions (Matth. 6:5). And further on: For your Father knows the things you have need of, before you ask Him (Ibid., 8). Your room is the secret place of the mind and the hidden sanctuary of the soul. Enter into this room of yours, that is, enter into the deep recesses of your heart, leaving behind the outward court of your body, and shut your door.


36. Learn what your door is: Place, O Lord, a guard at my mouth, and a door protector around my lips (Ps. CXXXIX, 3). And Paul asks to be prayed for: That a door may be opened to me, he says, to speak the mystery of Christ (Col. IV, 3). But as he was chosen to preach the Gospel, he rightly desired that the door of the word be opened to him; for from his mouth salvation of the nations went forth, from his mouth came forth the life of the people. But we shut the door, lest fault enter, lest any slip of speech should go out. Fault enters if a slip goes out. Listen how fault enters. In much speaking, it says, you will not avoid sin (Prov. X, 19). Much speaking went out, sin entered; because in much speaking, the word that goes out is not at all examined. It slips foolishly, though speaking excessively is a great sin in itself.

37. And so be careful not to speak indiscreetly; for the lips of the foolish lead him to evil. Be careful not to exalt yourself in prayer; for the prayer of the humble will pierce the clouds. Be careful not to reveal the mysteries of the Creed or the Lord's Prayer thoughtlessly. Do you not know how serious it is to commit a sin in prayer, where you hoped for a remedy? Certainly the Lord taught through the Prophet that this is a serious curse, saying: And let his prayer be turned into sin (Ps. 108:7); unless perhaps you think it to be of little consequence. For to doubt is to distrust in the power of God, to think that you will not be heard unless you cry out. Let your works cry out, let faith cry out, let your affections cry out, let your passions cry out, let your blood cry out, like holy Abel, of whom God said to Cain: 'The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to Me' (Gen. 4:10). For He hears you in secret, who cleanses in secret. We can only hear someone speaking. To God, they do not speak words, but thoughts. And so that you may know this is true, the Lord Jesus said to the Jews: 'Why do you think evil in your hearts?' (Matt. IX, 4) This is not the voice of one asking, but of one knowing. This is made clear to you by the Evangelist saying: 'But Jesus knew their thoughts' (Luke VI, 8). Just as the Son knows, the Father knows as well. You have come to know the Son, know the Father, hear the counselor and witness of the Father saying: 'For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him' (Matt. VI, 5). Therefore, cook under the ashes of your vapor of the Holy Spirit; also cook the passions of the soul with the heat of the word. And if your passions are more raw, perhaps recently coming out of Egypt, cover them and cook them slowly; so that they cannot bear a stronger fire and instead they are half-burned rather than cooked. For there are many things that are displeasing when raw, but delightful when cooked. Therefore, cherish in your heart the deep mysteries; do not commit them with premature speech and to unfaithful or weak ears, as if they were uncooked, and the listener turns away and is disgusted with horror, but if he tasted something more cooked, he would perceive the sweetness of spiritual food.


But the Lord Jesus taught divinely and the goodness of the Father, who knows how to give good things (Luke XI, 13); so that you may ask for what is good from the One who is good: and he strongly and frequently admonished to pray; not so that prayer is continued out of pride, but so that it is poured out frequently with diligence (Ibid., 9). For often empty glory hinders prolonged prayer, and neglect completely creeps in when it is interrupted. Then he advises (Matt. XVIII, 15) that when you ask for forgiveness for yourself, you should especially know how to grant it to others, so that you may commend your prayer with the voice of your actions. The Apostle also teaches (I Tim. II, 8) to pray without anger and argumentation, so that your prayer may not be disturbed or corrupted. He also teaches to pray in every place, as the Savior says: Enter into your room (Matt. VI, 6). But understand that it is not a room closed by walls, where your limbs are confined: but it is a room within you, in which your thoughts are enclosed, in which your senses move. This room of your prayer is with you everywhere, and it is a secret everywhere, of which the only judge is God alone.


39. But especially you are to pray and teach for the people (1 Tim. 2:1), that is, for the whole body, for all the members of your mother, in which mutual charity is evident. For if you pray only for yourself, you will pray for yourself alone. And if individuals pray only for themselves, the grace of the intercessor is less than that of the sinner. But now, because individuals pray for all, all also pray for individuals. Therefore, to conclude, if you pray only for yourself, you will pray for yourself alone, as we have said. But if you ask for everyone, everyone will ask for you. Indeed, you are in everything. Such is the great reward, that the support of the entire population is obtained through the prayers of individuals. In this there is no arrogance, but rather a greater humility and a higher fruit.

Chapter X.

In the first offering, Cain passes by due to a defect and goes to another, namely that he did not offer from the first fruits. The first fruits of the soul are especially to be offered, and what they are. Abel is said to have offered the same, and to have commanded the law to be offered. Similarly, the Canaanites are mentioned there: also why God is said to have sworn that the inward movements of the soul cannot be pacified without His help. Finally, it is said that these offerings should be made for which sexual distinction contributes nothing.


But now it is time to move on to another topic, since we have fully discussed what Cain offered after days. It has become an indication of a backward approach, when the very request of a vow should be mature; so that we do not seem to have relied more on human arts, that is, the skill of healing and the juices of herbs, than on seeking help from God. For it is to Him that we must first turn, who is able to heal the passions of our soul. However, some people seek help from others before seeking it from themselves in a misplaced order: but when human resources fail, then they believe that divine favor, grace, should be sought.


Now that this matter has been resolved and Cain has been convicted of the crime, let us discuss another fault in his offering. He offered, he said, fruits of the earth, not the first fruits as an offering to God. This is to claim the first fruits for oneself: but the following fruits should be offered to God. Therefore, since the soul is truly to be preferred to the body as its master, the first fruits of the soul, that is, of discipline, should be offered before the body. The first fruits of the soul are the preeminence of good disciplines. Although the senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and voice (which are the food, growth, sight, hearing, and touch of the body, while the mind and senses are part of the soul) are later in time than the first-fruits of the body, they are yet prior to the disciplines. The first of which is the thanksgiving offered to God with a pure heart and simple speech.

42. Abel offered these gifts, and for this reason God looked favorably upon his gifts, because he offered from the firstfruits. Furthermore, he approached with the firstfruits of the sheep and their fat. Consider that he did not offer from inanimate things, but from living creatures. For an animal is greater than the earth; indeed, an animal is closest to the spiritual. For that which is spiritual is not prior to that which is animal, but rather that which is animal, and then that which is spiritual. That which is animal breathes, it possesses the vital spirit; it is not so with the fruits of the earth. Then he offered not the second, but the first; not small, but fat: for such the law approved, and commanded to be offered, as it is written: And it shall be, he said, when God shall lead thee into the land of the Chanaanites, as he swore to thy fathers, and shall give it thee; thou shalt offer whatsoever openeth the womb, of the males to the Lord. All that openeth the womb of thy cattle, and of thy sheep, the males shall be the Lord's; all the firstborn of a donkey shalt thou redeem with a sheep: and if thou wilt not give a price for it, it shall be slain (Exodus 13:11 and following). What depth of mystery, what heights of secret wisdom, that you may grasp and draw from the rich abundance of spiritual grace, in certain veins of simple words? For the Canaanites are fickle and restless. Therefore, when you have entered their land, be aware of their levity, restlessness, and instability of character; hold on to constancy in the face of their possession. Let not cheap reasoning, nor trivial speech disturb you; for this is the way of the Canaanite - fickle speech, unstable emotions, and restless contention. Rather, maintain tranquility of heart, and peacefulness of mind; as if a safe haven for ships in the sea, establish a harbor for your thoughts.


