Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, verse 2, God commands the firstborn of men and beasts to be offered to Him. Second, verse 17, God leads the Hebrews not through Philistia, but by the way of the desert. The Hebrews carry with them the bones of Joseph. Third, verse 21, the pillar of fire and cloud is described, which was the guide of the journey.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 13:1-22
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Sanctify to Me every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of men and of beasts: for they are all Mine. 3. And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you came forth out of Egypt and out of the house of bondage, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out of this place: that you eat no leavened bread. 4. This day you go forth in the month of new grain. 5. And when the Lord shall have brought you into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall celebrate this manner of sacred rites in this month. 6. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemnity of the Lord. 7. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days: there shall not appear anything leavened with you, nor in all your borders. 8. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: This is what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9. And it shall be as a sign in your hand, and as a memorial before your eyes, and that the law of the Lord may always be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10. You shall keep this observance at the set time from year to year. 11. And when the Lord shall have brought you into the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and your fathers, and shall have given it to you: 12. you shall set apart all that opens the womb for the Lord, and all that is firstborn of your cattle: whatever you shall have of the male sex, you shall consecrate to the Lord. 13. The firstborn of an ass you shall change for a sheep: and if you do not redeem it, you shall kill it. And every firstborn of men among your children, you shall redeem with a price. 14. And when your son shall ask you tomorrow, saying: What is this? you shall answer him: By a strong hand the Lord brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15. For when Pharaoh was hardened and would not let us go, the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of men to the firstborn of beasts: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that opens the womb of the male sex, and all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. 16. And it shall be as a sign in your hand, and as something hung, for a remembrance, between your eyes: because by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt. 17. Therefore when Pharaoh had let the people go, God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, which is near: thinking lest perhaps they might repent if they saw wars rising up against them, and might return to Egypt. 18. But He led them about by the way of the desert, which is near the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. 19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because he had adjured the children of Israel, saying: God shall visit you; carry out my bones from here with you. 20. And departing from Socoth, they encamped in Etham at the uttermost borders of the wilderness. 21. And the Lord went before them to show the way, by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; that He might be the guide of their journey at both times. 22. There never failed the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before the people.
Verse 2: Sanctify to Me Every Firstborn
2. SANCTIFY TO ME EVERY FIRSTBORN — as if to say: Set apart from common use every firstborn, so that it may be dedicated and offered to Me.
Note: God does not command here that this be done at this time, when everyone was occupied with the departure, but that it be done later, when it would be opportune — namely, when they would possess the land of Canaan, as is clear from verse 11. Nevertheless, God appends this law to the precept about the lamb, because, just as the immolation of the lamb, so too the offering of the firstborn, should continually refresh for the Hebrews the memory of their liberation from Egypt: for God brought about and procured this liberation through the slaying of the firstborn of all Egypt. Because God struck down the firstborn of Egypt so as to liberate the Hebrews as His own firstborn from there, and because He then kept safe the firstborn of the Hebrews dwelling in Egypt, by this law He demanded that these same firstborn be offered to Him, as though they were His own and preserved by Him to be returned to Him. Hence this offering of the lamb as well as of the firstborn are the first ceremonies of the old — that is, the Mosaic — law.
EVERY FIRSTBORN THAT OPENS THE WOMB — that which first comes forth into this light by opening the mother's womb in the natural manner, and which is the beginning of maternal generation. Hence Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Homily On the Presentation of the Lord, denies that this applies to Christ: for Christ being born did not open His mother's womb, but came forth into the light by passing through the closed womb of His virgin mother; and therefore He was not bound by this law, although of His own will He subjected Himself to it and observed it. So Cyril and Pope Hormisdas, Epistle 1, chapter 3 — although Rupertus, Abulensis, and Jansenius teach the contrary, thinking that "to open the womb" means nothing other than to be born first, and that thus Christ also opened the womb of His mother. But the opening of the womb signifies more, as is clear from the terms.
Third, on the completely opposite side, Origen, St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, Theophylact, and Euthymius on Luke 2 think that by this law only Christ is comprehended, because He alone was born of a virgin, and therefore He alone in birth opened His mother's womb — that is, came forth from it when it had hitherto been closed; for in other women the womb is opened first not in childbirth but in marital congress before conception. But this interpretation is too subtle and seems to overturn the literal sense. For here the Hebrews are commanded that each should offer his firstborn to God: therefore this law does not concern Christ alone, but rather excludes Him.
And so I say that "that which opens the womb" is added here to "firstborn": first, so that Christ might be excluded from this law; second, lest anyone think that only the father's firstborn were to be offered — for in cattle it is clear that the firstborn of the mother, not the father, is to be regarded and offered, and the same applies to human beings. Hence St. Augustine notes, in Question 23, that the firstborn is here called by the Septuagint prototokos, from the mother's first birth, and not protogenes, from the father's first begetting. Conversely, when Scripture speaks of the eternal and uncreated generation of the Son from the Father, it calls Him not monotokos but monogenes, that is, the Only-begotten of the Father.
Wherefore under this law a son was not a firstborn if a virgin father had married a widow who already had children from elsewhere, and had begotten his first son from her; for this first son of his did not first open the mother's womb, since others had already come forth from it before. Conversely, one who had several wives was required by this law to offer God the firstborn of each. Hence the Hebrew, the Chaldean, and the Septuagint have "opening every womb"; and Luke, chapter 2, verse 23: "Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord."
Hence Christ too, as the firstborn of His mother, was offered to God — even though He was not bound by this law, as I have said.
