A prediction of the tenth A. M, 2513. B. C. 1491. B. C. 1491. • About midnight will I go out into all the land of Egypt, such as A. M. 2513. 5 And fall the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts. 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout e Chapter xii. 12, 23, 29; Amos v. 17. Amos iv. 10. 7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Chapter xii. 12, 29; Chap. xii. 30; Amos v. 17; Wisd. xviii. 10.- - Chap. viii. God did this by the ministry of a good or of an evil angel is a matter of little importance, though some commentators have greatly magnified it. Both kinds of angels are under his power and jurisdiction, and he may employ them as he pleases. Such a work of destruction as the slaying of the-first-born is supposed to be more proper for a bad than for a good angel. But the works of God's justice are not less holy and pure than the works of his mercy; and the highest archangel may, with the utmost propriety, be employed in either. Verse 5. The first-born of Pharaoh, &c.]. From the heir to the Egyptian throne to the son of the most abject slave, or the principal person in each family. See the note on chap. xii. 29. The maid-servant that is behind the mill] The meanest slaves were employed in this work. In many parts of the east they still grind all their corn with a kind of portable mill-stones, the upper one of which is turned round by a sort of lever fixed in the rim. A drawing of one of these machines as used in China is now before me, and the person who grinds is represented as pushing the lever before him, and thus running round with the stone. Perhaps something like this is intended by the expression BEHIND the mill in the text. On this passage Dr. Shaw has the following observation :-" Most families grind their wheat and barley at home, having two portable mill-stones for that purpose, the uppermost of which is turned round by a small handle of wood or iren that is placed in the rim. When this stone is large, or expedition required, a second person is called in to assist; and as it is usual for women alone to be concerned in this employment, who seat themselves over against each other with the mill-stone between them, we may see, not only the propriety of the expression (Exod. xi. 5) of sitting behind the mill, but the force of another, (Matt. xxiv. 40,) that two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left."-Travels, p. 231, 4to edit. These portable mills, under the name of querns, were used among our ancestors in this and the sister kingdoms, and some of them are in use to the present day. Both the instrument and its name our forefathers seem to have borrowed from the continent. They have long existed among the inhabitants of Shetland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, &c. Verse 6. There shall be a great cry] Of the dying and for the dead. See more on this subject, chap. xii. 30. Verse 7. Not a dog move his tongue] This passage has been generally understood as a proverbial expression, intimating that the Israelites should not only be free from this death, but that they should depart with 22. Josh. x. 21. out any kind of molestation. For though there must be much bustle and comparative confusion in the sudden removal of six hundred thousand persons with their wives, children, goods, cattle, &c., yet this should produce so little alarm that even the dogs should not bark at them, which it would be natural to expect, as the principal stir was to be about midnight. After giving this general explanation from others, I may be permitted to hazard a conjecture of my own. And, 1. Is it not probable that the allusion is here made to a well-known custom of dogs howling when any mortality is in a village, street, or even house, where such animals are! There are innumerable instances. of the faithful house-dog howling when a death happens in a family, as if distressed on the account, feeling for the loss of his benefactor; but their apparent presaging such an event by their cries, as some will have it, may be attributed, not to any prescience, but to the exquisite keenness of their scent. If the words may be understood in this way, then the great cry through the whole land of Egypt may refer to this very circumstance as dogs were sacred among them, and consequently religiously preserved, they must have existed in great multitudes. 2, We know that one of their principal deities was Osiris, whose son, worshipped under the form of a dog, or a man with a dog's head, was called Anubis latrator, the barking Anubis. May he not be represented as deploring a calamity which he had no power to prevent among his worshippers, nor influence to inflict punishment upon those who set his deity at naught? Hence while there was a great cry, 1 pys tseakah gedolah, throughout all the land of Egypt, because of the mortality in every house, yet among the Israelites there was no death, consequently no dog moved his tongue to howl for their calamity; nor could the object of the Egyptians' worship inflict any similar punishment on the worshippers of Jehovah. In honour of this dog-god there was a city called Anubis in Egypt, by the Greeks called Cynopolis, the city of the dog, the same that is now called Menich; in this he had a temple, and dogs, which were sacred to him, were here fed with consecrated victuals. Thus, as in the first plagues their magicians were confounded, so in this last their gods were put to flight. And may not this be referred to in chap. xii. 12, when Jehovah says: Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment? Should it be objected, that to consider the passage in this light would be to acknowledge the being and deity of the fictitious Anubis, it may be answered, that in the sacred writings it is not an un Pharaoh again B. C. 1491. B. C. 1491. A. M. 2513. 