Exodus 3
PATand the book of Genesis also; that they might the better understand what promise had been made to their noble ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and that the time drew near when they would be fulfilled. It is noted by Ludovicus Capellus, in his Chronol. Sacra, that the number forty was much observed iu the administrations of Divine Providence: Moses being forty years old when he fled into Midian, and staying there another forty years, and then leaving the world in the end of the next forty years of his age. It was so many years before the Israelites got to Canaan, after they were delivered out of Egypt. Forty days Moses continued with God in the Mount, both the first and second time of his going up thither. So many days the spies were in searching out the land: and the Israelites had just so many mansions in the wilderness. Their first judge governed just forty years, and the next twice as many. Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Eli, al ljudged forty years: and so long David reigned. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come upon me, &c.J This w T as said before, (ver. 7.) I but here repeated, as a reason of the commission he intended immediately to give to Moses, to go and deliver them. Amosis. For which he quotes Ptolomaeus Mendesius, an Egyptian priest, who wrote three books about their affairs, in which he saith, tear “AfJLuxriv AIjvtttov BaviXia, Mwvcrlwc fiyovfiivov, ytyovivai’IovScu’o*c rriv 1% AlyvwTOV iroptiav, (lib.i. Stromat. p. 320.) But Tacitus calls him Bocchoris, or, as some read it, Occoris, (lib. v. Hist. cap. 3.) Tliat thou mayest bring forth my people, &c] From this time we are to consider God as the king of this people: not in general only, as he is Lord of the whole world; but in a proper and peculiar manner. For whatsoever authority or power of jurisdiction the kings of other nations did exercise over then subjects, (as power of life and death, of making laws and leagues, &c.) the same prerogative did the Lord of heaven and earth reserve to himself alone, over the children of Israel. Upon which ground, as Dr. Jackson well observes, Moses was delegated to be his ambassador to the king of Egypt; and constituted (it appears by the whole story) his deputy or viceroy over Israel. Vcr. 11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go ttnto Pharaoh, &c] He modestly declines the service, considering how mean a person he w T as, in comparison with Pharaoh; and how unable to do any thing for the Israelites. He had felt some extraordinary motion in himself, forty years ago; which he took to be an indication that God would use him as an instrument of their deliverance, (see chap. ii. 11, 12.) but at that time he was a far greater man than now; and had more interest at court: the princess who adopted him for her son being then perhaps alive, or having left him what made him very considerable. In short, he was then the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; but now a poor shepherd. [chap. III. nal and steadfast, always the very same without variation. And no wonder these men, if they met with this passage in Moses, were highly pleased with it; for St. Hilary himself tells us, that he, lighting upon theso words (as he Avas musing about God and religion) before he was a Christian, was struck with admiration: there being nothing so proper to God as to be. And therefore he thought it worthy of God, to say of himself, I AM THAT I AM, and HE THAT IS (so he translates the last words) hath sent me unto you; (lib. i. de Trinitate.)'
