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Sequence - (2) 3. Haec Aegyptum spoliavit Et Hebraeos liberavit de fornace ferrea; 'This [day] despoiled Egypt, And liberated the Hebrews from the iron furnace.' The first line refers to Exodus 12:36, 'The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked of the Egyptians jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing; and the Lord had given the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they despoiled the Egyptians [et spoliaverunt Aegyptios].' This is part of the Exodus story and so has typological reference to the Resurrection. The plundering of the Egyptians represents the Harrowing of Hell, the liberating of the souls from the Devil. So, more obviously does the next reference, to the liberation of the Hebrews from the iron furnace. The Hebrews who were literally liberated from a furnace were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, a.k.a. Ananias, Azarias and Misael, in the Book of Daniel. However Daniel does not say this was an iron furnace, but a burning fiery furnace. The iron furnace is from Deuteronomy 4:20, 'But the Lord has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace [de fornace ferrea Aegypti], out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day.' The term 'iron furnace' is rather puzzling, but exactly the same expression is found at Jeremiah 11:4, 'when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace [de terra Aegypti, de fornace ferrea].' No doubt we have a Distinguished Old Testament Specialist on the list who can enlighten us as to the significance of the term. Don't be shy, D.O.T.S.! 4. His in arto constitutis opus erat servitutis lutum, later, palea. 'For these, confined in a narrow space, the work of servitude was mortar, brick, straw'. The Hebrews had to make bricks for Pharaoh: 'atque ad amaritudinem perducebant vitam eorum operibus duris luti et lateris' 'and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick' (Exodus 1:14). The straw was used in brick-making, and when Moses began to make trouble Pharaoh increased their burden by making them find their own straw instead of supplying it (Exodus 5:7). More tomorrow, The Supple Doctor. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%