Commentaries on the rest of the Bible (~45 volumes)

3. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.

3. Tune dixit Moses ad populum, Memento diei hujus quo egressi estis ex Aegypto, e domo servorum: quia in fortitudine manus eduxit vos hinc Jehova: neque comedatur fermentatum.

4. This day came ye out, in the month Abib.

4. Hodie vos egredimini mense Abib.

5. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

5. Quum to introduxerit Jehova in terram Chananaei, Hittaei, Amorrhaei, et Hivaei, et Jebusaei, de qua juravit patribus tuis se daturum tibi, terram fluentem lacte et melle, tum coles cultum istum in meuse isto.

6. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.

6. Septem diebus comedes infermentata, die autem septimo solemnitas erit Jehovae.

7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days: and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee; neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

7. Infermentata comedentur septem diebus: nec conspicietur apud to fermentatum, neque apparebit apud to fermentum in universo termino tuo.

8. And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.

8. Annuntiabisque filio tuo eo die, dicendo, Propter hoc quod fecit (vel, propterea quod hoe fecit) Jehova mihi quum exirem ex Aegypto.

9. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.

9. Et erit tibi in signum super manum tuam, et in memoriale inter oculos tuos, ut sit lex Jehovae in ore tuo, quia in manu forti eduxit to Jehova ex Egypto.

10. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

10. Observabisque statutum hoc in tempore suo quotannis.

3. And Moses said unto the people. He repeats what he had said more at length in the foregoing chapter, respecting the unleavened bread, not so much to instruct as to exhort them; for he had already expressed the matter with so much clearness, that there was no need of further explanation; but it was useful to stimulate them, that they might devote themselves with greater zeal to their duty, and especially lest, after a longer lapse of time, their ardor should, as usual, gradually abate. He therefore exhorts them, that after they came into the land, they should diligently observe what he had before commanded. And from the context here, it is plain that the two commands as to the sanctifying the first-born, and celebrating the passover, had the same object, viz., that their deliverance should retain the elect people in the special service of the true God.

4. This day came ye out. He compares the day of their coming out with the whole time of their sojourning in the land of Canaan; as if he had said that they were redeemed not to enjoy a mere transient joy, but that they might be mindful of their blessing throughout all ages. He proceeds to eulogize the extent and the fertility of the land again, principally for two reasons. The first is, lest after such glorious victories pride should possess their minds, and in the abundance of their good things their eyes should be closed by fatness;the second, that by the very multitude of their possessions they might be the more incited to the duty of gratitude, and to the service of God. For it might be that the conquerors of so many nations, and the lords of so rich and extensive a territory would wax wanton, so as to be less devoted to God's service, unless they had been reminded that they owed it to God alone that they had conquered so many peoples, and had obtained dominion over them. But Moses shews them that, in proportion to God's goodness to them, so would they be the more inexcusable, if they did not earnestly labor to testify their gratitude. With this object he repeats the names of the nations, by the destruction of which they were to become inheritors of the land; and then adds, "a land flowing with milk and honey," in order to arouse them still more and more to piety by the great profusion of the blessings which would be ever before their eyes. Those are entirely mistaken who suppose that the month Abib¹ is the same as Ab, which corresponds with our July. For it is evident that the Israelites came out of Egypt in the month Nisan, about the vernal equinox; of which circumstance, the keeping of Easter, handed down by tradition from our forefathers, is an unquestionable proof. Now, since the Hebrews borrowed from the Chaldeans all the names of their months, which were in use two thousand years after, it would be absurd in this place to regard Abib as a proper name, especially when, in Scripture, we nowhere find the months designated by proper names. Since, then, reason demonstrates that this word is applied appellatively, we must inquire why it is applied to March or the beginning of April. Those who translate A bib "ripening fruits," have no ground for it, since the word simply means "anything which grows;" hence it is applied to the stalks of corn; and because in those warm climates the corn rises to its height about the vernal equinox, from this fact, Nisan is called the month of stalks. It is also a probable conjecture, (as we have already said,) that the beginning of the year was changed, in order that the nativity of the Church might receive more distinction; as if the world were then renewed. The opinion of some that Noah came out of the ark in the same month, so that the temperature of spring might receive him in his new birth, as well as the other animals, I leave undecided as I have done on Genesis 8. But if this opinion be accepted, there will be an anticipation (prolepsis) in the name of the months; and in this there will be an absurdity, because it was useful for the people to be accustomed to the rites of the Law. But I do not enter into controversy about uncertainties.

