cause him to come near unto him Make it appear that they are the Persons who ought to burn Incense and to offer Sacrifice For to come near is to perform these Offices as may be learnt from XIX Levit 22. but especially from X Levit. 3. And the very word Cohen denotes it for it signifies a Minister next to the King And him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him They shall discharge the Office of Priesthood whom God himself hath chosen to it and no Body else Ver. 6. This do I put you to this Trial. Verse 6 Take your Censers Perform the Office of Priests unto which you pretend a right Korah and all his Company All the Two hundred and fifty Men and whosoever else were in the Faction of Korah Whom he orders no doubt by God's direction to execute the Office to which they aspired Ver. 7. Put Fire therein and put Incense in them Verse 7 As the Priests were wont to do Before the LORD to morrow At the Altar of Incense as some conceive before the most Holy Place So Menochius But this is contrary to v. 18. where we read they stood in the door of the Tabernacle with their Censers Fire and Incense Nor would the Sanctuary contain such a Company or if it had been large enough the People could not have seen either their Offering or their Punishment from the LORD for their Sin Therefore these words before the LORD signifie with their Faces towards the Sanctuary at the Gate of which they stood for what was done there is said to be before the LORD XXIX Exod. 42. And it shall be that the Man whom the LORD doth choose he shall be holy This comprehends both the Man and all his Family so the meaning is the LORD would declare whether Aaron and his Sons should execute the Priesthood alone or Korah and his Company be admitted to it Ye take too much upon you ye Sons of Levi. It is the same Phrase which we had before v. 3. Rab-lachem you are high enough already let the station wherein you are suffice you and aspire not after greater Dignity The following words justifie this Interpretation Verse 8 Ver. 8. And Moses said unto Korah hear I pray you ye Sons of Levi. By this and by the foregoing verse it appears not only that there were some of the Levites in this Sedition together with Korah at the Head of them but that they were the chief Incendiaries though others as I said before were drawn in to joyn with them because Moses addresses himself only to them Verse 9 Ver. 9. Seemeth it a small thing unto you Do you take it to be no honour to you That the God of Israel hath separated you from the Congregation of Israel Made choice of you above all other Israelites to wait upon him in his Family as his Domestick Servants III Numb 12. VIII 6 14. To bring you near to himself Though not so near as the Priests yet nearer than all other Men being the sole Attendants upon the Priests III. 6. VIII 10 11. To do the Service of the Tabernacle of the LORD III. 7 8. particularly the Kohathites were chosen to do the Service of the Tabernacle about the most holy things IV. 4 19. And to stand before the Congregation to minister unto them VIII 11 19. Ver. 10. And he hath brought thee near to him and Verse 10 all thy Brethren the Sons of Levi with thee Or Though he hath brought thee speaking unto Korah thus near to him and all the rest of the Levites thy Brethren See VIII 10 11 15 19. And seek ye the Priesthood also Will it not content you that you alone are chosen to minister unto the Priests III. 6. but you must be advanced to minister unto God in their Office Ver. 11. For which cause both thou and all thy Company Verse 11 are gathered together against the LORD By whose order Aaron and his Sons were appointed to serve him in the Office of Priests as was declared when the Levites were taken to minister unto them III. 3. IV. 15 19 20. And therefore to rise up against them was to rise up against the LORD and oppose his Authority who made them his Priests And what is Aaron Or And Aaron what hath he done Wherein is he faulty That ye murmur against him For taking upon him the Office of Priesthood into which he did not intrude himself but was chosen and appointed by God to do him that Service who would have been angry with him if he had refused it Ver. 12. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram Verse 12 the Sons of Eliah To Summon them to the place where Moses now was which the Jews say was the Court of Judgment This shows that either these Men as I said v. 2. did not openly appear with Korah and his Company against Moses v. 3. Or if they did they retired to their Tents before he rose up from his Prayer to give them an Answer What became of On we are not informed for he is neither mentioned here nor in the following part of this Narrative concerning their Sedition nor any where else in the Holy Scripture Which said We will not come up They bad the Messenger who summoned them to appear before Moses to tell him plainly that they denied his Authority For that 's the meaning of this Language He hath no Authority to command us who are none of his Subjects and therefore will not obey him Verse 13 Ver. 13. Is it a small thing with thee that thou hast brought us up out of a Land flowing with Milk and Honey to kill us in the Wilderness Though they would not come to him yet they returned him this Message Have we not suffered enough by being brought out of a rich and plentiful Country abounding with all good things into a barren Wilderness where we are ready to starve Nothing could be more insolentand ungrateful than to describe Egypt in the very same Language wherein God himself had often spoken of the Land of Promise particularly when he sent Moses to tell them he would bring them up out of the Affliction of Egypt under which they groaned III Exod. 16 17. Except thou make thy self altogether a Prince over us Unless we allow thee to make what Laws thou thinkest good and impose what thou pleasest upon us A most rude and insolent Speech signifying that they had not shaken off the Yoke of Bondage but only exchanged it and instead of the Rich and Wealthy Oppression of Pharaoh were come under the Poor and Hungry Tyranny of Moses For so the next verse imports Ver. 14. Moreover thou hast not brought us into a Verse 14 Land that floweth with Milk and Honey c. Or Certainly this is not the good Land into which thou didst promise to conduct us It seems to be a Sarcastical Speech Upbraiding him as if he had put a Cheat upon them and fed them only with
