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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Four — the creation of the first human beings

GENESIS CH. 2, VERSE 18. The Lord God also said: It is not good for man to be alone

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GENESIS CH. 2, VERSE 18. The Lord God also said: It is not good for man to be alone.1

GEN. C. 2. VERS. 18. Dixit quoque Dominus Deus: Non est bonum hominem esse solum.

EXPOSITA diligenter generatione Adami, deinceps ad enarrandam Evae procreationem, quae non minorem habet vel divinae potentiae sapientiaéque admirationem, vel disputationum quaestionúmque obscuritatem & difficultatem, veniendum est. Ante omnia verò Moses supradictis verbis aperit causam & necessitatem creandi mulierem, quia scilicet non erat bonum ut vir esset sine muliere, sed necessarium erat ut vir mulierem haberet sociam & adiutricem sibi congruentem, cùm ad alia permulta, tum maximè ad generandam prolem, & ea ratione propagandam conservandamque speciem humanam; tale enim adiumentum homini in nullo caeterorum animalium inveniri potuit.
Having carefully expounded the generation of Adam, we must come next to narrating the procreation of Eve, which has no less either of admiration of the divine power and wisdom, or of obscurity and difficulty of disputations and questions. But before all, Moses, by the above words, opens the cause and necessity of creating the woman — namely, because it was not good that the man should be without a woman, but it was necessary that the man have a woman as a companion and helper congruent to himself, both for very many other things and especially for begetting offspring, and by that means for propagating and conserving the human species; for such a help could be found for man in none of the other animals.2
SED quam habent illa Domini verba sententiam: Non est bonum hominem esse solum? hanc nimirum; Cum homo sua natura sit animal congregabile & sociabile, non erat bonum esse ipsum solitarium & [absque socio...]
But what sense have those words of the Lord, “It is not good for man to be alone”? This, namely: Since man by his own nature is a gregarious and sociable animal, it was not good for him to be solitary and [without a companion...] [continues]3
[...Cum homo sua natura sit animal congregabile & sociabile, non erat bonum esse ipsum solitarium &] absque cósortio aliorum hominum: fuisset enim ei vita tametsi bonis omnibus afflueret, iniucunda tamen & acerba: qua de re Cicero in libro quem scripsit de Amicitia, Laelium multa egregiè disputanté inducit. Verùm haec ratio probat Adamum sine consortio aliorum hominum esse non debuisse, quòd auté sine consortio mulieris esse non debuerit, ex eo manifestum est, quod Adam erat velut caput & seminarium humani generis, ex quo scilicet omne genus hominú propagandum & multiplicandum erat: nec multiplicatio autem hominum sine generatione, nec generatio sine mulieris societate & cóiunctione fieri poterat.
[...Since man by his own nature is a gregarious and sociable animal, it was not good for him to be solitary and] without the fellowship of other men: for his life, even though it flowed with all goods, would nevertheless have been unpleasant and bitter — concerning which matter Cicero, in the book he wrote On Friendship, introduces Laelius disputing many excellent things. But this reasoning proves that Adam ought not to have been without the fellowship of other men; that he ought not, moreover, to have been without the fellowship of a woman, is manifest from this — that Adam was, as it were, the head and seedbed of the human race, from which, namely, the whole race of men was to be propagated and multiplied; and neither the multiplication of men without generation, nor generation without the society and conjunction of a woman, could come about.4
Eo cùm perfectó opus viventiú sit, auctore Aristotele, generare sibi simile, vel imperfectus fuisset Adam si ea facultate generandi caruisset, vel ea irrita fuisset atque inanis si eam exequi non potuisset: non potuisset auté ea uti sine mulieris adiumento. Denique, sublata muliere necesse est tolli generationé hominum: hac sublata, species humana perpetuari non potest, ea verò extincta, necesse est valdè mutilum atque imperfectú remanere universum, quippe cum omniú rerum corporatarú praestantissimus sit homo, & quasi universitatis rerum pulcherrimú quoddam vinculú & decentissimus nexus. Nec bonum erat hominem esse solum propter Angelos: nimirum diminutio eorum ob ruinam malorum spirituum supplemento hominum resarcienda erat. Nec id fuisset bonum etiam propter Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, qui ex Adamo progenerandus primus erat praedestinatorum, & primogenitus omnis creaturae. Nec profectó id bonum esse poterat, cùm aeterni Dei consilio & proposito constitutum esset, multos ex posteris Adae ad aeternae vitae ac felicitatis participationem assumere. Nec decebat Dei bonitatem & munificentiam quae per se communicabilis erat cum infinitis hominibus, ad unum duntaxat hominem restringi & coarctari.
Since the perfect work of living things is, on Aristotle's authority, to generate something like itself, either Adam would have been imperfect if he had lacked that faculty of generating, or it would have been vain and empty if he could not have carried it out — and he could not have used it without a woman's help. Finally, the woman being removed, the generation of men is necessarily removed; this removed, the human species cannot be perpetuated; and it being extinguished, the universe must remain greatly mutilated and imperfect — since man is the most excellent of all corporeal things, and, as it were, a certain most beautiful bond and most fitting link of the universe of things. Nor was it good for man to be alone, on account of the Angels: namely, the diminution of them, on account of the ruin of the evil spirits, was to be repaired by a supplement of men. Nor would it have been good, also on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was to be generated from Adam, the first of the predestined, and the firstborn of every creature. Nor indeed could it be good, since by the counsel and purpose of the eternal God it had been determined to take up many of Adam's posterity to a participation of eternal life and happiness. Nor did it befit the goodness and munificence of God — which was of itself communicable with infinite men — to be restricted and confined to one man only.5
