Mind of the Church

The mind of the Church, faithfully rendered into English

Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Four — the creation of the first human beings

GENESIS CH. 2, VERSE 15. The Lord God therefore took the man, and put him in the Paradise of pleasure, that he might work and keep it

LatineEnglish

GENESIS CH. 2, VERSE 15. The Lord God therefore took the man, and put him in the Paradise of pleasure, that he might work and keep it.1

CAP. 2. VERS. 15. Tulit ergo Dominus Deus hominem, & posuit eum in Paradiso voluptatis, ut operaretur & custodiret illum.

SVPRA Moses describere aggressus Paradisum, cùm dixisset eum in regione Heden ad plagam eius Orientalem esse consitum, inseruit mentionem hominis, scribens in eo positum esse hominem à Deo: id nempe dicens per anticipationem, ut ostenderet solius hominis causa Paradisum esse à Deo conditum. Posteà verò absoluta Paradisi descriptione subiunxit quemadmodum & cur Deus posuerit hominem in Paradiso, id videlicet suo narrans loco. Verùm quantum ad verba Mosis, scire convenit illud Tulit Deus hominem, tribus modis posse nos interpretari. Primò, ut Deus interiori monitu docuerit quò esset eundum Adamo, scilicet in locum Paradisi, velut in domicilium sibi à Deo paratum ad habitandum: quemadmodum legimus apud Matthaeum, capite 4. Dominum nostrum à spiritu ductum esse in desertum. Deinde, possumus intelligere, sicut Henoch, Habacuc, & Philippum proditum est spiritu Dei esse abreptos, & in longinqua loca delatos: ita Adam, ex eo loco ubi creatus erat, in locum Paradisi spiritu Dei esse translatum. Denique, illud quoque opinari licet, per Angelum humani corporis specie indutum, esse Adam quasi manu deductum in Paradisum, sicut Angelus Raphaël ducebat Tobiam: & hoc Augustino, mihíque verissimilius fit. Deum enim, vel potius Angelum qui Dei verbis loquebatur, legimus infrà locutum esse cum Adamo, & Adamum audivisse vocem Dei deambulantis in Paradiso.
ABOVE, Moses, having set about describing Paradise — when he had said that it was planted in the region of Eden, toward its eastern quarter — inserted a mention of man, writing that man had been placed in it by God: saying this, namely, by anticipation, in order to show that Paradise was founded by God for the sake of man alone. But afterward, the description of Paradise being completed, he subjoined how and why God placed man in Paradise — narrating it, that is, in its own place. But as to the words of Moses, it is fitting to know that that phrase “God took the man” can be interpreted by us in three ways. First, that God by an interior admonition taught Adam whither he must go — namely, to the place of Paradise, as into a dwelling prepared for him by God to inhabit: just as we read in Matthew, chapter 4, that our Lord was led by the Spirit into the desert. Then, we can understand that — as it is recorded of Enoch, Habakkuk, and Philip that they were snatched away by the Spirit of God and carried off to distant places — so Adam was translated, from the place where he had been created, into the place of Paradise by the Spirit of God. Finally, it is also permissible to think that, through an Angel clothed in the appearance of a human body, Adam was, as it were, led by the hand into Paradise — just as the Angel Raphael led Tobias; and this seems most probable to Augustine and to me. For God — or rather the Angel who spoke in the words of God — we read below conversed with Adam, and Adam heard the voice of God walking in Paradise.2
CAVSAM verò cur statim ut creatus est Adam in Paradisum à Deo sit illatus, suprà in libro tertio, qui est de Paradiso, aperuimus, cùm doceremus cur Deus Paradisum tanta pulchritudine & amoenitate condidisset, in quo tamen Adam brevissimo tempore, & post eum nullus mortalium, mansurus erat. Annotavit Augustinus lib. 8. de Genesi ad litteram, c. 11. hoc loco, primùm fuisse Deú appellatum vocabulo Domini, cú dicitur, Dominus Deus, nec id temerè. Namque hoc [...]
But the reason why, as soon as Adam was created, he was brought by God into Paradise, we opened above in the third book, which is On Paradise, when we taught why God had founded Paradise with such great beauty and pleasantness — in which, however, Adam was going to remain a very brief time, and after him no mortal. Augustine noted, in book 8 On Genesis according to the Letter, chapter 11, that in this passage God was first called by the word “Lord,” when it is said “the Lord God”; and that not without reason. For this [...] [continues]3
[...Namque] hoc loco primum Deus legem homini posuit: qua re declaravit se dominum esse hominis, hominémque ad serviendum & obediendum Deo esse factum: eóque servitio & obedientia aeternam vitam ac foelicitatem consecuturum. Sed parum firma est haec annotatio, Siquidem ante hunc locum in Hebraica & Latina Scriptura quater, bis autem in translatione LXX. Interpretum vocabulum Domini tribuitur Deo. Pro illo autem verbo, Posuit, Hebraicú verbum ויניחהו Vuiannichehu, est multo sane significantius: significat enim dimisit seu reliquit: quo significatur, Deum non duxisse Adamum in Paradisum ut ei Paradisi pulchritudinem & magnificentiam tantum ostenderet, & mox inde eum abduceret, sed inibi dimisit & reliquit eum tanquam in loco eius habitationi destinato.
