For when they heard etc. Here is shown the punishment's effect upon those punished, first on the part of the Israelites; second, on the part of the Egyptians: For him whom etc.; third, on the part of both: Not similarly.
(Vers. 14.). As if to say: truly you tested these and condemned those. For when they heard, namely the children of Israel, with Moses proclaiming this; that through their torments things were going well for them, that is, profitably, namely unto their salvation, according to that passage in Romans 8: "For those who love God all things work together for good"; they remembered the Lord, whom, namely, they had as it were consigned to oblivion: who, despairing: in the Psalm: "They did not remember his hand" etc.; likewise: "They forgot his benefits and his wonders, which he showed them"; but afterward, afflicted, they remembered him: "For the eyes which guilt closes, punishment opens," as Gregory says; in the Psalm: "And they remembered that God is their helper." Marveling, namely at the power and mercy of God, at the end of the outcome , that is, after the end of the outcome of the matter: for from the end depends right judgment. "For the outcome proves the deeds"; whence also Peter followed Christ "to see the end," Matthew 26.
(Vers. 15.). Whom indeed etc., as if to say: and truly it is so: whom, namely the Israelite people or Moses, cast forth in wicked exposure, that is, evilly and dangerously cast into the river, they mocked, namely the Egyptians, as though he would perish in the river, notwithstanding the basket. At the end of the event they marveled, that is, after the outcome of the matter, seeing, namely, Moses so exalted by miracles: whence Exodus 11: "And so Moses was a very great man before the servants of Pharaoh and all the people." Or: at the end they marveled, namely at the people miraculously liberated: Exodus 14: "Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fights for them against us." Thus the impious err, not considering the end of the just, but only their present affliction: above in chapter 5: "We fools esteemed their life madness and their end without honor." Not similarly etc., as if to say: thus you condemned the impious and liberated the just; you, I say, not dealing similarly with the just; the Gloss: "As with the unjust," because Proverbs 16: "The just man falls seven times a day and rises again, but the impious shall fall into evil." The reason for the diversity, however, is not on the part of God, since "he is no respecter of persons," Acts 10, but on the part of the unjust.
(Vers. 16.). Whence it follows: For their thoughts moreover: I said well: not similarly: moreover, for but rather: for their senseless thoughts, that is, hardened in evil, their iniquities, namely the exterior ones, as if to say: on account of their evil thoughts they are permitted to fall into evil works: whence the Gloss: "Iniquitous works proceed from thoughts," because the reprobate do not change their heart amid the scourges of the Lord: Romans 2: "According to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath" etc.: Revelation 22: "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still."
Second, concerning the punishment of the Egyptians on account of idolatry.
That certain ones erring etc. Here is touched upon the punishment of the Egyptians on account of idolatry, and this through the sending of flies. And the fittingness of this punishment is shown first on the part of the one sinning; second, on the part of the judge punishing, at: For not.
(Vers. 16.). Because certain ones etc., as if to say: thus they were punished for the oppression of the Israelites: because, standing for "since": certain ones, of the Egyptians, wandering, namely from the faith: Proverbs 14: "They err who work evil." They worshipped mute serpents: mute he says to distinguish from the serpent who spoke to Eve in the earthly paradise, Genesis 3: and worthless beasts, that is, useless for worship: for the Egyptians worshipped Aesculapius under the form of a serpent, Mercury under the form of a dog, Jupiter under the form of a ram, Apis under the form of an ox: Romans 1: "They changed the likeness of the incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed beasts and of serpents." You sent upon them a multitude of dumb animals for vengeance, namely frogs and flies, gnats and locusts, according to that verse of the Psalm: "He sent among them the dog-fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it destroyed them; and he gave their fruits to the mildew and their labors to the locust."
(Vers. 17.). That they might know that by what things, that is, by what sort of things, a man sins, by these, that is, by similar things, also, that is, even, he is tormented: the Gloss: "That from the likeness of the punishment they might recognize the quality of the fault," just as "Haman was hanged on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai," Esther 7; and Goliath was slain by his own sword, 1 Kings 17; and Holofernes was slain by his own dagger by the woman whom he had wickedly desired, Judith 13.