8. And thou shalt shew thy son in that day. He repeats what we have already remarked, viz., an injunction to parents to teach their children, that they may thus transmit the service of God to their descendants. In the preceding chapter it was said, "when your children shall say unto you," etc.; and now he more briefly commands that God's goodness should be proclaimed, although none should make inquiry respecting it; because parents ought to be voluntarily disposed to educate their children in the fear of God. He also repeats, as we have seen above, that the memory of their deliverance should be annually renewed lest it should ever fade away, since religion is easily neglected unless men are diligently exercised in its study, he uses a comparison when he says, "it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes;" as though it had been said that their redemption should be set before their eyes in the passover, just as the ring which is on the finger, or the ornament which is bound upon the forehead are constantly seen. For which purpose also he had before desired that the precepts of the Law should be inscribed both on the head, and on the hands, and fringes of their garments. The sum is, that in the passover a monument of God's grace should exist, so that it might never sink into oblivion; just as ornaments which appear on the forehead and on the fingers awaken the attention by their being constantly beheld. But, if any should rather be of opinion that Moses alludes to those who, conscious of their own faithlessness, contrive means to assist their memory,² I offer them no opposition; as if he had said that, since they were disposed to forgetfulness, they should use this remedy, to awaken themselves to gratitude. He will soon afterwards repeat the same injunction, in connection with the offering of the first-born. The following words, "that the Lord's Law may be in thy mouth," confirm the opinion that the passover has reference to the First Commandment. They intimate that it is not enough to perform the external rite, unless it be associated with its proper object, viz., that they should devote themselves to God and to His doctrine. He mentions the mouth, not because the main thing is, to speak or discourse of the Law, for if piety lay in the tongue, hypocrites would be the best worshippers of God; but he expressly requires that, when each one shall have privately applied himself to the study of the Law, they shall also mutually teach and exhort each other.

3. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; (for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste;) that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

3. Non comedas cum illo fermentatum: septem diebus comedes cum illo infermentata, panem afflictionis: quia festinanter egressus es e terra Aegypti: ut memineris diei quo egressus es e terra Aegypti, omnibus diebus vitae tuae.

4. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

4. Neque conspicietur apud to fermentum in omni termino tuo septem diebus: neque pernoctabit de carnibus quas sacrificabis in vespera die primo usque mane.

18. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

18. Non immolabis cum fermento sanguinem victimae meae: neque pernoctabit adeps agni mei usque mane.

25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

25. Non immolabis cum fermento sanguinem sacrificii mei: neque pernoctabit usque mane sacrificium solemnitatis Pesah.

Deuteronomy 16:3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Because by this sign they were reminded of their having escaped in haste, as it were from the very flames; therefore does Moses so often enforce the prohibition of leaven. And here this reason for it is alleged, viz., that their recollection should be recalled to the affliction from which they were rescued; for they must needs have been involved in the greatest straits, when there was no time even for baking bread. Unleavened bread is therefore called "the bread of affliction," that the manner of their deliverance may the more enhance God's grace. He repeats what we have seen before, that none of the flesh of the Lamb should be reserved to the following day. In the former passage from the Book of Exodus, because Moses speaks generally, the command may at first sight be referred to the perpetual sacrifice; but the latter passage takes away all obscurity, by the express mention of the passover. We need not wonder that in one place the word "fat" is used for the whole carcase, or any part of the lamb, either by synecdoche, or that God might commend the superior sanctity of the fat, of which they were not permitted to eat, and which was burnt in all sacrifices.

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

1. Loquutus est autem Jehova ad Mosen in deserto Sinai, anno secundo quo egressi sunt e terra Aegypti, mense primo, dicendo:

2. Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.

2. Facient filii Israel Pesah in tempore suo.

3. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

3. Decimoquarto die mensis hujus inter duas vesperas facietis illud tempore suo: secundum omnes titus suos, et juxta omnes ceremonias suas facietis illud.

4. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.

4. Alloquutus est itaque Moses filios Israel ut facerent Pesah.

5. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

5. Feceruntque Pesah in primo mense, decimoquarto die ejusdem inter duas vesperas in deserto Sinai: secundum omnia quae praeceperat Jehova Mosi, sic fecerunt filii Israel.

6. And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

6. Fuerunt autem quidam immundi super anima hominis, qui non potuerunt facere Pesah die ipso: tunc accesserunt coram Mose et coram Aharon ipso die.

7. And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel?

7. Dixeruntque homines illi ad cum, Nos immundi sumus super anima hominis, ut quid prohibemur ne offeranem oblationem Jehovae tempore suo in medio filiorum Israel?

8. And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

8. Et dixit ad eos Moses, State, et audiam quid praecipiat Jehova pro vobis.

9. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

9. Loquutus est autem Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

10. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you, or of your posterity, shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord.

10. Alloquere filios Israel, dicendo, Quicunque fuerit immundus super anima, aut fuerit in via remota, ex vobis, vel ex generationibus vestris, faciet Pesah Jehovae.

11. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

11. Mense secundo, decimoquarto die inter duas vesperas facient illud: cum infermentatis: et herbis amaris comedent illud.

12. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

12. Non relinquent quicquam ex eo usque mane, neque os confringent in co: seeundum onmes ritus Pesah facient illud.

13. But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

13. Vir autem qui est mundus, aut in via non fuerit, et cessaverit facere Pesah, excidetur anima illa e populis suis, quia oblation era Jehovae non obtulit tempore suo, peccatum suum portabit vir ille.

14. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

14. Si vero habitaverit apud vos peregrinus, et fecerit Pesah Jehovae, juxta ritum Pesah, et juxta ceremonias ejus sic faciet: ritus unus erit vobis, tam peregrino quam indigenae terrae.

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses. We may infer how great was the carelessness, nay, even the ingratitude of the people, from the fact that God recalls to their recollection the celebration of the passover, before a year had elapsed. For what would they do fifty years hence, if there was any danger of their falling into forgetfulness of it in so short a time? If they had been voluntarily assiduous in their duty, it would have been unnecessary to repeat what had been so severely enjoined even with threats. But now God, as the year came to a close, reminds them that the day approaches on which He had fixed the passover to be held; that the Israelites might more surely learn that this solemn sacrifice is of yearly recurrence, and thus that it was sinful to omit it. He then commands that all the ceremonies should be diligently observed, and that they should not corrupt the pure institution with any strange leaven. Finally, their obedience is praised, because they had neither added anything to, nor diminished anything from, God's command.

6. And there were certain men. A question is here introduced incidentally, viz., what must be done, if any sudden defilement should prevent any persons from celebrating the passover with the rest; since God would expunge from amongst His people whosoever should not observe this memorial of their redemption? Although the history is here touched upon, yet because the doctrine as to the just and pure observance of the passover is its main subject, nay, because this passage is a kind of supplement to the general command, I have thought it proper to connect them here. Moses says that certain men were found defiled over the soul of a man,³ viz., either because they had touched a dead body, or had gone into a house of mourning, or had been present at the funeral of a dead man; for the Law accounted such to be polluted, as will be seen elsewhere. Hence arose a kind of discrepancy; because, whilst the unclean were not permitted to approach the sacred feast, it was sinful to neglect this exercise of religion. Even Moses confessed that he was perplexed as to this matter, since he sought for time to inquire of God. The extraordinary modesty of the Prophet here displays itself, in not daring to pronounce on a doubtful matter, although he was their lawgiver. But he thus more clearly shewed that he by no means gave the Law out of his own head, since he did not dare even to interpret it, except after receiving a new command. God, therefore, by laying down a special exception, takes away the contradiction (antinomian). For to those, whom just necessity excused, He assigns the second month, that they too might be partakers of the passover, though they might not change the day at their own option. By this privilege He not only relieves the unclean, but also those who might be at a distance⁴ from the society of their fellows, concerning whom the same question might be raised. For it was not suitable that any one should eat the passover by himself; and even if a family were too small, the neighbors were called in, that the number might be sufficient to eat the whole lamb; and therefore, the traveler abroad, or even at home, if he was far from his friends, had need of some remedy to preserve him from punishment. Moreover, we must remember that this was not a concession to despisers, nor was profane carelessness encouraged by this indulgence; but it was only a provision for the necessity of those who had inadvertently contracted defilement, or who could not escape it, or who were unexpectedly delayed on their journey. For they are said to have complained of their own accord to Moses that, on account of their uncleanness, they were prevented from eating the paschal lamb; and hence we infer their pious solicitude. For such, then, another passover is permitted; that, in the second month, they might recover what they had lost without their fault. Meanwhile it is strictly enjoined on them that they should change nothing in the whole ceremony; and on this account, what we have already seen is again repeated, viz., that they should eat it with bitter herbs, that they should not break a bone of it, and the like. But, that the permission might not be extended too far, the penalty is again denounced, if any, except for these two causes, should have neglected to celebrate the passover. For we know how men, unless they are restrained, permit themselves too great license in searching out excuses. It is more clearly expressed here than before, that the paschal lamb was a victim;⁵ for it is said in verse 7, "wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering?" and in ver. 13, "because he brought not the offering of the Lord." I call attention to this, because there are some who think that the paschal lamb was so slain as not to be the offering of a sacrifice; whereas Paul distinctly teaches that a victim was offered in it, and then the feast annexed to it; for such is the meaning of his words, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast," etc (1 Corinthians 5:7, 8.) Whenever the word "soul"⁶ is used for a dead body, I take it to be a tolerably common metaphor of the Hebrew language.

respecting the Sanctifying of the First-born