A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

The Targum Jonathan provides a good preamble to the book of Leviticus:

And it was when Mosheh had completed to erect the tabernacle that Mosheh reasoned and judged in his heart, and said:

“To Mount Sinai, whose excellency is the excellence only of an hour and its holiness the holiness but of three days, I could not ascend till the time that the word was spoken to me; but the excellence of this the tabernacle of ordinance is an eternal excellency, and its holiness an everlasting holiness; therefore is it right that I should not enter within it until the time that I am spoken with from before the Lord.”

Leviticus 1

¹ And the Lord called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

— when the Lord first communicated to Moses that He was about to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, “He called unto him” from the burning bush (Exodus 3:4). When the Lord was about to give to Moses the Ten Commandments for the people of Israel, “He called unto him” from the top of Sinai (Exodus 19:3; Exodus 19:20);

— and now when the Lord is about to give to His chosen people, through His servant Moses, the laws by which their Divine worship is to be regulated, “He called unto him” from the tent of meeting (Leviticus 1:1).

² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock.

— the act of offering was to be voluntary on the part of the worshipper, but the mode of doing it was in every point defined by the Law; and any member of the congregation might bring his voluntary offering if he could afford.

³ “‘If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. — without blemish; or perfect, having no part wanting, nor any part superfluous, nor any spot upon it

⁴ And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. — and he, the offer of the offering, shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering to make atonement for him; this phrase belongs more especially to the sin-offerings and the trespass-offerings;

— the high priest, Aaron, would be more concerned with other duties: another daily ‘burnt offering’ stands first in Leviticus for several reasons; it was offered twice daily, besides on other occasions;

⁵ And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

— and he shall kill the bullock; the sacrificer himself, the offerer, not by the priest, slaughtered the animal on the north side of the altar, by cutting its throat, while a priest or an assistant held a bowl under the neck to receive the blood;

— in later times, however, the offering was generally performed by Levites; sprinkle the blood; this was to be done by the priests, by Aaron’s sons initially. 

⁶ And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into his pieces.

⁷ And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire.

⁸ And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar;

⁹ but his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. — a sweet savour, or a soothing odour; the word ‘savour’ in old English is applied to the smell as well as the taste of a thing.

¹⁰ “‘And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish. — those who could not offer a bullock, were to bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that, were accepted of God, if they brought a turtle-dove, or a pigeon.

¹¹ And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

¹² And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar,

¹³ but he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water. And the priest shall bring it all and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

¹⁴ “‘And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or of young pigeons. — those who could not offer a bullock or a sheep or a goat; they are to bring turtle-doves or pigeons; a single pigeon or turtle-dove formed a sacrifice, but they are often offered in pairs; and there are no rule in respect to sex;

¹⁵ And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar.

¹⁶ And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes.

¹⁷ And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

Leviticus 2

¹ “‘And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it and put frankincense thereon. — the old use of the word “meat” in the sense of “food,” in contrast to “flesh,” creates some confusion of thought;

— to make a sweet odour in the court of the tabernacle, on a part of it; which otherwise would have been bad odour, by reason of the blood that was sprinkled and the flesh that was burned there daily;

— second; and put frankincense thereon; various spices: stacte, onycha and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense; are holy to the Lord, and to be used for him only; Exodus 30:34;

² And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take from it his handful of the flour thereof and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

— and he, the offer of the food offering, shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; the high priest, Aaron, would be more concerned with other duties: involves in daily ‘burnt offering’ which was offered twice everyday;

— a sweet savour, or a soothing odour; the word ‘savour’ in old English is applied to the smell as well as the taste of the food.

³ And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings to the Lord made by fire. — a offering most holy; offerings consisted of two classes, the (just) holy and the most holy;

— the wave offerings (Leviticus 23:20; Numbers 6:20), the firstborn of sacrificed animals, the firstlings of oil, wine, and corn, (Numbers 18:17); and the paschal sacrifices, belonged to the holy, and might be eaten entirely or partially in any place within the holy city by the officiating priests and their families.

— the incense offering, the shew-bread (Exodus 30:26-29; Leviticus 24:9), the sin and trespass offerings (Leviticus 6:25-29; Leviticus 7:1; Leviticus 7:6; Leviticus 14:13), and the meat offerings here described, belonged to the most holy. They could be eaten in the court of the sanctuary only by the priests, (Leviticus 10:12-14).

⁴ “‘And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

⁵ And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil.

⁶ Thou shalt part it in pieces and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.

⁷ And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

⁸ And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the Lord; and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar.

⁹ And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

¹⁰ And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. — the term meat was and is properly given to any kind of provision, and the greater part of this offering was to be eaten for food, not burned; they of the most holy.

¹¹ “‘No meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering of the Lord made by fire. — leaven, in this instance, is the emblem of pride, malice, and hypocrisy, and honey of sensual pleasure.

¹² As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet savor.

¹³ And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. — with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt; every animal offering was to be accompanied by salt;

— salt was used in meat offerings, and in all others, because it was a symbol of the perpetuity of the covenant, which from thence is called a covenant of salt forever, Numbers 18:19 namely, the covenant of the priesthood, to which these sacrifices belonged;

— hence the Targum of Jonathan says, “because the twenty and four gifts of the priests are appointed with a covenant of salt; therefore salt shalt thou offer with all thy oblations.”

¹⁴ And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.

¹⁵ And thou shalt put oil upon it and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.

¹⁶ And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

— every independent meat-offering was to be prepared without leaven, and a portion given to the Lord as fire-food, for a savour of satisfaction upon the altar; and the rest was to be scrupulously kept away from being used by the offerer, as a most holy thing, and to be eaten at the holy place by the priests only;

— it is unfortunate that while the law was given the children of Israel were travelling throught the desert for the next thirty-nine years or so, with their main food, the manna, and only offerings of animal sacrifices could be offered; they could not practice the first-fruit offerings; but the law was provided here when the crossed the Jordan and became settled cultivators.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

~~~~

Exodus 39

¹ And of the blue and purple and scarlet they made clothes of service to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

² And he made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen. 

³ And they beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires to work it in the blue and in the purple and in the scarlet and in the fine linen, with skillful work. 

⁴ They made shoulder pieces for it to couple it together; by the two edges was it coupled together. 

⁵ And the embroidered girdle of his ephod that was upon it was of the same, according to the work thereof: of gold, blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

⁶ And they wrought onyx stones enclosed in clasps of gold, graven as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel. — the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are not specified here; question remains whether Joseph has two portions? If so who gives way; Dan or Levi?

⁷ And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

⁸ And he made the breastplate of skillful work, like the work of the ephod: of gold, blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen. 

⁹ It was foursquare. They made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled. 

¹⁰ And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz and a carbuncle; this was the first row; — the Targum Jonathan adds the names of three tribes, Reuben, Shimeon, and Levi and Targum Jerusalem says the same in chapter 28:17 Reuben, Shemeon, Levi;

¹¹ and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; — there are some differences of opinions from here: the Targum Jonathan adds the names of the three tribes, Jehudah, Dan, and Naphtali; whereas Targum Jerusalem says Jehudah, Issakar, and Zebulon;

¹² and the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst; — the Targum Jonathan adds the names of the three tribes, Gad, Asher, and Issakar; but Targum Jerusalem says Dan, Naphtali, and Gad;

¹³ and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in clasps of gold in their enclosings. — the Targum Jonathan adds the names of the three tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin; but Targum Jerusalem says Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin;

¹⁴ And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel — twelve, according to their names like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name according to the twelve tribes. 

¹⁵ And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathed work of pure gold. — no mention is made of the Urim and Thummim, perhaps they are incorporated inside or behind the ephod;

¹⁶ And they made two clasps of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 

¹⁷ And they put the two wreathed chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate; 

¹⁸ and the two ends of the two wreathed chains they fastened in the two clasps, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. 

¹⁹ And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it which was on the side of the ephod inward; 

²⁰ and they made two other golden rings and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the front of it over against the other coupling thereof, above the embroidered girdle of the ephod. 

²¹ And they bound the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the embroidered girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²² And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 

²³ And there was a hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of a jacket of mail, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend. 

²⁴ And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet, and twined linen. 

²⁵ And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates: 

²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²⁷ And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons, 

²⁸ and a miter of fine linen and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of finetwined linen, 

²⁹ and a girdle of finetwined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet needlework, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

³⁰ And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: Holiness to the Lord.

³¹ And they tied unto it a lace of blue to fasten it on high upon the miter, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished, and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so did they.

³³ And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses: the tent and all his furniture, his clasps, his boards, his bars and his pillars and his sockets; 

³⁴ and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers’ skins, and the veil of the covering; 

³⁵ the ark of the Testimony and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat; 

³⁶ the table and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread; 

³⁷ the pure candlestick with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light; 

³⁸ and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door; 

³⁹ the brazen altar and his grate of brass, his staves and all his vessels, the laver and his foot; 

⁴⁰ the hangings of the court, his pillars and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords and his pegs, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle for the tent of the congregation; 

⁴¹ the clothes of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his sons’ garments to minister in the priest’s office. 

⁴² According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. 

⁴³ And Moses looked upon all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded; even so had they done it. And Moses blessed them. 

Exodus 40

~~~~

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. — the new year was now approaching, and as it was approaching, its first day on the month of Nisan was naturally chosen as most fit for the inauguration of the new structure.

³ And thou shalt put therein the ark of the Testimony, and cover the ark with the veil. 

⁴ And thou shalt bring in the table and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick and light the lamps thereof. 

⁵ And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the Testimony, and put up the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 

⁶ And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 

⁷ And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. 

⁸ And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate. 

⁹ And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof; and it shall be holy. 

¹⁰ And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar; and it shall be an altar most holy. 

¹¹ And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. 

¹² And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 

¹³ And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him and sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

¹⁴ And thou shalt bring his sons and clothe them with coats; 

¹⁵ and thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office. For their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” 

¹⁶ Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he. 

¹⁷ And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. 

¹⁸ And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof and reared up his pillars. 

¹⁹ And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²⁰ And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark. 

²¹ And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the covering and covered the ark of the Testimony, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²² And he put the table in the tent of the congregation upon the side of the tabernacle northward, outside the veil. 

²³ And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 

²⁴ And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation opposite the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.

²⁵ And he lighted the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²⁶ And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil;

²⁷ and he burned sweet incense thereon, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²⁸ And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle. 

²⁹ And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

³⁰ And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there for washing. 

³¹ And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat. 

³² When they went into the tent of the congregation and when they came near unto the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

³³ And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 

³⁴ Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

³⁶ And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys; 

³⁷ but if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not until the day that it was taken up. 

³⁸ For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. 

— throughout the book of Exodus the term, “Urim and Thummim” is not used; the earliest encounter is in Leviticus 8:8: “And he [Moses] put the breastplate upon him [Aaron]. Also he [Moses] put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.” Hence the Urim and the Thummim are incorporated inside the ephod with the breastplate of twelve previous stones.

Posted in Books of Moses

“To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal”
― Henry Kissinger

Exodus 37

¹ And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood. Two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it. 

² And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold for it round about. 

³ And he cast for it four rings of gold to be set in the four corners of it: even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. 

⁴ And he made staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with gold. 

⁵ And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 

⁶ And he made the mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 

⁷ And he made two cherubims of gold. Beaten out of one piece made he them on the two ends of the mercy seat: 

⁸ one cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side; out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 

⁹ And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered over the mercy seat with their wings with their faces one toward another; even toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubims. 

¹⁰ And he made the table of shittim wood. Two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 

¹¹ And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. 

¹² Also he made thereunto a border of a handbreadth round about, and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. 

¹³ And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. 

¹⁴ Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. 

¹⁵ And he made the staves of shittim wood to bear the table, and overlaid them with gold. 

¹⁶ And he made the vessels which were upon the table — his dishes and his spoons and his bowls and his covers for covering — of pure gold. 

¹⁷ And he made the candlestick of pure gold; of beaten work made he the candlestick. His shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his buds and his flowers were of the same. 

¹⁸ And six branches came out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof. 

¹⁹ Three bowls were made after the fashion of almonds on one branch, with a bud and a flower, and three bowls were made like almonds on another branch, with a bud and a flower — so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick. 

²⁰ And on the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, with his buds and his flowers, 

²¹ and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it. 

²² Their buds and their branches were of the same; all of it was one beaten work of pure gold. 

²³ And he made his seven lamps and his snuffers and his snuff dishes of pure gold. 

²⁴ Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof. 

²⁵ And he made the incense altar of shittim wood. The length of it was a cubit and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare, and two cubits was the height of it. The horns thereof were of the same. 

²⁶ And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it; also he made for it a crown of gold round about. 

²⁷ And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it. 

²⁸ And he made the staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with gold. 

²⁹ And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the perfumer. 

