Exodus · Chapter 19

V. 1. In the third month after they came out of Egypt. It is computed that the law was given just fifty days after their coming out of Egypt, in remembrance of which the feast of Pentecost was observed the fiftieth day after the passover, and in compliance with which the spirit was poured out upon the apostles, at the feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the death of Christ. Mount Sinai was a place which nature, not art, had made conspicuous, for it was the highest in all that range of mountains. Thus God put contempt upon cities and palaces, setting up his pavilion on the top of a mountain, in a barren desert. It is called Sinai, from the multitude of thorny bushes that over-spread it.

Verse 1. In the third month] This was called Sivan, and answers to our May. For the Jewish months, years, &c., see the tables at the end of Deuteronomy.

The same day] There are three opinions concerning the meaning of this place, which are supported by respectable arguments. 1. The same day means the same day of the third month with that, viz., the 15th, on which the Israelites had left Egypt. 2. The same day signifies here a day of the same number with the month to which it is applied, viz., the third day of the third month. 3. By the same day, the first day of the month is intended. The Jews celebrate the feast of pentecost fifty days after the passover: from the departure out of Egypt to the coming to Sinai were forty-five days; for they came out the fifteenth day of the first month, from which day to the first of the third month forty-five days are numbered. On the 2d day of this third month Moses went up into the mountain, when three days were given to the people to purify themselves; this gives the fourth day of the third month, or the forty-ninth from the departure out of Egypt. On the next day, which was the fiftieth from the celebration of the passover, the glory of God appeared on the mount; in commemoration of which the Jews celebrate the feast of pentecost. This is the opinion of St. Augustine and of several moderns, and is defended at large by Houbigant. As the word vdj chodesh, month, is put for new moon, which is with the Jews the first day of the month, this may be considered an additional confirmation of the above opinion.

The wilderness of Sinai.] Mount Sinai is called by the Arabs Jibel Mousa or the Mount of Moses, or, by way of eminence, El Tor, THE Mount. It is one hill, with two peaks or summits; one is called Horeb, the other Sinai. Horeb was probably its most ancient name, and might designate the whole mountain; but as the Lord had appeared to Moses on this mountain in a bush hns seneh, Exodus 3:2, from this circumstance it might have received the name of Sinai or ynys rh har Sinai, the mount of the bush or the mount of bushes; for it is possible that it was not in a single bush, but in a thicket of bushes, that the Angel of God made his appearance. The word bush is often used for woods or forests.

Verse 1. In the third month — After they came out of Egypt, including the latter part of May and the former part of June. It is computed that the law was given just fifty days after their coming out of Egypt, in remembrance of which the feast of pentecost was observed the fiftieth day after the passover, and in compliance with which the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles, at the feast of pentecost, fifty days after the death of Christ. Mount Sinai was a place which nature, not art, had made conspicuous, for it was the highest in all that range of mountains. Thus God put contempt upon cities and palaces, setting up his pavilion on the top of a mountain, in a barren desert. It is called Sinai, from the multitude of thorny bushes that overspread it.

Verse 1. The third month. On the fourteenth day at night the paschal lamb was slain. The two months contain sixty days, and on the fourth day of the third month the law was given, or the sixty fourth day of the Hebrew ecclesiastical year. From these we deduct the fourteen days before the passover, which leave exactly fifty days, the last of which was the day of Pentecost, a festival when the first fruits were offered, which lasted but one day. Thus a perfect type was given of the Lord’s descent on the holy apostles, “when the day of Pentecost was fully come.” Acts 2.

THE ENCAMPMENT AT MOUNT SINAI, 1, 2.

We now approach the most sublime and impressive narrative of Old Testament history. After the struggle and victory of the exodus, and after two months’ experience of desert journeys and exposures, the Israelites came and pitched their tents at the holy mountain where Moses beheld the burning bush. Comp. Exodus 3:12. Here they were to await further revelations of Jehovah.

The particular mountain at which the law was given has naturally been the subject of earnest research. Three different summits have their claims to this distinction — Serbal, Jebel Musa, and Ras es-Sufsafeh — all of them notable among the prominent mountains of the Sinaitic peninsula. Having identified Rephidim with the Wady Feiran at the northern base of Serbal, (see on Exodus 17:1,) we need not linger here to consider its claims, which indeed seem very futile. Jebel Musa has in its favour the local traditions of at least fifteen centuries, and occupies the centre of the Sinaitic group of mountains. Its summit consists of an area of huge rocks, about eighty feet in diameter, partly covered with ruins, but the view is confined, and far less extensive and imposing than that from other summits in the group. There is no spot to be seen around it suitable for a large encampment, and the bottoms of the adjacent valleys are invisible. (Robinson, Biblical Researches, vol. i, pp. 104, 105.) Far more imposing and every way in harmony with the scriptural narrative is the height known as Ras es-Sufsa-feh, at the north-western end of the same ridge, overlooking the plain of er-Rahah. See note on verse 12. Robinson describes the view from this summit as follows: “The whole plain er-Rahah lay spread out beneath our feet, with the adjacent wadies and mountains; while Wady esh-Sheikh on the right, and the recess on the left, both connected with and opening broadly from er-Rahah, presented an area which serves nearly to double that of the plain. Our conviction was strengthened that here, or on some of the adjacent cliffs, was the spot where the Lord descended in fire and proclaimed the law. Here lay the plain where the whole congregation might be assembled; here was the mount that could be approached and touched, if not forbidden; and here the mountain-brow where alone the lightnings and the thick cloud would be visible, and the thunders and the voice of the trump be heard, when the Lord ‘came down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.’ We gave ourselves up to the awful scene; and read, with a feeling that shall never be forgotten, the sublime account of the transaction of the commandments there promulgated, in the original words as recorded by the great Hebrew legislator.” — Biblical Researches, vol. i, p. 107. For further discussion of the subject, see Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 74-76; Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, chapter vi, and the biblical cyclopaedias under the word Sinai.

1. In the third month,… the same day — This is certainly a singular form of statement, and begets the suspicion of some corruption in the Masoretic text. The day of the month is not given, and the rendering, in the third new moon, adopted by many exegetes, and explained as equivalent to the first day of the third month, has no parallel in Hebrew usage. Had that been the author’s meaning why would he not have employed the form of expression which appears in Exodus 40:1, 17? Comp. also the usage as seen in Genesis 8:5, 13; Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 1:1. In Numbers 9:1, and 20:1, the name of the month only is given, and, were it not for the words, the same day, in our verse, we would naturally suppose that the writer did not intend to specify the day of the month when Israel arrived at Mount Sinai. But those words seem best explained by the supposition that the day of the month was originally written in the earlier part of the verse, but before the date of the ancient versions it by some oversight was dropped out. To explain the words, the same day, in connexion with the mention of the third month, as here, in the general sense of time, (“at that time,”) is very unsatisfactory. According to Bush, who explains the text as it now stands as meaning the first day of the month, “this was just forty-five days after the departure from Egypt; for, adding sixteen days of the first month to twenty-nine of the second, the result is forty-five. To these we must add the day on which Moses went up to God, (verse 3,) the next day after, when he returned their answer to God, (verses 7, 8,) and the three days more mentioned in verses 10 and 11, which form altogether just fifty days from the passover to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Hence the feast which was kept in after-times to celebrate this event was called Pentecost, or the fiftieth day.” — Notes on Exodus, in loco. But this idea, which appears nowhere in Josephus, or Philo, or any of the older Jewish writers, seems to be a late rabbinic tradition, and without valid warrant in Scripture. The wilderness of Sinai — This expression denotes the open plain “before the mount,” (verse 2,) where the Israelites encamped and remained during the giving of the law, and the construction of the tabernacle. Comp. Leviticus 8:38; Numbers 1:1, 19; 3:14; 9:1; 10:12, etc. The magnificent plain er-Rahah, which lies at the base of Ras es-Sufsafeh, most remarkably meets the conditions of the biblical narrative, and is the only place yet discovered in the Sinaitic mountains large enough to accommodate a congregation of two million people, and overhung by a mountain which may be literally touched from the plain below.

Ver. 2. The desert of Sinai. This desert lay on the side of the mount, opposite to Rephidim. Hence their journey was but a short removal round the hill. The time also is noticed; it was the first day of Sivan, or of the third moon, after their departure out of Egypt, making in all forty seven days. Three days after, the law was published, agreeing in figure with the christian pentecost, or fiftieth day. What a proof that our most holy religion is built on the foundation of the law and the prophets?

2. For they were departed from Rephidim — Rather, And they departed from Rephidim. This verse is but a fuller statement of what was said in the preceding verse, omitting, however, the mention of time and date. The emphasis is on the fact that there, in the solemn and sublime amphitheatre among the mountains, and before the mount which was to be forever consecrated in the history of the chosen people, Israel camped. The word here rendered pitched and camped is one and the same in Hebrew, (hnj.) In front of the sacred mountain the people now settled down to receive revelations from Him who had declared himself from the burning bush, I AM THAT I AM. Exodus 3:14. We need not suppose that the entire body of people who came out of Egypt with Moses actually encamped and remained for a year in this one place. Probably only the heads of the nation, “the elders of the people,” (verse 7,) and the leading families remained permanently in this place of encampment. The rest would naturally be distributed through the various adjacent valleys and plains, wherever the best pasturage for their numerous flocks could be found. According to Exodus 34:3, the flocks and herds were not permitted to feed before the mount. It is a carping and unworthy criticism that makes difficulties in the Scripture narrative by assuming as recorded fact things on which the sacred writers are silent. But for incidental allusions, like those of Exodus 3:1, and Genesis 37:17, no one would have supposed that either Moses or the sons of Jacob went off scores of miles from home to pasture their flocks. We need to keep in mind that such terms as “all Israel,” “all the land,” “all the world,” and even “all the high hills that were under the whole heaven,” (Genesis 7:19, where see note, and also on page 123,) need not to be taken in their extreme literal import.

V. 3. Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and the children of Israel-The people are called by the names both of Jacob and Israel, to mind them that they who had lately been as low as Jacob when he went to Padan-aram, were now grown as great as God made him when he came from thence, and was called Israel.

Verse 3. Moses went up unto God] It is likely that the cloud which had conducted the Israelitish camp had now removed to the top of Sinai; and as this was the symbol of the Divine presence, Moses went up to the place, there to meet the Lord.

The Lord called unto him] This, according to St. Stephen, was the Angel of the Lord, Acts 7:38. And from several scriptures we have seen that the Lord Jesus was the person intended; see Clarke’s notes on “Genesis 16:7”; “Genesis 18:13”; “Exodus 3:2”.

Verse 3. Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and Israel — The people are called by the names both of Jacob and Israel, to remind them that they who had been as low as Jacob when he went to Padan-aram, were now grown as great as God made him when he came from thence and was called Israel.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 3-15.

Before the divine glory is revealed upon the mount, the people must be admonished and purified. To effect this Moses first goes up into the mountain and receives for Israel the gracious words of verses 3-6. To these the people cheerfully respond with promise of obedience, and Moses, like a true mediator, returns their answer to Jehovah. Verses 7, 8. Again Jehovah speaks to Moses, and gives order for careful preparations and purifying against the third day, when he will reveal himself in the sight of all the people, (9-13,) which order Moses is careful to enforce, (14, 15.) Thus begins the more direct religious discipline of the chosen people in the sacred school at Sinai.

3. Moses went up unto God — Notice the peculiar statement that Moses went up unto ELOHIM, and JEHOVAH called unto him out of the mountain. He seems to have gone up prompted by a holy impulse, and perhaps went to the spot where he had seen the burning bush, expecting to receive a divine communication. While thus seeking and expecting, JEHOVAH, the God of the Memorial Name, (Exodus 3:14, 15,) called to him from the mountain. We need not suppose that Moses was at the time upon the summit, or that this call of Jehovah summoned him thither. He had gone up, apart from the people, into the mountain, and while thus alone the voice of the invisible Jehovah addressed him. As yet there was no visible display of the divine glory. House of Jacob — “This expression does not occur elsewhere in the Pentateuch. It has a peculiar fitness here, referring doubtless to the special promises made to the patriarch.” — Speaker’s Com. The entire address, verses 3-6, is highly poetic, and may be rendered as follows: —

Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob,

And tell to the sons of Israel:

Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians,

And I bore you upon the wings of eagles,

And brought you unto me.

And now, if ye will diligently hear my voice,

And keep my covenant,

Ye shall be to me a precious possession above all the peoples, For all the earth is mine.

And ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

V. 4. Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on Eagle’s wings-An high expression of the wonderful tenderness God shewed for them. It notes great speed; God not only came upon the wing for their deliverance, but he hastened them out, as it were upon the wing. Also that he did it with great ease, with the strength as well as with the swiftness of an eagle. They that faint not, nor are weary, are said to mount up with wings as eagles, Isaiah 40:31. Especially it notes God’s particular care of them, and affection to them. Even Egypt was the nest in which these young ones were first formed as the embryo of a nation: when by the increase of their numbers they grew to some maturity, they were carried out of that nest. I brought you unto myself-They were brought not only into a state of liberty, but into covenant and communion with God. This, God aims at in all the gracious methods of his providence and grace, to bring us back to himself, from whom we have revolted, and to bring us home to himself, in whom alone we can be happy.

Verse 4. How I bare you on eagles’ wings] Mr. Bruce contends that the word rvn nesher does not mean the bird we term eagle; but a bird which the Arabs, from its kind and merciful disposition, call rachama, which is noted for its care of its young, and its carrying them upon its back. See his Travels, vol. vii., pl. 33. It is not unlikely that from this part of the sacred history the heathens borrowed their fable of the eagle being a bird sacred to Jupiter, and which was employed to carry the souls of departed heroes, kings, &c., into the celestial regions. The Romans have struck several medals with this device, which may be seen in different cabinets, among which are the following: one of Faustina, daughter of Antoninus Pius, on the reverse of which she is represented ascending to heaven on the back of an eagle; and another of Salonia, daughter of the Emperor Galienus, on the reverse of which she is represented on the back of an eagle, with a scepter in her hand, ascending to heaven. Jupiter himself is sometimes represented on the back of an eagle also, with his thunder in his hand, as on a medal of Licinus. This brings us nearer to the letter of the text, where it appears that the heathens confounded the figure made use of by the sacred penman, I bare you on eagles’ wings, with the manifestation of God in thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai. And it might be in reference to all this that the Romans took the eagle for their ensign. See Scheuchzer, Fusellius, &c.

