Children of Israel and also unto Pharaoh So these words have respect to both parts of the foregoing Objection And gave them a Charge unto the Children of Israel He laid his Commands upon them strictly requiring them to obey him Which is an higher Expression than we meet withal before in the foregoing Injunctions either in v. 6. or 11. and makes me think this Verse is not a meer Recapitulation of what had been said as some take it but an Inforcement of what he had before commanded And unto Pharaoh King of Egypt to bring the Children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt I suppose he now gave them Authority to Threaten him if he did not obey Ver. 14. These are the Heads of their Fathers Houses The principal Persons of the several Families of Israel The Sons of Reuben the first-born c. See XLVI Gen. 9. where the Sons of Reuben are reckoned up in this very order in which they are here mentioned again to introduce the Genealogy of Moses and Aaron Who being chosen by God to be the Deliverers of his People it was sit to show that they were of the same Stock though not of the eldest Family of the Children of Israel To whom God promised when he went down into Egypt that he would surely bring him up again XLVI Gen. 4. that is in his Posterity which would not have been so manifestly the Work of God if they that were the Instruments of it had not been of his Posterity Ver. 15. The Sons of Simeon c. They are mentioned for the same reason and in the same order that they were in Genesis XLVI 10. Ver. 16. These are the Names of the Sons of Levi c. Having briefly set down the Heads of the two eldest Families of Israel he enlarges now upon the third from which he himself was descended Gershon Kohath and Merari These three are mentioned also in the XLVI Gen. 11. as coming with Jacob into Egypt And the years of the Life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years He is thought to have lived the longest of all the Sons of Jacob none of whose Ages are recorded in Scriptures but only his and Joseph's whom Levi survived Twenty seven years though he was much the elder Brother Kohath also the second Son of Levi attained near to the same Age with himself v. 18. And his Grandson Moses his Father lived just so long as Levi did v. 20. Next to Levi the longest Liver of all Jacob's Sons was Naphthali if we may believe the Tradition in R. Bechai who saith he lived to the Age of an Hundred thirty and three years which was the Age of Kohath Ver. 17. The Sons of Gershon Libni and Shimi c. These were born in Egypt from whom descended two Families mentioned afterwards III Num. 18 21. Ver. 18. The Sons of Kohath Amram c. He had the most numerous Off-spring of all Levi's Sons III Numb 28. from the eldest of which Moses came And the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years He sets down the Age of none but only of Levi his great Grandfather and Kohath his Grandfather and of Amram his Father And Primate Vsher makes account that Kohath was Thirty years old when Jacob came into Egypt and lived there an Hundred and three years and died Thirty two years before Moses was born See Chronolog Sacra Cap. XI Ver. 19. The Sons of Merari Mehali From this Mehali it is thought sprung the famous Singer Heman who composed the LXXXVIII Psalm 1 Chron. VI. 33. And Mushi From whom descended Ethan who composed the LXXXIX Psalm 1 Chron. VI. 44. Ver. 20. And Amram took him Jochabed his Father's Sister to Wife It must be acknowledged that the Hebrew word Dod signifies an Uncle and therefore some would have the word Dodah in this place to signifie only his Vncle's Daughter So the Vulgar and the LXX translate it But Moses tells us so expresly that she was born to Levi in Egypt XXVI Numb 59. that it unavoidably follows she was Sister to Amram's Father Which the forenamed great Primate maintains Cap. VIII of the same Book against Scaliger and Pererius who would have Jochabed called Levi his Daughter only as Ephraim and Manasseh are called Jacob's Sons Which would make a very easie Sense as I observed II. 1. if it would consist with those words in Numbers XXVI 59. whom her Mother for that must be understood bare to Levi which show she was his Daughter And thus R. Solomon understood it and so did Tostatus and Cajetan and divers others whom our Vsher there mentions And see our most Learned Selden L. V. de Jure N. G. Cap. IX p. 584. Which shows how sincere a Writer Moses was who doth not stick to relate what might be thought in after Ages when the Law against such Marriages was enctaed a blot to his Family And it is observable that he doth not say one Syllable in Commendation of his Parents though their Faith deserved the greatest Praise as the Apostle to the Hebrews shows XI 23. But Moses as Jac. Capellus truly observes did not write for his own Glory but for the Service of God and of his Church ad A. M. 2481. And she bare him Aaron and Moses This shows that God exactly fulfilled his Promise of Delivering the Israelites out of Servitude in the fourth Generation XV Gen. 16. i. e. the fourth from their Descent into Egypt for Moses was the fourth from Levi being his great Grandson And the years of the Life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years The very same Age with his Grandfather Levi v. 16. Ver. 21. And the Sons of Izhar Korah c. He gives an account of his Uncle's Sons but saith not one word here of his own Who were not to succeed him in his Place and Dignity nor to be advanced to any other Office Such was his Humility and generous Love to his Country that he only sought the Good of that but Nothing for his own Family Ver. 22. And the Sons of Uzziel c. This was another of his Uncles whose Posterity he mentions that it might be seen how God blessed the Tribe of Levi notwithstanding the Sin he had committed at Schechem and the Punishment his Father denounced against him for it XLIX Gen. He saith nothing of Hebron another of his Father's Brothers because perhaps he died Childless or his Children had no Issue Ver. 23. And Aaron took him Elisheba Daughter of Aminadab Sister of Naashon to Wife Though he says nothing here of himself yet he relates particularly what concerned Aaron who he shows was matcht into an honourable Family with the Sister of a Prince of the Tribe of Judah chief Commander of their Host when they were come out of Egypt I Numb 7. II. 3. The knowledge of this he thought might breed in Posterity a greater Reverence to the Priesthood which was setled in the Family of Aaron And
III Hierozoic c. 6. p. 1. He shall serve him for ever Till the Year of Jubilee or till his Master died for his Son was not to detain him when his Father was dead unless he would release him or he was redeemed Ver. 7. And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant Besides the two former sorts of Persons sold to be Servants there was a third here mentioned which is thus expounded by the Hebrews That she was to be a Virgin under Age that is less then XII years old and a day For if she was more than that it was not lawful for him to sell her and when she came to be of Age it put an end to her Servitude as well as the Year of Jubilee did or Redemption or the Death of her Master Besides her Father might not sell her unless he were reduced to extream Poverty If he did without such necessity he was forced by the Court of Judgment to Redeem her And she was not to be sold neither unless there were some hope her Master or his Son might take her to Wife She shall not go out as the men-servants do There were other and better Conditions for her than for the Servant mentioned v. 3 4. particularly her Master could not marry her to any Body but to himself or his Son Ver. 8. If she please not her Master who hath betrothed her to himself This shows she