One Book of Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, On the Blessings of the Patriarchs

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

Translated into English using ChatGPT.

Table of Contents Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Chapter XI. Chapter XII.

Chapter I.

In order to encourage children to show honor to their parents, God bestowed great power upon the blessing of parents. Joseph hastened to receive his father's blessing and also offered his sons to be blessed. And these mysteries are contained in them.

First of all, let us show great reverence to our parents, as we read in Genesis 9:25-27, that whoever was blessed by their father, was blessed, and whoever was cursed by their father, was cursed! Therefore, God has granted this grace to parents, so that the piety of their children may be provoked. Therefore, it is the duty of children to obey their parents. Honor your father, so that he may bless you. Let the dutiful honor their father out of gratitude, the ungrateful out of fear. And even if the father is poor, and does not have riches to leave to his children; he still has the inheritance of ultimate blessing, which he can bestow on his successors as the wealth of sanctification. And it is much more blessed to become rich.

Joseph was eager to receive the blessing (Gen. XLVIII, 1 et seq.). Finally, he presented his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Jacob blessed. And because he had twelve sons, and the thirteenth was to be the apostle Paul, as if a later chosen one, the thirteenth Tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim were sanctified in both, so that Paul would not be found outside the number of the paternal Tribes, who was an outstanding preacher of the Old and New Testament and could easily prove his inheritance of the paternal blessing.


Although these mysteries are glorious in this, that Joseph, taking his sons whom he had adopted in Egypt, Ephraim, he placed at his right hand, but Manasseh at his left, so that Israel, their father, was on their right side. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, who was the younger and stood at his left side; and his left hand he laid upon Manasseh, who was at his right side. And thus, changing his hands, he blessed them. In this, Joseph also preserved the order of nature by giving more deference to his elder son, just as Isaac also desired to give the blessing to his firstborn son, Esau. But he believed that the younger son should be preferred in the role of the younger people, just as he himself was preferred by his mother.

Finally, Manasses is designated by the Latin interpretation as coming from oblivion (Gen. XLI, 51), because the people of Judah forgot their God who made them. And whoever from that people believes, is called back from oblivion. Ephraem, however, promises the abundance of faith by the interpretation of his name, who increased his father, as Joseph himself says: Because God increased me in the land of my humility (Ibid., 52). This is the characteristic of the younger people, who is the body of Christ, increasing the Father and not abandoning their own God.


Finally, the Lord, speaking in a spiritual manner about the people, declared this to be a mystery. For when the son thought his father had made a mistake due to his dull appearance, he wanted to turn his hands around, saying, 'Not so, Father, for this one is the firstborn; place your right hand on his head.' But his father refused and said, 'I know, my son, I know. He will also become a people, and he will be exalted. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.' (Genesis 48:18-19). Finally, he preferred the elder Ephraem, even prophesying in a series of blessings, saying: 'In you Israel shall be blessed, saying: May God make you like Ephraem and Manasseh' (Ibid., 20). And therefore, since they were grandsons, they were adopted in place of sons, so that they would not be deprived of the ancestral blessing.

Chapter II.

On the blessing of Reuben the firstborn, which is not so much a blessing as a prophecy: on the error of the Jews concerning it; and on the mysteries signified by the same.

After this blessing was celebrated, he also called his sons (Gen. XLIX, 1). And the one who had preferred the younger to the elder began with the first, so that he might bestow favor upon him in that mystery, and observe the order of age in this. At the same time, he who had previously blessed them both, along with all their posterity and future offspring, lest the repeated blessing of the people should appear superfluous, or the former be considered weak, rightly declares that he is repeating more of an announcement of things that would happen in later times, rather than conferring a blessing.


Finally, he began like this: Ruben, my firstborn, you are my strength, and the beginning of my children, you are stubborn and reckless. You have insulted me, as if water does not boil. For you went up to your father's bed, you defiled the marriage bed when you went up (Ibid., 3 et seq.). Doesn't it seem to be more of a rebuke than a blessing? And therefore, prophecy is more than a blessing. For prophecy is the announcement of future events, but blessing is the sanctification and offering of thanks.


And the Jews think that the reason this old man speaks to Reuben, the son, is because he slept with Bala, his father's concubine, and defiled his father's bed. But this is easily refuted; for this happened before: Jacob, however, promises to speak of things that will happen in the last days, not things that have already happened. Therefore, it is appropriate and clear in the judgment of the Patriarchs, who, seeing the future passion of the Lord and the Jewish persecutors, curse the audacity of the first-born people, which, being incredulous and not subject to God's law, and not knowing how to bear the yoke of Christ on their necks, afflicts the author of life not only with the wickedness of death, but also with the insult of sacrilege.


'Do not bubble up,' he says, 'like water; may it not burst forth into greater madness, and may the fervor of rage and insanity not allow sinners to repent: but let them repent of their sins; for the people lie hard in the bed of the Father, and defile the holy marriage bed, which is the flesh of the Lord Jesus, our Creator, affixing it to the gallows of the cross, in which, like in a certain bed and ancestral marriage bed, may they rest in the salvific refreshment of his holy. ' Who, therefore, would deny what is said about the people, when all these things apply to the people as a whole? For he himself is called the firstborn of Israel, he himself is said to be stubborn. Moses himself said about him: 'But you are a people of stubborn neck' (Exod. XXXIII, 3, and elsewhere). And truly, who is as stubborn, reckless, and insolent as the Jewish people, who whipped and crucified the Lord Jesus, through whom they had seen the dead raised, the blind cured, while they couldn't deny his divine works? And therefore, the holy Prophet fled from such a great crime of usurping the principality, lest the patriarchs dare to claim the same privilege through the succession of their lineage.

