Edition Masquer
De Virginitate B. Mariae

7.

Loquitur in Genesi sermo divinus: Et tradiderunt Jacob deos alienos, qui erant in manibus eorum, et inaures quae erant in auriculis eorum. Et abscondit ea Jacob subter terebinthum, quae est in Sichimis, et perdidit ea usque in hodiernum diem (Gen. XXXV, 4 seq.). Item in fine Deuteronomii: Et defunctus est Moyses servus Domini in terra Moab per verbum Domini, et sepelierunt eum in Geth, prope domum Phegor, et nemo scit sepulcrum ejus usque in diem istum (Deut. XXXIV, 6, sec. LXX). Certe hodiernus dies illius temporis aestimandus est, quo historia ipsa contexta est, sive Moysen dicere volueris auctorem Pentateuchi, sive Ezram ejusdem instauratorem operis, non recuso. Nunc hoc quaeritur, an id quod dictum est, usque in diem istum, ad illam referatur aetatem, qua libri editi sive conscripti sunt. Doceat igitur post illam diem tot jam annorum usque ad nos voluminibus exactis, aut idola, quae sub terebintho condita fuerant, reperta, aut Moysi tumulum investigatum, quia obnixe asserit, post donec et usque, esse incipere, quod tamdiu non fuit quamdiu usque compleretur et donec. Quin potius animadvertat Scripturae sanctae idioma, et nobiscum, in quo haesitabat, intelligat ea, de quibus posset ambigi, si non fuissent scripta, signari, caetera vero nostrae intelligentiae derelinqui. Si enim adhuc recenti tempore, viventibus his qui viderant Moysen, sepulcrum ejus potuit ignorari, multo magis tot saeculis praetereuntibus. Juxta quod et illud intelligitur de Joseph, Evangelistam id indicasse, de quo scandalum poterat moveri, non eam cognitam esse a vito suo usque ad partum, ut multo magis intelligeremus cognitam non fuisse post partum, a qua tunc se abstinuit, cum adhuc de visione poterat fluctuare.

Traduction Masquer
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary

7.

The word of God says in Genesis, ¹“And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem, and lost them until this day.” Likewise at the end of Deuteronomy, ²“So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” We must certainly understand by this day the time of the composition of the history, whether you prefer the view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch or that Ezra re-edited it. In either case I make no objection. The question now is whether the words unto this day are to be referred to the time of publishing or writing the books, and if so it is for him to show, now that so many years have rolled away since that day, that either the idols hidden beneath the oak have been found, or the grave of Moses discovered; for he obstinately maintains that what does not happen so long as the point of time indicated by until and unto has not been attained, begins to be when that point P. 338 has been reached. He would do well to pay heed to the idiom of Holy Scripture, and understand with us, (it was here he stuck in the mud) that some things which might seem ambiguous if not expressed are plainly intimated, while others are left to the exercise of our intellect. For if, while the event was still fresh in memory and men were living who had seen Moses, it was possible for his grave to be unknown, much more may this be the case after the lapse of so many ages. And in the same way must we interpret what we are told concerning Joseph. The Evangelist pointed out a circumstance which might have given rise to some scandal, namely, that Mary was not known by her husband until she was delivered, and he did so that we might be the more certain that she from whom Joseph refrained while there was room to doubt the import of the vision was not known after her delivery.