with an Oath that which they knew not to be true For so the word Schave frequently signifies in Scripture a Lie This relates not to their giving a Testimony before a Judge upon Oath of which he speaks afterward in a distinct Commandment but to their Intercourse and Commerce one with another For an Oath saith R. Levi of Barcelona ought to establish every thing and thereby we declare our selves to be as much resolved concerning that which we swear as we are concerning the Being of God Heathens themselves accounted an Oath so sacred a thing that it was capital for a Man to forswear himself as Hen. Stephanus in his Fontes Juris Civilis p. 7. observes out of Diodorus Siculus L. I. and the reason he gives of it is this that such a Man committed two heinous Crimes by violating his Piety to God and his Faith to Men in the highest degree But besides this both Jews and Christians always understood swearing lightly upon frivolous occasions or without any necessity to be here forbidden R. Levi before-mentioned saith this Precept may be violated four several ways besides swearing that which we mean not to perform And Salvian aplies this to the trivial naming of God and our Saviour upon all occasions and sometimes upon bad occasions Nihil jam penè vanius quam Christi nomen esse videatur c. Every body then swearing by Christ he would do this or that though of no consequence whether he did it or no or perhaps a thing which ought not to be done L. IV. de Gubern Dei p. 88. edit Baluz They that understand this of Swearing by false Gods which are called vain things in Scripture do but trifle that is condemned in the foregoing Commandment it being a piece of Worship to swear by them For the LORD will not hold him guiltless c. If Men did not punish the false Swearer the LORD threatens that he will And so Mankind always thought as appears by the Law of the XII Tables mentioned by Hen. Stephanus in the Book quoted above Perjurij poena divina exitium humana dedecus The Divine Punishment of Perjury is utter Destruction the Humane Punishment is Disgrace or Infamy And Alexander Severus was so sensible of this that he thought Juris jurandi contempta Religio satis Deum ultorem habet The contempt of the Religion of an Oath hath God for a sufficient Avenger For an Oath is the strongest Bond that is among Men to bind them to Truth and Fidelity as Cicero speaks L. III. de Ossic c. 31. Witness saith he the XII Tables witness our Sacred Forms in taking an Oath witness our Covenants and Leagues wherein we plight our Faith to Enemies witness the Animadversions of our Censors qui nulla de re diligentius quam de jurejurando judicabant who judged of nothing more diligently than of an Oath Nor was the other sort of vain that is light and idle Swearing without any just occasion suffered to go unpunished for Mr. Selden observes out of Maimonides L. II. de Synedr c. 11. p. 497. that if any Man was guilty of it he that heard him Swear was bound to Excommunicate him what that was he shows in the first Book and if he did not he was to be Excommunicated himself And there is great reason for these Civil Laws which have provided a Punishment for this Crime not only because it is a great disrespect to God to use his Name so lightly on every trivial occasion but because such contempt of the Divine Majesty makes Men fall into the fearful Sin of Perjury Ver. 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Be mindful of the day called the Sabbath to make a difference between it and all other days so that it be not employed as they are Ver. 9. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work This is not a Precept requiring Labour but a Permission to employ six days in a Week about such worldly Business as they had to do Which Permission also God himself abridged by appointing some other Festival days as all Governours may do upon some special occasions But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God Appointed by his Authority to be a day of Rest from your Labours In it thou shalt not do any work Herein the peculiar respect to the Seventh day consisted on all other days they might work but on this they were to cease from all manner of work In which very thing was the sanctifying of this day it being hereby separated and distinguished from all other days in a very remarkable manner But then it naturally followed that having no other work to do they should call to mind the reason why it was thus fanctified or set apart from other days And the reason say the Jews themselves was That having no other business they might fasten in their minds the belief that the World had a beginning which is a thred that draws after it all the foundations of the Law or the Principles of Religion They are words of R. Levi of Barcelona Besides which there was another reason which I shall mention presently But by this it appears that the Observation of this day was a Sign or a Badge to whom they belonged A profession that they were all the Servants of Him who created the Heaven and the Earth as God himself teaches them to ununderstand it XXXI 13 17. And that their Minds might be possessed with this sense he ordered this Solemn Commemoration of the Creation of the World to be made once in Seven days For as if there had been quicker returns of it their Secular Business might have been too much hindred so if it had been delayed longer this sense might have worn too much out of their minds Thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter c. They might no more employ others in their worldly Business on this day than do it themselves But their Children though they understood not the reason were to rest that in time they might learn this great Truth that all things were made by God Nor thy Cattle Their Oxen and Asses and all other Creatures wont to be employed in their Labours were to enjoy the benefit of this Rest as well as themselves V Deut. 14. Which was absolutely necessary it being impossible for their Servants to rest as is here also required if they were to set their Cattle on work Nor thy stranger that is within thy gates No stranger who by being Circumcised had embraced the Jewish Religion But other strangers might work who only dwelt among them having renounced Idolatry but not taken upon them the Obligation to observe their whole Law Yet if any such Person was a Servant to a Jew his Master might not imploy him on the Sabbath day in any work of his but the Man might work for himself if he pleased being not bound to this Law See Selden L. III. de Jure N. G. c. 12. Ver. 11. For in six days the Lord made Heaven and
Earth There were two reasons for the Sanctification of this day One was because God rested from his Work of Creation on the Seventh day which is mentioned here the other was because he had given them rest from their Labours in Egypt which he mentions in the Vth of Deuteronomy There is no body hath explained both these better than Maimonides More Nevoch P. II. c. 31. There are two different Causes saith he for this Precept from two different Effects For when Moses first explained to us the cause of this Celebration in the Promulgation of the X. Commandments he saith it was because in six days the LORD made Heaven and Earth But in the repetition of them he saith Remember that thou was a servant in Egypt c. therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day V Deut. 15. The first Cause is the Glory and Magnificence of this day as it is said Therefore the LORD blessed the seventh day and sancified it II Gen. 3. This was the effect of that Cause for in six days he made Heaven and Earth this was the reason he means of the first Institution of the Sabbath but that he gave this Precept of the Sabbath unto us i.e. the Israelites and commanded us to observe it was from the other Cause which followed the first Cause because we were Servants in Egypt All which time we could not serve according to our own Will and Pleasure nor had any Rest or observed a Sabbath And therefore God gave us this special Precept of Resting and Cessation from Labours to joyn together these two Reasons viz. the belief of the beginning of the World which presently suggests to us the Being of God and then the memory of Gods Benefits unto us in giving us Rest from our intolerable Burdens in Egypt Wherefore he blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it In the beginning of the World he blessed the Seventh day II Gen. 3. and now particularly chose this Seventh day for a Sabbath which he ordered them to observe in memory of their coming out of Egypt on that day as I observed XVI 5 23. By which he preserved in their minds that singular Benefit which he had bestowed upon them and most manifestly saith Maimonides in another place P. III. c. 43. procured great ease to all sorts of Men by