CHAPTEll XL
Qod pnipones to biiric^ another plosrue vpon Pharaoh, after icliich he should let the Israelite!; go, 1. They are coni- 7naiidetl to ask gold and sdver from the Egyptians, <2. The rslimatioii in ichieh jSInses zcas held among the Kgt/ptians,;). Moses prediets the destruction of the frstborn of the Egyptians, 4 — 6, and Israel's prctectioii, ~. On seeing wl>ich, Pharaoh and his seivants should entreat the Hebrews to depart, 8. The prcdielion of his prci-iout obstitiac)/, 9, 10.
N D the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague 7)wre upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards lie will let you go hence: '' when he shall let J/ou go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
2 Speak now in the cars of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, ''jewels of silver, and jewels of gold-
Verse 1. TJie Lord said unto ]\Ioscs'] C'almet contends that this should be read in the pielerplujCifcct tt.n<,e -^for the Lord H.M) ■■,aid to Moses, as the fourth, fifth, sixth, sevenUi, and ei^htll verses appear to ha\e been si'oke,-! when Moses bad the interview with Pharaoh- mentioned ill the pr.ecedino' chapter, nee the note there on ver. 29. U theri fore this.chaijler be connected with tile preceding, as it.shoul<l be, and the first three verses not only read in the past teIl^e, but iilso in a parenthesis, the.sense will be much more distinct and clear than it now ap|K;ars.
Vcr.se 2. Let every man borrow^ I'or a proper correction of the strange mistj-anslation of tlie wokI '^iiw shaal in this ver.se, see the note on cha|). iii. 22.
Verse -3. 'I'he man JMo.^es was very greul'^ The iniracles vhich Piiaraoh and his scrvanLs iia<l already seen liitu woi:k,
3 " And the Lord gave the people favour 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.
4 ^ And ]\Ioses said. Thus saith the Lord, " About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egyi)t:
,5 And ' iill the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die,from the first-boni of Pharaoh tliatsitteth
had tloubtless impressed tliem with a high opinion of his w!.=- doin and power. Had ht not appeared in their sight as a Acry extraordinary person, whom it would have been very tlangerous W | molest, we may naturally conc!ude, that some violence would 1 long ere this, have been oflered to his person.
Verse -1. Aliojit midnight xvill I go ont] Whether God did this by the ministry of a good, or of an eiJl angel, is a in;aterof little importance, though some commentators have greatly magnifii d it. Hoth kinds of angels are under his power and jurisdiction, and he may em|)loy them as he please;. Such a work of destruction as the slaying of the tu-.-tboi-n, is supposed to be more proper for a bad, than for a good an^el. Put the porks of (Kid's justice are not less holy and pure than the works of his mercy'; and the highest archangel may, with the utmost j propri'. ty, be eiuploved in either.!
A.M.toi.?. „pon his throne, even unto the first- [ or l)cast: fi'.:it ye may know how that S.c. 1491. horn of the maid-servant that /.vbeliincl the Lord doth put a ditiercnce between the Egyptians and Israel
6 ' And tlicre 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.
7 " But against any of the children of Israel 'shall not a dog move his tongue, against man
Egyptian throne, to the.«on of the ino>t abject Aavc, or the principal peiMjM in eaeli rainily..'>io the note on chap. xii. ver. 'J9. T/ie maidservant that is behind the milt~\ Tlie meanest slaves were empluyeil in this work. In many parts of the East, they still '.^rinii all their com with a kind of portable mill-stones, the upper one of which is turned round hy a sort of lever fixed in the riin. A drawinij of one of these machines as used in China, is now lief ire me, and the person who grinds, is reprcftntcd as pushing the lever before him, and thus runninj^ round with the stone. Perhaps.something; like this is intended by hiie expression, bkiiind the mill, in the text. On this pass;ijre 'Ik. Shaw has the followinsj observation: " ^Most families gv'm<]: their wheat and barky at home, having tnu portable milltstpnes for that pviqiosi; the u])permo.st of which is turned.round by a small hamlle <A' woihI or iron that is placed in the,riin. When this stoni; is lar^re, or expedition rcfiuired, a second ^ pc rson is called in to assist; and ils it is usual for xmmen alone to be concerned in this employment, who.seat Ihemselve.s over I against each other with the null-stone between them, we may ^sec, not only the propriety of the expression, J-'.xod. xi. 5. of \sitting behind the mill, but tlli- force of another. Matt. xxiv. 40. that fj:o -women shall be nrindini^ at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other Irfl." Travels p. '231. 4to edit. The.se port-,able mills, uiider the name nf (/iierns, were used among our aniCestors in this and the sist<'r kingdonis, and soine of thtin are in iiise to tile prcsiiit day. Both the instrument and its name, our itorefathirs seem to have borrowed from the continent.
\ eri-e ti. There shall be a great cry] Of the dying and for,the dead. — See more on this subject ch. xii. 30.: Verse 7. Xot a dog move his /o»;'(«] This passage has been ge-;nerally understood as a proverbial erpressi on, intimating, that the jLsraelites should not only be free from this death, but that they 4iould depart w thout any kmd of molestation. l'"or, thougii there nni>t he much bu-tle and comparative confusion in the;-U(lden removal of six hundred thousand persons with their;ivives, children, gooils, cattle, &c. yet this siiould produce so;ittle alarm, that even the dogs should not bark at them, which t would be natural to expect, as the principal stir was to be ibout midnight.
, After giving this ajeneral explanation from others, I may be ixrmilted to hazard a conjecture of my own. And 1. Is it liot probable that the allusion is here, made to a well known Iwtoni of dogs howling when any mortality is m a village, ■treet, or even house, where such" animals arc.' There are innumerable instances of the faithful house dog howling when I diath happens in lh< family, as if ilistrcssed on the account, -•eling for the loss of Ins In ncfactor: but their apparent prei';'W.i,' sue, I an event by their cries, as some will have it, may,<• attributed, not to any |)ieseience, but to the exc[uisite ittniinis of their scent. If tjie words may bt understood in this
8 And " all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto mc», saying, Get thee out, and all the people ' that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in ' a ffrcat unffcr-
way, then the great ay througli the whole land of Egyjit may reft r to this very circumstance: as dogs were.sacred amoiig them, and consequently religiously preserved, they must have existed in great nuiltitudes. 2. We know that one' of their principal deities was Osiris, whose son, worshipped under the form of a do^-, or a man with a dog's head, was called Annbis Uitrator, llie barking Aniibis. May he not be represented as deploring a calamity which he had no power to prevent amonir his wor.shipjjcrs, nor influence to inflict punishment upon-tho.se who set his deity at nought. Hence while there was a great cry, nHj njDirx tsedkah gcdolah, throughout all the land of Kgyj)!, liecausc of the mortal.ty in every house, yet among the Israelites there was no death, con.seqiiently no dog moved his tongue to liowl for their calamity; nor coiikl the object of the Kgvj^lK'.ns" wor^hip, inflict any similar punishment on the vorsliipptrs of Jeho\aij.
In honour of this (h)g-god, there was a city called Annbis in Egypt, by the (iretks called Cynopolis, tlic city of the dog, the same that is now called Menieh: m this he had atemple, and doiif which w( IT sacred to him, were here fed v,ithco!i.secrattd victuaFs.
Thus,;u. in t!ie first plagues, their //iai'iV;««.? were Confounded, so in this hast, their gods were jiut to flight. And may not this be referred to in chap. xii. 1'2. when Jehovah says, Jt^ainst all the gods of Egypt I v.-ill execute Judgment? Should it be objected, that to consider the pas-age in tiiis light, would be to acknowledge the being and deity of the fictitious Anubis, it may be answered, that in the Sacred Writings it is not an uncommon thing to see the idol acknowledged ni order to shew its nullity, and the more forcibly to express contempt ^•Jr U, for its \Mirsbip[)ers, and for its worship. Thus Isaiah repre-.sents the Babylonish idols as being endiud with sense, bowing down under the judgments of <;od, utterly unable to helj) them-.selves or their worshippers, and being a burdtn to the beasts that carried thein: Bel boweth ihmn, Nebo stoopeth: their idols tvere upon the beasts and upon the cattle. your carriat;es ■•.ierc heavy louden; they are a burden to the \:eary beast. ThIlV stoop, they boxi' tloiin together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captiviti/. t'lian. xlvt. 1, 2. The case of Elijali and the prophets of Baal shoiild uo: be forgotten liere: this proi'het by seeming to acknowledge the reality of /i««/V being-, though by a strong;;o'!y, poured the most sovereign contempt upon him, his worshippers, and bis worship. And Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; Fim Ht IS.\ GOD: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he i.i in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth anil must be anaked. 1 Kings xviii. 27. See the observations at the end of chap. xn. The Lord doth put a dijlerence] See on chap. viii. 22. And for the \ariations l)etween the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuch in this place, see at the end of the chapter.
Verse 8. And all these thy.rervauts shall come] A prediction of what actually took plae*'. See ckap. xii. 3 1 — 33.
9 ^ And the Lord said unto Moses,
that " my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 10 And Moses and Aaron did all these won-
Verse 9. Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you'\ Tliough shall and iviil are both reputed signs of the future tense, and by many indiscriminately used; yet they make a most essential dillerence in composition, in a variety of cases. For instance, if we translate j'Ku" Kb lo yishind, Pharaoh sh.'vi.l not hearken, as in our text, the word shall, strongly intimates that it was impossible for Pharaoh to hearken, and that God had placed him under that impossibility^; but if we translate, as we should do, Pharaoh will not hearken, it alters the case most essentially, and agrees with the many passages in the preceding chapters, where he is said to hui-e hardened his oiuit heart; as this proves, that he, without any impulsive necessity, obstinately refused to attend to what Moses said or threatened; and that God took the ad\'antage of this obstinacy to work another miracle, and thus multiply his wonders in the land.
Pharaoh will not hearken mito you; and because he nonld.not, God hardened his heart, left hun to his own obstinacy..
To most critics it is well known that there are in se\eral parts of the Pentateuch, considerable diflerences between the Hebrew and Samaritan copies of this work. In this chapter, the variations aie of considerable importance; and com]ietent critics have allowed that the Samaritan text, especially in this chapter, is fuller and better connected than that of the Hebrew. 1. It is evident that the eighth verse in the present Hebrew text has no natural connection with the seventh. For in the seventh verse Moses delivers to die Israelites what God had commanded him to say; and in the eighth he appears to continue a direct discourse unto Pharaoh, though it does not appear when this discourse was begun. Tliis is ijuite contrai-y to the custom of Moses, who always particularly notes the commencement of his discourses.
2. It is not likely that the Samaritans have added these portions, as they could have no private interest to.serve by so doing; and therefore it is likely that these additions were originally parts of the Sacred Text, and might have been omitted, because an ancient copyist found the substance of them in other places. It must however be granted, that the principal additions in the Samaritan, are repetitions of speeches which exist in the Hebrew text.
3. The principal part of these additions do not appear to have been borrowetl from any other (piarter. Interpolations, ui general, are easily discerned IVoiu the confusion they introduce; but instead of deranging the sense, the additions here, make it much more apparent: tor shoulii these not be admitted, it is evident that some thing is wanting, without which the connection is incomplete. See Calniet. But the reader is still reipustod to observe, that the supiilementary matter in the Samaritan is collected from other parts of the Hebrew text; and that the principal merit of the Samaritan is, that it preserves the words in a better arrangement.
Dr. Kennicott hits entered into this subject at large, and by printing the two texts in parallel columns, the supplementary matter in the Samaritan, and the hiatus in the Hebrew text.
he woaltl not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
will be at once perceived. It is well known that he preferred the Samaritan to the Hebrew Pentateuch; and his reasons for that preference in this case, I.shall suljjoin; as the work is exr tremely scarce from wliich I select them, one class of readeis especially, will be glad to meet viXh them in this place.
" Within these/ire chapters, vii, viii, ix, x, and xi, are seven very great diflerences between the Hebrew and Saniaritan Pentateuchs, relating to the speeches wliich denounced set-en out of the ten judgments upon tlie Egy;)tiaii.; viz. waters into blood, frogs, flies, murrain, hail, locusts, and destruction of the firstborn. Tlie Hcbreiv text gives the speeches concerning these judgments only once at each; but the Samaritan giv« each speech twice. In the Hebrciv we have the speeches concerning the five first as m command from God to Moses, without reading that 3Ioscs delitered them; and concerning. the two last as delivered by Moses to Pharaoh, without reading \ that God had commanded them. Whereas in the Samaritan ■ we find every speech Twict: God commands Moses to go and; speak thus or thus before Pharaoh — Moses goes and denounces y the judgment — Pharaoh disobeys, and tlie judgment takes place. All thi^ is perfectly regular, and exactly agreeable to the double speeches of Homer in very ancient times. I have not the least doubt, but that the Ilelirevv text now wants many words in each of the seven following places: chap. vii. between verses 18. and 19. end of chaji. vi). chap. viii. between 19. and 20. chap. X. between 2. and 3. at chap. xi. at verses 3. and 4. The reader will permit me to refer him (for all the words thus omitted) to my oivn edition of the Hebreiv Bible (Oxford 1780. 2vols. fol.) where the whole dillcrences are most clearly described. As this is a matter of \ery extensive consequence, I cannot but observe here, that the present Hebrew text of Exod. chap. xi. did /ormerly, and does still appear to me to furnish a demonstration against itself, in proof of the double speech being formerly recorded there, as it is now in the Samaritan. And some very learned men have confessed the impossihility of explaining this chapter without the assistance of the Samaritan Pentateuch. 1 shall now give this important eliajiter as I presume it stood originally, distinguishing by Italics all such words as are added to, or differ from, our jiresent translation. And before this chapter must be placed the two last verses of the chapter preceding, Exod. x. 28. And Pharaoh said unto him, Gtt thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face tliou shalt die. 29 And Moses said, Thou hast well spoken: I will see thy face again no more.
Hebrew text and present version. 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 »hall
1. Then.Tehovah.said unto Mi'ses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egy[)t, and aftt rwards he will send yon out hence, when he will send you away, hcwiH
2. S|ieak now in the ears of the people; and let every man PORROW of his nei ^libour, and every woman of her nei'jhhour jewels of silver and jewels of go!d
a. And THE LOKD GAVE the
i Moreover the man Moses was i very n;reat in the land of F.jjypt, I in the sin;ht of Pharaoh's ser- I vants, and in the sight of the
4. And Closes said, Thus saith the Lord, About niidnjcrjit will I go out into the midst of Egy])f.
2. S]reak now in the cars of the people; and let evt-iy man ASK of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour fi.vsels of silver and vessels of gold avd raiment.
3. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they shall give them uhal ihn/ ask.
5. And crery first-horn in the land of Egypt.shall die, from the first-horn of Pharaoh viho sitteth vpon his throne, unto the first-born of the maidservant that is behind- the mill; and ezen tinto the first-born of even/ beast.
6. And there shall be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such (7.5 there uas none like it, nor shall be like it any wore.
7. But again.tt any of the children of Israel shall not a dng move his tongne, against man or even against beast; that thou mayest kno'v that Jehovah doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
8. And thou also shalt be greatly honoured in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.
9. Then Closes said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son my first-born; and I said unto thee. Let my son go that he may serve me.
10. But thou hast refused to let him go; behold Jehovah s/ayeth thy son, thy first-born.
11. And Moses said. Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight will I go forth into the niitlst (f ihe land of Egypt.
12. And every first-born in the land of l";;ypt shall die, from Ihe first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth u)ion his throne, even unto the first-born of the niaid-scrvant that isl«-hind the mill: and all the firot-boni of beasts.
6. And there shall be a sjreat cry through all the land of I'gypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
7. 15ut against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord iloth put a differcnee between the Egyptians and
8. And all these thy scrvantsi-hall comedown unto me, and bow do«n themselves unto me saying, <»et thee out and all the people that follow thee; and after that I will go out. And he W'ent out from Pharaoh in srreat ansjer.
9. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh,v/»i// not liearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of EgyjJt.
10. And INIoses and Aaron did all these wonders before Piiaraoh: and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so tiiat he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
the land of Egypt shall die, from the first -Jjorn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, unto the first-boni of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and even unto the first-born of every beast.
13. And there sliall be a great cry through all tlie land of Egypt, such as tliere was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. ^
1 4. Rut against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or areen against beast: that thou mayest know that the Lord dotli put a difterence between the Egyptians and
15. And all these thy servants shall come down to ma, and bow down themselves to nie saying. Go forth, thou and all the people that follo\\' thee; and then I will go forth.
16. Tlten went he forth from before Pharaoh in great indignation.
17. And Jehovah.said unto Moses, Pharaoh doth not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
18. And Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh: but Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
Tlie reader has now the whole of this chapter before him. When, therefore, he has first read the 28ih and 29th verses of the preceding chajiter, and has then observed, with due surprize, the confusion of the Ilebrexu text in chap. xi. he will be prepared to acknowledge with due gratitude, the regularity and truth of the Samaritan text, through these many and very considerable diflerences." Remarks on select passages in the Old Testament. Svo. Oxford 1787.
The reader \\ ill pass his own judgment on the weight of this reasoning, and the importance of the additions preserved in the Samaritan text; a conviction of their utility has induced me to insert them.
The month Abib is to be considered as the commencemmt of the year, 1, 2. The P.A.ss-ovEn instituted: the lamb or kid to be used on the occasion, to he lakcnfrom the flock the tentli dai/ of the month, and eachfamih/ to provide one, 3, 4. The lamb or kid to be a nude of the first year uithuut bkinish, 5. To be killed on the fourteenth
Directions concerning the EXODUS. cekh'atim of tJie pass-over.
diiy, G, and the hlood to he sprinkled on the side-posts and li})teh of the doors, 7- The Jlesh to be prepared by rousting, mid not to be eaten either sodden or raw, 8, 9 •• and "O P"^t of it to be left till the moriiiiig, 10. The people to eat it 7i<ith their loins girded, <S,c. as persons prepared for a journey, 1 1. Why eullcd (he Pass-over, le. The blood sprinkled on the door-posts, S^x. to be a token to them of preservation from the destroying angel, 13. The fourteenth day of the month Abib to be a feast for ever, 14. Unleavened bread to be eaten seven days, 15. This also to be observed in all their generations for ever, 17 — 20. Moses instructs the elders of Israel how they are to offer the lamb and sprinkle his blood, and for what purpose, 21 — 23. He binds them to instruct their children in the nature of this rite, 24 — 2". The children of Israel act as commanded, 28. Jll the Jirslborn of E'njpt slain, 29, 30. Pharaoh and the Egyptians urge Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites to depart, 31 — 33. They prepare for their departure, and get gold, silver, and raiment from the Egyptians, 34— 3(J. They journey frqtrt Raineses to Succoth, in number six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, and a miied 7nultilude 37, 33. They bake unleavened cakes of the dough they brought with them out of Egypt, 39. The time in which thetj sojourned in Egypt, 40 — 42. Different ordinances concerning the Pass-over, 43 — 49; which are all punctuully observed by the people, zcho are brought out of Egypt the same day, 50, 51.
ND the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2 ^ This month shall he unto you the beginning of montlis: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 ^ Speak ye unto all the congregation of
NOTES ON CHAP. Xlf. Verse 2. This month shall be unto you the begmning of r'oitths] It is supposed that God now changed the commencement of the Jewish year. The month to which this verse reiVrs, the month Abib, answers to a part of our March and April; whereas it is suppostd that previously to this, the year began with Tisri, which answers to a part of our September; for m this month the Jews suppose God created the world, when the eartii ajipeared at once with all its fruits, in perfection. From this circumstance, the Jews have formed a twofold eommeneement of tiie year, which has given rise to a twofold denomiuatiou of the year itself, to wliich they aftenvards attended in all their reckoning;?: that wliich began with Ti.iri or Siptcmbn-, was called tlicir civil year; that which began with Abib or March, was called the- sacred or ecclesiastical year.
As the Exodus of the hraclitcs formed a particular JEra, which is refeiTed to in Jewish reckonin;rs down to the building of the. Temple, 1 have marked it as such in the chronology in the margin; and shall carry it down to the time in which it ceased to be acknowledged.
Some very eminently learned men dispute this; and especially Houbigant, who contends with great plausibility of argument, that no new commencement of the year is noted in this place; for, that the year liad always begun in this nwrnth, and that the words shall be, which are inserted by diflerent versions, have nothing answering to them in the Hebrew, which he renders literally thus. Hie nicnsis vohis est caput mensium; hie vobis primus est anni?nensis. " This month is to you the head or chief of the months; it is to you the first month of the year." And he observes farther, that God only
Israel, saying, In the tenth dai/ of this ^-^^ ^•"''' month they shall take to them every ^' ^' "7' man a lamb, according to the house i.
4 And if tlie household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it, according to the number of the
marks it thus, as is evident from the context, to shew the people that this month, which was the beginning of their year, should be so designated as to point out to their posterity, on uhat month and on what day of the month they were to celebrate the pass-over and the feast of unleavened bread. His word.s are these: Ergo siiperest, et Hehr. ipso ex contextu effickur, lion hie novi ordinis annum constitui, sed eum anni mensem, qui essct pnmus, idea eommemorari, ut posteris constarct, quo mense, et quo die mensis pascha et azyma celebrunda essent.
Verse 3. In the tenth day of the month] In after times, they began their preparation on the thirteenth day, or day before the Pass-over, which was not celebrated till the fourteenth day, see ver. 6. but on the present occasion, as this was their first pass-over, they probably required more time to get ready in; as a state of very great confusion must have prevailed at this time. Mr. Ainsworth remarks, that on tins day the Israelites did afterwards go through Jordan into the land of Canaan. Josh. iv. 19. And Chn.st our paschal Lamb, on this day, entered Jerusalem, riding on an ass; the people bearing palm branches, and crying, Hosanna, John xii. I, 12, 13, &e. and in him this type was truly fulfilled.
A lamb] The original word ni:' sch signifies the young of sheep and of goats, and may be indiilerently translated either lamb or kid. See ver. 5.
A lamb for a house] The whole host of Israel was divided into twelve tribes, tliese tribes into families, the families into houses, and the houses into particular persons; Numb. i. Josh, vii. 14. Ainsieorth.
Verse 4. Jf the household be ton little] That is. If there be not persons enow in one familyj to eat a whole lainb, then
eveiyman according to Iiis eat- I ing,shall make your count fbrtlirlamb. 5 Your lamb shall be 'without blemish, a male ^ ot" the first year: ye:' shall take //out from the sheep, or from the goats: i; 6 And ye shall keep it up vintil the '' fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly
two families must join together. The Rabbins allow that there should be at least ten persons to one paschal lamb, and not more tlian fa-enty.
