Moses marries Zipporah. A. M. 2473. B. C. 1531. B. C. cir. 1500. 20 And he said unto his daugh- time, that the king of Egypt A. M. cir. 2504. ters, And where is he? why is it died and the children of Israel that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man and he gave Moses ▾ Zipporah his daughter, 22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. 23 And it came to pass a sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God d remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God flooked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto in process, of them.h "Gen. xxxi. 54; xliii. 25. Chapter iv. That is, a stranger here. Chap. xviii. 3. Heb. xi. 13, 14.————2 Chap. vii. 7; Acts vii. 30.16; Dept. xxvi. 7; Psa. xii. 5. in Judges iv. 11, Hobab; and in Judges i. 16 he is called ''p Keyni, which in chap. iv. we translate Kenite. Some suppose that Re-u-el was father to Hobab, who was also called Jethro. This is the most likely; see the note on chap. iii. 1. Verse 20. That he may eat bread.] That he may be entertained, and receive refreshment to proceed on his journey. Bread, among the Hebrews, was used to signify all kinds of food commonly used for the support of man's life. Verse 21. Zipporah his daughter.] Abul Farajius calls her "Saphura the black, daughter of Rewel the Midianite, the son of Dedan, the son of Abraham by his wife Keturah." The Targum calls her the granddaughter of Reuel. It appears that Moses obtained Zipporah something in the same way that Jacob obtained Rachel; namely, for the performance of certain services, probably keeping of sheep; see chap. iii. 1. Verse 22. Called his name Gershom] Literally, a stranger; the reason of which Moses immediately adds, for I have been an ALIEN in a strange land. The Vulgate, the Septuagint, as it stands in the Complutensian Polyglot, and in several MSS., the Syriac, the Coptic, and the Arabic, add the following words to this verse: And the name of the second he called Eliezer, for the God of my father has been my help, and delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh. These words are found in chap. xviii. 4, but they are certainly necessary here, for it is very likely that these two sons were born within a short space of each other; for in chap. iv. 20 it is said, Moses took his wife and his sONS, by which it is plain that he had both Gershom and Eliezer at that time. Houbigant introduces this addition in his Latin version, and contends that this is its most proper place. Notwithstanding the authority of the, above versions, the clause is found in no copy, printed or MS., of the He brew text. Verse 23. In process of time-the king of Egypt died] According to St. Stephen, (Acts vii. 30, compared with Exod. vii. 7,) the death of the Egyptian king happened about forty years after the escape of Moses to Midian. The words on p'an p'p'à in vayehi baiyamim harabbim hahem, which we translate And it came to pass in process of time, signify, And it was in many days from these that the king, &c. It has already been remarked that Archbishop Usher supposes this king to have been Ramesses Miamun, who was succeeded by his son Amenophis, who was drowned in the Red Sea when pursuing the Israelites, but Abul Farajius says it was Amunfathis, (Amenophis,) he who made the cruel edict against the Hebrew children. Some suppose that Moses wrote the book of Job during the time he sojourned in Midian, and also the book of Genesis. See the preface to the book of Job, where this subject is considered. Sighed by reason of the bondage] For the nature of their bondage, see on chap. i. 14. Verse 24. God remembered his covenant] God's covenant is God's engagement; he had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give their posterity a land flowing with milk and honey, &c. They are now under the most oppressive bondage, and this was the most proper time for God to show them his mercy and power in fulfilling his promise. This is all that is meant by God's remembering his covenant, for it was now that he began to give it its effect. Verse 25. And God had respect unto them.] y on vaiyeda Elohim, God knew them, i. e., he approved of them, and therefore it is said that their cry came up before God, and he heard their groaning. The word yr yada, to know, in the Hebrew Bible, as well as yerwow in the Greek Testament, is frequently used in the sense of approving; and because God knewhad respect for and approved of, them, therefore he was determined to deliver them. For ons Elohim, GOD, in the last clause of this verse, Houbigant reads aleyhem, UPON THEM, which is countenanced by the Vulgate, Septuagint, Chaldee, Coptic, and Arabic, and appears to have been the original reading. The difference in the original consists in the interchange of two letters, the yod and he, Our translators insert unto them, in order to make up that sense which this various reading gives without trouble. ་ THE farther we proceed in the sacred writings, the more the history both of the grace and providence of God opens to our view. He ever cares for his creatures, and is mindful of his promise. The very means made