freeing a seventh part of their Lives from wearisom Labour Which hath another Blessing in conjunction with it that it perpetually preserved and confirmed that most precious History and Doctrine concerning the Creation of the World Ver. 12. Honour thy Father and thy Mother In another place they are commanded to fear them XIX Lev. 3. and as here the Father is put before the Mother so there the Mother is put before the Father to show as Maimonides takes it in his Treatise called Memarim c. 6. that we ought not to make any difference between them but they are both equally to be honoured and reverenced Which is a Duty of such great concernment that we are taught by the placing of this Commandment immediately after those which peculiarly relate to God's Worship that next to his Majesty our Parents are to be honoured with that reverence love obedience and maintenance which is due to them And therefore notorious disobedience to them is threatned with death as well as Apostacy from God Wherein this honour or fear doth consist is taught in all Books of Religion and Mr. Selden hath named a great many things wherein the Jews place it as the Learned Reader may see L. II. de Synedr c. 13. p. 558 c. I shall only add that this was a Law among the Heathens mentioned by Saleucus Charondas and others in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let Children honour their Parents And thus Vlpian expresses it Filio semper honesta sancta persona Patris videri debet And afterward Filium Patrem Matrem venerari oportet With much more that Hen. Stephanus hath collected in his Fontes Rivi Juris Civilis That thy days may be long in the Land c. As disobedience to Parents is by the Law of Moses threatned to be punished with death so on the contrary long Life which is the greatest worldly Blessing is promised to the Obedient and that in their own Country which God had peculiarly inriched with abundance of his Blessings Heathens also gave the very same incouragement saying that such Children should be dear to the Gods both living and dead So Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this famous Senarius mention'd by the fame Henr. Stephanus with many other notable Passages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou shalt live long or as long as thou canst desire if thou nourish thy ancient Parents Whence children are called by Xenophon and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 13. Thou shalt not kill After the Command about the respect due to Parents naturally follows the regard we ought to have to all other Men who spring from them And the greatest injury we can do another is to take away his Life whereby he is deprived of all the Enjoyments of this World and Humane Society it self is also wounded which cannot subsist if its innocent Members cannot be safe Innocent I say for this Commandment doth not hinder Men from defending themselves from violence XXII 2. nor forbids Magistrates to punish those with death who commit Crimes worthy of it for this is to preserve the Lives of other Men XXII 18 19 20. Ver. 14. Thou shalt not commit Adultery Next to a Man's self his Wife is nearer to him than any other Person they two being one flesh Which makes the injury done to him in her Person a breach of Humane Society next to Murder Nay the LXX place this Commandment before the other Thou shalt not kill Vertuous Woman valuing their Chastity more than their Lives and the Crimes to which meer Pleasure tempts Men being more grievous in the opinion of the great Philosopher than those to which they are stimulated by anger Whoredom is also forbidden in the Law of Moses and Incest as Wounding any Man is as well as Murder but in these X. Words which are a short Abridgment of their Duty it was sufficient only to mention the principal things of every kind which were hateful to God and injurious to Men. Ver. 15. Thou shalt not steal This was to injure Men in their Goods and Possessions either by open Rapine or by Craft and Cheating against which God intended to secure them by this Precept Several sorts of this Sin are afterwards mentioned in particular Laws Ver. 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour As our Neighbour is not to be injured by us in Deeds so not in Words by giving a false Testimony against him before a Judge which is the chief Sin of this kind This is both an injury to our Neighbour and an affront to God in whose place
Synedris c. 6. The sense is this in short He that violates a Negative Precept as they call it either doth it secretly which is most frequent or openly which happens seldom unless a Man be one of those profligate Wretches whom we call Apostates Now him that secretly brake the Sabbath the Scripture threatens with cutting off viz. by the hand of God according to what is written here in this place In like manner incestuous and unlawful Conjunctions are threatned XVIII Lev. 29. because they were wont to be committed secretly But if any Man did any Work openly on the Sabbath so that there were Witnesses of it he was to be stoned according to what is said XV Numb 35. Though if he did it out of mistake either secretly or openly he was only to bring a Sacrifice for his Errour And if he offended against any of the Decrees of the Wise-men about the Sabbath he was to be beaten Or if there was no Court of Judgment in the place as now in their present Condition then all such Transgressors were left to God to punish them of whatsoever sort they were Ver. 15. Six days may work be done but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest holy to the LORD So it is called also XXXV 2. and XXIII Lev. 3. And so the Sabbath wherein the Land rested is likewise called XXV Lev. 4. But the Hebrew words Schabbat Schabbaton Sabbath of Rest properly signifies Sabbath above all Sabbaths i. e. the greatest Sabbath on which a rest was to be most punctually observed from all manner of Work which the Jews as de Dieu notes call the weighty Sabbath as if other days of rest were but light in comparison with this According to that saying of R. Josee Great is Circumcision because the weighty Sabbath gives place to it that is admits of this Work though the Rest on this Sabbath be so very great Shall surely be put to death As an Idolater who did not acknowledge the Creator of the World See before v. 14. Ver. 16. Wherefore the Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their Generation for a perpetual Covenant The most litteral Interpretation of this Verse seems to me to be that of Lud. de Dieu The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath by making the Sabbath a perpetual Covenant throughout their Generations That is by never suffering it to be interrupted they made it a perpetual Covenant between God and them throughout all Ages Ver. 17. It is a sign between me and the Children of Israel for ever A Badge and Livery that they were the Servants of the most High who made the Heavens and Earth A Mark of their being devoted to him and continuing in Covenant with him no less than Circumcision For in six days the LORD made Heaven and Earth In memory of which the Sabbath was first instituted to preserve perpetually and establish that most precious History and Doctrine of the Creation of the World as Maimonides speaks More Nevoch P. III. c. 43. And on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed Delighted in the Contemplation of all his Works which he saw were very good I Gen. 31. The same Maimonides observes that the word jinnaphash which we translate was refreshed comes from nephesh which among other things signifies the intention of the Mind and the Will and therefore the sense of this Phrase is All the Will of God was perfected and brought to a Conclusion his whole good Pleasure was absolutely finished on the seventh day More Nevoch P. I. c. 67. Ver. 18. And he gave unto Moses when he made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai When he dismissed him having said all that is before related during his forty days stay with him in the Mount he delivered unto him two Tables of Testimony to carry down with him to the People Two Tables of Testimony Wherein God testified to them his Mind and Will in the principal things which concerned their Duty See XVI 34. Tables of stone That what was written upon them might be more durable There is no ground to think that these Tables were made of some precious Stone as the Author of the Book Cosri and other Jews fancy for the word Eben in the Hebrew simply signifies any sort of Stone and is wont to have some other joyned to it when precious Stones are meant as in 2 Sam. XII 30. 1 Kings X. 2. 