John Chrysostom : Do you see how much confidence Jacob gained from the vision he had? That is to say, "my spirit survived," he is saying, "which had almost perished from fear. Since I was privileged to see God face to face, 'my spirit survived.' " Now the sun rose on him as he passed the sight of God.Do you see how the Lord shows considerateness for our human limitations in all he does and in arranging everything in a way that gives evidence of his characteristic love? Don't be surprised, dearly beloved, at the extent of his considerateness; rather, remember that with the patriarch as well, when Abraham was sitting by the oak tree, God came in human form as the good man's guest in the company of the angels, giving us a premonition from on high at the beginning that he would one day take human form to liberate all human nature by this means from the tyranny of the devil and lead us to salvation. At that time, however, since it was the very early stages, God appeared to each of them in the guise of an apparition, as he says himself through the inspired author, "I multiplied visions and took various likenesses in the works of the inspired authors." — HOMILIES ON Genesis 58.11-12 Ambrosiaster : JACOB WAS CALLED THE MAN WHO SEES GOD, AND MOSES SAW GOD FACE TO FACE. (EX. 33:11) HE ALSO SAYS: "I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES THE GOD OF HOSTS. (IS. 6:5). ON THE CONTRARY, THE EVANGELIST SAINT JOHN SAYS: "NO MAN HAS EVER SEEN GOD.” (I JN. 4:12) THERE IS, THEN, A CONTRADICTION HERE. — To speak the truth, no man really saw God, neither the Father nor the Son. If the Scripture tells us that men have seen Him, it is through intellect, for it can only appear to them in the figure. Just as without knowing the emperors we see them in image and not in reality, so God was seen in the sense that men understood that God appeared to them in a rational and not substantial way, for God cannot be seen in His nature. To put the difficulty of this question into all its light, let us endeavor to explain the meaning of the words of St. John. For he has wished to reveal to us a hidden truth which is part of the doctrine of salvation: "No man," he says, "has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has manifested Himself.” (John 1:18) Let us examine the meaning of these words of the Evangelist; to show us that it is of all truth that no man has ever seen God, he places this declaration on the lips of the Son himself who cannot be deceived because he is in the bosom of the Father. Now, what is the breast of the Father except the love of the true Father for his Son by the unity of nature that is common to them? No one, then, has ever seen God, except the only begotten Son, which the Apostle of God revealed among other things to the apostle St. John: "It is not that someone to see the Father, only the one who is of God has seen the Father.” Now it is to condemn the Jews who did not want to hear or believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that the Evangelist proves to them that it was this same Christ who appeared as God to the patriarchs, the Father was never seen except by the Son. Indeed, denying that God the Father was ever seen, and yet declaring that God appeared to the patriarchs, the Son of God wants to reveal himself and show that it was he who appeared as God to their fathers. That is why he said to the Jews speaking of his Father: "You have never heard his voice or seen his face (Jn. 5:37).” There is, then, no contradiction in saying that God has been both seen and invisible. [Questions On The Old And New Testaments, PL 35, — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, Q. 11 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)