Exodus 19

do of those things which they lay up in their treasury. So the Hebrewword segulldh signifies. Which Origen proves they really were (notwithstanding all the calumnies of Celsus), their laws being so profitable; and they being so early taught to know God, to believe the immortality of the soul, and the rewards and punishments in the life to come; and bred up to a contempt of divination (with which mankind Jiad been abused), as proceeding rather from wicked demons, than from any excellent nature; and to seek for the knowledge of future things in souls, which by an extraordinary degree of purity.were rendered capable, to receive the Spirit of God, (lib. v. contra Celsum, p. 260.) And, this the author of Sepher Cosri happily expresses, when he saith, " Our peculiar blessings consist in the conjunction of our minds with *God, by prophecy, and. thatwhich is annexed to it:" that is (as Muscatus explains it), % the gift of the Spirit of God." And therefore, he doth not say in •the law, If you will obey my voice, I will bring you after death into gardens of pleasure; but " ye shall be to me a people, and I wall be to you a God," (par. i. sect. 109.) For all the earth is mine.’] Which made it the greater honour, that he bare such a special love to them.

Exodus 19:1

JLN the third month. Or, in the third new moon. For the Hebrew word chodesh signifies a new moon, as well as a month: nay, that is the prime signification, from whence the other is derived. And so we are to understand it here; that on tho new moon, i. e. the first day of the third month (called Sivan), after their coming out of Egypt, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. Which was just forty-five days after they departed out of Egypt. For, if we add to the fifteen days of the first month twenty-nine, which made the second, theso put together, “with this new moon, make forty-five. Utito which, if we add that day when Moses went up’to God (ver. 3.), and reported, when he came down, the message God sent by him to the ciders of Israel; and the next day kftcr, ^vhen he returned their answer unto God, (ver. 7, 8.) with the three days more, which God gave them to prepare themselves for his coming down among them* (ver. 10, II.) there were just fifty days from their Passover to the giving of the law upon Mount Sinai: wliidh laid thefoundationof the -great feast of Pentecost. TJie same day.] i. e. On the forcmentioned new moon of the third month. Came they into the wilderness of Sinai.] So called from that famous mountairi Sinai, which gave the name to the wilderness which lay before it. This mountain was also called Horeb, (Deut. iv. 10.) they being only different-tops of one and the same mountain; but this higher than Horeb: so that one may see the Red Sea from thence, as they that have travelled into those parts affirm, w r ho say it is now called by the Arabians, Tur; and by Christians, the Mountain of St Catherine.

Exodus 19:2

For they were departed from Rephidim, &c. They began to move from Rephidim towards that part of the m6untain called Horeb, upon their murmuring for want of water, (xvii. 5,6.) But seem to have returned thither to fight with Amalek, (ver. 8.) And then they were led by God to this other side of the mountain, which is called the wilderness of Sinai. There Israel encamped before the mount.] For the glorious cloud having led them hither, rested upon the mount; as appears from the words following.

Exodus 19:3

And Moses went up unto God. Whose glorious majesty appeared upon the mount. And the Lord called unto him out of the mountain.] Or rather, for the Lord called to him out of the mountain, where the Divine glory rested: unto which he would not have, presuined to go, if the Lord had not called to him to come up thither. Which was upon th second day of the third month. Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel] There was some reason sure for calling them by these two names, the house of Jacob and the children of Israel: which perhaps was to put them in mind that they, who had lately been as low as Jacob when he went t6 Padan-Aram, were now grown as great as God made him when he came from thence, and was called Israel.

