A.C. 1491.

e Ch. xxii. 29. & xxxiv. 19.

Ezek. xliv. 30. *Heb. cause

to pass over.

+ Or, kid.

↑ Heb. to morrow.

5

And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.

7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

8 ¶ And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.

9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

11 ¶ And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,

12 e That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that Openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the LORD's.

13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a + lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.

14 ¶ And it shall be when thy son asketh thee ‡ in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.

16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

17 ¶ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God let them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:

18 But God led the people about, through the way of the

wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went A.C. 1491. up* harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, f God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

The second Journey-From Succoth to Etham.

NUMBERS XXXIII. VER. 6.

* Or, by five in

a rank.

Gen. 1. 25.

Josh. xxiv. 32.

6 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in g Ex. xiii. 20. Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

EXODUS XIII. VER. 20, TO THE END.

h

a

20 ¶ And they took their journey from Succoth, and
encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar
of a cloud, to lead them by the way; and by night in
pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor
the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

The third Journey-From Etham to Pi-hahiroth.
Pharaoh's Army approaches.

NUMBERS XXXIII. VER. 7.

7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

EXODUS XIV. VER. 1-19.

1 God instructeth the Israelites in their journey. 5 Pharaoh pursueth after them. 10 The Israelites murmur. 13 Moses comforteth them. 15 God instructeth

Moses.

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, iNum. xxxiii. over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by

the sea.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

5 ¶ And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was

7.

A.C. 1491. turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him 19:

19 Idolatry, in its grossest and most odious forms, had not been long established in Egypt prior to the time of the Exodus. The Egyptians, that is, the ancient Misraim, who received the people with great kindness, and whom the Israelites were therefore directed to consider with esteem and gratitude, do not appear to have been idolaters of this description in the time of Joseph. It is not improbable that the preaching of Abraham might have had great effect, and preserved the Misraim from the surrounding contagion. They were, for a long time, patriarchal Monotheists. The wonderful miracles wrought among them by Moses, the destruction of their army and their sovereign in the Red Sea, and the final expulsion, by the native Misraim, of the shepherd kings who had introduced idolatry, contributed, in spite of the absurdities which characterized the superstitions of Egypt, to perpetuate those juster notions of a Deity, which are collected by Cudworth, in his Intellectual System, and alluded to by Witsius (Ægyptiaca, lib. i. c. 2, 3, 4, &c.) The oppressors of the Israelites were not the native Misraim, but the shepherd kings; the history of whom has given rise to so much discussion. The following brief outline of that history will illustrate the part of the sacred narrative which we are now considering.

The Hursos, or shepherd kings, originally settled, after the dispersion from Babel, near the Indian Caucasus; from whence they descended to Babylonia. About the time of the death of Serug, they left their settlements in that province; and, proceeding round the Arabian desert, invaded Canaan from the north. There they left colonies, which, in subsequent ages, were known as the maritime Phoenicians, the Rephaim, the Perizzim, &c. At length they invaded Egypt, where they made Avaris, or Goshen, their chief residence. This event took place six years before the birth of Abraham. Abimelech is supposed to have been a feudatory chief of this race: after the conference with Abraham, he returned to Avaris. The shepherd kings were expelled from Egypt by the native Misraim, about fifteen years before Joseph was sold into Egypt; and the province of Goshen, which was thus left vacant, was assigned to the family of Jacob, in the second year of the famine. So did the providence of God render the contests of nations, and the ambition of their princes, subservient to the welfare of the visible Church.

The shepherd kings, however, were not to be diverted from their designs. About thirty-seven years after the death of Joseph, they again invade Egypt, and reduce at once to servitude the native Misraim, and the Israelites. They establish idolatry in its most odious forms; build the pyramids; destroy the infants of the Israelites: and, after enduring the ten plagues before they release their slaves from bondage, they are overwhelmed in the Red Sea; a terrible monument to their kindred in Palestine, of the power of the God of Israel. So much were they weakened by this calamity, that the remainder were soon expelled by the native Misraim; and under the guidance of Cadmus, Danaus, Cecrops, and others, retired to Greece, Phoenicia, Colchis, and other places.See Faber's Origin of Idolatry, book vi. chap. 5. "On the Shepherd Kings of Egypt."

7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the A.C. 1491. chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

6. 1 Mac. iv.

9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses Josh. xxiv. and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, 9. and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

10 ¶ And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.

11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, 1 Ch. vi. 9. saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness?

13¶ And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: * for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your

peace.

15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

:

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

Journey the fourth-From Pi-hahiroth, through the Red Sea, and the Wilderness of Etham or Shur, to Marah.

Passage of the Red Sea.

NUMBERS XXXIII. VER. 8.

Or, for

whereas ye have seen the Egyptians to

day, e

&c.

8 And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and "pass- m Ex, xv. ??.

A.C. 1491. ed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

EXODUS XIV. VER. 19, TO THE END.

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them :

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters n Josh. iv. 23. were " divided.

Ps. cx iv, 3.
o P3. Ixxwii.

13. 1 Cor. x. 1.
Heb. xi. 29.

*Or, and

made them to

go heavily.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23¶ And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horse

men.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; + Heb. shook and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

p Ps. cvi. 11.

28 And the waters returned, and P covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand