meaning thereby an extensive range of wholly unsuitable situation, in the narmountains. But 'Sinai' is usually spoken row valley of El Ledja at the foot of of as a distinct mountain; 'on,' or 'upon that peak. It also deserves to be no-' Sinai,' being the most common mode of ticed, that Josephus does not mention expression, as we should speak of a any mount called Horeb. He speaks particular mountain or peak in a moun- exclusively of Mount Sinai, and after tainous or any other region. We believe noticing the transactions at Rephidim, there is no instance in which the name says that, on leaving that station, the of Horeb occurs so as to convey the Israelites went on gradually till they idea of ascent, descent, or standing upon came to Sinai.' The writer having thus it as a mountain, whereas this is invari- adjusted the relation to each other of ably the idea with which the name of the terms 'Horeb' and 'Sinai,' proceeds Sinai is associated. It is true that there to adduce a variety of reasons to show are two passages which appear to mili- that Mount Serbal, and not Mount Mo-' tate against this view, but when care- ses, prefers the strongest claims to be fully considered, they do in fact con- ing the place to which God descended firm it. Thus in Ex. 3. 1, Moses.. at the giving of the Law. We must recame to the mountain of God, even to fer the reader to the pages of the Pic Horeb ;' and in 1 Kings, 19. 8, Elijah torial Bible for a very elaborate cangoes 'unto Horeb, the mount of God.' vassing of the respective claims of these In both these places it would be most two localities. The principal difficulty obvious to understand that Horeb de in regard to the present Mount Sinai, is notes the whole, and the 'mount of God' the want of sufficient space for the en-' the part; which will be the more evi- camping of so large a host as that of dent when it is recollected that the term Israel, and the impossibility of its sum. 'mount of God' would be no distinction mit, or that of Mount St. Catherine, be at all, unless the region were also inen- ing seen by all the people at the same tioned; because this distinction is not time. Mount Serbal, on the other hand, peculiar to the mountain on which the he asserts, fully meets the idea which law was delivered. The reader who the reader of the Scripture is naturally wishes to verify the view we have taken, led to entertain of Sinai, as a detached will moreover find further confirmation mountain, or rather cluster of mounby observing that actions are mentioned tains, with ample open ground around as having been done in Horeb,' which the base in which the host might en were certainly not done on any particu- camp. Some of the vallies also about lar mountain, but in the surrounding Mount Serbal are fertile and well-wavalleys or plains. Thus the Israelites tered; whereas at the other point it' are said to have 'made a calf in Horeb,' would seem to have been scarcely pos(Ps. 106. 19)-certainly not in a moun- sible to procure sufficient forage for tain, but in the wilderness of Sinai while their cattle. Another argument is drawn Moses was in the mountain. The rock by the writer from the alleged identity smitten by Moses for water is called of Mount Serbal and Mount Paran, the rock in Horeb' (Ex. 17. 6), which mentioned in Habakkuk. The valley according to the view we take, is com- or wady at the base of Mount Serbal patible with the situation we have indi- is still called 'Faran,' and as p and ƒ cated for Rephidim; whereas those who are letters constantly interchanged in regard Horeb as a particular mountain, the oriental tongues, the inference, he and determine that mountain to be contends, is wholly legitimate that PaDjebel Katerin, have been necessarily ran and Faran indicate the same localobliged to fix the smitten rock in ality, and that this is no other than Mount 3 And a Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out d ch. 20. 21. Acts 7. 38 Serbal. On the whole, however, we incline to adhere to the more established opinion, which assigns the region of Djebel Katerin and Mousa as the scene of the great event in question, and the following extract from Prof. Robinson's account of his visit to the spot in 1838, will go to lessen very considerably the objection founded upon the limited space for encampment :-'We approached the central granite mountains of Sinai, not by the more usual and easy route of Wady Shekh, which winds around and enters from the East; but following a succession of Wadys we crossed Wady Shekh and entered the higher granite formation by a shorter route, directly from the N. N. W. through a steep, rocky, and difficult pass, between rugged, blackened cliffs, 800 to 1000 feet high. Approaching in this direction, we were surprised and delighted, to find ourselves, after two hours, crossing the whole length of a fine plain; from the southern end of which that part of Sinai now called Horeb rises perpendicularly in dark and frowning majesty. This plain is over two miles in length, and nearly two-thirds of a mile broad, sprinkled with tufts of herbs and shrubs, like the Wadys of the desert. It is wholly enclosed by dark granite mountains, stern, naked, splintered peaks and ridges, from 1000 to 1500 feet high. On the east of Horeb a deep and very narrow valley runs in like a cleft, as if in continuation of the S. E. corner of the plain. In this stands the convent, at the distance of a mile from the plain; and the deep verdure of its fruit-trees and cypresses is seen as the traveller approaches, an oasis of beauty amid scenes of the sternest desolation. On the west of Horeb, there runs up a similar valley, parallel to the former. It is called El-Leja, and in it stands the deserted convent El-Erbayin, with a garden of olive and other fruit-trees, not e ch. 3. 4. visible from the plain. The name Sinar is at present applied, generally, to the lofty ridge running from N. N. W. to S. S. E. between the two narrow valleys just described. The northern part, or lower summit, is the present Horeb, overlooking the plain. About two and a half or three miles south of this, the ridge rises and ends in a higher point; this is the present summit of Sinai, the Jebel Mûsa of the Arabs; which however is not visible from any part of the plain. West, or rather W. S. W. of the valley El-Leja, is the still higher ridge and summit of Mount St. Catharine. The plain above mentioned is in all probability the spot, where the congregation of Israel were assembled to receive the law; and the mountain impending over it, the present Horeb, was the scene of the awful phenomena in which the law was given. As to the present summit of Sinai, there is little reason to suppose that it had any connection with the giving of the law; and still less the higher peaks of St. Catharine. I know not when I have felt a thrill of stronger emotion, than when in first crossing the plain, the dark precipices of Horeb rising in sol emn grandeur before us, I became aware of the entire adaptedness of the scene to the purposes for which it was chosen by the great Hebrew legislator.' Bib. Repos. for April 1839. As to the convent which is here established, and which, from the increasing resort, bids fair to become little more than a sacred caravanserai, affording its inmates but little of that holy retirement which the location was intended to secure, reader will find a full and interesting account in the work above mentioned, by our countryman Mr. Stephens, and in fact, in nearly all the published tours of modern travellers. the 3. And Moses went up unto God. Heb. el ha-Elohim, to the of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 fye have seen what I did unto f Deut. 29. 2. the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. g Deut. 32. 11. Isai. 63. 9. Rev. 12. 14. 4. Ye have seen, &c. It is a direct appeal to themselves, to their own observation and experience, for the truth of what is here affirmed. They could not disbelieve God without first disbe. lieving the testimony of their own senses.¶ How I bare you on eagles' wings; i. e. as on eagles' wings; a similitude denoting the speed, the se curity, and the tender care with which they were, as it were, transported from the house of bondage, and which is expanded in fuller significancy, Deut. 32, 11, 12, 'As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings;, so the Lord alone did lead him.' In like manner, as the church of Israel here fled from the dragon Pharaoh, as he is termed, Ezek. 29. 3, so the Christian church in a time of persecution is represented, Rev. 12. 14, as flying into the wilderness from the serpent or dragon, with two wings of a great eagle. Wings in this acceptation are a symbol of protection. The idea of this passage is strikingly set forth by the prophet at a long subsequent period, Is. 63. 9. 'In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.¶ Brought you unto Elohim. That is, to the visible symbol of God's presence, which had now doubt less taken its station on the summit of the mount. Gr. εis to opos tov dov, to the mount of God. Chal. 'Into the presence of the Word of the Lord.' The more attentively the sacred narrative is scanned, the more clear is the evidence, that wherever interviews between God and Moses or other good men are mentioned, there we are to understand that some visible manifestation of Jehovah was present, and that this visible phenomenon is intended to be indicated by the term 'Jehovah' or 'God.'-It will be noticed that the object of Moses' ascending the mount on this occasion was simply to receive and carry back to the people the message contained in the verses immediately succeeding, which was a more general intimation of the terms on which God agreed to form the Israelites into a distinct and peculiar people. Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel. This two twofold denomination of the chosen people is rather remarkable and no doubt was intended to carry with it some special emphasis of meaning. As the mercies conferred upon them as a people extended back into the history of the past, it was perhaps designed, by the use of these two names, to remind them of their humble beginnings and their sub-myself. Delivered you from the cruel sequent increase; to suggest to them that they, who were once as lowly as Jacob when he went to Padan-aram, were now grown as great, as God made him, when he came from thence and was called Israel. The mention of the twofold appellation of their ancestor, would tend also to excite them to obedience in conformity to his example. bondage of Egypt, and graciously received you into a covenant relation to myself and the enjoyment of my special tutelary favor. This is the ultimate aim of all the gracious methods of God's providence and grace, to bring us back to himself, to reinstate us in his lost favor, to restore us to that relation in which alone we can be happy. Christ 5 Now h therefore, if ye will obey | venant, then i ye shall be a peculiar my voice indeed, and keep my co h Deut. 5. 2. i Deut. 4. 20. & 7. 6. & 14. 2, 21. & 26. 18. & 32. 8, 9. 1 Kings 8. 53. Ps. 135. 4. Cant. 8. 12. Isai. 41, 8. & 43. 1. Jer. 10. 16. Mal. 3. 17. Tit. 2. 14. has died, 'the just for the unjust, that shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, he might bring us to God.' 5. Now therefore if ye will obey, &c. Having briefly recounted the grounds of their obligation to him, the Most High now proceeds to state plainly the returns he should expect and require from them. This was in one word obedience -cordial, sincere, and unreserved obedience to the will of their best friend and kindest benefactor, who could have nothing in view but their happiness. This he demanded of them. On his own part, he promises a profusion of blessings, temporal, spiritual, and everlasting, of which the crown of all is that they should be an appropriation to himself. They should enjoy a rank of higher honor and tenderer endearment in his regard than any other people-a declaration, the scope of which will be more apparent from a closer inspection of the import of the particular terms. A peculiar treasure. Heb. 10 segullah, a word of which we do not find the verbal root 30 sagal in Hebrew, but in Chaldee it signifies to gain, to acquire to one's self, to make one's own, to appropriate. Wherever the noun occurs in Hebrew it denotes a peculium, a possession or treasure of which the owner is peculiarly choice, one on which his heart is set, and which he neither shares with others nor resigns to the care of others. It has an obvious rela tion to the Latin word sigillum, seal, and is especially applied to such choice possessions as were secured with a seal, as gold, silver, jewels, precious stones, &c. Thus, 1 Chron. 29. 3, 'Because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good (Heb. of my no segullah), of gold and silver, which I have given,' &c. Thus too, Mal. 3. 17, 'And they in that day when I make up my jewels.' (Heb. my bao segullah). Eccl. 2. 8, 'I gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure (nbao) of kings and of the provinces.' 'By segullah,' say the Hebrew commentators, 'is signified, that they should be beloved before him, as a desirable treasure which a king delivereth not into the hand of any of his officers, but keepeth it himself. And such is the case of Israel, of whom it is said, Deut. 32. 9, 'For the Lord's portion is his people.' Thus too, Deut. 7. 6, "Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people (30) unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.' Ps. 135. 4, 'For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure (nbaob lisgulatho).' In these cases the Greek rendering is mostly Teplovoies, peculiar precious, which occurs Tit. 2. 14, 'That he might purify unto himself a peculiar people (Xaos repiovoios); zealous of good works.' But in 1 Peter, 2. 9, the phraseology is a little varied, 'But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people (λaos Ets TEPIRоinov),' which is the Septuagint rendering of the word 'jewels,' Mal. 3. 17. Throughout, the leading sense is that of select, precious, endeared; something exceedingly prized and sedulously preserved; and it would seem as if God would represent all the rest of the world as comparatively worthless lumber when viewed by the side of the chosen race. Chal. 'Ye shall be beloved before me.'- -T For all the earth is mine. Or, though all the earth is mine.' The sense, however, is essentially the same by either mode of rend 7 And Moses came and called treasure unto me above all people: |tion. These are the words which for kall the earth is mine: thou shalt speak unto the children 6 And ye shall be unto me a king- of Israel. dom of priests, and an m holy na*ch. 6. 29 Deut. 10. 14. Job. 41. 11. Ps. 24. 1. & 50. 12, 1 Cor. 10. 26, 28. 1 Deut. 33. 2, 3, 4. 1 Pet. 2. 5, 9. Rev. 1. 6. & 5. 10. & 20.6. m Lev. 29. 24, 26. Deut. 7. 6. & 26. 19. & 28.9. Isai. 62, 12, 1 Cor. 3. 17. 1 Thess. 5. 27. ering. It was intended to enhance, in their estimate, the greatness of the divine favor in making them the objects of such a selection. Being the sovereign and proprietor of the whole world, and the fulness thereof, he needed them not; nor if he saw good to select any people was he under the least obligation, out of himself, to fix upon them. He might have taken any other nation in preference to them. The parallelism, Deut. 7. 7, 8, fully confirms this sense of the passage; 'The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bond-men, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.' 6. A kingdom of priests. Heb. “ mamleketh kohanim; which the Gr. renders by an inverse construction βασιλειον ἱερατευμα, a royal priesthood, the phraseology adopted by the apostle, 1 Pet. 2. 9. Chal. 'Ye shall be before me kings, priests, and an holy people.' The true sense of the expression is perhaps most adequately given Rev. 5. 10, where in allusion to the passage, it is said, "Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.' They were in fact to combine in their own persons the royal and the sacerdotal dignity, which is figuratively set forth in the Apocalyptic scenery by the elders being clothed in white robes, which was a badge of the priesthood, for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. and at the same time having crowns upon their heads, which was an emblem of royalty. It would be impossible therefore to use language conveying the promise of higher honor, of more distinguished prerogatives, than this. As the priestly order was set apart from the common mass of the people, and exclusively authorised to minister in holy things, so all the Israelites, compared with other nations, were to sustain this near relation to God. They were to be, as it were, 'the first-born from among men,' consecrated to God from the womb, like the first-born of their own families. And when we add to this that they were all to be regarded at the same time as kings also, and none as subjects, a commonwealth of spiritual sovereigns, what can be conceived more exalted and honorary? Yet such is undoubtedly the import of the words, which is but little heightened by the subsequent phrase, 'an holy nation;' i. e. a nation hallowed, set apart, consecrated. 7. Moses came and called for the elders, &c. In so immense an assembly of people it would be necessary for Moses to treat with them through the medium of their elders, or the principal men in the several tribes. Having con. vened them for the purpose, he 'laid before their faces,' the message he had received from God, by which is meant that he fully explained to them what God had given him in charge, and submitted it to their serious judgment whether they would comply with the prescribed terms. The elders of course propounded the words to the people. |