Commentary on the Holy Bible

I knoiothat he can speak well.'] NIH 13^ ^\y^ "3 TiyT yadati ki dalher yedabber hu, I know that in speaking he will 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 eider brother, would envy his superior call and office.

Verse 15. / will be with thy mouth, and with his mouih] 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 shalt 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 Macrohius; 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 written his laws on two 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 borrovved 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 another copy of the rod of Moses. He also is reported to have wrought 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 soiJs Of all the suitors; with his golden wand Of power, to seal in balmy sleep tohose 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.

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

said unto him, Let me go, I pray tliee, and return unto my brethren whicli are in Egypt, and see wliciher they be yet ahve. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

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

20 And Moses took his wife and A. M. 2Si3w

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 ihou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those ^ wonders before Piiaraoh which I have put in thine hand: but ^ I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

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 goinc. 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-lau-, 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: Mcra de rof J/ftpa^ rac •rolXa^ CKCivac ETtltvTTjacv 6 f3anXev( kiyvirrov 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 verse.

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.ton.t] 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 the word in the plural, cm ra {'zo^vyia, vpon asses, as it SIO

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 will 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 view7»all sober Christians will allow the truth of this proposition of St. Augustine, vv'hen the subject in question is a person who has hardened his own heart by frequently resisting the grace and Spirit of God: Non obdurat Deus imperticndo malitiam, sed non impertiendo miserirnrdiam; 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 motlire noluerit, sic etiam exccecare quern illuminare nolueril, et repellere eum quern 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 pin chazak, which we translate harden, literally signifies to strengthen, confirm, make bold or courageous; and is often used in the sacred writings to excite to duty, perseverance, &c., 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: Onlp be thou STRONG, pin pi rak chazak. And of Joshua's dying exhortation to the people, chap, xxiii. 6: Be t/e therefore very coi'raceous, DHpini vachazaktem, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law. Now it would be very strange in these places to translate the word harden: Only be thou hard, B» ye therefore very hard; and yet if we use the word hard;/, it would ar.it the sense and context perfectly is my son, ^ even my first-born: 23 And I say unto thee. Let my son go,

let him go, behold, ''■ I will slay thy son, even

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 riiyp kashah is used, chap. vii. 3, which signifies to render stiff, tough, or stubborn, but it amounts to nearly the same meaning with tlie 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 ho 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 wrioie of the subsequent account authorize us to believe that God hardened his heart against the influences of his oivn 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 loads aflrfthcr into an offence that he may have a fairer pretence to punish him for it, or brings iim into such circumstances that he cannot avoid com-

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

25 Then Zipporah took ^ a sharp ^ stone, and cut off thef oreskin 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 possibdity of salvation millions of mdlions 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? AVhatever may be pretended in behalf of such unquulifed opinions, it must be evident to all who are not deeply prejudiced, that neither the justice nor the sovereignly 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, that 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.

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

Averse 24. By the way 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 paraplirased: " And I have said unto thee, (Moses.) Send forth (nSlV 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-bom. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, (when he was on his journey to Eg^'pt,) that Jehovah met him, and sought (threatened) to kill him (Gershom.) Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut away the foreshin 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 my son has on whom this act has been performed. The meaning of the whole passage seems to be this: —

Moses and Aaron meet at Horcb.

They make known their mission.

20 So lie let liim go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Oo nito 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 whicli he had commanded liim.

29 And Moses and Aaron " went and ga

The son of Moses, Gershom or Eliczcr, (for it does not appear which,) had not hcen circumcised, though it would scorn thit God had ordered tlic father to do it; but as he liad 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-born was e.xposed, took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son. By this act the displeasure of the Lord was turned aside, and Zippor-ih considered herself as now allied to God because of this circumcision,.\ccording to the law, (Gen. xvii. 14,) the uncircumciscd child was to he 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 oCJlint, for such were anciently used, even >vhere knives of metal might be had, for every kind of operation about the hmnan body, such as embowelling for the purpose of embalming, circumcision, &c..\ncient 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 licr 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 so correctly was the information given to both, that they arrived at the same lime on the sacred mountain.

Verse 30. Aaron spake all the words] It is likely that Aaron was better acquainted with the Hebrew longHO than his brother, and on this account he be-::ame the spokesman. Sec on ver. 8.

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

thcrcd together all the elders of A.M. 2513. 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 ^ believed: and when they heard that the Lord had 1 visited the children of Israel, and that he ' had looked upon their affliction, then " they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Verse 31. The people believed] They credited the account given of the Divine appointment of Moses and Aaron to be their deliverers out of iheir bondage, the miracles wrought on the occasion confirming the testimony delivered by Aaron.

The)/ bowed their heads and worshipped.] See a similar act mentioned, and in the same words. Gen. xxiv. 26. The bowing the head, <fec., 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.

