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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 19:1-8

Here is, I. The date of that great charter by which Israel was incorporated. 1. The time when it bears date (Exod. 19:1)--in the third month after they came out of Egypt. It is computed that the law was given just fifty days after their coming out of Egypt, in remembrance of which the feast of Pentecost was observed the fiftieth day after the passover, and in compliance with which the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles at the feast of pentecost, fifty days after the death of Christ. In... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:1

In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt ,.... Which was the month Sivan, and answers to part of May and part of June: the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai ; which had its name from the mountain situated in it, and that from the bushes which grew upon it. Justin F26 E Trogo, l. 36. c. 2. calls it Synan, which he says Moses occupied, and Strabo F1 Geograph. l. 16. p. 520. , Sinnan. Hither they came either on the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:2

For they were departed from Rephidim ,.... After they had fought with Amalek, and came to the western part of the mount to Horeb, where the rock was smitten for them; and they were come from that now, and encamped at Sinai, after Jethro had paid a visit to Moses: and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in this wilderness ; that is, of Sinai, as in the preceding verse: and there Israel encamped before the mount ; Mount Sinai, from whence the desert or wilderness was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:3

And Moses went up unto God ,.... Who was in the pillar of cloud upon the top of the mount; this was on the second day, according to the Targum of Jonathan: "the Lord called unto him out of the mountain"; or had called unto him, as Aben Ezra, since without his leave he could not have gone up. He called to him out of the cloud upon the top of the mountain to come up, and being come near him, he called to him, and spoke with an articulate voice, as follows: saying, thus shalt thou say, to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:4

Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians ,.... The plagues he brought upon them in Egypt, and the destruction of them at the Red sea; these things they were eyewitnesses of, and needed no other proof or evidence to convince and assure them of them, and therefore must be under obligation to attend to what he was about to recommend unto them, for which reason this is observed: and how I bare you on eagles' wings ; that is, as on eagles' wings, the note of similitude being wanting, but to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:5

Now therefore ,.... Since they had received such marks of his favour, and were laid under great obligations to him: if ye will obey my voice indeed ; truly, sincerely, and heartily; or "in hearkening hearken", or "in obeying obey" F7 שמוע תשמעו "obediendo obedieritis", Pagninus, Montanus; "audiendo audiveritis", Drusius; "auscultando auscultabitis", Piscator; so Ainsworth. ; that is, closely and attentively hearken to what he should say to them, and thoroughly and constantly... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:6

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests ,.... Instead of being in a state of servitude and bondage, as they had been in Egypt, they should be erected into a kingdom, become a body politic, a free state, a commonwealth governed by its own laws, and those laws of God's making; yea, they should be a kingdom to him, and he be more immediately the king of them, as he was not of others, the government of Israel being a Theocracy; and this kingdom should consist of men that were priests, who... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 19:1

In the third month - This was called Sivan, and answers to our May. For the Jewish months, years, etc. The same day - There are three opinions concerning the meaning of this place, which are supported by respectable arguments. The same day means the same day of the third month with that, viz., the 15th, on which the Israelites had left Egypt. The same day signifies here a day of the same number with the month to which it is applied, viz., the third day of the third month. By the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 19:3

Moses went up unto God - It is likely that the cloud which had conducted the Israelitish camp had now removed to the top of Sinai; and as this was the symbol of the Divine presence, Moses went up to the place, there to meet the Lord. The Lord called unto him - This, according to St. Stephen, was the Angel of the Lord, Acts 7:38 . And from several scriptures we have seen that the Lord Jesus was the person intended; see Clarke's note on Genesis 16:7 ; see Clarke's note on Genesis... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 19:4

How I bare you on eagles' wings - Mr. Bruce contends that the word נשר nesher does not mean the bird we term eagle; but a bird which the Arabs, from its kind and merciful disposition, call rachama , which is noted for its care of its young, and its carrying them upon its back. See his Travels, vol. vii., pl. 33. It is not unlikely that from this part of the sacred history the heathens borrowed their fable of the eagle being a bird sacred to Jupiter, and which was employed to carry the... read more

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