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whether by means of one of the senses or another. See note on Gen. 42. 1.-The lightnings; Heb. Gr. 'the lamps,' from their glowing and flashing like torches moved quickly to and fro.- We will hear;' i. e. we will both hear and obey; for obedience enters essentially into the scriptural notion of 'hearing.'

How is this circumstance alluded to by the Apostle? Heb. 12. 18-20.

What did Moses answer, and what message did he receive for them when he drew near unto the thick darkness? v. 20-26.

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For God is come;' i. e. in the external visible tokens of his presence. Chal. the glory of God is revealed.'The thick darkness; or, the tempestuous darkness.' The Heb. term, signifying dense darkness, is rendered by an inspired writer in the Greek of the New Testament, Heb. 12. 18. 'Thuella,' which properly denotes a violent tempest. It occurs also in the Sept. Deut. 4. 11. and 5. 22.

-An altar of earth.' This was a temporary regulation, having respect to such occasional altars as were erected on special emergencies, of which see instances, Judg. 6. 24.— 13. 10. 1 Sam. 7. 17. They were made by heaping up a quantity of earth, and covering it with green turf. As God designed to have the worship of his people eventually concentrated at one place, he would not allow the rearing of altars of durable materials or finished workmanship elsewhere, lest his main purpose should be frustrated.-'Peaceofferings;' more properly rendered welfare-offerings,' or offerings elicited by a grateful sense of the Divine goodness to the offerer. The English reader might suppose, from the present rendering,peace-offerings,' that they were oblations presented for the purpose of securing peace or reconciliation with God; but this was the design of the burnt-offerings,' which were strictly propitiatory in their nature, whereas the 'peace-offerings' were merely eucharistical. For the use of the word 'peace,' in the sense of welfare,' see note on Gen. 29. 6.- Where I record my name; Heb. 'where I cause my name to be remembered.' Chal. Where I shall make my divinity (or, my glory) to dwell.' Gr. 'Where I shall name my name;'

whence the Apostle, 2 Tim. 2. 19. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.' The meaning is, In any place in which I shall order my worship to be temporarily established.'-'Shalt not build it of hewn stone.' The reason of this probably was, that carved and wrought stone usually expressed some kind of similitude or image which might turn to an occasion of superstition; besides that they would be apt to be of a more durable nature, and therefore more easily converted to monuments of idolatry. It is possible moreover, that this might be forbidden to the Israelites in opposition to the heathen, who built their altars of hewn stones, and by having them curiously wrought and adorned, rendered them more attractive as places of worship. Thou hast polluted it ;' not as if the tool itself had the power of pollution, but the work was polluted or defiled by being done contrary to the express command of heaven.-Lest thy nakedness.' The garments of the priests being long and loose, ascending a flight of steps might indecorously expose their persons.

How was this inconvenience subsequently guarded against? Ex. 28. 43.

HEADS OF PRACTICAL REFLECTION.

V. 2. The relation which Jehovah sustains to his intelligent creatures is a self-evident ground of his acting the part of a lawgiver towards them.

V. 2. Redemption from hell is a stronger motive to obe-. dience with Christians than was deliverance from Egypt with the Jews.

V. 4. Atheism, polytheism, and idolatry, are sins occupying the first rank in the estimation of the Divine law. V. 5, 6. The exercise of loving-kindness is so much more congenial to the Divine mind than that of wrath, that while he punishes to the third and fourth generation, he shows mercy to the thousandth.

V. 7. As God's name is dear to himself it should be held in the profoundest veneration by his creatures.

V. 8. The liberal allowance which the Creator has made

of time to be devoted to man's purposes should prevent his grudging the allotted portion which He has set apart for himself.

V. 12. Those whom others are bound to honor should be careful so to walk as justly to entitle themselves to it. V. 17. Every degree of that lust is prohibited which desires any thing that God forbids.

CHAPTER XXI.

What is to be understood by the 'judgments' which Moses was commanded to set before the people?

'Judgments;' i. e. judicial laws or ordinances by which their civil government was to be conducted, and according to which the magistrates were to give judgment in disputed cases or differences arising between man and man.-It may here be remarked, that the instructions given to Moses on the mount extend from ch. 20. 22. to the end of ch. 23.

What was the regulation respecting the term of service and the manumission of a Hebrew servant who had been bought? v. 2–4.