was sold to him upon the presumption he would take her for his Wife and there was such a previous agreement about this that there needed no other Espousals But if after this he changed his mind and did not like her enough to make her his Wise then God ordains as follows Then shall he let her be redeemed She was to serve her Master six years if she was sold for so long unless she was redeemed which her Master is here required not to refuse or manumitted or set free by the Year of Jubilee or by the Death of her Master or which was peculiar in this case the signs of her being ripe for Marriage appeared See Selden in the place before mentioned To sell her to a strange Nation he shall have no power No Man had power to sell an Hebrew Servant to one of another Nation And therefore by a strange People as the word is here in the Hebrew must be meant an Israelite of another family that was not of her Kindred nor had any right of Redemption Seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her Frustrated her hope of marrying her Ver. 9. If he hath betrothed her to his Son Which was expected from him if he did not think fit to marry her himself he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters If the word he relate to the Father the meaning is he shall give her a Portion as if she were his own Daughter If it relate to the Son the meaning is he shall treat her like a Wife Ver. 10. If he take him another wife her food c. If after the Son had married her he took another Wife besides he was still to perform to this all those things that belong to a Wife viz. give her Food and Raiment and at certain times which were determined by Law in some Countries cohabit with her as her Husband From this place the Hebrews have made a general Rule that these three things are owing to all Wives from their Husbands viz. Alimony Clothes and the Conjugal Duty For howsoever the Vulgar Latin understand the last word the Hebrews generally take it for that which St. Paul calls due Benevolence 1 Cor. VII 3. See Selden de Vxor Hebr. L. III. c. 4. Now what was accounted Alimony and sufficient for Clothes he shows cap. 5. and what belongs to the other cap. 6. The Hebrew word Gonata which we translate duty of marriage properly relates to the stated and determined time wherein every thing is to be done and therefore here signifies the use of marriage certo tempore modo as Bochart hath well expounded it L. II. Canaan c. 11. Many indeed will have it derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from which comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an habitation as if it signified here the cohabitation of a Man with his Wife But Aben-Ezra rather refers it to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 time whence Gonat signifies the set and appointed time wherein every thing is done And so the Chaldee use the word goneta for the term prescribed to every thing as the same Author observes that it may be done in due time and manner Theodorick Hackspan thinks Moses here speaks of the Father to whom all the precedent and subsequent acts belong and not to the Son Ver. 11. And if he do not these three to her i. e. Neither marry her to himself nor to his Son nor suffer to be redeemed Then she shall go out free without money When she came of Age and was ripe for Marriage she was to be set free and pay nothing for her freedom Nay on the contrary he was to give her something as appears from XV Deut. 12 13 17. What the signs of Puberty were Mr. Selden shows Lib. de Successionibus c. 9. Ver. 12. He that smiteth a man so that he die That is commit wilful Murder as we now speak Shall surely be put to death Wheresoever we find this word Maveth death absolutely without any addition it always signifies strangling They are the words of R. Levi Barzelonita But the Jewish Doctors will not have this Law extend unto Proselytes of the Gate much less to Gentiles whom if any Israelite killed he was not to suffer death for it See Mr. Selden L. IV. de Jure N. G. c. 1. But Plato in his Book of Laws L. IX p. 872. hath determined more justly than these Rabbies that in the Case of Murder the same Laws should be for Strangers and for Citizens Ver. 13. And if a man lie not in wait Do not design to kill another But God deliver him into his hand But he happens as we speak to kill a Man by that action which aimed at another end This the Scripture expresses more religiously by acknowledging God in every thing that falls out who permits such things as are mentioned XIX Deut. 5. whereby a Man is killed without the intention of him who was about such actions Then I will appoint him a place whether he shall flee He may flee to one of the Places which I will appoint for his Security Which place the Jews say was the Camp of the Levites while they continued in the Wilderness but when they came to Canaan there were Cities appointed for this purpose as we read XXXV Numb 11 12. XIX Deut. 2 3 c. And there being several kinds of involuntary killing Men the Hebrews make these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Places of Refuge to belong only to one of them for the rest did not need them as Mr.
any but those who had been always bred up in a deep sense of his Divine Majesty Which gave them such Courage that as Chytraeus expresseth it in Herodotus his Phrase which is in a manner the same with St. Peter's V Acts 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they made account the things of God were to be preferred before those of Men and therefore would not obey the King's Command by doing contrary unto God's Ver. 18. And the King called for the Midwives Sent out a Summons to appear before him And said unto them Why have you done this thing c. Their being questioned for their Disobedience made their Constancy the more remarkable Ver. 19. For they are lively and are delivered ere the Midwives come in unto them It doth not appear that these Midwives told a lye but only concealed some of the Truth which is not unlawful but commendable when it is to preserve the Innocent For many of the Hebrew Women might be such as they here describe though not every one of them The Hebrew word chajoth signifies three things either vivaces i. e. lively or obstetrices Midwives as Kimchi tells us or animantia living Creatures The LXX follow the first notion and so do we which is very proper Aquila follows the second who translates this Passage thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they can do the Office of Midwives themselves and are brought to Bed before we can get to them Thus the Vulgar also take it They have skill in Midwifry And the Author of the Life of Moses as several other Jews do take it in the third sense expounding it thus They are like other living Creatures who do not need any Midwives to help their young ones into the World And so Rasi also and Theodotion who thus translates it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth not signifie as Gaulmyn observes they bring forth living Children but ad instar animantium pariunt they bring forth like Animals Such lively Women undoubtedly there have been and are still in some Parts of the World For Varro reports L. II. de R. R. cap. 10. that the Women of Illyricum when they found their Pangs coming were wont to go a little aside from the Work they were about and presently were delivered of a Child quem non peperisse sed invenisse putes which one would think they had found not brought forth out of their Womb. Which place our Gataker mentioning in his Cinnus p. 213. saith it is credibly reported by those who had lived there a great while that the Irish Women sometime rise from Table and are delivered and return to the Company again before all be taken away Ver. 20. Therefore God dealt well with the Midwives c. He rewarded their Services whereby the Children of Israel still more multiplied and waxed very mighty Ver. 21. Because the Midwives feared God he made them Houses These words seem to declare wherein God rewarded them which was in making them Houses Some indeed particularly Mr. Calvin refer this to the Israelites because the word them is of the Masculine Gender and therefore cannot they think be meant of the Midwives but must be interpreted by this means the Children of Israel were exceedingly increased But besides that this was said just before it is not unusual in Scripture when the Speech is of Women to use the Masculine Gender Thus Ruth 1. 