‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
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Exodus 19:4-6 sits inside this longer paragraph.
In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Parallel Translations
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‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine;
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
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Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Show all 3 translations
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Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself.
Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine;
and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (67)
- Deuteronomy 14:2 (v5) For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on…
- Deuteronomy 7:6 (vv5–6) For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who…
- Deuteronomy 26:18 (v5) Yahweh has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his…
- Revelation 5:10 (v6) and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”
- 1 Peter 2:9 (v6) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
Show all 65 cross-references
- Malachi 3:17 (v5) They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son…
- Exodus 15:26 (v5) He said, “If you will diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to…
- Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (v4) As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.…
- Isaiah 63:9 (v4) In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore…
- 1 Peter 2:5 (v6) You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God…
- Isaiah 40:31 (v4) but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They…
- Deuteronomy 10:14 (v5) Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein.
- Psalms 135:4 (v5) For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession.
- Exodus 23:22 (v5) But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your…
- Deuteronomy 4:20 (v5) But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.
- Exodus 9:29 (v5) Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, and there will…
- Deuteronomy 29:2 (v4) Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his…
- Titus 2:14 (v5) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
- Revelation 1:6 (v6) and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Revelation 12:14 (v4) Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished…
- Deuteronomy 28:9 (v6) Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and…
- Psalms 24:1 (v5) The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it.
- Deuteronomy 5:2 (v5) Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
- Job 41:11 (v5) Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
- Isaiah 62:12 (v6) They will call them “The Holy People, Yahweh’s Redeemed”. You will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken”.
- Deuteronomy 26:19 (v6) He will make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh…
- 1 Corinthians 10:26 (v5) for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”
- Leviticus 11:44-45 (v6) For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of…
- Leviticus 19:2 (v6) “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
- Deuteronomy 4:33-36 (v4) Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or has God tried to go and…
- Deuteronomy 32:8-9 (v5) When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according…
- Jeremiah 31:31-33 (v5) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according…
- Joshua 24:24 (v5) The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
- 1 Samuel 15:22 (v5) Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than…
- 1 Kings 8:53 (v5) For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you…
- Psalms 25:10 (v5) All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
- Psalms 103:17-18 (v5) But Yahweh’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children, to those…
- Isaiah 41:8 (v5) “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,
- Isaiah 43:1 (v5) But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by…
- Daniel 4:34-35 (v5) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High,…
- Romans 12:1 (v6) Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your…
- 1 Corinthians 3:17 (v6) If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
- Hebrews 11:8 (v5) By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing…
- Exodus 24:7 (v5) He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be…
- Leviticus 20:26 (v6) You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
- Deuteronomy 4:9 (v4) Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all…
- Deuteronomy 28:1 (v5) It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you…
- Isaiah 1:19 (v5) If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land;
- Isaiah 61:6 (v6) But you will be called Yahweh’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations. You will boast…
- 1 Peter 1:15-16 (v6) but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for…
- Revelation 20:6 (v6) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God…
- Deuteronomy 33:2-4 (v6) He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At…
- Jeremiah 11:4-7 (v5) which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace,’ saying, ‘Obey my voice,…
- Deuteronomy 14:21 (vv5–6) You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may…
- Leviticus 20:24 (v6) But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am…
- Leviticus 21:7-8 (v6) “ ‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy…
- Leviticus 21:23 (v6) He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am…
- Deuteronomy 11:27 (v5) the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today;
- Psalms 50:11-12 (v5) I know all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is…
- Isaiah 56:4 (v5) For Yahweh says, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant,
- Jeremiah 7:23 (v5) but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that…
- Exodus 7:1-14 (v4) Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I…
- 1 Corinthians 10:28 (v5) But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” don’t eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience.…
- Song of Solomon 8:12 (v5) My own vineyard is before me. The thousand are for you, Solomon, two hundred for those who tend its fruit.
- Jeremiah 10:16 (v5) The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is…
65 distinct cross-references across this passage (67 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 For the Eagle by flying high, is out of…
For the Eagle by flying high, is out of danger, and by carrying her birds rather on her wings than in her talons declareth her love.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto…
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Ver. 4. On eagles’ wings.] The eagle beats her young ones out of their sluggish nest, that they may learn to fly: there was somewhat to do to bring Israel out of Egypt. The eagle carries her young upon her wings - and not between her talons, as other birds do - openly, safely, speedily: so did God his Israel, being choice and chary of them all the way; securing them also from their enemies, who could do them as little harm as any can do the eagle’s young, which cannot be shot but through the body of the old one. {a} Some by eagles here understand Moses and Aaron, who are so called, say they, propter acumen intelligentiae et altitudinem vitae, for the sharpness of their understanding and the loftiness of their lives. {See Trapp on "Deu 32:11"}
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{a} Munster, in Schol. in Deu 32:11, ex R. Solomon.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4–6 i. e. Safely, out of the reach of danger;…
i. e. Safely, out of the reach of danger; and strongly, against all opposition. Compare Deu 32:11; Isa 63:9; Rev 12:14.
Unto myself, into my presence, and favour, and fellowship, to be my peculiar people, to serve and worship me as your only Lord and King.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians,....…
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 be supplied; for it cannot be thought that they were literally bore on eagles' wings; but as that creature is reported to be very affectionate to its young, and careful of it, and, as is said, only to one; for, having more, it will cast away all but one, and reserve that, which it carefully nourishes; and being swift of flight, and strong of wing, it will in a remarkable manner take its young upon it, and safely and swiftly convey it where it pleases; of which See Gill on Deu 32:11. The eagle excels other birds both in its strength and in the size of its body; and especially its pectoral muscles, by which its wings are supported; are very strong, so that it can carry its young, and other things, on its back and wings; and some such thing nature itself seems to have required, as naturalists observe (d); and there are some histories, which, if true, greatly confirm and illustrate this. Aelianus (e) reports of Tilgamus, a Babylonian, and who afterwards was king of Babylon, and who seems to be the Tilgath Pilneser of the Scriptures, king of Assyria, that when a lad, being thrown down from the top of a tower, an eagle, which is a very quick sighted bird, saw him, and, before he came to the ground, flew under him, took him upon its back, and carried him into a garden, and gently let him down. So it is related of Aristomenes (f), that as he was casting headlong into a deep ditch by the Lacedemonians, where they used to throw condemned malefactors, an eagle flew under him, and bore him on its wings, and carried him to the bottom, without any hurt to any part of his body. Jarchi observes, that whereas other birds carry their young between their feet, for fear of those that fly above them, the eagle flying above all others, and so in no fear of them, carries its young upon its wings, judging it better that a dart should pierce that than its young. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words,"and I bore you on clouds, as on eagles' wings;''which covered, and protected, and sustained them, as the eagles' wings do its young; the former adds, from Pelusium, a city in Egypt, supposed by the Targumist to be the same with Rameses; where Jarchi observes the people of Israel were very swiftly gathered together as the place of their rendezvous, and were as safely brought from thence to the place where they now were. Thus the Lord showed an affectionate concern for Israel, took them under his care and protection, stood between them and the Egyptians in a pillar of cloud, and secured them from their arrows, and swiftly and safely removed them from the land of Egypt to the place where they now were, distinguishing them from all other nations, having chosen them to be a special people to himself:
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and brought you unto myself: to the mountain of God, where he had appeared to Moses, and given this as a sign and token of the truth of his mission, that he and Israel, when brought out of Egypt by him, should serve him on this mount; and now they were brought thither, where he was about not only to grant his presence in a very singular manner, but to deliver his law unto them, and enter into a covenant with them, and establish and settle them as his people; so that they were a people near unto the Lord, taken into covenant, and indulged with communion with him, and made partakers of various distinguished blessings of his: both the above Targums are, "I brought you to the doctrine of my law", to receive it at this mount.