Again, the firstborn here opening the mother's womb to be consecrated to God had to be male, as is clear from verse 12, who was born first from her; for if a female had been born first from her, then a male, that male was not considered a firstborn under this law, because he did not first open the mother's womb, since it had already been opened before by his sister.
Let parents of the New Testament learn here not to oppose their children, even the firstborn, if they wish to enter Religious life and consecrate themselves to God; for in the old law all parents were required by God's law to offer their firstborn to God, even if they were to be their only children. If the Jews did this at God's command, why should not Christians do the same at God's counsel and calling? Parents willingly offer their firstborn to kings and princes, to serve them in their courts: why should they not more willingly offer them to the King of kings and Lord of lords, that they may be citizens of the Saints, members of God's household, indeed courtiers of God? Let them imitate Blessed Anna, who so willingly offered her Samuel to God, and therefore received five children in return for one Samuel, from God the rewarder.
Allegorically, Christ the firstborn of all creation was sanctified and consecrated to God, and through Him all creation.
Tropologically, we give God our firstborn when we offer Him the beginnings of our works, so that they may redound to His praise and honor, and be prospered and blessed by Him — which indeed wise and pious men do not only in the morning, but often throughout the day at the beginning of each task: so Rabanus. Again, our firstborn is the heart, because it is formed first in the embryo before the other members. Hawks are usually given the heart of the birds they prey upon. Christ from the cross has claimed our heart: let us therefore offer it to Him — He will return it to us pure, holy, peaceful, joyful, and blessed.
Seneca says (Book 1, On Benefits, chapter 7) that when many people were offering Socrates many things, each according to his means, Aeschines, a poor disciple, said: "I find nothing worthy of you that I could give you, and in this way I realize that I am poor. And so I give you the one thing I have — myself. I ask that you accept this gift, such as it is, and consider that others, when they gave you much, kept more for themselves." To which Socrates replied: "Why should you not have given a great gift — unless perhaps you value yourself cheaply? I shall therefore take care to return you to yourself better than I received you." So says Seneca. But you, imitate Aeschines: not to Socrates, but to God, give your whole self. If you give yourself, He will return you to yourself much improved.
AMONG THE CHILDREN — that is, among the sons. In Hebrew, the letter beth, meaning "in," is used for ben, meaning "among."
FOR THEY ARE ALL MINE — not only by title of creation and dominion, which I have and hold over all things created by Me; but also, and especially, by title of liberation and redemption, by which I protected your firstborn from the destroyer, redeemed them as it were from death, and led them forth with you out of Egyptian slavery. Hence, third, they are Mine by title of this just precept, by which I most justly demand them from you — indeed, reclaim them.
Verse 3: Remember This Day
3. YOU CAME FORTH — that is, you come forth: it is an interchange of tenses, and one fitting for this passage; for we can only remember things past.
BY A STRONG HAND — with great force and power, afflicting Pharaoh with His plagues, and thus powerfully compelling him to let you go; by this powerful vengeance of His, therefore, God brought you forth.
Verse 4: The Month of New Grain
4. THIS DAY YOU GO FORTH IN THE MONTH OF NEW GRAIN. — So the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint; hence it is strange that Pagninus translates it "this day you go forth in the month of July." For the Passover, at which the Jews went forth, was celebrated not in July, but always in Nisan, that is, March. What deceived Pagninus was that he took abib for ab: for although these words sound similar, they differ greatly in meaning and signification. For ab signifies a specific month — namely July; but abib is not a proper name for a month, but an appellative noun meaning "green" or "verdant," whether of stalk or ear of grain. For so our translator renders it elsewhere, as is clear from Exodus 9:31. Abib is also extended to crops ripening into grain, not yet fully ripe, as is clear from Leviticus 2:14. For a sheaf of these was offered on the second day of unleavened bread, the grains first toasted, then ground into flour, and it is called abib. Hence abib was further transferred to signify the month in which these first barley crops were produced and offered to God — which was the month of the Passover, or Nisan. For this reason the Septuagint generally calls it "the month of new things," and our translator "the month of new grain" or "the first month of spring," because it contained the vernal equinox, Deuteronomy chapter 16, verse 1.
Verse 5: When the Lord Shall Have Brought You into the Land
5. AND WHEN THE LORD SHALL HAVE BROUGHT YOU INTO THE LAND OF THE CANAANITE. — From this it is clear that this law of eating the Passover and unleavened bread, as well as the preceding one about offering firstborn, did not bind the Hebrews during all the forty years they wandered in the desert, unsettled, with everything in disarray. The same must be said about the sacrifices prescribed in Leviticus. The same is clear from Deuteronomy chapter 12, verses 1 and 9, where God also gives the reason for this, saying: "For you have not yet come to the rest and the possession which the Lord your God will give you."
You will object: In Numbers 3:10, 44, 12, at Sinai toward the end of the year in which they had gone forth from Egypt, God demands their firstborn from them.
I answer that this was a new precept, different from this one, although it took its occasion and origin from it. Hence a new form of offering firstborn was also prescribed there: for in verse 43, Moses by the Lord's command counted the firstborn of the children of Israel and found them to number twenty-two thousand and 273. In their place God took for Himself and His worship all the Levites, who were found to be almost the same number — namely, twenty-two thousand. The remaining 273 firstborn, who were left over in the people and exceeded the number of Levites, God commanded to be redeemed by paying five shekels per head. The firstborn of cattle God wanted given to the Levites, who were already His own and dedicated to His worship. Therefore, what is properly prescribed there is not an offering, but only a counting of the firstborn of Israel, for the purpose of substituting Levites — who were equal in number — to serve God in the tabernacle. Thus at that time this law was first fulfilled and commuted into Levites; but thereafter individual firstborn had to be offered to God and redeemed for five shekels, Numbers 18:46.
