in the Scriptures it generally means eastward. Atad was between the River Jordan and Jericho, about two miles from the former, and three from the latter.-Gen. 1. 10.

BROKEN spirits must be bound up and encouraged.

THOSE we love and forgive, we must not only do well for, but speak kindly to.-Gen. 1. 15-21.

THE Pharaoh in whose reign Moses was born is known in general history by the name of Rameses IV., surnamed MeiaHe and several sovereigns who preceded him, caused the erection of many of the most stupendous buildings still remaining in Egypt, as appears by inscriptions upon them which have been lately deciphered. From these discoveries it has been ascertained that Rameses IV. reigned sixty-six years, which agrees with the account given, Exod. iv. 19, that he lived till long after Moses had retired to the desert. The sarchopagus, or stone coffin, of this monarch is now at Paris. The Pharaoh who reigned when the Israelites went out of Egypt was Rameses V., named Amenophis. See Horne.Exod. i. 8.

THE tradition of the Jews is, that Pharaoh's daughter had no child of her own, and that she was the only child of her father; so that when Moses was adopted for her son, he stood fair for the crown.-Exod. ii. 1-10.

THE original states only "to wash at the river;" her object some consider was to wash clothes. In those days, that employment was not considered degrading even to kings' daughters, as appears from ancient heathen writers.-Exod

ii. 5.

GOD guided Moses to Midian; the Midianites were of the seed of Abraham, and retained the worship of the true God among them, so that he might have not only a safe, but a comfortable settlement among them. And through this country he was afterward to lead Israel, with which he now had an opportunity of making himself acquainted.-Exod. ii. 11-15.

THE years of the life of Moses are remarkably divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second as a shepherd in Midian, the third as a king in Jeshurun. This appearance of God to Moses, found him. employed. He was keeping the flock, that is, tending sheep, near Mount Horeb. This was a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it; and thus learns meekness and contentment to a high degree, for which he is more celebrated in sacred writ than for all his

other learning. Moses must express his reverence and readiness to obey. The putting off the shoe was a token of respect and submission. We ought to approach to God with a solemn pause and preparation; and though bodily exercise alone profits little, yet we ought to glorify God with our bodies, and to express our inward reverence, by a grave and reverent behaviour in the worship of God, carefully avoiding everything that looks light and rude, and unbecoming the service.-Exod. i. 1-6.

It would have argued little wisdom or piety in Moses, bad he continued feeding his flocks without noticing the astonishing miracle before him, or turning aside to see that great sight. With how much guilt and folly, then, must that man be chargeable, whom the rich mercies of God in Jesus Christ vainly solicit.-Exod. iii. 16-22.-Buddicom.

OR," Except by a mighty hand."-Exod. iii. 19.-A. Clarke. THE word here translated borrow, properly means ask or demand.-Exod. iii. 22.-Henry and Scott.

THE bricks here described were made of clay, with straw intermixed, to bind and make them more firm. Dr. Shaw describes some of the Egyptian pyramids as made of bricks composed of clay, mud, and straw kneaded together, and afterwards baked in the sun. Other travellers describe most of the houses in Egypt as built of the same material. It will be recollected that rain does not fall in Lower Egypt as in other countries.-Exod. v. 7.

THE expression "uncircumcised" is used in Scripture to express any kind of unsuitableness which there may be in anything to answer its proper purpose; as the carnal heart and depraved nature of fallen man are entirely unsuited to the service of God, and to the purposes of his glory.—Exod. vi.

10-13.

MOSES's rod at Horeb is said to be turned into "nahash," a common ordinary snake or serpent; but when he casts it down before Pharaoh, it becomes "tanin," a serpent of the largest size, perhaps a crocodile, which beast the Egyptians adored, and to whose jaws they had exposed the poor Hebrew infants in the river.-Exod. vii. 10. Lightfoot.

ALL the ancient versions, and best modern translators render this, "and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened."-See "Reformers' Bible," &c.-Exod. vii. 13.-Henry and Scott.

TRAVELLERS describe the water of the Nile as peculiarly pleasant to drink. Harmer says, it is so delicious as to give an increased energy to the expression respecting the Egyptians

loathing it. The Egyptians every year sacrificed one or two young persons to this river, which they accounted as sacred.-Exod. vii. 18.

FLIES, or swarms of various sorts of noisome insects, but the zimb, or dog-fly, appears to be particularly meant, which at one part of the year so prevails in some districts of Upper Egypt, as to drive the cattle to madness, and causes them to run wildly about till they die exhausted by fatigue. They were now sent in winter, a time when they do not appear in natural course.-Exod. vii. 21.

TILL the heart is renewed by the grace of God, the impressions made by the force of affliction do not abide; the convictions wear off, and the promises that were given are forgotten. Till the disposition of the air is changed, what thaws in the sun will freeze again in the shade.-Exod. viii. 1-15.

IN several cities of Egypt it was customary to sacrifice men by burning them alive in the furnace, and to scatter the ashes over the land, believing that a blessing and fertility would thereby be procured. It is supposed that some of the Israelites had been thus sacrificed.-Exod. ix. 8.

