t Gen. 32. 30. Numb. 12. 8. Deut. 34. 10.

now considered him as the only proper object of adoration, and would henceforth pay their homage to him alone. It was an act of humble reverence very naturally prompted by the circumstances in which they were placed. How must their hearts have beat with tremulous anxiety as they stood at their tent-doors and 'looked after Moses until he had gone into the Tabernacle!' Their encampment they had so sadly defiled by their sin that they could not but have deep misgivings whether Jehovah would any more return to them or accept their sacrifices, or listen to their prayers and praises. They could not but ask themselves, whether he would indeed meet Moses and them that sought him at the Tabernacle with out the camp. What a relief then to such doubts as these to see the cloudy pillar descend! How gladdening to their souls to behold even this partial intimation of the reconcileableness of their offended sovereign! In the honor thus put upon their leader and advocate they could not but read a token of good to themselves. They had put off their ornaments in obedience to the divine injunction, and now doubtless stood with tears of repentance awaiting the indications of mercy or wrath. To the joy of their hearts they behold the signal of favor and forgiveness, and see themselves spared in that they feared! How then could they fail to give vent to the admiring and adoring sentiments of their bosoms by falling down, as prostrate worshippers, and acknowledging the clemency of the Most High!

11. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. That is, familiarly and plainly, not in visions, dreams, or dark ora

uch. 24. 13.

cles- a privilege peculiar to Moses; Num. 12. 6-8, 'If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold.' It is clear however, that this must be understood in such a way as not to conflict with what is said, v. 20, 'Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live.' There is a sense in which God never has been nor can be seen. Comp. John 1. 8. Col. 1. 15. 1 Tim. 6. 16. Indeed we have no reason to suppose that a purely spiritual being can in the nature of things be made visible to mortal eyes. We do not even see each other's spirits. We only see the outward material forms through which, as a medium, the inward spirit manifests itself. So in the present case. What Moses saw and held communion with was not God in his intimate essence, but God in his sensible symbol of the Shekinah, and this as we have before remarked is repeatedly called his 'Face' or 'Presence.' See Note on Ex. 25. 30. Understood in this sense all difficulty vanishes at once, and leaves the two passages in entire harmony with each other.-Chal. And God spake unto Moses word to word.' Gr. Evalov evil, presence to presence.¶ His servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. As it is difficult to conceive for what purpose Joshua could have been required to remain in the Tabernacle after Moses had left it, there seems to be good ground for

12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou

x ch. 32. 34.

adopting the rendering of Junius and Tremellius, approved by Pool, Patrick, Rivet, Scott, and others, which runs thus ;-'He turned again into the camp, (he) and his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man; but he (i. e. the Lord, as appearing in the cloud) departed not out of the Tabernacle.' The original will not only admit of this version, but the disposition of the accents seems rather to require it. Add to this, that the phrase 'out of the tabernacle,' is in the Hebrew out of the midst of the tabernacle,' which is more correctly applicable to the symbol of the Presence, for we have no intimation that any other person than Moses went into the Tabernacle, who seems to have been alone admitted to the honor of conversing with the divine Majesty. We have little hesitation therefore, on the whole, in adopting this as the true sense. As to the epithet 'young man' applied to Joshua, it cannot be predicated of his age, for he was now about fifty-three years old; but he was a young man compared with Moses, and the original term naar is often applied to one on the ground of his acting in a ministerial or servile capacity, as is clearly shown in the Note on Gen.

14. 24.

12. And Moses said unto the Lord, &c. There are few portions of the entire Pentateuch where it is so difficult to settle with precision the order of events as in the narrative before us. As to the present interview, there can be but little doubt that it took place before Moses went to pass the second forty days in the mount, but whether it is to be referred to the time when he interceded with God before coming

wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, y I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

y ver. 17. Gen. 18. 19. Ps. 1. 6. Jer. 1. 5. John 10. 14, 15. 2 Tim. 2. 19. down with the tables, or to some subsequent date in the interval between the two forty-days' sojourns, is ques tioned by commentators. For our selves, as before remarked, we incline to the opinion which supposes a transposition of events, and that this prayer of Moses was really offered at the time when he returned unto the Lord, ch. 32. 31, and obtained the promise of an emissary angel, ch. 32. 34. But 'Angel,' is a term of large and somewhat indef. inite import, implying any kind of providential agency by means of which Omnipotence might see fit to execute its plans. Moses therefore was desir ous of more particular information. He wished to have the accompanying presence not merely of an Angel, but of the Angel, i. e. the Angel of the divine Face; the same Angel which had hitherto conducted their march in the Cloudy Pillar. In urging his plea for the bestowment of this blessing, he avails himself of the interest which he himself had with God as a special object of his favor, as one whom he knew by name,' i. e. as a particular friend and con fidant, rendered in the Gr. 'I know thee above all;' and in the Arab. 'I have ennobled thy name.' God had offered to destroy the whole nation of Israel, and raise up another from Moses' loins, and this token of good-will he lays hold of as a ground of hope that the object of his entreaty would not be denied him. It is not indeed to be supposed that in using this language Moses claimed a degree of personal merit sufficient to be the foundation of such a request, but he knew that one favor on the part of God was a pledge and precursor of others, and probably the

13 Now therefore, I pray thee, z if I have found grace in thy sight, ashew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find

z ch. 34. 9. a Ps. 25. 4. & 27. 11. & 86. 11. & 119. 33.

very fact that he, notwithstanding his unworthiness, had been so graciously dealt with, was the moving cause of his earnest petition for still farther manifestations of his kindness and care. As God had been good to him in despite of his deserts, why might he not sue for augmented acts of clemency?

