Father Noel Alexandre's Literal Commentary on 1 Peter 1:3-9

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 Translated by Qwen. 1 Pet 1:3–4: The Blessing of Regeneration "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you." We ought to give immortal thanks to God, to offer Him continually the sacrifice of praise, on account of His infinite goodness toward His elect. It belongs to the Eternal Father to choose the members of His Son, the adopted children who are co-heirs with the Only-Begotten. Let us seek no other reason for this election than mercy, whose greatness cannot be worthily expressed in human words. He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Us, unworthy sinners, His enemies, deserving of eternal punishments, He has regenerated through Baptism; and, the oldness which we had contracted from Adam in our first birth being abolished, He ...
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Father Martin Antonio Del Rio's Commentary on Genesis 17:3-9

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Theological Themes:

  1. Divine Eternity and Immutability: God's "I AM" transcends temporal categories; His unchanging nature grounds covenantal faithfulness.

  2. Name Change as Grace: Abram → Abraham signifies elevation from natural to supernatural fatherhood; the added letter He mystically prefigures Christ.

  3. Twofold Seed: Carnal (Jews) and spiritual (all faithful in Christ); the latter is the primary fulfillment of "father of many nations."

  4. Circumcision as Sacramental Sign: Not the covenant itself, but its visible, living seal—foreshadowing baptism and the "circumcision of the heart."

  5. Typological Exegesis: Del Rio harmonizes literal-historical reading (genealogies, kings) with spiritual-allegorical interpretation (heavenly seed, Revelation imagery).

Scholarly Method: Del Rio exemplifies late Renaissance Catholic exegesis: philological attention to Hebrew and Greek, engagement with patristic sources (Jerome, Hilary, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine), dialogue with Jewish interpreters (Rabbis, Philo, Josephus), and integration of doctrinal theology (divine attributes, Christology, sacramentality). His commentary is both erudite and devotional, ordered toward confirming the faith of his readers in the unity of Scripture and the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in Christ. The following was translated by Qwen.

Father Martin Antonio Del Rio's Commentary on Genesis 17:3-9

The Covenant with Abraham: Name Change and Circumcision

Gen 17:3 "He fell down, adoring and giving thanks to God."

Gen 17:4 "I AM" (Hebrew: Ani inne, אֲנִי הִנֵּה): "Behold, I"—that is, "I am He who alone exists."

St. Jerome, in his Epistle to Marcella, notes that God alone truly is, because He knows not "to have been" nor "to be about to be"—whose essence is to be, and to whom our being, when compared, is as nothing. It is alien to God, insofar as He is God, either "to have been" or "to be about to be." For he who is future does not yet exist; he who is said "to have been" is said no longer to exist.

In Sacred Scripture, according to our manner of knowing and understanding, God is also called "who was" and "who is to come," but with the third [term] added—"who is"—and then "was" signifies that He has been from eternity, or has never not been; "will be" signifies that He will never not be. The same teaching was handed down by St. Gregory Nazianzen in his Oration on the Nativity.

Nor is God's eternity signified only in this way, but His immutability is most excellently proved and most acutely by St. Hilary on Psalm 2 ("Why have the nations raged?"), whom I advise you to read; you will easily then understand that "I am" is said for this reason: that the faith of the promises may be established by reason of the unalterability and immutability of the divine nature (τῆς τοῦ θείου ἀναλλοιώσεως καὶ ἀμεταβλησίας).

Therefore it is added: "AND MY COVENANT WITH YOU"—immutable, unalterable, and irrevocable—worthy of Me, who am such by nature.

Gen 17:4 cont., Gen 17:5 "Of Many Nations" 

This refers especially to the heavenly seed—CHRIST—and through Him and in Him, to Abraham's sons who will shine in heaven like stars. This is taught by the change of name.

"Nor shall your name be called Abram any more"

No longer merely "father exalted" or "of exalted things"—this is what the compound word signifies, formed from AB (father) and RAM (exalted). Some Greeks say he was so called from his skill in astronomy.

"But you shall be called Abraham"

Behold, how the Lord changes the servant's name, adding dignity to the name from its prophetic signification. He was called Abram (אַבְרָם), "exalted father" or "father of exalted things in general." The word Hamon (הָמוֹן, "multitude") is added, so that it becomes simultaneously Abrahamon (אַבְרָהָמוֹן): "father of an exalted multitude" or "father of many exalted ones." But for the sake of euphony, the final syllable is removed, and the middle mem—which was the final letter of the first name—is joined or united with the first letter of the added word, which is one of the consonants of the tetragrammaton name [of God]. This same letter is added a little later to the name Sarai.

But who are these "many exalted ones"? He explains immediately: "OF MANY NATIONS." It is certain that the nations are not the carnal seed of Abraham; therefore, the matter concerns the spiritual seed, which from the heavenly Jesus is truly heavenly. As Leo Castrius acutely observes (Apologia, Book 5), the sense seems to be not only "you will be father of those 144,000 sealed from all the tribes of Israel," but also of "that great multitude which no one could number" (Revelation 7:9). He is therefore the Father of all the heavenly dwellers, who, like stars, will run through the firmament.

Moreover, that twofold [element] in the name of God, communicated to Abraham and Sarah in the imposition of these names, is sufficiently judged [to indicate] that He whose name JEHOVAH is common with the Father is promised to originate indeed from Abraham, but only from Sarah. See Lipomanus here in the Catena.

Allegory you have in Philo, On Abraham and On the Giants.

Gen 17:6 "And Kings Shall Come Forth From You" 

From Esau: [kings] of the Idumeans and Amalekites; from Jacob: [kings] of Israel and Judah. There is no need to have recourse to sons from Hagar and Keturah, because in Isaac alone was the seed called.

Gen 17:7 "And I Will Establish" 

Hebrew: "I will cause to stand," "I will confirm."

"Between the seed"—namely, after your death. "Throughout their generations"—through their times. "An Everlasting Covenant": Long-lasting indeed, as long as they keep the covenant concerning the carnal seed; but truly perpetual concerning the spiritual seed.

"And I will be their God"

The sense: by this law, that I may be their God. The pact was expressed in the preceding verse: "That I may be your God, and the God of your seed after you"—that is, that neither you nor your seed adore any other besides Me, but depend entirely on Me alone; and I, in turn, may protect you as My special possession and the apple of My eye, and bless you with special favor and care.

Gen 17:9 "Keeping the covenant"

"And God said again to Abraham…" (with the discourse having been interrupted somewhat)

"You shall keep"

The Hebrew has "keep" (imperative), but our [Vulgate] translator has clarified the expression, putting the future for the imperative. So St. Augustine, On Hebrew Locutions.


 
CONTINUE
 

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