Chapter III.

They predict what would happen to the sons of Simeon and Levi, whose names designate the tribes; and also the opinion of the Jews regarding the mystical interpretation of this blessing is refuted.


The righteous man protests, and disowns his posterity, which did not preserve the fatherly affection; and because he foresaw wickedness, he shudders at the influence of their advice: Let not my soul enter their council, nor let my inward parts join their assembly; for in their anger they killed a man, and by their greediness they undermined an ox (Gen. XLIX, 6). He speaks of Simeon and Levi indeed; but he signifies the tribes by their name, which were called by a similar appellation. The Jews derive a most beautiful interpretation, believing that it confirms that the sons of Jacob condemned the two brothers more than the others because of the rape of their sister Dinah. They pretended to want to enter into an agreement with them and persuaded them to be circumcised, so that peace and a bond of kinship could be established between them. However, on the third day after their circumcision, when they were still weak and in pain, they attacked and killed them. Therefore, perhaps these two are the most avenging of all, because they are the authors of the scribes and priests. For none should defend their honor more than the wise and the priests.

But in this also the Jews are mistaken. For they had provided reasons for their own grief, asserting that they had been defenders of injured piety and avengers of violated chastity in that age of youth, even though they were adversaries to their father. Certainly the holy man could not condemn this, because his own sister had not been allowed to remain unpunished and had lost her virginity, and she did not have the consolation of vengeance; especially since he himself had approved of it, as he possessed Shechem and gave her as a gift in death to his most beloved son Joseph, saying to him: I give you Shechem, above all your brothers, which I took from the hands of the Amorites with my sword and bow (Genesis 48:22). What has been done cannot be denied. However, we can interpret it as meaning that through the shoulders of Sichemhumeros, through his works. Therefore, Joseph, the chosen heir of good works, whom his brothers could not equal in his works, was sanctified above all others. For who could equal the deeds of Christ?

Then, moreover, he, being untainted and pure, brought offerings from this earthly inn, the abode of impurity, to the residence of the saints with heavenly words and wielding the spiritual sword; so that where the inhabitants had previously indulged in lasciviousness and the princes of luxury had dwelt, where there had been incentives to lust and fuel for wickedness, now holy priests teach the lessons of chastity and many examples of virginity's integrity shine forth with a certain brightness of heavenly light.


Therefore, there are three tribes designated by the names of the Patriarchs: for from the tribe of Simeon are the scribes, from the tribe of Levi are the chief priests who completed their wickedness in the passion of the Lord, fulfilling all the measure of their father's impiety. They themselves devised a plan against the Lord Jesus to kill him, as Isaiah says: Woe to their souls, for they devised an evil plan against themselves, saying: Let us bind the Just One, for he is useless to us (Isaiah 3:9-10). They themselves killed the prophets, and the apostles who proclaimed the coming of the Lord Savior, his passion, and the glory of his resurrection. Afterwards, driven by their own selfish desires and worldly vices, they rejected divine fellowship, the chastity of the body, the sobriety of the mind, the contempt of money, and the gain of grace. They undermined the bull, namely, the one who produces horns and hoofs, whom the poor see and rejoice in; for by the word of God, he has exalted the horn of his people, by which he has repelled his enemies and earned the reward of the heavenly crown. Here is the bull by which the Church is symbolized in the moon, then fuller when supported, as it were, by bull-like horns, including the space of the whole world.

However, this prophecy seems to also include the grace of blessing. For in addressing the firstborn, it states: Do not be arrogant like water, for it establishes sin; for water cleanses sins more, and is accustomed to recall our minds from every fervor of vices. And again, in speaking to Simeon and Levi: I will divide you in Jacob, and scatter you in Israel, it shows that they are to be redeemed by the gathering of the nations. For when the shepherd is struck, that flock is dispersed, which had been previously gathered; so that someone who was not there may enter, and thus all of Israel may be saved. And especially because of the tribe of Levi we must believe this; because from that tribe the Lord Jesus seems to derive his lineage according to the assumption of the body. From this tribe are the priests Levi and Nathan, whom Saint Luke in the book of the Gospel, which he himself wrote, counted among the ancestors of the Lord (Luke 3:29 and 31). For the priest of the Father and the leader of all priests, as it is written: 'You are a priest forever' (Psalm 110:4), had to claim the succession of priestly origin.


Therefore Moses also blessed this tribe, saying: Give Levi the suffrage of his vote, and his truth to the holy (Deut. XXXIII, 8). Moses also blessed the tribe of Reuben, as it is written: Let Reuben live, and not die, and be multiplied in number (Ibid., 6). For he would not have blessed them if he had known them to be unworthy according to the judgment of the Patriarch. Certainly, what he passed over loosely, he fulfilled assiduously.

Chapter IV.

On the blessing of Judah, which pertains to Christ and his incarnation, passion, resurrection, and other mysteries.

