Commentary on the Holy Bible

Verse 12. Certainly I ivill be ivith thee] This great event shall not be left to thy wisdom and to th). power; my counsel shall direct thee, and my power shall bring all these mighty things to pass.

And this shall be a token] Literally, And this to thee for a sign, i. e., this miraculous manifestation of the burning bush shall be a proof that I have sent thee; or, My being luilh thee, to encourage thy heart, strengthen thy hands, and enable thee to work miracles, shall be to thyself and to others the evidence of thy Divine mission.

Ye shall serve God upon this mountain.] This was not the sign, but God shows him, that in their return from Egypt they should take this mountain in their way, and should worship him in this place. There may be a prophetic allusion here to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. As Moses received his commands here, so likewise should the Israelites receive theirs in the same place. After all, the Divine Being seems to testify a partial predilection for this mountain, for reasons that are not expressed. See the

Verse 13. They shall say — What is his name?] Does not this suppose that the Israelites had an idolatrous notion even of the Supreme Being 1 They had probably drank deep into the Egyptian superstitions, and had gods many and lords many; and Moses conjectured that, hearing of a supernatural deliverance, they would inquire who that God was by whom it was to be eflTected. The reasons given here by the rabbins are too refined for the Israelites at this time. " When God," say they, '^judgeth his creatures, he is called D''n'7X Elohim; when he luarreth against the wicked, he is called niN3i* Tsebaoth; but when he showeth mercy unto the world, he is called mri' Yehovah.'''' It is not likely that the Israelites had much knowledge of God or of his ways at the time to which the sacred text refers; it is certain they had no written word. The book of Genesis, if even written, (for some suppose it had been composed by Moses during his residence in Midian,) had not yet been communicated to the people; and being so long without any revelation, and perhaps without even the form of Divine worship, their minds being degraded by the state of bondage in which they had been so long held, and seeing and hearing little in religion but the superstitions of those among whom they sojourned, they could

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

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.

1 6 Go, and ^ gather the elders of Israel cogether, and say unto them, The Lord God have no distinct notion of the Divine Being. Moses himself might have been in doubt at first on this subject, and he seems to have been greatly on his guard against illusion; hence he asks a variety of questions, and endeavours, by all prudent means, to assure himself of the truth and certainty of the present appearance and commission. He well knew the power of the Egyptian magicians, and he could not tell from these first views whether there might not have been some delusion in this case. God therefore gives him the fullest proof, not only for the satisfaction of the people to whom he was to be sent, but for his own full conviction, that it was the supreme God who now spoke to him.

Verse 14. I am that I am] DTIN 1'2'N HTIX Eheyeh asher Eheyeh. These words have been variously understood. The Vulgate translates Ego sum qui sum, / am luho am. The Septuagint, Ej'w eifii 6 Uv, I am he who exists. The Si/riac, the Persic, and the Chaldee preserve the original words without any gloss. The Arabic paraphrases them, The Eternal, ivho passes not away; which is the same interpretation given by Abul Farajius, who also preserves the original words, and gives the above as their interpretation. The Targum of Jonathan, and the Jerusalem Targum paraphrase the words thus: " lie who spake, and the world was; who spake, and all things existed." As the original words literally signify, / will be ivhat I ivill be, some have supposed that God simply designed to inform Moses, that what he had been to his fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he would be to him and the Israelites; and that he would perform the promises he had made to his fathers, by giving their descendants the promised land. It is difficult to put a meaning on the words; they seem intended to point out the eternity and self-existence of God. Plato, in his Parmenides, where he treats sublimely of the nature of God, says, Ov6' apa ovoua eariv avru, nothintr can express his nature; therefore no name can be attributed to him. See the conclusion of this chapter, and on the word Jehovah, chap, xxxiv. 6, 7.

peared unto me, saying, ^ I have surely visited you, and seen that w^hich is done to you in Egypt:

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.

1 8 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

here referred to is that which immediately precedes, DTlSx mrr' Yehovah Elohim, which we translate the Lord God, the name by which God had been known from the creation of the world, (see Gen. ii. 4,) and the name by which he is known among the same people to the present day. Even the heathens knew this name of the true God; and hence out of our niiT' Yehovah they formed their Jao, Jeve, and Jove; so that the word has been literally fulfilled, This is my memorial unto all generations. See the note on the word Elohim, Gen. i. I. As to be self-existent and eternal must be attributes of God for ever, does it not follow that the uljjh leolam, for ever, in the text signifies eternity? " This is my name to eternity — and my memorial," "IT "n"? ledor dor, " to all succeeding generations." While human generations continue he shall be called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; but when time shall be no more, he shall be Jehovah Elohim. Hence the first expression refers to his eternal existence, the latter to the discovery he should make of himself as long as time should last. See Gen. xxi. 33. Diodorus Siculus says, that " among the Jews, Moses is reported to have received his laws from the God named Jao," law, i. e., Jeue, Jove, or Jeve; for in all these ways the word Din"' Yehovah may be pronounced; and in J^is way I have seen it on Egyptian monuments. See Died., lib. 1., c. xciv.

Verse 16. Elders of Israel] Though it is not likely the Hebrews were permitted to have any regular government at this time, yet there can be no doubt of their having such a government in the time of Joseph, and for some considerable time after; the elders of each tribe forming a kind of court of magistrates, by which all actions were tried, and legal decisions made, in the Israelitish community.

/ have surely visited you] An exact fulfilment of the prediction of Joseph, Gen. 1. 24, God tvill surely visit you, and in the same words too.

Verse 18. They shall hearken to thy voice] This assurance was necessary to encourage him in an enterprise so dangerous and important.

with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey

into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to

19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt * will not let you go, ^ no, not by a mighty hand.

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.

21 And ''I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty.

22 ^ But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, 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 jipoil ^ the Egyptians.

Three days'' journey into the wilderness] Evidently intending Mount Sinai, which is reputed to be about three days' journey, the shortest way, from the land of Goshen. In ancient times, distances were computed by the time required to pass over them. Thus, instead of miles, furlongs, &c., it was said, the distance from one place to another was so many days'', so many hours'' journey; and it continues the same in all countries where there are no regular roads or highways.

Verse 19. I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand] When the facts detailed in this history have been considered in connection with the assertion as it stands in our Bibles, the most palpable contradiction has appeared. That the king of Egypt did let them go, and that by a mighty hand, the book itself amply declares. We should therefore seek for another meaning of the original word. nSi velo, which generally means and not, has sometimes the meaning of if not, unless, except, &c.; and in Beckers Bible, 1549, it is thus translated: / am sure that the kyng of Egypt wyl not let you go, EXCEPT ivyth a myghty hand. This import of the negative particle, which is noticed by Noldius, Heb. Part., p. 328, was perfectly understood by the Vulgate, where it is translated nisi, unless; and the Septuagint in their eav fitj, which is of the same import; and so also the Coptic. The meaning therefore is very plain: The king of Egypt, who now profits much by your servitude, will not let you go till he sees my hand, stretched out, and he and his nation be smitten with ten plagues. Hence God immediately adds, ver. 20: / will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders — and after that, he will let you go.

Verse 22. Every woman shall borrow] This is certainly not a very correct translation: the original word hn'^ shaal signifies simply to ask, request, demand, require, inquire, &c.; but it does not signify to borrow in the proper sense of that word, though in a very few places of Scripture it is thus used. In this and the parallel place, chap. xii. 35, the word signifies to ask or demand, and not to borrow, which is a gross mistake into which scarcely any of the versions, ancient or modern, have fallen, except our own. The Septuagint has aiTrjcet, she shall ask; the Vulgate, postulabit, she shall demand; the Syriac, Chaldee, Samaritan, Samaritan Version, Coptic, and Persian, are the same as the Hebreiv. The European versions are generally correct on this point; and our common English version is almost the sole transgressor: I say, the common version, which, copying the Bible published by Becke in 1549, gives us the exceptionable term borrow, for the original ^ii.'\it shaal, which in the Geneva Bible, and Barker^s Bible of 1G15, and some others, is rightly translated aske. God commanded the Israelites to ask or demand a certain recompense for their past services, and he inclined the hearts of the Egyptians to give liberally; and this, far from being a matter of oppression, wrong, or even charity, was no more than a very partial recompense for the long and painful services which we may say six hundred thousand Israelites had rendered to Egypt, during a considerable number of years. And there can be no doubt that while their heaviest oppression lasted, they were permitted to accumulate no kind of property, as all their gains went to their oppressors.

Our exceptionable translation of the original has given some countenance to the desperate cause of infidelity; its abettors have exultingly said: " Moses represents the just God as ordering the Israelites to borrow the goods of the Egyptians under the pretence of returning them, whereas he intended that they should march off with the booty." Let these men know that there was no borrowing in the case; and that if accounts were fairly balanced, Egypt would be found still in considerable arrears to Israel. Let it also be considered that the Egyptians had never any right to the services of the Hebrews. Egypt owed its policy, its opulence, and even its political existence, to the Israelites. What had Joseph for his important services ■? Nothing! He had neither district, nor city, nor lordship in Egypt; nor did he reserve any to his children. All his services were gratuitous; and being animated with a better hope than any earthly possession could inspire, he desired that even his bones should be carried up out of Egypt. Jacob and his family, it is true, were permitted to sojourn in Goshen, but they 'were not provided for in that place; for they brought their cattle, their goods, and all that they had into Egypt, Gen. xlvi. 1,6; so that they had nothing but the bare land to feed on; and had built treasure cities or fortresses, we know not how many; and two whole cities, Pithom and Raamses, besides; and for all these services they had no compensation whatever, but were besides cruelly abused, and obliged to witness, as the sum of their calamities, the daily murder of their male infants. These particulars considered, will infidelity ever dare to produce this case again in support of its worthless pretensions 1

Jewels of silver, <^c.] The word ''Sd keley we have already seen signifies vessels, instruments, weapons, &c., and may be very well translated by our English term, articles or goods. The Israelites got both gold and silver, probably both in coin and in plate of different kinds; and such raiment as was necessary for the journey which they were about to undertake.