Exodus 19:4

You have seen. There; needs no proof, for you yourselves are witnesses. What I did unto the Egyptians.] Smote them with divers sore plagues; and at last drowned them and their chariots in the Red Sea. And how I bare you on eagles 9 wings.] Kept you so safe, and placed you so far out of the reach of your enemies, as if you had been borne up on high by an eagle. Which are observed to carry their young ones, not in their feet, as other birds are’wont to do, but on their wings: and to soar so highland with ^so swift a motion, that none can pursue them, much less touch them. Bochartus hath observed all the properties ascribed to the eagle; with respect to which, interpreters have thought God’s care of his people to be here compared with that bird, (Hierozoic. par. ii. lib. ii. cap. 5.) But after all he judiciously concludes, that Moses best explains his; own meaning, in his famous song, Deut xxxii.ll. where the eagle’s fluttering about her nest, ^and making a noise, to stir up her. young ones to leave their dirty nest, and try their wings, represents the many means God had used to rouse up the drooping spirits of thelsraclites,:when they lay miserably oppressed under a cruel servitude, and encourage them to aspire after liberty, and to obey those whom he sent to deliver them. And brought you unto myself] And by that means brought you hither, to live under my government. For this was the very foundation of his peculiar empire over them, that he had ransomed and redeemed them out of slavery, by a mighty hand and strctched-ont arm, (as he speaks, xiii. 3. Deut. iv. 34.) so as he had not delivered any other nation: and thereby made them his own, after an extraordinary manner, peculiar to them alone. r This Joshua also recals to their mind, when he was near his death, and renewed this covenant of God with them, (xxiv. 5, 6, &c.)

Exodus 19:5

Now therefore. Having wonderfully delivered them, and supported thern’in a miraculous manner, by bread from heaven, and water out of a rock; he now proceeds to instruct them in their duty, as Greg. Nyssen observes, L. de Vita Mosis, p. 172. If you will obey my voice indeed, &c] If you will sincerely obey me, as your king and governor, and keep the covenant I intend to make with you, then you shall be mine above all the people of the earth; whose Lord I am, as well as yours: but you shall be my peculiar inheritance; in which I will establish my kingdom and priesthood; with such laws as shall not only distinguish you from all other nations, but make you to excel them. This is the sense of this verse, and the following. A peculiar treasure unto me.]i. e. Very dear to mc; and consequently I will take a singular care of you, as kings

Exodus 19:6

And ye sliall be unto me a kingdom of priests. An honourable, or a Divine kingdom: not like worldly kingdoms, which are defended by arms, but supported by, piety. Or a princely people, that should rule over their enemies. For tho same word signifies both priests and princes: and in the first times of the world, none.was thought fit to be a priest but he who was a king, or the chief of the family; as we see in Melchizedeck and Jethro. That God was peculiarly the king of this people, I observed above, (iii. 10.) and here he expressly owns this peculiar dominion over them, by saying, ye shall be to me a kingdom. And one reason, perhaps, why he saith they shall be a kingdom of priests, is, because they were governed (whilst they continued a theocracy) by the high-priest, as the prime minister under God, who in all weighty causes consulted God what was to be done; and accordingly they Ordered their affairs, (xxviii. 30. Numb, xxviii. 21.) Which is the reason why God commands Moses to make such garments for Aaron as should be for glory and beauty (or, for honour and glory), as we read ver. 2. of that chapter; f. e. to make him appear great, like a prince; for they were really royal garments. And for his sons, also, he was to make bonnets of the like kind for honour and glory, (ver. 40.) they being in the form of the tiarce which kings wore; and are joined in Scripture with crowns, (Job xxix. 14. Isa. iii. 23, &c.) Whence Philo says, (in his book de Saccrd. Honoribus,) that the law manifestly dressed up the high-priest, etc oifivorrira koI rififjv fia<ji\lu)$. But the liberty and freedom also wherein they were instated, I doubt not, is signified by these words, kings and priests (us Onkelos translates them, and as it is expressed in the New Testament, Revel, i. 6. v. 10. and the Syriac also, kingdom and priesthood), for kings and priests were, of all other men, freed from oppression. And thus I find our Mr. Thorndike, a most learned man, glosses upon these words: (Review of the Rights of the Church, p. 132.) God called them kings, because redeemed from the servitude of strangers, to be a people, lords of themselves; and priests, becauso redeemed to spend their time in sacrificing, and feasting upon their sacrifices, (under which figure he afterwards represents the uigaizea oy microson vg; happy state of his church; Isa. Ixi. 6.) though they sacrificed not in person, but by their priests appointed in their stead, by imposition of the elders’ hands, (Numb. viii. 10.) A holy nation.] A people separated to God from all other nations, and from their idolatry, to serve.God in an acceptable manner. These are the words which thou shall speak unto the children of IsraeL] The sum of what he was to say to them; comprehending both their duty and theirhigh privilege.