Exodus 38

~~~~

¹ And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood; five cubits was the length thereof and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare, and three cubits the height thereof. 

² And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same, and he overlaid it with brass. 

³ And he made all the vessels of the altar: the pots and the shovels and the basins, and the fleshhooks and the firepans; all the vessels thereof made he of brass. 

⁴ And he made for the altar a brazen grate of network, under the rim thereof beneath, unto the midst of it. 

⁵ And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves. 

⁶ And he made the staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with brass. 

⁷ And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it; he made the altar hollow with boards. 

⁸ And he made the laver of brass and the foot of it from brass, from the looking glasses of the women assembling, who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 

⁹ And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of finetwined linen, a hundred cubits. 

¹⁰ Their pillars were twenty and their brazen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

¹¹ And for the north side the hangings were a hundred cubits. Their pillars were twenty and their sockets of brass twenty, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets, of silver. 

¹² And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets, of silver. 

¹³ And for the east side eastward, fifty cubits. 

¹⁴ The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. 

¹⁵ And for the other side of the court gate, on this side and that side, were hangings of fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. 

¹⁶ All the hangings of the court round about were of finetwined linen. 

¹⁷ And the sockets for the pillars were of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets, of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

¹⁸ And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework: of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen; and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court.

¹⁹ And their pillars were four and their sockets of brass four; their hooks, of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets, of silver. 

²⁰ And all the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court round about were of brass. 

²¹ This is the account of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted according to the commandment of Moses for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. 

²² And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses. 

²³ And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue and in purple and in scarlet, and fine linen. 

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 

²⁵ And the silver of those who were numbered in the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary: 

²⁶ a bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one who went to be numbered from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. 

²⁷ And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: a hundred sockets from the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 

²⁸ And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals and filleted them. 

²⁹ And the brass from the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 

³⁰ And therewith he made the sockets for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brazen altar and the brazen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, 

³¹ and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs of the court round about. 

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Exodus 35

¹ And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and said unto them, “These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them: — the narrative of what relates to the construction of the sanctuary is now resumed from Exodus 31:18.

² Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be for you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. — six days shall work be done; work for the tabernacle, but on the seventh day they must not strike a stroke, no, not at the tabernacle work; the honour of the sabbath was above that of the sanctuary;

— shall be put to death; the Targum of Jonathan adds, by the casting of stones, stoning outside the camp being the punishment of sabbath breakers, Numbers 15:35.

³ Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.” — ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day; this law seems the need to be emphasized, again and again; continuing; it is said to be throughout their generations as elsewhere, where the law of the sabbath is repeated;

⁴ And Moses spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, 

⁵ ‘Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord: gold and silver and brass; — let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; or an offering to him, otherwise not; if brought stubborn and grudgingly it would not be acceptable, for God loves a willing and cheerful giver: gold, silver, and brass;

⁶ and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats’ hair; 

⁷ and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood; 

⁸ and oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 

⁹ and onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 

¹⁰ “‘And every wisehearted among you shall come and make all that the Lord hath commanded: 

¹¹ the tabernacle, his tent and his covering, his clasps, and his boards, his bars, his pillars and his sockets; 

¹² the ark and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat and the veil of the covering; 

¹³ the table and his staves and all his vessels, and the showbread; 

¹⁴ the candlestick also for the light, and his furniture and his lamps with the oil for the light; 

¹⁵ and the incense altar and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 

¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering with his brazen grate, his staves and all his vessels, the laver and his foot; 

¹⁷ the hangings of the court, his pillars and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court; 

¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle, and the pegs of the court and their cords; 

¹⁹ the clothes of service to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office.’” 

²⁰ And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 

²¹ And they came every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service and for the holy garments. 

²² And they came, both men and women, as many as were willinghearted, and brought bracelets and earrings, and rings and tablets, all jewels of gold; and every man who offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. 

²³ And every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams and badgers’ skins, brought them. 

²⁴ Every one who offered an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’S offering; and every man with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service brought it.

²⁵ And all the women who were wisehearted spun with their hands and brought that which they had spun, both of blue and of purple, and of scarlet and of fine linen. 

²⁶ And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.

²⁷ And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate, 

²⁸ and spices, and oil for the light and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 

²⁹ The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

³⁰ And Moses said unto the children of Israel, “See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. — both Bezalee and Aholiab; Aholiab, though subordinate to Bezaleel, was the director of his own department, that of weaving and embroidery (Exodus 38:23), and had to instruct in it as Bezaleel had in his.

³¹ And He hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, — God hath filled Bezaleel with his Spirit, in wisdom, in understanding;

³² and to devise skillful works, to work in gold and in silver and in brass, 

³³ and in the cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of wood to make any manner of skillful work. 

³⁴ And He hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. — and he hath put in his heart that he may teach; instruct others in the things be had knowledge of; the Lord not only gave him gifts of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, to devise and contrive curious works;

³⁵ Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work of the engraver and of the skilled workman, and of the embroiderer in blue and in purple, in scarlet and in fine linen, and of the weaver —even of those who do any work and of those who devise skillful work.” 

Exodus 36

¹ Then Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, wrought according to all that the Lord had commanded. 

² And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up, to come unto the work to do it. 

³ And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it thereby. And they brought yet unto him freewill offerings every morning. 

⁴ And all the wise men who wrought all the work of the sanctuary came every man from his work which they made, 

⁵ and they spoke unto Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make.” 

⁶ And Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 

⁷ for the supply they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. 

⁸ And every wisehearted man among them who wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of finetwined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet; with cherubims of skillful work made he them. 

⁹ The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; the curtains were all of one size. 

¹⁰ And he coupled the five curtains one unto another, and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another. 

¹¹ And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvage in the coupling. Likewise he made in the outermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. 

¹² Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second; the loops held one curtain to another. 

¹³ And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the clasps. So it became one tabernacle. 

¹⁴ And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains he made them. 

¹⁵ The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain; the eleven curtains were of one size. 

¹⁶ And he coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 

¹⁷ And he made fifty loops upon the outermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second. 

¹⁸ And he made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 

¹⁹ And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that. 

²⁰ And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing upright. 

²¹ The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half. 

²² One board had two tenons equally distant one from another. Thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

²³ And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward. 

²⁴ And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. 

²⁵ And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards 

²⁶ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 

²⁷ And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards. 

²⁸ And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. — —

²⁹ And they were coupled beneath and coupled together at the head thereof to one ring; thus he did to both of them in both the corners. 

³⁰ And there were eight boards, and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets. 

³¹ And he made bars of shittim wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 

³² and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward. 

³³ And he made the middle bar to extend through the boards from the one end to the other. 

³⁴ And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. 

³⁵ And he made a veil of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen; with cherubims he made it of skillful work. 

³⁶ And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four sockets of silver. 

³⁷ And he made a hanging for the tabernacle door of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen, of needlework, 

³⁸ and the five pillars of it with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, but their five sockets were of brass. 

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Exodus 33

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Depart and go up hence, thou and the people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘Unto thy seed will I give it.’ 

— the land which I swore unto Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob; saying, unto thy seed will I give it: meaning the land between the two great rivers, which as he had promised with an oath to their fathers to give it to them, he would faithfully observe it, though they were unworthy of such a favour.

² And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite” — and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; who were now the inhabitants of the land, and these he promises drive out, to make way for their possession of it;

— and that “by his hand” as the Targum of Jonathan interprets it, by the hand of the angel. Only six nations are mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashite is omitted, but added in the Septuagint version.

³ unto a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiffnecked people, lest I consume thee on the way.” — unto a land flowing with milk and honey; abounding with all the necessaries and good things of life;

— for I will not go up in the midst of thee; lest I consume thee, for “God is a consuming fire” Exodus 32:10; Leviticus 10:2; Hebrews 12:29;

⁴ And when the people heard these evil tidings they mourned, and no man put on his ornaments. — when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned; it was something that these sinful people felt the tidings to be “evil” to shrink from the presence of God;

— his near presence, by day and by night, constantly (Exodus 13:22), and they dreaded a change, which they felt must involve a loss, and one the extent of which they could not measure; “an angel” they thought, is a poor consolation when we are craving for God himself!

⁵ For the Lord had said unto Moses, “Say unto the children of Israel, ‘Ye are a stiffnecked people. I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.’” — I will come up; that is, If I were to go up for one moment in the midst of thee, I should consume thee;

— therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee; put them aside altogether; show thy penitence by giving up their use; denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with; token of their sorrow the Lord required of his offending people; and mourn for their sin.

— that I may know what to do unto thee; that I may either inflict my judgments, or suspend them, as thou art penitent or impenitent.

⁶ And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. — and the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments; that is, left off their ornaments, ceased to wear them altogether.

⁷ And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it outside the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that every one who sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was outside the camp. 

— perhaps this tabernacle was a model of the tabernacle that had already been erected, this, a hasty draft from the pattern showed him in the mount, designed for direction to the workmen, and used in the mean time as a tabernacle of meeting between God and Moses about public affairs;

— or, did Moses, with the help of a few hundreds of the Levites among the thousands available, moved the sanctuary and pitched it outside the camp, afar off from the camp; to signify to them that they were unworthy of close proximity;

— the Targum of Jonathan says “the tabernacle he took away from thence” seems like this tabernacle was the original taken away; and pitched outside the camp;

— the King James and Geneva Study Bible versions say “without the camp” such old English usage is misleading; hence better to use the 21st Century King James Version or KJ21.

⁸ And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. — when Moses went out; all the people rose up; probably Moses “went out” at set times each day;

— and the people watched for his going, and “rose up,” as a mark of respect and reverence. They felt that he went to the tent mainly to pray for them;

— the Targum of Jonathan says adversely about the people being wicked: “that all the wicked people arose, and stood, every man at the door of his tent, and looked with the evil eye after Mosheh, when he entered the tabernacle.”

⁹ And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. — and as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended; that is, from the top of Mount Sinai in which the Lord was;

— and all the people rose up and worshipped, everyman in his tent door; it was awesome sight, so they bowed, not to Moses, for he was gone into the tabernacle out of sight, but a deep fear and adorating bow to the Lord in the pillar of cloud.

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he returned again into the camp; but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

— face to face, or, mouth to mouth, as Numbers 12:8; not that God hath face or mouth, or that Moses could behold it, which is denied, Exodus 33:20; but the sense is, he spake with him freely and familiarly, plainly, cordially, openly, not by an angel in a dream or vision, as he did to other prophets;

— but his servant Joshua departed not out of the tabernacle; probably Joshua abode there to assist and direct those who resorted thither to seek God in Moses’s absence; and Joshua seems to be appointed for this work rather than Aaron, or any other of the elders, because they had one way or other been guilty of the idolatry; and he was the general of the army at the battle with Amalek;

¹² And Moses said unto the Lord, “See, Thou sayest unto me, ‘Bring up this people,’ and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Yet Thou hast said, ‘I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight.’ 

— I know thee by name; God had shown this knowledge when He called on Moses out of the burning bush (Exodus 3:4), and again, probably, when he “called unto him out of the midst of the cloud” (Exodus 24:16); it implies a very high degree of Divine favour. God “knows by name” only those whom he greatly regards.

¹³ Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight; and consider that this nation is Thy people.” — shew me now thy way: either the way which he himself would take, the way of his providence in bringing the children of Israel into the land of Canaan;

¹⁴ And He said, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” — my presence shall go with thee; or before thee, both with Moses and before the people; meaning the Angel of his presence he had before promised;

¹⁵ And he said unto Him, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. — that is, Let us rather die in the wilderness with thy presence and favour, than go into Canaan without God’s presence;

¹⁶ For wherein shall it be known here that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” — and if thou wilt lead the people up to Canaan, consider that we are thine own people, to whom thou must acknowledge thyself as our God.

¹⁷ And the Lord said unto Moses, “I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.” — and I know thee by name; he owns the truth of the thing, on which Moses had formed his plan, and what can be a greater blessing than to partake of the special plan of God, and to be personally known to him;

¹⁸ And he said, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” — Moses repeats, in a more definite form, his request above in verse 13 “show me now Thy way.” He asks to be allowed to see Gods’s glory; but is told in reply that he cannot see this in its fulness;

¹⁹ And He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee; and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 

²⁰ And He said, “Thou canst not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live.” — thou canst not see my face; the full display of his glory, that light inaccessible, before which the angels stand, but which would be insufferable to mortal eyes; this no man can see and live.

²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock.

²² And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by; 

²³ and I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts, but My face shall not be seen.” 

— MSG

God said, “Look, here is a place right beside me. Put yourself on this rock. When my Glory passes by, I’ll put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. Then I’ll take my hand away and you’ll see my back. But you won’t see my face.”

Exodus 34

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tablets the words that were in the first tablets which thou brokest. — hew thee two tables; something is always lost by sin, even when it is forgiven. The first tables were “the work of God” (Exodus 32:16). the second were hewn by the hand of Moses.

² And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to Me on the top of the mount. — and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount; where the pillar of cloud stood, and near it Moses was to stand and wait to hear what would be said unto him, and to see what would be made to pass before him.

³ And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.” — neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount; or over against it, or rather “near” it; Moses was to be alone, and no one was to be seen in any part of the mount.

⁴ And he hewed two tablets of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. —and Moses rose up early in the morning: and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; which was the third time of his going there, and every time he continued forty days and forty nights;

⁵ And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. — and the Lord descended in the cloud; the same with the cloudy pillar, which had gone up from the door of the tabernacle, and was on high in the air over the mount, and on which the Lord now descended in it;

⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, — the Lord, the Lord God proclaims, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious. . . ”

⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children unto the third and to the fourth generation.” 

— MSG

So Moses cut two tablets of stone just like the originals. He got up early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai as God had commanded him, carrying the two tablets of stone. God descended in the cloud and took up his position there beside him and called out the name, God. God passed in front of him and called out,

“God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn’t ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father’s sins to the third and even fourth generation.”

— Targum of Jonathan

And he hewed two tables of stone like the former: and Mosheh arose in the morning and ascended Mount Sinai, as the Lord had instructed him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord made His Shekinah to pass by before his face, and proclaimed,

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and nigh in mercies, abounding to exercise compassion and truth; keeping mercy and bounty for thousands of generations, absolving and remitting guilt, passing by rebellions, and covering sins; pardoning them who convert unto the law, but holding not guiltless in the great day of judgment those who will not convert; visiting the sins of fathers upon rebellious children upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

⁸ And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. — Moses made haste, and bowed his head; as the Divine glory passed before him, Moses bowed his head in adoration, worshipping God, and not daring to look until the glory had gone by.

⁹ And he said, “If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray Thee, go among us, for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.” — O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go amongst us;

— as the Lord had signified as if he would not go among them, but leave them to the conduct of a an angel; and Moses had before prayed that his presence or face might go with them;

¹⁰ And He said, “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all thy people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom thou art shall see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearsome thing that I will do with thee. 

— for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee; restrains this to Moses and interprets this of the wonderful shining of the skin of his face, when he came down from the mount, which made the children of Israel afraid to come nigh him;

¹¹ Observe thou that which I command thee this day. Behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite and the Canaanite, and the Hittite and the Perizzite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 

— the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; six nations are only mentioned, though there were seven, the Girgashites being omitted, because either they left the land before; or because they were subjugated by the others; but they are retained in the Septuagint version.

¹² Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. — lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee; be the means of drawing them into the same sinful practices with themselves, especially into idolatrous ones, and so of bringing ruin and destruction on them.

¹³ But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. — and cut down their groves; which were clusters of trees, where they had their temples and their idols, and did service to them, and where, besides idolatry, many impurities were committed.

¹⁴ For thou shalt worship no other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God, — whose name is Jealous; who hath made himself known by, and glories in that name; the jealous God, who cannot endure any competitor or corrival; whereas the false and puny gods of the heathens were contented with multitudes of partners.

¹⁵ lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice, — and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; invite to eat of what remained, that was offered to the idol: hence it appears, that having feasts at sacrifices, and eating things offered to idols in a festival way, are very ancient practices;

¹⁶ and thou take their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. — and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods; by the means of tempting and drawing them into idolatrous practices, as the wives of Solomon were a snare to him.

¹⁷ “Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. — thou shalt make thee no molten gods; it is just possible that the Israelites when they worshipped the golden calf may have conceived that they were not breaking the second commandment, which forbade the adoration of any “graven image.” An express law was therefore made against “molten images.”

¹⁸ “The Feast of Unleavened Bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib thou camest out from Egypt. — the feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep; which was instituted at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and on that account, and then observed, Exodus 12:15 and afterwards repeated, and the month expressed in which they were to keep it;

¹⁹ “All that openeth the womb is Mine, and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. — all that openeth “the womb” is mine, and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male, shall be sanctified, and set apart for his use;

²⁰ But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty. — and none shall appear before me empty; at the grand festivals, the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles;

²¹ “Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; in plowing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. — in earing and in harvest thou shall rest; that is, in the time of ploughing, and in the time of reaping and gathering in the harvest;

²² And thou shalt observe the Feast of Weeks of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. — the feast of weeks; called in Exodus 23:16, “the feast of harvest,” and in the New Testament “the day of Pentecost”

²³ Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. — the God of Israel; who had chosen them to be his special people, had redeemed them out of Egypt, and done great things for them since; had made a covenant with them.

²⁴ For I will cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders; neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. — neither shall any man desire thy land; I will not only tie their hands, that they shall make no invasion upon you, but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprise, which it was very easy for God to effect many ways.

²⁵ “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, neither shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until the morning. — thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; that is, not to kill the passover while there was any leaven in their houses; so the Targum of Jonathan says “You shall not sacrifice the victim of My passover before you have done away with leaven;”

²⁶ The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.” — the first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring; this, and another law in this verse, concerning not seething a kid in his mother’s milk, are repeated from Exodus 23:19.

²⁷ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Write thou these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.” — write for thee these words, that is, put them in writing for thine own use and the use of thy people.

²⁹ And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 

— the skin of his face shone, while he talked with him: the Targum of Jonathan is, “Mosheh knew not that the visage (form) of his face shone with the splendour which had come upon him from the brightness of the glory of the Lord’s Shekinah in the time of His speaking with him.”

³⁰ And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh him. — behold, the skin of Moses’ face shone; darted out rays of light and glory all around him, Aaron and the people were afraid to go near Moses when they saw the brightness of his face.

— they were afraid, their fear arose from a sense of guilt; the beaming radiance of his countenance made him appear to their awe-struck consciences of a flaming sword from heaven.

³¹ And Moses called unto them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him; and Moses talked with them. — and Moses talked with them; after he had put a vail on his face, of which there is an account in the following verses;

— he talked with them friendly, and told them all that had happened to him in the mount; what a glorious sight he had been indulged with; what a proclamation of the grace and goodness of God had been made to him; and what laws and ordinances God had enjoined him and their observance.

³² And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh, and he gave them in commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 

— and afterward all the children of Israel came near; that is, after Aaron and the rulers had had a conversation with Moses, then the whole body of the people by turns were admitted to come before him, and hear the laws of God from him;

³³ And until Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. — and till Moses had finished speaking with them, he had a veil over his face.

³⁴ But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out, and spoke unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 

— and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded; out of the tabernacle with the law and commands now given, for these he had already declared;

— but after times, and all such times when he went in to the Lord to inquire of him his mind and will concerning certain things, in which the people wanted information, when, upon his return, he acquainted them with whatsoever the Lord ordered to be done.

³⁵ And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. 

— and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him; this he did from time to time, when he came out from the Lord he put on his veil, and when he went in again, he takes it off.

— MSG

When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out.

When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses’ face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Q. Could one unexpected day the Jews bring out the Ark of the Covenant and cause both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse?

Exodus 31

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. — I have called by name. God “calls by name” only those whom he appoints to some high office, as Moses (Exodus 3:4; Exodus 33:12), Cyrus (Isaiah 45:3, 4), and here Bezaleel and Aholiab;

³ And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, — I have filled him with the spirit of God; wisdom, understanding and knowledge; and in all manner of artistic workmanship;

⁴ to devise skillful works: to work in gold and in silver and in brass, — to be skillful goldsmiths or brasiers;

⁵ and in cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. — to be a first-class artisan, competent to take charge of both the plain and ornamental work, which the building of any sacred edifice required;

⁶ And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wisehearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee: — Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan; to be a partner with Bezaleel, as Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Zerubbabel,

⁷ the tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,

⁸ and the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,

⁹ and the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,

¹⁰ and the clothes of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office,

¹¹ and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.”

¹³ “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord who doth sanctify you. — it is a sign between me and you; throughout your generations; a token of the covenant between them, of his being their God and they his people in a peculiar sense;

— one which no other nations of the world observe; of his sanctifying and separating them from all other people; for this was not a sign between him and other nations, but between him and the people of Israel only; and was to be observed throughout their ages;

¹⁴ Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you. Every one who defileth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. — for it is holy unto you; a day that was set apart of God for holy exercises, and by doing any servile work upon it, or not observing it in a religious way, shall surely be put to death;

— every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death; this is a serious enactment, and must be regarded in conjunction with the dignity attached to Sabbath observance by its having become the special covenant sign between God and His people;

¹⁵ Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

— but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest; from worldly labour, and was typical of spiritual rest here, and holy to the Lord; separated from other days, and entirely devoted to the worship and service of God, and to be kept holy to the Lord in all holy and religious exercises, as hearing and studying the word, and praying;

¹⁶ Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. — for a perpetual covenant, or by a perpetual covenant, or it is a perpetual covenant, that is, not to be obsolete but a perpetual agreement.

¹⁷ It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’” — t is a sign, repeated for emphasis as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel;

¹⁸ And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. — written with the finger of God, that is, by God himself, and not by an angel; but with the power or Spirit of God;

Exodus 32

¹ And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, “Arise, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.”

— how ridiculous the assertion that “the people” did not know what had become of Moses! They knew that he was up there with God. The elders, Aaron, Joshua and Hur, would have told them that; the fire on the mount would have burned in on all minds the confirmation. They were just rebellious!

² And Aaron said unto them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.” — Aaron’s compliance just a reflection of his cowardice; he knew as well as what he should have said, but, like many another man in influential position, when beset by popular cries, he was frightened, and yielded when he should have ‘set his face like a flint.’

³ And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. — all the people brake off the golden earrings; Aaron had miscalculated the strength of the people’s fanaticism; ot the slightest resistance was offered to his requirement. “All the people,” with one accord, surrendered their earrings ready for idol worship.

⁴ And he received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool after he had made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!” — a molten calf; it has been usual to regard the selection of the “calf” form for the image as due to Egyptian influences;

— a sacred bull, called Apis, was worshipped at Memphis, and another, called Mnevis, at Heliopolis, both being regarded as actual incarnate deities.

⁵ And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” — and when Aaron saw the molten calf, he made proclamation, “tomorrow is a feast to the Lord;”

— the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it, “and Aaron saw Hur slain before him,” for reproving them of their idolatry, that is, Aaron, fearing they would also take away his life if he opposed them, he quickly grant his approval of idol worship;

⁶ And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. — they rose up early; to show their zeal these idolaters began early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings; and to play; to dance and sing, as was done by the Egyptians in the worship of their Apis or Ox;

⁷ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go, get thee down; for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. — the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; Moses was, of course, wholly ignorant of all that had occurred in the camp. The thick cloud which covered the top of Sinai had prevented his seeing what occurred in the plain below;

— for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves; their works, their ways and their manners; their minds, the imaginations of their hearts, were first corrupted, and this led on to a corruption of actions, and defiled themselves yet more and more, and made themselves abominable in the sight of God;

⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto and said, ‘These are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!’”

— they have turned aside quickly, quickly after the law was given them, and they had promised to obey it; quickly after God had done such great things for them, and declared his kind intentions to do greater.

⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiffnecked people. — it is a stiff-necked people; it is generally explained as “obstinate,” but rather means “perverse,” the metaphor being taken from the horse that stiffens his neck against the pull of the rein, and will not be guided by the rider.

¹⁰ Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.” — now, therefore, let me alone, the Targum of Jonathan says, “and now leave off thy prayer, and do not cry for them before me;” as the Prophet Jeremiah was often bid not to pray for this people in his time, which was a token of God’s great displeasure with them;

— full text from Targum of Jonathan

And now, cease from thy prayer, and cry not for them before Me; for I will let My anger burn like strong fire against them, and consume them, and I will make thee a great people.

¹¹ And Moses besought the Lord his God and said, “Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? — and Moses besought the Lord his God; if God would not be called the God of Israel, yet he hoped he might address him as his own God.

¹² Why should the Egyptians speak and say, ‘For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people.

— turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people; not that there is any turning or any change of his mind, or any such passions and affections in him as expressed here; but this is said after the manner of men concerning him, when he alters the course of his dealings with men according to his unalterable will.

¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou sworest by Thine own self and saidst unto them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.’” — to whom thou swarest by thine own self; which he did, because he could swear by no greater; and for the confirmation of his covenant and promise, Genesis 22:16.

¹⁴ And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people. — and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people; he did not do what he threatened to do, but a change of mind and did what Moses desired he would;

¹⁵ And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. — Moses carries them in both hands, being of stone; Targum of Jonathan says “and the two tables of the testimony were in his hands,”

¹⁶ And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets. — and the tables were the work of God; not of angels or men; the stones were made and formed by God into the shape they were; and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables; 

¹⁷ And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” — Joshua had waited upon the middle of the mount for Moses, and so knew neither what the people had done, nor heard what God had said to Moses;

— and when Joshua heard the noise of the people, as they shouted; dancing about the calf: when Moses went up into the mount, Joshua went with him, and tarried in a middle part of the mount all the forty days until he returned;

¹⁸ And Moses said, “It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear.” — but the noise of them that sing do I hear; as at a merry entertainment; Moses, who knew what the children of Israel had done, and what they were about, could better judge of the nature of the sound he heard than Joshua could, who knew nothing of what was transacting;

¹⁹ And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them beneath the mount. — and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount of Sinai; at the foot of it:

— he brought the tables, told them what they were, and writing them with his own fingers, engraving them himself on such tables of stone; and then broke them to pieces, to denote that they had broken these laws, and deserved to be broke in pieces and destroyed themselves; and this he did before their eyes;

²⁰ And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water and made the children of Israel drink of it. — ground it to powder; melted it either into one great mass, or rather into divers little fragments, which afterwards by a the or other instruments he, by the help of many others, might soon grind to powder, or dust of gold.

²¹ And Moses said unto Aaron, “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” — and Moses said unto Aaron; having destroyed the calf, and thereby expressed his abhorrence of their idolatry, he examines the cause and reason of it; and begins with Aaron, though his own brother, with whom he had committed the government of the people during his absence; —

²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. — and Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; Aaron cuts a poor figure, making a shuffling excuse and betraying more dread of the anger of Moses than of the Lord.

²³ For they said unto me, ‘Make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.’ — we wot not what is become of him; their words because they carried in them some reflection on Moses for staying so long in the mount;

— and as if that contributed much to this affair, and which put the people on forming such a scheme, they concluding he must be dead by then, as the Targum of Jonathan says, be consumed in the mountain, by the flaming fire from before the Lord.

²⁴ And I said unto them, ‘Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me. Then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” — and there came out this calf; he speaks of it as if the gold became in the form of a calf without any design, or without using any methods to put it in this form; as if done by the work of magic;

— the Targum of Jonathan says,

And I said to them, Whoever hath gold, let him deliver and give it to me; and I cast it into the fire, and Satana entered into it, and there came out of it the similitude of this calf!

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people were naked (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies), — Moses saw that the people were naked; the obvious meaning of the word פרע, parua (unrestrained) used here; it is the sense they were stripped of their ornament and armour, besides their jewels; and gotten out of control;

²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’S side? Let him come unto me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. — the tribe of Levi, Moses’ own tribe, now distinguished itself by immediately returning to its allegiance and obeying the call to fight on the side of Moses;

²⁷ And he said unto them, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: ‘Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”

— and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp; not into the tents, where good men might be bemoaning their sins, but throughout the streets, where many were loitering, they showed no sign of any remorse by these idolaters;

— and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; who were idolaters; none were to be spared on account of relation, friendship or acquaintance.

²⁸ And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. — about 3000 men fell by their sword on that day; and if Levi stood the test, how did Aaron escape his penalty?

— the Levites were to slay those of this wickedness; yet escaped being executed but those who openly stood forth; those who persisted in shouting and dancing, after night were dying, even into the morning; these sinners feel secure and jovial in their sin.

²⁹ For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother, that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day.” — consecrate yourselves; that is, offer a sacrifice, “and make atonement for yourselves before the Lord,” as the Targum of Jonathan says;

³⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, “Ye have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up unto the Lord. Perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin.” — and I will go up unto the Lord: on the top of Mount Sinai: and I shall make atonement for your sin; not by any sacrifice offered, but to intercede on their behalf for God to forgive their sin;

³¹ And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. — Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin; he had labored to show the people the heinous nature of their sin, and to bring them to repentance.

³² Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written!” — as a true mediator of his people, Moses was ready to stake his own life for the deliverance of the nation, and not just to live before God himself.

³³ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. — whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out: Ezekiel 18:4; “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

³⁴ Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, Mine angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.”

— my angel shall go before thee; the promise is, as nearly as possible, a repetition of the original one, “Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared” Exodus 23:20;

³⁵ And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made. — the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf; no immediate judgements were inflicted, but this early lapse into idolatry was always mentioned as an aggravation of their subsequent apostasies;

— the Lord plagued the people; I will visit their sin upon them; when I shall punish them for their other sins, which I foresee they will commit; and I will remember and punish this also.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Q. Could on one unexpected day the Jews bring out the Ark of the Covenant and cause both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse?

Exodus 29

~~~~

¹ “And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto Me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock and two rams without blemish, — this is the thing that thou shalt do unto the priests; that is, Aaron and his sons; their consecration had been commanded in the preceding chapter;

² and unleavened bread and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil — of wheat flour shalt thou make them — unleavened bread; unleavened bread, as used to be eaten at the time of the Passover, seems to have been required as purer than leavened, since fermentation was viewed as a species of corruption.

³ and thou shalt put them into one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. — in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams; along with the bread, cakes, and wafers; ãnd to be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the altar, in order to be slain and sacrificed.

⁴ And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. — and shalt wash Aaron and his sons; water is so natural a symbol of purity, and ablution so apt a representative of the purging from sin; also to signify that they must be clean who bear the vessels and work of the Lord;

⁵ And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the embroidered girdle of the ephod. — and the robe of the ephod: which was all of blue, and had pomegranates and golden bells at the hem of it; this was put over the broidered coat;

— and the breastplate; with the Urim and Thummim in it, or the twelve precious stones on which were engraven the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which hung down over the breast by wreathen chains of gold, from the shoulder pieces of the ephod;

⁶ And thou shalt put the miter upon his head and put the holy crown upon the miter. — and Moses shall put the holy crown upon the mitre; the holy crown was a plate of gold or a diadem which had these words, “holiness to the Lord” engraven on it;

— and says the Targum of Jonathan, “And thou shalt set the mitre on his head, and put the diadem upon which is engraven the Name of Holiness upon the mitre;” the mitre was on top of Aaron’s head, and upon his forehead;

⁷ Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head and anoint him. — and Moses shall pour the oil upon Aaron’s head, between his eyebrows; and anoint him;

— the Investiture of Aaron’s sons; they do not seem to have been anointed, as Aaron was, by having the holy oil poured upon their heads, but only by having some of it sprinkled upon their garments.

⁹ And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them. And the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute; and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. — and thou shall consecrate Aaron and his sons; or “fill the hand of them” that is, with sacrifices to offer for themselves and others;

¹⁰ “And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. — “to be brought before the tabernacle” means outside the tabernacle; and thus the altar was a much larger one;

— and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock; not Aaron first alone, and then his sons, but all together, not one after another;

¹¹ And thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. — and thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord; that is, Moses being ordered to do it, who now officiated as a priest; Aaron and his sons not yet completely invested with that office, or thoroughly consecrated to it, yet;

¹² And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood alongside the bottom of the altar. — that some of the victim’s blood should be smeared upon the altar’s horns; and the remainder should be poured at its base;

¹³ And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.

¹⁴ But the flesh of the bullock and his skin and his dung shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering. — shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp; so the Messiah, the antitype, suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem a most painful and shameful death;

¹⁵ “Thou shalt also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. — and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; confessing their sins, acknowledging their guilt, and by this act transferring the same to the ram, which was to be a burnt offering, and was typical of the imputation of sin to the Messiah, or the Son of God, the Christ;

¹⁶ And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. — and thou shall take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar; the blood being received into a basin, it was not to be put upon the altar with the finger, as the blood of the bullock, but was to be sprinkled probably with a bunch of hyssop, round about upon the altar;

— this may signify that his blood has its virtue and efficacy from that, to make atonement for the sins of men, and to cleanse men from their sins.

¹⁷ And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him and his legs, and put them on top of his pieces and on top of his head; — and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head; lay them together, so that they might be entirely consumed at once;

¹⁸ and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt offering unto the Lord: it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. — for a smell of sweet savour, or a sweet smelling savour; an offering pleasing to God;

¹⁹ “And thou shalt take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. —and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram, as they were to do, and did, upon the head of the other;

²⁰ Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

— and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons; upon the great toe of their right foot, it sanctified their whole walk in life, their “going out,” and their “coming in;” and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about; as was done with the blood of the other ram;

²¹ And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his garments, and upon his sons and upon the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² “Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat, and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder (for it is a ram of consecration),

²³ and one loaf of bread and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord.

²⁴ And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. — and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: which was waved or shook to and fro, from east to west, and from north to south, to or before him, whose are the four winds of the world;

— this was done by Moses and Aaron; “both were employed in waving, both the owners and the priest, how? the priest put his hand under the hand of the owner and waved, and in this Aaron and his sons were the owners and Moses the priest.”

²⁵ And thou shalt receive them from their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. — for a sweet savour before the Lord; that it might be pleasing and acceptable to him;

²⁶ “And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thy part.

²⁷ And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons.

²⁸ And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the Lord.

