|
Exodus xiii.
Notes & Commentary:
Ver. 2. Sanctify
unto me every first-born. Sanctification in this place means, that the first-born males of the Hebrews should be deputed
to the ministry in the divine worship: and the first-born of beasts to be given for a sacrifice. (Challoner) --- Sanctify,
set apart. (Menochius) --- Openeth, the first male fruit of the womb. If a female was born the first, none of the children
were to be redeemed. (Luke ii. 23.) Jesus Christ submitted to this law; though many of the fathers have asserted that, on
account of his miraculous conception and birth, he was not subjected to it; while others maintain the contrary. (Calmet)
Ver. 4. Corn.
Hebrew Abib; which was styled Nisan after the Babylonian captivity. At this time, peculiar names were not yet given
to the months, by the Hebrews or Egyptians. (Calmet) --- They were distinguished by their respective order, productions, or
appearances. (Haydock)
Ver. 5. When.
These regulations did not therefore take place in the desert. (Menochius)
Ver. 9. And
it, &c. The festivals appointed by God and his Church, naturally remind us of the favours which we have received,
and help us to meditate on the law. (Haydock) --- The Jews, understanding the precept literally, write verses taken from this
chapter, and Deuteronomy vi. and xi., upon parchment, and bind these tephilins, or phylacteries, on their forehead.
But if these scrolls were requisite, why do they not also put them in their mouth and in their heart? Jesus Christ condemns
the vanity of the Pharisees, who wore these bandages extremely large, Matthew xxiii. 5. The Mahometans teach their scholars,
by writing the Coran upon a tablet, and exposing it to their view: (Calmet) a plan lately introduced in England with great
success by Mr. Lancaster.
Ver. 13. Price.
No other option is given, as the Levites were selected for the ministry. (Haydock) --- The first offspring of impure animals,
were to be redeemed or killed; those of the pure were to be offered in sacrifice, Numbers xviii. 15. (Philo.) Dogs, cats,
poultry, &c. were to be slain, Deuteronomy xxiii. 18. (Calmet)
Ver. 14. To-morrow.
At any future period, Matthew vi. 2. (Menochius)
Ver. 15. Hardened.
Hebrew, "by himself," or by his own malice. (Worthington)
Ver. 16. It.
This ordinance shall cause thee never to forget the goodness of God. (Haydock)
Ver. 17. Lest.
God maketh use of precautions, to shew the free-will of man. (Worthington) --- The Philistines had before made a great slaughter
of the Ephraimites, 1 Paralipomenon vii. 21. The Chanaanites would also be ready to oppose the Hebrews, if they had attempted
to enter by the road of Pelusium, and perhaps the Idumeans and Amalecites also would have met them in front, while the Egyptians
attacked their rear. (Calmet) --- This journey, Philo says, would not have taken up above three days. The battle with Amalec
took place only 40 days afterwards, and God protected his people. (Menochius)
Ver. 18. Armed,
in order of battle. Hebrew chamushim, "by fives," or in five battalions. (Josue i. 14; Judges viii. 11.) (Calmet) ---
Calvin asks where the Hebrews could procure arms, as if to cavil with this translation. But surely they might get them in
the same manner as the vessels of gold; and they undoubtedly were not destitute of arms when they encountered the Amalecites,
ver. 17. (Haydock)
Ver. 19. Joseph's.
This attention to the dead is commended, Hebrews xi. (Worthington) --- St. Stephen assures us, that the bones of the other
patriarchs were deposited at Sichen; and we may conclude, that they were transported on this occasion by their respective
families, Acts vii. 16.
Ver. 20. Etham.
A city on the banks of the Red Sea, giving its name to one of the gulphs, which the Greeks called after the city of Heropolis.
(Pliny, Natural History vi. 29.) The Septuagint translate, "They encamped at Othon, which is near the desert;" and (Numbers
xxxii. 6,) the Hebrews marched three days in the desert of Buthan, before they arrived at Mara.
Ver. 22. Never.
From the station of Etham; or, if we follow St. Jerome, from that of Socoth, or even from Ramesses, according to Bonfrere,
till the passage of the Jordan, when the ark supplied its want, Josue iii. 11. This cloud assumed different appearances, as
the exigencies of the Hebrews required. It was a figure of baptism; (1 Corinthians x. 1) the fire designated Jesus Christ,
and the cloud the Holy Ghost. (St. Ambrose, de Sac. 6.) (Calmet)
 |
|
|
Bible Text & Cross-references:
The paschal solemnity is to be observed; and the first-born
are to be consecrated to God. The people are conducted through the desert by a pillar of fire in the night, and a cloud in
the day.
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 *Sanctify unto me every first-born that openeth the womb among the
children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are all mine.
3 And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you came forth
out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought you forth out of this place: that
you eat no leavened bread.
4 This day you go forth in the month of new corn.
5 And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite,
and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to thy fathers that he would give thee,
a land that floweth with milk and honey, thou shalt celebrate this manner of sacred rites in this month.
6 Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day
shall be the solemnity of the Lord.
7 Unleavened bread shall you eat seven days: there shall not be seen
any thing leavened with thee, nor in all thy coasts.
8 And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: This is what the Lord
did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9 And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before thy
eyes; and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord hath brought thee out of the land
of Egypt.
10 Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to days.
11 And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite,
as he swore to thee and thy fathers, and shall give it thee:
12 *Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord, and
all that is first brought forth of thy cattle: whatsoever thou shalt have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord.
13 The first-born of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if thou
do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every first-born of men thou shalt redeem with a price.
14 And when thy son shall ask thee to-morrow, saying: What is this? thou
shalt answer him: With a strong hand did the Lord bring us forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
15 For when Pharao was hardened, and would not let us go, the Lord slew
every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of man to the first-born of beasts: therefore I sacrifice to the
Lord all that openeth the womb of the male sex, and all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
16 *And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung between
thy eyes, for a remembrance: because the Lord hath brought us forth out of Egypt by a strong hand.
17 And when Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them not by
the way of the land of the Philistines which is near; thinking lest perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars arise
against them, and would return into Egypt.
18 But he led them about by the way of the desert, which is by the Red
Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
19 And Moses took Joseph's bones with him: because he had adjured the
children of Israel, saying: *God shall visit you, carry out my bones from hence with you.
20 And marching from Socoth, they encamped in Etham, in the utmost coasts
of the wilderness.
21 *And the Lord went before them to shew the way, by day in a pillar
of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; that he might be the guide of their journey at both times.
22 There never failed the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar
of fire by night, before the people.
____________________
*
2: Exodus xxxiv. 19.; Leviticus xxvii. 26.; Numbers viii. 16.; Luke ii.
23.
12: Exodus xxii. 29. and xxxiv. 19.; Ezechiel xliv. 30.
16: Deuteronomy vi. 8.
19: Genesis l. 24.
21: Numbers xiv. 14.; 2 Esdras ix. 12. and xix.; 1 Corinthians x. 1.
|
|
|