V. 8. One signal mercy of heaven is often the pledge and precursor of others still more valuable. The redemption of Israel from bondage was to be followed by their being put in possession of the promised inheritance.

V. 9. The pressure of outward calamities may so drink up the spirits and engender unbelief, as to prompt men to reject their own mercies.

V. 12. The ill reception which the Lord's message sometimes meets with at the hands of his own people, tempts his ministers to despair of success with the impenitent. V. 12. Good men are apt to forget that God circumciseth the lips and gives a tongue, where his own message is to be delivered.

V. 20. The evil or equivocal conduct of parents does not always avail to preclude their having a seed which shall stand high in the favor of God.

V. 26, 27. God would have his chosen instruments of good to his church well known to those to whom they have been benefactors, and when he enters the meanest name upon his record, it is thenceforth invested with eminence. V. 29. The name Jehovah,' carries enough in its import to support his ministers in their severest trials and most arduous labors.

CHAPTER VII.

IN what relation were Moses and Aaron to stand respectively to each other, and how were they to execute their mission to Pharaoh? v. 1, 2. 'I have made thee a god; Heb. 'I have given thee (for) a god;' Chal. 'I have set thee a prince or master (Rab.); Arab. 'I have made thee a lord.' See note on Gen. 1. 17. -'Shall be thy prophet;' Chal. thine interpreter.' See note on Gen. 20. 7. Moses himself was to be an oracle, and Aaron a mouth, to Pharaoh. Aaron was to be to Moses what Moses himself was to God.-'Thou shalt speak ;' i. e. to Aaron. Although the name of Aaron is not always expressly mentioned in connection with that of Moses throughout the ensuing narrative, yet it is to be inferred from the charge

now given, that the two brothers uniformly went into the presence of Pharaoh together.

What did the Most High declare would be the result of this embassy, both as it respected Pharaoh and the people of Egypt? v. 3-5.

'I will harden.' See note on Ex. 4. 21.—'Will multiply my signs and my wonders.' The original word for wonders,' comes from a root signifying to persuade.' It therefore properly implies a persuasive fact, event, or sign, effected to produce conviction and to lead to faith and obedience, whether the wonder be strictly miraculous or not.That I may lay my hand; Heb. 'And I will give my hand;' Chal. And I will lay the stroke of my strength, or my powerful plague.'

What is said of the obedience of Moses and Aaron, and what was the age of each at the time? v. 6, 7.

'And Moses and Araon did,' &c. These words contain merely a general affirmation that Moses and Aaron, according to what was required of them, delivered all the words, and performed all the miracles which are afterward recorded in their various minute details. Such brief summary statements, comprising matter more particularly given in the connection, are by no means unfrequent with the sacred writers.

What special directions did God now give to Moses and Aaron, what is said of their obedience, and of the measures adopted thereupon by Pharaoh, with their issue? v. 8-12.

'It shall become a serpent:' Heb. 'shall be to a serpent (Tannin);' i. e. a large serpent; a dragon, as it is rendered by the Greek. The word is not the same with that which occurs eh. 4. 3. though, in some instances, probably synonymous with it. It is not unlikely that the rod was changed into a crocodile, an animal abounding in Egypt, and apparently spoken of, in some cases, as an emblem of its persecuting rulers. s. 74. 13. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength (the Red Sea): thou brakest the

heads of the dragons (destroyedst the Egyptian power) in the waters' See, also, Ezek. 29. 3.-Wise men ;' Greck 'sophists,' i. e. philosophers.—Sorcerers;' rather ‘jugglers,' or 'wizards.

What do we elsewhere' learn to have been the names of the two principal magicians employed on this occasion in opposition to Moses? 2 Tim. 3. 8. 'Jannes and Jambres ;' i. e. John and Ambrose, the Latin form of the words being Johannes and Ambrosius.

Is it to be understood that real miracles were wrought by the magicians?

