Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 15:26
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee.
26. Encouragement to Israel, to obey the commandments laid upon them. The verse approximates in style and tone to Deuteronomy, and is probably one of the parenetic additions of the compiler of JE (see on Exo 13:3-16); notice Hearken to the voice, as Deu 15:5; Deu 28:1 al. (but with , not , as here); Jehovah thy Goa, as Deu 1:21; Deu 1:31, and constantly; that which is right &c., as Deu 6:18, Deu 12:25; Deu 12:28 al.; give ear, as Deu 1:45 (elsewhere nearly always poet.); commandments and statutes, as Deu 4:40, Deu 6:17, Deu 10:13, &c.; keep, as Deu 4:40, Deu 26:17.
I will put, &c.] Deu 7:15 is based upon this passage (in spite of the Heb. word for ‘diseases’ being different).
diseases ] alluding to the plagues.
that healeth thee ] Cf. Psa 103:3; also ch. Exo 23:25. The thought seems to be suggested by the incident of v. 25a: unwholesome or bitter water that has been made sweet is sometimes spoken of as ‘healed’ (2Ki 2:21-22, Eze 47:8).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 26. If thou wilt diligently hearken] What is contained in this verse appears to be what is intended by the statute and ordinance mentioned in the preceding: If thou wilt diligently hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, c. This statute and ordinance implied the three following particulars:
1. That they should acknowledge Jehovah for their God, and thus avoid all idolatry.
2. That they should receive his word and testimony as a Divine revelation, binding on their hearts and lives, and thus be saved from profligacy of every kind, and from acknowledging the maxims or adopting the customs of the neighbouring nations.
3. That they should continue to do so, and adorn their profession with a holy life.
These things being attended to, then the promise of God was, that they should have none of the diseases of the Egyptians put on them that they should be kept in a state of health of body and peace of mind; and if at any time they should be afflicted, on application to God the evil should be removed, because he was their healer or physician – I am the Lord that healeth thee. That the Israelites had in general a very good state of health, their history warrants us to believe; and when they were afflicted, as in the case of the fiery serpents, on application to God they were all healed. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel states that the statutes which Moses received at this time were commandments concerning the observance of the Sabbath, duty to parents, the ordinances concerning wounds and bruises, and the penalties which sinners should incur by transgressing them. But it appears that the general ordinances already mentioned are those which are intended here, and this seems to be proved beyond dispute by Jer 7:22-23: “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
None of these diseases upon thee, nor other evils or plagues; but, on the contrary, I will bless thee with all manner of blessings. Under one branch or part of the blessings of Gods covenant, he includes all the rest by a very common synecdoche.
That healeth thee; or, thy physician, for all thy maladies both of soul and body.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,…. By this and the following words, they are prepared to expect a body of laws to be given unto them, as the rule of their future conduct; and though they were delivered from the rigorous laws, bondage, and oppression of the Egyptians, yet they were not to be without law to God, their King, Lord, and Governor, whose voice they were to hearken to in all things he should direct them in:
and wilt do that which is right in his sight; which he shall see and order as fit to be done, and which was not to be disputed and contradicted by them:
and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes; whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial, even all that either had been made known to them, or should be hereafter enjoined them; and this at Mount Sinai, where they received a body of laws, they promised to do; namely, both to hear and to obey, Ex 24:3.
I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; in any of the plagues inflicted on them, which they were witnesses of; from these they should be preserved, if obedient, but if not they must expect them, or what was similar to them, see De 28:27,
for I am the Lord that healeth thee; both in body and soul; in body, by preserving from diseases, and by curing them when afflicted with them; and in soul, by pardoning their iniquities, which, in Scripture, is sometimes signified by healing, see Ps 103:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26. If thou wilt diligently hearken. Moses now unfolds what was the statute or ordinance which God promulgated. For here the reference is not to the whole law which was afterwards given on mount Sinai, but to the special admonition which served to chastise the wickedness of the people. The sum of it is, that if the Israelites were tractable and, obedient to God, He on the other hand would be kind and. bountiful to them. And it is an implied rebuke, that they might know whatever troubles they experienced to be, brought upon them by their sins. He proposes the Egyptians to them as an example, whose rebellion they had seen punished by God with such severe and heavy calamities. “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” is immediately added in confirmation, as if he had said, that the Israelites were liable to the same plagues which had been inflicted on the Egyptians, and were only exempt from them because God performed the office of a healer. And truly whatsoever diseases afflict the human race, we may see in them, as in so many mirrors, our own, miseries, that, we may perceive that there is no health in us, except in so far as God spares us. We are also taught in this verse that this is the rule of a good life, when we obey God’s voice and study to please Him. But because the will of God was soon after to be proclaimed in the law, He expressly commands them to “give ear to His commandments, and to keep His statutes.” (170) I know not whether there is any force in the opinion of some who distinguish the word חקים, chokim, (which it is usual to translate “statutes,”) from precepts, as if they were mere declarations of His pleasure to which no reason is attached. Let it suffice that God’s law is commended under many names, to take away all pretext of ignorance.
