Exodus 15

most of them camo, one way or other, out of the river; they having little rain in Egypt, Frogs abundantly. The Nile naturally produced frogs, but sueh great abundance of them as filled the country, as miraculous; especially being produced on a sudden; and their going out of tho river and fields into the cities and houses, &c. was still moro miraculous* Which shall go up.] Out of the river, which lay lower than the land. And come into thine house, &c] This explains what he meant by smiting in the foregoing verse: viz. inilicting a sore plague, more grievous than the former. For that spoiled only their water, but not their other liquors:. whereas this mado them uneasy day and night, in every place, whether they sat, or walked, or lay down, or did eat and drink. For their very dough (as we translate the word of this verse in the margin) was infested with them, as soon as they had kneaded it; and so was their drink, in all likelihood, as soon as it was poured into their eups. Nay, they got into their ovens: so that for the present, I suppose, they could not bake their bread.. two very long; and four of a middle size: which he prosecutes with much subtlety, but with little satisfaction. And spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, &c.] Every one joined in this song of praiso; which may be thus paraphrased: — man, thinks the LXX. rightly translated the word by.rpw-: rarag; which he translates three fighting out of a chariot. For 7rpct)ro<rrar)ie and wapaararnQ, are both words belonging to military discipline (which they call tactics), and rpia- Tarr)Q he takes to be of the same kind, and rightly rendered; byRufinus, ternos statores, in Euseb. Histor.Eccles.lib.: ix. c.9. p/358.:. & I. ■’" s sl A COMMENTARY • [chap. xy. of tlje Divine Majesty, which, it is certain, is meaiit sometimes by prophesying in Scripture/(SedlSam. x. 5,6.) And tlius among theGreeks> a prophet and apoefwere the samc thing; and the Latin word, va tessignifies both. For, as Quinctilian saith, (lib. i. cap. 10.) music was had* in such veneration in ancient times, that “Jidcm musici, ct vatcfe ct sapicntes judicarentur /■ But there are other places of Holy Scripturo, which would incline one to think that she also received revelations from God, for the direction of] the people. Particularly Mich. vi. 4. where she is mentioned as ono that conducted Israel out of Egypt; and her own words, with Aaron’s, (Numb. xii. 2.) ^hath hot the Lord spoken by us also?".Which the Lord heard, and doth not contradict, but rather allow to be true; though they had not such near communication with him as Moses had, (ver. G.) Perhaps she instructed the women, as Moses and Aaron did the men. The sister of Aaron J] And why not of Moses? The common answer is, that Aaron and she lived longest together; Moses having been absent from them forty years. Or, perhaps, Moses was not by the same mother which Aaron and Miriam had. She was married to Hur, if we “may believe Josephus. Took a timbrel in her Jiand.] So.the manner was in aftertimes when they prophesied, (1 Sam.x. 5, 6; 2. Kings iii. 15.) and when they sang hymns, (Psalm xxxiii. 2.1vii. 7, 8.) and upon any pecasion of great rejoicing, (Judg. xi. 34. 1 Sara, xviii. 6.) From which wc may learn, how ancient music was in the service of God,: there being” nothing in which it can be better employed than in his praises.- Therefore it was no part of the gentile idolatry, that they used such instruments as these in their Divine worship \ but they honoured false gods in that manner, that Moses; and the Israelites had done the true. And it ought tQ have a remark set upon it, that this way ofpraising* God was no part of the Mosaical institution; but derived from more ancient times before the law was given. And all the women went out after her.] To join with her in the praises of God, as the men did with Moses and Aaron, with timbrels and dances. As they played with these instruments in their hands, so their whole bodies made a decent motion with their feet. Which afterwards tended to lasciviousuess, but anciently was very grave, and so becoming, that such dances were as devout expressions of joy, as their solemn music- This appears by the example of David, dancing before the ark, when it.was* brought up from the house of Obed-Edom, in a joyful procession both of men and w r omen, with vocal and instrumental music, (L Chron. xv. 27 — 29. Psalm Ixviii. 26.) From which patterns all nations, from the most ancient times, made dancing a part of the worship of their gods; as Huetius observes, in his Demonstr. Evang. propos. iv. cap* 6. n. 2. who ingeniously conjectures, in another placeof that work, (cap. 12. n. 4.) that from this dancing of Miriam, and her companions, on the sea-shore, Callimachus, in his Hymn to Diana, ascribes to her t^KovTaxopyn^ag^Kiavivag, threescore dancers, the daughters of the ocean. lieve them in this distress; which he instantly: YQUchsafed to do. And the Lord shewed him a tree.] We arQ not told what tree this was; whose wood being thrown Jnto the waters took off their bitterness; but, to. increase the miracle, the Jews will have this to have, been a tree of bitter taste (which Jonathan calls Ardophne), which naturally would have made the waters bitter, if they had been sweet. Der metrius mentions this wonderful cure of the waters, in Eur sebius’s Praepar. Evang. lib. ix. cap. 29. Which ivhen he had castinto the water.] By. the order of the Lord, who shewed him the tree. For the wonder did not consist (as Huetius thinks,, in his Qu^estiones Alnetanae) in curing the water by throwing the wood into it (for that may be done naturally, as Pliny shews), but that he found this wood in the wilderness, by the direction of God: as Elisha found, by the same Divine direction, that the throwing in of meal would make water sweet; which the same Pliny saith is a natural remedy.. There he made for them.’]. Propounded to them, ot appointed them. A statute and an ordinance.] This seems to signify, that for their better government, God now gave them a few rules to be observed for the present, till he should more fully declare his will to them from Mount Sinai. And it is a most ancient constant tradition of the Jews, that now he commanded them to observe the sabbath (which they understand by statute) and to do justice; particularly honour their parents; which they understand by ordinance or judgment^ as the Hebrew word imports. And.they instance especially in keeping the sabbath, and honouring of parents; because those two commandments are pressed upon them in Deuteronomy, with this particular enforcement, •“As the Lord commanded thee,” (Dcut. v. 12. 16.) which they will have to relate unto, this command at Marah.. (See Mr.Selden,Iib. iii. de Jure Nat. et Gent. cap. 9. p. 314. 333. &c.) And perhaps these two might be in the number; but it is probable there were more commands besides these, which were now given them; as the. following verse seems to intimate. And there he proved them.] He began there to -make a trial of their obedience, whether they would, observe these laws or no.

Exodus 15:1

J. HEN sang Mo^es and the children of Israel, &c. Upon the twenty-first of Nisan, as I said before, which was the last day of unleavened bread, when -they came safe through the sea, and saw the Egyptians drowned, they sang this song” of praise to God, for their wonderful deliverance. So the constant tradition of the Hebrews is, and there is great ground for it..This song.] Called the song of Moses the servant of the Lord, (Rev. xv.3.) because he composed it by a Divine inspiration, to be suug by all the people. And it is the most ancient song of which there is any memory. Unto the Lord.] In praise of the Divine power and goodness; which remarkably appeared in this deliverance. Joscphus (lib. ii. cap. ult. of his Antiquities) saith, this song is composed lv E^a/urpw rovq, of hexameter verse: ^vhich Eusebius represents as the opinion of jnany. others, (b’b. xi. de Praepar. Evang. cap. 3.) But I do not see how this can be made out: nor what St. Jerome saith concerning such songs; in many places. And after all the pains that Franc. Gomarus hath taken in his Lyra Davidis, to iind of what sort of numbers this and other songs in Scripture consist, he hath not given any satisfaction to learned men: who think (as Ludov. Capellus doth in his Animadversions on that book) that all the Bible may be made verse, according to his method: nay, by his way of resolving sentences, all the orations of Tully and Demosthenes may be turned into verse, of some sort or other. The author of Sepher Cosri seems to me to deal ingenuously, who, when the king of Cosar objects to them, that the songs in the Bible are not artificially composed, according to numbers and quantities of feet and syllables, makes the Jew answer, That the Scripture poetry was of a nobler sort, not formed to tickle the ear, but affect the heart, by great height and elevation of the sense, together with lofty.expressions, whereby men were moved to attend to it, and to keep it in mind; (par. ii. sect. 69, &c.) And so much Abarbinel acknowledges upon this place, " that no such Verses, consisting in the number and quantity of syllables, are to be found either in the Bible or in the Talmud (either in the Mischna or the Gemara), but are of later invention among the Jews, in imitation of the Arabians and other nations among whom they dwelt in this long captivity. Yet in the Scripture poetry, there is a certain disposition of •words, which makes them melodious, and fit to be sung to.musical instruments; and so sententious, that they might be more easily remembered than simple narrations: though now, after so many ages, they cannot reduce this poetry to rules." He tries indeed to bring this song under certain regulations; fancying that it consists of eight orders or ranks (as he calls them), two of which aTe very short, and " Wo wiS joyfully praise the Lord; for he hath in a most illustrious and magnificent manner shewn his power; by throwing horse and men, when they little thought * of it, into the sea. Hath he thrown into the sea.] The Hebrew word ramah signifies a sudden precipitation; when they were in the height of their hopes to overtake and subdue the Israelites.

Exodus 15:2

" It is he who hath given us this victory, and therefore he is to be praised and acknowledged as our deliverer. He is our most gracious and mighty God; for whom we will prepare a tabernacle wherein to worship him. Our fathers had great experience of his goodness, and therefore we are the more bound to make him our most thankful acknowledgments, and give him the highest praises. He is my God.] Though some think the word El to be a contraction of Elohim, yet it seems to be derived from ajal, and is generally thought to import might and strength. But I have taken in the other notion of goodness also. (See ver. 11.) Prepare him a habitation.] As if they thought a cloud too mean a habitation for the Divine Glory, they resolve to build him a tabernacle: just as David, ashamed he should dwell in a tabernacle, designed to build him a temple. My father’s God.] i. e. Jacob’s; of whom God took a singular care, both before and after he came into Egypt.

Exodus 15:3

" There is none can stand before the Lord, who hath perfectly subdued our enemies; and faithfully fulfilled his promises to his servants. The Lord is a man of war. i. e. Gets great victories, as the Targum expresses it. For when the Hebrews would express any eminent quality, they put the word isch before it. As in 1 Sam. xvii. 33. we meet w r ith this very expression concerning Goliath, " a man of war from his youth;" $. e. a great warrior. And in the foregoing chapter, David is called both isch milchamah, a man of war, and isch toar, a man of form or beauty; z. e. a beautiful or comely person, as we translate it, 1 Sam. xvi. 18. And in this very book, isch de varim, a man of words, is an eloquent man. The Lord is his name.] He seems to allude unto that which God said to Moses, when he first appeared to him, (iii. 14—16. vi. 3, 4. G.)

Exodus 15:4

And the frogs shall come up, both upon thee, and upon thy people, &c. They came not merely into their houses, but crawled upon their persons. And here it is observable, that this plague is limited to the Egyptians (Pharaoh, his people, and servants), the Israelites, one would think by these words, being excepted from it. H For he hath cast PhaTaoh, and all his chariots, and great commanders, into the sea, as easily as one sends an arrow out of a bow. Pharaoh* s chariots.] The Hebrew word mercavah, comprehends the horses by which they were drawn; which were commonly four to each chariot, as Maimonides probably gathers from 1 Kings x. 29. Where a horse is said to come out of Egypt at a hundred and fifty shekels, and a chariot at six hundred; because it comprehended four horses. (More Nevoch. par. i. cap. 70.) Chosen captains.] The Hebrew word schalish imports something extraordinary; either in their stature, or in their command; which they had, perhaps, over three squadrons, as wo now speak. But Hen. Valesius, a very learned

Exodus 15:5

And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, &c. No doubt, Moses delivered the foregoing message unto Pharaoh; but he, ifc seems, turned away, and would give no answer: for here immediately follows a new order (which God, perhaps, gave. Moses upon the spot, as we speak, before he returned home), to inflict the plague he had bid him threaten,. " They are buried, and shall rise up no more. Ver.G. “Thou hast manifested thy omnipotence, OLord, most magnificently: it was thy irresistible power, O Lord, which dashed in pieces such mighty enemies.. Sank to the bottom as a stone.) The waters which stood up like a wall, falling down with great violence upon them, they sank under their weight to the bottom of the sea; from.whence, after some time, they rose up again, and were thrown upon the shore, (xiv. 30.) though not all of.them; but some seem to have been, buried in the bottom “of the sea. (See vcr. 12.) Ver; 6. Right hand] Is frequently used for the height of power exerted in the preservation.of good men, or the destruction of the bad, (Psalm xx. 6. xxi. 8.)

Exodus 15:6

And Aaron stretched forth his hand. He, as the minister of Moses, (who was to him as God, iv. 1G.) inflicted this plague upon Egypt. Over the waters.] He did not go to every place where there was water, but stood by the river, and stretched his rod over it, towards every part of the country (as Abcn Ezra rightly explains it), and immediately God effected what Moses had denounced. And the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.] That is, there were vast numbers of them came up; for they did not so cover the land, but there was room. for more; which the magicians counterfeited. The Jews think, here was mensurapro mensura, like for like, as we speak. For they say it was a piece of their bondage, that the. Egyptians, when they pleased, sent them a fishing: and > now God made the river spawn nothing but frogs. Whose very croaking, others of them think, put the Egyptians in mind of the cries of the poor children whom they barbarously murdered.

Exodus 15:7

And the magicians did so with their enchantments, &c. They should rather have shewn their skill in.removing the frogs, or destroying those which Moses had brought. “Which one would. think Pharaoh expected from them; for they being unable to do this, he betook himself to Moses, whom he entreats to take them away: which he would never have done, if their power had not quite failed, and been unable to give him any relief. So Aben Ezra observes, he called for Moses, " because he saw the magicians had only added td the plague, but could not diminish it.” " It was a work of thy most excellent power; w r hich will be ever.magnified in the overthrow of such x adversaries, with whom thou no sooner shewedst thyself displeased, but they vanished as stubble doth before the flame. In the greatness of thy excellency, &c] All words being too low to declare the greatness of God’s power, which appeared in the overthrow of the Egyptians; he endeavours to rise higher and higher in his expressions,* to shew how much he admired it. llwu sentest forth thy wrath.’] He seems to allude unto God’s looking. upon them through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, (xiv. 24.) and to the thunder and lightning, which are supposed to have come from thence. Vcr. 8. And with the blast of thy nostrils.] This may relate to the strong wind which drove the sea back, (xiv. 21.) The waters were gathered together.’] This word Aram’, or Haram, signifies to heap up together: from whence the Arabians call those great banks, which arc raised to keep in waters from overflowing a country, by the name of Arem, or Harem, as Bochartus hath observed in his Phaleg. lib. ii. cap. 2G. And so the word may be here translated, the waters were heaped up as banks, on each side of the Israelites. Vcr. 9. I will divide the spoil.] It belonged to kings, and chief commanders, to divide the spoil; as Moses, David, and Joshua did among the soldiers. My hand shall destroy them.] Or, repossess them (as it is in the margin), bring them back to their slavery in Egypt.

Exodus 15:8

Tlien Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs, &c.) Ho that had proudly said not long ago, who is the Lord? &c. (v. 2.) now says, Entreat the Lord, &c. This was an acknowledgment that the Lord sent them; and that ho only had power to remove them. In the former plague, he did enough to make Pharaoh know he was the Lord, (vii. 17.) but this had that effect upon him for tho present: which made him earnestly entreat those, whom he had scorned, to become intercessors to God for him and his people. And I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.] This was not his settled resolution, but the present danger made him consent to it: for if the frogs had continued long, there had been no living in the country. As appears from what we read in Athenseus, out of Hcraclides Lembus (lib. viii. Deipnos. cap. 2.) who says the whole country of Pseonia and Dardania were covered with frogs, which God rained down from heaven in such abundance, that the houses and highways wero full of them. They spent some time in killing of them: and, by keeping their doors shut, they mado a shift for awhile to bear this calamity: but when it did no good, but tut* <nccvrj, &e. all their vessels were full of them, and they mingled themselves with their meat, whether boiled or roast, and they could tread no where but upon frogs, they left their country; being forced to it, also, by the stench of the frogs when they died. They that would see more of this out of several other authors, may consult Bonfrerius upon this very place: and Bochartus in his Hierozoic. (par, ii. lib. v. cap. 2* p. G61, &c.) “Thou didst but give the command, and by a vehement wind the waters of the sea weTe divided and heaped up, so that they swelled into little mountains; and were compact like a wall which was upheld from falling down, till the people passed through the midst of the sea.

