John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 23:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23



This chapter contains several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature, without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Ex 23:1, concerning doing good to an enemy in case any of his cattle go astray, or fall under their burden, Ex 23:4, and of the oppression of a stranger,

Ex 23:9, and then follow others concerning the sabbath of the seventh year, and of the seventh day, with a caution against the use of the names of idols, Ex 23:10, next are laws concerning the appearance of all their males at the three feasts, Ex 23:14, and concerning the slaying of the sacrifice of the passover, and bringing the first of the firstfruits of the land, Ex 23:18 and then a promise is made of sending an angel to them to bring them into the land of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid all idolatry, and show a just indignation against it, and serve the Lord, and then it would be well with them, Ex 23:20, and particularly it is promised, that the Lord would send his fear, and his hornets, before them, to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive out the rest by little and little, until they should possess the utmost borders of it, which are fixed, Ex 23:27, and the chapter is concluded with a direction not to make a covenant with these people, or their gods, nor suffer them to dwell among them, lest they should be a snare unto them,

Ex 23:32.



Ver. 1. Thou shalt not raise a false report,.... Of a neighbour, or of any man whatever, either secretly by private slanders, whispers, backbiting and tale bearing, by innuendos, detracting from his good name and credit, suggesting things false and wicked concerning him; or publicly in a court of judicature, bringing a false accusation, laying a false charge, and bearing a false testimony against him: or "thou shall not receive a false report" {p}; if there were not so many, that say, Report, and we will report it, that are ready to receive every ill thing of their neighbours, there would not be so many that would raise such ill things of them; everything of this kind should be discountenanced, and especially by judges in courts of judicature, who are chiefly spoken to and of in the context; these should not easily admit every charge and accusation brought; nor bear, or endure a false report, as the word also signifies, but discourage, and even punish it:



put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness; which is not a gesture used in swearing, such as with us, of putting the hand upon a book, which did not obtain so early; nor is there any instance of this kind in Scripture; the gesture used in swearing was either putting the hand under the thigh, which yet is questionable, or lifting of it up to heaven; but here it is expressive of confederacy, of joining hand in hand to carry on a prosecution in an unrighteous way, by bearing false testimony against another; and such were to be guarded against, and not admitted to give evidence in a cause, even a man that is known to be a wicked man, or to have been an unrighteous witness before; on the one hand, a man should be careful of joining with him in a testimony that is unrighteous; and, on the other hand, judges should take care not to suffer such to be witnesses. The Jews say {q}, that everyone that is condemned to be scourged, or has been scourged for some crime committed, is reckoned a wicked man, and he is not to be admitted a witness, nor his testimony taken.



{p} avt al "non suscipies", V. L. Pegninus, Vatablus, Drusius, Fagius. {q} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 3. sect. 3.





Exodus 23:2



Ver. 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil,.... The Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan add, but to do good. As in private life, the examples of the many, who are generally the most wicked, are not to be followed, though they too often are; examples, and especially of the multitude, having great influence, and therefore to be guarded against; so in public courts of judicature, where there are many judges upon the bench, if one of them is sensible that the greater part go wrong in their judgment of a case, he ought not to follow them, or be influenced by them, but go according to the dictates of his own conscience, and the evidence of things as they appear to him, and neither agree to justify the wicked, nor condemn the righteous:



neither shall thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment; or "thou shalt not answer" {r}; either in pleading in a cause, and taking the side of it the majority is on, and for that reason, though it is a manifest perversion of justice; or by giving a vote on that side, and on that account, whereby a wrong judgment passes; and this vote given either according to the number of witnesses, which ought not always to be the rule of judgment; for it is not the number of witnesses, but the nature, evidence, and circumstances of their testimony, that are to be regarded: Jarchi says, in judgments of life and death, they go after the mouth of one witness to absolve, and after the mouth of two to condemn: or according to the number of judges on the bench, and their superiority in years and knowledge; and so some render the word, "after the great ones" {s}; for a judge is not to be influenced by names or numbers in giving his vote, but to judge according to the truth of things, as they appear to him: hence the Jews say, that the younger or puisne judges used to be asked their judgment first, that they might not be influenced by others superior to them; and a like method is taken with us in the trial of a peer, the younger lords always giving their opinion first: as to the number of votes by which a cause was carried in court, it is said {t}, not as the decline to good, is the decline to evil; the decline to good, i.e. to absolution, is by the sentence of one (a majority of one); the decline to evil, i.e. to condemnation, is by the mouth or sentence of two, a majority of two.



{r} hnet alw "neque respondeas", Tigurine version; "non respondebis", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius. {s} Mybr yrxa "post potentiores", Junius & Tremellius; "post magnos", Lyra, Cartwright. {t} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 6.





Exodus 23:3



Ver. 3. Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Because he is a poor man, and for that reason endeavour to carry his cause for him, right or wrong, from a foolish pity to him as a poor man, and from an affectation of gaining the applause of people on that account; or "thou shalt not honour" or "adorn" a poor man {u}, by a set speech in favour of his cause, though wrong, dressed up in the best manner, and set off with all the colourings of art, to make it appear in the most plausible manner; the law is against respect of persons, as not the person of the rich, so neither is the person of the poor to be accepted, but the justice of their cause is to be regarded; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"the poor that is guilty in his judgment or cause, his face (or person) thou shalt not accept to have pity on him, for no person is to be accepted in judgment.''



{u} rdht al "non honorabis", Pagninus, Vatablus, Drusius, Cartwright; "non decorabis", Montanus; "ne ornes", Tigurine version; "ne honorato", Junius & Tremellius; "ne ornato", Piscator.





Exodus 23:4



Ver. 4. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray,.... Or any other beast, as the Samaritan version adds; for these are only mentioned for instances, as being more common, and creatures subject to go astray; now when such as these are met going astray, so as to be in danger of being lost to the owner, though he is an enemy; or as the Targum of Jonathan,



"whom thou hatest because of a sin, which thou alone knowest in him;''



yet this was not so far to prejudice the finder of his beasts against him, as to be careless about them, to suffer them to go on without acquainting him with them, or returning them to him, as follows:



thou shalt surely bring it back to him again; whether it be an ox, or an ass, or any other beast, the law is very strong and binding upon the finder to return it to his neighbour, though an enemy, and bring it either to his field or to his farm.





Exodus 23:5



Ver. 5. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden,.... Fallen down, and such a burden upon him that he cannot rise up again, but lies under it, and the owner of it is not able of himself to raise it up again:



and wouldst forbear to help him; show an inclination to pass on without giving him any assistance to get up his beast again; or "wouldst thou forbear to help him?" {w} as Jarchi, and others, read with an interrogation, could it be in thine heart to forbear helping him? couldest thou go on, and take no notice of him and his case, and not join him in endeavouring to get up his beast again, that he may proceed its his journey? canst thou be so cruel and hardhearted, though he is thine enemy? but if thou art, know this,



thou shalt surely help with him; to get up his ass again: hence the Jewish canon runs thus {x},



"if an ass is unloaded and loaded four or five times, a man is bound, i.e. to help, as it is said, "in helping thou shalt help"; if he (the owner) goes away, and sets himself down, seeing the command is upon thee, if it is thy will and pleasure to unload, unload, he is free; for it is said, with him; if he is an old man, or sick, he is bound, the command of the law is to unload, but not to load.''



The words may be rendered, "in leaving thou shalt leave with him" {y}; either leave or forsake thine enmity to help him, as Onkelos; or leave thy business, thou art about, to lend him an hand to raise up his beast again.



{w} bzem tldxw "num desines sublevare eum?" some in Vatablus; "cessabis auxitiari ei?" Drusius; "desines auxiliari ei?" Pagninus. {x} Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 2. sect. 10. {y} "Deserendo deseres cum eo", Montanus; so Ainsworth.





Exodus 23:6



Ver. 6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. As the poor man was not to be favoured when his cause was bad through an affected pity for him as a poor man, so his judgment was not to be wrested or perverted, when his cause was good, because of his poverty; which is too often the case, through the power of rich men, and the prevalence of their gifts and bribes, and to curry favour with them: the phrase, "thy poor", is very emphatic, and intended to engage judges to regard them, as being of the same flesh and blood with them, of the same nation and religion; and who were particularly committed to their care and protection under God, who is the Judge and protector of the poor, of the widow and the fatherless.





Exodus 23:7



Ver. 7. Keep thee far from a false matter,.... Or "word" {z}; from receiving a false testimony, or taking the false or wrong side of a cause, or engaging in a bad one; keep aloof off from it, as much at a distance from it as possible:



and the innocent and the righteous slay thou not; that is, do not condemn them to death, nor join with the majority in their condemnation, if they appear to be innocent and righteous; nor give orders, or join in giving orders to the executioner to put such to death. The Targum of Jonathan is,



"he that goes righteous out of the house of thy judgment (out of the sanhedrim, to which he belonged), and they find out his sin (afterwards), and he that goes out guilty, and they (afterwards) find out his righteousness, do not slay:''



for I will not justify the wicked: the wicked judge in pronouncing an unjust sentence on innocent and righteous men, or if they absolve wicked men, at the same time they put to death the innocent and righteous, God will not justify those wicked men cleared by them, but will, in his own time and way, sooner or later, inflict the deserved punishment on them: this is not contrary to Ro 4:5 for though God justifies the ungodly, he does not justify ungodliness in them, or them in ungodliness, but from it, and that by the imputation of the righteousness of his Son.



{z} rqv rbdm "a verbo mendacii", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Tigurine version, Fagius.





Exodus 23:8



Ver. 8. And thou shalt take no gift,.... Of the persons whose cause is to be tried in a court of judicature before judges; neither of those on the one side nor on the other, neither before the trial nor after, neither by words, by a promise, nor by facts, by actually receiving money; and not even to judge truly, as Jarchi observes, neither to clear the innocent nor to condemn the guilty: a gift was not to be taken on any consideration whatever:



for the gift blindeth the wise; or the "seeing" {a}; the open ones, who used to have both their eyes and their ears open, and attentive to the cause before them; and yet a gift so blinds them, by casting such a mist before them, that they are inattentive to the true merits of the cause, and their affections and judgments are to be carried away in favour of those that have bribed them, as to pass a wrong sentence:



and perverteth the words of the righteous; either the sentences of righteous judges, as they ought to be, but a gift perverts their judgment, and they give a wrong decree; or the causes of the righteous that are brought before those are perverted by giving the cause to their adversaries, who are wicked men.



{a} Myxqp "videntes", Pagninus, Vatablus, Cartwright; "apertos", Montanus, Drusius.





Exodus 23:9



Ver. 9. Also thou shall not oppress a stranger,.... As these were not to be vexed and oppressed in a private manner and by private men, see

Ex 22:21 so neither in a public manner, and in a public court of judicature, or by judges on the bench when their cause was before them, by not doing them justice, showing a partiality to those of their own nation against a stranger; whereas a stranger ought to have equal justice done him as a native, and the utmost care should be taken that he has no injury done him, and the rather because he is a stranger:



for ye know the heart of a stranger; the fears he is possessed of, the inward distress of his soul, the anxiety of his mind, the tenderness of his heart, the workings of his passions, his grief and sorrow, and dejection of spirit: the Targum of Jonathan is,



""the groaning of the soul of a stranger": this the Israelitish judges knew, having had a very late experience of it:''



seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; where they had been vexed and oppressed, brought into hard bondage, and groaned under it; and therefore it might be reasonably thought and expected that they would have a heart sympathizing with strangers, and use them well, and especially see that justice was done them, and no injury or oppression of any kind.





Exodus 23:10



Ver. 10. And six years thou shall sow thy land, The land of Canaan, given to their ancestors and to them, and which they were now going to inherit; and when they came into it they were to plant it with vines and olives; or rather, these being ready planted, they were to prune and dress them; and they were to till their land, and plough it, and sow it with various sorts of grain, for six years running, from the time of their possession of it:



and shall gather in the fruits thereof; corn and wine, and oil, into their own garners, treasuries, and cellars, as their own property, to dispose of as they pleased for their own use and profit.





Exodus 23:11



Ver. 11. But the seventh year thou shall let it rest, and lie still,.... From tillage, and make its fruits common, as the Targum of Jonathan; the note of Jarchi is, "let it rest", from perfect tillage, as ploughing and sowing; "and lie still", from dunging and harrowing, or weeding: this law was intended to show that God was the original proprietor and owner of this land, and that the Israelites held it under him; and to teach them to depend upon and trust in his providence; as well as that there might be both rest for the land, and so it became more fruitful afterwards, having by this rest renewed its vigour, and also for servants and cattle; and that the poor might have an equal share in the fruits of the earth, and appear to be joint lords of it with others under God, as it follows:



that the poor of thy people may eat: that which grows up of itself, of which there were great quantities; for the sixth year bringing forth for three years, a great deal of seed fell, which grew up again; and especially, as through plenty they were not so careful to gather it all up; and besides this, there were the fruits of trees, of vines, olives, &c. which brought forth their fruit in course as usual, and which were all this year common to poor and rich; so that the former had an equal propriety and share with the latter:



and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat; signifying that there should be such plenty that there would be enough for all, and to spare; that there would be much left, and which should be the portion of the beasts of the field, and who would also be sufficiently provided for by the produce the earth brought forth of itself, as herbage, &c. and the fruits the poor left:



in like manner thou shall deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard; that is, these were not to be pruned, nor the grapes and olives gathered, but were to be in common with all: a larger account is given of this law in Le 25:2.





Exodus 23:12



Ver. 12. Six days thou shalt do thy work,.... That is, they might do what work they would on the six days of the week:



and on the seventh day thou shall rest; from all the work and labour done on other days, and give up themselves to religious exercises:



that thine ox and thine ass may rest; and so every other beast, as horses, camels, &c.



and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed; the former, the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, interprets, of one uncircumcised, and the latter, of a proselyte of the gate: this law is here repeated, partly to show that it is of the same kind with the former, namely, ceremonial and temporary; and partly, as Jarchi observes, lest it should be said, since all, the year is called the sabbath, there was no need to observe the weekly sabbath.





Exodus 23:13



Ver. 13. And in all [things] that I have said unto you, be circumspect,.... Or observe them, be careful to keep them punctually and constantly, even all that are delivered in this and the preceding chapters:



and make no mention of the name of other gods; neither call upon them, nor swear by them, nor make vows to them; and, as little as possible, ever utter their names, and never with pleasure and delight, and showing any honour of them, and reverence to them, but with the utmost detestation and abhorrence:



neither let it be heard out of thy mouth; not any of their names; the same thing in different words, the more to inculcate and impress the thing upon the mind, and to show with what vehemence and earnestness this is pressed.





