Exodus 34 commentary

When God made man in his own image, the moral law was written in his heart, by the finger of God, without outward means. But since the covenant then made with man was broken, the Lord has used the ministry of men, both in writing the law in the Scriptures, and in writing it in the heart. When God was reconciled to the Israelites, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them. Even under the gospel of peace by Christ, the moral law continues to bind believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the commands of it. The first and the best evidence of the pardon of sin, and peace with God, is the writing the law in the heart.

The Lord descended by some open token of his presence and manifestation of his glory in a cloud, and thence proclaimed his NAME; that is, the perfections and character which are denoted by the name JEHOVAH. The Lord God is merciful; ready to forgive the sinner, and to relieve the needy. Gracious; kind, and ready to bestow undeserved benefits. Long-suffering; slow to anger, giving time for repentance, only punishing when it is needful. He is abundant in goodness and truth; even sinners receive the riches of his bounty abundantly, though they abuse them. All he reveals is infallible truth, all he promises is in faithfulness. Keeping mercy for thousands; he continually shows mercy to sinners, and has treasures, which cannot be exhausted, to the end of time. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; his mercy and goodness reach to the full and free forgiveness of sin. And will by no means clear the guilty; the holiness and justice of God are part of his goodness and love towards all his creatures. In Christ's sufferings, the Divine holiness and justice are fully shown, and the evil of sin is made known. God's forgiving mercy is always attended by his converting, sanctifying grace. None are pardoned but those who repent and forsake the allowed practice of every sin; nor shall any escape, who abuse, neglect, or despise this great salvation. Moses bowed down, and worshipped reverently. Every perfection in the name of God, the believer may plead with Him for the forgiveness of his sins, the making holy of his heart, and the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom.

The Israelites are commanded to destroy every monument of idolatry, however curious or costly; to refuse all alliance, friendship, or marriage with idolaters, and all idolatrous feasts; and they were reminded not with idolaters, and all idolatrous feats; and they were reminded not to repeat the crime of making molten images. Jealously is called the rage of a man, Pr 6:34; but in God it is holy and just displeasure. Those cannot worship God aright, who do not worship him only.

Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosper the better, for the religious observance of the sabbath day in harvest time. We must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before the business or the joy of harvest. Thrice a year they must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Canaan was a desirable land, and the neighbouring nations were greedy; yet God says, They shall not desire it. Let us check all sinful desires against God and his glory, in our hearts, and then trust him to check all sinful desires in the hearts of others against us. The way of duty is the way of safety. Those who venture for him never lose by him. Three feasts are here mentioned: 1. The Passover, in remembrance of the deliverance out of Egypt. 2. The feast of weeks, or the feast of Pentecost; added to it is the law of the first-fruits. 3. The feast of in-gathering, or the feast of Tabernacles. Moses is to write these words, that the people might know them better. We can never be enough thankful to God for the written word. God would make a covenant with Israel, in Moses as a mediator. Thus the covenant of grace is made with believers through Christ.

Near and spiritual communion with God improves the graces of a renewed and holy character. Serious godliness puts a lustre upon a man's countenance, such as commands esteem and affection. The vail which Moses put on, marked the obscurity of that dispensation, compared with the gospel dispensation of the New Testament. It was also an emblem of the natural vail on the hearts of men respecting spiritual things. Also the vail that was and is upon the nation of Israel, which can only be taken away by the Spirit of the Lord showing to them Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Fear and unbelief would put the vail before us, they would hinder our free approach to the mercy-seat above. We should spread our wants, temporal and spiritual, fully before our heavenly Father; we should tell him our hinderances, struggles, trails, and temptations; we should acknowledge our offences.

1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone Although the renewal of the broken covenant was ratified by this pledge or visible symbol, still, lest His readiness to pardon should produce indifference, God would have some trace of their punishment remain, like a scar that continues after the wound is healed. In the first tables there had been no intervention of man’s workmanship; for God had delivered them to Moses engraven by His own secret power. A part of this great dignity is now withdrawn, when Moses is commanded to bring tables polished by the hand of man, on which God might write the Ten Commandments. Thus the ignominy of their crime was not altogether effaced, whilst nothing was withheld which might be necessary or profitable for their salvation. For nothing was wanting which might be a testimony of God’s grace, or a recommendation of the Law, so that they should receive it with reverence; they were only humbled by this mark, that the stones to which God entrusted His covenant were not fashioned by His hand, nor the produce of the sacred mount. The conceit by which some expound it, — that the Jews were instructed by this sign that the Law was of no effect, unless they should offer their stony hearts to God for Him to inscribe it upon them, — is frivolous; for the authority of Paul rather leads us the other way, where he fitly and faithfully interprets this passage, and compares the Law to a dead and deadly letter, because it was only engraven on tables of stone, whereas the doctrine of salvation requires “the fleshy tables of the heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:3.)

3. And no man shall come up with thee Again men as well as beasts are prohibited from access to the mount, as had been the case at the first promulgation of the Law, in order that the people might obediently receive the Law as if come down from heaven. Why God admitted no witness, is a question the answer to which must remain with God Himself. The miracle indeed would have been illustrious if the writing had appeared in a moment on the empty tables; but God would leave some room for faith, when He employed the intermediate agency of man. But still He amply provided what was sufficient to establish the dignity of the Law, when Moses brought the Ten Commandments written upon two tables which the people had lately seen taken up void and empty, whereas He could not have found in the mount a chisel or graving-tool. For “Voyla comment Dieu dispense par bon moyen le cognoissance de sa Parole;” Behold how God dispenses in a good way the knowledge of His Word. — Fr. God so administers the dispensation of His heavenly doctrine as to prove the obedience and teachableness of believers, whilst He leaves no room for doubting.

5. And the Lord descended in the cloud It is by no means to be doubted but that the cloud received Moses into it in the sight of the people, so that, after having been separated from the common life of men for forty days, he should again come forth like a new man. Thus did this visible demonstration of God’s glory avail to awaken faith in the commandments.

The descent of God, which is here recorded, indicates no change of place, as if God, who fills heaven and earth, and whose immensity is universally diffused, altered His position, but it has reference to the perceptions of men, because under the appearance of the cloud God testified that He met Moses. Therefore, according to the usual phrase of Scripture, the sacred name of God is applied to the visible symbol; not that the empty cloud was a figure of the absent Deity, but because it testified His presence according to the comprehension of men.

At the end of the verse, “to call in the name of the Lord,” is equivalent to proclaiming His name, or promulgating what God would make known to His servant. This expression, indeed, frequently occurs with reference to prayers. Some, So the V. “Stetit Moyses eum eo, invocans nomen Domini.” therefore, understand it of Moses, that he called on the name of the Lord. In this opinion there is no absurdity; let us be at liberty, then, to take it as applying either to Moses or to God Himself, i.e., either that God Himself proclaimed in a loud voice His power, and righteousness, and goodness, or that Moses himself professed his piety before God. But what immediately follows must necessarily be referred to God, when He passed by, to cry out and to dignify Himself with His true titles. First of all, the name of Jehovah is uttered twice by way of emphasis, in order that Moses might be rendered more attentive. The name אל el, is added, which, originally derived from strength, is often used for God, and is one of His names. By these words, therefore, His eternity and boundless power are expressed. Next, He proclaims His clemency and mercy; nor is He contented with a single word, but, after having called Himself “merciful,” He claims the praise of clemency, inasmuch as He has no more peculiar attribute than His goodness and gratuitous beneficence. The nature also of His goodness and clemency is specified, viz., that He is not only placable, and ready, and disposed, to pardon, but that He patiently waits for those who have sinned, and invites them to repentance by His long-suffering. For this reason He is called “slow A.V. “Long-suffering;” as also in Numbers 14:18, and Psalm 86:15. In Nehemiah 9:17, and elsewhere, “slow to anger.” Heb., אר5 אפים long of nostrils, or anger. to anger,” as if He would abstain from severity did not man’s wickedness compel Him to execute punishment on his sins. Afterwards He proclaims the greatness of His mercy and truth, and on these two supports the confidence of the pious is based, whilst they embrace the mercy offered to them, and securely repose on the faithfulness and certainty of the promises. Everywhere, therefore, in the Psalms, where mention is made of God’s goodness, His truth is connected with it as its inseparable companion. Another reason also is because God’s mercy cannot be comprehended, except upon the testimony of His word, the certainty of which must needs be well assured lest our salvation should be wavering and insecure. What follows, that God keeps mercy to a thousand generations, we have expounded in chapter 20; whilst, on the other hand, the punishments which He requires for men’s sins are only extended to the third and fourth generation, because His clemency surpasses His judgment, as is said in Psalm 30:5, See C.’s own translation. Calvin Soc. edit., vol. 5, p. 346. “There is only a moment in his anger, but life in his favor;” and although this only relates properly to believers, yet it flows from a general principle. To the same effect is the next clause, “forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin;” for thus the greatness of His clemency is set forth, inasmuch as He not only pardons light offenses, but the very grossest sins; and again, remits not only sin in one case, but is propitious to sinners by whom He has been a hundred times offended. Hence, therefore, appears the extent of His goodness, since He blots out an infinite mass of iniquities. Lest, however, this indulgence should be perverted into a license for sin, it is afterwards added, by way of correction, “with נקה לא ינקה A.V., “Will by no means clear;” S. M. and C., “Not making (the guilty) innocent;” or, in C.’s own comment, “He will not with cleansing cleanse;” but C. presently acknowledges that it might be taken to mean, “He will not utterly cut off,” inasmuch as the verb נקה is sometimes used for to blot out, to destroy, to exterminate; to which class of meanings more than one lexicographer has assigned its use in this text. — W.

Bush gives a very careful note on this clause, which he says is “of exceedingly difficult interpretation,” and declares himself satisfied that the sense which C. condemns is the true one, viz., “‘who will not wholly, entirely, altogether clear,’ i.e., who, although merciful and gracious in his dispositions, strongly inclined to forgive, and actually forgiving in countless cases and abundant measure, is yet not unmindful of the claims of justice. He will not always suffer even the pardoned sinner to escape with entire impunity. He will mingle so much of the penal in his dealings as to evince that his clemency is not to be presumed upon.” cleansing He will not cleanse,” which, with the Chaldee interpreter and others, I understand as applying to His severe judgment against the reprobate and obstinate; for I do not like their opinion who say that, although God indeed pardons sins, yet He still moderately chastises those who have sinned; since this is a poor conjecture, that punishment is required though the guilt is remitted; and besides, it is altogether untrue, inasmuch as it is manifest, from experience that God passes over many sins without punishment. But what I have stated is very suitable, that, lest impunity should beget audaciousness, after God has spoken of His mercy, He adds an exception, viz., that the iniquity is by no means pardoned, which is accompanied by obstinacy. And hence the Prophets seem to have quoted from this passage, “Should ye be utterly unpunished?” “Art thou he, that shall altogether go unpunished?” — A. V. “Clearing should ye be cleared?” (Jeremiah 25:29; 49:12,) when they address the reprobate, to whom pardon is denied. The words, therefore, may be properly paraphrased thus: Although God is pitiful and even ready to pardon, yet He does not therefore spare the despisers, but is a severe avenger of their impiety. Nevertheless, the opposite meaning would not be inappropriate here, “With cutting off He will not cut off;” for this is sometimes the sense of the verb נקה, nakah; and it would thus be read conneetedly, that God pardons iniquities because He does not wish entirely to cut off the human race; for who shall escape if God should choose to call to judgment the sins even of believers? And perhaps Jeremiah alluded to this passage, where Poole on Jeremiah 49:12, after quoting C.’s translation, “impune feres?” adds, “Since, however, this phrase is explained very differently by others, both Exodus 34:7, and Jeremiah 25:29, as well as these words, may be thus rendered: Thou therefore thyself shalt be utterly cut off.” he mitigates the severity of the vengeance of which he had been speaking by this same expression, for there it can only be translated, “With cutting off I will not cut thee off.” If this be preferred, it will be the assignment of the reason why God pardons sins, viz., because He is unwilling to cut off men, which would be the case if He insisted on the utmost rigor of the Law. Some “The translation of V. is, “Nullusque apud to per se innocens est.” thus explain it, That God pardons sins, because no one is innocent in His sight; as if it were said, that all are destitute of the glory of righteousness, and thence their only refuge is in the mercy of God. This is true indeed, but not so nmch an exposition as a plausible conceit.

8. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head This haste shews that Moses was astounded when he first beheld the brightness; for thus does God, when He reveals Himself, immediately ravish the godly into such admiration of Him, that there is no time for delay. “Qu’ils n’ont point loisir de deliberer de ce qu’ils ont a faire, mais sont du premier coup abatus;” that they have no time to deliberate as to what they should do, but are abashed at once. — Fr. This prayer follows, that God would journey with His people, and bear with their frowardness; for, since God had said that He could not possibly dwell with so stiff-necked and intractable a people, Moses proposes the remedy, viz., after he has confessed that the people are of a hardened and stubborn spirit, he still expresses a hope of their safety, if God will be pitiful in sparing them. What follows is worthy of observation, “that thou mayest possess us;” “And take us for thine inheritance.” — A. V. “Inherit, or possess thou us.” — Heb. for the copula has the force of the causal particle, as if he had said, That God could not enjoy the inheritance He had chosen, unless by pardoning their sins. And surely so it is; for such is man’s frailty, that they would straightway fall from grace were they not reconciled to God. Nor was this spoken only of this ancient people, but refers also to us; for, in order that God should possess us too, it is needful that our sins should be constantly pardoned, as this embassy, according to Paul, daily resounds in the Church. (2 Corinthians 5:20.) Consequently, not only does the origin of our salvation flow from gratuitous adoption, but its continual progress even to the end can only be accomplished by God’s freely reconciling us to Himself.

10. And he said, Behold, I make a covenant It is not specified with whom God would make the covenant. Some interpreters, Thus the LXX.; Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσὢν, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ τίθημί σοι διαθήκην therefore, supply the name of Moses, and this they seem to do on probable grounds, especially since it is added at the end of the verse “the work “The thing.” — A.V. that I will do with thee.” But, inasmuch as Moses stipulated in the name of all, the meaning comes to the same thing, if we read, I will make a covenant openly with the whole people. By this promise, then, God, as it were, entirely restored the Israelites, for He declares that He will deal so marvellously in the discomfiture of the nations, as to prove that He is the peculiar God of that people; and this was to distinguish them from other nations, according to the prayer of Moses. he says that they shall all be eye-witnesses of this, that, being thus at length convinced by their own senses, they might sincerely and faithfully submit themselves to his dominion.

Exodus 34:11. Observe that which I command thee. Although these supplements belong alike to the First and Second Commandment, still it was fit to postpone them to this place; because in them God applied a remedy to all external and manifest superstitions, which might easily have insinuated themselves had they not been anticipated in good time. All will run eagerly into idolatry, even though there be none to impel us from without; but where the ungodly act upon us also like fans, and this must needs be the case, when the people of God entangle themselves in their society, this disease is increasingly inflamed. And truly the closer our familiarity is with them, it is like a yoke, whereby they draw others with them. In order then that the people, when they entered the land, might preserve themselves pure and thoroughly devoted to God, care must be taken lest they should contract pollution from other nations; and therefore God would have all the inhabitants of Canaan utterly destroyed, lest they should entice His elect people to their errors and the worship of false gods. He here interdicts two kinds of covenant with them, lest there should be any public or private alliance between them; and then commands that all should be slain without mercy. As regards the public covenant, it was forbidden for a special cause, that the sons of Abraham should mix themselves with the reprobate; because they would have thus deprived themselves of the lawful inheritance which God had destined for them; nor would the face of the land have been renewed by the removal of all defilements. Since then in His just judgment God had long ago determined to destroy these nations, it was not lawful for the children of Abraham to rescind the divine decree, or to make any alteration in it.

If therefore any one should insist too literally on this passage to prove the unlawfulness of making any contract with the ungodly, because God forbade it of old, he will not reason soundly, since God does not now command us to execute vengeance by putting all the wicked to death; nor is a certain country assigned to the Church in which it may dwell apart and have dominion. Still I do not deny that what was enjoined upon the ancient people, in some degree has reference to us; nay, we must carefully remark what I lately adverted to, that those, who voluntarily unite themselves with the ungodly, impose as it were a yoke on themselves to draw them to destruction. And in fact Paul embraced in this comparison all the grounds upon which unbelievers insinuate themselves into familiarity with us, to ensnare us by their corrupting influence. (2 Corinthians 6:14) As much as possible, therefore, must all ties of connection be rather broken, than that by union with God’s enemies The Fr. here has “ceremonies de Dieu,” which seems to be a misprint for “ennemis de Dieu." we should allow ourselves to be drawn away from Him by their allurements; for they will always be attempting, by all the artifices they can, to make a divorce between us and God. Besides, if we desire faithfully to serve God, there ought to be a perpetual quarrel between us and them. God then would have us not only separate ourselves from open communion with them, but since we are too much given to depravity, He also commands us to fly from all the snares which might gradually induce us to participate in their sins. But inasmuch as Paul justly reminds us, that if we are not permitted to have any dealings with unbelievers, we must “needs go out of the world,” (1 Corinthians 5:10,) it is proper for us to distinguish between the contracts which associate us with them and those which do not at all diminish our liberty.