(170) “Je ne m’arreste point aux mots Hebrieux, pource que je ne voy pas qu’il en soit besoin pour les gens de nostre langue;” I do not stay to speak of the Hebrew words, because I do not see that it is necessary for those of our language. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
26. For I am the Lord that healeth thee For I, JEHOVAH, am thy Healer, Physician . This first trial and miracle of the desert is made the occasion of great spiritual lessons, such as may ever come from great trials . They had seen Egypt’s blessings turned to curses because of the sins of the Egyptians, and the same God would not only save them from these dreadful judgments, but would turn all life’s bitterness to sweetness if they would but keep his law . Jehovah the Physician can heal all the Marahs of life if man but obeys and submits, whether he comprehends God’s dealings or not. Here, also, they were clearly taught that continued obedience was essential to their continued election as God’s covenant people. They were not to be presumptuous because of the wonderful manifestations in Egypt and at the Red Sea. If they sinned like the Egyptians they would also be punished like the Egyptians. But the great lesson here emphatically impressed is, that it is not ritual or outward obedience of any kind not the offering of sacrifices or of bodily services merely but the doing that which is right in his sight the sacrifice of the heart, the offering of the self, that Jehovah demands. Jeremiah, centuries afterwards, refers to this transaction and this solemn spiritual lesson thus: “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” Jer 7:22-23. This “statute and ordinance” coming just before the Levitical economy just before the first altar was reared in the wilderness is most valuable as setting forth the real nature and spirit of the Levitical ordinances.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 86
CHRIST THE HEALER OF HIS PEOPLE
Exo 15:26. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
SCARCELY had the Jews passed the Red Sea before they began to murmur: as the Psalmist has said, They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea [Note: Psa 106:7.]. True it was that they must have suffered greatly, both they and their cattle, when they were three days without water; and when, on finding water, it was so bitter that they could not drink it. But, when they had been conducted thither by God himself, (for the pillar and the cloud never left them day or night [Note: Exo 13:22.],) they might be assured that He, who had so miraculously delivered them hitherto, would, if they cried unto him, supply their wants. They should have had recourse to prayer therefore, and not to murmuring. But this conduct of theirs gave occasion for a rich display of Gods mercy towards them, and for an explicit declaration on his part what the rule of his procedure towards them in future should be. They were delivered from the Egyptian yoke: but they were not to cast off obedience to their God. They were, as his redeemed people, to consecrate themselves to him, and to obey his voice in all things: and, according as they performed or neglected their duty to him, he would extend to them his favour, or visit them with his displeasure; either loading them with, or exempting them from, the diseases with which the Egyptians had been visited, and which they greatly dreaded [Note: 6 with Deu 28:27; Deu 28:60.].
This declaration of God to them was so important, that the Prophet Jeremiah, a thousand years afterwards, referred to it, to shew, that, from the very first moment of the people having been taken into covenant with God, their sacrifices had been held as of no account in comparison of obedience. I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you [Note: Jer 7:22-23.]. Nor is it less important to us, at this day; for God will still deal with us according as we conduct ourselves towards him. The retribution indeed may not now be so visibly marked by external dispensations; but it shall be maintained in reference to our souls, God either healing our spiritual maladies, or giving us up to the power of them, according as we approve ourselves to him, or walk contrary to his commands. If we offend him by a wilful and habitual disobedience to his will, none shall be able to protect us: but, if we surrender up ourselves unfeignedly to him, none shall be able to harm us: whatever we may either feel or fear, we may assure ourselves of his favour; for he is, and ever will be, The Lord that healeth us.
