Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Moses and the Hebrews sing a victory song to God; Mary does the same with the women, verse 20; second, the Hebrews come to Marah, where Moses turns the bitter waters sweet, verse 23; from there they proceed to Elim, which was the sixth encampment of the Hebrews in the desert.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 15:1-27
1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said: Let us sing to the Lord; for He is gloriously magnified: the horse and its rider He has cast into the sea. 2. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will glorify Him: the God of my father, and I will exalt Him. 3. The Lord is like a warrior, the Almighty is His name. 4. The chariots of Pharaoh and his army He has cast into the sea; his chosen princes were submerged in the Red Sea. 5. The depths covered them; they descended into the deep like a stone. 6. Your right hand, O Lord, is magnificent in strength: Your right hand, O Lord, has struck the enemy. 7. And in the multitude of Your glory You have overthrown Your adversaries: You sent Your wrath, which devoured them like stubble. 8. And in the blast of Your fury the waters were gathered together: the flowing wave stood still, the depths were gathered in the midst of the sea. 9. The enemy said: I will pursue and overtake them, I will divide the spoils, my soul shall be satisfied: I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 10. Your wind blew, and the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11. Who is like You among the mighty, O Lord? Who is like You, magnificent in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, working wonders? 12. You stretched out Your hand, and the earth swallowed them. 13. In Your mercy You were a leader to the people whom You redeemed, and You carried them in Your strength to Your holy dwelling place. 14. The peoples rose up and were angry; sorrows seized the inhabitants of Philistia. 15. Then the princes of Edom were troubled, trembling seized the mighty men of Moab: all the inhabitants of Canaan became rigid. 16. Let dread and fear fall upon them, in the greatness of Your arm: let them become motionless as a stone, until Your people pass over, O Lord: until this people of Yours pass over, whom You have possessed. 17. You shall bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance, in Your most firm dwelling place which You have made, O Lord: Your sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. 18. The Lord shall reign forever and beyond. 19. For Pharaoh's horseman entered the sea with his chariots and horsemen, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them: but the children of Israel walked through the dry land in the midst of it. 20. Then Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dances. 21. And she sang before them, saying: Let us sing to the Lord; for He is gloriously magnified: the horse and its rider He has cast into the sea. 22. And Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Sur: and they walked three days through the wilderness and found no water. 23. And they came to Marah, and they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter: hence also he gave the place a fitting name, calling it Marah, that is, bitterness. 24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying: What shall we drink? 25. But he cried out to the Lord, who showed him a piece of wood: which when he had cast into the waters, they were turned to sweetness. There He established for him precepts and judgments, and there He tested him, 26. saying: If you will hear the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right before Him, and obey His commandments, and keep all His precepts, I will bring upon you none of the disease that I laid upon Egypt: for I am the Lord your healer. 27. And the children of Israel came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees: and they encamped beside the waters.
Verse 1: Then Moses and the Children of Israel Sang This Song
In what meter this song was composed — the most ancient of all songs (for it preceded the hymns and poems of Linus, Musaeus, and Orpheus by more than three hundred years) — is hidden from modern Hebrews and Latins, for the ancient poetry of the Hebrews has perished. Josephus asserts that this song was composed in hexameter verse, but he does not explain what its feet or dimensions are. We can now only observe in this song that in the Hebrew the style, vein, and poetic figures are different; for it so abounds in paronomasias, anaphoras, similar cadences, and other figures, and is so full of exultant spirit, that you seem not so much to hear as to see a choir leaping up for a festive song.
1. THEN MOSES AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SANG THIS SONG TO THE LORD — in which, exulting over so fortunate a crossing of the sea and the drowning of the Egyptians, they give thanks to God and celebrate His magnificence and power; then they prophesy their own introduction into Canaan. This song is therefore an ode of victory, prophetic and Eucharistic.
Allegorically, Christians, especially the Blessed, who through baptism and the blood of Christ have conquered sin and the devil and have entered the promised land, sing this song in heaven; for this is what Saint John says in Apocalypse 15: "I saw, he says, as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image, standing upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God Almighty." Oh how glorious, how delightful it is and will be for us to sing this song for all eternity!
LET US SING. — In Hebrew it is ashira, that is, "I will sing": for Moses composed this song at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, in the name not so much his own as of the whole and one people, and the entire people sang it with Moses leading, as one Republic and Church. Hence he speaks in the singular saying: "My strength (not 'our') and my praise is the Lord, and He has become my salvation: this is my God," etc.
Philo reports that Moses dictated and sang ahead individual verses, which the people then sang after him, as happens in choruses and dances. Tostado adds that the Hebrews, having been taught this song by Moses, later sang it many times. The author of book I, On the Miracles of Holy Scripture, attributed to Saint Augustine, chapter 21, notes here an evident miracle, namely that boys, old men, men, and young men in such number, as if from one mouth, inspired by the same breath, sang the same words and sentiments: for although Moses sang ahead, in such a great crowd he could not be heard by most. The same happened among the women, who, with Mary singing ahead, sang the same with their whole assembly.
Note here, and imitate the piety of the ancient Saints, who upon receiving benefits from God were accustomed to break forth immediately into praises and hymns of God. So David did throughout the entire Psalter; so Anna did when Samuel was born; so Deborah did when Sisera was slain; so Judith did when Holofernes was beheaded; so Zechariah did when John was born; so the Blessed Virgin did when Christ was conceived; so Simeon did when he saw Christ, singing that swan song: "Now You dismiss Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word in peace."
FOR HE IS GLORIOUSLY MAGNIFIED. — The Hebrew ki gao gaa means "because by magnifying He has been magnified," that is, He has been wondrously magnified, because He has exercised great power and vengeance.
HE HAS CAST THE HORSE AND ITS RIDER INTO THE SEA — that is to say, He cast the horse and the Egyptian horsemen, and especially Pharaoh himself, into the sea. So Saint Hilarion, hearing the roars of wolves, lions, and other beasts, which demons fashioned to terrify him, arming himself with the sign of the cross, wished to see those whose voices he heard; soon he saw a terrible chariot rushing upon him, but when he cried out the name of Jesus it vanished; then he said: "The horse and its rider He has cast into the sea," as Saint Jerome reports in his Life.
Tropologically, the horse is the carnal, proud, unjust man; the rider is the demon. "If therefore an impious man persecutes you, know that he is the horse, but the devil is the rider; the former runs, the latter strikes with his lance; the former is driven by spurs and rages unwillingly; the latter drives and goads," says Saint Jerome on Psalm 75, and Origen and Rupert here.
