8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did • swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. 9 ¶ And Moses spake so unto the • Gen. 15. 18. & 26. 3. & 28. 13. & 35. 12. where their outer garments were of a loose and flowing kind, to fling them aside that they might not hinder or weaken the effect of the intended blow. It is in allusion to this that the expression making bare his holy arm,' is applied to the Most High, Is. 54. 10, in speaking of the inflictions of his wrath upon his enemies. 8. Concerning the which I did swear to give it. Heb. nasathi eth yadi, have lifted up my hand; an expression taken from the common custom of elevating the hand to heaven when taking an oath. Dan. 12. 7, 'And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware, &c.' See Deut. 32. 40. Is. 62. 8. 9. They hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and from cruel bondage. Heb. mikkotzer ruah, for shortness, or straitness of spirit. That is, from extreme dejection and discouragement of soul, mingled with irrritation and impatience. That this is the force of the original will appear from the usage in the following passages. Prov. 14. 29, He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit (Heb. 77 ketzar ruah) exalteth folly.' Job, 21. 4,'And if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled (Heb. po tiktzar, shortened).' Numb. 21. 4, And the soul of the people was much discouraged (Heb. shortened) by reason of the way.' Judg. 16. 16, 'And it came to pass, when she pressed him children of Israel: pbut they hearkened not unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 10 And the LORD spake unto Mo ses, saying, 11 Goin, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. P ch. 5. 21. ་ daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed (Heb. ph shortened) unto death.' The Gr. renders it from feeble-mindedness,' the same word in effect and nearly in form as that which occurs, 1 Thes. 5. 14, Comfort the feeble-minded.' It is to this period probably that allusion is had, Ex. 14. 12, 'Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians, for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness;' which words in the Samaritan version are inserted in this place. To such a pitch of disheartening anguish had their sufferings wrought them that they chose to have all farther proceedings relative to their deliverance stayed. So heavy was their affliction, and so grievously had they been of late disappointed, that they can neither believe nor hope any longer; and the message now delivered by Moses was like a charming song upon the ear of a deaf or dead man. So strongly does a sense of wretchedness oppose the cordial reception of promises and encourage. ments. Even the comforts to which they are entitled, and which God has expressly provided for them, do the disconsolate put far from them under the pressure of their griefs. 'To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not.' Is. 28. 12. 10, 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, &c. The narrative proceeds to inform us with what still farther indulgence lips? 12 And Moses spake before the | me, r who am of uncircumcised LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have a not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear q ver. 9. 13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and gave them r ver. 30. ch. 4. 10. Jer. 1. 6. him to bow down his loftiness and humbly submit to the authority of a Being whom he did not acknowledge, and in so doing to honor a people whom he despised? More especially was he led to distrust his success when he called to mind his own infirmity in speaking This objection God had indeed sufficiently overruled on a former occasion, but in the depth of his dejection he pleads it again, forgetting the sufficiency of grace to overcome the defects of nature. In these circumstances, with a leader disheartened and broken down in spirit and a people sunk in utter despondency, what hope remained of deliverance to Israel, had not God him God treated the backwardness of his people to welcome the tidings of deliverance. He still moved forwards in his measures for their relief, as if he heard not or heeded not their unbelieving complaints, and remonstrances, and groans. That perverseness which would a thousand times have wearied out all human forbearance, is still graciously borne with by the long-suffering of heaven. But that which is mercy to Israel is wrath to Pharaoh, although the punishment which is ripening even for him is not to be inflicted without farther warnings. When the Lord is about to visit with judgments, we see him advancing as with slow and reluctant steps. On the contrary, when misery is to be re-self taken the accomplishment of the lieved, benefits conferred, or sins forgiven, the blessing makes haste as it were, to spend itself upon its objects. But when the wicked are to be dealt with, justice seems to regret the necessity under which it is laid to maintain itself, and the sinner is not destroyed till the equity of his condemnation is manifest, and every thing around him calls for vengeance. 