Exodus 19:7

And Moses came. Down Jfroimthe mount, where h§ had been yathGod, (ver. 3.) And called for the elders of the people.] The principal persons in.the severaliribes, (see iii. 16.).which he seems to shave done in the. evening of the second;day>of fc the t month. txAndJatd before.* their faces all.these words, &c] Plainly declared,to them, * what God had given him in charge: which they went and propounded, to the people of the several tribes, whom they represented. Ver. S. And all the people answered together, and said.] All with one consent declared as here follows: • All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.] They consented to have the.Lord for their king; and promised to be obedient to his will. And Moses returned the words of the people untothe Lord.] This seems to have been done the next day, which was the third day of the third month. Upon which report made to God for the people’s consent, he proceeds, after a few days’ preparation, to declare the laws by which they should be governed, (chap* xx. xxi. xxii. xxiii.) and then, in the twenty-fourth chapter), these laws pass into a covenant between God and them. Here Moses plainly acted as a mediator between God and the people.

Exodus 19:9

And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I will come unto thee. Appear upon the mount. In a thick cloud.] In a darker cloud than that which had hitherto gone before them to conduct them; so that they should see nothing but flashes of lightning which came out of it, in a. very frightful manner, (ver. 16. 18.) For, that there was fire in it, appears from Deut. iv. 11. v. 22, 23. though at first, perhaps, only a thick cloud appeared, as a token of his approach. That the people may hear when I speak with thee.] Though they saw no similitude, yet they plainly heard a voice speaking unto Moses, and declaring their duty. Maimonides, indeed, thinks that the words were directed only unto. Moses; and that the Israelites heard merely the sound of the words, but did not distinctly understand\them, (fi£ore Nevoch. par. ii. cap. 33.) Which is directly against what Moses says, (Deut. iv. 12.) " The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire,” &c. and, (v. 4, 5.) <\ The Lord talked with you face to face in. the mount, &c. saying, I am tho Lord thy God," &c. Which words are plainly directed to all the people. And believe thee for ever.] They had been staggered in their belief, after they had professed it at the Red Sea, (xv. ult.) but after this, it might be expected they. would never question his authority any more. And Moses told the tvords of the people unto the Lord.] Or rather, for Moses had told, &c. Upon which account God was pleased to make the foregoing declaration. Till they had owned him for the Lord their God, i. e. their king [chap. XIX. and governor, he did not speak unto them at all, but only unto Moses: but now that they had consented to be his, he resolves to speak audibly to them; and henceforth to dwell among them; and in order to it, fix his tabernacle with them. For which he gives order (chap. xxv. &c.) immediately after they had entered into covenant to do as they had promised. Or these words (which seem to be a needless repetition) may relate to that w T hich follows, and be translated thus: Moses having told the xvords of the people unto the Lord, the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them, &c..

Exodus 19:10

Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow. This shews that Moses was sent down early on the fourth day, to prepare them for the appearance of the Divine Majesty among them, by sanctifying them; that is, separating them from all uncleanness; or rather, from all common and ordinary employments; that they. might give themselves to fasting, and prayer, and abstinence from otherwise lawful pleasures. For PirkeEHezer takes abstinence from their wives, mentioned ver. 15. as a part of this sanctification, (cap. 41.) And so doth Gregory Nyssen in his book de Vita Mosis, p. 178. And Maimonides observes, that separation from wine and strong drink is called holiness in the law of the Nazarites, (Numb. vi. 5.) and.therefore may be thought part of the sanctification here required, (More Nevoch. par. i. cap. 33.) And let them wash their clothes.] The Hebrews understand it, of washing their whole bodies. For thus Aaron and his sons were to be consecrated to their office, (xxix. 4. xl. 12.) and therefore thus the people were now to be made a holy people unto the Lord, and made fit for the presence of the Divine Majesty. Under whose wings (as they speak) none were received in future times, i. e. made proselytes, but by baptism (or washing of their whole body), which was taken from this pattern. And accordingly, where we read in the law of particular purifications by washing their clothes in case of any uncleanness, as Lev. xi. 25. 28. 40. xiv. 8. 47. (where Moses speaks of cleansing a leprous person),. Numb. xxxi. 24. (where he speaks of cleansing soldiers), and many other cases, they understand it in the very same manner. In some cases indeed it is expressly prescribed, (Lev. xv. 5—7. xvi. 2G, &c.) and they expound all others, where clothes only are mentioned, by the same rule; as Mr. Selden shews, (lib. i. de Synedr. cap. 3.) where he observes, that, in the pagan language, pure garments signify the washing of the whole body. (See p. 29.)

Exodus 19:11

And be ready against the third day. He doth not mean the third day of the month, but the third day after this command to sanctify themselves. In which they were bound to spend two entire days; and then the Lord promised to come down in all their sight upon Mount Sinai. That is, when they were fit to receive him, by their professing themselves a holy people, of which that outward washing was a token. For the third flay the Lord ivill come down, &c.] Not from the mount, but from heaven, upon Mount Sinai* On which the Schechinah descended in a cloud, which struck a great awe into them: for it was darker than the pillar of the cloud by which they had been conducted hither; through which some rays, or glimpse of a glorious majesty that was in it, broke forth upon them.

Exodus 19:12

And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about. To keep them at a due distance, out of a just reverence to the Divine Majesty. Take heed unto yourselves, that ye go not up, &c] This caution also was given them, to work and preserve in their minds a most profound reverence of the Divine Majesty, and to those laws which were to be delivered from tins mount.

Exodus 19:13

There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through. JBe stoned, if he were near at hand; or shot through with darts or arrows, if at a distance. So Aben Ezra. And so Jonathan, likewise, translates the latter clause, they shall throw darts at him: and so our old translation, stricken through with darts; But the Talmndists, and the greatest lawyers among the Jews, expound both these clauses of stoiiing, which was twofold, as we read in the MisnaTit. Sanhedrin, cap. G. either by throwing stones at a malefactor, or throwing him down from a high place upon stones. And thus this last phrase imports in the Hebrew, and may properly be translated, “projiciendo projicietur,” he shall be violently thrown down; or, thrown down headlong. It is the very same word with that (xv. 4.) concerning the casting Pharaoh’s chariots into the sea. And this was a punishment, as Mr. Selden observes, like that among the Romans, from theSaxumTarpeium, which the Jews inflicted upon some captive Edomites, (SChron. xxv. 12.) and Jehu inflicted upon Jezabel, (2 Kings ix. 32.) On which story R. Levi ben Gefsom Observes pertinently, that as she caused Naboth to be stoned, so she was punished herself in the* same kind;’ for stoning, saith he, was either by throwing stones at malefactors, or throwing them down upon stones: to justify which, he alleges this place in Exodus. And David Kimchi makes the same observation. (Sec Mr. Selden, lib. i. de Synedr. cap/5, p. 74, &c.) When the trumpet soundeth long.~\ When the sound of it is protracted, or drawn out;. and, consequently, was less terrible than while it was shorter and broken. (See ver. 1G.). Tliey shall come up to the mount.] To the foot of it, (ver.;17.) that they might more plainly hear the voice of God.

Exodus 19:14

And Moses came down from the mount to the people. As he had been commanded, (ver. 10.) And sanctified the people.] Commanded them to sanctify themselves, (as the author of Sepher Cosri explains it, par. i. sect. 87.) both with internal sanctification and external; among which the principal was, separation from the company of women, as it here follows, (ver. 15.) And they washed their clothes.] See ver. 10. Unto which • add, that it is no wonder they used this purification before the giving of the law: which had been anciently in use among their ancestors, upon solemn occasions. As appears by what I observed on Gen. xxxv. 2. where Jacob, before the building of an altar to God in Bethel, as he had vowed, cleansed his family after this manner. For so Aben Ezra truly expounds these words be clean, wash your bodies: which was the old rite of cleansing. (See there.)

Exodus 19:15

And said unto the people, Be ready against the third day. Prepared to hear the words of God.; Come not at your wives.] For this time was set apart for solemn fasting and prayer; that they, might be fit to Microsoft ® CHAP. XIX.] UPON EXODUS. converse with God, by having their minds abstracted from earthly things.

Exodus 19:16

And it came to pass on the third day. Sec ver. 11. There were thunders and lightnings.] Which broke out of the thick cloud, to awaken them to attend unto his Majesty, who was approaching. And a thick cloud.] In which a flaming fire presently appeared, (ver. 18.) d>c aoparov ytviaSat to opog, SO that the mountain could not be seen; as Greg. Nyssen explains it, de Vita Mosis, p. 179. And the voice &f the trumpet.’] The heavenly ministers, who were attendants upon the Divine Majesty, made a sound like that of a trumpet, to summon the people to come and appear before God, and receive his commands. Exceeding loud.] Beyond what the blast of any men could make: for it made the whole camp quake, as the following words tell us.

Exodus 19:17

And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp. When their trembling was abated, by the remission, as we may suppose, of the sound of the trumpet. To meet with God.] That they might be espoused to him. And they stood at the nether part of the mount.] Below at the foot of it, not presuming to touch it; which they were severely forbidden, ver. 11, 12. (See Deut. iv. 11.)

Exodus 19:18

And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke. Nothing could be seen but smoke, mixed with a flame. Because the Lord descended on it in fire.] The Schechinah came down into the thick cloud (ver. 9. 10.) with a glittering company of angels, who appeared like flames of fire, unto which they are compared by the Psalmist, (civ. 4.) Thus Moses himself seems to expound it(Deut. xxxiii. 2.) " He came with ten thousands (or myriads) of holy ones (i. e. of angels); from his right hand went a fiery law for them." Which plainly relates to this appearance at Mount Sinai. And the smoke thereof ascended, as the smoke of a furnace.] Mixed with fire, which went up even to the midst of heaven, as Moses explains it, Deut. iv. 11. And the whole mount quaked greatly.] See Psalm lxviii. 8. civ. 32.

Exodus 19:19

And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long. It is a different word here in the Hebrew from that (ver. 13.) which we translate sounded long: signifying that it proceeded or went on either a long time, or to a greater loudness. And waxed louder and louder.] In the Hebrew the words are exceeding strong: fanplxu tavrr)v n aakinyZ, &c. the trumpet exceeded itself; the succeeding blasts transcending those that went before, as Greg. Nysscn well interprets the whole. Moses spake.] The people trembled before at the loud sound of the trumpet, (ver. 16.) but now it grew so very terrible, that Moses himself said, (as the apostle expounds this passage, Heb. xii. 21.) " I exceedingly fear and quake." For hither, I think, Junius rightly applies those words. And God answered him by a voice.] Bidding him not be afraid, but come up unto him, as it follows in the next verse. Greg. Nyssen thinks that the voice of the trumpet vv hw>§QQQ, became articulate, with the organs of speech, by the Divine power.

Exodus 19:20

And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai. It is said before that the Lord descended upon it; (ver. 18.) therefore the meaning here is, that the Schechinah, or Dir vine Majesty, settled there to speak unto the people. Onthe top of the mount.] On the highest part of it, that there might be the greatest distance between hitfi and the people, who stood at the foot of it. And the Lord called up Moses, &c] He stood lower. before, though not so low as the people: but now is called up higher, even to the very place where God was; and, consequently, entered into the midst of.the fire and smoke> wherein the mountain was wrapped, (ver. 18.) upon God’s appearance there. From which, in all probability, the Persians (who had heard or read.what is here related) framed the story of their Zoroaster: who, wandering in desert places, was carried up to heaven, and saw God “encompassed with flames; which he could not behold with his own eyes (the splendour of them was so great), but with eyes which the angels lent him: and there he received from him a book of the law, &c. (See Huetius Deraonstr. Evang. propos. iv. cap. 5. n. 2.) i k

Exodus 19:21

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down and charge the people, &c. It seems that upon Moses’s going up, some of the people thought of approaching nearer, out of curiosity, to see if they could discover more of the Divine Majesty. And therefore God sends him down again immediately, to bid them remember the charge he had given them, and not dare to come nearer than they were. And many of them perish.] As many as were so presumptuous. Many sometimes signifies all: and here all that should adventure to go beyond their bounds.

