15 the Feast of Unleavened things thou dost keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at the time appointed `in' the month of Abib; for in it thou hast come forth out of Egypt, and ye do not appear `in' My presence empty;
and the firstling of an ass thou dost ransom with a lamb; and if thou dost not ransom, then thou hast beheaded it; every first-born of thy sons thou dost ransom, and they do not appear before Me empty.
`Three times in a year doth every one of thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which He doth choose -- in the feast of unleavened things, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths; and they do not appear before Jehovah empty;
`And in the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, `is' the passover to Jehovah; and in the fifteenth day of this month `is' a festival, seven days unleavened food is eaten; in the first day `is' an holy convocation, ye do no servile work, and ye have brought near a fire-offering, a burnt-offering to Jehovah: two bullocks, sons of the herd, and one ram, and seven lambs, sons of a year, perfect ones they are for you; and their present, flour mixed with oil, three-tenth deals for a bullock, and two-tenth deals for a ram ye do prepare; a several tenth deal thou preparest for the one lamb, for the seven lambs, and one goat, a sin-offering, to make atonement for you. `Apart from the burnt-offering of the morning, which `is' for the continual burnt-offering, ye prepare these; according to these ye prepare daily, seven days, bread of a fire-offering, a sweet fragrance, to Jehovah; besides the continual burnt-offering it is prepared, and its libation; and on the seventh day a holy convocation ye have, ye do no servile work.
And the sons of Israel encamp in Gilgal, and make the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plains of Jericho; and they eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow of the passover, unleavened things and roasted `corn', in this self-same day;
cleanse out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, according as ye are unleavened, for also our passover for us was sacrificed -- Christ, so that we may keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with unleavened food of sincerity and truth.
And the first day of the unleavened food, when they were killing the passover, his disciples say to him, `Where wilt thou, `that,' having gone, we may prepare, that thou mayest eat the passover?'
Honour Jehovah from thy substance, And from the beginning of all thine increase; And filled are thy barns `with' plenty, And `with' new wine thy presses break forth.
And the king commandeth the whole of the people, saying, `Make ye a passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written on this book of the covenant.' Surely there hath not been made like this passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, even all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, hath this passover been made to Jehovah in Jerusalem.
`And this day hath become to you a memorial, and ye have kept it a feast to Jehovah to your generations; -- a statute age-during; ye keep it a feast. Seven days ye eat unleavened things; only -- in the first day ye cause leaven to cease out of your houses; for any one eating anything fermented from the first day till the seventh day, even that person hath been cut off from Israel. `And in the first day `is' a holy convocation, and in the seventh day ye have a holy convocation; any work is not done in them, only that which is eaten by any person -- it alone is done by you, and ye have observed the unleavened things, for in this self-same day I have brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt, and ye have observed this day to your generations -- a statute age-during. `In the first `month', in the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, ye do eat unleavened things until the one and twentieth day of the month, at evening; seven days leaven is not found in your houses, for any `one' eating anything fermented -- that person hath been cut off from the company of Israel, among the sojourners or among the natives of the land; anything fermented ye do not eat, in all your dwellings ye do eat unleavened things.' And Moses calleth for all the elders of Israel, and saith unto them, `Draw out and take for yourselves `from' the flock, for your families, and slaughter the passover-sacrifice; and ye have taken a bunch of hyssop, and have dipped `it' in the blood which `is' in the basin, and have struck `it' on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, from the blood which `is' in the basin, and ye, ye go not out each from the opening of his house till morning. `And Jehovah hath passed on to smite the Egyptians, and hath seen the blood on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, and Jehovah hath passed over the opening, and doth not permit the destruction to come into your houses to smite. `And ye have observed this thing, for a statute to thee, and to thy sons -- unto the age; and it hath been, when ye come in unto the land which Jehovah giveth to you, as He hath spoken, that ye have kept this service; and it hath come to pass when your sons say unto you, What `is' this service ye have? that ye have said, A sacrifice of passover it `is' to Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, in His smiting the Egyptians, and our houses He delivered.' And the people bow and do obeisance, and the sons of Israel go and do as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron; so have they done.
`Observe the month of Abib -- and thou hast made a passover to Jehovah thy God, for in the month of Abib hath Jehovah thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night; and thou hast sacrificed a passover to Jehovah thy God, of the flock, and of the herd, in the place which Jehovah doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle there. `Thou dost not eat with it any fermented thing, seven days thou dost eat with it unleavened things, bread of affliction; for in haste thou hast come out of the land of Egypt; so that thou dost remember the day of thy coming out of the land of Egypt all days of thy life; and there is not seen with thee leaven in all thy border seven days, and there doth not remain of the flesh which thou dost sacrifice at evening on the first day till morning. `Thou art not able to sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, except at the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle -- there thou dost sacrifice the passover in the evening, at the going in of the sun, the season of thy coming out of Egypt; and thou hast cooked and eaten in the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix, and hast turned in the morning, and gone to thy tents; six days thou dost eat unleavened things, and on the seventh day `is' a restraint to Jehovah thy God; thou dost do no work.
