made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil |

4 Heb. to stink.

Verse 6. Officers.-The word here is D shoterim, which means the writers,' from the verb shatar, to write. This is highly characteristic of the state of things in Egypt. In no land of the old world was facility in writing so great, and the materials for writing by any means so perfect as in Egypt. Stone-workers were accustomed,' says Rosellini, to engrave upon each square block an inscription in hieroglyphics; an impression was made upon the bricks (which besides frequently bore inscriptions); even oxen were represented-the steward of the house kept a written register. They probably wrote more, and on more ordinary occasions, than among us.' The same author says, The Egyptians differ specially from all other people in that they constantly cover the exterior and interior of their houses, and the walls of all the innumerable apartments of their wonderful subterraneous burial places, with images and writing. Upon the implements, and even garments of the Egyptians, the name of the owner is frequently wholly or in part inscribed. The proper name of the profession of the men is written upon them on the monuments; the name of the animals upon their representatives, and that of implements of every sort upon the figures which represent them. We must shut our eyes against the clearest light, if we would deny that the art of reading and writing was generally studied and practised in ancient Egypt, to as great a degree at least as it is now among us.' (Monumenti dell' Egitto, M. C. ii., pl. 3; 239, 241, 255, 272, seq.) These antiquarian drawings from the monuments furnish ample proof that in judicial transactions every thing was transacted in writing. The scribes, who meet our eyes where

ever we look, act an important part. The passion for writing was so incorporated with the business of Egypt, that even now the last remains of the Egyptians, the Copts, are in exclusive possession of all the secretaries' posts, and, as it were, form a nation of scribes. (Girard in Descript. de l'Egypte, xvii. 192.) From all this, it is well urged by Hengstenberg, that these and the remaining passages of the Pentateuch, which imply a great extension of the art of writing among the Israelites in the time of Moses, only make known what cannot have been otherwise, and are a strong confirmation of the narrative. See his Egypt, pp. 89-91; and more particularly his elaborate chapter, Der Pentateuch und die Schreibkunst, ii. 414-502 of his Beiträge zur Einleitung ins Alte Test., 1836.

7. Straw to make brick.'--In the note in Gen. xi. 3, we have shewn the use of straw in compacting sun-dried bricks, as exemplified in the remains of Babylon. We have little to add to that statement, unless that the straw is perhaps less abundant in the crude bricks of Egypt than in those of Babylon. Bricks thus compacted have been found bearing the stamp of kings who reigned in the age of Moses, and may have been, and probably were, the very bricks manufactured by the Israelites. Rosellini says, 'The bricks which are now found in Egypt belonging to the same period, always have straw mingled with them, although in some of them that are most carefully made it is found in very small quantities.' Monumenti dell' Egitte, II. ii. 252. The straw, as formerly shewn, was to compact and give cohesion to the mass of clay of which they were formed, and the coarser the clay, the greater the quantity of straw required to give them the necessary compactness,

Prokesch says; The bricks of the first pyramid at Dashoor are of fine clay from the Nile mingled with chopped straw. The intermixture gives the bricks an astonishing durability.'

8. Bricks. From ch. i. 14, we learn that Pharaoh embittered the lives of the Israelites with hard bondage 'in mortar and brick.' Other particulars follow here, acquainting us with the mode in which this grievous work of the Israelites was performed. The whole implies that bricks were in common use in Egypt. That this was the fact, we have ample means of shewing; and this is important, as it has been urged as an objection against the Pentateuch, that the existing monuments of Egypt are not of brick, but of hewn stone. The fact is, however, that nearly all private buildings, and some public buildings, were of brick. Herodotus mentions a brick pyramid, which is probably one of those still standing. But we are literally overwhelmed with proofs of the abundant use of bricks in Egypt, when we turn to the writers who, during the present century, have illustrated the antiquities of Egypt. Champollion, for example, speaks of a tomb built of crude brick at Sais, and a temple of brick at Wady Halfa (L'Egypte, p. 83). Rosellini says, 'Ruins of great brick buildings are found in all parts of Egypt. Walls of astonishing height and thickness are preserved to the present time, as, for example, the circumvallation of Sais; also whole pyramids, as those of Faioum and Dashoor, and a great number of the ruins of monuments, both great and small' (Monum. dell' Egitto, II. ii. 240). Wilkinson says:- The use of crude brick baked in the sun, was universal in Upper and Lower Egypt, both for public and private buildings. Enclosures of gardens, granaries, sacred circuits encompassing the courts of temples, walls of fortifications and towers, dwelling houses and tombs, in short, all but the temples themselves, were of crude bricks' (Anct. Egyptians, ii. 26). The same author shews that building with brick was practised even in very early times, since the bricks themselves both in Thebes and the neighbourhood of Memphis often bear the names of monarchs who ruled Egypt in that early age. The fact of this abundant use of bricks in Egypt, is not the least interesting or important of those numerous corroborations of the Pentateuch which the study of Egyptian antiquities has of late years produced.

