The rod changed into a serpent. CHAP. IV. The hand of Moses becomes leprous. CHAPTER IV. Moses continuing to express his fear that the Israelites would not credit his Divine mission, 1, God, to strengthen his faith, and to assure him that his countrymen would believe him, changed his rod into a ser pent, and the serpent into a rod, 2-5; made his hand leprous, and afterwards restored it, 6, 7; intimating that he had now endued him with power to work such miracles, and that the Israelites would believe, 8; and farther assures him that he should have power to turn the water into blood, 9. Moses excuses himself on the ground of his not being eloquent, 10, and God reproves him for his unbelief, and promises to give him supernatural assistance, 11, 12. Moses expressing his utter unwillingness to go on any account, God is angry, and then promises to give him his brother Aaron to be his spokesman, 13-16, and appoints his rod to be the instrument of working miracles, 17. Moses returns to his relative Jethro, and requests liberty to visit his brethren in Egypt, and is permittted, 18. God appears to him in Midian, and assures him that the Egyptians who sought his life were dead, 19. Moses, with his wife and children, set out on their journey to Egypt, 20. God instructs him what he shall say to Pharaoh, 21-23. He is in danger of losing his life, because he had not circumcised his son, 24. Zipporah immediately circumcising the child, Moses escapes unhurt, 25, 26. Aaron is commanded to go and meet his brother Moses; he goes and meets him at Horeb, 27. Moses informs him of the commission he had received from God, 28. They both go to their brethren, deliver their message, and work miracles, 29, 30. The people believe and adore God, 31. B. C. B. C. 1491. A. M. 2513. AND Moses answered and said, put forth his hand, and caught A. M. 2513. But, behold, they will not be- it, and it became a rod in his lieve me, nor hearken unto my voice: for hand: they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. NOTES ON CHAP. IV. Verse 1. They will not believe me] As if he had said, Unless I be enabled to work miracles, and give them proofs by extraordinary works as well as by words, they will not believe that thou hast sent me. Verse 2. A rod.] 70D malleh, a staff, probably his shepherd's crook; see Lev. xxvii. 32. As it was made the instrument of working many miracles, it was afterwards called the rod of God; see ver. 20. Verse 3. A serpent] Of what sort we know not, as the word n nachash is a general name for serpents, and also means several other things, see Gen. iii. 1: but it was either of a kind that he had not seen before, or one that he knew to be dangerous; for it is said, he fled from before it. Some suppose the staff was changed into a crocodile; see on chap. vii. 7. Verse 4. He put forth his hand, and caught it] Considering the light in which Moses had viewed this serpent, it required considerable faith to induce him thus implicitly to obey the command of God; but he obeyed, and the noxious serpent became instantly the miraculous rod in his hand! Implicit faith and obedience conquer all difficulties; and he who believes in God, and obeys him in all things, has really nothing to fear. Verse 5. That they may believe] This is an ex b 5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. 6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous d as snow. d.Num. xii. 10; 2 Kings v. 27. ample of what is called an imperfect or unfinished speech, several of which occur in the sacred writings. It may be thus supplied: Do this before them, that they may believe that the Lord hath appeared unto thee. Verse 6. His hand was leprous as snow.] That is, the leprosy spread itself over the whole body in thin white scales; and from this appearance it has its Greek name λεπρα, froin λεπις, a scale. Dr. Mead says, "I have seen a remarkable case of this in a countryman, whose whole body was so miserably seized with it, that his skin was shining as if covered with snow; and as the furfuraceous scales were daily rubbed off, the flesh appeared quick or raw underneath." The leprosy, at least among the Jews, was a most inveterate and contagious disorder, and deemed by them incurable. Among the heathens it was considered as inflicted by their gods, and it was supposed that they alone could remove it. It is certain that a similar belief prevailed among the Israelites; hence, when the king of Syria sent his general, Naaman, to the king of Israel to cure him of his leprosy, he rent his clothes, saying, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? 2 Kings v. 7. This appears, therefore, to be the reason why God chose this sign, as the instantaneous infliction and removal of this disease were demonstrations which all would allow of Moses pleads his unfitness B. C. 1491. EXODUS. A. M. 2513. 7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. 8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out f • Deut. xxxii. 