PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Exodus
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 275,869 words · 607 reading sections
Exodus 20:2
Exodus 20:2 Ver. 2. I am the Lord thy God,.... This verse does not contain the first of these commands, but is a preface to them, showing that God had a right to enact and enjoin the people of Israel laws; and that they were under obligation to attend unto them with reverence, and cheerfully obey them, since he was th…
291 wordsSECTION 302Exodus 20:3
Exodus 20:3 Ver. 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. This is the first command, and is opposed to the polytheism of the Gentiles, the Egyptians, from whom Israel was just come, and whose gods some of them might have had a favourable opinion of and liking to, and had committed idolatry with; and the Canaanites,…
587 wordsSECTION 303Exodus 20:4
Exodus 20:4 Ver. 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,.... An image of anything graven by art or man's device, cut out of wood of stone, and so anything that was molten, or cast into a mould or form, engraved by men, and this in order to be worshipped; for otherwise images of things might be made for othe…
408 wordsSECTION 304Exodus 20:5
Exodus 20:5 Ver. 5. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them,.... Perform any worship to them, show any reverence of them by any gesture of the body; one being mentioned, bowing the body, and put for all others, as prostration of it to the earth, bending the knee, kissing the hand, lifting up of hands or eyes to them, …
539 wordsSECTION 305Exodus 20:6
Exodus 20:6 Ver. 6. And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,.... And show their love by worshipping God, and him only, by serving him acceptably with reverence and godly fear, by a cheerful obedience to all his commands, by all religious exercises, both internal and external, as follows: and keep my com…
203 wordsSECTION 306Exodus 20:7
Exodus 20:7 Ver. 7. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain,.... Make use of the name Lord or God, or any other name and epithet of the divine Being, in a light and trifling way, without any show of reverence of him, and affection to him; whereas the name of God ought never to be mentioned but in a grave …
364 wordsSECTION 307Exodus 20:8
Exodus 20:8 Ver. 8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. By abstaining from all servile work and business, and from all pleasures and recreations lawful on other days, and by spending it in religious exercises, both internal and external. This the Israelites are bid to "remember", by observing it in such a manne…
206 wordsSECTION 308Exodus 20:9
Exodus 20:9 Ver. 9. Six days shalt thou labour,.... This is not to be taken for a precept, but a permission; not as a command enjoining men to work and labour with their hands, to provide for themselves and families things useful and necessary, and honest in the sight of God; but as a grant and allowance of so many da…
267 wordsSECTION 309Exodus 20:10
Exodus 20:10 Ver. 10. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God,.... Not which he rested on, and ceased from the works of creation in, though he did rest on the seventh day of the creation, and so on every other day since, as well as that; nor does it appear, nor can it be proved, that this day appointed …
1,012 wordsSECTION 310Exodus 20:11
Exodus 20:11 Ver. 11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, &c] And of which six days, and of the several things made in each of them, see the notes on the first chapter of Genesis: and resteth the seventh day: which does not suppose labour, attended with weariness and fati…
534 wordsSECTION 311Exodus 20:12
Exodus 20:12 Ver. 12. Honour thy father and thy mother, &c] Which is the fifth commandment of the decalogue, but is the first commandment with promise, as the apostle says, Eph 6:2 and is the first of the second table: this, though it may be extended to all ancestors in the ascending line, as father's father and mothe…
464 wordsSECTION 312Exodus 20:13
Exodus 20:13 Ver. 13. Thou shalt not kill. Not meaning any sort of creatures, for there are some to be killed for the food and nourishment of men, and others for their safety and preservation; but rational creatures, men, women, and children, any of the human species, of every age, sex, condition, or nation; no man ha…
289 wordsSECTION 313Exodus 20:14
Exodus 20:14 Ver. 14. Thou shall not commit adultery,] Which, strictly speaking, is only that sin which is committed with another man's wife, as Jarchi observes; but Aben Ezra thinks the word here used signifies the same as another more commonly used for whoredom and fornication; and no doubt but fornication is here i…
180 wordsSECTION 314Exodus 20:15
Exodus 20:15 Ver. 15. Thou shall not steal. Which is to take away another man's property by force or fraud, without the knowledge, and against the will of the owner thereof. Thefts are of various kinds; there is private theft, picking of pockets, shoplifting, burglary, or breaking into houses in the night, and carryin…
341 wordsSECTION 315Exodus 20:16
Exodus 20:16 Ver. 16. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither publicly in a court of judicature, by laying things to his charge that are false, and swearing to them, to his hurt and damage; nor privately, by whispering, tale bearing, backbiting, slandering, by telling lies of him, traducing hi…
