Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
17. Blow therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
17. Nunc ergo remitte quaeso peccatum meum duntaxat vice hac, et orate Jehovam Deum vestrum, et auferat a me tantum mortem istam.
18. And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.
18. Et egressus est a Pharaone, et oravit Jehovam.
19. And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and east them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
19. Et convertit Jehova ventum occidentalem fortem valde, et sustulit locustas, et dejecit eas in mare rubrum: non remansit locusta ulla in tota regione AEgypti.
20. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
20. Et roboravit Jehova cor Pharaonis, neque dimisit filios Israel.
12. And the Lord said unto Moses. Since Pharaoh was not induced to obey by the announcement of the punishment, its execution is here related. And first, Moses is commanded to stretch out his hand to bring in the locusts, in right of the authority with which God had invested him; for the stretching forth of the hand is a token of power. He therefore adds, just beyond, that he stretched forth his rod, which we have before seen to have been given him as a royal scepter. It is, then, just as if God had appointed him to be His vicegerent, and had subjected to him the sea, and earth, and air. But that he may sink down into the character of a minister, he does not say that the locusts came up at his command, but assigns the glory of the operation to the Lord alone. And this mode of expression is worthy of remark, since we learn from it that the ministers of God, although they bring nothing of their own, still do not lose their labor, because the efficacy of the Spirit is conjoined to their word; and still that nothing is detracted from the power of God and transferred to them, since they are but instruments, which by God's hand are applied in His service. Thus did not Moses in vain command, as he stretched forth his rod, the locusts to come up; because the effect of his command immediately appeared. Still he did not himself create the locusts, nor attract them by the stirring' of his rod, but they were divinely brought by the power of the east wind. But so sudden a gathering unquestionably occurred contrary to the order of nature;