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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Four — the creation of the first human beings

OF BENEDICTUS PERERIUS, THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE COMMENTARIES ON GENESIS, which is On the Creation of the First Men. PREFACE

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OF BENEDICTUS PERERIUS, THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE COMMENTARIES ON GENESIS, which is On the Creation of the First Men. PREFACE.1

BENEDICTI PERERII, COMMENTARIORUM IN GENESIM, LIBER QUARTUS, Qui est de Creatione primorum hominum. PRAEFATIO.

CREATIS iam cuiusque generis stirpibus et animantibus, unus deerat homo, omnium rerum corporatarum longe praestantissimus: eius creationem longiori et splendidiori oratione (scilicet ut hominis dignitas postulabat) Moses descripsit. Mosem autem imitatus videtur Ovidius, qui primo libro Metamorphoseos, exposita omnium aliarum rerum procreatione, de homine subiecit:
The shoots and living things of every kind being now created, one was lacking—man, by far the most excellent of all corporeal things: his creation Moses described with a longer and more splendid discourse, namely as the dignity of man demanded. And Ovid seems to have imitated Moses, who, in the first book of the Metamorphoses, having set forth the procreation of all other things, added concerning man:2

A living thing more holy than these, and more capable of a lofty mind, was still lacking, and one that could have dominion over the rest: Man was born.3

Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altae Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in cetera posset: Natus homo est.

VERUM cur (dicat aliquis) postremo loco generatus est homo? An quia ordine generationis quae perfectiora sunt, ea solent esse posteriora? An quod antea comparandum homini fuerat domicilium, et domus omni instructa et ornata supellectile (qui est mundus hic omnium rerum generibus completus)? An quia homo rebus omnibus corporeis indiget, vel ad vitam agendam tuendamque, vel ad doctrinas omnes artesque percipiendas? An propterea ultimus creatus est, quod sit rerum omnium dominus et quasi finis? nos enim omnium rerum (inquit Aristoteles) quasi finis sumus. An, quod erat conveniens prius crea[ri magnum mundum]...
But why (someone may say) was man generated in the last place? Was it because, in the order of generation, the things which are more perfect are wont to be later? Or because a dwelling had to be prepared beforehand for man, and a house furnished and adorned with all its furniture (which is this world, filled with the kinds of all things)? Or because man needs all corporeal things, whether for leading and protecting his life, or for acquiring all the disciplines and arts? Or was he created last for this reason, that he is the lord of all things and, as it were, their end? for we are, as it were, the end of all things (says Aristotle). Or, because it was fitting that first there should be crea[ted the great world]...4
...[An, quod erat conveniens prius] creari magnum mundum, posterius vero parvum mundum, qui esset totius mundi magni velut perfectum quoddam compendium, omnia quae in magno mundo distincte ac diffuse continentur habens in se restricta et coarctata? An denique quod homo quaedam media inter corporeas res et incorporeas interiecta, et utriusque generis naturae ac proprietatum particeps? quod autem huius generis medium est, id appellant Philosophi medium per compositionem seu participationem extremorum, idque posterius extremis. Quorum est epistola 38 quam S. Ambrosius scripsit ad Horontianum, in qua variis argumentis appositisque similitudinibus et exemplis confirmat fuisse rationi valde consentaneum ut homo novissimus omnium a Deo crearetur.