237 wordsSECTION 316Exodus 20:17
Exodus 20:17 Ver. 17. Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house,.... This is the tenth and last commandment, and is an explanation of several of the past; showing that the law of God not only forbids external acts of sin, but the inward and first motions of the mind to it, which are not known, and would not be though…
426 wordsSECTION 317Exodus 20:18
Exodus 20:18 Ver. 18. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings,.... That is, they heard the one, and saw the other; they heard the dreadful volleys of thunder, and saw the amazing flashes of lightning, which were like lamps and torches, as the word used signifies; by a communication of senses, one se…
344 wordsSECTION 318Exodus 20:19
Exodus 20:19 Ver. 19. And they said unto Moses,.... Who was now come down from the mountain, and to whom the heads of the tribes and elders of the people came from the camp, and out of their tents, by whom the people said to him, as follows, see De 5:23, speak thou with us, and we will hear; their request is, that wh…
3,083 wordsSECTION 319Exodus 21:1
Exodus 21:1 INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 21 In this, and the two following chapters, are delivered various laws and precepts, partly of a moral, and partly of a religious, but chiefly of a civil nature, respecting the commonwealth of Israel, and its political good. This chapter treats of servants, and laws relating to them…
527 wordsSECTION 320Exodus 21:2
Exodus 21:2 Ver. 2. If thou buy an Hebrew servant,.... Who sells himself either through poverty, or rather is sold because of his theft, see Ex 22:3 and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, "when ye shall buy for his theft, a servant, a son of an Israelite;'' agreeably to which Aben Ezra observes, this servant …
421 wordsSECTION 321Exodus 21:3
Exodus 21:3 Ver. 3. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself,.... That is, if he came into his servitude "alone", as the Septuagint version has it, he should go out of it in like manner; the word for "by himself", some interpret with "his garment" {f}, or the skirt of one; and then the sense seems to be, t…
365 wordsSECTION 322Exodus 21:4
Exodus 21:4 Ver. 4. If his master have given him a wife,.... One of his slaves, a Canaanitish woman, on purpose to beget slaves on her, since all born in his house were his own; this is supposed to be after he was come into his house, and into his service: and she have born him sons or daughters; as she might have bo…
295 wordsSECTION 323Exodus 21:5
Exodus 21:5 Ver. 5. And if the servant shall plainly say,.... Or, "in saying shall say" {i} shall express himself in plain and full terms, and repeat his words, and abide by them, signifying it as his last will and determined resolution: I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I will not go out free; but cont…
258 wordsSECTION 324Exodus 21:6
Exodus 21:6 Ver. 6. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges,.... To Elohim, to God, to the judgment seat of God, according to the Septuagint; to some person or persons to inquire of God what is to be done in such a case; but this seems needless, since it is here declared: no doubt civil magistrates or judges a…
462 wordsSECTION 325Exodus 21:7
Exodus 21:7 Ver. 7. And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant,.... That is, if an Israelite, as the Targum of Jonathan, sells his little daughter, as the same Targum, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra, one that is under age, that is not arrived to the age of twelve years and a day, and this through poverty; he not …
159 wordsSECTION 326Exodus 21:8
Exodus 21:8 Ver. 8. If she please not her master,.... "Be evil in the eyes of her master" {p}; and he has no liking of her, and love to her, not being agreeable in her person, temper, or conduct, so that he does not choose to make her his wife: who hath betrothed her to him; but not completed the marriage, as he prom…
612 wordsSECTION 327Exodus 21:9
Exodus 21:9 Ver. 9. And if he have betrothed her unto his son,.... Not caring to betroth and marry her himself, as being more suitable in age for his son than for himself; he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters; as if she was his daughter, and give her a dowry: or the son shall treat her after the manne…
104 wordsSECTION 328Exodus 21:10
Exodus 21:10 Ver. 10. If he take him another wife,.... The father takes another wife for his son, or the son takes another wife to himself after he has betrothed and married his father's maidservant: her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish; neither deny it her in whole, nor lessen it in…
233 wordsSECTION 329Exodus 21:11
Exodus 21:11 Ver. 11. And if he do not these three unto her,.... Not the three things last mentioned; though this sense, Aben Ezra says, many of their interpreters give, which is rejected by him, so do some Christian expositors; but these three things are, espousing her to himself, or to his son, or redeeming her by t…
159 wordsSECTION 330Exodus 21:12
Exodus 21:12 Ver. 12. He that smiteth a man, so that he die,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, that smites a man or daughter of Israel with the sword; but there is no need to restrain the words either to persons of any certain nation, nor to any instrument with which a person may be smitten as to die: but any human perso…
