2<\/strong> ( 3<\/strong>). Nor shall the Son of an Unlawful Marriage Enter the Congregation nor his Descendants.<\/p>\n bastard<\/em> ] This meaning is derived from the LXX . More probably the Heb. mamzer<\/em> (elsewhere only in Zec 9:6<\/span>) signifies the offspring either of such unlawful unions as are exemplified in Deu 22:30<\/span> (Deu 23:1<\/span>), which was the opinion of the Rabbis ( Mishnah<\/em>, ‘Yebamoth’ Deu 4:13<\/span>, cp. Levy, Chald. u. Neuhebr. Wrterbuch, sub voce<\/em>), or of the equally forbidden marriages with foreign wives, Neh 13:23<\/span> ff.<\/p>\n 2<\/strong>. The Lord<\/em> ] Jehovah<\/em>; as frequently, the Divine Name opens the poem; see on Deu 1:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n Sinai<\/em> ] See Deu 1:2<\/span>; Deu 1:6<\/span>, on oreb, and on the view that the mountain lay in Se‘r cp. Jdg 5:4<\/span>.<\/p>\n rose<\/em> ] Like the sun: rays<\/em>, or beams<\/em>, forth.<\/p>\n unto them<\/em> ] So Heb. and Sam. But LXX, Targ., Vulg. read to us<\/strong>. V. Gall (followed by Berth. and Marti) reads to his people<\/em>.<\/p>\n shined forth<\/em> ] Or flashed<\/strong>, so of God in Psa 50:2<\/span>; Psa 80:1<\/span> (2), Psa 94:1<\/span>; and Job.<\/p>\n Paran<\/em> ] See Deu 1:1<\/span>; mount Paran<\/em>, as in Hab 3:3<\/span>, is not to be identified with any one range in that mountainous wilderness: mount<\/em> is collective.<\/p>\n came<\/em> ] Better comes, hies<\/em> or is sped<\/strong>; a vb common in Aram. but in Heb. used only in poetry.<\/p>\n from Merbath-Kadesh<\/strong> ] A probable conjecture from the Heb. merib<\/em> e<\/em> both-odesh<\/em> = from holy myriads<\/em> and LXX with myriads of adesh<\/em>. Others propose, with him<\/em> (so Sam. Pesh. Targ. instead of comes<\/em>) were holy chariots<\/em> ( mark<\/em> e<\/em> both-kodesh<\/em>). From the Targ. with him were holy myriads<\/em> arose the late Jewish belief that angels (cp. LXX in next clause) ministered at the giving of the Law, Act 7:53<\/span>, Gal 3:19<\/span>, Heb 2:2<\/span>.<\/p>\n At his right hand<\/em> ] Or from<\/em>; confirmed by the Versions; yet it is possible that for mmno<\/em> we should read miyyamn<\/em> = from the South<\/em>, in parallel to the previous lines.<\/p>\n was a fiery law<\/em> ] Very questionable. The Heb. consonants ’sh d th<\/em> are written as one word, but read by the Massoretes as two, ’esh dath<\/em> = fire, law; but their construction is awkward and dath<\/em> is a late word from the Persian and improbable here. Sam. reads two words, each = light<\/em>; if the first be read as a vb we get the probable there flashed light<\/em>. Dillm. adding two consonants reads a burning fire<\/em>. By reading one word we have an equivalent of the Aram. ’ashidoth<\/em> = lightning flashes<\/em>; cp. Hab 3:4<\/span>, He had horns<\/em> (i.e. rays<\/em>) from his hand<\/em>. LXX , cp. Psa 104:4<\/span> his ministers a flame of fire<\/em>. The line may be an intrusion; it is not one of a couplet.<\/p>\n 2 5. The Proem The Origin of Israel<\/p>\n The Revelation by which the tribes became a nation is described in the mingled figures of a dawn and a thunderstorm, theophanies frequent in the Ar. poetry of the desert where natural phenomena suggestive of divine appearance and power are few (hardly more than these and the rainbow); and used several times in Heb. poetry of Jehovah the Inhabiter of Sinai; Jdg 5:4<\/span> f., Hab 3:3<\/span> ff.; cp. Psa 18:29<\/span>. and contrast 1Ki 19:11<\/span> f. See further Early Poetry of Israel<\/em>, 56 ff.<\/p>\n 2 The Lord from Sinai is come<\/p>\n And risen on us from Se‘r,<\/p>\n Hath flashed from the hills of Parn,<\/p>\n And sped from Merbath-adesh.<\/p>\n [From the South (?) blazed fire (?) on them.]<\/p>\n 3 Lover indeed of His people,<\/p>\n His hallowed are all in His hand,<\/p>\n They, they fall in (?) at Thy feet,<\/p>\n They take up Thine orders.<\/p>\n 4 [Moses commanded us law]<\/p>\n His domain is the Assembly of Jacob,<\/p>\n 5 And King He became in Y e shurun,<\/p>\n When the heads of the people were gathered,<\/p>\n The tribes of Israel were one.<\/p>\n By Seir is to be understood the mountain-land of the Edomites, and by mount Paran the range which forms the northern boundary of the desert of Sinai (compare Gen 14:6<\/span> note). Thus the verse forms a poetical description of the vast arena upon which the glorious manifestation of the Lord in the giving of the covenant took place.<\/P> With ten thousands of saints – <\/B>Render, from amidst ten thousands of holy ones: literally from myriads of holiness, i. e., holy Angels (compare Zec 14:5<\/span>). God is represented as leaving heaven where He dwells amidst the host of the Angels 1Ki 22:19<\/span> and descending in majesty to earth Mic 1:3<\/span>.<\/P> A fiery law – <\/B>more literally as in the margin, with perhaps an allusion to the pillar of fire Exo 13:21<\/span>. The word is much disputed.<\/P> <\/p>\n Deu 33:2-5<\/span><\/p>\n From His right hand went a fiery law for them.