Take it accordini; to the number of the souls'] The persons who were to eat of it were to be first ascertained, and then tlic lamb to be slain and dressed for that rwmber.
Verse 5. Without blemish] Having no natural imperfectifin, no disease, no deficiency or redundancy of parts. On this point, the Rabbins have trifled most ep;rtgiou.sly, rcckoning_^//y blemishes that render a lamb or a kid, or any animal, improper to be sacrificed: five in the ear, three in the eye-lid, eight in the eye, three in the nose, six in the mouth, &c. &c.
A male of the first year] Tliat is. Any age in the first year, between eight days and tv:eh'e months.
From the sheep or from the gouts] That is, the T\z: seh means either; and either vras equally j)roper, if without blemish. The Hebrews, however, in general preferred the lamb to the kid.
Verse 6. Ye shall keep it vp until the fourteenth day] The lamb or kid was to be taken from the Hock on the tenth day, and kept up and fed by itself till the fourteenth day, when it was to be sacrificed. This was never commanded nor practised afterwards. The Rabbins mark four thiivjjs that were required in tlie first pass-over, that were never required aflerwards: 1. The eating of the lamb in their houses dispersed through Goshen. 2. The taking the lamb on the tenth day. 3. The striking of its blood on the door-posts and lintels of their houses. And I. Their eating it in haste. These things were not required of the succeeding generations.
The v.'hole assembly — shall kill it] Any person might kill it; the sacrificial act, in this case, not being confined to the priests. In the eve/ling] CT'ailTi J'D beyn ka-arabayim, " between the two cvenlntis." The Jews divided the day into 7norning and evening: till the sun passed the meridian, all was morning or forenoon; after that, all was afternoon or evening. Tlieir first evening began jii^t after tn-ehe o'clock, and continued till lunscl; their second evening began at sunset, and continued till night, i. e. during the whole time ol' tivilight: — between twelve o'clock, therefore, and the termination of tunlight, the passover Tvas to be nfte-red.
" The day, among the Jews, had tivclve hours. Josh. xi. 9. Their tint hour was about six o'clock in the morning with us. Their sixth hour was our noun. Their ninth hour answered to our three o'clock in the at\crnoon. By this we may understand that the time in which Christ was crucified, began at the third hour, that is, at nine o'clock in the morning, the ordinary time for the daily morning sacrifice, and ended at the ninth hour, that is, three o'clock in the afternoon, the time of the evening sacrifice, Mark xv. 25, 33, 34, 37. Wherefore their ninth hour was their hour of prayer, when they used to go into the temple at the dally evening sacrifice, Acts iii. 1.
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it '' in the evening.
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 cat it.
8 And they shall cat the flesh in that night,
and this was the ordinary time for the passover. It \» worthy of remark, that God sets no particular hour for the killing of the ]>assover: any time between the two evenings, i. e. between twelve o'Hoek in the day, and the termination of twilight, was lawful. Tlie daily sacrifice, see Exod. xxix. 38, 39. was killed at half past the eighth hour, that is, half an hour before three in the afternoon; and it was offered up at half past the ninth hour, that is, half an hour after three. In the evening of the passover it was killed at half past the seventh hour, and offered at half past the eighth, that is, half an hour before three: and if the evening of the passover fell on the evening of the Sabbath, it was killed at half past the sixth hour, and offered at half pa^t the SEVENTH, that is, half an hour before fjjo in the afternoon. The reason of this was, they were first obliged to kill the daily sacrifice, and then to kill and roast the paschal lamb, and also to rest the evening before the passover. Agreeably to this, Maymonidcs says, The killing of the passover is af^er mid-day; and if they kill it Ixfore, it is not lawful; and they do not kill it till after the daily evening.sacrifice, and burning of incense: and after they have trimmed the lamps, they begin to kill the paschal lambs until the end of the day. By this time of the day, tiod fore.shewed the sufferings of Christ m the evening of times or in the last days, Heb. i. 3. 1 Pet. i. 19, 28. and abuut the same time of the day, when the paschal lanib ordinarily died. He died also, viz. at the ninth hour: Matt. xxvii. 46 — 50." See Ainsxvorth.
Verse 7. Take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts] This was to be done by dipping a bunch of hyssop into the blood, and thus sprinkling it upon the posts, &c. see ver. 22. That this sprinkling of the blood of the paschal lamb, was an emblem of the sacrifice and atonement made by the death of Jesus Chri.st, is most clearly intimated in the Sacred Writings, 1 Pet. i. 2. Heb. ix. 13, 14. viii. 10. It is remarkable, that no blood was to be sprinkled on the threshold, to teach, as Mr. Ainsworth properly obseiTes, a reverent regard for the blood of Christ, that men should not tread vnda- foot the Son of GOD, nor count the blood of the covenant wherewith they were sanctified, an unholy thing. Heb. x. 29,
Verse 8. They shall cat the flesh — roast luith fre] As it was the ordinary custom of the.lews to boil their flesh, some think that the command given here was in opjiosition to the custom of the Egyptians, who ate j-aw flesh in honour of Osiris. Ihe Ethiopians are to this day remarkable for eating raw Jicsh; as is the case with most savage nations.
UnleuTcned bread] msi; matsoth, from rxo matsah, to squeeze or compress, because the bread prepared witliout leaven or yeast, was generally compressed, sad or heavy, as we term it. The word here pro|)erly signifies unleavened cakes; tlie word for leaven in Hebrew is yen chamets, wli.ch simply signifies to ferment. It is supposed that leaven was forbidden on this and otlier occasions, that the bread being less agreeable to T t 2 roastwith fiirc, and ^ unleavened bread; and with bitter /lerhs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not ol'it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but "roastavV/ifire; hishead witii his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
lO ^ And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morninsc; and that which I'emaineth of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire.
11 5F And thus shall ye eat it; "doith your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: '^ it i'*- the Lord's pass-over.
12 For I " will pass through tlie land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and
tlie taste, it miglit be emblematical of theiv bomlasje and bilter servitude: as this seems to liave been one design of the hitler herbs which were commanded to be used on this occasion; but this certainly was not the sole design of the prohibition: ieaven itself is a species of corniption, being produced by fermeniation, whid'., in sucli cases, tends to putrefaction. In this very light St. Paul considers tlie subject in this place: hence alluding to the pa.-sc>ver as a type of Clirist, he says. Purge out therefore the old leaven — for Christ our pass-over is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not xvith old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and luickcdness, but ivith the unleavened bread nf sinceriti/ and truth, 1 Cor. v. 6 — 8.
Bitter herbs] What kind of herl)s or sallad is mtended by the word S'T^a merari/n, which literally i^igT.ifies bitters, is riot well known. The Jews think cichon^, ii-ild lettuce, liorehound, and the like, are intended. Whatever may be implied un<ler the term, whether bitter herbs, or bitter ingredients m jrenerai, it was designed to jmt them in mind of their bitter and severe bondage in the land of Egypt, from which God was now about to tkliver them.
Verse 9. With the purtenance thereof.'] All the intestines, for these were abused by the heathens to purposes of divination; and when roasted in the manner here directed, they could not be thus used. The command also implies, that the lamb was to be roasted whole; neither the head or legs were to be separated, nor the intestines removed. I suppose that these last simply included the heart, hnigs, liver, kidnej/s, ike. and not the intestinal canal.
Verse 10. Ye shall lei nothing of it remain until the morning'] Merely to prevent putrefaction; for it was not meet that a thing oflered to (iod should be subjected to corruption, which in such hot countries it must speedily undergo. Thus, the body of our blessed Lord saw no corruption, Psal. xvi. 10. Acts ii. 37. because, like the Paschal Lamb, it was a sacrifice ofltred to <jod.
