INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 19 In this chapter we have an account of the coming of the children of Israel to Mount Sinai, Exodus 19:1, of the covenant made with them there, the proposal on the part of God, and their acceptance of it, Exodus 19:3, the previous notice God gave three days before of his ap... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE THIRD MONTH, WHEN THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE GONE FORTH OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,.... Which was the month Sivan, and answers to part of May and part of June: THE SAME DAY CAME THEY INTO THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI; which had its name from the mountain situated in it, and that from the bushes wh... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY WERE DEPARTED FROM REPHIDIM,.... After they had fought with Amalek, and came to the western part of the mount to Horeb, where the rock was smitten for them; and they were come from that now, and encamped at Sinai, after Jethro had paid a visit to Moses: AND WERE COME TO THE DESERT OF SINAI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES WENT UP UNTO GOD,.... Who was in the pillar of cloud upon the top of the mount; this was on the second day, according to the Targum of Jonathan: "the Lord called unto him out of the mountain"; or had called unto him, as Aben Ezra, since without his leave he could not have gone up. He calle... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAVE SEEN WHAT I DID TO THE EGYPTIANS,.... The plagues he brought upon them in Egypt, and the destruction of them at the Red sea; these things they were eyewitnesses of, and needed no other proof or evidence to convince and assure them of them, and therefore must be under obligation to attend to... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE,.... Since they had received such marks of his favour, and were laid under great obligations to him: IF YE WILL OBEY MY VOICE INDEED; truly, sincerely, and heartily; or "in hearkening hearken", or "in obeying obey" g; that is, closely and attentively hearken to what he should say to t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL BE UNTO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS,.... Instead of being in a state of servitude and bondage, as they had been in Egypt, they should be erected into a kingdom, become a body politic, a free state, a commonwealth governed by its own laws, and those laws of God's making; yea, they should be... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES CAME AND CALLED FOR THE ELDERS OF THE PEOPLE,.... After he had heard the above words from the mouth of God, he came down from the mount into the camp of Israel, and sent for the elders or principal men of the tribes and families of Israel to come to him: AND, being gathered together, LAI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE PEOPLE ANSWERED TOGETHER,.... By their heads and representatives, the elders, summoned before Moses, to whom he declared the whole will of God; or this being communicated by them to their respective tribes and families, they were all of one mind; there was not a contradicting voice among... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... As the Targum of Jonathan, on the third day; though Jarchi says the fourth; which seems not so well to agree with his words on the preceding verse, since it seems to be at the same time that Moses returned the words of the people to the Lord, that he said what follo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... On the fourth day, according to the Targum of Jonathan; GO UNTO THE PEOPLE; go down from the mountain, from the top of it, where he now was, to the camp of Israel, which was pitched before it: AND SANCTIFY THEM TODAY AND TOMORROW; the fourth and fifth days of the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BE READY AGAINST THE THIRD DAY,.... Not the third day of the month, but the third day from hence, this being the fourth, and the morrow the fifth, and the third day, the day following that, the sixth, on which day it is generally agreed by the Jews that the law was given, Exodus 19:16 FOR THE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALL SET BOUNDS TO THE PEOPLE ROUND ABOUT,.... That is, round about the mountain, by drawing a line, throwing up a foss or ditch, or else by laying up heaps of stones or sand, which might be come at easily, or bushes and branches of trees, which grew thick on the mount, from whence it had... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE SHALL NOT A HAND TOUCH IT,.... The mountain or the border of it, which is repeated that it might be taken notice of; and to show that it would be resented if they were to stretch out their hand and only lightly touch it, much more should they set their feet upon it and attempt to ascend it: or... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES WENT DOWN FROM THE MOUNT UNTO THE PEOPLE,.... The same day that he went up, the fourth day of the month: AND SANCTIFIED THE PEOPLE; instructed them and ordered them what they should do for their sanctification, in order to their hearing the law from the mouth of the Lord: AND THEY WASHED... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, BE READY AGAINST THE THIRD DAY,.... The third day from thence, the sixth of the month Sivan, against which day they were to prepare themselves, by washing their garments, and all other outward acts of sanctification and purity they were directed to, that they might be re... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY IN THE MORNING, c:] The sixth of the month, according to the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi on which day, as the Jews generally say t, the law was given, and which, they also observe, was a sabbath day: yea, they are sometimes so very particular as to fix the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES BROUGHT FORTH THE PEOPLE OUT OF THE CAMP,.... Which was before the mountain and near it, when the above tokens were given of the divine Presence on it; as they were thrown into a panic upon the sound of the trumpet, it was, perhaps, with some difficulty that they were brought out of the ca... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOUNT SINAI WAS ALTOGETHER ON A SMOKE,.... Not from nature, as volcanos, but for a reason after given; it seemed to be one large body of smoke, nothing else to be seen but smoke; an emblem of the darkness of the legal dispensation, which was full of obscure types and figures, of dark shadows and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE VOICE OF THE TRUMPET SOUNDED LONG,.... Not in one continued tone, as before, Exodus 19:13, where a different word is used, and when it decreased, and was about to cease, which was to summon the people to attend; but now they were come to the foot of the mount, and this sounding was a pr... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD CAME DOWN ON MOUNT SINAI,.... In the above visible tokens of his presence and power; otherwise he is the incomprehensible Jehovah, that immense and omnipotent Being, who fills heaven and earth, and cannot be contained and circumscribed in either: ON THE TOP OF THE MOUNT; where the fire... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, GO DOWN,.... As soon as he was got to the top of the mount he was bid to go down again to the bottom, with a message to the people: CHARGE THE PEOPLE, LEST THEY BREAK THROUGH UNTO THE LORD TO GAZE; to see if they could observe any similitude or likeness of God, that th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LET THE PRIESTS ALSO, WHICH COME NEAR UNTO THE LORD,.... Either the firstborn, as the Jews generally interpret it, so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; who were sanctified to the Lord, and in whose stead afterwards the Levites were taken; or the sons of Aaron, who should be, and were potentially, though not... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE LORD,.... Upon his giving such strict orders both with respect to the people and the priests: THE PEOPLE CANNOT COME UP TO MOUNT SINAI; suggesting as if there was no need for him to go down on that account, to give them a charge not to break through and gaze; since, as he th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, AWAY, GET THEE DOWN,.... And prevent the people and priests from breaking through the bounds and gazing, to which their curiosity would tempt them; as the Lord knew better than Moses, and it was high time for him to be gone, the matter required haste, the people were unde... [ Continue Reading ]
SO MOSES WENT DOWN TO THE PEOPLE,.... As the Lord commanded him: AND SPAKE UNTO THEM: charging them to keep their distance, and not presume to pass the line he had drawn, or the foss or fence he had made: in the Jerusalem Targum it is added, "come and receive the ten words;'' the decalogue or ten... [ Continue Reading ]