Commentary on Exodus, Commentary · Chapter 19
CHAP. XIX.
Verſe 1. IN the third Month.] Or in the third new Moon. For the Hebrew word Chodeſh, ſignifies a new Moon, as well, as a Month: nay, that is the prime ſignification, from whence the other is derived. And ſo we are to underſtand it here; that on the New Moon, i. e. the firſt day of the third Month, (called Sivan) after their coming out of Egypt, they came into the Wilderneſs of Sinai. Which was juſt XLV. days, after they departed out of Egypt. For if we add to the XV. days of the firſt Month XXIX. which made the ſecond, theſe put together, with this New Moon, make XLV. Unto which if we add that day when Moſes went up to God, (v. 3.) and reported, when he came down, the Meſſage God ſent by him to the Elders of Iſrael; and the next day after, when he returned their Anſwer unto God, (v. 7, 8.) with the three days more, which God gave them to prepare themſelves for his coming down among them, (v. 10, 11.) there were juſt Fifty days from their Paſſover to the giving of the Law upon Mount Sinai: which laid the Foundation of the great Feaſt of Pentecost.
The ſame day.] i. e. On the fore-mentioned New Moon of the third Month.
Came they into the Wilderneſs of Sinai.] So called from that famous Mountain Sinai, which gave the name to the Wilderneſs which lay before it. This Mountain was alſo called Horeb, IV Deut. 10. they being only different tops of one and the ſame Mountain; but this higher than Horeb; ſo that one may ſee the Red Sea from them, as they that have travelled into thoſe Parts affirm. Who ſay it is now called by the Arabians Tur; and by Chriſtians the Mountain of St. Catherine.
Ver. 2. For they were departed from Rephidim, &c.] They began to move from Rephidim toward that part of the Mountain called Horeb, upon their murmuring for want of Water, XVII. 5, 6. But ſeem to have returned thither to fight with Amalek, v. 8. And then they were led by God to this other ſide of the Mountain, which is called the Wilderneſs of Sinai.
There Iſrael encamped before the Mount.] For the glorious Cloud having led them hither, reſted upon the Mount; as appears from the words following.
Ver. 3. And Moſes went up unto God.] Whoſe glorious Majeſty appeared upon the Mount.
And the LORD called unto him out of the Mountain.] Or rather, for the LORD called to him out of the Mountain, where the Divine Glory reſted: unto which he would not have preſumed to go, if the LORD had not called to him, to come up thither. Which was upon the ſecond day of the third Month.
Thus ſhalt thou ſay to the Houſe of Jacob, and tell the Children of Iſrael.] There was ſome reaſon, ſure, for calling them by theſe two names, the Houſe of Jacob, and the Children of Iſrael: which perhaps was to put them in mind, that they who had lately been as low 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.
Ver. 4. You have ſeen.] There needs no proof; for you your ſelves are witneſſes.
What I did unto the Egyptians.] Smote them with divers ſore Plagues; and at laſt drowned them and their Chariots in the Red Sea.
And how I bare you on Eagles wings.] Kept you ſo ſafe, and placed you ſo far out of the reach of your Enemies, as if you had been borne up on high by an Eagle. Which are obſerved to carry their young ones, not in their feet, as other Birds were wont to do, but on their Wings: and to ſoar ſo high, and with ſo ſwift a motion, that none can purſue them, much leſs touch them. Bochartus hath obſerved all the Properties aſcribed to the Eagle; with reſpect to which, Interpreters have thought God's care of his People to be here compared with that Bird, Hierozoic. P. II. L. II. c. 5. But after all, he judiciouſly concludes that Moſes beſt explains his own meaning, in his famous Song XXXII Deut. 11. where the Eagles fluttering about her Neſt, and making a noiſe, to ſtir up her young ones to leave their dirty Neſt, and try their Wings; repreſents the many means God had uſed to rouze up the drooping Spirits of the Iſraelites, when they lay miſerably oppreſſed under a cruel Servitude, and incourage them to aſpire after Liberty, and to obey thoſe whom he ſent to deliver them.
And brought you unto my ſelf.] And by that means brought you hither, to live under my Government. For this was the very Foundation of his peculiar Empire over them, that he had ranſom'd and redeemed them out of Slvery, by a mighty Hand and ſtretched out Arm (as he ſpeaks XIII. 3. IV Deut. 34.) ſo as he had not delivered any other Nation: and thereby by made them his own, after an extraordinary manner, peculiar to them alone. This Joſhua alſo recals to their mind, when he was near his Death, and renewed this Covenant of God with them, XXIV. 5, 6, &c.
Ver. 5. Now therefore.] Having wonderfully delivered them, and ſupported them in a miraculous manner, by Bread from Heaven, and Water out of a Rock, he now proceeds to inſtruct them in their Duty, as Greg. Nyſſen obſerves, L. de Vita Moſis, p. 172.
If you will obey my voice indeed, &c.] If you will ſincerely obey me, as your King and Governour, and keep the Covenant I intend to make with you, then you ſhall be mine above all the People of the Earth: whoſe LORD I am, as well as yours: but you ſhall be my peculiar Inheritance; in which I will eſtabliſh my Kingdom and Prieſthood; with ſuch Laws as ſhall not only diſtinguiſh you from all other Nations, but make you to excel them. This is the ſenſe of this verſe, and the following.
A peculiar treaſure unto me.] i. e. Very dear to me; and conſequently I will take a ſingular care of you, as Kings do of thoſe things which they lay up in their Treaſury. So the Hebrew word Segullah ſignifies. Which Origen proves they really were, (notwithſtanding all the Calumnies of Celſus) their Laws being ſo profitable; and they being ſo early taught to know God, to believe the Immortality of the Soul, and the Rewards and Puniſhments in the Life to come; and bred up to a contempt of Divination, (with which Mankind had been abuſed) as proceeding rather from wicked Daemons, than from any Excellent Nature; and to ſeek for the knowledge of future things in Souls, which by an extraordinary degree of Purity, were rendred capable to receive the Spirit of God, L. V. contra Celſum, p. 260. And this the Author of Sepher Coſri happily expreſſes, when he ſaith, Our peculiar Bleſſings conſist in the conjunction of Minds with God, by Prophecy, and that which is annexed to it: that is (as Muſcatus explains it) the Gift of the Spirit of God. And therefore he doth not ſay in the Law, if you will obey my voice, I will bring you after Death into Gardens of Pleaſure, but ye ſhall be to me a People, and I will be to you a God, Pars I. Sect. 109.
For all the Earth is mine.] Which made it the greater honour, that he bare ſuch a ſpecial love to them.
Ver. 6. And ye ſhall be unto me a Kingdom of Prieſts.] An honourable, or a Divine Kingdom: not like worldly Kingdoms, which are defended by Arms, but ſupported by Piety. Or a Princely People, that ſhould rule over their Enemies. For the ſame word ſignifies both Prieſts and Princes: and in the firſt times of the World none was thought fit to be a Priest, but he who was a King, or the Chief of the Family; as we ſee in Melchizedek and Jethro.
That God was peculiarly the King of this People, I obſerved above, III. 10. and here he expreſly owns this peculiar Dominion over them, by ſaying, Ye ſhall be to me a Kingdom. And one reaſon, perhaps, why he ſaith they ſhall be a Kingdom of Prieſts, is, becauſe they were governed (while they continued a Theocracy) by the High Prieſt, as the prime Miniſter under God, who in all weighty Cauſes conſulted God what was to be done; and accordingly they ordered their Affairs, XXVIII. 30. XXVIII Numb. 21. Which is the reaſon why God commands Moſes to make ſuch Garments for Aaron as ſhould be for glory and beauty, (or, for honour and glory) as we read v. 2. of that Chapter; i.e. to make him appear great, like a Prince; for they were really Royal Garments. And for his Sons alſo, he was to make Bonnets of the like kind for honour and glory, v. 40. they being in the form of the Tiarae which Kings wore; and are joyned in Scripture with Crowns, XXIX Job 14. III Iſa. 23, &c. Whence Philo ſays, in his Book de Sacerd. Honoribus, that the Law manifeſtly dreſſed up the High Prieſt, foreign. But the liberty and freedom alſo wherein they were inſtated, I doubt not is ſignified by theſe words, Kings and Prieſts, (as Onkelos tranſlates them, and as it is expreſſed in the New Teſtament, I Revel. 6. V. 10. and the Syriac alſo, Kingdom and Priesthood) for Kings and Prieſts were, of all other Men, freed from Oppreſſion. And thus I ſind our Mr. Thorndike, a moſt Learned man, gloſſes upon theſs words, (Review of the Rights of the Church, p. 132.) God calls them Kings, becauſe redeemed from the Servitude of Strangers, to be a People Lords of themſelves; and Prieſts, becauſe redeemed to ſpend their time in Sacrificing, and feaſting upon their Sacrifices (under which Figure he afterwards repreſents the happy eſtate of his Church, LXI Iſa. 6.) though they Sacrificed not in Perſon, but by their Prieſts appointed in their ſtead, by impoſition of the Elders hands, VIII Numb. 10.
An holy Nation.] A People ſeparated to God from all other Nations, and from their Idolatry, to ſerve God in an acceptable manner.
Theſe are the words which thou ſhalt ſpeak unto the Children of Iſrael.] The ſum of what he was to ſay to them; comprehending both their Duty and their high Priviledge.
Ver. 7. And Moſes came.] Down from the Mount, where he had been with God, v. 3.
And called for the Elders of the People.] The principal Perſons in the ſeveral Tribes, (See III. 16.) which he ſeems to have done in the Evening of the ſecond day of the Month.
And laid before their faces all theſe words, &c.] Plainly declared to them, what God had given him in charge: which they went and propounded to the People of the ſeveral Tribes, whom they repreſented.
Ver. 8. And all the People anſwered together, and ſaid.] All with one conſent declared, as here follows.
All that the LORD hath ſpoken we will do.] They conſented to have the LORD for their King; and promiſed to be obedient to his Will.
And Moſes returned the words of the People unto the LORD.] This ſeems to have been done the next day, which was the third day of the third Month. Upon which Report made to God of the Peoples Conſent, he proceeds, after a few days preparation, to declare the Laws by which they ſhould be governed, Chap. XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII. and then in the XXIVth Chapter theſe Laws paſs into a Covenant between God and them.
Here Moſes plainly acted as a Mediator between God and the People.
Ver. 9. And the LORD ſaid unto Moſes, lo, I will come unto thee.] Appear upon the Mount.
In a thick Cloud.] In a darker Cloud than that, which had hitherto gone before them, to conduct them; ſo that they ſhould ſee nothing but Flaſhes of Lightning which came out of it, in a very frightful manner, (v. 16, 18.) For that there was ſire in it, appears from IV Dent. 11. V. 22, 23. though at firſt, perhaps, only a thick Cloud appeared, as a token of his approach.
That the People may hear when I ſpeak with thee.] Though they ſaw no Similitude, yet they plainly heard a voice ſpeaking unto Moſes, and declaring their Duty. Maimonides indeed thinks that the words were directed only unto Moſes; and that the Iſraelites heard meerly the ſound of the words, but did not diſtinctly underſtand them, More Nevoch. P. II. c. 33. Which is directly againſt what Moſes ſays IV Deut. 12. The LORD ſpake unto you out of the midst of the ſire, &c. and V. 4, 5. The LORD talked with you face to face in the Mount, &c. ſaying, I am the LORD thy God, &c. which words are plainly directed to all the People.
And believe thee for ever.] They had been ſtaggered in their Belief, after they had profeſſed it at the Red Sea, (XV. ult.) but after this, it might be expected they would never queſtion his Authority any more.
