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
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-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
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
offered upon every New Moon and every day of the Feast of unleavened Bread v. 11 19 c. whereas that in Leviticus is one young Bullock two Rams and seven Lambs Ver. 28. And their Meat-offering of flour mingled Verse 28 with Oyl three tenth deals unto one Bullock c. The very same that is prescribed to accompany the Burnt-offering on the New Moon and in the Feast of Unleavened Bread v. 12 20. Ver. 29. And a several tenth deal unto one Lamb Verse 29 throughout the seven Lambs So it is ordained before in the former Cases v. 13 21. Verse 30 Ver. 30. And one Kid of the Goats to make an atonement for you Beside the Kid prescribed for the same purpose when the two Loaves were offered XXIII Lev. 19. which was accompanied with two Lambs for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings So that there were a great many Sacrifices offered at this famous Festival though it did not last so long as that of the Passover Verse 31 Ver. 31. Ye shall offer them beside the continual Burnt-offering He still takes care that this daily Sacrifice should not be omitted by reason of such a number of other Sacrifices which were to attend upon it but not to put it by v. 10 15 23. They shall be unto you without blemish This might have been sufficiently understood from what was said of the daily Offering v. 3. and of all the other prescrib'd in this Chapter v. 11 19. But least any prophane Person might think there was no need to be so scrupulous about these Sacrifices because it is only said two young Bullocks one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year v. 27. these words are also here added to take away all doubt they shall be unto you without blemish i. e. as perfect as all the rest are ordered to be It is observable that there is not so much as one Peace-offering ordered in all this Chapter which was a sort of Sacrifice that was most for the benefit of those that brought them to the Altar But all Burnt-offerings except a few Sin-offerings which were wholly for the honour of God and acknowledgment of his Sovereign Dominion over them and of the Duty they owed him And as the Sin-offerings were shadows of that great Sacrifice of God's own Son which was one day to be offered for the Sins of Men out of his infinite love to them so the whole Burnt-offerings which were always of the most perfect Creatures the finest Flour the choicest Fruits of the Earth and the best Liquor were shadows of that excellent degree of Piety which the Son of God intended to bring into the World which would move Men out of love to God to give themselves wholly up to him and devote all they had even their own Lives to his Service CHAP. XXIX Chapter XXIX Ver. 1. AND in the seventh Month. Which was Verse 1 anciently the first Month of the Year but now the seventh reckoning from that wherein the Passover was kept which for a special reason was made the first See X Exod. 2. On the first day of the Month ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work So it was ordained before in XXIII Lev. 24 25. It is a day of blowing of Trumpets unto you In that place of Leviticus it is called a memorial of blowing of Trumpets from Morning until Evening Which the Jews fancy was to awaken them to Repentance upon the great Day of Expiation which followed on the tenth day of this Month. But it was manifestly intended quite contrary to excite them unto Joy and Gladness For Zichron teruah is a memorial of Jubilation Triumph and Shouting for Joy the word teruah being never used in Scripture but for a sound or shout of Gladness as the Chaldee word Jabbaba which is here used by the Paraphrast always signifies And this agrees with their Notion who think it was a special remembrance of the Creation of the World at which the Angels rejoyced Or it might be ordained to stir up the People to a grateful remembrance of all God's Benefits the Year past Whatsoever was the cause certain it is this seventh Month was very famous on this account that more solemn days were to be kept in it than in all the Year besides And upon that account the People might be awakened by this blowing of Trumpets to observe them aright Verse 2 Ver. 2. And shall offer a Burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD Over and above all other Sacrifices which were heretofore ordered upon this day as appears from v. 6. One Bullock one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year without blemish This is less than was appointed upon the foregoing Festivals XXVIII 19 27. because those very Sacrifices were also to be offered upon this day on another account as I shall observe on v. 6. Verse 3 Ver. 3. And their Meat-offering shall be of flour mingled with Oyl three tenth deals for a Bullock and two for a Ram. This is the proportion appointed by a general Rule for all Sacrifices of this kind See the XVth Chapter of this Book v. 6 9. Ver. 4. And one tenth deal for one Lamb c. So it is there appointed v. 4. Ver. 5. And one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering to make an atonement for you As is appointed in the foregoing Festivals XXVIII 15 22 30. Ver. 6. Beside the Burnt-offering of the Morning with Verse 5 his Meat-offering It was appointed before that in Verse 6 the beginning of every Month there should be a Burnt-offering offered of two Bullocks c. XXVIII 11 12. which was not to be omitted in the beginning of this Month but these other Sacrifices added to the Offerings of every New Moon Which made this a greater New Moon than any other being the first Moon of the old Civil Year And the daily Burnt-offering and his Meat-offering and their Drink-offering With which the Solemnity of the Day began and then followed the proper Sacrifices belonging to it According to their manner Or in the order which God appointed which I observed before on XXVIII 11. was this That first the daily Burnt-Sacrifice was offered then the Sacrifices appointed for the first day of every Month and then those appointed for this first day of the seventh Month. For a sweet savour a Sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD Which was acceptable to the Divine Majesty when performed according to his directions Ver. 7. And ye shall have on the tenth day of this Verse 7 Month an holy Convocation This solemn Assembly is ordered twice before in the Book of Leviticus XVI 29. XXIII 27. and here repeated perhaps for the sake of Eleazar and Joshua who were newly advanced to their several Offices that they might take special Notice of it and see it observed And ye shall afflict your Souls That was the special intention of it as we read in both the forenamed places that they might receive the benefit of the atonement