Exodus 13 commentary

In remembrance of the destruction of the first-born of Egypt, both of man and of beast, and the deliverance of the Israelites out of bondage, the first-born males of the Israelites were set apart to the Lord. By this was set before them, that their lives were preserved through the ransom of the atonement, which in due time was to be made for sin. They were also to consider their lives, thus ransomed from death, as now to be consecrated to the service of God. The parents were not to look upon themselves as having any right in their first-born, till they solemnly presented them to God, and allowed his title to them. That which is, by special mercy, spared to us, should be applied to God's honour; at least, some grateful acknowledgment, in works of piety and charity, should be made. The remembrance of their coming out of Egypt must be kept up every year. The day of Christ's resurrection is to be remembered, for in it we were raised up with Christ out of death's house of bondage. The Scripture tells us not expressly what day of the year Christ rose, but it states particularly what day of the week it was; as the more valuable deliverance, it should be remembered weekly. The Israelites must keep the feast of unleavened bread. Under the gospel, we must not only remember Christ, but observe his holy supper. Do this in remembrance of him. Also care must be taken to teach children the knowledge of God. Here is an old law for catechising. It is of great use to acquaint children betimes with the histories of the Bible. And those who have God's law in their heart should have it in their mouth, and often speak of it, to affect themselves, and to teach others.

The firstlings of beast not used in sacrifice, were to be changed for others so used, or they were to be destroyed. Our souls are forfeited to God's justice, and unless ransomed by the sacrifice of Christ, will certainly perish. These institutions would continually remind them of their duty, to love and serve the Lord. In like manner, baptism and the Lord's supper, if explained and attended to, would remind us, and give us occasion to remind one another of our profession and duty.

There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was only a few days' journey; the other was much further about, through the wilderness, and that was the way in which God chose to lead his people Israel. The Egyptians were to be drowned in the Red sea; the Israelites were to be humbled and proved in the wilderness. God's way is the right way, though it seems about. If we think he leads not his people the nearest way, yet we may be sure he leads them the best way, and so it will appear when we come to our journey's end. The Philistines were powerful enemies; it was needful that the Israelites should be prepared for the wars of Canaan, by passing through the difficulties of the wilderness. Thus God proportions his people's trials to their strength, 1Co 10:13. They went up in good order. They went up in five in a rank, some; in five bands, so others, which it seems rather to their faith and hope, that God would bring them to Canaan, in expectation of which they carried these bones with them while in the desert.

The Lord went before them in a pillar, or appearance of the Divine Majesty. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1Co 10:9. Those whom God brings into a wilderness, he will not leave nor lose there, but will take care to lead them through it. It was great satisfaction to Moses and the pious Israelites, to be sure that they were under Divine guidance. Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be sure that the Lord goes before them, though they cannot see it with their eyes: we must now live by faith. When Israel marched, this pillar went before, and pointed out the place of encampment, as Divine Wisdom saw fit. It sheltered by day from the heat, and gave light by night. The Bible is a light to our feet, a lantern to our paths, with which the Saviour's love has provided us. It testifies of Christ. It is to us like the pillar to the Israelites. Listen to that voice which cries, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life, Joh 8:12. Jesus Christ alone, as shown in the Bible, and as the Holy Spirit, in answer to prayer, recommends him to the soul, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Joh 14:6.

2. Sanctify unto me all the first-born. This also refers to the First Commandment, because God asserts His right over the first-born, lest the recollection of their redemption should ever be lost. For thus were the Israelites admonished that they must honor that God by whose grace they had escaped in safety from the common destruction of Egypt, and, moreover, that they were rescued by His special blessing, in order that they should consecrate themselves to God their Deliverer. For the offering which He here requires, was a mark of separation between them and the heathen nations. Omitted in Fr. The first-born is called the opening of the womb, because it is the beginning of generation. The expression, “among the children of Israel,” when he is speaking of brutes, as well as of their own offspring and children, is meant to distinguish the wild beasts from the tame and domestic animals. But although He commands only the first-born of the race of Abraham to be offered to Him, still this must undoubtedly be extended to the sanctification of the whole people; for whilst He says, that the first-born were His, because they especially owed their preservation to His mercy, yet for the same reason he signifies that all were His own.

3. And Moses said unto the people. He repeats what he had said more at length in the foregoing chapter, respecting the unleavened bread, not so much to instruct as to exhort them; for he had already expressed the matter with so much clearness, that there was no need of further explanation; but it was useful to stimulate them, that they might devote themselves with greater zeal to their duty, and especially lest, after a longer lapse of time, their ardor should, as usual, gradually abate. He therefore exhorts them, that after they cane into the land, they should diligently observe what he had before commanded. And from the context here, it is plain that the two commands as to the sanctifying the first-born, and celebrating the passover, had the same object, viz., that their deliverance should retain the elect people in the special service of the true God.

4. This day came ye out. He compares the day of their coming out with the whole time of their sojourning in the land of Canaan; as if he had said that they were redeemed not to enjoy a mere transient joy, but that they might be mindful of their blessing throughout all ages. He proceeds to eulogize the extent and the fertility of the land again, principally for two reasons. The first is, lest after such glorious victories pride should possess their minds, and in the abundance of their good things their eyes should be closed by fatness;the second, that by the very multitude of their possessions they might be the more incited to the duty of gratitude, and to the service of God. For it might be that the conquerors of so many nations, and the lords of so rich and extensive a territory would wax wanton, so as to be less devoted to God’s service, unless they had been reminded that they owed it to God alone that they had conquered so many peoples, and had obtained dominion over them. But Moses shews them that, in proportion to God’s goodness to them, so would they be the more inexcusable, if they did not earnestly labor to testify heir gratitude. With this object he repeats the names of the nations, by the destruction of which they were to become inheritors of the land; and then adds, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” in order to arouse them still more and more to piety by the great profusion of the blessings which would be ever before their eyes. Those are entirely mistaken who suppose that the month Abib אביב C. has copied the Hebrew in his text, writing it Abib, as a proper name; but in the V. it is translated “mensis novarum frugum,” and in S.M., “mensis maturescentis frugis.” The name for July is אב, which exists in Chaldee as a general name for the fleshy fruit of trees. David Levi says, in his Lingua Sacra, that one of their Rabbis had observed that Ab or Av is not to be found in Scripture, and that all the names of the Jewish months, as Sivan, Nisan, etc., are not Hebrew but Chaldee; for which reason we do not meet with them but in the books of Zechariah, Daniel, Ezra, and Esther, which were written during the captivity; and in these four books mention is made of seven of the months, but in the Jerusalem Targum of Esther they all follow regularly. This is also the opinion of Aben-Ezra; but adds, “we find three of the months named in Hebrew, viz., Zif, in 1 Kings 6:1; Bul, in same chapter, verse 38, and Ethanira in 8:2; which plainly shews that they had names for all the months in Hebrew; but during the captivity they adopted those of their masters.” — W. is the same as Ab, which corresponds with our July. For it is evident that the Israelites came out of Egypt in the month Nisan, about the vernal equinox; of which circumstance, the keeping of Easter, handed down by tradition from our forefathers, is an unquestionable proof. Now, since the Hebrews borrowed from the Chaldeans all the names of their months, which were in use two thousand years after, it would be absurd in this place to regard Abib as a proper name, especially when, in Scripture, we nowhere find the months designated by proper names. Since, then, reason demonstrates that this word is applied appellatively, we must inquire why it is applied to March or the beginning of April. Those who translate A bib “ripening fruits,” have no ground for it, since the word simply means “anything which grows;” hence it is applied to the stalks of corn; and because in those warm climates the corn rises to its height about the vernal equinox, from this fact, Nisan is called the month of stalks. It is also a probable conjecture, (as we have already said,) that the beginning of the year was changed, in order that the nativity of the Church might receive more distinction; as if the world were then renewed. The opinion of some that Noah came out of the ark in the same month, so that the temperature of spring might receive him in his new birth, as well as the other animals, I leave undecided as I have done on Genesis 8. But if this opinion be accepted, there will be an anticipation (prolepsis) in the name of the months; and in this there will be an absurdity, because it was useful for the people to be accustomed to the rites of the Law. But I do not enter into controversy about uncertainties.

8. And thou shalt shew thy son in that day. He repeats what we have already remarked, viz., an injunction to parents to teach their children, that they may thus transmit the service of God to their descendants. In the preceding chapter it was said, “when your children shall say unto you,” etc.; and now he more briefly commands that God’s goodness should be proclaimed, although none should make inquiry respecting it; because parents ought to be voluntarily disposed to educate their children in the fear of God. He also repeats, as we have seen above, that the memory of their deliverance should be annually renewed lest it should ever fade away, since religion is easily neglected unless men are diligently exercised in its study, tie uses a comparison when he says, “it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes;” as though it had been said that their redemption should be set before their eyes in the passover, just as the ring which is on the finger, or the ornament which is bound upon the forehead are constantly seen. For which purpose also he had before desired that the precepts of the Law should be inscribed both on the head, and on the hands, and fringes of their garments. The sum is, that in the passover a monument of God’s grace should exist, so that it might never sink into oblivion; just as ornaments which appear on the forehead and on the fingers awaken the attention by their being constantly beheld. But, if any should rather be of opinion that Moses alludes to those who, conscious of their own faithlessness, contrive means to assist their memory, “Et pourtant font des neuds a leurs ceintures, ou quelque marque a leur bonnet;” and therefore make knots in their girdles, or some mark in their cap. — Fr. I offer them no opposition; as if he had said that, since they were disposed to forgetfulness, they should use this remedy, to awaken themselves to gratitude. He will soon afterwards repeat the same injunction, in connection with the offering of the first-born. The following words, “that the Lord’s Law may be in thy mouth,” confirm the opinion that the passover has reference to the First Commandment. They intimate that it is not enough to perform the external rite, unless it be associated with its proper object, viz., that they should devote themselves to God and to His doctrine. He mentions the mouth, not because the main thing is, to speak or discourse of the Law, for if piety lay in the tongue, hypocrites would be the best worshippers of God; but he expressly requires that, when each one shall have privately applied himself to the study of the Law, they shall also mutually teach and exhort each other.

Deuteronomy 16

Deuteronomy 16:3, 4

3. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; (for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste;) that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

3. Non comedas cum illo fermentatum: septem diebus comedes cum illo infermentata, panem afflictionis: quia festinanter egressus es e terra Aegypti: ut memineris diei quo egressus es e terra Aegypti, omnibus diebus vitae tuae.

4. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

4. Neque conspicietur apud to fermentum in omni termino tuo septem diebus: neque pernoctabit de carnibus quas sacrificabis in vespera die primo usque mane.

Exodus 23

Exodus 23:18

18. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

18. Non immolabis cum fermento sanguinem victimae meae: neque pernoctabit adeps agni mei usque mane.

Exodus 34

Exodus 34:25

25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

25. Non immolabis cum fermento sanguinem sacrificii mei: neque pernoctabit usque mane sacrificium solennitatis Pesah.

11. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee. He proceeds with what had been glanced at in the beginning of the chapter with respect to the consecration of the first-born, that in this way they should bear witness to the special blessing of God which preserved them when He destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians. But He commands the animals to Observe A. V., “thou shalt set apart;” margin, “cause to pass over;” Lat., “transferes.” be brought to Him, in order that they should be slain in the tabernacle. It is a common figure of speech to say, that the faithful and their gifts were placed in God’s sight when they entered the tabernacle. I conceive that they were ordered, in Exodus 22:30, to keep the first-born seven days, in order to prevent deceptions, because if the young had been earlier torn from the teats of their dams, and immediately delivered to the priests, the offering would have been useless. Yet I doubt not that the eighth day was chosen because it was the one prescribed for circumcision. An exception is added, that a price should be paid for an ass, the offering of which would have been unclean. With regard to their children, it was requisite that they should be redeemed, because they could not be offered in sacrifice, nor made priests.

Exodus 34

Exodus 34:19, 20

19. All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

19. Quicquid aperit vulvam, meum est, et omne pecus tuum quod memorabitur inter primogenita boum et ovium.

20. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the first-born of thy sons thou shalt redeem; and none shall appear before me empty.

20. At primogenitum asini redimes ove: quod si non redemeris, tunc cervicem praecides illi: omne primogenitum filiorum redimes.

17. And it came to pass when Pharaoh. Moses here assigns the reason why God did not immediately lead His people by the more direct way into the land of Canaan, which would have been just as easy to Him, but preferred to bring them round through the desert, by a long and difficult and dangerous journey; viz., lest, if perhaps they had met with enemies to contend against, a ready means of return would have encouraged them to go back into Egypt. We know how great was the supineness and cowardice of this people, as soon as any difficulty presented itself; and how quick they were to revolt from the divine government, as often as a heavier burden than they liked was imposed upon them. We know how often they repented of having followed God as their leader, and thus were prepared to throw away by their ingratitude the grace offered to them. When, therefore, they were powerless in the use of arms, and were altogether without experience of military tactics, with what courage would they have engaged with an enemy, if any should have advanced against them within a few days of their coming out? Assuredly they would not have borne up against a single assault, but would have been willing rather to submit themselves to the Egyptians, with humble supplications for forgiveness. Lest, then, any desire of return should steal over their hearts, God was willing to set up a barrier behind them in the difficulty of the journey. Besides, if in their departure from Egypt they had immediately encountered the inhabitants of the land of Canaan in war, greater troubles would have awaited them; for the Egyptians would by no means let them alone, but., being aided by the subsidies and forces of so many peoples, would have endeavored to avenge themselves, and, having entered into alliances on every side, would have hemmed in the unhappy Israelites. Wherefore, God provided excellently for them, by leading them through inaccessible paths, and by their very weariness shutting the door against their ever desiring to return into Egypt; while afterwards He gradually restored their’ confidence, before they came to fight, and had to sustain the attacks of their enemies. I admit, indeed, that God might have otherwise obviated all these evils; but since He is often wont to deal with His people on human principles, He chose to adopt the method which was most suited to their infirmity. Moses now commends this His admirable design, in order that we may know that nothing was omitted by Him which was for the safety and advantage of His people. For this “God said,” which he mentions, refers to His providence; as much as to say, that the easier and more ordinary passage was not undesignedly rejected, but that because God knew it to be more expedient, He thus advisedly obviated the temptation.

