starry heaven was made on the second day, and that the earth appeared and began to be clothed in flowers on the third day. Alternatively, by the names of heaven and earth one may understand spiritual and earthly creatures. [Question 27]

OF WHAT NATURE IS HEAVEN SAID TO BE? — Answer. Fiery, round and whirling. (Bed. De Nat. R. cap.V, PL 90, col. 197.) [Question 23]

IF IT IS WHIRLING, WHY DOES IT NOT FALL? — Answer. It would indeed fall owing to excessive speed, as the wise of the world have said, if it were not controlled by the course of the planets. (Bed. De Nat. R. cap.V, pl 90, col. 198. Isid. Etym. I,. Ill, cap. XXXII ex Ambrose Hexm. cap. II, cf. Cicero. Isid. Etym. L. Ill, cap. XXXV. Isid. Etym. L. III. cap. LXIII De Cursu Stellarum.) [Question 24]

HOW MANY ELEMENTS IS THE WORLD MADE OF? — Answer. Four: fire, air, water, and ground. (Bed. De Nat. R. cap. Ill, PL 30, col. 192.) [Question 21]

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF EACH OF THE ELEMENTS? — Answer. Fire is of a hot and dry nature, air of a hot and wet one, water of a wet and cold one, and earth of a cold and dry one. (Bed. De Nat. R. cap. IV, PL 90, col. 195.) [Question 22]

(Gen. 1:2). WHAT IS MEANT BY "BUT THE EARTH WAS INVISIBLE AND DISORDERED"? — Answer. Invisible on account of darkness, disordered on account of shapelessness. [Question 30]

WHAT IS MEANT BY “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD MOVED OVER THE WATERS”? — Answer. It did so not by wandering, but by might, and by a ruler's power, to give shape and life to the shapeless matter, which in this passage is signified by the name of water. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 193. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 15.) [Question 29]

(Gen. 1:3). WHAT IS MEANT BY "GOD SAID: BE LIGHT MADE"? — Answer. The writer wrote "said" for "made" in order to show the speed or ease of God's work. [Question 31]

(Gen. 1:4). WHAT IS MEANT BY "GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD"? — Answer. He decided that what he had made should endure, because the same goodness on account of which he had decided that it should be made. [Question 35]

(Gen. 1:5). WHAT IS MEANT BY "GOD CALLED THE LIGHT DAY"? — Answer. That is, he caused it to be called that. [Question 32]

WHY DO WE READ THAT LIGHT WAS CREATED ON THE FIRST DAY? — Answer. It was consistent with God's works that the temporal light should first be made by [variant: from] the eternal light on the first day, in order for there to be a means by which the other things that he would create might be visible. (Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 16.) [Question 33]

WHAT IS MEANT BY "THERE WAS EVENING AND MORNING ONE DAY"? — Answer. The end of a completed work and the beginning of a work to be begun. [Question 34]

(Gen. 1:26). WHY WAS IT SAID ABOUT MAN ALONE, "LET US MAKE MAN", WHEREAS ABOUT OTHER CREATURES WE READ "GOD SAID"? — Answer. In order that, of course, the creature that was created rational should seem to have been made with purpose, and in order to show that creature's excellence. (Bed. Hexm. I, chap. I, PL 91, col. 28.) [Question 36]

WHY DID HE SAY "LET US MAKE" IN THE PLURAL? — Answer. To show the one work of the three persons. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 200.) [Question 37]

IN WHAT IS MAN THE IMAGE OF HIS MAKER? — Answer. In the inner man. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 200.)  [Question 38]

WHY BOTH "IMAGE" AND "LIKENESS"? —Answer. Image in eternity, likeness in conduct. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 201.) [Question 39]

(Gen. 1:27). WHY DID HE SAY AGAIN, "GOD CREATED MAN TO HIS OWN IMAGE" WHEN HE HAD PREVIOUSLY SAID "TO OUR IMAGE"? — Answer. In order to convey both the plurality of the persons and the unity of the substance. [Question 40]

ALCUIN OF YORK. WHY IS MAN THE ONLY ONE ABOUT WHOM IT IS NOT SAID SINGLY, AFTER HIS CREATION, "GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD", AS IT WAS SAID ABOUT THE OTHER CREATURES? — Answer. Because, after man was created, it was said that all things were very good, as if they had previously been each individually good, but because of man all were now very good, because all things were created for the ornament of man, but man was made for the glory and praise of his Maker. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 201.) [Question 41]

(Gen. 1:29-31). WHY WAS MAN CREATED ON THE SIXTH DAY, WHILE HE WAS, ON ACCOUNT OF REASON, MORE NOBLE THAN THE OTHER CREATURES, WHICH WERE MADE BEFORE HIM IN THE SIX DAYS? — Answer. So that the Creator might first prepare the world, like a house, and then introduce the inhabitant, that is, the master of the house. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 201.) [Question 9]

WHY DID GOD COMPLETE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD WITHIN THE NUMBER SIX? — Answer. Because we read that that number is perfect according to the laws of arithmetic, and God wanted to show that he had made all things perfect and very good. [Question 25]

CHAPTER 2

(Gen. 2:2). HOW IS IT CONSISTENT THAT WE READ IN GENESIS, "GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS", AND IN THE GOSPEL, "MY FATHER WORKS UNTIL NOW; AND I WORK" (JOHN 5:17)? — Answer. He rested from the making and creation of new creatures, not from his rule over the creatures made; and so God should be considered to have been then a creator in the six-day-long creation, and to be now a ruler over the whole world's creatures. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 202. Bed. Hexm., PL 91, col. 36.) [Question 1]

WHAT IS MEANT BY "GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS"? — Answer. If you divide the number seven into one and six, these will be the first two perfect numbers. Unity is perfect in itself in nature and power, while the number six is the first perfect one in work and action, and is completed by its own parts, because one, two, and three make six. So by the rest on the seventh day is signified the fact that God, before the creation of the world, is perfect in himself in nature and power, and eternally has rest in himself, while the creatures, having received the action of creation from him, have through him a certain perfection in their own natures and have rest in the work of obedience, and rational creatures are especially blessed with the good that consists in resting in their Maker. [Question 42]

(Gen. 2:3). WHY IS IT SAID ABOUT THE DAY OF SABBATH, "GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND SANCTIFIED IT", WHEREAS WE DO NOT READ THAT HE SAID THIS ABOUT THE OTHER DAYS? — Answer. In order to show the saints' rest after the hardships of the six ages of this world, for they will rest in an eternal Sabbath and blessed rest, as in what he will say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom" (Mt. 25:34). That is also why we do not read any mention of an evening for that day, because the last rest of the saints will be everlasting. [Question 43]

(Gen. 2:4). WHY DID HE SAY, "THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH"? — Answer. Against those who claim that the world has always existed without beginning. [Question 44]

WHY DID HE SAY, "IN THE DAY THAT HE MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH" AND NOT "IN THE DAYS"? — Answer. He said "the day" for the whole time of the primordial creation, in the same way as when the apostle said, "Behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2), he meant the day to be understood as the whole time during which the saints labor in this life for eternal salvation. [Question 45]

(Gen. 2:5). WHAT IS MEANT BY "EVERY PLANT OF THE FIELD BEFORE IT SPRUNG UP IN THE EARTH"? — Answer. It was in order to convey the speed of God's work; that is, before any fruit sprang up or sprouted by growing from the earth, suddenly all the plains and hills were covered in grass and trees. [Question 46]

WHAT IS MEANT BY "FOR THE LORD GOD HAD NOT RAINED UPON THE EARTH"? — Answer. It was said for us to understand how different the first germination of the earth was from that in our times, which, with delay, is effected at last with the watering of the rains, with difficulty and slowly, whereas the first one, at God's command, sprang up immediately and appeared. [Question 47]

(Gen. 2:6). AGAIN, WHAT IS MEANT BY "A SPRING ROSE OUT OF THE EARTH, WATERING ALL THE SURFACE [VARIANT: ALL THINGS UPON THE FACE] OF THE EARTH"? — Answer. Either he is referring to Paradise alone, which is believed to be watered by one spring, or, if it must be taken to refer to all of the earth, then he meant all the abundance of waters to be understood there. [Question 48]

(Gen. 2:7). WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD BREATHED INTO ADAM'S FACE THE BREATH OF LIFE? — Answer. God's breathing into the face of man is the giving of the rational soul. [Question 8]

