am thy part and thine inheritance among the Children of Israel For they were maintained in his House and lived upon his Altar and fed from his Table as it is explained in XIII Josh 14. The Sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance as he said unto them Which is given as the reason why Joshua gave them no Inheritance And see v. 33. of that Chapter where the LORD God of Israel is said to be their Inheritance Who it appears by the foregoing part of this Chapter and other places made such an ample Provision for them that if he had given them any part of the Land of Canaan together with it there had been too great an inequality between them and the rest of the Tribes of Israel For without any share in the Land their Portion was far richer than that of any other Persons whatsoever I have said enough to prove this already but it may not be amiss to set it before the Reader again a little more distinstly As they had yearly the First-fruits of the whole Country which was at least the sixtieth part of the Fruits it produced and the tenth part of the Tithe given to the Levites as it follows below v. 26. and all Free-will-offerings together with the Money which arose out of Persons and Things devoted unto God and all the Firstlings of Cows Sheep and Goats and the Redemption-Money for the Firstlings of such Creatures as were unclean So they had all the Meat-offerings Offerings for Sin and Trespass-offerings together with the Breast and Shoulder of all Peace-offerings and the Skins of all Burnt-offerings and the Loaves made of the first Dough and the Shew-bread and as Josephus and others expound XVIII Deut. 3. a considerable part of every beast that was killed for private use besides the Cities and Land about them which were assigned to the Levites Which if well weighed there will appear a vast difference between the Priests and the rest of the People For the First-fruits alone if they were not less than the sixtieth part of the product of the Country might seem sufficient especially if the Firstlings be added the Priests not being the sixtieth part of the People no nor the hundred part as learned Men have computed See Bonfrerius Ver. 21. And behold Now he gives the Levites Verse 21 notice of the Recompence he would make them for their Service as he had told the Priests what they should have for theirs And Aaron hath the delivery of this Grant made to them from God that they might see he did not mind himself and the Interest of his own Family only I have given the Children of Levi all the tenth in Israel See XXVII Lev. 30. and 2 Chron. XXXI 5 6. where they are distinctly mentioned Aben-Ezra thinks the tenth rather than any other part was assigned because it was a perfect Number Ten being in simple Numbers the highest to which we can arise without repeating the Numbers under it For it is as he speaks the beginning of the second Combination and the end of the first whereupon all Numbers do depend Which our Mr. Mede hath expressed in my judgment far better who looks upon it as God's favourable dealing with men in requiring but the Tenth which is in truth the least part of their Goods according to the first Division For when we proceed beyond Ten we begin to make a new Division as Eleven is ten and one c. But we need not have recourse to such Niceties See upon Genesis XXVIII 22. For an Inheritance Instead of a share in the Land of Canaan which other Tribes had divided among them And a larger Inheritance this was than any other Tribe possessed for this was the smallest Tribe of all as appears by comparing the account which is given of them in the beginning of this Book For all the Males of this Tribe from a Month old and upward were but Two and twenty thousand III. 29. Whereas in the Tribe of Judah alone there were above Threescore and fourteen thousand Men of War I. 26 27. And yet the Levites had a tenth part of the product of the whole Country and the twelve Tribes had only the other nine parts among them Such a care had God of those who were peculiarly devoted to his Service For the Service which they serve c. As a Reward of their Service of which see Chapter IV. Verse 22 Ver. 22. Neither must the Children of Israel henceforth come nigh the Tabernacle of the Congregation Or rather Therefore the Children of Israel must not come nigh so as to perform any of the Offices belonging to the Priests and Levites who were appointed to do every thing belonging to the Service of God there and had their Reward for it also appointed Lest they bear sin and die Be punished with Death which is often threatned to such Presumption Ver. 23. But the Levites shall do the Service of the Verse 23 Tabernacle of the Congregation It was their work and no Bodies else and therefore no other Persons were to meddle with it That is they alone guarded the Tabernacle and afterwards the Temple opened the Gates of it kept out all Strangers i. e. all but Priests and Levites carried the Tabernacle and its Vessels when they were to be removed c. And they shall bear their Iniquity They shall die for it if they permit any one else to come there and do their work See v. 1. It shall be a Statute for ever throughout their Generations that among the Children of Israel they have no Inheritance As all other Persons were excluded from serving in the Tabernacle so they who served there were shut out from having any Inheritance among their Brethren This was made an unalterable Law which provided another separate Maintenance for them by the Tythes of all the Land as here it again follows Ver. 24. But the Tythes of the Children of Israel which Verse 24 they offer as an Heave-offering unto the LORD That the People might not grudge to pay them the Tythes for their Service he represents them as an Heave-offering which they offered to God in Gratitude to him of whom as the Supreme Landlord they held that Land Not that they were heaved up or waved before the LORD but they were of the same Nature with those things that were so offered to him i. e. Holy Things separate to his uses all which are called by this Name of Terumah v. 8. And particularly all the Offerings which God required to be freely brought for the building him a Sanctuary are called by this Name of Terumah or Heave-offering XXV Exod 2. See there I have given to the Levites to inherit The Israelites gave them to God and he gave them to the Levites for their Inheritance who had as much right to them as the other Tribes had to their Land Which was the reason he ordered they should have no Portion of the Land of Canaan with the other
