formerly promised to direct III. 21 22. And let every Man borrow of his Neighbour c. See III. 21 22. Unto which this may be added that some of the ancient Fathers lookt upon this as a piece of Justice that they should be paid their Wages for the Labour they had undergone in the Service of the Egyptians which God orders in this manner So Epiphanius in his Ancoratus Num. CXII CXIII where he gives this account of the Israelites spoiling the Egyptians that they had served them a long time for Nothing he makes account CCXV years and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. was it not just both before God and Man that their Wages should be paid them before they left the Country See Petavius on that place And Haeres LXVI LXXI LXXXIII and Irinaeus L. IV. c. 49. Tertull. adv Marcion L. II. c. 20. And so the Author of the Book of Wisdom took it X. 17. where he saith the Lord gave the Israelites the Goods of the Egyptians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Reward of their Labours See more XII 35. Ver. 3. And the LORD gave the People favour in the sight of the Egyptians According to his Promise III. 21. Moreover the man Moses was very great c. This seems to be given as a reason both why the Court durst not meddle with Moses though he had brought so many Plagues upon them and why the People were forward to grant the Israelites what they desired because they all highly esteemed him and had him in great reverence as a Person that had extraordinary power with God From whence some think it credible that their Posterity might give him Divine Honours as is reported by some ancient Writers Ver. 4. And Moses said Thus saith the LORD It is manifest from v. 8. that these words were spoken from the LORD to Pharaoh but it is a great question when they were spoken It is commonly thought that Moses said this when he last parted with Pharaoh and told him he would see his face no more X. 29. And then the first words of this Chapter must be translated in the time past the LORD had said unto Moses that he would bring one Plague more upon the Egyptians which he now denounced to Pharaoh because he said he should not have the liberty of being admitted to him again Or else Pharaoh contrary to his peremptory Resolution sent once more to speak with Moses as it is plain he did after the First-born were slain XII 31. About midnight About the midst of the following Night For they having kept the Passover in the Evening of this fourteenth day of Abib the First-born were slain in the middle of that Night Not precisely the Hebrew indicates but it might be a little before or after Midnight See Theodorick Haespan of such kind of Speeches Disput de locut Sacris N. IV. Will I go out By an Angel who was sent from the SCHECHINAH which resided in some part of the Land of Goshen and ordered to go and do this Execution Into the midst of Egypt Perhaps he means the Royal City where he began this Execution and then smote the whole Country round about Ver. 5. And all the First-born in the Land of Egypt shall die This was the sorest Plague that had been hitherto inflicted Nothing being so dear to Parents as their Children especially their First-born From the First-born of Pharaoh c. i. e. From the highest to the meanest Person in the Kingdom That sitteth upon his Throne It is uncertain whether this relate to Pharaoh or to his First-born The LXX seem to incline to the former having left out the Pronoun his and simply translated it that sitteth upon the Throne But the Chaldee determines it to the latter by translating it who is to sit upon the Throne of his Kingdom i. e. to be Pharaoh's Successor the Heir of the Kingdom of Egypt The Maid-servant that is behind the Mill. None were more miserable than those Slaves whose Work it was to turn a Mill with their Hands and grind Corn perpetually especially when they were condemned to this in a Prison nay in a Dungeon that so we are to understand this appears from XII 29. The ancient Comaedians often mention this and we find an instance of such Drudgery in the Story of Sampson XVI Judg. 21. Ver. 6. And there shall be a great Cry throughout the Land of Egypt c. The Calamity being general in every House it made a general and very loud Lamentation Men Women Children and Servants bewailing the loss of the prime Person in the Family Ver. 7. But against any of the Children of Israel shall not a Dog move his tongue c. A great wonder that when so many Thousand People were upon their March with abundance of Cattle c. not a Dog should stir who though never so gentle yet commonly Bark when they hear the least noise especially in the Night All Travellers know this That ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel This was indeed a plain Testimony of God's special Care and Providence over the Israelites that when there was such a great Cry throughout all the Land of Egypt v. 6. all was quiet still and silent among them Ver. 8. And all these thy Servants shall come down to me c. You that now forbid me to come to you for Pharaoh himself is included it appears from XII 31 c. shall be forced to come to me and submissively intreat nay press me to be gone c. Come down It was a descent from that part of Egypt where the Court was unto Goshen though it may simply signifie come to me Get thee out and all the People that follow thee In the Hebrew the words are that is at thy feet that is to the very last man For they that bring up the Rear as we speak or march last after their Commander are said in Scripture to be at their feet As Wagenseil hath observed in his Confutation of R. Lipman's Carmen Memoriale See XLIX Gen. 10. And after that I will go out When you shall think I oblige you to leave your Country And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger It moved the meekest Man on Earth to a just Indignation which it 's likely he expressed in his Countenance and Behaviour to see Pharaoh remain so stupidly insensible as not to regard this Threatning which he might well think would be as certainly Executed as all the rest had been Ver. 9. And the LORD said unto Moses Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you That is I told thee at the first how it would be and the reason of it III. 19 20. Of which it was very proper to put Moses in mind at this time when he was going to fulfil the last part of those words after that after this last Plague he will let you go That my Wonders may be multiplied in the Land of Egypt That
