John Calvin on Exodus 1:22

22. And Pharaoh charged. If he had not been transported with wrath and struck with blindness, he would have seen that the hand of God was against him; but when the reprobate are driven to madness by God, they persevere obstinately in their crimes; and not only so, but, like the deranged “Vertiginosi, vel phrenetici.” — Lat. “Phrenetiques, ou demoniacles.” — Fr. or frantic, they dash themselves with greater audacity against every obstacle. It is indeed commonly the case that cruelty, having once tasted innocent blood, becomes more thirsty for it; nay, in general, wicked men, as if excited by their course, grow hotter and hotter in crime, so that there is no end nor measure to their iniquity; but here, in this very desperate rage, we must perceive the vengeance of God, when he had given up the tyrant for the devil to destroy him, whilst we also remember his design both to try the patience of his people as well as to set forth his own goodness and power. The tyrant, finding that his snares and deceit availed nothing, now shakes off fear and flies to open violence, commanding the little ones to be torn from the breasts of their mothers and to be cast into the river. Lest there should be any lack of executioners, he gives this charge to all the Egyptians, whom he knew to be more than ready for the work. He spares the daughters, that, being enslaved and allotted to the Egyptians, they might produce slaves for their masters, whilst by them the races and names could not be preserved. Here it may be worth while to meditate on a comparison with our own times. Antichrist, with all his murderous agents, leaves in peace those who by their treacherous silence deny Christ, and are prepared to embrace as slaves every kind of impiety; neither does he exercise his cruelty, insatiable though it be, where he sees no manliness to exist; and he exults and triumphs, as if his end was gained, when he perceives any who had some courage in professing their faith fallen into effeminacy and cowardice. But how much better is it for us to die an hundred times, retaining our manly firmness in death, than to redeem our life for the base service of the devil.

EXODUS 2

Exodus 2:1-10

1. And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

1. Abierat autem vir ex domo Levi, et acceperat filiam Levi.

2. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

2. Concepit autem mulier illa, et peperit filium; vidensque eum esse pulchrum, abscondit tribus mensibus.

3. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

3. Et quia illum abscondere amplius non poterat, accepit ei arcam arundineam, et oblevit eam bitumine et pice, et reposuit in ca infantulum: exposuitque in carecto, juxta ripam fluminis.

4. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

4. Stetit vero soror ejus eminus, ut cognosceret quid ei fieret.

5. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side: and when she saw the ark among the flag’s, she sent her maid to fetch it.

5. Porro descendit filia Pharaonis ut lavaret se in flumine: (deambulabant autem puellae ejus secus ripam fluminis:) et videns arculam in medio carecti misit ancillam suam quae illam tolleret.

6. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.

6. Quumque aperuisset, vidit ipsum infantulum: et ecce, puer flebat: et miserta illius dixit, Hic ex pueris Hebraeorum est.

7. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?

7. Tunc dixit soror ejus ad fili am Pharaonis, Ibone ut vocem tibi mulierem nutricem ex Hebraeis quae tibi lactet infantulum?

8. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

8. Respondit ei filia Pharaonis, Vade. Profecta est igitur puella, et vocavit matrem pueri.

9. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

9. Cui filia Pharaonis dixit, Tolle infantulum hunc, et lacta eum mihi, et ego dabo tibi mercedem. Tunc accepit mulier infantulum, et lactavit eum.

10. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

10. Crevit autem infantulus, et adduxit eum ad filiam Pharaonis, cui factus in filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Moseh, dicens, Quoniam ex aquis extraxi eum.