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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Four — the creation of the first human beings

CHAPTER 1, VERSE 26. And let him rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and all the earth, and every creeping thing that moveth upon the earth

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CHAPTER 1, VERSE 26. And let him rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and all the earth, and every creeping thing that moveth upon the earth.1

CAP. 1. et VERS. 26. Et praesit piscibus maris, et volatilibus caeli, et bestijs, universaeque terrae, omníque reptili quod movetur in terra.

QUOD vesana quadam regnandi libidine tantopere concupiverat Alexander Magnus, ut totius Orbis imperium consequeretur, hoc ipsum, et multò quidem amplius, primo homini, statim ut is creatus est, à Deo fuit concessum. Aptè verò Moses, postquàm dixerat hominem esse factum ad imaginem Dei, proximè posuit datum esse ei dominatum et imperium in omnes animantes: siquidem convenientissimum erat ut, quem Deus fecerat sui similem dignitate naturae, etiam dominandi auctoritate potestatéque similem sui faceret; dignitas enim, potentiae praesidio destituta, velut inermis et infirma est, paulatimque vilescit. Deinde, hoc uno maximè argumento declarare voluit Moses hominem esse factum ad imaginem Dei: quòd, sicut Deus toti mundo praesidet atque imperat, ita, quasi Dei vicarius, cunctis animalibus praeest ac dominatur homo. Quid quòd ea ipsa re qua imaginem Dei gerit homo, etiam praesidet et dominatur animalibus, mentem dico, rationem, et prudentiam? Non enim animalibus praestat homo vel proceritate corporis, vel robore, vel agilitate, vel diuturnitate vitae, vel sensuum praestantia (nempe his rebus inferior est multis animalibus), at ratione, consilio, et prudentia omnibus antecellit. Ergo non corporis sed animi robore, et rationis ac prudentiae viribus, cuiusque generis animalia, etiam valentissima, callidissima, et ferocissima, capit, domat, ad suos usus accommodat, sibíque parere ac servire cogit.
What Alexander the Great so greatly coveted, with a certain mad lust of ruling, that he might obtain the empire of the whole world, this very thing, and indeed much more, was granted by God to the first man, as soon as he was created. And aptly Moses, after he had said that man was made to the image of God, next set down that dominion and command over all living things was given to him: since it was most fitting that, whom God had made like to himself in dignity of nature, he should make like to himself also in the authority and power of ruling; for dignity, destitute of the protection of power, is, as it were, unarmed and weak, and little by little grows cheap. Then, by this one argument especially Moses wished to declare that man was made to the image of God: that, just as God presides over and commands the whole world, so man, as God's vicar, presides over and rules all the animals. What of this, that by the very thing whereby man bears the image of God—I mean mind, reason, and prudence—he also presides over and rules the animals? For man does not excel the animals by tallness of body, or strength, or agility, or length of life, or excellence of the senses (in these things, indeed, he is inferior to many animals), but in reason, counsel, and prudence he surpasses them all. Therefore, not by strength of body but of mind, and by the powers of reason and prudence, he captures, tames, adapts to his own uses, and compels to obey and serve him the animals of every kind, even the strongest, the craftiest, and the fiercest.2
NEC illud vacat, quod inter animalia, quibus hominem à Deo praefectum narrat Moses, pisces primo loco memorat. Videlicet quod hi omnium animantium minimè dociles, miniméque humani imperij capaces, et nostrae consuetudinis atque disciplinae participes esse videantur. Quòd si eis tamen praeest homo, quantò magis eum caeteris animalibus praeesse credendum est? Et huius quidem in pisces humani imperij etiam nunc, nec pauca nec obscura, extant indicia. Namque, homine propè aquam ingrediente, visa eius umbra trepidant
Nor is it idle that, among the animals over which Moses relates that man was set by God, he mentions the fishes in the first place. Namely, because these seem the least docile of all living things, the least capable of human command, and the least sharers of our intercourse and discipline. But if man nevertheless presides over them, how much more is he to be believed to preside over the other animals? And of this human command over the fishes there exist even now indications neither few nor obscure. For, when a man walks near the water, at the sight of his shadow they tremble3
[tre]pidant pisces, fugámque capessunt, velut servi tumultuantes domi inopinato heri adventu et aspectu: id quod multis et disertis verbis nona in Genesim homilia persequitur Basilius. Delphini, incredibilis animal pernicitatis magnarúmque virium, mirificè amant et observant hominem, eíque quoquomodo gratificari, obsequi, et deservire gestiunt. Quid, illud nonne summae admirationis est, quod narrat Plinius libro octavo, cap. 25., de Tentyritis, ab insula Nili in qua gens illa habitat appellatis? qui, cùm parvo sint corpore, terribilissimo tamen omnium animalium Crocodilo maximo terrori sunt: quinetiam flumini innatantes, dorsóque Crocodilorum ad similitudinem equitantium impositi, hiantibus resupino capite ad morsum addita in eos clava, dextráque ac laeva tenentes extrema eius utrinque, ut fraenis in terram agunt captivos; ac voce etiam sola territos, cogunt evomere recentia corpora ad sepulturam. Itaque uni ei insulae Crocodili non adnatant, olfactúque eius generis hominum, ut Psyllorum serpentes, fugantur.
[the fishes] tremble and take to flight, like slaves running about in confusion at home at the unexpected arrival and sight of their master: which Basil pursues in many and eloquent words in the ninth homily on Genesis. Dolphins, a creature of incredible swiftness and great strength, wonderfully love and watch for man, and are eager in every way to gratify, obey, and serve him. And is not that a thing of the highest wonder which Pliny relates in book eight, ch. 25, about the Tentyrites—named from an island of the Nile on which that people dwell? who, though they be of small body, are yet the greatest terror to the Crocodile, the most terrible of all animals: nay more, swimming in the river and set upon the backs of the Crocodiles like riders, with a club thrust into them as they gape with head thrown back for the bite, holding its extremities on either side with right hand and left, they drive them like bridled captives onto the land; and, terrifying them by voice alone, they compel them to disgorge for burial the bodies recently swallowed. And so to that one island alone the Crocodiles do not swim, and at the smell of men of that race they are put to flight, as serpents at the smell of the Psylli.4
THEODORETUS, in quaestionibus quas scripsit in Genesim, quaestione vigesima, arbitratur ingentes illos pisces quos vocamus Cetos et Balaenas non esse factos propter hominem, nec eius subiectos imperio. Adscribam hic verba eius.
Theodoret, in the questions which he wrote on Genesis, question twenty, judges that those huge fishes which we call sea-monsters and whales were not made for man's sake, nor subject to his command. I will set down his words here.5