8 And all these thy servants shall not hearken unto you; that A. M. 2513. shall come down unto me, and bow my wonders may be multiplied down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee in the land of Egypt. out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. from Pharaoh in a great anger. And he went out 10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, "Pharaoh let the children of Israel go out of his land. Chap. xii. 33.- Heb. that is at thy feet; so Judg. iv..10; viii. 5; 1 Kings xx. 10; 2 Kings iii. 9. Heb. heat of anger." Chap. iii. 19; vii. 4; x. 1.- Ch. vii. 3.- -P Chap. x. 20, 27; Rom. ii. 5; ix. 22. common thing to see the idol acknowledged in order to between the Hebrew and Samaritan copies of this show its nullity, and the more forcibly to express conwork. In this chapter the variations are of considertempt for it, for its worshippers, and for its worship. able importance, and competent critics have allowed Thus Isaiah represents the Babylonish idols as being that the Samaritan text, especially in this chapter, is endued with sense, bowing down under the judgments fuller and better connected than that of the Hebrew. of God, utterly unable to help themselves or their 1. It is evident that the eighth verse in the present worshippers, and being a burden to the beasts that car- Hebrew text has no natural connection with the seried them: BEL boweth down, NEBO stoopeth; their venth. For in the seventh verse Moses delivers to idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattle: your the Israelites what God had commanded him to say: carriages were heavy laden; they are a burden to the and in the eighth he appears to continue a direct disweary beast. THEY stoop, they bow down together; course unto Pharaoh, though it does not appear when they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are this discourse was begun. This is quite contrary to gone into captivity; chap. xlvi. 1, 2. The case of Eli-the custom of Moses, who always particularly notes jah and the prophets of Baal should not be forgotten the commencement of his discourses. here; this prophet, by seeming to acknowledge the 2. It is not likely that the Samaritans have added reality of Baal's being, though by a strong irony, pour-these portions, as they could have no private interest ed the most sovereign contempt upon him, his worshippers, and his worship: And Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; FOR HE IS A GOD either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked; 1 Kings XVI. 27. See the observations at the end of chap. xii. The Lord doth put a difference] See on chap. viii. 22. And for the variations between the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuch in this place, see at the end of the chapter. Verse 8. And all these thy servants shall come] A prediction of what actually took place. See chap. xii. 31-33. Verse 9. Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you] Though shall and will are both reputed signs of the future tense, and by many indiscriminately used, yet they make a most essential difference in composition in a variety of cases. For instance, if we translate yourlo yishma, Pharaoh SHALL not hearken, as in our text, the word shall strongly intimates that it was impossible for Pharaoh to hearken, and that God had placed him under that impossibility: but if we translate as we should do, Pharaoh WILL not hearken, it alters the case most essentially, and agrees with the many passages in the preceding chapters, where he is said to have hardened his own heart; as this proves that he without any impulsive necessity, obstinately refused to attend to what Moes said or threatened; and that God took the advantage of this obstinacy to work another miracle, and thus multiply his wonders in the land. Pharaoh WILL not hearken unto you; and because he would not God hardened his heart-left him to his own obstinacy. To most critics it is well known that there are in several parts of the Pentateuch considerable differences to serve by so doing; and therefore it is likely that these additions were originally parts of the sacred text, and might have been omitted, because an ancient copyist found the substance of them in other places. It must however be granted, that the principal additions in the Samaritan are repetitions of speeches which exist in the Hebrew text. 3. The principal part of these additions do not ap-. pear to have been borrowed from any other quarter. Interpolations in general are easily discerned from the confusion they introduce; but instead of deranging the sense, the additions here make it much more apparent; for should these not be admitted it is evident that something is wanting, without which the connection is incomplete.