A COMMENTARY UPON THE Second Book of MOSES CALLED EXODUS BY The Right Reverend Father in God SYMON Lord Bishop of ELY LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCVII A COMMENTARY UPON EXODUS ADVERTISEMENT BY reason of the Distance of the Author from the Press several Errata's have hapned which the Reader is desired to Correct before he read the Book He will find them printed at the end A COMMENTARY UPON THE Second Book of MOSES CALLED EXODUS CHAP. I. THIS Book hath its Name from the Principal Subject of it viz. the Departure of the Children of Israel out of Egypt For so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies going out or departing from one Place to another It contains an History of about an hundred forty and five years some make it two or three years less from the Death of Joseph to the Building of the Tabernacle For it treats of several Things which went before their Departure and which followed after it but they all relate to that and depend upon it Verse 1. Now these are the Names of the Children of Israel which came into Egypt c. Being to relate the Departure of the Children of Israel out of Egypt it was very proper first to set down the Number of those who came into it and the Heads of them Whereby it might the better appear also how God had fulfilled his Promise to Abraham of multiplying his Seed Which Moses had recorded in his first Book Genesis where he shows this Promise was made at that very time when he declared after a long Affliction in Egypt he would conduct his Posterity into Canaan XV Gen. 5 13 18. Ver. 2 3 4. Reuben Simeon c. He doth not set down their Names in these three Verses according to their Birth but first the Children of Leah then one of Rachels and then those of his Handmaids and last of all in the next Verses Joseph who was in Egypt before Ver. 5. And all the Souls i. e. Persons Who came out of the Loins In the Hebrew out of the thigh which signifies that part whereby Mankind is propagated as was observed upon XLVI Gen. 26. And so the Author of the Tripartite History uses the word femur when he speaks of the Martyrdom of Benjamin as Bochart observes P. 2. Hierozoic L. 5. cap. 15. Alium rursum acutum Calamum in ejus femur unde humana origo descendit jussit immitti For Joseph was in Egypt already In the Hebrew the Particle Vau which we commonly translate and and here for sometimes also signifies with See IV Gen. 20. And so it doth in this place which should be translated seventy Souls with Joseph who was in Egypt already For Joseph is not to be added to the LXX but reckoned among them to make up that number as appears from XLVI Gen. Ver. 6. And Joseph died See Gen. 26. And all his Brethren and all that Generation All that came with Jacob into Egypt Ver. 7. And the Children of Israel were fruitful c. Here are several words for the same thing to show their extraordinary Increase beyond what was usual in that or any other Country And because there are six words in all to express this great Increase some of the Hebrews conclude they brought forth six Children at a Birth Which others of them gather from the second word here used Jischretzu which is a word whereby the Increase of Fishes is expressed in I Gen. 20. So Theodorick Hacspan observes out of Baal-hatturim and Jalkut and thinks the Tradition is not to be rejected because they bring frivolous Conceits to support it For Aristotle saith L. VII Histor Animal c. 4. the Egyptian Women were so fruitful that some of them at four Births brought Twenty Children No wonder then if some of the Israelites brought Six at a time by the extraordinary Blessing of God upon them For Caspar Schottus names the Wife of a Citizen in Florence who had Two and fifty Children and never brought less than Three at a Birth L. III. Phys Curiosae Cap. XXIX where he hath collected a vast number of Examples of such strange fruitfulness But no Body hath explained this Verse now more soberly and unexceptionably than Abarbinel who considers every one of the words here used very judiciously and shows they are not multiplyed in vain For as the first word Were fruitful Signifies he thinks that none among them were barren but brought forth every year as Trees are wont to do So the next word And increased abundantly Signifies that they commonly brought forth more than One at a time as creeping things do to which this word alludes And because when more than one are born at a Birth they are frequently very weak and not long lived Therefore he adds And multiplied Which signifies that they grew up to be Men and Women and lived to have Children of their own And those not feeble but lusty and strong as the next words he thinks imports waxed exceeding mighty of which more presently Now this vast Increase began at their first coming into Egypt XLVII Gen. 27 28. and so continued till the death of all that Generation mentioned in the foregoing Verse When it began to be taken notice of by the Egyptians who thought it might prove dangerous to them For the Israelites having multiplied exceedingly during the space of XVII years that Jacob lived in Egypt there is no doubt they increased proportionably in the space of LIV years more which Joseph lived after the death of his Father And so in LXIV years more from the Death of Joseph to the Birth of Moses must needs be grown so numerous as to fill the Country So that in LXXX years more they were increased to Six hundred thousand Men besides Children XII Exod. 37. And the next year their Number being taken they were found to be Six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty Men from Twenty years old and upward as we read I Numb 45 46. And therefore reckoning Women Children and Youths under the Age of Twenty we cannot but think they were three times as many or perhaps Two Millions Which is not incredible by a moderate Computation if we consider how many might spring from LXX Persons in the space of Two hundred and fifteen years which the fore-named Sums make as Bonfrerius and several others from him in our own Language have been at the pains to demonstrate And waxed exceeding mighty This is commonly thought to signifie that they were not only numerous but robust and strong And it may as well denote that their vast Numbers made them very Formidable to the Egyptians who began it appears by the Sequel to be jealous of their power if they should have a will to attempt any thing against them And the Land was filled with them i. e. The Land of Goshen and perhaps some other Parts of the lower Egypt Ver. 8. Now there arose up a New King