Exodus 3:1
IT OW Moses kept the flock. So Moses was taken from the sheepfold (as David was in aftertimes) to be the ruler of God’s people, (Psal. lxxvii.70.) " For as hunting of wild beasts (saith Philo) is proper to men of a martial genius, and fits men to be captains and generals of armies; so the feeding of sheep is McXcrn koi Trpoyvfivaaia fiaZtktias, &c. the best exercise and preparation for a kingdom, and the gentle government of mankind.” Clemens Alexandrinus hath the same notion, and the same words; (lib. i. Strom, p. 345.) God’s power also herein appeared the more wonderful, that he delivered his people from the Egyptian tyranny, by one that was contemptible, or rather abominable, to that nation, viz. a keeper of sheep. Of Jethro.] It is most likely that Reuel, mentioned in the foregoing chapter, (ver. 18.) was now dead; to whom Jethro his son succeeded in that principality where he ruled: for it was now forty years since Moses came first into Midian. His father-in-law.] This shews that the seven daughters spoken of, ii. 1G. were the children of Jethro, and Reuel their grandfather: unless we will say, as a great many do, that Jethro had two names. Nay, they fancy he had three, being called Ilobab they think, Judg. iv. 11, where Hobab is said to be the father-in-law of Moses. But the word son is there to be supplied (which in other places is sometimes to be understood), he seeming to be Jethro’s son, brother tpZipporah: and accordingly is said, (Numb. x. 29.) la be the son of Raguel the Midianite, i. e. of Jethro, as many understand it. See there. And he led the flock to the backside of the desert] Or, as St. Jerome understands it, " ad interiora deserti," to the inner parts of the desert (where there was better pasture than in the place where he was before), to which he was conducted by the providence of God, who intended here to reveal himself more fully to him. And came to the mountain of God, even to Iloreb.] Sheep delight to feed on mountains, as Bochart observes out of Theocritus and Virgil. Whence such mountainous places are often called in Homer otwoXa, sheep-walks; they being wont to feed there, as Eustathius and Hesychius interpret it: (see Hierozoic. par. i. lib. ii. cap. 46.) And this is called the mountain of God, because, when Moses wrote this book, there had been a Divine appearance upon Horeb, which St. Stephen calls Sinai, (Acts vii. 30.) For Horeb and Sinai seem to have been two tops of one and the same mountain: which it is plain by this was not far from the country of Midian., We understand also by St. Stephen’s words when this fell out, viz. after he had dwelt forty years in Midian: for so long, it is certain, he continued there, (Exod. vii. 7.) But how he employed all that time, we are not told.’ No doubt, in something elso than mere feeding sheep. For, being learned in all tho Egyptian wisdom, we may well think he both taught others, and made also great improvements himself in studying the records of that, and all other neighbouring countries: and besides, received, it is likely, Divine revelations. There are those, likewise, who think he now wrote the book of Job, to comfort the Israelites, by the example of his admirable patience, under their heavy oppressions in Egypt;
Exodus 3:2
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him. So St. Stephen also, (Acts vii. 30.) By which some understand the eternal Word, the Second Person in the blessed Trinity. But I think he is not called simply an angel any where, but with some addition, as the angel of the covenant: for it would be a dangerous insinuation, that he was but a mere creature. Yet I believe he is not here to be excluded: for I take this to have been the appearance of the Schechinah; which comprehended both the Lord himself, and the angels that attended him as his ministers. One of which now appeared so gloriously, that he shewed God to be present: and accordingly we find, in the following words, that he himself spake to Moses. And thus the Lord is said to have sent his angel, when they crie’d to him, and brought them out of Egypt, (Numb. xx. IGr) Which angel is called Michael, by Menachem; and the same which they also call Goel, who redeemed Jacob from all evil, (Gen. xlviii. 1G.) In a flame of fire.] The glory of the Lord (as the Schechinah is frequently called) appeared in a flaming manner like fire: exceeding bright, and with an amazing splendour. So it appeared, though not so bright, when the first promise was made of their deliverance, (Gen. xv. 17, 18.) Out of the midst of a bush.] To shew, say the Jews in Pirke Eliezer, (cap. xl.) that God was present with them, in their great affliction and tribulation: which was represented by this bush of thorns or briars (for so the Hebrew word signifies, su’ch a bush as pricks those that touch it), or, as the prophet Isaiah speaks, (lxiii.9.) " in all their affliction he was afflicted." And by his providence ordered things so, that their affliction did not consume them, but rather multiplied and increased them; for, as it there follows, “the angel of his presence saved them.” And thus Eusebius tells us (in the latter end of lib. v. Demonstr. Evang. cap. 13.) some Christians understood it, alvirreaSat tl
Exodus 3:3
And Moses said, I will now turn aside. It seems this glorious appearance was not directly before him, but on bne side of him, and some distance from him. And see this great sight.] This wonderful appearance; or, as Philo translates it, iKTrXntcriKwrarov, this most stupen* dous and astonishing sight or vision. • Why the bush is not burnt.] Afire which did not burn (that is, consume what it laid hold on) was very amazing. Yet the gentiles did not think such things incredible, as appears out of Seneca in his Thyeste, where he speaks of a forest which appeared all on a flame, without fire: and out of Lucan, and divers other authors, among the pagans, produced by the learned Huetius in bis Queestiones Alnetanee, (lib. ii. cap. xii. n. 10.)
