Read City of God (Penguin Classics) Online
Authors: Saint Augustine
1.
Whether any families are to be found in the period from Noah to Abraham whose members lived according to God’s will
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F
it is asked whether the progress of the holy City can be traced in a continuous line after the Flood, or was so interrupted by intervening periods of irreligion that there are times when not one man emerges as a worshipper of the one true God, it is difficult to find an answer to the question from any clear statement of Scripture. In fact from the time of Noah, who with his wife and his three sons and their wives was found worthy to be rescued from the devastation of the Flood by means of the ark, we do not find, until the time of Abraham, anyone whose devotion is proclaimed by any statement in the inspired Scriptures – except for the fact that Noah commends his sons Shem and Japheth in his prophetic benediction, since he knew, by prophetic insight, what was to happen in the far-distant future. Hence it was that he also cursed his middle son, that is the one younger than the first-born and older than the last, because he had sinned against his father. He did not curse him in his own person, but in the person of his son, Noah’s grandson; and he used those words: ‘A curse on Canaan! He shall be a slave, a servant to his brothers.’
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Now Canaan was the son of Ham, who had not covered the nakedness of his sleeping father, but instead had called attention to it. This is also why Noah went on to add a blessing on his two sons, the eldest and the youngest, saying, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his slave; may God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the houses of Shem.’
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In the same way the vineyard planted by Noah, the drunkenness resulting from its fruit, the nakedness of the sleeping Noah, and all the other events recorded in this story, were laden with prophetic meanings and covered with prophetic veils.
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2.
The prophetic symbolism of Noah’s sons
But now that the historical fulfilment of these prophecies has come about in the posterity of these sons, the things which were concealed have been abundantly revealed. For no careful and intelligent observer can fail to recognize their fulfilment in Christ. The name Shem, as we know, means ‘named’; and it was of Shem’s line that Christ was born in the flesh. And what ‘name’ is of more renown than the name of Christ, the name that by now is fragrant everywhere, so much so that in the Song of Songs it is compared, in prophetic anticipation, with ointment poured out?
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The name Japheth means ‘enlargement’ and ‘in the houses’ of Christ, that is, in the churches, the ‘enlargement’ of the nations dwells. Again, the name Ham means ‘hot’;
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and Noah’s middle son, separating himself, as it were, from both the others, and keeping his position between them, is included neither in the first-fruits of Israel nor in the full harvest of the Gentiles, and he can only stand for the hot breed of heretics. They are hot, because they are on fire not with the spirit of wisdom, but with the spirit of impatience; for that is the characteristic fervour in the hearts of heretics; that is what makes them disturb the peace of the saints. And yet the effect of their activities is to assist the progress of the faithful, in accordance with the saying of the Apostle, ‘Heresies are necessary, to show which of you are in a sound condition.’
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The same idea is expressed in the scriptural statement that ‘the well-instructed son will be wise; he will employ the fool as his servant.’
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For we can see that many matters of importance to the Catholic faith are canvassed by the feverish restlessness of heretics, and the result is that they are more carefully examined, more clearly understood, and more earnestly propounded, with a view to defending them against heretical attack, and thus an argument aroused by an adversary turns out to be an opportunity for instruction. Nevertheless it is possible and reasonable to regard Noah’s middle son as typifying not only those in open schism from the Church, but also those who boast the name of Christian and yet live scandalous lives. For it is certain that such people proclaim Christ’s passion, symbolized by Noah’s nakedness, in their professions, while they dishonour
it by their evil actions. It was of such people that we read in Scripture, ‘You will recognize them by their fruits.’
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That is why Ham was cursed in the person of his son, in his fruit, as it were, that is, in his activities. Hence it is suitable that the son’s name, Canaan, means ‘their movement’,
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which is surely the same as ‘their activities’. In contrast, Shem and Japheth, representing circumcision and uncircumcision, or Jews and Greeks, in the Apostle’s terminology (but with reference only to those called and justified) when they somehow learned of their father’s nakedness (symbolizing the Saviour’s passion) took a garment, held it over their backs, and entered, facing the other way, and hid their father’s nakedness without looking on what they reverently covered.
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Now in the passion of Christ we may be said to honour what was done on our behalf while at the same time we turn our backs on the crime of the Jews. The garment stands for a mystery; the backs symbolize the memory of past events; for this, we may be sure, is now the time when ‘Japheth lives in the houses of Shem’ and the wicked brother lives between them,
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and the Church now celebrates Christ’s passion as an accomplished fact, and no longer looks for it in the future.
The evil brother, however, in the person of his son – that is, through his actions – is the slave, the servant, of the good brothers, when the good make skilful use of the wicked for their own training in endurance or for their own development in wisdom. For as the Apostle bears witness, there are those who preach Christ with impure motives; but, he says, ‘whether speciously or genuinely, let Christ be preached.’