Brought you unto myself.] In this and the two following verses, we see the design of God in selecting a people for himself. 1. They were to obey his voice, Exodus 19:5, to receive a revelation from him, and to act according to that revelation, and not according to their reason or fancy, in opposition to his declarations. 2. They were to obey his voice indeed, תשמעו [wmv shamoa tishmeu, in hearing they should hear; they should consult his testimonies, hear them whenever read or proclaimed, and obey them as soon as heard, affectionately and steadily. 3. They must keep his covenant-not only copy in their lives the ten commandments, but they must receive and preserve the grand agreement made between God and man by sacrifice, in reference to the incarnation and death of Christ; for from the foundation of the world the covenant of God ratified by sacrifices referred to this, and now the sacrificial system was to be more fully opened by the giving of the law. 4. They should then be God’s peculiar treasure, hlgs segullah, his own patrimony, a people in whom he should have all right, and over whom he should have exclusive authority above all the people of the earth; for though all the inhabitants of the world were his by his right of creation and providence, yet these should be peculiarly his, as receiving his revelation and entering into his covenant. 5. They should be a kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:6. Their state should be a theocracy; and as God should be the sole governor, being king in Jeshurun, so all his subjects should be priests, all worshippers, all sacrificers, every individual offering up the victim for himself. A beautiful representation of the Gospel dispensation, to which the Apostles Peter and John apply it, 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10, and Revelation 20:6; under which dispensation every believing soul offers up for himself that Lamb of God which was slain for and which takes away the sin of the world, and through which alone a man can have access to God.

Verse 4. Ye have seen how I bare you on eagles’ wings — A high expression of the wonderful tenderness God showed for them. It denotes great speed; God not only came upon the wing for their deliverance, but he hastened them out, as it were, upon the wing. Also that he did it with great ease, with the strength as well as the swiftness of an eagle. They that faint not, nor are weary, are said to “mount up with wings as eagles,” Isaiah 40:31. Especially it signifies God’s particular care of them, and affection to them. Even Egypt was the nest in which these young ones were first formed as the embryo of a nation: when by the increase of their numbers they grew to some maturity, they were carried out of that nest. I brought you unto myself — They were brought not only into a state of liberty, but into covenant and communion with God. This God aims at in all the gracious methods of his providence and grace, to bring us back to himself, from whom we have revolted, and to bring us home to himself, in whom alone we can be happy.

4. I bare you on eagles’ wings — This figure is finely elaborated in Deuteronomy 32:11: “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings,” etc. The strength and the tenderness of God are thus set forth in this metaphor. Comp. Revelation 12:14. Unto myself — Out of the bondage of Egypt and into the immediate protection and oversight of Jehovah at Sinai. The sacred place in front of the hallowed mount was as the presence-chamber of the Most High.

V. 5. Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me-He doth not instance in any one particular favour, but expresseth it in that which was inclusive of all happiness, that he would be to them a God in covenant, and they should be to him a people. Nay you shall be a peculiar treasure: not that God was enriched by them, as a man is by his treasure, but he was pleased to value and esteem them as a man doth his treasure; they were precious in his sight. He took them under his special care and protection, as a treasure that is kept under lock and key. He distinguished them from, and dignified them above all people, as a people devoted to him, and to his service.

Verse 5. Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me — He doth not instance in any one particular favour, but expresseth it in that which was inclusive of all happiness, that he would be to them a God in covenant, and they should be to him a people. Nay, you shall be a peculiar treasure: not that God was enriched by them, as a man is by his treasure, but he was pleased to value and esteem them as a man doth his treasure; they were precious in his sight. He took them under his special care and protection, as a treasure that is kept under lock and key. He distinguished them from, and dignified them above all people, as a people devoted to him and to his service.

5. Obey my voice… keep my covenant — These two expressions denote the twofold idea of giving obedient attention to each new word that Jehovah speaks, and at the same time guard sacredly the terms of the covenant as already established, or about to be established in fuller form. A peculiar treasure unto me — The Hebrew word hlgs is happily rendered by peculiar treasure, for it denotes more than the mere word property or possessions. In Malachi 3:17, it is translated jewels, and in 1 Chronicles 29:3, it means a special private quantity of gold and silver which Solomon amassed for himself, and so, also, probably, in Ecclesiastes 2:8, where mention is made of “the peculiar treasure of kings.” In all other places (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Psalm 135:4) the word represents Israel as a peculiarly precious possession of Jehovah. Comp. Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9. Above all people — Or, from all the peoples, as being chosen out from all the peoples of the earth. Being thus selected out of the nations, Israel would be esteemed above the other peoples, who, nevertheless, were all possessions of God, for it is added, as if to offset the idea that Israel’s God was merely a national deity, all the earth is mine, for Jehovah God is its creator and ruler.

V. 6. A kingdom of priests, a holy nation-All the Israelites, if compared with other people, were priests unto God, so near were they to him, so much employed in his immediate service, and such intimate communion they had with him. The tendency of the laws given them was to distinguish them from others, and engage them for God as a holy nation. Thus all believers are, through Christ, made to our God kings and priests, Revelation 1:6, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9.

Verse 6. And a holy nation.] They should be a nation, one people; firmly united among themselves, living under their own laws; and powerful, because united, and acting under the direction and blessing of God. They should be a holy nation, saved from their sins, righteous in their conduct, holy in their hearts; every external rite being not only a significant ceremony, but also a means of conveying light and life, grace and peace, to every person who conscientiously used it. Thus they should be both a kingdom, having God for their governor; and a nation, a multitude of peoples connected together; not a scattered, disordered, and disorganized people, but a royal nation, using their own rites, living under their own laws, subject in religious matters only to God, and in things civil, to every ordinance of man for God’s sake.

This was the spirit and design of this wonderful institution, which could not receive its perfection but under the Gospel, and has its full accomplishment in every member of the mystical body of Christ.

Verse 6. A kingdom of priests, a holy nation — All the Israelites, if compared with other people, were priests unto God, so near were they to him, so much employed in his immediate service, and such intimate communion they had with him. The tendency of the laws given them was to distinguish them from others, and engage them for God as a holy nation. Thus all believers are, through Christ, made to our God kings and priests, (Revelation 1:6,) “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,” 1 Peter 2:9.

Ver. 6. A kingdom of priests, holy in body, and pure in heart. An apostle calls the christian church a royal priesthood, a consecrated generation. 1 Peter 2:9. All Shem’s race, to the present age, affect purity. Shungee, of New Zealand, when going to murder his neighbours, was so pure that he could neither feed himself, nor enter the Mission-house.

6. A kingdom of priests — The Septuagint renders, a royal priesthood, and the Vulgate, a sacerdotal kingdom, and both these ideas seem to inhere in the phrase. Jehovah proposes to make his chosen people a royal and priestly race. They will be royal, or regal, in character, because sons of the living God, and conceived as reigning with him; they will be priestly, because, like a dynasty of priests, they will be the representatives and teachers of religion. To fulfil this lofty destiny it was necessary that they also be a holy nation, pure and clean in character and life; not merely set apart, or consecrated to God, but also cleansed from all moral pollution.

