Commentaria in Genesim
Behold how strong is the confidence in, and the help of, the mighty God. St. Martin in the Alps had fallen among robbers, of whom one, brandishing an axe at his head, threatened death, but his companion turned aside the blow. Asked afterwards by St. Martin whether he had feared: “Not at all,” he said, “I was never more secure: for I knew that God’s mercy would be present chiefly in tribulation.” So also St. Francis, asked by robbers who he was, answered fearlessly: “I am the herald of the great God.” Marinus the Martyr, about to be called before the judge, hearing from Bishop Theotecnus: “Hold fast and cleave to God: for strengthened by him, you will surely attain what you desire;” did exactly that, and so constantly approached the tribunal, and, confessing Christ, was crowned with martyrdom as Eusebius testifies, book VII History, chap. 14. We read of a certain prudent and pious prince, who, when asked why he did not build fortified citadels in his kingdom, replied: “I have one citadel, and that most strongly fortified, namely that of which the Wise Man Solomon says: “The name of the Lord is a most strong tower; to it the just man runs and is delivered.” Note: a good prince of the people ought to be a shepherd and a stone, making the people firm, strengthening and sustaining them.
Secondly, others explain it further thus: “from thence,” that is, from Joseph, shall come forth stones and shepherds, that is, the leaders, judges and kings of Israel, such as Josue, Debora, Gedeon, Jephte, Jair, Abimelech, Jeroboam, and the kings of the ten tribes; for these all descended from Joseph.
Thirdly, some, reading for eben, that is, stone, the two words ab ben, that is, father and son, render it: “Joseph went forth as the shepherd of the father and the son of Israel,” that is, Joseph in the famine fed and nourished both his father Israel and his sons. Hence the Chaldee refers this not to Joseph but to abbir, that is, the mighty God of Jacob, and renders it thus: “by whose (God’s) word the fathers and sons of the tribes of Israel are governed.” But the first sense is above all the literal and genuine one.
Allegorically, Rupert says, Joseph the shepherd is Christ, who is the shepherd and the rock and the cornerstone of the Church. Again, the shepherd and rock of the Church is St. Peter and the other Pontiffs, the vicars of Christ. For to Peter Christ said: “Feed my sheep”; and: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”
Verse 25. THE GOD OF YOUR FATHER.—The God who guided your father Jacob in all things will also, on account of Jacob’s merits and holiness, which you imitate, help and direct you as Jacob’s son and the heir of his faith and piety (1).
AND HE SHALL BLESS YOU WITH THE BLESSINGS OF HEAVEN,—by giving you from heaven seasonable rain, dew and snow, and a serene sky, and the kindly influence of the sun and the heavens, by which your land may be made fruitful, that it may bring forth for you, that is, for your posterity, the best and most abundant crops and fruits in Chanaan.
WITH THE BLESSINGS OF THE DEEP THAT LIES BELOW.—Vatablus takes the deep to mean the sea, as if to say: God will give you timely rain, which arises from the clouds and vapours rising from the deep, that is, the sea; but this is not a blessing of the deep, but of heaven, as has gone before.
Others take the deep to mean the globe compounded of earth and sea.
But I say that the deep is properly that abyss of waters which lies hidden under the earth, and which is joined with the sea and by its veins and streams waters and fertilizes the earth, of which I spoke at chapter 1, verse 9, and chapter 7, verse 11; hence the Chaldee renders it, “with the blessings that rise from the depths of the earth.” Jacob therefore here wishes for Joseph a well-watered and fertile land, with waters coming forth from the deep below.
WITH THE BLESSINGS OF THE BREASTS AND OF THE WOMB,—that is, that you may have abundant milk, offspring and children, both of animals and of men. This blessing was recalled and taken away in punishment of ingratitude, Osee 9:11, where it is said: “Ephraim has flown away like a bird, their glory is from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception”; and: “Give them a womb without children, and dry breasts.”
Allegorically, Joseph is Christ, whom all things above and below bless and adore, all the angels and Saints in heaven, and the fathers in limbo, and whom all the faithful on earth praise, saying with Elisabeth: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb”; and with the other woman who cried out in the crowd:
“Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck.” Again, Christ was blessed “in heaven,” that is, in soul and mind; for from the first instant of his conception he was full of grace and glory, enjoying God and blessed in the very vision of God. He was also blessed “in the deep below,” that is, in the mortal flesh which he assumed, in which he humbled and emptied himself most profoundly; for he had flesh free from sin and concupiscence, and after the resurrection glorious, life-giving, and imparting immortality in the Eucharist.
Secondly, Christ had the blessing of “the womb,” that is, of the Church bringing forth; for she bears to Christ the most beautiful and the most numerous children, Isaias chapters 49 and 60; and of “the breasts,” because by the word of God and the Sacraments, as by a double breast, she nourishes her faithful and children. So Rupert, and from him Pererius.
Verse 26. THE BLESSINGS OF YOUR FATHER ARE STRENGTHENED WITH THE BLESSINGS OF HIS FATHERS.—First, “with the blessings” means above the blessings; or, as the Hebrew has it, over the blessings of my fathers, as if to say: I, Jacob, was blessed above my fathers Abraham and Isaac, both by my father Isaac and by God; and so I in turn bless you, O Joseph, and consequently you will be more blessed than both my fathers and myself, because you will obtain not only the blessing of the fathers, as I did, but mine also. So Lyranus, Abulensis, Pererius.
Secondly, Rupert explains it thus, as if to say: My blessing has its strength from the blessing which I received from my fathers; for it is founded upon that and rests upon it. The Hebrew readily bears this sense.
Thirdly, Burgensis and Vatablus very fittingly render and explain it thus, as if to say: Greater is my blessing, with which I, O Joseph, bless you, than that with which I was blessed by my fathers, as if to say:
You will be happier than I, and more blessed; for you will be prince of Egypt for the rest of your life, and your posterity will be the judges and kings of Israel.
Fourthly, some explain it thus: “are strengthened,” that is, made firm, joined to and increased by the blessings of the fathers; hence the Chaldee renders it: The blessings of your father shall be added to the blessings with which my fathers blessed me, as if to say: I impart and add to you, O Joseph, not only my own blessing but that of all my fathers, and I pray for what they prayed for on my behalf, namely, that I with my posterity might be most happy. This sense is fuller, but the third, like the first, is simpler, as corresponding better to the Hebrew; for the verb gabar, especially when construed with al, signifies to prevail, to overcome, to rule.