SEV Biblia, Chapter 19:4
Vosotros visteis lo que hice a los egipcios, y cómo os tomé sobre alas de águilas, y os he traído a mí.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Exodus 19:4
Verse 4. How I bare you on eagles' wings] Mr. Bruce contends that the word rn 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. 1. They were to obey his voice, ver. 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, w[mt [wm 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, hlgs 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, ver. 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, 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9; Rev. i. 6; Rev. v. 10, and Rev. xx. 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-8 - Moses was called up the mountain, and was employed as the messenger of this covenant. The Maker and first Mover of the covenant, is God himself. This blessed charter was granted out of God's own free grace The covenant here mentioned was the national covenant, by which the Israelites were a people under the government of Jehovah. It was a typ of the new covenant made with true believers in Christ Jesus; but, lik other types, it was only a shadow of good things to come. As a natio they broke this covenant; therefore the Lord declared that he woul make a new covenant with Israel, writing his law, not upon tables of stone, but in their hearts, Jer 31:33; Heb 8:7-10. The covenant spoke of in these places as ready to vanish away, is the national covenan with Israel, which they forfeited by their sins. Unless we carefull attend to this, we shall fall into mistakes while reading the Ol Testament. We must not suppose that the nation of the Jews were unde the covenant of works, which knows nothing of repentance, faith in Mediator, forgiveness of sins, or grace; nor yet that the whole natio of Israel bore the character, and possessed the privileges of tru believers, as being actually sharers in the covenant of grace. The were all under a dispensation of mercy; they had outward privileges an advantages for salvation; but, like professing Christians, most reste therein, and went no further. Israel consented to the conditions. The answered as one man, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. Oh tha there had been such a heart in them! Moses, as a mediator, returned the words of the people to God. Thus Christ, the Mediator, as a Prophet reveals God's will to us, his precepts and promises; and then, as Priest, offers up to God our spiritual sacrifices, not only of praye and praise, but of devout affections, and pious resolutions, the wor of his own Spirit in us.
Original Hebrew
אתם 859 ראיתם 7200 אשׁר 834 עשׂיתי 6213 למצרים 4713 ואשׂא 5375 אתכם 853 על 5921 כנפי 3671 נשׁרים 5404 ואבא 935 אתכם 853 אלי׃ 413