"AND THE LORD GOD FORMED MAN OF THE SLIME OF THE EARTH." WHY "AND"? DO WE NOT READ THAT MAN WAS CREATED BEFORE, ON THE SIXTH DAY? — Answer. He has already, by anticipation, spoken summarily of man's creation, which he has now undertaken to expound more fully by recapitulation. [Question 49]

WHAT IS MEANT BY "AND THE LORD GOD FORMED MAN OF THE SLIME OF THE EARTH: AND BREATHED INTO HIS FACE THE BREATH OF LIFE"? — Answer. It means that man was made as a substance of body and soul, of which the body was formed of the slime of the earth, and the soul was created from nothing when God breathed into man's face. [Question 50]

(Gen. 2:9). WHY WAS IT SAID, "THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL"? — Answer. Not because the tree itself was rational in its own nature or had knowledge of good and evil, but because man through it could experience and know the difference between the good of obedience and the evil of disobedience. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 207-208. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 44.) [Question 52]

(Gen. 2:15-17). WHAT IS MEANT BY "AND GOD PUT MAN INTO THE PARADISE OF PLEASURE, TO DRESS IT, AND TO KEEP IT"? [DID MAN NEED TO WORK IN PARADISE,] AND FROM WHAT DID HE HAVE TO KEEP IT? — Answer. There was no suffering in work for man in Paradise, but only the joyous fulfilment of his wishes, as the things that God had created grew the more luxuriantly and the more fruitfully with the help of human work. "And to keep it": so that he should keep that same paradise for himself, and, if he lost something, should deserve to be expelled from it. [Question 51]

WHY WERE THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL CREATED IN PARADISE? — Answer. So that man might be immortal through the former, and mortal through the latter: he used the tree of life like a medicine, to be imperishable, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil like a poison, to die. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 207.) [Question 6]

WHY DID ADAM, THE MASTER OF THE WORLD, RECEIVE A LAW? — Answer. So that he might not be made proud by this great sovereignty, but that, in the observance of the commandment, he might know that he was subjected to his Creator. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 207.) [Question 7]

WHY DID GOD NOT GIVE [TO MANKIND] IN THE BEGINNING THE LAW THAT HE LATER GAVE THROUGH MOSES? — Answer. Because among the first men the law of good nature was kept for a long time, but when the natural law was forgotten and the habit of sinning came about, the law of the letter was given through Moses, so that the good things that were known might be confirmed authoritatively and those that had started being hidden might be revealed, and that the terror of punishment might amend offenders and restore faith in God. [Alcuin of York, Questions and Answers on Genesis, PL 100 Question 14]

(Gen. 2:18-20). WHY IS IT SAID, "HE BROUGHT THEM TO ADAM TO SEE WHAT HE WOULD CALL THEM"? — Answer. He did not bring them by going about locally, but, by the secret will of his might, he wanted them to come. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 209. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 48.) [Question 54]

WHY DID GOD WANT MAN TO GIVE NAMES TO ALL LIVING BEINGS? — Answer. So that man might understand himself and how much better he was than all living beings on account of the discernment of reason, and might love his Maker the more when realizing that he, man, was better than other living things. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 209. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 54.) [Question 55]

WHY IS IT SAID, " BUT FOR ADAM THERE WAS NOT FOUND A HELPER LIKE HIMSELF"? — Answer. Because among all living beings on earth there was found no rational one except him alone. [Question 56]

(Gen. 2:22). WHY DO WE READ THAT THE WOMAN WAS BUILT FROM THE SIDE OF THE MAN SLEEPING, AND NOT FORMED FROM THE EARTH LIKE THE MAN? — Answer. It certainly means, for the mystery, that Christ slept on the cross for the Church, and the spring of our salvation flowed out of his side. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 210. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 54.) [Question 56]

(Gen. 2:23-24). HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO CHRIST: "BECAUSE OF THIS A MAN SHALL LEAVE FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE"? — Answer. He left his father because he did not appear to men in the shape in which he is equal to the Father. He left his mother when he abandoned the synagogue of the Jews, from which he was born according to the flesh, to cleave to the Church, which he assembled from the Gentiles. [Question 58]

(Gen. 2:25). WHY WERE ADAM AND EVE NOT ASHAMED WHILE THEY WERE NAKED? — Answer. Because they felt in their limbs no law contrary to the law of their minds: they did not think that anything needed veiling, because they did not feel that anything needed restraining. For it was as a punishment for sin that it befell man that his own flesh became rebellious against him in its passions, because he himself was rebellious against his Creator in his actions. [Question 59]

CHAPTER 3

WHY IS THE ANGEL'S SIN CONCEALED IN SILENCE IN GENESIS, WHILE MAN'S IS REVEALED? — Answer. Because God has not predestined that he will cure the angel's wound, whereas he has predestined that he will cure man's. [Question 3]

WHY WAS THE SIN OF THE HIGHEST ANGEL INCURABLE, AND THAT OF MAN CURABLE? — Answer. Because the angel was the inventor of his own crime, whereas man was seduced by another's deceit. Also, as much as the angel was higher in glory, so much greater was his fall, whereas as much as man is weaker in nature, so much easier is it for him to obtain forgiveness. (Greg. Mor. L. XXX, PL 76, col. 571.) [Question 4]

WHY DID THE CREATOR WANT TO EXPIATE THE SIN OF MAN BY HIMSELF AND NOT THROUGH AN ANGEL? — Answer. Because the merit of one angel did not suffice for the redemption of all mankind, and the Devil would not have committed so great a crime with the murder of an angel as he did with the murder of the Creator. [Question 12]

WHY DID GOD ALLOW MAN TO BE TEMPTED, IF HE FOREKNEW THAT HE WOULD AGREE TO THE SIN? — Answer. Because it would have been no great merit for man not to have sinned if the reason he had not had been a lack of occasion to do ill. Indeed, still today men throughout mankind are tempted without intermission by the snares of the Devil, in order that the virtue of a person tempted may be proven through this, and that the palm of the one who does not agree to sin may appear the more glorious. [Question 61]

WHY WAS MAN MADE WITH FREE WILL? — Answer. Because the Creator did not want to create man, whom he made in his own image, as anyone's slave; he wanted him to prove worthy of praise for voluntary good or worthy of damnation for evil desire. [Question 64]

WHAT IS TRUE FREEDOM? — Answer. The greatest freedom is to serve justice and to be free from sin. [Question 65]

WHAT IS EVIL? — Answer. Evil is in fact nothing per se but the privation of good, as darkness is nothing but the absence of light. [Question 94]

(Gen. 3:1). WHY IS THE SERPENT SAID TO BE MORE SUBTLE THAN ANY OF THE BEASTS OF THE EARTH? — Answer. Not because of his own nature, but because of the inspiration of the diabolical spirit. For the Devil was using the serpent as an instrument to perpetrate the malice of his cunning. [Question 60]

WAS THE SERPENT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE SOUND OF THE WORDS OF THE ONE WHO WAS SPEAKING THROUGH HIM? — Answer. It is unlikely that he was able to understand what the Devil was doing through him, but as a demoniac or madman speaks things that he does not know, so did the serpent utter words that he did not understand. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 210-211. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 54.) [Question 62]

WHERE DID THE DEVIL'S BAD WILL FIRST COME FROM? — Answer. When someone asks about the reason for the misery of evil angels, the reason that naturally presents itself is, because they would not keep their strength for him who is the highest good, but turned away from him and turned towards themselves, delighting in their own power. This is the first failure and the first deficiency of a rational creature; and what else is this vice called, but pride? [Question 93]

(Gen. 3:2). WHY DID THE WOMAN ANSWER THE SERPENT'S QUESTIONS? — Answer. So that her transgression might be inexcusable, as she could not possibly say that she had forgotten the commandment which she revealed to the serpent. [Question 63]

HOW COULD THE WOMAN BELIEVE THE SERPENT'S WORDS WHEN HE SAID SHE HAD BEEN DIVINELY PROHIBITED FROM ENJOYING A GOOD THING? — Answer. Because, perhaps, there already was in her mind a certain love of her own power and a certain proud presumption concerning herself, which needed to be overcome and humbled through that temptation. [Question 66]

(Gen. 3:3-6). WHY DID THE WOMAN INSPECT THE TREE AFTER THE SERPENT'S PERSUASION? — Answer. To examine if there was anything deadly in it, and, as she found nothing of the sort in it, she tasted it with excessive confidence. [Question 67]

BUT WHY DID THE MAN FOLLOW THE WOMAN? — Answer. Because, perhaps, he saw that she had not died from that food; and it is possible that they thought the Creator had said, "If you eat of it, you shall die the death" (Gen. 2:17) in order to convey something symbolically. [Question 68]

(Gen. 3:7). TO WHAT WERE THEIR EYES OPENED? — Answer. To what but to mutual concupiscence? Which befell them as a punishment soon after the sin. [Question 69]

WHY DID THEY, WHEN THEY WERE TROUBLED, HAVE RECOURSE TO FIG LEAVES? — Answer. Because they lost the glory of simple chastity, they took refuge in the double excitement of lust. That is why the Lord Jesus said to Nathanael, "when you were under the fig tree, I saw you" (John 1:48), that is, "when you were under the fig tree of original sin, I saw you through mercy, and therefore I came down to deliver you." [Question 70]

(Gen. 3:8). WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT ADAM AND HIS WIFE HID THEMSELVES AFTER NOON? — Answer. It means that after the blessed light of paradisiacal happiness [variant: after the light of blessed paradisiacal happiness], they hid themselves in the dark misery of this world [variant: they hid themselves from misery in the darkness of this world]. [Question 71]

WHY DID HE IMAGINE THAT HE COULD HIDE FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD? — Answer. This folly seized him as part of the punishment for his sin, to imagine that it could be hidden [variant: to seek to hide] from him from whom nothing can be hidden. [Question 73]

(Gen. 3:9). WHY DID GOD ASK WHERE ADAM WAS AS IF HE DID NOT KNOW? — Answer. He certainly did not ask Adam out of ignorance, but, scolding him, he told him to note where he was and where he had fallen from. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 213. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 56.) [Question 72]

(Gen. 3:10-12). WHY DID ADAM SHIFT THE BLAME FOR THE SIN ON THE WOMAN? — Answer. To the aggravation of his sin, he replied proudly rather than humbly, as if directing a complaint at God as to why he had given him a companion of the sort that would give him an occasion for sin. Similarly, the woman too attributes the cause of her own fault to the Creator because he created in paradise the serpent by which she would be deceived. [Question 74]

(3:13-14). WHY ARE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS MORE CURSED THAN AQUATIC ONES? — Answer. Because they live off the cursed earth more than the aquatic ones do, and that is why Christ, after the Resurrection, wanted to eat fish and not of some terrestrial animal (Luke 24:43). [Question 11]

WHY WAS THE SERPENT NOT ASKED WHY HE HAD DONE THAT? — Answer. Because, perhaps, he had not done it by his own nature or will, but the Devil had worked from him and through him. That is why it is said to him, "upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat": the cunning of his wicked actions are denoted by the breast, and he devours the earth, too, when he is fed and delighted [variant: made bigger] by the excesses and lust of sinners. In fact, just as the Devil spoke through the serpent, so is he cursed in the serpent. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 214. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 57.) [Question 75]

(Gen. 3:15). WHY IS THE DEVIL SO HOSTILE TO MAN'S SALVATION? — Answer. Because of hate towards the Creator, envy towards man, and despair of his own salvation. (Greg. Mor. L. XXX, PL 76, col. 571.) [Question 13]

WHAT IS THE WOMAN'S SEED, OR THE SERPENT'S SEED? — Answer. The woman's seed is all mankind; the serpent's seed is the source of original sin. These two seeds, according to the divine commandment, must bear continual hatred to each other, so that we should not do what the Devil wants, because he never wants anything that will be beneficial to us. [Question 76]

WHAT ARE THE SERPENT'S HEAD AND THE WOMAN'S HEEL? — Answer. The serpent's head means thought about forbidden incitement, which we must with all determination crush and dash against the stone that is Christ. The woman's heel is the endmost time of our life, during which the Devil strives to attack us more fiercely; but if we resist him bravely, we shall obtain the victory of perseverance along with our salvation. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 214-15. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 58. Greg. Mor. L. XXX1I. PL 76, col. 655-666. Greg. Hm. XL, PL 76, col. 1299.) [Question 77]

(Gen. 3:16). THERE IS A QUESTION WHEN IT IS SAID, "AND THOU SHALT BE UNDER THY HUSBAND'S POWER": WAS THE WOMAN UNDER HER HUSBAND'S POWER EVEN BEFORE THE SIN? — Answer. She doubtless was, but with the subjection that works by love (Gal. 5:6) and casts out fear (1 John 4:18), whereas afterwards it was with the servile fear of subjection, which works by discipline. [Question 78]

(Gen. 3:17). WHY DID THE CREATOR, IN THE CURSE AGAINST ADAM, CURSE THE EARTH AND NOT THE WATERS? — Answer. Because man ate of a fruit of the earth against the prohibition, not drank of waters; and because God has predestined that he will wash away in waters the sin that man has contracted from a fruit of the earth. [Question 10]

(Gen. 3:18). WHY DID THE EARTH BRING FORTH THORNS AND THISTLES? — Answer. The earth was cursed because of man's sin, to produce thorns and poisonous plants so as to cause torment or trouble to mortals, so that man might always have original sin before his eyes and might, at least when thus reminded, turn away from sins at last. [Question 79]

(Gen. 3:19-21). ALCUIN OF YORK. WHY DID GOD MAKE GARMENTS OF SKIN FOR MAN? — Answer. To show that Adam and Eve were mortal. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 215. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 60.) [Alcuin of York, Questions and Answers on Genesis, PL 100 Question 80]

(Gen. 3:22). WHY DID THE LORD GOD SAY ABOUT MAN AFTER THE SIN, "BEHOLD, ADAM IS BECOME AS ONE OF US"? — Answer. He said "of us" in the plural because of the holy Trinity, just as he said in man's creation, "Let us make man to our image" (Gen. 1:26). Here he used the words of one deterring, to inspire fear in others so that they should not sin; or he used the meaning of one upbraiding, because not only had man not become what he wanted to become, but he had even failed to retain what he was when he was made. [Question 81]

(Gen. 3:23). WHY WAS MAN CREATED RESPONSIBLE OF HIS OWN POWER? — Answer. So that he might be responsible either for his own life or for his own death. If he had been subjected by necessity, then he would obtain neither glory for a good work nor punishment for an evil one, but he would be as one of the beasts. [Question 4]

(Gen. 3:24). WHAT IS MEANT BY "HE PLACED CHERUBIMS, AND A FLAMING SWORD, TURNING EVERY WAY, TO KEEP THE WAY OF THE TREE OF LIFE"? — Answer. That is a sort of fiery guard kept by the service of angels; yet, since it is said to be turning every way, it aptly signifies that it must one day be removed from the gates of Paradise. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 215. Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 61.) [Question 82]

CHAPTER 4

(Gen. 4:1-4). WHY WAS ABEL'S SACRIFICE ACCEPTED AND CAIN'S REJECTED? — Answer. Because Abel offered God excellent and natural things, whereas Cain offered things of lesser worth and devised by human invention, as is supposed. (Contradiction of Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 64.) [Question 15]

WHY IS ABEL INDIVIDUALLY CALLED JUST IN THE GOSPEL (MATT. 23:35)? — Answer. Because we read that in him are the three greatest glories of justice: virginity, priesthood, and martyrdom, in which he was the first to bear the type of Christ, who was a virgin, priest, and martyr. [Question 16]

(Gen. 4:5). HOW COULD CAIN TELL THAT THE LORD HAD HAD NO RESPECT TO HIS OFFERINGS AND HAD HAD RESPECT TO ABEL'S? — Answer. The Lord, it is believed, took Abel's sacrifice by sending fire from heaven, as we read happened very often when holy men were making offerings; but Cain had to burn his sacrifice himself. [Question 83]

(Gen. 4:7). WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT THE LORD SAID TO CAIN, "IF THOU DO WELL, SHALT THOU NOT RECEIVE? BUT IF ILL, SHALL NOT THY SIN FORTHWITH BE PRESENT AT THE DOOR?"? — Answer. That is, if you offer a sacrifice with a pure mind, you shall receive, because God will have respect to you and to your sacrifice; but if you do ill, your sin will always accompany you when you come in or go out, and the Lord will stop watching over your coming in and your going out. [Question 84]

(Gen. 4:8-9). HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND "THE LUST THEREOF [VARIANT: THY LUST] SHALL BE UNDER THEE, AND THOU SHALT HAVE DOMINION OVER IT"? — Answer. Because you have free will, sin does not hold dominion over you, but you hold dominion over it, and it lies in your power either to suppress it or to desire it. [Question 85]

WHY DID THE LORD ASK CAIN, "WHERE IS THY BROTHER ABEL"? — Answer. He did not ask as one not knowing the answer, but as a judge interrogates a culprit whom he is to punish; and Cain, to the aggravation of his sin, replied to him deceitfully and proudly. [Question 86]

(Gen. 4:10). HOW DOES THE VOICE OF ABEL'S BLOOD CRY TO THE LORD? — Answer. It means that the guilt for his murder was visible in the sight of the just judge. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 217. Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 66.) [Question 87]

(Gen. 4:11). WHY IS CAIN CURSED FOR HIS SIN[, WHILE FOR ADAM'S SIN IT IS THE EARTH THAT IS CURSED] [VARIANT: WHILE THE EARTH WAS PREVIOUSLY CURSED IN ADAM'S WORK]? — Answer. Because Cain was aware of the condemnation for the first transgression, and yet he did not fear to add the crime of fratricide to original sin; therefore he was deemed worthy of a greater curse. (Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 67.) [Question 88]

(Gen. 4:12-14). WHY DID HE CONDEMN HIMSELF TO DEATH BY SAYING "EVERYONE THAT FINDETH ME SHALL KILL ME"? — Answer. He said that out of despair, or in order to escape present torments by a quick death. [Question 90]

(Gen. 4:15). WHAT IS CAIN'S MARK, WHICH GOD SET UPON HIM SO THAT HE MIGHT NOT BE KILLED)? — Answer. The sign is the very fact that he would always live trembling and moaning, a vagabond and a fugitive, and would not dare to have a peaceful dwelling anywhere on earth. And perhaps that is why he founded a city in which to be saved (verse 17). (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 218. Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 67.) [Question 89]

(Gen. 4:24). HOW WILL THE ONE WHO KILLS CAIN BE PUNISHED SEVENFOLD? — Answer. The number seven is often used in the holy Scriptures to signify the fullness of any given thing: it is as if he had said that a person should be punished with the most severe vengeance if even after being warned by the bitterness of such a condemnation they would not stop their hands from spilling blood. [Question 91]

WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT WE READ THAT LAMECH SAID WHEN HE KILLED CAIN, "SEVENFOLD VENGEANCE SHALL BE TAKEN FOR CAIN: BUT FOR LAMECH SEVENTY TIMES SEVENFOLD"? — Answer. It is because we read that the sin of murder was avenged with the flood in the seventh generation, whereas the crime of adultery, which Lamech was the first of all to commit with his two wives, would be expiated only with the blood of Christ, who came into the world in the seventy-seventh generation. [Question 92]

CHAPTER 5

(Gen. 5:23-24). WHY WILL THE SAME ENOCH DIE (REV. 11:3)? — Answer. So that he should pay the debt of human nature, and that no one should be able to do what Christ refused to do, that is, not to die. [Question 18]

WHY HAS ENOCH BEEN PRESERVED FROM DEATH FOR SO LONG? — Answer. In order to show what all men would have been capable of if they had not sinned. (Bed. Hexm. I, PL 91, col. 49.) [Question 17]

CHAPTER 6

(Gen. 6). WHY DID THE SECOND BEGINNING OF THE WORLD ORIGINATE FROM NOAH'S THREE SONS? — Answer. So that the three parts of the world might be filled with the offspring of three men. Sem, through his children, possessed Asia, Cham possessed Africa, and Japheth Europe. [Question 95]

(Gen. 6:1-2). ABOUT WHOM DID HE SAY, "AFTER THAT MEN BEGAN TO BE MULTIPLIED UPON THE EARTH, AND DAUGHTERS WERE BORN TO THEM", AND AGAIN, "THE SONS OF GOD SEEING THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN, THAT THEY WERE FAIR"? — Answer. The Scripture decided to call Cham's progeny the daughters of men, and Seth's [variant: Sem's] offspring the sons of God. The latter were pious according to an ancestral blessing, the former were unchaste according to their father's curse. But after the sons of Seth [variant: of Sem], overcome by concupiscence, contracted marriages with the daughters of Cham, from such a union were born men with immense bodies, proud of their strength and rude in manners, whom the Scripture calls giants. [Question 96]

(Gen. 6:3). WHAT IS MEANT BY, "MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT REMAIN IN MAN FOREVER, BECAUSE HE IS FLESH"? — Answer. Spirit in this passage means wrath, and flesh means the weakness of human nature, as if he had said, "Because there is a weak condition in men, I will not reserve them for eternal torments, but from now on I will return to them what they deserve." [Question 97]

WHAT DOES THAT PREDETERMINED NUMBER SIGNIFY: "AND HIS DAYS SHALL BE A HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS"? — Answer. That number was given for mankind to do penance, but as they disregarded it, vengeance came upon them in advance; for the Flood came after a hundred years. [Question 98]

(Gen. 6:5-7). WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT GOD SAID, "IT REPENTETH ME THAT I HAVE MADE MAN", AND AGAIN BY, "BEING TOUCHED INWARDLY WITH SORROW OF HEART"? CAN REMORSE OR SORROW OF HEART BEFALL GOD? — Answer. God does not repent of his action or suffer as a man does, his purpose concerning all things being as fixed as his foreknowledge is infallible, but the holy Scripture uses words that are familiar to us and intelligible, adapting to our smallness so that we may learn the unknown from the known. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 224-225. Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 84. Greg. Mor. L. XXX1I. PL 76, col. 866.) [Question 99]

(Gen. 6:9). "NOAH WAS A JUST AND PERFECT MAN." IF NO ONE IS WITHOUT SIN, HOW CAN ANYONE BE PERFECT? — Answer. Some are here said to be perfect, not in the way in which the saints are to be made perfect in that immortality in which they will be made equal to God's angels, but as perfect as they can be in this journey. (Bed. in Pent., PL 91, col. 225. Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 90.) [Question 100]

(Gen. 6:10-13). WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT GOD SAID TO NOAH, "THE END OF ALL FLESH IS COME"? — Answer. The end of all flesh means the end of all mortals except those who were to be saved in the ark. Those, therefore, were saved as the seedbed of the second beginning. [Question 101]

"I WILL DESTROY THEM WITH THE EARTH." HOW "WITH THE EARTH", SINCE THE EARTH ENDURED AFTERWARDS? — Answer. Teachers say that the vigor and fertility of the earth has been much lesser after the flood than it was before, and that for this reason men were then given permission to eat meat, while before the flood men had lived only on the fruits of the earth. [Question 102]

(Gen. 6:14). ALCUIN OF YORK. WHAT ARE THE SMOOTHED PLANKS THAT GOD COMMANDS THE ARK TO BE MADE OF? — Answer. Strong and undestroyable planks, which another translation calls "squared", so that the ark might be destroyed neither by the violence of winds nor by the inundation of waters. [Alcuin of York, Questions and Answers on Genesis, PL 100 Question 103]

"AND THOU SHALT PITCH IT." WHAT IS THE NATURE OF PITCH? — Answer. Pitch is an extremely hot and potent paste, whose power is that planks smeared with pitch can neither be eaten up by worms nor be destroyed by the heat of the sun, the blasts of winds, or the inundation of waters. [Question 104]

(Gen. 6:15). A QUESTION THAT IS OFTEN ASKED IS WHETHER THE CAPACITY OF THE ARK AS DESCRIBED WAS SUFFICIENT FOR IT TO BE ABLE TO CARRY SO MANY GREAT ANIMALS ALONG WITH SUITABLE ROOMS FOR THEM AND THEIR FOOD? — Answer. Origen has solved this problem with the geometric cubit, affirming that a geometric cubit is equivalent to six of our cubits. [113]

SO WHAT SHOULD WE TAKE THE APPEARANCE OR SHAPE OF THE ARK TO HAVE BEEN LIKE? — Answer. It had, it seems, four corners rising from the bottom, which gradually drew more and more narrowly together as they approached the top, where the ark ended in the space of one cubit. For it is related that in the bottom there were three hundred cubits in length and fifty in breadth, and thirty in height, but ending in a narrow top, of one cubit in length and in breadth. And, truly, no other shape would have been as proper and suitable to be given to the ark as this was: with the narrow top, as if with a sort of roof, it scattered the rainfalls, while it stood in the bottom with the stability of the square so that neither the push of the winds nor the violence of the waves nor the agitation of the animals within could cause it to tilt or sink. [Question 105]