CAETERVM, hac Domini sententia: Non est bonum hominem esse solum, abutuntur Haeretici nostri temporis, ad oppugnanda monastica vota virginitatis & coelibatus. Si enim, inquiunt, Non est bonum hominem esse solum, id est, sine coniugio: ergo ista vota quae coniugium excludunt mala sunt & Dei sententiae contraria. Verùm in istos haereticos verissimè dici potest quod Saducaeis dixit Dominus: Erratis nescientes Scripturas, neque virtutem Dei. Quo enim ore audent vituperare & damnare virginitatem & coelibatum quasi hominum inventa, & divinae Scripturae, Deíque voluntati contraria, cùm ea iam inde ab Apostolis usque in Ecclesia Christi fuerit usitatissima & laudatissima?
But this sentence of the Lord, “It is not good for man to be alone,” the Heretics of our time abuse, in order to attack the monastic vows of virginity and celibacy. For if, they say, “It is not good for man to be alone,” that is, without marriage, then those vows which exclude marriage are evil and contrary to the sentence of God. But against those heretics it can most truly be said what the Lord said to the Sadducees: “You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.” For with what face do they dare to censure and condemn virginity and celibacy as if they were inventions of men, and contrary to divine Scripture and to the will of God — when it has, from the Apostles onward, been most practiced and most praised in the Church of Christ?6
Nonne Paulus in cap. 7. prioris epistolae ad Corinthios gravissimis verbis disputat, statum virginum ac coelibum longè optabiliorem & praestabiliorem esse matrimonio. Bonum est, inquit, homini mulierem non tangere: Et: Dico autem non nuptis & viduis. Bonum est illis si sic permáserint sicut & ego: Et, solutus es ab uxore, noli quaerere uxorem: Et, qui matrimonio iungit virginem suam, bene facit: & qui non iungit, melius facit: denique: Mulier, inquit, quae vult nubat tantùm in Domino. Beatior autem [erit si sic permanserit...]
Does not Paul, in chapter 7 of the former epistle to the Corinthians, dispute in the weightiest words that the state of virgins and celibates is far more desirable and more excellent than matrimony? “It is good,” he says, “for a man not to touch a woman”; and: “But I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain so, even as I”; and: “Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife”; and: “He who joins his virgin in matrimony does well; and he who does not join her does better”; and finally: “A woman,” he says, “who wishes, let her marry — only in the Lord. But more blessed [will she be if she remain so...] [continues]7
[...Beatior autem erit si sic permanserit secundùm meum consilium: Puto autem quod & ego Spiritum Dei habeam. Nec Paulus tantùm ita sentit, sed etiam Pauli magister & Dominus, Evangelicaéque legis & gratiae conditor Christus, cuius est illa in Evangelio ad commendationem virginitatis perquàm insignis sententia, Sunt Eunuchi qui seipsos castraverunt propter regnum coelorum. QVID ergo? doctrinam novi Testamenti Scripturae Vet. Testa. contrariam esse dicemus? minimè verò: sed duo tempora duósque hominis status distinguere oportet.
[...But more blessed will she be if she remain so, according to my counsel; and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.” Nor does Paul alone think thus, but also Paul's Master and Lord, and the founder of the evangelical law and grace, Christ — whose is that most remarkable sentence in the Gospel, for the commendation of virginity: “There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.” What then? Shall we say that the doctrine of the New Testament is contrary to the Scripture of the Old Testament? By no means: but two times and two states of man must be distinguished.8
Namque in exordio mundi propter hominum paucitatem non fuisset bonum abstinere coniugio: neque enim humanú genus aut perpetuari ut oportebat, aut usquequaque diffundi & propagari potuisset. Posteà verò infinitè propemodum facta hominum multiplicatione, nulla ratio quemquam hominum propriè urgebat & cogebat matrimoniú inire. Et verò, longè diversa ratio fuisset matrimonij in statu innocentiae, atque est nunc in statu naturae corruptae. In illo enim statu facta esset generatio & multiplicatio hominum duntaxat electorum & praedestinatorú sine ulla libidinis turpitudine, sine ullo corporis aut animi vitio & impedimento quo à cultu & obsequio Dei coniuges ulla ex parte retardarentur. In hoc autem nostrati statu, tot tantísque cú periculis, vitiis, incommodis, & rerum meliorum impedimentis coniunctum est matrimonium, ut non modò non sit vitio dandum, sed etiá magnae laudi vertendum quo expeditiori & tranquilliori animo serviatur Deo, matrimonij vinculis nolle illigari.
For in the beginning of the world, on account of the fewness of men, it would not have been good to abstain from marriage: for neither could the human race be perpetuated as it ought, nor diffused and propagated everywhere. But afterward, the multiplication of men being made well-nigh infinite, no reason properly urged or compelled any man to enter marriage. And indeed, the reckoning of marriage would have been far different in the state of innocence than it now is in the state of corrupt nature. For in that state the generation and multiplication of only the elect and predestined men would have taken place without any turpitude of lust, without any vice or impediment of body or mind by which the spouses would be retarded in any part from the worship and service of God. But in this our state, marriage is joined with so many and such great dangers, vices, discomforts, and impediments to better things, that it is not only not to be reckoned a fault, but even to be turned to great praise, to be unwilling to be bound by the bonds of marriage — that one may serve God with a freer and more tranquil mind.9

