361. Then when he says, to all the seed, he shows in whom this promise is fulfilled. 361. Deinde cum dicit omni semini, etc., ostendit in quibus impleatur praedicta promissio. First, he proposes what he intends and says that this promise, which is to be thus fulfilled through faith, is guaranteed by grace to all the seed, i.e., to every man who would be in any way descended from Abraham: their prosperity will remain with their descendants, and their inheritance to their children’s children (Sir 44:11). Et primo proponit quod intendit, et dicit quod praedicta promissio sic implenda per fidem, est firma per gratiam. Omni semini, id est, omni homini qui fuerit qualitercumque semen Abrahae. Eccli. XLIV, 11 s.: cum semine eorum permanent bona, haereditas sancta nepotes eorum. 362. Second, at not to that only, he explains what he meant by all the seed. 362. Secundo, ibi non ei, etc., exponit quod dixerat omni semini. For there is a bodily descendant: we are the descendants of Abraham (John 8:33), and there is a spiritual descendant: God is able from these stones, i.e., from the gentiles, to raise up children to Abraham (Matt 3:9). Only the bodily descendants of Abraham kept the law, but the spiritual descendants also imitate his faith. Est enim quoddam semen carnale, secundum illud Io. VIII, 33: semen Abrahae sumus. Est aliud semen spirituale, secundum illud Matth. III, 9: potens est Deus de lapidibus his, id est de gentibus, suscitare filios Abrahae; solum autem semen Abrahae carnale legem servavit, sed fidem eius etiam imitatur semen spirituale. Thus, if the promise were solely through the law, it would be fulfilled not in all the descendants but only in the bodily ones. But because it is fulfilled through faith, which is common to all, it is plain that it is fulfilled in all his descendants. Et sic, si per solam legem esset promissio, non impleretur in omni semine sed solum in carnali. Quia vero impletur per fidem quae est omnibus communis, planum est, quod impletur in omni semine. 363. Third, at who is the father, he proves something he had presupposed, namely, that the descendants of Abraham are not only the children of the law but also the children of faith. He proves this with a text from Scripture. First, he gives its sense, saying, who, namely, Abraham, is the father of us all, i.e., of all believers, Jew or gentile: that he might be the father of all them that believe (Rom 4:11); look to Abraham, your father (Isa 51:2). 363. Tertio, ibi qui est pater, etc., probat quod supposuerat, scilicet quod semen Abrahae sit non solum quod est ex lege sed etiam quod est ex fide, per auctoritatem Scripturae, cuius, primo, ponit sensum, dicens, qui, scilicet Abraham, est pater omnium nostrum, id est, omnium credentium, sive Iudaeorum, sive gentilium. Supra, eodem: Ut sit pater omnium credentium. Is. LI, 2: attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum. Second, he cites the text, saying, as it is written: I have made you a father of many nations (Gen 17:4). Another version has, I have appointed you. But it does not change the sense. Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations (Sir 44:19). Secundo inducit auctoritatem, dicens sicut scriptum est, Gen. XVII, 4, quia patrem multarum gentium posui te. Littera alia habet, constitui te, quod sensum non variat. Eccli. XLIV, 20: Abraham magnus pater multitudinis gentium. Third, at before God, he explains what he had said. For I have made you seems to imply that something destined to be fulfilled in the distant future had already come to pass. However, things that are future in themselves are present in God’s providence: before the universe was created, it was known to him; so it was also after it was finished (Sir 23:20). Accordingly, the Apostle says that the statement, I have made you, should be understood before God, i.e., in his presence, whom he believed. For Abraham had believed God promising things to come as if he saw them present, because, as is stated in Hebrews: faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Tertio, ibi ante Deum, etc., exponit quod dixerat. Sic enim dictum est posui te quasi iam esset impletum quod longe postea erat implendum: sed quae sunt futura in seipsis, in Dei providentia sunt