_THE ISRAELITES COME TO MOUNT SINAI IN THE THIRD MONTH: THEY ARE
COMMANDED TO SANCTIFY THEMSELVES: THE LORD DESCENDS UPON THE MOUNTAIN
IN THE MIDST OF THUNDERS AND LIGHTNINGS, AND TALKS WITH MOSES._
_Before Christ 1491._... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE THIRD MONTH—THE SAME DAY— Houbigant shews clearly, that
this means the first day of the month; for the Jews, says he,
celebrate the 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... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY WERE DEPARTED— Houbigant renders this, _For they had
departed from Rephidim, that they might come into the wilderness of
Sinai, and encamp there: there, therefore, Israel encamped before the
Mountain._... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES WENT UP UNTO GOD— The Deity having made his presence known by
the usual symbol, Moses ascended to that part of the Mountain where
the Lord manifested himself, and from whence he issued his sacred
mandates. We have so frequently observed, that the Divine Person, who
is called _God,_ and also _L... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW I BARE YOU ON EAGLES' WINGS— See Deuteronomy 32:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL BE A PECULIAR TREASURE— The word סגלה _segulah,_
signifies a _peculium;_ an appropriated treasure, or peculiar
propriety: GOD, to whom belong all the people upon earth, being
determined to select and set apart one nation, as the repository of
his law, and the subjects of his most immediate... [ Continue Reading ]
A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, AND, &C.— The latter clause seems explicative
of the former; and might be rendered, _even an holy nation;_ a nation
separated and set apart by me, and for my service, as _priests_ are
separated; and so, from their relation to GOD, called _holy:_ and, as
priests were to be holy... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES—CALLED THE ELDERS OF THE PEOPLE— The Lord having
proposed to Moses to institute a theocracy, to separate the Israelites
from the rest of the world, and to become, in a peculiar sense, _their
God_ and _King;_ Moses summons _the elders of the people,_ as the
representatives of the whole body... [ Continue Reading ]
I COME UNTO THEE IN A THICK CLOUD— This _thick cloud,_ as appears
from Exodus 19:16, &c. implies all those awful demonstrations which
accompanied the Divine Presence; and, in this view, the reason here
subjoined for God's coming in this _thick cloud,_ is manifest: that
the people, hearing the Almigh... [ Continue Reading ]
SANCTIFY THEM TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW— What is meant by
_sanctification, i.e_. a _separating_ and _setting apart to holy
uses,_ has been often explained. And here the context very fully
informs us, what was to be the mode of the present sanctification of
the Israelites: they were to _wash their clothes... [ Continue Reading ]
COME DOWN IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THE PEOPLE— i.e. The _cloud_ and
_darkness,_ declarative of the Divine Presence, will come down upon
the mountain. For Jehovah himself was not otherwise visible to them.
Compare Exodus 19:18; Exodus 19:20 and see Deuteronomy 4:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER TOUCHETH THE MOUNT, &C.— Houbigant, from the Samaritan,
renders the first part of the 12th verse, _Thou shalt set bounds round
about the mountain, and shalt command the people, saying,_ &c. What
striking circumstances of terror attended the giving of the law! How
different from the manner... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WERE THUNDERS AND LIGHTNINGS— The most formidable agents in
nature, _air, fire,_ and _light,_ in their most dreadful exertions,
attended the Divinity on this solemn occasion: a retinue of glorious
angels, bright as the living flame, surrounded him, Deuteronomy 32:2.
All nature expressed the mo... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES SPAKE, AND GOD ANSWERED HIM— In Exodus 19:9 the Lord tells
Moses, that _he would come in a thick cloud, that the people might
hear him speak with him:_ accordingly, being descended in all his
terrors, he replied to Moses, speaking to him with _a voice, i.e_. a
human voice, with which he condes... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD CAME DOWN, &C.— Houbigant renders this, _But the Lord,
as he descended upon Mount Sinai, called Moses to the top of the
Mount._ It must be understood in some such manner as this; as it is
plain from Exodus 19:18 that the Lord had before descended; unless we
will read that verse, _becaus... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, GO DOWN, &C.— When Moses was advanced upon
the mountain, the Lord, to shew the care he had for the people, and
his desire to preserve them from destruction, orders Moses to _go
down_ again, _and charge the people_ (whose curiosity, very likely,
when the first awful impressi... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE PRIESTS ALSO— It is very extraordinary to observe how some
expositors have perplexed themselves and others, in settling what is
meant by the word _priests_ here: for, as Aaron and his sons were not
consecrated to the priestly office, or the tribe of Levi set apart,
they have imagined, that t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PEOPLE CANNOT COME UP TO MOUNT SINAI— To be consistent with the
other parts of this chapter, especially Exodus 19:13 these words must
signify, that the people, though advanced _to_ the mount, could not
ascend up _upon_ it; as being restrained by those _bounds_ which God
himself had strictly enjo... [ Continue Reading ]