and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye 32 have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have 33 said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon 35 their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians 36 jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required; and they spoiled the Egyptians. so pale, so woe-begone," who "drew Priam's curtain at the dead of night.” He no longer thinks of negotiation (as in x. 28, 29). We now see in him only surrender at discretion. There seems abjectness of prostration in the bless me also (cp. Ge. xxvii. 34, 38). 33-36. N.B.-As regards the people of Egypt, God has twice (iv. 21, x. 3) shown Himself aware of the existence on their part of a neighbourly kind feeling toward Israel; and He now repeats the indication. On borrowing, see under iii. 22:-there what we see is, obtaining by request; here it is, giving by request; but the real notion is, the request. Yet the picture of Israel, ver. 35, is not imposing. Bound up: the loose shawl or bournous could easily be arranged for the purpose; as a shepherd 'fixes" his plaid to carry a lamb in. The dough is sometimes carried about by Arabs in like manner at this day. The cake or dough is placed inchoate in a small vessel, ready to be baked when there is leisure. (In the medieval Wars of Independence, the Scots-with a little store of meal in saddle-bag-got into a similar state of commissariat for their raids across the English border.) An Israelite who in that sorry plight had been enriched by Egyptians ought to be considerate, kind afterwards. That lending is made a point of genuine godliness both in the Old Testament and by Christ (Sermon on the Mount). (See the Civil Code, xxi.-xxiii., on care for "stranger.") Exercise 27. 1. Children at the Passover. (1) Repeat the words of God in the only communion address which we have direct from Him. (2) Quote exactly the definition of the meaning of the Passover that is printed in small capitals in the Commentary. (3) Taking the Lord's Supper as the " object lesson of Christianity, show how there might be applied to it, for information of children, that definition. 2. In Israel young people, born "children of the law," at the time of adolescence became "children of the covenant. (1) Why should young members of the Church become communicants? (2) What, in your opinion, usually hinders them from obeying the command, "This do in remembrance of me"? (3) How might an adult obtain benefit for himself from having been baptized in infancy? (See Directory for Public Worship.) 3. (1) Is reformation the only end of punishment? Give a reason for your opinion. (2) What is the essential cause of the exultation in the Song of Moses and the Lamb, Re. xv. 3, etc.? (3) What is the Christian feeling, 37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot, that were men, meet for utterance in praise to God, that may be supposed to find expression in the imprecatory psalms and in the extirpation of the Canaanites? NOTE on Sacrifice in connexion with the Passover. (See note on altar, initial to xxvii. 1-8.) The Passover sacrifice is of a sinless life, in the room of sinners, who are to be saved from death by the death of the innocent substitute. 1. The first clear case of bleeding sacrifice is that of Noah's offering. In connexion with that offering there first is heard the expression, "of a sweet-smelling savour (note on sweet savour, under xxix. 18). The idea here is of satisfaction to the mind and heart of God (Eph. v. 1). 2. Abraham's offering of Isaac brings substitution very vividly to view (Ge. iii. 13). 3. Another famous sacrifice of the patriarchal age is that offered by Job for his sons, upon the supposition of their having transgressed. We do not know where to place him chronologically, but theologically he is in the paleozoic of Bible religious thought. The idea of his sacrifice is propitiation (see notes on the Kapporeth-" mercy-seat "-etc., under xxv.). And propitiation (says Voltaire) is the fundamental of all the religions. Supposing, then, that the Passover gathers into itself, resumes, the essential ideas of patriarchal religion as represented by sacrifice, there will be found as the true heart of its meaning, satisfaction to God, by the way of substitution, on the ground of propitiation. Propitiation of God through expiation of the guilt of sin,-this, as the ultimate ground of man's peace with his Maker, we shall see instated, as the central principle of Israel's religion, in the Holy of Holies, where Jehovah is manifested in the glory of redeeming grace, over the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. This is what is set forth in the Epistle to the Hebrews in its exposition of the Tabernacle theology as now unveiled in Christ (He. i.