Ye shall spoil the Egyptians.] The verb S^J natsal signifies, not only to spoil, snatch away, but also to get away, to escape, to deliver, to regain, or recover. Spoil signifies what is taken by rapine or violence; but this cannot be the meaning of the original word here, as the Israelites only asked, and the Egyptians without,'ear, terror, or constraint, freely gave. It is worthy of remark that the original word is used, 1 Sam. xxx. 22, to signify the recovery of property that had heen taken away by violence: " Then answered all the wicked men, and men of Belial, of those that went with David, Because they went not with us we will not give them aught of the spoil (SSk/HO mehashsHxhAh) that we have recovered, IJ^yn "la^N asher hitstsalnu. In this sense we should understand the word here. The Israelites recovered a part of their property — their wages, of which they had been most unjustly deprived by the Egj'ptians.

In this chapter we have much curious and important information; but what is most interesting is the name by which God was pleased to make himself known to Moses and to the Israelites, a name by which the Supreme Being was afterwards known among the wisest inhabitants of the earth. He who IS and who AVILL BE what he IS. This is a proper characteristic of the Divine Being, who is, properly speaking, the only Being, because he is ijidependent and ete7-nal; whereas all other beings, in whatsoever forms they may appear, are derived, finite, changeable, and liable to destruction, decay, and even to annihilation. When God, therefore, announced himself to Moses by this name, he proclaimed his own eternity and immateriality; and the very name itself precludes the possibility of idolatry, because it was impossible for the mind, in considering it, to represent the Divine Being in any assignable shape; for who could represent Being or Existence by any limited form? And who can have any idea of a form that is unlimited 1 Thus, then, we find that the first discovery Avhich God made of himself was intended to show the people the simplicity and spirituality of his nature; that while they considered him as Being, and the Cause of all Being, they might be preserved from all idolatry for ever. The a 306 very name itself is a proof of a Divine revelation; for it is not possible that such an idea could have ever entered into the mind of man, unless it had been communicated from above. It could not have been produced by reasoning, for there were no premises on which it could be built, nor any analogies by which it could have been formed. We can as easily comprehend eternity as we can being, simply considered in and of itself, when nothing of assignable forms, colours, or qualities existed, besides its infinite and illimitable self.

To this Divine discovery the ancient Greeks owed the inscription which they placed above the door of the temple of Apollo at Delphi: the whole of the inscription consisted in the simple monosyllable EI, THOU ART, the second person of the Greek substantive verb e I fit, Jam. On this inscription Plutarch, one of the most intelligent of aU the Gentile philosophers, made an express treatise, Tvepi rov EI ev AeA^oif, having received the true interpretation in his travels in Egypt, whither he had gone for the express purpose of inquiring into their ancient learning, and where he bad doubtless seen these words of God to Moses in the Greek version of the Septuagint, which had been current among the Egyptians (for ivhose sake it teas first made) about four hundred years previously to the death of Plutarch. This philosopher observes that " this title is not only proper, but peculiar to God, because He alone is being; for mortals have no participation of true being, because that which begins and ends, and is continually changing, is never one nor the same, nor in the same state. The deity on whose temple this word was inscribed was called Apollo, knoXluv, from a, negative, and ttoTiv^, many, because God is ONE, his nature simple, his essence uncompounded.''^ Hence he informs us the ancient mode of addressing God was, " EI 'EN, Thou art One, ov jap irolXa to Oelov tariv, for many cannot be attributed to the Divine nature: Kai ov nporepov ovSev etrriv, ov6' varepov, oviSe //eAXov, ovSe Trap(j;:(r}/XEVov, ovSe npeajSvTEpov, ov6e v£(,>- TEpov, in which there is neither first nor last, future nor past, old nor young; aXk' Eig av evi ro) vvv to aei TTEirXripuKE, but as being one, fills up in one NOW an eternal duration." And he concludes with observing that " this word corresponds to certain others on the same temple, viz., rNS2ei SEAYTON, Know thyself; as if, under the name EI, Thou Art, the Deity designed to excite men to venerate Him as eternally existing, ug ovra JtcTravrof, and to put them in mind of the frailty and mortality of their own nature."

What beautiful things have the ancient Greek philosophers stolen from the testimonies of God to enrich their own works, without any kind of acknowledgment! And, strange perversity of man! these are the very things which we so highly applaud in the heathen copies, while we neglect or pass them by in the Divine originals!

Moses continuing to express his fear that the Israelites would not credit his Divine mission, 1, God, to strengthen his faith, and to assure him that his countrymen would believe him, changed his rod into a serpent, and the serpent into a rod, 2-5; made his hand leprous, and afterwards restored it, 6,7; intimating that he had now endued him with power to work such miracles, and that the Israelites would believe, 8; and farther assures him that he should have power to turn the water into blood, 9. Moses excuses himself on the ground of his not being eloquent, 10, and God reproves him for his unbelief, and promises to give him supernatural assistance, 11, 12. Moses expressing his utter unwillingness to go on any account, God^ is angry, and then promises to give him his brother Aaron to be his spokesman, 13—16, and appoints his rod to be the instrument of working miracles, 17. Moses returns to his relative Jethro, and requests liberty to visit his brethren in Egypt, and is pgrmittted, 18. God appears to him in Midian, and assures him that the Egyptians who sought his life were dead, 19. Moses, with his wife and children, set out on their journey to Egypt, 20. God instructs him what he shall say to Pharaoh, 21-23. He is in danger of losing his life, because he had not circumcised his son, 24. Zipporah immediately circumcising the child, Moses escapes unhurt, 25, 26. Aaron is commanded to go and meet his brother Moses; he goes and meets him at Horeb, 27. Moses informs him of the commission he had received from God, 28. They both go to their brethren, deliver their message, and loork miracles, 29, 30. The people believe and adore God, 31.

\ ND Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not heme, nor hearken unto my voice: for

they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, * A rod.

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.

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he

Verse 1. They will not believe me] As if he had said. Unless I be enabled to work miracles, and give thera proofs by extraordinary ivorks as well as by ivords, they will not believe that thou hast sent me.

Verse 2. A rod.] PIDO matteh, a staff, probably his shepherd's crook; see Lev. xxvii. 32. As it was made the instrument of working many miracles, it was afterwards called the rod of God; see ver. 20.

Verse 3. A serpent] Of what sort we know not, as the word tSTIJ nachash is a general name for serpents, and also means several other things, see Gen. iii. 1: but it was either of a kind that he had not seen before, or one that he knew to be dangerous; for it is said, he fled from before it Some suppose the staff was changed into a crocodile; see on chap. vii. 7.

Verse 4. He put forth his hand, and caught it] Considering the light in which Moses had viewed this serpent, it required considerable faith to induce him thus implicitly to obey the command of God; but he obeyed, and the noxious serpent became instantly the miraculous rod in his hand! Implicit faith and obedience conquer all difficulties; and he who believes in God, and obeys him in all things, has really nothing to fear.

put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

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.

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.

ample of what is called an imperfect or unfinished speech, several of which occur in the sacred writings. It may be thus supplied: Do this before them, that they may believe that the Lord — hath appeared unto thee. Verse 6. His hand was leprous as snow.] That is, the leprosy spread itself over the whole body in thin ivhite scales; and from this appearance it has its Greek name Xenpa, from Xetzi^, a scale. Dr. Mead says, " I have seen a remarkable case of this in a countryman, whose whole body was so miserably seized with it, that his skin was shining as if covered ivith snow; and as the furfuraceous scales were daily rubbed off, the flesh appeared quick or raw underneath." The leprosy, at least among the Jews, was a most inveterate and contagious disorder, and deemed by them incurable. Among the heathens it was considered as inflicted by their gods, and it was supposed that they alone could remove it. It is certain that a similar belief prevailed among the Israelites; hence, when the king of Syria sent his general, Naaman, to the king of Israel to cure him of his leprosy, he rent his clothes, saying, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? 2 Kings v. 7. Ihis appears, therefore, to be the reason why God chose this sign, as the instantaneous infliction and removal of this disease were demonstrations which all would allow of

liis hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, * it was turned again as his other flesh.

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.

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

the sovereign power of God. We need, therefore, seek for no other reasons for this miracle: the sole reason is sufficiently obvious.