...that first the great world should be created, but later the small world, which would be, as it were, a certain perfect compendium of the whole great world, having in itself, restricted and compressed, all the things which in the great world are contained distinctly and diffusely? Or finally, because man is a certain mean interposed between corporeal things and incorporeal, and a partaker of the nature and properties of each kind? And what is the mean of this kind, the Philosophers call a mean by composition or participation of the extremes, and that is later than the extremes. Of which things there is the 38th epistle, which Saint Ambrose wrote to Horontianus, in which by various arguments and apposite likenesses and examples he confirms that it was very consonant with reason that man should be created the last of all by God.5
CAETERUM, ex Mosaica descriptione creationis primorum hominum mirabiliter elucet eximia et singularis quaedam humanae naturae dignitas, ceterarum omnium corporearum dignitatem longissimo intervallo superans. Complures autem et insignes humanae naturae praerogativas in ea oratione Mosis, qua primorum hominum generatio narratur, animadvertere licet.
But, from the Mosaic description of the creation of the first men, there shines forth wonderfully a certain exceptional and singular dignity of human nature, surpassing the dignity of all other corporeal things by the longest interval. And one may note several and remarkable prerogatives of human nature in that discourse of Moses by which the generation of the first men is narrated.6
Et prima quidem praerogativa in eo cernitur, quod cum Moses fecerit Deum omnes alias res praeter hominem creasse vel absoluta voluntate (ut cum dixit, In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram) vel dicendo ac iubendo (ut cum ait, Dixit Deus, Fiat lux; Fiat firmamentum; Fiant luminaria; Congregentur aquae; Appareat arida; Germinet terra; Producant aquae; Producat terra), cum ad hominis creationem ventum est, inducitur Deus nova quadam et singulari ratione atque oratione uti ad creandum hominem: siquidem velut consilio et deliberatione ad condendum hominem accedens, Faciamus, inquit, hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. Tertullianus quidem libro 2 adversus Marcionem scripsit hominem esse a Deo conditum non imperiali verbo ut cetera, sed familiari manu, etiam praemisso blandiente illo verbo, Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram.
And the first prerogative indeed is discerned in this, that whereas Moses represented God as having created all other things besides man either by absolute will (as when He said, In the beginning God created heaven and earth) or by speaking and commanding (as when He says, God said, Let there be light; Let there be a firmament; Let there be lights; Let the waters be gathered; Let the dry land appear; Let the earth bring forth; Let the waters produce; Let the earth produce), when it came to the creation of man, God is introduced as using a certain new and singular manner and discourse for creating man: since, approaching as it were by counsel and deliberation to the making of man, He says, Let us make man to our image and likeness. Tertullian indeed, in book 2 against Marcion, wrote that man was made by God not by an imperial word like the rest, but by a familiar hand, with that coaxing word also premised, Let us make man to our image and likeness.7

