ACC ~ Hebrews 11 v8 - 22

OVERVIEW:

It is through Abraham’s faith that previously barren Sarah gave birth (EPHREM, AUGUSTINE), and he became father of many nations, through Christ (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). This example shows that fulfillment of the faith is worth waiting (GREGORY OF NYSSA). The promise to the descendants of Abraham is not just inheritance of the promised land; rather it is promise of the kingdom to come which they awaited with faith (CHRYSOSTOM, PHOTIUS). Therefore, the saints of the old covenant were citizens of that kingdom yet strangers to the world. Therefore, because of their strong faith, God was not ashamed to be called “their God” (CHRYSOSTOM, ORIGEN). They are in no way inferior to the apostles, and their lives teach us virtue (CHRYSOSTOM). Abraham’s faith is the model to be imitated as he did not stagger and never doubted (CHRYSOSTOM, EPHREM, PHOTIUS). The ram caught in the thicket wears a crown of thorns (AUGUSTINE). By sacrificing his own son, Abraham worshiped the Son of God as in faith he foresaw Jesus’ coming (ATHANASIUS, ORIGEN, PHOTIUS). Thus, Isaac is a type of Christ (CHRYSOSTOM, CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA). Similarly, Jacob, Esau and Joseph all have christological significance as types of the salvation to come (CHRYSOSTOM, JOHN OF DAMASCUS, PHOTIUS, SEVERIAN).

11:8-10 | Abraham Went Out, Not Knowing Where

TENTS NOT HOUSES. THEODORET OF CYR: Not even when Abraham arrived in the promised land did he control it. Instead, he himself, his son and grandson lived the life of aliens, in what was their own by promise sojourning as though in a foreign land. Hence, instead of owning houses they spent the time living in tents. Yet they believed the promise to be true, even if not seeing the testimony of fact conforming to their faith. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

ABRAHAM OBEYED. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “By faith Abraham” obeyed and left his father and family “to go” not to his private estate but to “an inheritance” prepared for him. Constantly supporting himself “by faith” through his wanderings, he “sojourned” and lived in the land of promise as in a foreign land, that is, as in a foreign inheritance, “living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.” Through the promised inheritance, which they did not receive, it became evident that “they looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

TO BE CONFIDENT IS TO RECEIVE. CHRYSOSTOM: The metaphor is of persons on shipboard, seeing from afar the longed-for cities. Before they enter, they by their words of greeting already are beginning to occupy. … Do you see that they received the promises in this sense, in their already accepting them and being confident respecting them? If then to be confident is to receive the promise, it is in your power also to receive. These faithful did not yet fully enjoy the future blessing but yet by their longing still saw it. Why now do these things happen? That we might be put to shame, in that they indeed, when things on earth were promised them, regarded them not, but sought the future “city.” God again and again speaks to us of the city that is above, and yet we seek that which is here. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 23.4.

11:11-12 | Sarah Considered God Faithful

SHE WHO WAS BARREN GAVE BIRTH. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age.” She, who was barren gave birth—that is, received the powers and youth that were necessary for conception and bearing—even though her old age was unable to cope with these things. And all this happened to her because, in the midst of the pagan Canaanites, she “considered him faithful who had promised” to give her these things. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

HOW ABRAHAM FATHERED CHILDREN AFTER SARAH. AUGUSTINE: It is written in the epistle to the Hebrews, “Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed.” For both were old, as the Scripture testifies; but she was also barren and had ceased to menstruate, so that she could no longer bear children even if she had not been barren. Further, if a woman is advanced in years yet still retains the custom of women, she can bear children to a young man but not to an old man, although that same old man can beget, but only of a young woman; as after Sarah’s death Abraham could of Keturah, because he met with her in her lively age. This, then, is what the apostle mentions as wonderful, saying, besides, that Abraham’s body was now dead; because at that age he was no longer able to beget children of any woman who retained now only a small part of her natural vigor. Of course we must understand that his body was dead only to some purposes, not to all; for if it was so to all, it would no longer be the aged body of a living man but the corpse of a dead one. Although that question, how Abraham begot children of Keturah, is usually solved in this way, that the gift of begetting which he received from the Lord remained even after the death of his wife. Yet I think that solution of the question which I have followed is preferable, because, although in our days an old man of a hundred years can beget children of no woman, it was not so then, when men still lived so long that a hundred years did not yet bring on them the decrepitude of old age. CITY OF GOD 16.28.

FULFILLMENT OF FAITH IS WORTH THE WAIT. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Let [the one who is waiting for the Lord’s second coming] therefore wait for that time then which is, necessarily, in the same time frame as the development of humanity. For even while Abraham and the patriarchs desired to see the promised better things, they did not stop seeking the heavenly country. This is what the apostle says when he declares that even now they are in a condition of hoping for that grace: “God having provided some better thing for us,” according to the words of Paul, “that they without us should not be made perfect.” If those then, who by faith alone and by hope saw the good things “afar off” and “embraced them”—if they bear the delay as the apostle bears witness, and if they place the certainty that they will enjoy the things for which they hoped in the fact that they “judged him faithful who has promised,” what should the rest of us do who perhaps do not have a grasp of that better hope from the character of our own lives?

Even the prophet’s soul fainted with desire, and in his psalm he confesses this passionate love, saying that his “soul has a desire and longing to be in the courts of the Lord.” [He still has this desire] even if he has to be demoted to a place amongst the lowest, since it is a greater and more desirable thing to be last there than to be first among the ungodly tents of this life. Nevertheless he was patient during the delay, considering, indeed, the life there blessed, and accounting a brief participation in it more desirable than “thousands” [of days] of time. For, he says, “one day in your courts is better than thousands.” And yet, he did not become dejected at the necessary dispensation concerning existing things. He thought it was sufficient bliss for a person to have those good things even by way of hope. This is why he says at the end of the psalm, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that hopes in you.” ON THE MAKING OF MAN 22.7.

