21. That the Gentiles should rather believe in Christ.

In Genesis: “And the Lord God said unto Abraham, Go out from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, and go into that land which I shall show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I will magnify thy name; and thou shalt be blessed: and I will bless him that blesseth thee, and I will curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.”82    Gen. xi. 1–3. On this same point in Genesis: “And Isaac blessed Jacob.83    The quotation in the Oxford edition begins from this point.  Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field which the Lord hath blessed: and God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fertility of the earth, abundance of corn, and wine, and oil: and peoples shall obey thee, and princes shall worship thee: and thou shalt be lord over thy brother, and the sons of thy father shall worship thee; and he that curseth thee shall be cursed, and he that blesseth thee shall be blessed.”84    Gen. xxvii. 27–29. On this matter too in Genesis: “But when Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it seemed displeasing to him: and Joseph laid hold of his father’s hand, to lift it from the head of Ephraim on to the head of Manasseh. Moreover, Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: this is my first-born; place thy right hand upon his head. But he would not, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: and he also shall be a people, and he shall be exalted; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.”85    Gen. xlviii. 17–19. The whole of this quotation is wanting in more than one codex.  Moreover in Genesis: “Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee: thine hand shall be upon the back of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the slender twig,86    “Frutice.” The Oxford translator has here, without any authority as it appears, from the text, adopted the reading of the Vulgate, “ad prædam.” Cyprian has used the LXX., reading apparently, ἐκ βλαστοῦ. The Hebrew מִטֶּרֶף gives a colour to either reading. See Gesenius, Lex. in voce מֶרֶף. [Elucidation X.] my son, thou hast ascended:  thou layedst down and sleepedst as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp. Who shall stir him up? There shalt not fail a prince from Judah, and a leader from his loins, until those things entrusted to him shall come; and he is the hope of the nations: binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the branch of the vine;87    Original, “ad cilicium;” LXX. τῆ ἕλικι, “the tendril of the vine;” Oxford trans. “the choice vine.” he shall wash his garments in wine, and his clothing in the blood of the grape: terrible are his eyes with wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.”88    Gen. xlix. 8–12.  Hence in Numbers it is written concerning our people:  “Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion-like people.”89    Num. xxiii. 14.  In Deuteronomy: “Ye Gentiles shall be for the head; but this unbelieving people shall be for the tail.”90    Deut. xxviii. 44. Also in Jeremiah: “Hear the sound of the trumpet. And they said, We will not hear:  for this cause the nations shall hear, and they who shall feed their cattle among them.”91    Jer. vi. 18. In the seventeenth Psalm:  “Thou shalt establish me the head of the nations: a people whom I have not known have served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.”92    Ps. xviii. 43, 44. Concerning this very thing the Lord says in Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou wentest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee, and established thee as a prophet among the nations.”93    Jer. i. 5. Also in Isaiah: “Behold, I have manifested him for a witness to the nations, a prince and a commander to the peoples.”94    Isa. lv. 4. Also in the same: “Nations which have not known Thee shall call upon Thee; and peoples which were ignorant of Thee shall flee to Thee.”95    Isa. lv. 5. In the same, moreover: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall rise to rule in all the nations; in Him shall the Gentiles hope: and His rest shall be honour.”96    Isa. xi. 10. In the same again:  “The land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephtalim, by the way of the sea, and ye others who inhabit the maritime places, and beyond Jordan97    Oxford edition adds “Galilee.” of the nations. People that walk in darkness, behold ye a great light; ye who dwell in the region of the shadow of death, the light shall shine upon you.”98    Isa. ix. 1, 2. Also in the same: “Thus saith the Lord God to Christ my Lord, whose right hand I hold, that the nations may hear Him; and I will break asunder the strength of kings, I will open before Him gates; and cities shall not be shut.”99    Isa. xlv. 1. Also in the same: “I come to gather together all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will send out over them a standard, and I will send those that are preserved among them to the nations which are afar off, which have not heard my name nor seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory to the nations.”100    Isa. lxvi. 18, 19. Also in the same: “And in all these things they are not converted; therefore He shall lift up a standard to the nations which are afar, and He will draw them from the end of the earth.”101    Isa. v. 25, 26. Also in the same: “Those who had not been told of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.”102    Isa. lii. 15. Also in the same: “I have been made manifest to those who seek me not: I have been formal of those who asked not after me. I said, Lo, here am I, to a nation that has not called upon my name.”103    Isa. lxv. 1. Of this same thing, in the Acts of the Apostles, Paul says: “It was necessary that the word of God should first be shown to you; but since ye put it from you, and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles: for thus said the Lord by the Scriptures, Behold, I have set Thee a light among the nations, that Thou shouldest be for salvation even to the ends of the earth.”104    Acts xiii. 46, 47.

CAP. XXI.---QUOD GENTES MAGIS IN CHRISTUM CREDITURAE ESSENT.

