The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

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Exodus 19

¹ In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the Wilderness of Sinai. — the Targum of Jonathan says “In the third month of the Exodus of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim, on that day, the first of the month, came they to the desert;”

² For they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai and had pitched camp in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. — for they were departed from Rephidim; after they had fought with Amalek, and came to the western part of the mount to Horeb, where the rock was smitten for them; and they were come from that now, and encamped at Sinai;

³ And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: — and Moses went up unto God; who was in the pillar of cloud upon the top of the mount; this was on the second day, according to the Targum of Jonathan: “the Lord called unto him out of the mountain;”

⁴ ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto Myself. — the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words, “and I bore you on clouds, as on eagles’ wings;” which covered and protected and sustained them, as the eagles’ wings do its young;

⁵ Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

— above all people: for all the earth is mine; while claiming a peculiar right in Israel, God does not mean to separate Himself from the other nations, to cease to care for them, or give them up to their own devices;

— He is always “the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18), “a light to lighten the Gentiles,” one who “judges the people righteously, and governs all the nations upon earth” (Psalm 67:4). Israel’s prerogative does not rob them of their birthright. He maybe the favoured son; but they, too, “are, all of them, children of the Most High” (Psalm 82:6).

⁶ And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” — “if ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant” ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation;

— and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests; instead of being in a state of servitude and bondage, as they had been in Egypt; and an holy nation” being separated from all others, and devoted to the worship and service of the true God.

⁷ And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. — Moses called for the elders, they formed the usual channel of communication between Moses and the people, reporting his words to them, and theirs to him.

⁸ And all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. — all that the Lord hath spoken we will do; obey his voice in all things he directs unto, or keep the covenant he should make with them, and observe whatever was required on their parts;

⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.” And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. — and the Lord said unto Moses; and the Targum of Jonathan added, on the third day;

¹⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes — and let them wash their clothes; which to be understood both of their garments and their bodies also; teaching them by these outward things the necessity of internal purity and holiness, to appear before God;

¹¹ and be ready against the third day; for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. — and be ready against the third day; not the third day of the month, but the third day from hence, this being the fourth, and the morrow the fifth, and the third day, the day following that, the sixth;

— for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai; which must be understood, consistent with his omnipresence, and is only expressive of some visible display of his power, and of some sensible token of his presence to the people;

¹² And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. — whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death; which severe law was made to deter them from any attempt to go up the mountain, since it was death even to touch it;

¹³ There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live.’ When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.”

— the Targum of Jonathan seems to understand it, as if punishment would be immediately inflicted upon such a person, not by the hands of men, but by the hand of God; for it says, such an one shall be stoned with hailstones, and fiery darts shall be spread upon him; or, as the Jerusalem Targum, shall be shot at him.

¹⁴ And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. — and Moses went down from the mount unto the people; the same day that he went up, the fourth day of the month:

— touch it; rather “touch him,” the person who had touched the mount was not to be touched, since the contact would be pollution.

¹⁵ And he said unto the people, “Be ready against the third day. Come not at your wives.” — come not at your wives; it was the general sentiment of antiquity that a ceremonial uncleanness attached even to the chastest sexual connection.

¹⁶ And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

— there were thunders, and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled, at the sound of it being so loud and terrible, it pierced their ears and hearts;

¹⁷ And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount. — out of the camp; an open space outside the camp before the mountain into which Moses led the representatives of the people, their officials so bringing them as near to God as was permitted.

¹⁸ And Mount Sinai was altogether in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. — the whole mount quaked greatly, as in Psalm 68:8, “The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God.”

— because the Lord descended upon it in fire; in flaming fire, as the Targum says, which set the mountain on fire, and caused this prodigious smoke; for if he, who is a consuming fire, but toucheth the hills and mountains, they smoke, Psalm 104:32;

— the Targum:

And all the mount of Sinai was in flame; for the heavens had overspread it, and He was revealed over it in flaming fire, and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain quaked greatly.

¹⁹ And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

— Moses spake; what he said is not here recorded; it is highly probable, as has been observed by some, that he uttered those words related of him in Hebrews 12:21 “I exceedingly fear and quake”: such an impression did this loud and strong voice of the trumpet make upon him:

— and God answered him by a voice; a still and gentle one, in order to encourage and comfort him; and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, “with a gracious and majestic voice, and pleasant and gracious words.”