Exodus 15:9

And 3Ioses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me, when shall I entreat for thee?. Do thou appoint the time when I shall pray for thee, as St. Jerome translates it; and so doth the Syriac, and Onkelos, and the LXX. who differ from the Hebrew text in words only, not in sense. For by adding the word saying (as we do in Judg. vii. 2. where there is the same expression), this paraphrase of Bochart is very proper, (Hierozoic. par. ii. lib. v. cap. 2.) " though it belongs not to thee to determine the time of thy deliverance, w 7 hich depends wholly upon the will and pleasure of God; yet I, who am his minister, give thee leave to take so much upon thee, as to prescribe what time thou pleasestfor the removal of this plague/ 9 For thus he thinks Moses’s words are to be translated, Glory over me, by telling me, when I shall intercede for thee, &c. Moses saw, perhaps, that Pharaoh was much addicted to astrologers, who fancied all tilings here below to be governed by the motion and influence of the stars: and therefore would have him name the time; that he might be satisfied there was no day nor hour under such an ill aspect, but he could prevail with God, at any moment he thought good to piteh upon, to deliver him. Bonfrerius, I think, hath expressed, in short, the literal sense of the Hebrew words, iC Tibi hunc honorem defero, ut cligas quando,” &c. I will do thee the honour, that thou mayest assign the time. And our Dr. Jackson still shorter, Glory over me; that is, saith he, you shall command me. " Our enemies pursued us with a full confidence, that they should overtake and make a prey of us; and after they had satisfied their revenge upon us, as certainly reduce us under their yoke, as they drew their swords against us.

Exodus 15:10

And he said, To-morrow. But why not on that very day? all men naturally desiring to be instantly re- " But with a turn of the wind all their vain hopes sunk on a sudden, together with themselves, to the bottom of the sea. TJiey sank like lead.] It signifies the suddenness of their destruction: for a talent of lead sinks in a moment. Vcr. 11. JF7jo is like unto thee among the gods?] Or, the mighty ones, as it is in the margin. For Elim is the plural of El, which comes from Ejalah (saith the author of Sepher Cosri), which denotes fortitude or strength. For from him proceeds all power and might: but is himself more sublime and eminent, than to be likened to any other power, according to these words, which he quotes for the proof of it, (par. iv. sect. 3.) Fearful in praises.] I sec no solidity in the gloss of It. Eliezcr, that Moses speaks in the plural number, because the angels praised God above when the Israelites praised him below, (Pirke Elicz. cap. 42.) The plain meaning is, that he ought to be praised with the greatest reverence; for to him alone (as Conradus Pellicanus glosses) belongs all honour and glory, who can never* enough be praised. Vcr. 12. Tlie earth swallowed them.] They who 1 were drowned in the’sea are here said.to be swallowed up. in 1 the earth; just as Jonah saith, when he.was in the sea, that i* he went down to the bottom of the mountains; and the earth with her bars was about him for over,” (ii; 6.) because the sea, which swallowed both him and the Egyptians, is in the depths of the earth. It. Eliezer thinks that they being thrown upon the sea-shore, (xiv. 30:) the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up. Which is possible; but there is no necessity of so understanding it.’ Rather. after the Israelites had spoiled them, the sea which had cast them on shore, afterwards, as is usual, carried them’ off again, and buried them in the sand or mud.. **..

Exodus 15:11

“There are none among all that are called gods, in heaven or in earth, that are comparable to thee, OLord, whose perfections infinitely transcend all other, and therefore art to be praised with the greatest fear and reverence; for thy very works are wonderful, and to be had in admiration.

Exodus 15:12

" By thy mighty power they were buried in the bottom of the sea, into which they sank”.

Exodus 15:13

" And in great mercy thou hast preserved thy people, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt, and rescued from cruel servitude, and conducted, by a mighty providence, towards the holy land, which thou hast promised to them, there to dwell among them. Thy holy habitation.] The country where God himself intended to have a dwelling-place, (ver. 17.) " ■ -

Exodus 15:14

“And why should we doubt of our coming thither? The fame of this wonder shall go before us, and strike a. terror into the most valiant inhabitants of that country. The. inhabitants of Palestina.] The Philistines’ seem to have been the most valiant people in that’ country to which the Israelites were to go, and therefore here mentioned.

Exodus 15:15

" Nay, all their neighbours, as well as they, shall find their hearts fail therf and become as weak as water. Ver. 1G. “Such a terror shall fall upon them, that they shall be no more able to stir than a stone, when they hear of this dreadful execution: but suffer thy people, O Lord, to pass to their inheritance, which thou hast prepared for them. The dukes of Edom.] Concerning the word’ alluphe, see Gen. xxxvi. 18. By this it appears, that Idumaea was at this time under the government of dukes; though before Moses’s death they had kings, (Numb. xx. 14.) For they often changed their government, as I observed upon Gen. xxxvi. where Moses gives an account both of their dukes and of their kings. ■. "

Exodus 15:16

Shall be as still as a stone. The LXX.^translate.it aTToX&wSriTwaav, turned into stones; i.e. so struck with the terror of the Lord, that they remained unmovcablo as stones; having no heart to oppose the passage of the Israelites into Canaan.