43. The Lord promises you this possession, and confirms your constancy with the bond of a certain sacrament. For God does not swear because he needs the faith of a believer, nor does he require the support of testimonies or the suffrage of a sacrament, as we humans do when we bind someone to ourselves by a sacrament, and therefore we swear in order to be believed to have spoken the truth. But God, even when he speaks, is faithful, whose word is a sacrament. For it is not the faithful omnipotent God because of the sacrament, but also because of God the sacrament is faithful. Therefore, in what way does Moses bring about an oath from God? Because we are enclosed by a certain usage of mortals, and, like urchins, we are enveloped by a certain shell of common opinion, or like snails, which cannot breathe or sustain free air unless they are within the covering of a shell: so we are only engaged in certain earthly hiding places of human custom. Therefore, because we are more inclined to believe that which is confirmed by an oath, so that our faith may not falter, God is described as one who does not swear, but rather as the judge and avenger of those who swear falsely. In fact, it is written: 'The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest forever' (Ps. 110:4). He has surely kept what he has sworn, giving us an eternal high priest. Therefore, you must also understand that what you have sworn must be upheld; and because you swear by the one who does not lie, you should know that he will be your avenger if you lie.


Therefore, once the restless and unstable thoughts are expelled, God will give you an empty possession of the heart and mind, so that you may exercise it with the cultivation of tranquility and reap the fruit from it, and not tolerate the Canaanites, that is, the turbulent senses, from recurring in it; you will uproot every conception of the vices of the gentiles; you will destroy their groves with which the truth is overshadowed, and a certain heavenly book of the sight of thought is hidden by the horror of dark debate.


45. But unless you are given this by a divine gift, you cannot accomplish it. Therefore, it is said: God will give you (Exod. XIII, 11), that is, the best thoughts, calm plans, peaceful discoveries. When He has given these, you will take away everything that opens the male womb, and you will sanctify it to the Lord. God does not demand everything from you, who has given everything. For He bestows many things for the use of human substance, and this cannot be a divine sacrifice where the use of nature is present. To eat, to drink, to sleep, and other bodily services are gifts given to you, not things brought by you to God as offerings. But whatever holy thoughts you may have, these are gifts from God, inspirations from God, graces from God; just as, on the other hand, those things which pertain to the use of human nature do not defile man: but what comes out of the mouth, thefts, false testimonies, sacrileges, these are the things that defile man.

Therefore, let us purify our innermost selves, so that our offering may not displease. There, let us seek everything that opens the male vulva, that is, what is just and essential, which we ought to sanctify to the Lord. For it is not these bodily unions, conceptions, and births that sanctify us, through which the female vulva is opened with the deflowering of the modesty of virginity. For although a woman sanctifies a man, and a man sanctifies a woman; nevertheless, it often happens that the vulva of a virgin is opened even without the sanctity of marriage. Nor is masculine grace solely for men, but woman is also foreign to sanctification, or confused by the nature of both sexes, so that both are founded in bodily reproduction. Men have their duties, women have their distinct roles. This generation of human succession befits woman, but is impossible for man.

Therefore, if this sense does not agree with the use of the flesh, let us discuss the functions of the soul. I find, indeed, that it is not differentiated by any sex: and since it has no sex, it represents the functions of both sexes, it marries, conceives, and gives birth. And just as nature has given females a womb in which the generation of every living being is formed through menstrual periods, so there is a certain power of the soul which, like a secret womb, receives the seeds of our thoughts, nurtures the concept, and is accustomed to give birth. For Isaiah would not have said otherwise: In the womb we received and gave birth to the spirit of salvation (Isaiah XXVI 18); unless he knew the womb of the soul. Some of these generations are feminine, such as wickedness, wantonness, luxury, intemperance, impurity, and other such vices, by which the strength of our souls is weakened. The masculine virtues are chastity, patience, prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, by which our mind and body are strengthened, and are vigorously raised to carry out the duties of virtue. This prophetic womb gave birth to these offspring. And this is why he said: In the womb we received and gave birth to the spirit of salvation. Therefore, he both gave birth and bore a male who poured out the spirit of salvation.

Book Two

Chapter I.

The mature production of the offspring of the soul: what is their form? Can the plebeian senses of the mind be subdued by authority? For our kind of sensory perception is twofold; and is it beyond that which is offered to God to stand forth on its own accord? Finally, there is a discussion about the mixture by which we are constituted, and its first principles.


May our soul give birth to these [works], and not only give birth, but also bring forth, and bring forth when the days of giving birth are completed, so that the premature days of judgment may not find us. For concerning these births, the Lord Jesus says: Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing in those days (Luke 21:23)? Therefore, let this birth be completed earlier, and let our thoughts be explained by the processes of good deeds; so that our end may find nothing unfinished, our life's end may not encounter anything unexplained, and our use of work may not leave anything as if placed on an anvil. Therefore, hasten, soul, to shape your offspring, to complete them more quickly, to nourish those you have brought forth more swiftly.

2. The Apostle demonstrates what a great formation is being born, saying: My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Galat. IV, 19). Into this form, let all the depths of our mind unite, and in that womb of the soul, let Christ shine forth. Let our faith be our birth, and let the teachings of doctrine be our nourishment. Let our infancy be imbued with these things, let our childhood be instructed, let our youth be nurtured, and let our old age grow white. For old age is an unblemished life. Therefore, old age is truly a good for the soul, which no acts of treachery have stained. And so, Paul defends his offspring from this stain: 'I have begotten you,' he says, 'in the Gospel' (I Cor. IV, 15); lest any cruel whispering might try the faith's infancy. He was generating the masculine, therefore, who was eager to lead the peoples he taught to the perfection of faith, and to hold the perfect measure of the fullness of Christ in the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephes. IV, 13). For He knew that this sacrifice would be acceptable to God, about which it is written: 'You shall separate every offspring that opens the womb, the male belongs to the Lord' (Exodus 13:11). And the one who added: 'Every offspring that opens the womb among your livestock and animals, the male shall be sanctified to the Lord' (Ibid., 12); so that it may not be obscure, let us consider.

He had spoken about the main genera, that is, those capable of reason: he also added about the herd-like genera, that is, the remaining common senses, which are compared to irrational animals. However, when they are governed by some ruler, they easily become tamed; and they are accustomed to carry out commands, to submit to a yoke, to accelerate or stop at the master's voice, or to turn aside, or to perform various tasks of their assigned work, by a kind of human service. Such is the power of education, that it overcomes nature! Therefore, those things which do not have the fellowship of our substance, nevertheless recognize the dominion of our voice: and although they have no reason of their own nature, they take on our reason, and in a certain way acquire it as if transfused. We see horses spurred on by the pursuits of the common people, rejoicing in applause, delighting in flatteries of their masters. We behold fierce lions changing their natural ferocity into obedience, setting aside their own rage, adopting our customs; and although they themselves are terrible, they learn to fear. The dog is beaten so that the lion may be frightened: and he who is exasperated by his own injury is restrained by others, and is broken by the example of another. How often do they prefer to suffer hunger and endure the offense of the master, when there is prepared prey and food in sight? How often, impelled by a sudden movement, do they, commanded, open their mouths for bites? Thus, while they obey our will, they forget their own. Not so with those wild animals, or that herd of horses, or all kinds of cattle, which wander without any ruler, and without any guiding reins of the master, they are exasperated. And for this reason, cattle herders, shepherds, and other keepers were appointed, some as masters of their own flocks, forming their offices according to the condition of the animals entrusted to them.