Verse 9: As a Sign in Your Hand
9. AND IT SHALL BE AS A SIGN IN YOUR HAND, AND AS A MEMORIAL BEFORE YOUR EYES. — Correct with the Roman, Hebrew, and Chaldean Bibles to read "between your eyes"; the Septuagint however translates "before your eyes"; but it amounts to the same thing.
The Jews take this in a crude sense, and to satisfy this divine precept, they affix the law of the Decalogue written on small parchments to the arm, forehead, fringes, or doorposts of the house; and these are the phylacteries and fringes that the Pharisees enlarged, which Christ censures, Matthew 23:5. For God did not intend this here, nor does He speak of the law of the Decalogue, but of the Passover and unleavened bread. Therefore God commanded the Hebrews by this expression only to keep a perpetual memory of this benefit and of the law just mentioned, so that it might continually be before their eyes like something hanging there, and this to the end that by its contemplation and consideration they might be inflamed to reverence, love, and gratitude toward God: this meaning is signified by the word "as" (quasi), when it says: "It shall be as a sign, and as a memorial."
Hence St. Jerome on Matthew 23 explains it thus: "The precepts shall be in your hand, that they may be fulfilled; they shall be before your eyes, that day and night you may meditate on them."
Verse 10: From Days to Days
10. FROM DAYS TO DAYS — that is, from year to year, as if to say: in a fixed and continuous series of years. For the Hebrew yamim, meaning "days" in the plural, signifies a year.
Verse 11: Of the Canaanite
11. OF THE CANAANITE. — Under this name He includes the other nations dwelling in the promised land; for the father of all of them was Canaan, Genesis 10:5.
Verse 12: You Shall Set Apart
12. YOU SHALL SET APART — in Hebrew, haabarta, that is, "you shall cause to pass over" — to the Lord, namely; that is, you shall offer to the Lord all that opens the womb, both among men and among beasts.
Tropologically, St. Ambrose, Book 1, On Cain and Abel, chapter 10: "The offspring and progeny of the mind," he says, "are some feminine — such as malice, wantonness, luxury, intemperance, and other such vices, by which a certain manly vigor of our soul is weakened; others are masculine — such as chastity, patience, prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice — by which our mind and even our flesh itself is strengthened, and raised to fulfill the duties of virtue energetically. And therefore Isaiah says: 'We have conceived and brought forth the spirit of salvation.' He therefore bore and brought forth a male, who poured forth the spirit of salvation."
AND WHAT IS FIRSTBORN AMONG YOUR CATTLE. — In Hebrew it is behema, as if to say: among your beasts of burden. Beasts of burden (jumenta) are properly pack animals that carry people or loads, such as horses, donkeys, and camels; livestock (pecora) are those that provide pasture and food, such as sheep, cattle, and goats. But Scripture does not always observe this distinction, and sometimes confuses them. Hence some think that by this law the firstborn not only of livestock but also of all beasts of burden — namely, horses, mules, and camels — had to be offered to God. Philo teaches this at the beginning of his book On the Honors of Priests, where he adds that the firstborn of horses, donkeys, and camels had to be redeemed with a price, and this by divine law; hence some think they were redeemed for five shekels, just like the firstborn of men. But Scripture — that is, divine law — expresses no such thing; indeed, the firstborn of, for example, a goat or sheep was not worth five shekels at that time, but only two or three.
I say, therefore, that here only the offering of the firstborn of livestock is commanded — that is, of sheep, goats, and cattle — but not of beasts of burden, such as horses, camels, etc. This is clear: for verse 15 signifies that all these firstborn of beasts — that is, livestock — were accustomed to be immolated, and as the Hebrews have it, sacrificed to God. But the Hebrews could sacrifice only sheep, goats, and cattle — not horses, mules, or camels, as is clear from Leviticus 1:2 and 10. Therefore only the firstborn of sheep, goats, and cattle were to be offered to God, for they were offered as a sacrifice. Moreover, God provides in the following verse only for the firstborn of the donkey, that it should be exchanged for a sheep; therefore He disregarded and excluded the firstborn of horses, camels, and other beasts of burden. Something from verse 15 could be objected here, but I will resolve that there.
Again, it could be objected what is said in Numbers 18:15: "Every unclean animal you shall have redeemed." But Abulensis rightly answers that an unclean animal is there called not what is such according to species — as a horse, camel, etc. — but what is such by accident, namely what is unclean because it is blind, lame, or sickly, so that it cannot be immolated to God according to the law of Leviticus 22:22. Hence it follows that the firstborn of only five animals — namely sheep, cattle, goats, humans, and donkeys — had to be offered to God, as Abulensis teaches. See more in Francisco Suarez and Sebastian Barradas, treatise On the Purification of the Blessed Virgin.
WHATEVER YOU SHALL HAVE OF THE MALE SEX, YOU SHALL CONSECRATE TO THE LORD. — For males are of greater dignity than females.
Verse 13: The Firstborn of an Ass You Shall Change for a Sheep
13. THE FIRSTBORN OF AN ASS YOU SHALL CHANGE FOR A SHEEP. — "Of an ass," that is, of a she-ass: for it is hers whose womb is opened, and asinus is both masculine and feminine; hence to the paschal lamb the word "male" is added, as I said on chapter 12, verse 5.
You may ask why, above all other beasts of burden, God wanted the donkey — namely, the firstborn of the donkey — to be offered to Him, so that a sheep might be offered in its place?
