Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 10:2
And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
2. and were all baptized unto Moses ] The passing through the cloud (Exo 14:19) and the sea was a type of Christian Baptism, in that he who passes through it exchanges a state of bondage for a state of freedom, the hard yoke of a Pharaoh for the fatherly care of God, and this in consequence of his following the guidance of a leader sent by God. The Israelites were baptized ‘ unto Moses,’ because by passing through the cloud and the sea they had become connected with him, dependent on his commands and guidance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And were all baptized – In regard to the meaning of the word baptized, see the note at Mat 3:6. We are not to suppose that the rite of baptism, as we understand it, was formally administered by Moses, or by any other person, to the Jews, for there is not the least evidence that any such rite was then known, and the very circumstances here referred to forbid such an interpretation. They were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, and this cannot be understood as a religious rite administered by the hand of man. It is to be remembered that the word baptism has two senses – the one referring to the application of water as a religious rite, in whatever mode it is done; and the other the sense of dedicating, consecrating, initiating into, or bringing under obligation to. And it is evidently in this latter sense that the word is used here, as denoting that they were devoted to Moses as a leader, they were brought under his laws, they became bound to obey him, they were placed under his protection and guidance by the miraculous interposition of God. This was done by the fact that their passing through the sea, and under the cloud, in this manner, brought them under the authority and direction of Moses as a leader, and was a public recognition of their being his followers, and being bound to obey his laws.
Unto Moses – ( eis). This is the same preposition which is used in the form of baptism prescribed in Mat 28:19. See the note at that place. It means that they were thus devoted or dedicated to Moses; they received and acknowledged him as their ruler and guide; they professed subjection to his laws, and were brought under his authority. They were thus initiated into his religion, and thus recognized his divine mission, and bound themselves to obey his injunctions – Bloomfield.
In the cloud – This cannot be proved to mean that they were enveloped and, as it were, immersed in the cloud, for there is no evidence that the cloud thus enveloped them, or that they were immersed in it as a person is in water. The whole account in the Old Testament leads us to suppose that the cloud either passed before them as a pillar, or that it had the same form in the rear of their camp, or that it was suspended over them, and was thus the symbol of the divine protection. It would be altogether improbable that the dark cloud would pervade the camp. It would thus embarrass their movements, and there is not the slightest intheation in the Old Testament that it did. Nor is there any probability in the supposition of Dr. Gill and others, that the cloud. as it passed from the rear to the front of the camp, let down a plentiful rain upon them, whereby they were in such a condition as if they had been all over dipped in water. Because:
(1) There is not the slightest intheation of this in the Old Testament.
(2) The supposition is contrary to the very design of the cloud. It was not a natural cloud, but was a symbol of the divine presence and protection. It was not to give rain on the Israelites, or on the land, but it was to guide, and to be an emblem of the care of God.
(3) It is doing violence to the Scriptures to introduce suppositions in this manner without the slightest authority. It is further to be observed, that this supposition does by no means give any aid to the cause of the Baptist after all. In what conceivable sense were they, even on this supposition, immersed? Is it immersion in water when one is exposed to a shower of rain? We speak of being sprinkled or drenched by rain, but is it not a violation of all propriety of language to say that a man is immersed in a shower? If the supposition, therefore, is to be admitted, that rain fell from the cloud as it passed over the Jews, and that this is meant here by baptism unto Moses, then it would follow that sprinkling would be the mode referred to, since this is the only form that has resemblance to a falling shower. But the supposition is not necessary. Nor is it needful to suppose that water was applied to them at all. The thing itself is improbable; and the whole case is met by the simple supposition that the apostle means that they were initiated in this way into the religion of Moses, recognized his divine mission, and under the cloud became his followers and subject to his laws. And if this interpretation is correct, then it follows that the word baptize does not of necessity mean to immerse. (See Editors Notes on Mat 3:6 and Mat 3:16.)
And in the sea – This is another expression that goes to determine the sense of the word baptize. The sea referred to here is the Red Sea, and the event was the passage through that sea. The fact in the case was, that the Lord caused a strong east wind to blow all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided Exo 14:21, and the waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on the left, Exo 14:22. From this whole narrative it is evident that they passed through the sea without being immersed in it. The waters were driven into high adjacent walls for the very purpose that they might pass between them dry and safe. There is the fullest proof that they were not submerged in the water. Dr. Gill supposes that the water stood up above their heads, and that they seemed to be immersed in it. This might be true; but this is to give up the idea that the word baptize means always to immerse in water, since it is a fact, according to this supposition, that they were not thus immersed, but only seemed to be. And all that can be meant, therefore, is, that they were in this manner initiated into the religion of Moses, convinced of his divine mission, and brought under subjection to him as their leader, lawgiver, and guide. This passage is a very important one to prove that the word baptism does not necessarily mean entire immersion in water. It is perfectly clear that neither the cloud nor the waters touched them. They went through the midst of the sea on dry ground. It remains only to be asked whether, if immersion was the only mode of baptism known in the New Testament, the apostle Paul would have used the word not only so as not necessarily to imply that, but as necessarily to mean something else? (See Editors Notes on Mat 3:6 and Mat 3:16.)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. And were all baptized unto Moses] Rather INTO Moses-into the covenant of which Moses was the mediator; and by this typical baptism they were brought under the obligation of acting according to the Mosaic precepts, as Christians receiving Christian baptism are said to be baptized INTO Christ, and are thereby brought under obligation to keep the precepts of the Gospel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There are two great difficulties in this verse:
1. What is meant by
Moses.
2. How and why the Israelites are said to be
baptized unto Moses.
Some understand by Moses the person of Moses; others, the law or doctrine of Moses. Those who by Moses understand the person of Moses, are divided in their opinions, whether the preposition , which signifieth divers things: Were better translated by, or into, or unto, or together with. Some think it were better translated by, and thus all the Jews were baptized by Moses in the cloud and in the sea, that is, by his ministry; and thus this very particle is translated, Act 7:53; 19:3. Some think it were better translated in Moses; that is, Moses going before them, when they were under the conduct of the cloud, and when they passed through the Red Sea. Others judge it better translated into Moses; that is, either Moses going before them; or, as Moses was a type of Christ, Gal 3:19. Some would have the particle here to signify together with. Others, even unto Moses, Moses himself not being excepted from that baptism in the cloud and in the sea. Others by Moses here understand the doctrine and law of Moses: thus the term Moses is used, Luk 16:29; Act 15:21. So they say, that to be baptized unto Moses, is to believe Moses so far, as to follow his conduct through the sea, and under the cloud.
The second difficulty is, to resolve what is meant by being baptized. The word signifieth, in the common acceptation of it, a being washed: in the ecclesiastical acceptation, it signifies a holy institution of the New Testament, according to which Christians are initiated into the church of God, by washing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now how could the Jews be said either to be washed (that is, baptized) either in Moses, or by Moses, or with Moses, or into Moses; whenas the history of the Old Testament tells us, that both Moses and all the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, and we do not read that the cloud, under the conduct of which the Israelites journeyed, ever poured down any water with which the Jews, or Moses their leader, could be washed.
Answer. Some think, that the cloud which, passing over the Israelites, was all darkness to their enemies, yet poured down water for the refreshing of the Israelites, as it passed over their heads, and that this is hinted to us by the psalmist, Psa 68:7-9. Others think, that the apostle applieth the term of baptism to a privilege of which the old Israelites had as much reason to glory, as the Corinthians had of their baptism, properly so called. Others say, that the Israelites walking under the cloud and through the sea, which was darkness and destruction to their adversaries, was a figure of baptism, the seal of the New Testament, by which Christs victory over our spiritual enemies is confirmed to us, and in that respect the apostle maketh use of this term baptized. Others, most probably, think, that the apostle useth this term, in regard of the great analogy between baptism, as it was then used, the persons going down into the waters, and being dipped in them; and the Israelites going down into the sea, the great receptacle of water; though the waters at that time were gathered on heaps on either side of them, yet they seemed buried in the waters, as persons in that age were when they were baptized; and for being baptized in the cloud, there is a great probability that the cloud did shower down rain, according to what is quoted out of the psalmist.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. And“And so”[BENGEL].