Exodus 23:14



Ver. 14. Three times thou shall keep a feast unto me in the year. The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth of the month Nisan or March; and the feast of weeks or pentecost fifty days after that; and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth day of Tisri or September.





Exodus 23:15



Ver. 15. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread,.... Which began on the fourteenth of the month Abib or Nisan, and lasted seven days, during which time no leavened bread was to be eaten by the Israelites, or to be in their houses, of which see the notes on:



See Gill on "Ex 12:15" See Gill on "Ex 12:18" See Gill on "Ex 12:19" See Gill on "Ex 12:10" See Gill on "Ex 13:6" See Gill on "Ex 13:7"



thou shall eat unleavened bread, seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; from the fourteenth of the month to the twenty first:



for in it thou camest out of Egypt; in such haste that there was no time to leaven the dough in the troughs; in commemoration of which this law was given, and this feast was kept:



and none shall appear before me empty; at this feast and the two following ones; for, besides the offerings and sacrifices appointed, at the feast of passover was brought a sheaf of the first fruits of the barley harvest; and at the feast of pentecost the two wave loaves or cakes of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and at the feast of tabernacles they appeared with palm tree branches, and boughs of goodly trees, and poured out water fetched from Siloam, before the Lord: but to this appearance the Jewish doctors {b} say,



"there was no measure fixed; for everyone, if he would, might go up and appear, and go away: according to another interpretation, for the burnt offering of appearance, and the peace offerings of the Chagigah, which a man is bound to bring, as it is written, "ye shall not appear empty"; there is no measure from the law, as it is written, "a man according to the gift of his hand", De 16:17, but the wise men fix a measure; to the burnt offering a meah of silver, to the Chagigah two pieces of silver:''



some understand this, not of their bringing anything with them to appear before the Lord with, but of what they should be blessed with there; even with the presence of God, and communion with him, and with the blessings of his grace and goodness; so that however they came, they should not remain, nor go away empty, and so have no cause to repent their appearance before him; but the former sense seems best.



{b} Bartenora in Misn. Peah, c. 1. sect. 1.





Exodus 23:16



Ver. 16. And the feast of harvest,.... This is the second feast, the feast of wheat harvest, between which and barley harvest were fifty days; or between the firstfruits of the one and the first fruits of the other were seven weeks, as Aben Ezra observes, and was sometimes called the feast of weeks; at which feast were to be brought,



the first fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field; the two wave loaves or cakes, made of the first new wheat, which was the effect of their labour in tilling the field, and sowing it with wheat, and reaping it:



and the feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field; this is the third feast in the year to be kept, and was kept at the close of the year, at the revolution of it, when a new year began that is, according to the old account, which made Tisri the month in which this feast was kept, the first month of the year; whereas, according to the new count, it was the seventh month from the month Abib, now made the first of the months upon the Israelites coming out of Egypt in that month: this is the same feast with the feast of tabernacles, but here called the feast of ingathering, because at this time of the year all the fruits of the earth were gathered in; the corn, and wine, and oil, and all other fruits, on account of which there was great rejoicing, as there ought to be.





Exodus 23:17



Ver. 17. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord thy God. In the city of Jerusalem, when they were come into the land of Canaan, and the temple was there built: here they were to show themselves before the Lord as being his, and devoted to his service; concerning which the Misnic doctors have the following canon {c},



"all are bound to appear except a man deaf and dumb, a fool, a little one, one of neither sex, or of both sexes, women, servants not free, the lame, the blind, the sick, an old man, and he that cannot go on his feet.''



{c} Misn. Chagigah, c. 1. sect. 1.





Exodus 23:18



Ver. 18. Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread,.... This belongs to the feast of the passover; for, as all the Jewish writers agree, this sacrifice is the sacrifice of the passover, as it is sometimes called, see Ex 12:27 now when the paschal lamb was killed, and its blood shed, and its flesh eaten, there was to be no leaven along with it; it was to be eaten with unleavened bread, and there was to be no leaven in their houses at this time; nay, it was not to be slain until all was removed: this was the first thing the Jews did, as soon as the fourteenth day was come, to search for leaven, remove and burn it; and this sense of the law is confirmed by the Targum of Jonathan, which is,



"not a man shall slay, while there is leaven in your houses, the sacrifice of my passover;''



and to the same purpose is the note of Jarchi:



neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning; and indeed no part of the passover lamb was to remain until the morning, what did was to be burnt with fire, Ex 12:10 the Targum of Jonathan is,



"neither shall there remain without the altar the fat of the sacrifice of my passover until the morning, nor of the flesh which ye ate in the evening;''



and so Jarchi interprets it of its not remaining without the altar.





Exodus 23:19



Ver. 19. The first of the first fruits of thy land,.... Both of the barley and wheat harvest, and of the wine and oil; yea, Jarchi says, the seventh year was obliged to first fruits; and Josephus {d} relates, that the Jews were so tenacious of this law, that even in the famine in the time of Claudius Caesar, the first fruits were brought to the temple, and were not meddled with:



thou shall bring into the house of the Lord thy God; to the tabernacle, during the standing of that, and the temple when that was built; which were the perquisites of the priests who officiated in the house and service of God: so Pliny says {e} of the ancient Romans, that they tasted not of the new fruits or wines before the first fruits were offered to the priests, which seems to have been borrowed from hence:



thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk: and so a calf, or a lamb {f}, as Jarchi interprets it; which some understand of slaying a young kid and its dam together, and so is a law against cruelty, like that law of not taking the dam with the young, on finding a bird's nest, De 22:6 others, of killing, dressing, and eating a kid, while it sucks the milk of its mother, before it is eight days old, and so a law against luxury; but the Jews generally understand it of boiling, or eating the flesh of any creature and milk together {g}: so the Targum of Onkelos paraphrases it,



"ye shall not eat flesh with milk;''



and the Targum of Jonathan is,



"ye shall neither boil nor eat the flesh and the milk mixed together:''



hence, according to the rules they give, the flesh of any beast, or of a fowl, is not to be set upon a table on which cheese is (being made of milk), lest they should be eaten together; nor may cheese be eaten after flesh until some considerable time, and then, if there is any flesh sticks between a man's teeth, he must remove it, and wash and cleanse his mouth; nor may cheese be eaten on a table cloth on which meat is, nor be cut with a knife that flesh is cut with {h}: so careful are they of breaking this law, as they understand it: but the words are, doubtless, to be taken literally, of not boiling a kid in its mother's milk; and is thought by many to refer to some custom of this kind, either among the Israelites, which they had somewhere learnt, or among the idolatrous Heathens, and therefore cautioned against; Maimonides and Abarbinel both suppose it was an idolatrous rite, but are not able to produce an instance of it out of any writer of theirs or others: but Dr. Cudworth has produced a passage out of a Karaite author {i}, who affirms,



"it was a custom of the Heathens at the ingathering of their fruits to take a kid and seethe it in the milk of the dam, and then, in a magical way, go about and besprinkle all their trees, fields, gardens, and orchards, thinking by this means they should make them fructify, and bring forth fruit again more abundantly the next year:''



and the Targum of Jonathan on Ex 34:26 seems to have respect to this, where, having paraphrased the words as here quoted above, adds,



"lest I should destroy the fruit of your trees with the unripe grape, the shoots and leaves together:''



and if this may be depended upon, the law comes in here very aptly, after the feast of ingathering, and the bringing in the first fruits of the land into the Lord's house.



{d} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 15. sect. 3. {e} Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 2. {f} Vid. T. Bab. Cholin. fol. 114. 1. {g} Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 14. fol. 26. 1. {h} Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. Yore Deah, Hilchot Bashar Bechaleb, c. 88. sect. 1. & 89. sect. 1. 4. {i} Apud Gregory's Notes & Observ. c. 19. p. 97, 98.





Exodus 23:20



Ver. 20. Behold, I send an angel before thee,.... Not a created angel, but the uncreated one, the Angel of God's presence, that was with the Israelites at Sinai, and in the wilderness; who saved, redeemed, bore, and carried them all the days of old, whom they rebelled against and tempted in the wilderness; as appears by all the characters after given of him, which by no means agree with a created angel: Aben Ezra observes, that some say this is the book of the law, because it is said, "my name is in him", or "in the midst of it"; others say, the ark of the covenant; but he says this angel is Michael; and if indeed by Michael is intended the uncreated angel, as he always is in Scripture, he is right: Jarchi remarks, that their Rabbins say, this is Metatron, whose name is as the name of his master; Metatron, by gematry, is Shaddai, which signifies almighty or all-sufficient, and is an epithet of the divine Being; and Metatron seems to be a corruption of the word "mediator": some of the ancient Jewish writers say {k}, this is the Angel that is the Redeemer of the world, and the keeper of the children of men: and Philo the Jew {l} applies the word unto the divine Logos, and says,



"he (God) uses the divine Word as the guide of the way; for the oracle is, "behold, I send my Angel", &c.''



which agrees with what follows:



to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared; to preserve the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness, from all their enemies that should set upon them, and to bring them safe at last to the land of Canaan, which he had appointed for them, and promised to them, and had prepared both in his purpose and gift for them, and would make way for their settlement in it by driving out the nations before them.



{k} In Zohar in Gen. fol. 124. 4. {l} "De migratione" Abraham, p. 415.





Exodus 23:21



Ver. 21. Beware of him,.... Of his face or countenance; observe his looks towards you in a providential way, whether frowning or smiling; observe his directions and instructions, laws and commands:



and obey his voice; hearken to what he says, and cheerfully, readily, and punctually do as he orders:



provoke him not; by unbelief, by murmurings and complaints, by unbecoming words and actions, by transgressing his commands, and acting contrary to his will;



for he will not pardon your transgressions: or suffer them to pass unchastised and uncorrected, but will, as he did, take vengeance on their inventions, and on them because of them, though he forgave their iniquities; for that he was such an Angel as could forgive sin, which none but God can do, is evident; because it would be absurd to say he will not pardon, if he could not pardon their transgressions, see Mt 9:6,



for my name is in him; the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; the nature and perfections of God are in the Word and Son of God, and so his name Jehovah, which is peculiar to him; Christ is Jehovah our righteousness: or "though my name is in him" {m}; as Abendana and others, his name the Lord God, gracious and merciful, pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin, as afterwards proclaimed in him; and yet, notwithstanding this, he would not clear the guilty, or suffer the Israelites to go unpunished, if they offended him: the Targum of Onkelos is,



"or in my name is his word,''



he is my ambassador and speaks in my name.



{m} ymv yk "quamvis nomen menum", Drusius.





Exodus 23:22



Ver. 22. But, if thou shall indeed obey his voice,.... Or "hearkening hearken", {n} to it attentively, listen to it, and diligently and constantly observe and obey in whatever he shall direct and order:



and do all that I speak; by him; or whatsoever he had spoke, or was about to speak; for as yet all the laws and statutes were not delivered, especially those of the ceremonial kind:



then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; which they should either meet with in their passage through the wilderness, or when they came into the land of Canaan; signifying hereby that he would protect them from them, subdue them under them, and give them victory over them, as that they should be utterly destroyed, and so way made for their possession of their land, as in the following words.



{n} emvt ewmv "audiendo audieris", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Piscator.





Exodus 23:23



Ver. 23. For mine Angel shall go before thee,.... The same as before described:



and bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; six nations are only mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashites are omitted, though added in the Septuagint version; and this omission of them might be, either because they were swallowed up by one or other of the other nations, particularly the Amorites, who were the most powerful; or rather, having mentioned the most and chiefest, the Lord was not careful, as Aben Ezra observes, to take notice of the least:



and I will cut them off; from being a nation, either of them; for though there were some of them left, and dwelt about in the land, yet not as a kingdom and nation of themselves, as they had been, but became tributary to the Israelites.





Exodus 23:24



Ver. 24. Thou shalt not bow down to their gods,.... In a way of honour to them, doing them reverence, expressing thereby an high esteem of them, trust in them, and expectation of good things from them;



nor serve them: in any kind of service in which they usually are served by their votaries; as by offering sacrifice, incense, libations, &c. or by praying to them or praising of them, or in whatsoever way they are served by idolaters:



nor do after their works; the works of the worshippers of idols; all those wicked works in general done by them, which should not be imitated; and those particularly relating to the service and worship of their deities:



but thou shalt overthrow them; the heathen gods; utterly destroy them, and break them to pieces, or demolish their temples, the idolatrous houses built for them, and their altars; for the word has the signification, of demolishing buildings, and razing up the very foundations of them:



and quite break down their images; or, "in breaking break down" {o}; utterly and entirely break them down, break them to shivers, all their statues of gold or silver, brass, wood, or stone, or of whatsoever materials they were made; none were to be spared, nor any remains of them to be seen, that they might not prove a snare to any to worship them; and hereby they were to express their detestation of idolatry, and their strict and close adherence to the true God, and the worship of him as follows.



{o} rbvt rbv "confringendo confringes", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, "perfringendo perfringito", Piscator.





Exodus 23:25



Ver. 25. And ye shall serve the Lord your God,.... And him only, who had brought them out of Egypt, and done so many great and good things for them at the Red sea, and now in the wilderness; by which he appeared to be the true Jehovah, the one and only living God, and to be their God in covenant, who had promised them much, and had performed it; and therefore was in a special and peculiar manner their God, and they were under the highest obligations to serve and worship him in the way and manner he directed them to:



and he shall bless thy bread and thy water; and make them nourishing and refreshing to them, and preserve them thereby in health, as well as prosper and succeed them, and increase their worldly substance:



and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee; the stroke of bitterness, or the bitter stroke, as the Targum of Jonathan, any grievous disease, which is bitter and distressing; signifying that there should be none among them, but that they should be healthful, and free from distempers and diseases.





Exodus 23:26



Ver. 26. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren in the land,.... There shall be no abortions or miscarriages, nor sterility or barrenness, either among the Israelites, or their cattle of every kind, so that there should be a great increase, both of men and beasts:



the number of thy days I will fulfil; which was fixed for each of them, in his eternal purposes and decrees; or what, according to the temperament of their bodies and the course of nature, which, humanly speaking, it might be supposed they would arrive unto; or generally the common term of human life, which, in the days of Moses, was threescore years and ten, or fourscore, see Job 14:5, it may be considered whether any respect is had to the time of their continuance in the land of Canaan, the term of which was fixed in the divine mind, or the fulness of time in which the Messiah was to come.