Exodus 3:4
And ivhen the Lord saw that he turned aside, &c. It is plain by this, that the Lord himself was here present: his angels being but attendants, as I said, upon his Majesty. (See Gen. xii. 11. 15.) God called unto him out of the midst of the bush.] He now calls him God, whom just before he called Lord. Both which are sometimes put together, as comprehending all the Divine attributes. Maimonides, who makes eleven degrees of prophecy (or Divine communications to men), justly thinks this the very highest of all, and it was pecu^- liar to Moses, to hear God himself speaking to him in a vision, when he was entirely awake. And said, Moses, Moses.] He repeats his name, to excito his attention. And some take it for a token of familiarity, (See Gen.xlvi.2.) This is called by Gregor. Nyssen. (de Vita Mosis, p. 172.) // rov <pa)rbg tf>wyr), &c. a voice of that Light, or splendour; i.e. of the Divine ^Iajcsty, which ap-^ peared to him, by Microsoft ® [chap. III. And he said, Here am I.] A common expression of readiness to hearken and to obey.
Exodus 3:5
And he said, Draw not nigh hither. He commands him to keep his distance, and not to approach nearer to him. This, and what follows, plainly demonstrate what I -said before, that this was an appearance of theSchechinah, x>r Divine Majesty; to whom he could not pay too great a reverence. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.] Many frivolous reasons have been given for this precept, as may be seen in Braunius, (lib. i. cap. 3. de Vestitu Sacerd. Hebr.) But.the plain reason is immediately added in the text, because the place where he stood was holy: into which it was irrevcrend to enter with their shoes on; because thereby it.might be defiled with the dirt that adhered to them. Certain it is, that, in the temple afterwards, the priests officiated barefoot; and all the eastern people came into their holy places in the same manner: which Justin Martyr thinks they learnt from this example of Moses. But 3Ir. Mode’s opinion seems truer, that Moses did not give the first beginning to this rite; but it was derived from the patriarchs before him, and transmitted to future times from that ancient general tradition. For we find no command in the law of Moses, for the priests performing the service of the tabernacle without shoes; but it is certain they did so, from immemorial custom: and so do the •Mahometan^ and other nations at this day. (See Mr. Mede, book ii. p. 442, &c. and p. 516. and Huetius in his Demonstr, Evang. propos. iv. cap. xL sect. 2.) Tlie place whereon thou standest is holy ground.] It was made holy by the special presence of God, which was now there, who is most holy, and makes every thing relating unto him to" be holy also. For thus the tabernacle, the temple, and the utensils thereof, with all things destined to the Divine service, were called holy. Ver. G. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father.] i.e. Of Amram: who it seems w r as a very pious man. And the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.] Who were so dear to him, that he made a covenant with every one of them" (which is t the reason he is distinctly called the God of each of them), as Maimonides observes, (More Nev. par. iii. cap. 51.) from Lev. xxvi. 42. And this covenant was, that he would be their God after a peculiar manner. For otherwise, he was the God of Noah, and of all the holy patriarchs before him: but he is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for a peculiar reason, “because of the promise made to these three of the blessed Seed which should spring from them; in opposition to the pretensions of other neighbouring people; who (as the learned Dr. Allix observes) were their rivals in that hope. These words being as much as if he had said, the God of Abraham, and not of Lot, as the Ammonites and Moabites pretended: the God of Isaac, and not of Ishmael, as his posterity pretended: the God of Jacob, and not of Esau, as the Edomites boasted. And Moses hid his face.] In token of humility, submission, and reverence. So Elijah did in aftertimes, (1 Kings xix. 12.) Nay, the angels cover their faces in the presence of God, (Isa. vi. 2.) Jbr he was afraid to look upon God.] The splendour of the Divine Majesty was so great, that it dazzled his eyes; and he was not able to behold it. For though he stirred not, a step further, after God prohibited him to come nearer; yet we may suppose him to b^ now nearer to it than he was at the first, (ver. 3.) and its glory also was much increased.