baptized unto Mosestheservant of God and representative of the Old Testament covenant ofthe law: as Jesus, the Son of God, is of the Gospel covenant (Joh 1:17;Heb 3:5; Heb 3:6).The people were led to believe in Moses as God’s servant by themiracle of the cloud protecting them, and by their being conductedunder him safely through the Red Sea; therefore they are said to be”baptized unto” him (Ex14:31). “Baptized” is here equivalent to “initiated“:it is used in accommodation to Paul’s argument to the Corinthians;they, it is true, have been “baptized,” but so alsovirtually were the Israelites of old; if the virtual baptism of thelatter availed not to save them from the doom of lust, neither willthe actual baptism of the former save them. There is a resemblancebetween the symbols also: for the cloud and sea consist of water, andas these took the Israelites out of sight, and then restored themagain to view, so the water does to the baptized [BENGEL].OLSHAUSEN understands “thecloud” and “the sea” as symbolizing the Spiritand water respectively (Joh 3:5;Act 10:44-47). Christ isthe pillar cloud that screens us from the heat of God’s wrath. Christas “the light of the world” is our “pillar of fire”to guide us in the darkness of the world. As the rock when smittensent forth the waters, so Christ, having been once for all smitten,sends forth the waters of the Spirit. As the manna bruised in millsfed Israel, so Christ, when “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him,”has become our spiritual food. A strong proof of inspiration is givenin this fact, that the historical parts of Scripture, withoutthe consciousness even of the authors, are covert prophecies of thefuture.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And were all baptized unto Moses,…. “In or by Moses”; and so the Syriac version renders it, , “by the hand of Moses”; by his means and direction, he going before, they followed after him into the sea, and passed through on dry land, and came out on the shore, which carried in it a resemblance of baptism; when they believed the Lord, and his servant Moses, Ex 14:31 and gave up themselves to him as their leader and commander through the wilderness: and this their baptism was
in the cloud, and in the sea; which may be considered either as together or separately; if together, the agreement between them and baptism lay in this; the Israelites, when they passed through the Red sea, hid the waters on each side of them, which stood up as a wall higher than they, and the cloud over them, so that they were as persons immersed in and covered with water; and very fitly represented the ordinance of baptism as performed by immersion; and which is the way it was administered in the apostles’ time, to which he refers; and is the only way it ought to be administered in; and in which only the Israelites’ passage through the sea, and under the cloud, could be a figure of it: or this may be considered separately, they were baptized in the cloud; which was either, as Gataker g thinks, when the cloud went from before the face of the Israelites, and stood behind them, and was between the two camps, to keep off the Egyptians from them, which as it passed over them let down a plentiful rain upon them, whereby they were in such a condition as if they had been all over dipped in water; or their being all under the cloud, and all over covered with it, was a representation of the ordinance of baptism, in which a person is all over covered with water; and then they were baptized in the sea, as they passed through it, the waters standing up above their heads, they seemed as if they were immersed in it. Very great is the resemblance between that passage of theirs, and baptism. For instance, their following Moses into the sea, which is meant by their being “baptized into him”, was an acknowledgment of their regard unto him, as their guide and governor, as baptism is a following of Christ, who has left us an example that we should tread in his steps; and is an owning him to be our prophet to teach us, and lead us the way; and it is a profession of our faith in him, as our surety and Saviour, and a subjection to him as our King and Governor. This their baptism in the sea was after their coming out of Egypt, and at their first entrance on their journey to Canaan’s land, as our baptism is, or should be, after a person is brought out of worse than Egyptian bondage and darkness, and has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and at the beginning of his profession of him, and entrance on his Christian race. The descent of the Israelites into the sea, when they seemed as buried in the waters, and their ascent out of it again on the shore, has a very great agreement with baptism, as administered by immersion, in which the person baptized goes down into the water, is buried with Christ therein, and comes up out of it as out of a grave, or as the children of Israel out of the Red sea; and as they, when they came out of it, could rejoice and sing in the view of their salvation and safety, and of the destruction of all their enemies, so the believer can, and does rejoice in this ordinance, in the view of his salvation by Christ, and safety in him, and of all his sins being buried and drowned in the sea of his blood; witness the instances of the eunuch and jailer. But though the Israelites were all in this sense baptized, yet they did not all inherit the land of Canaan.