Exodus 15:17

“Thither shalt thou bring them, and there make them to take root in the highest mountains of that country, where thou hast designed a place for thine own dwelling, of which thy power also will lay the foundation. The mountain of thine inheritance.] Moses seems to have foreseen, by the spirit of prophecy, that God would place his habitation upon Mount Sionl Which he understood, perhaps, from the sacrifice of Isaac upon Mount Moriah, (Gen. xxii.) •

Exodus 15:18

“And thou shalt do more wonders; since thy dominion and power endures to all ages. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. It may signify, that when they came thither, they would always acknowledge him for their Sovereign, who had done such mighty things for them. -

Exodus 15:19

" For who can dethrone thee? Who in tho same sea hast made a grave to bury the Egyptians, and a path for thy people Israel to walk in, as if they had been on dry ground.” And now having given the sense of the song in this paraphrase, it may be proper to confirm it, by the explication of some phrases in it. The horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots, &c.] In this, which the Greeks call the epiphonema of the song, Moses briefly comprehends the whole matter of it, and makes it cncl as it began. (

Exodus 15:20

And Miriam. Or, as the LXX., the Syriac, and others read it, Mariam; which some think comes from marah, which signifies bitterness (as the Arabic word marara doth), and that their cruel usage by Pharaoh, especially his decree that all the male children should be slain, was the occasion of this name; for it made their life bitter to them, as the text saith, (i. 14.) Thus the author of Dibre Hajamim (or/ of the Life of Moses) and our Dr, Lightfoot, and others. • But Lo Moino guesses, not unhappily, that it signifies as much as marjam, which is, in English, a drop of the sea; from which the story of Venus was framed, among the Greeks, who feigned her to have been born of the froth of the sea, which gave her the name’ of Aphrodite. The fable of Diana also, as well as Venus, had no other original, but from that which is here said of Miriam; as Huctius hath probably conjectured, in his Demonstrate Evang. propos. iv. cap. 12. sect. 4. The prophetess.] She was called by this name, I suppose, because she had a gift of composing hymns in praiso 2Q

Exodus 15:21

And Miriam answered them, &c. i. e. She and the women answered Moses and the people, verse by verse: or after every verso sung by Moses and the men,- Miriam and the women interposed and repeated this verse (which is the first of the song), saying, “Sing to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously,” &c. » And thfs ^fras a way of singings in kftertiraes, as appeals from Psalm exxxv. and Ezraiii. lliof which I have given some account in my preface to the Pai*aphrase of the.Book of Psalms. Which justifies, or tather commends, our way of reading or chanting the Psfclms interchangeably by responses, as wc call them, or answering one to another; which certainly, it apr peats by this placd, is the most ancient way of all other. And is represented in Isa. Vi. 3. as practised by the angels themselves, in their worship of the Divine Majesty.

Exodus 15:22

So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea. Not without some importunity; they being eagerly bent upon gathering the spoil of the Egyptians. Some such thing the Hebrew wot d seems to import, which is jassa, he made them to go up. Which signifies some unwillingness, or backwardness; arising cither from that cause, or from a desire to return to Egypt (as some fancy), which now perhaps they thought to be so empty, that they might get it for themselves. And they went out] From the. station where they were at the Red Sea. Into the wilderness of ShurJ] Mentioned Gen. xvi. 7. and was a part of the wilderness of Etham; which was the general name for this desert, (Numb, xxxiii. 8.) And they went three days in the wilderness.’] viz. The twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth of Nisan. And found no water,] Which was a very great trial of them. For their cattle, as well as they, suffered much by it; and could not afford them milk sufficient to quench their thirst.

Exodus 15:23

And when they came to Marah.J This was the fourth station of the Israelites after they came out of Egypt; and in the •same wilderness; which had this name given it after they came there, from the bitterness or brackishness of the water. They cmdd not drink of the water, &c] This was the more, grievous, because they had wanted this refreshment three days.