10. Thus saith Pharaoh.'-From all that passes on this occasion, it is manifest that the bricks were made under the immediate direction of the king through his

officers. That the kings of Egypt had any thing to do with the making of bricks is not noticed by any ancient writer; and this renders more interesting and important the incidental corroboration which the study of Egyp tian antiquities has recently produced. Wilkinson says, on this point: So great was the demand, that the Egyptian government, observing the profit that would accrue to the revenue from a monopoly of them, undertook to supply the public at a moderate price, thus preventing all unauthorized persons from engaging in their manufacture. And in order more effectually to obtain their end, the seal of the king, or of some privileged person, was stamped upon the bricks at the time they were made. This fact, though not positively mentioned by any ancient author, is inferred from finding bricks so marked, both in public and private buildings; some having the ovals of a king, and some the name and titles of a priest, or other influential person; and it is probable that those which bear no characters belonged to individuals who had obtained a permission or licence from the government to fabricate them for their own consumption.' Ancient Egyptians, ii. 79.

14. The officers... were beaten.'-This scene, in which the Hebrew officers, whom the Egyptian taskmasters had set over their countrymen, are beaten because those under them had not performed their task in brickmaking, is placed vividly before us in the above engraving composed from two mural paintings, one at Beni Hassan, and the other in a tomb at the pyramids; one representing the infliction of the bastinado, and the other shewing how persons were stimulated to their work by the persuasive powers of the stick. The first of the two representations combined in our engraving shews conclusively, that the mode of inflicting stripes described in Deut. xxv. 2-the guilty person being laid down flat upon the ground before the judge and beaten-was precisely the Egyptian mode. Wilkinson describes it in the following words: 'Men and boys were laid flat upon the ground, and frequently held by the hands and feet while the chastisement was administered.' Ancient Egyptians, ii. 40-42.

19. Your bricks of your daily task.'-It is impossible to close these notes upon the labours of the Israelites in the brick-fields, without noticing a painting found in a tomb at Thebes, of which a drawing and an explanation were first furnished by Rosellini, who gives to his description the title of an Explanation of a picture representing the Hebrews as they were engaged in making brick.' Of

the labourers, some are employed in transporting the clay in vessels, some in intermingling it with the straw; others are taking the bricks out of the mould and placing them in rows, still others with a piece of wood upon their backs and ropes on each side, carry away the bricks already burned or dried. Their dissimilarity to the Egyptians appears at the first view: the complexion, physiognomy and beard permit us not to be mistaken in supposing them to be Hebrews. They wear at their hips the apron which is common among the Egyptians, and there is also represented as in use among them a kind of short trowsers or drawers, after the fashion of the 'D? (that is, the 'breeches' of Exod. xxviii. 42). Among the Hebrews, four Egyptians, very distinguishable by their mien, figure and colour (which is of the usual reddish brown, while the others are of what we call flesh colour') are seen. Two of them, one sitting and the other standing, carry a stick in their hand, ready to fall upon two other Egyptians, who are here represented like the Hebrews, one of them carrying upon his shoulder a vessel of clay, and the other returning from the transportation of brick, carrying his empty vessel to get a new load. Here we have a lively illustration of the taskmasters and of the beating described in v. 14. The tomb in which this picture is found belonged to a high court-officer of the king, named Rochscere, and it was made in the reign of Thothmes IV., who was contemporary with Moses. The question, How came this painting in the tomb of Rochscere, Rosellini answers:He was the overseer of the public buildings, and had consequently the charge of all the works undertaken by the king. There are found represented therein still other objects of a like nature; two colossal statues of kings, a sphinx, and the labourers who hewed the stone-works which he, by virtue of his office, had caused to be executed in his life-time.' To the question, How came the representation of the labours of the Israelites at Thebes? the answer is: We need not suppose the labours were performed in the very place where they are represented, for Rochscere was overseer of the royal buildings throughout the land, and what was done in the circuit of his operations would, wherever performed, be represented in his tomb at Thebes. It is also not impossible that the Hebrews went even to Thebes. In Exod. v. 12, it is said, that they scattered themselves throughout the whole land of Egypt, in order to procure straw.'