Exodus 3:7
And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction, &c. To see signifies more than to observe and take notice; including in it such resolutions of Divine Providence, as would certainly produce their deliverance. For the doubling of the expression (Seeing I have seen, as it is in the Hebrew) denotes there was no doubt of it. And have heard their cry.] Both this and the next phrase, know their sorroivs, signify more than the simple words hear and know import, viz. such a regard to their miserable condition, as moved him to order a speedy relief to be given them. Ver. S. And I am come down to deKver them.] I now appear unto thee for that purpose. Out of the Jumd of the Egyptians.] From their tyranuical power. And to bring them up y out of that land.] Where they are strangers, and used as slaves. Into a good land.] A fruitful country of their own. And a large.] Where they shall not be pent up so as they are in Goshen. And if it were considered according to the extent of the original promise, it was large and spacious indeed, even from the river of Egypt unto Euphrates, (Gen. xv. 18.); Unto a land flowing with milk and honey.] By which phrase the poets express the greatest plenty; as Bochart shews out of Euripides, Horace, Ovid, &c. (Hierozoic. par. ii. lib. iv. cap. 12.) For abundance of milk and honey argue a country to be well watered, fruitful, full of fair pastures and flowers: from whence the flocks may fill their dugs with milk, and the bees their cells with honey. iElian (lib. iii. de Hist. Animal, cap. 35.) saith, “The goats of Syria (which includes this country) afford such plenty of milk, as is in no other country.” Unto the place of the Canaanites, &,c] See concerning all these people here mentioned, Gen. xv. 19, &c.
Exodus 3:10
Come now therefore, and I will send thee nnto Pharaoh, &c. Leave thy flock; for I have another more weighty business, wherein I will employ thee. For thou shalt go with my authority to Pharaoh; and command him not only to release ray people out of their servitude, but to let them go also out of Egypt. He had called them by the name of his people, (ver. 7.) and now mentions it again, to encourage their hope that he would take care of his own. What Pharaoh this was (it being a common name to all the Egyptian kings) is very much disputed. The common opinion is, that after Orus (in whose time Moses fled into Midian), Acenceres (or Achcrres) reigned twelve years; and after him Achoris reigned seven years more; and (hen succeeded Cenchres, the worst of them all, to whom Moses was now sent. But Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, that Appion (a great enemy of the Jews, and who wrote against them) mentioning their going out of Egypt (in his fourth book of his History of Egypt), saith, it was in the reign of
Exodus 3:12
And he said, Certainly I will be with thee. In answer to his objection, God bids him depend on this; that he would preserve him by a special providence from being hurt by Pharaoh. So Maimonidcs shews this phrase (I will be with thee) signifies in Scripture, (MoreNev. par. iii. cap. 18.) And the confidence which God wrought in him of this, gave him courage and resolution: which is also denoted by this phrase, as he shews, (par. ii. cap. 38.) For all the prophets were endued with an extraordinary fortitude and magnanimity; which was in Moses above all the rest: he encountering a great king, and all his court and people, barely with a staff in his hand. And this shall be a token to thee that I have sent thee; when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve Godtipon this mountain.) This could not be a token to him now, but was afterward: when God by his power brought them to this very place, to worship him, according to this promise, upon this mountain. In the meantime, there were many other tokens God gave him (as we find in this history) which were all confirmed by this at last. Vcr. 13. And they shall say unto me, What is his name? IMiat shall I say unto them?] This doth not argue that they knew not what the name of their God was; for they and their fathers had been long acquainted with him: and they cried unto him, and he heard them, (ii. 23, 2*1.) ButMoses being the first that ever spake to men in the name of God, (none of the patriarchs, cither before the flood or after it, having said any such words as these; God hath sent me to you: the Lord commands me to bid you do so or so, as Maimon. observes in several places of his More Nevoch. par. i. cap. 63. par. ii.. cap. 39.) it was natural for the Israelites: to ask him by