Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The eighth plague of Egypt is described, which was that of locusts, and, at verse 21, the ninth, which was that of the densest darkness, by which Pharaoh, softened, permits the Hebrews to depart; but when Moses urges the release of all, including the cattle, he hardens himself again and threatens Moses with death.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 10:1-29
1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart, and the hearts of his servants, that I may work these My signs in him, 2. and that you may tell in the ears of your son, and of your grandsons, how many times I crushed the Egyptians, and worked My signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord. 3. So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him: Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to submit to Me? Let My people go, that they may sacrifice to Me. 4. But if you resist, and will not let them go, behold I will bring tomorrow locusts into your territory, 5. which shall cover the surface of the earth, so that nothing of it may appear, but what was left from the hail may be eaten; for they shall gnaw all the trees that sprout in the fields. 6. And they shall fill your houses, and the houses of your servants, and of all the Egyptians: such as your fathers and grandfathers have not seen, from the time they arose upon the earth until this present day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. 7. And the servants of Pharaoh said to him: How long shall we endure this stumbling block? Let the men go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord their God. Do you not see that Egypt is ruined? 8. And they called back Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, who said to them: Go, sacrifice to the Lord your God. But who are those who will go? 9. Moses said: We shall go with our little ones and our elders, with our sons and daughters, with our sheep and herds; for it is the solemnity of the Lord our God. 10. And Pharaoh answered: So may the Lord be with you, as I shall let you go, and your little ones. Who doubts that you plot the worst? 11. It shall not be so, but go only you men, and sacrifice to the Lord; for this is what you yourselves requested. And immediately they were cast out from the presence of Pharaoh. 12. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locust, that it may come upon it, and devour every herb that was left from the hail. 13. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought a burning wind all that day and night; and when morning came, the burning wind raised the locusts. 14. And they came up over the whole land of Egypt, and settled in all the borders of the Egyptians, innumerable, such as had not been before that time, nor shall be hereafter. 15. And they covered the whole surface of the earth, laying waste all things. Therefore the grass of the earth was devoured, and whatever fruit was on the trees, which the hail had left; and nothing at all that was green was left on the trees, or in the herbs of the earth, in all Egypt. 16. Wherefore Pharaoh in haste called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17. But now forgive me my sin also this time, and pray to the Lord your God, that He take away from me this death. 18. And Moses went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and prayed to the Lord. 19. And He made a most vehement wind to blow from the west, and it caught up the locust and cast it into the Red Sea: there remained not so much as one in all the borders of Egypt, 20. and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not let the children of Israel go. 21. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt, so thick that it may be felt. 22. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there came horrible darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23. No one saw his brother, nor moved himself from the place where he was; but wherever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light. 24. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go, sacrifice to the Lord; only let your sheep and herds remain; let your little ones go with you. 25. Moses said: You shall also give us victims and burnt offerings, which we may offer to the Lord our God. 26. All the flocks shall go with us: there shall not remain a hoof of them; for they are necessary for the worship of the Lord our God; especially since we do not know what must be sacrificed, until we come to the place itself. 27. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not let them go. 28. And Pharaoh said to Moses: Get away from me, and beware that you see my face no more; on whatever day you appear before me, you shall die. 29. Moses answered: So it shall be as you have said; I will see your face no more.
Verse 1: For I Have Hardened
1. FOR I HAVE HARDENED — in the manner I explained at chapter 7, verse 3.
THAT I MAY WORK THESE MY SIGNS IN HIM — not as though seeking material for punishment, namely guilt, but most justly directing his guilt, already present, toward the punishment he had merited, and toward the glory of My justice. For to seek material for punishment is alien, first, to divine goodness; for it is a sad thing, and a disgrace for a prince to inflict many punishments, just as it is a disgrace for a commonwealth to see many funerals of its citizens, says Seneca. Second, it is alien to God's truthfulness, which so many times exhorted Pharaoh to repentance, with so many threatened plagues, which signified that God seriously and sincerely desired his conversion and salvation. Third, it is alien to the order of justice, which requires that punishment not be inflicted without prior guilt, and that punishment be for the sake of guilt, not the reverse.