Exodus 23:27



Ver. 27. And I will send my fear before thee,.... What should cause fear among the nations of the land of Canaan; either the hornets mentioned in the next verse as the explanative of this; or the fame of his mighty works, which he had done for Israel in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; which struck the inhabitants of Canaan with such a panic, that they were ready to faint and melt away, and lost all courage, Jos 2:9



and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come; that is, the greatest part of them:



and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee; flee away, not being able to face them and stand a battle, or, however, not stand it long, but run and make their escape: "or I will give thee the neck of them" {p}; cause them to submit, to lay down their necks and be trampled upon; an expression denoting their subjection, and an entire conquest of them, see Ps 18:39.



{p} Pre-yttn "et dabo-cervicem", Pagninus, Montanus; "exponam tibi cervicem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "ponam ad te cervicem", Drusius.





Exodus 23:28



Ver. 28. And I will send hornets before thee,.... Which may be interpreted either figuratively, and so may signify the same as fear before which should fall on the Canaanites upon hearing the Israelites were coming; the stings of their consciences for their sins, terrors of mind, dreading the wrath of the God of Israel, of whom they had heard, and terrible apprehensions of ruin and destruction from the Israelites: Aben Ezra interprets it of some disease of the body, which weakens it, as the leprosy, from the signification of the word, which has some affinity with that used for the leprosy; and so the Arabic version understands it of a disease: or rather, the words are to be taken literally, for hornets, which are a sort of wasps, whose stings are very penetrating and venomous; nor is it any strange or unheard of thing for people to be drove out of their countries by small animals, as mice, flies, bees, &c. and particularly Aelianus {q} relates, that the Phaselites were drove out of their country by wasps: and Bochart {r} has shown that those people were of a Phoenician original, and inhabited the mountains of Solymi; and that this happened to them about the times of Joshua, and so may probably be the very Canaanites here mentioned, as follow: the wasps, in Aristophanes's comedy which bears that name, are introduced speaking of themselves, and say, no creature when provoked is more angry and troublesome than we are {s}:



which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee; which three are mentioned instead of the rest, or because they were more especially infested and distressed with the hornets, and drove out of their land by means of them.



{q} Hist. Animal. l. 11. c. 28. {r} Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 13. col. 541. {s} Aristoph. Vespae, p. 510.





Exodus 23:29



Ver. 29. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year,.... This is observed before hand, lest the Israelites should be discouraged, and fear they should never be rid of them; and it was so ordered in Providence for the following reason:



lest the land become desolate; there being not a sufficient number of Israelites to replace in their stead, to repeople the land, and to cultivate it; and yet their number was very large, being, when they came out of Egypt, as is generally computed, about two millions and a half, besides the mixed multitude of Egyptians and others, and during their forty years in the wilderness must be greatly increased:



and the beast of the field multiply against thee; there being so much waste ground for them to prowl about in, they would so increase as to make head against them, and be too many for them; or, however, it would be difficult to keep them under control: the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"when they shall come to eat their carcasses (the carcasses of the Canaanites slain in war), and may hurt thee.''







Exodus 23:30



Ver. 30. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee,.... Not the beasts of the field, but the inhabitants of Canaan, who were left partly to keep up the cities and towns, that they might not fall to ruin, and to till the land, that it might not be desolate; and partly to be trials and exercises to the people of Israel, and to prove whether they would serve the Lord or not. Just as the corruptions of human nature remain with the people of God when converted, for the trial and exercise of their graces, and that they may have their dependence not on themselves, but on the grace of God to keep them in his ways, and to preserve them safe to eternal glory; and by completing the work of grace, which is gradually done, they might be made meet for it:



until thou be increased, and inherit the land; for as their enemies were driven out gradually, by little and little, so they multiplied gradually, until at length they became a sufficient number to fill all the cities and towns in all the nations of Canaan, and take an entire possession of it, as their inheritance given unto them by God.





Exodus 23:31



Ver. 31. And I will set thy bounds,.... The bounds of the land of Canaan, which in process of time it should reach unto, though not at once, not until the times of David and Solomon, 2Sa 8:1 which bounds were as follow:



from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines: the Red sea was the boundary eastward, as the sea of the Philistines, or the Mediterranean sea, was the boundary westward:



and from the desert unto the river; the desert of Shur or Arabia, towards Egypt, was the boundary southward, as the river Euphrates was the boundary northward, and is the river here meant, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; and so Jarchi interprets it, and generally others:



for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; the greater part upon their entrance into it, and settlement in it, and the rest afterwards:



and thou shalt drive them out before thee; not all at once, but by degrees, as before observed.





Exodus 23:32



Ver. 32. Thou shalt make no covenant with them,.... A covenant of peace, a league, a confederacy, so as to take them to be their allies and friends; but they were always to consider them as their enemies, until they had made an utter end of them; though the Gibeonites by craft and guile obtained a league of them; but the methods they took to get it show they had some knowledge of this law, that the Israelites might not, or at least would not, make any league or covenant with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. This may be also extended to marriage covenants, which they were forbid to make with them; which yet they did, and proved a snare to them, for this brought them to makes a covenant with their gods, and serve them, which is here also forbidden:



nor with their gods; making vows unto them, promising to serve them, if they would do such and such things for them.





Exodus 23:33



Ver. 33. They shall not dwell in thy land,.... The land of Canaan, given by God for an inheritance, and now would be in the possession of the Israelites; and therefore were not to suffer the old inhabitants to dwell with them in it, at least no longer than they could help it; they were to do all they could to root them out:



lest they make thee sin against me; by their ill examples and persuasions, drawing them into idolatry, than which there is no greater sin against God, it being not only contrary to his law, his mind, and will, but directly against his nature, being, perfections, and glory:



for if thou serve their gods, or "for thou wilt serve" {t}; this would be the consequence of their dwelling in the land, they would draw the Israelites into the worship of their idols, to which they were naturally prone; and should they commit idolatry,



it will surely be a snare unto thee: idolatry would be the cause of their ruin and destruction, they would be snared by it, as fishes in a net, or birds and beasts by traps and gins; or "for it will be a snare" {u}, that is, the Canaanites dwelling among them would be a snare to draw them into their idolatry, and go into ruin.



{t} dbet yk "quia servies", Malvenda. {u} hyhy yk "quia erit", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 24:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 24



In this chapter we have an account that Moses was ordered to come up to the Lord alone, Ex 24:1, but that before he did go up, he related to the people all the above laws delivered to him, which they promised obedience to, and so a covenant was made between God and the people by sacrifice, and by the sprinkling of blood, Ex 24:3, upon which he and Aaron, and his two sons and seventy elders of Israel, went up part of the mountain, and had a vision of God, Ex 24:9, when Moses with Joshua was called, and went up higher, until at length he entered into the cloud where the Lord was, and continued forty days and forty nights, Ex 24:12.



Ver. 1. And he said unto Moses,.... Who said? no doubt a divine Person, and yet what this Person said is,



come up unto the Lord; meaning either to himself, or one divine Person called to Moses to come up to another: according to the Targum of Jonathan, it was Michael, the prince of wisdom; not a created angel, but the eternal Word, Wisdom, and Son of God; who said this on the seventh day of the month, which was the day after the giving of the law, or ten commands; though Jarchi says this paragraph was before the ten commands, and was said on the fourth of Sivan; but the Targumist seems most correct:



come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; Nadab and Abihu were the two eldest sons of Aaron, Ex 6:23 and the seventy elders were not all the elders of Israel, but were so many of them selected out of them, the chief and principal; who were heads of tribes and families, and were no doubt many, if not all of them, of those who by the advice of Jethro were chosen to be rulers of thousands, hundreds, and fifties; these were called to come up to the Lord on the mountain, but not to the top of it, only Moses went thither:



and worship ye afar off: from the people, and even at a distance from Moses; for he only was admitted near to God, as the following verse shows.





Exodus 24:2



Ver. 2. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord,.... Into the cloud where he was, and talk with him face to face, as a man talketh with his friend; which was great nearness indeed, and a peculiar favour and high honour was this:



but they shall not come nigh; Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel:



neither shall the people go up with him; not any of them, much less the whole body. It seems, by this account, that Moses had been down from the mount after he had received the laws recorded in the two preceding chapters; though as yet he had not related them to the people, but did before he went up again by the above order, as appears from what follows.





Exodus 24:3



Ver. 3. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments,.... Which according to Jarchi were the seven commands given to the sons of Noah, the laws concerning the sabbath, and honouring parents, the red heifer, and the judgments at Marah; but all these they were acquainted with before, excepting that of the red heifer, and the law, for that was not yet delivered to Moses, nor were these the ten commands, for they had heard them from the Lord themselves; but they doubtless were the judgments, or judicial laws, which he was ordered to set before the people, contained in the two preceding chapters, which were chiefly of the judicial kind, and related to the civil polity of the people of Israel:



and all the people answered with one voice; one speaking for, and in the name of the rest, or they all lift up their voice together, and being unanimous in their sentiments, expressed them in the same words:



and said, all the words which the Lord hath said will we do; that is, they would be careful to observe all the laws, statutes, judgments, and commands which the Lord had enjoined them; and less than this they could not say, for they had promised Moses, that if he would draw nigh to God, and hear what he should say, and deliver it to them, they would hearken to it, and obey it, as if they had heard God himself speak it; only they entreated the Lord would speak no more to them, as he did the ten commands, it being so terrible to them.





Exodus 24:4



Ver. 4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord,.... Jarchi says, all from the creation, to the giving of the law, and the commands at Marah; but though these were written by him, yet not at this time; but as Aben Ezra more truly observes, what are mentioned in this "parashah", or section, or what is contained in the two preceding chapters, he not only related to them from his memory, but he wrote them in a book, which is after mentioned, that they might be seen and read hereafter; for these were not the ten commands, they were written as well as spoken by the Lord himself, but the judicial laws before mentioned:



and rose up early in the morning: not on the fifth of Sivan, as Jarchi, the day before the giving of the law, but on the eighth of that month, two days after it:



and built an altar under the hill: under Mount Sinai, about the place where the bounds were set, beyond which the people were not to go:



and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel: to answer to them, and which were to represent them, as seems by the following account; these probably were made of marble stone, of which Mount Sinai consisted, and of which there was plenty thereabout.





Exodus 24:5



Ver. 5. And he sent young men of the children Israel,.... To the altar under the hill he had these young men, according to Jarchi, were the firstborn of the children of Israel; and so the Targums Onkelos and Jonathan; and the latter adds,



"for unto this hour the worship was among the firstborn, as yet the tabernacle of the covenant was not made, and as yet the priesthood was not given to Aaron.''



But though this is a notion that has obtained among learned men, both Jews and Christians, it has been called in question by some, who have such reasons against it, as are not easily refuted. And very probably, as the seventy elders were such as were selected from the senior and graver part of the people, so these were choice young men, that were separated from others for this service, without any regard to birthright:



which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord; by way of thankfulness; and such were used at making covenants, when the parties ate and drank together. The Vulgate Latin version has it, "twelve calves", without any authority for it.





Exodus 24:6



Ver. 6. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins,.... Half of the blood of the above sacrifices, this he put into basins, and set by, in order to sprinkle on the people:



and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar; the Targum of Onkelos adds, to atone for the people. But the altar here seems to represent the Lord, who was one of the parties covenanting, and therefore is sprinkled with blood as a ratification of the covenant on his part, and the promises of it.





Exodus 24:7



Ver. 7. And he took the book of the covenant,.... Which contained the words of the Lord he is said to write, Ex 24:4, and consisted both of laws and judgments required of the people, and to which they had given their assent, and promised obedience to; and of promises made by the Lord of sending his angel before them to guide them in the way, and bring them to Canaan, and to drive the Canaanites from thence, and put the Israelites into the possession of it; so that here were promises on both sides, a restipulation of parties, which made a formal covenant:



and read in the audience of the people; he had rehearsed what was contained in it from his memory, by word of mouth, to which they had assented, Ex 24:3 and having written the same in a book, he read it to them distinctly, that they might the better take notice of the contents of it:



and they said, all that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient; which is a repetition and confirmation of what they had before said, and is expressed in stronger terms; so that this was not done suddenly and inconsiderately, and yet they seem not to be so well apprised of their own inability to keep the laws of God, and of the treachery of their own hearts as to their regard to them; see De 5:28.





Exodus 24:8



Ver. 8. And Moses took the blood,.... The other half of the blood which was in the basins:



and sprinkled it on the people; not on the whole body of the people, who could not be brought nigh enough, and were too numerous to be all sprinkled with it; though the apostle so expresses it, a part being put for the whole, Heb 9:19 either this was sprinkled on the young men that offered the sacrifices in the name of all the people; or on the seventy elders, as the heads of them, so Aben Ezra; or upon the twelve pillars, which answered to the twelve tribes, and represented them as the altar did the Lord:



and said, behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words; being a ratification of the covenant on both sides, having been sprinkled both upon the altar, and upon the people. In allusion to which, the blood of Christ is sometimes called the blood of sprinkling, and which, sprinkled upon the mercy seat, calls for pardon for men; and sprinkled on their consciences, speaks peace and pardon to them, and cleanses from all sin; and sometimes the blood of the everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace made with him, by which it is ratified and confirmed; and our Lord may have regard to this rite and mode of expression in Mt 26:28.





Exodus 24:9



Ver. 9. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,.... After the above things were done, the words of the Lord were told the people, and the book of the covenant read unto them, to which they agreed, sacrifices were offered, and the blood of them sprinkled on the altar, and on the people. The Samaritan version adds to these, Eleazar and Ithamar, the two younger sons of Aaron:



and seventy of the elders of Israel, who were called up to the mountain to the Lord, Ex 24:1.