ABRAHAM’S FAITH. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: There is much to tell of faith, and the whole day would not be enough time for us to describe it fully. At present let us be content with Abraham only, as one of the examples from the Old Testament, seeing that we have been made his sons through faith. He was justified not only by works but also by faith: for though he did many things well, yet he was never called the friend of God except when he believed. Moreover, his every work was performed in faith. Through faith he left his parents, left country and place and home through faith. Therefore, you too should be justified in the same way he was justified. In his body he was already dead in regard to offspring, and Sarah his wife was now old, and there was no hope left of having children. God promises the old man a child, and Abraham, “without being weakened in faith, though he considered his own body now as good as dead,” did not look at the weakness of his body but at the power of him who promised because “he counted him faithful who had promised.” And so, beyond all expectation, [Abraham] gained the child from bodies already dead, as it were. And when, after he had gained his son, he was commanded to offer him up, although he had heard the word, “In Isaac shall your seed be called,” he proceeded to offer up his son, his only son, to God, believing “that God is able to raise up even from the dead.” And having bound his son and laid him on the wood, he did in purpose offer him. But he received his son alive through the goodness of God in delivering to him a lamb instead of his child. Being faithful in these things, he was sealed for righteous-ness “and received circumcision as a seal of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, having received a promise that he should be the father of many nations.” CATECHETICAL LECTURES 5.5.

ABRAHAM IS FATHER OF MANY NATIONS THROUGH CHRIST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Let us see, then, how Abraham is the father of many nations. Of Jews he is confessedly the father, through succession according to the flesh. But if we hold to the succession according to the flesh, we shall be compelled to say that the oracle was false. For according to the flesh he is no longer father of us all: but the example of his faith makes us all sons of Abraham. How and in what manner? With people it is incredible that one should rise from the dead, just as it is also incredible that there should be offspring from aged persons who are as good as dead. But when Christ is preached as having been crucified on the tree, and as having died and risen again, we believe it. By the likeness therefore of our faith we are adopted into the sonship of Abraham. And then, following upon our faith, we receive like him the spiritual seal, being circumcised by the Holy Spirit through baptism, not in the foreskin of the body but in the heart, according to Jeremiah, where he says, “And you shall be circumcised unto God in the foreskin of your heart,” and according to the apostle, “in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism,” and the rest. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 5.6.

FROM ONE MAN. THEODORET OF CYR: “From one person” means from Abraham; but if we were to take the “one” to mean both of them [Abraham and Sarah], we would not be wide of the mark: “the two will be one flesh,” Scripture says. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

11:13-16 | They Greeted the Promise from Afar

STRANGERS AND EXILES. THEODORET OF CYR: The patriarch Abraham spoke in these terms to the Hittites, “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of sight.” The one in receipt of the promise of the whole earth did not even own a plot three cubits long. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

WHAT KIND OF PROMISES? CHRYSOSTOM: Of what kind of “promises” is he speaking? Isaac and Jacob received the promises of land, but, as to Noah and Abel and Enoch, what kind of promises did they receive? Either then he is speaking concerning these three, or, if concerning those others also, the promise was not this, that Abel should be admired, or Enoch translated, or Noah preserved. These things came to them for their virtue’s sake and were a sort of foretaste of things to come. For God from the beginning, knowing that the human race needs much condescension, bestows on us not only the things in the world to come but also those here. For instance, Christ said to the disciples, “Whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life.” And again, “Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Do you see that these things are given by him in the way of addition, that we might not faint? Athletes who are engaged in combat have the benefit of careful attention. They live under strict rules. They are not at ease. But after the combat, they enjoy it entirely. So God also does not grant us here to partake of “entire” ease. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 23.3.

WHAT KIND OF GOOD THINGS? CHRYSOSTOM: For what language, what intellect, can represent that blessedness and virtue, that pleasure, that glory, that happiness, that splendor? “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived” (he did not say that they simply surpass what we imagine; but that none has ever conceived) “what God has prepared for those who love him.” For of what kind are those good things likely to be, of which God is the preparer and establisher? For if immediately after God had made us, when we had not yet done anything, God freely bestowed so great favors—paradise, familiar intercourse with God’s own self, immortality, a life happy and free from cares—what will God not bestow on those who have labored and struggled so greatly and endured on God’s behalf? For us God did not spare God’s only begotten. For us when we were enemies God gave up God’s own son to death. Of what will God not count us worthy, having become God’s friends? What will God not impart to us, having reconciled us to God’s own self? ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 23.6.

ALL BUT WRAPPING THEMSELVES IN THE PROMISES. PHOTIUS: So he says that they believed the promises, “having seen them from afar” through hope, because they also rejoiced in them and embraced them, all but wrapping themselves in them. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.13.

THEY CALLED THEMSELVES STRANGERS. CHRYSOSTOM: They called themselves, therefore, “strangers,” but Paul said something much beyond this; for not merely did he call himself a stranger, but he said that he was dead to the world and that the world was dead to him. “For the world,” he says, “has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” But we, both citizens and quite alive, busy ourselves about everything here as citizens. And what righteous people were to the world—“strangers” and “dead”—that we are to heaven. And what they were to heaven—live and acting as citizens—that we are to the world. Therefore we are dead, because we have refused that which is truly life and have chosen this, which is but for a time. Therefore, we have provoked God to wrath, because when the enjoyments of heaven have been set before us, we are not willing to be separated from things on earth, but, like worms, we turn about from the earth to the earth, and again from this to that. And in short [we] are not willing to look up even for a little while or to withdraw ourselves from human affairs, but as if drowned in torpor and sleep and drunkenness, we are stupefied with imaginations. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 24.1.

BELONGING TO THE FAR CITY. CHRYSOSTOM: Did they mean that they were “strangers” from the land that is in Palestine? By no means. They were strangers in relation to the whole world. And with reason, for they saw in it none of the things which they wished for, but everything foreign and strange. They indeed wished to practice virtue, but here there was much wickedness, and things were quite foreign to them. They had no friend, no familiar acquaintance, save only some few. But how were they “strangers”? They had no care for things here. And this they showed not by words but by their deeds. In what way? God said to Abraham, “Leave that which seems your country and come to one that is foreign.” And Abraham did not cleave to his kindred but gave it up as unconcernedly as if he were about to leave a foreign land. God said to him, “Offer up your son,” and he offered him up as if he had no son; as if he had divested himself of his nature, so he offered him up. The wealth that he had acquired was visible to any passers-by, yet this he accounted as nothing. He yielded the first places to others. He threw himself into dangers. He suffered troubles innumerable. He built no splendid houses, he enjoyed no luxuries, he had no care about dress, which all are things of this world; but he lived in all respects as belonging to the city beyond. He showed hospitality, brotherly love, mercifulness, forbearance, contempt for wealth and for present glory, and for all else.