here again when we thought we had been at the end of our Travels At this rate we shall never get out Whereupon he presently smote the Rock twice in a fume whereas God bad him only speak to it v. 8. To sanctifie me in the Eyes of the Children of Israel i. e. Openly to assert me to be the holy One of Israel faithful to my Promises as well as infinite in Power of which they had given the Israelites occasion to doubt by declaring some distrust of what God said to them v. 8. For these words plainly show that their Sin did not consist only in an inward Diffidence but in such outward Expressions of it in their Anger and Impatience as might be apt to breed Unbelief in the Israelites who were already too prone thereunto And it is no improbable Conjecture of a Jewish Doctor in his Book of the Death of Moses that the Divine Glory not appearing now upon this Rock as it did at Horeb XVII Exod. 6. which perhaps they expected it gave some occasion to their Unbelief Which he thinks was not so great a Sin in it self as to have deserved the following Punishment had not God in passing this Sentence had a respect to the Excellency and Dignity of their Persons in whom a Fault of this Nature was far more grievous than in an ordinary Man Therefore ye shall not bring this Congregation into the Land which I have given them They brought them into the Land of Sihon and of Og but not into Canaan which was properly the Land promised to them Verse 13 Ver. 13. This is the Water of Meribah Called Meribah-kadesh XXXII Deut. 51. to distinguish it from that Meribah mentioned XVII Exod. 7. where the Israelites were guilty of the same Crime Because the Children of Israel strove with the LORD Expostulated with him most undutifully and accused him of unkindness to them v. 3 4. And he was sanctified in them The Hebrew Doctors differ very much in their Opinions about this also Whether he was sanctified in the Waters or in the People of Israel or in Moses and Aaron Some fancy it is meant of the Waters viz. that God did himself great honour in bringing Waters again out of a Rock and therefore the Name of the place was called Kadesh from his being sanctified there Thus Chaskuni But it seems to have been called so before this being a place well known to the Edomites v. 16. The common Opinion is that he speaks of Moses and Aaron for God's Name saith R. Solomon is much revered when he doth not spare even his holy Ones X Lev. 3. But Nachmanides expounds it of the Israelites before whose face as he expounds sanctified in them God's Power and Faithfulness and Goodness appeared and who alone are mentioned in this verse not Moses and Aaron But all three Opinions in the Issue concur in this one that God made his Power c. appear in the Eyes of all the Israelites by bringing Water out of a Rock and at the same time demonstrated his Holiness and impartial Justice in punishing his greatest Friends for their Unbelief Ver. 14. And Moses sent Messengers By God's Verse 14 order as his words seem to import in II Deut. 2 3 4. From Kadesh On the Confines of the King of Edom's Country Vnto the King of Edom. When the Israelites came out of Egypt Moses speaks of Edom as governed by Dukes XV Exod. 17. for the Sons of Esau at first had no higher Title XXXVI Gen. 15 c. Not long after it seems their Posterity became Kings and now Nine and thirty Years after the Israelites coming out of Egypt they were still under Kingly Government And this King to whom Moses now sends Messengers the great Primate of Ireland takes to have been Hadar the last of those that Moses mentions XXXVI Gen. 39. who for his Inhumanity to the Children of Israel was shortly after punished with Death and the Kingdom turned again into the Government by Dukes For Moses as he thinks writing the Book of Genesis in the latter end of his Life or then adding what was necessary to what he had written before reckons immediately after Hadar several Dukes reigning all at one time in several parts of the Country which they had shared among them See Vsser Chronolog Sacra cap. 11. Thus saith thy Brother Israel In the Language of those times all that were near of Kin called one another Brethren and these two Nations descended from two twin Brothers Thou knowest For they could not but have received Intelligence before this time of such publick things All the Travel that hath befaln us How we and our Fathers before us have travelled from place to place without any certain Habitation See CV Psalm 13. Verse 15 Ver. 15. How our Fathers After several Removals from one part of Canaan to another Went down into Egypt Which was so publick a thing they being invited by Pharaoh who sent Carriages for them that the Edomites could not be ignorant of it And we have dwelt in Egypt a long time See XII Exod. 40 41. and what I have observed there And the Egyptians vexed us and our Fathers See I Exod. 11 12 13 c. Verse 16 Ver. 16. And when we cried unto the LORD he heard our voice II Exod. 23 24 25. III. 7 8. And sent an Angel See III Exod. 2 c. Maimonides here by Angel understands Moses himself for the Prophets are sometimes called Angels i. e. Messengers sent from God II Judg. 1. This he asserts in the first part and more than once in the second part of More Nevochim but it is very unreasonable to think that Moses would thus magnifie himself to the King of Edom who understood not such Language and could not but be more moved to hearken to his Embassy if he believed the Israelites were under the Conduct of a heavenly Minister who as other Jews think was Michael the Prince of the heavenly Host whom they commonly understand by the Angel here mentioned But many great Men particularly Masius think this is short of the Truth unless we understand by Michael the Eternal Son of God who was as he speaks the perpetual Prince and Director of the People of God For though he was then properly made the Messenger of the Father when he took on him our Flesh and dwelt here among us yet from the beginning it was his constant care to reconcile Men to God and preserve Religion among them So that he might be called the Angel of God before he became a Man because God the Father by him communicated with Men about all things necessary for their Good And the Jews seem to have had some obscure Notion of this For what else could Moses Gerundensis mean when he saith the Angel whom Moses saw in the Bush was the same whom Jacob calls the God of Bethel and whom he calls the Angel Redeemer of whom Moses he saith speaks in this place and in VI Deut. 21.