them cap. 1. sect 6. Annot. 8. on Sota And uncover the Woman's head He was to strip her of all her Head-attire as the manner was if we may believe Philo in all Judicial Proceedings to loose her Hair and tear her Garments down to her Breast which he bound about her as the Jews say with an Egyptian Cord. And if she had any Gold or Jewels or other Ornaments about her they were all taken from her and she was clothed with a black Garment All which were plain Tokens of her lamentable Condition And put the Offering of Memorial in her hands After he had put it into a Frying-pan under which he held his own hand II Lev. 7. and at the same time held in his other hand the bitter Water which he shewed her Which is the Jealousie-offering Offered purely upon the account of her Husbands Jealousie as he told her And the Priest shall have in his hand the bitter Water So called because they put Wormwood or some such thing into it to give it a bitter taste as Maimonides and the ancient Rabbins fancy But the later Doctors say Nothing was mixt with this Water but Dust and yet it became bitter in the mouth So Nachman and others But the most probable account of all others is that this Water was called bitter from its direful Effects upon the Body of the Woman if she was guilty To which Exposition Jacob Abendana inclines See Wagenseil upon the Mischna Sotae cap. 3. sect 5. Annot. 1. Which causeth the Curse Or rather Which was given her with Curses and dreadful Imprecations blotted out with the bitter Water v. 21 23. as R. Bechai expounds it Verse 19 Ver. 19. And the Priest shall charge her by an Oath Adjure her to tell Truth in the manner following And say unto the Woman if no Man hath lien with thee c. If thou art Innocent of that whereof thou art suspected Be thou free from the bitter Water c. It shall have no ill effect upon thee Verse 20 Ver. 20. But if thou hast gone aside c. Art guilty of Adultery Verse 21 Ver. 21. Then the Priest shall charge the Woman with an Oath of Cursing This is no new Adjuration but only another part of that which began v. 19. and is continued in this and the foregoing So that these three Verses contain the intire form of Adjuration which the Priest was to pronounce in a Language which the Woman understood as the Jewish Doctors observe otherwise how could the Woman answer Amen as R. Ismael saith in Siphre exactly according to the Apostle's Doctrine 1 Corinth XIV 16. And the Priest was to signifie to her that this proceeding was meerly to satisfie her Husband's Jealousie by discovering the Truth Thus this whole matter is related by the Author of Ez Hechajim an incomparable MS. as Wagenseil calls it who hath it in his possession The Priest pronounces this Curse in a Language which she understands and signifies to her in the Vulgar Tongue that these things are done purely because her Husband is jealous of her she having been secretly with one whose Company he forbad her to keep and then saith in a Tongue familiar to her IF NO OTHER MAN HAVE LAYN WITH THEE BUT THY HUSBAND c. BE THOU FREE FROM THESE BITTER WATERS c. BUT IF THOU HAST BEEN FALSE TO HIM c. THE LORD MAKE THEE A CURSE c. Unto which the Woman was to answer AMEN AMEN By which words she not only consented to what the Priest said but made the same Imprecation upon her self The LORD make thee a Curse So that when Men would imprecate any evil to another they should say Let that befal thee which befel such a Woman as Rasi expounds it And an Oath among thy People A form of Execration as the aforesaid MS. expounds it or as Rasi will have it when Men called God to Witness they should say If I swear falsly let God punish me as he did such a Woman These Execrations were tacitly supposed in the Oaths among the Pagans as our great Selden shews at large Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 11. pag. 461 c. where he observes out of Porphyry that the ancient Indians had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lake of Probation or Trial And in his Marmora Arundeliana p. 28. there is this form of Imprecation in the League between the City of Smyrna and Magnesia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be well with me if I swear truly but if falsly let destruction be both to my self and to my Posterity And at this day there is a Custom in the Kingdom of Siam to determine dubious Cases by giving a Lump of Rice impregnated as my Author speaks with Curses to a Man to eat Which if he can swallow without vomiting he carries the Cause and his Friends carry him home in great Triumph c. So Jodocus Schoutenius who was Director of the East-India Company there 1636. When the LORD doth make thy Thigh to rot and thy Belly to swell When they see the dreadful effect of this Water in the rotting of thy Thigh after thy Belly is swelled For the swelling of the Belly it appears by the next Verse preceded the rotting of the Thigh Such Imprecations were in use in Homer's time it appears by Agamemnon's Prayer wherein he calls Jupiter and all the rest of the Gods to bear Witness of his Sincerity wishing them to send a Multitude of Pains and Griefs upon him if he forswore himself Iliad XIX v. 264 265. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 22 Ver. 22. And this Water that causeth the Curse Or For this Water c. Shall go into thy Bowels c. If thou art guilty it shall produce the following Effects To make thy belly to swell By the Belly the Jews understand the Womb and the Bowels which swelled till they burst And thy Thigh to rot By her Thigh is meant the Secret Parts of her Body as Chaskuni observes on this place And both Bochartus and Heinsius have given many Instances of the use of the word in this sense The former in his Hierozoic P. II. L. V. cap. 15. and the latter in his Aristarch Sac. cap. 1. And thus we read in the Passion of SS Perpetuana Faelic that when Perpetuana was thrown to the Beasts and lay on the Ground she drew back her Coat which was torn from her side ad velamentum femoris to cover her Thigh from being seen pudoris magis memor quam doloris having a greater sense of Modesty than of Pain pag. 32. Edit Oxon. The Mischna here observes not impertinently with what measure Men mete it shall be measured to them again for in the very part that offended she suffered for her Crime I noted before v. 17. that there were such ways of Trial anciently among the Gentiles but I am apt to think they were all later than the times of Moses who did not ordain these Rites
