Moses writeth his law; and after offering sacrifices, sprinkleth the blood of the testament upon the people: then goeth up the mountain which God covereth with a fiery cloud.
Moyses with others are commanded to ascend, he to the Lord, the rest a farre of 4. They offer Sacrifice. 8. Moyses sprinckleth the bloud of the Testament vpon the people. 15. Then ascending to the mountaine, God couereth it with a firie cloude.
1And he said to Moses: Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel, and you shall adore afar off.Mosè poi disse (Dio): Sali verso il Signore tu, e Aronne, e Nadab, e Abiu, e i settanta seniori d'Israele, e adorerete da lungi.TO Moyses also he said: Goe vp to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seuentie Ancientes of Israel, and you shal adore a farre of.Moysi quoque dixit: Ascende ad Dominum tu, et Aaron, Nadab et Abiu, et septuaginta senes ex Israël, et adorabitis procul. 2And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people come up with him.E Mosè solo salirà al Signore, e quelli non si accosteranno: e non salirà con lui il popolo.And Moyses onlie shalascend to the Lord, and they shal not approach: neither shal the people ascend with him.Solusque Moyses ascendet ad Dominum, et illi non appropinquabunt: nec populus ascendet cum eo. 3So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice: We will do all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken.Andò adunque Mosè, e riferì al popolo tutte le parole del Signore, e le leggi: e rispose a una voce tutto il popolo: Osserveremo tutte le parole dette dal Signore.Moyses therfore came and told the people al the wordes of our Lord, and the iudgementes: and al the people answered with one voice: Al the wordes of our Lord, which he hath spoken we wil doe.Venit ergo Moyses et narravit plebi omnia verba Domini, atque judicia: responditque omnis populus una voce: Omnia verba Domini, quæ locutus est, faciemus. 4And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord: and rising in the morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles according to the twelve tribes of Israel.E Mosè scrisse tutte quante le parole del Signore, e levatosi la mattina alzò appiè del monte un altare, e dodici monumenti per le dodici tribù d'Israele.And Moyses wrote al the wordes of our Lord: and rising in the morning he builded an Altar at the foote of the mount, & twelue titles according the twelue tribes of Israel.Scripsit autem Moyses universos sermones Domini: et mane consurgens, ædificavit altare ad radices montis, et duodecim titulos per duodecim tribus Israël. 5And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord.E mandò de' giovani figliuoli d'Israele, i quali offerirono olocausti, e immolarono al Signore vittime pacifiche di vitelli.And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocaustes, and sacrificed pacifique victimes to our Lord, calues.Misitque juvenes de filiis Israël, et obtulerunt holocausta, immolaveruntque victimas pacificas Domino, vitulos.
6Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls; and the rest he poured upon the altar.Prese allora Mosè la metà del sangue, e lo versò nelle tazze: e il rimanente lo versò sull'altare.Moyses therfore tooke the halfe part of the bloud, and put it into bowles: and the residue he powred vpon the Altar.Tulit itaque Moyses dimidiam partem sanguinis, et misit in crateras: partem autem residuam fudit super altare. 7And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people: and they said: All things that the Lord hath spoken, we will do, we will be obedient.E preso il libro dell'alleanza lo lesse, ascoltandolo il popolo, il quale disse: Faremo tutto quello che è stato detto dal Signore, e saremo obbedienti.And taking the volume of the couenant, he reade the people hearing it: Who said: Al thinges that our Lord hath spoken, we wil doe, and we wil be obedient.Assumensque volumen fœderis, legit audiente populo: qui dixerunt: Omnia quæ locutus est Dominus, faciemus, et erimus obedientes. 8And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.Ed egli preso il sangue ne asperse il popolo, e disse: Questo è il sangue dell'alleanza stabilita dal Signore con voi, mediante tutto quello che si è detto.And he tooke the bloud, and sprinkled it vpon the people, and said: This is the bloud of the Couenant which our Lord hath made with you vpon al these wordes.Ille vero sumptum sanguinem respersit in populum, et ait: Hic est sanguis fœderis quod pepigit Dominus vobiscum super cunctis sermonibus his. 9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel went up:E salirono Mosè, ed Aronne, Nadab, e Abiu, e i settanta seniori d'Israele:And there went vp Moyses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seuentie of the ancientes of Israel:Ascenderuntque Moyses et Aaron, Nadab et Abiu, et septuaginta de senioribus Israël: 10And they saw the God of Israel: and under his feet as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as the heaven, when clear.E videro il Dio d'Israele, e sotto i piedi di lui come un lavoro di zaffiri, e qual è il cielo, quando è sereno.and they saw the God of Israel: and vnder his feete as it were a worke of sapphirstone, and as the heauen, when it is clere.et viderunt Deum Israël: et sub pedibus ejus quasi opus lapidis sapphirini, et quasi cælum, cum serenum est. 11Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the children of Israel, that retired afar off, and they saw God, and they did eat and drink.E Dio non istese la sua mano sopra di que' figliuoli d'Israele, che erano andati molto in là: ed ei videro Dio, e mangiarono, e bevvero.Neither did he set his hand vpon those of the children of Israel, that retired farre of, and they saw God, and did eate, and drinke.Nec super eos qui procul recesserant de filiis Israël, misit manum suam, videruntque Deum, et comederunt, ac biberunt.
12And the Lord said to Moses: Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.Ma il Signore disse a Mosè: Sali da me sul monte, e quivi trattieniti: e io ti darò le tavole di pietra, e la legge, e i comandamenti, che vi ho scritti, affinché tu ad essi gli insegni.And our Lord said to Moyses: Come vp to me into the mount, and be there: and I wil geue thee tables of stone, and the law, and the commandementes which I haue written: that thou maist teach them.Dixit autem Dominus ad Moysen: Ascende ad me in montem, et esto ibi: daboque tibi tabulas lapideas, et legem, ac mandata quæ scripsi: ut doceas eos. 13Moses rose up, and his minister Josue: and Moses going up into the mount of God,Si mossero Mosè e Giosuè suo ministro: e salendo Mosè sul monte di DioMoyses rose vp, and his minister Iosue: and Moyses ascending into the mount of God,Surrexerunt Moyses et Josue minister ejus: ascendensque Moyses in montem Dei, 14Said to the ancients: Wait ye here till we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you: if any question shall arise, you shall refer it to them.Disse a' seniori: Aspettate qui, sino a tanto che torniamo a voi. Avete con voi Aronne ed Hur: se venisse a nascere qualche disputa, ricorrete a loro.said to the Ancientes: Expect here til we returne to you, you haue Aaron and Hur with you: If anie question shal rise, you shal referre it to them.senioribus ait: Expectate hic donec revertamur ad vos. Habetis Aaron et Hur vobiscum: si quid natum fuerit quæstionis, referetis ad eos. 15And when Moses was gone up, a cloud covered the mount.E salendo Mosè, una nuvola ricoperse il monte.And when Moyses was ascended, a cloud couered the mount,Cumque ascendisset Moyses, operuit nubes montem, 16And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud six days: and the seventh day he called him out of the midst of the cloud.E la gloria del Signore si posò sul Sinai, coprendolo colla nuvola per sei giorni: e il settimo giorno Dio lo chiamò di mezzo alla caligine.and the glorie of our Lord dwelt vpon Sinai, couering it with a cloud six dayes, and the seuenth day he called him out of the middes of the darkenesse.et habitavit gloria Domini super Sinai, tegens illum nube sex diebus: septimo autem die vocavit eum de medio caliginis. 17And the sight of the glory of the Lord, was like a burning fire upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel.La gloria del Signore era al vedersi come fuoco, che ardeva sulla cima del monte a vista de' figliuoli d'Israele.And the forme of the glorie of our Lord, was as it were fire burning vpon the toppe of the mount, in the sight of the children of Israel.Erat autem species gloriæ Domini quasi ignis ardens super verticem montis in conspectu filiorum Israël.
18And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into the mountain: And he was there forty days and forty nights.Ed entrato Mosè in mezzo alla nuvola salì sul monte: e vi stette quaranta giorni, e quaranta notti.And Moyses entring into the middes of the cloude, ascended into the mount: and he was there fourtie dayes, and fourtie nightes.Ingressusque Moyses medium nebulæ, ascendit in montem: et fuit ibi quadraginta diebus, et quadraginta noctibus.
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Challoner
Holocausts: whole burnt-offerings: in which the whole sacrifice was consumed with fire, upon the altar. (Challoner)
It is not said that these young men were to officiate as priests. Moses acted alone in this capacity, pouring the blood.