If thou buy an Hebrew servant.' The circumstances under which a free-born Israelite might be bought as a slave were, 1. When he had become reduced to extreme poverty and sold himself or his child, Lev. 25. 39. Deut. 15. 12. for a subsistence. 2. When he had contracted debts which he could not pay, and yielded himself to his creditor, 2 Kings, 4. 1. 3. When he had been guilty of theft, and was unable to make restitution, Ex. 22. 3. In other cases the slaves employed by the Israelites were foreigners, especially captives taken in war.-' Six years he shall serve.' This service, in the case of an Hebrew, was forbidden to be of a rigorous character. Lev. 25. 39, 40. 'Thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant; but as an hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be

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with thee.'-' In the seventh he shall go out ;' unless the the jubilee year should occur before the six years' service had expired, when his manumission took place by virtue of the general law, Lev. 25. 40. (He) shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee.'- Shall go out free;' he shall pay nothing for his liberty, seeing he is made free by law; nor was he required to pay for any thing else; although he might during the period of his service have labored under sickness, and put his master to cost, yet no compensation was to be expected from him at the time of his release; for a man's servant was during his servitude as his own possession for which he was bound to provide at his own charges. If he came in by himself;' Heb. ' came in with his body;' i. e. with his body only, in his single person, having neither wife nor children. Have given him a wife; i. e. a heathen or gentile bond-maid; for such only, with their children, were allowed to be retained in bondage; Lev. 25. 44. That a Hebrew woman could not be thus dealt with is evident from v. 7. of this chapter. Yet if the marriage were fair and legal, on what grounds could it be dissolved in a case like this merely for the master's advantage? Is not the marriage union indissoluble, except for the cause of adultery? The answer usually given to this question is, that as the Israelites were forbidden to join affinity with the Canaanites, such a marriage with a Canaanitish woman was not originally lawful, and therefore the dissolving of it was not sinful. We should be glad to be able to give the querist a more satisfactory reply.

What additional directions does Moses elsewhere give as to the dismission of a Hebrew serservant? Deut. 15. 12-14.

What was the rule to be observed in case the servant should be indisposed to avail himself of his privilege? v. 5, 6.

'Shall plainly say; Heb. 'saying shall say;' i. e. shall say it again and again, so that his purpose shall become a matter of notoriety. This is intimated in order that there might be evidence of such an intention being in the highest degree voluntary and unconstrained. Unto the judges;' Heb.' unto the gods ;' i. e. the magistrates, who are called

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gods,' Ps. 82. 1, 6. John, 10. 34. 35. Gr. To the tribunal of God;' i. c. instituted by God.-To the door;' i. e. not of the judges' residence, or place of judicature, but to the door of his master's house, to which, for the future, the servant was as it were fixed and determined.-- Bore his ear. This was, in the eastern countries, a badge of servitude. Juvenal, Sat. I. 102. Why should I fear or doubt to defend the place, though born upon the banks of the Euphrates as the tender perforations in my ear evince ?' upon which the ancient scholiast remarks, that this was a sign of slavery.' It is supposed that the Psalmist, Ps. 40. 6. speaking in the person of the Messiah alludes to this custom; Mine ear hast thou opened ;' Heb. 'dug, pierced through; expressive of his entire devotion to his father's service. Michaelis remarks,' that this statute of Moses made boring the ears in some degree ignominious to a free man; because it became the sign whereby a perpetual slave was to be known, and that for this reason he would have been very glad to have procured the abandonment of the practice of servants thus permanently adopting a state of vassalage. Serve him for ever;' i. e. as long as his master lived, or till the period of the next ensuing jubilee. Thus, I Sam. 1. 22. That he may appear before the Lord, and thus abide for ever;' i. e. as long as he lives.

How was a Hebrew maid-servant to be manumitted, and how is this to be reconciled with Deut. 15. 17? v. 7.

'Shall not go out as the men-servants do,' i. e. shall not go out upon the same conditions, but upon better; shall be better provided for at her departure; inasmuch as a feeble woman is less able to protect herself and secure her own welfare, than a strong and able-bodied man. As to the passage in Deuteronomy, Moses probably meant to say, that the male and female servants were to be dealt with alike, not as to having their ears bored, but as to receiving presents on their dismission.

What was the master, who had betrothed an Hebrew servant, required to do in case he was

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