It is to be noted, he says, that not all animals were created for man's sake, but only those which he is said to rule: namely the fishes of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle of the earth, and perhaps also the creeping things of the earth, on account of the necessary use of the medicines made from them; but those huge sea-monsters and the wild land-beasts were not made for man's sake. And, with certain things interposed, Theodoret thus concludes: Man, therefore, does not rule those huge sea-monsters, nor the beasts, which perhaps were not from the beginning created for his sake. And something like what is here said by Moses, David hands down in the eighth Psalm, saying: Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, moreover the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea that pass through the paths of the sea. For here too the sea-monsters and the wild beasts are passed over. Thus Theodoret.6

Animadvertendum est, inquit, non universa animalia propter hominem creata esse, sed ea demum quibus dominari dicitur: nempe pisces maris, volucres caeli, et pecora terrae, fortasse etiam et reptilia terrae, propter necessarium usum pharmacorum quae ex illis conficiuntur; non tamen facta sunt propter hominem cete illa grandia et ferae terrestres. Et interiectis quibusdam, ita concludit Theodoretus: Non igitur dominatur homo Cete illis grandibus, neque bestiis, quae fortasse ab initio non propter ipsum creata sunt. Et simile eorum quae hic dicuntur à Mose tradit David in octavo Psalmo, dicens: Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius, oves et boves universa, insuper et pecora campi, volucres caeli et pisces maris qui perambulant semitas maris. Nam et hic Cete et ferae praetermissa sunt. Sic Theodoretus.

Cuius sententia nequaquam probanda est, siquidem propter quam causam homo dominatur animalibus (nempe propter mentem, rationem, et prudentiam), propter eam causam dominari cunctis animantibus fateri necesse est. Etenim ratione et prudentia aequè feris et cetis quàm aliis animantibus antecellit homo. Cetos autem comprehendit Moses vocabulo piscium maris, sicut vocabulo bestiarum etiam omnes feras. Negare autem cetos et feras esse propter hominem, cum Moses Deuteronomij quarto dicat etiam solem et lunam omniáque sydera in ministerium et servitium hominis esse à Deo creata, et cum non rarò videamus cetos et feras ab homine capi et domari et ad usus eius accommodari, nullo modo probabile est. LEGERE potuisset Theodoretus et revereri Basilium (sanctitatis et sapientiae gloria apud omnes clarissimum), huic suae opinioni manifestè adversan-
His opinion is by no means to be approved, since, for the same cause for which man rules the animals (namely, on account of mind, reason, and prudence), it must be confessed that he rules all living things. For in reason and prudence man surpasses the wild beasts and the sea-monsters just as much as the other animals. And Moses includes the sea-monsters under the word 'fishes of the sea,' just as under the word 'beasts' he includes also all wild beasts. And to deny that the sea-monsters and wild beasts are for man's sake—when Moses, in the fourth of Deuteronomy, says that even the sun and moon and all the stars were created by God for the ministry and service of man, and when we not rarely see sea-monsters and wild beasts captured and tamed by man and adapted to his uses—is in no way probable. Theodoret might have read and revered Basil (most renowned among all for the glory of his holiness and wisdom), who manifestly oppos-7
[adver]santem. Is enim, homilia decima in Genesim, cùm de potestate quae homini data est in pisces verba faceret, ipsum hominem alloquens ita scribit:
[mani]festly opposes this opinion of his. For he, in the tenth homily on Genesis, when he was speaking of the power that was given to man over the fishes, addressing man himself, writes thus:8

