But now, though all the sons of Israel in the former typical kingdom were chiefs, and heads of tribes, yet one of them, that is Judah, had a special prerogative, which the Scriptures set forth, and which was called the _right of the first-born_. In virtue of this, on the one hand, Judah was esteemed the Lord of his brethren, whom they were to reverence as the parent of the whole family, and on the other, it was only by union with him, and with the seed that was to spring from him, that the other chiefs could promise to themselves the divine blessing. And so the tribe of Judah had a great pre-eminence over the other eleven. It was its prerogative to take the[5] lead: it had received from God the promise of an[6] authority which was not to terminate before the old covenant should be transformed into the new: from it was the seed[6] to be expected, which should be the source of blessing to all nations, prefigured as they were by the twelve tribes; the other tribes were bound[7] to union with it, and to the profession of its religion, on pain of falling into schism, and forfeiting the divine covenant. All this was expressed by Jacob in prophetic inspiration, when he addressed Judah as the head and root of his line: "Judah (praise) art thou, thy brethren shall praise thee: thy hand is on the neck of thine enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee." It remains, then, to ask, who was to represent Judah's person in the new kingdom, and on whom Christ bestowed the prerogative, the type and image of which had gone before in Judah. It is most plain that this was Simon Peter, for whom we have, therefore, to claim a double prerogative, the one of being the source and origin, from which no one may be separated without severance from the kingdom and promises of Christ: the other of being the first-born, as betokening excellence, by which he was pre-eminent in the possession of special rights among his brethren, the Apostles. The former prerogative was expressed by the Fathers of Aquileia, when, in the words of S. Ambrose, they stated their belief in S. Peter's chair, "For thence, as from a fountain head, the rights of venerable communion flow unto[8] all." The latter is confirmed and illustrated by the solemn expressions so often recurring in Christian records, wherein Peter is called, "[9]the Bishop of Bishops," "[10]the Pastor of Pastors," "[11]first prelate of the Apostles," "[12]Patriarch of the whole world," "[13]universal bishop," "[14]father of fathers," "[14]having the dignity of pastoral headship," "[14]the most divine head of all heads, arch-pastor of the Church."