Our cattle also shall go with us
Of every kind, of the flocks and of the herds: there shall
not an hoof be left behind;
not a single creature that has an hoof: it is a proverbial
expression, signifying that they should carry all that belonged
to them with them: for thereof must we take to serve the
Lord our God;
something of every kind and sort, all they had being devoted to
his service, and to be yielded to him upon demand: and we
know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we
come
thither;
into the wilderness; they knew not exactly and precisely what
kind of creatures or how many of them, as Aben Ezra observes,
they were to offer at a time; for though before this there was a
known distinction between clean and unclean creatures, and the
various offerings and sacrifices of the patriarchs might in a
good measure direct them in the use of them; yet the special and
peculiar laws about sacrifices were not given until after their
deliverance, and they were got into the wilderness; so that this
was not a bare pretence to get their cattle along with them, but
was the true case and real matter of fact.