In further discoursing on these words, we shall be led to point out,
I.
The office which God executes in behalf of his people
As God inflicts judgments on his enemies, so does he administer healing to his people: and this he does,
1.
In a way of gracious exemption
[The Hebrews were exempted from the various calamities with which Egypt was overwhelmed. And this is particularly noticed in the words preceding my text: I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. In like manner, if we are exempt from many diseases under which others labour, and by which their whole lives are imbittered, we should acknowledge God as the Author of this distinction, and receive it as a special mercy at his hands. We know that even under the Christian dispensation bodily diseases are often sent by God, as the punishment of sin [Note: 1Co 11:30 and Jam 5:14-15.]: and we cannot but feel that we have merited, on many occasions, such tokens of his displeasure. If therefore we, like the Hebrews, have been more highly favoured than others, we must, like them, be instructed that it is God alone who has healed us.
But in this general description of Jehovah we must not overlook that which, after all, was chiefly intendedhis special favour towards his redeemed people, in reference to spiritual disorders. Thousands are given up, like Judas, to an obdurate heart and a reprobate mind; whilst some, like David and Peter, are recovered from their falls. To whom must the recovery of these be ascribed?to themselves? They had in themselves no more strength or power than the unhappy Judas had. It was to sovereign grace alone that they owed their restoration to the divine favour, and their return to the paths of holiness and peace. And have not we similar obligations to our heavenly Physician? How often have we indulged in our hearts propensities, to which if we had been given up, we should have fallen a prey, and perished for ever! The sins of the most abandoned of the human race were small in their beginning, and by repetition became inveterate. O! what do we owe to God, who, whilst he has left others to follow the imagination of their own hearts, has restrained us, hedging up our way with thorns, and building a wall, that we might not be able to prosecute the paths which our corrupt hearts so perversely sought! As far then as by his preventing grace he has kept us from evil, we have reason to adore him as the healer of our souls.]
2.
In a way of effectual interposition
[On many occasions did God visit his people with severe chastisements; which he as often removed, at the intercession of Moses, or on the humiliation of their souls before him. And have there not been times when, by disease or accident, are have been brought low; and when, if the evil inflicted had been suffered to attain the same resistless power as it has acquired over others, we must have fallen a sacrifice to its assaults? Whence is it, I would ask, that we have been restored to health, whilst others have sunk under the influence of the same disease? Greatly do we err, if we ascribe our recovery to any thing but the gracious favour of our God. He may have made use of medicine as the means: but whatever may have been the secondary cause, the one great primary cause of all has been the good pleasure of God, whose province alone it is to kill and to make alive, to wound and to heal [Note: Deu 32:39.].
And what shall we say, if we have been healed of spiritual disorders? It is well known that man is altogether corrupt; so that we may apply to him that description which is given of the Jewish state, from the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in him, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores [Note: Isa 1:6.]. In every faculty of our souls we are corrupted and debased by sin: our understanding is darkened; our will rebellious; our affections sensual; our very conscience is blind and partial. Now, if God has dealt with us as he did with the springs of Jericho [Note: 2Ki 2:20-22.], if he has cast the salt of his grace into our souls, and healed us at the fountain-head, have we not cause to bless and magnify his name? It is expressly in reference to such a miracle as this that God assumes to himself the name contained in our text. The waters of Marah being so bitter as to be unfit for use, God directed Moses to cast a certain tree into them, by means of which they were instantly made sweet [Note: 5.]. And are not we also directed to a tree, whose very leaves are for the healing of the nations [Note: Rev 22:2.] ? Its virtue indeed is not known by thousands, in whose presence it stands; and therefore they continue ignorant of its healing efficacy. But was its virtue ever tried in vain? No: nor ever shall be. Only let Christ be received into the heart by faith, and the whole man will be renewed; the understanding will be enlightened, the will subdued, the affections purified, and the whole soul be changed into the divine image in righteousness and true holiness. Now, what if God has pointed out this tree to us? What if we have experienced its healing efficacy? Then have we in ourselves an evidence that our blessed Saviour sustains the office claimed by him in our text: and then are we called to acknowledge it with gratitude, and to adore him for this stupendous exercise of his power and grace.]