Causes brought before Moses in two of them he made haste to determine but in the other two he was slow Those of the first sort were this and that of the Daughters of Zelophehad Chap. XX. these he judged presently because they were pecuniary Matters but the other two viz. about him that blasphemed XXIV Levit. and him that gathered Sticks on the Sabbath-day XV Numb being capital Causes he took longer time to judge for he put them in Ward till the Mind of the LORD was known To teach those that succeeded him in the Office of Judges to make quick dispatch in Money Matters but to proceed slowly in Capital Causes But as this was no pecuniary Cause so it doth not appear but he took as much time to understand the Mind of God in it as in the other two about Blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking For he went in to consult with him as he did also in the case of Zelophehad's Daughters whose Cause he brought before the LORD XXVII 5. I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you These words seem to signifie that Moses might go into the Holy Place when he pleased to enquire of God where God spake with him in an audible Voice VII 89. whensoever he desired Satisfaction about any Doubt So Abarbinel who in this forsakes the Talmudists For they fancy that because God called to Moses and then spake to him out of the Tabernacle I Levit. 1. he could never go into the Holy Place but when he was called Which was true only at that time when the Glory of the LORD had newly filled the Tabernacle so that he durst not come into it till he was invited But was not a general Rule to be observed in all his Colloquies with the Divine Majesty that he should wait till he had a singular Call to come to him for it is plain by this place that he went in to speak with him whensoever he had occasion Verse 9 Ver. 9. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying He brought this Case before the LORD as his manner was in such Doubts and the LORD gave him the following Answer Which was to be a Rule not only to these present Enquirers but to all Posterity Verse 10 Ver. 10. If any Man of you or of your Posterity shall be unclean From hence the Jews observe that this is a Law concerning particular Persons only not concerning all the People or the major part of them For as the Mischna saith in the Title Pesachim Cap. 7. if all the People or the greater part or the Priests had contracted any Defilement they ought notwithstanding to keep the Passover even in that Defilement But if the lesser part only were defiled then they that were clean ought to keep it in the first Month and they that were defiled in the second This they ground upon the very first words of this Law v. 6. There were certain Men and upon these if any Man of you c. From whence saith Maimonides this Doctrine follows out of ancient Tradition that there were some private Persons who were adjourned to the second Passover but if the generality should be defiled by the dead they were not to be so adjourned but to sacrifice in that Vncleanness A great deal more to the same purpose may be seen in the fore-named Mr. Selden Lib. 2. de Synedr Cap. I. n. 3. By reason of a dead body This Case is mentioned instead of all other of like nature For there was the same reason for those who were unclean by a Leprosie for Women in Child-bed or that were menstruous or those that had a Running-issue or had touched a dead Carcass And this some of them ground upon v. 13. Where speaking of those who should keep the Passoever it is said in general the Man that is clean c. therefore he that was any way unclean might not keep it Or be in a Journey afar off Out of his own Country for it could not be kept any where but in Judaea XVI Deut. 2. or at such a distance that he could not reach the Tabernacle upon the Day appointed In the Mischna indeed this dereck rechokah as it is in the Hebrew a long way off is defined to be fifteen Miles from Jerusalem or the place where the Tabernacle was Whence Maimonides saith If any Man on the fourteenth Day of the Month Nisan at Sun rising was fifteen Mile or more from Jerusalem this was a remote way but if he was not so far from it he was not comprehended in this remote way for he might be at Jerusalem time enough in the Afternoon to keep the Passover that Evening though he went but a slow pace and that on foot But I do not take this to be a reasonable Explication Philo hath determined the distance a great deal better according to the Interpretation I mentioned at first L. III. de Vita Mosis Where he saith the second Passover was permitted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To such who were hindred by their Travels into Countries a great way off from sacrificing with the rest of their Nation For it was not their fault that they were deprived of this honour especially considering that so small a Country as Judaea could not contain such a populous Nation but sent out Colonies into many places As for those who were only XV Mile from Jerusalem they might easily have come to the Feast if not on the Fourteenth day yet the day before and if this distance had been a good reason to excuse their absence most of the Nation might have staid away without any danger Yet he shall keep the Passover unto the LORD When that Uncleanness is gone and he is returned to his own Country again Verse 11 Ver. 11. The fourteenth day of the second Month at Even they shall keep it They had a whole Month's time given them to dispose themselves and their Affairs so that they might be able to keep it And eat it with unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs Those Jews who are called Karaites as Mr. Selden observes in the place before-named n. 7. expresly say that they were not bound in the second Month Passover unto more than this to eat the Lamb with unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs but they were not obliged to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days because they might do that in the Passover of the first Month. For the Unclean are only prohibited to eat the Passover but not to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread If the same Persons that could keep it in the first Month hapned again to be unclean in the second they could not keep it in the third or the fourth Months For this had been to confound one Feast with another and there is no order for it Ver. 12. They shall leave none of it till the morning nor break any bone of it This belongs to the eating of the Paschal Lamb XII Exod. 10 46. According to all the Ordinances of the Passover they Verse