V. 7. And Moses laid before their faces all these words-He not only explained to them what God had given him in charge, but put it to their choice, whether they would accept these promises upon these terms or no. His laying it to their faces speaks his laying it to their consciences.

Verse 7. The elders of the people] The head of each tribe, and the chief of each family, by whose ministry this gracious purpose of God was speedily communicated to the whole camp.

Verses 7, 8. And Moses laid before their faces all these words — He not only explained to them what God had given him in charge, but put it to their choice, whether they would accept these promises upon these terms or not. His laying it to their faces speaks his laying it to their consciences. And they answered together: All that the Lord hath spoken we will do — Thus accepting the Lord to be to them a God, and giving up themselves to be to him a people.

7. Called for the elders of the people — Observe that this was no public address to an assembled nation, but a relatively private communication to their chiefs, who acted as their representatives. Hence an address delivered to them might be properly spoken of as addressed to all the people. See next verse.

V. 8. And they answered together; all that the Lord hath spoken we will do-Thus accepting the Lord to be to them a God, and giving up themselves to be to him a people.

Verse 8. And all the people answered, &c.] The people, having such gracious advantages laid before them, most cheerfully consented to take God for their portion; as he had graciously promised to take them for his people. Thus a covenant was made, the parties being mutually bound to each other.

Moses returned the words] When the people had on their part consented to the covenant, Moses appears to have gone immediately up to the mountain and related to God the success of his mission; for he was now on the mount, as appears from Exodus 19:14.

Verses 7, 8. And Moses laid before their faces all these words — He not only explained to them what God had given him in charge, but put it to their choice, whether they would accept these promises upon these terms or not. His laying it to their faces speaks his laying it to their consciences. And they answered together: All that the Lord hath spoken we will do — Thus accepting the Lord to be to them a God, and giving up themselves to be to him a people.

8. All the people answered together — From the language employed in the preceding verse, and from the nature of the case, we most naturally infer that this answer of the people was obtained, not in one open assembly of all the nation, but through the mediation of the elders. These elders, representing each a different portion of the people, would have ready means of communicating with the different tribes, and obtaining at short notice their sentiments on any important matter. The word together, accordingly, means here the oneness or unanimity of the people’s response. The answer returned was as that of one man. These two verses (7th and 8th) illustrate what any reader of sense ought to take for granted in such a history as this. We are not to suppose that every detail of communication is given. A great many small gatherings of the people may often have been held in different parts of the plain, and in the adjacent valleys, to hear the words of Jehovah; sometimes communications may have been delivered by numerous messengers without any public assembly. Any reasonable hypothesis of this kind is legitimate in interpretation.

Verse 9. A thick cloud] This is interpreted by Exodus 19:18: And Mount Sinai was altogether on a SMOKE-and the SMOKE thereof ascended as the SMOKE of a furnace; his usual appearance was in the cloudy pillar, which we may suppose was generally clear and luminous.

That the people may hear] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 15:9”. The Jews consider this as the fullest evidence their fathers had of the Divine mission of Moses; themselves were permitted to see this awfully glorious sight, and to hear God himself speak out of the thick darkness: for before this, as Rabbi Maymon remarks, they might have thought that Moses wrought his miracles by sorcery or enchantment; but now, hearing the voice of God himself, they could no longer disbelieve nor even doubt.

9. Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud — Or, Behold, I am coming; that is, I am about to come thus. He refers to the sublime theophany to be manifested on the third day thereafter, (verse 11,) and often subsequently, when Jehovah would impress the people with an awful sense of his power and majesty. “As God knew the weakness of the sinful nation, and could not, as the Holy One, come into direct intercourse with it on account of its un-holiness, but was about to conclude the covenant with it through the mediation of Moses, it was necessary, in order to accomplish the design of God, that the chosen mediator should receive special credentials; and these were to consist in the fact that Jehovah spoke to Moses in the sight and hearing of the people, that is to say, that he solemnly proclaimed the fundamental law of the covenant in the presence of the whole nation, (Exodus 19:16-20:18,) and showed by this fact that Moses was the recipient and mediator of the revelation of God, in order that the people might believe him for ever, as the law was to possess everlasting validity. Matthew 5:18.” — Keil. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord — The repetition of these words from verse 8 looks like the blunder of some ancient copyist. They add nothing to the passage, and have no natural connexion with what precedes or follows. To suppose, with Dillmann, that it is a sentence copied from another documentary source is no more satisfactory than to assume that the writer carelessly repeated himself. But the ancient versions contain the words, and the two sentences differ, in that verse 8 employs the word returned (bwv) and this verse has told, (dgn.) If the words are retained it is better to connect them with what follows, thus: “When Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord, then the Lord said unto Moses,” etc.

V. 10. Sanctify the people-As Job before sent and sanctified his sons, Job 1:5. Sanctify them, that is, call them off from their worldly business, and call them to religious exercises, meditation and prayer, that they may receive the law from God’s mouth with reverence and devotion. Two things particularly were prescribed as instances of their preparation. 1st, In token of cleansing of themselves from all sinful pollutions, they must wash their clothes. Not that God regards our clothes, but while they were washing their clothes, he would have them think of washing their souls by repentance. It becomes us to appear in clean clothes when we wait upon great men; so clean hearts are required in our attendance on the great God. 2dly, In token of their devoting themselves entirely to religious exercises upon this occasion they must abstain even from lawful enjoyments during these three days, and not come at their wives.

Verse 10. Sanctify them] See the meaning of this term, Exodus 13:2. Let them wash their clothes] And consequently bathe their bodies; for, according to the testimony of the Jews, these always went together. It was necessary that, as they were about to appear in the presence of God, every thing should be clean and pure about them; that they might be admonished by this of the necessity of inward purity, of which the outward washing was the emblem.

From these institutions the heathens appear to have borrowed their precepts relative to washings and purifications previously to their offering sacrifice to their gods, examples of which abound in the Greek and Latin writers. They washed their hands and clothes, and bathed their bodies in pure water, before they performed any act of religious worship; and in a variety of cases, abstinence from all matrimonial connections was positively required, before a person was permitted to perform any religious rite, or assist at the performance.

Verse 10. Sanctify the people — As Job sent and sanctified his sons, Job 1:5. Sanctify them — That is, call them off from their worldly business, and call them to religious exercises, meditation and prayer, that they may receive the law from God’s mouth with reverence and devotion. Two things particularly were prescribed as instances of their preparation. 1st, In token of cleansing of themselves from all sinful pollutions, they must wash their clothes — Not that God regards our clothes, but while they were washing their clothes, he would have them think of washing their souls, by repentance. It becomes us to appear in clean clothes when we wait upon great men; so clean hearts are required in our attendance on the great God. 2d, In token of their devoting themselves entirely to religious exercises, upon this occasion they must abstain even from lawful enjoyments during these three days.

10. Sanctify them — By observing all manner of bodily purifyings, washing their clothes, (comp. Exodus 35:2,) and abstaining from all sexual intercourse, verse 15.

V. 11. In the sight of all the people-Though they should see no manner of similitude, yet they should see so much as would convince them, that God was among them of a truth. And so high was the top of Mount Sinai, that it is supposed not only the camp of Israel, but even the countries about might discern some extraordinary appearance of glory upon it.

