Chapter 3 Verse 1. Verse 2. Verse 3. Verse 4. Verse 5.

CHAPTER 3

Verse 1. By night on my bed, &c.] And when the people of the house of Israel saw that the clouds of glory were removed from them, and the holy crown {a} that was given to them at Sinai was taken from them, and they were left dark as the night; then they sought the holy crown, which was removed from them, but they found it not.

Verse 2. I will rise now, &c.] The children of Israel said one to another, Let us arise, and go and surround the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses fixed without the camp; and let us seek instruction from the Lord, and the holy shechinah, which is removed from us. And they went about the cities, and in the streets, and in the broad places; but they found it not.

Verse 3. The watchmen that go about the city, &c.] The congregation of Israel said, {b} Moses and Aaron, and the Levites which keep the charge of the word of the tabernacle of the congregation, who go round about it, found me, and I inquired of them concerning the shechinah of the glory of the Lord, which was removed from me. Moses, the great scribe of Israel, answered, and thus he said: I will go up to the highest heavens, and I will pray before the Lord; perhaps atonement may be made for your transgressions, so that he may cause his shechinah to dwell among you as before.

Verse 4. It was but a little that I passed, &c.] It was but a very little time, and the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger, and commanded Moses the prophet to make the tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark, and caused his shechinah to dwell in it; and the people of the house of Israel offered their offerings, and studied in the words of the law in the chamber {c} of the school of Moses their master, and in the chamber of Joshua, the son of Nun, his minister.

Verse 5. I charge you, &c.] When the seven nations {d} heard that the children of Israel were about to possess their land, they arose as one man, and cut down the trees, and stopped up the fountains of water, and destroyed their cities, and fled. The holy blessed God said to Moses the prophet, I have sworn to their fathers, that I will bring their children to inherit a land flowing with milk and honey; but how shall I bring them to a land that is desolate and empty? Now, therefore, I will cause them to stay forty years in the wilderness, and my law shall be mixed with them, and after that those wicked nations shall build what they have destroyed. And then said Moses to the children of Israel, I charge you, O congregation of Israel, by the Lord of hosts, and by the fortresses of the land of Israel, that ye presume not to go up to the land of Canaan until the forty years are ended. When it shall be the good pleasure of the Lord to deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hands, then shall ye pass over Jordan, and the land shall be subdued before you.

Verse 6. Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, &c.] When the Israelites came up out of the wilderness, and passed over Jordan with Joshua the son of Nun, the people of the land said, Who is this choice nation which comes up out of the wilderness, perfumed with the sweet incense, and supported through the righteousness of Abraham, who worshipped and prayed before the Lord on Mount Moriah, and is anointed with the anointing oil, through the righteousness of Isaac, who was bound in that place of the sanctuary which is called the mountain of frankincense; for whom wonders are also wrought through the holiness of Jacob, who wrestled with him until the morning ascended, and prevailed over him, and was delivered, he and the twelve tribes?

Verse 7. Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s, &c.] When Solomon, the king of Israel, built the house of the sanctuary of the Lord in Jerusalem, the Lord said by his word, How beautiful is the house of this sanctuary, which is built for me by the hands of King Solomon, the son of David! and how beautiful are the priests, when they spread their hands, and stand upon their desks, and bless the people of the house of Israel by the sixty letters {e} which were delivered to Moses their master, and with that blessing which surrounds them like a high and strong wall, and by which all the mighty men of Israel prevail and prosper!

Verse 8. They all hold swords, &c.] And the priests and the Levites, and all the tribes of Israel, all of them take hold of the words of the law, which are like to a {f} sword, in which they employ themselves as men that are expert in war; and every one of them has the {g} seal of circumcision sealed upon their flesh, even as it was sealed upon the flesh of Abraham; and by it they prevail as a man that has his sword girt upon his thigh, wherefore they are not afraid of noxious spirits {h} and apparitions, which walk in the night. Verse 9. King Solomon made himself a chariot, &c.] King Solomon built for himself {i} a holy temple of the trees of {k} Zangebila, fir trees, and cedars, which came from Lebanon, and covered it with pure gold.