Verse 2: And That You May Tell
2. AND THAT YOU MAY TELL — you and your people, of whom you are the leader, the head, and the liberator.
Verse 4: I Will Bring Tomorrow the Locust
4. I WILL BRING TOMORROW THE LOCUST — that is, a multitude of locusts. For the Hebrew word arbe signifies both a locust and a multitude of locusts; for arbe is derived from multitude, since the root rabah signifies to be many.
This was the eighth plague of Egypt, namely of very many locusts, which so covered the earth that no earth was visible. "Behold," says Rupert, "what great, what mighty armies the Lord deployed, fighting for Israel against the Egyptians — frogs, gnats, flies, locusts: by the locust the mighty king was conquered, but he, proud in his weakness, who had raised his neck against God, now subjects it to a flea."
For these locusts devoured whatever was green in the land, as is said at verse 15, namely all fruits, foliage, sprouts, herbs, seeds, and even tender wood; indeed, entering the houses they filled them, as is said at verse 6, leaping into eyes and onto bodies, and killing people with their bite, as is said in Wisdom 16:9. Hence Pliny, in Book 11, chapter 29, says the locusts are the wrath of the gods. "For they are seen to be quite large," he says, "and they fly with such a whirring of wings that they are taken for other kinds of birds, and they block out the sun, while peoples watch anxiously lest they cover their lands. They cross distant seas, driven by the hunger of many continuous days, to seek foreign pastures. They cover dreadful harvests in a cloud, scorching many things by their touch, but gnawing all things with their bite." This plague of locusts is still frequent in Ethiopia, or Abyssinia, which borders Egypt. For that climate is fertile in producing locusts.
These locusts therefore invaded and defiled the houses, beds, food, and all the possessions of the Egyptians; trampled also in the streets and reduced to putrid matter, they excited horror and stench.
Tropologically, this eighth plague of locusts signifies the guilt and punishment of those who violate the eighth commandment: "You shall not bear false witness." For a lying and slanderous tongue is more harmful than the tooth of a locust, both to others and to oneself, as will be evident in hell. Hence in Revelation 9:7, lying heretics are compared to locusts. So say Augustine, Prosper, Rupert, and others.
Again, St. Gregory, in Book 31 of the Moralia, chapter 20 (where he has much to say about locusts), understands by locusts the tongues of flatterers, which corrupt all the greenness of virtues by their flattery, while they incline the heart of the worker toward desiring transitory praises.
Verse 7: How Long Shall We Endure This Stumbling Block?
7. HOW LONG SHALL WE ENDURE THIS STUMBLING BLOCK? — In Hebrew: How long will this be a stumbling block to us? — because, namely, by detaining the Hebrews we continually fall into the harshest evils.
DO YOU NOT SEE THAT EGYPT IS RUINED? — Vatablus renders the Hebrew here in two ways: First, and most plainly thus: Do you wish first to experience that Egypt is ruined? — as if to say: You will never release this people without all Egypt having perished; or: Release this people, otherwise it is all over for all Egypt. Second, thus: Do you not yet know that Egypt has perished? or, as the Chaldean has it: Do you still not know that Egypt has perished? For the Hebrew word terem signifies not only "before," but also "not yet," as is clear from chapter 9, verse 30: for concerning that of which it is said "before," that thing has not yet happened.
Verse 8: Who Are Those Who Will Go?
8. WHO ARE THOSE WHO WILL GO? — as if to say: There is no need for all to go; for a few suffice for the sacrifice. At least there is no need of women and children for this; therefore I want them left with me as hostages, so that I may be certain you will not flee, but will return to Egypt.
You see here that Pharaoh had softened in part, when he settled on a sort of half-bargain with Moses; therefore he could also have softened entirely, just as he could have hardened himself. For these plagues sent by God were sufficiently effective not only for softening him halfway, but completely.
Verse 9: For It Is a Solemnity
9. FOR IT IS A SOLEMNITY — which it is fitting for absolutely all the Hebrews to celebrate, and therefore we must bring all our sheep and herds with us; for we do not know what, or how many things we must sacrifice to our God, or what kind of offerings God will choose and require. Moses was speaking truly: for the Hebrews were being called by God to celebrate a festival on Mount Sinai, where they sacrificed many victims at the confirmation of the law, the dedication of the tabernacle, and the consecration of the priests, as is clear from chapters 24 and 29; nevertheless Moses here keeps silent about many things, which it was prudent to conceal.