[...For] in this passage God first laid a law upon man: by which He declared Himself to be the lord of man, and that man was made to serve and obey God, and by that service and obedience would attain eternal life and happiness. But this annotation is little firm, since before this passage, in the Hebrew and Latin Scripture four times, and twice in the translation of the Seventy Translators, the word “Lord” is attributed to God. Now for that word “He put” (Posuit), the Hebrew word ויניחהו (Vuiannichehu) is assuredly much more significant: for it means “he let go” or “he left”; whereby it is signified that God did not lead Adam into Paradise in order merely to show him the beauty and magnificence of Paradise and then presently lead him away from there, but there let him go and left him, as in a place destined for his habitation.4
ILLVD porro intelligendum est ex eo quod dicitur, Deum tulisse hominem & posuisse in Paradiso, liquidò cognosci hominem non esse creatum intra Paradisum, sed extra: si enim intra Paradisum esset creatus, non rectè diceretur, Deum tulisse hominem & posuisse in Paradiso. Idémque apertiùs significatur infrà, capite tertio, ubi sic est: Eiecit Deus Adam ex Paradiso, ut operaretur terram de qua sumptus est: Adam igitur creatus est ex terra, quae erat extra Paradisum. Sed cur Deus noluit creare hominem in Paradiso? Primò quidem, quia habitatio Paradisi non conveniebat homini secundùm eius naturam, sed propter donum immortalitatis quod ei Deus in statu innocentiae permanenti concessurus erat: illud autem donum immorta-[litatis...]
Moreover, it is to be understood from this — that God is said to have taken the man and put him in Paradise — that it is clearly known that man was not created inside Paradise, but outside: for if he had been created inside Paradise, it would not rightly be said that God took the man and put him in Paradise. And the same is more clearly signified below, in the third chapter, where it stands thus: “God cast Adam out of Paradise, that he might till the earth from which he was taken”: Adam, therefore, was created from earth that was outside Paradise. But why did God not wish to create man in Paradise? First, indeed, because the habitation of Paradise did not befit man according to his nature, but on account of the gift of immortality which God was going to grant him in the abiding state of innocence: but that gift of immortali-[ty...] [continues]5
[...illud autem donum immorta]litatis non erat naturale homini, sed gratuito Dei munere ei tributum: quo igitur manifestiùs intelligeret Adam, eum locum non esse sibi naturaliter debitum, sed sola Dei gratia concessum, congruum erat Adam creari extra Paradisum. Deinde, si Adam creatus esset in Paradiso, nec ante vidisset alia loca, fortè putasset eum locum sibi convenire ac deberi naturaliter: at creatus extra Paradisum, ex comparatione aliorum locorum clariùs agnoscens praestantiam Paradisi, sine dubitatione intellexit eximiam Dei erga se benevolentiam ac beneficentiam, qui tam felici eum loco ac domicilio dignatus esset. Ad haec quo Adam cautior esset, & ad obsequendum Dei voluntati promptior, atque in custodiendis iussis & praeceptis eius diligentior atque curiosior: certissimè sciens tantisper sibi esse in Paradiso commorandum, dum ipse Dei praeceptis obtemperaret. Postremò, ut nullam habere posset iure dolendi & de Deo conquerendi causam, cùm ex Paradiso propter peccatum eiiceretur, quasi loco sibi naturaliter [debito...]
[...but that gift of immortali]ty was not natural to man, but bestowed on him by a gratuitous gift of God: so that Adam might the more manifestly understand that that place was not naturally owed to him, but granted by the grace of God alone, it was fitting that Adam be created outside Paradise. Then, if Adam had been created in Paradise, and had not before seen other places, he might perhaps have thought that that place suited him and was owed to him naturally; but, created outside Paradise, recognizing more clearly the excellence of Paradise from the comparison of other places, he understood without doubt the exceptional benevolence and beneficence of God toward him, who had dignified him with so happy a place and dwelling. Besides this, that Adam might be more cautious, and readier to obey the will of God, and more diligent and careful in keeping His commands and precepts — knowing most certainly that he was to dwell in Paradise only so long as he himself obeyed the precepts of God. Lastly, that he might be able to have no just cause of grieving and complaining about God, when he should be cast out of Paradise on account of sin, as though dislodged from a place naturally [owed...] [continues]6
[...quasi loco sibi naturaliter] debito & convenienti deturbatus esset: cùm tamen Deus propter peccatum naturalibus bonis hominem multare ac privare minimè soleat. VERUM roget aliquis, Cur igitur Deus Angelos in Coelo condidit? cur item caeteras animantes in suo quamque loco ubi habitaturae ac vitam acturae erant, procreavit? cur denique Evam quae Adamo ignobilior erat formavit intra Paradisum? Sed ad haec facile est hunc [in modum respondere...]
[...as though from a place naturally] owed and suited to him he had been dislodged — whereas God is by no means wont, on account of sin, to fine and deprive man of his natural goods. But someone may ask: Why, then, did God found the Angels in Heaven? Why, likewise, did He procreate the other living things, each in its own place where they were going to dwell and live out their life? Why, finally, did He form Eve — who was more ignoble than Adam — inside Paradise? But to these it is easy [to respond in this way...] [continues]7