Place in Egypt called by Ezekiel XXX 15. the strength of Egypt and by Suidas long after him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Key of Egypt because it was the Inlet from Syria into this Country Which was the reason as Diadorus saith Lib. XV. that they most of all fortified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as his words are And this agrees with the signification of Pithom if D. Chytraeus guess aright which is as much as Pi and tehom i. e. the Mouth of the Deep being seated near the Sea at the Mouth of one of the Streams of Nile And thus I find it expounded in the Talmud Tit. Sota in the Gemara Cap. I. Sect. 32. And Rameses It is an ignorant Conceit of Benjamin Tudelensis that this City is that called Ein-Alschemes i. e. the Fountain of the Sun in Greek Heliopolis See his Itiner p. 120. and L' Empereur's Annot. p. 223. for this City was in the upper Egypt whereas Rameses was in the lower in the Land of Goshen and gave name to the whole Country where the Israelites dwelt XLVII Gen. 11. And it is most likely it was a Frontier Town which lay in the entrance of Egypt from Arabia or some of the neighbouring Countries They that take the Name of the King who now reigned to have been Ramesses think this City had its Name from him and the other called Pithom as Mercator thinks from the Name of his Queen Ver. 12. But the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew Here is a new word different from all the former Ver. 7. to express their extraordinary Increase for so jiphrots signifies breaking out as Water doth which bursts out with a greater force when it hath been pent up This as St. Austin observes L. XVIII de Civ Dei c. 6. is to be ascribed to the Divine Blessing for naturally tiresome Labours would have dispirited them and made them less fruitful And they were grieved because of the Children of Israel It vext them to see this Device prove so unsuccesful that it promoted what they thought to hinder Ver. 13. And the Egyptians rather therefore The Egyptians resolved to take a more severe Course with them Made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour Used them more tyrannically and cruelly without any Mercy whereby their strength in all likelyhood would be broken as the Hebrew word signifies Some of the Jews think they beat and scourged them sorely Ver. 14. And they made their Life bitter The Hebrews call all things bitter which extreamly grieve and afflict the Soul XXVII Gen. 34. III Lament 15. Whence Naomi bids her Daughters call her no more by that pleasant Name but call her Mara i. e. bitter because of the very great Afflictions she had endured in a strange Country With hard Bondage Such Drudgery as if they had been meer Bondslaves In Mortar and in Brick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by making Clay into Bricks as Philo well interprets it L. I. de Vita Mosis or in working the Clay and then turning it into Bricks And so Bochart expounds it by the figure of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lateribus ex luto conficiendis There was great store of Clay in that place Pelusium one of the Cities which they built having its name from thence both in the Greek and in the Hebrew Languages For Sin signifies the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clay or Dirt. And in all manner of Service in the Field c. Not meerly in Ploughing c. but in digging Trenches to convey the Water of Nile into their Ground as Philo expounds it and in cleansing those Trenches that had been formerly made and in carrying Dung as others add into the Field and such like nasty Services And all these Moses adds were rigorously exacted of them i. e. they did all they could to break their hearts as we speak Ver. 15. And the King spake to the Hebrew Midwives The former Device failing him or contributing little to his end he betakes himself to one that if it were pursued could not but prove effectual Some will have these Midwives to have been Egyptians but called Hebrew because the Women of that Nation made use of their Assistance when they were in Labour But it is not likely that Hebrews had not Midwives of their Nation or that Pharaoh would impose his Midwives upon them and let them have none else for that would have too plainly discovered his drift whereas he intended to hide it and to act cunningly against them Ver. 10. The name of the one was Siphrah c. We cannot well think there were only two Midwives to serve the whole Nation but these were the chief who had the rest under their government and gave orders and directions to them So Aben Ezra whom Abarbinel contradicts but with slight reasons to advance a subtil rather than solid Conceit of his own that every Woman in Egypt had two Midwives and those were the common Names of them signifying what each of them were to do for the Women in Travel There are those among the Jews who have fancied Jochebed the Mother of Moses to be one of those here named and some of them who are pleased with seeming ignorant of Nothing say she is the person here called Siphrah her Daughter Miriam being the other called Puah So the Hierusalem Targum Ver. 16. When ye do the Office of a Midwife c. Are called to their Assistance in their Labour And see them upon the Stools The Hebrew word obanajim which we translate Stools is so obscure that the LXX content themselves to translate this Passage thus When you see them delivered which fully expresses the sense and must be supposed to be the meaning if we take Stools for such Seats as were purposely contrived for labouring Women to sit on that the Midwives might the better do their Office For they could not tell whether they brought forth Male or Female till they were delivered unless the Hebrew Doctors say true who constantly affirm That Boys come into the World with their Faces downward and Girls with their Faces upward whereby they might know what Sex a Child was of before it was quite born See Tit. Sota in the Gemara Cap. 1. Sect. 33. If it be a Son then ye shall kill him The Egyptians feared the Men of Israel only without whom they could have no Children at all but such as would be half Egyptians and in time be wholly ingrafted into that Nation But if it be a Daughter then she shall live For as Clemens Alexandr well observes L. I. Stromat p. 343. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Women are feeble and unfit for War therefore they had no fear of them but reserved them to increase the Egyptian breed Ver. 17. But the Midwives feared God c. They that take them for Egyptians say these Midwives were Proselytes to the Jewish Religion But such Faith in God as made them not fear a great King is hardly to be expected from