It appears that, from the Jewish pass-o\er, the heathens borrowed their sacrifice, termed propter viam. It was their custom, previously to their undertaking a journey, to ofler a sacrifice to their gods, and to eat the vchole, if possible; but if any part was left, they burned it with fire; and this was called propter viam, because it was made to pro(;ure a prosperous journei/. It was in reference to this, that C.'ato is said tii Iiave rallied a person called SI. Albidius, who, having eaten up ail liis gpoels, set fire to his house, his only remaining property. " He has ofiered his sacrifice propter viam," said Cute, " Ijecause he has burned what he could not eat." This account is given by Maooiw.?, Saturn, lib. ii. 3. edit. Bipont. voL I. p. 3o3. and is a remarkable instance how closely some of the religii^us observances of the people of God have been copied by the heathen nations.
Verse II. And thus shall i/e eat it; \y'\i\i your loins girded] Ab ill tlit Eastern coimtries they \vtiir long loose garments.
whenever they travel, they tuck up the fore parts of their garments in the girdle, v/liich they wear round tluir loin.'!.
Your shoes on your feet] This; earns jmrticularly mentioned, because not customary. " The easterns throw oli' their.shoes when they eat, because it would be troublesome," says Sir J. Chardia, " to keep their shoes upon their feet, they sitting cross-legged on the floor, and having no hinder quarters totheir shoes, which are made like slippers: and as they do not use tables and chairs as we do in Europe, but have their fiooi-s covered with carpets, they throw off their shoes when they enter their ajiartments, lest they should soil those beautiful pieces of furniture." - On the contrary, the Israelites were to have their shoes on, because now aljout to commence their jom'ney. It was customary among tiie Romans to lay aside their.-hoes when tliey went to a banquet. The servants took theui ofl' them when tbt y entered the house; and returne4 them \i hen they departed to their own habitations.
Your fta/r in your hand] The same writer observes, that the Eastei'n peo]>]e universally make u^e of a stqlf when they travel on foot.
Ye shall eat it in haste] Because they were suddenly to take their departure: the destroying Angel was at hand, their enemies were coming against them, and they had not a moment to lose.
It is the herd's pass-ovek.] That is, Jehovah is now about to pass over the land, and the houses only where the blood is sprinkled, shall be safe froni the stroke of death. The Hebrew word noil pesach, which we very properly translate PASs-ovEn, and which should be always pronounced as t-^iio ivords, has its name from the Angel of OoA passing by or over the houses of the Israelites, on the jiosts and lintels of which the blood of the la.nb was sprinkled; while he stopped at the houses of the Egyptians, to slay their firstborn.
Verse 13. Against all the gods of Egypt, i(c.] As different animals were sacred among the Egyptians, the slaying of the first-born of all the beasts, might lie called executing judgment upon the gods of Egypt. As th.is, however, does not appear very clear and satisfactory, some have imagined that the word 'n'7K tlohei/, should be translated princes, which is the rendering in our margin: for as these princes, which were rulers of the kingdom under Pharaoh, were equally hostile to the Hebrews with Pharaoh himself, therefore these judgments fell equally heavy on them also. But we may ask. Dill not these judgments fall equally on all the families of Egypt, though multitudes of Ihein had no particular part either in the evil counsel against the Israelites, or in their oppression? Why then distinguish those in calamities, in which all equally shared.' None of these interpretations, therefore, appear satisfactory. Hovhigant, by a very simple and natural emendation, ha,-, he thinks, restored the whole passage to seiwe and reason. He supposes, that 'n^« clohey, cods, is a
* against all the '' gods of EgNipt I will execute judgment: ' I am the Lonu. 13 And the blood shall be to you ibr! a token upon the houses where ye arc: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and tiie plague shall not be upon you " to destroy you., when I smite tlie land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you "tor a memorial; and ye shall keep it a ' feast to the Loud throughout your generation:-;; ye shall keep it a feast * by an ordinance for ever.
mistake for '^ns «///«/, tents, ox hubitations; the n Ite, and tlie h lamed, being meri'l)' inlercliani^ed. Tliis certainly ijives a very coiisi.—tent sense, and points out the universality of the desolation, to wliieh the \\ hole context continually reiers. lie therefore <'oi:ttnds, that the text shoulil be read thus — And on alt tlie tents, or habitations, of Egypt I 'uill execute judi:meiit; by which wonts the Lord signified, that not one du-dliiig in tlie ^vho]e land of Es^ypt should be exempted from the juilajinent here threatened. It is but justice to say, that howevti pr<)bable this criticism may appear, it is not supported by any oi' the ancient versions, nor by any of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi. Tlie parallel place also, Num. xxxiii. 4. is rather aj^ainst Iloubi^ant's interpretation — For the Iji^i/ptians buried ali their firstborn, vjliich the Lord had smitten among iliem: upon their gods also [:2.'\"i'rx31 u be elohej/heni] the Lord executed Judgmctils. But llouL)igant ain.nds the word in this place, in the same way as he does that in Exo Uis. 'Ihere appears also to be an allusion to this former judgment, Isai. xix. 1. Behold, the Lord — shall come into Egi/pl, iiml the idols ['V''7s eilej/lej/'] of Egi/pt slialL be timed at his presence. And in Jerem. x:iii. 18. The houses of the gods ['-;S}{ »n3 ba/cij clohej/1 of the Egj/ptians shall lie burn XL-ilh fire. The Uabbiii.- say, that " when Israel came out of l*";iypt, the li'ily ble.-sed (iod threw down all the images of their abominations, and they were broken to pieces." — Wlien a nation was conquered, it "(vas always supposed that their go's had either abaniloned them, or were overcome. Tlius Eftyjjt was ruined, and their gods confounded and destroyed IwD- Jt-hovah. — See the note on chap. xi. 7.
Verse. is.. The blood shall be to you for a token"] It shall be the sigrfUi the destioyiiitf angel, tl'.at the house on which he sees this blood sprinkled, is under the protection of God, anil that no person in it is to be injured. See on ver. 1 1. -
Verse 14. A tncmorial'] To keep up a reincrnbrdnce of the severity and goodness, or justice and mercy of t'.od. IV shall lieep it a feast — it shall be annually observtd, and r;hal! be celebrated with solemn religious joy. Throughout your generations — as long as ye continue to be a distinct people — an ordinance, a divine appointment — an institution of Cod himself, neither to be altered Pior set a»i<lc by any human authority.
tor ever.] aVv ~pn chukuth olai/i, an everla>ling or endless statute, becatise lepresentative of the Lamb of (Jod who laketii away the sin of the vvorld; whose mediation, in consequence of his sacnfiec, shall endure wiiile time itself lasts: and to wlio.se Bitrito and efficiu y, the »al\ alion of tlie tcul shall be ascribable
15 ^T ^ Seven days shall ye cat un•^ leavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away lea\cn out of your houses: ibr whosoever eateth leavened bread from the firtit day initil the seventh day, ' that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in tite first day there shall be "a holy convocation, and in the sCventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save Ihal which every ' man must eat, that only may be done of you.
throughout eternity I This, therefore, is a statute and ordinance, that can have no end, either in this world or iit the world to come. It is remarkable that though the Jews have ceased from the whole of their sacrificial system, so that sacrifices are no longer ollered by them in any part of the world, yet they all, in all their generations and in ajl countries, keep up the remembrance of the ])ass-over, and observe the feast of unleavened bread! But no lamb is sacrificed..Their s;icrifices have all totally ceased, ever since tlie destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Even the flesh that is used on this occasion, is partly roasted, and partly boiled, that it may not even resemble th.e iirimitive sacrifice; fw they deem it. unlawful to sacrifice out of Jerusalem. The truth is, the true Lamb of Cod that taketh away the sin of the world, has been offered; and they have no power to restore the ancient type. See on ver. 27.
