§1Οὐδὲν πλὴν εἰς τὸ μάννα οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶ.
Our eyes look at nothing except the manna.
Μᾶν ὠνομάσθη ἀπὸ τοῦ τοὺς Ἐβραίους πρώτους θέαμα ξένον ὁρῶντας εἰπεῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τῇ πατρίῳ γλώσσῃ, « Μᾶν, » τουτέστι, « Τί τοῦτο; » ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν εἶπον, εἰ ἔθος ἦν, ὥς τινες τῶν ἐθνικῶν φασι, τὴν φύσιν τῶν τόπων ἀπʼ αἰῶνος τὰ τοιαῦτα φέρειν.
It was named Man from the fact that the Hebrews, when they first saw the strange sight, said to one another in their native tongue, "Man," that is, "What is this?" Which they would not have said, if it were customary, as some of the pagans say, for the nature of the places to bear such things from eternity.
Καὶ νῦν δὲ εἰ καταβαίνει μνήμης ἕνεκα μικρόν τι.
And even now, if a little descends, it is for the sake of memory.
§2Καὶ οὐκέτι προσέθεντο. Λείπει, « τοῦ προφητεύειν.
"And they did not add any further." [The infinitive] "to prophesy" is omitted.
» Οὐκέτι, φησὶ, προεφήτευσαν.
He says they did not prophesy anymore.
Εἰς ἅπαξ γὰρ προφητεύουσιν, ἵνα μὴ ἐξισωθῶσι Μωσεῖ· ἀλλ’ ὡς γνωσθῆναι ὅτι μετειλήφασι, καὶ πάντες ἅμα προφητεύουσιν.
For they prophesy once and for all, so that they might not be made equal to Moses; but so that it might be known that they have partaken, and they all prophesy together.
Ἒν γὰρ ἐν Χριστῷ τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ μία διὰ πάντων ἡ ἐνέργεια.
For the Spirit in Christ is one, and the operation through all is one.
§3Καὶ ὁ λαὸς οὐκ ἐξῇρεν, ἕως ἐκαθοχίσθη Μοροάμ. Ἔμεινε δὲ ἡ σκηνὴ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον εἰς τιμὴν Μαρίας, ἵνα μὴ τοιαύτη οὗσα ἀκολουθῇ.
"And the people did not set out until Moroam was cleansed." And the tabernacle remained seven days in the place in honor of Mary, so that she might not follow while being in such a condition.
Ἀπόστειλον σεαυτῷ ἄνδρας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.
"Send men for yourself," and so on.
Ἀποσταλῆναι κελεύει τινὰς, δεικνὺς ὅτι πλησιάζουσι μὲν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ.
He orders some to be sent, showing that they are indeed drawing near to Palestine.
τῆς Αιγύπτου τὸ τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἑτοιμότερον παραστήσας· καὶ τὸ ἄπιστον ἐξελέγξας, τάφον μὲν τὴν ἔρημον ἀπονέμει, οἷς ὁ νοῦς ἀπέμεινε σκληρός· θάνατος γὰρ ἀσεβῶν, τῆς ἐν τῷ ζῇν πλάνης αἱρετώτερος.
Having presented to the Hebrews what was readier than Egypt, and having refuted their unbelief, He assigns the wilderness as a tomb to those whose mind remained hard; for the death of the ungodly is preferable to error in living.
§4Καὶ ἐπωνόμασε Μωϋσῆς τὸν Αὐσὴ υἱὸν Ναυὴ, Ἰησοῦν. Ἐπισημαντέον ὅτι ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ υἱὸς τύπος γέγονε τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃς τὸν οἴκτιστον λαὸν πλανώμενον ἐλευθερώσας, εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνήγαγεν· οὐκ εἰς γῆν ἐσθίουσαν τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας.
"And Moses named Ause, the son of Naue, Jesus." It must be noted that the son of Naue became a type of Christ, who, having delivered the miserable, wandering people, led them up into heaven; not into a land that devours its inhabitants.
§5Ἦ μὴν οὐκ ὄψονται τὴν γῆν, ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν. Παρατηρητέον ὅτι τῶν ἐκ τῆς γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθόντων εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τινές· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦτο ἀπηγόρευσεν· ἀλλὰ μόνους τοὺς εἰκοστοέτεις καὶ ἐπάνω τῶν ἐξελθόντων ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου μοσχοποιήσαντας ἀνεῖλεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· φειδόμενος συγγενοῦς τῆς νεότητος αὐτοῖς, οἶς ὁ τῆς ζωῆς χρόνος οὕπω εἰκοστοέτης ἦν. καὶ πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοῖς βρέφεσι, καὶ παιδίοις, ἔως τῆς ἐφήβου ἡλικίας.
"Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers." It must be observed that of those who came out of the land of Egypt, some entered into the land of promise; for neither did God forbid this; but only those who were twenty years old and upward among those who came out of the land of Egypt, who made the calf, He destroyed in the wilderness; sparing those akin to them in youth, whose life span was not yet twenty years; and much more the infants, and children up to the age of youth.
§6Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.
By the same.