<\/em><\/p>\n Yea, He loved the people. <\/p>\n The law of antagonism<\/strong><\/p>\n At first sight the text might seem to involve a contradiction, but closer consideration will show that it expresses a great truth, namely, that the severity of human life is an expression of the Divine goodness.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They see the advantage of severity so far as all sound and healthy things are concerned. If the conditions of life are in any degree softened, it is to the detriment of the noble organisms concerned.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>They see also the advantage of severity so far as defective things are concerned. It is better for the world at large that weak organisms should be eliminated, otherwise the earth would be filled with imperfection and wretchedness; it is better for the creatures concerned that they should perish, for why should a miserable existence be indefinitely prolonged?<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Take the struggle of man with nature. The tropical sun burns us; the Arctic cold freezes us; in temperate regions the changeability of the weather troubles us; everywhere we experience the fury of the elements. All climates and countries have their special inconveniences, inhospitalities, and scourges. But is not this conflict with nature part of the inspiration and programme of civilisation? Contending with the globe, we are like Jacob wrestling with the angel. The fight is long and hard amid the mystery and the darkness, and the great Power seems reluctant to bless us; but the breaking of the day comes, and we find ourselves blest with corn, wine, oil, purple, feasts, flowers. Ah! and with gifts far beyond those of basket and store–ripened intelligence, self-reliance, courage, skill, manliness, virtue.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Take the struggle of man with man. Society is a great system of antitheses. There are international rivalries–a relentless competition between the several races and nations for power and supremacy. The various peoples watch each other across the seas; the earth is full of feuds, stratagems, competitions. And within the separate communities what complex and unceasing emulations and antagonisms exist! But this social rivalry brings its rich compensations. Solicitude, fatigue, difficulty, danger, hunger, these are the true king-makers; and the misfortune with many rich families today is, that they are being gradually let down because they are losing sight of the wolf. The wolf not merely suckled Romulus; it suckles all kings of men. The wolf is not a wolf at all; it is an angel in wolves clothing, saving us from rust, sloth, effeminacy, cowardice, baseness, from a miserable superficiality of thought, life, and character.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Let us not reject the law of Sinai because of its severity. The musician with the harp believes in strait-lacing, and it is only when the strings are stretched nigh to the breaking that he brings out the finest music. So in human life, caprice, licence, abandonment mean dissonance and misery; only through obligation, duty, discipline do all the chords of our nature become tuned to the music of a sweet perfection.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Let us not reject the Lord Jesus because He comes to us with a cross. To attain the highest, we must be crucified with Christ.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Let us not shrink from the tribulations of life. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, etc. The whole case is here. We must not consider the fiery trial a strange thing. It is the universal order. We witness it in all nature; we discern it in all the history of civilisation; it is the common experience. The fiery trial is not some ordeal peculiar to the Christian saints; it is appointed to the whole of humanity. We must not consider the fiery trial an uncompensated thing. The cross we carry is no longer a pitiless and crushing burden; we look to its ultimate design, and know it as the rough but precious instrument of our purification and perfecting. (W. L. Watkinson.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n All His saints are in Thy hand<\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Saints in the Lords hand<\/strong><\/p>\n These holy ones are distinguished by many things from each other. Some of them are in public life and some in private. Some are rich and some poor. Some are young and some old. But all are equally dear to God; and partakers of the common salvation; in which there is neither Jew nor Greek, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. This honour have all His saints–All His saints are in His hand.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>In His fashioning hand. They are the clay, He is the potter; and He makes them vessels of honour, prepared unto every good work.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>In His preserving hand. For now they are precious, they are the more exposed. They are called a crown and a diadem; and the powers of darkness would gladly seize it.