Therefore, it seems that there is a certain kind of our senses that is tamed and gentle: another kind that is untamed which, with a certain movement of the mind as if lazy and loose, rushes towards irrational bodily pleasures; but the gentle kind that submits and subjects itself to the guidance of the mind. Therefore, whatever is governed by this nature is masculine and perfect; but whatever dominates without any leader, with a kind of plebeian presumption, like a city that is private to the council of the king and the nobles, it weakens all the states and manly vigor of its own body with a kind of feminine dissolution. From these things, that law of the flesh is, which, opposing the law of the Apostolic mind, was dragging it captive by a certain law of sin. And therefore, in order to be liberated from that body of death, Paul placed all his hope not in his own power, but in the grace of Christ (Rom. VII, 25). Hence it is clear that these disturbances which are according to the law of the mind, proceed from divine favor, while other sensations come from bodily pleasure.

Therefore, those things that are holy are the firstfruits of our senses: they are like a certain herd, and of a lowly condition: which seems Moses to have signified by various names. For this is also declared by that mystical ark of the law, of which he says: Thou shalt not make the beginnings of thy ark, and of thy fountains to be the last. The firstfruits of thy children thou shalt give to me. (Exod. 22:29) The holy movements of our senses, which are according to virtues, themselves are the firstfruits of a spiritual ark: therefore they are likened to a rural ark, in which the corn is winnowed. For just as wheat and barley are separated from the chaff when threshed in this rural area and, as they are repeatedly winnowed, the chaff and other impurities of the harvest are scattered by the gentle breath of the air in different directions, but those which are more solid fall back into the same place after the dust is shaken out, so the fruits of our thoughts, which are solid and excellent, present a pure and sincere nourishment of virtue, as it is written: 'Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God' (Luke 4:4). But those which are useless and empty are dispersed like smoke and clouds, for just as smoke irritates the eyes, so wickedness affects those who make use of it. And rightly so, iniquity is compared to smoke, which, like a certain secular darkness, clouds the sharpness of the mind.

6. And therefore the Lord says: When you enter the land which I bring you into, and when you begin to eat from its bread, you shall offer a separate oblation to the Lord, the firstfruits of your sprinkling, bread as an oblation from the threshing floor: thus you shall offer the firstfruits of your mixtures, and give them to the Lord (Num. XV, 2 et seq.). We are a mixture, composed of various elements. For cold is mixed with hot, and moist with dry, within us. This sprinkling has many allurements of the flesh and many delights: but these are not the original senses of this body, because we are made up of soul and body and spirit. This is the principal sprinkling, in which the Apostle desires us to be sanctified, as he says: May the God of peace himself sanctify you in all things; that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thess. V, 23). The first fruits of this participation are spiritual, that is, the inventions and generations of the senses that proceed from the vigor of the soul. But not all senses are primitive, except those that are free from malice, wickedness, and all error. However, bodily pleasures are necessary, such as sleeping, eating, drinking, walking, and other such senses; but they are not the first fruits. And therefore, not in these bodily pleasures, but in the sacraments of the Lord, where there is purity, piety, faith, and devotion. The manifest and clear example of this thing is the offering of the patriarch Isaac, whom the father, unaffected by any motion of human passion, offered as a sacrifice in the mode of a sacrifice, offering a pure victim to God, empty of fear and free from bodily desire, while the piety of the father yielded to the devotion of the one sacrificing.

Chapter II.

First fruits should be valued not by time but by sanctity: when faith, which is especially necessary, should be joined to true sacrifice; labor should be exchanged for fruit, and the soul should be freed from useless things.


Now let us consider what the power of first fruits is, and whether first fruits are valued by time or by holiness, that is, whether all firstborn have the sanctification of first fruits. Indeed, the first fruits of the harvest are considered holy according to the law (Num. XVIII, 8) because in them there is the best sacrifice of eager faith, but they are made holy by devotion, not by time, because it is not the produce that sanctifies, but devotion. Finally, where there is a quick yield, if devotion is delayed, offense is incurred. Therefore, not all firstborn are holy: only those that are holy are also firstborn. Indeed, Cain was the firstborn, but not holy. Likewise, the people of Israel, the holy people of God, are not the first in age; yet they are called firstborn, as it is written in the prophets: 'Israel is my firstborn' (Exodus 4:22). And Levi is holy, but not the firstborn; for it is recorded that he was the third son of Leah (Genesis 29:34); yet the Levites are called firstborn, from whom the name is derived. For it is written in Numbers: Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine; for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified every firstborn in Israel (Num. 3:12-13). Therefore, the Levites were called the firstborn, as they were set apart by sanctification before the other children of Israel. To understand why they were called the firstborn, listen to the Apostle saying: But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (Heb. 12:22). He made four orders: Mount Zion, the city of Jerusalem, the assembly of angels, and the primitive Churches. Therefore, the Lord God took the Levites from the midst of the people of Israel, because he did not want them to be sharers of human cares, but ministers of divine religion. And he made them his firstborn who open the spiritual womb; and therefore they were not from the womb of nature, like sinners of various crimes: but they are chosen after the secular worshippers have been destroyed. Where they do not have fellowship with plebeian possession, nor are they counted among the people; because they possess the word of God among themselves, as it is written in the Gospel: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst (Matt. XVIII, 20). And elsewhere: There stands among you one whom you do not know (John I, 26).

Therefore, we know that above all faith should commend us to God. When we have faith, let us strive for our works to be perfect. For this is a full and perfect sacrifice, as the Lord himself teaches us, saying: 'You shall offer to me your gifts and offerings on my feast days, without detracting or dividing them; but offering them in full, intact, and perfect.' Now, the feast day of the Lord is where the grace of perfected virtues resides. Those who are truly perfect are those whose mind, having conquered the allurements of worldly anxieties and bodily pleasures, is free from the world and dedicated to God, not diminishing anything from the straight path of their direct intention, nor dividing the times of their own affections now to luxury, now to labor. Therefore, only the wise celebrate this solemnity, no one else. For it is difficult to find a soul immune to such passions. Divide, therefore, according to the reason of the soul, the principal things and obedience, and then you will understand what is masculine and what is feminine. Virtue is nothing without labor, for labor is the process of virtue. This is also indicated by the very words of the law itself, which says: Whatever opens the womb of a donkey, you shall redeem with a lamb (Exodus 13:13). Indeed, the law separated unclean animals from sacrifice, and instead commanded clean ones to be offered in their place. Therefore, it commands that the offspring of a donkey, that is, something unclean, be replaced with a lamb, which is clean and suitable for sacrifice (Leviticus 27:27). This is according to the literal meaning. But if anyone pursues the meaning of the spiritual law more deeply, it is worth considering that the donkey is a laborious animal, the sheep productive. Therefore, it says that the labor should be changed into fruit, so that the end of one's work is fruitful. Or certainly in this way: you will commend all your labor, all your industry, with pure and simple affection.