`Also, the sons of Israel prepare the passover in its appointed season; in the fourteenth day of this month between the evenings ye prepare it in its appointed season; according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances ye prepare it.' And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel to prepare the passover, and they prepare the passover in the first `month', on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses, so have the sons of Israel done. And there are men who have been defiled by the body of a man, and they have not been able to prepare the passover on that day, and they come near before Moses, and before Aaron, on that day, and those men say unto him, `We are defiled by the body of a man; why are we withheld so as not to bring near the offering of Jehovah in its appointed season, in the midst of the sons of Israel?' And Moses saith unto them, `Stand ye, and I hear what Jehovah hath commanded concerning you.' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Though any man is unclean by a body or in a distant journey (of you or of your generations), yet he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah; in the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the evenings they prepare it; with unleavened and bitter things they eat it; they do not leave of till morning; and a bone they do not break in it: according to all the statute of the passover they prepare it. `And the man who is clean, and hath not been on a journey, and hath ceased to prepare the passover, even that person hath been cut off from his people; because the offering of Jehovah he hath not brought near, in its appointed season, that man doth bear his sin. `And when a sojourner sojourneth with you, then he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah, according to the statute of the passover, and according to its ordinance, so he doth; one statute is to you, even to a sojourner, and to a native of the land.'
`Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye come in unto the land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought in the sheaf, the beginning of your harvest unto the priest,
in the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings, `is' the passover to Jehovah; and on the fifteenth day of this month `is' the feast of unleavened things to Jehovah; seven days unleavened things ye do eat; on the first day ye have a holy convocation, ye do no servile work; and ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah seven days; in the seventh day `is' a holy convocation; ye do no servile work.'
`Seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, and in the seventh day `is' a feast to Jehovah; unleavened things are eaten the seven days, and any thing fermented is not seen with thee; yea, leaven is not seen with thee in all thy border.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses and Aaron, `This `is' a statute of the passover; Any son of a stranger doth not eat of it; and any man's servant, the purchase of money, when thou hast circumcised him -- then he doth eat of it; a settler or hired servant doth not eat of it; in one house it is eaten, thou dost not carry out of the house `any' of the flesh without, and a bone ye do not break of it; all the company of Israel do keep it. `And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee, and hath made a passover to Jehovah, every male of his `is' to be circumcised, and then he doth come near to keep it, and he hath been as a native of the land, but any uncircumcised one doth not eat of it; one law is to a native, and to a sojourner who is sojourning in your midst.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 23
Commentary on Exodus 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
Ex 23:1-33. Laws concerning Slander, &c.
1. put not thine hand—join not hands.
2. decline—depart, deviate from the straight path of rectitude.
3. countenance—adorn, embellish—thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.
10. six years thou shalt sow thy land—intermitting the cultivation of the land every seventh year. But it appears that even then there was a spontaneous produce which the poor were permitted freely to gather for their use, and the beasts driven out fed on the remainder, the owners of fields not being allowed to reap or collect the fruits of the vineyard or oliveyard during the course of this sabbatical year. This was a regulation subservient to many excellent purposes; for, besides inculcating the general lesson of dependence on Providence, and of confidence in His faithfulness to His promise respecting the triple increase on the sixth year (Le 25:20, 21), it gave the Israelites a practical proof that they held their properties of the Lord as His tenants, and must conform to His rules on pain of forfeiting the lease of them.
12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest—This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.
13. make no mention of the name of other gods, &c.—that is, in common conversation, for a familiar use of them would tend to lessen horror of idolatry.
14-18. Three times … keep a feast … in the year—This was the institution of the great religious festivals—"The feast of unleavened bread," or the passover—"the feast of harvest," or pentecost—"the feast of ingathering," or the feast of tabernacles, which was a memorial of the dwelling in booths in the wilderness, and which was observed in the seventh month (Ex 12:2). All the males were enjoined to repair to the tabernacle and afterwards the temple, and the women frequently went. The institution of this national custom was of the greatest importance in many ways: by keeping up a national sense of religion and a public uniformity in worship, by creating a bond of unity, and also by promoting internal commerce among the people. Though the absence of all the males at these three festivals left the country defenseless, a special promise was given of divine protection, and no incursion of enemies was ever permitted to happen on those occasions.
19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk—A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season. [See on De 14:21].
20-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way—The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.
21. my name is in him—This angel is frequently called Jehovah and Elohim, that is, God.
28. I will send hornets before thee, &c. (See on Jos 24:12)—Some instrument of divine judgment, but variously interpreted: as hornets in a literal sense [Bochart]; as a pestilential disease [Rosenmuller]; as a terror of the Lord, an extraordinary dejection [Junius].
29, 30. I will not drive … out … in one year; lest the land become desolate—Many reasons recommend a gradual extirpation of the former inhabitants of Canaan. But only one is here specified—the danger lest, in the unoccupied grounds, wild beasts should inconveniently multiply; a clear proof that the promised land was more than sufficient to contain the actual population of the Israelites.