EGYPT was particularly famed for the growth of flax, and the manufacture of linen, which was the general dress of the people. Bolled means risen to a stalk.-Exod. ix. 31.

LOCUSTS are insects resembling a grasshopper, but larger, being about three inches in length. They abound at times in many countries of Asia and Africa, flying in vast bodies several miles in extent, so as to darken the air, and devouring every sort of vegetation. Jackson, in his account of Morocco, says that he has seen the locusts so thick upon the ground while travelling, as to cover the horses hoofs.-See Joel ii.Exod. xi. 5.

DR. SHAW says, that in the East, most families grind their wheat and barley at home, having two portable mill-stones for that purpose, the uppermost of which is turned round by a small handle placed in the rim. Two women often work together at the same mill, one sitting opposite the other. -Exod. xi. 5.

THE margin has, "between the two evenings." The Jews counted a double evening; one from noon till three o'clock; the other from that time till sunset. The moment between the two evenings, therefore, was three in the afternoon; and we find that the pure and perfect lamb, even Jesus, was slain at that very time, called the ninth hour, (Luke xxiii. 44). How

undeniably did the paschal lamb, slain in the last memorable night of Egyptian bondage, refer to the mysterious sacrifice of the Lamb of God!-Exod. xii. 6. Buddicom.

"BITTER herbs." The vulgate renders it, with wild lettuces, which are very bitter. By the Jewish rules five sorts of herbs might be eaten on this occasion, wild lettuce, endive, horehound, tansy, and chicory. It is, however, uncertain what herbs were used at the institution of the Passover. See Gill.-Exod. xii. 8. -Henry and Scott.

"EAT not of it raw," or not roasted enough. In some nations of the East it was, and still is customary to eat flesh in such a state; but the Israelites, though in haste, were cautioned against so doing.-Exod. xii. 9.

THE Egyptians were remarkable for their loud cries and wailings for the dead. The inmates of a house shrieked, howled, and ran about as if frantic, the moment any person therein expired. When" all the first-born" were cut off, there must indeed have been "a great cry in Egypt."-Exod. xii. 30. THE Arabs knead their dough in small wooden bowls, which also serve them as dishes for their food.-Exod. xii. 34.

:

THE children of Israel having obtained their dismission, set forward without delay. Their number was about six hundred thousand men considering the proportion women and children in general bear to grown men, the whole company could not be much less than two millions; an immense increase from seventy persons, in little more than two hundred years. -Exod. xii. 37-42.

THIS verse stands as follows in the Samaritan Pentateuch, and in the Alexandrian manuscript of the Greek version:"Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan, and in the land of Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." This, doubtless, is the true reading, and removes any difficulties as to this text. In Gen. xv. 13, it is said that the seed of Abraham should be strangers in a land not theirs, and should serve them, and that they should afflict them four hundred years. The two passages do not contradict each other, as in Gen. xv., the period is reckoned from the birth of Isaac; in Exod. xii. from the departure of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham and his seed were strangers in the land of Canaan two hundred and fifteen years-the children of Israel were in Egypt also two hundred and fifteen years.Exod. xii. 40.

THE paschal lamb was roasted whole. In the East, at the

present day, a lamb roasted whole is not an uncommon dish. -Exod. xii. 46.

CHILDREN should be directed and encouraged to ask their parents questions concerning the things of God; a practice perhaps of all others, the most profitable way of catechising; and parents must furnish themselves with useful knowledge, that they may be ready always to give an answer to their inquiries. If ever the knowledge of God cover the earth, as the waters do the sea, the fountains of family instruction must first be broken up. We should all be able to show cause for what we would do in religion.-Exod. xiii. 11-16.

MIRIAM (or Mary).-Exod. xv. 1-21.

THE Jews' tradition is that the wood of this tree was itself bitter.-Exod. xv. 22-27.

SEVERAL stations of the Israelites are still pointed out with considerable appearance of probability. At Elim some of the wells remain to this day, and a number of palm-trees. The people of the neighbourhood point out a place, where they say the tent of Moses stood. There is a well of water at a place called Howara, answering to the situation of Marah, so bitter that it is scarcely possible to use it.

THERE is in sin, not only an infinite mischief done to the man, but it is accompanied by an infatuation that surpasses all description. A death will come on the spirit, which will be perceived and felt by all around: yet, when the most affectionate friends of such a man attempt to expostulate, they often find him not only insensible, but obstinate and stouthearted. He who, like Sampson, the champion of Israel, lays his head in the lap of temptation, will rarely rise again as he lay down; he may say, "I will go out, as at other times before, aud shake myself: but he wists not that the Lord is departed from him! Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not!"

THEY called it "manna, manhu," which in English means "What is this?" It was pleasant food; the Jews say it was palatable to all, however varied their tastes.-Exod. xvi. 13-21.

LET no man leave till morning, but let him sleep quietly, though they have not a bit of bread in their tent, nor in all their camp, trusting that God, with the following day, will bring them their daily bread. It was surer and safer in God's storehouse than in their own, and would thence come to them sweeter and fresher. See here the folly of hoarding. The manna that was laid up by some, who thought themselves wiser and better managers than their neighbours, and who