Pharao pursueth the children of Israel. They murmur against Moses, but are encouraged by him, and pass through the Red Sea. Pharao and his army following them are drowned.
Iharao persecuting the children of Israel with a great armie. 10. they murmur against Moyses, 13. but are encoureged by him, and passe through the red sea drie foote. 23. Pharao and his hoste Wilfully following are drowned.
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:AND our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est autem Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 2Speak to the children of Israel: Let them turn and encamp over against Phihahiroth, which is between Magdal and the sea over against Beelsephon: you shall encamp before it upon the sea.Di' a' figliuoli d'Israele, che tornino indietro, e pongano gli alloggiamenti dirimpetto a Phihahiroth, la quale è tra Magdalum, e il mare dirimpetto a Beelsephon: in faccia a questo luogo porrete gli alloggiamenti lungo il mare.Speake to the children of Israel: Let them returne and campe ouer against Phihahiroth which is betwene Magdal and the sea against Beelsephon: in the sight therof you shal campe vpon the seaLoquere filiis Israël: Reversi castrametentur e regione Phihahiroth, quæ est inter Magdalum et mare contra Beelsephon: in conspectu ejus castra ponetis super mare. 3And Pharao will say of the children of Israel: They are straitened in the land, the desert hath shut them in.E Faraone dirà dei figliuoli d'Israele: Sono in paese angusto, sono serrati nel deserto.And Pharao wil say concerning the children of Israel: They are straitened in the land, the desert hath shute them in.Dicturusque est Pharao super filiis Israël: Coarctati sunt in terra; conclusit eos desertum. 4And I shall harden his heart and he will pursue you: and I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in all his army: and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.E indurerò il cuore di lui e v'inseguirà: e io trarrò gloria da Faraone, e da tutto il suo esercito: e conosceranno gli Egiziani, ch'io sono il Signore. E quelli fecer così.And I wil indurate his hart, and he wil pursew you: and I wil be glorified in Pharao, and in al his armie: and the Aegyptians shal know that I am the Lord. And they did so.Et indurabo cor ejus, ac persequetur vos: et glorificabor in Pharaone, et in omni exercitu ejus; scientque Ægyptii quia ego sum Dominus. Feceruntque ita. 5And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was fled: and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with regard to the people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let Israel go from serving us?E fu recato avviso al re degli Egiziani, come il popolo fuggiva: e si cangiò il cuore di Faraone, e de' suoi servi verso del popolo, e dissero: Che è quello, che noi ci siamo indotti a fare lasciando, che sen vada Israele, e a noi più non serva?And it was told the king of Aegyptians that the people was fled: and the hart of Pharao and of his seruantes was changed toward the people, and they said: What meant we to doe, that we dismissed Israel from seruing vs?Et nuntiatum est regi Ægyptiorum quod fugisset populus: immutatumque est cor Pharaonis et servorum ejus super populo, et dixerunt: Quid voluimus facere ut dimitteremus Israël, ne serviret nobis ?
6So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people with him.Fece egli pertanto mettere i cavalli al suo cocchio, e prese seco tutto il suo popolo.Therfore he made readie his chariotte, and tooke al his people with him.Junxit ergo currum, et omnem populum suum assumpsit secum. 7And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots that were in Egypt: and the captains of the whole army.E prese secento cocchi scelti, e tutti gli altri cocchi, che si trovarono nell'Egitto, e i capitani di tutto l'esercito.And he tooke six hundred chosen chariottes, and al the chariottes that were in Aegypt: and captaines of the whole armie.Tulitque sexcentos currus electos, et quidquid in Ægypto curruum fuit: et duces totius exercitus. 8And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; but they were gone forth in a mighty hand.E il Signore indurò il cuore di Faraone re d'Egitto, ed egli inseguì i figliuoli d'Israele: ma questi erano partiti con gran fidanza.And our Lord hardned Pharaoes hart the king of Aegypt, and he pursewed the children of Israel: but they went forth in a mightie hand.Induravitque Dominus cor Pharaonis regis Ægypti, et persecutus est filios Israël: at illi egressi sunt in manu excelsa. 9And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were gone before, they found them encamped at the sea side: all Pharao’s horse and chariots and the whole army were in Phihahiroth, before Beelsephon.E seguendo gli Egiziani le orme già segnate da quelli, li trovarono alloggiati lungo il mare. Tutta la cavalleria, e i cocchi di Faraone, e tutto l'esercito erano a Phihahiroth dirimpetto a Beelsephon.And when the Aegyptians pursewed their steppes going before, they found them encamped at the sea side: al Pharaoes horse and chariottes, and the whole armie were in Phihahiroth against Beelsephon.Cumque persequerentur Ægyptii vestigia præcedentium, repererunt eos in castris super mare: omnis equitatus et currus Pharaonis, et universus exercitus, erant in Phihahiroth contra Beelsephon. 10And when Pharao drew near, the children of Israel lifting up their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried to the Lord.E appressandosi Faraone, i figliuoli d'Israele alzando gli occhi si videro alle spalle gli Egiziani: ed ebbero paura grande, e alzarono le grida al Signore.And when Pharao approched, the children of Israel lifting vp their eies, saw the Aegyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried to our Lord,Cumque appropinquasset Pharao, levantes filii Israël oculos, viderunt Ægyptios post se, et timuerunt valde: clamaveruntque ad Dominum,
11And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt, therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness: why wouldst thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt?E dissero a Mosè: Mancavan forse sepolture in Egitto, che tu ci hai tratti di colà, affinché morissimo nella solitudine? Per qual motivo hai tu voluto far questa cosa di cavarci dall'Egitto?and said to Moyses: Perhappes there were no graues in Aegypt, therfore thou hast taken vs thence to die in the wildernes: why wouldest thou doe this, in bringing vs out of Aegypt?et dixerunt ad Moysen: Forsitan non erant sepulchra in Ægypto, ideo tulisti nos ut moreremur in solitudine: quid hoc facere voluisti, ut educeres nos ex Ægypto ? 12Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Depart from us, that we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much better to serve them, than to die in the wilderness.Non è egli questo quel che a te noi dicevamo nell'Egitto: Lascia, che noi serviamo agli Egiziani? conciossiaché molto meglio era il servire ad essi, che il morire nella solitudine.Is not this the word that we spake to thee in Aegypt, saying: Depart from vs, that we may serue the Aegyptians? for it was much better to serue them, then to die in the wildernes.nonne iste est sermo, quem loquebamur ad te in Ægypto, dicentes: Recede a nobis, ut serviamus Ægyptiis ? multo enim melius erat servire eis, quam mori in solitudine. 13And Moses said to the people: Fear not: stand, and see the great wonders of the Lord, which he will do this day; for the Egyptians, whom you see now, you shall see no more for ever.E disse Mosè al popolo: Non temete: state ad osservare i prodigii, che farà oggi il Signore: perocché gli Egiziani, che voi ora vedete, non li vedrete mai più in eterno.And Moyses saied to the people. Feare not: stand, and see the great wonders of our Lord that he wil doe this day: for the Aegyptians, whom now you see, you shal no more see for euer.Et ait Moyses ad populum: Nolite timere: state, et videte magnalia Domini quæ facturus est hodie: Ægyptios enim, quos nunc videtis, nequaquam ultra videbitis usque in sempiternum. 14The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.Il Signore combatterà per voi, e voi non vi moverete.Our Lord wil fight for you, and you shal hold your peace.Dominus pugnabit pro vobis, et vos tacebitis. 15And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to the children of Israel to go forward.E il Signore disse a Mosè: Perché alzi a me le grida? di' a' figliuoli d'Israele, che si mettano in viaggio.And our. Lord said to Moyses: Why criest thou to me? speake to the children of Israel that they goe forward.Dixitque Dominus ad Moysen: Quid clamas ad me ? loquere filiis Israël ut proficiscantur.
16But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the sea, and divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst of the sea on dry ground.E tu alza la tua verga, e stendi la tua mano sopra il mare, e dividilo: affinché i figliuoli d'Israele camminino per mezzo al mare a piedi asciutti.But thou lift vp thy rodde, and stretch forth thy hand vpon the sea, & diuide it: that the children of Israel may goe in the middes of the sea by drie ground.Tu autem eleva virgam tuam, et extende manum tuam super mare, et divide illud: ut gradiantur filii Israël in medio mari per siccum. 17And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians to pursue you: and I will be glorified in Pharao, and in all his host, and in his chariots and in his horsemen.E io indurerò il cuore degli Egiziani, perché vi perseguano: e sarò glorificato nello sterminio di Faraone, e di tutto il suo esercito, e de' suoi cocchi, e de' suoi cavalieri.And I wil indurate the hart of the Aegyptians to pursew you: and I wil be glorified in Pharao, and in al his hoste, and in his chariottes and in his horsemen.Ego autem indurabo cor Ægyptiorum ut persequantur vos: et glorificabor in Pharaone, et in omni exercitu ejus, et in curribus et in equitibus illius. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen.E gli Egiziani conosceranno, ch'io sono il Signore, quando avrò fatto servire alla mia gloria Faraone, e i suoi cocchi, e i suoi cavalli.And the Aegyptians shal know that I am the Lord when I shal be glorified in Pharao, and in his chariottes & in his horsemen.Et scient Ægyptii quia ego sum Dominus cum glorificatus fuero in Pharaone, et in curribus atque in equitibus ejus. 19And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removing, went behind them: and together with him the pillar of the cloud, leaving the forepart,E si levò l'Angelo del Signore, che precedeva l'esercito d'Israele, e si pose alle loro spalle: e insieme con esso la colonna di nube, lasciata la parte anteriore,And the Angel of God, that went before the campe of Israel, remouing him selfe, went behind them: and together with him the piller of the cloude, leauing the foreward,Tollensque se angelus Dei, qui præcedebat castra Israël, abiit post eos: et cum eo pariter columna nubis, priora dimittens, post tergum 20Stood behind, between the Egyptians’ camp and the camp of Israel: and it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they could not come at one another all the night.Si posò nel fondo tra gli alloggiamenti degli Egiziani, e gli alloggiamenti d'Israele: e quella nube era tenebrosa, e insieme rischiarava la notte, talmente che non poterono per tutto il tempo della notte appressarsi gli uni agli altri.stode behind, betwen the Aegyptians campe and the campe of Israel: and it was a darke cloud, and lightening the night, so that they could not come to ech other the whole night time.stetit, inter castra Ægyptiorum et castra Israël: et erat nubes tenebrosa, et illuminans noctem, ita ut ad se invicem toto noctis tempore accedere non valerent.
21And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night, and turned it into dry ground: and the water was divided.E avendo Mosè stesa la mano sul mare, il Signore lo portò via, soffiando un vento gagliardo, e ardente per tutta la notte, e lo asciugò: e l'acqua restò scompartita.And when Moyses had stretched forth his hand vpon the sea, our Lord tooke it away, a vehement and burning winde blowing al the night, and turned it into drie ground: and the water was diuided.Cumque extendisset Moyses manum super mare, abstulit illud Dominus flante vento vehementi et urente tota nocte, et vertit in siccum: divisaque est aqua. 22And the children of Israel went in through the midst of the sea dried up; for the water was as a wall on their right hand and on their left.E i figliuoli d'Israele entrarono in mezzo al mare asciutto: perocché l'acqua era come muro alla loro destra, e alla sinistra.And the children of Israel went through the middes of the dire sea: for the water was as it were a wal on their right hand & their left.Et ingressi sunt filii Israël per medium sicci maris: erat enim aqua quasi murus a dextra eorum et læva. 23And the Egyptians pursuing went in after them, and all Pharao’s horses, his chariots and horsemen, through the midst of the sea.E gli Egiziani inseguendogli entrarono dietro a loro nel mezzo del mare, e tutta la cavalleria di Faraone, e i suoi cocchi, e i cavalieri.And the Aegyptians pursewing went in after them, and al Pharaoes horses, his chariottes and horsemen through the middes of the sea.Persequentesque Ægyptii ingressi sunt post eos, et omnis equitatus Pharaonis, currus ejus et equites per medium maris. 24And now the morning watch was come, and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, slew their host.Ed era già la vigilia del mattino, allorché traguardando il Signore dalla colonna di nube e di fuoco l'esercito degli Egiziani fece perire le loro schiere:And now the morning watch was come, and behold our Lord looking vpon the Aegyptians campe through the piller of fire & the cloude, slew their armie:Jamque advenerat vigilia matutina, et ecce respiciens Dominus super castra Ægyptiorum per columnam ignis et nubis, interfecit exercitum eorum, 25And overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were carried into the deep. And the Egyptians said: Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against us.E rovesciò le ruote dei cocchi ed egli no furono trasportati nel (mar) profondo. Dissero adunque gli Egiziani: Fuggiamo Israele: perocché il Signore combatte per lui contro di noi.and ouerthrew the wheeles of the chariottes, and they were borne into the depth. The Aegyptians therfore said: Let vs flee from Israel: for the Lord fighteth for them against vs.et subvertit rotas curruum, ferebanturque in profundum. Dixerunt ergo Ægyptii: Fugiamus Israëlem: Dominus enim pugnat pro eis contra nos.
