14 and the nation also whom they serve I judge, and after this they go out with great substance;
both your flock and your herd take ye, as ye have spoken, and go; then ye have blessed also me.' And the Egyptians are urgent on the people, hasting to send them away out of the land, for they said, `We are all dead;' and the people taketh up its dough before it is fermented, their kneading-troughs `are' bound up in their garments on their shoulder. And the sons of Israel have done according to the word of Moses, and they ask from the Egyptians vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments; and Jehovah hath given the grace of the people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they cause them to ask, and they spoil the Egyptians. And the sons of Israel journey from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, apart from infants; and a great rabble also hath gone up with them, and flock and herd -- very much cattle.
and dost see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry hast heard by the sea of Suph, and dost give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land, for Thou hast known that they have acted proudly against them, and Thou makest to Thee a name as `at' this day. And the sea Thou hast cleaved before them, and they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry land, and their pursuers Thou hast cast into the depths, as a stone, into the strong waters.
And I give to Isaac, Jacob and Esau; and I give to Esau mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his sons have gone down to Egypt. And I send Moses and Aaron, and plague Egypt, as I have done in its midst, and afterwards I have brought you out. And I bring out your fathers from Egypt, and ye go into the sea, and the Egyptians pursue after your fathers, with chariot and with horsemen, to the Red Sea; and they cry unto Jehovah, and He setteth thick darkness between you and the Egyptians, and bringeth on them the sea, and covereth them, and your eyes see that which I have done in Egypt; and ye dwell in a wilderness many days.
and ye have known to-day -- for it is not your sons who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, His greatness, His strong hand, and His stretched-out arm, and His signs, and His doings, which He hath done in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; and that which He hath done to the force of Egypt, to its horses, and to its chariot, when He hath caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow against their faces in their pursuing after them, and Jehovah destroyeth them, unto this day;
thou art not afraid of them; thou dost surely remember that which Jehovah thy God hath done to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt, the great trials which thine eyes have seen, and the signs, and the wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched-out arm, with which Jehovah thy God hath brought thee out; so doth Jehovah thy God to all the peoples of whose presence thou art afraid.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `See, I have given thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother is thy prophet; thou -- thou dost speak all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother doth speak unto Pharaoh, and he hath sent the sons of Israel out of his land. `And I harden the heart of Pharaoh, and have multiplied My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh doth not hearken, and I have put My hand on Egypt, and have brought out My hosts, My people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments; and the Egyptians have known that I `am' Jehovah, in My stretching out My hand against Egypt; and I have brought out the sons of Israel from their midst.' And Moses doth -- Aaron also -- as Jehovah commanded them; so have they done; and Moses `is' a son of eighty years, and Aaron `is' a son of eighty and three years, in their speaking unto Pharaoh. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, `When Pharaoh speaketh unto you, saying, Give for yourselves a wonder; then thou hast said unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast before Pharaoh -- it becometh a monster.' And Moses goeth in -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and they do so as Jehovah hath commanded; and Aaron casteth his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it becometh a monster. And Pharaoh also calleth for wise men, and for sorcerers; and the scribes of Egypt, they also, with their flashings, do so, and they cast down each his rod, and they become monsters, and the rod of Aaron swalloweth their rods; and the heart of Pharaoh is strong, and he hath not hearkened unto them, as Jehovah hath spoken. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `The heart of Pharaoh hath been hard, he hath refused to send the people away;
and also I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians are causing to serve, and I remember My covenant. `Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I `am' Jehovah, and I have brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and have delivered you from their service, and have redeemed you by a stretched-out arm, and by great judgments,
`And I have given the grace of this people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it hath come to pass, when ye go, ye go not empty; and `every' woman hath asked from her neighbour, and from her who is sojourning in her house, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and ye have put `them' on your sons and on your daughters, and have spoiled the Egyptians.'