praesentia, secundum illud Eccli. XXIII, 29: Domino Deo nostro, antequam crearentur, omnia sunt agnita, sic et post perfectum respicit omnia. Et ideo Apostolus dicit quod hoc quod dictum est, posui te, intelligendum est ante Deum, id est, in eius praesentia, cui credidisti. Crediderat enim Abraham Deo futura praenuncianti, ac si videret praesentia, quia, ut dicitur Hebr. XI, 1: fides est sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium. 364. Then when he says who quickens the dead he shows by whom this promise is to be fulfilled, saying, who, namely, God, quickens the dead, i.e., the Jews, who were dead in sin for acting against the law; he vivifies with faith and grace to enable them to rea1ize the promise to Abraham: as the Father raises the dead and gives them life so the Son gives life to whom he will (John 5:21). 364. Deinde cum dicit qui vivificat mortuos, etc., ostendit a quo sit implenda huiusmodi promissio, dicens qui, scilicet Deus, vivificat mortuos, id est, Iudaeos, qui erant mortui in peccatis, contra legem agentes, vivificat per fidem et gratiam, ut promissionem Abrahae consequantur. Io. V, 21: sicut Pater suscitat mortuos et vivificat, et cetera. And calls those things that are not, i.e., he calls the gentiles to grace as those that are, i.e., as the Jews: I will call that which was not my people, my people (Rom 9:25). Et vocat ea quae non sunt, id est, gentiles vocat, scilicet ad gratiam, tamquam ea quae sunt, id est, tamquam Iudaeos. Infra IX, 25: vocabo non plebem meam, etc. He refers to the gentiles as those things that are not, because they were completely estranged from God, and it is stated in 1 Corinthians: if I do not have charity, I am nothing (1 Cor 13:2). Consequently, through this call the promise to Abraham is fulfilled even in the gentiles. Significat autem gentiles per ea quae non sunt, quia erant omnino alienati a Deo. Sicut I Cor. XIII, 2 dicitur: si caritatem non habuero, nihil sum. Et sic per huiusmodi vocationem implebitur promissio Abrahae etiam in gentilibus. 365. Or, and calls those things that are not refers not to one’s temporal calling but to the call of eternal predestination, because even those who are not, are called and chosen as if they were: he chose us in him before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). Concerning this call it is stated below: not of works but of him who calls, it was said to her: the elder shall serve the younger (Rom 9:12). 365. Vel quod dicit et vocat ea quae non sunt, non intelligitur de vocatione temporali, sed de vocatione praedestinationis aeternae, quia vocantur et eliguntur etiam qui non sunt ac si essent. Eph. I, 4: eligit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutionem. Et de hac vocatione dicitur infra IX, 12: non ex operibus, sed ex vocante dictum est, quia maior serviet minori. Or he is calling God’s simple knowledge a call, or the knowledge by which he knows the future as present. This is the way it is taken in the Psalm: he calls the stars by their names (Ps 147:4). According to this sense, what is said here is mentioned on account of an earlier statement: before God, whom he believed. Vel, vocationem hic dicit simplicem Dei notitiam vel cognitionem, qua cognoscit futura, quae non sunt in actu sicut praesentia. Et hoc modo vocatio in Ps. CXLVII, 4 accipitur, cum dicitur: qui numerat multitudinem stellarum, etc. Et secundum hunc sensum quod hic dicitur, inducitur propter id quod supra dictum est ante Deum cui credidisti. 366. Two things seem to militate against what was said: I have made you a father of many nations. One of these was that Abraham was as good as dead from old age. Against this he says, who quickens the dead. The other is that those many nations did not exist yet. Against this he says: and calls those things that are not, as those that are. 366. Duo enim videbantur obstare ei quod dictum est patrem multarum gentium posui te. Quorum unum erat, quia ipse idem Abraham erat quasi emortuus prae senectute, ut infra dicetur. Et contra hoc dicit qui vivificat mortuos. Aliud autem est, quia illae multae gentes nondum erant. Et contra hoc subdit et vocat ea quae non sunt tamquam ea quae sunt. 367. Then when he says who against hope, he commends Abraham’s faith. 