20:12
(Chapter 20, verse 12.) Truly my sister is from my father, but not from my mother. That is, her father is Aran, not her mother. But because it says in Hebrew: truly my sister is the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother: and it sounds more likely that she should be called Abraham's sister, we say this in her defense, that at that time such marriages were not yet prohibited by law.
21:9
(Chapter 21, Verse 9) And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing. What follows, with his son Isaac, is not present in the Hebrew. Therefore, this is interpreted in two ways by the Hebrews: either that she made idols out of play, according to what is written elsewhere: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exodus 32:6); or that she claimed the rights of the firstborn against Isaac, as if he were older, through play and jest. Indeed, Sara, upon hearing this, could not bear it; and this is confirmed by her own words, saying: Cast out this bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
21:14
(Verse 14) And he took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. When Isaac was born, Ishmael was thirteen years old. And after he was weaned, he was expelled from the house with his mother. However, among the Hebrews, there are different opinions, with some claiming that the time for weaning is set at the fifth year, and others claiming the twelfth year. Therefore, to choose a shorter age, we have calculated that Ishmael was expelled with his mother after eighteen years, and it is no longer possible for him to have sat on his mother's lap as a young man. So it is true that the Hebrew language has the word 'infant' to refer to every child in relation to their parents. It is not surprising that a foreign language has its own peculiarities, since even today in Rome all children are called 'infants'. Therefore, Abraham placed bread and a skin of water on Hagar's shoulder and, having done this, he gave the child to his mother, that is, he handed him over to her, entrusted him to her care, and thus sent him out of the house. As for what follows:
21:15-16
(Verse 15, 16.) And she put the boy under a tree, and went and sat opposite him, as if shooting an arrow. She said, 'I will not see the death of my child.' And she sat opposite him. And immediately it happened: The boy cried out, and wept, and God heard the voice of the boy from the place where he was. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and so on, let no one move. In Hebrew, after what is written, 'I will not see the death of my child,' it is read that Hagar herself sat opposite the boy, and raised her voice, and wept, and God heard the voice of the child. For when the mother was weeping and waiting miserably for the death of her son, God heard the boy, of whom He had promised to Abraham, saying: 'But I will also make your slave woman's son into a great nation' (Gen. XVII, 20). Otherwise, the mother herself mourned not her own death, but that of her son. Therefore, God spared her, for whom there had been weeping. Finally, it is said in what follows: 'Rise up and take the boy, and hold his hand' (Gen. XVII, 18). From this it is clear that the one who is held is not a burden to his mother, but a companion. And when someone is held by the hand of a parent, their concerned affection is shown.
21:22
(Verse 22.) And Abimelech and Phicol, the commanders of his army, said to his servants, 'Except Abimelech and Phicol, the third name mentioned here is not found in the Hebrew text.'
21:30
(Verse 30) And he said, 'You shall take these seven ewes from me, that they may be a witness for me that I have dug this well.' Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because both of them swore an oath there. Where this is read, Beersheba, in Hebrew it is called Beersheba. But there are two reasons why it is so named: either because Abimelech received seven lambs from the hand of Abraham, for seven are called Sheba, or because they swore there, for an oath is also called Sheba in the same way. But if we read this name above this cause, we shall know that it has been said by prolepsis: just as Bethel and Galgala, which were certainly called by different names until the time they were so named. But it should be noted both from the preceding and the present place, that Isaac was not born at the oak of Mamre, or in Aulon of Mamre, as it is stated in Hebrew: but in Gerar, where the town of Beersheba is still located today. This province, not long ago, was called Salutaris, after the division of the garrisons of Palestine. The Scripture is a witness of this matter, which says: And Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines (Gen. XXI, 34).
