Chapter II.
How was the devotion of Abraham proven by the words of divine command? What is meant by leaving one's kindred, and how did the promise of God follow the obedience of the same patriarch? Likewise, when he called upon the Lord, he feared for himself on account of his wife's beauty and took precautions. But Pharaoh, being punished on account of his abduction, shows how great a crime adultery is: hence, by the example of Abraham, we are prompted to pursue devotion.
He was indeed a great man, renowned for many virtues and distinguished by remarkable achievements, which Philosophy could not surpass with its own aspirations. In fact, what he achieved is even greater than what she imagined, and his simple faith in truth is greater than the ambitious deceit of eloquence. Therefore, let us consider what kind of devotion existed in this man. For this virtue is the first in order, being the foundation of all others, and deservedly God demanded it first from him when He said: 'Leave your country, your kindred, and your father's house' (Gen. XII, 1). It was enough to say about your land. For there was a need to leave from family, to leave from the paternal home: but for this reason he added each detail, in order to test his affection so that it would not appear that he had begun the task either thoughtlessly or that some deceit was being prepared for the heavenly commands. But just as the precepts had to be piled up so that nothing would be hidden, so also the rewards had to be presented so that there would be no despair. He is tested as brave, incited as faithful, provoked as just, and he left deservedly just as the Lord had spoken to him.
4. And Lot went out with him (Ibid., 4). But Abraham accomplished that which is celebrated as a great saying among the seven sages, ἔπου Θεῷ, that is, follow God, and he surpassed the saying of the sages, and he went out following God from his land. But because there had been another land before him, that is, the region of the Chaldeans from which Terah, the father of Abraham, went out and migrated to Haran; and because he brought his nephew with him, to whom it had been said: Go out from your kindred; let us consider lest perhaps this going out is from his land, that is, from a certain dwelling in our body, from which Paul also went out who said: But our conversation is in heaven (Phil. III, 10); and from the allurements and bodily pleasures which he said are, so to speak, connected to our soul, which it is necessary to endure with the body until it is united with it by the bond of the flesh. Therefore, in order to depart from earthly conversation and secular pleasures and the customs and actions of the higher life, we must change not only our surroundings but also ourselves. If we desire to adhere to Christ, let us abandon corruptible things. Now, the corruptible things within us are the flesh, delight, and the voice subject to bodily passions. By voice, we understand passions. Therefore, since our soul is dual, that is, twofold, having both reason and irrationality, which is divided by the flesh and the allurements of bodily delight, and other bodily passions, the righteous man must separate and distance the reason of his soul from the irrational. For this indeed is to go out from the prison, as it were from certain caves, and burrows, and dens. For to lurk is the part of a guilty conscience. And therefore, following Abraham, let us go out from our hiding places. For if we are the children of Abraham, let us do the works of Abraham; that our works may shine before God, and before men. The just man says, Let his works be ruled: a sinner hides himself, as Adam desired to hide himself, but he could not. Abraham therefore obeyed the command, and it is not read that any delay occurred.
5. Having gone out, he traveled the land as far as Shechem (Gen. XII, 6), which in Latin interpretation is said to mean shoulder or neck, through which we understand the execution of the prescribed work. For we also have written below: He bent his shoulder to work (Gen. XLIX, 15). Hence, by the figure of the places, we observe that Saint Abraham proved his devotion not only through zeal, but also through fruitful efficacy, as he reached as far as the oak tree. In that place, the Lord appeared to him and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.' (Gen. 12:7) See how, with frequent promises, he instructs and establishes as though still weak and unformed; and let him entrust himself completely to God, claiming nothing for himself. Therefore, he built an altar to God, who appeared to him; and he went from there to the mountain east of Bethel (Ibid.), desiring to see the rising sun of justice. And so, he did not set up his tent in the valleys, but on the mountain, for God is the God of mountains, not valleys.
