Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
20. And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
20. Et accepit Moses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et sustulit eos super asinum: et reversus est in terram Aegypti. Et accepit Moses baculum Dei in manu sua.
21. And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into
21. Et ait Jehova ad Mosen, Quum profectus fueris, et reversus in Aegyptum, vide ut omnia signa quae posui in manu tua, facias illa coram Pharaone. Ego autem constringam cor illius, et non dimittet populum.
Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born.
22. Et dices Pharaoni, Sic dicit Jehova, Filius meus, primogenitus meus Israel.
23. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
23. Ego autem jussi te dimittere filium meum ut mihi serviret: et renuisti dimittere eum. Ideo ecce ego occidam filium tuum, primogenitum tuum.
18. And Moses went. It is surprising that Moses should have suppressed the vision whereby the mind of his father-in-law might have been most inclined to let him go; for he speaks merely of human feelings, that he desired to revisit his brethren and relations. Yet it must have been disagreeable to his father-in-law to lose his services, and that diligence and industry by which he had largely profited; nor could it have been pleasant to send away his daughter and grandchildren to a foreign country. Whether he was forbidden to do so by God, or whether he was silent from fear and shame, is uncertain; but I incline rather to this supposition, that he dared not speak of his vocation, lest its incredibility should cause him to be suspected of falsehood and vanity. Since, then, it would have been difficult to obtain belief as to his vocation, he preferred making a pretext of his natural affection. But Jethro being persuaded more by divine inspiration than by that excuse, was easily prevailed on; although I make no doubt that for forty years Moses had been giving such proofs of his honesty, that he was exempted from every evil suspicion. We know how much respect is gained