Such being the office of our blessed Lord, let us consider,
II.
The duty which we owe him in reference to it
This, though already in a measure anticipated, may with great propriety be now more distinctly noticed.
1.
1. We should acknowledge him in the mercies we have received at his hands
[Sure I am, that his preventing goodness is by no means appreciated as it ought to be. We see others sick and dying; and little think to whom we owe it, that their lot has not been awarded to us. We are restored after sickness; and how soon do we forget the hand that has delivered us [Note: If this were a Spital Sermon, or on occasion of a deliverance from childbirth, this would be the place for some appropriate observations.] ! Nor are we less insensible of our obligations to God for preservation from great and heinous sins; whereas, if we noticed the falls of others who were in every respect as likely to stand as ourselves, we should be filled with wonder and admiration at the distinguishing mercies vouchsafed unto us. Even converting grace, alas! how little gratitude does it excite in our hearts! We can see clearly enough the goodness of God to Israel in bringing them out of Egypt, and in making them a peculiar people to himself, whilst their Egyptian taskmasters were left to perish. But that deliverance, though glorious, had no glory, in comparison with that which is vouchsafed to us. But I call on all to look at the mercies which they have experienced, and at the means by which they have been procured for a ruined world. The tree that heals us has been felled: the Saviour has been wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; and by his stripes we are healed Yes, the Saviour himself has died, that we may live [Note: Isa 53:5 with 1Pe 2:24.]. Shall any one, then, that has experienced the virtue of his blood and the efficacy of his grace, not bless him? O! let every soul stir himself up to praise his God, and break forth like David, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sins, and healeth all thy diseases [Note: Psa 103:1-3.] !]
2.
We should apply to him for the mercies which we may yet stand in need of
[Wherefore does the Saviour proclaim to us his office, but that we may apply to him to execute it in our behalf? That you are all labouring under a mortal disease, is certain: and that there is but one remedy for all, is equally clear. But that remedy is all-sufficient: none ever perished, who applied it to their souls. See our Redeemer in the days of his flesh: was there any disease which he could not cure? Was not even a touch of his garment instantly effectual for one who had spent her all upon physicians, and to no purpose? Methinks I hear one complaining, that sin and Satan have such an entire possession of his soul, as to render his state altogether hopeless. But is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there? Look at the demoniac in the Gospel: so entirely was he possessed by Satan, that no chains could bind him, no restraints prevent him from inflicting deadly wounds upon himself. But a single word from the Saviour expels the fiend, and causes the maniac to sit at his feet, clothed, and in his right mind. Fear not then, thou desponding sinner; for there is nothing impossible with him. And if thou say, True; but he has already tried his hand upon me in vain, and given me up as incurable; hear then what he speaks to thee by the Prophet Isaiah: For his iniquity I was wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth; and yet he went on forwardly in the way of his heart. (Here is your very case: and what says he to it? Does he say, I have therefore given him up as incurable? No; but (I have seen his ways, and will heal him. Heal him, does he say? Yes; I will heal him, and will restore comforts to him and to his mourners [Note: Isa 57:17-18.]. Go then to him, thou desponding soul. Say to him, as David did, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee [Note: Psa 41:4.]. If you reply, There is no hope for me, because I have once known the Lord, and have backslidden from him; be it so; yet, as a backslider, hear what a gracious message he sends thee by the Prophet Jeremiah: Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings [Note: Jer 3:2]. One thing only would I guard you against, and that is, the healing of your wounds slightly [Note: Jer 6:14.]. Let your wounds be probed to the very bottom: and then, as the waters of Marah were healed so as that the fountain itself was changed, so shall your soul be purified throughout, and the waters flowing from you spring up unto everlasting life [Note: Joh 4:14; Joh 7:38.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 26:3-13 ; Deu 7:15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exo 15:26 .
