{"commentary":{"id":"keil-delitzsch","name":"Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary","website":"https://worthy.bible/commentaries/keil-delitzsch-commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"bb5cc0f9cfe0a93b3c903bb6972c6bc8c4e9f2bd3be6c2a6d276737cf9c5edce","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":39,"totalNumberOfChapters":909,"totalNumberOfVerses":6516,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"EXO","commentaryId":"keil-delitzsch","name":"Exodus","commonName":"Exodus","introduction":"The Second Book Of Moses(Exodus)\n\nIntroduction\n\nContents and Arrangement of the Book of Exodus\n\nThe second book of Moses is called שׁמות ואלה in the Hebrew Codex from the opening words; but in the Septuagint and Vulgate it has received the name Ἔξοδος, Exodus, from the first half of its contents. It gives an account of the first stage in the fulfilment of the promises given to the patriarchs, with reference to the growth of the children of Israel into a numerous people, their deliverance from Egypt, and their adoption at Sinai as the people of God. It embraces a period of 360 years, extending from the death of Joseph, with which the book of Genesis closes, to the building of the tabernacle, at the commencement of the second year after the departure from Egypt. During this period the rapid increase of the children of Israel, which is described in Exo 1, and which caused such anxiety to the new sovereigns of Egypt who had ascended the throne after the death of Joseph, that they adopted measure for the enslaving and suppression of the ever increasing nation, continued without interruption. With the exception of this fact, and the birth, preservation, and education of Moses, who was destined by God to be the deliverer of His people, which are circumstantially related in Exo 2, the entire book from Exo 3 to Exo 40 is occupied with an elaborate account of the events of two years, viz., the last year before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and the first year of their journey. This mode of treating the long period in question, which seems out of all proportion when judged by a merely outward standard, may be easily explained from the nature and design of the sacred history. The 430 years of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt were the period during which the immigrant family was to increase and multiply, under the blessing and protection of God, in the way of natural development; until it had grown into a nation, and was ripe for that covenant which Jehovah had made with Abraham, to be completed with the nation into which his seed had grown. During the whole of this period the direct revelations from God to Israel were entirely suspended; so that, with the exception of what is related in Exo 1 and 2, no event occurred of any importance to the kingdom of God. It was not till the expiration of these 400 years, that the execution of the divine plan of salvation commenced with the call of Moses (Exo 3) accompanied by the founding of the kingdom of God in Israel. To this end Israel was liberated from the power of Egypt, and, as a nation rescued from human bondage, was adopted by God, the Lord of the whole earth, as the people of His possession.\n\nThese two great facts of far-reaching consequences in the history of the world, as well as in the history of salvation, form the kernel and essential substance of this book, which may be divided accordingly into two distinct parts. In the first part, Exo 1-15:21, we have seven sections, describing (1) the preparation for the saving work of God, through the multiplication of Israel into a great people and their oppression in Egypt (Exo 1), and through the birth and preservation of their liberator (Exo 2); (2) the call and training of Moses to be the deliverer and leader of Israel (Exo 3 and 4); (3) the mission of Moses to Pharaoh (Exo 5-7:7); (4) the negotiations between Moses and Pharaoh concerning the emancipation of Israel, which were carried on both in words and deeds or miraculous signs (Exo 7:8-11); (5) the consecration of Israel as the covenant nation through the institution of the feast of Passover; (6) the exodus of Israel effected through the slaying of the first-born of the Egyptians (Exo 12-13:16); and (7) the passage of Israel through the Red Sea, and destruction of Pharaoh and his host, with Israel's song of triumph at its deliverance (Exo 13:17-15:21). - In the second part, Exo 15:22-40:38, we have also seven sections, describing the adoption of Israel as the people of God; viz., (1) the march of Israel from the Red Sea to the mountain of God (Exo 15:22-17:7); (2) the attitude of the heathen towards Israel, as seen in the hostility of Amalek, and the friendly visit of Jethro the Midianite at Horeb (Exo 17:8-18:27); (3) the establishment of the covenant at Sinai through the election of Israel as the people of Jehovah's possession, the promulgation of the fundamental law and of the fundamental ordinances of the Israelitish commonwealth, and the solemn conclusion of the covenant itself (Exo 19-24:11); (4) the divine directions with regard to the erection and arrangement of the dwelling-place of Jehovah in Israel (Exo 24:12-31:18); (5) the rebellion of the Israelites and their renewed acceptance on the part of God (Exo 32-34); (6) the building of the tabernacle and preparation of holy things for the worship of God (Exo 35-39); and (7) the setting up of the tabernacle and its solemn consecration (Exo 40).