use of to destroy his work are, in his hands, the instruments of its accomplishment. Pharaoh orders the male children of the Hebrews to be thrown into the river; Moses, who was thus exposed, is found by his own daughter, brought up as her own son, and from hís Egyptian education becomes much better qualified for the great work to which God had called him; and his being obliged to leave Egypt was undoubtedly a powerful means to wean his heart from a land in which he had at his command all the advantages and luxuries of life. His sojourning also in a strange land, where he was obliged to earn his bread by a very painful employment, fitted him for the perilous journey he was obliged to take in the wilderness, and enabled him to bear the better the privations to which he was in consequence exposed. Jethro at Mount Horeb. Kings' were employed in the most laborious offices. to fulfil the intention of God and` nature, will doubtless see it their duty to bring up their children on a different plan. A worse than the present can scarcely be found out. The bondage of the Israelites was also wisely per-duct is followed (and where is it not followed?) is in mitted, that they might with less reluctance leave a a state of gradual deterioration. Parents who wish country where they had suffered the greatest oppression and indignities. Had they not suffered severely previously to their departure, there is much reason to believe that no inducements could have been sufficient to have prevailed on them to leave it. And yet their leaving it was of infinite consequence, in the order both of grace and providence, as it was indispensably necessary that they should be a people separated from all the rest of the world, that they might see the promises of God fulfilled under their own eyes, and thus have the fullest persuasion that their law was Divine, their prophets inspired by the Most High, and that the Messiah came according to the prophecies before delivered concerning him. ›› From the example of Pharaoh's daughter, (see note ver. 4,) and the seven daughters of Jethro, (ver. 16,) we learn that in the days of primitive simplicity, and in this respect the best days, the children, particularly the daughters of persons in the highest ranks in life, Afflictions, under the direction of God's providence and the influence of his grace, are often the means of leading men to pray to and acknowledge God, who in the time of their prosperity hardened their necks from his fear. When the Israelites were sorely oppressed, they began to pray. If the cry of oppression had not been among them, probably the cry for mercy had not been heard. Though afflictions, considered in themselves, can neither atone for sin nor improve the moral state of the soul, yet God often uses them as means to bring sinners to himself, and to quicken those who, having already escaped the pollutions of the world, were falling again under the influence of an earthly mind. Of many millions besides David it may truly be said, Before they were afflicted they went astray. CHAPTER III: Moses keeping the flock of Jethro at Mount Horeb, the angel of the Lord appears to him in a burning bush, 1, 2. Astonished at the sight, he turns aside to examine it, 3, when God speaks to him out of the fire, and declares himself to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 4-6; announces his purpose of delivering the Israelites from their oppression, and of bringing them into the promised land, 7–9; commissions him to go to Pharaoh, and to be leader of the children of Israel from Egypt, 10. Moses excuses himself, 11; and God, to encourage him, promises him his protection, 12. Moses doubts whether the Israelites will credit him, 13, and God reveals to him his NAME, and informs him what he is to say to the people, 14-17, and instructs him and the elders of Israel to apply unto Pharaoh for permission to go three days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord, 18; foretells the obstinacy of the Egyptian king, and the miracles which he himself should work in the sight of the Egyptians, 19, 20; and promises that, on the departure of the Israelites, the Egyptians should be induced to furnish them with all necessaries for their journey, 21, 22. B. C. 1491. a B. C. 1491. A. M. 2513. NOW Moses kept the flock of backside of the desert, and came A. M. 2513. Jethro his father-in-law, the to the mountain of God, even priest of Midian and he led the flock to the to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.. out of the burning bush. and see this great sight, why the A. M. 2513. bush is not burned. B. C. 1491. 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, And he said, Here am I. * Deut. xxxiii. 16; Isa. lxiii. 9; Acts vii. 30. be a general term for a relative by marriage, and the connection only in which it, stands can determine its precise meaning. It is very possible that Reuel was now dead, it being forty years since Moses came to Midian; that Jethro was his son, and had succeeded him in his office of prince and priest of Midian; that Zipporah was the sister of Jethro; and that consequently the word nn chothen should be translated brother-in-law in this place as we learn from Gen. xxxiv. 