Fourth, “Esau did not find a place of repentance.”
Fourth, “Esau did not find a place of repentance.”
(IV) “ ‘Esau did not find a place of repentance, though he sought it with tears’ (Heb. 12:17).”
We respond. The word “repentance” is used here in a passive sense for the repentance of Isaac. “Esau did not find a place of repentance,” that is, he was unable to move the heart of his father with tearful entreaties to revoke the blessings conferred upon Jacob, but was forced to hear: “I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed” (Gen. 27:33).
** Therefore the meaning is that after Isaac had blessed Jacob and after Esau had returned from hunting, Esau tearfully asked for repentance from his father, that is, for a retraction of the statement with which he had blessed Jacob. But as much as he wished it, he was unable to obtain from his father, Isaac, that he should repent of the blessing. Those err who assign the particle αὐτήν [“it”] to τὴν μετάνοιαν [“repentance”] in the Greek [of Heb. 12:17], because it should refer to “the blessing.” **
Yet even if “a place of repentance” meant Esau’s repentance, it is certain that it was not true and salutary, because he said in his heart at that very moment of time: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching, and I will kill my brother” (Gen. 27:41). It was, so to speak, a repentance of punishment, not of fault; for something lost, not something admitted [amissi, non admissi].
** They also bring up a passage from Ambrose, who says (De poenit. unic., bk. 2, ch. 10, vol. 1, p. 175): “For if they were truly repentant, they would not think afterward that they had to repeat it, because, just as there is one Baptism, so there is one repentance.” Some say that these words “must be understood as a reference to the one formal definition [de una formali ratione] of repentance.”3 They are indeed correct in saying this, but not on the basis of Ambrose’s intent. Therefore the words are understood more correctly as referring to the repentance for the most serious crimes which they used to do with sackcloth and ashes. This can be concluded from Augustine and Origen; the former says that this was granted only once in antiquity ([Letter] ad Macedonium), and the latter, in his commentary on Leviticus. Indeed, Augustine adds expressly: “Although a chance for repentance is not conceded in the church, nevertheless God does not forget His patience toward them.” **
1 Beginning with the ancient historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Novatus of Carthage (a schismatic priest of the third century) was confused by many with Novatian of Rome (d. after 251). Gerhard here continues the confusion he inherited by referring to “Novatus” and the “Novatians.” Scholars now identify the followers of Novatian of Rome as Novatianists, but our translation maintain’s Gerhard’s usage. See E. Romero Pose, “Novatus of Carthage,” in Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, vol. 2, ed. Angelo Di Berardino (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 938.
2 See above, p. 155 n. 1.
3 The ratio formalis is what makes a thing to be what it is.