Again Philo says: The horses are anger and desire; the former male, the latter female. The charioteer is the intellect, which, if it loosens the reins for these horses, they drive both themselves and the charioteer and the whole soul headlong.
Verse 2: My Strength and My Praise Is the Lord
2. MY STRENGTH — not formal, but causal, that is, the One who strengthens me, is the Lord, meaning: We ascribe this victory not to our own strength, but to God's; for this is what is said in Psalm 19: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God."
AND MY PRAISE IS THE LORD. — For "praise," the Hebrew is zimra, that is, "song," meaning the matter and object of the song, as if to say: God is the One whom I must praise, to whom I must sing a hymn. For "Lord," the Hebrew is Yah, which is one of the ten names of God, and is joined in "Hallelujah," and is the tetragrammaton name itself, but abbreviated; for it consists of its first and last letter. Indeed Theodoret, Question 15, asserts that the Jews pronounce the tetragrammaton name as "Iah," that is, by abbreviation and shortening.
Note: We must praise God constantly, with our tongue, our mind, and our conduct, and so our life should be nothing other than a continuous praise of God. First, because God is immense and infinite majesty, liberality, justice, beauty, etc. Second, because He has bestowed innumerable benefits upon us and continues to bestow them daily. Third, because all irrational creatures by their beauty, order, and number testify to the glory of their Creator, and inflame men to know and praise Him. "For His invisible attributes, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen through the things that have been made, being understood — both His eternal power and divinity," Romans 1:20; and "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament announces the work of His hands." Fourth, because this is the work of the devout, and is the noblest work. So David did in Psalm 144: "I will exalt You, O God my king, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name." So holy Job did, serene in affliction and praising God: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." So the three youths in the furnace of fire invite all creatures to praise God with them: "Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord," etc., Daniel 3. For, as Lactantius says in book 6 of the Divine Institutes, last chapter: "The highest rite of worshipping God is praise directed to God from the mouth of a just man, which however itself, in order to be acceptable to God, requires the greatest humility, fear, and devotion." Fifth, because it is the proper activity of the Angels and the Blessed praising God for all eternity. Hence at the birth of Christ they sang: "Glory to God in the highest;" Apocalypse 19:5: "A voice came from the throne saying: Praise our God, all you His servants, and you who fear Him, small and great." The 24 elders do the same, Apocalypse 4:10.
Note: God is praised more by a pious life than by the voice, namely by charity, humility, purity, confession of one's weakness, etc. Saint Augustine on Psalm 34:28 says: "I suggest a remedy by which you may praise God all day if you wish. Whatever you do, do well, and you have praised God." This therefore is the joy and perfection of a Christian: to praise God in all things, both adverse and prosperous, who works all things for the good of His own.
AND HE HAS BECOME MY SALVATION — that is to say, I will praise God, because He has become my savior, because He saved me at the Red Sea. Note: the word "and" here is causal, meaning "for, because." Such is also Genesis 14:19, in the Hebrew: "And he was a priest of God Most High," that is, for he was a priest. Isaiah 64:5: "Behold, You were angry, and (that is, because) we sinned." So often elsewhere the particle "and" is used for "because."
THIS IS MY GOD. — The pronoun "this," says Saint Basil, points to the true God, as if to say: This God, who saved us at the Red Sea, is the true God; Him alone therefore we will glorify, Him alone will we serve, not Apis, not idols and false gods, whom we formerly worshipped in Egypt. The Hebrews add that "this" designates the visible form and appearance of a warrior and soldier, in which God then appeared to the Hebrews at the Red Sea, so that they all saw God more perfectly then than the Prophets later saw Him, and so they pointed Him out with their finger, saying: "This is my God."
But these are their fables: the pronoun "this" designates none other than God looking down through the Angel in the pillar, over the camps of the Hebrews and Egyptians, who destroyed the latter and saved the former, chapter 14:24.
Note: For "God" the Hebrew is El, that is, "strong," which is one of the ten names of God, as if to say: The gods of the Egyptians are weak, but this God of ours is a strong God. Furthermore, he calls this God the God of his father, namely of the patriarch Abraham, who is the father of believers and the father of circumcision, that is, of the Hebrews.
AND I WILL GLORIFY HIM. — The Hebrew veanvehu, which the Chaldean translates as "I will build Him a sanctuary," in which, namely, I may worship Him; whence God wished this victory over Pharaoh to be perpetually represented in the Ark and the Cherubim, as in His triumphal chariot, and to be preserved in the temple, as I shall say at chapter 25, verse 18. Cajetan translates it as "I will dwell with Him," that is, I will attend upon Him with my mind, prayers, praises, affections, and works. Third, Vatablus translates it as "I will adorn Him." For the Hebrew nava means both to adorn, and to glorify, and to dwell, and to build a dwelling place: for the root nave means a beautiful and stately tabernacle.
I WILL EXALT HIM — I will openly confess Him as the Most High, and will proclaim Him as much as I can.
Note: God is the Most High. First, in the height of His substance, because He infinitely transcends all essences of things and contains them all eminently in Himself. Second, in the height of His knowledge: for this in God is incomprehensible. Romans 11: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how incomprehensible are His judgments!" Third, in the height of His power, because whatever He willed, He did in heaven and on earth. Fourth, in the height of His majesty and dominion, because all things are subject to His rule, and all must adore and venerate Him: "To Me, He says, every knee shall bow," Isaiah 45. Fifth, in the height of His habitation, because He dwells in the empyrean heaven, as on the throne of His glory, where all the Angels and the Blessed celebrate Him. Hence Ecclesiasticus admonishes, chapter 43, verse 32: "Glorify the Lord as much as you can; for He will yet surpass even that, and wonderful is His magnificence. Blessing the Lord, exalt Him as much as you can: for He is greater than all praise; when exalting Him be filled with strength, do not grow weary: for you will not comprehend Him."
Verse 3: The Lord Is as a Man of War
3. THE LORD IS AS A MAN OF WAR, THE ALMIGHTY IS HIS NAME. — The Chaldean translates: The Lord is the victor of wars, Adonai is His name. In Hebrew it is the tetragrammaton name, Jehovah, or rather Ieheva, a man of war (most warlike), Ieheva is His name. Ieheva here alludes to the root hova, which signifies crushing and breaking: hence the Septuagint translates, "God who crushes wars," as if to say: Truly God is Ieheva, that is, the crusher of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. It alludes again to the saying of Pharaoh, chapter 5, verse 2: "Who is Ieheva, that I should hear His voice?" as if to say: What can your Ieheva do? With what weapons will He compel me to obey Him?
