INTRODUCTION. 1. THE history of Israel, and the progress of Divine Revelation to Israel and to mankind, constitute the two cardinal points of interest in the records of the Old Testament. Prophecy itself is but a compound of those two elements, for it is either prospective and anticipative history, or an exhortative comment on the spirit of the Divine Law. But in no part of the Sacred Volume are those two ingredients so obviously and so completely com- bined as in the Second Book of the Pentateuch. For whilst Genesis treats of the lives of the Hebrew patriarchs, Exodus narrates the fates of the Hebrew nation; the former contains chiefly biographies, the latter history; the one has more an archæological, the other a purely historical interest; the one is the promise, the other the fulfilment.1 Genesis has in every respect the character of an introduc- tion; it teaches the existence, the omnipotence of God, but discloses not His essence, defines not His internal nature in its abstraction; it proclaims, at least indirectly, the unity of God, but only in so far as He is the Lord and Ruler of Nature; it implies many principles of morality and human and divine right, but it does not comprize them in a system, or consider them from one common and ideal point of view; it contains the conclu- sion of a covenant, but its sign and symbol is mysterious and external; it therefore prepares us for the sublime notions of sanctity, and religious life, but it does not develop them in their ennobling consequences, it does not ensure their practical effect upon the conduct of man by other and more efficacious institutions; it records revela- the future rather than the present; they are more abrupt and desultory manifestations than a permanent, ever ready, perfect communion; they are more important for the hopes and prospects which they open than for the immediate bliss they confer; they are a veil through which the first outlines of the world's history are dimly discernible. Genesis leads the thread of narration to that very point where the family begins to assume the importance, not of a tribe, but of a people; and Exodus carries on the account through the infancy and youth of the new nation; through the ignominy of Egyptian servitude, and the glory of heaven-wrought redemption; through the darkness of idolatrous aberration, and the light of revealed truth; the Israelites, physically and mentally released, are trained for the difficult warfare against opposing nations, and for a happy political existence in their own conquered land. But the political government of Israel is based on, or is rather indentical with, its religious organization; it is a theocracy, therefore our book contains also a full outline of the moral laws which man owes to God and to his fellowcreatures; and so admirable is their purport and so systematical their arrangement, that they form the eternal and infallible standard of human conduct.2 The Decalogue and the "Book of the Covenant," embodied in Exodus, render it with respect to Divine revelation, the most important volume which the human race possesses. 2. It is known that the name Exodus ("Ecodos, departure, viz., from Egypt) was given to our book by the Hellenists, from the chief event therein narrated, whilst the Jews designate it by the,two Hebrew words with which it commences (We-eleh Shemoth) or simply .(Shemoth ) שְׁמוֹת 3. The contents of the Second Book of Moses, which we have constantly developed in the Summaries before each chapter or section, inclose an extraordinary variety of matter, and yield to the enquiring mind an unusual extent of information. The narration of the fates of Israel yields ample and copious results for historical and chronological researches; the ten plagues, for the natural phenomena of the East; the Exode, and the journeys of the Hebrews, for geographical enquiries; the Decalogue, and the laws 1 See note on xix. 6. ? See notes on xx. 1—14, and prefatory remarks to xx. 19, 20. of the Book of the Covenant, for the most fertile philosophical and legislatorial investigations; and the construc- 1 tion of the holy Tabernacle, and the sacred utensils, not only for the history of art and mechanical skill, but also for the innermost character of the religious ideas of Mosaism. This book is, therefore, as interesting for the diversity, as it is important for the sublimity, of its contents. 4. Exodus may conveniently be divided into two chief portions: I. The Historical Part: i.