Haydock
Calves, and he-goats also, Hebrews 9:19. The book was also sprinkled with the blood (Calmet) mixed with water; for which purpose scarlet wool and hyssop were employed, as St. Paul learnt from tradition, or by inspiration. (Haydock)
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Tirinus
Covenant. Thus Christ confirmed the new covenant, by the effusion of his blood. (Tirinus)
Calmet
This is daily renewed upon our altars for ever. (Calmet)
Du Hamel
Our Saviour alludes to this transaction in the consecration of the chalice. (Du Hamel)
Worthington
If wine alone had been substituted instead of blood, the figure would have surpassed the reality. (Isichius.) (Worthington)
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Calmet
Saw God, under the appearance of a burning fire, ver. 17. They beheld some rays of his glory, but no distinct similitude, (Deuteronomy 4:15,) though Cajetan thinks that God appeared in a human form. (Calmet)
Vatable
Drink. They made a feast of thanksgiving for so great a favour, and for the preservation of their lives, after beholding such a glorious apparation. (Vatable)
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Wait ye. They returned soon to the camp; and the people not perceiving Moses with them, and supposing he was dead, made the golden calf.
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Called him, to come up still higher, while Josue remained there.
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Calmet
Forty, including the six mentioned before, ver. 16. The Rabbins pretend that Moses received the written law during the days, and their traditions during the nights. (R. Bechai ap. Buxtorf, syn. 1.) (Calmet)
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Titles.... That is, pillars.
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Holocausts.... Whole burnt offerings, in which the whole sacrifice was consumed with fire upon the altar.
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As when Moyses had brought the Israentes from bondage, and receiued the law for them he built an Altar for Sacrifice: so Christ hauing redemed vs, and geuē vs a Law, for applicatiō of the fruict therof Altares are erected, & Sacrifice offered.
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8. This is the bloud of the couenant.] Our Sauiour in the institution of the A figure of Christs bloud in the B. Sacrament. Eucharist, by vsing the same wordes, applying them to him selfe, This is my Mat. 26. bloud of the new Testament, signifieth that be fulfilled this figure at his last supper VVhich proueth both a Sacrifice of bloud then offered by him, as this bloud of the old Testament was already shed, when Moyses pronounced those wordes; and the real presence of Christs bloud. For els, if it were but wine, it were not better in substance then the figure, which was real bloud. Isychius. li. 1. c 4. in Leuit.
This was donne corporally to the Iewes. In Christians. Christs bloud applied by Sacrifice and Sacraments sanctifieth their soules. Heb. 9.
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The lesson in Masse on Imber wenesday in Lent.
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.92
… I hear from Moses himself, when God spake to him, that, although many were bidden to come to the mount, one of whom was even Aaron, with his two sons who were priests, and seventy elders of the senate, the rest were ordered to worship afar off, and Moses alone to draw near, and the people were not to go up with him.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 7.3
3. His father was well grafted out of the wild olive tree into the good one, and so far partook of its fatness as to be entrusted with the engrafting of others, and charged with the culture of souls, presiding in a manner becoming his high office over this people, like a second Aaron or Moses, bidden himself to draw near to God,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 28
II. Now when I go up eagerly into the Mount
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Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 2.55
… For the following is his statement: “Moses alone shall come near the Lord ; but the rest shall not come nigh.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 4.96
… It is, then, those alone who are truly wise and sincerely religious who are nearer to God’s society; such persons as were our prophets, and Moses, to the latter of whom, on account of his exceeding purity, the Scripture said: “Moses alone shall come near the Lord , but the rest shall not come nigh.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 6.17
… And in order that it may appear that the knowledge of God has rarely been vouchsafed to men, and has been found in very few individuals, Moses is related to have entered into the darkness where God was. And again, with regard to Moses it is said: “Moses alone shall come near the Lord , but the rest shall not come nigh.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 3
… But He called blessed Moses to it, as being fervent in spirit, and possessing unquenchable grace, saying, ‘Let Moses alone draw near
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 6
… He Himself, through suffering punishment, did away with both the sin and the punishment, and He was punished on the Cross. To the Cross then He affixed it; as having power, He tore it asunder. What bond? He means either that which they said to Moses, namely, “All that God hath said will we do, and be obedient” (
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.18.4
… For they declare that the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom also sprung twelve tribes,— the breastplate of the high priest, which bore twelve precious stones and twelve little bells, —the twelve stones which were placed by Moses at the foot of the mountain,
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 4
… And they said to Moses, “Yea, Lord, all that thou hast spoken will we do, and be obedient.” (
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Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 61
… Death, too, will cease; so there will be no more need of the nutriment of food for the defence of life, nor will mothers’ limbs any longer have to be laden for the replenishment of our race. But even in the present life there may be cessations of their office for our stomachs and our generative organs. For forty days Moses
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.72
… he inscribed laws, which are no longer obscure, but entirely spiritual, on tables which are not broken but are preserved; he entered the Holy of holies,
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 2.15
… or if, because it is written of the elders of Israel, that “they saw the place where the God of Israel had stood,” and that “there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness,”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.20
… When in His tabernacle the majesty of the Lord was seen to shine forth in its divine Presence, Joshua alone was in the tabernacle. When Moses spoke with God, Joshua too was covered by the sacred cloud.
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.92
… But Moses actually went up and entered into the cloud,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.110
110. If, then, any one desires to see this Image of God, he must love God, that he may be loved by God; and be no longer a servant but a friend, because he has kept the commandments of God, that he may enter into the cloud where God is.
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.1.2
… yet he was no less active than others, for he with his hands at ease was overcoming the enemy, whom they that were in the battle could not conquer. Thus Moses in his silence spoke, and in his ease laboured hard. And were his labours greater than his times of quiet, who, being in the mount for forty days, received the whole law?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 2.15
… which agrees with Exodus, where it is written, “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire;” and a little after, “And the sight of the glory of the Lord,” he says, “was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.”
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St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 14
… He did give it; but they were not worthy to receive it, on account of their sins. For the prophet declares, “And Moses was fasting forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, that he might receive the testament of the Lord for the people.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 6
On the other hand, he whose “heart” was habitually found “lifted up” rather than fattened up, who in forty days and as many nights maintained a fast above the power of human nature, while spiritual faith subministered strength (to his body),
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 44
… There, Moses smote down with the sword those who had set up the calf; and here, the Lord Jesus said, “I came to send a sword upon the earth, and to set a man at variance with his neighbour,” and so on. There, Moses went without fear into the darkness of the clouds that carry water;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 2.16
25. Ignorance of numbers, too, prevents us from understanding things that are set down in Scripture in a figurative and mystical way. A candid mind, if I may so speak, cannot but be anxious, for example, to ascertain what is meant by the fact that Moses and Elijah, and our Lord Himself, all fasted for forty days.
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.23
… For the law is not made for a righteous man but for the unrighteous . Moses, of a truth, was the first to abide fasting with God for forty days and again for another forty
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ASCEND TO THE LORD. — Moses had already ascended to the Lord on Sinai, and receives the precepts from the angel commanding in God's stead. He had heard chapters xxi, xxii and xxiii; but he was ordered to descend, so that he might propose these laws to the people, which although Scripture passes over in silence here after the Hebrew manner, it nevertheless hints at in verse 3, whence he is again ordered to ascend here, after he shall have received the response and assent of the people concerning the observance of God's law, and this for the purpose that on Mount Sinai he might receive the tablets of the law, as a sign of the covenant between God and the people, and as it were its instrument and seal: Scripture therefore passes over and is silent about many things here for the sake of brevity, which the interpreter must supply from elsewhere. YOU AND AARON, NADAB AND ABIHU. — These two latter were the elder sons of Aaron, who afterwards, employing strange fire in the sacred rites and sacrifices, were consumed by God as avenger, Leviticus chapter x, verse 1. AND SEVENTY ELDERS OF ISRAEL. — Some think that these seventy are those into whom Moses divided his burden of ruling and his spirit, and whom he set over the people, who therefore also prophesied; among whom Eldad and Medad also, though absent, received that same spirit. But this is foreign to sacred history: for they were chosen in the graves of lust long afterwards, not truly on Sinai, as may be seen in Numbers chapter xi, verse 16. Neither were these seventy all decurions or chiliarchs appointed by the counsel of Jethro, of whom in Exodus chapter xviii; but from these (if indeed they had already been appointed), or from other chief men of the people as well, they were summoned by Moses, so that accompanying him on Sinai, they might adorn by their presence the reception of the tablets of the law. AND YOU SHALL WORSHIP AFAR OFF — God in darkness, on the summit of Mount Sinai, showing himself through an angel and speaking with Moses.
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AND MOSES ALONE SHALL ASCEND TO THE LORD, — to the darkness of the summit of Sinai. Alone, I say, accompanied by his servant Joshua: but the seventy elders with Aaron were ordered to remain below with the people to govern it.
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AND MOSES CAME, AND TOLD THE PEOPLE ALL THE WORDS OF THE LORD. — Truly it could not have happened without a miracle that the voice of Moses should be heard and understood by all of so many hundreds of thousands of people: which the same thing is made more certain in the repeated promulgation of the law, Deuteronomy chapter i, and Deuteronomy chapter xxix, verses 10 and 11. But God willed that these precepts be proposed to the people severally, that is to all the Hebrews, before he should make a covenant with them and confirm it with tablets, so that he might show how humanely he dealt with them, and that he did not wish to bring them a law except with their assent; then so that they might retain it more firmly, which they had embraced so freely, and might have no occasion thereafter for refusing it. JUDGMENTS, — the judicial laws of chapters xxi, xxii, xxiii.
