DEDICATION.

...[garments] had put on, and those prosperous things which seemed destined for his brother through the blessing of the Parent—deceived by this artifice—he derived for himself; this we not undeservedly relate to the Christians from among the Gentiles The "Gentiles" refers to non-Jewish people who converted to Christianity. For they truly transferred into their own sacred rites whatever was beautiful and praiseworthy in Religion as it was practiced by the Jews; the Oracles of the Prophets original: "Oracula Vatum", which promised the prerogatives of exceptional benefits to the Jews, they interpreted as being about themselves and applied to themselves. That unfeigned and sincere faith, with which the Patriarchs received the promises of such great blessings made to them by God with a simple mind—setting aside the merits of their own virtues—they themselves have, as it were, put on. And in this particular garment, which the Esau-ites A term used by the author to compare the Jewish people to Esau, who sold his birthright (I mean, the carnal Jews) long ago set aside, they commend themselves to God. They have pursued Divine Grace through a kind of trick and cunning, beyond and contrary to God’s plan as it appeared externally, and they have, as it were, snatched away the benefits that seemed destined for the Jews and claimed them for themselves. Indeed, Christians themselves—as many of them as are truly what they ought to be—are to be counted among the Jews according to the Doctrine of the Apostle Paul, and are to be called and held as Jews. On the contrary, the Jews who are still called by this name today, just as they long ago departed from the faith and true Religion of their Fathers, are thus entirely unworthy of this title— catchword: titu- (referring to "titul-o" or title)