LatineEnglish
Noah found grace before the Lord.1
Noë invenit gratiam coram Domino.
Hoc dixit Moses (ne quis putaret, ut monet Chrysostomus, propter ea quae proxime ante dicta fuerant de exitio totius terrae omniumque animalium atque hominum, omnimodam fore humani generis abolitionem et stirpitus eradicandam esse naturam nostram) sed potius ut intelligeretur quantum malum sit peccatum et quantum bonum sit virtus, et quod melior sit unus faciens voluntatem Domini quam decem millia praevaricatorum. Unde subiungit Moses: Noë autem invenit gratiam coram Deo. Quasi dicat: Tametsi multitudo omnis in tantam malitiam proiecta fuerit, iustus tamen hic scintillam virtutis conservavit; et sicut illi malis operibus misericordem Deum ad indignationem provocaverunt, sic iste, pollens virtute, gratiam invenit coram domino Deo. Non est personarum acceptor Deus; verum si in tanta multitudine inveniat hominem quae sibi placita sunt facientem, non despicit, sed sua illum dignatur cura, et tanto maiorem illius rationem habet quanto, cum tot sint qui ad malum eum trahere conantur, constantius ipse resistit et virtutis viam sectatur. Hinc igitur apparet quantam vim et efficacitatem excellens virtus et pietas habeat apud Deum; hac nempe unus Noë adeo placuit Deo ut non sibi ac suae familiae solum diluvii effugium, sed etiam ut, ipso auctore, mundi reparatio ac renovatio fieret, promeritus sit.
Moses said this (lest anyone should think, as Chrysostom notes, on account of what had been said just before about the destruction of the whole earth and of all the animals and men, that there would be an utter abolition of the human race, and that our nature was to be eradicated root and branch) — but rather that it might be understood how great an evil sin is, and how great a good virtue is, and that one man doing the will of the Lord is better than ten thousand transgressors. Whence Moses subjoins: “But Noah found grace before God.” As if to say: Although the whole multitude had cast itself into so great a malice, this just man nevertheless preserved a spark of virtue; and just as those, by their evil works, provoked the merciful God to indignation, so this man, strong in virtue, found grace before the Lord God. God is no respecter of persons; but if in so great a multitude he find a man doing the things that are pleasing to him, he does not despise him, but deems him worthy of his care, and has the more regard for him by as much as, when there are so many who try to drag him to evil, he himself the more steadfastly resists and pursues the way of virtue. Hence, then, it appears how great force and efficacy excellent virtue and piety have with God; for by this one Noah so pleased God that he merited not only an escape from the Flood for himself and his family, but also that, with himself as its author, there should be a repair and renewal of the world.2
Illud item animadvertere oportet, Deum etiam in medio impiorum suos habere servos suique nominis cultores, nec in tantum malos multitudine aut potentia valescere ut non inter eos sint boni aliqui quos Deus cognoscit, protegit, et, ne cum malis pereant, mirabiliter conservat. Cuius rei exemplum exstat in Elia, cui conquerenti apud Deum se solum Dei cultorem in populo Israel esse relictum, respondit Deus se in populo Israel reliquisse sibi et conservasse septem millia virorum qui non curvaverant genua sua ante Baal. Sed verba huius sententiae Mosis excutiamus, et primum aperiamus significationem huius vocabuli Noë.
This too must be observed: that God has his own servants and worshipers of his name even in the midst of the impious, and that the wicked do not so far prevail in multitude or power that there are not among them some good men whom God knows, protects, and, lest they perish with the wicked, marvelously preserves. An example of this stands in Elijah, who, complaining before God that he alone was left as a worshiper of God among the people of Israel, was answered by God that he had reserved and preserved to himself, among the people of Israel, seven thousand men who had not bowed their knees before Baal. But let us examine the words of this sentence of Moses, and first let us open up the meaning of this word ‘Noah.’3
Translator’s notes
- Genesis 6:8 (Vulgate lemma). ↩
- §3: why Moses adds this — Chrysostom: lest one think the whole race was to be abolished; one man doing God’s will outweighs ten thousand transgressors. Margin: Chrysostom, homily 22 on Genesis. ↩
- §4: God has his own even amid the impious (Elijah and the seven thousand). Margins: 3 Kings (1 Kings) 19; Rom. 11. ↩