the whole Channel as before When the Morning appeared When it was light And the Egyptians fled against it They were so frighted by the Light which shone in their Faces and by the Thunder and Hail c. that they turned back and like Men distracted run and met the Waters which came tumbling down upon them And the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the Sea The Hebrew word imports throwing down with violence and precipitation and may be translated threw them headlong Artapanus in Eusebius L. IX Praepar Evang. c. 27. tell this Story from the Heliopolitans after the same manner that Moses doth only he makes some of them to have been killed with Lightning and the rest drowned Ver. 28. And the Waters returned and covered the Chariots c. The Sea returned to its former depth so that they were swallowed up And all the Host of Pharaoh that came into the Sea after them Some have fancied that all the Host of Pharaoh did not perish but only so many of them as pursued the Israelites into the Sea which they fancy this place intimates some did not But the plain meaning is that they all came into the Sea after the Israelites and were all drowned in it It is a wilder fancy that Pharaoh alone was saved by the Angels Michael and Gabriel because he cried out as he had done heretofore IX 27. The LORD is righteous and I and my People are wicked Thus the Author of Dibre Hajamim or The Life and Death of Moses who says they transported him to Nineveh where he reigned as long as the Israelites wandred in the Wilderness The same is related by other such fabulous Writers who are soberly confuted by Aben Ezra from the following words There remained not so much as one of them and from XV. 4 19. where Moses in his Song plainly makes Pharaoh to have perished among the rest And with him an old Midrash saith that Jannes and Jambres were drown'd who had been the great Instruments of hardning Pharaoh's heart See our Learned J. Gregory Observ c. 15. Ver. 29. But the Children of Israel walked on dry Land c. Or Had walked for it seems to be a meer fancy that they were still in the Sea and had not passed quite through it when Pharaoh and his Host were drowned For which there is no ground but this word walked which may as well be translated in the time perfectly past as in the present And so I doubt not Moses meant that the Israelites were safe on Shore when the Sea returned upon the Egyptians And the Waters were a Wall unto them c. See v. 22. Ver. 30. Thus the LORD saved Israel As he had promised v. 13. That day Which was the XXI st of Nisan and the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which by God's command was to be kept holy XII 16. And now there was a very great reason for it and for that triumphant Hymn which they sung upon this Solemnity Chap. XV. Mr. Mede will have this Day to have been that which they afterward kept for their Sabbath in memory of their Redemption out of the Land of Egypt and the House of Bondage This he gathers from the Repetition of the Decalogue in the Fifth of Deuteronomy where leaving out the reason for this Commandment from the Creation of the World Moses inserts this other of their Redemption out of Egypt as the ground of observing that Seventh day rather than any other v. 15. Therefore the LORD commanded thee to keep the Sabbath namely not for the quotum of one day in seven of that there was another reason from the Example of God in the Creation but for the designation of that day after the preceding six days rather than any other Discourse XV. p. 74. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the Sea-shore It may be interpreted that as they stood upon the Sea-shore they saw their dead Bodies floating upon the Waters But it is likely also that by the working of the Sea and by the Divine Providence many of their Bodies were cast on shore that the Israelites might have the benefit of the Spoil and especially of their Arms which they wanted and were now by this overthrow furnished withal This Shore was inhabited by the Icthyophagi among whom the memory of this Recess and Return of the Sea was preserved as I observed upon v. 21. and unto whom the dead Bodies were given for food as the Psalmist saith LXXIV 14. that is to the Beasts and Birds of Prey which peopled the neighbouring Wilderness This was done by the righteous Judgment of the LORD God of the Hebrews who made this proud Prince his States-men and Army a Prey not only to the Fishes and Sea-monsters but a visible booty as Dr. Jackson speaks to the promiscuous sorts of ravenous Creatures which inhabit the Deserts Ver. 31. And Israel saw that great work c. Of making a path for them to walk on dry Ground in the middle of the Sea and then drowning the Egyptians when they followed them in the same path And the People feared the LORD They beholding and considering the powerful hand of God which appeared in this great work it begat in them for the present high and awful Thoughts of him and devout Affections to him For the fear of the LORD includes all Religion Or if we take the word fear in a restrained sense for a dread of the Divine Majesty the meaning is they were sensible how dangerous as well as vain it is to oppose his Authority to set themselves against his Will or slight his Warnings as Pharaoh and the Egyptians did And believed the LORD and his Servant Moses Believed the Promises which God had made them by Moses of bringing them into the Land of Canaan III. 17. looking upon Moses as a Servant of his who faithfully declared the Mind and Will of God unto them CHAP. XV. Verse 1. THen sang Moses and the Children of Israel c. Upon the XXIth of Nisan as I said before which was the last day of Unleavened Bread when they came safe through the Sea and saw the Egyptians drown'd they sang this Song of Praise to God for their wonderful Deliverance So the constant Tradition of the Hebrews is and there is great ground for it This Song Called the Song of Moses the servant of the LORD XV Rev. 3. because he composed it by a Divine Inspiration to be sung by all the People And it is the most ancient Song of which there is any memory Vnto the LORD In praise of the Divine Power and Goodness which remarkably appeared in this Deliverance Josephus L. II. c. ult of his Antiquities saith that this Song is composed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Hexameter Verse which Eusebius represents as the Opinion of many others L. XI de Praepar Evang. c. 3. But I do not see how this can be made out nor what St. Hierom saith concerning such Songs in many
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
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
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
his contemptuous disregard of it was very provoking So that God would forbear no longer than till the next Morning before he scourged him with this new Judgment Which was very grievous and noisom as appears by the following words especially by his willingness to grant more than he had done before that he might be rid of it Ver. 24. And the LORD did so Here is no mention of Aaron's stretching out his Rod as at other times but this was done immediately by God himself That the Egpytians might not imagine there was any secret Vertue in the Rod but ascribe all to the Divine Power This Plague was threatned about the XXVIIIth day of the sixth Month and inflicted on the XXIXth and removed on the XXXth And there came a grievous swarm of Flies c. Or a vast number of Flies for so the word Caved which we here translate grievous or heavy is used in L Gen. 9. See there And the Land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of Flies We are to understand here by the Land the Inhabitants of the Land whose Blood these Flies suckt and left such a poison in it that their Bodies swell'd and many of them died So the Psalmist understood it LXXVIII 45. There is something like this recorded in Heathen Stories particularly they say that when Trajan made War upon the Agarens he was so assaulted with Flies when he sat down to eat that he lookt upon them as sent by God and desisted from his Enterprise And that whole Countries have been infested with them appears from a number of Gods that were worshipped because they were supposed to have drove them away at Acaron and several other places mentioned by the Learned Aretius in the place above quoted from whence came the Names of Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of Hercules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ver. 25. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron c. Sent a Messenger to call them to him Go ye Sacrifice to your God in the Land He had consented to let them Sacrifice when he last sent for them v. 8. But he named no place and also quickly repented of the Concession But now he determines it to the Land of Goshen where he grants them Licence to offer Publick Sacrifice But this Moses tells him in the next Verse was not fit for them to accept nor was it what God demanded Ver. 26. And Moses said it is not meet so to do Besides that this is not the thing that God requires it is not prudent because it is not safe for us to do it For we shall Sacrifice the Abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God There is no Indication that I can find of any such Sottish Idolatry now among the Egyptians as was it is certain in after Ages but what seems to be suggested in this place which Learned Men have generally interpreted as if the Sense was this We must Sacrifice to our God Oxen Sheep and Goats which the Egyptians Worship and Adore and that would be such an abominable thing in their Account to kill their Gods that it would give them the highest Provocation Thus both the Chaldee Interpreters the Syriack St. Hierom and others which Bochartus himself approves of in his Hierozoic P. 1. L. II. Cap. XXXIV LIII and more largely P. 2. L. IV. Cap. XVII But there is an Objection lies