Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Moses receives from God three signs of threefold conversion for his mission: first, the rod into a serpent; second, the hand into leprosy; third, water into blood. Second, Moses variously excuses himself from this mission; finally, when God becomes angry, he acquiesces and returns to Egypt with his wife and sons. Third, at verse 24, the Angel threatens Moses with death: hence his wife circumcises their son; soon the Angel releases Moses. Finally, at verse 27, Aaron, at God's admonition, meets his brother Moses.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 4:1-31
1. Moses answered and said: They will not believe me, nor hear my voice; but they will say: The Lord did not appear to you. 2. Then He said to him: What is that you hold in your hand? He answered: A rod. 3. The Lord said: Cast it on the ground. He cast it, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moses fled. 4. And the Lord said: Stretch out your hand, and take hold of its tail. He stretched it out, and held it, and it was turned into a rod. 5. That they may believe, He said, that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, appeared to you. 6. And the Lord said again: Put your hand into your bosom. And when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it out leprous like snow. 7. Draw back, He said, your hand into your bosom. He drew it back, and brought it out again, and it was like the rest of his flesh. 8. If they will not believe you, He said, nor hear the word of the first sign, they will believe the word of the following sign. 9. But if they will not believe even these two signs, nor hear your voice: take water from the river, and pour it upon the dry land, and whatever you draw from the river shall be turned into blood. 10. Moses said: I beseech You, Lord, I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before; and since You have spoken to Your servant, I am of more impeded and slower tongue. 11. The Lord said to him: Who made the mouth of man? Or who made the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I? 12. Go therefore, and I will be in your mouth, and I will teach you what you shall speak. 13. But he said: I beseech You, Lord, send whom You will send. 14. The Lord, angry at Moses, said: Aaron your brother the Levite, I know that he is eloquent: behold, he comes out to meet you, and seeing you, he will be glad in his heart. 15. Speak to him, and put My words in his mouth; and I will be in your mouth, and in his mouth, and I will show you what you must do. 16. He shall speak for you to the people, and shall be your mouth; but you shall be to him in those things that pertain to God. 17. And take this rod in your hand, with which you shall work signs. 18. Moses went, and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him: I will go and return to my brethren in Egypt, to see if they are yet alive. And Jethro said to him: Go in peace. 19. Then the Lord said to Moses in Midian: Go, and return to Egypt: for all who sought your life are dead. 20. So Moses took his wife, and his sons, and set them upon a donkey, and returned to Egypt, carrying the rod of God in his hand. 21. And the Lord said to him as he returned to Egypt: See that you perform all the wonders which I have placed in your hand before Pharaoh: I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. 22. And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Israel is My firstborn son. 23. I said to you: Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and you refused to let him go: behold, I will slay your firstborn son. 24. And when he was on the journey, at the inn the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. 25. Immediately Zipporah took a very sharp stone, and circumcised the foreskin of her son, and touched his feet, and said: You are a bridegroom of blood to me. 26. And He let him go after she had said: A bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision. 27. And the Lord said to Aaron: Go to meet Moses in the desert. He went
to meet him at the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord by which He had sent him, and the signs which He had commanded. 29. And they came together, and gathered all the elders of the children of Israel. 30. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had said to Moses, and he performed the signs before the people, 31. and the people believed. And they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction: and bowing down, they adored.
Verse 1: They Will Not Believe
1. THEY WILL NOT BELIEVE -- the people and the common folk of the Hebrews: because among them many are stiff-necked. For concerning the elders, God had foretold in chapter 3, verse 18, that they would believe, which Moses without doubt believed. This is the third excuse of Moses on account of the people's unbelief: hence God descends to signs.
Verse 2: What Is That You Hold in Your Hand?
2. WHAT IS THAT YOU HOLD IN YOUR HAND? -- God asks Moses not as one ignorant, but to give him the occasion of answering what He wished to hear from him.
HE ANSWERED: A ROD -- a pastoral rod, with which he was tending sheep. In the Hebrew there is a beautiful play on words: God had asked mazze, "what is this?" Moses answers: matte, "it is a rod."
You ask, what does this rod signify in the literal sense? Rabbi Abraham answers: The rod is Pharaoh, who in the time of Joseph was toward the Hebrews like a soft rod, flexible at Joseph's bidding; but after Joseph's death, he was turned into a serpent by plotting against the Hebrews and devising their destruction; but in the end he again became like a rod, when, subdued by the plagues of Moses, he allowed the Hebrews to leave Egypt -- indeed, he compelled them.
But I say: By this rod and its metamorphosis were signified the changes and vicissitudes of the Hebrews, or their three states in Egypt. For the Hebrews held the rod, that is, the scepter and sovereignty, while Joseph lived and ruled; when he died, this rod was cast on the ground and turned into a serpent, because the Hebrews, formerly dear, after Joseph's death were hated by the Egyptians, as if they were serpents plotting ambushes and death against the Egyptians; again this serpent was turned back into a rod in Moses' hand, as the Hebrew text has it, because Moses restored to his people the scepter, freedom, and dominion. So say Lyranus, Abulensis, and Pererius.
Symbolically, by this rod was signified the leadership and supreme power which God was about to give to Moses, by which he struck and punished the Egyptians, but protected, led, and governed the Hebrews; for this rod was to Moses like a scepter, which was fearsome and hateful to the Egyptians like a serpent, but beloved by the Hebrews like a pastoral rod and staff. Moses is therefore sent by God armed not with a lance, but with a staff -- yet a wonder-working one -- and with it he conquers Egypt. This is a type of Christ sending the Apostles with a staff and arming them with the power of working miracles, by which they would subdue the world to themselves, Mark, last chapter, verse 17. Hence Saint Bernard says: "The trumpet of salvation sounds, miracles flash forth, and the world believes: what is said is quickly believed, while what is marveled at is shown." That a part of this Mosaic rod was found in the year of Christ 1008, and that from France, Italy, and other provinces very many flocked to it, Baronius narrates from Glaber for the aforesaid year.
Allegorically, the rod is the wooden cross of Christ, which was turned into a serpent for the Jews and the impious: for they abhor the cross as the punishment of criminals; but by the tail, that is, at the end of the world, they will seize it, and know that it is not a serpent, but a rod, that is, the power and wisdom of God. So say Saint Cyril, Origen, Homily 4; Saint Augustine, Sermon 86 On the Seasons.
