Thomas Aquinas

Above, the Apostle commended the faith of Abraham as to his dwelling and his begetting; here he commends it as to his manner of life up to death. And concerning this he does three things: first he shows what he did through faith; second he sets down one thing that pertains to faith, at the place, For they that say these things; third he shows what he received through faith, at the place, Therefore God is not ashamed.

He commends the faith of Abraham and his sons from perseverance, because they persevered in faith even until death. Matthew 10:22 and 24:13: But he who shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. Therefore he says, according to faith all these died, except Enoch. Or, all these, namely Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And this is better said, because the promise was made to these alone. Likewise he commends them from the long delay of the promises. Hence he says, not having received the promises. But on the contrary, it seems that they did receive the promise. Ezekiel 33:24: Abraham was one, and he possessed the land by inheritance. I answer. It must be said that he "possessed," that is, he first received the promise of possessing, yet he did not actually possess it, as is clear in Acts 7:5. There follows, but beholding them afar off, which was through faith, as if he were to say: gazing upon them with the sight of faith. And perhaps from this passage that responsory for the first Sunday of Advent was taken: Beholding from afar, etc. Isaiah 30:27: Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar. And greeting them, that is, venerating them. And he speaks, according to Chrysostom, by way of a likeness to sailors, who, when they first see the harbor, burst forth into praise, and greet the city to which they are going. So the holy fathers, seeing through faith Christ who was to come, and the glory which they were to obtain through him, greeted him, that is, venerated him. Psalm 117:26: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, God is the Lord, etc. John 8:56: Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day; he saw it, and was glad.

Likewise he commends their faith from sincere confession; because, as is said in Romans 10:10: with the heart, belief is unto justice, but with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. And therefore he says, and confessing that they are pilgrims and strangers upon the earth; for these three called themselves sojourners and pilgrims. For, in Genesis 23:4, Abraham says: I am a sojourner and a pilgrim among you. It is also said by the Lord to Isaac, Genesis 26:2f: Stay in the land that I shall tell you, and journey as a pilgrim in it. Jacob too, 47:9, says: the days of the pilgrimage of my life. Now he is called a pilgrim who is on the way of journeying toward another place. Isaiah 23:7: her own feet shall carry her far off to journey. But a sojourner is one who dwells in a foreign land, and does not intend to go further. But these confessed themselves to be not only sojourners, but also pilgrims. Thus also the holy man does not make his dwelling in the world, but is always at pains to press on toward heaven. Psalm 38:12: I am a sojourner with you, and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were.

Then, when he says, For they that say these things, he shows that this confession pertains to faith. For no one is a stranger and a pilgrim, except him who is outside his homeland and is tending toward it. Since therefore these confess themselves to be strangers and pilgrims upon the earth, they signify that they are tending toward their own homeland, namely the heavenly Jerusalem. Galatians 4:26: That Jerusalem which is above is free. And this is what he says, For they that say these things, signify that they seek a homeland. But because perhaps someone might say — which is true — that they were pilgrims in the land of the Philistines and the Canaanites, among whom they dwelt, yet they intended to return to the land from which they had gone out, he removes this, saying, And truly if they had been mindful of that, namely of their own homeland, from which they went out, they had indeed time to return, since it was near. But now they desire a better one, that is, a heavenly one; hence in Genesis 24:6, Abraham said to his servant: Beware that you never bring my son back there. Psalm 83:11: I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. Likewise, 26:4: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. They therefore sought this homeland, not the paternal house from which they had gone out. In which it is signified, that those who go out from the vanity of the world ought not to return there in mind. Psalm 44:10: Forget your people and your father's house. Luke 9:62: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Philippians 3:13: Forgetting the things that are behind, stretching myself forth to those that are before. Now it is clear that this confession of theirs, in word and in deed, pertains to faith, because they most firmly believed, even unto death, that very thing which had only been promised to them and not yet delivered. Hence, according to faith, that is, having their faith with them as an inseparable companion, they died. Apocalypse 2:10: Be faithful unto death.

Then, when he says, therefore he is not ashamed, he shows what they merited to receive from their faith, and this was the greatest honor. Now it is reckoned the greatest honor when someone is named after some solemn office or service of a great and excellent lord or prince, as the notary of the Pope, or the chancellor of the king. But it is a greater honor still when that great lord wishes to be named after those who serve him. And so it is with these three, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose Lord, the great King above all gods, specially calls himself their God; hence Exodus 3:6: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; hence he says, therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. And a threefold reason can be assigned for this.

The first, because God is known through faith. Now these are recorded as being the first to separate themselves by a special worship from unbelievers; hence Abraham too was the first to receive the seal of faith, Romans 4:18: that he might become the father of a multitude of nations. And therefore they are set before us as an example, as those through whom God was first known, and through whom God was named, as the object of faith. And therefore he willed to be named from them.