8. prays for her Daughters in Law in these words the LORD deal kindly with you where in the Hebrew the Masculine Gender is used and not the Feminine But we need go no further for an instance of this than the very next Chapter to this II Exod. 17. where Moses is said to water their Flock speaking of Jethro's Daughters and the word for their is of the Masculine Gender It agrees also best with the whole story to take it so here that God made the Midwives Houses so the Chaldee and the LXX understand it that is gave them a numerous Offspring out of which arose many Families which in Scripture Language are called Houses XXX Gen. 30. When shall I make my self an House the same Phrase with this i. e. take care of my own Family XXV Deut. 9. IV Ruth 5. Or else the meaning may be he increased their Estate and gave them great Riches which the Psalmist may be thought to mean when he saith Except the Lord build the House i. e. preserve and increase the Estate of a Family their labour is in vain that endeavour it See also 2 Sam. VII 11. CXIII Psal 9. Some that take these Midwives to have been Egyptian Women proselyted to the Jewish Religion think the sense may be that they married to Israelites and God made their Families eminent in Israel Ver. 22. And Pharaoh charged all his People saying every Son c. Not being able to effect his end by the Midwives he commanded every Body to inform his Officers when any Hebrew Woman fell in Labour and appointed Searchers it 's likely to examine whether they were delivered of Male or Female and to act according to what is here ordered Some that understand the foregoing words of the Israelites make this the sense of the two last Verses Because the Midwives feared God and thereby the Families of the Israelites were increased not diminished Pharaoh took a new Course and charged all his People to see that done which the Midwives refused The Jews in the Book called The Life of Moses say that many of their People upon this Decree of Pharaoh resolved not to marry or not to come near their Wives and those who did were forced to have them brought to Bed alone and throw their Children into the Fields where the Angels took care of them c. But this is confuted by what follows in the next Chapter And yet they are so fond of such Fables that in one of their Medraschim or Books of Homilies they say God made Milk to come out of one Stone and Honey out of another to Suckle them while they lay hid in the Earth See Buxtorf of the Education of their Children Synag Judaic Cap. VII CHAP. II. Ver. 1. AND there went a Man of the House of Levi c. We are told both the Man's name and the Womans whom he married VI Exod. 20. XXVI Numb 59. Where Amram Grandson of Levi is said to have been Moses his Father and Jochabed Daughter of Levi to have been his Mother So Amram married his Father's Sister as the Text expresly tells us Which Moses was so ingenuous as not to conceal though it might not be for his Credit in future Ages when such Marriages were forbidden by that Law which he gave them from God though practised before the giving of his Law See Selden L. V. de Jure N. G. c. 9. The Jews also fancying his Mother Jochabed to have been born as soon as the Israelites came into Egypt make the Birth of Moses a Miracle because she must be by that account an Hundred and
sensless And yet it is upon that ground they make her a Proselyte also and say in the Title of the Talmud before mentioned called Sota Cap. I. of the Gemara Sect. 40. that she went into the River to purge her self from the Idolatry of her Father's House i. e. to become a Proselyte who was received in following times into the Jewish Religion by Baptism And her Maidens walkt along by the Rivers side While she washed her self in a private place which no doubt was made by the King for that purpose For it is not to be imagined that she washed herself publickly in the River but in some Inclosure whereby she was separated from the sight of Company For Zoan or Tanis the Royal City it is certain lay near the River and it is likely the King's Gardens extended themselves to the very Banks of it where convenient Bathing-Houses were contrived for himself and the Royal Family to bathe in the River when they pleased Patricides seems to say that the River ran through the City or by the side of it for so the words are The Ark was put in the banks of the River Nile where the water was shallowest in the City of Tzana which was the Metropolis of that part of the Country And to the same purpose Elmacinus another Arabian Writer as Hottinger observes in his Smegma Orientale L. I. c. 8. p. 400. And when she saw the Ark among the flaggs In such a Bathing-House as I suppose her to have now been there were Latices through which she could see what was done in the River though no Body could see her And she spying an unusual Vessel among the slags commanded it to be brought to her Patricides saith she heard the Child cry And Chuskuni observes it was more easie for her who was in the River to espy the Ark than for her Maidens who walked above upon the Banks She sent her Maid to fetch it The Hebrew word Amatha which we translate Maid is much different from that for Maidens mention'd just before signifying one that waited immediately upon her whom we call an Handmaid the other properly signifying only young Women who were such perhaps as we now call Ladies of Honour Ver. 6. And when she had opened it she saw the Child And together with him the SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty as Rabbi Jose saith in Sota which is agreeable to their opinion who make her to be now proselyted but hath no other foundation And behold the Babe wept There is nothing strange in this that a Babe which perhaps had been a good while without the Breast should weep but it is remarkable that Pharaoh's Daughter should not find it till tears ran down its Cheeks because this helpt to move her compassion towards it as it here follows And she had Compassion on him Resolved to preserve him contrary to her Father's Order And said this is one of the Hebrew 's Children None else she thought would expose so goodly a Child and she was confirm'd in her opinion when she found he was Circumcised as the same R. Jose conjectures And the truth is we have no good reason to believe that the Egyptians had as yet received Circumcision Ver. 7. Then said his Sister to Pharaoh's Daughter c. We cannot think his Sister would be so imprudent as to step in immediately upon the finding of the Child and ask if she should call a Hebrew Nurse for it but staid some time that she might not seem to know any thing of him but what she heard them say till they had tried other Nurses as the Hebrew Doctors in Sota understand it Cap. I. Sect. 43. whose Breasts the Child refusing to suck she took the opportunity to ask if she might see for a Nurse among the Hebrew Women Josephus saith the very same Ver. 8. And Pharaoh's Daughter said unto her Go. It is likely that Miriam addressed her self to her so discreetly that it moved her easily to agree to her Proposal Though a singular Providence of God guided this whole