And because through the mixture of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Levi, the Twelve Tribes were joined together, therefore Matthew describes his family from the tribe of Judah (Matt. 1:3). And the Apostle says: For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah (Heb. 7:14). So that from the tribe of Levi the inheritance may be considered as priestly and full of holiness, and from the tribe of Judah, from which David and Solomon and the other kings were, the splendor of royal succession may shine forth, so that the same person may be shown by the testimony of the Scriptures to be both king and priest. And by this merit, Jacob poured forth a holy grace saying: Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hands shall be on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall worship you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples, binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine. He washed his garment in wine, and his cloak in the blood of grapes. His eyes are brighter than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Indeed, the speech seems to be directed towards Judah the patriarch, but that later Judas is depicted as the true confessor, who was born from that Tribe, who alone praises his brothers, of whom he says: I will tell your name to my brothers (Ps. 22:23). The Lord by nature, a brother by grace, whose hands he spread out to the unbelieving people, on the backs of his enemies. For with the same hands and the same passion he covered his own, and he subdued the opposing powers, and made all those devoid of faith and piety subject to him. From which the Father says to the Son: And you will rule in the midst of your enemies (Ps. 109:2): those enemies were made by their own malice, not by the will of Christ. In this is the great grace of the Lord. For indeed, the spiritual wickednesses which used to bend before our neck under the yoke of captivity, so that David himself somewhat felt the hands of the triumphant over him and wrote, saying: Sinners have built upon my back (Ps. 128:3), are now subjected to the triumph of Christ and to certain hands of his, that is, to his actions and works, and they undergo the perpetual hardship of captivity. Indeed, he himself who is worshiped by the sons of his father, when he is worshiped by us, to whom he has allowed us to call him Father, whose servant it is to be of virtue.

The Lion's Whelp of Judah. Did he not clearly express the Father and declare the Son? What evidence is there that the Son of God is of the same nature as the Father? That lion, this lion whelp. By a simple comparison, the unity of the same nature and power is understood. A king came forth from a king, strong from strong. Because he foresaw those who would assert that the Son was of younger age, he added this in response: From the offspring, my son, you have ascended. You were lying down as a lion and as a young cub. And elsewhere you have, because the young cub is the lion from the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5). Therefore, because he had said young cub, he immediately added lion, that is to say: Do not let your ears be deceived, because they heard young cub, I have expressed the Son, I have not said lesser. And he himself is a lion like the father. Let them hear that he has called him both lion and young cub: lion as if of perfect and full strength, young cub as if the Son; so that no one, when hearing an equal to the Father, should not consider him the Son. The Son is not praised in such a way as to be separated from the Father. He who confesses the Son approves the equal.

Moreover, he wonderfully expressed his incarnation, saying: From the shoot, my son, you have ascended; in that he sprouted as a plant of the earth in the womb of the Virgin, and as a flower of sweet fragrance, he ascended for the redemption of the whole world, emitted by the maternal womb with the splendor of new light, just as Isaiah says: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1). The root of the family of the Jews is Mary, the branch is Mary, Christ is the flower of Mary. The rod, which is of royal lineage, rightly comes from the house and homeland of David, whose flower is Christ, who has abolished the stench of the worldly filth and has poured out the fragrance of eternal life.

Therefore, you have the incarnation, accept the passion: 'He slept as a lion,' he said, 'When he lay in the sepulcher, like a restful sleep of his own body, as he himself said: I slept, and took rest, and rose again; for the Lord has received me' (Ps. III, 6). Hence Jacob also said: Who will raise him up? that is, whom the Lord will receive. Who else will resurrect him, if not he himself by his own power and that of the Father? I see Him born of His own authority, I see Him dead of His own will, I see Him sleeping by His own power. He who has done all things by His own choice: by whose power will He need assistance to rise again? Therefore He is the author of His own resurrection, He who is the arbiter of death, He who is awaited by the nations.

And therefore, until he comes, there will not lack a leader from Judah, so that the faithful and uncorrupted succession of the royal line is maintained until his birth. Afterward, as we have taught in a treatise on the Gospel (Book III, on Luke), through Herod, the adulterated succession lost the prerogative of dignity. Indeed, because they denied the true king, they began to have false ones. Therefore, what the Patriarch says will be preserved in the judges or kings of the Jews, the uncorrupted inheritance derived through kings: until he comes to whom it is entrusted; so that he may gather the Church of God from the assembly of all nations, and with the devotion of the Gentiles and the piety of the peoples, that is, he remains, the duty is reserved for him, the prerogative of such great grace is conferred upon him.


And he himself is the expectation of the nations. He said more than if he had said, the nations are waiting for him, because all the hope of the Church rests in him. Therefore, it is said to Moses, 'Take off your sandals from your feet' (Exod. III, 5), so that it would not be believed that he himself is the spouse of the Church, who was chosen as the leader of the people. Therefore, Joshua also took off his sandals, (Joshua V, 16) so that he may also keep the grace of such a great gift for the one who was to come. Therefore, John said: 'After me comes a man who is preferred before me, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to unloose' (John I, 27). Therefore he says: 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly.' (John 3:29) That is, he alone is the husband of the Church, he is the expectation of the nations, offering to him the bond of nuptial grace, the prophets have loosed their sandals in his presence. He is the bridegroom, I am the friend of the bridegroom: I rejoice because he has come, because I hear the bridal voice, because no longer do we endure the harsh punishments of sins, the severe torments of the Law, but rather the forgiveness of sins, the voice of joy, the sound of gladness, we have heard the exultation of the festive nuptials.


This is that one binding the donkey to the vine and the foal of the donkey to her halter, so that the congregation of nations may have the fervor of the Holy Spirit before forgiven and neglectful, but now devoted through Christ, and be bound to that everlasting vine, which is the Lord Jesus, who says: I am the vine, and my Father is the vinedresser (John 15:1), as fruitful branches that we may be bound by the unbreakable chains of faith. This is that mystery, which the donkey's foal was commanded to be loosed in the Gospel, and the Lord Jesus himself sat upon it, so that bound to the everlasting vine, it may rest in the sweetness of the saints.