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AND HE BUILT AN ALTAR AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND TWELVE STONES FOR THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, — as if to say, Moses erected twelve rough stones into stones and statues, so that these sacrifices, by which the covenant between God and the people was being ratified, might signify that they were being offered for the twelve tribes. Whence also some probably think that the altar itself was constructed from these twelve stones. Thus Abulensis and Cajetan, although Andrew Masius in Joshua chapter viii, number 31, and others hold the contrary opinion.
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AND HE SENT YOUNG MEN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND THEY OFFERED HOLOCAUSTS. — The Chaldean: he sent the firstborn of the children of Israel: for these in the law of nature were priests, since Aaron had not yet been ordained priest. Therefore the firstborn sons of the princes of Israel offered these sacrifices: although St. Augustine, Questions XX in Leviticus, thinks these were the sons of Aaron, who were afterwards made priests. TWELVE CALVES. — Delete the twelve with the Romans, the Hebrew, the Chaldean and the Septuagint: since there were more firstborn, nothing prevents us from saying that they offered more victims. The Apostle, Hebrews chapter ix, verse 19, adds also that goats were then offered.
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MOSES THEREFORE TOOK HALF OF THE BLOOD, AND PUT IT INTO BOWLS; AND THE OTHER HALF HE POURED OUT UPON THE ALTAR. — Note: The ancients were accustomed to ratify covenants with victims and blood. Whence Livy, book I, speaking of the covenant made between the Romans and Albans: Having set forth, he says, the laws of the covenant, the fetial priest said: The Roman people shall not be the first to fail; if it be the first to fail, by public counsel, with malice aforethought, do thou, on that day, Jupiter, smite the Roman people thus, as I shall smite this pig today, and smite them so much the more, as much as thou art able, and canst; and Virgil in book VIII of the Aeneid concerning Romulus and Tatius: Armed before the altar of Jupiter, holding forth bowls / They stood, and joined covenants with a slain pig. Whence also some think covenant is called from foedus, namely the animal, for instance the pig, which was sacrificed in the covenant, and from this the phrase has flowed, by which we say to strike, to strike, to smite a covenant. The same custom was also received much earlier among the faithful and true worshippers of God. Hence in Genesis, chapter xv, verses 9, 10, 17, the Lord, as a sign and confirmation of the covenant made with Abraham, commanded a heifer, a ram, and a goat to be sacrificed and divided in the middle; which done, a lamp signifying God passed through the middle of the divisions, thus indicating that he who should break the covenant would be divided. See Jeremiah, chapter xxxiv, verse 18; whence berit, that is covenant in Hebrew, most derive from batar, that is to divide, by metathesis. Hence Cyril, book X Against Julian, near the end, teaches from Sophocles that this was observed among later peoples, namely that those going through the middle of fire and bearing iron in their hands made oaths. The same was done in this covenant of God with Moses and the Jews: for the blood of the victims was divided, so that it might be signified that he who should violate the pact would expiate the violated faith of the covenant in a similar manner with blood: but since the covenant was struck between God and the people, it was necessary that both God and Israel should divide the blood and be sprinkled with it, and since God is incorporeal, so that he cannot be sprinkled with blood, hence the altar of sacrifices was dipped with blood in his stead. In a similar manner Christ the Lord ratified the new covenant and testament with himself, and with his blood as it were a victim, and with the blood of a federal victim; especially because by this victim and blood he merited for us redemption, grace, inheritance and all the goods which in this covenant of his he promised us, to the Hebrews chapter ix, verses 15 and seq.; and he expressed this in the institution of the Eucharist, saying: This is the blood of the new Testament. Whence against the Sacramentarians you may turn a valid argument for the truth of the body of Christ: for if truly the old covenant was ratified with real blood, and this is understood when it is said in this verse 8: This is the blood of the covenant which God hath made with you, surely also the new covenant was ratified with real blood; and this is understood when therefore it is truly said: This is the blood of the new Testament; for this old was a type of the new and true, to which it is certain that Christ looked back in the words already spoken. You will say: Christ calls the blood of the new Testament, not of the covenant, as Moses calls his here; therefore this sprinkling of blood is dissimilar. I answer: Christ calls the testament a testamentary covenant, and so covenant and testament in Scripture are often the same, as I have shown in I Corinthians chapter xi, 25. See also what is said to Hebrews chapter ix, 19.
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AND TAKING THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT, HE READ IT IN THE HEARING OF THE PEOPLE. — This book was a small volume which Moses had recently written at God's dictation on Sinai, of which verse 4 speaks, which contained the commandments of God already mentioned, and all the words of the Lord from chapter xx to this chapter xxiv. Moses therefore read this volume containing the commandments of God (for these were the conditions of making a covenant with God) to the people; the people then promised that they would keep them: Moses finally, as it were a fetial priest, ratifying and confirming the covenant between God and the people, sprinkled the people with the blood of the victims.
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AND HE SPRINKLED THE BLOOD UPON THE PEOPLE. — The blood sprinkled upon the people signified the blood of Christ sprinkled upon us. The Apostle adds, Hebrews chapter ix, verse 19, certain things which Moses here passes over in silence; for thus it reads: Taking the blood of calves and of goats with water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people. For Moses narrates these things briefly, which Paul supplied and expressed in detail, partly by the instinct of the Holy Spirit, partly from the custom of the legal rite, which he had learned to be used in such lustrations both from Holy Scripture and from the very practice itself; for that water was accustomed to be mixed with blood in sacred sprinklings is evident from Exodus chapter xii, verse 22. The same is evident concerning scarlet dye or scarlet wool, and hyssop, Numbers chapter xix, verses 6 and 18. Again, since it is evident that goats were also offered along with calves, because the goat, as aptly representing sin by its own stench, is accustomed to be offered for sin, as is evident from Leviticus chapter ix, verses 3 and 15. Whence it aptly prefigured Christ, who undertook to expiate our sins in himself. Note: In the ancient lustrations of the Hebrews water was applied to blood, lest the blood should congeal, but might become more liquid and sprayable, and therefore suitable for sprinkling upon so great a multitude. Again, allegorically this water and blood of the victims were a figure and type of the blood and water flowing from the side of Christ, and consequently were types of Baptism and the Eucharist; for water represents Baptism, blood represents the Eucharist. Secondly, in the lustrations scarlet wool and hyssop were employed, so that from them an aspergillum might be made; for they are very suitable for this both on account of their density and on account of the retentive power which they possess: for they are absorbent of moisture equally as a sponge. Again, allegorically the wool signified the whiteness and innocence of Christ, or the flesh of Christ in itself white, but on account of our sins scarlet, that is, reddened by the blood of his passion. Moreover, hyssop was a type, first, of the charity and grace of Christ, for hyssop is by nature hot: whence it serves the mystery, and by its heat and the fervor of the Holy Spirit the most ardent heats, by which the minds of the pious are set on fire, it denotes. Secondly, hyssop was a type of the humility and humanity of Christ, through which God healed our pride and other sins: for hyssop is a humble herb, and, as Dioscorides teaches, book III, chapter xxviii, it heals the swelling of the lungs, which is a symbol of pride, as Rupertus has noted.