(Gen 6:16). HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND IT TO HAVE BEEN TWO-CHAMBERED AND THREE-CHAMBERED? — Answer. Two-chambered in the lower parts and three-chambered in the upper parts, so that we perceive the dwellings in it were divided into five: its lowest parts were destined to ordure and refuse, so that the animals, and more especially the people, might not be troubled by the stench of excrements. The chamber above and contiguous to this was destined to keep the animals' food. These are the uses into which the lower parts, which are called two-chambered, are said to have been divided. As for the upper parts, which are called three-chambered, the first of them was destined as a dwelling for wild beasts, fiercer animals, or serpents. After this, higher, were suitable rooms for milder animals, and stables; and above it all, on high, was placed the dwelling of men, because it was only natural that, just as man surpasses all animals in honor and wisdom, he should be spatially placed above them too. And so it is understood that there were five sets of quarters in the ark: the first for ordure, the second for stores, the third for wild animals, the fourth for tame ones, and the fifth for men. (Bed. Hexm. II, PL 91, col. 98.) [Question 106]

HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IS SAID ABOUT THE DOOR BUILT IN THE SIDE OF THE ARK? — Answer. It is said that the door that was made in the side was placed in such a way that it had the lower parts, which he called two-chambered, below it; the parts which he called three-chambered were called upper because of their position relatively to the door. Then all the animals, having entered through the door, were led separately each to its own place, according to what we have said above, with the appropriate distinctions. [Question 107]

WHAT MYSTERY IS CONTAINED IN THE MEASURES OF THE ARK? — Answer. The perfect mystery of the body of Christ. For three hundred contain six times fifty, and ten times thirty, and so is it with the human body: if you measure a man lying down, the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height. For the length of a man lying down is to be measured from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, his breadth from one side to the other, and his height from the back to the belly. This symbol is known to correspond fittingly to Christ because of the longanimity of all-suffering faith, the amplitude of love, and the height of eternal hope. [Question 108]

WHY IS IT COMMANDED THAT A WINDOW SHOULD BE MADE IN THE TOP OF THE ARK? — Answer. For it to have an aperture out of which to send birds to explore if the earth was dry. [Question 109]

HOW COULD THE DOOR BE SHUT AND PITCHED FROM WITHOUT AFTER IT WAS CLOSED AND NONE OF THE PEOPLE WAS LEFT OUTSIDE THE ARK? — Answer. This was doubtless the work of divine power, to prevent the waters from coming in through the entrance which no human hand had secured. [Question 116]

(Gen 6:19-21). HOW COULD LIONS OR EAGLES, WHICH USUALLY LIVE ON FLESH, BE FED IN THE ARK? — Answer. Maybe other animals [, in addition to the determinate number,] were sent into the ark for the others' food, or some foods other than flesh but also suitable to feed such animals were found by the wise man or indicated by God. The latter explanation is more likely. [Question 117]

WHAT SHOULD OUR OPINION BE CONCERNING THE ANIMALS' DRINK, WHICH THE SCRIPTURE SAYS NOTHING ABOUT? — Answer. There are those who think that in the ark one day's food or drink sufficed the animals for many days or perhaps a whole year. But let us cease from uncertain conjectures and allow the divine power to make what it wants of its creatures. [Question 121]

(Gen. 6:19-7:2). WHAT IS MEANT BY "TWO AND TWO" AND "SEVEN AND SEVEN"? ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND THAT FOUR OUT OF EACH SPECIES OF UNCLEAN ANIMALS AND FOURTEEN OUT OF EACH SPECIES OF CLEAN ONES MUST BE TAKEN IN? — Answer. Not two and two as in four, but as in male and female. So only two out of each species of unclean ones, and only seven out of each species of clean ones. [Question 110]

CHAPTER 7

(Gen 7:8-14). WHY DID HE PRESCRIBE AN EVEN NUMBER FOR THE UNCLEAN ANIMALS AND AN ODD NUMBER FOR THE CLEAN ONES? — Answer. So that Noah could take some of the clean ones to sacrifice to God. [Question 111]

WHY WERE THE CLEAN ANIMALS MORE NUMEROUS [VARIANT: MORE BEAUTIFUL] THAN THE UNCLEAN ONES? — Answer. For the future use of mankind, because, out of the clean ones, it was needed for men that those that were useful should be more numerous [variant: more beautiful] than those that were harmful. [Question 112]

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT IT IS SAID ALL THE ANIMALS WENT IN TO NOAH INTO THE ARK? — Answer. They did so not gathered by Noah, but ordered by God. In the same way as it was said in the first creation, "he brought them to Adam to see what he would call them" (Gen. 2:19), so here did the animals, brought together by divine will, spontaneously come to the ark in the predetermined number. [Question 114]

HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND THINGS TO HAVE BEEN WITH FISH OR BIRDS THAT CAN LIVE IN OR ON WATER? WERE THEY IN THE ARK OR NOT? AND WHAT ABOUT VERY MINUTE INSECTS LIKE BUGS AND FLIES AND THE LIKE? — Answer. Saint Augustine, in The City of God, book XV (chapter 27 paragraph 4) solves this problem as follows: "There is a customary inquiry about the very minute creatures, not only such as mice and lizards, but also locusts, beetles, flies, fleas, and so forth, whether there were not in the ark a larger number of them than was determined by God in His command. First, those persons who are moved by this difficulty are to be reminded that the words "every creeping thing of the earth" only indicate that it was not needful to preserve in the ark the animals that can live in the water, whether the fishes that live submerged in it, or the sea-birds that swim on its surface. Then, when it is said "male and female," no doubt reference is made to the repairing of the races, and consequently there was no need for those creatures being in the ark which are born without the union of the sexes from inanimate things, or from their corruption; or if they were in the ark, they might be there as they commonly are in houses, not in any determinate numbers; or if it was necessary that there should be a definite number of all those animals that cannot naturally live in the water, that so the most sacred mystery which was being enacted might be bodied forth and perfectly figured in actual realities, still this was not the care of Noah or his sons, but of God. For Noah did not catch the animals and put them into the ark, but gave them entrance as they came seeking it. For this is the force of the words, "They shall come unto thee,"—not, that is to say, by man's effort, but by God's will." [Question 115]

IF GOD HAD MADE ALL THINGS GOOD, AND EVEN VERY GOOD (GEN. 1:31), WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT HE CALLED ANIMALS CLEAN AND UNCLEAN? CAN SOMETHING UNCLEAN BE GOOD? — Answer. Even an animal that is called unclean is good in its own nature, but compared to another, better nature, it is thought, in a way, unclean. [Question 129]

WHY IS THE OX BETTER THAN THE LION? — Answer. Because its nature is fitter to provide for the needs of man, for whom all animals were created. [Question 130]

(Gen 7:15). ABOUT WHAT LIVING BEINGS WAS IT SAID, "WHEREIN WAS THE BREATH OF LIFE"? — Answer. Not only about men, but also about all others that feed on vital air. [Question 118]

WHAT SHOULD OUR OPINION BE CONCERNING PEACE AND CONCORD AND HOW IT WAS THAT ANIMALS OF DIFFERENT SPECIES DID NOT FIGHT ONE ANOTHER? — Answer. Just as they were led into the ark by God's will, so were they preserved within the ark by God's will. Whether they were separated in different rooms according to their species or whether they stayed together, they were [in any case] controlled by God's power. [Question 119]

(Gen. 7:20). DID THE WATER RISE FIFTEEN CUBITS ABOVE MOUNT OLYMPUS, WHOSE HEIGHT, ACCORDING TO WHAT IS SAID, RISES ABOVE THIS STORMY AIR, TO WHERE IT IS SAID YOU CAN NEITHER SEE CLOUDS NOR FEEL WINDS? — Answer. If the earth was able to penetrate the space of that calm ether, why could not the rising water have done so too? There are, however, some people who think that neither the unevenness of the earth nor the height of mountains was so great before the Flood as it now is. [Question 119]

(Gen. 7:21). WHY DID TERRESTRIAL CREATURES PERISH WITH MAN RATHER THAN AQUATIC ONES? — Answer. Because of the curse of the earth on which the animals of the earth fed. [Question 123]