The points of resemblance between this scene and the labours of the Israelites are many, and some of them have been indicated in the above description. Two more, pointed out by Hengstenberg, are important, and well worthy of attention: 1. It is said in the narrative, that the Israelites were subjected to severe labour in mortar and brick. Just so this servile labour appears throughout this painting as two-fold: some are employed upon the clay from which the bricks are made, and some upon the

finished brick. 2. We have in this painting an explanation with regard to the Egyptians who accompanied the Israelites in their Exodus. Of these Egyptians we first read in Exod. xii. 38: “And also a great rabble (177) went up with them." In Num. xi. 4: "The mixed Egyp tian populace (DN) led astray the Israelites in the desert to discontentment." In Deut. xxix. 11-let it be observed how accurately these remote and disconnected passages agree with each other-the Egyptian slaves appear as very poor, as the lowest servants, as hewers of wood and drawers of water. The designations rabble and populace, in their first passages, also shew that these attendants of the Israelites belonged to the lowest grades of society. Just such people we should naturally expect to find in Egypt. Their existence is the necessary consequence of strictly marked castes of society. The monuments, indeed, place vividly before us most manifest distinctions in station. A part of the people appear to be in the same deep degradation that now presses upon the Fellahs. According to Herodotus (ii. 47), the caste of swineherds, a native tribe, was unclean and despised in Egypt. All intercourse with the rest of the inhabitants, even entrance into a temple, was forbidden! The contempt in which they were held was not, certainly, the consequence of their occupation, but their occupation of the disdain which was felt for them. Already unclean, they had no reason for avoiding the care of unclean animals. But full light must fall upon these notices of the Pentateuch through our painting. We see upon it Egyptians who are placed entirely upon an equality with the hated and despised strangers. What is more natural than that a considerable part of these Egyptians, bound close to their companions in sorrow by their common misery, should leave with them their native land, such now to them only in name.' Wilkinson admits the importance of this painting for the illustration of the Pentateuch, as representing foreign captives engaged in labours similar to those of the Israelites but he hesitates to say that they really were Israelites, on grounds which seem to have been satisfactorily disposed of by Hengstenberg, to whose interesting book, Egypt and the Books of Moses, we must refer the reader. That too much attention has not been bestowed upon this remarkable picture, will appear from the following words of Heeren: If this painting represents the servitude of the children of Israel in these labours, it is equally important for exegesis and chronology. For exegesis, because it would be a strong proof of the antiquity of the Mosaic writings, and especially of the book of Exodus, which, in the first and fifth chapters, gives a description which applies most accurately to this painting, even in unimportant particulars. For chronology, since it belongs to the eighteenth dynasty, under the dominion of Thothmes Maris, about 1740 before Christ, and therefore would give a fixed point both for profane and sacred history.'

CHAPTER VI.

1 God reneweth his promise by his name JEHOVAH. 14 The genealogy of Reuben, 15 of Simeon, 16 of Levi, of whom came Moses and Aaron. THEN the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:

3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was

I not known to them.

7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did 'swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

11 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?

13 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

14 These be the heads of their fathers' houses: "The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

15 ¶ And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman : these are the families of Simeon.

16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years. of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.

17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.

18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the 1 Heb. lift up my hand.

2 Heb. shortness, or, straitness. 6 Num. 26. 57. 1 Chron. 6. 2.

years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi; these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zithri.

22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.

25 And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.

27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,

29 That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.

30 And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

Verse 3. By my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.'-This declaration has attracted much attention, and excited much discussion. Its plain and literal import would seem to be that the august name of JEHOVAH is now for the first time revealed, and was not previously known even to the patriarchs. But in point of fact, we find in the book of Genesis that the name was known to and used by not only the patriarchs, but by the first human pair. The first time of its occurrence, indeed, is not in a descriptive passage, but in a declaration uttered by Eve on occasion of the birth of Cain (Gen. iv. 1). To this, those who believe the words are to be taken in their literal

import, reply, that there is no evidence that the book of Genesis was written till after this revelation had been made to Moses; and, writing afterwards, he would naturally use proleptically, in designating God, the name thus made known to him; and that it was most proper that he should do so, as he would thus remind the Israelites that the God who had from early times interested himself in their race, and who was the lord of heaven and earth, was the very same who brought them forth out of Egypt, and who, just before that deliverance, made known to them this great name as that by which he would especially be called in memory of that event. Those who take this view urge,

