Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin (continued)
HARMONY OF THE LAW · VOLUME
16. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the
16. Et in die primo, convocatio sancta, die quoque septimo convocatio sancta erit vobis: omne opus non fiet in eis, veruntamen quod comedetur ab omni anima, illud tantummodo fiet a vobis. seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this
17. Observabitisque infermentata: quia hac ipsa die eduxi exercitus vestros e terra Aegypti: observabitis inquam diem istum in generationibus vestris statuto perpetuo. self-same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
18. In primo mense, decimo quarto die mensis, in vespera comedetis infermentata usque ad diem vicesimum primum mensis in vespera.
19. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
19. Septem diebus fermentum non invenietur in domibus vestris.
20. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
20. Omne fermentum non comedetis: in omnibus habitaculis vestris comedetis infermentata.
1. And the Lord spake. Although the institution of the Passover in some degree appertains to the Fourth Commandment, where the Sabbath and Feast-days will be treated of; yet, in so far as it was a solemn symbol308
Memorial. — Fr.
JOHN CALVIN
of their redemption, whereby the people professed their obligation to God their deliverer, and in a manner devoted themselves to His dominion, I have not hesitated to insert it here as a supplement of the First Commandment. The observation of the day itself will again recur in its proper place; it will only be suitable to observe here, that God enjoined this ceremony in order that He might wholly bind the people under obligation to Himself alone, and that from it the Israelites might learn that they should never turn away from Him, by whose kindness and hand they were redeemed. For by these means He had purchased them to Himself as His peculiar people; and, therefore, whenever He reproves them for declining from His pure worship, He complains that they were forgetful of this great favor, the memory of which ought to have been sufficient to retain them. In effect, then, the celebration of the Passover taught the Israelites that it was not lawful for them to have regard to any other God besides their Redeemer; and also that it was just and right for them to consecrate themselves to His service, since He had restored them from death to life; and thus, as in a glass or picture, He represented to their eyes His grace; and desired that they should on every succeeding year recognize what they had formerly experienced, lest it should ever depart from their memory. First, let us define what the Passover (Pascha) is;309 I use its trite and ordinary name. In its etymology there is no difficulty, except that the passage (transitus) of God, is equivalent to His leaping over, (transilitio) whereby it came to pass that the houses of the Israelites remained untouched; for Isaiah,310 speaking of the second redemption, unquestionably alludes to this place, when he says, I will leap over Jerusalem. The reason, then, for this expression being used is, that God's vengeance passed over the Israelites, so as to leave them uninjured. With respect to the twofold mention by Moses of a passing-over, observe that the same word is not used in both places; but Pesah 311 refers to the chosen people, and Abar to the Egyptians; as if he had said, my vengeance shall pass through the midst of your enemies, and shall everywhere destroy them; but you I will pass over untouched. Since, then, God was willing to spare His This paragraph not in French.
Isaiah 31:5 C.'s own translation of the words rendered in our A. V., "passing over he will preserve it," i.e., Jerusalem, is "transiliens servabit;" that of Bishop Lowth is "leaping forward, and rescuing her." In his note on the passage, he expresses the opinion that the action described by the wordפסח, in this chapter, is the "springing forward" of Jehovah the protector, to defend his people from the destroying angel.
פסחandעברin verses 13 and 12. It is observable that C. now properly translatesפסח, transilire, in his own comment; though, when commenting on it before, he had only used parts of the word transire, which expresses no more thanעבר. — W
Israel, He awakened the minds of the faithful to the hope of this salvation, by the interposition of a sign;312 whilst He instituted a perpetual memorial of His grace, that the Passover might every year renew the recollection of their deliverance. For the first Passover was celebrated in the very presence of the thing itself, to be a pledge to strengthen their terrified minds; but the annual repetition was a sacrifice of thanksgiving, whereby their posterity might be reminded that they were God's rightful and peculiar dependents (clientes). Yet both the original institution and the perpetual law had a higher reference; for God did not once redeem His ancient people, that they might remain safely and quietly in the land, but He wished to bring them onward even to the inheritance of eternal life, wherefore the Passover was no less than Circumcision a sign of spiritual grace; and so it has an analogy and resemblance to the Holy Supper, because it both contained the same promises, which Christ now seals to us in that, and also taught that God could only be propitiated towards His people by the expiation of blood. In sum, it was the sign of the future redemption as well as of that which was past. For this reason Paul writes, that "Christ our Passover is slain," (1 Corinthians 5:7;) which would be unsuitable, if the ancients had only been reminded in it of their temporal benefit. Yet let us first establish this, that the observation of the Passover was commanded by God in the Law, that He might demand the gratitude of His people and devote to Himself those who were redeemed by His power and grace. I now descend to particulars. God commands the Israelites to begin the year with the month in which they had come out of Egypt, as if it had been the day of their birth, since that exodus was in fact a kind of new birth;313 for, whereas they had been buried in Egypt, the liberty given them by God was the beginning of a new life and the rising of a new light. For though their adoption had gone before, yet, since in the mean time it had almost vanished from the hearts of many, it was necessary that they should be in a manner re-begotten, that they might begin to acknowledge more certainly that God was their Father. Wherefore He says in Hosea, "I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me," (Hosea 12:9, and Hosea 13:4;) because He had then especially acquired them to Himself as His peculiar people; and He speaks even more clearly a little before, "when Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." (Hosea 11:1.)
"Symbolum." — Lat. "Signe ou Sacrement." — Fr.
"Une facon de faire renaistre;" a means of bringing about the new birth of the Church. — Fr.