18. The children of Israel went up harnessed. The word חמשים, חמשים. Fives. The Rabbinical notions here mentioned are thus briefly stated in S M , “Exponitur a Kimchi sic, Et accincti armis in quinta costa. Alii autem sic exponunt, Et accincti quinque armorum generibus.” In speaking of what the Greeks had imagined, C. alludes to the LXX., who entirely depart from the Hebrew, by rendering this clause, πέμπτὟ δὲ γενεᾷ, κ. τ. λ.. “And in the fifth generation, the children of Israel went up,” etc. — W. chemishim, is derived from “Five,” from whence some have explained it, that they were furnished with five kinds of arms, but this is too absurd. The Hebrews, because they could conjecture nothing better or more probable, almost with one consent would understand it, that they were armed under the fifth rib. But whence were there so many military corselets ready for the Israelites? But I reject so forced and improbable a meaning, and doubt not that the word is one of number; as though Moses had said, that they went out in ranks of five; because, if each individual in so great a multitude had tried to advance, they would have been in each other’s way. I have therefore thought fit to translate it “dispositi,” (in ranks.) The idea of the Greeks about “the fifth generation,” is very foreign to the present narrative. But in the sense I have given it, there is nothing obscure or doubtful; for it readily appears that God’s favor is celebrated also in this particular, because He led forth His people in order. For, although they came out confusedly and hastily, still He restrained there, as it were, under His banner, and in companies, lest any disturbance should occur.

19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. Hence it appears, that even in their adversity the memory of their promised deliverance had never departed from the people, for had not the adjuration of Joseph been currently spoken of in common conversation, Moses would never have been able to imagine it; but he expressly states that he acted in obedience to the holy patriarch in carrying away his bones. It is, therefore, probable that they were so deposited, that the hope of the people might be kept alive by seeing daily the urn or coffer which contained them, as if the holy man even after death uplifted from his tomb a sign of their deliverance; for although by this symbolical act he cherished his own faith, when he desired that, though dead, he might enter on the possession of the promised land, yet there is no doubt that he had more regard to his brethren and the whole posterity of the holy race. D’Abraham. — Fr. For, having known by experience their apathy and the weakness of their faith, he naturally feared lest in a longer lapse of time they should grow more and more indifferent, and at length should despise the proraise, and give themselves up altogether to listlessness about it. And certainly it must have been this mistrust of them which urged him not to be contented with a simple injunction, but to bind their minds more strongly by an oath. In Acts 7:16, Stephen seems to assert that the other eleven sons of Jacob were also buried in Sichem; and it may be probably conjectured, that they were led piously to emulate the example of their brother Joseph. Assuredly the faith of the departed Joseph, even in his dry bones, preached loudly to his descendants of the promised deliverance, lest they should grow careless from the long delay; and when at length the Israelites were led forth, the bones or ashes of the twelve Patriarchs were like so many standard-bearers, going before the several tribes to encourage their confidence. Wherefore the cowardice of the people was still more detestable, so often basely turning their backs upon their journey, when they had in sight so eminent a ground for confidence. The words of Joseph, which Moses reports, “God will surely visit you,” etc., confirm the expression of the Apostle, (Hebrews 11:22,) that “by faith — he gave commandment concerning his bones,” because he thus takes upon himself the character and office of their surety, to exhort his nation to embrace the promise. How far the silly superstition of the Papists in worshipping the relics of saints differs from this object we may gather from hence without difficulty, viz., that they studiously catch at every means whereby they may be withdrawn further from the word of God.

21. And the Lord went before them. Moses here proclaims another of God’s mercies, that, having redeemed His people, He was their constant leader and guide; as the Prophet also in the Psalms distinctly makes reference to both. (Psalm 77:15; and 78:14.) It was indeed a marvelous act of loving-kindness that, accommodating Himself to their ignorance, he familiarly presented Himself before their eyes. He might, indeed, have protected them in some other way from the heat of the sun, and directed them in the darkness of the night; but, in order that His power might be more manifest, He chose to add also His visible presence, to remove all room for doubt. But, although the words of Moses seem in some measure to include the Lord in the cloud, we must observe the sacramental mode of speaking, wherein God transfers His name to visible figures; not to affix to them His essence, or to circumscribe His infinity, but only to show that He does not deceitfully expose the signs of His presence to men’s eyes, but that the exhibition of the thing signified is at the same time truly conjoined with them. Therefore, although Moses states that God was in the cloud and in the pillar of fire, yet does he not wish to draw Him down from heaven, nor to subject His infinite glory to visible signs, with which His truth may consist without His local presence. “Sans qu’il y soit requis une presence de lieu;” without a local presence being required. — Fr. But execrable is the mad notion of Servetus, who pretended that this cloud was uncreated, as though it were the Deity of Christ, for he substituted this One Person for the Three, as if there had then been a corporeal Deity, which he calls the “figurative Son,” who was afterwards made flesh; not that He put on flesh, but because He appeared as man, compounded of three uncreated elements, and of the seed of David. But, soon after, Moses calls this same being an Angel, to which he now assigns the name of the eternal God. And with good reason, because our heavenly Father then led the Israelites only by the hand of His only-begotten Son. Now, since He is the eternal guardian of His Church, Christ is not less truly present with us now by His power than he was formerly manifest to the fathers. When, therefore, Isaiah prophesies His coming, he recounts amongst others this divine blessing, that “the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night,” — that there might be

“a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain,” (Isaiah 4:5, 6;)

as if he had said, that He would really and substantially fulfill what then was seen under a figurative symbol. And surely that promise, —

“The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night,” (Psalm 121:6,)

refers not to a single day, but to all ages. The statement of Moses, then, that “He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night,” is a blessing which God extends to us, as well as to them, except only the visible symbol, which was temporary, on account of the infirmity of the people. As to his saying’ that God always appeared to them, that they might march by night as well as by day, he does not mean that they went on continually without any rest, since he had just before mentioned that their first station was in Succoth, from whence they encamped in Etham, but merely informs us that the flow of God’s grace was continual, since the token of His favor and protection shone forth no less amidst the darkness of the night than at midday itself.

EXODUS 14

Exodus 14:1-9

1. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo.

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

2. Loquere ad filios Israel, ut redeant, et maneant e regione Pi-hahiroth inter Migdol et inter mare, e regione Baalsephon, contra ipsum castrametentur juxta mare.

3. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

3. Dicet enim Pharao de filiis Israel, Irretiti sunt in terra: conclusit illos desertum.

4. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am, the Lord. And they did so.

4. Et roborabo cor Pharaonis, ut persequatur eos: et glorificabor in Pharaone, et in universo exercitu ejus: scientque AEgyptii quod ego Jehova. Et fecerunt sic.

5. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

5. Nuntiatum est autem regi AEgypti quod fugisset populus: Et versum est cor Pharaonis et servorum ejus in populum, et dixerunt, Cur hoc fecimus ut dimitteremus Israel, ne serviret nobis?

6. And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him.

6. Et aptato curru suo populum assumpsit secum.

7. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

7. Tulit itaque sexcentos currus electos, omnes currus AEgypti, et duces super quenque illorum.

8. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

8. Et roboravit Jehova cor Pharaonis regis AEgypti, et persequutus est filios Israel. Filii autem Israel egressi erant in manu excelsa.

9. But the Egyptians pursued after them, (all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army,) and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

9. Et persequuti sunt AEgyptii illos, apprehenderuntque eos quum castra haberent juxta mare, omnis equitatus curruum Pharaonis, et equites ejus, et exercitus ejus, juxta Pi-hahiroth, e regione Baalsephon.

CHAPTER 13

Ex 13:1, 2. The First-born Sanctified.

2. Sanctify unto me all the first-born--To "sanctify" means to "consecrate," to "set apart" from a common to a sacred use. The foundation of this duty rested on the fact that the Israelites, having had their first-born preserved by a distinguishing act of grace from the general destruction that overtook the families of the Egyptians, were bound in token of gratitude to consider them as the Lord's peculiar property (compare He 12:23).

Ex 13:3-10. Memorial of the Passover.

3. Moses said unto the people, Remember this day--The day that gave them a national existence and introduced them into the privileges of independence and freedom, deserved to live in the memories of the Hebrews and their posterity; and, considering the signal interposition of God displayed in it, to be held not only in perpetual, but devout remembrance.

house of bondage--literally, "house of slaves"--that is, a servile and degrading condition.

for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place--The emancipation of Israel would never have been obtained except it had been wrung from the Egyptian tyrant by the appalling judgments of God, as had been at the outset of his mission announced to Moses (Ex 3:19).

There shall no leavened bread, &c.--The words are elliptical, and the meaning of the clause may be paraphrased thus:--"For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place, in such haste that there could or should be no leavened bread eaten."

4. month Abib--literally, "a green ear," and hence the month Abib is the month of green ears, corresponding to the middle of our March. It was the best season for undertaking a journey to the desert region of Sinai, especially with flocks and herds; for then the winter torrents had subsided, and the wadies were covered with an early and luxuriant verdure.

5-7. when the Lord shall bring thee--The passover is here instituted as a permanent festival of the Israelites. It was, however, only a prospective observance; we read of only one celebration of the passover during the protracted sojourn in the wilderness [Nu 9:5]; but on their settlement in the promised land, the season was hallowed as a sacred anniversary [Jos 5:10], in conformity with the directions here given.

8. thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying--The establishment of this and the other sacred festivals presented the best opportunities of instructing the young in a knowledge of His gracious doings to their ancestors in Egypt.

9. it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, &c.--There is no reason to believe that the Oriental tattooing--the custom of staining the hands with the powder of Hennah, as Eastern females now do--is here referred to. Nor is it probable that either this practice or the phylacteries of the Pharisees--parchment scrolls, which were worn on their wrists and foreheads--had so early an existence. The words are to be considered only as a figurative mode of expression.

that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth, &c.--that is, that it may be the subject of frequent conversation and familiar knowledge among the people.

Ex 13:11-16. Firstlings of Beasts.

12-13. every firstling, &c.--the injunction respecting the consecration of the first-born, as here repeated, with some additional circumstances. The firstlings of clean beasts, such as lambs, kids, and calves, if males, were to be devoted to God and employed in sacrifice. Those unclean beasts, as the ass's colt, being unfit for sacrifice, were to be redeemed (Nu 18:15).

Ex 13:17-21. Journey from Egypt.

17. God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near, &c.--The shortest and most direct route from Egypt to Palestine was the usual caravan road that leads by Belbeis, El-Arish, to Ascalon and Gaza. The Philistines, who then possessed the latter, would have been sure to dispute their passage, for between them and the Israelites there was a hereditary feud (1Ch 7:21, 22); and so early a commencement of hostilities would have discouraged or dismayed the unwarlike band which Moses led. Their faith was to be exercised and strengthened, and from the commencement of their travels we observe the same careful proportion of burdens and trials to their character and state, as the gracious Lord shows to His people still in that spiritual journey of which the former was typical.

18. God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, &c.--This wondrous expanse of water is a gulf of the Indian ocean. It was called in Hebrew "the weedy sea," from the forest of marine plants with which it abounds. But the name of the Red Sea is not so easily traced. Some think it was given from its contiguity to the countries of Edom ("red"); others derive it from its coral rocks; while a third class ascribe the origin of the name to an extremely red appearance of the water in some parts, caused by a numberless multitude of very small mollusca. This sea, at its northern extremity, separates into two smaller inlets--the eastern called anciently the Elanitic gulf, now the gulf of Akaba; and the western the Heroopolite gulf, now the gulf of Suez, which, there can be no doubt, extended much more to the north anciently than it does now. It was toward the latter the Israelites marched.

went up harnessed--that is, girded, equipped for a long journey. (See Psa 105:37). The Margin renders it "five in a rank," meaning obviously five large divisions, under five presiding officers, according to the usages of all caravans; and a spectacle of such a mighty and motley multitude must have presented an imposing appearance, and its orderly progress could have been effected only by the superintending influence of God.

19. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him--in fulfilment of the oath he exacted from his brethren (Ge 50:25, 26). The remains of the other patriarchs (not noticed from their obscurity) were also carried out of Egypt (Ac 7:15, 16); and there would be no difficulty as to the means of conveyance--a few camels bearing these precious relics would give a true picture of Oriental customs, such as is still to be seen in the immense pilgrimages to Mecca.

20. encamped in Etham--This place is supposed by the most intelligent travellers to be the modern Ajrud, where is a watering-place, and which is the third stage of the pilgrim-caravans to Mecca. "It is remarkable that either of the different routes eastward from Heliopolis, or southward from Heroopolis, equally admit of Ajrud being Etham. It is twelve miles northwest from Suez, and is literally on the edge of the desert" [Pictorial Bible].

21-22. the Lord went before them--by a visible token of His presence, the Shekinah, in a majestic cloud (Psa 78:14; Ne 9:12; 1Co 10:1), called "the angel of God" (Ex 14:19; 23:20-23; Psa 99:6, 7; Is 63:8, 9).

The Lord spake unto Moses - The commands in this chapter appear to have been given at Succoth, on the same day in which they left Egypt.

Sanctify unto me all the first-born - To sanctify, קדש kadash, signifies to consecrate, separate, and set apart a thing or person from all secular purposes to some religious use; and exactly answers to the import of the Greek ἁγιαζω, from a, privative, and γη, the earth, because every thing offered or consecrated to God was separated from all earthly uses. Hence a holy person or saint is termed ἁγιος, i.e., a person separated from the earth; one who lives a holy life, entirely devoted to the service of God. Thus the persons and animals sanctified to God were employed in the service of the tabernacle and temple; and the animals, such as were proper, were offered in sacrifice.

The Hindoos frequently make a vow, and devote to an idol the first-born of a goat and of a man. The goat is permitted to run wild, as a consecrated animal. A child thus devoted has a lock of hair separated, which at the time appointed is cut off and placed near the idol. Hindoo women sometimes pray to Gunga (the Ganges) for children, and promise to devote the first-born to her. Children thus devoted are cast into the Ganges, but are generally saved by the friendly hand of some stranger - Ward's Customs.

Whatsoever openeth the womb - That is, the first-born, if a male; for females were not offered, nor the first male, if a female had been born previously. Again, if a man had several wives, the first-born of each, if a male, was to be offered to God. And all this was done to commemorate the preservation of the first-born of the Israelites, when those of the Egyptians were destroyed.

When the Lord shall bring thee into the land - Hence it is pretty evident that the Israelites were not obliged to celebrate the Passover, or keep the feast of unleavened bread, till they were brought into the promised land.

Unleavened bread - See Clarke on Exo 12:15 (note), and Exo 12:16 (note).

And it shall be for a sign - upon thine hand - This direction, repeated and enlarged Exo 13:16, gave rise to phylacteries or tephillin, and this is one of the passages which the Jews write upon them to the present day. The manner in which the Jews understood and kept these commands may appear in their practice. They wrote the following four portions of the law upon slips of parchment or vellum: Sanctify unto me the first-born, Exodus 13, from Exo 13:2-10 inclusive. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land, Exodus 13, from Exo 13:11-16 inclusive. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Deuteronomy 6, from Deu 6:4-9 inclusive. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently, Deuteronomy 11, from Deu 11:13-21 inclusive. These four portions, making in all 30 verses, written as mentioned above, and covered with leather, they tied to the forehead and to the hand or arm.

Those which were for the Head (the frontlets) they wrote on four slips of parchment, and rolled up each by itself, and placed them in four compartments, joined together in one piece of skin or leather. Those which were designed for the hand were formed of one piece of parchment, the four portions being written upon it in four columns, and rolled up from one end to the other. These were all correct transcripts from the Mosaic text, without one redundant or deficient letter, otherwise they were not lawful to be worn. Those for the head were tied on so as to rest on the forehead. Those for the hand or arm were usually tied on the left arm, a little above the elbow, on the inside, that they might be near the heart, according to the command, Deu 6:6 : And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. These phylacteries formed no inconsiderable part of a Jew's religion; they wore them as a sign of their obligation to God, and as representing some future blessedness. Hence they did not wear them on feast days nor on the Sabbath, because these things were in themselves signs; but they wore them always when they read the law, or when they prayed, and hence they called them תפלין tephillin, prayer, ornaments, oratories, or incitements to prayer. In process of time the spirit of this law was lost in the letter, and when the word was not in their mouth, nor the law in their heart, they had their phylacteries on their heads and on their hands. And the Pharisees, who in our Lord's time affected extraordinary piety, made their phylacteries very broad, that they might have many sentences written upon them, or the ordinary portions in very large and observable letters.

It appears that the Jews wore these for three different purposes: -

1. As signs or remembrancers. This was the original design, as the institution itself sufficiently proves.

2. To procure reverence and respect in the sight of the heathen. This reason is given in the Gemara, Berachoth, chapter i: "Whence is it proved that the phylacteries or tephillin are the strength of Israel? Ans. From what is written, Deu 28:10 : All the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord (יהוה Yehovah) and they shall be afraid of thee."

3. They used them as amulets or charms, to drive away evil spirits. This appears from the Targum on Sol 8:3 : His left hand is under my head, etc. "The congregation of Israel hath said, I am elect above all people, because I bind my phylacteries on my left hand and on my head, and the scroll is fixed to the right side of my gate, the third part of which looks to my bed-chamber, that demons may not be permitted to injure me.

One of the original phylacteries or תפלין tephillin now lies before me; it is a piece of fine vellum, about eighteen inches long, and an inch and quarter broad. It is divided into four unequal compartments; the letters are very well formed, but written with many apices, after the manner of the German Jews. In the first compartment is written the portion taken from Exo 13:2-10; in the second, Exo 13:11-16; in the third, Deu 6:4-9; in the fourth, Deu 11:13-21, as before related. This had originally served for the hand or arm.

These passages seem to be chosen in vindication of the use of the phylactery itself, as the reader may see on consulting them at large. Bind them for a Sign upon thy Hand; and for Frontlets between thy Eyes; write them upon the Posts of thy House and upon thy Gates; all which commands the Jews take in the most literal sense. To acquire the reputation of extraordinary sanctity they wore the fringes of their garments of an uncommon length. Moses had commanded them, Num 15:38, Num 15:39, to put fringes to the borders of their garments, that when they looked upon even these distinct threads they might remember, not only the law in general but also the very minutiae or smaller parts of all the precepts, rites, and ceremonies belonging to it. As those hypocrites (for such our Lord proves them to be) were destitute of all the life and power of religion within, they endeavored to supply its place with phylacteries and fringes without. The same principles distinguish hypocrites every where, and multitudes of them may be found among those termed Christians as well as among the Jews. It is probably to this institution relative to the phylactery that the words, Rev 14:1, allude: And I looked, and, lo, a hundred and forty-four thousand having his Father's name written on their foreheads. "That is," says Mr. Ainsworth, "as a sign of the profession of God's law; for That which in the Gospel is called his Name, (Mat 12:21), in the prophets is called his Law, (Isa 42:4)." So again antichrist exacts the obedience to his precepts by a mark on men's right hands or on their foreheads, Rev 13:16.

Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb - Or a kid, as in the margin. In Num 18:15, it is said: "The first-born of man shalt thou surely redeem; and the firstling of an unclean beast shalt thou redeem." Hence we may infer that ass is put here for any unclean beast, or for unclean beasts in general. The lamb was to be given to the Lord, that is, to his priest, Num 18:8, Num 18:15. And then the owner of the ass might use it for his own service, which without this redemption he could not do; see Deu 15:19.

The first-born of man - shalt thou redeem - This was done by giving to the priests five standard shekels, or shekels of the sanctuary, every shekel weighing twenty gerahs. What the gerah was, see Clarke on Gen 20:16 (note). And for the shekel, see Clarke on Gen 20:16 (note).

It may be necessary to observe here that the Hebrew doctors teach, that if a father had neglected or refused thus to redeem his first-born, the son himself was obliged to do it when he came of age. As this redeeming of the first-born was instituted in consequence of sparing the first-born of the Israelites, when the first-born both of man and beast among the Egyptians was destroyed, on this ground all the first-born were the Lord's, and should have been employed in his service; but he permitted the first-born of a useful unclean animal to be redeemed by a clean animal of much less value. And he chose the tribe of Levi in place of all the first-born of the tribes in general; and the five shekels were ordered to be paid in lieu of such first-born sons as were liable to serve in the sanctuary, and the money was applied to the support of the priests and Levites. See this subject at large in Num 3:12, Num 3:13, Num 3:41, Num 3:43, Num 3:45, Num 3:47-51.

It shall be for a token, etc. - See Clarke's note on Exo 13:9.

God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, etc. - Had the Israelites been obliged to commence their journey to the promised land by a military campaign, there is little room to doubt that they would have been discouraged, have rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and have returned back to Egypt. Their long slavery had so degraded their minds that they were incapable of any great or noble exertions; and it is only on the ground of this mental degradation, the infallible consequence of slavery, that we can account for their many dastardly acts, murmurings, and repinings after their escape from Egypt. The reader is requested to bear this in mind, as it will serve to elucidate several circumstances in the ensuing history. Besides, the Israelites were in all probability unarmed, and totally unequipped for battle, encumbered with their flocks, and certain culinary utensils. which they were obliged to carry with them in the wilderness to provide them with bread, etc.

But God led the people about - Dr. Shaw has shown that there were two roads from Egypt to Canaan, one through the valleys of Jendilly, Rumeleah, and Baideah, bounded on each side by the mountains of the lower Thebais; the other lies higher, having the northern range of the mountains of Mocatee running parallel with it on the right hand, and the desert of the Egyptian Arabia, which lies all the way open to the land of the Philistines, to the left. See his account of these encampments at the end of Exodus. See Clarke's note on Exo 40:38.

Went up harnessed - חמשים chamushim. It is truly astonishing what a great variety of opinions are entertained relative to the meaning of this word. After having maturely considered all that I have met with on the subject, I think it probable that the word refers simply to that orderly or well arranged manner in which the Israelites commenced their journey from Egypt. For to arrange, array, or set in order, seems to be the ideal meaning of the word חמש chamash. As it was natural to expect that in such circumstances there must have been much hurry and confusion, the inspired writer particularly marks the contrary, to show that God had so disposed matters that the utmost regularity and order prevailed; and had it been otherwise, thousands of men, women, and children must have been trodden to death. Our margin has it by five in a rank; but had they marched only five abreast, supposing only one yard for each rank to move in, it would have required not less than sixty-eight miles for even the 600,000 to proceed on regularly in this way; for 600,000 divided by five gives 120,000 ranks of five each; and there being only 1,760 yards in a mile, the dividing 120,000 by 1,760 will give the number of miles such a column of people would take up, which by such an operation will be found to be something more than sixty-eight miles. But this the circumstances of the history will by no means admit - Harmer. The simple meaning therefore appears to be that given above; and if the note on the concluding verse of the preceding chapter be considered, it may serve to place this explanation in a still clearer point of view.

Moses took the bones of Joseph - See Clarke's note on Gen 50:25. It is supposed that the Israelites carried with them the bones or remains of all the twelve sons of Jacob, each tribe taking care of the bones of its own patriarch, while Moses took care of the bones of Joseph. St. Stephen expressly says, Act 7:15, Act 7:16, that not only Jacob, but the fathers were carried from Egypt into Sychem; and this, as Calmet remarks, was the only opportunity that seems to have presented itself for doing this: and certainly the reason that rendered it proper to remove the bones of Joseph to the promised land, had equal weight in reference to those of the other patriarchs. See Clarke's note on Gen 49:29.

Encamped in Etham - As for the reasons assigned on Exo 13:17, God would not lead the Israelites by the way of the Philistines' country, he directed them towards the wilderness of Shur, Exo 15:22, upon the edge or extremity of which, next to Egypt, at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, lay Etham, which is the second place of encampment mentioned. See the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of Exodus. See Clarke's note on Exo 40:38.

The Lord went before them - That by the Lord here is meant the Lord Jesus, we have the authority of St. Paul to believe, 1Cor 10:9 : it was he whose Spirit they tempted in the wilderness, for it was he who led them through the desert to the promised rest.

Pillar of a cloud - This pillar or column, which appeared as a cloud by day, and a fire by night, was the symbol of the Divine presence. This was the Shechinah or Divine dwelling place, and was the continual proof of the presence and protection of God. It was necessary that they should have a guide to direct them through the wilderness, even had they taken the most direct road; and how much more so when they took a circuitous route not usually traveled, and of which they knew nothing but just as the luminous pillar pointed out the way! Besides, it is very likely that even Moses himself did not know the route which God had determined on, nor the places of encampment, till the pillar that went before them became stationary, and thus pointed out, not only the road, but the different places of rest. Whether there was more than one pillar is not clearly determined by the text. If there was but one it certainly assumed three different appearances, for the performance of Three very important offices. 1. In the day-time, for the purpose of pointing out the way, a column or pillar of a cloud was all that was requisite. 2. At night, to prevent that confusion which must otherwise have taken place, the pillar of cloud became a pillar of fire, not to direct their journeyings, for they seldom traveled by night, but to give light to every part of the Israelitish camp. 3. In such a scorching, barren, thirsty desert, something farther was necessary than a light and a guide. Women, children, and comparatively infirm persons, exposed to the rays of such a burning sun, must have been destroyed if without a covering; hence we find that a cloud overshadowed them: and from what St. Paul observes, 1Cor 10:1, 1Cor 10:2, we are led to conclude that this covering cloud was composed of aqueous particles for the cooling of the atmosphere and refreshment of themselves and their cattle; for he represents the whole camp as being sprinkled or immersed in the humidity of its vapours, and expressly calls it a being under the cloud and being baptized in the cloud. To the circumstance of the cloud covering them, there are several references in Scripture. Thus: He spread a Cloud for their Covering; Psa 105:39. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, A Cloud and Smoke By Day, and the shining of a Flaming Fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a Defence, (or Covering), Isa 4:5; which words contain the most manifest allusion to the threefold office of the cloud in the wilderness. See Num 9:16-18, etc.

He took not away the pillar of the cloud - Neither Jews nor Gentiles are agreed how long the cloud continued with the Israelites. It is very probable that it first visited them at Succoth, if it did not accompany them from Rameses; and that it continued with them till they came to the river Jordan, to pass over opposite to Jericho, for after that it appears that the ark alone was their guide, as it always marched at their head. See Jos 3:10-11, etc. But others think that it went no farther with them than Mount Hor, and never appeared after the death of Aaron. We may safely assert that while it was indispensably necessary it continued with them, when it was not so it was removed. But it is worthy of remark that the ark of the covenant became its substitute. While a miracle was necessary, a miracle was granted; when that was no longer necessary, then the testimony of the Lord deposited in the ark was deemed sufficient by Him who cannot err. So, under the Gospel dispensation, miracles were necessary at its first promulgation; but after that the canon of Scripture was completed, the new covenant having been made, ratified by the blood of the Lamb, and published by the Holy Spirit, then God withdrew generally those outward signs, leaving his word for a continual testimony, and sealing it on the souls of believers by the Spirit of truth.

It is also worthy of remark that the ancient heathen writers represent their gods, in their pretended manifestations to men, as always encompassed with a cloud; Homer and Virgil abound with examples of this kind: and is it not very probable that they borrowed this, as they did many other things in their mythologic theology, from the tradition of Jehovah guiding his people through the desert by means of the cloud, in and by which he repeatedly manifested himself?

1. Extraordinary manifestations and interpositions of providence and grace should be held in continual remembrance. We are liable to forget the hole of the pit whence we were dug, and the rock whence we were hewn. Prudence and piety will institute their anniversaries, that the merciful dealings of the Lord may never be forgotten. The passover and the feast of unleavened bread, by an annual commemoration, became standing proofs to the children of Israel of the Divine origin of their religion; and are supporting pillars of it to the present day. For when a fact is reported to have taken place, and certain rites or ceremonies have been instituted in order to commemorate it, which rites or ceremonies continue to be observed through succeeding ages, then the fact itself, no matter how remote the period of its occurrence may have been, has the utmost proofs of authenticity that it is possible for any fact to have; and such as every person pretending to reason and judgment is obliged to receive. On this ground the Mosaic religion, and the facts recorded in it, are indubitably proved; and the Christian religion and its facts, being commemorated in the same way, particularly by baptism and the Lord's Supper, stand on such a foundation of moral certainty as no other records in the universe can possibly boast. Reader, praise God for his ordinances; they are not only means of grace to thy soul, but standing irrefragable proofs of the truth of that religion which thou hast received as from Him.