Do you wish to know yourself? [says Basil, homily 10 on the Hexameron] take your starting-point even from here. For about none of the works which God had hitherto founded was that word, Let us make, committed to writing: but by the simple word and command of God all things were created. Be instructed, therefore, from this, O man, and learn of how great worth you come to be esteemed. For [God] did not judge your generation, as of common price, to be woven on by the common[...]8

Nosse vis te ipsum? [inquit Basilius homilia 10 in Hexameron] vel hinc auspicium sumito. De nullo enim operum quae Deus eatenus condiderat, vox ista, Faciamus, in litteras transmissa est: sed simplici verbo et mandato Dei omnia creata sunt. Erudire igitur hinc, o homo, ac edisce quanti unus tu aestimandus venias. Neque enim generationem tuam velut pretii vulgaris, communi[...]

...the common command of the creatures. In God a consultation goes before, as to how this so great animal ought to be advanced to life: Let us make, He says. Behold, the wise one consults, and what the artificer has determined with himself, he proposes for deciding.9

...[communi] creaturarum mandato censuit attexendam. In Deo praegreditur consultatio, quemadmodum tantum hoc animal provehi debeat ad vitam, Faciamus ait. En, consultat sapiens, et quid secum statuerit artifex, proponit decernendum.

Per hoc sane quod curam eam condendo homini praemittit Deus, significatur id operis quod facturus erat eximium et singulare omnibusque numeris absolutum, et infinitae artis et sapientiae suae clarissimum testimonium et perfectissimum fore monimentum.
Surely by this—that God premises that care to the making of man—it is signified that the work which He was about to do would be exceptional and singular and complete in every number, and the clearest testimony and most perfect monument of His infinite art and wisdom.10
SECUNDA praerogativa hominis ea fuit, quod principale ac summum Fidei nostrae mysterium, hoc est Sanctissimae Trinitatis, primum in hominis procreatione indicatum et patefactum esse legitur. Namque illa Dei verba, Faciamus et Nostram, significant multitudinem et distinctionem divinarum personarum; illa vero, Ad imaginem ac similitudinem, et quod praemittitur, Dixit Deus, et quod postea subditur, Fecit Deus ad imaginem et similitudinem suam, Divinae naturae unitatem aperte demonstrant. Ergo mysterium Sacrosanctae Trinitatis primum in generatione hominis reseratum est, quod postea in eiusdem hominis regeneratione (quae per Baptismum fieri debebat) aperte declarandum et explicate agnoscendum et profitendum erat.
The second prerogative of man was this, that the principal and highest mystery of our Faith—that is, of the Most Holy Trinity—is read to have been first indicated and laid open in the procreation of man. For those words of God, Let us make and Our, signify the multitude and distinction of the divine persons; but those, To the image and likeness, and what is premised, God said, and what is afterward added, God made [man] to His own image and likeness, openly demonstrate the unity of the Divine nature. Therefore the mystery of the Most Sacred Trinity was first unsealed in the generation of man—which afterward, in the regeneration of the same man (which had to be done through Baptism), was to be openly declared and explicitly acknowledged and professed.11
TERTIA praerogativa. Ceteras animantes omnesque stirpes terra et aqua generasse dicuntur: at hominem non terra nec aqua ullumve aliud corpus procreasse dicitur, sed solus Deus condidisse. Nam etsi corpus hominis e terra formatum est, sed non a terra vel a caelo vel etiam ab Angelis, verum a solo Deo qui ex limo corpus humanum quasi manibus suis finxit atque figuravit et in ipsum vitam et vigorem inspiravit; animamque rationalem non ex materiae gremio sinuque (ut ceteras omnes formas mortales) expromptam, sed extrinsecus infusam et a solo Deo creatam ex nihilo, corpori a se formato indidit.
The third prerogative. The other living things and all the shoots are said to have been generated by earth and water: but man is said to have been procreated by neither earth nor water nor any other body, but founded by God alone. For although the body of man was formed from earth, yet not by the earth, or by the sky, or even by the Angels, but by God alone—who from clay shaped and fashioned the human body as with His own hands, and breathed into it life and vigor; and the rational soul, not drawn forth from the lap and bosom of matter (as all other mortal forms), but infused from without and created from nothing by God alone, He set in the body formed by Himself.12
QUARTA praerogativa. Dedit homini Deus summum ius et imperium in omnes animantes, etiam in eas quae homine proceriores ac robustiores maximeque terribiles videntur, easque imperio eius ut domini ac regis potestatique subiecit. Existimat Ambrosius hanc cunctarum animantium sub hominis potestatem dominatumque sub[iectionem]...
The fourth prerogative. God gave man the supreme right and dominion over all living things, even over those which seem taller and stronger than man and most terrible, and subjected them to his rule, as of a lord and king, and to his power. Ambrose judges this sub[jection] of all living things under the power and dominion of man [to be the greatest argument of human dignity]...13
...[hanc cunctarum animantium sub hominis potestatem dominatumque sub]iectionem summae dignitatis humanae maximum esse argumentum. Sic enim scribit in cap. 6 libri sexti Hexameron:
...this subjection of all living things under the power and dominion of man to be the greatest argument of the highest human dignity. For thus he writes in chapter 6 of the sixth book of the Hexameron:14

Nature seemed to have nothing taller and stronger than the Elephant, nothing more terrible than the lion, nothing more savage than the tiger: yet these serve man, and lay aside their own nature by human instruction; they forget what they were born, they put on what they are bidden. What need of many words? they are taught like little children, they serve like servants, they are aided like the weak, they are beaten like the timid, they are corrected like subjects, they pass over into our ways, since they have lost their own movements.15

Videbatur Elephantis nihil habere natura procerius atque robustius, nihil terribilius leone, nihil saevius tigre: verum haec serviunt homini, et naturam suam humana institutione deponunt; obliviscuntur quod nata sunt; induuntur quod iubentur. Quid multa? docentur ut parvuli, serviunt ut famuli, adiuvantur ut infirmi, verberantur ut timidi, corriguntur ut subditi, in mores transeunt nostros, quoniam motus proprios perdiderunt.