²⁰ And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. — and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; who either was at the bottom of it with the people, or in a higher ascent of it between God and them;

²¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go down. Charge the people, lest they break through to gaze unto the Lord, and many of them perish. — charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze; to see if they could observe any similitude or likeness of God,

— that they might make an image like unto it; to prevent which, the Lord, knowing the vanity and curiosity of their minds, ordered Moses to give them a strict charge not to transgress the bounds set them, or whatever was placed for bounds;

²² And let the priests also, who come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.” — and let the priests also, which come near unto the Lord; either the firstborn, as the Jews generally interpret it, or the sons of Aaron, who should be, and were potentially, though not official actually priests;

²³ And Moses said unto the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for Thou charged us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mount and sanctify it.’” — for thou chargedst us, saying, set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it; and accordingly bounds have been set,

— that the people may not go up it, and the place has been declared sacred, that so none will presume to do it, according to the solemn charge that has been given;

²⁴ And the Lord said unto him, “Away! Get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with thee; but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them.”

— but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them; it required the immediate presence of Moses below, and immediate care was to be taken by him;

— lest the priests and people, led by a vain curiosity, should attempt to ascend the mount, and come to where God was, to see if they could observe any likeness of him; which would so provoke him, that in just retaliation, as they had broke through the bounds set, he would break forth on them by inflicting sudden death upon them.

²⁵ So Moses went down unto the people and spoke unto them. — and spake unto them: charging them to keep their distance, and not presume to pass the line he had drawn, or the fence he had made.

Exodus 20

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying: — ‘I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’ God speaks to the nation as a whole, establishing a special relation between Himself and them, which is founded on His redeeming act, and is reciprocal, requiring that they should be His people, as He is their God;

² “I am the Lord thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. — which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt: where they had been afflicted many years, and reduced to great distress, but were brought forth with an high hand;

— out of the house of bondage: where they had been servants and slaves, but now were made free, and were become a body politic, a kingdom of themselves, under their Lord, King, Lawgiver.

³ “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. — there shall not be to thee another god, or other gods, to wit, idols, which others have, esteem, and worship as gods;

⁴ “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. — anything that is in heaven; as of God, Deu 4:15 Isaiah 44:9,20, angels, sun, moon, or stars, which the heathens worshipped, Deu 4:19 17:3.

— or in the earth; as of men, and beasts; or in the water; as of fishes, such as Dagon was; or serpents, crocodiles, and such other Egyptian deities; although Moses only speaks of idols, there is no doubt that by implication he condemns all the forms of false worship, which men have invented for themselves.

⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, — unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; as all idolaters must be thought to do;

— “the third and fourth generation” of them that hate me, the term is a strong one, and denotes those who persistently and defiantly oppose themselves to God, because sometimes parents lived to see these, and so with their eyes beheld the punishment inflicted upon their posterity for their sins;

⁶ and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments. — showing mercy unto thousands; rather, to the thousandth generation, as is distinctly expressed in Deuteronomy 7:9.

⁷ “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. — the Lord will not hold him guiltless; punishment will assuredly overtake the perjured man, if not in this life, then in another.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. — it is taken for granted, that the sabbath was instituted before. God’s blessing and sanctifying a seventh day is derivedn right from the beginning, (Genesis 2:3) so that this was not the enacting of a new law, but the reviving of an old law.

⁹ Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; — that all should be done on the six days that could possibly be done, and nothing left to be done on the seventh;

¹⁰ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. — resting from every work is the basis of the observance of the Sabbath; it shall be a day of holy rest from things worldly, and of devotion to things heavenly;

¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. — the Lord blessed the sabbath day, that is, made it a day of blessing; as of conferring his blessings and favours upon those that religiously observe it.

¹² “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. — that thy days may be long, that their, that is, thy parents, may prolong thy days, or the days of thy parents’ life;

¹³ “Thou shalt not kill. — from the peculiar duties owed by children to their parents, the Divine legislator went on to lay down those general duties which men owe to their fellow-men.