against this Interpretation that long after Moses his time the Egyptians themselves did offer all the fore-mentioned Creatures to their Gods For Herodotus relates in his Euterpe Cap. XLI after what manner they Sacrificed an Ox in his time and though some parts of the Country abstained from Sheep yet they sacrificed Goats as on the contrary others abstained from Goats and sacrificed Sheep See upon XLIII Gen. 23. Therefore it may be a Question Whether these words do not refer only to the Rites and Ceremonies of Sacrificing and to the qualities and condition of the Beasts which were offered about which the Egyptians in after Ages were very curious For the same Herodotus tells us in the same Book Cap. XXXVIII how the Sacrifices were examined by the Priest and none allowed to be offered but those which had his mark upon them And so Plutarch in his Book de Isid Osir that the Egyptians thinking Typho to have been red sacrificed only such Oxen as were of a red colour making such an accurate Scrutiny 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that if a Beast were found to have one hair Black or white it was judged unsit for Sacrifice The forenamed Herodotus indeed saith they would not Sacrifice Cows because they were sacred to Isis which shows that in his time there was great Superstition about such Creatures so that none durst offer the least Violence to them But as we have no Evidence that in the days of Moses they were infected with such Opinions so their Sacrificing such Creatures as the Jews did long after his days and all Mankind had done from the beginning seems to be a prejudice against that sense of the words which is generally put upon them But there were so many various ways of Sacrificing in the World that it is very probable the Egyptians differed very much from the Israelites who might offer also it's likely such Creatures as the Egyptians thought unclean whereby they might be inraged at their Profaneness Maimonides fancies the Egyptians worshipped the Sign or Constellation called Aries and that this was the occasion of this Speech for which I can see no reason More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XLVI And will they not stone us We cannot gather from hence that there was such a Punishment among the Egyptians as stoning Men to death For he doth not speak here of Punishment by their Laws but of what might happen from a Popular Fury Ver. 27. We will go three days journey into the Wilderness c. So God had directed them and it was not lawful for them to Sacrifice in any place but where he appointed Philo gives this reason why they were to go into a Solitary place there to receive Commands from God about Sacrifice and all other parts of his Worship because God intended to give them a Law different from those of other Nations or rather quite opposite unto them In which there were so many singular Rites that they would have offended other People and seemed to them Prophane if they had exercised them among them De Vita Mosis p. 615. And thus Corn. Tacitus understood the design of Moses not to bring the Israelites to as near a Conformity as he could with the Gentiles which some now in these days fancy but to keep them at the greatest distance from other Nations by opposite Rites of Worship His words are remarkable L. V. Histor Cap. IV. Moses quo sibi in posterum Gentem sirmaret novos ritus contrariosque caeteris mortalibus indidit Profana illis omnia quae apud nos sacra rursum concessa
Sabbath therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days You have no reason to seek it on the Sabbath being provided before-hand with as much as is sufficient for that day Let no man go out of his place The Jews say that a Man went out of his place if he went above Two thousand paces from his dwelling That is if he went beyond the Suburbs of his City XXXV Numb 5. Ver. 30. So the people rested on the seventh day The Reprehension which God gave them by Moses v. 28. and the solemn renewal of the Precept v. 29. wrought so much upon them that for the present they rested upon this day And they not having been used to this rest God did not immediately punish their Disobedience in going abroad to gather Manna though afterward he ordered a Man to be stoned for gathering Sticks on this day for he had often repeated this Law to them before that time Ver. 31. And the House of Israel called the name thereof Manna This is repeated again to show that the name which they gave it at first v. 15. continued to it afterward being so apt and proper to signifie God's Providence over them that they could find no better And it was like Coriander Seed Of a round sigure like that Seed v. 14. White Being like Bedolach as Moses saith XI Numb 7. which signifies Pearl as Bochartus shows in his Hierozoic P. II. p. 678. where he observes the Talmudick Doctors in the Title Joma expresly say it was like Margalith or Margarith i.e. Pearl The taste of it was like Wafers made with honey