2. A serious public profession of the religion of Christ has in all ages of the Church been considered not only highly becoming, but indispensably necessary to salvation. He who consistently confesses Christ before men shall be confessed by him before God and his angels. A Jew wore his phylacteries on his forehead, on his hands, and round his garments, that he might have reverence in the sight of the heathen; he gloried in his law, and he exulted that Abraham was his father. Christian! with a zeal not less becoming, and more consistently supported, let the words of thy mouth, the acts of thy hands, and all thy goings, show that thou belongest unto God; that thou hast taken his Spirit for the guide of thy heart, his word for the rule of thy life, his people for thy companions, his heaven for thy inheritance, and himself for the portion of thy soul. And see that thou hold fast the truth, and that thou hold it in righteousness.

3. How merciful is God in the dispensations of his providence! He permits none to be tried above what he is able to bear, and he proportions the burden to the back that is to bear it. He led not the Israelites by the way of the Philistines, lest, seeing war, they should repent and be discouraged. Young converts are generally saved from severe spiritual conflicts and heavy temptations till they have acquired a habit of believing, are disciplined in the school of Christ, and instructed in the nature of the path in which they go, and the difficulties they may expect to find in it. They are informed that such things may take place, they are thus armed for the battle, and when trials do come they are not taken by surprise. God, the most merciful and kind God, "tempers even the blast to the shorn lamb." Trust in him therefore with all thy heart, and never lean to thy own understanding.

4. The providence and goodness of God are equally observable in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. The former was the proof of his providential kindness by day; the latter, by night. Thus he adjusts the assistance of his grace and Spirit to the exigencies of his creatures, giving at some times, when peculiar trials require it, more particular manifestations of his mercy and goodness; but at all times, such evidences of his approbation as are sufficient to satisfy a pious faithful heart. It is true the pillar of fire was more observable in the night, because of the general darkness, than the pillar of cloud was by day; yet the latter was as convincing and as evident a proof of his presence, approbation, and protection as the former. It is the duty and interest of every sound believer in Christ to have the witness of God's Spirit in his soul at all times, that his spirit and ways please his Maker; but in seasons of peculiar difficulty he may expect the more sensible manifestations of God's goodness. A good man is a temple of the Holy Spirit; but he who has an unholy heart, and who lives an unrighteous life, though he may have an orthodox creed, is a hold of unclean spirits, and an abomination in the sight of the Lord. Reader, let not these observations be fruitless to thee. God gives thee his word and his Spirit, obey this word that thou grieve not this Spirit. The following figurative saying of a Jewish rabbin is worthy of regard: "God addresses Israel and says, My son, I give thee my lamp, give me thy lamp. If thou keep my lamp, I will keep thy lamp; but if thou quench my lamp, I will extinguish thy lamp:" i.e., I give thee my word and Spirit, give me thy heart and soul. If thou carefully attend to my word, and grieve not my Spirit. I will preserve thy soul alive; but if thou rebel against my word, and quench my Spirit, then thy light shall be put out, and thy soul's blessedness extinguished in everlasting darkness.

Sanctify to me all the first - born - The parents were not to look upon themselves as interested in their first - born, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, and received them back from him again. It is mine - By a special right, being by my singular favour preserved from the common destruction.

When the lord shall bring you into the land, thou shalt keep this service - 'Till then they were not obliged to keep the passover, without a particular command from God.

There shall no leavened bread be seen in all thy quarters - Accordingly the Jews usage was, before the feast of the passover, to cast all the leavened bread out of their houses; either they burnt it, or buried it, or broke it small, and threw it into the wind; they searched diligently with lighted candles in all the corners of their houses, lest any leaven should remain. The strictness enjoined in this matter was designed, To make the feast the more solemn, and consequently the more taken notice of by the children, who would ask, why is so much ado made? To teach us how solicitous we should be to put away from us all sin.

Upon thy hand, between thine eyes - Proverbial expressions; denoting things which are never out of our thoughts.

Thou shalt redeem - The price of the redemption was fixed by the law.

For frontlets between thine eyes - As conspicuous as any thing fixt to thy forehead, or between thine eyes.

There were many reasons why God led them through the way of the wilderness of the red sea. The Egyptians were to be drowned in the Red - sea, the Israelites were to be humbled, and proved in the wilderness. Deu 8: 2. God had given it to Moses for a sign, Ex 3:12, ye shall serve God in this mountain. They had again and again told Pharaoh that they must go three days journey into the wilderness to do sacrifice, and therefore it was requisite they should march that way, else they had justly been exclaimed against as dissemblers. Before they entered the lifts with their enemies, matters must be settled between them and their God; laws must be given, ordinances instituted, covenants sealed; and for the doing of this it was necessary they should retire into the solitudes of a wilderness, the only closet for such a crowd; the high road would be no proper place for these transactions. The reason why God did not lead them the nearest way, which would have brought them in a few days to the land of the Philistines, was because they were not yet fit for war, much less for war with the Philistines. Their spirits were broke with slavery; the Philistines were formidable enemies; it was convenient they should begin with the Amalekites, and be prepared for the wars of Canaan, by experiencing the difficulties of the wilderness. God is said to bring Israel out of Egypt as the eagle brings up her young ones, Deu 32:11, teaching them by degrees to fly. They went up harnessed - They went up by five in a rank, so some; in five squadrons, so others. They marched like an army with banners, which added much to strength and honour.

And the Lord went before them in a pillar - In the two first stages, it was enough that God directed Moses whither to march; he knew the country, and the road; but now they are come to the edge of the wilderness, they would have occasion for a guide, and a very good guide they had, infinitely wise, kind, and faithful, the Lord went up before them; The Shechinah or appearance of the divine Majesty, which was a precious manifestation of the eternal Word, who in the fulness of time was to be made flesh, and dwell among us. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1Cor 10:9. What a satisfaction to Moses and the pious Israelites, to be sure that they were under a divine conduct? They need not fear missing their way who were thus led, nor being lost who were thus directed; they need not fear being benighted, who were thus illuminated, nor being robbed, who were thus protected. And they who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be confident that the Lord goes before them, as truly is he went before Israel in the wilderness, though not so sensibly. They had sensible effects of God's going before them in this pillar. For, It led them the way in that vast howling wilderness, in which there was no road, no track, no way - marks through which they had no guides. When they marched, this pillar went before them, at the rate that they could follow, and appointed the place of their encampment, as infinite Wisdom saw fit; which eased them from care, and secured them from danger, both in moving, and in resting. It sheltered them from the heat by day, which at sometimes of the year was extreme: And it gave them light by night when they had occasion for it.

He took not away the pillar of the cloud, - No not when they seemed to have less occasion for it: it never left them 'till it brought them to the borders of Canaan. It was a cloud which the wind could not scatter. There was something spiritual in this pillar of cloud and fire. The children of Israel were baptized unto Moses in this cloud, 1Cor 10:2. By coming under this cloud they signified their putting themselves under the conduct and command of Moses. Protection draws allegiance; this cloud was the badge of God's protection, and so became the bond of their allegiance. Thus they were initiated, and admitted under that government, now when they were entering upon the wilderness. And it signifies the special conduct and protection which the church of Christ is under in this world.

2 Sanctifie unto me all the first-born , whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast : it is mine .

To my use and service, in manner as I shall hereafter explain. And Sanctifie, i. e. command all the people to sanctifie as Moses did, ver. 12.

viz. if they be males, as it is limited ver. 12.

Every child which is the first-born of his mother: So that if a man had many wives either together or successively, his first child by every one of these was a first-born.

Whether clean or unclean, though in different manner, whereof see Numb. 18. 13, 15, 17.

By special right and title, as being by my singular care and favour preserved [illegible: 1+ letters]om the common destruction, and therefore I challenge a peculiar interest in them, and do hereby require that they be devoted to me.

Marginal references: chap. 22. 29. & 34. 19. Lev. 27. 26. Num. 3. 13. and 8. 16. Luk. 2. 23.

4 This day came ye out, in the month Abib .

See Exod. 12. 2. in the spring time, the most proper season for a long journey.

Marginal references: chap. 23. 15. Deut. 16. 1.

5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

Which is spoken of before, and in the following verses. From this place it is evident, the Israelites were not obliged to this service in the wilderness without a particular command from God. See Deut. 12. 1, 9.

Marginal references: ch. 12. 25, 26.

9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand , and for a memorial between thine eyes , that the LORDS Law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

The celebration of this feast shall be to thee instead of a mark which a man makes, or a ring or any thing else which he puts, upon his hand or arm, to bring any thing to his remembrance. For such things his eye is most frequently fixed upon. Compare Cant. 8. 6. Isa. 49. 16. Ier. 22. 24. Hag. 2. 23.

In stead of any monument or memorial, which is placed between, and therefore directly before, a mans eyes, which he can scarcely overlook, and therefore must needs bring to remembrance the thing which he would not forget. Such proverbial phrases are usual in Scripture, as Deut. 6. 8. Prov. 3. 3. and 6. 21. and 7. 3. and are not to be understood literally as the superstitious Iews understood them, who hence derive their custom of wearing scrowls of parchment upon their foreheads and arms and garments, which they call Phylacteries, wherein they wrote certain portions of Scripture. But they might aswell have added parcels of Gods law to be kept in their mouths, because it follows, that the Lords law may be in thy mouth: from whence we may better infer, that neither mouth nor hand nor eyes are to be properly understood, for then it had been an improper method to fasten a parchment between their eyes that it might be in their mouths, but figuratively, as they are commonly understood in Scripture.

Marginal references: See Verse 16. Numb. 15. 38. Deut. 11. 18. Prov. 1. 9. Mat. 23. 5.

10 Thou shalt therefore keep this Ordinance in his season from year to year .

Heb. from days to days. But days in the Hebrew tongue are oft put for a compleat year: of which see Gen. 4. 3. Lev. 25. 29. Amos 4. 4.

11 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites , as he sware unto thee, and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee:

Under which general name all the other nations are contained, as being all the children of Canaan.

12 That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast, which thou hast, the males shall be the LORDS .

(i. e.) Separate it from the rest; resign thy right in it to God: Heb. cause it to pass, not through the fire, a[illegible: 1+ letters] that verb is used Deut. 18. 10. 2 King. 16. 3. but under the rod, as it is used, and more fully expressed, Lev. 27. 32. which was the rite when any thing was separated and consecrated to God.

Devoted to him, either to be sacrificed, if it was clean, or to be otherwise destroyed, if it was unclean, as it here follows.

Marginal references: chap. 22. 29. & 34. 19. Deut. 15. 19. Ezek. 44. 30.; Heb. cause to [illegible: 1 word] over.

13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck , and all the first-born of man amongst thy children shalt thou redeem.

An unclean creature, and therefore this rule was to be observed in all other unclean creatures, as appears, 1. because the reason of this law is common to all such. 2. by comparing this place with Numb. 18. 15. 3. because the first-born of all beasts were appropriated to God, and because many of them were unclean and so could not be sacrificed, there was no other way of offering them to God but by redemption or a price paid for them. And the single exception of the price of a dog in this case, Deut. 23. 18. doth sufficiently intimate, that the price of all other unclean creatures was allowed and required. The ass alone is here named for all the rest, because this creature was most common and most useful, and yet was not to be spared: whence it was easie to infer, that this course was much rather to be observed in other creatures which were of less use.

Or, cut off his neck or head, as the word is used Deut. 21. 4. Isa. 66. 3. because being consecrated to God it was not to be applyed to any profane or common use.

Marginal references: Or, kid.

14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage .

Which is added to teach Parents in all succeeding ages that it is their duty to instruct their children in the word and works of God, and in the nature and reasons of every particular kind or part of Gods worship and service. See Deut. 15. 5. Psal. 66. 4. Hos. 12. 4.

Marginal references: Heb. to mor [illegible: 1+ letters].

16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: For by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

In stead of frontlets. The sence is, This practice shall make your deliverance from Egypt as fresh and evident to you and to your children as any thing which you see hanged or written upon one anothers foreheads. See Ezek. 9. 4. It seems strange to me, that they that understand the sign on the hand, and the memorial between the eyes, ver. 9. metaphorically should understand the frontlets between the eyes in this place properly, seeing the phrase is perfectly the same; onely here is a more particular allusion to the custom of the Egyptians, which used to wear some devices upon their foreheads, which probably, they called totaphot[illegible: 1+ letters], which were memorials of their Idols, or of something relating to them. And therefore it seems unlikely that he would here prescribe the use of the same things to the Iews, and the more probable meaning of the phrase is onely this, that this practice would be as effectual and useful a remembrancer of this mighty and glorious work of God in bringing them out of Egypt as those contrivances were to the Egyptians of their Idols.

17 And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines , although that was near : For God said, Lest peradventure the people repent them when they see war , and they return to Egypt .

A fierce and warlike people, whereof they had sad and late experience, 1 Chron. 7. 21.

There being this way but [illegible: 1 word] few days journey between Egypt and Canaan.

God speaks after the manner of men, for nothing was unknown nor uncertain to him. Though the Hebrew particle, pen doth not always imply doubting, but oft-times onely signifies, lest, as Gen. 3. 3. and 38. 23. Numb. 20. 18.

Which they were likely to do, because the war would probably be long and hot, and their bodies were much weakned, and their spirits and courage broken, by a tedious and grievous bondage. And therefore it was fit that before they were called to such sharp conflicts, they should be hardened by the labours of a long and troublesome journey, and their faith should be strengthened by further experience of Gods power and faithfulness and goodness, and by the glorious appearance of God at mount Sinai, and those commands, promises and encouragements there given them. But though this which is here mentioned was one, yet it was not the onely, reason of this counsel, but there were other causes for it, the Egyptians were to be drowned in the sea, the Israelites to be further tried, Deut. 8. 2. and full measure to be allowed to the iniquity of the Amorites.

As afterwards they attempted to do Numb. 14. upon a like occasion.

18 But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

Or, armed, or girt with swords and belts about the fifth rib, as the Hebrew word may imply. But it doth not appear how or whence they should get their arms, nor how the Egyptians would permit so numerous a people to have and to keep arms, especially when they had a long time oppressed and exasperated them, and made them desperate. It is true, some few of them might procure arms, but this word is here used concerning the whole body of them. Others render it, by fives, five and five in a rank, that is, by an usual Synecdoche, in military order, not doubtfully and fearfully but confidently and couragiously, not confusedly, as men that steal or run away, but in good order, so as one might not hinder another. Which interpretation is strengthened by comparing Ios. 1. 14. It may be rendred, girt, to wit, about the fifth rib, as the word implies, the place where men used to gird their garments, this being the usual posture for travellers: He implies that they went out resolved upon and prepared for their journey.