business And the Maid went and called this Child's Mother Whose Breast the Child readily taking having been used to it she was instantly accepted to be his Nurse So it follows in the next Verse Ver. 9. Take this Child away and Nurse it for me c. Thus by the wonderful Providence of God Jochabed had the pleasure of suckling her own Child and was also well paid for her pains Ver. 10. And the Child grew and she brought him unto Pharaoh 's Daughter The Hebrew Writers say that when he was Two years old he was taken from her which is not so likely as that he continued with her till he was grown capable to be instructed in true Religion and to understand and remember whose true Child he was whereby he was disposed to behave himself accordingly when he came to live at Court And he became her Son She having no Child of her own adopted him for her Son with the consent no doubt of Pharaoh Not to succeed in the Throne as some have fancied but to be the Heir of her private Estate And accordingly she gave him a Princely Education and took care he should be instructed in all the Wisdom of the Egyptians as St. Stephen hath remembred VII Acts 22. and as Philo in The Life of Moses would have it believed sent for the ablest Masters out of Greece as well as out of Assyria and other Eastern Countries to teach him their Learning Which is a piece of Jewish Vanity for there was no Learning among the Greeks in the days of Moses who was ancienter not only than their Philosophers and Poets but than most of their Gods as Clemens Alexandrinus demonstrates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. I. Strom. p. 323. And what Learning there was now in Egypt is not certain for there is no Evidence that the Wisdom St. Stephen speaks of comprehends the Knowledge of so many things as some Learned Men are pleased to ascribe to them in those days And she called his name Moses The reason of this Name is given in the following words And she said because I have drawn him out of the Water This Name seems to be derived from the Hebrew word Mashah which is never used in the Bible but for drawing out of the Water 2 Sam. XXII 17. XVIII Psal 17. LXIII Isa 11. And therefore there is no need to have recourse to any other Language for the original of his Name which Philo Josephus and Clemens Alexandrinus will have to be derived from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the Egyptian Tongue they say signifies Water and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies saved So that it is as much as saved from the Waters or preserved from drowning It may be said indeed that it is not likely she would give him a Name from any other Language than her own but it is to be considered that the word Mashah from whence this Name most naturally flows and to
she bore him Nadab and Abihu These two perished in the very first Sacrifice which their Father offered because they did not take Fire from the Altar but offered with strange Fire X Lev. 1 2. Eleazar Who succeeded his Father in the Priesthood Numb XX. 25 c. and assisted Joshua in the Division of the Land of Canaan XIV Josh 1. XIX 51. XXI 1. From him sprung Zadok and the following High-Priests till the Destruction of Jerusalem 1 Chron. VI. 4 c. And Ithamar From whom came Eli and Ahimelech and Abiathar in the time of David in whom this Family was Extinct Ver. 24. And the Sons of Korah c. Though he himself perished in his Rebellion against Moses who was his Cosin-German yet his Family remained XXVI Numb 58. and were famous in the days of David being often mentioned in the Book of Psalms Ver. 25. And Eleazar took one of the Daughters of Putiel to Wife Who this Putiel was is not certain Dr. Lightfoot thinks he was an Egyptian Convert whose Daughter Eleazar married But I see no good ground for this Opinion but rather think it more likely Eleazar would marry one of the race of Abraham being Son to the High-Priest He was married indeed before his Father was promoted to that Dignity yet Aaron was so great a Man in his own Tribe See IV. 14. and married into so honourable a Family in Israel v. 23. that it is not probable he would suffer his Son to match with an Egyptian Proselyte These are the Heads of the Fathers of the Levites c. The great Persons from whom sprung the principal Families among the Levites He saith nothing of the other Tribes because his intention was only to derive his own Pedigree and his Brother Aaron's from Israel Ver. 26. These are that Moses and Aaron to whom the Lord said bring out the Children of Israel c. These are the two Persons to whom God gave Commission to be the Deliverers of their Nation out of the Egyptian Bondage He had mentioned just before their Genealogy the Charge God gave them both to the Children of Israel and unto Pharaoh v. 13. And now he goes on to show that they were the Men who were peculiarly chosen by God to discharge that Office first by going to the Children of Israel which he mentions here and then to Pharaoh which he mentions in the next Verse Bring out the Children of Israel from the Land of Egypt Assure them of their Deliverance notwithstanding the Pressures under which they groan According to their Armies Not by a disorderly Flight but every Family in such good order as an Army keeps XII Exod. 41 51. XIII 18. Ver. 27. These are they that spake to Pharaoh c. Who carried the Message from God to Pharaoh requiring him to let Israel go out of Egypt V. 1 2 c. VI. 13. These are that Moses and Aaron He repeats it again that all Generations might mark who were the Men that God imployed in this great and hazardous Work of Demanding the Liberty of the Children of Israel from Pharaoh's Servitude and effecting it in such manner as is afterward related in this Book There have been Critical Wits who made this an Argument that Moses was not the Author of these Books because it is not likely they imagine he would write thus of himself But no Body but these Criticks can see any Absurdity in it that he and his Brother being the Instruments in Gods hand of effecting such wonderful things should not let Posterity be ignorant of it but take care not only to Record it but to set a special Note upon it that none might rob them of the Honour God bestowed on them and He by whose direction this was written might have the glory of working such mighty things by such inept Instruments as Moses often acknowledges himself to have been Nor is this more than Ezra Nehemiah and Daniel say concerning themselves and St. John may as well be denied to be the Authour of the Gospel which bears his Name because he saith This is the Disciple that testifieth these things c. XXI 24. And besides this the History of succeeding Ages show us the necessity of this which Moses hath said of himself For if he had not told us what his Progeny was we see by what we read in Justin and Corn. Tacitus and such like Authours what false Accounts we should have of him for Justin from Trogus Pompeius makes him as I observed before the Son of Joseph Nay the Jewish Writers have been so fabulous that we should have learnt as little Truth from them if Moses had not told it us himself Ver. 28. And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses c. Having finished the Account he thought fit to give of himself and of his Brother whom God was pleased to imploy in this great Embassy he resumes the Relation of it which he broke off at the end of v. 13. Ver. 29. That the LORD spake unto Moses saying I am the LORD c. This and the next Verse seem to be a Recapitulation of what God said in his last Appearances to him v. 2 10 c. and of his desire to be excused from the Employment on which he was sent urged by two Arguments v. 12 13. where they are related something more largely than they are here in the last Verse of this Chapter In which he mentions them again that there might be a clearer connexion with what God further added for his Encouragement when he gave him the forenamed Charge v. 13. to deliver a new Message unto Pharaoh Ver. 30. And Moses said before the LORD We read the very same v. 12. which makes me think this is not a new Objection but meerly a Recital of what he had objected there See what I have said on the foregoing Verse Behold I am of uncircumcised Lips c. See v. 12. CHAP. VII Verse 1. AND the LORD said unto Moses He received new Orders from the SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty before whom he stood VI. 12 30. See Mark what I say in answer to all thy Objections I have made thee a God to Pharaoh Therefore why shouldest thou fear to appear before him who is but a Man Moses is not called absolutely a God but only a God unto Pharaoh Which denotes that he had only the Authority and Power of God over him or rather he was God's Ambassadour to speak to him in his Name with a Power ready to Execute all that he desired for the Humbling of Pharaoh and Punishing his Disobedience to his Message And Aaron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet Let therefore the Vncircumcision of thy Lips be no longer an Objection for he shall interpret thy Mind as Prophets declare the Mind of God Some slight Wits have from this place also drawn an Argument that this Book was not written by Moses but by some other Authour long after his time Because the word
this place CHAP. XXI Verse 1. NOW these are the Judgments thou shalt set before them By Judgments are meant such Political Laws which God thought fit to give for the determination of Differences among the People and that they might be justly and peaceably governed Which though they were not spoken with such Pomp and Majesty as the X. Commandments were and much less were the Ceremonial Precepts delivered with such solemnity yet the Israelites believed that they came from the same Authority though spoken to Moses in the Mount privately and not in the audience of all the People as appears by their submission to these no less than to the other Laws And there was great reason for it it being their own desire not to hear God's voice any more but to be instructed by Moses what God required and they promised to obey it XX. 19. Ver. 2. If thou buy an Hebrew Servant c. Or a Slave Some Persons sold themselves by reason of Poverty of which sort the Hebrews understand that Law XXV Lev. 39. Others were sold by the Court of Judgment which was in case of a Theft they had committed for which not being able to make Satisfaction unto him that had received the Damage they were condemned to be his Servants Of these they interpret this place and XV Deut. 12. But this Sale they say did not extend to both Sexes for a Woman was not to be sold for Theft In the seventh year he shall go out free for nothing If the Damage was so great that his six years Service had not satisfied for it yet he was not to be kept longer And his Servitude also might end sooner by Manumission or Redemption or the Death of his Master if he were a Gentile or a Proselyte Nay if he were an Hebrew his Death put an end to it in case he left no Son And his Master also was bound to maintain his Wife and Children if he had any all this time giving them Food Raiment and a Dwelling though they were not to be his Servants See Mr. Selden L. VI. de Jure N. G. c. 7. It is remarkable that he sets this Law in the first place because Mercy next to Piety is the most excellent Vertue and God would have his People saith R. Levi Barzelonita adorned with and full of the noblest qualities which are Benignity and Mercy This Year of Release also being a Sacred Year the whole Land being Holy to the LORD so that no Man might challenge any Right or Propriety in it to sow his Field or reap that which grew of it self c. it was Sacriledge for any Master to keep a Servant from his Freedom when the Year came which was the LORD's Release as we read expresly XXV Lev. and XV Deut. Whence it was that because the Jews were so prophane as to break this Law and not give their Servants liberty as we read in the XXXIVth of Jeremiah God punished them with a Captivity of LXX years in which the Land lay waste till it had fulfilled the Years of Rest which they would not observe as Mr. Mede hath truly noted Discourse XXVI latter end Ver. 3. If he come in by himself c. That is a single Man without a Wife so he was to depart But if he was a married Man when he was sold as the Master was not to let his Wife and Children want Food and Raiment and Habitation while he continued his Slave so when he was free he was not to meddle with them or detain them from their Father and Husband XXV Lev. 41. Ver. 4. If his Master have given him a Wife Unto such a Servant as this who was sold by the Court of Judgment his Master might give a Gentile-Maid to Wife and no other Hebrew but such as he might marry a Gentile that he might beget Children of her who were to be the Masters Servants or Slaves for ever The Hebrew Doctors say the Master could not do this unless such a Servant had a lawful Wife and Children before of his own who were not to be kept from him but he might beget Children for himself as well as for his Master who could not impose upon him more than one Maid-servant to be his Wife He that sold himself also was not subject to this Law But as his Master could not impose a Wife of this sort upon him so neither was he bound when the Servant went free to bestow any Gift upon him which was due only to him that was sold by the Court for Theft XV Deut. 12. to whom the ancient Jews say he was to give thirty shekels And she have born him Sons or Daughters During his Service The Wife and Children shall be his Masters c. For the Wife was a Slave as well as himself when he married her And she was given to Wife meerly that he might beget Slaves of her Who therefore continued with the Master as well as their Mother when the Man had his Liberty for they were not so much his as his Masters Goods who had such a power over them that he might Circumcise them as he did his own Children without their consent See Selden L. VI. de Jure N. G. c. 7. and de Vxore Hebr. L. I. c. 6. p. 39. Ver. 5. And if the Servant shall plainly say In the Hebrew the words are saying shall say i.e. Stand in it as we speak and stedfastly resolve by saying it not in a fit but constantly I love my Master my Wife and my Children c. If his love to such a Wife and Children who were not properly his own was greater than his Love to Liberty which made him still desire their Company and choose to stay with his Master who had been so good to him Ver. 6. His Master shall bring him to the Judges That it might appear he was not fraudulently or forcibly detained against the Law but with his own consent or rather at his desire He shall also bring him to the door or the door-post After the Case had been heard and the Judges had given Sentence And his Master shall bore his ear through with an awl In token that he was now affixed to his House and might not so much as step over the Threshold without his leave but be obedient to his will for ever This is to be understood only of one that was sold by the Court not of him that sold himself And though the Hebrews take this to have been a mark of Infamy set upon a Man who chose Servitude before Liberty yet it being chosen out of love to his Master I cannot think that they intended by this Act to disgrace him But look upon it only as a solemn Addiction of him to his Master's Service which was done it is likely in the presence of the Judges This Custom of boring the Ears of Slaves lasted a long time after this in Syria and Arabia as Bochartus shows out of Juvenal Sat. 1. and Petronius L.