26And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and horsemen.E il Signore disse a Mosè: Stendi la tua mano sul mare, affinché le acque tornino a riunirsi sopra gli Egiziani, sopra i cocchi, e sopra i lor cavalieri.And our Lord said to Moyses: Stretch forth thy hand vpon the sea, that the waters may returne to the Aegyptians vpon their chariottes and horsemen.Et ait Dominus ad Moysen: Extende manum tuam super mare, ut revertantur aquæ ad Ægyptios super currus et equites eorum. 27And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the former place: and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.E avendo Mosè stesa la mano verso il mare, questo tornò al luogo di prima al primo spuntare del giorno: e le acque andaron sopra gli Egiziani, che fuggivano, e gl'involse il Signore in mezzo a' flutti.And when Moyses had stretched forth his hand against the sea, it returned in the first breake of day to the former place: and the Aegyptians fleeing away, the waters came vpon them, and our Lord enwrapt them in the middes of the waues.Cumque extendisset Moyses manum contra mare, reversum est primo diluculo ad priorem locum: fugientibusque Ægyptiis occurrerunt aquæ, et involvit eos Dominus in mediis fluctibus. 28And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the sea after them, neither did there so much as one of them remain.E le acque ripreso il loro corso ricopersero i cocchi, e i cavalieri di tutto l'esercito di Faraone, i quali inseguendo gl'Israeliti erano entrati nel mare: neppur uno di quelli si salvò.And the waters returned, and ouerwhelmed the chariottes and the horsemen of al Pharaoes armie, who folowing were entred into the sea, neither did there so much as one of them remaine.Reversæque sunt aquæ, et operuerunt currus et equites cuncti exercitus Pharaonis, qui sequentes ingressi fuerant mare: nec unus quidem superfuit ex eis. 29But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the left:Ma i figliuoli d'Israele si avanzarono pel mezzo del mare asciutto: e le acque eran per essi qual muro a destra e a sinistra:But the children of Israel marched through the middes of the drie sea, & the waters were vnto them as in stede of a wal on the right hand and on the left:Filii autem Israël perrexerunt per medium sicci maris, et aquæ eis erant quasi pro muro a dextris et a sinistris:
30And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of the Egyptians.E il Signore liberò in quel giorno Israele dalle mani degli Egiziani.and our Lord deliuered Israel in that day out of the hand of the Aegyptians.liberavitque Dominus in die illa Israël de manu Ægyptiorum. 31And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the mighty hand that the Lord had used against them: and the people feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.E videro gli Egiziani morti sul lido del mare, e la possanza grande dimostrata dal Signore contro di essi: e il popolo temé il Signore, e credettero al Signore, e a Mosè suo servo.And they saw the Aegyptians dead vpon the sea shore, and the mightie hand that our Lord had exercised against them: and the people feared our Lord, & they beleued our Lord, & Moyses his seruant.Et viderunt Ægyptios mortuos super littus maris, et manum magnam quam exercuerat Dominus contra eos: timuitque populus Dominum, et crediderunt Domino, et Moysi servo ejus.
14:1
Beelsephon, means "the lord of the watch-tower." Some think an idol was thus denominated, whose office it was to prevent people from quitting the country. How vain were his efforts against God's people!
14:3
Haydock
In. Between craggy mountains and the Red Sea. (Haydock)
14:4
Worthington
And he will. Protestants falsely translate, "that he may," etc., contrary to the Hebrew and other versions. (Worthington)
14:6
People, fit for war, who could be got ready on such short warning. Ezechiel (apud[in the writings of] Eusebius) makes the number amount to a million.
14:7
Haydock
Captains. Septuagint, "Tristatas." Three men rode on every chariot; which was armed with scythes, to cut down all that came within contact, the chief warrior, with his armour-bearer and charioteer. (St. Gregory of Nyssa) (Haydock)
14:8
Calmet
Hand. Without any dread, Numbers 15:30. (Calmet)
14:12
Haydock
Wilderness. This is the language of dastardly souls. They had begun to be almost in love with their chains. Every difficulty gives them occasion to repine at the gracious purposes of God, and the exertions of his servant Moses. But God bears patiently with the defects of a carnal and long oppressed nation, ver. 13. (Haydock)
The wiser sort pray to God, while others thus upbraid Moses.
14:13
Ever. They saw their floating carcasses the following morning. Hebrew, "you shall not see the Egyptians any more as you see them at present." They were not in the same condition.
14:14
Calmet
Peace. You will not have to draw a sword. The Syriac subjoins, "Therefore Moses cried unto the Lord," which connects this with the following verse. (Calmet)
14:15
Criest.
St. Bernard
"A vehement desire is a cry, which reaches the ears of the Lord." (St. Bernard)
14:17
Haydock
To pursue. God did not restrain the perverse will of the Egyptians; but suffered them to be guided by their blind passions, and to rush presumptuously into the bed of the sea. If the retiring of its waters had been owing to any natural cause, this wise nation could not be ignorant but that, at the stated time, the ebbing would cease, and consequently that they would be overtaken by the waters. But the waters stood up like walls on both sides, and they were so infatuated as to suppose that the miracle would be continued for their protection. (Haydock)
14:20
A dark cloud, and enlightening the night. It was a dark cloud to the Egyptians; but enlightened the night to the Israelites, by giving them a great light.
14:21
Wind. This served to dry up the sandy channel of the Red Sea, which was mixed with mud and weeds. It blew from the east, Kodim, or from Arabia.
Divided, some say into 12 parts or divisions, Psalm 135:13. But the words of the psalmist may be verified by the sea opening a spacious passage, such as was requisite for so many millions to travel through, (Haydock) e.g. a distance of perhaps 18 miles, in so short a space of time. Silara Adrichomius thinks the breadth of the division would not be less than nine miles.
14:24
Haydock
Watch. About four o'clock. The Hebrews divided the night into three equal parts, (Calmet) or four, consisting each of three hours, (Menochius) which varied in length as the night was longer. (Haydock)
Slew many by his thunderbolts, as Artapanus relates, and the Scripture elsewhere insinuates. (Chap. 15:6, 12; Psalm 76:16, 18; Josephus, [Antiquities?] 2:7.
14:25
Haydock
Lord. thus they reluctantly confess his might, and are forced to glory Him in their destruction. Their change is only the effect of fear and temporal danger, ver. 18. (Haydock)
14:31
Calmet
Sea-shore. The Hebrews would thus again be enriched by their spoils. (Calmet)
Haydock
Servant. Those who believe God, submit to the directions of his ambassadors. (St. Jerome in Philemon 5.) In this merited catastrophe of the Egyptians, which fixed the last seal to the mission of Moses, the fathers contemplate how God's servants are rescued by baptism, and by the merits of Jesus Christ, from Satan and from all sin. (1 Corinthians 10:1, 4; Origen, hom. 5.) (Haydock)
14:20
A dark cloud, and enlightening the night.... It was a dark cloud to the Egyptians; but enlightened the night to the Israelites by giving them a great light.
14:4
Although the Hebrew Greke and Latin haue, And he, yet Protestants corruptly thrust in the text, that he shal, to make it sound to their sense, that God did not only permit, but worke Pharaoes induration.
14:15
A sorowful hart, lamentably mourning for the people is called crying to God. S. Hierom. in Gal. 4.
14:17
Concordance •. Reg. 6.
14:19
Protection of Angels.
14:23
The fourth prophecie in the office before Masse on Easter •u•. And the second on whitsuneue
14:28
So in Baptisme al sinnes are destroyed. S •yp. ••p. 76. in fine S. Aug. Tract. 12. & 13. in Ioan.
14:31
The same credite is geuen to God speaking by Moyses, as if he had spoken immediatly by himself. S. Hiero. in Epist. ad Philem.
14:8
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 76.7
… Chiding hath noise, the noise is wont to make men wake. So great is the force of God chiding, that he said, “By Thy chiding, O God of Jacob, there have slept all men that have mounted horses.” Behold what a sleep that Pharaoh slept who mounted horses. For he was not awake in heart, because against chiding he had his heart hardened.
14:9
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 19.2
… Then the door posts were anointed with the blood of a lamb, that the destroyer might flee from the houses which had the sign of the blood; and the Hebrew people was marvellously delivered. The enemy, however, after their rescue, pursued after them
14:11
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.26
… And even if those Paul speaks of were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, there is something harsh and salt in their baptism. They are still in fear of their enemies, and crying to the Lord and to Moses, saying,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus 7
… It is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Trust, and stand fast, and see the salvation which is from the Lord, which He shall do to you to-day. The Lord Himself shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
14:14
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.69
… And what are we to expect, if not only a very few agree, as at present, but the whole of the empire of Rome? For they will pray to the Word, who of old said to the Hebrews, when they were pursued by the Egyptians, “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace;”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 11
… even in this the Lord is with them, not only as an avenger on their behalf, but also when they have already been beaten, as a deliverer for them. For this is the divine promise; ‘The Lord shall fight for you
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 11.63
… You, therefore, if you wish to stand above adverse nations, if you would speedily, with God’s leave, be victorious over them, receive with trembling the commandments of the same Almighty God, that He Himself may fight for you against your adversaries, Who has promised in Holy Writ, saying, The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace (
14:15
Tertullian † AD 220 On Repentance 12
… But, on the other hand, the Egyptian emperor—who, after pur suing the once afflicted people of God, long denied to their Lord, rushed into the battle —did, after so many warning plagues, perish in the parted sea, (which was permitted to be passable to “the People” alone,) by the backward roll of the waves:
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.10
… And I said, What shall I cry?” The physical voice we use in prayer need not be great nor startling; even should we not lift up any great cry or shout, God will yet hear us. He says to Moses,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 16.4
… Grudge not to us those words which are excellent rather than many, and do not yet give us a foretaste of our impending loss. Speak in words which, if few, are dear and most sweet to me, which, if scarcely audible, are perceived from their spiritual cry, as God heard the silence of Moses, and said to him when interceding mentally, “Why criest thou unto Me?”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… And when he comforted them in their abject terror, and roused them to courage, a voice came from God, addressing the Prophet by name, “Wherefore criest thou unto Me?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 19
But art thou pained in mind, and canst not help crying aloud? yet surely it is the part of one exceedingly pained to pray and entreat even as I have said. Since Moses too was pained, and prayed in this way and was heard; for this cause also God said unto him, “Wherefore criest thou unto me.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 9
… For this is to “sing to God,” but that to the air, for the voice is scattered without result. Not for display, he means. And even if thou be in the market-place, thou canst collect thyself, and sing unto God, no one hearing thee. For Moses also in this way prayed, and was heard, for He saith, “Why criest thou unto Me?” (
14:16
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.1.2
2. Scipio, therefore, was not the first to know that he was not alone when he was alone, or that he was least at leisure when he was at leisure. For Moses knew it before him, who, when silent, was crying out;
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.4
… These are the achievements of Christ’s presence: these are the tokens of His power. For it was not one people that He saved, as when through Moses He divided the sea and delivered Israel out of Egypt and the bondage of Pharaoh
14:19
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.6
… “But God went before them by day indeed in a pillar of cloud, to show them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire.” And afterwards, in the same place: “And the Angel of God moved forward, which went before the army of the children of Israel.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.21
21. I must not linger over Moses when my purpose is at full speed to lightly touch on each topic and to sketch the outline of a proper knowledge of my subject. I will pass to Joshua the son of Nun, who was previously called Ause, or better, as in the Hebrew, Osee, that is, Saviour . For he,
14:20
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 28
Therefore this darkness of the body has been placed between us and God, like the cloud of old between the Egyptians and the Hebrews;
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 38
II. Again the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 5
… v. 4 .) He was then immediately expelled from the common assembly, he was separated from the fold, he became deserted and destitute; he was delivered to the wolf. For as the cloud designated the camp of the Hebrews, so the Spirit distinguished the Church. If any one therefore was without, he was consumed,
14:21
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 29-2
… that the storm of the sea was not from the winds, but from fear of its Lord Who walked upon it, and that the Lord Who rebuked it was not a creature, but rather its Creator, since a creature is not obedient to another creature. For although the Red Sea was divided before by Moses
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.7
… For why, said they, is it incredible that the God of wonders, who bountifully fed in the wilderness his homeless and fugitive people, raining bread upon them, and abounding in quails, nourishing them not only with necessaries, but even with luxuries: that He, Who divided the sea,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… If thou doest this, and comest out of Egypt thus, I know well that thou shalt be guided by the pillar of fire and cloud by night and day. The wilderness shall be tamed for thee, and the Sea divided;
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.20
… A man he was, great in the wonders he wrought by faith, great in his triumphs. The works of Moses were of a higher type, his brought greater success. Either of these then aided by divine grace rose above all human standing. The one ruled the sea, the other heaven.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Mysteries 9
… Again, at the prophet’s prayer the blood ceased, and the nature of water returned. The people of the Hebrews were shut in on every side, hemmed in on the one hand by the Egyptians, on the other by the sea; Moses lifted up his rod, the water divided and hardened like walls, and a way for the feet appeared between the waves.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 43
The Jews under the guidance of Moses passed over the Red Sea, but that case is widely different from this. He did all with prayer and as a servant, but Christ with absolute power. There when the south wind blew, the water yielded so as to make them pass over on dry land, but here the miracle was greater. (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 3
… Wherefore held? Lest they should perish altogether, and slip into idol-worship. For they did this, my brethren, as we read, forgetful of the great miracles which God performed before their eyes. The sea was divided; a way was made in the midst of the waves; their enemies following, were covered by the same waves through which they passed:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 91.2
… But we are answered, that others also have done works which even He did not, and which no other man has done. For who else save Moses smote the Egyptians with so many and mighty plagues, as when He led the people through the parted waters of the sea,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 95.11
… ought Israel whom their own God led from Egypt through the Red Sea,
14:22
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.14
14. Nor indeed would anyone disbelieve this who has heard and knows that Moses, when little in the eyes of men, and not yet of any account, was called from the bush which burned but was not consumed, or rather by Him who appeared in the bush, and was encouraged by that first wonder: Moses, I say, for whom the sea was divided,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Virgins 2.4
… But she, with her hands raised to heaven, as though she had come to a house of prayer, not to a resort of lust, says: “O Christ, Who didst tame the fierce lions for the virgin Daniel, Thou canst also tame the fierce minds of men. Fire became as dew to the Hebrew children, the water stood up for the Jews, of Thy mercy, not of its own nature.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 81.10
10. “In tribulation thou didst call on Me, and I delivered thee” ( ver. 8 ). Let each Christian conscience recognise itself, if it have devoutly passed the Red Sea,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 107.3
… Let him speak openly. “From the east and the west, from the north and the sea” ( ver. 3 ). Now then we understand these redeemed, in the whole circle of the earth. This people of God, freed from a great and broad Egypt, is led, as through the Red Sea,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 124.4
… and we shall see what sort of water in the following verses. Whoever had consented unto them, water would have overwhelmed him. For he would die by the death of the Egyptians, he would not pass through after the example of the Israelites. For ye know, brethren, that the people of Israel passed through the water, by which the Egyptians were overwhelmed.
14:27
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 9
… First, indeed, when the people, set unconditionally free, escaped the violence of the Egyptian king by crossing over through water , it was water that extinguished the king himself, with his entire forces.
