Homilies on Exodus, Homilia I
Scripture as seed that grows into a tree§1
1Every word of divine Scripture seems to me like seed. Cast into the earth it is born again and multiplies. This word, if it finds a skilled farmer, grows into a tree — like a mustard seed. By your prayers may the word of God be present.
Latin · §1
Videtur mihi unusquisque sermo Scripturae divinae similis esse seminum. Iactum in terram regeneratur et multiplicatur. Sermo hic, si peritum colonum inveniat, crescit in arborem sicut granum sinapis. Precibus adsit sermo Dei.
Names of Israel’s sons who entered Egypt§2
2These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt with Jacob; seventy-five souls. Egypt is the world into which God’s people descend to sojourn. There is Israel according to the flesh and according to the spirit; a true Israelite in whom is no guile.
Latin · §2
Haec sunt nomina filiorum Israel qui ingressi sunt in Aegyptum cum Iacob; animae septuaginta quinque. Aegyptus — mundus in quem populus descendit ad incolendum. Est Israel secundum carnem et secundum spiritum; verus Israelita sine dolo.
Each house enters; Joseph already in Egypt§3
3Each with his whole house: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah. Joseph was in Egypt and took a wife from there, yet remains in the patriarchs’ number. The houses are generations of the soul entering the world.
Latin · §3
Unusquisque cum universa domo: Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Iudas. Ioseph erat in Aegypto uxoremque inde accepit, et in numero patriarcharum manet. Domus — generationes animae ingredientis mundum.
Letter without culture vs spiritual tillage§4
4Whoever follows only the history of the names leaves the seed untilled. Whoever works it with spiritual skill becomes a tree — not verbal pomp, but a way of living. The names mark beginnings of the virtues in the soul.
Latin · §4
Qui solam historiam nominum sequitur, semen sine cultura relinquit. Qui spiritali arte tractat, arbor fit — non pompa verborum, sed ratio vivendi. Nomina virtutum initia in anima designant.
Descent and increase — Homilia I CLOSEOUT§5
5The reading at Exodus’s opening holds the descent into Egypt and the increase. We pursue as much as edifies. This is Homily I’s close — from the word’s seed as far as the mystery of Egypt and the true Israel. Amen.
Latin · §5
Lectio in initiis Exodi descensum in Aegyptum et multiplicationem continet. Quantum ad aedificationem sufficit persequimur. Haec Homiliae I clausula a semine verbi usque ad mysterium Aegypti et veri Israel. Amen.