# On Genesis against the Manichaeans - Author: [Augustine of Hippo](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/augustine-of-hippo/) - Latin title: *De Genesi contra Manichaeos libri duo* - Date: ca. 388–390 (approximate) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, vol. 34 (Paris, 1841), cols. 173–220 (Benedictine text of the Maurists) (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/ - Passages: 54 ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-1 - Source: PL 34:174 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that he writes in plain language so that even the unlearned can answer the Manichees' attacks on the Old Testament, and that God permits heresies to rouse believers to study Scripture. ### Latin text Si eligerent Manichæi quos deciperent, eligere­ mus et nos verba quibus eis responderemus: cum vero ilii et doctos IiUcris, et indoctos errore suo per­ sequantur, et cum promittunt veritatem, a veritate conentur avertere; non ornato politoque sermone, sed rebus manifestis convincenda est vanitas eorum, Placuit enim mihi quorumdam vere christianorum sententia, qui cum sint eruditi liberalibus litteris, ta­ men alios libros nostros, quos adversus Manichæos edidimus, cum legissent, viderunt eos ab imperitiori­ bus, aut non aut difficile intelligi, et me benevolen­ tissime monuerunt ut communem loquendi consuetu­ diuem non desererem, si errores illos tam pernicio­ sos ab animis etiam imperitorum expellere cogitarem. Hunc enim sermonem usitatum et simplicem etiam docti intelligunt, illum autem indocti non intelligunt. Solent ergo Manichæi Scripturas Veteris Testa­ menti, quas non noverunt, vituperare, et ea vitupe­ ratione infirmos et parvulos nostros, non invenientes quomodo sibi respondeant, irridere atque decipere: quia nulla Scriptura est, quae non apud eos qui illam non intelligunt, facile possit reprehendi. Sed ideo di­ vina providentia multos diversi erroris haereticos esse permiuit, ut cum insultant nobis, et interrogant nos ea quæ nescimus, vel sic excutiamus pigritiam, et di­ vinas Scripturas nosse cupiamus. Propterea et Apo­ stolus dicit: Oportet hæreses me I, ut probati mani­ festi fiant inter νοs (I Cor. at, 19). Illi enim Deo pro­ bati sunt, qui bene possunt docere: sed manifesti hominibus esse non possunt, nisi cum docent; docere autem nolunt, nisi eos qui doceri quaerunt. Sed multi ad quaerendum pigri sunt, nisi per molestias et insul­ tationes haereticorum quasi de somno excitentur, et de imperitia sua erubescant sibi, et de illa imperitia sua periclitari se sentiant. Qui homines si bonae sunt fidei, non cedunt hæreticis, sed quid cis respon­ deant diligenter inquirunt. Nec eos deserit Deus, ut petentes accipiant, et quærentes inveniant, et pul­ santibus aperiatur. Qui autem despe­ rant se posse in catholica disciplina invenire quod quærunt, atteruntur erroribus; et si perseveranter inquirunt, ad ipsos fontes a quibus aberraverunt, post magnos labores fatigati atque sitientes, et pene mor­ tui revertuntur. ### English translation (Claude) If the Manichees chose whom to deceive, we too would choose the words with which to answer them. But since they pursue with their error both the learned in letters and the unlearned, and, while they promise the truth, try to turn people away from the truth, their emptiness must be refuted not with an ornate and polished style but with plain facts. For I was pleased by the advice of certain truly Christian men who, though they are educated in the liberal arts, saw, when they had read the other books that we published against the Manichees, that the less skilled either did not understand them or understood them with difficulty; and they most kindly advised me not to abandon the ordinary manner of speaking, if I intended to drive those so pernicious errors out of the minds of the unskilled as well. For this usual and simple language the learned also understand, but the other the unlearned do not understand. The Manichees, then, are accustomed to find fault with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, which they do not know, and by this faultfinding to mock and deceive our weak and little ones, who do not find how to answer them; for there is no Scripture that cannot easily be criticized by those who do not understand it. But divine providence has permitted many heretics of various errors to exist for this reason: that when they insult us and ask us things we do not know, we may at least in this way shake off our sloth and desire to know the divine Scriptures. That is why the Apostle too says, “There must be heresies, so that those who are approved may become manifest among you.” For those are approved by God who are able to teach well; but they cannot become manifest to people except when they teach, and they are not willing to teach any except those who seek to be taught. But many are slow to seek unless they are roused as if from sleep by the annoyances and insults of the heretics, and are ashamed of their ignorance, and feel that they are endangered by that ignorance. If such people are of good faith, they do not give way to the heretics but diligently inquire what to answer them. Nor does God abandon them; so that those who ask receive, and those who seek find, and to those who knock it is opened. But those who despair of being able to find in the catholic teaching what they seek are worn down by errors; and if they keep on searching, they come back to the very springs from which they strayed, after great labors, weary and thirsty and nearly dead. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 11:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 7:8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: 1 Cor 11:19; Matt 7:7–8. The “other books” are probably De moribus ecclesiae catholicae et de moribus Manichaeorum. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.1 (PL 34:174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-1). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-2 - Source: PL 34:174–175 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the Manichaean question about what God did before creation: the beginning is Christ, time itself was created, and God's will, the cause of all things, has no prior cause. ### Latin text Primum ergo librum Veteris Testamenti, qui inscribitur Genesis, sic solent Manichaei reprehendere. Quod scriptum est, In principio fecit Deus cœlum et terram, quierunt, in quo principio; et dicunt: Si in principio aliquo temporis fccil Deus coelum et terram, quid agebat antequam faceret cœlum et terram? et quid ei subito placuit facere, quod nunquam antea fe­ cerat per tempora æterna? Ilis respondemus, Deum in principio fecisse coelum et terram, non in princi­ pio temporis, sed in Christo, cum Verbum esset apud Patrem, per quod facta et in quo facta sunt omnia (Joan. i, i, 3). Dominus enim noster Jesus Christus, cum eum Judoci interrogassent quis esset, respondit, Principium, quia et loquor νοbis (1 d. VIII, 25). Sed etsi in principio temporis Deum fecisse caelum et terram credamus, debemus utique intelligere quod ante prin. cipium temporis non erat tempus. Deus enim feeit et tempora: et ideo antequam faccret tempora, non erant tempora. Non ergo possumus dicere fuisse ali­ quod tempus quando Deus nondum aliquid fecerat. Quomodo enim erat tempus quod Deus non fecerat,. cum omnium temporum ipse sit fabricator? Et si tempus cum caelo et terra esse cœpit, non potest in­ veniri tempus quo Deus nondum fecerat coelum et terram. Cum autem dicitur, Quid ei placuit subito, sic dicitur, quasi aliqua tempora transierint, quibus Deus nihil operatus est. Non enim transire poterat tempus, quod nondum fecerat Dvus; quia non potest esse operator temporum, nisi qui est ante tempora. Certe et ipsi Manichæi legunt apostolum Paulmn, et laudant et honorant; et ejus Epistolas male interpre­ tando multos decipiunt. Dicant ergo nobis quid dixe­ rit apostolus Paulus, Agnitionem veritatis quae est se­ cundum pietatem Dei in apem vitas æternæ, quam pro­ misit non mendax Deus ante tempora aeterna: æterna euim tempora quid ante se habere potuerunt? Hoc ergo cogantur expnere, ut intelligant se non in­ telligere, cuin temere volunt reprehendere quod dili­ genter quærere debuerunt. Si autem non dicunt, Quid placuit Deo subito fa­ cere coelum et terram, sed tollunt inde, subito; et hoc tantum dicunt, Quid placuit Deo facere coelum et te.-ram? Non euim coævum Deo mundum istum dici­ uius, quia non ejus aeternitatis est hic mundus, cujus æternitatis est Deus: mundum quippe fecit Deus, et sic cum ipsa creatura quam Deus fecit, tempora esse coeperunt; et ideo dicuntur tempora æterna. Non ta­ men sic sunt æterna tempora quomodo aeternus est Deus, quia Deus est ante tempora, qui fabricator est temporum: sicut omnia quae fecit Deus bona sunt valde, sed non sic bona sunt, quomodo bonus est Deus, quia ille fecit, hæc autem facta sunt: nec ea genuit de seipso, ut hoc essent quod ipse est; sed ea lecit de nihilo, ut non essem æqualia, nec ei a quo facta sunt; nec Filio ejus per quem facta sunt; justum est enim. Si ergo isti dixerint, Quid placuit Deo fa­ cere coelum et lerram? respondendum est eis, ut prius discant vim voluntatis humanae, qui voluntatem Dei nosse desiderant. Causas enim voluntatis Dei scire quærunt, cum voluntas Dei omnium quae sunt, ipsa sit causa. Si enim habet causam voluntas Dei, est aliquid quod antecedat voluntatem Dei, quod ne­ fas csJ credere. Qui ergo dicit, Quare fecit Deus cœ­ lum et terram? respondendum est ei, Quia voluit. Vo­ kintas enim Del causa est coeli et terrae, et ideo ma­ jor est voluntas Dei quam coelum et terra. Qui autem dicit, Quare voluit facere coelum et terram? majus ali­ quid quærit quam est voluntas Dei: nihil autein ma­ jus inveniri potest. Compescat ergo se humana teme­ ritas, et id quod non est non. quærat, ne id quod est non inveniat. Et si voluntatem Dei nosse quisquam desiderat, fiat amicus Deo: quia si voluntatem homi­ nis nosse quisquam vellet, cujus amicus non esset, omnes ejus impudentiam ac stultitiam deriderent. Non autem quisquam efficitur amicus Dei, nisi purgatissi- Diis moribus, et illo fine praecepti de quo Apostolus dicit, Finis autem νræcepti est charitas de corde pare, et conscientia bona, et Hde non fieta: quod isti si haberent, non essent hæretici. ### English translation (Claude) So the first book of the Old Testament, which is entitled Genesis, the Manichees usually criticize in this way. Concerning what is written, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” they ask, in what beginning? And they say: If God made heaven and earth in some beginning of time, what was he doing before he made heaven and earth? And why did it suddenly please him to make what he had never made before through eternal times? We answer them that God made heaven and earth in the beginning, not in the beginning of time but in Christ, since the Word was with the Father, through whom and in whom all things were made. For our Lord Jesus Christ, when the Jews asked him who he was, answered, “The Beginning, who also speak to you.” But even if we believe that God made heaven and earth in the beginning of time, we certainly ought to understand that before the beginning of time there was no time. For God made times too, and therefore before he made times there were no times. So we cannot say that there was some time when God had not yet made anything. For how could there be a time that God had not made, since he himself is the maker of all times? And if time began to exist with heaven and earth, no time can be found in which God had not yet made heaven and earth. But when it is said, “Why did it suddenly please him?”, it is said as if some times had passed in which God did nothing. For time could not pass that God had not yet made, since no one can be the maker of times except one who is before times. Surely the Manichees themselves read the apostle Paul, and praise and honor him, and by interpreting his letters badly they deceive many. Let them tell us, then, what the apostle Paul meant: “The knowledge of the truth which is according to the piety of God, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before eternal times.” For what could eternal times have before them? Let them be forced to explain this, so that they may understand that they do not understand, when they rashly wish to find fault with what they ought to have studied carefully. But suppose they do not say, “Why did it suddenly please God to make heaven and earth?” but take away “suddenly,” and say only, “Why did it please God to make heaven and earth?” For we do not say that this world is coeternal with God, because this world is not of the same eternity as God: God made the world, and so times began to exist together with the creature that God made, and that is why they are called eternal times. Yet times are not eternal in the way that God is eternal, because God, who is the maker of times, is before times; just as all things that God made are very good, but are not good in the way that God is good, because he made them and they were made. Nor did he beget them from himself, so that they would be what he himself is; but he made them from nothing, so that they would not be equal either to him by whom they were made or to his Son through whom they were made; for that is just. If, then, they say, “Why did it please God to make heaven and earth?”, they must be answered that those who want to know the will of God should first learn the power of the human will. For they seek to know the causes of God's will, when the will of God is itself the cause of all things that are. For if God's will has a cause, there is something that precedes God's will, which it is impious to believe. So whoever says, “Why did God make heaven and earth?” must be answered, “Because he willed to.” For God's will is the cause of heaven and earth, and therefore God's will is greater than heaven and earth. But whoever says, “Why did he will to make heaven and earth?” is seeking something greater than God's will; but nothing greater can be found. Let human rashness then restrain itself, and not seek what is not, lest it fail to find what is. And if anyone desires to know the will of God, let him become a friend of God; for if anyone wanted to know the will of a man whose friend he was not, everyone would laugh at his impudence and folly. But no one becomes a friend of God except by most purified morals and by that end of the commandment of which the Apostle says, “But the end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith.” If they had this, they would not be heretics. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: allusion, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, high confidence - John 8:25: quotation, high confidence - Titus 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Titus 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:31: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 1:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:1; John 1:1, 3; John 8:25 (Latin “Principium, quia et loquor vobis”, following the Old Latin and Vulgate reading); Titus 1:1–2; 1 Tim 1:5. Gen 1:31 is alluded to (“very good”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.2 (PL 34:174–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-2). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-3 - Source: PL 34:175 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that the earth God made was at first invisible and unformed, and that the light in which God dwells is not the sun the Manichees worship but the true light that enlightens every person. ### Latin text Quod autem sequitur in libro Geneseos, Terra autem erat invisibilis et incomposita, sic reprehen­ dunt Manichaei, ut dicant: Quomodo fecit Deus in principio cœlum et terram, si jam et terra erat invi­ sibilis et incomposita? Ita, cum volunt Scripturas die vinas prius vituperare quam nosse, etiam res aper­ tissimas non intelligunt. Quid enim manifestius did potuit, quam hoc dictum est, In principio fecit Deus cœlum et terram; terra autem erut invhibilis et ineo. posita; id est, In priucipio fecit Deus cœlum et ter­ ram; terra autem ipsa quam fecit Deus, invisibilis erat et incomposita, antequam Deus omnium rerum formas locis et sedibus suis ordinata distinctione dis­ poneret: antequam diceret, Fiat lux, et, Fiat firma­ mentum, et, Congregentur aquæ, et, Appareat arida, et caetera quae in eodem libro sic exponuntur per ordi­ nem, quemadmodum possint ea parvuli capere? Quai omnia continent lam magna mysteria, ut quisquis-ea didicerit, omnium hæreticorum vanitatem vel doleat quia homines sunt, vel derideat quia superbi sunt. Sequitur in eodem libro, Et tenebrae erant super abyssum. Quod Manichaei reprehendunt dicentes: In tenebris ergo erat Deus, antequam faceret lucem? Vere ipsi sunt in tenebris ignorantiae, et ideo non in­ telligunt lucem, in qua Deus erat antequam faceret istam lucem. Non enim norunt isti lucem, Risi quam carneis oculis vident. Et ideo istum solem, quem pa­ riter non solum cum bestiis majoribus, sed ctiam cum muscis et vermiculis cernimus, illi sic cohmt ut particulam dicant esse lucis illius in qua habitat Deus. Sed nos intelligamus aliam lucem esse in qua Deus habitat, unde est illud lumen de quo in Evangelio te­ gitur, Erat lumen verum, quod illuminat omnem homi­ nem νenientem in hunc mundum. Nam so­ lis istius lumen non illuminat omnem hominem, sed corpus hominis et mortales oculos, in quibus nos vin­ cunt aquilarum oculi, qui solem istum multo melius quam nos dicuntur aspicere. Illud autem lumen non irrationabilium avium i oculos pascit, sed pura corda eorum qui Deo credunt, et ab amore visibilium rerum et temporalium se ad ejus praecepta implenda conver­ tunt. Quod omnes homines possunt si velint, quia illud lumen omnem hominem illuminat venientem in hunc mundum. Ergo tenebræ erant super abyssum antequam lux ista fieret: de qua consequenter hoc loco dicitur. ### English translation (Claude) What follows in the book of Genesis, “But the earth was invisible and unformed,” the Manichees criticize so as to say: How did God make heaven and earth in the beginning, if the earth was already invisible and unformed? Thus, since they want to find fault with the divine Scriptures before they know them, they fail to understand even the plainest things. For what could be said more clearly than what is said here: “In the beginning God made heaven and earth; but the earth was invisible and unformed”? That is: In the beginning God made heaven and earth; but the earth itself which God made was invisible and unformed, before God arranged the forms of all things in their places and seats by an ordered distinction; before he said, “Let there be light,” and “Let there be a firmament,” and “Let the waters be gathered,” and “Let the dry land appear,” and the rest that are set out in order in the same book in a way that little ones can grasp. All these things contain such great mysteries that whoever has learned them will either grieve at the emptiness of all heretics because they are human beings, or laugh at it because they are proud. There follows in the same book, “And darkness was over the abyss.” This the Manichees criticize, saying: Was God, then, in darkness before he made light? Truly they themselves are in the darkness of ignorance, and that is why they do not understand the light in which God was before he made this light. For they know no light except what they see with fleshly eyes. And so they worship this sun, which we see not only along with the larger beasts but even with flies and little worms, in such a way that they say it is a particle of that light in which God dwells. But let us understand that the light in which God dwells is another light, from which comes that light of which it is read in the Gospel, “He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world.” For the light of this sun does not enlighten the whole man, but the body of man and his mortal eyes, in which the eyes of eagles surpass us, since they are said to look at this sun much better than we do. But that light does not feed the eyes of irrational birds, but the pure hearts of those who believe in God and turn from love of visible and temporal things to fulfilling his commandments. All men can do this if they will, because that light enlightens every man coming into this world. So darkness was over the abyss before this light came to be, of which the passage goes on next to speak. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:9: quotation, high confidence - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:2, 3, 6, 9; John 1:9. The Old Latin “invisibilis et incomposita” renders the LXX of Gen 1:2. On the Manichaean reverence for the sun as a vessel of the divine light, Augustine reports their view. Augustine takes omnem hominem in John 1:9 both as “every man” and, in contrast with the sun, as “the whole man”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.3 (PL 34:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-3). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-4 - Source: PL 34:175–177 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues that darkness, like silence or nakedness, is not a thing but an absence, and so the Manichaean myth of a race of darkness is empty. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Fiat lux. Quia ubi lux non est, tenebrae sunt, non quia aliquid sunt tenebrae, sed ipsa lucis absentia tenebrae dicuntur. Sicut silentium non aliqua res est, sed ubi sonus non est, silentium dicitur. Et nudius aliqua res non est, sed in corpore ubi tegumentum non est, nuditas dicitur. Et inanitas non est aliquid, sed locus ubi corpus non est, inanis dicitur. Sie tenebrae nonaliquid sunt, sed ubi lux non est, tenebræ dicuntur. Hoc ideo dicimus, quia so­ lent dicere: Unde erant ipsae tenebræ super abyssum, antequam faceret Deus lucem? quis illas fecerat vel genuerat? aut si nemo fecerat vel genuerat eas, aeter­ nae erant tenebrae. Quasi aliquid sint tenebrae: sed, ut dictum est, lucis absentia hoc nomen accepit. Sed quia ipsi fabulis suis decepti crediderunt gentem esse tenebrarum, in qua et corpora et formas et animas m illis corporibus fuisse arbitrantur, ideoputant quod tenebrae aliquid sint: et non intelligunt non sentiri tenebras, nisi quando non videmus, sicut non sentitur silentium, nisi quando non audimus. Sicut autem silentium nihil est, sic et tenebrae nihil sunt. Sicut autem isti dicunt gentem tenebrarum contra lucem Dei pugnasse; sic potest et alius similiter va­ nus dicere, gentem silentiorum contra vocem Dei pugnasse. Sed iilas vanitates modo. non suscepimus refellere atque convincere. Nunc enim ea quae repre­ hendunt in Veteri Testamento, statuimus defendere quantum vires Dominus praestare dignatur, et in eis ostendere contra veritatem Dei nihil valere hominum caecitatem. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let there be light.” For where there is no light there is darkness, not because darkness is something, but the very absence of light is called darkness. Just as silence is not a thing, but where there is no sound it is called silence. And nakedness is not a thing, but on a body where there is no covering it is called nakedness. And emptiness is not something, but a place where there is no body is called empty. So darkness is not something, but where there is no light it is called darkness. We say this because they usually say: Where did that darkness over the abyss come from, before God made light? Who had made or begotten it? Or if no one had made or begotten it, the darkness was eternal. As if darkness were something; but, as has been said, the absence of light has received this name. But because they, deceived by their fables, have believed that there is a race of darkness, in which they suppose there were bodies and forms and souls in those bodies, they therefore think that darkness is something; and they do not understand that darkness is not perceived except when we do not see, just as silence is not perceived except when we do not hear. And just as silence is nothing, so darkness is nothing. And just as they say that a race of darkness fought against the light of God, so another man equally vain could say that a race of silences fought against the voice of God. But we have not undertaken at present to refute and convict those vanities. For now we have resolved to defend the things they criticize in the Old Testament, as far as the Lord deigns to grant strength, and to show in them that human blindness has no power against the truth of God. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:3. The “race of darkness” (gens tenebrarum) is the Manichaean kingdom of darkness that attacked the realm of light; Augustine reports their myth. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.4 (PL 34:175–177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-4). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-5 - Source: PL 34:177 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that the Spirit was borne over the waters by power, not by place, and that “heaven and earth” and “water” name the formless matter God first created. ### Latin text Quod autem scriptum est, Et Spiritus Dei su­ perferebatur super aquam, sic solent Manichaei repre­ hendere, ut dicant: Aqua ergo erat habitaculum Spi­ ritus Dei, et ipsa continebat Spiritum Dei? Totum conantur perversa mente pervertere, et excæcantur malitia sua. Cum enim dicimus, Sol superfertur super terram, numquid hoc intelligi volumus, qnod in terra habitet sol, et terra solem contineat? Et tamen non sic Spiritus Dei superferebatur super aquam; sic­ ut superfertur sol super terram; sed alio modo quem pauci intelligunt. Non enim per spatia locorum super­ ferebatur aquæ ille Spiritus, sicut sol terrae super­ fertur; sed per potentiam invisibilis sublimitatis suae. Dicant autem nobis isti, quomodo iis rebus quae fabri­ candae sunt, superferatur voluntas fabri. Quod si haec humana et quotidiana non comprehendunt, timeant Deum, et simplici corde quod non intelligunt quoe­ rant, ne cum volunt verbis sacrilegis concidere ve­ ritatem quam videre non possunt, redeat illis securis in crura. Nam illa concidi non potest quae incommuta­ bilis manet; sed quaecumque plagae in illam emissæ fuerint repercutiur.tur, et majore ictu redeunt in eos qui cædere audent, quod credere deberent, ut intel­ ligere mererentur. ' Deinde quærunt, et insultando interrogant: Unde erat ipsa aqua super quam ferebatur Spiritus Dei? numquid cnim superius scriptum est quod Deus aquam fecerit? Hoc si pie quaererent, invenirent quem­ admodum inlelligendurn esset. Non enim aqua sic appellata est hoc loco, ut hæc a nobis inteHigatur quam videre jam possulnus et tangere: quomodo nec terra quoe incomposita et invisibilis dicta est, talis erat qualis ista quæ jam videri et tractari potest. Sed illud quod dictum est, In principio fecit Dcus cælum et terram, cœli et terrae nomine universa creatura si­ gnificata est, quam fecit et condidit Deus. Ideo autem nominibus visibilium rerum haec appellata sunt, pro­ pter parvulorum infirmitatem, qui minus idonei sunt invisibilia comprehendere. Primo ergo maleria facta est confusa et informis, unde omnia fierent quae dis­ tincta atque formata sunt, quod credo a Graecis chaos appellari. Sic enim et alio loco legimus dictum in laudibus Dei, Qui fecisti mundum de materia informi: quod aliqui codices habent, de mate ria invisa. ### English translation (Claude) What is written, “And the Spirit of God was borne over the water,” the Manichees usually criticize so as to say: Was water, then, the dwelling of the Spirit of God, and did it contain the Spirit of God? They try to pervert everything with a perverse mind, and they are blinded by their malice. For when we say, “The sun is borne over the earth,” do we mean it to be understood that the sun dwells in the earth and the earth contains the sun? And yet the Spirit of God was not borne over the water in the way the sun is borne over the earth, but in another way that few understand. For that Spirit was not borne over the water through spaces of place, as the sun is borne over the earth, but through the power of his invisible sublimity. Let them tell us how the will of a craftsman is borne over the things that are to be fashioned. And if they do not grasp these human and everyday things, let them fear God and with a simple heart seek what they do not understand, lest, when they want to hack at the truth they cannot see with sacrilegious words, the axe comes back onto their own legs. For the truth, which remains unchangeable, cannot be cut down; but whatever blows are aimed at it rebound, and return with a greater stroke on those who dare to strike at what they ought to believe in order to deserve to understand. Then they ask, and mockingly inquire: Where did that water come from over which the Spirit of God was borne? For was it written earlier that God made water? If they asked this piously, they would find how it should be understood. For water is not so called in this place in order that we should understand by it this water which we can now see and touch; just as the earth that was called unformed and invisible was not such as this earth which can now be seen and handled. But in what was said, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” the whole creation which God made and established was signified by the name of heaven and earth. These things were called by the names of visible things on account of the weakness of the little ones, who are less fit to grasp invisible things. So first matter was made, confused and formless, from which all things would be made that are distinct and formed; this, I believe, the Greeks call chaos. For so we read in another place, in the praises of God, “You who made the world from formless matter,” which some manuscripts have as “from unseen matter.” ### Scripture references - Gen 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:1: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:17 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:2; Gen 1:1; Wis 11:17 (11:18 in some numberings), “qui fecisti mundum de materia informi” (Greek ἐξ ἀμόρφου ὕλης). The proverb of the axe rebounding on the striker's legs is a Latin saying. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.5 (PL 34:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-5). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-6 - Source: PL 34:177 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that God made even formless matter from nothing, since an almighty God needs no material he did not make himself. ### Latin text Et ideo Deus rectissime creditur omnia de ni­ hilo fecisse, quia etiamsi omnia formata de ista materia facta|sunt, haec ipsa materia tamen de omnino nihilo facta est. Non enim debemus esse similes istis qui omnipoten­ tem Deum non creduntaliquidde nihilo facere potuisse, cum considerant fabros et quoslibet opifices non posse aliquid fabricare, nisi habuerint unde fabricent. Et ligna enim adjuvant fabrum, et argentum adjuvat argenta­ rium, et aurum aurificem, et terra figulum adjuvat ut possit perficere opera sua. Si enim non adjuventur ea materia unde aliquid faciunt, nihil possunt facere, cum materiam ipsam ipsi non faciant. Non enim fa­ ber lignum facit, sed de ligno facit aliquid: sic et caeteri omnes hujusmodi opiOces. Omnipotens autem Deus nulla re adJuvandus erat, quam ipse non fece­ rat, ut quod volebat cfficeret. Si enim ad eas res quas facere volebat, adjuvabat eum aliqua res quam ipse non fecerat, non erat omnipotens: quod sacrilegum est credere. ### English translation (Claude) And so God is most rightly believed to have made all things from nothing, because, even if all formed things were made from this matter, this matter itself was nevertheless made from absolutely nothing. For we must not be like those who do not believe that almighty God could make anything from nothing, when they consider that carpenters and craftsmen of every kind cannot fashion anything unless they have something to fashion it from. For wood helps the carpenter, silver helps the silversmith, gold the goldsmith, and clay helps the potter to complete his works. For if they are not helped by the material from which they make something, they can make nothing, since they do not make the material itself. The carpenter does not make wood, but makes something from wood; and so with all other craftsmen of this kind. But almighty God needed to be helped by nothing that he had not made himself in order to accomplish what he willed. For if, in making the things he wished to make, he was helped by some thing he had not made, he was not almighty; and it is sacrilegious to believe that. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.6 (PL 34:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-6). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-7 - Source: PL 34:177–179 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that formless matter is called “heaven and earth,” “invisible earth,” “abyss” and “water” because of what would be made from it, as a seed is named by the tree it will become. ### Latin text Informis ergo illa materia quam de nihilo Deus fecit, appellata est primo coelum et terra, et dicium est, In principio fecit Deus cælum et terram; non quia jam hoc erat, sed quia hoc esse poterat: nam et coe­ lum scribitur postea factum. Quemadmodum si se­ men arboris considerantes, dicamus ibi esse radices, ct robur, et ramos, et fructus, et folia; non quia jam sunt, sed quia inde futura sunt: sic dictum esi, In principio fecit Deus cœlum et terram, quasi semen caeli et terrae, cum in confuso adhuc esset caeli et terrae materia; sed quia certum erat inde futurum esse coelum et terram, jam et ipsa materia cœlum et terra appellata est. Isto genere locutionis etiam Do­ minus loquitur, cum dicit, Jam non dicam vos servos, quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus ejus. Vos autemdixi amicos, quia omnia quæ audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis: non quia jam factum erat, sed quia certissime futurum erat. Nam post paululum dicit illis: Adhuc multa habeo vobis dicere, sed non po­ testis portare modo. Utquid ergo dixerat, Omma quæ audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis; nisi quia se sciebat hoc esse facturum? Sic etiam cœlum et terra potuit dici maicria unde nondum erat factum cælum et terra, sed tamen non crat aliunde facien­ dum. Innumerabiles tales locutiones in Scripturis di­ vinis inveniuntur. Sicut in consuetudine sermonis no­ stri, cum id quod certissime speramus futurum dici­ mus, Jam factum puta. ilanc autem adhuc informem materiam, etiam terram invisibilcm atque incompositam voluit appel­ lare, quia inter omnia elementa mundi terra videtur minus speciosa quam cætera. Invisibilem autem dixit, propter obscuritatem; et incompositam, propter in­ formitatem. Eamdem ipsam materiam etiam aquam appellavit, super quam ferebatur Spiritus Dei, sicut superfertur rebus fabricandis voluntas artificis. Quod etsi paucorum intelligentia potest attingere, humanis tamen verbis, nescio utrum vel a paucis hominibus, possit exponi. Propterea vero non absurde etiam. aqua dicta est ista materia, quia omnia quae in terra nascuntur, sive animalia, sive arbores vel herbæ, et si qua similia, ab humore incipiunt formari atque nutriri. Hæc ergo nomina omnia, sive cœlam et terra, sive terra invisibilis et incomposita et abyssus cum tenebris, sive aqua super quam Spiritus ferebatur, nomina sunt informis materiæ: ut res ignota notis vocabulis insinuaretur imperitioribus; et non uno vocabulo, sed multis, ne si unum esset, hoc putare­ tur esse quod consueverant homines in illo vocabulo intelligere. Dictum est ergo caelum et terra, quia inde futurum crat cœlum et terra. Dicta est terra invisi­ bilis et incomposita et tenebrc super abyssum, quia informis erat, et nulla specie cerni aut tractari pote­ rat, etiamsi esset homo qui videret atque tractaret. Dicta est aqua, quia facilis et ductilis subjacebat ope­ ranti, ut de iila omnia formarentur. Sed sub his omnibus nominibus materia erat invisa et informis, de qua Deus condidit mundum. ### English translation (Claude) So that formless matter which God made from nothing was first called heaven and earth, and it was said, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” not because it already was this, but because it could be this; for it is written that heaven was made afterward. Just as, if we were considering the seed of a tree, we might say that the roots and the trunk and the branches and the fruit and the leaves are there, not because they already are, but because they will come from it: so it was said, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” as the seed, as it were, of heaven and earth, when the matter of heaven and earth was still in confusion; but because it was certain that heaven and earth would come from it, the matter itself was already called heaven and earth. The Lord too speaks in this kind of expression when he says, “I will no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you”: not because it had already been done, but because it was most certainly going to be done. For a little later he says to them, “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now.” Why, then, had he said, “All that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you,” except that he knew he would do it? So too the matter from which heaven and earth had not yet been made could be called heaven and earth, since they were not to be made from anything else. Countless such expressions are found in the divine Scriptures. So also in our ordinary speech, when we speak of what we most certainly hope will happen, we say, “Consider it done.” This still formless matter he also chose to call the earth invisible and unformed, because among all the elements of the world earth seems less beautiful than the others. He called it invisible on account of its obscurity, and unformed on account of its formlessness. The same matter he also called water, over which the Spirit of God was borne, as the will of a craftsman is borne over the things to be fashioned. Although the understanding of a few can reach this, I do not know whether it can be explained in human words even by a few. Matter was also not unreasonably called water because all things that are born on earth, whether animals or trees or plants and anything similar, begin to be formed and nourished from moisture. All these names, then, whether heaven and earth, or earth invisible and unformed, and the abyss with darkness, or water over which the Spirit was borne, are names of formless matter, so that an unknown thing might be conveyed to the less skilled by known words; and not by one word but by many, lest, if there were one, it should be thought to be what people were accustomed to understand by that word. It was called heaven and earth, then, because heaven and earth were going to come from it. It was called earth invisible and unformed and darkness over the abyss, because it was formless and could not be seen or handled in any form, even if there were a man to see and handle it. It was called water because it lay easy and pliant under the one working on it, so that all things might be formed from it. But under all these names was matter, unseen and formless, from which God established the world. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:8: allusion, medium confidence - John 15:15: quotation, high confidence - John 16:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:2: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:1; John 15:15; John 16:12. Gen 1:2 and 1:8 are alluded to. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.7 (PL 34:177–179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-7). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-8 - Source: PL 34:179 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the objection that “God saw that it was good” implies ignorance: like a craftsman approving a finished work, God's approval shows the work pleased him, and Scripture speaks to our weakness. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Flat lux. Et facta eat lux. Hoc non solent reprehendere Manichæi. sed illud quod sequitur, Et vidit Deus lucem quia bona eat. Dicunt cuim: Ergo non noverat Deus lucem, aut non nove­ rat bonum. Miseri homines, quibus displicet, quod Deo placuerunt opera sua, cum videant ctiam homi­ nem artificem, yerbi gratia, lignarium fabrum, quamvis in comparatione sapientiæ et potentiæ Dei pene nullus sit, tamen tam din lignum caedere atque tractare dolando, asciando, planando, vel tornando atque poliendo quousque ad artis regulas perduca­ tur, quantum potest, et placeat artifici suo. Numquid ergo quia placet ei quod fecit, ideo non noverat bo­ num? Prorsus noverat intus in animo, ubi ars ipsa pulchrior est, quam illa quæ arte fabricantur. Sed quod videt artifex intus in arte, hoc foris probat in opere, et hoc est perfectum quod artifici suo placet. Vidit ergo Deus lucem quia bona est: quibus verbis non ostenditur eluxisse Deo insolitum bonum, sed placuisse perfectum. Quid si dictum esset, Miratus est Deus lucem quia bona est? quantum clamarent? quantum litiga­ rent? Admiratio enim revera de rebus insperatis nasci solet, et tamen legunt isti, et laudant Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum in Evangelio admiratum esse fidem credentium ( Matth. vin, 10 ). Quis autem in illis fecerat ipsam fidem, nisi ipse qui eam mira­ batur? Quod si et alius eam fecisset, utquid mirare­ tur, qui praescius erat? Si solvunt Manichæi quæstio­ nem istam, videant quia et illa solvi potest. Si autem non solvunt, quid ista reprehendunt quæ ad se nolunt pertinere, cum illa quae ad se pertinere dicunt, non noverint? Quod enim miratur Dominus noster, nobis mirandum esse significat, quibus adhuc est opus sic moveri. Omnes ergo tales motus ejus non perturbati animi sunt signa, sed docentis magistri. Sic sunt et verba Veteris Testamenti, quae non Deum infirmum docent, sed nostrae infirmitati blandiuntur. Nihil enim de Deo digne dici potest. Nobis tamen ut nutriamur, et ad ea perveniamus quae nullo humano sermone dici possunt, ea dicuntur quae capere possumus. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let there be light. And light was made.” The Manichees do not usually criticize this, but what follows: “And God saw the light, that it was good.” For they say: So God did not know light, or did not know the good. Wretched men, who are displeased that God was pleased with his works, though they see that even a human craftsman, a carpenter for example, who is almost nothing in comparison with the wisdom and power of God, nevertheless cuts and works the wood so long, by hewing, adzing, planing, or turning and polishing, until it is brought, as far as he can, to the rules of his art and pleases its craftsman. Because what he has made pleases him, did he therefore not know the good? Of course he knew it, inwardly in his mind, where the art itself is more beautiful than the things fashioned by the art. But what the craftsman sees inwardly in his art, he approves outwardly in the work; and that is finished which pleases its craftsman. So God saw the light, that it is good: by these words it is not shown that an unaccustomed good shone out for God, but that the finished work pleased him. What if it had been said, “God marveled at the light, that it is good”? How they would shout! How they would quarrel! For marveling truly tends to arise from unexpected things; and yet they read and praise our Lord Jesus Christ, who in the Gospel marveled at the faith of those who believed. But who had made that very faith in them, if not he who marveled at it? And if another had made it, why would he marvel, who knew it beforehand? If the Manichees solve this question, let them see that the other can be solved too. If they do not solve it, why do they criticize these things, which they hold do not concern them, when they do not understand those that they say do concern them? For when our Lord marvels, he signifies that we, who still need to be moved in this way, ought to marvel. So all such emotions of his are signs, not of a disturbed mind, but of a teaching master. So too are the words of the Old Testament, which do not teach that God is weak, but come down kindly to our weakness. For nothing can be said worthily of God. Yet to us, so that we may be nourished and come to those things that cannot be said in any human speech, those things are said that we can grasp. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:3–4. The marveling of Jesus at faith: Matt 8:10. The Manichees rejected the Old Testament but accepted the Gospels, hence Augustine's argument. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.8 (PL 34:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-8). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-9 - Source: PL 34:179 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that God did not make darkness but distinguished light from it, and that “God called” means he ordered things so that they could receive names, not that he spoke a human language. ### Latin text Et divisit Deus inter lucem et tenebras, et vocavit Deus diem lucem, et tenebras vocavit noctem. Hie non dictum est, Fecit Deus tenebras; quia tenebrae, sicut superius dictum est, lucis absentia est: distinctio tamen facta est inter lucem et tenebras. Quemadmo­ dum nos clamando vocem facimus; silentium autcm non sonando facimus, quia cessatio vocis silentium est: distinguimus tamen sensu quodam inter vocem et silentium, et illud vocamus vocem, illud silentium; quemadmodum ergo recte dicimur facere silentium, sic recte multis divinarum Scripturarum locis Deus dicitur facere tenebras, quia lucem quibus vult tem­ poribus et locis vel non dat, vel detrahit. Hoc autem totum ad intellectum nostrum dictum est. Qua enim lingua vocavit Deus diem lucem, et tenebras noctem? utrum hebraea, an graeca, an latina, an aliqua alia? et sic omnia quae vocavit, quæri potest qua lingua vocaverit. Sed apud Deum purus intellectus est, sine strepitu et diversitate linguarum. Vocavit autem di­ ctum est, vocari fecit; quia sic distinxit omnia, et ordinavit, ut et discerni possent, et nomina accipere. Sed postea suo loco requiremus, utrum vere sic est accipiendum, quia vocavit Deus; quoniam quantum accedimus in Scripturis et in eis assuescimus, tantum nobis locutiones earum innotescunt. Sic enim dicimus, Ille paterfamilias aedificavit domum istam, id est sedi­ ficari fecit, et multa talia per omnes libros divinarum Scripturarum inveniuntur. ### English translation (Claude) “And God divided between the light and the darkness, and God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.” Here it is not said, “God made darkness,” because darkness, as was said above, is the absence of light; yet a distinction was made between light and darkness. Just as we make a sound by shouting, but make silence by not sounding, because silence is the ceasing of sound; yet we distinguish by a certain sense between sound and silence, and call the one sound and the other silence. So, just as we are rightly said to make silence, so in many places of the divine Scriptures God is rightly said to make darkness, because at whatever times and places he wills he either does not give light or withdraws it. But all this was said for our understanding. For in what language did God call the light day and the darkness night? Hebrew, or Greek, or Latin, or some other? And so of everything he called, it can be asked in what language he called it. But with God there is pure understanding, without the noise and diversity of languages. “He called” was said for “he caused to be called,” because he so distinguished and ordered all things that they could both be discerned and receive names. But we shall inquire later in its place whether “God called” is really to be taken in this way; for the more we approach the Scriptures and grow used to them, the more their ways of speaking become known to us. So we say, “That householder built this house,” that is, had it built; and many such expressions are found throughout all the books of the divine Scriptures. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:4–5. On God “making darkness” elsewhere in Scripture, compare Ps 104:20 and Isa 45:7 (not cited by name). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.9 (PL 34:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-9). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-10 - Source: PL 34:179–181 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that each day of creation runs from morning to morning, the work belonging to the day and the evening closing it. ### Latin text Et facta est vespera, et factum eat mane diei unus. Et hic calumniantur Manichaei, dum putant ita dictum esse, quasi a vespera dies. coeperit. Non in­ telligunt operationem illam qua lux facta est, et divi sum est inter lucem et tenebras, et vocata est lui dies, et tenebræ nox; hanc ergo totam operationem non intelligunt ad diem pertinere: post bane autem operationem tanquam finito die facta est vespera. Sed quia etiam nox ad diem suum pertinet, non dicitur transisse dies unus, nisi etiam nocte transacta cum tactum est mane: sic deinceps reliqui dies computantur a mane usque in mane. Nunc enim cum factum est mane, et transactus est unus dies, incipit opera­ lio, quæ sequitur ab ipso mane quod jam factum est, et post ipsam operationem fit vespera, deinde mane, et transit alter dies: atque ita deinceps caeteri dies transeunt. ### English translation (Claude) “And evening was made, and morning was made, one day.” Here too the Manichees bring false charges, since they think it was said as if the day began from evening. They do not understand that the work by which light was made, and light was divided from darkness, and the light was called day and the darkness night, that this whole work belongs to the day; and that after this work, as though the day were finished, evening was made. But because the night too belongs to its day, one day is not said to have passed until the night also had passed, when morning was made; and so the remaining days are counted from morning to morning. For now, when morning has come and one day has passed, the work begins that follows from that very morning which has now come; and after that work evening comes, then morning, and the second day passes; and so the other days pass in turn. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:5. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.10 (PL 34:179–181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-10). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-11 - Source: PL 34:181 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine tentatively suggests that the waters above and below the firmament signify invisible and visible matter, while warning against rash assertion. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Fiat firmamentum in medio aquæ, ei sit divisio inter aquam et aquam; et sic factum est. Et fecit Deus firmamentum. et divisit Deus inter aquam quæ est super firmamentum, et inter aquam quæ eat sub firmamento, et vocavit Deus firmamentum cælum: et vidit Deus quia bonum est. Haec non memini Manichaeos reprehendere solere: tamen quod divisæ sunt aquae ut aliae essent super firmamentum, et aliae sub firma­ mento, quoniam materiam illam dicebamus nomine aquae appellatam, credo firmamento coeli materiam corporalem rerum visibilium ab illa incorporali re­ rum invisibilium fuisse discretam. Cum enim coelum sit corpus pulcherrimum, omnis invisibilis creatura excedit etiam pulchritudinem coeli; et ideo fortasse super coelum esse dicuntur aquae invisibiles, quae a paucis intelliguntur non locorum sedibus, sed digni­ tate naturæ superare ccelum: quanquam de hac re nihil temere affirmandum est; obscura est enim, et remota a sensibus hominum: sed quoquo modo se habeat, antequam intelligatur, credenda est. Et facta est vespera, et factum est mane dies secundus. Jam omnia haec quae repetuntur, sicut superius intelligenda atque tractanda sunt. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water; and so it was done. And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water that is above the firmament and the water that is below the firmament; and God called the firmament heaven; and God saw that it is good.” I do not remember that the Manichees usually criticize this. Still, as to the waters being divided so that some were above the firmament and some below it: since we said that that matter was called by the name of water, I believe that by the firmament of heaven the bodily matter of visible things was separated from the incorporeal matter of invisible things. For though heaven is a most beautiful body, every invisible creature surpasses even the beauty of heaven; and that is perhaps why invisible waters are said to be above heaven, which few understand to surpass heaven not in location but in the dignity of their nature. Yet nothing should be rashly affirmed on this matter; for it is obscure and remote from human senses. But however it may be, it must be believed before it is understood. “And evening was made, and morning was made, the second day.” All these things that are now repeated are to be understood and treated as above. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:6–8. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.11 (PL 34:181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-11). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-12 - Source: PL 34:181 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that the gathering of the waters and the appearing of dry land mean the forming of visible water and earth out of formless matter. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Congregetur aqua, qum eat sub cœlo, in congregationem unam, et appareat arida; et sic factum est. Et congregata est aqua, quæ erat sub caelo, in congregationem unam, et apparuit arida. Et vocavit Deus aridam, terram; et congregationem aquæ vocavit mare. Et vidit Deus quia bonum est. In isto loco Manichaei dicunt: Si totum aquis pleuum erat, quo­ modo poterant aquae congregari in unum? Sed jam superius dictum est, nomine aquarum materiam illam appellatam super quam ferebatur Spiritus Dei, unde erat Deus omnia formaturus. Nunc vero cum dicitur, Congregetur aqua, quæ eat sub coelo, in congregationem unam; hoc dicitur ut illa materia corporalis formetur in eam speciem quam habent aquae istae visibilcs. Ipsa enim congregatio in unum, ipsa est aquarum istarum formatio, quas videmus et tangimus. Omnis enim forma ad unitatis regulam cogitur. Et quod dicitur, Appareat arida, quid aliud dici intelligendum est, nisi at illa materies accipiat visibilem formam, qnam nunc habet terra ista quam videmus et tangimus? Superius ergo quod nominabatur terra invisibilis et incom­ posita, materiae confusio et obscuritas nominabatur; et quod nominabatur aqua super quam ferebatur Spi­ ritus Dei, eadem rursus materia nominabatur. Nune vero aqua ista et terra formantur ei illa materia, quæ ipsis nominibus appellabatur, antequam formas istas, quas nunc videmus, acciperet. Sane dicitur, in hebraea locutione omnem aquarum congregationem, sive sal­ sarum sive dulcium, mare appellari. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let the water that is under heaven be gathered into one gathering, and let the dry land appear; and so it was done. And the water that was under heaven was gathered into one gathering, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the water he called sea. And God saw that it is good.” At this place the Manichees say: If everything was full of waters, how could the waters be gathered into one? But it was already said above that the matter over which the Spirit of God was borne, from which God was going to form all things, was called by the name of waters. Now, when it is said, “Let the water that is under heaven be gathered into one gathering,” it is said so that that bodily matter may be formed into the appearance that these visible waters have. For the very gathering into one is the very forming of these waters that we see and touch; for every form is brought to the rule of unity. And when it is said, “Let the dry land appear,” what else should we understand to be said than that that matter should receive the visible form that this earth we see and touch now has? So above, what was called earth invisible and unformed was the confusion and obscurity of matter; and what was called water, over which the Spirit of God was borne, was again the same matter. But now this water and earth are formed from that matter which was called by these very names before it received these forms that we now see. Indeed, it is said that in Hebrew usage every gathering of waters, whether salt or fresh, is called sea. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:9–10. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.12 (PL 34:181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-12). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-13 - Source: PL 34:181 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that thorny, poisonous and unfruitful plants appeared because of human sin, as warnings and punishments, and that barren trees rebuke those without good works in the church. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Germinet terra herbam pabuh ferentem semen secundum suum genus et similitudinem, et lignum fructiferum faciens fructum, cujus semen sit in se secundum suam similitudinem. Et sic eat factum. Et ejectt terra herbam pabuli, ferentem semen secundum suum genus, et lignum fructiferum faciens fructum, cujus semen eat in se secundum suam simliiudinem, secundum suum genus super terram. Et vidit Deus quia bonum est. Et facta eat vespera, et factum est mane dies tertius. Hic solent dicere: Si Deus jussit nasci de terra herbam pabuli; et lignum fructiferum, quis jussit nasci tantas herbas vel spinosas vel venenosas, quae ad pabulum non proficiunt,et tam multa ligna quae nutlum fructum ferunt? Quibus sic respondendum est, ut nulla indignis aperiantur mysteria, neque ostendatur in qua figura futurorum ista sic dicta sint.. Ergo dicendutn est, quod per peccatum hominis terra maledicta sit, ut spinas pareret: non ut ipsa poenas sentiret, quae sine sensu est, sed ut peccati humani crimen. semper bominibus ante oculos poneret, quo admonerentur aliquando averti a peccatis, et ad Dei praecepta con­ verti. Herbae autem venenosæ ad poenam, vel ad exercitationem mortalium creatae sunt; et hoc totum propter peccatum, quia mortales post peccatum facti sumus. Per infructuosas vero arbores insultatur ho­ minibus, ut intelligant quam sit erubescendum sine fructu bonorum operum esse in agro Dei, hoc est in Ecclesia; et timeant ne deserat eos Deus, quia ct ipsi in agris suis infructuosas arbores deserunt, nec ali­ quam culturam eis adhibent. Ante peccatum ergo ho­ minis non est scriptum, quod terra aliud protulerit nisi herbam pabuli et ligna fructuosa: post peccatum autem videmus multa horrida et infructuosa de terra nasci, credo propter eam causam quam diximus. Sic enim dicitur ad primum hominem posteaquam pecca­ vit: Maledicta erit terra tibi in, omnibus operibus tuis; in tristitia et gemitu edes ex ea omnibus diebus vituæ: Spinas et tribulos ejiciet tibi, et edes pabulum agri tui: in sudore νultus tui edes panem tuum, donec revertaris in terram, de qua sumptus ea; quia terra es, et in ter­ ram ibis. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the grass of the field bearing seed according to its kind and likeness, and the fruit-bearing tree making fruit whose seed is in itself according to its likeness. And so it was done. And the earth brought forth the grass of the field bearing seed according to its kind, and the fruit-bearing tree making fruit whose seed is in itself according to its likeness, according to its kind upon the earth. And God saw that it is good. And evening was made, and morning was made, the third day.” Here they usually say: If God commanded the grass of the field and the fruit-bearing tree to spring from the earth, who commanded so many plants to spring up, thorny or poisonous, that are of no use for fodder, and so many trees that bear no fruit? They must be answered in such a way that no mysteries are opened to the unworthy, and it is not shown in what figure of future things these were so spoken. So it must be said that through man's sin the earth was cursed so as to bear thorns: not so that it should feel punishment, since it is without sense, but so that it should always set the guilt of human sin before people's eyes, by which they might be warned at some time to turn away from sins and to turn to God's commandments. Poisonous plants, however, were created for the punishment or the exercise of mortals; and all this on account of sin, because we were made mortal after sin. And by unfruitful trees people are rebuked, so that they may understand how shameful it is to be without the fruit of good works in God's field, that is, in the church; and may fear lest God abandon them, since they too abandon unfruitful trees in their fields and give them no cultivation. So before man's sin it is not written that the earth produced anything except the grass of the field and fruitful trees; but after sin we see many rough and unfruitful things spring from the earth, I believe for the reason we have given. For so it is said to the first man after he sinned: “Cursed shall the earth be to you in all your works; in sadness and groaning you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the grass of your field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken; for earth you are, and to earth you shall go.” ### Scripture references - Gen 1:11: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:13: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:9: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:11–13; Gen 3:17–19, in the Old Latin form. The church as God's field: compare 1 Cor 3:9. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.13 (PL 34:181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-1/#p-1-13). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-14 - Source: PL 34:181–182 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers objections to the creation of sun, moon and stars on the fourth day: the evenings and mornings before them mark the completion and beginning of works, and the lights were made to mark times and to rule day and night. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Fiant sidera in firmamento cœli. sic ut luceant super terram, et dividant inter diem et noctem, et sint in ligna, et in tempora, et in dies, et in annos; et sint in splendorem in firmamento cœli, sic ut luceant super terram. Et sic eat factum. Et fecit Deus duo luminaria, majus et minus: luminare majus in in­ choationem diei, et luminare minus in inchoationem no­ ctiS, ct stellas. Et posuit illas Deus in firmamento coeli, sic ut luceant super terram, et prœsint diei et nocti, et dividant inter diem et noctem. Et vidit Deus quia bo­ num eat. Et facta est vespera, et factum est mane dies quartus. Hic primo quaerunt quomodo quarto die facta sint sidera, id est sol, ct luna, et stellae. Tres enim dies superiores quomodo esse sine sole potucrunt, cum videamus nunc solis ortu et occasu diem transigi, noctem vero nobis fieri solis absentia, cum ab alia parte mundi ad oricntem redit? Quibus respondemus, po­ tuisse fieri ut tres supcriorcs dies singuli per tantam moram temporis computarentur, per quantam moram circumit sol, ex quo procedit ab oriente quousque rursus ad orientem revertitur. Ilanc enim moram et longitudinem temporis possent sentire homines etiamsi in speluncis habitarent, ubi orientem et occi­ dentem solem videre non possent. Atque ita sentitur potuisse istam moram fieri etiam sine sole antequam sol factus esset, atque ipsam moram in illo triduo per dies singulos computatam. Hoc ergo responderemus, nisi nos revocaret quod ibi dicitur, Et facta eat vespe­ ra, et factum eat mane, quod nunc sine solis cursu vi­ demus fieri non posse. Restat ergo ut intelligamus, in ipsa quidem mora temporis ipsas distinctiones ope­ rum sic appellatas, vesperam propter transactionem consummati operis, et mane propter inchoationem. futuri operis; de similitudine scilicet humanorum ope­ rum, quia plerumque a mane incipiunt, et ad vespc­ ram desinunt. Habent enim consuetudinem divinae Scripturae de rebus humanis ad divinas res verba trans­ ferre. Deinde quærunt utquid dictum sit de sideribus: Et sint in signa et in tempora. Numquid enim, aiunt, tres illi dies sine temporibus esse potuerunt, aut ad temporis spatia non pertinent? Sed, in signa et tem­ pora dictum est, ut per hæc sidera tempora distin­ guantur, et ab hominibus dignoscantur: quia si currant tempora, et nullis distinguantur articulis, qui articuli per siderum cursus notantur, possunt quidem currere tempora atque practerire; sed intelligi et discerni ab hominibus non possunt. Sicut horæ quando nubilus dies est, transeunt quidem, et sua spatia peragunt; sed distingui a nobis et notari non possunt. Quod autem dictum est, Et fecit Deus duo tu­ minaria; luminare majus in inchoationem diei, et lumi­ nare minus in inchoationem noctis, pro eo dictum est ac si diceretur, in principatum diei et in principatum noctis. Non enim sol tantummodo inchoat diem, et non etiam peragit et finit: luna vero aliquando media nocte vel in fine noctis ad nos procedit; si ergo illae noctes, quibus hoc facit, non ab ista inchoantur, quo­ modo in inchoationem noctis facta est? Si autem per inchoationem principium intelligas, et per principium prircipatum, manifestum est, quia per diem sol prin­ eipatum tenet; luna vero per noctem, quia etsi cætera sidera tunc apparent, illa tamen suo fulgore superat omnia, et ideo princeps eorum rectissime dieitur. Quod autem dictum est, Et dividant inter diem et noctem; potest Iiic fieri calumnia, ut dicatur: Quo­ modo jam Deus diviserat superius inter diem et no­ ctem, si hoc, quarto die, sidera faciunt? Sic igitur hic. dictum est, Dividant inter diem et noctem, tanquam si diceretur, Sic inter se diem dividant et noctem, ut soli dies detur, nox autem lunae et sideribus cæteris. Quæ duo jam divisa erant, sed nondum inter sidera, ut jam certum esset de siderum numero, quid pa diem, et quid per noctem appareret hominibus. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let there be stars in the firmament of heaven, so that they may shine upon the earth and divide between day and night, and let them be for signs and for times and for days and for years; and let them be for splendor in the firmament of heaven, so that they may shine upon the earth. And so it was done. And God made two lights, a greater and a lesser: the greater light for the beginning of the day, and the lesser light for the beginning of the night, and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of heaven, so that they might shine upon the earth and rule the day and the night and divide between day and night. And God saw that it is good. And evening was made, and morning was made, the fourth day.” Here they first ask how the stars, that is, the sun and the moon and the stars, were made on the fourth day. For how could the three earlier days exist without the sun, since we now see the day pass by the rising and setting of the sun, and the night come about for us by the sun's absence, when it returns from the other side of the world to the east? We answer them that it could have happened that each of the three earlier days was counted by as long a stretch of time as the sun takes to go round, from when it sets out from the east until it returns again to the east. For people could sense this stretch and length of time even if they lived in caves where they could not see the sun rise and set. And so it is seen that this stretch could have happened even without the sun, before the sun was made, and that this very stretch was counted in that period of three days, day by day. This, then, is what we would answer, if we were not called back by what is said there, “And evening was made, and morning was made,” which we now see cannot happen without the course of the sun. It remains, then, that we understand that within that stretch of time the very divisions of the works were so named: evening on account of the completion of a finished work, and morning on account of the beginning of a work to come; that is, from the likeness of human works, because they usually begin in the morning and stop toward evening. For the divine Scriptures have the custom of transferring words from human things to divine things. Then they ask why it is said of the stars, “And let them be for signs and for times.” For, they say, could those three days have been without times, or do they not belong to the spaces of time? But “for signs and times” was said so that by these stars times might be distinguished and recognized by people; because if times run on and are distinguished by no joints, which joints are marked by the courses of the stars, times can indeed run on and pass, but cannot be understood and discerned by people. Just as hours on a cloudy day do pass and complete their spans, but cannot be distinguished and marked by us. And what is said, “And God made two lights, the greater light for the beginning of the day and the lesser light for the beginning of the night,” was said as if it had been said, “for the rule of the day and for the rule of the night.” For the sun does not only begin the day without also carrying it through and ending it; and the moon sometimes comes out to us at midnight or at the end of the night. So if those nights on which it does this are not begun by it, how was it made for the beginning of the night? But if by “beginning” you understand principle, and by principle principality, it is clear that the sun holds the principality during the day, and the moon during the night, because even though the other stars appear then, it nonetheless surpasses all by its brightness, and so is most rightly called their prince. And concerning what is said, “And let them divide between day and night,” a false charge can be made here, so as to say: How had God already divided above between day and night, if the stars do this on the fourth day? So here “Let them divide between day and night” was said as if it had been said, “Let them so divide day and night among themselves that the day is given to the sun, and the night to the moon and the other stars.” These two had already been divided, but not yet among the stars, so that it might now be fixed, as to the number of the stars, what appears to people through the day and what through the night. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:16: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:14–19, Old Latin; “in inchoationem diei” renders the LXX εἰς ἀρχὰς τῆς ἡμέρας (“for the rule/beginning of the day”), which Augustine explains as “principality”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.14 (PL 34:181–182; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-14). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-15 - Source: PL 34:182 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains why birds are said to come from the waters: the moist lower air in which they fly is counted with water, as the reports about the summit of Mount Olympus illustrate. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Ejiciant aquœreptilia animarum vivarum, et volatilia volantia super terram sub firma­ mento cæli. Et sic jactum est. Et fecit Deus cetos ma­ gnos, et omnem animam animalium et repentium quœ ejecerunt aquœ secundum uniuscujusque genua, et omne genus volatile pennatum secundum genus. Et vidit Deus quia bona sunt; et benedixit illa Deus dicens: Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete aquas maris, et volatilia multiplicentur super terram. Et facta est vespera, et factum est mane dies quintus. Hic solent reprehendere, quærentes vel potius calumniantes, quare animalia non solum ea quae in aquis vivunt, sed etiam ea quæ in aere volitant, et omnia pennata de aquis nata scri­ ptum sit. Sed sciant omnes quos haec movent, istum aerem nebulosum et humidum, in quo aves volant, a doctissimis hominibus qui haec diligenter inquirunt, cum aquis solere deputari. Concrescit enim et crassus efficitur exhalationibus et quasi vaporibus maris et terræ, et de ipso humore pinguescit quodammodo ut volatus avium portare possit. Ideo per noctes serenas etiam rorat, cujus roris guttæ mane in herbis inve­ niuntur. Nam mons ille Macedoniae, qui Olympus vo­ catur, tantae altitudinis esse dicitur, ut in ejus cacu­ mine nec ventus sentiatur, nec nubes se colligant, quia excedit altitudine sua totum istum aerem humi­ dum in quo aves volant, et ideo nec aves ibi volare asseverantur. Quod ab eis proditum dicitur, qui per singulos annos solebant, nescio quorum sacrificiorum causa, memorati montis cacumen ascendere, et ali­ quas notas in pulvere scribere, quas alio anno integras inveniebant: quod fieri non posset, si ventum aut pluviam locus ille pateretur. Deinde quia tenuitas aeris illius qui ibi est, non eos inspirabat, durare ibi non poterant, nisi spongias humectas naribus applicarent, unde crassiorem et consuetum spiritum ducerent: hi ergo indicaverunt se etiam nullam avem in eo loco aliquando vidisse. Non itaque immerito non solum pisces et cætera quae in aquis sunt animalia, sed etiam aves de aquis natas esse, fidelissima Scriptura com­ memorat; quia per istum aerem volare possunt, qui de maris et terrae humoribus surgit. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let the waters bring forth creeping things of living souls, and flying things flying over the earth under the firmament of heaven. And so it was done. And God made great sea monsters, and every soul of animals and creeping things which the waters brought forth according to each one's kind, and every winged flying kind according to its kind. And God saw that they are good; and God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the flying things multiply upon the earth. And evening was made, and morning was made, the fifth day.” Here they usually find fault, asking, or rather making false charges, why it is written that not only the animals that live in the waters but also those that fly in the air, and all winged things, were born from the waters. But let all who are troubled by this know that this cloudy and moist air in which birds fly is usually counted with the waters by the most learned men who study these things carefully. For it thickens and becomes dense from the exhalations and, as it were, the vapors of the sea and the earth, and from this very moisture it grows somehow heavy, so that it can carry the flight of birds. That is why on clear nights it even drops dew, whose drops are found on the grass in the morning. For that mountain of Macedonia called Olympus is said to be of such height that on its summit no wind is felt and no clouds gather, because by its height it rises above all this moist air in which birds fly; and so it is asserted that birds do not fly there either. This is said to have been reported by those who used to climb the summit of that mountain every year, for the sake of I do not know what sacrifices, and wrote certain marks in the dust, which they found intact the next year; which could not happen if that place were exposed to wind or rain. Further, because the thinness of the air there did not let them breathe, they could not stay there unless they held wet sponges to their nostrils, from which they drew the thicker air they were used to. These, then, reported that they had also never seen any bird in that place. So not without reason does the most trustworthy Scripture record that not only fish and the other animals that are in the waters, but also birds, were born from the waters; because they can fly through this air, which rises from the moisture of the sea and the earth. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:22: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:23: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:20–23. The report about the summit of Olympus (letters in the ash, wet sponges) circulated in ancient natural science; Augustine does not name his source. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.15 (PL 34:182; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-15). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-16 - Source: PL 34:182–183 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the objection that many animals are useless or harmful: like tools in a workshop, all have their place in the beauty of the universe, which shows measure, number and order from God. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus, Ejiciat terra animam vivam se­ cundum unumquodque genus quadrupedum et serpentium et bestiarum terrœ. Et sic est factum. Et fecit Deus bestias terrœ tecundum genus, et pecora secundum ge­ nus, et omnia repentia terrce secundum genus. Et vidit Deus quia bona sunt. Solent eliam istam Manichaei movere quæstionem ut dicant: Quid opus erat ut tam multa animalia Deus faceret, sive in aquis, sive in terra, quae hominibus non sunt necessaria? multa etiam perniciosa sunt et timenda. Sed cum ista dicunt, non intelligunt quemadmodum omnia pulchra sunt conditori et artifici suo, qui omnibus utitur ad gubcr­ nationem universitatis, cui summa lege dominatur. Si enim in alicujus opificis officinam imperitus intra­ verit, videt ibi multa instrumenta quorum causas ignorat, et si multum est insipiens, superflua putat. Jamvero si in fornacem incautus ceciderit, aut ferra­ mento aliquo acuto, cum id male tractat, seipsum vulneraverit, etiam perniciosa et noxia existimat ibi esse multa. Quorum tamen usum quoniam novit artifex, insipientiam ejus irridet, et verba inepta non curans, officinam suam instanter exercet. Et tamen tam stulti sunt homines, ut apud artificem hominem non au­ deant vituperare quae ignorant, sed cum ea viderint credant esse necessaria, et propter usus aliquos institu­ ta: in hoc autem mundo cujus conditor et administrator prædicatur Deus, audent multa reprehendere quorum causas non vident, et in operibus atque instrumentis omnipotentis artificis volunt se videri scire quod ne­ sciunt. Ego vero fateor me nescire mures et ranæ qua­ re creatæ sint, aut muscæ aut vermiculi: video ta­ men omnia in suo genere pulchra esse, quamvis pro­ pter peccata nostra multa nobis videantur adversa. Non enim animalis alicujus corpus et membra considc­ ro, ubi non mensuras et numeros et ordinem inveniam ad unitatem concordiæ pertinere. Quae omnia unde veniant non intelligo, nisi a summa mensura et nu­ mero et ordine, quae in ipsa Dei sublimitate incommu­ tabili atque aeterna consistunt. Quod si cogitarent isti loquacissimi etineptissimi, non nobis tædium facerent, sed ipsi considerando omnes pulchritudines et summas et infimas, Deum artificem ubique laudarent; et quo­ niam nusquam offenditur ratio, sicubi forte sensus carnalis offenditur, non rerum ipsarum vitio, sed no­ strae mortalitatis meritis imputarent. Et certe omnia animalia aut utilia nobis sunt, aut perniciosa, aut su­ perflua. Adversus utilia non habent quid dicant. De perniciosis autem vel punimur, vel exercemur, vel terremur, ut non vitam istam multis periculis et labo­ nbus subditam, sed aliam meliorem, ubi securitas summa est, diligamus et desideremus, et eam nobis pietatis meritis comparemus. De superfluis vero quid nobis est quaerere? Si tibi displicet quod non prosunt, placcat quod non obsunt; quia etsi domui nostrae non sunt necessaria, eis tamen completur hujus uni­ versitatis integritas, quæ multo major est quam domus nostra et multo melior. Hanc enim multo melius ad­ ministrat Deus, quam unusquisque nostrum domum suam. Usurpa ergo utilia, cave perniciosa, relinque superflua. In omnibus tamen cum mensuras et nume­ ros et ordinem vides, artificem quaere. Nec alium in­ venies, nisi ubi summa mensura, et summus numerus, et summus ordo est, id est Deum, de quo verissime dictum est, quod omnia in mensura, et numero, et pondere disposuerit ( Sap. XI, 24). Sic fortasse ube. riorem capies fructum, cum Deum laudas in humilita­ te formicæ,quam cum transis fluvium in alicujus ju­ menti altitudine. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living soul according to each kind, of four-footed beasts and serpents and wild animals of the earth. And so it was done. And God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the earth according to their kind. And God saw that they are good.” The Manichees also usually raise this question, saying: What need was there for God to make so many animals, whether in the waters or on land, that are not necessary for human beings? Many are even harmful and to be feared. But when they say this, they do not understand how all things are beautiful to their maker and craftsman, who uses all things for the governing of the universe, over which he rules by the highest law. For if an unskilled person enters some craftsman's workshop, he sees there many tools whose purposes he does not know, and if he is very foolish he thinks them superfluous. And if he carelessly falls into the furnace, or wounds himself with some sharp iron tool while handling it badly, he even thinks that there are many harmful and injurious things there. Yet because the craftsman knows their use, he laughs at his foolishness and, paying no attention to his silly words, busily carries on his workshop. And yet people are so foolish that in the case of a human craftsman they do not dare to find fault with what they do not know, but when they see such things they believe them to be necessary and provided for some uses; but in this world, whose maker and governor God is proclaimed to be, they dare to criticize many things whose causes they do not see, and in the works and tools of the almighty craftsman they wish to seem to know what they do not know. For my part, I confess that I do not know why mice and frogs were created, or flies or little worms; yet I see that all things are beautiful in their own kind, although on account of our sins many seem hostile to us. For I do not consider the body and limbs of any animal without finding measures and numbers and order belonging to the unity of harmony. Where all these come from I do not understand, unless from the highest measure and number and order, which reside in the unchangeable and eternal sublimity of God himself. If these most talkative and most foolish men thought about this, they would not weary us, but would themselves, by considering all beauties, both the highest and the lowest, praise God the craftsman everywhere; and since reason is nowhere offended, if perhaps fleshly sense is offended somewhere, they would ascribe it not to a fault in the things themselves but to what our mortality has deserved. And certainly all animals are either useful to us, or harmful, or superfluous. Against the useful they have nothing to say. As for the harmful, by them we are either punished, or exercised, or frightened, so that we may love and desire not this life, subject to many dangers and labors, but another, better one, where there is perfect security, and may win it for ourselves by the merits of piety. As for the superfluous, what business is it of ours to inquire? If you are displeased that they are of no use, be pleased that they do no harm; because, even if they are not necessary for our house, the completeness of this universe is filled out by them, which is much greater than our house and much better. For God governs it much better than each of us governs his own house. So make use of the useful, beware of the harmful, leave the superfluous alone. Yet in all things, when you see measures and numbers and order, look for the craftsman. And you will find no other than where the highest measure and the highest number and the highest order are, that is, God, of whom it is most truly said that he arranged all things in measure and number and weight. So perhaps you will gain richer fruit when you praise God in the lowliness of an ant than when you cross a river on the height of some beast of burden. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:25: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:20 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:24–25; Wis 11:20 (11:21 in some numberings; Migne cites 11:24), “omnia in mensura et numero et pondere disposuisti”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.16 (PL 34:182–183; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-16). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-17 - Source: PL 34:183–184 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against the Manichaean mockery of God's image as bodily, Augustine argues that Scripture's bodily language about God is figurative and that man is God's image in his inner self, reason and understanding, shown also by his upright posture. ### Latin text Et dixit Deus: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem. et similitudinem nostram; et habeat potestatem piscium maria et volatilium cœli, et omnium pecorum et ferarum, et omnis terrœ, et omnium reptilium, quæ super terram repunt, et caetera usque ad vesperam et mane quo com­ pletur dies sextus. Istam maxime quæstionem solent Manichaei loquaciter agitare, et insultare nobis quod hominem credamus factum ad imaginem et similitudi­ nem Dei. Attendunt enim figuram corporis nostri, et infeliciter quaerunt utrum habeat Deus nares et den­ tcs et barbam, et membra etiam interiora, et cætera quae in nobis sunt necessaria. In Deo antem talia ri­ diculum cst, imo impium credere, et ideo negant bo­ minem factum esse ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei. Quibus respondemus, membra quidem ista in Scripturis plerumque nominari, cum Deus insinuatur audientibus parvulis; et hoc non solum in Veteris Testamenti libris, sed etiam in Novi. Nam et oculi Dei commemorantur, et aures, et labia, et pedes, et ad dexteram Dei Patris sedere evangelizatur Filius. Et ipse Dominus dicit: Nolite per cœlum jurare, quia sedes Dei est; neque per terram, quia scabellum pedum ejus eat. Item ipse dicit quod in digito Dei ejiciebat daemonia ( Luc. XI, 20 ). Sed omnes qui spiritualiter intelligunt Scripturas, non membra corporea per ista nomina, sed spirituales potentias accipere didicerunt, sicut galeas, et scutum, et gla­ dium ( Ephes. VI, 16,17 ), et alia multa. Primo ergo istis hæreticis dicendum est, qua impudentia de tali­ bus verbis Veteri Testamento calumnientur, cum etiam in Novo haec posita videant, aut fortasse non videant, sed cum litigant excaecentur. Sed tamen novcrinL in catholica disciplina spi­ rituales fideles non credere Deum forma corporea definitum; et quod homo ad imaginem Dei factus di­ citur, secundum interiorem hominem dici, ubi est ra­ tio et intellectus: unde etiam habet potestatem pi­ scium maris, et volatilium coeli, et omnium pecorum et ferarum, et omnis terrae, et omnium repentium quae repunt super terram. Cum enim dixisset, Facia. mus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram; addidit continuo, Et habeat potestatem piscium maris et volatilium cæli, et caetera: ut intelligeremus non propter corpus dici hominem factum ad imaginem Dei, sed propter eam potestatem qua omnia pecora superat. Omniaenim animalia cætera subjecta sunt homini, non propter corpus, sed propter intellectum, quem nos habemus, et illa non habent: quamvis cuamcorpus nostrum sic fabricatum sit, ut indicet nos melioresesse quam bestias, et propterea Deo si­ miles. Omnium enim animalium corpora, sive quae in aquis, sive quæ in terra vivunt, sive quæ in aere vo­ litant, inclinata sunt ad terram, et non sunt erecta sic­ iit hominis corpus. Quo significatur, etiam animum nostrum in superna sua, id est in æterna spiritualia,. crectum esse debere. Ila intelligitur per animumma­ xime, attestante etiam erecta corporis forma, homo lactus ad imngincm ct similitudinem Dei. ### English translation (Claude) “And God said: Let us make man to our image and likeness; and let him have power over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and all the cattle and wild beasts, and all the earth, and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth,” and the rest, up to the evening and morning with which the sixth day is completed. The Manichees usually stir up this question most of all, talkatively, and mock us because we believe that man was made to the image and likeness of God. For they look at the shape of our body and ask, unhappily, whether God has nostrils and teeth and a beard, and also inner organs, and the other things that are necessary in us. To believe such things of God is ridiculous, indeed impious; and so they deny that man was made to the image and likeness of God. We answer them that these members are often named in the Scriptures when God is being made known to little ones who are listening; and this not only in the books of the Old Testament but also in those of the New. For the eyes of God are mentioned, and the ears and the lips and the feet, and the Gospel proclaims that the Son sits at the right hand of God the Father. And the Lord himself says: “Do not swear by heaven, because it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet.” Likewise he himself says that he cast out demons by the finger of God. But all who understand the Scriptures spiritually have learned to take by these names not bodily members but spiritual powers, like helmets and shield and sword, and many other things. So first these heretics must be told with what impudence they bring false charges against the Old Testament over such words, when they see them set down in the New as well; or perhaps they do not see, but are blinded when they quarrel. But let them know that in the catholic teaching the spiritual faithful do not believe that God is bounded by a bodily form; and that when man is said to have been made to the image of God, this is said with respect to the inner man, where reason and understanding are; and that is why he also has power over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and all cattle and wild beasts, and all the earth, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth. For when he had said, “Let us make man to our image and likeness,” he immediately added, “And let him have power over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven,” and so on: so that we might understand that man is said to have been made to the image of God not on account of the body but on account of that power by which he surpasses all cattle. For all other animals are subject to man not on account of the body but on account of the understanding, which we have and they do not have; although even our body is so fashioned as to show that we are better than the beasts, and therefore like God. For the bodies of all animals, whether those that live in the waters or on land or that fly in the air, are bent toward the earth and are not upright as man's body is. By this it is signified that our mind too ought to be raised up toward its own higher things, that is, toward eternal spiritual things. So it is understood that man was made to the image and likeness of God chiefly with respect to the mind, the upright form of the body also bearing witness to it. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:35: quotation, high confidence - Luke 11:20: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:16: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:17: allusion, high confidence - Mark 16:19: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:26 (and 1:27–31 summarized); Matt 5:34–35; Luke 11:20; Eph 6:16–17 (the spiritual armor). The Son at the right hand: e.g. Mark 16:19. On the Manichaean objection that the image of God implies a bodily God, Augustine reports their view. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.17 (PL 34:183–184; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-17). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-18 - Source: PL 34:184 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers that man's present weakness before wild animals belongs to his fallen state, yet even now he tames nearly all beasts, which hints at the dominion promised to him when renewed. ### Latin text Aliquando etiam solent dicere: Quomodo acce­ pit homo potestatem piscium maris et volatilium coeli et omnium pecorum et ferarum, cum videamus a multis feris homines occidi, et a multis volatilibus no­ bis noceri, quæ volumus vel vitare vel capere et ple­ rumque non possumus? quomodo ergo in haec acce­ pimus potestatem? Hic illis priino dicendum est quod inultum errent qui post peccatum considerant homi­ nom, cum in hujus vitæ mortalitatem damnatus est, et amisit perfectionem illam qua factus est ad imagi­ nem Dei. Sed si damnatio ejus tantum valet, ut tam iniitis pecoribus imperct: quamvis enim a multis fe­ ris propter fragilitatem corporis possit occidi, a nul­ tis tamcn domari potest, cum ipse tam multas et pro­ pe omnes domet: si ergo hæc hominis damnatio tan­ tum valet, quid de regno cjus cogitandum est, quod ei renovato et liberato divina voce promittitur? ### English translation (Claude) Sometimes they also say: How did man receive power over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and all cattle and wild beasts, when we see people killed by many wild beasts and harmed by many birds, which we wish either to avoid or to catch and often cannot? How, then, did we receive power over them? Here they must first be told that they err greatly who consider man after sin, when he was condemned to the mortality of this life and lost that perfection by which he was made to the image of God. But if even his condemned state has so much power that he rules so many cattle (for although he can be killed by many wild beasts because of the frailty of his body, yet he can be tamed by none, while he himself tames so many, nearly all), if, then, man's condemned state has so much power, what should we think of his kingdom, which is promised by the divine voice to him when he is renewed and set free? ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.18 (PL 34:184; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-18). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-19 - Source: PL 34:184 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine proposes that the blessing “Increase and multiply” may be taken spiritually before the fall, as a chaste union bearing spiritual offspring, which turned into carnal fruitfulness after sin. ### Latin text Quod autem scriptum est, Masculum et feminam fecit illos; et benedixit eoa Deus dicens, Crescite et mul­ tipticamini, et generate, et replete terram; rectissime quæritur quemadmodum accipienda sit conjunctio ma­ sculiet feminae ante peccatum, et ista benedictio qua dictum est, Crescite et multiplicamini, et generate, et replete terram: utrum carnaliter, an spiritualiter acci­ picnda sit. Licet enim nobis eam etiam spiritualiter accipere, ut in carnalem fecunditatem post peccatum conversa esse credatur. Erat enim prius casta con­ junctio masculi ct feminae; hujus ad regendum, illius ad obtemperandum accommodata: et spiritualis fetus intelligibilium et immortalium gaudiorum replens ter­ rain, id est, vivificans corpus, et dominans ejus; id est, ita subjectum habens, ut nullam ex eo adversita­ tem, nullam molestiam patcretur. Quod ideo sic cre­ dendum est, quia nondum erant filii saeculi hujus an­ tequam peccarent. Filii enim saeculi hujus generant etgenerantur, sicut Dominus dicit, cum in compara­ tionefuturae vitae quoe nobis promittitur, carnalem istam generationem contemnendam esse demonstrat ( Luc. xx, 34-36 ). ### English translation (Claude) As for what is written, “Male and female he made them; and God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and generate, and fill the earth,” it is most rightly asked how the union of male and female before sin is to be understood, and this blessing in which it was said, “Increase and multiply, and generate, and fill the earth”: whether it is to be taken carnally or spiritually. For we are permitted to take it also spiritually, so as to believe that it was turned into carnal fruitfulness after sin. For at first there was a chaste union of male and female, his suited to ruling and hers to obeying; and a spiritual offspring of intelligible and immortal joys filling the earth, that is, giving life to the body and ruling it, that is, holding it so subject that it suffered no opposition and no trouble from it. This is to be believed for this reason: that before they sinned they were not yet children of this world. For the children of this world beget and are begotten, as the Lord says when he shows that, in comparison with the future life promised to us, this carnal generation is to be held of little account. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:28: quotation, high confidence - Luke 20:34: allusion, high confidence - Luke 20:35: allusion, high confidence - Luke 20:36: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:27–28; Luke 20:34–36 (alluded to). Augustine's spiritual reading of the first couple's fruitfulness here is tentative (“licet”); in his Retractations (1.10.2) and in The Literal Meaning of Genesis (9.3–9) he later accepted bodily procreation in paradise. Translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.19 (PL 34:184; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-19). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-20 - Source: PL 34:184 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine reads man's dominion over animals also spiritually, as reason ruling the soul's animal-like impulses, and notes that plants given as food to carnivores show the passage is not meant only literally. ### Latin text Et quod eis dictum est, Habete potestatem pi­ scium maris, et volatilium cœli, et repentium omnium qucerepunt super terram: salvo quidem intellectu, quo manifestum cst omnibus his animalibus hominem ra­ tione dominari; recte tamcn intelligitur etiam spiritua­ liter, ut omnes aflectioncs et motus animi, quos habe­ mus istis animalibus similes, subditos haberemus, ct eorum dominaremur per temperantiam et modestiam, Cum enim non reguntur isti motus, erumpunt et per­ gunt in. fœdissimas consuetudines, et per diversas perniciosasque delectationes nos rapiunt, et faciunt similes omni generi bestiarum. Cum autem reguntur et subjiciuntur, omnino mansuescunt et nobiscum concorditer vivunt. Non enim a nobis alieni sunt mo­ tus animi nostri. Pascuntur etiam nobiscum cognitio­ ne rationum ct morum optimorum, et vitæ aeternae, tanquam herbis seminalibus et lignis fructiferis et her bis viridibus. Et hæc est hominis vita beata atquo tranquilla, cum omnes motus ejus rationi veritatique consentiunt; et vocantur gaudia, et amores sancti, et casti et boni. Si autem non consentiunt, nihilomi­ nus dum negligenter geruntur, conscindunt et dissi­ pant animum, et faciunt vitam miserrimam; et vocan­ tur perturbationes, et libidines, et concupigcentiae ma­ lae. De quibus jam nobis praecipitur, ut cas cum quanto possumus labore crucifigamus in nobis, donec absor­ beatur mors in victoriam ( I Cor., XV,54 ). Dicit enim Apostolus: Qui autem Jesu Christi sunt, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum perturbationibus et concupiscentiis ( Galat. v, 24 ). Vel hinc enim quivis admoneri debet non carnaliter haec esse intelligenda, quia herbae vi­ rides et ligna fructifera omni generi bestiarum, et omnibus volatilibus et omnibus serpentibus in Genesi dantur ad cibum, cum videamus leones, et accipitres, et milvos, et aquilas non pasci nisi carnibus, et inter­ fectione aliorum animalium. Quod etiam de nonnul­ lis serpentibus credo, qui sunt in arenosis et desertis locis, ubi nec lignumnee herba nascitur. ### English translation (Claude) And what was said to them, “Have power over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and all creeping things that creep upon the earth”: without prejudice to the understanding by which it is plain to all that man rules all these animals by reason, it is rightly also understood spiritually, so that we should hold in subjection all the affections and movements of the mind which we have that are like these animals, and rule them by temperance and moderation. For when these movements are not ruled, they break out and rush into the foulest habits, and drag us through various and ruinous pleasures, and make us like every kind of beast. But when they are ruled and made subject, they become entirely tame and live with us in harmony. For the movements of our mind are not foreign to us. They are also fed with us on the knowledge of reasons and of the best morals and of eternal life, as on seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees and green plants. And this is the happy and tranquil life of man, when all his movements agree with reason and truth; and they are called joys, and holy, chaste and good loves. But if they do not agree, then, while they are carelessly handled, they tear apart and scatter the mind and make life most wretched; and they are called disturbances and lusts and evil desires. These we are now commanded to crucify in ourselves with as much labor as we can, until death is swallowed up in victory. For the Apostle says: “But those who are Jesus Christ's have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.” For from this at least anyone ought to be warned that these things are not to be understood carnally: that green plants and fruit-bearing trees are given in Genesis as food to every kind of beast and to all birds and all serpents, when we see that lions and hawks and kites and eagles feed only on flesh and on the killing of other animals. I believe this is true also of some serpents that are in sandy and desert places, where neither tree nor plant grows. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:54: allusion, high confidence - Gal 5:24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:29: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:30: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 1:28; 1 Cor 15:54; Gal 5:24 (Old Latin “cum perturbationibus et concupiscentiis”). Gen 1:29–30 is alluded to. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.20 (PL 34:184; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-20). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-21 - Source: PL 34:184–185 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains why creation as a whole is called “very good”: the beauty of the parts is far greater in the ordered whole, as in a body or a well-composed speech. ### Latin text Sane non est negligenter praetereundum quod dictum est, Et vidit Deus omnia quacumque fecit, esse bona valde. Cum enim de singulis ageret, dicebat tantum, Vidit Deus quia bonum eat: cum autem de omnibus diceretur, parum fuit dicere bona, nisi ad­ deretur et valde. Si enim singula opera Dei cum con­ siderantur a prudentibus, inveniuntur habere lauda­ biles mensuras et numeros et ordines in suo quæque genere constituta; quanto magis omnia simul, id est ipsa universitas, quae istis singulis in unum collectis impletur? Omnis enim pulchritudo quæ partibus con­ stat, multo est laudabilior in toto quam in parte: sic­ ut in corpore humano, si laudamus oculos solos, si nasum solum, si solas genas, aut solum caput, aut so­ las manus, aut solos pedes, et caetera si pulchra sin­ gula et sola laudamus; quanto magis totum corpus, cui omnia membra, quae singula pulchra sunt, con­ ferunt pulchritudinem suam: ila ut manus pulchra, quae cHam sola laudabatur in corpore, si separetur a corpore, et ipsa amiltat gratiam suam, et cætera sine illa inhonesta sint? Tanta est vis et potentia in­ tegritatis et unitatis, ut etiam quae multa sunt bona tunc placeant, cnm in universun aliquid conve­ niunt atque conCurrunt. Universum autem ab unitate nomen accepit. Quod si Manichæi considerarent, lau­ darent universitatis auctorem et conditorem Deum; et quod eos propter conditionem nostrae mortalitatis in parte offendit, redigerent ad universi pulchritudi­ nem, et vidcrent quemadmodum Detis fecerit omnia non solum bona, sed etiam bona valde. Quia etiam in sermone aliquo ornato atque composito si conside­ remos singulas syllabas, vel eliam singulas litteras, quae cum sonuerint statini transeunt, non in eis inve­ nimus quid delectet atque laudandum sit. Totus enim ille sermo non de singulis syllabis aut litteris, sed de omnibus pulcher est. ### English translation (Claude) Certainly we should not pass carelessly over what is said, “And God saw all the things he had made, that they were very good.” For when he dealt with each one, he said only, “God saw that it is good”; but when it was said of all, it was not enough to say “good” unless “very” was added. For if the individual works of God, when they are considered by the wise, are found to have praiseworthy measures and numbers and orders established each in its own kind, how much more all of them together, that is, the universe itself, which is filled out by these individual things gathered into one? For all beauty made up of parts is much more praiseworthy in the whole than in a part: as in the human body, if we praise the eyes alone, or the nose alone, or the cheeks alone, or the head alone, or the hands alone, or the feet alone, and so on, if we praise the individual beautiful parts by themselves, how much more the whole body, to which all the members, each beautiful by itself, contribute their beauty; so that a beautiful hand, which was praised even by itself in the body, if it is separated from the body, itself loses its grace, and the other parts without it are unsightly? So great is the force and power of wholeness and unity that even things which are many and good please only when they come together and agree in one universe. For “universe” has its name from unity. If the Manichees considered this, they would praise God as the author and maker of the universe; and what offends them in a part because of the condition of our mortality they would bring back to the beauty of the whole, and they would see how God made all things not only good but very good. For in an ornate and well-composed speech too, if we consider the individual syllables, or even the individual letters, which pass away as soon as they have sounded, we do not find in them anything that delights or deserves praise. For that whole speech is beautiful not from single syllables or letters but from all of them. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 1:31; Gen 1:4 etc. (“God saw that it is good”). The etymology universum from unitas is Augustine's. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.21 (PL 34:184–185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-21). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-22 - Source: PL 34:185 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the mockery of God's rest on the seventh day: by a common figure of speech God is said to rest because he will give rest to us after our good works, which are themselves his gift. ### Latin text Jam nunc videamus etiam illud, quod solent majore impudentia, quam imperitia deridere, quod scriptum est, Deum consummato coelo et terra et omnibus quæ fecit, requievisse die septimo ab omni­ bus operibus suis, et benedixisse diem septimum, et sanctificasse eum, quia requievit ab operibus suis. Dicunt enim: Quid opus erat ut Deus requiesseret? an forte opcribus sex dierum fatigatus et lassatus erat? Addunt ctiam Domini testimonium, ubi ait, Pater meus usque nunc operatur; et hinc multos imperitos decipiunt, quibus persuadere co­ nantur Novum Testamentum Veteri Testamento ad­ versari. Sed sicut illi quibus Dominus dicit, Pater meus usque nunc operatur, carnaliter opinabantur re­ quiem Dei, et carnaliter sabbatum observantes non videbant quid illius diei significatio figuraret; sic et isti diversa quidem voluntate, pariter tamen non in­ telligunt sabbati sacramentum. Et illi enim carnaliter observando, et isti carnaliter exsecrando, sabbatum non noverunt. Transeat ergo unusquisque ad Chri­ stum ut auferatur velamen, sicut Apostolus dicit. Velamen enim aufertur, quando si­ militudinis et allegoriæ cooperimento ablato, veritas nudatur, ut possit videri. Primo ergo hnjus locutionis regula in multis divinarum Scripturarum locis animadvertenda atqne discenda est. Quid euim aliud significat, quod dici­ tur Deus requievisse ab omnibus operibus suis, quae fecit bona valde, nisi requiem nostram, quam nobis daturus est ab omnibus operibus nostris, si et nos bona opera fecerimus? Secundum ipsam figuram lo­ cutionis dicit ct Apostolus: Quid enim oremus, sicut oportet, nescimus; sed ipse Spiritus postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus. Non cnim Spiritus sanctus gemit, quasi indigeat aut angustias patiatur, qui secundum Deum interpellat pro sanctis: sed quia ipse nos movet ad orandum cum gemimus, qood ipso movente nos facimus, ipse facere dictus est. Sie dicitur etiam illud: Tentat vos Dominus Deus ne­ ster, ut sciat si diligitis eum ( Deut. XIII, 3). Non enim. ut sciat ipse quem nihil latet, sed ut scire nos faciat, quantum in ejus dilectione profecerimus, tentari nos permittit. Secundum ipsam locutionem dicit et Do­ minus noster, nescire se diem et horam de fine sae­ culi. Quid enim potest esse quod ille nesciat? Sed quia hoc utiliter occultabat discipu­ lis, nescientem se esse dixit, quia illos nescientes occultando faciebat. Secundum hanc figuram eliam Patrem solum dixit scire diem ipsum, quia eumdem Filium scire facerct. Ex hac figura multae quaestiones in divinis Scripturis, eis qui jam genus locutionis hujus noverunt, sine ulla difficultate solvuntur. Tali­ bus locutionibus etiam abundat nostra consuetudo, cum dicimus lætumdiem, quia nos lætos facit; et pi­ grum frigus, quia nos pigros facit; et fossam cæcam, quia nos eam non videmus; et linguam politam, quia verba polita facit: postremo etiam quietum ab omni­ bus molestiis tempus dicimus, in quo nos ab omnibus molestiis quieti sumus. Sed et Deus requievisse dictus est ab omnibus operibus suis, quae fecit bona valde, quia in illo requiescemus ab omnibus operibus no­ stris, si opera bona fecerimus: quia et ipsa bona opera nostra illi tribuenda sunt qui vocat, qui præ­ cipit, qui viam veritatis ostendit, qui ut et velimus invitat, et vires implendi ea quae imperat, submi­ nistrat. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us also look at what they usually mock with more impudence than ignorance: what is written, that God, when heaven and earth and all that he made were finished, rested on the seventh day from all his works, and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because he rested from his works. For they say: What need was there for God to rest? Was he perhaps tired and worn out by the works of six days? They also add the testimony of the Lord where he says, “My Father works until now”; and from this they deceive many unskilled people, whom they try to persuade that the New Testament is opposed to the Old. But just as those to whom the Lord said, “My Father works until now,” thought of God's rest in a carnal way, and, keeping the sabbath carnally, did not see what the meaning of that day prefigured; so these too, though with a different will, equally fail to understand the mystery of the sabbath. For the former by keeping it carnally, and the latter by cursing it carnally, did not know the sabbath. Let each one, then, pass over to Christ, so that the veil may be taken away, as the Apostle says. For the veil is taken away when the covering of likeness and allegory is removed and the truth is laid bare so that it can be seen. First, then, the rule of this way of speaking must be noticed and learned in many places of the divine Scriptures. For what else does it signify that God is said to have rested from all his works, which he made very good, except our rest, which he will give us from all our works, if we too have done good works? According to this same figure of speech the Apostle too says: “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings.” For the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for the saints according to God, does not groan as though he were in need or suffered distress; but because he moves us to pray when we groan, what we do by his moving he is said to do. So too it is said: “The Lord your God tests you, to know whether you love him.” For he permits us to be tested not so that he may know, from whom nothing is hidden, but so that he may make us know how far we have advanced in love of him. According to this same way of speaking our Lord too says that he does not know the day and the hour of the end of the world. For what can there be that he does not know? But because he was usefully hiding this from his disciples, he said that he did not know, because by hiding it he made them not know. According to this figure he also said that only the Father knows that day, because he made the same Son know it. By this figure many questions in the divine Scriptures are solved without any difficulty for those who already know this kind of expression. Our ordinary usage too abounds in such expressions, when we say a glad day, because it makes us glad; and a sluggish cold, because it makes us sluggish; and a blind ditch, because we do not see it; and a polished tongue, because it makes polished words; and finally we call a time quiet from all troubles, in which we are quiet from all troubles. So too God is said to have rested from all his works, which he made very good, because in him we shall rest from all our works, if we have done good works; for even our good works themselves are to be ascribed to him who calls, who commands, who shows the way of truth, who invites us to will, and supplies the strength to fulfill what he commands. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:2: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:3: allusion, high confidence - John 5:17: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:26: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:27: allusion, high confidence - Deut 13:3: quotation, high confidence - Mark 13:32: allusion, high confidence - Matt 24:36: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 2:2–3; John 5:17; 2 Cor 3:16; Rom 8:26–27; Deut 13:3; Mark 13:32 (Matt 24:36). On the Manichaean claim that the New Testament contradicts the Old, and on the sabbath kept carnally by the Jews of Jesus' day, Augustine states his own view. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.22 (PL 34:185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-14/#p-1-22). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-1-23 - Source: PL 34:185–187 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine compares the six days of creation with six ages of world history, from Adam to Noah, Abraham, David, the exile, Christ, and the present age, each with its morning and evening, to be followed by the seventh day of rest without evening. ### Latin text Sed quare septimo die requies ista tri­ bnatur, diligentius considerandum arbitror. Video enim per totum textum divinarum Scripturarum sex quasdam aetates operosas, certis quasi limitibus suis esse dis­ tinctas, ut in septima speretur requies; et easdem sex aetates habere similitudinem istorum sex dicrum, in quibus ea facta sunt quae Deum fecisse Scriptura commemorat. Primordia enim generis huinani, in quibus ista luce frui coepit, bene comparantur primo diei quo fecit Deus lucem. Haec retas tanquam infan­ tia deputanda est ipsius universi sæculi, quod tan­ quam unum hominem proportione magnitudinis suae cogitare debemus: quia unusquisque homo cum pri­ mo nascitur, et exit ad lucem, primam ætatem agit infantiam. Haec tenditur ab Adam usque ad Noe ge­ nerationibus decem. Quasi vespera hujus diei fit di­ luvium; quia et infantia nostra tanquam oblivionis diluvio deletur. Et incipit mane a temporibus Noe se­ cunda aetas tanquam pueritia, et tenditur hæc altas usque ad Abraham aliis generalionibus decem. Et bene comparatur secundo diei quo factum est tirmamentum inter aquam et aquam; quia et arca in qua crat Noe cum suis, firmamentum erat inter aquas inferiores in quibus natabat, et superiores quibus compluebatur. Hæc ætas non diluvio deletur, quia et pueritia nostra non oblivione tergitur de memoria. Meminimus enim nos fuisse pueros, infantes autem non mcminimus. Hujus vespera est confusio linguarum in cis qui tur­ rem faciebant, et fit mane ab Abraham. Sed nec ista aetas secunda generavit populum Dei, quia nec pueri­ tia apta est ad generandum. Mane ergo fit ab Abrah., et succedit aetas tertia similis adolescentiae. Et bene comparatur diei tertio, quo ab aquis terra separata est. Ab omnibus enim gentibus, quarum error instabilis et vanis simu­ lacrorum doctrinis tanquam ventis omnibus mobilis, maris nomine bene significatur; ab hac ergo gentium variitate et hujus saeculi fluctibus separatus est popu­ lus Dei per Abraham, tanquam terra cum apparuit arida, id est, sitiens imbrem cœlestem divinorum mandatorum: qui populus unum Deum colendo, tan­ quam irrigata terra, ut fructus utiles posset afferre, sanctas Scripturas et Prophetias accepit. Hæc enim ætas potuit jam generare populum Deo, quia et tertia ætas. id est adolescentia filios habere jam potest. Et ideo ad Abraham dictum est: Patrem multarum gen­ tium posui te, et augeam te nimis valde, et ponam te in gentes, et reges de te exient. Et ponam testamentum meum inter me ei te, et inter semen tuum post te, in ge­ nerationes eorum in testamentum æternum; ut sim tibi Deus, et semini tuo post te: et dabo tibi et semini tuo post te terram in qua habitas, omnem terram Chanaan in possessionem æternam, et ero illis Deus. Hæc ætas porrigitur ab Abraham usque ad Da­ vid quatuordecim generationibus. Hujus vespera est in populi peccatis, quibus divina mandata præter­ ibant, usque ad malitiam pessimi regis Saül. Et inde fit mane regnum David. Haec aetas similis juventutis est. Et revera inter omnes ætates regnat juventus, et ipsa est firmum ornamentum om­ nium attalum: et ideo bene comparatur quarto diei, quo facta sunt sidera in firmamento coeli. Quid enim evidentius significat splendorem regni, quam solis excellentia? Et plebem obtemperantem regno splendor lunae ostendit, tanquam synagogam ipsam, et stellae principes ejus, et omnia tanquam in firmamento in regni stabilitate fundata. Hujus quasi vespera est in peccatis regum, quibus illa gens meruit captivari at­ que servire. Et fit mane transmigratio in Babylo­ niam, cum in ea captivitate populus leniter in peregri­ no otio collocatus est. Et porrigitur haec aetas usque ad adventum Domini nostri Jesu Christi, id est quinta ætas, scilicet declinatio a juventute ad senectutem, nondum senectus, sed jam non juventus: quae senioris ætas est, quem Græci πρεσƐύτην vocant. Nam senex apud eos non πρεσƐύτης, sed γέρωνdicitur. Et revera sic ista ætas a regni robore inclinata et fracta est in populo Judaeorum, quemadmodum homo a juventute fit senior. Et bene comparatur illi Jiei quinto, quo facta sunt in aquis animalia, et volatilia cœli, posteaquam illi homines intergentes, tanquam in mari, vivere cœpe­ runt, et habere incertam sedem et instabilem, sicut volantes aves. Sed plane erant ibi etiam ceti magni, id est illi magni homines qui magis dominari fluctibus sæ­ culi, quam servire in illa captivitate potuerunt. Non enim ad cultum idolorum aliquo terrore depravati sunt. Ubi sane animadvertendum est quod bene­ dixit Deus illa animalia, dicens, Crescite et multipli­ camini, et implete aquas maria, et volatilia multiplicen­ tur super terram: quia revera gens Judæorum, ex quo dispersa est per gentes, valde multiplicata est. Hujus diei, hoc est hujus aetatis, quasi vespera est multipli­ catio peccatorum in populo Judaeorum, quia sic ex­ cæcati sunt, ut etiam Dominum Jesum Christum non possent agnoscere. Mane autem fit ex prardicatione Evang. per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, et finitur dies quintus: incipit sextus, in quo senectus veleris ho­ minis apparet. Hac eniin aetate illud carnale regnum vehementer attritum est, quando et templum deje­ clumest, et sacrificia ipsa cessaverunt; et nunc ea gens quantum ad regni sui vires attinet, quasi extre­ mam vitam trahit. In ista tamen ætate tanquam in senectute veteris hominis, homo novus nascitur, qui jam spiritualiter vivit. Sexta enim die dictum erat: Producat terra animan, vivam. Nam quinto die dictum erat: Producant aquce, non animam vivam, sed reptilia animarum vivarum; quoniam corpora sunt reptilia, et adhuc corporali circumcisione et sacrificiis tanquam in mari Gentium populus ille serviebatLegi. Istam vero animam vivam dicit, qua vita jam incipiunt aeterna desiderari. Serpentes ergo et pecora quae terra pro­ ducit, gentes significant jam stabiliter Evangelio cre­ dituras. De quibus dicitur in illo vase quod Petro demonstratum est in Actibus Apostojorum: Macta, et manduca. Etcum ille immunda diceret, responsum est ei: Quce Deus mundavit, tu ne immunda dixeris.Tunc tit homo ad imaginem et similitudi­ nem Dei, sicut in ista sexta aetate nascitur in carne Dominus noster, de quo dictum est per prophetam, Et homo est, et quis agnoscet eum? Et quemadmo­ dum in illo die masculus ct femina, sic et tn ista aetate Christus et Ecclesia. Et praeponitur homo in illo die pecoribus et serpentibus et volatilibus cæli, sicut in ista aetate Christus regit animas obtemperantes sibi, quae ad Ecclesiam ejus, partim de Gentibus, partim de populo Judaeorum venerunt; ut ab eo domarentur atque mansuescerent homines, vel carnali concupi­ scentiædediti sicut pecora, vel tenebrosa curiositate obscurati quasi serpentes, vel elati superbia quasi aves. Et sicut in illo die pascitur homo et animalia, quæ cum ipso sunt, herbis seminalibus et lignis fru­ ctiferis et herbis viridibus; sic ista atate spiritualis homo quicumque bonus minister csL Christi, et eum bene quantum potest imitatur, cum ipso populo spiritualiter pascitur sanctarum Scripturarum alimentis ei lege divina: partim ad concipiendam fecunditatem rationum atque sermonum, tanquam herbis seminali­ bus; partim ad utilitatem morum conversationis huma­ nae, tanquam lignis fructiferis; partim ad vigorem lidei, spei et charitatis in vitam aeternam, tanquam herbis viridibus, id est vigentibus, quæ nullo æstu tribulationum possint arescere. Sed spiritualis sic istis alimentis pascitur, ut multa intelligat; carnalis autem, id est parvulus in Christo, tanquam pecus Dei, ut multa credat quæ intelligere nondum potest: tamen eosdem cibos omnes habent. Hujus autem aetatis quasi vespera, quae utinam nos non inveniat, si tamen nondum cæpit, illa est de qua Dominus dicit: Putas cum veniet Filius hom., inveniet fidem super terram? Post istam vesperam fiet mane, cum ipse Dominus in claritate Venturus est: tunc requiescent cum Christo ab omni­ bus operibus suis ii quibus dictum est, Estote perfecti, sicut Pater vester qui in coelis eat. Tales enim faciunt opera bona valde. Post enim talia opera speranda est requies in die septimo,,qui vespe­ ram non habet. Nullo ergo modo verbis dici potest quemadmodum Deus focerit, et condiderit coElum et terram et omnem creaturam quam condidit: sed ista elpositio per ordinem dierum sic iudicat tanquam historiam rerum factarum, ut praedicationem futuro­ rum maxime observet. ### English translation (Claude) But why this rest is assigned to the seventh day I think should be considered more carefully. For I see throughout the whole text of the divine Scriptures six ages of labor, marked off as if by their own boundaries, so that in the seventh rest is hoped for; and I see that these same six ages bear a likeness to these six days, in which were made the things that Scripture records God made. For the beginnings of the human race, in which it began to enjoy this light, are well compared to the first day, on which God made light. This age is to be reckoned as the infancy, so to speak, of the whole world, which we should think of as one man in proportion to its size; because every man, when he is first born and comes out into the light, passes his first age, infancy. This extends from Adam to Noah in ten generations. The flood is as it were the evening of this day; because our infancy too is wiped out as if by a flood of forgetfulness. And the morning begins from the times of Noah: the second age, as it were childhood; and this age extends to Abraham in another ten generations. And it is well compared to the second day, on which the firmament was made between water and water; because the ark too, in which Noah was with his family, was a firmament between the lower waters on which it floated and the upper waters by which it was rained on. This age is not wiped out by a flood, because our childhood too is not erased from memory by forgetfulness; for we remember that we were children, but we do not remember being infants. Its evening is the confusion of tongues among those who were building the tower, and morning comes from Abraham. But this second age did not beget the people of God either, because childhood is not fit for begetting. So morning comes from Abraham, and the third age follows, like adolescence. And it is well compared to the third day, on which the land was separated from the waters. For from all the nations, whose error, unstable and moved by the empty teachings of idols as if by every wind, is well signified by the name of sea; from this changeableness of the nations, then, and the waves of this world, the people of God was separated through Abraham, like the land when the dry land appeared, that is, thirsting for the heavenly rain of the divine commandments. This people, by worshiping the one God, like watered land, so that it could bear useful fruits, received the holy Scriptures and the prophecies. For this age could now beget a people for God, because the third age, that is, adolescence, can now have children. And so it was said to Abraham: “I have made you a father of many nations, and I will increase you exceedingly, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. And I will set my covenant between me and you, and between your seed after you, in their generations, for an eternal covenant; that I may be God to you and to your seed after you; and I will give to you and to your seed after you the land in which you dwell, all the land of Canaan, for an eternal possession, and I will be their God.” This age stretches from Abraham to David in fourteen generations. Its evening is in the sins of the people, by which they transgressed the divine commandments, up to the wickedness of the very evil king Saul. And from there morning comes: the kingdom of David. This age is like youth. And truly among all the ages youth reigns, and it is the firm ornament of all the ages; and so it is well compared to the fourth day, on which the stars were made in the firmament of heaven. For what signifies the splendor of a kingdom more clearly than the excellence of the sun? And the splendor of the moon shows the people obedient to the kingdom, as it were the synagogue itself, and the stars its princes, and all things founded as in a firmament in the stability of the kingdom. Its evening, as it were, is in the sins of the kings, by which that nation deserved to be taken captive and to serve. And morning comes: the migration to Babylon, when the people in that captivity were gently settled in leisure in a foreign land. And this age stretches to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, the fifth age, namely the decline from youth to old age, not yet old age, but no longer youth: which is the age of the elder, whom the Greeks call presbytēs. For among them an old man is called not presbytēs but gerōn. And truly this age was bent and broken from the strength of the kingdom among the people of the Jews, just as a man passes from youth to being an elder. And it is well compared to that fifth day, on which animals were made in the waters, and the birds of heaven, after those men began to live among the nations as in a sea, and to have an uncertain and unstable abode, like flying birds. But plainly there were also great sea monsters there, that is, those great men who were able to master the waves of the world rather than to serve in that captivity; for they were not corrupted into the worship of idols by any terror. Here indeed it should be noticed that God blessed those animals, saying, “Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the flying things multiply upon the earth”; because truly the nation of the Jews, since it was dispersed among the nations, has multiplied greatly. The evening, as it were, of this day, that is, of this age, is the multiplication of sins among the people of the Jews, because they were so blinded that they could not even recognize the Lord Jesus Christ. But morning comes from the preaching of the Gospel through our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fifth day ends; the sixth begins, in which the old age of the old man appears. For in this age that carnal kingdom was severely worn down, when the temple was thrown down and the sacrifices themselves ceased; and now that nation, as far as the strength of its kingdom is concerned, draws out as it were the last of its life. Yet in this age, as in the old age of the old man, the new man is born, who now lives spiritually. For on the sixth day it had been said: “Let the earth bring forth the living soul.” For on the fifth day it had been said: “Let the waters bring forth,” not the living soul, but “creeping things of living souls”; since creeping things are bodies, and that people still served the Law by bodily circumcision and sacrifices, as in the sea of the nations. But it calls this one a living soul, by which eternal life now begins to be desired. So the serpents and cattle that the earth brings forth signify the nations that were now to believe the Gospel steadfastly. Of them it is said in that vessel that was shown to Peter in the Acts of the Apostles: “Kill and eat.” And when he said they were unclean, he was answered: “What God has cleansed, do not call unclean.” Then man is made to the image and likeness of God, just as in this sixth age our Lord is born in the flesh, of whom it was said through the prophet, “And he is a man, and who shall know him?” And just as on that day male and female, so in this age Christ and the church. And on that day man is set over the cattle and serpents and birds of heaven, just as in this age Christ rules the souls obedient to him, which came to his church partly from the nations, partly from the people of the Jews; so that by him men might be tamed and made gentle, whether given over to carnal desire like cattle, or darkened by dark curiosity like serpents, or lifted up by pride like birds. And just as on that day man and the animals that are with him are fed with seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees and green plants, so in this age the spiritual man, whoever is a good minister of Christ and imitates him well as far as he can, is fed spiritually together with the people himself on the nourishment of the holy Scriptures and the divine law: partly for conceiving a fruitfulness of thoughts and words, as from seed-bearing plants; partly for the usefulness of morals in human conduct, as from fruit-bearing trees; partly for the vigor of faith, hope and charity unto eternal life, as from green plants, that is, flourishing ones, which no heat of tribulations can wither. But the spiritual man is fed on this nourishment so that he understands much; the carnal man, that is, the little one in Christ, like God's cattle, so that he believes much that he cannot yet understand; yet all have the same food. The evening, as it were, of this age (may it not find us, if indeed it has not already begun) is the one of which the Lord says: “Do you think, when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith on earth?” After this evening morning will come, when the Lord himself is to come in glory. Then those will rest with Christ from all their works to whom it was said, “Be perfect, as your Father who is in heaven.” For such people do works that are very good. For after such works rest is to be hoped for on the seventh day, which has no evening. In no way, then, can it be said in words how God made and established heaven and earth and every creature that he established; but this exposition by the order of the days so presents it as a history of things done that it chiefly keeps in view a foretelling of things to come. ### Scripture references - Gen 17:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 17:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 17:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 17:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:22: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:29: allusion, high confidence - Acts 10:13: quotation, high confidence - Acts 10:15: quotation, high confidence - Jer 17:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 1:17: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 18:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:48: quotation, high confidence - Gen 11:1: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 17:5–8; Gen 1:20–25, 28; Acts 10:13–15; Jer 17:9 in the LXX/Old Latin form (“et homo est, et quis cognoscet eum?”); Luke 18:8; Matt 5:48. Matthew 1:17 lies behind the fourteen generations. Migne's marginal headings for the ages (“2a aetas” etc.) are removed as editorial. The statements about the Jewish people (their blindness, the decline of the kingdom) are Augustine's own interpretation, translated as written. In the fifth age Migne prints “leniter” (“gently”); some editions read otherwise; translated as printed. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.23 (PL 34:185–187; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-1-23). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-1-24 - Source: PL 34:187 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains the numbers of generations in the ages (ten, fourteen, and none for the last) by the five senses, the addition of knowledge and action, and the two sexes, and says the last age is unnumbered so the last day stays hidden. ### Latin text Si autem aliquem movel quod in istis aelatibus sæculi duas aetates primas denis generationibus ad­ venimus explicari, tres autem consequentes singulae quatuordecim generationibus contexuntur, sexta vero ista nullo generationum numero definita est; facile est videre, etiam in unoquoque homine duas primas aetates, infantiam et pueritiam, corporis sensi­ bus inhaerere. Qui sensus corporis quinque sunt, vi­ sos, auditus, olfactus, gustus et tactus: quinarius autem numerus duplicatus, quoniam duplex est sexus humanus, unde generationes tales existunt, masculi­ nas et femininus; quinarius ergo, ut dixi, duplicatus denarium numerum facit. Jamvero ab adolescentia et deinceps, ubi ratio jam incipit in homine prævalere, accedit quinque sensibus cognitio et actio, quibus vita regitur et administratur, ut jam septenarius numerus incipiat esse: qui similiter duplicatus, propter dupli­ cem scium, in quatuordecim generationibus eminet et apparet, quas habent tres aetates consequentes, tanquam adolescentis, et juvenis, et senioris. Sene­ ctutis vero aetas sicut in nobis nullo statuto annorum tempore definitur, sed post quinque illas aetates quan­ tum quisque vixerit, senectuti deputatur: sic et in ista aetate saeculi non apparent generationes, ut etiam occultus sit ultimus dies, quem utiliter Dominus la­ tere oportere demonstravit. ### English translation (Claude) But if anyone is troubled that in these ages of the world we find the first two ages set out in ten generations each, while the three following are each woven of fourteen generations, and this sixth is defined by no number of generations, it is easy to see that in each individual man too the first two ages, infancy and childhood, cling to the senses of the body. These bodily senses are five: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. And the number five doubled, since the human sex from which such generations come is twofold, male and female, the number five, I say, doubled, makes the number ten. But from adolescence onward, when reason begins to prevail in man, knowledge and action, by which life is ruled and managed, are added to the five senses, so that now the number seven begins; and this, similarly doubled on account of the twofold sex, stands out and appears in the fourteen generations that the three following ages have, those of the adolescent, the young man, and the elder. But just as the age of old age in us is defined by no fixed span of years, but however long anyone lives after those five ages is counted as old age; so too in this age of the world the generations do not appear, so that the last day also may be hidden, which the Lord showed it was useful should be concealed. ### Scripture references - Mark 13:32: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 1:7: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The concealment of the last day: Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.24 (PL 34:187; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-1-24). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-1-25 - Source: PL 34:187–188 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine applies the six days to the spiritual growth of each believer, from the light of faith to the ordering of the soul under reason, after which comes the rest God gives. ### Latin text Habet etiam unusquisqu, nostrum in bonis operibus et recta vita tanquam distinctos istos sex dies, post quos debet quietem sperare. Primo die lu­ cem fidei, quando prius visibilibus credit, propter quam fidem Dominus visibiliter apparere dignatus est. Secundo die tanquam firmamentum disciplinae, quo discernit inter carnalia et spiritualia, sicut inter aquas inferiores et superiores. Tertio die, quo men­ tem suam ad ferendos bonorum operum fructus, a labe et fluctibus tentationum carnalium, tanquam aridam terram a perturbationibus maris secernit, ut jam possit dicere, Mente servio legi Dei, carne autem legi peccati. Quarto die, quo jam in illo firmamento disciplinae spirituales intelligentias opera­ tur atque distinguit, videt quae sit incommutabilis ve­ ritas, quae tanquam sol fulget in anima; et quemad­ modum anima ipsius veritatis particeps fiat, et corpori ordinem et pulchritudinem praestet, tanquam luna illuminans noctem; et quemadmodum stellae omnes, scilicet intelligentiæ spirituales, in hujus vitae obscu­ ritate tanquam in nocte micent et fulgeant. Quarum rerum notitia fortior effectus incipiat quinto die in actionibus turbulentissimi sæculi, tanquam in aquis maris operari, propter utilitatem fraternæ societahis; et de corporalibus actionibus, quæ ad ipsum mare pertinent, id est ad hanc vitam, producere animarum vivarum reptilia, id est opera quae prosint animis vi. vis; et cetos magnos,id est fortissimas actiones, quibus fluctus saeculi dirumpuntur et contemnuntur, et volatilia coeli, id est voces coelestia prædicantes. Sexto autem die producat de terra animam vivam, id est de ipsa stabilitate mentis suæ ubi spirituales ha­ bet fructus, id est bonas cogitationes, motus omnes animi sui regat, ut sii in illo anima viva, id est rationi et justitiae serviens, non temeritati atque peccato. Ita fiat etiam homo ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, masculus et femina, id est intellectus et actio, quo­ rum copulatione spiritualis fetus terram impleat, id est carnem subjiciat, et cætera quæ jani in hominis perfectione superius dicta sunt. In istis autem tan­ quam diebus vespera est in ipsa perfectione singulo­ rum operum, et mane in inchoatione consequentium. Post istorum quasi sex dierum opera bona valde, spe­ ret homo quietem perpetuam, et intelligat quid sit, Requievit Deus septimo die ub omnibus operibus suis; quia et ipse in nobis haec bona operatur, qui ut ope­ remur jubet; et ipse recte requiescere dicitur, quia post haec omnia opera requiem nobis ipse præstabit. Quomodo enim recte dicitur paterfamilias ædificare domum, cum boc non opere suo faciat, sed corum, quibus servientibus imperat; sic recte dicitur et ab operibus requiescere, cum post perfectionem fabricæ, illis quibus imperabat permittit ut vacent, et jucundo otio perfruantur. ### English translation (Claude) Each of us too has in good works and an upright life these six days, as it were distinguished, after which he should hope for rest. On the first day, the light of faith, when he first believes visible things, for the sake of which faith the Lord deigned to appear visibly. On the second day, as it were the firmament of discipline, by which he distinguishes between carnal and spiritual things, as between the lower and upper waters. On the third day, when he separates his mind from the stain and the waves of carnal temptations, as the dry land from the disturbances of the sea, so that it may bear the fruits of good works, so that he can now say, “With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” On the fourth day, when in that firmament of discipline he now works out and distinguishes spiritual understandings, and sees what the unchangeable truth is, which shines in the soul like the sun; and how the soul becomes a sharer in that truth and gives order and beauty to the body, like the moon lighting up the night; and how all the stars, that is, spiritual understandings, twinkle and shine in the obscurity of this life as in the night. Made stronger by the knowledge of these things, on the fifth day let him begin to work in the actions of this most turbulent world, as in the waters of the sea, for the benefit of brotherly fellowship; and from the bodily actions that belong to that sea, that is, to this life, let him bring forth creeping things of living souls, that is, works that benefit living souls; and great sea monsters, that is, the strongest actions, by which the waves of the world are broken and despised; and birds of heaven, that is, voices proclaiming heavenly things. On the sixth day let him bring forth from the earth the living soul, that is, from the very stability of his mind, where he has spiritual fruits, that is, good thoughts, let him rule all the movements of his mind, so that there may be in him a living soul, that is, one serving reason and justice, not rashness and sin. So let man too be made to the image and likeness of God, male and female, that is, understanding and action, by whose union a spiritual offspring may fill the earth, that is, subject the flesh, and the other things that were said above about the perfection of man. In these days, as it were, evening is in the completion of each work, and morning in the beginning of the next. After the very good works of these six days, as it were, let man hope for perpetual rest, and let him understand what “God rested on the seventh day from all his works” means: because he himself works these good things in us, who commands us to work; and he himself is rightly said to rest, because after all these works he himself will grant us rest. For just as a householder is rightly said to build a house, though he does it not by his own work but by the work of those whom he commands as they serve him, so he is also rightly said to rest from his works when, after the building is finished, he allows those whom he was commanding to be free and to enjoy pleasant leisure. ### Scripture references - Rom 7:25: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Rom 7:25; Gen 2:2. The days are applied allegorically to Gen 1:3–28. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 1.25 (PL 34:187–188; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-1-25). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-1 - Source: PL 34:188–189 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine introduces the second account of man, which he says is told figuratively, and quotes Genesis 2:4–3:24 in full. ### Latin text Post enumerationem et expositionem dierum septem, interposita est quasi quaedam conclusio, et appellatus est liber creaturae coeli et terræ, quidquid superius dictum est, cum sit parva pars libri: sed ideo sic meruit vocari, quia universi sæculi a Capite usque ad finem quasi brevis quaedam imago in his diebus septem figurata est. Deinde incipit de homine diligentius narrari. Quae omnis narratio non aperte, sed figurate explicatur, ut exerceat mentes quaeren­ tium veritatem, et spirituali negotio a negotiis car­ nalibus avocet. Sic enim se continet: Hic eat liber creaturæ cæli et terræ, cum factus esset dies quo fecit Deus cælum et terram, et omnia viridia agri, antequam essent super terram, et omne pabulum agri, antequam germinaret. Nondum enim pluerat Deus super terram, nec erat homo qui operaretur in ea. Fons autem ascen­ debat de terra, et irrigabat omnem faciem terras. Et tunc finxit Deus hominem de limo terræ, et insufflavit in faciem ejus flatum vitæ, et factus est homo in ani­ mam viventem. Et tunc plantavit Deus paradisum iti Eden ad orientem, et posuit ibi hominem quem fInxerat. Et produxit adhuc Deus de terra omne tignum formo­ sum ad aspectum, et bonum ad escam: et lignum vi,. plantavit in medio paradisi, et lignum scientiæ toni et mali. Flumen autem prodibat ex Eden, et irrigabat paradisum: quod inde dividitur in quatuor partes. No­ men uni Phison; hoc est quod circuit totam terram Evilath, ibi est aurum, aurum autem terras illius opti­ mum; ibi eat carbunculus et lapis prasinus. Et nomen secundi fluminis Geon; hoc circuit totam terram Æthio­ piæ. Et flumen tertium Tigris; hoc eat quod vadit contra Assyrios. Et flumen quartum dicitur Euphrates. Et sumpsit Dominus Deus hominem quem fecerat, et po­ suit eum in paradiso, ut operaretur ibi, et custodiret cum. Et præcepit Dominus Deus Adæ, dicens: Ex omni tigno quod cat in paradiso, edes ad escam; de ligno autem scientiæ boni et mali non edetis ab eo: qua die enim ederitis ab illo, morte moriemini. Et dixit Domi­ nus Deus: Non est bonum esse hominem solum, facia­ mus ei adjutorium simile sibi. Et quæcumque finxerat Deus ex omni genere pecorum, et ex omni genere be­ stiarum agri, et ex omni genere volatilium volantium sub cœto, perduxit ea ad Adam, ut videret quid ea vo­ caret: et quod vocavit ea omnia Adam animam vivam, hoc eat nomen cjus. Et post hæc vocavit Adam nomina omnium pecorum, et omnium avium cæli, et omnium bestiarum agri; et secundum quod vocavit ea Adam, hoc eat nomen eorum usque in hodiernum diem. Ipsi autem Ada: nondum fuit adjutorium simile illi. Et im­ misit Deus soporem in Adam, et obdormivit: et sumpsit Deus unam de costis ejus, et implevit locum ejus carne, et formavit Deus costam quam accepit ab Adam in mu­ lierem. Et adduxit illam ad Adam, ut videret quid eam vocaret. Et dixit Adam, Hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea: hæc vocabitur mulier, quoniam de viro suo sumpta est; et hæc erit mihi adjutorium. Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et ad­ jungetur uxori suæ; et erunt duo in carne una. Et erant ambo nudi, Adam et mulier ejus, et non confun­ debantur. Serpens autem erat sapientior omnium bestiarum, quæ erant super terram, quas fecerat Dominus Deus. Et dixit serpens ad mulierem: Quare dixit Deus ne edatis ab omni ligno quod eat tn paradiso? Et dixit mulier ad serpentem: Ex omni ligno quod eat in paradiso edemus; a fructu autem ligni quod eat in medio para­ disi, dixit Deus ne edamus, sed neque tangamus, ne moriamur. Et dixit serpens mulieri: Non morte morit­ mini; sciebat enim Deus quia qua die manducaveritis ex illo, aperientur oculi vestri, et eritis sicut dii, scien­ tes bonum et malum. Et vidit mulier quia bonum eat lignum in escam, et quia bonum est oculis ad videndum et cognoscendum; et sumpsit fructum de ligno illo, ct manducavit, et dedit viro suo; et accepit Adam, et manducavit: et aperti sunt oculi eorum, et tunc scierunt quia nudi erant; et sumpserunt sibi folia fici, et fecerunt sibi succinctoria. Et cum audissent vocem Domini de­ ambulantis in paradiso ad vesperam, absconderunt se Adam et mulier ejus ab ante faciem Domini Dei, ad illam arborem quæ erat in medio paradiso. Et vocavit Dominus Deus Adam, et dixit illi: Adam, ubi es? Et dixil illc: Vocem tuam audivi, Domine, in paradiso, et timui, et abscondi mc, quia nudus sum. Et dixit Do­ minus Deus: Quia nuntiavit tibi, quia nudus es, nisi quia ab illa arbore de qua dixeram tibi ex illa sola non manducare, ex illa manducasti? Et dixit Adam: Mu­ lier quam dedisti mihi, dedit ut ederem, et manducavi. Et dixit Deus mulieri: Quid hoc fecisti? Et dixit mu­ lier: Serpens seduxit me, et manducavi. Et dixit Do­ minus Deus serpenti: Quia hoc fecisti, maledictus tu ab omni pecore, et omni genere bestiarum. Pectore ei ventre repes, et terram manducabis omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ. Et inimicitiam ponam inter te et mulierem, et inter semen tuum, et inter semen illius. Ipsa tuum observabit caput, et tu ejus calcaneum. Et mulieri dixit: Multipli­ can. multiplicabo dolores tuos, et suspiria tua, et in do­ toribus paries filios tuos; et ad virum tuum conversio tua, et ille tui dominabitur. Et tunc dixit Deus ad Adam: Quia audisti vocem mulieris tuæ, et manducasti de ligno de quo prwceperam tibi, ex illo solo ne ederes, maledicta terra erit tibi in omnibus operibus tuis, et in tristitia et gemitu tuo manducabis ex ea omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ. Spinas et tribulos germinabit tibi, et edes pa­ bulum agri tui. In sudore tultus tui edes panem tuum, denec revertaris in terram, de qua sumptus es; quia terra es, et in terram ibis. Et tunc Adam imposuit no­ men uxori suæ, Vita; quia mater est omnium vivorum. Et tunc fecit Dominus Deus Adae et mulieri ejus tunicas pelliceas, et induit illos. Et dixit: Ecce Adam factus est tanquam unus ex nobis, ad scientiam cognoscendi bonum et malum. Et tunc ne porrigeret manum suam Adam ad arborem vitas et sumeret sibi inde, et ederet. et viveret in aeternum, dimisit eum Domninus Deusde pa­ radiso suavitatis, ut operaretur terram de qua et sumptus fuerat. Et ejectus foras de paradiso, moratus est contra puradisum voluptatis. Et Cherubim et illam flammeam frameam quce versatur, posuit Deus ad custodiendam viam arboris vile. ### English translation (Claude) After the enumeration and exposition of the seven days a kind of conclusion is inserted, and everything said above is called the book of the creation of heaven and earth, although it is a small part of the book; but it deserved to be so called because in these seven days a kind of brief image of the whole world, from beginning to end, was figured. Then begins a more careful account of man. This whole account is set forth not openly but figuratively, so as to exercise the minds of those who seek the truth and call them away from carnal business by a spiritual task. For it runs as follows: “This is the book of the creation of heaven and earth, when the day was made on which God made heaven and earth, and all the green things of the field, before they were upon the earth, and all the grass of the field, before it sprang up. For God had not yet rained upon the earth, and there was no man to work it. But a spring went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth. And then God formed man from the mud of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man was made a living soul. And then God planted paradise in Eden toward the east, and put there the man whom he had formed. And God further brought forth from the earth every tree beautiful to look at and good for food; and he planted the tree of life in the middle of paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out from Eden and watered paradise; and from there it is divided into four parts. The name of one is Phison; this is the one that goes round the whole land of Evilath, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is the best; there is the carbuncle and the green stone. And the name of the second river is Geon; this goes round the whole land of Ethiopia. And the third river is the Tigris; this is the one that goes toward the Assyrians. And the fourth river is called the Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man whom he had made and put him in paradise, to work there and to guard it. And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying: From every tree that is in paradise you shall eat for food; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for on the day you eat of it you shall die by death. And the Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a helper like himself. And whatever God had formed of every kind of cattle, and every kind of beasts of the field, and every kind of flying things that fly under heaven, he brought to Adam, to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called each of them, a living soul, that is its name. And after this Adam called the names of all the cattle and all the birds of heaven and all the beasts of the field; and as Adam called them, that is their name to this day. But for Adam himself there was not yet a helper like him. And God sent a deep sleep upon Adam, and he fell asleep; and God took one of his ribs and filled its place with flesh; and God formed the rib that he took from Adam into a woman. And he brought her to Adam, to see what he would call her. And Adam said: This now is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken from her man; and she shall be a helper to me. For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh. And they were both naked, Adam and his wife, and they were not ashamed. Now the serpent was wiser than all the beasts that were upon the earth, which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman: Why did God say that you should not eat of every tree that is in paradise? And the woman said to the serpent: Of every tree that is in paradise we shall eat; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of paradise God said that we should not eat, nor even touch it, lest we die. And the serpent said to the woman: You shall not die by death; for God knew that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was good to the eyes to see and to know; and she took fruit from that tree and ate, and gave to her husband; and Adam took it and ate; and their eyes were opened, and then they knew that they were naked; and they took fig leaves for themselves and made themselves girdles. And when they heard the voice of the Lord walking in paradise toward evening, Adam and his wife hid themselves from before the face of the Lord God at that tree which was in the middle of paradise. And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: Adam, where are you? And he said: I heard your voice, Lord, in paradise, and I was afraid and hid myself, because I am naked. And the Lord God said: Who told you that you are naked, unless you have eaten from that tree from which alone I had told you not to eat? And Adam said: The woman whom you gave me gave it to me to eat, and I ate. And God said to the woman: Why have you done this? And the woman said: The serpent deceived me, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle and every kind of beast. On your breast and belly you shall crawl, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. She shall watch for your head, and you for her heel. And to the woman he said: I will greatly multiply your pains and your sighs, and in pains you shall bear your children; and your turning shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. And then God said to Adam: Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate of the tree from which alone I had commanded you not to eat, cursed shall the earth be to you in all your works, and in sadness and groaning you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the grass of your field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken; for earth you are, and to earth you shall go. And then Adam gave his wife the name Life, because she is the mother of all the living. And then the Lord God made for Adam and his wife tunics of skin, and clothed them. And he said: See, Adam has become like one of us, for the knowledge of knowing good and evil. And then, lest Adam stretch out his hand to the tree of life and take from it for himself and eat and live for ever, the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of delight, to work the earth from which he had been taken. And cast out of paradise, he dwelt opposite the paradise of pleasure. And God set the Cherubim and that flaming sword which turns, to guard the way to the tree of life.” ### Scripture references - Gen 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:25: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:15: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:16: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:22: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 2:4–3:24 in the Old Latin version, which follows the LXX (e.g. “Vita” for Eve, “carbuncle and green stone”, “she shall watch for your head”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.1 (PL 34:188–189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-1). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-2 - Source: PL 34:189 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine states his method: a literal reading is welcome if it is consistent with the faith, but where that is impossible the passage must be read figuratively, as the apostles read the Old Testament. ### Latin text Hæc secreta verborum si non reprehendentes et accusantes, sed quærentes et reverentes Manichæi mallent discutere, non essent utique Manichæi; sed daretur petentibus, et quærentes invenirent, et pul­ santibus aperiretur. Plures enim quaestiones in hoc sermone proponunt, qui diligentia pia quaerunt, quam isti miseri atque impii: sed boc interest, quod illi quærunt ut inveniant, isti nihil laborant, nisi non invenire quod quærunt. nic ergo totus sermo primo secundum historiam discutiendus est, deinde secun­ dum prophetiam. Secundum historiam facta narrantur, secundum prophetiam futura praenuntiantur. Sane quisquis voluerit omnia quae dicta sunt, secundum lit­ teram accipere, id est non aliter intelligere quam littera sonat, et potuerit evitare blasphemias, et omnia congruentia fidei catholicæ praedicare, non solum ei non est invidendum, sed praecipuus multumque lau­ dabilis intellector habendus est. Si autem nullus exitus datur, ut pie et digne Deo quae scripta sunt intelligan­ tur,•nisi figurate atque in ænigmatibus proposita ista credamus; habentes auctoritatem apostolicam, aqui­ bus tam multa de libris Veteris Testamenti solvuntur ænigmata, modum quem intendimus teneamus, adju­ vante illo qui nos petere, quaerere et pulsare adhor­ tatur; ut omnes istas figuras rerum se­ cundum catholicam fidem, sive quae ad historiam, sive quæ ad prophetiam pertinent, explicemus, non praejudicantes meliori diligentiorique tractatui, sive per nos, sive per alios quibus Dominus revelare dignatur. ### English translation (Claude) If the Manichees preferred to examine these hidden meanings of the words not by finding fault and accusing but by seeking and revering, they would certainly not be Manichees; but it would be given to them when they asked, and they would find when they sought, and it would be opened to them when they knocked. For those who seek with pious diligence raise more questions about this passage than these wretched and impious men; but the difference is that the former seek in order to find, while the latter labor at nothing except not finding what they seek. So this whole passage must first be examined according to history, then according to prophecy. According to history, things done are narrated; according to prophecy, things to come are foretold. Certainly, whoever wishes to take everything that is said according to the letter, that is, to understand it in no other way than the letter sounds, and is able to avoid blasphemies and to preach everything in agreement with the catholic faith, not only should not be begrudged but should be held an excellent and highly praiseworthy interpreter. But if there is no way out for understanding what is written piously and worthily of God unless we believe that these things are set forth figuratively and in enigmas, then, having the authority of the apostles, by whom so many enigmas of the books of the Old Testament are solved, let us hold to the method we intend, with the help of him who urges us to ask, seek and knock; so that we may explain all these figures of things according to the catholic faith, whether they belong to history or to prophecy, without prejudice to a better and more careful treatment, whether by us or by others to whom the Lord deigns to reveal it. ### Scripture references - Matt 7:7: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Matt 7:7 is alluded to twice. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.2 (PL 34:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-2). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-3 - Source: PL 34:189 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine interprets the “day” of Gen 2:4 as all time, and “the green thing of the field” as the invisible creation, the soul, before it sinned and became earthly. ### Latin text Factus est ergo dies, quo die fecit Deus coelum et terram, et omne viride agri, antequam essent super ter­ ram, et omne pabulum agri. Superius septem dies numerantur, nunc unus dicitur dies, quo die fecit Deus cælum et terram,et omne viride agri, et omne pabu­ lum, cujus dici nomine omne tempus significari bene intelligitur. Fecit enim Deus omne tempus simul cum omnibus creaturis temporalibus, quae creaturæ visibi­ les caeli et terræ nomine significantur. Movere autem nos debet ad quaerendum, quod cum diem, qui factus est, et cœlum, et terram nominasset adjecit etiam, viride agri, et omne pabulum. Nonenimquando dictum est, In principio fecit Deus coelum ei terram, tunc di­ ctum est, factum esse omne viride agri et pabulum: manifeste enim legitur, quod tertio die factum est omne viride et pabulum agri. Quod autem dictum est, In principio fecit Deus cælum et terram, non pertinet ad aliquem dierum ex illis septem dicbus. Adhuc enim vel materiam ipsam unde facta sunt omnia, coeli et terrae nomine nuncupabat: vel certe prius totam crea­ turam, cœli et terras nomine proposuerat dicendo, in principio fecit Deus cælum et terram; et postea particu­ latim per ordinem dierum sicut oportebat, propter prophetiam, quam in primo libro commemoravimus, Dei opera exsecutus exposuit. Quid sibi ergo vultquod nunc nominato cælo et terra, addidit, viride agri et pabulum, et tacuit cætera tam multa, quæ sunt in CaPIO et in terra, vel etiam in mari; nisi quia viride agri invisibilem creaturam vult intelligi, sicut est anima? Ager enim solet in Scripturis figurate mundus appellari. Nam et ipse Dominus, Ager eat hic, inquit, mundus (Matth. arn, 38), cum illam parabolam expo­ neret, ubi bono semini sunt commixta zizania. Viride ergo agri spiritualem atque invisibilem creaturam dicit, propter vigorem vitæ, et nomine pabuli utique propter vitam bene hoc ipsum interpretamur. Deinde quod addidit, antequam essent super ter­ ram, intelligitur antequam anima peccaret. Terrenis enim cupiditatibus sordidata, tanquam super terram nata, vel super terram esse, recte dicitur: ideoque ad. didit, Nondum enim pluerat Deus supra terram. ### English translation (Claude) “So the day was made on which God made heaven and earth, and every green thing of the field, before they were upon the earth, and all the grass of the field.” Above seven days are counted; now one day is mentioned, on which God made heaven and earth and every green thing of the field and all the grass; by the name of this day all time is well understood to be signified. For God made all time together with all temporal creatures, which visible creatures are signified by the name of heaven and earth. But it should move us to inquire that, when he had named the day that was made, and heaven and earth, he added also “the green thing of the field and all the grass.” For when it was said, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” it was not then said that every green thing of the field and grass was made; for it is plainly read that every green thing and grass of the field was made on the third day. But what was said, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” does not belong to any one of those seven days. For either he was still calling the very matter from which all things were made by the name of heaven and earth, or certainly he had first set out the whole creation under the name of heaven and earth by saying, “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” and afterward set out the works of God one by one, in the order of days, as was fitting on account of the prophecy we mentioned in the first book. What does it mean, then, that now, having named heaven and earth, he added the green thing of the field and the grass, and was silent about so many other things that are in heaven and on earth or even in the sea, unless by “the green thing of the field” he wants the invisible creation to be understood, such as the soul? For in the Scriptures the world is usually called a field figuratively. For the Lord himself, when he was explaining the parable in which weeds were mixed with the good seed, said, “The field is this world.” So by “the green thing of the field” he means the spiritual and invisible creation, on account of the vigor of its life; and we rightly interpret the name “grass” in the same way, on account of life. Then what he added, “before they were upon the earth,” is understood as “before the soul sinned.” For when it is soiled by earthly desires it is rightly said to be born, as it were, upon the earth, or to be upon the earth. And that is why he added, “For God had not yet rained upon the earth.” ### Scripture references - Gen 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:11: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 13:38: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 2:4–5; Gen 1:1; Matt 13:38. Gen 1:11–13 alluded to. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.3 (PL 34:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-3). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-4 - Source: PL 34:189–190 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine reads the rain from the clouds as the teaching of Scripture needed by fallen man, whereas before sin God watered the soul from within like an inner spring. ### Latin text Nondum pluerat super ter­. ram, vera. Quia et nunc viride agri Deus facit, sed pluendo super terram, id est, facit animas revirescere per verbum suum; sed de nubibus eas irrigat, id est de Scripturis Prophetarum et Apostolorum. Recte autem appellantur nubes, quia verba ista quæ sonant et pcr­ cusso aere transeunt, addita etiam obscuritate allego­ riarum quasi aliqua caligine obducta, velut nubes fiunt: quae dum tractando exprimuntur, bene intel­ ligenLibus tanquam imber veritatis infunditur. Sed hoc nondum erat antequam anima peccaret; id est, ante­ quam viride agri esset super terram. Nondum enim pluerat Deus super terram, nec erat homo qui operaretur in ea. Laboranti enim homini in terra imber de nubibus est necessarius, ae quibus nubibus jam dietum esa. Post peccatum autem homo laborare cœpit in terra, et necessarias habere illas nubes. Ante peccatum vero, cum viride agri et pabulum fecisset Deus, quo nomino invisibilem creaturam significari diximus, irrigabat cam fonte interiore, loquens in intellectum ejus: ut non extrinsecus verba exciperet, tanquam ex supradictis nubibus pluviam; sed fonte suo, hoc est de intimis suis manante veritate, satiaretur. ### English translation (Claude) “It had not yet rained upon the earth”: true. For even now God makes the green thing of the field, but by raining upon the earth, that is, he makes souls grow green again through his word; but he waters them from the clouds, that is, from the Scriptures of the prophets and apostles. They are rightly called clouds, because these words, which sound and pass away when the air has been struck, and which are also covered over as by a kind of mist by the obscurity of allegories, become like clouds; and when they are pressed out by interpretation, a rain of truth, as it were, is poured on those who understand well. But this did not yet exist before the soul sinned, that is, before the green thing of the field was upon the earth. “For God had not yet rained upon the earth, and there was no man to work it.” For a man laboring on the earth needs rain from the clouds, the clouds of which we have already spoken. But after sin man began to labor on the earth and to need those clouds. Before sin, however, when God had made the green thing and the grass of the field (by which name we said the invisible creation is signified), he watered it with an inner spring, speaking to its understanding; so that it did not receive words from outside, like rain from the clouds mentioned above, but was satisfied by its own spring, that is, by truth flowing from its innermost parts. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 2:5. The opening words of the section are garbled in the digital text (“ter. ram, vera.”); translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.4 (PL 34:189–190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/1-23/#p-2-4). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-5 - Source: PL 34:190 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine interprets the spring that watered the earth as God's inner truth satisfying the soul before pride drove it outward; now it needs Scripture's rain, until Christ restores the inner spring and we see face to face. ### Latin text Fons enim ascendebat, inquit, de terra, et irriga­ bat omnem faciem terrce. De terra scilicet de qua di­ citur: Spes mea es tu, portio mea in terra viventium. Quando autem anima tali fonte irri­ gabntur, nondum per superbiam projecerat intima sua. Initium enim superbiæ hominis apostatare aDeo. Ei quoniam in exteriora per superbiam tumescens cœpit non irrigari fonte intimo, bene insultatur illi verbis propheticis, et dicitur: Quid superbit terra et cinis? Quoniam in vita sua projecit intima sua. Quid est enim superbia aliud, nisi de­ serto secretario conscientiæ foris videri velle quod non est? Et ideo laborans jam in terra necessariam habet pluviam de nubibus, id est doctrinam de huma­ nis verbis, ut eliam hoc modo possit ab illa ariditate revirescere, et iterum fieri viride agri. Sed utinam vel pluviam veritatis de ipsis nubibus libenter exci­ piat. Nam propter illam Dominus noster nubilum carnis nostræ dignatus assumere, imbrem sancti Evan­ gelii largissimum infudit, promittens etiam quod si quis biberit de aqua ejus, rediet ad illum intimum fontem, ut forinsecus non quierat pluviam. Dicit enim: Fiet in eo fons aquæ salientis in vitam æternam. Iste, credo, fons ante peccatum ascendebat de terra, et irrigabat omnem faciem terrae, quia interior erat, et nubium non desiderabat auxilium: Nondum enim pluerat Deus super terram, nec erat homo qui operaretur in ea. Cum enim dixisset, Nondum enim plueral Deus super terram, subjecit et causam quare nondum pluerat: quia non erat homo qui operaretur in ea. Tunc autem homo coepit operari in terra, cum post peccatum de beata vita dimissus est, qua in pa­ radiso fruebatur. Sic enim scriptum est: Et dimisit eum Dominus Deus de paradiso suavitatis, ut operaretur terram de qua et sumptus fuerat: unde suo loco requi­ remus. Quod nunc ad hoc comme­ moravi, ut intelligeremus laboranti homini in terra, id est in peccatorum ariditate constituto, necessariam esse de humanis verbis divinam doctrinam, tanquam de nubibus pluviam. Talis autem scientia destructur. Videmus enim nunc in aenigmate, tanquam in nubilo saginam quærentes: tunc autem facie ad faciem, quando universa facies terrae no­ siræ interiore fonte aquae salientis irrigabitur. Nam si fontem aliquem hujus visibilis aquae voluerimus intel­ ligere, de quo dictum est, Fons autem ascendebat de terra, et irrigabat omnem faciem terræ; non est verisi­ mile quod cum tam multi fontes perennes, sive rivo­ rum, sive fluviorum per universam terram invenian­ tur, solus ille siccaverit, qui irrigabat omnem faciem terne. ### English translation (Claude) “For a spring went up,” it says, “from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth.” From the earth, that is, of which it is said: “You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living.” When the soul was watered by such a spring, it had not yet cast out its inward parts through pride. For “the beginning of man's pride is to apostatize from God.” And since, swelling outward through pride, it began not to be watered by the inner spring, it is fittingly taunted in the words of the prophet: “Why is earth and ashes proud? For in its life it has cast out its inward parts.” For what is pride but wanting, having deserted the inner sanctuary of conscience, to seem outwardly what one is not? And so, laboring now on the earth, it needs rain from the clouds, that is, teaching from human words, so that even in this way it may grow green again from that dryness and once more become the green thing of the field. But would that it at least gladly received the rain of truth from those clouds! For on account of it our Lord deigned to take on the cloud of our flesh, and poured out the most abundant rain of the holy Gospel, promising also that if anyone drinks of his water, he will return to that inner spring, so that he will not seek rain from outside. For he says: “There shall be in him a spring of water leaping up to eternal life.” This spring, I believe, went up from the earth before sin and watered the whole face of the earth, because it was inward and did not need the help of clouds: “For God had not yet rained upon the earth, and there was no man to work it.” For when he had said, “For God had not yet rained upon the earth,” he also gave the reason why he had not yet rained: because there was no man to work it. But man began to work on the earth when, after sin, he was sent away from the happy life that he enjoyed in paradise. For so it is written: “And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of delight, to work the earth from which he had been taken”: which we shall examine in its place. I have mentioned it now so that we may understand that for man laboring on the earth, that is, placed in the dryness of sins, divine teaching through human words is necessary, like rain from the clouds. But such knowledge will be destroyed. For now we see in an enigma, seeking nourishment as in a cloud; but then face to face, when the whole face of our earth will be watered by the inner spring of leaping water. For if we chose to understand some spring of this visible water, of which it was said, “But a spring went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth,” it is not likely that, when so many perennial springs, whether of streams or of rivers, are found throughout the whole earth, only that one dried up which watered the whole face of the earth. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 142:5 (141:6 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - John 4:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:8: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 10:12 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 10:9 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 2:6; Ps 142:5 (141:6 LXX/Vulg.); Sir 10:12 and 10:9 (10:14, 10:10 in some numberings); John 4:14; Gen 2:5; Gen 3:23; 1 Cor 13:8, 12. Migne's cross-reference “(Infra, cap. 22)” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.5 (PL 34:190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-5). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-6 - Source: PL 34:190 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine sums up: the verses signify all visible and invisible creation and all time, and show that even the soul is subject to time because it is changeable, while God alone is unchangeable. ### Latin text Sub his ergo paucis verbis universa creatura nubis insinuata est ante peccatum animae. Nomine enim coeli et terne universa visibilis creatura signifi­ cata est; et nomine diei, universum tempus; et no­ minc viridium et pabuli agri, creatura invisibilis; et nomine fontis ascendentis et irrigantis omnem faciem terrae, inundatio veritatis animam satians ante pecca­ tum. Dies autem iste, cujus nomine universum tempus significari diximus, insinuat nobis non solum visibilem, sed etiam invisibilem creaturam tempus posse senlire: quod de anima nobis manifestatur, quæ tanta varietate affectionum suarum, et ipso lapsu quo misera facta est, et reparatione qua rursus in beatitatem redit, tempore mutari posse convincitur. Et ideo non diclum est, Cum factus esset dies, quo die fecit Deus cælum et terram, tantum; quibus nominibus visibilis creatura intimatur: sed additum est etiam, viride, et pabulum agri; quo nomine invisibilem creaturam, propter vigorem et vitam, significari diximus, sicuti est anima. Et ita dictum est, Cum factus esset dies, quo die fecit Deus cælum et terram, et omne viride, et pabulum agri: ut sic intelligeremus non solum visibilem, sed etiam invisibilem creaturam pertinere ad tempus, propter mutabilitatem; quia solus Deus incommutabilis est, qui est ante tempora. ### English translation (Claude) Under these few words, then, the whole creation has been made known to us before the soul's sin. For by the name of heaven and earth the whole visible creation is signified; and by the name of day, all time; and by the name of the green things and the grass of the field, the invisible creation; and by the name of the spring going up and watering the whole face of the earth, the flood of truth satisfying the soul before sin. But this day, by whose name we said all time is signified, suggests to us that not only the visible but also the invisible creation can experience time: which is made plain to us in the case of the soul, which, by the great variety of its affections, and by the very fall by which it became wretched, and by the restoration by which it returns again to happiness, is shown to be capable of change in time. And so it was not said only, “When the day was made on which God made heaven and earth,” by which names the visible creation is indicated; but there was added also “the green thing and the grass of the field,” by which name we said the invisible creation is signified, on account of vigor and life, such as the soul is. And so it was said, “When the day was made on which God made heaven and earth and every green thing and the grass of the field,” so that we might understand that not only the visible but also the invisible creation belongs to time, on account of its changeableness; because God alone, who is before times, is unchangeable. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Gen 2:4–6. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.6 (PL 34:190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-6). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-7 - Source: PL 34:190–191 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against the Manichees' mockery that man was made from slime, Augustine answers that God could make even such a body free from corruption, and suggests that 'slime', a mixture of water and earth, may signify man as a union of soul and body. ### Latin text Nunc videamus post universae creaturæ insinua­ tionem tam visibilis quam invisibilis, et universale beneficium divini fontis erga invisibilem creaturam, quid de homine specialiter intimetur, quod ad nos maxime pertinet. Primo enim quod de limo terrae Deus hominem finxit, solet habere quæstionem qualis ille limus fuerit, vel quae materia nomine limi signifi­ cata sit. Uti autem inimici veterum Librorum, omnia carnaliter intuentes, et propterea semper errantes, etiam hoc reprehendere mordaciter solent, quod de limo Deus hominem finxit. Dicunt enim: Quare de limo fccit Deus hominem? an defuerat ei melior et coelestis materia, unde hominem faceret, ut de labe terrena tam fragilem mortalemque formaret? Non in­ telligentes primo quam multis significationibus vel terra vel aqua in Scripturis ponatur: limus enim aquae et terrae commixtio est. Dicimus enim tabidum et fragile et morti destinatum corpus humanum post peccatum esse coepisse. Non enim in nostro corpore isti exhorrescunt nisi mortatitatem,quam damnatione meruimus. Quid autem mirum, aut difficile Deo, etiamsi de limo istius terrae hominem fecit, tale tamen corpus ejus efficere, quod corruptioni non subjaceret, si homo præceptum Dei custodiens peccare noluisset? Si enim speciem cœli ipsius de nihilo, vel de informi materia dicimus factam, quia omnipotentem artificem credimus; quid mirum si corpus, quod de limo qua­ licumque factum est, potuit ab omnipotenti artifice tale fieri, ut nulla molestia,nulla indigentia cruciaret homi­ nem ante peccatum, et nulla corruptione tabesceret? Itaque superflue quæritur unde hominis corpus Deus fecerit; si tamen nunc de corporis formatione dicitur. Sic enim nonnullos nostros intelligere accepi, qui dicunt, posteaquam dictum est, Finxit Deus ho­ minem de limo terræ; propterea non additum, Ad imaginem et similitudinem suam, quoniam nunc de corporis formatione dicitur. Tunc autem homo interior significabatur, quando dictum est: Fecit Deus homi­ nen. ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei. Sed etiamsi nanc quoque hominem ex corpore et anima factum intelligamus, ut non alicujus novi operis inchoatio, sed superius breviter insinuati diligentior retractatio isto sermone explicetur; si ergo, ut dixi, hominem boc loco ex corpore et anima factum intelligamus, non absurde ipsa commixtione limi nomen accepit. Sicut enim aqua terram colligit, et conglutinat, et continet, quando ejus commixtione limus ejus effici­ tur; sic anima corporis materiam vivificando in uni­ tatem concordem conformat, et non permittit labi et resolvi. ### English translation (Claude) Now, after the introduction of the whole creation, visible as well as invisible, and of the universal benefit of the divine spring toward the invisible creation, let us see what is made known about man in particular, which concerns us most. First, the statement that God formed man from the slime of the earth usually raises the question what kind of slime that was, or what matter is signified by the name of slime. The enemies of the Old Books, who look at everything carnally and therefore always err, also bitingly find fault with this, that God formed man from slime. For they say: “Why did God make man from slime? Did he lack a better, heavenly matter from which to make man, that he formed him so fragile and mortal out of earthly filth?” They do not understand, first, in how many senses either earth or water is used in the Scriptures; for slime is a mixture of water and earth. For we say that the human body began to be wasting, fragile, and destined for death after sin. In our body these people shrink from nothing but the mortality which we deserved by condemnation. But what is wonderful or difficult for God, even if he made man from the slime of this earth, in making his body such that it would not be subject to corruption, if man had kept God's commandment and refused to sin? For if we say that the beauty of heaven itself was made from nothing, or from formless matter, because we believe in an almighty craftsman, what wonder is it if a body made from slime of whatever kind could be made by the almighty craftsman such that no trouble and no want would torment man before sin, and that it would waste away by no corruption? So it is superfluous to ask from what God made man's body, if indeed the formation of the body is spoken of here. For I have learned that some of our people understand it so. They say that after it was said, “God formed man from the slime of the earth,” the words “to his image and likeness” were not added because here the formation of the body is spoken of; whereas the inner man was signified when it was said, “God made man to the image and likeness of God.” But even if we understand that here too man is meant as made of body and soul, so that this passage sets out not the beginning of some new work but a more careful going-over of what was briefly introduced above—if, I say, we understand man in this place as made of body and soul, it is not absurd that this very mixture received the name of slime. For just as water gathers, glues, and holds earth together when slime is made by mixing with it, so the soul, by giving life to the matter of the body, shapes it into a harmonious unity and does not allow it to slip away and dissolve. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 2:7; Gen 1:26–27 (run together). 'Some of our people' who took Gen 2:7 of the body alone are not named. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.7 (PL 34:190–191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-7). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-8 - Source: PL 34:191 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's breathing into Adam does not mean that part of God became the human soul, as the Manichees hold; Scripture shows the soul and spirit of man were made, and their changeableness proves they are not divine. ### Latin text Quod autem scriptum est, Et insufflavit in eum spiritum vitæ, et factus est homo in animam viventem: si adhuc corpus solum erat, animam adjunctam cor­ pori hoc loco intelligere debemus; sive quæ jam facta erat, sed tanquam in ore Dei crat, id est in ejus veri­ tate vel sapientia, unde tamen non recessit quasi locis separata, quando insufflata est; non enim Deus loco continetur, sed ubique praesens cst: sive tunc anima facta est, quando in illud figmentum Deus insufflavit spiritum vitae, ut illa insufflatio ipsam operalioncm Dei significet, qua fecit animam in homine Spiritu potentiae suae. Si autem homo ille qui factus erat, jam corpus et anima erat; ipsi animæ sensus est additus ista insufflatione, cum factus est homo in animam viventem: non quia iila insufflatio conversa est in animam viventem, sed operata est in animam viven­ tem. Nondum tani£ nspiritualem hominem debemus intelligere, qui factus est in annnam viventem, sed adhuc animalem. Tunc cnim spiritualis effectus est, cnm in paradiso, hoc cst in beata vita constitutus. præceptum etiam perfectionis accepit, ut verbo Dei consuminaretur. itaque postquam peccavit, recedens a præcepto Dei, et dimissus est de paradiso, in hoc remansit nt animalis esset. Et ideo animalem homi­ nem prius agimus omnes, qui de iilo post pecca­ tum nati sumus, donecassequamur spiritualem Adam, id est Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui pecca.. lum non fecit; et ab illo recreati et vivificati, restituamur in paradisum, ubi latro ille cum ipso eo dic meruit esse, quo vitam istam finivit. Sic enim Apostolus dicit: Sed non prius quod spirituale est, aed quod animale, sicut scriptum at: Factus est primus Adam in animam viventem, no­ vissimus Adam in spiritum vivificantem ( I Cor. xv, 44 - 46 ). Sic ergo debemus inteiligcre hunc locum, non quia dictum est, Insufflavit in eum spiritum vilæ. et factus est homo in animam viventem, credamus illam. veluti partem naturae Dei in animam hominis fuisse conversam, et cogamur dicere naturam Dei esse mu­ tabilem: in quo errore maxime istos Manichæos ve­ ritas premit. Sicut enim est mater omnium hæreti­ corum superbia, ausi sunt dicere quod natura Dei sit anima. Et hinc urgentur a nobis, cum eis dicimus, Ergo natura Dei errat et misera est, et vitiorum laba corrumpitur et peccat; aut etiam, ut vos dicitis, na­ turæ contrariae sordibus inquinatur: et caetera talia quæ de natura Dei nefas est credere. Nam factam esse animam ab omnipotente Deo, et ideo non illam esse partem Dei vel naturam Dei, manifeste alio loco scriptum est, dicente propheta, Et qui finxit spiritum omnibus, ipse fecit omnia: et alio loco, Qui finxit spiritum hominis in ipso. Ergo factum esse spiritum hominis, manifeste his testimoniis approbatur. Spiritus autem hominis in Scripturis dicitur ipsius animae potentia rationalis, qua distat a pecoribus, et eis naturæ lege dominatur. De quo dicit Apostolus: Nemo.cit quæ sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso eat. Ne forte si probaretur i his testimoniis animam factam esse, non deessent qui dicerent spiritum hominis non esse factum, et ipsum arbitrarentur esse naturam Dei, et in ipsum dicerent partem Dei esse conversam, cum illa insufllatio Dei facta est. Quod sana doctrina sinii­ liter respuit, quia et ipse spiritus hominis cum ali­ quando errat, et aliquando prudenter sapit, mutabilem se esse clamat: quod nullo modo de natura Dei fas est credere. Non autem potest majus signum esse superbiæ, quam ut dicat se humana anima hoc esso quod Deus est, cum adhuc sub tantis viLiorum et mi­ seriarum molibus gemat. ### English translation (Claude) As for what is written, “And he breathed into him the breath of life, and man was made into a living soul”: if until then he was only a body, we ought to understand in this place that the soul was joined to the body. Either it had already been made but was, as it were, in the mouth of God, that is, in his truth or wisdom—from which it nevertheless did not withdraw, as though separated by place, when it was breathed in, for God is not contained by place but is present everywhere; or the soul was made at the moment when God breathed the breath of life into the thing he had formed, so that the breathing signifies the very working of God by which he made the soul in man by the Spirit of his power. But if the man who had been made was already body and soul, sensation was added to the soul itself by that breathing, when man was made into a living soul: not that the breathing was turned into a living soul, but that it worked upon the living soul. Still, we should not yet understand the man who was made into a living soul as spiritual, but as still animal. For he was made spiritual when, set in paradise, that is, in the happy life, he also received a commandment of perfection, so that he might be made perfect by the word of God. And so, after he sinned by departing from God's commandment and was sent out of paradise, he remained in this state: he was animal. And therefore all of us who were born of him after sin first live the animal life, until we attain the spiritual Adam, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did no sin; and, re-created and given life by him, we are restored to paradise, where that thief deserved to be with him on the very day on which he ended this life. For so the Apostle says: “But it is not the spiritual that comes first, but the animal, as it is written: The first Adam was made into a living soul, the last Adam into a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:44–46). So we ought to understand this place in such a way that, because it was said, “He breathed into him the breath of life, and man was made into a living soul,” we do not believe that a part, as it were, of the nature of God was turned into the soul of man, and are not forced to say that the nature of God is changeable. In this error above all the truth presses hard on these Manichees. For since pride is the mother of all heretics, they have dared to say that the soul is the nature of God. And so they are pressed by us when we say to them: “Then the nature of God errs and is wretched, and is corrupted by the stain of vices, and sins; or even, as you say, it is defiled by the filth of the contrary nature”—and the other such things that it is impious to believe about the nature of God. For that the soul was made by almighty God, and therefore is not a part of God or the nature of God, is plainly written in another place, where the prophet says, “And he who formed the spirit for all, he made all things”; and in another place, “Who formed the spirit of man within him.” So these testimonies plainly prove that the spirit of man was made. Now in the Scriptures “the spirit of man” means the rational power of the soul itself, by which it differs from the beasts and by the law of nature rules over them. Of it the Apostle says: “No one knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him.” I cite these lest, if it were proved by these testimonies that the soul was made, there should still be some who would say that the spirit of man was not made, and would suppose it to be the nature of God, and say that a part of God was turned into it when God's breathing took place. Sound doctrine rejects this likewise, because the spirit of man too, when at one time it errs and at another is wise and prudent, cries out that it is changeable—which it is in no way lawful to believe of the nature of God. And there can be no greater sign of pride than for a human soul to say that it is what God is, while it still groans under such great burdens of vices and miseries. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:46: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:45: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Zech 12:1: quotation, high confidence - Ps 33:15 (32:15 LXX): allusion, low confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: allusion, high confidence - Luke 23:43: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 2:7; 1 Cor 15:46, 45 (cited by Migne as 1 Cor 15:44–46); 1 Cor 2:11; Zech 12:1. 'He who formed the spirit for all, he made all things' is uncertain: perhaps a loose recollection of Ps 33:15 [LXX 32:15] or Isa 57:16. Allusions: 1 Pet 2:22; Luke 23:43 (the thief). Augustine later corrected his reading of 'animal' man here (Retractations 1.10.3). The Manichaean view that the soul is part of God's nature is reported as Augustine gives it. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.8 (PL 34:191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-8). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-9 - Source: PL 34:191–192 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paradise signifies the happy life: its trees are spiritual joys, the tree of life is the wisdom by which the soul keeps its middle place under God and over bodies, and eating from the forbidden tree is the proud turning to self that is learned by its punishment. ### Latin text Nunc jam videamus ipsam beatitudinem homi­ nis, quæ paradisi nomine significatur: nam quoniam in nemoribus deliciosa quies hominum esse solet, ct corpureis sensibus nostris de oriente lumcn oritur, coelumque consurgit, quod superius corpus est nosiro corpore atque excellentius; propterea his verbis etian, spirituales deliciæ, quas habet beata vita, figurate explicantur, et ad oricntem paradisus plantatur. In­ telligamus autem nostra gaudia spiritualia significare omne lignum formosum ad aspectum intelligentiae, et bonum ad escam quæ non corrumpitur, qua beatae animæ pascuntur: nam ct Dominus dicit, Operamini escam quæ non corrumpitur; ut estomnis ratio; quai cibus est animæ. Ad orientem, lucem sa­ pientiæ in Eden, id est in dcliciis immortalibus et intelligibilibus. Nam delicia vel voluptas, vel epulum hoc verbo significari dicitur, si ex hebræo in latinum interpretetur. Positum est autem sic sinc inlerpreia­ tionc, ut aliquem locum significare vidcatur, magis­ que figuratam faciat locutionem. Productuin autem ex terra omne illud lignum accipimus omne illud gau­ dium spirituale; id est, superemincre terrae, et non involvi atque obrui terrenarum cupiditatum impli­ camentis. Lignum autem vitae plantatum in medio ppradisi, sapientiam illam significat, qua oportet ut intelligat anima, in meditullio quodam rerum se esse ordinatam, ut quamvis subjectam sibi babeat omnem naturam corpoream, supra se tamen esse intelligat naturam Dei: et neque in dexteram declinet, sibi arrogando quod non est; neque ad sinistram, per negligentiam contemnendo quod est: et hoc est lignum vitae plantatnm in medio paradisi. Ligno autem scien­ tiae boni et mali, ipsa item medietas animae et ordi­ nata integritas significatur: nam et ipsum lignum in inedio paradisi plantatum est; et ideo lignum digno­ scentiæ boni et mali dicitur, quia si anima quæ debet in ea quæ anteriora sunt se extendere, id estin Deum, et ea quae posteriora sunt oblivisci, id est corporeas voluptates, ad seipsam deserto Dee conversa fuerit, et sua potentia tanquam sine Deo frui voluerit, intumescit superbia, quod est initium omnis peccati. Et cum hoc ejus peccatum poena fuerit con­ secuta, esperiendo discit quid intersit inter bonum quod deseruit, et malum in quod cecidit. Et hoc ei erit gustasse de fructu arboris dignoscentiæ boni et mali. Praecipitur ergo illi ut de omni ligno quod est in paradiso edat, ex ligno autem in quo est digno­. sceotia boni et mali non edat; id est, non sic eo fruatur, ut ipsam ordinatam integritatem naturæ suæ, quasi manducando violet atque corrumpat. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us look at man's happiness itself, which is signified by the name of paradise. For since people's pleasant rest is usually found in groves, and for our bodily senses the light rises from the east, and the sky rises up, which is a body higher and more excellent than our body, therefore by these words too the spiritual delights which the happy life holds are figuratively set out, and paradise is planted in the east. Let us understand, then, that our spiritual joys are signified by every tree beautiful to the sight of the understanding and good for the food that does not perish, on which happy souls feed; for the Lord too says, “Work for the food that does not perish”—such as is every rational principle, which is the food of the soul. “In the east”: the light of wisdom; “in Eden,” that is, in immortal and intelligible delights. For this word is said to signify delights, or pleasure, or a banquet, if it is translated from Hebrew into Latin. But it has been set down untranslated, so that it seems to signify some place and makes the expression more figurative. By every tree brought forth from the earth we understand all spiritual joy, which rises above the earth and is not entangled and buried in the snares of earthly desires. The tree of life planted in the middle of paradise signifies that wisdom by which the soul must understand that it has been set in a kind of midpoint of things: although it has all bodily nature subject to it, it must understand that the nature of God is above it, and turn neither to the right, by claiming for itself what it is not, nor to the left, by despising through negligence what it is. This is the tree of life planted in the middle of paradise. By the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, likewise, the soul's middle position itself and its ordered integrity are signified; for that tree too was planted in the middle of paradise. And it is called the tree of discerning good and evil because, if the soul, which ought to stretch out to the things that are ahead, that is, to God, and to forget the things that are behind, that is, bodily pleasures, should desert God and turn toward itself and wish to enjoy its own power as if without God, it swells with pride, which is the beginning of all sin. And when punishment has followed this sin, it learns by experience what difference there is between the good it deserted and the evil into which it fell. And this will be for it to have tasted of the fruit of the tree of discerning good and evil. So it is commanded to eat of every tree that is in paradise, but not to eat of the tree in which is the discerning of good and evil; that is, not to enjoy it in such a way that, as if by eating, it violates and corrupts the ordered integrity of its own nature. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:8: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:9: allusion, high confidence - John 6:27: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Prov 4:27: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 2:16: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:17: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 10:13 (Sirach): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Allusions: Gen 2:8–9, 16–17; John 6:27 (quoted); Phil 3:13; Prov 4:27 (turning neither right nor left). 'Pride, the beginning of all sin' is Sir 10:13 (Vulgate 10:15). Eden as 'delights' or 'pleasure' is Augustine's report of the Hebrew meaning. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.9 (PL 34:191–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-9). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-10 - Source: PL 34:192 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The four rivers of paradise signify the four virtues: prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice, which orders the other three. ### Latin text Flumen autem quod procedebat ex Eden, id est ex deliciis et voluptate et epulis, quod flumen a propheta significatur in Psalmis, cum dicit, Torrente voluptatis tuæ potabis eos; hoc est enim Eden, quod latine voluptas dicitur: dividitur in quatuor partes, et quatuor virtutes significat, pru­ dentiam, fortitudinem, temperantiam, justitiam. Di­ citur autem Phison ipse esse Ganges, Geon autem Nilus, quod etiam in Jeremia propheta animadverti potest: nunc aliis nominibus appellantur. Sicut nunc Tiberis dicitur fluvius, qui prius Albula dicebatur. Tigris vero et Euphrates etiam nunc eadem nomina tenent: quibus tamen nominibus virtutes, ut dixi, spi­ i ituales significantur;quod etiam ipsorum nominum interpretatio docet, si quis hebraeam linguam vel syram consideret. Sicut Jerusalem quamvis sit visi­ bilis et terrenus locus, significat tamen civitatem pacis spiritualiter: et Sion quamvis sit mons in terra, speculationem tamen significat; et hoc nomen in Scripturarum allegoriis ad spiritualia intelligenda saepe transfertur: et ille qui descendebat ab Jerusalem in Jericho, sicut Dominus dicit, et in via vulneratus, saucius et semivivus relictus est a latronibus, utique locos istos terrarum, quamvis secun­ dum historiam in terra inveniantur, spiritualiter cogit intelligi. Prudentia ergo, qnae significat ipsam contem­ platronem veritatis ab omni ore huinano alienam, quia e;t meffabilis, quam si eloqui velis, parturis cam po­ tius quam paris, quia ibi audivitet Apostolus ineffabi­ lia verba quæ non licet homini loqui: hæc ergo prudentia terram circumit, quæ habet au­ rum, et carbunculum, et lapidem prasinum, id est discipUaam vivendi, quoe ab omnibus terrenis sordi­ bus, quasi decoeta nitescit, sicut aurum optimum; et veritatem, quam nuita falsitas vincit, sicut carbun­ Culi fulgor nocte non vincitur; et vitam æternam, quae viriditate lapidis prasini significatur, propter vigorem qui non arescit. Fluvius autem ille qui circuit terram Æthiopiam multum calidam atque ferventem, signi­ ficat fortitudinem calore actionis alacrem atque impi­ gram. Tertius autem Tigris vadit contra Assyrios, et significat temperantiam, quae resistit libidini, multum adversanti consiliis prudentiae: unde plerumque in Scripturis Assyrii adversariorum loco ponuntur. Quar­ tus fluvius non dictum est contra quid vadat, aui quam terram circumeat: justitia euim ad omnes partes ani­ mæ pertinet, quia ipsa ordo et acquitas animae est, qua sibi ista tria concorditer copulantur; prima, pru­ denlia; secunda, fortitudo; tertia, temperantia; et in ista tota copulatione atque ordinatione justitia. ### English translation (Claude) The river that went out from Eden, that is, from delights and pleasure and banquets—the river signified by the prophet in the Psalms when he says, “You will give them drink from the torrent of your pleasure,” for Eden is what in Latin is called pleasure—is divided into four parts and signifies four virtues: prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice. Now the Phison is said to be the Ganges, and the Geon the Nile, which can also be noticed in the prophet Jeremiah; now they are called by other names, just as the river now called the Tiber was formerly called the Albula. The Tigris and the Euphrates keep the same names even now; yet by these names, as I said, spiritual virtues are signified, as the interpretation of the names themselves also teaches, if one examines the Hebrew or Syriac language. Just so, Jerusalem, although it is a visible and earthly place, nevertheless signifies spiritually the city of peace; and Sion, although it is a mountain on the earth, nevertheless signifies contemplation, and this name is often carried over in the allegories of the Scriptures to the understanding of spiritual things; and the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, as the Lord says, and was wounded on the road and left by robbers injured and half dead, certainly compels us to understand these places spiritually, although according to the history they are found on earth. Prudence, then, signifies the very contemplation of truth, remote from every human mouth because it is ineffable: if you try to utter it, you are in labor with it rather than giving birth to it; for there the Apostle too heard ineffable words which it is not lawful for a man to speak. This prudence, then, goes around the land that has gold, and carbuncle, and the leek-green stone: that is, the discipline of living, which shines as though refined from all earthly filth, like the finest gold; and truth, which no falsehood overcomes, as the glow of the carbuncle is not overcome by night; and eternal life, which is signified by the greenness of the leek-green stone, because of its vigor that does not wither. The river that goes around the land of Ethiopia, very hot and burning, signifies fortitude, eager and unwearied in the heat of action. The third, the Tigris, goes against the Assyrians and signifies temperance, which resists lust, the great opponent of the counsels of prudence; that is why in the Scriptures the Assyrians are often put in the place of adversaries. Of the fourth river it was not said against what it goes or what land it goes around: for justice belongs to all the parts of the soul, because it is the very order and equity of the soul, by which these three are joined together in harmony—first prudence, second fortitude, third temperance—and in this whole joining and ordering is justice. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:10: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:11: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:12: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:13: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:14: allusion, high confidence - Ps 36:8 (35:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Jer 2:18: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 10:30: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:4: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 2:10–14; Ps 36:8 [LXX 35:9]; Jer 2:18 (in the Greek and Old Latin, the Geon is linked with Egypt); Luke 10:30; 2 Cor 12:4. Translated 'carbuncle' and 'leek-green stone' (prasinus) as the Old Latin of Gen 2:12 names them. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.10 (PL 34:192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-10). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-11 - Source: PL 34:192–193 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Work in paradise was the effortless guarding of happiness; the woman, made as man's helper and subject to him, is a figure of the soul's appetite, which reason must rule, and the naming of the animals shows reason's superiority. ### Latin text Quod autem ita constitutus est homo in para­ diso, ut operaretur et custodiret; operatio iila lauda­ bilior laboriosa non erat. Alia est namque in paradiso operatio, et alia in terra, quo post peccatum damna­ tus est. Ex eo autem quod additum est, et custodiret; significatum est qualis illa operatio erat. Namque in tranquillitate beatae vitae, ubi mors non est, omnis opera est custodire quod tenes. Accipit etiam praece­ ptum, de quo superius jam tractavimus. Quod praeceptum, quoniam sic concluditur, ut non ad unum loquatur; sic enim dicit, Qua die autem manda­ caveritis, morte moriemini; incipit expoui quomodo sit facta femina: et facta dicitur in adjutorium viri, ut copulatione spirituali spirituales fetus ederet, id est bona opera divinae laudis; dum ille regit, haec obtem­ perat; ille a sapientia regitur, haec a viro. Caput enim viri Christus, et caput mulieris vir. Ideoque dicitur: Non eat bonum solum hominem esse. Adhuc euim erat quod fieret, ut non solum anima corpori dominaretur, quia corpus servilem locum obtinet, sed etiam virilis ratio subjugaret sibi anima­ lem partem suam, per quod adjutorium imperaret corpori. Ad hujus rei exemplum femina facta est, quam rerum ordo subjugat viro; ut quod in duobus hominibus evidentius apparet, id est in masculo et fe mina, etiam in une homine considerari possit: ut ap­ petitum animae, per quem de membris corporis ope­ ramur, habeat mens interior tanquam virilis ratio subjugatum, et justa lege modum imponat adjutorio suo, sicut vir debet feminam regere, nec eam permit tere dominari in virum; quod ubi contingit, perversa et misera domus est. Primo ergo demonstravit Deus homini quanto melior esset'pecoribus, et omnibus irrationabilibus animantibus: et boc significat quod dictum est, addu­ cta esse ad illum omnia animantia, ut videret quid ea vocaret, et eis nomina imponeret. Ex hoc enim appa­ ret ipsa ratione hominem meliorem esse quam pe­ cora, quod distinguere et nominatim ea discernere, nonnisi ratio potest, quæ de ipsis judicat. Sed hæc facilis ratio est; cito enim homo intelligit se meliorem esse pecoribus: illa est difficilis ratio, qua intelligit in seipso aliud esse rationale quod regit, aliud ani­ male quod regitur. I ### English translation (Claude) That man was set in paradise to work and to guard it: that work, being praiseworthy, was not laborious. For work in paradise is one thing, and work on the earth, to which he was condemned after sin, another. From the addition “and to guard it” it was signified what sort of work that was. For in the tranquillity of the happy life, where there is no death, the whole work is to guard what you hold. He also receives the commandment which we have already discussed above. Since this commandment ends in such a way that it does not speak to one person—for it says, “But on the day you eat, you shall die the death”—Scripture begins to explain how woman was made. And she is said to have been made as a helper for the man, so that by spiritual union she might bring forth spiritual offspring, that is, good works of divine praise, while he rules and she obeys; he is ruled by wisdom, she by the man. “For the head of the man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man.” And therefore it is said: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” For something still remained to be done: that not only should the soul rule the body, since the body holds the place of a servant, but also that manly reason should subject to itself its animal part, by which helper it would command the body. As an example of this the woman was made, whom the order of things subjects to the man, so that what appears more evidently in two human beings, that is, in the male and the female, could also be observed in one human being: that the inner mind, like manly reason, should hold in subjection the soul's appetite, by which we act through the members of the body, and should by a just law set a limit on its helper, as the husband ought to rule the wife and not allow her to rule over the husband; where that happens, the household is perverse and wretched. First, then, God showed man how much better he was than the cattle and all irrational living things; and this is what is signified by the statement that all living things were brought to him so that he might see what he would call them and give them names. For from this it is plain that by reason itself man is better than the cattle, because only reason, which judges them, can distinguish them and tell them apart by name. But this is an easy reasoning, for man quickly understands that he is better than the cattle; the difficult reasoning is that by which he understands that within himself there is one thing, rational, which rules, and another, animal, which is ruled. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:19: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:20: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 2:15; Gen 2:17 (the verbs are plural, as Augustine observes); 1 Cor 11:3; Gen 2:18; Gen 2:19–20. Augustine's statements on the subjection of the wife are translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.11 (PL 34:192–193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-11). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-12 - Source: PL 34:193 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Adam's sleep signifies the inward contemplation by which one sees that reason must rule the lower part of the soul; the making of Eve from his rib, whether only said or also done figuratively, is a mystery to be read according to sound faith. ### Latin text Et quoniam hæc secretiore sapientia videt, ipsam visionem secretam nomine soporis significari arbitror, quem immisit Deus in Adam, quando ei mulier facta est. Ut enim boc videatur, non est opus oculis istis corporeis, sed quanto quisque ab istis visibilibus re­ bus in interiora intelligentiæ secesserit (hoc est autem quasi obdormiscere), tanto melius et sincerius illud videt. Ipsa enim cognitio, qua intelligitur in nobis aliud esse quod ratione dominetur, aliud quod rationi obtemperot; ipsa ergo cognitio veluti effectio mulieris. est de costa viri, propter conjunctionem sigoifican­ dam. Deinde, ut quisque huic suæ parti recte domi­ netur, et fiat quasi conjugalis in seipso, ut caro non concupiscat adversus spiritum, sed spiritui subjuge­ tur, id est concupiscentia carnalis non adversetur rationi, sed potius obtemperando desinat esse carna­ lis, opus babet perfecta sapientia. Cujus contemplatio quia interior est et secretior, et ab omni sensu cor­ poris remotissima, convenienter etiam ista soporis nomine intelligi potest. Tunc enim ordinatissime ca­ put mulieris vir est, cum caput viri est Christus, qui Sapientia est Dei. Sane in locum illius costæ carnem adimplevit, ut hoc nomine insinuaretur dilectionis affectus, quo diligit unusquisque animam suam, et nnn est durus ut eam contemnat; quod diligit quisque cui præest. Non enim sic nominata est caro islo loco, ut carnalem concupiscentiam significet; sed isto modo potius quo propheta dicit auferri populo cor lapideum, et dari cor carneum. Hoc modo enim dicit etiam Apostolus: Non in tabulis lapideis, sed in tabu­ bis cordis carnalibus. Aliud est quippe propria locutio, aliud figurata, qualis ista est quam tractamus modo. Quapropter etsi visibilis femina se­ cundum historiam de corpore viri primo facta cst a Domino Dco, non utique sine causa ita facta est, nisi ut aliquod secretum intimaret. Nam enim aut limus defuit unde femina formaretur? aut, si vellet Dominus, homini vigilanti costam sine dolore detrahere non posset? Sive ergo ista figurate dicta sint, sive ctiam figurate facta sint,. non frustra hoc modo dicta vel facta sunt; sed sunt plane mysteria et sacramenta, sive hoc modo quo tenuitas nostra conatur, sive ali­ quo alio meliore, secundum sanam tamen fidem sunt interpretanda et intelligenda. ### English translation (Claude) And since man sees these things by a more hidden wisdom, I think that this hidden vision is signified by the name of the deep sleep which God sent upon Adam when the woman was made for him. For to see this there is no need of these bodily eyes; but the more anyone withdraws from these visible things into the inner regions of the understanding (and this is, as it were, to fall asleep), the better and more purely he sees it. For the very knowledge by which it is understood that there is in us one thing that rules by reason and another that obeys reason—that knowledge is, as it were, the making of the woman from the man's rib, to signify their union. Next, for each person to rule this part of himself rightly and to become, as it were, married within himself, so that the flesh does not lust against the spirit but is subjected to the spirit—that is, so that carnal desire does not oppose reason but rather, by obeying, ceases to be carnal—there is need of perfect wisdom. Because the contemplation of it is inward and more hidden, and most remote from every bodily sense, it can fittingly also be understood by the name of sleep. For the man is then most rightly the head of the woman when the head of the man is Christ, who is the Wisdom of God. He filled up the place of that rib with flesh, so that by this name might be suggested the affection of love by which each one loves his own soul and is not so hard as to despise it; for each one loves what he governs. Flesh is not named in this place to signify carnal desire, but rather in the way that the prophet says the heart of stone is taken away from the people and a heart of flesh is given. In this way the Apostle too says: “Not on tablets of stone, but on fleshly tablets of the heart.” For a proper expression is one thing, a figurative one another, such as this one we are now discussing. Therefore, even if according to the history the visible woman was first made by the Lord God from the body of the man, she was certainly not made so without cause, but in order to make known some secret. For was there any lack of slime from which the woman could be formed? Or, if the Lord had wished, could he not have taken a rib from the man while he was awake, without pain? So whether these things were said figuratively, or even done figuratively, they were not said or done in this way in vain; but they are plainly mysteries and sacraments, to be interpreted and understood either in the way our slender ability attempts or in some other, better way, but always according to sound faith. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:21: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:22: allusion, high confidence - Gal 5:17: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence - Eph 5:29: echo, medium confidence - Ezek 11:19: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 36:26: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 3:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Allusions: Gen 2:21–22; Gal 5:17; 1 Cor 11:3; 1 Cor 1:24 (Christ the Wisdom of God); Eph 5:29 (Augustine says 'soul' where Paul says 'flesh'); Ezek 11:19 / 36:26; quotation of 2 Cor 3:3. The printed 'Nam enim' is taken as 'Num enim' (a question). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.12 (PL 34:193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-12). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-13 - Source: PL 34:193 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Adam's words over Eve signify fortitude and temperance, the Hebrew wordplay on 'woman' is lost in Latin, and Gen 2:24 is wholly a prophecy of Christ and the Church, as Paul shows against the Manichees. ### Latin text Vocavit ergo mulierem suam vir, tanquam po­ tior inferiorem, et dixit: Hoc nunc os de ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea. Os de ossibus, fortasse propter fortitudinem; et caro de carne, propter temperantiam. Hæ namque duae virtutes ad inferiorem animi partem, quam prudentia rationalis regit, docentur pertinere. Quod autem dictum est, Hcec vocabitur mulier, quo­ niam de viro suo sumpta est; ista origo nominis, et interpretatio in lingua latina non apparet. Quid enim simile habeat mulieris nomen ad viri nomen, non in­ venitur. Sed in hebraea locutione dicitor sic sonare, quasi dictum sit: Hæc vocabitur virago, quoniam de viro suo sumpta est. Nam virago vel virgo potius habet aliquam similitudiaem cum viri nomine; mu­ lier autem non habet: sed hoc, ut dixi, linguæ diver­ sitas facit. Quod autem additum est, Relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhærebit uxori suæ; et erunt duo in carne una, quomodo referatur ad historiam non inve­ nio, nisi quod plerumque in genere humano ista con­ tingunt; sed tota prophetia est, cujus Apostolus me minit, dicens: Propter hoc retinquet home patrem et matrem, et adhaerebit uxori suæ; et erunt duo in carne una. Sacramentum hoc magnum est: ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia. Quod Mani­ chæi si non caeci legerent, qui per Epistolas apostoli­ cas multos decipiunt, intelligerent quomodo accipien­ dæ smt Veteris Testamenti Scripturae, nec tam sa­ crilega voce auderent accusare quod nesciuht. Quod autem nudi erant Adam et mulier ejus, et non con­ fundebantur, simplicitatem animæ castitatemque si­ gnificat. Nam et Apostolus ita dicit: Aptavi. vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo: timeo autem ne sicut serpens Evam fefellit versutia sua, ita corrumpan­ tur mentes vestræ a simplicitate et castitate, quas eat in Christo. ### English translation (Claude) So the man named his woman, as the stronger names the weaker, and said: “This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Bone of bones, perhaps because of fortitude; and flesh of flesh, because of temperance. For these two virtues are taught to belong to the lower part of the mind, which rational prudence rules. As for the statement, “She shall be called woman, because she was taken from her man,” this origin and explanation of the name does not appear in the Latin language. For no likeness is found between the name mulier and the name vir. But in the Hebrew idiom it is said to sound as if it said: “She shall be called virago, because she was taken from her vir.” For virago, or rather virgo, has some likeness to the name vir; mulier has none; but this, as I said, is caused by the difference of languages. As for the addition, “A man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh,” I do not find how it refers to the history, except that such things commonly happen in the human race; but it is wholly a prophecy, which the Apostle recalls, saying: “For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.” If the Manichees, who deceive many through the apostolic letters, read this without blindness, they would understand how the Scriptures of the Old Testament are to be taken, and would not dare with such sacrilegious voices to accuse what they do not know. That Adam and his woman were naked and were not ashamed signifies the simplicity and chastity of the soul. For the Apostle too says: “I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity and chastity that is in Christ.” ### Scripture references - Gen 2:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:31: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:32: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:25: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:2: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 2:23; Gen 2:24; Eph 5:31–32; 2 Cor 11:2–3; allusion to Gen 2:25. Augustine's Latin of Gen 2:24 reads 'in one flesh' (in carne una). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.13 (PL 34:193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-13). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-14 - Source: PL 34:193–194 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The serpent is the devil, who approaches not bodily but through suggestions; every sin follows the same pattern as the first, suggestion (serpent), delight (woman), and the consent of reason (man). ### Latin text Serpens autem significat diabolum, qui sane non erat simplex. Quod enim dicitur sapientior omni­ bus bestiis, figurate insinuatur ejus versutia. Non au­ tem dictum est quod in paradiso erat serpens, sed erat serpens inter bestias quas fecit Deus. Paradisus namque beatam vitam, ut superius dixi, significat, in qua jam non erat serpens, quia jam diabolus erat; et de sua beatitudine ceciderat, quia in veritate non stetit. Nee mirandum est quomodo mulieri loqui potuerit, cum illa esset in paradiso, ct ille non essel; non enim aut illa secundum locum erat in paradiso, sed potius secundum beatitudinis af­ fectum: aut ctiamsi locus cst talis qui paradisus vo­ cetur, in quo corporaliter Adam et mulier habitabant, etiam diaboli accessum corporaliter intelligere debe­ mus? Non utique, sed spiritualiter, sicut Apostolus dicit, Secundum principem potestatis ueris, spiritus qui nunc operatur in filiis. diffidentiæ (Ephes. u, 2). Num­ quid ergo visibiliter eis apparet, ant quasi corporeis locis accedit ad eos in quibus operatur? Non utique, sed miris modis per cogitationes suggerit quidquid potest. Quibus suggestionibus resistunt, qui vere di­ cunt, quod item dicit Apostolus: Non enim ignoramus astulias ejus. Quomodo enim accessit ad Judam, quando ei persuasit ut Dominum traderet? numquid in locis, aut per hos oculos ei visus est? Sed uLiquc, ut dictum est, intravit in cor ejus. Repellit autem ilium homo, si paradisum cu­ stodiat. Posuit enim Deus hominem in paradiso, ut operarelnr et custodiret: quia sic de Ecclesia dici­ tur in Canticis canticorum, Hortus conclusus, fons si­ gnatus; quo utiquc non admittitur per­ versitatis ille persuasor. Sed tamen per mulierem de­ cipit: non enim etiam ratio nostra deduci ad consen­ sionem peccati potest, nisi cum delectatio mota fuerit in illa parte animi, quae debet obtemperare rationi tanquam rectori viro. Etiam nunc in unoquoque nostrum nihil aliud agitur, cum ad peccatum quisque delabitur, quam tunc actum est in illis tribus, serpente, muliere, et viro. Nam primo fit suggestio sive per cogitationem, sive per sensus corporis, vel videndo, vel tangendo, vel audiendo, vel gustando, vel olfaciendo: quæ suggestio cum facta fuerit, si cupiditas nostra non movebitur ad peccandum, excludetur serpentis astutia; si autem mota fuerit, quasi mulieri jam persuasum erit. Sed aliquando ratio viriliter etiam commotam cupiditatem refrenat atque compescit. Quod cum fit, non labimur in peccatum, sed cum aliquanta luctatione coronamur. Si autem ratio consentiat, et quod libido commoverit, ficiendum esse decernat, ab omni vita beata tanquam de paradiso expellitur homo. Jam enim peccatum im­ putatur, etiamsi non subsequatur factum; quoniam rea tenetur in consensione conscientia. ### English translation (Claude) The serpent signifies the devil, who certainly was not simple. For when he is said to be wiser than all the beasts, his cunning is figuratively suggested. It was not said that the serpent was in paradise, but that the serpent was among the beasts which God made. For paradise signifies the happy life, as I said above, in which the serpent no longer was, because he was already the devil and had fallen from his happiness, because he did not stand in the truth. Nor should one wonder how he could speak to the woman, since she was in paradise and he was not. For either she was in paradise not according to place but rather according to the disposition of happiness; or, even if there is such a place called paradise, in which Adam and the woman dwelt bodily, must we understand the devil's approach also as bodily? Certainly not, but spiritually, as the Apostle says: “According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of unbelief.” Does he, then, appear to them visibly, or approach those in whom he works as if through bodily places? Certainly not; but in marvelous ways he suggests whatever he can through thoughts. These suggestions are resisted by those who truly say what the Apostle also says: “For we are not ignorant of his wiles.” For how did he approach Judas when he persuaded him to betray the Lord? Was it through places, or was he seen by him with these eyes? No, but, as was said, he entered into his heart. And a man repels him if he guards paradise. For God placed man in paradise to work and to guard it; for so it is said of the Church in the Song of Songs, “A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed,” into which that persuader to perversity is certainly not admitted. Yet he deceives through the woman; for our reason cannot be led to consent to sin unless delight has been stirred in that part of the mind which ought to obey reason as its ruling husband. Even now, in each one of us, when anyone slips into sin, nothing else takes place than what happened then in those three, the serpent, the woman, and the man. For first comes the suggestion, whether through thought or through the senses of the body, by seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, or smelling. When that suggestion has been made, if our desire is not moved to sin, the cunning of the serpent will be shut out; but if it is moved, it will be as though the woman had already been persuaded. But sometimes reason manfully reins in and checks even a desire that has been stirred. When this happens, we do not slip into sin, but are crowned after some struggle. But if reason consents, and decides that what lust has stirred is to be done, man is expelled from all happy life as from paradise. For sin is already imputed, even if the deed does not follow, since the conscience is held guilty in its consent. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:1: allusion, high confidence - John 8:44: allusion, high confidence - Eph 2:2: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:3: allusion, high confidence - John 13:27: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Song 4:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:1; John 8:44; Eph 2:2; 2 Cor 2:11; Luke 22:3 and John 13:2, 27 (Satan entered Judas); Gen 2:15; Song 4:12. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.14 (PL 34:193–194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-5/#p-2-14). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-15 - Source: PL 34:194 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The serpent persuaded the first couple through pride to want to rule themselves without God; the eyes then opened were the eyes of cunning, and the fig-leaf aprons signify the itch of lying that hides simplicity. ### Latin text Quo autem modo serpens ille peccatum per­ suaserit, diligenter considerandum est; pertinet enim maxime ad nostram salutem: nam ideo haec scripta sunt ut jam talia caveamus. Nam cum.interrogata mulier respondisset quid eis præceptum esset; ait ille: Non morte moriemini: sciebat enim Deus quoniam qua die manducaveritis ex illo, aperientur oculi vestri, et eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum. Videmus his verbis per superbiam peccatum esse persuasum: ad hoc enim valet quod dictum est, Eritis sicut dii. Sicut etiam hoc quod dictum est, Sciebat enim Deus quoniam qua die manducaveritis ex eo, aperientur oculi vestri, quid hic intelligitur, nisi persuasum esse ut sub Deo esse nollent, sed in sua potestate potius sine Do­ mino, ut legem ejus non observarent, quasi inviden­ tis sibi ne se ipsi regerent, non indigentes illius in­ terno lumine, sed utentes propria providentia, quasi oculis suis, ad dignoscendum bonum et malum, quod iłłe prohibuisset? Hoc est ergo quod persuasum est, ut suam potestatem nimis amarent, et cum Deo esse pares vellent, illa medietate, per quam Deo subjecli crant, et corpora subjecta habebant, tanquam fructu arboris constitutæ in medio paradisi, male uterentur, id est contra legem Dei; atque ita quod acceperant amitte­ rent, dum id quod non acceperant, usurpare voluerunt. Non enirn accepit hominis natura, ut per suam pote­ statem Dco non rcgente beata sit; quia nullo regente, per suam potestatem beatus esse solus Deus potest. Et vidit, inquit, mulier quia bonum est lignum ad escam; et quia bonum est oculis ad videndum, et cogno­ scendum. Quomodo videbat, si clausi erant oculi? Sed hoc dictum est, ut intelligeremus eos oculos esse apertos, posteaquam de fructu iio acceperunt, quibus se nudos videbant, et displicebant sibi, id cst oculos astutiæ, quibus simplicitas displicet. Cum enim quis­ que ceciderit ab illa intima et secretissima luce veri­ talis, nihil est unde velit placere superbia, nisi frau­ dulentis simulationibus. Hinc enim et hypocrisis nascitur, in qua multum sibi videntur cordati, qui potuerint fallere et decipere quem voluerint. Dedit enim mulier viro suo, et manducaverunt, et aperti sunt oculi eorum, de quibus jam dictum est; et tunc viderunt quod nudi essent, sed oculis perversis, qui­ bus illa simplicitas quæ nuditatis nomine significata est, erubescenda videbatur. Itaque ut jam non essent simplices, fecerunt de foliis fici sibi succinctoria, tanquam tegentes pudenda sua, id est occultantes simplicitatem, de qua jam erubescebat astuta superbia. Folia vero fici pruritum quemdam significant, si hoc bene in rebus incorporeis dicitur, quem miris modis animus patitur cupiditate, et delectatione mentiendi. Unde etiam latine salsi dicuntur, qui jocari amant. In jocis autem utique simulatio principatum tenet. ### English translation (Claude) But we must carefully consider how that serpent persuaded them to sin; for this concerns our salvation most of all, since these things were written precisely so that we may now beware of such things. When the woman, on being asked, had answered what they had been commanded, he said: “You shall not die the death; for God knew that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” We see from these words that the sin was urged on them through pride; for that is the force of the words, “You will be like gods.” So too with the words, “For God knew that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened”: what is understood here, except that they were persuaded to refuse to be under God, and rather to be in their own power without the Lord, so as not to keep his law—as though he begrudged them governing themselves without needing his inner light, using their own foresight, as if their own eyes, to discern good and evil, which he had forbidden? This, then, is what they were persuaded to: to love their own power too much, and, wishing to be equal with God, to misuse that middle position, by which they were subject to God and had bodies subject to themselves—the fruit, as it were, of the tree set in the middle of paradise—that is, to use it against the law of God; and so to lose what they had received, while they tried to usurp what they had not received. For human nature did not receive the gift of being happy by its own power without God ruling it; for only God can be happy by his own power, with no one ruling him. “And the woman saw,” it says, “that the tree was good for food, and that it was good for the eyes to see and to know.” How did she see, if their eyes were closed? But this was said so that we might understand that the eyes opened after they took of the fruit were those by which they saw themselves naked and were displeasing to themselves, that is, the eyes of cunning, to which simplicity is displeasing. For when anyone has fallen from that inmost and most hidden light of truth, pride has nothing by which it wishes to please except fraudulent pretenses. From this hypocrisy too is born, in which those who have been able to cheat and deceive whomever they wished think themselves very clever. For the woman gave to her husband, and they ate, and their eyes were opened—the eyes already spoken of; and then they saw that they were naked, but with perverse eyes, to which that simplicity signified by the name of nakedness seemed something to blush at. And so, that they might no longer be simple, they made themselves aprons of fig leaves, as if covering their private parts, that is, hiding the simplicity at which cunning pride now blushed. The fig leaves signify a certain itching—if this can rightly be said of incorporeal things—which the mind suffers in marvelous ways from the desire and delight of lying. Hence too in Latin those who love to joke are called “salty”; and in jokes, of course, pretense holds the first place. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:7: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 3:4–5; Gen 3:6; allusions to Gen 3:7. 'Salty' (salsi) is Latin for 'witty'; Augustine links it with the itching caused by fig leaves. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.15 (PL 34:194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-15). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-16 - Source: PL 34:194–195 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's walking in the evening signifies the withdrawal of the inner light of truth; Adam and Eve hide in themselves, and Adam's shame at his nakedness shows that, turned from God's light, he has nothing of his own. ### Latin text Itaque cum deambularet Deus in paradiso ad vesperam, id est cum ad eos jam judicandos veniret, adhuc ante poenam eorum, deambulabat in paradiso, id est, quasi movebatur in eis praesentia Dei, quando jam ipsi stabiles in ejus præcepto non erant; et bene ad vesperam, id est cum jam ab cis sol occidcret, id cst aulerretur abeis lux ilia interior veritatis: audierunt vo­ cem ejus, et absconderunt se a conspectu ejus. Quis se abscondit a conspectu Dei, nisi qui deserto ipso incipit jam amare quod suum est? Jam enim habebant coopcri­ menta mendacii:qui autem loquitur mendacium, dcsuo loquitur ( Joan. vin, 44). Et ideo ad arborem se di­ cuntur abscondere, quæ erat in medio paradisi, id est ad seipsos, qui in medio rerum infra Deum ct su­ pra corpora ordinati erant. Ergo ad seipsos abscon­ derunt se, ut conturbarentur miseris erroribus, reli­ cto lumine veritatis, quod ipsi non erant. Particeps enim veritatis potest esse anima humana: ipsa autem veritas Deus est incommutabilis supra illam. Ab ea ergo veritate quisquis aversus est, et ad seipsum conversus, et non de rectore atque illuslratore Deo, sed de suis motibus quasi liberis exsultat, tenebratur mendacio: quoniam qui loquitur mendacium, de suo loquitur; atque ita turbatur, etvocem illam prophe­ tce manifestat, qua dictum est, Ad meipsum anima mea turbata eat. Itaque jam interrogatur Adam, non Deo nesciente ubi esset, sed cogente ad coufessionem peccati: non enim et Dominus Jesus Christus tam multa quae interrogabat, nesciebat. Re­ spondit autem, voce ejus audita, abscondisse se, quo­ niam nudus esset. Jam miserrimo errore respondit, quasi Deo posset displicere nudus, sicut cum ipse fecerat. Est autem hoc erroris proprium, ut quod cuique displicet, hoc etiam Deo displicere arbitretur. lllud autem sublimiter intelligendum est quod Domi­ nus ait: Quis nuntiavit tibi quod nudus esses, nisi quia ab illa arbore de qua dixeram tibi, ex illa sola ne man­ ducares, ex illa manducasti? Nudus enim erat a simu­ latione, sed vestiebatur luce divina. Unde aversus et ad seipsum conversus, quod significat de illaarbore manducasse, nuditatem suam vidit, et displicuit sibi ex eo quod non habebat aliquid proprium. ### English translation (Claude) So when God walked in paradise toward evening, that is, when he was now coming to judge them—while it was still before their punishment, he walked in paradise, that is, the presence of God was, as it were, moving among them, since they themselves no longer stood firm in his commandment; and rightly toward evening, that is, when the sun was now setting for them, that is, when that inner light of truth was being taken from them—they heard his voice and hid from his sight. Who hides from the sight of God except one who, having deserted him, now begins to love what is his own? For they already had the coverings of falsehood; and whoever speaks a lie speaks from what is his own (John 8:44). And so they are said to hide at the tree that was in the middle of paradise, that is, at themselves, who had been set in the middle of things, below God and above bodies. So they hid themselves at themselves, so as to be thrown into confusion by wretched errors, having left the light of truth, which they themselves were not. For the human soul can share in the truth; but the truth itself is the unchangeable God above it. So whoever has turned away from that truth and turned toward himself, and exults not in God as his ruler and illuminer but in his own motions as if they were free, is darkened by falsehood, since whoever speaks a lie speaks from what is his own; and so he is troubled, and makes plain that word of the prophet in which it was said, “My soul is troubled toward myself.” And so now Adam is questioned—not because God did not know where he was, but to compel him to confess his sin; for the Lord Jesus Christ too was not ignorant of the many things he asked. He answered that, on hearing his voice, he had hidden because he was naked. Now he answered in most wretched error, as if he could displease God by being naked, just as God himself had made him. It is characteristic of error to suppose that whatever displeases someone also displeases God. But what the Lord said is to be understood in a lofty sense: “Who told you that you were naked, unless you ate of that tree of which I had told you that of it alone you should not eat?” For he was naked of pretense, but clothed with divine light. Turned away from it and turned toward himself, which is what eating of that tree signifies, he saw his nakedness and was displeasing to himself, because he had nothing of his own. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:8: allusion, high confidence - John 8:44: quotation, high confidence - Ps 42:6 (41:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:9: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:10: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:11: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:8–11; John 8:44; Ps 42:6 [LXX 41:7] ('My soul is troubled toward myself', as in the Old Latin). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.16 (PL 34:194–195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-16). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-17 - Source: PL 34:195 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Adam and Eve shift the blame, Adam even onto God; the serpent, who cannot confess, is sentenced to a present punishment, power over those who despise God's commands, and crawling on breast and belly signifies pride and carnal desire. ### Latin text Deinde jam more superbiæ in se non accusat quod consensit mulieri, sed in muliercm refundit cul­ pam suam; et sic subtiliier quasi de astutia quam miser conceperat, voluit ad ipsum Deum pertinere quod peccavit. Non enim ait, Mulier dedit mihi; sed addidit dicens, Mulier quam dedisti mihi. Nihil est au­ lem tam familiare peccantibus, quam tribuere Deo velle undecumque accusantur: et hoc de illa vena su­ perbiæ, ut quoniam sic bomo peccavit cum vult esse par Deo, id est liber esse ab ejus dominio, sicut ille ab omni dominio liber est, quoniam ipse est Dominus omnium; quoniam in majestate par illi esse non po­ tuit, jam lapsus et jacens in peccato suo, parem sibi eum facere conetur. Vet potius illum vult ostendere peccasse, se autem esse innocentem. Et mulier inter­ rogata refert culpam in serpentem: quasi aut ille sic acceperat uxorem ut ei obtemperaret, et non potius ut ipsam sibi obtemperare faceret; aut illa non po­ terat Dei praeceptum potius custodire, quam verba serpentis admittere. Jam serpens non interrogatur, sed prior eIce­ pit poenam, quia nec confiteri peccatum potest, nec babet omnino unde se excuset. Non autem nunc ea damnatio diaboli dicitur, quae ultimo judicio reserva­ tur, de qua loquitur Dominus cum dicit, Ite in ignem.ternum, qui præparatu, est diabolo et angelis ejus; sed ea poena ejus dicitur, qua nobis cavendus est. Poena enim ejus est, ut in potestate ha­ beat eos qui Dei praecepta contemnunt. Hoc enim ex­ plicatur his verbis, quibus in eum profertur senten­ tia: et inde major poena cst, quia de hac tam infelici potestate lætatur, qui solebat antequam caderet, de sublimi veritate gaudere in qua non stetit. Et ideo illi etiam pecora præponuntur, non in potestate; sed in conservatione naturæ suae: quia pecora non amise­ runt beatitudinem aliquam coelestem, quam nunquam habuerunt, sea in sua natura quam acceperunt per­ agunt vitam. Dicitur ergo huic: Pectore et ventre re­ pes. Quod quidem et in colubro animadvertitur, et ex illo animante visibili ad hunc invisibilem ini­ micum nostrum locutio figuratur. Nomine enim pectoris, significatur superbia, quia ibi dominatur im­ petus animi: nomine autem ventris, significatur car­ nale desiderium, quia hæc pars mollior sentitur in corpore. Et quia his rebus ille serpit ad eos quos vult decipere; propterea dictum est, Pectore et ventre repes. ### English translation (Claude) Then, in the manner of pride, he does not accuse himself of consenting to the woman, but pours his fault back on the woman; and so, subtly, as if from the cunning which he had wretchedly conceived, he wanted his sin to be laid to God himself. For he did not say, “The woman gave to me,” but added, “The woman whom you gave me.” Nothing is so familiar to sinners as wanting to attribute to God whatever they are accused of; and this comes from that vein of pride: since man sinned by wanting to be equal to God, that is, to be free from his dominion, as God is free from all dominion, being the Lord of all, and since he could not be his equal in majesty, now, fallen and lying in his sin, he tries to make God equal to himself. Or rather he wants to show that God sinned and that he himself is innocent. And the woman, when questioned, refers the fault to the serpent—as if either the man had received a wife in order to obey her, and not rather to make her obey him, or she could not have kept God's commandment rather than admit the words of the serpent. Now the serpent is not questioned but receives the punishment first, because he can neither confess his sin nor has he anything at all with which to excuse himself. The condemnation of the devil spoken of here is not the one reserved for the last judgment, of which the Lord speaks when he says, “Go into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels”; but it is that punishment of his because of which we must beware of him. For his punishment is that he has in his power those who despise God's commandments. That is what is set out in the words by which sentence is passed on him; and the punishment is the greater because he rejoices in this so unhappy power, he who before he fell used to rejoice in the lofty truth in which he did not stand. And therefore even cattle are set above him—not in power, but in the preservation of their nature; because cattle have not lost any heavenly happiness, which they never had, but live out their life in the nature they received. So it is said to him: “On your breast and belly you shall crawl.” This is indeed observed in the snake too, and from that visible animal the expression is applied figuratively to this invisible enemy of ours. For by the name of breast pride is signified, because there the impulse of the mind holds sway; and by the name of belly carnal desire, because this part of the body is felt to be softer. And because it is by these things that he creeps up on those whom he wishes to deceive, it was said, “On your breast and belly you shall crawl.” ### Scripture references - Gen 3:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - John 8:44: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:12–14; Matt 25:41; John 8:44 (did not stand in the truth). 'On your breast and belly' follows the Old Latin of Gen 3:14. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.17 (PL 34:195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-17). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-18 - Source: PL 34:195 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The serpent's eating earth signifies his hold on earthly sinners or the temptation of curiosity; enmity is set with the woman because the devil tempts only through the soul's lower part, and the two seeds are evil suggestion and good work. ### Latin text Et terram, inquit, manducabis omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ: id est omnibus diebus quibus agis hanc po­ testatem, ante illam ultimam paenam judicii; haec enim vita. ejus videtur, de qua gaudet atque gloriatur. Terram ergo manducabis, duobus modis intelligi po­ test: vel ad te pertinebunt, quos terrena cupiditate deceperis, id est peccatores, qui terrae nomine signi­ ficantur; vel certe genus tertium tentationis his verbis figuratur, quod est curiositas. Terram enim qui man­ ducat, profunda et tenebrosa penetrat, et tamen tem­ poralia atque terrena. Non autem inimicitiae ponuntur inter ipsum et virum, sed inter ipsum et mulierem. Numquid quia viros non decipit et tentat? Sed manifestum est quod decipit. An quia ipsum Adam non decepit, sed mu­ lierem ejus? Sed numquid propterea non est inimicus ejus, ad quem pervenit per mulierem suam illa dece­ ptio, maxime quia de futuro jam dicitur, Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem? Si autem quod non dein­ ceps decepit Adam, nec ipsam Evam deinceps dece­ pit. Quare ergo ita dicitur, nisi quia hic manifeste ostenditur non posse nos a diabolo tentari, nisi per illam animalem partem, quae quasi mulieris imaginem vel exemplum in uno ipso homine ostendit, de qua superius jam multa diximus? Quod autem etiam inter semen diaboli, et semen mulieris ponuntur inimicitiæ, significatur semine diaboli perversa suggestio; se­ mine autem mulieris, fructus boni operis, quo per­ versae suggestioni resistit. Et ideo observat ipse plantam mulieris, ut si quando in illicita labitur de­ lectatio, tunc illam capiat: et illa observat caput ejus, ut eum in ipso initio malae suasionis excludat. ### English translation (Claude) “And you shall eat earth,” it says, “all the days of your life”: that is, all the days in which you exercise this power, before that last punishment of the judgment; for this seems to be his life, in which he rejoices and glories. “You shall eat earth” can be understood in two ways: either those whom you have deceived by earthly desire, that is, sinners, who are signified by the name of earth, will belong to you; or else the third kind of temptation, which is curiosity, is figured by these words. For one who eats earth penetrates deep and dark things, yet temporal and earthly ones. Enmity is set not between him and the man, but between him and the woman. Is it because he does not deceive and tempt men? But it is plain that he does deceive them. Or is it because he did not deceive Adam himself, but his woman? But is he for that reason not the enemy of the one whom that deception reached through his woman—especially since it is now said of the future, “I will put enmity between you and the woman”? And if it were because he did not afterward deceive Adam, neither did he afterward deceive Eve herself. Why then is it said so, except that it is plainly shown here that we cannot be tempted by the devil except through that animal part which shows, as it were, the image or example of the woman within the one human being, of which we have already said much above? As for enmity being set also between the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman: by the devil's seed is signified perverse suggestion; by the woman's seed, the fruit of good work, by which she resists perverse suggestion. And so he watches the woman's foot, so that if ever delight slips into what is unlawful, he may then seize it; and she watches his head, to shut him out at the very beginning of evil persuasion. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 3:14–15. The 'third kind of temptation' (curiosity) alludes to the three temptations of 1 John 2:16. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.18 (PL 34:195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-18). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-19 - Source: PL 34:195–196 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The woman's pains in childbirth figure the pain of breaking a bad habit, from which a good habit is born, and her turning to her husband figures the lower soul's readier obedience to reason; the apparent curses are commandments. ### Latin text Jam de paena mulieris nulla quaestio est: ma­ nifeste enim multiplicatos dolores habet, atque suspi­ ria in hujus vitae calamitatibus; et quod in doloribus pariat filios, quamvis et in ista visibili muliere com­ pleatur, tamen ad illam secretiorem consideratio revocanda est. Nam et in pecoribus feminae cum do­ lore pariunt filios, et haec est in illis mortalitatis con­ ditio potius quam paena peccati. Potest ergo fieri ut etiam in feminis hominibus mortalium corporum sit ista conditio. Sed hoc est magnum supplicium, quod ad istam corporum mortalitatem ex illa immortali­ tate venerunt. Verumtamen magnum sacramentum est hujus sententiae, quoJ nulla abstinentia fit a vo­ luntatc carnali, quae non habeat in exordio dolorem, doncc in meliorem partem consuetudo flectatur. Quod cum provenerit, quasi natus est filius, id est ad bonum opus paratus est affectus per consuetudinem bonam. Quæ consuetudo ut nasceretur, cuin dolore relucta­ tum est consuetudini malæ. Nam et illud quod post partum dictum est, Erit tibi conversio ad virum tuum, et ipse tui dominabitur; nonne multæ ac prope omnes mulieres absentibus viris suis pariunt, et post partum se ad illos non convertunL? Quæ autem superbæ sunt mulieres, et dominantur viris, numquid post partum carent hoc vitio, ut viri earum dominentur? Imo quasi dignitatem sibi additam credunt, quod matres fiunt, et plerumque superbiores existunt. Quid sibi ergo vult, quod posteaquam dictum est, In doloribus paries filios, additum est, et erit tibi conversio ad virum tuum, et ipse tui dominabitur; nisi quia illa pars animæ, qua; carnalibus gaudiis tenetur, cum aliquam malam consuetudinem volens vincere, passa fuerit difficulta­ tem ac dolorem, atque ita pepererit consuetudinem bonam, cautius jam et diligentius rationi obtemperat tanquam viro; et ipsis quasi erudita doloribus con­ vertitur ad rationem, et liberter servit jubenti, ne iterum iq aliquam perniciosam consuetudinem de­ fluat? Ista ergo quae videntur maledicta, præcepta sunt, si non carnaliter spiritualia legamus. Lex enim spiritualis est. ### English translation (Claude) About the woman's punishment there is no question: plainly she has multiplied pains and sighs in the calamities of this life. And her bearing children in pains, although it is fulfilled also in this visible woman, nevertheless calls our consideration back to that more hidden one. For among cattle too the females bear young with pain, and in them this is a condition of mortality rather than a punishment of sin. So it may be that in human females too this is the condition of mortal bodies. But the great punishment is that they came from that immortality to this mortality of bodies. Yet there is a great mystery in this sentence: that no abstinence from carnal will takes place without pain at its beginning, until habit is bent toward the better part. When that has come about, a son, as it were, is born; that is, the disposition has been made ready for good work through good habit. That this habit might be born, there was a painful struggle against bad habit. And as for what was said after the childbirth, “Your turning shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you”: do not many, indeed almost all, women give birth while their husbands are absent, and not turn to them after the birth? And women who are proud and rule their husbands—do they lose this fault after childbirth, so that their husbands rule them? On the contrary, they think a kind of dignity has been added to them because they become mothers, and they often grow prouder. What then does it mean that, after it was said, “In pains you shall bear children,” there was added, “and your turning shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you,” except that that part of the soul which is held by carnal joys, when, wishing to overcome some bad habit, it has suffered difficulty and pain and so given birth to a good habit, now obeys reason as its husband more cautiously and carefully; and, taught as it were by its very pains, turns to reason and gladly serves its command, so as not to slide again into some ruinous habit? So these things which seem to be curses are commandments, if we do not read spiritual things carnally. For the law is spiritual. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:16: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 3:16; Rom 7:14. Augustine's remarks on proud wives are translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.19 (PL 34:195–196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-19). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-20 - Source: PL 34:196 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: No one, not even the rich, escapes the sentence on Adam: the labor and thorns are the toil of seeking truth in a corruptible body; the one who tills his inner field suffers it only in this life, while others face purifying fire or eternal punishment after it. ### Latin text Item de sententia ista quæ prolata est in ipsum virum, quid dicemus? Numquid forte divites, quibus provenit facillimus victus, neque in terra operantur, evasisse istam pœnam existimandi sunt, qua dicitur: Maledicta terra erit tibi in omnibus operibus tuis; in tristitia et gemitu tuo manducabis ex ea omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ. Spinas et tribulos pariet tibi, et edes pabu­ lum agri tui: in sudore vultus tui edes panem tuam, donec revertaris in terram, ex qua sumptus ea; quia terra ea, et in terram ibis? Sed certe illud mani­ festum est, quod nemo evadat istam sententiam. Hoc ipsum enim' quod in bac vita quisque natus, diffi­ cultatem inveniendae veritatis babet ex corruptibili corpore sicut enim Salomon dicit, Corpus quod cor­ rumpitur aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabi­ talio sensum multa cogitantem [Sap. IX, 15]), ipsi sunt labores et tristitiæ quas babet homo ex terra; et spinae ac tribuli sunt punctiones tortuosarum quæ­ stionum, aut cogitationes de provisione hujus vitae: quae plerumque, nisi exstirpentur et de agro Dei pro­ jiciantur, suffocant verbum, ne fructificet inhomine, sicut Dominus in Evangelio dicit. Et quoniam necessitate jam per hos oculos et per has anres de ipsa veritate admonemur, et difficile est re­ sistere phantasmatibus quæ per istos sensus intrant in animam, quamvis per illos intret etiam ipsa admonitio veritatis; in ista ergo perplexitate, cujus vultus noa sudet ut manducet panem suam? quod omnibus die­ bus vitae nostrae passuri sumus, id est bujus vitæ quæ transitura est. Et boc illi dictum est, qui coluerit agrum suum, quia ista patitur donec revertatur in terram, ex qua sumptus est, id est, donce finiat vitam istam. Qui euim coluerit agrum istum interius, et ad panem suum quamvis cum labore pervenerit, potest usque ad finem vitæ hujus hunc laborem pati: post hanc autem vitam non est necesse ut patiatur. Sed qui forte agrum non coluerit, et spinis eum opprimi permiserit, habet in hac vita maledictionem terræ suae in omnibus operibus suis, et post hanc vitam habebit, vel ignem purgationis vel poenam æternam. Ita nemo evadit istam sententiam: sed agendum est ut saltem in hac tantum vita sentiatur. ### English translation (Claude) Again, what shall we say of the sentence passed on the man himself? Are the rich, perhaps, who have a very easy living and do not work on the land, to be thought to have escaped this punishment, in which it is said: “Cursed shall the earth be to you in all your works; in sadness and groaning you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the fodder of your field; in the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken; for earth you are, and to earth you shall go”? But surely this is plain: no one escapes this sentence. For the very fact that everyone born in this life has difficulty in finding the truth because of the corruptible body—for, as Solomon says, “The body which is corrupted weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that thinks many things” (Wis 9:15)—these are the very labors and sorrows that man has from the earth; and the thorns and thistles are the prickings of twisted questions, or thoughts about providing for this life, which, unless they are rooted out and thrown off God's field, mostly choke the word so that it does not bear fruit in a man, as the Lord says in the Gospel. And since we are now of necessity reminded of the truth itself through these eyes and these ears, and it is hard to resist the phantasms that enter the soul through these senses, although the reminder of truth itself also enters through them—in this perplexity, then, whose face does not sweat that he may eat his bread? This we shall suffer all the days of our life, that is, of this life that is to pass away. And this was said to the one who cultivates his field, because he suffers these things until he returns to the earth from which he was taken, that is, until he ends this life. For one who cultivates this field inwardly, and attains his bread, though with labor, can bear this labor until the end of this life; but after this life he need not bear it. But one who perhaps has not cultivated his field, and has let it be overrun with thorns, has in this life the curse of his earth in all his works, and after this life will have either the fire of purgation or eternal punishment. So no one escapes this sentence; but we must act so that it is felt in this life only. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:22: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 9:15 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 3:17–19; Wis 9:15 (ascribed to Solomon); allusion to Matt 13:22. 'The fire of purgation' (ignis purgationis) is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.20 (PL 34:196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-20). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-21 - Source: PL 34:196–197 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eve is called 'Life' and 'mother of the living' because the soul's lower part, obeying reason, gives birth to right actions; the garments of skin signify the mortal flesh in which lying hearts now hide. ### Latin text Quem autem non moveat, quod post peccatum et sententiam judicis Dei vocat Adam mulierem suam, Vitam, quia vivorum ipsa sit mater, posteaquam me­ ruit mortem, et mortales fetus parere destinata est; nisi quia illos fetus attendit Scriptura, quos cum in doloribus pepererit, fiet illi conversio ad virum suum, et ejus ipse dominabitur? De quibus fetibus superius dictum est. Sic enim est illa vita materque vivorum. Nam vita quae in peccatis est, mors appellari in Scri­ pLuris solet, sicut Apostolus dicit mortuam esse vi­ duam quae in deliciis vivit ( I Tim. v, 6): et mortui nomine peccatum ipsum signi6cari legimus, ubi di­ ctum est, Qui baptizatur a mortuo, et iterum tangit illum, quid proficit in lavacro suo? Sic et qui jejunat super peccata sua, et iterum ambulans hæc eadem facit. Pro peccato enim mortuum posuit, abstinentiam vero jejuniumque a peccato, tanquam baptismum, hoc est mundationem a mor­ tuo: herum autem redire ad peccatum, tanquam itcrum tangere mortuum. Quare ergo non animalis illa pars nostra, quae tanquam viro debet obtemperare rationi, cum per ipsam rationem de verbo vitae recte vivendi sarcinam conceperit, appelletur vita; et cum parLuritiouc abstinentiæ, quamvis cum doloribus atque gemitibus, malae consuctudini resistens, bonam con­ suetudinem ad recte facta pepererit, mater vivorum vocetur, id est recte factorum; quibus contraria sunt peccata, quae nomine mortuorum significari posse docuimus? Nam illa mors, quam omnes qui ex AdaM nati sumus, coepimus debere nature, quam minatus est Deus, cum præceptum daret ne arboris fructus me ederetur; illa ergo mors in tunicis pelliceis figu­ rata est. Ipsi enim sibi feceruut præcinetoria de foliis fici, et Deus illis fecit tunicas pelliceas: id est, ipsi appetiverunt mentiendi libidinem relicta facie veritatis, et Deus corpora eorum in istam mortalitatem carnis mutavit, ubi latent corda mendacia. Neque enim in illis corporibus coelestibus sic latere posse cogitationes credendum est, quemadmodum in his corporibus latent: sed sicut nonnulli motus animorum apparent in vultu, et maxime in oculis, sic in illa perspicuitate ac simplicitate coelestium corporum omnes omnino motus. animi latere non arbitror. Ila­ que illi merebuntur habitationem iliam et commuta­ tionem in angelicam formam, qui eliam in hac vila cum possint sub tunicis pelliceis occultare mendacia, oderunt tamen ea et cavent flagrantissimo amore ve­ ritatis, et hoc solum tegunt, quod ii qui audiunt, ferre non possunt; sed nulla mentiuntur. Veniet euim tempus ut nihil etiam contegatur: nibil est enim oc­ cultum quod non manifestabitur (MattU. x, 26). Tam­ diu autem in paradiso fuerunt isti, quamvis jam sub sententia damnantis Dei, donec ventum esset ad pel­ liceas tunicas, id est ad hujus vitæ mortalitatem. Quo enim majore indicio potuit significari mors quan sentimus in corpore, quam pellibus quae mortuis pe­ coribus detrahi solent? Itaque cum contra praeceptum, non imitatione legitima, sed illicita superbia, Deus esse appetit homo, usque ad belluarum mortalitatem dejectus est. Ideo sic illi lex divina insultat ore Dei; qua insultatione nos admonemur quantum possumus ca­ vere superbiam. ### English translation (Claude) And who would not be struck by the fact that after the sin and the sentence of God the judge, Adam calls his woman Life, because she is the mother of the living, after she had deserved death and was destined to bear mortal offspring—unless Scripture has in view those offspring at whose birth in pains her turning will be to her husband and he will rule over her? Of these offspring we spoke above. For it is in this way that she is life and mother of the living. For life that is in sins is usually called death in the Scriptures, as the Apostle says that the widow who lives in pleasures is dead (1 Tim 5:6); and we read that sin itself is signified by the name of a dead body, where it is said, “He who is washed after touching a dead body and touches it again, what does he gain by his washing? So also he who fasts over his sins and goes again and does the same things.” For he put the dead body for sin, and abstinence and fasting from sin for a baptism, that is, a cleansing from the dead body; and returning to sin again for touching the dead body again. Why then should not that animal part of ours, which ought to obey reason as its husband, be called life, when through reason itself it has conceived from the word of life the burden of right living; and when, by the childbirth of abstinence, though with pains and groans, resisting bad habit, it has borne good habit for right actions, why should it not be called mother of the living, that is, of right actions, whose opposites are sins, which, as we have shown, can be signified by the name of the dead? For that death which all of us born of Adam began to owe to nature, which God threatened when he gave the commandment that the fruit of the tree should not be eaten—that death is figured in the garments of skin. For they themselves made aprons of fig leaves, and God made them garments of skin: that is, they themselves desired the lust of lying, having left the face of truth, and God changed their bodies into this mortality of flesh, where lying hearts lie hidden. For we must not believe that thoughts could lie hidden in those heavenly bodies as they lie hidden in these bodies; but just as some motions of minds appear in the face, and especially in the eyes, so in that clearness and simplicity of the heavenly bodies I think that no motions of the mind whatever lie hidden. And so those will deserve that dwelling and the change into angelic form who even in this life, though they could hide lies under garments of skin, nevertheless hate them and shun them with a most burning love of truth, and conceal only what those who hear cannot bear, but tell no lies. For the time will come when nothing will even be concealed: for there is nothing hidden that will not be made known (Matt 10:26). They remained in paradise, although already under the sentence of God condemning them, until it came to the garments of skin, that is, to the mortality of this life. For by what greater sign could the death we feel in the body be signified than by skins, which are usually stripped from dead cattle? So since man, against the commandment, desired to be God, not by lawful imitation but by unlawful pride, he was cast down to the mortality of beasts. That is why the divine law mocks him in this way by the mouth of God; by this mockery we are warned to beware of pride as much as we can. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:20: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 5:6: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:7: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:26: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 34:25 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:20; 1 Tim 5:6; Gen 3:7, 21; Matt 10:26. 'He who is washed after touching a dead body …' is Sir 34:25–26 (Vulgate 34:30–31). Augustine's view of the garments of skin as mortal bodies is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.21 (PL 34:196–197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-21). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-22 - Source: PL 34:197 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's words 'Adam has become like one of us' are mockery or a reminder of what Adam might have been; he was 'sent out', not 'shut out', of paradise, and the warning about the tree of life may even mean God hoped he would one day reach it through the cross. ### Latin text Ecce Adam factus est tanquam unus ex nobis ad scientiam cognoscendi bonum et malum. Quae ambigua locutio figuram facit: nam, factus eat tanquam unus ex nobis, dupliciter intelligi potest: vel unus ex nobis quasi et ipse Deus, quod pertinet ad insultationem; sicut dicitur, unus ex senatoribus, utique senator: aut certe, quia et ipse deus esset, quamvis Creatoris sui beneficio, non natura, si sub ejus potestate ma­ nere voluisset, sic dictum est, ex nobis; quomodo di­ citur, ex consulibus; aut, pro consulibus, qui jam non est. Sed ad quam rem factus est tanquam unus ex nobis? Ad scientiam scilicet dignoscendi boni et mali, ut iste per experimentum disceret dum sentit malum, quod Deus per sapientiam novit; et potesta­ tem illam Omnipotentis quam pati noluit beatus atque consentiens, poena sua discat esse inevitabilem. Et tunc ne porrigeret Adam manum suam ad or­ botem vitæ, et viveret in æternum, dimisit illum Deus de paradiso. Bene dicium est, dimisit, non, exclusit; ut ipso peccatorum suorum pondere tanquam in lo­ cum sibi congruum videretur urgeri. Quod patitur plerumque malus homo cum inter bonos vivere cœpe­ rit, si se in melius commutare noluerit: ex illa bono­ rum congregatione, pondere malae suC consuetudinis pellitur; et illi eum non excludunt reluctantem, sed dimittunt cupicntem Quod autem dictum est, Ne por­ figeret Adam manum suam ad arborem vitae, etiam haec ambigua locutio est. Loquimur enim sic, cum dicimus, Ideo te moneo, ne iterum facias quod fecisti, volentes utique ut non faciat: et iterum sic, Ideo te moneo, ne forte sis bonus, volentes utique ut sit; id est, mo­ neo te, non desperans quod bonus possis esse. Sicut loquitur Apostolus, cum dicit: Ne forte det illis Dem pænitentiam ad cognoscendam veritatem, Potest ergo videri propterea homo in labores hujus vitae esse dimissus, ut aliquando manum porrigat ad arborem vitae, et vivat in aeternum. Manus autem porrectio bene significat crucem, per quam vita aeter­ na recuperatur. Quamvis etlam si illo modo intelliga­ mus, ne manum porrigat, et vivat in æternum, non injusta poena est post peccatum interclusum esse adi­ tum ad sapientiam, donec Dei misericordia mensuris temporum reviviscat qui mortuus est, et inveniatur qui perierat. Dimissus est ergo de paradiso suavi­ tatis, ut operaretur terram de qua sumptus erat; id est, ut in corpore isto laboraret, et ibi si posset collo­ caret sibi meritum redeundi. Moratus est autem con­ tra paradisum in miseria: quae utique beatae vitae contraria cst. Nam beatam vitam paradisi nomine significatam existimo. ### English translation (Claude) “Behold, Adam has become like one of us in the knowledge of discerning good and evil.” This ambiguous expression makes a figure. For “has become like one of us” can be understood in two ways: either “one of us” as if he too were God, which belongs to the mockery—as one says “one of the senators,” meaning of course a senator; or else it was said “of us” because he too would have been a god, though by the gift of his Creator, not by nature, if he had been willing to remain under his power—as one says “of the consuls,” or “ex-consul,” of one who is no longer consul. But in what respect has he become like one of us? In the knowledge of discerning good and evil, of course: so that he might learn by experience, while he feels evil, what God knows by wisdom; and that he might learn by his punishment that the power of the Almighty, which he refused to bear while happy and consenting, cannot be escaped. “And then, lest Adam stretch out his hand to the tree of life and live forever, God sent him out of paradise.” It was well said, “sent out,” not “shut out,” so that he might seem to be pushed by the very weight of his sins as into a place fitting for him. This is what usually happens to a wicked man when he has begun to live among the good, if he refuses to change for the better: he is driven from that company of the good by the weight of his bad habit, and they do not shut him out against his will, but let him go as he wishes. As for the statement, “Lest Adam stretch out his hand to the tree of life,” this too is an ambiguous expression. For we speak this way when we say, “I warn you lest you do again what you did,” wishing of course that he not do it; and again thus: “I warn you, lest perhaps you may be good,” wishing of course that he be good; that is, I warn you, not despairing that you can be good. So the Apostle speaks when he says: “Lest perhaps God may give them repentance to know the truth.” So it may seem that man was sent into the labors of this life so that he might someday stretch out his hand to the tree of life and live forever. And the stretching out of the hand well signifies the cross, through which eternal life is recovered. But even if we understand “lest he stretch out his hand and live forever” in the other way, it is no unjust punishment that after sin the approach to wisdom was closed, until by God's mercy, in the measures of time, he who was dead comes to life again, and he who was lost is found. So he was sent out of the paradise of delight to work the earth from which he had been taken; that is, to labor in this body, and there, if he could, to lay up for himself the merit of returning. And he dwelt over against paradise in misery, which is indeed the contrary of the happy life. For I think the happy life is signified by the name of paradise. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:22: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:24: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:25: quotation, high confidence - Luke 15:24: allusion, high confidence - Luke 15:32: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:22–24; 2 Tim 2:25 (Latin 'ne forte', in the sense 'in the hope that perhaps'); Luke 15:24, 32. Augustine plays on the two senses of Latin 'ne' ('lest' and, after verbs of warning, 'in case perhaps'). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.22 (PL 34:197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-22). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-23 - Source: PL 34:197–198 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Cherubim ('fullness of knowledge') and the flaming sword (temporal tribulations) guard the tree of life: all reach it through enduring trials, and through the fullness of knowledge, which is love. ### Latin text Posuit autem Deus Cherubim et flammeam fra­ meam quæ versatur, quae uno nomine versatilis dici potest, ad custodiendam viam arboris vitæ. Sicut illi volunt qui bebraea verba in Scripturis interpretati sont, Cherubim latine Scientiae plenitudo esse dicitur. Flammea vcro framea versatilis, temporales pœnæ intelliguntur, quoniam tempora volubilitate versantur. Propterea et flammea dicitur, quia urit quodammodo omnis tribulatio. Sed aliud est uri ad consumptionem, et aliud est uri ad purgationem. Nam et Apostolus dicit: Quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror (U Cor. XI, 29)? Sed iste affectus purgabat eum magis, quia de charitate veniebat. Et illae tribulationes quas justi pa­ tiuntur, ad istam pertinent flammeam frameam: Quoniam in igne probatur aurum et argentum, et homines acceptabiles in camino humiliationis ( Eccli. II, 5). Et iterum: Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines ju­ stos tentatio tribulationis. Quoniam ergo quem diligit Deus, corripit; et flagellat omnem filium quem recipit (llebr. XII, 6); sicut dicit Apostolus, Scientes quotam tribulatio patientiam operatur, patien­ tia autem probationem, et legimus et audimus, et credendum est arborem vitæ, plenitudi­ nem scientiae et flammeam framcam custodire. Nemo ergo potest pervenire ad arborcm vit, nisi her has duas, id est per tolerantiam molestiarum, et scientiæ plenitudinem. Sed tolerantia molestiarum omnibus fere in hac vita subeunda est, tendentibus ad artorcm vitae: plenitudo autem scientiae videtur pauciori­ bus provenire; ut quasi non omnes qui perveniunt ad arborem vitae, per scicntire plenitudinem veniant, quamvis omnes tolerantiam molestiarum, id est flam­ meam frameam versatilem, sentiant. Sed si attendatur quod Apostolus dicit, Plenitudo autem Legis, cha­ ntas; et videamus eamdem charitatem præcepto illo gemino contineri, Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex loto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua; et, Diliget proximum tanquam teipsum; in quibus duobus præceptis tota Lex pendet, et Prophetoe: sine dubitatione intelligimus ad arborem Vitæ non solum per flammeam frameam ver­ satilem, id est per tolerantiam temporalium molestia­ rum, sed etiam per plenitudinem scientiæ, id est per charitatem veniri; quia Ii charitatem, inquit, non habeam, nihil sum (l Cor. XIII, 2). ### English translation (Claude) And God placed the Cherubim and the flaming sword that turns—which could be called by one word “turning”—to guard the way of the tree of life. As those who have interpreted the Hebrew words in the Scriptures would have it, Cherubim is said to mean in Latin “fullness of knowledge.” By the flaming turning sword temporal punishments are understood, since times turn in their revolving. And it is called flaming because every tribulation burns in some way. But it is one thing to be burned to destruction and another to be burned to purification. For the Apostle too says: “Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?” (2 Cor 11:29). But this feeling purified him rather, because it came from love. And the tribulations which the just suffer belong to this flaming sword: “For gold and silver are tested in fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation” (Sir 2:5). And again: “The furnace tests the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation tests just men.” Since, then, “whom God loves he corrects, and he scourges every son whom he receives” (Heb 12:6), as the Apostle says, “knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience proof,” we both read and hear, and must believe, that the fullness of knowledge and the flaming sword guard the tree of life. So no one can reach the tree of life except by these two, that is, by the endurance of troubles and by the fullness of knowledge. But the endurance of troubles must be undergone in this life by almost all who strive toward the tree of life, while the fullness of knowledge seems to come to fewer; so that, as it were, not all who reach the tree of life come by the fullness of knowledge, although all feel the endurance of troubles, that is, the flaming turning sword. But if we attend to what the Apostle says, “But love is the fullness of the law,” and see that this same love is contained in that twofold commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” on which two commandments the whole Law and the Prophets hang, we understand without doubt that one comes to the tree of life not only through the flaming turning sword, that is, through the endurance of temporal troubles, but also through the fullness of knowledge, that is, through love; for “if I do not have love,” he says, “I am nothing” (1 Cor 13:2). ### Scripture references - Gen 3:24: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:29: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:6: quotation, high confidence - Prov 3:12: echo, medium confidence - Rom 5:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:4: quotation, high confidence - Rom 13:10: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:37: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:40: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:2: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 2:5 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 27:5 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Gen 3:24; 2 Cor 11:29; Sir 2:5; Sir 27:5 (Vulgate 27:6); Heb 12:6 (from Prov 3:12); Rom 5:3–4; Rom 13:10; Matt 22:37–40; 1 Cor 13:2. The meaning of 'Cherubim' is reported from interpreters of Hebrew names. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.23 (PL 34:197–198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-23). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-24 - Source: PL 34:198 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Read as prophecy, Adam signifies Christ, who 'left' his Father by becoming man and his mother the Synagogue, and cleaved to his wife the Church, formed from his side as he slept in his passion; the spring watering the earth is the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. ### Latin text Sed in hoc sermone pollicitus sum considera­ tionem rerum factarum, quam puto explicatam: et deinde considerationem prophetiæ, quæ remanet ex­ plicanda jam breviter. Posito enim tanquam signo quodam manifesto quo caetera dirigantur, non diu nos, quantum arbitror, ista consideratio detinebit. Dicit enim Apostolus sacramentum magnum esse, quod dictum est, Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhærebit uxori suœ; et erunt duo in carne una: quod ipse interpretatur subjiciendo, Ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia (Ephes. v, Si, 32). Ergo quod per historiam impletum est in Adam, per pro­ phetiam significat Christum, qui reliquit patrem, cum dixit: Ego a patre exivi, et veni in hunc mundum. Non loco reliquit, quia Deus loco non continetur, neque aversione peccati, sicut apostatae relinquunt Deum; sed apparendo hominibus in ho­ mine, cum Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Quod ipsum non commutationem naturae Dei significat, scd susceptionem naturæ infe­ rioris personae, id est humanæ. Ad hoc valet etiam quod dicitur, Semetipsum exinanivit ( Philipp. II, 7); quia non in ea dignitate apparuit hominibus in qua est apud Patrem, blandiens eorum infirmitati, qni cor mundum nondum habebant, unde videretur Ver­ bum in principio Deus apud Deum. Quid est ergo quod diximus, reliquit Patrem, nisi, reliquit apparere hominibus sicut est apud Patrem? Item re­ liquit et matrem, id est Synagogæ veterem atque carnalem observationem, quae illi mater erat ex se­ mine David secundum carnem, et adhæsit uxori suae, id est Ecclesiæ, ut sint duo in carne una. Dicit enim Apostolus ipsum esse caput Ecclesiae, et Ecclesiam corpus ejus. Ergo et ipse soporatus est dormitione passionis, ut ei conjux Ecclesia formare­ tar, quam dormitionem cantat per prophetam dicens: Ego dormivi, et somnum cepi; et exsurrexi, quoniam Dominus suscepit me. Formata est ergo ei conjux Ecclesia de latere ejus, id est de fide passio­ nis et Baptismi. Nam percussum latus ejus lancea, sanguinem et aquam profudit (Joan. arx, 34). Factus autem, ut supra dixi, ex semine David secundum car­ nem, sicut Apostolus dicit, id est tanquam de limo terræ, cum homo non esset qui operaretur in terra, quia nullus homo operatus est in Virgine, de qua natus est Christus. Fons autem ascendebat de ter­ ra, et irrigabat omnem faciem terr.. Facies terrae, id est dignitas terra, mater Domini virgo Maria rectis­ sime accipitur, quam irrigavit Spiritus sanctus, qui fontis et aquae nomine in Evangelio significatur; ut quasi de limo tali homo ille fieret, qui constitutus est in paradiso, ut operaretur et custodiret, id est in voluntate Patris, ut eam imple­ ret atque servaret. ### English translation (Claude) But in this discourse I promised a consideration of the things done, which I think has been set out, and then a consideration of the prophecy, which now remains to be set out briefly. For once a kind of plain signpost has been set up by which the rest may be directed, this consideration will not, I think, detain us long. For the Apostle says that what was said is a great mystery: “For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh”; and he himself interprets it by adding, “But I speak in Christ and in the Church” (Eph 5:31–32). So what was fulfilled in history in Adam signifies Christ in prophecy, who left his Father when he said: “I came forth from the Father and have come into this world.” He did not leave him in place, because God is not contained by place, nor by turning away in sin, as apostates leave God; but by appearing to men as a man, when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. This does not signify a change in the nature of God, but the taking up of the nature of a lower person, that is, of a human one. This too is the force of the statement, “He emptied himself” (Phil 2:7): because he did not appear to men in the dignity in which he is with the Father, but accommodated himself to the weakness of those who did not yet have a pure heart, by which the Word could be seen as God with God in the beginning. What then does it mean that we said “he left the Father,” except that he left off appearing to men as he is with the Father? Likewise he also left his mother, that is, the old and carnal observance of the Synagogue, which was his mother from the seed of David according to the flesh; and he cleaved to his wife, that is, to the Church, so that they may be two in one flesh. For the Apostle says that he is the head of the Church, and the Church his body. So he too was put to sleep by the sleep of the passion, so that his wife the Church might be formed for him—the sleep of which he sings through the prophet, saying: “I slept and took my rest, and I rose up, for the Lord upheld me.” So his wife the Church was formed for him from his side, that is, from the faith of the passion and of baptism. For his side, pierced by the lance, poured out blood and water (John 19:34). And he was made, as I said above, from the seed of David according to the flesh, as the Apostle says, that is, as it were from the slime of the earth, when there was no man to work the earth, because no man worked in the Virgin from whom Christ was born. “But a spring went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth.” The face of the earth, that is, the dignity of the earth, is most rightly taken as the mother of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, whom the Holy Spirit watered, who in the Gospel is signified by the name of spring and water; so that from such slime, as it were, that man might be made who was set in paradise to work and to guard it, that is, in the will of the Father, to fulfill and keep it. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:31: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:32: quotation, high confidence - John 16:28: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:7: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Rom 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Eph 5:23: allusion, high confidence - Ps 3:5 (3:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 19:34: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:5: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:15: allusion, high confidence - John 7:38: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Eph 5:31–32; John 16:28; John 1:14; Phil 2:7; John 1:1; Rom 1:3; Eph 5:23; Ps 3:5 [LXX 3:6]; John 19:34; Gen 2:5–6, 15; John 7:38–39. 'The nature of a lower person, that is, a human one' renders the Latin literally (susceptionem naturae inferioris personae, id est humanae); Augustine's Christological wording is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.24 (PL 34:198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-24). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-25 - Source: PL 34:198–199 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Every Christian bears the person of Christ and receives his commandment; the serpent prophetically signifies the heretics, above all the Manichees, who promise knowledge, say the soul is God, and worship the sun. ### Latin text Nam praeceptum quod accepit, nos accepimus in illo, quia unusquisque christianus non incongrue sustinet personam Christi, dicente ipso Domino: Quod fecistis uni ex minimis meis, mihi fecistis. Atque utinam frueremur, sicut est praeceptum, omni ligno paradisi, quod significat spirituales deli­ cias; Fructus autem spiritus est, charitas, gaudium, pax, longanimitas, benignitas, bonitas, fides, mansuetu­ do, continentia, sicut Apostolus dicit: et non tangeremus lignum in medio paradisi plantatum scientiae boni et mali, id cst non vellemus superbire de natura nostra, quae, sicut jam diximus, media est, ut decepti experiremur quid intersit inter simplicem fidem catholicam, et fallacias hæreticorum! ita enim pervenimus ad dignoscentiam boni et mali. Nam oportet, inquit, eliam hæreses esse, ut probati manifesti fiant inter vos ( I Cor. XI, 19). Etenim ser­ pens ille secundum prophetiam, haereticorum venena significat, et maxime istorum Manichæorum, et qui­ cumque Veteri Testamento adversantur. Non enim aliquid manifestius prænuntiatum arbitror, quam istos in illo serpente, vel potius illum in istis esse vitan­ dum. Nulli enim loquaciusalquejactantius promittunt scientiam boni et mali; et in ipso homine, tan­ quam in arbore quae plantata est in medio paradisi, eam dignoscentiam demonstraturos se esse præsu­ munt. Et etiam illud quod dictum est, Eritis sicut dii, qui alii magis dicunt quam isti, qui per suam super­ bam vanitatem, eamdem superbiam persuadere co­ nantes, affirmant animam naturaliter hoc esse quod Deus est? Et ad quos magis pertinet apertio carna­ lium oculorum, quam ad istos qui relicta interiore sapientiæ luce solem istum, qai pertinet ad oculos eorporis, adorare compellunt? Et omnes quidem hæ­ retici generaliter scientiæ pollicitatione decipiunt, et reprehendunt eos quos simpliciter credentes invene­ rint; et quia omnino carnalia persuadent, quasi ad carnalium oculorum apertionem conantur adducere, ut interior oculus excæcetur. ### English translation (Claude) For the commandment which he received, we received in him, because every Christian not unfittingly bears the person of Christ, as the Lord himself says: “What you did to one of my least ones, you did to me.” And would that we enjoyed, as was commanded, every tree of paradise, which signifies spiritual delights—“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control,” as the Apostle says—and did not touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil planted in the middle of paradise; that is, would that we did not wish to be proud of our nature, which, as we have already said, is in the middle, and so learn by experience, through being deceived, what difference there is between the simple catholic faith and the deceits of heretics! For that is how we arrive at the discerning of good and evil. “For there must also be heresies,” he says, “so that those who are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor 11:19). For that serpent, according to the prophecy, signifies the poisons of heretics, and above all of these Manichees and of whoever opposes the Old Testament. For I think nothing was foretold more plainly than that these men are to be avoided in that serpent, or rather that he is to be avoided in them. For no one promises the knowledge of good and evil more talkatively and boastfully; and they presume that they will show that discernment in man himself, as in the tree planted in the middle of paradise. And as for the words, “You will be like gods,” who says them more than these men, who, trying by their proud vanity to urge the same pride on others, affirm that the soul is by nature what God is? And to whom does the opening of carnal eyes belong more than to these men, who, having left the inner light of wisdom, compel people to worship this sun, which belongs to the eyes of the body? And all heretics in general deceive by the promise of knowledge, and find fault with those whom they find believing simply; and because they urge altogether carnal things, they try, as it were, to bring people to the opening of carnal eyes, so that the inner eye may be blinded. ### Scripture references - Matt 25:40: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:22: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:19: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:7: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Matt 25:40; Gal 5:22–23; Gen 2:9, 17; 1 Cor 11:19; Gen 3:5, 7. The clause 'and so learn by experience, through being deceived' is ambiguous in the Latin (ut decepti experiremur); it may also be read as the result to be avoided. The Manichaean sun-worship and teaching on the soul are reported as Augustine gives them. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.25 (PL 34:198–199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-15/#p-2-25). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-26 - Source: PL 34:199 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Manichees, who despise bodies and hold that the serpent was Christ and the commandment the work of a god of darkness, are prefigured by the serpent; their error deceives the proud, the lustful, and the curious, while Paul shows that both the ruling and the ruled parts of man are from God. ### Latin text Sed istis etiam corpora sua displicent, non propter poenalem mortalitatem, quam peccando meruimus; sed ita ut negent Deum esse corporum conditorem, tanquam apertis oculis carneis nuditas ista displiceat. Sed nihil vehementius istos designat ct notat, quam quod dicit serpens: Non morte moriemini: scie­ bat enim Deus quoniam qua die ederitis, aperientur oculi vestri. Sic enim isti credunt, quod serpens ille Christus fuerit, et deum nescio quem gentis tenebrarum, sicuti affirmant, illud prreceplum dedisse confingunt, tan­ quam invideret hominibus scientiam boni et mali. Ex ista opinione etiam nescio quos serpentinos natos esse arbitror, qui serpentem pro Christo colere dicuntur, nec attendunt Apostolum qui ait: Metuo ne sicut ser­ pens Enam seduxit astutia sua, sic et sensus vestri cor­ rumpantur. Hos ergo per istam prophe­ tiam præfiguratos esse existimo. Scduciturautem ver­ bis hujus serpentis carnalis nostra concupiscentia, et per illam decipitur Adam, non Christus, sed Christia­ nus: qui si præceptum Dei servare vellet, et ex fide perseveranter viveret, donec idoneus fieret intelligen­ tiæ veritatis, id est, si opcrarctur in paradiso, et cu­ stodiret quod accepit; non veniret in illam deformita­ lem, ut cum sibi displicet caro quasi nuditas sua, car­ nalia magis tegumenta mendaciorum, tanquam folia fici colligeret, quibus sibi faceret succinctorium. Hoc enim isti faciunt, cum de Christo mentiuntur, et ipsum mentitum esse praedicant; et tanquam abscondunt se a facie Dei, ad sua mendacia ab illius veritate con­ versi, sicut Apostolus dicit: Et a veritate quidem au­ dilum suum avertent, ad fabulas autem convertentur. Et ille quidem serpens, id est itle error hære­ ticorum, qui tentat Ecclesiam, contra quem incantat Apostolus, cum dicit, Metuo ne sicut serpens Evam seduxit astulia sua, sic et sensus vestri corrumpuntur; ille ergo error pectore et ventre serpit, et terram manducat. Non enim decipit, nisi aut superbos, qui sibi arrogantes quod non sunt, cito credunt quod summi Dei et animae humanæ una eademque natura sit; aut desideriis carnalibus implicatos, qui libentei audiunt quod quidquid lascive faciunt, non ipsi faciunt, sed gens tenebrarum: aut curiosos, qui terrena sa­ piunt, et spiritualia terreno oculo inquirunt. Eruntau­ tem inimicitiæ inter istum ct mulierem, et inter semen ejus, et semen mulieris, si pariat ista filios quamvis cum doloribus, et se ad virum suum convertat, ut ejus ipse dominetur. Tunc enim potest cognosci non aliam partem in nobis pertinere ad auctorem Deum, et aliam ad gentem tenebrarum, sicut isti dicunt; sed potius et illud quod regendi habet potestatem in homine, et it­ lud inferius quod regendum est, ex Deo esse, sicutdi­ cit Aposlolus: Vir quidem non debet velare caput, cum sit imago et gloria Dei; mulier autem gloria viri est. Non enim vir ex muliere, sed mulier ex viro: etenim non creatus est vir propter mulierem, sed mulier pro­ pter virum; propterea debet habere velamen mulier su­ per caput, propter Angelos. Verumtamen neque mulier sine viro, neque vir sine muliere in Domino: sicut enim mulier ex viro, ita et vir per mulierem; omnia autem ex Deo. ### English translation (Claude) But these men are also displeased with their own bodies, not because of the penal mortality which we deserved by sinning, but in such a way that they deny that God is the maker of bodies—as if, their carnal eyes opened, that nakedness displeased them. But nothing marks and brands them more forcefully than what the serpent says: “You shall not die the death; for God knew that on the day you eat, your eyes will be opened.” For these men believe that that serpent was Christ, and they invent the story that some god or other of the race of darkness, as they assert, gave that commandment, as though he begrudged men the knowledge of good and evil. From this opinion too, I think, certain Serpentines were born, who are said to worship the serpent in place of Christ, and do not heed the Apostle who says: “I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your minds too may be corrupted.” I think, then, that these men were prefigured by this prophecy. Our carnal desire is seduced by the words of this serpent, and through it Adam is deceived—not Christ, but the Christian; who, if he were willing to keep God's commandment and live perseveringly by faith until he became fit for the understanding of the truth, that is, if he worked in paradise and guarded what he received, would not come into that ugliness in which, displeased with his flesh as if with his nakedness, he gathers instead carnal coverings of lies, like fig leaves, to make himself an apron. For this is what these men do when they lie about Christ and preach that he himself lied; and they hide, as it were, from the face of God, turned from his truth to their own lies, as the Apostle says: “And they will turn their hearing away from the truth, and be turned to fables.” And that serpent, that is, that error of the heretics which tempts the Church, against which the Apostle sings his charm when he says, “I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted”—that error, then, crawls on breast and belly, and eats earth. For it deceives none but the proud, who, claiming for themselves what they are not, quickly believe that the supreme God and the human soul are of one and the same nature; or those entangled in carnal desires, who gladly hear that whatever they do lustfully they do not do themselves, but the race of darkness does; or the curious, who savor earthly things and search into spiritual things with an earthly eye. But there will be enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and the seed of the woman, if she bears children, though with pains, and turns to her husband, so that he rules over her. For then it can be known that it is not the case that one part in us belongs to God as its author and another to the race of darkness, as these men say; but rather that both what has the power of ruling in man and that lower part which is to be ruled are from God, as the Apostle says: “A man ought not to veil his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man; for man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man; therefore the woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is woman without man nor man without woman in the Lord; for as woman is from man, so also man is through woman; but all things are from God.” ### Scripture references - Gen 3:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:5: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:7: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:14: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:4–5; 2 Cor 11:3 (twice); Gen 3:7–8; 2 Tim 4:4; Gen 3:14–16; 1 Cor 11:7–12. The 'Serpentines' are probably the Ophites, a Gnostic group said to honour the serpent. 'Sings his charm' renders incantat, a snake-charmer image. The Manichaean teachings are reported as Augustine gives them. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.26 (PL 34:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-26). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-27 - Source: PL 34:199 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Read as prophecy, Adam's labor, the forbidden food (heretical deceit), and the garments of skin (carnal phantasms) describe the Christian led into heresy, who can still reach the tree of life through tribulation and love. ### Latin text Laboret jam Adam in agro suo, ct quod spinas ct tribulos ci parit terra, intelligat non naturæ esse, sed poenae; et hoc non nescio cui genti tenebra­ rum, sed divino judicio tribuat: quia moderamen ju­ stitiae est sua cuique tribuere. Ipse det mulieri escam cœlestem, quam accepit a capite suo, qui est Chri­ stus: non ab illa accipiat vetitum cibum, id est hære­ ticorum fallaciam cum magna pollicitatione scientiæ, et quasi secretorum adapertionem, quo fiat ad deci­ piendum error ipse conditior. Hæreticorum quippe superba et curiosa cupiditas in libro Proverbiorum clamat sub mulieris imagine, et dicit, Qui stultus est, divertat ad me: et inopes sensu exhortatur, dicens, Panes occultos edite libenter, et aquam dulcem furtivam bibite. Et necesse est tamen, cum et illa quisque crediderit, praecedente libidine men­ tiendi, qua Christum mentitum esse credit, accipiat eliam tunicam pelliceam divino judicio. Quo nomine mihividetur in prophetia significari non corporis mor­ talitas, quae significatur in historia, de qua jam tra­ ctatum est; sed de carnalibus sensibus attracta phan­ tasmata, quæ carnaliter mentientem divina lege cun­ sequuntur et contegunt: atque ita de paradiso, id est de catholica fide et veritatc, dimittitur, habitaturus contra paradisum, id est eidem fidei contradicturus. Qui si aliquando se ad Deum converterit per flammeam frameam, id est perteroporales tribulationes, sua pec­ cata cognoscendo et gemendo, et non jam extraneam naturam, quæ nulla est, sed scipsum accusando, ut ipse veniam mereatur; et per plenitudinem scientiae, quæ est charitas, diligendo Deum, qui supra omnia est incommutabilis, et diligendo ex toto corde, et ex tota anima, ct ex tota mente; et diligendo proximum tanquam seipsum, perveniet ad arborem vitæ, et vi­ vet in:ternum. ### English translation (Claude) Let Adam now labor in his field, and understand that the thorns and thistles which the earth brings forth for him are not of nature but of punishment; and let him attribute this not to some race of darkness or other but to divine judgment, because the rule of justice is to give each his own. Let him give the woman the heavenly food which he received from his head, who is Christ; let him not receive from her the forbidden food, that is, the deceit of the heretics, with its great promise of knowledge and the uncovering, as it were, of secrets, by which the error itself is made more savory for deceiving. For the proud and curious desire of the heretics cries out in the book of Proverbs under the image of a woman, and says, “Whoever is foolish, let him turn aside to me”; and she exhorts those lacking sense, saying, “Eat hidden bread gladly, and drink sweet stolen water.” And yet, when anyone has believed those things—the lust of lying going before, by which he believes that Christ lied—he must also receive a garment of skin by divine judgment. By this name in the prophecy there seems to me to be signified not the mortality of the body, which is signified in the history and has already been discussed, but the phantasms drawn from the carnal senses, which by divine law follow and cover one who lies in a carnal way; and so he is sent out of paradise, that is, out of the catholic faith and truth, to dwell over against paradise, that is, to speak against that same faith. If he ever turns to God through the flaming sword, that is, through temporal tribulations, recognizing and lamenting his sins and accusing not some foreign nature, which does not exist, but himself, so that he may deserve pardon; and through the fullness of knowledge, which is love, loving God, who is unchangeable above all things, and loving him with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his mind, and loving his neighbor as himself, he will reach the tree of life and live forever. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:17: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:18: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:3: allusion, high confidence - Prov 9:16: quotation, high confidence - Prov 9:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:21: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:24: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:22: allusion, high confidence - Matt 22:37: allusion, high confidence - Matt 22:39: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Cicero, Off. 1.15 (Cicero): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Gen 3:17–18; 1 Cor 11:3; Prov 9:16–17; Gen 3:21, 23–24, 22; Matt 22:37–39. 'More savory' takes conditior from condire ('to season'); it could also mean 'more hidden'. 'To give each his own' is the classical definition of justice (cf. Cicero, De officiis 1.15). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.27 (PL 34:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-27). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-28 - Source: PL 34:199–200 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the Manichaean objections: why God made man and woman knowing they would sin, who made the devil, and whether the devil is good because God uses him. ### Latin text Quid habent ergo isti, quod in his litteris Ve­ teris Testamenti reprehendant? Interrogent secundum morem suum, et i espondeanius sicut Dominus donare dignatur. Quare fecit Deus hominem, inquiunt, quem peccaturum sciebat? Quia et de peccante multa bona facere poterat, ordinans eum secundum moderamen justitiæ suae, et quia nihil oberat Deo peccatum ejus: ei sive non peccaret, mors nulla esset; sive quia pec­ cavit, alii mortales de peccato ejus corriguntur. Nihil enim sic revocat homines a peccato, quemadmodum imminentis mortis cogitatio. Sic eum facerct, in­ quiunt, ut non peccaret. Imo ipse hoc faceret; sic enim factus est, ut si noluisset, non peccaret. Non ad­ mitteretur, inquiunt, diabolus ad ejus mulierem. Imo ipsa ad se diabolum non admitteret; sic enim facta est, ut si noluisset, non admitteret. Non fieret, in­ quiunt, mulier. noc est dicere, non fieret bonum: quia et ipsa utique alrquod bonum est, et tantum bo­ num, ut Apostolus cam gloriam viri esse dicat; et om­ nia ex Deo. herum dicunt: Quis fecit diabolum? Se ipse; non enim natura, sed peccando diabolus factus est. Vel ipsum, aiunt, nonfaceret Deus, si eum peccaturum esse sciebat. Imo, quare non faceret, cum per suam justitiam et providentiam multos de malitia diaboli corrigat? An forte non audistis apostolum Paulum di­ centem, Quos tradidi Satanæ, ut discant non blasphe­ mare? et de seipso dicit, Et ne magni­ tudine revelationum extollar, datus est mihi stimulus carnis, angelus Satanas qui me colaphizet. Ergo, inquiunt, bonus est diabolus, quia utilis est? Imo malus in quantum diabolus est; sed bonus et ommpotens Deus est, qui etiam de malitia ejus multa ju­ sta et bona operatur. Non enim diabolo imputatur, nisi voluntas sua, qua conatur facere male, non Dei pro­ videntia, quæ de illo bene facit. ### English translation (Claude) What, then, do these men have to find fault with in these writings of the Old Testament? Let them question in their usual way, and let us answer as the Lord deigns to grant. “Why,” they say, “did God make man, whom he knew would sin?” Because even from a sinner he could make many good things, ordering him according to the rule of his justice; and because his sin did God no harm. Had he not sinned, there would be no death; and because he sinned, other mortals are corrected by his sin. For nothing so calls men back from sin as the thought of impending death. “He should have made him,” they say, “such that he would not sin.” Rather, man himself should have brought this about; for he was so made that, if he had been unwilling, he would not sin. “The devil should not have been admitted to his woman,” they say. Rather, she herself should not have admitted the devil to herself; for she was so made that, if she had been unwilling, she would not admit him. “The woman should not have been made,” they say. That is to say, a good thing should not have been made; for she too is certainly some good, and so great a good that the Apostle says she is the glory of the man; and all things are from God. Again they say: “Who made the devil?” He made himself; for he was made a devil not by nature but by sinning. “Then God should not have made him,” they say, “if he knew that he would sin.” On the contrary, why should he not have made him, since by his justice and providence he corrects many through the devil's malice? Or have you perhaps not heard the apostle Paul saying, “whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme”? And of himself he says, “And lest I be exalted by the greatness of the revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me.” “Then,” they say, “the devil is good, because he is useful?” On the contrary, he is evil insofar as he is the devil; but God is good and almighty, who even from his malice works many just and good things. For nothing is imputed to the devil except his own will, by which he tries to do evil, not the providence of God, which makes good use of him. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 11:7: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:12: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:20: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: 1 Cor 11:7, 12; 1 Tim 1:20; 2 Cor 12:7. The objections are given as Augustine reports them. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.28 (PL 34:199–200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-28). ## On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-29 - Source: PL 34:200 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine closes by setting the Manichaean doctrine that God's own nature suffers, sins, and is changed against the catholic doctrine that a nature made from nothing fell by its own will, that no nature is evil, and that God is unchangeably good. ### Latin text Postremo, quoniam cum Manichæis nobis de religione quæstio est, quaestio autem religionis est, quid de Deo pie sentiatur, quoniam negare non pos­ sunt in miseria peccatorum esse genus humanum; illi dicunt naturam Dei esse in miseria: nos negamus, sed dicimus eam naturam esse in miseria, quam de nihilo fecit Deus, et ad hoc venisse non coactam, scd voluntate peccandi. Ilii dicunt naturam Dei cogi ab ipso Deo ad poenitentiam peccatorum: nos negamus, sed dicimus cam naturam qnam Deus fecit de nihilo, posteaquam peccavit cogi ad poenitentiam peccato­ rum. llli dicunt naturam Dei ab ipso Deo accipere te­ niam: nos negamus, sed dicimus eam naturam qu im fecit Deus de nihilo, si se a peccatis suis ad Deum suum converterit, accipere veniam peccatorum. Illi dicunt naturam Dei necessitate esse mutabilem: nos negamus, sed dicimus eam naturam quam Deus fecit de nihilo, voluntate esse mutatam. Illi dicunt natura Dei nocere aliena peccata: nos negamus, sed dicimus nulli naturae nocere peccata, nisi sua; et Deum di­ cimus tantæ bonitatis esse, tantæ justitiae, tantæ in­ corruptionis, ut neque peccet, neque ipse alicui noceat, qui peccare noluerit, nec ipsi aliquis qui peccare voluerit. Illi dicunt esse naturam mali cui Deus coactus est naturae suae partem dare crucian­ dam: nos dicimus nullum malum esse naturale, sed omnes naturas bonas.esse, et ipsum Deum summam esse naturam, cæteras ex ipso esse naturas: et om­ nes bonas in quantum sunt, quoniam fecit Deus omnia bona valde, sed distinctionis gradibus ordinata, ut sit aliud alio melius; atque ita omni genere bonorum universitas ista compleatur, quæ quibusdam perfectis, quibusdam imperfectis, tota perfecta est, quam Deus effector conditorque ejus justo moderamine admini­ strare non cessat; qui omnia bona facit voluntate, ni­ hil mali patitur necessitate. Cujus enim voluntas su­ perat omnia, nulla ex parte quidquam sentit invitus. Cum ergo illa illi, et nos ista dicimus, unusquisque eligat quid sequatur. Ego enim, quod bona fide coram Deo dixerim, sine ullo studio contentionis, sine ali­ qua dubitatione veritatis, et sine aliquo praejudiciodi­ ligentioris tractationis, quæ mihi videbantur exposui. ### English translation (Claude) Finally, since our dispute with the Manichees is about religion, and the question of religion is what may piously be thought about God: since they cannot deny that the human race is in the misery of sins, they say that the nature of God is in misery; we deny it, and say that the nature which God made from nothing is in misery, and that it came to this not by compulsion but by the will to sin. They say that the nature of God is compelled by God himself to repent of sins; we deny it, and say that the nature which God made from nothing is compelled, after it has sinned, to repent of its sins. They say that the nature of God receives pardon from God himself; we deny it, and say that the nature which God made from nothing, if it turns from its sins to its God, receives pardon for its sins. They say that the nature of God is changeable by necessity; we deny it, and say that the nature which God made from nothing has been changed by will. They say that the sins of others harm the nature of God; we deny it, and say that no nature is harmed by any sins except its own; and we say that God is of such goodness, such justice, such incorruption, that he neither sins, nor himself harms anyone who refuses to sin, nor is harmed by anyone who wills to sin. They say that there is a nature of evil, to which God was forced to give a part of his own nature to be tormented; we say that no evil is natural, but that all natures are good, and that God himself is the supreme nature, and the other natures are from him; and all are good insofar as they exist, since God made all things very good, but ordered by degrees of distinction, so that one is better than another; and so this universe is filled with every kind of good, and, with some things perfect and others imperfect, it is perfect as a whole; and God, its maker and founder, does not cease to govern it with just control—he who makes all good things by will and suffers nothing evil by necessity. For he whose will surpasses all things feels nothing against his will in any part. Since, then, they say those things and we say these, let each choose what to follow. For I—let me say it in good faith before God—have set out what seemed right to me, without any zeal for contention, without any doubt about the truth, and without prejudging a more careful treatment. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:31: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Allusion: Gen 1:31. Migne's closing note referring to the Retractations (1.18) is removed from the text. The Manichaean doctrines are reported as Augustine states them. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Gen. Man. 2.29 (PL 34:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-genesi-manichaeos/2-26/#p-2-29).