over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22 and let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so make it easy for thyself, and they shall bear it with thee. 23 If thou shalt do this thing, God shall strengthen thee, and thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. 27 ¶ And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land. XIX. 1 In the third month of the going forth of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. Divine approval," &c. to their place] view is that the thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens import only greater and smaller families, and are no numerical guides at all. On his support of this view from Deut. i. 15, see there.) Either the words of vv. 24, 25 must not be taken literally, and must mean only that the principle was generally fol- XIX. Arrival at Sinai, and preparation lowed, or the subsequent arrangement men- for the covenant. Vv. 1, 2 contain, as tioned in Num. xi. 16, ff., as prescribed by is found so often in this book, two concurGod Himself, may have been a remedy pro- rent accounts of the same matter. The posed for the inconveniences of this present former part of ver. 2 connects with ch. system. See notes there. It is also some- xvii. 1, and is repeated in the enumeration what surprising that in a congregation, in Num. xxxiii. 15, but is a chronological which so frequently and largely manifested notice, of the same character as those in ch. a rebellious and murmuring spirit, so large xii. 41, 51; xvi. 1. In the specification, in a number should have been found possessing the third month, . . . . the same day, it the high qualifications here specified. Yet is uncertain what day of the month is meant. it would appear from the subsequent nar- Knobel and Keil maintain that the same rative that the number of those thus ap- day means only at that time, in that month, pointed must have been very considerable, and that no nearer date is here given, citing for in Num. xxv. 5 we find Moses com- for this the specifications of time in Num. manding "all the judges of Israel" to slay ix. 1; xx. 1, where however no mention of those who were joined to Baal-peor. 23.] day is made. Kalisch renders, in the third The rendering given of this verse is that of new moon, but Hengstenberg and Keil have the LXX,, approved by Gesenius and others, shewn that the Hebrew word is nowhere in and seems best to suit the context. If the Pentateuch used in this sense, nor indeed we follow that of the A.V. the meaning will necessarily anywhere else. But it must be be, "If thou do this, and it meet with the acknowledged that, irrespectively of any X 2 And they departed from Rephidim, and came to the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in the wilderness; and question about the import of the word, the general inference would seem to be that the same day would imply the very day that it began to be the third month, i. e. the first day of the month. 2.] This verse raises the whole question of the locality of Sinai and the place of the encampment.* In discussing this, we may perhaps be permitted to set aside at once, as not fulfilling the Egyptian conditions of the problem, the hypothesis which would place Mount Sinai much further east in Arabia, and would make the eastern arm, the present Gulf of Akaba, the Red Sea of the Israelites' passage. The spot of that passage was only three days' journey removed from their starting-point in Egypt, a description which cannot possibly answer to any point of the Gulf of Akaba. Assuming then that the present Gulf of Suez is the "Red Sea" with which we have to deal, we have to seek for Mount Sinai in the triangular piece of land which divides the two gulfs. Now there are certain conditions which any assigned mountain must fulfil. (1.) It must be easy of approach, and have before it a space large enough for the children of Israel to assemble. (2.) It must be a prominent mountain rising abruptly, or nearly so, from the underlying plain. We read of the people standing at the nether part of the mount (ch. xix. 7). It must also have been accessible from that plain, since bounds were set about it (ib. 23). (3.) There must have been plentiful supply of water and pasturage close by. Now of the mountains within the piece of land, there are but two which in any way come up to these conditions, Jebel Serbal and Jebel Mûsa. The former of these is the most imposing feature in the peninsula, and of itself would be chosen as the likeliest spot. But (1.) It is not visible from any point of the valleys which surround its base. (2.) The two valleys (see the map), Wadys Aleyat and Ajelah, which run from its base to Wady Feiran, are filled with boulders and torrent beds, and most unsuitable for a large encampment. And there is not, as * In the whole of the following note I have been helped by Mr. Holland's article on the recent "Explorations in the peninsula of Sinai." once supposed, any plain between them; on the contrary, the intervening space is a chaos of rugged mountains intersected by deep ravines. The members of the late Survey Expedition were unanimous against Jebel Serbal as having any claims to be the Sinai of the Law. In examining Jebel Mûsa, they found as follows. The Ras Sufsâfeh, forming not a distinct mountain, but the N. portion of Jebel Mûsa, rises up precipitously from the bottom of the plain of Er Râheh to a height of about 2000 feet, and "stands out in lovely grandeur against the sky like a huge altar" (Stanley). It is bounded by Wady el Deir, "the Valley of the Convent," on the E.; Wady Shuraich, a steep and rocky valley, on the W. This last is separated by a narrow ridge (Jebel Fara) from Wady Leja, lying still further W. On the S. two smaller valleys run into Wady Sebaiyeh and separate it from the neighbouring mountains. So far, the conditions seem to be fulfilled. Some have advocated the southern and highest peak of Jebel Mûsa as being Sinai, and have placed the encampment in Wady Sebaiyeh. But that valley could hardly have been the spot. It does not lie immediately below the mountain, and there is nowhere extent enough for the camp. On the contrary, the plain of Er Râheh is the most suitable spot imaginable for the assembling of many thousands of people. It is upwards of two miles long and half a mile broad. It slopes (contrary to the statement hitherto made) towards the foot of the mountain, at about 300 yards from which there runs across the plain a low semicircular mound forming a kind of natural theatre, while further distant on either side of the plain the slopes of the enclosing mountains would afford seats to an almost unlimited number of spectators. "The members of our expedition," says Mr. Holland, "were as unanimous in their conviction that the Law was given from Ras Sufsâfeh to the Israelites assembled in the plain of Es Râheh, as they had been unanimous in rejecting Serbal as the mount of giving the Law." Particulars are afterwards adduced respecting the possible enlargement of the encampment into a neighbouring val a Deut. xxviii. 49; xxxii. 11, 12. 2 Sam. i. 23. Job there Israel encamped before the mount. 3 And Moses went up unto † God, and JEHOVAH called unto him out of +HA-ELOHIM. the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on "eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, ifm. ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: b Deut. vii. 6; for all the earth is mine: 6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the ley at the mouth of Wady Leiffa, and shewing that there is no spot in the peninsula so well supplied with water as the neighbour hood of Jebel Mûsa. This point being considered as fixed, the whole route has to be arranged accordingly, and this has been done approximately by the recent survey, in a manner which I have in the main followed through the preceding chapters. 3.] Moses knew before the Exodus that the people would worship God upon this mountain (ch. iii. 12). Hither then he had led them, and on his arrival had gone up to the Divine Presence. Keil suggests that the cloudy pillar may have withdrawn itself to the mountain. However this may have been, doubtless Moses had received an intimation in obedience to which he went up. He does not appear at first to have approached the summit, nor as yet had God descended on Mount Sinai. The Divine Presence was withdrawn into the fastnesses of the mountain, and from thence Jehovah called to him. the house of Jacob] This is the only place in the Pentateuch where Israel is so called. This first utterance of Jehovah from Sinai opens by reminding Israel of His deliverance, and promising them special adoption as His people, on condition of obedience. on eagles' wings] The eagle is swift and vigorous of flight, and more than other birds careful for the flying and the safety of its young: see reff. The bird is, strictly speaking, not the eagle, but the griffon (gryps fulvus), the great vulture: see Dr. Tristram's account, Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 172, ff. The most interesting of the reff. is that in Deut. xxxii. 11, 26. Ps. ciii. 5. Isa. xl. 31, al. xiv. 2; xxvi. 18. 1 Chron. xxix. 3. See Eccl. ii. 8. Also Lev. IX. 26. Ps. CXXXV. 4. 12, where the pertinency of this comparison is shewn by Moses, in an enlarged treatment of the similitude. unto myself, i. e. to Mount Sinai, where was God's earthly dwelling-place. In Rev. xii. 4 this similitude is referred to, where were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness. It has been remarked that the similitude is of interest as mentioned by Moses, seeing that in Egypt the griffon vulture was sacred to the goddess of maternity. 5.] This verse is much alluded to in the N. T., and the expressions used in it of Israel applied to the Christian Church. See Acts xx. 28; 1 Cor. vi. 20; vii. 23; Eph. i. 14; Titus ii. 14; 1 Pet. ii. 9. The expression here, a peculiar treasure, is literally a hoard or treasure specially set aside. See the same form of expression in reff., where equivalent descriptions are given of Israel. This Israel was to be, not because Jehovah was their national God and not the God of other nations also; but inasmuch as all the earth is His, He chooses out of all the nations Israel to be in an especial manner His. And this is further expanded in ver. 11, by saying that they should be to God a kingdom of priests, i. e. a realm the denizens of which, compared to the rest of mankind, were to be as the priests compared to the rest of a nation; in other words, an holy nation. See again St. Peter's use of these words 1 Pet. ii. 5, where he follows up the figure of priesthood. The expression is found in the O. T. only here. On the holiness of the nation and those in it, see ch. xxii. 31; Deut. xiv. 21; Isa. lxii. 12. We may observe that these words contain the 14. Deut. i.' 32, 35. Josh. xxii. 32. d Ps. xviii. 