John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 33:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 33



This chapter informs us, that the Lord refusing to go with the people, only sending an angel with them, they are filled with concern, and troubled, Ex 33:1. Moses upon this pitched the tabernacle without the camp, where everyone that sought the Lord went; Moses entered into it himself, and the Lord talked to him in a friendly manner in the cloudy pillar that stood at the door of it, and the people worshipped, every man at his own tent door; all which foreboded good, and tended to reconciliation, Ex 33:7. Moses improved the opportunity, and entreats the presence of God to go with them, which was granted, Ex 33:12 and that he might have a sight of the glory of God; and this is promised to pass before him, he being put into the cleft of the rock, Ex 33:18.



Ver. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, depart, and go up hence,.... Not from the place where Moses was, which was the top of the mount, but where the camp of Israel was, at the bottom of the mount; where they had lain encamped some time, but were now ordered to proceed on their journey:



thou, and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt; though his wrath was in some measure mitigated, and he had so far forgave their sin, that he would not cut them off from being a people; yet still he does not call them his people, or own that he brought them out of Egypt, as he does in the preface to the commands they had now broke, as if they were not under his care and conduct; but speaks of them in a different manner, as a people that Moses had brought out from thence, and whom he orders to go on with:



unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, unto thy seed will I give it: meaning the land of Canaan, which as he had promised with an oath to their fathers to give it to them, he would faithfully observe it, though they were unworthy of such a favour.





Exodus 33:2



Ver. 2. And I will send an angel before thee,.... Not the angel before promised, Ex 23:20 the Angel of his presence, the eternal Word and Son of God, but a created angel; and so Aben Ezra observes, he does not say the Angel that was known, that his name was in him; though even this was to be looked upon as a favour, and showed that he had not utterly cast them off:



and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; who were now the inhabitants of the land, and these he promises drive out, to make way for their possession of it; and that "by his hand", as the Targum of Jonathan interprets it, by the hand of the angel. Only six nations are mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashite is omitted, but added in the Septuagint version.





Exodus 33:3



Ver. 3. Unto a land flowing with milk and honey,.... Abounding with all the necessaries and good things of life, a description of the land of Canaan frequently made, see Ex 3:8:



for I will not go up in the midst of thee; would not grant them his presence in so near, visible, and respectable a manner as he had before done, though he would not utterly forsake them: the tabernacle was before in the midst of the camp, that is, that which was erected until the large one, ordered to be made, was finished, but now it was removed without the camp, Ex 33:7



for thou art a stiffnecked people; See Gill on "Ex 32:9":



lest I consume them in the way; in the way to the land of Canaan, and so never get there; the meaning is, that the Lord being in the midst of them, their sin would be the more aggravated to be committed in his presence, before his face; and the glory of his majesty would require that immediate notice be taken of it, and just punishment inflicted; so that by this step God both consulted his own honour and their safety.





Exodus 33:4



Ver. 4. And when the people heard these evil tidings,.... That God would withdraw his gracious presence, and go not up with them himself, only send an angel with them; and especially this may respect what is threatened, Ex 33:5 and had been said at this time:



they mourned; were inwardly and heartily grieved for their sin, whereby they had provoked the Lord to depart from them, and gave some outward and open tokens of it:



and no man did put on his ornaments; they used to wear at other times, their rings and jewels, which the princes and the chief among the people especially were wont to wear; and in common the people did not put on their best clothes, or what they usually wore, but clothed themselves in mournful habits, in sackcloth and ashes, or in some such like manner.





Exodus 33:5



Ver. 5. For the Lord had said to Moses,.... At the same time he had told it to the people:



say unto the children of Israel: Menachem, as quoted by Ainsworth, observes, that this is said in a way of mercy; for since their idolatry he had only called them the people of Moses, and the people, but now calls them by their beloved name, the children of Israel; but whether this was any hint of mercy and favour, is not very apparent by what follows:



ye [are] a stiffnecked people; obstinate and untractable,

See Gill on "Ex 32:9":



I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee; before he threatens them that he would not go up in the midst of them, that is, in a way of grace and mercy, to guide, protect, and defend them himself; and now that he would come up in the midst of them, but in a different manner, in a way of wrath, and to take vengeance on them for their sins; and the meaning is, either that should he do so but one moment it would be all over with them, or they would be utterly consumed; or this is threatened on condition, provided they did not repent of their sins, and humble themselves:



therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee; not their armour, as some, nor the clothes they wore at the festival for the golden calf, for this was long after that; but the clothes they usually wore, the best they had, with all their decorations and ornaments, and put on mournful habits as an outward token of their repentance and mourning for their sins, if they had any real concern: this shows that these words must have been said before; since the people on hearing the evil tidings had clothed themselves in a mournful habit, and did not put on their ornaments, Ex 33:4:



that I may know what to do unto thee; which does not suppose ignorance or irresolution in God, but is said after the manner of men, that he should deal with them in proportion to their conduct and behaviour, and as that should outwardly appear.





Exodus 33:6



Ver. 6. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments,.... Such as before described, and this they did,



by the Mount Horeb; before their departure from thence, and where they had been guilty of the idolatry: the words may be literally rendered, "from Mount Horeb" {u}; and Jonathan understands the preceding clause of something they put off which they received from thence; but the meaning is, that they went to some distance from Mount Horeb, and there stripped themselves to show their greater humiliation, and the sense they had of their unworthiness of being near to the Lord, or enjoying his presence.



{u} rhm "a monte", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "procul a monte", Junius & Tremellius, Piscato.





Exodus 33:7



Ver. 7. And Moses took the tabernacle,.... Not that, the pattern of which he had been shown in the mount, for that was not as yet made, rather his own tabernacle or tent, Ex 18:7 or one that was erected for worship before the large one was ordered, and while that was building; for it can hardly be thought they should have no place of worship for a whole year after they were come out of Egypt; though this might be not a place on purpose, or only erected for that use, but might be one of the apartments of Moses; who, besides what he had for the use and convenience of his family, had a special and peculiar one, hath on a religious account, where he and the people sometimes worshipped, and God met with them, and on a civil account, to hear and judge the causes of the people, and resolve their doubts, and remove their difficulties, and make inquiries of God for them:



and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp; 2000 cubits distant from it, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, which he endeavours to confirm from Jos 3:4 and was what was afterwards called a sabbath day's journey: this was done partly that he might have the opportunity of conversing with God, and bringing about a thorough reconciliation between him and the people, who declared he would not go up in the midst of them; and partly that this might be a symbol to the people of the Lord's departure from the midst of them; that so they might be brought to a thorough humiliation for their sin, who might fear that he would not only stand at a distance, but entirely remove from them: it might be considered as a token of his displeasure with them, and yet be a door of hope unto them; since he was not wholly gone from them, but might be sought unto by them as follows:



and called it the tabernacle of the congregation; as the great tabernacle was afterwards called, and as this might be before, though now renewed, to give the people some encouragement to resort here; because here he and they met together, both on civil and religious accounts, and God met with them:



and it came to pass, [that] everyone which sought the Lord: about any affair of moment and importance, to know his will, and to have instruction and direction what to do; or that sought to him for peace and reconciliation, for the pardon of their sins, and the acceptance of their persons, repenting of their sins, and confessing the same:



went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which [was] without the camp; these went out of the camp, from their tents there, to this; who were not the body of the people, but either such who had difficult matters to inquire about, or were seriously and heartily concerned for the evil they had committed, and for the removal of the divine Presence from them.





Exodus 33:8



Ver. 8. And it came to pass, when Moses went out of the tabernacle,.... For when he had pitched it he did not continue there; which shows it was not the tent or tabernacle he dwelt in, but whither he went to and fro, both to meet the Lord in it, and transact the affairs of the people, and especially the great affair now depending between God and them:



[that] all the people rose up: in reverence of him as their ruler, and the minister of God, and as their Mediator between God and them, though they had but lately thought and spoke very meanly and contemptibly of him, Ex 32:1 see Job 29:8



and stood every man at his tent door; none offering to go in, nor to sit down until he was gone into the tabernacle, which was an instance of their respect to him:



and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle; kept their eye on him as long as they could see him, thereby expressing their esteem of him, signifying their desire that he would intercede for them, and wishing him success therein: the Targum of Jonathan interprets all this of the ungodly among them that looked after Moses with an evil eye.





Exodus 33:9



Ver. 9. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended,.... From the top of the mount in which Jehovah was:



and stood at the door of the tabernacle; where Moses was just entered, and in sight of the people, which was a token of grace and favour both to him and them:



and [the Lord] talked with Moses; not the cloudy pillar, but the Lord in it, as we rightly supply it: what he talked with him about is not said, very probably concerning the children of Israel, their conduct and behaviour, and what was his will further concerning them.





Exodus 33:10



Ver. 10. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door,.... They being every man at his tent door; and this must be a pleasing sight to them, and give them some hope that God would be merciful to them, forgive their sin, and not depart from them:



and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door; not Moses, nor the cloudy pillar, but the Lord in it; it was not a civil bow they made to Moses, and in respect to him, for he was gone into the tabernacle out of sight, but a religious adoration of the Lord in the pillar of cloud.





Exodus 33:11



Ver. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face,.... Not by an angel, but he himself in person; not by a dream or vision, but apparently, in real visible appearance; not in dark speeches, but clearly in plain words, easy to be understood; and not by a voice from heaven at a distance, but mouth to mouth, being very near, as when on the mount, and now at the door of the tabernacle:



as a man speaketh unto his friend; freely, familiarly, plainly, cordially, openly, without any reserve or show of authority, or causing dread and fear; for he also spake to the children of Israel "face to face", but then it was out of the fire in a terrible manner which they could not bear, De 5:4



and he turned again into the camp; to acquaint the people, the heads and elders of them, what discourse he had with God, what success he had met with on their behalf, and how the Lord stood affected to them, or what was his will concerning them:



but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle; who is here described by his name, Joshua; by his descent, the son of Nun; by his relation to Moses, a servant of his, who waited on him wherever he went, when upon the mount and now at the tabernacle; and by his age, a young man, as he was in comparison of Moses, and is so called chiefly because he was his servant, it being usual to call servants young men, of whatsoever age; for Joshua, strictly speaking, could not be a young man in years; he was the general of the army at the battle with Amalek; and, according to Aben Ezra, was now fifty six years of age, which he collects from his living to the age of one hundred and ten years; now to fifty six add the forty years in the wilderness, seven years, in which he subdued the land of Canaan, and seven more in dividing it, as say their wise men, the sum is one hundred an ten years: and it not being easy to account for it, that Moses should depart alone, unaccompanied by Joshua, who always attended him, and no sufficient reason is given why he should stay behind in the tabernacle; as for private devotion, which this was not a place for; or for judging the causes of the people in the absence of Moses, which we never find he did or to guard the tabernacle, to be a watchman in it, or even at the head of a watch over it, which, as it seemed unnecessary, so was an employment too mean for him; the words therefore may be rendered as they are by some, and the rather, as there is an accent which makes a considerable stop on the word ren, translated a "young man" {w}, "and he turned again to the camp", and "his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man"; that is, along with him; they both returned to the camp, and then it follows, "he", i.e. the Lord, "departed not out of the tabernacle", but continued there; to whom Moses afterwards returned and had the following discourse: a learned man {x} thinks that the grand tabernacle is here meant, yet unfinished, though not the final erection of it; and that here is a dislocation in the history, and supposes that Moses having been forty days absent, found upon his return a good progress made in the work of the tabernacle, and the ornaments and utensils belonging thereunto: and as soon as the wood work of the tabernacle was finished, he ordered it to be put together; but because the tabernacle had neither a door to it, nor were the hangings of the outer court finished, therefore Joshua the servant of Moses, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle, but remained there to preserve it from being polluted: but it is a mistake of his that the tabernacle had not a door to it, and it is strange he should make it, when it is twice mentioned in the preceding verses; and since the pillar of cloud and the Lord in it were there, no man durst draw near to pollute it, so that there was no need of Joshua's being there to preserve it; and besides, it was after this Moses went up to the mount and stayed another forty days and forty nights, see Ex 34:4.



{w} So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Rivet. {x} Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 343.





Exodus 33:12



Ver. 12. And Moses said unto the Lord,.... Having returned from the camp to the tabernacle again;



see, thou sayest unto me, bring up this people: from hence to the land of Canaan, as in Ex 33:1



and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me; to guide and direct him, help and assist him, protect and defend him, and the people with him; he had signified something of this kind, but by some expressions, and by his present conduct, he was at a loss to know who was to go with him: he had told him that the uncreated Angel, in whom his name and he himself were, should go with them; but now it had been declared that he would not go up in the midst of them himself, but send an angel, a created one, but who that was he knew not; he thought he had reason to expect the pillar of the cloud and fire by day and night; but that had had so many motions that he could not be assured of the continuance of it:



yet thou hast said, I know thee by name; have a particular and special knowledge of thee, and distinguished thee from others, and have a personal affection for thee:



and thou hast also found grace in my sight: had an interest in his special favour and good will, was acceptable unto him, had received an abundance of spiritual grace, and many very extraordinary gifts from him, and had had many benefits bestowed on him, which were proofs of his being grateful and well pleasing to him.





Exodus 33:13



Ver. 13. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight,.... Which he said, not as doubting whether he had or not, but as taking it for granted he had, and so argues from it, and improves his interest in it, in his pleading with God:



shew me now thy way: either the way which he himself would take, the way of his providence in bringing the children of Israel into the land of Canaan; or the way he would have him take, the way of his duty, how he would have him behave in conducting them thither; unless he means the Messiah, Christ, the way to the heavenly Canaan, to whom he seems greatly to have respect in the following part of this chapter:



that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight; by which he might have a further evidence of his being acceptable to God, and having a share in his good will; as well as he would better know in what way grace is communicated, Christ being the way both of access into the grace of God, and of acceptance with him, and of the communication of grace from him:



and consider that this nation [is] thy people; though they had sinned against him in the manner they had done, they were a people he had chosen above all people to be his; he had made a covenant with them, and was their covenant God; he had redeemed them out of Egypt, and had called them from thence, and had wrought a great salvation for them, and had bestowed many peculiar favours upon them; and though for this their gross idolatry and sad apostasy from him they were unworthy of the relation, and he had thought fit not to call them his people, but the people, or the people of Moses, yet they still were his people, and he entreats he would consider the relation they stood in to him, and show mercy to them.





Exodus 33:14



Ver. 14. And he said,.... In answer to his request:



my presence shall go [with thee]; or before thee, both with Moses and before the people; meaning the Angel of his presence he had before promised, the eternal Word and Son of God, who saved them, redeemed them, bore and carried them all the days of old: or "my faces shall go" {y}; all the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit; there was Jehovah the Father, whose the Angel of his presence was; and there was Jehovah the Son, Christ, whom they tempted in the wilderness; and there was Jehovah the Holy Spirit, whom they vexed, see Isa 63:9



and I will give thee rest; not ease, and peace and tranquillity of mind, or a freedom from the fear of enemies, and all dangers by them, much less rest in the grave, before Israel should be brought into Canaan's land; but rather the promised land itself, which was "the rest" that was promised, and would be given, and was typical of that eternal rest which remains for the people of God in heaven, and is a pure gift; for this promise is not personal and peculiar to Moses, but belonged to all the people, to whom God would give the typical rest, see De 12:9.



{y} wkly ynp "facies meae ibunt", Montanus, Vatablus.





Exodus 33:15



Ver. 15. And he said unto him,.... Moses said unto the Lord:



if thy presence go not [with me]; or with us, as it may be as well supplied, and which agrees with what follows:



carry us not up hence; from the mount to the land of Canaan; though God had promised his presence, which was the thing requested, Moses could not forbear expressing himself after this manner, to show the high esteem he had of this blessing, and how worthless and insignificant everything else was without it; that even Canaan, the land of rest promised, was nothing in comparison of it: it is not much matter where we are, or what we have, if God is not with us; but if he grants his presence, the greatest hardships in a wilderness are made easy, and difficulties are got through with pleasure; though some read the words in the preceding verse by way of interrogation, "should my face" or "presence go", and "should it give thee rest" {z}? as carrying in it a kind of denial, which makes Moses here more urgent for it, and such a version those words seem to require.



{z} "An facies mea iret et quietem daret tibi?" Noldius, p. 243. so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.





Exodus 33:16



Ver. 16. For wherein shall it be known here,.... At Sinai, among the mountains in the wilderness:



that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight: were acceptable to him, highly esteemed by him, and had received peculiar favours from him; what evidence would there be of this? how would it appear to others? what knowledge could they have of it?



[is it] not in that thou goest with us? in such a grand majestic manner, and so visible as in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night: this is a full proof, and a strong and convincing argument, even to a demonstration, that they were a special and peculiar people, the favourites of God, highly esteemed and honoured by him; but should this be discontinued, as seemed to be threatened, there would be nothing to demonstrate that they had found more grace and favour than other people; but this being the case,



so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people [that are] upon the face of the earth; distinguished by this favour from them, and that in a very wonderful and marvellous manner, as the word signifies; and so some render it, "marvellously separated" {a}; for the pillar of cloud and fire was a very marvellous thing, and distinguished the people of Israel from all others in a surprising manner, none having been ever favoured in the like manner.



{a} wnylpn "marvellously separated", Ainsworth.





Exodus 33:17



Ver. 17. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken,.... Or asked for, namely, go with them himself in this amazing and distinguished manner, in the pillar of the cloud and fire; this he would do as well as show him his way and his works, and indeed all this he did by granting that:



for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name; he owns the truth of the thing, on which Moses had formed his plan, and by granting his request gave a fresh proof and evidence of it; and what can be a greater blessing than to partake of the special grace, favour, and good will of God, and to be particularly and personally known to him, with such a knowledge as has connected with it the strongest affection and highest esteem?





Exodus 33:18



Ver. 18. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Not any visible lustre, splendour, and brightness, as a symbol of the divine Presence, that he had seen, Ex 16:7 nor the glorious essence of God, as Maimonides {b}, which is invisible and cannot be seen, and of which Moses could not be ignorant; nor the glory of the heavenly state, which also he must know he could not see until he came thither; but he seems to mean some visible glorious representation of God, such as he had never seen, though he had been with him so long on the mount in the cloud, and heard his voice, and saw some appearances of brightness and glory, yet not in any form that he could frame any idea of; perhaps he may mean the Angel of God's presence, called his face, the promised Messiah and glorious Redeemer and Saviour, in whom there is such a bright display of the glory of the divine perfections; yea, is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person; and this favour was granted him, with some proper limitations and restrictions; for though this request was, no doubt, sincere and upright, it might be attended with frailty and weakness; yet it is not utterly denied, but with some explanation is allowed, and perhaps was the highest favour ever granted to any before the incarnation of our Lord, at least in so full and glorious a manner as this was; Moses having by his suit obtained much, wants more and is emboldened to ask it, and in a good measure had it, as the following words show.



{b} Yesude Hatorah, c. 1. sect. 10.





Exodus 33:19



Ver. 19. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee,.... Which is his glory; the glory of the Lord lies in his goodness, and that appears in the works of his hands, in the methods of his providence, especially in the distribution of his sovereign grace and mercy, and particularly in his pardoning grace and mercy, through the blood of Christ; for as it is "the glory" of a man "to pass over a transgression", Pr 19:11 much more it is the glory of God, of which this goodness is afterwards interpreted; and may be understood of Christ himself, who is the goodness of God itself, is not only good, but the Lord's good One, emphatically good; as he is called his holy One, so his good One; because all his goodness is laid up in him, is prevented and filled as Mediator, with the blessings of his goodness; all are proclaimed in him, displayed through him, and communicated by him; and he is that glorious Personage that Moses might be desirous of having a view of, and was favoured with; however, with a view of the divine goodness, as it is conspicuous in him, in what he is, and has done for his people; for God has shown forth the exceeding riches of his grace and goodness in him:



and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee: his name and his nature, his perfections, and the glory of them, as displayed in Christ; or when he is about to pass, or while he is passing by, lest he should pass by unobserved, I will proclaim aloud and give thee notice that he is now passing by thee, whose name is Jehovah, and whose nature, glory, and goodness, are as follow:



and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy: signifying that notwithstanding the children of Israel had sinned against him in such a manner as they had, yet he should show favour, grace, and mercy to them, in pardoning their sins; and it should be distributed, not according to any merits of theirs, but according to his sovereign will and pleasure, and not to all, but to whomsoever he thought fit; and in this would be seen his glory: and so it is with respect to grace and mercy, as displayed in Christ to sinful men; it is not in proportion to their deserts, but according to the purpose and good will of God, and that not unto all, but unto some whom he has appointed, not unto wrath, but unto salvation by Jesus Christ, and which is to the glory of his grace; and the more enlarged view men have of this, the more clearly and fully does the goodness and glory of God pass before them.





Exodus 33:20



Ver. 20. And he said, thou canst not see my face,.... Meaning not his form, his essence, his very nature, and the glory of it, that Moses must know he could never see; but the brightest displays of his grace and goodness in Christ, the fullest discoveries of it, which are too much for man, in the present state of things, to have, who sees in part, and but through a glass darkly, not face to face, or in the most complete and perfect manner; it is but a small part and portion of God, and of his ways and works, as of creation and providence, so more especially of grace, salvation, and redemption by Jesus Christ, that is known of him; the things of the Gospel in their full perfection are what eye has not seen; and particularly were more hidden and unseen under the legal dispensation; this face was covered with types and shadows, and dark representations of things; though, in comparison of that state, we now, with open face, behold the glory of the Lord, yet still it is through a glass darkly, and we have not the clear and full view of things as will be hereafter:



for there shall no man see me and live: if there was to be such a revelation made of the grace and goodness, and glory of God in Christ, as it really is in itself, it would be too much for mortals in the present state to bear; it would break their earthen vessels in pieces; the full discovery therefore is reserved to a future state, when these things will be seen as they are, and men will be in a condition to receive them; otherwise we find that men have, in a sense, seen the face of God in this life, and have lived; though many, and even good men, have been possessed with such a notion, that if a man saw God he must die, see Ge 32:30.





Exodus 33:21



Ver. 21. And the Lord said, behold, [there is] a place by me,.... Near him, not in or by the tabernacle, where it may be the pillar of cloud now was, as it had been, Ex 33:9 but upon the rock, where it had been for many days, and near to which there was a fit place for Moses to be in, and have that view of the goodness and glory of God he would favour him with:



and thou shall stand upon a rock; in Horeb, typical of Christ the rock, the rock of Israel, and the rock of ages, the rock of refuge, salvation, and strength; comparable to one for shelter, solidity, firmness, strength, and duration; and happy are they who stand upon this rock; they are safe and secure, they stand on high, and have noble prospects of the perfections of God, and of the riches of his grace and goodness, see Ps 50:2.





Exodus 33:22



Ver. 22. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by,.... The displays of his grace and goodness are made:



that I will put thee in a clift of the rock; in one of the clefts, made by smiting it, through which the waters gushed out for the relief of the Israelites, and their flocks: and we are told {c}, that to this day, on the summit of Mount Sinai, by the Arabians called Gibel el Mousa, or the mountain of Moses, is perceived a large chasm in the rock, said to be the cave where Moses hid himself from God, when the glory of the Lord passed before him. Now this cleft may be an emblem of Christ, as crucified, smitten, wounded and slain; who was smitten by the law and justice of God, as this rock was smitten by the rod of Moses: and had gashes and wounds made in him like the clefts of a rock, being pierced with the nails and spear: and in these clefts of the rock saints dwell by faith, So 2:14:



and will cover thee with my hand; with his cloud, as Ben Melech, and so may denote the cloudiness, obscurity, and darkness of the legal dispensation: but here it seems to denote imperfection, not being able to bear the full sight of the divine glory, and which angels themselves cannot bear, but cover their faces; and also the danger of being consumed, were it not that saints are in Christ, and covered and secured in him, otherwise God is a consuming fire:



while I pass by thee; or his glory, the glory of all his perfections, wisdom, holiness, justice, power, and faithfulness, and especially of his grace, mercy, and goodness in Christ.



{c} Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 2. p. 167. see a Journal from Cairo, &c. p. 28, 29. Ed. 2.





Exodus 33:23



Ver. 23. And I will take away mine hand,.... As being covered with the hand may signify the obscurity of the former dispensation, the taking of it away may denote a more clear revelation of the grace and goodness of God in Christ, and so of the glory of it under the Gospel dispensation; and yet what is seen in this, in comparison of the reality of things as they are, or of the heavenly state, are but as next expressed:



and thou shalt see my back parts; which some understand of the humanity of Christ, and his sufferings in it, sometimes expressed by his heel, and the bruising of it, Ge 3:15 or else the works of God in creation, by which the invisible things of God are seen, and which give a knowledge of him "a posteriori"; and so Maimonides {d} interprets the phrase, which follow me, flow from my will, i.e. all my creatures: or rather it denotes the imperfect knowledge of God in the present state, even as revealed in Christ, in whom there are the clearest and brightest displays of his glory; yet this, in comparison of the beatific sight of him, is but like seeing a man that is gone by, whose back is only to be seen:



but my face shall not be seen; in the present state, the face of God, that is, his favour, communion with him, and the light of his countenance, are to be sought for, and may be enjoyed; the glory of himself is to be seen in the face or person of Christ, and the glory of that face or person is to be seen in the glass of the Gospel, but at present imperfectly; God in Christ as he is, the fullest and brightest displays of his glory, grace, and goodness, are reserved to another state, see 1Co 13:9 or it may regard the divine nature of Christ, which could not be seen by Moses, but his back parts, or human; Christ as clothed with flesh might, and would be seen by him, as he was seen by him on the mount, Mt 17:3.



{d} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 38.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 34:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 34



In this chapter Moses has orders to hew two tables of stone, that God might write on them the ten commands, and bring them up with him to the mount, Ex 34:1 where the Lord proclaimed his name, and caused his glory and his goodness to pass before him, Ex 34:5 when Moses took this favourable opportunity that offered to pray for the people, that God would forgive their sin, and go along with them,

Ex 34:8 upon which he made a covenant with them, which on his part was to do wonders for them, and drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before them; and on their part, that they should have no confederacy and communion with these nations, and shun their idolatry, and everything that might lead unto it, Ex 34:10 and he repeated several laws before given, and urged the observance of them, which Moses was to acquaint the people with, Ex 34:18 and after a stay of forty days and forty nights on the mount, he came down with the two tables of the law; and the skin of his face shone so bright, that the people of Israel were afraid to come nigh him, and therefore he put a vail over his face while he conversed with them,

Ex 34:28.



Ver. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Out of the cloudy pillar, at the door of the tabernacle, where he had been conversing with him in the most friendly manner, as related in the preceding chapter:



hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; of the same form, and of the same dimensions, and it may be of the same sort of stone, which perhaps was marble, there being great plenty of that kind on Mount Sinai. Now Moses being ordered to hew these tables, whereas the former were the work of God himself, as well as the writing, shows that the law was to be the ministration of Moses, and be ordained in the hand of him as a mediator, who had been praying and interceding for the people; and as a token of the reconciliation made, the tables were to be renewed, yet with some difference, that there might be some remembrance of their crime, and of their loss by it, not having the law on tables of stone, which were the work of God, but which were the work of man:



and I will write upon [these] tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest; the writing of these was by the Lord himself, as the former, shows that the law itself was of God, though the tables were hewn by Moses, and that he would have it known and observed as such; and the same being written on these tables, as on the former, shows the unchangeableness of the law of God, as given to the people of Israel, that he would have nothing added to it, or taken from it; and the writing of it over again may have respect to the reinscribing it on the hearts of his people in regeneration, according to the tenor of the new covenant: the phrase, "which thou brakest", is not used as expressing any displeasure at Moses for that act of his, but to describe the former tables; and the breaking of them might not be the effect of passion, at least of any criminal passion, but of zeal for the glory of God, and the honour of his law, which was broken by the Israelites, and therefore unworthy of it; and might be according to the counsel of the divine will, and the secret direction of his providence.





Exodus 34:2



Ver. 2. And be ready in the morning,.... This was, according to the Jewish chronology {e}, on the twenty eighth day of the month Ab or July:



and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai; the same mount where he had been before:



and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount; where the pillar of cloud removed and stood, and near it Moses was to stand and wait to hear what would be said unto him, and to see what would be made to pass before him.



{e} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 6. p. 19.





Exodus 34:3



Ver. 3. And no man shall come up with thee,.... Before, Aaron and his two sons, and the seventy elders of Israel, went up with Moses, though they did not go so near the Lord as he did; but now having sinned in the matter of the golden calf, though a reconciliation was made, they were not allowed to go with him, nor even Joshua his servant, though he had no concern in the sin; Moses must be alone, that the ministration of the law might be by him only, and in order to receive a peculiar favour in answer to his request:



neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; in any part of it, as Joshua was before in some part of it, even all the while that Moses was there; but now not a single person must be seen anywhere, not only because of the giving of the law to Moses, but because of the display of the divine glory, which was to be made particularly to him:



neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount; or over against it, or rather "near" it {f}; which was ordered, not so much on the account of the flocks themselves, who were not capable of any moral guilt; nor that they might not come to any hurt, since they were to be stoned or thrust through with a dart if they touched it, which order it is highly probable was in force as before; but on the account of their keepers, that there might be none of them on the spot, or near, to observe what passed; and chiefly this was said to command fear and reverence in the minds of the people, while this solemn affair was transacting between God and Moses, and to check all curiosity in them.



{f} awhh rhh lwm la plhsion tou orouv, Sept. "prope montem illum", Noldius, p. 80.





Exodus 34:4



Ver. 4. And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first,.... Which may be an emblem of the ministry of men, which God makes use of in hewing of his people, and bringing them to a sense of their sins, the breach of his law, and repentance for them, Ho 6:5:



and Moses rose up early in the morning: which, according to the Jews {g}, was the twenty ninth of Ab or July, which showed his ready and cheerful obedience to the divine will, and the quick dispatch he had made in hewing the tables; which whether he did with his own hands only, or made use of others whom he directed, is not very material; though the phrase "hew thee", or "hew unto thee", seems as if he were to do it himself, and not another:



and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; which was the third time of his going there, and every time he continued forty days and forty nights, as Aben Ezra observes, see De 9:18:



and took in his hand the two tables of stone; which could not be very thick and heavy to carry in one hand up a mountain, but must be a sort of marble slab or slate: at this same time an ark was ordered to be made, and was made, to put the tables into, which was a type of Christ, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness, De 10:1.



{g} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 6. p. 19.





Exodus 34:5



Ver. 5. And the Lord descended in the cloud,.... The same with the cloudy pillar, which was now gone up from the door of the tabernacle, and was on high in the air over the mount, and on which the Lord now descended in it, as he had before, Ex 19:9:



and stood with him there; not Moses stood with the Lord, as the Vulgate Latin version; but the Lord, or the cloud in which the Lord was, stood near to Moses:



and proclaimed the name of the Lord: Jehovah declared with a loud voice out of the cloud, that the Lord was there; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"and Moses called on or in the name of the Word of the Lord;''



and so the Vulgate Latin version refers it to Moses, and renders the words, "calling on the name of the Lord"; but the following verse clearly shows that it must be understood of the Lord, and not of Moses.





Exodus 34:6



Ver. 6. And the Lord passed by before him,.... Or caused his Shechinah, his divine Majesty, and the glory of it, to pass before him, as the Targums; his glory and goodness, which he had promised should pass before him, Ex 33:19 and it is but a transient passing view the greatest of men, God's peculiar favourites, have of him in this life:



and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God; the Jerusalem Targum wrongly paraphrases the words as a prayer of Moses thus, "and Moses prayed, and said, O Lord, Lord"; and so the Vulgate Latin version; but it is quite clear, and beyond all doubt, from Nu 14:17 that what follow are the words of God, and not of Moses: the sense is, that the Lord, as he passed by Moses, to raise and fix his attention, declared it was Jehovah that passed by; which is repeated the more to excite his attention, and is the name by which he had made himself known to Moses, even when he sent him into Egypt; for "I am that I am" is an explanation of this name, see Ex 3:14 and the word "El", translated "God", signifies mighty and powerful, and is true of all the three divine Persons, to whom respect may be had in the use of these three words. What is proclaimed or declared concerning God is, that he is



merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; first "merciful", and he is so in the most tender and affectionate manner; he is rich and plenteous in mercy, freely giving it, delights in bestowing it, constantly shows it to his people; it is manifested and displayed in Christ, the mercy seat; and it lays a foundation for faith and hope, and is the spring of all good things in time, and to eternity: and he is also "gracious", good and kind to men, without any merit or desert of theirs, but bestows good things on them freely, of his own free grace, favour, and good will, as appears by various acts of his; in the eternal choice of them to everlasting happiness; in providing a Saviour for them, and giving all grace and spiritual blessings to them in him; by giving Christ to them, and for them, justifying them freely by his righteousness, pardoning their sins according to the riches of his grace, regenerating, calling, preserving, and saving them by it: likewise "longsuffering"; both towards wicked men, the vessels of wrath, by whom his patience and longsuffering are abused and despised; and towards his elect, on whom he waits to be gracious, not willing that any of them should perish, but all be brought to repentance; and his longsuffering is their salvation: and it follows, "abundant in goodness and truth"; in providential goodness to all men; in special goodness to his chosen people, which he has laid up, and wrought out for them, and shown them in Christ; in his truth and faithfulness, in fulfilling his promises, both with respect to the mission of his Son into the world, to be the Saviour of it, and with respect to all other things promised, whether relating to this life, or that to come, to grace or glory; he never suffers his truth and faithfulness to fail; his promises are all yea and amen in Christ.





Exodus 34:7



Ver. 7. Keeping mercy for thousands,.... In his own heart, in his purposes and decrees, in his counsels and covenant, in his Son, with whom he keeps it for ever, and for all in him, Ps 89:28 and they are many who are ordained to eternal life, for whom Christ gave his life a ransom, and for whom his blood was shed for the remission of their sins; and whom he justifies by his knowledge, and at last brings to glory as the great Captain of their salvation; these are even a number which no man can number. All the Targums render it to a thousand generations; and Jarchi interprets of two thousand generations. The first letter in the word, rendered "keeping", is longer than is usual, in the Hebrew text; which, according to the Jews {h}, denotes the largeness of the grace of God, its great extent and long continuance:



forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; the word used signifies a lifting it up, and taking it away: thus Jehovah has taken it from the sinner, and put it on his Son, who has borne it, and made satisfaction for it; and in so doing has taken it quite away, so as to be seen no more; and, through the application of his blood to the conscience of a sinner, it is taken away from thence, and removed as far as the east is from the west; from whence it appears, that it is in Christ, and for his sake, that God forgives sin, even through his blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and satisfaction; and this forgiveness is of all sin, of all sorts of sin, original or actual, greater or lesser, public or private, open or secret, of omission or commission, of heart, lip, and life. The Jews sometimes distinguish these three words; "iniquity", they say, signifies sins through pride and presumption; "transgression" intends rebellions against God; and "sin", what is committed through error and mistake {i}; and much to this sense is Jarchi's interpretation of these words; they no doubt include all manner of sin, which God for Christ's sake forgives:



and will by no means clear [the guilty]; without a full and proper satisfaction to justice; which is provided in Christ, whom God has set forth to be the propitiation for sin, to declare his righteousness, that he might appear to be just, while he justifies and pardons those that believe in Jesus; otherwise all the world are guilty before God, and none would be cleared; but those for whom satisfaction is made, and a righteousness wrought out, they are cleared, acquitted, and discharged, and they only: or "though he will by no means let it go unpunished" {k}; that is, sin, expressed by the several words preceding; and so to this purpose is this phrase translated in

Jer 30:11 and the meaning is, that though God pardons sin, all manner of sin, and so displays his grace and mercy, yet he takes care of the honour of his justice, and never suffers any sin to go unpunished, either on the sinner, or on the surety. Pardon of sin always proceeds upon the redemption that is through the blood of Christ, and is a branch of it, see Ro 3:24. Some understand these words as relating not to the justice, but to the mercy and goodness of God; and render the words, either "in extirpating he will not extirpate", as Maimonides {l}; and as Jonathan translates the same phrase in Jer 30:11 "in destroying I will not destroy"; and so De Dieu here, "in emptying he will not empty", or destroy; and this sense is thought to be most agreeable to the prayer of Moses, and the promise of God, that his goodness and glory should pass before him, to which the other sense seems contrary; but the justice of God is as much his glory, and in it lies his goodness, as well as his grace and mercy; besides, the following words cannot be thought to be so expressive of the grace, and mercy, and goodness of God, but of his punitive justice, and so the objection would still remain:



visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the childrens' children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation]; See Gill on "Ex 20:5".



{h} Vid. Buxtorf. Tiberiad. c. 14. p. 38. {i} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 2. {k} hqny al hqnw "et impunita minime dimittens", Tigurine version; "et non exercens impunitatem", Coccei Lexic. in voce hqn. {l} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 54.





Exodus 34:8



Ver. 8. And Moses made haste,.... Perceiving the voice ceased, and the Lord was passing on, lest he should be gone, and he lose the favourable opportunity he had:



and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped; threw himself prostrate upon it, and in the most humble manner put up his requests to God, which are expressed in the following verse; he gladly laid hold on this opportunity to use his interest with God for the people of Israel, and to improve the proclamation of grace and mercy, in the forgiveness of sins, now made; which encouraged his faith and hope to draw nigh with a holy boldness, and use freedom with him, and yet with an awe of his majesty, with reverence and godly fear.





Exodus 34:9



Ver. 9. And he said, if now I have found grace in thy sight,.... Or "seeing now", for he could have no doubt upon his mind but that he had found grace and favour in the sight of God, since he had caused his goodness and glory to pass before him, and made such a proclamation of his grace and mercy to him; but he takes it for granted, and improves it, and argues upon it, as follows:



O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go amongst us; as the Lord had signified as if he would not go among them, but leave them to the conduct of a created angel; and Moses had before prayed that his presence or face might go with them, Ex 33:3 and now having some fresh tokens of the favour and good will of God towards him, renews his request with great earnestness and importunity, entreating the Lord Jehovah the Father, that Moses's Lord Jehovah the Son, the Angel of God's presence, in whom his name was, might go with them, as he had said he should:



for it is a stiffnecked people; and therefore have need of such an one to be with them, to rule and govern them, to restrain and keep them within due bounds; or "though {m} it is a stiffnecked people"; for this is the reason given by the Lord why he would not go among them,

Ex 33:3 wherefore Moses prays that he would go, notwithstanding this; he owns the character of them was just, yet humbly prays that God would nevertheless vouchsafe his presence:



and pardon our iniquity, and our sin; which he had the greater reason to hope he would, since he had just proclaimed his name, a God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin; and, the more to gain his suit, makes himself a party concerned, calling the sin committed, "our iniquity, and our sin"; even his among the rest, who had found grace in the sight of God, and therefore entreats others might also, since they were all sinners, and there was forgiveness with him:



and take us for thine inheritance; to possess and enjoy, protect and defend, cultivate and improve, keep and preserve for ever.



{m} Quamvis, Piscator, Patrick; so R. Marinus in Aben Ezra; and some in Abendana.





Exodus 34:10



Ver. 10. And he said, behold, I will make a covenant,.... Or renew the covenant before made the people had broke; which on his part was, that he would, as Moses had entreated, forgive the sin of the people, go along with them, and introduce them into the land of Canaan, and drive out the inhabitants of it before them; and, on their part, that they should avoid idolatry, and everything that led unto it, particularly making covenants, and entering into alliances with the idolatrous nations cast out:



before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; both in their passage through the wilderness, and entrance into Canaan's land, and the conquest of that; such as the earth opening its mouth and swallowing alive Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and was a new thing God created; the smiting of the rock at Kadesh, from whence flowed waters abundantly; the healing of such as were bit by fiery serpents through looking at a serpent of brass; Balaam's ass speaking, and reproving the madness of the prophet; the division of the waters of Jordan; the fall of the walls of Jericho at the sound of rams' horns; the sun and moon standing still, until the Lord had avenged himself of his enemies:



and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord; for it should be visible, as the above things were, and plainly appear to be the Lord's doing, and not man's, being above the power of any created being to perform:



for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee; Aben Ezra restrains this to Moses's person, and interprets this of the wonderful shining of the skin of his face, when he came down from the mount, which made the children of Israel afraid to come nigh him; and of his vigorous constitution at the time of his death, when his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated, contrary to the nature of ancient persons: but it is better to understand it of the ministry of Moses, and of the awful things that God would do by him; or rather of the people of Israel, among whom, and for whose sake, God would do such things as should cause a panic among the nations all around them; particularly what he did for them to Og king of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites, on account of which terror fell, as on the king of Moab, so on the inhabitants of Canaan; see Nu 21:33 Jos 2:9.





Exodus 34:11



Ver. 11. Observe thou that which I command thee this day,.... Which words are either said to Moses personally, as Aben Ezra thinks, as a direction to him to observe what had been said to him, and declare them to the children of Israel; or rather to the children of Israel, and respect the commands which are afterwards delivered out to be observed by them in the following verses; and what is expressed in the next clause is such as was not done by the ministry of Moses, nor in his time:



behold, I drive out before thee; not before Moses, but the people of Israel,



the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; six nations are only mentioned, though there were seven, the Girgashites being omitted, because either they left the land before, as some think, or because they at once submitted; they are added in the Septuagint version.





Exodus 34:12



Ver. 12. Take heed to thyself,.... This is said not to Moses, but to the people of Israel, as a caution to them when they should enter the land of Canaan, and possess it:



lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest: enter into a league and alliance, to live friendly and amicably, and support and assist each other against the common enemy; whereas they were to smite the seven nations and destroy them, and show them no mercy, De 7:1



lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee; be the means of drawing them into the same sinful practices with themselves, especially into idolatrous ones, and so of bringing ruin and destruction on them.





Exodus 34:13



Ver. 13. But ye shall destroy their altars,.... On which they had sacrificed to their idols; since, if they were allowed to continue, they might be temptations to offer sacrifice thereon, contrary to the command of God:



break their images: of gold or silver, wood or stone, which they made for themselves, and worshipped as deities; seeing if these continued, the sight of them might lead to the worship of them, and so bring under the divine displeasure, as a breach of the command of God given them:



and cut down their groves; which were clusters of trees, where they had their temples and their idols, and did service to them, and where, besides idolatry, many impurities were committed. Such places were originally used by good men for devotion, being shady and solitary, but when abused to superstitious and idolatrous uses, were forbidden. It is said {n}, the word for "grove" is general, and includes every tree they serve, or plant, for an idol.



{n} R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 72. 1.





Exodus 34:14



Ver. 14. For thou shall worship no other god,.... Than the Lord their God, the one only living and true God, which was the first command given to the people of Israel, and binding upon all men:



for the Lord whose name is Jealous, [is] a jealous God; his name and nature answer to one another; he admits of no rival or competitor in worship; he will not give his glory to another god, or one so called, nor his praise to graven images; and in this he is distinguished from all nominal and fictitious gods, who have many joined with them, and are rivals of them, which gives them no concern, because insensible; but it is otherwise with the Lord, who knows the dishonour done him, and resents it, and is as jealous of any worship being given to another, as the husband is of the honour of his marriage bed; for idolatry is spiritual adultery, as is suggested in the following verse.





Exodus 34:15



Ver. 15. Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,.... A marriage covenant, taking their daughters in marriage to their sons, and "vice versa", as the following words show; here the caution is to be understood and the words supplied from Ex 34:12 and inserted and connected thus, "take heed to thyself, lest thou make", &c.



and they go a whoring after their gods; that is, the inhabitants of the land, and particularly those with whom the Israelites made a covenant, and entered into a marriage relation with, and perhaps on this condition, that they would abstain from idolatry; and yet, contrary to the obligation they laid themselves under, lust after their idols, and commit spiritual fornication or adultery with them, which is explained by the next clause:



and do sacrifice unto their gods; such as the first institutors of their idolatry enjoined, and their ancestors had observed, and were according to the rites and customs of the country:



and [one] call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; invite to eat of what remained, that was offered to the idol: hence it appears, that having feasts at sacrifices, and eating things offered to idols in a festival way, are very ancient practices; see 1Co 10:27.





Exodus 34:16



Ver. 16. And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons,.... That is, marry them to them, which explains what is meant by making a covenant with them, entering into such a near relation, and joining families, and thus intermixing with one another;



and their daughters go a whoring after their gods; the worship of whom they have been trained up in from their infancy, and therefore hanker after them, and commit whoredom in a spiritual sense with them;



and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods; by the means of tempting and drawing them into idolatrous practices, as the wives of Solomon were a snare to him.





Exodus 34:17



Ver. 17. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. Made of a melted liquid, whether gold, or silver, or brass, poured into a mould; and though graven images are not mentioned, they are included, a part being put for the whole, as appears not only from the injunction to break images in general, whether graven or molten, Ex 34:13 but from the second command, which expressly forbids the making and worshipping of them; but "molten" ones are particularly mentioned, because it is probable they were chiefly such the Canaanites worshipped, and especially, because the calf the Israelites had lately made and worshipped was a molten one.





Exodus 34:18



Ver. 18. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep,.... Which was instituted at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and on that account, and then observed, Ex 12:15 and afterwards repeated, and the month expressed in which they were to keep it, and the reason of it, as it here follows, See Gill on "Ex 13:15".





Exodus 34:19



Ver. 19. All that openeth the matrix is mine,.... Or "the womb", and therefore to be sanctified, and set apart for his use: this also was declared, and the law concerning it given, at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and here repeated, See Gill on "Ex 13:2",

See Gill on "Ex 13:12".





Exodus 34:20



Ver. 20. Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem,.... This goes along with the former, See Gill on "Ex 13:13":



and none shall appear before me empty; at the grand festivals, the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, See Gill on "Ex 13:15".





Exodus 34:21



Ver. 21. Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest,.... This is the law of the seventh day sabbath, which is after repeated, to fix it in the minds and memories of the people, see Ex 20:10 and here it is added, which has not been mentioned before:



in earing and in harvest thou shall rest; that is, in the time of ploughing, and in the time of reaping and gathering in the harvest, which are both very busy seasons; the rest of the sabbath was not to be violated; such sort of works, though they might require haste and expedition, yet the sabbath was not to be broken on account of them: this is the common sense of the law, as it is understood; but Maimonides {o} gives another sense from their doctors, who say, it is forbidden to plough in the sixth year what cannot be reaped but in the seventh; and so likewise that it is forbidden to reap on the seventh year, that of which profit may be had on the eighth year, and this is founded on what the Scripture says, Ex 34:21 "in earing", &c. and they say, that here ploughing and harvest are not to be understood of the seventh day, because this is included in the general rule, "thou shalt not do any work"--they say, of that which is ploughed, whose reaping or harvest is forbidden, is the ploughing at the evening of the seventh year, and at the going out of the seventh; and know this, that the evening of the seventh is the sixth year, and the going out of the seventh is the eighth year, and so Jarchi on the text observes, that some of their Rabbins say, this is to be understood of the ploughing of the seventh year, the seventh year entering, and the harvest of the seventh year, at the going out of it; so that as there is a seventh day of rest, there is a year in which ploughing and harvest are forbidden; but there are others, he says, who say the text speaks only of the sabbath.



{o} In Misn. Sheviith, c. 14. sect. 1.





Exodus 34:22



Ver. 22. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks,.... The feast of Pentecost, called the feast of weeks, because seven sabbaths or weeks, or fifty days, were to be reckoned from the day in the passover feast, on which the sheaf of the wave offering was brought,

Le 23:15 and which was also called the feast



of the first fruits of wheat harvest, to distinguish it from the barley harvest, at the time of the passover, when a sheaf of barley was the wave offering to the Lord; but at this two loaves or cakes of fine wheaten flour were brought as the first fruits of the wheat harvest, see Le 23:17



and the feast of ingathering at the year's end; which was the feast of tabernacles, called the feast of ingathering, because at this time all the fruits of the earth, the corn, wine, and oil, and all others were gathered in; and this was at the close of the old year, and at the beginning of the new, according to the ancient account, which made Tisri or September the first month in the year;

See Gill on "Ex 23:16".





Exodus 34:23



Ver. 23. Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God,.... At the three above mentioned feasts,

See Gill on "Ex 23:17" here it is added,



the God of Israel; who had chosen them to be his special people, had redeemed them out of Egypt, and done great things for them since; had made a covenant with them, and had now renewed that covenant with them, and was their covenant God, and they his people, and so were under great obligations to present themselves unto him at the times appointed by him.





Exodus 34:24



Ver. 24. For I will cast out the nations before thee,.... Who are particularly mentioned, Ex 34:11 and therefore they need not be in any fear of them, when they should go up to the appointed place, and appear before the Lord; for to this they were not obliged, until they were come into the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants driven out before them:



and enlarge thy borders; so that as they should have no enemies within them, to hinder and molest them, or discourage and deter them from attendance on the Lord at such set times, so they would be set at a great distance from them, that they should have nothing to fear from them; and should it be objected that at such times, when only women and children were left at home, and their borders were defenceless, it would be a proper opportunity for their enemies to invade them, it is further promised:



neither, shall any man desire thy land; though it is a desirable land; and their neighbours, and especially the old inhabitants of it, envied the happiness of the Israelites, and could not but wish it was in their possession; yet God, who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can direct their thoughts, and turn the inclinations of their minds, and influence their affections, and engage them with other objects, promises that they should not think of an invasion of them, or have their minds, and the desires and affections of their hearts, in the least turned that way at these seasons, whatever they might have at other times; even



when thou shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in a year; at the feasts before mentioned, which was a most wonderful display of the power and providence of God.





Exodus 34:25



Ver. 25. Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven,.... That is, not kill the passover, while there was any leaven in their houses; so the Targum of Jonathan,

See Gill on "Ex 23:18"



neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of passover be left unto the morning; neither any of the flesh, nor of the fat of the passover lamb: if any were left, it was to be burnt, see

Ex 12:10.





Exodus 34:26



Ver. 26. The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring,.... This, and another law in this verse, concerning not seething a kid in his mother's milk, are repeated from Ex 23:19.

See Gill on "Ex 23:19".





Exodus 34:27



Ver. 27. And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Being still with him on the mount:



write thou these words; expressed in the preceding verses, from

Ex 34:11, as he before had written in a book all those laws, contained in Ex 21:1 called the book of the covenant,

Ex 24:4 and which perhaps might be destroyed, as well as the two tables were broken; and therefore upon the renewal of the covenant here, there is a repetition made of the principal laws before given, which are ordered also to be written in a book, which may very well be called by the same name, since it follows:



for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel, with Moses, as their representative and mediator, and with them represented by him: what is above related carries in it the form of a covenant between them, God having declared on his part what he would do for them, and what laws and rules he required to be observed on their part; which Moses assented to in their name, and was ordered to write them down, that he might repeat them to them.





Exodus 34:28



Ver. 28. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights,.... These were other forty days and nights, besides those he had been with the Lord, when he came down and broke the two tables in his hand, on sight of the idolatry of the people; yea, not only the Jewish writers think that he was on the mount three times forty days and forty nights, but also several learned Christian writers, as Dr. Lightfoot {p} and others; and it seems plain that he went up to the mountain three times, Ex 24:15 and it is not improbable that he was each time so long there; about the first and third times there can be no doubt, see Ex 24:18 and the text before us; and at the second time, when he went up to make reconciliation for the people,

Ex 32:30 he says, that he fell down before the Lord, as at the first forty days and forty nights, De 9:18 and from the seventh day of the month Sivan, the day after the giving of the law, to the tenth of Tisri, on which day he now descended, are just so many days:



he did neither eat bread nor drink water: and it is very likely slept not, he being supported without either of these by the power of God; and having such nearness of communion with God, and his mind taken up with what he heard and saw, he had no thoughts of, nor desires and cravings after such things, as well as he stood in no need of them; all which must be ascribed to the miraculous interposition of God in the support of him, See Gill on "Ex 24:18"



and he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments; not Moses, for these were tables of stone, which he could not write or engrave upon without proper instruments, which it does not appear he had with him on the mount; but it was God that wrote them, who, in Ex 34:1 says he would write them, and from

De 10:2 we are assured he did.



{p} Works, vol. 1. p. 715, 716.





Exodus 34:29



Ver. 29. And it came to pass, when Moses came down Mount Sinai,.... Which was on the day of atonement, according to Jarchi, that is, the tenth of Tisri, or September; and so the Jewish chronologers {q} fix his descent on this day:



with the two tables of testimony in Moses's hand; the two tables he carried up, on which God had wrote the law, called "the testimony", being a testification and declaration of his will to the children of Israel:



when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone, while he talked with him: the Targum of Jonathan is,



"Moses knew not that the splendour of the form of his face was become illustrious, which he had from the brightness of the glory of the Shechinah of the Lord, at the time he talked with him.''



And this the apostle calls "the glory of his countenance", 2Co 3:7 the glory of the Lord as it passed before him, when in the cleft of the rock, and that degree of it he was admitted to the sight of, while conversing with God, during his stay on the mount forty days and forty nights, left a shining glory on his countenance; which while he was with God he could not be at all sensible of, the glory of God so infinitely surpassing that; and when he came down the mount, as he could not see his own face without a glass, so though the rays of light and glory that darted from his face were so bright and strong, that they might have been observed by him, yet his mind was so intent on what he had seen and heard, that he took no notice of them. The Vulgate Latin version renders it very wrongly, "that his face was horned", which has given occasion to painters to represent him in a ridiculous manner, as having horns coming out of his forehead; though the word has the signification of an horn, and the meaning of that version, as of others, may only be, that the skin of his face "darted out rays" {r} like horns, such as the rays of the sun appear to be like to the eye, see Hab 3:4 hence Jupiter Ammon, the same with the sun, is described as having horns {s}; and so Bacchus, who is supposed to be the same with Moses, is represented as having a horned face {t}. Now this glory was left on the countenance of Moses, to show that he had had communion with God, and that the law he brought with him was from him; and to signify the glory of it, and to command awe and reverence, and make men afraid to break it.



{q} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 6. p. 19. {r} Nrq "radios ejacularetur", Tigurine version; "in modum cornu radiaret", Munster, Fagius, "[vel] rediasset", Vatablus; "splendere instar cornu", Drusius; so Karnon * in the Arabic language signifies the rays of the sun. * Golius, col. 1896. Castel. col. 3455. {s} Vid. Diodor. Sicul. l. 3. p. 201. Macrob. Saturnal. l. 1. c. 21. {t} Diodor. Sicul. l. 4. p. 212. so Orpheus calls Bacchus,

dikerwta, Hymn. p. 126. and Horace ascribes to him, "cornu decorum", Carmin. l. 2. Ode 19.





Exodus 34:30



Ver. 30. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses,.... Who very probably met him at the bottom of the mount; these Israelites with Aaron were the princes, as Aben Ezra seems rightly to interpret it, and as appears from the following verse; for Moses could not well be seen by the whole body of the people at once, upon his descent from the mount:



behold, the skin of his face shone; darted out rays of light and glory all around it, much perhaps in the same manner as the glory about our Lord, and others, is painted by the Romanists:



and they were afraid to come nigh him; there was something so majestic and striking in it; and perhaps they could not tell whether it foreboded good or evil to them; and this may signify, that as by the light of the law sin is discovered, it fills with a sense of wrath and fear of damnation; and being the ministration of condemnation and death, it is terrifying and killing, though it has a glory in it.





Exodus 34:31



Ver. 31. And Moses called unto them,.... Who, as it appears by what follows, on sight of him were so terrified, that they did not proceed on to meet him, but went back, and therefore he called unto them to return and come forward:



and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him; knowing him by his voice, and encouraged by his call of them, who before might take him to be something more than human, some glorious form, one of the heavenly angels appearing in this manner:



and Moses talked with them; after he had put a vail on his face, of which there is an account in the following verses. He talked with them friendly, and told them all that had happened to him in the mount; what a glorious sight he had been indulged with; what a proclamation of the grace and goodness of God had been made to him; and what laws and ordinances God had enjoined him and them the observance of.





Exodus 34:32



Ver. 32. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh,.... That is, after Aaron and the rulers had had a conversation with Moses, then the whole body of the people by turns were admitted to come before him, and hear the laws of God from him:



and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai; besides the two tables of stone, and the testimony written on them, he gave them all the other commands he was ordered to write in a book, and which are recorded in this chapter; he kept back nothing from them, but enjoined them to keep all the Lord had commanded.





Exodus 34:33



Ver. 33. And [till] Moses had done speaking with them,.... Not when he had done, as the Septuagint version, for then there would have been no occasion for it; but when he first began to speak to Aaron and the "rulers", and continued to speak to the congregation until he had finished what he had to say; even he did what follows, as soon as he perceived there was a glory on his face, which they could not bear to look at:



he put a vail on his face; something that covered it in a good measure, a mask, or linen cloth, or some such thing. The obscurity of the law may be signified by this vail, both of the moral and ceremonial law; the moral law, which though it makes known the mind and will of God, with respect to what is to be done, or not done, yet not with respect to the affair of life and salvation: it makes known the one God as the object of worship, but gives no account of a trinity of persons in the Godhead; no hint of God in Christ, nor revelation of the Son of God; no view of a Saviour, no notion of pardon; nor does it point out the righteousness of Christ unto us; nor do we from it hear anything of the Spirit of God, and his grace, nor of eternal life and glory: the ceremonial law, and its ordinances, did give some light into evangelical things, and did point out Christ, and the blessings of his grace, yet but darkly and obscurely; they were shadows of good things to come, and gave some dark and distant views of them, but were not so much as the image of the things, and did not bring them near, and set them in a clear light: likewise this vail may be an emblem of the darkness of the minds of men, with respect to the law, and the knowledge of divine things; especially of the Jews, who, as the apostle says, "could not steadfastly look at the end of that which is abolished": of the ceremonial law, which is disannulled, the end of which was Christ; he is the end for which it was made, the scope or mark at which it aimed, the term in which it issued, and in whom it had its complete fulfilment; but this they had not a perfect view of, and could not steadfastly behold: the moral law also is in some sense abolished by Christ, as the ministration of Moses, as a covenant of works, and as to the curse and condemnation of it to those that believe; and Christ he is the end of this, the fulfilling end of it, by conformity of nature, and obedience of life unto it, and by suffering the penalty of it; but such was the blindness of the Jews, that they were ignorant of the nature of this law, of the spirituality and perfection of it, of its use to convince men of sin, to condemn for it, but not to justify from it; were ignorant of the righteousness of God which the law required, and of Christ, and of the way of life and righteousness by him; and so of the Spirit of God, and his work, and of the mysteries of the Gospel, and of the books of the Old Testament; see 2Co 3:14.





Exodus 34:34



Ver. 34. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him,.... Went into the tabernacle to converse with him, to pray unto him, and inquire about any matter of difficulty respecting the people of Israel he was concerned for, which he often did:



he took the vail off until he came out: and so when men are truly converted, and turn to the Lord, the vail of darkness and unbelief is removed, and the true light shines, in which they see things in another light than they did before; and when they come into his presence, they come with hearts opened and unveiled, all things being naked and open to him with whom they have to do; and particularly saints under the Gospel dispensation, with an open face, as in a glass, behold the glory of the Lord; and when they get to heaven, they will then see face to face, and know as they are known, 2Co 3:16:



and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel [that] which he was commanded; this respects not the present time of his coming down from the mount, or out of the tabernacle with the law and commands now given, for these he had already declared; but after times, and all such times when he went in to the Lord to inquire of him his mind and will concerning certain things, in which the people wanted information, when, upon his return, he acquainted them with whatsoever the Lord ordered to be done.





Exodus 34:35



Ver. 35. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face shone,.... That is, not only when he came down from the mount, but whenever he came out of the tabernacle, where he had been inquiring of God, and conversing with him:



and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him; this he did from time to time, when he came out from the Lord he put on his vail, and when he went in again, he put it off. How long this brightness on his countenance remained, cannot be said with any certainty; Saadiah Gaon says, it did not remove from him to the day of his death: hence it is said, "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated", De 34:7 and Aben Ezra seems to approve of it; and it is the opinion of many great and learned men, that it continued as long as he lived.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 35:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 35



This chapter begins with a renewal of the command of the sabbath,

Ex 35:1 and contains an order for a freewill offering to be brought for the service of the sanctuary, and specifies the things to be brought, and for what uses, Ex 35:4 to which there was a ready compliance, and men and women, princes and the common people, everyone according to what they had in possession, brought and offered it freely, Ex 35:20 and for their encouragement, that their offering would not be in vain, they were informed there were two persons divinely inspired, to do, and teach to be done, all manner of work for the tabernacle, towards which they had made such a liberal and plentiful contribution, Ex 35:30.



Ver. 1. And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together,.... According to Jarchi, on the morrow after the day of atonement; that is, the next day after his descent from the mount, being desirous of setting about the building of the tabernacle, and making all things appertaining to it as soon as possible; which had been retarded through the sin of the golden calf, and making reconciliation for that:



and said unto them, these are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them; namely, the law of the sabbath, as it had a peculiar relation to the making of the tabernacle, and the freewill offerings to be made on that account; for as for the commands, or other ordinances, whether ceremonial or judicial, the people had been made acquainted with them before.





Exodus 35:2



Ver. 2. Six days shall work be done,.... Or "may be done" {u}; everyone might do what work he pleased, or the business of his calling, on the six days of the weeks; he had liberty granted him of God, and might make use of it for the advantage of himself and his family; unless this can be thought to have a peculiar respect, as this repetition and renewal of this law seems to have, to the building of the tabernacle; and so is an order for working at it closely and constantly all the six days of the week, and in things belonging to it, until the whole was finished:



but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day; or "holiness" {w}; wholly holy, and be separated and devoted to holy service and religious duties, abstaining from all manner of work, even from the work of the tabernacle; for though that was designed for the worship of God, and required dispatch, yet the sabbath was not to be violated on account of it: and, as Jarchi observes, this admonition concerning the sabbath was given previous to the command of building the tabernacle; to show that that did not drive away the sabbath, or that the sabbath was not to give way to it, or to be broken for the sake of it, it being



a sabbath of rest to the Lord; in which the Israelites were to rest from bodily labour, and spend the day in the service of God, and to his honour and glory:



whosoever doeth work therein: even though it might be in anything belonging to the tabernacle:



shall be put to death; the Targum of Jonathan adds, by casting stones, stoning being the punishment of sabbath breakers,

Nu 15:35.



{u} hvet "fiat", Piscator. {w} vdq "sanctitas", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius.





Exodus 35:3



Ver. 3. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day. This law seems to be a temporary one, and not to be continued, nor is it said to be throughout their generations as elsewhere, where the law of the sabbath is given or repeated; it is to be restrained to the building of the tabernacle, and while that was about, to which it is prefaced; and it is designed to prevent all public or private working on the sabbath day, in anything belonging to that; having no fire to heat their tools or melt their metal, or do any thing for which that was necessary; for it can hardly be thought that this is to be taken in the strictest sense, as an entire prohibition of kindling a fire and the use of it on that day, which is so absolutely useful, and needful in various cases, and where acts of mercy and necessity require it; as in cold seasons of the year, for the warming and comforting of persons who otherwise would be unfit for religious exercises, and on the account of infants and aged persons, who could not subsist without it; and in cases of sickness, and various disorders which necessarily require it; and even for the preparation of food, which must be had on that day as on others, the sabbath being not a fast, but rather a festival, as it is with the Jews; and yet this law is interpreted by them in the most rigorous sense: they put kindling a fire among the principal works forbidden on that day {x}, and that not only to bake bread and boil flesh, as Aben Ezra interprets it here, but to warm themselves with; nay, they think it unlawful to touch an hearth, or a coal of fire, or a firebrand, or anything that may give them any warmth in a cold season; and if, for the sake of infants or aged persons, there is need of a fire or heating a stove, they hire a Christian to do it, or so prepare and order matters the day before that it kindle of itself {y}; and so Leo Modena {z} says,



"they do not meddle with any fire, nor touch any wood that is on fire, nor kindle any, nor put it out; nor do they so much as light a candle on the sabbath day: and if the place be cold where they dwell, except they have any stoves, or hot houses, or else have some one that is no Jew to kindle a fire for them; or had so ordered the matter before hand that the fire should kindle of itself at such a time; they must even be content to sit in the cold all that day:''



but here they nicely distinguish and observe, that it is said,



throughout your habitations; their private dwellings, but not the habitation of the Lord, or the house of the sanctuary; and on this score they allow of kindling a fire in Beth Moked {a}, an apartment in the temple, where a fire was constantly kept for the priests that kept watch to warm themselves at.



{x} Misn. Sabbat, c. 7. sect. 2. {y} Buxtorf. Synagog. Jud. c. 16. p. 361. {z} History of the Rites, &c. of the Jews, par. 3. c. 1. sect. 3. {a} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 20. 1.





Exodus 35:4



Ver. 4. And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel,.... Continued his speech to them, being convened by him, after by way of preface he had repeated the law of the sabbath, with an additional circumstance to it, "pro tempore":



saying, this is the thing which the Lord commanded; ordered Moses to inform them of as his will, when he was with him upon the mount the first time; but through their idolatry, and time spent in making up matters between God and them, he had not had till now an opportunity of acquainting them with it:



saying; as follows.





Exodus 35:5



Ver. 5-9. Take ye from amongst you an offering unto the Lord,.... That is, they were to take a part of their substance, of what they were possessed of, every man according to his ability, out of what he had in his hand that was suitable, and present it as a freewill offering to the Lord, for the use of the tabernacle to be built, and the service of it:



whosoever is of a willing heart; that is, of a generous and liberal disposition:



let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; or an offering to him, otherwise not; if brought niggardly and grudgingly it would not be acceptable, for God loves a willing and cheerful giver:



gold, silver, and brass: here and in the four following verses, the several things are particularly mentioned, which would be wanted in building the tabernacle, and in the service of it, and therefore would be acceptable; and they being exactly the same, and delivered in the same words and in the same order as in Ex 25:3 the reader is referred to the notes there. See Gill on "Ex 25:3".

See Gill on "Ex 25:4".

See Gill on "Ex 25:5".

See Gill on "Ex 25:6".

See Gill on "Ex 25:7".





Exodus 35:6



Ver. 6. See Gill on "Ex 35:5".





Exodus 35:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "Ex 35:5".





Exodus 35:8



Ver. 8. See Gill on "Ex 35:5".





Exodus 35:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "Ex 35:5".





Exodus 35:10



Ver. 10. And every wise hearted among you shall come,.... Every ingenious man, that is skilful in any mechanic art and business, who has a peculiar turn of mind, and employs his thoughts to improve, in a curious manner, in whatsoever manufactory he is concerned, every such an one is invited by Moses to come to him:



and make all the Lord hath commanded, the particulars of which follow.





Exodus 35:11



Ver. 11. The tabernacle,.... Which is not a general name for the whole, the court, the holy place, and the holy of holies; but designs the ten fine linen curtains curiously wrought; or the under curtains, as Jarchi expresses it, which were within:



his tent; the curtains of goats' hair, which were a covering over the others, and were made for a roof of the tabernacle, as the same writer observes:



and his covering; the covering for the tent, which was made of rams' skins, and badgers' skins:



his taches; which clasped, coupled the curtains together, both the one and the other; the one sort were of silver, and the other of brass:



and his boards, his bars, his pillars; which were all of shittim wood; the boards were the walls of the tabernacle, the bars which kept them tight together, and the pillars were those on which the hanging of the door of the tent, and on which the vail that divided between the holy of holies, were hung; of all which, see Ex 26:1 &c. to end of chapter:



and his sockets; which were of silver, into which the boards were let and fastened, see Ex 26:19, &c.





Exodus 35:12



Ver. 12. The ark and the staves thereof,.... To carry it with, which were all made of shittim wood:



[with] the mercy seat; made of pure gold; these were set in the most holy place:



and the vail of the covering; which divided between the holy and the holy of holies; of these see Ex 25:10.





Exodus 35:13



Ver. 13. The table and his staves, and all his vessels,.... The table of shewbread, and all things appertaining to it:



and the shewbread; which is mentioned for the sake of the table, and to show what was intended, and the use of it; for otherwise the shewbread was not yet to be made, nor by the artificers here called together; and is to be interpreted of the dishes of the shewbread, in which it was put; and so Junius and Tremellius render it, the instruments or vessels of the shewbread; of these see

Ex 25:23.





Exodus 35:14



Ver. 14. The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture,.... The tongs and snuff dishes:



and his lamps, with the oil for the light; the cups, in which were put the oil and the wicks to burn and give light, as Jarchi interprets them; of these see Ex 25:31.





Exodus 35:15



Ver. 15. And the incense altar, and his staves,.... Which were overlaid with gold; hence this altar was called the golden altar, of which see Ex 30:1



and the anointing oil and sweet incense; each of which were made of various spices, see Ex 30:23



and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle; at the east end of it, there being there, as Jarchi observes, neither boards nor curtains; see Ex 27:16.





Exodus 35:16



Ver. 16. The altar of burnt offering with his brazen grate, his staves, and all his vessels,.... Of which see Ex 27:1



the laver and his foot; Aben Ezra here observes that it had no staves, and conjectures it was carried in wagons when removed.





Exodus 35:17



Ver. 17. The hangings of the court,.... Of the tabernacle, the outward court, which were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits long on each side, north and south, and fifty cubits broad, east and west; see Ex 27:9



his pillars, and their sockets; the pillars were they on which the hangings were hung; and the sockets were what the pillars were let into and fastened in:



and the hanging for the door of the court; at the east of it, of which see Ex 27:16.





Exodus 35:18



Ver. 18. The pins of the tabernacle,.... Which were to fix and fasten the ends of the curtains in the ground, that they might not be moved with the wind, as Jarchi observes:



and the pins of the court, and their cords; which were for the same use; see Ex 27:19.





Exodus 35:19



Ver. 19. The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place,.... To wrap up the various vessels of the tabernacle, when removed from place to place; see Ex 31:10 or the priests' vestments, in which they did their service, and therefore it follows, by way of apposition:



the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office; for which there are particular directions in Ex 28:1.





Exodus 35:20



Ver. 20. And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. After they had heard what Moses was ordered to propose unto them, they immediately went to their tents, and fetched what they had with them, or were willing to part with, and brought it directly as a freewill offering to the Lord; as

Ex 35:21 shows: from hence, Aben Ezra observes, we may learn, that the whole congregation of Israel came to the tabernacle, company after company.





Exodus 35:21



Ver. 21. And they came everyone whose heart stirred him up,.... Who felt an impulse upon his mind, a strong inclination in him:



and everyone whom his spirit made willing; or was endowed with a free and liberal spirit, and was heartily willing to bear a part, and cheerfully contribute to this service; otherwise the willing mind, as well as the ability, were given them of God; see 1Ch 29:14:



and they brought the Lord's offering; an offering to him, and such as he directed and disposed them to bring, and which was for his worship and service, and the honour of his name, and was acceptable to him:



to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation; for the making of that, the several parts of it, and all things in it:



and for all his service; either the service of God, or of his tabernacle, which is the same:



and for the holy garments; that is, of Aaron and his sons.





Exodus 35:22



Ver. 22. And they came both men and women, as many as were willing hearted,.... And none else were asked to come; and this supposes, that as there were many of both sexes that were quite cordial, and heartily willing to contribute to the uttermost of what they had for this service, so there were others that were not:



and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets; the first of these, according to our version, seem to be ornaments, not about the neck, but the hands and arms, or wrists, see Ge 24:22 though the word seems to have the signification of an hook, and may mean buckles or clasps, with which some part of their garments were coupled and fastened; so Kimchi says {b}, that in his opinion it was an ornament somewhat like a needle, with which they pierced and joined the two parts of the collar of a shirt under the throat: the next are such ornaments as were worn in the ears, and though many had been given for the making of the golden calf, yet not all; there were many that did not give their earrings for this service, especially the women, perhaps only the men, see Ex 32:2 the "rings" were such as were worn on the finger, as all seem to agree; but what the "tablets" were is hard to say, the word being only used in this place and Nu 31:50: some take them for ornaments worn on the right arm; others for the covering of another part, not to be named; others for girdles or aprons; Aben Ezra gives a different account of most of them; he says the first design ornaments in the ear, or earrings; the second such as were worn in the nose, or nose jewels; and the third indeed such as were put on the finger; and the fourth, that were upon the arm: however, they were all



jewels of gold; or were all such ornaments as were made of gold; and these are first mentioned, as being probably first brought, and were what were asked for in the first place, gold being wanted for several things:



and every man that offered [offered] an offering of gold unto the Lord; that is, everyone of the first company that came, their offering was of gold, or something made of gold.



{b} Sepher Shorash. rad. xx





Exodus 35:23



Ver. 23. And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet,.... Wool or yarn of either of the colours; unless it can be supposed there might be with some of them the ingredients with which colours were made, brought with them out of Egypt:



and fine linen; they had brought out of Egypt, and for which that country was famous:



and goats' [hair]; which in those countries was so long as to be shorn like the wool of sheep:



and red skins of the rams; died red, for it does not mean any that were naturally so, of which none are known:



and badgers' skins; see Ex 25:5 of each of these, such who had them in their possession, and their hearts were willing to part with them:



brought [them]; to Moses, to the tabernacle or tent where he was.





Exodus 35:24



Ver. 24. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord's offering,.... Every one that had any quantity of either of these, whose heart was inclined freely to part therewith, brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord:



and every man with whom was shittim wood; or acacia, a sort of wood which grew pretty plentifully in those parts; and such who had cut it down for some use or another, and were disposed to part with it



for any work of the service; of which many things were to be made, whether they were trees they had felled, or planks and boards they had cut them into:



brought [it]; a sufficient quantity of it, for the various uses it was to be put unto.





Exodus 35:25



Ver. 25. And all the women that were wise hearted,.... That were ingenious, and had a good hand at spinning particularly, these were of the common and lower sort; the more honourable and richer sort of women are before mentioned, as bringing jewels or ornaments of gold of different sorts: but these were such who



did spin [with] their hands; in which way they got their living: some were more dexterous at it than others:



and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen; that is, yarn of these several colours, and flaxen thread, of which fine linen was made, all ready for the weaver, whether in woollen or linen.





Exodus 35:26



Ver. 26. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom,.... To be ingenious in their business, and to study to do it in a curious manner, and to do that which others could not:



spun goats' [hair]; some join the phrase, "in wisdom", in the preceding clause with this, neglecting the accent "Athnach", which divides them, thus, "in wisdom spun goats' hair"; and which, without being separated from the preceding clause, may be understood and repeated in this: for, as Aben Ezra says, to spin goats' hair was an art that required excellent wisdom; and so Jarchi: in the eastern countries there is a sort of goats' hair very bright and fine, and hangs to the ground, and the beauty of it is equal almost to that of silk, and is never sheared, but combed off, and the women of the country spin it; and at this day a great trade is driven with it at Angora and Aleppo {c}.



{c} Calmet in the word "Hair".





Exodus 35:27



Ver. 27. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set,.... Or "stones of fillings" {d}, to be set in ouches, and fill them up, as stones set in rings do:



for the ephod, and for the breastplate; the onyx stones were for the shoulder pieces of the ephod; and the other stones were for the breastplate of judgment, and both to be borne by the high priest, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord, whose names were engraven on these stones: the rulers are mentioned last, as bringing their offerings: the reason of which may not be, because they were backward to it, for they might offer earlier, though recorded last; or if they offered last, it might be because they brought things that others could not; namely, the precious stones here mentioned, and other things in the next verse, the common people had not; though some of the Jewish writers tax them with dilatoriness, and observe a letter wanting in the word for "rulers", it generally has; omitted to denote, as they think, that they were slow and backward in offering; so Jarchi notes from R. Nathan.