118 wordsSECTION 331Exodus 21:13
Exodus 21:13 Ver. 13. And if a man lie not in wait,.... For the life of another to take it away; or does not do it willingly, as the Septuagint version, does not seek after it, nor design it: but God delivers him into his hand; it being suffered and ordered by the providence of God, without whose knowledge and will n…
233 wordsSECTION 332Exodus 21:14
Exodus 21:14 Ver. 14. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile,.... That comes with malice in his heart, with wrath in his countenance, in a bold, daring, hostile manner, using all the art, cunning, and contrivance he can, to take away the life of his neighbour; no asylum, no refuge,…
259 wordsSECTION 333Exodus 21:15
Exodus 21:15 Ver. 15. And he that smiteth his father or his mother,.... With his fist, or with a stick, or cane, or such thing, though they died not with the blow, yet it occasioned any wound, or caused a bruise, or the part smitten black and blue, or left any print of the blow; for, as Jarchi says, the party was not …
165 wordsSECTION 334Exodus 21:16
Exodus 21:16 Ver. 16. And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him,.... One of the children of Israel, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so the Septuagint version: but though this law was given to the Israelites primarily, yet was made for men stealers in general, as the apostle observes, who plainly has refe…
133 wordsSECTION 335Exodus 21:17
Exodus 21:17 Ver. 17. And he that curseth his father, or his mother,.... Though he does not smite them with his hand, or with any instrument in it, yet if he smites them with his tongue, reviles and reproaches them, speaks evil of them, wishes dreadful imprecations upon them, curses them by the name explained, as the …
5,386 wordsSECTION 336Exodus 22:1
Exodus 22:1 INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 22 This chapter contains various laws concerning theft, Ex 22:1, concerning damage done to fields and vineyards by beasts, and to corn in stacks or standing, by fire, Ex 22:5, concerning anything or creature deposited in the hands of a neighbour, and they be stolen or lost by one me…
595 wordsSECTION 337Exodus 22:2
Exodus 22:2 Ver. 2. If a thief be found breaking up,.... An house, in order to steal money, jewels, household goods, &c. or breaking through any fence, hedge, or wall of any enclosure, where oxen, or sheep, or any other creatures are, in order to take them away: the Targum of Jonathan is, "if in the hole of a wall (o…
416 wordsSECTION 338Exodus 22:3
Exodus 22:3 Ver. 3. If the sun be risen upon him,.... Either upon the thief, or upon the master of the house, or the person that finds the thief and smites him that he dies; it matters not which it is interpreted, it is true of both, for when it is risen on the one, it is on the other: [there shall be] blood [shed] f…
596 wordsSECTION 339Exodus 22:4
Exodus 22:4 Ver. 4. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive,.... Or, "in finding be found" {i}, be plainly and evidently found upon him, before witnesses, as the Targum of Jonathan; so that there is no doubt of the theft; and it is a clear case that he had neither as yet killed nor sold the creature he had s…
276 wordsSECTION 340Exodus 22:5
Exodus 22:5 Ver. 5. If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten,.... Which is not his own, by putting cattle into it to feed upon it, as it is explained in the next clause: and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; do damage in one or both those two ways, either by his feet treading …
223 wordsSECTION 341Exodus 22:6
Exodus 22:6 Ver. 6. If fire break out,.... Even though of itself, as Jarchi interprets it: and catch in thorns a thorn hedge or fence, with which cornfields might be en closed: so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed [therewith]; whether it be corn cut down, bound up in sheaves, a…
447 wordsSECTION 342Exodus 22:7
Exodus 22:7 Ver. 7. If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stock to keep,.... Without any reward for keeping it, as the Targum of Jonathan; and so other Jewish writers {p} understand this passage of such as keep a deposit freely, having nothing for it; whether it be money or goods, gold, silver, jewels, ra…
299 wordsSECTION 343Exodus 22:8
Exodus 22:8 Ver. 8. If the thief be not found,.... And so no account can be given of the goods deposited, what is become of them, and it becomes a doubtful case whether they have been stolen or embezzled, and there is suspicion of the latter: then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges: here called …
203 wordsSECTION 344Exodus 22:9
Exodus 22:9 Ver. 9. For all manner of trespass,.... With respect to what is committed to a man's trust, and it is lost to the owner of it, there must be somewhere or other a trespass committed, either by the person into whose hands it was put, or by a thief that has stolen it from him: whether it be for ox, for ass, …
392 wordsSECTION 345Exodus 22:10
Exodus 22:10 Ver. 10. If a man deliver to his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep,.... And he keeps it without a reward, as the Targum of Jonathan; but Jarchi and Aben Ezra more rightly interpret this of one that keeps for hire, as herdsmen, shepherds, &c. The Jews say {t} there are "four sor…
