ORIGEN, Homily 11 on Exodus: All who wish to live piously in Christ suffer persecution and are attacked by enemies: and one traveling the journey of this life must always be prepared and stand in the camps. Hence all the synagogue of the children of Israel departed from the desert of Sin according to their camps by the word of God. There is indeed one Synagogue of the Lord, but it is divided into four camps, which are described in Numbers around the tabernacle of the Lord afterward. Therefore, armed and fighting in the camps of the Lord, do not entangle yourself in worldly business, and always keep watch in the camps of the Lord, so that it may be said of you that you have departed by the word of the Lord from the desert of Sin, and you come to Rephidim. Sin is interpreted; Rephidim—one who exits well from temptation comes to the health of judgment. For on the day of judgment he will be sound. Hence Revelation 2: Therefore, one who arranges his words well in judgment comes to the health of judgment. Here specifically Sin is taken as one station from those five that were from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, which Josephus describes by name. For generally all that desert is called Sin, just as Rephidim is also.
JEROME, On Hebrew Places, vol. 3: It is a place in the desert near Mount Horeb. It should be known, however, that the entire wilderness up to Mount Sinai is called Sin, and from the whole province even the place of one station received its name, just as Moab is the name both of the city and of the province. In this wilderness there are five stations: Zuph, and the desert of Sin, Alus, Depheca, Rephidim. Hence it is well said that... From which it is clear that multiple stations are designated by one regional name, etc.
ORIGEN, as above: Another reading says: It sufficed to say—why was it necessary to add? The addition is not superfluous. Therefore there are different thirsts, and each person has his own. Those who are good hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5). Others also say (Psalm 41). But those who are sinners suffer not thirst for water, not hunger for bread, but for hearing the word of God. Therefore the people thirsted for water, who ought to have thirsted for righteousness. But God, the teacher of infants, the master of the foolish, corrects faults and amends errors, telling Moses to take his rod and strike the rock and bring forth waters. For he wants them now to drink from the rock and to advance, and to come to interior mysteries. For they murmured against Moses, therefore the Lord commands that he show them the rock from which they may drink. For if anyone reading Moses murmurs against him, and the law according to the letter displeases him, because in many things it does not seem to have coherence, Moses shows him the rock, which is Christ, so that he may drink from it and refresh his thirst. But this rock does not give waters unless it is struck; when struck, however, it produces springs: for Christ was struck and slain on the cross, and produced the springs of the New Testament. Hence Zechariah 8: For unless he had been struck, and blood and water had come forth from his side, we would all suffer thirst for the word of God. Hence 1 Corinthians 10.
ISIDORE: The thirsting people murmured against Moses for water: therefore God commands that he show them the rock from which they may drink. But if anyone reading Moses murmurs against him, and the letter of the law displeases him, Moses shows him the rock, which is Christ, and leads him to it, from which he may drink and refresh his thirst, etc. Not only Moses leads the people to the waters, but also the elders of the people. For not only the law announces Christ, but also the prophets and patriarchs and all the elders, etc.
AUGUSTINE, Question 64 on Exodus: Aaron, not Moses, is read to have struck the river with the rod. For Moses divided the sea with the same rod, not the river. What then does this mean? Perhaps he called the river a sea? And an example of this expression must be sought? Or what Aaron did is attributed rather to Moses, because God commanded through Moses what Aaron should do, and in this one is the authority, in that one the ministry? Hence: Christ, who was struck on the cross by the Jews: to whom came the rod, that is, the wood of the passion, so that water might remain for the faithful, etc.
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