And his son too was such as himself. When he was driven away, when war was made on him, he yielded and gave way, as being in a foreign land. For foreigners, whatever they suffer, endure it, as not being in their own country. Even when his wife was taken from him, he endured this also as being in a strange land and lived in all respects as one whose home was above, showing sober-mindedness and a well-ordered life. For after he had begotten a son, he had no more intercourse with his wife; and it was when the flower of his youth had passed that he married her, showing that he did it not from passion but in subservience to the promise of God. And what did Jacob do? Did he not seek bread only and raiment, which are asked for by those who are truly strangers, by those that have come to great poverty? When he was driven out, did he not as a stranger give place? Did he not serve for hire? Did he not suffer afflictions innumerable, everywhere, as a stranger?

And in all these things, he says, they were “seeking” their “own country.” Ah, how great is the difference! They indeed were in travail pains each day, wishing to be released from this world and to return to their country. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 24.4-5.

GOD WAS NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED THEIR GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: What sort of “country” was this? Was it that which they had left? By no means. For what hindered them if they wished, from returning again and becoming citizens? But they sought that which is in heaven. Thus they desired their departure, and so they pleased God, for “God was not ashamed to be called their God.”

Ah! How great a dignity! God was willing “to be called their God.” What do you say? We are speaking of the God of the earth and the God of heaven. Mark it as a great thing that “God is not ashamed to be called their God”? How great and truly great this is. It is a proof of exceeding blessedness. How? Because God is called God of earth and of heaven as of the Gentiles, in that God created and formed them; but God of those holy men, not in this sense, but as some true friend.

And I will make it plain to you by an example. As in the case of slaves in large households, when any of those placed over the household are very highly esteemed and manage everything themselves and can use great freedom toward their masters, the master is called after them, and one may find many so called. But what do I say? As we might say the God, not of the Gentiles but of the world, so we might say “the God of Abraham.” But you do not know how great a dignity this is! We do not attain to it. Now God is called the Lord of all Christians, and yet the name goes beyond our deserving. Consider the greatness if God were called the God of one person! He who is called the God of the whole world is “not ashamed to be called” the God of three people, and with good reason. For the saints would turn the scale, I do not say against the world, but against ten thousand worlds. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 24.5-6.

THE SAINTS WHO PRECEDED JESUS’ BODILY SOJOURN. ORIGEN: The saints who preceded Jesus’ bodily sojourn, who had a somewhat greater mental grasp than the majority of believers, perceived the mysteries of divinity because the word of God was teaching them even before he became flesh, for he was always working, being an imitator of his Father of whom he says, “My Father is working still.”

He says, perhaps to the Sadducees who do not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection, “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” If, therefore, God “is not ashamed to be called the God” of these people, and they are numbered among the living by Christ, and all the believers are sons of Abraham, since all the nations are blessed in the faithful Abraham whom God appointed father of the nations, are we hesitant to accept that the living have known the lessons of the living, since they were instructed by Christ, who has existed before the morning star, before he became flesh? COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.17-18.

CHANGE BEHAVIOR FROM VIRTUE TO VIRTUE. CHRYSOSTOM: What shall we then do that we may be saved? Let us begin the practice of virtue, as we have opportunity. Let us portion out the virtues to ourselves, as laborers do their husbandry. In this month let us master evil speaking, injuriousness, unjust anger. And let us lay down a law for ourselves and say, “Today let us set this right.” Again, in this month let us school ourselves in forbearance, and in another, in some other virtue. And when we have got into the habit of this virtue let us go to another, just as in the things we learn at school, guarding what is already gained, and acquiring others.

After this let us proceed to contempt for riches. First let us restrain our hands from grasping, and then let us give alms. Let us not simply confound everything, with the same hands both slaying and showing mercy. After this, let us go to some other virtue, and from that, to another. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 24.9.

HE IS NOT ASHAMED. THEODORET OF CYR: It was opportune of him to use the phrase “he is not ashamed.” The Lord of the powers, Master of the angels and Maker of heaven and earth when asked, “What is your name?” passed over all others and said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. This is my name forever, and how I am to be remembered by generations of generations.” INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

11:17-19 | Abraham’s Faith

THROUGH ISAAC. THEODORET OF CYR: God promised to bring to light a vast number of Isaac’s offspring like sand on the seashore, and he it was who bade Isaac become a victim. Beset by the two conflicting thoughts, then, and with nature tearing at him more harshly than any torturer, the patriarch easily overcame it all and offered the sacrifice. He brings out as well the thoughts he employed in banishing the others, “God was able to raise men even from the dead.” He took issue with the thought arising in regard to the great number of offspring, believing that his son, even if slaughtered, could come back to life, God willing. “Figuratively speaking, he did receive him back,” that is, by way of a symbol and type of the resurrection. Put to death by his father’s zeal, he came back to life at the word of the one who prevented the slaughter. In him the type of the saving passion was also prefigured. Hence the Lord also said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the prospect of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

WHEN GOD’S PROMISE SEEMED TO OPPOSE GOD’S PROMISE. CHRYSOSTOM: Great indeed was the faith of Abraham. In the case of Abel, Noah and Enoch, there was an opposition of reasonings to be overcome, and it was necessary to go beyond human reasonings. In the case of Abraham, however, it was necessary not only to go beyond human reasonings but to manifest also something more. For what was of God seemed to be opposed to what was of God; and faith opposed to faith, and command opposed to promise. I mean this: God had said, “Go from your country and your kindred, and I will give you this land.” But then he said, “He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length.” Do you see how what was done was opposed to the promise? Again, God said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named,” and he believed, and again God says, “Sacrifice to me this one, who was to fill all the world from his seed.” Do you see the opposition between the commands and the promise? He enjoined things that were in contradiction to the promises, and yet not even so did the righteous man stagger nor say he had been deceived. … But you endure nothing except what was promised, and still you are troubled. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.1.

ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD COULD RAISE THE DEAD. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” as a victim, even though he had received this child with the promise that through him his descendants would have been named. And Abraham never doubted, not even when he was about to kill him, that through him his descendants would have been named.

He decided in his mind and accepted the idea that “God is able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back,” that is, so that in him he might come to know the resurrection of the dead, and in him might know the children of the spirit whom he would have had. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

THE RAM WAS CROWNED WITH THORNS. AUGUSTINE: The apostle says, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.” This explains why Isaac himself, just like the Lord carrying his cross, carried to the place of sacrifice the wood on which he was to be placed. … Note that when Abraham first saw the ram, it was caught by its thorns in a thicket of briers. This surely is a symbol of Jesus, crowned with thorns by the Jews before he was immolated. CITY OF GOD 16.32.