yet they followed its motion This is a great Instance of their Obedience in this Particular for having rested but one Night they might be weary and very unwilling to take down their Tents and the Tabernacle and Travel again the next Morning Whether it was by Day or by Night that the Cloud was taken up they journeyed This is a further Instance of their being perfectly guided by God in this Matter that though they were at rest in their Beds yet if notice was given of the motion of the Cloud they rose up and went after it For they were sensible their safety depended upon the Protection and Guidance of this Cloud Ver. 22. Or whether it were two Days or a Month Verse 22 or a Year that the Cloud tarried upon the Tabernacle c. These words may seem superfluous saith Maimonides P. III. More Nevochim cap. 50. unto those who do not consider the intention of Moses in this Relation Which was to confute the conceit of prophane People who imagined the reason of the Israelites staying so long in the Wilderness was because they lost their way For the Arabians he saith in his days still called the Wilderness in which they travelled the wandring Desert fancying the Israelites here bewildred as we speak and could not find their way out but wandred like Men in the dark backward and forward not knowing which way to turn themselves Therefore the Scripture punctually shows that all their Removals which were irregular and the Time they rested in any Place which was very unequal being sometimes for eighteen Years some only for one Day or one Night were all ordered by a special direction of God For which Cause all the Circumstances of their Motion are recited so particularly by Moses Which shows also that the way from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea on the Borders of the Land of Canaan was a plain known and beaten Road of about eleven days Journey which it was not easie for them to miss And therefore the Cause of their going about and of their staying forty years in the Wilderness is that which Moses relates Verse 23 Ver. 23. At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the Tents c. This is the usual recapitulation of what goes before See Chapt. II. 34. IV. 49. VI. 21. And here was the more necessary because it gives an account of a most material thing their long stay in the Desert through which God thought fit to lead them XIII Exod. 17 18. They kept the charge of the LORD Moved or rested according to the Direction which God gave them At the commandment of the LORD See v. 18. By the hand of Moses By his Ministry who told them they were to be guided in their Motions by the Cloud And therefore they expected no other Commandment but that the LORD being in that Cloud and telling them by its Motion or Rest what they should do And when it did move no question it was so leisurely as that they their Children and Cattel might follow it with ease and be able to take their necessary Refreshment It is observable that in all these verses 18 20 23. where it is said they journeyed or rested al pi at the Mouth which we well translate at the Commandment of the LORD Onkelos renders it at the Mouth or Commandment of the WORD of the LORD Which WORD he takes to have given to Moses all the Commandments he received For so he translates those words XXV Exod. 22. And there will I meet thee by these and I will prepare or appoint my WORD to thee there to deliver that is the Divine Oracles and Answers to him CHAP. X. Chapter X Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying Verse 1 This Commandment concerning the Trumpets it is very likely was given before but not mentioned till now when there was an occasion for one principal use of them viz. the removal of their Camp v. 11. Ver. 2. Make thee two Trumpets There were several Verse 2 sorts of Trumpets of different form among the Ancients as Eustathius shows upon Homer's Iliad Ε p. 1138. where he mentions six The second of which was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 turned up round like a Ram's horn which he saith the Egyptians used it being found out by Osiris when they called the People to their Sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It was called in their Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now in this Moses opposed the Egyptians which they would do well to take notice of who make their Customs to be of the greatest Antiquity for those which he here ordered to be made were long such as we use at present So Josephus tells us in whom there is a large description of them Lib. III. Antiq. cap. 11. where he saith they were a Cubit long and narrow like a Pipe but wider as ours are at the bottom Though only two be now ordered for present use it did not hinder their making more hereafter when both Priests and People also were multiplied See 2 Chron. V. 12. where in Solomon's time there were an hundred and twenty Priests sounding with Trumpets And Josephus mentions a vast number more Lib. VIII Antiq. cap. 2. Of silver These being Sacred Trumpets as Josephus frequently calls them it was fit they should be made of this pure Metal which gave them also a shriller sound Of one whole piece shalt thou make them As he did the Candlestick XXV Exod. 31. which made them the more firm and apter to give a certain and distinct sound That thou mayest use them for the calling of the Assembly and for the journeying of the Camps These are the two great uses for which they were designed Unto which some think a third is added v. 9. See there It is certain that in v. 10. another use of them is assigned Ver. 3. And when they i. e. The Priests v. 8. Shall blow With an equal and continued sound Verse 3 With them With both the Trumpets as appears from v. 4. All the Assembly shall assemble themselves to thee By this kind of sound with both the Trumpets the People understood that the whole Congregation was called to meet together At the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Which seems to have been the usual place where they assembled and made their meeting the more solemn because it was before the LORD Ver. 4. And if they blow but with one Trumpet then Verse 4 the Princes which are Heads c. If only one Trumpet made the sound before-mentioned it was intended to summon only the Princes of Israel to attend Moses Shall gather themselves to thee At the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation as was said before Ver. 5. When ye blow an alarm When they did Verse 5 not simply blow with a long even and plain blast but with an interrupted and a broken or trembling sound which had as the Jews say a plain Note before and after that a quavering We generally explain it by a Tara-tan-tara
