EXODUS II, 24 J : N]bU and their cry came up unto God by reason -pAtrFi?ltt'n|{ of the bondage. 24. And God heard their 'ns b'nb$ tr'r:Tb$ ryp:l t,r?Ilil24 groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with fsaac, and E,Jbr-t x::l lIPlr.n},(l t)iryn$ ErTl?I-rn$ fi,1! n: with Jacob. 25. And God saw the children .lE'Fb$ of Israel, and God took cognizance of ry,:.,r D p::: b5'tpl 1[9g1. *iv. l)?-n$ 3 Cnaprnn III CAp.[f. J J 1. Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of )!11:1 ?^llD llfF 1l!: I$T'n$ ,$i ,T,? ,TpE! x Midian; Fi and he led the flock to the farthest .1Fsps,:-rr6 end of the wilderness, and came to the t,1?:h n',Jbs? :r+r x?:l -lp.TB,l mountain of God, unto Horeb. 2. And the angel of the LonD appeared unto him !(l:l ,Tp,l ul$'nlbr r?* :r*?B Nl:i z in a flame of fire out of the midst of a Tnn ryn: bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the ,.u,n'lDx:l lbp{ wt$? ipn ruil! 3 bush.I was !l}t,llP,ll T! not consumed. 3. And Moses said: will 'I$ p:ntr turn aside now, and see this great sight, \- ,Tn b'ranLr- ,TN'1D,TnN)...3----'., ,'rx'rxt'-.,i i1.;i -Jt'x]-,.]-lB!{ 'iTT-r' why the bush is not burnt.' 4. And when -F the LonD saw that he turned aside to see, r'?x q,::: nr$:b 'p nFl xt:l r;T?,1 -'rp?: + ll:n: v. l. 'J many days. Rabbinic tradition assigns ^ _23. to the forthest end of the wtlderness. Betund or 40 years to the period spent by Moses in exile beyond the wilderness, as the scanty shrubs in the from Egypt. wilderness itself were insufficient for the flock. -the king of Eyypt dted. Probably Rameses II, 'The solemn solitude of the dreary desert was to yho reigned 67 years. The Israeiites evidently prepare his mind for the sublime commission for hoped -that his successor, Merneptah, might which Providence had selected him' (Kalisch). offer them some relief ; but thei were Ais- mountain of God. So called because the Glory appointed. The rdgime of ruthless oppression of God was later manifested there. The spot towards Israel would. now become the sttatus quo. chosen by God to announce the physical redemp- fF.V realize the hopelessness of their bondage. tion of Israel was also chosen by Him as the Therefore, 'they cried unto God.' place of their spiritual redemption. Horeb. Horeb is the mountain and district, 24. remembered His covenant. Not that He Sinai the summit itself; or, the two names refer forgotten but peaks !,u4 it, that now the opportunity- to two of the same mountain range, which had come for the fulfilment of Hii merciful some identify with Jebel Musa (7,636 feet), others purposes. with Mount Serbal (6,734 feet), in the Sinai Peninsula. The aridity and dryness of this 25. took cogntzance of them. God did not close region have been much exaggerated. In the His eyes to their suffering (Rashi), but He chose highest region, fertile valleys are found, with His own time when to send deliverance and cause fruit trees and water in plenty. Israel to go forth from Egypt. See also Additional Note B, 'Israel and Egypt: the Spiritual Contrast,' 2, angel of the LIRD. The angel in Scripture p. 396. is not to be identified with God. The angel is the messenger of God and speaks in His name, and is often called by the Name of Hirn who sent him (see v. 4). The speech and action are the work Cnaprrns III ANrD IV. Trrs Cart, oF Mosus of the angel, but the thought or will is God's. tn aflame of 1. keeping the God never gives an fire. Or,'in the heart of the fire'; flock. i.e. in the midst (Maimonides). exalted office to a man unless He has first tested of fire him in small things, say the Rabbis. When feed- bush. t.e. the thorn-bush, the wild acacia, which is the characteristic ing the flocks of Jethro, they tell us, Moses saw a shrub of that region. wos not consumed. The little lamb escape from the flock, and when he burning bush has often followed it, he overtook it at a brook quenching been taken as a symbol of Israel-small and lowly its thirst. 'Had I known that thou wast thirsty, among the nations, and yet indestructible; I would have taken thee in my arms and carried because of the Divine Spirit that dwelleth within fsrael. thee thither,' he said. 