*H And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee up from this place, thou and thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To thy seed I will give it:
Ver. 1. This place. Mount Sinai, (M.) or the tabernacle. v. 7. C.
* Footnote * Genesis 12 : 7
And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.* Footnote ** Deuteronomy 7 : 22
He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little and by degrees. Thou wilt not be able to destroy them altogether: lest perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon thee.* Footnote ** Josue 24 : 11
And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho. And the men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite: and I delivered them into your hands.*H That thou mayst enter into the land that floweth with milk and honey. For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I destroy thee in the way.
Ver. 3. I will not go: "in majesty" (Chal.) and "brightness," Arab. The angel shall go in his own name, and shall not perform such great miracles. My tabernacle shall be removed to a respectful distance, lest, not being able to endure the barefaced impiety of the people, I slay you in my fury. God addresses Moses, as the representative of the nation, (M.) and adopts the language of men, appearing as a king, who cannot bear to be insulted to his face. H.
* Footnote * Deuteronomy 9 : 13
And again the Lord said to me: I see that this people is stiffnecked:*H And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned: and no man put on his ornaments according to custom.
Ver. 4. Ornaments. Chal. and Syr. "arms." They had brought jewels, &c. out of Egypt. M.
*H And the Lord said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: Thou art a stiffnecked people, once I shall come up in the midst of thee, and shall destroy thee. Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I may know what to do to thee.
Ver. 5. Once, &c. "In a moment." Pagnin. — Shall destroy, if you prove rebellious any more, as I foresee you will. — Lay aside, as you have done. — To thee, according to the measure of your repentance or negligence. M.
*H So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
Ver. 6. By Horeb, or at the foot of the mount. Some think they put them on no more in the wilderness; (C.) or at least till they had obtained the tables of the law again, in testimony of God's reconciliation with them. Salien.
*H Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant. And all the people, that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp.
Ver. 7. Tabernacle: not that which God had described, which was set up later, (C. xl.) but one destined for public and private prayer. M. — Afar, a thousand yards. Thalmud and Villet. — Covenant; or alliance, which God had entered into with the people. T. — The Heb. may signify, "of the assembly or congregation," because there the people met to hear the divine doctrine explained, and to offer up their prayers. — Camp. Thus were the people reminded of their excommunication, or separation, from the God whom they had so wantonly abandoned, and whose protection and presence were their only support and comfort. H. — The record of the covenant was also probably torn, as Moses was ordered to write it again. C. xxxiv. 27. T.
*H And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.
Ver. 8. Rose up, out of respect to their prince, who was not their mediator also. H.
*H And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses.
Ver. 9. He spoke. The angel, conducting the pillar, spoke in God's name. M.
*H And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle. And they stood and worshipped at the doors of their tent.
Ver. 10. And worshipped. This the Sam. copy omits. The people bowed towards Moses and the angel. C.
*H And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.
Ver. 11. Face to face. That is, in a most familiar manner. Though, as we learn from this very chapter, Moses could not see the face of the Lord. Ch. — The angel assumed a human form, (M.) which Moses knew could not fully display the majesty of God; and hence he begs to see his face, or his glory, (v. 13. 18,) which God declares is impossible for any mortal to do, v. 20. H. — He addresses him, however, with unusual condescension, and speaks to him without any ambiguity, "without any medium," as the Arab. expresses it. Other prophets were instructed by visions, and were filled with terror. Dan. x. 8. — Young man, though 50 years old, and the general who defeated the Amalecites. C. xvii. 13. Puer means a servant also, in which capacity Josue waited on Moses, and was alone allowed to be present with him in the tabernacle. He did not sleep there, (C.) but guarded it from all profanation. Some say he was still called young, because he was unmarried; in which sense the Chal. styles him hullema, which corresponds with the Heb. halma, a virgin. Serarius. T.
*H And Moses said to the Lord: Thou commandest me to lead forth this people; and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, especially whereas thou hast said: I know thee by name, and thou hast found favour in my sight.