Again, Cyril in the Collectanea on Exodus says: The rod, he says, is human nature, which was created upright by God and placed in paradise, where it was in the hand of Moses, that is, in the care and protection of God; through sin this rod was cast upon the ground, when it was said to it: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return;" here it was turned into a serpent, because it believed, consented to, and clung to the tempting serpent; and, just as the serpent has innate venom, so we contract original sin from Adam through natural propagation, by which we crawl upon the ground like serpents, and savor nothing but earthly things: Christ seized this serpent not by the head where it has its venom, but by the tail, because He assumed human nature without sin. Again, by the tail, that is, in the last age of the world, He assumed human nature, and thus united it to Himself and to God, indeed made it more beautiful and more august. So says Pererius.
Anagogically, the same Cyril, in the book On the Incarnation, chapter 14: The rod, he says, is Christ, who is the power of the Father, and who holds the rod or scepter of the kingdom and of justice. This was turned into a serpent in the Incarnation; for human nature through sin had become malignant like a serpent: and Christ put on the nature and likeness of a sinner; hence the serpent lifted up in the desert signified Christ lifted up on the cross, as is said in John 3:14. This serpent through the resurrection was again made a rod, that is, lord, king, judge, triumphant one, and prince of heaven and earth.
In like manner Cyril in the same place, chapter 15, interprets the following sign of Moses' leprosy as referring to Christ born, suffering, and rising.
Tropologically, the rod is discipline, correction, and chastisement, which at first appears horrible to children, the imperfect, and the unmortified, like a serpent; but in the end, when they experience its fruit, they recognize it to be a fatherly and pastoral rod: for, as the Apostle says in Hebrews 12:11: "All discipline in the present indeed seems not to be of joy, but of sorrow; but afterward it will yield the most peaceful fruit of justice to those trained by it."
Verse 3: So That Moses Fled
3. SO THAT MOSES FLED. -- For this serpent, produced from a large rod, was great and terrifying: hence Philo calls it a dragon, the prince of serpents.
Verse 5: That They May Believe
5. THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE. -- Understand: you will perform this sign of the rod before them, namely that you may change it into a serpent, and again into a rod: to this end, that they may believe you have been sent by Me.
Verse 6: He Brought It Out Leprous
6. AND WHEN HE HAD PUT IT INTO HIS BOSOM, HE BROUGHT IT OUT LEPROUS. -- This is the second sign, of the leprous and healed hand.
Symbolically, in the literal sense, Moses putting his hand into his bosom signified that he had care of the people, and bore them as it were in his bosom, Numbers 11:12. For the hand signified the Hebrew people: hence in Moses' bosom the hand became leprous, because when the Egyptians saw the people had Moses as their leader, and that they were cherished, raised up, and defended by him, they began to treat them more harshly and afflict them; but Moses putting it a second time into his bosom, that is, undertaking full and perfect care of the people, by vindicating them through the plagues sent upon Pharaoh, brought the hand back healthy and whole, because he led the people safely out of Egypt.
Symbolically and tropologically, by this sign was signified the cause of the affliction of the Hebrews: for the hand in the bosom represents the Hebrews in worship and religion, and consequently in the care and bosom, as it were, of God; here the hand became leprous, because the Hebrews had fallen into the idols and vices of the Egyptians; but God washed these away and cleansed the hand from leprosy, when He again placed the Hebrews through Moses in His bosom, accepting them as His people and His Church. So say Saint Cyril and Theodoret.
Theodoret adds that God wished by this sign to admonish Moses of perpetual humility, when He first infected with leprosy his hand, which was to become wonder-working and would transform the very elements themselves.
Allegorically, Saint Augustine, Sermon 86 On the Seasons, says: The leprous hand is the Synagogue of the Jews, which, infected with leprosy, that is, with unbelief in Christ, was rejected by God; it was succeeded by the believing, clean hand, that is, the faithful Church of the Gentiles, chosen by God.
Second, Pererius says: The hand of Moses is Christ the Son of God, who is, as it were, the hand of the Father; for through Him the Father made all things. He was from eternity in the bosom of the Father, but when He was brought forth through the Incarnation, He appeared leprous, that is, overwhelmed with labors and sorrows. Hence Isaiah 53 says: "There is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness, and we esteemed Him as a leper." But drawn back again through the resurrection and ascension into the bosom of the Father, and sitting at the right hand of God, He appeared glorious.
Verse 8: Nor Have Heard the Voice of the First Sign
8. NOR HAVE HEARD THE VOICE OF THE FIRST SIGN -- that is, the voice confirmed by the first sign: for the sign spoke with a mute voice that Moses' speech was the speech of God, and this sign was the seal of this fact.
Verse 9: Take Water from the River
9. TAKE WATER FROM THE RIVER -- the Nile.
AND IT SHALL BE TURNED INTO BLOOD. -- This third sign, by which Moses turned water into blood, was fitting: for by it he reproached the Egyptians, as it were, for the infanticide of the Hebrews, and vindicated their blood with this blood, and portended the drowning of those in the waters and the Red Sea, who had drowned the little ones of the Hebrews in the waters. "For it was fitting that the river, to which they had consigned the little ones of the Hebrews to be drowned by cruel death, should render a cup of blood to the authors of the crime, and that they should taste by drinking the gore of the polluted stream, which they had stained with parricidal slaughter," says Origen, Homily 4, and from him Saint Augustine, Sermon 87 On the Seasons. Josephus thinks that Moses tested this third sign, just as the two previous ones, and performed it here before the Lord. But Philo more rightly judges that Moses tested only the two previous signs here before the Lord, but deferred this third sign and reserved it to perform before Pharaoh: for this is what Scripture signifies here.
Tertullian, in the book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter 28, by these three signs mystically understands the threefold power of God: for He first subdued the serpent, that is, the devil; second, He will draw forth the leprous flesh, indeed the corrupted flesh, from the bosom of death in the resurrection; third, He will pursue all blood, he says, by judgment, that is, by just judgment He will vindicate from death, and will raise up all blood shed in martyrdom or death, through the common resurrection of all.
Verse 10: I Am Not Eloquent
10. I BESEECH YOU, LORD. -- Understand: spare me, do not send me. For this is understood through aposiopesis.
I AM NOT ELOQUENT. -- Symmachus renders it, I am not eloquent, that is, articulate; in Hebrew, I am not a man of words, one who speaks many things eloquently, so that Pharaoh would not be willing to hear so lean an orator.