what name, or peculiar attribute, God had made himself known unto him, so as to authorize him to speak to them, as never any man before did. He had spoken unto Noah and unto Abraham, &c. but it was only for their own instruction; he never bid them deliver any message unto others: and yet it is observable^ that, upon particular occasions, he still made himself known to them - by different names or titles. As he saith to Abraham, (Gen. xv. 7.) €i I am Jehovah, who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees.” But, xvii. I. he saith, " I am Elshaddai." And to Isaac he saith, " I am the God of thy father Abraham," (xxvi. 24.) To Jacob he adds, “lam: the Lord God of thy father Abraham, and the God of Isaac,” (xxviii. 13.) And after this, " I am the God of Bethel," (xxxi. 13.) No wonder then that Moses should; think the people would expect, upon so great an occasion, when he came to them as an ambassador from heaven, that the God of their fathers should speak to them in a new? style, beyond all that had been known in former days.
Exodus 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. That is, saith Maimonidcs, in the place abovenamed, he that necessarily exists. He who so is, that he must needs be. Or, as some translate it, I will be what I will be; i. e. the eternal immutable Being (so Elmacinus interprets it, the Eternal that never dies J, who am faithful to my promises; and will be to you, what I told your fathers I would, be. -Whatsoever I said in the days of Abraham, concern-;, ing the giving the land of Canaan, I will certainly perform; for I change not. Tims shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.] The former words were a declaration of God’s nature to Moses; and in these he bids him, in brief/ only say to the Israelites that he was sent by him who is.. That is (as was said before) necessarily exists: always was, and ever will be. Who alters not; but, by whatsoever name lie makes himself known, is still the very same God. Which was a name not unknown to the gentiles, as one. would think by the wordjEI; which was inscribed in the front of the Delphic temple (as Plutarch tells us), and was nothing else but the contraction of EIMI, which signifies, I AM. Or if we take EI to be an entire word (as it is commonly thought) signifying thou art, Ammonius rightly understood it to be airrortAfj rov 0cov irpoaayopiVGiv kol 7rpov(pu>vr)<Tiv (as Plutarch reports his words in a treatise on; this subject), the most absolutely perfect name and compellation of God. For God, saith he, in the other inscription on the temple, speaks to us who approach him, saying to every one KNOW THYSELF: and we are taught to, answer to him again, in the words of this inscription, THOU ART: ascribing to him wq aXr^fi koI fyivSij, &c. that true, undoubted, and only appellation which belongs to him alone. For he only is; we are not, &c. Thus he declares this word, to express most perfectly the Divine Essence; which is distinguished hereby from all false gods. See Eusebius, (lib. xi. Praep. Evang. cap. 31.) and in the two foregoing chapters; where he takes a’deal of pains to shew that Plato borrowed this notion of to ov ati, ylvzaiv Si ovk 6%°^ rt Being that is always, but had no beginning, from these words of Moses. And Numenius, a Pythagorean, speaks it more plainly, when he saith, to yap ov, aiStov j3£- ]3cuov T£ lartVy cul Kara tclvtqv kgX Tavrbv, that which is, is eter*
Exodus 3:15
And said moreover unto Moses, TJius shalt thou say, &c. For a further explication of what he had now said, and a further satisfaction of their minds. The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, &c] The name Jehovah (as we pronounce.it) seems to be in sense the same with Ehjeh, beforementioned. Which, as it declares his nature, so the word God added to it, expresses his favour, care, and providence. And consequently he bids Moses tell the children of Israel, that he who is the Eternal was the God of* their fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: to whom he had made many promises that he would be gracious to their posterity. This was sufficient for them to know of him.;.. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial, &c] Some refer the first words (this is my name) to the foregoing verse, 1 AM: and the next (this is my memorial) to those which immediately precede, the Lord God of your fathers: which in truth include the whole, Jehovah being the same with I am. And the meaning is, I will be for ever remembered, celebrated, praised, and invoked, by the name of the Lord God of your fathers, &c.