Τοῦτο τύπος τῆς ἀληθείας. « Ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ στραφῆτε καὶ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία, οὐ μὴ εἰσἐλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν. » §7Ἀνέλεσθε τὰ πυρεῖα τὰ χαλκᾶ. Ὥσπερ ὁ χαλκοῦς ὄφις σημεῖον τῆς ἀπιστίας αὐτῶν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τυρεῖα τῶν περὶ Κορὲ καὶ Δαθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρὼν περίθεμα ὄντα τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ.
This is a type of the truth: "For unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom." "Take up the bronze censers." Just as the bronze serpent was a sign of their unbelief, so also the censers of those around Korah, Dathan, and Abiram became a covering for the altar.
§8Καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς Λευῒ ἰδοὺ δέδωκα πᾶν ἐπιδέκατον ἐν Ἰσραήλ. Εἰκότως ἀπονενέμηνται τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν αἱ ἀπαρχαὶ, ἐπείπερ οὐ κληρονομεῖ ἡ Λευῒ φυλὴ, οὐδὲ κλῆρον λαμβάνει ὡς αἱ λοιπαί.
"And behold, I have given to the sons of Levi every tithe in Israel." Reasonably have the firstfruits been allocated to the priests, since the tribe of Levi does not inherit, nor does it receive an allotment like the others.
Τοῦτο πρόξενον τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ὁ κλῆρος τοῦ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ συμμερίζεσθαι.
This allotment of sharing with the altar is the cause of propertylessness for the priests.
Δεκάτας ἐδίδου ὁ λαὸς τοῖς Λευίταις, καὶ οἱ Λευῖται τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν.
The people gave tithes to the Levites, and the Levites to the priests.
Μὴ ἐκ τῆς πέτρας ταύτης ἐξάξομεν ὑμῖν ὕδωρ; Ὁ Μωῦσῆς, μὴ δοξάσας τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ, ἐκωλύθη παρελθεῖν μετʼ αὐτοῦ.
"Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Moses, because he did not glorify God before the people, was forbidden to enter with them.
Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ ὃν ἐτίμων ζῶντα, ἐν Θεοῦ θεραπείαις τιμήσωσιν ἀπελθόντα, ἀφανῆ τὸν τόπον πεποίηκεν.
For lest they should honor him after his departure with divine worship, whom they honored while alive, He made his burial place unknown.
§9Νῦν ἐκλείξει ἡ συναγωγὴ αὕτη πάντας τοὺς κὐελῳ ἡμῶν. Τοῦτο παράδειγμα ἔλαβεν· ὥσπερ ὁ μόσχος ἐν τῷ στόματι τὰ χλωρὰ, οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἄγιος λαὸς τοῖς χείλεσι στρατευόμενος ἐν τοῖς στόμασιν ἔχει τὰ ὅπλα διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν.
"Now this assembly will lick up all those around us." He took this as an illustration: just as the ox with its mouth [licks up] the green things, so also the holy people, waging war with their lips, have weapons in their mouths through prayers.
Καὶ τοῦτο εἰδὼς ὁ Βαλὰκ ἐν τοῖς προτέροις πολέμοις ἐναργῶς γινόμενον, βούλεται καὶ αὐτὸς τοῖς διὰ χειλέων ὅπλοις στρατεύεσθαι· καὶ καλεῖ τὸν Βαλαὰμ τὸν ἔχοντα τὰ ὅπλα τῆς ἐναντίας δυνάμεως ἐν τοῖς χείλεσι τὰς ἀράς.
And Balak, knowing that this had clearly happened in the previous wars, wished himself also to wage war with weapons through lips; and he calls Balaam, who has the weapons of the opposing power, namely curses, on his lips.
Οἱ γὰρ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι συμπράττουσι τοῖς δικαίοις εἰς τὰ σωτήρια, καὶ ἀγαθὰ ἔργα, καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ δαίμονες τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς τὰ τονηρὰ καὶ βλαβερὰ τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔργα.
For the holy angels cooperate with the righteous for saving and good works, and the evil demons with ungodly, sinful men for works that are evil and harmful to the salvation of men.
Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἅγιοι στρατεύονται λόγοις εὐχῶν, οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ λόγοις μαγειῶν.
For the holy indeed wage war with words of prayers, but the ungodly and sinful with words of magic.
§10Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.
By the same.
Καὶ ἡ κατʼ αἴσθησιν τῶν πραγμάτων ἱστορία μεγάλης ὠφελείας πεπλήρωται.
Even the history according to the literal sense of things is full of great benefit.
Ἐκ δὲ τῆς προκειμένης ἱστορίας μανθάνομεν πολλὰ, καὶ ὅτι ἕστι στρατεύεσθαι λόγοις, καὶ μεγάλα πράγματα οἰκονομεῖσθαι, καὶ κατορθοῦσθαι διὰ λόγων· καὶ οἱ μὲν ἅγιοι στρατεύονται λόγοις εὐχῶν· οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς λόγοις μαγειῶν.
And from the history set before us we learn many things, and that it is possible to wage war with words, and that great matters are administered and achieved through words; and the holy indeed wage war with words of prayers, but the ungodly with words of magic.