*H Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Madian: and he drove the flock to the inner parts of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Ver. 1. Fed for the space of forty years. During which time, he composed the books of Genesis and Job, for the consolation of his countrymen; (M.) though others believe he wrote all the Pentateuch in the desert. Theodor. &c. — Of God, on account of its height; or on account of God's appearing to Moses. — Horeb is so close to Mount Sinai, that the shadow of the latter reaches it when the sun rises. It is watered with three fine springs; and the summit is adorned with fruit trees. C.
*H And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire, and was not burnt.
Ver. 2. The Lord appeared. That is, and angel representing God, and speaking in his name. Ch. Act. vii. 30. Gal. iii. 19. — The apparitions of God to the patriarchs are generally understood in this sense. S. Aug. de Trin. 3. 11. W. — Yet many of the fathers suppose, that this angel was no other than the Son of God, the angel of the great council. (Mal. iii. 1,) and S. Aug. (q. 2, in Ex.) does not disapprove of this opinion. C. — Not burnt. Thus the Hebrews were afflicted, but not destroyed. M. — God is styled a consuming fire. Deut. iv. 24. He appeared in fire again. C. xxiv. 17. C.
* Footnote * Acts 7 : 30
And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him, in the desert of mount Sina, an angel in a flame of fire in a bush.*H And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet; for the place, whereon thou standest, is holy ground.
Ver. 5. Shoes. Juvenal, sat. 6, takes notice of this custom. Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges. D. — The Ethiopian Christians and the Turks never enter their churches, or mosques, without putting off their shoes. The priests did the like when they entered the temple of Jerusalem, and God ordered them moreover to wash their feet and hands. Ex. xxx. 19. C. — We observe the same ceremony, out of respect for Jesus Christ, when we go to kiss the cross. Pythagoras said, "Offer sacrifice and adoration barefoot." Jamblic. 24. On such occasions, we ought to have our hearts disengaged from the world. H. See Lev. ii. 25.
*H And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.
Ver. 6. Hid, out of respect, and perhaps fearing lest he should die. Gen. xvi. 13. C. — God takes the title of these three patriarchs, because he had promised Chanaan to each of them, and because they were eminent for virtue. God is repeated thrice, to insinuate the mystery of the blessed Trinity, and to shew that the Lord watches over each individual, as if that one alone existed. M.
* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 32
I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.* Footnote * Mark 12 : 26
And as concerning the dead that they rise again have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?* Footnote * Luke 20 : 37
Now that the dead rise again, Moses also shewed at the bush, when he called the Lord: The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.*H And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey, to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite.
Ver. 8. Spacious, compared with that of Gessen. Chanaan was not above 210 miles long, and 70 broad. Brocard. S. Jerom does not allow so much. Hecateus says the Jews had three million acres of excellent land. — Milk and honey are still very plentiful in Palestine, (C.) though the country has lost much of its ancient beauty and luxuriance, for want of cultivation. The Sam. and Sept. number the Gergesites among the rest of the Chanaanites.
*H And he said to him: I will be with thee; and this thou shalt have for a sign that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain.
Ver. 12. A sign. Moses had modestly represented his own inability to perform so great a work, and such God generally selects. He encourages them therefore with a sign; to the splendour of which he was then a witness; and with another, which should appear in future, to convince him and all the world, that the undertaking was from God, when they should see him offering sacrifice in that place, out of the reach of Pharao. C. xxiv. 3. Thus a future event is assigned to Achaz and Ezechias, as a sign of something that was to happen first. Is. vii. 4 K. xix. 29. Perhaps the sign here appointed is the presence of God enabling Moses to work miracles. M.
*H Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they shall say to me: What is his name? What shall I say to them?
Ver. 13. His name. Many of them had embraced idolatry, and had forgotten God. Moses very properly begs to have his extraordinary mission sanctioned by miracles, without which he might well have been rejected, as heretics are. H.
*H God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.
Ver. 14. I am who am. That is, I am being itself, eternal, self-existent, independent, infinite; without beginning, end, or change; and the source of all other beings. Ch. — Heb. agrees with the Vulg. though it seems to read aeje, "I shall be," &c. A. Lapide, &c. — No name can fully explain the divine perfections. As God is alone, he stands in need of no distinctive appellation, as Lactantius, and even the pagans have confessed. Orig. c. Cels. vi. C. — All other beings are just nothing, compared with God. He alone is self-existent and infinitely perfect. W.
*H And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me to you; this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Ver. 15. Memorial. By this title he is still known among Christians. M. — Hitherto God had generally been called Elohim. But now he assumes the incommunicable name (T.) consisting of four vowels, Jod, He, Vau, He, Jehovah, the essence, or ΟWΝ, a word which the Greek Scriptures leave undeclined, to denote the unchangeable nature of the Deity. The word has been pronounced Jehovah by the moderns, and by the ancients Jevo, Jao, Jave, &c. H.
*H Go and gather together the ancients of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying: Visiting I have visited you; and I have seen all that hath befallen you in Egypt.
Ver. 16. Ancients. Perhaps there might be 72 magistrates already among the Hebrews, as there were afterwards in the desert (Grotius); or more probably they were only the chiefs of families, and leading men among their brethren, though without any public authority derived from the king of Egypt. — Visiting. So Joseph had foretold, Gen. l. 23. God examines before he punishes, Gen. xviii. 21. C.
*H And they shall hear thy voice; and thou shalt go in, thou and the ancients of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews hath called us; we will go three days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord our God.
Ver. 18. Called. Sam. and Sept. "hath been invoked upon us." Heb. "hath occurred or appeared to us." H. — Journey, to Sinai, which was about this distance, to go straight. But the Israelites spent 48 days in arriving at it by a circuitous road. C. — In Heb. they ask, "Let us go, we beseech thee." They do not tell a lie, but withhold the truth. M.
*H And I will give favour to this people, in the sight of the Egyptians: and when you go forth, you shall not depart empty:
Ver. 21. Egyptians, among whom the Hebrews were forced to live, not being now allowed to enjoy the fertile country of Gessen alone, according to Joseph's disposition. The subsequent kings altered that wise regulation. H.
*H But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that is in her house, vessels of silver and of gold, and raiment: and you shall put them on your sons and daughters, and shall spoil Egypt.
Ver. 22. Shall spoil, &c. That is, you shall strip, and take away the goods of the Egyptians. This was not authorizing theft or injustice: but was a just disposal made by him, who is the great Lord and master of all things; in order to pay the children of Israel some part of what was due to them from the Egyptians for their labours. Ch. — Wisdom (x. 17) rendered to the just the wages of their labours; and (v. 19,) the just took the spoils of the wicked, in a just war. It is an ancient tradition of the Jews, that the Egyptians appealed to Alexander the Great for the recovery of these spoils; but when the Jews demanded their wages, they were willing to desist from their claims. Selden, de Ture vii. 8. Tert. c. Marcion ii. 20. C. — God had a mind to punish the extravagance of the Egyptians, while he enabled his people to appear with suitable presents before him. It was on this last plea that the Hebrews borrowed precious garments, gold, &c. H. See Clem. strom. 1. S. Aug. q. 23.