All things of a pleasant relish are compared in Scripture to Honey Whence those words of David XIX Psalm 11. CXIX 103. Onkelos saith Manna tasted like Escaritae which was a delicious Food at Rhodes as Bochart observes out of Julius Pollux between Bread and Cake like our Bisket I suppose which was so grateful that they who did eat it were never satiated but still desired more In the XI Numb 7 8. Manna is said to taste like fresh Oyl Which doth not contradict this for as Abarbinel and others observe the meaning is that when it first fell before it was prepared it tasted like Honey-wafers but when it was baked then it tasted like fresh Oyl And so the words XI Numb 8. plainly import they took it and beat it in a Mortar and baked it c. and the taste of it i. e. thus prepared was like the taste of fresh Oyl Nay the Jewish Doctors commonly say it had all manner of pleasant savours according to Mens different Palates and thence they fancy it is called v. 29. the Bread Mischne which we translate of two days because it was changed according to the diversity of those that did eat it Children young men and old Which conceit the Author of the Book of Wisdom follows XVI 20 21. Ver. 32. And Moses said This is the thing which the LORD commandeth I have this further Command to deliver from God concerning the Manna Take an Omer of it Just so much as was assigned to every one for his daily Bread v. 16. To be kept for your Generations For your Posterity in future Ages That they may see the Bread wherewith I have fed you c. For seeing with ones eyes saith Isaac Aramah mightily confirms a thing and leaves one in no doubt of it And he took care they should see both the Manna it self and the measure which he bountifully allowed to every one of them Ver. 33. And Moses said unto Aaron What God commanded Moses he now commands Aaron to do Take a Pot. He saith nothing of the matter of this Pot or Vrn which some say was an Earthen Pot others say of Lead Brass or Iron and Abarbinel thinks it was of Glass that one might see what was within But the Apostle hath setled this Controversie by calling it a Golden Pot IX Hebr. 4. and so do the LXX in this place And indeed all the Vessels of the Sanctuary being of Gold it was but reason that this which contained such a precious Monument of God's Mercy should be of the same Metal Lay it up before the LORD i.e. Before the Ark of the Testimony as it is explained in the next Verse Which shows that this Command was given after the building of the Tabernacle and is here mentioned because it belongs to the same matter which Moses relates in this Chapter Others suppose it was spoken by way of Prolepsis which seems not to me so probable Ver. 34. So Aaron laid it up When the Tabernacle was built Before the Testimony This is the same with before the LORD in the foregoing Verse For the Divine Glory dwelt between the Cherubims which were over the Ark which is commonly called the Ark of the Testimony XXX 6. XL. 3 5. But here and XXV 36. is simply called the Testimony by an Ellipsis or leaving out the first word which is very usual in other Instances For thus it is called the Ark of God's strength 2 Chron. VI. 41. but elsewhere the first word being omitted it is called only his strength LXXVIII Psalm 61. CV 4. And therefore the Ark is called the Testimony partly because there God gave them a special Token of his Dwelling among them and partly because the two Tables of Stone were in the Ark which are called the Testimony XL. 20. Where it is said Moses put the Testimony into the Ark and then immediately v. 21. he calls it the Ark of the Testimony Ver. 35. And the Children of Israel did eat Manna forty years Within a Month which wanted to make compleat forty years For it begun to fall just XXX days after they came out of Egypt on the XVth of April and ceased to fall on the XVth or XVIth of March the day after the Passover which they kept in the Fortieth year V Josh 11 12. Now in all Writers some days under or over are not wont to be considered when there is a round Number But there are those who fancy these words were put into this Book after Moses his death for which I can see no ground For it is certain he lived the greatest part of the Fortieth year after they came out of Egypt and brought them to the Borders of Canaan within sight of it I Dent. 3. XXXIV 1 2 c. And therefore may well be supposed to have added these words himself to this History as he did the foregoing v. 32. that all belonging to this matter might be put together in one place Vntil they came to a Land inhabited i. e. To Canaan or the Borders of it as it here follows For these words saith Aben-Ezra have respect to the Wilderness in which they now were which was not inhabited Vntil they came unto the Borders of the Land of Canaan That is saith he to Gilgal which was the Borders when they had passed over Jordan when they did eat of the Corn of the Land and had no
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