derived its Original from hence was Seventy two and makes it appear they were only Seventy and with Moses their Head Seventy one sect 8. And it is not unworthy our notice that about the same time as he observes sect 12. that this number of Seventy Judges was here constituted in the Wilderness the great Judicature in Areopagus was constituted among the Greeks viz. in the Reign of Cecrops the first King of Athens after the Ogygian Flood when according to Eusebius the People of Israel were brought out of Egypt The Marmora Arundeliana indeed say this Court was erected in the time of Cranaus but that makes no great difference for he was the Successor of Cecrops We do not find of what number it consisted but it is certain it was the highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all the Courts among the Greeks And it is no less observable that as that Court began about the same time with the Constitution of this among the Hebrews so they both ended in the Reign of the Emperor Vespasian as the said Mr. Selden shows in that Book cap. 16. sect 10. And bring them unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation That there they might be as it were consecrated unto God and that the People might know they received their Authority from him That they may stand there with thee As those Men who were to be sharers with him in his Authority and were like to him in Wisdom Piety and Descent So Maimonides glosses upon these words in Hilk Sanhedr cap. 2. where he saith none were made Members of the Sanhedrim but Priests and Levites and such of the Israelites as were descended from the noblest Families and quotes these words to prove it Verse 17 Ver. 17. And I will come down In a visible manner verse 25. And talk with thee there To declare perhaps in their Audience that he appointed them to the Office of being the Assistants of Moses in the Government And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee and put it upon them He did not take away from Moses any of the Gifts which he had bestowed upon him nor did he diminish them but conferred upon these Men some of the Gifts which are here meant by Spirit viz. of Wisdom and Judgment and Courage with all others that were needful in a Governor This R. Solomon Jarchi illustrates by the comparison of a great Lamp set up in a room at which many others are lighted without the least diminution of its Light See further verse 25. And they shall bear the burden of the People with thee By this it appears it was the Spirit of Government which God intended to give them that they might ease Moses by assisting him with the same Authority that he had to hinder or to appease such Mutinies as now the People were faln into That thou bear it not thy self alone That all the Murmurings of the People might not be only against him but some of their Complaints might be diverted unto others Who might also help him in the judging of such Causes as had hitherto been reserved to him alone For it is plain that these Seventy Persons made an higher Court than any of those constituted by the advice of Jethro Cornelius Bertram indeed fansies that these Rulers of Thousands Hundreds Fifties and Tens not being sufficient for the business committed to them though he likewise conceives they had some of their several Families joyned with them God appointed these Seventy for their assistance to whom they were to bring all Causes which they could not determine before they troubled Moses with them Lib. de Repub. Jud. cap. 6. But our learned Mr. Thorndike in his Rights of the Church chap. 2. hath well observed that those Captains were to be in place only during the Pilgrimage of the Wilderness For when they came to the Land of Promise the Law provided that Judges and Ministers should be ordained in every City XVI Deut. 18. who if there fell any difference about the Law were to repair to the place where God dwelt to the Successors of Moses and these Seventy for Resolution in it XVII Deut. 11 12. For as he judiciously notes in his Review p. 69. sutable to what is here delivered they were assumed to assist Moses in his great Office of judging the hardest Causes and by that Law XVII Deut. 8 c. were afterwards made a standing Court resident at the Place of the Tabernacle to judge the last Result of all Causes concerning the Law and to determine all Matter of Right not determined by the Letter of the same Ver. 18. And say thou unto the People All that he said hitherto concerned Moses himself in answer to his Request Now he tells him what he should Verse 18 say to the People in answer to their Complaint Sanctifie your selves Here the word Sanctifie seems to signifie no more but to prepare and make themselves ready to receive what they desired So the Chaldee expounds it and so the word is translated by us several times in the Book of Jeremiah VI. 4. XII 3. LI. 28. Against to morrow He seems at the same time to gratifie Moses and satisfie them for his setting the Seventy Elders before the LORD and their eating Flesh succeed one another Or else he immediately gathered the Elders and the next day the Quails came for their Food And ye shall eat Flesh for ye have wept in the Ears of the LORD c. You shall have what you long for with such vehemence that it hath made you utter Complaints against the LORD Verse 19 Ver. 19. Ye shall eat not one day As they did about a Year ago XVI Exod. 12 13. Nor two days nor five days c. Not for a short time only Verse 20 Ver. 20. But even a whole Month. So long the Hebrews gather from hence they staid in this part of the Wilderness of Paran Or rather a little longer For they came hither on the twenty third Day of the second Month in the Even on which if we suppose the Fire to have burnt among them v. 1. and that the next Morning which is scarce credible they lusted after Flesh and in a tumultuous manner demanded it of Moses who promised they should have it we must allow a little time for the constituting of the Seventy Elders And suppose it was done on the twenty fifth Day and that the next Day the Quails came as we translate it they were two Days in gathering them From whence if we begin this Month it will appear they stayed here longer than that space Vntil it come out at your Nostrils Till you be glutted with it and vomit it up so violently that it come not only out at your Mouth but at your Nostrils And it be loathsom to you Which was both the Cause and the Effect of Vomiting Because that ye have despised the LORD Forgetting all that he had done for them as if it had been nothing and slighting his Servant