Ver. 12. To the Lord. This conversation probably took place on Mount Horeb, (v. 22,) after God had threatened that he would not go up with the people. C. xxxii. 34. And here (v. 3,) Moses, considering that God would thus withdraw his special providence from his people, begins to expostulate with him; and first, having mentioned with gratitude, the repeated kindnesses of God towards himself, he begs to be informed what angel shall accompany him, and then proceeds to beg that God would still shew his wonted favour to the penitent Hebrews, and conduct them himself, as he had done before the transgression. We do not read before, that God said to Moses, I know thee by name; (S. Aug. q. 193,) but he had used that expression in some conversation with him, as he did afterwards, v. 17. H.
*H If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, shew me thy face, that I may know thee, and may find grace before thy eyes: look upon thy people this nation.
Ver. 13. Face. Heb. "way." Be thou our guide. — Thy people. Acknowledge them again. Moses begs not for any special favour for himself, but only for the Hebrews. Salien.
*H And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give thee rest.
Ver. 14. Face. Arab. "light." Syr. "walk in my presence," and fear not. The Messias is called the angel of his face. Isai. lxiii. 9. — Rest. I will grant thy request. C.
*H And Moses said: If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us not out of this place.
Ver. 15. Thyself. Moses desires a farther explanation, or a positive assurance that God would conduct them. — By all, ab omnibus, distinguished in glory from all others. Chal.
*H And he said: Shew me thy glory.
Ver. 18. Glory, or face, v. 13. 20. The angel was robed in darkness, which Moses begs may be removed. Tertullian supposes, he wished to behold the Messias. Many think he desired to contemplate the divine essence. S. Aug. q. 161. Philo, &c. But, could he be ignorant that such a request could not be granted? C. — God promised to shew him all good, or the beatific vision after death. H.
*H He answered: I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in the name of the Lord before thee: and I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.
Ver. 19. All good, that could reasonably be desired. "I will pass before thee in all my glory," (Sept.) and principally in my beneficence. C. xxxiv. 6. 7. C. — I will shew thee what great favours I have in reserve for Israel. Divines dispute whether Moses saw the divine essence. S. Tho. 1. p. q. 12. a. 11. M. — If he requested to do so now, it seems to be denied, v. 20. Jo. i. 17. T. — Proclaim, &c. When I pass, I will repeat some of my glorious titles, and particularly that I am merciful. M. — Yet I will shew mercy with discretion, and will punish some of you. C.
* Footnote * Romans 9 : 15
For he saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy.*H And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me, and live.
Ver. 20. My face, even in my assumed form. M. — The effulgence would cause death, as was commonly believed. Gen. xiii. 16. To behold the divine essence, we must be divested of our mortal body. 1 Cor. ii. 9. S. Greg. Naz. or. 49. H. — Moses, therefore, did not see it on earth, though he had greater favours shewn to him than the other prophets. Num. xii. 6. Theod. q. 68. S. Chrys. &c. W.
*H And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see.
Ver. 23. See my back parts. The Lord, by his angel, usually spoke to Moses in the pillar of the cloud, so that he could not see the glory of Him that spoke familiarly with him. In the vision here mentioned, he was allowed to see something of Him, in an assumed corporeal form: not in the face, the rays of which were too bright for mortal eye to bear, but to view Him as it were behind, when his face was turned from him. Ch. — Thus our curiosity is repressed. D. — Servius observes, on Virgil, that the "gods mostly declare themselves by suddenly disappearing. They will not shew their faces." Iliad. N. Grotius. — The rock was Christ, (D.) in whose sacred humanity we discern, at a distance, the majesty of God. S. Aug. q. 154. Moses saw the hinder parts of God, or what should happen to Jesus Christ in the latter days of the synagogue. Orig. hom. 12. By this wonderful vision, God was pleased to declare that he was appeased. H.