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An account of the forty-two

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d 3 And they departed from | in the wilderness of Etham, and An. Exod. Isr. 1. Rameses in the first month, on pitched in Marah. Abib or Nisan. the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: h upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

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Abib or Nisan.

9 And they removed from Marah, and "came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and three score and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea.

11 And they removed from the

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5 And the children of Israel removed from Red Sea, and encamped in the An. Exod. Isr. 1. wilderness of Sin. Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

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8 And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey

d Exod. xii. 37.- - Exod. xii. 2; xiii. 4. f Exod. xiv. 8. Exod. xii. 29. h Exod. xii. 12; xviii. 11; Isa. xix. 1; Rev. xii. 8. i Exod. xii. 37.- k Exod. xiii. 20.

And Mr. Bromley, in his Way to the Sabbath of Rest, considers each name and place as descriptive of the spiritual state through which a soul passes in its way to the kingdom of God. But in cases of this kind fancy has much more to do than judgment.

Verse 3. From Rameses] This appears to have been the metropolis of the land of Goshen, and the place of rendezvous whence the whole Israelitish nation set out on their journey to the promised land; and is supposed to be the same as Cairo. See the notes on Exod. xii. 37.

HERE FOLLOW THE FORTY-TWO STATIONS.

STATION I. Verse 5. And pitched in SuccoтH.] This name signifies booths or tents, and probably refers to no town or village, but simply designates the place where they pitched their tents for the first time after their departure from Rameses.

STAT. II. Verse 6. ETHAM, which is in the edge of the wilderness.] This place is not well known; Dr. Shaw supposes it to have been one mile from Cairo. Calmet thinks it is the city of Buthum mentioned by Herodotus, which he places in Arabia, on the frontiers of Egypt.

STAT. III. Verse 7. PI-HAHIROTH] See on Exod. xiv. 1. Baal-zephon Calmet supposes to be the Clysma of the Greeks, and the Kolzum of the Arabians.

STAT. IV. Verse 8. And went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham] Called the wilderness of Shur, Exod. xv. 22.

And pitched in MARAH.] Dr. Shaw supposes this place to be at Sedur, over against the valley of Baideah, on the opposite side of the Red Sea.

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Ijar or Zif.

12 And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. 13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

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14 And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

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STAT. V. Verse 9. And came unto ELIM] A place on the skirts of the deserts of Sin, two leagues from Tor, and nearly thirty, from Corondel, a large bay on the east side of the Red Sea. Dr. Shaw, when he visited this place, found but nine of the twelve wells mentioned in the text, and instead of 70 palm trees, he found upwards of 2,000. See on Exod. xv. 27.

STAT. VI. Verse 10. Encamped by the RED SEA.] It is difficult to assign the place of this encampment, as the Israelites were now on their way to Mount Sinai, which lay considerably to the east of Elim, and consequently farther from the sea than the former station. It might be called by the Red Sea, as the Israelites had it, as the principal object, still in view. This station however is mentioned nowhere else. By the Red Sea we are not to understand a sea, the waters of which are red, or the sand red, or any thing else about or in it red; for nothing of this kind appears. It is called in Hebrew DD' yam suph, which signifies the weedy sea. The Septuagint rendered the original by Oaλaoca epv@pa, and the Vulgate after it by mare rubrum, and the European versions followed these, and, in opposition to etymology and reason, translated it the Red Sea. See the note on Exod. x. 19.

STAT. VII. Verse 11. The wilderness of SIN.] This lies between Elim and Mount Sinai. Dr. Shaw and his companions traversed these plains in nine hours.

STAT. VIII. Verse 12. DоPHKAH.] This place is not mentioned in Exodus, and its situation is not known.

STAT. IX. Verse 13. ALUSH.] Neither is this mentioned in Exodus, and its situation is equally unknown.

STAT. X. Verse 14. REPHIDIM] Remarkable for the

Stations of the children

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Chronology very ›

CHAP. XXXIII.

of Israel continued 16 And they removed from the 26 And they removed from Chronology very desert of Sinai, and pitched at Makheloth, and encamped at Kibroth-hattaavah.

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Tahath.

17 And they departed from 27 And they departed from uncertain after Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamp- Tahath, and pitched at Taed at Hazeroth..

they leave

Kibroth-hattaa

vah, till they come to the

desert of Zin.

18 And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in "Rithmah. 19 And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez.

20 And they departed from Rimmon-parez,

and pitched in Libnah.

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uncertain after they leave Kibroth-hattaavah, till they come to the desert of Zin.

28 And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.

29 And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.

30 And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.

21 And they. removed from Libnah, and 31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched at Rissah.

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pitched in Bene-jaakan.