²⁹ “And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein and to be consecrated in them. — and the holy garments of Aaron shall be his son’s after him; the son that succeeded him in the priesthood; for the priesthood continued in Aaron’s family by succession, the eldest son being high priest;

³⁰ And that son who is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. — shall put them on seven days; the next successor was to wear the garments seven days running;

³¹ “And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration and boil his flesh in the holy place. — in the courtyard at the door of the tabernacle, where it was both boiled and eaten;

³² And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³³ And they shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. —but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy;

— meaning not just one of another nation, but of another family, though an Israelite; the Targum of Jonathan renders it, a profane or common person, a layman, one that was not a priest; who, though he was of the seed of Israel, yet not being of the seed of Aaron, as he might not eat of the above things, because they were devoted to holy uses;

³⁴ And if aught of the flesh of the consecrations or of the bread remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy. — it was not to be given to a stranger, nor to be cast to dogs;

³⁵ “And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee. Seven days shalt thou consecrate them. — to make it the more solemn and efficacious, the entire sacrifice and ceremony are to be repeated every day for seven days;

³⁶ And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement; and thou shalt cleanse the altar when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it to sanctify it. — and thou shall offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement; that is, every day of the seven days of consecration;

³⁷ Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy. Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. — whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy; that is, must be holy; nothing which is not holy must touch it;

— that such should be holy who were of the sons of Aaron, but of the rest of the people it was not lawful for them to draw nigh; the Targum of Jonathan adds “lest they be burned with the fiery flame which cometh from the holy place.”

³⁸ “Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. — two lambs day by day continually; which is the daily sacrifice;

³⁹ The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening. — a lamb offered upon the altar every morning, and the other every evening “between the two evenings” hā·‘ar·bā·yim.

⁴⁰ And with the one lamb a tenth part of flour mingled with a fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

⁴¹ And the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

⁴² “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak there unto thee. — this shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations; to be offered up morning and evening in every age; at “the tabernacle of meeting, where I will meet you.”

⁴³ And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and [the tabernacle] shall be sanctified by My glory. — and there will I meet with the children of Israel; not only with Moses or with Aaron, and his sons, but with the people themselves, by granting them his gracious presence in public ordinances; “and (Israel) shall be sanctified through My glory.”

— “the tabernacle” is added, since they are not in the original; but it makes more sense to substitute the space with Israel, that is, the people that are sanctified by his glory;

⁴⁴ And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office. — the tabernacle and the altar were sanctified, or set apart for holy uses, as well as cleansed and expiated by sacrifices;

— I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office;

⁴⁵ And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. — I will dwell among the children of Israel; it is the fulfilment of this promise by the presence of the Shekinah within the Tabernacle; will watch over them as a nation, by a peculiar providence;

⁴⁶ And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. — I am the Lord their God; of which he had given full proof and evidence by what he had done for them, and would yet give more; and to have the Lord our God with the greatest protection and happiness that can be enjoyed.

Exodus 30

The tabernacle, and subsequently the Temple, were arranged in three compartments: the outermost court, which was accessible to all Israelites; the second, which could only be trodden by the priests alone; and the third, where the Shekinah dwelt in solitude, broken only once a year by the foot of the High Priest.

¹ “And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon; of shittim wood shalt thou make it. — an altar to burn incense; not an altar to burn sacrifices: cows bulls, lambs and others; here it is called the incense of spices or perfumes;

² A cubit shall be the length thereof and a cubit the breadth thereof. Foursquare shall it be, and two cubits shall be the height thereof. The horns thereof shall be part of the same. — the main altar outside for sacrifices is much larger, five cubits square and three cubit in height;

³ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. — the top thereof, and the sides thereof, and the horns thereof: all and each of them were covered with gold; this altar had a top;

⁴ And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof; upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it.

⁵ And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold. — and thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood; that is, of the same wood the altar itself was made;

⁶ And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with thee. — this altar to burn incense is to be placed in the sanctuary just before the veil; between the candlestick and the table of shewbread, outside the Holy of Holies;

⁷ And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning. When he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. — Aaron was to burn sweet incense upon this altar every morning and every evening;

⁸ And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. — a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations; no “strange incense” was to be offered upon it;

⁹ Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. — burnt sacrifice and meat offering are offered in another larger altar outside the sancturay;

¹⁰ And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements. Once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy unto the Lord.” — this atonement made on the Day of Atonement; once in the year; the tenth day of the seventh month;

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹² “When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord when thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them.

— that there be no plague among them; if a man did not feel his need of “ransom,” and gladly pay the small sum at which the ransom was fixed, he would show himself so proud and presumptuous that he might well provoke a Divine “plague,” or punishment;

¹³ This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs); a half shekel shall be the offering to the Lord. — king David offended in not demanding payment of this tribute or atonement-tax when he numbered the people.

¹⁴ Every one who passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord.

¹⁵ The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls.

¹⁶ And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.”

— MSG

God spoke to Moses: “When you take a head count of the Israelites to keep track of them, all must pay an atonement-tax to God for their life at the time of being registered so that nothing bad will happen because of the registration.

“Everyone who gets counted is to give a half-shekel (using the standard Sanctuary shekel of a fifth of an ounce to the shekel)—a half-shekel offering to God. Everyone counted, age twenty and up, is to make the offering to God.

“The rich are not to pay more nor the poor less than the half-shekel offering to God, the atonement-tax for your lives. Take the atonement-tax money from the Israelites and put it to the maintenance of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial fund for the Israelites in honor of God, making atonement for your lives.”

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁸ “Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, with his foot also of brass, for washing; and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. — a round, cauldron-shaped vessel for use by the officiating priests to wash before their entrance on their ministry; and denotes in general the necessity of purity; 

¹⁹ For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat.

²⁰ When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not. Or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord,

²¹ so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not. And it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.”

²² Moreover the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²³ “Take thou also unto thee principal spices: of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half as much (even two hundred and fifty shekels), and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, — details and directions are here given for making the holy anointing oil, and the incense to be used in the service of the tabernacle.

²⁴ and of cassia five hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin.

²⁵ And thou shalt make from it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound according to the art of the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.

²⁶ And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the Testimony,

²⁷ and the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,

²⁸ and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot;

²⁹ and thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. — the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of persons that approach these holy places, and things so anointed, shall be sanctified, while others would be consumed, paraphrasing the words thus;

“and consecrate them, and they shall be most holy. Every one of the priests who approacheth to them shall be sanctified; but of the rest of the tribes, (whoever toucheth them) shall be consumed by the fiery flame from before the Lord.”

³⁰ And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

³¹ And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations.

³² Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, according to the composition of it. It is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

³³ Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.’”

— the word stranger is commonly used to imply the Gentiles, or such as were not an Israelite; but sometimes it indicates those that are not of the priestly line, and is shown here; as the Targum of Jonathan says: one that is not of the seed of Aaron;

³⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Take unto thee sweet spices: stacte and onycha and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense, of each shall there be a like weight. — various spices: stacte, onycha and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense; are holy to the Lord;

³⁵ And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection according to the art of the perfumer, tempered together, pure and holy.

³⁶ And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation where I will meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy.

— thou shalt . . . put it before the testimony; some pieces of the incense were to be continually before the ark of the covenant, that is, upon the altar of incense; it was to be put there in order to be burnt, and to be smelled to.

³⁷ And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make it for yourselves according to the composition thereof; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. — ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof; that is, for your own use, for the scenting of your rooms, or to snuff up, or smell to;

³⁸ Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.” — the recipe for the incense as well as for the oil in the tabernacle “it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord;” that is, are sort off copyrighted by the Most High; anyone who duplicate this recipe and use it for themselves would be put to death.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Q. Could on one unexpected day the Jews bring out the Ark of the Covenant and cause both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse?

Exodus 27

~~~~

¹ “And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare, and the height thereof shall be three cubits. — ñot of gold but of brass; the height thereof shall be three cubits; a proper height for a man to minister at;

² And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof. His horns shall be of the same, and thou shalt overlay it with brass. — his horns shall be of the same; these horns were projections pointing upward in the form either of a small obelisk, or of the horn of an ox; they were projections at the four top comers, probably not unlike the horns of bulls, whence their name; the length of the horns is not specified;

³ And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels and his basins and his fleshhooks and his firepans. All the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. — and his basins: to receive the blood of the sacrifice, and out of which it was sprinkled, as the word signifies, and may be rendered sprinkling basin;

— and his fire pans; which were a kind of censers in which coals of fire were taken off from the altar of burnt offering, and carried to the altar of incense, all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass; as being fittest for the use of this altar.

⁴ And thou shalt make for it a grate, a network of brass; and upon the network shalt thou make four brazen rings at the four corners thereof.

⁵ And thou shalt put it under the rim of the altar beneath, that the network may be even to the middle of the altar.

⁶ And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

⁷ And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it.

⁸ Hollow with boards shalt thou make it. As it was shown thee on the mount, so shall they make it.

⁹ “And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: For the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side.

¹⁰ And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

¹¹ And likewise for the north side, in length there shall be hangings of a hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars with their twenty sockets of brass, and the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

¹² And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten.

¹³ And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

¹⁴ The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three.

¹⁵ And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three.

¹⁶ And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits of blue and purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen wrought with needlework; and their pillars shall be four and their sockets four.

¹⁷ All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of brass.

¹⁸ The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

¹⁹ All the vessels of the tabernacle for all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

²⁰ “And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure oil of beaten olives for the light to cause the lamp to burn always.

²¹ In the tabernacle of the congregation outside the veil, which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening (‘ereḇ) to morning before the Lord (יְהוָ֑ה). It shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on behalf of the children of Israel.

Exodus 28

~~~~

¹ “And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, with Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

² And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.

³ And thou shalt speak unto all who are wisehearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

⁴ And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate and an ephod, and a robe and an embroidered coat, a miter and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

⁵ “And they shall take gold and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen;

⁶ and they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and of purple, of scarlet and fine twined linen, with skillful work.

⁷ It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof, and so it shall be joined together.

⁸ And the embroidered girdle of the ephod which is upon it shall be of the same, according to the work thereof: even of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen.

⁹ And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:

¹⁰ six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.

¹¹ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou shalt make them to be set in clasps of gold.

¹² And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of theephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

¹³ And thou shalt make clasps of gold,

¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathed work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathed chains to the clasps.

¹⁵ “And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with skillful work; according to the work of the ephod thou shalt make it: of gold, of blue and of purple, and of scarlet and of finetwined linen shalt thou make it.

¹⁶ Foursquare it shall be, and doubled: a span shall be the length thereof and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

¹⁷ And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; this shall be the first row.

¹⁸ And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

¹⁹ and the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst;

²⁰ and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper. They shall be set in gold in their enclosings.

²¹ And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

²² And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathed work of pure gold.

²³ And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

²⁴ And thou shalt put the two wreathed chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

²⁵ And the other two ends of the two wreathed chains thou shalt fasten in the two clasps, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.

²⁶ And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is on the inner side of the ephod.

²⁷ And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the embroidered girdle of the ephod.

²⁸ And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the embroidered girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

²⁹ And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

³¹ “And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue;

³² and there shall be a hole in the top of it, in the middle thereof. It shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a jacket of mail, that it be not rent.

³³ And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and of purple and of scarlet round about the hem thereof, and bells of gold between them round about:

³⁴ a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

³⁵ And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers; and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not.

³⁶ “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold and engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet: Holiness to the Lord.

³⁷ And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the miter; upon the forefront of the miter it shall be. — a mitre is a type of a headgear, a turban, almost like an imperial crown.

³⁸ And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts. And it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹ “And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the miter of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.

⁴⁰ “And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

⁴¹ And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them and consecrate them and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

⁴² And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.

⁴³ And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place, that they bear not iniquity and die. It shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Exodus 25

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — when on the mount, and in the midst of the cloud with him;

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From every man who giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering. — of every man that giveth it willingly, with his heart, ye shall take my offering; or take what was offered to him, be it more or less, and of whatsoever person, high and low, rich and poor, so be it it is freely given from the heart;

³ And this is the offering which ye shall take from them: gold and silver and brass; — gold, and silver, and brass; the supply of these metals possessed by the Israelites at this time probably included what they had inherited from their forefathers, what they had obtained from the Egyptians, and what may have been found amongst the spoils of the Amalekites;

⁴ and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats’ hair; — these are to be made into yarn, and wove, and was much used in the garments of the priests, in the curtains of the tabernacle, and in the vail between the holy and the most holy place;

⁵ and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood; — and rams’ skins died red; of these were made a covering for the tent or tabernacle; other materials enough to furnish planks for the construction of the ark;

⁶ oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense; — oil for the light; such is needed that the “sanctuary,” which is to be built, will be lighted; that anointing oil will be needed, and that spices will be a necessary ingredient in such oil;

⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. — and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate; two onyx stones were set in the ephod, one of the garments of the high priest, and an onyx stone, with eleven other precious stones, were set in the breastplate of the high priest:

— these stones were doubtless among the jewels set in gold and silver the Israelites had of the Egyptians, and brought with them out of Egypt.

⁸ And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. — and let them make me a sanctuary; an holy place to dwell in, and so called from his dwelling in it;

— that I may dwell among them; the purpose of the sanctuary is here definitely declared by the Lord Himself. It was to be the constant witness of His presence among His people.

⁹ According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. — the sanctuary is to be constructed in accordance with a model shown to Moses in the mount, which he must conform to in all points.

¹⁰ “And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. — the ark of the covenant was the central point of the sanctuary; it was designed to contain the testimony; others are the table of shew-bread, and the seven-branched candlestick, or lamp-stand;

¹¹ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold; within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. — within and without shalt thou overlay it; so that nothing of the wood could be seen;

¹² And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. — four rings of gold; though the ark was not to be carried in procession, like some pagan arks, yet it would have to be carried when the Israelites resumed their journeyings.

¹³ And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold.

¹⁴ And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. — that the ark might be borne with them; which staves overlaid with gold, and put into golden rings;

¹⁵ The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. — the staves were to remain always in the rings, whether the ark was in motion or at rest; that there might never at any time be a necessity for touching the ark itself, or even the rings. He who touched the ark risked his life;

¹⁶ And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. — the stone tables of the Ten Commandments are called the Testimony, or the tables of the Testimony;

¹⁷ “And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. — a mercy seat of pure gold, to serve as a lid, covering it exactly.

¹⁸ And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. — the cherubim were fixed to the mercy-seat, and of a piece with it, and spread their wings over it; they stretched out their wings, and their faces were turned towards the mercy seat;

¹⁹ And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end; even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. — they were made not only of the same kind of metal with that, but out of the same mass or lump of gold, a lid of gold being made commensurate to the ark, what remained above that measure, at the ends of it, were beaten and formed into two cherubim.

²⁰ And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. — the two wings of both cherubs were to be elevated and advanced so as to overshadow the mercy seat, and, as it were, protect it.

²¹ And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. — and thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; over it, as a covering for it: this situation of the mercy seat above the ark; 

²² And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the Testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. — and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim; hence the Lord is frequently described as “dwelling between the cherubim;”

— the theocracy was to be a government by God in reality. There was to be constant “communing” between God and the earthly ruler of the nation, and therefore a place of communing.

²³ “Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. — a table was to be made of wood, overlaid with gold, to stand in the outer tabernacle, to be always furnished with the shew-bread.

²⁴ And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. — a crown of gold round about; that is, on both sides and at both ends; and a border, or edging of gold, something to prevent what was placed on the table from readily falling off.

²⁵ And thou shalt make unto it a border of a handbreadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown for the border thereof round about. — and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about; this was not the same spoke of in the former verse;

— but another; that was above, and upon the table, this below and under it; or rather that was, as it may be better expressed, a lip, rim, or border, that went round within the table; and this crown, surrounded that on the edge of it.

²⁶ And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. — and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof; as there were four feet at the four corners of the table, to each foot a ring was fastened; the use of these follows.

²⁷ Over against the border shall the rings be for places for the staves to bear the table. — shall the rings be for placing of the staves to bear the table; into these rings staves were to be put, to carry the table from place to place, as while in the wilderness, and before the tabernacle had a fixed settled place for it.

²⁸ And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. — and thou shall make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold; in like manner as the staves for the ark, and which were made of the same wood;

²⁹ And thou shalt make the dishes thereof and spoons thereof and covers thereof and bowls thereof for pouring; of pure gold shalt thou make them. — all the above said vessels were to be made of pure gold;

³⁰ And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before Me always. — the Hebrew expression translated “showbread” is literally, “bread of face,” or “bread of presence”—bread, that is, which was set forth always before the presence of God;

³¹ “And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold; of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft and his branches, his bowls, his buds, and his flowers shall be of the same. — a lampstand rather than a candlestick; its purpose was to support seven oil-lamps. Its height appears to have been about three feet, and its width two feet. 

³² And six branches shall come out of the sides of it: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side. — from the sides of the candlestick, that is, of the upright stem in the middle, there were to be six branches, three on either side;

— added to one in the middle, there would be seven candlesticks; representing the seven true Churches of God of Revelation 2 and 3; they are “true” Churches despite their weaknesses and limitations;

³³ Three bowls made like unto almonds with a bud and a flower on one branch, and three bowls made like almonds on the other branch with a bud and a flower — so for the six branches that come out of the candlestick. — there were three bowls or cups in the form of almond nuts to each branch, which were probably to hold oil for the lamps;

³⁴ And on the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their buds and their flowers. — and in the candlestick shall be four bowls; that is, in the trunk or body of it; the branches had but three apiece, made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers; as the bowls on the branches had with them;

³⁵ And there shall be a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.

— and there shall be a knop under two branches of the same; that is, from the middle of the knop, which probably was like a pomegranate; this clause is repeated twice in this verse, signifying there should be a knop under each of the three branches on one side, and three on the other side;

— the buds signify a living significance, each growing from something small into something big; such is a parallel with the mustard seed, the Kingdom of God, which will grow into an enormous Kingdom.

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 

Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” Matthew 13:31-21

³⁶ Their buds and their branches shall be of the same. All of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. — their knops and their branches shall be of the same; of the same metal, gold; that is, of the same highest quality of substance or essence, like gold is;

³⁷ And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof; and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over the face of it. — the candlestick represents the light of God’s word; his seven Churches, as light to the world,

³⁸ And the tongs thereof and the snuff dishes thereof shall be of pure gold; — tongs, trays and snuffers thereof shall be of pure gold; but snuff-dishes; these were shallow vessels used to receive the burnt fragments of wick removed by the tongs.

³⁹ of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. — the signification of the seven-armed candlestick is apparent from its purpose, viz., to carry seven lamps, which were trimmed and filled with oil every morning, and lighted every evening, and were to burn throughout the night.

⁴⁰ And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee on the mount. — the symbolical character of the candlestick is clearly indicated in the Scriptures. The prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 4:1-14) sees a golden candlestick with seven lamps and two olive-trees, one on either side, from which the oil-vessel is supplied;

— and the angel who is talking with him informs him that the olive-trees are the two representatives of the kingdom and priesthood, the divinely appointed organs through which the Spirit of God was communicated to the covenant nation;

— and in Revelation 1:20, the seven churches, that is, the Church, which would proceed to represent the Kingdom of God, are shown to the holy seer in the form of seven candlesticks standing before the throne of God.

~~~~

Exodus 26

~~~~

¹ “Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet. With cherubims of the work of a skilled embroiderer shalt thou make them. — with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; the ground of these curtains was fine linen, twined or doubled;

² The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; and every one of the curtains shall have one measure. — and everyone of the curtains shall have one measure; be of equal length and breadth, that is, the same with all the other curtains.

³ The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another. — the five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, so as to form two grand divisions, each eleven yards wide.

⁴ And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvage in the coupling, and likewise shalt thou do on the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. — at the coupling; that is, at the selvedge, nearest to the place where the two curtains were to be coupled together.

⁵ Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make on the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second, that the loops may take hold one to another.

⁶ And thou shalt make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps; and it shall be one tabernacle.

⁷ “And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle; eleven curtains shalt thou make. — curtains of goats’ hair; the flower or down of goats, the softer and finer part of their hair,

⁸ The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; and the eleven curtains shall be all the same measure.

⁹ And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tabernacle. — the Tent over the Dwelling, consisting of eleven curtains of cloth made of goats’ hair, each 30 cubits long, and 4 cubits wide, fastened together so as to form a single large curtain, 30 cubits broad, and 44 cubits long.

¹⁰ And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

¹¹ “And thou shalt make fifty clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.

¹² And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

¹³ And a cubit on the one side and a cubit on the other side, of that which remaineth of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side to cover it.

¹⁴ And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins. — and a covering above of badgers’ skins; this was a fourth covering of the tabernacle; the first was of linen curtains, the second of goats’ hair, the third of rams’ skins, and the fourth of badgers’ skins, which seems to have been thicker and courser, since shoes were made of them;

¹⁵ “And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing upright.

¹⁶ Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

¹⁷ Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order to join one to another. Thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

¹⁸ And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward.

¹⁹ And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

²⁰ And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, there shall be twenty boards

²¹ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

²² And for the sides of the tabernacle westward, thou shalt make six boards.

²³ And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle at the two sides.

²⁴ And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it into one ring. Thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.

²⁵ And there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²⁶ “And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

²⁷ and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.

²⁸ And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.

²⁹ And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars; and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰ And thou shalt raise up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shown thee on the mount.

³¹ “And thou shalt make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet, and finetwined linen of skillful work; with cherubims shall it be made.

³² And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

³³ And thou shalt hang up the veil under the clasps, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the Most Holy.

³⁴ And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place.

³⁵ And thou shalt set the table outside the veil, and the candlestick opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

³⁶ “And thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet and finetwined linen, wrought with needlework.

³⁷ And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

Posted in Books of Moses

The cases mentioned in previous chapters and below, give rules of justice for the Israelites then, and the British developed their common law from there, and is still in use for deciding similar matters in many of the Commonwealth of Nations.

We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by our wrong doing.

Exodus 23

¹ “Thou shalt not raise a false report. Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. — thou shalt not raise a false report, a false accusation; of a neighbour, or of any man whatever, either secretly by private slanders, whispers, backbiting or tale bearing;

— and here with some parallels from Proverbs:

¹⁶ These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:
¹⁷ a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
¹⁹ a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16–19

² Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause, following many, to divert judgment. — sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false report, slanders, whispers, backbiting or tale bearing, but we must not hear it with pleasure, nor easily give credit to it;

— a judge is not to be influenced by names or numbers in giving his judgement, but to judge according to the truth of the matter, as they appear to him; that is, in judging a cause, thou shalt not simply go with the majority, if it bents on injustice, but form your own opinion and adhere to it.

³ Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. — neither shalt thou countenance; Hebrew, honour or favour; a poor man in his cause; thus we are properly cautioned against an opposite error which we may be also in danger of falling into, that of respecting the poor man’s cause, out of pity and compassion, when the cause of the other man is more just;

⁴ “If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. — thou shalt surely bring it back to him; so far shalt thou be from revenging his injuries, that thou shalt render good to him, whereby if thou dost not reconcile him, thou wilt at least procure peace to thyself, and an honour to yourself.

⁵ If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. — verses 4 & 5 version from MSG:

“If you find your enemy’s ox or donkey loose, take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, don’t walk off and leave it. Help it up.

⁶ “Thou shalt not divert the judgment from thy poor in his cause. — a judge should beware, lest through motives of compassion, or an affectation of popularity, he be biassed in favour of the poor; or, on the other hand, he must not despise a man because he is poor and without friends;

⁷ Keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay thou not; for I will not justify the wicked. — keep thee far from a false matter; hold aloof, that is, from anything like a false accusation;

— neither bring one, nor countenance one, else those mayest cause the death of an innocent and righteous man, and bring down on thyself the vengeance of him, who will not justify the wicked.

⁸ And thou shalt take no bribe, for the bribe blindeth the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous. — a bribe perverts the words of the righteous; either the sentences of judges, as a gift perverts their judgment, and they give a wrong decree.