further, that it would have been needless, if not impertinent, for Moses to have asked, 'What is thy name?' in iii. 13, if the name had been already known, for he had been previously informed that the Being who talked with him was no other than the God of his fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (v. 6). The argument drawn from the fact that the patriarchs actually used the name in addressing God, as in Gen. xv. 21, is disposed of by those who take this view, by alleging that a later writer has in those places substituted Jehovah' for Elohim,' or Adonai,' which Moses undoubtedly wrote: and the variation of several of the ancient versions from the present Hebrew reading is adduced in support of this opinion. Others understand the words as implying, not that the literal name Jehovah' was unknown to the patriarchs, but that its true, full, and complete import, its force, burden, and perfect significance, was not before known; whereas now and hereafter, the chosen people should come to know this great name, not in the letter merely, but in the actual realization of all that it implied: for it not only denoted God's eternal existence, but also his unchangeable truth and omnipotent power, which gave being to his promises by the actual performance of them. Now, although Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had received promises, yet had they not enjoyed the things promised. They believed in these things, but they had not lived to see the actual accomplishment of them. But the time was now come when God would be known by his name Jehovah, in the doing of what he had before decreed, and in the accomplishment of all that he had promised. It is strongly in corroboration of this view, that in the words which immediately follow, and which may be regarded as exegetical of the title under consideration, God proceeds to assure the Israelites that he will make good his promise by establishing his covenant. It is much in accordance with this view that God is often said to make his name of Jehovah known by bringing to pass the grand predicted events of his providence. See Exod. vii. 5, 7; Ezek. xxviii. 22. Other arguments and illustrations in favour of this view might be produced. The result from the whole is, that the words here used are to be understood not as an absolute, but as a comparative negative. That the literal name of Jehovah was known to the patriarchs, is clear from Gen. ix. 26; xv. 2; xxii. 14; xxvii. 7; xxviii. 20, 21.

Such comparative modes of speech are not unfrequent in Scripture. A remarkable instance occurs in Jer. vii.

22, 23. See Bush's Notes on Exodus, i. 81-84. New York, 1843.

With respect to the name itself, it will probably be satisfactory to state the results of the elaborate investigation which Hengstenberg has instituted in his Authentie des Pentateuches. He first settles the question whether the word is of foreign or Hebrew origin. He investigates the Egyptian and Phoenician claims, and rejects them as inadmissible. The claim set up for a Chinese origin, and the derivation from Jovis, are hardly worthy of notice. The word is undoubtedly of Hebrew etymology. The learned writer then proceeds to examine the correct punctuation of the word. He agrees with Ewald and other eminent authorities in concluding that the vowels in present use are taken from Adonai, and that the original pronunciation must, from the analogy of the language, have been YAHVEH

making the regular future of the יַהֲוָה or YAHAVEH יַהְוֶה

verb

havah, to be, and meaning properly, the existing, | literally he will exist.' He considers Exod. iii. 14, And God said unto Moses, 'I am what I am,' or 'I will be what I will be,' as implying immutability. In the words of Augustin in loc., ' It is the name of unchangeableness.' For all things that are mutable cease to be what they were, and begin to be what they were not. Immutability is peculiar to essential truth. He has the property of existence to whom it is said, 'Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same.' What is 'I am that I am,' but I am eternal'? What is I am that I am,' but 'I cannot be changed'? The existing' and 'the unchanging,' he considers equivalent in meaning, and as expressing the sentiment of the text.

20. Father's sister.'-The Septuagint and the Syriac both read, uncle's daughter.'

30. I am of uncircumcised lips.'-Moses thus expresses figuratively, what he had said before more plainly, I am not eloquent,' or rather, not of ready utterance.' In consequence of uncircumcision being considered not only impure but dishonourable, the term 'uncircumcised' is frequently applied as an expression of degradation and reproach to the Philistines and other neighbouring nations of the Jews; and we also find it often applied, as here, figuratively to imply any thing impure, useless, dangerous, or defective. Thus we read of uncircumcised ears' (Jer. vi, 10), that is, ears averse to instruction; and of uncircumcised hearts' (Lev. xxvi. 41), or hearts intractable and inattentive.

6

CHAPTER VII.

1 Moses is encouraged to go to Pharaoh.

7 His age.

8 His rod is turned into a serpent. 11 The sorcerers do the like. 13 Pharaoh's heart is hardened. 14 God's message to Pharaoh. 19 The river is turned into blood.

AND the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

3 And I will, harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the

children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

6 And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they.

7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

8 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto