St. Augustine, Of the citie of God vvith the learned comments of Io. Lod. Viues. Englished by I.H.

Whether the men of old abstained from women vntill that the scriptures say they •…•…egot children. CHAP. 15.

BVt will some say, is it credible that a man should liue eighty, or ninty, n•…•…∣more

then a 100. yeares without a woman, and without purpose of continency, and then fall a begetting children as the Hebrewes record of them? or if they lif∣ted, could they not get children before? this question hath two answeres, for ei∣ther they liued longer (a) immature then we do, according to the length of time exceeding ours, or else (which is more likely) their first borne are not reckened, but onely such as are requisite for the drawing of a pedegree downe from Adam vnto Noah, from whom we see a deriuation to Abraham: and so vntill a certaine period, as farre as those pedegrees were held fit to prefigure the course of Gods glorious Pilgrim-citty, vntill it ascend to eternity. It cannot bee denied that Caine was the first that euer was borne of man and woman. For Adam would * 1.1 not haue sayd, I haue (l) gotten a man by the Lord, at his birth, but that hee was the first man borne before the other two. Him, Abell was next whom the first or elder killed, and herein was prefigured what persecutions God glorious City should endure at the hands of the wicked members of the terrestriall society, those sons of earth, I may call them. But how old Adam was at the begetting of these two, it is not euident: from thence is a passage made to the generations of Caine, and to his whom God gaue Adam in murdred Abels seede, called Seth: of whom it is written, God hath appointed me another seed for Abell whom Caine slew. Seeing ther∣fore that these two generations, Caines, and Seths, do perfectly insinuate the two citties: the one celestiall, and laboring vpon earth: the other earthly and fol∣lowing our terrestriall affects: there is not one of all Caines progeny, from Adam to the eighth generation, whose age is set downe when hee begot his next sonne: yet is his whole generation rehersed: for the Spirit of God would not record, the times of the wicked before the deluge, but of the righteous onely, as onelie •…•…orthy. But when Seth was borne his fathers yeares were not forgotten though he had begotten others before, as Caine and Abel; and who dare say whe∣ther he had more besides them? for it is no consequent that they were all the sons he had, because they were onely named for the fit distinction of the two genera∣tions: for wee read that hee had sonnes, and daughters, all which are vnnamed, who dare affirme how many they were, without incursion of rashnesse? Adam might by Gods instinct say at Seths birth, God hath raised me vp another seed for A∣bell, in that Seth was to fulfill Abells sanctity, not that he was borne after him by course of time. And where as it is written, Seth liued 105. or 205. yeares, & begot E•…•…s, who but one brainelesse would gather from hence that Enos was Seths first s•…•…n, to giue vs cause of admiration that Seth could liue so long continent without purpose of continency, or without vse of the mariage bed, vnto generation? for it is writte of him. He begat sons and daughters and the daies of Seth were 912. yeares, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 died. And thus, the rest also that are named, are al recorded to haue had sons * 1.2 & daughters. But here is no proofe that he that is named to be son to any of them, should be their first son: nor is it credible that their fathers liued al this while ei∣ther immature, or vnmarried, or vnchilded, nor that they were their fathers first •…•…ome. But the scripture intending to descend by a genealogicall scale from A∣d•…•… vnto Noah to the deluge, recounted not the first borne of euery father, but only such as fell within the compasse of these two generations. Take this exam∣ple, to cleare all further or future doubt: Saint Mathew the Euangelist inten∣ding to record the generation of the Man, CHRIST, beginning at Abra∣h•…•…, and descending downe to Dauid, Abraham (saith hee,) begot Isaac: why not 〈◊〉〈◊〉? he was his first sonne? Isaac begot Iacob: why not Esau? hee was his first 〈◊〉〈◊〉 too.

The reason is, he could not descend by them vnto Dauid. It followeth: Iacob be∣gat Iudas and his brethren. Why? was Iudas his first borne? Iudas begat Ph•…•…es and Zara. Why neither of these were Iudas his first sonnes, he had three before either of them. So the Euangelist kept onely the genealogy that tracted direct∣ly downe to Dauid, and so to his purpose. Hence may wee therefore see plaine that the mens first borne before the deluge, were not respected in this account, but those onely through whose loines the propagation passed from Adam to Noah the Patriarche; And thus the fruitlesse and obscure question of their late maturity, is opened as farre as needeth: we will not tire our selues therein.

L. VIVES.

LOnger (a) immature] Maturity in man, is the time when he is fit to beget children: when as haire groweth vpon the immodest parts of nature in man or woman. (b) Gotten] Or pos∣sesse * 1.3 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, say the seauenty. Caine, saith Hiero•…•… is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, possession.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Gen. 4. 1
• * 1.2

  Gen. 5. 8.
• * 1.3

  Maturity.