367. Deinde cum dicit qui contra spem, commendat fidem Abrahae. First, he shows the greatness of his faith; Et primo ostendit magnitudinem fidei eius; second, its efficacy or fruit, at and therefore it was reputed. secundo, efficaciam vel fructum eius, ibi ideo et reputatum est, et cetera. In regard to the first he does two things: Circa primum duo facit. first, he shows the greatness of Abraham’s faith as far as the promise of multiplying his descendants is concerned; Primo ostendit magnitudinem fidei Abrahae quantum ad promissionem seminis multiplicandi; second, in regard to the promise to exalt his descendants, at in the promise also. secundo, quantum ad repromissionem seminis exaltandi, ibi in repromissione, et cetera. In regard to the first he does two things: Circa primum duo facit. first, he shows that his faith was great; Primo ostendit fidem eius fuisse magnam; second, that it was solid, at and he was not weak in faith. secundo ostendit eam fuisse firmam, ibi et non infirmatus est in fide, et cetera. 368. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he mentions the greatness of Abraham’s faith, saying, who, namely, Abraham, believed in this hope, that he might be made the father of many nations, but against another hope. 368. Circa primum duo facit. Primo proponit magnitudinem fidei Abrahae, dicens qui, scilicet Abraham, in hanc spem credidit, ut fieret pater multarum gentium, sed contra aliam spem. Here it should be noted that hope implies a certain expectation of a future good, the certainty being based sometimes on a human or natural cause as in 1 Corinthians: the plowman should plow in hope (1 Cor 9:10), or on a divine cause as in the Psalm: in you, O Lord, have I hoped (Ps 30:2). Circa quod considerandum est quod spes importat certam expectationem boni futuri, quae quidem certitudo est quandoque ex causa humana sive naturali, secundum illud I Cor. IX, 10: debet in spe qui arat, arare. Quandoque vero certitudo expectantis est ex causa divina, secundum illud Ps. XXX, 2: in te, Domine, speravi, etc. Therefore, in regard to this good of becoming the father of many nations Abraham had certainty on the part of God promising, but the contrary appeared on the part of natural or human causes. Hence, he says, who against hope of natural and human causes believed in hope of the divine promise. Hoc ergo bonum, quod Abraham fieret pater multarum gentium, certitudinem habebat ex parte Dei promittentis, sed contrarium apparebat ex causa naturali sive humana. Ideo dicit qui contra spem, causae naturalis vel humanae, credidit in spem, scilicet divinae promissionis. 369. Second, this promise is set out when he says, according to that which was said to him, namely, in Genesis: so shall your seed be as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore (Gen 22:17). 369. Quam quidem secundo ponit dicens secundum quod dictum est ei, scilicet Gen. XXII, 17: sic erit semen tuum sicut stellae caeli et sicut arena maris. Both of these are mentioned, because they suggest an uncountable multitude. For as to the stars it is stated in Deuteronomy: the Lord your God has multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude (Deut 1:10); as to the grains of sand it is stated in 1 Kings: Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea (1 Kgs 4:20). Utrumque autem horum inducitur propter similitudinem innumerabilis multitudinis. Nam, quantum ad stellas, dicitur Deut. I, 10: Dominus Deus vester multiplicavit vos, et estis hodie sicut stellae caeli. Quantum ad arenam, dicitur III Reg. IV, 20: Iuda et Israel innumerabiles sicut arena maris sunt. Yet a difference between the two can be noted, if the just, who were of Abraham’s seed, be compared to the stars: those who turn many to justice are like the stars forever and ever (Dan 12:3) and sinners be compared to the grains of sand, because they are overcome by the waves of the world as of a sea: I placed the sand as the bound for the sea (Jer 5:22). Potest tamen aliqua differentia inter utrumque attendi, ut stellis comparentur iusti, qui fuerunt ex semine Abrahae, Dan. XII, 3: qui ad iustitiam erudiunt plurimos, quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates. Arenae autem comparantur peccatores, quia fluctibus mundi quasi cuiusdam maris opprimuntur, Ier. V, 22: posui arenam terminum maris. 