Verse 8. If they will not believe — the voice of the first sign, d^c] Probably intimating that some would be more difficult to be persuaded than others: some would yield to the evidence of the first miracle; others vii iJd hesitate till they had seen the second; and others would not believe till they had seen the water of the Nile turned into blood, when poured upon the dryland;

Verse 10. /am not eloquent] O'l^T ti^'K N^ lo ish debarim, I am not a man of ivords; a periphrasis common in the.Scriptures. So Job xi. 2, D'HUty IV'X ish sephathayim, a man of lips, signifies one that is talkative. Psa. cxl. 12, \y\in K/'X ish lashon, a 7nan of tongue, signifies a prattler. But how could it be said that Moses was not eloquent, when St. Stephen asserts. Acts vii. 23, that he was mighty in ivords as well as in deeds? There are three ways of solving this difficulty: 1. Moses might have had some natural infirmity, of a late standing, which at that time rendered it impossible for liim to speak readily, and which he afterwards overcame; so that though he was not then a tnan of ivords, yet he might afterwards have been mighty in ivords as well as deeds. 2. It is possible he was not intimately acquainted with the Hebrew tongue, so as to speak clearly and distinctly in it. The first forty years of his life he had spent in Egypt, chiefly at court; and though it is very probable there was an affinity between the two languages, yet they certainly were not the same. The last forty he had spent in Midian, and it is not likely that the pure Hebrew tongue prevailed there, though it is probable that a dialect of it was there spoken. On these accounts Moses might find it difficult to express himself with that readiness and persuasive flow of language, which he might deem essentially necessary on such a momentous occasion; as he would frequently be obliged to consult his memory for proper expressions, wliich would necessarily produce frequent hesitation, and general slowness of utterance, which he might think would ill suit an ambassa-

of the river ^ shall become blood upon the dry 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.

1 1 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?

1 2 Now therefore go, and I will be ™ with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

1 3 And he said, O my Lord, ° send, I pray thee, by the hand of him luhom thou ° wilt send.

dor of God. 3. Though Moses was slow of speech, yet when acting as the messenger of God his word was with power, for at his command the plagues came and the plagues were stayed; thus was he mighty in ivords as well as in deeds: and this is probably the meaning of St. Stephen.

By the expression, Jieither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, he might possibly mean, that the natural inaptitude to speak readily, which he had felt, he continued to feel, even since God had begun to discover himself; for though he had wrought several miracles for him, yet he had not healed this infirmity. See on chap. vi. 12.

Verse 11. Who hath made man'' s mouth? <^c.] Cannot he who formed the mouth, the whole organs of speech, and hath given the gift of speech also, cannot he give utterance 1 God can take away those gifts and restore them again. Do not provoke him: he who created the eye, the ear, and the mouth, hath also made the blind, the deaf, and the dumb.

Verse 12. I will be with thy mouth] The Chaldee translates. My WORD, meimeri, shall be with thy mouth. And Jonathan ben Uzziol paraphrases, / and my WORD will be with the speech of thy mouth. See on Gen. xv. 1, and Lev. xxv. 10..

Verse 13. Send — by the hand of him whom thou will send.] Many commentators, both ancient and modern, have thought that Moses prays here for the immediate mission of the Messiah; as if he had said: "Lord, thou hast purposed to send this glorious person at some time or other, I beseech thee send him now, for who can be sufficient to deliver and rule this people but himself alone 1" The Hebrew nSti'n no NJ nSiy shelach na beyad tishlach literally translated is. Send now (or, / beseech thee) by the hand thou wilt send; which seems to intimate. Send a person more fit for the work than I am. So the Septuagint: Upoxeipiaai Svva/jLevov al'kov, bv anoaTeleic Elect another powerfiu person, luhom thou wilt send. It is right to find out the Messiah wherever he is mentioned in the Old Testament; but to press scriptures into this service which have not an obvious tendency that way, is both impro-

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, V he Cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

15 And 1 thou shalt speak unto him, and ' put words in his mouth: and I will be with

per and dangerous. I am firmly of opinion that Moses had no reference to the Messiah when he spoke these words.

Verse 14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses] Surely this would not have been the case had he only in modesty, and from a deep sense of his own unfitness, desired that the Messiah should be preferred before him. But the whole connection shows that this interpretation is unfounded.

Is not Aaron the Levile thy brother 1] Houbigant endeavours to prove from this that Moses, in ver. 13, did pray for the immediate mission of the Messiah, and that God gives him here a reason why this could not be, because the Levitical priesthood was to precede the priesthood of our Lord. Is not Aaron the Levite, &c. Must not the ministry of Aaron be first established, before the other can take place? Why then ask for that which is contrary to the Divine counsel? From the opinion of so great a critic as Houbigant no man would wish to dissent, except through necessity: however, I must say that it does appear to me that his view of these verses is fanciful, and the arguments by which lie supports it are insufficient to establish his point.

I know that lie can speak well.] XIH "^DT* IDT O 'HJ^T yadati ki dabher yedahber hu, I knoio that in speaking he loill speak. That is, he is apt to talk, and has a ready utterance.

He Cometh forth to meet thee] He shall meet thee at my mount, (ver. 27,) shall rejoice in thy mission, and most heartily co-operate with thee in all things. A necessary assurance, to prevent Moses from suspecting that Aaron, who was his elder brother, would envy his superior call and office.

Verse 15. 7 tvill be with thy mouth, and with his mouth] Ye shall be both, in all things which I appoint you to do in this business, under the continual inspiration of the Most High.

Verse 16. He shall be thy spokesman] Literally, He shall speak for thee (or in thy stead) to the people.

He shall be to thee instead of a mouth] He shall convey every message to the people; and thou shall be to him instead of God — thou shalt deliver to him what I communicate to thee.

Verse 17. Thou shalt take this rod] From the story of Moses's rod the heathens have invented the fables of the thyrsus of Bacchus, and the caduceus of Mercury. Cicero reckons five Bacchuses, one of which, according to Orpheus, was born of the river

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.

17 And thou shalt take "this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

Nile; but, according to the common opinion, he was born on the banks of that river. Bacchus is expressly said to have been exposed on the river Nile, hence he is called Nilus, both by Diodorus and Macrobius; and in the hymns of Orpheus he is named Myses, because he was drawn out of the water. He is represented by the poets as being very beautiful, and an illustrious warrior; they report him to have overrun all Arabia with a numerous army both of men and women. He is said also to have been an eminent lawgiver, and to have wTitten his laws on tioo tables. He always carried in his hand the thyrsus, a rod wreathed with serpents, and by which he is reported to have wrought many miracles. Any person acquainted with the birth and exploits of the poetic Bacchus will at once perceive them to be all borrowed from the life and acts of Moses, as recorded in the Pentateuch; and it would be losing time to show the parallel, by quoting passages from the book of Exodus.

The caduceus or rod of Mercury is well known in poetic fables. It is anothercopy of the rod of Moses. He also is reported to have WTOught a multitude of miracles by this rod; and particularly he is said to kill and make alive, to send souls to the invisible world and bring them back from thence. Homer represents Mercury taking his rod to work miracles precisely in the same way as God commands Moses to take his.

Cyllenian Hermes now call'd forth the souls Of all the suitors; with his golden wand ■ Of power, to seal in balmy sleep lohose eyes Soe''er he will, and open them again. Cowper.

Virgil copies Homer, but carries the parallel farther, tradition having probably furnished him with more particulars; but in both we may see a disguised copy of the sacred history, from which indeed the Greek and Roman poets borrowed most of their beauties.

Turn viRGAM CAPiT: hac animas ille evocat Oreo Pallentes, alias sub tristia Tartara mittit; Dat somnos, adimitque, et lumina morte resignat. Illa fretus agit ventos, et turbida tranat.

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 which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet aHve. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

1 9 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for ^ all the men are dead which sought thy life.

But first he grasps within his awful hand

The mark of sovereign power, the magic wand;

With this he draws the ghosts from hollow graves,

With this he drives them down the Stygian leaves;

With this he seals in sleep the wakeful sight,

And eyes, though closed in death, restores to light.

Thus arm'd, the god begins his airy race,

And drives the racking clouds along the liquid space.

Many other resemblances between the rod of the ■poets and that of Moses, the learned reader will readily recollect. These specimens may be deemed sufficient.

Verse 18. Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren] Moses, having received his commission from God, and directions how to execute it, returned to his father-in-law, and asked permission to visit his family and brethren in Egypt, without giving him any intimation of the great errand on which he was going. His keeping this secret has been attributed to his singular modesty: but however true it might be that Moses was a truly humble and modest man, yet his prudence alone was sufficient to have induced him to observe silence on this subject; for, if once imparted to the family of his father-in-law, the news might have reached Egypt before he could get thither, and a general alarm among the Egyptians would in all probability have been the consequence; as fame would not fail to represent Moses as coming to stir up sedition and rebellion, and the whole nation would have been armed against them. It was therefore essentially necessary that the business should be kept secret.

In the Septuagint and Coptic the following addition is made to this verse: Msro 6e rac viiepag rac ■n-oTiXag CKeivac erelevTrjaev 6 jBaaiXevc AiyvTZTOv After these many days, the king of Egypt died. This was probably an ancient gloss or side note, which in process of time crept into the text, as it appeared to throw light on the following ver.se.

Verse 19. In Midian] This was a new revelation, and appears to have taken place after Moses returned to his father-in-law previous to his departure for

Verse 20. His wife and his sons] Both Gershom and Eliezer, though the birth of the latter has not yet been mentioned in the Hebrew text. See the note on chap. ii. 22.

Set them upon an ass] The Septuagint reads tlie word in the plural, em ra virol^vyia, upon asses, as it

20 And Moses took his wife and a. m. 2513. 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.

2 1 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.

The rod of God] The sign of sovereign power, by which he was to perform all his miracles; once the badge of his shepherd''s office, and now that by which he is to feed, rule, and protect his people Israel.

Verse 21. But I ivill harden his heart] The case of Pharaoh has given rise to many fierce controversies, and to several strange and conflicting opinions. Would men but look at the whole account without the medium of their respective creeds, they would find little difficulty to apprehend the truth. If we take up the subject in a theological point of view, all sober Christians will allow the truth of this proposition of St. Augustine, when the subject in question is a person who has hardened his own heart by frequently resisting the grace and Spirit of God: Non ohdurat Deus impertiendo malitiam, sed non impei-tiendo misericordiam; Epist. 194, ad Sixtum, "God does not harden men by infusing malice into them, but by not imparting mercy to them." And this other will be as readily credited: Non operatur Deus in homine ipsam duritiam cordis; sed indurare eum dicitur quern mollire noluerit, sic etiam exccRcare quern illuminare noluerit, et repellere eum quem noluerit vocare. *' God does not work this hardness of heart in man; but he may be said to harden him whom he refuses to soften, to blind him whom he refuses to enlighten, and to repel him whom he refuses to call." It is but just and right that he should withhold those graces which he had repeatedly offered, and which the sinner had despised and rejected. Thus much for the general principle. The verb pTH chazak, which we translate harden, literally signifies to strengthen, confirm, make hold or courageous; and is often used in the sacred writings to excite to duty, perseverance, Sic, and is placed by the Jews at the end of most books in the Bible as an exhortation to the reader to take courage, and proceed with his reading and with the obedience it requires. It constitutes an essential part of the exhortation of God to Joshua, chap. i. 7: Only be thou STRONG, prn p"l rak chazak. And of Joshua's dying exhortation to the people, chap, xxiii. 6: Be ye therefore very courageous, Dnpim vachazaktem, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the laiv. Now it would be very strange in these places to translate the word harden: Only be thou hard. Be ye therefore very hard; and yet if we use the word hardy, it would sr.lt the sense and context perfectly

22 And thou shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, * Israel is my son, ^ even my first-born:

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 first-born.

well: Only be thou hardy; Be ye therefore very HARDY. Now suppose we apply the word in this way to Pharaoh, the sense would be good, and the justice of God equally conspicuous. I will make his heart hardy, bold, daring, presumptuous; for the same principle acting against God's order is presumption, which when acting according to it is undaunted courage. It is true that the verb nt^p kashah is used, chap. vii. 3, which signifies to render stiff, tough, or stubborn, but it amounts to nearly the same meaning with the above.

All those who have read the Scriptures with care and attention, know well that God is frequently represented in them as doing what he only permits to be done. So because a man has grieved his Spirit and resisted his grace he withdraws that Spirit and grace from him, and thus he becomes bold and presumptuous in sin. Pharaoh made his own heart stubborn against God, chap. ix. 34; and God gave him up to judicial blindness, so that he rushed on stubbornly to his own destruction. From the whole of Pharaoh's conduct we learn that he was bold, haughty, and cruel; and God chose to permit these dispositions to have their full sway in his heart without check or restraint from Divine influence: the consequence was what God intended, he did not immediately comply with the requisition to let the people go; and this was done that God might have the fuller opportunity of manifesting his power by multiplying signs and miracles, and thus impress the hearts both of the Egyptians and Israelites with a due sense of his omnipotence and justice. The whole procedure was graciously calculated to do endless good to both nations. The Israelites must be satisfied that they had the true God for their protector; and thus their faith was strengthened. The Egyptians must see that their gods could do nothing against the God of Israel; and thus their dependence on them was necessarily shaken. These great ends could not have been answered had Pharaoh at once consented to let the people go. This consideration alone unravels the mystery, and explains every thing. Let it be observed that there is nothing spoken here of the eternal state of the Egyptian king; nor does any thing in the wiioie of the subsequent account authorize us to believe that God hardened his heart against the influences of his oion grace, that he might occasion him so to sin that his justice might consign him to hell. This would be such an act of flagrant injustice as we could scarcely attribute to the worst of men. He who leads another into an oflfence that he may have a fairer pretence to punish him for it, or brings him into such circumstances that he cannot avoid com-

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord ^ met him, and sought to ® kill him.

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.

mitting a capital crime, and then- hangs him for it, is surely the most execrable of mortals. What then should we make of the God of justice and mercy should we attribute to him a decree, the date of which is lost in eternity, by which he has determined to cut off from the possibility of salvation millions of millions of unborn souls, and leave them under a necessity of sinning, by actually hardening their hearts against the influences of his own grace and Spirit, that he may, on the pretext of justice, consign them to endless perdition ■? Whatever may be pretended in behalf of such unqualified opinions, it must be evident to all who are not deeply prejudiced, that neither the justice nor the sovereignty of God can be magnified by them. See farther on chap. ix. 16.

Verse 22. Israel is my son, even my first-born\ That is, The Hebrew people are unutterably dear to me. Verse 23. Let my son go, thai he may serve me] Which they could not do in Goshen, consistently with the policy and religious worship of the Egyptians; because the most essential part of an Israelite's worship consisted in sacrifice, and the animals which they offered to God were sacred among the Egyptians. Moses gives Pharaoh this reason chap. viii. 26.

I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.] Which, on Pharaoh's utter refusal to let the people go, was accordingly done; see chap. xii. 29.

Verse 24. By the xoay in the inn] See the note on Gen. xlii 27. The account in this and the following verse is very obscure. Some suppose that the 23d verse is not a part of the message to Pharaoh, but was spoken by the Lord to Moses; and that the whole may be thus paraphrased: " And I have said unto thee, (Moses,) Send forth {vhvi shallach) my son, (Gershom, by circumcising him,) that he may serve me, (which he cannot do till entered into the covenant by circumcision,) but thou hast refused to send him forth; behold, (therefore,) / ivill slay thy son, thy first-born. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, (when he was on his journey to Egypt,) that Jehovah met him, and sought (threatened) to kill him (Gershom.) Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut away the foreskin of her son, and caused it to touch his feet, (Jehovah's, who probably appeared in a bodily shape; the Septuagint call him the Angel of the Lord,) and said unto him, A spouse by blood art thou unto me. Then he (Jehovah) ceased from him (Gershom.) Then she said, A spouse by blood art thou unto me, because of this circumcision.'' That is, I who am an alien have entered as fully into covenant with thee by doing this act, as mv son has on whom this act has been performed. The meaning of the whole passage seems to be this: —

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

37 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness ' to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in ^ the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 And Moses ^ told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the " signs which he had commanded him.

29 And Moses and Aaron ^ went and ga

The son of Moses, Gershom or Eliezer, (for it does not appear which,) had not been circumcised, though it would seem that God had ordered the father to do it; but as he had neglected this, therefore Jehovah was about to have slain the child, because not in covenant with him by circumcision, and thus he intended to have punished the disobedience of the father by the natural death of his son. Zipporah, getting acquainted with the nature of the case and the danger to which her first-bom was exposed, took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son. By this act the displeasure of the Lord was turned aside, and Zipporah considered herself as now allied to God because of this circumcision. According to the law, (Gen. xvii. 14,) the uncircumcised child loas to be cut off from his people., so that there should be no inheritance for that branch of the family in Israel. Moses therefore, for neglecting to circumcise the child, exposed him to this cutting off, and it was but barely prevented by the prompt obedience of Zipporah. As circumcision was the seal of that justification by faith which comes through Christ, Moses by neglecting it gave a very bad example, and God was about to proceed against him with that severity which the law required.

The sharp stone mentioned ver. 25 was probably a knife made oi flint, for such were anciently used, even where knives of metal might be had, for every kind of operation about the human body, such as embowelling for the purpose of embalming, circumcision, &c. Ancient authors are full of proofs of these facts. See the note on Gen. 1. 2.

It is probable that Zipporah, being alarmed by this circumstance, and fearing worse evils, took the resolution to return to her father's house with her two sons. See chap,.xviii. 1, &c.

Verse 27. The Lord said to Aaron'\ See ver. 14. By some secret but powerful movement on Aaron's mind, or by some voice or angelic ministry, he was now directed to go and meet his brother Moses; and 80 correctly was the information given to both, that they arrived at the same time on the sacred mountain.

Verse 30. Aaron spake all the words^ It is likely that Aaron was better acquainted with the Hebrew tongue than his brother, and on this account he became the spokesman. See on ver. 8.

Did the signs^ Turned the rod into a serpent, made the hand leprous, and changed the water into blood. See on ver. 8 and 9.

thered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

30 ° And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

3 1 And the people p believed: and when they heard that the Lord had <J visited the children of Israel, and that he "" had looked upon their affliction, then ^ they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Verse 3 1. The people believed] They credited the account given of the Divine appointment of Moses and Aaron to be their deliverers out of their bondage, the miracles wrought on the occasion confirming the testimony delivered by Aaron.

They bowed their heads and worshipped.^ See a similar act mentioned, and in the same words. Gen. xxiv. 26. The bowing the head, &c., here, may probably refer to the eastern custom of bowing the head down to the knees, then kneeling down and touching the earth with the forehead. This was a very painful posture and the most humble in which the body could possibly be placed. Those who pretend to worship God, either by prayer or thanksgiving, and keep themselves during the performance of those solemn acts in a state of perfect ease, either carelessly standing or stupidly sitting, surely cannot have a due sense of the majesty of God, and their own sinfulness and unworthiness. Let the feelings of the body put the soul in remembrance of its sin against God. Let a man put himself in such a position (kneeling for instance) as it is generally acknowledged a criminal should assume, when coming to his sovereign and judge to bewail his sins, and solicit forgiveness.