Verse 11. In the sight of all the people — Though they should see no manner of similitude, yet they should see so much as would convince them, that God was among them of a truth. And so high was the top of mount Sinai, that it is supposed not only the camp of Israel, but even the countries about might discern some extraordinary appearance of glory upon it.

11. Be ready against the third day — Ceremonial purifications, made with expectations of some sublime theophany about to take place, prepared the hearts of the people to receive the deepest possible impressions from the scene. While the messages given through Moses to Israel were generally received alone in the mountain, this grand revelation was to be in the sight of all the people. Object-teaching was especially necessary at that stage of Israel’s history.

V. 12. Set bounds-Probably he drew a ditch round at the foot of the hill, which none were to pass upon pain of death. This was to intimate, 1st, That awful reverence which ought to possess the minds of all that worship God. 2dly, The distance which worshippers were kept at under that dispensation, which we ought to take notice of, that we may the more value our privilege under the gospel, having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, Hebrews 10:19.

Verse 12. Thou shalt set bounds] Whether this was a line marked out on the ground, beyond which they were not to go, or whether a fence was actually made to keep them off, we cannot tell; or whether this fence was made all round the mountain, or only at that part to which one wing of the camp extended, is not evident.

This verse strictly forbids the people from coming near and touching Mount Sinai, which was burning with FIRE. The words therefore in Exodus 19:15, hva la wvgt la al tiggeshu el ishshah, come not at your wives, seem rather to mean, come not near unto the FIRE; especially as the other phrase is not at all probable: but the fire is, on this occasion, spoken of so emphatically (see Deuteronomy 5:4, 5, 22-25) that we are naturally led to consider hva ishshah here as vah ha-esh transposed, or to say, with Simon in his Lexicon, hva faem, idem quod masc. ca ignis. So among other instances, we have rba and hrba a wing; rwa and hrwa light; xma and hxma strength; and rma and hrma a speech.-Burt. See KENNICOTT’S Remarks.

Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death] The place was awfully sacred, because the dreadful majesty of God was displayed on it. And this taught them that God is a consuming fire, and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Verse 12. Set bounds — Probably he drew a ditch round the foot of the hill, which none were to pass upon pain of death. This was to intimate, 1st, That lawful reverence which ought to possess the minds of all that worship God. 2d, The distance at which worshippers were kept under that dispensation, which we ought to take notice of, that we may the more value our privilege under the gospel, having “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,” Hebrews 10:19.

12. Set bounds — The allusions made here to the mount, and the possible approaches to it, and touching the border of it, afford means for identifying the true Sinai. There must have been a great plain at the base of the mount capable of accommodating an immense assembly, a sublime head or top (verse 20) overlooking this plain, and such an immediate contact of plain and mountain that people might approach from below and touch the mount. All these conditions are strikingly fulfilled in the plain er-Rahah and the peak known as Ras Sasafeh, or Ras es-Sufsafeh. See note at beginning of this chapter. Stanley says: “No one who has approached the Ras Sasafeh through that noble plain, or who has looked down upon the plain from that majestic height, will willingly part with the belief that these are the two essential features of the view of the Israelitish camp. That such a plain should exist at all in front of such a cliff is so remarkable a coincidence with the sacred narrative as to furnish a strong internal argument, not merely of its identity with the scene, but of the scene itself having been described by an eye-witness. The awful and lengthened approach, as to some natural sanctuary, would have been the fittest preparation for the coming scene. The low line of alluvial mounds at the foot of the cliff exactly answers to the bounds which were to keep the people off from touching the mount. The plain itself is not broken and uneven and narrowly shut in, like almost all others in the range, but presents a long, retiring sweep against which the people could ‘remove and stand afar off.’ The cliff, rising like a huge altar in front of the whole congregation, and visible against the sky in lonely grandeur from end to end of the whole plain, is the very image of ‘the mount that might be touched,’ and from which the voice of God might be heard far and wide over the stillness of the plain below, widened at that point to its utmost extent by the confluence of all the contiguous valleys. Here, beyond all other parts of the peninsula, is the adytum, withdrawn, as if in the ‘end of the world,’ from all the stir and confusion of earthly things.” — Sinai and Palestine, pp. 42, 43.

V. 13. When the trumpet soundeth long-Then let them take their places at the foot of the mount. Never was so great a congregation called together and preached to at once as this was here. No one man’s voice could have reached so many, but the voice of God did.

Verse 13. There shall not a hand touch it] wb bo, HIM, not the mountain, but the man who had presumed to touch the mountain. He should be considered altogether as an unclean and accursed thing, not to be touched for fear of conveying defilement; but should be immediately stoned or pierced through with a dart, Hebrews 12:20.

Verse 13. When the trumpet soundeth long — Then let them take their places at the foot of the mount. Never was so great a congregation called together and preached to at once as this was here. No one man’s voice could have reached so many, but the voice of God did.

13. Not a hand touch it — So sacred and so awful was that mount to be esteemed that no one unsanctified and unbidden might touch it, on the peril of life. Not even a beast would be permitted to touch it, and live. This rigorous requirement was adapted to inculcate reverence for the law. When the trumpet soundeth long — Hebrews, in the drawing out of the yobel. The word lbwy, here translated trumpet, appears to have been some kind of a wind instrument. In Joshua 6:4, 5, 8, we find the word employed to qualify ˆrq, horn, or cornet, and in Leviticus 25:10, it denotes the fiftieth year — year of liberty and joy — commonly known as “the year of jubilee.” The Targum and the rabbins understand a wind instrument made of a ram’s horn. The exact meaning is doubtful. Gesenius regards it as an onomatopoetic word, signifying a joyful shout, and, perhaps, is best understood here as the sound of some instrument, rather than the instrument itself. The drawing out of the yobel would thus mean the prolonged tones of a signal call, without specifying the particular instrument employed. See further on verse 16, where the trumpet is mentioned. They shall come up to the mount — Who? Certainly not the people generally, who were forbidden to touch it, (comp. verses 23 and 24,) but chosen representatives and elders of the people, (see Exodus 24:1, 2,) whom the writer does not here stop to specify. We see from verse 20 that only Moses went up at first; subsequently Aaron was permitted to accompany him, (verse 24,) but the priests and the people were forbidden.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 3-15.

Before the divine glory is revealed upon the mount, the people must be admonished and purified. To effect this Moses first goes up into the mountain and receives for Israel the gracious words of verses 3-6. To these the people cheerfully respond with promise of obedience, and Moses, like a true mediator, returns their answer to Jehovah. Verses 7, 8. Again Jehovah speaks to Moses, and gives order for careful preparations and purifying against the third day, when he will reveal himself in the sight of all the people, (9-13,) which order Moses is careful to enforce, (14, 15.) Thus begins the more direct religious discipline of the chosen people in the sacred school at Sinai.