⁹ “Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger; for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. — this verse is a repetition of Exodus 22:21, but the precept is there addressed to the people at large, while it is here addressed to the judges in reference to their official duties.

¹⁰ “And six years thou shalt sow thy land and shalt gather in the fruits thereof, — six years . . . the seventh year; the land Sabbatical year which is commanded here was an institution wholly unknown to any nation but the Hebrews.

¹¹ but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still, that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with thy olive trees. — that the poor of thy people may eat: that which grows up of itself;

— in like manner thou shall deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard; that is, these were not to be pruned, nor the grapes and olives gathered;

— the 70 years the Kingdom of Judea went into captivity in Babylon is due to their 490 years negligence of keeping the land Sabbath according to II Chronicles 36:19-21:

And I will scatter you among the nations, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

“‘Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate and ye are in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her sabbaths” Leviticus 26:33-34

¹² “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed. — the law of the weekly Sabbath is here repeated in conjunction with that of the Sabbatical year, to mark the intimate connection between the two, which were parts of one and the same system;

¹³ And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect; and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. — and in all things that I have said unto you, be circumspect; or be careful to keep them punctually and constantly;

— and make no mention of the name of other gods; neither call upon them, nor swear by them, nor make vows to them; but view them with the utmost detestation and abhorrence;

¹⁴ “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year. — this is the first mention of the three yearly Festivals: the feast of Unleavened bread, in its connection with the Paschal Lamb, is spoken of in Exodus 12 to Exodus 13: but the two others are first named here.

¹⁵ Thou shalt keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it thou camest out from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty), — the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the Passover, see Exodus 12:1-20, Exodus 12:43-50; Exodus 13:3-16; Exodus 34:18-20; Leviticus 23:4-14;

— the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or sometimes call the Passover, is a composite Feast of seven days, not two separate feasts; the killing of the Passover is on the fourteenth of Abib, but the eating, with unleavened bread, is on the fifteenth;

— for more, see What time is ben ha arbayim?

¹⁶ and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors which thou hast sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering, which is at the end of the year when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field.— “the feast of harvest,” fiftieth day after the day after Passover, or Pentecost; and the Feast of Ingathering, or Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles; and none shall appear before me empty;

¹⁷ Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God. — three times in the year all thy males, but do not prohibit the inclusion of women and boys, shall appear before the Lord; later it was revealed by God’s prophets to be in the city of Jerusalem;

¹⁸ “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning. — the fat of my sacrifice; the fat of my feast; the fat of the Paschal lambs was burnt on the altar with incense the same evening; thus the whole lamb was consumed before the morning.

¹⁹ “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. “Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk. — the Targum of Jonathan says, “you are not permitted to dress or to eat of flesh and milk mingled together.”

²⁰ “Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. — an angel is to guide Israel on its journey to Canaan or Judea and Samaria: his instructions must be received with the same respect and fear as those of God Himself; for Yehovah will Himself be speaking in him.

²¹ Have regard for him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him. — beware of him and obey his voice; hearken to what he says, and readily obey as he orders: provoke him not; by unbelief, by murmurings and complaint; observe his directions and instructions, laws and commands;

— for My name is in him; God as Elohim (Exodus 21:6) and His Name Yehovah are in the Scriptures almost convertible terms. He said His Name could even been in a man, like Moses representing God to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1), or as judges to Israel (Exodus 21:6);

— also, the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; the nature and perfections of God are in the Word and Son of God, and so his name Yehovah, which is peculiar to him; Christ is also Yehovah our saviour and redeemer;

²² But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. — and do all that I speak; by him; or whatsoever he had spoke, or was about to speak; for as yet all the laws and statutes were not delivered;

— then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; which they should either meet with in their passage through the wilderness of Sinai, or when they came into the land of Canaan; or even the land between the Nile and the Euphrates (Genesis 15);

²³ For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites and the Hittites, and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. — and I will cut them off; and I, not the Israelites, will cut them off; but these words are conditional, on the basis that they keep the laws and statutes of God, “if they followed Him and hearkened to His voice.”

²⁴ Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them and quite break down their images. — thou shalt not bow down nor serve them, that is, give them neither outward worship with thy body, nor inward with thy mind, nor follow their numerous worship of idols.

²⁵ And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. — take sickness away; half the sicknesses from which men suffer are directly caused by sin, and would disappear if men led godly, righteous, and sober lives. Others, as plague and pestilence, are scourges sent by God to punish those who have offended Him.

²⁶ None shall cast their young nor be barren in thy land; the number of thy days I will fulfill. — there shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren; abortions, untimely births, and barrenness, when they exceeded a certain average, were always reckoned among signs of God’s displeasure;

— the number of thy days I will fulfil; which was fixed for each of them; bless them in the land with bountiful provision, health, fruitfulness, and length of life; in the days of Moses, and even today, was threescore years and ten, or fourscore;

²⁷ “I will send My fear before thee and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. — I will send my fear before thee; and they that fear will soon flee: I, not the children of Israel, will strike a terror into the inhabitants of Canaan, which shall facilitate their conquest;

²⁸ And I will send hornets before thee which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. — I will send hornets before thee; these words are to be taken literally, for hornets, which are a sort of wasps, whose stings are very penetrating and venomous;

— or may be interpreted either figuratively, and so may signify the same as fear before which should fall on the Canaanites upon hearing the Israelites were coming;

— which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee; which three are mentioned instead of the rest, probably they were more infested and distressed with the hornets, and drove out of their land before the children of Israel arrival.

²⁹ I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee. — lest the land should become desolate, there being an insufficient population to keep down the weeds and maintain the tillage;

³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit the land. — until thou be increased, and inherit the land; for as their enemies were driven out gradually, by little and little,

— so the Iseaelites multiplied gradually, until at length they became a sufficient number to fill all the cities and towns in all the nations of Canaan, and take an entire possession of it, as their inheritance given unto them by God.

³¹ And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee. — and thou shalt drive them out before thee; someitimes at once, “driven out” rather than exterminated, sometimes slowly by degrees, as often observed.

³² Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. — thou shalt make no covenant with them; that is, no peace treaty; as to take them to be their allies and friends; but they were always to consider them as their enemies, no arrangement by which one part of the land shall be thine and another theirs;

— the Egypt–Israel peace treaty and the Oslo Accords are thus a violation of the above, but could only appeal to men;

³³ They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” — they shall not dwell in thy land; they will surely be a snare unto thee: idolatry would be the cause of their ruin and destruction.

Exodus 24

¹ And He said unto Moses, “Come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off. — seventy of the elders; these are not the “judges” of Exodus 18:21-26, who were not yet appointed; but were heads of tribes and families who had exercised authority over the Israelites in Egypt;

² And Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him.” — neither shall the people go up with him to any part of the mount;

³ And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” — all the words which the Lord hath said will we do: this they readily and hastily promise, because they were not aware of their own weakness, and because they did not understand the comprehensiveness and rigidity of God’s law.

⁴ And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. — and Moses wrote the words of the Lord; that there might be no mistake; as God dictated them on the mount;

— the words Moses wrote were in Paleo-Hebrew alphabet; not modern Hebrew; and Moses wrote them without vowels, without spaces, and without any punctuations. To explore more on this subject, see What are the Oracles of God? Part I, Part II;

⁵ And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. — and he sent young men of the children Israel; to the altar under the hill, they were the firstborn of the children of Israel; and so the Targum of Jonathan says;

⁶ And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. — and Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; this he put into basins, and set by, in order to sprinkle on the people;

— and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar; to atone for the people: as the Targum of Onkelos adds, “to atone on behalf of the people.”

⁷ And he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the audience of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” — the book of the covenant; that is, the book which he had written overnight, the collection of laws and promises made;

⁸ And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” — and sprinkled it on the people; not on the whole body of the people, who could not be brought nigh enough, and were too numerous to be all sprinkled with it;

— either this was sprinkled on the young men that offered the sacrifices in the name of all the people; or on the seventy elders, as the heads of the Israelites.

⁹ Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; — then went up Moses and Aaron with his two oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu; after the above things were done, the words of the Lord were told the people, and the book of the covenant read unto them, to which they agreed, sacrifices were offered, and the blood of them sprinkled on the altar, and on the people;

¹⁰ and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. — they saw the God of Israel; certainly in human form, as Isaiah saw Him, otherwise they would have fell dead;

¹¹ And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand. Also they saw God, and ate and drank. — the nobles; the seventy elders, and other persons, already mentioned;

— He laid not his hand; God did not smite them with death, or pestilence, or even blindness. It was thought to be impossible to see God and live: (Genesis 32:30; Judges 6:22, 23).

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Come up to Me onto the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” — come up to me into the mount, and be there; for as yet Moses was not got up to the top of the mount, only up some part of it with the elders, though at some distance from the people: but now he is bid to come up higher;

¹³ And Moses rose up with his minister Joshua, and Moses went up onto the mount of God. — Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua; the close connection of Joshua with Moses is here, for the first time, indicated; his employment as a general against Amalek (Exodus 17:9-13).

¹⁴ And he said unto the elders, “Tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you; and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man have any matters to arbitrate, let him come unto them.” — Moses said unto the elders; he understood that his stay in the mount was about to be a prolonged one;

¹⁵ And Moses went up onto the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. — and Moses went up into the mount; to the top of it, and as it seems alone, leaving Joshua behind in a lower part of the mountain;

¹⁶ And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. — and the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai; the divine Shekinah or Majesty, some visible token of it, an exceeding great brightness and splendour for six days;

— and on the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud; in which the glory of God was, and which seems to favour the first sense of the preceding clause, that it was the glory of God the cloud covered.

¹⁷ And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. — the sight of the glory of the Lord; to the Israelites in the plain below, the appearance on the top of the Mount was “like devouring fire.” A light like that of a conflagration rested on the top of the Mount all the time that Moses was away.

¹⁸ And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got himself up onto the mount; and Moses was on the mount forty days and forty nights. — forty days and forty nights, the whole time without eating and drinking (Deuteronomy 9:9). The number forty was certainly significant, since it was not only repeated on the occasion of his second protracted stay upon Mount Sinai.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

Exodus 21

¹ “Now these are the judgements which thou shalt set before them: — now these are the judgements; the judicial laws and legal precedents, respecting the state of the people of Israel, so called because they are founded on justice and equity, and are according to the judgement precedents before;

² If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. — if thou buy an Hebrew servant; every Israelite was free-born; but slavery (through poverty, debt, or crime) was permitted under certain restrictions.

³ If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he was married, then his wife shall go out with him. — if he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; that is, if he came into his servitude on his free will;

— if he were married, then his wife shall go with him; that is, if he had a wife, a daughter of Israel, as the Targum of Jonathan says; “but if (he be) the husband of a wife, a daughter of Israel, his wife shall go out with him.”

⁴ If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

— if his master have given him a wife; if, however, the Hebrew slave, being previously unmarried, had been allowed by his master to take to wife one of his female slaves, then, when the husband claimed his freedom, both she and her children remained in his master’s stronghold.

⁵ And if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ — if a man has no rights, he is thankful for small mercies, and responds with warm feeling to those who treat him kindly.

⁶ then his master shall bring him unto the judges (Elohim). He shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. — his master shall bring him unto the judges (Elohimin in the original Hebrew); a formal act, a divine act, santifies by God as if they are God’s envoy, hence these judges are acting as Elohim; “for my name is in him” Exodus 23:21

⁷ “And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. — if a man sell his daughter; Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere.

⁸ If she please not her master who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed. To sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. — then shall he let her be redeemed, either by herself or friends, or any other person that will redeem her, but not selling her to a foreigner.

⁹ And if he has betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. — he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters; as if she was his daughter, and give her a dowry: or the son shall treat her after the manner the daughters of Israel are treated when married;

¹⁰ If he take for himself another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish. — her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish; neither deny it her in whole, nor lessen it in part, but give her her full due of each.

¹¹ And if he does not do these three unto her, then shall she go out free, without money. — then shall she go out free without money; be dismissed from her servitude, and not obliged to pay anything for her freedom;

¹² “He that smiteth a man so that he die shall be surely put to death. — shall surely be put to death; by the order of the civil magistrate, and by the hand of such as shall be appointed by him; for this is the law of God;

¹³ And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand, then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. — his life is taken away by him, though not purposely and maliciously; a distinction being drawn between accidental and intentional killing, then I will appoint thee a place, an asylum, whither he shall flee;

¹⁴ But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die. — if a man come presumptuously; rather, if a man come maliciously, or with premeditation; the Targum says then he may be slain by the sword by the priests;

¹⁵ “And he that smiteth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. — so sacred and inviolable is that reverence which children owe to their parents, that, by the law of God, it was death not only to strike them, but even to curse or outrageously revile them, Exodus 21:17;

¹⁶ “And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he shall be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “And he that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. — and he that curseth his father, or his mother; though he does not smite them with his hand, yet if he smites them with his tongue, or speaks evil of them, shall surely be put to death; or be killed by casting stones, as the Targum of Jonathan, or with stoning;

¹⁸ “And if men strive together and one smite another with a stone or with his fist, and he die not but keepeth to his bed, — the law imposed a fine, which was to be fixed at such an amount as would at once compensate the sufferer for the loss of his time, and defray the cost of his cure in his sick bed.

¹⁹ if he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be acquitted; he shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “And if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished. — and if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod; a Canaanitish servant or maid, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

²¹ Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his money. — for he is his money; that is, his possession bought with his money; 

²² “If men strive and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no misfortune follow, he shall be surely punished according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. — the husband may impose a fine, and if it be unreasonable, the judges shall have a power to moderate it.

²³ And if any misfortune follow, then thou shalt give life for life, — the Targum of Jonathan, “but if there is death in her, then ye shall judge or condemn the life of the murderer for the life of the woman;’

— God intends it to be “life for life” especially against a woman with child; but men feel it too excessive hence soften it to a pecuniary or monetary compensation to be paid;

²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, — in civil cases, it was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage feelings of private revenge;

— but the Son of God says something radically different later, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matthew 38-39;

²⁵ burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. — the Targum of Jonathan says, the price of the pain of burning for burning, and indeed, in everyone of these cases, the law could not be well literally executed;

²⁶ “And if a man smite the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid, that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. — this law was made to deter masters from using their servants with cruelty, since they would loose their own profit and advantage.

²⁷ And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake. — all other principal members of the body, which they reckon to be twenty four, are included, as the fingers, toes and so on;

²⁸ “If an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. — injuries to the person might arise either from man or from animals; protection from both was needed;

— an ox killed by stoning would not be bled in the usual way, and would be “unclean” for food; the flesh should not even be disposed of to the Gentiles, but had to be buried.

²⁹ But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in times past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in so that he hath killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and his owner also shall be put to death.

³⁰ If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

— MSG (28-32)

“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear.

But if the ox has a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, then if the ox kills a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned and the owner given the death penalty.

If a ransom is agreed upon instead of death, he must pay it in full as a redemption for his life. If a son or daughter is gored, the same judgment holds. If it is a slave or a handmaid the ox gores, thirty shekels of silver is to be paid to the owner and the ox stoned.

³¹ Whether he hath gored a son or hath gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

³² If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³ “And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein,

— the MSG (33-34)

“If someone uncovers a cistern or digs a pit and leaves it open and an ox or donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit must pay whatever the animal is worth to its owner but can keep the dead animal.

the owner of the pit shall make it good and give money unto the owner of them, and the dead beast shall be his.

³⁵ And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, so that he die, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it, and the dead ox also they shall divide.

³⁶ Or if it be known that the ox used to push in times past and his owner hath not kept him in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead shall be his own.

— the MSG (35-36)

“If someone’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and the ox dies, they must sell the live ox and split the price; they must also split the dead animal. But if the ox had a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, the owner must pay an ox for an ox but can keep the dead animal.”

The cases mentioned above give rules of justice then, and the British developed their common law from there, and is still in use for deciding similar matters in many of the Commonwealth of Nations.

We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by any wrong doing.

Exodus 22

¹ “If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. — five oxen . . . four sheep; the principle of the variation is not clear; perhaps the theft of an ox was regarded as involving more audacity, and so more guilt in the thief.

² “If a thief be found breaking in and be smitten so that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. — if a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood;

³ If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him, for he should make full restitution. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. — if the sun be risen upon him. If the entry is attempted after daybreak. In this case it is charitably assumed that the thief does not contemplate murder;

— a robber breaking into a house at midnight might, in self-defense, be slain with impunity; but if he was slain after sunrise, it would be considered murder, for it was not thought likely an assault would then be made upon the lives of the occupants. In every case where a thief could not make restitution, he was sold as a slave for the usual term.

⁴ If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double. — if the theft be certainly found in his hand alive; or “in finding be found” be plainly and evidently found upon him, before witnesses; so that there is no doubt of the theft; 

— he shall restore double; two oxen for an ox, two asses for an ass, and two sheep for a sheep; the thief being convicted in his own conscience of his evil, makes confession, or, however, the creatures are found with alive, and so more useful being restored;

⁵ “If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast and shall feed in another man’s field, of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard shall he make restitution.

⁶ “If fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn or the standing corn or the field be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

⁷ “If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief be found, let him pay double.

⁸ If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges to see whether he has put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods.

⁹ “For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.

¹⁰ “If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep, and it die or be hurt or driven away, no man seeing it,

¹¹ then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

¹² And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

¹³ If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

¹⁴ “And if a man borrow aught from his neighbor, and it become hurt or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.

¹⁵ But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good; if it be a hired thing, it came for his hire.

¹⁶ “And if a man entice a maid who is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

The cases mentioned above give rules of justice then, and the British developed their common law from there, and is still in use for deciding similar matters in many of the Commonwealth of Nations.

We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by any wrong doing.

¹⁷ If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. — if her father refused to give her to him, he was to weigh (pay) money equivalent to the dowry of maidens, that is, to pay the father just as much for the disgrace brought upon him by the seduction of his daughter, as maidens would receive for a dowry upon their marriage.

¹⁸ “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. — the fact that witchcraft is often nothing but jugglery to deceive the people, and only those witches were to be put to death who would not give up their witchcraft assisted by evil spirits when it was forbidden. —

¹⁹ “Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. — according to the Targum of Jonathan, the death of such a person was by stoning, for it says, he “shall be stoned to death.”

²⁰ “He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed. — according to the Targum of Jonathan, the death of such a person “shall be slain with the sword;”

²¹ “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. — thou shall not vex a stranger; one that is not born in Israel, but comes into another country to sojourn;

— nor oppress him; by taking his goods, by refusing to assist him with advice when asked, to trade with him, or to give him lodging, and furnish him with the necessaries of life.

²² Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. — law against oppressing widows and orphans. With the stranger are naturally placed the widow and orphan; like him, weak and defenceless; like him, special objects of God’s care.

²³ If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry; — I will surely hear their cry; the Targum of Jonathan says, “I will hear the voice of their prayer, and will avenge them.”

²⁴ and My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. — and I will kill you with the sword; with the sword, says the Targum of Jonathan;

— it designs one of God’s sore judgments, the sword; the meaning is, that when such evils should become frequent among them, God would suffer a neighbouring nation to break in upon them in an hostile way, and put them to the sword;

²⁵ “If thou lend money to any of My people who are poor among thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. — interest not to be taken on money lent to the poor; especially to fellow Israelites;

— on the other hand, the lending of money upon interest to foreigners was distinctly allowed (Deuteronomy 23:20), and no limit placed upon the amount of interest that might be taken.

²⁶ If thou at all take thy neighbor’s raiment in pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by the time the sun goeth down, — if he gave his upper garment as a pledge, he was to give it him back towards sunset, because it was his only covering; as the poorer classes use them as garment for warmth;

²⁷ for that is his only covering. It is his raiment for his skin. Wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

— for I am gracious; or equitable; and therefore everything cruel and uncompassionate is abominable to him, and he will take care in his providence that the injured person shall be redressed and the injurer punished.

²⁸ “Thou shalt not revile the judges, nor curse the ruler of thy people. — Thou shalt not revile, speak evil, show disrespect, to the judges and magistrates, for they are also acting as ‘ělôhı̂ym, or as gods;

²⁹ “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. — like the firstfruits of the soil, the firstborn of men and animals are also to be given to God; who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for all of us as well.

³⁰ Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it to Me.

— the main object of forbidding sacrifice before the eighth day would appear to have being in regard for the health and comfort of the mother, which needed the relief obtained by suckling of its offspring;

³¹ “And ye shall be holy men unto Me; neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field: ye shall cast it to the dogs.

— neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts; partly, because the blood was not taken out of it; partly, because the clean beast was ceremonially defiled by the touch of the unclean.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

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.’”

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 17

¹ And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched camp in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. — being a sandy desert place there was no water for the people to drink.

² Therefore the people chided Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said unto them, “Why chide ye me? Why do ye tempt the Lord?” — and Moses said unto them, why chide ye with me? as if it was I that brought you hither,

— whereas it is the Lord that goes before you in the pillar of cloud and fire, and as if I kept water from you, or could give it you at pleasure; how unreasonable, as well as how ungenerous is it in you to chide with me on this account;

³ And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, “Why is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” — to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst: which is intolerable to any, and especially to children and cattle, which require frequent drinking;

⁴ And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, “What shall I do unto this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” — they be almost ready to stone me; this is the first which we hear of stoning as a punishment.

⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod with which thou smotest the river, take in thine hand and go. — go on before the people, lead them on nearer to Mount Sinai or Horeb, within sight of which they now were; “and see if they will stone thee.”

⁶ Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. — I will stand before thee there, in my cloudy pillar, which shall stand over that place.

⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah [that is, Temptation], and Meribah [that is, Chiding], because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

— Is the Lord among us or not? to protect and provide for us according to his word; will he be as good as his word, or will he not? Words which implied that to them it was very doubtful.

⁸ Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. — then came Amalek, a grandson of Esau; the Amalekites had not been previously (except in the anticipatory flashforwarding in Genesis 14:7) mentioned as a tribe or nation;

— their hatred could be the old grudge of the children of Esau returning against the children of Israel; because of the affair of the birthright and blessing which Jacob stole from Esau, who were now on their march for the land of Canaan, claiming their birthright land which came to children of Esau thereby;

⁹ And Moses said unto Joshua, “Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” — Joshua; he was a prince of the tribe of Ephraim; chosen as a leader to fight the Amalekites;

¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

— Hur; according to Josephus (Ant. Jud., iii. 2, § 4) Hur was the husband of Miriam, and so the brother-in-law of Moses and Aaron. He was a descendant of Judah through Pharez and Hezron;

— to the top of the hill; to the top of Mount Sinai or Horeb, not so much to see the battle fought, as to be seen by Joshua and his warriors;

¹¹ And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. — Moses was getting old and was tired; his strongest arm will fail with being long held out; but it is God only whose hand is stretched out still;

¹² But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

— both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words, “when Moses lift up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed, but when he restrained his hands from prayer, the house of Amalek prevailed.”

¹³ And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. — Amalek being distinguished from “his people” has established a strong sense that Amalek was the title of their king, or chief of the army (hence Chief Amalek in Genesis 36:16), and that it became the title to the kings of that nation of the Amalekites, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt, or Caesar to Rome;

— that’s a significant truth; a truth during Moses time during the Exodus; more probable, later, is that the name Agag had evolved into a title for their king in place of Amalek; as stated by Balaam, employed by the king of the Moabites, to pronounce a ‘curse:’ 

“He (the children of Israel) shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; and his king shall be higher than Agag (hence, used in this way, it is more likely that Agag is the title of a king rather than the name of one king; and Agag was named as the king of the Amalekites in Samuel’s experience: 1 Samuel 15:8), and his kingdom (of Israel) shall be exalted” Numbers 24:7.