The Jewish custom, as we learn from Rabbi Maymon, was to bend the body so that every joint of the backbone became incurvated, and the head was bent towards the knees, so that the body resembled a boiu; and prostration implied laying the body flat upon the earth, the arms and legs extended to the uttermost, the month and forehead touching the ground. In Matt. viii. 2 the leper is said to worship our Lord, ■KpocEKwet avru- but in Luke v. 12 he is said to have fallen on his face, ireauv etti irpoaunov. These two accounts show that he first kneeled down, probably putting his face down to his knees, and touching the earth with his forehead; and then prostrated himself, his legs and arms being both extended. See on Gen. xvii. 3.

The backwardness of Moses to receive and execute the commission to deliver the children of Israel, has something very instructive in it. He felt the importance of the charge, his own insufliciency, and the awful responsibility under which he should be laid if he received it. Who then can blame him for hesitating? If he miscarried (and how difficult in such a case not to misrnrry!) he must account to a jealous

God, whose justice required him to punish every delinquency. What should ministers of the Gospel feel on such subjects 1 Is not their charge more important and more awful than that of Moses? How few consider this! It is respectable, it is honourable, to be in the Gospel ministry, but who is sufficient to guide and feed the flock of God f If through the pastor's unfii-. ness or neglect any soul should go astray, or perish through want of proper spiritual nourishment, or through not getting his portion in due season, in what a dreadful state is the pastor! That soul, says God, shall die in his iniquities, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hands! Were these things dulyconsidered by those who are candidates for the Gospel ministry, who could be found to undertake it? We should then indeed have the utmost occasion to pray the Lord of the harvest, eKpalleiv, to thrust out labourers into the harvest, as no one, duly considering those things would go, unless thrust out by God himself. O ye ministers of the sanctuary! tremble for your own souls, and the souls of those committed to your care, and go not into this work unless God go with you. Without his presence, unction, and approbation, ye can do nothing.

Moses and Aaron open their commission to Pharaoh, 1. He insultingly asks who Jehovah is, in whose name they require him to dismiss the people, 2. They explain, 3. He charges them with making the people disaffected, 4, 5; and commands the task-masters to increase their work, and lessen their means of performing it, 6—9. The task-masters do as commanded, and refuse to give the people straw to assist them in making brick, and yet require the fulfilment of their daily tasks as formerly, when furnished with all the necessary means, 10—13. The Israelites failing to produce the ordinary quantity of brick, their own officers, set over them by the task-masters, are cruelly insulted and beaten, 14. The officers complain to Pharaoh, 15, 16; but find no redress, 17, 18. The officers, finding their case desperate, bitterly reproach Moses and Aaron for bringing them iiito their present circumstances, 1 9—2 1. Moses retires, and lays the matter before the Lord, and pleads with him, 22, 23.

A ND 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.

2 And Pharaoh said, '' Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?

Verse 1. And afterward Moses and Aaron went] This chapter is properly a continuation of the preceding, as the succeeding is a continuation of this; and to preserve the connection of the facts they should be read together.

How simply, and yet with what authority, does Moses deliver his message to the Egyptian king! Thus saith JEHOVAH, God of Israel, Let my people go. It is well in this, as in almost every other case where mri'' Jehovah occurs, to preserve the original word: our using the word Lord is not sufficiently expressive, and often leaves the sense indistinct.

Verse 2. Who is the Lord] Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice 1 What claims has he on?we? I am under no obligation to him. Pharaoh spoke here under the common persuasion that every place and people had a tutelary deity, and he supposed that this Jehovah might be the tutelary deity of the Israelites, to whom he, as an Egyptian, could be under no kind of obligation. It is not judicious to bring this question as a proof that Pharaoh was an atheist: of this the text affords no evidence.

Verse 3. Three days^ journey] The distance from Goshen to Sinai; see chap. iii. 18.

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.

And sacrifice unto the Lo7-d] Great stress is laid on this circumstance. God required sacrifice; no religious acts which they performed could be acceptable to him without this. He had now showed them that it was their indispensable duty thus to worship him, and that if they did not they might expect him to senA the pestilence — some plague or death proceeding immediately from himself, or the sivord — extermination by the hands of an enemy. The original word IDT deber, from ^3T dabar, to drive off, draw under, dfC, which we translate pestilence from the Latin pestis, the plague, signifies any kind of disease by which an extraordinary mortality is occasioned, and which appears from the circumstances of the case to come immediately from God. The Israelites could not sacrifice in the land of Egypt, because the animals they were to offer to God were held sacred by the Egyptians; and they could not omit this duty, because it was essential to religion even before the giving of the law. Thus we find that Divine justice required the life of the animal for the life of the transgressor, and the people were conscious, if this were not done, that God would consume them with the pestilence or the sword. From the foundation of the world the true religion required sacrifice. Before, under, and after the 'aw, this was

Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your ^ burdens.

5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are ^ many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the ^ task-masters of the people, and their officers, saying,

7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did

deemed essential to salvation. Under the Christian dispensation Jesus is the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world; and being still the Lamb newly slain before the throne, no man cometh unto the Father but by him.

" In this first application to Pharaoh, we observe," says Dr. Dodd, " that proper respectful submission which is due from subjects to their sovereign. They represent to him the danger they should be in by disobeying their God, but do not so much as hint at any punishment that would follow to Pharaoh."

Averse 4. Wherefore do i/e, Moses and Aaron] He hints that the Hebrews are in a state of revolt, and charges Moses and Aaron as being ringleaders of the sedition. This unprincipled charge has been, in nearly similar circumstances, often repeated since. Men who have laboured to bring the mass of the common people from ignorance, irreligion, and general profligacy of manners, to an acquaintance with themselves and God, and to a proper knowledge of their duty to him and to each other, have been often branded as being disaffected to the state, and as movers of sedition among the people! See on ver. 17.

Let the people] 1^"13r\ taphriu, from J?"l£3 para, to loose or disengage, which we translate to let, from the Anglo-Saxon lectan lettan, to hinder. Ye hinder the people from working. Get ye to your burdens. " Let religion alone, and mind your work." The language not only of tyranny, but of the basest irreligion also.

Verse 5. The people of the laJid now are many] The sanguinary edict had no doubt been long before repealed, or they could not have multiplied so greatly.

Verse 6. The task-masters of the people and their officers] The task-masters were Egyptians, (see on chap. i. 11,) the officers were Hebrews; see below, ver. 14. But it is probable that the task-masters, chap. i. 11, who are called D'DO nty sarey missim, princes of the burdens or taxes, were different from those termed task-masters here, as the words are different; D'lyjJ nogesim signifies exactors or oppressors — persons who exacted from them an unreasonable proportion either of labour or money.

thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

9 ^ Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

10 And the task-masters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying. Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

1 1 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not aught of your work shall be diminished.

an inferior sort of officers, who attended on superior officers or magistrates to execute their orders. They are supposed to have been something like our sheriffs.

Verse 7. Straw to make brick] There have been many conjectures concerning the use of straw in making bricks. Some suppose it was used merely for burning them, but this is unfounded. The eastern bricks are often made of clay and straw kneaded together, and then not burned, but thoroughly dried in the sun. This is expressly mentioned by Philo in his life of Moses, who says, describing the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, that some were obliged to work in clay for the formation of bricks, and others to gather straw for the same purpose, because straw is the bond by which the brick is held together, 'izlivdov yap axvpa deafioc. — Phil. Oper., edit. Mang., vol. ii., p. 86. And Philo's account is confirmed by the most intelligent travellers. Dr. Shaw says that the straw in the bricks still preserves its original colour, which is a proof that the bricks were never burned. Some of these are still to be seen in the cabinets of the curious; and there are several from ancient Babylon now before me, where the straw which was amalgamated with the clay is still perfectly visible. From this we may see the reason of the complaint made to Pharaoh, ver. 16: the Egyptians refused to give the necessary portion of straw for kneading the bricks, and yet they required that the full tale or number of bricks should be produced each day as they did when all the necessary materials were brought to hand; so the people were obliged to go over all the cornfields, and pluck up the stubble, which they were obliged to substitute for straw. See ver. 12.

Verse 8. And the tale of the bricks] Tale signifies the number, from the Anglo-Saxon fcSBiian, to number, to count, &c.

For they be idle; therefore they cry — Let us go and sacrifice] Thus their desire to worship the true God in a proper manner was attributed to their unwillingness to work; a reflection which the Egyptians (in principle) of the present day cast on those who, while they are fervent in spirit serving the Lord, are ot slothful in business. See below, ver. 17. a

Egypt, to gather stubble instead of straw.

13 And the task-masters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your ' daily tasks, as when there was straw.

14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's task-masters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task, i» making brick both yesterday and to-day, as heretofore?

1 5 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?

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.

17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.

Verse 14. And the officers — luere beaten] Probably bastinadoed; for this is the common punishment in Egypt to the present day for minor offences. The manner of it is this: the culprit lies on his belly, his legs being turned up behind erect, and the executioner gives him so many blows on the soles of the feet with a stick. This is a very severe punishment, the sufferer not being able to walk for many weeks after, and 3ome are lamed by it through the whole of their lives.