9. But if you do not change, he says, you will redeem (Exod., XIII, 13). Therefore, according to the letter, it is commanded that another animal be offered for the unclean animal, or its price, so that nothing unclean or less than a tithe of the fruits appears to be offered. However, a deeper understanding teaches you to free your soul, so that it may abstain from those things that do not bear fruit. For whoever redeems himself, frees himself and in a way pays off a debt. Works that cannot produce true fruit and good results must be abandoned; such are the worldly things whose use cannot be lasting. In these things, he himself became naked and void of reality; and although he was sought after with the greatest effort, it brings no comfort to his soul. For those things which bring slavery to the soul are all useless, even if the effect is not lacking. The victory of the fighters seems great, the glory of the triumphant: but we frequently see those who have won, once again fall under uncertain wars and be transferred to the enemy by the outcome of the battle, and in that very moment when they were conquerors before, become more miserable. Therefore, it is necessary that you direct your actions towards God, and that His favor may aspire to you. The athlete himself, who judges with his own strength and not with that of others, believes that he undergoes uncertain events whenever he competes. And when he reaches the crown, he understands that this worldly glory, like the leaves of the crown itself, withers quickly. When a captain has steered a ship into port, he barely considers the end of his work and immediately seeks the beginning of new work. The soul is separated from the body, and after the end of this life, it is still held in suspense by the uncertain judgement of the future. So there is no end where an end is thought. From there, let us adhere to our God with vows and pure conscience and the spirit of charity, and let us obtain divine favor: praying that we may be able to be freed and stripped away from worldly cares like from cruel and rustic lords, and to exit from worldly service and enter into the freedom of supernatural knowledge, which is true and the only freedom, as we are called.

Chapter III.

He confirms what he had said about exchanging labor for fruit, using the example of the Jews serving in Egypt, and he confirms it with the testimony of the Gospel; he declares from where and in what way the soul must be freed, and that Christ is our true priest, that is, our liberator. Lastly, he presents the beautiful usefulness that the company of the righteous brings.


10. And to illustrate the precept of the law by an example, when the Egyptians oppressed the Jewish people with various works, with mud and stone, the children of Israel groaned and called upon the Lord for mercy. And he said to Moses: I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, how the Egyptians oppress them into servitude, and I have remembered my covenant. Go and tell the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the power of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments, and I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from the power of the Egyptians, and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod. 3:7 et seq.). See how the people of Hebrews have changed their labor with fruit, so that those who worked in mud would work in the hope of an eternal kingdom. And therefore the Lord, in the Gospel, had compassion on the empty labor of the gentile nations, who were constructing bricks for a muddy superstition and were devoted to the pleasure of the body, and were unable to build a solid wall of faith, as he said to certain offspring of donkeys: Come to me, all you who labor, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29) In this calling, I seem to understand more fully the words of the law and the mysteries: for he taught that the donkey should either be replaced by a sheep or redeemed with money. So that we may not only change the unclean offspring of the donkey, that is, worldly things, for a sheep, but also redeem them. This seems to be expressed by first washing away the impurities of our sins through the sacrifice of purification and the mystery of baptism; and also by redeeming our crimes with good works, the price of faith, and mercy.


11. The price of our blood is Christ's. Hence the Apostle Peter says: 'You were not redeemed with gold or silver, but with precious blood.' (I Pet. I, 18) And Paul says: 'You were bought at a price, do not become slaves of men.' (I Cor. VII, 23) Hence, it is not in vain that we marvel in the Gospel that the Lord Jesus sat upon the foal of an ass (Marc. XI, 7); for the Gentiles began to be the victim of Christ, because according to the law they were considered unclean. And it is written concerning the Levites (Exodus 12:13) that their redemptions are; because they washed away the sins of the people both by the holiness of their life and by their prayers. In this the figure of the lamb preceded the true Levite who was to come, who would take away the sin of the world by the passion of his own body. The Levite is signified as being accepted for me, or he himself is light for me; for he has the mark of perfect virtue to impart to the people's health. Therefore, he who was long-awaited for the salvation of all, was born for me from a virgin womb, offered for me, tasted death for me, and rose again for me. In him, the redemption of all mankind was achieved, and the resurrection was assumed. He is the true Levite, so that he might make us cling to God, pour forth continuous prayers to him, hope for salvation from him, flee earthly affairs, be counted among God's possession, as it is written: Lord, possess us (Exod. XXXIV, 9.). For it is only that possession which bears the fruits of perpetual grace, untouched by any storms. The Redeemer is a physician, for the redemption of the foolish is the wise man's task. Like a physician who comforts the sick mind of the fool and sprinkles stronger remedies of prudence on his soul, imitating the physician who came from heaven to show mankind the ways of prudence and reveal the paths of wisdom to the little ones. For he saw that the suffering could not be saved without remedy, and therefore he gave medicine to the sick. He brought help of salvation to all, so that whoever perishes may attribute the cause of his death to himself, for he did not want to be healed when he had a remedy by which he could escape: but the mercy of Christ must be preached to all openly; because those who perish, perish through their own negligence; but those who are saved, according to the judgment of Christ, shall be set free, for he desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. Finally, if Sodom had fifty righteous people, it would not have been destroyed, and if it had ten, it would have been redeemed; because the word of forgiveness of sins frees the soul from servitude and does not allow the mind to be consumed by the destructive fumes of lustful desires.

However, it matters a great deal and builds moral character if we also consider the number of just individuals who contribute to the welfare of the people as a whole. It suppresses and cuts off envy, confounds wickedness, encourages virtue, and increases favor. For no one should envy the praise that benefits themself; and every wicked individual, when they accept their redeemer, often imitates them, certainly venerates them, and often even loves them. Indeed, even if they know it will be beneficial to others, they are increased by their endeavors, and through that grace they connect people, accumulate the charity of citizens, and enhance the glory of cities. How blessed is the city that has many righteous people, how celebrated it is by the mouths of all! How it is praised from every side, and how its blessed and eternal state is esteemed! How I rejoice when I see some gentle and wise people live for a long time, when I behold chaste virgins, grave widows, elderly women, like a certain grey-haired court of the Church that presents itself with a certain countenance and appearance of gravity, which they revere, which they imitate, which they are adorned with, in order to obtain all the grace of good manners! For I do not rejoice for their own sake, when they experience the many annoyances of this world by living, but because they benefit many others. Similarly, when someone of this kind falls, even though he is laid low by a long old age, I am affected; because the flock of young people is deprived of an old wall. Finally, the first sign of a perishing city, or of impending evils, or of future evils, is this, if wise men depart, or even weighty women. From here, the gate opens for the first onslaught of approaching evils. Therefore, just as a whole city is strengthened and sustained by the gathering of wise people, or is weakened by their deaths: so too weighty speech, indeed one full of wisdom, is accustomed to stabilizing the soul of each individual and confirming the mind. Now if the practice of many readings is added, along with the guidance of many teachers and counsels, a certain senate, like a perpetual state of the city that is in the hearts of individuals, is established.

Chapter IV.

Why did Moses call the Levites firstborns and redeemers, and designate their cities as redeeming ones? Why is it not absurd for the pious to cohabit with the wicked? On the two virtues in God, mercy and justice, and their ministers; and on how the departure from evil always leads to the entrance of virtue, and vice versa; as is proven by examples in the Gospels.