And Moſes told the words of the People unto the LORD.] Or rather, for Moſes had told, &c. Upon which account God was pleaſed to make the foregoing Declaration. Till they had owned him for the LORD their God, i.e. their King and Governour, he did not ſpeak unto them at all; but only unto Moſes: But now, that they had conſented to be his, he reſolves to ſpeak audibly to them; and henceforth to dwell among them; and in order to it, ſix his Tabernacle with them. For which he gives order (Chap. XXV. &c.) immediately after they had entred into Covenant, to do as they had promiſed.
Or theſe words (which ſeem to be a needleſs repetition) may relate to that which follows, and be tranſlated thus: Moſes having told the words of the People unto the LORD, the LORD ſaid unto Moſes, Go unto the People and ſanctifie them, &c.
Ver. 10. Go unto the People and ſanctifie them to day and to morrow.] This ſhows that Moſes was ſent down early on the fourth day, to prepare them for the Appearance of the Divine Majeſty among them, by ſanctifying them; that is, ſeparating them from all Uncleanneſs; or rather from all common and ordinary Imployments; that they might give themſelves to Faſting and Prayer, and Abſtinence from otherwiſe lawful Pleaſures. For Pirke Elieſer takes Abſtinence from their Wives, mentioned v. 15. as a part of this Sanctification, cap. 41. And ſo doth Gregory Nyſſen in his Book de Vita Moſis, p. 178. And Maimonides obſerves, that Separation from Wine and ſtrong Drink, is called Holineſs in the Law of the Nazarites, VI Numb. 5. and therefore may be thought part of the Sanctification here required, More Nevoch. P. I. c. 33.
And let them waſh their Clothes.] The Hebrews underſtand it, of waſhing their whole Bodies. For thus Aaron and his Sons were to be conſecrated to their Office, XXIX. 4. XL. 12. and therefore thus the People were now to be made a holy People unto the LORD, and made ſit for the Preſence of the Divine Majeſty. Under whoſe Wings (as they ſpeak) none were received in future times, i.e. made Proſelytes, but by Baptiſm, (or waſhing of their whole Body) which was taken from this pattern. And accordingly, where we read in the Law of particular Purifications by waſhing their Clothes in caſe of any Uncleanneſs, as XI Lev. 25, 28, 40. XIV. 8, 47. (where Moſes ſpeaks of cleanſing a Leprous Perſon) XXXI Numb. 24. (where he ſpeaks of cleanſing Soldiers) and many other Caſes, they underſtand it in the very ſame manner. In ſome caſes indeed it is expreſly preſcribed, XV Lev. 5, 6, 7. XVI. 26, &c. and they expound all other, where Clothes only are mentioned, by the ſame Rule; as Mr. Selden ſhows, I. I. de Synedr, c. 3. where he obſerves, that in the Pagan Language, pure Garments ſignifie the waſhing of the whole Body. See p. 29.
Ver. 11. And be ready against the third day.] He doth not mean the third day of the Month; but the third day after this command to Sanctifie themſelves. In which they were bound to ſpend two intire days; and then the LORD promiſed to come down in all their ſight upon Mount Sinai. That is, when they were fit to receive him, by their profeſſing themſelves an holy People; of which that outward waſhing was a token.
For the third day the LORD will come down, &c.] Not from the Mount, but from Heaven upon Mount Sinai. On which the SCHECHINAH deſcended in a Cloud, which ſtruck a great awe into them: For it was darker than the Pillar of the Cloud, by which they had been conducted hither; thorough which ſome rays, or glimpſe of a glorious Majeſty that was in it, broke forth upon them.
Ver. 12. And thou ſhalt ſet bounds unto the People round about.] To keep them at a due diſtance; out of a juſt reverence to the Divine Majeſty.
Take heed unto your ſelves, that ye go not up, &c.] This Caution alſo was given them, to work and preſerve in their Minds a moſt profound Reverence of the Divine Majeſty, and to thoſe Laws which were to be delivered from this Mount.