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AND THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL,—not through His essence, but through a shadow, that is in some sensible form which the will of God chose and human frailty was able to bear. Whence the Chaldean translator renders it, and they saw the glory of the God of Israel. The Septuagint goes further, who supply another name more remote, namely place: And they saw the place, they say, where the God of Israel stood. And this they do to obscure this vision of God, lest these elders be thought to have seen God in His essence and divine form. You will ask, in what form did God here, that is the Angel in God's stead, exhibit Himself to be seen by the elders? Abulensis answers that God appeared here in the form of a bright cloud, within which the majesty of God was seen to be hidden, so that the rude Jews thought that the feet of God consisted in the lowest part of this cloud, and the rest of the body in the upper part toward heaven, and in this respect it is said here under the feet of God, that is under the lowest part of the cloud in which the feet of God were believed to be, there was as it were a work of sapphire stone; that God did not appear here in the form of a man, or of an animal, or of any other thing, is evident from Deuteronomy, chapter iv, verse 15, where it is said: You saw not any similitude in the day that the Lord spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of fire; lest perhaps being deceived you make you a graven similitude, etc. Others, however, as Lyra, Cajetan, Prado in Ezekiel chapter i, more truly think that God showed Himself here in human form, namely in the appearance of a magnificent prince and legislating king; whence in the Hebrew for God, it is not the name of God the tetragram, but Elohim, which signifies God as prince and judge; hence also God was seen here to have feet, and under His feet to have a sapphire footstool: for God wished by this appearance both to demonstrate and impress upon the elders, and through them upon the people, both the majesty of a legislator and fear. Jerome Prado adds in chapter i of Ezekiel, and some others, that God appeared here both to the elders and to Moses in human form seated upon the chariot of the Cherubim, which four animals, namely four Cherubim, having the appearance of an ox, an eagle, a lion and a man, attended: in which form God was seen by Ezekiel, chapter i, and St. John, Apocalypse chapter iv: so that according to the example and form of this appearance and vision Moses made the ark and the Cherubim as it were the chariot of the glory of God; for there is no doubt that God showed Moses the type of these things on Sinai, so that according to it those things might be made; for this is what is said in chapter xxv, last verse: Make it according to the pattern which was shown thee in the mount. But I shall speak more fully of this in chapter xxv, verse 18. Allegorically, this human form of God the legislator of the old law signified the incarnation of the Word, the legislator of the new law. Thus Lyra and others. To the argument of Abulensis it is answered that Deuteronomy chapter iv speaks not of this secret and private vision, which was made to Moses and the elders, but of the public one, which was made to the whole people, when God promulgated the decalogue to them from Sinai, chapter xix, 18, and chapter xx, 18: for the people were prone to idolatry; whence God did not wish to exhibit Himself to them in any form of a man or animal, lest they should make an idol of that form: but this danger was not present in Moses and the elders, as men wise and chosen. Whence it is clear from chapter xxv, last verse, that God did in fact exhibit to Moses the idea of the ark, the Cherubim and the whole tabernacle. AND UNDER HIS FEET.—For God appeared here as a magnificent man and prince. Note: In Scripture members of a man are attributed to God, not because God truly has a body, as the Anthropomorphites wished, but so that He might accommodate Himself to the imagination and senses of men, and so that He might signify something mystical and spiritual, aptly corresponding to them. Whence St. Augustine, epistle 111, which is on seeing God, thus says: When we hear wings in God, we understand protection; when hands, operation; when feet, presence; when eyes, vision; when face, knowledge by which He is made known. And in the same place he cites St. Jerome in Psalm xciii saying: God is wholly eye, because He sees all things; wholly hand, because He operates all things; wholly foot, because He is everywhere. Therefore see what he says: He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? or He that formed the eyes, doth He not consider? And he did not say: He that planted the ear; therefore He Himself does not have an ear: He that formed the eyes; therefore He Himself does not have eyes. But what did he say: He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eyes, doth He not consider? He took members, He gave operations. He treats of these things at length in the book On the Essence of Divinity, and St. Thomas, I part., Question iii, article 1. AND UNDER HIS FEET AS IT WERE A WORK OF SAPPHIRE STONE, AND AS THE SKY WHEN IT IS CLEAR,—that is to say, Under the feet of God there appeared as it were a pavement constructed of sapphire. By this symbol was signified the most splendid and excellent majesty of God, which far transcends all the brightness and splendor of heaven and gems, and treads them under foot. For sapphire is the gem of gems, as Abulensis says; whence among the Gentile gods sapphire was held in great reverence, because without it oracles were not given. And Pierius, Hieroglyph. 41: Sapphire, he says, was always held in great veneration among the ancients, inasmuch as it is manifest that by it empire and the highest priesthood were signified. Whence Aelianus, lib. xiv, cap. xxxiv, teaches that among the Egyptians the high priest (who was also the supreme judge) was accustomed to wear suspended from his neck an image of sapphire, which was called Truth. Moreover, even now the Supreme Pontiff sends a sapphire to each newly created Cardinal. And Rueus, who asserts: The supreme sapphire once had the highest authority among men, and grace among the gods, antiquity itself bears witness. For sapphire is most beautiful, because it shines with golden points like stars. Whence in Hebrew it is called sappir from the number, namely of stars; or, as St. Jerome says, from scaphir, that is, beautiful. Again, sapphire is effective against melancholy, and quartan fever, and melancholic humors, as Avicenna, Albert the Great, and Matthiolus, lib. v, cap. lxvi, testify. Finally, sapphire, as Galen and Dioscorides say, when drunk by those struck by a scorpion, is beneficial, and is drunk against internal ulcerations, and causes broken membranes to heal, and prevents excrescences in the eyes and pustules. Sapphire therefore is a symbol of divine vigor and joy. Anagogically, these things foreshadowed the solidity, purity and height of the heavenly kingdom, which is promised to us by God. Thus Rupertus and St. Augustine, Quaest. cii. For the color of sapphire is blue, sprinkled with golden stars, so that it represents the appearance of the sky itself. Now the blue color, which we behold in the sky, is nothing other than the profundity of the highest light: this therefore aptly signifies the immense deity, as it were a sea of incomprehensible light, in the sight and contemplation of which the vision of the human mind seems plainly to vanish. Again, it signifies the serenity and eternity of divine blessedness. Allegorically, this sapphire footstool of God signified the most pure brightness of the Blessed Virgin, in whom, as in a footstool, the Son of God deigned to sit, when he was conceived and born in her. Thus R. Moses and R. Haccados in Galatinus, lib. vii, cap. ultim. In the Hebrew and Septuagint for stone is brick; they have, and under his feet as it were a work of sapphire brick. But this brick here is taken for stone; whence Vatablus, the Chaldean, R. David, and others here translate, as it were a work of sapphire stone. This brick therefore was a stone, that is a gem, as to its nature and splendor; but it was also a brick, as to its square, or rather rectangular form; for it was an image of the future mercy seat. Add: this stone appeared to be a brick, as to its whiteness; for hence the Hebrew brick is called lebena, that is, white, because when baked in a furnace it becomes white. Finally, by the brick, says R. Solomon, God signified that he was mindful of the affliction of the Hebrews in the brick and mud of Egypt, and had now changed it into sapphire. Finally, from this place the Hebrews hand down or conjecture that the stone tablets, on which God inscribed the law, were of sapphire, as I shall say cap. xxxi, vers. ult.
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NOR UPON THOSE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHO HAD WITHDRAWN FAR OFF DID HE SEND HIS HAND, AND THEY SAW GOD, AND ATE AND DRANK. — Thus read the Roman and all other manuscripts, except the Complutensian, which reads wrongly, nor upon them, etc., in the contrary sense. The meaning is: Upon the elders who had withdrawn from the people and had ascended the mountain with Moses, God did not send His hand, that is, God did not strike, did not harm the princes of Israel who had seen Him; for they ate and drank afterwards, as if joyful and exulting in this august and delightful vision of God, which was evidence that they had not been slain or harmed by God, although it is written: No man shall see me and live. Whence formerly it was a common understanding and fear that he who saw God would be struck dead by God; an example of which is in Manoah, Judges chapter xiii, verse 22, and in the people hearing the law, Deuteronomy chapter v, verse 24. Rightly therefore does Moses here say that these elders saw God and yet were not dead or harmed. Whence the Chaldean renders: To the princes of the children of Israel there was no harm; for the Hebrew word atsile, signifying those separated and withdrawn far off, also signifies magnates and princes, who are separated from the people by honor and rank. Now to send one's hand upon someone signifies to strike or harm someone. Vatablus follows the Chaldean and frequently the moderns, as if Moses were saying: It was not permitted to the people and those who were with the people to see God in some sensible form, lest they fashion an idol of Him for themselves; but to the elders separated from the people, and, as the Septuagint renders, the chosen of the children of Israel, it was permitted thus to see God: for these were men prudent, faithful, steadfast, and fearing God. Abulensis explains this otherwise, namely thus: The elders of the people saw the God of Israel, and yet God Himself did not send His hand upon those who had withdrawn far off, that is, neither did He hide Himself from the people withdrawn far away, but rather manifested Himself to them, as also to the elders; for to put one's hand sometimes among the Hebrews signifies to hide, as is evident from Exodus, chapter xxxiii, verse 22. But this sense is more remote and obscure; therefore the former is the genuine one.
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MOSES ASCENDING INTO THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD, — namely into the higher parts of Mount Sinai: whence afterwards to its very summit, to receive the tables of the law, he was called on the seventh day. Thus Hugo. AND JOSHUA HIS MINISTER. — See here Moses content with one minister. Therefore Moses, prince of the people, leader, lawgiver and pontiff in his office, lived a poor life, using one minister, Joshua; he did not wish therefore for a multitude of servants, horses, and chariots. Moreover, he lived on the same food, indeed the same portion of food as the other Hebrews, namely one omer of manna daily, so that he might give to posterity and to princes an example of modesty, frugality, and continence, by which he might make himself equal to the people as much as possible, and not burden them with tributes for his own luxury; nor did he strive to exalt himself among them ambitiously, and to rule over them proudly.
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HE SAID TO THE ELDERS: WAIT HERE. — Here namely, with the people; for here is taken broadly, and perhaps Moses pointed with his finger to the very camps of the people, as if to say: It has sufficed, O elders, that you have accompanied me thus far and have adored the Lord; remain here, do not ascend with me, but return to the camps, that you may preside over the people and keep them in order; for in the camps shortly after Aaron fashioned a calf for the people, and therefore was found by Moses, who alone descended from the mountain with Joshua, and was rebuked by him. IF ANY QUESTION SHALL ARISE, YOU SHALL REFER IT TO THEM. — Hebrew: a man of words, that is of causes or disputes, who namely has some cause or dispute, shall come before them, namely before Hur and Aaron, so that they may decide the cause: the people therefore from the camps to the elders, these to Hur and Aaron, are commanded here to refer questions that arise in Moses' absence.
