Exodus 19:1

1 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the Wilderness of Sinai.

Exodus 19:1 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 19:1

In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone
forth out of the land of Egypt
Which was the month Sivan, and answers to part of May and part of June:

the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai;
which had its name from the mountain situated in it, and that from the bushes which grew upon it. Justin F26 calls it Synan, which he says Moses occupied, and Strabo F1, Sinnan. Hither they came either on the same day they came from Rephidim; which, according to Bunting F2, were eight miles from it, or on the same day of the month, as to number, that is, on the third day of the third month; and so Jerom F3 and others say it was on the forty seventh day after their coming out of Egypt, three days after which they received the law on Mount Sinai, it being a generally received notion that the law was given fifty days after the passover; hence the feast of weeks is called from thence the feast of pentecost, or fifty days: or rather this was the first day of the month, as Jarchi and R. Moses; with which agrees the Targum of Jonathan; and so was the forty fifth of their coming out of Egypt, five days after which they received the law; it being a tradition with the Jews, as Aben Ezra observes, that that was given on the sixth of Sivan, and may be accounted for thus; on the first day they came to Sinai, and encamped there, on the day following Moses went up to God, ( Exodus 19:3 ) , on the third day Moses gathered the elders together, ( Exodus 19:7 ) , and declared to them the words of God, and on the third day after that, which was the sixth, the law was delivered to them.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 E Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
F1 Geograph. l. 16. p. 520.
F2 Travels, p. 82.
F3 Epist. Fabiolae de 42 mansion. fol. 15. c. 1. tom. 3.

Exodus 19:1 In-Context

1 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the Wilderness of Sinai.
2 For they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai and had pitched camp in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
4 `Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself.
5 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.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.