I answer: because it so pleased Him. The motivating reason, however, seems to have been that the Hebrews in Egypt had almost nothing except cattle, sheep, and goats among their livestock, and donkeys among their beasts of burden (so the Hebrews and Abulensis), whose firstborn God spared and which they brought safely out of Egypt. And so the firstborn of all of these God claimed for Himself by a title of compensation, as it were — so that from those for whom the use of the donkey was so familiar, and whose donkeys' firstborn God had preserved, He might thereafter receive them back.
Second, God perhaps wanted the donkey to be given to Him, so as to deter the Hebrews by this measure from the cult of Priapus; for the donkey was sacrificed to him. Hence that verse of Ovid about the donkey, Fasti, chapter 1: "A victim pleasing to the Hellespontine god"; and this on account of the donkey's genitals and private parts, about which the Prophet says: "Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys." For which reason the Emperor Commodus too was called onos, that is, "donkey." But because this stupid animal was unworthy of being immolated to God, God commanded that it be exchanged for a sheep.
Third, God did not want young donkeys taken from their mother, lest it afflict the mother: for no animal so loves its offspring as the donkey and the ape.
Tropologically, St. Gregory, Book 27 of the Moralia, chapter 15: To change the firstborn of the donkey for a sheep, he says, is to convert the beginnings of an impure life into the simplicity of innocence. So also Rupertus.
Note: The Jews were accustomed to use donkeys (which in Palestine are swift and strong, like horses) rather than horses and camels. Hence their princes rode on donkeys, as is clear from Judges chapter 10, verse 4, and chapter 12, verse 14. Hence also Christ, the King of Zion, entered Jerusalem carried on a donkey. Moreover, the use of horses — as some maintain — or more accurately, an abundance of horses, was forbidden to the Jews, as is clear from Deuteronomy chapter 17, verse 16; Psalm 71 [72], verse 7; Isaiah chapter 2, verse 8; and this is expressly taught by St. Jerome, Basil, and Procopius when commenting on Isaiah chapter 2.
And these things gave the Gentiles occasion for their fables — that donkeys showed the Jews water in the desert, and they fabricated the claim that the Jews worshipped a donkey. The ringleader of these Gentiles was Apion, against whom Josephus writes, Book 2, chapter 10. Apion was followed by Cornelius Tacitus, Book 5; Plutarch in the Symposium, Book 4, Question 5. Again, because the first Christians came from the Jews, the same calumny was transferred to them, as Tertullian reports about the "ononychite" — that is, an ass with hooves — depicted by a certain painter, Apology chapter 16: he was, says Tertullian, depicted with the ears of a donkey, with one hoofed foot, carrying a book and wearing a toga, with the inscription "God of the Christians." Caecilius likewise reproaches Octavius with this in Minucius Felix. Although this calumny and insult against Christians was concocted from the Gnostics; for the Gnostics, as Epiphanius attests, heresy 62, said that the Lord of Sabaoth had the form of a donkey, because it was said and promised to Judah: "He shall tie his she-ass to the vine," Genesis chapter 49, verse 11. And in Numbers chapter 22, Balaam's she-ass stood for the Jews and God's people; and although God had ordered horses captured from enemies to be hamstrung, Joshua chapter 11, verse 6, He had nevertheless commanded she-asses to be preserved, Numbers chapter 31, verse 28.
BUT IF YOU DO NOT REDEEM IT, YOU SHALL KILL IT. — If the firstborn of the donkey is of too little value for you to want to redeem it at the set price — namely, with a sheep — then you shall not indeed immolate it, but you shall break its neck and kill it with its neck severed; for this is what the Hebrew araph signifies — so that even thus you may have a memorial of the firstborn of Egypt, slain for your sake. It is remarkable that in the Septuagint, instead of "you shall kill it," one reads "you shall redeem it." For they have: "If you do not exchange it, you shall redeem it" — perhaps they meant that if the sheep, for which the young donkey was to be exchanged, was not at hand, then this young donkey had to be redeemed with the price of a sheep. St. Ambrose seems to explain it this way, Book 2, On Cain, chapter 2; but then the other part of the condition is missing — namely: If you are unwilling to redeem this young donkey either with a sheep or with the price of a sheep, then you shall kill it, as the Hebrew, Chaldean, and our translator have it.
BUT EVERY FIRSTBORN OF MAN AMONG YOUR CHILDREN, YOU SHALL REDEEM WITH A PRICE — five shekels, as is clear from Numbers chapter 18, verse 16. God wanted them, once offered to Him, to be redeemed again. First, so that this redemption might refresh their memory of the redemption of the firstborn, when they were freed from the angel and from death. Second, because God had destined only the Levites for His tabernacle and worship; otherwise, the crowd of priests and ministers of God would have been too great, who consequently would often have been idle, and yet would have had to be fed by the people — which would have been an enormous burden on the people.
Verse 14: Tomorrow
14. TOMORROW — in future times: it is a synecdoche.
Verse 15: Even to the Firstborn of Beasts
15. EVEN TO THE FIRSTBORN OF BEASTS. — For all firstborn, even of beasts of burden — namely, horses, donkeys, and camels — were slain in Egypt. In memory of this, God demanded that the Hebrews offer Him not the firstborn of all beasts of burden, but only the firstborn of livestock, because He chose only livestock for sacrifice to Himself in Leviticus.
In like manner, although in Egypt females too who were firstborn were slain, God nonetheless requires from the Hebrews only male firstborn, so that the more worthy sex might be dedicated to God.