Verse 10: So May the Lord Be with You
10. SO MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU. — This is mockery, that is, speech with a sneer and derision, or a feigned laugh, yet not hidden — namely scorn with a curling of the nose. The meaning then is: May God help you just as I shall let you go — that is to say: In no way will your God help you, or be able to help you, just as in no way am I going to let you go with your children and your cattle.
WHO DOUBTS THAT YOU PLOT THE WORST? — For you seem to be plotting sedition and rebellion, so that under the pretense of sacrifice, you may lead away the Hebrew people, who are subject to me, and incite them against me.
Verse 11: For This Is What You Requested
11. FOR THIS IS WHAT YOU REQUESTED. — Here Pharaoh lies, but with royal license, which no one dared to contradict.
AND IMMEDIATELY THEY WERE CAST OUT. — This is understood by the historical Hebraism to mean that Moses again, when Pharaoh asked that only the men go to the sacrifice, refused this same request and wanted all, including the children, to be sent, and that thereupon the enraged king ordered them to be expelled.
Let confessors, counselors, and other advisors of princes learn here not to court the favor of princes, but to prepare themselves for reproaches, exile, and being expelled from courts along with Moses, so that they may be faithful to God and to justice.
Again, see here the wonderful patience and long-suffering of God and of Moses, as so many times and for so long a time they gently and patiently bear the harsh, treacherous, and threatening responses of the tyrant Pharaoh, and try to bend him to fairness now through prayers, now through threats, now through plagues. Surely Moses was here more an angel than a man. We read in the Lives of the Fathers, Book 7, chapter 19, concerning John of Thebes, a disciple of Abbot Ammon, that he diligently served this sick old man for twelve years; but the old man never spoke a kind or gentle word to him. "Therefore, when the old man was dying, he held his hands before the other elders, and said to him three times: Be saved, be saved, be saved. And he entrusted him to the elders, saying: He is not a man, but an angel, who for so many years serving me in my sickness, and hearing no good word, nevertheless performed his service with great patience." If one who patiently serves one sick and peevish old man is an angel, what shall we call Moses, who so many times so gently and kindly obeyed Pharaoh, both peevish and hard and threatening, interceding and removing the plagues sent upon him by God? — who alone sustained, fed, governed, led, and protected three million stubborn, rebellious, and intractable Hebrew people for forty years? Surely he was both an angel and a god, both to Pharaoh and to the Hebrews, as I said at chapter 7, verse 1.
Patience therefore joined with clemency makes a person wise, exalted, angelic, and divine.
The Gentiles too saw this, as if through a shadow. Thus Plato, in the dialogue called Crito, introduces Socrates arguing: "In no way should one do wrong, nor take revenge, whatever one may have suffered." And Plutarch, in his book On the Benefit to Be Derived from Enemies: "When an opportunity for taking revenge on an enemy is offered," he says, "to let him go is equanimity; but he who also pities a stricken enemy and brings help to one in need — him all love and praise, for the humanity and goodness of his spirit." Hence when Diogenes was asked: How shall I take revenge on my enemy? — he replied briefly but aptly: "Be good."
Moreover, praising even an enemy often wins greater praise for the one praising than for the one praised. They say that Cicero said of Caesar: "When Caesar forbade the statues of Pompey to be overthrown, he secured his own."
Serious authors report that St. Elizabeth, the daughter of the King of Hungary, once prayed to God that whatever persons had injured her in any way, He Himself would bestow upon them some special benefit, so that a benefit would answer to the injury; and that it was then signified to her from heaven that she had never pleased God with her prayers as much as at that moment; and that in compensation for her love so generously disposed toward her enemies, she was granted the forgiveness of all her sins.
Verse 12: And Let It Devour Every Herb
12. AND LET IT (THE LOCUST) DEVOUR EVERY HERB THAT WAS LEFT FROM THE HAIL. — For the hail had struck chiefly only the top growth, while the tender shoots, whether growing at that time or any that had since sprouted from barley, flax, wheat, and spelt, were preserved for the locusts. And this was a greater plague for Egypt, inasmuch as that was the more fertile part of the world, and was once regarded as the granary of the earth.