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and recount it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” — I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek; the extermination of Amalek, here prophesied, was partly accomplished in part by Saul (1 Samuel 15:8) and David (1 Samuel 30:17);

— Moses must write what had been done, what Amalek had done against Israel; write their bitter hatred; write their cruel attempts; let them never be forgotten, nor what God had done for Israel in saving them from Amalek.

¹⁵ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi [that is, The Lord my banner]; — Moses built an altar; primarily, no doubt, to sacrifice thank-offerings upon it, as an acknowledgment of the Divine help in giving Israel the victory.

¹⁶ for he said, “Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” — the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation; until they are utterly destroyed; and so in fact he had, and thus it was;

— the Targum of Jonathan is, “he by his word will make war against those that are of the house of Amalek, and destroy them to three generations, from the generation of this world, from the generation of the Messiah, and from the generation of the world to come.”

Exodus 18

¹ When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt,

— as both the Amalekites and Midianites were descended from Abraham, and stood in blood-relationship to Israel, the different attitudes which they assumed towards the Israelites foreshadowed and typified the twofold attitude which the heathen world would assume towards the kingdom of God.

² then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after Moses had sent her back — after he had sent her back: upon his call and mission to Egypt, he took his wife and children with him; but upon an affair which occurred in the inn by the way, he sent them back again to his father-in-law, where they had remained ever since;

³ and her two sons (of whom the name of the one was Gershom [that is, A stranger there], for he said, “I have been an alien in a strange land”; — for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land; meaning, not the land of Egypt, where he was born, and had lived forty years; but in the land of Midian, where he was when this son of his was born;

⁴ and the name of the other was Eliezer [that is, My God is a help], “For the God of my father,” said he, “was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”);

⁵ and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God. — is there a possibility that Caleb as a young man met an aging Moses “in the land of Midian?”

— Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite Numbers 32:12; these were chiefs of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz; and could the Kenizzites be the sons of Kenaz? Genesis 36:15

⁶ And he said unto Moses, “I, thy father-in-law Jethro, have come unto thee and thy wife and her two sons with her.” — the Targum of Jonathan adds, “I, thy father-in-law Jethro, have come to thee to be a proselyte;”

⁷ And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.

⁸ And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them. — and how the Lord delivered them; out of all this travail and trouble, and out of the hands of all their enemies, Egyptians and Amalekites.

⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. — being a proselyte, Jethro, a Midianite, a descendant of Abraham by Keturah, rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel;

¹⁰ And Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly, He was above them.”

¹² And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God. — Jethro took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God; Jethro had brought sacrifices with him, and now offered them in token of his thankfulness for God’s mercies towards himself and towards his kinsman;

— Jethro was a priest in Midian, and a worshipper of the true God, and the priesthood was not yet settled to be Aaron and his sons in Israel; and they did eat bread before God, indicating such an offering and feast was accepted by God;

¹³ And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening (hā·‘ā·reḇ). — it may be probable that numerous cases of difficulty arose out of the division of the spoil of the Amalekites;

¹⁴ And when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that thou doest for the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto evening?” — why sittest thou thyself alone? the emphatic word is “alone.” Why dost thou not, Jethro means, to palm out some of the duty upon others?

¹⁵ And Moses said unto his father-in-law, “Because the people come unto me to inquire of God. — because the people come unto me to inquire of God; in doubtful cases, what was his will, and to desire Moses to inform them; which in later times was done by the Sanhedrin and Urim and Thummim; hence giving birth and growth of the Oral Law.

¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come unto me, and I judge between one and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws.” — if the laws and statutes of God had yet been given on Mount Sinai, the people would be ignorant of them, and so needed not such daily judgement and instruction from Moses.

¹⁷ And Moses’ father-in-law said unto him, “The thing that thou doest is not good. — Moses was occupied from morning till evening in judging the people; hence it was not good for his health;

¹⁸ Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people who are with thee. For this thing is too heavy for thee. Thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. — for this thing is too heavy for thee: it was too great a burden upon his shoulders, what his strength was not equal to;

¹⁹ Hearken now unto my voice! I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. — may Go be with thee; may he give thee wisdom to direct the right course.

²⁰ And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do. — thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws; or “statutes and laws.”

²¹ Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God — men of truth, hating covetousness — and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens. — the word “rulers” sometimes rendered “princes” is general, including all ranks of officials placed in command;

— men of truth; true men, sincere, upright, and faithful men, that love truth and hate lies and falsehood; hating covetousness; in themselves and others, filthy lucre, dishonest gain, mammon of unrighteousness, and so not to be bribed and corrupted, and execute wrong judgment for the sake of money.

²² And let them judge the people at all seasons; and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge. So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

— the people at all times; in their districts, whenever a matter of difference between man and man arises, and the case is brought before them, let them judge impartially between them, and determine what is right and wrong, and execute judgment and justice truly; which would take off a great deal of business from the hands of Moses;

— and it be that every great matter they shall bring to thee; any affair of great importance, and difficult of determination, and about which the judges may have some doubt in their minds, and they are not clear as to the decision of it; this, they the judges, not the people, were to bring to Moses.

²³ If thou shalt do this thing and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.” — then thou shall be able to endure; to continue in his office and post, and hold on for decades to come, God granting him life and health; whereas otherwise, his time would be wasted in ruin;

²⁴ So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. — so Moses hearkened to the voice of Jethro; considered what he said, weighed it well in his mind, and judged it good advice, and determined to put them into action;

²⁵ And Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. — and made them heads over the people; rulers, governors, judges, and officials;

— according to the Targum of Jonathan, the rabbans or rulers of thousands were six hundred, rulers of hundreds 6000, rulers of fifties 12,000, and the rulers of tens 60,000;

²⁶ And they judged the people at all seasons. The hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. — only those causes which seemed “hard” to the “rulers of thousands” were brought before Moses for decision.

²⁷ And Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land. — and Moses went his way into his own land; the land of Midian: the Targum of Jonathan, “he went to proselyte all the children of his own country.”

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 15

¹ Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spoke, saying, “I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.

— then sang Moses and the children of Israel; the scene of this thanksgiving song is supposed to have been at the landing place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, at Ayoun Musa, “the fountains of Moses.”

² The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

³ The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name. — God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Yahweh, since it is only used among the Samaritan communities; and not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; (more on this at the end);

⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath He cast into the sea; his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

⁵ The depths have covered them; they sank into the bottom as a stone. — they sunk into the bottom as a stone; into the bottom of the sea, as a stone thrown into anybody of water sinks and rises not up again;

⁶ Thy right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. — thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy; in a literal sense, Pharaoh and his host, the avowed enemies of Israel;

⁷ And in the greatness of Thine excellency Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against Thee; Thou sentest forth Thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

⁸ And with the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. — the blast of God’s nostrils corresponds to the east wind, which drove the waters back;

⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’

¹⁰ Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. — they sunk as lead in the mighty waters; which is a very heavy metal, and, being cast into the water, sinks to the bottom at once, as did the Egyptians in the Red sea;

¹¹ “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

¹² Thou stretchedst out Thy right hand; the earth swallowed them. — the earth swallowed them; the sea, which actually “swallowed them,” is a part of the earth.

¹³ Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people whom Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.

¹⁴ “The people shall hear and be afraid; sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. — the peoples: all the various tribes of the desert of Palestine—the Amalekites, Edomites, Philistines, Moabites, Amorites—

¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

— all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away; as their hearts did, through fear, when they heard what God did for Israel against the Egyptians and the Amorites, and understood that they were upon the march to their land to dispossess them;

— the Edomites of Mount Seir and the Moabites gave Israel a free passage through their borders (Deuteronomy 2:4-8, 18, 29), being afraid to oppose them

¹⁶ Fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the greatness of Thine arm they shall be as still as a stone, till Thy people pass over^{ya·‘ă·ḇōr5674}, O Lord, till the people pass over^{ya·‘ă·ḇōr5674}, whom Thou hast purchased. — till thy people pass over (ya·‘ă·ḇōr⁵⁶⁷⁴); that is, cross the frontier of the Canaanites, and enter their country.

¹⁷ Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established. —in the mountain of thine inheritance; some suppose Mount Moriah to be especially intended;

— but it is better to understand Canaan generally, which is a country consisting almost entirely of mountains, with only two plains of any extent—those of Sharon and Esdraelon.

¹⁸ The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.” — the Lord shall reign; this concludes the whole song, by which Moses not only expresses his own faith and that of the people in God’s everlasting kingdom;

¹⁹ For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

— but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea; which was a very wonderful thing, and was a just and sufficient reason for singing the above song to the Lord;

²⁰ And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. — her name Miriam is the same as Mary; Miriam is called a prophetess, Numbers 12:2 because she and Aaron had evidently received divine communications.

²¹ And Miriam answered them: “Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea!”

²² So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. — and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water; which must be very distressing to such a vast number of people and cattle, in a hot, sandy, desert;

²³ And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah [that is, Bitterness].

²⁴ And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

²⁵ And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He put them to the proof,

— the waters were made sweet, not so much by any virtue in that tree, as by the power of God, who used this rather as a sign to the Israelites, than as an instrument to himself in this work.

²⁶ and said, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”

— for I am the Lord that healeth thee; both in body and soul; in body, by preserving from diseases, and by curing them when afflicted with them; and in soul, by pardoning their iniquities, which, in Scripture, is sometimes signified by healing.

²⁷ And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.

— they came to Elim. Elim was undoubtedly some spot in the comparatively fertile tract which lies south of the “wilderness of Shur,” intervening between it and the “wilderness of Sin.”

Exodus 16

¹ And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

— they took their journey from Elim; the stay at Elim was probably for some days. “Sin” was reached on the fifteenth day of the second month, exactly one month after the departure from Egypt;

² And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

— murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness; in the wilderness of Sin, where they were, and where no corn was to be had to make bread of; and their murmuring was not only against Moses, as before when they wanted water, but against Aaron also, who were jointly concerned in bringing them out of Egypt.

³ And the children of Israel said unto them, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and when we ate bread to the full! For ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

— to kill this whole assembly with hunger; it is difficult to imagine that there could have been as yet any real danger of starvation. The sheep, the cattle, may have suffered in the passage through the wilderness of Shur, but the bulk of them would survive;

— would to God we had died; they so undervalue their deliverance, that they wish they had died in Egypt; nay, and died by the hand of the Lord too; that is, by some of the plagues which cut off the Egyptians;

⁴ Then said the Lord unto Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may put them to the proof, whether they will walk in My law, or no.

— that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no; by this single instance of their obedience to his will in going out every morning to gather their bread;

— that should be rained for them, he proposed to try and prove their obedience to his law in all other respects; what regard would be had to it when it should be given, and what might be expected from them, and likewise whether they would depend upon his providence in this case also.

⁵ And it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” — on the sixth day; that is, the sixth day after the first giving of the manna;

— and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily: on that day should be rained double what fell on other days, and so twice as much should be gathered up; 

⁶ And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, “At evening (ḇā·‘e·reḇ), then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt;

— at even (ḇā·‘e·reḇ), then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: that they were brought out they knew, but they make this to be an act and deed of Moses and Aaron;

⁷ and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord, for He heareth your murmurings against the Lord. And what are we, that ye murmur against us?” — and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; as displayed by raining bread around their tents;

⁸ And Moses said, “This shall be when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, for the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against Him. And what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”

— Moses said, “You will know this when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you;

⁹ And Moses spoke unto Aaron, “Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He hath heard your murmurings.’” — and Moses spake unto Aaron, who was his prophet and spokesman to the people: say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel;

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as Aaron spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

— and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud; which went before them; there was a more than common brightness in it, an effulgence and beam of light and glory shining in it.

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — and the Lord spake unto Moses, out of the bright and glorious cloud: saying;

¹² “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak unto them, saying, ‘At evening ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

— at evening (bên hā·‘ar·bā·yim “between the two evenings,” which is from noon to sunset); ye shall know that I am the Lord your God;

— this gave proof of his power as the Lord, and his particular favour to them as their God; when God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know that he is the Lord; when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know that he was their God.

¹³ And it came to pass that at evening (ḇā·‘e·reḇ) the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

— there are other meanings or applications for ḇā·‘e·reḇ but only one is revelant here, and that is, from noon to sunset; it was the time frame, the same time as bên hā·‘ar·bā·yim in the previous verse; yes in this case they mean the same or having the same time overlap;

— some misguided would like to think that the Scriptures define what ḇā·‘e·reḇ and bên hā·‘ar·bā·yim are; but the Scripture is certainly not a dictionary; meanings of words could only be supplied by oral knowledge; for more, see the Oracles of God; which is further inferred here; but his misguided people reject these truths;

¹⁴ And when the dew that lay had gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground. — when the dew that lay was gone up; the moisture which lay upon the herbage soon evaporated, drawn up by the sun; and then the miracle revealed itself.

¹⁵ And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is this?” For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, “This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

¹⁶ This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded: ‘Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons. Take ye every man for those who are in his tents.’” — each man was to gather according to his immediate need and that of his family. No one was to seek to accumulate a store.

¹⁷ And the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. — every one was to gather according to the necessities of his family;

¹⁸ And when they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. — when they did mete it with an omer;

— on returning to their tents, with the manna which they had collected, the Israelites proceeded to measure it with their own, or a neighbour’s, omer measure, when the wonderful result appeared, that, whatever the quantity actually gathered by any one, the result of the measurement showed, exactly as many omers as there were persons in the family.

¹⁹ And Moses said, “Let no man leave any of it until the morning.” — had nothing over; whatever quantity each person had gathered, when he measured it in his tent, he found that he had just as many omers as he needed for the consumption of his family.

²⁰ Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left part of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was wroth with them. — it bred worms; so that we must view the result spoken of as a punishment for disobedience;

²¹ And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating; and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. —it melted; this refers to the manna which was not gathered.

²² And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. — lying in a great quantity, they gathered as much as they could, or just two omers for one man;

²³ And he said unto them, “This is that which the Lord hath said: ‘Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Bake that which ye will bake today, and boil what ye will boil; and that which remaineth over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”

— introducing an explanation of something unexpected, that is, the Sabbath; to inculcate the preparation and observance of the Sabbath.

²⁴ And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. — there was an interposition of divine Providence in the keeping of it to such a Day;

²⁵ And Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord. Today ye shall not find it in the field. — a Sabbath unto the Lord, to be wholly consecrated to his service, and therefore not to be employed in servile works.

²⁶ Six days ye shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.” — the practical observance of the Sabbath was formally instituted before the giving of other laws.

²⁷ And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day to gather, and they found none. — went out some of the people; this was an act of willful disobedience.

²⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, “How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? — how long refuse ye to keep my commandments? the people had already broken one of the positive precepts with respect to the manna (Exodus 16:20); now they broke another;

²⁹ See, for the Lord hath given you the Sabbath; therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread for two days. Abide ye every man in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna; and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

³² And Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord commandeth: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.’”

— fill an omer of manna to be kept for your generations; the mere fact of such a multitude being fed for forty years in the wilderness;

³³ And Moses said unto Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations.” — in a place where the Lord would hereafter fix the symbol of his presence, the ark, cherubim and mercy seat;

— lay it up before the Lord; the “pot of manna” was laid up before the Lord with the “tables of the covenant,” and “Aaron’s rod that budded;” Hebrews 9:4;

³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be kept. — before the testimony; the testimony is not the Ark of the Covenant, but the Covenant itself, or the two tables of stone engraved by the finger of God;

³⁵ And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited. They ate manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. — forty years; for thirty-nine years and nine months

— besides manna they had numerous flocks and herds, for milk, cheese and of course could be slaughtered for a constant supply of flesh.

³⁶ Now an omer is a tenth part of an ephah.

~~~~

More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late comer.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name. Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

Posted in Books of Moses

~~~~

A parallel Exodus would reoccur during the endtime, which would far exceed that of the original Exodus led by Moses.

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’

“Therefore behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

but, ‘the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Jeremiah 16:13-15.

So severe shall be their bondage that their deliverance from it shall be a far greater Deliverance than that out of Egypt where they spent 210 years in slavery under their Egyptian taskmasters!

For more see,

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

Exodus 13

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — God spoke to Moses on the day of the Exodus, at the first station, namely, Succoth;

² “Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast; it is Mine.” — sanctify unto me all the firstborn; that is, of males, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, for those, and not females, were desinated to be either sacrificed or redeemed;

³ And Moses said unto the people, “Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened bread be eaten. — Remember this day; the 15th of Abib in which ye came out of Egypt,

⁴ This day came ye out, in the month Abib. — this day came ye out of Egypt, on the fifteenth of Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

⁵ “And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

— the full number of the Canaanitish nations was seven, five of which are enumerated here; the other two were the Perizzites and the Girgashites, which seem to have been the least important.

⁶ Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. — and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord; an holy convocation, in which no work was to be done, except what was necessary for preparing food to eat, Exodus 12:16.

⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

— they begin before the passover, with all the diligence and care they can, to put away any leaven, or anything that hath had leaven in it, out of their houses; searching all their cupboards and bins.

⁸ And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.’

— thou shalt show thy son; when you shall be come into the land of Canaan, you shall instruct your children in the meaning of your killing the lamb, and abstaining from leaven, that so you and they may be excited to gratitude to God for his goodness.

⁹ And it shall be as a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’S law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.

— the use of phylacteries among them, pieces of parchment inscribed with sentences of their law, which they bound upon their left hand, and placed upon their foreheads between their eyes.

¹⁰ Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. — this ordinance the Israelites were to keep למועדהּ, “at its appointed time” (that is, from the 15th to the 21st Abib), – “from days to days,” in this season, spring, from year to year.

¹¹ “And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it to thee, — the land of the Canaanites, under which general name all the other nations are contained, as being all the children of Canaan.

¹² that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the womb, and every firstling that cometh from a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord’S.

— the males shall be the Lord’s; which explains what sort of firstborn of man and beast were to be set apart for his use, not females, though the first that opened the womb; but males.

¹³ And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. — break its neck; unless redeemed, it could not be retained for use by its owner;

— it was not to be killed by shedding of blood, because in old Israel ‘the slaughter of an animal in the ordinary way implied a sacrifice, which was impossible in the case of an ass;

¹⁴ And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that thou shalt say unto him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.

— which is added to teach parents in all succeeding ages, that it is their duty to instruct their children in the word and works of God, and in the nature and reasons of every particular kind or part of God’s worship and service.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast; therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.’

— firstborn of man; the price of redemption was fixed at five shekels of the sanctuary: Numbers 3:47;

¹⁶ And it shall be as a token upon thine hand, and as frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt.” — it shall be for a token upon thine head, and for frontlets between thine eyes;

— these laws setting apart the firstlings of their beasts, the redemption of the firstbon, will be as easily and as clearly discerned as anything upon a man’s forehead may be seen by another;

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.”

— when they see war; for the Philistines were viewed as one of the most warlike people of the time; while the Israelites after two centuries of slavery would have been an ill match for the Philistines;

¹⁸ But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up by five in a rank out of the land of Egypt.

— through the wilderness of the Red sea; perhaps indicative of the countries of Edom (“red”); including the gulf of Akaba;

¹⁹ And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for he had strictly sworn the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” — Moses took the bones of Joseph; Joseph’s body had been embalmed according to the Egyptian fashion;

— Rashi thinks that the bones of all the tribes, or of the sons of Jacob, were carried with them, but that does not appear from the text;

²⁰ And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. — they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham;

— the exact positions of both Succoth and Etham are uncertain, and can only be conjectured; but they probably lay to the southeast of Tanis, between that city and the Bitter Lakes.

²¹ And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night. — by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; through the Red sea, and the wilderness, at the edge of which they now were, which was untrodden, and trackless;

— and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; whenever they travelled by night, and in those hot countries it maybe refleshing; and this pillar of fire gave them light when the moon wasn’t shining, and showing the direction they ought to go.

²² He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. — the Lord went before them; by a visible token of His presence, the Shekinah, in a majestic cloud.

Exodus 14

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — and the Lord spake unto Moses; perhaps out of the pillar of the cloud in which he went before them;

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baalzephon; before it shall ye encamp by the sea. — at Pi-hahiroth, Pharaoh and his servants repent for letting the people go; pursue and intend to overtake the Israelites;

³ For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.’ — Pharaoh will say they are entangled; presuming that they are hemmed in between the rocks and the sea.

⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored above Pharaoh, and above all his host, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

— while Pharaoh gratified his malice and revenge, he furthered the bringing to pass God’s counsels concerning him. Though with the greatest reason he had let Israel go, yet now he was angry with himself for it.

⁵ And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

— God makes the envy and rage of men against his people, thus “Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people” a torment to themselves.

⁶ And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him, — he made ready his chariot; his preparations for an immediate and hot pursuit are here described;

⁷ and he took six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and captains over every one of them. — a difference is made between “the chosen chariots” and “the chariots of Egypt.”

— the first evidently composed the king’s guard, amounting to six hundred chariots, and they are called “chosen,” literally, “third men”; three men being allotted to each chariot, the charioteer and two warriors, hence totally 1800 personel;

— as to “the chariots of Egypt,” the common cars contained only two persons, one for driving and the other for fighting; sometimes only one person was in the chariot, the driver lashed the reins round his body and fought; and of course, foot soldiers;

⁸ And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with a high hand. — and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt; as he said he would;

— with an high hand; confidently, boldly, perhaps somewhat proudly, as having brought the Egyptians to entreat them to take their departure.

⁹ But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. — and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon; where they had pitched their camp by divine appointment;

¹⁰ And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid; and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

— and they were sore afraid; being an unarmed people, though numerous, and so unable to defend themselves against armed and disciplined troops;

¹¹ And they said unto Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

— because there were no graves in Egypt; spoken in bitter irony, doubtless, but scarcely with any conscious reference to Egypt as “a land of tombs.” They meant simply to say: “Might we not as well have died there as here?”

¹² Is not this the word that we told thee in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

— let us alone; this is a gross exaggeration, yet not without a semblance of truth: for although the Israelites welcomed the message of Moses at first, they gave way completely at the first serious trial.

¹³ And Moses said unto the people, “Fear ye not. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. — fear ye not, stand still; let not your hearts fail, or sink or stagger, through unbelief: but with quiet minds look up to God.

¹⁴ The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” — and ye shall hold your peace; be still and quiet, and easy in your minds, and forbear saying or doing anything;

¹⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Why criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. — speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward; a little further until they were come to the sea shore.

¹⁶ But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. — with his rod, he hearkened to it, and touched the water with it, and so it divided, as it is said it did;

¹⁷ And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them; and I will get Myself honor above Pharaoh and above all his host, above his chariots and above his horsemen.

— and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen: by the utter destruction of them, in just retaliation for the many innocent infants that had been drowned by them in the river Nile.

¹⁸ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten Myself honor above Pharaoh, above his chariots, and above his horsemen.”

— when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen; by casting them into the sea, and drowning them there, thereby showing himself to be mightier than he.

¹⁹ And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them.

— and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them; the Targum adds, “because the Mizraee (Egyptians) threw darts and stones at the Israelites, but the Cloud intercepted them;” whereby the Israelites were protected from receiving any injury from them.

²⁰ And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night.

— it was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, to whom it brought their former horrible darkness to mind, and did both exceedingly affright them, and altogether hinder them from motion or action, as that also did for three days; but it gave light by night to the Israelites, as the opposition showeth.

²¹ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. — the waters were divided;

— the waters of the Bitter Lakes were for a time separated completely from those of the Red Sea. By gradual elevation and desiccation the channel over which the Israelites passed has probably now become dry land.