And Israel journeyeth, and all that he hath, and cometh in to Beer-Sheba, and sacrificeth sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac; and God speaketh to Israel in visions of the night, and saith, `Jacob, Jacob;' and he saith, `Here `am' I.' And He saith, `I `am' God, God of thy father, be not afraid of going down to Egypt, for for a great nation I set thee there; I -- I go down with thee to Egypt, and I -- I also certainly bring thee up, and Joseph doth put his hand on thine eyes.' And Jacob riseth from Beer-Sheba, and the sons of Israel bear away Jacob their father, And their infants, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharaoh hath sent to bear him, and they take their cattle, and their goods which they have acquired in the land of Canaan, and come into Egypt -- Jacob, and all his seed with him, his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, yea, all his seed he brought with him into Egypt. And these `are' the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt: Jacob and his sons, Jacob's first-born, Reuben. And sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. And sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul son of the Canaanitess. And sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah, (and Er and Onan die in the land of Canaan.) And sons of Pharez are Hezron and Hamul. And sons of Issachar: Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron. And sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. These `are' sons of Leah whom she bare to Jacob in Padan-Aram, and Dinah his daughter; all the persons of his sons and his daughters `are' thirty and three. And sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. And sons of Asher: Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. These `are' sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she beareth these to Jacob -- sixteen persons. Sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. And born to Joseph in the land of Egypt (whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, hath borne to him) `are' Manasseh and Ephraim. And sons of Benjamin: Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. These `are' sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the persons `are' fourteen. And sons of Dan: Hushim. And sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. These `are' sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and she beareth these to Jacob -- all the persons `are' seven. All the persons who are coming to Jacob to Egypt, coming out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob's sons, all the persons `are' sixty and six. And the sons of Joseph who have been born to him in Egypt `are' two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who are coming into Egypt `are' seventy. And Judah he hath sent before him unto Joseph, to direct before him to Goshen, and they come into the land of Goshen; and Joseph harnesseth his chariot, and goeth up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and appeareth unto him, and falleth on his neck, and weepeth on his neck again; and Israel saith unto Joseph, `Let me die this time, after my seeing thy face, for thou `art' yet alive.' And Joseph saith unto his brethren, and unto the house of his father, `I go up, and declare to Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and the house of my father who `are' in the land of Canaan have come in unto me; and the men `are' feeders of a flock, for they have been men of cattle; and their flock, and their herd, and all that they have, they have brought.' `And it hath come to pass when Pharaoh calleth for you, and hath said, What `are' your works? that ye have said, Thy servants have been men of cattle from our youth, even until now, both we and our fathers, -- in order that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for the abomination of the Egyptians is every one feeding a flock.'
They have set among them the matters of His signs, And wonders in the land of Ham. He hath sent darkness, and it is dark, And they have not provoked His word. He hath turned their waters to blood, And putteth to death their fish. Teemed hath their land `with' frogs, In the inner chambers of their kings. He hath said, and the beetle cometh, Lice into all their border. He hath made their showers hail, A flaming fire `is' in their land. And He smiteth their vine and their fig, And shivereth the trees of their border. He hath said, and the locust cometh, And the cankerworm -- innumerable, And it consumeth every herb in their land, And it consumeth the fruit of their ground. And He smiteth every first-born in their land, The first-fruit of all their strength, And bringeth them out with silver and gold, And there is not in its tribes a feeble one.
When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan, And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not. He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them, And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust. He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost, And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames. He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress -- A discharge of evil messengers. He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up. And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 15
Commentary on Genesis 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
Ge 15:1-21. Divine Encouragement.
1. After these things—the conquest of the invading kings.
the word of the Lord—a phrase used, when connected with a vision, to denote a prophetic message.
Fear not, Abram—When the excitement of the enterprise was over, he had become a prey to despondency and terror at the probable revenge that might be meditated against him. To dispel his fear, he was favored with this gracious announcement. Having such a promise, how well did it become him (and all God's people who have the same promise) to dismiss fears, and cast all burdens on the Lord (Ps 27:3).
2. Lord God, what wilt thou give?—To his mind the declaration, "I am thy exceeding great reward" [Ge 15:1], had but one meaning, or was viewed but in one particular light, as bearing on the fulfilment of the promise, and he was still experiencing the sickness of hope deferred.
3. Eliezer of Damascus … one born in my house is mine heir—According to the usage of nomadic tribes, his chief confidential servant, would be heir to his possessions and honors. But this man could have become his son only by adoption; and how sadly would that have come short of the parental hopes he had been encouraged to entertain! His language betrayed a latent spirit of fretfulness or perhaps a temporary failure in the very virtue for which he is so renowned—and absolute submission to God's time, as well as way, of accomplishing His promise.
4. This shall not be thine heir—To the first part of his address no reply was given; but having renewed it in a spirit of more becoming submission, "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it" [Ge 15:8], he was delighted by a most explicit promise of Canaan, which was immediately confirmed by a remarkable ceremony.
9-21. Take me an heifer, &c.—On occasions of great importance, when two or more parties join in a compact, they either observe precisely the same rites as Abram did, or, where they do not, they invoke the lamp as their witness. According to these ideas, which have been from time immemorial engraven on the minds of Eastern people, the Lord Himself condescended to enter into covenant with Abram. The patriarch did not pass between the sacrifice and the reason was that in this transaction he was bound to nothing. He asked a sign, and God was pleased to give him a sign, by which, according to Eastern ideas, He bound Himself. In like manner God has entered into covenant with us; and in the glory of the only-begotten Son, who passed through between God and us, all who believe have, like Abram, a sign or pledge in the gift of the Spirit, whereby they may know that they shall inherit the heavenly Canaan.