-See Calmet. But the reader is still requested to observe, that the supplementary matter in the Samaritan is collected from other parts of the Hebrew text; and that the principal merit of the Samaritan is, that it preserves the words in a better arrangement. Dr. Kennicott has entered into this subject at large, and by printing the two texts in parallel columns, the supplementary matter in the Samaritan and the hiatus in the Hebrew text will be at once perceived. It is well known that he preferred the Samaritan to the Hebrew Pentateuch; and his reasons for that preference in this case I shall subjoin. As the work is extremely scarce from which I select them, one class of readers especially will be glad to meet with them in this place. "Within these five chapters, vii., viii., ix., x., and xi., are seven very great differences between the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuchs, relating to the speeches which denounced seven out of the ten judgments upon the Egyptians, viz., waters into blood, frogs, flies, murrain, hail, locusts, and destruction of the first-born. The Hebrew text gives the speeches concerning these judgments only once at each; but the Samaritan gives each speech TWICE. In the Hebrew, we have the speeches concerning the five first as in command from GOD to Moses, without reading that Moses delivered them; and concerning the two last, as delivered by Moses to Pharaoh, without reading that God had commanded them. Whereas in the Samaritan we find every speech TWICE: GOD commands Moses to go and speak thus or thus before Pharaoh; Moses goes and denounces the judgment; Pharaoh disobeys, and the judgment takes place. All this is perfectly regular, and exactly agreeable to the double speeches of Homer in very ancient times. I have not the least doubt that the Hebrew text now wants many words in each of the seven following places: chap. vii., between verses 18 and 19; end of chap. vii. ; chap. viii., between 19 and 20; chap. x., between 2 and 3'; chap. xi., at verses 3 and 4. The reader will. permit me to refer him (for all the words thus omitted) to my own edition of the Hebrew Bible, (Oxford 1780, 2 vols. fol.,) where the whole differences are most clearly described. As this is a matter of very extensive consequence, I cannot but observe here, that the present Hebrew text of Exod. xi. did formerly, and does still appear to me to furnish a demonstration against itself, in proof of the double speech being formerly recorded there, as it is now in the Samaritan. And some very learned men have confessed the impossibility of explaining this chapter without the assistance of the Samaritan Pentateuch. I shall now give this important chapter as I presume it stood originally, distinguishing by ita lics all such words as are added to or differ from our present translation. And before this chapter must be placed the two last verses of the chapter preceding, Exod. x. 28: And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29: And Moses said, Thou hast well spoken, I will see thy face again no more. EXODUS XI. HEBREW TEXT AND PRE SENT VERSION. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague. more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt, afterwards he will let you go hence when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether., 2. Speak now in the ears of the people; and let every man BORROW of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. 3. And the LORD GAVE the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. SAMARITAN TEXT AND NEW VERSION. 1. Then Jehovah said unto Moses, Yet 'will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt, and afterwards he will send you out hence: when he will send you away, he will surely drive you hence altogether: HEBREW -texts collated and compared. EXODUS XI. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people. 1 SAMARITAN. 4. For about midnight I will go forth into the midst of the land of Egypt., 5. And every first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sitteth upon his throne, unto the firstborn of the maid-servant that is behind the mill, and even unto the firstborn of every beast. 6. And there shall be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 7. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or even against beast; that thou mayest know that Jehovah doth put à difference between the Egyptians and Israel. 8. And thou also shalt be greatly honoured in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people. 9. THEN Moses said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, my first-born; and I said unto thee, Let my son go that he may serve mẻ. 10. But thou hast refused to let him go; behold, Jehovah slayeth thy son, thy first-born. 11. And Moses said, saith the Lord, About mid-Thus saith Jehovah, About night will I go out into midnight will go forth the midst into the midst of the land of Egypt. of Egypt. 5. And all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon 2. Speak now in the. his throne, even unto the ears of the people; and first-børn of the maid-serlet every man ASK of his vant that is behind the neighbour, and every wo-mill; and all the first-born man of her neighbour, ves- of beasts.. sels of silver, and vessels of gold and raiment. 3. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they shall give them what they ask, 6. And there shall be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 7. But against any of 12. And every first-born in the land of Egypt shalldie, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, unto the firstborn of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and even unto the firstborn of every beast.. 13. And there shall be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 14. But against any of Directions concerning the EXODUS XI. HEBREW. the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. SAMARITAN. CHAP. XII. the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or even against beast: that thou mayest know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. 8. And all these thy 15. And all these thy servants shall come down servants shall come down unto me, and bow down to me, and bow down themselves unto me, say- themselves to me, saying, ing, Get thee out and all the Go forth, thou and all the people that follow thee; people that follow thee; and after that I will go out. and then I will go forth. And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. 9. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 16. Then went he forth from before Pharaoh in great indignation. 17. And Jéhovah said unto Moses, Pharaoh doth not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 10. And Moses and 18. And Moses and Aaron did all these won- Aaron performed all these ders before Pharaoh and wonders before Pharaoh : the Lord hardened Pha- but Jehovah hardened raoh's heart, so that he Pharaoh's heart, so that would not let the chil- he would not let the children of Israel go out of dren of Israel go out of his land. his land. "The reader has now the whole of this chapter before him. When, therefore, he has first read the 28th and 29th verses of the preceding chapter, and has then observed with due surprise the confusion of the Hebrew text in chap. xi., he will be prepared to acknowledge with due gratitude the regularity and truth of the Samaritan text, through these many and very considerable differences."-REMARKS on select passages in the Old Testament, 8vo., Oxford, 1787. The reader will pass his own judgment on the weight of this reasoning, and the importance of the additions preserved in the Samaritan text; a conviction of their utility has induced me to insert them. CHAPTER XII. The PASSOVER instituted; the The month Abib is to be considered as the commencement of the year, 1, 2. lamb or kid to be used on the occasion to be taken from the flock the tenth day of the month, and each family to provide one, 3, 4. The lamb or kid to be a male of the first year without blemish, 5. To be killed on the fourteenth day, 6, and the blood to be sprinkled on the side posts and lintels of the doors, 7. The flesh to be prepared by roasting, and not to be eaten either sodden or raw, 8, 9; and no part of it to be left till the morning, 10. The people to eat it with their loins girded, &c., as persons prepared for a journey, 11. Why called the PASSOVER, 12. The blood sprinkled on the door posts, &c., to be a token to them of preservation from the destroying angel, 13. The fourteenth day of the month Abib to be a feast for ever, 14. Unleavened bread to be eaten seven days, 15. This also to be observed in all their generations for ever, 17-20. Moses instructs the elders of Israel how they are to offer the lamb and sprinkle his blood, and for what purpose, 21-23. He binds them to instruct their children in the nature of this rite, 24-27. The children of Israel act as commanded, 28. All the first-born of Egypt slain, 29, 30. Pharaoh and the Egyptians urge Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites to depart, 31-33. They prepare for their departure, and get gold, silver, and raiment from the Egyptians, 34-36. They journey from Rameses to Succoth, in number six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, and a mixed mullitude, 37, 38. They bake unleavened cakes of the dough they brought with them out of Egypt, 39. The time in which they sojourned in Egypt, 40-42, Different ordinances concerning the PASSOVER, 43-49; which are all punctually observed by the people, who are brought out of Egypt the same day, 50, 51. B. C. 1491. A. M. 2513. AND the LORD spake unto beginning of months: it shall 2 This month shall be unto you the a Chap. xiii. 4; Deut. xvi. 1; xxiii. 15; xxxiv. 18; Verse 2. This month shall be unto you the beginring of months] It is supposed that God now changed the commencement of the Jewish year. The month to which this verse refers, the month Abib, answers to a part of our March and April; whereas it is supposed that previously to this the year began with Tisri, which answers to a part of our September; for in this month the Jews suppose God created the world, when 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Lev. xiii. 5; Num. xxviii. 