He says that he washed his robe in wine. The good robe is the flesh of Christ, which covers the sins of all, accepts the faults of all, and covers the errors of all. The good robe, which clothes all with the garment of joy. He washed this robe in wine, when he was baptized in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove, and remained upon him. By this it is signified that the fullness of the Holy Spirit was individually in him and did not depart. And the evangelist also says (Mark I, 10): For the Lord Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. Therefore, Jesus washed his robe, not his own, which he did not have; but ours, which he had, in order to wash away the dirt. And he added: And in the blood of the grape, his garment: that is, in the suffering of his body, he washed the nations with his blood. For indeed, the nations are the garment of the Word, as it is written: As I live, says the Lord, unless I clothe them all as a garment (Isaiah XLIX, 18). And elsewhere: You will change them as a garment, and they will be changed (Ps. C, 27). Therefore, he has cleansed not with his own blood, their sins which they did not have, but with our sins which we have committed. And he spoke well of the grape, because as the grape hung on the wood. He is the vine, he is the grape. The vine clinging to the wood: the grape, because the soldier's spear pierced the open side and released water and blood. For this reason, John said: because water and blood came out of him (John XIX, 34). Water for washing, blood for redemption. Water cleanses us, blood redeems us.

And therefore the prophet says: His eyes are bright from wine, and his teeth whiter than milk, signifying the prophets and apostles. For some, like the eyes of Christ, foresaw and proclaimed his coming, of whom he himself says: Abraham saw my day and rejoiced (John 8:56). And one of the prophets says: I saw the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:5), whom seeing, they were filled with spiritual joy. But others, that is, the apostles, whom the Lord cleansed from every stain of sin, became whiter than milk, with no spot later marring them. For milk is temporal; but the grace of the apostles remains perpetual, who, by preparing for us those spiritual and heavenly nourishments, have fed the inner depths of the mind. There are also those who consider the clear commands of the Lord, which have been spoken by divine mouth, as milk for us, by which, being nourished, we reach the sustenance of heavenly bread. Therefore, Paul also says: I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able (1 Corinthians 3:2). In the beginning of faith, the Corinthians were given milk to drink. And those saints, whose faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world, are strengthened like weaned infants with solid food.

Chapter V.

Zabulon's blessing is to designate the Church and its leaders.

Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore; And he shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall extend to Sidon (Gen. XLIX, 13). The interpretation of the name itself promises good things; because the Latin expression signifies deliverance from the night, which is certainly good, and of him who hopes in the wings of the Lord, whom his truth surrounds, so that he may not fear the nocturnal terror, and the business that walks in darkness.

So here, Zebulun, he says, will dwell by the sea. He will see the shipwrecks of others, himself immune to danger, and watch others tossed by the waves in the strait of this world, who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, himself persevering immovable with the root of faith, just as the holy Church is rooted and founded in faith, watching the storms of heretics and the shipwrecks of the Jews, since they denied the governor whom they had. Therefore, it dwells amidst the waves, not disturbed by the waves, and is more prepared to provide assistance than subject to danger, just as if those who are driven by severe storms to seek refuge in a harbor, the Church is present as a harbor of salvation, which with open arms calls the endangered into the embrace of its tranquility, showing them a place of trustworthy refuge. Therefore, in this age, the Church, like a harbor along the spreading shores, comes to the aid of those who are struggling, declaring that it is a prepared refuge for the believers, where weather-beaten ships can seek shelter.


In the churches there are princes of Zebulun and princes of Naphtali, as the 67th psalm teaches, some of whom are liberators from the night storm, crying out: Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light (Rom. 13:12): others are of apostolic latitude, who can say: Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged (2 Cor. 6:11). They are the ones who, when they were in darkness, saw a great light, as the prophet testifies, saying: The region of Zebulun and the region of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan: the people who sat in darkness saw a great light: those who sat in the region of the shadow of death, light has arisen for them (Isa. 9:1-2).


Therefore, the Lord our God, who is the patriarch of this inheritance, placed explorers along the approaches of the ships, whose care extends even to Sidon, that is, to the Gentiles, so that by the mercy of the Lord, the sins of the nations may be washed away. For Sidon is the firstborn son of Ham, the same one who, due to his irreverence towards his father's piety, was condemned by his father's curse. Therefore, this nocturnal liberation, like a sentry of the spiritual rampart, extends even to the most serious sinners, and even to the Sidonians themselves, who were previously known as fervent hunters of wickedness due to superstition, and, as the interpretation teaches, it absolves them from the cursed inheritance and bestows upon them the blessed inheritance; so that where there was great guilt, there may now be abundant grace.

Chapter VI.

On the blessing of Issachar, which is mystically explained about Christ the Lord.

Issachar desired the good, resting among the lots, and seeing that rest is good and the land is fertile, he laid his shoulder to work and became a farmer (Gen. XLIX, 14 et seq.). Issachar is called wages, and therefore he is related to Christ, who is our reward; because we obtain him as our hope of eternal salvation not with gold or silver, but with faith and devotion. Therefore David also speaks of him, saying: Behold the inheritance of the Lord, children are a reward, the fruit of the womb (Ps. CXXVI, 3). And Moses says of this: A reward for those who dwell by the sea (Deut. XXXIII, 19). This is the one who desired what is good from the beginning, and did not know how to desire what is evil. Of whom Isaiah also says: Before a child knows how to call his father or mother, he did not believe in evil, choosing what is good (Isa. VIII, 4). He rested between the lots of the old and new Testaments, or in the midst of the prophets. Therefore, he appeared as a mediator between Moses and Elijah, to show us that he finds rest in their words, through whom many who renounce their sins believe in the living God; or that they themselves are witnesses of his resurrection and blessed rest.