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>In His guiding hand. Though God, says Bishop Hall, has a large family, none of His children are able to go alone: they are too weak, as well as too ignorant. But fear not, says God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>In His chastening hand. (W. Jay.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n God and His saints<\/strong><\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The word is in a form which implies that the act is continuous and perpetual. Timeless, eternal love–always the same.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Mark the place in the song where this comes in. It is the beginning of everything. This old singer, with the mists of antiquity round him, who knew nothing about the Cross or the historic Christ, who had only that which modern thinkers tell us is a revelation of a wrathful God, somehow or other rose to the height of the evangelical conception of Gods love as the foundation of the very existence of a people who are His.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>If the question is asked, Why does God thus love? the only answer is, Because He is God. The love of God is inseparable from His being, and flows forth before, and independent of, anything in the creature which could draw it out. It is like an artesian well, or a fountain springing up from unknown depths in obedience to its own impulse.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>A saint is a man that answers Gods love by his love. The root idea of sanctity or holiness is not moral character, goodness of disposition and action, but separation from the world and consecration to God. As surely as a magnet applied to a heap of miscellaneous filings will pick out every little bit of iron there, so surely will that love which God bears to the people, when it is responded to, draw to itself, and therefore draw out of the heap, the men that feel its impulse and its preciousness.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The saints lie in Gods hand.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Absolute security; for, will He not close His fingers over His palm to keep the soul that has laid itself there?<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Submission. Do not try to get out of Gods hand. Be content to be guided, as the steersmans hand turns the spokes of the wheel and directs the ship.<\/p>\n The Lord came, <\/B>to wit, to the Israelites, i.e. manifested graciously and gloriously among them. <\/P> From Sinai, <\/B>i.e. beginning at Sinai, where the first and most glorious appearance of God was, and so going on with them to Seir and Paran. Or, to Sinai<\/I>, the particle mem<\/I> oft signifying to<\/I>, as is evident by comparing Isa 59:20<\/span>, with Rom 11:26<\/span>; 1Ki 8:30<\/span>, with 2Ch 6:21<\/span>; 2Sa 6:2<\/span>, with 1Ch 13:6<\/span>. See also Gen 2:8<\/span>; 11:2<\/span>; 13:11<\/span>; 1Sa 14:15<\/span>. Or, in Sinai<\/I>; mem<\/I> being put for beth<\/I>, in<\/I>, as Exo 25:18<\/span>; Deu 15:1<\/span>; Job 19:26<\/span>; Psa 68:29<\/span>; 72:16<\/span>. <\/P> Rose up; <\/B>he appeared or showed himself, as the sun doth when it riseth. <\/P> From Seir, <\/B>i.e. from the mountain or land of Edom, which is called Seir<\/I>, Gen 32:3<\/span>; 36:8<\/span>; Deu 2:4<\/span>, to which place the Israelites came, Num 20:14<\/span>, &c.; and from thence God led them on towards the Land of Promise, and then gloriously appeared for them in subduing Sihon and Og before them, and giving their countries unto them; which glorious work of Gods is particularly celebrated Jdg 5:4<\/span>. But because the land of Seir or Edom is sometimes taken more largely, and so reacheth even to the Red Sea, as appears from 1Ki 9:26<\/span>, and therefore Mount Sinai was near to it; and because Paran, which here follows, was also near Sinai, as being the next station into which they came from the wilderness of Sinai, Num 10:12<\/span>; all this verse may belong to Gods appearance in Mount Sinai, where that glorious light which shone upon Mount-Sinai directly did in all probability scatter its beams into adjacent parts, such as Seir and Paean were; and so this is only a poetical and prophetical variation of the phrase and expression of the same thing in divers words, and God coming<\/I>, or rising<\/I>, or shining from<\/I> or to<\/I> or in<\/I> Sinai, and Sear, and Paran note one and the same illustrious action of God appearing there with <\/P> ten thousands<\/B> of his saints<\/I> or holy angels, and there giving <\/P> a fiery law to them, <\/B>as it here follows. And this interpretation may receive some strength from Hab 3:3<\/span>, where this glorious march of God before his people is remembered; only teman<\/I>, which signifies the south<\/I>, is put for Seir<\/I>, which is here, possibly to signify that that Seir which is here mentioned was to be understood