a while in the Air over the whole Country they came down and setled upon the Ground in every part of it Very grievous were they By their vast Numbers For so the word Caved I have often observed signifies and so the Vulgar Latin here translates innumerable Before them there were no such Locusts See v. 6. Neither after them shall be such i. e. Not in the Land of Egypt though in other Countries there might particularly in Judea when God brought this Plague upon it I Joel 2. Ver. 15. For they covered the Face of the whole Earth c. The word in the Hebrew which we translate Face signifying properly the Eye it induced Onkelos to translate this Passage they covered the Sun which is the Eye of the Earth That is there was such a thick Cloud of them before they fell that they darkned the Sun as when they were fall'n they darkned the Land as it here follows Or the meaning is there were such Numbers that they not only covered the Earth but the Sun also For many Authors mentions such prodigious Clouds of them as have so thickned the Sky that the Day hath been turned into Night See Bochart P. II. Hieroz L. IV. c. 5. And they did eat every Herb of the Land c. See v. 5. Ver. 16. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste This Dr. Jackson not improperly calls another raving sit or phrenetical symptom into which this new Calamity threw him I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you Whom he had lately caused to be driven out of his Presence v. 11. but now humbles himself before them more than he had done at any time before For this was such a Plague as all Men accounted a manifest Token of the Divine Displeasure According to that of Pliny L. XI c. 29. Deorum irae pestis ea intelligitur This is taken for a Plague of the Anger of the Gods or as some Copies have it Mira pestis a wonderful Plague sent from above Ver. 17. Now therefore forgive I pray you my sin only this once c. Nothing could be spoken more humbly and seemingly penitent than this Supplication which includes in it also a Promise never to offend again But there was no Sincerity in it being the effect only of a great fright which extorted this Confession and Submission from him without any serious meaning to continue in this Resolution Thus we all naturally think of Repenting as Pellicanus here piously reslects when we are in great straits nay and promise it too till we are out of danger when we perform little of what we promised as our whole Life testifies That he may take away from me this death only We cannot gather from hence that the Locusts killed Men and Women as the Hail did for the Fields and the Trees c. are said to die as well as Men XLVII Gen. 19. XIV Job 8 c. But the Locusts destroying the Supports of Life by eating up the Corn and the Grass c. might by consequence be said to kill the People In both which regards Pharaoh might call them deadly Locusts Ver. 18. And he went out from Pharaoh and intreated the LORD Both Moses and Aaron were called to Pharaoh and therefore now went both out But one only is mentioned viz. Moses because by his Prayers this Plague was removed Ver. 19. And the LORD turned This is supposed to be done the next day as I observed v. 12. according to what is said VIII 29. A mighty strong West-wind Strong Winds are the only Remedy to free a Country from this Plague as Pliny hath observed For if they die in those Fields on which they settle the Air is so corrupted by the stench that it breeds Pestilential Diseases Which took away the Locusts and cast them into the Red-sea That which we call the Red-sea the Hebrews call the Sea of Suph i. e. of Flags as we translate the word Suph in the second Chapter of this Book v. 3. because it was full of a certain Weed which the Latines call alga and the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some Travellers have affirmed to be of a red Colour and to make the Water appear as if it were red also from whence some fancy it was called the Red-sea Certain it is it had the Hebrew Name of Suph from hence there being such abundance of this Weed in that Sea that the Inhabitants of the Coast plucking it up out of the Water and laying it in heaps to be dried by the Sun it becomes so compact that they build Houses of it as Bochartus hath observed in his Phaleg L. IV. c. 29. But it is most likely to have had the Name of the Red-sea from this that what the Hebrews called the Sea of Suph the nearer Neighbours called the Sea of Edom from the Country which it washed viz. Idumaea 1 Kings IX 26. XXI Numb 4. From whence the Greeks who knew not the reason of the Name called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Red-sea because Edom in Hebrew signifies red as we find XXV Gen. 29. Now this Sea which late Writers call Sinus Arabicus lies East of Egypt and therefore a West wind was most proper to drive the Locusts thither There remained not one Locust in all the Land of Egypt The Power of God appeared no less in sweeping them all away than in bringing them upon the Country for both were done at the instance of Moses Ver. 20. But the LORD hardned Pharaoh 's heart c. See IX 12. He left him to himself and did not move him to persist in his late good Resolution Ver. 21. And the LORD said unto Moses He left off now to treat with Pharaoh and only proceeds in the Execution of the Sentence of utter Destruction which he had decreed against him Stretch out thine hand towards Heaven See IX 22. That there may be Darkness over the Land of Egypt So that they should not see any thing at Noon-day Even Darkness that may be felt In the next Verse he calls it thick Darkness which was made I suppose by such clammy Foggs that they sensibly affected the Egyptians Ver. 22. And there was thick Darkness in all the Land of Egypt three days Some think that during this three days Darkness the Israelites were Circumcised when the Egyptians by reason of the great Horrour they were in all that time could take no Advantage of them And so Dr. Lightfoot expounds CV Psal 28. They rebelled not against his word but submitted to be Circumcised For the words seem to signifie some special piece of Obedience which they then performed The Author of The Life and Death of Moses will have it that they punished and cut off several wicked People among the Israelites themselves which they did at this time that the Egyptians might not know it and rejoyce at it But that which is more certain is that if the former Plague ended on the ninth day this Judgment