Therefore, in order to call the Gentiles to the grace of his resurrection (for it is indeed a rich and fertile land that produces eternal fruits, fruits a hundred and sixty times over), he subjected his shoulder to work, subjecting himself to the cross, in order to carry our sins. And so the Prophet says: His authority is on his shoulder (Isaiah 9:6), that is, the power of divinity over the bodily passion, or the cross surpassing the body. Therefore, he placed his shoulder on the plow, enduring all insults, subjected to labor in such a way that he was wounded because of our iniquities, and weakened because of our sins. And he became a farmer, knowing how to sow his land with good wheat, and plant fruitful trees with deep roots.

Chapter VII.

On the blessing of Dan, which prophesies the future coming of the Antichrist from that tribe. An exhortation is added to shake off the sleep of vices; after the same tribe is predicted to come to the faith.


And he shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a serpent by the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I wait for thy salvation, O LORD (Gen. XLIX, 16 et seq.). The simple meaning of this is that Dan also gave a judge to Israel. For after Joshua, judges were appointed for the people from the various tribes. Indeed, Samson was also from the tribe of Dan, and he judged Israel for twenty years. But this prophecy does not signify him, but the Antichrist who will come from the tribe of Dan, a fierce judge, and a monstrous tyrant, will judge his people. Like a serpent on the road, sitting in the path, he will try to overthrow those who walk in the way of truth, desiring to supplant the truth. This is indeed biting the horse's heel, so that the horse, wounded and poisoned by the serpent's bite, may lift its heel; just as Judas the betrayer, tempted by the devil, lifted his heel against the Lord Jesus, in order to overthrow the horseman, who threw himself down to lift everyone. Therefore, he fell not prostrate on his face as if sleeping, but backward, stretching himself from what is higher to what is lower, awaiting salvation from the Lord. For he knew that he would be raised up, and therefore he expected to lift up the fallen Adam.

Therefore, when we are going well on the road, let us beware that a snake does not hide in the path and overthrow the footprint of the horse, that is, of our body, and suddenly cast down the sleeping rider. For if we are watchful, we ought to be somewhat cautious and to avoid the bites of the serpent. Therefore, let not the sleep of negligence oppress us, the sleep of the world, let not the sleep of riches oppress us; lest it also be said of us: They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing (Psalm 75:6). But there are also sleeping knights, of whom it is written: Those who mounted the horses fell asleep (Ibid, 7). If greed wounds your heart, if lust inflames it, you sleep, knight, and therefore you cannot control your body, that is, your horse. Therefore, stay awake, so that even if you fall, that is, if you die, you do not fall asleep. For those who fall asleep in their sleep, find nothing. But you, wait for salvation from the Lord, look to the coming, so that you may find the grace of resurrection. Judas was sleeping: finally, he did not hear the words of Christ. Judas was sleeping, and indeed the sleep of riches, seeking a reward for his betrayal. The devil saw him sleeping, and oppressed by the heavy sleep of greed: he entered into his heart, wounded the horse, threw off the rider, whom he separated from Christ.

Moses blessed this tribe, saying: Dan is a lion's cub that shall leap forth from Bashan (Deut. XXXII, 22), that is, from confusion. Hence, according to the Greek translation, we should understand that Dan himself became a serpent sitting on the way. Dan means judgement. And therefore, this tribe underwent a grave risk of judgement, as the serpent, Antichrist, slipped in and wounded it with his venoms. But nevertheless, the Tribe itself will be freed from confusion, when it has confessed the rising Knight, who says: Whoever confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father who is in heaven: but whoever denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33).

Chapter VIII.

By the blessing of Gad, the Lord will test the Jews and in turn they will be tested by Him, to foreshadow.


When temptation arose, it tempted him, and he tempted them by deceiving them (Gen. XLIX, 19). Temptation is the gathering and cunning of the scribes and priests who were tempting the Lord Jesus about the tribute to Caesar, and about John's baptism, as the Scripture teaches (Matth. XXII, 17), to whom the Lord Jesus, in his righteousness, turned the temptation back (Ibid., 21, 23). By deceiving, that is, constantly and without any deliberation, with the intention of deceiving the tempters even more. For they said: In what authority do you do these things? He did not answer about what was asked, but he also proposed saying: I will also ask you one question: if you tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things (Ibid., 24). Again they said: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not (Matth. XXII, 17)? He said: Why are you testing me, hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax. And they brought him a coin, then he asked them: Whose image and inscription is this (Ibid., 19)? They said to him: Caesar's. Therefore, he bound them with their own words, with their own obligation. Then he said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's (Ibid., 21), so that they could not come against their own words. Finally, they marveled and went away from him. But it is not surprising if he answered differently than what they expected, since he could see what was before his feet.

Moses clearly explained that this prophecy of Jacob was about Christ. For he said: Blessed be he that enlarges Gad. As a lion, he rested, breaking the arms and the heads of the rulers, and saw from the beginning that the land was divided with the princes of the people. The Lord has executed justice, and judgment with Israel (Deut. XXXIII, 21).