time that it had been known to push But if the Ox had formerly been known to be so unruly and he had been told of it and yet did not take care to prevent further mischief then he as well as the Ox were to be put to death The Jewish Doctors indeed have softned this by divers Exceptions As first they say it was to be proved that the Ox had pushed upon three several days for though it appeared he pushed a great many times in one day it would not make the Man liable And secondly it was to be testified not only to the Owner but before the Magistrate that he had pushed so often And lastly they interpret the last words of this Verse the Owner also shall be put to death of Punishment by the Hand of Heaven that is they leave him to God See Bochart in his Hierozoic P. I. L. II. c. 40. But though Abarbinel propound this as the opinion of their Wise men yet he was sensible of its absurdity For he confesses that God doth decree the Sentence of Death should be executed upon the Owner of the Ox only he thinks that he remits something of the strictness of it in the next Verse And there are three Cases here mentioned relating to this matter One in the foregoing Verse where the Ox is ordered to be stoned Another in this where the Owner is also made liable to be put to death And a third in the next Verse where a Pecuniary Mulct is only set upon him Ver. 30. If there be laid upon him a sum of money then he shall give it for the ransome of his life By this it appears there might be a Case wherein the Owner of the Ox should not be put to death but only be fined though the Ox had been wont to push and he was told of it And the Interpretation of this and the foregoing Law which is given by Constantine L'Empereur is not unreasonable upon Bava kama c. 4. sect 5. Either the knowledge which the owner had of the ill Conditions of his Ox was certain or uncertain and his carelesness in preventing the Mischief he was wont to do was greater or lesser and the Friends of him that was killed pressed the strictest Justice or were content to remit it In the former cases if the knowledge was certain the carelesness very gross and the Friends were strict in the Prosecution he was punished with death but if otherwise he was punished only by setting a Fine upon him Certain it is that the foregoing Law might prove too rigorous in many cases as if the Ox pushed being provoked or broke loose when he was tied up or was let go by the negligence of a Servant c. and therefore God permitted the Judges to accept of a Ransom as they saw cause which was to be paid according as the Sanhedrim thought meet So Jonathan Whatsoever is laid upon him He was to submit to the Fine whatsoever it was and it was given to the Heirs of him that was killed If a Man's Wife was killed the Jews say it was given to the Heirs of her Father's Family and not to her Husband Ver. 31. Whether he have gored a son or have gored a daughter c. Because what was said v. 29. of killing a Man or a Woman might have been restrained to the Father or Mother of a Family whose loss was greatest and their lives most precious therefore the same Law is here extended to the Children yet both Jonathan and Onkelos consine it to the Children of Israelites as if all Mankind besides were nothing worth See Bochartus in the place above-mentioned Ver. 32. If an Ox shall push a man-servant or a maid-servant c. Whether the Servant was of greater or lesser value saith Maimonides the Punishment was the payment of thirty shekels and the loss of the Ox half the price of a Free-man who was estimated he saith at sixty shekels More Nevoch P. III. c. 40. He adds in another place in his Treatise of Pecuniary Mulcts that the Owner was not bound to pay this Ransom unless the Ox killed the Man out of his own Ground For if he was killed within in the Owners Ground the Ox indeed was stoned but no Ransom was paid Divers other cases he mentions in that Book as L'Empereur observes upon Bava kama p. 85. where he takes notice that Solon himself wrote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law concerning the mischief done by Cattle as Plutarch relates in his Life Ver. 33. And if a man shall open a pit c. In the Street or publick High-way as Jonathan rightly interprets it For if he opened or digged a Pit in his own Ground he was not concerned in this Law though another Man's Beast fell into it And not cover it If he did cover it conveniently though in time the Cover grew rotten and a Beast fell into it he was not bound to make it good as Maimonides resolves the Case Ver. 34. The owner of the pit shall make it good c. There were so many Cases arose upon this Law that it is not easie to number them Maimonides hath amassed together abundance belonging to this matter with wonderful accuracy as Bochartus observes who hath transcribed a great many of them in his Hierozoic P. I. L. 2. c. 40. p. 391 c. Ver. 35. If one mans Ox hurt anothers that he die Which equally belongs to all other Cattle as Maimonides observes for the Law mentions an Ox only for example sake They shall sell the live Ox and divide the money c. Though the Ox that was killed was worth as much more as the other yet satisfaction was to be made only out of the live Ox which did the mischief as the same Maimonides observes who hath several Cases upon this Law as may be seen in the fore-named Book of Bochart's p. 393. But it might so happen that the Ox which was killed was of little value and the live Ox worth many pound in which case it seems so unreasonable the Man whose loss was small should be a great gainer by the Sale of the Ox which did the mischief that the Jewish Lawyers resolve the meaning of this Law is the Man whose Ox was killed should receive half the Damage he had sustained as L'Empereur observes upon Bava kama cap. 1. sect 4. Ver. 36. Or if it be known that the Ox hath used to push c. There is a great difference between what is done casually and what is done constantly The former Verse speaks of the hurt done by a Beast that was not wont to push and this of the hurt done by one that was notoriously mischievous And accordingly greater Damages were given in this latter case than in the former And by this general Rule the Jews regulated all other Cases making those Mischiefs that were done by Beasts which were wont to hurt or were of a hurtful Nature to be punished above as much more than the Mischief done by a
whatsoever was desired All this he saith he took out of their Books then extant from which he concludes That the Scope of the Law being that all Idolatry should be taken out of the World and that no vertue should be ascribed to any Star of doing good or hurt to Men which opinion led Men to their worship it necessarily followed that all Witches and Wizards should be put to death because they were Idolaters though after a peculiar and different way from that wherein the Vulgar worshipped Idols And he thinks that a Witch is rather mentioned than a Wizard though both intended because Men are naturally more tender towards the Female Sex and apt to favour them and therefore it is as if Moses had said Thou shalt kill even a Woman that is guilty of this Crime But afterward XX Lev. 27. he commands both Men and Women to be stoned Others of the Hebrew Doctors particularly R. Levi Barzelonita give this Reason why Witches were not to live Because they directly thwarted God most blessed who made all things when he created them for such and such purposes which they perverted and by devices of their own made to serve other ends which God never designed Praecept LXII But this they could not do without the help of Evil Spirits and therefore their Crime consisted in entering into a Familiarity and a League with them whose assistance upon such occasion they invoked which was in effect a renouncing of God This was an Impiety which had overspread the whole World especially the Eastern parts of it And as for the Romans we find a Law as old as the XII Tables against Witchcraft Apud nos in duodecine Tabulis cavetur ne quis alienos fructus excantassit as we read in Seneca L. IV. Nat. Quaest c. 7. where he mentions the like Law among the Athenians For the Greeks were extreamly addicted to this especially in Thessaly Of which none that I have read spake so plainly as Plato in his Eleventh Book of Laws p. 932 933. where he orders Punishments not only for those who destroyed others by Potions but for those who pretended to be able to revenge themselves or others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either by certain Inchantments or by Charms or by those Spells which are called Ties or Knots Concerning which he acknowledges it is hard to know any thing or to perswade others there is nothing in them For if a Man see any where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. waxen Resemblances made and set either at their doors or in the turning of the ways or at the Tombs of their Ancestors none can prevail with him to neglect these things because he knows not what efficacy is in them And therefore he would have even such People who used these sorts of Witchcrafts to be put to death if they were Professors of any sort of Knowledge as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but if they were simple People he leaves the Judges to punish them as they found reason Ver. 19. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death This is so infamous a sin and such a dishonour to Nature and the Author of Nature as Conr. Pellicanus well glosses that it was not fit such a Person should live upon the face of the Earth but die without mercy See XVIII Lev. 23. XX. 15 16. where this is more largely handled Ver. 20. He that sacrificeth unto any god save unto the LORD only he shall be utterly destroyed Sacrifice being the principal act of Worship in those days includes in it all other acts of Worship and Divine Service which they were required to pay to the LORD alone XX. 2 3 c. but the Punishment of doing otherwise was not enacted till now Of which he treats more largely XVII Deut. 2 3 c. See there Ver. 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him Here are two distinct Commands The first of which not to vex a stranger the Hebrews will have to consist in not upbraiding him with his former state of Heathenism nor giving him any approbrious words as saying remember what thou wast or what thy father did And this was neither to be done to a Proselyte of Justice nor to a Proselyte of the Gate as far as Mr. Selden could judge of their opinion herein L. II. de Jure N. G. c. 4. The second not to oppress him consisted in not using him hardly in their dealings with him by making him pay for instance for any thing more than it was worth Which the same Mr. Selden L. VI. c. 5. p. 690. thinks the Hebrews were of opinion belonged only to their usage of Proselytes of Justice who were perfectly in their Communion But this is very unreasonable for as R. Levi Barzelonita himself observes by thus treating any Proselyte they might endanger their return to Paganism again out of indignation to be so despised and much more when they saw they were wrong'd Which God took care they should not be because they were more helpless than other Men and had fewer Friends Which is the reason that this Precept as the Jews themselves have computed is inculcated in one and twenty places See particularly XXIII 9. XIX Lev. 33. For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt There could not be a more powerful reason to more them to treat Strangers kindly than the remembrance of their own Oppressions in Egypt from which they were delivered by the meer Mercy of God which they ought to imitate Ver. 22. Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child Give them no trouble either in word or deed as the same R. Levi interprets it Praecept LXV but in all their Commerce with them in buying felling or any other intercourse to treat them not only civilly but kindly and benignly And the reason of the Precept saith he is the same with the former because Widows and Orphans have few or none to protect them or plead their Cause and therefore the Law took care of them as if their Husbands and Parents were yet alive Ver. 23. If thou afflict them in any wise By giving them ill Language or by infulting over them or destroying their Goods much more if 〈◊〉 Man smote them he was liable to the Judgment of God as Nachmanides interprets it And they cry at all unto me A Child saith the same R. Levi cries to his Father and a Wife to her Husband but the Widow and the Fatherless cry unto me and I will hear them for I am merdiful I will surely hear them Punish you for your ill usage of them as it follows in the next Verse Ver. 24. And my wrath shall wax hot This signifies their Punishment should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sent upon them from God who orders no Penalty to be inflicted by their Judges because he intended himself to be their Avenger and that in a very remarkable manner by serving them in their kind as it here follows And I will kill you with
1. or was Jethro's Father and so the Grandfather of these young Women which Drusius thinks most probable Misaell Centur. 2. c. 69. He said How is it you are come so soon to day It seems Moses not only valiantly defended and protected them but so vigorously assisted them also in all their Business that they dispatcht it sooner than they were wont to do Ver. 19. And they said An Egyytian So they took Moses to be by his Speech and his Habit and perhaps he told them he came out of that Country Delivered us out of the hand of the Shepherds This justifies what I said Ver. 17. that these Shepherd's belong'd to some other Prince in those parts who were wont it seems to infest those that were weaker and that Moses by his extraordinary Courage drove them away And also drew water enough for us c. They had drawn Water before ver 16. which the Shepherds took from them and he now did it with greater Expedition and in great Plenty Ver. 20. And he said unto his Daughters Where is he This is a form of chiding as Philo observes or upbraiding for their Ingratitude as appears by what follows Why is it that you have left the Man Suffered him to remain in the Field Ye ought as Philo explains it to have invited him to my House and if he had declined it to have intreated and urged him to it Call him that he may eat Bread Go back as he goes on with all speed and pray him to come and refresh himself and receive my Thanks which are due to him This shows Moses had done them some considerable Service Ver. 21. And Moses was content to dwell with the Man After some Conversation with him Raguel liked Moses so well that he offered him such terms as he accepted and became one of his Domesticks And he gave Moses Zipporah his Daughter The Divine Writers do not relate all the passages of a Story as other Authors delight to do but only the most material Therefore we are to suppose a great many things to have preceded this which was not accomplished presently after he was entertained into Reuel's House but after he had had much Experience of Moses his other Vertues as well as of his Valour Though the Observation of Philo here is not to be slighted that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men of a great Genius quickly show themselves and are not made known by length of time And therefore he thinks that Reuel being struck first with admiration of his goodly Aspect and then of his wise Discourse immediately gave him the most beautiful of all his Daughters to be his Wife not staying to enquire of any body what he was for his own most excellent Qualities sufficiently recommended him to his Affection L. I. de Vita Moses p. 611. Ver. 22. And she bare him a Son and he called his Name Gershom c. This word Gershom signifies a desolate Stranger which he made the Name of this Child because he was born not only in a Foreign Country remote from his own People but in a place where he had nothing but what he earned by his Labour For it is not to be thought that in an hasty Flight he could bring any great matter with him into Midian Either this Son was born long after his Marriage or he did not marry till he had been long in this Country For when he left it after 40 years stay in it his Children were but young as appears from IV. 20. Ver. 23. And it came to pass in process of time After many days as it is in the Hebrew i. e. years for this King reigned a long time See Ver. 15. The King of Egypt died That King from whom Moses fled viz. Orus After whom Eusebius makes Acenceres to have reigned and after him Achoris both which died before Moses returned into Egypt And the Children of Israel sighed by reason of the Bondage Their cruel Servitude did not end with the Life of Orus but the new King who succeeded him was so far from giving them any ease that he laid more heavy Burdens upon them And they cried This signifies they lay under the most grievous Oppression which grew intolerable And their cry came up unto God A Cry that comes up unto God signifies in the Holy Language the loudest and sorest Cry See XIX Gen. 13. By reason of the Bondage This may be referred both to their Cry and its coming up to God who resolved speedily to free them from such unsupportable Burdens Ver. 24. And God heard their groaning and God remembred his Covenant c. There are four different words in these two last Verses viz. heard remembred looked upon them had respect unto them which every one of them signifie God's kind intentions towards them but seem also to me