Therefore, therefore, Moses called the firstborns and redeemers of the other Levites (Numbers 3:12); because mature and useful men of a certain old age prefer one senility of the soul, another redemption. Hence Moses also indicated the cities of the Levites as redeemers in the Old Testament (Numbers 35:6); because he who takes refuge in that soul in which the Word of God dwells, which is fortified and surrounded like a city, acquires perpetual freedom for himself. For just as in the cities of the Levites there was a remission of punishments, so that if anyone took refuge there who had not committed voluntary murder, no one was allowed to kill him as long as he stayed within the cities of the Levites; in the same way, if someone repents of their own sin, which they either committed thoughtlessly or unwillingly, and attaches themselves to the Levites as residents, and does not think that they should separate themselves from those teachers who dispense God's commandments, the law itself frees them from all punishment and penalty for the crime committed.


14. And do not think it absurd that criminals live together with the pious and the sullied live among the sacred. For those who have been contaminated by the contagion of sins need to be purified. And in a way, a different kind of cause converges. For just as the Levites, having renounced worldly pleasures, are exiles from guilt, so the guilty of blood are fugitives from their homeland. But there is this difference, that the former abandons his own out of fear of the law, while the minister of God renounces the company of humans for the sake of passions and, in pursuit of virtue, rejects the enticements of the flesh. Moreover, this does not deviate from the truth, that he, as it were, imposes certain hands on himself, in order to kill the pleasures of his own body and bring about the destruction of his flesh. Moses indeed killed the Egyptian and became a fugitive from the land of Egypt, in order to avoid the tyrant of that land. But he would not have killed that Egyptian man before he had first killed the Egyptian man of spiritual wickedness within himself, and had renounced the luxury of regal honors, considering the reproach of Christ a greater inheritance than the treasures of Egypt. What seems like a disgrace to foolish people is, for us, the power and wisdom of God in the cross of the Lord.

15. Besides, there are two main kinds of virtues in God, one by which He forgives and another by which He punishes. Sins are forgiven through the word of God, whose levite is the interpreter and executor as well (23, q. 5, cap. Remittuntur; et de Poenit. dist. 1, cap. Verbum Dei): they are also forgiven through the office of the priest and the sacred ministry. They are also punished by humans, such as judges who have temporary authority, as the Apostle teaches, saying: Do you not fear the power? Do good, and you will have praise from it; for he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Rom. XIII, 4). Sins are punished even by nations, as we read (Isa. XIII, 17); for oftentimes, by God's command, aliens are raised up to punish the people of the Jews for the offense against the divine majesty. Nor is he who unwillingly commits homicide outside of his office. For the law says of him: Because God has given him into his hands. Therefore, his hands have served as instruments for divine vengeance. The Levite is therefore a minister of forgiveness; but the one who, though not by his own decision but against his will, commits homicide, is a minister of divine vengeance.


16. Also consider this, that when the wicked is killed, Christ is infused. And where abomination is abolished, sanctification is gathered; for the Lord said: In that day when I slew all the firstborn of Egypt, I sanctified unto me all the firstborn of Israel (Num. III, 13). Which you do not apply to the one day of affliction of Egypt, but to all time. For when wickedness is renounced (32, q. I, cap. Cum renuntiatur), immediately virtue is acquired. For the one who has departed from wickedness works the entrance of virtue: and with the same eagerness with which the crime is excluded, innocence is joined. You have this in the Gospel (John 13:2): because when Satan entered into the heart of Judas, Christ departed from him, and in the moment in which he received him, He lost him. Finally, it is written: And after the morsel, Satan entered into him (Ibid., 27). Therefore, Jesus said to him: What you are doing, do quickly. What is this? That because Satan had entered into him, he would depart from Christ. Therefore, he is cast out and excluded, because he can no longer be with the Lord Jesus, as he had begun to be with the devil: for there is no communion of Christ with Belial. Hence, immediately being expelled by command, he departed, as we read, with the Evangelist saying: He received the morsel, and immediately went out (Ibid., 30); for it was night. He not only went out, but immediately and in the night he went out. And it is not surprising that he had the darkness of night who abandoned Christ. Truly, just as he was received by the devil, he was excluded from Christ; so Zacchaeus, renouncing greed, received Christ. And rightly seeing his eagerness, that he had climbed up a tree to see Jesus passing by, the Lord says: Zacchaeus, hurry down, for today I must stay at your house. And he hurried down and joyfully welcomed him. But by receiving Christ he excluded greed, banished treachery, renounced deceit. For Christ does not enter otherwise, than to exclude vices; because he does not dwell with errors. Finally, he threw the moneylenders out of the temple, because he himself wanted to dwell there. Therefore, Zachaeus understanding this, that he could not receive Christ with his old affection, commanded his former vices to leave his home, so that Christ would enter. Therefore, while the Pharisees were murmuring because the Lord Jesus had gone to stay with a sinner, he said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold (Luke 19:8). In this, he responded to those who said that a sinner should not offer hospitality to Christ: This is to say, I am no longer a tax collector, I am not that Zacchaeus, I am not a robber, I am not a fraudster. I return what I took, I return what I used to steal. Now I give to the poor, whom I used to strip: now I offer my own, whom I used to rob. The sins fled after Christ entered. The blindness of all carnal passions has been dispelled, where the light of eternal life has been infused.

Chapter V.

What do the fat and lard of sacrifices and offerings signify?

17. We have spoken about first-borns; let us also speak about fatness, about which David sufficiently teaches, saying: My soul shall be filled as with marrow and fatness (Ps. 62:5-6). And further he says: And let thy burnt-offering be fat (Ps. 20:4). Teaching that an acceptable sacrifice is one that is fat, that is shining, and that has been nourished with the food of faith and devotion, fattened by the abundant nourishment of the heavenly word. We often describe as fat a work that we want to be thick and laborious; and a rich offering is praised, which is not thin, not slender. And hence we rightly call it a rich sacrifice, because we desire to signify its abundance. Moreover, it is also supported by the evidence that fat cows, in prophetic interpretation, have been compared to bountiful years (Gen. XLI, 26).

Chapter VI.

What the Lord meant when he said: If you offer correctly, but divide incorrectly, you have sinned, so be still; and of the four types in which sacrifices were commended, if anything is lacking, the sacrifice is not approved, with the most beautiful moral interpretation of these things.

18. Now let us consider what the Lord says: If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, you have sinned, cease. This is an indication that God is not pleased with the offering of gifts, but with the disposition of the offerer. In the end, Cain, the condemned offerer of the gift, understood that his sacrifice was not approved by God because of his insincere conscience in the offering, and he became sad. For when a person's conscience is aware of their righteousness, they rejoice and their spirit is filled with a certain spiritual infusion of joy when their thoughts or works are approved by God. Therefore, sadness is a testimony of Cain's conscience and an indication of rejection. And although he offered a gift, because he did not divide it rightly and justly, he incurred guilt.

19. There are indeed four types of sacrifices that were commended. Whether they were new of new things, or roasted, or divided, or continuous. The new of new things were in the first time of the year, which were valued for their appearance in the firstfruits: but now it has been revealed that they signify those who are renewed through the sacraments of baptism. For this is truly the primitive sacrifice, when each person offers themselves as a victim, and begins with themselves, so that they may later be able to offer their own gift (Rom. XII, 1). Therefore, the new faith of the renewers, strong, youthful, acquiring the growth of virtue, not lax, not weary, not with a certain withering old age, and lazy with vigor, is fit for sacrifice, which sprouts with a green seedling of wisdom, and matures with the fervor of divine knowledge in youth; yet it should have the nourishment of old teachings. For just as the teachings of the new and old Testaments should come together, as it is written: Consume the old things of the ancients, and remove the old things from the face of the new ones (Leviticus 26:10). Let the knowledge of the patriarchs be food for us, let the soul feast on the oracles of the prophets: let the inner being be nourished by such sustenance. But now let it not be the appearance of a lamb, but rather the reality of the body of Christ. Let it not be the shadow of the law that blinds the eyes, but rather let the grace of the Lord's passion openly reveal, and let the splendor of the resurrection illuminate the mind's sight.

