Exodus 17:12

OLD TESTAMENTNEW TESTAMENT

But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Verse 11 Read Chapter 17 Verse 13

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

Moses showed this when his hands became so heavy that Joshua the son of Nun could hardly hold them up. For that reason the people conquered when they performed works not carelessly but with full consideration and virtue—not with faltering souls nor with a wavering disposition but with the stability of a firm mind. ()..

< 1 min1/7

Go to Commentary

Gregory The Dialogist

AD 604

When Moses sat on the stone, it prefigured the law resting on the church. But this law had heavy hands, because it did not deal mercifully with those who were sinners but treated them with extreme harshness. “Aaron” means “mountain of strength,” and “Hur” means “fire.” Who is meant by “mountain of strength”? Our Redeemer, of whom the prophet said, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains.” And who is prefigured by “fire” but the Holy Spirit, of whom our Redeemer said, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth”? Aaron and Hur support the heavy hands of Moses and make them lighter by their support. Similarly the “Mediator between God and men,” coming with the fire of the Holy Spirit, revealed that the heavy commandments of the law, which cannot be borne when taken literally, become more tolerable for us when they are understood spiritually. It is as if he made the hands of Moses light when he ... Read More

1 min2/7

Go to Commentary

John Chrysostom

AD 407

See how the type was given through Moses but the truth came through Jesus Christ. And again, on Mt. Sinai, when the Amalekites were waging war on the Hebrews, the hands of Moses were propped up, held by Aaron and Hur standing on either side. But Christ, when he came, himself held his hands extended on the cross by his own power. Do you see how the type “was given” and “the truth came”? Homilies on the Gospel of John

< 1 min3/7

Go to Commentary

Justin Martyr

AD 165

Besides, the fact that the prophet Moses remained until evening in the form of the cross, when his hands were held up by Aaron and Hur, happened in the likeness of this sign. For the Lord also remained upon the cross until evening, when he was buried. Then he rose from the dead on the third day.

< 1 min4/7

Go to Commentary

Justin Martyr

AD 165

In truth it was not because Moses prayed that his people were victorious, but because, while the name of Jesus was at the battle front, Moses formed the sign of the cross. Who among you does not know that that prayer is the most pleasing to God which is uttered with lamentation and tears? But on this occasion Moses (or any after him) did not pray in such a manner; he was seated on a stone. And I have shown that even the stone is symbolical of Christ.

< 1 min5/7

Go to Commentary

Maximus of Turin

AD 423

When Moses’ hands were lifted up Amalek was conquered; when they came down a little he grew strong. The sailyards of ships and the ends of the sailyards move about in the form of our cross. The very birds, too, when they are borne to the heights and fly through the air, imitate the cross with their wings outstretched. Trophies themselves are crosses, and so are adorned victories of triumphs. These we ought to have not only on our foreheads but also on our souls so that, thus armed, we may trample upon the adder and the serpent, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever.

1 min6/7

Go to Commentary

Tertullian of Carthage

AD 220

But, to come now to Moses, why, I wonder, did he merely at the time when Joshua was battling against Amalek, pray sitting with hands expanded, when, in circumstances so critical, he ought rather, surely, to have commended his prayer by knees bent, and hands beating his breast, and a face prostrate on the ground; except it was that there, where the name of the Lord Jesus was the theme of speech—destined as he was to enter the lists one day singly against the devil—the figure of the cross was also necessary, [that figure] through which Jesus was to win the victory?.

1 min7/7

Go to Commentary

About Privacy Policy Donate

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation - 2 Peter 1:20