And God spake all these words, saying, Ver. 1. _God spake all, &c._] All the ten are of divine authority. Papists disannulling the second, that yet they may retain the number of ten words, so loath are heretics to have their asses' ears seen, divide the last, which yet is called "the commandment,... [ Continue Reading ]
I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Ver. 2. _Which have brought thee._] God's blessings are binders; and every deliverance a tie to obedience. _See Trapp (for summary of Law) on "_ Exo 20:17 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ver. 3. _Thou shalt have._] This "thou" reacheth every man. Xenophon saith of Cyrus, that when he gave anything in command, he never said, Let some one do this; but, Do thou this. _a_ No other gods before me.] But "know" and "serve" me alone "with a perfect... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:_ Ver. 4. _Thou shalt not make unto thee,_] _i.e., _ For religious use; for civil they may be made. Mat 22:20 Howbe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;_ Ver. 5. _Thou shalt not bow down._] Images came first from Babylon. For Ninus hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments._ Ver. 6. _Unto thousands._] Of succeeding generations. Personal goodness is profitable to posterity. And this promise, though made to all, yet is more specially annexed to this second commandment; to teach, saith one,... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Ver. 7. _The Name of the Lord._] That "holy and reverend" Name; Psa 111:9 that _Nomen Maiestativum,_ as Tertullian callcth it; "dreadful among the heathen." Mal 1:14 The... [ Continue Reading ]
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ver. 8. _Remember the Sabbath day._] He saith not, The seventh day from the creation, but the day of religious rest; such is now our Christian Sabbath, called a "Sabbath day" by our Saviour, Mat 24:20 who is "Lord of this Sabbath," called therefore the Lor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:_ Ver. 9. _Six days shalt thou labour._] God hath reserved but one day in seven, as he reserved the tree of knowledge of good and evil; Gen 2:2-3 yet wretched men must needs clip the Lord's coin. In many places God's Sabbaths are made the voider and... [ Continue Reading ]
But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: Ver. 10. _But the seventh day._] Or, A seventh day. Not only Hebrews,... [ Continue Reading ]
_For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it._ Ver. 11. _For in six days._] God took six days to make the world in, to the end that we might be in a muse when we think o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee._ Ver. 12. _Honour thy father, &c._] Philo well! observeth, that this fifth commandment, which therefore he maketh a branch of the first table, and so divides the tables equally, is a mixed... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not kill. Ver. 13. _Thou shalt not kill._] A crying sin. Genesis 4:8,26 _; _ Gen 4:24 For the which God makes inquisition, Psa 9:12 and strangely brings it to light. It was a saying of King James, that if God did allow him to kill a man, he would think God did not love him. _See Trapp (f... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Ver. 14. _Thou shalt not commit adultery._] Adultery only is named; because bestiality, sodomy, and other unclcannesses, though more heinous, yet they do not directly fight against the purity of posterity and human society, which the law mainly respects. _See Trapp ... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not steal. Ver. 15. _Thou shalt not steal,_] i.e., Not rob or wrong another, either by force or fraud _a_ 1Th 4:6 _See Trapp on "_ 1Th 4:6 _"_ Basil chargeth the devil as a thief of the truth, in that he had decked his crows with her feathers. And it was of the devil surely that she had... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Ver. 16. _Thou shalt not bear false witness._] Neither bear it, nor hear it; raise, nor receive wrong reports of another; Deu 19:16 make a lie, nor love it when it is made. Rev 22:15 The truth must be spoken, and that in love. Doeg had a fals... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's. Ver. 17. _Thou shalt not covet._] _See Trapp on "_ Rom 7:7 _"_ _See Trapp on "_ Heb 13:5 _"_ One observet... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off. Ver. 18. _They removed, &c., _] viz., From the hill foot, where they stood and trembled. Deu 4:11 They feared and fled.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Ver. 19. _Speak thou with us._] See here what a mercy it is to have the mind of God made known by men like ourselves; that may say unto us, as Elihu did to Job, "Behold, I am according to thy... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. Ver. 20. _Fear not._] And yet fear. Fear not this glorious appearance so much: but let it bring your cogitations to his future fearful appearance.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God [was]. Ver. 21. _Stood afar off._] Yea, God, tendering their infirmity, gave them leave to go home to their tents. Deu 5:30-31... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ver. 22. _From heaven._] For wheresoever God is, heaven is: as where the king is, there is the court.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. Ver. 23. _Ye shall not male with me gods._] Say we of such petty deities as that heathen did, _Contemno minutulos istos deos, modo Iovem (Iehovam) mihi propitium habeam._ I slight them all.... [ Continue Reading ]
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. Ver. 24. _An altar of earth._] In opposition to the costly shrines and s... [ Continue Reading ]
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Ver. 25. _Thou hast polluted._] Not polished it. So in preaching. 1Co 2:4-5 _Epistolae ornamentum est ornamentis carere:_ Plainness commends an epistle. _a... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Ver. 26. _That thy nakedness._] We blush when taken naked, as if the blood would run forth to cover us. What beasts, then, were those priests of Priapus, and those base Bacchanalists, that ran up and do... [ Continue Reading ]