Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He foretells and describes the last plague of Egypt, namely the slaughter of the firstborn, before the Hebrews, in verse 2, are admonished by the Lord to despoil Egypt. However, this despoiling was accomplished not before (as some wish), but after the slaughter of the firstborn, as is clear from chapter 12, verse 35, and this chapter, verses 1 and 2.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 11:1-10
1. And the Lord said to Moses: Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt, and after these things he will let you go and will compel you to depart. 2. Therefore you shall tell all the people that every man ask of his friend, and every woman of her neighbor, vessels of silver and gold. 3. And the Lord will give favor to His people in the sight of the Egyptians. And Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and of all the people. 4. And he said: Thus says the Lord: At midnight I will go forth into Egypt, 5. and every firstborn in the land of the Egyptians shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to the firstborn of the handmaid who is at the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts. 6. And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as neither has been before, nor shall be hereafter. 7. But among all the children of Israel not a dog shall bark, from man even to beast, that you may know by how great a miracle the Lord divides the Egyptians and Israel. 8. And all these your servants shall come down to me and shall worship me, saying: Go forth, you and all the people that is subject to you; after that we will go out. 9. And he went out from Pharaoh exceedingly angry. And the Lord said to Moses: Pharaoh will not hear you, that many signs may be wrought in the land of Egypt. 10. And Moses and Aaron did all the wonders that are written before Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
Verse 1: And the Lord Said to Moses
AND THE LORD SAID. — The Lord said these things to Moses while Moses was still standing before Pharaoh at the end of the preceding chapter. For Moses, having received here by divine revelation this last plague of the firstborn, foretold and announced it to Pharaoh himself; then he departed from him in anger, as is clear here in verse 9. Moreover, it is established from the end of the preceding chapter that Moses never again approached Pharaoh.
From this it is clear that God spoke these things to Moses not by a corporeal, but by an imaginary, or rather an intellectual, locution, and had spoken with him so many times before in a similar manner, as I said at the beginning of chapter 6; for it was neither worthy nor fitting that God should present Himself to be seen by Moses in a corporeal form before Pharaoh.
HE WILL LET YOU GO. — In Hebrew is added kalah, that is, completely, or altogether, meaning: He will no longer make any exception, as he has done until now, but will fully let you go with your sheep and all your possessions.
Verse 2: Let Him Ask of His Friend
LET HIM ASK — namely when, after the plague of the firstborn, Pharaoh will compel you to go out of Egypt to sacrifice; "let him ask" not as a gift, but as a loan, as though he were going to borrow but never to return it, but rather to keep the loan by My donation; for I give and grant this loan to you.
FROM HIS FRIEND — from his neighbor, fellow dweller, or companion; for this is the Hebrew word rea. From this it is clear that not only the Hebrews but also the Egyptians dwelt in Goshen. Hence also in chapter 12, the Hebrews are commanded to mark their houses with the blood of a lamb, so that the destroying angel might distinguish them from the Egyptians. Therefore the Hebrews asked for these vessels from their neighbors, from their friends, from their masters; for many of them were male and female servants of the Egyptians.
VESSELS OF SILVER AND GOLD — as if you were going to use them for the sacrifice that you are preparing, and in them to receive the blood of the victims, fine flour, salt, fire, incense, and other things that pertain to the sacrifice. The Septuagint adds from chapter 12, verse 35, "and garments," as if you were to adorn yourselves with them for so great a solemnity and sacrifice.
Verse 3: He Will Give Favor
HE WILL GIVE FAVOR — so that the Hebrews, asking the Egyptians for these vessels and garments, may please them and appear to be asking for something fair, fitting, and which ought to be granted to them. For the hearts of men are in the hand of God, so that those who were formerly oppressors He now suddenly renders not only tame and friendly, but even generous.
AND MOSES WAS A GREAT MAN — meaning: Therefore Pharaoh did not dare to touch or harm him as he spoke so freely and made threats; again, therefore the Egyptians more readily lent their vessels to the Hebrews.
Verse 4: At Midnight I Will Go Forth
AND HE SAID — Moses, inspired by God, said to Pharaoh. He returns to what took place at the end of chapter 10, as I said at verse 1.
AT MIDNIGHT — on the next night, which followed the fourteenth day of the first month Nisan. For on that fourteenth day toward evening they celebrated the Passover, during which, after the firstborn were slain by night, the Hebrews went forth free from Egypt. Therefore Moses said these things on the morning of the fourteenth day of Nisan, before he departed from Pharaoh's court. We are admonished here, says Rupert, not to sleep but to be sober and watchful; because in a similar manner, suddenly, when we least expect it, the Lord will come for judgment. For, as it is said in Matthew 25: "At midnight a cry was made: Behold the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him." Accordingly, through the mouth of David the Church says: "At midnight I arose to give thanks to You."
