On the Inscription of the Titles · §4 · Eustathius of Antioch

The Two Peoples and the Younger's Dominion

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Eustathius is closing his treatise by interpreting the Lord's words to Rebecca about the two nations in her womb as a prophecy of Jews and Christians, with the older people serving the younger.

Then he says: The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body; one people will surpass the other, and the greater will serve the lesser” (Genesis 25:23). For there are many nations and many peoples, but these two in particular are called peoples, because they were deemed worthy to be entrusted with the teaching of piety. He makes no mention of schisms or heresies or those that would be numbered. Rather, there are two peoples stretched out across much of the earth: Christians and Jews. The greater, boasting in its antiquity, is left behind in virtue and will serve the younger; for, as Scripture says, “the fool will serve the wise”. From this, then, he prefigured him sitting upon the throne of the Holy One, showing that he has been demonstrated to be enthroned together with the most divine Spirit because God dwells in him continually.

Greek

Τηνικαῦτα δέ φησι· ὁ Κύριος εἶπεν αὐτῇ· δύο ἔθνη ἐν τῇ γαστρί σού εἰσιν, καὶ δύο λαοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας σου

διασταλήσονται, καὶ λαὸς λαοῦ ὑπερέξει, καὶ ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι. Πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ ἔθνη καὶ πολλοὶ τυγχάνουσι λαοὶ, δύο δὲ τούτους ἐξαιρέτως ὀνομάζουσι λαοὺς, οἳ τὸ δόγμα τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐγχειρισθῆναι κατηξιώθησαν, –οὔτε δὲ σχισμάτων, οὔτε αἱρέσεων, οὔτε ἐναριθμίων μέμνηται–ἀλλὰ δύο μέν εἰσι λαοὶ πολλαχοῦ γῆς ἐκτεταμένοι, Χριστιανῶν τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων. Ὁ δὲ μείζων τοῖς χρόνοις αὐχῶν εἶναι, λειπόμενος ἀρετῇ δουλεύσει τῷ νεωτέρῳ· δουλεύσεται γὰρ ἄφρων, ἔφη, φρονίμῳ. 9 Ἐντεῦθεν τοίνυν ἐπὶ θρόνου προὔγραφεν αὐτὸν τοῦ ἁγίου καθέζεσθαι, δηλῶν ὅτι σύνθρονος ἀποδέδεικται τῷ θειοτάτῳ Πνεύματι διὰ τὸν οἰκοῦντα Θεὸν ἐν αὐτῷ διηνεκῶς.

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Eustathius on the psalm titles / inscriptions.

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337) wrote this treatise for a Christian audience. He was bishop of Beroea before becoming patriarch of Antioch, and he was a prominent opponent of Arianism at the Council of Nicaea. The surviving fragments explain the meaning of the stone pillar that Jacob set up at Bethel, interpreting it as a prophecy of Christ, the cross, and the two peoples.

The work is a theological exposition of the biblical narrative. Eustathius argues that Jacob's pillar at Bethel was not an idolatrous stele but a divinely inspired prophecy. The stone and the ladder vision prefigure Christ's body, the cross, and the church as the house of God and gate of heaven. The oil poured on the stone points to the anointing of Christ's feet and to his burial, while the stone itself signifies Christ as the rejected cornerstone.

A reader will meet Jacob, whose vision and pillar at Bethel are the subject of the treatise, and Christ, whose body, cross, and burial are prefigured in Jacob's vision and pillar. Mary is mentioned as the woman who anointed Christ's feet with ointment. Moses is cited for the story of Rebecca and the two nations, and Rebecca is the mother of Jacob and Esau to whom the Lord announced the two nations in her womb. The two nations are interpreted as Jews and Christians, with the older people serving the younger.

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Translated from PG 18 (Greek)

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