Marginal references: chap. 14. 2.; Or, by five in a rank.

19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel , saying; God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

And the other Patriarchs, as appears from Act. 7. 16.

The Oath was taken onely by the Parents, but because the matter of it was not personal and of particular concernment to them, but common to them and to their children, therefore it obliged both the Parents and their Children, as Moses here signifieth.

Marginal references: Gen. 50. 25. Josh. 24. 32.

21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way , and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light to go by day and night.

The Son of God, whose presence and conduct the Israelites had in the Wilderness, as appears from 1 Cor. 10. 4, 9. Compare Heb. 11. 26. who is sometimes called the Angel of the Lord, chap. 14. 19. because he was and was to be his Fathers Angel or Messenger sent by God unto men to ratifie his Covenant with them, whence he is called the Angel of the Covenant, Mal. 3. 1. as he is upon another account called the Angel of his presence, Isa. 63. 9.

Not by local motion, but by his gracious and powerful operations for and about them.

It was but one pillar, Numb. 9. 15, 16. having two different appearances and uses, of a Cloud by day to defend them from the heat, Psal. 105. 39. which in those parts was excessive, and of a fire by Night to illuminate them. It was a Cloud erected towards Heaven like a pillar upwards, but downwards flat and broad, spread over the body of the people, and afterwards more eminently over the Tabernacle.

Which was altogether necessary in those vast and pathless Deserts, Numb. 10. 33. Deut. 1. 33.

Marginal references: chap. 40. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. Numb. 14. 14. Deut. 1. 33. Psal. 78. 14. and 99. 7. 1 Cor. 10. 1.

22 He took not away the pillar of the Cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people .

Whilst they continued in the Wilderness, and had need of such direction.

Marginal references: Neh. 9. 19.

Sanctification of the first-born, and Promulgation of the Law for the Feast of Mazzoth. - Exo 13:1, Exo 13:2. The sanctification of the first-born was closely connected with the Passover. By this the deliverance of the Israelitish first-born was effected, and the object of this deliverance was their sanctification. Because Jehovah had delivered the first-born of Israel, they were to be sanctified to Him. If the Israelites completed their communion with Jehovah in the Passover, and celebrated the commencement of their divine standing in the feast of unleavened bread, they gave uninterrupted effect to their divine sonship in the sanctification of the first-born. For this reason, probably, the sanctification of the first-born was commanded by Jehovah at Succoth, immediately after the Exodus, and contemporaneously with the institution of the seven days’ feast of Mazzoth (cf. Exo 2:15), so that the place assigned it in the historical record is the correct one; whereas the divine appointment of the feast of Mazzoth had been mentioned before (Exo 12:15.), and the communication of that appointment to the people was all that remained to be mentioned here.

Exo 13:2

Every first-born of man and beast was to be sanctified to Jehovah, i.e., given up to Him for His service. As the expression, “all the first-born,” applied to both man and beast, the explanation is added, “everything that opens the womb among the Israelites, of man and beast.” כּל־רחם פּטר for רחם כּל־פּטת (Exo 13:12): כּל is placed like an adjective after the noun, as in Num 8:16, כּל בּכור for בּכור־כּל, διανοῖγον πᾶσαν μήτραν for πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν (Exo 13:12, lxx). הוּא לי: “it is Mine,” it belongs to Me. This right to the first-born was not founded upon the fact, that “Jehovah was the Lord and Creator of all things, and as every created object owed its life to Him, to Him should its life be entirely devoted,” as Kurtz maintains, though without scriptural proof; but in Num 3:13 and Num 8:17 the ground of the claim is expressly mentioned, viz., that on the day when Jehovah smote all the first-born of Egypt, He sanctified to Himself all the first-born of the Israelites, both of man and beast. Hence the sanctification of the first-born rested not upon the deliverance of the first-born sons from the stroke of the destroyer through the atoning blood of the paschal lamb, but upon the fact that God sanctified them for Himself at that time, and therefore delivered them. But Jehovah sanctified the first-born of Israel to Himself by adopting Israel as His first-born son (Exo 4:22), or as His possession. Because Israel had been chosen as the nation of Jehovah, its first-born of man and beast were spared, and for that reason they were henceforth to be sanctified to Jehovah. In what way, is more clearly defined in Num 8:12.

Exo 13:3-7

The directions as to the seven days’ feast of unleavened bread (Exo 12:15-20) were made known by Moses to the people on the day of the Exodus, at the first station, namely, Succoth; but in the account of this, only the most important points are repeated, and the yearly commemoration is enjoined. In Exo 13:3, Egypt is called a “slave-house,” inasmuch as Israel was employed in slave-labour there, and treated as a slave population (cf. Exo 20:2; Deu 5:6; Deu 6:12, etc.). יד הזק “strength of hand,” in Exo 13:3, Exo 13:14, and Exo 13:16, is more emphatic than the more usual חזקה יד (Exo 3:19, etc.). - On Exo 13:5, see Exo 3:8, and Exo 12:25. In Exo 13:6, the term “feast to Jehovah” points to the keeping of the seventh day by a holy convocation and the suspension of work (Exo 12:16). It is only of the seventh day that this is expressly stated, because it was understood as a matter of course, that the first was a feast of Jehovah.

Exo 13:8

“because of that which Jehovah did to me” (זה in a relative sense, is qui, for אשׁר, see Ewald, §331): sc., “I eat unleavened bread,” or, “I observe this service.” This completion of the imperfect sentence follows readily from the context, and the whole verse may be explained from Exo 12:26-27.

Exo 13:9

The festival prescribed was to be to Israel “for a sign upon its hand, and for a memorial between the eyes.” These words presuppose the custom of wearing mnemonic signs upon the hand and forehead; but they are not to be traced to the heathen custom of branding soldiers and slaves with marks upon the hand and forehead. For the parallel passages in Deu 6:8 and Deu 11:18, “bind them for a sign upon your hand,” are proofs that the allusion is neither to branding nor writing on the hand. Hence the sign upon the hand probably consisted of a bracelet round the wrist, and the ziccaron between the eyes, of a band worn upon the forehead. The words are then used figuratively, as a proverbial expression employed to give emphasis to the injunction to bear this precept continually in mind, to be always mindful to observe it. This is still more apparent from the reason assigned, “that the law of Jehovah may be in thy mouth.” For it was not by mnemonic slips upon the hand and forehead that a law was so placed in the mouth as to be talked of continually (Deu 6:7; Deu 11:19), but by the reception of it into the heart and its continual fulfilment. (See also Exo 13:16.) As the origin and meaning of the festival were to be talked of in connection with the eating of unleavened bread, so conversation about the law of Jehovah was introduced at the same time, and the obligation to keep it renewed and brought vividly to mind.

Exo 13:10

This ordinance the Israelites were to keep למועדהּ, “at its appointed time” (i.e., from the 15th to the 21st Abib), - “from days to days,” i.e., as often as the days returned, therefore from year to year (cf. Jdg 11:40; Jdg 21:19; 1Sa 1:3; 1Sa 2:19).

Exo 13:11-14

In Exo 13:11-16, Moses communicated to the people the law briefly noticed in Exo 13:2, respecting the sanctification of the first-born. This law was to come into force when Israel had taken possession of the promised land. Then everything which opened the womb was to be given up to the Lord. ליהוה העביר: to cause to pass over to Jehovah, to consecrate or give up to Him as a sacrifice (cf. Lev 18:21). In “all that openeth the womb” the first-born of both man and beast are included (Exo 13:2). This general expression is then particularized in three clauses, commencing with וכל: (a) בּהמה cattle, i.e., oxen, sheep, and goats, as clean domestic animals, but only the males; (b) asses, as the most common of the unclean domestic animals, instead of the whole of these animals, Num 18:15; (c) the first-born of the children of Israel. The female first-born of man and beast were exempted from consecration. Of the clean animals the first-born male (פּטר abbreviated from רחם פּטר, and שׁגר from the Chaldee שׁגר to throw, the dropped young one) was to belong to Jehovah, i.e., to be sacrificed to Him (Exo 13:15, and Num 18:17). This law is still further explained in Exo 22:29, where it is stated that the sacrificing was not to take place till the eighth day after the birth; and in Deu 15:21-22, it is still further modified by the command, that an animal which had any fault, and was either blind or lame, was not to be sacrificed, but to be slain and eaten at home, like other edible animals. These two rules sprang out of the general instructions concerning the sacrificial animals. The first-born of the ass was to be redeemed with a male lamb or kid (שׂה, as at Exo 12:3); and if not redeemed, it was to be killed. ערף: from ערף the nape, to break the neck (Deu 21:4, Deu 21:6). The first-born sons of Israel were also to be consecrated to Jehovah as a sacrifice; not indeed in the manner of the heathen, by slaying and burning upon the altar, but by presenting them to the Lord as living sacrifices, devoting all their powers of body and mind to His service. Inasmuch as the first birth represented all the births, the whole nation was to consecrate itself to Jehovah, and present itself as a priestly nation in the consecration of the first-born. But since this consecration had its foundation, not in nature, but in the grace of its call, the sanctification of the first birth cannot be deduced from the separation of the first-born to the priesthood. This view, which was very prevalent among early writers, has been thoroughly overthrown by Outram (de Sacrif. 1, c. 4) and Vitringa (observv. ii. c. 2, pp. 272ff.). As the priestly character of the nation did not give a title in itself to the administration of the priesthood within the theocracy, so the first-born were not eo ipso chosen as priests through their consecration to Jehovah. In what way they were to consecrate their life to the Lord, depended upon the appointment of the Lord, which was, that they were to perform the non-priestly work of the sanctuary, to be servants of the priests in their holy service. Even this work was afterwards transferred to the Levites (Num 3). At the same time the obligation was imposed upon the people to redeem their first-born sons from the service which was binding upon them, but was now transferred to the Levites, who were substituted for them; in other words, to pay five shekels of silver per head to the priesthood (Num 3:47; Num 18:16). In anticipation of this arrangement, which was to be introduced afterwards, the redemption (פּדה) of the male first-born is already established here. - On Exo 13:14, see Exo 12:26. מחר: to-morrow, for the future generally, as in Gen 30:33. מה־זאת: what does this mean? quid sibi vult hoc praeceptum ac primogenitura (Jonathan).

Exo 13:15-16 לשׁלּחנוּ הקשׁה: “he made hard” (sc., his heart, cf. Exo 7:3) “to let us go.” The sanctification of the first-born is enforced in Exo 13:16 in the same terms as the keeping of the feast of Mazzoth in Exo 13:9, with this exception, that instead of לזכרון we have לטוטפת, as in Deu 6:8, and Deu 11:18. The word טוטפת signifies neither amulet nor στίγματα, but “binding” or headbands, as is evident from the Chaldee טוטפא armlet (2Sa 1:10), טוטפתּא tiara (Est 8:15; Eze 24:17, Eze 24:23). This command was interpreted literally by the Talmudists, and the use of tephillim, phylacteries (Mat 23:5), founded upon it;Possibly these scrolls were originally nothing more than a literal compliance with the figurative expression, or a change of the figure into a symbol, so that the custom did not arise from a pure misunderstanding; though at a later period the symbolical character gave place more and more to the casual misinterpretation. On the phylacteries generally, see my Archäologie and Herzog’s Cycl. the Caraites, on the contrary, interpreted it figuratively, as a proverbial expression for constant reflection upon, and fulfilment of, the divine commands. The correctness of the latter is obvious from the words themselves, which do not say that the commands are to be written upon scrolls, but only that they are to be to the Israelites for signs upon the hand, and for bands between the eyes, i.e., they are to be kept in view like memorials upon the forehead and the hand. The expression in Deu 6:8, “Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes,” does not point at all to the symbolizing of the divine commands by an outward sign to be worn upon the hand, or to bands with passages of the law inscribed upon them, to be worn on the forehead between the eyes; nor does the “advance in Deu 6:8 from heart to word, and from word to hand or act,” necessarily lead to the peculiar notion of Schultz, that “the sleeve and turban were to be used as reminders of the divine commands, the former by being fastened to the hand in a peculiar way, the latter by an end being brought down upon the forehead.” The line of thought referred to merely expresses the idea, that the Israelites were not only to retain the commands of God in their hearts, and to confess them with the mouth, but to fulfil them with the hand, or in act and deed, and thus to show themselves in their whole bearing as the guardians and observers of the law. As the hand is the medium of action, and carrying in the hand represents handling, so the space between the eyes, or the forehead, is that part of the body which is generally visible, and what is worn there is worn to be seen. This figurative interpretation is confirmed and placed beyond doubt by such parallel passages as Pro 3:3, “Bind them (the commandments) about thy neck; write them upon the tables of thine heart” (cf. Pro 3:21, Pro 3:22, Exo 4:21; Exo 6:21-22; Exo 7:3).

Exo 13:17-19

Journey from Succoth to Etham. - Succoth, Israel’s first place of encampment after their departure, was probably the rendezvous for the whole nation, so that it was from this point that they first proceeded in an orderly march. The shortest and most direct route from Egypt to Canaan would have been by the road to Gaza, in the land of the Philistines; but God did not lead them by this road, lest they should repent of their movement as soon as the Philistines opposed them, and so desire to return to Egypt, פּן: μή, after אמר to say (to himself), i.e., to think, with the subordinate idea of anxiety. The Philistines were very warlike, and would hardly have failed to resist the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, of which they had taken possession of a very large portion. But the Israelites were not prepared for such a conflict, as is sufficiently evident from their despair, in Exo 14:10. For this reason God made them turn round (יסּב for יסב, see Ges. §67) by the way of the desert of the Red Sea. Previous to the account of their onward march, it is still further stated in Exo 13:18, Exo 13:19, that they went out equipped, and took Joseph’s bones with them, according to his last request. חמשׁים, from חמשׁ lumbus, lit., lumbis accincti, signifies equipped, as a comparison of this word as it is used in Jos 1:14; Jos 4:12, with חלוּצים in Num 32:30, Num 32:32; Deu 3:18, places beyond all doubt; that is to say, not “armed,” καθωπλισμένοι (Sym.), but prepared for the march, as contrasted with fleeing in disorder like fugitives. For this reason they were able to fulfil Joseph’s request, from which fact Calvin draws the following conclusion: “In the midst of their adversity the people had never lost sight of the promised redemption. For unless the celebrated adjuration of Joseph had been a subject of common conversation among them all, Moses would never have thought of it.”