13. Shew me now thy way. That is, show me the way in which thou wouldst have thy people conducted to their inheritance. Show me thy views and purposes, thine intended ways of acting and thy requirements of me in reference to this great object. Gr. eμpavicov poi oεavrov, discover thyself to me. Chal. 'Show me the way of thy good. ness.' Arab. 'Show me the ways of thy good-will.' Sam. 'Show me thy ways. That I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight. It will be observed that the plea here is peculiar, and the logic such as can be fully appreciated only by a pious heart. He makes the fact of his having found grace already an argument for his find. ing still more. 'Lord, if it be so that I have indeed found acceptance with thee, then may I not confidently implore of thee that thou wouldst mani. fest thy mind and will to thy servant, so that in obeying it, I may continue to experience the uninterrupted and grow. ing exhibitions of thy favor towards me. Grant me light that I may continue to yield thee love.'- - Consider that this nation is thy people. In the spirit of true prayer he presses into his service every argument that can increase the cogency of his plea. He does not beg the desired favor merely

on the ground of what he might be permitted to urge on his own account, but he reminds the Most High that the people of whom he was constituted leader stood in a peculiar relation to him their covenant God and Portion. He had chosen their fathers, he had delivered them from bondage, he had adopted them as his own, he had crowned them with precious promises, and by all the ties which bound them to himself he beseeches that he would not leave nor cast them off. Though utterly unworthy, yet consider that they are thine.

14. And he said, My presence shall go with thee. Heb. 3¬¬ panai yëlëku, my face shall go. Chal. 'My Majesty ( shekinti, my Shekinah) shall go.' Arab. 'My Light (or Splendor) shall walk with thee until I cause thee to rest.' The prayer of Moses at length prevails. Jehovah vouchsafes to him a definite assurance, that the object of his suit, viz., the same visible symbol of the divine presence which they had hitherto enjoyed, should be granted to accompany the host in their onward march to Canaan. More than this they did not need, and less than this could never satisfy one who had thus experienced the divine guidance and protection. This Presence was in truth no other than what is called, Is. 63. 9, 'the Angel of God's presence,' who saved, sustained, and guided the chosen people all the days of old. As to the relation which this Presenceangel bore to Christ in his human manifestation, see the Note on the Cloudy Pillar at the close of the thirteenth

16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us?

e ver. 3. ch. 34. 9. f Numb. 14. 14.

slightly varied, of what God had said, v. 14. As that answer had come in a little out of place, he here recites the substance of it again. We feel on the whole quite satisfied that all the con

holekim, if thy face do not go. If we have not the peculiar manifestation of thy presence through the wonted medium, carry us not up hence. Without this it were better that they should remain, even at the hazard of eventually wasting away, in the desert. With several commentators we take this and the following verse to have been uttered by Moses before God gave him the promise in the verse preceding. The proper translation of the opening clause we have little doubt is, 'For Moses had said, &c.' The words are intended to discover to us the reason of God's giving him the specific promise. It was because Moses had made a specific request to that effect. Otherwise, we cannot see a sufficient ground for his so urgently renewing the petition when God had just engaged to grant it. Was it decorous in him to speak as if he doubted whether Jehovah were really in earnest in what he promised? As to v. 17, which might seem at first view to conflict with this suggestion, we regard it as merely Moses' own record,

more common than a similar usage of transposition among the sacred writers.T So shall we be separated. Heb. 13 niphlinu, gloriously or marvellously separated; as the term is explained at length in the Note on Ex. 8. 22. Gr. ενδοξασθησομαι εγω τε και δ Aaos aov, I shall be glorified and also thy people. The guidance of the Pillar of Cloud, as the sensible representative of the God of Israel, was the grand and glorious prerogative that distinguished them from all other people. The daily supply of manna was indeed a miraculous token of the divine regard, but it was not so strikingly, so signally, su pernatural as the mystic aerial column brightening into a fiery pillar by night, and darkening into a majestic cloud by day. It was not, however, merely as a splendid visible phenomenon that Moses prized its presence. It was because Jehovah was in it. The virtue of his ineffable name; the efficacy of his attri butes; the demonstration of his godhead; the preintimative shadow and symbol of his Son, was in it, and it