As long as we live among unbelievers, we cannot escape those dealings with them which relate to the ordinary affairs of life; but if we approach nearer, so that a greater intimacy should arise, we open the door as it were to Satan. Such are alliances between kings and nations, and marriages amongst private persons; and therefore Moses laid down rules respecting them both for the ancient people. And although our condition now-a-days is more free, still we are warned that all temptations are to be avoided which might give occasion to this evil. It is notorious that men are too apt to be led away by the blandishments of their wives; and also, that men in their power compel their wives to obedience. Those, therefore, who mix with idolaters, knowingly and wilfully devote themselves to idols. The same thing happens as to alliances; for men are ashamed in them to betray any marks of disrespect. Thus, to please the king of Syria, Ahaz raised an altar in the temple like that at Damascus. (2 Kings 16:10.) Thus while the Jews desired to gratify the Assyrians, they imitated their superstitions. In a word, it, is a most uncommon case that the religion of those should remain unaffected who seek to curry favor with the ungodly. But that they may cleave more earnestly to their duty, the danger I have spoken of is declared; otherwise such rejoinders as these would have been straightway in their mouths: “Although my wife is altogether averse from true piety, still I will stand firm; although my husband is not subject to God, yet I will never decline from the true course; although religion is not dear to our allies, still it shall not cease to be sacredly held in honor amongst ourselves.” God Addition in Fr., “Qui est plus sage." therefore interferes betimes, and declares that they will not be so magnanimous in resistance, when once they have opened the window to the evil. He adds, too, another evil, i.e., that the sacred land would be thus profaned; for, although the Israelites should be separated from the impieties of the Gentiles, still it was not excusable to allow them to have altars in that land in which God had chosen a sanctuary for Himself. Yet at the same time Moses warns them that it could scarcely be but that this association would involve the Israelites also. When he says, then, “lest they go a whoring after their gods, and one call thee,” he means that the Israelites would be like panders, if under cover of their covenant, and for the sake of preserving their good-will, they gave the Gentiles permission to exercise their superstitions; and also that this would be a snare to grosser sin; since whilst they feared to give offense, they would not refuse to go to their feasts, and thus would be partakers of their guilt. Literally, it is, “Lest perhaps thou strike a covenant, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and call thee,” which words may be thus paraphrased, so as to depend on the foregoing prohibition: “Lest it should happen, after you shall have made a covenant, that they should go a whoring,” etc.; or thus, “By no means make a covenant, because they will go a whoring after their idols, and when they shall offer sacrifices will call thee.” The meaning, however, will amount to the same; for he mentions the two worst results of their unlawful covenant, i.e., that these unbelieving nations will pollute the land, and under pretext of kindness will corrupt God’s people. But in order that they may be more earnest and courageous in their duty, the promise is added, that they shall be victorious over these nations. This was almost incredible, that wanderers and exiles as they were, they should easily and quickly be enabled to gain possession of so many lands; therefore God takes away all doubt, and thus commands the Israelites to obey His dominion at the end of this war, which they shall feel that they have waged successfully under His auspices. Wherefore he convicts them of ingratitude if they shall dare to relax any of that severity which He requires; as if He had said, Since these nations far excel you in numbers, and strength, and warlike equipments, it will plainly appear that you have not conquered them by your own power; it will therefore be more than iniquitous that the war, which shall be concluded under my guidance alone, and by my hand, should be finished in opposition to my will, and that you should be the disposers of that victory which I have gratuitously conferred upon you. The discrepancy is easily reconciled, that Moses should only enumerate six nations in Exodus, and add a seventh in Deuteronomy; for often he only names the Canaanites or Amorites, yet comprising by synecdoche all the rest.

Deuteronomy 7

Deuteronomy 7:1-4

1. When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

1. Quum introduxerit te Jehova Deus tuus in terram in quam ingrederis possidendam, et avellerit gentes multas a facie tua, Hittaeum, Gergasaeum, Amorrhaum, Chananaeum, Perisaeum, Hivaeum, et Jebusaeum, septem gentes nmltas et robustiores te:

2. And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

2. Et tradiderit eas Jehova Deus tuus coram to, et percusseris eas: perdendo perdes eas: non inibis cum illis pactum, neque misereberis earum.

3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

3. Non junges te affinitate cum eis, filiam tuam non dabis filio ejus et filiam ejus non accipies filio tuo.

4. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

4. Avocabit enim filium tuum a me, et colent Deos alienos: unde irascetur furor Jehovae in vos, ut disperdat te cito.

Exodus 34:17. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. When he calls graven things, statues, and pictures, by the name of gods, he shews the object and sum of the Second Commandment, viz., that God is insulted when He is clothed in a corporeal image. Moreover, the name of God is transferred to idols, according to common parlance, and the corrupt opinion of the Gentiles; not that unbelievers thought that the Deity was included in the corruptible material, but because they imagined that it was nearer to them, if some earthly symbol of its presence were standing before their eyes. In this sense, they called the images of the gods their gods; because they thought they could not ascend to the heights in which the Deity dwelt, unless they mounted by these earthly aids. There is no doubt but that he comprehends by synecdoche, all kinds of images, when he forbids the making of molten gods; because metal is no more abominated by God than wood, or stone, or any other material, out of which idols are usually made; but, inasmuch as the insane zeal of superstition is the more inflamed by the value of the material or the beauty of the workmanship, Moses especially condemned molten gods. All question on this point is removed by the fourth passage here cited, wherein the Israelites are forbidden to make gods of silver or gold, viz., because idolaters indulge themselves more fully in their worship of very precious idols, by the external splendor of which all their senses are ravished. To the same effect is the third passage, in which mention is not, only made of graven images, but there is also added the name of a statue A.V. “a standing image.” Margin, “pillar:” or “image of stone.” Margin, “figured stone, Heb. a stone of picture." or figured stone; for, although some expound these words as referring to a pavement, yet I have no doubt but that all monuments are included in them, wherein foolish men think that they have God in some measure visible, and therefore that they express all sculptures and pictures by which the spiritual worship of God is corrupted. For the object of Moses is to restrain the rashness of men, lest they should travesty God’s glory by their imaginations; for another clause is immediately added, “I am the Lord your God,” in which God reminds them that He is despoiled of His due honor, whenever men devise anything earthly or carnal respecting Him. The word מצבה, The same word occurs in Genesis 28:18 and 22, where the AV. has pillar, and where the narrative shews that no idolatry was meant. — W. matsebah, is sometimes used in a good sense; whence it follows, that no other statues are here condemned, except those which are erected as representations of God. The same also is the case as to the polished stone, משכית C polished. S.M., figured. AV, image of stone, and in. the margin, figured, stone. V, insignem. S.M quotes Rabbinical interpreters, who explain the root שכה as meaning to imagine; and the noun as somewhat painted, or fashioned after an imagination. The root does not occur in Hebrew, but is preserved in Arabic, where it means to form an obscure resemblance. Hence in Simon’s Lexicon, the words אבן משכית, are interpreted as meaning such a stone as an Egyptian obelisk, with its hieroglyphics. — W. viz., when it receives a consecration, which may attract men’s minds to regard it in a religious light, so as to worship God in the stone. But both in the second and third passages, Moses teaches men that as soon as they imagine anything gross or terrestrial in the deity, they altogether depart from the true God. And this is also expressed in the word אלילים, elilim, which embraces in it statues, stones, and graven images, as well as molten gods. Some think that this word is compounded of אל, al So S.M. says “Some think this word compounded of אל, not, and אל, God, as much as to say, those who are not gods; but others interpret it to mean an empty thing, and that which profiteth not.” Lexicographers observe that the same word occurs in Syriac, in which language it means weak either in body or mind, and is therefore a fit epithet for designating idols. — W the negative particle, and אל, el, God. Others translate it “a thing of nought;” the Greeks and Latins have rendered it “idols.” It is plain, that the false representations, which travesty God, are so called to mark them with disgrace and ignominy. But, since the superstitious cease not to gloss over their errors with cavils, God is not content with this opprobrious name, but adds others also, respecting which their pretext was more specious; that we may know that whatsoever withdraws us from His spiritual service, or whatsoever men introduce alien from His nature, is repudiated by Him. In the fourth passage, the antithesis must be noted, which will presently be explained more fully, viz., when God forbids them to make gods of corruptible materials, since He has “spoken from heaven;” in which words He signifies that all are doing wrong, who, when they ought to look up to heaven, tie down their own minds as well as Him to earthly elements.

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4:12-19, 23, 24

12. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

12. Tunc loquutus est Jehova ad vos e medio ignis: vocem verborum audistis, at formam non vidistis praeter vocem.

13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

13. Et exposuit vobis pactum suum quod praecepit vobis ut faceretis: nempe decem verba, quae scrip-sit super duas tabulas lapideas.

14. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

14. Mihi praecepit Jehova tempore illo ut docerem vos statuta et judicia, quae faceretis in terra, ad quam transitis possidendam.

15. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

15. Itaque custodiatis vos valde super animabus vestris: (quoniam non vidistis ullam formam illo die, quo loquutus est Jehova vobiscum in Horeb e medio ignis:)

16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

16. Ne forte corrumpamini, et faciatis vobis sculptile, formam ullius simulachri, effigiem masculi aut foeminae.

17. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

17. Effigiem cujusque animalis quod est in terra: effigiem cujuscunque volucris alatae quae volat per coelos:

18. The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

18. Effigiem cujuscunque repentis in terra: effigiem cujuscunque piscis qui est in aquis sub terra.

19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

19. Neve attollas oculos tuos in coelum: et quum videris solem, lunam, et stellas cum universo exercitu coelorum, impellaris ut adores atque colas ea, quae distribuit Jehova Deus tuus omnibus populis sub universo coelo.

23. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

23. Custodite vos, ne forte obliviscamini foederis Jehovae Dei vestri, quod percussit vobiscum, et faciatis vobis sculptlie, quamcunque simili-tudinem, sicut praecepit Jehova Deus tuus.

24. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

24. Nam Jehova Deus tuus, ignis consumens est, et Deus zelotes.

Exodus 34

Exodus 34:14

14. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

14. Non incurvabis te Deo alieno. Nam Jehova zelotes nomen ejus, Deus zelotes est.

Deuteronomy 8

Deuteronomy 8:19, 20

19. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

19. Si obliviscendo oblitus fueris Jehovae Dei tui, et ambulaveris post deos alienos, et colueris eos, et te in-curvaveris illis, testificor vobis hodie quod pereundi sitis perituri.

20. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

20. Sicut gentes quas Jehova disperdit a facie vestra, sic peribitis: eo quod non obediveris voci Jehovec Dei vestri.

19. All that openeth the matrix is mine. He here defines what the offering was to be, viz., that they should redeem their children as well as the unclean animals at a price; but that they should bring into the tabernacle whatsoever could be offered in sacrifice. But God would not have their own sons consecrated to Him, because He had chosen the tribe of Levi, as we shall see elsewhere; they were therefore to remain free and in their own power after a pecuniary compensation. In the same way, unclean animals might be applied to domestic purposes, viz., after God’s price had been paid, since to Him they belonged, and He claimed them for Himself. But if any should not put so high a value on an ass or other unclean animal, the Law commanded that its neck should be broken; for otherwise it would have been sacrilege to reap profit from God’s property, or, what is the same, to transfer to their private use what God had adjudged to Himself.

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27:26

26. Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it: whether it be ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s.

26. Veruntamen primogeniture quod jure primogeniturae debetur Jehovae inter animalia, nemo consecrabit: sive bos, sive ovis, Jehovae est.

28. And he was there with the Lord forty days The number of forty days is repeated, in order that the second Tables might have no less credit than the first; for we have stated that Moses was withdrawn from the common life of men, that he might bring the Law, as it were, from heaven. If he had only been kept a few days in the mount, his authority would not have been ratified by so conspicuous a miracle; but the forty days obtained full credit for his mission, so that the people might know that he was sent by God; inasmuch as the endurance of a fast for so long a period exceeded the capacity of human nature. Wherefore, in order that the majesty of the Law might be indubitable, its minister was invested with angelic glory; and hence he expressly records that “he did neither eat bread, nor drink watch” since it was requisite that he should be distinguished from other mortals, in order that his official character might be unquestionable. Now, it must be borne in mind, that this was not a mere fast of temperance or sobriety, but of special privilege, whereby exemption from the infirmity of the flesh was vouchsafed to Moses for a time, in order that his condition might be different from the rest of the human race. For neither did he feel any hunger, nor did he struggle with any longing for food, nor desire meat and drink any more than one of the angels. Therefore this instance of abstinence was never alleged as an example by the Prophets, nor did any one attempt to imitate what they all knew to be by no means accorded to them. I except Elijah, who, being sent to revive the Law, when it was almost lost, like a second Moses, abstained also from eating and drinking for forty days. The reason for the fast of Christ was similar, (Matthew 4:2;) for, in order to acquire full credit for tits Gospel, He desired to make it manifest that He was by no means inferior to Moses in this particular. Wherefore, For a fuller development of this argument, see Institutes, Book 4, chap. 12, sec. 20, 21; and Harm. of the Evangelists, vol. 1, p. 208. Calvin Soc. edit. the less excusable is that error, which sprang from gross ignorance, when all, without exception, endeavored to rival the Son of God in their annual fast, as if a new promulgation of the Gospel was entrusted to them. For neither did Christ fast forty day’s more than once in His life; nor during the whole of that time, as it is clearly specified, did he experience hunger; and His heavenly Father separated Him from communion with men, when He was preparing Himself to undertake the office of teacher.

29. And it came to pass when Moses came down Another remarkable honor given to the Law is here narrated, viz., that the brightness of the heavenly glory appeared in the face of Moses; for it is said that his face gave forth rays, or was irradiated. The word is derived from קרן keren, a horn; and therefore it is probable that rays shone forth from his face, which rendered it luminous; and this effulgence God shed upon him, whilst He was speaking to him in the mount. It is not certain what was the reason why Moses himself was ignorant that he was thus illumined by God, except that it seems probable that it was concealed from him for a short time, in order that he might approach the people with more freedom, and thus that the miracle might be more evident from close inspection. When it is said afterwards, that Aaron and the children of Israel were so alarmed at the brightness, that “they were afraid to come nigh him,” I do not understand it, as if they fled from him immediately; for, since they were recalled by his voice, undoubtedly they had not seen the rays from a distance, but when they were in the act of receiving him, and he, on his part, delivering to them the commands of God. Therefore, what follows soon afterwards, that, when he had done speaking, he covered his face with a vail, “Till Moses had done speaking with them, he put,” etc. — A. V. Rosenmuller translates it with C. and the LXX., “and, when,” etc. “We need not (says Willet) with Oleaster to transpose the words, ‘he put a vail upon his face, and so finished to speak unto the people;’ but either we may read with Junius,’ While he had finished to speak unto the people, he put a vail:’ or rather to read it in the praeter-pluperfect tense, with the Genevan version, ‘So Moses made an end of communing with them, and he had put a covering upon his face.’” I refer to his first address, which He was obliged to break off on account of the departure or flight of the people, so that the meaning is, when He knew the cause of their alarm, He left off speaking, and covered his face with a vail; for he could not have known the reason of their flying except by inquiry. Some, in order to avoid the difficulty, separate the second clause from the first, and transpose their order; but this exposition appears to me to be forced. It seems, however, in my opinion, to be perfectly consistent that Moses, after he saw them departing in consternation, ceased from speaking, because they did not listen to him, and, when he discovered the reason, put on the vail. Hence arises a question, viz., How Moses could have borne the brightness of God’s glory, whilst the people could not bear the rays which shone from his face? But this is easily answered: that they were branded with this mark of disgrace, in order that they might confess how far by their ingratitude they had departed from God, since they were terrified at the sight of this servant. They were, therefore, humbled by this difference between them, that, whilst Moses securely advanced to them from his conference with God, although he bore upon him the indications of God’s terrible power, they, in fear and astonishment, recoiled from the sight of a mortal man.

After Paul has shewn the genuine object of this brightness, viz., that the Law should be glorious, he proceeds further, and shews that it was a presage of the future blindness which awaited the Jews. (2 Corinthians 3:13.) He begins, therefore, by saying, that although the Law was only a dead letter, and the ministration of death, yet it was graced with its own peculiar glory; and then adds what is accidental, that there was a vail before the face of Moses, because it would be the case that the Jews would not be able to see what is the main thing in the Law, nor to pay attention to its true end; and so it actually is, that since the coming of Christ, their senses have been blinded, and the vail is upon them, until Moses shall be So C. translates the words in his Comment. on 2 Corinthians 3:16, ”and when he (i.e., Moses,) shall have turned to the Lord,” and thus defends it: “This passage has hitherto been badly rendered, for both Greek and Latin writers have thought that the word Israel was to be understoon, whereas Paul is speaking of Moses. he had said that a vial is upon the hearts of the Jews when Moses is read. He immediately adds, As soon as he will have turned to the Lord, the vial will be taken away. Who does not that this is said of Moses, that is, of the Law? For as Christ is the end of it, (Romans 10:4,) to which it ought to be referred, it was turned away in another direction, when the Jews shut out Christ from it.” Calvin Society edition, vol. 2, p. 183. Camerarius, in Poole, remarks on the difficulty of the passage, arising from the fact that the verb ἐπιστρέψὟ may either be the third person singular subjunctive active, or the second person singular of the first future middle; but he concludes, that “it seems somewhat harsh to apply it to Moses.” turned by them to Christ, who is the soul of the Law. But, since now in the Gospel God presents Himself with open face, we must take care that the prince of this world does not darken our minds, but rather that we may be transformed from glory to glory.

A Repetition of the same History

Deuteronomy 9

Deuteronomy 9:7-21, 25-29

7. Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord.

7. Memento, ne obliviscaris quod ad iram provocasti Jehovam Deum tuum in deserto, a die qua egressus es e terra AEgypti, donec ingressi estis ad hunc locum, rebelles fuistis Jehovae.

8. Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you, to have destroyed you.

8. Nam in Horeb provocastis Jehovam: et excanduit Jehova in vos ad perdendum vos.

9. When I was gone up into the mount, to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I neither did eat bread nor drink water:

9. Quum ascendissem in montem ut acciperem tabulas lapideas, tabulas faederis quod pepigerat Jehova vobiscum, tunc mansi in monte quadraginta noctes, ubi panem non comedi, et aquam non bibi.

10. And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone, written with the finger of God: and on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spake with you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly.

10. Et dedit mihi Jehova duas tabulas lapideas scriptas digito Dei, et in ipsis erat juxta omnia verba qum loquutus fuerat Jehova in monte e medio ignis, in die conventus.

11. And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

11. Et factum est a fine quadraginta dierum et quadraginta noc tium, ut daret Jehova mihi duas tabulas lapideas, tabulas foederis.

12. And the Lord said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

12. Dixit autem mihi Jehova, Surge, descende hinc celeriter: quia corrupit se populus tuus quem eduxisti ex AEgypto: recesserunt cito e via quam praeceperam illis: feterunt sibi conflatile.

13. Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

13. Tunc dixit mihi Jehova, Vidi populum hunc, et ecce, populus est durae cervicis.

14. Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

14. Sine me ut perdam eos, deleamque nomen eorum sub coelo, et faciam to in gentem potentiorem, et majorem illa.

15. So I turned, and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

15. Tunc verti me, et descendi e monte (mons autem ipse ardebat igni) et duae tabulae foederis in manibus meis erant.

16. And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.

16. Et vidi, et ecce, peccaveratis in Jehovam Deum vestrum, foceratis vobis vitulum conflatilem, recesseratis cito de via quam paeceperat Jehova vobis.

17. And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.

17. Tunc apprehendi duas tabulas, et projeci eas e manibus meis, confregique in oculis vestris.

18. And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread nor drink water, because of all your sins, which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

18. Et procidi coram Jehova sicut prius, quadraginta dies et quadraginta noctes: panem non comedi, et aquam non bibi, propter omne peccatum vestrum quod peccaveratis, impie agendo in oculis Jehovae ad ipsum provocandum.

19. (For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you.) But the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also.

19. Timui enim propter excandescentiam et tram qua excanduerat Jehova contra vos ad perdendum vos: et exaudivit me Jehova etiam hac vice.

20. And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

20. Contra Aharon quoque excanduit Jehova vehementer ad perdendum eum, et oravi etiam pro Aharon tempore illo.

21. And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

21. Porro peccatum vestrum quod feceratis, nempe vitulum, accepi, et combussi ilium igni, et contrivi bene molendo, donec comminutus esset in pulverem: ae projeci pulverem ejus in torrentem qui descendebat e monte illo.

25. Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord had said he would destroy you.

25. Et procidi coram Jehova quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus, quibus procidi: quia dixerat Jehova se perditurum vos.

26. I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

26. Oravi igitur Jehovam, et dixi, Dominator Jehova, ne perdas populum tuum, et haereditatem tuam quam redemisti magnitudine tua, quem eduxisti ex AEgypto manu valida.

27. Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin;

27. Memento servorum tuorum, Abrahae, Isaac et Jacob, ne respicias ad duritiem populi hujus, et ad impietatem ejus et peccatum.

28. Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.

28. Ne forte dicant in terra, unde eduxisti nos, Propterea quod non potuit Jehova introducere eos in terram quam dixerat illis, vel quia oderat filius, eduxit eos ut interficeret in deserto.

29. Yet they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power, and by thy stretched-out arm.

29. Ipsi autem sunt populus tuus, et haereditas tua, quam eduxisti fortitudine tua magna, et brachio tuo extento.

CHAPTER 34

Ex 34:1-35. The Tables Are Renewed.

1. the like unto the first--God having been reconciled to repentant Israel, through the earnest intercession, the successful mediation of Moses, means were to be taken for the restoration of the broken covenant. Intimation was given, however, in a most intelligible and expressive manner, that the favor was to be restored with some memento of the rupture; for at the former time God Himself had provided the materials, as well as written upon them. Now, Moses was to prepare the stone tables, and God was only to retrace the characters originally inscribed for the use and guidance of the people.

2. present thyself ... to me in the top of the mount--Not absolutely the highest peak; for as the cloud of the Shekinah usually abode on the summit, and yet (Ex 34:5) it "descended," the plain inference is that Moses was to station himself at a point not far distant, but still below the loftiest pinnacle.

3. no man shall come up with thee ... neither ... flocks nor herds--All these enactments were made in order that the law might be a second time renewed with the solemnity and sanctity that marked its first delivery. The whole transaction was ordered so as to impress the people with an awful sense of the holiness of God; and that it was a matter of no trifling moment to have subjected Him, so to speak, to the necessity of re-delivering the law of the ten commandments.

4. Moses ... took in his hand the two tables of stone--As Moses had no attendant to divide the labor of carrying them, it is evident that they must have been light, and of no great dimensions--probably flat slabs of shale or slate, such as abound in the mountainous region of Horeb. An additional proof of their comparatively small size appears in the circumstance of their being deposited in the ark of the most holy place (Ex 25:10).

5. the Lord descended in the cloud--After graciously hovering over the tabernacle, it seems to have resumed its usual position on the summit of the mount. It was the shadow of God manifest to the outward senses; and, at the same time, of God manifest in the flesh. The emblem of a cloud seems to have been chosen to signify that, although He was pleased to make known much about himself, there was more veiled from mortal view. It was to check presumption and engender awe and give a humble sense of human attainments in divine knowledge, as now man sees, but darkly.

6. the Lord passed by before him--in this remarkable scene, God performed what He had promised to Moses the day before.

proclaimed, The Lord ... merciful and gracious--At an earlier period He had announced Himself to Moses, in the glory of His self-existent and eternal majesty, as "I am" [Ex 3:14]; now He makes Himself known in the glory of His grace and goodness--attributes that were to be illustriously displayed in the future history and experience of the church. Being about to republish His law--the sin of the Israelites being forgiven and the deed of pardon about to be signed and sealed by renewing the terms of the former covenant--it was the most fitting time to proclaim the extent of the divine mercy which was to be displayed, not in the case of Israel only, but of all who offend.

8-26. Moses bowed ... and worshipped--In the East, people bow the head to royalty, and are silent when it passes by, while in the West, they take off their hats and shout.

27-28. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words--that is, the ceremonial and judicial injunctions comprehended above (Ex 34:11-26); while the rewriting of the ten commandments on the newly prepared slabs was done by God Himself (compare De 10:1-4).

29. Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him--It was an intimation of the exalted presence into which he had been admitted and of the glory he had witnessed (2Co 3:18); and in that view, it was a badge of his high office as the ambassador of God. No testimonial needed to be produced. He bore his credentials on his very face; and whether this extraordinary effulgence was a permanent or merely temporary distinction, it cannot be doubted that this reflected glory was given him as an honor before all the people.

30. they were afraid to come nigh him--Their fear arose from a sense of guilt--the beaming radiance of his countenance made him appear to their awe-struck consciences a flaming minister of heaven.

33. he put a veil on his face--That veil was with the greatest propriety removed when speaking with the Lord, for every one appears unveiled to the eye of Omniscience; but it was replaced on returning to the people--and this was emblematic of the dark and shadowy character of that dispensation (2Co 3:13, 14).

Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first - In Exo 32:16 we are told that the two first tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God; but here Moses is commanded to provide tables of his own workmanship, and God promises to write on them the words which were on the first. That God wrote the first tables himself, see proved by different passages of Scripture at the end of Exodus 32 (Exo 32:35 (note)). But here, in Exo 34:27, it seems as if Moses was commanded to write these words, and in Exo 34:28 it is said, And he wrote upon the tables; but in Deu 10:1-4 it is expressly said that God wrote the second tables as well as the first.

In order to reconcile these accounts let us suppose that the ten words, or ten commandments, were written on both tables by the hand of God himself, and that what Moses wrote, Exo 34:27, was a copy of these to be delivered to the people, while the tables themselves were laid up in the ark before the testimony, whither the people could not go to consult them, and therefore a copy was necessary for the use of the congregation; this copy, being taken off under the direction of God, was authenticated equally with the original, and the original itself was laid up as a record to which all succeeding copies might be continually referred, in order to prevent corruption. This supposition removes the apparent contradiction; and thus both God and Moses may be said to have written the covenant and the ten commandments: the former, the original; the latter, the copy. This supposition is rendered still more probable by Exo 34:27 itself: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words (that is, as I understand it, a copy of the words which God had already written); for After The Tenor (על פי al pi According To The Mouth) of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." Here the original writing is represented by an elegant prosopopoesia, or personification, as speaking and giving out from its own mouth a copy of itself. It may be supposed that this mode of interpretation is contradicted by Exo 34:28 : And He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant; but that the pronoun He refers to the Lord, and not to Moses, is sufficiently proved by the parallel place, Deu 10:1-4 : At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first - and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables - and I hewed two tables of stone as at the first - And He wrote on the tables according to the first writing. This determines the business, and proves that God wrote the second as well as the first tables, and that the pronoun in Exo 34:28 refers to the Lord, and not to Moses. By this mode of interpretation all contradiction is removed. Houbigant imagines that the difficulty may be removed by supposing that God wrote the ten commandments, and that Moses wrote the other parts of the covenant from Exo 34:11 to Exo 34:26, and thus it might be said that both God and Moses wrote on the same tables. This is not an improbable case, and is left to the reader's consideration. See Clarke's note on Exo 34:27.

There still remains a controversy whether what are called the ten commandments were at all written on the first tables, those tables containing, according to some, only the terms of the covenant without the ten words, which are supposed to be added here for the first time. "The following is a general view of this subject. In Exodus 20 the ten commandments are given; and at the same time various political and ecclesiastical statutes, which are detailed in chapters 21, 22, and 23. To receive these, Moses had drawn near unto the thick darkness where God was, Exo 20:21, and having received them he came again with them to the people, according to their request before expressed, Exo 20:19 : Speak thou with us - but let not the Lord speak with us, lest we die, for they had been terrified by the manner in which God had uttered the ten commandments; see Exo 20:18. After this Moses, with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders, went up to the mountain; and on his return he announced all these laws unto the people, Exo 24:1-3, etc., and they promised obedience. Still there is no word of the tables of stone. Then he wrote all in a book, Exo 24:4, which was called the book of the covenant, Exo 24:7. After this there was a second going up of Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, Exo 24:9, when that glorious discovery of God mentioned in Exo 24:10, Exo 24:11 took place. After their coming down Moses is again commanded to go up; and God promises to give him tables of stone, containing a law and precepts, Exo 24:12. This is the first place these tables of stone are mentioned; and thus it appears that the ten commandments, and several other precepts, were given to and accepted by the people, and the covenant sacrifice offered, Exo 24:5, before the tables of stone were either written or mentioned." It is very likely that the commandments, laws, etc., were first published by the Lord in the hearing of the people; repeated afterwards by Moses; and the ten words or commandments, containing the sum and substance of the whole, afterwards written on the first tables of stone, to be kept for a record in the ark. These being broken, as is related Exo 32:19, Moses is commanded to hew out two tables like to the first, and bring them up to the mountain, that God might write upon them what he had written on the former, Exo 34:1. And that this was accordingly done, see the preceding part of this note.

And the Lord passed by - and proclaimed, The Lord, etc. - It would be much better to read this verse thus: "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed Jehovah," that is, showed Moses fully what was implied in this august name. Moses had requested God to show him his glory, (see the preceding chapter, Exo 33:18 (note)), and God promised to proclaim or fully declare the name Jehovah, (Exo 33:19); by which proclamation or interpretation Moses should see how God would "be gracious to whom he would be gracious," and how he would "be merciful to those to whom he would show mercy. Here therefore God fulfils that promise by proclaiming this name. It has long been a question, what is the meaning of the word יהוה Jehovah, Yehovah, Yehue, Yehveh, or Yeve, Jeue, Jao, Iao, Jhueh, and Jove; for it has been as variously pronounced as it has been differently interpreted. Some have maintained that it is utterly inexplicable; these of course have offered no mode of interpretation. Others say that it implies the essence of the Divine nature. Others, that it expresses the doctrine of the Trinity connected with the incarnation; the letter י yod standing for the Father, ה he for the Son, and ו vau (the connecting particle) for the Holy Spirit: and they add that the ה he being repeated in the word, signifies the human nature united to the Divine in the incarnation. These speculations are calculated to give very little satisfaction. How strange is it that none of these learned men have discovered that God himself interprets this name in Exo 34:6,! "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed יהוה Yehovah the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." These words contain the proper interpretation of the venerable and glorious name Jehovah. But it will be necessary to consider them in detail.

The different names in this and the following verse have been considered as so many attributes of the Divine nature. Commentators divide them into eleven, thus: -

1. יהוה Jehovah.

2. אל EL, the strong or mighty God.

3. רחום Rachum, the merciful Being, who is full of tenderness and compassion.

4. חנון Channun, the gracious One; he whose nature is goodness itself; the loving God.

5. ארך אפים Erech Appayim, long-suffering; the Being who, because of his goodness and tenderness, is not easily irritated, but suffers long and is kind.

6. רב Rab, the great or mighty One.

7. חסד Chesed, the bountiful Being; he who is exuberant in his beneficence.

8. אמת Emeth, the truth or true One; he alone who can neither deceive nor be deceived, who is the fountain of truth, and from whom all wisdom and knowledge must be derived.

9. נצר חסד Notser Chesed, the preserver of bountifulness; he whose beneficence never ends, keeping mercy for thousands of generations, showing compassion and mercy while the world endures.

10. נשא עון ופשע וחטאה Nose avon vaphesha vechattaah, he who bears away iniquity and transgression and sin: properly, the Redeemer, the Pardoner, the Forgiver; the Being whose prerogative alone it is to forgive sin and save the soul. ינקה(לו) נקה לא Nakkeh lo yenakkeh, the righteous Judge, who distributes justice with an impartial hand, with whom no innocent person can ever be condemned.

11. פקד עון Poked avon, etc.; he who visits iniquity, who punishes transgressors, and from whose justice no sinner can escape. The God of retributive and vindictive justice.

These eleven attributes, as they have been termed, are all included in the name Jehovah, and are, as we have before seen, the proper interpretation of it; but the meaning of several of these words has been variously understood.

That will by no means clear the guilty - This last clause is rather difficult; literally translated it signifies, in clearing he will not clear. But the Samaritan, reading לו lo, to him, instead of the negative לא lo, not, renders the clause thus: With whom the innocent shall be innocent; i.e., an innocent or holy person shall never be treated as if he were a transgressor, by this just and holy God. The Arabic version has it, He justifies and is not justified; and the Septuagint is nearly as our English text, και ου καθαριει τον ενοχον, and he doth not purify the guilty. The Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint, edited by Dr. Grabe, has και τον ενοχον καθαρισμῳ ου καθαριει, and the guilty he will not cleanse with a purification-offering. The Coptic is to the same purpose. The Vulgate is a paraphrase: nullusque apud te per se innocens est, "and no person is innocent by or of himself before thee." This gives a sound theological sense, stating a great truth, That no man can make an atonement for his own sins, or purify his own heart; and that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us - The original is not יהוה Jehovah, but אדני Adonai in both these places, and seems to refer particularly to the Angel of the Covenant, the Messiah. See Clarke's note on Gen 15:8.

I will do marvels - This seems to refer to what God did in putting them in possession of the land of Canaan, causing the walls of Jericho to fall down; making the sun and moon to stand still, etc. And thus God made his covenant with them; binding himself to put them in possession of the promised land, and binding them to observe the precepts laid down in the following verses, from Exodus 34:11-26 inclusive.

Ye shall destroy their images - See the subjects of this and all the following verses, to Exo 34:28, treated at large in the notes on Exodus 23 (note).

In earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest - This commandment is worthy of especial note; many break the Sabbath on the pretense of absolute necessity, because, if in harvest time the weather happens to be what is called bad, and the Sabbath day be fair and fine, they judge it perfectly lawful to employ that day in endeavoring to save the fruits of the field, and think that the goodness of the day beyond the preceding, is an indication from Providence that it should be thus employed. But is not the above command pointed directly against this? I have known this law often broken on this pretense, and have never been able to discover a single instance where the persons who acted thus succeeded one whit better than their more conscientious neighbors, who availed themselves of no such favorable circumstances, being determined to keep God's law, even to the prejudice of their secular interests; but no man ever yet ultimately suffered loss by a conscientious attachment to his duty to God. He who is willing and obedient, shall eat the good of the land; but God will ever distinguish those in his providence who respect his commandments.

Neither shall any man desire thy land - What a manifest proof was this of the power and particular providence of God! How easy would it have been for the surrounding nations to have taken possession of the whole Israelitish land, with all their fenced cities, when there were none left to protect them but women and children! Was not this a standing proof of the Divine origin of their religion, and a barrier which no deistical mind could possibly surmount! Thrice every year did God work an especial miracle for the protection of his people; controlling even the very desires of their enemies, that they might not so much as meditate evil against them. They who have God for their protector have a sure refuge; and how true is the proverb, The path of duty is the way of safety! While these people went up to Jerusalem to keep the Lord's ordinances, he kept their families in peace, and their land in safety.

The blood of my sacrifice - That is, the paschal lamb. See Clarke on Exo 23:18 (note).

Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk - See this amply considered Exo 23:19 (note).

Write thou these words - Either a transcript of the whole law now delivered, or the words included from Exo 34:11 to Exo 34:26. God certainly wrote the ten words on both sets of tables. Moses either wrote a transcript of these and the accompanying precepts for the use of the people, or he wrote the precepts themselves in addition to the ten commandments which were written by the finger of God. See Clarke on Exo 34:1 (note). Allowing this mode of interpretation, the accompanying precepts were, probably, what was written on the back side of the tables by Moses; the ten commandments, what were written on the front by the finger of Jehovah: for we must pay but little attention to the supposition of the rabbins, that the letters on each table were cut through the stone, so as to be legible on each side. See Clarke on Exo 32:15 (note).

Forty days and forty nights - See Clarke's note on Exo 24:18.

The skin of his face shone - קרן karan, was horned: having been long in familiar intercourse with his Maker, his flesh, as well as his soul, was penetrated with the effulgence of the Divine glory, and his looks expressed the light and life which dwelt within. Probably Moses appeared now as he did when, in our Lord's transfiguration, he was seen with Elijah on the mount, Matthew 17. As the original word קרן karan signifies to shine out, to dart forth, as horns on the head of an animal, or rays of light reflected from a polished surface, we may suppose that the heavenly glory which filled the soul of this holy man darted out from his face in coruscations, in that manner in which light is generally represented. The Vulgate renders the passage, et ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies sua, "and he did not know that his face was horned;" which version, misunderstood, has induced painters in general to represent Moses with two very large horns, one proceeding from each temple. But we might naturally ask, while they were indulging themselves in such fancies, why only two horns? for it is very likely that there were hundreds of these radiations, proceeding at once from the face of Moses. It was no doubt from this very circumstance that almost all the nations of the world who have heard of this transaction, have agreed in representing those men to whom they attributed extraordinary sanctity, and whom they supposed to have had familiar intercourse with the Deity, with a lucid nimbus or glory round their heads. This has prevailed both in the east and in the west; not only the Greek and Roman saints, or eminent persons, are thus represented, but those also among the Mohammedans, Hindoos, and Chinese.

They were afraid to come nigh him - A sight of his face alarmed them; their consciences were still guilty from their late transgression, and they had not yet received the atonement. The very appearance of superior sanctity often awes the guilty into respect.

And till Moses had done speaking - The meaning of the verse appears to be this: As often as Moses spoke in public to the people, he put the veil on his face, because they could not bear to look on the brightness of his countenance; but when he entered into the tabernacle to converse with the Lord, he removed this veil, Exo 34:34. St. Paul, 2Cor 3:7, etc., makes a very important use of the transactions recorded in this place. He represents the brightness of the face of Moses as emblematical of the glory or excellence of that dispensation; but he shows that however glorious or excellent that was, it had no glory when compared with the superior excellence of the Gospel. As Moses was glorious in the eyes of the Israelites, but that glory was absorbed and lost in the splendor of God when he entered into the tabernacle, or went to meet the Lord upon the mount; so the brightness and excellence of the Mosaic dispensation are eclipsed and absorbed in the transcendent brightness or excellence of the Gospel of Christ. One was the shadow, the other is the substance. One showed Sin in its exceeding sinfulness, together with the justice and immaculate purity of God; but, in and of itself, made no provision for pardon or sanctification. The other exhibits Jesus, the Lamb of God, typified by all the sacrifices under the law, putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself, reconciling God to man and man to God, diffusing his Spirit through the souls of believers, and cleansing the very thoughts of their hearts by his inspiration, and causing them to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The one seems to shut heaven against mankind, because by the law was the knowledge, not the cure, of Sin; the other opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The former was a ministration of death, the latter a dispensation of life. The former ministered terror, so that even the high priest was afraid to approach, the people withdrew and stood afar off, and even Moses, the mediator of it, exceedingly feared and trembled; by the latter we have boldness to enter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus, who is the end of the law for righteousness - justification, to every one that believeth. The former gives a partial view of the Divine nature; the latter shows God as he is, "Full orbed, in his whole round of rays complete."

The apostle farther considers the veil on the face of Moses, as being emblematical of the metaphorical nature of the different rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation, each covering some spiritual meaning or a spiritual subject; and that the Jews did not lift the veil to penetrate the spiritual sense, and did not look to the end of the commandment, which was to be abolished, but rested in the letter or literal meaning, which conferred neither light nor life.

He considers the veil also as being emblematical of that state of intellectual darkness into which the Jewish people, by their rejection of the Gospel, were plunged, and from which they have never yet been recovered. When a Jew, even at the present day, reads the law in the synagogue, he puts over his head an oblong woolen veil, with four tassels at the four corners, which is called the taled or thaled. This is a very remarkable circumstance, as it appears to be an emblem of the intellectual veil referred to by the apostle, which is still upon their hearts when Moses is read, and which prevents them from looking to the end of that which God designed should be abrogated, and which has been abolished by the introduction of the Gospel. The veil is upon their hearts, and prevents the light of the glory of God from shining into them; but we all, says the apostle, speaking of believers in Christ, with open face, without any veil, beholding as in a glass the glory of God, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord; 2Cor 3:18. Reader, dost thou know this excellence of the religion of Christ? Once thou wert darkness; art thou now light in the Lord? Art thou still under the letter that killeth, or under the Spirit that giveth life? Art thou a slave to sin or a servant of Christ? Is the veil on thy heart, or hast thou found redemption in his blood, the remission of sins? Knowest thou not these things? Then may God pity, enlighten, and save thee!

Moses must prepare for the renewing of the tables. Before God himself provided the tables, and wrote on them; now Moses must hew him out the tables, and God would only write upon them. When God was reconciled to them, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them, which plainly intimates to us, that even under the gospel (of which the intercession of Moses was typical) the moral law should continue to oblige believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the command of it, but still we are under the law to Christ. When our Saviour in his sermon on the mount expounded the moral law, and vindicated it from the corrupt glosses with which the scribes and Pharisees had broken it, he did in effect renew the tables, and make them like the first; that is, reduce the law to its primitive sense and intention.

The Lord descended - By some sensible token of his presence, and manifestation of his glory. He descended in the cloud - Probably that pillar of cloud which had hitherto gone before Israel, and had the day before met Moses at the door of the tabernacle.

And the Lord passed by before him - Fixed views of God are reserved for the future state; the best we have in this world are transient. And proclaimed the name of the Lord - By which he would make himself known. He had made himself known to Moses in the glory of his self - existence, and self - sufficiency, when he proclaimed that name, I am that I am; now he makes himself known in the glory of his grace and goodness, and all - sufficiency to us. The proclaiming of it notes the universal extent of God's mercy; he is not only good to Israel, but good to all. The God with whom we have to do is a great God. He is Jehovah, the Lord, that hath his being of himself, and is the fountain of all being; Jehovah - El, the Lord, the strong God, a God of almighty power himself, and the original of all power. This is prefixed before the display of his mercy, to teach us to think and to speak even of God's goodness with a holy awe, and to encourage us to depend upon these mercies. He is a good God. His greatness and goodness illustrate each other. That his greatness may not make us afraid, we are told how good he is; and that we may not presume upon his goodness, we are told how great he is. Many words are here heaped up to acquaint us with, and convince us of God's goodness. 1st, He is merciful, This speaks his pity, and tender companion, like that of a father to his children. This is put first, because it is the first wheel in all the instances of God's good - will to fallen man. 2ndly, He is gracious. This speaks both freeness, and kindness: it speaks him not only to have a compassion to his creatures, but a complacency in them, and in doing good to them; and this of his own good - will, not for the sake of any thing in them. 3dly, He is long - suffering. This is a branch of God's goodness which our wickedness gives occasion for. He is long - suffering, that is, he is slow to anger, and delays the executions of his justice, he waits to be gracious, and lengthens out the offers of his mercy. 4thly, He is abundant in goodness and truth. This speaks plentiful goodness; it abounds above our deserts, above our conception. The springs of mercy are always full, the streams of mercy always flowing; there is mercy enough in God, enough for all, enough for each, enough for ever. It speaks promised goodness, goodness and truth put together, goodness engaged by promise. 5thly, He keepeth mercy for thousands. This speaks, Mercy extended to thousands of persons. When he gives to some, still he keeps for others, and is never exhausted: Mercy entailed upon thousands of generations, even to those upon whom the ends of the world are come; nay, the line of it is drawn parallel with that of eternity itself. 6thly, He forgiveth iniquity, transgression and sin - Pardoning mercy is instanced in, because in that divine grace is most magnified, and because that it is that opens the door to all other gifts of grace. He forgives offences of all sorts, iniquity, transgression and sin, multiplies his pardons, and with him is plenteous redemption. He is a just and holy God. For, 1st, He will by no means clear the guilty. He will not clear the impenitently guilty, those that go on still in their trespasses; he will not clear the guilty without satisfaction to his justice. 2dly, He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children - Especially for the punishment of idolaters. Yet he keepeth not his anger for ever, but visits to the third and fourth generation only, while he keeps mercy for thousands - This is God's name for ever, and this is his memorial unto all generations.

And Moses made haste, and bowed his head - Thus he expressed his humble reverence and adoration of God's glory, together with his joy in this discovery God had made of himself, and his thankfulness for it. Then likewise he expressed his holy submission to the will of God made known in this declaration, subscribing to his justice as well as mercy, and putting himself and his people Israel under the government of such a God as Jehovah had now proclaimed himself to be. Let this God be our God for ever and ever!

And he said, I pray thee go among us - For thy presence is all to our safety and success. And pardon our iniquity and our sin - Else we cannot expect thee to go among us. And take us for thine inheritance - Which thou wilt have a particular eye to, and concern for. These things God had already promised Moses; and yet he prays for them, not as doubting the sincerity of God's grants, but as one solicitous for the ratification of them. But it is a strange plea he urges, for it is a stiff - necked people - God had given this as a reason why he would not go along with them, Ex 33:3. Yea, saith Moses, the rather go along with us; for the worse they are, the more need they have of thy presence. Moses sees them so stiff - necked, that he has neither patience nor power enough to deal with them; therefore, Lord, do thou go among us; else they will never be kept in awe; thou wilt spare, and bear with them, for thou art God and not man.

Behold I make a covenant - When the covenant was broke, it was Israel that broke it; now it comes to be renewed, it is God that makes it. If there be quarrels, we must bear all the blame; if there be peace, God must have all the glory. Before all thy people I will do marvels - Such as the drying up of Jordan, the standing still of the sun. Marvels indeed, for they were without precedent, such as have not been done in all the earth; the people shall see, and own the work of the Lord; and they were the terror of their enemies: it is a terrible thing that I will do.

Observe that which I command thee - We cannot expect the benefit of the promises, unless we make conscience of the precepts. The two great precepts are, Thou shalt worship no other gods - A good reason is annexed; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God - As tender in the matters of his worship as the husband is of the honour of the marriage - bed. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods - Thou shalt not worship the true God by images. This was the sin they had lately fallen into, which therefore they are particularly cautioned against. That they might not be tempted to worship other gods, they must not join in affinity or friendship with those that did.

Take heed to thyself - It is a sin thou art prone to, and that will easily beset thee; carefully abstain from all advances towards it, make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land - If God in kindness to them drove out the Canaanites, they ought in duty to God not to harbour them: If they espoused their children they would be in danger of espousing their gods. That they might not be tempted to make molten gods, they must utterly destroy those they found, and all that belonged to them, the altars and groves, lest, if they were left standing, they should be brought in process of time either to use them, or to take pattern by them.

Here is a repetition of several appointments made before, especially relating to their solemn feasts: when they had made the calf they proclaimed a feast in honour of it; now, that they might never do so again, they are here charged with the observance of the feasts which God had instituted. Thou shalt rest, even in earing - time and in harvest - The most busy times of the year. All wordly business must give way to that holy rest: harvest - work will prosper the better for the religious observation of the sabbath - day in harvest - time. Hereby we must shew that we prefer our communion with God, before either the business or the joy of harvest.

Thrice in the year shall all the men - children appear - But it might be suggested, when all the males slain every part were gone up to worship in the place that God should chuse, the country would he left exposed to the insults of their neighbours; and what would become of the poor women and children? Trust God with them.

Neither shalt any man desire thy land - Not only they shall not invade it, but they shall not so much as think of invading it. What a standing Miracle was this, for so many Generations?

He wrote - God.

The skin of his face shone - This time of his being in the mount he heard only the same he had heard before. But he saw more of the glory of God, which having with open face beheld, he was in some measure changed into the same image. This was a great honour done to Moses, that the people might never again question his mission, or think or speak slightly of him. He carried his credentials in his very countenance, some think as long as he lived, he retained some remainders of this glory, which perhaps contributed to the vigour of his old age; that eye could not wax dim which had seen God, nor that face wrinkle which had shone with his glory.

And Aaron and the children of Israel saw it, and were afraid - It not only dazzled their eyes, but struck such an awe upon them as obliged them to retire. Probably they doubted whether it was a token of God's favour, or of his displeasure.

And Moses put a veil upon his face - This veil signified the darkness of that dispensation; the ceremonial institutions had in them much of Christ and the gospel, but a veil was drawn over it, so that the children of Israel could not distinctly and steadfastly see those good things to come which the law had a shadow of. It was beauty veiled, gold in the mine, a pearl in the shell; but thanks be to God, by the gospel, the veil is taken away from off the old testament; yet still it remains upon the hearts of those who shut their eyes against the light.

When he went before the Lord, he put off the veil - Every veil must be thrown aside when we go to present ourselves unto the Lord. This signified also, as it is explained, 2Cor 3:16, that when a soul turns to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away, that with open face it may behold his glory.

1 AND the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone , like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest.

The first Tables were made immediately by God, who of his own meer grace and good pleasure, and without mans merit or contrivance entred into Covenant with Abraham and his Seed, these Tables must be made by Moses, partly in token of Gods displcasure for their sin, and partly to signifie, that though the Covenant of grace was first made without mans care and counsel, yet it should not be renewed but by mans repentance. And as the Tables of stone signified the hardness of their hearts, so the having of them by Moses might signifie the circumcision and plowing up of their hearts that they might be fit for the receiving of Gods mercies and the performance of their duties.

To shew Gods reception of Israel [illegible: 1+ letters]nto his favour and their former state, and that the Law and Covenant of God was neither abolished nor changed by their sin.

Marginal references: Deut. 10. 1.

3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount, neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount .

This is said not for the beasts, which are not capable of a Law, but to restrain the presumption and curiosity of the people by this argument, that even the beasts that come too near shall be destroyed, and much more man, whose knowledge aggravates his sin and punishment.

Marginal references: chap. 19. 12.

5 And the LORD descended in the cloud , and stood with him there , and proclaimed the Name of the LORD.

In the cloudy pillar, which ordinarily stood up in the air above the Mount, but came down to the top of it, when God spake with Moses. See Exod. 33. 9. Numb. 11. 17, 25.

To wit, in the Mount, v. 2, 4. and the clift of a rock, chap. 33. 22. which was in the Mount, and near the top of it, as appears by comparing these places together.

6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God , merciful, and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth .

This title shews his glorious being, power and authority, the following titles note his goodness to men.

In fulfilling all his gracious promises made to Abraham and to his seed and to all his people, wherein he is said to be abundant, because he generally is better than his word and gives more than he promised. There is a truth in divine threatnings, but here the scituation of this word in the midst of the Attributes of divine Goodness plainly shews that it is to be restrained to the promises, this being usual and reasonable, that general words have their signification limited by the context. And indeed here seems to be a Hendyadis, goodness and truth, for true, sincere and hearty goodness, as mercy and truth, are oft put for true and real mercy. See Psal. 25. 10. and 57. 3. &c.

7 Keeping mercy for thousands , forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin , and that will by no means clear the guilty , visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the childrens children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

The Chaldee and some others render it, for a thousand generations.

Sins of all sorts and sizes, secret or open, infirmities or presumptions, against God or men, as the heap of various words here put together signifies.