²² And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. — some Jewish writers say that the tribe of Judah went in first, and then the other tribes followed;

²³ And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

— the Egyptians went in after them into the midst of the sea; they thought, Why might they not venture where Israel did? They were more advantageously provided with chariots and horses, while the Israelites were on foot.

²⁴ And it came to pass that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. — the Lord looked through the cloud, and troubled them; with the most terrible and prodigious winds, and rains, and lightnings, and both claps and bolts of thunder;

²⁵ And He took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.” — and the Lord took off their chariot wheels;

— Rashi renders it “And He removed the wheels of their chariots: With the fire the wheels were burned, and the chariots dragged, and those sitting in them were moved to and fro, and their limbs were wrenched apart.”

²⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”

— that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen; the waters which stood upright as a wall, on the right and left, might be no longer kept in such a position, but fall down upon the Egyptians, their chariots and horsemen.

²⁷ And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians fled against it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

— and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea; or shook them “off” or “out” out of their chariots, blew them out with the wind;

²⁸ And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them. — there remained not so much as one of them;

— wherefore it must be a falsehood which is related by some, that Pharaoh himself was preserved, and afterwards reigned in Nineveh, since not one was saved; they all perished;

²⁹ But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. — but the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; the bottom of it becoming so through the strong east wind, which blew all night until they came to the opposite shore;

³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. — saw their dead bodies floating upon the waters; it is likely, however, that the bodies of some were cast on shore, and became food to the beasts and birds of prey that frequent the wilderness;

³¹ And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians; and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

— and the people feared the Lord; had an awe of his power and greatness upon their minds, and a sense of his goodness to them upon their hearts, which influenced their fear of him, and caused them to fear him with a filial and godly fear.

~~~~

A parallel Exodus would reoccur during the endtime, which would far exceed that of the original Exodus led by Moses.

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’

“Therefore behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 

but, ‘the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Jeremiah 16:13-15; so emphatic is such a scene that it is repeated in Jeremiah 23:6-8.

So severe shall be their bondage that their deliverance from it shall be a far greater Deliverance than that out of Egypt where they spent 210 years in slavery under their Egyptian taskmasters!

For more see,

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

Posted in Books of Moses

A parallel Exodus would reoccur during the endtime, which would far exceed that of the original Exodus led by Moses.

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’

“Therefore behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

but, ‘the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Jeremiah 16:13-15.

So severe shall be their bondage that their deliverance from it shall be a far greater Deliverance than that out of Egypt where they spent 210 years in slavery under their Egyptian taskmasters!

For more see,

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

Exodus 11

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go hence. When he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.

— he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether; absolutely, entirely, without any exception or limitation, them, their wives, their children, their flocks and herds, without any restraint upon them and without any condition of return;

— or fixing any time for it, but the dismission should be general, unlimited, and unconditional; or “in thrusting he shall thrust you out,” with force and vehemence, with urgency and in great haste.

² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow from his neighbor, and every woman from her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold.” — let every man ask; not borrow, of his neighbour;

— jewels of silver, jewels of gold; to ornament themselves with at the feast they were going to keep: the Samaritan and Septuagint versions add, and clothing or raiment, and such it is certain they did borrow.

³ And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

— therefore they complied with their request, not only out of love to the people, but out of fear to Moses, lest he should punish them severely in case of refusal.

⁴ And Moses said, “Thus saith the Lord: ‘About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt;

⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts.

— and all the firstborn in the land of Eygpt shall die; by the destroying angel; however, it was sudden and immediate death, and which was universal, reaching to all the firstborn that were in the families of the Egyptians in all parts of the kingdom;

⁶ And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.

— shall be a great cry throughout all the land; in the case of a death, people set up loud wailings, and imagination may conceive what “a great cry” would be raised when death would invade every family in the kingdom.

⁷ But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast, that ye may know how the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ — shall not a dog move his tongue; a proverbial expression, importing all should be peace and quietness among the Israelites;

⁸ And all these thy servants shall come down unto me and bow down themselves unto me, saying, ‘Get thee out, and all the people who follow thee!’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. — in a great anger; in heat of anger, burning with indignation.

⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

— that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt; of the smiting of the firstborn, dividing the waters of the Red sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it; but since these words were said before any of the plagues, were inflicted, it may refer to them all.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land. — and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart: one time after another, and yet more and more;

— so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land; until the last plague, the slaying of the firstborn, was brought upon him and his people, related in the following chapter.

Exodus 12

The Passover and Timeline of the Exodus

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, — the Lord spoke; according to these Scriptural record, neither Moses nor Aaron introduced any legislative power of their own, either at this time or later;

— the whole system, religious, political, and ecclesiastical, was received by Divine Revelation, commanded by God, hence the term the “law of Moses” is misleading, used by those misguided;

² “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. — again, the starting of a month or a year is by Divine Revelation; not for mere man to determine for themselves when the month or year to start;

³ Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month they shall take for themselves every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. — a lamb; the word used (śeh) is a vague one, applied equally to sheep and goats, of any age and of either sex;

— in the tenth day of this month; it was necessary they should now begin to prepare the passover four days before, because otherwise it would have been difficult to get ready so many lambs in Egypt, especially as they were to depart in haste;

— but not necessarily for later generation, thus implied by the Targum Jonathan: but “not for (coming) generations.” Perhaps in later generations, the growth of population would make such a practice unmanagable to confine it in a single day;

— the passover in Egypt, they were commanded to sprinkling with a bunch of hyssop upon the lintel, and upon the two side posts, and was eaten with haste, but the passover in later ages were to be kept during all the seven days so that no leaven (of malice) should be found in their houses.

⁴ And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats. — more apecifics of the lamb or from the goats (śeh from verse 3 above) is revealed here: a male of the first year, and without blemish;

⁶ And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. — evening (`ben ha arbayim); “between the [two] evenings;

— “between the evenings” – the first evening was to begin with the decline of the sun from the zenith, and the second begins with sunset.

— Evidence of progressive Revelation on how to keep the Passover:

1. The first Passover was slaughtered by the whole congregation of Israel, but later it was slaughtered by priests and Levites at the sanctuary and still later, only at the Temple.

2. Introduction of the second passover; Numbers 9:9 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘If any man of you or your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord.

¹¹ The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bones of it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.

⁷ And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. —

— regarding keeping of the second Passover by King Hezekiah in II Chronicles 30:

¹⁵ Then they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.

¹⁶And they stood in their place according to their order, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. II Chronicles 30:15-16

— in later years, this killing of the Passover lamb could only be done near the Temple so as to sprinkle the blood of the Lamb at the base of the altar, Exodus 29:12, which was not in the original Exodus.

— again, with King Josiah, another good king, at the Temple, II Chronicles 35:

¹⁰ So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment. ¹¹ And they killed the Passover lamb, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.

¹² And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen. ¹³ And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the ordinance. II Chronicles 35:10-13

⁸ And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire; and with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

The Targum Jonathan translates and explains the eating of the Passover from the Hebrew in Exodus 12 into the vernacular, in a very simple language, and verse 8 is extremely clear: “And you shall eat the flesh on that night, the fifteenth of Nisan . . . without leaven,” Exodus 12

This eating of the Passover is during the night of the fifteenth. If this is the night of the fourteenth, there shouldn’t be any need to take unleavened bread; neither was any unleavened bread available.

⁹ Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire — his head with his legs and with the viscera thereof.

¹⁰ And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning (בֹּקֶר bôqer, H1242), and that which remaineth of it until the morning (בֹּקֶר bôqer, H1242) ye shall burn with fire.

Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning ^H1242 were the first day. Morning is thus a 12-hours period, starting at midnight. This means they were to burn any roasted remains before they left. And they left probably around 1-2 pm, burning any remains before they go.

Targum: Nor shall any be left of it till the morning; but what may remain of it in the morning you shall cover over, and in the daylight of the sixteenth day burn with fire; for you may not burn the residue of a holy oblation on the feast day.

Rashi: and whatever is left over of it until morning-: What is the meaning of “until morning” a second time? [This implies] adding one morning to another morning, for morning starts with sunrise, and this verse is here to make it [the prohibition] earlier, [i.e.,] that it is forbidden to eat it [the leftover flesh] from dawn. This is according to its apparent meaning.

Another midrashic interpretation is that this teaches that it may not be burnt on Yom Tov but on the next day, and this is how it is to be interpreted: and what is left over from it on the first morning you shall wait until the second morning and burn it. — [from Shab. 24b]

¹¹ And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord’S Passover ^H6453.

— “WHAT FOLLY!” some misguided would preach to convey this meaning: “And you shall eat it in trepidation” that is, with dread and apprehension but no readiness for fleeing; if so what would be the point, “with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste?”

¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

Targum: ninety thousand myriads of destroying angels — a myriad is generally a unit of ten thousand; but usually this expression is taken to mean an innumerable number.

¹³ And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over ^H6452 you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.

— flashing forward, the blood of the Lamb of God, Christ, in around AD 31, were to save mankind from the penalty of death; when the Angel of Death came to smite the land of ‘Egypt.’

— the lamb was to be without blemish; the Lord Yeshua offered himself for humanity as the Lamb of God without spot. Not a bone of it must be broken. Despite they couldn’t find any fault with him, the chief priests went on to condemn Christ.

¹⁴ “‘And this day (this day is when the death plague occurred) shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. — this day is still referring to the time the Death Angel passed over the houses, the subject in discussion;

— a memorial, it’s a feast and an ordinance – this should be the same night as the night to be much observed as stated in verse 42, not a separate night as most CoGs, who hail largely from their original home, Samaria, would thinks so! 

Rashi: and you shall celebrate it: The day that is a memorial for you-you shall celebrate it. But we have not yet heard which is the day of memorial. Therefore, Scripture states: “Remember this day, when you went out of Egypt” (Exod. 13: 3), we learn that the day of the Exodus is the day of memorial.

Now on what day did they go out [of Egypt]? Therefore, Scripture states: “On the day after the Passover, they went out” (Num. 33:3). I must therefore say that the fifteenth of Nissan is the day of the festival, because the night of the fifteenth they ate the Passover sacrifice, and in the morning they went out.

¹⁵ Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread. Even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

Rashi: For seven days: Heb. שִׁבְעַתיָמִים, seteyne of days, i.e., a group of seven days. 

Rashi: For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes-: But elsewhere it says: “For six days you shall eat unleavened cakes” (Deut. 16:8). This teaches [us] regarding the seventh day of Passover, that it is not obligatory to eat matzah, as long as one does not eat chametz. How do we know that [the first] six [days] are also optional [concerning eating matzah]?

This is a principle in [interpreting] the Torah: Anything that was included in a generalization [in the Torah] and was excluded from that generalization [in the Torah] to teach [something] it was not excluded to teach [only] about itself, but it was excluded to teach about the entire generalization.

[In this case it means that] just as [on] the seventh day [eating matzah] is optional, so is it optional in [the first] six [days]. I might think that [on] the first night it is also optional. Therefore, Scripture states: “in the evening, you shall eat unleavened cakes” (Exod. 12:18). The text established it as an obligation. — [from Mechilta]

¹⁶ And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you. No manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.

¹⁷ And ye shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.

— the notion that the First Day as a holy day for an assembly during the Exodus were not practiced like practising Jews have today. Perhaps they assembled in haste to flee; more details were added later, like as the issue that there was no wave sheaf offering during the Exodus; that was also added later as in Leviticus 23; which is another evidence of progressive revealing of God’s laws through further revelation.

¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening (`ereb), ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening (`ereb).

Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even (h6153`ben ha arbayim or between the evenings) is the LORD’S passover. (h6153 ben ha arbayim is also used in Ex 12:6; 16:12; 29:39,41; 30:8; Lev 23:5; Num 9:3,5,11; 28:4,8)

The composite Feast combining the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread is already evidenced above.

Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day (h3117 יוֹם yowm), and the darkness he called Night (h3915 לַיִל layil). And the evening (h6153 עֶרֶב`ereb) and the morning (h1242 בֹּקֶר boqer) were the first day (h3117 יוֹם yowm). Evening and Morning are both a 12-hour period.

If we use even (‘ereḇ), as the beginning of a day for Atonement, in Leviticus 23:32, we must keep Atonement for two days on the 9th and 10th – contrary to the scriptures. Also, If we use even (‘ereḇ) as the beginning of the fourteenth for Unleavened Bread in Exodus 12:18, we must keep the Days of Unleavened Bread for 8 days – again, contrary to the scriptures.  

¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.

²⁰ Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.’”

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them, “Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover ^H6453. — and to kill the Passover; to eat the Passover; hence Passover is an event, not a day; you couldn’t kill a day, nor eat one;

— you kill the Passover at even (ben ha arbayim) on the fourteenth of Nisan (the time when Christ died); but you eat the Passover at night on the fifteenth;

²² And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning.

During the first Passover, they were to stay in their houses, but later on they were not allowed to stay within their gates, which certainly include their houses. It says in Deuteronomy 16:5

“Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” This is proof that God makes adjustments in later years to the observance of ordinances from the original instructions given in Egypt.

²³ For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over ^H6452 the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

²⁴ And ye shall observe this thing as an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.

²⁵ And it shall come to pass, when ye come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.

²⁶ And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, ‘What mean ye by this service?’

²⁷ that ye shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’S Passover ^H6453, who passed over ^H6452 the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

The LORD’s “Passover” vs the Death Angel “passed over” the house. Which is the real Passover? So both the fourteenth and fifteenth were to be memorialized for a remembrance for the Children.

²⁸ And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron; so did they.

²⁹ And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.

³⁰ And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

³¹ And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel! And go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.

³² Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said; and be gone, and bless me also.”

³³ And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, “We are all dead men.”

Numbers 9:11 The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning (בֹּקֶר bôqer, H1242), nor break any bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.

The Israelites could have left around 1-2 am, which is early morning. It may even be slightly later at 2-3 am but it would still be in the morning, bôqer.

³⁴ And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

³⁵ And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses [for they had already] borrowed from the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment.

Indications are that there are at least fourteen days between the ninth and tenth plagues, for the chapter starts with the beginning of the month, until Passover, the killing of the lamb;

in Chapter 11:2 “Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow from his neighbor, and every woman from her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold,”

ESV The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.

Actually the spoilings have occurred much earlier, throughout the ten plagues: Exodus 3:19 “And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.”

And then more specifically in Exodus 3:22, “and every woman shall borrow of her neighbor and of her that sojourneth in her house jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment.”

Hence verses 35-36 is a flashback, for the spoiling had already began much earlier. 

³⁶ And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they despoiled the Egyptians.

For they had already plundered the Egyptians. In the previous chapter,

Exodus 11:1 And the Lord said unto Moses, “Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go hence. When he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.

² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow from his neighbor, and every woman from her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold.” So the plundering of the Egyptians had been happening for at least 13 days earlier!

³⁷ And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children.

Targum says from Pilusin towards Succoth, a hundred and thirty thousand “sons,” — supposingly to total 600,000;

Rashi: from Rameses to Succoth: They were 120 “mil” [apart]. Yet they arrived there instantly, as it is said: “and I carried you on eagles’ wings.” – [from Mechilta]

Numbers 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the morrow after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,

⁴ for the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, whom the Lord had smitten among them. Upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments. ⁵ And the children of Israel removed from Rameses and pitched camp in Succoth.

Since one lamb is for two or three families, some of the families could have earlier moved earlier from Goshen to Rameses in preparation for the signal to flee. Houses in Goshen could be quite empty.

³⁸ And a mixed multitude went up also with them, and flocks and herds, even very much cattle.

³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it was not leavened because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

The thrusting out of Egypt was carried out immediately after the killing of the firstborn, not the day after. Exodus 12:31-33, otherwise the urgency “with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste (verse 11)” made no sense.

Actually the Israelites were not thrusted out of Egypt until about a week later. Perhaps they could be better described “they began to be thrust out of Egypt.” And until they crossed the Red Sea they were really being thrusted out.

Also, the Israelites didn’t  tarry, so they didn’t wait for another 24 hours to start moving.

⁴⁰ Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. — Targum: “the days of the dwelling of the sons of Israel in Mizraim were thirty weeks of years, (thirty times seven years)” which is 210 years;

— Targum: “But the number of four hundred and thirty years (had passed away since) the Lord spake to Abraham.”

⁴¹ And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even on the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

⁴² It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations.

— the night to be much observed is the night when they ate the Passover, when a few hours later, the Death Angel came and slaughtered the Egyptians, which made such a night memorable to be kept;

Deuteronomy 16:1 “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God; for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. . .

⁴ And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy borders seven days, neither shall there anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificed the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.

Night (from 6 pm to 6 am) and morning (from midnight to 6 am) overlaps morning by 6 hours. So they left after midnight around 1-2 am which is night as well as in the morning.

⁴³ And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover ^H6453. There shall no stranger eat thereof; — this is the ordinance of the passover; as before delivered, and these the laws and rules, according to which it is to be observed, as now related, both with respect to the lamb, and to the unleavened bread;

— and the following is an account of the persons that were to partake of it: there shall no stranger eat thereof, one uncircumcised that is of another country.

⁴⁴ but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. — if a stranger wished to join, he would need to accept circumcision for himself and the males of his family. —

⁴⁵ A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof. — similarily, if a foreigner, bought as a slave into an Israelitish family, may eat of it, if he is made a member of their community by circumcision.

⁴⁶ In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth any of the flesh abroad out of the house, neither shall ye break a bone thereof. — neither shall ye break a bone thereof; any of its tender bones to get out the marrow; and so the Targum of Jonathan adds, “that ye shall not eat that which is in the midst of it.”

⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. — all Israelites are to keep the Passover;

⁴⁸ And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee and will keep the Passover ^H6453 to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land, for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

⁴⁹ One law shall be for him that is homeborn and for the stranger who sojourneth among you.” — one set of law shall be to him that is homeborn and would be the same unto the stranger;

⁵⁰ Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

⁵¹ And it came to pass the selfsame day that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. — this is a reminder that the children fled out of Egypt on the fifteenth of Nisan, and as that night was such a spectacular event, it was to be a night to be much remembered in later generations.

~~~~

A parallel Exodus would reoccur during the endtime, which would far exceed that of the original Exodus led by Moses.

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’

“Therefore behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 

but, ‘the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Jeremiah 16:13-15; so emphatic is such a scene that it is repeated in Jeremiah 23:6-8.

So severe shall be their bondage that their deliverance from it shall be a far greater Deliverance than that out of Egypt where they spent 210 years in slavery under their Egyptian taskmasters!

For more see,

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 9

¹ Then the Lord said unto Moses, “Go in unto Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. — let my people go, that they may serve me; this demand had been made repeatedly; and, though reasonable, was refused.

² For if thou refuse to let them go and wilt hold them still,

³ behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep. There shall be a very grievous pestilence.

— the hand of the Lord; immediately, without the stretching out of Aaron’s hand; is upon the cattle; many of which, some of all kinds, should die by a sort of pestilence; a disease would be sent among all the flocks and herds of the Egyptians;

— the Targum renders it a “death” as the Jews commonly call a pestilence, whether on man or beast, because it generally sweeps away large numbers.

⁴ And the Lord shall distinguish between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belong to the children of Israel.’” — nothing shall die of the children’s of Israel; this was the greater miracle,

— because the Israelites and the Egyptians were mingled together in the land of Goshen; so that their cattle breathed the same air, and drank the same water. By which it appeared that this pestilence was not natural, but proceeded from the immediate hand of God.

⁵ And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.” — saying, tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land;

— thus giving him time and space to consider the matter well, repent of his obstinacy, and dismiss the people of Israel, and so prevent the plague coming upon the cattle, as threatened.

⁶ And the Lord did that thing on the morrow; and all the cattle of Egypt died, but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. — but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one; at least of the murrain or a pestilential disease, or by the hand of God.

⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

— and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go; though this plague was so heavy upon him and his people, and the loss they sustained so great:

— in the other plagues of the water, the frogs, lice, and flies, though very troublesome and terrible, yet the loss was not very great; but here much damage was done to their property, yet this did not make his heart relent, or cause him to yield to let Israel go.

⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, “Take to you handfuls of ashes from the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. — and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go, though this plague was so heavy upon him and his people, and the loss they sustained so great;

— in the other plagues of the water, the frogs, lice, and flies, though very troublesome and terrible, yet the loss was not very great; but here much damage was done to their property, yet this did not make his heart relent, or cause him to yield to let Israel go.

⁹ And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains, upon man and upon beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” — upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt;

— so that, as the last plague affected their property, substance, and riches, which in those times greatly lay in cattle, this, besides that, would affect their persons, and give them exceeding great pain, though it might not issue in death.

¹⁰ And they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became boils breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast. — the sixth plague smote man and beast with;

— these failing down in the manner before described, on whomsoever they lighted, whether man or beast, produced sore boils and inflammations, and raised blisters and blotches;

¹¹ And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. — the magicians; this time are not only not able to imitate the plague, but are themselves attacked by it;

— for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians; but not upon Moses and Aaron, nor upon any of the Israelites;

¹² And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. — their priests and magicians were so far from being able to shelter the king from this plague by their secret arts, that they were attacked by them themselves,

— were unable to stand before Moses, and were obliged to give up all further resistance. But Pharaoh did not take this plague to heart, and was given up to more hardening of his heart.

¹³ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh and say unto him, ‘Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

¹⁴ For I will at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants and upon thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. — for I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart; the plague of the hail, which next follows, so called, because it consisted of various things, as hail, rain, lightning and thunder;

¹⁵ For now I will stretch out My hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. — and thou shall be cut off from the earth; or “thou hadst been or wouldest have been cut off from the earth” must have perished out of it, and been no more in the land of the living.

¹⁶ And in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up: to show in thee My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.

— and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth; as it has been more by that last action than by all the rest of the plagues; though, in all, his sovereignty, wisdom, power, patience, longsuffering and justice, are most visibly displayed and glorified.

¹⁷ As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people, that thou wilt not let them go? — as yet exaltest thou thyself against my people; and so against God himself, disobeying his commands, despising his messengers, and hardening his heart against him and refusing to let Israel go;

¹⁸ Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. — I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail; which should fall very thick, and the hailstones be very numerous and heavy, and the storm last long;

¹⁹ Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field, for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.’” — I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail; the seventh plague which Pharaoh’s hardened heart provoked was that of hail;

— a phenomenon which must have produced the greatest astonishment and consternation in Egypt as rain and hailstones, accompanied by thunder and lightning, to kill both men and beasts.

²⁰ He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses, — he that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh; it is a new fact that any of the Egyptians had been brought to “fear the word of Yehovah.”

— probably, the effect of the plagues had been gradually to convince a considerable number, not so much that Yehovah was the one True God as that he was a great and powerful god, whose chastisements were to be feared.

²¹ and he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. — left his servants and cattle in the field; let them remain there, and took no thought about them, and so took no methods to preserve them; to his own detriment and loss.

²² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and upon beast and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” — stretch forth thine hand toward heaven; the action was appropriate, as the plague was to come from the heaven.

²³ And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. — the fire ran along upon the ground, devouring both herbs and cattle which were upon it; and came at the exact time he had foretold it should; all which were very extraordinary;

²⁴ So there was hail and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. — so there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail; which was a miracle within a miracle; and very wonderful indeed it was, that the hail did not quench the fire, nor the fire melt the hail;

²⁵ And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. — the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt; it is to the hail and not to the fire nor lightning that the great destruction of men and beasts is attributed;

— perhaps the fire and lightning are destined for the endtime? “Like fire that burns the forest and like a flame that sets the mountains on fire.” – Psalm 83:14

²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. — only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail;

— so that such Egyptians as might dwell among them, they, their servants, their cattle, and their fruits, escaped this plague; and oftentimes do wicked men fare the better for the people of God that are among them.