Verse 16: As a Sign in Your Hand
16. AND IT SHALL BE AS A SIGN IN YOUR HAND, AND AS SOMETHING HUNG. — Instead of "hung," others translate "frontlet." The Jews again take this in a crude sense, referring to a strip of parchment attached to the forehead above the eyes and stretched from one ear to the other, on which was inscribed: "Sanctify every firstborn," and: "Hear, O Israel, your God is one," etc.
Regarding this frontlet, the superstition of the Jews is remarkable: for they say that its little parchment must be taken from the skin of a clean animal; that the words just mentioned must be inscribed on it on the side that adhered to the animal's flesh, and this with the right hand, in very straight lines, on a whole sheet having no hole; if it is in the bedroom, it is not lawful to use conjugal rights unless it is enclosed within a third box, etc. Finally, these signs, which they tie daily both to the head and to the left arm among themselves, to remind them of God's precepts, they call tephillin, from the root taphal, meaning to join, bind, or hang; or from tephilla, meaning prayer — as if to say "prayer-objects," because they use them daily in their prayers and consider themselves protected from all evil by them. So report P. Fagius, Oleaster, Lipomanus, and others. But the genuine sense of this verse I gave at verse 9.
Verse 17: God Led Them Not by the Way of the Philistines
17. GOD LED THEM NOT BY THE WAY OF THE LAND OF THE PHILISTINES, WHICH IS NEAR. — This route from Canaan into Egypt through the Philistines is commonly said to be a ten-day journey; Philo says it is three days.
LEST PERHAPS THEY MIGHT REPENT IF THEY SAW WARS RISING UP AGAINST THEM. — You will object: On the other route too they had to fight with Amalek, chapter 17. I answer: That battle was a single one, begun forty days after the departure from Egypt, which was won not so much by the arms of the Hebrews as by God's singular help. But if the Hebrews had passed through the Philistines, they would have had to fight immediately and constantly with most warlike enemies; for such were the Philistines.
"Spiritually," says Rupertus, "God does this in all His elect at the departure from Egypt — that is, at the beginning of conversion — so that He prepares for novices a way pacified from vices, that they may go forth peacefully and delightfully, lest, struck by sudden temptations, they be deterred from their holy purpose barely begun." Beautifully also St. Gregory, Book 24 of the Moralia, chapter 12: "There are," he says, "three stages of those converted to God: the beginning, the middle, and perfection. In the beginning, they find the enticements of sweetness; in the middle time, the struggles of temptation; but at the end, the perfection of fullness. First, therefore, sweet things receive them, which console; afterwards bitter things, which exercise them; and finally delightful and sublime things, which confirm them: for every husband first cherishes his bride with sweet blandishments, but then tests her already joined to him with harsh rebukes, and having tested her, possesses her with secure thoughts. And so the Israelite people, when God betrothed Himself to them and called them from Egypt to the sacred nuptials of the mind, received first, as a pledge, the enticements of signs; but once joined, they are exercised by trials in the desert; and once tested, they are confirmed in the promised land with the fullness of virtue: so too the life of every convert, the gentle beginning soothes, the harsh middle tests, and the full perfection afterwards strengthens." St. Gregory adds: "Often the struggles of temptation last as long as the enticements of the beginning were prolonged; often not: yet never does a disproportionate perfection of firmness follow the labor of temptation: because according to the measure of the struggle, each one is rewarded with the fullness of perfection." And he adds that novices commonly fall in this, that when at the beginning they receive certain gifts and consolations from God, they immediately think themselves perfect; whence when they are struck by a sudden storm of temptation, they are dismayed, and think themselves nearly lost; but if they had not attributed too much to the first sweetness, and had learned in prosperity to think about adversity, they would have foreseen that these things would happen, and would not have been disturbed, knowing that this is God's way and order.
Verse 18: Armed out of Egypt
18. AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT UP ARMED OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT.
For "armed" the Hebrew is chamuschim, that is, "by fives." Hence Calvin criticizes our Interpreter, who translated "armed," and wants it rendered "arranged." But the Hebrews generally, such as R. Abraham, Aben Ezra, Andreas Masius in Joshua book 1, chapter 14, and others, take chamuschim for chalutsim, that is, "armed," or "girded at the loins." Aquila also and Symmachus translate it kathoplismena, that is, "armed"; and so that it was correctly translated by Aquila, all the benches of the synagogues agree, says St. Jerome to Damasus, Question 2: for since soldiers march in battle lines five abreast and armed, hence chamuschim, that is "by fives," is the same as "armed," by a metalepsis common among the Hebrews. Differently Cajetan: Chamuschim, he says, is the same as "quintati," that is, armed or girded with swords and weapons at the place of the five ribs: for there we customarily hang the sword. Calvin denies that the Hebrews had weapons here: for whence, he asks, could they, being poor, have acquired so many and such great ones? I reply: the more honorable ones had already possessed them at home before; others, forewarned of the departure, had procured them for themselves; others had received them on loan from the Egyptians: for that they had weapons is clear from the war they waged shortly after with the Amalekites.
The Seventy translate "armed" as "in the fifth generation." For chamuschim signifies the fifth, namely the generation, as the Seventy understand it. And this too is true, if you count the generations of the tribe of Judah. For Judah begot Phares; Phares begot Esron; Esron begot Aram; Aram begot Aminadab; Aminadab begot Naason, who was the prince of the tribe of Judah in the desert. Otherwise, if you count the generations of Levi, you will find only four: for Levi begot Caath; Caath begot Amram; Amram begot Aaron; Aaron begot Eleazar, who went out of Egypt with his father. And by this computation, the Lord promised Abraham that the Hebrews would go out of Egypt in the fourth generation, Genesis chapter 15, verse 16. So says St. Jerome to Damasus. Differently St. Augustine, Question 49: A generation, he says, is a century, that is, a span of one hundred years: therefore in the fourth generation, that is, when the fourth century of years was completed and the fifth begun, the Hebrews went out of Egypt, as God had promised Abraham, Genesis chapter 15, verse 16.