Ver. 13. There ſhall not an hand touch it, but he ſhall ſurely be ſtoned, or ſhot through.] Be ſtoned, if he were near at hand; or ſhot through with Darts or Arrows, if at a diſtance. So Aben-Ezra. And ſo Jonathan likewiſe tranſlates the latter Clauſe, They ſhall throw Darts at him: And ſo our old Tranſlation, Stricken through with Darts. But the Talmudists, and the greateſt Lawyers among the Jews, expound both theſe Clauſes of ſtoning; which was twofold, as we read in the Miſna Tit. Sanhedrin. c. 6. either by throwing Stones at a Malefactor; or throwing him down from an high place upon Stones. And thus this laſt place imports in the Hebrew, and may properly be tranſlated, projiciendo projicietur, he ſhall be violently thrown down; or, thrown down headlong. It is the very ſame word with that XV. 4. concerning the caſting Pharaoh's Chariots into the Sea. And this was a Puniſhment, as Mr. Selden obſerves, like that among the Romans, from the Saxum Tarpeium, which the Jews inflicted upon ſome captive Edomites, 2 Chron. XXV. 12. and Jehu inflicted upon Jezabel, 2 Kings IX. 32. On which ſtory R. Leviben Gerſom obſerves pertinently, That as ſhe cauſed Naboth to be ſtoned, ſo ſhe was puniſhed her ſelf in the ſame kind: for ſtoning, ſaith he, was either by throwing Stones at Malefactors, or throwing them down upon Stones. To juſtifie which he alledges this place in Exodus. And David Kimchi makes the ſame Obſervation. See Mr. Selden, L. I. de Synedr. c. 5. p. 74, &c.
When the Trumpet ſoundeth long.] When the ſound of it is protracted, or drawn out; and conſequently was leſs terrible, then while it was ſhorter and broken. See v. 16.
They ſhall come up to the Mount.] To the foot of it, v. 17. that they might more plainly hear the voice of God.
Ver. 14. And Moſes came down from the Mount to the People.] As he had been commanded v. 10.
And ſanctified the People.] Commanded them to Sanctiſie themſelves, (as the Author of Sepher Coſri explains it, P. I. Sect. 87.) both with Internal Sanctification and External; among which the principal was, Separation from the company of Women: as it here follows v. 15.
And they waſhed their Clothes.] See v. 10. Unto which add, that it is no wonder they uſed this Purification before the giving of the Law: which had been anciently in uſe, among their Anceſtors, upon Solemn Occaſions. As appears by what I obſerved on XXXV Gen. 2. where Jacob, before the building of an Altar to God in Bethel, as he had vowed, cleanſed his Family after this manner. For ſo Aben-Ezra truly expounds theſe words be clean, waſh your Bodies: which was the old Rite of cleanſing. See there.
Ver. 15. And ſaid unto the People, be ready against the third day.] Prepared to hear the words of God.
Come not at your Wives.] For this time was ſet apart, for Solemn Faſting and Prayer; that they might be fit to converſe with God, by having their Minds abſtracted from earthly things.
Ver. 16. And it came to paſs on the third day.] See v. 11.
There more Thunders and Lightnings.] Which broke out of the thick Cloud, to awaken them to attend unto his Majeſty, who was approaching.
And a thick Cloud.] In which a flaming Fire preſently appeared, (v. 18.) foreign, ſo that the Mountain could not be ſeen; as Greg. Nyſſen explains it, de Vita Moſis, p. 179.
And the voice of the Trumpet.] The heavenly Miniſters, who were Attendants upon the Divine Majeſty, made a ſound like that of a Trumpet, to ſummon the People to come and appear before God, and receive his Commands.
Exceeding loud.] Beyond what the blaſt of any Men could make: for it made the whole Camp quake, as the following words tell us.
Ver. 17. And Moſes brought forth the People out of the Camp.] When their trembling was abated, by the remiſſion as we may ſuppoſe, of the ſound of the Trumpet.
To meet with God.] That they might be eſpouſed to him.
And they ſtood at the nether part of the Mount.] Below at the foot of it, not preſuming to touch it; which they were ſeverely forbidden, v. 11, 12. See IV Deut. 11.