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AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD DWELT UPON SINAI. — Glory, that is the majesty of the Lord manifesting itself through wonderful sights, namely darkness and fire. COVERING IT WITH A CLOUD FOR SIX DAYS. — God willed that through these six days Moses be withdrawn and cleansed from every earthly thought and care, and be elevated by hope and prayer to the contemplation of heavenly things, and thus be prepared for colloquy with God, or rather with an angel.
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AND THE APPEARANCE OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD WAS LIKE A BURNING FIRE. — The word like here does not signify a similitude, but the truth of the thing, as also in John chapter i, verse 14: We saw him as the only-begotten. And I Corinthians chapter iii, verse 15: He shall be saved, yet so as by fire. And I Peter chapter ii, verse 13: Whether to the king as excelling; here therefore it was a true appearance of fire, and true fire. This vision is different from that of the elders, verse 10. For here all the people saw only the appearance of fire, as also in chapter xx, verse 18. The cloud therefore covered the whole mountain, but on its summit the appearance of fire, which was the sign of God, stood out, and this vision remained for the full 40 days during which Moses was on the mountain, and this lest the Israelites should despair of his return.
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AND MOSES ENTERING INTO THE MIDST OF THE CLOUD, ASCENDED INTO THE MOUNTAIN. — Having left Joshua on the mountain, Moses ascended higher to the summit of the mountain, to converse with the angel of God acting in God's stead, and to receive the tables of the law. Tropologically, he who seeks God and desires to converse with Him should withdraw into the cloud, that is, into the secret place of the heart, despise all things that are seen, seek high things, transfer his mind to invisible things. Thus Nyssenus and Rupertus. Thus in the Lives of the Fathers, book vi, near the end, the elders say: When Moses entered into the cloud, he spoke with God; but when he came out of the cloud, he was with the people. So also the monk, when he is in his cell, speaks with God; but going forth from the cell, he is with demons. Again, in book v, chapter vii, number 38, an elder says: The cell of a monk is that furnace of Babylon, where the three youths found the Son of God; but it is also the pillar of cloud, from which God spoke to Moses. But that is a golden saying of the blessed Nilus, who was a disciple of St. Chrysostom: He remains impenetrable to the arrows of the enemy who loves quiet; but he who mingles with the multitude will receive frequent wounds. AND HE WAS THERE FORTY DAYS. — It is added in Deuteronomy ix, 9, that Moses during those forty days ate nothing, drank nothing; for Moses then lived by the word and conversation of God, and by God's power, with Joshua sustaining him. Joshua, waiting for Moses' return for the same number of days, remained in his place (from which Moses had departed from him, being called to the summit), devoted, as it is right to believe, to contemplation after the example of Moses; but whether Joshua, similarly to Moses, lived forty days without food and drink is uncertain. Abulensis thinks that Joshua was nourished there by manna falling and by the torrent, which is said in Deuteronomy ix, 21 to descend from the mountain. Some think that Moses, besides the six days, of which verse 16 speaks, spent moreover another forty days on the mountain with God, so that in total he was there for forty-six days. But it is more true that he was altogether only forty days on the mountain, and this is gathered from Deuteronomy ix, 9, 11 and 18. The six days, therefore, of which verse 16 speaks, are comprehended within these forty. Note: The number forty is frequent and sacred in Scripture for the fasting of Moses, Elijah, Christ. Again, the Hebrews had 42 mansions or stations in the desert; moreover, 40 years of wandering in the same, during which, continually lacking earthly food, they were nourished with heavenly manna, until they came to the promised land: just as Christians fast for 40 days tending toward the resurrection; which days of fasting, on account of that ancient figure of the wandering and stations of the Hebrews in the desert, are also called stations by the Fathers, as by Cassian, Collation xxi, chapters xxviii and xxix, where he also calls Lent the annual tenth, because namely it is the tenth part of the year, and thus through it we pay, as it were, tithes of the year to God. Thus also they are called by Hermas, who is also called the Shepherd, book iii, chapter v: What is fasting? he says, It is a station, because it is as it were a standing day for fasting; and by Ambrose, sermon 25: Stations, he says, are called fastings, because standing and remaining in them, we repel enemies lying in wait; and by Tertullian, book On Prayer at the end, where he says: The station is to be ended upon receiving the body of the Lord (for formerly Christians gathered together almost daily in the evening for prayer, as it were for a station, and in it, fasting, they performed the supper of Christ and communicated; for they fasted until evening, namely until the supper of the Eucharist). But if station takes its name from military usage (for we are also soldiers of God), certainly no sadness or joy befalling the camp breaks the stations of soldiers; for joy will administer discipline more willingly, sadness more carefully. Thus Tertullian; the same, book On Fasting: The fourth and sixth days, he says, are stations, that is, fastings. See the note of Pammelius on the book of Tertullian On Prayer, at the end. Thus Simeon Stylites — who stood day and night for eighty years upon a column, and spent twenty-eight complete Lents without any food or drink, so that he deservedly seemed a marvel of the world, and not so much a man as an angel. But hear more witnesses, and they are men: Lucian in the Philopater is a witness that Christians were accustomed to observe the Lenten fast in such a way that they would go ten days without food. Gregory of Nazianzus writes to Hellenius that there were many monks in Pontus who would abstain from food for entire twenty days and nights, imitating half the fast of Christ and Moses, and he testifies that one of them was subject to him. St. Augustine, in epistle 86 to Casulanus, relates that he knew some who would observe a perpetual fast beyond a week; and he adds: "That someone has reached the very number of forty, we have been assured by brothers worthy of faith." St. Jerome, epistle 7 to Laeta, concerning the instruction of her daughter, forbidding the burdens of abstinence at tender age: "In Lent, however," he says, "the sails of continence must be unfurled, and all the reins of the charioteer must be loosened to the horses hastening." The same, writing to Marcella about Asella: "When," he says, "she was nourished throughout the whole year by continuous fasting, remaining thus for two or three days; then truly in Lent she would spread the sails of her vessel, joining almost all weeks with a joyful countenance, and thus she reached the age of fifty, so that she did not suffer pain in her stomach, nor was she tormented by injury to her viscera." The Emperor Justinian lived a harsh life in Lent: For two days he abstained from food; desiring food, he wished wine, bread, and such other foods to be absent; he ate only cabbage and wild herbs steeped in salt and vinegar; in drink he had water alone, and he did not use even these to satiety; but having tasted the food sought, he soon set it aside, not consuming what was sufficient for nature, as Procopius says, in book I of the Description of the Buildings of the Emperor Justinian; and thus armed with fasting he overcame the Persians, Goths, Vandals, and other barbarians. The ancient monks in Lent would withdraw into the desert, wholly intent upon fasts and contemplations, as Zosimas relates in the Life of St. Mary of Egypt. St. Francis, besides the Paschal Lent, observed two other fasts: one before the feast of the Assumption, in honor of the Blessed Virgin; another after that feast, in honor of the Holy Angels: whence at the end of this fast, in place of reward, he received the sacred stigmata of Christ, impressed upon him by a Seraph. Thus St. Bonaventure in his Life. The monks of Tabennesium spent Lent on foods not cooked by fire; Paul the Abbot of Galatia with a sixth of a measure of lentils and a small vessel of water; Adolius eating only after five days; Macarius of Alexandria eating nothing except a few raw cabbage leaves on Sunday, never bending the knee, never reclining, always standing. Thus it is found in the Lives of the Fathers. Symbolically Bede: "Moses was," he says, "with the Lord for forty days, so that by this number he might learn that only those can fulfill the Decalogue whom the truth of Evangelical grace, to be described in four books (the Gospels), would aid; for four times ten makes forty. Again, by this number forty were signified the ten precepts, which Moses received from God in these forty days, to be divulged in the four regions of the world, that is to all nations, in the time of the Gospel."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 14 « Moys? quoque dizit : Ascende ad Dominum, tu et Aaron, Nadab et Abtu » , quibus uti 28,1 Sam. adiungit Eleazar et lthamar, omnes se. filios Aaron (6,93), « et septuaginta senes ex Israel, et adorabitis procul ». Affirmat Ps. Ion. hoc effatum factum ad diem septimum. Assumuntur senzores non omnes, sed numero sacro universitatem. designante septuaginta de senibus, nomine totius populi post feritum foedus ascensuri ad Dominum et in eius praesentiam admittendi. Si memineris, quae ad Gen. 46,8 sqq. dicebamus, recenseri ib. nomina non tam eorum, qui actu cum Iacob Acssntuh inegressi sint, sed capita ERN quae ex eius lumbis prodierint, Si MO E insisti 1b. v. 97 numero sedo illorum virorum : probabile iudieabis septuaginta h. l. seniores sumptos esse singulos e singulis familiis Gen. 46 recensitis. Cf. 18,21 et etiam Num. 11,16. 25. Assumuntur Aaron et filii, sacerdotes consecrandi ideoque magis Deo familares ipsis senibus futuri.