to denote that the Divine Providence determined to proceed gradually in the Deliverance of the Children of Israel from their cruel Servitude For when he saith God heard their groaning the meaning is he favourably condescended to grant their Petition which was the first step to their Deliverance And then He remembred his Covenant with Abraham c. This gives the Reason of it because he was mindful of his ancient Promises to their Forefathers which was a further assurance of his Favour And then he Looked upon them i. e. Took notice of their Affliction and hard Labour as Maimonides explains it More Nev. p. 1. c. 48. which was another Motive to relieve them And in the last place God had respect to them Which imports that he determined to have mercy upon them and that includes all Blessings in it For so this Phrase to respect another signifies as Bochartus hath shown from many instances particularly XXV Psal 12. LXVI Isa 2. Hierozoic p. 1. L. II. c. 49. CHAP. III. Verse 1. NOW Moses kept the Flock So Moses was taken from the Sheepfold as David was in after times to be the Ruler of God's People LXXVII Psal 70. For as hunting of wild Beasts saith Philo is proper to Men of a Martial Genius and fits Men to be Captains and Generals of Armies so the feeding of Sheep is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the best Exercise and Preparation for a Kingdom and the gentle Government of Mankind Clemens Alexandrinus hath the same Notion and the same words L. I. Strom. p. 345. God's Power also herein appeared the more wonderful that he delivered his People from the Egyptian Tyranny by one that was contemptible or rather abominable to that Nation viz. a Keeper of Sheep Of Jethro It is most likely that Reuel mentioned in the foregoing Chapter Ver. 18. was now dead to whom Jethro his Son succeeded in that Principality where he Ruled for it was now Forty years since Moses came first into Midian His Father in Law This shows that the Seven Daughters spoken of II. 16. were the Children of Jethro and Reuel their Grandfather unless we will say as a great many do that
Jethro had two Names Nay they fancy he had three being called Hobab they think IV Judg. 11. where Hobab is said to be the Father in Law of Moses But the word Son is there to be supplied which in other places is sometime to be understood he seeming to be Jethro's Son Brother to Zipporah And accordingly is said X Numb 29. to be Son of Raguel the Midianite i. e. of Jethro as many understand it See there And he led the Flock to the backside of the Desert Or as St. Hierom understands it ad interiora deserti to the inner parts of the Desert where there was better Pasture than in the place where he was before to which he was conducted by the Providence of God who intended here to reveal himself more fully to him And came to the Mountain of God even to Horeb. Sheep delight to feed on Mountains as Bochart observes out of Theocritus and Virgil. Whence such mountainous Places are often called in Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheep-walks they being wont to feed there as Eustathius and Hesychius interpret it See Hierozoic p. 1. L. II. c. 46. And this is called the Mountain of God because when Moses wrote this Book there had been a Divine appearance upon Horeb which St. Stephen calls Sinai VII Acts 30. For Horeb and Sinai seem to have been two tops of one and the same Mountain which it is plain by this was not far from the Country of Midian We understand also by St. Stephen's words when this fell out viz. after he had dwelt Forty years in Midian for so long it is certain he continued there VII Exod 7. But how he imployed all that time we are not told No doubt in something else than meer feeding Sheep For being learned in all the Egyptian Wisdom we may well think he both taught others and made also great improvements himself in studying the Records of that and all other Neighbouring Countries and besides received it is likely Divine Revelations There are those likewise who think he now wrote the Book of Job to comfort the Israelites by the example of his admirable Patience under their heavy Oppressions in Egypt and the Book of Genesis also that they might the better understand what Promises had been made to their Noble Ancestors Abraham Isaac and Jacob and that the Time drew near when they would be fulfilled It is noted by Ludovicus Capellus in his Chronolog Sacra that the Number Forty was much observed in the Administrations of Divine Providence Moses being XL years old when he fled into Midian and staying there another XL years and then leaving the World in the end of the next XL years of his Age. It was so many years before the Israelites got to Canaan after they were delivered out of Egypt Forty days Moses continued with God in the Mount both the first and second time of his going up thither So many days the Spyes were in searching out the Land and the Israelites had just so many Mansions in the Wilderness Their first Judge governed just XL. years and the next twice as many Deborah Barak Gideon Eli all judged XL years and so long David reigned Ver. 2. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him So St. Stephen also VII Acts 30. By which some understand the Eternal WORD the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity But I think he is not called simply an Angel any where but with some addition as the Angel of the Covenant for it would be a dangerous insinuation that he was but a meer Creature Yet I believe he is not here to be excluded for I take this to have been the Appearance of the SCHECHINAH which comprehended both the LORD himself and the Angels that attended him as his Ministers One of which now appeared so gloriously that he showed God to be present and accordingly we find in the following words that he himself spake to Moses And thus the LORD is said to have sent his Angel when they cried to him and brought them out of Egypt XX Numb 16. Which Angel is called Michael by Menachem and the same which they also call Goel who redeemed Jacob from all evil XLVIII Gen. 16. In a flame of sire The Glory of the LORD as the SCHECHINAH is frequently called appeared in a flaming manner like fire exceeding bright and with an amazed splendor So it appeared though not so bright when the first Promise was made of their Deliverance XV Gen. 17 18. Out of the midst of a Bush To show say the Jews in Pirke Eliezer Cap. XL. that God was present with them in their great Affliction and Tribulation which was represented by this Bush of Thorns or Briers for so the Hebrew word signifies such a Bush as pricks those that touch it or as the Prophet Isaiah speaks LXIII 9. in all their affliction he was afflicted And by his Providence ordered things so that their Affliction did not consume them but rather multiplied and increased them for as it there follows the Angel of his presence saved them And thus Eusebius tells us in the latter end of L. V. Demonstr Evang. c. 13. some Christians understood it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. This Fire also in the Bush might be intended to show that God would there meet with the Israelites and give them his Law in Fire and Lightning and yet not consume them For this is the place where God after they came out of Egypt delivered the Law to them which thence was called Sinai saith the fore-named Author in Pirke Elieser from this Bush which in Hebrew is Sene and signifies in Arabick a Thorn-bush whereas before this it was called Horeb from its driness and barrenness as that word imports And behold the Bush burnt with sire and the Bush was not consumed The Heathens had either read or heard of this wonder as appears by Artapanus who mentions it in Eusebius L. IX Praepar Evang. c. 27. but he disguises it and misreports it saying it was a Fire which suddenly broke forth out of the Earth and flamed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when there was no Matter nor any kind of Wood in the place to feed it But in the next Chapter but one an ancient Tragaedian reports it exactly saying just as Moses doth here That the Bush burnt in a great fire and yet remained intire and green in the slame which he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest Miracle The meaning of which I have already explained in the foregoing Observation There is a Story something like this in Dion Prusaeus Orat. XXXVI where he saith the Persians relate concerning Zoroaster that the Love of Wisdom and Vertue leading him to a Solitary Life separate from Company upon a Mountain he found it one day all in a flame shining with Celestial Fire out of the midst of which he came without any harm and instituted certain Sacrifices to God who then he made account appeared to him Which Joh. Henricus Vrsinus a