This is commonly esteemed a title of Justice or Vengeance, which is here added by way of correction, least men should mistake or abuse Gods mercy. God is most gracious indeed, but so as he is also just and will not pity nor spare impudent and impenitent transgressours, but will severely punish them. And the Jewish Doctors hereupon observe, that the mercy of God doth far exceed his justice, here being as they number them, thirteen Attributes of Mercy, and but one of Justice. But this translation and interpretation is rejected by some late Learned interpreters, who make this an attribute of Gods goodness or Clemency, and render the words thus, in destroying he will not utterly destroy, though visiting, &c. q. d. He is so gracious that though he will severely punish the iniquity of the fathers, and especially their Idolatry, upon themselves, and upon their Children, &c. as he hath said Exod. 20. 5. yet in judgment he will remember mercy, and will not utterly destroy his people for their sins. There are many things which favour this interpretation. 1. This suits most with Moses his solicitude and prayer for the people of Israel, which was, that God would not utterly destroy them, as he threatened to do. 2. This sense best agrees with Gods promise. chap. 33. 19. I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, which general promise is particularly explained and performed in these 2. verses. 3. This place doth not speak of Gods disposition and carriage towards his enemies, against whom he proceeds with great severity and commands the Israelites to do so in the verses here following, but towards his people, whose cause Moses is all along pleading with God. See chap. 32. 11, 12, 13, 31, 32. and 33. 13, 15. and 34. 9. 4. The Hebrew verb here used frequently signifies to make empty or desolate, to empty men of their goods, or places of men. See Isa. 3. 26. Amos 4. 6. So here he will not utterly empty or destroy. Though he will leave the marks of his vengeance for this sin upon thy people even to their third and fourth generation, or, it may be further, yet he will not utterly root them out, which is the great thing thou fearest and labourest to prevent. And this very phrase here used we have in Ier. 30. 11. and repeated, Ier. 46. 28. where though interpreters generally render it, I will not leave thee altogether unpunished, which may make a good sense, yet it seems much better to be rendred, I will not utterly destroy thee, 1. Because hereby these words exactly answer to the foregoing clause, yet will I not make a full end of thee, and so the samething is elegantly repeated in other words, which is very frequent in Scripture. 2. Because here is an opposition between the severity God useth to other people, and the kindness he useth to his own people, which is manifest in the former member of the verse, and therefore most probable and agreeable in this. 5. This is much confirmed from Numb. 14. 18. where Moses, pleading with God for the pardon of his peoples sin, useth this very phrase and argument, as taken out of Gods mouth, which in this sense is very proper and prevalent, Thou hast said, that even when thou dost visit iniquity, &c. thou wilt not utterly destroy them. And God answers him, verse 20. I have pardoned, according to thy word, i. e. so as not utterly to destroy them. But truly as I live, &c. verse 21, 22, 23. i. e. But I will severely punish them. But if this had been the meaning, Lord thou hast said,—thou wilt by no means clear the guilty, as we render it, it was a most improper argument and put a sword into the Lords hand to slay them even by vertue of this consideration.

Marginal references: Deut. [illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters]. Jer. 32. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; chap. 33. 21. Josh[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ Job 10. [illegible: 1+ letters]4▪ Nah. 1. 3.

9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go amongst us, (for it is a stiff-necked people ,) and pardon our iniquity, and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance .

And therefore need thy glorious and powerful presence to rule them. Or rather, though it be a stiff-necked people, as thou saist, yet forsake them not. The Hebrew particle, chi, oft signifies though, as Exod. 5. 11. Isa. 54. 6.

(i. e.) Deal with us as men do with their inheritances, dwell among us, protect us, improve us.

10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant : before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people amongst which thou art, shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee .

(i. e.) I do hereby renew my Covenant with thy people which they had violated and voided by their sin. But the shortness of the phrase, there being no mention here of any with whom this covenant is made or renewed, and the following words, make it more probable, that this covenant is nothing but a solemn promise or engagement that God will do the thing which here follows. And the word covenant is oft used fo[illegible: 1+ letters] a meer promise, as Gen. 9. 9. &c. Levit. 24. 8. Numb. 18. 19. and 25. 12.

Either 1. By thy Ministery, as that phrase is sometimes used, as 1 Cor. 15. 10. Or 2. In the midst of thee, i. e. of thy people, as ver. 11. before thee, i. e. before thy people. This I prefer, because the next verse explains this of such things as were not done by Moses his ministery, nor in his time, but afterwards.

Marginal references: Deut. 5[illegible: 1+ letters]

13 But ye shall destroy their altars, and break their images, and cut down their groves .

Which at first were used by, good men for their devotion, as Gen. 21. 33. but afterwards being horribly abused to superstition and Idolatry were by Gods command to be destroyed.

Marginal references: chap. 23. 24. Deut. 12. 3.; Heb. statues.; Judg. 6. 25. 2 King. 18. 4. and 23. 14.

14 For thou shalt worship no other God: for the LORD, whose name is jealous is a jealous God.

Who hath made himself known by and glories in that name, the jealous God, who cannot endure any competitor or corrival; whereas the false and puny Gods of the Heathens were contented with multitudes of partners. So this is properly said to be the name of God, whereby he is known and distinguished from all other Gods.

Marginal references: chap. 20. 5.

15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do facrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice .

For cohabitation, or to suffer them quietly to live among you whom you should drive out.

(i. e.) Commit Idolatry, which is oft called and compared to spiritual whoredom. See Ier. 2. and 3. and Ezek. 16.

To wit, of the parts or remainders of his sacrifices, whereby thou wilt partake with him in an idolatrous worship, because such feasts were a part of the Worship offered to the Idol, and were accompanied with solemn benedictions and thanksgivings to the Idol. See Numb. 25. 2. Psal. 106. 28. Ezek. 18. 6. and 22. 9. 1 Cor. 10. 20. Rev. 2. 20.

17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods .

Nor graven, nor any other, as it plainly appears both from the nature of the things, and from many parallel Scriptures: But he mentions molten, because their late Idol was of that kind.

19 All that openeth the matrix, is mine: and every firstling amongst thy cattle, whether oxe or sheep, that is male .

Heb. And (for, That is, as the particle, and, is oft used the words following here and verse 20. being a particular explication of the general sentence in the beginning of this verse) all thy cattle which (a particle oft understood) shall be born male, (as it is also explained Exod. 13. 12.) the opening or whatsoever (to wit, of the male-kind) openeth the matrix (which word is fitly understood cut of the former member, which is very usual) of Ox or (and put for or, as it is oft done) Sheep.

Marginal references: chap. 22. 29. Ezek. 44. 30. Luk. 2. 23.

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

Either without a gift to me, so it is a precept; or without benefit to himself; so it is a promise. See Exod. 23. 15.

Marginal references: chap. 13. 13.; O[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]id.; chap. 23. 15. 1 Sam. 9. 7, 8. 2 Sam. 24. 24.

21 Six dayes thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing-time, and in harvest thou shalt rest .

Which times are expressed, because the great profit and seeming necessity of working at that time was likely to be a powerful temptation to make men break the Sabbath.

Marginal references: chap. 23. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Deut. 5. 12. Luk. 13. 14.

22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks : of the first-fruits of wheat-harvest , and the feast of in-gathering at the years end .

(i. e.) Which is numbred by weeks, being just seven weeks after the Passe-over, whence it is called Pentecost, i. e. the fiftieth day, to wit, after the passe-over. See Levit. 23. 15. and 25. 8.

So this is a designation of the time and business of the feast of weeks.

To wit, of the fruits of the Earth.

So it was in regard of the jubilee and civil contracts.

Marginal references: chap. 23. 16.; Heb. revolution of the year.

24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land , when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God, thrice in the year.

So thou shalt have no intestine enemy to do thee or thine mischief. This God promised to do, but upon condition of Israels discharge of their duty in following God in this work of driving them out, which they neglecting, it was not fully done.

I will not onely tye their hands, that they shall make no invasion upon you, but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprize, which it was very easie for God to effect many ways.

Marginal references: Gen. 35. 5. Act. 18. 10.

26 The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milk.

Thou shalt not delay to do this but shalt bring the very first of them. Or, the first-fruits, even the first-fruits of thy land. Which limitation seems here conveniently added, because they were not bound to bring thither all their first-fruits, to wit, those of their own bodies, their children.

Marginal references: Deut. 26. 2.; chap. 23. 19. Deut. 14. 21.

27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words : for after the tenour of these words I have made a covenant with thee, and with Israel.

Object. God saith I will write, verse. 1. Answ, 1. Moses was to write the ritual precepts mentioned here above, God wrote the Moral Law. 2. Moses wrote what he wrote in a book. See Exod. 24. 7. but what was written upon the Tables of stone was written by God himself, not by Moses who had no graving instruments with him in the Mount, and could not without them writeupon the stone.

28 And he was there with the LORD fourty days and forty nights : he did neither eat bread nor drink water: and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenants the Ten Commandments.

As he had been before, being now to renew the broken covenant. This forty dayes fast of his is mentioned four times, Exod. 24. 18. and here, and Deut. 9. 18. and 10. 10. but it is evident it was performed but twice, as the occasion of it happened onely twice.

Not Moses, but the Lord, as appears from verse 1. and from Deut. 10 the relative pronoun being here referred to the remoter antecedent, of which there are many instances, as Gen. 10. 12. 1 Sam. 21. 14. and 27. 8. Psal. 99. 6.

Marginal references: chap. 31. 18. and 34. 1. Deut. 4. 13.; Heb. words.

29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai, (with the two tables of testimony in Moses hand, when he came down from the mount) that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone , while he talked with him.

Quest. Why now, and not when he came down from God before?. Ans. 1. Because now he obtained, what he did not before, to wit, a glimpse of the Divine glory, which though but very transient, left its print upon his [illegible: 1+ letters]ace. 2. Now it was more necessary than before, to procure the greater honour to Moses and to the law, 2 Cor. 3. [illegible: 1+ letters], 8, 11. because of the late horrid violation and contempt of them which the Israelites had fallen into.

31 And Moses called unto them: and Aaron, and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him , and Moses talked with them.

To the Tabernacle which was still at a distance from the camp, though afterwards, God being reconciled, it was set up in the camp, Exod. 40. 34.

33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face .

In condescension to their weakness.

Marginal references: Heb. and Moses ceased from speaking with them, and put a vail on his face.; 2 Cor. 3. 13.

Exo 34:1-8

When Moses had restored the covenant bond through his intercession (Exo 33:14), he was directed by Jehovah to hew out two stones, like the former ones which he had broken, and to come with them the next morning up the mountain, and Jehovah would write upon them the same words as upon the first,Namely, the ten words in Ex 20:2-17, not the laws contained in Exo 34:12-26 of this chapter, as Göthe and Hitzig suppose. See Hengstenberg, Dissertations ii. p. 319, and Kurtz on the Old Covenant iii. 182ff. and thus restore the covenant record. It was also commanded, as in the former case (Exo 19:12-13), that no one should go up the mountain with him, or be seen upon it, and that not even cattle should feed against the mountain, i.e., in the immediate neighbourhood (Exo 34:3). The first tables of the covenant were called “tables of stone” (Exo 24:12; Exo 31:18); the second, on the other hand, which were hewn by Moses, are called “tables of stones” (Exo 34:1 and Exo 34:4); and the latter expression is applied indiscriminately to both of them in Deu 4:13; Deu 5:19; Deu 9:9-11; Deu 10:1-4. This difference does not indicate a diversity in the records, but may be explained very simply from the fact, that the tables prepared by Moses were hewn from two stones, and not both from the same block; whereas all that could be said of the former, which had been made by God Himself, was that they were of stone, since no one knew whether God had used one stone or two for the purpose. There is apparently far more importance in the following distinction, that the second tables were delivered by Moses and only written upon by God, whereas in the case of the former both the writing and the materials came from God. This cannot have been intended either as a punishment for the nation (Hengstenberg), or as “the sign of a higher stage of the covenant, inasmuch as the further the reciprocity extended, the firmer was the covenant” (Baumgarten). It is much more natural to seek for the cause, as Rashi does, in the fact, that Moses had broken the first in pieces; only we must not regard it as a sign that God disapproved of the manifestation of anger on the part of Moses, but rather as a recognition of his zealous exertions for the restoration of the covenant which had been broken by the sin of the nation. As Moses had restored the covenant through his energetic intercession, he should also provide the materials for the renewal of the covenant record, and bring them to God, for Him to complete and confirm the record by writing the covenant words upon the tables.

On the following morning, when Moses ascended the mountain, Jehovah granted him the promised manifestation of His glory (Exo 34:5.). The description of this unparalleled occurrence is in perfect harmony with the mysterious and majestic character of the revelation. “Jehovah descended (from heaven) in the cloud, and stood by him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah; and Jehovah passed by in his sight, and proclaimed Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious,” etc. What Moses saw we are not told, but simply the words in which Jehovah proclaimed all the glory of His being; whilst it is recorded of Moses, that he bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. This “sermon on the name of the Lord,” as Luther calls it, disclosed to Moses the most hidden nature of Jehovah. It proclaimed that God is love, but that kind of love in which mercy, grace, long-suffering, goodness, and truth are united with holiness and justice. As the merciful One, who is great in goodness and truth, Jehovah shows mercy to the thousandth, forgiving sin and iniquity in long-suffering and grace; but He does not leave sin altogether unpunished, and in His justice visits the sin of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children even unto the fourth generation. The Lord had already revealed Himself to the whole nation from Mount Sinai as visiting sin and showing mercy (Exo 20:5.). But whereas on that occasion the burning zeal of Jehovah which visits sin stood in the foreground, and mercy only followed afterwards, here grace, mercy, and goodness are placed in the front. And accordingly all the words which the language contained to express the idea of grace in its varied manifestations to the sinner, are crowded together here, to reveal the fact that in His inmost being God is love. But in order that grace may not be perverted by sinners into a ground of wantonness, justice is not wanting even here with its solemn threatenings, although it only follows mercy, to show that mercy is mightier than wrath, and that holy love does not punish til sinners despise the riches of the goodness, patience, and long-suffering of God. As Jehovah here proclaimed His name, so did He continue to bear witness of it to the Israelites, from their departure from Sinai till their entrance into Canaan, and from that time forward till their dispersion among the heathen, and even now in their exile showing mercy to the thousandth, when they turn to the Redeemer who has come out of Zion.

Exo 34:9-10

On this manifestation of mercy, Moses repeated the prayer that Jehovah would go in the midst of Israel. It is true the Lord had already promised that His face should go with them (Exo 33:14); but as Moses had asked for a sign of the glory of the Lord as a seal to the promise, it was perfectly natural that, when this petition was granted, he should lay hold of the grace that had been revealed to him as it never had been before, and endeavour to give even greater stability to the covenant. To this end he repeated his former intercession on behalf of the nation, at the same time making this confession, “For it is a stiff-necked people; therefore forgive our iniquity and our sin, and make us the inheritance.” Moses spoke collectively, including himself in the nation in the presence of God. The reason which he assigned pointed to the deep root of corruption that had broken out in the worship of the golden calf, and was appropriately pleaded as a motive for asking forgiveness, inasmuch as God Himself had assigned the natural corruption of the human race as a reason why He would not destroy it again with a flood (Gen 8:21). Wrath was mitigated by a regard to the natural condition. - נחל in the Kal, with an accusative of the person, does not mean to lead a person into the inheritance, but to make a person into an inheritance; here, therefore, to make Israel the possession of Jehovah (Deu 4:20; Deu 9:26, cf. Zec 2:12). Jehovah at once declared (Exo 34:10) that He would conclude a covenant, i.e., restore the broken covenant, and do marvels before the whole nation, such as had not been done in all the earth or in any nation, and thus by these His works distinguish Israel before all nations as His own property (Exo 33:16). The nation was to see this, because it would be terrible; terrible, namely, through the overthrow of the powers that resisted the kingdom of God, every one of whom would be laid prostrate and destroyed by the majesty of the Almighty.

Exo 34:11-16

To recall the duties of the covenant once more to the minds of the people, the Lord repeats from among the rights of Israel, upon the basis of which the covenant had been established (ch. 21-23), two of the leading points which determined the attitude of the nation towards Him, and which constituted, as it were, the main pillars that were to support the covenant about to be renewed. These were, first, the warning against every kind of league with the Canaanites, who were to be driven out before the Israelites (Exo 34:11-16); and, secondly, the instructions concerning the true worship of Jehovah (Exo 34:17-26). The warning against friendship with the idolatrous Canaanites (Exo 34:11-16) is more fully developed and more strongly enforced than in Exo 23:23. The Israelites, when received into the covenant with Jehovah, were not only to beware of forming any covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan (cf. Exo 23:32-33), but were to destroy all the signs of their idolatrous worship, such as altars, monuments (see Exo 23:24), and asherim, the idols of Astarte, the Canaanitish goddess of nature, which consisted for the most part of wooden pillars (see my Comm. on 1Ki 14:23), and to worship no other god, because Jehovah was called jealous, i.e., had revealed Himself as jealous (see at Exo 20:5), and was a jealous God. This was commanded, that the Israelites might not suffer themselves to be led astray by such an alliance; to go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice to them, to take part in their sacrificial festivals, or to marry their sons to the daughters of the Canaanites, by whom they would be persuaded to join in the worship of idols. The use of the expression “go a whoring” in a spiritual sense, in relation to idolatry, is to be accounted for on the ground, that the religious fellowship of Israel with Jehovah was a covenant resembling the marriage tie; and we meet with it for the first time, here, immediately after the formation of this covenant between Israel and Jehovah. The phrase is all the more expressive on account of the literal prostitution that was frequently associated with the worship of Baal and Astarte (cf. Lev 17:7; Lev 20:5-6; Num 14:33, etc.). We may see from Num 25:1. how Israel was led astray by this temptation in the wilderness.

Exo 34:17-26

The true way to worship Jehovah is then pointed out, first of all negatively, in the prohibition against making molten images, with an allusion to the worship of the golden calf, as evinced by the use of the expression מסּכה אלהי, which only occurs again in Lev 19:4, instead of the phrase “gods of silver and gold” (Exo 20:23); and then positively, by a command to observe the feast of Mazzoth and the consecration of the first-born connected with the Passover (see at Exo 13:2, Exo 13:11, and Exo 13:12), also the Sabbath (Exo 34:21), the feasts of Weeks and Ingathering, the appearance of the male members of the nation three times a year before the Lord (Exo 34:22, see at Exo 23:14-17), together with all the other instructions connected with them (Exo 34:25, Exo 34:26). Before the last, however, the promise is introduced, that after the expulsion of the Canaanites, Jehovah would enlarge the borders of Israel (cf. Exo 23:31), and make their land so secure, that when they went up to the Lord three times in the year, no one should desire their land, sc., because of the universal dread of the might of their God (Exo 23:27).

Exo 34:27

Moses was to write down these words, like the covenant rights and laws that had been given before (Exo 24:4, Exo 24:7), because Jehovah had concluded the covenant with Moses and Israel according to the tenor of them. By the renewed adoption of the nation, the covenant in ch. 24 was eo ipso restored; so that no fresh conclusion of this covenant was necessary, and the writing down of the fundamental conditions of the covenant was merely intended as a proof of its restoration. It does not appear in the least degree “irreconcilable,” therefore, with the writing down of the covenant rights before Knobel).

Exo 34:28

Moses remained upon the mountain forty days, just as on the former occasion (cf. Exo 24:18). “And He (Jehovah) wrote upon the tables the ten covenant words” (see at Exo 34:1).

Exo 34:29-35

The sight of the glory of Jehovah, though only of the back or reflection of it, produced such an effect upon Moses’ face, that the skin of it shone, though without Moses observing it. When he came down from the mountain with the tables of the law in his hand, and the skin of his face shone אתּו בּדבּרו, i.e., on account of his talking with God, Aaron and the people were afraid to go near him when they saw the brightness of his face. But Moses called them to him, - Viz. first of all Aaron and the princes of the congregation to speak to them, and then all the people to give them the commandments of Jehovah; but on doing this (Exo 34:33), he put a veil upon (before) his face, and only took it away when he went in before Jehovah to speak with Him, and then, when he came out (from the Lord out of the tabernacle, of course after the erection of the tabernacle), he made known His commands to the people. But while doing this, he put the veil upon his face again, and always wore it in his ordinary intercourse with the people (Exo 34:34, Exo 34:35). This reflection of the splendour thrown back by the glory of God was henceforth to serve as the most striking proof of the confidential relation in which Moses stood to Jehovah, and to set forth the glory of the office which Moses filled. The Apostle Paul embraces this view in 2Co 3:7., and lays stress upon the fact that the glory was to be done away, which he was quite justified in doing, although nothing is said in the Old Testament about the glory being transient, from the simple fact that Moses died. The apostle refers to it for the purpose of contrasting the perishable glory of the law with the far higher and imperishable glory of the Gospel. At the same time he regards the veil which covered Moses’ face as a symbol of the obscuring of the truth revealed in the Old Testament. But this does not exhaust the significance of this splendour. The office could only confer such glory upon the possessor by virtue of the glory of the blessings which it contained, and conveyed to those for whom it was established. Consequently, the brilliant light on Moses’ face also set forth the glory of the Old Covenant, and was intended both for Moses and the people as a foresight and pledge of the glory to which Jehovah had called, and would eventually exalt, the people of His possession.

God's Proclamation of Himself. (b. c. 1491.)

1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. 2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. 4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

The treaty that was on foot between God and Israel being broken off abruptly, by their worshipping the golden calf, when peace was made all must be begun anew, not where they left off, but from the beginning. Thus backsliders must repent, and do their first works, Rev. ii. 5.

I. Moses must prepare for the renewing of the tables, v. 1. Before, God himself provided the tables, and wrote on them; now, Moses must hew out the tables, and God would only write upon them. Thus, in the first writing of the law upon the heart of man in innocency, both the tables and the writing were the work of God; but when those were broken and defaced by sin, and the divine law was to be preserved in the scriptures, God therein made use of the ministry of man, and Moses first. But the prophets and apostles did only hew the tables, as it were; the writing was God's still, for all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Observe, When God was reconciled to them, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them, which plainly intimates to us, 1. That even under the gospel of peace and reconciliation by Christ (of which the intercession of Moses was typical) the moral law should continue to bind believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the command of it, but still we are under the law to Christ; when our Saviour, in his sermon on the mount, expounded the moral law, and vindicated it from the corrupt glosses with which the scribes and Pharisees had broken it (Matt. v. 19), he did in effect renew the tables, and make them like the first, that is, reduce the law to its primitive sense and intention. 2. That the best evidence of the pardon of sin and peace with God is the writing of the law in the heart. The first token God gave of his reconciliation to Israel was the renewing of the tables of the law; thus the first article of the new covenant is, I will write my law in their heart (Heb. viii. 10), and it follows (v. 12), for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. 3. That, if we would have God to write the law in our hearts, we must prepare our hearts for the reception of it. The heart of stone must be hewn by conviction and humiliation for sin (Hos. vi. 5), the superfluity of naughtiness must be taken off (James i. 21), the heart made smooth, and laboured with, that the word may have a place in it. Moses did accordingly hew out the tables of stone, or slate, for they were so slight and thin that Moses carried them both in his hand; and, for their dimensions, they must have been somewhat less, and perhaps not much, than the ark in which they were deposited, which was a yard and quarter long, and three quarters broad. It should seem there was nothing particularly curious in the framing of them, for there was no great time taken; Moses had them ready presently, to take up with him, next morning. They were to receive their beauty, not from the art of man, but from the finger of God.

II. Moses must attend again on the top of Mount Sinai, and present himself to God there, v. 2. Though the absence of Moses, and his continuance so long on the mount, had lately occasioned their making the golden calf, yet God did not therefore alter his measures, but he shall come up and tarry as long as he had done, to try whether they had learned to wait. To strike an awe upon the people, they are directed to keep their distance, none must come up with him, v. 3. They had said (ch. xxxii. 1), We know not what has become of him, and God will not let them know. Moses, accordingly, rose up early (v. 4) to go to the place appointed, to show how forward he was to present himself before God and loth to lose time. It is good to be early at our devotions. The morning is perhaps as good a friend to the graces as it is to the muses.

5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord . 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord , The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

No sooner had Moses got to the top of the mount than God gave him the meeting (v. 5): The Lord descended, by some sensible token of his presence, and manifestation of his glory. His descending bespeaks his condescension; he humbles himself to take cognizance of those that humble themselves to walk with him. Ps. cxiii. 6, Lord, what is man, that he should be thus visited? He descended in the cloud, probably that pillar of cloud which had hitherto gone before Israel, and had the day before met Moses at the door of the tabernacle. This cloud was to strike an awe upon Moses, that the familiarity he was admitted to might not breed contempt. The disciples feared, when they entered the cloud. His making a cloud his pavilion intimated that, though he made known much of himself, yet there was much more concealed. Now observe,

I. How God proclaimed his name (v. 6, 7): he did it in transitu—as he passed by him. Fixed views of God are reserved for the future state; the best we have in this world are transient. God now was performing what he had promised Moses, the day before, that his glory should pass by, ch. xxxiii. 22. He proclaimed the name of the Lord, by which he would make himself known. He had made himself known to Moses in the glory of his self-existence and self-sufficiency when he proclaimed that name, I am that I am; now he makes himself known in the glory of his grace, and goodness, and all-sufficiency to us. Now that God is about to publish a second edition of the law he prefaces it with this proclamation; for it is God's grace or goodness that gives the law, especially the remedial law. The pardon of Israel's sin in worshipping the calf was now to pass the seals; and God, by this declaration, would let them know that he pardoned ex mero motu—merely out of his own good pleasure, not for their merits' sake, but from his own inclination to forgive. The proclaiming of it denotes the universal extent of God's mercy. He is not only good to Israel, but good to all; let all take notice of it. He that hath an ear, let him hear, and know, and believe,

1. That the God with whom we have to do is a great God. He is Jehovah, the Lord, who has his being of himself, and is the fountain of all being, Jehovah-El, the Lord, the strong God, a God of almighty power himself, and the original of all power. This is prefixed before the display of his mercy, to teach us to think and to speak even of God's grace and goodness with great seriousness and a holy awe, and to encourage us to depend upon these mercies; they are not the mercies of a man, that is frail and feeble, false and fickle, but the mercies of the Lord, the Lord God; therefore sure mercies, and sovereign mercies, mercies that may be trusted, but not tempted.

2. That he is a good God. His greatness and goodness illustrate and set off each other. That the terror of his greatness may not make us afraid, we are told how good he is; and, that we may not presume upon his goodness, we are told how great he is. Many words are here heaped up, to acquaint us with, and convince us of, God's goodness, and to show how much his goodness is both his glory and his delight, yet without any tautology. (1.) He is merciful. This bespeaks his tender compassion, like that of a father to his children. This is put first, because it is the first wheel in all the instances of God's good-will to fallen man, whose misery makes him an object of pity, Judg. x. 16; Isa. lxiii. 9. Let us not then have either hard thoughts of God or hard hearts towards our brethren. (2.) He is gracious. This bespeaks both freeness and kindness; it intimates not only that he has a compassion to his creatures, but a complacency in them and in doing good to them, and this of his own good-will, and not for the sake of any thing in them. His mercy is grace, free grace; this teaches us to be not only pitiful, but courteous, 1 Pet. iii. 8. (3.) He is long-suffering. This is a branch of God's goodness which the wickedness of sinners gives occasion for; that of Israel had done so: they had tried his patience, and experienced it. He is long-suffering, that is, he is slow to anger, and delays the execution of his justice; he waits to be gracious, and lengthens out the offers of his mercy. (4.) He is abundant in goodness and truth. This bespeaks plentiful goodness, goodness abounding above our deserts, above our conception and expression. The springs of mercy are always full, the streams of mercy always flowing; there is mercy enough in God, enough for all, enough for each, enough for ever. It bespeaks promised goodness, goodness and truth put together, goodness engaged by promise, and his faithfulness pledged for the security of it. He not only does good, but by his promise he raises our expectation of it, and even binds himself to show mercy. (5.) He keepeth mercy for thousands. This denotes, [1.] Mercy extended to thousands of persons. When he gives to some, still he keeps for others, and is never exhausted; he has mercy enough for all the thousands of Israel, when they shall multiply as the sand. [2.] Mercy entailed upon thousands of generations, even those upon whom the ends of the world have come; nay, the line of it is drawn parallel with that of eternity itself. (6.) He for giveth iniquity, transgression, and sin. Pardoning mercy is specified, because in this divine grace is most magnified, and because in this divine grace is most magnified, and because it is this which opens the door to all other gifts of his divine grace, and because of this he had lately given a very pregnant proof. He forgives offences of all sorts—iniquity, transgression, and sin, multiplies his pardons; and with him is plenteous redemption.

3. That he is a just and holy God. For, (1.) He will by no means clear the guilty. Some read it so as to express a mitigation of wrath, even when he does punish: When he empties, he will not make quite desolate; that is, "He does not proceed to the greatest extremity, till there be no remedy." As we read it, we must expound it that he will by no means connive at the guilty, as if he took no notice of their sin. Or, he will not clear the impenitently guilty, that go on still in their trespasses: he will not clear the guilty without some satisfaction to his justice, and necessary vindications of the honour of his government. (2.) He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. He may justly do it, for all souls are his, and there is a malignity in sin that taints the blood. He sometimes will do it, especially for the punishment of idolaters. Thus he shows his hatred to sin, and displeasure against it; yet he keepeth not his anger for ever, but visits to the third and fourth generation only, while he keepeth his mercy for thousands. Well, this is God's name for ever, and this is his memorial unto all generations.

II. How Moses received this declaration which God made of himself, and of his grace and mercy. It should seem as if Moses accepted this as a sufficient answer to his request that God would show him his glory; for we read not that he went into the cleft of the rock, whence to gain a sight of God's back parts. Perhaps this satisfied him, and he desired no more; as we read not that Thomas did thrust his hand into Christ's side, though Christ invited him to do it. God having thus proclaimed his name, Moses says, "It is enough, I expect no more till I come to heaven;" at least he did not think fit to relate what he saw. Now we are here told,

1. What impression it made upon him: Moses made haste, and bowed his head, v. 8. Thus he expressed, (1.) His humble reverence and adoration of God's glory, giving him the honour due to that name he had thus proclaimed. Even the goodness of God must be looked upon by us with a profound veneration and holy awe. (2.) His joy in this discovery which God had made of himself, and his thankfulness for it. We have reason gratefully to acknowledge God's goodness to us, not only in the real instances of it, but in the declarations he has made of it by his word; not only that he is, and will be, gracious to us, but that he is pleased to let us know it. (3.) His holy submission to the will of God, made known in this declaration, subscribing to his justice as well as mercy, and putting himself and his people Israel under the government and direction of such a God as Jehovah had now proclaimed himself to be. Let this God be our God for ever and ever.

2. What improvement he made of it. He immediately grounded a prayer upon it (v. 9); and a more earnest affectionate prayer it is, (1.) For the presence of God with his people Israel in the wilderness: "I pray thee, go among us, for thy presence is all in all to our safety and success." (2.) For pardon of sin: "O pardon our iniquity and our sin, else we cannot expect thee to go among us." And, (3.) For the privileges of a peculiar people: "Take us for thy inheritance, which thou wilt have a particular eye to, and concern for, and delight in." These things God had already promised, and given Moses assurances of, and yet he prays for them, not as doubting the sincerity of God's grants, but as one solicitous for the ratification of them. God's promises are intended, not to supersede, but to direct and encourage, prayer. Those who have some good hopes, through grace, that their sins are pardoned, must yet continue to pray for pardon, for the renewing of their pardon, and the clearing of it more and more to their souls. The more we see of God's goodness the more ashamed we should be of our own sins, and the more earnest for an interest in it. God had said, in the close of the proclamation, that he would visit the iniquity upon the children; and Moses here deprecates that. "Lord, do not only pardon it to them, but to their children, and let our covenant-relation to thee be entailed upon our posterity, as an inheritance." Thus Moses, like a man of a truly public spirit, intercedes even for the children that should be born. But it is a strange plea he urges: For it is a stiff-necked people. God had given this as a reason why he would not go along with them, ch. xxxiii. 3. "Yea," says Moses, "the rather go along with us; for the worse they are the more need they have of thy presence and grace to make them better." Moses sees them so stiff-necked that, for his part, he has neither patience nor power enough to deal with them. "Therefore, Lord, do thou go among us, else they will never be kept in awe. Thou wilt spare, and bear with them, for thou art God, and not man," Hos. xi. 9.

A Caution Against Idolatry. (b. c. 1491.)

10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord : for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. 11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. 17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

Reconciliation being made, a covenant of friendship is here settled between God and Israel. The traitors are not only pardoned, but preferred and made favourites again. Well may the assurances of this be ushered in with a behold, a word commanding attention and admiration: Behold, I make a covenant. When the covenant was broken, it was Israel that broke it; now that it comes to be renewed, it is God that makes it. If there be quarrels, we must bear all the blame; if there be peace, God must have all the glory. Here is,

I. God's part of this covenant, what he would do for them, v. 10, 11. 1. In general: Before all thy people, I will do marvels. Note, Covenant-blessings are marvellous things (Ps. xcviii. 1), marvels in the kingdom of grace; those mentioned here were marvels in the kingdom of nature, the drying up of Jordan, the standing still of the sun, &c. Marvels indeed, for they were without precedent, such as have not been done in all the earth. They were the joy of Israel, and the confirmation of their faith: Thy people shall see, and own the work of the Lord. And they were the terror of their enemies: It is a terrible thing that I will do. Nay, even God's own people should see them with astonishment. 2. In particular: I drive out before thee the Amorite. God, as King of nations, plucks up some, to plant others, as it pleases him; as King of saints, he made room for the vine he brought out of Egypt, Ps. lxxx. 8, 9. Kingdoms are sacrificed to Israel's interests, Isa. xliii. 3, 4.

II. Their part of the covenant: Observe that which I command thee. We cannot expect the benefit of the promises unless we make conscience of the precepts.

1. The two great precepts are, (1.) Thou shalt worship no other gods (v. 14), not give divine honour to any creature, or any name whatsoever, the creature of fancy. A good reason is annexed. It is at thy peril if thou do: For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God, as tender in the matters of his worship as the husband is of the honour of the marriage-bed. Jealousy is called the rage of a man (Prov. vi. 34), but it is God's holy and just displeasure. Those cannot worship God aright who do not worship him alone. (2.) "Thou shalt make thee no molten god (v. 17); thou shalt not worship the true God by images." This was the sin they had lately fallen into, which therefore they are particularly cautioned against.

2. Fences are here erected about these two precepts by two others: (1.) That they might not be tempted to worship other gods, they must not join in affinity or friendship with those that did (v. 12): "Take heed to thyself, for thou art upon thy good behaviour. It is a sin that thou art prone to and that will easily beset thee, and therefore be very cautious, and carefully abstain from all appearances of it and advances towards it. Make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land." If God, in kindness to them, drove out the Canaanites, they ought, in duty to God, not to harbour them. What could be insisted on more reasonable than this? If God make war with the Canaanites, let not Israel make peace with them. If God take care that the Canaanites be not their lords, let them take care that they be not their snares. It was for their civil interest to complete the conquest of the land; so much does God consult our benefit in the laws he gives us. They must particularly take heed of intermarrying with them, v. 15, 16. If they espoused their children, they would be in danger of espousing their gods; such is the corruption of nature that the bad are much more likely to debauch the good than the good to reform the bad. The way of sin is downhill: those that are in league with idolaters will come by degrees to be in love with idolatry; and those that are prevailed upon to eat of the idolatrous sacrifice will come at length to offer it. Obsta principiis—Nip the mischief in the bud. (2.) That they might not be tempted to make molten gods, they must utterly destroy those they found and all that belong to them, the altars and groves (v. 13), lest, if these were left standing, they should be brought, in process of time, either to use them or to take pattern by them, or to abate in their detestation and dread of idolatry. The relics of idolatry ought to be abolished as affronts to the holy God and a great reproach to human nature. Let it never be said that men who pretend to reason were ever guilty of such absurdities as to make gods of their own and worship them.

Solemn Feasts Appointed. (b. c. 1491.)

18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt. 19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. 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 firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. 21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. 22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. 23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God , the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. 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. 26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. 27 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

Here is a repetition of several appointments made before, especially relating to their solemn feasts. When they had made the calf, they proclaimed a feast in honour of it; now, that they might never do so again, they are here charged with the observance of the feasts which God had instituted. Note, Men need not be drawn from their religion by the temptation of mirth, for we serve a Master that has abundantly provided for the joy of his servants: serious godliness is a continual feast, and joy in God always.

I. Once a week they must rest (v. 21), even in earing time, and in harvest, the most busy times of the year. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; harvest-work will prosper the better for the religious observance of the sabbath-day in harvest-time. Hereby we must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before either the business or the joy of harvest.

II. Thrice a year they must feast (v. 23); they must then appear before the Lord, God, the God of Israel. In all our religious approaches to God, we must eye him as the Lord God, infinitely blessed, great, and glorious, that we may worship him with reverence and godly fear, as the God of Israel, a God in covenant with us, that we may be encouraged to trust in him, and to serve him cheerfully. We always are before God; but, in holy duties, we present ourselves before him, as servants to receive commands, as petitioners to sue for favours, and we have reason to do both with joy. But it might be suggested that, when all the males from every part of the country had gone up to worship in the place that God should choose, the country would be left exposed to the insults of their neighbours; and what would become of the poor women and children, and sick and aged, that were left at home? Trust God with them (v. 24): Neither shall any man desire thy land; not only they shall not invade it, but they shall not so much as think of invading it. Note, 1. All hearts are in God's hands, and under his check; he can lay a restraint, not only upon men's actions, but upon their desires. Canaan was a desirable land, and the neighbouring nations were greedy enough; and yet God says, "They shall not desire it." Let us check all sinful desires in our own hearts against God and his glory, and then trust him to check all sinful desires in the hearts of others against us and our interest. 2. The way of duty is the way of safety. If we serve God, he will preserve us; and those that venture for him shall never lose by him. While we are employed in God's work, and are attending upon him, we are taken under special protection, as noblemen and members of parliament are privileged from arrests.

III. The three feasts are here mentioned, with their appendages. 1. The passover, and the feast of unleavened bread, in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt; and to this is annexed the law of the redemption of the first-born, v. 18-20. This feast was instituted, ch. xii. 13, and urged again, ch. xxiii. 15. 2. The feast of weeks, that is, that of pentecost, seven weeks after the passover; and to this is annexed the law of the first-fruits. 3. The feast of in-gathering at the year's end, which was the feast of tabernacles (v. 22): of these also he had spoken before, ch. xxiii. 16. As to those laws repeated here (v. 25, 26), that against leaven relates to the passover, that of the first-fruits to the feast of pentecost, and therefore that against seething the kid in his mother's milk in all probability relates to the feast of in-gathering, at which God would not have them use that superstitious ceremony, which probably they had seen the Egyptians, or some other of the neighbouring nations, bless their harvests with.

IV. With these laws, here repeated, it is probable all that was said to him when he was before upon the mount was repeated likewise, and the model of the tabernacle shown him again, lest the ruffle and discomposure, which the golden calf had put him in to should have bereaved him of the ideas he had in mind of what he had seen and heard; also in token of a complete reconciliation, and to show that not one jot or tittle of the law should pass away, but that all should be carefully preserved by the great Mediator, who came not to destroy, but to fulfil, Matt. v. 17, 18. And in the close, 1. Moses is ordered to write these words (v. 27), that the people might be the better acquainted with them by a frequent perusal, and that they might be transmitted to the generations to come. We can never be enough thankful to God for the written word. 2. He is told that according to the tenour of these words God would make a covenant with Moses and Israel; not with Israel immediately, but with them in Moses a mediator. Thus the covenant of grace is made with believers through Christ, who is given for a covenant to the people, Isa. xlix. 8. And, as here the covenant was made according to the tenour of the command, so it is still; for we are by baptism brought into covenant, that we may be taught to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded us, Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.

The Veil of Moses. (b. c. 1491.)

28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. 31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. 32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. 33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Here is, I. The continuance of Moses in the mount, where he was miraculously sustained, v. 28. He was there in very intimate communion with God, without interruption, forty days and forty nights, and did not think it long. When we are weary of an hour or two spent in attendance upon God and adoration of him, we should think how many days and nights Moses spent with him, and of the eternal day we hope to spend in praising him. During all this time Moses did neither eat nor drink. Though he had before been kept so long fasting, yet he did not, this second time, take up so many days' provision along with him, but believed that man lives not by bread alone, and encouraged himself with the experience he had of the truth of it. So long he continued without meat and drink (and probably without sleep too), for, 1. The power of God supported him, that he did not need it. He who made the body can nourish it without ordinary means, which he uses, but is not tied to. The life is more than meat. 2. His communion with God entertained him, so that he did not desire it. He had meat to eat which the world knew not of, for it was his meat and drink to hear the word of God and pray. The abundant satisfaction his soul had in the word of God and the visions of the Almighty made him forget the body and the pleasures of it. When God would treat his favourite Moses, it was not with meat and drink, but with his light, law, and love, with the knowledge of himself and his will; then man did indeed eat angels' food. See what we should value as the truest pleasure. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, neither the abundance nor delicacy of food, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. As Moses, so Elijah and Christ, fasted forty days and forty nights. The more dead we are to the delights of sense the better prepared we are for the pleasures of heaven.

II. The coming down of Moses from the mount, greatly enriched and miraculously adorned.

1. He came down enriched with the best treasure; for he brought in his hands the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God, v. 28, 29. It is a great favour to have the law given us; this favour was shown to Israel, Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20. It is a great honour to be employed in delivering God's law to others; this honour was done to Moses.

2. He came down adorned with the best beauty; for the skin of his face shone, v. 29. This time of his being in the mount he heard only what he had heard before, but he saw more of the glory of God, which having with open face beheld, he was in some measure changed into the same image from glory to glory, 2 Cor. iii. 18. The last time he came down from the mount with the glory of a magistrate, to frown upon and chastise Israel's idolatry; now with the glory of an angel, with tidings of peace and reconciliation. Then he came with a rod, now with the spirit of meekness. Now,

(1.) This may be looked upon, [1.] As a great honour done to Moses, that the people might never again question his mission nor think nor speak lightly of him. He carried his credentials in his very countenance, which, some think, retained, as long as he lived, some remainders of this glory, which perhaps contributed to the vigour of his old age; that eye could not wax dim which had seen God, nor that face become wrinkled which had shone with his glory. The Israelites could not look him in the face but they must there read his commission. Thus it was done to the man whom the King of kings did delight to honour. Yet, after this, they murmured against him; for the most sensible proofs will not of themselves conquer an obstinate infidelity. The shining of Moses's face was a great honour to him; yet that was no glory, in comparison with the glory which excelled. We read of our Lord Jesus, not only that his face shone as the sun, but his whole body also, for his raiment was white and glistering, Luke ix. 29. But, when he came down from the mount, he quite laid aside that glory, it being his will that we should walk by faith, not by sight. [2.] It was also a great favour to the people, and an encouragement to them, that God put this glory upon him, who was their intercessor, thereby giving them assurance that he was accepted, and they through him. Thus the advancement of Christ, our advocate with the Father, is the great support of our faith. [3.] It was the effect of his sight of God. Communion with God, First, Makes the face to shine in true honour. Serious godliness puts a lustre upon a man's countenance, such as commands esteem and affection. Secondly, It should make the face to shine in universal holiness. When we have been in the mount with God, we should let our light shine before men, in humility, meekness, and all the instances of a heavenly conversation; thus must the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, even the beauty of holiness, that all we converse with may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus, Acts iv. 13.

(2.) Concerning the shining of Moses's face observe here, [1.] Moses was not aware of it himself: He wist not that the skin of his face shone, v. 29. Thus, First, It is the infelicity of some that, though their faces shine in true grace, yet they do not know it, to take the comfort of it. Their friends see much of God in them, but they themselves are ready to think they have no grace. Secondly, It is the humility of others that, though their faces shine in eminent gifts and usefulness, yet they do not know it, to be puffed up with it. Whatever beauty God puts upon us, we should still be filled with a humble sense of our own unworthiness, and manifold infirmities, as will make us even overlook and forget that which makes our faces shine. [2.] Aaron and the children of Israel saw it, and were afraid, v. 30. The truth of it was attested by a multitude of witnesses, who were also conscious of the terror of it. It not only dazzled their eyes, but struck such an awe upon them as obliged them to retire. Probably they doubted whether it were a token of God's favour or of his displeasure; and, though it seemed most likely to be a good omen, yet, being conscious of guilt, they feared the worst, especially remembering the posture Moses found them in when he came last down from the mount. Holiness will command reverence; but the sense of sin makes men afraid of their friends, and even of that which really is a favour to them. [3.] Moses put a veil upon his face, when he perceived that it shone, v. 33, 35. First, This teaches us all a lesson of modesty and humility. We must be content to have our excellences obscured, and a veil drawn over them, not coveting to make a fair show in the flesh. Those that are truly desirous to be owned and accepted of God will likewise desire not to be taken notice of nor applauded by men. Qui bene latuit, bene vixit—There is a laudable concealment. Secondly, It teaches ministers to accommodate themselves to the capacities of people, and to preach to them as they are able to bear it. Let all that art and all that learning be veiled which tend to amusement rather than edification, and let the strong condescend to the infirmities of the weak. Thirdly, This veil signified the darkness of that dispensation. The ceremonial institutions had in them much of Christ, much of the grace of the gospel, but a veil was drawn over it, so that the children of Israel could not distinctly and stedfastly see those good things to come which the law had the shadow of. It was beauty veiled, gold in the mine, a pearl in the shell; but, thanks be to God, by the gospel life and immortality are brought to light, the veil is taken away from off the Old Testament; yet still it remains upon the hearts of those who shut their eyes against the light. Thus the apostle expounds this passage, 2 Cor. iii. 13-15. [4.] When Moses went in before the Lord, to speak with him in the tabernacle of meeting, he put off the veil, v. 34. Then there was no occasion for it, and, before God, every man does and must appear unveiled; for all things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do, and it is folly for us to think of concealing or disguising any thing. Every veil must be thrown aside when we come to present ourselves unto the Lord. This signified also, as it is explained (2 Cor. iii. 16), that when a soul turns to the Lord the veil shall be taken away, and with open face it may behold his glory. And when we shall come before the Lord in heaven, to be there for ever speaking with him, the veil shall not only be taken off from the divine glory, but from our hearts and eyes, that we may see as we are seen, and know as we are known.

CHAP. XXXIV.

ANd Iehovah said unto Moses, Hew thee two Tables of stone, like the first: and I will write upon the Tables, the words which were on the first Tables which thou brakest. And bee thou ready in the morning: and come up in the morning, unto mount Sinai, and present thy selfe unto me there, upon the top of the mount. And let no man come up with thee; neither let any man bee seene, throughout all the mount: neither let the flockes nor herds feed before that mount. And he hewed two tables of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as Iehovah had commanded him: and tooke in his hand the two tables of stone. And Iehovah descended in the cloud; and he stood with him there: and he proclaimed the name of Iehovah. And Iehovah passed by, before him, and he proclaimed: Iehovah, Iehovah; God, pittifull and gracious, long suffering, and much in mercy and truth. Keeping mercy, for thousands; forgiving iniquity, and trespass, and sinne: and that will not clearing cleare, (the guilty,) visiting the iniquity of the fathers, upon the sonnes, and upon the sonnes sonnes, unto the third, and unto the fourth generation. And Moses made-hast, and bended downe-the head toward the earth and bowed himselfe. And he said; If ô now I have found grace in thine eyes, ô Lord; let the Lord now goe amongst us: for it is a stiffe necked people; and pardon thou our iniquity and our sinne, and take us for thine inheritance. And he said: Behold, I, strike a covenant: before all thy people, I will doe marvels, which have not beene created in all the earth, or in any of the Nations: and all the people amongst which thou art, shall see the work of Iehovah, for it is a fearfull thing; which I doe with thee. Observe thou that which I command thee this day: Behold I drive out from before thee, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Chethite, and the Pherizzite, and the Evite, and the Iebusite. Take heed to thy selfe; lest thou strike a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, into which thou entrest: lest hee bee for a snare in the midst of thee. But ye shall destroy their altars, and breake their pillars, and cut-downe their groves. For thou shalt not bow-downe thy selfe to another God: for Iehovah, whose Name is Iealous; hee, is a Iealous God. Lest thou strike a covenant with the inhabitant of the Land; and they goe a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods; and he call thee, a[illegible: 1 span] eat of his sacrifice. And thou take [illegible: 1 word]. Daughters, unto thy Sons: and his daughter goe a whoring after then gods; and [illegible: 1 word] thy sonnes goe-a-whoring after then g[illegible: 1 span]. Thou shalt not make unto thee, any m[illegible: 1 span] gods. The feast of unleavened cakes sh[illegible: 1 span] thou keepe: seven dayes [illegible: 1 span]on shalt eaten levened cakes, as I commanded thee; at th[illegible: 1 letter] appointed time, of the moneth of Abib: fo[illegible: 1 letter] in the moneth of Abib, thou camest out from Egypt.

All that openeth the wombe, is mine: and all thy cattell that is male; that which openeth (the wombe;) of oxe and of sheepe. And that which 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: Every firstborne of thy Sonnes thou shalt redeeme; and they shall not appeare before me, empty. Sixe dayes, thou shalt labour, and in the seventh day, thou shalt cease: in eating-time▪ and in harvest, thou shalt cease. And thou shalt observe to thee, the feast of weekes: of the first fruits of Wheat harvest: and the feast of ingathering, at the revolution of the yeer. Three times in the yeere, every male of thee shall appeare, before the face of the Lord, Iehovah, the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations, from before thee, and will inlarge thy border: and no man shall desire thy land: when thou goest up, to appeare before the face of Iehovah thy God three times in the yeere. Thou shalt not slay the blood of my sacrifice, with levened bread: neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passeover, remaine unto the morning. The first of the first fruits of thy Land thou shalt bring into the house of Iehovah thy God: Thou shalt not seeth a kid in his mothers milke.

And Iehovah said unto Moses, Write for thee these words: for after the Tenor of these words, I have stricken a covenant with thee, and with Israel. And hee was there with Iehovah, Forty dayes and forty nights, hee did eate no bread, nor drinke water: and he wrote upon the Tables the words of the covenant; the tenne words. And it was when Moses came downe from mount Sinai, and the two Tables of Testimony in Moses hand, when he came downe from the mount: that Moses knew not, that the skinne of his face shone, when he spake with him. And Aaron, and all the Sonnes of Israel, saw Moses: and behold, the skinne of his face shone: and they feared to come nigh unto him. And Moses called unto them, and Aaron, and all the Rulers of the Congregation, returned unto him: and Moses spake unto them. And afterward, all the Sonnes of Israel came nigh: and hee commanded them, all that Iehovah had spoken, with him, on mount Sinai. And Moses made an-end of speaking with them: and he put a veile upon his face. And when Moses went in before Iehovah to speake with him, he tooke off the veile, untill hee came out, and spake unto the Sonnes of Israel, that which he was commanded. And the sons of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses face shone: and Moses did put the veile againe upon his face, untill he went in to speake with him.

Annotations. HEw thee] or, Hew unto thy selfe, whereas the former tables were the worke of God himselfe, Exod. 32. 16. See the notes on Exod. 31. 18. Here followeth the renewing of the covenant, between God and his people: rehearsed againe in Deut. 10. 1. &c. and I] The Greeke here addeth, and come thou up unto me into the mount, and I, &c. So Moses himselfe repeateth it, in Deut. 10. 1. Vers. 2. present thy selfe] or, stand for me there, that is, wait till I come downe, as vers. 5. and then (as the Chaldee translateth) stand before me there. And this being to be done in the morning, it was a signe of mercy, Psal. 90. 14. and 30. 6. and 5. 4. Vers. 3. before] the Greeke translateth, neere the mount, see Exod. 19. 12. 13. with the annotations. Vers. 5. descended] by a manifestation of his glorious presence. The Chaldee saith, was revealed, See Exod. 19. 18. [illegible: 1 word] be proclaimed] that is, the Lord did proclaime; as hee promised, Exod. 33. 19. Or it may be understood of Moses, and translated, he called on the name of Iehovah: for so the Hebrew phrase sometimes signifieth, as Gen. 12. 8. Verse 6. passed by] that is, as the Chaldee translateth, caused his Majesty (Shecinah) to passe by. Whereupon the Hebrewes, comparing this with Exod. 33. 19. 22. say, The Shecinah (or divine-Majesty) called I, passed by. R. Menachem on Exod. 34. So they held this Shecinah, to be one with the Father. See after on vers. 9. he proclaimed] that is, God proclaimed, Exod. 33. 19. But Thargum Ierusalemy referreth it to Moses, saying; And the glory of the Majesty of the Lord passed before him, and Moses prayed and said, &c. Howbeit Moses him-selfe saith, the Lord spake these words, Numb. 14. 17. 18. And so other of the Hebrewes understand it, as before, that Shecinah (the Divine-presence) proclaimed these properties. R. Menachem. Iehovah, Iehovah, &c.] Here all Gods goodnesse passed before Moses, and was proclaimed, according to the promise, Exod. 33. 19. the three first titles signifying God in his Essence or Being, distinguished in three persons, 1 Iohn 5. 7. God] in Hebrew Ael, which signifieth Mighty: see Gen. 14. 18. pittifull] or, compassionate; of tender mercy. These next seven attributes, shew Gods affection toward repentant and beleeving sinners, 1 in pittying their misery; 2 shewing favour and grace unto them, though unworthy; 3 long suffring their infirmities; 4 of much mercy and bounty, in doing them good; 5 of much truth, in fulfilling his promises unto them; 6 and extending the like mercy to their children, even to the thousand generation; 7 and forgiving their sinnes of all sorts: wherin the blessednesse of man consisteth, Psalm. 32. 1. 2. Rom. 4. 6. 7. 8. long suffring] or, long [illegible: 1 word] he be angry: Hebrew, long of anger (or, of nostrith) mercy] or, bounteousnesse, kindnesse, which David six and twenty times in one Psalme, confesseth to endure for ever, Psal. 136. Compare also Neh. 9. 17. Ion. 4. 2. Psal. 103. 7. 8. 9. &c. Vers. 7. for thousands] that is, (as Tharg[illegible: 2 letters] Ierusalemy explaineth it) for a thousand generations: See Exod. 20. 6. The Greek translateth, and doing many unto thousands. not clearing cleare] that is, [illegible: 1 word] will in no wise cleare, (or acquit, hold innocent;) to wit, the guilty person, as the Greeke version addeth; or (as the Chaldee saith) them that convert not. Also the Ierusalemy Thargum expoundeth it, hee will not clear sinners in the day of the great Iudgement. The like defect is in Num. 14. 18. Nahum 1. 3. and in other like speeches, as Lev. 19. 18. which sometime the Scripture it selfe supplyeth, as is noted on Gen. 4. 20. and 24. 33. And these two last attributes are in respect of Gods dealing with the wicked; unto whom he imputeth no righteousnesse, for their good; but inflicteth punishment upon them and theirs, unto perdition. Yet this his justice upon the wicked, is a part of his goodnesse towards his people, as it is said, The just shall rejoyce, when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet, in the blood of the wicked, Psalm. 58. 11. visiting] that is, punishing; see Exod. 20. 5. sonnes] to wit, of the wicked, or rebellious, as the Chaldee here addeth. And Thargum Ierusalemy saith, remembring the sinnes of wicked fathers, upon the rebellious sonnes, unto the third generation, and unto the fourth generation. Vers. 8. bowed himselfe] or, worshipped, fell prostrate: Thargum Ierusalemy expoundeth it, he confessed and lauded God. See the notes on Exod. 4. 31. Vers. 9. now goe] or, I pray thee goe, to wit, with the signes of his presence, in the cloudy fiery pillar. The Chaldee saith, Let the Majesty of the Lord goe. By the Majesty (or Divine-presence) of the Lord, which the Hebrewes call She[illegible: 1 letter]inah, wee may well understand Christ: for the Hebrews usually distinguish this from God the Father; and say, there is no comming before the blessed and most high King, without Shecinah. R. Menachem on Levit. 10. Our Saviour more plainly saith, No man commeth unto the Father, but by me, Ioh. 14. 6. Of him the ancient Iewes seeme to speake, under this name Shecinah; though at this day they despise their salvation. See before, on Exod. 33. 14. 15. and 34. 6. and 14. 19. for it is] or, though it be a stiffe necked people, yet pardon thou, &c. For in the time of favourable-acceptation, it was well with them; by Shecinah (the Divine-majesty) that tooks pitty upon them: saith R. Menachem. take us for inheritance] or, inherit (possesse) thou us: which the Greeke translateth, we shall be thine. This is the blessednesse of a people, that God chuseth them to bee his inheritance; as Psalm. 33. 12. Zach. 2. 12. and God doth inherit or possesse, those whom hee subdueth unto his obedience, and ruleth over them, Psal. 82. 2. Levit. 25. 46. Vers. 10. he said] the Greeke explaineth it, the Lord said unto Moses. strike] that is, make, to wit, with thee, as the Greeke explaineth it. marvels] in Greeke, glorious things: and so the Euangelist useth the word, Luke 13. 17. the people rejoyced for all the glorious things that were done by Iesus: where the Syriak hath, marvelous things. So in Iob 5. 9. Exod. 33. 16. This promise seemeth to concerne the marvelous workes, which God after did before all Israel, in the dayes of Iosua: as when the Sunne and moone stood still in the midst of heaven, &c. Ios. 10. 12. 13. of which it is there said, Is not this written in the booke of Iasher? which the Chaldee there expoundeth, the booke of the Law: as being a thing whereof Moses here wrote. created] the Greeke saith, done: and creating is the making or doing of a new marvelous and glorious thing: as Gen. 1. 1. Numb. 16. 30. a fearfull thing] or, he is fearfull, meaning God: but the Gr. expounds it, they are marvelous things. with thee] that is, as the Greeke translateth, to thee; meaning all Israel; as the words following manifest; or, with thee, meaning Moses; that is, by thy hand; as Paul saith, not I, but the grace of God with me, 1 Cor. 15. 10. Vers. 11. Observe thou] or, keepe for thy selfe: for thine owne good. Amorite] that is, Amorites, &c. as the Chaldee translateth. See Gen. 10. 16. Exod. 23. 23. 28. Verse 12. snare] or cause of thy ruine. See Exod. 23. 33. Vers. 13. pillars] or, standing images, statues: see Exod. 23. 24. groves] which they used to consecrate to their gods, offring sacrifice under greene trees, Deut. 12. 2. 2 King. 16. 4. So among other heathens, trees and groves were the Temples of their gods, saith Pliny hist. booke 12. chap. 1. And in the Romane Lawes of the 12 Tables, in the 2 law of Religion, it was commanded to have groves in the fields. For this cause, Israel is here bidden to cut them downe, and in Deut. 12. 3. to burne them: and were also forbidden to plant any grove, or any tree neere unto the altar of the Lord, Deut. 6. 21. Vers. 14. other god] to the idols of the peoples, as the Chaldee expoundeth it. Vers. 15. goe a-whoring] that is, commit idola[illegible: 2 letters]y, which is spirituall whoredome, Ier. 3. 9. and so the Chaldee explaineth it here, to erre after their errors: that is, their idols. he] that is, the inhabitant aforesaid; put for all and every of the inhabitants: therefore the Greeke translateth, they call; and so after. Compare Num 25. 1. 2. Prov. 9. 13. 15. Vers. 17. molten gods] or, gods of metall: Hebrew of melting. So Levit. 19. 4. Exod. 20. 23. Vers. 18. as I] or, which I commanded: but the Hebrew asher, is put for caasher: as in Exodus 23. 15. and so the Greeke translateth it here. Abib] in Greeke, the moneth of new fruits. See Exod. 13. 4. Vers. 19. is mine] or, shall be mine: that is, sanctified unto me: see Exodus 13. 2. 12. that which openeth] or, the first borne, as the Greeke and Chaldee here translateth it. See Exod. 13. 12. 13. and 22. 29. 30. Vers. 20. with a lambe] a living lambe, of the sheepe or goats, and no other beast; as is noted on Exod. 13. 13. and the lambe was to be given to the Priest, Num. 18. 8. 15. The Hebrewes say, It might be redeemed with a lambe, whether male or female, unblemished or blemished, small or great, If a man have no lambe to redeeme it with, hee may redeeme it with the value of it, and give the price to the Priest. The Law commandeth not a Lambe, to make it heavier upon him, but lighter. For if hee have the firstling of an Asse, which is worth ten shekels, he may redeeme it with a lambe worth a quarter of a shekell. But the price in money, is from three zuzims and upward: [that is, three quarters of a shekell; for one zoz is the fourth part of a shekell.] If the price be lesse then three zuzims, they redeeme it not therewith: and a good eye (that is, a liberall person) giveth not lesse then a shekell. Maimony in treat, of Firstfruits, Chap. 12. Sect. 10. &c. breake the necke] the Chaldee saith, kill it. They might have no use or benefit of the Asse till it was redeemed. If hee sold it before it was redeemed, the price was unlawfull. If it dyed before it was redeemed, or if the necke was broken, it was buried. For it was unlawfull to make benefit of it, even after the necke was broken, because it was not redeemed. Therefore if hee redeemed it not, but gave the Asse it selfe to the Priest; it was unlawfull for the Priest to put it to any service, vntill it was redeemed with a lambe. Maimony ibidem, Chap. 12. Sect. 4. they shall not appeare] or, my face shall not be seene: to wit, by any man: the Greeke saith, thou shalt not appeare. empty] without an oblation: see Exod. 23. 15. Vers. 21. labour] or, serve: see the notes on Exodus 20. 9. For this in Exod. 23. 12. is written, sixe dayes thou shalt doe thy workes. Vers. 22. observe to thee] Hebr. doe to thee: meaning observe, or make holy, celebrate. According to this phrase, is, to doe the Sabbath day, Exod. 31. 16. Deut. 5. 15. to dee the Passeover, Deut. 16. 1. Matt. 26. 18. to doe the feast of Boothes, Deut 16. 13. and the like. The Greeke translateth, Thou shalt doe (that is, observe) to me. of weeks] or, of sevens: a feast seven weeks after the Passeover, called Pentecost, Lev. 23. 15. 16. Act. 2. 1. it was also called harvest, Exod. 23. 16. revolution] or, circumvolution, circuit; that is, the returne; as the revolution of the yeere, 2 Chron. 24. 23. is explained to be the returne of it, 1 King. 20. 26. when the old yeere endeth, and the new beginneth. This was in the seventh moneth, which we call September: see the notes on Exod. 23. 16. Vers. 23. every male of thee] or, all thy male-kind: see Exod. 23. 17. Deut. 16. 16. Vers. 24. no man] to wit, of thy neighbours or enemies round about thee, shall have the heart, to set upon thy coasts, when all the men are gathered before me. Vers. 25. not slay] for sacrifice, as in Exodus 23. 18. see the notes there. sacrifice] in Greeke, sacrifices: meaning of the Passeover, as after is explained. Hence the Hebrewes gather their rite of purging Leven out of their houses, before the Passeover: they expound it thus: Thou shalt not slay the Passeover, whiles Leven yet remaineth. Now the killing of the Passover, is the fourteenth (of Abib) after midday. Maimony treat, of Levened and Unlevenedbread, Chap. 2. Sect. 1. See more in the notes on Exod 12. vers. 15. and vers. 10. Vers. 26. first] or, beginning of the fruits: see Ex. 23. 19. a kid] in Greeke, a lambe: in Chaldee, thou shalt not eate flesh with milke: and the Ierusalemy Thargum addeth, not to boyle nor to eat flesh and milke mixed together. See Exod. 23. 19. Vers. 27. tenour] Hebrew, the mouth of these words: which the Chaldee expounds, the speech of these words. have stricken] or, doe strike, that is, make: for these precepts were both given before, and now repeated. Vers. 28. he] that is, God wrote, vers. 1. ten words] that is, ten commandements, which therefore we call of the Greeke name, the Decalogue. Ten, is often used for many; as ten times, meane many times, Gen. 31. 7. Iob 19. 3. ten men, Zach. 8. 23. and ten women, Lev. 26. 26. and ten thousands, Heb. 12. 22. that is, many: and as other numbers are made of ten, by reduplication; so all other writings of the Law and Prophets, depend upon these ten words: so by this number ten, God gave a perfect and compleat Law. And Words, are used for whole sentences, or commandements: as Paul saith also, one word, Cal. 5. 14. when he rehearseth a commandement; and that is called the Word of God, in Marke 7. 13. which another calleth the Commandement of God, Matt. 15. 6. These ten words, were according to the first writing, and to the words which were spoken before, in the day of the Assembly, Deut. 10. 4. Vers. 29. shone] which the Greeke translateth, was glorious, and so the Apostle alleadgeth it, in 2 Cor. 3. where, by glory, is meant, shining brightnesse, as in 1 Cor. 15. 41. there is one glory of the Sun, and another glory (that is, brightnesse) of the Moone, &c. and the Israelites could not behold the face of Moses, for the glory (that is, the brightnesse) of his countenance, 2 Cor. 3. 7. and the earth was lightned with the glory of the Angell, Rev. 18. 1. The Chaldee also translateth, Moses knew not that the brightnesse of the glory of his face was multiplied. The Latine version saith, Moses face was horned; mistaking the word: for of the Hebrew Karan, which is to shine, or cast forth glorious beames, the name Keren or Horne is derived: in which sense the Latine translated it here, and gave occasion unto the ignorant, to paint Moses face with two hornes like an Oxe, whereby this glorious mystery hath been obscured, and turned to a fable. For the glory of Moses face, signified the glory of the Law which he preached, 2 Cor. 3. 7. &c. Vers. 30. feared] for Moses his ministration was death and condemnation, 1 Cor. 3. 7. 9. (because the Law giveth knowledge of sin, and causeth wrath, Rom. 3. 20. and 4. 15.) and therefore the more bright and glorious that it is, the more terrour it striketh in all mens hearts, there being a weaknesse and impossibility in all men, to do the same, Rom. 8. 3. For Aaron himselfe, and all the Rulers were afraid of Moses, as well as the other people: even as at the first giving of the Law, Moses himselfe, with all the people, were affrighted, and trembled, Exodus 19. Vers. 33. and he put] or, and hee had put a veil: but the Greeke translateth, And when he had ceased speaking unto them, he put a veil, &c. that is, after this first communing with them, when hee knew the cause of their feare, he put on a veil (or covering:) which signified the obscurity of the Law; whose first, true, and proper meaning and end, could not easily be discerned: also the darknesse that is in all mens hearts naturally, till God take away the veil and hardnesse that is upon them. For so the Apostle speaketh of a double veile, one outward in the Law, another inward in the heart, 2 Cor. 3. 13. 14. &c. And as without a veil the people could not heare Moses; so except the Law be veiled, and hath as it were a new face upon it, the naturall man cannot endure the glory of it: so terrible it is to the conscience of sinners. R. Menachem here observeth how the former Ancients of Israel, at the reading of the Booke of the Law, covered their faces, and said; hee that heareth from the mouth of the reader, is as hee that heareth from the mouth of Moses. Vers. 34. tooke off the veil] whereof there was no use in the sight of God; who doth not onely know himselfe the use and end of his Law; but sheweth the same also to others; which was likewise here figured; for when men shall be turned to the Lord, the veile shall be taken away, 2 Cor. 3. 16. Vers. 35. put the veil againe on] hereby signifying the continuall glory of his ministery, and infirmity of the people; till both of them be done a way. Which is accomplished by the Gospell, the ministration of the Spirit, and of righteousnesse, which exceeds in glory, so that Moses ministery hath no glory in this respect: for Christ taketh away the veil, so that we may both stedfastly looke to the end of the Law, which is abolished; and all of us with unveiled face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 1 Cor. 5. 8. 18.