39; Num. xii. 13, 14; 2 Kings v. 14; Matt. viii. 3. Chap. vii. 19.- - Heb. shall be and shall be.- h Heb. a man of words.- i Heb. since yesterday, nor since the third day. the sovereign power of God. We need, therefore, seek for no other reasons for this miracle: the sole reason is sufficiently obvious. Verse 8. If they will not believe the voice of the first sign, &c.] Probably intimating that some would be more difficult to be persuaded than others: some would yield to the evidence of the first miracle; others would hesitate till they had seen the second; and others would not believe till they had seen the water of the Nile turned into blood, when poured upon the dry land; ver. 9. | for the Divine mission. dor of God. n Jer. i. 6.- Psa. xciv. 9.- m Isa. 1.4; Jer Mark xiii. 11; Luke xii. 11, 12; xxi. 14, 15 - Or, shouldest. 3. Though Moses was slow of speech, yet when acting as the messenger of God his word was with power, for at his command the plagues came and the plagues were stayed; thus was he mighty in words as well as in deeds: and this is probably the meaning of St. Stephen. By the expression, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, he might possibly mean, that the natural inaptitude to speak readily, which he had felt, he continued to feel, even since God had begun to discover himself; for though he had wrought several miracles for him, yet he had not healed this infirmity. See on chap. vi. 12. Verse 11. Who hath made man's mouth? &c.] Cannot he who formed the mouth, the whole organs of speech, and hath given the gift of speech also, cannot he give utterance? God can take away those gifts Verse 12. I will be with thy mouth] The Chaldee translates, My WORD, meimeri, shall be with thy mouth. And Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases, I and my WORD will be with the speech of thy mouth. See on Gen. xv. 1, and Lev. xxv. 10. Verse 10. I am not eloquent] lo ish debarim, I am not a man of words; a periphrasis common in the Scriptures. So Job xi. 2, D'NEW W's ish sephathayim, a man of lips, signifies one that is talkative. Psa. cxl. 12, wish lashon, a man of tongue, signifies a prattler. But how could it be said that Moses was not eloquent, when St. Stephen asserts, Acts vii.and restore them again. Do not provoke him : he who 22, that he was mighty in words as well as in deeds? created the eye, the ear, and the mouth, hath also made There are three ways of solving this difficulty: 1. the blind, the deaf, and the dumb. Moses might have had some natural infirmity, of a late standing, which at that time rendered it impossible for him to speak readily, and which he afterwards overcame; so that though he was not then a man of words, yet he might afterwards have been mighty in words as well as deeds. 2. It is possible he was not intimately Verse 13. Send-by the hand of him whom thou acquainted with the Hebrew tongue, so as to speak wilt send.] Many commentators, both ancient and moclearly and distinctly in it. The first forty years of dern, have thought that Moses prays here for the imhis life he had spent in Egypt, chiefly at court; and mediate mission of the Messiah; as if he had said: though it is very probable there was an affinity between "Lord, thou hast purposed to send this glorious person the two languages, yet they certainly were not the at some time or other, I beseech thee send him now, same. The last forty he had spent in Midian, and it for who can be sufficient to deliver and rule this people is not likely that the pure Hebrew tongue prevailed but himself alone?" there, though it is probable that a dialect of it was shelach na beyad tishlach literally translated is, Send there spoken. On these accounts Moses might find now (or, I beseech thee) by the hand thou wilt send; it difficult to express himself with that readiness and which seems to intimate, Send a person more fit for persuasive flow of language, which he might deem es- the work than I am. So the Septuagint: Προχειρισαι sentially necessary on such a momentous occasion; as | δυναμενον αλλον, ὃν αποστελεις Elect another powerfu he would frequently be obliged to consult his memory person, whom thou wilt send. It is right to find out for proper expressions, which would necessarily pro- the Messiah wherever he is mentioned in the Old Tesduce frequent hesitation, and general slowness of utter-tament; but to press scriptures into this service which ance, which he might think would ill suit an ambassa- have not an obvious tendency that way, is both impro שלח נא ביד תשלח The Hebrew God, greatly displeased, appoints A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. B. C. 1491. 14 And the anger of the LORD thy mouth, and with his mouth, A. M. 2513 was kindled against Moses, and he and s will teach you what ye said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I shall do. know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. 