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22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel; Ye have seen that I have talked with you i from heaven.

i Deut. 4. 36. Neh. 9. 13.

need of a Mediator in all our attempts to deal with a God of immaculate purity and inflexible justice.¶ Unto the thick darkness where God was. Chal. "Where the Glory of the Lord was.' Targ. Jon. 'Where the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord was.' The original word for 'thick darkness' (5 araphel) is rendered in the Greek of the New Testament, Heb. 12. 18, Oveλλa, which properly denotes a storm or tempest, and so also it is rendered by the Sept. Duet. 4. 11, and 5. 22, in both which cases the English translation is 'thick darkness.' The idea is probably that of just such a dark, lowering, threatening cloud as is usually with us attended by raging whirlwinds, tempests, and rain.

22. The Lord said unto Moses, &c. There can be little doubt that this verse contains the ground and reason of the prohibition in the next; but the exact chain of sequence which connects the two together, is not perfectly obvious from the face of the narrative. But upon referring to the parallel passage, Deut. 4. 14-16, where a more detailed account is given of the solemn transactions of Sinai, we seem to be furnished with a clue to the connexion. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; (for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire); Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,' &c. From this we gather

23 Ye shall not make k with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

k ch. 32. 1, 2, 4. 1 Sam. 5. 4, 5. 2 Kings 17. 33. Ezek. 20. 39. & 43. 8. Dan. 5. 4, 23. Zeph. 1. 5. 2 Cor. 6. 14, 15, 16.

that the injunction before us is equivalent to saying, 'Ye have seen the manner in which I appeared and spake with you from heaven. Ye yourselves are witnesses that no manner of similitude, no visible figure or form, nothing which could be represented by any pictorial or sculptured semblance, entered into the scenery that then struck your senses. Therefore do not think of embodying your conceptions of me in a material image. Do not dishonor and degrade me by dividing my worship with that of gods of silver or of gold. I will have no participation with images or idols, the work of your own hands.' 23. Ye shall not make with me gods, &c. itti, correctly rendered, ye shall not make with me; i. e. ye shall not make to worship in conjunction with me; plainly implying that this could not be done without making them rivals with him. The Chal. has however before me;' and this seems to be occasionally the force of the equivalent particle im. Thus, Est. 7. 8, 'Then said the king, Will he force the queen also be fore me ( immi) in the house?' So 2 Sam. 6. 7, 'And then he died by the ark ( im aron) of God,' compared with the parallel expression, 1 Chron. 13. 10, ‘And there he died before God (3 liphne Elohim.)' By

lo taasu לא תעשון אתי .Heb

gods of silver and of gold is plainly meant idols made of those materials. although in accommodation to popular usages of speech he dignifies them with the title of gods. Thus the Israelites when they made the golden calf in the wilderness (which in Acts, 7. 41, is expressly termed an idol), are said Ex, 32. 8, 31, to have made them gods of

24 ¶ An altar of earth thou shalt | come unto thee, and I will a bless make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thee. thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all m places where I record my name I will

1 Lev. 1, 2. m Deut. 12. 5, 11, 21. & 14, 23. & 16. 6, 11. & 26. 2. 1 Kings 8. 43. & 9. 3. 2 Chron. 6. 6. & 7. 16. & 12. 13. Ezra 6. 12. Neh. 1. 9. Ps. 74. 7. Jer. 7. 10, 12.

25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted

it.

n Gen. 12. 2. Deut. 7. 13. • Deut. 27. 5. Josh 8. 31.

goodness to the offerer. The English reader might suppose, from the present rendering, 'peace-offerings,' that they were oblations presented for the purpose of securing peace or reconciliation with God; but this was the design rather of the 'burnt-offerings,' which were strictly propitiatory in their nature, whereas the 'peace-offerings' were merely eucharistical. For the use of the word peace,' in the sense of 'welfare,' see Note on Gen. 29. 6.-¶ In all places where I record my name. Heb.

gold,' and the idols or images of the Philistines, 2 Sam. 5. 21; 1 Chron. 14. 12, are called their 'gods.' The words of this verse are a virtual repetition of the second commandment, and point to that sin to which God foresaw the peculiar addictedness of his chosen people. Their whole subsequent history shows us that idolatry was their besetting iniquity, and consequently that against which of all others they most needed to be put upon their guard. If the true worship of the true God were corrupted, every thing would be sure to azkir eth shemi, make my

go wrong.

name to be remembered. Chal. 'In every place where I shall make my Glory to dwell.' Gr. 'Where I shall name my name.' The meaning is, in all places which I shall appoint for the celebration of my name, for the performance of my worship.

24. An altar of earth thou shalt make, &c. This was a temporary regulation, having respect to such occasional altars as were erected on special emergencies, of which see instances, Judg. 6. 24.13. 10. 1 Sam. 7. 17. They were made by heaping up a quantity of earth, and 25. Thou shalt not build it of hewn covering it with green turf. As God stone. The reason of this probably designed to have the worship of his was, that carved and wrought stone people eventually concentrated at one usually expressed some kind of similiplace, he would not allow the rearing tude or image which might turn to an of altars of durable materials or finished occasion of superstition; besides that workmanship elsewhere, lest his main they would be apt to be of a more purpose should be frustrated.- T Shall durable nature, and therefore more easacrifice thereon-thy peace-offerings. sily converted to monuments of idolHeb. shelameka, lit. pay-offer- atry. It is possible, moreover, that this ings, compensations, retributions, paci- might be forbidden to the Israelites, in fications, from □□ shalam, to make up, opposition to the practices of the héato make good, restore, repay, and thence then, who built their altars of hewn to make up a difference, to effect a re- stones, and by having them curiously concilation, to be at peace. In this case wrought and adorned, rendered them the idea would perhaps be better con- more attractive as places of worship. veyed by the phrase 'welfare-offerings,' -If thou lift up thy tool upon it or 'thank-offerings,' i. e. offerings eli-thou hast polluted it. Not that the tool cited by a grateful sense of the div ne it elf had the power of pollution, but

26 Neither shalt thou go up by | nakedness be not discovered theresteps unto mine altar, that thy on.

the work was polluted or defiled by being done contrary to the express command of heaven.