-xi. (Israel in Egypt); xii. II. The Legislative Part: xii. 1-20, 43-50. (Abib It will be seen that the first part of Exodus is pre- 5. The authenticity of Exodus has been less exposed to the attacks of criticism than that of the other books of the Pentateuch, especially Genesis. Even the most radical sceptics have admitted that a historical kernel lies at the bottom of the accounts concerning the Exode, and that Moses is the author at least of the Decalogue. It is generally admitted, that both the details of the Egyptian plagues and the journeys of Israel manifest the most accurate acquaintance with the phenomena and localities described. And that rare unanimity makes again this book one of the most interesting parts of the holy records. But its unity has been questioned, not only by that school of Biblical critics which dismembers the sacred writings, quite as arbitrarily and blindly as many hypercritical philologists of the last century dissected Homer's songs into incoherent fragments; but even more moderate interpreters believe that our book is disfigured by spurious interpolations. We have in all such passages tried to refute this very questionable opinion. We see the completest harmony in all parts of Exodus; we consider it as a perfect whole, pervaded throughout by one spirit and the same leading ideas. As it is one of the chief objects of this commentary to prove that unity, we content ourselves here with referring, among other passages, to our notes on vi. 10, 26.; xi. 1.; xii. 1.; xvi. 35, 36.; xxiv. 1. But to show how precarious and fluctuating such dismemberment is, we will only allude to one recent instance. Stachelin1 supposes the Pentateuch to contain two different legislations, composed at different times and by different authors, and asserts:-1st. That the one legislation contradicts the other; and, 2nd, that the phraseology in both is different. As to the first point, we refer, besides the notes above quoted, to our remarks on xiii. 2. (about the firstborn), and xxi. 7—11. (about female slaves), where we have reconciled the apparent contradictions; and as to the second objection, it is sufficient to mention that Staehelin considers the use of גר of בית אבות of הקים ברית of ויאמר instead of וידבר and as conclusive criteria of the first legislation; and the application of the infinitive absolute, of, of the phrases "flowing with milk and honey," and "the strong hand of God," as the distinguishing characteristics. of the second legislation. It is superfluous to point to the utter groundlessness of such proofs, as all these phrases have no peculiar character applicable exclusively to one time or one individual. If really our book should, in some parts, have a fragmentary character, this would be far from proving a plurality of authors; it is, on the contrary, in perfect harmony with the nature of a historical work, the single events of which are recorded by a contemporary writer immediately after their occurence. In such cases we 1 Kritische Untersuchungen über den Pentateuch, etc. p. 27. cannot expect a pragmatical digest of the historical facts; and that peculiarity which has been described as a defect in style and composition, constitutes certainly a strong proof of the truth and authenticity of the events narrated. § 2. THE CHRONOLOGY OF EXODUS. THE chronology of the period comprised in Exodus, is, like almost all other epochs of Biblical history, involved in intricate and embarrassing difficulty; and it is by the most persevering patience only that we might at last succeed to bring the events related in our book in harmony both with each other and with profane history. I. SOJOURN OF THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT. 1. The cardinal point of this important question is: how long did the Israelites stay in Egypt? or, how many years elapsed from the immigration of Jacob to the Exodus under the leadership of Moses? If we follow the clear Biblical representation, we find that the period is prophetically fixed at 400 years (Gen. xv. 13), and historically stated, in more accurate figures, at 430 years (Exod. xii. 40). But that Biblical statement is surrounded with perplexing difficulties. For, 1st. Kohath (the son of Levi), who was already born at the period of the immigration (Gen. xlvi. 8, 11), lived 133 years (Exod. vi. 18); Amram, his son, attained the age of 137 years (vi. 20); Moses was 80 years old at the time of the Exodus (vii. 7). Now all these numbers added (133 + 137+80) give only the sum of 350 years, which must still be considerably shortened by deducting the age of Kohath before the immigration and the contemporary years of the fathers and the sons. 2nd. Levi died at the age of 137 years; at the time of the immigration into Egypt he must have been between 40 and 50 years old (according to Abarbanel on ii. 1-44 years); he lived, therefore, still 93 years in Egypt (137-44-93); Jochebed might have been born to him in his advanced age, say 80 years after the immigration;1 and as Moses was 80 years at the time of the Exodus, Jochebed bore him at the age of 270 years! for 430-(80+80)=270, which would imply an absurdity.-To remove these diffi 1 See note on i. 5. |