15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth and I will be with P Ver. 27; 1 Sam. x. 2, 3, 5.- -9 Chapter vii. 1, 2.- Num. xxii. 38; xxiii. 5, 12, 16; Deut. xviii. 18; Isa. li. 16; Jer. per and dangerous. I am firmly of opinion that Moses had no reference to the Messiah when he spoke these words. Verse 14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses] Surely this would not have been the case had he only in modesty, and from a deep sense of his own unfitness, desired that the Messiah should be preferred before him. But the whole connection shows that this interpretation is unfounded. Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?] Houbigant endeavours to prove from this that Moses, in ver. 13, did pray for the immediate mission of the Messiah, and that God gives him here a reason why this could not be, because the Levitical priesthood was to precede the priesthood of our Lord. Is not Aaron the Levite, &c. Must not the ministry of Aaron be first established, before the other can take place? Why then ask for that which is contrary to the Divine counsel ? From the opinion of so great a critic as Houbigant no man would wish to dissent, except through necessity : however, I must say that it does appear to me that his view of these verses is fanciful, and the arguments by which he supports it are insufficient to establish his point. I know that he can speak well.] x 777 yadati ki dabber yedabber hu, I know that in speaking he will speak. That is, he is apt to talk, and has a ready utterance. He cometh forth to meet thee] He shall meet thee at my mount, (ver. 27,) shall rejoice in thy mission, and most heartily co-operate with thee in all things. A necessary assurance, to prevent Moses from suspecting that Aaron, who was his elder brother, would envy his superior call and office. Verse 15. I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth] Ye shall be both, in all things which I appoint you to do in this business, under the continual inspiration of the Most High. Verse 16. He shall be thy spokesman] Literally, He shall speak for thee (or in thy stead) to the people. He shall be to thee instead of a mouth] He shall convey every message to the people; and thou shalt be to him instead of God-thou shalt deliver to him what I communicate to thee. Verse 17. Thou shalt take this rod] From the story of Moses's rod the heathens have invented the fables of the thyrsus of Bacchus, and the caduceus of Mercury. Cicero reckons five Bacchuses, one of which, according to Orpheus, was born of the river 16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. 17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. Nile; but, according to the common opinion, he was born on the banks of that river. Bacchus is expressly said to have been exposed on the river Nile, hence he is called Nilus, both by Diodorus and Macrobius; and in the hymns of Orpheus he is named Myses, because he was drawn out of the water. He is represented by the poets as being very beautiful, and an illustrious warrior; they report him to have overrun all Arabia with a numerous army both of men and women. He is said also to have been an eminent lawgiver, and to have written his laws on two tables. He always carried in his hand the thyrsus, a rod wreathed with serpents, and by which he is reported to have wrought many miracles. Any person acquainted with the birth and exploits of the poetic Bacchus will at once perceive them to be all borrowed from the life and acts of Moses, as recorded in the Pentateuch; and it would be losing time to show the parallel, by quoting passages from the book of Exodus. The caduceus or rod of Mercury is well known in poetic fables. It is another copy of the rod of Moses. He also is reported to have wrought a multitude of miracles by this rod; and particularly he is said to kill and make alive, to send souls to the invisible world and bring them back from thence. Homer represents Mercury taking his rod to work miracles precisely in the same way as God commands Moses to take his. Έρμης δε ψυχας Κυλλήνιος εξεκαλείτο Ανδρων μνηστηρων εχε δε ΡΑΒΔΟΝ μετα χερσιν Cyllenian Hermes now call'd forth the souls Of all the suitors; with his golden WAND Of power, to seal in balmy sleep whose eyes Soe'er he will, and open them again. CowPER. ther, tradition having probably furnished him with Virgil copies Homer, but carries the parallel farmore particulars; but in both we may see a disguised copy of the sacred history, from which indeed the Greek and Roman poets borrowed most of their beauties. Tum VIRGAM CAPIT: hac animas ille evocat Orco Moses returns to Midian, and A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. B. C. 1491. 