Chapter II.
What the names of Noah's sons signify; and what is the order in which they are mentioned? This is explained by the example of a well-arranged army and the order established by nature itself. Finally, why the order is reversed in declaring their generations is extensively explained.
3. To him were born three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These names signify good, evil, and indifferent, so that it seems that he had goodness as a gift of nature, and that he was not lacking in the trials of evil, and that he abounded in indifferent things, like the furniture of virtues. And the clear reason why he placed evil in the middle is evident because goodness is inherent in all things of nature: he does not cast them out like shipwrecks into the light, but he supports them with strength; so that they are not oppressed by the trials of evil, nor do they succumb as if weak, but he fortifies and clothes them like some indifferent coverings, which are health, good health, beauty, vigor, wealth, glory, and noble birth; so that fortified with these gifts, they may protect the goodness of nature, and enclose that evil so that it cannot harm or suffocate them.
4. Do we not see, as it were, a certain order of virtues arranged for battle? So that the weaker ones are in the middle, the stronger ones on the right and left like wings, through whom the whole battle line receives strength? Hence also a certain Greek poet says: κακοὺς δ' ἐς μέσσον ἔλασσεν (Homer, Iliad. Δ), that is, he placed the bad ones in the middle. Thus it is that nature, like a good leader under the command of God, which knows how to generate us for the battles of this world, arranges those things which are good in the first order, those that hinder in the second, and those that assist in the third. So that the enemy, enclosed in the middle, may be overwhelmed by double forces wherever he turns; so that none of them may become exhausted by equal battles, and so that it may have the opportunity to escape from natural limitations and to spread out more widely.
5. But because when they are generated, this is the order: where they generate, Japheth is written in the first place, Cham in the third; therefore, lest anyone think that we have said the opposite in the later parts, the reason for this place must also be explained. Indeed, good, which is as it were in a certain nobility of nature, comes first: but evil follows; for there are contrary thoughts of the mind, which certainly arise afterwards. As long as these are, as it were, closed inwardly, and do not sprout like herbs, they are nourished by a certain recess of the good mind, lest they come forth. As long as evil remains in the will and not in complete realization, that is, in action and effect, the goodness of the mind's governor holds back or restrains wickedness from bursting forth, as a charioteer controls or curbs a horse trying to break loose. But when it boils over and breaks out into a sore, so that it cannot spread further and contaminate the surrounding areas, then just providence steps in, so that what is commonly called good, as if in place of evil, may not yield, since it cannot resist the raging evil. Therefore, in order not to spread the harmful virus too widely and infect many by generating corruptions, that first good which is good by nature, while changing its position, changes the order; as if it were providing help to a struggling horn, and taking on the part of the blade that works harder; for the virtue of a warrior is necessary in more difficult places; just as the presence of a good guardian is more frequent where the walls are more fragile. And so that no part is without a defender, while supporting that leaning good, then that indifferent thing takes on the higher position, as if it were assigning to itself the more perfect part of that good; for nothing is more perfect than virtue. However, indifference does not possess the strength of true virtue, but it increases and spreads its favor. Hence, Japheth is called so because it signifies latitude in Latin.