6. And he called upon the name of the Lord (ibid., 8). Where Bethel is, that is, the house of God, there is also the altar; where the altar is, there is also the invocation of our God. And not without reason did he undergo so many hardships, because he hoped that God would come to his aid. He exercises himself as a champion of God, and is proven through adversity: he goes into the desert, he encounters hunger, he goes down into Egypt. He discovered that in Egypt there was lasciviousness among the young, insatiable desire, and intemperance in pleasure. He warned that among men of this sort, the chastity of his wife would be in danger, and her beauty would be a threat to himself: he advised his wife to pretend to be her sister. This teaches that the beauty of a wife should not be sought after so much, as it usually causes the death of the husband. For it is not so much the beauty of a woman that delights a man, but her virtue and dignity. He who seeks the sweetness of marriage should not seek a woman who surpasses him in wealth, unless marital obligations do not bind him: if not adorned with jewelry, but with character. It often offends a man if his wife knows that she is more noble. These are the closest things to pride. Sara was not richer in wealth, nor more splendid in birth; therefore, she did not consider herself inferior to her husband, therefore she loved him as if he were equal in grace, therefore she was not retained for her possessions, nor for her parents, nor for her relatives, but she followed her own husband wherever he went: she went to foreign lands, she claimed to be his sister, she was willing, if necessary, to risk her modesty rather than her husband's safety. In order to protect her husband, she falsely claimed to be his sister, so that the assailants of her modesty would not kill him as a rival and avenger of his wife. Finally, the Egyptians, as soon as they saw her, were amazed at how beautiful she was, and they brought her to their king, and treated Abraham well, as if he were her brother, pleasing the king, and honoring her.
7. And the Lord afflicted Pharaoh with great and most severe afflictions, and his house on account of Sarah, the wife of Abraham (Gen. XII, 17). A great testimony and proof of the preservation of chastity. Such a place of exhortation, that everyone may present themselves chaste, not seek another's bed, not approach another man's wife in the hope of hiding or impunity, not be provoked by the husband's neglect or foolishness, or by his prolonged absence. The overseer of marriage is a god who knows nothing hidden, lets nothing escape, and allows no one to mock. He watches over the absent husband, keeps guard, and even catches the offender before they can act. He recognizes guilt in the minds of individuals and in the thoughts of all. And if you deceive your spouse in adultery, you do not deceive God; and if you escape your spouse, and if you mock the judge of the forum, you do not escape the judge of the entire world. He avenges more severely the injury of the innocent and the insolence of the unwary husband. For it is a great injury to the author to be disregarded and not considered as the guardian of the inner chamber.
8. Even Pharaoh, though the king of the Egyptians whom the insolence of royal power would make haughty and the lasciviousness and luxury of Egypt would lead astray from the pursuit of chastity, called Abraham and accused him, saying: What have you done to me? Why did you not tell me that she is your wife, but said to me that she is your sister, and I took her for my wife? And now behold, your wife is here before you. (Genesis, 18 and 19). Although by nature savage and barbarous, it signifies that even among foreign and barbarous customs there should be concern for modesty, and that adultery should be regarded as a crime even by themselves. He who pretends ignorance, condemns intemperance. And it is not surprising if a barbarian knows the law of nature: mute animals which are not bound by any laws, yet there are some which not only preserve fidelity to their mates, but also guard the chastity of intercourse with one partner. Thus, the law of nature is greater than the prescription of laws. It is not surprising, therefore, if this Egyptian king feared God who did not fear man, and he paid the penalty for adultery, for which he was not guilty under any laws: and as soon as he learned that the wife was another man's, he not only dismissed the husband, but also gave him prosecutors who would bring him to court; so that no one from the barbarian people would inflict violence on the property of the husband or the honor of the wife.
9. This place is very beautiful for igniting the study of devotion, because the one who follows God is always safe. And therefore, we should prefer God above all, neither the sight of our homeland, nor the gratitude of our parents and children, nor the contemplation of our wife should distract us from carrying out divine commandments; because God bestows all those things upon us, and He is powerful to save what He gives. Therefore, the great example of Abraham's devotion, when he descended into Egypt with his beautiful wife. He indeed had a just concern for marital chastity, but his greater zeal was for the advancement of devotion, lest he appear to have preferred the guardianship of the marriage bed to heavenly commands. Therefore, since he despised everything for the sake of God, he received multiplied blessings from God. But God granted him the first reward of chastity, which he knew would be pleasing to his wife. For because of his desire to fulfill a heavenly oracle, he also exposed his wife to the danger of her modesty, and thus defended the chastity of their marriage.