IN HARMONY WHEN VIEWED BY FAITH. CHRYSOSTOM: He heard the opposite of the promises from the one who had made them, and yet he was not disturbed but did them as if they had been in harmony. For they were in harmony, being opposed indeed according to human calculations, but in harmony when viewed by faith. And how this was, the apostle himself has taught us, saying, “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” By the same faith, he means, by which he believed that God gave what was not and raised up the dead, by the same was he persuaded that God would also raise him up after he had been slain in sacrifice. For it was similarly impossible—to human calculation, I mean—for a womb which was dead and grown old and already become useless for childbearing to give a child, and to raise again one who had been slain. But his previous faith prepared the way for things to come. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.2.

ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN A RESURRECTION THAT HAD NOT YET HAPPENED. ORIGEN: Give me your attention, you who have approached God, who believe yourselves to be faithful. Consider diligently how the faith of the faithful is proved from these words that have been read to us. “After these things,” the text says, “God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham, Abraham.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’” Observe each detail that has been written. For, if one knows how to dig into the depth, one will find a treasure in the details. Perhaps also the precious jewels of the mysteries lie hidden where they are not esteemed.

This man was previously called Abram. Nowhere do we read that God called him by this name or said to him, “Abram, Abram.” For God could not call him by a name that was to be abolished, but he calls him by this name which God gave; and not only does God call him by this name, but he also repeats it. And when he had responded, “Here I am,” God says to him, “Take your dearest son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him to me. Go,” the text says, “into the high land, and there you shall offer him for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I shall show you.”

Why God gave him this particular name and called him Abraham, he himself has interpreted. “Because,” the text says, “I have made you a father of many nations.” God gave him this promise when he had his son Ishmael, but it is promised him that the promise will be fulfilled in a son who will be born of Sarah. He had kindled his soul, therefore, in love for his son not only because of posterity but also in the hope of the promises.

But this son, in whom these great and marvelous promises have been made, this son, I say, on whose account his name is called Abraham, “he is ordered to offer for a holocaust to the Lord on one of the mountains.”

What do you say to these things, Abraham? What kind of thoughts are stirring in your heart? A word has been uttered by God that is such as to shatter and try your faith. What do you say to these things? What are you thinking? What are you reconsidering? Are you thinking, are you turning over in your heart that, if the promise has been given to me in Isaac, but I offer him for a holocaust, it remains that that promise holds no hope? Or rather do you think of those well-known words, and say that it is impossible, for him who promised, to lie; be that as it may, the promise shall remain?

But I, because “I am the least,” am not able to examine the thoughts of such a great patriarch nor can I know what thoughts the voice of God which had proceeded to test him stirred in him, what feeling it caused, when he was ordered to slay his only son. But since “the spirit of prophets is subject to the prophets,” the apostle Paul, who, I believe, was teaching by the Spirit what feeling, what plan Abraham considered, has revealed it when he says, “By faith Abraham did not hesitate, when he offered his only son, in whom he had received the promises, thinking that God is able to raise him up even from the dead.”

The apostle, therefore, has reported to us the thoughts of the faithful man, that the faith in the resurrection began to be held already at that time in Isaac. Abraham, therefore, hoped for the resurrection of Isaac and believed in a future that had not yet happened. How, then, are they “sons of Abraham” who do not believe what has happened in Christ, which Abraham believed was to be in Isaac? No, rather, that I may speak more clearly, Abraham knew himself to prefigure the image of future truth; he knew the Christ was to be born from his seed, who also was to be offered as a truer victim for the whole world and was to be raised from the dead. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 8.1.

GOD TESTED ABRAHAM TO MAKE HIS PROMISE KNOWN TO ALL. CHRYSOSTOM: And he shows another thing too, by saying that “God tempted Abraham.” What then? Did not God know that the man was noble and approved? Why then did God tempt him? Not that God might learn but that God might show to others and make his fortitude manifest to all. And here also he shows the cause of trials, that they may not suppose they suffer these things as being forsaken of God. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.2.

IN OFFERING HIS SON HE WORSHIPED THE SON OF GOD. ATHANASIUS: Here is a man of true faith, for when the Lord asked him to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, he was willing to do so. By faith he offered up the one through whom the Lord had given him the promise of a nation of descendants. And in offering his son he worshiped the Son of God. When the Lord held him back from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham saw the Messiah in the ram that was ultimately offered as the sacrifice to God.

We see, then, that the patriarch was tested by means of Isaac—not that Isaac was sacrificed but rather the one who was pointed out in Isaiah, “He shall be like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb.” He was, in truth, tested by him who took away the sin of the world.

That is why Abraham was held back from laying his hand on the boy. If he had sacrificed Isaac, the Jews might very well have rejected all the prophecies concerning the Savior. Undoubtedly they would have especially rejected such prophecies given by the psalmist as, “You have not wanted sacrifice and offering; for you have prepared a body for me.” They would have referred all such prophecies to the son of Abraham.

Thus the sacrifice was not for the sake of Isaac but of Abraham, who was tested by being called upon to make this offering. And of course, God accepted his intentions, but God prevented him from slaying Isaac. The death of Isaac would not buy freedom for the world. No, that could be accomplished only by the death of our Savior, by whose stripes we are all healed. He alone picked up the falling, healed the sick, satisfied those who were hungry and filled the poor. Above all else, he alone raised us all from the dead, and having abolished death, he has brought us from sorrow and sighing to the rest and gladness of this feast. That, dear friends, is a joy that reaches heaven! FESTAL LETTERS 6.8.

NOT OF GRACE BUT OF DEBT. CHRYSOSTOM: Afterwards, that no one may suppose he does this in despair, and in consequence of this command had cast away that faith, but may understand that this also was truly of faith, he says that he retained that faith also, although it seem to be at variance with this. But it was not at variance. For he did not measure the power of God by human reasonings but committed all to faith. And hence he was not afraid to say that God was “able to raise him up, even from the dead.”

