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The City of God

Chapter 26.--Of God's Attestation to Abraham, by Which He Assures Him, When Now Old, of a Son by the Barren Sarah, and Appoints Him the Father of the Nations, and Seals His Faith in the Promise by the Sacrament of Circumcision.

After these things Ishmael was born of Hagar; and Abraham might think that in him was fulfilled what God had promised him, saying, when he wished to adopt his home-born servant, "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth of thee, he shall be thine heir." ¹ Therefore, lest he should think that what was promised was fulfilled in the handmaid's son, "when Abram was ninety years old and nine, God appeared to him, and said unto him, I am God; be well-pleasing in my sight, and be without complaint, and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will fill thee exceedingly." ²

Here there are more distinct promises about the calling of the nations in Isaac, that is, in the son of the promise, by which grace is signified, and not nature; for the son is promised from an old man and a barren old woman. For although God effects even the natural course of procreation, yet where the agency of God is manifest, through the decay or failure of nature, grace is more plainly discerned. And because this was to be brought about, not by generation, but by regeneration, circumcision was enjoined now, when a son was promised of Sarah. And by ordering all, not only sons, but also home-born and purchased servants to be circumcised, he testifies that this grace pertains to all. For what else does circumcision signify than a nature renewed on the putting off of the old? And what else does the eighth day mean than Christ, who rose again when the week was completed, that is, after the Sabbath? The very names of the parents are changed: all things proclaim newness, and the new covenant is shadowed forth in the old. For what does the term old covenant imply but the concealing of the new? And what does the term new covenant imply but the revealing of the old? The laughter of Abraham is the exultation of one who rejoices, not the scornful laughter of one who mistrusts. And those words of his in his heart, "Shall a son be born to me that am an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" are not the words of doubt, but of wonder. And when it is said, "And I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land in which thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession," if it troubles any one whether this is to be held as fulfilled, or whether its fulfilment may still be looked for, since no kind of earthly possession can be everlasting for any nation whatever, let him know that the word translated everlasting, by our writers is what the Greeks term aio;nion, which is derived from aio;n, the Greek for saeculum, an age. But the Latins have not ventured to translate this by secular, lest they should change the meaning into something widely different. For many things are called secular which so happen in this world as to pass away even in a short time; but what is termed aio;nion either has no end, or lasts to the very end of this world.

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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput XXVI: De testificatione dei ad Abraham, qua eidem seni de sterili Sarra filium spondet patremque eum gentium statuit et promissi fidem sacramento circumcisionis obsignat.

Post haec natus est Ismael ex Agar, in quo putare posset inpletum, quod ei promissum fuerat, cum sibi uernaculum suum adoptare uoluisset, deo dicente: non erit heres tuus hic; sed qui exiet de te, ille erit heres tuus. hoc ergo promissum ne in ancillae filio putaret inpletum, iam cum esset annorum nonaginta et nouem, apparuit ei dominus et dixit illi: ego sum deus, place in conspectu meo et esto sine querella, et ponam testamentum meum inter me et inter te et inplebo te ualde. et procidit Abraham in faciem suam. et locutus est illi deus dicens: et ego, ecce testamentum meum te cum, et eris pater multitudinis gentium; et non appellabitur adhuc nomen tuum Abram, sed erit nomen tuum Abraham, quia patrem multarum gentium posui te; et augeam te ualde ualde et ponam te in gentes, et reges ex te exibunt: et statuam testamentum meum inter me et inter te et inter semen tuum post te in generationes eorum in testamentum aeternum, ut sim tibi deus et semini tuo post te. et dabo tibi et semini tuo post te terram, in qua incola es, omnem terram Chanaan in possessionem aeternam, et ero illis deus. et dixit deus ad Abraham: tu autem testamentum meum conseruabis, tu et semen tuum post te in progenies suas. et hoc est testamentum, quod conseruabis inter me et uos et inter semen tuum post te in generationes suas: circumcidetur uestrum omne masculinum, et circumcidemini carnem praeputii uestri, et erit in signo testamenti inter me et uos. et puer octo dierum circumcidetur, uestrum omne masculinum in progenies uestras. uernaculus et empticius ab omni filio alieno, qui non est de semine tuo, circumcisione circumcidetur uernaculus domus tuae et empticius. et erit testamentum meum in carne uestra in testamento aeterno. et qui non fuerit circumcisus masculus, qui non circumcidetur carnem praeputii sui octauo die, interibit anima illa de genere eius, quia testamentum meum dissipauit. et dixit deus ad Abraham: Sara uxor tua, non appellabitur nomen eius Sara, sed Sarra erit nomen eius. benedicam autem illam et dabo tibi ex ea filium, et benedicam illum, et erit in nationes, et reges gentium ex eo erunt. et procidit Abraham super faciem suam et risit et dixit in animo suo dicens: si mihi centum annos habenti nascetur filius, et si Sarra annorum nonaginta pariet? dixit autem Abraham ad deum: Ismael hic uiuat in conspectu tuo. dixit autem deus ad Abraham: ita, ecce Sarra uxor tua pariet tibi filium, et uocabis nomen eius Isaac; et statuam testamentum meum ad illum in testamentum aeternum esse illi deus et semini eius post illum. de Ismael autem ecce exaudiui te; ecce benedixi eum et ampliabo illum et multiplicabo eum ualde. duodecim gentes generabit, et dabo illum in magnam gentem. testamentum autem meum statuam ad Isaac, quem pariet tibi Sarra in tempore hoc ad annum sequentem. hic apertiora promissa sunt de uocatione gentium in Isaac, id est in filio promissionis, quo significatur gratia, non natura, quia de sene et anu sterili promittitur filius. quamuis enim et naturalem procreationis excursum deus operetur: ubi tamen euidens opus dei est uitiata et cessante natura, ibi euidentius intellegitur gratia. et quia hoc non per generationem, sed per regenerationem futurum erat, ideo nunc imperata est circumcisio, quando de Sarra promissus est filius. et quod omnes non solum filios, uerum etiam seruos uernaculos et empticios circumcidi iubet, ad omnes istam gratiam pertinere testatur. quid enim aliud circumcisio significat quam naturam exuta uetustate renouatam? et quid aliud quam Christum octauus dies, qui hebdomade conpleta, hoc est post sabbatum, resurrexit? parentum mutantur et nomina: omnia resonant nouitatem, et in testamento uetere obumbratur nouum. quid est enim quod dicitur testamentum uetus nisi noui occultatio? et quid est aliud quod dicitur nouum nisi ueteris reuelatio? risus Abrahae exultatio est gratulantis, non inrisio diffidentis. uerba quoque eius illa in animo suo: si mihi centum annos habenti nascetur filius et si Sarra annorum nonaginta pariet, non sunt dubitantis, sed admirantis. si quem uero mouet quod dictum est: et dabo tibi et semini tuo post te terram, in qua tu incola es, omnem terram Chanaan in possessionem aeternam, quomodo accipiatur inpletum siue adhuc expectetur inplendum, cum possessio quaecumque terrena aeterna cuilibet genti esse non possit: sciat aeternum a nostris interpretari, quod Graeci appellant αἰώνιον, quod a saeculo deriuatum est; αἰὼν quippe Graece saeculum nuncupatur. sed non sunt ausi Latini hoc dicere saeculare, ne longe in aliud mitterent sensum. saecularia quippe dicuntur multa, quae in hoc saeculo sic aguntur, ut breui etiam tempore transeant: αἰώνιον autem quod dicitur, aut non habet finem aut usque in huius saeculi tenditur finem.