\n\nThese different sections are not marked off, it is true, like the ten parts of Genesis, by special headings, because the account simply follows the historical succession of the events described; but they may be distinguished with perfect east, through the internal grouping and arrangement of the historical materials. The song of Moses at the Red Sea (15:1-21) formed most unmistakeably the close of the first stage of the history, which commenced with the call of Moses, and for which the way was prepared, not only by the enslaving of Israel on the part of the Pharaohs, in the hope of destroying its national and religious independence, but also by the rescue and education of Moses, and by his eventful life. And the setting up of the tabernacle formed an equally significant close to the second stage of the history. By this, the covenant which Jehovah had made with the patriarch Abram (Gen 15) was established with the people Israel. By the filling of the dwelling-place, which had just been set up, with the cloud of the glory of Jehovah (Exo 40:34-38), the nation of Israel was raised into a congregation of the Lord and the establishment of the kingdom of God in Israel fully embodied in the tabernacle, with Jehovah dwelling in the Most Holy Place; so that all subsequent legislation, and the further progress of the history in the guidance of Israel from Sinai to Canaan, only served to maintain and strengthen that fellowship of the Lord with His people, which had already been established by the conclusion of the covenant, and symbolically exhibited in the building of the tabernacle. By this marked conclusion, therefore, with a fact as significant in itself as it was important in the history of Israel, Exodus, which commences with a list of the names of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt, is rounded off into a complete and independent book among the five books of Moses.\n","order":2,"numberOfChapters":38,"sha256":"eb7361e98eb532a4597443fe03ff49970a96e92aa111bd13cfd9f964ebcf360d","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/EXO/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"keil-delitzsch","book":"EXO","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":40,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/EXO/40.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"keil-delitzsch","book":"EXO","chapter":40},"totalNumberOfVerses":256},"chapter":{"number":11,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["In this way Jehovah would overcome the resistance of Pharaoh; and even more than that, for Moses was to tell the people to ask the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, for Jehovah would make them willing to give. The renown acquired by Moses through his miracles in Egypt would also contribute to this. (For the discussion of this subject, see Exo 3:21-22.) The communication of these instructions to the people is not expressly mentioned; but it is referred to in Exo 12:35-36, as having taken place. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["Moses' address to Pharaoh forms the continuation of his brief answer in Exo 10:29. At midnight Jehovah would go out through the midst of Egypt. This midnight could not be \"the one following the day on which Moses was summoned to Pharaoh after the darkness,\" as Baumgarten supposes; for it was not till after this conversation with the king that Moses received the divine directions as to the Passover, and they must have been communicated to the people at least four days before the feast of the Passover and their departure from Egypt (Exo 12:3). What midnight is meant, cannot be determined. So much is certain, however, that the last decisive blow did not take place in the night following the cessation of the ninth plague; but the institution of the Passover, the directions of Moses to the people respecting the things which they were to ask for from the Egyptians, and the preparations for the feast of the Passover and the exodus, all came between. The \"going out\" of Jehovah from His heavenly seat denotes His direct interposition in, and judicial action upon, the world of men. The last blow upon Pharaoh was to be carried out by Jehovah Himself, whereas the other plagues had been brought by Moses and Aaron. מצרים בּתוך \"in (through) the midst of Egypt:\" the judgment of God would pass from the centre of the kingdom, the king's throne, over the whole land. \"Every first-born shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid that is behind the mill,\" i.e., the meanest slave (cf. Exo 12:29, where the captive in the dungeon is substituted for the maid, prisoners being often employed in this hard labour, Jdg 16:21; Isa 47:2), \"and all the first-born of cattle.\" This stroke was to fall upon both man and beast as a punishment for Pharaoh's conduct in detaining the Israelites and their cattle; but only upon the first-born, for God did not wish to destroy the Egyptians and their cattle altogether, but simply to show them that He had the power to do this. The first-born represented the whole race, of which it was the strength and bloom (Gen 49:3). But against the whole of the people of Israel \"not a dog shall point its tongue\" (Exo 11:7). The dog points its tongue to growl and bite. The thought expressed in this proverb, which occurs again in Jos 10:21 and Judith 11:19, was that Israel would not suffer the slightest injury, either in the case of \"man or beast.\" By this complete preservation, whilst Egypt was given up to death, Israel would discover that Jehovah had completed the separation between them and the Egyptians. The effect of this stroke upon the Egyptians would be \"a great cry,\" having no parallel before or after (cf. Exo 10:14); and the consequence of this cry would be, that the servants of Pharaoh would come to Moses and entreat them to go out with all the people. \"At thy feet,\" i.e., in thy train (vid., Deu 11:6; Jdg 8:5). With this announcement Moses departed from Pharaoh in great wrath. Moses' wrath was occasioned by the king's threat (Exo 10:28), and pointed to the wrath of Jehovah, which Pharaoh would soon experience. As the more than human patience which Moses had displayed towards Pharaoh manifested to him the long-suffering and patience of his God, in whose name and by whose authority he acted, so the wrath of the departing servant of God was to show to the hardened king, that the time of grace was at an end, and the wrath of God was about to burst upon him. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["In Exo 11:9 and Exo 11:10 the account of Moses' negotiations with Pharaoh, which commenced at Exo 7:8, is brought to a close. What God predicted to His messengers immediately before sending them to Pharaoh (Exo 7:3), and to Moses before his call (Exo 4:21), had now come to pass. And this was the pledge that the still further announcement of Jehovah in Exo 7:4 and Exo 4:23, which had already been made known to the hardened king (Exo 11:4.), would be carried out. As these verses have a terminal character, the vav consecutive in ויּאמר denotes the order of thought and not of time, and the two verses are to be rendered thus: \"As Jehovah had said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.\" \n"]}],"introduction":"Proclamation of the Tenth Plague; or the Decisive Blow. - Exo 11:1-3. The announcement made by Jehovah to Moses, which is recorded here, occurred before the last interview between Moses and Pharaoh (Exo 10:24-29); but it is introduced by the historian in this place, as serving to explain the confidence with which Moses answered Pharaoh (Exo 10:29). This is evident from Exo 11:4-8, where Moses is said to have foretold to the king, before leaving his presence, the last plague and all its consequences. ויּאמר therefore, in Exo 11:1, is to be taken in a pluperfect sense: \"had said;\" and may be grammatically accounted for from the old Semitic style of historical writing referred to in the commentary on Gen 2:18-22, as Gen 2:1 and Gen 2:2 contain the foundation for the announcement in Gen 2:4-8. So far as the facts are concerned, Gen 2:1-3 point back to Exo 3:19-22. One stroke more (נגע) would Jehovah bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt, and then the king would let the Israelites go, or rather drive them out. כּלה כּשׁלּחו, \"when he lets you go altogether (כּלה adverbial as in Gen 18:21), he will even drive you away.\" \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/EXO/11.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"keil-delitzsch","book":"EXO","chapter":11},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/EXO/12.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"keil-delitzsch","book":"EXO","chapter":12},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/keil-delitzsch/EXO/10.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"keil-delitzsch","book":"EXO","chapter":10},"numberOfVerses":3}