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Now Christ himself planted a vineyard about which the prophet says, ‘The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel,’
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and he drinks of its wine. And the wine may be interpreted with reference to that cup which he speaks of when he says, ‘Are you able to drink the cup which I am going to drink?’
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and, ‘Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by’,
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where it obviously means his passion. Or, since wine is the product of the vineyard, we may prefer this meaning, that from the vineyard itself, that is, from the race of the Israelites, was derived the flesh which he assumed for our sake, and the blood, so that he might suffer his passion. ‘He was drunk’ – that is, he suffered – and ‘he was naked’; for then his weakness was laid bare,
that is, was made evident. As the Apostle says, ‘He was crucified through his weakness.’
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And that is why he also says, ‘The weakness of God is stronger than men and the foolishness of God is wiser than men.’
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Moreover, after saying ‘he was naked’ the Scripture adds ‘in his own house’,
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thus ingeniously indicating that Christ was destined to endure the cross, and death, at the hands of a people of his own flesh and blood, members of his own family, namely the Jews.
It is only externally, only by the sounds they utter, that wicked men preach this passion of Christ; for they do not understand what they are preaching, whereas the upright have this great mystery in their inner selves, and inwardly in their heart they honour the weakness and foolishness of God, because it is stronger and wiser than men. This is the reality symbolized by the fact that Ham went out and published his father’s nakedness outside, while Shem and Japheth came in to veil it, that is, to honour it – which means that their action had a more inward character.
These hidden meanings of inspired Scripture we track down as best we can, with varying degrees of success; and yet we all hold confidently to the firm belief that these historical events and the narrative of them have always some foreshadowing of things to come, and are always to be interpreted with reference to Christ and his Church, which is the City of God. It has never failed to be foretold in prophecy from the beginning of the human race, and we now see the prophecy being fulfilled in all that happens.
Thus, after two of Noah’s sons had been blessed, and the middle son cursed, from then onwards down to Abraham, the record is silent about any righteous men who worshipped God with true devotion; and that covers a period of more than a thousand years.
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I am not inclined to suppose that such people did not exist, but if they were all mentioned the narrative would become tedious, and would be more notable for historical accuracy than for prophetic foresight. Accordingly, the writer of these holy Scriptures (or rather the Spirit of God through his agency) is concerned with those events which not only constitute a narrative of past history but also give a prophecy of things to come, though only those things which concern the City of God. For everything that is here said about those human beings who are not citizens of that City is said with this purpose, that the City
may show up to advantage, may be thrown into relief, by contrast with its opposite. To be sure, we must not suppose that all the events in the narrative are symbolical; but those which have no symbolism are interwoven in the story for the sake of those which have this further significance. For it is only the share of the plough that cuts through the earth; but the other parts of the plough are essential to make this operation possible. It is only the strings of the lyre, and of other similar musical instruments, that are designed to produce the music; but to effect the result the other components are included in the framework of the instruments. These parts are not struck by the player, but the parts which resonate when struck are connected with them. Similarly, in the prophetic history some things are recorded which have no prophetic significance in themselves; but they are there for the significant events to be attached to them, moored to them, as we might say.
3.
The lines of descent from Noah’s three sons
We have next to examine the lines of descent from the three sons of Noah, taking what seem to be the important observations and weaving them into this work, in which is displayed the development in history of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly. The record starts with the youngest son, called Japheth; his eight sons are named, together with seven grandsons by two of them, three by one and four by the other, which gives a total of fifteen. Then follow the four sons of Ham, Noah’s middle son, with five grandsons from one of them, and two great-grandsons from one grandson, eleven in all. After these have been listed, we are taken back to the beginning in these words:
And Cush had a son called Nimrod; he began to be a giant on the earth. He was a gigantic hunter against
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the Lord God. Hence the saying: ‘Like Nimrod, a gigantic hunter against the Lord.’ And the beginning was made of his kingdom, Babylon, Erech, Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar. Out of that land Assur departed and built Nineveh and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah, and Dasem, midway between Nineveh and Calah; this is a great city.
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Now this Cush, father of the giant Nimrod, was named first among the sons of Ham; and his five sons and two grandsons had been recorded
already. Then either this giant was born to him after the birth of his grandsons, or (more credibly) the Scripture mentions him separately because of his eminence. For in fact his kingdom is recorded, whose beginning was the world-famed city of Babylon, and also the cities or districts which are recorded along with Babylon. But Assure’s departure from that land (the land of Shinar, which was part of Nimrod’s kingdom) and his building of Nineveh and the other cities which he attached to Nineveh, belong to a much later period, though they are mentioned here. The writer took this occasion to mention them in passing because of the fame of the Assyrian Empire, which received a remarkable extension under Ninus,
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son of Belus, the founder of the great city of Nineveh; the name of which was derived from its founder, Nineveh being named after Ninus. Assur, on the other hand, from whom sprang the Assyrians, was not one of the sons of Ham, Noah’s middle son; he is found among the sons of Shem, Noah’s eldest son. Hence it is apparent that it was men sprung from the line of Shem who later gained control of the realm of that giant, and went on from there to found other cities, the first of which was called Nineveh, after Ninus.