“From this also he received him in a figure,” that is in idea, by the ram, he means. How? The ram having been slain, he was saved, so that by means of the ram, he received him again, having slain it in his stead. But these things were types, for here it is the Son of God who is slain. And observe, I beseech you, how great is God’s lovingkindness. For inasmuch as a great favor was to be given to humanity, God, wishing to do this, not by favor but as a debtor, arranges that a man should first give up his own son on account of God’s command. God does this in order that God might seem to be doing nothing great in giving up God’s own Son, since a man had done this before God, so that God might be supposed to do it not of grace but of debt. We do kindness to those we love. We may seem to give all when they have first received something little. We boast more of the receiving than of the giving. We do not say, “We gave him this,” but, “We received this from him.” “From this also” are his words, “he received him in a figure,” that is, as in a riddle, for the ram was, as it were, a figure of Isaac or as in a type. For since the sacrifice had been completed and Isaac slain in purpose, therefore he gave him back to the patriarch. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.3.

ISAAC IS A TYPE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Isaac is a type of the infant Lord as son, and, in fact, Isaac was the son of Abraham as Christ is of God, victim as was the Lord. But he was not cut down like the Lord; no, Isaac only carried the wood of the sacrifice, as the Lord did his cross. He laughed mystically by way of prophesying that the Lord fills us with joy, we who have been redeemed by his blood. He did not suffer but left to the Logos, as is fitting, the first fruits of suffering. What is more, because he was not immolated, he signifies also the divinity of the Lord. For after his burial, Jesus was raised up, thus leaving suffering behind, just as Isaac had escaped the sacrifice. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.5.23.1-2.

HE SUFFERED NOTHING UNDER DEATH’S POWER. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He obtained it in accordance with his faith. For believing in the resurrection, he received him who had died symbolically. For the fact that he suffered nothing, although he fully expected to die, was a symbol of the one who would truly rise, inasmuch as, “having tasted death for a short time,” he rose, having suffered nothing under death’s power. For this was done “in a parable” instead of in symbols. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.19.

ABRAHAM RECEIVED ISAAC IN A FIGURATIVE WAY. PHOTIUS: One can understand the statement “hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” in the following sense: “Abraham received Isaac in a figurative way.” For, as he says, since he showed some untold obedience and a faith that conquers even the laws of nature itself, he received his son again, not merely because he offered his son but because he offered him with great assent and his worthy faith. For Abraham received Isaac, who bore a figure and likeness to the Son of God and God himself. For such faith can set matters aright. But if you understand “in a figurative way” to apply to Abraham and Isaac, in that Abraham acted as a type of the Father and as a figure and likeness of him, while Isaac acted as a type of the Son, this interpretation would accord well with the understanding we have already stated. Abraham’s faith brought him such a gain, he says, because after offering him he received him back with great addition. What sort of addition? That he would receive him again “in a figurative manner” and likeness of the action with the Father and the Son, that is, he received his son with so great profit, since both became a type of the offering with which the Father thought it good to be completed in his Son.

Or one can understand it as follows. God “in a figurative way received” Isaac, that is, because of the faith and zeal of Abraham. To be sure, later a ram was offered, and even then it was not brought out of Abraham’s flock but was also provided by God. Nonetheless, God received the sacrifice in this way, as if Abraham had offered Isaac himself albeit in a symbolic manner and through the substitution of the ram. Therefore he says, “He received him,” namely, Isaac, “in a figurative way” and substitution of the ram, that is, the intended and fulfilled purpose of Abraham and the desire of his faith. Thus God received the sacrifice of Abraham in this manner. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.19.

THE METAPHOR OF THE BALL. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see that what I am constantly saying is shown in this case also? When we have proved that our mind is made perfect and have shown that we disregard earthly things, then earthly things also are given to us, but not before, lest, being bound to them already, we receiving them should be bound still. Loose yourself from your slavery first, he says, and then receive, so that you may receive no longer as a slave but as a master. Despise riches, and you shall be rich. Despise glory, and you shall be glorious. Despise avenging yourself on your enemies, and then you shall attain it. Despise repose, and then you shall receive it, that in receiving you may receive not as a prisoner or as a slave but as a free person.

For as with little children, when the child eagerly desires childish playthings, as a ball, for instance, and such things, we hide them from the child with much care, that the child may not be hindered from necessary things. But when the child thinks little of them and no longer longs for them, we allow them fearlessly, knowing that no harm can come to the child from them, because the desire no longer has strength enough to draw the child away from things necessary. So God also, when God sees that we no longer eagerly desire the things of this world, henceforth permits us to use them. For we possess them as free people, not as children. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.4.

11:20-22 | Esau, Jacob, Joseph

HUMAN AND DIVINE ORDERS. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.” First he gave it to Jacob, then to Esau, not according to the sequence of their birth but according to the order of spiritual blessing. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.20

JACOB FIRST PREFIGURED THE CROSS. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: The tree of life that was planted by God in paradise prefigured this honorable cross, for, since death came by a tree, it was necessary for life and the resurrection to be bestowed by a tree. It was Jacob who first prefigured the cross, when he adored the top of the rod of Joseph. And when he blessed Joseph’s sons with his hands crossed, he most clearly described the sign of the cross. Then there was the rod of Moses which struck the sea with the form of a cross and saved Israel while causing Pharaoh to be swallowed up; his hands stretched out in the form of a cross and put Amalek to flight; the bitter water being made sweet by a tree, and the rock being struck and gushing forth streams of water. Further, the rod of Aaron miraculously confirmed the dignity of the priesthood, a serpent was raised in triumph upon a tree, as if dead, with the tree preserving those who with faith beheld the dead enemy, even as Christ was nailed up in flesh of sin but which had not known sin. … May we who adore this attain to the portion of Christ the crucified. Amen. ORTHODOX FAITH 4.11.

BOWING IN WORSHIP. PHOTIUS: Thereupon he not only spoke but he also was bold to demonstrate it to coming generations by his action. For since another king would arise from Ephraim, for this very reason he says, “and Jacob bowing in worship over the head of his staff,” that is, being an old man, he bowed down to Joseph, showing the obeisance of the whole people that would take place for him. And this has already come to pass, when the brothers bowed down to him, and it was about to come to pass later through the ten tribes. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.21.

THE RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE KNEW ALL THE THINGS TO COME. CHRYSOSTOM: “Many prophets and righteous men,” it is said, “longed to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.” Did then those righteous people know all the things to come? Yes, most certainly. For if, because of the weakness of those who were not able to receive him, the Son was not revealed, he was with good reason revealed to those conspicuous in virtue. This Paul also says, that they knew “the things to come,” that is, the resurrection of Christ.

