§29exploratores igitur secus accessus nauium posuit dominus deus noster patriarchae huius heredes, cuius cura peruigil et spiritalis successio praetendit usque ad Sidonem, hoc est usque ad gentes peruenit, ut domini misericordia peccata ableuet nationum.
, our Lord God placed the heirs of this patriarch as watchers by the harbor of ships, whose watchful care and spiritual succession extends as far as Sidon, that is, reaches to the Gentiles, so that the mercy of the Lord may take away the sins of the nations.
Sidon etenim primitiuus est filius Cham, illius utique, qui propter inreuerentiam paternae pietatis maledictione damnatus est patris.
For Sidon is the firstborn son of Ham, of him indeed who, because of irreverence toward paternal piety, was condemned by the curse of his father.
ergo liberatio nocturna tamquam in excubiis posita propugnaculi spiritalis, ne quis scopulos uitae huius possit incidere, praetendit usque ad grauissimorum criminum peccatores et Sidonios ipsos, qui ante superstitione uehementi uenatores scelerum nuncupabantur, ut interpretatio docet, soluta hereditate maledicti donataque hereditate benedictionis absoluit. ut ubi maior reatus erat, ibi nunc uberior sit gratia. §30Isachar bonum concupiuit requiescens inter medias sortes.
Therefore, the deliverance from the night, placed as if on watch in a spiritual bulwark, lest anyone should run onto the reefs of this life, extends to the sinners of the gravest crimes and to the Sidonians themselves, who before, by vehement superstition, were called "hunters of crimes," as the interpretation teaches; and, the inheritance of the curse having been dissolved and the inheritance of blessing bestowed, it set them free, so that where sin was greater, there grace might now be more abundant. "Issachar desired what is good, resting between the boundaries.
et uidens requiem quia bona est et terram quia pinguis, supposuit umerum suum ad laborandum et factus est uir agricola. Isachar merces dicitur et ideo refertur ad Christum, qui est merces nostra, quod eum nobis ad spem salutis aeternae non auro ei argento, sed fide et deuotione mercemur.
And seeing that rest was good, and that the land was fertile, he bowed his shoulder to labor, and became a husbandman." Issachar is called "reward," and therefore it is referred to Christ, who is our reward, because we purchase him for ourselves for the hope of eternal salvation, not with gold and silver, but with faith and devotion.
unde et Dauid de ipso dicit: ecce hereditas domini fili, merces fructus uentris. et Moyses de eo dicit: merces circa mare inhabitantium. hic est qui bonum concupiuit ab initio et quod malum est desiderare nesciuit.
Whence also David says of him: "Behold, children are an inheritance from the Lord, the reward, the fruit of the womb." And Moses says of him: "He is the reward of those who dwell near the sea." This is he who desired what is good from the beginning, and knew not how to desire what is evil.
de quo et Esaias dicit: priusquam sciat puer uocare patrem aut matrem, non credit malitiae eligens quod bonum est. . requieuit inter sortes ueteris et noui testamenti uel in medio prophetarum.
Of whom also Isaiah says: "Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he does not believe in malice, choosing what is good." He rested between the portions of the Old and New Testaments, or in the midst of the prophets.
ideoque inter Moysen et Heliam medius apparuit, ut ostenderet nobis quod eorum sermonibus requiem habeat, per quos plerique peccatis renuntiantes credunt in deum uiuum uel quod ipsi sint testes resurrectionis eius et beatae quietis. §31itaque ut ad resurrectionis suae gratiam uocaret gentes — ipsa est enim pinguis et fertilis terra, quae fructus generat aeternos, fructus centesimos et sexagensimos —, subiecit umerum suum ad laborandum, subiciens se cruci, ut nostra peccata portaret.
And therefore he appeared in the midst between Moses and Elijah, in order to show us that he has rest in their words, through whom many, renouncing sins, believe in the living God, or because they themselves are witnesses of his resurrection and blessed rest. so, that he might call the Gentiles to the grace of his resurrection—for this is the fat and fertile land, which generates eternal fruits, fruits a hundredfold and sixtyfold—he bowed his shoulder to labor, subjecting himself to the cross, that he might bear our sins.
ideoque dicit propheta: cuius principium super umerum eius, hoc est super corporis passionem diuinitatis potestas uel crux supereminens corpori.
And therefore the prophet says: "Whose government is upon his shoulder," that is, the power of divinity over the passion of the body, or the cross towering above the body.
posuit ergo umerum incumbens aratro omnibus subeundis patiens contumeliis, ita subiectus labori, ut uulneraretur propter iniquitates nostras et infirmaretur propter peccata nostra.
Therefore, he placed his shoulder, bending over the plow, patient in undergoing all insults, so subjected to labor that he was wounded for our iniquities and weakened for our sins.
et factus est uir agricola sciens terram suam bono seminare frumento et fructiferas arbores alta radice plantare.
And he became a husbandman, knowing how to sow his land with good wheat, and to plant fruitful trees with deep roots.
§32Daniudicabitpopulumsuumtaniquaiuunatribus Istrahel.
"Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
et factus est Dan ipsi serpens in uia sedens et\' in semita mordens calcaneum equi, et cadet eques retrorsum salutem expectans a domino. simplex quidem intellectus hoc habet, quod etiam Dan tribus iudicem dederit in Istrahel.
And Dan became a serpent sitting in the way, and a viper in the path biting the horse's heels, and the rider shall fall backward, expecting salvation from the Lord." The literal understanding indeed has this: that the tribe of Dan also gave a judge to Israel.
etenim post Iesum Naue iudices fuerunt plebis de diuersis tribubus.
For after Joshua, the son of Nun, there were judges of the people from different tribes.
fuit autem et Samson de tribu Dan et iudicauit uiginti annis.
Moreover, Samson also was of the tribe of Dan, and judged for twenty years.
sed non hunc prophetia significat, sed antichristum, qui futurus ex tribu Dan saeuus iudex et tyrannus inmanis iudicabit populum.
But the prophecy does not signify him, but the Antichrist, who, coming from the tribe of Dan as a cruel judge and a monstrous tyrant, shall judge the people.
tamquam serpens in uia sedens deicere temptabit eos qui uiam ambulent ueritatis, supplantare cupiens ueritatem.
Sitting as a serpent in the way, he will try to cast down those who walk the way of truth, desiring to supplant the truth.
hoc est enim mordere equi calcaneum, ut ueneni suffusione equus saucius et uulneratus dente serpentis leuet calcaneum suum, sicut Iuda proditor temptatus a diabolo leuauit super dominum Iesum calcaneum suum.
For this is what it means to bite the horse's heel: so that, the horse being wounded and hurt by the infusion of poison from the tooth of the serpent, it lifts its heel, just as Judas the betrayer, tempted by the devil, lifted his heel against the Lord Jesus.
ut deiceret equitem, qui se deiecit, ut omnes leuaret.
In order to cast down the rider, who cast himself down that he might raise up all.
cecidit igitur non prostratus in faciem quasi dormitans, sed retrorsum, ut a superioribus ad priora se extendens a domino expectaret salutem; sciebat enim se resuscitandum et ideo iacentem Adam expectabat erigere.
Therefore he fell, not prostrate on his face as if sleeping, but backward, so that, stretching himself from the things that are behind to those that are before, he might expect salvation from the Lord; for he knew that he was to be raised up, and therefore he was waiting to raise up the fallen Adam.