3. Moses went up unto God — Notice the peculiar statement that Moses went up unto ELOHIM, and JEHOVAH called unto him out of the mountain. He seems to have gone up prompted by a holy impulse, and perhaps went to the spot where he had seen the burning bush, expecting to receive a divine communication. While thus seeking and expecting, JEHOVAH, the God of the Memorial Name, (Exodus 3:14, 15,) called to him from the mountain. We need not suppose that Moses was at the time upon the summit, or that this call of Jehovah summoned him thither. He had gone up, apart from the people, into the mountain, and while thus alone the voice of the invisible Jehovah addressed him. As yet there was no visible display of the divine glory. House of Jacob — “This expression does not occur elsewhere in the Pentateuch. It has a peculiar fitness here, referring doubtless to the special promises made to the patriarch.” — Speaker’s Com. The entire address, verses 3-6, is highly poetic, and may be rendered as follows: —

Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob,

And tell to the sons of Israel:

Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians,

And I bore you upon the wings of eagles,

And brought you unto me.

And now, if ye will diligently hear my voice,

And keep my covenant,

Ye shall be to me a precious possession above all the peoples, For all the earth is mine.

And ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Ver. 15. Come not, &c. This abstinence, before sacrifice, was generally observed by the Israelites. 1 Samuel 21:5. Ecclesiastes 3:5. It was likewise observed by the heathens, as appears from many expressions of their poets. Vide Poli Syn. in Loc.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 3-15.

Before the divine glory is revealed upon the mount, the people must be admonished and purified. To effect this Moses first goes up into the mountain and receives for Israel the gracious words of verses 3-6. To these the people cheerfully respond with promise of obedience, and Moses, like a true mediator, returns their answer to Jehovah. Verses 7, 8. Again Jehovah speaks to Moses, and gives order for careful preparations and purifying against the third day, when he will reveal himself in the sight of all the people, (9-13,) which order Moses is careful to enforce, (14, 15.) Thus begins the more direct religious discipline of the chosen people in the sacred school at Sinai.

3. Moses went up unto God — Notice the peculiar statement that Moses went up unto ELOHIM, and JEHOVAH called unto him out of the mountain. He seems to have gone up prompted by a holy impulse, and perhaps went to the spot where he had seen the burning bush, expecting to receive a divine communication. While thus seeking and expecting, JEHOVAH, the God of the Memorial Name, (Exodus 3:14, 15,) called to him from the mountain. We need not suppose that Moses was at the time upon the summit, or that this call of Jehovah summoned him thither. He had gone up, apart from the people, into the mountain, and while thus alone the voice of the invisible Jehovah addressed him. As yet there was no visible display of the divine glory. House of Jacob — “This expression does not occur elsewhere in the Pentateuch. It has a peculiar fitness here, referring doubtless to the special promises made to the patriarch.” — Speaker’s Com. The entire address, verses 3-6, is highly poetic, and may be rendered as follows: —

Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob,

And tell to the sons of Israel:

Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians,

And I bore you upon the wings of eagles,

And brought you unto me.

And now, if ye will diligently hear my voice,

And keep my covenant,

Ye shall be to me a precious possession above all the peoples, For all the earth is mine.

And ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

V. 16. Now at length is come that memorable day, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire and lived, Deuteronomy 4:33. Never was there such a sermon preached before or since, as this, which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For, the preacher was God himself, Exodus 19:17, The Lord descended in fire; and Exodus 19:18. The Lord came down upon mount Sinai. The Shechinah, or glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shined forth from mount Paran with ten thousand of his saints, attended with a multitude of the holy angels. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Acts 7:53. He spake from mount Sinai, hung with a thick cloud, Exodus 19:16, covered with smoke, Exodus 19:18, and made to quake greatly. Now it was that the earth trembled at the presence of the Lord, and the mountains skipped like rams, Psalm 114:4,7, that Sinai itself, though rough and rocky, melted from before the Lord God of Israel, Judges 5:5. The congregation was called together by the sound of a trumpet exceeding loud, Exodus 19:16, and waxing louder and louder, Exodus 19:19. This was done by the ministry of the angels, and made all the people tremble. The introductions to the service were thunders and lightnings, Exodus 19:16. These have natural causes; but the scripture directs us in a particular manner to take notice of the power of God, and his terror in them. Thunder is the voice of God, and lightning the fire of God, proper to engage both the learning senses of seeing and hearing.

Verse 16. Thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud-and the voice of the trumpet] The thunders, lightnings, &c., announced the coming, as they proclaimed the majesty, of God. Of the thunders and lightnings, and the deep, dark, dismal, electric cloud, from which the thunders and lightnings proceeded, we can form a tolerable apprehension; but of the loud, longsounding trumpet, we can scarcely form a conjecture. Such were the appearances and the noise that all the people in the camp trembled, and Moses himself was constrained to say, “I exceedingly fear and quake,” Hebrews 12:21. Probably the sound of the trumpet was something similar to that which shall be blown by the angel when he sweareth, by Him that liveth for ever, There shall be time no longer!

Verse 16. Now at length is come that memorable day, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire and lived, Deuteronomy 4:33. Never was there such a sermon preached before or since, as this, which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For the preacher was God himself, verse 18. The Lord descended in fire; and, verse 20, The Lord came down upon mount Sinai. The Shechinah, or glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shined forth from mount Paran with ten thousands of his saints, attended with a multitude of the holy angels. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Acts 7:53. He spake from mount Sinai, hung with a thick cloud, (verse 16,) covered with smoke, (verse 18,) and made to quake greatly. Now it was that the earth trembled at the presence of the Lord, and the mountains skipped like rams, (Psalm 114:4-7,) that Sinai itself, though rough and rocky, melted from before the Lord God of Israel, Judges 5:5. The congregation was called together by the sound of a trumpet exceeding loud, (verse 16,) and waxing louder and louder, verse 19. This was done by the ministry of angels, and made all the people tremble. The introductions to the service were thunders and lightnings, verse 16. These have natural causes; but the Scripture directs us in a particular manner to take notice of the power of God, and his terror in them. Thunder is the voice of God, and lightning the fire of God, proper to engage both the learning senses of seeing and hearing.

THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 16-20.

16. The third day in the morning — The Scripture furnishes no certain data from which to determine the day of the week, or of the month, on which this theophany took place. Rabbinical and other speculations and conjectures on the subject are of no value. But there are some noticeable analogies between these three days and those intervening between the death and resurrection of our Lord, especially the preparations and ardent expectations among the more believing disciples, and the earthquake and lightning-like appearance of the angel that rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. The one third day heralded the sublimest proclamation of law ever known to man, the other the grandest monumental fact of Christianity — the revelation and pledge of immortality. Thunders — Hebrews, voices. The thunders and lightnings and thick (heavy) cloud upon the mount, the smoke and the fire and the quaking of the mountain, (verse 18,) were adapted to impress upon the thousands of Israel profoundest convictions of the majesty and might of Jehovah. A sublimer picture than that here given is not to be found among all the writings of men. Whether the voice (or sound) of the trumpet exceeding loud was produced by natural or supernatural agency is difficult to determine, and yet the mention of it in connexion with the other supernatural occurrences here and in verse 19, and in Exodus 20:18, rather implies that it also was produced by supernatural means. In all these passages it is noticeable that the word trumpet (Hebrews, shophar) occurs, not yobel, as in verse 13 above. To the imagery furnished by this sublime theophany the apostle alludes in 1 Thessalonians 4:6. The reader should compare the corresponding description in Deuteronomy 4, especially verses 11, 12, 15, 33, 36. Kalisch observes: “The whole description of the fiery appearance of God in lightning and thunder and clouds, and the smoke of Sinai, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, is so majestically sublime and grand that it could only issue from a mind which, overwhelmed by the omnipotence and grandeur and majesty of God, exhausts the whole scanty store of human language to utter but a faint expression of the agitated sentiments of his soul.”