Verse 13: A Burning Wind
13. A BURNING WIND. — In Hebrew, an eastern wind, which is hot and burning; for it is the opposite of the western wind, namely the Favonius, which is cold and moist, and which cast these locusts out of Egypt into the Red Sea. So says Abulensis. However, the Septuagint and Philo translate it as the south wind; for this is hot and moist, and is most suited for generating imperfect animals such as frogs, and St. Jerome in Joel 2 teaches that locusts are born from the south wind, not the north wind; from heat, not from cold. But I say that the south wind, although blowing from the south, is called eastern. For we sometimes divide the world into only two regions, namely east and west, as cosmographers also do when they assign degrees of longitude according to those two alone; by which reckoning the south and the south wind are counted with the east, and the north and the north wind with the west. It could also be said, secondly, that this wind was Euronotus, that is, partly eastern and partly southern. See how every creature rises up against the senseless and obeys its avenging Creator.
ALL THAT DAY AND NIGHT — so that by its heat and warmth it might produce the locusts, and once produced, blow them into Egypt. Here there was again a double prodigy, or miracle. First, that God suddenly produced so great and so hot a wind, which blew through all of Egypt. Second, that by His singular concurrence with it He produced and blew in an innumerable multitude of locusts. Hence it follows: "And when morning came, the burning wind raised the locusts;" for morning is the more suitable time for this, when those among the locusts that have wings, and were torpid from the nocturnal cold, are aroused by the morning heat and, having become lively and vigorous, are accustomed to fly off even by natural instinct.
Verse 14: Such as Had Not Been Before
SUCH AS HAD NOT BEEN BEFORE THAT TIME, NOR SHALL BE HEREAFTER. — Moses said this not by a historical spirit, but by a prophetic spirit.
You will object: After Moses, in Joel chapter 1, verses 2 and 4, it is said: What the caterpillar left, the locust ate; what the locust left, the beetle ate; and what the beetle left, the blight consumed. And Joel adds that such an example had never been seen.
I respond that Joel metaphorically signifies by these four — namely caterpillars, locusts, beetles, and blight — the army of the Chaldeans, which devastated Jerusalem four times: first, when they captured King Joakim, together with whom Daniel was taken; second, when they carried off his son Joachim; third, when they captured Zedekiah; fourth, when Nebuzaradan reduced the temple to ashes. And this devastation is therefore rightly compared to blight. So says St. Jerome, whom all Catholics generally follow, except Theodoret and Lyranus. For Joel explains himself thus at verse 6, when he says: "For a nation has come up, mighty and innumerable." See Ribera there.
Verse 15: And They Covered the Whole Surface of the Earth
15. AND THEY COVERED THE WHOLE SURFACE OF THE EARTH — that is, of the cultivated land, clothed with vegetation; for what would locusts feed on, or what would they lay waste in sandy and barren land? In Hebrew: the earth was darkened, that is, hidden, so that it could not be seen.
Whatever fruit was on the trees. — The Hebrews call every fruit a "pomum," both that which has a tender rind and that which has a hard one. That there could have been fruits at that time, though perhaps not yet fully ripe, in Egypt being so warm a region, is not surprising; for it was already March. For in this cold climate, May often displays them for us. Secondly, "poma" can be taken here metonymically for buds, or berries swelling into fruit. For thus we commonly say when a tree is in bloom: On this tree there are very many "poma" (that is, buds), reckoning the blossom as the hope of the fruit.
Verse 17: That He May Take Away from Me This Death
17. THAT HE MAY TAKE AWAY FROM ME — in Hebrew there is added "only," as if to say: Only this time let God spare me; I will offend no more.
THIS DEATH — that is, this plague, namely the locust, which brings death to all plants, and consequently will bring death to all people; for they will die of famine, if every crop that is still in its sprouting is damaged.
Verse 19: A Wind from the West
19. A WIND FROM THE WEST. — In Hebrew, a wind of the sea; because the Mediterranean Sea is to the west of the Holy Land, as also of Egypt, hence the Hebrews by "sea" signify the west.