{d} Myalmh ynba "lapides plenitudinum", Pagninus, Montanus; "repletionum", Vatablus; "impletionum", Drusius.





Exodus 35:28



Ver. 28. And spice and oil,.... Such excellent spices and precious oil, pure oil olive, as the common people had not, and which they brought out of Egypt; the one was



for the light: for the light of the candlestick only; the oil, and other spices,



were for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense; the spices for the former were pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus and cassia; and for the latter, stacte, onycha, galbanum, with pure frankincense.





Exodus 35:29



Ver. 29. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord,.... What they did, whether more or less, they did it cheerfully and willingly, as to the Lord, for his service and glory:



every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses: See Gill on "Ex 35:21" and as there were work and service of God's appointment to be done in the legal tabernacle, so there are in the Gospel church; such as prayer, praise, preaching, and hearing the word, and the administration of ordinances; and for the support of which contributions are made; and all this is to be done willingly and cordially: the Gospel is to be preached not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre sake, but of a ready mind; the word is to be heard and received with all readiness, and ordinances are to be submitted to cheerfully, and with the whole heart; and the contributions made for the poor, and the support of divine service, are to be generous and bountiful: and those who have such a willing heart and spirit, have it not by nature or of themselves, but from the efficacious grace of God, which makes them a willing people in the day of his power; and from the free Spirit of God, who works in them, both to will and to do of his good pleasure; and from the love of God and Christ constraining them to it: and these act according to their several abilities, some have more grace and greater gifts, and others lesser and meaner; as well as some have more of this world's goods than others, and so capable of doing more service; but all, according to their capacity, of every sex and class, are to contribute all they can freely and willingly, to the carrying on of the cause of God and interest of religion: some bring gold, and some goats' hair, some silver, and some brass, &c. but all being offered willingly, from right principles, and with right views, is acceptable.





Exodus 35:30



Ver. 30. And Moses said unto the children of Israel,.... After they had brought their several freewill offerings:



see; observe, take notice of this, for your encouragement, that your service will not be in vain, for want of proper persons to perform this work, and to guide, direct, and oversee it:



the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; of this man, and of his descent,

See Gill on "Ex 31:2".





Exodus 35:31



Ver. 31-33. And he hath filled him with the Spirit of God,.... This and the two following verses contain the account of the qualifications of Bezaleel, which he had in an extraordinary manner from the Lord, and these are expressed in the same words as in Ex 31:3,

See Gill on "Ex 31:3" See Gill on "Ex 31:4" See Gill on "Ex 31:5".





Exodus 35:32



Ver. 32. See Gill on "Ex 35:31"





Exodus 35:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "Ex 35:31"





Exodus 35:34



Ver. 34. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach,.... Instruct others in the things be had knowledge of; the Lord not only gave him gifts of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, to devise and contrive curious works, and how to perform them, but gave him a capacity, and inclined his mind to teach others, how to work these works; for not all that have knowledge have a capacity and a will to teach others also; this is of God:



[both] he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; who was joined with him as a companion and assistant in the same service; him the Lord also qualified, both to devise things, and to teach them others; of this man, See Gill on "Ex 31:6".





Exodus 35:35



Ver. 35. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart,.... Or wisdom in their heart, a large measure of it, signified by their being filled with it; and whatever wisdom men have, whether in things natural, civil, moral, or spiritual, it is all of God: this was



to work all manner of work, of the engraver; which the setting of stones in the ephod or breastplate required:



and of the cunning workman; and such an one was necessary for the making the curtains of the tabernacle, the vail between the holy and the holy of holies, and the ephod and breastplate of the high priest:



and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen; in which there were various works of things belonging to the tabernacle, and persons employed in it:



and of the weaver; both in linen and woollen, for the curtains and hangings of the tabernacle, and for the priests' garments:



[even] of those that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work: whether in the above things, or in any sort of curious work, in gold, silver, brass, wood, or stone.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 36:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 36



Bezaleel and Aholiab, with the artificers under them, having a call as well as qualifications for the service of the sanctuary, and having received from Moses the materials for it, set about it, Ex 36:1 but the people bringing more than was necessary, they acquaint Moses with it, who by a proclamation restrained from it, Ex 36:4 and next an account is given of the several things that were wrought by them, as first the curtains for the tabernacle, both of linen and goats' hair, and the coverings of them, Ex 36:8 next the boards for the tabernacle, and the sockets they were set in, and the bars for the boards, Ex 36:20 and then the vail which parted the most holy place from the holy place, and the hanging which divided between the holy place and the court, Ex 36:35.



Ver. 1. Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man,.... Or every ingenious artificer under them: when they began to work is not precisely said, but it is very probable they set about it directly, as soon as they were furnished with materials for it, nor is it said where they wrought; it is very likely there was a particular place, where they were ranged according to their respective manufactories, and where they did their work under the inspection, and by the direction of these two men:



in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding, to know how to work all manner of work, for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded; for as all the wisdom and understanding, which Bezaleel and Aholiab had for the building of the tabernacle, and making everything appertaining to it, and for instructing others to do the same, were from the Lord; so all the wisdom, understanding, and capacity in the artificers to learn of them, and work according to their directions, were also from him; who in a very extraordinary manner enlarged their faculties, and increased their natural abilities, to take in what was suggested to them, and perform their work exactly agreeable thereunto.





Exodus 36:2



Ver. 2. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man,.... It was not enough that they had qualifications for this work, but they must have a call to it from Moses, to whom the whole affair was committed, to see that it was done according to the pattern shown him in the mount: so all that are concerned in the public work and service of the church of God should have a call unto it both from the Lord and from the church:



in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it; who had not only abilities given him of God, but a mind disposed for it, a willingness of heart, a readiness of soul for such service, was even eager upon it, and in haste to be at it.





Exodus 36:3



Ver. 3. And they received of Moses all the offering,.... That is, Bezaleel and Aholiab received it of him, who delivered it to the several workmen, as the nature of their work required, some one thing, and some another: to some gold, to others silver, to others brass, and to some they delivered out fine linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and to others shittim wood; Moses gave all out faithfully that he received, and kept back nothing for his own use or private advantage, even all the above things of which the offering consisted:



which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it [withal]; and which perhaps they went and fetched the same day they were called together, and acquainted with the mind of God concerning it; or at least they brought it in a very short space of time, and as soon as it possibly could be; it was delivered to the workmen, that the work might be begun, and carried on with the utmost expedition:



and they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning; they continued for a course of time afterwards to bring their freewill offerings of one thing or another to Moses, every morning, which perhaps was the most suitable time for him to receive them; and best expresses their readiness and diligence in bringing them, and which, as they brought, he sent to the workmen, as appears by what follows.





Exodus 36:4



Ver. 4. And all the wise men that wrought all the work of the sanctuary,.... The ingenious artificers who were employed, some in one thing, and some in another, either on the tabernacle itself, or the vessels of it, and things appertaining to it;



came every man from his work which they made; left off their work by mutual consent and agreement, and came in a body to Moses.





Exodus 36:5



Ver. 5. And they spake unto Moses, saying,.... One in the name of the rest:



the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make; they had taken an estimate of what was to be done, and of what was necessary for the doing of it, and of what the people brought for this service; and they found there was a great deal more brought than would be wanted, and therefore they thought proper to advise Moses of it, that no more might be brought: it is hard to say which is most to be wondered at, the great liberality of the people in contributing so freely and bountifully, and continuing to do so without being urged, or even asked; or the honesty of the workmen, one and all, who might have gone on to have received the gifts of the people by the hands of Moses, and what was superfluous might have converted to their own use; but instead of this, they agree as one man to let Moses know how the state of things was, and prevent the people from making any more contributions.





Exodus 36:6



Ver. 6. And Moses gave commandment,.... Orders to some proper person or persons about him;



and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, or "caused a voice to pass"; a crier or herald, as the Targums, who went through the camp and published in every quarter:



saying, let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary; as the men in cutting shittim wood, and planing it, and the women in spinning blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and goats' hair:



so the people were restrained from bringing; that is, any more: instead of a spur to liberality, which most want, a restraint was laid upon these to check it, and prevent an excess in it, of which there is rarely any danger; so eager, forward, and zealous were they in this good work.





Exodus 36:7



Ver. 7. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it,.... The gold, silver, brass, and precious stones, the wood and yarn, which had been already brought in, were sufficient for everything they were ordered to make:



and too much; a great deal more than would be used; much would remain after all was wrought: what was done with this is not said, whether it was returned to the people, or laid up for the use of the tabernacle and service, as might hereafter be wanted; which latter seems most probable.





Exodus 36:8



Ver. 8-38. And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle,.... Did the part assigned him, what he was fittest for, and most skilful in: particularly some



made ten curtains, &c. which were properly the tabernacle, and were made first, and then the several things appertaining to it; and from hence, to the end of the chapter Ex 36:9, is only an account of the making of the tabernacle, its curtains, coverings, boards, sockets, and bars, the vail for the most holy place, and the hangings for the tabernacle, exactly as they are ordered to be made,

See Gill on "Ex 26:1" &c. to end of chapter: and it may be observed, that throughout the account of the various articles, it is all along said "he" did this and the other; either referring to Moses, by whose orders they were done, or to Bezaleel, the chief director of the work, or to each and everyone of the artificers severally concerned.





Exodus 36:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:13



Ver. 13. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:30



Ver. 30. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:31



Ver. 31. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:32



Ver. 32. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:34



Ver. 34. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:35



Ver. 35. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:36



Ver. 36. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:37



Ver. 37. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"





Exodus 36:38



Ver. 38. See Gill on "Ex 36:8"

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Exodus 37:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 37



This chapter continues the account of the making of the tabernacle, and the furniture of it, particularly the ark, mercy seat, and cherubim,

Ex 37:1 the shewbread table, and what appertained to that,

Ex 37:10 the candlestick, and all the vessels of it,

Ex 37:17 and the altar of incense, together with the anointing oil, and pure incense, Ex 37:25.



Ver. 1-29. And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood,.... Jarchi says, because he gave his mind to this work more than the rest of the wise men, it is called by his name. It is a notion of some Jewish writers that the ark was made by Bezaleel, without the help of others; but there is no sufficient reason to be given for it; for other things are equally ascribed to him in this and the following chapter, as the mercy seat with the cherubim, the shewbread table, the candlestick of pure gold, the two altars, the laver of brass, with other things, which are only said to be made by him, because they were made by his direction, and he having the oversight of them while making; wherefore Aben Ezra observes, that this is particularly said for the glory of the ark. Of the ark, and all other things mentioned in this chapter,

See Gill on "Ex 25:1" &c. to end of chapter,

See Gill on "Ex 30:1" &c. to end of chapter.





Exodus 37:2



Ver. 2. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:3



Ver. 3. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:4



Ver. 4. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:5



Ver. 5. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:6



Ver. 6. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:8



Ver. 8. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:13



Ver. 13. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".





Exodus 37:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "Ex 37:1".

 

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