_They, &c. Many of the common people, not of the ancients, chap. iii. 18. (Menochius) --- He knew that all ought to bring credentials from God, when they come in his name to institute a new order of things. This Moses, Jesus Christ, and the apostles did. Nothing less than a miracle can suffice to gu... [ Continue Reading ]
_A rod. This alluded to the three states in which the Hebrews had lived in Egypt: 1. As holding the sceptre; 2. as persecuted in a crafty and cruel manner; and 3. as liberated by Moses. (Menochius) --- The dragon [i.e., the serpent] was so terrible as to make even Moses flee. (Philo.)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Again. When Moses first appeared in defence of his brethren, Pharao afflicted them more grievously; but at last he was forced to let them go. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blood. This third sign had the same tendency as the former. It showed the cruel persecution inflicted upon the Hebrews, particularly in drowning their male infants; a cruelty which God would shortly revenge, by turning the waters of Egypt into blood, and by slaying the first-born and the army of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of tongue, being impressed with awe, at the divine presence. He feared, therefore, that he should not be able to deliver himself intelligently at the court of Pharao, and might rather excite the disgust of that haughty tyrant. (Haydock) --- He had been 40 years absent in the land of Madian, and mig... [ Continue Reading ]
_Send. Many of the fathers think Moses here prays for the coming of the Messias, who was to be the deliverer of his people; (St. Justin, &c.) or he begs at least that one more proper than himself may be selected; in which some discover marks of pusillanimity, others of great and laudable modesty; so... [ Continue Reading ]
_To God. Hebrew, "thou shalt be to him in the place of God." He shall hear and obey thee, explaining to the people the instructions thou shalt give him. I have established thee the god of Pharao, and Aaron shall be thy prophet, chap. vii. 1. (Calmet) --- I will address myself immediately to thee. (T... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rod. So the devil taught Mercury and Bacchus to mimic Moses, and to carry a wand. Tum virgam capit, hac animas ille evocat orco. (Virgil, iv.) (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Life. "After those many days were elapsed, the king of Egypt died," who had obliged Moses to flee, as the Septuagint, Josephus, and Philo add at the end of ver. 18. Upon which God, who had already commissioned him to go, and saw him willing, gives him this further assurance that he has nothing to f... [ Continue Reading ]
_I shall harden, &c. Not by being the efficient cause of his sin; but by withdrawing from him, for his just punishment, the dew of grace, that might have softened his heart; and so suffering him to grow harder and harder. (Challoner) --- Non impertiendo misericordiam. (St. Augustine, ep. 194, ad Six... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER IV. _ First-born, heir to my promises, and the object of my complacency._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy son. This was the tenth and last scourge, which forced the king to relent. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord met him, and would have killed him. This was an angel representing the Lord, who treated Moses in this manner, for having neglected the circumcision of his younger son: which his wife understanding, circumcised her child upon the spot, upon which the angel let Moses go. (Challoner) --- Bot... [ Continue Reading ]
Stone, like a flint. Such stones are very common in Egypt, and are used by the embalmers to open the side of the deceased. The Galli priests make themselves eunuchs without danger, by means of sharp stones. (Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 12.) Josue circumcises with the like, Josue v. But any instrume... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of God. Horeb, where both brothers met, after Sephora was returned to her father._... [ Continue Reading ]
_The three signs, prescribed above, in proof of their mission. (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]