The second, according to Augustine in the Gloss, because in these there lies hidden some mystery. For in these we find a likeness of the generation by which God regenerated spiritual sons. Now we see in them a fourfold manner of begetting. The first manner is of free children through free women, as Abraham through Sarah begot Isaac, who through Rebecca begot Jacob. And Jacob begot eight patriarchs through Leah and Rachel. The second manner was of free children through handmaids, as Jacob through Bala and Zelpha begot Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The third manner was of servants through free women, as Isaac through Rebecca begot Esau, of whom it was said: the elder shall serve the younger. The fourth manner was of servants through a handmaid, as through Hagar Abraham begot Ishmael. In this, then, is designated the diverse manner by which the Lord begets spiritual sons: for sometimes good through good, as Timothy through Paul; sometimes good through evil, and this is the begetting of free children through handmaids; sometimes evil through good, as Simon Magus through Philip. And this is the begetting of servants through free women. But the begetting of the evil through the evil is reckoned in the seed. Hence Galatians 4:30: Cast out the handmaid and her son.

The third reason, which seems more according to the intention of the Apostle, is that it is customary for a king to be named from his principal city, or from his whole country, as the king of Jerusalem, of the Romans, the king of France. And therefore God is properly called the king and God of those who specially belong to that city, the heavenly Jerusalem, of which God is the maker and founder. And because these, in word and deed, showed themselves to belong to that city, therefore he is called their God; hence he says, for he has prepared for them a city, that is, he is the founder of that city, which he had as his own.

Then, when he says, by faith he offered, he sets down another notable example concerning the faith of Abraham, insofar as it regards God, namely that greatest sacrifice of his, when at the command of the Lord he was willing to immolate his only-begotten son, Genesis 22:1ff. And concerning this he shows three things. First, what he did; second, that this pertains to faith, at the place, and his only-begotten; third, what he received from this, at the place, wherefore he received him also in a parable. He says therefore, when Abraham was tried, he offered, that is, was willing to offer, by faith, Isaac, as is clear throughout the whole twelfth chapter of Genesis.

Here there is a twofold question. One, because to kill an innocent is against the law of nature, and thus a sin; therefore in willing to offer him he sinned. I answer. It must be said that he who kills by the command of a superior — if that superior lawfully commands, the other lawfully obeys, and can lawfully carry out his service. But God has authority over death and life. 1 Kings 2:6: The Lord kills and makes alive. But God, in taking away life from someone, even an innocent, does injury to no one. Hence also daily, by divine disposition, many guilty and innocent die. And therefore he could lawfully carry out the command of God.

Likewise a question is raised about this, that he says, when he was tried. For God tries no one, because to try is the act of one who does not know. I answer. It must be said that the Devil tries in order to deceive. 1 Thessalonians 3:5: lest perhaps he who tempts should have tempted you. This is clear in the temptation by which he tempted Christ, Matthew 4:1ff. But man tries in order to know. 3 Kings 10:1, it is said of the queen of Sheba, who came to Solomon to try him with riddles. In this way God does not try, since he knows all things; but he tries, that man may become known to himself, of how much strength and how much frailty he is. Deuteronomy 8:2: that he might try you, and that the things that were in your mind might become known; 2 Chronicles 32:31, concerning Hezekiah being tried, that his heart might be known. Likewise, that others may know the one tried, who from this is set before them as an example, as Abraham and Job. Ecclesiasticus 44:21: Abraham was found faithful in trial.

Then, when he says, and his only-begotten, etc., he shows very subtly that this obedience pertained to faith. For as was said above, Abraham, although a very old man, believed God promising that in Isaac he would be blessed in his seed; he also believed that God was able to raise the dead. When therefore it was commanded him that he should kill him, there was no longer any hope, from Sarah now very aged, of being able to have a son, since Isaac was already a young man. And therefore, since he believed that the command of God must be obeyed, nothing remained but that he should believe that Isaac would be raised up, through whom his seed was to be called. Hence he says, and his only-begotten, namely of Sarah, in whom, that is, in the son born, God was to fulfill the covenant he had promised, as is clear in Genesis 17:19. Or, only-begotten, namely among the free children. Genesis 22:2: Take your only-begotten son Isaac. In whom he had received the promises. To whom also it was said, that is, by reason of whom, etc. Accounting, that is, firmly believing, that God is able to raise him up from the dead. This therefore was the greatest proof of faith, because the article of the resurrection is one of the greater ones.

Then, when he says, wherefore he also received him back in a parable, he shows what he merited through faith: because when nothing now remained but that he himself should be immolated, an Angel called to him, and he immolated a ram caught by its horns in place of his son. Now this was a parable, that is, a figure, of the Christ who was to come. For the ram caught by its horns among the briars is the humanity fastened to the cross, which suffered. Isaac, that is, the divinity, escaped, when Christ truly died and was buried. And thus it is clear that this figure very completely matches the thing figured. He received him therefore, namely Isaac, in a parable, that is, as a figure of Christ who was to be crucified and immolated.