(d) Scheuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 2. p. 186. (e) Hist. Animal. l. 12. c. 21. (f) Pausaniae Messenica, sive, l. 4. p. 250, 251.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians,…
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on Eagle's wings - An high expression of the wonderful tenderness God shewed for them. It notes great speed; God not only came upon the wing for their deliverance, but he hastened them out, as it were upon the wing. Also that he did it with great ease, with the strength as well as with the swiftness of an eagle. They that faint not, nor are weary, are said to mount up with wings as eagles, Isaiah xl, 31. Especially it notes God's particular care of them, and affection to them. Even Egypt was the nest in which these young ones were first formed as the embryo of a nation: when by the increase of their numbers they grew to some maturity, they were carried out of that nest. I brought you unto myself - They were brought not only into a state of liberty, but into covenant and communion with God. This, God aims at in all the gracious methods of his providence and grace, to bring us back to himself, from whom we have revolted, and to bring us home to himself, in whom alone we can be happy.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Verse 4. How I bare you on eagles' wings]…
Verse 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 souls of departed heroes, kings, c., into the celestial regions. The Romans have struck several medals with this device, which may be seen in different cabinets, among which are the following: one of Faustina, daughter of Antoninus Pius, on the reverse of which she is represented ascending to heaven on the back of an eagle and another of Salonia, daughter of the Emperor Galienus, on the reverse of which she is represented on the back of an eagle, with a scepter in her hand, ascending to heaven. Jupiter himself is sometimes represented on the back of an eagle also, with his thunder in his hand, as on a medal of Licinus. This brings us nearer to the letter of the text, where it appears that the heathens confounded the figure made use of by the sacred penman, I bare you on eagles' wings, with the manifestation of God in thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai. And it might be in reference to all this that the Romans took the eagle for their ensign. See Scheuchzer, Fusellius, c.
Brought you unto myself.] In this and the two following verses, we see the design of God in selecting a people for himself.
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1. They were to obey his voice, Ex 19:5, to receive a revelation from him, and to act according to that revelation, and not according to their reason or fancy, in opposition to his declarations.
2. They were to obey his voice indeed, שמוע תשמעו shamoa tishmeu, in hearing they should hear they should consult his testimonies, hear them whenever read or proclaimed, and obey them as soon as heard, affectionately and steadily.
3. They must keep his covenant-not only copy in their lives the ten commandments, but they must receive and preserve the grand agreement made between God and man by sacrifice, in reference to the incarnation and death of Christ; for from the foundation of the world the covenant of God ratified by sacrifices referred to this, and now the sacrificial system was to be more fully opened by the giving of the law.
4. They should then be God's peculiar treasure, סגלה segullah, his own patrimony, a people in whom he should have all right, and over whom he should have exclusive authority above all the people of the earth; for though all the inhabitants of the world were his by his right of creation and providence, yet these should be peculiarly his, as receiving his revelation and entering into his covenant.
5. They should be a kingdom of priests, Ex 19:6. Their state should be a theocracy; and as God should be the sole governor, being king in Jeshurun, so all his subjects should be priests, all worshippers, all sacrificers, every individual offering up the victim for himself. A beautiful representation of the Gospel dispensation, to which the Apostles Peter and John apply it, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:9; Re 1:6; Re 5:10, and Re 20:6; under which dispensation every believing soul offers up for himself that Lamb of God which was slain for and which takes away the sin of the world, and through which alone a man can have access to God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Exo 19:4. Ye have seen how I bare you…
Exo 19:4. Ye have seen how I bare you on eagles’ wings — A high expression of the wonderful tenderness God showed for them. It denotes great speed; God not only came upon the wing for their deliverance, but he hastened them out, as it were, upon the wing. Also that he did it with great ease, with the strength as well as the swiftness of an eagle. They that faint not, nor are weary, are said to “mount up with wings as eagles,” Isa 40:31. Especially it signifies God’s particular care of them, and affection to them. Even Egypt was the nest in which these young ones were first formed as the embryo of a nation: when by the increase of their numbers they grew to some maturity, they were carried out of that nest. I brought you unto myself — They were brought not only into a state of liberty, but into covenant and communion with God. This God aims at in all the gracious methods of his providence and grace, to bring us back to himself, from whom we have revolted, and to bring us home to himself, in whom alone we can be happy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4–6 On eagles’ wings - Both in the law Deu…
On eagles’ wings - Both in the law Deu 32:11 and in the Gospel Mat 23:37, the Church is compared to fledgelings which the mother cherishes and protects under her wings: but in the law that mother is an eagle, in the Gospels “a hen”; thus shadowing forth the diversity of administration under each covenant: the one of power, which God manifested when He brought His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and led them into the promised land; the other of grace, when Christ came in humility and took the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Compare also Rev 12:14.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Eagles. Out of the reach of danger. As eagles…
Eagles. Out of the reach of danger. As eagles carry their young upon their wings, so I have protected you from all your enemies, Deuternomy xxxii. 11. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v6 ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests--As…
ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests--As the priestly order was set apart from the common mass, so the Israelites, compared with other people, were to sustain the same near relation to God; a community of spiritual sovreigns.