[...Sed ad haec facile est hunc] in modum respondere. Ad primum respondeo, coelum empyreum in quo sunt Angeli creati, locum fuisse naturaliter maximè convenientem dignitati naturae Angelicae, quippe quae longè superior & praestantior sit omnibus corporibus eisque praesideat. Excellentia verò Paradisi excedebat naturae hominis conditionem, nec ei aliter quàm propter donum innocentiae & immortalitatis congruebat. Simile quid respondendum est ad secundam obiectionem. Etenim loca in quibus generata sunt animalia, non superabant conditionem cuiusque animalis, quinimo cuiusque eorum naturae admodum conveniebant: non sic autem habebat se Paradisus comparatione hominis.
[...But to these it is easy to respond in this] way. To the first I respond: the empyrean heaven, in which the Angels were created, was naturally most suited to the dignity of the Angelic nature, since it is far higher and more excellent than all bodies and presides over them. But the excellence of Paradise exceeded the condition of man's nature, and befitted him not otherwise than on account of the gift of innocence and immortality. Something similar must be responded to the second objection. For the places in which the animals were generated did not surpass the condition of each animal — nay rather, they suited the nature of each of them very well; but Paradise was not so, in comparison with man.8
Ad tertium responderi posset negando, Evam esse creatam in Paradiso sed extra, & simul cum Adamo esse à Deo introductam in Paradisum. Ita enim sensit Iosephus in 1. libro Antiquitatum capite 1. & Rupertus libro secundo de Trinitate & eius operibus vicesimosecundo capite. HOc etiam sensit Tertullianus, libro secundo contra Marcionem, eo loco quo disputat, verba illa Ezechielis capite 28. Tu signaculum similitudinis plenus sapientia, & perfectus decore. In delicijs paradisi Dei fuisti: vel ut ipse Tertullianus legit, In delicijs paradisi Dei tui natus es, verba, inquam, illa licèt sub nomine regis Tyri dicta sint, verè tamen de eo non posse intelligi, sed de Lucifero, id est, diabolo qui è Coelo cecidit propter superbiam: sic enim argumentatur Tertullianus; Propheta dicit regem Tyri natú esse in Paradiso; atqui nullus mortalium, ne ipse quidem Adam in Paradiso Dei natus est, ergo non debet illud intelligi de rege Tyri, sed sub eius nomine putandum est significari Luciferum, cui omnis eius loci prophetia mirificè congruit.
To the third it could be responded by denying that Eve was created in Paradise, [saying] rather that she was created outside, and together with Adam was introduced into Paradise by God. For so Josephus held, in the first book of the Antiquities, chapter 1, and Rupert, in the second book On the Trinity and His Works, chapter twenty-two. This too Tertullian held, in the second book against Marcion, in the passage where he disputes those words of Ezekiel, chapter 28: “You, the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in the delights of God's Paradise” — or, as Tertullian himself reads, “You were born in the delights of your God's Paradise” — those words, I say, although they were spoken under the name of the king of Tyre, cannot truly be understood of him, but of Lucifer, that is, the devil who fell from Heaven on account of pride. For thus Tertullian argues: the Prophet says that the king of Tyre was born in Paradise; but no mortal — not even Adam himself — was born in the Paradise of God; therefore that ought not to be understood of the king of Tyre, but under his name Lucifer must be thought to be signified, to whom the whole prophecy of that passage wonderfully agrees.9
At enim propius vero est, & divinae scripturae Patrúmque doctrinae convenientius, arbitrari Evam formatam esse in paradiso: id enim non obscurè indicat contextus narrationis Mosaicae, & Basilius docet Homilia de Paradiso, & pro certo tradunt Scholastici Theologi in secundo Sententiarum, distinct. 18. & B. Thom. prima parte quaestio. 102. articulo quarto. Cur autem Eva formata sit in Paradiso, haec ratio potest reddi. Formari enim debebat velut ex principio, ex ipso Adamo: primum autem principium totius alicuius generis oportet esse perfectum: decebat igitur ex Adamo, prout erat in statu perfecto secundùm animum & corpus & secundùm habitationem procreari Evam, & ut sic palam esset originalia illa bona animi, corporis, & habitationis Ada-[mo tributa...]
But indeed it is nearer the truth, and more agreeable to divine Scripture and to the doctrine of the Fathers, to judge that Eve was formed in Paradise: for the context of the Mosaic narration indicates this not obscurely, and Basil teaches it in his Homily on Paradise, and the Scholastic Theologians hand it down as certain, in the second book of the Sentences, distinction 18, and blessed Thomas, in the First Part, question 102, article four. But why Eve was formed in Paradise, this reason can be given. For she had to be formed, as from a principle, from Adam himself; but the first principle of any whole kind must be perfect: it was fitting, therefore, that Eve be procreated from Adam, inasmuch as he was in the perfect state, according to soul and body and according to habitation — and so that it might thus be made plain that those original goods of soul, of body, and of habitation, bestowed on Ada-[m...] [continues]10
[...originalia illa bona animi, corporis, & habitationis Ada]mo tributa, caeteros omnes qui ex eo deinceps procrearentur, propter solius eius vel obedientiam vel inobedientiam, aut percepturos esse, aut perdituros.
[...those original goods of soul, of body, and of habitation, bestowed on Ada]m, all the rest who would thereafter be procreated from him would, on account of his obedience or disobedience alone, either receive or lose.11