14:28
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… If thou doest this, and comest out of Egypt thus, I know well that thou shalt be guided by the pillar of fire and cloud by night and day. The wilderness shall be tamed for thee, and the Sea divided; Pharaoh shall be drowned;
14:29
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 41.24
… Thou who hadst lost what was thine, didst obtain that which was another’s, being freed from the enemies who were hedging thee in, and safe in the midst of the waters thou sawest the destruction of thine enemies, when the same waves which surrounded and carried thee on thy way, pouring back, drowned the enemy.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 55.1
… but in its own language, that is, in Hebrew, pascha means passover; because the pascha was then celebrated for the first time by God’s people, when, in their flight from Egypt, they passed over the Red Sea.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 81.8
… Consecrated with the Blood of the Lord. Why fearest thou to come? The consciousness, perhaps, of some huge offences goads and tortures in thee thy mind, and says to thee that it is so great a thing thou hast committed, that thou mayest despair to have it remitted thee. Fear lest there remain anything of thy sins, if there lived any one of the Egyptians!
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 7.4
… But, if the power of the Holy Spirit breathes upon the afflicted mind, forthwith what was done bodily for the people of Israel takes place with us spiritually. For it is written, But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea (
14:31
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 14
31. But even if some are baptized unto the Spirit, it is not, it is urged, on this account right for the Spirit to be ranked with God. Some “were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” And it is admitted that faith even before now has been put in men; for “The people believed God and his servant Moses.”
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 4.5
“For so also it was given to the people of the Hebrews from the beginning, that they should love Moses, and believe his word; whence also it is written: ‘The people believed God, and Moses His servant.’
14:2
The fourth station or encampment of the Hebrews was this, in which they were hemmed in on the left by the sea, from behind by the army of the Egyptians pursuing them, and before and on the right by steep mountains. Whence Pharao thought to comprehend them there like mice in a mousetrap. For "over against Phihahiroth," the Septuagint translates, "over against the encampment," which Origen interprets as over against the ascent of a winding path. Others do not translate well, "over against the suburbs or villages," as if the Septuagint had taken the letter cheth for ain in Phihahiroth, and derived this name from עיר ir, that is, city; but the word Phihahiroth in Hebrew is the same as the mouth of holes: פי pe indeed signifies mouth, חור chur hole, so that Phihahiroth is the same as the entrance into a cave enclosed and confined by rocks; for mouth indicates the narrowness of the entrance. Thus "Magdalum" in Hebrew sounds as tower; it was perhaps a fortress set upon a mountain. "Beelsephon" in Hebrew is the same as the house of the watchtower: which all these things indicate that these places were steep and inaccessible. See the chorography of these places in the tables of Adrichomius. Upon the children of Israel,—concerning the children of Israel. Thus Virgil: "Asking much about Priam, much about Hector." They were straitened.—In Hebrew נבוכים nebuchim, that is, they were perplexed, or they were confused; namely because they were placed in straits; and shut in on all sides by rocks, sea and armed men, they would not find a way out; and so either by hunger or by the sword I will destroy them, or rather I will reduce them to surrender and former servitude. R. Solomon and the Hebrews fable that Beelsephon was a brazen dog, which by its barking revealed the fleeing Hebrews, such as the Abulensian testifies was in Spain at Numantia. Tropologically, for those striving from vices to virtue, from earth to heaven, a difficult path must be trodden. Thus Origen. "Upon the sea,"—toward the sea, in the direction of the sea, beside the sea.
14:3
After Pharao understood from scouts that the Hebrews were fleeing, and repenting of their dismissal, he will think to pursue them, so as to bring them back.
14:4
It is sufficiently clear from the previous consultation, verses 2 and 3, that Pharaoh freely hardened and confirmed himself to persecute the Hebrews; yet God is also said to have hardened him, as I said at chapter VII, verse 3, because without God's permission and certain providence, Pharaoh would never have hardened himself; for God, to whom all the orders of all things are subject, had appointed Pharaoh in that order and course of things by which, when those objects presented themselves to him, he would freely and willingly harden himself, as God foreknew. For whatever flows from God's providence in any way whatsoever is said in Hebrew phraseology to be done by God; and Scripture uses this phraseology from time to time, so as to commend in God the most high and most extensive providence of all things (to which all the wills even of the impious are subject, and by which they are ruled and directed, whithersoever they themselves wish). But here there came to be another particular reason in God for hardening Pharaoh, namely, that God had brought the Hebrews into these narrow places for this very purpose, that the Hebrews might cast all their hope in God, but from which He foresaw that Pharaoh would conceive from his former malice, tyranny and obstinacy both the occasion and a new will to pursue them; which evil will of his God did not intend, but only positively willed to permit, and that for this reason, that by this means He might draw Pharaoh to the Red Sea, and there punish and drown him for his past crimes and rebellions. By a similar military stratagem, soldiers, in order to draw out the enemy and lead him to hidden ambushes, a few go forth and show themselves to the enemy; the enemy follows them in troops; they retreat gradually and lead the enemy to the ambushes: then the drawn-up army comes forth, which surrounds and destroys the enemy; just as therefore those few who draw out the enemy are said to deceive him and lead him to the ambushes, when yet properly they neither lead him to the ambushes nor deceive him, but only give the occasion by which the enticed enemy pursues them, and thus by their own fault are deceived, and deceive themselves: in a similar manner God dealt with Pharaoh here, and therefore is said to have hardened him to persecute the Hebrews. God hardened Pharaoh here by that precept which He gave to Moses, verse 2, namely, that he should encamp by the Red Sea, opposite Phihahiroth between rocks and mountains; whence "and I will harden" is just as much as if He said: and thus I will harden his heart; for God knew that Pharaoh, when he heard that Moses and the Hebrews had not gone away for three days' journey to sacrifice, but had absolutely fled, and that they were now shut in by the sea and rocks, would immediately return to his nature and his former purpose of ruling over the Hebrews, and therefore with hardened and confirmed mind would pursue them, because he would be firmly persuaded that he would obtain them, nor could they escape his hands. Secondly, God set this occasion before Pharaoh both through messengers and through himself, by presenting to his imagination concerning the present matter thoughts in themselves indifferent about the multitude of the Hebrews, their flight and the ease of bringing them back, from which He knew he would harden himself to pursue the Hebrews; and God permitted this, because He had determined by this means to entice him to the Red Sea, and there to submerge him; for it was already entirely determined with God concerning Pharaoh to be punished and condemned to death, and with God sentence of death had already been passed upon him, and in order that God might conveniently execute it, He used the occasion already mentioned, by which He drew him to the place of punishment; therefore in this place hardening in God signifies nothing other than the judgment and vengeance of God against Pharaoh, by which He enticed him to the slaughter of the Red Sea. See here in Pharaoh how true is the saying in the 42nd distinction in the Sentences of St. Augustine: "Nothing is more unhappy than the prosperity of sinners, by which penal impunity is nourished, and evil will, like an internal enemy, is strengthened." And I will be glorified in Pharaoh,—when I shall draw him to the Red Sea and submerge him in the waters with all his army; for then to all shall appear my glorious power, justice and vengeance. And the Egyptians shall know,—both those present to be drowned, as appears from verse 25, and the rest who remained in Egypt, who were so struck and smitten by the slaughter of their own and by fear of the God of the Hebrews, that each one called upon his god, by which he was sustained on that day, lest he follow Pharaoh, and thus be drowned with him, as Apollonius the Abbot says in Palladius in the Lausiac History, chapter LII.
14:5
That is, the will and intention of Pharaoh was changed against the people of the Hebrews, especially with anger kindled by the despoiling of the Egyptians; for they now saw themselves despoiled of those things which they had given to the Hebrews only as a loan.
14:7
For in former times they fought in scythed chariots, and in chariots they made war; for chariots with their scythes would mow down men, animals, and crops; soldiers moreover fighting in the chariots themselves were carried and rushed against the enemy: the most ancient and first chariots, of which we read, are these of Pharaoh. Tropologically, the chariots of Pharaoh are the chariots of vices, concerning which see St. Bernard, sermon 39 in the Canticles, where comparing Pharaoh with the devil, Egypt with the world: "There," he says, "the people were led out of Egypt; here man out of the world. There Pharaoh is cast down; here the devil. There the chariots of Pharaoh are overturned; here carnal and worldly desires, which make war against the soul, are destroyed. Those in the waves, these in tears. Those of the sea, these bitter. I think even now the demons cry out, if perchance it should happen to fall upon such a soul: Let us flee Israel, because the Lord fights for him." Then he describes the princes and chariots of Pharaoh, that is of the devil, thus: "For malice has its chariot consisting of four wheels: cruelty, impatience, audacity, shamelessness. For this chariot is very swift to shed blood; which is neither stopped by innocence, nor retarded by patience, nor restrained by fear, nor hindered by shame; but it is drawn by two exceedingly swift horses, and prepared for all destruction, earthly power and worldly pomp; two charioteers preside over these two horses: pride and envy; and pride indeed drives the pomp, envy the power." In like manner, he says, the wheels of luxury are four: idleness, softness of garments, gluttony and lust; the two horses are the prosperity of life and abundance of things; the charioteers are the torpor of sloth and false security. In a similar way the wheels of avarice are four: pusillanimity, inhumanity, contempt of God, forgetfulness of death; the two horses are tenacity and rapacity, with their charioteer, which is the ardor of possessing; "for avarice alone, since it does not permit to hire more, is content with one servant:" thus far St. Bernard. The same in the Sentences: "In Scripture," he says, "three chariots are found. The first is the exaltation of temporal power, whose charioteer is the pride of presumption and audacity, having a horse of self-confidence. Its wheels are the headlong mobility of vanity, and the happy succession of prosperity. This is the chariot of Pharaoh, in which he dies. The second is the height of conversation and life. Its charioteer is the word of divine admonition, having a horse of the vow of perseverance. Its wheels are the dreadful terror of torments, and the wonderful delight of rewards. This is the chariot in which the Eunuch read with Philip, Acts VIII. The third chariot is the loftiness of contemplation and grace. Its charioteer is the love of the heavenly homeland, having a horse of the desire of beatitude and life. Its wheels are the disapproval of worldly glory, and reverence of divine majesty. This is the fiery chariot in which Elias is caught up into heaven." Duces. — In Hebrew שלישים schalischim, that is, triumvirs. Whence also the Septuagint translate it as tristatas; hence it appears that in that ancient time three were wont to be set in charge, and to be prefects in the army and in the courts of princes. Whence St. Jerome in Ezechiel cap. XXIII: "Tristatas," he says, "who are also called terni statores, is a name of the second rank after royal dignity; of whom it is written, II Kings XXIII, 19: He did not attain to the three first (for David had three most mighty soldiers and leaders), who were princes of horse and foot, and likewise of tributes, whom we call magistrates of both militias, and prefects of the annona title." Otherwise Gregory of Nyssa in the Song of Moses, and the Greek Scholiast: The ancients, he says, made large chariots, so that they could hold three men, of whom one was the charioteer, the other two remaining soldiers fighting; these are called tristatas, or they call tristatas the robust, and those who could stand against three. Heavehius moreover: Tristata, he says, is a royal attendant, because he wielded three spears. Others: Tristata, they say, is the same as triarius. Tropologically, the tristatas, or terni statores are demons, who stand in all the ways of this life, so that either in deeds, or in words, or in thoughts they impel men to sin. Thus Origen.
14:10
For they were not accustomed to war and swords, but to burdens and the yoke: even if there were six hundred thousand armed men; for thus easily one hundred thousand rustics are destroyed by ten thousand trained soldiers. And they cried out to the Lord, — they burst forth into voices of despair; whence the unbelievers so harshly expostulated with Moses: for they expected nothing but death or servitude, as follows. Wherefore it does not seem true, what Josephus says, that the Hebrews prepared themselves for battle, so that they might fight with the Egyptians. Assuredly he himself frequently adds to the history such things as make for the honor of his nation.
14:13
Moses answers the hard and unbelieving people gently, mindful of God's calling and the salvation of the people rather than of injuries. Josephus says that Moses appeased and encouraged the tumultuous people with this speech: God wished to shut you in this narrow place, so that He might show forth His care and power over you here: this place therefore ought to stir you more to hope; for God is especially present in difficulties, when hope is least. He called you out of Egypt, He will give you a way and an exit, He Himself is able to turn these mountains into a plain, and this sea into dry land. Magnalia. — In Hebrew ישועה ieschua, that is, salvation.
14:14
You shall rest, idly and pleasantly watching this battle and combat of God for you. Morally, see here how strongly we ought to hope in God in straits, and to call upon Him, and how intrepidly we ought to follow Him calling us, through pathless and trackless ways, and against hope to believe in hope with Abraham, that He Himself will protect us and lead us to a happy outcome. Thus the Psalmist, Psalm XXVI, 3: "If armies," he says, "should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear; if a battle should rise up against me, in this will I hope." And Job, cap. XIII, vers. 15: "Although He should kill me, yet will I hope in Him." Rightly does St. Augustine say in Soliloquies, cap. XV: "In straits and narrow places believe constantly in God, and commit yourself wholly to Him as much as you can; thus He Himself will not cease to lift you up to Himself, nor will He permit anything to befall you except what shall profit you, even if you know it not." Thus the Psalmist, Psal. IV, vers. 10: "In peace," he says, "into the selfsame I will sleep, and I will rest: because Thou, O Lord, singularly hast set me in hope." For hope confoundeth not; because God, who commands great things to be hoped for from Him, is faithful, and greater and more liberal than all our hope. Hence Ecclesiasticus, cap. II, vers. 11, asserts: "Know ye that no one who hoped in the Lord was ever confounded." And Isaiah, cap. XL, vers. 31: "They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." And Habacuc, cap. III, vers. 18: "But I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will be joyful in God my Jesus." For God, because He is magnificent, will not be overcome by our hope, but will surpass it: hence He exceeds the merits of suppliants and Moreover the basis and foundation of this hope is a good conscience: "Because if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards God, and whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of Him," says St. John, Epist. I, cap. III, vers. 21. Again, mark carefully here and learn that a singular remedy against all temptations and tribulations is, if one does not become faint-hearted in them, nor murmur, but generously resign himself to God and give Him thanks. Hear the Holy Abbot, in the Lives of the Fathers, tract. On Fortitude: "Brother," he says, "a certain one was in his cell, and a temptation came upon him, and if anyone saw him, he did not wish to greet him, nor to receive him into his cell; and if he had need of bread, no one would lend to him; and if he came from the harvest, no one invited him, as was the custom, to refresh himself. But once he came from the harvest in the heat, and he had no bread in his cell; and in all these things he gave thanks to God. But God, seeing his patience, took away the battle of temptation from him. And behold, someone immediately knocked at the door, dragging a camel laden with bread; and when that brother saw it, he began to weep, saying: Lord, I am not worthy even to be troubled a little. And when his tribulation had passed, the brothers kept him in their cells and refreshed him." Whoever therefore is despised, suffers hatred, is mocked, is distressed, is troubled, follow and try this practice, give thanks to God: God will change hearts, and will make all benevolent towards you, and will take away the temptation. I know those who have truly experienced this very thing more than once. Rightly therefore St. Chrysostom, tom. V, wrote a homily on this subject: "That the greatest gain in tribulations is the giving of thanks." Finally, see here in the Hebrews how true is that saying of Isaiah XXX, 15: "In hope and in silence shall your strength be." What is silence? How great is taciturnity? Hear John Climacus, step 11: "Taciturnity is the mother of prayer, the recall of captivity, the keeping of divine love's fire, the careful inspection of thoughts, the watchtower of enemies, the friend of tears; the worker of the memory of death, the indicator of judgment, the spouse of quiet, the addition of knowledge, the secret progress in God, the hidden ascent." I shall say more about silence at Isaiah XXX.