Verse 16. The fault vs in thine own people.'] nXDn chatath, the sin, is in thy own people. 1st. Because they require impossibilities; and, 2dly, because they punish us for not doing what cannot be performed.

Verse 17. Ye are idle — therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice] It is common for those who feel unconcerned about their own souls to attribute the religious earnestness of others, who feel the importance of eternal things, to idleness or a disregard of their secular concerns. Strange that they cannot see there is a medium! He who has commanded them to be diligent in business, has also commanded them to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. He whose diligence in business is not connected with a true religious fervour of spirit, is a lover of the world; and whatever /orwi he may have he has not the power of godliness, and therefore is completely out of the road to salvation.

Verse 19. Did see that they were in evil case] They saw that they could neither expect justice nor mercy; that their deliverance was very doubtful, and their case almost hopeless.

Verse 21. The Lord look upon you, and judge] These were hasty and unkind expressiorvs; but the afflicted must be allowed the privilege of complaining;

1 9 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks of your daily task.

20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

21'' And they said unto them. The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour ^ 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.

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said. Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

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.

it is all the solace that such sorrow can find; and if in such distress words are spoken which should not be justified, yet the considerate and henevolent will hear them with indulgence. God is merciful; and the stroke of this people was heavier even than their groaning.

Put a sword in their hand] Given them a pretence which they had not before, to oppress us even unto death.

Verse 22. And Moses returned unto the Lord] This may imply, either that there was a particular place into which Moses ordinarily went to commune with Jehovah; or it may mean that kind of turning of heart and affection to God, which every pious mind feels itself disposed to practise in any time or place. The old adage will apply here: " A praying heart never lacks a praying place.''''

Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?] It is certain that in this address Moses uses great plainness of speech. Whether the offspring of a testy impatience and undue familiarity, or of strong faith which gave him more than ordinary access to the throne of his gracious Sovereign, it would be difficult to say. The latter appears to be the most probable, as we do not find, from the succeeding chapter, that God was displeased with his freedom; we may therefore suppose that it was kept within due bounds, and that the principles and motives were all pure and good. However, it should be noted, that such freedom of speech with the Most High should never be used but on very special occasions, and then only by his extraordinary messengers.

Verse 23. He hath done evil to this people] Their misery is increased instead of being diminished.

Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.'] The marginal reading is both literal and correct: And delivering thou hast not delivered. Thou hast begu7i the work by giving us counsels and a corannission, but thou hast not brought the people from under their bondage. Thou hast signified thy pleasure relative to their deliverance, but thou hast not brought them out of the hands of their enemies.

1. It is no certain proof of the displeasure of God that a whole people, or an individual, may be found in a state of great oppression and distress; nor are affluence and prosperity any certain signs of his approbation. God certainly loved the Israelites better than he did the Egyptians; yet the former were in the deepest adversity, while the latter were in the height of prosperity. Luther once observed, that if secular prosperity were to be considered as a criterion of the Divine approbation, then the grand Turk must be the highest in the favour of God, as he was at that time the most prosperous sovereign on the earth. An observation of this kind, on a case so obvious, was really well calculated to repress hasty conclusions drawn from these external states, and to lay down a correct rule of judgment for all such occasions.

remember that we have sinned against him, and deserve nothing but punishment from his hand. We should therefore bow before him with the deepest humiliation of soul, and take that caution of the wise man, " Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be iew,'''' Eccles. v. 2. There is the more need to attend to this caution, because many ignorant though well-meaning people use very improper, not to say indecent, freedoms in their addresses to the throne of grace. With such proceedings God cannot be well pleased; and he who has not a proper impression of the dignity and excellence of the Divine Nature, is not in such a disposition as it is essentially necessary to feel, in order to receive help from God. He who knows he has sinned, and feels that he is less than the least of all God's mercies, will pray with the deepest humility, and even rejoice before God with trembling. A solemn awe of the Divine Majesty is not less requisite to successful praying, than faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. When we have such a com ■ mission as that of Moses, we may make use of his freedom of speech; but till then, the publican's prayer will best suit the generality of those who are even dignified by the name of Christian — Lord, be merciful to ME, a SINNER!

God encourages Moses, and promises to show wonders upon Pharaoh, and to bring out his people with a strong hand, 1. He confirms this promise by his essential name JEHOVAH, 2, 3; by the covenant he had made with their fathers, 4, 5. Sends Moses with a fresh message to the Hebreios, full of the most gracious promises, and confirms the luhole by appealing to the nayne in ivhich his unchangeable existence is implied, 6—8. Moses delivers the message to the Israelites, but through anguish of spirit they do not believe, 9. He receives a neio commission to go to Pharaoh, 10, 11. He excuses himself on account of his unreadiness of speech, 12. The Lord gives him and Aaron a charge both to Pharaoh and to the children of Israel, 13. The genealogy of Reuben, 14; q/" Simeon, 15; of Levi, from whom descended Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, IG. The sons o/" Gershon, 17; o/ Kohath, 18; of Merari, 19. The marriage of Amram and Jochebed, 20. The sons of Izhar a7id Uzziel, the brothers of Amram, 21, 22. Marriage o/" Aaron and Elisheba, and the birth of their sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamav, 23. The sons o/Korah, the nephew of Aaron, 24. The marriage of Eleazar to one of the daughters of Putiel, and the birth o/* Phinehas, 25. These genealogical accounts introduced for the sake of showing the line oj descent of Moses and Aaron, 26, 27. A recapitulation of the commission delivered to Moses and Aaron, 29, and a repetition of the excuse formerly made by Moses, 30

do to Pharaoh: for ^ with a strong hand shall

he let them go, and with a strong hand ^ shall

NOTES ON CHAP. VL Verse 1. With a strong hand] npTH n^ yad chazakah, the same verb which we translate to harden; see on chap. iv. 21. The strong hand here means sovereign power, suddenly and forcibly applied. God purposed to manifest his sovereign power in the sight of Pharaoh and the Egyptians; in consequence of whicli Pharaoh would manifest his power and niithority ns

3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of ^ God Almighty,

sovereign of Egypt, in dismissing and thrusting out the people. See chap. xii. 31—33.

Verse 2. / am the Lord] It should be, / am JE- HOVAH, and without this the reason of what is said in the 3d verse is not sufficiently obvious.

Verse 3. By the name of God Almighty] ^"W Sk El-Shaddai, God All-sufficient; God the dispenser or pmirpr-out dP gifts. See on Gen. xvii. 1.

4 ^ And I have also established my covenant

with them, ^ to give them the land of Canaan,

■ 5 And ^ I have also heard the groaning of

But by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.'l This passage has been a sort of crux criticorum, and has been variously explained. It is certain that the name Jehovah was in use long before the days of Abraham, see Gen. ii. 4, where the words DTiSn nin'' Jehovah Elohim occur, as they do frequently afterwards; and see Gen. xv. 2, where Abraham expressly addresses him by the name Adonai Jehovah; and see the 7th verse, where God reveals himself to Abraham by this very name: And he said unto him, I am Jehovah, that brought thee out of TJr of the Chaldees. How then can it be said that by his name Jehovah he toas not knoivn unto them? Several answers have been given to this question; the following are the chief: — 1. The words should be read interrogatively, for the negative particle X; lo, not, has this power often in Hebrew. " I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, and by my name Jehovah was I not also made known unto them'?" 2. The name Jehovah was not revealed before the time mentioned here, for though it occurs so frequently in the book of Genesis, as that book was written long after the name had come into common use, as a principal characteristic of God, Moses employs it in his history because of this circumstance; so that whenever it appears previously to this, it is by the figure called prolepsis or anticipation. 3. As the name nin^ Jehovah signifies existence, it may be understood in the text in question thus: " 1 appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by my name God Almighty, or God All-sufficient, i. e., having all power to do all good; in this character I made a covenant with them, supported by great and glorious promises; but as those promises had respect unto their posterity, they could not be fulfilled to those fathers: but now, as Jehovah, I am about to give existence to all those promises relative to your support, deliverance from bondage, and your consequent settlement in the promised land." 4. The words may be considered as used comparatively: though God did appear to those patriarchs as Jehovah, and they acknowledged him by this name, yet it was but comparatively known unto them; they knew nothing of the power and goodness of God, in comparison of what the Israelites were now about to experience.

I believe the simple meaning is this, that though from the beginning the name Jehovah was knowm as one of the names of the Supreme Being, yet what it really implied they did not know, n'^ Sx El-Shaddai, God All-sufficient, they knew well by the continual

keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

6 Wherefore 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 of their bondage, and I will ^ redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments:

provision he made for them, and the constant protection he afforded them: but the name nin"' Jehovah is particularly to be referred to the accomplishment of promises already made; to the giving them a being, and thus bringing them into existence, which could not have been done in the order of his providence sooner than here specified: this name therefore in its power and significancy was not known unto them; nor fully known unto their descendants till the deliverance from Egypt and the settlement in the promised land. It is surely possible for a man to bear the name of a certain office or dignity before he fulfils any of its functions. King, mayor, alderman, magistrate, constable, may be borne by the several persons to whom they legally belong, before any of the acts peculiar to those offices are performed. The king, acknowledged as such on his coronation, is known to be such by his legislative acts; the civil magistrate, by his distribution of justice, and issuing warrants for the apprehending of culprits; and the constable, by executing those warrants. All these were knoion to have their respective names, but the exercise of their powers alone shows what is implied in being king, magistrate, and constable. The following is a case in point, which fell within my own knowledge.