of the southern part of the country of Seir or Edom, which was that part adjoining to the Red Sea. Others refer this of Seir<\/I> to the brazen serpent, that eminent type of Christ, which was erected in this place. <\/P> Mount Paran; <\/B>a place where God eminently manifested his presence and goodness, both in giving the people flesh which they desired, and in appointing the seventy elders, and pouring forth his Spirit upon them, Num 11<\/span>; though the exposition mentioned in the foregoing branch may seem more probable. With <\/P> ten thousands of saints, <\/B>i.e. with a a great company of holy angels, Psa 68:17<\/span>; Dan 7:10<\/span>, which attended upon him in this great and glorious work of giving the law, as may be gathered from Act 7:53<\/span>; Gal 3:19<\/span>; Heb 2:2<\/span>; 12:22<\/span>. <\/P> From his right hand; <\/B>which both wrote the law and gave it to men; an allusion to men, who ordinarily write and give gifts with their right, and not with their left hand. <\/P> A fiery law.<\/B> The law is called fiery<\/I>, partly, because it is of a fiery nature, purging, and searching, and inflaming, for which reasons Gods word is compared to fire, Jer 23:29<\/span>; partly, to signify that fiery wrath and curse which it inflicteth upon sinners for the violation of it, 2Co 3:7<\/span>,9<\/span>; and principally, because it was delivered out of the midst of the fire, Exo 19:16<\/span>,18<\/span>; Deu 4:11<\/span>; 5:22<\/span>,23<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 2-4. The Lord came<\/B>Under abeautiful metaphor, borrowed from the dawn and progressive splendorof the sun, the Majesty of God is sublimely described as a divinelight which appeared in Sinai and scattered its beams on all theadjoining region in directing Israel’s march to Canaan. In thesedescriptions of a theophania,<\/I> God is represented as comingfrom the south, and the allusion is in general to the thunderings andlightnings of Sinai; but other mountains in the same direction arementioned with it. The location of Seir was on the east of the Ghor;mount Paran was either the chain on the west of the Ghor, or ratherthe mountains on the southern border of the desert towards thepeninsula [ROBINSON].(Compare Jdg 5:4<\/span>; Jdg 5:5<\/span>;Psa 68:7<\/span>; Psa 68:8<\/span>;Hab 3:3<\/span>). <\/P> ten thousands ofsaints<\/B>rendered by some, “with the ten thousand ofKadesh,” or perhaps better still, “from Meribah”[EWALD]. <\/P> a fiery law<\/B>so calledboth because of the thunder and lightning which accompanied itspromulgation (Exo 19:16-18<\/span>;Deu 4:11<\/span>), and the fierce,unrelenting curse denounced against the violation of its precepts(2Co 3:7-9<\/span>).Notwithstanding those awe-inspiring symbols of Majesty that weredisplayed on Sinai, the law was really given in kindness and love (De33:3<\/span>), as a means of promoting both the temporal and eternalwelfare of the people. And it was “the inheritance of thecongregation of Jacob,” not only from the hereditary obligationunder which that people were laid to observe it, but from its beingthe grand distinction, the peculiar privilege of the nation.<\/P><\/p>\n And he said<\/strong>,…. What follows, of which, in some things, he was an eye and ear witness, and in others was inspired by the Spirit of God, to deliver his mind and will concerning the future case and state of the several tribes, after he had observed the common benefit and blessing they all enjoyed, by having such a law given them in the manner it was:<\/p>\n the Lord came from Sinai<\/strong>; there he first appeared to Moses, and sent him to Egypt, and wrought miracles by him, and delivered his people Israel from thence, and when they were come to this mount he came down on it, as Aben Ezra, from Gaon, or he came “to” it; so to Zion, Isa 59:20<\/span>, is “out of” or “from Zion”, Ro 11:26<\/span>; here he appeared and gave the law, and from thence went with Israel through the wilderness, and conducted them to the land of Canaan:<\/p>\n and rose up from Seir unto them<\/strong>: not to the Edomites which inhabited Seir, as say Jarchi, and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, but to the Israelites when they compassed the land of Edom; and the Lord was with them, and gave them some signal proofs of his power and providence, kindness and goodness, to them; particularly, as some observe, by appointing a brazen serpent to be erected for the cure those bitten by fiery ones, which was a type of the glorious Redeemer and Saviour, and this was done on the borders of Edom, see Nu 21:4<\/span>; for the words here denote some illustrious appearance of the Lord, like that of the rising sun; so the Targum of Onkelos,<\/p>\n “the brightness of his glory from Seir was shown unto us;”<\/p>\n and that of Jonathan,<\/p>\n “and the brightness of the glory of his Shechinah went from Gebal:”<\/p>\n he shined forth from Mount Paran<\/strong>: in which the metaphor of the sun rising is continued, and as expressive of its increasing light and splendour: near to this