FROM YESTERDAY AND THE DAY BEFORE -- from a former time: it is a Hebraism.
AND SINCE. -- In Hebrew, even since You spoke with me, as if to say: Nor have I become more eloquent by Your address, as you can tell from my words; therefore less fitting is the exposition of Philo, which is this: When I compare my eloquence with Yours, O Lord, I recognize myself to be mute and tongueless: for the meaning of Moses is different, as I shall presently demonstrate.
I AM OF MORE IMPEDED AND SLOWER TONGUE. -- Note: These words depend on the preceding ones, as if to say: Even since You spoke with me, Lord, I have remained of more impeded tongue, nor have I become more eloquent, although You often make the tongues of infants articulate.
Therefore the Royal Bible wrongly divides these words by a semicolon placed after "Your servant," so that a new sentence begins, namely "of more impeded and slower tongue." From the former reading, which is the genuine one, some think that this defect of tongue in Moses was increased by the vision and conversation with God, on account of the supreme admiration and reverence of Moses for the divine majesty. But the Hebrew text suggests the contrary; for it reads thus: "My Lord, I am not eloquent, even from yesterday, even from the day before, even from the time when You spoke to Your servant; because I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue," as if to say: I was never eloquent, not even from the time when You spoke with me, because by nature I have an impeded and slow tongue. The Chaldean renders it: Because I am of heavy speech and deep tongue, as if to say: I speak with difficulty and slowly, so that I seem to draw words from the deep and lowest part of my chest. Another impediment, that of a thin voice, the Septuagint expresses when they translate, "I am of thin voice and slow tongue": and this interpretation of a thin voice was followed by Origen, Homily 3; Saint Jerome, on Jeremiah chapter 1; Philo, Theodoret, Augustine, Questions 10 and 16, where he says: "Perhaps royal pride did not allow those approaching to speak close by," so that Moses rightly feared that because of the thinness of his voice, he would not be heard by Pharaoh.
This is the fourth excuse of Moses, by which he declines the mission to Pharaoh, drawn from the impediment of his tongue. Where note that there was a fivefold defect in Moses: first, that, as the Hebrew indicates, he was a man of few words, that is, lean and poor in speaking; second, that in speaking he was not eloquent, but rough, unpolished, and inelegant; third, that in speech he was not ready, but slow of tongue; fourth, that his voice was thin and weak; fifth, that his tongue was impeded, so that he could not properly pronounce certain letters and sounds; perhaps also that he was a stammerer or had a lisp. Because of these defects Moses, in chapter 6, calls himself uncircumcised of lips.
Note here the humility of Moses, by which he confesses his defects and declines so honorable a commission; hence he merited that, through his weak voice, God would confound the eloquent and wise men of the Egyptians, says Theodoret.
You ask whether this defect of Moses' tongue was natural, or came upon him by accident? Some, cited by Hugh of Saint Victor, think that the only tongue defect in Moses was that during the 40 years he had lived in Midian, he had forgotten the Egyptian language. But Scripture here posits not this defect of language, but another defect of the tongue -- indeed, defects. Second, the Hebrews relate that Moses, when he was three years old, brought burning coals to his mouth and burned the tip of his tongue, and from this contracted this defect of the tongue; but this is a Jewish fable. Third, Origen, Homily 3; Saint Gregory, Homily 8 on Ezekiel, and Rupert, Book 1 on Exodus, chapter 18, think that Moses was by nature articulate, but after he began to converse with God, in comparison with divine wisdom and eloquence, he seemed to himself to be an infant and mute; and that "from yesterday and the day before," that is, from these three days in which I have spoken with You, Lord: for from this it is clear that these things between God and Moses were done and said not in one, but in three days.
But this exposition is refuted by the fact that Moses, after this conversation with God, remained inarticulate and slow of speech, and, as he himself says in chapter 6, verse 12, uncircumcised of lips: hence in the same place God adds Aaron as his companion and interpreter, to speak to the people on Moses' behalf.
I say therefore that this defect of tongue was natural to Moses, and implanted in him by nature, and did not come upon him by accident. God therefore chose Moses, thus inarticulate, for this mission, both to keep Moses in humility through this defect, and so that the liberation of the Hebrews would be attributed not to Moses' eloquence, but to God's power; for God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong. In like manner God chose rough and inarticulate Apostles, through whom He converted the world. So says Theodoret.
Note: Moses was outwardly inarticulate among men, but inwardly eloquent before God, because by the efficacy of his prayer and holiness he obtained from God whatever he wished, as is clear from Exodus 32, verses 11 and 14.
Verse 11: Who Made the Mouth of Man?
11. WHO MADE THE MOUTH OF MAN? OR WHO MADE THE MUTE AND THE DEAF? WAS IT NOT I? -- as if to say: I am He who gives and takes away the senses and the use of the senses, when it pleases Me, so that I may free the tongue of stammerers and bind the tongues of the agile when it pleases Me: since therefore I now send you and designate you as My ambassador, I will also give you a mouth and eloquence.
Learn here that eloquence and the grace of speech are a gift of God, either natural or supernatural. Hence, when Plato was still an infant sleeping in his cradle, bees were seen to pour an abundance of honey into his mouth; which was a presage that from Plato's mouth, by God's gift, speech sweeter than honey would flow. Hence also Xenophon was called the Attic Muse because of the elegance of his speech. So too in the case of Saint Ambrose, when he was still an infant, a swarm of bees settled on his mouth, which foreshowed the divine eloquence of the man, says Paulinus in his Life. The mother of Saint Dominic, when pregnant, seemed to herself in sleep to carry in her womb a little dog bearing a torch in its mouth, with which, when brought forth into the light, it would set the world on fire: by this dream it was signified that Saint Dominic by his eloquent, fervent, and pious preaching would inflame all to the love of God. Something similar happened to the mother of Saint Bernard, who was truly honey-tongued. But it is wonderful that we repeatedly see men otherwise stern and unpolished, gifted with eloquence by God, and speaking many things gracefully and elegantly. Thus when Xenocrates, harsh and stern by nature, spoke gracefully and wittily, and the listeners marveled, Plato said: "Why do you marvel? Do you not see that among thistles and nettles, lilies and roses usually grow?"
Verse 13: Send Whom You Will Send
13. I BESEECH YOU, LORD, SEND WHOM YOU WILL SEND -- as if to say: Send another, whom You foreknew You would send.
The Hebrew is: send, I pray, by the hand (namely of another), whom You will send, as if to say: For so great an embassy, use another and more suitable instrument than me; for this is what "hand" means among the Hebrews.
Cajetan notes that this is the fifth excuse of Moses. For the first was in chapter 3, verse 11, from his own incapacity, that he was unfit and unequal to so great a task. The second, chapter 3, verse 13, from the unknown name of God. The third, chapter 4, verse 1, from the unbelief of the Hebrews. The fourth, chapter 4, verse 10, from his defect of tongue. And when he saw that these excuses were not accepted by God, he adds this fifth appeal and supplication, by which he tried entirely to shake off from himself and transfer to another this mission, beseeching: "Send whom You will send," as if to say: Send whomever You wish, provided You do not send me, who am unfit for so great a task. So says Vatablus.
Therefore Lyranus is wrong to think that by these words Moses prayed God to send specifically his brother Aaron, as being more eloquent than himself, and who, as some Rabbis add and invent, had hitherto acted as a prophet in Israel. Nor is Rabbi Solomon right in thinking that Moses asked for Joshua to be sent, about whom it had been revealed to him that after his death he would lead the Hebrews into Canaan. For the words of Moses are general and indefinite. Second, many Fathers, such as Saint Justin, Tertullian, Cyprian, Eusebius, writing against the Jews, and Rupert, think that Moses here asked for the coming of the Messiah; for His name was "the Sent One" or "the One to be sent," as is clear from Genesis 49:10, as if to say: Since, O Lord, You have determined to send the Messiah, and since You will one day send Him to free us from sin, rather send Him now, so that by the same work He may free Your people from Egypt. This meaning is very probable and fitting, whatever Abulensis may object, and however boldly Eugubinus may clamor against such great Fathers. For thus of old the other Patriarchs in grave circumstances always looked to the promised Christ, and sighed for Him, as is clear from Jacob in Genesis 49, verses 10 and 18.
You ask whether Moses sinned by so often resisting the call and mission of God? Some Hebrews think that Moses sinned by mortal unbelief, distrust, and disobedience; and that he was therefore punished in that he did not lead the Hebrews into the promised land. But this is too harsh a judgment and lacks foundation: for it was not for this, but for another act of distrust at the waters of contradiction, that Moses was excluded from the holy land, as is clear from Numbers 20. Even more absurd is what Rabbi Solomon says, that Moses was deprived of the priesthood for this sin, and that it was transferred to Aaron. Second, Saint Basil, Gregory, Jerome, and Pererius, who cites them, completely excuse Moses and praise his excuse as proceeding from humility, both because Moses knew the obstinate and implacable heart of Pharaoh, and the stiff neck of the Hebrews, says Basil, which he thought he could not break; and because it belongs to a truly obedient person to flee and decline honorable commissions (such as this mission was); but to offer oneself willingly and eagerly for hard and difficult things, as Saint Gregory teaches, Book 35 of the Moralia, chapter 13. In like manner Saul excused himself from the kingship as if unworthy, 1 Kings chapter 9, and Jeremiah, chapter 1, from prophecy and preaching.
"Moses," says Saint Gregory, "because he was humble of mind before himself, immediately shrank from the glory of so great a governance that was offered to him. But Paul, when he heard from Agabus how great an adversity awaited him in Jerusalem, immediately answered: I am prepared not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of Jesus. By the unbroken virtue of both these leaders going before us, we are taught that if we truly strive to grasp the palm of obedience, we should serve in the prosperous things of this world from command alone, but in adversities even from devotion."
But I say with Cajetan and Abulensis that Moses sinned by venial pusillanimity and disobedience; for when he considered his own weakness, he clung to it too much, judging himself weaker than one who could bear so great a burden imposed by God, not considering that God, who was calling him, would also supply him with strength and courage. Although therefore Moses did not directly reject or decline the will of God, yet he wished God to will otherwise and send another, and pressed God too much in this, even a fifth time; wherefore God was justly angry with him, as one who was tergiversating too much: or, as the Hebrew has it, iichar, that is, He suddenly grew hot, yet preserving His friendship with Moses: hence He soon tempered this anger with clemency, and sent Moses, now acquiescing, to Pharaoh, adding Aaron as his companion.
You will say: Moses knew already before that he had been chosen by God for this task; and therefore he killed that Egyptian as boldly as dangerously, as I showed from Saint Stephen in chapter 2, verse 12: how then did he become so pusillanimous here, as now to decline this office?
I answer: This happened because a difficult matter shown from afar, and to take place long afterward, as if absent, does not strike or shake the mind; yet the same thing, when it is present and must be carried out, then strikes a person so that he trembles and sweats: for then the weight of the matter, all the difficulties and dangers, are grasped far more vividly than before. We experience this in ourselves and in our soldiers inexperienced in war: when they are out of javelin range, they seem like lions, ready to dare anything; but when they must fight hand to hand with the enemy, with trumpets blaring and battle lines shouting on both sides, then they grow pale, tremble, and their hearts palpitate, and, as the saying goes, they are lions in peace, deer in battle. So therefore Moses, when he received the oracle about his future leadership, did not fear; but when he saw it being imposed upon him, and saw close at hand its burdens and difficulties, then he began to tremble and to seek every escape, yet preserving his friendship with and obedience to God: hence when he saw that God absolutely willed it, and would admit no excuses, but was angry, he immediately obeyed and accepted the burden.
Verse 14: Aaron Your Brother the Levite
14. AARON YOUR BROTHER THE LEVITE. -- The word "Levite" is added to the name Aaron as a surname derived from the tribe, according to Jewish custom: for they were surnamed from their tribe, just as the Dutch are surnamed from a parent, and others everywhere are surnamed from their family. Moreover, "Levite" was an honorable surname, because of the priesthood attached to the tribe of Levi, in which Aaron was to be the first and chief.
Verse 15: I Will Be in Your Mouth
15. I WILL BE IN YOUR MOUTH. -- From the Hebrew it can be translated: I will be with your mouth, as if to say: I will be the director of your mouth, I will suggest, moderate, and direct your tongue and your words: "For it belongs to the Lord to govern the tongue," as the Wise Man says in Proverbs 16:1, and this must be constantly implored from God with the Saints, especially by one who governs others; thus Esther in chapter 14, verse 13, prays to God: "Grant, she says, well-ordered speech in my mouth;" and the Apostle in Ephesians 6:19 wishes to be prayed for, "that speech, he says, may be given to me in the opening of my mouth."