Note the word "armed": until now the Hebrews had served the Egyptians unarmed, handling bricks and mud; but now, about to depart Egypt as free men, they are armed for war. So tropologically, whoever wishes to free himself from the servitude and kingdom of the world and the devil must arm himself for battle: remember, O Christian, that you are a soldier of Christ, called to war, and must handle arms. Paulus Aemilius, when his soldiers were attending to unnecessary things, ordered them to rest and do nothing else but sharpen their swords, saying that he would take care of the rest. He also told soldiers that three things must be attended to: the body, so that it be as strong and agile as possible; suitable weapons; and a spirit ready for sudden commands: the rest should be left to the gods and the commander.
Livy testifies, book 4. C. Crassus, seeing a soldier running without a sword: "Hey," he said, "comrade, will you fight with your fist instead of a sword?" When many were begging the Emperor Otho not to lay down his power and abandon the army and the Republic, a certain common soldier, raising his sword, said: "Know, Caesar, that all are thus spirited for you"; and immediately killed himself: as Suetonius testifies in his Life of Otho. When Antony was preparing a fleet to fight against Caesar, a certain military tribune, a brave man experienced in arms, showed Antony as he passed by his own body marked with many scars, saying: "O commander, why do you trust so little in these wounds, or in this sword, and place your hope in fragile timbers? Let the Phoenicians and Egyptians fight with a fleet: give us Romans land, on which we are accustomed either to conquer the enemy or to meet death." Plutarch testifies in his Life of Antony. Cicero says excellently, Tusculan Disputations book 3: "It is necessary that he who is brave also be great-souled; he who is great-souled, unconquerable; he who is unconquerable, that he despise human affairs and consider them beneath him. But no one can despise those things by which he can be affected by grief, unless he is brave. From which it follows that a brave man is never affected by grief; and that all wise men are brave." Let the Christian soldier apply these things to himself.
Verse 19: Moses Took the Bones of Joseph
19. MOSES ALSO TOOK THE BONES OF JOSEPH WITH HIM.
The Scholastic History relates that the Nile, flooding in the year the Hebrews departed, had covered the coffin of Joseph; since therefore Moses could not find it, he wrote the tetragrammaton name of God on a golden plate; and it immediately floated up to the coffin of Joseph and uncovered it. Others report that this coffin was shown by a sheep — a sheep, I say, which accompanied the Hebrews and this coffin through the desert, and they think that this is signified in Psalm 79:1: "You who lead Joseph like a sheep." But these are fables of the Talmudists.
Note: It is likely that Moses also carried with him the bones of the other Patriarchs, namely the brothers of Joseph. For from Acts 7:16 it is certain that they were all transferred to Palestine and buried in Shechem; nor does it appear at what other time than this they could have been transferred. Here, however, only the bones of Joseph are mentioned, because Joseph had adjured the Hebrews to do this, and he himself had predicted this departure to them. He wanted the Hebrews to carry out his bones, because the care of a holy burial among his own people concerned him, and so that posterity, beholding these bones and remembering his prophecy, might undertake the journey to the promised land with certain faith and hope. See what was said on Genesis 47, verses 29 and 30.
Verse 20: They Encamped in Etham
20. AND DEPARTING FROM SOCOTH THEY ENCAMPED IN ETHAM.
The Hebrews pitched their second camp in Etham, just as they had pitched their first in Socoth. Etham was situated in the outermost wilderness, near the Red Sea, and surrounded by steep mountains: whence it probably received its name. For Etham in Hebrew signifies "strong," and hence "rough" and "steep."
Note here four miracles given to the Hebrews and continued for forty years. The first was that in so great a multitude of them, no one was sick or feeble, so as to want or need to remain in Egypt, but all were healthy and strong to undertake the journey cheerfully and steadfastly; for God infused strength and cheerfulness into all of them, lest they bear the toil of the journey with reluctance and annoyance, and this is what is said in Psalm 104: "And there was not among their tribes one who was infirm," in Hebrew chosel, that is, tottering, wavering — as if to say: Among them there was no one sick, indeed not even feeble or weak, but all were cheerful and vigorous. The second was that their shoes and garments grew with the children, and were not worn out or consumed through forty years, as is said in Deuteronomy 8:1, and chapter 29, verse 5. The third was the manna. The fourth was the pillar of fire and cloud, about which what follows now treats.
Verse 21: The Pillar of Cloud and Fire
21. AND THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEM TO SHOW THEM THE WAY BY DAY IN A PILLAR OF CLOUD.
"He went before them," not in the actual encamping of the camp: for there it stopped; but on the march: for He led them out of Egypt, and from then on always guided and preceded them as they traveled. Whence it follows that this pillar, the guide of the journey, first appeared not in Etham but in Ramesses; for from there the Hebrews first departed. St. Jerome seems to say the contrary, namely that this pillar was first seen in Etham; but he means to say that Sacred Scripture first makes mention of this pillar at Etham: so too at Etham alone does it mention the bones of Joseph being carried away, although it is certain that they were brought out from Ramesses.