Exodus 15:24

And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?. It is the conceit of Abarbincl, that Moses brought them from the Red Sea without the direction of the cloud which conducted them thither: but then left them to his guidance. Which made the people think it was Moses’s fault that they were in distress; who did not know how to lead them,to the most commodious and likely places for the finding good water. And therefore from Marah they stirred net, till the cloud again led them; because it is said(xvii.L) they journeyed from Sin, by the commandment ofdheLord: But all this is a mere fancy, to excuse his forefathers; who should rather have prayed to God than murmured against Moses. For wc read expressly, God " did not take away the pillar of the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, from before the people,” (xiii. 22.) that is, it constantly guided them in the way wherein they should go, whether they travelled by day or by night. And in that very place, which he builds his opinion upon>- where it is said, they “journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord;” it is also expressly recorded, that " there was no water for the people to drink/’ (xvii. 1.)

Exodus 15:25

And he cried unto the Lord,. He did what they should have done;; made his earnest prayer to God to re-

Exodus 15:26

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, &c. This was the main thing he required of them, as Jeremiah observes, vii. 22, 23. Where, he saith, God spake nothing to them, “in the day when he brought them out of Egypt ( i. e. at this time), concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices,” but only commanded them, saying, " Obey my voice.” And this Maimonides confesses in his More Nevoch. par. iii. cap. 32. f It appears from the Scripture, and the Cabala also, that the first precept which God gave us after we came out of Egypt, was not concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices; but it was that given us at Marah. € If thou wilt diligently kearken to the voice of the Lord thy God:’ where he gave us a statute and a judgment. And it is a certain tradition, that the statute was the sabbath; and the judgment was the taking away all iniquity;” i. e. doing justly. J vnll put none of those diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians.] He encourages their obedience by a gracious promise, to preserve them from those terrible plagues which he inflicted upon the Egyptians for their disobedience. Which is an indication withal, that if the Israelites proved like them, they should be punished in the sam^ manner, as he threatens afterwards, (Deut.xxyiii. 59, &c.) Jam the Lord that healeth thee.] There arc two parts of a physician’s. office; to cure. men when they are sick; and to preserve them in health when they are well. The latter is here chiefly intended: which the Psalmist takes notice of, when he saith, (cv. 37.) " There was not one feeble person among their tribes.”

Exodus 15:27

And they came to Elim. They seem to have stayr cd but a day at Marah, and on the twenty-fifth of Nisan to have come to this place called Elim (which signifies rams), from the good pasture which was here for the feeding sheep; as Jacobus Capellus will have it. But Bochartus thinks that El signifies in general a field; as El-paran, (Gen. xiv. 6.) he interprets the field or plain of Varan: and consequently Elim signifies a part of the wilderness, where there were large and spacious plains. Thus I find Ezekiel the tragedian (mentioned by Eusebius) understood it, in his Exagoge: where he brings in one talking with Moses, and pointing him to this place: where a great light shone, on a sudden, as a pillar of fire, to shewit to them. Which he calls Xetfiijva KaravKiov, a shady meadow, and* saith it was ia^ikfiQ x~o$qq fiaQvc, an exceeding fertile ground, (lib. ix. Praepar. lEvang. cap. 29.) Whereivere twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees.] Twelve wells of water, according to the number of the twelve tribes; and seventy palm-trees, according to. thenumber of the elders of Israel, says the Jerusalem Targum and Jonathan’s Paraphrase. Which Nachmanides so much believed, that ho saith each tribe pitched their tents about one of these fountains: and the seventy elders sat down under the shadow of the palm-trees; giving thanks to God for the benefits they now received upon dry land, as lately they had done in the sea. But there is no reason to think that the high court, consisting of so many elders, was now. constituted; as I have observed before: of which see Mr. Selden, lib. i. de Synedr. cap. 15* p. C26, &c. There is nothing in the story neither to warrant what Ezekiel says in the place beforcnamed, that these twelve springs all gushed Ik fiiag irirpag^ out of one rock, which" was in this beautiful plain. No more than there is for what follows in him, concerning a marvellous strange bird, such as no man ever saw before, as big again as an eagle, of various colours* and a most sweet voice; which appeared to them upon this occasion. Which he seems to have had out of some Talmudical fable. Palm-trees.] This tree delights in watery places; and therefore no wonder so many were planted here by these fountains. For it is noted by Pliny, that " gaudet irriguis> ct toto anno bibere amat," the palm-tree delights in places well-watered,’ and loves to drink all the year. There were two sorts of these trees: the common, and that which was called Kapvwrbv, because it bare dates; as Salmasius hath observed in his Plinianse Exercit. p. 472. 1326. If these were of the latter sort, they gave them the better entertainment. And they encamped there by the water, \ To refresh themselves and their flocks in this delightful place., 2 G2