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v. 9 « Solusque Moyses ascendet ad Dominum », .— sed reliqui textus appropinquabit, quo verbo tollitur apparens intér v. 1 et 2 contradictio, quasi seniores ascendere simul et non ascendere iubeantur — « ef ?//i non appropinquabunt; nec populus ascendet. cum eo » seu, quod in idem recidit , cumeis (LXX). « Vide disparitatem : populus nec appropinquat nec ascendit; Aaron et septuaginta senes ascendunt quidem, sed non appropinquant ; Moyses autem et ascendit et appropinquat » (Ca:.). Unum, quod hic traditur mandatum, successive postea exsecutioni mandatur ita, ut primum v. 3-11 Moyses cum senioribus ascendat, sed non appropinquet, postea solus rursum et ascendat et appropinquet.
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v. 3 « Venit ergo Moyses et narravit. plebi omnia verba: Domini atque iudicia », cap. 20-23; « responditque omnis populus una voce : omnia verba Domini, quae locutus est, faciemus ». LXX et audiemus i. e. erimus obedientes, uti v. 7; similiter Syr. ; ubi cf. Aug. | « Postquam populus se accipere legem Dei professus est, in tabulas CELU A NE LPOUUNUS CERE RR ERNST RI RR EIE 2 INS Fen tis I " VERUS CAES Car MEER e TIO Mog Rd UNES ; : id redigendum fuit, ut maneret rei gestae memoria; confirmandum etiam foedus illud solemnibus et authenticis ceremoniis » (Calm.).
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v. & « Scripsit autem Moyses untversos sermones Domini ». Cum Tost. communiter censent interpretes, Moysen non totam ab initio Genesis sacram narrationem tum scripsisse, quod sine miraculo tam brevi tempore haud potuit fieri; sed, qui est obvius nostri textus sensus, sermones Dei cap. 20-23. Quod dein v. 7 scriptum vocatur « volumen foederis ». Ab eo scripto eximunt aliqui decalogum , quod eum populus auribus audierit promulgatum , isque mox a Deo tabulis lapideis fuerit inscribendus. Sed merito reponit Ca?., et Moysen tum ignorasse Deum scripturum decalogum in tabulis, eumque « volumini foederis » fuisse inscribendum , quod esset pars foederis omnino praecipua. Porro, cum hoc volumen pars sit Pentateuchi, intelliges Pentateuchum non individue esse scriptum, sed aliis alias partes temporibus. « E/ mane consurgens » — quod mane Cai. censet non necessario idem esse, atque « prostridie mane »; at-1s hie certe est sensus obvius — « aedificavit altare » secundum normam 20,294 a Deo traditam (Cam.)« ad radices montis , et duodecim titulos per duodecim tribus Israel ». E patriarcharum actis novimus, insigniora Dei beneficia erecto altari vel titulo vel utroque celebrari consuevisse. Titulus autem « dicitur lapis insignis, elevatus ad manifestandum aliquid de loco » (Tost.).
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v. 5 « Misttque iuvenes » — particula nw prodit, illos iuvenes ad id muneris adhiberi consuevisse (Dz/Im.) — « [de] filiis Israel, et obtulerunt holocausta , immolaveruntque victimas pacificas Domino , vitulos ». lud fifizs Israel innuit, non ex una solum tribu illos iuvenes esse lectos. ^2 non necessario iuvenem aetate significat. Quos Chad. scribit primogenitos (2) explicatque Ps. Jon. fuisse ipsos sacerdotes antiqui ordinis. Verum id falso asseri, patet cum inde quod ?wvenes vocentur oppositione quadam ad sacerdotes 19,22. 94, tum quod h. 1l. sacrificium solummodo praeparent : victimas immolantes, dum Moyses sanguinem aspergens sacerdotis partes agat.
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v. 1 « Assumensque volumen foederis, legit audiente populo, qut dixerunt : Omnia, quae locutus est Dominus, faciemus et erimus obedientes ».
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v. 8 « Ille vero sumptum » e crateribus (Cai.) « sanguinem resperstu in populum et ait : Hic est sanguis foederis, quod pepigit Dominus vobiscum super cunctis sermonibus his ». Idem factum his refertur Hebr. 9,19 sq. : « Lecto enim omni mandato legis a Moyse universo populo, accipiens sanguinem vitulorum et hircorum cum aqua et lana coccinea et hyssopo, ipsum quoque librum et omnem populum aspersit dicens : Hie sanguis testamenti, quod mandavit ad vos Deus ». Aspergillum fecit de hyssopo et lana coccinea (Sylv. ; cf. 12,92; Lev. 14); sanguini aquam admiscuit, ne coneresceret (Sy[v.); « liber sicut et altare repraesentabat Deum » (lans.). « Foedera variis ritibus confirmabantur : donum dabatur et aecipiebatur (Gen. 21,27 sqq.); manducabant paciscentes simul (Gen. 26,30; 2 Reg. 3,20), quandoque solum sal et panem (Lev. 2,13; Num. 18,19; 2 Par. 13,5); inter dissectorum animalium partes transibant paciscentes (Gen. 15,9 sqq.); imprimis sacrificabant una et epulo saerifieali communieabant (Gen. 31,55; 1 Reg. 11,15), et ambo sanguine victimae attingebantur » (Kn.). Aspersione in populum faeta sanguis victimae applicatur populo, sicut aspersione altaris idem applicatur Deo. Aspersione igitur Deus et populus fiunt unum, foedus absolvitur, populus foederis obligationes subit, iura acquirit. Dicitur sanguis foederis, quo sc. foedus dedicabatur et confirmabatur (Sy/v.); eratque typus sanguinis Christi (Bonfr.). « Ad haec Moysis, veteris legis latoris, verba allusit Christus novae legis lator, quando 1n calicis consecratione dixit : Hic est sanguis meus novi testamenti ete. Nota igitur, quod, sicut proprio sermone, et non per tropum dictum est a Moyse : Hic est sanguis foederis; ita et a. Christo proprio sermone, et neutiquam figurato, dictum est : Hic est sanguis meus novi testamenti ete. » (Est.).
24:9
v. 9 « Ascenderuntque Moyses et Aaron, Nadab et Abiu, et septuaginta de senioribus Israel », obsecuti divino v. 1 mandato (Ca?.). Intendebat autem Deus, post legem cap. 20-23 datam; acceptatam, instrumento consignatam et sanguinis aspersione confirmatam , Moysi tradere tabulas, quae manerent in testimonium a parte Dei foederis in perpetuum confirmati. Tabulae vero decem praeceptorum efficax fu- . turae erant documentum, Moysen reliqua etiam mandata a Deo accepisse (Tost.).
24:10
v. 10 « Et viderunt Deum. Israel ». Verba sunt omnino perspicua : quid prodest cum CAa/d. scribere gloriam Dei, aut cum LXX, vidisse locum, ubi constiterat Deus? Viderunt autem procul, non appropinquantes (v. 9). « Et sub pedibus etus quasi opus lapidis sapphárini, et quasi coelum, cum serenum est ». nz25 non est idem atque 15S (Vulg. Chald.), quae vox voci vzb praefigitur Ez. 1,26 et 10,1 (cf. Knabenbauer ib.). Verte : quas? opus lateritium ex sapphiro. Apparebat ergo pavimentum solidum eius formae, acsi e lateribus esset compactum , eius speciei, quasi sapphirus esset et quasi ?psum coelum claritate. Descriptio prodit, visum esse Deum forma humana (Lyr.), cuius certe pedes conspiciebantur, sedentem in throno. Utrum vero truncus et thronus prae fulgore aut nube videri non potuerint, an testes ob reverentiam ab illis describendis tempéraverint, non liquet. v. 11 « Nec super eos, qui procul recesserant de. filiis Israel, misit manum suam.» Deus, illos non pereussit, punivit pro inobedientia cap. 19; « videruntque Deum » (LXX : $022» £y x xoxo xoà 0so0!), « et comederunt ac biberunt ». Nomen UN legitur secus solum Is. 41,9, ubi de extremis seu remotissimis partibus terrae scribitur (ab OxN im latere collocare , seponere). Vulg. versionem unico, qui comparari potest, textui utique conformavit; item contextui cum cap. 19 sq., qui fere postulat aliquid h. 1l. dici de iis, qui ib. Deo inobedientes fuisse narrabantur. Omnino autem repudianda est conjectura Verc. corrigentlis « qui proceres erant » pro « qui proeul recesserant » , cuius correctionis ipse fatetur nullos reperiri latinos testes. Aliae versiones item coniecturas protulere : LXX £zuéxiov, Chald. principes. Item Syr. senes : pro senibus usus sane esset scriptor eadem voce atque v. 1. 9, non alia eaque perquam obscura. Neque intelligi possent omnes, quiibi praesentes aderant, i. e. senes cum Moyse etc. : primum quia id scriptor unico suffixo clarissime expressurus erat, dein quia lectorum nullus exspectare poterat Deum in Moysen extenturum esse manum, qui continuo nubem intrabat. Ergo expressio primarie designat homines aliquos praeter illos v. 1 enumeratos; quo ad versionem Vulg. revoeamur eos omnes exprimentis , qui 20,18 « steterant procul ». Verborum comederunt et biberunt non is est sensus (Vat.) : viso Deo non tamen sunt exanimati, cuius rei indubium argumentum est, eos postea cibo et potu more solito esse refectos; sed agitur de epulo sacro, quod victimas pacificas v. 5 consequebatur : a visione Dei reduces, eodem die 23,18 sacrificium incoeptum complevere perfuncti epulo sacro.