Tlie 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 how; and prostration implied laying the body flat upon the earth, the arms and legs extended to the uttermost, the mouth and forehead touching the ground. In Matt. viii. 2 the leper is said to worship our Lord, TT-poacKmei av-u- but in Luke v. 12 he is said to have fallen on his face, Tvsauv tTj -poau-ov. These two accounts show that he first kneeled down, probably putting liis 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 fo receive and execute the commission to deliver the children of Israel, has something very inslnictivc in it. He felt the importance of the charge, his own insufficiency, and the awful responsiljility under which he should be laid if he received it. Wbo then can blame him for hesitating f If he miscarried (and how diflicult in such a case not to miscarry!) he must account to a jealous

Crorf's message to Pharaoh

He refuses to let the people goi

God, whose justice required him to punish every delinquency. What should ministers "f the Gospel feel on such subjects ■? 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 ■? If through the pastor's unfitness 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 duly considered 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, cKJiaXXeiv, 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 ashs 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 ivork, 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 m 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 into their present circumstances, 1 9—2 1. Moses retires, and lays the matter before the Lord, and pleads with him, 22, 23.

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 ivent'\ This chapter is properly a continuation of the preceding, cis 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 niD' 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? What claims has he on me? 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 Lord] 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 send the pestilence — some plague or death proceeding immediately from himself, or the sword — extermination by the hands of an enemy. The original word 13T deber, from 13T dabar, to drive off, draw under, (SfC, 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 taw, this was

A.M.2M3. 4 And tlic kiiiff of Ejrypl saul

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 tiic talc 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 stUl 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."

Verse 4. Wherefore do ye, 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 thoir 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] li''^3n taphriu, from > 13 para, to loose or disengage, which we translate to let, from the Anglo-Saxon leccan 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 land 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 taak-musters 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. 1 1, who are called D'OD "\ia sarey missim, princes of the burdens or taxes, were different from those termed task-masters here, as the words are different; D'tyjJ nogesim signifies exactors or oppressors —persons who exacted from them an unreasonable proportion either of labour or money.

thereof: for they he idle; therefore they cr)', 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 ts the bond by which the brick is held together, 7t7.iv8ov yap axvpa dea/io;. — 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 sldl 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 eiollan, to number, to count, &c.

For they be idle; therefore they cry — Let us go and sacrijice] 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 ol slothful in business. See below, ver. 17.

A.M. 2513. 12 So the people were scattered — — '■ abroad tliroughout all the land of

Egypt, to gather stubble instead of straw.

13 And the task-masters hasted the?n, saying, Fulfil your works, i/our ' daily tasks, as when there was straw.

1 4 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, in 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 widi thy servants?

16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us. Make brick: and, behold, thy servants a)~e 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 a7id do sacrifice to the Lord.

shall no straw be given you, yet A- M. 2513. shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. —^ '-

1 9 And the officers of the children of Israel did sec that they ivere 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 tliis people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

2.3 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.

Verse 14. And the officers — wereheaten] 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 beiniT able to walk for many weeks after, and some are lamed by it through the whole of their lives.

Verse 16. The fault is in thine own people.] HNDn 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 sacrijice] 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 /orm 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 thcij 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 unkiiid expressions; but the afflicted must be allowed the privilege of complaining;

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 benevolent 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] Theii misery is increased instead of being diminished.

Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.l Tlio marginal reading is both literal and correct: And delivering thou hast not delivered. Thou hast begun the work by giving us counsels and a commission, but thou hast not brought the people from under their bondage. Thou ha.st 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 shiiuld 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 few," 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!

Ood encourages Moses, and promises to show ivonders upon Pharaoh, and to hring 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 tvith a fresh message to the Hebretvs, full of the most gracious promises, and confirms the whole by appealing to the name in which 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 new 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; of Simeon, 15; of Levi, from whom descended Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, 16. The sons q/ Gershon, 17; o/Kohath, 18; of Merari, 19. The?narriage of Amram and Jochebed, 20. The sons of Izhar and Uzziel, the brothers of Amram, 21, 22. Marriage o/" Aaron and Elisheba, and the birth of their sons, Nadab, Abihu, Ele,azar, and Ithamar, 23. The sons o/" Korah, the nephew of Aaron, 24. The marriage of Eleazar to one of the daughters of Putiel, and the birth q/" Phinehas, 25. These genealogical accounts introduced for the sake of showing the line of descent of Moses and Aaron, 26, 27.,4. recapitulation of the commission delivered to Moses and Aaron, 29, and a repetition of the excuse formerly made by Moses, 30.

A. M. 2513. npHEN the Lord said unto Moses, B.C. 1491. -L,.T,,, IT.,. INow slialt thou see what I will

do to Pharaoh: for " with a strong hand shall

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

NOTE.S ON CHAP. VL Verse I. With a strong hand] npin T 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 which Pharaoh would manifest his power and authority as

2 And God spake unto Moses, a.m. 2513.

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.

A'^erse 2. / am the Lord] It should be, I 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] nc Sx El-Shaddai, God.Vll-sufl[icicnt; God the dispenser at pourer-out of gifts. See on Gen xvii. 1.

