Exodus 13

Ex 13:1, 2.

THE

FIRST-BORN

SANCTIFIED.

2. Sanctify unto me all the first-born--To "sanctify" means to

"consecrate," to "set apart" from a common to a sacred use. The

foundation of this duty rested on the fact that the Israelites, having

had their first-born preserved by a distinguishing act of grace from

the general destruction that overtook the families of the Egyptians,

were bound in token of gratitude to consider them as the Lord's

peculiar property (compare

Heb 12:23).

Ex 13:3-10.

MEMORIAL OF THE

PASSOVER.

3. Moses said unto the people, Remember this day--The day that

gave them a national existence and introduced them into the privileges

of independence and freedom, deserved to live in the memories of the

Hebrews and their posterity; and, considering the signal interposition

of God displayed in it, to be held not only in perpetual, but devout

remembrance.

house of bondage--literally, "house of slaves"--that is, a

servile and degrading condition.

for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this

place--The emancipation of Israel would never have been obtained

except it had been wrung from the Egyptian tyrant by the appalling

judgments of God, as had been at the outset of his mission announced to

Moses

(Ex 3:19).

There shall no leavened bread, &c.--The words are elliptical,

and the meaning of the clause may be paraphrased thus:--"For by

strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place, in such

haste that there could or should be no leavened bread eaten."

4. month Abib--literally, "a green ear," and hence the month

Abib is the month of green ears, corresponding to the middle of our

March. It was the best season for undertaking a journey to the desert

region of Sinai, especially with flocks and herds; for then the winter

torrents had subsided, and the wadies were covered with an early and

luxuriant verdure.

5-7. when the Lord shall bring thee--The passover is here

instituted as a permanent festival of the Israelites. It was, however,

only a prospective observance; we read of only one celebration of the

passover during the protracted sojourn in the wilderness

[Nu 9:5];

but on their settlement in the promised land, the season was hallowed

as a sacred anniversary

[Jos 5:10],

in conformity with the directions here given.

8. thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying--The

establishment of this and the other sacred festivals presented the best

opportunities of instructing the young in a knowledge of His gracious

doings to their ancestors in Egypt.

9. it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, &c.--There

is no reason to believe that the Oriental tattooing--the custom of

staining the hands with the powder of Hennah, as Eastern females now

do--is here referred to. Nor is it probable that either this practice

or the phylacteries of the Pharisees--parchment scrolls, which were

worn on their wrists and foreheads--had so early an existence. The

words are to be considered only as a figurative mode of expression.

that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth, &c.--that is, that it

may be the subject of frequent conversation and familiar knowledge

among the people.

Ex 13:11-16.

FIRSTLINGS OF

BEASTS.

12, 13. every firstling, &c.--the injunction respecting the

consecration of the first-born, as here repeated, with some additional

circumstances. The firstlings of clean beasts, such as lambs, kids, and

calves, if males, were to be devoted to God and employed in sacrifice.

Those unclean beasts, as the ass's colt, being unfit for sacrifice,

were to be redeemed

(Nu 18:15).

Ex 13:17-21.

JOURNEY FROM

EGYPT.

17. God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines,

although that was near, &c.--The shortest and most direct route

from Egypt to Palestine was the usual caravan road that leads by

Belbeis, El-Arish, to Ascalon and Gaza. The Philistines, who then

possessed the latter, would have been sure to dispute their passage,

for between them and the Israelites there was a hereditary feud

(1Ch 7:21, 22);

and so early a commencement of hostilities would have discouraged or

dismayed the unwarlike band which Moses led. Their faith was to be

exercised and strengthened, and from the commencement of their travels

we observe the same careful proportion of burdens and trials to their

character and state, as the gracious Lord shows to His people still in

that spiritual journey of which the former was typical.

18. God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of

the Red Sea, &c.--This wondrous expanse of water is a gulf of the

Indian ocean. It was called in Hebrew "the weedy sea," from the forest

of marine plants with which it abounds. But the name of the Red Sea is

not so easily traced. Some think it was given from its contiguity to

the countries of Edom ("red"); others derive it from its coral rocks;

while a third class ascribe the origin of the name to an extremely red

appearance of the water in some parts, caused by a numberless multitude

of very small mollusca. This sea, at its northern extremity, separates

into two smaller inlets--the eastern called anciently the Elanitic

gulf, now the gulf of Akaba; and the western the Heroopolite gulf, now

the gulf of Suez, which, there can be no doubt, extended much more to

the north anciently than it does now. It was toward the latter the

Israelites marched.

went up harnessed--that is, girded, equipped for a long journey.

(See

Ps 105:37).

The Margin renders it "five in a rank," meaning obviously five

large divisions, under five presiding officers, according to the usages

of all caravans; and a spectacle of such a mighty and motley multitude

must have presented an imposing appearance, and its orderly progress

could have been effected only by the superintending influence of

God.

19. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him--in fulfilment of

the oath he exacted from his brethren

(Ge 50:25, 26).

The remains of the other patriarchs (not noticed from their obscurity)

were also carried out of Egypt

(Ac 7:15, 16);

and there would be no difficulty as to the means of conveyance--a few

camels bearing these precious relics would give a true picture of

Oriental customs, such as is still to be seen in the immense

pilgrimages to Mecca.

20. encamped in Etham--This place is supposed by the most

intelligent travellers to be the modern Ajrud, where is a

watering-place, and which is the third stage of the pilgrim-caravans to

Mecca. "It is remarkable that either of the different routes eastward

from Heliopolis, or southward from Heroopolis, equally admit of Ajrud

being Etham. It is twelve miles northwest from Suez, and is literally

on the edge of the desert" [Pictorial Bible].

21, 22. the Lord went before them--by a visible token of His

presence, the Shekinah, in a majestic cloud

(Ps 78:14;

Ne 9:12;

1Co 10:1),

called "the angel of God"

(Ex 14:19; 23:20-23;

Ps 99:6, 7;

Isa 63:8, 9).