Instead of reciting the various opinions of commentators upon this subject, on which volumes have been written, we shall briefly propound the interpretation which, of all others, strikes us as the most probable. And we regret that, from its depending so entirely upon the idiomatic structure of the Hebrew, the mere English reader will not perhaps be able fully to appreciate its force. We will endeavor to make it, however, if not demonstrable, at least intelligible. It is a canon of interpretation of frequent use in the exposition of the sacred writings, that verbs of action sometimes signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question. Thus, Ezek. 24. 13. 'I have purified thee, and thou wast not purged;' i. e. I have endeavored, used means, been at pains, to purify thee.' John 5. 44. 'How can ye believe which receive honor one of another;' i. e. endeavor to receive. Rom. 2. 4. 'The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ;' i. e. endeavors or tends to lead thee. Amos 9. 3. Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea;' i. e. though they aim to be hid. 1 Cor. 10. 33. 'I please all men;' i. e. endeavor to please. Gal. 5. 4. Whosoever of you are justified by the law;' i. c. seek and endeavor to be justified. Ps. 69. 4. "They that destroy me are mighty;' i. e. that endeavor to destroy me. Eng. that would destroy me.'

Acts 7.

26. And set them at one again;' i. e. wished and endeavored. Eng. would have set them.' The passage before us we consider as exhibiting a usage entirely analogous. They also did in like manner with their enchantments,' i, e, they endeavored to do in like man.

ner; just as in ch. 8. 18. it is said, 'And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not;' the words being precisely the same in both instances. Adopting this construction, we suppose that the former clause of verse 12, should be rendered, 'For they cast down every man his rod, that they might become serpents;' which the Hebrew reader will perceive to be a rendering precisely parallel to that which occurs ch. 6. 11. 'Speak unto Pharaoh that he let the children of Israel go; Heb. 'And he shall let go.' So also ch. 7. 2. 'Shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send; Heb. 'And he shall send.' The magicians cast down their rods that they might undergo a similar transmutation with that of Moses, but it is not expressly said that were so changed, and we therefore incline to place their discomfiture in the loss of their rods, those instruments with which they had vainly hoped to compete with Moses. Ifit be contended that there was some kind of change produced on the magicians' rods, but that it was effected by feats of juggling, or legerdemain, and amounted in fact merely to an optical illusion, it may be asked whether it is probable that they were prepared with all the necessary apparatus to perform their prodigy at one and the same interview with that here mentioned? Moreover, if they had practised a deception by imposing upon the senses of the company, would not Moses have triumphantly detected and exposed it? We doubt, therefore, whether there were any change at all produced upon the rods of the magicians. Should it be said that precisely the same expression is made use of in respect to Aaron's rod, and that we have as good evidence of the transformation of their rods as of his; we answer, that it is expressly asserted, v. 10. of Aaron's rod, that it became a serpent, while of the others this is not asserted, at least as we interpret the language.

What was the effect of the transaction upon Pharaoh, and what farther message enforced by what additional threatenings were Moses and Aaron commanded to deliver him? v. 13-18.

"And he hardened Pharaoh's heart;' Heb. ' and the heart of Pharaoh waxed strong, or hardened itself.' The expression in the original is precisely the same with that

which occurs, v. 22, of this chapter, and is there rendered, 'and Pharaoh's heart was hardened.' Why it is translated differently here it is not easy to say.. 14. 'Is hardened; Heb. 'is heavy.' It is peculiarly to be regretted that our translators have so uniformly made use of the word 'harden' by which to render several different words in the original.I will smite with the rod which is in mine hand.' As these are doubtless to be considered the words of Jehovah himself they present a striking example of the phraseology by which an agent is said to do that which he commands or procures to be done. The smiting rod is said to be in God's hand because it was in the hand of Moses who was acting by his orders and in his name. Thus, Hos. 8. 12, I have written to him the great things of my law; i. e. have ordered or procured them to be written. --And they shall be turned into blood.' It is, perhaps, to be questioned whether these words are to be understood in their most literal import. In Joel, 2. 31, it is said, 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,' by which is doubtless meant that it shall be turned into the color of blood. So in the present case the waters may have been made to assume a preternatural red and blood-like color, by being impregnated by the immediate power of God by some substance capable of producing that effect, and which might have been destructive to animal life. We do not object, however, to the common interpretation, for which very plausible reasons may be urged. Shall loathe to drink ;' i. e. Heb. 'shall be wearied to drink ;' i. e. by digging round about the river for water. The original comprehensively expresses both the distasteful loathsomeness of the bloody water and the trouble and pains to which they were subjected in obtaining that which was pure.

What direction was Moses required to give to Aaron, and what is said of his compliance with it? v. 19, 20.

'And upon all their pools of water;' Heb. 'even upon all the gathering of their waters;' the words are probably exegetical of what goes before. The original term for gathering,' is the same as that which occurs, Gen. 1. 10. the gathering of the waters.' It is a collective term for