20. But if you offer a sacrifice of the first-born sheep, roasted on the fire, roasted fat, you shall offer the sacrifice of the first-born, as it is written (Lev. VII, 2): which signifies that your faith may be tried by fire and may burn with a holy spirit. Finally, Jacob cooked lentils and stole the first-born blessing from his brother, so that his faith might obtain solid rewards. Thus, he grew strong and powerful; while the other, who did not know how to cook his food, grew tired and weak. Therefore, let your soul be ignited by the word of the Lord as by fire. See Joseph burning, as it is written: The word of the Lord burned him (Ps. 104:19). Let your faith be burned like the sheaves of the harvest. For they bring forth the ripeness of fruits when they have been scorched by the heat of the summer sun. Therefore, the abundant words of the Scriptures strengthen the soul and imbue it with a certain spiritual grace; they also support rational truths and dissolve all the power of irrational passions. Therefore, Esau, having his strong bonds of virtue loosened, was dissipated. But those who girded up their loins, were not given raw or boiled in water, but roasted in fire, the head of a lamb to eat, as you have in Exodus, they crossed the seas with a strong and faithful mind, on foot (Exodus 12:9). In the Gospel also, the Lord Jesus ate roasted fish, as it is written (Luke 24:43), in which the fullness of the Holy Spirit overflowed. And perhaps for this reason Esau was lacking, because he desired food cooked in water, which Jacob gave to him as if it were useless for the sick.

However, the offering and prayer should not be confused but distinguished by appropriate division. For in all things, distinction is better than confusion, especially in prayer and offering, which, if it does not have certain divisions, becomes obscure. Therefore, the law often commands the parts of the sacrifice to be divided and the burnt offerings to be offered (Leviticus 1:6), so that the sacrifice may be naked without any mixture or covering, because our faith should fervently burn naked and stripped of all wrappings; so that it may not be influenced by wandering and deceptive opinions, but pure and sincere simplicity of mind may appear. Then let it be divided into suitable parts. For virtue is a kind which is divided into many species: but the principal ones are four, prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice. Therefore, let your speech resound with prudence towards the knowledge of God and the truth of faith. Let it resound with temperance, which the Apostle also deemed necessary to be demanded of spouses, saying: Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement, for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer (I Cor. VII, 5). And the law commands the purified ones to approach the day before yesterday and the day before the day before yesterday for sacrifice (Exod., XIX, 10). Let prayer hold on to strength, so that it is not interrupted by fear, does not fail due to weariness. For then the intention to pray should be stronger when we are pressed by adversities. Let prayer guard righteousness, which if Judas had held onto, his prayer would not have turned into sin. For when should we abstain more from unjust deeds and wicked pursuits than when we pray for the justice of God? And therefore, the Lord, in order that justice might be dear to us, said: Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10). This was lacking in Judas; for if it had been present, he would not have handed over the Lord, nor would he have betrayed his Master. Likewise, it was lacking in the sacrifice of Cain, who, if he had maintained justice, should have offered the first fruits to the Lord, not the later ones. Therefore, he lacked division, and for this reason it is said to him: If you offer well, but do not divide well, you have sinned, cease. You see how great a vice it is. Where there is no division, there the whole sacrifice is rejected.

22. It remains for us to speak about continuous and constant prayer, because it is necessary for us to spend time and be vacant for prayer. The Lord spent the night in prayer, not for his own benefit, but to teach us. For frequent prayer produces a discipline of praying; because the very practice makes us teachable by God, while negligence makes us unteachable. Therefore, it is good exercise. Finally, the strength of the body is increased by frequent exercise: but without exercise, it diminishes and weakens. For many exercises also dissolve natural virtue from disuse. Similarly, the strength of the soul is strengthened by the assiduity of exercise; so that the very labor itself will not be a burden, but a benefit. Let us give this food to our mind, which, worn and polished by much meditation, may strengthen the heart of man like heavenly manna. We receive this not in vain, worn and polished; because we should long wear and polish the words of heavenly scripture, turning them over in our entire mind and heart; so that the sap of that spiritual food may spread throughout all the veins of the soul. Therefore, if faith, like a growing adolescent, increases and drives away the deficiency of aging devotion, and burns with spirit, and is maintained by a suitable distinction of legitimate division, and constant practice commends grace; then prayer becomes rich, like a fatty and adipose substance, of which the Prophet says: 'You have anointed my head with oil' (Psalm 23:5). For just as lambs fatten with much milk, and well-fed sheep shine with fat, so does the prayer of the faithful flourish with the nourishment of apostolic juice.


23. If any of these things we have said above are lacking, the sacrifice is not approved. Therefore it was said to Cain: If you offer rightly, but do not rightly divide, you have sinned. For the world itself is read to have been made distinct, when it was an unarranged part; for the Earth was invisible and unarranged (Gen. I, 2). Truly light was made first, and God called the light, and God separated the light from the darkness, and the darkness was called night. And in order we read the things that were done, heaven, earth, fruitful trees, diverse animals. And indeed they are distributed lighter to the higher, such as air and fire: heavier to the lower, that is, earth and water. Certainly all things could have been created at once by God: but He chose to maintain distinction, which we should imitate in all our affairs, and especially in the alternations of gratitude, in which it is not enough to repay what you have received, but to commend what you give back. For if someone pays his debt and in returning does harm to the creditor, it is surely more intolerable than not having paid back what he owed. Therefore, it is not the amount of payment, but the intention of the one making the payment, and the quality and emotion, that are considered. Therefore, Cain offered correctly; because offering is a remarkable display of devotion and an indication of thanks: but he did not divide correctly; because he should have first offered the first fruits to God, so that he would begin with grace from the author. For here the order of division is such that the second things come before the first, not the first before the second; and heavenly things are preferred to earthly things, not earthly things to heavenly things.

Chapter VII.

God, who taught in Adam not to sin, taught in Cain not to defend sin. And there, how prone one is to fall from impiety into other crimes, He instructs.


24. But because Cain disturbed this order, it is said to him: You have sinned, be quiet (Gen. IV, 7). God teaches everything. First, do not sin, as He advised Adam: secondly, if you have sinned, be quiet, as you are taught in the case of Cain. For we should be ashamed and condemn sin, not defend it; because guilt is diminished by shame, and increased by defense. And by remaining silent, we are corrected, by contention we stumble. Let there at least be shame, where there is no absolution. Hence the saying: 'The just person at the beginning of a speech is the accuser of themselves' (Prov. XVIII, 17). And elsewhere in the Lord's own words we read: 'Declare your iniquities, that you may be justified' (Isaiah XLIII, 26). How great is the grace of modesty, that it holds justice, and how it removes the guilt of sin! Therefore, he says: 'Be silent, for you have nothing to excuse. The turning of his own guilt is towards you. For he is not a brother assigned to him, but an error is attributed, of which he himself is the author.' In you, he said, the crime returns, which began with you. You have no one to blame but yourself. Your own wickedness will be thrown back at you, you are its leader.