Thus the Hebrew Shaddai, which signifies God as, so to speak, nourishing and most liberal, elsewhere alludes to shaddad, that is, to devastate. So Oleaster: indeed he holds that this is the proper and genuine meaning and etymology of the tetragrammaton name Ieheva, as I said at chapter 6, verse 3.
Verse 4: His Army He Cast into the Sea
4. HIS ARMY HE CAST INTO THE SEA. — For "cast," the Hebrew is iara, that is, "He hurled," as if to say: God cast down the Egyptians as easily and powerfully as an archer shoots an arrow.
Verse 5: The Depths Covered Them
5. THE DEPTHS (gulfs of water) COVERED THEM, THEY DESCENDED INTO THE DEEP LIKE A STONE — that is to say, when the Egyptians, with the waters of the sea rushing back and meeting one another, tried to climb up and swim out, they were driven back by the force of the waves and descended into the depths of the sea.
Verse 6: Your Right Hand Is Magnified in Strength
6. YOUR RIGHT HAND IS MAGNIFIED IN STRENGTH — it has been made manifest to all that Your right hand, that is, Your might and power, is great, from the strength and powerful crushing of the Egyptians which it exercised. Hence Vatablus translates: "Your right hand has excelled in excellent virtue."
Verse 7: In the Multitude of Your Glory
7. AND IN THE MULTITUDE OF YOUR GLORY YOU HAVE OVERTHROWN YOUR ADVERSARIES. — "Glory," that is, strength, by which You have been gloriously glorified; it is a metonymy, for the effect is put for the cause. For the sake of ornament and poetry, Moses expresses the same thing with varied figures, says the same thing, as Euthymius notes. For "overthrown," the Hebrew is taharos, that is, You have subverted, scattered.
YOU SENT YOUR WRATH — that is, punishments and penalties, which are the effects of Your wrath, that is, of divine avenging justice; it is a metonymy. So Euthymius. Fittingly he joins wrath, or heat and fire (for hence the Hebrews call it "wrath") with stubble: for fire consumes this.
Verse 8: By the Blast of Your Fury the Waters Were Gathered
8. AND BY THE BLAST OF YOUR FURY THE WATERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER. — "By the blast," that is, by the rush, by the impulse, or by indignation: for thus "spirit" is sometimes understood, as in Psalm 138:7: "Where shall I go from Your spirit?" Isaiah 30:18: "His spirit is like an overflowing torrent;" Zechariah 6:8: "They have made My spirit to rest," that is, My wrath. Therefore the blast of fury is furious indignation, so that by this phrase he signifies God's grave and sharp wrath, that is, His most just will to avenge; for God divided and gathered into a heap, or collected the waters of the sea, so that, after the Hebrews had passed through, He might overwhelm the Egyptians with them as with masses and mountains.
It can secondly be translated: "By the breath of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together." For among the Hebrews, the nose is a symbol of anger, because it is its indicator: hence the saying: "They breathe out anger through their nostrils."
Note: "The waters were gathered together," namely those which had previously been divided by Moses: hence the Septuagint substitutes here and translates: the water was divided; then the waters, already divided, were gathered into heaps and aggregated as two walls on either side.
THE FLOWING WAVE STOOD STILL. — In the Hebrew is added: "Like a heap;" hence in Psalm 77:13, it is said: "He set up the waters as in a wineskin."
Note the word "flowing" — which, namely, by its nature would have flowed down into a lower channel, had it not been held back by God.
THE DEPTHS WERE CONGEALED (Hebrew capheu, that is, coagulated) — that is, that vast and deep mass of waters raised up like a wall seemed to stand as though it were frozen ice. The Septuagint translates: the waves were congealed, that is, the waves were compacted or glued together.
Verse 9: My Soul Shall Be Filled
9. MY SOUL SHALL BE FILLED — my desire shall be satisfied. For thus "soul" is often taken for desire, hope, or wish. Hence to lift up the soul is to desire or to hope, as in Jeremiah 22:27: "To the land to which they lift up their soul (which they hope for, to which they long), they shall not return;" Psalm 142:8: "To You I have lifted up my soul," meaning: In You I have hoped.
MY HAND SHALL SLAY THEM. — The Hebrew is torischemo, that is, he will drive out, exterminate, and, as Vatablus says, destroy, and, as the Chaldean says, consume them: for this is the act of the sword; hence Cajetan's translation "impoverish" falls flat. And there is no doubt that Pharaoh the tyrant, although he was trying to recall the Hebrews to slavery, would nevertheless at the first rush and assault of his fury have put very many of them to death.
Verse 10: Your Spirit Blew, and the Sea Covered Them
10. YOUR SPIRIT BLEW, AND THE SEA COVERED THEM. — Cajetan always takes "spirit" here as wind, by which he thinks the waters were divided and then recalled. But I have already said at chapter 14, verse 21, that the sea was split by no wind, but by the rod of Moses extended, immediately through the Angel. Therefore what he had said before in verse 8, Moses here repeats and drives home by a poetic anaphora, namely that God sent His vengeance, by which He drowned the Egyptians: for He calls His spirit the power of vengeance, says Saint Jerome on Proverbs chapter 2, concerning which it is said in Job 4:9 that "the impious have perished from God blowing, and have been consumed by the spirit of His wrath." Although it is likely that God, along with lightnings, thunders, and storms, also stirred up a strong wind, by which the waters would be driven with a more horrible and powerful rush to overwhelm the Egyptians; for this is what the word "blew" signifies.
Mystically, Saint Augustine, Question 55, and Ambrose, book 3 of On the Holy Spirit, chapter 4, understand by "spirit" the Holy Spirit, so that the mystery of the Trinity is here suggested: namely the Son in the right hand of God, that is, of the Father, and the Holy Spirit in the "spirit."
Verse 11: Who Is Like You Among the Mighty, O Lord?