370. Then when he says, and he was not weak, he shows Abraham’s firmness. For as temperance is shown not to be weak, because it is not overcome by strong temptations, so faith is shown not to be weak but strong, because it is not overcome by great difficulties: resist him, firm in your faith (1 Pet 5:9). 370. Deinde cum dicit et non infirmatus est, ostendit firmitatem Abrahae, quam primo proponit dicens et non infirmatus est. Sicut enim temperantia ostenditur non esse infirma, quae magnis concupiscibilibus non vincitur, ita fides ostenditur non esse infirma, sed fortis quae a magnis difficultatibus non superatur. I Petr. V, 9: cui resistite fortes in fide. 371. Second, at neither did he consider, he mentions the difficulties from which it is shown that his faith was not weak. 371. Secundo, ibi nec consideravit, etc., ponit difficultates ex quibus ostenditur fides eius non fuisse infirma. First, on the part of Abraham himself when he says, neither did he consider, namely, to question the promise, his own body, now dead, namely, because the reproductive power in it was slack on account of old age; hence he says, whereas he was almost an hundred years old. For Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born (Gen 21:15) and it was the year before that a son had been promised him: the Lord said: I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son (Gen 18:10). Et primo quidem ex parte ipsius Abrahae, cum dicit non consideravit, scilicet ad discernendum promissionem, corpus suum emortuum, scilicet quia iam mortificata erat in eo vis generativa propter senectutem, unde dicit cum iam fere centum annorum esset. Abrahae enim centenario existenti natus est Isaac, ut habetur Gen. XXI, 5. Per annum autem ante fuerat sibi filius promissus, secundum illud Gen. XVIII, 10: revertens veniam ad te tempore isto, et erit Sarae filius. 372. But it seems that his body was not dead as far as the reproductive power was concerned, because even after Sarah died he took another wife, Keturah, who bore him a number of sons, as is recorded in Genesis (Gen 25:1). 372. Sed videtur quod non fuit corpus eius emortuum quantum ad vim generativam, quia etiam post mortem Sarae duxit Cethuram uxorem, quae genuit ei filios, ut dicitur Gen. XXV, 1. Some answer that the reproductive power in him was dead as far as reproducing from an old woman was concerned, but not as far as reproducing from a young woman. For old men are wont to beget offspring from the young but not from old women, who are less fit for conception. However, it seems better to say that Abraham’s reproductive power was miraculously restored both in regard to Sarah and to all women. Dicunt ergo quidam quod mortua erat in eo vis generativa quantum ad hoc, quod ex muliere antiqua generaret, non quantum ad hoc quod generaret filium ex iuvencula. Solent enim senes ex iuvenculis mulieribus prolem gignere, non autem ex antiquis, quae sunt minus aptae ad concipiendum. Sed melius dicendum videtur quod Abrahae miraculose restituta erat vis generandi et quantum ad Saram et quantum ad omnes mulieres. 373. Second, he mentions a difficulty on the part of the wife when he says, nor the dead womb of Sarah, i.e., he does not consider it so as to question the promise. 373. Secundo ponit difficultatem ex parte uxoris, cum dicit et emortuam vulvam Sarae, scilicet non consideravit ut discrederet. He says, dead, on account of sterility as well as old age. For it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women (Gen 18:11). Hence in Isaiah, where it is written: look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you (Isa 51:2), the preceding passage says: look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug out, in order to show the feebleness and frigidity of both. Dicit autem emortuam quantum ad actum generandi, tum propter sterilitatem, tum propter senectutem. Iam enim desierant ei fieri muliebria, ut dicitur Gen. XVIII, 11. Et ideo Is. LI, 2 ubi dicitur: attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum et ad Saram quae vos peperit, ut ostenderet utriusque mortificationem et frigiditatem, praemisit dicens: attendite ad petram unde excisi estis, et ad cavernam laci de qua praecisi estis.