Let the reader hear blessed Cyprian, in the Treatise On the Dress of Virgins, confirming in the weightiest words, against the heretics, what we have now said about marriage: “The first sentence of God commanded to increase and to generate; the second persuaded to continence. While the world is still rude and empty, we are propagated by the abundance of generating fecundity, and we grow to the increase of the human race. When the world is now filled up and full, those who can receive continence, living after the manner of eunuchs, are made eunuchs for the kingdom.” And the rest that follows.10

Audiat lector B. Cyprianú in Tractatu de habitu virginú, quod nunc de matrimonio diximus adversus haereticos gravissimis verbis ita confirmantem: Prima Dei sententia crescere & generare praecepit: secunda ad continentiá suasit. Cùm adhuc rudis mundus & inanis est, copia foecunditatis generante propagamur, & crescimus ad humani generis augmentum. Cùm iam refertus est orbis & mundus impletus, qui capere continentiam possunt, spadonum more viventes, castrantur ad regnum. Et caetera quae sequuntur.

Translator’s notes

  1. Scripture lemma (marked GEN. C. 2. VERS. 18. in the margin, the verse in italic) opening the new section. ↩
  2. Large decorated initial 'E'. Transition from Adam to Eve; the cause of woman's creation: a fitting companion and helper, above all for generation and the survival of the species (which no animal could supply). ↩
  3. The sense of Gen 2:18: man is by nature social, so solitude was not good for him. Marginal gloss: 'Cur non fuit bonum esse virum sine muliere.' Page ends at the catchword 'absque' (signature MM 3). RESUME POINT for next batch: PDF 503, '...solitarium & absque [socio]...'. ↩
  4. Solitude was not good: man is social (Cicero, de Amicitia, on Laelius); and Adam, the 'seedbed' of the race, needed a woman for generation. ↩
  5. Why woman was needed: generation (Aristotle's 'perfect work'), the survival of the species and the perfection of the universe, the restoration of the fallen Angels' number, the descent of Christ, and the multitude of the predestined. ↩
  6. Polemic against 'the heretics of our time' (the Reformers) who abuse Gen 2:18 against celibacy: rebuked with Matt 22:29 ('You err, not knowing the Scriptures'); virginity has always been honored in the Church. Marginal glosses: 'Contra Haereticos qui abstinere matrimonio malum esse dicunt'; 'Matthaei 22.' ↩
  7. Paul, 1 Cor 7 (woven citations: vv. 1, 8, 27, 38, 39-40), preferring the celibate state. Sentence breaks at the catchword 'autem.' ↩
  8. Christ too commends virginity (Matt 19:12). The apparent OT/NT conflict resolved by distinguishing two epochs/states. Marginal glosses: 'Matth. 10' [Matt 19]; 'Duo status hominis cosiderádi in matrimonio.' ↩
  9. The two epochs: when men were few, marriage was a duty; once the race was multiplied, celibacy (especially given fallen nature's lusts) is praiseworthy — freeing one for God's service. ↩
  10. Cyprian, de habitu virginum (block-quote): the first command was to multiply; once the world is full, continence ('eunuchs for the kingdom') is the call. ↩