11. WHO IS LIKE YOU AMONG THE MIGHTY, O LORD? — that is, as the Septuagint has it: Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? For the name of God is El, that is, "strong": hence elim, that is, the strong ones, are called gods, that is, those who are considered gods, although in truth they are not gods, as is said in 1 Corinthians 8:5. As if to say: Who among the idols and gods of the nations can be compared to You, O Lord, in strength? Surely no one, and the reason is that You are magnificent in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, that is, as Symmachus translates: "Neither in holiness nor in powers is anyone to be equated with You"; for in holiness and power You are so adorned, so preeminent, that all men and angels are astounded.
The Hebrews report that the Maccabees adopted this verse as a badge of war and victory, and bore it on their standards in camps and battles, and with it overthrew the strongest and most numerous enemies with a small force, and that from this they were called in Hebrew machabi, that is, Maccabees: namely from the Hebrew letters which are the initials of the individual words of this verse, which in Hebrew reads mi camocha baelim iehova: for if from the first word mi you take the first letter m, from the second the first ch, from the third the first b, from the fourth i, and join them together, you make machabi, that is, Maccabee. So reports R. Isaac ben Hole, Reuchlin in book 3 of the Cabala, Mercerus in the Hebrew Abbreviations, Sixtus of Siena in book 1 of the Bibliotheca, and Genebrard in the Chronologia. By a similar blending, the Hebrews call R. Moses ben (that is, son of) Maimon, by conflating the four initial letters into one word, Rambam.
TERRIBLE AND PRAISEWORTHY. — In Hebrew nora tehillot, that is, "terrible in praises," because His praises inspire dread not only in men but also in angels: for they surpass the strength, tongues, and minds of all who praise Him, and therefore with great fear and trembling all the Angels and Saints praise Him. Hence, as if explaining what he had said, and assigning the reason for his words, he adds: "performing wonders." So Cajetan, Vatablus, and Lipomanus. Hence a name of God is pele, that is, "wonderful," Judges 13:18. Let those therefore who think and undertake great things invoke God as Pele, so that through them God may do great and wonderful things.
Verse 12: The Earth Devoured Them
12. THE EARTH DEVOURED THEM. — "Earth," that is, the sea mixed with earth, namely the bed of the sea: for earth and water form one globe, and Scripture is accustomed to express the world with all its elements by the name of heaven and earth. So Augustine, Question 54.
Second, Vatablus takes it literally and explains it thus: "Not only were the Egyptians swallowed by the waters, but the earth also opened and swallowed them; if this is true, there was a new prodigy here, whereby not only the sea but also the earth consumed the Egyptians."
Tropologically, Origen says: "Even today the earth devours the impious: those who always think of the earth, do earthly things, speak of the earth, quarrel, desire the earth and place their hope in it; who do not look toward heaven, do not think of the future, do not fear the judgment of God, nor desire His promises. When you see such a person, say: The earth has devoured him. And if you see someone given over to luxury and the pleasures of the body, in whom the soul has no power, but lust possesses everything, say: The earth has devoured him," and soon hell will devour him.
Verse 13: The People Whom You Have Redeemed
13. THE PEOPLE WHOM YOU HAVE REDEEMED — whom You freed from Egyptian slavery.
AND YOU HAVE CARRIED HIM IN YOUR STRENGTH TO YOUR HOLY DWELLING PLACE: — Here begins the second part of the song, namely the prophetic part, which extends up to verse 16, in which he predicts and describes the victories that would come to the Hebrews against the Edomites, Moabites, and Canaanites, and their fortunate entry into Canaan. Hence he uses the past tense for the future in the prophetic manner, because of the certainty of future events. So Euthymius on this canticle.
Note: He calls the land of Canaan "the holy dwelling place" for five reasons. First, because it was once inhabited by the holy patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Second, because it was promised to their faithful and holy offspring. Third, because in it the temple and the holy worship of God would exist. Fourth, because in it Christ, who is the Holy of Holies, was to be born and to die. Fifth, because in it the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles, and all the first Christians would live, together with the entire primitive Church, which was most holy; hence even now we call Judea the Holy Land.
Verse 14: The Peoples Rose Up and Were Angry
14. THE PEOPLES ROSE UP AND WERE ANGRY. — The Hebrew says: the peoples heard and raged, that is, they will hear of this crossing of the Hebrews through the sea and the drowning of the Egyptians, and therefore will rage against the Hebrews; for distant nations could not yet have heard of the present and recent event. Our translator, for "heard," renders "rose up," to compress everything into a single word; for the peoples heard these things, took counsel, and finally rose up, or went forth to battle against the Hebrews. All these things are said prophetically, and therefore the past tenses are to be taken as futures.
Verse 15: They Became Rigid
15. THEY BECAME RIGID — as their vital spirit and strength vanished from terror, they became like those who are paralyzed and stiff with apoplexy: for this is what the Hebrew namoggu means, that is, they were dissolved, they melted and wasted away like wax brought near to fire.
Verse 16: Let Them Become Immovable
16. LET THEM BECOME IMMOVABLE. — In Hebrew: let them be silent as a stone; the Septuagint: let them be turned to stone, let them become from terror and stupor immovable as stones, who cannot bar our entry into the promised land, and who in battles cannot attack us or defend themselves: so Nicolas de Lyra. Moses prays that the enemies of the Hebrews may not stir; God did even more, when the Hebrews with God's help conquered them and struck them down nearly to annihilation.
UNTIL YOUR PEOPLE PASS THROUGH — into the promised land of Canaan.
Verse 17: You Will Bring Them In and Plant Them
Verse 17. You will bring them in and plant them (so that they may fix their dwelling with stable, firm, and natural roots like plants and trees rooted fast) on the mountain OF YOUR INHERITANCE — namely on Mount Zion or Moriah, on which Moses by the prophetic spirit foresaw that a temple was to be built for God, and therefore he calls it the inheritance of God. Hence the Chaldean translates it as the place of the house of the majesty of God; and hence it follows: "Your sanctuary, O Lord," that is, this dwelling of which I speak is or will be.
Note: Moses here calls Mount Zion and Jerusalem, and consequently all Judea, first, "the dwelling of God," because in it, namely in His people, as in His Church, God was going to dwell. Second, "the mountain of the inheritance of God," because the temple to be built on Zion was to be the house and inheritance of God. Third, "the sanctuary of God," because in it all sacrifices were to be performed, all sanctification of the people, and all the sacred worship of God. Again, past tenses are used here for future events: "which You have wrought," that is, which You will work; "which Your hands have established," that is, which they will establish: for the temple built by Solomon on Zion stood for a thousand years and more — for so many are the years from Solomon to Titus and Vespasian, who destroyed the temple together with the city.