Exo 13:20

From Succoth they went to Etham. With regard to the situation of Succoth (from סכּת huts, probably a shepherd encampment), only so much can be determined, that this place was to the south-east of Raëmses, on the way to Etham. Etham was “at the end of the desert,” which is called the desert of Etham in Num 33:8, and the desert of Shur (Jifar, see Gen 16:7) in Exo 15:22; so that it was where Egypt ends and the desert of Arabia begins, in a line which curves from the northern extremity of the Gulf of Arabia up to the Birket Temseh, or Crocodile Lake, and then on to Lake Menzalet. According to the more precise statements of travellers, this line is formed from the point of the gulf northwards, by a broad sandy tract of land to the east of Ajrud, which never rises more than about three feet above the water-mark (Robinson, Pal. i. p. 80). It takes in the banks of the old canal, which commence about an hour and a half to the north of Suez, and run northwards for a distance which Seetzen accomplished in 4 hours upon camels (Rob. Pal. i. p. 548; Seetzen, R. iii. p. 151, 152). Then follow the so-called Bitter Lakes, a dry, sometimes swampy basin, or deep white salt plain, the surface of which, according to the measurements of French engineers, is 40 or 50 feet lower than the ordinary water-mark at Suez. On the north this basin is divided from the Birket Temseh by a still higher tract of land, the so-called Isthmus of Arbek. Hence “Etham at the end of the desert” is to be sought for either on the Isthmus of Arbek, in the neighbourhood of the later Serapeum, or at the southern end of the Bitter Lakes. The distance is a conclusive argument against the former, and in favour of the latter; for although Seetzen travelled from Suez to Arbek in 8 hours, yet according to the accounts of the French savan, de Bois Aymé, who passed through this basin several times, from the northern extremity of the Bitter Lakes to Suez is 60,000 métres (16 hours’ journey), - a distance so great, that the children of Israel could not possibly have gone from Etham to Hachiroth in a day’s march. Hence we must look for Etham at the southern extremity of the basin of the Bitter Lake,There is no force in the objection to this situation, that according to different geognostic indications, the Gulf of Suez formerly stretched much farther north, and covered the basin of the Bitter Lake; for there is no evidence that it reached as far as this in the time of Moses; and the statements of early writers as to the position of Heroopolis in the inner corner of the Arabian Gulf, and not far to the north of Klysma, furnish no clear evidence of this, as Knobel has already observed. which Israel might reach in two days from Abu Keishib, and then on the third day arrive at the plain of Suez, between Ajrud and the sea. Succoth, therefore, must be sought on the western border of the Bitter Lake.

Exo 13:21-22

From Etham, at the edge of the desert which separates Egypt from Asia, the Israelites were to enter the pathless desert, and leave the inhabited country. Jehovah then undertook to direct the march, and give them a safe-conduct, through a miraculous token of His presence. Whilst it is stated in Exo 13:17, Exo 13:18, that Elohim led them and determined the direction of their road, to show that they did not take the course, which they pursued, upon their own judgment, but by the direction of God; in Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22, it is said that “Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night,” i.e., that they might march at all hours.Knobel is quite wrong in affirming, that according to the primary work, the cloud was first instituted after the erection of the tabernacle. For in the passages cited in proof of this (Exo 40:34.; Num 9:15., Exo 10:11-12, cf. Exo 17:7), the cloud is invariably referred to, with the definite article, as something already known, so that all these passages refer to Exo 13:21 of the present chapter.

To this sign of the divine presence and guidance there was a natural analogon in the caravan fire, which consisted of small iron vessels or grates, with wood fires burning in them, fastened at the end of long poles, and carried as a guide in front of caravans, and, according to Curtius (de gestis Alex. M. V. 2, 7), in trackless countries in the front of armies also, and by which the direction of the road was indicated in the day-time by the smoke, and at night by the light of the fire. There was a still closer analogy in the custom of the ancient Persians, as described by Curtius (iii. 3, 9), of carrying fire, “which they called sacred and eternal,” in silver altars, in front of the army. But the pillar of cloud and fire must not be confounded with any such caravan and army fire, or set down as nothing more than a mythical conception, or a dressing up of this natural custom. The cloud was not produced by an ordinary caravan fire, nor was it “a mere symbol of the presence of God, which derived all its majesty from the belief of the Israelites, that Jehovah was there in the midst of them,” according to Köster's attempt to idealize the rationalistic explanation; but it had a miraculous origin and a supernatural character. We are not to regard the phenomenon as consisting of two different pillars, that appeared alternately, one of cloud, and the other of fire. There was but one pillar of both cloud and fire (Exo 14:24); for even when shining in the dark, it is still called the pillar of cloud (Exo 14:19), or the cloud (Num 9:21); so that it was a cloud with a dark side and a bright one, causing darkness and also lighting the night (Exo 14:20), or “a cloud, and fire in it by night” (Exo 40:38). Consequently we have to imagine the cloud as the covering of the fire, so that by day it appeared as a dark cloud in contrast with the light of the sun, but by night as a fiery splendour, “a fire-look” (כּמראה־אשׁ, Num 9:15-16). When this cloud went before the army of Israel, it assumed the form of a column; so that by day it resembled a dark column of smoke rising up towards heaven, and by night a column of fire, to show the whole army what direction to take. But when it stood still above the tabernacle, or came down upon it, it most probably took the form of a round globe of cloud; and when it separated the Israelites from the Egyptians at the Red Sea, we have to imagine it spread out like a bank of cloud, forming, as it were, a dividing wall. In this cloud Jehovah, or the Angel of God, the visible representative of the invisible God under the Old Testament, was really present with the people of Israel, so that He spoke to Moses and gave him His commandments out of the cloud. In this, too, appeared “the glory of the Lord” (Exo 16:10; Exo 40:34; Num 17:7), the Shechinah of the later Jewish theology. The fire in the pillar of cloud was the same as that in which the Lord revealed Himself to Moses out of the bush, and afterwards descended upon Sinai amidst thunder and lightning in a thick cloud (Exo 19:16, Exo 19:18). It was a symbol of the “zeal of the Lord,” and therefore was enveloped in a cloud, which protected Israel by day from heat, sunstroke, and pestilence (Isa 4:5-6; Isa 49:10; Psa 91:5-6; Psa 121:6), and by night lighted up its path by its luminous splendour, and defended it from the terrors of the night and from all calamity (Psa 27:1., Psa 91:5-6); but which also threatened sudden destruction to those who murmured against God (Num 17:10), and sent out a devouring fire against the rebels and consumed them (Lev 10:2; Num 16:35). As Sartorius has aptly said, “We must by no means regard it as a mere appearance or a poetical figure, and just as little as a mere mechanical clothing of elementary forms, such, for example, as storm-clouds or natural fire. Just as little, too, must we suppose the visible and material part of it to have been an element of the divine nature, which is purely spiritual. We must rather regard it as a dynamic conformation, or a higher corporeal form, composed of the earthly sphere and atmosphere, through the determining influence of the personal and specific (specimen faciens) presence of God upon the earthly element, which corporeal form God assumed and pervaded, that He might manifest His own real presence therein.”“This is done,” Sartorius proceeds to say, “not by His making His own invisible nature visible, nor yet merely figuratively or ideally, but by His rendering it objectively perceptible through the energy it excites, and the glorious effects it produces. The curtain (velum) of the natural which surrounds the Deity is moved and lifted (revelatur) by the word of His will, and the corresponding intention of His presence (per dextram Dei). But this is effected not by His causing the light of His countenance, which is unapproachable, to burst forth unveiled, but by His weaving out of the natural element a holy, transparent veil, which, like the fiery cloud, both shines and throws a shade, veils and unveils, so that it is equally true that God dwells in light and that He dwells in darkness (2Ch 6:1; 1Ti 6:16), as true that He can be found as that He must always be sought.”

The Sanctification of the Firstborn. (b. c. 1491.)

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. 3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day came ye out in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord . 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. 8 And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord 's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. 10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

Care is here taken to perpetuate the remembrance,

I. Of the preservation of Israel's firstborn, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain. In memory of that distinguishing favour, and in gratitude for it, the firstborn, in all ages, were to be consecrated to God, as his peculiars (v. 2), and to be redeemed, v. 13. God, who by the right of creation is proprietor and sovereign of all the creatures, here lays claim in particular to the firstborn of the Israelites, by right of protection: Sanctify to me all the firstborn. The parents were not to look upon themselves as interested in their firstborn, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, recognized his title to them, and received them back, at a certain rate, from him again. Note, 1. That which is by special distinguishing mercy spared to us should be in a peculiar manner dedicated to God's honour; at least some grateful acknowledgment, in works of piety and charity, should be made, when our lives, or the lives of our children, have been given us for a prey. 2. God, who is the first and best, should have the first and best, and to him we should resign that which is most dear to us, and most valuable. The firstborn were the joy and hope of their families. Therefore they shall be mine, says God. By this it will appear that we love God best (as we ought) if we are willing to part with that to him which we love best in this world. 3. It is the church of the firstborn that is sanctified to God, Heb. xii. 23. Christ it the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. viii. 29), and, by virtue of their union with him, all that are born again, and born from above, are accounted as firstborn. There is an excellency of dignity and power belonging to them; and, if children, then heirs.

II. The remembrance of their coming out of Egypt must also be perpetuated: "Remember this day, v. 3. Remember it by a good token, as the most remarkable day of your lives, the birthday of your nation, or the day of its coming of age, to be no longer under the rod." Thus the day of Christ's resurrection is to be remembered, for in it we were raised up with Christ out of death's house of bondage. The scripture tells us not expressly what day of the year Christ rose (as Moses told the Israelites what day of the year they were brought out of Egypt, that they might remember it yearly), but very particularly what day of the week it was, plainly intimating that, as the more valuable deliverance, and of greater importance, it should be remembered weekly. Remember it, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out. Note, The more of God and his power appears in any deliverance, the more memorable it is. Now, that it might be remembered,

1. They must be sure to keep the feast of unleavened bread, v. 5-7. It was not enough that they remembered it, but they must celebrate the memorial of it in that way which God had appointed, and use the instituted means of preserving the remembrance of it. So, under the gospel, we must not only remember Christ, but do this in remembrance of him. Observe, How strict the prohibition of leaven is (v. 7); not only no leaven must be eaten, but none must be seen, no, not in all their quarters. Accordingly, the Jews' usage was, before the feast of the passover, to cast all the leavened bread out of their houses: they burnt it, or buried it, or broke it small and scattered it in the wind; they searched diligently with lighted candles in all the corners of their houses, lest any leaven should remain. The care and strictness enjoined in this matter were designed, (1.) To make the feast the more solemn, and consequently the more taken notice of by their children, who would ask, "Why is so much ado made?" (2.) To teach us how solicitous we should be to put away from us all sin, 1 Cor. v. 7.

2. They must instruct their children in the meaning of it, and relate to them the story of their deliverance out of Egypt, v. 8. Note, (1.) Care must be taken betimes to instruct children in the knowledge of God. Here is an ancient law for catechising. (2.) It is particularly of great use to acquaint children betimes with the stories of the scripture, and to make them familiar to them. (3.) It is a debt we owe to the honour of God, and to the benefit of our children's souls, to tell them of the great works God has done for his church, both those which we have seen with our eyes done in our day and which we have heard with our ears and our fathers have told us: Thou shalt show thy son in that day (the day of the feast) these things. When they were celebrating the ordinance, they must explain it. Every thing is beautiful in its season. The passover is appointed for a sign, and for a memorial, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth. Note, We must retain the remembrance of God's works, that we may remain under the influence of God's law. And those that have God's law in their heart should have it in their mouth, and be often speaking of it, the more to affect themselves and to instruct others.

God's Claim upon the Firstborn. (b. c. 1491.)

11 And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, 12 That thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord 's. 13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. 14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: 15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. 16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt.

Here we have,

I. Further directions concerning the dedicating of their firstborn to God. 1. The firstlings of their cattle were to be dedicated to God, as part of their possessions. Those of clean beasts—calves, lambs, and kids—if males, were to be sacrificed, Exod. xxii. 30; Num. xviii. 17, 18. Those of unclean beasts, as colts, were to be redeemed with a lamb, or knocked on the head. For whatsoever is unclean (as we all are by nature), if it be not redeemed, will be destroyed, v. 11, 13. 2. The firstborn of their children were to be redeemed, and by no means sacrificed, as the Gentiles sacrificed their children to Moloch. The price of the redemption of the firstborn was fixed by the law (Num. xviii. 16) at five shekels. We were all obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God; by the blood of Christ we are redeemed, that we may be joined to the church of the firstborn. They were to redeem their children, as well as the firstlings of the unclean beasts, for our children are by nature polluted. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

II. Further directions concerning the catechising of their children, and all those of the rising generation, from time to time, in this matter. It is supposed that, when they saw all the firstlings thus devoted, they would ask the meaning of it, and their parents and teachers must tell them (v. 14-16) that God's special propriety in their firstborn, and all their firstlings, was founded in his special preservation of them from the sword of the destroying angel. Being thus delivered, they must serve him. Note, 1. Children should be directed and encouraged to ask their parents questions concerning the things of God, a practice which would be perhaps of all others the most profitable way of catechising; and parents must furnish themselves with useful knowledge, that they may be ready always to give an answer to their enquiries. If ever the knowledge of God cover the earth, as the waters do the sea, the fountains of family-instruction must first be broken up. 2. We should all be able to show cause for what we do in religion. As sacraments are sanctified by the word, so they must be explained and understood by it. God's service is reasonable, and it is then acceptable when we perform it intelligently, knowing what we do and why we do it. 3. It must be observed how often it is said in this chapter that by strength of hand (v. 3, 14, 16), with a strong hand (v. 9), the Lord brought them out of Egypt. The more opposition is given to the accomplishment of God's purposes the more is his power magnified therein. It is a strong hand that conquers hard hearts. Sometimes God is said to work deliverance not by might nor power (Zech. iv. 6), not by such visible displays of his power as that recorded here. 4. Their posterity that should be born in Canaan are directed to say, The Lord brought us out of Egypt, v. 14, 16. Mercies to our fathers are mercies to us; we reap the benefit of them, and therefore must keep up a grateful remembrance of them. We stand upon the bottom of former deliverances, and were in the loins of our ancestors when they were delivered. Much more reason have we to say that in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we were redeemed.