not read in the foregoing Chapters of any carved Work about the Tabernacle and therefore this word may better be rendred as it is in the beginning of the Verse cutting rather than carving Timber For it signifies in general doing all the Work of Carpenters and Joyners To work in all manner of Workmanship That was necessary for the making of every thing God had commanded Ver. 6. And I behold I have given with him Lest Moses should think one principal Contriver and Director not to be sufficient God joyns another with him Aholiab of the Tribe of Dan. It is observed by R. Bechai that God chose one out of the lowest Tribe for so they accounted that of Dan as well as one out of the chief which was Judah that Bezaleel saith he might not be lifted up with vain Conceit for great and small are equal before God And he truly observes that one of the same Tribe of Dan by the Mothers side was the most skilful Person that could be found for the Building of the Temple by Solomon 2 Chron. II. 14. And in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom That is God indued the Minds of all ingenious Persons among them with an extraordinary Skill which they never learnt either by their own study or any Master but had it by an inspiration from above There were several no doubt who had a natural Genius to such Arts as were necessary in this Work but they could not by their own Industry have attained such Skill as God bestowed on them at least not so soon as to go immediately about the building of the Tabernacle and all things belonging to it That they may make all that I have commanded thee Not to imitate the Egyptian Contrivances as some have fancied for which no such great Skill one would think was necessary but to make all exactly according to the Model which Moses had seen in the Mount and he described to them which could not have been done without God's extraordinary Assistance Ver. 7. The Tabernacle of the Congregation and the Ark of the Testimony c. These things are here mentioned according to the order of Nature which is first to build an House and then to provide its Furniture And it is observable that there was but one House or Tabernacle one Ark and one Altar either for Sacrifice or Incense to preserve in their Minds the belief of the Unity of God contrary to the Gentiles who had their Temples and Altars every where and each Family its domestick Gods and particular Superstitions Ver. 8. The pure Candlestick It is hard to tell why this is particularly called pure unless it be because it was intirely of pure Gold XXV 31. which the Table and Altar of Incense were not for they were only overlaid with pure Gold XXV 24. XXX 3. Some have thought that it is called pure because no Blood was ever sprinkled upon it as there was on the Altar of Incense but this is not a good reason for we do not find there was any sprinkled on the Table Ver. 9. The Altar of Burnt-offering c. Concerning this and the Laver he had received orders XXVII 1. XXX 17. Ver. 10. And the Clothes of Service Wherewith the Ark and the Table and the Candlestick and the golden Altar were covered IV Numb 6 7 9 11 c. when the Camp removed The holy Garments for Aaron c. Which are ordered Chap. XXVIII Ver. 11. And the anointing Oyl and sweet Incense c. These was ordered in the foregoing Chapter v. 23 34. Ver. 12. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying After he had delivered him all the foregoing Orders about the Tabernacle its Furniture and the Workmen to be imployed in making them he added what follows Ver. 13. Speak unto the Children of Israel saying Verily my Sabbaths shall ye keep This hath been mention'd thrice already see XVI 23. XX. 8. XXIII 12. but here seems to be repeated again upon this special occasion that they might not think this Sacred Work would warrant them to break the Sabbath On which he bids Moses tell them they must not do this Work no more than any other For the Tabernacle was built for the Service of God which was principally performed upon this day And he uses a word of the Plural Number not to signifie any other Sabbath but this which recurring so often as once in seven days he might well admonish them to keep his Sabbaths And so the Apostle plainly speaks II Coloss 16. For it is a sign between me and you This plainly shows he speaks of the weekly Sabbath the observation of which testified to all the World what God they worshipped as all Nations signified by their Rites and Ceremonies what their Gods were to whom their Services were paid Now the Israelites stood in a double relation to God as his Creatures and as those who were redeemed by him from the Egyptian Bondage In both which regards the Sabbath was a Sign or a Token between him and them For by observing one day in seven after six days labour they signified that they worshipped the Creator of the World who in six days made all things and then rested and by observing such a seventh day See XVI 5. after six days labour rather than any other they signified they owned him to be their Deliverer from Egyptian Slavery This is opened excellently by our Mr. Mede Discourse XV. p. 73 74. Throughout your Generations During this Polity which God now establishes among you That ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctifie you To be my peculiar People by observing this Solemnity For it was peculiarly enjoyned to them and to no other Nation and was looked upon as a singular Benefit conferred on them above all People as appears by the devout Acknowledgment Nehemiah makes of this among the rest of the Divine Favours to them That he made known unto them his holy Sabbath IX 14. and see XX Ezek. 11 12. Ver. 14. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore Since it is such a distinguishing Mark be the more careful to observe it For it is holy unto you This depends upon what was said in the Conclusion of the foregoing Verse that hereby they were sanctified or separated to God as a peculiar People and therefore in all reason should look upon this as an holy day Every one that desileth it shall surely be put to death If there were credible Witnesses of his Profanation For whosoever doth any work thereon This was to defile or profane it That Soul shall be cut off from amongst his People God seems to threaten that he himself would shorten his days if the Judges for want of Witnesses could not punish him So Eliah ben Moseh one of those whom the Jews call Karaites most excellently expounds this and all the rest of the Punishments threatned to the Violation of this Precept which Mr. Selden hath given us out of a MS. L. I. de
fell into such foul practices which were not at first committed among the Heathen Nor is there any signification of it in this story but only of their singing and dancing v. 18 19. accompanied it is likely with Musick which Philo indeed calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unseemly Dances but that was only I suppose because they were in honour of a Calf Nor did the Gentiles themselves as I said run at first into such excess of Riot as Athenaeus observes L. VIII Deipnosoph where in the Conclusion of it he describes all the City full of the noise of Pipes and Cymbals and Drums and the voice of those that sung in a great Festival and thence takes occasion to remember that the Ancients observing what a great inclination People had to Pleasure took care they might enjoy it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 orderly and decently by setting apart certain Times to entertain them with it When in the first place they Sacrificed to their Gods and then were left to take their Ease that every one believing the Gods came to their Sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might behave themselves at such Meetings with Modesty and Reverence For we are ashamed saith he to speak or do any thing unseemly before a grave Person and therefore supposing the Gods to be nigh them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they passed their Festival days in ancient times decently and soberly And so he proceeds to show how much the World was altered in his time when nothing but mad revelling was to be seen on such occasions He observes it also as a sign of the ancient modesty at these Feasts that they did not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lye along 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but they sat down to eat and drink as the Israelites here did Ver. 7. And the LORD said unto Moses go get thee down He had dismissed him before having done communing with him XXXI 18. and now sends him away from the Mount in some haste at the end of the XL days mentioned XXIV ult For thy People which thou broughtest out of Egypt These words are generally lookt upon as God's abandoning the Israelites and disowning them to be his People But then they would not have been Moses his People neither but utterly destroyed v. 10. Therefore the true meaning is explained by St. Stephen who calls Moses their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deliverer VII Acts 35. because by his hand God redeemed them and in that regard they became his People Have corrupted themselves He doth not mention Aaron though he was very angry with him also IX Deut. 20. because the People were the beginners of the Revolt and he complyed with them out of fear Ver. 8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them It was not much above six Weeks since they heard God charge them in a terrible manner not to worship any Image XX. 4. and they solemnly promised to do whatsoever Moses commanded them from God v. 19. immediately after which this Command is in a peculiar manner repeated v. 23. Ye shall not make with me Gods of Silver neither shall ye make unto you Gods of Gold Which with all the rest of his Judgments they covenanted also to observe XXIV 3 8. And therefore such a speedy Revolt from such Obligations made their Crime