And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
Read Chapter 8
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Practiced, fecerunt; the same expression as ver. 7: whence some argue, that the former were delusions, not real changes. (Haydock)
God was pleased to show here the vanity of their attempts, and the imbecility of the devil, who could not even bring a single animalcule or insect, though he had before appeared to work great wonders. (Tirinus)
After these plagues, gnats are brought forth. This animal flies through the air suspended on wings. But it is so subtle and minute that it escapes being seen by the eye unless one looks closely. But when it lands on the body it drills in with a sharp sting. If anyone cannot see it flying, he still feels its sting immediately. This sort of animal can be compared with the subtlety of heretics, who drill into souls with the subtle stings of their words. They attack with such cunning that one who is deceived neither sees nor understands the source of his deception. At the third sign the magicians yielded and said, “The finger of God is here.” Those magicians stand for heretics and their animosity. The apostle states this when he says, “Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so too these men resisted the truth. They are corrupt in mind and reprobate in matters of faith. But they will not advance any further. Their madness will be manifested to everyone, just as Jannes’ and Jambres’ was....