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rebellion of the Israelites against Moses, because of unknown; though some conjecture that it might have the want of water, Exod. xvii. been the place called Keilah, 1 Sam. xxiii. 1, &c., but this is unlikely.

STAT. XI. Verse 15. The WILDERNESS of SINAI,] Somewhere northward of Mount Sinai, on the straightroad to the promised land, to which they now directed their course..

STAT. XIX. Verse 23. SHAPHER.] mountain lay cannot be determined.

Where this

STAT. XX. Verse 24. HARADAH.] Unknown. Calmet supposes that it may be the place called Bered, Gen. xvi. 14, which was in the vicinity of Kadesh. STAT. XXI. Verse 25. MAKHELOTH.] A name found nowhere else in Scripture.

STAT. XII. Verse 16. KIBROTH-HATTAAVAH.] No city, village, &c., but a place in the open desert, which had its name from the plague that fell upon the Israelites, through their murmuring against God, and their inordinate desire of flesh. See on cháp. xi. But it STAT. XXII. Verse 26. TAHATH.] Unknown. appears that the Israelites had travelled, three days' STAT. XXIII. Verse 27. TARAH.] Also unknown. journey in order to reach this place, chap. x. 33, and STAT. XXIV. Verse 28. MITHCAн.] Calmet concommentators suppose there must have been other sta-jectures that this may be Mocha, a city in Arabia tions which are not laid down here, probably because Petræa. the places were not remarkable.

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STAT. XXV. Verse 29. HASHMONAH.] Supposed by some to be the same as Azmon, chap. xxxiv. 4.. STAT. XXVI. Verse 30. MOSEROTH.] Situation unknown. In Deut. x. 6 it is said that the Israelites took their journey from Beeroth, the wells of the children of Jaakan, to Mosera, and there Aaron died. If so, Mosera, Moseroth, and Hor, must be different names of the same place; or Moseroth, or Mosera, must have been some town or village near Mount Hor, for there Aaron died. See ver. 38.

STAT. XXVII. Verse 31. BENE-JAAKAN.] Unknown. The sons of Jaakan. See the preceding verse.

STAT. XXVIII. Verse 32. HOR-HAGIDGAD.] The hole or pit of Gidgad. Unknown. It was a place perhaps remarkable for some vast pit or cavern, from which it took its name.

STAT. XXIX. Verse 33. JOTBATHAH.] Situation unknown. It is said in Deut. x. 7 to be a land of

STAT. XVIII. Verse 22. KEHELATHAH.] Utterly rivers of waters.
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37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom..

38 And Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was a hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in Mount Hor. 40 And King Arad, the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41 And they departed from Mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonal.

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STAT. XXX. Verse 34. EBRONAH.] Nowhere else mentioned.

STAT. XXXI. Verse 35. EZION-GABER.] Dr. Shaw places this port on the western coast of the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea. It is now called Meenah el Dsahab, or the golden port, by the Arabs; because it was from this place that Solomon sent his ships for gold to Ophir, 1 Kings ix: 26. He supposes it to be about sixty miles distant from Mount Sinai.—Travels, p. 322, 4to. edition.

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STAT. XXXII. Verse 36. ZIN, which is KADESH.] A place remarkable for the death of Miriam the prophetess, and bringing water out of the rock. As this place was on the borders of Edom, the Israelites, being denied permission to pass through their land, which lay on the direct road to the promised land, were obliged to turn to the right to Mount Hor, now called Accaba by the Arabs.

STAT. XXXIII. Verse 37. HOR.] Famous for the death of Aaron. See on chap. xx. Perhaps Moseroth or Mosera, ver. 30, was a village near this mountain. See the note on ver. 30. STAT. XXXIV. Verse 41. ZALMONAH.] Probably in the neighbourhood of the land of Edom. As Dy tselem signifies an image, this place probably had its name from the brazen serpent set up by Moses. See chap. xxi. 5, &c. From the same root the word telesm, corruptly called talisman, which signifies a consecrated image, is derived.

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44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ije-aba- An, Exod. Isr. rim, h in the border of Moab.

40.

45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.

46 And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon* -diblathaim.

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49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto a Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, P. When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy

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* Jer. xlviii. 22; Ezek. vi. 14.—1 Chap. xxi. 20; Deut. xxxii. 49. Chap. xxii. 1. Or, the plains of Shittim.- - Chap. xxv. 1; Josh. ii. 1.—P Deut. vii. 1, 2; ix. 1; Josh. iii. 17.— Exod. xxiii. 24,33; xxxiv. 13; Deut. vii. 2,5; xii. 3; Josh. xi. 12; Judg. ii. 2.

STAT. XXXVI. Verse. 43. ОBOTH.] Mentioned before, chap. xxi. 10.