Anagogically, these words better fit the heavenly Zion and Jerusalem, in which is the blessed and glorious House of God, founded and established by God forever, of which it is said: "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, O Lord; they will praise You forever and ever."
Verse 18: The Lord Will Reign Forever and Beyond
THE LORD WILL REIGN FOREVER, AND BEYOND. — Verse 18. You will say: Nothing can exist or be imagined beyond eternity. I respond first: "eternal" is often used to mean a very long age whose end and limit cannot be foreseen, even though it is not truly and properly eternal; for this is what the Hebrew word olam signifies, as I said in chapter IV. When therefore the Hebrews want to signify absolute eternity, to remove all doubt, they add to "eternal" the word vaed, that is, "and beyond," or, as the Chaldean translates, "unto the ages of ages," and as the Septuagint renders, "unto the age and still," and as Pagninus, "unto the age, and even unto perpetuity," that is, unto all eternity. So Lyranus, Cajetan, Lipomanus and others. Hence some also explain it thus: The Lord will reign through the entire present age, and beyond, namely through the future age after the day of judgment, that is, through all eternity.
Second, if anyone wishes to understand "eternal" as absolutely eternal, let him say with Abulensis that the words "and beyond" are added hyperbolically, from the abundance of the heart and the great desire of one who desires the truly perpetual, immense, and unending duration, kingdom, glory, and praise of God — as if to say: I desire that God reign forever, and if any further duration could be given or imagined, that He reign through it further still, and further without end. For since human beings conceive of eternity in the manner of something finite (for they cannot conceive the infinite in a definite way), as if eternity were some limited duration, and therefore comprehensible by our minds — for we conceive of eternity as a very great duration that encompasses many millions of years — therefore, to show that eternity surpasses all our comprehension and understanding, the words "and beyond" are added, as if to say, as Origen states: "Do you think God will reign unto the age of ages? He will reign still more, or beyond; and whatever you say, the Prophet will always say to you about the spaces of His kingdom: And still, or beyond."
See here how great, how long eternity is. How long will God and the Saints reign? How long will the damned burn in hell? Forever. How long is forever? Think of a hundred thousand years — you have thought of nothing in comparison to eternity. Think of ten hundred thousand years, indeed of ages — you have not yet plucked anything from eternity. Think of a thousand millions of years — eternity remains equally intact. Think of a thousand cubes of millions of years — you have not yet begun eternity. Think of as many millions of cubes as there are drops in the sea — you have not yet arrived at the beginning of eternity; eternity remains equally eternal — an eternity of joys for the Saints, and of torments for the damned. If God were to say to the damned: Let the earth be filled with the finest sand, so that the whole world is filled with these grains of sand from the earth up to the empyrean heaven; and let an angel come every thousandth year and remove one grain from this heap of sand, and when after as many thousands of years as there are grains he has exhausted them, I will free you from hell — oh, how the damned would rejoice! They would not consider themselves damned. But now, after all these thousands, there remain other thousands unto infinity, forever and beyond. This is the heavy weight of eternity that crushes the damned. Consider, O sinner, that this weight threatens you unless you repent. But how this weight refreshes and expands the Saints! For they will reign with God, with Christ, with the Blessed Virgin, with the angels, in all glory and joy, in all delights and honors, unto the ages of ages, forever and beyond. O happy eternity, O eternal happiness! How is it that we so rarely, so feebly, so casually think of you? How is it that we do not labor more for you, that we are not more anxious? This stupor of ours is our dullness. For if we could penetrate you, we would say with St. Paul: "Our momentary and light tribulation works for us beyond all measure an eternal weight of glory."
Third, St. Thomas, Part I, Question X, article 2, reply to objection 2, responds that God is said to be beyond or above eternity and to reign, because He has eternity without a beginning, and because He has it from Himself, and because He has His entire being simultaneously without any variation. Hear him: "It is said," he says, "that God reigns beyond the eternal, because even if something else always existed, just as certain philosophers make the motion of the heavens eternal, nevertheless God reigns beyond, inasmuch as His kingdom is entirely simultaneous. Similarly the author of the book On Causes said that God is before eternity, that intelligences are with eternity, but that our soul is after eternity and above time: for even if we were to posit that intelligences exist from eternity, nevertheless, because God has in Himself all and total being simultaneously, while intelligences have their being as limited and participated from God, therefore God would truly be said to be before eternity, participated that is by creatures." But this answer is more clever and subtle than it is sound.
Note: With this beautiful exclamation — "The Lord will reign (both among the Egyptians and other peoples, but especially among the Hebrews and other believers, and both on earth, but especially in heaven) forever and beyond" — Moses closes this canticle; for what follows, "For he entered," etc., is merely a repetition of the matter of the canticle, which as he proposed in the first verse, so he repeats in this last verse.
Verse 20: Mary the Prophetess
20. Therefore Mary the prophetess took up. — Verse 20. Note the word "therefore," as if to say: Because Mary saw the men singing psalms to God, lest the women, who are generally more inclined to devotion, should yield anything to the men in praising God, she sang the canticle before them, which they would then sing in response.
Mary. — Concerning this name, note first that the Massoretes corrupted the vowel points; for they read Miriam, whereas both the Septuagint and St. Jerome, the Syriac, and all the ancients read Mariam, with an 'a,' not an 'i.' Second, this name in Hebrew is disyllabic and has the letter m at the end, and is called Mariam; for so the Hebrews, the Chaldeans, and the Septuagint have it. But later Greeks and Latins, adapting this name to the idiom of their own language, omitted the letter m, and from the disyllable Mariam made the trisyllable Maria, just as they did with many other names, which common usage of all has now worn smooth.
Third, Angelus Caninius in his Hebrew Names of the New Testament teaches that the m in Maria is servile, not radical. For he says the root of the name Maria is rum, that is, to exalt, so that Maria means the same as exalted, lofty. But in this case the letter resch, which is the first radical of the verb rum, would be torn from its root in the name Maria and joined with the servile m — for the Hebrews say Mariam as a disyllable; and such a division of radical letters, especially quiescent ones, is jarring and unusual for the Hebrews.