18 And Moses went and returned 20 And Moses took his wife and A. M. 2513. to ▾ Jethro his father-in-law, and his sons, and set them upon an ass, said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and and he returned to the land of Egypt: and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, Moses took the rod of God in his hand. and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro 21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When said to Moses, Go in peace. thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. 19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life. Matt. ii. 20.- - Chapter 2 Chap. vii. 3, 13; ix. 12, 35; x. 1; xiv. 8; Deut. ii. 30; Josh. But first he grasps within his awful hand Many other resemblances between the rod of the poets and that of Moses, the learned reader will readily recollect. These specimens may be deemed sufficient. Verse 18. Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren] Moses, having received his commission from God, and directions how to execute it, returned to his father-in-law, and asked permission to visit his family and brethren in Egypt, without giving him any intimation of the great errand on which he was going. His keeping this secret has been attributed to his singular modesty but however true it might be that Moses was a truly humble and modest man, yet his prudence alone was sufficient to have induced him to observe silence on this subject; for, if once imparted to the family of his father-in-law, the news might have reached Egypt before he could get thither, and a general alarm among the Egyptians would in all probability have been the consequence; as fame would not fail to represent Moses as coming to stir up sedition and rebellion, and the whole nation would have been armed against them. It was therefore essentially necessary that the business should be kept secret. In the Septuagint and Coptic the following addition is made to this verse: Mera de τas hμepas Tas Tоhhas εκείνας ετελεύτησεν ὁ βασιλευς Αιγυπτου After these many days, the king of Egypt died. This was probably an ancient gloss or side note, which in process of time crept into the text, as it appeared to throw light on the following verse. Verse 19. In Midian] This was a new revelation, and appears to have taken place after Moses returned to his father-in-law previous to his departure for Egypt. Verse 20. His wife and his sons] Both Gershom and Eliezer, though the birth of the latter has not yet been mentioned in the Hebrew text. See the note on chap. ii. 22. Set them upon an ass] The Septuagint reads the word in the plural, exɩ тa vñоšvɣia, upon asses, as it certainly required more than one to carry Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer. The rod of God] The sign of sovereign power, by which he was to perform all his miracles; once the badge of his shepherd's office, and now that by which he is to feed, rule, and protect his people Israel. Verse 21. But I will harden his heart] The case of Pharaoh has given rise to many fierce controversies, and to several strange and conflicting opinions. Would men but look at the whole account without the medium of their respective creeds, they would find little difficulty to apprehend the truth. If we take up the subject in a theological point of view, all sober Christians will allow the truth of this proposition of St. Augustine, when the subject in question is a person who has hardened his own heart by frequently resisting the grace and Spirit of God: Non obdurat Deus impertiendo malitiam, sed non impertiendo misericordiam; Epist. 194, ad Sixtum, "God does not harden men by infusing malice into them, but by not imparting mercy to them." And this other will be as readily credited: Non operatur Deus in homine ipsam duritiam cordis; sed indurare eum dicitur quem mollire noluerit, sic etiam excæcare quem illuminare noluerit, et repellere eum quem noluerit vocare. "God does not work this hardness of heart in man; but he may be said to harden him whom he refuses to soften, to blind him whom he refuses to enlighten, and to repel him whom he refuses to call." It is but just and right that he should withhold those graces which he had repeatedly offered, and which the sinner had despised and rejected. Thus much for the general principle. The verb pinchazak, which we translate harden, literally signifies to strengthen, confirm, make bold or courageous ; and is often used in the sacred writings to excite to duty, perseverance, &c., and is placed by the Jews at the end of most books in the Bible as an exhortation to the reader to take courage, and proceed with his reading and with the obedience it requires. It constitutes an essential part of the exhortation of God to Joshua, chap. i. 7: Only be thou STRONG, pin prak chazak. And of Joshua's dying exhortation to the people, chap. xxiii. 6: Be ye therefore VERY COURAGEOUS, Dnpini vachazaktem, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law. Now it would be very strange in these places to translate the word harden: Only be thou hard, Be ye therefore very hard; and yet if we use the word hardy, it would suit the sense and context perfectly Hos. xi, 1; Rom. ix. 4; Zipporah circumcises her son. 24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD d met him, and sought to kill him. A. M. 2513 B. C. 1491 g 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her h and son, cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 2 Cor. vi. 18.