g Aniversar. Miscellan. p. 30.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea ( ). The picture is plain enough. The mystic cloud covered the people while the sea rose in walls on each side of them as they marched across. B K L P read (causative first aorist middle, got themselves baptized) while Aleph A C D have (first aorist passive, were baptized). The immersion was complete for all of them in the sea around them and the cloud over them. Moses was their leader then as Christ is now and so Paul uses concerning the relation of the Israelites to Moses as he does of our baptism in relation to Christ (Ga 3:27).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Baptized unto Moses [] . Rev., margin, into. See on Mt 28:19; Rom 6:3. They were introduced into a spiritual union with Moses, and constituted his disciples.
Cloud – sea. The two together forming the type of the water of baptism. Bengel says : “The cloud and the sea are in their nature water.” The cloud was diffused and suspended water.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And were all baptized unto Moses.” All Israelites were baptized, (Greek ebaptisanto, immersed) (Greek eis, “with reference to” Moses).The immersion (in the cloud and in the sea) was (Gk. eis) “with reference to” acknowledgment and identity with Moses as their leader, not Pharaoh. The blood delivered, the Spirit led, and the water identified them as children of God who were willing to follow God’s leader.
2) In the cloud and in the sea. In the cloud they were submerged, and in the sea they were submerged, immersed, or covered. The waters were rolled back, the sea-bed was dry, and the cloud of the Lord covered them, went before them, and curtained them from Pharaoh’s army. Exo 14:19-31. To be “baptized” “eis” “‘Moses,” means the same as to be “baptized into Christ,” Gal 3:27. In each instance the enslaved receives salvation, deliverance by the blood – baptism identifies one with his leader, Moses or Christ. Those baptized into Christ are those who first became children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, Gal 3:26.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(2) Were all baptized unto Moses.The weight of evidence is in favour of the middle voice for the verb here used; signifying that they all voluntarily had themselves baptised to Moses. Moses was Gods representative under the Law, and so they were baptised unto him in their voluntarily joining with that Church of God which marched beneath the shadow of the cloud, and passed through the waters of the seaas Christians, are baptised unto Jesus Christ,He being (in a higher sense both in kind and in degree) Gods representative in the New Dispensation.
The cloud and the sea refer to the cloud that overshadowed the Israelites (Exo. 13:21, and see Num. 14:14), and the passage through the Red Sea (Exo. 13:22; Num. 35:8).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Were baptized Greek middle voice, baptized themselves; that is, accepted the virtual baptism. Their own wills concurred with the divine act.
Unto Moses Greek, , into Moses; into that religion of which Moses was representative. So Rom 6:3, baptized into Christ.
In the cloud As overshadowing them.
In the sea The sea, like the flood in
1Pe 1:2, suggests the baptismal element from which the simile of baptism takes its start. No definite image of the form of baptism, whether by affusion or immersion, is framed in either case.
Satan is our Pharaoh, Christ is our Moses, the pass of the sea is our baptism, the Holy Spirit is our guiding, protecting, separating, and consecrating fiery-cloudy pillar.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 10:2. And were all baptized unto Moses The Apostle is here warning the Corinthians against the commission of some vices, from too great a dependance on their Christian privileges. And this he does by reminding them of the Israelites; many of whom, though they enjoyed similar privileges, yet by their sins fell under the displeasure of God. The like expression is used by our Apostle in speaking of Christian baptism, Gal 3:27 where he says, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ;” which in Act 8:16 is expressed by “being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,” that is, into his doctrine. Moses was a legislator appointed by God to introduce a new institution of his worship among the Jews. And in this respect, Hebrews 3 he is compared with Christ, though in a lower degree, as the Christian institution is of a more excellent and spiritual nature. Wherefore as baptism is the initiatory ordinance of the Christian profession, and the Israelites, at their passage through the Red Sea, were entering upon their new establishment, under the conduct of Moses; the Apostle calls what then happened to them, in a similar manner, by the word baptism. The character of legislator is given only to Christ and Moses, as each of them promulged a divine institution, though in many respects of a very different nature. And therefore persons were never baptized in the name of any other divine instructor. Hence the Apostle puts this question to the Corinthians, ch. 1Co 1:13. “Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” Some propose to read, All, even to Moses; that is to say, all, not excepting Moses, were baptized. See Heinsius, Ward, &
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 10:2 . The discourse flows on in uninterrupted stream, beginning with the in 1Co 10:1 , to the end of 1Co 10:5 ; then follows the application in 1Co 10:6 .