4 ^ And I have also established my covenant with them, ^ to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

5 And ^ I have also heard the groaning of thfe children of Israel, whom the Egyptians

But hy my name Jehovah was I not known to them.] This passage has been a sort of crux criticorum, and has been variously e.xplained. It is certain that the name Jehovah was in use long before the days of Abraham, see Gen. ii. i, where the words D'HtN nirr Jehovah Elohim occur, as they do frequently afterwards; and see Gen. xv. 2, where Abraham expressly addresses him by the name Adonai Jehov.\h; 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 Ur of the Chaldees. How then can it be said that by his name Jehovah he was not known 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 n'? 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 niD'' 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 comparalively 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 known as one of the names of the Supreme Being, yet what it really implied they did not know. Tzr ^n El-Shaddai, God All-sufficient, they knew well by the continual

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 ivas 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 kino, acknowledged as such on his coronation, is known to be such by his legislative acts; the civil magistrate, hy his distribution of justice, and issuing warrants for the apprehending of culprits; and the constable, by executing those warrants. All these were known 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 had 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 poiver implied in the name by executing the duties of his office. And God who icas known as Jehovah, the being who makes and gives effect to promises, was known to the descendants of the twelve tribes to be TH.A.T Jehovah, by giving effect and being to the promises which he had made to their fathers.

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

Verse 6. Say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out, <^c.] This confirm! the explanation given of ver. 3, which see.

A. M. 2513. 7 And I will "■ take you to mc for ' ' '" ' a people, and " I will be to you a 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 i to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am the

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

10 And the Lord.spake unto Moses, saying, 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 will take you to me for a people, 4-c.] This was precisely the covenant that he liad made with Abraham. See Gen. xvii. 7, and the notes there.

And ye shall hnow that I am the Lord your God^ ]3y thns 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) ihe 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 ho 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 thoy implored his protection, none need despair. God seems to have chosen the worst people in the universe, to give by them nnto mankind the highest and most e.vpressive proofs, that he wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his iniquity and live.

Verse 8. Which I did swear] "\- HN 'HXK'J naxalhi 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 sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength.

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-bom of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these he the families of Reuben.

1.5 "■ And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin. and Ohad, and.lacliin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.

1 G And these are the names of ^ the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gcrshon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi ivsre 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 wilderness. This appears to be borrowed from chap. xiv. 12.

Angnish of spirit] Pin "lip knizer 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 l'\j.' aral, wliich we translate uncirntmctsed, 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] "JPNI rashey, the chiefs or captains. The following genealogy was simply intended to show that Muses and Aaron came in a direct line from Abraham, and to ascertain the lime 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;ill Jacob's sons, none of whose ages are recorded in Scripture but his and Joseph's, whom Levi

Jro?n tlie line of A hraliam

17 ^ The sons of Gershon; Librii, and Shimi, according to their families.

1 8 And ^ the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the hfe of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years.

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

20 And "^ Amram look him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years.

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

23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of " Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife;

xxiii.

vi.

-f Chap, ii

survived twenty-seven years, though he was 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, tlie 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 the fourth generation was verified; for Moses was the son of.4»iram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Jacob." — DoDD.

Verse 20. His father's sister] irm dodatho. The true meaning of this word is uncertain. Parkhurst observes that ^n dod signifies an uncle in I Sam. x. 14; Lev. X. 4, and frequently elsewhere. It signifies also an uncle's son, a cousin-german: compare Jer. xxxii. 8 with vor. 12, where the Vulgate renders m dodi by palruelis mei, my paternal cousin; and in.\mos vi. 10, for nn dodo, the Targum has n'D'lp karibiah, his near relation..So the A^ulgate, propinquus ejus, his relative, and the Septuagint, ol oikewi 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 ia the Hebrew text.

24 And the « sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these aie the families 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 o?-e 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 lohen 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. Elisheba] 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. ii. 3.

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 niXDV 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 family, 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.

Obstinacy of Pharaoh foretold

29 That the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, " I am the Lord: o speak thou unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say unto thee.

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, tliat little of importance remains to be done. On the nature of a covenant (see ver. -1) 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 some 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

And Moses said before the A. M. 2513.

cised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

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 docs all this in great wisdom, to bide pride from man, and that no flesh may glory in his presence. To be contented witli 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 whole to find sufficient cause of humiliation; and after all, the meek and gentle spirit only is, in the sight of God, of great price.

The dignified mission of Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh — the one to he as God, the other as a prophet of the Most High, 1, 2. The prediction that Pharaoh's heart should he hardened, that God might multiply his signs and wonders in Egypt, that the inhabitants might know he alone tsas 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 PharaoKs heart is hardened, H— 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, ll-lS. 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 tcaters, 24. This plague endures seven days, 25.

See, I have made thee ^ a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron tliy 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 out of his land.

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

Verse 1. I have made thee a got!] 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,

Verse 3. / ivill harden Pharaoh's heart] I will permit his stubbornness and obstinacy still to remain,

4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken a.m. 2513.

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 Egj'pt, '^ bj' 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 knc*' 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 uttermost of their power, the Israelites might be brought out of Egypt in so signal a manner, in spite of al.

7 And Moses luas " 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 Alt-sufficienl.

Verse 7. Moses v;3.s fourscore years old] He was forty years old when he went to Midian, and he had tarried /o;-/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, HDTD 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 e.xtraordinary 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 iky rod] This rod, whether a common staff", an ensign of office, 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.

\exse \0. It became a serpent.] \'^T\ 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 Bn: nachash, and here yin tannin, the same word which we translate lohale. Gen. i. 21.

As BTIJ nachash seems to be a term restricted to no one particular meaning, as has already been shown on Gen. iii.; so the words y:r\ tannin, D'r:n tanninim, D'jn tannim, and nUH tannoth, are used to signify different kinds of animals in the Scriptures. The word is supposed to signify the jackal in Job xxx. 39; Psa.

1 0 And Moses and Aaron went a. m. 2513. in unto Pharaoh, and they did

so P as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it 1 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 ivhale. 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 eircuinstance 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 1 1. Pharaoh — called the wise men] D'":iJn chacamim, the men of learning. Sorcerers, WStOD cashshephim, those who reveal hidden things; probably from the Arabic root L i/vf kashafa, to reveal, uncover, &c., signifying diviners, or those who pretended to reveal what was in futurity, to discover things lost, to fnd hidden treasures, &c. Magicians, "QDin charlummey, decypherers of abstruse writings. See the note on Gen. xli. 8.

They also did in like manner with their enchantments.] The word □"DPlS lahatim, comes from Unb lahat, to burn, 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,) heic^ 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, &e. 2dly, That the serpents were brought by the ministry of a familiar spirit, which, by the magic flames 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 iiad said.

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

15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shah stand by the river's brink against he come; and " the rod which was turned to a.—erpent 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 Mcrc thrown down, as the text expressly says, ver. 12, jii^s^liiig or sleight of hand had nothing farther to do in the husiness, as the rods were then out of their hands. If Aaron's rod sivalloioed 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 eflects attributed here and in the succeeding chapters to the Egyptian magicians.

Verse 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 lo imitate the work of God, that his superiority might be clearly seen, and his powerful working inconteslably ascertained; and this was fully done when Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. We have already *8li that the names of two of the chief of these magicians were Janncs and Jambres; 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 heart] ptn'1 n>n3 J^ vaiyeckezak 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.

16 And thou shalt say unto him, A.M. 2513. ' The Loud God of the Hebrews iifiifl: 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 tlie water of the river.

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.

A'^erse 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., ov6£)/ ovtu Tifn/ AiyvKrioic <jf & NfiAof • " 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 will smite] Here commences the account of the te.n plagues which were inflicted on the Eg}'ptians 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 second, the plague of frogs, on the 25th day of the si.xth month; chap. viii. 1.

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

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

The fifth, the grievous.murraix, on the 2d day of the seventh month; chap. ix. 3.

The sixth, the plague of boils and blains, on the 3d day of the seventh month; chap. ix. 10.

The seventh, the grievous hail, on the 5th day of the seventh month; chap. ix. 18.

The eighth, the plague of locusts, on the 8th day of the seventh month; chap. x. 12.

The ninth, the thick darkness, on the 10th day of.\.bib, (April 30,) now become the first month of the Jewish year; chap. x. 22. But see the note on chap. xii. 2.

The tenth, the slaving the first-born, on the 15th of.\.bib; chap. xii. 29. But most of these dates ar« destitute of proof.

rod, and * stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon tlieir streams, upon iheir rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their " pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he '^ lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the

Verse 18. The Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the loater] The force of this expression cannot be well felt without taking into consideration the peculiar pleasantness and great salubrity of the waters of the Nile. " The water of Egypt," says the Abbe Mascrier, " is so delicious, that one would not wish the heat to be less, or to be delivered from the sensation of thirst. The Turks find it so exquisite that they excite themselves to drink of it by eating salt. It is a common saying among them, that if Mohammed had drank of it he would have besought God that he might never die, in order to have had this continual gratification. When the Egyptians undertake the pilgrimage of Mecca, or go out of their country on any other account, they speak of nothing but the pleasure they shall have at their return in drinking of the waters of the Nile. There is no gratification to be compared to this; it surpasses, in their esteem, that of seeing their relations and families. All those who have tasted of this water allow that they never met with the like in any other place. When a person drinks of it for the first time he can scarcely be persuaded that it is not a water prepared by art; for it has something in it inexpressibly agreeable and pleasing to the taste; and it should have the same rank among waters that champaign has among wines. But its most valuable quality is, that it is exceedingly salutary. It never incommodes, let it be drank in what quantity it may: this is' so true that it is no uncommon thing to see some persons drink three buckets of it in a day without the least inconvenience! When I pass such encomiums on the water of Egypt it is right to observe that I speak only of that of the Nile, which indeed is the only water drinkable, for their loell boater is detestable and unwholesome. Fountains are so rare that they are a kind of prodigy in that country; and as to rain water, that is out of the question, as scarcely any falls in Egypt."

" A. person," says Mr. Harmer, " who never before heard of the deliciousness of the Nile water, and of the large quantities which on that account are drank of it, will, I am sure, find an energy in those words of Moses to Pharaoh, The Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river, which he never observed before. They will loathe to drink of that water which they used to prefer to all the waters of the uni-

that were in the river were turned to blood.

2 1 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians '' could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood tliroughout all the land of

22 ' And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pheiraoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; ■^ as the Lord had said.

verse; loathe to drink of that for which they had been accustomed to long, and will rather choose to drink of well water, which in their country is detestable!" — Observations, vol. iii., p. 564.

Verse 19. That there may he blood — both in vessels of icood, and in vessels of stone.] Not only the Nile itself was to be thus changed into blood in all its branches, and the canals issuing from it, but all the water of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, was to undergo a similar change. And this was to extend even to the water already brought into their houses for culinary and other domestic purposes. As the water of the Nile is known to be very thick and muddy, and the Egyptians are obliged to filter it through pots of a kind of white earth, and sometimes through a paste made of almonds, Mr. Harmer supposes that the vessels of loood and stone mentioned above may refer to the process of filtration, which no doubt has been practised among them from the remotest period. The meaning given above I think to be more natural.

Verse 20. All the waters — were turned to blood.] Not merely in appearance, but in reality; for these changed waters became corrupt and insalubrious, so that even the fish that were in the river died; and the smell became highly offensive, so that the waters could not be drank; ver. 2 1.

A'erse 22. And the magicians — did so] But if all the water in Egypt was turned into blood by Moses, where did the magicians get the water which they changed into blood 1 This question is answered in verse 24. The Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink, and it seems that the water obtained by this means was not bloody like that in the river: on this water therefore the magicians might operate. Again, though a general commission was given to Moses, not only to turn the waters of the river (Nile) into blood, but also those of their streams, rivers, ponds, and pools; yet it seems pretty clear from verse 20 that he did not proceed thus far, at least in the first instance; for it is tliere stated that only the waters of the river were turned into blood. Afterwards the plague doubtless became general. At the commencemeD! therefore of this plague, the magicians might obtain other water to imitate the miracle; and it would not

23 And Pliaraoh turned and went into his iiouse, ' neither did he set his heart to tliis also. 24 And all the Eg}'ptians digged round about

the river for water to drink; "for they A.M. 251*

be difficult for them, by juggling tricks or the assistance of a familiar spirit, (for we must not abandon tlic possibility of this use,) to give it a bloody appearance, a fetid smell, and a bad taste. On either of these grounds there is no contradiction in the Mosaic account, though some have been very studious to find one.

The plague of the bloody waters may be considered as a display of retributive justice against the Egyptians, for the murderous decree which enacted that all the male children of the Israelites should be drowned in that river, the waters of wliich, so necessary to their support and life, were now rendered not only insalubrious but deadly, by being turned into blood. As it is well known that the Nile was a chief object of Egyptian idolatry, (see on ver. 15,) and that annually they sacrificed a girl, or as others say, both a boy and a girl, to this river, in gratitude for the benefits received from it, (Universal Hist., vol. i., p. 178, fol. odit.,) God might have designed this plague as a punishment for such cruelly: and the contempt poured upon this object of their adoration, by turning its waters into blood, and rendering them fetid and corrupt, must have had a direct tendency to correct their idolatrous notions, and lead them to acknowledge the power and authority of the true God.

Verse 25. And seven days were fulfilled] So we learn that this plague continued at least a whole week.

The contention between Moses and Aaron and the magicians of Egypt has become famous throughout the world. Tradition in various countries has preserved, not only the account, but also the names of the chief persons concerned in the opposition made by the Egyptians to these messengers of God. Though their names are not mentioned in the sacred text, yet tradition had preserved them in the Jeiuish records, from which St. Paul undoubtedly quotes 2 Tim. iii. 8, where, speaking of the enemies of the Gospel, he compares them to Jannes and Jombres, who withstood Moses. That these names existed in the ancient Jewish records, their own ivritings show. In the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on this place they are called D'130'1 DT Janis and Jambris; and in the Babylonian To/mHrf they are named Joanne and Mamhre, and are represented as chiefs of the sorcerers of Egypt, and as having ridiculed Moses and Aaron for pretending to equal them in magical arts. And Rab. Tanchum, in his Commentary, names them Jonos and Jombrus. If we allow the readings of the ancient editioos of Pliny to be correct, he refers, in Hist. Nat., 1. XXX., c. 2, to the same persons, the names being a little changed: Est et alia magices factio, a Mose et Jamne et Jotapc Judttis pendens, sed multis millibus annorum post Zoroastrcm; " There is also another faction of magicians which took its origin from the Jews, Moses, Jamiies. and Jotapes, many thousands of years after Zoroaster;" where lie confounds Moses

could not drink of the water of the river. — i—! 1

25 And " seven days were fulfilled, after that the Lord had smitten the river.

with the Egyptian magicians; for the heathens, having no just notion of the power of God, attributed all miracles to the influence of magic. Pliny also calls the Egyptian magicians Jetos; but this is not the only mistake in his history; and as he adds, sed multis millibus annorum post Zoroastrcm, he is supposed by some to refer to the Christians, and particularly the apostles who wTonght many miracles, and whom l»e consider* to be a magical sect derived from Moses and the Jews, because they were Jews by nation, and q^noted Moses and the prophets in proof of the truth of the doctrines of Christianity, and of the Divine mission of Christ

Numenins, a Pythagorean philosopher, mentioned by Eusebius, names these magicians, Jamnes and Jamhres, and mentions their opposition to Moses; and we have already seen that there was a tradition anoong the Asiatics that Pharaoh's daughter had Moses instructea by the wise men Jannes and Jambres; see Ahil Faraje, edit. Pococ, p. 26. Here then is a very remarkable fact, the principal circumstances of which, and the chief actors in them, have been preserved by a sort of universal tradition. See Ainsworth.

When all the circumstances of the preceding case are considered, it seems strange that God should enter into any contest with such persons as the Egyptian magicians; but a little reflection will show the absolute necessity of this. Mr. Psahnanazar, who wrote tho Account of the Jews in the first volume of the Vmversal History, gives the following judicious rea. sons for this: " If it be asked," says he, " why God did suffer the Egyptian magicians to borrow power from the devil to invalidate, if possible, those miracles which his servant wrought by his Divine power, the following reasons may be given for it; 1. It was necessary that these magicians should be suffered to exert I the utmost of their power against Moses, in order to clear him from the imputation of magic or sorcery; for as the notion of such an extraordinary art was very rife, not only among the Egyptians, but all other nations, if thev had not entered into this strenuous competition with him, and been at length overcome by him, both the Hebrews and the Egyptians would have been apter to have attributed all his miracles to his skill in magic, than to the Divine power.

"2. It was necessary, in order to confirm the faith of the wavering and desponding Israelites, by making them see the difference between Moses acting by tho power of God, an<l the sorcerers by that of Satan.

" 3. It was necessary, in order to preserve them afterwards from being seduced by any false miracles from the true worship of God."

To these a fourth reason may be added: God permitted this in mercy to the Egyptians, that they might see that the gods in whom they trusted were utterly incapable of saving them; that they could not undo or counteract one of the plagues sent on them by the power of Jehovah; the whole of their influence ex-

Moses is again sent to Pliaraoh. CHAP. \ III. Frogs, the second plague, threatened.

tending only to some superficial imitations of the genuine miracles wrought by Moses in the name of the true God. By these means it is natural to conclude that many of the Egyptians, and perhaps several of the servants of Pharaoh, were cured of their idolatry; though the king himself hardened his heart against the evidences which God brought before his eyes. Thus

God is known by his judgments: for in every operation of his hand his design is to enlighten the minds of men, to bring them from false dependences to trust in himself alone; that, being saved from error and sin, they may become wise, holy, and happy. When his judgments are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants learn righteousness. See the note on chap. iv. 21.

The plague of frogs Oirealened, 1, 2. The extent of this plague, 3, 4. Aaron commanded to stretch on. his hand, with the rod, over the river and waters of Egypt, in consequence of ivhich the frogs came, 5, 6. The magicians imitate this miracle, 7. Pharaoh entreats Moses to remove the frogs, and promises to let the people go, 8. Moses promises that they shall be removed from every part of Egypt, the river excepted, 9-11. Moses prays to God, and the frogs die throughout the land of Egypt, 12-14. Pharaoh, finding himself respited, hardens his heart, 15. The plague of lice on man and beast, 16, 17. The magicians attempt to imitate this miracle, but in vain, 18. They confess it to be the finger of God, and yet Pharaoh continues obstinate, 19. Moses is sent again to him to command him to let the people go, and in case of disobedience he is threatened with swarms of flies, 20, 21. A promise made that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, should be exempted from this plague, 22, 23. The flies are sent, 24. Pha raoh sends for Moses and Aaron, and offers to permit them to sacrifice in the land, 25. Tliey refuse, and desire to go three day s'' journey into the wilderness, 26, 27. Pharaoh consents to let them go a little way, provided they ivould entreat the Lord to remove the flies, 28. Moses consents, prays to God, and the flies are removed, 29-31. After which Pharaoh yet hardened his heart, and refused to let the people go, 32.

2 And if thou '' refuse to let them A. M. 2513.

3 And the river shall bring forth frogs

2513. A ND the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto

him. Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, " that they may serve me.

Verse 1. Let my people go'\ God, in great mercy to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, gives them notice of the evils he intended to bring upon them if they continued in their obstinacy. Having had therefore such warning, the evil might have been prevented by a timely humiUation and return to God.

Verse 2. If thou refuse'] Nothing can be plainer than that Pharaoh had it still in his power to have dismissed the people, and that his refusal was the mere effect of his own wilful obstinacy.

With frogs'] D'J^nSS tsepardeim. This word is of doubtful etymology: almost all interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree to render it as we do, though some mentioned by Aben Ezra think the crocodile is meant; but these can never weigh against the conjoint testimony of the ancient versions. Parkhurst derives the word from liJX tsaphar, denoting the brisk action, or motion of the light, and i'T yada, to feel, as they seem to feel or rejoice in the light, croaking all the summer months, yet hiding themselves ill the jvinter. The Arabic name for this animal is very nearly the same with the Hebrew c>W zafda, where the letters are the same, the 1 resch being omitted. It is used as a quadriliteral root in the Arabic language, to signify froggy, or containing frogs: see Golius. But the true etymology seems to be given siiO zifa, a bank, and O-^ rada, mud, because the frog delights in muddy or marshy places; and that from these two words the noun c,3kJU^ zafda is formed, the <J re being dropped. In the Balrochomyomachia of Homer, the frog has many of its epithets from this very circumstance. Hence Ai/ivoxapic, delighting in the lake; Hopfiopononri^, lying or engendering in the mud; n?;/lCTf and Ilri'Aoj3a-riQ, belonging to the mud, walking in the mud, cjc, cjc.