After that, the narrative goes back to Ham’s second son, Mizraim; and his descendants are recorded, not as individuals but as seven nations. From the sixth nation, from the sixth son, as it were, it is recorded that a nation arose called the Philistines, thus bringing the number to eight. Then we return to Canaan, the son in whose person Ham was cursed, and eleven of his progeny are named; the extent of their territory is mentioned, and some of their cities are given. Thus when sons and grandsons are reckoned in, the list of the line of Ham contains thirty-one descendants.
It remains to record the progeny of Shem, Noah’s eldest son; in fact, the narrative of these generations has arrived at him by steps, starting with the youngest son. However, there is a certain obscurity in the passage where the record of Shem’s descendants begins, and we must clear this up by an explanation, since it is very relevant to the subject of our inquiry. The passage reads, ‘And to Shem, even to Shem himself, the father of all his sons, Heber was born, the son of the elder brother of Japheth.’
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The logical order of the sentence is: ‘And to Shem was born Heber, even to himself, that is to Shem himself, was born Heber, and this Shem is the father of all his sons.’ The narrator therefore intended Shem to be understood as the patriarch of all who
sprang from his stock, who were to be included in his list, whether they were sons, grandsons, or great-grandsons, or those of his later posterity. For Shem himself was certainly not the father of Heber; in fact, he is found among Heber’s ancestors, in the fifth generation before him. Shem was the father of Arphaxad, among other sons; Arphaxad was the father of Cainan; Cainan of Salah; Salah of Heber.
There is therefore a special point in naming Heber before all the rest of the line of descent from Shem, and giving him preference even over Shem’s sons, although in fact his place is in the fifth generation. It assumes the truth of the tradition that the Hebrews were called after him, being
Heberaei
, as it were. There is, indeed, another possible theory, that they were named after Abraham, and supposedly called
Abrahaei
. But it is doubtless true that they were named
Heberaei
, after Heber, and later, with the omission of one letter,
Hebraei
, Hebrews.
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The Hebrew language is the exclusive property of the people of Israel; and it is in that people that the City of God has been on pilgrimage, as well as in the persons of the saints, besides having a shadowy representation, in a symbolical form, in all mankind.
Accordingly, six sons of Shem are first named; then from one of them four grandsons were born. Another of Shem’s sons also produced a grandson for him, and to this grandson in turn was born a great-grandson and to him a great-great-grandson, and this was Heber. Then Heber had two sons, one of whom he named Peleg, which means ‘divider’;
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and Scripture adds a note to explain the reason for the name, ‘For in his time the earth was divided.’
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What this refers to will become clear later.
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Another of Heber’s sons had twelve sons; and thus the descendants of Shem amount in all to twenty-seven. Thus the grand total of the progeny of Noah’s three sons is seventy-three, fifteen from Japheth, thirty-one from Ham, twenty-seven from Shem. The Scripture then goes on to say, ‘These are the sons of Shem in their tribes, according to their languages, in their regions and their nations’; and then similarly about all Noah’s line we are told, ‘These are the tribes of the sons of Noah according to their generations and their nations. From these the islands of nations were dispersed on the earth after the Flood.’ Hence we gather that there were at that time seventy-three nations (or rather, as will be shown later, seventy-two) not seventy-three men. The list of Japheth’s sons, given earlier, also concluded with these words: ‘From these the islands of nations were
separated, each in its own land, everyone according to language, with their own tribes and in their own nations.’
The nations had already been more clearly recorded in a passage about the sons of Ham, as I have pointed out above. ‘Mizraim was the father of those who are called Ludim’, and the rest are similarly listed, making up seven nations. After enumerating all these the writer says in conclusion, ‘These are the sons of Ham, in their tribes, according to their languages, in their regions and in their nations.’ No sons are recorded for many of these, the reason being that they were added to existing nations at their birth and could not found nations of their own. For that can be the only reason why eight sons of Japheth are listed, but only the sons of two of them are mentioned; and that while four sons of Ham are named, the sons of only three are added to the list; and that although six sons of Shem are named the descendants of only two of these are attached. We are surely not to suppose that the others remained childless. That would be absurd. It is obvious that they did not qualify for mention in virtue of having founded nations, because at birth they were enrolled in existing nations.