11, ff.; civ. 3. Isa. 6. 10 people, and laid before them all these words which JEHOVAH commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that JEHOVAH hath spoken we will eGen. xxxvil. do. And Moses brought again the words of the people unto JEHOVAH. 9 And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear xix. 1, xxix. when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto JEнovah. ¶ And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 and be ready against the third day: for the third day JEHOVAH will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Beware to yourselves, of going up into the mount, or touching the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13 there shall not an hand touch him, but he shall be shot with a dart; whether beast e1 Sam. xx. 36, 37. Ps. xi 2. 2 Kings xii. stoned with stones, or 7, al. whole substance of God's spiritual covenant with Israel, and are among the most important in the whole history. 7.] before them, literally, as A. V., before their faces, but there is no need here rather than elsewhere to express this common idiom. 8.] This was the acceptance of the covenant by the people, Moses acting strictly as mediator or go-between in the transaction. And this his mediatorship was to be substantiated (ver. 9) by the speaking of Jehovah, present in the darkness of a cloud, with Moses, and the people hearing. Then they would believe for ever in the Divine mission and authority of Moses. This substantiation of the mission of Moses was to extend to the people's hearing not of the whole law, but only of the ten commandments, for these only Jehovah spake, and added no more, Deut. v. 22; see also ch. xx. 18, 20. The darkness of clouds is the accustomed investiture of the Divine presence, see reff. The repetition of the notice that Moses told the people's words to Jehovah would almost look as if a mention of Moses having conveyed God's last announcement to them and their answer had dropped out. 10-13.] Formal precautions to be taken in preparation for the manifestation of God. The people were to be sanctified, as was the household of Jacob, Gen. xxxv. 2. Minute regulations for lustral washings are given in Levit. xv. 5, &c. They were very much used in Egypt, and were doubtless generally known in their ceremonial use in Israel. 12.] By what follows in ver. 23 it appears that this command of setting bounds was meant of placing a material fence around the bottom of the actual rise of Sinai, so that the people could not break through. 13.] None were to share his crime by approaching to touch him, but he was to be put to death from a distance, either by stoning or by a cast of a javelin or arrow. The literal words are, by stoning he shall be stoned, or by shooting shall be shot. The last clause is not without difficulty. The LXX. has an extraordinary translation: "when the voices and the trumpets and the cloud have departed from the mountain," they shall go up upon the mountain. And similarly the Targum of Onkelos, but without the additions: and the old Syriac, "when the trumpet shall be silent." This shews that the difficulty was felt, and a various reading devised to meet it. For according to the narrative, ver. 16, the trumpet sounded and the people came out and stood on the nether part of the mount, before God spoke in their hearing with Moses. The or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up into the mount. 14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said. unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not near a woman. 16¶ And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because JEHOVAH descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended fGen. xix. 28. as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded difficulty consists in the same term being used in the command at the end of the verse as had been used in the prohibition in ver. 12. These two actions are the same, that of going up into the mount. They were not to do it under pain of death, but when the trumpet sounded long, they were to do it. It would be an injunction of no import to order them to come up, as Knobel agrees with the LXX., &c., in supposing, after the Divine manifestations were over. These lasted many weeks, and these words manifestly relate to something to be done by the people during this present day's events. I cannot solve the difficulty. Keil supposes that when the trumpet gave the signal, Moses brought the people out of their boundary and up the lower hills. This agrees well with a primâ facie view of the narrative of vv. 16, 17, but does not satisfy the identity of the terms noticed above, nor indeed ver. 23. trumpet]" Yobel, a joyful sound, jubilum: thence the sound of the trumpet, which was used to announce the jubilee; perhaps connected with the same root as Jubal, Gen. iv. 21. The word here used is different from that in ver. 16, 19." Bp. Wordsworth. 14, 15.] On the conclusion of ver. 15, see Levit. xv. 16-18. 16.] thunders, literally voices: see ch. ix. 23, ff. It is added, Deut. iv. 11, that "the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven." This was the descent of God, announced ver. 9. Knobel remarks, "As God enters appear as if the people had been hitherto 7-13; Heb. xii. 18-20. |