2 Chron. III. 6. Written with the finger of God i. e. By God himself Just as the Heavens saith Maimonides are said to be the work of his fingers VIII Psal 4. which he interprets in another place XXXIII 6. By the word of the LORD were the Heavens made Therefore written by the singer of God is as much saith he as by the word that is the Will and good Pleasure of God More Nevoch P. I. c. 66. In short this Phrase signifies that God employed neither Moses nor any other Instrument in this Writing but it was done by his own powerful Operation For all things that we do being wrought by our hands and our fingers these words are used to express God's power See XXXII 16. This was a thing so notorious in ancient times and so much believed by those who were not Jews that many other Nations pretended to the like Divine Writings that they might gain the greater Authority to their Laws Thus the Brachmans report in their Histories That the Book of their Law which they call Caster was delivered by God to Bremavius upon a Mount in a Cloud and that God gave also another Book of Laws to Brammon in the first Age of the World The Persians say the same of those of Zoroaster and the Getes of Xamolxis Nay the Brachmans have a Decalogue like this of Moses and accurate Interpretations of it in which they say there is this Prophecy That one day there shall be one Law alone throughout the World This evidently shows how well the World was anciently acquainted with these Books of Moses and what a high esteem they had of them See Huetius L. II. Alnetan Quaest c. 12. n. 19. CHAP. XXXII Verse 1. AND when the People Not the whole Body of the Congregation but so many of them that the rest durst not appear to oppose their desires Saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the Mount The Jews fancy that he stayed beyond the time that he had appointed for his return to them But that is not likely for he himself was not told how long God would detain him there See XXIV 14. The meaning therefore is that he stayed longer than they expected so that they did not know what to think of it And having as yet received no Directions about the Service of God for which they were called out of Egypt VII 16. and other places they thought it was time to desire Aaron to set about it in such a way as other People served their Gods The people gathered themselves
come down in all their sight upon Mount Sinai That is when they were fit to receive him by their professing themselves an holy People of which that outward washing was a token For the third day the LORD will come down c. Not from the Mount but from Heaven upon Mount Sinai On which the SCHECHINAH descended in a Cloud which struck a great awe into them For it was darker than the Pillar of the Cloud by which they had been conducted hither thorough which some rays or glimpse of a glorious Majesty that was in it broke forth upon them Ver. 12. And thou shalt set bounds unto the People round about To keep them at a due distance out of a just reverence to the Divine Majesty Take heed unto your selves that ye go not up c. This Caution also was given them to work and preserve in their Minds a most profound Reverence of the Divine Majesty and to those Laws which were to be delivered from this Mount Ver. 13. There shall not an hand touch it but he shall surely be stoned or shot through Be stoned if he were near at hand or shot through with Darts or Arrows if at a distance So Aben-Ezra And so Jonathan likewise translates the latter Clause They shall throw Darts at him And so our old Translation Stricken through with Darts But the Talmudists and the greatest Lawyers among the Jews expound both these Clauses of stoning which was twofold as we read in the Misna Tit. Sanhedrin c. 6. either by throwing Stones at a Malefactor or throwing him down from an high place upon Stones And thus this last place imports in the Hebrew and may properly be translated projiciendo projicietur he shall be violently thrown down or thrown down headlong It is the very same word with that XV. 4. concerning the casting Pharaoh's Chariots into the Sea And this was a Punishment as Mr. Selden observes like that among the Romans from the Saxum Tarpeium which the Jews inflicted upon some captive Edomites 2 Chron. XXV 12. and Jehu inflicted upon Jezabel 2 Kings IX 32. On which story R. Leviben Gersom observes pertinently That as she caused Naboth to be stoned so she was punished her self in the same kind for stoning saith he was either by throwing Stones at Malefactors or throwing them down upon Stones To justifie which he alledges this place in Exodus And David Kimchi makes the same Observation See Mr. Selden L. I. de Synedr c. 5. p. 74 c. When the Trumpet soundeth long When the sound of it is protracted or drawn out and consequently was less terrible then while it was shorter and broken See v. 16. They shall come up to the Mount To the foot of it v. 17. that they might more plainly hear the voice of God Ver. 14. And Moses came down from the Mount to the People As he had been commanded v. 10. And sanctified the People Commanded them to Sanctisie themselves as the Author of Sepher Cosri explains it P. I. Sect. 87. both with Internal Sanctification and External among which the principal was Separation from the company of Women as it here follows v. 15. And they washed their Clothes See v. 10. Unto which add that it is no wonder they used this Purification before the giving of the Law which had been anciently in use among their Ancestors upon Solemn Occasions As appears by what I observed on XXXV Gen. 2. where Jacob before the building of an Altar to God in Bethel as he had vowed cleansed his Family after this manner For so Aben-Ezra truly expounds these words be clean wash your Bodies which was the old Rite of cleansing See there Ver. 15. And said unto the People be ready against the third day Prepared to hear the words of God Come not at your Wives For this time was set apart for Solemn Fasting and Prayer that they might be fit to converse with God by having their Minds abstracted from earthly things Ver. 16. And it came to pass on the third day See v. 11. There more Thunders and Lightnings Which broke out of the thick Cloud to awaken them to attend unto his Majesty who was approaching And a thick Cloud In which a flaming Fire presently appeared v. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the Mountain could not be seen as Greg. Nyssen explains it de Vita Mosis p. 179. And the voice of the Trumpet The heavenly Ministers who were Attendants upon the Divine Majesty made a sound like that of a Trumpet to summon the People to come and appear before God and receive his Commands Exceeding loud Beyond what the blast of any Men could make for it made the whole Camp quake as the following words tell us Ver. 17. And Moses brought forth the People out of the Camp When their trembling was abated by the remission as we may suppose of the sound of the Trumpet To meet with God That they might be espoused to him And they stood at the nether part of the Mount Below at the foot of it not presuming to touch it which they were severely forbidden v. 11 12. See IV Deut. 11. Ver. 18. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke Nothing could be seen but smoke mixed with a Flame Because the LORD descended on it in sire The SCHECHINAH came down into the thick Cloud v. 9 16. with a glittering company of Angels who appeared like flames of Fire unto which they are compared by the Psalmist CIV 4. Thus Moses himself seems to expound it XXXIII Deut. 2. He came with ten thousands or myriads of holy ones i. e. of Angels from his right hand went a fiery Law for them Which plainly relates to this appearance at Mount Sinai And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace Mixt with Fire which went up even to the midst of Heaven as Moses explains it IV Deut. 11. And the whole Mount quaked greatly See LXVIII Psal 8. CIV 32. Ver. 19. And when the voice of the Trumpet sounded long It is a different word here in the Hebrew from that v. 13. which we translate sounded long signifying that it proceeded or went on either a long time or to a greater loudness And waxed louder and louder In the Hebrew the words are exceeding strong 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Trumpet exceeded it self the succeeding Blasts transcending those that went before as Greg. Nyssen well interprets the whole Moses spake The People trembled before at the loud sound of the Trumpet v. 16. but now it grew so very terrible that Moses himself said as the Apostle expounds this passage XII Hebr. 21. I exceedingly fear and quake For hither I think Junius rightly applies those words And God answered him by a voice Bidding him not be afraid but come up unto him as it follows in the next Verse Greg. Nyssen thinks that the voice of the Trumpet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 became articulate with the Organs of Speech by the Divine Power Ver. 20.