12. And Moses spake before the Lord, &c. It would seem that Moses had caught, in some measure, the spirit of despondency which reigned among his brethren. He speaks as one discouraged and timidly shrinking from what appears to him a hopeless service. Reasoning from the less to the greater, he is ready to conclude the cause to be desperate. If the Israelites themselves, who were so deeply interested in the burden of his message, turned a deaf ear to it, how little ground had he to hope for a hearing from Pharaoh? Would he not, in the pride and insolence of his spirit, spurn a message which required whole work into his own hands? But his strength is made perfect in man's weakness. Who am of uncircumcised lips. Chal. 'Of an heavy speech.' Gr. ahoyos, vithout speech. As among the Jews the circumcision of any part denoted its perfection, so on the other hand uncircumcision was used to signify its defectiveness or inaptitude to the purposes for which it was designed. Thus the prophet says of the Jews, Jer. 6. 10, that their ear was uncircumcised,' and adds the explanation of it, because they cannot hearken.' Again, ch. 9. 26, he tells us that 'the house of Israel were uncircumcised in heart,' i. e. would not understand and learn their duty. In like manner ' uncircumcised lips' in the passage before us must mean a person who was a bad speaker and wanting eloquence. Syr. 'Mine is a stammering tongue.' 13. The Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge, &c. Aaron is here again joined in commission with Moses, and the debate a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 14 These be the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. 15 t And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of u the sons of Levi, according to Gen. 46. 9. 1 Chron. 5. 3. t1 Chron. 4. 24. Gen. 46. 10. u Gen. 46. 11. Numb. 3. 17. 1 Chron. 6. 1, 16. their generations; Gershon, and 18 And y the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi, according to their generations. x1 Chron. 6. 17, & 23. 7. y Numb. 26. 57. 1 Chron. 6. 2, 18. z 1 Chron. 6. 19. & 23. 21. nexion, is to point out distinctly the stock and lineage of Moses and Aaron. As one of these was to be the great Legislator and Prophet, and the other the High Priest of the peculiar people, it might be of very great importance in after ages to have their true descent authenticated beyond a doubt.—¶ The sons of Reuben, &c. As Reuben and Simeon were elder than Levi, from whom Moses and Aaron derived their pedigree, it seemed to be proper to state the rank which their progenitor held, in the order of birth, among the sons of Jacob. ended by the interposition of the divine authority. A solemn charge is given to both which, upon their allegiance, they are required to execute with all possible expedition and fidelity. "Where the word of a king is, there is power,' and the repetition of baffled arguments is suitably cut short by the voice of the Most High speaking in majesty. It is not clear that the words of this verse are to be understood as the answer to what Moses had said in the verse before. They seem to be rather a brief recapitulation of what had been said in the three preceding verses. As he was about to interrupt the thread of the narrative by the insertion of a genealogical table, he here repeats the general fact of Moses and Aaron having received a charge to go into the presence of Pharaoh and renew their demand of the dismission of the people. The historian thus indicates the posture of things at that particular stage of the business where the continuity of his story is broken. 14. These be the heads, &c. Gr. aoxn-at the death of Joseph, whom he suryou, chiefs, captains, governors. Their houses,' i. e. the houses of Moses and Aaron. The design of introducing this genealogical record in its present con 16. According to their generations. The force of this expression may, perhaps, be better conceived by its being paraphrased thus: "These are the names of the sons of Levi, viewed in connexion with the respective lines of descendants proceeding from them.' years of the life of Levi, &c. Levi was four years elder than Joseph, consequently he was 43 when he came into Egypt, Joseph being then 39; was 114 The vived 23 years; lived after coming into Egypt 94 years, and died 41 years before the birth of Moses, and 121 before the exode from Egypt. His age is per 20 And a Amram took him Joche- | 25 And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and g she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their families. bed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 21 ¶ And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 And Aaron took him Elisheba daughter of d Amminadab, sister of Naashon to wife; and she bare him e Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 And the fsons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are are the families of the Korhites. a ch. 2. 1, 2. Numb. 26. 59. b Numb. 16. 1. 1 Chron. 6. 37, 38. c Lev. 10. 4. Numb. 3. 30. Ruth 4 19, 20. 1 Chron. 2. 10. Matt. 1. 4. e Lev. 10. 1. Numb. 3. 2. & 26. 60. 1 Chron. 6. 3. & 24. 1. f Numb. 26. 11. haps expressly stated in order to afford aid toward settling the precise time of the fulfilment of the prophecy made to Abraham, Gen. 15. 13. It is moreover worthy of notice, that the promise made to Abraham, Gen. 15. 16, that the Israelites should be delivered out of Egypt in the fourth generation' was strictly fulfilled. Moses was the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Jacob. Jacob went down into Egypt, and Moses was in the fourth generation from him. 20. Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife. It is obvious that in giving this genealogical record Moses is very far from being prompted by a vain-glorious wish to laud his ancestry; for he not only inserts in the list the names of those whose characters disgraced it, but he openly declares himself to be the offspring of a connexion which was afterwards expressly forbidden under the law, and which was probably even now regarded as doing some violence to the dictates of nature. Comp. Lev. 18. 12. Numb. 26, 59. We 26 These are that Aaron and Moses, h to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their i armies. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, I to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron. 28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 8 Numb. 25. 7, 11. Josh. 24. 33. h ver. 13. 1 ch. 7. 4. & 12. 17, 51. Numb. 33. 1. k ch. 5. 1, 3. & 7. 10. ver. 13. ch. 32. 7. & 33. 1. Ps. 77. 20. may learn, however, from the circumstances of the parentage of Moses and Aaron, that the evil or equivocal conduct of progenitors does not always avail to preclude their having a seed which shall stand high in the favor of God. 23. Aaron took him Elisheba. Gr. Exßer, Elizabeth. She was of the tribe of Judah, being sister to Naashon, a prince of that tribe. While Moses thus dwells particularly on the genealogy of Aaron, he modestly passes over his own in silence. Had he been a man of ambition, or his institutions been of his own devising, he would never have given this precedence to his brother's family over his own. 26. These are that Aaron and Moses. Heb. 27 17 hu Aharon u Mosheh, this is that Aaron and Moses. The words of this and the following verse are merely a more minute specification of the persons of Moses and Aaron, without being in the least designed as a note of self-commendation. We see rather a tacit intimation of the distinguishing grace of heaven in raising up two individuals from the humblest ranks of life, and entrusting them with the dignified service of delivering Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. TAccording to their armies. That is, their tribes, now grown so numerous as to form each an army. There seems to be intended also an oblique antithesis between these armies of Israel, and the two inconsiderable men who were appointed to lead them; as if he would insinuate that they were called to a work to which they were in themselves totally inadequate, and one which they could never have performed without being miraculously aided and endowed from heaven. 29. Saying, I am the Lord (Jehovah). Nothing more could be really needed to countervail the fears and misgivings of Moses than this assurance. The name 'Jehovah,' carries enough in its import to support his ministers in their severest trials and most arduous labors. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VII. ND the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee aa god to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be b thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he a ch. 4. 16. Jer. 1. 10. bch. 4. 16. ch. 4. 15. because they are God's vicegerents. He was authorized to speak and act in God's name, doing that which was aboye the ordinary power of nature, and commissioned to demand obedience from a sovereign prince. Aaron shall be thy prophet, Chal. "Thine interpreter.' See Note on Gen. 28. 7. 'A man who is afraid to go into the presence of a king, or a governor, or a great man, will seek an interview with the minister, or some principal character; and should he be much alarmed, it will be said, 'Fear not, friend; I will make you as a god to the king.' 'What! are you afraid of the collector? fear not; you will be as a god to him.' 'Yes, yes, that upstart was once much afraid of the great ones; but now he is like a god among them.' Roberts. Moses himself was to be an oracle, and Aaron a mouth, to Pharaoh. Aaron was to be to Moses what Moses himself was to God. The Most High does not scruple to clothe his humblest servants with a kind of divinity when he would make them oracles to his people or instruments of wrath to his enemies. 2. Thou shalt speak, &c. That is, to When men speak by God's .nathattika | Aaron נתתיך אלהים .Heb 1. I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. elohim, I have given thee a god; i. e. command they are to keep back no part set, ordained, appointed; according to of his message. Although the name of a common usage of the original to Aaron is not always expressly mengive, of which see Note on Gen. 1. 17. tioned in connexion with that of Moses Chal. 'I have set thee a prince or master throughout the ensuing narrative, yet it (rab). Arab. 'I have made thee a is to be inferred, from the charge now lord.' See Note on Ex. 4. 10. Moses given, that the two brothers uniformly was to be God's representative in this went into the presence of Pharaoh toaffair, as magistrates are called gods gether. |