an holy nation--set apart to preserve the knowledge and worship of God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. I bare you on eagles’ wings — This…
4. I bare you on eagles’ wings — This figure is finely elaborated in Deu_32:11 : “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings,” etc. The strength and the tenderness of God are thus set forth in this metaphor. Comp. Rev_12:14.
Unto myself — Out of the bondage of Egypt and into the immediate protection and oversight of Jehovah at Sinai. The sacred place in front of the hallowed mount was as the presence-chamber of the Most High.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. Ye] the pron. is emphatic: in Exo_20:22 expressed…
4. Ye] the pron. is emphatic: in Exo_20:22 expressed by Ye yourselves. on eagles’ wings] A fine figure for the swiftness, the security, and the affectionate care with which the deliverance from Egypt had been effected. Cf. the development of the same figure in Deu_32:10-11.
‘Eagle,’ though it suffices in a popular version, is not however an exact rend. of the Heb. nésher. As Tristram has shewn (NHB. p. 172 ff.), nésher, on account especially of the term ‘baldness’ in Mic_1:16, must denote really the griffon-vulture, a large and majestic bird, very abundant in Palestine, and constantly seen there circling in the air.
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unto myself] i.e. to my abode in Sinai, the ‘mount of God’ (Di.; cf. on Exo_3:1).
4. In the ‘Blessing of Moses,’ Exo_33:9, the covenant with the tribe of Levi (i.e. their consecration to the priesthood, which was probably once narrated after Exo_32:29). Cf. Mal_2:4-5; Mal_2:8.
In P:—1. The covenant with Noah, Gen_6:18; Gen_9:9-16.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 (4) I bare you on eagles’ wings.—Comp. Deu_32:11, “As…
(4) I bare you on eagles’ wings.—Comp. Deu_32:11, “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them upon her wings.” When its young are first fledged, the eagle is said to assist them in their flight by flying beneath them, so that they may settle upon its wings or back, if necessary. God means that He has bestowed upon His people the same tender and powerful care, has borne them up mightily when they might have fallen, supported their first flight as fledglings, and so saved them from disaster.
Brought you unto myself.—Not so much “brought you to my presence here on Sinai,” as “brought you out of Egypt and its corrupting influences (Jos_24:14), and led you back to my pure worship and true religion.” That is spoken of as accomplished, whereof God had begun the accomplishment.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians.…
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians. God prefaces his appeal to Israel with respect to the future, by reminding them of what he had done for them in the past. In the fewest possible words he recalls to their recollection the whole series of signs and wonders wrought in Egypt, from the turning of the water into blood to the destruction of Pharaoh"s host in the Red Sea. These, he implies, ought to have taught them to trust him. I bare you on eagle"s wings, (compare Deu_32:11) where the metaphor is expanded at considerable length The strength and might of God"s sustaining care, and its loving tenderness, are especially glanced at in the comparison. Brought you unto myself. "Brought you," i.e. , "to Sinai, the mount of God, where it pleases me especially to reveal myself to you."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v5 A peculiar treasure unto Me.
Exo_19:5-6
A peculiar treasure unto Me.