returning to Egypt XIV Numb 1 2 c. Ver. 17. But God led the People about The Pillar of Cloud mentioned v. 21. in which the LORD was conducted them in a way further about Through the way of the Wilderness He led them to the right hand toward the Red-sea and the Desert of Arabia Of the Red-sea See X. 19. And the Children of Israel went up harnessed Or in Military order for though it is not likely the Egyptians suffered them to have any Arms yet they did not go away tumultuously like Fugitives but marcht like Soldiers in good order and as in our Margin it is translated five in a Rank Which is the interpretation of Theodotion anciently and of Montanus and others lately But Hottinger translates it in the form of an Army For the Arabick word Chamis from whence it is likely comes the word Chamuschim here used signifies exercitus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Army consisting of five parts which are the Front the main Battle the right Wing and the left and the Rear Smegma Orient p. 71. And so David Chytraeus long before him quinque agminibus in five Bodies as we now speak But the interpretation of Aben Ezra seems to be the most proper of all others who simply expounds it girt about their Loins i. e. expedite or ready as Onkelos expresses it For the Hebrew word Chomasch signifying those parts that are under the five small Ribs about which Men were wont to be girt when they went to sight or to travel this word may well be rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 well girt as the LXX trrnslate it I Josh 14. IV. 13. Here indeed they translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they went up in the fifth Generation which St. Austin follows taking Jacob for the first Levi the second Coath the third Amram the fourth and Moses the fifth But as this Exposition doth not agree with the Hebrew word which doth not signifie the fifth but in fives so it cannot be said of the Children of Israel in general for all the Tribes were not yet come to the fifth Generation Our Nic. Fuller hath a learned Discourse upon this word in his Miscellan L. V. c. 2. Ver. 19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him And of the rest of the Patriarchs it is very probable See L Gen. 25. To which add that the Jews say every Tribe took care of the Body of the Founder of their Family Which is far more likely than the Story which the Author of The Life and Death of Moses tells that he carried Josephus's Coffin out of Egypt upon his own shoulders it being more probable that some of that Tribe undertook the care of it That it was buried in the bottom of Nile is not affirmed only by him but by Jonathan though others say in the Banks of Nile And they seem all to have it out of the Talmud where in the Gemara of the Title Sota c. 1. sect 47. they say the Egyptians themselves buried their Relations in the Nile to make the Waters prosperous And tell a vain Story how a Woman called Serach told Moses where the Body was when he was at a loss where to find it after he had searched for it three days as the fore-named Author tells the Tale while the Jews were borrowing Jewels of Gold and Silver of the Egyptians and that he called it up from thence throwing as he adds the ineffable Name into the River which brought it up presently though in a Leaden or as others say a Marble Coffin For he had straitly sworn the Children of Israel saying c. See L Gen. 25. From whence Gaulmyn L. II. c. 2. Annot. in Vit. Mos not improbably conjectures that the Custom was derived of carrying the Ashes of their Ancestors into their own Country first by Hercules among the Greeks and long before by the Egyptians and Chaldeans whom the Arabians as he shows imitated in following Ages Ver. 20. And they took their journey from Succoth They stayed but one day at Succoth as Jac. Capellus supposes where Moses gave the foregoing Directions to them And upon the XVI of Nisan they marched to Ethan And encamped in Ethan So called he thinks because the way here was very rugged and craggy In the Edge of the Wilderness Next to the Red-sea called the Wilderness of Shur XV. 22. Ver. 21. And the LORD went before them By the LORD we are here to understand the SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty which appeared to Moses in the Bush III. 2. when he gave him Commission to bring his People out of Egypt and directed him all along in his Embassy to Pharaoh and his Treaty with him VI. 1 c. and now appeared in a glorious Cloud to conduct them and assure them that he would take care of them For this Cloud was a Symbal of his gracious Presence with them and special Providence over them It being an Emanation from him saith R. Levi ben Gersom which was a Sign as others of the Jews speak that God was Night and Day with them to keep them from all evil To which the Prophets allude LII Isa 12. II Micah 13. And though his going before them be not mentioned before this time yet it is most likely he appeared in this Cloud as their Conductor from their first coming out of Egypt and led them to Succoth and then to Ethan as he did afterward to their several Stations X Numb 11 12 c. Which doth not signifie that God himself moved from place to place for he is always every where but this Cloud was moved by him from whom it came as a Token that he was present by his special Favour Care and Providence wheresoever it went By day in the pillar of a Cloud It appeared from Heaven I suppose in the form of a great long Pillar which below spread it self abroad and covered the whole Host of Israel For it is certain it was not only their Guide to lead them the way as it here follows but also was a covering to them whereby they were assured of the Divine Protection For so we are informed X Numb 34. XIV 14. CV Psalm 39. 1 Corinth X. 1. And I can see no reason to think these were different Clouds since one and the same would serve for both purposes And by night in a pillar of Fire The same Pillar appeared in the Night like Fire which in the Day was like a Cloud The reason of which follows To give them light That they might be able as the next words tell us to travel by Night as well as by Day Which made the Psalmist say he went before them all the night with the light of fire LXXVIII 14. This flaming Light I take to have been a glorious appearance of Angels from the SCHECHINAH for they always attend upon the Divine Majesty who maketh his Angels Spirits his Ministers a flaming fire CIV Psalm 4. Some fancy there were two distinct Pillars as these words and
thing for if it had they could not have understood Moses nor known what he meant See what I have noted upon the Second of Genesis where I thought it reasonable to assert That God intended to preserve a Memory of the Creation in six days by appointing the seventh day to be kept holy And therefore the more pious any people were the greater respect they had to this day But when the World grew very wicked before the Flood as they little thought of God so it is likely they neglected all distinction between this day and others And the dispersion of People after the Flood very much blotted it out of their minds as it did many other good things But in the Family of Abraham we may well suppose it was continued though not with such strict abstinence from all Labour as for special reasons was afterward enjoyned Which is the cause why we read nothing of their resting in their Travels upon that day before their coming out of Egypt Where they were under such cruel Servitude that all observation of the seventh day it is likely was laid aside they being pressed day and night by their Task-masters to hard Labour without intermission And therefore when God brought them out of that Slavery he renewed his Command for the observation of the Sabbath with this addition in memory of their Deliverance from the Egyptian Bondage that they should rest from all manner of Labour upon that day Both these Reasons are given by Moses why