A case of dispute between certain litigious neighbours being heard in court before a weekly sitting of the magistrates, a woman who came as an evidence in behalf of her bad neighbour, finding the magistrates inclining to give judgment against her mischievous companion, took her by the arm and said, " Come away! I told you you would get neither law nor justice in this place." A magistrate, who was as much an honour to his function as he was to human nature, immediately said, " Here, constable! take that woman and lodge her in Bridewell, that she may know there is some law and justice in this place."

Thus the worthy magistrate proved he had the power implied in the name by executing the duties of his office. And God who ivas known as Jehovah, the being who makes and gives effect to promises, was known to the descendants of the twelve tribes to be THAT Jehovah, by giving effect and being to the promises which he had made to their fathers.

Verse 4. I have also established my covenant] I have now fully purposed to give present effect to all my engagements with your fathers, in behalf of their posterity.

Verse 6. Say unto the children of Israel, /am the Lord, and I will bring you out, dfc] This confirm* the explanation given of ver. 3, which see.

God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out ° from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did p swear ^ to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I a7n the

9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: »■ but they hearkened not unto Moses for ^ anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

1 1 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

12 And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have ' not hearkened unto me; how then shall

Verse 7. I ivill take you to me for a people, dfc.^ This was precisely the covenant that he had made with Abraham. See Gen. xvii. 7, and the notes there.

And ye shall know that I am the Lord your God^ By thus fulfilling my promises ye shall know what is implied in my name. See on ver. 3.

But why should God take such a most stupid, refractory, and totally worthless people for his people ^ 1. Because he had promised to do so to their noble ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Judah, &c., men worthy of all praise, because in general friends of God, devoted to his will and to the good of mankind.

2. " That (as Bishop Warburton properly observes) the extraordinary providence by which they were protected, might become the more visible and illustrious; for had they been endowed with the shining qualities of the more polished nations, the effects of that providence might have been ascribed to their own wisdom."

3. That God might show to all succeeding generations that he delights to instruct the ignorant, help the weak, and save the lost; for if he bore long with Israel, showed them especial mercy, and graciously received them whenever they implored his protection, none need despair. God seems to have chosen the worst people in the universe, to give by them imto mankind the highest and most expressive proofs, that he wills not the death of a sinner, hut rather that he may turn from his iniquity and live.

Verse 8. Which I did swear'] 'T nx ^nxiyj nasathi eth yadi, I have lifted up my hand. The usual mode of making an appeal to God, and hence considered to be a form of swearing. It is thus that Isa. Ixii. 8 is to be understood: The Lord hath sivorn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength.

13 And the Lord spake 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.

14 These be the heads of their fathers' houses: '^ The sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

15 ^ And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish 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.

was become so extremely oppressive that they had lost all hope of ever being redeemed from it. After this verse the Samaritan adds, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians: for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than that ive should die in the loilderness. This appears to be borrowed from chap. xiv. 12.

Anguish of spirit] mi ^Yp kotzer ruach, shortness of spirit or breath. The words signify that their labour was so continual, and their bondage so cruel and oppressive, that they had scarcely time to breathe.

Verse 12. Uncircumcised lips?] The word Sv c^a^ which we translate uncircumcised, seems to signify any thing exuberant or superfluous. Had not Moses been remarkable for his excellent beauty, I should have thought the passage might be rendered protuberant lips; but as this sense cannot be admitted for the above reason, the word must refer to some natural impediment in his speech; and probably means a want of distinct and ready utterance, either occasioned by some defect in the organs of speech, or impaired knowledge of the Egyptian language after an absence of forty years. See the note on chap. iv. 10.

Verse 14. These be the heads] 'iyN"l rashey, the chiefs or captains. The following genealogy was simply intended to show that Moses and Aaron came in a direct line from Abraham, and to ascertain the time of Israel's deliverance. The whole account from this verse to ver. 26 is a sort of parenthesis, and does not belong to the narration; and what follows from ver. 28 is a recapitulation of what was spoken in the preceding chapters.

Verse 16. The years of the life of Levi] "Bishop Patrick observes that Levi is thought to have lived the longest of all Jacob's sons, none of whose ages are recorded in Scripture but his and Joseph's, whom Levi

17 y The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their famiHes.

18 And "^ the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the Hfe of Kohath xoere a hundred thirty and three years.

1 9 And ^ the sons of Merari; MahaU and Mushi: these are the famihes of Levi according to their generations.

20 And ^ Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the hfe of Amram It; ere a hundred and thirty and seven years.

22 And ^ the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.

23 And Aaron took him Ehsheba, daughter of ® Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife;

survived twenty-seven years, though he vv'as much the elder brother. By the common computation this would be twenty-three years: by Kennicott's computation at the end of Gen. xxxi., Levi's birth is placed twentyfour years before that of Joseph; his death, therefore, would be only three years later. But this is not the only difficulty in ancient chronologies. Kohath, the second son of Levi, according to Archbishop Usher was thirty years old when Jacob came into Egypt, and lived there one hundred and three years. He attained to nearly the same age with Levi, to one hundred and thirty-three years; and his son Amram, the father of Moses, lived to the same age with Levi. We may observe here how the Divine promise. Gen. xv. 16, of delivering the Israelites out of Egypt in i\ie fourth generation was verified; for Moses was the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Jacob.'''' — DoDD.

Verse 20. His father''s sister] imi dodatho. The true meaning of this word is uncertain. Parkhurst observes that Tn dod signifies an uncle in 1 Sam. x. 14; Lev. X. 4, and frequently elsewhere. It signifies also an uncle^s son, a cousin-german: compare Jer. xxxii. 8 with ver. 12, where the Vulgate renders 'TT dodi by patruelis mei, my paternal cousin; and in Amos vi. 10, for)'\)'\ dodo, the Targum has n'3'lp karibiah, his near relation. So the Vulgate, propinquus ejus, his relative, and the Septuagint, ol oiKetpi avTuv, those of their household. The best critics suppose that Jochebed was the cousin-german of Amram, and not his aunt. See chap. ii. 1.

Bare him Aaron and Moses] The Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, and one Hebrew MS. add, And Miriam their sister. Some of the best critics suppose these words to have been originally in the Hebrew text.

24 And the ^ sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the famiHes of the Korhites.

25 And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and ^ she bare 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.

27 These are they which ' spake to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ■" to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

28 And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,

Verse 21. Korah] Though he became a rebel against God and Moses, (see Num. xvi. 1, &c.,) yet Moses, in his great impartiality, inserts his name among those of his other progenitors.

Verse 23. Elisheha] The oath of the Lord. It is the same name as Elizabeth, so very common among Christians. She was of the royal tribe of Judah, and was sister to Nahshon, one of the princes; see Num.

Eleazar] He succeeded to the high priesthood on the death of his father Aaron, Num. xx. 25, &c.

Verse 25. Phinehas] Of the celebrated act of this person, and the most honourable grant made to him and his posterity, see Num. xxv. 7-13.

Verse 26. According to their armies.] DHNDi* tsibotham, their battalions — regularly arranged troops. As God had these particularly under his care and direction, he had the name of mXDX niiT' Yehovah tsebaoth, Lord of hosts or armies.

" The plain and disinterested manner," says Dr. Dodd, " in which Moses speaks here of his relations, and the impartiality wherewith he inserts in the list of them such as were afterwards severely punished by the Lord, are striking proofs of his modesty and sincerity. He inserts the genealogy of Reuben and Simeon, because they were of the same mother with Levi; and though he says nothing of himself, yet he relates particularly what concerns Aaron, ver. 23, who married into an honourable famUy, the sister of a prince of the tribe of Judah."

Verse 28. And it came to pass] Here the seventh chapter should commence, as there is a complete ending of the sixth with ver. 27, and the 30th verse of

Mission of Moses and Aaron.

• speak thou unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all

EXODUS. Obstinacy of Pharaoh faretold.

30 And Moses said before the a.m. 2513.

this chapter is intimately connected with the 1st verse of the succeeding.

The principal subjects in this chapter have been so amply considered in the notes, that little of importance remains to be done. On the nature of a covenant (see ver. 4) ample information may be obtained by -referring to Gen. vi. 18, and xv. 9—18, which places the reader will do well to consult.

Supposing Moses to have really laboured under jome defect in speech, we may consider it as wisely designed to be a sort of counterbalance to his other excellences: at least this is an ordinary procedure of Divine Providence; personal accomplishments are cised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken counterbalanced by mental defects, and mental imperfections often by personal accomplishments. Thus the head cannot say to the foot, I have no need of thee. And God does all this in great wisdom, to hide pride from man, and that no flesh may glory in his presence. To be contented with our formation, endowments, and external circumstances, requires not only much submission to the providence of God, but also much of the mind of Christ. On the other hand, should we feel vanity because of some personal or mental accomplishment, we have only to take a view of our ivhole to find sufficient cause of humiliation; and after all, the meek and gentle spirit only is, in the sight of God, of great price.

to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be ^ thy prophet.

2 Thou "= shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel cut of his land.

3 And ^ I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and * multiply my ^ signs and my wonders in the

Verse 1. / have made thee a god\ At thy word every plague shall come, and at thy command each shall be removed. Thus Moses must have appeared as a god to Pharaoh.