19. who were then in attendance upon the Divine Majesty as his Retinue when he spake all these words that follow to the end of the seventeenth Verse which are called the Ten words or Commandments in XXXIV 28. And he spake them with so great a Voice V Deut. 22. that all the People who were very numerous plainly heard them which was very wonderful This was upon the sixth day of the third Month called Sivan See Selden L. III. de Jure N. G. c. 11. Ver. 2. I am the LORD thy God which have brought thee out of the Land of Egypt c. In this Preface to the Ten Commandments he asserts his Right to give them Laws not only in general as he is the LORD of all but by a peculiar Title he had to their Obedience whom he had taken to himself after a special manner to be his People by bringing them out of the Land of Egypt and the Servitude under which they groaned there This was a Benefit fresh in their Minds and most apt to affect their Hearts and therefore he doth not say as the Author of Sepher Cosri observes P. I. Sect. 27. I am the LORD of Heaven and Earth or I am thy Creator but I am the LORD thy God who have shown a particular favour and kindness to thee by bringing thee out of the Land of Egypt c. When he became their King by a special Title as I observed III. 10. and upon that account gave them these Laws whereby they were to be governed and gave them peculiarly to them as the fore-named Author notes who were tied to the Observance of them by virtue of their Deliverance out of Egypt and God's placing his Glory among them Whereas if they had been tied to them by virtue of their Creation they would have belonged to all Nations as much as unto them Thus He. Maimonides will have these words I am the LORD thy God to signifie the Existence of God and the next v. 3. his Vnity which two are the great Foundations of Religion More Nevoch P. II. c. 33. And indeed the word JEHOVAH or LORD is generally thought to signifie he who is of himself And the next word ELOHIM which is the most ancient Name of God in Scripture Learned men of late derive from the Arabick word Alaha there being no root in Hebrew remaining from whence it can so regularly come which signifies to worship serve and adore Hottinger hath taken a great deal of pains in his Hexaemeron and elsewhere to confirm this out of that and out of the Ethiopick Language also The Jews say indeed that Elohim is the name of Judgment as Jehovah is of Mercy but Abarbinel confutes this to establish a Notion of his own viz. the Omnipotent Cause of all things which others oppose as much as he doth the former And therefore most I think now rest in the fore-named Notion that it properly signifies him who only is to be religiously worshipped and adored as it follows in the next words Ver. 3. Thou shalt have no other Gods That is believe in one God or believe there is no other God but me as Nachman interprets it and consequently worship no other God This is the great Foundation as the Hebrews speak of the Law for whosoever confesses any other God he denies the whole Law And they truly observe also that this negative Precept includes the affirmative viz. a Command to worship Him the only God As when Naaman saith he would neither offer Burnt-offering nor Sacrifice to any other God but the LORD it is plain he meant that he would Sacrifice to him 1 Kings V. 17. See Selden L. III. de Jure N. G. c. 1. Before me As they were not to forsake Him and worship some other God so not to worship any other God together with Him as many did 2 Kings XVII 33. For in his Presence he could not indure any Competitor Ver. 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven Image c. The difference between Pesel which we translate graven Image and Temunah which we translate Likeness seems to be that the former was a protuberant Image or a Statue made of Wood Stone c. and the other only a Picture drawn in colours upon a Wall or Board c. Both which some have thought they were prohibited here so much as to make whether it were the Image or Picture of the Stars or Birds or Men or Beasts or Fishes for fear they should be drawn to worship them Thus it is certain Origen understood this Commandment when he said there was not permitted to be so much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. a Picture-drawer or a maker of Statues in their Commonwealth to take away all occasion of drawing Mens minds from the worship of God L. IV. contra Cels p. 181. Clemens Alexandrinus was of the same Opinion L. V. Stromat and Tertullian L. de Spectaculis c. 23. Which they derived in all probability from the Jews who from the time of the Maccabees to the Destruction of Jerusalem thought they were forbidden by this Law to make an Image or Figure of any Living Creature especially of a Man This Harmannus Conringius hath plainly demonstrated in his Paradoxa de Nummis Ebraeorum c. 5. out of many places in Philo and in Josephus The latter of which tells us L. XVIII Archaeolog c. 5. That all their Governours before Pilate were wont to use Ensigns in Jerusalem without the Image of Caesar in them because their Law forbad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the making of Images And when Vitellius was to lead the Roman Army through Judaea against the Arabians with Images in their Ensigns the People ran to meet him beseeching him to forbear it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it was not consonant to the Laws of their Country to see Images brought into it But whether this was the ancient Exposition of the Law before those times may be doubted The Talmudists think it was unlawful to make any Figures of Celestial Bodies either prominent or plain though it were for Ornaments sake but as for Animals they might make prominent Statues of them except only of Men the Images of whom they might draw on a plain See Selden L. I. de Jure Nat. Gent. c. 6 7 8. Which distinctions most look upon as ungrounded and the common Opinion is That Moses did not forbid the very making of an Image but that they should not make them to set up in the place of Divine Worship Ver. 5. Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them If they saw an Image as they must needs do in other Countries though we suppose they had none among themselves he requires them not to use any gesture or to do any thing that might signifie Reverence or Honour given to them Such were prostrating themselves before them bowing their bodies kissing their hands much less to offer Sacrifice or burn Incense c. to them Here seems
of two Eye-witnesses And they make this Precept as much as Thou shalt not judge out of Conjectures Nay if there were two Witnesses that did not speak to the same matter he was not to be Condemned As if one Witness said he saw such a Man break the Sabbath and another said he saw him commit Idolatry Judgment was not to be given against him upon this Testimony because Moses saith Slay not the Innocent Another Example of which is still more close which is mentioned in the T. Sanhedrim If one said he saw him Worship the Moon and another that he saw him Worship the Sun the Man was not to be Condemned who was thus accused because the Witnesses did not speak to the same sort of Idolatry See Selden L. II. de Synedr c. 13. p. 567. By the same reason they were not to acquit him who was plainly Convicted of such Impieties For I will not justifie the wicked i. e. Such an unjust Judge Ver. 8. And thou shalt take no gift No not to Absolve the Innocent or to Condemn the Guilty as it is interpreted in Siphri For a gift blindeth the wise Such Presents made to a Judge are apt to cast a Mist as we speak before his Eyes i.e. to corrupt his Understanding though he be otherwise perspicacious enough to discern between Truth and Falshood Good and Evil 1 Sam. VIII 3. The word which we translate wise is in the Hebrew Piccehim open or seeing concerning which consult Bochart L. I. Canaan c. 16. p. 470. And perverteth the words of the righteous By words seems to be meant the Sentence of those who might otherwise have been inclined to be righteous and upright Judges The Hebrew Lawyers say That not only Pecuniary Gifts are here forbidden but such words also I suppose they mean Promises of Reward as may win the Affection and that he who gave the Present was guilty as well as he that received it See Selden de Synedriis L. II. c. 13. p. 570. But especially Joh. Coch. ad excerpt Gem. Sanhedrim cap. 1. sect 10. Annot. 4. where among other things he gives this ingenious derivation of the Hebrew word Schochad which we translate gift out of the Treatise called Chetuboth where it is said to be as much as Schechu chad that is whereby he is one For the Party who receives the Gift hath his Mind so drawn to the giver that he becomes one and the same with him And no Man is fit to be Judge in his own Cause Plato thought this so necessary a Law that he expresly enacts L. XII de Legibus p. 955. that all Men who served their Country in any Office should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perform their Duty without Gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that offended against this Law was to suffer death Which was the Law of the XII Tables among the ancient Romans Judex qui ob rem dicendam pecuniam accepisse convictus est capite punitor A Judge that is convicted to have received Money for giving his Sentence let him lose his Head Ver. 9. Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger This was said before XXII 21. but then it was a Precept to all Israel which is here applied peculiarly to Judges Whom he would have to deal equally with Strangers and to make no difference between them and Israelites remembring what they themselves were not long ago and that they found by experience it was Affliction enough to be Strangers That 's the meaning of what follows in this Verse For ye know the heart of a stranger seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt Ye have felt what a distressed Condition that is how friendless and helpless See XXIV Deut. 17 18. XXVII 19. Ver. 10. And six years thou shalt sow thy land There was the same reason for dressing their Trees And gather in the fruit thereof Together with the Fruit of their Trees Ver. 11. But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still Neither sow nor reap nor prune their Trees nor gather the Fruit. The poor of thy people may eat And the Levites and themselves also who might take their share not to lay up but for present use though not as Proprietors but in common with the rest of the Country Whence it was that Alexander the Great allowing them to live by their ancient Laws among other things granted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every seventh year should be tribute free Josephus L. XI Archaeol c. 8. For since they received nothing it seemed reasonable to him they should pay nothing And what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat This signifies God sent such vast Plenty when they observed his Laws that so much sprung up of it self as would more than satisfie Men and afford Food to the Beasts In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and olive-yard Under these two are comprehended all other sort of Fruit-trees as the Hebrews themselves acknowledge who give several Reasons for this Law Which was ordained saith Maimonides P. III. More Nevoch c. 39. in compassion to all Men in general that they might have some time of breathing and refreshment But principally say others of them to be a memorial of the Creation of the World and the production of all things by the Power of God in six days and his resting on the seventh◠Their exposing all things in common which that year produced as well as letting the Land rest Put them in remembrance saith R. Levi of Barcelona Praecept LXIX that God was their Preserver as well as Creator the Earth bringing forth Fruit every year not by its own proper strength or of its own accord but because it hath a Lord upon whom it depends who when he speaks hath a right to dispose of its Fruits to a publick use This Command also bred in them a trust in God and in his Providence and was a Curb to Covetousness and taught them Mercy also and Liberality Philo adds that this was a Politick contrivance to let the Earth rest partly that it might have time to recruit its strength that it might bring forth more plentifully and partly that the People might grow stronger and more apt for all Employments by so long forbearance of their Labours This Eusebius thought worthy to transcribe out of him at large in his Praepar Evang. L. VIII c. 7. But this Precept about the Year of Rest is more fully delivered in XXV Lev. v. 2 3. where see what I have noted Ver. 12. Six days thou shalt do thy work and on the seventh day thou shalt rest He would not have them imagine they should rest less on the Sabbath this Year than in others because this whole Year was a kind of Sabbath but keep it with the usual strictness Which is the reason perhaps of the repetition of this Precept in this place That thine ox and thine ass may rest c. This shows that one great end of instituting the Observation of this Day
this Cloud stood just as it did here at the Door of it XII Numb 5. And stood at the door of the Tabernacle Openly to assert the Authority of Moses with whom God showed himself present though he had forsaken them And the LORD talked with Moses Which shows the Divine Glory was within the Tabernacle where Moses now was and so the People understood it as appears by the next Verse Ver. 10. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door Which they knew was an evident Token that God was there And all the people rose up and worshipped every man in his Tent door Bowed themselves unto the Divine Majesty and humbly deprecated his Displeasure acknowledging we may reasonably think his great Goodness in condescending to appear again to them though at a distance from them Ver. 11. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face In a familiar manner which did not affright or astonish him by a dreadful appearance of his Majesty which in the sight of the Children of Israel lookt like devouring fire XXIV 17. but appeared to Moses in a milder and more chearful brightness The like expression in XII Numb 8. seems to relate only to the Discourse he had with Moses which was clear and plain and by a Voice not in Visions and Dreams and obscure Resemblances and so it may be understood here as Maimonides takes it More Nevoch P. III. c. 45. But Abarbinel thinks that these Expressions signifie God treated with Moses in his own Person not by an Ambassadour just as one Friend converses with another And this is a common Notion among the Jews that God did not speak to Moses by an Angel but by himself which they take to be the meaning of this Phrase face to face Which seem to me rather to import the clearness and evidence of that Divine Light wherein God revealed himself to Moses whether it was by himself or an Angel it matters not Yet the New Testament determines this question when it tells us The Law it self was given by Angels in the hand of a Mediator And accordingly the old Tradition was That Moses saw things in a clear and bright Glass but the rest of the Prophets in a Glass that was dim and cloudy As a man speaks to his friend This is added to show how differently God treated Moses from all other Men. For he is said to have talked face to face with all the Israelites V. Deut. 4. but it was out of the midst of fire which struck a terrour into them whereas he spake to Moses out of the midst of a glorious but comfortable Light which gave him high satisfaction And he turned again into the Camp After some time spent in Conversation with the Divine Majesty he went to comfort the People it is likely with hopes of recovering his Favour of which they might have quite despaired if he had staid long from them But his servant Joshua a young man departed not out of the Tabernacle It is hard to tell for what end Joshua should stay behind his Master and it seems not decent that Moses should return alone without his Servant to attend him They that say he stayed to guard the Tabernacle have no foundation for it and they have not much who say he stayed to give Judgment in small Causes which needed not Moses his Resolution according to XVIII 26. For we never read that Joshua was a Judge but a constant Attendant upon Moses his Person And therefore the words may better be translated as they plainly run in the Hebrew He turned again to the Camp and his servant Joshua the son of Nun a young man At which there is a stop in the Hebrew over the word Naar young Man to distinguish these from the following words which are Departed not out of the Tabernacle That is the LORD departed not from thence but his Presence remained there and would not come into the Camp as Moses did And this Interpretation is the more likely because the last words in the Hebrew are out of the midst of the Tabernacle which cannot refer to Joshua because he did not go thither but only Moses who conversed alone with the Divine Majesty Why Joshua is called a young Man when he was near sixty years old is not easie to resolve Perhaps it signifies a valiant Man for so he was or he had waited on Moses from his youth or as Maimonides this is the Phrase of the Hebrew Nation who call all Men young till they begin to decay as Joseph is called when he was Thirty years old XLII Gen. 2. More Nevoch P. II. c. 32. Ver. 12. And Moses said unto the LORD When or where Moses spake what follows we are not here informed It is likely that after he was satisfied the People were very penitent he returned to the Tabernacle and there made this Address unto the Divine Majesty for a perfect Reconciliation with his People See A word imploring attention and regard to his Petition Thou sayest unto me Bring up this people Lead them to the Land of Promise XXXII 34. XXXIII 1. And thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me Thou hast only said thou wilt send an Angel before me but I hope to obtain greater favour from thee which thou hast not yet declared to me And I have no heart to proceed if thou thy self wilt not guide us in the Pillar of Cloud as thou hast done hitherto and dwell among us as thou hast promised in thy Sanctuary This seems to be the sense if this Verse be compared with the 15th and not barely that he did not know what Angel he would send with him Yet thou hast said I know thee by name The Chaldee takes it to be the same with what is said of Bezaleel whom God called by name XXXI 2. that is particularly designed to make the Tabernacle and all belonging to it But to know is more than to call signifying God's special Love and Kindness to Moses above all Men as the LXX interpret it And thou hast also found grace in my sight God had often heard his Prayers for this People as he hoped he would do now For that was the effect of his being an acceptable person unto him which is the proper signification of this Phrase Ver. 13. Now therefore I pray thee if I have found grace in thy sight If I still continue in thy favour Shew me now thy way The Interpretation of Maimonides More Nevoch P. I. c. 54. is too much strained who thinks he here desires the knowledge of God's Attributes as v. 18. he desires the sight of his Essence The plain meaning of this Prayer is That God himself would conduct him and show him the way wherein he should lead his People unto their rest in the Land of Canaan XXXII 34. That I may know thee that I may find grace in thy sight That I may be fully assured of thy gracious acceptance of me And
consider that this Nation is thy people I do not beg this meerly upon my own account but for those who have been redeemed by thee out of the Land of Egypt and have engaged themselves to be thine by a Solemn Covenant XXIV and now return unto thee by Repentance v. 6. Ver. 14. And he said My Presence shall go with thee In the Hebrew My face i. e. I my self as the LXX translate it My Majesty as the Chaldee He promises that is to continue with them as he had done hitherto and not meerly send an Angel to accompany them but to lead and guide them himself by the Pillar of the Cloud and his glorious Presence in the Tabernacle And I will give thee rest Some think these words are particularly spoken to Moses and signifie that God would give him ease in this Point and quiet his Spirit which was now very solicitous about his Departure from them by returning to them But as the foregoing words are a Promise that he would take the Conduct of the People again so is this that he would not leave them till he had brought them to their rest Ver. 15. And he said unto him If thy Presence go not with us Some translate the words for he i.e. Moses had said unto him i. e. to God if thy Presence c. So that these words and the following are the reason of God's Answer to him v. 14. And if they be not thus taken one would have expected Moses should rather have given God thanks for his gracious Promise than further pressed him to it But the 17th Verse doth not well agree with this and therefore these words are to be looked on only as part of what Moses said to God after his Promise that his Presence should go with him Which he acknowledged to be the greater favour because otherwise he had rather never stir from the place where they now were Carry us not up hence Let us go no further if thou thy self dost not lead and guide us in our way Ver. 16. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight How shall all the People round about us be convinced that we are not abandoned by thee in this Wilderness Is it not in that thou goest with us Is not this the great Demonstration of it that thou leadest us in a Pillar of Cloud and Fire Day and Night So shall we be separated I and thy people from all the people that are upon the face of the Earth This will distinguish us while it continues with us from all other People whatsoever none of which have such a Token of thy Presence with them The Manna indeed continued all this time to descend for their Sustenance which was a miraculous food but it might have been ascribed to other Causes if this glorious Token of God's Presence had not still appeared among them Ver. 17. And the LORD said unto Moses I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken Distinguish you from all other People not only by leading you in a Pillar of Cloud and Fire but dwelling among you as I designed XXV 8. For thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name He owns Moses still to be most acceptable and dear to him as he had been v. 12. and therefore at his Intercession promises to be perfectly reconciled and return to his People Ver. 18. And he said I beseech thee Having obtained so much favour of God he presumes to ask something beyond all this but with all humility Shew me thy Glory In the Hebrew the word is hareni make me to see to signifie apprehend with the understanding not with the bodily eye More Nevoch P. I. c. 4. For by Glory he there understands cap. 54. the Divine Essence which he makes Moses to be desirous to apprehend which is not likely such a Man as he should think possible For thus he explains himself in his Book de Fundamentis Legis c. 1. n. 10. Moses desired to know the truth of the Divine Essence as one Man knows another whose Face he beholds and his Image is so engraven in his Mind that he Exists there distinguished from all other Men So he begs that the Divine Essence might be distinct in his Mind from all other Essences till he knew the truth of it as it is in it self But he confesses in another place of that Book cap. 64. That by the Glory of the LORD is many times understood a created Light or Splendor whereby God miraculously set forth his Majesty XXIV 26. and other places And I can see no reason why it should not so signifie here and the meaning be That he desired to see that glorious Presence or Face of God as it is called which he promised should go with them not vailed in a Cloud but in its full Splendor and Majesty For hearing him speak from the SCHECHINAH he supposed perhaps that God appeared therein in some visible shape which he desired to be acquainted withal To confirm this it is observable that God himself in his Answer to Moses calls this Glory his Face v. 20. as he had done v. 14 15. And thus R. Jehudah in the Book Cosri Pars IV. Sect. 3. towards the latter end of it seems to have understood it See upon v. 29. Ver. 19. And he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee Which Maimonides thinks signifies his making Moses to understand the Nature of all Creatures and how they are knit and united together and after what manner they are governed both in general and particular because when God had made all his Works he saw that they were very good I Gen. 31. But that Text is a very slender ground for such an Interpretation The LXX seem to come nearer to the matter who interpret this passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will pass before thee with my Glory That is he promises to give him a Transient view of his Glory while it passed by him v. 22. though it could not be seen in its full Majesty And then the word tobhi which we translate my goodness must rather be rendred my beauty it being the same with glory only a softer word to express such a degree of its Splendor as would not hurt him but be delightful to him And thus the word tobh is used in the second Chapter of this Book v. 2. and 1 Sam. IX 2. Or if this be not the meaning all his goodness must signifie his gracious Intentions concerning the Children of Israel to whom he assures him he would fulfil all his Promises which was sufficient for him to know And I will proclaim the Name of the LORD before thee The LXX seem to have understood this right when they translated it I will call to thee by my Name saying the LORD is before thee That is lest when I pass by thee thou shouldst not observe it I will admonish thee by a Voice calling