God commanded it to be observed in memory of the Creation in six days XX Exod. 11. and in memory of their deliverance from the Egyptian Bondage V Deut. 15. Bake that which you will bake to day c. The words to day are not in the Hebrew but are necessary to make the sense plain because they were enjoyned on this day to prepare or make ready all things against the next v. 5. And that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept till the morning From which words some have inferred that there was no prohibition of baking and seething on the Sabbath but the contrary rather is here supposed See Dr. Heylin in his History of the Sabbath Part. I. p. 100. But I do not see how this consists with the further explication of this matter in XXXV Exod. 3. where they are forbidden to kindle a Fire upon this day Unless any one will say that for the present they might do it but shortly after were prohibited which is not at all likely For the plain meaning is that if they would make any baked Meats or boiled with the Manna they must do it upon the sixth day though what they did not then bake nor boil they might safely keep till the next day and it should not breed Worms nor stink But what they so kept was to be eaten without baking or boiling as it well might being a food prepared in Heaven for their eating without any need of further Art And therefore called Bread even when they gathered it v. 22. Ver. 24. And they laid it up until the morning c. Without any Preparation of it by baking or boiling and it kept the whole seventh day without any putrefaction Ver. 25. And Moses said Eat that to day Simple as it is without baking or boiling For to day is a Sabbath unto the LORD The frequent repetition of this in this Chapter v. 23. and again v. 29 30. hath led the Jews into this mistake that the Sabbath was not ordained by God till they came out of Egypt directly contrary to what we read in the Second of Genesis that it was instituted from the beginning And therefore Moses here only gives an account why this Precept was renewed at their coming out of Egypt when there was a new Religious observation added to it which was not necessary before viz. resting wholly from all manner of work There is an excellent Discourse on this Subject in a late Learned Author J. Wagensiel in his Confutation of R. Lipman's Carmen Memoriale p. 559 c. who well observes that this Precept having a peculiar respect to the Jews we are not bound to observe the rest of the Sabbath with such strictness as they did but only as the Patriarchs did before the giving of the Law p. 564. As for the translation of the day from the seventh to the first day of the Week it is impossible for the Jews to prove that the day they observe is the seventh from the Creation And besides that the whole World cannot be tied to the circumstance of time precisely for in some parts of it the Sabbath will fall eighteen hours later than in Palestine as he evidently shows p. 572 c. To day you shall not find it in the field This Moses said to them as Abarbinel thinks in the Evening of the Sabbath which was in effect a Prohibition to them not to go out to gather it on that day Ver. 26. Six days ye shall gather it c. The same Author thinks this is repeated to signifie that as long as they continued in the Wilderness they should gather it six days in a Week as they did now but never find any on the seventh There shall be none As you rest saith he from doing any thing about the Manna so God will cease from sending it unto you Upon which he makes this pious reflection That in this World we must work for our Souls if we would be happy in the next World which is an intire Sabbath or Rest For he that labours in the Evening of the Sabbath shall eat on the Sabbath To the same purpose Origen long before him Hom. VII in Exod. Ver. 27. There went out some of the people on the seventh day to gather c. The same wicked disposition remained in them which made them on other days keep it till next Morning v. 19 20. Ver. 28. And the LORD said unto Moses how long refuse ye to keep my Commandments c. These chiding words are full of indignation and yet signifie the long-suffering Patience of God with an untoward Generation Abarbinel expounds this passage as if upon this occasion he upbraided them with all their other Transgressions saying You kickt against me at the Red Sea and believed not my words at Marah also you murmured and uttered very discontented words at Elim Nay after I had given you Manna you violated my Precept in reserving it till the next Morning And now you break my Sabbath what hope is there that you will observe any of my Laws Refuse to keep my Commandments and my Laws He speaks thus say some of the Jews because that in which they now offended is a thing upon which the whole Law all his Commandments depend So the same Abarbinel Because the Sabbath instructed them in the Creation of the World upon which all the Law depends therefore he saith My Commandments and my Laws Ver. 29. See Consider For that the LORD hath given you the
to be a plain gradation in this Commandment three things being here forbidden if we take the first part of it to signifie that they might not so much as make a graven Image or any likeness of any thing for fear they should be tempted to Idolatry But though this may be supposed to have been a sin yet not so great as the next to bow down to them which was a degree of Honour too high to be paid unto any Image But was not the highest of all which was to serve them by offering Sacrifice burning Incense making Vows to them or swearing by them or consecrating Temples to them or lighting Candles before them For I the LORD thy God am a jealous God This reason shows that this Commandment is different from the first and not a part of it For worshipping of Images is forbidden not meerly because he was their God and there is but one God but because He is a jealous God who could not endure any Corrival or Consort in that which was proper to himself And so the ancient Jews and Christians also before St. Austin took this for the second Commandment The Arabian Christians in later times particularly Elmacinus distinctly name the Ten Commandments in that order which we now do as Hottinger observes in his Smegma Orientale p. 436. Visiting i.e. Punishing with heavy Judgments XXVI Lev. 39. The iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children This was threatned to terrifie them from this sin which would ruin their Families being a kind of High Treason against the LORD of Heaven and Earth Yet Aben-Ezra understands it only of such Children as trod in the steps of their Forefathers for if they repented the Punishment was mitigated XXVI Lev. 40 c. Vnto the third and fourth Generation That is as long as they could be supposed to live which might be to see the third and perhaps the fourth Generation he threatens to pursue them with his Vengeance in their Posterity whose Punishment they themselves should behold to their great grief So great was his hatred to this Sin and so odious were such People to him Thus Maimonides expounds it in his More Nevoch P. I. c. 54. Visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children is threatned only against the Sin of Idolatry as appears from what follows that such Sinners are called haters of him And he mentions only to the fourth Generation because the most a Man can live to see of his Seed is the fourth Generation Accordingly God orders saith he that if any City prove Idolaters the Inhabitants should be destroyed utterly and all that was therein XIII Deut. 13 14 15. Fathers Children Grand-children Great-grand-children and the new-born Children were all killed for the Sin of their Parents Hence he saith VII Deut. 10. he repayeth them that hate him to their face which is there twice mentioned Of them that hate me For he looked on them not only as Enemies but as haters of him It is an Observation of the same Maimonides that in the whole Law of Moses and in the Books of the Prophets we shall never find these words Fury Anger Indignation Jealousie attributed to God but when they speak of Idolatry nor any Man called an Enemy to God an Adversary an Hater of him but only Idolaters VI Deut. 14 15. XI 16 17. XXXI 29 c. I Nehem. 