the power of their Gods to effect such things Nor could they except against the Bible because of the strange things there reported the like Wonders being commonly believed among themselves Which if they were devised by the Gentile Writers it was in all likelyhood out of this Sacred History that they might not seem to come behind the Jews in any thing which might give credit to their own Religion If Maimonides had been acquainted with such things as these he would not have said that all this which hapned to Balaam in the way to Balak was done in a Prophetical Vision P. II. More Nevochim cap. 42. which is the Conceit of R. Levi ben Gersom also who compares this with what we read I Hos 3 c. concerning the Prophets taking a Wife of Whoredoms c. and denies the literal sence merely because he could not imagine how an Ass should be made to speak No nor could he or any Man else tell how such a Representation could be made to the Prophet's imagination in a Vision but by the power of God to whom the one was as easie as the other What have I done unto thee that thou hast smote me these three times There was some cause for his Foot was crushed and he fell with her but the Ass could not help it Ver. 29. And Balaam said unto the Ass One would Verse 29 have expected that he should have been astonished and struck as dumb as the Ass naturally was to hear her speak so plain and expostulate with him But he was in a rage or rather fury so that for the present he did not consider any thing but her untoward crosness St. Peter observes so much when he saith the dumb Ass rebuked the madness of the Prophet Where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is unusual in the Greek Language signifying that he was beside himself not knowing what he said or did partly out of Anger and partly because he was possessed with an eager desire and hope to serve Balak and get the Riches and honour he promised him now that he had got leave of God to go to him Because thou hast mocked me Or as the Arabick Version printed at Paris translates it thrown me in the dirt But they seem to have read the word other ways than it is in the Hebrew where it signifies either mocking or exposing to Scorn and Laughter I would there were a Sword in my hand for now would I kill thee This shows the heighth of his Rage to be thus crossed in his Designs and as the Jewish Doctors take it the height of his folly also that he should pretend to be able to destroy the whole Congregation of Israel with his Inchantments who needed a Sword to kill a poor Ass Verse 30 Ver. 30. And the Ass said unto Balaam am not I thine Ass This doth not prove that the Ass understood what Balaam said and thereupon returned this pertinent Answer but that the same power which made the Ass speak at first continued to form such an Answer as might convince Balaam of his Error Vpon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day The Hebrew words will not bear this sence but are exactly rendred in the Margin of our Bibles ever since thou wast that is a Rider ever since thou beganst to ride as Aben-Ezra expounds it Whence many render it from thy youth which may be supposed to be a long time Balaam in all likelyhood being now no young Man but for many years a famous Prophet Was I ever wont to do so unto thee Hast thou not had sufficient Experience in so many years as I have served thee of my sure going As much as to say thou shouldst have thought some unwonted Cause had forced me to do three times what I dever did before And he said Nay He could not but allow the truth of what was spoken by the Ass Ver. 31. Then the LORD opened the Eyes of Balaam Verse 31 He was not blind before but his Eyes were held as the Eyes of the Men of Sodom were who could not see Lot's door though they found their way to their own home XIX Gen. 1. And he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way and his Sword drawn in his hand He understood the true Cause of the Asses turning aside and falling under him And he bowed down his head and fell flat upon his face He first bowed his Head and then his whole Body in token of his most profound Reverence Ver. 32. And the Angel of the LORD said unto Verse 32 him wherefore hast thou smitten thy Ass these three times This serves to teach us saith Maimonides not to use Cruelty towards Beasts but to treat them gently and mercifully More Nevochim P. III. cap. 17. or rather as another of them makes the Angel say to Balaam If I am commanded to reprove thee for thy Injustice to thy Ass how much more for thy wicked Intention to destroy a whole Nation But the drift of this Speech seems to be to reprehend the brutish stupidity of the Prophet in not apprehending some extraordinary Hand of God which turned his Ass aside so oft and at last made her speak Behold I went out to withstand thee I was the cause of thy Asses turning out of the way and falling down by my standing in the Path to oppose thee and stop thy proceedings v. 22. Because thy way is perverse before me His Intentions and Purposes were not sincere and honest for pretending to obey God he designed if he could to serve Balak The word we translate perverse signifies perplexed and intricate in the Arabian Language and so Bochartus thinks it should be translated here Verse 33 Ver. 33. And the Ass saw me and turned away from me these three times I was merciful unto thee in letting the Ass see me which saved thy Life as it here follows Vnless the Ass had turned from me surely now I had slain thee and saved her alive It had cost thee thy life if the Ass had gone forward and thy Life alone for I would not have done any hurt to her Ver. 34. And Balaam said unto the Angel of the LORD I have sinned It is not certain that this refers to any sense he had of the perverse disposition of his Heart for it may have respect only to his outrageousness against his Ass which he confesses was without cause For I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me Or rather But I knew not c. for this seems to be said in excuse of himself from his ignorance that the Ass was turned out of the way by the Angel Now therefore if it displease thee I will get me back again He would not understand the Angel right who did not find fault with his going to Balak but with his going with such bad Intentions Ver. 35. And the Angel of the LORD said unto Balaam Go with the Men. As God had before bidden him v.
in Egypt See this there explained And she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their Sister Who seems to have been born before Moses if not before Aaron II Exod. 4. Ver. 60. And unto Aaron was born Nadab and Abihu Eleazar and Ithamar VI Exod. 23. where he tells the name of their Mother Ver. 61. And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered Verse 60 strange Fire before the LORD See X Lev. 2. Verse 61 and the third Chapter of this Book v. 4. But Eleazar who was the eldest next to them was now alive and made High-Priest and it is likely Ithamar also being under Twenty years old when the People murmured upon the Report of the Spies and so not cut off with that wicked Generation XVI 29. All this is here recounted to show that the Tribe of Levi was preserved by the blessing of God as well as the rest of the Israelites though they were to have no Inheritance in the Land of Canaan Ver. 62. And those that were numbred of them were Verse 62 twenty and three thousand c. So they were a thousand more than at the last numbring III. 39. For they were not numbred among the Children of Israel But by themselves for the reason following Because there was no Inheritance given them among the Children of Israel For God was their Inheritance as he told them XVIII 20 c. And therefore they were ordered not to be numbred Thirty eight years ago no more than now I Numb 49 c. The Jews are something curious in their Observations upon these words among or in the midst of the Children of Israel from whence they conclude that the Levites might have Lands out of the Bounds of the Land of Canaan though not within it among their Brethren Ver. 63. These are they that were numbred by Moseâ— Verse 63 and Eleazar the Priest who numbred the Children of Israel in the plains of Moab c. By a special command of God v. 1 2 c. Ver. 64. But among these there was not a Man of them whom Moses and Aaron the Priest numbred when they numbred the Children of Israel in the Wilderness of Verse 64 Sinai See the first Chapter of this Book v. 1 2 c. so exactly were God's Threatnings fulfilled as well as his Promises Chapter XXVII Verse 65 Ver. 65. For the LORD had said of them they shall surely die in the Wilderness He had pronounced this irreversible Sentence upon the whole Congregation XIV 23 28 29. where he swears they should not enter into the Land of Canaan because they had brought or entertained an evil report of it See also II Deut. 14 15. And there was not left a Man of them save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh and Joshua the Son of Nun. Whom God promised to spare because they were of another Spirit XV. 24 30 38. And their survival was as remarkable an instance of the truth of God's word as the Death of all the rest CHAP. XXVII Verse 1 Ver. 1. THEN came the Daughters of Zelophehad the Son of Hepher c. Who are mentioned before XXVI 33. just as they are here only their Genealogy is here more fully set out that their Father was the Grandson of Manasseh the Son of Joseph from whom he was lineally descended but left no Sons behind him Now these young Women hearing Moses say as he doth in the foregoing Chapter that the LORD commanded the Land of Canaan should be divided among those that were now numbred and observing that only Males from Twenty years old were numbred v. 2. presently apprehended that they being Females were excluded from having any Inheritance among the Israelites and so the Family of the Hepherites XXVI 32. would be extinguished This was the ground of what follows Whereby it appears that every body was immediately acquainted with the Laws which Moses received from God and that there was a faithful Register kept of every one that was born in every Family and Tribe to prevent all Disputes about the true Heirs to Mens Estates Ver. 2. And they stood before Moses c. To represent Verse 2 before him and the rest of the Judges who were now assembled the Case which I have mentioned Before Moses and Eleazar the Priest and before the Princes and all the Congregation These made up the greatest Court of Judicature that at any time sate For by Princes are meant either the Heads of the Tribes or the highest of the Judges appointed XVIII Exod. called the Heads of the People v. 25. And by all the Congregation is meant the LXX Elders mentioned in this Book XI 24. For they are called col ha edah the whole Congregation and sometimes only Edah the Congregation as R. Solomon observes See Bertram de Republ. Jud. p. 72. Now at the Head of all these sat Moses and next to him Eleazar the Priest By the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Near to which this august Assembly it is likely was wont to sit when they met together that Moses might presently if there were occasion go and consult with God himself in any difficult matter that came before them And thus Mr. Selden observes out of Maimonides that in future times the great Sanhedrim followed the Tabernacle sitting sometimes in one place sometimes in another according as that was settled As after they came to Canaan it was first at Shiloh then at Mizpeh and afterwards at Gilgal Nob Gibeon the House of Obed-Edom till at last it was fixed in Jerusalem Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 15. n. 4. As concerning that which the Talmudists say concerning the proceedings in this case of Zelophehad's Daughters nothing certain can be determined But they give this account of it That they first brought this Cause into the Courts appointed by the advice of Jethro XVIII Exod. 21. and began with the Rulers of ten who knowing not what to say to them they went to those of fifty and from thence to the Centurions and at last to the Chiliarchs None of which durst adventure to give Judgment but referred the Cause by reason of its difficulty to Moses who brought it to the SCHECHINAH as they speak i. e. to the Divine Majesty Seld. ib. cap. 16. n. 1. Verse 3 Ver. 3. Saying Our Father died in the Wilderness Among the rest mentioned v. 64 65. of the foregoing Chapter They seem to have drawn up their Cause in the form of a Petition or as Mr. Selden speaks in the Legal Phrase presented a Libel to the Court containing the intire matter of their Petition and that artificially enough And he was not one of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the Company of Korah They use the very words of Moses concerning that rebellious Company XVI 11. And instance in this Sin rather than any other either to show that their Father had a due regard to the Authority of Moses who they hoped therefore would be the more favourable to his Posterity or