²⁷ And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. — the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked; which was well spoken, had it been serious and from his heart; for God is righteous in his nature, and in all his works;

— and in all those judgments he had inflicted upon him; and he and his people were wicked in using the Israelites in such a cruel manner, and in detaining them when it had been promised them again and again that they should have leave to go, and especially in rebelling against God, and disobeying his commands.

²⁸ Entreat the Lord (for it is enough), that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.” — mighty thunderings; literally, as in the margin, “voices of God.” Thunder was regarded by many nations of antiquity as the actual voice of a god.

²⁹ And Moses said unto him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail, that thou mayest know that the earth is the Lord’S.

— that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord’s; that the whole earth is his, and therefore he can do, and does in it whatever he pleases; as the heavens also are his, and therefore can cause thunder, lightning, hail, and rain, and stop them when he thinks fit;

³⁰ But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God.” — but as for thee, and thy servants, notwithstanding the confession of sin he had made, Moses know that they haven’t fear the Lord God yet;

³¹ And the flax and the barley were smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bolls. — and the flax and the barley was smitten; with the hail, thunder and lightning, and were beat down, bruised, broken, and blasted and destroyed;

³² But the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up. — they haven’t grown up yet; Heb, they were late or hidden. The ear was undeveloped, and lay hid in the low tufts that grew like grass.

³³ And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord; and the thunder and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. — Moses went out of the city, that, being solitary, he might pour forth his heart in fervent prayers.

³⁴ And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more and hardened his heart, he and his servants. — but even this plague did not lead Pharaoh to alter his mind; as soon as it had ceased on the intercession of Moses, he and his servants continued sinning and hardening their hearts.

³⁵ And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses. — hardened; fifferent words in the Hebrew. In Exodus 9:34 the word means “made heavy,”that is, obtuse, incapable of forming a right judgement; in Exodus 9:35 it is stronger, and implies a stubborn resolution.

Exodus 10

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go in unto Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My signs before him; — go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart; that I might shew these my signs before him; and others that were to be done;

² and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son and of thy son’s son what things I have wrought in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that ye may know that I am the Lord.” — and that thou mayest tell; of thy son, and of thy son’s son;

— there was a further and higher reason for the infliction of those awful judgements, namely, that the knowledge of them there, and the permanent record of them still, might furnish a salutary and impressive lesson to others down to the latest ages.

³ And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, “Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

— how long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? to acknowledge his offence, lie low before God, and be subject to his will; he had humbled himself for a moment;

— but then this did not continue what God expected of him, and complains of the want of, was such a continued humiliation before him, and such a subjection to him, as would issue in complying with what he had so often demanded of him;

⁴ Else, if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy border. — locusts, a well-known plague throughout the Middle-East and neighbouring countries;

⁵ And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one shall not be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field.

— and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field; such fruit trees as escaped the hail, and such boughs and branches of them which were not broken off by it;

— “When their swarms appear, everything green vanishes instantaneously from the fields, as if a curtain were rolled up; the trees and plants stand leafless, and nothing is seen but naked boughs and stalks.”

⁶ And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy servants and the houses of all the Egyptians — which neither thy fathers nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day.’” And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

— thy houses shall be filled; they entered the inmost recesses of the houses, were found in every corner, stuck to their clothes, and infested their food;

⁷ And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, “How long shall this man be a snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” — knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

— as good as ruined, by the plagues and boils upon the cattle, which destroyed great quantities, and by the hail which had smitten their flax and their barley; or “must thou first know that Egypt is destroyed?” before thou wilt let the people go;

⁸ And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh; and he said unto them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go?” — but who are they that shall go? or, “who and who”? for Pharaoh was unwilling that they should all go, but would have some retained as pledges of their return;

⁹ And Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go, for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.”

— with our flocks and with our herds will we go; which were requisite for the sacrifices, not knowing which they were to sacrifice, and with which to serve God, till they came to the place where they were to sacrifice;

¹⁰ And he said unto them, “Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones. Look to it, for evil is before you.

— and the Pharaoh said unto Moses and Aaron, let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones; either as mocking them, let the Lord you talk of be with you if he will, and let him deliver you if he can, as I shall let you go with your children, which I never will;

— look to it, for evil is before you; which is either a charge of an evil design upon them, and intended to raise a mutiny, make an insurrection, and form a rebellion against them.

¹¹ Not so! Go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord, for that ye did desire.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. — not so; you shall not go with your children as you propose; —

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, “Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.”

— and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left; the wheat and the rye, or rice, the grass, herbs, and plants, it had beat down, but not utterly destroyed, as well as some boughs and branches of trees which were left unbroken by it.

¹³ And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. — the Lord brought an east wind. Locusts generally come with a wind; and, indeed, cannot fly far without one;

— an east wind would in this case have brought them from northern Arabia, where they are often bred in large numbers;

¹⁴ And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. Very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. — and rested in all the coasts of Egypt; in every part of it where the Egyptians dwelt;

— and where there were meadows, pastures, fields, gardens, orchards; here they lighted and fed, excepting the land of Goshen, where Israel dwelt;

¹⁵ For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, and there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the herbs of the field through all the land of Egypt.

— the land was darkened; either by their flying in vast numbers, and so darkening the air, as they have ofttimes done; or by covering the green and lightsome herbs and productions of the earth with their dark and direful bodies.

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. — I have sinned against the Lord your God; against the Lord by disobeying his command, in refusing to let Israel go, when he had so often required it of him; and against Moses and Aaron his ambassadors;

¹⁷ Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.”

— Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death only might be taken away, not this sin: pretending that he would never offend any more, and if he did, he did not desire it should be forgiven him, but that due punishment should be inflicted on him.

¹⁸ And he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. — intreated the Lord; Moses complied, though Pharaoh had this time made no distinct promise of releasing the people.

¹⁹ And the Lord turned a mighty, strong west wind, which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. — there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt; so that the removal of them was as great a miracle as the bringing them at first;

²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go. — but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart; for as yet he had not brought all his judgments on him he designed to bring;

²¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” — the plague of darkness brought upon Egypt was a dreadful plague;

²² And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. — it was darkness which might be felt, so thick were the fogs. It astonished and terrified. It continued three days; six nights in one;

²³ They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. — it was darkness which might be felt, so thick were the fogs; it continued three days; six nights in one; so long the most lightsome palaces were dungeons;

²⁴ And Pharaoh called unto Moses and said, “Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you.” — go ye, serve the Lord, only let your flocks and your herds be stayed; stopped or remained behind, as a pledge and security of their return;

²⁵ And Moses said, “Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. — but Moses said, thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings: sheep, rams, and goats for sacrifices, and oxen for burnt offerings;

²⁶ Our cattle also shall go with us. There shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God, and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither.” — the Israelites’ own cattle must go as well: because until they reach their destination they do not know how many sacrifices will be required.

²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. — but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart; yet more and more, and he would not let them go;

²⁸ And Pharaoh said unto him, “Get thee from me! Take heed to thyself! See my face no more, for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die!” — see my face no more; neither here nor elsewhere: for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die; this was a foolish as well as a wicked speech;

²⁹ And Moses said, “Thou hast spoken well. I will see thy face again no more.” — knowing by a spirit of prophecy that he should be no more sent unto him, and that Pharaoh should in a little time be drowned in the Red sea, when he would be seen no more by him nor any other; for as for what is said in the following chapter.

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 7

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “See, I have made thee a god (’ĕ·lō·hîm) to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. — a god ’ĕ·lō·hîm to Pharaoh;

— “a god” that is, he was to act in this business as God’s representative, God’s envoy, to act and speak in His name and to perform things beyond the ordinary course of nature;

— any messenger (mal·’āḵ) is also an angel; and God gives authority for an messenger to carry God’s name, “for My name is in him;”

“Behold, I send a messenger (mal·’āḵ) before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Have regard for him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him. Exodus 23:20-21

² Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

— that he send the children of Israel out of his land; this was the principal thing to be insisted upon; and all that was said or done to him was to bring about this end, the dismission of the children of Israel out of Egypt.

³ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. — but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go; that is, not directly, not for some time, not until all the wonders are wrought, and plagues inflicted to bring him to it;

— Pharaoh first hardening his own heart against God; leaving him to strong delusions, to believe the lying miracles of his magicians: this the Lord thought fit to acquaint Moses with, lest he should be discouraged by his refusal to dismiss Israel.

⁴ But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay My hand upon Egypt and bring forth Mine armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. — that I may ;lay mine hand upon Egypt; the inhabitants of Egypt, smiting them with one plague after another;

— and particularly with the last, slaying their firstborn; every plague was a stroke of his hand, and an effect of his mighty power and vengeance, and more especially that;

⁵ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth Mine hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” — and the Egyptians shall know; these great judgement, and Israel’s triumphant exodus, will teach the Egyptians Yehovah’s might, and His superiority to their own gods.

⁶ And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them; so did they. — their reluctance and resistance from this time ceased.

⁷ And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old when they spoke unto Pharaoh. — and Moses was eighty years old; at this time, which is observed partly to show how long Israel had been afflicted in Egypt;

— for their great troubles and miseries began about the time of the birth of Moses, or a little before, as appears from the above history;

⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

⁹ “When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then thou shalt say unto Aaron, ‘Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.’” — thy rod; this Moses ordinarily held in his hand, but the rod is now called Aaron’s, because Moses had entrusted him with it.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

— it became a serpent; or a “dragon” as the Septuagint says; not only to affect Pharaoh with wonder, but to strike a terror upon him, because it was also an Egyptian deity.

¹¹ Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. — the names of these magicians of Egypt, Janis and Jamberes, were already incorporated in the Targum, but picked up by Paul in II Timothy 3:8;

¹² For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. — swallowed up their rods and so gave proof of Aaron’s superiority to the magicians; though this miracle made no impression upon Pharaoh.

¹³ And He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said. — he hardened Pharaoh’s heart; or, “notwithstanding the heart of Pharaoh was hardened” though he saw the rods of his magicians devoured by rod;

— or “therefore” his heart was hardened, because he saw that the rods of his magicians became serpents as well as Aaron’s; that he hearkened not unto them; to Moses and Aaron, and comply with their demand, to dismiss the people of Israel;

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuseth to let the people go. — Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; or “heavy,” dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, cannot lift up his heart, or find in his heart to obey the will of God;

¹⁵ Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning. Lo, he goeth out unto the water, and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink until he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.

— and thou shall stand by against the brink of the river Nile, in order to meet him, seems rather to imply a daily custom of the Pharaoh; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand; as a terror to Pharaoh;

¹⁶ And thou shalt say unto him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness”; and behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.

— saying, let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; the demand is once more renewed, before any punishment is inflicted for refusal, that the patience and forbearance of God might be the more visible, and his judgments appear the more righteous when inflicted, as well as Pharaoh be left more inexcusable.

¹⁷ Thus saith the Lord: “In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

— they shall be turned to blood, which was a very grievous plague to them; both because it was an eternal dishonour to their religion, and because from hence they had both their drink and their meat; and if this river was their god;

¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river.”’” — the water of the Nile has always been regarded by the Egyptians as a blessing unique to their land; now with the water changed into blood and stink, this was a severe calamity.

¹⁹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, “Say unto Aaron, ‘Take thy rod and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

— both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone; in which water were kept in private houses, fetched from the river for the use of families; all which were to be turned into blood everywhere, in all parts of the land, and in all places mentioned, immediately upon Aaron’s taking his rod, and smiting the waters with it in that part of the river that was before him.

²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

— and all the waters that were in the river were turned into blood; not only the face of the waters looked like blood, but they were really turned into it; and not only the surface of the water, but all the water that was in the river, wherever it flowed, and as far as it flowed in the land of Egypt.

²¹ And the fish that were in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. — the change in the water extended to “the streams,” or different arms of the Nile; or canals; “the ponds,” that is, every collection of water;

²² And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said. — the magicians could not act on this large scale; they could only operate, or seem to operate, on some small quantity of water;

²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. — neither did he set his heart (that is, pay attention); Pharaoh did not lay even this to heart; he passed it over as a slight matter, unworthy of much thought, and “turned, and went into his house.

²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the river. — for they could not drink of the waters of the river; it being turned into blood, and stunk so exceedingly;

— and though they might strain it, and make it in some measure, drinkable, and might make use of the juice of herbs, and other things, to extinguish their thirst, and the better sort might have a stock of wine, yet multitudes must be greatly distressed.

²⁵ And seven days were fulfilled after the Lord had smitten the river. — and seven days were fulfilled; these words seem to mark the duration of the first plague.

Exodus 8

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, “Go unto Pharaoh and say unto him, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

— again, while the main purpose of the plague was to punish the nation by which Israel had been so long oppressed, the secondary object of throwing contempt upon their, religion was main-rained. Frogs were among the Egyptian sacred animals.

² And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs. — I will smite all thy borders with frogs: fill the whole land of Egypt with them, to the utmost borders thereof on every side.

³ And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants and upon thy people, and into thine ovens and into thy kneading troughs.

— everywherea bundantly: which must be very offensive and troublesome to them, what with their ugly shape, croaking noise and filthy smell, and the disagreeable touch of them, leaping on them, and even upon their food, and all vessels used for the same, which must make it very nauseous and distasteful to them;

⁴ And the frogs shall come up both on thee and upon thy people and upon all thy servants.’” — even the king himself not excepted; his people, and servants, high and low, rich and poor, and upon the king’s ministers, courtiers, and nobles; but the children of Israel may be thought to be exempted from this plague;

⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, “Say unto Aaron, ‘Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.’” — say unto Aaron, stretch forth thy hand with thy rod; for Aaron was to speak and to do whatever he ordered him from the Lord;

⁶ And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. — and the frogs came and covered the land of Egypt: they came up at once, and in such multitudes everywhere, that the whole land was full of them;

⁷ And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. — the magicians would seem foolishishly to have been able to increase the plague, but not to remove it;

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.”

— Pharaoh said, entreat the Lord; this is the man, who, not long ago, proudly said, Who is the Lord? Who is Jehovah? He now begins to know something of Jehovah’s power and justice at least;

⁹ And Moses said unto Pharaoh, “Glory over me: When shall I entreat for thee and for thy servants and for thy people to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?” — when shall I entreat for thee, that they may remain in this river only?

¹⁰ And he said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said, “Be it according to thy word, that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God. — and he said, be it according to thy word, as if he had said, it shall be done as thou hast desired, and at the time fixed;

¹¹ And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses and from thy servants and from thy people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. — and Moses cried unto the Lord: prayed unto him with great fervency, and with a loud voice, most fervently entreating that the frogs might be removed on the morrow, as he had promised;

¹³ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. — so that the land stank with the odour of their putrefaction;

¹⁴ And they gathered them together upon heaps, and the land stank. — and the land stank; with the stench of the dead frogs, which was another proof and evidence of the reality of the miracle;

¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart and hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said. — but when Pharaoh saw that there was respite; from his affliction, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; the plague was removed, and he found himself and his people at ease:

— or there was a “breathing” before he and his people were so oppressed, that they could scarce breathe, but now being delivered from the judgment on them with which they were straitened, were enlarged and at liberty, and in easy circumstances: he hardened his heart;

¹⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Say unto Aaron, ‘Stretch out thy rod and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’” — it is observed by Hebrew commentators that the nine plagues are divided into three groups:

— distinct warnings are given of the first two plagues in each group; the third in each is inflicted without any previous notice; namely, the third, lice, the sixth, boils, the ninth, darkness.

¹⁷ And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and on beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. — that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt: not gnats, nor flies, but lice, though perhaps not of the common and ordinary sort, but new and extraordinary;

¹⁸ And the magicians so did with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not; so there were lice upon man and upon beast. — it was as easy for them to produce lice as frogs, but God forbid them, partly to confound them, and to show that what they did before was only by his consent, but to show them that even the dust of the earth obeys him.

¹⁹ Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said. — the finger of God; the magicians meant to say, “This is beyond the power of man: it is supernatural;

²⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Lo, he cometh forth to the water, and say unto him, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

— cometh forth to the water; it is not improbable that on this occasion Pharaoh went to the Nile, and Moses was ordered to meet him while walking on the banks of the Nile and repeat his request for the liberation of Israel;

²¹ Else, if thou wilt not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants and upon thy people and into thy houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

— and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of the swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are; their number would be so very great.

²² And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. — and I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell; distinguish it from other parts of the land of Egypt:

— but restricted to the place where Pharaoh lived, and to bound and limit such sort of creatures as flies, which move swiftly from place to place, and particularly to keep the land of Goshen clear of them;

²³ And I will put a division between My people and thy people. Tomorrow shall this sign be.’”

²⁴ And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. — into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants;

— and into all the land of Egypt: into the palace of Pharaoh, and of his nobles, ministers and courtiers, and into the dwelling places of all his subjects, throughout the whole land, excepting the land of Goshen;

²⁵ And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” — the Pharaoh gave way before this plague ended and without waiting for any remonstrance on the part of the magicians or others, he “called for Moses.”

— and said, go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land; that is, in the land of Goshen, in the place where they were; he was willing to allow them the liberty of sacrificing to their God, which it seems they had before; but then he would not consent they should go out of the land to do it.

²⁶ And Moses said, “It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? — the abomination of the Egyptians; that which the Egyptians abhor to kill, or to see killed; because they worshipped them as gods, as is notoriously known.

²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us.” — we will go three days’ journey into the wilderness; as was first insisted on, and from which demand they should not depart;

²⁸ And Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away. Entreat for me.” — for the first time Pharaoh shows his real objection to letting the Israelites go: he is afraid that they will escape him;

— so he suggests the compromise: entreat or petition for me; that they shall just enter the wilderness on his eastern border, remaining near the frontier, and therefore within his reach.

²⁹ And Moses said, “Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people tomorrow; but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

— let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more. God’s servants must rebuke even kings when they openly break any of their words; and told the Pharaoh not to deceive them again as he had done before;

³⁰ And Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. — entreat for me; the words seem to be spoken in haste, and with great eagerness and vehemence;

³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. — there remained not one; the meaning is not, not one swarm of flies, but not one fly, there was not one left;

³² And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go. — again, it is after being impressed, and partially relenting, that Pharaoh hardens his own heart.

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 5

¹ And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.’” — let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness of Sinai or Horeb there, where they might keep it more freely and safely, without being disturbed by outsiders;

² And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” — that I should obey his voice, to let Israel go? he knew of no superior monarch to him, whose orders he was obliged to obey in any respect, and particularly in this, the dismission of the people of Israel out of land;

³ And they said, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” — lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword: this they urge as a reason to have their request granted, taken from the danger they should be exposed unto, should they not be allowed to go and offer sacrifice to God;

⁴ And the king of Egypt said unto them, “Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, delay the people from their work? Get you unto your burdens!” — wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? The Pharaoh regards the pilgrimage as merely an excuse for a holiday;

— Get you to your burdens; these words were addressed to the Israelites, the elders of whom went with Moses, several others also probably following him, when he went in unto Pharaoh, impatient to see what the end would be.

⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens!” — they are already sufficiently numerous; and putting a stop to their labours could unsettle them, and make them dangerous to their masters.

⁶ And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, — taskmasters and officers; taskmasters were Egyptians; “officers” (shoterim) supervisors or foremen, were undoubtedly Hebrews.

⁷ “Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. — let them go and gather straw: a mixture of clay, mud and straw; it has been estimated that this requirement would “more than double” the people’s toils;

⁸ And the tally of bricks which they made heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish any thereof. For they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ — therefore they cry, let us go and sacrifice to our God;

— suggesting, that this request and cry of theirs did not proceed from a religious principle, or the great veneration they had for their God, but from the sloth and idleness they were addicted to.

⁹ Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein, and let them not regard vain words.” — vain words; those of Moses and Aaron, which he claimed were vain, or false; that is, that they falsely pretended that their God had commanded them to go and worship, when it was only a crafty design of their own to advance themselves by raising sedition.

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus saith Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. — and the taskmasters of the people went out; from the presence of Pharaoh, out of his court, to the respective places where they were set to see that the Israelites did their work;

— and their officers; the officers of the Israelites, who were under the taskmasters, and answerable to them for the work of the people, and their tale of bricks.

¹¹ Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it; yet not any of your work shall be diminished.’” — “Let the work be heavy upon the people, and they shall stick to their work, and not look at lying words.”

¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. — to gather stubble instead of straw; straw not being easy to come at, they were obliged to gather stubble that was left in the fields, after the corn was gathered in.

¹³ And the taskmasters hastened them, saying, “Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.” — and the taskmasters hasted them; kept them tight and close to their work, and were urgent on them to make quick dispatch of it;

¹⁴ And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were demanded, “Why have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as heretofore?” — this makes it clear, not only that the taskmasters and officers were different persons, but that the one were Egyptians appointed by Pharaoh, and the other were Israelites;

— and were demanded, wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick, both yesterday and today, as before?

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, “Why dealest thou thus with thy servants? — “Why do you treat your servants like this?”

¹⁶ There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And behold, thy servants are beaten, but the fault is in thine own people.” — the Egyptian task-masters, who, by sending us abroad to gather straw, hinder us from doing the work which they require;

— and so they are both unjust and unreasonable. They charge the task-masters, not the king, either in civility and duty, casting his fault upon the instruments; or because they did not know, or at best not believe, that this was the king’s act.

¹⁷ But he said, “Ye are idle, ye are idle! Therefore ye say, ‘Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.’ — but he said, ye are idle, ye are idle; instead of expressing indignation at the taskmasters, and relieving the officers and the people, he insults them in a flouting sarcastic way, charging them with sloth and idleness;

— therefore ye say, let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord; suggesting that it was not so much the service and honour of God they regarded, as that they might have a leisure day from work and labour.

¹⁸ Go therefore now and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tally of bricks.”

¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in evil straits after it was said, “Ye shall not diminish any from your bricks of your daily task.” — after it was said, ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task; after this had been said and confirmed by Pharaoh, they had no hope of things being better with them, but looked upon their misfortune as irretrievable.

²⁰ And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh. — when the Israelitish overlookers saw that they were in an evil condition, they came to meet Moses and Aaron, waiting for them as they came out from the king, and reproaching them with only making the circumstances of the people worse.

²¹ And they said unto them, “The Lord look upon you and judge, because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.” — a sword . . . to slay us; this the officers may have feared that their inability to enforce the Pharaoh’s impracticable demands would ultimately lead to their execution.

²² And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, “Lord, why hast Thou so evilly treated this people? Why is it that Thou hast sent me? — Moses returned unto the Lord; he could find nothing to say to the officers;

— the course of events had as much disappointed him as it had them. All that he could do was to complain to God, “must I, who hoped to be a blessing, become a scourge to them?”

²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.” — “For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, the Pharaoh has done evil to this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people at all.”

Exodus 6

¹ Then the Lord said unto Moses, “Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.” — now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: in inflicting punishments on him: for with a strong hand shall he let them go; being forced to it by the mighty hand of God upon him;

² And God spoke unto Moses and said unto him, “I am the Lord. — I am the Lord; that is, יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah;

³ And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by My name Jehovah was I not known to them. — and I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, El-Shaddai;

— “but by my name Yehovah was I not known to them?” God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Yahweh, since it is only used among the Samaritan communities; and not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century; (more on this at the end)

⁴ And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. — the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers; not being in actual possession of any part of it, but lived as pilgrims and strangers in it, as their posterity now did in another land not theirs;

⁵ And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. — that covenent was with Abraham, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt [river Nile] unto the great river, the River Euphrates,” Genesis 15:18.

