Commentaria in Exodum
Here, however, there came in another peculiar way of hardening Pharao in God, namely, that God led the Hebrews into these narrow places, for this proper end indeed, that the Hebrews should cast all their hope on God, but whence He foresaw that Pharao would conceive an occasion and a firm will of pursuing them from his former malice, tyranny and obstinacy; which evil will of his God does not intend, but only positively wills to permit, and that to this end, that in this way He might draw Pharao to the Red Sea, and there punish and drown him for his past crimes and rebellions. By a like stratagem, in war, a few go out and show themselves to the enemy, and so God enticed Pharao to the Red Sea.
The enemy pursues them in squadrons; they give way gradually, and draw the enemy into an ambush: thence a drawn-up column comes forth, which surrounds and destroys the enemy; as therefore those few who allure the enemy are said to deceive him and to draw him into an ambush, although properly they neither draw him into ambush nor deceive him, but only give occasion by which the enemy, allured, pursue them, and so by their own fault are deceived, and deceive themselves: in like manner God did here with Pharao, and therefore He is said to have hardened him to pursue the Hebrews.
God hardened Pharao here, therefore, by that command which He gave to Moses, verse 2, namely, that he should encamp at the Red Sea, opposite Phihahiroth, between rocks and mountains; whence “and I shall harden” is as much as if He said: and so I shall harden his heart; for God knew that Pharao, when he heard that Moses and the Hebrews had not gone away to the three days’ journey to sacrifice, but had simply fled, and that they were now shut in by sea and rocks, would at once return to his own disposition and former purpose of lording it over the Hebrews, and so, with hardened and obstinate mind, would pursue them, because he would be firmly persuaded that he would get hold of them, and that they could not escape his hands.
Secondly, God presented this occasion to Pharao both by messengers and by Himself, presenting to his fancy thoughts about the present matter, their multitude, their flight and the ease of bringing them back, from which He knew he would harden himself to pursue the Hebrews; and God permitted this because He had determined to draw him in this way to the Red Sea and there to drown him; for it was now wholly concluded with God concerning punishing Pharao and mulcting him with death, and with God the sentence of death against him was already passed, which, that God might conveniently execute, He used the occasion already mentioned, by which He drew him to the place of punishment; in this place, therefore, hardening in God signifies nothing else than the judgment and vengeance of God upon Pharao, by which He drew him to the slaughter-place of the Red Sea.
See here in Pharao how true is Sentence 49 in the Sentences of St. Augustine: “Nothing is more unhappy than the happiness of sinners, by which a penal impunity is nourished, and an evil will, like an inner enemy, is strengthened.”
AND I SHALL BE GLORIFIED IN PHARAO,—when, drawn to the Red Sea, I shall drown him in the waters with all his army; for then my glorious power, justice and vengeance will appear to all.
AND THE EGYPTIANS SHALL KNOW,—both those present who were to be drowned, as is plain from verse 25, and the rest who remained in Egypt, who were so astounded and struck by the slaughter of their own and by fear of the God of the Hebrews that each, leaving off the works with which he was occupied that day, that he might not follow Pharao and so be drowned with him, called on his own God, says Abbot Apollonius in Palladius, Lausiac History, chap. 53.
5. THE HEART (that is, the will and mind) OF PHARAO WAS CHANGED AGAINST (concerning) THE PEOPLE—the Hebrew, especially anger being kindled by the spoiling of the Egyptians; for they saw that they were now despoiled of those things which they had given to the Hebrews only on loan.
7. AND HE TOOK SIX HUNDRED CHARIOTS.—For in old times they fought with scythed chariots, and from chariots; for the chariot with its scythe mowed down men, animals, crops; but the soldiers, fighting in the chariots themselves, were borne along and ran down upon the enemy: the oldest and first chariots of which we read are these of Pharao.
