Exodus 13

(saith R. Levi Barzelonita) tliat the whole world was his; and that men had nothing in it, but by his gracious grant: who challenged the first-born of every thingto himself, because all was his. For the first-born male was dearer to a man, saith he, than the apple of his eye (as no doubt he whs), yet ho was bound to consecrate him to God. But the plainest reason of this law was, to put them in mind of God’s miraculous providence, in sparing their first-born, when those of the Egyptians were all killed. To which the Jewish doctors add a more ancient right God had to them: being the persons who sacrificed to God, before priests were ordained by the law of Moses. So Onkelos takes the " young men,"(xxiv. 5.) to have been the first-born, and the priests mentioned xix. 22. (Aben Ezra also upon Numb, xvi. 1. saith the same), the truth of which I shall examine there. tion of the creation of the world, and that our Lord God is the author of all creatures, and doth what he pleases, &c. For who but he could change the course of nature, and work such great and unheard of signs as he did? This is sufficient to confute those that deny the creation of the world; and to establish us in the belief of God most blessed: and to persuade both that there is a providence, and that his power extends to all things, both in general and particular." So he. (See ver. 16.) Tliat the Lord’s lazomay-be in thy mouth J] That their children might be able to declare to their posterity the law of the Lord about these matters. For with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.’] By slaying all their first-born in one night. (Seeiii. 19.) * it appears by this, and by ver. 8. where they arc commanded to teach them the reason of eating unleavened bread, as here of their consecrating the first-born. Tliat by strength of hand, &c] See iii. 19. Talmud; where in the Gemara of the title Sota, cap. i. sect 47. they say the Egyptians themselves.buried their relations in the Nile, to make the waters prosperous. And tell a vain story, how a woman called Serach told Moses where the body was, when he was at a loss where to find it, after he had searched for it three days (as the forenamed author tells the tale, while the; Jews were borrowing jewels of gold and silver of the Egyptians), and that he called it up from thence, throwing (as he adds) the ineffable name into the river; which brought it up presently, though, in a leaden, or, as others say, a marble coffin. For he lutd straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying 9 &c] See Gen. 1. 25. From whence Gaulmyn (lib. ii. cap. 2. Annot. in Vit. Mos.) not improbably conjectures, that the custom was derived of carrying the ashes of their ancestors into their own country; first by Hercules among the Greeks, and long before by the Egyptians and Chaldeans: whom the Arabians, as he shews, imitated in following ages..

Exodus 13:1

JjLND the Lord spake unto Moses, saying. After they came to Succoth; where I suppose the Schechinah appeared to him, as it had done in Midian and in Egypt; to direct him in his conduct.

Exodus 13:2

Sanctify unto me the first-born,. Separate, or set apart, from common uses, for I appropriate them to myself, as it follows in the end of the verse. This word (sanctify) as our Mr. Mede observes, signifies differently in several conjugations. Sometimes it signifies to devote, and consecrate to the service of God; and sometimes to use a thing as holy, being already devoted to him. And thus he reconciles this place, where he bids him sanctify all the first-born (i\ e. look upon them as things separated to his own use, and therefore not to be used by them), with another place, (Lev. xxvii. 26.) where he saith concerning the first-born, " No man shall sanctify it, it is the Lord’s;" i. e. the Lord hath already set it apart to himself, and therefore no man is to consecrate that again, which God hath already consecrated, that is, taken for his own. (See lib. ii. de Sanctuario Dei, p. 552.) First-born.] There were two sorts of first-born. Some.who were the first-born of the father, called " the beginning of his strength," (Deut. xxi. 17.) The other, the first-born, of the mother, which are called here, " whatsoever openeth the womb." The Hebrews mako a great difference between these two; and say, that to the former sort belong the prerogatives, both of having the inheritance of his father, and also the priesthood: but to the latter only belongs one of these prerogatives, viz. the priesthood. And they gather it from this very place, " whatsoever openeth the womb" (which is the first-born of the mother) is mine; i. e. shall be employed in my service. But instead of these, God took the Lcvites to attend upon him, (Numb. iii. 12.) After which, the first-born were to be redeemed at a certain rate, which was part of the priests’ maintenance, (Numb, xviii. 15, 16.) See Selden de Successionibus, ad Leg. Hebr. cap. 7. Among the children of Israel.] Whom this precept concerned peculiarly, but no other people. Therefore the Jews say, that if one of them and a gentile had any beast in common between them, the first-born was free (as their phrase is), because it is here said, among the children of Israel, not the gentiles. (See Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. 38.) Both of man and beast.] And is further directed and explained, (ver. 12, 13.) It limine.] And therefore was to be offered to God, if it were a male of any beast; only an ass was to be redeemed, (xxxiv. 19, 20.) God intended by this law to teach them

Exodus 13:3

And Moses said nnto the people. God seems to have commanded Moses, at the same time he gave this precept, to repeat here at Succoth what he had said to them in Egypt, concerning the observation of the Passover, and of the feast of unleavened bread. It being of great momont to have the benefits hereby commemorated in perpetual remembrance. Remember this day, &c] Which was the first day of unleavened bread; commanded to be kept holy, (xii. 16.)!• For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out.] That is, by a miraculous power; which constrained Pharaoh to let you go, much against his will. So God promised at his first appearance to Moses, (iii. 19.) There shall no leavened bread be eaten.]’ Unleavened bread was to be eaten on the Passover night, and afterwards no leavened bread. See xii. 15, &c. where this is’ represented as the sense of the Jews: but the sixth and seventh verses following seem to say otherwise.

Exodus 13:4

This day came ye out. In the morning of this day they began their march. In the month o/Abib.] This word Abib signifies an ear of corn: for then barley began to ear. The Syriac word hababa hath something of its sound, which signifies a flower: and so they here translate it, the month of flowers. Whence Macarius saith, God brought Israel out of Egypt, lv n£ firtvl T&V avS&v, in the month of flowers; when the pleasant spring first appeared. (Sec xxiii. 15.)

Exodus 13:5

And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land, &c. From hence they conclude, this precept did not oblige them in the wilderness: but it was by a special direction and command that they observed it the year after this, (Numb. ix. 1, 2, &c.) See xii. 25. 50. In confirmation of which, (Deut. xii. 1.) is alleged, where he begins to recapitulate all the laws they were to observe in Canaan; among which this is one, (xii. 5, 6.) yet this alone would not have been sufficient to prove this (for he might be thought now only to reinforce his laws, at their entrance into Canaan), if he had not added, (ver. 1.) « Ye shall not do after all the things you do here this day," &c. Which. supposes, that in the unsettled condition wherein they were in the wilderness, they had not kept themselves to all those rules which follow, and had been formerly delivered. JVliich he sware unto thy fathers to give thee 3 &c.l Gen. xv. 18, 19, &c. Ye shall keep this service in this month.] Both the Passover, and feast of unleavened bread, (xii. 25.)

Exodus 13:6

Seven days thou shall cat unleavened bread. This seems to confute what the Jeivs say, that they were not bound to eat unleavened bread, but only when they ate the Passover. (Sec xii. 15.) And in the seventh day shall be a feast unto the Lord.] As the first day was holy (ver. 3.) so was the last, (xii. 1G.) that they might not fail in their gratitude for so great a benefit as they now commemorated.

Exodus 13:7

Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. This seems still to make the injunction plainer, that for seven days together they should eat unleavened bread. Which is so often repeated, because this made them sensible, more than any thing else, of the wonderful hand of God in bringing them out of Egypt; which was so sudden and hasty, that they had not time to bake the dough they had prepared, nor so much as put leaven to it, (xii. 39.) There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee.] From whence the Jews conclude, that not only all such bread is to be carefully sought for and thrown out of their houses, but all their vessels that have been used the year before thoroughly scoured, lest any thing should remain in them, that might give a tincture of acidity to tlie bread that might be made in them. In which work they spend some days before the Passover, as Buxtorf observes in his Synag. Jud. cap. 17. Neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, &c] For which cause, as he there observes, they abstain, all the time of this feast, from all such things as may possibly have some leaven in them. As from honey and sugar, which are often adulterated with flower, &c.

Exodus 13:8

And thou shalt shew thy so?i in that day, &c. That is, on the first day of unleavened bread, it was to be a part of their religion, to instruct their children in the meaning of their killing the lamb, and their abstinence from leaven. This the Jewish doctors make one of the DCXIII. precepts, that parents should tell the whole story of their going out of Egypt on the fifteenth day of Nisan: when every one, according to his ability, was bound in his own language, to bless and praise the name of God, for all his miracles, which he wrought for them. They are the words of R. Levi of Barcelona.

Exodus 13:9

And it shall be for a sign unto thee. These seem to be still the words that the parents were to say to their children upon the festivals; whereby they taught them to look upon this observation as a token or memorial 6f what God had done for their forefathers, when he brought them out of Egypt. Upon thy hand, and for a memorial between tJmie eyes.] To make thee as -sensible of God’s goodness, as of that which thou hast in thy hand; or of a thing that is continually before thine eyes. The Jewish superstition about their phylacteries took its rise from hence, but without any good ground: it being evident he speaks not of tying parchments, or any thing else, about their wrists, &c. but of teaching their children the meaning of their holy rites. And so some of themselves have expounded it; particularly the forementioned R. Levi of Barcelona, who gives this reason why such abundant care was taken to have these things remembered; " Because (saith he) this is the foundation of our law and of our religion: for which cause, in all our blessings and prayers, we commemorate our coming out of Egypt; because it is a sign to us, and a perfect demonstra-

Exodus 13:10

Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance. Of the Passover; and of the feast of unleavened bread..; In this season from year to year.] On the fourteenth, and the seven following days of the first month. *

Exodus 13:11

And it shall be; when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, &c. Under the name of Canaanites he comprehends all the rest of the seven nations. And these words seem to import, that the law of the first-born was not to take place till they came into the promised land. Yet wc find (Numb. iii. 12, 13.) that God demanded all the first-born of them, though he took the Levitcs in their stead: and both being numbered, and there being two hundred seventy-three first-born males more than there were Levites, (ver. 41 — 43.) he required them to be redeemed at five shekels a-piece, and the money to <be given to the priests, (ver. 46 — 48.) But, perhaps, after this the law was not observed till they came to Canaan. Which he sware unto thy fathers, &c] See ver. 5.

Exodus 13:12

That thou shalt set apart nnto the Lord all tliat openeth the matrix. Here he shews what he means by that sanctification of the first-born, which was mentioned, ver. 2. and for what end and reason this was ordained. For that which is called sanctifying there, is here called setting apart, or separating it from the rest of that kind of creatures, for another use, viz. to be sacrificed to the Lord. -For the word heevarta, which we translate set apart, is, in the Hebrew, made to pass over. Which is explained, xxii. 30. Thou shalt give it unto me; viz. to be offered at the altar. The males.] The first-born aro only mentioned, (ver. 2.) but here it is explained to signify only the males. If a female came first, and aftenvard a male; that male was not devoted unto God, because it did not open the womb, a female coming before it. Shall be the Lord’s.]- And therefore set apart from common uses, to be employed in his service. That is, every firstling male of a cow, sheep, or goat, was to be offered in sacrifice: and the blood being sprinkled on the altar, the flesh of them was given to the priests. (Sec Numb, xviii. 17, 18.) where what is here briefly delivered, is there more largely explained.

Exodus 13:13

And every firstling of an ass. There was the same reason for horses and camels: but an ass is only mentioned, because abundance of asses were bred in Judea; where there were few horses or camels. And therefore Numb, xviii. 15. it is said in general, " the firstlings of unclean beasts thou shalt redeem." Thou shalt redeem with a lamb.] Which was to be sacrificed to God. If a man had not a lamb, he was to give the price of one. And because all lambs were not of an equal price (some being worth more than others), the rabbins say that a good eye, i. e. a liberal man, gave a shekel; an evil eye half as much; and a middle sort of men gave three quarters. It Avas to be redeemed also within thirty days. If thou ivilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break (or cut off) its neck.] It was to die, one way or other, and not to be employed in common use: but thus to be disposed of, if they would not give a lamb, or its value, in exchange for it. Which men might sometimes be unwilling to do, because asses being so plentiful in that country, they might not be worth so much as a lamb.* It is no improbable conjecture of Mr. Selden, that from this law of redeeming asses, the gentiles took up a fancy, which was common among them, that the Jews worshipped an ass’s head. (See lib. ii. de Jure Nat. et Gent. cap. 1.) Which was one of their calumnies also of Christians (whom they took to be the same with the Jews), as we read in Minutius Felix, Tertullian, and others. All the first-bornof man among thy children shalt thou redeem.] See ver. 11. Human sacrifices were not acceptable to God. For though he once commanded Abraham to offer his son, yet it was not actually done; and here he declares he did not approve of such sacrifices, by commanding them not to offer their first-born to him, as they did the firstling of clean beasts; but to redeem them. For the way of the gentile world, even in those days, was to offer their children to Moloch, as appears from (Lev. xx. 2.) where he orders him to be put to death, who " gives any of his seed to Moloch." The very same phrase which is used (as I observed, ver. 12.) concerning sacrificing the firstlings of their oxen, &c. And in Lev. xviii. 21. he uses both phrases, saying, * Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to pass through to Moloch, or to pass over to Moloch." The very same word, Avhich we here translate (ver. 13.) set apart. And it was but necessary to give such precepts; for, notwithstanding these prohibitions, the Israelites fell •into this barbarous way of worship, as we read Psal. cvi. Now this redemption of their first-born, was not.long after ordered by God himself; who took the Levites instead of them, (as we read, Numb, iii.) where a certain sum of money was paid for all the rest of the first-born, that were above the number of the Levites. Which sum, they who were born after that time paid to the priest. • Nor was this a thing unknown to the gentiles. For Paulus Vcnctus saith, (lib. i. cap. 45.) that the inhabitants of that region in India, called Tanguth, redeemed their sons with a ram, which they offered after the manner of the Hebrews: Avhich makes it probable that this law of Moses had reached them; there being several remainders of the Hebrew language upon those coasts; as Huetius observes in his Demonstr. Evang. propos. iv. cap. 6.