Exodus 3:16
Go, and gather the elders of Israel together.’) The word elders, in these books, sometimes signifies the men of the great Sanhedrin, as they speak in aftertimes (or the judges in the highest court), Dent, xxi. 2. &c. Sometimes the judges in the lower courts, (Deut. xix. 12. xxii. 15.) Sometimes it only signifies the heads of the tribes, as here in this place: for now there were no such courts of judicature constituted. (SeeSelden, Uxor. Hebr. lib. i. cap. xv.) Some indeed (particularly Corn. Bertram) think it reasonable to, suppose that the Israelites had judges among them all the time they dwelt in Egypt, though not mentioned in Scripture; as they had, no doubt, a form of religion, though we read nothing of it. And Moses, he thinks, is here ordered to send for those, who were their rulers, and administered public affairs among them. But there is this argument against it; that, after this time, when Moses had brought them out of Egypt, there were no such judges among them, but Moses (as we find Exod. xviii.) judged all himself, to his exceeding great trouble. And therefore by elders we are here to understand only the wisest and gravest men of the nation, who were in greatest esteem among them, (as Mr. Seklen afterwards speaks, lib. i. de Synedr. cap. xv. p. 523, &c.) or, as was said before, the heads of their tribes. The famous II. Grotius confirms this, by a nice observation, that both here and ver. 18.- they are barely called zikne, not hazikne, because there was not as yet, " certum collegium, sed sola qualitas denotatur," (as he speaks, lib. de Imp. Sum. Potest, circa Sacra, cap. xi. n. 15.) a certain college or society of them, but their quality only is denoted. And no doubt the word always signified men of dignity, or chief rank among others, both among the Israelites and among the Egyptians; as I have observed on Gen. xxiv. 2. 1. 6. And say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, &c] See this explained, ver. G. Hath appeared unto me.]
Exodus 3:17
And I have said. Determined, or resolved. I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, &c] See ver. 9.
Exodus 3:18
And they shall hearken to thy voice. A great encouragement to carry this message to the elders of Israel; which God promises to incline their hearts to receive and obey. The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met With us.] We have received a special command from the eternal God, whom, we, and our forefathers, worship: who hath appeared to us. And now let tis go (we beseech thee) three days* journey into theivilderness.’] They intended to go quite away.; but at first arc directed to demand only to go as far as Mount Sinai: which was but three days’ journey from Egypt, if they went the nearest way to it. For this they were humble petitioners; which is implied in those words, We beseech thee. That ice may sacrifice to the I^ord our God.] When they’delivered this message to Pharaoh, (ver. 1.) they call it holding a feast to him: which was to be made upon the sacrifices that they offered. For ver. 3. of that chapter, they speak in the same phrase which is used here.
Exodus 3:19
And I am sure the king of Egypt will not let you go. God understood beforehand the hardness of his heart; and that he would not yield; no, not to let them depart for three days, much less for altogether. No, not by a strong hand.] Lithe margin, But by a strong hand; i. e. by cutting off all the first-born in the country: till which, he knew Fharaoh would be obstinate.
Exodus 3:20
And Iicill stretch out my hand. As the hand of God signifies his power, so the stretching it ont seems to signify the exerting of that power in mighty deeds. Smite Egypt with all my wonders.’] The Hebrew word for wonders comes from a root, which imports something singular, and not common. Such were all the plagues God sent upon Egypt, which made them the more wonderful. After that he ivill let you go.] They grew so terrible, at last, that he was afraid the next stroke would be upon his own person: which made him content to dismiss them.
Exodus 3:21
Ami I will give this people favour in the sight of, the Egyptians, &c. Dispose their hearts to be kind to them.