The Pillar of Fire and Fire. (b. c. 1491.)

17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. 20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Here is, I. The choice God made of their way, v. 17, 18. He was their guide. Moses gave them direction but as he received it from the Lord. Note, The way of man is not in himself, Jer. x. 23. He may devise his way, and design it; but, after all, it is God that directs his steps, Prov. xvi. 9. Man proposes, but God disposes, and in his disposal we must acquiesce, and set ourselves to follow providence. There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was a short cut from the north of Egypt to the south of Canaan, perhaps about four or five days' journey; the other was much further about, through the wilderness, and that was the way in which God chose to lead his people Israel, v. 18. 1. There were many reasons why God led them through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. The Egyptians were to be drowned in the Red Sea. The Israelites were to be humbled and proved in the wilderness, Deut. viii. 2. God had given it to Moses for a sign (ch. iii. 12), You shall serve God in this mountain. They had again and again told Pharaoh that they must go three days' journey into the wilderness to do sacrifice, and therefore it was requisite that they should bend their march that way, else they would justly have been exclaimed against as notorious dissemblers. Before they entered the lists with their enemies, matters must be settled between them and their God, laws must be given, ordinances instituted, covenants sealed, and the original contract ratified, for the doing of which it was necessary that they should retire into the solitudes of a wilderness, the only closet for such a crowd; the high road would be no proper place for these transactions. It is said (Deut. xxxii. 10), He led them about, some hundreds of miles about, and yet (Ps. cvii. 7), He led them forth by the right way. God's way is the right way, though it seem about. If we think he leads not his people the nearest way, yet we may be sure he leads them the best way, and so it will appear when we come to our journey's end. Judge nothing before the time. 2. There was one reason why God did not lead them the nearest way, which would have brought them after a few days' march to the land of the Philistines (for it was that part of Canaan that lay next to Egypt), namely, because they were not as yet fit for war, much less for war with the Philistines, v. 17. Their spirits were broken with slavery; it was not easy for them to turn their hands of a sudden from the trowel to the sword. The Philistines were formidable enemies, too fierce to be encountered by raw recruits; it was more suitable that they should begin with the Amalekites, and be prepared for the wars of Canaan by experiencing the difficulties of the wilderness. Note, God proportions his people's trials to their strength, and will not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able, 1 Cor. x. 13. That promise, if compared with the foregoing verses, will seem to refer to this event, as an instance of it. God knows our frame, and considers our weakness and faintheartedness, and by less trials will prepare us for greater. God is said to bring Israel out of Egypt as the eagle brings up her young ones (Deut. xxxii. 11), teaching them by degrees to fly. Orders being thus given which way they should go, we are told, (1.) That they went up themselves, not as a confused rout, but in good order, rank and file: they went up harnessed, v. 18. They went up by five in a rank (so some), in five squadrons, so others. They marched like an army with banners, which added much to their strength and honour. (2.) That they took the bones of Joseph along with them (v. 19), and probably the bones of the rest of Jacob's sons, unless (as some think) they had been privately carried to Canaan (Acts vii. 16), severally as they died. Joseph had particularly appointed that his bones should be carried up when God should visit the (Gen. l. 25, 26), so that their carrying up his bones was not only a performance of the oath their fathers had sworn to Joseph, but an acknowledgment of the performance of God's promise to them by Joseph that he would visit them and bring them out of the land of Egypt, and an encouragement to their faith and hope that he would fulfil the other part of the promise, which was to bring them to Canaan, in expectation of which they carried these bones with them while they wandered in the desert. They might think, "Joseph's bones must rest at last, and then we shall." Moses is said to take these bones with him. Moses was now a very great man; so had Joseph been in his day, yet he was now but a box full of dry bones; this was all that remained of him in this world, which might serve for a monitor to Moses to remember his mortality. I have said, You are gods; it was said so to Moses expressly (ch. vii. 1); but you shall die like men.

II. Here is the guidance they were blessed with in the way: The Lord went before them in a pillar, v. 21, 22. In the first two stages it was enough that God directed Moses whither to march: he knew the country and the road well enough; but now that they had come to the edge of the wilderness (v. 20) they would have occasion for a guide; and a very good guide they had, one that was infinitely wise, kind, and faithful: The Lord went before them, the shechinah (or appearance of the divine Majesty, which was typical of Christ) or a previous manifestation of the eternal Word, which, in the fulness of time, was to be made flesh, and dwell among us. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1 Cor. x. 9. Now their King passed before them, even the Lord on the head of them, Mic. ii. 13. Note, Those whom God brings into a wilderness he will not leave nor lose there, but will take care to lead them through it; we may well think it was a very great satisfaction to Moses and the pious Israelites to be sure that they were under divine guidance. Those needed not to fear missing their way who were thus led, nor being lost who were thus directed; those needed not to fear being benighted who were thus illuminated, nor being robbed who were thus protected. Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be confident that the Lord goes before them, as truly as he went before Israel in the wilderness, though not so sensibly; we must live by faith. 1. They had sensible evidences of God's going before them. They all saw an appearance from heaven of a pillar, which in the bright day appeared cloudy, and in the dark night appeared fiery. We commonly see that that which is a flame in the night is a smoke in the day; so was this. God gave them this ocular demonstration of his presence, in compassion to the infirmity of their faith, and in compliance with that infant state of the church, which needed to be thus lisped to in their own language; but blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed God's gracious presence with them, according to his promise. 2. They had sensible effects of God's going before them in this pillar. For, (1.) It led the way in that vast howling wilderness, in which there was no road, no track, no way-mark, of which they had no maps, through which they had no guides. When they marched, this pillar went before them, at the rate that they could follow, and appointed the place of their encampment, as Infinite Wisdom saw fit, which both eased them from care, and secured them from danger, both in moving and in resting. (2.) It sheltered them by day from the heat, which, at some times of the year, was extreme. (3.) It gave them light by night when they had occasion for it, and at all times made their camp pleasant and the wilderness they were in less frightful.

III. These were constant standing miracles (v. 22): He took not away the pillar of cloud; no, not when they seemed to have less occasion for it, travelling through inhabited countries, no, not when they murmured and were provoking; it never left them, till it brought them to the borders of Canaan. It was a cloud which the wind could not scatter. This favour is acknowledged with thankfulness long afterwards, Neh. ix. 19; Ps. lxxviii. 14. There was something spiritual in this pillar of cloud and fire. 1. The children of Israel were baptized unto Moses in this cloud, which, some think, distilled dew upon them, 1 Cor. x. 2. By coming under this cloud, they signified their putting themselves under the divine guidance and command by the ministry of Moses. Protection draws allegiance; this cloud was the badge of God's protection, and so became the bond of their allegiance. Thus they were initiated, and admitted under that government, now when they were entering upon the wilderness. 2. Some make this cloud a type of Christ. The cloud of his human nature was a veil to the light and fire of his divine nature; we find him (Rev. x. 1) clothed with a cloud, and his feet as pillars of fire. Christ is our way, the light of our way and the guide of it. 3. It signified the special guidance and protection which the church of Christ is under in this world. God himself is the keeper of Israel, and he neither slumbers nor sleeps, Ps. cxxi. 4; Isa. xxvii. 3. There is a defence created, not only on Sion's assemblies, but on every dwelling-place in Sion. See Isa. iv. 5, 6. Nay, every Israelite indeed is hidden under the shadow of God's wings (Ps. xvii. 8); angels, whose ministry was made use of in this cloud, are employed for their good, and pitch their tents about them. Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people?

CHAP. XIII.

AND Iehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctifie unto me every first-borne, that which openeth every wombe, among the sonnes of Israel of man and of beast; it is mine. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, from the house of servants; for by strength of hand Iehovah brought you out from hence: & no levened bread shall bee eaten. This day you come out, in the moneth of Abib. And it shall be, when Iehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Chethite, and the Amorite, and the Evite, and the Iebusite, wch he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milke and honey: that thou shalt serve this service, in this moneth. Seven daies thou shalt eat unlevened cakes: & in the seventh day shall be a feast to Iehovah. Vnlevened cakes shall bee eaten seven daies; and no levened bread shall bee seene with thee, and no old leven shall bee seene with thee, in all thy border. And thou shalt shew thy sonne in that day, saying; because of that which Iehovah did unto mee when I came out from Egypt. And it shall bee to thee for a signe upon thy hand, & for a memoriall betweene thine eyes, that Iehovahs Law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath Iehovah brought thee out from Egypt. And thou shalt keepe this statute in his season, from yeere to yeere. And it shal be, when Iehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, ashe sware unto thee, and unto thy fathers, and shall give it thee: That thou shalt cause all that openeth the wombe, to passe unto Iehovah: and all that openeth (the wombe) of the yong of a beast, which thou shalt have, the males shall bee Iehovahs. And all that openeth (the wombe) of an asse, thou shalt redeeme with a lambe; and if thou wilt not redeeme it, then thou shalt breake the necke of it: and all the first-borne of man, amongst thy sons, shalt thou redeeme. And it shall be, when thy son shall aske thee to morrow, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him; By strength of hand Iehovah brought us out from Egypt from the house of servants. And it was, when Pharaoh was hard, to send us away, that Iehovah slew every first-borne in the land of Egypt, from the first-borne of man, even to the first-borne of beast; therefore I sacrifice to Iehovah all that openeth the wombe, the males; and every first borne of my sonnes I redeeme. And it shall bee for a signe upon thy hand, and for phylacteries betweene thine eyes; for by strength of hand Iehovah brought us out from Egypt. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

And it was, when Pharaoh had sent away the people, that God led them not the way of the land of the Philistines, though that was neere; for God said, lest the people repent, when they see warre, and they returne to Egypt. But God led the people about, by the way of the wildernesse of the red sea; and the sons of Israel went up harnessed, out of the land of Egypt. And Moses tooke the bones of Ioseph with him; for he had swearing sworne the sons of Israel, saying; God will visiting visit you, and yee shall cary up my bones from hence with you. And they journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wildernesse. And Iehovah went before them by day, in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; & by night, in a pillar of fire, to give them light, for to [illegible: 1 word] by day and night. He tooke not away [illegible: 1 word] pill[illegible: 2 letters] of the cloud by day, and the pillar of [illegible: 1 word] by night, before the people.

