No. XIX.
LEGENDS IN THE PRAYERS FOR PENTECOST.
One of the most glorious circumstances in the national history
of Israel, as well as one of the most extraordinary facts in
the records of mankind, is the descent of the Lord God upon
Mount Sinai to proclaim the law. Glorious it is for Israel, for
never did nation hear the voice of the Lord, speaking out of the
midst of the fire, as Israel heard. The display of God's grace
and favour is the glory of his people, and here they were both
displayed pre-eminently. The grandeur and awfulness of the
scene we cannot now enter upon, except to remark, that the
grandeur of the reality is equalled by the dignity of the
narrative, which Moses has left us in the 19th and 20th
chapters of Exodus. None but an inspired historian could
have treated an event so honourable to his nation, with such
majestic simplicity. The style and tone furnish an irresistible
evidence to the truth of the relation. And perhaps this
evidence is much strengthened by the contrast presented in
the writings of the rabbies. There is no part of the Scripture
history which they have more amplified by additions of their
own; as plainly stamped with falsehood, as the other with
truth. We have here a wide field before us, but shall confine
ourselves to those legends which are authenticated in the
synagogue prayers for the anniversary of that great event.
In the morning service for the second day is found an account
of the giving of the law, in which the following wonderful
passage occurs:—
(
Hebrew characters)
"Dread seized the holy hosts, when thou didst turn the mountain over them as a tub: they received the pure law with fear and tremor." (D. Levi's Pentecost Prayers, fol. 150.) Here is a circumstance in the giving of the law, which few readers of the Pentateuch will remember. All will grant that to see Mount Sinai hanging over them, like a tub or an extinguisher, was a very dreadful sight, if it really happened. But surely every reasonable Israelite will inquire upon what evidence it rests? In all the previous history God appears as a merciful Father, visiting his children in their affliction, redeeming them from bondage, and exhibiting miracle after miracle as their safety or their necessity required; how is it, then, that He appears so suddenly in the character of a tyrant or a destroyer, ready to drop the mighty mountain upon the