2. VII Deut. 10. XXXII Numb 21. XII Deut. 31. XVI 22. See More Nevoch P. 1. c. 36. which he repeats c. 54. No man is called an hater of God but an Idolater according to that XII Deut. 31. every abomination to the LORD which he hateth By which it appears that they counted the Worshippers of Images Idolaters though they did not think these Images to be Gods for no Man in the World ever thought an Image made of Wood and Stone Silver or Gold to be the Creator of Heaven and Earth or the Governour of the World but took them only for things intermediate between God and them as he there speaks This was a Law so well known to the ancient Heathens that the best Menamong them would suffer no Images to be set up in their Temples In particular Numa forbad this to the Romans which he learnt as Clemens Alexandrinus thinks from Moses Insomuch that for the space of an Hundred and seventy years though they built Temples yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they made no Image neither Statue nor so much as a Picture L. I. Stromat p. 304. Plutarch relates the same in the Life of Numa Pompilius and adds this reason that he thought it a great Crime to represent the most excellent Being by such mean things and that God was to be apprehended only by the Mind The ancient Persians pretend to have received the same Law from their Zoroaster who in a number of things is so like to Moses that Huetius thinks not without reason his story was framed out of these Books Ver. 6. And showing mercy unto thousands To invite their Obedience he promises to be kind unto them and their Posterity for many Generations so thousands signifies who were loyal and faithful to him Such is the infinite goodness of God that he delights in showing Mercy more than in Acts of Severity there being such a disproportion between the one and the other as there is between three or four and a thousand Which made the heavy Punishment of Idolaters the more reasonable because they might have enjoyed such great and long continued Blessings if they would have kept close to their Religion Of them that love me Adhered to him alone as the only Object of Worship and Adoration with such an Affection as a chaste Wife bears to her Husband For God now espoused this Nation to himfelf as the Prophets taught them to understand it and therefore all the Idolatry which is forbidden in these Commandments is called going a whoring from him And keep my Commandments Not only professed to be his intirely but proved it by observing his Precepts Which keeping or observing of his Commandments is mentioned here perhaps and not any of the following Commandments because this and the first were the principal upon which the rest depended There being no reason to mind what he said if they acknowledged any other God but him Ver. 7. Thou shalt not take the Nante of the LORD thy God in vain By the Name of the LORD in Scripture is meant the LORD himself and to take or lift up his Name is to Swear by him So this word Nasa sometimes signifies without the addition of God's Name III Isa 7. Jissa he shall lift up in that day which we truly render in that day he shall swear which they did then with the Hand lifted up to Heaven And to take his Name or swear in vain is to swear falsly That 's the principal meaning undoubtedly that they should not call God to witness unto a Lie promising in his Name that which they meant not to perform or affirming or denying
Caution lest by the splendour of these Metals they should be tempted being prone to Superstition and Idolatry to make such kind of Representations For by Gods are meant Images to represent him which at the first were made very glittering like the heavenly Bodies but afterward they proceed to worship Images of meer Wood or Stone The coherence of this with the foregoing Verses is something obscure unless we observe how this is reported in the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses puts them in mind that they saw no Similitude on the day that God spake with them in Horeb IV. 15. and therefore not to make them a graven Image the similitude of any Figure c. v. 16 17 18 19. Accordingly the meaning is here ye have seen that I talked with you from Heaven i. e. you heard only a Voice but saw no Similitude of Man or any other Creature therefore ye shall not represent me by any Image though never so rich and glorious And thus Greg. Nyssen seems to have understood it de Vita Mosis p. 180. God gave Moses many Divine Commandments the chief of which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piety towards God and to have becoming Notions and Conceptions of the Divine Nature as transcending all visible things nay all our thoughts and like to nothing that we know And therefore he bids them in their conceptions of him not to look at any thing they saw nor liken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Nature which transcends the whole Vniverse to any thing that they were acquainted withal There was the greater need of this Precept if the Egyptian Worship in these days was the same with that in other times when Osiris was adored in the form of a golden Ox or an Ox of Wood all gilded over as Plutarch calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 24. An Altar of Earth shalt thou make unto me For the better observation of the foregoing Commandment he orders that his Altars should be made as plain and simple as might be Either of Sods and Turfs of Earth which were easily prepared in most places whilst they staid in the Wilderness or of rough and unpolished Stone if they came into rocky places where no Sods were to be got that so there might be no occasion to grave any Image upon them Such Altars Tertullian observes were among the ancient Romans in the days of Numa when as they had no sumptuous Temples nor Images so they had only temeraria de cespite altaria Altars hastily huddled up of Earth without any Art Apolog. cap. 25. which Jamblicus calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex tempore Altars as we would now speak thrown up on a sudden And so Scioppius pretends he found some MS. have it in that place of Tertullian not temeraria but temporaria Altars made only for a present use not to remain after the Sacrifice was done Nay Fortunatus Scacchus will have it that Moses here commands them to make the Earth their Altar as the words may be translated out of the Hebrew which he thus interprets Thou shalt mark out a place upon the bare Ground and there offer Sacrifice Myrothec II. Sacr. Elaeochrys c. 56. And shalt Sacrifice thereon thy Burnt-offerings c. This Form of Worship as Maimonides himself acknowledges was appointed by God because it was used in all the World Which moved him not to abolish it but to translate it from created and imaginary Beings to his own most Adorable Name Therefore he commanded us saith he to make him a Sanctuary XXV 8. and consecrate an Altar to his Name and offer him Sacrifices for which he alledges this very Text and on the contrary prohibits us to do such things to any other Being XXII 20. XXXIV 13 14. More Nevoch P. III. c. 32. In all places This shows that the foregoing Commandment hath a peculiar respect to the time they were in the Wilderness especially till the Tabernacle was erected when they were in their Travels removing from place to place and not fixed in any Then these Altars were very proper which might be prepared on a sudden and as suddenly thrown down again Where I record my Name Or cause it to be remembred and acknowledged by some Token or Symbol that is whereby he signified that he would be worshipped there Which sense the Chaldee seems to me