9, Deut. vii. 3, Josh. xxii. 12, and other places, that it simply signifies to contract affinity by marriage. If this conjecture be right, we may well suppose that, Reuel being dead, Moses was continued by his brotherin-law Jethro in the same employment he had under his father. Mountain of God] Sometimes named Horeb, at other times Sinai. The mountain itself had two peaks; one was called Horeb, the other Sinai. Horeb was probably the primitive name of the mountain, which was afterwards called the mountain of God, because God appeared upon it to Moses; and Mount Sinai, JD, from seneh, a bush, because it was in a bush or bramble, in a flame of fire, that this appearance was made. Verse 2. The angel of the Lord] Not a created angel certainly; for he is called n Jehovah, ver. 4, &c., and has the most expressive attributes of the Godhead applied to him, ver. 14, &c. Yet he is an angel, malach, a messenger, in whom was the name of God, chap. xxiii. 21; and in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. ii. 9; and who, in all these primitive times, was the Messenger of the covenant, Mal. iii. 1. And-who was this but JESUS, the Leader, Redeemer, and Saviour of mankind? See the note on Gen. xvi. 7.. A flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush] Fire was, not only among the Hebrews but also among many other ancient nations, á very significant emblem of the Deity. God accompanied the Israelites in all their journeyings through the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night; and probably a fire or flame in the holy of holies, between the cherubim, was the general symbol of his presence; and traditions of these things, which must have been current in the east, have probably given birth, not only to the pretty general opinion that God appears in the likeness of fire, but to the whole of the Zoroastrian system of fire-worship. It has been reported of Zoroaster, or Zeradusht, that having retired to a mountain for the study of wisdom, and the benefit of solitude, the whole mountain was one day enveloped with flame, out of the midst of which he came without receiving any injury; on which he offered sacrifices to God, who, he was persuaded, had then appeared to him. M. Anquetil du Perron gives much curious in Χώριζε θνητών τον Θεόν, και μη δόκει Ουκ οίσθα δ' αυτόν· ποτε μεν ὡς πυρ φαίνεται Απλάστον όρμη· ποτε δ' ύδωρ, ποτε δε γνοφος. "Distinguish God from mortal men; and do not knowest him not: sometimes indeed he appears as a suppose that any thing fleshly is like unto him. Thou sometimes as thick darkness." The poet proceeds :formless and impetuous FIRE, sometimes as water, Τρέμει δ' όρη, και γαια, και πελώριος Όταν επιβλεψη γοργον όμμα δεσποτου. "The mountains, the earth, the deep and extensive sea, and the summits of the highest mountains tremble whenever the terrible eye of the Supreme Lord looks down upon them." . 66 These are very remarkable fragments, and seem all to be collected from traditions relative to the different manifestations of God to the Israelites in Egypt, and in the wilderness. Moses wished to see God, but he could behold nothing but an indescribable glory: nothing like mortals, nothing like a human body, appeared at any time to his eye, or to those of the Israelites. "Ye saw no manner of similitude," said Moses, on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb, out of the midst of the FIRE," Deut. iv. 15. But sometimes the Divine power and justice were manifested by the indescribable, formless, impetuous, consuming flame; at other times he appeared by the water which he brought out of the flinty rock; and in the thick darkness on Horeb, when the fiery law proceeded from his right-hand, then the earth quaked and the mountain trembled and when his terrible eye looked out upon the Egyptians through the pillar of cloud and fire, their chariot wheels were struck off, and confusion and dismay were spread through all the hosts of Pharaoh ; Exod. xiv. 24, 25. And the bush was not consumed.] · 1. An emblem of the state of Israel in its various distresses and persecutions it was in the fire of adversity, but was not consumed. 2. An emblem also of the state of the Church of God in the wilderness, in persecutions often, in the midst of its enemies, in the region of the shadow of death-yet not consumed. 3. An emblem also of the state of every follower of Christ: cast down, but not forsaken; grievously tempted, but not destroyed; God converses with Moses, B. C. 1491. A. M. 2513. 5 And he said, Draw hot nigh and i have heard their cry by reahither put off thy shoes from son of their task-masters; for 1I. off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest know their sorrows; is holy ground. 6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, f Chap. xix. 12; Josh. v. 15; Acts vii. 33. Gen. xxviii. 13; ver. 15; chap. iv. 5; Matt. xxii. 32; Mark xii. 26; Luke xx. 37; Acts vii. 32. So 1 Kings xix. 13; Isa. vi. 1, 5; Neh. ix. 9; Psa. cvi. 44; Acts vii. 34.