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The divine Scripture calls Cush Ethiopia, and Mizraim Egypt, and it names the same man Jacob and Israel; for the one name he received from his fathers, but the other God gave him, signifying through the appellation the divine epiphany that occurred to him. 24. "And He increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies." This the history of the Exodus also teaches. For as much, it says, as the Egyptians afflicted them, so much the more they multiplied, and the land was filled with them. 25. "He turned their heart to hate His people." Not that He Himself changed the mind of the Egyptians, but by yielding to their free will; and while not preventing their plots, He showed those who were plotted against to be stronger than those who plotted. "To deal craftily with His servants." At one time the Egyptians commanded the midwives to kill the male children of the Hebrews, at another time they ordered them to be cast into the river. But nevertheless, even so the race escaped the devices of death. 26, 27. "He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen for Himself. He set forth among them the words of His signs, and of His 80.1717 wonders in the land of Ham." For putting them forward as ministers and servants of the freedom of their kinsmen, He entrusted to them the power of working miracles. 28. "He sent forth darkness, and made it dark, for they rebelled against His words." For the blessed servants did not speak against the divine commands, but did what was ordered, and brought upon them that longest, three-day night, or rather, a darkness more gloomy than night. For the night, even if it is moonless, is mingled with the gleam of the stars; but that darkness the divine Scripture calls palpable. 29. "He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish." For He not only changed the color of the waters, but also the very quality of their taste, so that all the kinds of fish were destroyed. 30. "Their land brought forth frogs, in the chambers of their kings." For since they had delivered the infants of the Hebrews to the river, He turned the water of the river into blood, exposing the murder that had happened in it; and He made frogs gush forth from there, crawling like the infants who had been killed, and entering their houses, and proceeding even to the chambers of the king. 31. "He spoke, and the dog-fly came, and gnats in all their borders." For the deeds followed the words; and immediately, as God commanded and Moses spoke, both the dog-fly and gnats filled the land, not passing the Egyptian borders, nor bringing ruin upon other people, but inflicting the chastisement on those who opposed God. For this is what "In all their borders" signifies; that is, outside the Egyptian borders nothing of the sort was to be seen happening. 32, 33. "He made their rains hail, a consuming fire in their land. And He struck their vines, and their fig trees, and broke every tree of their border." For the clouds changed their usual pangs, and instead of showers brought forth hail; and thunderbolts, and fiery whirlwinds, were borne along with the hail, and natures contrary to each other, water and fire, did not harm each other. For neither did the fire melt the frozen water of the hail, nor did the water extinguish the flame; but laying aside their natural conflict, they inflicted a harmonious chastisement on the Egyptians, and exposed their brutishness; because though being men they did not respect nature, but 80.1720 forced their kinsmen to serve bitterly. And for this reason, their vines and fig trees, and the other kinds of plants, were utterly destroyed by them. 34, 35. "He spoke, and the locust came, and the caterpillar, of which there was no number. And it ate all the grass in their land [and it ate all the fruit of their land]." Through the hail and the fire He destroyed the trees, and through the locust and the caterpillar, the marshes, the meadows, the crops; for not only the fruit, but

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Χοὺς δὲ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν ἡ θεία καλεῖ Γραφὴ, Μεσρὲμ δὲ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, Ἰακὼβ δὲ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὸν αὐτὸν ὀνομάζει· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν πατέρων ἔλαχεν ὄνομα, τὸ δὲ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῷ τέθεικε, τὴν γενομένην αὐτῷ θείαν ἐπιφάνειαν διὰ τῆς προσηγορίας δηλῶν. κδʹ. "Καὶ ηὔξησε τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ σφόδρα, καὶ ἐκραταίωσεν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ." Τοῦτο καὶ τῆς Ἐξόδου ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει. Ὅσῳγάρ, φησὶν, ἐκάκουν αὐτοὺς οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι, τοσούτῳ πλείους ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἐπλήθυνεν αὐτοὺς ἡ γῆ. κεʹ. "Μετέστρεψε τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν, τοῦ μι σῆσαι τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ." Οὐκ αὐτὸς μεταβαλὼν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὴν γνώμην, ἀλλὰ τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ παρα χωρῶν· καὶ τὰς μὲν ἐπιβουλὰς μὴ κωλύων, κρείτ τους δὲ τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων τοὺς ἐπιβουλευομένους δεικνύς. "Τοῦ δολιοῦσθαι ἐν τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ." Ποτὲ μὲν ταῖς μαίαις ἐπέταξαν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι δια φθείρειν τῶν Ἑβραίων τὰ ἄῤῥενα, ποτὲ δὲ τῷ πο ταμῷ ταῦτα παραπέμπειν ἐκέλευσαν. Ἄλλ' ὅμως καὶ οὕτως τὸ γένος διέφυγε τοῦ θανάτου τὰ μηχα νήματα. κʹ, κζʹ. "Ἀπέστειλε Μωσῆν τὸν δοῦλον αὑ τοῦ, καὶ Ἀαρὼν ὃν ἐξελέξατο ἑαυτῷ. Ἔθετο αὐτοῖς τοὺς λόγους τῶν σημείων αὑτοῦ, καὶ τῶν 80.1717 τεράτων αὑτοῦ ἐν γῇ Χάμ." Προβαλλόμενος γὰρ αὐτοὺς τῆς τῶν ὁμοφύλων ἐλευθερίας ὑπουρ γούς τε καὶ διακόνους, τὴν τῆς θαυματουργίας αὐ τοῖς ἐνεχείρισε δύναμιν. κηʹ. "Ἐξαπέστειλε σκότος, καὶ ἐσκότασεν, ὅτι παρεπίκραναν τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ." Οὐκ ἀντεῖ πον γὰρ οἱ μακάριοι θεράποντες τοῖς θείοις προσ τάγμασιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ κελευόμενα ἔδρων, καὶ τὴν μα κροτάτην αὐτοῖς καὶ τριήμερον ἐπήγαγον νύκτα, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ νυκτὸς ζοφωδέστερον σκότος. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ νὺξ, κἂν ἀσέληνος ᾖ, τῇ αἴγλῃ τῶν ἀστέρων κε ράννυται· ἐκεῖνο δὲ τὸ σκότος ψηλαφητὸν ἡ θεία καλεῖ Γραφή. κθʹ. "Μετέστρεψε τὰ ὕδατα αὐτῶν εἰς αἷμα, καὶ ἀπέκτεινε τοὺς ἰχθύας αὐτῶν." Οὐ γὰρ τὴν χροιὰν τῶν ὑδάτων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴν μετέβαλε τῆς γεύσεως τὴν ποιότητα, ὥστε ἁπάντων διαφθαρῆ ναι τῶν ἰχθύων τὰ γένη. λʹ. "Ἐξεῖρψεν ἡ γῆ αὐτῶν βατράχους, ἐν τοῖς τα μείοις τῶν βασιλέων αὐτῶν." Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῷ ποταμῷ τὰ βρέφη τῶν Ἑβραίων παρέδοσαν, μετ έβαλε μὲν εἰς αἷμα τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὸ ὕδωρ, τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ γεγενημένην μιαιφονίαν ἐλέγχων· βατράχους δὲ ἐκεῖθεν ἀναβλύσαι πεποίηκε, τοῖς ἀνῃρημένοις παραπλησίως βρέφεσιν ἕρποντας, καὶ ταῖς οἰκίαις ἐπεμβαίνοντας, καὶ ἄχρις αὐτῶν χωροῦντας τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως θαλάμων. λαʹ. "Εἶπε, καὶ ἦλθε κυνόμυια, καὶ σκνίπες ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῶν." Ἠκολούθει γὰρ τοῖς λε γομένοις τὰ ἔργα· καὶ παραυτίκα Θεοῦ μὲν κελεύ οντος, Μωσοῦ δὲ λέγοντος, καὶ κυνόμυια, καὶ σκνί πες ἐπλήρουν τὴν γῆν, τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὅρους οὐ παριόντες, οὐδὲ ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις τὴν λύμην ἐπιφέ ροντες, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀντιθέοις τὴν παιδείαν ἐπάγοντες. Τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ, "Ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐ- τῶν·" ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἔξω τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὅρων οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον γινόμενον ἦν ἰδεῖν. λβʹ, λγʹ. "Ἔθετο τὰς βροχὰς αὐτῶν χάλαζαν, πῦρ καταφλέγον ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐπάταξε τὰς ἀμπέλους αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰς συκᾶς αὐτῶν, καὶ συν έτριψε πᾶν ξύλον ὁρίου αὐτῶν." Τὰ νέφη μὲν γὰρ τὰς συνήθεις ὠδῖνας ἐνήλλαξε, καὶ ἀντὶ ὄμβρων χά λαζαν ἀπεκύησε· κεραυνοὶ δὲ, καὶ πρηστῆρες, μετὰ τῆς χαλάζης ἐφέροντο, καὶ ἐναντίαι ἀλλήλαις φύσεις ὕδωρ καὶ πῦρ ἀλλήλας οὐκ ἐλυμαίνοντο. Οὔτε γὰρ τὸ πῦρ τὸ πεπηγὸς ὕδωρ τῆς χαλάζης ἐξέτηκεν, οὔτε τὸ ὕδωρ κατεσβέννυ τὴν φλόγα· ἀλλὰ τὴν φυσικὴν ἀποθέμενα μάχην, σύμφωνον Αἰγυπτίοις τὴν παι δείαν ἐπῆγον, καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων θηριωδίαν διήλεγχον· ὅτι ἄνθρωποι ὄντες οὐκ ᾐδοῦντο τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ 80.1720 τοὺς ὁμοφυεῖς πικρῶς δουλεύειν ἠνάγκαζον. Τούτου δὲ χάριν, καὶ αἱ ἄμπελοι, καὶ αἱ συκαῖ αὐτῶν, καὶ τ' ἄλλα τῶν φυτῶν γένη ἄρδην ὑπ' αὐτῶν δι εφθείρετο. λδʹ, λεʹ. "Εἶπε, καὶ ἦλθεν ἀκρὶς καὶ βροῦχος, οὗ οὐκ ἦν ἀριθμός. Καὶ κατέφαγε πάντα χόρτον ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτῶν [καὶ κατέφαγε πάντα τὸν καρπὸν τῆς γῆς αὐτῶν]." ∆ιὰ μὲν τῆς χαλάζης καὶ τοῦ πυρὸς τὰ δένδρα διέφθειρε, διὰ δὲ τῆς ἀκρίδος καὶ τοῦ βρού χου, τὰ ἕλη, τοὺς λειμῶνας τὰ λήϊα· οὐ γὰρ μό νον τὸν καρπὸν, ἀλλὰ