¹⁴ “Thou shalt not commit adultery. — thou shalt not commit adultery; this commandment forbids all acts of uncleanness, with all those desires which produce those acts and war against all kinds of filthiness, as bestiality, sodomy, whoredom, fornication.

¹⁵ “Thou shalt not steal. — either by deceit or violence, or without his knowledge and consent, take away another man’s goods;

¹⁶ “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. — this forbids; speaking falsely in any matter, laying false charges, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive our neighbour.

¹⁷ “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” — thou shalt not covet; the foregoing commands implicitly forbid all desire of doing that which will be an injury to our neighbour;

¹⁸ And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. — and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off; their minds were not only terrified and distressed, and their bodies shook with fear;

— but they could not stand their ground, but were obliged to retreat, who but just before were curious to draw near, and gaze and see what they could; the Targum says, and the people stood twelve miles off;

¹⁹ And they said unto Moses, “Speak thou with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” — let not God speak with us, lest we die; the phenomena of thunder and lightning had been one of the plagues so fatal to Egypt, and as they heard God speaking to them now, they were apprehensive of instant death also.

²⁰ And Moses said unto the people, “Fear not; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”

— fear not; that is, think not that this thunder and fire are designed to consume you; but that his dreadful manifestation of his majesty and justice, may be now and ever before your eyes, and in your memories, as an effectual preservative from straying away from him.

²¹ And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. — the Targum says in verse 18 above, the distance was twelve miles off;

— and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was; the thick cloud, and so Moses passed through the darkness, and the cloud, to the thick darkness where יְהוָה Yehovah was;

²² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel: ‘Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. — ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven; descending on Mount Sinai in a cloud and fire, and talked with them out of the cloud and fire, and delivered to them with an audible voice the above ten commands;

²³ Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. — to make Gods of silver and gods of gold are specially forbidden, because it was idolatry of the same kind; the golden calf or any molten images is no isolated phenomenon;

— Jeroboam set up molten images at Dan and Bethel for the northern Ten Tribes but there were no uprising! “Dead fish goes with the flow!”

²⁴ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen. In all places where I record My name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. — in all places where I record my name; or where my name is recorded; or, “cause it to be mentioned” that is, where I am worshipped in sincerity; I will come unto thee, and will bless thee;

Note the Five types of Offerings summarised in Leviticus:

Leviticus 1:2 “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord

Leviticus 1:3 ‘If his offering be a burnt sacrifice
Leviticus 2:1 ‘And when any will offer a meat offering
Leviticus 3:1 ‘And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering
Leviticus 4:3 ‘If the priest … a young bullock … for a sin offering
Leviticus 5:6 ‘And he shall bring his trespass offering

Compare to the Five types of Offerings during the Millennium in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 46:12 ‘Now when the prince prepares a voluntary burnt offering, or peace offerings unto the Lord
Ezekiel 44:29 ‘They shall eat the meat offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering

²⁵ And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. — thou hast polluted it; and so made it unfit for use: how this should be done hereby is not easy to understand; no good reason seems easy to human understanding but probably the will and pleasure of God (Gill);

— the real object was that altars should not be elaborately carved with objects that might superinduce idolatry: Pulpit Commentary;

— the Targum of Jonathan

And you, the priests, who stand to minister before Me, shall not ascend to My altar by steps, but by (sloping) bridges; that thy shame may not be seen thereupon.

²⁶ Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.’ — Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar; but afterward God appointed an altar ten cubits high. One can speculate they went not up to that by steps, but by a sloping ascent.

— MSG

God said to Moses, “Give this Message to the People of Israel: ‘You’ve experienced firsthand how I spoke with you from Heaven. Don’t make gods of silver and gods of gold and then set them alongside me. Make me an earthen Altar. Sacrifice your Whole-Burnt-Offerings, your Peace-Offerings, your sheep, and your cattle on it.

Every place where I cause my name to be honored in your worship, I’ll be there myself and bless you. If you use stones to make my Altar, don’t use dressed stones. If you use a chisel on the stones you’ll profane the Altar. Don’t use steps to climb to my Altar because that will expose your nakedness.’”

~ by Japheth on November 18, 2023.

Posted in Books of Moses