Verse!>>. Seven days shall yc eat unleavened bread] Tliis has been considered as a distinct ordinance, and not essentially connected with the pass-over. The |)ass-over wa.? to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month; the feiLst of unlea\eneil bread began on tlie" ffieenth and lasted seven days: llie first and last ot' which were holy convocations.
Tliut soul shall be cut off] There are thirty-six places, in which this excision or cutting off is tlireatened against the Jews for neglect of some particular duty; and «hat is imi)lied in the thing itself, is not well kno\\-n. Some think it means a. violent death; some a premature deadi: and some an ctern;J death. It is \ery likely that it means no more, tlian a sepai'ation from the rights and privileges of an Israelite; *o that after this excision, the person was ecnsidcred as a mere stranger, who had neither lot nor part in Israel,, nor any right to the blessings of the covenant. 1 his is probably what St. Paul means, Rom. ix. 3. But we naturally su]jpose this punishment was not inflicted, but on those wfio h;Vl shev-^ed a marked and obstinate contempt ibr the divine authority This punishment appears to have been nearly the same with excommunication amon^ tli,e Christians: and from this general notion of the cutting off,. the Ciiristian excommunication seems to have been borrowed.
Xerm IG. In the fivt day — and in the seienth Jay there shall be a holy convocation] This is tile first place, where we meet with the account of aa. assembly collected for the mere purpose of rehsious worship. Such a.—semblies are called holy coniocatioiis, Vhich is a very appropriate ajipellation for a religious ass-embly: they were called togollier by the express command of God; and \vere to be employed in a work of holiness: «-i,-3"2 mikru, coiitocalion, is a word of similar nupyrt with the Greet
1 7 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
18 ''In the first vionth, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 '' Seven days shall there be no leaven foi;nd in your houses: for whosoever eateth that wiiich is leavened, "^ even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Isj-ael, 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 pass-over-
E;cl(^tlTl-^, which we commonly translate church, and which properly signifies an assenilily convened by public call.
All. Exod.
Verse 17. Selfsiime diiy] avi?3 beetsem — in the body of this day, or in the strength of this day — probably they began their march.'ibout day-break, called here the body or strenfiih of the day; and in Deut. xvi. 1. by night, some time before the sun rose.
Verse 19. No leaven fonnd in your houses'] To meet the letter of this precept in the fullest manner possible, the Jews, on the eve of this festival, in.stitute the most rigorous search through every part of their houses, not only removing all leavened bread, but sweeping every part clean, that no crum of bread shall he left that Iiad any leaven in it. And so strict were they in their observance of the letter of this law, that if even a mouse was seen to run across the floor with a crum of bread in its mouth, they considered the whole house as polluted, and began their purification afresh. Vv'e have already seen that leaien was an emblem of sin, because it proceeded from corruption; and the jiutting away of this, implied the turning to God with simplicity and uprightness of heart. See on ver. 8. and the note on ver. 27.
Verse 21. Kill the pass-nver.'] Tliat is, the lamb, which wis called the paschal or pass-over lamb; the animal that was to be sacrificed on this occasion, got the name of the insiitnlion itself: thus the word covenant is put often for the sacrifice offered in making the covenant — so the rock was Christ, 1 Cor. X. 4. bread and u;ine, the body and blood of Christ, Mark xiv. '2'3,2i. St. Paul copies the expression, 1 Cor. v. 7. Christ our pass-over (that is, our paschal laml)) is sacrificed for us.
Verse 22. A biincfi of hyssop'] The original word ditx csob has been variously translated >nu.ik, rosemary, polypody of the 'Mall mint, origanum, marjoram, and hyssop; the latter seems
22 ^ And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and " strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
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 the door, and "will not suffer ' the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever,
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord wll give you, *" ac« cording 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?
to be the most proper. Parkhurst says it is named from its detersive and cleansing qualities, whence it was used in sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb, in cleansing the leprosy. Lev. xiv. 4, 6, 51, 52. in composing the water of purification,, Numb. xix. 6. and sprmkling it, ver. 18. It was a type of the purifying virtue of the bitter suflerings of Christ. And it is plain tiom P.sal. h. 9. that the Psalmist understood its meaning. Among botanists, Hyssop is described as " a genus of the gyinnospermia (naked seeded) order, belonging to the didynamia class of plants. It has under shrubby, low, bushy stalks, growing a foot and a half high; small, spear-shaped, close-sitting, opposite leaves, witli several smaller ones ri.sing from the same joint; and all the stalks and branches terminated by erect whorled spikes of flowers of diflt:Tent colours, in the varieties of the plant. Tlie leaves have an aromatic smell, and a warm pungent taste. The leaves of this plant are particularly recom- -. mended in humoral asthmas, and other disorders of the breast and lungs, and greatly promote ex])ectoration." Its medicinnl qualities, were probably the rea-on why this plant was so particularly recommended in the Scriptures.
Verse 20. What mean yc by this service?] The establishment of this service annually, was a very wise provisiuti to keep up in remembrance this wonderful deliverance, i'roin the remotest anticjuity, the institution of feasts, games, &c. has been j used to keep up the memoi-y of past grand events. Hence | God instituted the sabbath, to keep up the remembrance of the creation; ami the pass-over, to keep up the remembrance of tlie deliverance frotn Egypt. All the other feasts were instituted on similar reasons. The.lews never took their sons to the tabernacle or temjile till they were tuelre years of age. nor sullercJ them to eat of th ■ flesh of any victim, tdl they iiad theraselvcs oflertd a iucrifice at the temple, which they were cut
27 That ye shall say, ■" It is tlie sacrifice of the Lord's pass-over, who jiassed over the houses ol'thc cliikheii of ^orAW jgj.jjgj j^ Egyi)t, wlien lie smote the Egj'ptians, and delivered our iiouses. And the people " bowed the head and worshipped.
'J8 And the children of Israel went
permitted to do before tlie twelfth year of their age. It was at this age that Joseph and Mary took our hle.sscil Lord to the temple, probably for the fir.st time, to ofler his sacrifice. — See Calmet.