'As thou livest,' a I{eavenly Voice resounded, 'thou art fit to shepherd Israel' 4, God called unto htm. t.e. the angel of God, (Midrash). mentioned in y. 2. The angel is here spoken of as 213 EXODUS IU, 5 J NIDU' God called unto him out of the midst of Ir),t,: raxll ,IPb ,rpD tDlrll ,tip,: tr1ibs the bush, and said: 'Moses, Moses.' And T{rn he said: 'ffere am I.' 5. And He said: n 'Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes nrr:pn.P T?ilbpn t'?B*p u?a ::r?n*x-ras from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.' 6. Moreover l;I|s-ext rxlil U]i?'npls r?p'Bte i,lx rp$ 6 He said: 'I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 3P$: tril:?$'i:bx and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid Fbry r:[ry: 'Fb$ T]$ tj>x his face; for he was afraid to look upon rFn:l lD.'Fbx,*r 1';F 7 God. 7. And the Lono said: 'f have surely b'p,lp xll? hpr:.]F?:r seen the affiiction of My people that are -nil .pP in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason E::}+FP ']P$ ?+?-n$ 'n.$l ;1s1 ,:lr of their taskmasters ; for I know their pains; 8. and I am come down to deliver rr?x?D'n|{ p ]'gril l)pF'bPDp D[pp,s them out of the hands of the Egyptians, 'FpI and bring to them up out of that land hnn hbl,lh tr:'lTa rr?'xn? 'rix; 8 unto a good land and a large, unto a land FlSfiF TF flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, *6 u^?T:?ry ryi nS+$,r?FT ,'r?rb IfX*X and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and .i-ra,:1 .nnJJ l;+?n the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9. And now, l,FtrliTl ilF,n "1i:5r'1 nEa behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen -n$in.*1nl,i n$p bS:'V:ll? npIS ,ltil ,-r$pl g the oppression wherewith the Egyptians '^?x oppress them. 10. Come now therefore, ;rnbrfNt E -t'ox r \J-3fr 3 13 ,'tIbtt ,lli91Jr-3 lEnI{rr J,-atBrh Dr'rgtr.L-:. Jr. rrlb,'r| --- intl\: Ptol x): nurn ilL'/B v.4. God,, because he represents the Almighty (Ibn 7. My people. This is the first time Israel is so Ezta). called: God had made their cause His own. Moses, Moses. God here addresses Moses by '9o4 alrylVs takes the side of the persecuted,' say his rrame. 'The repetition of the name is an the Rabbis. expression of affection intended to encourage heard thetr cry. See r, 23-25. The cry of him' (Mechilta); cf. Abraham, Abraham, in the Israelites was the cry of human beings who Gen. xxrr, 11 ; and Jacob, Jacob, in Gen. xlvr, ryere being, inhumanly treated, a cry of despair 2. God's choice is never groundless or arbitrary. that ascends to_the very throne of tlie Almighty. Moses' waffn heart for his brethren, and his _for I know thetr pains. Better, tndeed, I Eniw burning indignation against all injustice, made tlrcir sorrows. him worthy of God's love and choice. 5. holy ground. Every spot where God B. I am come down. A similar human way of manifests Himself is holy ground. speaking of the Divine (anthropomorphism) occurs in xu<, I 1. 6. thy fother. i.e. thy fathers; the word is here flowirlS with milk and honey. A proverbial used collectively (Onkelos), and is explained by gxpression, g_ft.L upplied to Can aan, see )crr , 5 ; the words, 'the Gcd of Abraham, Isaac and Num. Xil, 2'7, The descripticn of the promised Jacob'; see xv, 2. The Midrash, however, refers Land is here required, because Moses does not the word 'father' to Amram, the father of know it from personal obsen,ation. Moses. It was with his father's voice that the the canaanite. The general name for all the angel of God addressed him, 'I am the God of thy peoples inhabiting ancient Palestine. originally father, i.e. the God of whom thy father spake, Canaan, meani\g_the f .ow,land, was applied only the unchangeable God of eternity, who is now to the coast of Phanicia and the tand of tG about to fufil the promise given to Israel's Philistines; see Gen. x, 6. ancestors.' tke Hittite. A pou,erful and wariike nation hid hts face, Or, 'covered his face' (Jerusalem whose seat was Asia Minor; an offshoot of this Targum) in reverence (cf.