Verse 17. And Moses brought forth the people-to meet with God] For though they might not touch the mount till they had permission, yet when the trumpet sounded long, it appears they might come up to the nether part of the mount, (see Exodus 19:13, and Deuteronomy 4:11;) and when the trumpet had ceased to sound, they might then go up unto the mountain, as to any other place.

It was absolutely necessary that God should give the people at large some particular evidence of his being and power, that they might be saved from idolatry, to which they were most deplorably prone; and that they might the more readily credit Moses, who was to be the constant mediator between God and them. God, therefore, in his indescribable majesty, descended on the mount; and, by the thick dark cloud, the violent thunders, the vivid lightnings, the long and loud blasts of the trumpet, the smoke encompassing the whole mountain, and the excessive earthquake, proclaimed his power, his glory, and his holiness; so that the people, however unfaithful and disobedient afterwards, never once doubted the Divine interference, or suspected Moses of any cheat or imposture. Indeed, so absolute and unequivocal were the proofs of supernatural agency, that it was impossible these appearances could be attributed to any cause but the unlimited power of the author of Nature.

It is worthy of remark that the people were informed three days before, Exodus 19:9-11, that such an appearance was to take place; and this answered two excellent purposes: 1. They had time to sanctify and prepare themselves for this solemn transaction; and, 2. Those who might be skeptical had sufficient opportunity to make use of every precaution to prevent and detect an imposture; so this previous warning strongly serves the cause of Divine revelation.

Their being at first prohibited from touching the mount on the most awful penalties, and secondly, being permitted to see manifestations of the Divine majesty, and hear the words of God, subserved the same great purposes. Their being prohibited in the first instance would naturally whet their curiosity, make them cautious of being deceived, and ultimately impress them with a due sense of God’s justice and their own sinfulness; and their being permitted afterwards to go up to the mount, must have deepened the conviction that all was fair and real, that there could be no imposture in the case, and that though the justice and purity of God forbade them to draw nigh for a time, yet his mercy, which had prescribed the means of purification, had permitted an access to his presence. The directions given from Exodus 19:10-15 inclusive show, not only the holiness of God, but the purity he requires in his worshippers.

Besides, the whole scope and design of the chapter prove that no soul can possibly approach this holy and terrible Being but through a mediator; and this is the use made of this whole transaction by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 12:18-24.

THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 16-20.

16. The third day in the morning — The Scripture furnishes no certain data from which to determine the day of the week, or of the month, on which this theophany took place. Rabbinical and other speculations and conjectures on the subject are of no value. But there are some noticeable analogies between these three days and those intervening between the death and resurrection of our Lord, especially the preparations and ardent expectations among the more believing disciples, and the earthquake and lightning-like appearance of the angel that rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. The one third day heralded the sublimest proclamation of law ever known to man, the other the grandest monumental fact of Christianity — the revelation and pledge of immortality. Thunders — Hebrews, voices. The thunders and lightnings and thick (heavy) cloud upon the mount, the smoke and the fire and the quaking of the mountain, (verse 18,) were adapted to impress upon the thousands of Israel profoundest convictions of the majesty and might of Jehovah. A sublimer picture than that here given is not to be found among all the writings of men. Whether the voice (or sound) of the trumpet exceeding loud was produced by natural or supernatural agency is difficult to determine, and yet the mention of it in connexion with the other supernatural occurrences here and in verse 19, and in Exodus 20:18, rather implies that it also was produced by supernatural means. In all these passages it is noticeable that the word trumpet (Hebrews, shophar) occurs, not yobel, as in verse 13 above. To the imagery furnished by this sublime theophany the apostle alludes in 1 Thessalonians 4:6. The reader should compare the corresponding description in Deuteronomy 4, especially verses 11, 12, 15, 33, 36. Kalisch observes: “The whole description of the fiery appearance of God in lightning and thunder and clouds, and the smoke of Sinai, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, is so majestically sublime and grand that it could only issue from a mind which, overwhelmed by the omnipotence and grandeur and majesty of God, exhausts the whole scanty store of human language to utter but a faint expression of the agitated sentiments of his soul.”

Verse 18. The whole mount quaked greatly — There cannot be a more grand, awful, and majestic description than this of the descent of Jehovah upon mount Sinai. We can scarcely read it without trembling; and all the tremendous majesty of God appears before our eyes. The psalmist seems to have conceived a most high idea of God from it: — “O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God, the God of Israel,” Psalm 68:7, 8.

THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 16-20.

16. The third day in the morning — The Scripture furnishes no certain data from which to determine the day of the week, or of the month, on which this theophany took place. Rabbinical and other speculations and conjectures on the subject are of no value. But there are some noticeable analogies between these three days and those intervening between the death and resurrection of our Lord, especially the preparations and ardent expectations among the more believing disciples, and the earthquake and lightning-like appearance of the angel that rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. The one third day heralded the sublimest proclamation of law ever known to man, the other the grandest monumental fact of Christianity — the revelation and pledge of immortality. Thunders — Hebrews, voices. The thunders and lightnings and thick (heavy) cloud upon the mount, the smoke and the fire and the quaking of the mountain, (verse 18,) were adapted to impress upon the thousands of Israel profoundest convictions of the majesty and might of Jehovah. A sublimer picture than that here given is not to be found among all the writings of men. Whether the voice (or sound) of the trumpet exceeding loud was produced by natural or supernatural agency is difficult to determine, and yet the mention of it in connexion with the other supernatural occurrences here and in verse 19, and in Exodus 20:18, rather implies that it also was produced by supernatural means. In all these passages it is noticeable that the word trumpet (Hebrews, shophar) occurs, not yobel, as in verse 13 above. To the imagery furnished by this sublime theophany the apostle alludes in 1 Thessalonians 4:6. The reader should compare the corresponding description in Deuteronomy 4, especially verses 11, 12, 15, 33, 36. Kalisch observes: “The whole description of the fiery appearance of God in lightning and thunder and clouds, and the smoke of Sinai, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, is so majestically sublime and grand that it could only issue from a mind which, overwhelmed by the omnipotence and grandeur and majesty of God, exhausts the whole scanty store of human language to utter but a faint expression of the agitated sentiments of his soul.”

THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, 16-20.