] in reference to Moses , so that they thereby devoted themselves to Moses as the deliverer and mediator whom God had sent them. Comp on Rom 6:3 ; Mat 28:19 .
] they had themselves baptized , had the same thing, that is to say, done to them in reference to Moses as you had done to you in reference to Christ. The middle , which is not put here for the passive, comp, on the contrary, what was said regarding ., 1Co 6:11 , is purposely chosen, as in Act 22:16 , to denote the receptive sense (see Khner, II. p. 18; Valckenaer, p. 256; Winer, p. 239 [E. T. 319]); for although ., and the subsequent and , do not represent any apparent merit , yet they certainly assume the reception of those wonderful divine manifestations, which nevertheless could not place the fathers, to whom such high privileges had been vouchsafed, in a position of safety afterwards, etc.
.] is local , as in , Mat 3:11 , al [1579] , indicating the element in which , by immersion and emergence, the baptism was effected. Just as the convert was baptized in water with reference to Christ , so also that O. T. analogue of baptism, which presents itself in the people of Israel at the passage of the Red Sea with reference to Moses , was effected in the cloud under which they were, and in the sea through which they passed. So far as the sacred cloud , familiar to the readers, is concerned, there is no need for the assumption, based somewhat uncertainly on Psa 68:9 , of a “pluvia ex nube decidua” (Wolf, comp Pott); neither, again, is it enough to define the point of comparison simply as Grotius does (comp de Wette): “Nubes impendebat illorum capiti, sic et aqua iis, qui baptizantur; mare circumdabat eorum latera, sic et aqua eos, qui baptizantur.” The cloud and the sea, both being taken together as a type of the water of baptism, must be regarded as similar in nature . Comp Pelagius: “Et nubes proprium humorem portat;” so also Bengel: “Nubes et mare sunt naturae aqueae (quare etiam Paulus de columna ignis silet).” Theodoret, on the other hand, with several more, among whom are Schrader, Olshausen, and Maier, makes the cloud a symbol of the Spirit (Joh 3:5 ); but this would have against it the fact, that the baptism in the cloud (answering, according to this view, to the baptism of the Spirit) had preceded the baptism in the sea (water-baptism); so that we should have an incongruous representation of the baptism with water and the Holy Ghost. The cloud and the sea do not represent the two elements in baptism, the former the heavenly , and the latter the earthly one; but both together form the undivided type of baptism. The type appropriated the subjects to Moses as his; the antitype appropriates them to Christ as His redeemed ones; and in both instances this is done with a view to their salvation, as in the one case from temporal bondage and ruin, so in the other from that which is spiritual and eternal. We may add, that there is room enough for the play of typico-allegorical interpretation, to allow the circumstance to be kept out of account that the Israelites went dry through the sea (Exo 14:16 ff.). The most arbitrary working out of the exposition of details may be seen in Theodoret.
[1579] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
Ver. 2. And were all baptized ] And yet were rooted out and rejected. Baptism sayeth; not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but, &c., 1Pe 3:21 . By this text it appears that infants also were baptized unto Moses, who was a typical mediator; therefore they ought to be into Christ, the true. It is here objected that those infants did also eat manna and drink of the rock; therefore by a like reason, they should also now receive the Lord’s supper. For answer, 1. How doth it appear that they did eat manna, &c.? 2. Though they did, yet they may not communicate at the Lord’s table, because they cannot “examine themselves, nor discern the Lord’s body,” and are therefore flatly forbidden to come there, 1Co 11:28-29 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2. ] . . ., received baptism (lit. baptized themselves: middle, not passive, see var. read.) to Moses ; entered by the act of such immersion into a solemn covenant with God, and became His church under the law as given by Moses, God’s servant, just as we Christians by our baptism are bound in a solemn covenant with God, and enter His Church under the Gospel as brought in by Christ, God’s eternal Son: see Heb 3:5-6 . Others (Syr., Beza) explain it ‘ per Mosen ,’ or (Calv., al.) ‘ auspiciis Mosis ,’ which will not bear, not to mention that the formula was already fixed in meaning, see reff.
. .] The cloud and the sea were both aqueous ; and this point of comparison being obtained, serves the Apostle to indicate the outward symbols of their initiation into the church under the government of Moses as the servant of God, and to complete the analogy with our baptism. The allegory is obviously not to be pressed minutely: for neither did they enter the cloud, nor were they wetted by the waters of the sea; but they passed under both, as the baptized passes under the water, and it was said of them, Exo 14:31 , “ Then the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses .” To understand, as Olsh., the sea and cloud , of water and the Spirit respectively, is certainly carrying the allegory too far: not to mention that thus the baptism by the Spirit would precede that by water.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
baptized. App-115. .
Moses. See 1Co 9:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] . . ., received baptism (lit. baptized themselves: middle, not passive, see var. read.) to Moses; entered by the act of such immersion into a solemn covenant with God, and became His church under the law as given by Moses, Gods servant,-just as we Christians by our baptism are bound in a solemn covenant with God, and enter His Church under the Gospel as brought in by Christ, Gods eternal Son: see Heb 3:5-6. Others (Syr., Beza) explain it per Mosen, or (Calv., al.) auspiciis Mosis, which will not bear,-not to mention that the formula was already fixed in meaning, see reff.
. .] The cloud and the sea were both aqueous; and this point of comparison being obtained, serves the Apostle to indicate the outward symbols of their initiation into the church under the government of Moses as the servant of God, and to complete the analogy with our baptism. The allegory is obviously not to be pressed minutely: for neither did they enter the cloud, nor were they wetted by the waters of the sea; but they passed under both, as the baptized passes under the water, and it was said of them, Exo 14:31, Then the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. To understand, as Olsh., the sea and cloud, of water and the Spirit respectively, is certainly carrying the allegory too far: not to mention that thus the baptism by the Spirit would precede that by water.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 10:2. , and all were baptized unto Moses) , and so. He resumes what he slightly touched upon in the preceding verse about the cloud and the sea, and shows to what each refers. They were baptized in the cloud, so far as they were under it; and in the sea, so far as they passed through it. They were neither wet with the cloud nor with the sea, much less were they immersed in either (although some conjecture, that a miraculous rain fell from that cloud, from what is said in Psa 68:9; Psa 105:39), nor is the term baptism found in the writings of Moses. But Paul uses this term with great propriety, 1. Because the cloud and the sea are in their own nature water (wherefore also Paul is silent respecting the pillar of fire); 2. The cloud and the sea took the fathers out of sight and restored them again to view, and this is what the water does to those who are baptized. 3. They were initiated by the cloud and by the sea; and as initiation, at Col 2:11, is described by circumcision, so here by baptism, a metaphor common to the Old and New Testament; comp. ch. 1Co 5:7. But they were baptized unto Moses, as the servant of God, Exo 14:31, because they had begun to believe (in) him, and that they might afterwards believe (in) him; comp. , Rom 4:20.[85] , in the middle voice, received baptism. In the 1st verse it is hinted what God did for them; in 1Co 10:2, what the fathers received. The sacraments of the Old Testament were more than two, if we take into account these extraordinary ones, at the time of their exodus out of the land of Egypt.- , and in the sea) In repeated indicates a new step in their progress and privileges.
[85] [He staggered not] at [in reference to], the promise of God: so here, baptized unto Moses, viz., in relation to him as their divinely appointed leader.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 10:2
1Co 10:2
and were all baptized unto Moses-It brought them into a relationship to Moses they had never sustained before. That is, into his undisputed control over their movements. Up to the very moment of that baptism this control was still disputed by Pharaoh. They were saved by that baptism from his hands and passed under the leadership of Moses. True they were baptized figuratively in the cloud and in the sea; yet at the same time, by a like figure, passed out of Pharaoh into Moses. They were committed to his leadership as men now by baptism are consecrated to the leadership of Jesus Christ, and this transition into Moses by an act quite similar to baptism.
in the cloud and in the sea;-Those who passed through the sea did not have water sprinkled or poured upon them. The cloud was not a rain cloud, but one of smoke, that presented at night an appearance of fire and by day a cloud to guide them. (see Exo 13:21-22). The water from the sea did not wet them, for a strong east wind blew the waters back and congealed them, and they went over on dry land. (Exo 15:8). In this passage the whole body of people were hidden, enclosed, covered by the sea and the cloud, [prefiguring the double process of submersion and emersion in baptism]. They were baptized in these. The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. (Exo 14:29-30).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
1Co 1:13-16, Exo 14:31, Joh 9:28, Joh 9:29, Heb 3:2, Heb 3:3
Reciprocal: Exo 13:21 – General Jos 4:14 – magnified Neh 9:19 – the pillar Psa 78:13 – He divided Psa 105:39 – spread Eze 16:9 – washed Mat 3:6 – were Act 19:5 – they 1Co 12:13 – by Heb 6:2 – the doctrine
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 10:2. Notice that both the cloud and the sea were required to accomplish the baptism. That is because the word means a complete burial or envelopment. The sea at their sides and the cloud over the top made a literal surrounding. They are said to have been baptized unto Moses because he was their leader, even as Jesus is the leader of Christians unto whom they are baptized.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 10:2. and were all baptized into Mosesi.e. into the Mosaic economy.
in the cloud and in the sea.even as the Christians had the starting-point of their new life when publicly baptized into Christ.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe, 1. The Israelites are here said to be baptized in the cloud and in the sea; that is, the cloud which overshadowed them, did sometimes bedew and sprinkle them; and the Red sea, through which they passed, and its waters gathered into two heaps, one on the right hand, and the left, betwixt which the Israelites passed, and in their passage seem to be buried in the waters, as persons in that age were put under the water when they were baptized: and thus were Israel baptized in the cloud and in the sea.
Observe, 2. They are said to be baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea: Unto Moses, that is, into the doctrine taught by Moses. They believed him and followed his conduct through the sea, and were confirmed in their belief of Moses, (the typical mediator) as a person employed by God; and were obliged under the ministry and guidance of Moses, to follow God whithersoever he led them.
Observe, 3. That all this was a figure to which our baptism answers: both the cloud and the sea had some resemblance to our being covered with water in baptism, by which we are confirmed in the faith of Christ, and obliged to profess and own him, and to trust in and depend upon him, to serve and obey him, and this to the death.
Behold how much of Christ and his gospel was shadowed and held forth to the Jews under the dispensation of the ceremonial law; they had Christ in their sacrifices, and we have all their sacrifices in Christ. The cloud, the sea, the manna, the rock, all typified Christ, and were resemblances and representations of him. Christ was as truly represented to the Jews as unto us; as truly, though not so clearly.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea [Paul speaks of the fathers of the Jewish race as “our fathers,” though addressing Gentiles. The patriarchs of Israel were the spiritual fathers of Gentile Christians (Gal 3:7-8; Gal 3:29). Moreover, the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations were preparatory to Christianity, and so, in a certain sense, fathered it. The passage through the Red Sea by the Israelites was in many ways analogous to Christian baptism. 1. It stood at the beginning of a journey undertaken by a divine call, and which led from a life and kingdom of bondage to a land of promise, which should be a land of liberty and an everlasting possession. 