Library Theodoret Questions on Exodus
Questions on Exodus 8: Why God did not punish Pharaoh from the start
Since God foresaw Pharaoh’s stubbornness, why then did he not punish him from the beginning?
That he foresaw it he made clear: “I know,” he says, “that Pharaoh king of Egypt will not let you go, except with a mighty hand. And stretching out my hand I will strike the Egyptians.” Yet being good and loving toward humankind, he does not bring himself to punish from foreknowledge alone; rather he waits for the outcome of events and shows to all the justice of the punishment. Besides, it was far more just that that man’s wickedness be laid bare than that God be thought harsh. For if he had punished before the proofs, he would have seemed both cruel and unjust; but as it is, both God’s long-suffering has been received and that man’s impiety and beastliness have been exposed.
Greek: Theodoret of Cyrus, Quaestiones in Octateuchum / Questions on Exodus (CPG 6200.02; cf. Fernández Marcos and Sáenz-Badillos; also PG 80, cols. 225–298). English: study translation for BWAB Library—not the copyrighted Robert C. Hill (CUA Press) translation. The full Questions on Exodus (72 questions) is hosted here.