Shall be thy prophet.] Shall receive the word from thy mouth, and communicate it to the Egyptian king,

The dignified mission of Moses and Aaron t^Pharaoh—the one to b^ ^ God, the other as a prophet of the Most Hio-h, 1,2. The prediction that Pharaoh's heart should be hardened, that God mig.'.^ -n'Mttply,»„- si^ms and wonders in Egypt, that the inhabitants might know he alone loas the true God, 3-6. The age of Moses and Aaron, 7. God gives them directions how they should act before Pharaoh, 8, 9. Moses turns his rod into a serpent, 10. The magicians imitate this miracle, and Pharaoh's heart is hardened, 11-13. Moses is commanded to wait upon Pharaoh next morning when he should come to the river, and threaten to turn the waters into blood if he did not let the people go, 14-18. The waters in all the land of Egypt are turned into blood, 19, 20. The fish die, 21. The magicians imitate this, and Pharaoh's heart is again hardened. 22, 23. The Egyptians sorely distressed because of the bloody ivaters, 24 plague endures seven days, 25.

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.

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.

6 And Moses and Aaron * did as the Lord commanded them, so did they.

that I may have the greater opportunity to multiply my wonders in the land, that the Egyptians may knew that I only am Jehovah, the self-existent God. See on chap. iv. 21.

Verse 5. And bring out the children of Israel] Pharaoh's obstinacy was either caused or permitted in mercy to the Egyptians, that he and his magicians being suffered to oppose Moses and Aaron to the utterm°ost of their power, the Israelites might be brought out of Egypt in so signal a manner, in spite of al.

7 And Moses was ™ fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

8 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, "^ Show a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, ° Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

the opposition of the Egyptians, their king, and their gods, that Jehovah might appear to be All-mighty and All-sufficient.

Verse 7. Moses wa.s fourscore years old] He was forty years old when he went to Midian, and he had tarried /or/y years in Midian; (see chap. ii. 11, and Acts vii. 30;) and from this verse it appears that Aaron was three years older than Moses. We have already seen that Miriam their sister was older than either, chap. ii. 4.

Verse 9. Show a miracle for you] A miracle, niJI'D mopheth, signifies an effect produced in nature which is opposed to its laws, or such as its powers are inadequate to produce. As Moses and Aaron professed to have a Divine mission, and to come to Pharaoh on the most extraordinary occasion, making a most singular and unprecedented demand, it was natural to suppose, if Pharaoh should even give them an audience, that he would require them to give him some proof by an extraordinary sign that their pretensions to such a Divine mission were well founded and incontestable. For it appears to have ever been the sense of mankind, that he who has a Divine mission to effect some extraordinary purpose can give a supernatural proof that he has got this extraordinary commission.

Take thy rod] This rod, whether a common staff, an ensign of ofHce, or a shepherd's crook, was now consecrated for the purpose of working miracles; and is indifferently called the rod of God, the rod of Moses, and the rod of Aaron. God gave it the miraculous power, and Moses and Aaron used it indifferently.

Yexse 10. Ithecame a serpent.] y^rs tannin. What kind of a serpent is here intended, learned men are not agreed. From the manner in which the original word is used in Psa. Ixxiv. 13; Isa. xxvii. 1; Ii. 9; Job vii. 12; some very large creature, either aquatic or amphibious, is probably meant; some have thought that the crocodile, a well-known Egyptian animal, is here intended. In chap. iv. 3 it is said that this rod was changed into a serpent, but the original word there is tynJ nachash, and here j'jn tannin, the same word which we translate tohale, Gen. i. 21.

As '\i/X\l nachash seems to be a term restricted to no one particular meaning, as has already been shown on Gen. iii.; so the words pjn tannin, D'J'jn tanninim, Cn tannim, and ni3n tannoth, are used to signify different kinds of animals in the Scriptures. The word is supposed to signify the jackal in Job xxx. 29; Psa.

10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so p as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron east down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it i became a serpent.

1 1 Then Pharaoh also '' called the wise men and ^ the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also * did in like manner with their enchantments.

xliv. 19; Isa. xiii. 22; xxxiv. 13; xxxv. 7; xliii. 20; Jer. ix. 11, &c., &c.; and also a dragon, serpent, or whale, Job vii. 12; Psa. xci. 13; Isa. xxvii. 1; Ii. 9; Jer. Ii. 34; Ezek. xxix. 3; xxxii. 2; and is termed, in our translation, a sea-monster, Lam. iv. 3. As it was a rod or staff that was changed into the tannim in the cases mentioned here, it has been supposed that an ordinary serpent is what is intended by the word, because the size of both might be then pretty nearly equal: but as a miracle was wrought on the occasion, this circumstance is of no weight; it was as easy for God to change the rod into a crocodile, or any other creature, as to change it into an adder or common snake.

Verse 11. Pharaoh — called the wise men] D'ODn chacamim, the men of learning. Sorcerers, Cas^D cashshephim, those who reveal hidden things; probably from the Arabic root L % AT kashafa, to reveal, uncover, &c., signifying diviners, or those who pretended to reveal what was in futurity, to discover things lost, to find hidden treasures, &c. Magicians, "•OU'in chartummey, decypherers of abstruse writings. See the note on Gen. xli. 8.

They also did in like manner ivith their enchantments.] The word D'DnV lahatim, comes from OVn lahat, to hum, to set on fire; and probably signifies such incantations as required lustral fires, sacrifices, fumigations, burning of incense, aromatic and odoriferous drugs, &c., as the means of evoking departed spirits or assistant demons, by whose ministry, it is probable, the magicians in question wrought some of their deceptive miracles: for as the term miracle signifies properly something which exceeds the powers of nature or art to produce, (see ver. 9,) hence there could be no miracle in this case but those wrought, through the power of God, by the ministry of Moses and Aaron. There can be no doubt that real serpents were produced by the magicians. On this subject there are two opinions: 1st, That the serpents were such as they, either by juggling or sleight of hand, had brought to the place, and had secreted till the time of exhibition, as our common conjurers do in the public fairs, «&c. 2dly, That the serpents were brought by the ministry of a familiar spirit, which, by the magic fliames already referred to, they had evoked for the purpose. Both these opinions admit the serpents to be real, and no illusion of the sight, as some have supposed.

1 3 And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; " as the Lord had said.

14 And the Lord said unto Moses, ' Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go,

1 5 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and "^ the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.

count for the phenomena of the case referred to. If the magicians threw down their rods, and they became serpents after they were thrown down, as the text expressly says, ver. 12, juggling or sleight of hand hd^d^ nothing farther to do in the business, as the rods were then out of their hands. If Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, their sleight of hand was no longer concerned. A man, by dexterity of hand, may so far impose on his spectators as to appear to eat a rod; but for rods lying on the ground to become serpents, and one of these to devour all the rest so that it alone remained, required something more than juggling. How much more rational at once to allow that these magicians had familiar spirits who could assume all shapes, change the appearances of the subjects on which they operated, or suddenly convey one thing away and substitute another in its place! Nature has no such power, and art no such influence as to produce the effects attributed here and in the succeeding chapters to the Egyptian magicians.

A^'erse 12. Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.'] As Egypt was remarkably addicted to magic, sorcery, &c., it was necessary that God should permit Pharaoh's wise men to act to the utmost of their skill in order to imitate the work of God, that his superiority might be clearly seen, and his powerful working incontestably ascertained; and this was fully done when Aaron's rod sivalloioed up their rods. We have already seen that the names of two of the chief of these magicians were Jannes and Jamhres; see chap. ii. 10, and 2 Tim. iii. 8. Many traditions and fables concerning these may be seen in the eastern writers.

Verse 13. And he hardened Pharaoh's heai-t] pin'1 n>n3 nb vaiyechezak leb Paroh, " And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened," the identical words which in ver. 22 are thus translated, and which should have been rendered in the same way here, lest the hardening, which was evidently the effect of his own obstinate shutting of his eyes against the truth, should be attributed to God. See on chap. iv. 21.

1 6 And thou shalt say unto him, A. M. 2513. ' The Lord God of the Hebrews ^- ^- ^^^^' hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, y that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.

1 7 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.

1 8 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall " loathe to drink of the water of the river.

where persons are determined to think and act after a predetermined plan, arguments, demonstrations, and even miracles themselves, are lost on them, as in the case of Pharaoh here, and that of the obstinate Jews in the days of our Lord and his apostles.

Verse 15. Lo, he goeth out unto the water] Probably for the purpose of bathing, or of performing some religious ablution. Some suppose he went out to pay adoration to the river Nile, which was an object of religious worship among the ancient Egyptians. " For," says Plutarch, De Iside., ovSeu ovru rifirj A-t-yvmioic d)C 6 Nfi/lof • " nothing is in greater honour among the Egyptians than the river Nile." Some of the ancient Jews supposed that Pharaoh himself was a magician, and that he walked by the river early each morning for the purpose of preparing magical rites, &c.

Verse 17. Behold, I icill smite] Here commences the account of the ten plagues which were inflicted on the Egyptians by Moses and Aaron, by the command and through the power of God. According to Archbishop Usher these ten plagues took place in the course of one month, and in the following order: —

The first, the waters turned into blood, took place, he supposes, the 18th day of the sixth month; ver. 20.

The second, the plague of frogs, on the 25th day of the sixth month; chap. viii. 1.

The third, the plague of lice, on the 27th day of the sixth month; chap. viii. 16.

The fourth, grievous swarms of flies, on the 29th day of the sixth month; chap. viii. 24.