QUINTA praerogativa. Assignavit homini Deus ad habitandum et sese oblectandum amoenissimum Paradisi domicilium et hortum, omnium rerum quae ad vitam humanam commode et abundanter degendam, vel delicate, iucunde, beateque traducendam pertinet, copia instructissimum atque refertissimum.
The fifth prerogative. God assigned to man, to dwell in and to delight himself, the most pleasant home and garden of Paradise, most fully furnished and stocked with an abundance of all the things which pertain to leading human life conveniently and abundantly, or to passing it delicately, pleasantly, and blessedly.16
SEXTA praerogativa. Creavit Deus hominem tanta integritate animi et innocentia praeditum, ut et mens eius subiecta esset Deo, et sensus rationi, et corpus animo, et omnes animantes hominis imperio subderentur. Huius autem integritatis et innocentiae magnum fuit argumentum evidensque testimonium, quod cum Adam et Eva nudi simul versarentur essentque formosissimi et pulcherrimi, nec suae nuditatis pudore nec obscena mutuae libidinis aliqua titillatione tangebantur.
The sixth prerogative. God created man endowed with such integrity of soul and innocence, that his mind was subject to God, his senses to reason, his body to his soul, and all living things were placed under man's rule. And a great argument and evident testimony of this integrity and innocence was that, although Adam and Eve dwelt together naked and were most shapely and most beautiful, they were touched neither by the shame of their nakedness nor by any obscene titillation of mutual lust.17
SEPTIMA praerogativa. Iussit Deus coram primo homine sisti cunctas terrae animantes, eisque nomina speciatim ab ipso imponi; quo scilicet intelligeretur et quanta cum rerum naturalium scientia et sapientia Deus eum complevisset, et ipsae animantes nomina ab eo accipientes quodammodo cognoscerent ac profiterentur se regem ac Dominum suum habere hominem, eiusque iussis obsequi et deservire debere.
The seventh prerogative. God ordered all the living things of the earth to be set before the first man, and names to be imposed on them by him one by one; namely, so that it might be understood both with how great a knowledge and wisdom of natural things God had filled him, and that the living things themselves, receiving their names from him, might in some way acknowledge and profess that they had man as their king and Lord, and that they owed obedience and service to his commands.18
OCTAVA praerogativa. Genere quodam immortalitatis etiam corpus hominis donavit: nempe, ut si divinis praeceptis pareret ipse, longissimo aevo in terris acto, ex vita terrena ad caelestem et sempiternam, nescius mortis omniumque malorum expers, traduceretur.
The eighth prerogative. He endowed even the body of man with a certain kind of immortality: namely, that if he himself obeyed the divine precepts, after a very long age spent on earth, he would be translated from the earthly life to the heavenly and everlasting one, ignorant of death and free of all evils.19
NONA praerogativa. Nec tantum exquisitissima ac multiplici rerum naturalium scientia eum ornavit, verum etiam dono prophe[tiae]...
The ninth prerogative. Nor did He adorn him only with a most exquisite and manifold knowledge of natural things, but also with the gift of prophe[cy]...20
...[dono] prophetiae affecit. Nam cum vidisset Evam ex latere suo formatam, divino incitatu et afflatu vaticinatus est dicens, Hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea, et cetera quae sequuntur: quibus verbis magnum quoddam contineri mysterium, in capit. 5 Epistolae quae scripta est ad Ephesios, testificatus est Paulus. Quin, existimant nec pauci nec obscuri Doctores fuisse tunc ab Adamo et praecognitum et praedictum incarnationis mysterium Filii Dei: non quidem ut ad remissionem peccati quod ipse commissurus erat ordinabatur (non enim tunc sui lapsus erat praescius), sed ea tantum ratione ad glorificationem humanae naturae referebatur.
...[with the gift] of prophecy He affected him. For when he had seen Eve formed from his side, by divine prompting and inspiration he prophesied, saying, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, and the rest which follows: in which words that a certain great mystery is contained, Paul testified in chapter 5 of the Epistle which was written to the Ephesians. Indeed, not a few and not obscure Doctors judge that the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God was then both foreknown and foretold by Adam: not indeed as it was ordained to the remission of the sin which he himself was about to commit (for he was not then foreknowing of his fall), but it was referred only by this reasoning to the glorification of human nature.21
DECIMA praerogativa. Nec illud in postremis Dei erga hominem beneficiis et dignitatis humanae argumentis numerandum est, quod ei Deus saepenumero sub specie et figura humana (quod magnum erat et sui amoris indicium et humani incitamentum) praesentiam suam declarabat, eumque familiarissimo sermone et intima consuetudine dignabatur.
The tenth prerogative. Nor is that to be numbered among the least of God's benefits toward man, and of the arguments of human dignity, that God very often declared His presence to him under a human appearance and figure (which was a great sign both of His love and an incitement of man), and dignified him with most familiar speech and intimate fellowship.22
EX his igitur quae dicta sunt satis apparet quanta cum gloria, dignitate ac potestate hominem Deus ab initio condiderit: vereque in libro Ecclesiastici capite 16 scriptum esse, hominem fuisse a Deo multiplici scientia et virtute vestitum et ornatum. Quae autem fuerint eximia illa primi hominis vestimenta et ornamenta, declarat Sanctus Bernardus, in primo sermone eorum quos scripsit de Annunciatione Beatae Mariae, hunc in modum scribens:
From these things, therefore, which have been said, it appears sufficiently with how great glory, dignity, and power God founded man from the beginning: and that it is truly written, in the book of Ecclesiasticus, chapter 16, that man was clothed and adorned by God with manifold knowledge and virtue. But what those exceptional garments and ornaments of the first man were, Saint Bernard declares, in the first of the sermons which he wrote On the Annunciation of Blessed Mary, writing in this manner:23