STAT. XXXVII. Verse 44. IJE-ABARIM.] The heaps of Abarim. See chap. xxi. 11. Situation uncertain. It is called Tim in the following verse. ́As the word signifies heaps or protuberances, it probably means tumuli or small hills near some of the fords of Jordan.

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STAT. XXXVIII. Verse. 45. DIBON-GAD.] posed to be the same as Dibon, chap, xxxii. 34, and to be situated on the brook Arnon.

STAT. XXXIX. Verse 46. ALMON-DIBLATHAIM.] Situation not known. It belonged to the Moabites in the time of the prophet Jeremiah. Jer. xlviii. 22. STAT: XL. Verse 47. Mountains of ABARIM, before NEBO.] The mountain on which Moses died. They came to this place after the overthrow of the Amorites. See chap. xxi.

STAT. XLI. Verse 48. The PLAINS of MOAB.] This was the scene of the transactions between Balaam and Balak; see chapters xxiii., xxiv., XXV.

STAT. XLII. Verse 49. From BETH-JESIMOTH even unto ABEL-SHITTIM] The former of these places fell to the Reubenites, Josh. xiii. 15-20. The Israelites were now come to the edge of Jordan, over against Jericho, where they afterwards passed.

For farther information on the subject of these different encampments, the reader is requested to refer to the extract from Dr. Shaw at the end of the book

STAT. XXXV. Verse 42, PUNON.] A place in of Exodus. Idumea. Nowhere else mentioned.

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Verse 52. Ye shall-destroy all their pictures]

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all their pictures, and destroy all in the place where his lot falleth ; their molten images, and quite according to the tribes of your An. Exod. Isr. pluck down all their high places. fathers ye shall inherit.. 53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein for I have given you the land to possess it.

54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance every man's inheritance shall be

Chap. xxvi. 53, 54, 55. Heb. multiply his inheritance. t Heb. diminish his inheritance.

55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be "pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell..

56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them. u Josh. xxiii. 13; Judg. ii. 3; Psa. cvi. 34, 36; see Exod. xxii. 33; Ezek. xxvní. 24.

Do maskiyotham, from now sachah, to be like, or dwelt, Jer. ii. 6, signified the many troubles and afflicresemble, either pictures, carved work, or embroidery, tions through which we must enter into the kingdom as far as these things were employed to exhibit the of God, Acts xiv, 22. The helps, comforts, and deliabominations of idolatry. Molten images, onverances which God gave unto his people in their distsalmey massechotham, metallic talismanical figures, tresses, are examples of his love and mercy towards made under certain constellations, and supposed in consequence to be possessed of some extraordinary influences and virtues.

Verse 55. Shall be pricks in your eyes] Under these metaphors, the continual mischief that should be done to them, both in soul and body, by these idolaters, is set forth in a very expressive manner. What can be more vexatious than a continual goading of each side, so that the attempt to avoid the one throws the body more forcibly on the other? And what can be more distressing than a continual pricking in the eye, harassing the mind, tormenting the body, and extinguishing the sight?

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his followers; for he comforts them in all their tribu-
lation, that as the sufferings of Christ abound in them,
so their consolation also abounds in Christ, 2 Cor. i. 45.
The punishments which God inflicted upon the disobe-
dient, who perished in the wilderness for their sins,
happened unto them for ensamples, and they are writ-
ten for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the
world are come, 1 Cor. x. 1, 11; Heb. iii. 17, 18, 19,
and iv. 1,2. By the names of their encamping places,
and histories adjoined, it appears how Israel came.
sometimes into straits and troublesome ways, as at Pi-
hahiroth, Exod. xiv. 2, 3, 10, &c.; and at Zalmonah,
Num. ii. 1, 4, &c.; sometimes into large and ample
room, as at the plains of Moab: sometimes to places
| of hunger and thirst, as at Rephidim and Kadesh, Exod.
xvi., xvii.; Num. xx.; sometimes to places of refresh-
ing, as at Elim and Beer, Exod. xv. 27; Num. xxi.
16; sometimes where they had wars, as at Rephidim,
Kadesh, Edrei, Exod. xvii. 8; Num. xxi. 1, 33;
sometimes where they had rest, as at Mount Sinai :
sometimes they went right forward, as from Sinai to
Kadesh-barnea; sometimes they turned backward, as
from Kadesh-barnea to the Red Sea: sometimes they
came to mountains, ās Sinai, Shapher, Hor-Gidgad;
sometimes to valleys, as Tahath, &c.: sometimes to
places of bitterness, as Marah; sometimes, of sweet-