A frog is in itself a very harmless animal; but to most people who use it not as an article of food, exceedingly loathsome. God, with equal ease, could have brought crocodiles, bears, lions, or tigers to have punished these people and their impious king, instead o{ frogs, lice, flies, Sfc. But had he used any of those formidable animals, the effect would have appeared so commensurate to the cause, that the hand of God might have been forgotten in the punishment; and the people would have been exasperated without being humbled. In the present instance he shows the greatness of his power by making an animal, devoid of every evil quality, the means of a terrible affliction to his enemies. How easy is it, both to the justice and mercy of God, to destroy or save by means of the most despicable and insignificant of instruments! Though he is the Lord of hosts he has no need of powerful armies, the ministry of angels, or the thunderbolts of justice, to punish a sinner or a sinful nation; the frog or the

"* tliy bed-cliamber, and upon thy bed, and into the liousc of thy sen'ants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy ' kneading-trouglis:

4 And the frogs shall come up botli on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy sen'ants.

5 And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, ^ Stretch forth thine liand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and e the frogs came

Vprse 3. The river shall bring forth frogs abundantly] Tlie river Nile, which was an object of their adoration, was here one of the instruments of their punishment. The expression, bring forth abundantly, not only shows the vast numbers of those animals, which should now infest the land, but it seems also to imply that all the spawn or ova of those animals which were already in the river and marshes, should be brought miraculously to a state of perfection. We may suppose that the animals were already in an embryo existence, but multitudes of them wojild not have come to a state of perfection had it not been for this miraculous interference. This supposition will appear the more natural when it is considered that the Nile was remarkable for breeding frogs, and such other animals as are principally engendered in such marshy places as must be left in the vicinity of the Nile after its annual inundations.

Into thine overis] In various parts of the east, instead of what we call ovens they dig a hole in the ground, in which they insert a kind of earthen pot, which having sufficiently heated, they stick their cakes to the inside, and when baked remove them and supply their places with others, and so on. To find such places /(/// of frogs when they came to heat them, in order to make their bread, must be both disgusting and distressijig in the extreme.

Verse 5. Stretch forth thine hand — over the streams, over the rivers] The streams and rivers here may refer to the grand divisions of the Nile in the Lower Egj'pt, which were at least seven, and to the canals by which these were connected; as tliere were no other streams, &c., but what proceeded from this great river.

Verse 6. The frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.] In some ancient writers we have examples of a similar plague. The Abderites, according to Oroitus, and the inhabitants of Psonia and Dardania, according to Athenreus, were obliged to abandon their couniri on account of the great numbers of frogs by which their land was infested. 32G

7 ^ And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the

8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ' Entreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.

9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, ^ Glory over me: ' when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, " to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

Verse 7. The magicians did so] A little juggling or dexterity of han* might have been quite sufficient for the imitation of this miracle, because frogs in abundance had already been produced; and some of these kept in readiness might have been brought forward by the magicians, as proofs of their pretended power and equality in influence to Moses and Aaron.

Verse 9. Glory over me] 'S>' INiJnn hithpaer alai. These words have greatly puzzled commentators in general; and it is not easy to assign their true meaning. The Septuagint render the words thus; Tafat TTpof /le Tore, &c.. Appoint unto me when I shall pray, df-c. The constitue mihi quando of the Vulgate is exactly the same; and in this sense almost all the versions understood this place. This countenances the conjectural emendation of Le Clcrc, who, by the change of a single letter, reading "lX2,"in hithbaer for ISSnn hithpaer, gives the same sense as that in the ancient versions. Houbigant, supposing a corruption in the original, amends the reading thus: "Si' ^N^ nns altah baar alai — Die mihi quo tempore, JfC, ^^ Tell me when thou wishest me to pray for thee," &c., which amounts to the same in sense with that proposed by Le Clcrc. Several of our English versions preserve the same meaning; so in the Saxon Heptateuch, Irerecce me anne an bajan; so in Bccke's Bible, 1519, " And Moses saycd unto Pharaoh, Appoint thou the time unto me." This appears to be the genuine import of the words, and the sense taken in this way is strong and good. We may conceive Moses addressing Pharaoh in this way: " That thou mayest be persuaded that Jehovah alone is the inflicler of these plagues, appoint the time when thou wouldst have the present calamity removed, and I will pray unto God, and thou shalt plainly see from his answer that this is no casual affliction, and that in continuing to harden thy heart and resist thou art sinning against God." Nothing could be a fuller proof that this plague was.supernatural than the circumstance of Pharaoh's being pormilled to a.ssiirn himself the time of its being removed, and its removal at the intercession of Moses according to tiiat appointment. And this is the very

thy word: that thou mayest know that " there is none like unto the Lord our God.

1 1 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses p cried unto the Lord, because of the frogs wliich he had brought against Pharaoh.

13 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of tlie villages, and out of the fields.

14 And they gathered them a.m. 2513.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was ■» respite, "■ he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smile the dust of the land, that it may become lico throughout ail the land of Egypt.

1 7 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and = it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice, throughout all the land of Egypt.

use made of it by Moses himself, ver. 10, when he says, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unlo the Lord our God; and that, consequently, he might no longer trust in his magicians, or in his false gods.

Verse 14. They gathered them together upon heaps] The killing of the frogs was a mitigation of the punishment; but the leaving them to rot in the land was a continual proof that such a plague had taken place, and that the displeasure of the Lord still continued.

The conjecture of Calmet is at least rational: he supposes that the plague oi flies originated from the plague oi frogs; that the former deposited their ova in the putrid masses, and that from these the innumerable swarms afterwards mentioned were hatched. In vindication of this supposition it may be observed, that God never works a miracle when the end can be accomplished by merely natural means; and in the operations of Divine providence we always find that the greatest number of effects possible are accomplished by the fewest causes. As therefore the natural means for this fourth plagtte had been miraculously provided by the second, the Divine Being had a right to use the instruments which he liad already prepared.

Verse 16. Smite the dust of the land, that it mat/ become lice] If the vermin commonly designed by this name be intended, it must have been a very dreadful and afflicting plagne to the Egyptians, and especially to their priests, who were obliged to shave the hair off every part of their bodies, and to wear a single tunic, that no vermin of this kind might be permitted to harbour about them. See Herod, in Euterp., e. ixxvii., p. 104, edit. Gale. Of the nature of these insects it is not necessary to say much. The common louse is very prolific. In the space of twelve days a full-grown female lays one hundred eggs, from which, in the space of six days, about fifty males and as many females are produced. In eighteen days these young females are at their full growth, each of which may by one hundred eggs, which will be all hatched in six days more. Thus, in the course of six weeks, the parent female may see 5,000 of its own descendants! So mightily does this scourge of indolence and jilthiness increase!

But learned men are not agreed on the signification of the original word D'JD kinnim, which different copies of the Septuagint render aKvicpcg, cuviirsg, and aKvij-s^, gnats; and the Vulgate renders sciniphes, which signifies the same.

Mr. Harmer supposes he has found out the true meaning in the word tarrentes, mentioned by Vinisauf, one of our ancient English writers; who, speaking of the expedition of King Ptichard I. to the Holy Land, says, that " while the army were marching from Cayphas to Caesarea, they were greatly distressed every night by certain worms called tarrentes, which crept on the ground, and occasioned a very burning heat by most painful punctures; for, being armed vi'ilh stings, they conveyed a poison which quickly occasioned those who were wounded by them to swell, and was attended with the most acute pain." All this is far fetched. Bochart has endeavoured to prove that the □' J3 kinnim of the text may mean lice in the common acceptation of the term, and not gnats. 1. Because those in question sprang from the dust of tlie earth, and not from the waters. 2. Because they were both on men and cattle, which cannot be spoken oi gnats. 3. Because their name comes from the radix ]13 kun, which signifies to raske. firm, fix, establish, which can never agree to gnats, flies, &o., which are ever changing their place, and are almost constantly on the wing. 4. Because nj3 hinnah is the term by which the Talmudists express the louse, &c. See his Hierozoicon^ vol. ii., c. xviii., col. 571. The circumstance of their being in man and in beast agrees so well with the nature of the acarus sanguisugus, commonly called the tick, belonging to the seventh order of insects called APTERA, that I am ready to conclude this is the insect meant. This animal buries both its sucker and head equally in man or beast; and can with very great difficulty be extracted before it is grown to its proper size, and filled with the blood ajid juices of the animal on which

18 And ' ihe magicians did so with their enchantments, to bring forlli hce, but they " could not: so there were lice upon man and upon beast.

19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is " the finger of God: and Pharaoh's " heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.

20 And the Lord said unto Moses, ^ Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; (lo, he coincth forth to the water;) and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, ^ Let

it preys. When fully grown, it has a glossy black oval body: not only horses, cows, and sheep, are infested with it in certain countries, but even the common people, especially those who labour in the field, in woods, &c. I know no insect to which the Hebrew term so properly applies. This is the Jixed, established insect, which will permit itself to be pulled in pieces rather than let go its hold; and this is literally rTDHD^l D1N3 haadam ulabbehcmah, in man and in beast, burying its trunk and head in the flesh of both. In woodland countries I have seen many persons as well as cattle grievously infested with these insects.

Verse 18. The magicians did so] That is, They tried the utmost of their skill, either to produce these insects or to re^nove this plague; but they could not, no juggling could avail here, because insects must be produced which would stick to and infix themselves in man and beast, which no kind of trick could possibly imitate; and to remove them, as some would translate the passage, was to their power equally impossible. If the magicians even acted by spiritual agents, we find from this case that these agents had assigned limits, beyond which they could not go; for every agent in the universe is acting under the direction or control of the.Mmighty.

Verse 19. This is the finger of God] That is, The power and skill of God are here evident. Probably before this the magicians supposed Moses and Aaron to be conjurers, like themselves; but now they are convinced that no man could do these miracles which these holy men did, unless God were with him. God permits evil spirits to manifest themselves in a certain way, that men may see that there is a spiritual world, and be on their guard against seduction. He at the same time shows that all these agents are under his control, that men may have confidence in his goodness acd power.

Verse 21. Swarms of flies upon thee] It is not easy to ascertain the precise meaning of the original word 3">;'n hearob; as the word comes from;■<> arah, he mingled, it may be supposed to express a multitude of various sorts of insects. And if the conjecture be admitted that the putrid frogs became the occasion of

21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send ' swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and al9;0 the ground whereon they are.