Verse 27. It is the sitcrificc of the Lord's pass-ovtrl Wc have already intimated, that the pa.-cluil iamb was an illustrious type of Christ; and we shall find, that every ihinij in this account is topical, or reiiresiiitative. 1. Tht- bondage and aftUetion of the people of Israel may be considtred as emblems of the hard slavery and w retcheilness consequent on a state of sinfulness. Satan reigns over both body and soul,.bringing the whole into subjection to the law of sin and death; while various evil tempers, pas>ions, lusts, and irregular.appetites, act as subordinate tormentors, making the lives of;lhe vassals of sin bitter, because of the rigour l>y which they 'are obliged to serve. Reader, is this thy case.' The mercy ■cf Goel project* the redemption of man froni this cruel bondage and opprtssicn; and a sacrifict is appointed for the occasion, by God himself; to be offered with partievilar and significant rites and ceremonies, all of which rcprest nted the passion and dealh of our blessed Lord; and tlie great end for winch he became a $aciijice, viz. the redemption of a lost world from the power, the guilt, and the pollution of sin, &c. And it is ^vorthy cf remark, 1st, That the aniiivtrsury or annual commemoration of the pas-over was stnctly and religiously kept by the Jews on the day, and hour of the day, on which the original transaction took place, throughout all their succeeding generations. 2dly, Tliat on one of these anniversaries, and, as many suppose, on the very day and hour on which the paschal lamb was originally offered, our blessed Lord expired on the cross ■ for the salvation of the world. 3dly, Tliat after the destruction of Jerusalem, the paschal lamb ceased to be otlered by the Jews throughout the world, though they i,'ontinue to hold the annii versary of the pass-over, but ■a-ilhout (int/ sacrifice, notwithstanding their deep-rooted inveterate antipathy against the Author and grace of the gospel. 4thly, That the sacrament of the Lord's supper was instituted to keep this true jiaschal sacrifice in commemoration, and that this has been religiously observed by the whole Christian world (one very small class of Christians excepted) from the foundation of Christiauity to the present day! 5thly, That the Jews were commanded to eat the pas- 1 chal lamb; and our Lord, commemorating the pass-over, coin- ' mjnded his disciples, saying. Take eat, riiis is iny body, which \ is given for^ozt; do this, in reincinbranct of ME. In the communion service of the Church of England, the spirit and design bolii of the type and antitype, are most e.\pressi\ely condensed; into one point of view, in the address to the communicant. " Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee; and FEED upon iiiM, in thy //cart, by i.mth with rilANKSuiviNe;." Thus, Cod continues the memorial of that grand transaction ' which lie lias said should be an ortlinance for cxct; eviduitly meaning llKTcby, that the paschal lamb shoidd be the away, and "did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, sodid they. i.
'29 ^ " And it came to pass, that at -'*''' °' •^"'"- midnifrltt 'tiie Louo.smote all the firstborn in the land of Eg}i)t, ' tioni the firstborn of Pharaoh
significator till the passion and death of Christ; and that afterwards bread and ii'irie taken sacranieiitally, in commemoration of his crucifixion, should be the conlimial rcprcsentutivcs of that sacrifice till the tiid of the world. Thus the pat-s-over in itself, and in its icfcreitce, is an ordinance for ever; and thus the words of the Lord are literally fulfillii!. Reader, li an» from this, L That if thou art not rescind from the thraldom of sin, thou mu^t perish fer ever. 2. That notliing less than the power and mercy of CJoil can set thee free. 3. That Cioel will save thee in no other way, than by bringing thee out of thy sinful state, and from thy wicked }iractices and companions. 4. I'hat m order to thy redemption, it was absolutely necess;iry that the Son of God should take thy nature upon him, anil die in thy stead. 5. That unless the blood of this.sacrifice be s|)riiikled, in its atoning efficacy and merits, on thy heart and conscience, the guilt and [)ower of thy sin cannot be taken away. G. That <is the blood of the paschal iamb must be sprinkled on every house, in order to the preservation of its inhabitants, so there must be a personal appHcalioii of the blood of the cross, to thy conscience, to take away tliy sins. 7. As it w as not enough that the pass-over was instituted, but the blood must be sprinkled on the lintels and door-po>ts of every hou?e, to make the rite etlectual to the salvation of each individual; so, it is not enough that Christ should have taken human nature upon him, and died for the sin of the world; for no man who has the opportunity of hearing the gospel, is saved by that death, who does not, by faith, get a personal application of It to Ins own heart. 8. That tho.-*e who wish for an application of the atoning blood, must receive this spiritual pass-over, with a perfect readiness to depart from the land of their captivity, and travel to the rest that remains for the people of God: it being impossible, not only to a gross sinner, continuing such, to be finally saved (however he may presume upon the mercy of tioel) but also to a v:orldly-minded man, to. gel to the kingdom of Ciod; for Christ died to save mfrom the present evil world, according to the xuill of God. 9. Tliat in order to commemorate aright, in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the great atonement made for the sin of the world, all leaven of malice, bitterness, and insincerity, must be put.away; as God will have no man to {lartake of this mystery w ho does not fully enter into its spirit and meaning. See 1 Cor. v. 7, S.
Verse 29. Smote till the firstborn} If we take the term firstborn ill its literal sense only, \vc. shall be led to conclude, that in a vast number of the house* of the Egyptians there could have been no death, as it is not at all likely that every firstborn child, of every Egyptian, family, was still aUve; and that all the firstborn of their cattle still remained. And yet it is.'aid vcr. 30. that there was not a house iihere there was not one dead. The word, therefore, must not be taken in its literal sense only. Eroni its use in a great variety of places in the Scriptures, it is evident that it means the chief, most e.rcellent, best bcloixd, most (listinguiihiJ, &.C. In this sense our blessed Lord
that sat on his tlirone, unto the firstborn of the captive that ii-as in the "" dungeon; and all the firstborn of
all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there
was a '' great cry in Egypt; for there xcas not a
house where there n'as not one dead. 31 ^ And " he called for Moses and Aaron by
is called the firstborn nf even/ creature, Goloss. i. lo. and, die FIRSTBORN among riUDiTj hreViren, Rom. viii. 29. diat \s, he is more excellent than all creatures, and greater than all the children of men. In the same sense we may understand Rev. i. 5. where Christ is called the FiRST-HEGOTTEN,f;ow the dead, i. e. llie chief of all that have ever visited the empire of death, and on whom death has had any power; and the oiili/ one, who by his own might, quickened himself. In the same sense wisdom is represented as being brought forth before all the creatures, and being possessed by the Lord in the beginning of his ways, Prov. viii. 22 — 30. that is, the ivisdom of God is peculiarly conspicuous in the production, arrangement, and government of every part of the creation. So Ephraim is called the Lord's FiRSTBOK.N, Jer. x.xxi. 9. And the people of Israel are often called by the same name, see Exod. iv. 22. Israel is my son, my riRSTUORN: that is, the people in vhom I particularly delight, and whom I shall especially support and defend. And because the firstborn are, in general, peculiarly dear to their parents, and because among the Je\vs, they had especial and ^ peculiar privileges, whatever was most dear, most valuable, and most prized, was thus denominated. So Micah vi. 7. Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Shall I give up the most belated child I have, he that is most dear and. H(orf necessary to me, in order to make an atonement for my sins? In like manner, the prophet Zech. xii. 10. speaking of the conversion of the Jews to the gospel of Christ, represents them as looking on him ivhom they have pierced, and being as one that is hi bitterness for his FIRSTBORN: that is, they shall feel distress and anguish as those ivho had lost their most beloved child. So the chinch triumphant in the kingdom of God are called, Hcb. xii. 23. the general assembly and church of the iirstbokx, i. e. the most noble and excellent of all human, if not created beings. So Homer, II. iv. v. 102. Apvi'K fffkiToyoviv fcl-i x.?.uri'/ty.'.'.TOfj.<Siv. " A hecatonib oflanibs aW firstlings of the flock." That is, the most excellent of thci r kind. In a contrary sense, whra the word firstborn is joined to anodier that signifies any kind of misery or disgrace, it then signifies the depth of misery, die utmost disgrace. So the first- BOR.N of the poor, Isai. xiv. 30. signifies the most abject, destitute, and impovtrished. The riRsrBoRN of death. Job xviii. 1.3. means the most horrible kind of death. So in the threatening against Pharaoh, chap. xi. 5. where he infonns him that he will slay all the firstborn, froin the firstborn of I'littraok that sitteth upon the throne, to the fir.ithorn of the maidservant that is behin I the mill, he takes in the very highest and lowest conditions of life. As there was no state in Egypt superior to the throne, so there was none inferior to that of the female slave that ground at the mill. The prophet llabakkiik seems to fix
from among my people, " both ye and the children of Israel •, and go, serve tlic Lord, as ye have said.
52 ^ Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and ^ bless me also.
53 ^ And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of tlie land in haste; for they said, " V^e he all dead men.