Again, this pillar preceded the camp of the Hebrews, moved not by the circular motion of the heavens — for then it would have been swept around in a circle — nor by the blowing of winds; but by the guidance of an angel, who was like the driver and charioteer of the pillar, as is clear from chapter 14, verse 19. The angel therefore propelled it so that it went before the front line of the tribe of Judah as they marched, when the camp was to be changed and moved; but when the camp was to be placed and fixed, the angel held it as if fixed over the camp — some say over the front line of the tribe of Judah, but more probably over the middle of the camp, as others hold — as though planted there; and after the tabernacle was later constructed, he caused it to rest upon it, as is clear from the last chapter, verse 34.
Note nine properties of this pillar. First, this pillar preceded the Hebrews for forty years, and led them from Egypt to Canaan. Second, this pillar showed the way, so that they would know which way to go through the trackless and pathless desert. Third, this pillar now moved, now rested: when it moved, the camp of the Hebrews moved; when it rested and settled upon the tabernacle, the camp also rested. Fourth, this pillar was immense — long, wide, and thick like a great tower — so that it could be seen from anywhere in so great a camp, that is, by three million people, who easily occupied a space of ten Italian miles, says Pererius. Fifth, the mover and keeper of the pillar was an angel. Sixth, by day it appeared as a pillar of cloud, by night as a pillar of fire to illuminate the camp; and this alternately and continuously every day and night. Seventh, in this pillar God often appeared and spoke to Moses and the Hebrews, and showed His glory and magnificence. Eighth, this pillar of cloud wholly overshadowed the camp and protected it from the heat of the sun, as I will say below. Ninth, this cloud separated the Hebrews from the Egyptians, darkening the latter and illuminating the former, and the Lord, looking through it, destroyed the army of the Egyptians, chapter 14, verse 24.
Hence Wisdom 10:17 says of this pillar, the guide of the way: "He led them along a marvelous way, and was to them a covering by day, and a light of stars by night."
Allegorically, all these things are easily applied to Christ and the Holy Spirit; for Christ is a pillar because of His uprightness and stability, and because He Himself upholds the Church and our infirmities, and makes the Church herself a pillar and foundation of truth, and the Saints themselves pillars. Hence Apocalypse 3:12 says: "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God." Again, Christ is a pillar because of the Cross. "For the Cross of Christ is the pillar of the human race," says St. Jerome on Psalm 95. Second, Christ is a cloud insofar as He is man; He is fire insofar as He is God: for, as St. Ambrose says on Psalm 118, the cloud is the mist of our body, but in Christ it is light — that is, made holy by the heavenly operation of the Holy Spirit, and weighed down by no stain, Isaiah 19:1. The Sun, therefore, so that He might be tolerated, came in a cloud — that is, God, so that He might dwell among men, came in flesh, by which He veiled and clothed His divinity. Third, Christ, like this pillar, overshadows, protects His faithful, and leads them to the land of the living, which He promised to His elect; for He Himself is our guide, who says of Himself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
But why is this pillar fire by night and cloud by day? St. Gregory answers, Homily 21 on the Gospels, that it signifies that Christ in the day — that is, in the life of the just — is a cloud, that is, gentle; but in the night — that is, the life of the sinner — He appears as fire, that is, terrible. Again, Christ in the day, that is, in this life, shows Himself mild as a cloud; but in the night, that is, in death and the other life — namely in judgment and hell — He will show Himself as a formidable fire. "In lightning," says St. Gregory, "there is the terror of fear, but in snow the gentleness of brightness: hence at the resurrection of Christ, the angel appeared such that by his appearance he both terrified the reprobate and soothed the pious. Whence a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day preceded the Hebrews as they traveled through the desert; for in fire there is terror, in the cloud a gentle enticement of vision; day is taken as the life of the just, and night as the life of the sinner: therefore the pillar of cloud was shown by day, and the pillar of fire by night, because God, coming in judgment, will gently soothe the just by the mildness of gentleness, but will terrify sinners by the strictness of justice."
Second, the pillar of fire can signify Christ, who is the light of the world; and the pillar of cloud can signify the Holy Spirit, and His overshadowing and sanctification: for Christ and the Holy Spirit are one pillar, that is, one deity. So says St. Ambrose, book 2 On the Sacraments, chapter 6, and following him many interpreters on 1 Corinthians 10:1.
St. Gregory rightly says: "The Holy Spirit admonishes, moves, and teaches: He admonishes the memory, moves the will, teaches the reason; nor does He allow the smallest piece of straw to remain within the heart He possesses, which He does not burn with the fire of circumspection and compunction: against foolishness He suggests wisdom, against dullness understanding, against rashness counsel, against fear fortitude, against ignorance knowledge, against hardness piety, against pride the fear of God."
And St. Bernard, Sermon 2 On Pentecost: "The Holy Spirit," he says, "gives the pledge of salvation, the strength of life, the light of knowledge: the pledge of salvation, so that He Himself may bear witness to your spirit that you are a child of God; the strength of life, so that what is impossible for you by nature, through His grace becomes not only possible but easy; the light of knowledge, so that when you have done all things well, you may call yourself a useless servant, and attribute whatever good you find in yourself to Him from whom all good comes. In these three things the Holy Spirit will teach you all things that pertain to salvation." And Sermon 5: "Breathing more vehemently unto fervor in the hearts of the perfect, He kindles a powerful fire of charity, so that they may glory not only in the hope of the children of God, but also in tribulations, carrying off glory from insult."