For not impossible etc. Here is shown the fittingness of the punishment on the part of the judge who punishes, who prefers to use mercy rather than power. And first it is shown that this light punishment was not from powerlessness; second, that it was from mercy: But all things; third, there is added the proof of power: For greatly; fourth, the proof of mercy: And you have mercy.
In the first he shows that he could have punished them otherwise, namely either through an instrument of vengeance already created, or through another to be newly created, at the words: Or of a new kind; or immediately by himself: For even without these.
(Vers. 18.). He says therefore: For not etc. I have rightly said that you punished them through those things by which they had sinned, and this on account of the fittingness of the punishment to the fault, not on account of your powerlessness. For not impossible was, that is, greatly powerless, your hand, "that is, your Son," according to that verse of the Psalm: "Send forth your hand from on high": almighty: whence below in chapter 18: "Your almighty word, O Lord" etc. Which created, that is, formed, the world: for to create is to make something from nothing, to form however, is from pre-existing matter. But the world was from pre-existing matter, yet previously created formless: whence it follows: From unseen matter, that is, from prime matter, which was unseen, that is, invisible at that time, both on the part of itself, because it lacked distinct form, and on the part of the agent, because light was lacking, which is necessary for reducing the sense of sight from potency to act; whence Genesis 1: "The earth was void and empty," namely as to the first defect: "and darkness was upon the face of the deep," as to the second. To send upon them, namely for vengeance, a multitude of bears, or bold lions, which are strong and rapacious animals: on account of which David glories in overcoming them in 1 Kings 17: "I have slain a lion and a bear." To send, I say, lions etc., as he did when he sent lions into the land of Samaria, which devoured the peoples transferred there, because they did not worship God.
(Vers. 19. 20.). Or beasts of a new kind, full of rage and unknown, and therefore more terrible: Deuteronomy 32: "I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the fury of those that drag upon the ground" etc. Or a fiery vapor, or of fires, breathing out, namely for destruction: or sending forth the smell of smoke, namely for the infection of the air, or shooting horrible sparks from their eyes, for terror.
Of which not only the harm, made namely by striking, could exterminate them, that is, place them beyond the boundaries of life: but even the sight, by seeing, could kill through fear, namely the unjust and the wicked: for of the just it is said in the Psalm: "You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon."
It should be noted, moreover, that through the various aforementioned beasts, six kinds of sins can be understood: through the bear, the vice of gluttony: through the lion, pride; through beasts full of rage, wrath; through those breathing out fiery vapor, lust; through those sending forth the smell of smoke, avarice; through those shooting sparks from their eyes, envy.
(Vers. 21.). For even without these etc. Nor could you punish them only in this way, for even without these, that is, without the aid of these beasts, they could have been killed by a single breath: Gloss: "That is, by a single indignation or command." So breath is understood where it is said in Genesis 6: "My spirit shall not remain in man," that is, my indignation, etc. Or: by a single angelic breath, as happened to Sennacherib and his army, as is clear from Isaiah 37. Having suffered persecution, namely as from a meritorious cause, from their own deeds, so that they would be destroyed by their own works, just as a viper perishes by its own offspring: Luke 3: "Offspring of vipers," etc.; in the Psalm: "Render to them according to the works of their hands." And scattered, namely through diverse places outside their own land, by the spirit of your power. This can be understood intransitively, and then it is understood of the uncreated Spirit; or transitively, that is, effectively, and then it can be understood of a created spirit: Job 4: "I saw those who work iniquity perish by the blast of God, and be consumed by the spirit of his wrath." But all things etc. Here he shows that he punished out of mercy and punished less than he could have: and first by this, that he did not punish beyond what the magnitude of the fault required, because in measure; second by this, that he did not punish beyond what the multiplicity of the fault required, because in number; third, because not beyond what the condition or quality of the sinner required, because in weight.