26. Neither shalt thou go up by steps, &c. The reason is subjoined. As the garments of the priests were long and flowing, their ascending a flight of steps might indecorously expose their per

sons. The ascent to the altar of the tabernacle was therefore undoubtedly by a gentle slope, and a still farther precaution against the inconvenience in question was afterwards adopted in the kind of garments prescribed to the priests."

THE SHEKINAH.

As this is a term of very frequent occurrence in the Notes composing the present work, and one conveying a meaning of vast importance to the right exposition of numerous passages in the Scriptures, we have concluded to devote a few supplementary pages to its elucidation. Whatever impressions of the intrinsic moment of the subject the reader may have received from our previous allusions to it, we have no doubt they will be materially deepened by the results of the critical enquiry upon which we now enter. If it were merely a point of curious antiquarian research, of the same class with the hieroglyphics of Egypt, or even the monumental records of the chosen people themselves, we should deem its claims upon our attention comparatively slight. But involving, as we are persuaded it does, an important clue to the true nature of the divine manifestations recorded in the Old Testament, and their relation to the person and character of Christ, we know of no theme in the whole compass of revelation that more imperiously demands to be investigated. It is not possible indeed that our present limits should allow of full justice being done to the discussion, but we may still be able to present it in a somewhat more prominent light than is done in any of our previous or subsequent annotations.

The etymology of the term first claims our notice. The Hebrew word shekinah comes by the most normal mode of formation from the root shakan, which signifies to dwell, to dwell in, to inhabit, but more usually spoken of that kind of dwelling common to nomade tribes, viz., in tents or tabernacles. The derivative shekinah is defined by Buxtorf (Lex. Rabbin. voc. ) to signify primarily habitation or cohabitation, but as being spoken more particularly of the divine presence, glory, and majesty, or of the Divinity itself when it is said to be present to men, or to converse with them, or to vouchsafe to them its sensible and gracious aid. He remarks, moreover, that it is commonly explained by the Rabbinical writers of the divine glory or majesty in its external manifestation, as something present and dwelling among men. Accordingly the following among hundreds of other passages are rendered by the Chaldee Targum of Onkelos and Jonathan conformably to this definition; Ps. 74. 2, 'Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old; this mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt.' Chal. 'Wherein thou hast made thy Shekinah to dwell.' Num. 10.36, 'Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.' Chal. 'Return now, O Word of the Lord, to thy people Israel, make the glory of thy Shekinah to dwell among them, and have mercy on the thousands of Israel.' Num. 11. 20, 'Ye have despised the Lord which is among you.' Chal. 'Ye have despised the Word of the Lord whose Shekinah dwelleth among you.' Hag. 1. 8, 'Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and will be glorified, saith the Lord.' Chal. 'And

I will make my Shekinah to dwell there in glory.' Ps. 85. 10, 'His salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.' This is distinctly explained by Aben Ezra as meaning that the Shekinah may be established in the land.

It would be easy to multiply passages to the same effect ad libitum, for even the voluminous citations of Buxtorf do not embrace a tithe of the examples of the usage, which may be drawn from the Pentateuch alone. It is the current phraseology of the Chaldee Paraphrases wherever in our version we meet with any intimation of a visible display of the divine glory. Indeed the terms 'Glory' and 'Shekinah' are evidently recognised by the Targumists as convertible terms. These writers, it is well known, were Jews, and on this point we have no reason to doubt that they have transmitted, with singular fulness and accuracy, the traditions of their fathers from the earliest periods of the ancient economy. Still we should make comparatively little account of this, were it not that their interpretations on this head distinctly accord with the results which we obtain from a strict investigation of the sacred text itself. In fact, without designing it, hey have yielded a most important testimony to the truth of the New Testament doctrine respecting the Messiah, as will appear more clearly from the sequel of these remarks.

In coming now to a more close examination of the subject of the Shekinah, we are met at the outset by an apparant discrepancy in the scriptural statements relative to the divine manifestations. On the one hand, we have a tolerably numer. ous class of texts speaking the language that follows; John, 1. 18, 'No man hath seen God at any time.' Col. 1. 15, 'Who is the image of the invisible God.' 1 Tim. 1. 17, 'Unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God.' 1 Tim. 6. 16, 'Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen nor can see.' Declarations like these establish it as an unquestionable truth, that God is a spirit, pure, incorruptible, immaterial, and in his own nature absolutely incapable of becoming an object of corporeal vision. This is to be maintained as a radical truth, not only of revela tion, but of reason. But then on the other hand what can be more explicit, as far as the letter is concerned, in affirming some kind of visibility of the Deity, than the following passages? Ex. 24. 9-11, 'Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel, and under his feet was, as it were, &c.—And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand; also they saw God, and did eat and drink.' So likewise at the delivery of the Law from mount Sinai Jehovah was in some sense certainly visible; for he announces to Moses, Ex. 19. 11, that 'on the third day he would come down in the sight of all the people.' And in speaking of this event afterwards, Deut. 4. 12, in an address to Israel, he says, 'Jehovah talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire. The same is affirmed of Moses in person, Ex. 33. 11, 'And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.' In like manner the prophet Isaiah says of himself, ch. 6. 1, 'In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple;' and again in v. 5, of the same chapter; "Then said I, Wo is me! for I am undonefor mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.'

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