Philo thinks that Moses' natural stammer was here cured and removed by God, as if God said to him: "At My bidding you will articulate everything clearly, your eloquence changed for the better, expressing your thoughts no differently than the clearest springs flow." But this does not seem true; for because of Moses' lack of eloquence and Aaron's eloquence, God adds Aaron as Moses' companion, as follows. Again in chapter 6, verse 12, Moses expressly says that he is still uncircumcised of lips.
Verse 16: He Will Be Your Mouth
16. HE WILL BE YOUR MOUTH. -- Aaron will be your interpreter.
BUT YOU SHALL BE TO HIM IN THOSE THINGS WHICH PERTAIN TO GOD -- as if to say: You will command and arrange what must be done, as an intellect conceiving; but Aaron will speak those same things, as a mouth executing and expressing.
Moses was like the intellect conceiving, Aaron like the eloquent mouth.
You will be to him lelohim, as God, in God's place, in God's stead, so that from you he may understand God's will, that is, My will, and from you he may, as it were, consult and hear Me; for, as Christ says to the Apostles: "He who hears you, hears Me;" and the Psalmist says to princes and judges: "I said, you are gods." The Chaldean translates it: you will be to him as a prince, but this is weak and improper. For Elohim properly signifies God.
Morally, learn here how great a good a companion and companionship is: for since every person has defects, one supplies the defects of the other; because man was created for mutual assistance: hence the wise men of Greece so greatly celebrate the story of the blind man with sound feet, who carried on his neck a man with no feet but keen sight; by which each enjoyed the help of the other, one receiving the benefit of the feet, the other of the eyes of his companion, which he himself lacked. Hence that epigram of Ausonius, number 123: "What either one lacks, he takes from the other."
Thus Moses received eloquence from Aaron, and Aaron wisdom from Moses. Wisely therefore the Wise Man says: "A brother who is helped by a brother is like a strong city," Proverbs 18:19; Ecclesiastes 4:10: "It is better for two to be together than one; for they have the advantage of their companionship. If one falls, he will be supported by the other: woe to the solitary one! for he has no one to lift him up. And if anyone prevails against one, two will resist him. A threefold cord is not easily broken." For this reason religious go in pairs, and Christ sent His disciples in pairs to evangelize, both so that they might have a companion in labors, and a witness of their life. Hence Saint Thomas Aquinas used to say: "A monk alone is a solitary demon." For, as Seneca says, Epistle 25: "Solitude persuades us to all evils." And Epistle 11: "A great part of sins is removed if a witness stands by those about to sin." The Emperor Justinian, in Novel Constitution 133, considers it a crime for monks to live without witnesses; he wishes therefore that they "be mutual witnesses of each other's honesty" and chastity; for, as Theodore Studita says in his testament, section 15: "Against a single person, slander is easy." Thus Joseph suffered the slander of adultery from his mistress, because he was alone; thus also Susanna suffered the slander of the elders, because she was alone. Rightly therefore Saint Augustine, in the Rule, chapter 12, decrees thus: "When you are together in church, and wherever women are present, guard each other's modesty. For God, who dwells in you, will also in this way guard you through one another." Let religious who are alone hear the judgment of Thomas of Cantimpre, Book 2, chapter 11, section 1, and let them hear and tremble: "How true, he says, this saying is: Woe to the solitary one! I know, who for thirty years held the office of Bishop in various provinces, who in this matter -- that religious go alone on the roads, or remain alone in courts -- I frequently heard of horrible evils, horrible scandals, and horrible dangers, which they would never have endured or committed if a companion had been joined to them."
Verse 18: I Will Go and Return to My Brethren
18. I WILL GO AND RETURN TO MY BRETHREN IN EGYPT, TO SEE IF THEY ARE YET ALIVE. -- Moses conceals the vision of God from his father-in-law, out of modesty, and presents to him another true and just reason for departing, so that he may courteously obtain from him leave to depart.
Verse 20: He Set Them upon a Donkey
20. HE SET THEM UPON A DONKEY. -- Rabbi Solomon says that this is the same donkey that carried the wood for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Genesis 22:3. On the same donkey the Messiah was also to ride, according to the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9: Because in Hebrew, he says, this donkey has the demonstrative he, as if it were illustrious and famous; and because, unless it were miraculous and extraordinary, it could not have carried the mother with her sons who were already grown. Who does not see and laugh at this fable? And yet the Jews believe this Rabbi Solomon in everything, as though he were their Pythagoras, and hold these fables as certain traditions. See here the just judgment of God upon the Jews. "Because they did not receive the love of truth, therefore God will send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie," says St. Paul, II Thessalonians II, 10. For such are the trifles and fables with which Rabbi Solomon abounds, so that it is surprising that Lyra should attribute so much to him and to them in turn. To his argument above, I have responded that these sons were born around this time, and therefore were small children, not older.
CARRYING THE ROD OF GOD IN HIS HAND. -- This rod was the pastoral staff of Moses, with which he fed and drove the flocks of Jethro, which had been turned, and was again to be turned into a serpent before Pharaoh; by which Moses performed all the signs and plagues of Egypt: hence it is called "the rod of God." The Hebrews add, or rather fabricate, that this rod was four-sided, and that upon it was inscribed the tetragrammaton name of God, that is, the four-lettered name, so that on each of the four sides of the rod one letter of the name was carved.
Artapanus, cited by Eusebius, book IX of the Preparation, last chapter, says that this rod of Moses was afterwards held in veneration by the Egyptians, and that in its memory a staff was placed and worshipped in the temple of Isis. For they consider Isis to be the earth, which, struck by the staff of Moses, produced so many wonders.
Verse 21: See That You Perform All the Wonders
21. SEE THAT YOU PERFORM ALL THE WONDERS THAT I HAVE PLACED IN YOUR HAND (that is, in your power; namely those three signs which I have assigned to you in this chapter, and others which I shall hereafter assign to you -- see to it and take care that you perform all of them) BEFORE PHARAOH.
I WILL HARDEN -- how God hardens, I shall discuss at chapter VII, verse 3.
Verse 22: My Firstborn Son Israel
22. MY FIRSTBORN SON ISRAEL -- a son by adoption, not by natural generation, as if to say: I, God, have adopted the Israelites as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as My sons; I have chosen them as My people, that they may serve Me and worship Me, and I in turn may be their Father, Protector, and Provider.
Note: firstborn, that is, beloved above the other nations and chosen, and regarded as the firstborn; in addition, the first among the peoples of God united in faith and worship, and begotten and nurtured in that faith: for such was the people of Israel.
Verse 23: Behold, I Will Slay Your Firstborn Son
23. Behold, I will slay your son. -- He sets down only the last threat and plague: because until that point Pharaoh's heart remained hardened; but through it his heart was softened, so that he would let the Hebrews go.
Verse 24: The Lord Met Him
24. The Lord met him -- that is, an angel bearing the person of God in human form. Whence the Septuagint translates, an angel met him; see what was said at chapter III, verse 2.
AND HE WISHED TO KILL HIM -- either by suffocation, as Tertullian holds; or rather, as Theodoret and Diodorus say, threatening death with a drawn sword -- not the boy, that is, the uncircumcised son of Moses (as Tertullian holds, in the book Against the Jews, chapter III, and St. Augustine): for this infant had not sinned, nor had he deserved death, since the guilt of the omitted circumcision resided not in him but in the parents. Therefore the angel threatens this death against Moses; for the pronoun "him" designates Moses, about whom the discourse has been continuous up to this point.
Rabbi Solomon absurdly claims that this angel appeared in the form of a dragon, and swallowed Moses in its gaping mouth up to the member that was to be circumcised: seeing this, Zipporah understood that this had happened to Moses because he had not circumcised his son; wherefore she immediately circumcised him, and at once the dragon vomited Moses back out.
One may ask why the angel wished to kill Moses. St. Augustine responds first, in sermon 86 On the Season, and both Eusebiuses -- namely, of Emesa and of Caesarea -- that it was because he was bringing his wife with him, who would have been an impediment to Moses and his mission; and who, says Eusebius, would have made his mission suspect to the Hebrews; for they would have said to Moses: If you come to lead us out of Egypt into Canaan, why did you not leave your wife and children, being so many hindrances, in Midian? For through Midian (that is, through Mount Sinai, which is adjacent to Midian) we must travel to Canaan. But Theodoret rightly excuses Moses here, saying that he could not have left his wife in Midian without gravely offending his father-in-law, and without the suspicion that he wished to repudiate her. But Scripture suggests another cause for the death threatened against Moses.
Second, Theodoret and Diodorus think the angel threatened Moses with death so that by this fear he might drive the fear of Pharaoh from his mind, as if driving out one nail with another, as if to say: You, O Moses, fear Pharaoh too much; for you ought rather to fear Me, since, as you see, I can kill you suddenly and without any difficulty.
But I say that the angel wished to kill Moses because he had not circumcised his son, as God had commanded, Genesis XVII, 12. For he was to be the lawgiver of the people; therefore he himself ought to be the first to observe the law. For understanding this cause, the wife of Moses immediately circumcised the son, and at once the angel, as if he were now satisfied, released Moses. So say Isidore of Pelusium, Rupert, Lyra, Abulensis, and Cajetan.
One may ask, second, why Moses, a holy man, did not circumcise his second son according to the law? Rupert and the Chaldean answer that it was because Jethro his father-in-law and Zipporah his wife, being Gentiles and Midianites, would not allow the boy to be afflicted with such pain and wounding. But against this stands the fact that they had already circumcised the older son: for Zipporah circumcised only one, namely the younger, because clearly the older was already circumcised; otherwise the angel would have compelled this one also to be circumcised. Again, it stands against this that Zipporah, immediately circumcising the infant of her own accord and by herself, sufficiently showed that she was experienced in this rite, and had performed it in circumcising the older son.
Hence the Hebrews, Lyra, Abulensis, and Pererius more correctly judge that this younger son, namely Eliezer, had only recently been born, and therefore either Moses or rather the mother feared grave harm from the journey if she circumcised him: Moses therefore deferred the matter until he should arrive in Egypt; for by this same reason the Hebrews wandering in the desert were not circumcised for 40 years, as is evident from Joshua chapter V. But the angel threatening death to Moses shook this excessive fear from him, lest Moses, who was to be the future lawgiver, should seem to have been too lax in observing the law. For Moses, as their leader, ought to go before the rest with a perfect example of fulfilling the law. Therefore Zipporah saw the angel threatening death to her husband Moses, on account of the uncircumcised boy, and perhaps pointing at him with his finger.
Zipporah therefore understood that Moses was in danger of his life on account of the neglected circumcision of his son: partly because the angel, governing her imagination, presented this appearance and cause to her and suggested it; partly because the angel marked the uncircumcised boy either with his countenance or with his finger; partly because Moses had taught her the precept of circumcision given by God under the threat of death. Cajetan adds, fourth, that there had been a discourse of the angel about the uncircumcised son, although Scripture does not express it here.
Verse 25: Zipporah Took a Very Sharp Stone
25. ZIPPORAH IMMEDIATELY TOOK A VERY SHARP STONE. -- Not because circumcision had to be performed necessarily with a stone knife, as St. Augustine thought, but because such a knife was the first to present itself to the alarmed and hurrying mother; especially because these events took place around Arabia Petraea, where Sinai and Midian are, in which there is a greater supply and use of stones than of iron. Hence they sharpen stones there like iron, and from them make very sharp knives. For otherwise, in Genesis XVII, where the law of circumcision is given, no mention is made of stone. On this matter I shall say more at Joshua V. In the meantime see St. Thomas, III Part, Question LXX, article 3, reply to 2.
AND SHE CIRCUMCISED THE FORESKIN OF HER SON -- that is, of her sons, says Cajetan; for he thinks that both sons of Moses were here circumcised by Zipporah. Second, Hugh of St. Victor thinks that only one son was circumcised here: because the mother, he says, being a Gentile, had kept one son for herself, as her own and uncircumcised, while leaving the other for Moses to circumcise; or Moses was bringing only one son with him, while he had left the other with his father-in-law, as a pledge of his love and goodwill. But against these views stands Sacred Scripture, which expressly says in verse 20 that Moses returning brought his sons with him; yet here in verse 25, it says that only one son, namely the other of the two, was circumcised.
Hence therefore it appears that only Eliezer, being recently born, was circumcised; but the older son Gershom had already been circumcised before, as I have said.