"I seem to myself to see the first man clothed, from the very beginning of his creation, with these four virtues, and (as the Prophet recalls) clad with the garment of salvation. For in these four is that wholeness of salvation, nor without all of them can salvation stand: especially since they cannot even be virtues if they are separated from one another. Man, therefore, had received Mercy, namely as a guardian and an attendant, that she might go before him, she also might follow him, and she might protect and preserve him everywhere. Do you see what a nurse God conferred on His little one? what an attendant the new order gave to man? But there was also necessary to him an instructor, as to a noble and rational creature, that he might not be guarded like some beast of burden, but be educated like a little child. For which teaching surely no one could be found more fitting than Truth herself, who might lead him at last into the knowledge of the highest Truth. But meanwhile, lest he should be found wise so as to do evil, and there should be[...]"24

Videre mihi videor quatuor virtutibus his amictum primum hominem ab ipso suae creationis exordio, et (ut Propheta meminit) vestimento salutis indutum. Est enim in his quatuor illa salutis integritas, nec sine his omnibus potest constare salus: praesertim cum nec possint esse virtutes si ab invicem separentur. Acceperat ergo homo misericordiam, custodem scilicet atque pedissequam, ut ipsa praeveniret, ipsa et sequeretur eum, ipsaque protegeret et conservaret ubique. Vides qualem nutritium contulit parvulo suo Deus? qualem dedit pedissequam homini recens ordo? Sed erat illi necessarius etiam eruditor, tanquam ingenuae et rationabili creaturae, ut non sicut iumentum aliquod custodiretur, sed tanquam parvulus educaretur. Cui sane magisterio nemo poterat aptior inveniri, quam veritas ipsa, quae eum in agnitionem summae perduceret aliquando veritatis. Interim vero ne sapiens inveniretur ut malum faceret, esset[que]...

"...and there should be sin to him, as to one knowing the good and by no means doing it, he received also Justice by which he might be ruled. And further, the most kindly hand of the Creator added Peace, by which he might be cherished and delighted. A twofold peace, indeed, so that there should be neither wars within nor fears without: that is, that the flesh should not lust against the Spirit, nor should any creature be a terror to him. For he both freely imposed names on all the beasts, and the serpent itself, which did not presume on violence, attacked him rather by fraud. What was lacking to this man, whom Mercy guarded, Truth taught, Justice ruled, Peace cherished?" Thus Bernard there.25

...[esset]que peccatum ei tanquam scienti bonum et minime facienti, iustitiam quoque qua regeretur accepit. Adhuc autem et pacem qua foveretur et delectaretur, addidit manus benignissima Creatoris. Pacem utique duplicem, ut nec intus pugnae nec foris timores: id est, nec caro concupisceret adversus Spiritum, nec esset ei creatura ulla formidini. Nam et bestiis omnibus libere imposuit nomina, et serpens ipse qui violentia non praesumpsit, fraude magis eum aggressus est. Quid huic deerat quem misericordia custodiebat, docebat veritas, regebat iustitia, pax fovebat? Sic ibi Bernardus.

Idem Bernardus serm. 14 in Psalm. Qui habitat, similem tractans de dignitate hominis sententiam:
The same Bernard, in sermon 14 on the Psalm Qui habitat, treating a like opinion concerning the dignity of man:26

"First, he says, God granted us this—that we exist. Since He Himself made us, and not we ourselves. Does that seem little to you, that He made you? Consider what kind He made you: namely, an excellent creature even in body, but more in soul—as one marked with the image of the Creator, a partaker of reason, capable of everlasting blessedness. Moreover, in both together, most to be admired above the other creatures, cohering to itself by an incomprehensible craftsmanship, in the unsearchable wisdom of the Maker. And so this gift is as great as man is a great thing. But how gratuitous do you think it? It is plain, since he merited nothing beforehand, who utterly was nothing. Or was it hoped afterward that he would repay grace to his Author? He said to the Lord, You are my God, for You have no need of my goods. Not therefore was he hoped to repay a necessary grace to Him who thus suffices for Himself in all things, but to render devout thanks to Him who thus deserved it. Why should he not give thanks? If anyone seemed to have restored to you in some way the light of your eyes, or the use of your ears, of your nostrils, of your hands, or a foot in some way hindered, if anyone had aroused in you reason lulled asleep by any occasion: who else would not be most vehemently angry with you, if ever perhaps he had caught you unmindful of this benefit, or ungrateful to your benefactor? But indeed, your Lord, having bestowed on you the very instruments, made all these things from nothing: nor only made them, but also fitted and formed them, and adorned each with its own function. How does He not by all right exact ampler thanks for Himself? For not even content with this (though greatest) gift—who gave that you should be, who before were not—He added also that whereby you might subsist, who now were. Nor less liberally did He work this than that wonderfully. Let us make, He says, man to our image and likeness. But what afterward?"27