Exodus 24:10



Ver. 10. And they saw the God of Israel,.... The Targum of Jonathan restrains this to Nadab and Abihu whereas it is doubtless true of Moses and Aaron, and the seventy elders, who all saw him, and who were witnesses to the people that it was a divine Person that spoke to Moses, and delivered the laws unto him, to be observed by them; which seems to be the reason of their being called up, and favoured with this sight which must not be understood as of anything criminal in them, as if they curiously looked and pried to see something they should not, for which they deserved some sort of punishment, as the Targum intimates; but of a privilege, and a very high one they were favoured with: and this sight they had was not by a vision of prophecy, or with the eyes of their understanding, but corporeally; they saw the Son of God, the God of Israel, in an human form, as a pledge and presage of his future incarnation, who is the Angel that spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, as Stephen says, and the Lord that was among the angels there, who afterwards became incarnate, and having done his work on earth, ascended on high, Ac 7:38



and [there was] under his feet; which shows that there was a visible form, and that human; nor is this contrary to what is said, "ye saw no similitude"; De 4:12, since what is here related does not respect the same time, nor the same persons; this was after the giving of the ten commands, that at the time of it; this is said of the seventy elders, with Moses, Aaron, and his two sons, that of all the people:



as it were paved work of a sapphire stone: like a pavement pitched with sapphire. The Septuagint version is,



"and they saw the place where the God of Israel stood, and what were under his feet, as the work of a sapphire brick.''



The sapphire stones, of which the pavement was, were as broad as bricks, and being like a brick, was a memorial, as the Targum of Jonathan says, of the servitude the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with in clay and bricks; but being a sapphire, bright and glorious, may denote the liberty they now enjoyed in exchange for their bondage. And the Targum of Jonathan understands it of the colour, and not of the form of the sapphire, and renders it, the white sapphire; and so do some Jewish writers {w}; though the colour of the sapphire is azure, or sky coloured, with which agrees what follows:



and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness; and Ruaeus {x} says, the sapphire is sky coloured, and some of them shine and sparkle with golden points or spots, and are reckoned the best sapphires; so that this represents the heaven as quite clear and serene, bespangled with stars; and as the heavens, covered with clouds, may denote the displeasure of God, so a serene heaven his favour and good will, and in such an amiable light was he now beheld.



{w} Saadiah Gaon in Aben Ezra, & R. Jonah in Ben Melech in loc. {x} De Gemmis, c. 2.





Exodus 24:11



Ver. 11. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand,.... Which some interpret of his hand of prophecy, and of the measure of the Spirit, such an one as Moses had, and by virtue of which he lived forty days and nights without eating and drinking; but these not having such a measure of the Spirit, were obliged to eat and drink to support nature, as in the next clause: but it is rather to be understood of the hand of God; he did not inflict any disease or death upon them on their sight of him, it being a notion that no man could see God and live; but these men did live, not only Moses, and Aaron and his two sons, but the seventy elders, who were the principal choicest persons among the children of Israel; wherefore the Targum of Jonathan wrongly restrains this to Nadab and Abihu:



also they saw God, and did eat and drink: though they saw God, they continued alive and well, and in good health, of which their eating and drinking were a sign and evidence; or they ate, as Abendana, the sacrifices of the peace offerings, which were usually eaten by the priests and the people; and as a feast was common at covenant making, here was a feast kept by the elders, the representatives of the people, when they covenanted with God. Onkelos favours this sense,



"and they rejoiced in their sacrifices, which were accepted with good will, as if they had ate and drank.''





Exodus 24:12



Ver. 12. And the Lord said unto Moses, come up to me into the mount,.... For as yet Moses was not got up to the top of the mount, only up some part of it with the elders, though at some distance from the people: but now he is bid to come up higher:



and be there; continue there, as he did six days after this:



and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that is, the law of the ten commandments, which were written on tables of stone by the Lord himself; he had already spoken them in the hearing of the people, but now he had wrote them, and that in tables of stone; partly for the duration of them, and partly to represent the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites, the stubbornness of their wills to comply with his law, their contumacy and obstinate persistence in disobedience to it:



that thou mayest teach them; these being in hand and sight, would have an opportunity of explaining them to them and inculcating them on their minds, and pressing them to yield an obedience to them.





Exodus 24:13



Ver. 13. And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua,.... In order to go up higher on the mount. Joshua, and he only, was to go up higher with him, though not to the top of the mount, at least not into the cloud upon it, as Moses did. Joshua was his minister or servant, and waited upon him wherever he went, and was to be his successor; and therefore for his encouragement, and to qualify him the better for it, he was indulged with a sight and knowledge of things others were not; for by his not knowing anything of the idolatry of the golden calf,

Ex 32:17 it appears that he was on some part of the mount all the forty days and forty nights; and if it should be asked whether he fasted all that time, or, if he did not, how he was provided with food and drink? it may be replied, that there is no necessity to suppose that he fasted all that time; and it is easy to imagine how he was supplied, for the manna fell round about the mountain, of which he might gather and eat day by day, as Aben Ezra observes; and there was a brook which descended out of the mount, from whence he might have water, De 9:21



and Moses went up into the mount of God; Mount Sinai, where he had formerly appeared to him in a bush, and now had descended on it to give the law, and was still upon it, where his glory was seen; and therefore might, with great propriety, be called the mount of God; to the top of which Moses was preparing to go, but before he went gave the following instructions.





Exodus 24:14



Ver. 14. And he said unto the elders,.... The seventy elders which were selected out of the several tribes of Israel, and now about to return to the camp:



tarry ye here for us; meaning himself and Joshua, who was going with him:



until we come again unto you; perhaps Moses might not know how long his stay would be at the top of the mount, but supposed it would be some time by the provision he makes for hearing and adjusting cases in his absence:



and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; Hur is not mentioned before, as being with Moses and the rest; but doubtless he was, at least it is highly probable he was one of the seventy elders of him,

See Gill on "Ex 17:10".



if any man have any matters to do: any cases to be considered, any cause to be tried in difference between him and another man, and which cannot be determined by the inferior judges, is too difficult for them to take in hand:



let him come unto them; bring his case before them, and have their advice and opinion, and be determined by them.





Exodus 24:15



Ver. 15. And Moses went up into the mount,.... To the top of it, and as it seems alone, leaving Joshua behind in a lower part of the mountain:



and a cloud covered the mount; in which cloud Jehovah was.





Exodus 24:16



Ver. 16. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai,.... The divine Shechinah or Majesty, some visible token of it, an exceeding great brightness and splendour:



and the cloud covered it six days; either the glory of the Lord, so that it could not be seen it had been; or the mount, as Jarchi; but that is observed before, unless repeated for the sake of the time it covered it, six days; or him, Moses, as some in Jarchi, who for six days together was covered with a thick cloud, so that he was not seen by any while on the mountain; and thus he remained, until he was admitted into the immediate presence of God, for which he was now preparing: what he did, or was made known to him during this time, is not said; it is probable his thoughts were employed about the glory and greatness of the divine Being; and as he was abstracted from earthly men and things, he was more at leisure to contemplate on divine and heavenly things, and so was more fitted for an intercourse with God, and had more courage and presence of mind to enter into it:



and on the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud; in which the glory of God was, and which seems to favour the first sense of the preceding clause, that it was the glory of God the cloud covered.





Exodus 24:17



Ver. 17. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount,.... For when God spoke out of the cloud, the glory of the Lord flashed out like devouring fire; it was not devouring fire, but it was like it; it was like a great blaze of fire, which consumes all that is in its ways; it was such a large body of light, and so clear and bright, that it looked like devouring flames of fire; and being upon the top of the mount was very visible, and seen at a great distance in the eyes of the children of Israel throughout, their camp.





Exodus 24:18



Ver. 18. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud,.... Where the glory of God was, and he must at this time be endowed with more than ordinary courage to enter into it, when the glory of the Lord flashed out of it like flames of fire; yet being called of God he was not intimidated, but with great serenity and composure of mind, as may be thought, he went into the presence chamber of the most High, to hear what he had to say unto him:



and gat him up into the mount; that is, he went into the cloud, after he had ascended the summit of the mount; for it cannot be supposed that he first went into the cloud, and then got himself up to the mount, which yet our version, if not carefully guarded against, may lead unto:



and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights; without eating or drinking; and just such a term of time Christ fasted in the wilderness; it is probable that the six days before mentioned are to be reckoned part of those forty days, since it is not said that he was in the cloud forty days and forty nights, but in the mount. The Targum of Jonathan adds,



"learning the words of the law from the mouth of the Holy One, whose name is to be praised.''



Living without food so long must be ascribed to a miracle; for Hippocrates {y} that great physician, says, that



"those who remain without food seven days, thenceforward, if they would, cannot receive any support from food, because then the belly will not admit of any;''



and gives this reason for it, because the fasting intestine coheres, or is wrinkled.



{y} Lib. de Carn. in fine, apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 196.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 25:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 25



In this chapter an order is given for a freewill offering towards various things for the worship and service of God, and the materials to be offered, which would be useful and acceptable, are mentioned particularly, Ex 25:1, as also another order to build a sanctuary for God, after a model that he would give, Ex 25:8, and, an ark to put in the law on tables of stone, the fashion of which, and the various things belonging to it, are described, Ex 25:10, and a mercy seat with cherubim on it to be set over the ark, where the Lord promises to meet Moses and commune with him, Ex 25:17 and a table with various appurtenances to it to place the shewbread on,

Ex 25:23 and a candlestick of gold, whose parts are described, and all the instruments relative to it, Ex 25:31.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... When on the mount, and in the midst of the cloud with him:



saying; as follows.





Exodus 25:2



Ver. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel,.... That is, when he should go down from the mountain to the camp:



that they bring me an offering; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call it a "separation": something separated from their substance, and devoted to the service of God, and for the use of the sanctuary afterwards to be built:



of every man that giveth it willingly, with his heart, ye shall take my offering; or take what was offered to him, be it more or less, and of whatsoever person, high and low, rich and poor, so be it it is freely given from the heart; not grudgingly or through force, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; and in such manner did David and his people many hundreds of years after this offer towards building of the temple, and the vessels belonging to that, see 1Ch 29:6 according to the Jewish writers, none but the children of Israel were to offer to this service, and only such who knew what they did; for thus they criticize on the words,



"speak unto the children of "Israel": this exempts an Heathen and an idolater; "of every man"; this excludes a little one; "that giveth it willingly with his heart"; this exempts a deaf and dumb man, and a fool, because they have no knowledge to offer freely {z}''



however, this we may learn from hence, that whatever we do for the worship and service of God, we should do it freely, cheerfully, and cordially; for God loves a cheerful giver; and if this was required under the legal dispensation, it is much more necessary and obligatory under the Gospel dispensation, and more suitable to it where all things are done and given freely of God, and such large blessings of grace are liberally bestowed by him on persons undeserving.



{z} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Trumot, c. 1. sect. 1.





Exodus 25:3



Ver. 3. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them,.... That is, some one or other of the following things were to be taken of each of them that had a heart, and it was in the power of their hands to give; it was not expected that something of each of these should be had of everyone, but every man was to give, and it was to be received of him, what of these would suit him best to bestow, some one thing, some another, as they were possessed of, and had a heart to give; and for which service many of them were abundantly supplied with what they had brought out of Egypt; and as it was the Lord that gave them favour in the eyes of the Egyptians to lend or give them the riches they had, they were under the greater obligation to part with somewhat of it freely for his service; and especially as it would be to the spiritual profit and advantage both of them and theirs:



gold and silver, and brass; "gold", for those things that were to he made of gold; as the mercy seat and cherubim, the candlestick, &c. or were covered with it, as the ark, the shewbread table, and other things; and silver, for those that were made of that, as the silver sockets to the boards of the tabernacle, the silver trumpets, &c. and "brass" for the altar of burnt offering, its pans, shovels, basins, rings, and staves, and other things: Aben Ezra rightly observes, that no mention is made of iron, there being no use of that for anything in the tabernacle to be made of it; as also there was not in the temple of Solomon, and where there was not so much as a tool of iron heard in it while it was building, 1Ki 6:7 it may be, because instruments of war, slaughtering weapons, were made of iron; and to show that God is the God of peace in his sanctuary, and so in all the churches: gold and silver vessels the Israelites borrowed or begged of the Egyptians, and brought them with them when they came out of Egypt, Ex 11:2.





Exodus 25:4



Ver. 4. And blue, and purple, and scarlet,.... The Jewish doctors are much divided about the sense of the words so rendered by us; some will have one colour, and some another meant; but, according to those learned men, who have taken much pains in searching into the meaning of them, as Bochart and Braunius, it appears that our version of them is most correct: and by these we are not to understand the colours themselves, which could not be brought, nor even the materials for dying them are intended; but wool, or clothes, either silken or linen of those colours: of the former the apostle has taught us to expound them, Heb 9:19 and so Jarchi interprets them of wool thus died, and Josephus {a} also; which was made up into yarn, and wove, and was much used in the garments of the priests, in the curtains of the tabernacle, and in the vail between the holy and the most holy place:



and fine linen; the best of which was made in Egypt only, as Aben Ezra says, and much wore there, especially by the priests; and they had such an abundance of it that they traded to other nations with it, see

Isa 19:9 and of which the Israelites might bring a considerable quantity with them out of Egypt; and



goats' [hair]; though the word hair is not in the text, it is rightly supplied, as it is by the Septuagint version, and others, for not goats themselves, but their hair must be meant; of this the curtains for the covering of the tabernacle were made; Jarchi interprets it the down of goats, the short, small, fine hair that grows under the other.



{a} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 1.





Exodus 25:5



Ver. 5. And rams' skins died red,.... Of these were made a covering for the tent or tabernacle:



and badgers' skins, which were for the same use: the Septuagint version calls them hyacinth or blue skins; according to which, they seem to be the rams' skins died blue; and so Josephus {b} seems to have understood it; and it is much questionable whether the same creature is meant we call the badger, since that with the Israelites was an unclean creature; nor is its skin made use of for shoes, or well could be, as the skin of this creature is said to be, Eze 16:10. Jarchi says it was a kind of beast only at that time; and Aben Ezra says, it was known in those days but not now: and



shittim wood; supposed by the Jewish writers, as Kimchi {c}, and Ben Melech from him, to be the best and most excellent kind of cedar: Aben Ezra conjectures, and he delivers it but as a conjecture, that there might be near Mount Sinai a forest of "shittim" trees; and while the Israelites were there they cut them down for booths, which they might carry with them when they removed from thence; for, he says, Moses did not speak of the tabernacle till after the day of atonement: and since Acacia is by much the largest and the most common tree of the deserts of Arabia, as Dr. Shaw {d} observes, he thinks there some reason to conjecture, that the "shittim wood", whereof the several utensils of the tabernacle, &c. were made, was the wood of Acacia: and long ago it was the opinion of Cordus {e} that the "shittim wood" was the Acacia of Dioscorides; and it is the same with the Senton or Santon of the Arabians, which is the Egyptian thorn that grows in the wilderness, of which Herodotus {f} says, they cut wood of two cubits out of and make ships of burden of it: this is said to grow in the parts of Egypt at a distance from the sea; in the mountains of Sinai, at the Red sea, about Suez, in the barren wilderness; which circumstances seem to determine it to be the "shittim wood" {g}: some places where it might grow in plenty seem to have had their names from it, see

Nu 25:1.