I say therefore: The name Maria is composed from mor, that is, myrrh, or rather from mera, that is, teacher and mistress, and iam, that is, of the sea; for that the initial m here can be radical (which Caninius denies without reason) is clear from names such as Mara, Melcha, Messiah, Moses, Machir, Melchizedek, in which the m is clearly radical. Maria therefore means the same as myrrh of the sea, because, as the Hebrews relate, when Mary was born, the bitter tyranny of Pharaoh began, commanding the Hebrew infants to be drowned. Or rather, Maria means the same as teacher or mistress of the sea: for this name was as it were a prognostic in the mind of God (although the parents at Mary's birth knew or thought nothing of this about her), first, that this Mary was to be the leader of the Hebrew women and would go before them both in the crossing of the Red Sea and in singing this victory canticle to God — hence in this passage she is first called by the name Mary; for in chapter II, verses 4 and 7, she is called not Mary but the sister of Moses, as if to say: She was fittingly called Mary, the sister of Moses, that is, mistress and teacher, because we now experience her as such. Second, that this virgin Mary was a type (as St. Ambrose teaches in his Exhortation to Virgins) of the Virgin Mother, namely the Blessed Mary the Mother of God, who is the teacher and mistress of the sea of this world. For Mora in Hebrew, and Mara in Syriac, signifies both mistress and teacher, especially among the Syrians. For hence comes that phrase Maran atha, that is, Our Lord has come: for the Syrians call a teacher Lord. Likewise the Hebrews call the Lord Rab, Rabbi, Rabboni, which commonly signify teacher.
That this is the true etymology of the name Maria, that it signifies mistress, is clear first from the fact that Epiphanius, in his sermon On the Praises of the Virgin, thus interprets the name Maria; Damascus, book IV On the Faith, chapter XV; Eucherius, book II of the Instructions; Chrysologus, sermon 146; Bede on chapter I of Luke. Second, because R. Haccados, the most famous Hebrew teacher before Christ for his learning and holiness, predicted that the mother of the Messiah (namely the Blessed Mary) was to be called mistress. Third, because the liturgies of St. James, Basil, and Chrysostom, alluding to the etymology of Mary, designate her as despoina hemon, that is, our mistress. Fourth, because all Christians in every language address the Blessed Virgin as Our Lady, Notre Dame, Nuestra Senora, Onse Lieve Vrouwe, as if by her proper name. For she is the mother of Christ, who is the firstborn and Lord of all creation; hence R. Haccados also calls her the first of creatures and the first of humankind.
Therefore Victorinus wrongly interprets Mary as "wretched," and most ignorantly Luther interprets Mary as "a little drop of water." See Canisius at the beginning of his Marian work, and Matthew Galenus in his Catechisms, folio 48 and 119.
Prophetess — because God spoke with her and revealed secrets to her, as is clear from Numbers chapter XII, verse 2. Second, "prophetess" means teacher, instructress. Third, "prophetess" means precentress, that is, leader of singing. See what was said on I Corinthians chapter XIV, at the beginning.
Sister of Aaron — and consequently of Moses; yet she is called the sister of Aaron, not of Moses, because Aaron was older than Moses and was born next after Mary. Hence Gregory of Nyssa, in his book On Virginity, chapter VI, teaches that this Mary was a virgin: for if she had been married, she would have been named after her husband, not her brother, and would have been called not the sister of Aaron but the wife of such-and-such a husband. Second, because Scripture nowhere mentions her husband or children. St. Ambrose teaches the same in his Exhortation to Virgins, and Apponius in his sixth Commentary on the Canticle. This Mary was therefore a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and just as she sang "Let us sing to the Lord," so the Blessed Virgin sang "My soul magnifies the Lord." Josephus, however, holds the contrary view and says that this Mary was married to Hur, who is mentioned in Exodus XXIV, 14. But Josephus, like the Jews in the Old Testament, with few exceptions, did not know virgins or virginity.
AND ALL THE WOMEN WENT OUT WITH TIMBRELS AND DANCES — with pious dances to the rhythm of the timbrel; for these are choirs. For a chorus is a multitude of singers or dancers, and is derived from chara, that is, joy, says Plato in book II of the Laws; or, as Festus says, from corona. That this was the custom among the Hebrews for girls to sing in decanting the praises of God and to lead dances is clear from Psalm LXVII, verse 26: "The princes went before, joined with the singers, in the midst of young girls (Hebrew: virgins) playing timbrels." Likewise in 1 Ezra chapter II, verse 65, among the Hebrews returning from Babylon there were two hundred male and female singers, to relieve the hardship of the journey and to cheer the spirits of the returning captives. Likewise Solomon says: "I made for myself male and female singers," Ecclesiastes chapter II, verse 8. Likewise the Lacedaemonians used a triple-choir dance, instituted by Lycurgus. This dance consisted of a triple chorus: of old men, of boys, and of young men. The first song was that of the old men: "We were once vigorous youths;" the second, of the boys: "We shall be even more excellent one day;" the third, of the young men: "But we are the best now — put us to the test if you wish." The witness is Plutarch in his essay On Praising Oneself.
Furthermore, against lascivious dances and choruses, see St. Basil, sermon On Drunkenness and Luxury; Chrysostom, Homily 49 on Matthew; Ambrose, book III On Virginity; Augustine on Psalm XXXII. Someone aptly said: "A dance is a circle whose center is the devil, and whose circumference is all his angels." Hence the Council of Laodicea, around the year of the Lord 364, chapter LV, thus decreed: "Christians going to weddings should not dance or leap about, but should dine or lunch chastely, as befits Christians."
Note here how and why Mary and her companions went out — namely not for frivolous dances, not for taverns, but for modest and pious choruses in praise of God. Let virgins hear the golden teaching of Chrysostom, sermon That Women Religious Should Not Cohabit with Men, at the end of volume V: "When a virgin goes out in public," he says, "she ought to display the model of all virtue and convert everyone to amazement. Just as an angel, if he were now to descend from heaven, and just as one of the Cherubim, if he appeared on earth, would convert all people to amazement — so a virgin ought to lead all who see her into admiration and amazement at her holiness." If a virgin ought to go forth and proceed in this manner, with what modesty, with what gravity of morals, with what chastity, like an angel descended from heaven, ought a clergyman, and especially a religious, to walk!
With timbrels. — Calvin here counts timbrels, organs, and other musical instruments among the legal ceremonies of the Old Testament, which Christ therefore abolished as repugnant to Evangelical simplicity. But these timbrels and choirs of Mary and the Hebrews existed before the ceremonial law given by God; and if it was then permitted to use them, why should it not be permitted now as well?