24:12
v. 19 « Dixit autem Dominus ad Moysen : Ascende ad me in montem , et esto ibi ». Ultima verba produnt diutius Moysen ibi esse mansurum, quem reapse nonnisi septima die v. 16 Deus vocavit de nube ad gloriae suae aspectum (Ma/v.). Quare Moyses v. 1^ definit, quomodo causae graviores se absente sint expediendae (Ca?.). Quaerit autem Tost., quando hoc ascendendi mandatum datum sit Moysi, et merito censet idem esse cum illo v. 2; quodsi enim diversum esse supponatur, non perspicitur, inquit, quid Moyses, uti v. 2 iussus fuerat, ascendens omnino egerit. Igitur post epulum v. 11, quod mandatum v. 1 sq. nondum totum explesset, rursus Moysen, ut ascendat, invitatur; seniores hac vice non accersentur. « Daboque tibi tabulas lapideas, et legem ac mandata, quae scripsi, ut doceas eos ». Hebr. : ad docendum eos : non solus Moyses docebit, sed singuli docebunt suos filios et nepotes (Deut. 4,9 et passim). In tabulis erant sola « decem verba » (Deut. 4,13; 10,4), i. e. decalogus. Et patet ; nam tabulae a Moyse manibus deferebantur (Ex. 32,15; Deut. 10,3) et, licet essent « Scriptae ex utraque parte » (Ex. 32,15), non poterant omnia, quae cap. 20-23 leguntur, inscripta habere. Ridicule Ps. Ion. illis tabulis inscripta fuisse affirmat » reliqua verba legis et sexcenta tredecim praecepta ». Apte Tost. legem ac mandata pronuntiat esse $» óux óvotv, Haec expressio copula iungitur voci praecedenti, neque alius esse potest sensus, quam legem ac mandata inscripta esse tabulis. Ceterum copulam ignorant Sam. LXX, secundum quos expressio illa erit accipienda tamquam epexegesis aliqua, explicans tabulas. Urget Dillm., decalogum non posse adstrui esse illam legem et mandata, quae Israelitae essent docendi, cum ea ipsi brevi ante e Dei ore audivissent. At repetenda eratea doctrina et ad posteros transmittenda, ad quem finem utilissimus sane futurus erat textus authenticus Dei manu exaratus. Praeterea omnia fere, quae cap. 20-25 habentur, unius alteriusve mandati e decem sunt penitior declaratio et applicatio, ut tabulae ad haec quoque inculcanda usui futurae essent.
Arg. — Moyses rursus ascendit cum Iosue. Septimo die solus Moyses ad appropinquandum Deo invitatur, et cum Deo quadraginta diebus perseverat.
24:13
v. 13 « Surrexerunt Moyses et Iosue minister eius ». LXX 6$ xagsevaxoc aócO. Ag. Symm. Theod. $ &svcovgee abxco. Vox certe servum dicit, quandoque in saeris faciendis. Sed Num. 11,98 dicitur Iosue nv:3 n?v3, 111215, ut igitur Iosue fuerit e numero 2*2 Moysis. Quae vox electos, tuvenes sonat, imo bellatores (Is. 9.16 ; 31,8; Ier. 18,21). Adverte etiam 17,9 losue prodire ad proelium tamquam exercitus ducem. Nullius ante Deut. 31 revelationis socius assumitur Iosue, et gratuito cum 7^ost. plures inferunt, semper cum Moyse ascendisse Iosue , licet id h. 1l. tantummodo exprimatur. Rationem, cur hae una vice cum Moyse ascendisse scribatur, vix assignare poterit, qui non perspexerit, quae de antiqui ordinis sacerdotum in Moysen invidiis dicebamus. Decreverat igitur Deus superstitionem vituli aurel1 permittere, quo illi sacerdotes pro meritis perimerentur. At, si fidus magister exercitus 1n castris perduce bellatores, Àmprimis Ephraimitae et, quid agerent nesci, nihil omnino erant acturi. Id ut fieret abductus est in montem Iosue. « Ascendensque Moyses in montem Dei »,
24:14
v. 1& « senzoribus ait : Exspectate hic, donec revertamur ad vos ». Qui v. 19 de eodem atque v. 9 agi ascensu autumant, difficultatem habent in voce Aic. Ubi Calm. putat, manu demonstrantem subiecta castra dixisse A?c (!); aut reapse ea vocula eundem significasse locum, quo ipse v. 9 cum senioribus ascendisset, quod se non ita diu in vertice montis commoraturum putaverit; sed eo longas moras trahente, seniores in castra descendisse. Nos voce ic intelligimus ipsa castra, in quae Moyses v. 11 ad epulum sacrum descenderat, et unde v. 19 a Deo arcessitur. « Habetis Aaron et Hur » (17,10) « vobiscum : si quid natum fuerit quaestionis, referetis ad eos ». Feliciter Vwg. sensum reddit Hebr. : quicumque dominus verborum, appropinquet ad eos. Porro verba etiam significant causas, rixas : cf. 18,16-19. 26; 22,8. Causae minores, uti antea, ad seniores 18,24 insti- tutos deferebantur; at causae maiores, quae 18,292 Moysi reservabantur, eo absente Aaroni et Hur definiendae conceduntur.
24:15
v. 15 « Cumque ascendisset Moyses, operuit nubes montem »,
24:16
v. 16 « et habitavit gloria Domini super Sinai », « maiestas eius visibiliter se manifestavit » (Ians.), « tegens illum nube sex diebus. Septimo autem die vocavit eum de medio caliginis ». « Cur non primo die ipsum vocaverit, ratio est, ut ad colloquium Dei familiare ac diuturnum sex diebus se disponeret per orationem et contemplationem » (Sylv.). Merito Maílv. Deum vocasse Moysen so/wm infert ex eo, quod. 32,17 Iosue deprehendatur fuisse ignarus eorum, quae Deus Moysi dixerat. Gloriam Domini Bonfr. interpretatur solum ignem v. 17 ; melius Men. caliginem et ignem, cum v. 16 gloria Domini dicatur texisse montem nube.
24:17
v. 17 « Erat autem species gloriae Domni quasi ignis ardens » — Hebr. devorans — « super verticem montis in conspectu filiorum Israel ». Ps Ion. : « Et videbant et admirabantur filii Israel » de castris portentum conspicientes.