Therefore, we recognize who has rested like a lion, who has broken the arms of the mighty, who has seen the divisions of those who tempt from the beginning. Therefore, there is a chasm in the earth, which swallows the slanderers, where the temptation of the treacherous is.

Chapter IX.

On the blessing of Asher, in which the riches of Christ the poor and the manifold gifts are expressed in men.

His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. (Gen. XLIX, 20). The Latin interpretation of Aser signifies riches. Who then is rich, unless where the height of riches is wisdom and knowledge of God? Who is rich but the Lord Jesus, who always abounds, and never fails? The poor came into this world, and has abounded to all, and has filled all. How great is he in riches, who by his poverty has made all rich! But he became poor for our sake, being rich with the Father. He became poor so that he might deliver us from poverty; as the Apostle teaches, saying: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. His poverty enriches, heals wounds, satisfies hunger, gives life to the dead, and raises the buried. Therefore, he is a treasure, and his is the abundant bread. And whoever eats this rich bread will never hunger. He gave this bread to the apostles, so that they would distribute it to the people who believed; and today he gives us the same bread, which the priest consecrates daily with his words. Therefore, this bread has become the food of the saints.

We are able to receive the Lord Himself, who gave His flesh for us, as He Himself says: I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and they died: but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not die (John 6:48-49). And so that no one may think that He is speaking of the death which comes through the separation of soul and body, and may doubt with reason, since he knows that the holy apostles died this death, He added: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this, he will live forever (Ibid., 51 and 52): that is, I did not speak about temporal life above, nor about the death of this life, in which even if anyone dies, nevertheless if he receives my bread, he will live forever. For he who receives, proves himself: but he who receives will not die the death of a sinner, because this bread is the forgiveness of sins.

Moses also prophesied most beautifully in his blessings, saying: Blessed from the sons of Asher, and he will be accepted by his brothers; and he shall dip his foot in oil, and his shoe shall be iron and brass. And as your days are, so shall your strength be. There is none like your God, who is in heaven, your helper, and the great Lord of the firmament: and God, protecting you from the beginning, and by the strength of the mighty arms, has cast out your enemy from before your face, saying: Perish. And Israel shall dwell in confidence alone upon the land: Jacob shall have abundance of grain and wine; and the heavens shall be dewy with mist for you. (Deut. XXXIII, 24 et seq.).

Chapter X.

The blessing of Nephthali, faithful to Christ, is like the branches of a vine, clinging and releasing the bonds of death.

The vine of Nephthalim is sent forth, stretching out its beauty in its branches. Another branch of the vine is pruned, which appears useless, so that the vine does not boast in vain in the exuberance of its branches; and another is cut back for a short time and then allowed to grow again, so that it may bear fruit, whose beauty is extended in its generation; for as it rises up to the heavens, it embraces the vine, and ascending to the summit, it adorns the precious stem of the vine with a perpetual collar. And he is a glory in his generation, because he overflows with many fruits from full palms.

This is beautiful, but much more beautiful is the vine branch that signifies the spiritual, of which we are the branch, and we can bear fruit if we abide in the vine; but if not, we are cut off.

The holy patriarch Nephthalim was an abundant vine. Hence Moses says: Nephthalim will receive satisfaction, and will be filled with the blessing of the Lord, possessing the sea and the south wind (Deut. 33:23). Moses explains this what Jacob had said, what it means to have a lax vine, that is, freed from the bonds of death through the grace of faith: in which the people of God are signified as being called to the freedom of faith, and the abundance of grace spread throughout the whole world, who may willingly bear the yoke of Christ with good fruit, and surround themselves with the true branches of that vine, that is, the mysteries of the Lord's cross, and not fear the danger of confessing it, but rather even glory in the name of Christ even in persecutions.


This is truly a release from chains, which is bound by no bond of fear. Hence the prophet says: They shall go forth, and shall leap as calves of the stall (Malachi 4:2). And therefore it extends its beauty in its germ, because it is placed in the place of pasture, and is raised above the water of refreshment, and through the sacraments of its regeneration it brings forth the good beauty of the word, and is assumed into that most beautiful grace of Christ, who can increase the loveliness of your beauty.


Finally, above all, he adorns with what he has; for no one can give what he does not have. And so it is said: The Lord reigns, he is clothed with beauty (Psalm 92:1). For the grace of God clothes the Church with beauty, by depositing in that baptism the filthiness of all sins and shining forth with the splendor of heavenly grace. Therefore the bridegroom says of her: Who is this that looks forth as the dawn, fair as the sun, beautiful as the moon, a miracle as adorned (Song of Solomon 6:9).

Chapter XI.

In blessing Joseph, Jacob saw the prefigured mysteries of Christ and considered him to be blessed for a longer time. Furthermore, the individual parts of this blessing are applied to each of them.

Now, in order to conclude the story like a kind of epilogue, just as Scripture concludes, let us arrange the prophecy of Saint Jacob concerning Saint Joseph by name: My son Joseph, my son to be enlarged, my zealous and younger son return to me. Those who were consulting this plan cursed and aimed the Lord's bow against him, and their bowstrings were crushed with the power of their bows, and the sinews of their arms were loosened by the hand of powerful Jacob; and thus Israel prevailed by the God of your father. And my God has helped you, and he has blessed you with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

What was the reason that, above all his sons, the father pursued Joseph more abundantly as his son, if not because he already saw in him the mysteries of Christ prefigured? Therefore, blessing him more who was expected than him who was seen, he said: Joseph, my son, is to be multiplied. Who is to be multiplied, if not Christ, whose grace is always increased, and whose glory has no end? Concerning whom also John says: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30); for through his name, which is salvation and perfection, grace has been multiplied and abounded in this world. My son is to be enlarged; and therefore, because his brothers saw him growing, they began to envy. But Joseph understood and zeal entered into those whom he favored the most. Finally, he said: I came not but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). And they said: We do not know where he is from (John 9:29). He cared for them, and they denied him.