16; Esth. iii. 7. the earth appeared at once with all its fruits in perfec- The paschal. A. M. 2513. Abib or Nisan. A. M. 2513. Abib or Nisan. Israel, saying, In the tenth day | souls; every man, according to An. Exod. Isr. 1. of this month they shall take to his eating, shall make your count An. Exod. 1sr. 1. them every man a lamb, ac- for the lamb. cording to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it, according to.the number of the d 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole d bOr, kid.- - Lev. xxii. 19, 20, 21; Mal. i. 8, 14; Heb. ix. 14; Heb. son of a year; Lev. xxii. 12. Lev. xxiii. 5; Num. ix. 3; xxviii. 16; Deut. xvi. 1, 6., 1 Pet. i. 19. rabbins allow that there should be at least ten persons to one paschal lamb, and not more than twenty. Take it, according to the number of the souls] The persons who were to eat of it were to be first ascertained, and then the lamb was to be slain and dressed for that number. era, which is referred to in Jewish reckonings down to the building of the temple, I have marked it as such in the chronology in the margin; and shall carry it down to the time in which it ceased to be acknowledged. Some very eminently learned men dispute this; and especially Houbigant, who contends with great plausibility of argument that no new commencement of the Verse 5. Without blemish] Having no natural imyear is noted in this place; for that the year had al-perfection, no disease; no deficiency or redundancy of ways begun in this month, and that the words shall be, parts. On this point the rabbins have trifled most which are inserted by different versions, have nothing egregiously, reckoning fifty blemishes that render a answering to them in the Hebrew, which he renders lamb or a kid, or any animal, improper to be sacrificed : literally thus: Hic mensis vobis est caput mensium; five in the ear, three in the eyelid, eight in the eye, hic gobis primus est ‘anni mensis. "This month is to three in the nose, six in the mouth, &c., &c. you the head or chief of the months; it is to you the A male of the first year] That is, any age in the first month of the year." And he observes farther first year between eight days and twelve months. that God only marks it thus, as is evident from the From the sheep, or from the goats] The no seh context, to show the people that this month, which means either; and either was equally proper if withwas the beginning of their year, should be, so desig-out blemish. The Hebrews however in general pre-· nated as to point out to their posterity on what month and on what day of the month they were to celebrate the passover and the feast of unleavened bread. His words are these: "Ergo superest, et Hebr. ipso ex contextu efficitur, non hic novi ordinis annum constitui, sed eum anni mensem, qui esset primus, ideo commemorari, ut posteris constaret, quo mense, et quo die mensis pascha et azyma celebranda essent.". ferred the lamb to the kid. This was Verse 6. Ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day] The lamb or kid was to be taken from the flock on the tenth day, and kept up and fed by itself till the fourteenth day, when it was to be sacrificed. never commanded nor practised afterwards. The rabbins mark four things that were required in the first passover that were never required afterwards: 1. The eating of the lamb in their houses dispersed through Goshen. 2. The taking the lamb on the tenth day. [3. The striking of its blood on the door posts and lintels of their houses. And, 4. Their eating it in haste. These things were not required of the succeeding generations. Verse 3. In the tenth day of this month] In after times they began their preparation on the thirteenth day or day before the PASSOVER, which was not celebrated till the fourteenth day, see ver. 6: but on the present occasion, as this was their first passover, they probably required more time to get ready in; as a state of very great confusion must have prevailed at this time. Mr. Ainsworth remarks that on this day the Israelites did afterwards go through Jordan into the land of Canaan; Josh. iv. 19. And Christ, our In the evening.] by a beyn haarbayim, “bePaschal Lamb, on this day entered Jerusalem, riding tween the two evenings." The Jews divided the day on an ass; the people bearing palm branches, and into morning and evening: till the sun passed the mericrying, Hosanna, John xii. 1, 12, 13, &c. and indian all was morning or forenoon; after that, all was him this type was truly fulfilled. : A lamb] The original word n seh signifies the young of sheep and of goats, and may be indifferently translated either lamb or kid. See ver. 5. A lamb for a house]. The whole host of Israel was divided into twelve tribes, these tribes into families, the families into houses, and the houses into particular persons; Num. i., Josh. vii. 14.-Ainsworth." Verse 4. If the household be too little] That is, If there be not persons enough in one family to eat a whole lamb, then two families must join together. The The whole assembly-shall kill it] Any person might kill it, the sacrificial act in this case not being confined to the priests. afternoon or evening. Their first evening began just, "The day among the Jews had twelve hours, John xi. 9. Their first hour was about six o'clock in the morning with us. Their sixth hour was our noon. Their ninth hour answered to our three o'clock in the afternoon. By this we may understand that the time |