{b} Ut supra. (Antiq. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 1.) {c} Sepher Shorash. rad. jwv {d} Travels, p. 144. Ed. 2. {e} Apud Drus. Heb. Adag. Decur. 3. Adag. 4. {f} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 96. {g} Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 204.





Exodus 25:6



Ver. 6. Oil for the light,.... For the light of the lamps in the candlestick: this was oil olive, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, see Ex 27:20,



spices for anointing oil; for the anointing of Aaron and his sons, and the tabernacle and its vessels, such as pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia:



and for sweet incense; as stacte, onycha, and galbanum; from whence they had this oil and these spices, it is not easy to say, unless they brought them out of Egypt with them; which is likely, since the deserts of Arabia could not furnish them with them.





Exodus 25:7



Ver. 7. Onyx stones,.... So called from their likeness to the nail of a man's finger: the Targum of Onkelos calls them stones of beryl; and the Targum of Jonathan gems of beryl; and the Septuagint version, stones of sardius; and some take them to be the sardonyx stones, which have a likeness both to the onyx and to the sardius:



and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate; two onyx stones were set in the ephod, one of the garments of the high priest, and an onyx stone, with eleven other precious stones, were set in the breastplate of the high priest: these stones were doubtless among the jewels set in gold and silver the Israelites had of the Egyptians, and brought with them out of Egypt.





Exodus 25:8



Ver. 8. And let them make me a sanctuary,.... An holy place to dwell in, and so called from his dwelling in it, as follows:



that I may dwell amongst them; in the midst of them, where the tabernacle was always placed; and there he dwelt as their King and their God, to whom they might have recourse on all occasions, and whom they should serve and worship; this sanctuary was to be made of many of the materials before mentioned by the Israelites, whom Moses should employ, and to whom he should give directions for the making it, according to the pattern showed him: and so the Jewish writers interpret "make me", or "to me", i.e. of mine, of mine holy things, things sanctified and separated to his use; and they bring this passage to prove that the workmen in the temple were to be paid only out of the holy things, or money given for the repair of it {h}: this was a type of the human nature of Christ, the true sanctuary and tabernacle which God pitched and not man, and in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily; and of the church of God, the temple of the living God, among whom he walks, and with whom he dwells, Heb 8:2.



{h} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Temurah, c. 7. sect. 1.





Exodus 25:9



Ver. 9. According to all that I show thee,.... That is, the sanctuary was to be made in all respects exactly according to the view of it that Moses now had upon the mount from God, and which he was to communicate to the workmen for their instruction and direction;



after the pattern of the tabernacle, and of the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it: and by the "pattern" is not meant an idea of it, impressed on the mind of Moses, or a picture of it which was shown him, but a little edifice representing it in all its parts, a perfect model of it: and so Maimonides {i} says, "Tabnith", the word here used, signifies the structure and disposition of anything, i.e. the form of it in a four square, in roundness, in a triangle, or in any of the like figures, see Heb 8:5 and so David had, by the Spirit, a pattern of the temple, and which he gave to his son Solomon, to build according to it, 1Ch 28:11.



{i} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 3.





Exodus 25:10



Ver. 10. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood,.... A chest or coffer to put things into, and into this were to be put the two tables of stone on which the law was written, and it was to be made of the wood before mentioned, Ex 25:5 this was a very eminent type of Christ, with whom the name of an ark, chest, or coffer where treasure lies, agrees; for the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and the riches of grace, even all the fulness of it, lie in him; and all the epithets of this ark are suitable to him, as when it is called the ark of God, the ark of his strength, the glory of God, the face of God, Jehovah, and God himself, the holy ark, and ark of the covenant: and its being made of "shittim wood", which is an incorruptible wood, a wood that rots not, by which the Septuagint version here, and in Ex 25:5 and elsewhere render it, may denote the duration of Christ in his person, and the natures united in it; in his divine nature, from everlasting to everlasting, he is God; in his human nature he saw no corruption, and though he died he lived again, and lives for evermore; in his offices, as Mediator, Redeemer, Saviour, prophet, priest, and King, he abideth for ever; and in his grace and the fulness of it, which, like himself, is the same today, yesterday, and forever:



two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof; if this cubit was a common cubit, consisting of a foot and a half or eighteen inches, then the length of this ark was forty five inches, and its breadth and height twenty seven each; according to Dr. Cumberland {k}, the Egyptian and Jewish cubit was above twenty one inches, and then the ark must be fifty three inches long or more, and thirty two and three quarters broad and high, or more: and Josephus {l} says, the length of it was five spans, and the breadth and height of it three spans each.



{k} Of Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 2. p. 34, 56. {l} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 5.





Exodus 25:11



Ver. 11. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold,.... Not gild it, but put a plate of pure gold over it:



within and without shalt thou overlay it; so that nothing of the wood could be seen: this may denote the glory of Christ in both his natures, divine and human, the riches of his person and office, which are unsearchable and durable, and his preciousness to them that believe, So 5:10,



and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about: or a cornish of pure gold upon it, every way, which was a square on which the mercy seat was set; which may point at the honour and glory of Christ, especially in his kingly office, who has indeed on his head many crowns; one a crown of pure gold, his divine Father has set upon him; another which the church has crowned him with, and indeed both angels and saints cast their crowns at his feet, and set the crown on his head, or give him the glory of all they have and are.





Exodus 25:12



Ver. 12. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it,.... For which a mould was to be made, and the gold being melted was poured into it, and so the rings were fashioned:



and put them in the corners thereof; or, "in its feet", as Aben Ezra, though Jarchi says it had no feet; but as the word used so signifies always, it is more probable it had feet; and the rather, that it might not stand upon the ground, but on feet, as chests and coffers usually do:



and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it; Jarchi says, at the upper corners, near the mercy seat were they placed, two on one side and two on the other, at the breadth of the ark; but it is more likely they were fixed in the lower part of it, as Ramban, at the feet of it; and in the length of the ark, as Josephus writes {m}.



{m} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 5





Exodus 25:13



Ver. 13. And thou shall make staves of shittim wood,.... Of the same, wood the ark was made of, see Ex 25:5 and overlay them with gold; cover them with plates of gold, so that they appeared to be all of gold, the wood being not to be seen.





Exodus 25:14



Ver. 14. And thou shall put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark,.... This shows for what use the rings were; namely, to put the staves into them and the use of the staves thus put was,



that the ark might be borne with them; which staves overlaid with gold, and put into golden rings, figured the ministers of Christ, enriched with the gifts and graces of his Spirit, and possessed of the truths of the Gospel, more precious than gold and silver; who bear the name of Christ, and carry his Gospel into the several parts of the world.





Exodus 25:15



Ver. 15. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark,.... Not only be put into them, but remain in them, yea, always:



they shall not be taken from it; or, as the Septuagint version is, be immovable; so that those gold rings in the ark may signify the churches of Christ, which are instrumental to bear his name, and spread his truth in the world, comparable to rings for their circular form, being the purest and most perfect bodies of men on earth, and to gold rings for their worth and value, preciousness, excellency, and duration; and with whom the ministers of the Gospel, comparable to golden staves, are always to be, and never depart from them: or else they may signify the perfect and precious doctrines of Christ, in which his ministers are always to be; either in meditation on them, or in preaching of them, and by which they are always to abide, see 1Ti 4:15.





Exodus 25:16



Ver. 16. And thou shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give thee. Which was the principal use of it: by the "testimony" is meant the law, written on two tables of stone; so called, because it was a testification of the mind and will of God, what he would have done or omitted; and as the Israelites had declared their approbation of it, and assent unto it, and had promised obedience to it, therefore, should they transgress it, it would be a testimony against them: now this was put into the ark, and preserved there, see De 10:1, which may signify that the law was in the heart of Christ, and which he undertook to fulfil, and with pleasure did it; that he is become the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness to them that believe in him; and that it remains with him as a rule of walk and conversation to his people, so far as it is of a moral, holy, and spiritual nature.





Exodus 25:17



Ver. 17. And thou shall make a mercy seat of pure gold,.... Or "covering" {n}; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; for so the word properly signifies; and what is meant was no more than a cover of the ark, which was open at the top, and this was the lid of it, and exactly answered to it, as appears by the dimensions afterwards given of it; and because the root of this word in one form signifies to propitiate or make atonement, some render it the "propitiatory" or "propitiation" {o}; which is favoured by the apostle in Heb 9:5 and to which he seems to refer, Ro 3:25 and the rather since God is represented sitting on this, as showing himself propitious and well pleased with men, by his communing with them from hence; the Septuagint version takes in both senses, rendering it the "propitiatory covering" {p}: this being called by what name it will, was typical of Christ; he is the seat of mercy, or, as it is in the New Testament expressed, the throne of grace; whereon, or in whom God shows himself to be gracious and merciful to the children of men; all the stores of mercy are in him, and all the vessels of mercy are put into his hands; the mercy of God is displayed in the mission of him as a Saviour, and is glorified by him in a way consistent with his justice and holiness; through him only special mercy is communicated to sinful men, to whom God is only merciful in Christ: and Christ himself is all mercy to his people; his ways of old were mercy and truth, and all his works, especially

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 26:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 26



In this chapter a description is given of the tabernacle itself, and first of its inward curtains, of their number, matter, length, and breadth, and the manner of coupling them together, Ex 26:1, and then of the outward curtains of it, their number, matter, length, and breadth, and coupling, and how disposed of, Ex 26:7, and next of the two coverings of the tabernacle, of rams' skins and badgers' skins, Ex 22:14, the boards for the tabernacle are also described, with their tenons and sockets, Ex 26:15 and the bars and rings for it, by which it was kept firm together,

Ex 26:26, an account is given of the vail between the holy and the most holy place, Ex 26:31, and of the hanging for the door of the tabernacle, Ex 26:36.



Ver. 1. Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle,.... Which he was ordered to make before, the pattern of which was shown him in the mount: this was an habitation for God to dwell in, as the word properly signifies, and into which the furniture before described was to be put; this tabernacle was a type both of the human nature of Christ, which is the true tabernacle which God pitched, and not man, the greater and more perfect one, Heb 8:2 in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, where the glory of God is seen, in whom he grants his gracious presence to his people, and accepts of them and their sacrifices of prayer and praise; and also of the church of God,

Ps 43:3. Here Jehovah dwells, grants his presence to his people, and comes and blesses them; here he is worshipped, and spiritual sacrifices are offered up to him with acceptance: the tabernacle of Moses was made



[with] ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; the ground of these curtains was fine linen, twined or doubled: and the Jewish writers, as Maimonides, Ben Gersom, and others, say it was six times doubled, the word "Shesh", here used, signifying six; and this was interwoven with threads of yarn dyed blue, purple, and scarlet; according to Jarchi, the threads of which this tapestry was made were twenty four times doubled: he observes,



"there were four sorts in every thread, one thread of fine linen, and three of wool, and every thread was doubled six times; lo, the four sorts, when they were twined together, there were twenty four double to a thread;''



which if so, must make a stuff of a very great consistence and stiffness. This, as applied to the human nature of Christ, the fine linen may denote the purity of it; the various colours the different graces of the Spirit, with which it is adorned; or else the wounds, bruises, bloodshed, sufferings and death he endured in it: as applied to the church, may signify the clothing of the saints with the righteousness of Christ, that fine linen clean and white, and their being washed in his precious blood, and beautified with the graces of his Spirit:



with cherubim of cunning work shall thou make them; that is, with figures like those of the cherubim on the mercy seat, so disposed by the curious art and contrivance of the weaver, as to appear on both sides of this tapestry; for this was not wrought by a needle, which only shows the figure on one side, but by weaving, as Jarchi observes; and who says, that there was one figure on one side, and another on another; as, for instance, a lion on one side, and an eagle on the other; or, which is more likely, the same figure was seen on both sides, as Maimonides affirms, who says {e}, the work called Chosheb (which is what is here spoken of) is that whose figures appear on both sides, before and behind: this in the mystical sense may point either to the ministration of angels to Christ in his human nature, and to his people the heirs of salvation; or else to the service of Gospel ministers, done for the honour and glory of Christ, and the good of his church and people: Josephus {f} thinks these curtains had a mystical meaning in them, and represent the nature of the elements, and so Philo {g}.



{e} Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 15. {f} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 7. {g} De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 667.





Exodus 26:2



Ver. 2. The length of one curtain shall be twenty eight cubits,.... Or fourteen yards:



and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; or two yards; according to the common notion of a cubit being half a yard; but if, as Dr. Cumberland says, the Jewish and Egyptian cubit was three inches longer, this will make a considerable difference in the length and breadth of those curtains, especially in the former:



and everyone of the curtains shall have one measure; be of equal length and breadth.





Exodus 26:3



Ver. 3. The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another,.... Five of the ten curtains were to be sewed together, and make as it were one curtain:



and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another: the other five were to be joined together in like manner, and so made two large pieces of tapestry of fourteen yards long and ten broad, according to the common account of a cubit, but were much longer and broader.





Exodus 26:4



Ver. 4. And thou shall make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain,.... The first large curtain, consisting of five sewed together, at the edge of that:



from the selvedge in the coupling; where it was to be coupled with the other great curtain; "loops" or "eyelet holes" {h}, were to be made: these were not wove with the curtains, for they were not to be upon all of them, only at the two outermost of the largest ones, and therefore were made afterwards, probably with the needle:



and likewise shall thou make in the uppermost edge of [another] curtain, in the coupling of the second; loops also were to be made on the outermost edge of another curtain belonging to the second great curtain, where it was to be coupled with the first.



{h} tall "ocellos", Vatablus.





Exodus 26:5



Ver. 5. Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain,.... In the first great curtain, or in the outermost of the five that were sewed together:



and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; as many also were to be made in the outermost of the second great curtain where it was to be coupled with the first:



that the loops may take hold one of another; or rather that they might answer to one another in both curtains; for the loops could not take hold of one another, only were made to meet together by the taches, hooks, or clasps put into them, next mentioned.