to have expressed most exactly In every place where I shall make my Glory i. e. the SCHECHINAH to dwell from whence I will bless thee i. e. hear their Prayers This must be the meaning here because the Ark which was the Memorial of God's Presence with them was not yet made Or else he means the Sacrifices and Altars before mentioned which Mr. Mede thinks may be here pointed at because these were Rites of Remembrance whereby the Name of God was commemorated or recorded and his Covenant with Men testified and renewed See Book II. pag. 453 c. And indeed the word Zacar doth most certainly signifie not only to remember or record but to worship and to perform Sacred Offices so the meaning may be in every place where I exhibit my self to be worshipped and honoured I will come unto thee or meet with thee Upon which account the Tabernacle of the LORD was called Ohel Moed the Tabernacle of Meeting Not because of the Peoples meeting there to Worship as is commonly supposed when we translate those words the Tabernacle of the Congregation but of God's meeting there with his People as Mr. Mede observes p. 436. from many plain places of Scripture XXIX Exod 42. XXX 36. XVII Numb 4. And I will bless thee Give thee testimonies of my gracious Presence and Acceptance The Gentiles believed their Gods were present where their Images were worshipped But he promises to be present in all places whatsoever where he would have his Name celebrated i. e. where he would be worshipped though their Sacrifices were offered upon the most mean and simple Altar Ver. 25. If thou wilt make me an Altar of stone c. If it cannot be made without Stones saith Maimonides P. III. More Nevoch c. 45. take care that the Stones remain in their own natural form and that they be not polished c. This was to avoid Idolatry for fear they should make any figure with the Tools they imployed in shaping and fashioning the Stones after an artificial manner or should reserve the pieces of Stone that were paired off for Superstitious or Magical uses Just saith Maimonides as he forbids planting a Grove near his Altar for that was to imitate Idolaters XVI Deut. 22. See IV Deut. 15 16. which plainly shows this was the reason of this Command In short these Altars were built like those of Turf on a sudden without any Art only by piling Stones one upon another Such an Altar David built upon a special occasion 2 Sam. XXIV 25. and after him Elijah 1 Kings XVIII 31 32. and Fortunatus Scacchus makes it probable that it was such an one which Ezra
Ib. c. 69. Make an atonement for the Altar By the Blood of the Bullock And sanctifie it By anointing it with the holy Oyl And it shall be an Altar most holy The reason why it is so called is given in the following words because it was not only thus separated to an holy use but made those things to be holy which were offered upon it Which they could not be till it was thus expiated and sanctified Therefore Fort. Scacchus expounds these words an Altar most holy it shall be fully and compleatly consecrated by observing all the Rites which are here prescribed for seven days together Till the end of which no Sacrifice whatsoever was offered on this Altar because it was not cleansed and sanctified to make them holy and acceptable but on the eighth day when all was performed that was required on the preceding seven days fire came down from Heaven and consumed the Burnt-offering VIII Lev. 1 24. Whatsoever toucheth the Altar shall be holy Nothing was acceptable unto God unless it was offered upon this Altar which sanctified every thing that was laid upon it according to God's direction Thus our Saviour seems to explain these words XXIII Matth. 19. The Altar sanctifieth the Gift That was the name for all things presented unto God which were called Korban being destined to be offered at his Altar Ver. 38. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the Altar The principal use of the Altar was That there might be a constant Sacrifice offered upon it in acknowledgment of God's Sovereign Dominion over them Which could not be done till it was expiated and consecrated but that being finished Moses directs here what should be the first Sacrifice offered upon it Two Lambs These were to be a Burnt-offering which was the most ancient of all other Sacrifices being the same that Abel offered Of the first year See XII 5. Day by day continually There were other occasional Sacrifices of various sorts but these were stated and so constant that they were never intermitted No not upon Festivals when other Sacrifices were added as upon the Sabbath this Sacrifice was doubled XXVIII Numb 9 10. and upon New-moons and other Feasts several other Sacrifices were appointed as may be seen there v. 11. and in the rest of that Chapter It appears by IX Lev. 17. that this daily Sacrifice was offered at least for some time in the Wilderness but after they began to wander to and fro for Eight and thirty years some think it was omitted Which was the reason that God renewed this Charge in XXVIII Numb 3 4. See Junius and Menochius on that place Ver. 39. The one Lamb thou shalt offer in the morning and the other thou shalt offer at even At what time in the Morning and Even is not here plainly prescribed But the word in the Hebrew for the latter-being between the Evenings which was about three a Clock in the Afternoon the Morning Sacrifice also was offered between the Rising of the Sun and Noon viz. at nine a Clock in the Forenoon Ver. 40. And with one Lamb a tenth deal of flour Most understand the tenth part of an Ephah which was an Omer concerning which see XVI 36. And so Moses afterward expresly orders by God's command XXVIII Numb 5. Mingled with the fourth part of an hin of Oyl c. An Hin was the sixth part of an Ephah containing one Wine Gallon two Pints and fifteen Inches as Bishop Cumberland computes it in his Learned Treatise of Scripture Measures So that the fourth part of it was a Quart and something more than a quarter of a Pint. The principal thing here to be observed is That this was ordained as I noted upon the XXVth Chapter to represent God's dwelling among them in the Sanctuary where this daily Sacrifice was the constant Provision made for his Table as the Altar is called and Bread and wine a necessary attendant as they are at all Tables upon the Meat that was set before him Ver. 41. And the other Lamb thou shalt offer at even and shalt do thereunto according to the Meat-offering in the Morning and according to the Drink-offering thereof The same Rites were to be observed in this that were in the Morning Sacrifice without any difference For as Abarbinel observes in his Preface to the Book of Leviticus the true Reason of these two Sacrifices was That all Men who live well having two Meals a day so many Sacrifices which were his Meat were therefore appointed for the Divine Majesty For a sweet savour See I Lev. 9. An offering made by fire unto the LORD i. e. A Burnt-offering as the next Verse explains it Ver. 42. This shall be a continual Burnt-offering throughout their Generations at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation For there the Altar of Burnt-offerings stood as we read XL. 6 29. XVII Lev. 6 c. Before the LORD Who dwelt in the most Holy Place in the upper end of the Tabernacle Where I will meet you Their coming to Worship in that place is called drawing nigh to God accordingly he promises to vouchsafe his gracious Presence with them See XXV 22. To speak with thee More especially he promises to meet Moses there upon occasion and to declare his Mind and Will to him in such Cases wherein he should consult him Ver. 43. And there I will meet with the Children of Israel That they might not think his meeting with them before-mentioned was only by revealing his Mind to Moses and so to them as the last words of the fore-going Verse might seem to intimate he explains his meaning to be that there he would grant Tokens of his special Love and Favour to them all when they approached unto him And the Tabernacle shall be sanctified with my glory The glorious Presence of God which filled this House XL. 35. was that which sanctified it or made it an Holy Place But some refer this not to the Tabernacle but to Israel which is just before mentioned and the word Tabernacle not in the Text and the truth is they were made an holy People also by this glorious Presence of God among them in the Tabernacle Ver. 44. And I will sanctifie c. That is manifest them to be sanctified or still more compleatly sanctifie them by the appearance of the Divine Glory in the Tabernacle IX Lev. 24. The Tabernacle of the Congregation In the Hebrew the name is Ohel moed which signifies exactly the Tabernacle of Meeting So called not from the Peoples meeting there as we seem to take it when we translate it Tabernacle of the Congregation but from God's meeting there with them which is mentioned just before and in the next Chapter XXX 36. is expresly called the Tabernacle of Meeting as I think it should be translated where I will meet with thee Which shows that this was the reason of its name See also XVII Numb 4. and Mr. Mede Book II. p. 436. Now all the People could
they were concerned for more than washing their hands from whence came the Proverb of doing things illotis manibus See Erasmus in his Adages there being no mention of washing their Feet Which was an Extraordinary degree of Purity which God required in his Priests who ministred in his House barefoot And so they did among the Gentiles also as appears by that saying of Pythagorus mentioned by Jamblichus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacrifice and worship without shoes which St. Ambrose thinks was borrowed from Moses L. I. Epist VI. See Cuperus in his Apotheosis Homeri p. 185. Ver. 20. When they go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation they shall wash with water This washing was not to be repeated before every Act of their Ministration but it sufficed for all the Service of that day if they washed once at their entrance upon it Only on the great Day of Expiation before five of the various Duties then to be performed the washing was to be renewed That they die not By the Hand of Heaven as the Jews speak that is of God who punished such prophanation as ministring to him in their uncleanness with death And the Service performed by such a Person was all without effect whether he were the High Priest or a common one as R. Levi of Barcelona saith Praecept CVI. Or when they come near to the Altar to minister to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD Whether they were to go in to Minister at the Altar of Incense in the Tabernacle of which he speaks in the first words of this Verse or to offer Sacrifices at the Brazen Altar in the outward Court they were to wash before they entred upon their Service Ver. 22. So they shall wash their hands and their feet that they die not There was no need of doing more being washed once all over before they were consecrated XXIX 4. but their Hands and Feet were to be washed upon pain of death every day before they ministred And it shall be a statute for ever to them As long as the Tabernacle or Temple stood Ver. 23. Take thou also unto thee principal spices So we rightly translate the Hebrew word Roschim which litterally signifies heads but thence the chief of any kind of thing the Head being the principal or chief Member of the Body As for the word Besamin which we translate Spices it seems to be a general Name for all the following Species which are comprehended under it See v. 34. Of pure Myrrhe The Hebrew word Mor according to Maimonides signifies Musk and David Kimchi commends their Exposition who take it for a kind of Frankincense but the general Opinion of the Hebrews as well as of later Writers is that it signifies Myrrhe which seems to be derived from the ancient word Mor. And that being the best which flows from the Shrub of it self Moses is required to make use of such Myrrhe For the word Deror which we translate pure or not adulterated properly signifies freely flowing or dropping Myrrhe which was far better than that which came out from the Tree by Incision The fragrancy of this is taken notice of by a great number of Authors who also mention it as having a principal part in the composition of the most costly Ointments as Fort. Scacchus observes L. I. Myroth Sacr. Elaeochrism c. 51 52. L. II. c. 8. Five hundred shekels That is in weight which was two hundred and fifty Ounces a Shekel being as much as half an Ounce of our weight Of sweet Cinamon half so much There were two sorts of Cinamon one that doth not smell very much another which was very Aromatick and rarely to be found Galen saith in his time but in the Closet of Kings And therefore God commands Moses here to take not meer Cinamon but with the addition of Bosem which signifies sweet-scented Salmasius in his Plin. Exerc. treats of both these Spices And of sweet Calamus two hundred and fifty shekels This Spice hath also the same addition of Bosem to it because there was a Calamus that was not sweet-scented and that which was they held very precious being not of the growth of Judea but coming from distant places So we read VI Jer. 20. Of sweet Cane from a far Country and Isaiah intimates in XLIII 24. that it was a Foreign Commodity of great value and Salmasius is positive that there was no Aromatick Calamus grew out of India Plin. Exercit. p. 1052. But Bochartus very well observes that there was no Traffick in all likelyhood with India in the days of Moses and therefore they had it then from Arabia where Dionysius Periergetes together with Frankincense and Myrrhe mentions in one and the same Verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sweet smelling Calamus See Hierozoic P. II. L. V. c. 6. Ver. 24. And of Cassia five hundred shekels There is no mention of this Spice which the Hebrews call Kidhah but here and in XXVII Ezek. 19. where it is joyned with Calamus and reckoned among the precious things which were brought to the Marts of Tyre Therefore it doth not signifie that Cassia which is now used among purging Medicines but another mentioned by Pliny together with Cinamon L. XII c. 19. There being one sort of it called Isocinamomum because it was equal to Cinamon in vertue and in value See Salmasius in his Plinianae Exercit. in Solin p. 1302. But this sort of Cassia differing but little from Cinamon Fort. Scacchus thinks for that very reason we are here to understand by Kidhah that Aromatick Plant which the Ancients call Costus the best of which was brought out of Arabia and was of a white colour as he proves out of Avicenna Dioscorides and Pliny And it appears by Propertjus it was used by the Ancients to be burnt on their Altars as well as Frankincense Costum molle date blandi mihi thuris honores Myrothec Elaeochrism P. II. c. 11 12. After the shekel of the Sanctuary See v. 13. And of Oyl-olive Which was clear and free from all Dregs See XXIX 40. An hin I observed there that it contained a Wine-gallon and two Pints and something more Ver. 25. And thou shalt make it From hence and from those words v. 23. Take thou unto the sweet Spices c. the Hebrew Doctors conclude that Moses made this holy Oyl with his own hands Of which there is no certainty much less that none ever adventured to make it after him nay it is evident that Bezaleel made it as well as all other things before-mentioned XXXVII 29. An Oyl of holy Ointment To anoint with it all the things mentioned in the next Verse whereby they were sanctified that is set apart for the Service of God It was not thick like those Compositions which we now call Ointments but thin as Oyl is being nothing but Oyl with an infusion of these strong Spices which made it have a comfortable scent For it is observed by Dioscorides that Oyl was very proper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