Since thou perceivest so great a power of reason granted to thee, passing through and penetrating all things and overcoming all, how shall the faculty of commanding even the whales not be at thy disposal? Indeed I have seen the admirable skill of men in catching whales, and an artifice exceedingly ingenious. And after Basil had recounted the wonderful method and art of catching whales, he adds: And so this sea-monster, so huge and wild, with almost no trouble, drawn captive by the hook that clings the more tenaciously, tamed and overcome by the genius and industry of man, and made the prey of a fisherman (the huge pressed by the slight, the warlike by the unwarlike)—for what reason is this? Surely man, endowed by the rich and abounding power of reason with sovereignty over any animals whatsoever, compels them, like criminal, fugitive, and rebellious slaves, to return to obedience and servitude. Those animals, therefore, which are not tamed by their natural ferocity, these are compelled even by very necessity to wait upon and serve their Commander. By these arguments, surely, it shines forth that the power of commanding all the rest has been conferred by God himself upon man, set up wherever throughout the nations. And hence it has come about that the whale and all the monsters of the sea—horrible at the mere mention of their names—are made subject and laid low under the rule and dominion of man. Thus Basil.9

Cùm tantam indulta tibi rationis vim perspicias, nihil non meantem ac penetrantem omniáque pervincentem, quomodo non etiam imperitandi Balaenis facultas tibi suppetet? Equidem vidi admirabilem hominum in capiendis Balaenis solertiam et ingeniosum valde artificium. Postquam autem miram capiendi Balaenas rationem et artem enarravit Basilius, subdit: Atque ita Cetus hic tam immanis et ferus nullo propè negotio, per hamum tenaciùs inhaerescentem captivus adductus, hominis ingenio et industria domitus et expugnatus, predáque factus piscatorio (exiguo urgens immanis, imbelli), Qua id gratia? Homo sanè, per opulentam et praedivitem vim rationis principatu in quavis animalia donatus, quasi facinorosos ac refugas servos atque rebelles ad obedientiam servitutémque redire cogit. Quae igitur animalia naturali feritate non cicurantur, haec vel ipsa necessitate coguntur ut suo famulentur et serviant Imperatori. His sanè argumentis elucescit ab ipso Deo vim caeteris omnibus imperandi delatam esse homini, ubiuis gentium constituto. Atque hinc factum est ut Balaena omniáque maris monstra, vel solis nominibus horrenda, sub hominis ditionem atque dominatum subiecta et substrata sint. Haec Basilius.

CONFIRMAT hanc nostram et Basilij sententiam auctoritas B. Iacobi, qui cap. 3. Epistolae suae affirmat omnem naturam bestiarum et volucrum et serpentum caeterorúmque domari et domitam esse à natura humana.
This opinion of ours and of Basil is confirmed by the authority of the blessed James, who in chapter 3 of his Epistle affirms that every nature of beasts and birds and serpents and the rest is tamed and has been tamed by human nature.10

Translator’s notes

  1. Section lemma (Gen 1:26c, the grant of dominion), set centered in italic. Margin: 'Cap. 1. et Vers. 26.' ↩
  2. Margin: 'Cur dominatus in omnes animantes datus fuerit primo homini.' Why dominion was given to the first man: dignity needs power; man as God's vicar; he rules by reason, not bodily strength. ↩
  3. Margin: 'Cur pisces primo loco dicantur subiecti homini.' Why fish are named first (the least tractable of animals). Page breaks; catchword 'pidant' (= trepidant). ↩
  4. Page header: 'IN GENESIM, LIB. IIII. 391.' Margin: 'Mira vis gentis Tentyritarum adversus Crocodilos.' Basil, Hom. 9 in Genesim; Pliny, Naturalis historia 8.25 (the Tentyrites who master crocodiles; the snake-charming Psylli). ↩
  5. Margin: 'Theodoretus refellitur putans Cetos non esse factos propter hominem, nec eius imperio subiectos.' Theodoret, Quaestiones in Genesim q. 20. Introduces the Theodoret block-quote. ↩
  6. Theodoret, Quaest. in Gen. q. 20, with Pererius's framing ('Et interiectis quibusdam, ita concludit'). The Psalm is Ps 8:7–9 ('Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius...'). ↩
  7. Pererius's refutation of Theodoret: the same rational pre-eminence grounds dominion over all; Moses includes sea-monsters and beasts under his terms; Deut 4:19 (sun/moon/stars made for man's service). Page breaks at 'adversan-' (adversantem). ↩
  8. Page header: 'COMMENTARIORVM 392.' Introduces the Basil (Hom. 10 in Genesim) block-quote on dominion over the great fish. ↩
  9. Basil, Hom. 10 in Genesim (with Pererius's connective 'Postquam autem...subdit'). The whale tamed by the fisherman as proof that God gave man dominion over all. ↩
  10. James 3:7 ('Omnis enim natura bestiarum...domatur et domita est a natura humana'). ↩