exceeding heinous They have made them a golden Calf For what Aaron did was at their instigation And have worshipped it By kissing it saith R. Elieser in his Pirke cap. 45. and bowing down to it and then offering Sacrifice to it as it here follows and acknowledging it to be their Conductor out of the Land of Egypt Ver. 9. And the LORD said unto Moses He added this further before he went down from the Mount I have seen this People Long observed their disposition And behold it is a stiff-necked People This Character of them is repeated XXXIII 3 5. XXXIV 9. being a Metaphor from untamed Heifers who draw their Necks and Shoulders back when they are put under the Yoke The Prophet Isaiah alludes to this when he saith of this People XLVIII 4. Thy Neck is an iron sinew which would not bend And Jeremiah V. 5. where he saith the great Men had broken the Yoke and burst the Bonds Ver. 10. Now therefore let me alone Do not interpose in their behalf with thy Prayers and Deprecations for them That my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them That the just indignation I have conceived against them may proceed to punish them with utter destruction And I will make of thee a great Nation Or I will set thee over a great Nation make the Prince of a mightier Nation than they as the words are XIV Numb 12. for so the word Asah to make signifies 1 Sam. XII 6. where we translate it advanced Moses and Aaron Which seems to be the meaning here because Moses urges v. 13. the Promise made to Abraham Isaac and Jacob as if that would not be made good if the People were all destroyed Whereas there would have been no danger of that if God had made a great Nation to spring from Moses who was of their Seed Ver. 11. And Moses besought the LORD The Hebrew word Challah from whence comes Vaichall which we translate besought importing something of Sickness and Infirmity denotes that Moses besought the LORD with much earnestness and great agony of Mind His God He hoped he had not lost his Interest in God which the People had justly forfeited And said why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people There was great reason for this high displeasure against them which God threatned v. 10. and Moses himself was not only angry but his Anger waxed hot v. 19. yet he hoped other Reasons would move the Divine Mercy to moderate his Anger that is not to punish them so severely as they deserved Which thou hast brought out of the Land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand This is one ground of hope That God would not on a sudden destroy what he had employed so much Power to preserve Ver. 12. Wherefore should the Egyptians say for mischief did he bring them out This is another reason that the Egyptians might not be led into a misbelief or confirmed in their infidelity To slay them in the Mountains There were many Mountains besides Sinai where they now were in that Desert into which God led them and they were the most dangerous part of it Turn from thy fierce wrath c. Let these Considerations prevail for a Pardon Ver. 13. Remember Abraham Isaac and Israel to whom thou swarest by thine own self c. This is the great Argument of all the Promise made to their Forefathers fathers who were his faithful Servants and this Promise confirmed by an Oath often repeated which he hoped God would faithfully fulfil I will multiply your seed as the Stars of Heaven XV Gen. 5. XXII 17. This part of the Promise he
gate throughout the Camp They were not to go into their Tents where they who were sensible of God's Displeasure it may be presumed were bemoaning their sin but to kill every one they met in the Street And slay every man his Brother and every man his Companion c. All the Israelites were Brethren and they are commanded to spare none they met withal because they were near Relations or Friends or next Neighbours Some may imagine this too hazerdous an Undertaking the Levites being but a very small number in comparison with the People of Israel But having God's warrant they were consident none would have the Courage to oppose them for Guilt makes Men timorous and the Levites also found them as Men used to be at the conclusion of a Festival weary with their Dancing and Sports Besides there are those who by their being naked v. 25. understand they were unarmed for Aaron had disarmed them to their shame by setting up the Calf for them to dance about which made them lay aside all thoughts of their Arms and so were more easily slain by the Levites Ver. 28. And the Children of Levi did according to the word of Moses Who being under God their chief Ruler passed this extraordinary Sentence upon the Offenders without the common Process in Courts of Judgment as Mr. Selden observes L. II. de Jure N. G. c. 2. in the end of it And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men The Vulgar hath twenty three thousand contrary to the LXX as well as the Hebrew Text and all the Eastern Versions except the Arabick printed at Rome in this Age and manifestly out of the Vulgar Latin as Mr. Selden hath observed in the same place and Bochart shows largely to be against all the ancient Translations and Writers Hieroz P. I. L. II. c. 34. p. 353. Where he notes also out of Philo these three thousand to have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the principal Ring-leaders of this Impiety In memory of these Disasters the Breaking of the Tables and this Slaughter the Jews keep a Fast every year on the XVIIth of Tamuz which by Jac. Capellus computation answers to the XVIth of our July Ver. 29. For Moses had said consecrate your selves to day to the LORD Or Moses said ye have consecrated your selves c. Which way soever we take it either as spoken before the Execution to encourage them to it or afterward to commend them for it the meaning is That this Act was as acceptable to God as a Sacrifice and had procured them the honour to wait upon him as his Ministers Every man upon his Son and upon his Brother This seems to signifie that some of the Tribe of Levi had also prevaricated to whom these pious Levites had no regard but killed them indifferently with the rest though they met with one of their own Children For which they are highly commended by Moses in his Blessing XXXIII Deut. 9. But it may signifie no more but that they went out with this sincere Resolution to spare none though never so dear to them That he may bestow upon you a blessing this day This Blessing was the Preferment of the Tribe of Levi to be God's Ministers in his House and to enjoy all the Tenth of the Land for an Inheritance XVIII Numb 21 24. Ver. 30. And it came to pass on the morrow Which was the XVIIIth day of Tamuz or our XVIIth of July That Moses said unto the people Whom he assembled together that he might make them sensible of their sin Ye have sinned a great sin He set their sin before them it is likely in all its aggravating Circumstances And now I will go up unto the LORD But he would not have them despair of recovering God's Favour though he could not absolutely assure them of it Peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin That God might not inflict any further Punishment upon them Ver. 31. And Moses returned unto the LORD Not as yet to the place where he was before with the LORD for forty days but to some part of the Mount where he might put up his most fervent Prayers to God by which his Anger was turned away as well as by Sacrifices And said O this people have sinned a great sin He begins his Prayers with a Confession of their Guilt in a most pathetical manner And have made them gods of gold Contrary to the express repeated Command of God XX. 4 23. Ver. 32. Yet now Here follows his earnest and most affectionate Deprecation for them If thou wilt forgive their sin Be thou pleased or O that thou wouldest forgive them See Dr. Hammond upon XCV Psal not 6. Or if not blot me I pray thee out of thy Book which thou hast written Let me die rather than live to see the Evils that are coming on them if thou punish them as they deserve God hath no need of a Book wherein to Register and Record any of his purposes but the Scripture uses the Language of Men as the Jews speak who to this day retain this form of Speech in their Prayer wherewith they begin the New-year O our Father and our King write us in the Book of the best Life in the Book of Righteousness in the Book of Redemption They desire that is to be preserved that year in a happy condition free from sin from want and from danger See Theodorick Hackspan in his Annotations on this place Ver. 33. And the LORD said unto Moses Whosoever hath sinned against me him will I blot out of my Book This was all the Answer Moses could obtain That they only should perish who had offended the Divine Majesty Which doth not deny them a Pardon if they ceased to offend him Ver. 34. Therefore now go Speak no more of this matter but return to the Camp Lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee Take the Conduct of the People upon thee to the Land which I promised to bestow on them This supposes God would not punish them as they deserved though by the words following it appears he abated something of his wonted kindness to them Behold mine Angel shall go before thee Not the Angel spoken of XXIII 20. but some lesser Minister in the Heavenly Court as appears from the next Chapter v. 2. where he saith only I will send an Angel before thee viz. in the Pillar of Cloud and Fire XIII 22. Nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them Upon the next occasion to punish other Offences I will further punish this Whence the saying of R. Isaac in the Gemara Sanhedrim c. 11. There hath no vengeance come upon the world in which there hath not been half an ounce of the first Calf To which R. Vschajah there hath respect in these words Till the days of Jeroboam the Israelites suckt but of one Calf but afterward of three That is their Punishment was