Êxodo 12
Augustine of Hippo · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Êxodo 12:3
The bridegroom, who was to call good and bad to his marriage, was pleased to assimilate himself to his guests, in being born of good and bad. He thus confirms as typical of himself the symbol of the Passover, in which it was commanded that the lamb to be eaten should be taken from the sheep or from the goats—that is, from the righteous or the wicked. Preserving throughout the indication of both divinity and humanity, as man he consented to have both bad and good as his parents, while as God he chose the miraculous birth from a virgin. — AGAINST FAUSTUS, A MANICHAEAN 22.64
Êxodo 12:6
But now then, can there be anybody who is not curious to know what the meaning can be of the fact that the Jews answered from Scripture the inquiry of the magi about where the Christ would be born and yet did not go with them to worship him themselves? Don't we see the same thing even now, when by the very rites and sacraments to which they are subjected for their hardness of heart, nothing else is indicated but the very Christ in whom they refuse to believe? Even when they kill the sheep and eat the Passover, aren't they demonstrating to the Gentiles the very Christ whom they themselves don't worship along with them?And isn't it the same sort of thing, when people have their doubts about the prophetic testimonies in which Christ was foretold and wonder if they haven't perhaps been compiled by Christians after the event, not before? We appeal to the codices in the possession of the Jews to set the minds of doubters at rest. Don't the Jews on such occasions too show the Gentiles the Christ whom they decline to worship with the Gentiles? — SERMON 202.3
Êxodo 12:7
For why would the Lord instruct them to kill a sheep on this very feast day except that it was he about whom it was prophesied: "As a sheep is led to the slaughter." The doorposts of the Jews were marked with the blood of a slaughtered animal. Our foreheads are marked with the blood of Christ. And that sign, because it was a sign, was said to keep the destroyer away from the houses marked with the sign. The sign of Christ drives the destroyer away from us insofar as our heart receives the Savior. — TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 50.3
Êxodo 12:11
[The word] pascha is not, as some think, a Greek word, but a Hebrew one; yet most conveniently there occurs in this name a certain congruity between the two languages. Because in Greek [the word for] "to suffer" is paschein. For this reason "pascha" has been thought of as a passion, as though this name has been derived from [a Greek word for] "suffering." But in its own language, that is, in Hebrew, "pascha" means "a passing over." For this reason the people of God celebrated the pascha for the first time when, fleeing from Egypt, they "passed over" the Red Sea. So now that prophetic figure has been fulfilled in truth when Christ is led as a sheep to the slaughter. By his blood, after our doorposts have been smeared [with it], that is, by the sign of his cross, after our foreheads have been marked [with it], we are freed from the ruin of this world as though from the captivity or destruction in Egypt. And we effect a most salutary passing over when we pass over from the devil to Christ and from this tottering world to his most solidly established kingdom. And therefore we pass over to God who endures so that we may not pass over with the passing world. — TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 55.1
Êxodo 12:22
They are to bear in mind that those who celebrated the Passover at the time through figures and shadows, when they were commanded to mark their doorpost with the blood of the lamb, marked them with hyssop. This is a mild and humble plant, but it has very strong and penetrating roots. So, "being rooted and grounded in love," we may be able "to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth," that is, the cross of the Lord. — ON CHRISTIAN TEACHING 2.41.62
Êxodo 12:36
The Egyptians not only had idols and crushing burdens which the people of Israel detested and from which they fled. They also had vessels and ornaments of gold and silver, and clothing, which the Israelites leaving Egypt secretly claimed for themselves as if for a better use. Not on their own authority did they make this appropriation, but by the command of God. Meanwhile, the Egyptians themselves, without realizing it, were supplying the things which they were not using properly. In the same way, all the teachings of the pagans have counterfeit and superstitious notions and oppressive burdens of useless labor. Any one of us, leaving the association of pagans with Christ as our leader, ought to abominate and shun them. — ON CHRISTIAN TEACHING 2.40.60
Êxodo 12:37
From their single ancestor, in not much more than four hundred years, the Hebrew people became so numerous that at the time of the exodus from Egypt there were, we are told, six hundred thousand men of military age. This number does not include the Idumeans, who were not reckoned with the people of Israel, although they were descended from Israel's brother Esau, who was a grandson of Abraham. Nor does it include those other descendants of Abraham who were not of the line of his wife Sarah. — City of God 15.8
Êxodo 12:46
Now next, that the legs of those two were broken, while his [Christ's] were not. He was already dead. Why this happened was stated in the Gospel itself. It was fitting, you see, to demonstrate by this sign as well that the true point and purpose of the Jewish Passover, which contained this instruction, not to break the lamb's bones, was to be a prophetic preenactment of his death. — SERMON 218.13