Every man must have his own special revelation of God. Some have never seen God in what may be called his metaphysical relations; they do not, in that sense, know God. Others know him in his relation to affliction, sorrow, and the whole of the enduring side of life. They cannot account for their deliverances except by a superior power. In their memory is the recollection of a pit out of which they were lifted, and they know of a surety that no arms could have delivered them from that pit but the arms of the Almighty One. The infinity of true religion is thus shown by the infinity of the responses which it elicits from human nature. One man’s religion is all music that is to say an expression of thanksgiving, delight, and confidence in God. He has no argument, no logic, no well-connected and highly-authenticated history by which to defend himself, or on which to rest his Christian beliefs. He knows who came to him in the day of sorrow, who walked with him to the edge of the grave, who gave him heart again in the time of great loss and pain. It is needless to argue with such a man; he is himself his own argument. When the debater has ceased his storm of words, the man retires upon his own consciousness, and in the recesses of his memory he finds a comfort which the war of words can never reach. This is the kind of experience open to all men. Few can be scholars, fewer still can be poets; to only one or two has it been permitted to enter into the holy of holies; but every life has had its own difficulty, or pain, or shadow, or cross its own awful affliction or bitter poverty. The Christian religion is strong upon every ground, but stronger, perhaps, on this ground than any. Every one of its believers has his own story to tell respecting the richness of Christian comfort and the cheering of the Divine light. Every man must base his argument upon the strongest point of his own consciousness. Let the restored blind man say, “One thing I know”; let him keep steadily to that plain story, and no band of Pharisees, how infuriated soever by malice, can unsettle his position or disturb his serenity.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee.
Ver. 26. And said, If thou, &c. ] This God premiseth as a preface to the law, to be shortly after given in Sinai.
I am the Lord that healeth thee.
a Isidor.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And [He, Jehovah] said. See note on Exo 4:3. diligently hearken. Figure of speech Polyptoton (App-6). Hebrew “if an hearkening thou hearken”.
the LORD That healeth thee. Jehovah rophe’eka, one of the Jehovah titles. See App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
If thou: Lev 26:3, Lev 26:13, Deu 7:12, Deu 7:13, Deu 7:15, Deu 28:1-15
and wilt: Deu 12:28, Deu 13:18, 1Ki 11:33, 1Ki 11:38, 2Ki 22:2, Eze 18:5
diseases: Exo 9:10, Exo 9:11, Exo 12:29, Deu 7:15, Deu 28:27, Deu 28:60
for I am: Exo 23:25, 2Ki 20:5, Job 5:18, Psa 41:3, Psa 41:4, Psa 103:3, Psa 147:3, Isa 57:18, Jer 8:22, Jer 33:6, Hos 6:1, Jam 5:11-16
Reciprocal: Gen 22:1 – God Exo 20:20 – prove Lev 13:18 – a boil Lev 14:3 – be healed Lev 14:34 – I put the plague of leprosy Lev 26:16 – consumption Deu 6:17 – General Deu 6:18 – shalt do Deu 12:25 – when Jos 22:5 – take 2Ki 2:21 – cast 2Ki 18:3 – right in the sight 2Ch 30:20 – healed Neh 9:16 – hearkened Psa 6:2 – heal Psa 30:2 – and Psa 81:8 – if thou wilt Isa 33:24 – the inhabitant Isa 55:2 – Hearken Jer 7:23 – Obey Jer 11:7 – in the Jer 17:24 – if Jer 30:13 – hast Jer 30:17 – For I Eze 47:9 – for they Eze 48:35 – The Lord Hos 11:3 – I healed Hos 14:4 – heal Amo 4:10 – pestilence Mat 4:24 – all sick Mat 8:16 – and healed Mar 5:29 – straightway Luk 7:7 – but Luk 8:44 – immediately 1Co 11:30 – many
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 15:26. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, &c. He here states the substance of what he required of them. For as yet he did not load them with that grievous yoke of ceremonies, which he thought fit afterward to lay upon them, for the hardness of their hearts, or because they showed themselves incapable of a more liberal and ingenuous service. And to this the words of the Lord by Jeremiah seem to refer, Jer 7:22-23, I spake not to your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings, or sacrifices, &c. I will put none of these diseases upon thee Either such preternatural plagues as God had inflicted on the Egyptians, or the diseases which were peculiar to Egypt, and most frequent in that country, such as the leprosy and other cutaneous diseases. This intimates that if they were disobedient, the plagues which they had seen inflicted on their enemies should be brought on them. The threatening is implied only, but the promise is expressed. I am the Lord that healeth thee That preserves thee in health, as well as heals thy diseases.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is {o} right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee.
(o) Which is, to do only what God commanded.