And St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit: "Just as," he says, "bright and translucent bodies, when touched by a ray of the sun, themselves become splendid and pour forth another radiance from themselves: so also souls breathed upon and illuminated by the Holy Spirit themselves become spiritual, and send forth grace unto others. Hence the foreknowledge of future things, the understanding of mysteries, the comprehension of hidden things, the distributions of gifts, heavenly conversation, the dance with the angels; hence joy that will never end, hence perseverance in God, hence likeness to God, and — something more sublime than which nothing can be desired — hence it is that you become God."
Would that we might daily gaze upon this pillar leading us to heaven, and earnestly follow it! St. Charles Borromeo, when one of his associates asked for some instruction on how he might reach heaven and please God, gave this advice: "He who desires to progress daily in the way of God must, first, begin anew each day; that is, he must strive daily to serve God with such fervor as if he were beginning for the first time that day; second, he must actually walk in the presence of God; third, he must establish God alone as the end of all and each of his actions." In these three points he encompassed the entire spiritual life, and the whole state and progress of the interior man. So reports the author of his Life, book 8, chapter 18, at the end.
Tropologically, therefore, pillars of light are the brave and illustrious Saints. "Abbot Hilarion once came to Abbot Antony, and Abbot Antony said to him: Welcome, morning star, who rises at dawn. And Abbot Hilarion replied: Peace to you, pillar of light, who sustain the whole world"; as is found in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, treatise 17, number 4.
Such a pillar of light was also Simeon Stylites, who, in order to draw all from earth to heaven, stood on a pillar for eighty years, scarcely eating or sleeping, and always either praying or giving counsels of salvation to those who approached. And the Angel of Apocalypse 10:1 had feet like pillars of fire.
So Peter, James, and John in the Church "were seen to be pillars," says Paul, Galatians 2:9. For this reason Christ, in Apocalypse 3:12, promises to the angel, that is, the Bishop of Philadelphia: "He who overcomes," He says, "I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God."
TO SHOW THE WAY. — For although the common road from Egypt to Canaan was well-worn and generally known, nevertheless no one knew the way by which God wished to lead the Hebrews through the deserts of Arabia to Canaan. Genebrard adds on Psalm 104:39 that God showed them the way because in those Saracen deserts no traces of roads remain, owing to the sands being mobile and easily erased by the slightest breeze of wind; and therefore travelers in them, like sailors at sea, are compelled to use certain instruments, like nautical quadrants, to determine the regions of the world, and according to these they direct their journeys.
You may ask whether this pillar only showed the way, or whether it also overshadowed the camp and protected it from the heat. Cajetan and Abulensis, Question 13, hold that it only showed the way; the reason being that one pillar, being small and slender, could not overshadow so great and extensive a camp. Second, if it had overshadowed the entire camp, it would have taken from them the view of the air, the sky, and the celestial light, which is most pleasant to human beings.
But others more probably hold that this pillar not only showed the way, but also protected the camp from the heat of the sun; for since the Hebrews were traveling through Arabia, which is scorched by the rays and heat of the sun, especially in the valleys where the reflected rays of the sun, bounced off the opposite mountains, produce great heat, they would have had a most burdensome journey, had not God tempered these heats by interposing this cloud of the pillar against the sun's rays.
This is proved: for it is said in Psalm 104: "He spread out a cloud for their protection"; and the Psalmist, in Psalm 120, alludes to this saying: "The Lord guards you, the Lord is your protection; by day the sun shall not burn you, nor the moon by night." Wisdom 10: "He led them along a marvelous way, and was to them a covering by day"; and chapter 19: "A cloud overshadowed the camp"; and chapter 18: "You provided them with a sun without harm of good hospitality" — as if to say: You made that pillar a guide for the Hebrews, like a sun shining before them on the journey, and for indicating good lodgings, that is, good and convenient stations in the desert for forty years: a sun, I say, without harm, that is, harmless, not injuring, not burning the Hebrews. Hence finally the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 10:1, says that all the fathers were under the cloud. So Blessed Nyssen, Ambrose on Psalm 118, Justin Against Trypho, Lyranus, Pererius, and others.
You may object: How could a small pillar overshadow the entire camp? I reply: This pillar, when the Hebrews were on the march, went before the camp and simultaneously expanded itself, and spread from itself a kind of other cloud that overshadowed the camp. Note here that this cloud was in the higher part of the atmosphere, positioned directly opposite the sun, and opposed to it wherever it moved, so that by its interposition the sun's heat and its rays, refracted and repressed in it, reached the Hebrews only moderately — bringing them light but not heat. That this is so is clear from Numbers 14:14, where it says: "Your cloud protects them, and in a pillar of cloud You go before them"; where the cloud is clearly distinguished from the pillar going before the camp, and is said to have protected them, namely from the heat; for Moses prays that God would continue this protection. The same is also signified in Numbers 10:34, where it says: "The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they marched." Where the Seventy translate: "and the cloud of the Lord was overshadowing over them." Whence it follows that this cloud, positioned opposite the sun, was immense and enormous. For it was larger than the entire camp, which, as I said above, extended for ten Italian miles; therefore the cloud also had to extend for just as many miles, since it covered, overshadowed, and protected the whole camp from the sun's rays.
Again, when the camp was stationary, this cloud was square. For the camp when pitched was square, as is clear from Numbers 2; but when the camp was on the move, and the Hebrews spread out in a long column, each tribe marching in an ordered line, then this cloud, which had previously been square, likewise extended itself lengthwise over all the columns of marchers, and was equal to them in length as well as in width. For all the Hebrews walked under this cloud as under a covering or an umbrella, and therefore God is said to have led them in a marvelous way, Wisdom 10:17. I will say more about this pillar at Numbers 9:15.