Exodus 19:22

And let the priests also. Who these were is much disputed; for Aaron and his sons were not yet consecrated. The Jews (it is commonly known) readily answer, they were the first-born; whose prerogative it was to minister to God, as his priests, till the law of Moses ordered things otherwise. But I have often observed this not to be true; being confuted by several examples of others who sacrificed and were not the first-born. And lately there is a learned man, who, in a just discourse, hath overthrown this opinion, (see Campeg. Vitringa Ob-.sefv. Sacne, lib. ii. cap. 23.) which was called in question, and briefly censured some time before, by a very learned friend of mine, Dr. Outram, (dc Sacrifices, lib. i. cap. 4.) Conradus Pellicanus, in the beginning of the Reformation, seems to have given a better account of the priests here.mentioned, which were the prime and most honourable persons in the several tribes; the elders, and such as administered the government under Moses: among which there might be some of the first-born, nay, it is possible, many of them; but not by any special right which they had to this office. lVJdch came near unto the Lord.] To perform Divino services. By which one would think he speaks of those who had been already employed in this office: for having before this built an altar, (xvii. 15.) some think it probable sacrifice was offered upon it. But if it were only a monument, and no sacrifices were to be offered till they came to the mount of -God, who was to appoint them; then Moses picked out the most excellent persons (as I said before) to perform this service when they came there, (xxiv. 5.) Sanctify themselves.^ Nothing was said before of their Microsoft ® [chap. XX. sanctification; which is here enjoined by itself, because their high office required a peculiar separation to prepare them for it. Lest the Lord break forth upon them.’] Lest when they come hear to sacrifice, God should be” offended with their uncleanness, and destroy them. This supposes they might go nearer than the people.

Exodus 19:23

And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come vp to Mount Sinai, &c. He thought it was needless to go down to restrain the people; having given them the charge which God commanded him, (ver. 11, 12.) and set bounds about themoitnt (as it here follows), by drawing a line, perhaps, beyond which they should hot pass, and thereby separating the mount from them; which he calls sdnctifying it.

Exodus 19:24

And the Lord. Or, but the Lord. Said unto him, Away, get thee down.] He knew the people’s inclinations better than Moses did; and therefore commanded him to make no delay, for fear they should grow more bold than he imagined. And thou shalt come up, and Aaron with thee.] After he had delivered this new charge to them. Which was the more necessary, because Aaron being also called up, they might think likewise of sharing this privilege. And Aaron with thee.] Unto whom God did this great honour, because he was to be called shortly to the dignity of the high-priest: and would be the more respected by the people, when they saw him admitted far nearer to God than they were. But let not the priests and the people break through, &c] But let not any body else, as they love their lives, presume to press beyond their line: no’ not the priests, on whom I have bestowed the honour of coming nearer to me than other men, (ver. 22.)

Exodus 19:25

So Moses went down unto the people, and spake Unto them. Delivered the message to them, and to the priests, as he was directed: and then (as he was also or- -dered) returned to the mount, and his brother with him; but not to the top of the mount where he was before, (ver. 20.) as appears from the nineteenth verse of the next chapter: which shews that Moses was there where the people might speak to him; and therefore, if he went up now to the top of th£ mount, he came down again, when the Lord spake audibly to them, and stood in a place where he might be a mediator between them. So he himself saith, (Deut. v. 4, 5.) that when the Lord talked with them face to face in the mount, he’ stood between the Lord and them. And accordingly it follows (ver. 23. of that chapter), that when they heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, they came near to Moses, and said, &c. which shews he was not far off from them, though nearer to God than they. But perhaps Moses and Aaron did not come up into tho mount, till after the ten words (or commandments) were spoken: when Mos’esj we read (xx. 21.) drew near unto the thick darkness tvhere God xvas; though we read nothing of Aaron there. Which inclines me to think the foregoing account of this matter to be the truer.