⁶ Therefore say unto the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

— and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm; with an arm stretched out from heaven to earth; by the exertion of his almighty power, openly and manifestly displayed in the lighting down of his arm upon the enemies of his people, and in delivering them out of their hands;

⁷ And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. — and I will be to you a God, to be revered by you, and also to be your all-powerful leader, protector and benefactor.

⁸ And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am the Lord.’” — to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; where God has authority and power to dispose of lands and kingdoms as he please; and faithful to give them what he had promised.

⁹ And Moses spoke so unto the children of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses from anguish of spirit and from cruel bondage. — but they hearkened not unto Moses; being disappointed of deliverance by him, and their afflictions being increased, and lying heavy upon them, they were heartless and hopeless;

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — at another time, and renewed his orders to him to go again to Pharaoh, and require their dismission;

¹¹ “Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.” — the second message was an advance upon the first;

— the first asked only for permission to enter the wilderness, much of which was within the limits of Egypt; the second was a demand that the Israelites should be allowed “to go out of the land.”

¹² And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me. How then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?” — “uncircumcised” is used, according to the Hebrew idiom, for any imperfection which interferes with efficiency: “slow of speech and of a slow tongue.”

¹³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. — this time, no notice is taken of the objection of Moses, having been sufficiently answered before, and Aaron is joined with him in the following charge;

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. — this genealogy describes here, to show the lineage of Moses and Aaron, by. whom this great work was to be effected. Only he promiseth in brief the genealogy of his two elder brethren. Reuben and Simeon;

¹⁵ And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶ And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimi, according to their families.

¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar, and Hebron and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years.

¹⁹ And the sons of Merari: Mahali and Mushi; these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ And Amram took Jochebed, his father’s sister, for a wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years.

²¹ And the sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.

²² And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Zithri.

²³ And Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, for a wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴ And the sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵ And Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took one of the daughters of Putiel for a wife; and she bore him Phinehas; these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ These are that Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” — their armies; this expression is here used of the Israelites for the first time. It seems to refer to that organisation, of a quasi-military character,

— which was given to the people by the order of Moses during the long struggle with Pharaoh, and which enabled them at last to quit Egypt, not a disorderly mob, but “harnessed,” or “in military array” (Exodus 13:18). The expression is repeated in Exodus 7:4; Exodus 12:17; Exodus 12:51.

²⁷ These are they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron. — this emphatic repetition shows the reason for inserting the genealogy;

— the names of Moses and Aaron are given twice and in a different order; used in Exodus 6:26 probably to mark Aaron as the older in the genealogy, and used in Exodus 6:27 to denote the leadership of Moses.

²⁸ And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spoke unto Moses in the land of Egypt, — and it came to pass indicates a time gap;

²⁹ that the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.” — speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee; that he let Israel go;

— and that in case of refusal, that he would punish him and his people with this and the other plague, one after another, and at last slay him and their firstborn.

³⁰ And Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?” — of uncircumcised lips; as he had done, Exodus 6:13, and this is only a repetition of what is there said, in order to lead on to what is related in the following chapter.

~~~~

More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late comer.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name. Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

Posted in Books of Moses

Exodus 3

¹ Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

— Horeb; also called Sinai, Exodus 19:1; that is, “dry,” “desert,” was the general name for the mountainous district in which Sinai is situated, and of which it is a part.

— mountain of God; so named either according to Hebrew idiom from its great height, as “great mountains,” Hebrew, “mountains of God” (Ps 36:6); “goodly cedars,” Hebrew, “cedars of God” (Ps 80:10);

² And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. — the “angel of the Lord” is certainly not “the Lord” hence he is an angel;

— but sometimes the Son appears as an angel: Malakh or messenger; hence this being in the fire could be a created angel or he could be the Son;

³ And Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

⁴ And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here am I.”

— the name of the Lord, יהוה, is comprised of 3 different letters that form the words for;

‘was’, היה, PAST
‘is’, הוה PRESENT
‘will be’, יהיה FUTURE

⁵ And He said, “Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”

⁶ Moreover He said, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

— many commentators mistakenly identify this Being “the Lord” is the Son; but more events that followed were to revealed (regarding the Temple, even the Son says this is my Father’s House, not the Son’s; and as such the Being in the Holy of Holies, accepting the sacrificial blood sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat during the Day of Atonement) this Being is certainly the Father;

⁷ And the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. — and have heard their cry, by reason of their taskmasters; who were set over them to see that they did their work;

— and to lay heavy burdens on them, and afflict them by all manner of ways they could devise; and who abused and beat them for not doing what was not to be done, which made them cry out because of their barbarous usage of them, and cry unto God for help and deliverance;

⁸ And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites, and the Amorites and the Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

— the enumeration of the nations here mentioned are only five of the ten whose land was promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:19-21) being expressly mentioned. One, however, that of the Hivites, is added;

— but the “the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites,” were not mentioned here; perhaps they, being the children of Esau, over four hundred years later, had already moved to Spain; for a more indepth study of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah;

⁹ Now therefore behold, the cry of the children of Israel hath come unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. — and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them; which is repeated to emphasis he took of their suffering;

¹⁰ Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” — to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up to a good and broad land, to the place of the Canaanites;

¹¹ And Moses said unto God, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” — who am I, that I should go? the men most fit for great missions are apt to deem themselves unfit. When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, his reply was, “O Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6).

¹² And He said, “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” — God replies – “Thou wilt not be unfit, since I will be with thee – I will supply thy deficiencies;

¹³ And Moses said unto God, “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, ‘The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,’ and they shall say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say unto them?” — what is his name; the meaning of this question is evidently: “By which name shall I tell them that the promise is confirmed?”

— Israel’s God had had no name that could be called a proper name more than any other. He had been known as “El,” “the High;” “Shad-dai,” “the Strong;” and “Yehovah,” “the Existent;” but these terms had all been felt to be descriptive epithets, and none of them had passed as yet into a proper name.

¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, “I Am That I Am.” And He said, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ‘I Am hath sent me unto you.’” — the name of the Lord, יהוה, is comprised of 3 different letters that form the words for;

‘was’, היה, PAST
‘is’, הוה PRESENT
‘will be’, יהיה FUTURE

— the true meaning of the Hebrew, אהיה אשׁר אהיה, ’Ehyeh ’ăsher ’ehyeh: Yehovah promises that He will be, to Moses and His people, what He will be—something which is undefined;

— thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you; or as the Targum has it, “I am he that is, and that shall be.”

¹⁵ And God said moreover unto Moses, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me unto you.’ This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.

— the Lord God of your fathers; Hebrew, Yehovah, God of your fathers. The “I AM” of the preceding verse (‘ehyeh) is modified here into Yehovah, by a substitution of the third person for the first. The meaning of the name remains the same;

— lastly, God’s name in Hebrew is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah (not Jehovah since the letter J wasn’t around but only after the sixteenth century);

¹⁶ Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob appeared unto me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;

— the elders; either by age, or rather by office and authority. For though they were all slaves to the Egyptians, yet among themselves they retained some order and government, and had doubtless some whom they owned as their teachers and rulers, or heads of tribes and families;

¹⁷ and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites, and the Amorites and the Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ — the same 6 tribes as mentioned in verse 8 above;

¹⁸ And they shall hearken to thy voice; and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

— they shall hearken; the pronoun “they” refers to “the elders” and they appeared to be persuaded easily, and at once.

¹⁹ And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. — no, not by a mighty hand; rather, not even under a mighty hand. Pharaoh, even when chastised by God’s mighty hand, will not voluntarily permit of their departure;

²⁰ And I will stretch out My hand and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go. — and I will stretch out my hand; or “therefore” he would stretch out his mighty hand, exert his almighty power; and for this purpose was Pharaoh raised up, and his heart hardened, that God might show his power in him, and on him;

— and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof: with those wondrous plagues, the amazing effects of his almighty power, which were wrought by him in the midst of Egypt, by which their land, their rivers, their persons, and their cattle, were smitten;

— and after that he will let you go; this is said for their encouragement, that their faith and patience might hold out, who otherwise seeing him so obstinate and inflexible, might be ready to despair of ever succeeding.

²¹ And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty, — not only will the Egyptians then let the Israelites go, but God will give them favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they will bestow many valuables upon them.

²² but every woman shall borrow of her neighbor and of her that sojourneth in her house jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters, and ye shall despoil the Egyptians.”

— Egypt had spoiled Israel by the tributary labour so unjustly enforced, and now Israel carried off the spoil of Egypt-a prelude to the victory which the people of God will one day obtain in their conflict with the power of the world;

— oppressed, wronged, down-trodden, miserably paid for their hard labour during centuries, the Israelites were to obtain at the last something like a compensation for their ill-usage; the riches of the Egyptians were to be showered on them.

Exodus 4

¹ And Moses answered and said, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, ‘The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.’” — they will say, The Lord hath not appeared; it is very probable that the people would have said this if Moses had not had any credentials to produce;

— this on the background that they had been no appearance of God to any one for over two hundred years in Egypt; and the Israelites, who had not seen Moses for forty years, would not know whether he was a veracious person or not;

² And the Lord said unto him, “What is that in thine hand?” And he said, “A rod.” — a rod; the word seems to denote the long staff, from three to six feet in length; such as shepherds use in the management of their flocks, for Moses was now feeding the flock of his father-in-law. It was usually made of acacia wood.

³ And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. — it became a serpent; it changed into a fiery serpent; whereby it was intimated and frightful what and how pernicious his rod should be to the Egyptians.

⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Put forth thine hand and take it by the tail.” And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand— — the tail was the dangerous part; whereby God would try Moses’s faith, and prepare him for the approaching difficulties.

⁵ “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath appeared unto thee.”

— that they may believe; the sign was to convince the Israelites, in the first instance, and cause them to accept the mission of Moses (see verses 30, 31). It was afterwards to be exhibited before Pharaoh (verse 21), to try him and prove him, but not to convince him.

⁶ And the Lord said furthermore unto him, “Put now thine hand into thy bosom.” And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. — and when he took it out, behold, his hand was a leprosy of the white sort, and which is reckoned the worst and most difficult to be cured;

⁷ And He said, “Put thine hand into thy bosom again.” And he put his hand into his bosom again and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. — it was turned again as his other flesh; the inflicting of this disease, and curing it in an instant, was so much the greater miracle, as the leprosy is a disease generally reckoned incurable by any human;

⁸ “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. — that they will believe the voice of the latter sign; which had a voice in it commanding belief that he was a messenger of God; the first sign respects his rod, the other his hand, a miracle with leprosy.

⁹ And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”

— and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land; by which it would appear how easily the Lord could destroy the land of Egypt, and make it a barren land;

¹⁰ And Moses said unto the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.” — I am not eloquent; not able to deliver thy message acceptably and decently, either to Pharaoh or to the Israelites.

¹¹ And the Lord said unto him, “Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb or deaf, or the seeing or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? — God could and would have cured the defect in Moses’ speech, whatever it was;

— could and would have added eloquence to his other gifts, if he had even at this point yielded himself up unreservedly to his guidance and heartily accepted his mission; nothing is too hard for the Lord. He gives all powers – sight, and hearing, and speech included – to whom he will.

¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say.” — by my Spirit to direct and assist thee what and how to speak. Whence Moses, though he still seems to have remained slow in speech, yet was in truth mighty in words as well as deeds, Acts 7:22.

¹³ And he said, “O my Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send.” — send by whom thou wilt send, by any but me; hence the anger of the Lord was kindled;

¹⁴ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. — Aaron; this is the first mention of Aaron; the words “he can speak well,” probably imply that Aaron had both the power and will to speak;

— he cometh forth to meet thee, by my instigation and direction; which, because I see thou art still diffident, I give thee for a new sign to strengthen thy belief that I will carry thee through this hard work.

¹⁵ And thou shalt speak unto him and put words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. — I will be with thy mouth and with his mouth; Even Aaron that could speak well, yet could not speak to purpose, unless God were with his mouth; without the constant aids of divine guidance, the best gifts will fail.

¹⁶ And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. — instead of God; God did not speak to Aaron directly, but only through Moses.

— Aaron was to recognise in Moses God’s mouthpiece, and to consider what Moses told him as coming from God. Moses had still, therefore, the higher position.

¹⁷ And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” — take this rod; the staff or crook he carried as a shepherd, that he might not be ashamed of the mean condition out of which God called him. “This rod must be his staff of authority, and must be to him instead of either the sword or sceptre.

¹⁸ And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said unto him, “Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they are yet alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” — Jethro said, Go in peace; Jethro’s character is altogether one of which kindness and understanding are his main elements.

¹⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead who sought thy life.” — all the men which sought thy life; not only the Pharaoh, but the kindred of the murdered man, and the officials empowered by the Pharaoh to arrest Moses. As forty years had elapsed since the homicide, this is readily conceivable.

²⁰ And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand; but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

— but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go; that is, not directly, not for some time, not until all the wonders are wrought, and plagues inflicted to bring him to it;

²² And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Israel is My son, even My firstborn.

²³ And I say unto thee, “Let My son go, that he may serve Me.” And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.’” — Israel is my son, even my firstborn; as dear to him as a man’s firstborn is, or as his only son;

²⁴ And it came to pass, on the way at the inn, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. — the Lord met him; the Septuagint and the Targum, “an angel of the Lord;“

²⁵ Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet and said, “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.” — Zipporah took a sharp stone; she perceived, it seems, the danger of her husband;

— and he being disabled from performing the office, whether by some stroke of affliction, or the terror of so dreadful and unexpected an appearance, and a delay in a matter of such moment being dangerous, she performed the work herself;

— a bloody husband art thou to me; some think she spake to the child, whom she calls her spouse, as some late rabbins affirm the infant used to be called, when it was circumcised;

²⁶ So He let him go; then she said, “A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.” — so he let him go; God let Moses go, allowed him to recover; accepted Zipporah’s act as sufficient, albeit tardy, reparation, and spared the life of her husband.

²⁷ And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” And he went and met him on the mount of God, and kissed him. — the scene suddenly shifts. Moses is left in the wilderness to recover his strength and make such arrangements with respect to his wife and children as he thinks best under the circumstances.

²⁸ And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. — Aaron met him in the mount of God, and kissed him; after a separation of forty years, their meeting would be mutually happy.

²⁹ And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. — all the elders; the Israelites retained their own national organization; their affairs were administered by their own elders, who called a public assembly Exodus 4:31 to hear the message brought by Moses and Aaron.

³⁰ And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. — Aaron did the signs; by the direction of Moses; hereby full proof was given to the people of the divine mission of Moses and their concurrence was gained before he applied to Pharaoh in their behalf.

³¹ And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. — then they bowed their heads, and worshipped;

— expressing their thankfulness for the notice he took of them, and signifying their readiness to obey all instructions and directions that should be given them.

Posted in Books of Moses

The two hundred and ten years of Israel’s stay in Egypt were divided into two unequal periods, in the former and longer of which they were prosperous and favoured, while in the latter they were oppressed. Both periods had their uses and place in the shaping of the nation and its preparation for the Exodus.

Exodus 1

¹ Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob: — every man and his household came with Jacob; into Egypt, all excepting Joseph, and along with them their families, wives, children, and servants;

— though wives and servants are not reckoned into the number of the seventy, only such sons as came out of Jacob’s loins:

— the Targum of Jonathan is, “a man with the men of his house,” as if only male children were meant, the sons of Jacob and his grandsons;

² Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, — Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. The first sons of Jacob by Leah;

— the sons are arranged according to their mothers, as in Genesis 35:23-26, and the sons of the two maid-servants stand last. Leah has precedence over Rachel; Bilhah over Zilpah.

³ Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, —and Benjamin; who, though youngest of all, is placed before Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Ashe; because they were the children of the maidens.

⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. — the children of each wife and concubine are given in order of seniority. The omission of Joseph from the list is explained in the last clause of Exodus 1:5.

⁵ And all the souls who came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, for Joseph was already in Egypt. — on the number 70, in which Jacob is included; but not Joseph;

— seventy souls; Jacob himself, 1; his sons, 12; his daughter, Dinah, 1; his grandsons, 51; his grand-daughter Serah, 1; his great-grandsons, 4—Total, 70. His daughters, except Dinah, and his sons’ daughters, except Serah, spoken of in Genesis 46:7, are not included;

— if his female descendants were, at the time of his descent into Egypt, as numerous as the males, the entire number of those who “came out of his loins” must have been 132.

⁶ And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. — Plant by plant the leaves drop, and the stem rots and its place is empty.

⁷ And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. — Seed by seed the tender green spikelets pierce the mould, and the field waves luxuriant in the breeze and the sunshine. ‘The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly.’

⁸ Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. — “a new king” is a phrase not found elsewhere; perhaps to imply that he did not succeed his predecessor in the natural order of descent and inheritance;

— he “arose up over Egypt,” occupying the land, as if on different terms from the previous king whose place he took, either by usurpation or conquest.

⁹ And he said unto his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. — “his people” no doubt they were his nobles, or, at any rate, his courtiers;

— ancient Egypt must have had a population of seven or eight millions, which would imply nearly two millions of adult males, whereas the adult male Israelites, near a century later, were no more than six hundred thousand (Exodus 12:37).

¹⁰ Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it come to pass, when there befalleth any war, that they join also unto our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.” — let us deal wisely; instead of open force, the king proposes stratagem;

— he thinks that he has hit upon a wise scheme, a clever plan, by which the numbers of the Israelites will be kept down, and they will cease to be formidable. The nature of the plan appears in Exodus 1:11.

¹¹ Therefore they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. — Raamses is a place different from Ramesses, Genesis 47:11 and had its name from the then reigning Pharaoh, Ramesses Miamun;

— Raamses; Pi-Ramesu, the city of Rameses, was the ordinary seat of the Court during the earlier part of the nineteenth dynasty. It appears to have been a new name for Tanis, or for a suburb of Tanis, which overshadowed the old city;

¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew; and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. — and they were grieved because of the children of Israel; because of their multiplication and increase, and because their schemes for lessening them did not succeed; they were as thorns in their eyes;

¹³ And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor. — with rigour; forced labour was of a very severe character; those condemned to it worked from morning to night under the rod of a task-master, which was freely applied to their legs or backs, if they rested their weary limbs for a moment.

¹⁴ And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field; all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor. — all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigour; they not only put them to hard work, but used them in a very churlish manner, abusing them with their tongues, and beating them with their hands;

¹⁵ And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. — Hebrew midwifes; or “midwives of the Hebrew women.”

¹⁶ And he said, “When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the birthstools, if it be a son then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter then she shall live.”

— if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; opinions are divided, however, what was the method of destruction which the king did recommend; short-term thinking: for he feared not them, but the males only;

¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. — but the midwives feared God; their faith inspired them with such courage as to risk their lives, by disobeying the mandate of a cruel tyrant;

¹⁸ And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, “Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?”

¹⁹ And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.”

— for they are lively; they are vigorous; a large proportion of the women deliver themselves; and the services of professional accoucheurs are very rarely called upon; or that they gave birth to their children before the midwives arrived.

²⁰ Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. — God dealt well with the midwives; this represents God as rewarding them for keeping their faith.

²¹ And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. — that he made them houses; making houses for them, being moved by the Lord, to preserve them from the insults of the Egyptians; others of Pharaoh building houses for them;

²² And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every son who is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” — every son that is born; the Targums and the Septuagint add “to the Hebrews,” but without any necessity, since the context shows that only Hebrew children are meant.

Exodus 2

¹ And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took for a wife a daughter of Levi.

² And the woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. — there went a man of the house of Levi; Amram the husband, the son of Kohath, and grandson of Levi, as appears from Exodus 6:18; and Jochebed his wife; and their two children, Miriam and Aaron;

— Miriam, a daughter, born probably soon after their marriage, and Aaron, a son, born some twelve years later. Soon after the issue of the edict, Jochebed gave birth to her third child, a son;

³ And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the reeds by the river’s brink. — Moses, was born, as the Jews say, in the thirty seventh year after the death of Levi, AM 2368;

— the ark was made of the papyrus which was commonly used by the Egyptians for light and swift boats.

⁴ And his sister stood afar off to learn what would be done to him. — and his sister stood afar off; this was Miriam, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; who is supposed to be about ten or twelve years of age;

⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to fetch it. — the princess would, of course, seek a part of the river which was reserved for females; probably Jochebed know where she was accustomed to bathe.

⁶ And when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” — Jewish writers say, she knew it by its being circumcised, the Egyptians not yet using circumcision.

⁷ Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?” — the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee; for she perceived that she was desirous of having the child brought up as her own.

⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” And the maid went and called the child’s mother. — called the child’s mother; Jochebed must have been waiting near, eagerly expecting—perhaps, while concealed from sight, watching the result, and ready to appear the moment that she was summoned.

⁹ And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, “Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” And the woman took the child, and nursed it. — take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages; by which means she, who was unknown to the princes, had not only the nursing of her own child, but was paid for it;

¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses [that is, Drawn out], and she said, “Because I drew him out of the water.” — the child grew; in stature and in strength; Josephus regards these words as implying a growth that was strange and extraordinary (Ant. Jud. ii. 9, § 6);

¹¹ And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens; and he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. — he went out unto his brethren; it is probable that Pharaoh’s daughter had never concealed from Moses that he was not her own child, but one of the oppressed race.

¹² And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. — he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand; this act of Moses may seem and indeed by some has been condemned as rash and unjustifiable—in plain terms, a deed of assassination.

¹³ And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together; and he said to him that did the wrong, “Why smitest thou thy fellow?” — the second day; that is, the next day;

— wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? Compare with Acts 7:26, where the words of Moses are reported somewhat differently, “Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?”

¹⁴ And he said, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as thou killed the Egyptian?” And Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known.” — and Moses feared; lest the thing should be discovered and be told to Pharaoh, and he should suffer for it: this fear that possessed Moses was before he fled from Egypt and went to Midian;

¹⁵ Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. — and dwelt in the land of Midian: a country so called from Midian, one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah, Genesis 25:2.

¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. — the Priest of Midian; Reuel Exodus 2:18. His name, and the detailed notices in Exodus 18, prove that he was a priest s(ometimes used of a prince, ruler, and governor) of the one true God who was known to the patriarchs especially under the name El.

¹⁷ And the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. — the shepherds came; those of the neighbourhood;

— the rule of the desert is that those who come to a well take their turns in the use of the water in the order of their arrival. But these rude shepherds declined to wait for their turn.

¹⁸ And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that ye have come so soon today?” — strictly, and then he is the same who elsewhere is called Jethro, Exodus 3:1;

¹⁹ And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us and watered the flock.” — an Egyptian; so they concluded from his dress and appearance, perhaps even from his speech.

²⁰ And he said unto his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” — that he may eat bread; Arabian hospitality was offended that the stranger had not been invited into the tent to partake of the evening meal. The feeling of the modern Bedouin would be the same.

²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. — the Targum says it was at the end of ten years; and indeed forty years after this a son of his seems to have been young, having not till then been circumcised, Exodus 4:22.

²² And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom [that is, A stranger there]; for he said, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.” — Gershom; that is, a stranger there. Now this settlement of Moses in Midian was designed by Providence to shelter him for the present; God will find hiding-places for his people in the day of their distress.

²³ And it came to pass in process of time that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried; and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. — in those many days;

— as Moses was now eighty years old (Exodus 7:7), and only forty when he quitted Egypt, the Pharaoh from whom he fled must have reigned above forty years.

²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. — and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob; that he would bring their seed out of a land not theirs, in which they were strangers, and were afflicted, into the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.

²⁵ And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God took heed of them. — and God looked upon the children of Israel; with an eye of pity and compassion, and saw all the hardships they laboured under, and all the injuries that were done unto them.

Posted in Books of Moses