Ver. 18. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a ſmoke.] Nothing could be ſeen but ſmoke, mixed with a Flame.
Becauſe the LORD deſcended on it in ſire.] The SCHECHINAH came down into the thick Cloud, (v. 9, 16.) with a glittering company of Angels, who appeared like flames of Fire, unto which they are compared by the Pſalmist, CIV. 4. Thus Moſes himſelf ſeems to expound it, XXXIII Deut. 2. He came with ten thouſands, or myriads, of holy ones, (i. e. of Angels) from his right hand went a fiery Law for them. Which plainly relates to this appearance at Mount Sinai.
And the ſmoke thereof aſcended, as the ſmoke of a furnace.] Mixt with Fire; which went up even to the midſt of Heaven, as Moſes explains it, IV Deut. 11.
And the whole Mount quaked greatly.] See LXVIII Pſal. 8. CIV. 32.
Ver. 19. And when the voice of the Trumpet ſounded long.] It is a different word here in the Hebrew, from that v. 13. which we tranſlate ſounded long: ſignifying that it proceeded or went on either a long time, or to a greater loudneſs.
And waxed louder and louder.] In the Hebrew the words are exceeding ſtrong: foreign, &c. the Trumpet exceeded it ſelf; the ſucceeding Blaſts tranſcending thoſe that went before, as Greg. Nyſſen well interprets the whole.
Moſes ſpake.] The People trembled before at the loud ſound of the Trumpet, (v. 16.) but now it grew ſo very terrible, that Moſes himſelf ſaid (as the Apoſtle expounds this paſſage, XII Hebr. 21.) I exceedingly fear and quake. For hither, I think, Junius rightly applies thoſe words.
And God anſwered him by a voice.] Bidding him not be afraid, but come up unto him, as it follows in the next Verſe. Greg. Nyſſen thinks that the voice of the Trumpet foreign, became articulate, with the Organs of Speech, by the Divine Power.
Ver. 20. And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai.] It is ſaid before that the LORD deſcended upon it, v. 18. therefore the meaning here is, that the SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majeſty, ſetled there, to ſpeak unto the People.
On the top of the Mount.] On the higheſt part of it, that there might be the greateſt diſtance between him and the People, who ſtood at the foot of it.
And the LORD called up Moſes, &c.] He ſtood lower before, though not ſo low as the People: but now is called up higher, even to the very place where God was. And conſequently entred into the midſt of the fire and ſmoke, wherein the Mountain was wrapped, (v. 18.) upon God's Appearance there. From which, in all probability, the Perſians (who had heard or read what is here related) framed the ſtory of their Zoroaſter. Who, wandring in Deſert places, was carried up to Heaven, and ſaw God incompaſſed with Flames; which he could not behold with his own eyes, (the ſplendour of them was ſo great) but with eyes which the Angels lent him: and there he received from him a Book of the Law, &c. See Huetius Demonſtr. Evang. Propoſ. IV. c. 5. n. 2.
Ver. 21. And the LORD ſaid unto Moſes, go down and charge the People, &c.] It ſeems that upon Moſes's going up, ſome of the People thought of approaching nearer; out of Curioſity, to ſee if they could diſcover more of the Divine Majeſty. And therefore God ſends him down again immediately, to bid them remember the Charge he had given them, and not dare to come nearer than they were.
And many of them periſh.] As many as were ſo preſumptuous. Many ſometimes ſignifies all: and here all that ſhould adventure to go beyond their bounds.