2. Baptism is a burial (Rom 6:4). With a wall of water on each side and a cloud over them, the Israelites were buried from the sight of the Egyptians, or any others who stood upon the shores of the sea. Relying on the statement at Exo 14:19-21 that the cloud was between the Egyptians and the Israelites, and hence behind the Israelites part of the night, zealous paidobaptists have argued that at no part of the night were the Israelites under the cloud, their purpose being to avoid the idea of a burial. But in their zeal they have contradicted Paul, who says “under the cloud,” “in the cloud,” and who elsewhere speaks of baptism as a burial. Paul’s language here implies that the children of Israel were between the walls of water while the cloud was still in front of them, and so they were under it and in it as it passed to their rear. and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea [Paul speaks of the fathers of the Jewish race as “our fathers,” though addressing Gentiles. The patriarchs of Israel were the spiritual fathers of Gentile Christians (Gal. 3:7, 8, 29). Moreover, the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations were preparatory to Christianity, and so, in a certain sense, fathered it. The passage through the Red Sea by the Israelites was in many ways analogous to Christian baptism. 1. It stood at the beginning of a journey undertaken by a divine call, and which led from a life and kingdom of bondage to a land of promise, which should be a land of liberty and an everlasting possession. 2. Baptism is a burial (Rom. 6:4). With a wall of water on each side and a cloud over them, the Israelites were buried from the sight of the Egyptians, or any others who stood upon the shores of the sea. Relying on the statement at Ex. 14:19-21 that the cloud was between the Egyptians and [97] the Israelites, and hence behind the Israelites part of the night, zealous paidobaptists have argued that at no part of the night were the Israelites under the cloud, their purpose being to avoid the idea of a burial. But in their zeal they have contradicted Paul, who says “under the cloud,” “in the cloud,” and who elsewhere speaks of baptism as a burial. Paul’s language here implies that the children of Israel were between the walls of water while the cloud was still in front of them, and so they were under it and in it as it passed to their rear. 3. Baptism is a resurrection (Rom 6:5). “The two phrases, ‘were under the cloud,’ and ‘passed through the sea,’ seem to prefigure the double process of submersion and emersion in baptism” (Canon Cook). The baptism of the Red Sea was to Israel a death to Egypt, and a birth to a new covenant. 4. Baptism is the final seal of discipleship (Mat 28:19; Gal 3:27; 1Co 1:13). The passage of the Red Sea led Israel to fully accept Moses as their master and leader under God– Gen 14:31];
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 2
Baptized unto Moses, &c., brought into a state of organization and subordination to Moses. The gathering of the great multitude of the children of Israel under the protection of the pillar of cloud, and the conducting of them in safety through the sea, at the outset of their journey might be regarded like baptism, as the initiatory ceremony, by which they were united together into one body under one common head, and became bound by common obligations.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1Co 10:2-3. Spiritual significance of the bare facts of 1Co 10:1.
Baptized for Moses: see under Rom 6:3.
In the cloud etc. or, with the cloud: the material instruments of their baptism. By ranging themselves under the cloud and passing through the sea, they formally placed themselves in a new relationship to Moses as His followers. They thus openly separated themselves from Egypt, and became the professed people of God. That the position they then took up was analogous to that of Christians, is suggested by the word baptized. And the presence of water, in the cloud and sea, made it very appropriate. We saw, under Rom 6:4, that in Paul’s day baptism by immersion was usual. But, that the passing of Israel beneath the cloud and through the divided sea on dry land is called baptism, now warns us that if water be used, the mode is not essential to the reality of the baptism. The immersion was reserved for the Egyptians.
1Co 10:3. The emphatic repetition of all and the same keeps conspicuously before us the similar position of men whose fate was different.
Spiritual food: the manna, bread from heaven, Psa 78:24 f; Wis 16:20; Joh 6:31 f; because produced, not naturally, but by the special energy of the Holy Spirit, who is the personal bearer, even in the material world, of the presence and power of God. Cp. Rom 1:11; Rom 7:14; 1Co 15:44; Eph 5:19; 1Pe 2:5; cp. Gen 1:2; Psa 33:6; Gal 4:29.
Spiritual drink: the water from the rock, Exo 17:1-6; Num 20:2-11.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
10:2 {2} And were all {b} baptized unto {c} Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(2) In effect the ordinances of the old fathers were all one with ours, for they respected Christ alone, who offered himself to them in different forms.
(b) All of them were baptized with the outward sign, but not indeed, because of which God cannot be blamed, but they themselves.
(c) Moses being their guide.