14:15
Scripture passes over in the Hebrew manner a preliminary deed, namely that Moses, elevated with fervent mind toward God, prayed before Him and spoke those things which a little before, verses 13 and 14, he had said to the Hebrews; whom therefore God hearing says: "Why criest thou to me?" not rebuking his prayer, but consoling him with kindness, teaching and stirring him to hope and attempt at the following miracle, namely the passage of the Red Sea. For this interrogation often has this force among the Hebrews, as that of Christ to his mother: "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" not a rebuke, but a testing of hope sharpening it. Thus in Genesis XLVII, 49, the Egyptians say to Joseph: "Why shall we die before thee?" And the Lord to Moses, Exodus cap. IV, verse 2: "What is that thou holdest in thy hand?" Furthermore, "a cry," says St. Bernard, sermon 16 on Psalm XC, "in God's ears is vehement desire;" against which a remiss intention is a low voice. Thus St. Augustine, Question LII, and St. Jerome on Psalm V, and St. Chrysostom, homily On the Canaanite Woman, where he beautifully teaches how we ought to cry out to God in mind everywhere, even while conversing with others. Truly did he say: "With God avails not a great cry, but great love." And Cassiodorus on Psalm XVI: "His is perfect prayer, whose cause cries out, and tongue, and deed, and speech, and life, and thought." And St. Augustine in a sermon: "When thou prayest," he says, "cry out not with voice, but with mind. For God hears even the silent, nor is place sought, but sense. Jeremiah is comforted in prison, Daniel exults among lions, the three youths dance in the furnace, Job naked on the dunghill triumphs, the thief found paradise from the cross: there is no place where God is not."
14:16
Through the same deep and vast sea; therefore "midst" here does not precisely signify the middle; thus he says: "We shall thirst in the midst of the waves."
14:17
I will cast before their eyes and mind your footsteps (and you crossing the sea with dry feet), which they themselves will follow confidently and boldly, not knowing that a snare is being prepared for them there. Again, God here took away from the Egyptians the apprehension and fear of going through the bed of the Red Sea; whence through it, as much as through land, they entered boldly, that they might pursue the Hebrews. Thus therefore God blinded and hardened them, that he might entice them into this mousetrap, capture and overwhelm them.
14:19
"The angel," namely lurking in the pillar of cloud, and showing himself in it: for the Hebrews did not see the Angel in his essence, or clothed in human or other form, but only moving in the appearance of cloud. Thus Rupert. Whence the Hebrew texts have: The angel went forth, and the pillar of cloud went forth with him. From this you may gather with Cajetan that this happened by day: for the pillar of cloud appeared only by day, as the pillar of fire appeared only by night. Furthermore, by this spectacle, namely that the Angel with the pillar going before the camp, transferred himself to the end of the camp, and followed it, and thus interposed himself between the camp of the Hebrews and the Egyptians, God signified that he had solicitous care and protection of his people, and thus closed the rear of the Hebrew army, that he might protect all of them from the Egyptians, in the manner which follows. Note: Although the pillar here followed the camp from behind, yet at the same time it emitted from itself certain rays at a distance before the front line, which showed the way by which they should go to the Red Sea: for the Hebrews were proceeding continually, as God had commanded in verse 15. In a similar manner an Angel led the armies of Christians in the Holy Land, wandering in pathless places. For in the year of the Lord 1144, when the army of Christians, surrounded by ambushes and thrown into extreme straits, withdrew from besieging Bosra, the metropolis of the Arabs, all returned unharmed to their homes, led by a heavenly messenger. When therefore they had fallen into unavoidable perils, and all wandered not in a way but in a pathless place, and were shut in by the narrowness of places, about to be slaughtered by the pressing enemy, and had no leader to go before the army and have knowledge of the places through which they were to pass: behold suddenly a certain unknown soldier, rider of a white horse, bearing a red standard, clothed in armor, with sleeves shortened to the elbows, preceded the army. This one, as an Angel of the Lord of armies, following the shortcuts of roads, taught the army to pitch camp at waters previously unknown in suitable and convenient stations: who, having led them even to Jerusalem, having performed this admirable ministry, soon vanished from the sight of all. Thus William of Tyre, lib. XVI of the Holy War, cap. XII, and from him Baronius, in the year of Christ 1144.
14:20
That is to say, this column of cloud on that side by which it faced the Egyptians was so thickened, and thus expanded itself like a thick cloud, so that the Egyptians could neither see nor approach the Hebrews; yet they would follow the column of cloud going before them: but the same column on that side by which it faced the Hebrews had the appearance of fire, illuminating their camp, so that they could set out and cross the Red Sea; for the Hebrews were journeying continuously throughout this night, as I have already said. Whence the Chaldean translator renders it, there was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians. But to Israel there was light all the night. Behold how the same column both protects God's own and strikes down the enemies. Thus tropologically, says Rupertus, the same virtue which shines upon the pious blinds the impious; thus the cross of Christ is virtue to believers, but to the Jews a scandal.
14:21
Having first invoked the divine power, says Josephus. Some think, as St. Basil in the Catena, that this division of the sea was made by a burning wind, or one propelling and driving out the waters, or drying them up and consuming them; but this is scarcely credible, for the same wind could not have driven the waters or dried them and at the same time held them back, lest they should flow back into the empty channel. Second, even if we grant that this could have happened, yet as soon as the wind ceased, the waters of the sea that had been raised up would have flowed back into their former channel, and so deep; but the wind ceased while the Hebrews were crossing, because otherwise it would have made their crossing most troublesome. Therefore, when Moses stretched out his rod over the sea, immediately, not the wind, but an Angel divided the sea, so that on both sides it stood up like a wall, leaving in the middle a way by which the Hebrews might cross; but the wind was sent by God only for this purpose, that the channel already divided and the waters evacuated might be completely dried and solidified, removing whatever moisture and mud remained in it. The division of the sea, therefore, over so great a width, was made suddenly by an Angel; but the drying of the bed of the sea by the wind was made successively, says Cajetan. So also Abulensis and Pererius. Note: This division of the sea was immense, both as to width (for the Red Sea has a space of six leagues in width, as Adrichomius teaches), and as to length; for through it all the camps of the Hebrews had to pass in the space of one night, indeed of only half a night, which besides chariots and beasts of burden easily consisted of three million men: therefore the length of this fissure of the sea had to be immense, so that many ranks of men and animals could proceed and cross through it at the same time: for if they had crossed one after another, they would have spent in the crossing not only days, but also weeks. St. Hilarius, imitating this confidence of Moses, wrought a similar miracle in the sea. For when surrounded by pirates, while all were trembling, he smiled: "Men of little faith," said he, "why do you tremble? Are they more numerous than the army of Pharaoh? yet all were drowned by God's will:" and stretching out his hand against those coming: "Let it suffice to have come thus far;" and immediately the pirates, however much they rowed, were driven back to the shore, says St. Jerome in his Life. With a strong and burning wind blowing. — In Hebrew it is, with a strong East wind. But the East wind is hot and burning. The Septuagint and Philo think it was the South wind, and consequently by contrast, namely the North wind, the sea was driven back, when it overwhelmed the Egyptians; namely, just as the South is reckoned to the East, so also the South wind to the East wind. See what is said at chapter X, verse 13. Note: The Hebrews approached the sea at the beginning of night, and the first watch: then Moses struck the sea, and immediately an Angel divided it, and immediately brought in a strong and burning wind, which from the beginning of night until the middle of the night and beyond, blowing continuously, dried the channel: the channel dried and the wind ceasing, the Hebrews after the middle of the night in the third watch entered the channel of the sea, and about the middle of the fourth watch, all escaped to the other shore: but the Egyptians about the end of the third watch, pursuing the Hebrews, entered the sea; but as morning approached in the fourth watch, when the Hebrews were already crossing the sea, but the Egyptians were all in the middle of the sea, that is in the channel of the sea, immediately Moses striking the waters with his rod, they returned to their former channel and covered and overwhelmed Pharaoh and all the Egyptians. Josephus relates that Moses prayed thus: "Thine is, O Lord, this sea, thine is this mountain which shuts us in: if thou wilt, and it can be opened at thy command, and it turned into land; we can also flee aloft through the air, if it please thee to preserve us thus." All night. — Not that this wind blew all night, but the greater part of it, namely until the Hebrews entered the sea, which happened after the middle of the night; for they themselves before dawn not only entered but also crossed the channel of the sea, the wind now ceasing: for after the Hebrews crossed the sea, the Egyptians pursuing them were drowned in the morning watch. And the water was divided. — The Hebrews relate, whom Origen here in homily 5 and Genebrardus in Psalm CXXXV follow, that the Red Sea was divided into sections, or parts, so that the 12 tribes proceeded through it with equal step: for each proceeded in its own section. And they prove this from Psalm CXXXV, verse 13, where it is said: "Who divided the Red Sea into divisions;" therefore there were more, namely 12, for there were so many tribes. But this tradition is uncertain, of which there is no mention in Scripture, which would not have passed over so memorable a thing; indeed Philo, Theodoretus, Abulensis, Lyranus and Euthymius in Psalm CXXXV, and others teach that there was only a single division of the sea: and Scripture sufficiently hints at this, when it says the water was divided, where the Hebrew has יבקעו המים (yibbaqu hammaim), and the Septuagint διεσχίσθη τὸ ὕδωρ, the water was cleft, just as we split wood, when we cut it into two parts. Then in verse 22, it says there was a wall of water on the right of the Hebrews, and on the left, and that they went through the middle of the channel: therefore there was one division, not twelve. This opinion is also favored by what is said in Psalm CV, verse 9: "He led them in the depths as in the desert," that is, a very wide way, such as are in the desert, for example in the marshes of Champagne; therefore there was only one division of the sea, and that a very wide one. To that passage in Psalm CXXXV, I answer: One division is called divisions, both on account of one, because one was like many, as Lyranus says; and because divisions are put for things, or divided parts; but these were many, that is, two: for the Hebrews have the same plural and dual number: whence they call two things many. Divisions therefore are here called the two sides of the divided sea, which stood like two walls on either side, providing a passage in the middle for the Hebrews. Moses explains these divisions here, when he says that God so divided the sea, that the waters were to the Hebrews as a wall on the right and on the left.
14:22
Moses going before, says Josephus. It is a Hebrew tradition that the tribe of Judah and its leader Aminadab, while the others hesitated, first entered the sea, and therefore the tribe of Judah was thereafter first and leader of the others, and merited the kingdom; and to this is alluded in the Canticle, chapter VI, verse 11: "My soul was troubled for the chariots of Aminadab." And in Hosea, chapter XI, last verse: "But Judah descended a witness with God, and with the saints faithful;" although St. Jerome calls this tradition a fable. Note on "dry": for the bed of the sea was not so dry as sand is dry, but as dry as a field through which travelers pass with dry feet pleasantly. For this is what the Wise Man says in chapter XIX, verse 7: "In the Red Sea a way without hindrance, and a field springing up from the very deep;" which although Jansenius explains figuratively there, as if to say, Thus pleasantly did the Hebrews pass through the bed of the sea, as if they had passed through a field verdant with foliage and flowers: nevertheless our John Lorinus better explains it there, and Pineda in Job, chapter XXVI, verse 5, take it properly. For Pliny relates, book XIII, chapter XXV, that the bed of the Red Sea is grassy and fertile in olives and laurels. Our Gaspar Sanchez adds in Isaiah, chapter LXIII, verse 53, that God, just as by miracle He dried and leveled the bed of the Red Sea for the Hebrews, so also by miracle He caused that same bed suddenly to sprout and grow green like the most pleasant field for the consolation and delight of the Hebrews. For the Wise Man celebrates there works not of nature, but miraculous works of God. See here God's goodness and power toward His own: "If you obey His will, if you follow His law, He Himself will compel the elements to serve you, even against their nature," says Origen. Thus He made fire serve the three boys in the Babylonian furnace, so that it would send them a sweet breeze, and as it were a cooling wind of dew, but would burn the impious Chaldeans. Thus He made the waters of the flood serve Noah, carrying and preserving him in the ark, but submerging the impious. Thus He made lions serve Daniel in the lake; the sun Joshua to pursue his victory, Joshua X, 13; the Jordan the Hebrews to cross into Chanaan, Joshua III, 46; thunder Samuel, I Kings XII, 18; ravens Elijah, to bring him bread; bears Elisha, to tear apart the boys who mocked him. Thus fire served Christ and the Apostles at Pentecost; air and winds, when He commanded them, were silent; the sea, when He walked upon it, and when at His command Peter fishing received an abundance of fish; earth and rocks, when they were split in His passion; Angels, when they gave the star of Christ's nativity as a sign to the Magi, and when they sang: Glory to God in the highest. Thus fish and birds served St. Francis, when they applauded and sang to him preaching, and again at his command were silent. Thus Satyrs and Fauns showed the way to St. Paul to St. Anthony, and lions dug out with their claws the grave in which to bury St. Paul. Thus a mountain served Gregory Thaumaturgus, when it yielded its place so that he might build a church; likewise the river Lycus, when it contracted itself so as not to overflow into the fields. Thus winds served the pious Emperor Theodosius, when they turned back the weapons of the enemy upon themselves, in battle against Eugenius the tyrant. Thus spiders served St. Felix of Nola, when they suddenly wove their webs around him so that he would not be found by his persecutors. His memory is celebrated on the 14th of January. This miracle of Moses a certain False Moses of Crete pretended to imitate, in the time of the Emperor Theodosius about the year of the Lord 433. Hear Socrates, book VII of the History, chapter XXXVII: "A certain cunning Jew," he says, "pretended to be Moses, and said he was sent down from heaven, so that he might lead the Jews who inhabited the island of Crete across the sea to the continent, to the promised land: for he said he was the same one who formerly, leading Israel through the Red Sea, had preserved them. When the day appointed by him arrived, he began to go before, and all followed. He therefore led them to a promontory overhanging the sea: from there he ordered them to hurl themselves into the sea. The first ones did so; and some were crushed by the fall, some were drowned in the water and perished; and many more would have perished, had not Christian fishermen and merchants pulled them out and prevented others from throwing themselves down. The False Moses, when sought, did not appear: hence the opinion arose that he was a demon: from this many Jews were converted to Christ." Orosius in his first book, chapter X, relates that the traces of this entrance and passage of the Hebrews, and the tracks of the chariots and the orbits of the wheels, remained and were always divinely repaired, both on the shore and in the Red Sea itself (where he adds that around this time the burning of Phaethon also occurred). Diodorus in the Catena, who was the teacher of St. Chrysostom, insinuates the same thing, and he also adds that the Gentiles ascribed this passage of the Hebrews with dry feet through the sea, not to a miracle, but to the reciprocation of the sea. The Memphites said the same thing, as Eusebius testifies in book IX of the Preparation, final chapter; indeed, Josephus himself doubts whether this division of the sea was miraculous or natural. "For even," he says, "by the leadership of Alexander the Great, the Pamphylian sea receded and opened a path, when God, having decreed his works for the destruction of the Persian empire, willed it." But it is most clear that this division of the sea was a great miracle: for no reciprocation of the sea divides the sea in such a way that a very wide path is made in the middle of it for crossing, as happened here; for the reflux of the sea merely lays bare the shores with its waters, or places near the shores. Again, no reflux of the sea causes the waters on both sides to rise up like a wall and remain immobile until the people pass through, and then immediately return upon the enemies pursuing them. What Josephus says about the Pamphylian sea, that it receded for Alexander, is a fable; for, as Strabo teaches in book XIV, Alexander did not penetrate and traverse it, but only skirted its shore, crossing it with his men up to the navel; nevertheless he was favored by fortune in this audacious deed, in that, crossing it in winter, when its waves were returning, he was not overwhelmed by them. Note: Similar to this division of the sea was the division of the Jordan, made under Joshua, by which the Hebrews penetrated into Canaan; yet it was dissimilar to it in the following ways. First, in that the division of the sea was made through Moses, extending his rod into it: but the division of the Jordan was made through the presence of the Ark of the Lord. Second, in the divided sea the waters stood on both sides like a wall; but in the Jordan the lower part flowed down into the Dead Sea, the upper part remained and swelled continually with the waters flowing in; but when the Hebrews had crossed, it did not suddenly, but gradually subsided and flowed away, lest it should overwhelm the banks and fields, and in this respect the division of the Jordan was more wonderful than that of the Red Sea. Third, in the sea the Egyptians were submerged; but no one was drowned in the Jordan. Fourth, in the sea God sent a wind to dry the muddy bottom: but he did not do this in the Jordan, because its channel is small and sandy. Hence it is clear that the division of the sea was far greater and more wonderful than that of the Jordan. Whence the Canaanites and other Gentiles, hearing of it, were astounded and fainted, as appears in Joshua II, 11, and Judith chapter V, verse 12. Allegorically the Apostle, in I Corinthians X, says: "Our fathers were baptized in Moses in the cloud and in the sea." They were baptized, namely, typically and in figure, as the Apostle says in the same place; for the passage of the Hebrews through the Red Sea signified Christians passing through baptism and the blood of Christ contained in baptism into a new life of grace; the cloud signified the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, Moses signified Christ, the rod the cross, Pharaoh the devil and sin, manna the Eucharist. Thus Theodoret, Origen and Ambrose, book II On the Sacraments, chapter VI; Augustine, sermon 90; Prosper, first part of Preaching, chapter XXXVIII; Tertullian, book On Baptism, chapter IX; Cyprian, epistle 76 to Magnus, and others. Tropologically, the Nyssene beautifully teaches in the Life of Moses how we ought to submerge vices with their weapons. "For the horsemen," he says, "foot soldiers and chariots of the Egyptians are the passions of the soul, by which man is subjected to servitude. For how does anger poured out, unbridled pleasure, immoderate sorrow, the foulness of avarice differ from that Egyptian army? Is not the impulse of anger like a trembling spear? Are not excessive pleasures, like unbridled horses dragging the chariot hither and thither, vexing the soul? There were also three warriors in the chariots, namely three in each, by which we believe the tripartite power of the soul is to be understood, namely the rational, the concupiscible, and the irascible, these three powers corrupted." Then he teaches that all these things are submerged by baptism, and when we emerge from it, nothing of them is to be drawn out, but all are to be left submerged in the water.
14:24
To respiciens signifies that the pillar of cloud as it were opened itself, so that the Angel hidden in it might show himself through a flashing light, and might look upon the camps of the Egyptians, and soon might hurl forth in it thunders, lightnings, stones, or fiery darts, by which he shook off the wheels and horsemen from the chariots, as is said here. Whence also the Egyptians said: "Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against us." Thus Lyra and others. Hear also Josephus: "They approached," he says, "and rains from heaven, and harsh thunders with flashes simultaneously intermingling; lightnings also were borne down; nor was anything at all lacking of those things which are wont to be sent by an angry God to men for destruction, for a night exceedingly dark and gloomy seized them, and thus that whole army was destroyed, so that not even a messenger of the disaster returned home." Whence also here, verse 28, it is said: "Neither did there remain of them so much as one." Behold here how true is that saying: "Fortune is glass; while it shines, it breaks." He slew the army,—a part of the army; it is a synecdoche: for another part, terrified by this heavenly slaughter of their own, while preparing flight, was swallowed up by the returning waters. Note here that this plague inflicted from heaven by the Angel happened before the sea was turned back through Moses; for after the Angel's plague the terrified Egyptians fled, and as they fled the waters of the sea met them, returning to their bed, already recalled by Moses, by which the remaining part of the army from the former plague was swallowed up and submerged, as is evident from verse 26 and following. Josephus writes that by this plague universally there perished of the Egyptian shielded foot-soldiers two hundred thousand, and of horsemen fifty thousand. The Pharaoh himself also perished, but last, if we believe the Hebrews and Abulensis, so that namely he might first behold the plague of all his own before he himself perished by the same, and thus might be tormented longer and more grievously. Eusebius in the Chronicle calls this Pharaoh Cenchres.
14:25
The Septuagint translates it συνέδησε, he hindered, or bound the wheels of the chariots. Whence they seem to have read for vaiasar, that is, he removed, cast away, overturned, the word vaiatser, that is, he constrained, so that namely they could not proceed. Whence also Vatablus translates it, he constrained the wheels of the chariots, and led them heavily, or with difficulty, as if to say, The Egyptians drove their chariots with difficulty, as they are wont to be driven with great difficulty, when the wheels are constrained or damaged. But the Hebrew texts have vaiasar, and thus the Chaldean reads it, and our translation and others. And they were carried into the deep. — For the chariots, which were previously lifted up by the wheels, now with the wheels broken off were at the same time pressed down into the deep, that is, into the very bed of the sea now emptied of waters, and soon to be filled again with them. In Hebrew it is, he led them, namely the wheels, "into heaviness," that is, into the deep; it is a metonymy, because heavy things tend downward and into the deep: hence heaviness itself is called the very depth. Morally learn here first, how true is that saying from Wisdom: "All power hath a short life," and especially, "all the life of tyranny is short." Behold Pharao, warned by Moses, and despising the warnings, while he most bitterly oppresses the Hebrews in brick and clay, after one month is stripped of life and kingdom. Julius Caesar, invader of the empire, after three years was pierced by the senators in the senate house and died. Cyrus from his monarchy, namely from the captured Babylon, reigned for only three years, and was slain by Tomyris queen of the Scythians, his head cut off and cast into a sack full of blood, and heard her insulting him: "Satiate yourself, Cyrus, with blood, which you have thirsted for so greatly." Alexander the Great ruled as monarch for only six years after Darius was slain. Wherefore Apelles painted him as if he were lightning, which as it suddenly appears, so also quickly disappears. Secondly, how true is that saying of the Poet: To the son-in-law of Ceres (to Pluto, to Orcus) without slaughter and blood few Kings descend, and tyrants with dry death. For just vengeance of God lies in wait against tyrants, so that those who have stripped others of life and goods are themselves violently stripped of the same by others. Thus Pharao, thus Caesar, thus Cyrus, thus Alexander were taken away by violent death. Thus Diocletian and Maximian, tyrants, swore they would either completely destroy the Christians, or lay down the empire: wherefore when they could not destroy the Christians, being indignant they laid down the empire on the same day; and shortly after Maximian, wishing to recover the empire, was driven by the Emperor Constantine to the noose at Marseilles; Diocletian was consumed by a wasting disease and putrefaction sent by God. Thus the Emperor Aurelian, persecutor of Christians, after one year was captured by the king of the Persians and became a mockery to the world: for the king used him as a footstool when he was about to mount his horse; the same thing Tamerlane king of the Tartars did to Bajazet the Turkish tyrant. Thus Julian the Apostate after two years of rule was pierced by a heavenly weapon and fell. Thus Valens the Arian, persecutor of the orthodox, was burned by the Goths in a cottage in the marshes, to which he had fled defeated. Thus Anastasius the heretical and impious Emperor was struck by God with lightning and cast down to the infernal regions. Thus Nero, since he could not lay hands upon himself on account of weakness, was killed by his own eunuch. Thus Decius, Maxentius, Domitian, Otho, Galba, Vitellius, and very many other tyrants perished by swift and violent death. Thirdly, learn here the vanity of kingdoms and the pomp of the world. What is human life? It is a comedy, in which one plays the role of a king, another the role of a soldier, another of a peasant, another of a counselor, another of a citizen; this comedy ends in death; then each one lays down the role he has played, his garments, his titles. Marcus Antonius, as Seneca relates in Book VI of Benefits, chapter III, when he saw his fortune pass to another, to Caesar, and nothing left to him except the right of death, said: "I have this, whatever I have given." Augustus himself Caesar, who reigned for 52 years in such great felicity and glory, when dying called his friends, and asked them: "Have I played my role well enough?" namely in the empire, as if in a comedy: and when they assented: "Farewell then," he said, "and applaud"; and with the curtains drawn back he breathed out his soul, unhappy, about to go to the infernal regions. Where now are the chariots, horsemen and eagles of Augustus? Where are the processions? Where are the triumphs? Where are the pleasures? Where are the lusts? O how much would Augustus now prefer never to have been Augustus: how much would he prefer to have been a poor rustic Christian! "All things that are of the world remain in the world," says St. Ambrose in Luke XII, "virtue alone is the companion of the dead." Ask the impious man at death: The kingdoms and riches which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? He will answer: Alas, they shall no longer be mine, but another's. Ask the just man: What hast thou prepared, whose shall it be? He will answer: It shall be mine forever. "For their works follow them;" the perishable goods through virtue, through the poor I have transferred to heaven, from temporal things I have made them eternal. Finally, hear the epitaph of Pharaoh. Where now, Pharaoh, are thy scepters, thy chariots, thy camps? Where is thy pride, great dragon, who didst dwell in the midst of thy rivers, and didst devour other nations? Where is thy voice: "I know not the Lord; the river is mine, and I have made myself"? How hast thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? Thou didst despoil the Hebrews, now they themselves despoil thee: thou didst drown their infants, now thou thyself art drowned in the Red Sea, drowned in thy blood: thou didst devour them, now fishes devour thee, and thou art become food for ravens and the peoples of Ethiopia. But these are temporal and exile things: hear the eternal, and to be mourned eternally: "Thy pride is brought down to hell: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and thy covering shall be worms;" thou hast descended into the depth of the lake with the damned, where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not extinguished. The giants met thee, kings and tyrants, saying and exulting: "Art thou also wounded as we are, art thou made like unto us? Is this the man that troubled the earth," that shook the nations? Behold now he is alone, naked and miserable, like us. Demons cried out to thee: Come, Pharaoh, dwell with us with devouring fire, with eternal burnings, where the smoke of their torments ascendeth for ever and ever. Hear these things, O kings; hear, O princes: Learn justice being warned, and do not despise the Gods.
14:27
In Hebrew it is, it returned to its strength, or to its vigor, that is, as the Chaldean translates it, it returned to its own vigor, that is to its state and natural place, in which as it were the sea lives and is vigorous. Note: God, that is the Angel in place of God, or rather several Angels (for one could not extend himself through six miles, by which the Red Sea was wide, and there suspend all the waters), who had hitherto suspended and held back the waters of the sea, until namely the Hebrews should pass, now that they have crossed, and the Egyptians have entered, release them again, so that they might rush back with violent force into their former channel, yet in an ordered sequence: for first the waters which were near the shore were released by them, and these first came together, then the following gradually further on; whence the Egyptians fleeing and running back to their shore, the waters met them from afar coming together in this order: so that their punishment and drowning would be so much more terrible, the more formidable it was with longer fear and expectation, since from afar they beheld the avenging waters, by which they were to be drowned, gradually coming together and approaching, with prolonged sight; for often "fear of war itself is worse than war."
14:29
This is a recapitulation; for indeed before the Egyptians were drowned, the Hebrews had already crossed this sea: for on the other shore Moses standing, and extending his hand over and against the sea, as if by this sign recalling the waters, had already drawn them back, when the Hebrews were already proceeding in safety on the shore, but the Egyptians were being drowned in the sea. Therefore Moses here recapitulates what was said before, so that he might impress upon the Hebrews the memory of so great a deliverance, and so happy and miraculous a passage through the sea, so that they might continually recall it, and give thanks to God. You will ask, whether the Hebrews crossed the sea transversely, so that they penetrated to the opposite part, or opposite shore? The Rabbis, Abulensis and Burgensis deny this, and think that the Hebrews in this passage made a semicircle, namely that they went around the mountain, or the rocks of the desert of Etham, which blocked the direct path into Chanaan by land, and extended into the Red Sea; so that by the sea they went around these rocks, and returned by a reflected journey to the same shore facing Egypt, by which they had entered the sea, yet not to the same place of the shore. They prove this first, because so vast a sea (which Adrichomius asserts to have, where it is widest, a space of six leagues in width), the Hebrews could not penetrate in so short a time, namely three or four hours, passing from one shore to the opposite one, especially since among them were children, old men, sheep and many other impediments. Second, because the Hebrews after the passage saw the bodies of the Egyptians floating: but the Egyptians had not entered the sea so deeply that they could be cast upon the opposite shore. Third, in Numbers XXXIII, 7, the Hebrews after the passage of the sea are said to have come into the wilderness of Etham: but Etham was not beyond, but on this side of the sea; for there was the third encampment of the Hebrews, as we have already seen before in chapter XIII, verse 20. But the contrary opinion is common, namely that the Hebrews crossed the entire width of the sea from one shore to the opposite one by passing through; for Josephus, Philo and Nyssenus relate this expressly. Scripture hints at the same thing, when it narrates that the waters of the sea were divided, and the Hebrews passed through the midst of the sea; for according to the opinion of the Rabbis, here there would have been not so much a passage as a circuit or gyration of the sea. Then this is evident from the geography: for in order to proceed from Egypt and the Red Sea to Sinai, the Red Sea must be crossed; for this lies between Sinai and Egypt; although indeed from Ramesses to Sinai, and more to Chanaan, there is a direct pedestrian way, which leaves the Red Sea to the side, yet this way is so blocked by rocks all along its length, and so precipitous, that the camp of the Hebrews could not pass through it, but under God's guidance bent their course through the Red Sea, which necessarily had to be crossed, as is evident in the tables of Adrichomius, page 116. Therefore those who think otherwise are in error. To the first I respond, the Hebrews in this passage could have spent five hours; for they began to enter the sea immediately from midnight, and under dawn penetrated to the opposite shore. Again, they were able to cross the sea in that part and place where it is narrower and less wide. Add that the Angel strengthened them, and urged them to hasten. Hence it is said, Psalm CIV, 37: "There was not a feeble one among their tribes." And indeed, to speak the truth, so swift a passage of so many millions of men and animals in so short a time could not naturally have happened without a miracle. For where we see so many other, so open and illustrious miracles, we ought not to wonder if there was also a miracle in the swiftness of crossing. To the second I respond, the bodies of the Egyptians were driven and cast upon the opposite shore, because the sea from the other side met them as they fled and returned, and thus drove them to the opposite part: Philo and Josephus add that this was effected by the force of winds. There is no doubt that the Angel, either by himself, or through the wind, or through the sea, drove the Egyptians to the opposite shore, where the Hebrews were, and this for the greater exultation and consolation of the Hebrews, so that they themselves might strip spoils from the enemies and enrich themselves. To the third Cajetan responds that the wilderness of Etham was very vast. For in the same chapter XXXIII of Numbers the Hebrews are said to have journeyed through it for three days; therefore Etham extends both on this side of the sea and beyond. Lyranus responds otherwise, namely that this wilderness was different from that in Numbers XXXIII, yet both were called Etham. For thus many cities and villages have the same names. Finally, the Hebrews relate that in this departure of the Hebrews from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea, the neighboring mountains, some as if marveling at so great a prodigy, some as if congratulating the people of God, leaped forth and as it were danced; and this is what the Psalmist wishes to say, Psalm 113, 4, when he sings: "The sea saw and fled: the Jordan was turned backward. The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of sheep. What ailed thee, O sea, that thou didst flee? Ye mountains, why did ye skip like rams?" For just as the flight of the sea, so also the exultation of the mountains, that is the leaping and jumping, seems to be taken properly and not metaphorically. Thus the Hebrews, whom Cajetan and Genebrard follow in Psalm 113, 5 and 6, and our Sanchez in chapter 64 of Isaiah, verse 1. Others, however, with Jansenius explain that passage of Psalm 113 concerning the earthquake which occurred at Sinai, when the law was given there, Exodus 19, 18. For the Psalmist is accustomed to join together various miracles done at various places and times as if touching upon them in passing. Let the faith of this miracle therefore rest with the Hebrews.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
14:1
v. 4 « Locutus est autem Dominus ad Moysen dicens » :-
14:2
v. 2 « Loquere filiis Israel : Reversi castra metentur e regione Phihahiroth, [quae est| inter Magdalum et mare , contra Beelsephon; in conspectu eius castra ponetis super mare ». la etiam LXX; sed Masor. Chald. iungunt sie : e regione Beelsephon , ex opposito eius castra ponetis admare. Phihahiroth sane idem est atque Pikeheret seu Pikerehet, quod reperit Naville 1. c. Qui locus erat pagi Socoth, haud longe a Phithom, seribiturque modo Phithom modo Pikeheret nomi octavi caput. Cum igitur nomen omnino videatur esse aegyptium, non est cum LXX Targ. Syro et Hier. (Ep. 78 ad Fabiolam; M. 22. 702) indulgendum etymologiis hebraicis. — Uti plura apud Hebraeos Erro i^ e. turris, ita plura apud Aegyptios exstabant Maktira seu Maktila. Narratur vero Seti I aliquod Maktira exstruxisse in pago Socoth (Mueller p. 134). — Beelsephon est nomen specie utique semiticum : origine fuerit aut item semiticum, cum veri haud sit absimile Phoenices aliquos prope Mare Suph incoluisse (Ebers p. 511), aut aegyptium sed in formam postmodum semiticum quid sonantem a Semitis transformatum. Quae praeterea aliqui coniiciunt, fuisse Beelsephon aut montem aut urbem in monte exstructam, quod cultores Baal excelsa adamaverint, ea audacius proferunt. — Venimus iam ad ipsam sententiae constructionem. Igitur dicuntur Hebraei esse reversi, i. e. non ultra Etham in desertum Etham progressi, sed in Aegyptum, sec. in pagum Socoth regressi atque ad occidentale Maris Suph litus delati. Voci ':59 bis in eodem contextu adhibitae idem utrobique tribuendus est sensus. Significationem ad orientem induit illa Gen. 23,17 (cf. v. 19) : quo tamen nondum cogimur eandem h. 1. significationem adstruere. In textu vero parallelo Num. 33,7 in locum 325 semel subintrat ov, quod nunquam, semel *358 ov, quod etian(Gen:z 16,1223, 19;/25,18; 3 Reg. 17,3. 5) sed non semper sensum habet ad orientem. In ipso nostro textu alterum *z25 explicari videtur per "9121, ex opposito eius, quod sensum ad orientem. habet nunquam. Tutius igitur sistemus in significatione ante, in conspectu, e regione : e regione Phihahiroth iubentur Hebraei consistere. — Sequentes porro voces inter Migdol et Mare insertis vocibus quae est retulit Vulg. ad Phihahiroth : habebis ergo Phihahiroth inter Migdol et Mare, et Hebraeorum castra e regione Phihahiroth, ergo sane ad septentrionem Phihahiroth et fortasse etiam Migdol. Sed possunt voces referri ad Yir", ut iubeantur Hebraei considere inter Migdol et Mare simulque e regione Phihahiroth : habebisque castra inter Migdol et Mare, Phihahiroth vero nonnihil ad meridiem, quod crediderim, castrorum. — Iubentur iidem mox castra ponere e regione Beelsephon, ex opposito eius. Quae verba per se sola spectata interpretabere aut de loco a Phihahiroth diverso, aut de loco eodem, ut iam eiusdem loci nomen tradatur semiticum, cuius modo nomen scribebatur aegyptium. Sed comparandus hie venit alter textus Num. 33,7 : « et reversi sunt versus (5) Phihahiroth, quae est e regione (*22 oy) Beelsephon, et castra posuere e regione « seu » « ab oriente » (^225) « Migdol ». Et cf. Ex. 14,9 « in Phihahiroth contra Beelsephon ». Quibus utique efficitur, agi non de unico sed de duobus locis. Situs accurate detiniri nequit; cum vero tam Phihahiroth quam Migdol fuerint in pago Socoth, Beelsephon quoque fere ibidem erit quaerendum, non est mons Gébel Atakah prope Suez. Tota res acta est aut ad litus Lacus Timsah aut aliquantulum ad eius Lacus meridiem.
14:3
v. 39 « Dicturusque est Pharao super filiis Israel » : — LXX populo suo : Filii Israel etc. ; sed non est emendanda constructio cum 5, licet sit minus usitata. Refertur Pharaonis cogitatio, non vero ad populum oratio — « Coarctati sunt in terra, conclusit eos desertum ». Pharao suspicatur, eos non iam divinis oraculis duci, igitur impune opprimi posse. Pro niphal verbi 4! ex Ioel 1,18; Esth. 3,15 habes significaüonem perfurbati sunt, cuius sequelam h. l. seribunt LXX errant, causam Syr. peregrini sunt : quia peregrini sunt, perturbantur in terra non sua, ideoque itinere errant. Hinc effectum est, ut deserto nunc operiantur (530) seu claudantur eoque se extricare non valeant. Praeter Aegyptum, quam fugiunt, et mare, quod traiectum iri haud suspicatur Pharao, undique concluduntur deserto Aegypti, quod nullam libertatis et salutis aperit viam.
14:4
v. & « Ef indurabo cor eius ac perseque Aegyptii, quia ego sum Dominus. Feceruntque ita ». Sequentia Pharaoni zuntiata esse per exploratores ab illo submissos, sentit Tosi.; neque tamen eiusmodi exploratoribus opus erat, cum documentis hieroglyphicis doceamur, munitionum circa deserti fines praefectos consuevisse Pharaonem accuratissime edocere de iis omnibus, qui per munitiones transirent (Erman p. 708 sq.). Recte vero hi nuntiavere fugisse populum : promiserant se tridui itinere in desertum esse perrecturos sacrificii causa; ubl primum a recto in desertum arabicum tramite deflectebant, nascebatur suspicio eos non sincere agere, non merum sacrificium meditari sed fugam (Caz.). Neque obest, quod fugae efficiendae minus aptam viam elegisse vide-
14:5
Aegyptiorum, quod. fugisset populus ; àmmutatumque est cor Pharaonis et servorum eius super populo » , — etiam servorum, quorum plures antea (10,7; 19,33.36) populum suaserant dimittendum , nunc vero et fugientium malam fidem indigne ferebant et incerto itinere vagantes despiciebant — « et dixerunt : Quid |voluimus] facere, ut dimitteremus Israel, ne serviret nobis! »
14:6
v. 6 « Iunzit ergo currum » suum, "quam vocem LXX collective interpretantur, « ef omnem populum suum », i. e. militem imprimis peditem, « assumpsit secum ». Exercitu ita summatim descripto, quae in eo potissima erant, singillatim efferuntur ; curruum numerus, aurigae, duces.
14:7
v. 7 « Tulitque sezcenlos currus electos », — numerum hunc fide esse omnino dignum, et monumenta docent et loci scripturae paralleli : cf. quae diximus ad Iud. 54,3 et 1 Reg. 13,5 — « et quidquid in Aegypto curruum fuit », — id post sexcentos currus modo recensitosclaudicat. LXX vertere equitatum. 321 3 Reg. 22,34 et 2 Par. 18,33 aurigam designat, ergo : et omnem aurigam Aegypti — « et duces totius exercitus ». Hebr. : Et Schalischim super ipsum omnem , ubi pronomen zpsum non ad aurigas refertur aut currus, cum curribus Aegyptiorum praeter aurigam unicus veheretur pugnator, qui neque e ducum ordine semper desumptus esse supponi potest, neque aurigae dux commode seribi potuit; sed ad currus et populum (v. 6), i. e. totum exercitum (Vu/g.). De ducum autem ordine, qui Schalischim vocabantur, fuse dicebamus ad 2 Reg. 23,8.
14:8
v. 8 « Induravitque Dominus cor Pharaonis regis Aegypti, et persecutus est filios Israel; at illi egressi erant àn manu excelsa ». Cuius erat ea manus ? Hebraeorum, inquiunt Vat. aliique : « egressi erant magna audacia et animo alacri, animosi, magna sperantes, hilares ». Ubi" non est vertendum quia (Kn.) : quos enim « fugientes » (v. 5) arbitrabatur Pharao, eorum sane non stomachabatur audaciam. Unde Bonfr. : « etiamsi » seu non obstante, quod « egressi essent in manu excelsa ». At minime « obstabat » manus illa in nocte Phase extenta, sed posteriore « fuga » retractata. Et nota v. 10 sqq., quam parum audaces Hebraei se praebuerint in Phihahiroth. Non Hebraeorum secus manus excelsa tota hae narratione celebratur, sed Dei; et cur 523^ 7* h.1. et Num. 33,3 non affirmemus idem edicere atque' Ex. 6,6 31101 Y"? an, quia Num. 15,30 peccatores agunt « manu excelsa », et Deut. 32,27 hostes: « Manus nostra excelsa », inquiunt, « non Dominus, fecit haee omnia? » an ex his sequitur, non Deo etiam tribui posse manum excelsam ? Ubi Tost. ad plagas Aegypti potissimum censet alludi, Cai. potius ad columnam nubis et ignis, idque aptissime. Pharao persequendorum Hebraeorum consilium init : at eo ipso tempore illi egrediebantur, Dei excelsa manu in columnae forma in eorum protectionem erecta. O viri vesaniam!
14:9
v. 9 « Cumque persequerentur Aegypti [vestigia] praecedentium, repererunt » — Hebr. assecuti sunt, cof. Gen. 31,25; 44,5. 6 — « eos in castris super mare ». Ib1 quippe substiterat columna (Tost.). « Omnis equitatus et currus Pharaonis et untversus exercitus erant in Phihahiroth contra Beelsephon ». V. 4 totus exercitus voce 5m exprimitur, quae v. 17. 28 solos pedites designat, idemque sonat v. 6 Dy, Praeterea textibus praeter v. 4 omnibus recensentur 225, currus; accedunt 14,9. 17.18. 23. 26. 28; 15,19 Q2, equites seu collective equitatus (cf. Gen. 50,9). 14,23 habetur expressio "'W^z" *323 nYy*5 D'"D; 15,19 ny^?5 pb'D "wW352* 13223; 14,9 "J^2*" ny*?5 323 D'"D: quae tres expressiones utique idem edicunt, sc. equos Pharaonis tam curribus quam equilatui attributos. Exercitus eius temporis Aegyptiorum ita depinguntur, ut solis curribus et peditibus sine equitatu constitisse credendi sint. Tamen de hominibus equorum tergis veclis pauci textus loquuntur (Erman p. 652), neque e narratione Exodi colligere opus est integras equitum turmas in exercitu Pharaonis fuisse, sed solum equites aliquos numero incerto. — Ios. numerorum prodigus sexcentis curribus addit peditum ducenta, equitum quinquaginta millia : is equitüm numerus cum picturis supra laudatis proeliorumque narrationibus hieroglyphicis componi nullo nomine potest.
14:10
v. 10 « Cumque appropinquasset Pharao », copias iam e Phihahiroth versus Hebraeos producens, « /evantes filii Israel oculos viderunt Aeqiptios post se » insurgentes, — Hebr. yo;, Sam. awoi :silectio Hebr. genuina, vere tamen pluralem interpretati sunt LXX Chald. Syr. — « et timuerunt valde, clamaveruntque ad Dominum »,
14:11
v. 11 « et dixerunt ad. Moysen ; » — Recte Calm. viros graviores ait versos esse ad preces, dum alii impotentius inveherentur in Moysen; verba autem, quae sequuntur, non immerito « mordacem sarcasmum » dicit Sy/v. — « Forsitan non erant sepulcra in. Aegypto », quae regiq sumptuosissimis abundabat sepulcris : « ideo tulisti nos, ut moreremur in solitudine? » Nota exaggerationem : vix dici poterant in solitudine versari, tot locis habitatis (v. 2) circum iacentibus (Tost.). « Quid Aoc facere voluisti , ut educeres nos ex Aegypto? » Sapientiores ipsi omnia accurate praedixerant, quae iam eveniebant:
14:12
v. 19 « Nonne iste est sermo, quem loguebamur ad te in Aegypto , dicentes : Recede a nobis », xápsg Wig, desiste a nobis, « wu! serviamus Aegyptiis? Multo enim melius erat servire etis, quam mort 2n solitudine ». Easdem verbotenus querelas post 6,9 inserebat Sam. : at, etiamsi in prioribus non commemorabantur, satis 6,9 et 5,21 innuitur atque e natura rei fere colligitur aliquos exstitisse murmuratores.
14:13
v. 13 « Et ait Moyses ad populum : Nolite timere, state », « non fugiatis, non moveamini ad pugnandum » (Tost.) , « et videte magnalia Domini, quae facturus est hodie : Aegyptios enim, quos nunc videtis, nequaquam ultra videbitis usque in sempiternum ». Seu potius cum LXX verte quw *2 : s2cut vidistis hodie, sc. vivos; et cf.
14:14
v. 31. v. 1* « Domtnus pugnabit pro vobis, et vos tacebitis », « quiescetis, otiose et iucunde hanc Dei pro vobis pugnam spectando » (Men.). Arg. — Deus Hebraeos siecis pedibus promittit mare esse traiecturos; quid Aegyptiis sit inflicturus generalius tantummodo innuit, cognituros illos affirmansipsum esse Iahve. Aegyptii Hebraeos per siccum maris alveum insequentes primum perturbantur, postea aquis redeuntibus opprimuntur.
14:15
v. 145 « Dixitque Dominus ad Moysen : Quid clamas ad ie? » lam cessa clamare (Ca?.), quia exaudieris. Clamaverat Moyses cum reliquis v. 10 viris piis, neque inserere cum 57ro fas est et oravit Moyses coram Domino. Afferuntur ergo v. 15-18 ea, quae Deus Moysi v. 10 clamanti respondit. At v. 11 sq. ei clamori immediate subnectebantur quorumdam querelae, et querelis v. 13 sq. subiiciebatur Moysis ad eas querelas responsio. Àn singula eo, quo narrantur ordine, etiam acta sint, nescimus neque tenetur narratorin minimis quibusque ordini actorum inhaerere. « Loquere filiis Israel, ut proficiscantur ». Mandato explicito opus erat, cum hac vice nubes non esset ante populum incessura. v. 46 « Tu autem », cui voci
14:17
v. 17 respondet « ego autem », « eleva virgam tuam et extende manum tuam super mare, et divide illud , ut gradiantur filii Israel in medio mari per siccum ». v. 47 « Ego autem indurabo cor Aegyptiorum, ut persequantur vos, et glorificabor in Pharaone et àn omni exercitu eius et 2n curribus et in equitibus illius ».
14:18
v. 18 « Et scient Aegyptii, quia ego sum Dominus, cum glorificatus fuero in Pharaone et in curribus atque in equitibus eius ». Persequentur Aegyptii Hebraeos per siceum mare, et certe non assequentur : secus enim vix glorificaretur Iahve. Tamen futura Aegyptiorum strages, aquarum in alveum reditus distinctius nondum enuntiatur. Effectus vero divini portenti is erit, ut non soli Hebrael (cf. 6,7; 10,9; 16,12 etc.) sed, quod maxime semper intenderat Deus, ipsi Aegyptii (7,5 ; 15,4. 18; et cf. 7,17; 8,10. 22; 9,1^. 29) agnituri sin, quia ego Iahve , non inane gerens nomen, Deus et nomine et re. Huius rei habebitur integra et perfecta ETT Iam divina ordiuntur portenta. Manifestatur divina in columna recondita virtus, Angelus Dez. Ub1 adverte duo membra incipientia voce zb" et desinentia in 2nnN2, assonantiam hic inter N55 et 5", ibi inter T"Zy et v2», motum utrobique à primo ad extremum agmen.
14:19
v. 19 « Tollensque se angelus Dei, qui praecedebat castra Israel , abiit post eos; et [cum eo pariter| columna nubis priora. dimittens post terqum » x.
14:20
90 « stetit, inter castra Aegyptiorum et castra Israel; et erat nubes tenebrosa. et illuminans noctem, ita ut ad se invicem toto noctis [tempore| accedere non valerent ». Ergo, eo certe tempore, ita larga erat illa columna, ut a conspectu universorum castrorum Hebraeorum Aegyptios praecluserit (Bonfr.). Textus minime est certus. Adverte ex ipso contextu patere, nubem illam fuisse Aegyptiis tenebrosam , sed Hebraeis Iluminosam : luminosa quippe semper erat nocte (13,22), debuitque esse tum potissimum luminosa, quando Hebraeis per ipsum maris alveum fuit incedendum. Porro Chald. Syr. itemque Symm. textum explicavere, distincte affirmantes nubem Aegyptiis fuisse tenebrosam, Hebraeis luminosam. Hebr habet 551553 D 2N"1 q9 mom qiu "nm. LEX gjes $ vót — no'on 52". Etiam Syr* Chald. videntur legisse 55 ante n5*9 : unde probabile apparet, eam vocem in textu - primitus fuisse, sive post TN, sive eius loco. Soli LXYX ignorant *w**, cuius tamen pars prior in illo 52" latere videtur. * ante "nn ienorant Sam. Symm.; hic etiam ignorat articulum. Tamen eo retento et alia a Masor. adhibita punctatione, vertes : el erat mubes obtenebrans et illuminans tota nocte (Ewald, Kn., Dillin.), quod fere idem sonat atque Vulg.
14:21
v. 91 « Cumque ertendisset Moyses iube super mare, abstulit illud Dominus » — "bw fecit illud dif fluere ; cf. Ez. 32,4& — « [flante| vento vehementi et urente tota nocte, et vertit in. siccum; divisaque est aqua »
14:22
v. 92 « et ingressi sunt filii Israel per medium sicci maris, erat enim aqua quasi murus a dextera eorum et laeva ». Res ad oculum narratur, non secundum rationem scientificam. Causae portenti assignantur non necessario omnes, sed eae quas Hebraei deprehendere valuere : primum Dei omnipotentia Moysis verbo et manu demonstrata, deinde ventus. Unde concludes ad hoc quoque portentum , uti ad priora in Aegypto perpetrata, aliquid contulisse causas naturales, illud. fuisse supernaturale quoad modum tantum. Atque reapse, si tota ab initio res inauditis plane miraculis constitisset, Aegyptii nullis 1ussis minisve compulsi essent, ut in illud se vadum coniicientes Hebraeos insecta- - rentur : non fert istud humana natura. Notat Proc. portentum affine haberi Ios. 3,16 : tamen, an fuerit omnino idem iisdemque causis effectum, interpretis est disquirere. Est. post Ios. confert factum Maris Pamphilii recedentis, quo Alexandri Magni copiis transitus pateret : in eiusmodi factis comparandis summa utique opus est prudentia. De vento 217p cf. quae diximus ad Iud. 5,21. Est ventus-ab oriente flans, scirocco, ideoque non inepte dictus wrens. Sed potest etiam esse ventus fere ab oriente flans, cum Hebraei ventos tantum secun- : dum quatuor partes coeli principes distinguant. Porro venti in angusto illo mari summam exercent vim. Raro ventus flat ab oriente, vix alio quam aequinoctii veris tempore. Mensibus Aprili et ineunte Maio saepe vehemens habetur auster ad orientem vergens, ut plurimum horis ter viginti quatuor ; cui succedit violentior etiam boreas ad occidentem vergens, undas ex angusto sinu in apertius mare propellens, maris alveum prope Suez fere denudans, quo tempore recedentibus aestu aquis sinus a peditibus etiam angusto aliquo Suez vado traiicitur. Sed vento ad austrum transeunte, aquae rursum in extremum sinum irruunt, altitudinis sex vel novem pedum. Cf. Kn., Ebers p. 101 sq. Quare ventum ad aquarum Ex. 15,21 divisionem aliquid contulisse, facile concedimus, omnia praestitisse haud assentimur. Quodsi enim ventus ille va/;dus divisionem aquarum unus efficiebat, debuit quamdiu ea divisio, tamdiu ipse perdurare, toto sc. tempore, quod Hebraei lrailelendo mari impendere. Qui ventus validus et urens debuit Hebraeis esse quam maxime adversus, liberis, gregibus et supellectili impeditorum iter plurimum debuit retardare , 1mo impossibile reddere (Tost.). Neque divisionem aquarum ei vento adscribit textus, sed s?ccatum recedentibus aquis maris alveum. Sufficit igitur cum interpretibus plerisque tueri ad hunc potissimum finem illum a Deo ventum fuisse submissum. Neque obest aquas scribi diffluxisse mz, id veluti efficiente vento : cum res ad oculum narretur, neque aliud tandem exprimatur, quam simul et aquas recessisse et eum ventum flavisse, quin affirmentur eius venti violentia aquae esse revolutae. Sed, quid de aquis muri instar .eminentibus ? Adverte Hebraeos noctem haud integram: (cf. v. 20.24) traiiciendo mari insumpsisse, fuisse numero plurimos cum gregibus permultis (12,38), ergo non angusto aliquo vado, sed lato tractu mare traiecisse. Qui medio illo tractu incedebant, utrimque procul revolutas aspiciebant aquas. Muzo hae comparantur, aut quod muri instar eminuerint, aut quod muri instar tractum illum concluserint : comparationis tertium non est necessario adstruenda altitudo. Verum, si unquam in vasto planoque maris litore constitisti, quo tempore aestus aut procedebat aut recedebat, nonne conspexisti undas procul cumuli seu valli, utique haud praealti, instar et quasi ex altiore loco imminentes ? Quod omnino explicat, quomodo hebraeus narrator rem ad oculum pingens potuerit aquas h. 1. comparare muro, et 16,8 et Ios. 3,16 cumulo; id siquidem, non vero montem (Vulg.) sonat ib. vox 72. | Quodsi accuratius definire cupias eum, quo Hebraei mare traiecerint, tractum , perpendenda tibi primum erit soli ea in regione conformatio. Igitur inter extremum, qui nune est, Sinum Suez et inter Lacus Salsos interiacet stratum arenae altitudinis unius circiter metri, latitudinis quinque kilometrorum. Quorum lacuum solum 7-12 metra infra Maris Rubri superficiem demittitur. Inter Lacus Salsoset Lacum Timsah intercedit alterum arenae stratum, plures habens paludes. Hunc inter et Lacum Menzaleh, qui Mari Mediterraneo est coniunctus, tertium est stratum altitudinis 12-15 metrorum, quod ante rerum aegyptiarum primordia invectis utrimque arenis utrumque mare, Mediterraneum atque Rubrum, primum ab invicem separavit. Reliqua duo strata recentius ortum sumpsere. Quod Mare Rubrum vel Ptolemaeorum aevo ad Lacum Timsah pertigerit, oportet illa duo strata tum certe partim submersa tuisse sed aquis parum altis. Hebraei vero ultra Lacum Timsah meridiem versus nondum procul proeesserant, si Magdalum v. 2 supponatur illud esse à Seti I exstructum, quod intra limites pagi Socoth continebatur. Ergo probabilius traiecere Hebraei mare extremo fere, qui nune est, Lacu Timsah, inter hunc Lacusque Salsos. Aliam praeter ventum naturalem causam non commemorat textus, quia alia ab Hebraeis sensibus non percipiebatur. Sunt tamen causae aliae, ob quas mare quandoque longius recedit, postea consueta litora repetiturum : terraemotus, eruptiones vulcanicae, ingentes tempestates, quandoque in locis maxime dissitis habitae. Quarum an aliqua tempore exodi acciderit, ignoramus.
14:23
v. 23 « Persequentesque Aegyptii ingressi sunt post eos, et omnis equitatus Pharaonis, currus eius et equites per medium maris ». Hebr. : et omnes equi Pharaonis, currus eius et equites eius, equi tam curribus quam equitatui attributi. Columna nubis adhuc inter Aegyptios et Hebraeos intercedebat, hoc enim fere colligitur e voce respiciens v. 95 et ex eo, quod columna discessisse minime narretur. Non igitur videtur columna per se fuisse phaenomenon horrendum, sed potius instar spissae nebulae; neque ita spissae, ut omnem mutuum obtutum praecluserit. Videntur Aegyptii trans nebulam, quid agerent quodve iter tenerent Hebraei, percepisse; insequebantur eos audacter, soluta nebula impetum facturi. — Porro in tres antiquitus vigilias Hebraei noctem dividebant, quarum prima Thren. 2,16, media Iud. 7,19, tertia h. l. et Reg. 11,11 commemoratur. Tres item vigilias norant Ba.H. 38^ sqq., Leipzig 1885).