Exodus 13:14

When thy son asketh thee, in time to come, What is this?. Desires to know the meaning of this; or, whence this custom of offering or redeeming the first-born males is derived. That thon shalt say unto him.] Great care was taken for the instruction of children in the rites of their religion;

Exodus 13:15

And it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let ns go. Obstinately persisted in his resolutions to keep us in slavery, or hardened his heart (as it may be translated by adding the word libbo), against all the monitions which had been given him, and the plagues inflicted on him. That the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, &c.] Which struck such a terror into him, that immediately he dismissed us, (xii. 30, 31, &c.) Therefore I sacrifice unto the Lord all that openeth the womb, &c] Because when he slew all their first-born, he spared ours, (xii. 13. 23. 27.)

Exodus 13:16

And it shall be for a token upon thine hand.’) By this means there was a perpetual remembrance pre-. served, of God’s gracious deliverance of them, when the first-born of Egypt were slain. For nothing else can be meant by these words, but that they should endeavour, by consecrating their first-born, to keep that Divine benefit in mind as carefully as if they had put a sign upon their hand, or bound it upon their forehead before their eyes, to help their memory. For it is a plain allusion to those, who, having frail memories, are wont to tie a thread, or some such thing upcm their finger, that they may not forget what they desire to remember: that which is upon their hand being continually in view, and so not easily forgotten. And for frontlets between thine eyes.] Whatsoever be the original of the Hebrew word totaphot, which we translate frontlets, it is certain it signifies no more than zicaron in the ninth verse: a memorial, or monument, as the Vulgar translates it. And so Aben Ezra expounds it, he nu Zicaron, as it were a memorial; and that immoveable, as the LXX. take it. Yet from hence the Talmudists have extracted their phylacteries (or jJieccs of parchment, wherein this and other texts were written), which they fancied were a kind of amulets to defend them from dangers. For so they are said to be in the Gemara Schabath; and therefore used in their prayers, to drive away evil spirits, as J. Braunius, and many others have observed. I shall only note further, that this word is found but three times in the law, and yet the Vulgar translates it three several ways; which shews how little the original is understood, though the sense of it is plain and certain. (See Petitus, his Var. Lectiones, cap. 20.) For by strength of hand the Lord brought ns out of Egypt.] This hath been often mentioned in this very chapter, (ver. 3. 9. 14.) and now here repeated again, to make them very sensible, both that they owed their deliverance entirely to God, and that nothing was too hard for him to accomplish.

Exodus 13:17

God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, &c. That was the nearest way from Egypt to Canaan, by the Mediterranean, to the river of ■Egypt ( as the Scripture calls it), and so to Azotus and Gaza: which was a journey of not above three days, as Philo says; others say of ten. But certainly it was no great way, for the sons of Jacob went it often to and fro, (Gen. xlii. xliii. &c.) Lest peradventure the people repent when they see tear, &c] Tho Philistines being a very warlike people, would, in all likelihood, have opposed their passage: and God knew the temper of the Israelites to be so timorous, that they would run away, and rather return to Egypt, than fight their way through Canaan. For all people grow cowardly by being kept long in slavery; which breaks their spirits, and sinks them as low as their condition. They fought indeed about forty days after this with Amalek; but it was only one battle; and then they were provided with arms (which they had not now) from tho Egyptians, whom they found dead on the sea-shore. But their base temper appeared too plainly the next year, when they heard the report of the spies concerning the inhabitants of Canaan: which put the whole congregation into a fit of despair, and made them think of returning to Egypt, (Numb. xiv. 1, 2, &c.)

Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about. The pillar of cloud mentioned ver. 21. in which the Lord was, conducted them in a way further about. Through the way of the wilderness.’] He led them to the right hand towards the Red Sea, and the desert of Arabia. Of the Red Sea.] See x. 19. And the children of Israel went up harnessed.] Or, in military order: for though it is not likely the Egyptians suffered them to have any arms, yet they did not go away tumultuously, like fugitives; but marched like soldiers in good order; and, as in our margin it is translated, five in a rank. Which is the interpretation of Theodotion anciently, and of Montanus, and others, lately. But Hottinger translates it, in the form of an army. For the Arabic word chamis (from whence, it is likely, comes the word chamuschimhere used), signifies exercitus Trsvrafisprjg, an army consisting of five parts; which are the front, the main battle, the right wing and the left, and the rear; Smegma Orient, p. 71. And so David Chytrseus long before him, " quinque agminibus," in five bodies, as we now speak. But the interpretation of Aben Ezra seems to be the most proper of all others, who simply expounds it, girt about their loins, i. e. expedite or ready, as Onkelos expresses it. For the Hebrew word chomasch, signifying those parts that are under the five small ribs, about which men were wont to be girt, when they went to fight or to travel; this word may well be rendered &Z>o)voi, well girt, as the LXX, translate it, (Josh. i. 14. iv. 13.) Here indeed they translate it, vifiirrif §1 yzvz(t avi$r<xav> they went up in the fifth generation (which St. Austin follows), taking Jacob for the first; Levi the second; Coath the third; Amram tho fourth; and Moses the fifth. But as this exposition doth not agree with the Hebrew word, which doth not signify the fifth, but in fives; so it cannot be said of the children of Israel in general; for all the tribes were not yet como to the fifth generation. Our Nic. Fuller hath a learned discourse upon this word, in his Miscellan. lib. v. cap. 2.

Exodus 13:19

And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. And of the rest of the patriarchs, it is very probable: (see Gen. 1. 25.) To which add, that the Jews say, every tribe took care of the body of the founder of their family. Which is far more likely than the story which the author of the Life and Death of Moses tells, that he carried Joseph’s coffin out of Egypt upon his own shoulders: it being more probable that some of that tribe undertook the care of it. That it was buried in the bottom of Nile, is not affirmed only by him, but by Jonathan: though others say in the banks of Nile. And they seem all to have it out of tho

Exodus 13:20

And they took their journey from Succoth. They stayed but one day at Succoth (as Jac. Capellus supposes), where Moses gave the foregoing directions to them: and upon the sixteenth of Nisan they marched to Etham. And encamped in Etham.] So called, he thinks, because the way here was very rugged and craggy. In the edge of the wilderness.’] Next to the Red Sea, called the wilderness of Shur, (xv. 22.).

Exodus 13:21

And the Lord went before them. By the Lord we are here to understand the Schechinah, or Divine Majesty, which appeared to Moses in the bush, (iii. 2.) when he gave him commission to bring his people out of Egypt; and directed him all along in his embassy to Pharaoh, and his treaty with him, (vi. 1, &c.) and now appeared in a glorious cloud to conduct them, and to assure them that he would take care of them. For this cloud was a symbol of his gracious presence with them, and special providence over them: it being an emanation from him (saith R. Levi ben Gersom), which was a sign (as others of the Jews speak) that God was night and day with them, to keep them from all evil. To which the prophets allude, (Isa. Iii. 12. Micah ii. 13.) And though his going before them be not mentioned before this time, yet it is most likely he appeared in this cloud, as their conductor, from their first coming out of Egypt, and led them to Succoth, and then to Etham; as he did afterward to their stations, (Numb. x. 11, 12, &c.) Which doth not signify that God himself moved from place to place (for he is always everywhere), but this cloud was moved by him from whom it came, as a token that he was present, by his special favour, care, and providence, wheresoever it went.. By day in a pillar of a cloud.] It appeared from heaven, I suppose, in the form of a great long pillar; which below spread itself abroad, and covered the whole host qf Israel. For it is certain, it was not only their guide to lead them the way (as it here follows), but also was a covering to them, whereby they were assured of the Divine protection. For so we are informed, Numb. x. 34. xiy. 14. Psalm cv. 39. 1 Corinth, x. 1. And I can see no reason to think these were different clouds, since one and the same would serve both purposes. And by night in a pillar of fire.] The same pillar appeared in the night like fire, which in the day was like a cloud. The reason of which followsj To give them a light.] That they might be able (as the next words tell us) to travel by night as well as by day. Which made the Psalmist say, he went before them all the night, with the light of fire, (Ixxyiii/ 14.) This flaming light I take to have been a glorious appearance of angels from the Schechinah; for they always attend upon the Divine Majesty, " who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire/’ (Psalm civ. 4.) Some fancy, there were two distinct pillars, as these words and the next verse seem to import: but it is plain, by other places, it was but one and the same pillar, which had these different appearances. (See the next chapter, xiv. 19. 24. Deut. i. 33.) Therefore Salvian rightly describes it, (lib. i. de Gubern. Dei,) where he calls it, " Mobilem columnam, nubilam die, igneam nocte, congruas colorum diversitates pro temporum diversitate sumentem; sc. ut et diei lucem lutea obscuritate distingueret, et caliginem noctis flammeo splendore claritatis radiaret." And see Greg. Nyssen. de Vita Mosis, p. 175. Now that the Schechinah, or the glory of God, was in this cloud, appears from hence; that it was the same cloud which afterwards rested upon the Tabernacle, as soon as it was set up, and is called the cloud of the Lord, (Exod. xl. 38. Numb. x. 34.) For the glory of the Lord was within the Tabernacle, as the cloud was without it, (Exod. xl. 34, 35, &c.) And it is there also described just as it is here, that it appeared as a cloud upon the Tabernacle by day, and as a fire by night, (xl. tilt.) And so it is also Numb, ix, 15, 16. " At even there was upon the Tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, till the morning. So it was alway, the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night." And then it conducted them in their journeys, as it did now, (Exod. x]. 36. Numb, ix. 17, 18, &c.) Which shews that this cloud, which now conducted them out of Egypt, was the very same with that which afterwards settled upon ttle Talbernacle: and the glory of the Lord being in that, I make no doubt it was so in this. Which is the reason that the Lord is said to go before them, and to lead them by this cloud. For though the Lord of all doth not go from place to place, yet this visible glory, which represented him as in a special manner present with them (and therefore called tfae glory of the Lord), did go along with them in the cloud, to their several stations, whither they removed. It is no improbable conjecture of Taubman, in his notes upon Virgil, that from hence it was, that the poets never made a deity to apppar but in a cloud with a brightness in it. “Ad hoc exemplum credo poetas sancivisse nullum numen mortalibus apparere sine nimbo. Est autem nimbus, nubes divina, seufluidum lumen, quQdDeorum capita tingit.”

Exodus 13:22

He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. That is, it continued with them as long as Moses lived, till they came to pass over Jordan into Canaan; when not this cloud, but the ark was their guide. And it need not seem incredible, saith Clemens Alexandrinus, (lib. i. Strpmat. p. 348.) that they were thus led by a pillar of fire, when the Greeks consider that Thrasybulus, they believe, was thus directed, Uvq Iwparo 7rpor)yovfievov, &c. by a fire ivliich went before him, and conducted him in a dark winter night through unknown ways, when he brought back the Athenian 2 F Microsoft®. A" COMMENTARY [chap. XIV. exiles to their country. Tho wonder was, that this fire continued to lead tho Israelites forty years in the wilderness; whereas that of Thrasybulus (if it he true) was but a short appearance. As that light also was, which they say shone from heaven to bring Timolcon unto his port when he sailed to Italy.. This pillar, also, the same Clemens thinks (in the place now named) signified to aveiKovi<rrov tov Qtov, that no image could be made of God..From whence he thinks likewise it was, that the ancient heathen, before they learnt to make images, set up pillars and worshipped them, d>c a^iSpifiara Gt oD, as representatives of God. Which Huetius hath lately made out in many examples, (in his Queestiones Alnctanae, p. 205,, 206.) and thinks that from this pillar, which had two appearances, the two pillars were erected to Hercules in his temple atTyr c 5 and two likewise set up in the Temple of the Sun in Egypt