And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Read Chapter 17
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
And when Moses lifted up his hands. Here Moses was a figure of Christ on the cross, by whose power and mediation we overcome our spiritual enemies. (Challoner)
Hands, forming the sign of the cross, as the fathers observe, in the posture of a suppliant. St. Jerome says, the people fasted also till the evening. (contra Jos. ii.) (Calmet)
If heretics deride the priests of God, standing with their hands extended at the altar, let them reflect on Moses, and on Jesus Christ, who, lifting up his hands, blessed his disciples; and hence learn, that such ceremonies are not vain. (Worthington)
For my own warfare, however, I am at a loss what course to pursue, what alliance, what word of wisdom, what grace to devise, with what panoply to arm myself against the wiles of the wicked one. What Moses did is to conquer him by stretching out his hands upon the mount, in order that the cross, thus typified and prefigured, may prevail.