-x.). First step of departure (xii. 37-51). Within the historic period, very considerable changes have taken place even in the physical geography of the region, to the north-east of Egypt, in the direction of Suez and the Red Sea, over which the Israelites must have passed in some way. Though Pithom should really prove to have been "Succoth," it is not inconceivable that another "Succoth" (Booths) should have been the point of convergence for Israel;-mustering to Moses, from, let us suppose, the district or region of Rameses. The identifications of particular places in this part of the history are only conjectural. They may never be otherwise. And we ought here again to endeavour to exercise a historic sense upon the question,-What does it matter whether the places are identified or not? The naming of the places evinces the careful exactness with which the business was conducted and the record of it kept. But the places themselves have no interest really historical, to say nothing of religious. There is no trace of any Apostle or Evangelist having ever so much as turned aside to look at what are called "holy places." And it is remarkable how Scripture, by leaving a certain obscurity upon places and times, so as to baffle the curiosity which might run into superstition, has everywhere guarded the interest of religion in concealment of the grave of Moses. Recalling to mind the general course of the narrative, we now observe that here still the Passover has the place of honour. The "ordinance" of it is made the main action in the first step of the departure. The "ordinance" may be supposed to have been delivered at Succoth. The geography thus begun cannot, in the light of present knowledge, be made to result in much more than a general sense of realism, in perception of the manifest familiarity of the historian or his informants, with localities and all other external conditions of the movement in these few days. 37, 38. Rameses may (under i. II) be either the city Raamses, built or reconstructed by Israel for Pharaoh; or, the ("land of Rameses," Ge. 38 besides children. And a mixed multitude went up also with 39 them; and flocks and herds, even very much cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. xlvii. 11) province or region of Rameses, where they originally settled. It now appears from the monuments that Succoth was the civil name of Pithom (the priestly name). The mustering of the nation to one spot may be supposed to mean, that that was the headquarters toward which they first began to form. Such a movement as theirs, toward national migration, must have resembled the approach of spring rather than the concentration of a modern army. The first step must have been little more than the assembling at Succoth of representatives of the tribes, and of divisions of tribes, with a nucleus of the commonalty, rapidly augmenting, while the word has gone round to move in the peaceful "rising of a people. There would be a thrill and wave of inchoate movement among Israelites wide over the region. Their wide diffusion did not prevent coherent organized movement in one direction, as of the streams of Lebanon all toward the Jordan. The men on foot probably means, males of an age to bear arms, or at least, to take place and to march in the array of fighting-men. The children, typical sample of helplessness, would thus stand for also women and men, aged or infirm. The total population so represented is probably about two millions. (It is a very striking circumstance, that the number of this population was found to be almost identically the same after forty years' tear and wear in the wilderness, in course of which there passed away the whole generation of those who were full adult men at the time of leaving Egypt.) Regarding the previous growth of Israel into a population so great, see under i. 7. The number, six hundred thousand, here admits of being variously tested by incidental indications, so as to show that it has not arisen from any of those accidents to which the record of numbers is liable through the manner of recording numbers in ancient books and inscriptions. Succoth (Heb. booths) cannot be certainly identified with any place now known. We have referred to the recent identification of it with Pithom; but that has not yet become established so that we can refer to it as certain. Otherwise, the total has been recognised as intrinsically credible, irrespectively of the authority of this historian. It may have been one of those towns or townships which have completely disappeared; perhaps only a border station where men camped before launching into the wilderness, or only a spot memorable as Israel's camping-ground on that never-to-be-forgotten occasion. But these may-be's all pass away if the identification with Pithom be established. Flocks (under ver. 5). A mixed multitude. It is not quite clear that this was exclusive of the Israel represented by the six hundred thousand men. It may conceivably have been some portion of that Israel floating vaguely without order. probably it consisted of now Israelitish Egyptians and others, who, discontented with their condition in Egypt, now cast in their lot with Israel. It is an important suggestion that, irrespectively of Israel, the population of that north-east region was largely Semitic in extraction, and perhaps in traditionary feeling. Some of these may have been drawn toward Israel by spiritual influences (Nu. x. 39); but a generation later it appeared (Nu. xi. 4) Most 40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in 41 Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the 42 Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. 