22:2
(Chapter 22, Verse 2.) And God said to him: Take your beloved son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the high land, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you. It is difficult to translate the Hebrew language into Latin. Where it is now said, go to the high land, in Hebrew it has Moriah, which Aquila translated as 'the visible', that is, clear, and Symmachus, 'the vision', that is, sight. Therefore the Hebrews say that this mountain is the one on which the temple was later built, in the area of Ornan the Jebusite, as it is also written in the Chronicles: 'And they began to build the temple in the second month, on the second day of the month, in the mountain of Moriah' (2 Chronicles 3:1). This is interpreted as "illuminating" and "shining" because there is the Dabir, that is, the oracle of God: both the Law and the Holy Spirit, who teaches people the truth and inspires prophecies.
22:3
(Verse 3) And he went to the place which God had told him about, on the third day. It should be noted that from Gerar to Mount Moriah, that is, the site of the temple, is a three-day journey, and consequently it is said that he arrived there on the third day. Therefore, some people mistakenly think that Abraham lived at the oak tree in Mamre during that time, when in fact the journey from there to Mount Moriah is barely a full day's journey.
22:13
(Verse 13.) And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. Emisenus Eusebius has spoken a silly thing in this place: Sabech, he says, is called a goat, which with straight horns is raised high to pluck the leaves from a tree. Again Aquila has interpreted as a bush, which we can call a thicket or briar: and to interpret the force of the word, dense and intertwined twigs. And Symmachus also expresses the same opinion, saying, 'And it appeared that a ram, after this, was caught in a net by its horns.' However, some have interpreted it better in this particular place, namely the Septuagint and Theodotion, who translated the word as 'Sabech,' saying, 'In the thicket Sabech with its horns.' For σύχνεων, that is, the net, which Aquila and Symmachus have used, is written with the letter 'Sin.' But here the letter 'Samech' is used. From this it is clear that the interpretation is not of thickened branches, and like the word 'Sabech' intertwined like a net with intertwined branches, but rather the name signifies a thicket, which is thus expressed in Hebrew. But in my diligent investigation, I frequently found that the letter συχνεῶνα is often written as Samech ().
22:14
(Verse 14) And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord will see: so that they say to this day, In the mount the Lord will be seen. For because he hath seen in this place, in the Hebrew tongue it is said, He shall be seen. And this hath passed into a proverb with the Hebrews, so that when they are in distress and desire the Lord's aid, they say, In the mount the Lord will be seen: that is, as He pitied Abraham, so will He have pity on us. Wherefore, even now, they are wont also to blow the horn for a sign when the ram is given.
22:20
(Verse 20) And they reported to Abraham, saying: Behold, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians, and Chesed. Uz was the firstborn of Nahor, brother of Abraham, by his wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran. From his descendants came Job, as it is written at the beginning of his book: There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. Therefore, some wrongly assume that Job is of the lineage of Esau, since that which is written at the end of his book, Because it was translated from the Syrian language, and he is the fourth generation from Esau, and the rest of what is contained there, is not found in the Hebrew volumes. Secundus was born to Melcha Buz, whom the Seventy wanted to translate as Bauz. And from this lineage comes Balaam the diviner (Numbers 24:3 et seq.; Joshua 13:22), as the Hebrews report, who is called Eliu in the book of Job: at first a holy man and prophet of God, but later, through disobedience and desire for gifts, while wanting to curse Israel, is called by the divine name. And it is said in the same book: And Eliu, the son of Barachiel the Buzite, was angry (Job 32:2), descending from this very Buzi lineage. Camuel is indeed the father of Damascus. For it is called Aran, which is written here for Syria: and it is read by the same name in Isaiah. Chased is also the fourth, from whom the Chaldeans, that is, the Chaldeans, were later called.
32:2
(Chapter XXXII, Verse 2) And Sara died in the city of Arboc, which is in the valley: this is Chebron, in the land of Canaan. This that is placed here, which is in the valley, is not found in authentic codices. The name of the city Arboc has also gradually been corrupted by scribes and readers. For it should not be assumed that the Seventy Interpreters translated the name of the Hebrew city in a barbaric and corrupted manner, differently than it is said in its own language. Indeed, 'Arboc' signifies nothing at all. But it is said to be 'Arbee' (that is, four) because there Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried, and also the first of the human race, Adam, as will be more clearly demonstrated in the book of Jesus.
32:6