Second, if singing and instruments pertain to the ceremonial law, then by the same right singing itself and psalmody, in which the Calvinists so greatly glory, will pertain to the same law.
Third, even if we granted that these were ceremonial, the Church could adopt the same ceremony for its own uses as well, just as it adopted the ornaments of pontiffs and priests, the use of candles, temples, offerings, and other things that were ceremonial in the old law — and this for the beauty and majesty of the sacred rites of the new law. Thus it recalled certain judicial provisions of the old law and enacted them in the new law. For our churches, in which those tremendous mysteries are performed, are far more worthy of every adornment, every jubilation and harmony than those old shadowy ones — unless Calvin wishes to appear boorish in church and courtly at home, and prefers to use music for his own pleasure rather than for the praise of God.
Tropologically, the timbrel, which is made of animal skin, signifies the mortification of the flesh, without which no soul can present herself as a worthy singer to God. Hence it is said: "Praise God with timbrel and dance;" for they play the timbrel for God who chastise and strike the flesh with St. Paul. So Origen, Rupert, and St. Ambrose in his work To Virgins.
Verse 21: She Sang Before Them
Verse 21. TO WHOM SHE SANG FIRST, SAYING: LET US SING TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GLORIOUSLY MAGNIFIED. — In Hebrew it is vattahan lahem, that is, and she responded to them, namely to Moses and the other men (for lahem is masculine) who were singing first. So Vatablus and the Hebrews. Hence Philo, in his book On Agriculture, thinks that two choirs were formed here — one of women, another of men — standing opposite each other and responding to one another with alternating songs. And Oleaster thinks that the men, with Moses leading, sang each verse of the canticle, and then Mary with the women responded to each verse by singing and repeating this refrain: "Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified; horse and rider He has cast into the sea." For this alone is here attributed to Mary and the women. For this was done in other canticles subsequently — as in Psalm CXXXV, the choir would sing: "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever," and then would continue with other verses, while the assembly would respond to each verse by repeating: "For His mercy endures forever." So also Genebrardus on Psalm LXVII.
This opinion is very probable, for it is supported by the masculine lahem, and the verb taan, which properly means to respond, to sing responsively or alternately, as if to say: The women responded to and sang after the men who were leading the song, with Mary going before them as leader and beginning the same canticle that Moses and the Hebrews had first sung. For if the women had formed a choir separately from the men and had sung on their own, they would not have repeated the canticle of the men, but would have sung another one that occurred to them.
Others, however, think that Mary with the women sang separately from the men (for this is what the phrase "they went out" seems to imply) and after the men sang the very same canticle in its entirety from beginning to end that the men had sung — so that Mary first learned it either from Moses or from the Holy Spirit (for she was a prophetess), and with her leading the rest sang in response, as is usually done in a choir. This opinion is also probable.
Verse 22: Moses Took Israel from the Red Sea
22. AND MOSES TOOK ISRAEL FROM THE RED SEA. — Verse 22. "Took," in Hebrew iassa, that is, he caused to depart, moved, led. "Israel," that is, the people of Israel, the children of Israel, namely the descendants of Jacob. Our translator, by the word "took," indicates the provident care of Moses for the Hebrews, like a mother nourishing her children in her bosom; on which see Numbers XI, 12.
Verse 23: They Came to Mara
Verse 23. AND THEY WENT OUT INTO THE DESERT OF SUR — in which the angel found Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham, wandering between Kadesh and Bared, Genesis XVI, 7. So St. Jerome. And from this perhaps, namely from Hagar, this desert is called Agra by the Chaldean here; this desert of Sur is also called by another name Etham, Numbers XXXIII, 7, of which I spoke in the preceding chapter, verse 29.
AND THEY CAME TO MARA. — This is the fifth station of the Hebrews in the desert, which was called Mara from the bitterness of the waters, which were marim, that is, bitter. Hence it is clear that this place is called Mara by anticipation: for it was not called Mara when the Hebrews first came there; but it was called Mara by Moses after he tasted its bitter waters, as is stated here.
Verse 25: He Showed Him a Piece of Wood
25. He (the Lord) showed him a piece of wood, which when HE HAD CAST INTO THE WATERS, THEY WERE TURNED TO SWEETNESS. — In Hebrew it reads, He taught him a piece of wood; hence it appears that this was a certain kind of wood, endowed with a secret and wonderful power of sweetening, especially if it were copiously sprinkled into the waters, and that it actually sweetened them, both by drawing the saltiness out of the waters and by imparting its own innate sweetness to them. For thus doctors use licorice in barley-water, or in water, to sweeten a drink. But the power of this wood was far swifter and more effective than that of licorice. So Cajetan.
Hence it follows that this sweetening power in this wood was natural, like that which is in honey and sugar canes; but it was far greater and more effective in this wood. For if a single drop of oil of vitriol or sulfur infects an entire glass of water with its acidity and flavor, why could this wood of most powerful virtue — unknown to us, though very well known to God — not do the same in sweetening waters? If the tree of life could by its innate power extend human life forever, why could God not give some wood that by its innate power could sweeten a great quantity of water? And Ecclesiasticus, chapter XXXVIII, verse 4, signifies this clearly enough: "The Most High," he says, "created medicine from the earth, and a prudent man will not abhor it; was not bitter water made sweet by wood?" — namely in this passage of Exodus, to which Ecclesiasticus undoubtedly alludes. And he speaks of the natural property and virtue that herbs, woods, and medicines have for healing human beings. So Lyranus, Cajetan, and others.
Although R. Solomon, and following him Abulensis, think otherwise: This wood, they say, is commonly called adelpha, which is in itself bitter and deadly. God therefore wished to use it to sweeten the waters, so that the miracle would be all the greater inasmuch as its bitterness is more contrary to sweetness, and so that the type of the cross and the most bitter passion of Christ, of which I shall speak shortly, would be more expressly represented.
Thus Abbot Besarion, walking along the sea, when his disciple Dulas was thirsty, converted the salt sea water into sweet water by prayer, and the disciple quenched his thirst, as is found in the Lives of the Fathers, chapter III, number 215. By a similar miracle Elisha healed the barren waters with salt — which usually dries and consequently makes barren — IV Kings II, 20. But what I said earlier is more true.