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Gods people His treasure
1. A treasure is something searched for. The Holy Spirit is ever diligently seeking after Christians.
2. A treasure when found is carefully guarded. As the apple of His eye God protects those who trust Him.
3. The finding of a treasure is the occasion of rejoicing. There is joy in heaven, etc.
4. To obtain a treasure we will make great sacrifices. God gave His only begotten Son, etc. (Homiletic Review.)
National ideals
The problem was: How to convert a horde of demoralized slaves into a nation of virtuous freemen, paying a free obedience to law, as they had before paid a forced obedience to the lash of the taskmaster? The practical solution of the problem involved the application of three spiritual forces or living principles. We may describe them thus:--
1. The revelation of the new name of God, Jehovah, the Eternal, the unchangeable, the self-same.
2. The revelation of the ideal or standard, which the nation is to keep steadily before mind and conscience, as the thing to be aimed at and striven after. This revelation is given most explicitly and clearly in the words of our text: A kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
3. The actual legislation which is founded upon these two revelations:--of which legislation the law of the Ten Commandments is the eternal and indestructible substructure--as strong and durable now as when it was first uttered by the voice of God to Israel--as much the foundation of all legislation now as of the distinctively Mosaic legislation then. It was under the operation of these three forces that Israel became and continued to be a nation. It is under the operation of the same or analogous forces that any nation becomes and continues to be a nation. When such forces cease to operate upon a nation, it dies.
To prove and illustrate this point must form the remainder of our subject.
1. It is impossible for any of us to overlook the importance of the words which introduce the Ten Commandments. I am the Lord.--that is, the Eternal--thy God. They are not an ornamental flourish or accidental prefix. They are the living root of all that follows. Again and again, in the course of the subsequent legislation, the words recur; even in those parts of the legislation which are most minute and temporary, sanitary or ceremonial. The new name, upon which the nation is to be built, is the name Jehovah, the Eternal; to which is added the old name, thy God, as a name to be cherished and dear as ever. Now, in this name Jehovah is involved the notion of permanence, unchangeableness; and this notion lies at the root of law, whether laws of man, or laws of nature, or laws of God. But to this tremendous, this oppressive, notion of unchangeableness, there is added the tender grace of the old name, Thy God--One with whom every Israelite and every human being may plead, as the Psalmist does, O God, Thou art my God. It is the blending of the two together; it is the intertwining of the two subtle and mighty spiritual forces, implied in the two names, that made the revelation so potent for its great purpose--the creation of a nation, that should be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. And just in proportion as the hold of those names upon heart and conscience relaxed, the nation decayed and died. For, indeed, it is everlastingly true, as one of our own poets has said, that by the soul only the nations can be great and free. Any one can see, that a really free people must be a loyal or law-abiding people; and that laws, which are to receive the willing obedience of such a people, must be founded on the immutable principles of truth and justice and morality. Nor can any one doubt that the Mosaic legislation is founded on such principles.