34 And the people took their dough before
this as the sense in which the word is used here; for speaking of llie plagues of Egypt in general, and the salvation \vhich God atlbrded his people, he says, chap. iii. 13. Thou wenteat forth for the salvation of thy people — thou woundedst the head (t'NI rosh, the chief, the most excellent) of the house of the wicked — of Pharaoh and Uie Egyptians. And the author of' the book of Wisdom understood it in the same way. The master and the servant were punished after one manner; and tike as the king, so suffered the common people — for in one mo— ment the noblest offspring of them was destroyed: chap, xviii, 11, 12. And in no other sense can we understand the word" in Psal. Ixxxix. 27. where, among the promises of God to David, we fmd the following. Also I luill make him my vm^-vJ born, higher than tlie kings of the earth; in which passage, the latter clause explains the former: David, as king, should be the firstborn of God, i. e. he should be higher than the kings of the earth — the most eminent potentate in the universe. In this sense, therefore, we should understand the passage in' question: the most eminent person in every family in Egypt, as well as those who were literally the firstborn, being slain inf this plague. Calmet and some other critics particularly contend for this sense.
Verse 30. There was a great cryl No people in the universef were more remarkable for their mourning's than the Egyp-* tians, especially in matters of religion: they whipped, beat, tore themselves, and howled in all the excess of grief. When a relative died, the people left the house, ran into the streets, and howled in the most lamentable and frantic manner, seef Diod. Sicul. lib. i. and Herod, lib. ii. c. 85, 86. And this latter author, happening to be in Egypt on one of their solemnities, saw myriads of jieople whipping and beating themselves in this manner, lib. ii. c. GO. and see Mr. Bryant on the Plagues of Egypt, wl'.ere many examples are given, p. 162, &c. How dreadful then must the scene of horror and distress appear, when there was not one house or family in Egypt where there was not one dead; and according to their custom, all the family running out into theslreets, bewailing thiscalamityf
Verse 31. Called for Moses and Awon^ Tliat is, he sent the me.^^sage here mentioned to them; for it d<ies not appear that he had any farther interview with INIoses and Aaron, after what is mentioned chap. x. 28, 29. and xi. 8. — See the notes there.
Verse 33. The Egyptians w-ere urgent upon the people] They felt much, they feared more; and thertlore wished to get immediately rid of a peojile, on whose account they found they were smitten with so many and such dreadful plagues.
Verse 34. They took their dough before it icas leavened, &C.] There was no time now lo make any regular preparation for t.icir dep;u"ture, such was the universal hurry and confusion;
35 And the children of Israel did
according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians ''jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
36 " And the Loud gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto
them such things as they required. And "^ they spoiled the Egyptians.
37 If And ' the children of Israel i-.
38 And " a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much
Thft Israelites could carry but little of their hotiseliold utensils with tiiciii; but some, such as they kneaded their bread and kept tiieir ineal in, they were oblisjed to carry with them. The kneading (roug/is of the Arabs are comparatively smiiU wooden Iwwls, which, after kneading their bread in, serve tliem as dishes, out of which they eat iheir victuals. And as to these beins; bo\md up in their clothes, no i,nore may be intended than their wrapping them up in tiieir lontf loose garments, or kin what is still used among the Arabs, and called h'/kcs, which [is along kind of blanket, something resembling a Highland ^plaid, in which they often carry their provisions, wrap theni-?selvcs by day, and sleep at night. Dr..Shaw lia< been particular in his description of this almost entire wardrobe of an Arab. He says, they are of dilicrcnt si/.es and of diflerent '(pmlitics, but generidly about six yards in length, and five or six feet broad. lie supposes, that what we call Ruth's veil, Ruth iii. 15. was a hifkc, and tliat tl;e same is to be understoixt of the clothes of the Israelites mentioned in this verse. Sec his Travels, p. 224. 4to. edition.
Verse 3j. Thci/ borrowed of lite Egi/ptian.i] See the note on chap. iii. 22. v here the very exceptionable term borrow is j largely explained.
I N'erse 37. From Rameses to Siircothl Rameses appears to I have been another name for Goshen, tliough it is probable, that there might have been a chief city or village in that land, where the cliildren of Israel rendezvoused, previously to their depuiure, called Rameses. As the term Succoth signifies booths, or tents, it is probable that this place was so named I from its being the place of the first eucaiiipment of tlie Israelites.
Six hundred thousand'] Tliat is, there was this number of efleetive men, twenty years old and \ipwards, who were able to I go out to war. But this was not the whole mmiber, and there- I fore the sacred writer says, tiiey were ab'xd 600,000; for when tlie nuinbers were taken about thirteen months after this, they were found to be.v?'.r hiiiulrcd end three thousand, fwi hundred and Ji/ti/, without reckoning those under twenty years of age, or any of tli<' tribe oi' Levi, see Numb. i. 4a, 4C. But besides those on foot, or foot-inen, there weie no doubt many old and comparatively infinii pasons, Avlio rode on camels, horses, or a>ses, I>esiues tlie immense numl)er of women and children, which must lia\e been at least three lo'one of the others; and tlie mixed multitude, ver. 38. probably of refugees in Fgypt, who came to sojourn there, because of the dearih whicii had obliged them to emigrate from their own countries; and who now seeing that the hand of.Tehovaii Wris a^uiust the Egyptians, and tiiV/i tiie Israelites, availed tlieinselves of the general consternalitm, and took their leave of Egypt; chusing Israel's God for thtU portion, and his people for their companions. Such a company moving at once, and emigrating from their own country, the world never before, nor since, witnessed; no eloubt upwards of two millions of souls, liesiiles their /2oe^i and herds, even ten/ much cattle; and what but the mere providence of God could support such a multitude, and in the wilderness too, where to this day the necessaries of life are not to be found.'
Suppose we take them at a rough calculation, thus, two millions will be found too small a number.
Ellectivc men, 20 years old and upward.... 000,000 Two-thirds of whom we may suppose were married, in which case their wives would amount to.. 400,000 These, on an average, might have 5 children under 20 years of age, an estimate which falls considerably short of the number of children each family must have averaged, in order to produce from 75 persons, in A. M. 2398, upwards of 600,000 effective men in A. M. 2494, a period of only 196
Their children IGJ.OOO
Total... 3,203,000 Besides a multitude of old and inf.rm persons, who would be obliged to ride on raniels and asses, ttc. and who nuist, from the ])ro|)ortion that such bear to the young and healthy, amount to many thousands more! Exclude even the I.evites ami their families, and upwards of three millions will be left.
l!;;d not Moses the fullest proof of his divine mission, htnever could base juit himself at the head of such an iinincn>e concourse of |K'o;)le, who, \vithout the most especial and eileetive Providence, must all liaie perished for lack oi' food. This single circumstance, unconnected w ith aH others, is an ample demonstration of the divine mi.'sion of ]\lo.scs, and of the authenticity and divine inspiration of the Pentateuch. To suppose that an im))Oslor, or one pretendiiii^ only to a divine call, coidd have ventured to place himself at the head of such an immense body of yieople, to lead them through a trackless wilderness, utterly unprovided for such a journey, to a land as yet in the possession of several j)owerful nations, whom thej' must txpel before they could posses., the eor.ntry, would have implied such an extreme of madness and folly, as has never been witnessed in an iudividuiil; and such a blind credulity in the multitude, as is unparalelled in tne annals of mankind 1; The succeeding stupendous events proved, that IMoscs had the
A. HI. £513. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes jl it came to pass, that all "the hosts a.m. 2513. B.C. ^91. ofthedoush, which tliev brono;ht forth:' of the Lord went out from the land ^' ^: ^fl'