Commentari biblici

And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took [to wife] a daughter of Levi.

And took to wife. — His own aunt. Exodus 6:20 Numbers 26:59 The law against incest Leviticus 18:12 was not yet given, nor the state of Israel settled. But what excuse can there be for that abominable incest of the house of Austria by Papal dispensation? King Philip of Spain was uncle to himself, first cousin to his father, husband to his sister, and father to his wife! Spec. Europ. And what shall we say of our modern sectaries, whose practising of incest is now avowed publicly in print? They shame not to affirm that those marriages are most lawful that are between persons nearest in blood, brother and sister, father and daughter, mother and son, uncle and niece. The prohibition of degrees in Leviticus is to be understood, say they, of fornication, not of marriage See Mr Bayly’s Dissuasion, part 2, and Mr Edwards’s Gangr., part 3. Tamar did not doubt to be her brother Amnon’s wife, but detested the act of fornication, … Lo, here, what noonday devils do now, in this unhappy time, walk with open face among us! Little Nonsuch, pp. 5-7.

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And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he [was a] goodly [child], she hid him three months.

A goodly child. — "Fair to God" Aστειας τω Yεω . Acts 7:20 See the note there. Art thou fair? be not like an Egyptian temple, where some beast is worshipped. Art thou foul? let thy soul be like a rich pearl in a rude shell.

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And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid [it] in the flags by the river’s brink.

And she laid it in the flags. — This she did by the force of her faith; Hebrews 11:23 casting the child upon God, and "against hope believing in hope."

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And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

And his sister. — By a singular instinct of the Holy Spirit, as appears by the event. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Psalms 37:23 "He keepeth the feet of his saints." 1 Samuel 2:9

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And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash [herself] at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.

And the daughter of Pharaoh. — She was brought hither at this time by a special providence, to do that which she little dreamed of. So when Heidelberg was taken by the Imperialists, the copy of Ursinus’s Catechism enlarged by Pareus was among many other papers carried away by a plundering soldier; but happily dropped in the streets, and found the next day by a young student, who, knowing his master’s hand, restored it to his son Philip Pareus, who afterwards published that golden book, to the great glory of God, who had so graciously preserved it. Vita David Parei, per Philippum filium.

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And when she had opened [it], she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This [is one] of the Hebrews’ children.

One of the Hebrews’ children. — So called of Heber. See Trapp on " Genesis 13:14 "

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Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?

A nurse of the Hebrew women. — God’s providence excludeth not man’s prudence. Here is a concurrence of both, for the preservation of the child.

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And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

The child’s mother. — None to her: as David said of Goliath’s sword, "None to that."

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