Indeed, that Jesus Christ will truly come at night for judgment, to destroy the Egyptians, that is, the reprobate, from this figure and from Matthew chapter 25, verse 6, teach St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Jerome in that place, who adds that this is an Apostolic tradition. Others, however, think that Christ will come in the morning. But this matter must be discussed elsewhere.
I WILL GO FORTH INTO EGYPT — not changing His place, but His action: for those whom He has thus far preserved alive, He will destroy and slay. He who was therefore absent from Egypt as an avenger, will now enter as a conqueror and will visit them with His vengeance. For although among them many little ones are innocent, they are nevertheless the children of the guilty, and therefore are, as it were, a part of their noxious and rebellious fathers, whom He has decreed to punish with the death of their children. For God is the Lord of the guilty and the innocent, of life and of death, so that He may take away life from the innocent not unjustly, as their Lord; but from the guilty He may most justly seize it away, as the avenger of evils.
Verse 5: Every Firstborn Shall Die
AND EVERY FIRSTBORN SHALL DIE, FROM THE FIRSTBORN OF PHARAOH WHO SITS UPON HIS THRONE — who reigns together with his father, or is about to sit upon the throne and reign after his father.
EVEN TO THE FIRSTBORN OF THE HANDMAID WHO IS AT THE MILL — who turns the millstones, namely the hand-mills, in the bakehouse. As if to say: This destruction will pervade all, from the most noble to the most lowly. They are justly punished with the slaughter of the firstborn — they who had oppressed the Hebrews, the firstborn people of God, and had slain their male offspring, says Theodoret.
Verse 6: There Shall Be a Great Cry
AND THERE SHALL BE A GREAT CRY. — For this plague touched everyone universally. For when Pharaoh was later drowned with his men, that plague did not touch all the houses, but only those of Pharaoh's soldiers; nor did the Egyptians greatly grieve over Pharaoh's death, since it was through his fault that they had incurred such great calamities and disasters.
Verse 7: Not a Dog Shall Bark
BUT AMONG ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL NOT A DOG SHALL BARK, FROM MAN EVEN TO BEAST. — This is a Hebrew proverb, meaning: No person, no beast shall whimper or low, not even a dog, which barks at the slightest noise; but among all there shall be the deepest peace.
But since the word "from man" in Hebrew has the dative article, and since a dog is not rightly numbered among men, therefore secondly, and more genuinely, you may explain it with the Chaldean and Vatablus thus: Neither at men nor at the cattle of the children of Israel shall any dog bark, because among them there shall be no plague of death, and consequently no mourning and lamentation, during which, more than other animals, dogs are wont to howl and bark; but among them there shall be the deepest quiet.
Verse 8: All Your Servants Shall Come Down
AND ALL YOUR SERVANTS SHALL COME DOWN — indeed even you, O Pharaoh, which however I pass over in silence out of deference to your honor, as is clear from chapter 12, verse 31.
The Tenth Plague: The Slaughter of the Firstborn
This was the tenth plague, namely the slaughter of the firstborn, of both men and all beasts, inflicted in the next chapter, verse 29, and it was most bitter. First, because firstborn children are supremely dear and precious to their parents, especially since among these firstborn many were only children and sole heirs of their parents. Second, because each and every family, afflicted by this plague, mourned. Third, because Pharaoh too lost his firstborn son through this plague. Fourth, because this slaughter occurred at midnight; whence this plague moved Pharaoh to release the Hebrews unconditionally, who on that very same night packed up their belongings and departed. Fifth, together with this plague Apis and the other gods of the Egyptians were overthrown, as is clear from chapter 12, verse 12.
One may ask whether this slaughter was carried out by a good angel or by an evil one. Lyranus and Abulensis think it was done by an evil angel. They prove this from chapter 12, verse 23, where it says: "The Lord will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and harm you." Therefore this destroyer was evil, for he wanted to harm the Hebrews, who were the people of God (which a good angel would not have done); but God did not permit it.
But Pererius and others more probably judge that it was done by a good angel, for through such an angel the other plagues were inflicted, as I said in chapter 7, near the end of Question 4. To the argument I respond: for "will not allow," in Hebrew the word is "will not give," meaning: God, ordering and prescribing all these things to the angel, will command him to strike the Egyptians but to pass over your houses, O Hebrews. Thus He will not give him the power of harming you; whence it does not follow that this angel wanted to harm the Hebrews, but only that he had not received from God the commission to harm them. So says Cajetan. Add that among the Hebrews there were some of impure and wicked life, whom the angel could have justly struck and would have wished to strike, if God had permitted it.