In Genesi: Et dixit Dominus Deus ad Abraham: Exi de terra tua et de cognatione tua et de domo patris 0689C tui, et vade in illam terram quam tibi ostendero; et faciam 0690A te in gentem magnam, et benedicam te, et magnificabo nomen tuum, et eris benedictus; et benedicam qui te benedixerit, et maledicam qui te maledixerit , et benedicentur in te omnes tribus terrae (Gen. XII, 1-3). De hoc ipso in Genesi: Et benedixit Isaac Jacob : Ecce odor filii mei sicut odor agri pleni quem benedixit Dominus. Et det tibi Deus de rore caeli et a fertilitate terrae multitudinem frumenti et vini et olei; et servient tibi gentes, et adorabunt te principes, et eris dominus fratris tui et adorabunt te filii patris tui; et qui te maledixerit erit maledictus, et qui te benedixerit benedictus (Gen. XXVII, 27-29). De hoc ipso in Genesi: Ubi autem vidit Joseph quoniam superposuit pater suus manum dextram super caput Effraim, grave illi visum est; et apprehendit Joseph manum patris sui , 0690B auferre eam a capite Effraim ad caput Manasse. Dixit autem Joseph ad patrem suum: Non sic, pater, hic est primitivus meus ; superpone dexteram tuam super caput ejus. Ille autem noluit, et dixit: Scio, fili, scio: et hic erit in populum, et hic exaltabitur; sed frater ejus junior major illo erit , et semen ejus erit in multitudinem gentium (Gen. XLVIII, 17-19). Item in Genesi: Juda, te laudabunt fratres tui, manus super dorsum inimicorum tuorum. Adorabunt te filii patris tui: catulus leonis Juda. De frutice, fili mi, ascendisti, recubans obdormisti velut leo et velut catulus leonis. Quis excitabit illum? Non deficiet princeps de Juda et dux de femoribus ejus quoadusque veniant deposita illi, et ipse est spes gentium. Deligans ad vitem pullum suum, et ad cilicium pullum asinae suae. Lavabit 0690C in vino stolam suam et in sanguine uvae amictum 0691A suum. Formidolosi oculi ejus a vino, et candidi dentes ejus magis quam lac (Gen. XLIX, 8, 12). Inde in Numeris de populo nostro scriptum est: Ecce populus quasi populus leoninus exsurget (Num. XXIII, 24). In Deuteronomio: Eritis, gentes, in caput, incredulus autem populus in caudam (Deut. XXVIII, 44). Item apud Hieremiam: Audite vocem tubae: et dixerunt: Non audiemus. Propter hoc audient gentes et qui pascent pecora in eis (Hier. VI, 17, 18). In Psalmo XVII: Constitues me in caput gentium; populus quem non cognovi servivit mihi , in auditu auris obedivit mihi (Ps. XVII, 44, 45). De hoc ipso apud Hieremiam Dominus dicit: Priusquam te formarem in utero novi te, et prius quam exires de vulva sanctificavi te, et prophetam in gentibus posui te (Hier. I, 5). Item apud Esaiam: Ecce testem 0691B illum nationibus manifestavi, principem et imperantem gentibus . Item apud eumdem: Gentes quae non noverunt te invocabunt te, et populi qui ignorabant te ad te confugient (Isa. LV, 4, 5). Item apud eumdem: 0692A Et erit in illa die radix Jesse qui surget imperare omnibus gentibus; in illum gentes sperabunt, et erit requies ejus honor (Ibid. XI, 10). Item apud eumdem : Terra Zabulon et terra Neptalim, via maris, et caeteri qui maritima inhabitatis, et trans Jordanem gentium ; populus ambulans in tenebris, videte lumen magnum qui habitatis in regione umbrae mortis, lumen lucebit super vos (Isa. VIII, 23; IX, 1). Item apud eumdem : Sic dicit Dominus Deus Christo meo Domino, cujus teneo dexteram, ut exaudiant eum Gentes. Et fortitudinem regum disrumpam . Aperiam ante ipsum portas, et civitates non claudentur (Isa. XLV, 1). Item apud eumdem: Venio colligere omnes gentes et linguas, et venient et videbunt claritatem meam, et dimitiam super eos signum, et mittam ex eis 0692B conservatos in gentes quae longe sunt, quae non audierunt nomen meum, neque viderunt gloriam meam, et nuntiabunt claritatem meam in gentes (Isa. LXVI, 18, 19). Item apud eumdem: Et in omnibus his non sunt 0693A conversi. Igitur extollet signum in gentes quae sunt longe, et attrahet illos a summo terrae (Isa. V, 25, 26). Item apud eumdem: Quibus non est nuntiatum de eo videbunt, et qui non audierunt intelligent (Isa. LII, 15). Item apud eumdem: Manifestus factus sum eis qui me non quaerunt , inventus sum ab eis qui me non interrogabant. Dixi: Ecce sum, genti quae non invocavit nomen meum (Isa. LXIII, 1.) De hoc ipso in Actibus Apostolorum Paulus: Vobis primum opportuerat indicari verbum Dei. Sed, quia expulistis illud, nec vos dignos vitae aeternae judicastis, ecce convertimus nos ad Gentes. Sic enim dixit per Scripturas Dominus: Ecce lucem posui te inter Gentes, ita ut sis in salvationem usque ad fines terrae (Act. XIII, 46, 47).