(Vers. 21.). I have rightly said that you do not punish according to the immensity of your power, that is, to the extent that you could; but all things etc., as if to say: not only the creatures themselves, but also their retributions and penalties or punishments, you have disposed in measure, so that they do not exceed the magnitude of the fault; and in number, so that they do not exceed the multiplicity of the fault; and in weight, so that they do not exceed the condition of the sinner or the circumstance of the sin. That he punishes according to measure: Revelation 18: "As much as she glorified herself in delights, so much give her torment and mourning"; likewise Isaiah 27: "In measure against measure, when she shall be cast off, you shall judge her"; likewise Luke 6: "With what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you." That according to number: Revelation 18: "Double unto her double according to her works"; likewise Isaiah 40: "She has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins," that is, a twofold punishment, namely the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense, or exterior bodily punishment and interior spiritual punishment, that is, the remorse of conscience. That according to weight is clear from above, chapter 6: "To the little one mercy is granted, but the mighty shall suffer torments mightily."
Otherwise it can be explained thus: all things, namely corporeal things with respect to their nature, you have disposed in measure, number, and weight, because the measure of all corporeal things is the four elements, which have number, weight, and measure, as is evident.
Or otherwise: weight refers to the power of the one operating; number to the wisdom of the one ordering; measure to the clemency of the one preserving; Romans 11: "From whom are all things," with respect to the power of the Father; "through whom are all things," with regard to the wisdom of the Son; "in whom are all things," with regard to the clemency of the Holy Spirit. According to the Gloss of Rabanus: " In measure, quality; in number, quantity; in weight, reason."
According to Augustine, the measure of a creature is its determinate quantity by which it is called great or small or middling; number, a determinate quality by which it is distinguished from another; weight, the property by which it rests in its own place; whence according to Augustine, measure is the same as mode; species is the same as number; order is the same as weight. "These three," namely mode, species, and order, "where they are great, are great goods; where small, small; where none, none," as he himself says.
Or this can be explained concerning measure, number, and weight in uncreated things thus: in measure, that is, in you measuring all things, that is, prefixing a mode to each thing; in number, that is, in you numbering all things, that is, bestowing upon each thing its proper species; in weight, that is, in you weighing all things, that is, assigning to all things their proper and certain order. With this agrees a certain exposition of Augustine, who says: "In measure, that is, in yourself, who are measure without measure, prefixing a mode to each thing; number without number, furnishing a species to every thing; weight without weight, drawing every thing to stability." The first in the nature of the efficient cause, the second in the nature of the exemplar, the third in the nature of the final cause.
Morally thus: In measure, against the vice of superfluity; in number, against the vice of singularity; in weight, against the vice of levity.
But it is objected: if he disposed all things in measure, number, and weight, then he disposed measure in measure, etc., and so on to infinity.
It can be said that, speaking of number, weight, and measure in uncreated things, the distribution is universal; but speaking of created things, the distribution is accommodated, namely such that the distribution is understood to be made for things measured, numbered, and weighed. Or: All things, that is, complete beings, not concreated in another. But measure, number, and weight are not such things; rather they are concreated in other things, since they are not beings subsisting by themselves and complete.
For much etc. Here is set forth the proof of divine power, first through its magnitude in itself; second, through the smallness of the creature: For as etc.
(Vers. 22.). For much indeed etc., as if to say: it is well evident that it was not from lack of power, because he punished them thus: for to avail much, that is, to be greatly powerful, belongs to you alone, and without the help of another, was always at hand, namely on account of the infinity of your power. "For the infinite is that of which, for one taking parts or quantity, there is always something beyond to take"; Luke 1: "No word shall be impossible with God"; always, that is, at all times or for eternity, according to that passage of Daniel 7: "His power is an everlasting power." And the strength, that is, the perfect power, because, according to the Philosopher, "strength is the ultimate degree of power in a thing"; of your arm, according to that passage of Isaiah 51: "Put on strength, O arm of the Lord"; who shall resist? As if to say: no one can; and this is because he is not acted upon by anyone.