Ver. 22. And let the Priests alſo.] Who theſe were is much diſputed; for Aaron and his Sons were not yet Conſecrated. The Jews (it is commonly known) readily anſwer, they were the First-born; whoſe Prerogative it was to Miniſter to God, as his Prieſts, till the Law of Moſes ordered things otherwiſe. But I have often obſerved this not to be true; being confuted by ſeveral Examples of others who ſacrificed, and were not the Firſt-born. And lately there is a Learned Man, who, in a juſt Diſcourſe, hath overthrown this Opinion, (See Campeg. Vitringa Obſerv. Sacrae, L. II. c. 23.) which was called in queſtion, and briefly cenſured ſome time before, by a very Learned Friend of mine, Dr. Outram de Sacrificiis, L. I. c. 4. Conradus Pellicanus, in the beginning of the Reformation, ſeems to have given a better account of the Prieſts here mentioned, which were, the prime and moſt honourable Perſons in the ſeveral Tribes; the Elders and ſuch as adminiſtred the Government under Moſes: among which there might be ſome of the Firſt-born, nay, it is poſſible, many of them; but not by any ſpecial right which they had to this Office.
Which came near unto the LORD.] To perform Divine Services. By which one would think he ſpeaks of thoſe, who had been already imployed in this Office: for having before this built an Altar, (XVII. 15.) ſome think it probable Sacrifice was offered upon it. But if it were only a Monument, and no Sacrifices were to be offered till they came to the Mount of God, who was to appoint them; then Moſes pickt out the moſt excellent Perſons (as I ſaid before) to perform this Service when they came there, XXIV. 5.
Sanctifie themſelves.] Nothing was ſaid before of their Sanctification; which is here injoyned by it ſelf, becauſe their high Office required a peculiar Separation to prepare them for it.
Lest the LORD break forth upon them.] Leſt when they come near to Sacrifice, God ſhould be offended with their Uncleanneſs, and deſtroy them. This ſuppoſes, they might go nearer than the People.
Ver. 23. And Moſes ſaid unto the LORD, the People cannot come up to Mount Sinai, &c.] He thought it was needleſs to go down to reſtrain the People; having given them the Charge, which God commanded him v. 11, 12. and ſet bounds about the Mount (as it here follows) by drawing a Line, perhaps, beyond which they ſhould not paſs, and thereby ſeparating the Mount from them; which he calls ſanctifying it.
Ver. 24. And the LORD.] Or, but the LORD
Said unto him, away, get thee down.] He knew the Peoples inclinations better than Moſes did; and therefore commanded him to make no delay, for fear they ſhould grow more bold than he imagined.
And thou ſhalt come up, and Aaron with thee.] After he had delivered this new Charge to them. Which was the more neceſſary, becauſe Aaron being alſo called up, they might think likewiſe of ſharing in this Priviledge.
And Aaron with thee.] Unto whom God did this great honour; becauſe he was to be called ſhortly to the dignity of the High Prieſt: and would be the more reſpected by the People, when they ſaw him admitted far nearer unto God than they were.
But let not the Prieſts and the People break through, &c.] But let not any body elſe, as they love their lives, preſume to preſs beyond their Line: no not the Prieſts, on whom I have beſtowed the honour of coming nearer to me than other Men, v. 22.
Ver. 25. So Moſes went down unto the People, and ſpake unto them.] Delivered the Meſſage to them, and to the Prieſts, as he was directed: And then (as he was alſo ordered) returned unto the Mount, and his Brother with him: but not to the top of the Mount, where he was before, (v. 20.) as appears from the nineteenth Verſe of the next Chapter: which ſhows that Moſes was there where the People might ſpeak to him; and therefore, if he went up now to the top of the Mount, he came down again, when the LORD ſpake audibly to them, and ſtood in a place where he might be a Mediator between them. So he himſelf ſaith, V Dent. 4, 5. that when the LORD talked with them face to face in the Mount, he ſtood between the LORD and them. And accordingly it follows v. 23. of that Chapter, that when they heard the voice out of the midſt of the Darkneſs, they came near to Moſes, and ſaid, &c. which ſhows he was not far off from them, though nearer to God than they.
But perhaps Moſes and Aaron did not come up into the Mount, till after the Ten words (or Commandments) were ſpoken: when Moſes, we read XX. 21. drew near unto the thick darkneſs where God was; though we read nothing of Aaron there. Which inclines me to think the foregoing account of this matter, to be the truer.