1. It has been usual among pious men to consider these Canaanites remaining in the land, as emblems of indwelling sin; and it must be granted that what those remaining Canaanites were to the people of Israel, who were disobedient to God, such is indwelling sin to all those who will not have the blood of the covenant to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. For a time, while conscience is tender, such persons feel themselves straitened in all their goings, hindered in all their religious services, and distressed beyond measure because of the law-the authority and power of sin, which they find warring in their members: by and by the eye of their mind becomes obscured by the con-ness, as Mithcah. stant piercings of sin, till at last, fatally persuaded that 3. "The SINS which they committed in the wildersin must dwell in them as long as they live, they ac-ness were many and great; as open IDOLATRY by the commodate their minds to their situation, their con- calf, at Horeb, Exod. xxxii., and with Baal-peor, sciences cease to be tender, and they content themselves with expecting redemption where and when it has never been promised, viz., beyond the grave! On the subject of the journeyings of the Israelites, the following observations from old Mr. Ainsworth cannot fail to interest the reader.

2. "The TRAVELS of Israel through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water, Deut. viii. 15, which was a land of deserts, and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man passed through, and where no man

Num. XXV. UNBELIEF, at Kadesh, Num. xiv.; and afterwards PRESUMPTUOUS BOLDNESS in the same place; MURMURING against God sundry times, with tempting of Christ, (as the apostle speaks, 1 Cor. x.) CONTENTION and REBELLION against their governors often ; lusting for flesh to fill their appetite, and loathing manna, the heavenly food; WHOREDOM with the daughters of Moab, and many other provocations; so that this complaint is after made of them, How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Psa. lxxviii. 40, All sorts of persons sinned against God; the multitude of people very often; the

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mixed multitude of strangers among them, Num. xi. The princes, as the ten spies, Dathan, Abiram, &c. The Levites, as Korah and his company; Miriam the prophetess, Num. xii.; Aaron the priest with her, besides his sin at Horeb, Exod. xxxii.; and at the water of Meribah, Num. xx. MOSES also himself at the same place, for which he was excluded from the land of Canaan.

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with a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, continually. He gave them manna from heaven daily. He clave the rock, and gave them water for their thirst. He fed them with quails, when they longed for flesh. He sweetened the bitter waters. He saved them from the sword of their enemies. He delivered them from the fiery serpents and scorpions. Their raiment waxed not old upon them, neither did their foot swell for forty 4. "The PUNISHMENTS laid on them by the Lord years, Deut. viii. 4. He delivered them from the for their disobedience were many. They died by the intended curse of Balaam, and turned it into a blessing, sword of the enemy, as of the Amalekites, Exod. xyii., because he loved them, Num. xxii.; Deut. xxiii. 5. ́ and of the Canaanites, Num. xiv. 45; and some by He came down from Mount Sinai, and spake with the sword of their brethren, Exod. xxxii. Some were them from, heaven, and gave them right judgments and burned with fire, Num. xi, xvi.; some died with true laws, good statutes and commandments, and gave surfeit, Num. xi.; some were swallowed up alive in also his good Spirit to instruct them, Neh. ix. 13, 20. the earth, Num. xvi. ; some were killed with serpents, In the times of his wrath he remembered mercy; his Num. xxi.; many died of the pestilence, Num. xvi. eye spared them from destroying them, neither did he 46, and chap. v. 25; and generally all that genera- make an end of them in the wilderness, Ezek. xx. 17, tion which were first mustered, after their coming out 22. He gave them kingdoms and nations, and they of Egypt, perished, Num. xxvi. 64, 65. God con- possessed the lands of their enemies; and he multisumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror,plied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought Psa. Ixxviii. 33.

5. "Nevertheless, for his name's sake, he magnified his MERCIES unto them and their posterity. He had divided the sea, and led them through on dry land, drówning their enemies, Exod. xiv. He led them

them into the land promised unto their forefathers, Neh.. ix. 22, 23. Now whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope, Rom. xv. 4.". Let him that readeth understand.

The land of Canaan is described, 1, 2. border, 7-9. The east border, 10-12.

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CHAPTER XXXIV.

The south quarter, 3–5. 'The western border, 6. The north This land to be divided by lot among the nine tribes and half, 13; two tribes and half, Reuben and Gad, and the half of Manasseh, having already got their inheritance on the east side of Jordan, 14, 15, Eleazar the priest, and Joshua, to assist in dividing the land, 16, 17; and with them a chief out of every tribe, 18. The names of the twelve chiefs, 19-29.

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Verse 5. The river of Egypt] The eastern branch of the river Nile; or, according to others, a river which is south of the land of the Philistines, and falls into the gulf or bay near Calieh..

Verse 6. Ye shall even have the great sea for a border] The Mediterranean Sea, called here the Great Sea, to distinguish it from the Dead Sea, the Sea of Tiberias, &c., which were only a sort of lakes.

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