My son, he said, is younger. Indeed, he is the youngest, who was almost the last born. Finally, Scripture also says: Jacob loved him, because he was the son of his old age (Gen. XXXVII, 3). This also refers to Christ. For the Son of God, shining forth to the aged and already setting world, came late through the birth of the Virgin Mary, as if receiving a body as the son of old age according to the mystery, who always was with the Father before the ages.


And the Father says to him: Return to me, calling him from the earth to heaven, whom he had sent for our salvation. Therefore, raising up his only-begotten Son, he frustrated the plan of the slanderers. Hence, Isaiah also says: The futile plan of your spirit (Isaiah 19:11). And the one who had been accusing and directing arrows like a hunter, has disarmed everything: he has crushed the power of those who relied on their own strength and not on God. Then, he said, Israel prevailed from the God of your father, and my God helped you. Who is it that strengthened Israel and helped his son, if not the only Father God, who said: Jacob, my servant, I will uphold him; Israel, my chosen one, my soul will uphold him (Isaiah 42:1).

And he blessed him with the blessing of heaven above, and the blessing of the earth that has all things. For he subjected all things, heavenly things as the blessing of heaven, and earthly things as the blessing of the earth, so that he might rule over both men and angels.

Therefore, in that seemingly contemptible body, you have prevailed, he said, because of the blessings of breasts and womb, the blessings of your father and mother. He called them either breasts or two Testaments, of which one was announced and the other was shown. And breasts are good, because they have nourished us with spiritual milk, and the Son offered himself to God: or he speaks of Mary's breasts, which were truly blessed, by which the holy Virgin gave the people of the Lord the drink of milk. And that woman in the Gospel said: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you nursed (Luke 11:27)! But why did she say: Blessed is the womb of your father and mother, if we want to understand the womb alone of Mary, the reason will be hidden. For she could have said it concerning the womb of the mother alone. But I think it is more beautiful to understand both the generation of the Lord Jesus according to the spiritual mystery, and according to divinity, and according to the flesh, because he was begotten from the Father before the ages. And the Father says: My heart has uttered a word (Psalm 44:2); because it proceeded from that most intimate and incomprehensible substance of the Father, and it is always in Him. Therefore the evangelist also says: No one has ever seen God, except the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (John 1:18). Just as the spiritual bosom of the Father is understood as a certain inner secret of paternal love and nature, in which the Son is always present, so also the spiritual bosom of the Father is the womb, the secret of the innermost mystery, from which the Son has proceeded as though from a generative womb. Finally, we read in diverse ways, sometimes the womb of the Father, sometimes his heart from which he uttered a word, sometimes his mouth from which justice proceeded, from which wisdom came forth, as he himself says: 'From the mouth of the Most High, I came forth.' (Sirach 24:5) Thus, just as we understand that generation from the Father, let us also understand the generation of Mary, the mother, when the womb of the mother is blessed, certainly the virginal womb of Mary, who gave birth to the Lord Jesus for us. Concerning which the Father says through the prophet Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you (Jer. I, 5). Therefore, the prophet declared the dual substance in Christ, of divinity and flesh: one from the Father, the other from the Virgin; in such a way, however, that he did not lack his divinity when he was born of the Virgin and was in the body.

And so he surpassed all mountains, and the desires of the eternal hills. For he excelled not only all those sublime men of merit, the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, but even the sun, the moon, and the archangels, shining like the light of heaven, as he himself says: A disciple is not above his master, nor a servant above his lord (Matt. 10:24). For who among them was there to whom all things were subject, to whom he gave what they were? In which all his saints are blessed, because he is the head of all heads. For the head of a woman is the man, and the head of a man is Christ. And he is exalted above the peaks of the mountains, for he is the highest pinnacle of all: but the highest pinnacle belongs to the righteous. He calls them brothers, acquired through grace, and partakers in a certain regeneration. Therefore, we understand Joseph to be more of a brother to them, of whom it is said in the psalm: I will declare your name to my brothers, I will sing your praises in the midst of the Church (Psalm 22:23).


Finally, when Moses was about to complete the course of his life and bless the tribe of Joseph, he was not blessing the already deceased Joseph, but Christ, as you have it written about Joseph: 'From the blessing of the Lord be his land, from the boundaries of the heavens, and from the dew, and from the depths of the springs below, and according to the hour the course of the sun was made, and from the months that come together, and from the summit of the mountains, from the beginning, and from the summit of the eternal hills, and until the hour of the earth's fullness, and from Him who was seen in the bush, let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon his crown.' He shall be honored among his brothers. The firstborn of his bull is his glory, with horns like a wild ox; he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. (Deut. XXXIII, 13 et seq.)

The same blessing is that which has the fullness of both heavenly and earthly things, and the special grace of Christ: who appeared in the burning bush and said to Moses: Take off the sandals from your feet (Exod. III, 5): who is above all gods; because He Himself is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He might have the preeminence: for it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell. And therefore only to him belongs the prerogative of this blessing, from the summit of heaven to the farthest end of the earth. He is indeed before all, in whom all things consist: who also through the blood of his cross has pacified all things, whether those that are in heaven or those that are on earth. In representing his type, Saint Joseph is beautifully blessed, so that he may be honored among his brothers.

