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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume II

Book Fifteen — the multiplication of mankind after the flood

{Of Sem also, the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, there were born children.}

LatineEnglish

{Of Sem also, the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, there were born children.}1

De Sem quoque nati sunt patre omnium filiorum Heber, fratre Iaphet maiore.

HEBRAICAM lectionem huius loci sic expressit Pagninus: „Et ipsi Sem natus est. Etiam ipse est pater omnium filiorum Heber, frater Iaphet maior.“ Septuaginta vero eundem locum sic reddiderunt: „Et Sem natus est, etiam ipsi patri omnium filiorum Heber, fratri Iaphet maioris.“ S. Augustinus libro decimo sexto de Civitate Dei capite 3, supradicta verba partim connectens cum antecedentibus, partim breviter exponens, ad hunc modum scribit: „Restat commemorare filios Sem, maximi filii Noë. Ad eum nempe gradatim generationum istarum pervenit a minimo exorta narratio. Sed unde incipiunt commemorari filii Sem, habet quiddam obscuritatis, quod…“
The Hebrew reading of this place Pagninus expressed thus: „And to Sem himself there was born. He himself also is the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth.“ But the Seventy rendered the same place thus: „And Sem was born, to him also the father of all the children of Heber, the brother of the elder Japheth.“ Saint Augustine, in the sixteenth book of the City of God, chapter 3, partly connecting the aforesaid words with what precedes, partly briefly expounding them, writes in this manner: „It remains to mention the sons of Sem, the greatest son of Noah. For to him, step by step, the narrative of these generations, having begun from the least, has come. But whence the sons of Sem begin to be mentioned has something of obscurity, which…“2
…expositione illustrandum est, quia multum ad rem pertinet quam inquirimus. Sic enim legitur: Et Sem natus est etiam ipsi patri omnium filiorum Heber, fratri Iaphet maiori. Ordo verborum est: Et Sem natus est Heber etiam ipsi, id est, etiam ipsi Sem natus est Heber, qui Sem pater est omnium filiorum. Sem ergo Patriarcham intelligi voluit omnium qui de stirpe eius exorti sunt, quos commemoraturus est, sive sint filii sive nepotes et pronepotes et deinceps indidem exorti. Dicitur autem Sem patrem fuisse Heber, cum tamen quintus in serie progenitorum reperiatur: primus inquam nominatus est Heber in progenie Sem, et praelatus est etiam filiis eius, non ob aliam causam nisi quod verum est quod traditur, ex illo Hebraeos esse cognominatos tanquam Heberaeos; ac deinde una detracta litera Hebraeos. Quam linguam solus populus Israel obtinuit, in quo populo Dei civitas et in sanctis peregrinata est et in omnibus sacramentis adumbrata est.“ Sic Augustinus.
…must be illustrated by exposition, because it pertains much to the matter we are inquiring into. For it is thus read: ‘And Sem was born, to him also the father of all the children of Heber, the brother of the elder Japheth.’ The order of the words is: ‘And to Sem too was born Heber,’ that is, to Sem himself also was born Heber — which Sem is the father of all the children. Sem, therefore, he wished to be understood as the Patriarch of all who sprang from his stock, whom he is about to mention, whether they be sons or grandsons and great-grandsons and thence onward sprung from the same. Now Sem is said to have been the father of Heber, although he is found fifth in the series of forebears: Heber, I say, was first named in the progeny of Sem, and was preferred even to his sons, for no other cause than that it is true, as is handed down, that from him the Hebrews were surnamed as if ‘Heberaeans’; and then, one letter removed, ‘Hebraeans.’ Which tongue the people of Israel alone obtained — in which people the city of God both sojourned among the saints and was foreshadowed in all the sacraments.“ So far Augustine.3
SED in verbis Augustini nonnulla sunt animadvertenda. Primo, quod ipse legit Sem fuisse fratrem Iaphet maiorem natu, cum tamen codices Graeci nunc contra habeant. Deinde ordinem horum verborum quem disposuit Augustinus, excludit tam Hebraica quam Latina lectio, in quibus illud „De Sem natus est“ vel „nati sunt“ per se cohaeret, nec iungitur cum sequentibus, maxime vero cum Heber. Significatur enim ipsi Sem quoque non defuisse prolem et progeniem, quinimo fuisse valde numerosam et nobilem. Causam item cur praecipue Sem dictus sit pater Heber, expositam ab Augustino equidem approbo. Videtur enim Moses consulto id dixisse ad commendandam dignitatem Sem, qui patriarcha fuerit populi Hebraei et tot aliorum patriarcharum, regum et prophetarum qui in eo populo floruerunt.
But in Augustine's words there are some things to be noted. First, that he reads that Sem was the elder brother of Japheth by birth, whereas the Greek codices now have the contrary. Next, the order of these words which Augustine arranged is excluded by both the Hebrew and the Latin reading, in which that phrase ‘Of Sem there was born’ or ‘there were born’ coheres by itself, and is not joined with what follows, and least of all with Heber. For it is signified that to Sem too there was not lacking offspring and progeny — nay, that it was very numerous and noble. The reason, likewise, why Sem was especially called the father of Heber, expounded by Augustine, I for my part approve. For Moses seems to have said this on purpose, to commend the dignity of Sem, who was the patriarch of the Hebrew people and of so many other patriarchs, kings, and prophets who flourished in that people.4

Translator’s notes

  1. Gen 10:21 (verse lemma). ↩
  2. §131. Gen 10:21. The variant readings: Pagninus (Hebrew) — ‘to Sem was born; he is father of all Heber's children, the elder brother of Japheth’; the LXX — ‘brother of the elder Japheth.’ Augustine (City of God 16.3): it remains to mention the sons of Sem, the greatest son of Noah; the wording has some obscurity (continues p. 454). Margins: Pagninus; Augustine. ↩
  3. §131 (concl.). Augustine's exposition: ‘And to Sem too was born Heber’ — Sem is the Patriarch of all his line (sons, grandsons, etc.). He is called ‘father of Heber’ though Heber is fifth in descent, because Heber is named first and preferred, since from him the Hebrews are named (‘Heberaeans’ → ‘Hebrews’) — the tongue Israel alone kept, in which the city of God sojourned and was foreshadowed in all the sacraments. ↩
  4. §131 (cont.). Remarks on Augustine: (1) he reads Sem as Japheth's elder brother, though the Greek codices now read the contrary; (2) his word-order is excluded by both Hebrew and Latin, where ‘Of Sem there was/were born’ stands by itself, not joined to ‘Heber’ — signifying Sem too had a numerous, noble progeny. Pererius approves Augustine's reason why Sem is called ‘father of Heber’: Moses did it to commend Sem's dignity as patriarch of the Hebrews and of so many patriarchs, kings, and prophets. ↩