2. But now I wish to speak to you about the second of those three spiritual forces, in the strength of which Israel was to be moulded into a nation. I have already described it as the revelation of the ideal which the nation was to keep steadily before mind and conscience, as the thing to be aimed at and striven after. Our text words it thus: Now, therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant. The destiny--the calling and election--of the nation of Israel was higher and holier than the destiny of any other nation. It was chosen to bear witness to the kingdom of God and His righteousness, before all the nations of the earth; a kingdom of priests, a royal and priestly race, each member of it uniting in his own person the attributes of a king and a priest: a king, to rule right loyally over his own lower and baser nature; a priest, to offer himself up in willing sacrifice to God. This pattern of righteousness the most choice and elect members of the nation did exhibit. You have only to think over the long list of truly kingly and priestly characters--from Moses to John the Baptist--to be satisfied of this. The fact that the election of Israel was what it was, does not deprive all other nations of an election of their own. On the contrary, tile very words of our text, which affirm most strongly the election of Israel, do at least suggest the thought of a corresponding, though inferior, election of all other nations. At this distance of time we have not the data for determining the special calling of Egypt, for example, or of Assyria. But we can discern with very tolerable clearness the election, the manifest destiny, of Greece and of Rome; the call of Greece to catch the inspiration of beauty, and to be the nurse of freedom; the call of Rome to be the schoolmaster of the nations, with its iron rod of law and order. We can discern, also, with perfect clearness, the vast inferiority, even of such a calling and election as this, to the calling of Israel; and can therefore fully justify the language of our text: Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people. But if this principle of a calling and election of nations holds true of the whole ancient world, why should it not hold true of the whole modern world also? So long as national distinctions and national characteristics exist at all, there must exist along with them corresponding national duties and national responsibilities. What is it, then, for England and for us? It may be said, that it is the manifest destiny of England to colonize and subdue the earth--to girdle it with rails of iron and steel, and lines of telegraph wire. It is in words like these, Duty and Justice-in the response which they awaken in our hearts--that we English people find the revelation of our national calling and election of God. As a nation, we are called, in a special sense, to be just and dutiful. And if our children are to go out into distant lands, and among subject peoples, to be models of duty and justice there, they must be nursed and trained in those principles first at home. A kingdom of priests:--yes--and that title belongs also to us, as well as to Israel; though to us, not as Englishmen, but as Christians. For is it not written: Unto Him who loveth us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. I need not say that there is no discrepancy whatever between our special calling as Englishmen, and our more general calling as disciples of Christ. On the contrary, the latter must and does sustain and verify the former. Just in proportion as we learn to rule, as kings, over our lower, baser, selfish nature; and to offer ourselves up as priests, living, reasonable, and spiritual sacrifices, in the power and virtue of the one perfect Sacrifice, to God; just in this proportion shall we be enabled to do justice and judgment, and to walk dutifully and uprightly, and so to uphold the true glory of the English name, in whatever circumstances we may be placed--whether at home, or amongst strangers and foreigners in some far distant land. It was so with the heroes of England in the past. (D. J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Lessons
1. In covenant-making or lawgiving from God there is need of some mediator to be with God.
2. Gods call alone can qualify or authorize a mediator between Him and sinners.
3. It is incumbent on the mediator to declare fully Gods mind unto His people.
4. A due recognition of Gods gracious acts for souls against enemies is a good preparation to receive His law.
5. Gods securing providence as well as selecting a people to Himself prepare them to hear His covenant (Exo_19:4).
6. Gods covenanted people are His peculiar treasure in the world.
7. It is Gods free grace who owneth all nations on earth to make one His peculiar above another (Exo_19:5).
8. Royalty, near communion with God, and sanctity are the privileges of Gods peculiar ones. Kings, priests, and saints.
9. The words of duty and privilege must be spoken and made known unto the Church (Exo_19:6). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Gods promise to the Jews
I. The recital of His works.
II. The proposes of His love.
III. The promises of His grace. (T. Mortimer.)
All the earth is Mine
I. Gods assertion of universal possession in the earth
1. Nations.
2. Lands.
3. The animal and vegetable kingdoms.
II. Gods assertion excludes every other being from universal possession.
1. It is not mans earth.
2. It is not the devils.
3. It does not belong to any created intelligence.
III. Gods assertion should awaken confidence in His saints and terror in sinners.
1. All forces are under His control.
2. Everything that is not of Him must fail.
3. His possession of the earth will be fully manifest in the end. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Explanation of the Divine preferences
Here is the explanation of the Divine preferences which have distressed so many hearts under the cruel name of sovereignty and election. There need be no torture in using those words. II we feel distressed by them, it is because we have come upon them along the wrong path. They are beautiful and noble words when set in their places according to the Divine intent. Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people. Is that partiality in any exclusive sense? Not at all; it is really meant to be inclusive. God elects humanity. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom. In what sense? In the ordinary sense--namely, a great aggregate of subjects ruled by one arbitrary and despotic king? In no such sense. The literal meaning is, ye shall all be kings. Now ye see the meaning of that great name, King of kings--not king of an individual monarch here and there, as in Britain, or Russia, or China, but of all believers. All obedient souls are lifted up unto kinghood. We are royal equals if we obey Heavens will, and God is King of kings--King of all. We are a royal generation. All this language is typical. Beautiful is the historical line when seized and wisely applied. Let us attempt such seizure and application. The firstborn were chosen, and the firstborn were to be priests. In what sense are the firstborn chosen? Not as relegating the afterborn to positions subordinate and inferior; but in the sense of being their pledge and seal. God has the eldest Son, and therefore--that is the sacred logic--He has all the other children. Then the laws regarding the priesthood underwent a change, and the family of Aaron was called. We proceed from an individual, namely, the firstborn, to a family, namely, the Aaronic stock. But why were they chosen? That all the children of Aaron might also be priests, in the truly spiritual and eternal sense, though not in official and formal name and status. Then the family was deposed and a tribe is chosen--the tribe of Levi. Mark how the history accumulates and grows up into a prophecy and an argument! First the individual, then the family, then the tribe, then the Son of Man--absorbing all the past, gathering up into its true and official meaning all priesthood, aH intercession. There is one Advocate with the Father, the Man Christ Jesus. A new light thus begins to dawn upon the cloud. There is nothing arbitrary in the movement of God when we can penetrate its infinite philosophy. Will God have the first-fruits of the harvest field? He claims all such. Why will He claim the first-fruits? That in having the first-fruits He might have all the field. He will not take the whole wheat acreage of the world into His heavens and devour our poor loaf of bread; but He will take the first ear of corn that we can find in all the fields, and, having taken that, He says: In giving Me this you have given Me all. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Gods peculiar treasure
Exotic flowers or foreign plants, if seeded on the mountain side, or inserted in the meadow amongst the promiscuous herbage growing there, soon become choked and disappear. Those who wish to preserve the flaming glories of the Cape, or the rich fruits of the tropic, must provide a garden enclosed--must keep out the weeds and rough weather. And so God, anxious to preserve His Holy Law, fenced in the Hebrew nationality. He secluded them, and wailed them in, and made them, as it were, His own conservatory--a conservatory where Divine truth should survive uninjured until Messiah should come.
Gods covenant uniform
What covenant could this be, containing such promises, and by which a people should be a peculiar treasure to God, and above all others upon the earth; yea, a royal priesthood, a holy nation? This could be no other than the covenant of redemption by Christ, to the blessings of which man has no claim but in grace. The covenant of God, as the Church of God itself, under every diversity of dispensation has been the same. Whatever of a national character was peculiar to Israel, and that ceased under a better economy, was extraneous to this, and not an essential constituent or feature thereof. Uniformity of design is discoverable through the whole progress of Divine revelation, and under every form of religious ceremony. God has not at any period contradicted Himself, or set before man a covenant of grace at one time, and a covenant of works at another, for the hope of life. It would have been contrary to all that God had done, and to all that He yet promised to do, as also a break of an awful character, and the introduction of confusion into the whole system of redemption, to have here brought the nation under a covenant of works, by which they had virtually perished. True it is, that Sinai and Zion are, by the apostle, placed in contradistinction: the one as gendering to bondage; the other as free: the one as characterized by the law of condemnation; the other by the law of righteousness: but it is in certain respects only that that contrast holds good, not in the essential intention of things. The whole fabric of their ecclesiastical polity, conjoined in all its parts with exquisite wisdom, was the workmanship of mercy. By redemption it was that God claimed Israel as His own, a treasure, His best and greatest treasure, a treasure containing a treasure, His grace, His glory, the promised seed His Son. All the earth was His; yet in all the earth was nothing He so valued, nothing He held so dear. Still this treasure so great had been lost but for the security and grace of the covenant. The intrinsic value of His people was enhanced beyond all price by what this covenant embraced and required. It cost much to make them His people, and to secure them to Himself--a treasure for ever. (W. Seaton.)
The spirituality of the old covenant
The characteristic feature of the Sinai revelation is the law; but it is important to observe that it is not law as a means of salvation, but law as a sequel of salvation. If this simple and evident fact were only borne in mind in the reading of the Old Testament, endless perplexities and confusions of thought would be avoided. Observe, also, the kind of blessings which are promised. How many are there who will persist in maintaining that the old covenant offered mere temporal blessings, while it is the distinctive feature of the new to promise spiritual blessing. It is true that temporal blessings were included under the old covenant, just as they are under the new; and though they do hold a more prominent place in the old, as was indeed to be expected, yet it is a slander upon that covenant to say that these were the blessings it offered. The great blessings of the old covenant were undoubtedly spiritual, as is manifest here: If ye will obey My voice and keep My covenant, then ye shall be to Me a peculiar treasure above all people; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. Nearness to God, dearness to God, holiness--these were the characteristic blessings of the old covenant. These promises are among the richest and most deeply spiritual in the whole Bible; and it is with great reluctance that, yielding to the exigency of our plan, we refrain from entering into the wealth of meaning which each separate word conveys. Let me only notice in leaving it, that when the apostle Peter wishes to express in the very strongest terms the highest privileges of the children of God under the new dispensation, he can do nothing better than quote these old but exceeding great and precious promises (1Pe_2:9). (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
Holiness ensured
A writer tells of going down with a party into a coal mine. On the side of the gangway grew a plant which was perfectly white. The visitors were astonished that there, where the coal-dust was continually flying, this little plant should be so clean. A miner who was with them took a handful of black dust and threw it on the plant, but not a particle of it adhered. There was a wonderful enamel on the plant to which no finest speck could cling. Living there, amid clouds of dust, nothing could stain its snowy whiteness. This is a picture of what every Christian life should be. Unholy influences breathe incessantly about us and upon us. But it is our mission to be pure amid all this vileness, undefiled, unspotted from the world. If God can make a little plant so wondrously that no dust can stain its whiteness, surely He can, by His grace, so transform our heart and life that sin shall not cling to us. He who can keep the plant stainless and white as snow amid clouds of dust, can guard us in purity in this world of sin.
A kingdom of priests.--
Priests to the world
They were to be the trustees, for humanity at large, of the revelations, promises, and ordinances which God communicated, and they were to keep them for the benefit of all mankind. For a time, indeed, these heavenly communications were to be reserved to themselves; only, however, that they might be the more securely preserved; but at length all restrictions would be broken down, and that which, in its ritual exclusivism, had been confined to them would, in its spiritual persuasiveness, become the heritage of every true believer who should, like them, enter into covenant with the Lord, not over a merely typical sacrifice, but over the true and real atonement which Christ would make for the sins of men. Thus, in this peculiar promise, which looks at first as if it conferred a patent of protected privilege, we see that the present protection is in order to the future diffusion; and we have an echo of the Abrahamic blessing, In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. What the Levitical tribe ultimately was among the Israelites themselves, that the Israelites were to be among the nations; and the more faithfully they performed their duties, the richer would be the ultimate blessing to the Gentiles. Reading these words in the light of the history to which they form the introduction, it needs no keenness of insight to perceive the bearing of these principles upon ourselves; for we Christians are now the worlds priests, custodians of those spiritual blessings by which our fellow-men are to be benefited; and only in proportion as we maintain holiness of character shall we discharge our duties to mankind at large. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v5 if ye will obey
if ye will obey
(Cf) 1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6; Rev 5:10. What, under law, was condition, is under grace, freely given to every believer. The "if" of Exo 19:5 is the essence of law as a method of divine dealing, and the fundamental reason why "the law made nothing perfect"; Rom 8:3; Heb 7:18; Heb 7:19.
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The Abrahamic: (See Scofield "Gen 15:18") and
New (See Scofield "Heb 8:8")
covenants minister salvation and assurance because they impose but one condition, faith.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v5 19:5-6 God, to whom all the earth belongs, promised…
19:5-6 God, to whom all the earth belongs, promised to make Israel his own special treasure. This promise was contingent upon their accepting a covenant with God and keeping it faithfully. • my kingdom of priests, my holy nation: The nation was to become intermediaries between a holy God and a lost world. Through them God would reveal himself (see 1 Pet 2:9-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.