AND HE CAUGHT UP THE LOCUST AND CAST IT INTO THE RED SEA. — You may ask whence the Red Sea gets its name, and whether it is truly red. First, Strabo and Uranius, cited by Stephanus in his book On Cities, holds that this sea is called and made red by the reflection of the sun, namely because the waves seem to reflect the redness of the neighboring mountains, which they receive from the reflection of the sun's rays. Second, others hold that such is the nature of that water and sea that it is red. Third, Ctesias of Gnidus thinks this sea is made red by a certain spring which sends water reddened and full of vermilion into that sea. Hence also Solinus, chapter 36: Varro, he says, states that on the shore of the Red Sea there is a spring, from which if sheep drink, they change color, so that from white they become tawny and blackish. Fourth, this sea, says Pliny, Book 6, chapter 23, is called in Greek "Erythraean," that is "red," from King Erythra, son of Perseus, whose tomb they say is shown on the island of Tirina in the Red Sea. Pererius holds the same view at the end of chapter 14. So too Quintus Curtius and Philostratus, in Book 3 of the Life of Apollonius, who says the sea itself is not red in itself, but blue. Indeed Arrian too, in Book 8 of the Deeds of Alexander, says: This sea is called "Red" from Ruber, the first king there.
But I say that this sea is not red in itself, but is called red from the red sand that is at the bottom of this sea. That this is so, experience has shown; for sailors drawing water from it in this century saw it to be not red, but clear; and they plainly understood that the red color in these waters was produced by the red sands, or corals (for Pliny teaches in Book 32, chapter 2, that coral grows in this gulf) with which the bottom of that sea abounds. So say the Conimbricenses, following Joao de Barros, in tract. 8 on the Meteorology, chapter 2, and Andreas Masius on Joshua chapter 2, and others.
Note: In Hebrew this sea is called suph, that is, of the boundary, because it separates Egypt from Arabia and the Holy Land. Secondly, others translate suph as stormy, others as seaweedy and reedy, for it is productive of rushes and reeds. So say Vatablus and St. Jerome, in Epistle 127 to Fabiola.
CAST. — In Hebrew, "fixed down," that is, cast down in heaps and plunged them in.
Verse 21: Let There Be Darkness So Thick That It May Be Felt
21. LET THERE BE DARKNESS OVER THE LAND OF EGYPT SO THICK THAT IT MAY BE FELT. — Scripture speaks in the common manner of men. For thus we grope our way in darkness, as if the dark air appeared very thick and could be felt. Abulensis, Burgensis, and Pererius add that this darkness was truly palpable, because it was itself an extremely thick fog. Secondly, others translate: let there be darkness that takes away — that is, overwhelms and obscures — the darkness of night. Thirdly, the Chaldean translates: let there be darkness even after the gloom of night has departed. For the Hebrew word iamos can be derived from mush, meaning to recede, to remove; but our translator and the Septuagint derive it from mashas, meaning to feel or touch.
This is the ninth plague, namely of darkness, and it was fitting. First, because the Egyptians had confined the Hebrews, children of light, in narrow workhouses and imprisoned them for hard labor. Therefore they are justly punished with darkness and imprisonment, because they had unjustly confined others in the same way. Second, the plague of darkness was sent upon them so that they might recognize that they were unworthy of this light, and so that they might have a foretaste, as in this image, of the darkness of hell. The Wise Man gives both these reasons throughout chapter 17, especially in the last verse, and in chapter 18, verse 4. So too St. Bernard, in Sermon 72 on the Song of Songs.
You may ask what the cause of this darkness was. Philo answers that it was an eclipse. But an eclipse obscures the sun, not the stars; and it lasts not three days but only about an hour. Secondly, Jansenius, commenting on Wisdom chapter 17, suggests that this darkness was produced not in the air, but only in the eyes of the Egyptians; for these, like the Sodomites, were struck with blindness or "aorasia" (inability to see). But Scripture contradicts this, which says that this darkness was palpable, while there was light for the Hebrews. Thirdly, more plausibly, Cajetan thinks the cause of this darkness was the withdrawal of the rays of the sun and other heavenly bodies, so that toward the Egyptians, wherever they were staying, they did not send their rays, but only toward the Hebrews.
Fourth, and best of all, Philo, Burgensis, Abulensis, and Pererius judge that the cause of the darkness was very dense clouds and fogs, and such a compression of the air that it was penetrable by no light, not even by the rays of the sun. For this is what is said in Wisdom 17: "Nor could the bright flames of the stars illuminate that dreadful night."
Note: This darkness began not on the tenth day, as Torniellus holds, but on the eleventh day of the first month; for it lasted three days, namely until the fourteenth day, on which Moses, summoned by Pharaoh, predicted to him the slaughter of the firstborn on the following night, as will be clear from chapter 11, verse 4. Therefore on the tenth day the Hebrews procured the paschal lamb, as God commanded in chapter 12:3. On the following day, the eleventh, the plague of darkness was inflicted on the Egyptians; it ceased on the thirteenth day. On the next day, the fourteenth, Moses threatened Pharaoh with the slaughter of the firstborn, and on the following night of the fifteenth day (that is, at Passover), God inflicted it.
Verse 22: Horrible Darkness
22. HORRIBLE DARKNESS. — In Hebrew, darkness of gloom, that is, most gloomy and very dense, and therefore horrible. For, first, it was so great as to be palpable; second, it lasted three days and nights; third, it was in all the land of Egypt; fourth, in it the Egyptians could not see one another, nor did they move from their bed or their place, as though they were bound with chains in a prison, as the Wise Man says in chapter 17:16 — while meanwhile the rest of the people throughout the whole world, indeed even the Hebrews in Egypt, enjoyed the clearest light; fifth, the Egyptians did not dare for fear to speak, to eat, or to rise from their bed, but were tormented by hunger in silence, having leisure for no sense except to feel the present evil, says Philo; sixth, the Egyptians heard horrible sounds, and saw through intermittent flames spectres and terrifying monsters, which all but killed them. "For a sudden fire, full of fear, appeared to them; and struck with fear of that face which was not seen, they judged what they did see to be worse," as is said in Wisdom 17:6; seventh, from the remorse of a bad conscience aware of itself, they feared and shuddered at everything, says the Wise Man: whether they heard the sound of birds, or the bellowing of beasts, or the rustling of trees, or the crashing of waters, stones, or mountains, they thought all these things had conspired for their destruction: "For even if nothing from the monsters disturbed them, being struck by the passing of animals and the hissing of serpents, they were perishing in trembling," as is said in Wisdom 17:9. See here how fearful, how anxious an evil conscience is; for, as the Wise Man says in the same place: "A troubled conscience always presumes the worst." And Cicero against Piso: "Each person," he says, "is driven from sanity and reason by his own fraud, his own crime, his own wickedness, his own audacity. These are the furies of the wicked, these the flames, these the torches." And Macrobius, Book 1, on the Dream of Scipio, chapter 10: "By the vulture gnawing the immortal liver, the wise poets meant nothing else than the torments of a bad conscience, probing the innermost parts that are subject to crime, and tearing the very vitals with unceasing reminders of the committed crime, and always arousing anxieties if they perchance have tried to rest, clinging as it were to regrowing fibers, and sparing itself no pity by this law: that with itself as judge, no guilty person is acquitted, nor can anyone escape his own verdict upon himself." Understand this "verdict" as that of a conscience accusing and condemning.
Tropologically, these darknesses signified the blindness of mind of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, says Origen, who, having experienced so many plagues, nevertheless refused to believe and obey God. For the devil blinded their hearts, acting in this matter like an eagle. For the eagle, as Pliny relates (Book 19, Chapter 4), in order to trip up and devour a deer, is accustomed to perch on its horns and cast the dust it has collected by rolling into the eyes of the deer, to shake off, and to beat its face with its wings, until it hurls the blinded and maddened creature headlong onto the rocks. So does the devil: he blinds men with earthly dust, and thus hurls them, as if maddened, onto the rocks of hell. Second, these darknesses signified the idolatry and errors of the Egyptians; for are not the worship of a calf darknesses? Third, they signified that the reasons of divine Providence are most obscure and inscrutable. For God "made darkness His hiding place" (Psalm 17). Fourth, this ninth plague, says St. Augustine, corresponds to the ninth commandment: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife;" for he who covets her dwells in the great darknesses of incontinence and impurity. Hence, fifth, these darknesses were an image of the darknesses of hell, about which St. Bernard says (Sermon 16 on the Song of Songs): "I dread hell, I tremble at the teeth of the infernal beast, I shudder at the gnawing worm and the scorching fire, the smoke and vapor and sulfur, and the spirit of storms: I shudder at the outer darkness. Who will give water to my head and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may anticipate with weeping the weeping and gnashing of teeth?" Who here does not tremble? If he trembles, why does he not take care? "The time is short," says Paul, "the figure of this world passes away." Therefore live in the world as if the world did not exist, for soon it will pass away and vanish. Conversely, live so that you may live forever, so that you may escape eternal punishments and death. For in hell "for the wretched there is death without death, an end without end: because there death lives, and the end always begins," says St. Gregory (Moralia, Book 9, Chapter 48).
Eighth, the Septuagint adds that together with the darkness there was a whirlwind, a storm, and a tempest.
Verse 23: No One Saw His Brother
Verse 23. NO ONE SAW HIS BROTHER (neighbor), NOR DID ANYONE MOVE FROM THE PLACE WHERE HE WAS. — In Hebrew: and no man rose from beneath himself, that is, from his seat or the place where he was sitting. The Septuagint renders: and no one rose from his bed. Namely, astonished by so great a prodigy, especially being placed in such dreadful darkness, they feared all things, so that they dared not move from their place. For they feared that if they moved, they would run into specters and monsters or precipices; for from such unusual darkness they thought the entire order of the world was being overturned and dissolved. Hence in Wisdom 17 and 18, it is said that the Egyptians were then as if bound by a certain chain and shut up in a prison, and therefore the wretched then uttered cries that were heard by the Hebrews: for they were deprived of all light of the sun, sky, fire, candle, and absolutely every light. Hence Philo says: The fire which we use was either extinguished by the disturbed air, or was overcome by the very thick darkness. And the Wise Man says in chapter 17: "And indeed no power of fire could give them light."
Therefore Cajetan errs when he says the Egyptians were deprived only of celestial light, but not of domestic light from fire or candle. For Scripture refutes this, when it says that these darknesses were palpable; again, that no one saw another, that no one moved from his place, and that the Israelites alone enjoyed light. And indeed this would otherwise have been a small punishment: for many who live near the pole are naturally deprived of celestial light for many months, indeed for half a year, nature supplying them with another domestic light from oiled wood, which burns like a candle. What do I care whether I see by the light of the sun, or of fire or a candle, as long as I can see?
Burgensis adds that so great was the fog and thickness of the air at that time, that it not only removed all sight of light, but also impeded forward movement. But this seems incredible; for then this fog would have had to be dense, solid, and resistant like stone or iron.
WHEREVER THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DWELT, THERE WAS LIGHT. — In Hebrew it says, in their dwellings, that is: Not only in the streets, squares, or neighboring houses, but in the very same house, the Hebrews enjoyed light in their chambers, while the Egyptians dwelling in Goshen were enveloped in Cimmerian darkness in their own places, God directing the rays of the sun toward the Hebrews, not toward the Egyptians, and pouring the thickest fog upon the Egyptians, not upon the Hebrews. In Wisdom chapter 18, it is said that during this three-day period the Hebrews heard the voices of the Egyptians, but saw none of them.
Verse 24: And Pharaoh Called Moses
Verse 24. AND PHARAOH CALLED MOSES — when the three days of darkness had ended; for during them no one dared to move from his place, which is also clear from Pharaoh's words: for he does not, as he usually does, ask to be freed from the plague, since it had already ceased; but fearing worse things: "Go," he says, "sacrifice" to God. So say Lyranus, Abulensis, and Pererius.
ONLY LET YOUR SHEEP AND HERDS REMAIN — as a pledge, lest you flee and not return.
Verse 25: You Shall Also Give Us Victims
Verse 25. YOU SHALL ALSO GIVE US VICTIMS. — You grant that we may depart, but you must also give us victims, namely sheep and cattle of ours for sacrificing, and the following words indicate this: for it follows: "All the flocks shall go with us."
Verse 27: But the Lord Hardened the Heart of Pharaoh
Verse 27. BUT THE LORD HARDENED THE HEART OF PHARAOH — both by removing the plague of darkness; and by demanding through Moses that not only the Hebrews but also all their cattle be released; and by not giving him the softening grace which Pharaoh had so many times rendered himself unworthy of. Hence in this chapter, after so many plagues, Scripture especially uses this phrase, namely that God hardened Pharaoh, to signify that his hardening was a punishment for sin.
Verse 29: I Will See Your Face No More
Verse 29. I WILL SEE YOUR FACE NO MORE — I will not voluntarily approach you, I will not press you, but rather you will desire to see me, when in the next and final plague of the firstborn you will compel us to depart (chapter 12, verse 31).