Note that not one but many angels carried out this slaughter, as is clear from Psalm 77, verse 49. For this slaughter was done at the same instant everywhere, in each and every city and village throughout all Egypt. But the same angel could not have been in so many places at the same instant and carried out such great carnage with such discrimination. It was different in the army of Sennacherib, in which, since the army was gathered together, one angel in one night killed 185,000 (4 Kings, chapter 19). Hence Pererius probably thinks that in each city there was one angel who slew the firstborn of the Egyptians.
Who Are Understood as the Firstborn?
One may ask secondly, who are understood here as firstborn? I respond: all those who were born first from their parents, whether they had children or not, and whether their parents were alive or not. Therefore all heads of households who were firstborn were slain here, and likewise their parents, and even their children, if they were firstborn. Hence, since Pharaoh was not slain here, it is clear that he was not a firstborn, but had succeeded to the kingdom after the firstborn had died or been passed over. Abulensis adds that the firstborn here are understood to include both females and males, and whether they were firstborn with respect to both parents or only one. This being granted, it could happen that in one house there were many firstborn — for example, the father of the household could be the firstborn of his parents, and his wife could be the firstborn of hers, and their son could be the firstborn of both; and if that father had several wives and children by each, with respect to each wife there was one firstborn, so that in one family there could be five or more firstborn. Abulensis judges that all of these were slain in this plague, and thus it could easily have happened as Scripture says in chapter 12, verse 30: "For there was not a house in which there did not lie one dead." God, however, in return for these firstborn of the Hebrews preserved here, demanded that only their male firstborn be offered to Him (chapter 13, verse 12).
Hear the Wise Man speak of this slaughter in chapter 18: "For while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of its course, Your almighty Word, O Lord, leaping down from heaven from Your royal throne, as a fierce conqueror leaped into the midst of the land of destruction, bearing Your unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and standing filled all things with death, and standing on the earth reached even to heaven." From this it would seem that the angel slew these firstborn not by plague but by the sword. But "sword" in Scripture signifies every instrument, every weapon, every kind of death, as I have said elsewhere. Nor does an angel need a sword; for most easily, by breaking the heart, or by striking the vital parts, or by suffocation, and other similar means, he can by himself alone kill men, just as we squeeze and kill fleas with a finger.
Mystical Meaning of the Slaughter of the Firstborn
Tropologically, St. Augustine, in his book On the Agreement of the Ten Commandments with the Ten Plagues of Egypt, says: Those who sin against the tenth commandment — "You shall not covet" — through fraud, plunder, and other injustices, are punished with the death of their firstborn, because no heirs are left for goods ill-gotten. And not rarely their children and heirs, even their firstborn, die; for ill-gotten gains are ill lost, and "the third heir does not enjoy what was wrongfully acquired."
Second, the firstborn of the Egyptians are the devil and his angels, whom Christ destroyed by His coming. Again, they are the heresiarchs and inventors of false religions, which the truth of Christ extinguishes together with their authors. So say Origen and St. Augustine (Sermon 87, On Time).
Third. Pererius says: The Egyptians are the enemies of the faithful, namely the devil and the world. The firstborn of the devil are sin, especially original sin, says Rupert, and death. For the first parent of sin was Lucifer and the serpent in paradise, and through his envy death entered the world. Christ slew these when He destroyed our death by dying and restored life by rising again. The firstborn of the world are the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life: these the grace of Christ slays through purity of flesh and heart, poverty of spirit, and humility of mind. Are not the firstborn of the world riches, honors, pleasures, and vain glory? Christ struck these down by being born in the dead of night. For He crushed riches by the wondrous poverty of the manger, honors by the unheard-of humility of the darkness, and pleasures by the harshness of the stable itself. Hence now poverty claims for itself the name of riches; riches are called want; the disgrace, mockery, and reproaches endured for Christ's sake are called honors; the cross is called glory; death, life; prison, liberty.
Verse 9: He Went Out Exceedingly Angry
AND HE WENT OUT FROM PHARAOH EXCEEDINGLY ANGRY — at such great evasion, obstinacy, and rebellion of Pharaoh.
AND THE LORD SAID TO MOSES. — This is an epilogue and summary of the preceding chapters, meaning: The Lord had said to Moses, namely before the plagues were sent upon the Egyptians (chapter 3, verse 19).
Verse 10: Nor Did He Let the Children of Israel Go
NOR DID HE LET THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GO — up to this point, that is, until the tenth plague. For in the tenth he will let them go, as we shall see in the following chapter, verse 30.