Allegorically, this wood signifies the wood of the cross of Christ: for by its power, memory, and meditation, all labor and pain becomes sweet for the Saints. So Origen, Theodoret, Nyssen, Rupert, Ambrose in his book On Those Who Are Initiated into the Mysteries, chapter III; Cyril (or rather Clichtove — for he restored from his own ingenuity the eight middle books of Cyril that had been lost, to complete and perfect Cyril's mutilated work) on John, book VIII, chapter XVII, where he enumerates in a collected fashion various figures of the holy cross; and Cyprian, in his book On Jealousy and Envy, at the end, where he teaches how by the cross of Christ anger and bitterness are to be softened and sweetened: "Vomit out," he says, "the poisons of gall, cast out the venom of discord: let the mind be purified that serpentine envy had infected; let all the bitterness that had settled within be softened by the sweetness of Christ. If from the sacrament of the cross you take both food and drink, the wood that was effective at Mara in figure for the sweetness of taste will be effective for you in truth for the soothing and softening of the heart. Love those whom you previously hated, cherish those whom you envied with unjust detraction."
Hear also Cassiodorus on Psalm IV: "The cross," he says, "is the unconquered protection of the humble, the casting down of the proud, the victory of Christ, the destruction of the devil, the ruin of hell, the confirmation of heaven, the death of unbelievers, the life of the just. Of which St. Chrysostom says: The cross is the hope of Christians, the cross is the victory of the Romans, the resurrection of the dead, the guide of the blind, the way of the converted, the staff of the lame, the consolation of the poor, the tree of resurrection, the wood of eternal life."
And Damascus, book IV On the Faith, chapter XII: "The cross of Christ is the key of paradise: it is the staff of the infirm, the rod of pastors, the guidance of those converting, the perfection of those advancing, the salvation of soul and body, the averting of all evils, the giver of all good things."
And Rabanus, On the Praise of the Cross: "You, holy cross," he says, "are the remission of sins, the display of piety, the increase of merits, the remedy of the infirm, the refuge of the weary, the safety of the healthy, the security of the despairing, the happiness of the unfortunate."
Rightly therefore St. Bernard says: "I can go around, O Lord, heaven and earth, sea and dry land, and nowhere shall I find You except on the cross: there You sleep, there You feed, there You rest at midday. For Your cross is faith, whose breadth is charity, whose length is patience, whose height is hope, whose depth is fear. On this cross whoever finds You finds You: on this cross the soul is suspended and plucks sweet fruits from the wood."
THERE HE ESTABLISHED FOR HIM PRECEPTS AND JUDGMENTS. — God gave Israel at Mara certain ceremonial and judicial laws. What these were, Scripture does not express. For what Rabbi Solomon says — that these precepts were two: first, about keeping the Sabbath; second, about burning the red heifer so that from its ashes lustral water might be made for purifying the unclean, of which see Numbers XIX — this, I say, is a completely fabulous and erroneous invention, as Abulensis rightly shows.
AND THERE HE TESTED HIM. — That is, God tested the people of Israel by issuing and establishing the aforesaid laws, by which He determined to test and prove the obedience of the people, as is clear from what follows.
Verse 26: All Sickness
26. ALL SICKNESS — flowing from ulcers, thirst, plague, and the other Egyptian plagues.
FOR I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, YOUR HEALER. — In Hebrew ani ropheecha, that is, I am your physician. Learn here that in sicknesses one must have recourse to God as the chief physician, and must rely on Him above all. Moreover, God often sends ailments and diseases on account of sins, as is stated here: if these cease, the diseases will often cease as well.
Verse 27: They Came to Elim
27. AND THEY CAME TO ELIM, WHERE THERE WERE TWELVE FOUNTAINS OF WATER AND SEVENTY PALM TREES — as if to say: They came to Elim, where there was both a wonderful pleasantness of trees and fountains, and abundant drink and food, for palm trees provide their dates for eating. This is the sixth station at Elim.
Tropologically, St. Jerome writes to Fabiola: "Beautiful," he says, "is this order of virtues: after the victory of the Red Sea comes temptation, after temptation refreshment. From Mara, that is from bitterness, we come to Elim, that is to the rams and strong leaders of the Christian flock, where the twelve fountains of Apostolic teaching and the seventy palms of victorious faith — the seventy disciples of the Lord — refresh us." Likewise Tertullian, book IV Against Marcion, chapter XXIV, understands by the twelve fountains the twelve Apostles, and by the seventy palms the seventy disciples of Christ.
The palm tree does not yield under a burden, is not bent by weight, but strives upward against the load. Hence it is a symbol of the strong man who does not yield under burdens, mockeries, or detractions; who is not bent downward but strives and rises toward higher things, and by his patience conquers all.
Again, note here that the life of the faithful is a continual journey, and that they must go from virtue to virtue, in order to arrive at the promised land in heaven, until they see the God of gods in Zion. Jacob saw a ladder stretched from earth to heaven: by this we must ascend on a long and toilsome journey. Let us therefore hasten, for a great way remains for us toward perfection and beatitude. To this end, St. Charles Borromeo, recently Cardinal, used an excellent practice. For though he had been delicately nurtured and was striving for eminent holiness, he began to mortify and conquer himself in small things, to undertake easy penances, to perform easy acts of individual virtues. Then daily he advanced further to more serious and difficult ones. He had this fixed in his mind: not to stop, not to stand still, but to advance daily until he reached the highest summit of virtue. For example, one week he abstained from wine, another from meat, a third from fish, a fourth from eggs, and so on. And so he finally reached the point where in the last years of his life he lived daily on bread and water alone, except on feast days, when he added some side dish — though not meat, nor fish, nor eggs, nor wine, for he always abstained from these. In Lent he even abstained from bread and lived only on figs and beans. In Holy Week he ate nothing but lupins (a kind of bitter peas). His bed was a straw sack or a chair, for he said that a bishop ought to watch over his flock and therefore sleep sparingly and sitting up, as vigorous generals do in war. He wore a rough hair shirt, which the Milanese still preserve. He chastised his body with a crude discipline. He constantly undertook continuous and very great labors. For he said it was the mark of a generous and unconquered spirit to always undertake greater things and to advance with great strides in the spiritual life. For just as merchants intent on profit add something daily, and just as gardeners cultivate their garden daily, and painters daily polish and perfect the image they are painting, so much more ought one who is zealous for virtue to add something to virtue daily. He himself did this until he reached a point where there was scarcely anything further to advance to, except to say with St. Paul: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." And shortly after this he departed from this life. So the author of his Life narrates, book VIII, chapter XXI.