306 wordsSECTION 346Exodus 22:11
Exodus 22:11 Ver. 11. Then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both,.... Either by the one, the keeper, for the satisfaction of the owner, or by them both; by the owner, that he delivered such and such cattle to the keeper; and by the keeper, that he was no ways concerned in the death, hurt, or carrying off of t…
438 wordsSECTION 347Exodus 22:12
Exodus 22:12 Ver. 12. And if it be stolen from him,.... Or "but if" {x} it was taken away by theft; and that "from with him" {y}, as it may be literally rendered, from among his own cattle, and they not taken; and he being present, pretending to have an eye upon them and keep them, but was careless and negligent, at l…
5,538 wordsSECTION 348Exodus 23:1
Exodus 23:1 INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23 This chapter contains several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature, without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Ex 23:1, concerning doing good …
680 wordsSECTION 349Exodus 23:2
Exodus 23:2 Ver. 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil,.... The Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan add, but to do good. As in private life, the examples of the many, who are generally the most wicked, are not to be followed, though they too often are; examples, and especially of the multitude, having great in…
479 wordsSECTION 350Exodus 23:3
Exodus 23:3 Ver. 3. Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Because he is a poor man, and for that reason endeavour to carry his cause for him, right or wrong, from a foolish pity to him as a poor man, and from an affectation of gaining the applause of people on that account; or "thou shalt not honour"…
199 wordsSECTION 351Exodus 23:4
Exodus 23:4 Ver. 4. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray,.... Or any other beast, as the Samaritan version adds; for these are only mentioned for instances, as being more common, and creatures subject to go astray; now when such as these are met going astray, so as to be in danger of being lost to the…
177 wordsSECTION 352Exodus 23:5
Exodus 23:5 Ver. 5. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden,.... Fallen down, and such a burden upon him that he cannot rise up again, but lies under it, and the owner of it is not able of himself to raise it up again: and wouldst forbear to help him; show an inclination to pass on without …
332 wordsSECTION 353Exodus 23:6
Exodus 23:6 Ver. 6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. As the poor man was not to be favoured when his cause was bad through an affected pity for him as a poor man, so his judgment was not to be wrested or perverted, when his cause was good, because of his poverty; which is too often the case,…
144 wordsSECTION 354Exodus 23:7
Exodus 23:7 Ver. 7. Keep thee far from a false matter,.... Or "word" {z}; from receiving a false testimony, or taking the false or wrong side of a cause, or engaging in a bad one; keep aloof off from it, as much at a distance from it as possible: and the innocent and the righteous slay thou not; that is, do not conde…
265 wordsSECTION 355Exodus 23:8
Exodus 23:8 Ver. 8. And thou shalt take no gift,.... Of the persons whose cause is to be tried in a court of judicature before judges; neither of those on the one side nor on the other, neither before the trial nor after, neither by words, by a promise, nor by facts, by actually receiving money; and not even to judge …
230 wordsSECTION 356Exodus 23:9
Exodus 23:9 Ver. 9. Also thou shall not oppress a stranger,.... As these were not to be vexed and oppressed in a private manner and by private men, see Ex 22:21 so neither in a public manner, and in a public court of judicature, or by judges on the bench when their cause was before them, by not doing them justice, sho…
241 wordsSECTION 357Exodus 23:10
Exodus 23:10 Ver. 10. And six years thou shall sow thy land, The land of Canaan, given to their ancestors and to them, and which they were now going to inherit; and when they came into it they were to plant it with vines and olives; or rather, these being ready planted, they were to prune and dress them; and they were…
125 wordsSECTION 358Exodus 23:11
Exodus 23:11 Ver. 11. But the seventh year thou shall let it rest, and lie still,.... From tillage, and make its fruits common, as the Targum of Jonathan; the note of Jarchi is, "let it rest", from perfect tillage, as ploughing and sowing; "and lie still", from dunging and harrowing, or weeding: this law was intended …
371 wordsSECTION 359Exodus 23:12
Exodus 23:12 Ver. 12. Six days thou shalt do thy work,.... That is, they might do what work they would on the six days of the week: and on the seventh day thou shall rest; from all the work and labour done on other days, and give up themselves to religious exercises: that thine ox and thine ass may rest; and so ever…
153 wordsSECTION 360Exodus 23:13
Exodus 23:13 Ver. 13. And in all [things] that I have said unto you, be circumspect,.... Or observe them, be careful to keep them punctually and constantly, even all that are delivered in this and the preceding chapters: and make no mention of the name of other gods; neither call upon them, nor swear by them, nor mak…
136 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.