Or he does not mean this, but that “by faith, concerning things to come” means not concerning the world to come but “concerning things to come” in this world. For how, except by faith, could a man sojourning in a strange land, give such blessings?

On the other hand, he obtained the blessing and yet did not receive it. You see that what I said with regard to Abraham may be said also of Jacob, that he did not fully enjoy the blessing. The blessings went to his posterity, while he himself obtained the “things to come.” For we find that his brother rather enjoyed the blessing. For Jacob spent all his time in servitude, working as a hireling amid dangers and plots and deceits and fears; when asked by Pharaoh, he says, “Few and evil have my days been,” while the other lived in independence and great security and afterwards was an object of terror to Jacob. Where then did the blessings come to their accomplishment, save in the world to come?

Do you see that from the beginning the wicked have enjoyed things here, but the right-eous the contrary? Not all, however, for behold, Abraham was a righteous man, and he enjoyed things here as well, though with affliction and trials, for indeed wealth was all he had, seeing all else relating to him was full of affliction. For it is impossible that the righteous man should not be afflicted, though he be rich, for when he is willing to be overreached, to be wronged, to suffer all other things, he must be afflicted. So while he may enjoy wealth, it is still not without grief. … “By faith,” he says, “Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.” Esau was the elder; but he puts Jacob first for his excellence. Do you see how great his faith was? How did he promise to his sons so great blessings? Entirely from his having faith in God.

“By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph.” Here we ought to set down the blessings entirely, in order that both his faith and his prophesying may be made manifest. “And worshiped leaning,” he says, “upon the top of his staff.” Here, he means, he not only spoke but was even so confident about the future things as to show it also by his act. For inasmuch as another king was about to arise from Ephraim, therefore it is said, “And he bowed himself upon the top of his staff.” That is, even though he was now an old man, “he bowed himself” to Joseph, showing the obeisance of the whole people which was to be directed to him. And this indeed had already taken place, when his brethren “bowed down” to him, but it was afterwards to come to pass through the ten tribes. Do you see how he foretold the things which were to be afterwards? Do you see the great faith they had, and how they believed “concerning the things to come”? ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 26.1-2.

THE THINGS THAT CONCERN JOSEPH ARE OF FAITH ONLY. CHRYSOSTOM: For some of the things here, the things present, are examples of patience only and of enduring ill treatment and of receiving nothing good, as, for instance, what is mentioned in the case of Abraham and Abel. But others are examples of faith, as in the case of Noah, that there is a God, that there is a recompense. … And the things that concern Joseph are also of faith only. Joseph heard that God had made a promise to Abraham, that God had engaged God’s word, “to you and to your seed will I give this land”; and, though in a strange land and not yet seeing the engagement fulfilled, he never faltered even so, but believed so as even to “speak of the exodus and to give directions concerning his burial.” He then not only believed himself but led the rest also to faith, that, having the exodus always in mind—for he would not have “given directions concerning his burial” unless he had been fully assured of this—they might look for their return to Canaan.

On hearing this, some people say, “See! Even righteous people had care about their sepulchers.” Let us reply to them that it was for this reason—that he knew that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is therein.” He could not indeed have been ignorant of this, who lived with such great love of wisdom, who spent his whole life in Egypt. And yet if he had wished, it was possible for him to return and not to mourn or vex himself. But when he had taken up his father, why did he enjoin them to carry up then his own bones also? Evidently for this same reason.

Tell me, are not the bones of Moses himself laid in a strange land? And those of Aaron, of Daniel, of Jeremiah? And as to those of the apostles, we do not know where those of most of them are laid. For of Peter, indeed, and Paul and John and Thomas, the sepulchers are well known, but those of the rest, being so many, have nowhere become known. Let us not therefore lament at all about this or be so little-minded. For wherever we may be buried, “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” Certainly what must take place does take place. Inordinately to mourn, however, and lament and bewail the departed arises from littleness of mind. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 26.2.

DIRECTIONS CONCERNING HIS BURIAL. THEODORET OF CYR: Joseph would not have given directions about his remains if he had not believed the divine promises. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

MOSES HEBREWS 11:23-31

OVERVIEW: The miraculous acts and lives of the Old Testament saints are a work of God’s grace granted to them according to their faith. For instance, Moses refused the palace of the pharaoh because of his faith in the kingdom of God and was rewarded accordingly (CHRYSOSTOM). In this passage Paul uses an economy of words to present great things through simple acts in Israel’s history. Chrysostom refers to the sprinkling of blood in the exodus: “Although what was done was nothing, what was achieved was great. For what was done was blood, but what was achieved was salvation and the stopping and preventing of destruction. The angel feared the blood, for he knew of what it was a type; he shuddered, thinking on the Lord’s death; therefore he did not touch the doorposts. Thus the hearer is to be confident.” Moses is a type of Christ; as Moses brought his people out of Egypt, a place deprived of faith (EPHREM), so Christ brought us through suffering from death to eternal life (PHOTIUS). Faith can do all things and transcends human reasoning.

Rahab is a type of the church (GREGORY OF ELVIRA) as through her faith she received those who signify the Trinity (IRENAEUS) and was saved according to her faith (CHRYSOSTOM, EPHREM). Moreover, everyone in her home was saved because of the scarlet rope that signifies the blood of Christ as well as his passions (JUSTIN, HILARY). Salvation of the former harlot calls all of us to repentance (ORIGEN).

11:23-28 | Moses’ Faith

THOSE OTHERWISE OBSCURE. CHRYSOSTOM: Joseph did not say, “God did not give the land to me in my lifetime, nor to my father or my grandfather, whose excellence too ought to have been reverenced. Will God give to these wretched people what God did not give to them?” He said nothing like this, but by faith he both conquered and went beyond all these things. The apostle has named Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph—all illustrious and admirable men. But then he makes the encouragement greater by bringing the matter down to ordinary persons. For that the admirable should feel thus is nothing wonderful, and to appear inferior to them is nothing dreadful; but to show oneself inferior even to people without names, this is awesome.

He begins with the parents of Moses, obscure persons who had nothing so great as their son had. Then he goes on to increase the strangeness of what he says by enumerating even women who were harlots and widows. For “by faith,” he says “the harlot Rahab did not perish with them that believed not, for she had received the spies with peace.” And he mentions the rewards not only of belief but also of unbelief, as in the case of Noah.

But at present we must speak of the parents of Moses. Pharaoh gave orders that all the male children should be destroyed, and none had escaped the danger. How did these expect to save their child? By faith. What sort of faith? “They saw,” he says, “that the child was beautiful.” The very sight of him drew them on to faith. Thus from the beginning—yes, from the very swaddling clothes—great was the grace that was poured out on that righteous man, this being not the work of nature. For observe, the child immediately on its birth appears fair and not disagreeable to the sight. Whose work was this? Not that of nature but of the grace of God, which also stirred up and strengthened that barbarian woman, the Egyptian, and took and drew her on. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 26.3.

MOSES REFUSED THE PALACE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin; considering abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” It is as though Paul had said to them, “No one of you has left a palace, yes a splendid palace, or such treasures. None of you, when you might have been a king’s son, has despised this. But Moses did.” And he did not simply leave it there. He further expressed it by saying, “he refused,” that is, he hated, he turned away. For when heaven was set before Moses, it was superfluous to admire an Egyptian palace.

And see how admirably Paul has put it. He did not say, “Esteeming heaven and the things in heaven,” “greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt,” but what? “Abuse suffered for the Christ.” For he accounted being abused for the sake of Christ better than being thus at ease; and this itself by itself was reward.

“Choosing rather,” he says, “to suffer ill treatment with the people of God.” For you indeed suffer on your own account, but Moses “chose” to suffer for others and voluntarily threw himself into so many dangers, when it was in his power both to live religiously and to enjoy good things, rather “than,” he says, “to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” He called unwillingness “to suffer ill treatment with” the rest “sin.” This, he says, Moses accounted to be “sin.” If then he accounted it “sin” not to be ready to “suffer ill treatment with” the rest, it follows that the suffering ill treatment must be a great good, since he threw himself into it from the royal palace. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 26.4.

MOSES CONSIDERED CHRIST. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” If he had not believed in the promise of Abraham, he would have not refused to be corrupted by sin, nor would he have chosen to share ill treatment with the people of God. He considered the emulation of Christ, about whom he indeed wrote, to be more important than the wealth of the Egyptians, which he would have received, because in his expectation “he was looking ahead to the reward.” COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

THE REPROACHES OF CHRIST. THEODORET OF CYR: What was a type of Christ, the similarity to the reproaches of Christ, was committed against religion by the adversaries. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

ABUSE SUFFERED FOR CHRIST. PHOTIUS: What is the “abuse suffered for the Christ”? It is bearing the reproach of such things, while revealing the reproach that Christ endured. Or it can mean that Moses endured reproach because of Christ—for “the rock was Christ”—since it was likely that Moses was vilified when he heard, “You don’t wish to kill me in the same way that you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?” That is the “abuse suffered for the Christ,” namely, to suffer ill until one’s end and last draught of breath, just as Christ himself was reviled and heard, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” For both were reviled by their very own countrymen for whom they were doing good works. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.26.

HE DID NOT RUN FAR AWAY. OECUMENIUS: He did not fear lest Pharaoh’s wrath be so great so as to investigate him as he fled. Therefore he did not run far away, but from where he could return. And that was done by faith. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.4.

LIKE MOSES, WE TOO WILL LOVE GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: If then we too always see God with our mind, if we always think in remembrance of God, all things will appear endurable to us, all things tolerable. We shall bear them all easily. We shall be above them all. If you see one whom you love, or remember that one, you are reawakened in spirit and elevated in thought and you bear all things easily while delighting in the remembrance. Then when will one who has in mind the one who has promised to love us indeed, remembering that one, either feel anything painful or dread anything fearful or dangerous? When will he be of cowardly spirit? Never. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 26.6.

BY THE LAMB SLAIN, GOD HAS BROUGHT US FROM EGYPT. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul wants to establish many things incidentally and is very full of thoughts. For such is the grace of the Spirit. He does not comprehend a few ideas in a multitude of words but includes great and manifold thought in brevity of expressions. Observe at least how, in the midst of exhortation and when discoursing about faith, he reminds us of the source of the reality as seen in its type and mystery. “By faith,” he says, “he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them.”

But what is the “sprinkling of blood”? A lamb was slain in every household, and the blood was smeared on the doorposts, and this was a means of warding off the Egyptian destruction. If then the blood of a lamb preserved the Jews unhurt in the midst of the Egyptians, and under so great a destruction, much more will the blood of Christ save us, who have had it sprinkled not on the doorposts but in our souls. For even now also the Destroyer is going about in this depth of night, so let us be armed with that sacrifice. … For God has brought us out from Egypt, from darkness, from idolatry. Although what was done was nothing, what was achieved was great. For what was done was blood, but what was achieved was salvation and the stopping and preventing of destruction. The angel feared the blood, for he knew of what it was a type. He shuddered, thinking on the Lord’s death; therefore he did not touch the doorposts. Moses said, “Smear,” and they smeared and were confident. And you, having the blood of the Lamb himself, are you not confident? ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 27.1.

A PREMONITION OF THE LORD’S BLOOD. THEODORET OF CYR: How would he, without faith, have believed that death would be prevented by the blood of a sheep? He recognized in advance the reality in the type and had a premonition of the power of the Lord’s blood. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

11:29 | As If on Dry Land

EVERYWHERE FAITH GOES BEYOND HUMAN REASONINGS. CHRYSOSTOM: Again he compares one whole people with another, lest they should say, “We cannot be as the saints.” “By faith,” he says, “they passed through the Red Sea as if by dry land, which the Egyptians were drowned in trying to do.” Here he leads them also to a recollection of the sufferings in Egypt. How “by faith”? Because they had hoped to pass through the sea, and therefore they prayed, or rather it was Moses who prayed. Do you see that everywhere faith goes beyond human reasonings and weakness and lowliness? Do you see that at the same time they both believed and feared punishment, both in the blood on the doors and in the Red Sea? And he made it clear that it was really water, through those that fell into it and were choked. He made it clear that it was not a mere appearance. Rather it was, as in the case of the lions, those who were devoured proved the reality of the facts; and in the case of the fiery furnace, those who were burned. Here also you see that the same things become to the one a cause of salvation and glory, and to the other of destruction.

So great a good is faith. When we fall into perplexity, then are we delivered, even though we come to death itself, even though our condition is desperate. For what else was left for them? They were unarmed, surrounded by the Egyptians and the sea. They must either be drowned if they fled, or fall into the hands of the Egyptians. But nevertheless God saved them from impossibilities. That which was spread under the one as land overwhelmed the others as sea. In the former case, it forgot its nature; in the latter, it actually armed itself against them. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 27.2.