mount was a wilderness of the same name, through which the children of Israel travelled, and where the Lord appeared to them: here the cloud rested when they removed from Sinai; here, or near it, the Spirit of the Lord was given to the seventy elders, and from hence the spies were sent into the land of Canaan, Nu 10:12<\/span>; in this wilderness Ishmael and his posterity dwelt, Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>In nature. The fiery law published at Sinai is proclaimed from every mountaintop; it burns and blazes through all the earth; the sea also is crystal mingled with fire. Nature knows nothing of indulgence; she makes no concessions to ignorance, folly, or weakness. Nature is imperative, uncompromising, terrible. In our day the severity of nature has been recognised as the struggle for existence, and students have shown with great clearness and power how full the world is of antagonism and suffering; yet these same students distinctly perceive that the struggle for existence is at bottom merciful, and that whenever nature chooses an evil it is a lesser evil to prevent a greater.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>In civilisation. It is not by gentle yielding restrictions, by pliant understandings, by soft phrases, by light penalties easily remitted, by facility and complaisance, by the coddling of the individual, and the pampering of the nations, but by laws most exacting and rigorous, that God governs the race and conducts it to ultimate perfection. And yet once more we may see that the fiery law is only a definition of love.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>In character. When we are called upon to perform duties utterly repugnant to flesh and blood, to suffer grievous losses, to experience bitterest disappointments, to bleed under social humiliations, to be tortured by pain, to lose those whose love was our life, to endure the great fight of afflictions which sooner or later comes upon us all, we may rationally and consolingly murmur to ourselves, This is a lesser evil to prevent a greater. For as the catastrophes of nature are, after all, but partial and temporary, preventing immeasurably greater calamities, so our physical pain, impoverishment, social suffering, severe toil, bereavement, and all our terrestrial woes are the lesser evils, saving us from the infinitely greater one of the superficiality, corruption, misery, and ruin of the soul. And not only is the fiery law a wall of fire securing our salvation from the abyss; it is also a call unto a high and splendid perfection. It shows the way to the dignities, freedoms, treasures, felicities, perfections, of the highest universe and the unending life.<\/p>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>The Divine love which is the foundation of all. He loved the people. The word used here is probably connected with words in an allied language, which mean the bosom, and a tender embrace; so the picture we have is of the great Divine Lover folding the people to His heart, as a mother her child, and cherishing them in His bosom.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The guardian care extended to all those that answer love by love. All His saints are in Thy hand.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The docile obedience of those that are thus guarded. They sat down at Thy feet; everyone shall receive of Thy words. These two clauses make up one picture, and one easily understands what it is. It presents a group of docile scholars, sitting at the Masters feet. He is teaching them, and they listen open-mouthed and open-eared to what He says, and will take His words into their lives, like Mary sitting at Christs feet, whilst Martha was bustling about His meal. But perhaps, instead of sitting down at Thy feet, we should read followed at Thy feet. That suggests the familiar metaphor of a guide and those led by him who without him knew not their road. As a dog follows his master, as the sheep their shepherd, so, this singer felt, will saints follow the God whom they love. Religion is imitation of God. They follow at His foot. That is the blessedness and the power of Christian morality, that it is keeping close at Christs heels, and that, instead of its being said to us, Go, He says, Come; and instead of us being bade to hew out for ourselves a path of duty, He says to us, He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. They receive His words. Yes, if you will keep close to Him, He will turn round and speak to you. If you are near enough to Him to catch His whisper He will not leave you without guidance. That is one side of the thought, that following we receive what He says, whereas the people that are away far behind Him scarcely know what His will is, and never can catch the low whisper which will come to us by providences, by movements in our own spirits, through the exercise of our faculties of judgment and common sense, if only we will keep near to Him. (A. Maclaren, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n