1. MOSES GOES UP ONTO THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD WITH: Joshua And Leaves Aaron And Hur Behind To
ON THE TABERNACLE
BOOK ONE (51 Since with the Lord's help we are going to speak about the figure of the tabernacle and its vessels and utensils, first we ought to examine and attentively consider the topography of the place and the circumstances that obtained when these things were commanded to be made. For all these things, as the Apostle says, happened to them in jgure but were written downfor us. I 'All these things' [includes] not only the deeds or words that are contained in the Sacred Writings, but also the description of the locations and hours and times and the things themselves, as well as the circumstances under which they were done or said.*
MOSES GOES UP ONTO THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD WITH
JOSHUA AND LEAVES AARON AND HUR BEHIND TO
GOVERN THE PEOPLE
24: 12 [The Book of Exodus] says: The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and the commandments, which I have written for you to teach them.' When the Lord is about to give the law to Moses he first summons him to the top of the mountain, so that by tarrying with [the Lord] on high he can more easily hear the precepts that he is to teach to the people when he returns below. And at the same time, he can deduce from the height of the place how lofty is the law which he is receiving, and how far removed from human teaching. For it can be perfectly understood or kept only by those who have separated themselves from earthly contagions by living more sublimely and more perfectly. Hence [the Lord] also commands the people to wait below until Moses should return, that he might suggest by means of a type that while the secrets of his law are indeed heavenly h n g s grasped only by the more perfect, even so the weak do not lack an opportunity for salvation, if they will eagerly and humbly listen to the wisdom of the elders.
1 1 Cor. 10:11
2 A s noted in Ray (1982), 16-18, Bede here shows his familiarity with the classical rhetorical tradition by using the circiirnstantiae of the biblical narrative as the basis for his commentary.
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
Similarly, in the gospel the Lord called the new heralds of grace together on a mountain when he taught them with salutary precepts,' so that it might be evident even from the topography of the place that he was giving them lofty things, whether commandments to live by or rewards by way of This accords with that [saying] of the psalmist, 'Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
And after the resurrection he appeared to them again on a holy mountain when he sent them to preach not only to the one people of Israel but to the whole world, saying, 'Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and o f the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I hmte commanded you.
Consequently, the Lord gave the precepts of both the law and the gospel on a mountain, so that he might in this way commend the sublimity of both testaments.
[6] , 4 But since at that time the Scripture of the law was being committed solely to the people of Israel, wlulc the grace of the gospel was going to reach all nations throughout the world by the preaching of the apostles, it was suitable for Moses to go up onto a mountain alone to learn and to receive the law, but the apostles heard the teaching of the gospel when all of them together were with the Lord on a mountain, along with the crowds who were listening [to him] as well.' Nor was it the apostles alone who received the gift of the Holy Spirit by which this same grace-filled truth6 of the gospel was given more d e s t l y to the Church, but a very great company of the faithful who were gathered together in an upper room on Mount Zion, and this [took place] with a distribution of diverse tongues? so that by this particular kind of miracle it might be signified that the Church was going to be praising God in the tongues of all the peoples throughout the world.
He says: And I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and the commandments, which I have written for you to teach them. This is like that [verse] from the gospel that we cited above: 'teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you *.' Consequently, neither Moses nor the apostles nor any one of the teachers ought to teach the people of God any precepts other than those that the Lord himself taught, [those precepts] which in the eternal decree of his counsel he has directed us to observe, and 1 Man. 5:l; Mark3.13
2 Augusline, Serm. dom. in monte 1, 2 (CCSL 35: 2,33 - 3,46) 3 Ps. 36:6 (35:7) 4 Matt. 28: 19-20 5 Man. 7:28
6 literally, 'grace and truth', but treated as a singular subject.
7Ack 1:15,2:1-11 8 Man. 28:20
BOOK ONE
in the observation of which he has willed that we should have eternal life.
Nor should the teachers omit any of the things that he has ordered to be performe4 for they arc obliged to commit to their hearers everything that he has commanded them. Furthermore, he wrote these things on tablets of stone because he has established that they are to be kept and preserved by faith with a fixed purpose in the steadfast hearts of the elect. When he set forth the statutes of the law written in stone, it was just as if he was displaying examples for us to imitate. For Daniel also saw how the Lord, in the form of a stone hewn from a mountain not by hands, destroyed the pomp of a worldly kingdom so that his own kingdom alone might endure without end,' and Pcter admonishes the faithful, saying, And, like living stones, let yourselves be built up into spiritual houses.
24:13 Moses rose up, and his servant Joshua. Moses' servant Joshua designates the Lord Saviourboth by name3 and by deed. Rightly is hc called
Moses' servant, because when he appearcd in flesh he dcigncd to submit lumself to the ceremonies of the Mosaic law, since he came not to abolish but to fulfill the law.4 He follows Moses' footsteps in all things, because if he is properly sought, [Jesus] is to be found in everytlung that Moses says or writes, being designated either by means of a type or openly, as if he were Moses'] inseparable companion. For this reason also he says to the Jews, 'i'fyou believed in Moses, perhaps you wouldalso believe in ine;for he wrote nbout me.
(71 ,5 24: 13-14 And as Moses was going up onto the mountain of God, he said to the elders, 'Wait here until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; if any question arises, you should refer it to them.'
Aaron is interpreted as 'mountain of fortitude', Hur as ' f i ~ ' or 'light'.6
Hence Aaron dcsignates the Lord Saviour and Hur the Holy Spirit, since Isaiah says of the one, And in the latter days the mountain o the house of the Lord shnll be established on the height of the mountains, and the other appcared upon the apostles in fiery light.' Therefore, whcn Moses went up to the Lord hc lcft Aaron and Hur (that is, 'mountain of fortitude' and 'fiery
1 Dan. 2:34-5 2 1 Pet. 2:5
3 The name of Jesus is a Greek form of the Hebrew YlW1;l' ('Joshua'), of which the usual
Latin form is Josue. However, the Vulgate sometimes refers to Moses' assistant as Jesus, see
Sir. 46:1, Acts 7:45, and Heb. 4:8.
4 Matt. 5:17
5 John 5:46
6 Jerome. Noin. (CCSL 72: 73, 6; 77, 5 ) 7 Isa. 2:2
8 Acts 2:3-4