43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover; there shall no stranger eat 44 thereof: but every man's servant that is bought for money, that their influence as a class had not been wholesome. The legislation here (vers. 43-48), for dealing with alien proselytism, is seen to rise naturally out of the historical occasion as a filter for a flood. The very much cattle shows that Hebrews, a strong race, tenacious and frugal, must have thriven in despite of the oppressions (cp. the English under the Norman "conquest "). The Sinaitic Peninsula is known to have had resources far beyond what it now has for the sustenance of a population like Israel, with its flocks and herds. But, even with the aid of what might be purchased from surrounding peoples with Egyptian wealth, the sustentation problem in the wilderness (see Introd. On to Sinai) gave occasion for a peculiar training of the people (De. viii. 1-4) under providence ordinary and extraordinary. 40-42 (see in Introd. on Exodus Chronology). Who dwelt in Egypt: ought to be, which they sojourned in Egypt. Our Vers. has no warrant in the Heb. original. It may have been occasioned by a desire to produce an appearance of a period which is not simply that of the residence in Egypt from the time of Jacob's settling in Goshen. Similarly the two ancient translations, Sept. and Samarit., depart from the Hebrew text so as to make it appear as if the period had been that from Abraham's arrival in Canaan to the exodus. Referring to the Introd. for a general view of the evidence on the question, we here simply accept, on the ground of the present text, 430 years as the period of the sojourn of Israel in Egypt. The strain of the passage does not require that the self-same day should mean more than precisely or exactly (430 years). On the other hand, the night (in ver. 42) has emphatic reference to those identical hours, in which Israel's life was saved while Egypt's was cut off (cp. the "night" of the last Old Testament Passover, Lu. xxii. 16; I Co. xi. 23). Night-observed: otherwise (lit.), night of remembrance. 43-49 (cp. Eph. ii. 11, 12, 19). Ordinance of the Passover: statute law of qualification for communion (1 Co. xi. 26). Only the circumcised were to partake; and all the circumcised in due time. Stranger: the Heb. word in ver. 43 is not the same as that in vers. 48, 49. In 43 it is lit., son of an alien;-meaning that no one is to partake who is not an Israelite by adoption if not by birth. The servant in ver. 44 is a bond-servant. He thus is of the family, and so (Ge. xvii. 2) to be taken into the family communion of religion along with the children (cp. Re. v. 11, 8). The hired servant, being a free man, standing on his own feet, is not of the family of his employer, and is not to be admitted on account of him. (See the Civil Code in xxi.xxiii.) The foreigner is one resident among the chosen people, but not naturalized into their citizenship. He and the hired servant, natively outside N : when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45, 46 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break 47 a bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person 49 shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is home-born, 50 and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus did all the children of Israel: as the Lord commanded Moses 51 and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass the self-same day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. 66 : of the citizenship of God's kingdom, can be admitted to its privileges only through adoption (vers. 44, 49). The unity (and integrity) of the citizenship which comes to be thus varied in its constituents, is brought into view by the provision (vers. 5-10), resumed here, regarding the lamb (vers. 46, 47). It is not to go beyond the families of circumcised Israel. And in a true Israelitish family there is to be no such dismemberment of it as has place in the case of other sacrifices. So deeply significant is the prohibition to break a bone of it; one Israel of God (Phi. iii. 3), one body of Christ. The adoption, vers. 44, 49, takes the lead in the array (Ro. ix. 4) of Israel's glories by 'an Hebrew of the Hebrews." Here we see it being placed at the very foundation of the “holy nation,” making the slave to be a brother (Philem.), and the foreigner to be at home. The process in the adoption is not here prescribed the glorious principle of it is, that the adopted are in state as if they had been born sons of God (1 Jn. iii. 1; Ga. iv. 23-31). (The completed application of that principle is seen in Re. vii. 4, 9-12.) Vers. 50, 51, the natural close of the present section, at the same time are a natural transition to what follows, and have by some been placed as introduction to that. We still are at Succoth, in the land of Egypt. And before passing away from that land, Jehovah's people have to be marshalled into armies (or hosts). In military order; though perhaps not with warlike equipment. The orderli ness thus provided for sank into the national constitution; so that (Ezek. xxxvii. 10) the nation, even when dead, was an army-as the Spartans were at Thermopylæ, lying there in obedience to the Lacedæmonian laws. The provision for orderliness, called for by the presence of that unorganized “mixed multitude," had taken full effect before there was a second step of movement :-Thus did all—and it came the self-same day, etc. (“Ready— March!") Exercise 28. 1. The Church (in the wilderness). (1) Sacrament originally meant a soldier's military oath show how that applies for illustration of the Passover and of the Lord's Supper. How does the provision in ver. 47 agree with and differ from the New Testament definition (1 Co. i. 2) of the Church as the community of professed believers and their children? (2) How is the |