16. The third day in the morning — The Scripture furnishes no certain data from which to determine the day of the week, or of the month, on which this theophany took place. Rabbinical and other speculations and conjectures on the subject are of no value. But there are some noticeable analogies between these three days and those intervening between the death and resurrection of our Lord, especially the preparations and ardent expectations among the more believing disciples, and the earthquake and lightning-like appearance of the angel that rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. The one third day heralded the sublimest proclamation of law ever known to man, the other the grandest monumental fact of Christianity — the revelation and pledge of immortality. Thunders — Hebrews, voices. The thunders and lightnings and thick (heavy) cloud upon the mount, the smoke and the fire and the quaking of the mountain, (verse 18,) were adapted to impress upon the thousands of Israel profoundest convictions of the majesty and might of Jehovah. A sublimer picture than that here given is not to be found among all the writings of men. Whether the voice (or sound) of the trumpet exceeding loud was produced by natural or supernatural agency is difficult to determine, and yet the mention of it in connexion with the other supernatural occurrences here and in verse 19, and in Exodus 20:18, rather implies that it also was produced by supernatural means. In all these passages it is noticeable that the word trumpet (Hebrews, shophar) occurs, not yobel, as in verse 13 above. To the imagery furnished by this sublime theophany the apostle alludes in 1 Thessalonians 4:6. The reader should compare the corresponding description in Deuteronomy 4, especially verses 11, 12, 15, 33, 36. Kalisch observes: “The whole description of the fiery appearance of God in lightning and thunder and clouds, and the smoke of Sinai, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, is so majestically sublime and grand that it could only issue from a mind which, overwhelmed by the omnipotence and grandeur and majesty of God, exhausts the whole scanty store of human language to utter but a faint expression of the agitated sentiments of his soul.”

Verse 20. The Lord came down] This was undoubtedly done in a visible manner, that the people might witness the awful appearance. We may suppose that every thing was arranged thus: the glory of the Lord occupied the top of the mountain, and near to this Moses was permitted to approach. Aaron and the seventy elders were permitted to advance some way up the mountain, while the people were only permitted to come up to its base. Moses, as the lawgiver, was to receive the statutes and judgments from God’s mouth; Aaron and the elders were to receive them from Moses, and deliver them to the people; and the people were to act according to the direction received. Nothing can be imagined more glorious, terrible, majestic, and impressive, than the whole of this transaction; but it was chiefly calculated to impress deep reverence, religious fear, and sacred awe; and he who attempts to worship God uninfluenced by these, has neither a proper sense of the Divine majesty, nor of the sinfulness of sin. It seems in reference to this that the apostle says, Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with REVERENCE and GODLY FEAR: for our God is a CONSUMING FIRE; Hebrews 12:28, 29. Who then shall dare to approach him in his own name and without a mediator?

20. The Lord came down — In the midst of the sublime exhibitions of his power and splendour mentioned above; though not so that the Israelites saw any likeness or similitude of Jehovah. See Deuteronomy 4:12, 15.

REPEATED CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE, 21-25.

21. Go down, charge the people — We here observe how Israel had to be admonished and taught by repeated commands. Once charging them solemnly is not enough, though even Moses (verse 23) thought that the charge already given, and the bounds set about the mount, were all-sufficient. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, (Isaiah 28:10,) was God’s order in giving the knowledge of his laws, and this fact will account for the repetitions of sundry laws noticeable in the Pentateuch.

Verse 22. Let the priests also-sanctify themselves] That there were priests among the Hebrews before the consecration of Aaron and his sons, cannot be doubted; though their functions might be in a considerable measure suspended while under persecution in Egypt, yet the persons existed whose right and duty it was to offer sacrifices to God. Moses requested liberty from Pharaoh to go into the wilderness to sacrifice; and had there not been among the people both sacrifices and priests, the request itself must have appeared nugatory and absurd. Sacrifices from the beginning had constituted an essential part of the worship of God, and there certainly were priests whose business it was to offer them to God before the giving of the law; though this, for especial reasons, was restricted to Aaron and his sons after the law had been given. As sacrifices had not been offered for a considerable time, the priests themselves were considered in a state of impurity; and therefore God requires that they also should be purified for the purpose of approaching the mountain, and hearing their Maker promulgate his laws. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 28:1”.

Ver. 22. The priests. Some understand here the seventy elders, or presbyters, who were mostly the firstborn, and consequently priests by the rights of birth. The Levites were afterwards substituted. Numbers 3:12, 13.

22. The priests also — Here we trace the existence of priests before the institution of the Levitical priesthood. This is no more strange than that there were ceremonial ablutions and purifications (compare verse 10) before those which were instituted at Sinai. Probably the firstborn of each family held this honour. Comp. Exodus 13:2. There was danger that those honoured members of families who were wont to act as priests might presume to pass the bounds set about the mount, and go up to the Lord in the mountain. Ver. 24. And so every precaution was taken to impress upon all classes a deep sense of the unapproachable sanctity of Jehovah.

Verse 23. The people cannot come up] Either because they had been so solemnly forbidden that they would not dare, with the penalty of instant death before their eyes, to transgress the Divine command; or the bounds which were set about the mount were such as rendered their passing them physically impossible.

And sanctify it.] yhvdqw vekiddashio. Here the word vdq kadash is taken in its proper literal sense, signifying the separating of a thing, person or place, from all profane or common uses, and devoting it to sacred purposes.

REPEATED CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE, 21-25.

21. Go down, charge the people — We here observe how Israel had to be admonished and taught by repeated commands. Once charging them solemnly is not enough, though even Moses (verse 23) thought that the charge already given, and the bounds set about the mount, were all-sufficient. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, (Isaiah 28:10,) was God’s order in giving the knowledge of his laws, and this fact will account for the repetitions of sundry laws noticeable in the Pentateuch.

Verse 24. Let not the priests and the people break through] God knew that they were heedless, criminally curious, and stupidly obstinate; and therefore his mercy saw it right to give them line upon line, that they might not transgress to their own destruction.

FROM the very solemn and awful manner in which the LAW was introduced, we may behold it as the ministration of terror and death, 2 Corinthians 3:7, appearing rather to exclude men from God than to bring them nigh; and from this we may learn that an approach to God would have been for ever impossible, had not infinite mercy found out the Gospel scheme of salvation. By this, and this alone, we draw nigh to God; for we have an entrance into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, Hebrews 10:19. “For,” says the apostle, “ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire; nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and to the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more, (for they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) but ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven; and to God, the Judge of all; and to the spirits of just men made perfect; and to Jesus the MEDIATOR of the NEW

COVENANT; and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel;” Hebrews 12:18-24.

Reader, art thou still under the influence and condemning power of that fiery law which proceeded from his right hand? Art thou yet afar off? Remember, thou canst only come nigh by the blood of sprinkling; and till justified by his blood, thou art under the curse. Consider the terrible majesty of God. If thou have his favour thou hast life; if his frown, death. Be instantly reconciled to God, for though thou hast deeply sinned, and he is just, yet he is the justifier of him that believeth in Christ Jesus. Believe on him, receive his salvation, OBEY his voice indeed, and KEEP his covenant, and THEN shalt thou be a king and a priest unto God and the Lamb, and be finally saved with all the power of an endless life. Amen. EXODUS

REPEATED CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE, 21-25.

21. Go down, charge the people — We here observe how Israel had to be admonished and taught by repeated commands. Once charging them solemnly is not enough, though even Moses (verse 23) thought that the charge already given, and the bounds set about the mount, were all-sufficient. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, (Isaiah 28:10,) was God’s order in giving the knowledge of his laws, and this fact will account for the repetitions of sundry laws noticeable in the Pentateuch.

REPEATED CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE, 21-25.

21. Go down, charge the people — We here observe how Israel had to be admonished and taught by repeated commands. Once charging them solemnly is not enough, though even Moses (verse 23) thought that the charge already given, and the bounds set about the mount, were all-sufficient. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, (Isaiah 28:10,) was God’s order in giving the knowledge of his laws, and this fact will account for the repetitions of sundry laws noticeable in the Pentateuch.