Translator’s notes

  1. Scripture lemma (set in the margin as CAP. 2. VERS. 15., the verse in italic) opening a new stretch of commentary. ↩
  2. Large decorated initial 'S'. The earlier mention of man (Gen 2:8) was by anticipation. Three readings of 'God took the man': interior admonition (cf. Matt 4:1); rapture by the Spirit (Enoch, Habakkuk in Bel/Dan 14, Philip in Acts 8); or an Angel leading by the hand (Raphael with Tobias) — Pererius' and Augustine's preference. Marginal glosses: 'Quomodo Adam sit à Deo collocatus in Paradiso'; 'Genes. 5. Danielis 14. Actorum 8.' ↩
  3. Cross-reference to Pererius' own book 3 (On Paradise). Augustine (de Gen. ad lit. 8.11): the divine name 'Dominus' (Lord) first appears here. Marginal gloss: 'Quando primú Deus appellatus est nomine Domini.' Sentence breaks at the catchword 'hoc.' ↩
  4. Against Augustine's 'first naming of Lord': the title 'Lord' had already appeared. Hebrew ויניחהו (Vuiannichehu, the wayyiqtol of נוח 'to set/leave,' Gen 2:15) is glossed 'he let go/left' — Adam was settled there, not merely shown the place. (Pererius' transliteration retained.) ↩
  5. Adam was created outside Paradise (Gen 3:23 'to till the earth whence he was taken'). The first of four reasons: Paradise befitted him only by the (non-natural) gift of immortality. Marginal gloss: 'Adamum non esse creatum in Paradiso, & cur' (that Adam was not created in Paradise, and why). ↩
  6. The four reasons completed: (2) to know Paradise was grace, not nature; (3) to appreciate its excellence by comparison; (4) to be cautious and obedient; and lastly, to have no grievance when expelled. ↩
  7. Three objections to Adam's creation outside Paradise (the Angels in heaven, the animals in their habitats, Eve inside Paradise). Page ends at the catchword 'est hunc.' ↩
  8. Replies to objections 1-2: the empyrean fits the Angels' superior nature, and the animals' habitats fit their natures, whereas Paradise exceeds man's natural condition. Marginal gloss: 'Cur Angeli creati sunt in Caelo' (why the Angels were created in Heaven). ↩
  9. Reply to objection 3 (Eve): one option — Eve too created outside (Josephus, Ant. 1.1; Rupert de Trin. 2.22; Tertullian c. Marcionem 2, reading Ezek 28:12-13 of Lucifer, since 'no mortal, not even Adam, was born in Paradise'). Marginal gloss: 'An Eva creata sit in paradiso.' ↩
  10. Pererius' preferred view: Eve formed in Paradise (Basil, Hom. on Paradise; Sent. II d.18; Aquinas ST I q.102 a.4), because she springs from Adam in his perfect state (soul, body, habitation). Marginal gloss: 'Cur creata sit Eva in paradiso.' ↩
  11. The point of Eve's formation from the perfect Adam: that all posterity would receive or forfeit the original goods through his sole obedience or disobedience. ↩