- -i Ch. ii. 23, 24. Chap. i. 11. walking through the fire, but still unconsumed! Why are all these preserved in the midst of those things which have a natural tendency to destroy them? Because GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF THEM; it was this that preserved the bush from destruction; and it was this that preserved the Israelites; and it is this, and this alone, that preserves the Church, and holds the soul of every genuine believer in the spiritual life. He in whose heart Christ dwells not by faith, will soon be consumed by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Verse 5. Put off thy shoes] It is likely that from this circumstance all the eastern nations have agreed to perform all the acts of their religious worship barefooted. All the Mohammedans, Brahmins, and Parsees do so still. The Jews were remarked for this in the time of Juvenal; hence he speaks of their performing their sacred rites barefooted; Sat. vi., ver. 158: Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges. A. M. 2513. 8 And I am come down to a deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of a the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 1 Gen. xviii. 21; ch. ii. 25. Gen. xi. 5, 7; xviii. 21; 1. 24. " Ch. vi. 6, 8; xii. 51. Deut. i. 25; viii. 7, 8, 9. - Ver. 17; chap. xiii. 5; xxxiii. 3; Num. xiii. 27;-Deut. xxvi. 9, 15; Jer. xi. 5; xxxii. 22; Ezek. xx. 6:- -Gen. xv. 18. their shoes at the door. It would be a great affront not to attend to this mark of respect when visiting; and to enter a temple without pulling off the shoes would be an unpardonable offence."—Ward. The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.] It was now particularly sanctified by the Divine - presence; but if we may credit Josephus, a general opinion had prevailed that God dwelt on that mountain; and hence the shepherds, considering it as sacred ground, did not dare to feed their flocks there. however, finding the soil to be rich and the pasturage good, boldly drove his flock thither to feed on it.Antiq., b. ii., c. xii., s. 1. Moses, Verse 6. I am the God of thy father] Though the word ' abi, father, is here used in the singular, St. Stephen, quoting this place, Acts vii. 32, uses the plural, 'O DεUÇ TWV паTEрWv σov, The God of thy FATHERS ; and that this is the meaning the following words prove: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. These were the fathers of Moses in a direct line. This reading is confirmed by the Samaritan and by the Coptic. ABRAHAM was the father of the Ishmaelites, and with him was the covenant first made. ISAAC was the father of the Edom covenant renewed. JACOB was the father of the twelve patriarchs, who were founders of the Jewish nation, and to him were the promises particularly confirmed. Hence we see that the Arabs and Turks in general, who are descendants of Ishmael; the Edomites, now absorbed among the Jews, (see the note on Gen. xxy. 23,) who are the descendants of Esau ; and the Jewish people, wheresoever scattered, who are the descendants of Jacob, are all heirs of the promises included in this primitive covenant; and their gathering in with the fulness of the Gentiles may be confidently expected. The ancient Greeks did the same. Jamblichus, in the life of Pythagoras, tells us that this was one of his maxims, Avvπodnтos-Ovε kαι πрoσкvvel, Offer sacrifice and worship with your shoes off. And Solinus asserts that no person was permitted to enter into the temple of Diana, in Crete, till he had taken off his shoes.ites as well as the Israelites, and with him was the "Edem Numinis (Dianæ) præterquam nudus vestigio nullus licito ingreditur.” Tertullian observes, de jejunio, that in a time of drought the worshippers of Jupiter deprecated his wrath, and prayed for rain, walking barefooted. "Cum stupet cœlum, et aret annus, nudipedalia, denunciantur." It is probable that Dy nealim, in the text, signifies sandals, translated by the Chaldee 10 sandal, and 10 sandala, (see Gen. xiv. 23,) which was the same as the Roman solea, a sole alone, strapped about the foot. As this sole must let in dust, gravel, and sand about the foot in travelling, and render it very uneasy, hence the custom of frequently washing the feet in those countries where these sandals were worn. Pulling off the shoes was, therefore, an emblem of laying aside the pollutions contracted by walking in the way of sin. Let those who name the Lord Jesus Christ depart from iniquity. In our western countries reverence is expressed by pulling off the hat; but how much more significant is the eastern custom! "The natives of Bengal never go into their own houses with their shoes on, nor into the houses of others, but always leave And Moses hid his face] For similar acts, see the passages referred to in the margin. He was afraid to look-he was overawed by God's présence, and dazzled with the splendour of the appearance. Verse 7. I have surely seen] 7 ANTraoh raithi, seeing, I have seen-I have not only seen the afflictions of this people because I am omniscient, but I have considered their sorrows, and my eye affects my heart. Verse 8. And I am come down to deliver them] This is the very purpose for which I am now ceme God commissions Moses A. M.2513. B. C. 1491. CHAP. III. r to go to Pharaoh. B. C. 1491. 9 Now therefore, . behold, the | should bring forth the children of A. M. 2513. cry of the children of Israel is Israel out of Egypt? come unto me and I have also seen the 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with ⚫ oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress thee; and this shall be a token unto thee that them. I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I down upon this mountain, and for which I manifest myself to thee. Large-land] Canaan, when compared with the small tract of Goshen, in which they were now situated, and where, we learn, from chap. i. 7, they were straitened for room, might be well called a large land. See a fine description of this land Deut. viii. 7. 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, Jer. i. 6.- - Genesis xxxi. 3; Deut. xxxi. 23; Josh. i. 5; Verse 12. Certainly I will be with thee] This great event shall not be left to thy wisdom and to thy power; my counsel shall direct thee, and my power shall bring all these mighty things to pass. Literally, And THIS to And this shall be a token] thee for a sign, i. e., this miraculous manifestation of the burning bush shall be a ́proof that I have sent thee; or, My being with thee, to encourage-thy heart, strengthen thy hands, and enable thee to work miracles, shall be to thyself and to others the evidence of thy Divine mission. Ye shall serve God upon this mountain.] This was not the sign, but God shows him, that in their return from Egypt they should take this mountain in their way, and should worship him in this place. There may be a prophetic allusion here to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. As Moses received his com A land flowing with milk and honey] Excellent for pasturage, because abounding in the most wholesome herbage and flowers; and from the latter an abundance of wild honey was collected by the bees. Though cultivation is now almost entirely neglected in this land, because of the badness of the government and the scantiness of the inhabitants, yet it is still good for pasturage, and yields an abundance of honey. The terms used in the text to express the fertility of this land, are commonly used by ancient authors on similar subjects. It is a metaphor taken from a breast pro-mands here, so likewise should the Israelites receive ducing copious streams of milk. Homer calls Argos theirs in the same place. After all, the Divine Being ovdap apoyons, the breast of the country, as affording seems to testify a partial predilection for this mounstreams of milk and honey, II. ix., ver. 141. So Virgil:-tain, for reasons that are not expressed. See the Prima tulit tellus, eadem vos ubere læto Accipiet. En., lib. iii., ver. 95. "The land that first produced you shall receive you again into its joyous bosom." The poets feign that Bacchus, the fable of whom they have taken from the history of Moses, produced rivers of milk and honey, of water and wine :Ρει δε γαλάκτι πεδον, Τει δ' οινῳ, ῥει δε μελισσαν NEKTap. EURIP. Bacch., Елod., ver. 8. "The land flows with milk; it flows also with wine; it flows also with the nectar of bees, (honey.)" This seems to be a mere poetical copy from the Pentateuch, where the sameness of the metaphor and the correspondence of the descriptions are obvious. Place of the Canaanites, &c.] See Gen. xv. 18, &c. Verse 11. Who am I—that I should bring] He was so satisfied that this was beyond his power, and all the means that he possessed, that he is astonished that even God himself should appoint him, to this work! Such indeed was the bondage of the children of Israel, and the power of the people by whom they were enslaved, that had not their deliverance come through supernatural means, their escape had been utterly impossible.. note on ver. 5. Verse 13. They shall say What is his name?] Does not this suppose that the Israelites had an idolatrous notion even of the Supreme Being? They had and had gods many and lords many; and Moses conprobably drank deep into the Egyptian superstitions, jectured that, hearing of a supernatural deliverance, they would inquire who that God was by whom it was to be effected. The reasons given here by the rabbins are too refined for the Israelites at this time. "When God," say they, "judgeth his creatures, he is called on Elohim; when he warreth against the wicked, he is called NY Tsebaoth; but when he showeth mercy unto the world, he is called ' Yehovah." It is not likely that the Israelites had much knowledge of God or of his ways at the time to which the sacred text refers; it is certain they had no written word. The book of Genesis, if even written, (for some suppose it had been composed by Moses during his residence in Midian,) had not yet been communicated to the people; and being so long without any revelation, and perhaps without even the form of Divine worship, their minds being degraded by the state of bondage in which they had been so long held, and seeing and hearing little in religion but the superstitions of those among whom they sojourned, they could |