THE EGYPTIANS WERE WITHOUT FAITH. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “By faith they crossed the Red Sea.” In fact, the people who entered into it believed and crossed it as if on dry land. On the other hand, the Egyptians went into it without faith and received the reward for their crimes in the midst of it. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

11:30 | The Walls of Jericho

FAITH CAN DO ALL THINGS. CHRYSOSTOM: “By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.” For assuredly the sound of trumpets cannot throw down stones, even if one blows for ten thousand years, but faith can do all things.

Do you see that in all cases it is not by natural sequence, nor yet by any law of nature, that it was changed, but all is done contrary to expectation? Accordingly, in this case also, all is done contrary to expectation. For since he had said again and again that we ought to trust to future hopes, he again introduced all this argument with good reason, showing that not now only, but even from the beginning, all the miracles have been accomplished and achieved by means of it. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 27.3.

11:31 | Rahab’s Faith

FAITH COVERED THE WOUNDS OF SIN. THEODORET OF CYR: Lawlessness of life did not prevent salvation; faith covered the wounds of sin. Now, it is worth admiring the apostle’s wisdom—or, rather, we ought sing the praises of the activity of the divine Spirit in associating a foreign woman and prostitute with Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and the other saints so as to establish the power of faith and repress the Jews’ conceit. After all, six hundred thousand of them were consumed in the desert on account of lack of faith, as they gained no benefit from the way of life of the law. She on the contrary, though removed from kinship with Abraham, living outside the way of life of the law and spending most of her time in licentious behavior, through faith reaped salvation and foreshadowed in type the church. Just as she with faith gave admission to the spies, so the church did to the apostles. And as she was given the scarlet cord as a sign of salvation, so the church through the Lord’s blood enjoyed the eternal goods. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

RAHAB ALONE WAS PRESERVED. CHRYSOSTOM: It would be disgraceful, if you should appear more faithless even than a harlot. Yet she merely heard what the men related and then believed. Thereupon the end also followed, for, when all perished, she alone was preserved. She did not say to herself, “I shall be with my many friends.” She did not say, “Can I possibly be wiser than these judicious men who do not believe—and shall I believe?” She said no such thing, but [she] believed what had taken place, which it was likely that they would suffer. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 27.3.

FAITH THROUGH THE RUMORS. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Indeed, through the rumors about the miracles which had happened in Egypt and the desert, she believed that they would have possessed the land of Canaan, as God had said to Abraham. The apostle also added some words about the “explorers,” who “were received by her in peace,” because he wanted to show that they came out of her house in purity and honesty. In fact, they had not entered that place for the sake of fornication. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

SHE RECEIVED THE TRINITY. IRENAEUS: So also did Rahab the harlot, while condemning herself because she was a Gentile, receive the three speculators who were spying out the land—which three were doubtless the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—and hid them in her home. And when the entire city in which she lived fell to ruins at the sounding of the seven trumpets, Rahab and all her house were preserved, through faith in the scarlet sign. So the Lord declared to those who did not receive the Lord—the Pharisees, that is—and to those who despised the scarlet thread, which signified the Passover and the redemption and the exodus from Egypt, that “the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you.” AGAINST HERESIES 4.20.12.

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. JUSTIN MARTYR: The red rope, which the spies sent by Joshua, son of Nun, gave to Rahab the harlot in Jericho, instructing her to tie it to the same window through which she lowered them down to escape their enemies, was a symbol of the blood of Christ. By [this blood] those of every nationality who were once fornicators and sinful are redeemed, receiving pardon of their past sin and avoiding all sin in the future. DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 111.

THE CHURCH RECEIVES THE LAW AND PROPHETS. HILARY OF POITIERS: This episode in the Old Testament is a series of important types [sacramenta] of future spiritual events. The harlot takes into her house the two spies sent by Jesus [Joshua] to survey the land. The church, which was a sinner, receives the law and the prophets, sent to spy out the faith of men, and acknowledges that “God is in heaven above and on the earth beneath.” She receives from these same spies the scarlet sign of salvation, a color which is manifestly the color of royalty when considered as a dignity, and, when looked at, the color of blood. Both these features were found in the passion—the Lord was clothed in scarlet, and blood flowed from his side. Manasseh also received scarlet as a sign. The dwellings in Egypt marked with blood were spared, and with blood the book of the covenant was sprinkled and the people sanctified. Every member of the family found outside the house was guilty—a lesson that those apart from those called are responsible for their own death. TRACTATE OF THE MYSTERIES 2.9.154-56.

OUTSIDE THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION. ORIGEN: She who was formerly a harlot receives this injunction: All who shall be found in your house shall be saved. . . if anyone wishes to be saved, let him come into the house of her that was a harlot. Even if anyone of this people [the Jews] wishes to be saved, let him come into this house to obtain salvation. Let him come into this house in which the blood of Christ is the sign of redemption. Let there be no mistake, let no one deceive himself: outside this house, that is outside the ecclesia, there is no salvation. If anyone does go forth, he is the cause of his own death. HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 3.5.

RAHAB IS A TYPE OF THE CHURCH. GREGORY OF ELVIRA: Rahab, who is a type of the church, suspended the scarlet thread from her window as a sign of salvation, to show that the nations would be saved through the Lord’s passion. … The house of Rahab and all those with her were saved through the scarlet sign when Jericho was destroyed and burned and its king, a type of the devil, slain. So when this world is destroyed by fire and the devil who now has dominion over the world is overthrown, no one will be preserved for eternal salvation if that one is not found inside the house of the ecclesia which is marked with the scarlet sign, that is, with the blood of Christ. Or again, as in the flood, no one escaped the drowning of the world save those who were preserved in the ark of Noah, which is a type of the church. ORIGEN’S TRACTATE ON THE BOOKS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 139.

EVERY ONE OF US WAS THE HARLOT. ORIGEN: Our Jesus [Joshua] sent his spies to the king of Jericho. There they are welcomed by a harlot. But this harlot who received the spies sent by Jesus did so that she might no longer be a harlot. The soul of every one of us was that harlot when we lived in the desires and lusts of the flesh. But our souls received the messengers of Jesus, the angels, whom he has sent before his face to prepare his ways. Every soul who receives them with faith, lodges them not in unworthy and inferior places but in those which are more elevated, because we do not receive Jesus from low and earthly places but as coming forth from the Father and descending from heaven. HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 1.4.