24:18
v. 18 « /ngressusque Moyses medium nebulae, ascendit in montem » altius, « et futt ibi quadraginta. diebus et quadraginta noctibus », omnino ieiunus Deut. 9,9. An sex illi dies intra quadraginta connumerentur, otiosa quaestio est. Fortasse quadraginta est numerus rotundus. IIl. DIVINA. DE NOVIS SACRIS PROCURANDIS ALLOQUIA Ex. 25-31. Ordo sequentium universim hic est. 25,1-7 dona a populo conferri iubentur. Dein 25,8-40 describuntur res sacrae : arca, mensa panum propositionis, candelabrum; 26,1-30 sanctuarium, in quo res illae sacrae sint recondendae; 26,31-97,8 sanctuar ornatus, sc. vela et holocaustorum altare; 27,9-19 1d, quod sanctuarium separat a locis non sacris, 1. e. atrum. Interiecto 27,20 sq. mandato de lucernae oleo, cap. 98 describit sacerdotum vestes, cap. 29 eorum consecrationis ritum. Agit porro 30,1-10 de altari thymiamatis, v. 17-21 de labro aeneo. Inter quae v. 11-16 inseritur monitum, unde pecunia pro sanctuario necessaria comparanda sit. v. 22-33 traditur modus conficiendi et adhibendi olei unctionis , v. 34-38 thymiamatis. 31,1-11 designantur faciendorum artifices Beseleel alüque. v. 12-18 inculcatur sabbatum. Verum haec omnia diversis continentur d?vin?s alloquiis : 25,1-30,10 unum est continuum divinum alloquium, cui adnectuntur alloquia minora 30,11-16. 17-21. 22-33. 34-38; 31,1-11. 12-17. panum propositionis, candelabrum, altare thymiamatis, quae omnia sunt aurea vel deaurata; 38,1-20 altare holocaustorum et labrum, quae ambo sunt aenea, et tabernaculi atrium. Sequitur v. 21-31 generalis conspectus. Item post confectas 39,1-30 sacras vestes, habetur v. 31-43 generalis conspectus. Cap. 40 tabernaculum erieitur et, post traditas Lev. 1-7 variorum sacrifieiorum leges, Lev. 8 sq. Aaron et filii sacerdotes consecrantur. Porro prioris ordinis 25,1-30,10 ratio satis perspicua est. Post descriptam arcam, mensam, candelabrum describitur, quo illa continentur, tabernaculum; post altare holocausti atrium illud concludens. Sanetuario his constituto providetur de sacerdotibus, ubi ante consecrationis ritum describi oportebat consecrandorum vestes. At minus planus est cap. 30 ordo. Putaverit quis, de altari thymiamatis et labro. aeneo agendum fuisse statim post altare holocaustorum : includuntur quippe haee omnia atrio. Dein inter altare thymiamatis et labrum aeneum minus commode insertum cernitur monitum illud de pecunia comparanda. Quod monitum utique affine est iis, quae mox de oleo unctionis et thymiamate conficiendis subiieiuntur. Fueritne ordo rerum cap. 30 primitus idem, atque nune est, necne, non satis liquet. 1. Alloqutum matus : de tabernaculo e:usque cultu Ex. 25,1-30,10. Insignis est huius pericopae unitas. Post indicta populo v. 1-7 dona, v. 8 duplicem cui illa impendantur enuntiat finem : « facientque mihi sanctuarium — et habitabo in medio eorum ». Illico sanctuarii construendi canonem tradit v. 9 : « iuxta omnem similitudinem tabernaculi, quod ostendam tibi, et omnium vasorum in cultum eius, sic facietis ». Isque canon, quoties ab uno articulo ad alterum transit plar, quod tibi monstratum est in monte » (25,40; 26,30 ; 27,8). Articulus igitur primus 25,10-40 deseribit res sacras tres, quarum recondendarum ergo totum sanctuarium exstruitur; secundus 26,1-30 describit sanctuarium ; tertius 26,31-27,8 sanctuarii ornatum, vela et holocaustorum altare; quartus 27,9-19 sanctuartt extrema , atrium. 27,90 « Praecipe filiis Israel » resumitur quasi alloquium 25,2 « Loquere filiis Israel ». At non vacuam domum habitat Deus. Quare 27,20 sq. praesentis. numinis symbolum instituit lumen; cap. 28 m?nistrorum vestes describit; clauditurque uterque articulus formula « Lex perpetua etc. ». Cap. 29 descripta münistrorum consecratione procedit ad describendum eorum perpetuum officium vw. 38 sqq., quod est sacrificium quotidianum. Quibus observatis habebitur optatus effectus v. hb : « Et habitabo 1n medio filiorum Israel eroque eis Deus ». Concluditque v. 46 solemni formula : « Ego Iahve Deus eorum ». Pro coronide tandem redit oratio ad lucernas, a quibus ea 27,90 sq. proficiscebatur, commemoratque alterum perpetuum. sacerdotum officium EX. 25,1 soo. 259 30,1-10 thymiamatis, quoties lucernae parentur, in a/tari thymiamatis ineendendi. Ubi item v. 10 commemoratur sanguis eidem altari semel quotannis a pontifice aspergendus. Arg. — Conferri iubentur dona pretiosa, e quibus secundum exemvasis suis, permanens Dei sedes futura, in qua habitet in medio populi sul. : Cap. XXV
24:1
Abiu (Hebrew 'Abihû 'my father is He'; Septuagint: 'Abioû)
ABIU (Hebrew 'Abihû 'my father is He'; Septuagint: 'Abioû). - Second-born of Aaron (Ex. 6:23), he followed Moses on Sinai with Aaron and the 70 elders (Ex. 24:1-9). A. and his three brothers are the first Israelite priests. …
He went up to Sinai with Aaron, Abihu and the 70 elders (Ex. 24:1 ff., 9 ff.). …
1. Scripture. — A few of the more characteristic testimonies of Scripture suffice: in the Old Testament: the call and the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-22), the revelation of the burning bush and of Sinai (Ex. 3:1-17; 19:1 ff.; 24:1), the call and the teaching of the prophets (1 Kings 3:1-21; Is. 1:2; 2:1; Jer. 1:4-19). In the New Testament the existence of a divine revelation is clearly taught by Jesus Christ …
Sanhedrin (Συνέδριον « Assembly »)
… Although the most ancient texts are not in agreement, it is held that the members totaled 71, perhaps with reference to Ex. 24:1, 9; Num. 11:16. By the term "high priests" (οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς) were understood the high priest
24:4
… 8:20; Abraham erects altars at Shechem, near Bethel, at Mamre, on Moriah, Gen. 12:7 ff.; 13:18; 22:9; Isaac at Beersheba, Gen. 26:25; Jacob at Bethel, Gen. 28:18; 35:14; Moses at Rephidim, with twelve masšebāth, at the foot of Sinai (Ex. 17:15; 24:4). The primitive form seems to have been a rocky block or a heap of unhewn stones; then the Mosaic Law sanctioned the use of rough stones, forbidding the placing of steps upon it (Ex. …
… In the Bible it is commemorative of a divine benefit (Gen. 28, 18, 22; 31, 13; 35, 14), or of a covenant (between Jacob and Laban: Gen. 31, 45, 51 f.; of the covenant of Sinai: Ex. 24, 4); it is a symbol of the worship of the true God (Is. 19, 19). As a funerary stele (II Sam. 18, 18; Gen. 35, 20), it is still in use today among Muslims. …
In the book itself there is found from time to time the explicit attribution to Moses of some part: after the victory over the Amalekites Moses received from God the order to "write this in a book for a memorial" (Ex. 17:14); later he "wrote" (ibid. 24:4) the laws of the "code of the Covenant" and the "terms of the Covenant" (ibid. 34:27), "recorded" the stages of the advance into Transjordan (Num. 33:2), "wrote" and "delivered to …
… the ancient priestly function of the head of family remained in the immolation of the paschal lamb (v.) (Ex. 12:3-11. 21-27). It seems that true priests existed in Israel before the consecration of Aaron, since they appear at Sinai (Ex. 19:22-24; 24:4-5). The existence of a priestly class is already affirmed by the most ancient collection of laws, the "Book of the Covenant" (Ex. 20:24; 21:13; 22:8: allusions to a sanctuary with …
… By means of sacrifice, Yahweh sealed the covenant of alliance with his people (ibid. 24:4-8), and as a sign of favor he caused fire to descend from heaven upon Aaron's first sacrifice, consuming it (Lev. 9:24).
24:5
Levites (Heb. Lēwī, pl. Lēwījīm; Gr. Lēwījī, pl. -ai)
At the holocaust offered by Moses in the ratification of the Sinaitic covenant, young first-born sons acted with him as representatives of the "priestly people" (Ex. 24:5), perhaps as assistants to the priests, who are not named here but appear already to exist (Ex. 19:22-24). These functions were later replaced (cf. Num. 3:12-13; hence the prescriptions …
… by unbloody offerings (libation of wine, offering of flour kneaded with oil, Num. 15:4-11). Often together with the holocaust a peace sacrifice was offered: a rite of festive intimacy that followed the act of pure adoration to Yahweh (cf. Ex. 18:12; 24:5; Josh. 8:31; Judg. 20:26; 21:4; 1 Sam. 6:14 ff., etc.).
24:6
… After invoking God, the bishop prepares and blesses the Gregorian water, in which salt, wine and ash are mixed, probably in imitation of the rite of Moses (Ex. 24, 6 ff.). …
24:9
Aaron (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology)
… prayer, until the complete defeat of the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16); on Çebel Mûsâ he had the grandiose vision of God (Ex. 24:10). On ascending Sinai, Moses left to A. and to Hur the task of resolving the difficulties that might arise among the people (Ex. 24:9-14). But, as Moses prolonged his absence, he yielded to the people's request and with the jewels offered made a golden calf, before which he erected an altar and offered holocausts and …
24:10
Aaron (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology)
… At Rephidim, he and Hur held up the arms of Moses in prayer, until the complete defeat of the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16); on Çebel Mûsâ he had the grandiose vision of God (Ex. 24:10). On ascending Sinai, Moses left to A. and to Hur the task of resolving the difficulties that might arise among the people (Ex. 24:9-14). But, as Moses prolonged his absence, he yielded …
24:12
Very ancient documents from the time of Moses attest the use of engraving on stone (for the D.: Ex. 24:12; Deut. 9:9) important writings of a religious or political nature, placing them in sacred places. …
24:13
Already during the crossing of the desert he had been chosen as his "minister" (Ex. 24:13) by Moses, who used him for tasks of particular trust, such as the war against the Amalekites, while Moses prayed on the mountain (Ex. 17:9-13), and the exploration of Canaan (Num. …
24:18
GOLDEN CALF. - A religious symbol which, at the request of the Israelites, Aaron (v.) had made near Sinai (Ex. 31:14) during the 40 days in which Moses remained on the summit (ibid. 24:18) in communication with God. Around it the people began a cult of a naturistic-orgiastic character (songs, dances), which was practiced by many ancient Eastern peoples, in particular the Canaanites.
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.