Primum, inquit, hoc nobis Deus praestitit ut simus. Siquidem ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Parum ne tibi videtur istud, quia te fecit? Cogita qualem te fecit: nempe etiam secundum corpus egregiam creaturam, sed secundum animam magis, utpote imagine Creatoris insignem, rationis participem, capacem beatitudinis sempiternae. Porro secundum ambo simul prae ceteris creaturis maxime admirandum, cohaerentem sibi incomprehensibili artificio, in investigabili sapientia conditoris. Itaque tam magnum hoc donum, quam magna res homo. Sed quam gratuitum putas? Planum est, quia nihil ante promeruit qui penitus nihil fuit. An postea sperabatur gratiam retributurus auctori? Dixit Domino, Deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges. Non igitur necessariam retributurus gratiam ei qui sic per omnia sibi sufficit, sed devotas relaturus gratias ei qui sic meruit sperabatur. Quidni gratias agat? Si quis oculorum lumen, si quis usum aurium, si quis narium, si quis manuum, si quis pedem tibi praepeditum aliquo modo reparasse videretur, si quis sopitam quavis occasione excitasse in te rationem: quis non alius tibi vehementissime succenseret, si quando forte beneficii huius immemorem aut benefactori deprehendisset ingratum? Enimvero, Dominus tuus ipsa etiam tibi instrumenta largitus, ex nihilo fecit haec omnia: nec modo fecit, sed et compegit etiam ac formavit, ac suo quaeque illustravit officio. Quomodo non is omni iure sibi exigit gratias ampliores? Nam ne hoc quidem (licet maximo) contentus munere, qui dedit ut esses qui ante non fueras, adiecit etiam unde subsisteres qui iam eras. Nec minus liberaliter hoc, quam illud mirabiliter est operatus. Faciamus, inquit, hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. Quid vero postea?

"And let him rule over the fishes of the sea and the beasts of the earth, etc. For He had taught before that He created even the heavenly elements for your uses. Namely, they are recorded as made to be for signs, and seasons, and days, and years. For whom do you think? for no one at all but you. For all the other creatures either need none of these things, or do not understand them. How copious, how most liberal was He in this second benefit! How much, then, did He bestow for sustenance, how much for instruction, how much for consolation, how much already from this for correction, how much also for delight?" Thus Bernard.28

Et praesit piscibus maris et bestiis terrae, etc. Nam et caelestia sese elementa in usus creasse tuos ante docuerat. Nempe facta memorantur ut essent in signa et tempora et dies et annos. Cui putas? nulli utique nisi tibi. Cetera siquidem omnes creaturae aut in nullo egent his omnibus, aut non intelligunt ea. Quam copiosus in hoc secundo beneficio, quam liberalissimus fuit? Quanta igitur largitus est ad sustentationem, quanta ad eruditionem, quanta ad consolationem, quanta ex hoc iam ad correptionem, quanta etiam ad delectationem? Haec Bernardus.

Sed verba quibus procreatio hominis describitur a Mose, subtiliter, enucleate, ac diligenter consideranda et explananda sunt.
But the words by which the procreation of man is described by Moses must be considered and explained subtly, clearly, and diligently.29