And she touched (Zipporah, as is clear from the Hebrew, as if pleading for the life of her husband Moses) HIS FEET. -- The Septuagint translates, she fell at his feet, namely, of the angel attacking Moses, says Cajetan, in order to appease him with a suppliant prayer. Second, the Chaldean translates, she cast the foreskin of the son at the feet of the angel, as if to say: If you are angry at Moses because of the uncircumcised boy, behold, here is the circumcised foreskin of the boy; therefore, appeased, cease to pursue my husband. Third, others say "his feet" means the feet of the boy, as if to say: The mother touched or stained the boy's feet, either with the shed blood, or with the cast-off foreskin.
But I say: Zipporah "touched his feet," namely, of Moses; for to him she said what follows: "You are a bridegroom of blood to me." Therefore she touched the feet of her husband and sprinkled them with the blood and foreskin of the son before the angel, so that by this, as it were by a price, she might save and redeem him from death, saying: "You are a bridegroom of blood to me because of the circumcision," as if to say: I, O husband, buy you back as my bridegroom -- you who had been destined by the angel to certain death -- with the blood of my son, which I shed in circumcising him.
Rupert therefore badly explains it thus: she touched his feet, that is, she importunately begged Moses to allow her to return home to her father; for she was terrified by the vision of the angel. Whence follows: "And he released him." But if so, it should have said: And he released her, namely Moses releasing Zipporah.
Note: To touch the feet among the Jews was a sign both of love and of reverence and worship, especially of women toward men. Thus the Shunammite woman, praying to Elisha for her dead son, touched his feet, IV Kings IV, 27. Thus Mary Magdalene and other pious women after the resurrection held Christ's feet, Matthew last chapter, verse 9. Thus (as is clear from the ancient Councils) it was the custom in the early Church that those who greeted Bishops would touch their knees with their hand. This was also a custom among the Gentiles; whence that passage in Homer, Iliad I, verse 499: "And she sat before him and grasped his knees."
"First she fell at the knees of the Thunderer." Thus by Pliny, book IX, epistle 21, one is said to be "prostrated at the knees." But those who begged pardon for an offense would throw themselves as suppliants at the feet. Whence Peter Chrysologus, sermon 93: "Let him who seeks swift pardon," he says, "stretch out toward the feet." Salvian of Marseilles, in his epistle to Hypatius and Quieta: "I throw myself at your knees, O dearest parents: I am that Palladia of yours." And children as suppliants, falling at the feet of their parents, would kiss their feet, says the same Salvian. Pliny gives the natural cause of this custom, book XI, chapter XLV: "In the knees of a human," he says, "there resides a certain sacredness, by the observation of nations: suppliants touch these, toward these they extend their hands, these they worship as altars; perhaps because in them there resides vital power. Among the ancient Greeks it was the custom in supplication to touch the chin."
The second reason is that the knees are dedicated to mercy. Servius on that passage of the Aeneid III: "He had spoken and, embracing his knees and rolling at his knees, clung to him": "Natural philosophers," he says, "state that individual parts of the body are consecrated to deities: the ear to Memory, the forehead to Genius, the right hand to Faith, the knees to Mercy." And Pierius, Hieroglyphica 35: "That the knee is the seat of mercy," he says, "all ancient tradition acknowledges, just as the ear is held to be the seat of memory, and the nose of scorn." Therefore those making vows would hold the knees, to signify that they pledged themselves to receive what they asked, from the mercy of which the knees are the seat. Concerning the gods of the Gentiles, Arnobius says, book VI: "Do you then not laugh at these statues, whose soles and knees you touch and handle while praying?" Hence immediately the custom of sealing vows and waxing the knees of the gods. For each person would affix his own vow, inscribed on waxed tablets, to the knees of the gods. Juvenal, satire 10: "For the sake of which it is right to wax the knees of the gods."
The third reason is that in the knees resides the power of motion and of walking forward, and that they are a symbol of complete strength and vigor. For just as bending the knees is a profession of weakness and need, so not bending them is a sign of dignity and power. Hence the elephant was for the Egyptians a symbol of royal power because it does not bend its knees -- that is, it does not need the help of another, nor must it supplicate another. Therefore to touch the knees is nothing other than to acknowledge the strength and power of another, by which he can bring aid if he wishes, and support the faltering.
Goropius gives a fourth reason, book V of the Origins of Antwerp: Formerly, he says, suppliants would throw themselves at the knees in order to kiss the thigh, as if to signify that they were seeking their life from the place whence they had received it: for the seed, and consequently offspring and posterity, have their origin from the loins and thigh. So then Zipporah, by touching the feet of her husband, showed love and reverence — in order to obtain life for her husband; for in place of the angel's feet (which she did not dare to touch) she embraced the feet of her husband. The Septuagint translates: and the angel departed from him. So says St. Augustine.
Thus Sidonius Apollinaris, book I, epistle 5: "Prostrated at the threshold of the Apostles," he says.
You Are a Bridegroom of Blood to Me
YOU ARE A BRIDEGROOM OF BLOOD TO ME. -- It is surprising that the Septuagint translated this as "the blood of my son stopped." The Chaldean clearly translates: Zipporah offered the foreskin before him, the angel, and said: "On account of the blood of this circumcision (namely, the neglected blood that had not been shed), my bridegroom was condemned to death."
Rabbi Abraham refers these words to the circumcised boy, as if the mother, even applauding the circumcised child, had said: You are a bridegroom of blood to me; for the Hebrews relate that it was the custom among Hebrew mothers to call their sons, when they were circumcised, their bridegrooms.
Second, Rabanus thinks that Zipporah said these words out of anger, as if to say: You, O husband, are the reason why I had to shed the blood of my son; whence I am justly indignant and call you a bridegroom of blood.
Third, others explain it thus, as if she were saying: I see that you will be a troublesome and bloody bridegroom to me, and that far greater things must be endured by me with you in Egypt. Let me go therefore, that I may return home to my parents. Whence they think that Zipporah at this point returned home with her children.
Fourth and best, as if she were saying: Unless I had shed the blood of my son in circumcision, you would have perished at the hand of the angel-executioner. Therefore I have again acquired and purchased you as my bridegroom, not with a monetary dowry, but with the shedding of my son's blood, as I shall more fully explain at the following verse.