14:24
v. 21 « Iamque advenerat. vigilia matulina, et eccerespiciens Dominus supercastra Aegyptiorum per columnam ignis et nubis, interfecit exercitum eorum ».*vn proprie znclinari, dein 2nclinando respicere. « Quid est, quod per nubem dicitur D*us respicere super castra, nisi hoc sc., quod nubes, quae prius tenebras faciebat Aegyptiis, lucem praebuit eis? » (Hugo). Et Ps. 76 (11), 18 sq. (cf. Ios. et Targ.) apte interpretatur tonitrua et fulgura. Quibus utique perturbandi (non Znterfecit) erant Aegyptii eorumque equi. Monet Dillm., delectari B voce 53592 (ef. v. 19sq.), dum À v. 4.9.17.28 scribat 5" : sed nota, solo v. 4 ^n designare totum exercitum, secus solos pedites; erat ergo ratio praeferendae vocis nzrna3.
14:25
v. 95 « Et subvertit rotas curruum » ; o" fecit declinare in ila perturbatione, unde secuta est subversio; LXX itemque Sam. ox" colligavit 1. e. implicavit : rotae rotis implicabantur in illa perturbatione. Vox n22?2 (Gen. 41,43; 46,29) vel in ipsam linguam aegyptiam transumpta est, ubi merkobt currum designat duabus rotis instructum (Erman p. 650 sq.). « Ferebanturque zn profundum ». 132832" : si subiectum supponatur Q'*Y?5 in hac sententia acceptum ut nomen numeri singularis (Chald. Syr.), suffixum masc. sing. referendum erit ad nomen fem. plur. *'n329:2, quod est nimis durum, Ergo subjectum est Dominus. 332 impellere, minari animalia, in piel fortasse significationem induit effecit, ut veheretur. Sed Sam. legit X»3712**, cui radici in linguis syr. et arab. significatio competit concussit , quassavit, v. g. situlam in puteum demissam. Of. Vocabulaire arabe-frangais, Beyrouth 1883. Sed quid est &xaZ Aeyóusvov 117222, im difficultate ? Quam difficultatem LXX Chald. Syr. intellexere subieetive, ergo : quassavit eum violenter; aut : effecit, ut veheretur cum difficultate, sensus in hoc contextu perquam languens. Vulg. intelligit obiective videturque cogitasse de locis in alveo maris, ubi currus arenis fortasse mobilibus absorbebantur : detrusit in eiusmodi loca. Ita sane in textu ceteroquin obscuro apta habetur gradatio : fulguribus perturbantur imprimis equi, implicantur curruum rotae, aliqui arenis mobilibus absorbentur, totus exercitus terrore dissolvitur. Sequitur iam, quod hebraeis aliisque scriptoribus frequens est, brevis v. 28-31 narratorum recapitulatio eorumque effectus, fides sc. Hebraeorum in Deum et Moysen. Nulla diversorum adstruendorum auctorum cernitur ratio.
14:28
v. 28 « Heversaeque sunt aquae, et operuerunt currus et equites cuncti » — pro 525 LXX Syr 521 — « exercitus Pharao nis, qui sequentes » eos — Pharao ipse nullibi diserte affirmatur esse absorptus, et ex documentis Aegyptiorum effiei videtur, eunr aliquamdiu superstitem fuisse —.« ?ngress? fuerant mare. Nec unus quidem superfuit ez eis ».
14:29
v. 99 « Filit autem Israel perrexerunt per medtum sicci maris , et aquae eis erant quast pro muro a, dextris et à sinistris ».
14:30
v. 30 « Liberavitque Dominus in die illa Israel de manu Aegyptiorum »,
14:31
v. 31 « et viderunt Aegyptios mortuos super litus maris, et manum magnam , quam exercuerat Dominus contra eos; timuitque populus Dominum , et crediderunt Domino et Moysi servo eius ». Cap. XV v.4 « Tunc cecinit Moyses et filii Israel carmen hoc Domino el dixerunt » : — Vox tunc sensum h. 1. induit ea occasione : fortasse consequente illam noctem mane concinnatum est carmen. Peracto transitu Maris Rubri, ut alias completa hostium clade (cf. Iud. 5 et Iudith 16), instituebatur solemnitas epinicia. Non habebat ea. sacrifieia, nam Hebraei professi fuerant se tridui itinere in desertum profecturos esse ad sacrificia et, qui recentes erant a pugna, censebantur immundi (Iudith 16,22). Sed propeipsum victoriae locum aut domum reducibus victoribus, celebrabatur victoria choris atque tripudiis. Facile conie- €eris, posteriores erusmodi solemnitates ad instar primae huius maximeque memorabilis a Iudaeis esse celebratas : comparatae igitur inter se lucem invicem affundent. Habes hic canticum v. 1-18 et epinicium mulierum v. 21. Post victoriam Debborae Iud. 5 et Iudith 16 habes canticum, sed non adscribitur epinicium illud, fortasse quod in illo cantico ipsae mulieres strophas decantaverint. Habes 1 Reg. 18,6 sq. epinicium mulierum, quod fortasse praecesserat canticum aliquod : eo quippe loco non intendit sacer auctor canticum, quod forte decantatum sit, tradere, sed occasionem indicare irarum Saul, quae tota erat in illo epinicio. Comparari item potest planctus David 2 Reg. 1,19-27, qui quidem epinicium mulierum non habet, sed nota in planctibus orientis semper prominuisse mulieres, et v. 24 easdem diserte ad luctum edendum invitari. Ceterum de epinicio Ex. 15,21 confer eius versus explicationem. Auctor narrationis Exodi, quisquis ille nondum discussa a nobis de Pentateuchi auctore quaestione esse supponatur, vir certe fide omnino dignus Deoque inspirante profatus, affirmat hoc cantieum Moysis tempore, et quidem brevi post traiectum Mare Rubrum, esse concinnatum. Àn Moyses auctor? Id e sola voce cecinzt utique non colligitur; cecinere etiam fi/ii Israel, quin fuerint auctores. Neque sequitur ex appellatione « canticum Moysi » Ap. 15,3, cum canticum Moysi non illud solum diei queat, cujus Moyses auctor, sed item illud, quod Moyses primus cecinisse tradatur. Tamen, si advertas, quomodo in tota exodo principem constanter locum Moyses obtineat, Dei verba ad populum loquatur, prudens dubium relinquitur nullum, eum carminis non praecentorem solum sed etiam auctorem fuisse. Cf. quae diximus ad Iud. 5. Adde, Sap. 10,21 ediei videri, speciali divino influxu canticum esse concinnatum : « Sapientia aperuit os mutorum, et linguas infantium fecit disertas »; i. e. vel eos, qui ceteris minus essent eloquentes, sapientia impulit, ut totis animis canticum illud decantarent. At per quemnam potius ille influxus in universam plebem derivari debuit, quam per Moysen, qui in omnibus numen inter et populum intercedebat? Si, quod post 6,7 suggerebamus, linguae in Moyse impedimentum a Deo sit paulatim alleviatum , non improbabiliter (cf. Sap. 10,21) affirmabis, illud in hoc cantico 1am plene esse sanatum. De cantico Ex. 15 disputaturi, vestigia premimus /. K. Zenner S. I., qui de psalmorum aliorumque canticorum indole solide simul atque' egregie disserit in libro : Die Chorgesange im Buche der Psalmen, Freiburg i. B. 1896. Nostrum igitur canticum, quod v. 21 confirmat, fuit e numero eorum, ad quae poesis, musica et chori conspirabant. Constat stropha v. 1-5 et antistropha v. 6-10 quinorum versuum, quas duo ex ordine chori decantabant. Sequitur stropha mutatoria v. 11-13, culus versum primum et tertium chorus prior, medium chorus alter decantabat. Tandem alter hic chorus decantabat stropham secundam v. 11-16", chorus prior antistropham secundam v. 16'-18, quae erant trinorum versuum. Affectum cantici primarium exprimit stropha mutatoria celebrans Iahven, quod terribilem se exhibuerit inimicis, benignum populo suo. Eum affectum praeparant stropha et antistropha priores, producunt posteriores. Singuli versus distichi sunt, quandoque (v. 8. 9. 15) tristichi, binam aut trinam habentes vocis contentionem et remissionem. Ios. canticum aiebat conscriptum esse hexametris. Idipsum de psalmis cum ipso affirmabant Hier., Euseb., Or., Philo (Zenner p. 13). Quae vox si ad aecuratum syllabarum numerum et ordinem referatur, inepte hac in re scribitur. Eo autem sensu est vera, sicut hexameter duobus constet stichis caesura distinctis, ita versum quoque hebraeum plerumque duos habere stichos. Quam longe distat hoc canticum a carmine Lamech Gen. 54,23 sq., antiquissimo illo, quod novimus, poetico tentamine! Ibi disticha tria ab unico certe primitus homine decantabantur, Adae et Sellae marito, gladium cum inconditis saltibus agitante. Hic duobus virorum choris circumfunditur tertius mulierum; antistropha stropham excipit, chorus chorum ; resonant tympana, corporum decori motus oris verba musicaeque sonos comitantur. Unde Hebraeis ea nata est ars? Habebant Aegyptii choros et choroegos, videntur item habuisse Assyri (Erman p. 340 sq.; A. W. Amóros : Geschichte der Musik, Leipzig 1880, I. 137 sqq. 177 sq.); sed musices initia habes Gen. 4,21; funerum planctus antiquissimis temporibus nati sunt; cum Gen. 31,27 cf. Ruth ,11 sq. E quibus factis coniicias, in stirpe electa antiquitus fuisse choros et cantica; ea sane Hebraei sacris suis etiam praemosaicis adhibuerant. Arg. — Laudatur Iahve ob excellentiam manifestatam strage Aegyptiorum. Suo robore servavit Hebraeos. Iam plenum effectum nacta est ea, Iahve voluntas, ut eum esse lahve omnes sciant : experti sunt eius nominis virtutem Aegyptii; Israel eum esse Deum suum, Deum avitum ideoque verum, eundem atque El Schaddai proclamat. Clades quatuor membris graphice describitur. | «: Cantemus Domino », in Iahve laudem (Vat.), « demus ei laudem de tanto beneficio » (Tost.). Verba sunt mutuae exhortationis; nam solus Heór. habet cantabo (nmvN; Sam. vwosN!). Subiungitur laudis thema : « gloriose enim magnificatus est », « non factus magnus, sed demonstrans magnitudinem » (Tost.). Hebr. alte supereminet; £y35zoq 2e866aevon. Nota vocalium musicam in illo nN3 5&2, finge integrum chorum id uno ore canentem. Thema, quod modo universim enuntiabatur, iam ad specialem casum contrahitur : « equum et ascensorem deiecit in mare ». Hoc portentorum maximum atque supremum prae reliquis omnibus unum effertur. Una vox "225 et equites et eos, qui e curribus decertant, imo ipsos currus exprimit : illud omne quod in Aegyptiorum exercitu maxime terrebat Hebraeos. Pedites efferri brevissima formula non patitur. 52^ de proiectione violenta scribitur, de sagitta emissa, ubi recolas fulgura, de quibus ad 154,9. dicebamus.
14:1
Red Sea (Gr. Ἡ Ἔρυθρά Θάλασσα; Heb. Jām Sūph)
… extends between the road and the lake, called in a papyrus by the Egyptian name equivalent to Phihahiroth (= marshes +), encamped at the foot of Gebel Hasan, where, from the time of Seti I, there was a small fort (Magdal) facing the stele of Beelsephon (Ex. 14, 1-2), with a garrison to guard both the road leading to Suez and the track to the ford of the Bitter Lakes.
14:2
Beelsephon (Hebrew Ba'al Şephon)
BEELSEPHON (Hebrew Ba'al Şephon). - A locality on the Isthmus of Suez toward the Red Sea, not better identified, near which the Hebrews camped before the departure from Egypt (Ex. 14:2 and 9; Num. 33:7). The name derives from Ba'al (v.) and şéphôn ("north") = "Ba'al of the north," of whom there was a sanctuary there.
14:14
Noe (Heb. Nōah; Septuagint Nōe; cf. Old Babylonian Nuḫīja)
In biblical tradition N. was praised as "righteous" (Ex. 14:14, 20), "hope of the world," who through trust in God preserved the human race (Wis. 14:6), "renewer in the time of destruction" (Eccl. 44:17-18), model of faith (Hebr. 11:17), "herald of …
14:19
… the ancient Hebrews did not distinguish between the angel of Yahweh and Yahweh, but later attributed the theophanies to an angel in order to safeguard the transcendence of God), B. Stein, limiting his investigation to the angel of Exodus (Ex. 3, 2; 14, 19; 23, 20-3; 32, 34; Num. 20, 16; Ios. 5, 14; Iud. 2, 1-4; Is. 63, 9; Mal. 2, 17; 3, 1), argues for identity: the angel of Yahweh is the same omnipresent God who emerges …
14:21
Red Sea (Gr. Ἡ Ἔρυθρά Θάλασσα; Heb. Jām Sūph)
ARCHAEOLOGY. - Christian art depicted the scene of the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21-36; 15:1-6) in the 4th century, on the front of certain sarcophagi: there, for the most part, from a great door on the left come horsemen and foot soldiers, preceded by Pharaoh on his …
14:24
… After the exile the day was divided into four three-hour periods (Mark 15:25) and also into 12 ordinary hours (Matt. 20:3-6); the night comprised three watches (Ex. 14:24; Judg. 7:19), then four in the Roman period (Mark 13:35). The division into weeks (šābhu'ōth) was independent of the lunar course and was reckoned continuously and not, as among the …
The central point of the messianic restoration is the return from exile; such an event will be accompanied by prodigies and miracles (Mēhhlthā' on Ex. 14, 24), and by some it is attributed to God himself rather than to the Messiah. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.