25. He says well: You are the leader of that person. For impiety is a certain mother of offenses; and he who has sinned more gravely easily falls into other sins. For how can he who has violated divine things restrain himself from human ones, and be good to people who has harmed God? Therefore, vices follow a more atrocious guilt of crimes; because the more they have inclined towards shameful things, the more they lean towards other things. So you are the leader of your own work, the guide of the crime. You were not unwilling, nor unaware, that error drew you in: but as a willing defendant in judgment, not by a slip, you committed deceit, by which you yourself prove yourself guilty of divine wrongs.

Chapter VIII.

By Cain's rebuke, insolence and crime increase. In his words: 'Let us go to the field,' it is shown that deserted and barren places suit wicked actions.

26. Therefore, being warned to keep quiet, he becomes more insolent, and wickedness becomes more bitter. What, then, does he mean when he says: 'Let us go into the field' (ibid., 8)? Is it not because a bare place where offspring are produced is chosen for the act of parricide? For where did the brother have an opportunity to be killed except where fruit was lacking? As if nature, foreseeing such a great crime, had denied the germination of seeds to that place; because it was not fitting that the same place should receive both the contagion of parricidal blood beyond the bounds of nature and that fruits should be produced naturally according to nature. He rightfully says: Let us go to the field. He does not say: Let us go to paradise, where fruits flourish, but to some barren and unfruitful place. The murderers themselves indicate that they cannot have the fruit of their crime, nor can it remain with those who have shown such great impiety. For they flee from the kindness of the elements themselves, like this Cain, who seems to fear that the fertile earth's abundant yield would hinder his sad deed, and the accustomed generosity of fertility, which causes various offspring and fruits to sprout, would also recall in this crime or in some silent appearance the affection of a brother. The thief avoids the light of day as though it were a witness to his crime, the adulterer blushes at the light as though it knows of his adultery, the murderer flees from the fertility of the earth. For how could he behold the companionship of common birth who slew the companion of his own blood? Joseph is cast into a dry pit, Ammon is killed within his house. Therefore, nature has justly bestowed judgment upon those places where patricide would occur by depriving them of the gift of her bounty, so that by the condemnation of an innocent land, she might reveal the great punishments that await the guilty. Therefore, both the elements themselves and human beings are condemned because of the wickedness. Finally, David, in the mountains where Jonathan was killed along with his father, desired the punishment of perpetual sterility, saying: O mountains of Gilboa, may neither dew nor rain fall upon you, you mountains of death (2 Samuel 1:21).

Chapter IX.

God questioned Cain, not to learn, but to induce him to confess. His response is impious towards God and nature; and God's opposite response is shown to wonderfully teach the piety of brotherly love. From God, the righteous are heard even when dead, so that they may truly live, and the sinners are dead. These ones are tormented by present and future evils, but are more troubled by present evils.

27. Now let us consider by what reasoning God questioned Cain about his brother, as if he did not know that he had been killed. But with regard to the knowledge of God, he rebukes the one who denies and responds as if knowing: The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me (Gen. IV, 10): but with regard to profound reasoning, he warns sinners to repentance. For confession is a summary of punishments. Hence, in secular judgments, those who deny are tormented on the rack, and the judge is moved by the mercy of the one who confesses. There is a certain shame in admitting certain sins and acknowledging guilt, rather than shifting blame but recognizing it. Shame softens the judge towards the guilty, while obstinacy incites denial. God wants to motivate you to repentance, wants you to hope for forgiveness, wants to demonstrate through your confession that He is not the author of evil. For those who attribute their sins to a certain cause, as the Gentiles argue, they seem to be accusing divine decree or their own actions, as if the cause of their sin is their own power. For whoever kills under compulsion, kills as though unwillingly. But those things that are done by us have no excuse, but those things that are done apart from us are excusable. However, how much more severely to bring back to God what you have done in sin and to transfer the blame for your guilt to the author not of crime, but of innocence.

But consider the answer of the murderer: 'I do not know,' he says, 'whether I am the guardian of my brother' (Gen. IV, 9). Although this statement reveals presumption, it nevertheless implies that if he had considered his brother's well-being, he should have been a guardian of piety. For who should have been more obligated to protect his brother than he? But how could he fulfill the duty of brotherhood, when he did not acknowledge the obligations of kinship? Or how could he possibly show obedience to nature, when he did not show reverence to God? He denies first as if in the presence of an ignorant person: he rejects the duty of fraternal protection, as if he were devoid of nature; he avoids judgment, as if he were free-willed. Why are you surprised if he did not recognize piety, who did not recognize the author? And therefore you are taught by this series of Scriptures that faith is the root of all virtues. Hence the Apostle says: For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus (I Cor. III, 11); and whatever you build upon this foundation, it alone will be for the profit of your work and for the reward of your virtue.


29. Therefore, the Lord fittingly responds to one who foolishly denies, saying: The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me (Gen. IV, 10), that is, why do you not know where your brother is? You were alone with your two parents, your brother should not have been able to hide among so few. Or is it because your parents cannot be accusers? For I do not want that the bond which is the author of salvation becomes the author of danger. In you alone has nature lost its laws. Therefore, do you think that the crime is hidden because parents should not accuse? But the condemnation is even greater for you. For if dear names of relationship should not accuse, much more should they not kill. But if you reject me as a witness and refuse an arbitrator, the voice of your brother's blood is a witness that cries out to me. It accuses you with greater authority than if your brother were alive. You were alone, who else could have killed him? If you accuse your parents, you prove yourself to be a parricide. He could have killed his brother, who does not spare his parents. He could have been a murderer, who desires to prove himself descended from murderers.

And he says well: The voice of your brother's blood cries out, not the brother cries out. This innocence and grace of brotherhood also preserves in death itself. The brother Abel does not accuse, so as not to appear a parricide. His own voice does not accuse, nor does his soul, but the voice of his blood accuses, which you yourself shed. Therefore, your crime, not the brother, accuses you. At the same time, the complaint is taken away from the criminal. One cannot complain based on another's testimony when one confesses the crime through their own action. It is a small matter, compared to the deed. Yet even the earth itself is a witness, for it has absorbed the blood. And it is well said: The voice of your brother's blood cries out from the earth - it does not say, cries out from your brother's body, but from the earth it cries out. And if the brother is spared, the earth is not spared. If the brother lies motionless, the earth condemns. It itself is both witness and judge in you: a more bitter witness, still wet with the blood of your fratricide; a harsher judge, so tainted with such a crime that it opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand. And she indeed opened her mouth, as if to receive words of piety from her brothers, fearing nothing when she saw her brothers, which she knew to be the source of love due to their shared blood, not hatred. For how could she suspect patricide, when she had not yet witnessed homicide? But you have shed blood, the mourning of which itself is a contamination. 'It will not increase,' she said, 'to give her virtue to you.' How innocent is her revenge, who, having been so gravely violated, is content with not benefitting, and seeks not to harm.


31. Not mediocre also is the doctrine that says: The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me; for God hears even his righteous ones who are dead, because they live to God. And rightly they are considered alive; because even if they have tasted the death of the body, they receive incorporeal life, and are illuminated by the splendor of their merits, and also enjoy eternal light. Therefore, God hears the blood of the righteous: but he turns away from the prayers of the wicked; for even if they seem to be alive, they are more wretched than all the dead, carrying around their flesh like a tomb in which they have buried their wretched soul. For what else is it but buried, which is rolled within the earth, and enclosed by earthly greed and other vices, so that it cannot breathe the air of heavenly grace? This kind of sinner is cursed by the earth, which is the lowest and last part of the world. Above, indeed, is heaven, and what is in heaven: the sun, moon, and stars, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim. There is therefore no doubt that they condemned him and the things above him, whom the lower things also condemned. For how is he absolved by a pure and celestial sentence whom neither the earth could absolve? And therefore, groaning and trembling, he is commanded to be above the earth.