Tropologically, the chariots of Pharao are the chariots of vices, concerning which see St. Bernard, sermon 39 on the Canticle, where comparing Pharao with the devil, Egypt with the world: “There,” he says, “the people was led out of Egypt; here, man out of the world. There Pharao is cast down; here the devil. There the chariots of Pharao are overthrown; here the carnal and worldly desires, which war against the soul. Those in the waves, these in the tears. Those marine, these bitter. I think even now the demons cry out, if perchance they happen to fall in with such a soul: Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord fighteth for him.” Then he describes thus the princes and chariots of Pharao, that is, of the devil: “For malice has its chariot standing on four wheels: cruelty, impatience, audacity, impudence. For very swift is this chariot to shed blood; which neither innocence stops, nor patience delays, nor fear curbs, nor shame restrains; it is drawn, moreover, by two very swift horses, ready for every destruction, earthly power and worldly pomp; over these two horses preside two charioteers: pride and envy; and pride drives pomp, but envy power.” In like manner, he says, the wheels of luxury are four: idleness, softness of clothing, gluttony and lust; the horses two: prosperity of life and abundance of things; the charioteers, sluggish torpor and faithless security. In like manner the wheels of avarice are four: faint-heartedness, inhumanity, contempt of God, forgetfulness of death; the horses two, tenacity and rapacity, with their charioteer, who is the ardour of having; for avarice alone, since it does not suffer several to be hired, is content with one servant: thus far St. Bernard. The same in the Sentences: “In Scripture,” he says, “three chariots are found. The first is the elation of temporal power, whose charioteer is the swelling of presumption and audacity, having a horse of self-confidence. Its wheels are the headlong mobility of vanity, and the fortunate succession of prosperity. This is the chariot of Pharao, in which he dies. The second is the height of conversation and of life. Its charioteer is the word of divine admonition, having a horse of the vow of perseverance. Its wheels are the dreadful terribleness of torments, and the wondrous delightfulness of rewards. This is the chariot in which the Eunuch reads with Philip, Acts 8. The third chariot is the loftiness of contemplation and grace. Its charioteer is the love of the heavenly country, having a horse of desire of beatitude and life. Its wheels are the rejection of worldly glory, and reverence for the divine majesty. This is the fiery chariot in which Elias is carried up into heaven.”
CAPTAINS.—In Hebrew shalishim, that is, triumvirs. Whence also the Septuagint render tristatai; hence it appears that in that ancient time three were wont to be set over, and to be officers in, the army and the courts of princes. Whence St. Jerome on Ezechiel chap. 23: “Tristatæ,” he says, “who are also called terni statores, is the name of the second rank after the royal dignity; of whom it is written, 2 Kings 23, 19: ‘He attained not to the first three’ (for David had three most valiant soldiers and captains), who were leaders of horse and foot, and likewise of tributes, whom we call magistrates of each soldiery and prefects of the grain-tax.” Otherwise Gregory of Nyssa on the Canticle of Moses, and the Greek Scholiast: The ancients, he says, made chariots large, to hold three men, of whom one was the charioteer, the other two soldiers fighting; these are called tristatae, or they call tristatas the robust, and those who could stand against three. Hesychius, however: A tristata, he says, is a royal attendant, because he brandished three spears. Others: Tristata, they say, is the same as triarius.
Tropologically, the tristatae, or terni statores, are the demons, who stand in all the ways of this life, to impel men to sin either in deeds, or in words, or in thoughts. So Origen.
10. AND THEY FEARED EXCEEDINGLY.—For they were not accustomed to war and swords, but to burdens and the yoke: even though they were six hundred thousand armed men; for so a hundred thousand rustics are easily destroyed by ten thousand trained soldiers.
in despair they broke out; whence unbelieving they expostulated so harshly with Moses: for they expected nothing but death or servitude, as follows. Wherefore what Josephus says seems not to be true, that the Hebrews prepared themselves for battle to fight with the Egyptians. Evidently he sometimes attaches to history such things as make for the honour of his nation.
13. FEAR NOT.—Moses answers the hard and unbelieving people gently, mindful of God’s call and the salvation of the people rather than of injuries.