CHAPTER 8

(Gen. 8:1-3). ABOUT WHAT SPIRIT DID HE SAY, "GOD BROUGHT A SPIRIT/WIND*, AND THE WATERS WERE ABATED"? — Answer. It may well be taken to refer to that spirit about which it was said, "the spirit of God moved over the waters" (Gen. 1:2). It then moved in order that, the waters being gathered into their place, the earth might appear; and now it is said to have been brought, to remove the waters of the Flood and uncover the face of the earth. One may also understand, by the name of spirit, a wind (as in these words of the Psalmist's: "there arose a spirit/storm of wind" (Ps. 106:15)) by whose repeated gusts the water was forced to recede. [Question 125]

(Gen 8:6-8). WHY WAS THE RAIN FLOODING [VARIANT: CLEANSING] THE EARTH WITHIN THE NUMBER FORTY, AND WHY, AGAIN, IS NOAH SAID TO HAVE OPENED THE WINDOW [OF THE ARK] AFTER FORTY DAYS (VERSE 6)? — Answer. The number forty denotes the tribulation of penitence. As for Noah opening the window [of the ark] after forty days, it means that heaven is opened by fasting. That is why Moses and Elijah, and the Saviour himself, hallowed fasts with the number forty, as being needed in the three epochs: before the law, under the law, and under grace. [Question 127]

THERE IS A QUESTION ABOUT WHERE THE RAVEN RESTED, IF THE DOVE FOUND NO PLACE TO REST? — Answer. The raven may have perched on the carcass of some animal, which the dove avoided according to her nature. [Question 122]

(Gen 8:9). WHERE DID THE WATERS RETURN WHEN IT IS SAID, "THE WATERS RETURNED FROM OFF THE EARTH GOING AND COMING"? — Answer. It seems, according to the letter, that all the courses of rivers and streams return to their source, the abyss, through the hidden veins of the earth, as in these words of Solomon's: "unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again" (Eccles. 1:7). [Question 126]

(Gen 8:10-12). WHY DOES THE DOVE BRING BACK A BOUGH OF AN OLIVE TREE? — Answer. The dove of the Holy Spirit, after the foulest bird has been driven away, flies down to Noah after the Flood as to Christ after baptism, and, with the bough of restoration and light, announces peace to the world. [Question 128]

CHAPTER 9

(Gen. 9:1-2). WHY WAS MAN MADE A SOURCE OF FEAR FOR OTHER LIVING BEINGS? — Answer. As a consolation for the past vengeance, and so that the few men might not be overpowered by the more numerous beasts, and also for men to know that they should rule over irrational beings, not over rational ones, which is why we read that our first fathers were herdsmen of livestock, not kings of men. [Question 131]

(Gen. 9:3). WHY IS THE EATING OF FLESH PERMITTED TO MAN AFTER THE FLOOD AND NOT BEFORE? — Answer. Because of the unfruitfulness of the earth, it is thought, and because of man's weakness. [Question 132]

(Gen 9:4-6). WHAT MAN DOES HE WANT TO BE TAKEN AS A BROTHER WHEN IT IS SAID, "I WILL REQUIRE THE BLOOD OF MAN AT THE HAND OF HIS BROTHER"? — Answer. He wants any man to be taken as a brother, according to our blood connection drawn from one man. [Question 140]

(Gen. 9:13-16). WHY IS THE RAINBOW GIVEN AS A SIGN OF SECURITY? — Answer. Because the Creator foreknew that the minds of men would easily be frightened that they would be destroyed by a flood again when regularly seeing inundations of waters. [Question 133]

WHY WAS THAT SIGN OF SECURITY PUT IN THE HEAVENS? — Answer. So that it could be looked at by everyone, and that, for whatever tribulation, we may raise our hearts' eyes towards him who dwells in heaven. [Question 134]

WHY ARE THERE DIFFERENT COLORS IN THAT SIGN GIVEN TO MEN? — Answer. To symbolize both secureness and fear. That is why the colors of water and of fire appear together in the rainbow, for it is partly blue and partly red. Therefore it bears witness to both judgements, the past one and the future one, that is, it bears witness to the fact that the world will be burned by the fire of judgement, though it will not be destroyed by the water of a flood. [Question 135]

WERE THERE RAINS BEFORE THE FLOOD? — Answer. It seems that there were not, because there was no rainbow but from the rays of the sun and a wet cloud. It is possible, moreover, that the earth was fertilized by the watering of dew and of springs [as in Egypt]. [Question 136]

(Gen. 9:24-27). AFTER THE FLOOD, WHY DO WE READ THAT THE JUST MAN NOAH WAS MADE DRUNK? [VARIANT: BEFORE THE FLOOD, WHY DO WE NOT READ THAT NOAH, THE JUST MAN, WAS MADE DRUNK?] —Answer. Maybe, as blessed Jerome says, he did not know that one could be made drunk with wine. Indeed, we do not read that men used wine before the Flood. That is why it is said about Noah specifically, "Noah planted a vineyard". [Question 137]

WHY DID NAKEDNESS OF THE LOINS FOLLOW FROM HIS DRUNKENNESS? — Answer. Because satiety is often followed by lust. [Question 138]

WHY WAS CHAM CURSED IN HIS DESCENDANTS (VERSE 25)? — Answer. Because a future punishment awaits those who sin and do not repent. The wicked acts of the reprobates indeed often go unpunished here and succeed, but they are struck in the future. It was prophesized here that the Canaanites would be expelled and vanquished and the land of Canaan would be taken by the children of Israel, who came from the seed of Sem (Gen. 5). [Question 139]

WHY WAS IT SAID, "MAY GOD ENLARGE JAPHETH, AND MAY HE DWELL IN THE TENTS OF SEM" (VERSE 27)? — Answer. Of Sem the Hebrews were born, and of Japheth the people of the Gentiles. So, since the multitude of believers is large, it was named after "largeness", which is what "Japheth" means. What is added, "may he dwell in the tents of Sem", is a prophecy concerning us, who live in the learning of scriptural knowledge, Israel having been expelled. [Question 143]

CHAPTER 10

(Gen. 10:1-7). HOW MANY NATIONS DID EACH OF THEM BEGET? — Answer. Of Japheth were born fifteen sons, of Cham thirty [variant: 36], and of Sem twenty-seven: seventy-two in all, from whom sprang seventy-two nations, among which the Lord sent seventy-two disciples. [Question 142]

HOW WAS THE WORLD DIVIDED BY NOAH'S SONS AND GRANDSONS? — Answer. Sem, it is thought, obtained Asia, Cham Africa, and Japheth Europe. [Question 141]

(Gen. 10:8-9). IN WHAT SENSE IS NEMROD THE GIANT SAID TO HAVE BEEN A STOUT HUNTER BEFORE THE LORD? — Answer. That is, he was an oppressor and destroyer of earthly men. He and his people were raising before the Lord a tower, which symbolizes impious pride. [Since the tyranny of one giving commands is in his tongue, it was there that his pride was overpowered:] he could no longer be understood when he gave orders to a man, because he would not understand and obey God when God gave orders. So was the confederacy dissolved, when every man parted from those whom he could not understand and joined only those whom he could speak with. And so the nations were divided by languages and scattered throughout the world. [Question 145]

(Gen 10:10-12). WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT IS SAID IN GENESIS, "OUT OF THAT LAND CAME FORTH ASSUR, AND BUILT NINIVE, AND THE CITY ROBOOTH"? — Answer. It does not mean two cities, for "Robooth" means "street", and the sense is, "he built Ninive and the streets of the city". [Question 144]

CHAPTER 11

(Gen 11:2-4). IS IT CREDIBLE THAT PEOPLE WERE OF SUCH FOOLISHNESS AS TO THINK THEY COULD RAISE ANY BUILDING SO HIGH AS TO REACH HEAVEN? — Answer. Pride is usually followed by foolishness, and humility by wisdom. Therefore the tower here symbolizes pride. So pride caused the diversity of tongues[, Christ's humility assembled the diversity of tongues], and those whom the tower had disunited, the Church brought together. [Question 147]

WHO WAS THE FIRST OF ALL TO STRIVE TO RULE OVER MEN AND ENLARGE HIS KINGDOM? — Answer. Nemrod the giant, as is read in the sacred history, who had initiated the building of the tower and the foundation of Babylon. [Question 148]

ARE THE TOWER AND THE CITY ONE WORK OR TWO? — Answer. The more general opinion is that the tower was the citadel of the city of Babylon. The city is called Babylon, which means "confusion", because there the language of the whole earth was confounded, and the speech of men divided into various tongues. The wonderful construction of this city, that is, Babylon, is mentioned in the history of the Gentiles. Its height was said to be tremendous, whether this was in reference to that one tower which they endeavoured to raise to heaven as the principal one among all others, or to all the towers, thus signified with the singular, as when one says in Latin miles ("the soldier") and we understand thereby thousands of soldiers ("the soldiery, the army"). [Question 149]

 (Gen. 11:5-7). TO WHOM DID GOD SAY, "LET US GO DOWN AND CONFOUND THEIR TONGUES"? — Answer. For God, going down means looking at human actions or coming closer to men's senses. By saying "let us go down" in the plural and then "God confounded the language of the whole earth" [in the singular], he wanted to show the holy Trinity with the distinction of persons, and the unity of work in the divine majesty, just as it was said in the beginning of man's creation, "Let us make man to our image and likeness" and then "God made man to his own likeness" (Gen. 1:26-27), so that it might be believed that there is Trinity in persons and unity in power. [Question 146]

(Gen. 11:8-9). IF GOD RESTED FROM ALL HIS WORKS ON THE SEVENTH DAY, HOW DID SUCH A DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES SUDDENLY APPEAR? — Answer. It is not thought that the Creator made anything new with this division of the languages, but he divided the manners and forms of speech into various kinds of languages. Hence we will find the same syllables and letters of identical force, albeit put together differently, in the various languages of the nations, and often even the same nouns or verbs with one meaning in one language, and another meaning in another. Where we say in the Psalm in virga ferrea ("with a rod of iron") (Ps. 2:9), the Greek has ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ (en rhabdo sidera), but in Latin "sidera" does not mean "of iron" like in Greek, but "stars".[ Question 151]

(Gen. 11:14-21). IN WHICH FAMILY DID THE LANGUAGE ORIGINALLY GIVEN [BY GOD] TO ADAM REMAIN? — Answer. In the family of Heber, it is believed, after whom the Hebrews were named, in that part of humanity which remained God's portion, in which Christ was to be born. For it was right that salvation should be first preached to the world in the language by which death had first entered the world. The title written on the Saviour's cross also shows that this is the first of all languages. [Question 150]

(Gen. 11:22-28). WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT WE READ ABOUT ARAN, ABRAHAM'S BROTHER, "ARAN DIED BEFORE THARE HIS FATHER IN UR OF THE CHALDEES"? —Answer. "Ur" means "fire", and the Chaldees worship fire as a god. Thare, according to the Hebrews, was thrown into a fire with his sons by the Chaldees because he refused to adore fire, and Aran was killed in that fire. This is what is meant now: "He died in the sight of Thare his father", as Jerome relates in his book of Hebrew Questions (Patr. tom. XXIII, col. 957), saying, "The Hebrews' tradition is true which says that Thare and his sons went forth from the fire of the Chaldees and that Abraham, surrounded with Babylonian fire, because he refused to adore it, was saved by God's help. And the days of his life and the time of his age are counted from that moment from which he confessed God, rejecting the idols of the Chaldees." Thus a very obscure problem concerning Abraham is solved. For we read that Thare begot Abraham when he was seventy [variant: 75] years old and lived a hundred and thirty-five years after begetting Abraham, and that all the days of Thare were two hundred and five years. We also read in Genesis, "Abraham was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran" (Gen. 12:4), that is, after the death of his father Thare. Therefore, from the year of Abraham's birth to the year that he went forth from Haran, there are a hundred and thirty-five years, but those years are not counted which passed before he went out of the fire of the Chaldees, saved by God's protection. This is what Jerome says. [Question 152]

(Gen 11:29). HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND, "MELCHA'S FATHER IS JESCHA'S FATHER"? AND WHO WAS JESCHA? — Answer. Thare begot Abraham, Nachor, and Aran. Aran begot Lot, Melcha, and Sarai, nicknamed Jescha. Abraham took Sarai as a wife, and Nachor took Melcha. Marriages between uncles and brothers' children had not yet been prohibited by the law. [Question 153]

CHAPTER 12

(Gen. 12:1-2). WHAT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE THREE DEPARTURES WHEN ABRAHAM IS TOLD BY THE LORD TO GO FORTH OUT OF HIS COUNTRY/EARTH, AND FROM HIS KINDRED, AND OUT OF HIS FATHER'S HOUSE? — Answer. Nothing else but that we should depart from the earthly man, and from the kindred of our vices, and from our father's house, that is, the world, which is called the Devil's house, as in the Psalm: "forget thy people and thy father's house" (Ps. 44:11). [Question 154]

HOW MANY PROMISES DID THE LORD MAKE TO ABRAHAM? — Answer. Two. One of them was that he would possess the land of Canaan in his seed, which is what is meant by "Go into the land which I shall shew thee, and I will make of thee a great nation". The other, much more important, is that he is the father not only of the Israelite nation, but also of all nations that follow the footsteps of his faith, which is promised in these words: "and all the nations [of the earth] shall be blessed in thee", [which means that] those who imitate Abraham's faith [shall be blessed in Abraham's seed]. [Question 155]

(Gen. 12:13-15). WAS IT RIGHT FOR SUCH A HOLY MAN AS ABRAHAM TO CONCEAL THE FACT THAT SARA WAS HIS WIFE RATHER THAN PUT HIS HOPE IN GOD NOT TO BE KILLED BY THE KING (VERSE 13)? — Answer. By this doing of his it is shown that a man should not tempt the Lord his God when he himself can find what to do by rational reflection. He did what was in his power to save his own life; what was not in his power, he entrusted to the one in whom he hoped, and he entrusted to him even his spouse's chastity. His faith [and hope] did not deceive him, for Pharaoh was frightened by God and afflicted with many evils because of her [variant: him], and when he learned [from God] that she was Abraham's wife, he gave her back unhurt and with honor to her husband. [Question 157]

(Gen. 12:15-16). HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SARA WAS NOT RAPED WHEN SHE WAS CAPTURED BY PHARAOH (VERSE 15)? — Answer. Because, according to the book of Esther, among the ancients, whenever a king liked a woman, she would be anointed with oil of myrrh for six months and would spend six months using various perfumes in the care of women, and only then would she go in to the king (Es. 2:12). Thus it is possible that after Pharaoh took a liking to Sara, while her entrance to the king was being prepared during a year, Pharaoh gave many presents to Abraham and then was struck by the Lord while Sara still remained sexually untouched by him. [Question 156]

CHAPTER 13

(Gen 13:5-18). "AND GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM: LIFT UP THY EYES, AND LOOK FROM THE PLACE WHEREIN THOU NOW ART, TO THE NORTH AND TO THE SOUTH, TO THE EAST AND TO THE SEA, BECAUSE ALL THE LAND WHICH THOU SEEST, I WILL GIVE TO THEE, AND TO THY SEED." (VERSE 14) IF HE WAS PROMISED ONLY THE LAND THAT HE COULD THEN SEE TOWARDS THE FOUR PARTS OF THE WORLD WHEN STANDING IN ONE PLACE, DOES NOT THE LAND OF PROMISE SEEM SMALL? — Answer. He was not promised only the land that he could see. It was not said "I will give thee as much of land as thou seest" but "I will give thee the land which thou seest", while the land beyond in all directions was being given him too. That is why he said afterwards, "Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof" (verse 17), so that, by walking through the land, he might come to the places that he could not see with his eyes when standing in one place. The land meant here was the one that his carnal seed would receive for his spiritual seed would possess the breadth of the whole world. [Question 160]

WHY WAS IT SAID "TO THE EAST AND TO THE SEA"? — Answer. The Holy Scripture, when speaking of the quarters of the Land of Promise, often uses the word "sea" for "west", owing to the fact that the country of Palestine has the sea to its west. [Question 161]

CHAPTER 14

(Gen. 14:1-5). WHAT DO "RAPHAIM" AND "ZUZIM" MEAN? — "Raphaim" translates to "giants" and "Zuzim" to "frightful"; they mean all the strong in Arabia. [Alcuin of York, Questions and Answers on Genesis, PL 100 Question 159]

(Gen. 14:14). WHO ARE THE EXPEDITI (CALLED "WELL APPOINTED" IN THE ENGLISH) ABOUT WHOM IT WAS SAID, "HE NUMBERED OF THE SERVANTS BORN IN HIS HOUSE, THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN WELL APPOINTED (EXPEDITI)"?  —  Answer. He called expediti [young] men ready for war and not married, about whom he says in the following, "except such things as the young men have eaten" (verse 24). [Question 162]

"AND PURSUED THEM TO DAN." WHAT PLACE IS DAN? — Answer. Dan is a town in Phoenicia, which is now called Banias, where one of the sources of the Jordan River rises. This spring is called Dan, and the other Jor. The two springs, which are not far distant from each other, unite into one stream, which is then called Jordan: just as one river is made out of the two springs, so is one name made out of their names. [Question 163]

(Gen. 14:18-24). WHO IS THAT MELCHISEDECH KING OF SALEM, WHO THE APOSTLE SAYS IS WITHOUT FATHER AND WITHOUT MOTHER? — Answer. The reason why the apostle said Melchisedech was without father and without mother is that the holy Scripture does not tell his genealogy. The Hebrews say that this Melchisedech is Sem, Noah's son, under a different name, and, reckoning the days of his life, they show that he lived until the time of Isaac. They also say that all firstborns used to be priests and immolate sacrifices to God until the time of Aaron and the rites of the law, and that this was the birthright that Esau sold his brother Jacob. It was also right, they say, for Melchisedech to receive tithes from the triumphs of his descendant. Moreover, they affirm that Salem is the same city that was later called Jerusalem. This city, according to them, was even first called Jebus, then Salem, then Jerusalem. This Melchisedech, according to the apostle, symbolically represents Christ, because Christ is without mother in heaven and without father on earth, offering to God, for us, on earth, the bread of his body and the wine of his blood; to whom it is said, "Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech" (Heb. 5:6; Ps. 109:4). [Question 164]

CHAPTER 15

(Gen. 15). HOW IS ABRAHAM DEFENDED FROM THE CHARGE OF ADULTERY ALTHOUGH HE UNITED HIMSELF TO HIS SERVANT WHEN HIS LAWFUL WIFE WAS ALIVE? — Answer. The evangelical law about having only one wife had not yet been promulgated. Also, he had received from God the promise that his seed would be multiplied, but he did not yet know from what wife, because he was told only later that he would get a son from Sara. His wish thus to procreate was a pious one, because his wish for sexual intercourse was not a lustful one. Even Sara, being unable to have a child from herself, wished to have one from her servant. Both [variant: She] agreed for this to be done, because both [variant: she] knew that Sara [variant: she] was sterile. [Question 171]

(Gen. 15:1-3). WHO WAS DAMASCUS ELIEZER, ABOUT WHOM ABRAHAM SAID, "HE SHALL BE MY HEIR"? — Answer. The son of Abraham's steward, who, they say, later founded Damascus, gave his name to the city and held kingship in it. [Question 165]

(Gen. 15:8). WAS IT CONSISTENT WITH ABRAHAM'S FAITH FOR HIM TO SEEK A SIGN FROM GOD AS IF IN DOUBT, SAYING, "LORD GOD, WHEREBY MAY I KNOW THAT I SHALL POSSESS IT"? — Answer. He was not asking, as one doubting God's promise, if it would be realized, but how it would be realized. [Question 166]

(Gen. 15:9-11). SO WHAT WAS ABRAHAM TO UNDERSTAND BY THAT MYSTICAL SIGN CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF HIS RACE? AND WHY DID HE HAVE TO TAKE THREE-YEAR-OLD ANIMALS? AND WHY DID HE DIVIDE THE ANIMALS BUT NOT THE BIRDS? — Answer. The three-year-old animals symbolize the three time divisions through which the people grew up to the highest summit of honor. From the time of patriarch Abraham, through the promises, to the time of Moses, the people was brought into a connection with God. From the time of legislator Moses, it was glorified with the receiving of the law from God, miraculous occurrences, triumphs, and the entering of the Land of Promise. From the time of David, it was elevated with kingly honor and the building of the temple and city of Jerusalem. The ram symbolizes kingly and priestly dignity, the cow symbolizes the nation in bondage under the letter of the law, and the goat indicates that that same nation is sinful. The birds, on the other hand, prefigured spiritual people and God's elect. So the division of the animals means that there are always schisms among carnal people, whereas the fact that he did not divide the birds denotes the peace and unity among the spiritual. The fact that fear fell upon Abraham towards the evening symbolizes the terror in the day of judgement, which will separate the spiritual from the carnal, setting the ones on the right and the others on the left (Matt. 25). As for the birds fluttering over the carcasses, they are demons who seek to sit on carnal people, and whom a devoted teacher ought to drive away through sedulous warnings. [Question 167]

(Gen. 15:13-14). WHAT IS MEANT BY WHAT WAS SAID TO ABRAHAM, "KNOW THOU BEFOREHAND THAT THY SEED SHALL BE A STRANGER IN A LAND NOT THEIR OWN, AND THEY SHALL BRING THEM UNDER BONDAGE, AND AFFLICT THEM FOUR HUNDRED YEARS"? HOW WERE THOSE FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF BONDAGE CALCULATED? — Answer. It should not be taken to mean that God's people was in that terribly hard bondage for four hundred years. It is written, "in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Gen. 21:12). From the year of Isaac's birth to the year of the departure from Egypt are counted four hundred and five years. So, when, from four hundred and thirty, you subtract the twenty-five years that are from the promise to Isaac's birth, it is not surprising if the Scripture decided to call the four hundred and five remaining years four hundred, with a round sum, given that the Scripture often designates periods of time without counting what little is above or below the sum of a number's perfection. Then, "they shall reduce them to bondage and harm them" should not be taken to refer to the four hundred years as if they had kept them in bondage for so many years, but the four hundred years should be taken to refer to "thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own", because, whether in the land of Canaan or in Egypt, that seed was a stranger, until they took by inheritance the land according to God's promise, which happened after they were freed from Egypt. Therefore a hyperbaton is here understood: the logical word order is: "Thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own for four hundred years", and it is understood that "and they shall reduce them to bondage and harm them", was interposed without referring to the four hundred years. For it was in the endmost part of this sum of years, namely, after Joseph's death, that it came to pass that God's people went through hard bondage in Egypt. [Question 168]

(Gen. 15:16). WHY WAS IT SAID IN GENESIS ABOUT ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN, "IN THE FOURTH GENERATION THEY SHALL RETURN HITHER", WHILE WE READ IN EXODUS, "IN THE FIFTH GENERATION THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT" (EX. 13:18, LXX)? — Answer. The children of Israel left the land of Egypt in the fourth generation. Take the genealogy of Levi: Levi begot Kohath, Kohath begot Amram, Amram begot Aaron, Aaron begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Phinehas. Kohath entered Egypt with his father Levi[; Eleazar returned from Egypt with his father Aaron]. From Kohath to Eleazar are counted four generations. As for the children of Israel leaving the land of Egypt in the fifth generation according to Exodus, it is the sequence of the tribe of Judah that is counted there. Judah begot Pharez, Pharez begot Hesron, Hesron begot Aram, Aram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, Nahshon begot Salmon. Pharez entered Egypt with his father [Judah]; Nahshon is mentioned as the leader of Judah in the desert, and his son Salmon entered the Land of Promise. Count from Pharez to Nahshon, and you will find five generations. [Question 169]

(Gen. 15:17-21). "TO THY SEED WILL I GIVE THIS LAND, FROM THE RIVER OF EGYPT EVEN TO THE GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES." WHICH RIVER OF EGYPT DID HE MEAN? — Answer. Not the great river of Egypt, that is, the Nile, but the small one that separates Egypt and Palestine, where the city of Rinocurura is. [Question 170]

CHAPTER 16

(Gen. 16:7-12). IN WHAT SENSE WILL ALL MEN'S HANDS BE AGAINST ISMAEL AND HIS HAND AGAINST ALL MEN? — Answer. The angel of the Lord found Agar by a fountain of water in the desert, by a fountain in the way to Sur that leads to Egypt through the desert, [she was hurrying,] and called his name Ismael, because the Lord had heard her humility ("Ismael" translates to "the hearing of the Lord"). He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him: and he shall dwell against the face of all his brothers. This means that his seed will dwell in the desert, that is, his seed are the wandering Saracens, with no fixed dwellings, who make incursions and fight against all the nations bordering the desert, and are fought against by all. [Question 172]