Commentaria in Deuteronomium
7. HIS EYE WAS NOT DIM,—as the eyes of old men are wont to be.
NEITHER WERE HIS TEETH MOVED,—as in old men the teeth, even the molars, are wont to be moved and fall out: for this is what Ecclesiastes, last chapter, verse 3, writes of the miseries of old age: “When the keepers of the house shall tremble,” namely sight and the other senses, “and the strongest men shall stagger,” namely the legs, “and the grinders (namely teeth) shall be idle, being few in number.” For “neither were his teeth moved,” the Septuagint render, neither were his lips corrupted; the Chaldee, neither was the splendour of the glory of his countenance changed: where it plainly signifies that the horns of light always clung to Moses, which Bellarmine also, cited a little before, holds: of which matter I spoke on Exodus xxxiv, 29. Vatablus renders, his jaws had in nothing failed, or neither had his freshness withered; so also Cajetan, as if to say: His face and body were always juicy; for old age is wont to be dry. Hence it is plain that Moses did not die from failure of strength, or from disease; but only by the command and will of God; for he went up strong into the mountain, and died there at once, God namely dissolving him, and separating his soul from the body, and leading it out to the limbo of the Fathers.
This vigour and strength came to Moses, says Abulensis, from familiarity with and the presence of God: because Moses, who died hale and strong, stayed and conversed with God twice for forty days on Sinai, and then ate not, nor drank, sustained by the presence of God alone. And thence he had horns, that is, rays of light, in his face: thence also he had enduring strength in all his limbs; so that in the year in which he died he went forth to war against two kings, namely Og and Sehon, Numbers xxi and xxii. His voice also failed him not: because with a very great, stentorian voice, which was heard by the whole people, he promulgated the whole of Deuteronomy to the Hebrews with huge spirit, a little before death. Add however that there helped also both a sober diet and tranquillity of mind, arising from the meekness of Moses. For, as Hippocrates says, animals that lack bile are long-lived, and sound and strong to a great age; for which reason stags beyond other animals endure long-lived and strong. Whence the school of Salerno:
If you wish to be unharmed, if you wish to make yourself sound, / Put away heavy cares, believe it profane to be angry.
So St. Bernard, though sickly, on account of the peace and tranquillity of his mind, passed his sixtieth year, and dying said to his brethren: “Three things I commend to you, which in the course I ran I observed as I could: first, I believed my own sense less than another’s; second, being hurt by one who hurt me, I sought no vengeance; third, I wished to give scandal to none; and if ever I fell into it, I allayed it as I could;” whence the distich:
I disturbed none, I reconciled the discordant, / Hurt, I endured, nor pleased myself.
So also St. Antony, witness St. Athanasius, with ever cheerful mind and countenance, lived to the age of 105, persisting to the end in the same tenor and rigour of abstinence and penance, “nor did he yield anything to languor at any time. But holding rather an equality of purpose, he changed not his garment, nor washed his feet, nor sought softer food: the keenness of his eyes also, and the number of his teeth, though a little worn by age; and the step of his feet, and the firmness of his whole body, he so kept, even against the laws of nature, by reason of his merits, that than the bodies washed, which are cherished with baths and delights, his flesh seemed more cheerful.” And again: “He had finished his words, and, his disciples surrounding him, stretching out his feet a little, he saw death joyfully, so that from the cheerfulness of his countenance the presence of the holy angels, who had come down to carry his soul, was known:” thus far St. Athanasius.
So also St. Abraham the hermit, witness St. Ephrem in his Life, chap. xv, though macerating himself with continual fasts, vigils, tears and penances, was vigorous in old age to death. “His aspect,” says St. Ephrem, “was as an unfading flower; and in his face the purity of his soul was known. But also his whole little body, as though he had done nothing, appeared sound and robust, as one who enjoyed the divine grace in all things and possessed the joy of spiritual gladness. For at the hour of his falling asleep he appeared so resplendent in countenance as one who had by no means passed the time of his life in abstinence; yet in all fifty years of his abstinence he never changed the hair garment in which he had been clothed.”
8. AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL MOURNED FOR HIM THIRTY DAYS.—Hence also among Christians the thirtieth-day offices for the dead are held, as I said on Numbers xx, 29.
9. MOSES HAD LAID HIS HANDS UPON HIM,—as if to say: “By the imposition of the hands of Moses, Josue had received the Holy Spirit,” says Vatablus. See what was said on Numbers xxvii, 18.
10 and 11. AND THERE AROSE NO MORE A PROPHET IN ISRAEL (like Moses, namely, so as to be familiar with God and wonder-working) WHOM THE LORD KNEW FACE TO FACE, IN ALL THE SIGNS AND WONDERS, WHICH HE SENT BY HIM TO DO.—More clearly it could be rendered with Vatablus and Cajetan: to which, or on account of which, the Lord had sent him, to do, etc. In these therefore Moses surpassed all Prophets, namely in wonders and in familiarity with God; to which it is no objection that to some other Prophet more and greater mysteries have been revealed. For so commonly the greatest of Prophets is called David, says Abulensis. Of Christ there is no doubt that he was more excellent than Moses: but Christ was not so much a Prophet as the new and illustrious inspector of the Gospel and lawgiver.
Tropologically. So St. Ephrem in the Encomium of St. Basil compares him to Moses and the other Prophets, if he does not prefer him, saying: “O faithful Basil, like Abel thou wast accepted, like Noe saved, like Abraham called friend of God, like Isaac offered to God as victim; like Jacob thou didst bear temptations bravely: like Moses, thou didst drown the later Pharao with the rod of the cross, cleaving the sea of passions: like Aaron, thou wast high priest of the Lord: like Jesus son of Nave, thou didst put enemies to flight: like Phinees the zealot, thou wast held worthy of grace: like Isaias, cleansed by spiritual fire: like Ezechiel, thou didst behold him sitting upon the Cherubim: like Daniel, thou didst stop the mouths of lions: and like the three children, thou didst rightly trample the flame of adversaries. Like Peter thou didst preach, like Paul thou didst teach, like Thomas thou didst confess the Son of God suffered: like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, thou didst discourse of divine things: like the Apostles thou didst instruct the wicked, convert the impious, and be pleasing to God: pray for me, most wretched, and recall me by thy intercessions, father.”
12. AND ALL THE MIGHTY HAND,—that is, all robust, strong and magnificent works, which he sent, that is, God gave to Moses, when he roused and strengthened him to accomplish them. In the Hebrew the connection is clearer; for it has, and in every mighty hand, which is aptly connected with what preceded, in all signs and wonders.
AND GREAT MIRACLES.—In Hebrew, and all the great terror. A strong hand, says Vatablus, he says for the things done in the Red Sea; terror, however, for the law which the Lord gave on mount Sinai, with so many terrifying wonders, to which add other terrors, as the swallowing up of Core, Dathan and Abiron, the burning of the 250 princes, Numbers xvi, 35, the slaughter of the fornicators, Numbers xxv, and others.
Moses lived, lives now blessed and glorious in God for ever; so let us also live. Our soul is eternal, will live for ever, either happily or miserably. Live for Eternity; strive, suffer for Eternity. Here thou castest the die, the irrevocable die, for Eternity. O dear Eternity, eternal truth, true charity, my God and my all, open our eyes, remove from us the stupor of men, that we may know what Eternity is, how immense, how happy or miserable. Thou hast created us for thee, hast created us for Eternity, because thou art Eternity; thou hast willed, commanded, ordained to make us partakers of thy Eternity. For perpetual light shall shine on thy saints, O Lord, and eternity of ages. Grant that we may piously and holily weigh this memorial of time, that in it we may study for Eternity, labour for Eternity, suffer and strive for Eternity, and that we may cry the same to all, and save as many souls as we can who are about to perish for ever. Hear, Christians; hear, Pagans; hear, Belgium; let the world hear: No security is great enough where ETERNITY is imperilled.
O long, O deep, O abysmal, O eternal ETERNITY!
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord, in the eternal mountains: for ever and ever they shall praise thee.