32. The obvious and general reason is that all that is evil is present and will come. The present evils cause sadness, while the future ones cause fear. But present evil is more disturbing than future evil. Hence Cain said to God: My cause is greater than that I should be forgiven. If you forsake me today, I will hide myself from your face. For there is nothing more serious than being abandoned by God while wandering, so that one cannot repent. The death of the sinner brings an end to sinning: but life, deprived of divine guidance, is precipitated and falls into worse things; just as when a shepherd abandons the flock, wild beasts attack: so when God abandons man, the devil assails. It is a serious matter, especially for the ignorant, to not have a guide. Malice creeps in, wounds increase when there is no medicine. However, he who wants to hide guilt conceals himself and covers up sin. For the one who does evil hates the light and seeks the hiding places of their sins. But the righteous does not hide from their Lord God, but instead offers themselves, saying: Behold, it is I who do not have a guilty conscience, which I fear being discovered.


33. Therefore, rightfully so, he hides himself, feeling guilty, and says: 'Anyone who finds me will kill me.' A person of noble character fears present death, neglects eternal death, and does not shy away from divine judgment; they only pray for the destruction of the body. But why did he fear being killed, when he had only his parents on Earth? Indeed, he could also fear attacks from beasts, as he had violated the laws of divine authority; and he could not presume to harm other subject animals, as he had taught mankind how to kill. He was able to fear even his parents as parricides, who had taught that parricide could be committed. Indeed, parents were also able to learn from their son, what offspring learned from their parent.

Chapter X.

The decree of God, 'If anyone kills Cain, etc.,' is explained morally; in the sign placed above the same [Cain], the divine mercy is declared, as is also in the madness of Cain, that he feared temporal death more than eternal death. Hence, a beautiful discussion is made about the incorruptibility of the soul and the future life. Finally, it is shown that judgment should not be hastily passed, nor should a crime go unpunished.

34. Now let us consider why God said: Whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance sevenfold (Gen. IV, 15); and why a sign is placed upon him, so that the murderer may not be killed, since it was not foreseen, lest the innocent be killed. The eighth is man, who has reason by which he excels the others, and he also has the five senses of the body, and he also has a voice, and he also has the grace of procreation. These seven things, unless they are ruled by reason, are subject to death; and therefore the foolish person in these matters has every danger to himself. Therefore, whoever loses that rational thing, in vain will flatter themselves with the use of these seven carnal pleasures. All of these dissolve unless they are bound by certain reins of reason. Therefore, the death of reason operates the death of irrational passions. But that which is better is the seventh number of rest and remission. Therefore, whoever does not spare the sinner, and envies him the gift of forgiveness of sins, will himself lose the hope of forgiveness, and there will be in him an equal measure of vengeance for grace.


35. But the sign which he set upon Cain, *when it was applied to him that his brother's blood had lodged its stain upon his soul*, was intended to represent the wanderer and the exile, wandering away from the presence of the Lord and seeking a habitation, and yet defended by a certain privilege for the sake of his punishment, so that no one might kill him at his pleasure. Yet this grant was but small, for in his very case he had the vengeance of the simpleton who, when liable to lasting penalties, did not make his prayer for pardon, but begged for his life to be spared in this body of ours, where there is at least as much distress as delight. For death is the one and only separation of the soul and body, and at the end of this life, which as soon as it comes, is accustomed to take away all bodily pains, not to increase them. But the fears that frequently assail those who are still alive, bring to the human race many wounds of sorrow, pains, groans, various tortures, burdens of heaviness, and injuries of illnesses, so that this death seems to be a remedy, not a punishment. For it is not a destructive death, by which life is not taken away, but is transferred to better things. For if the guilty die, those who refuse to return from their sins; or even against their will they obtain an end not according to nature, but according to fault, so that they may not commit more, for whom life is interest on sins. But if they are possessors of good hope, they should be believed to migrate rather than to fail.

36. At this point, the doctrine of the incorruption of the soul is inserted, that it is the true and blessed life, which each person lives much more purely and happily when our soul, having cast off this fleshly envelope and having been freed from this bodily prison, flies back to that higher place, from which it groaned within our entrails, infused with compassion for this body, until it fulfilled the duty of the entrusted helm, so that it might govern and restrain the irrational movements of this flesh by rational guidance. Hence, it happened that the prophets later went into captivity with the people of Judah, so that the remaining holy people would not be abandoned, deprived of protection and counsel, and would suffer a more severe affliction. Instead, they were often reminded by the prophecies of the prophets to return with devout affection to their Lord God, lest they fall into the sin of faithlessness amidst the adversities of captivity and despair of eternal salvation.

So those who believe that this is the only life, which is in this world (everything is full of faults, full of sorrow), are refuted by a simple series of events. Look, the just, innocent, pious one, due to the grace of devotion, incurs hatred from his brother, and at a young age, still immature, he is taken away by parricide; and the unjust, wicked, impious one, even stained by fratricide, lives a long life, takes a wife, leaves behind descendants, founds cities, and achieves this by divine permission. Doesn't the voice of God openly cry out in these things? You err, those of you who think that all the grace of living is found here: you do not understand, you do not notice that this old age is a veteran of miseries, a procession of the burdens of life, and that we are almost made to echo with a certain reef by daily shipwrecks, to be battered by the waves, to live in rocky dwellings, and to delight in them, just as that not so much eternal creature, as immortal evil? Therefore, even to these descendants of Cain, long life was granted as a punishment; because they lived in fear, and a long and fruitless span of time passed with much labor, in which the punishment was nothing more severe than that one should be the cause of their own punishment for their ancestors. Therefore, see how the life of the righteous is perpetual, and that of the wicked is non-existent! The blood of the righteous cries out, and the life of the sinner is hidden.

38. The third point is, that since the crime of parricide, which is the chief of crimes, involves the violation of divine law, where sin has intruded, the divine law of clemency should immediately be extended; for if the guilty were immediately punished, men would also have no patience or moderation in their punishment, but would immediately give the accused over to punishment. However, by the providence of divine judgment, it is such that it teaches judges magnanimity and patience, so that no one is hastily carried away by the desire for vengeance, and the judge himself does not punish the innocent with immature deliberation, or make the punishment more severe out of anger: yet it does not allow the one who has shown no remorse for his crime to go completely unpunished. For he drove him from his presence, and deprived him of the love of his parents, and placed him in a separate dwelling, as it were in exile; because he had passed from human gentleness to the cruelty of beasts. Yet he did not desire the punishment of a murderer by murder, but he preferred the correction of a sinner to death. Hence Lamech is avenged seventy-sevenfold, because his guilt is greater, since he did not correct himself after his condemnation. Cain, in a sudden and reckless impulse, sinned before; but Lamech, having observed that he was reprimanded in another, should have taken caution. Indeed, according to his own judgment, he deserved to be condemned so that no one would think that a guilty person should be struck down everywhere. And in order to enter into the mystery, he should not have killed the one who had the time for repentance until the natural end of his life. He could excuse himself by saying that he had redeemed himself or that he had engaged in late repentance, if premature punishment had not taken him away.