Exodus 26:6



Ver. 6. And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold,.... Which some render "buttons" {i}, others "hooks" {k} they seem to be "clasps"; the use of them follows:



and couple the curtains together with the taches; the two great curtains were made out of the ten, which had in them fifty



{i} yorq "fibulas", Tigurine version, Vatablus {k} "Uncinos", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan.





Exodus 26:7



Ver. 7. And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair,.... Jarchi calls it the flower or down of goats, the softer and finer part of their hair, which was spun by women, as appears from Ex 35:26, and was made up into a stuff somewhat like our camelot; these curtains were coarser than the former, and were made to be put over them, to preserve them from the weather, as it follows:



to be a covering upon the tabernacle: which, by the curtains of linen coupled together, became one tabernacle, as in the preceding verse: and these curtains were to be a tent or covering over them: they were somewhat like, being made of the same matter, with the coverings with which the ancient Arabs covered their tents, which were made of goats' hair, as were the tents of Kedar alluded to in So 1:5, these curtains of goats' hair denote the outward appearance of Christ in human nature, who, attended with all human infirmities, excepting sin, was in the form of a servant, in great meanness and poverty, covered with reproach, and had in the greatest contempt, and especially at the time of his sufferings and death; though all rich and glorious within, full of grace, and of all the blessings of grace, of righteousness and life, of light, joy, peace, and comfort for his people; and may also denote the mean appearance of the church and people of God outwardly; being, generally speaking, a poor and an afflicted people, subject to the scorn, reproach, and persecutions of men, but all glorious within, enriched with the grace of God and righteousness of Christ; and so, in one respect, like these curtains of goats' hair, and, in another respect, like the curtains of fine linen:



eleven curtains shalt thou make; one more than the other; the reason of which was, that there might be one at the entrance of the tabernacle, there being no linen curtain there, see Ex 26:9.





Exodus 26:8



Ver. 8. The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits,.... The breadth of them is the same with the linen curtains, but the length of them two cubits more; the reason of which was, that they might hang down lower on either side, and the better preserve them from any injury:



and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure; as to length and breadth.





Exodus 26:9



Ver. 9. And thou shall couple five curtains by themselves,.... And make one large curtain of them, as was ordered with respect to the linen curtains:



and six curtains by themselves; as there were eleven of them, such a division was made of five into one large curtain, and six into another; and as that which had six in it would reach further than the other, provision is made for the disposal and use of that as follows:



and shall double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle; at the entrance of it, in the east end of it; the sixth curtain reaching to that, and hanging down, was turned up, and so doubled, opposite the door or entrance; and was, as Jarchi says, like a modest bride that covers her face with a vail, which before this had no covering; for thus it was, as Dr. Lightfoot {m} describes it, the holy place was ten yards long, and the five curtains sewed together were just so broad, and so they covered only the top and the sides, but hung not down at the end, which was eastward--but the six (goat hair curtains) that lay east reached to the end, covered the pillars whereon that vail hung, and they hung half a curtain's breadth or a yard over the entrance.



{m} Works, vol. 1. p. 718.





Exodus 26:10



Ver. 10. And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain, that is outmost in the coupling,.... Just in like manner, and in the same place where they were ordered to be put on the linen curtains, only these are not said to be of blue, but perhaps were wrought with goats hair: and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second; these loops were set on each of the curtains where the two large pieces were to be coupled together.





Exodus 26:11



Ver. 11. And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass,.... As these curtains were coarser, and also the loops, so the taches, hooks, or clasps, were made of meaner metal, but answered the purpose of joining and coupling together full as well: and put the taches into the loops; one end of the hook or clasp into the loop on one of the curtains, and the other end of the hook or clasp into the loop on the other curtain answering to it: and couple the tent together, that it may be one; that the tent or covering over the tabernacle might be one, as the tabernacle by the like means was, Ex 26:6.





Exodus 26:12



Ver. 12. And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent,.... Of the goat hair curtains, which were one more than the linen curtains:



the half curtain that remaineth; for the other half extended to the east end of it, at the entrance of the tabernacle, and hung down and was doubled there, and the other that remained is here disposed of:



shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle; the west end of it, where was the holy of holies; or rather, as Dr. Lightfoot {n} describes it, thus, it was when those curtains (of goats' hair) were laid upon the other over the tabernacle; they were not laid as these brazen loops (clasps it should be) did light just upon the golden ones over the vail, but three quarters of a yard more westward, so that the five curtains that went west did reach to the ground and half a curtain to spare, Ex 26:12 the other six that lay east reached to the end, covered the pillars whereon that vail hung, and they hung half a curtain's breadth or a yard over the entrance.



{n} Works, vol. 1. p. 719.





Exodus 26:13



Ver. 13. And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side o that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent,.... The curtains of the tent, or the goat hair curtains, were two cubits longer than the other, and these are the two cubits, one on one side and the other on the other, which remained, and by which they were longer than the linen curtains:



it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle; the north and south sides: on this side,



and on that side, to cover it; and as the above learned doctor observes {o}, their length of fifteen yards reached half a yard lower on either side than the other curtains did, and yet they came not to the ground by a quarter of a yard; so that the silver foundations (of which afterwards) were always plain to be seen everywhere but at the west end.



{o} Works, vol. 1. p. 719.





Exodus 26:14



Ver. 14. And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red,.... This was a covering that was put over the curtains of goats' skin; but whether it went all over them, or only upon the roof of the tabernacle they covered, to keep out the rains from soaking through, is not certain, nor very evident; Jarchi thinks the roof was only covered with this covering of rams' skins; but others think it more reasonable that the whole was covered with them to preserve from dust and rain:



and a covering above of badgers' skins; of these skins

See Gill on "Ex 25:5", this was a fourth covering of the tabernacle; the first was of linen curtains, the second of goats' hair, the third of rams' skins, and the fourth of badgers' skins, which seems to have been thicker and courser, since shoes were made of them, Eze 16:10, R. Judah, as quoted by Jarchi, thinks the two last were but one covering, half of it consisting of rams' skins and half of it of badgers' skins; but the text is express that the latter was a covering above and over the former: these several coverings of the tabernacle show the care that God takes of his church and people, and how sufficiently they are provided for, that they may be in safety from all their enemies, being clothed with Christ's righteousness, and under the purple covering of his blood, and surrounded by his almighty power, see Isa 4:5.





Exodus 26:15



Ver. 15. And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle,.... Which were the pillars and supports, and properly the walls of it, which gave it its firmness and security, or otherwise the curtains would have been blown about by every wind: they were to be made



of shittim wood standing up; just as they grew, as a Jewish writer observes {p}; these planks or boards were not to be laid along the lengthways of them, but to be set upright; and may denote such who are pillars in the house of God, and are to be upright both in heart and conversation, both ministers and private members; and indeed the church itself is the pillar and ground of truth, Ga 2:9.



{p} Bartenora in Misn. Succa, c. 3. sect. 14.





Exodus 26:16



Ver. 16. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board,.... Or five yards, according to the common cubit:



and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board; or three quarters of a yard; and from hence we may learn what were the height and the length of the tabernacle; according to the common computation of a cubit, it was but five yards high and fifteen long, since there were but twenty boards on each side, Ex 26:18, but if three inches are added to each cubit, it will make its measures considerably larger: Josephus {q} says the boards were four fingers thick: according to Bishop Cumberland the boards of the tabernacle, containing fifteen Jewish square cubits, were very near fifty English square feet in their length and breadth.



{q} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 3.





Exodus 26:17



Ver. 17. Two tenons shall there be on one board,.... Every board was to be so cut and shaped at the lower end of it, as to have, as it were, "two hands" {r}, as in the original, to enter into, lay hold on, and fasten in mortises:



set in order one against another; at a proper distance from each other, as the rounds of a ladder:



thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle; everyone was to have two tenons.



{r} twdy ytv "duae manus", Montanus.





Exodus 26:18



Ver. 18. And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle,.... As in the manner before described, so in number as follows:



twenty boards on the south side southward; which being a cubit and a half broad, made the length of the tabernacle fifteen yards according to the common account; but if these were cubits of twenty one inches, then its length was much greater.





Exodus 26:19



Ver. 19. And thou shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards,.... Or bases {s}, and which were properly the foundation of the tabernacle, on which it was settled and established; these sockets were the mortises for the two tenons of each board or plank to be placed in, and were as broad as the plank, and, joining each other, made one entire basis for the whole structure; each socket contained a talent of silver, and was made of the silver given at the numbering of the people, Ex 38:25, and a talent of silver, according to Bishop Cumberland, amounted to three hundred and fifty three pounds, eleven shillings and some odd pence of our money: by which may be judged the whole value of this silver foundation, which, with the four sockets of the vail, consisted of one hundred of them, which answer to the one hundred talents of silver collected at the above offering:



two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons; and so in all the twenty boards, which took up the whole forty on the south side.



{s} ynda "bases", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Drusius.





Exodus 26:20



Ver. 20. And for the second side of the tabernacle the north side,.... The direction of the tabernacle was east and west; at the east end was the entrance into the holy place, and at the west end the holy of holies; and the two sides were north and south; and as on the south side, so on the north



[there shall be] twenty boards: just the same number as the laws of building required.





Exodus 26:21



Ver. 21. And their forty sockets of silver,.... answerable to the twenty boards, for their two tenons to be placed in as in mortises: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board; and so under all the boards on the north side as on the south.





Exodus 26:22



Ver. 22. And for the sides of the tabernacle,.... Or the ends of it, the east and west, and the account begins with the west:



westward thou shalt make six boards; so that the breadth of the tabernacle was but nine cubits, or four yards and a half, according to a common cubit; but two boards more placed at the two corners of the sides, next observed, added to the breadth of it.





Exodus 26:23



Ver. 23. And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. For the northwest and southwest corners, in the north and south sides; concerning which Dr. Lightfoot thus writes {t}: and the west end had six planks entire, besides a plank at either corner, joining end and sides together; these corner planks were of the same breadth that all the others were, and, thus set, the middle of the breadth of the one plank was laid close to the end of the south side, or to that plank that was furthest west; so that a quarter of a yard of the breadth of the corner plank was inward, to make up the tabernacle breadth, a quarter was taken up with the thickness of the side plank to which it joined, and a quarter lay outward: thus at the southwest, just so was it at the northwest corner: then count; the two corner planks were inward a quarter of a yard apiece, and the six planks that stood between them of three quarters apiece, behold five yards, just the breadth of the house between wall and wall: these corners knit end and side together, and were the strength of the building; as, adds he,



"Christ is of his church, making Jews and Gentiles one spiritual temple.''



{t} Ut supra. (Works, vol 1. p. 719.)





Exodus 26:24



Ver. 24. And they shall be coupled together beneath,.... At the bottom of the boards or planks:



and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring at the top of the boards there was a ring, to which they were coupled and fastened, and so at the bottom of them, though not expressed: some understand this of all the planks, both at the two sides and at the west end; but it seems rather to respect only the corner planks, since it follows:



thus shall it be for them both, they shall be for the two corners; which were coupled and joined alike at each corner as if they were twins, as the word used signifies; or the meaning is, that these were double boards, and so like twins, which were so closely put together that they seemed but one board; which was done that the corners might be thicker and stronger, and so for the greater firmness of the building.





Exodus 26:25



Ver. 25. And they shall be eight boards,.... Six at the west end and one at each corner, northwest and southwest:



and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets the same as those for the boards on both sides north and south: they were of the same metal, silver; and they were two under one board, to receive its two tenons as follows:



two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board; and so under all eight, and which sockets joining with those of the two sides, and in all made ninety six, were the basis and foundation of the tabernacle, and was a figure of Christ, the only foundation of his church and people; and the several tenons of the boards joined into those sockets of silver may denote the union of the members of Christ and ministers of his word to him, and their dependence on him.





Exodus 26:26



Ver. 26. And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood, &e.] Which being put into rings or staples of gold, kept the boards tight, close, and firm together:



five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle: for instance, the south side; four of these were placed, two at the upper end of the boards, and two at the lower end, and the fifth in the middle, particularly taken notice of, Ex 26:28, how long these bars were it is not said, but it is reasonable to conclude that they reached the length of the tabernacle, which was thirty cubits; and as it was not easy to get bars of such a length, the notion of Josephus {u} perhaps, may be right, that each two consisted of divers parts which joined one another, the head of one entering into the hollow of the other and as he supposes they were five cubits long, a row of them must have six parts, which went along the sides, north and south, and the west end two, which was but ten cubits.



{u} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 3.)





Exodus 26:27



Ver. 27. And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle,.... Suppose the north, these bars were disposed of in the same manner as those on the south side:



and five bars for the boards of that side of the tabernacle; or the end of it, the west end, as follows:



for the two sides westward; that is, the two corners at the west end, the southwest and the northwest corners; and these five bars reached from the one to the other, two at the upper part of the boards, and two at the lower part, and one in the middle.





Exodus 26:28



Ver. 28. And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. From east to west, as Jarchi interprets it; but this can only be said of the middle bar on the north and south sides of the tabernacle, for the middle bar at the west end was north to south: about this bar there is some difficulty, as that it is said to be "from end to end", as if that only was; whereas it is reasonable to suppose that the rest were so likewise; it may be, they might come somewhat short of reaching the end, whereas this did entirely; or rather the truer reason is, because the rest of the bars consisted of various parts; whereas this was a long bar of one entire piece, reaching from one end of the tabernacle to the other: likewise it is said to be "in the midst of the boards"; and the Jewish writers are generally of opinion, that it did not run along in rings as the other bars did, but the boards and planks being bored, this went through the thickness of the wood throughout; and in this they are followed by Arias Moatanus, Vatablus, Dr. Lightfoot, and others: but to this it may be objected, that the boards must be very thick indeed, even incredibly so, to admit of such a bore as to let in a bar of this kind, and is not so consistent with its being a portable house; and besides, when it was at any time taken down, in order to be removed, such a bar must give a great deal of trouble, and be in danger of being broke to pieces; besides, if it was thus covered in the boards, as it must be, what need was there that it should be overlaid with gold, as in the next verse? it is more probable, therefore, that it went not through the midst of the thickness of the wood, but in the middle of the length of the planks, and so expresses its different situation from the rest of the bars, which were at or towards the top and bottom of the planks, and this in the middle of them. It is not said of these bars, whether they were within or on the outside of the tabernacle; it is most likely they were on the outside, as Josephus {w} says they were; since they would not have made a good appearance within side, where they would have been always seen by the priests within, whereas being without they were covered with the curtains.



{w} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 3.)





Exodus 26:29



Ver. 29. And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold,.... Not merely gild them, but cover them with thin plates of gold; and which, because it would take up a great quantity of gold, and make the boards very heavy, unless the plates were very thin, when they were taken down and carried from place to place, some have thought they were only glided:



and make their rings of gold, [for] places for the bars; these were made of solid gold, and were as staples to let the bars into: and, according to Jarchi, there were two rings to every board:



and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold: cover them with plates of gold; and these bars and staples of gold show how compact and firm the church of God is, through his almighty power, as well as how glorious and splendid it is by his grace.





Exodus 26:30



Ver. 30. And thou shall rear up the tabernacle,.... When thus finished, and all the furniture belonging to it completed:



according to the fashion thereof, which was showed thee in the mount; this is the third time that this is observed to Moses in the account of the tabernacle; which shows how punctually God would have the pattern observed he had given him, and that all things might be particularly and exactly done according to it, see Heb 8:5.





Exodus 26:31



Ver. 31. And thou shalt make a vail,.... The use of this, as follows, was to divide the holy place from the most holy place in the tabernacle; it has its name from hardness, it being very stiff and strong, for it was made of thread six times doubled, and was four fingers thick, as the Jewish writers say: this vail may represent the sin of man, which separates between God and man, was removed by the death of Christ when the vail was rent, and so the way to heaven opened; or the obscurity of the legal dispensation, the Gospel being veiled under the shadows of the law, and the way into the holiest of all then not so manifest, and particularly the ceremonial law, which separated between Jew and Gentile, and is now abolished by the death of Christ; or rather it was typical of the human nature of Christ, his flesh, called in allusion to it the vail of his flesh, Heb 10:20. This vail was made of



blue, and purple, and scarlet, of fine twined linen of cunning work; it seems to have been made of the same materials, and in the same curious manner of workmanship with the curtains of the tabernacle, Ex 26:1, and was itself no other than a curtain, and so it is interpreted by some Jewish writers {x}. It being made of "fine linen" denotes the purity of Christ, of his nature, life, and righteousness; of "twined linen", his strength, courage and steadiness; "of blue, purple, and scarlet", the several graces of the Spirit, with which his human nature was adorned, his flaming zeal for his Father's glory and the good of his people, his bloody wounds, sufferings, and death, the preciousness of his blood, the dignity of his person, and his glorious exaltation, purple and scarlet being the colours wore by kings:



with cherubim shall it be made; signifying either the ministration of angels to him in his incarnate state, or the mission of Gospel ministers by him, see Ps 139:15.



{x} Vid. R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 37. 2.





Exodus 26:32



Ver. 32. And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold,.... For it was ten cubits long, and as many broad; and being of such a stiffness and thickness as it was, required so many pillars to support it: these pillars may signify the deity of Christ, which is the support of his human nature, and in which it has its personal subsistence, and gives all its actions and sufferings virtue and efficacy; and being of "shittim wood", which is incorruptible, may denote his eternity, and being covered with gold, his glory:



their hooks shall be of gold; which were upon the tops of the pillars on which the vail was hung: and the pillars were



upon the four sockets of silver; which were properly the pedestals or feet of the pillars; and these sockets, into which the pillars were let and placed, and the hooks the vail hung by, may hint to the union of the two natures in Christ, who is God and man in one person, God manifest in the flesh; see So 5:15.





Exodus 26:33



Ver. 33. And thou shall hang up the vail under the taches,.... Or clasps, which coupled the two grand curtains, or pieces of tapestry, each consisting of five curtains, of which the tabernacle was made,

Ex 26:6, and by this it seems that the place where they met, and were clasped, was where the vail was hung between the holy and the most holy place: for, as Dr. Lightfoot {y} observes, according to the division of the house was the division of the curtains, the vail that parted the holy from the most holy was hung just under the golden clasps that knit the five curtains together; so that five curtains lay over the holy place, and the other five over the most holy; but with this difference, the holy place was ten yards long, and the five curtains sewed together were just so broad, and so they covered only the top and sides, but hung not down at the end which was eastward; but the most holy was but five yards long, and the five curtains over that did not only cover the top, but also hung down at the west end to the silver bases; and of what he says of the goat hair curtains, and their brazen clasps or taches, and where they met, and what they covered, See Gill on "Ex 26:12",



that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony; the ark in which the testimony or law of God, testifying his will, was put; of which see Ex 25:10, &c. this was to be set in the most holy place, as being holy, spiritual, just, and good; and as being fulfilled by Christ, signified by the ark in which it was, through whose righteousness alone there is admission into the holy of holies, by which this law is fulfilled, magnified, and made honourable:



and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy; which was so thick, that there was no seeing through it; and none might enter by it into the holiest of all but the high priest, and he only on the day of atonement; and into the holy place might none come but the priests, to do the service of the sanctuary. The holy place was typical of the church on earth, where all the saints, who are priests to God, worship, and the most holy of heaven, the perfect state of bliss and happiness.



{y} Works, vol, 1. p. 718.





Exodus 26:34



Ver. 34. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon ark of the testimony,.... With the cherubim of glory overshadowing it; all which were a representation of the way of man's salvation flowing from the mercy and grace of God, through the propitiation by Christ, and his perfect righteousness, by which the law is fulfilled; and all this is published in the Gospel by the ministers of it, signified by the cherubim: and these are all the things that were "in the most holy place"; and they were placed at the west end of it.





Exodus 26:35



Ver. 35. And thou shalt set the table without the vail,.... The table of shewbread, of which see Ex 25:23, this was not to be within the vail, but without it, in the holy place: and the candlestick opposite the table, of which see Ex 25:31, &c. signifying, that in the church of God, in the present state of things, which the holy place was an emblem of, there are both food and light: the candlestick was placed



on the side of the tabernacle, toward the south; according to Jarchi, two cubits and a half from the side of it:



and thou shalt put the table on the north side; of the tabernacle, directly opposite the candlestick, two cubits and a half from the south side, as the same writer says;





Exodus 26:36



Ver. 36. And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent,.... At the east end of the tabernacle, which lay open and exposed, and for which as yet there was no provision; the west end of it, where stood the holy of holies, was enclosed with six boards, and two corner ones, Ex 26:22 and the linen curtains hung down there to the silver bases, and so did the curtains of goats' hair, even to the ground, and half a curtain to spare, see Ex 26:12 but for the east end, or entrance into the tabernacle, there was nothing till now ordered, only the sixth curtain of the goats' hair curtains was there turned up double, Ex 26:9, but now here an "hanging" is ordered, or rather a "covering" {z}, as the word signifies; Jarchi calls it a vail; and this was instead of a door to the tabernacle, and divided the holy place, into which only the priests might enter, from the place where the people stood and worshipped: and this also was made



of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as was the vail between the holy and the holy of holies; only with this difference, this was



wrought with needle work, and that was of "cunning work": the difference between these two, "Rokem" and "Chosheb", was, as Ben Melech from the Misnah relates, that "Rokem" is the work of a needle, and therefore but one face or figure is seen, that is, it is only seen on one side; but "Chosheb" is the work of a weaver, and therefore two faces or figures are seen, that is, they are seen on both sides; and with this account Maimonides agrees, See Gill on "Ex 26:1", besides this hanging, Josephus {a} tells us there was another of linen, of the same size with this, and which covered it, and preserved it from the weather, and which on festival days was turned back, that the people might have a prospect of the other; just as there were curtains of goats' hair to preserve the linen ones.



{z} Kom "operimentum", Montanus; "tegumentum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "velum", Tigurine version, Drusius. {a} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 4.





Exodus 26:37



Ver. 37. And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood,.... One at each corner of the entrance into the tabernacle, and the other three at a proper distance from each other, so as to make four ways for the priests to enter in at; as there might very well be, since there was a breadth of ten cubits, or five yards or more:



and overlay them with gold; with plates of gold, for a gild would soon wear off by continual use in passing and repassing. This is to be understood not of the whole pillars, but of the chapiters, heads, tops, or knobs of them, and of their fillets or girdles; in some parts of them the wood appearing, as is plain from Ex 36:38:



and their hooks shall be of gold; on which the hanging, covering, or vail was hung:



and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them; for the pillars to stand upon them, and were of a meaner metal than those on which the pillars for the vail before mentioned; that being the entrance into the holy of holies, where the divine Majesty dwelt, this into the holy place where the priests did their service.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 27:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27



This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Ex 27:1, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them,

Ex 27:9 and it is concluded with an order to the Israelites to bring oil olive for the lamp of the sanctuary, Ex 27:20.



Ver. 1. And thou shall make an altar of shittim wood,.... This is a different altar from that made of earth before the tabernacle was built,

Ex 20:24 and from the altar of incense, Ex 30:1 this was to offer burnt offerings on, and was placed at the door of the tabernacle, in the court of the people, where they brought their sacrifices to the priests to offer for them: it stood in the open air, as it was proper it should, that the smoke or the sacrifices might ascend up and scatter. This altar was not typical of the altar of the heart; though indeed all the saints are priests, and every sacrifice of theirs should come from the heart, and particularly love, which is more than all burnt offerings; but the heart is not this altar of brass to bear the fire of divine wrath, which none can endure; nor does it sanctify the gift, it being itself impure: nor of the Lord's table, or the table on which the Lord's supper is set; that is a table, and not an altar, a feast, and not a sacrifice; is not greater than the gift, nor does it sanctify: nor of the cross or Christ, on which he died, bore the sins or his people, and sanctified them by his blood; but of Christ himself, who by his office as a priest, his human nature is the sacrifice, and his divine nature the altar; and he is that altar believers in him have a right to eat of, Heb 13:10 his divine nature is greater than the human, is the support of it, which sanctifies and gives it virtue as a sacrifice, and which makes the sacrifices of all his people acceptable to God. This altar of burnt offering is said to be made of "shittim wood", a wood incorruptible and durable; Christ, as God, is from everlasting to everlasting; as man, though he once died, he now lives for evermore, and never did or will see corruption; his priesthood is an unchangeable priesthood, and passes not from one to another, and particularly his sacrifice is of a continual virtue and efficacy:



five cubits long, and five cubits broad: the altar shall be square: as to the length and breadth of it, which were alike, two yards and a half each, according to the common notion of a cubit. The altars of the Heathens were made in imitation of this, they were square as this was. Pausanias makes mention of an altar of Diana, that was tetragwnov "square", sensibly rising up on high. And this figure may denote the perfection of Christ's sacrifice, and the permanency of it; though the altars in Solomon's temple, and in the visions of Ezekiel, are much larger, and which also were square, 2Ch 4:1. Christ's sacrifice is large and extensive, making satisfaction for all his people, and for all their sins; and he is an altar large enough for all their sacrifices to be offered up to God with acceptance:



and the height thereof shall be three cubits; a proper height for a man to minister at; for as Aben Ezra observes, the height of a man is but four cubits ordinarily; so that a man serving at the altar would be a cubit, or half a yard more above it, and would have command of doing on it what he had to do.





Exodus 27:2



Ver. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof,.... Which were either for ornament, or for keeping what was laid upon the altar from falling off, or for the fastening of the sacrifice to them, and were what criminals fled to for refuge, and laid hold on; and may denote the power of Christ, who is the horn of salvation to preserve his people from a final falling away, and from ruin and destruction, and his protection of those that fly to him for refuge; and these horns being at the corners of the altar may respect the four parts of the world, from whence souls come to Christ for everlasting salvation:



his horns shall be of the same; that is, made of the same wood as the altar itself and so may lead to observe the like things: or "upwards out of it" {b}, the altar; prominent from it, as the Arabic version, and so the sacrifices could be bound to them, Ps 118:27:



and thou shalt overlay it with brass; with plates of brass, that it may endure the fire, and preserve the wood from being burnt with it; this may denote not only the brightness, lustre, and glory of Christ, like the shining brass, but his great strength in bearing the sins of his people, and all the punishment due unto them, even the fire of divine wrath, without being consumed by it. Jarchi observes, that it was overlaid with brass, because it was to make atonement for the impudence of the forehead, which is as brass, Isa 48:4.



{b} wnmm "sursum exeo", Noldius, p. 615.





Exodus 27:3



Ver. 3. And thou shall make his pans to receive his ashes,.... Not to receive them in as they fell, but to gather them up in, and carry them away; and this was done every morning about cockcrowing, not much sooner nor later {c}:



and his shovels; to throw up the ashes together to be put into the pans; Jarchi describes this vessel to be like the cover of a brass pot, with a handle to it; the same we call a fire shovel:



and his basins: to receive the blood of the sacrifice, and out of which it was sprinkled, as the word signifies, and may be rendered sprinkling basins:



and his flesh hooks; not such as were used to take flesh out of the pot, 1Sa 2:13 for there could be no use for such at the altar of burnt offering; but were, as Jarchi says, like hooks recurved, with which they struck into the flesh, and turned it upon the coals to hasten the burning of it; and with which very probably they kept the fire and the parts of the sacrifices in good order, until they were consumed:



and his fire pans; which were a kind of censers in which coals of fire were taken off from the altar of burnt offering, and carried to the altar of incense, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom observe, see Le 16:12 but as censers did not belong to the altar of burnt offering, but to the altar of incense, Fortunatus Scacchus {d} is of opinion, that these were a larger sort of vessels, wherein the fire which came down from heaven was kept burning while the altar and grate were cleansed from the coals and ashes, and when the altar was had from place to place:



all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass; as being fittest for the use of this altar.



{c} Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 8. & Maimon, in ib. {d} Sacr. Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. 2. c. 73. p. 676, 677.





Exodus 27:4



Ver. 4. And thou shalt, make for it a grate of network of brass,.... Or "sieve", as in Am 9:9, it was a plate of brass with holes in it, to let through either the blood that drained from the parts of the sacrifice, or the ashes of it; for this was the focus or hearth, on which the sacrifice and the wood were laid and burnt: this, according to the Targum of Jonathan on Ex 38:4 was to receive the coals and bones which fell from the altar: and so may denote the purity of Christ's sacrifice, which was offered up without spot to God, and the use of him as the altar to sanctify our gifts, and take away the sins of our holy things:



and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof; by which, with chains put into them, the grate was fastened to the four horns of the altar, and the use of them was to let it down and hang in the middle of the altar, and to take it up when there was occasion for it; though some think these rings were not "in" the grate, but "by" it, as the particle may be rendered, a little lower than that, on the sides of the altar; into which the staves after mentioned were put, and with which the altar was carried when removed from place to place.





Exodus 27:5



Ver. 5. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath,.... That is, the grate was to be put within the square compass of the altar, in the hollow part of it, for the wood and sacrifice to be laid upon it:



that the net may be even to the midst of the altar; and as the altar was three cubits high, this net or grate was let down by chains to its rings a cubit and a half, and being of such a depth was capable of containing a great deal.





Exodus 27:6



Ver. 6. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood,.... Like those that were made for the ark, and for the same purpose:



and overlay them with brass; with plates of brass, whereas those for the ark were overlaid with gold.





Exodus 27:7



Ver. 7. And the staves shall be put into the rings,.... Not into the rings of the grate, as Jarchi and others: though Dr. Lightfoot {f} thinks these came out of each corner through the altar frame, and hung out of the frame, and in these the staves being put, made the frame and the grate sure together, and so they were also carried together; but it seems rather, that as the grate had rings peculiar to that, to let it down and take it up, and with which it was carried, with a purple cloth covered over it, Nu 4:13 so the altar had rings peculiar to that on the sides of it, into which these staves were put:



and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it; and which shows that the rings into which these were put were not the rings of the grate, for they were at the four corners of it, which hung upon the four horns of it; whereas the staves were on the two sides of it, in order to bear it from place to place, which was done by the Levites; and was typical of the ministers of the Gospel bearing the name of Christ, and spreading the doctrine of his sacrifice and satisfaction, in the world, which is the main and fundamental doctrine of the Gospel.



{f} Works, vol. 1. p. 722.





Exodus 27:8



Ver. 8. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it,.... The frame of it being made of boards of shittim wood, there was nothing within side but the grate, which was put within the square, down into the middle of it, and so was light of carriage; though the Targum of Jonathan, and other Jewish writers, represent this hollow as filled up with dust and earth, to answer to the altar of earth Moses was before bid to make; but this seems quite contrary to the present direction: the hollowness of the altar may denote the emptiness of Christ when he became a sacrifice: he emptied himself, as it were, when he became incarnate, of all his greatness, glory, and riches, and became mean and poor for the sake of his people, that they through his poverty might be made rich, Php 2:7



as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it; or, "as he showed thee" {g}, that is, God. Moses had a model of this altar showed him, and he was to be careful to instruct the workmen, and see to it, that they built it exactly according to the model.



{g} harh "fecit videre", Pagninus, Montanus; "ostendit Dominus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; so Ainsworth.





Exodus 27:9



Ver. 9. And thou shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward,.... This was a large court yard to the house of God, or tabernacle, which stood in it at the upper end of it; it was enclosed, but open to the air; and in it, between the entrance into it and the holy place, stood the altar of burnt offering before described, and on one side of that the laver for the priests to wash in; into this the people of Israel were admitted, and where they brought their sacrifices and worshipped: it was typical of the visible church of God on earth, which, though an enclosure, and is separated from the world, yet consists of professors, good and bad, of real saints and hypocrites; as into this court Israelites of every character, sex, and state entered. In David's time it was divided into various courts, and what answered to it when the temple was built were the several apartments called the courts of the priests, where they sacrificed, and the court of Israel, where the men Israelites worshipped, and the court of the women, where they were by themselves; and in later times there was another court separate from these, called the court of the Gentiles, into which they might enter; and the description of this court begins with that side of it which lay full south: there shall be



hangings for the court of fine twined linen of one hundred cubits long for one side; for the south side; and these hangings, with the rest all around, made the court, and were the walls of it; and from hence we learn, that it was one hundred cubits or fifty yards long, according to the common computation of a cubit; though it was three hundred inches more, this cubit being three inches more than is commonly supposed. These hangings, vails, or curtains, for so in the versions they are differently called, were the enclosure of the court; they were made of fine linen, six times twisted, but not of various colours, and curiously wrought with cunning work, as the curtains of the tabernacle were; and according to the signification of the word, they were wrought full of holes, like eyelet holes, or in the manner of network; so that though they kept persons from entering in, they might be seen through, and through them might be seen what was doing in the court: and all this may signify that the visible church of God on earth is separated from the world, and should consist of men called out of it, and of such who are clothed with that fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints, and which is the righteousness of Christ, and who have both inward and outward holiness; and though none but those who are admitted members of it may partake of its ordinances, yet others may be spectators of what is done in it.





Exodus 27:10



Ver. 10. And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets [shall be of brass],.... On these pillars the hangings, rails, or curtains were set, and they were for one side, the south side, in number twenty; and so must stand five cubits, or two yards and a half or more, distant from each other, since the length of the hangings were one hundred cubits: these, according to Philo the Jew {h}, were made of cedar, but if of wood, most probably of "shittim wood", as they are by most thought to be; though one would think, according to the plain and express words of the text, they as well as their sockets were of brass: and Josephus {i} expressly says they were of brass, and which seems fittest for the purpose: now though the church of God itself is a pillar, and so is every true member of it, 1Ti 3:15 yet ministers of the Gospel may be more especially designed, Pr 9:1 who are the principal support of the churches of God, and of the interest of religion; and are set for the defence of the Gospel, and are steadfast in the ministration of it:



the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver; the hooks on the pillars might be somewhat like our tenter hooks, and so Jarchi describes them, as having one end crooked upwards, and the other end fixed in the pillar; and as for the fillets, he says, they were silver threads round about the pillars; but whether they were upon the face or of them all, or on the top, or in the middle of them, he confesses his ignorance; only this he knew, that the word has the signification of girding or binding; and these fillets might not only be for ornament, but for the binding of the hangings to the pillars: and so Ben Gersom says, that they were silver threads, with which the curtains were bound to the pillars, that the wind might not separate them from them; and both the silver hooks and fillets may signify the word and ordinances as administered by the preachers of the Gospel, in which there is an union, conjunction, and communion between them and the churches.



{h} De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 667. {i} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 2.





Exodus 27:11



Ver. 11. And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of one hundred cubits long,.... The north and south sides of this court being equal, the same length of hangings were for the one as the other;



and his twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets of brass; there went on this side the same number of pillars and sockets, and of the same metal:



the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; just as they were on the south side.





Exodus 27:12



Ver. 12. And for the breadth of the court, on the west side,.... On the west end, the upper end of the court, near to which reached the holy of holies:



shall be hangings of fifty cubits: or twenty five yards and more, so that the court was but half as broad as it was long:



their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; which was a number proportionate to the hangings, and stood at an equal distance from each other, as the pillars for the sides, at five cubits, or two yards and a half, as commonly computed.





Exodus 27:13



Ver. 13. And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward,.... Which was the entrance into it:



shall be fifty cubits; the east end and west end were of the same measure.





Exodus 27:14



Ver. 14. The hangings of one side of the gate,.... Or entrance into the court:



shall be fifteen cubits; or seven yards and a half:



their pillars three, and their sockets three; and so stood at the same distance from one another as the rest of the pillars did, the distance of five cubits.





Exodus 27:15



Ver. 15. And on the other side [shall be] hangings fifteen cubits,.... On the other side of the gate, or entrance into the court, on the northeast side, as the other may be supposed to be the southeast side, there was the same length of hangings:



their pillars three, and their sockets three; the same as on the other side of the gate.





Exodus 27:16



Ver. 16. And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits,.... Which, with the fifteen on each side, make the fifty cubits, the breadth of the court eastward, Ex 27:13, this hanging was better than the rest, much finer and richer;



for it was of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needle work: and was of the same as the hangings for the door of the holy place, Ex 26:36 this was a figure of Christ, and of the graces of the Spirit in him, and of his bloodshed, sufferings, and death; who is the door into the church, and to the ordinances of it, and leads on to the holy place, and even to the holy of holies, see

Joh 10:9



their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four: so that the pillars of this court at both sides and each end were sixty, twenty on each side, south and north, and ten at each end, west and east.





Exodus 27:17



Ver. 17. All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver,.... This is observed, because only mention is made before of the pillars that were on the south and north sides of the court, as filleted with silver; but inasmuch as those at both ends, east and west, were to be so likewise, this is added:



their hooks [shall be of] silver, and their sockets of brass; no notice having been taken of the hooks to the pillars at both ends, though they were as necessary there as elsewhere, and must be supposed, and though the sockets are mentioned, yet not their metal, and therefore are in general included here.





Exodus 27:18



Ver. 18. The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits,.... And as may be concluded from the length of the hangings on each side:



and the breadth fifty everywhere; at both ends, and was the breadth of the hangings there, and which all around made the court:



and the height five cubits; or two yards and a half, and somewhat more; it was but half the height of the tabernacle, and hence that might be seen above it every way; so that, according to Bishop Cumberland, it contained one rood, twenty one perches, and twenty seven square feet, and was half an Egyptian aroura, which is the square of one hundred Jewish or Egyptian cubits: "of fine twined linen"; of which the hangings were made, and here called the court, as they properly were, for they made it:



and their sockets of brass; the bases on which all the pillars stood, upon which the hangings of fine twined linen were, were of brass; which seems to be repeated, that the foundation of this court might be observed to be different from that of the tabernacle; the foundation of that, or the sockets, into which the boards of it were put, being of silver.





Exodus 27:19



Ver. 19. All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof,.... Which either refers to the vessels belonging to the altar of burnt offering, and so is a repetition of what is said, Ex 27:3 or rather to instruments that were used at the setting up and taking down of the tabernacle; such as hammers and the like, to drive the staves into the rings, and knock out the pillars from their sockets, &c., as Jarchi and Ben Gersom observe; for otherwise the vessels used in the sanctuary were of gold or silver, or covered therewith, and not of brass, as these are afterwards said to be:



and all the pins thereof; what these were is not easy to say; for there was nothing made of brass in the holy or most holy place, but the taches or clasps, with which the curtains of goats' hair were coupled together, and the sockets on which the five pillars were set at the entrance of the door of the tabernacle, Ex 26:11 and it is possible that those pillars might be fastened in their sockets with brass pins; for the clasps or taches can hardly be called pins:



and all the pins of the court shall be of brass; these were brass pins, or stakes fastened in the ground all round the court, to which cords were tied, and these fastened to the hangings; whereby they were kept tight and close, that the wind could not move them to and fro, as Jarchi and Ben Melech observe, and so Josephus {k}; see Isa 33:20.



{k} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 2.





Exodus 27:20



Ver. 20. And thou shall command the children of Israel,.... Here begins a new section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and the furniture thereof, next the several parts of service done in it are observed; and the account begins with that of the candlestick in the holy place, in order to which Moses is directed to command the people of Israel, whose business it was to provide for it:



that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light; for the light of the candlestick, to light up the several lamps in the several branches of it; and the oil to be brought and used there was not any sort of oil, as what is got out of fishes, as train oil, or out of nuts, as oil of almonds, but what comes from the olive tree; and this must be pure and free from lees and dregs, and must be beaten with a pestle in a mortar, and not ground in a mill, that so it might be quite clear; for being bruised and beaten, only the pulp or flesh of the olive was broken, but being ground in a mill, the stones were broken and ground, and so the oil not so pure.



Jarchi and Ben Melech, from their Rabbins, observe, that after the first drop was pressed out, they put them into mills and grind them; but then, though the oil was fit for offerings, it was not fit for the light of the candlestick. Ben Gersom says, they put the olives bruised into a basket, and the oil dropped from them without pressing at all; and this was the choicest and most excellent for the light. The quantity to be brought is not fixed; but the measure fixed by the wise men of Israel, as Jarchi says, was half a log, that is, for every lamp; and this was the measure for the longest nights, the nights of the month Tebet, and so the same for all other nights:



to cause the lamp to burn always night and day, continually, as it was proper it should, that the house of God might not be at any time in darkness; as it would otherwise be, since there were no windows in it; and his servants minister in it in the dark, even in the daytime, at the altar of incense, and at the shewbread table, which is not reasonable to suppose; and though there are some passages of Scripture which seem to intimate as though the lamps only burnt till the morning, and then went out, and were lighted every evening; this difficulty may be solved, and the matter reconciled by what Josephus {l} relates, who must be an eyewitness of it, that three of the lamps burned before the Lord in the daytime, and the rest were lighted at the evening; and Hecataeus {m}, an Heathen writer, speaking of the golden candlestick, says, its light was unextinguished day and night, particularly the lamp which was in the middle; also the candlestick is by the ancient Jews, and by Nachmanides, said to have been never extinct.



{l} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 3. {m} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408.





Exodus 27:21



Ver. 21. In the tabernacle of the congregation,.... The reasons usually given for this name of the tabernacle are, either because the children of Israel gathered and met together here at certain times, or because here the Lord met with Moses, and his successors, as he had promised, Ex 25:22, but neither of them will hold good; not the first, because the place where the candlestick was, and which Aaron and his sons are here said to order, was in the holy place, into which only the priests entered, and therefore could not be called the tabernacle of the congregation, from the people of Israel being gathered and assembling there; not the latter, because it was in the most holy place, where the Lord promised to meet with Moses, and commune with him, even from between the cherubim over the mercy seat there: indeed, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation the children of Israel assembled, and there the Lord met them, and so the whole might be called from thence, and there seems to be no other reason for it,

Ex 29:42 and this place was



without the vail, which is before the testimony; that is, without the vail which divided between the holy and the most holy place, and which vail was before the ark, where the law or the testimony was put; for the candlestick was in that part of the tabernacle which was without the vail, or in the holy place: and here



Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord; that is, they were to take care that the lamps which went out might be lighted; and that they be kept clear and burning, they were to trim and snuff them, for which they had proper instruments provided for them, Ex 25:37. This points at the word of God, which shines as a light in a dark place, and is a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path, and to the constant application of Gospel ministers in preaching it, in order to enlighten men in all ages unto the end of the world:



it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations, on the behalf of the children of Israel; on whom it was incumbent to provide oil for the lamps, as long as the tabernacle and temple service lasted; and figured out either the maintenance of Gospel ministers by the churches, or the grace and gifts of the Spirit, with which they are furnished by the head of the church, often signified by oil in Scripture.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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