The firstborn of the bull is its glory, having horn like that of a unicorn, by which it will scatter the nations. And the good bull is like a sacrifice for sins, and a victim of the whole world, in order to reconcile all things. Its glory is holy; for every holy thing is a firstborn, as we have shown elsewhere (Book II, concerning Abel and Cain, chapter 2, number 3, 12). Therefore, even Levi, not by the order of his age, but by the prerogative of his sacred succession, deserved to be called the firstborn. And truly his holy glory, of whom it is written rising up: Beautiful in form above the sons of men (Psalm 44:3); for he is the firstborn from the dead, having horns like a unicorn. But when he says horns, why did he use unicorn? For the unicorn itself, as experts say, is not found among the generations of wild beasts. And therefore we ought to value the unique Word more, because the substantive Word of God is one, not many words. And Anna also said: The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and will give strength to his king, and will exalt the horn of his Christ (1 Samuel 2:10). And Isaiah said: A vineyard was made in a horn in a fertile place (Isaiah 5:1); for the Church flourishes with the only begotten Son of God, holding the unique Word of God, in whom is the fullness of power and wisdom, from whose abundance the harvest of faith has sprung. The saints follow this Word.

Ten thousand, he said, Ephraim, and thousands of Manasseh (Deut. XXXIII, 17), that is, he should rule over both the Jews and the Gentiles, and acquire for himself the fullness of the Church from both peoples. Therefore, holy Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim; because we read in the Song of Songs saying: My brother is white and ruddy, chosen from ten thousand (Cant. V, 10). Finally, even in the case of David and the young Mary, the author from whose line Christ was born through the Virgin's childbirth, they preached in ten thousand: but Saul in thousands, although they should have had more reverence for the king. Therefore, whoever exalts the horn of Christ by confessing His glory, will also receive horns. Hence, the holy ones are also called unicorns in the verse of the psalm: And the beloved is like the son of unicorns (Psalm 28:6). For just as this animal, when horns begin to grow, signifies the progress of a fuller age, so when horns begin to sprout from a certain part of our soul, they seem to signify the progress of a more perfect virtue, and they continue to grow until they are fulfilled. By this horn the Lord Jesus crushed the nations, in order to destroy superstition and bring salvation, as He Himself says: 'I will strike and I will heal' (Deut. XXXII, 39). Therefore, like an imitator of this bull, the Prophet says: 'Through you we will gore our enemies with our horn' (Psal. XLIII, 6), that is, destroying every high thing exalting itself against the knowledge of God. And therefore, according to the Law, clean animals have horns (Deut. XIV, 4 and 5): for the Law is spiritual. For those who are able to repel the allurements of this world with the word of God and the observance of virtue, they seem to be fortified with horns like the helmets of their own heads. And rightly, the power of an astonishing speech is said to be like a horn (Psalm 97:6), which ignites the good soldiers of Christ to battle so that we may snatch the spoils from the enemy, the devil. Therefore, we are on the battlefield, and we see many of us held captive in the enemy's camp: they must be freed from the heavy yoke of slavery.

Chapter XII.

The blessing of Benjamin signifies mystically the persecution of Paul against the Church, as well as his conversion and preaching.

The devil has many wolves, whom he directs towards the sheep of Christ; and therefore Joseph, being intelligent, snatched the wolf Paul, the enemy who came to plunder the sheep, in order to save his own sheep, making him a teacher from a persecutor. Concerning whom Jacob says, as it is written: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall devour prey, and in the evening he shall divide the spoil among the princes (Gen. XLIX, 27). The wolf was present when he scattered and devoured the sheep of the Church. But the one who was a wolf became a shepherd. The wolf was there when Saul entered houses and dragged men and women to prison. The wolf was there when he breathed threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, seeking letters from the chief priests to capture the servants of Christ. But Jesus blinded him like a wolf wandering in the darkness of the night with the outpouring of His light. Therefore, when Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, she called his name Son of my sorrow, prophesying that from her would come the tribe of Paul, who would afflict the children of the Church during his time of persecution, and cause great pain to their mother. But nevertheless, at a later time he divided the same bread among the leaders, proclaiming the word of God to the Gentiles and calling many to faith. During this discussion, as we read, the proconsul Paul and the prince Publius received the grace of the Lord (Acts 13:12; 28:8).

But beautifully also, when Moses blessed the tribe of Benjamin, he said: The beloved of the Lord shall dwell securely, and God shall overshadow him all the days, and the beloved of the Lord shall rest between his shoulders (Deut. XXXIII, 12), who has also become a vessel of election. For he was converted to the Lord by the mercy and love of the Lord. Therefore, offering nothing to his own merit, but attributing everything to Christ, he says: For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain (I Cor. XV, 9 et 10). He will dwell with confidence in the house that he previously laid waste, he will dwell in the tabernacles of Christ, who previously wandered like a wolf in the woods. And God overshadowed him when Christ appeared to him. Although he saw nothing with his open eyes, he still saw Christ. And he rightly saw the present one, whom he also heard speaking. This shadow is not of blindness, but of grace. Finally, Mary is told: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35).

And he will rest between the shoulders, that is, between good deeds and precious works. For above, you have what Issachar placed his shoulder to work, and he became a farmer. Whom Paul imitated, he planted new plants of faith, and therefore, like a good farmer, he said: I planted, Apollo watered (I Cor. III, 6).