- b Jer. xxxi. 9; Num. xxii. 22.- Le Gen. xvii. 14. f Josh. v. 2, 3.- -g Or, Chap. xi. 5; xii. 29. knife.- h Hcb. made it touch. well: Only be thou HARDY; Be ye therefore very HARDY. Now suppose we apply the word in this way to Pharaoh, the sense would be good, and the justice of God equally conspicuous. I will make his heart hardy, bold, daring, presumptuous; for the same principle acting against God's order is presumption, which when acting according to it is undaunted courage. It is true that the verb nup kashah is used, chap. vii. 3, which signifies to render stiff, tough, or stubborn, but it amounts to nearly the same meaning with the above. mitting a capital crime, and then hangs him for it, is surely the most execrable of mortals. What then should we make of the God of justice and mercy should we attribute to him a decree, the date of which is lost in eternity, by which he has determined to cut off from the possibility of salvation millions of millions of unborn souls, and leave them under a necessity of sinning, by actually hardening their hearts against the influences of his own grace and Spirit, that he may, on the pretext of justice, consign them to endless perdition? Whatever may be pretended in behalf of such unqualified opinions, it must be evident to all who are not deeply prejudiced, that neither the justice nor the sovereignty of God can be magnified by them. See farther on chap. ix. 16. Verse 22. Israel is my son, even my first-born] That is, The Hebrew people are unutterably dear to me. Verse 23. Let my son go, that he may serve me] Which they could not do in Goshen, consistently with the policy and religious worship of the Egyptians; because the most essential part of an Israelite's worship consisted in sacrifice, and the animals which they offered to God were sacred among the Egyptians. Moses gives Pharaoh this reason chap. viii. 26. I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.] Which, on Pharaoh's utter refusal to let the people go, was accordingly done; see chap. xii. 29. All those who have read the Scriptures with care and attention, know well that God is frequently represented in them as doing what he only permits to be done. So because a man has grieved his Spirit and resisted his grace he withdraws that Spirit and grace from him, and thus he becomes bold and presumptuous in sin. Pharaoh made his own heart stubborn against God, chap. ix. 34; and God gave him up to judicial blindness, so that he rushed on stubbornly to his own destruction. From the whole of Pharaoh's conduct we learn that he was bold, haughty, and cruel; and God chose to permit these dispositions to have their full sway in his heart without check or restraint from Divine influence: the consequence was what God intended, he did not immediately comply with the requisition to let the people go; and this was done that God might have the fuller opportunity of manifesting Verse 24. By the way in the inn] See the note on his power by multiplying signs and miracles, and thus Gen. xlii 27. The account in this and the following impress the hearts both of the Egyptians and Israelites verse is very obscure. Some suppose that the 23d with a due sense of his omnipotence and justice. The verse is not a part of the message to Pharaoh, but whole procedure was graciously calculated to do end- was spoken by the Lord to Moses; and that the whole less good to both nations. The Israelites must be may be thus paraphrased: "And I have said unto thee, satisfied that they had the true God for their protector; (Moses,) Send forth ( shallach) my son, (Gershom, and thus their faith was strengthened. The Egyp-by circumcising him,) that he may serve me, (which he tians must see that their gods could do nothing against the God of Israel; and thus their dependence on them was necessarily shaken. These great ends could not have been answered had Pharaoh at once consented to let the people go. This consideration alone unravels the mystery, and explains every thing. Let it be observed that there is nothing spoken here of the eternal state of the Egyptian king; nor does any thing in the whole of the subsequent account authorize us to believe that God hardened his heart against the influences of his own grace, that he might occasion him so to sin that his justice might consign him to hell. This would be such an act of flagrant injustice as we could scarcely attribute to the worst of men. He who leads another into an offence that he may have a fairer pretence to punish him for it, or brings him into such circumstances that he cannot avoid com Then cannot do till entered into the covenant by circumci- Then |