Translator’s notes

  1. The opening of **Book IV** of Pererius's Commentaries on Genesis—"On the Creation of the First Men"—beginning with a Preface. (Book III, on Paradise, has just ended.) The page-foot/header confirms 1 pdf-page = 1 printed-page (pdf 387 = printed 346); the offset of 41 holds across the book boundary. ↩
  2. Preface opening: all kinds of plants and animals being created, only **man** was lacking—the most excellent of corporeal things; Moses described his creation with a longer, more splendid discourse, as man's dignity required. **Ovid** seems to imitate Moses (Metamorphoses bk. 1), adding of man, after all else, the verses that follow. ↩
  3. Block quotation of Ovid (Metamorphoses 1.76–78): a creature "more holy" and "more capable of a lofty mind," able to rule the rest, was still wanting—so man was born. (Pererius reads Ovid's account as an echo of Moses.) ↩
  4. Marginal gloss: "Aristoteles lib. 2 Physi. text. 24." The question: **why was man created last?** Several possible reasons: (1) the more perfect come later in the order of generation; (2) his house—the world—had to be furnished first; (3) man needs all corporeal things (for life and for the arts); (4) he is the lord and *end* of all ("we are as it were the end of all things," **Aristotle**, *Physics* 2, text 24); (5) the great world was fittingly made first... Continues onto next page (catchword "crea"). ↩
  5. The "why man last" question concludes: (5) the *great world* was made first, then the *small world* (man—a **microcosm**, a perfect compendium of the great world); (6) man is the **mean** between corporeal and incorporeal things, sharing both natures—and a mean "by composition/participation of the extremes" comes *after* the extremes. **Ambrose** (Epistle 38 to Horontianus) confirms with many arguments that it was fitting man be created last of all. ↩
  6. Marginal gloss: "Decem praerogativa primi hominis" (the ten prerogatives of the first man). Transition: Moses's account reveals a singular **dignity of human nature**, far surpassing all other corporeal things. Pererius will enumerate several notable **prerogatives** of human nature (the margin announces *ten*). ↩
  7. **FIRST prerogative:** whereas God made all else either by absolute will ("In the beginning God created heaven and earth") or by command ("Let there be light," "Let the dry land appear," etc.), at man's creation He is shown using a *new, singular* manner—as if by **counsel and deliberation**: "Let us make man to our image and likeness." **Tertullian** (Against Marcion 2): man was made not by an imperial word like the rest, but by a *familiar hand*, with that coaxing word "Let us make man..." premised. ↩
  8. Block quotation of Basil (Homily 10 on the Hexameron, on man's creation): "Would you know yourself? Begin here. Of none of God's prior works was the word *Let us make* recorded—all else was made by His simple command. Learn then, O man, of how great worth you are reckoned: God did not judge your making to be of common price, woven on by the common[...]" Continues onto next page (catchword "commu"). ↩
  9. Conclusion of the Basil quotation: God did not weave man's making onto the common command of the creatures; rather a *consultation* goes before in God—as to how so great a creature should be brought to life: "Let us make." The wise Artificer consults, and proposes for decision what He has resolved. ↩
  10. Pererius's gloss on the Basil passage: by premising such *care* to man's making, God signifies that the work would be exceptional, complete in every respect—the clearest testimony and most perfect monument of His infinite art and wisdom. ↩
  11. Marginal gloss: "Mysterium Trinitatis primum in creatione hominis indicatum est." **SECOND prerogative:** the chief mystery of the faith—the **Trinity**—was first indicated in man's creation. "Let us make" and "our" signify the *plurality and distinction* of the divine persons; "to the image and likeness," with "God said" and "God made [man] to his own image and likeness," show the *unity* of the divine nature. So the Trinity was first unsealed in man's *generation*—later to be openly declared in his *regeneration* through Baptism. ↩
  12. **THIRD prerogative:** the other animals and plants are said to be generated by earth and water, but man by neither—only **by God alone**. Though man's body was formed *from* earth, it was made not *by* earth, sky, or angels, but by God, who shaped it from clay "as with His own hands" and breathed in life; and the rational soul—not drawn from matter (like all mortal forms) but **infused from without, created from nothing** by God alone—He placed in the body He had formed. ↩
  13. **FOURTH prerogative:** God gave man supreme right and **dominion over all animals**—even the taller, stronger, most terrible—subjecting them to his power as lord and king. **Ambrose** reckons this subjection of all animals under man the greatest argument of human dignity (quote follows). Continues onto next page (catchword "iectionem"). ↩
  14. Completion of the lead-in to Ambrose: he holds this subjection of all animals under man the greatest argument of human dignity. The block quotation (Hexameron 6.6) follows. ↩
  15. Block quotation of Ambrose (Hexameron 6.6): nature seemed to have nothing stronger than the elephant, more terrible than the lion, more savage than the tiger—yet these serve man, laying aside their nature by human training, forgetting what they were born, putting on what they are bidden; they are taught like children, serve like servants, are beaten like the timid, corrected like subjects, and "pass over into our ways, since they have lost their own movements." ↩