rather to insinuate that he was not guilty of such a Crime as might make Men justly forfeit what they had for their Children as well as for themselves For all the Family of Dathan and Abiram perished and it is taken notice of as a singular Mercy that the Children of Korah did not XXVI 10 11. But died in his own Sin i. e. For his own Sin which God had declared should not affect the Children XIV 31. For to that General Sin in which all the People were engaged these words seem to refer And so it was his own sin not with respect to the rest of the People for they were all alike guilty but with respect to his Children it being a personal Guilt in which they were not concerned The Jews commonly say that Zelophehad was the Man that was stoned for gathering Sticks on the Sabbath-day For which they have no authority but a fancy of R. Aquiba who is sharply reproved for it by another considerable Rabbi who saith it is a rash Judgment for if it were true since the Scripture conceals it he ought not to have revealed it but hath reproached a just Man for any thing that appears See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 1. sect 9. And had no Son As was found when the People were numbred XXVI 33. Ver. 4. Why should the name of our Father be done Verse 4 away from among his Family One Family of the Tribe of Manasseh viz. the Hepherites being in danger to be wholly extinguished R. Judah will have the word Name in this place to signifie as much as hereditary possession and so he thinks it signifies XXV Deut. 6. as Mr. Selden observes out of Pesikta Lib. de Successionibus cap. 14. Because he hath no Son Merely for want of Issue-Male when he hath left many Daughters Give unto us therefore a possession among the Brethren of our Father Let us come in for a share among those that are descended from Manasseh Which if they did the Name of their Father could not be thereby preserved but by the Son of one of these Daughters taking upon him not the Name of his Father that begat him but of his Mother's Grand-father viz. Hepher which was ordered afterwards by a general Law XXV Deut. 6. Verse 5 Ver. 5. And Moses brought their Cause before the LORD This was too difficult a Cause though there seemed to be a great deal of Reason on their side to be judged by the great Court before-mentioned and therefore it was referred to Moses alone as other weighty Causes used to be See XV. 32. XXV 4. for neither Eleazar nor any other Person before whom it was brought v. 2. are here mentioned as the Judges of this matter And he durst not judge it though the equity appeared very plain without bringing it before the LORD for his direction which he could have upon all important occasions XXV Exod. 22. VII Numb 89. Verse 6 Ver. 6. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying This shows that the Cause was devolved upon Moses alone for the LORD tells him and no other Person how it should be determined Verse 7 Ver. 7. The Daughters of Zelophehad c. The LORD approves of their Claim and gives a Sentence in their favour Thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their Father's Brethren Because the word for them in the Hebrew is of the Masculine Gender some think it signifies they were to be considered as if they had been Sons And thou shalt cause the Inheritance of their Father to pass unto them So that they were to enjoy what would have faln to his share had he been alive ob indutam defuncti patris personam as the Lawyers speak because they stood in the place of their dead Father and represented his Person And accordingly they put in their Claim at the Division of the Land and had their Portion therein according to this Decision XVII Josh 2 3 c. How the Portion was divided among them according to the Hebrew Doctors Mr. Selden shows at large in his Book de Successionibus in bona defunctii cap. 23. Ver. 8. And thou shall speak unto the Children of Israel Verse 8 saying Upon this occasion he passes this special Case into a General Law to be hereafter observed If a Man die and have no Son then ye shall cause his Inheritance to pass unto his Daughter It being a reason as Maimonides observes More Nevochim P. III. cap. 42. that what a Man leaves should come to his Family and to those who are next of Kin to him for the nearer any Person is to us we are inclined by natural affection to have the greater regard to him But all this is to be understood of Land as for Money and moveable Goods which were of his own getting the Father might dispose of them by his Will to whom he pleased Ver. 9. And if he have no Daughter then ye shall give his Inheritance unto his Brethren Unless his Father was alive who undoubtedly the Jews say was Verse 9 the next Heir but not mentioned because it was not necessary Or as some say because it was too sad a thing to speak of a Fathers burying all his Children without Issue See Selden de Success in bona defuncti cap. 12. Where he observes that according to the Rule v. 11. it must come to the Father because he is nearest of kin to it And therefore the Jews interpret this as if Moses had said If he have Daughter he shall give his inheritance to the next of his Kindred to his Father for instance and afterwards ye shall give it to his Brethren i. e. the Children of his Father And the same is to be said of the Grandchildren unto whom the Brethren of a Father dying without issue are heirs For the Grandfather stands in the same relation to a Father that a Father doth to his Son Verse 11 Ver. 11. And if his Father have no Brethren then ye shall give it to his Kinsman that is next of Kin to him of his Family and he shall possess it To his Brothers Children or to those who are descended from them or from his Fathers ' Brethren But no consideration was to be had of his Mother's Kindred as the Jewish Lawyers say who could never be capable of the Inheritance Which they gather not only from these words which determine the Inheritance to his Family i. e. the Family of the Father before-mentioned not to the Family of the Mother but from the frequent mention of the Father of Mischpachoth which we translate Families or rather Kindreds of the Fathers in the Books of Moses Chronicles Ezra and others From whence this solemn Maxim of the Talmudists The Family or Kindred of the Mother is never called by the name of Kindred That is it hath not the effect of a Kindred in Successions to Inheritances Which is the same with that in the ancient Book Siphri Families follow the Fathers as Mr. Selden