Annotations. SAnctifie] or, Hallow, Consecrate; that is, put apart unto holy use for me and my service. The men and uncleane beasts were to be redemed with money, which was given to the Lords Priests: the cleane beasts were to bee killed in sacrifice to the Lord, Numb. 18. 15. 16. 17. Moses is commanded here, to teach this unto Israel. Afterwards the Levites were taken for all the first-born Israelites, and imployed in the service of the Lord, Numb. 3. 6. 12. that which openeth] so the holy Ghost translateth it in Greeke, Luk. 2. 23. but the Hebrew phrase is, the opening (or emission) of every wombe (or matrice) meaning the first birth of man or beast; and so the Chaldee, in v. 13. expoundeth it, the first-borne; and in Exod. 34. 19. 20. the Greeke translateth it, first-borne, (or firstling.) This law signified, that Gods people (which are a congregation of first-borne, Heb. 12. 23. Exod. 4. 22. being redeemed from death by the blood of Christ) should both themselves and theirs be consecrated to the service of the Lord, Rom. 6. 13. 19. 22. and 12. 1▪ even as he is their God, and sanctifieth them to himselfe from the wombe, Psal. 22. 11. Esay. 46. 3. Ier. 1. 5. Gal. 1. 15. V. 3. Remember] The Heb. Zacor, here & in Exo. 20. 8. and Ios. 1. 13. are properly indefinites, signifying To remember; but used for Imparatives, as Halok, To go, 2 Sam. 24. 12. is explained, Lok, Go thou, in 1 Chro. 21. 10. To eat and to drink, Esay 22. 13. is expounded, Letus eat and drinke, 1 Cor. 15. 32. and in Gr. Chairein, To rejoice, for Rejoyce thou, 2 Ioh. 1. 10. But there be of the Hebrewes that say, the word Zacor is indefinite, because we are bound for ever to remēber this matter: R Elias in Sepher reshith choc[illegible: 2 letters]ah, treat. of Holinesse, ch. 6. This remembrance here commanded, was not onely to keepe in minde for themselves, but to mention and speake of it to others; as after Moses saith in ver. 8. Thou shalt shew thy sonne, &c. The Hebrew canons say; It is commanded by the Law, to tell of the tentations and marvellous workes which were done to our fathers in Egypt; upon the fifteenth day of Nisan (that is, March) as it is written (in Exod. 13. 3.) Remember this day &c. and (in vers. 8.) Thou shalt shew thy sonne, &c. And although he have no sonne, though they bee great wise men, they are bound to tell of the going out of Egypt: and who so maketh a long speech of the things that fell out and came to passe, it is commendable in him. Maimony in Misneh, treat. of Leven, ch. 7. S. 1. servants] the Greeke and Chaldee expound it servitude, or bondage. strength of hand] the Greek expoundeth it, strong hand: and so Moses him-selfe speaketh in vers. 9. This manner of deliverance, figured also our redemption by Christ; who being stronger than (Satan) the strong man armed, overcame him, and tooke from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divided his spoiles, Luk. 11. 21. 22. levened] of this, see Exod. 12. 8. 15. It figured our sanctification, in abstaining from all corruption in doctrine and conversation, Matt. 16. 12. 1 Cor. 5. 8. Vers. 4. Abib,] which the Greeke translateth New fruits: the word signifieth, a greene eare (or [illegible: 1 word]) of corne, Exod. 9. 31. and because in those Countries corne was [illegible: 1 letter]ared and began to bee ripe in this moneth, (as witnesseth Philo, in his third booke of Moses life) it was called therefore Abib; some of the Greekes name it the moneth of floures, as Mac[illegible: 1 letter]rius Egypt. in Hom. 47. It was part of March, and part of April, as we now call the moneths: see also Exod. 12. 2. Vers. 5. Canaanite] that is, as the Greeke translateth, Canaanites and Chethites, &c. see Gen. 10. 16. 18. Iebusite] the Greeke version addeth, Gergesites and Pherezites; to make up the number of seven, which is here understood, as in Deut. 7. 1. serve] that is, observe, as Exod. 12. 25. or (as the Greek translateth) doe this service; which after followeth. Vers. 6. Seven] or, a seven (a weeke) of daies: figuring our whole life: see Exod. 12. 15. a feast] which among other duties, was kept with an holy convocation, Levit. 23. 8. Vers. 8. shew thy sonne] It is commanded that wee shew our sonnes, though they aske not: according to the knowledge of the sonne, must his father teach him, saith Maimony in treat. of Leven, ch. 7. S. 2. because] or, for this which Iehovah did unto me: understand, This is done; or, This feast we keepe, for, or because of that. Such want of words is oft in the Scripture, as in 2 Sam. 23. 8. against 800. meaning, hee lift up his speare against 800. as the words are supplyed in 1 Chron. 11. 11. So before in Exod. 4. 5. The Hebrew Doctors understand it mystically, saying, what is that which the Scripture saith, For this? It is like This is my God, Exod. 15. 2. as if he should say; for his names sake, and for his glorie, did he unto us, and brought us out of Egypt; and not for our righteousnesse. R. Menachem, on Exod. 13. Vers. 9. a signe] or, a token: so in vers. 16. but in Deut. 6. 8. and 11. 18. it is said, Thou shalt binde thē for a signe upon thy hand, and they shall be for Phylacteries betweene thine eyes: and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. a memoriall] or, a monument. This is an explication of that word Totaphoth, the Phylacteries mentioned after in the 16. vers. The manner of keeping these lawes among the Iewes, was; They wrote foure sections of the law upon parchments, namely these, Sanctifie unto me every first-borne, &c. Exod. 13. 2. to the end of verse 10. And it shall bee when Iehovah shall bring thee into the land, &c. Exo. 13. 11. to the end of verse 16. Heare ô Israel, Iehovah our God, Iehovah is one, &c. Deut. 6. 4. to the end of verse 9. And it shall be, if hearkening ye shall hearken unto my commandements, &c. Deut. 11. 13. to the end of verse 21. These foure sections (containing in all 30 verses) written on parchments, folden up, covered with lether, they tyed to the forehead, & to the hand. Those that were for the head, they wrote on foure parchments, and rolled them up every one severally, and put them in foure places which were joyned together in one skin, or peece of lether. For the hand, they wrote the same 4. sections of the law, in 4 columes upon one parchment, and rolled it up from the end to the beginning. These all were written exactly according to Moses copy, not a letter more or lesse, otherwise the phylacteries were not lawfull to be worne. They were also artificially sowen up in the lether, and tied with strings upon the head, from the crowne forward; and upon the left hand or arme, above the elbow, on the inside, that they might be towards the heart: (as Deut. 6. 6▪) Howbeit the Sadduces used to weare them upon the forehead (or brow) and upon the palme of the hand (as Maimony observeth in Tephillin, chap. 4. S. 3. They used these phylacteries religiously, alwaies blessing God for the commanding of these things, when they put them on, which they used to doe by day onely, not by night; and upon the working daies, not on Sabbaths or feast daies, because (say they) it is written, It shall be to the for a signe, whereas the Sabbath it selfe was a signe. And though they might weare them all the day, (so it were not in an uncleane place) yet specially they put them on when they went to read the Law, or to pray, (whereupon they call them in their tongue, Tephillin, that is, Oratories, or Prayer ornaments:) and abused them to great superstition, teaching, [illegible: 1 letter]hat all the while a man had the phylacteries upon his head and arme, hee was meeke and fearing God, and not drawne away by laughter or vaine meditation, nor conceived any evill thoughts, but turned his heart to the words of truth and justice. These and many other particulars about them, are largely set downe by Maimony in his treat. Tephillin: and the like rites they had for their post writings, (from the Law in Deut. 6. 9.) and for their fringes, (from the Law in Numb. 15. 38.) And our Saviour blameth the Pharisees hypocrisie, in wearing their phylactaries broad, and their fringes long; Matt. 23. 5. And how well they thought of themselves for these things, appeareth by the saying of the Chald▪ paraphrast, upon Song 8. 3. The congregation of Israel said, I am chosen above all peoples, because I binde phylacteries to my left hand, and to my head, &c. But God hereby taught them diligently to regard, and dutifully to prosesse and practise his Lawes, having them written and laid up in their heart and soule, Deut. 6. 6. and 11. 18. Prov. 3. 3. 21. and 7. 2. 3. With this wee may compare that in Rev. 14. 1. of those holy ones that had Christs Fathers name written in their foreheads, as a signe of the profession of Gods Law: (for that which in the Gospell is called his Name, Matt. 12. 21. in the Prophets is called his Law, Esay 42. 4.) So againe, Antichrist exacteth the obedience of his precepts, as by a marke upon mens right hands, or on their fore-heads. Rev. 13. 16. Vers. 10. from yeere,] Hebr. from dayes to dayes: but dayes often signifieth a full yeere, as is shewed on Gen. 4. 3. The Chaldee translateth, from time to time: The Greeke keepeth the Hebrew phrase: wherefore dayes are prophetically used for yeeres, in the Greeke of the New Testament, Rev. 11. 3. Vers. 12. to passe] namely either through the fire; as this phrase is explained in Deut. 18. 10. 2 King. 16. 3. and implyeth, in Ezek. 20. 26. Levit. 18. 21. and, the law for the firstlings, sheweth in Numbers 18, 17, and here in vers. 15. it is expounded Sacrifice. Or, thou shalt cause to passe, namely, under the rod, as in Levit. 27. 30. and so consecrate, or, (as the Greeke translateth) put apart unto the Lord: and so make it pass from under thy power, and all, &c.] Hebr. and every opening: which the Greeke translateth, all that openeth the wombe: see verse 2. And this is meant of cleane beasts, as the exception of the asse, and of mankind, in the verse following sheweth: therefore and, in Hebrew is by way of explanation of the former speech, for even, or that is, as is noted on Gen. 13. 15. of the young] the increase; or, as the Greeke translateth it, of the herds: for this word is spoken of kine, as flocks is applyed to sheepe, Deut. 28. 4. 18. 51. but the Chaldee here expoundeth it youngling. shall be Iehovahs] or, thou shalt make passe (shalt sacrifice) to Iehovah; the Chaldee saith, thou shalt sanctifie before the Lord. Vers. 13. an asse] so in Exod. 34. 20. but in Num. 18. 15. it is said, of an uncleane beast: so that by the asse here, may be implyed all other uncleane beasts, not meet for sacrifice. Howbeit some of the Iew Doctors understand the uncleane beast there, to meane the asse onely; as Maimony in Misneh, treat. of First fruits, chap. 12. S. 3. and R. Solomon Iarchi, upon this text. a lambe] or kid, as the word implyeth both, Exod. 12. 3. And this the Iewes take strictly, of a living lambe onely, saying, it may not be redeemed with a calfe, or with a wild beast, nor with a lambe that is killed, &c. Maimony treat of First fruits, chap. 12. S. 8. This lambe was to be given to the Lord, that is, to his Priest, Num. 18. 8. 15. and then the owner of the asse might use it for his own service; which otherwise he might not doe, Deut. 15. 19. breake the necke] or, cut off the necke, as the word is translated in Deut. 21. 4. and Esay 66. 3 where it is spoken of a dog. The Ierusalemy paraphrast here expoundeth it, kill it. redeeme] for five shekels of money, Num. 18. 16. And (by the Hebrew Doctors) the father when hee redeemed his sonne, was to blesse God who gave this commandement, and preserved his sonnes life. And if the father transgressed, and redeemed not his son; he was when he came to age to redeeme himselfe, Maimony, treat. of First fruits, chap. 11. S. 2. 5. See the annotations on Num. 18. Hereby was figured the redemption of Gods elect, (the Church of the first-borne which are written in heaven, Heb. 12. 23.) from the second death: for in respect of the first death, no man can give any ransome to God, Psal. 49. 8. 9. Heb. 9. 27. Vers. 14. to morrow] that is, in time to come: see the notes on Gen. 30. 33. The Greeke translateth, hereafter: elsewhere the Greeke keepeth the Hebrew phrase, as in Deut. 6. 20. Ios. 4. 6. 21. us out] the things done to the fathers, are to be remembred as if they were done to the children: so the Prophets explaine things, as Psalm 66. 6. they passed through the river on foot, there did we rejoyce in him: and Hos. 12. 4. he found him in Bethel, and there be stroke with us. So the Hebrew Canons say, Thorowout all generations, a man is bound to shew himselfe, as if it were he himselfe that came now out from the bondage of Egypt, as it is written, AND HE BROVGHT VS OVT, &c. and for this cause the holy blessed (GOD) hath commanded in the Law, AND THO[illegible: 1 letter] SHALT REMEMBER THAT THOV WAST A SERVANT, (Deut. 15. 5.) as if he should say, As they, so thou thy selfe wast a servant, and camest out free, and wast redeemed, Maimony, treat. of Leven, chap. 7. S. 6. The Apostle speaking of the things that befell Israel, saith, these things were our examples, 1 Cor. 10. 6. and the Rabbines have a common saying, Whatsoever happened to the fathers, is a signe nuto the children. R. Menachem on Gen. 12. Verse 15. was hard to send us] that is, was stubborn, refusing to send us away. Or, hardned himselfe, against sending us away, so that hee would not let vs goe. The Hebrew word which commonly signifieth to, is sometime used for from, as is noted on Gen. 36. 6. and so here Pharaoh hardned his heart, from sending; that is, he would not send. In 2 Chr. 11. 4. it is said, they returned from going: whereas in 1 King. 12. 24. it is written, they returned to goe. Compare, both for phrase and matter, that in Iob 9. 4. who hath hardned himselfe against (God) and hath prospered? the males] or, being males: and this the Iewes understand of males simply: for if it be a female, or both male and female, they hold it free from this service; not holy at all. Maimony treat. of the First borne, chap. 2. S. 5. Verse 16. phylacteries] or, frontlets: in Hebrew Totaphoth, typicall monuments: called in verse 9. 4 memoriall: the Greeke translateth them, an unmoveable monument: the Hebrew Doctors usually call them Tephillin, prayer monuments, because they used to binde them upon them when they prayed; as is noted on verse 9. The Syriacke in Matt. 23. 5 keepeth that name, but the Euangelist in Greeke nameth them phylacteries, of conserving or keeping the memoriall of Gods Law: whom wee follow in this translation. So in Deut. 6. 8. and 11. 18. See the annotations there. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth the 16 Section of the Law: see Gen. 6. 9. and 28. 10. Vers. 17. the way of] that is, towards the land: so in Num. 14. 25. the way of the red sea, is towards it. Or, by the way; as in the verse here following. see warre] that is, be warred against by the Philistines, who would deny them passage: for they had before this killed some of the Israelites, whiles they dwelt in Egypt, in the dayes of Ephraim son of Ioseph; as is mentioned in 1 Chron. 7. 21, 22, 23. Thus God provided for his peoples infirmity, lest at the first they should bee discouraged; and would not suffer them to be tempted above that they were able, 1 Cor. 10. 13. So in his Law, he ordained that no fearfull or faint-hearted should goe to warre, Deuteron. 20. 8. See also the notes on Genesis 11. 31. Vers. 18. went up] it is the usuall phrase in the Scripture, to call the journeying from Egypt to Canaan (which was northward) a going up, as here, and in Gen. 13. 1. and 44. 17. and often. On the contrary, from Canaan into Egypt, they are said to goe d[illegible: 3 letters]e, Gen. 12. 10. and 26. 2. Deut. 10. 22. Act. 7. 15. and usually. harnessed,] or marshalled by five in a ranke: the word in Hebrew hath the name of five, either of the harnesse girded under the fift ribbe, (as the Chaldee translateth it girded,) or, of marching five in a row. The Greeke version saith, in the fift generation: but not well; for Israell went out in the fourth generation, as God foretold, Gen. 15. 16. and this word is elsewhere used for armed, or harnessed; as Ios. 1. 14. and 4. 12. Iudg. 7. 11. Thus God led out his people with an high hand, Exodus 14. 8. and trained them for future warres, to conquer Canaan. See Numb. 1. 3. and 14. 3. 9. &c. Vers. 19. swearing sworne,] or, as the Greeke hath it, sworne with an oath, that is, straitly and earnestly adjured. Of this, see Gen. 50. 25. Vers. 20. Succoth] the place of Boothes: see Exod. 12. 37. Etham] in Greeke, Othom. Of this and their other journeyes, see Numb. 33. 6. &c. the edge] or the end; that is, which Etham was in the end (or edge) of the wildernesse, Numb. 33. 6. The Greeke translateth, by the wildernesse. Vers. 21. Iehovah] called in Exodus 14. 19. the Angell of God; meaning Christ whom the Israelites tempted in the wildernesse, 1 Cor. 10. 9. he is named Iehovah our justice, Ierem. 23. 6. went before them] that is, as the Greeke expoundeth it, guided them. pillar] which in Hebrew is named of standing up, or stabilitie: and is by similitude here applyed to the cloud and fire, that stood over the host of Israel, (as elsewhere smoake arising is called a pillar, Iudg. 20. 40. and pillars of smoake, Ioel 2. 30. are by the Apostle called vapour of smoake, Act. 2. 19.) In Psalm. 105. 39. this cloud is said to bee spread for a covering; so that it shadowed them from the heat of the Sunne: and in it they were baptised, 1 Corinth. 10. 2. and as there was occasion it removed, sometime before, sometime behind them, Exodus 14. 19. and in it God sometime appeared and spake, Deut. 31. 15. Psal. 99. 7. but the ordinary use of it, was to lead and to cover them, Numb. 9. 17. 18. And it figured Christ his guidance and protection of his Church, travelling through this world, unto his heavenly rest; as it is said, The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Sion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud, and smoake by day, and the shinning of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a covering, &c. Esay 4. 5. 6. of fire] the same dark cloud, which shadowed them by day, was also fire, and gave them light by night, Exodus 14. 19. 20. 24. So Christ baptised the Israelites in the cloud, with the Holy Ghost and with fire, 1 Cor. 10. 2. Matt. 3. 11. Esay 4. 2. 4. 5. Therefore Israel in faith, did betake themselves under the shadow of Gods Majestie in this cloud; and Moses sanctified the action by prayer, Numb. 9. 17. 18. 19. 23. and 10. 34. 36. 1 Cor. 10. 1.