Ambrose of Milan : Very many deny that the Sacred writers wrote according to the rules of art. Nor do we contend for the contrary; for they wrote not according to art, but according to grace, which is above all art; for they wrote that which the Spirit gave them to speak. And yet they who wrote on art made use of their writings from which to frame their art, and to compose its comments and rules. Again, in art there are principally required, a cause, a subject, and an end. When then we read that holy Isaac said to his father, "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering," which of these is wanting? For he who asks, doubts, he who answers the query pronounces and solves the doubt. "Behold the fire," that is the cause, "and the wood," that is hulē, which in Latin is 'materia,' what third thing remains but the end, which the son asked for, saying, "Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering," and the father replied, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering?" Let us discuss for a little while the mystery. God shewed a ram hanging by his horns. Now the ram is the Word, full of tranquillity, moderation, and patience; whereby is shewn that Wisdom is a good sacrifice, and that He was well skilled in the mode of meritorious propitiation. Wherefore the Prophet also says, "Offer the sacrifice of righteousness." And so it is a sacrifice both of righteousness and of wisdom. — Letters, Letter 8 (to Justus), Sections 1-3 Athanasius of Alexandria : Thus the sacrifice was not for the sake of Isaac but for that of Abraham, who was tested by being called upon to make this offering. And of course, God accepted his intentions, but he prevented him from slaying Isaac. The death of Isaac would not buy freedom for the world. No, that could be accomplished only by the death of our Savior, by whose stripes we are all healed. — FESTAL LETTERS 6 Caesarius of Arles : But when the ram was killed and Isaac was not killed, it happened thus because Isaac was a figure and not the reality; for in him was designated what was later fulfilled in Christ. Behold, God is contending with people in great devotion. Abraham offered God his mortal son who was not to die, while God surrendered in death his immortal Son for the sake of humankind. Concerning blessed Isaac and that ram it can be further understood that in Isaac was signified the divinity of Christ, in the ram his humanity. Just as in his passion not the divinity but the humanity is believed to have been crucified, so the ram but not Isaac was immolated: the only-begotten Son of God is offered, the firstborn of the Virgin is sacrificed. Listen to another mystery. Blessed Jerome, a priest, wrote that he knew most certainly from the ancient Jews and elders that Christ our Lord was afterward crucified in the place where Isaac was offered. Last, from the place whence blessed Abraham was commanded to depart, he arrived on the third day at the place where Christ our Lord was crucified. This too is mentioned in the account of the ancients, that in the very place where the cross was fastened the first Adam once was buried. Moreover, it was called the place of Calvary for the very reason that the first head of the human race is said to have been buried there. Truly, brothers, not unfittingly is it believed that the physician was raised up where the sick man lay. It was right that divine mercy should bend down in the place where human pride had fallen. The precious blood may be believed to have corporally redeemed the ashes of the sinner of old by deigning to touch it with its drops. We have gathered these facts as well as we could, dearly beloved, from the different books of Scripture for the progress of your soul, and we suggest them to the consideration of your charity. If, with the Lord's help, you will read over the sacred Scriptures rather frequently and heed them carefully, I believe that you can find an even better explanation. — SERMON 84.5 Ephrem the Syrian : The mountain spit out the tree and the tree the ram. In the ram that hung in the tree and had become the sacrifice in the place of Abraham's son, there might be depicted the day of him who was to hang upon the wood like a ram and was to taste death for the sake of the whole world. — COMMENTARY ON Genesis 20:3 Jerome : (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 (). — Hebrew Questions on Genesis John Chrysostom : All this, however, happened as a type of the cross. Hence Christ too said to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced in anticipation of seeing my day; he saw it and was delighted." How did he see it if he lived so long before? In type, in shadow. Just as in our text the sheep was offered in place of Isaac, so here the rational Lamb was offered for the world. You see, it was necessary that the truth be sketched out ahead of time in shadow. Notice, I ask you, dearly beloved, how everything was prefigured in shadow: an only-begotten son in that case, an only-begotten in this; dearly loved in that case, dearly loved in this. "This is my beloved Son," Scripture says, in fact, "in whom I have found satisfaction." The former was offered as a burnt offering by his father, and the latter his Father surrendered. Paul too shouts aloud in the words "He who in fact did not spare his own Son but handed him over for the sake of us all—how will he not also grant us every gift along with him?" Up to this point there is shadow, but now the truth of things is shown to be more excellent. This rational Lamb, you see, was offered for the whole world; he purified the whole world; he freed human beings from error and led them forward to the truth; he made earth into heaven, not by altering the nature of the elements but by transferring life in heaven to human beings on earth. Through him all worship of demons is made pointless; through him people no longer worship stone and wood. Nor do those endowed with reason bend the knee to material things—instead, all error has been abolished, and the light of truth has shone brightly on the world. Do you see the superiority of the truth? Do you see what shadow is, on the one hand, and truth, on the other? — HOMILIES ON Genesis 47.14 Origen of Alexandria : "And Abraham looking up," it says, "with his eyes saw, and behold, a ram was held by its horns in the thicket Sabech." We said, I think, in what preceded that Isaac bore the figure of Christ, but the ram here too nonetheless seems to bear the figure of Christ. But how each fits Christ, both Isaac, who was not slain, and the ram, who was slain, is worth knowing. Christ is "the Word of God," but "the Word was made flesh." One thing therefore in Christ is from the things above, the other taken from human nature and from the virginal womb. Christ therefore suffers, but in the flesh; and He endured death, but it was the flesh, of which this ram is the figure; just as John also said: "behold, the Lamb of God, behold, He who takes away the sin of the world." But the Word remained "in incorruption," which is Christ according to the spirit, of whom Isaac is the image. Therefore He Himself is both victim and high priest. For according to the spirit He offers the victim to the Father, according to the flesh He Himself is offered on the altar of the cross, because, just as it was said of Him, "behold, the Lamb of God, behold, He who takes away the sin of the world," so it was said of Him: "you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." "The ram therefore is held by its horns in the thicket Sabech." — HOMILIES ON Genesis 8.9