  16. **FIFTH prerogative:** God assigned man the most pleasant home and garden of **Paradise** to dwell in and enjoy—most fully stocked with everything for living human life conveniently, abundantly, even delicately, pleasantly, and blessedly. ↩
  17. **SIXTH prerogative:** God made man with such integrity of soul and innocence that his mind was subject to God, his senses to reason, his body to his soul, and all animals to his rule. A great proof of this: though Adam and Eve dwelt together naked and were most beautiful, they felt no shame of their nakedness nor any obscene stirring of mutual lust. ↩
  18. **SEVENTH prerogative:** God set all the earth's animals before the first man, and had him name each one—so that it might be understood both how great a *knowledge and wisdom of nature* God had filled him with, and that the animals, receiving their names from him, might somehow acknowledge man as their king and lord, owing obedience to his commands. ↩
  19. **EIGHTH prerogative:** God endowed even man's *body* with a kind of immortality: if he obeyed the divine precepts, after a very long age on earth he would be translated from earthly to heavenly, everlasting life—knowing no death and free of all evils. ↩
  20. **NINTH prerogative:** God adorned man not only with a most exquisite, manifold *knowledge of natural things*, but also with the gift of **prophe[cy]**... Continues onto next page (catchword "prophe"; signature X3). Resume PDF 391 with "...prophetiae..." ↩
  21. Conclusion of the **NINTH prerogative** (from p.349): God endowed man with the gift of **prophecy**. When Adam saw Eve formed from his side, he prophesied by divine inspiration, "This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh"—words in which Paul (Eph 5) testifies a great mystery is contained. Not a few notable Doctors hold Adam then *foreknew and foretold the Incarnation* of the Son of God—not as ordained to the remission of his coming sin (he did not then foreknow his fall), but only as it pertained to the glorification of human nature. ↩
  22. **TENTH prerogative:** among God's benefits and the arguments of human dignity, this too counts—that God often manifested His presence to man **under a human form and figure** (a great token of His love and a spur to man), dignifying him with most familiar speech and intimate fellowship. (Completes the "ten prerogatives.") ↩
  23. Marginal glosses: "Quae fuerint vestimenta primi hominis secundum Bernardum"; "Esaia 61." From all this it is clear with how great glory, dignity, and power God made man—and how truly Ecclus 16 says man was *clothed and adorned* by God with manifold knowledge and virtue. What those excellent garments were, **St. Bernard** declares (1st sermon On the Annunciation of Blessed Mary)—the quotation follows. ↩
  24. Block quotation of Bernard (1st sermon On the Annunciation): the first man was clothed from creation with **four virtues** and (cf. Isaiah 61) the "garment of salvation"—in these is the wholeness of salvation, nor can they even be virtues if separated. Man received **Mercy** as guardian and attendant (to go before, follow, protect him); and an **instructor**—**Truth** herself—since, as a rational creature, he was to be *educated like a child*, not kept like a beast. Continues onto next page (catchword "essetq"). ↩
  25. Conclusion of the first Bernard quotation: lest man, knowing good but not doing it, incur sin, he received **Justice** to rule him; and the Creator added **Peace** to cherish him—a *twofold* peace (no war within—the flesh not lusting against the spirit; no fear without—no creature a terror to him, since he named all beasts, and the serpent attacked by *fraud*, not violence). "What was lacking to him whom Mercy guarded, Truth taught, Justice ruled, and Peace cherished?" ↩
  26. Marginal gloss: "Pulchra sententia Bernardi de hominis dignitate atque praestantia." Pererius adds a second Bernard passage—Sermon 14 on Psalm "Qui habitat" (Ps 90/91)—on man's dignity. The quotation follows. ↩
  27. Block quotation of Bernard (Sermon 14 on Ps 90): God's first gift is *that we exist* (He made us, not we ourselves)—an excellent creature in body, more in *soul* (marked with the Creator's image, sharing reason, capable of eternal blessedness), most admirable in both together. And wholly *gratuitous*, since man, who was nothing, merited nothing beforehand and can repay God nothing ("You are my God, for You have no need of my goods"). Bernard's analogy: as you would owe deep thanks to one who restored your sight, hearing, or reason, how much more to God, who from nothing made, fitted, and formed your very faculties—and not content to give you *being*, added what sustains the being you now have: "Let us make man to our image and likeness. But what afterward?" Continues onto next page (catchword "Et prae"). ↩
  28. Conclusion of the second Bernard quotation: "...let him rule over the fishes and beasts"—for God created even the heavenly bodies for man's use (the lights made "for signs, seasons, days, and years"—for whom but man, since the other creatures neither need nor understand them). How abundant and generous God was in this second benefit—giving so much for *sustenance, instruction, consolation, correction,* and even *delight*. ↩
  29. Transition closing the Preface: the words by which Moses describes man's creation must now be examined subtly, clearly, and diligently (a decorative ornament follows, then the compiled Scripture pericope). ↩