Note: Marriages both among the Hebrews and among the Romans were made by co-emption: for the husband, by giving money to both the wife and her parents, would purchase her from them as his wife; conversely, the wife in turn would sometimes purchase her husband by paying a price. Thus David bought Saul's daughter Michal as his wife with a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, II Kings III, 14. Thus Hosea bought a harlot as his wife for fifteen pieces of silver, Hosea III, 2. Thus formerly the Saxons and Burgundians would buy their wives from their parents for three hundred solidi. Hence also that saying of the poet: "And let Thetis buy you as a son-in-law with all her waves. The king denies you a marriage, and a dowry sought with blood." See Ribera on Hosea III, verse 2.
Some explain it thus: You, O husband, or bridegroom, were guilty of blood and death, and you were to be killed for the omitted circumcision of your son. But I say the meaning is: on account of the circumcision, that is, on account of the blood of my son, which I shed in his circumcision; you, O Moses, are a bridegroom of blood to me: because by this blood, I redeemed you from death when you were condemned to die. As if to say: Before the son was circumcised, you were to me a bridegroom of blood, of slaughter and killing, says Rabbi David Kimchi, because you were to be killed and your blood was to be shed by the angel. But now with the son circumcised, you are to me a bridegroom of the blood of circumcision, because with the blood of my son's circumcision, I have purchased your life and you as my bridegroom.
Symbolically, Moses joined to a foreign woman represents a Christian Doctor devoted to human philosophy. This union begets offspring, that is, true doctrines, but mixed with vain and false ones; which unless they are circumcised, bring death to the Christian -- for example, the doctrines of the philosophers are that God is the first mover, but not omnipotent; that He cannot make something from nothing, but only from matter co-eternal with Himself; that He does not act freely, but by fate and from the necessity of nature. All these must be circumcised by the stone knife, that is, by faith in Christ.
Furthermore, learn here that it is not enough for the head of a household to be religious and holy himself, but he must take care that his children and entire family are likewise. Hear how rightly and piously St. Elzear, Count of Ariano, ordered his household, from his Life, chapter XVIII: "First, he established that all of his household should hear Mass in its entirety every day. Second, that they should live chastely and purely: those who did otherwise, he expelled from his house. For he did not wish anyone to eat his bread whom he knew to be involved in mortal sin, lest he infect others, and lest he seem to foster that person's sin. Third, that nobles and soldiers, and likewise maidens and matrons, should confess once a week and receive communion once a month. Fourth, that those same maidens and matrons should devote themselves to prayers and pious exercises from morning until the midday meal, and after the meal occupy themselves with manual works. Fifth, that no one should dare to blaspheme God, the Blessed Virgin, or any of the Saints, or swear rashly, or utter indecent things; for evil conversations corrupt good morals. Whoever had done otherwise, he compelled to fast on bread and water. Sixth, that no one should play dice or any other shameful and dishonorable game. Seventh, that all should cultivate peace, friendship, and harmony: if anyone had offended another, he should immediately be reconciled with the offended party. Eighth, that every day after the midday meal or in the evening, in his presence, there should be a conference and conversation among them about pious and salutary matters." Read also Tobit, chapter IV, where he instructs his son in every virtue. In this same age, Blessed Thomas More, Chancellor of England and martyr, so trained his children and household both in letters and in Christian virtue and piety, that Erasmus writes of it: "The house of More is a school and gymnasium of the Christian religion." Witness is Stapleton in his Life of More.
Allegorically, let the true Christian, especially the Religious, say this to Christ: "You are a bridegroom of blood to me, O Christ" -- both because by Your blood You purchased and betrothed my soul to Yourself. Whence St. Agnes said to the tyrant: "The blood of Christ my bridegroom has colored my cheeks"; and because You in turn demand from me, that I may be a bride worthy of You, my blood, indeed my flesh and my life, while You teach that those who wish to follow You and please You must circumcise and mortify the desires of flesh and blood, while You say: No one can be My disciple unless he denies himself and takes up his cross, unless he hates and loses his soul in this world, unless he crucifies his flesh with its vices and concupiscences, unless he resists the devil, the flesh, and the world even to the shedding of blood, even to death and martyrdom. And this is "the circumcision of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter" -- not Jewish, but Christian; not exterior, but interior -- "whose praise is not from men, but from God," Romans II, 29. Therefore to the martyr, Christ is the bridegroom of blood. Whence St. Cyprian in On the Praise of Martyrdom: "To our blood," he says, "heaven lies open; the soldier enters rejoicing in his wounds." The same, book II, epistle 4: "You," he says, "are the rich clusters from the vineyard of the Lord, and grapes already ripe in fruit, trampled by the assault of worldly oppression; you feel our winepress. In place of wine you pour forth blood; strong for the endurance of suffering, you willingly drain the cup of martyrdom."
Finally, it was not enough for Moses to circumcise one son, the older, unless he also circumcised the second: so for a Prelate, and for any Christian, it is not enough to circumcise the intellect from error, unless he also circumcises the affection from desire. So says Pererius.
Verse 26: And He Released Him
26. And he released him. -- That is, Zipporah left Moses and returned to her homeland, says Lyra. But against this stands the Hebrew word iireph, which does not mean to send away to another place, but to rest, to cease, to release in peace, to not trouble another.
Third, others say "he released him" means that the illness, with which the angel had struck Moses, released him.
Fourth and genuinely, "he released him" means that the angel released Moses, and no longer threatened him with death, when he saw that his son was now circumcised. Whence she showed this to him, and consequently to the angel, whom she wished by this means to appease and reconcile with her husband, and she implored his mercy and power.
Verse 27: To the Mountain of God
27. TO THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD -- to Mount Sinai. It seems that Moses, when now accompanied by his brother Aaron and fully girding himself to undertake his mission, so arduous, sent his wife and sons back to Midian, so that he might be freer and more unencumbered. For that Zipporah had departed from Moses to her own people is evident from the fact that she afterwards returned to Moses at Sinai when he had come out of Egypt with the Hebrews, as is said in chapter XVIII, 2.
Verse 30: And Aaron Spoke
30. AND AARON SPOKE. -- Behold, Aaron here is the mouth and interpreter of Moses, as God had foretold in verse 16.
AND HE PERFORMED SIGNS BEFORE THE PEOPLE. -- "He performed" refers not to Aaron, but to Moses, who immediately precedes: for thus the duties of Moses and Aaron had been divided by God, that Moses by his authority should command and perform the signs, while Aaron should proclaim the commands of Moses and of God, as the leader of the word.
Signs -- those three, of which mention was made at the beginning of the chapter.
Verse 31: Had Visited
31. HAD VISITED -- had looked upon them to free and lead them out of Egypt; for this latter word is the explanation of the former.