And the Hangings of the Court See Verse 26 XXVII Exod. 9. And the Curtain for the Door of the Court XXVI Exod 16. Which is by the Tabernacle and by the Altar round about Or as the Hebrew particle al may be translated is over or upon the Tabernacle c. That is this Curtain at the Door and the Hangings of the Court compassed the Tabernacle and the Altar of Burnt-offerings which stood at the Door of it XL Exod. 19. round about so that they were not exposed to common fight For these Gershonites had nothing to do with the Altar it self which was the Charge of the Kohathites v. 31. And the Cords of it This seems to refer not merely to the Curtain for the Door of the Court but to all that went before viz. the Cords whereby those Hangings were stretched out and fastned by Pins to the Wood-work of the Tabernacle For the Cords of that belonged to the Custody of the Sons of Merari v. 37. and we find Pins and Cords as well for the Tabernacle that is the Hangings as for the Court i. e. the Boards c. XXXV Exod. 18. For all the Service thereof Of this part of the House of God as appears from v. 31 and 36. where this is repeated with respect to the other parts of it Verse 27 Ver. 27. And of Kohath was the Family of the Amramites c. He was the second Son of Levi and had as many more Families sprung from him as from the Eldest among which was the Family of the Amramites of which were Moses and Aaron Verse 28 Ver. 28. In the number of all the Males c. Though there were four Families of the Kohathites and but two of the Gershonites yet the latter were as numerous as they within Eleven hundred Keeping the Charge of the Sanctuary Of what belonged to the holy Place which was committed to their Charge as it follows afterward and they were instructed in it betimes Verse 29 Ver. 29. The Families of the Sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle southward Between the Tabernacle ond the Standard of Reuben II. 10. Verse 30 Ver. 30. And the Chief of the House of the Father of the Families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the Son of Vzziel There was a Commander in Chief appointed over this Body of the Levites who was chosen out of the youngest Family of the Kohathites But it is observable there were no Standards belonging to any of these Bodies they being designed for other Service and not for War Ver. 31. And their Charge shall be the Ark and the Verse 31 Table and the Candlestick The Sanctuary as was said before v. 28. being committed to their Custody the Particulars are here mentioned which were the most precious of all the holy Things With which the Kohathites had the honour to be intrusted though a younger Family than those descended from Gershon because Moses and Aaron were of it being of the Family of the Amramites Which is the reason why the Kohathites are reckoned first in the next Chapter v. 2. and that of the XLVIII Cities given to the Levites by Joshua almost half of them fell to their Families XXI Josh 4 5. The Altars Both the Altar of Burnt-offerings and the Altar of Incense And the Vessels of the Sanctuary wherewith they i. e. the Priests minister See XXV Exod. 29. XXXVII 16. And the hanging That is the Vail before the most Holy Place for all other Hangings were under the care of the Gershonites v. 25 26. wherein the Ark was wrapt when they carried it IV. 5. And all the Service thereof Whatsoever belonged to this part of God's House See v. 26. and the Particulars are mentioned in the next Chapter v. 7 9 14. Ver. 32. And Eleazar the Son of Aaron shall be chief Verse 32 over the Chief of the Levites There was one Officer in chief set over each of these great Families of the Gershonites v. 24. of the Kohathites v. 30. and the Merarites v. 35. And over all these Chiefs there is now appointed a supreme Chief who was to govern them as they governed those under them and that was Eleazar who was more than a Levite being the eldest Son of Aaron the High Priest And have the over-sight of them that keep the charge of the Sanctuary But more particularly Eleazar was to super-vise those that had the Sanctuary under their care That is all the Rohathites and Elizaphan their chief v. 20. Verse 33 34. Ver. 33 34. Of Merari was the Family of the Mahlites and the Family of the Mushites c. Nothing is observable of these but that they were the fewest in number being thirteen hundred less than the Children of Gershon v. 22. Verse 35 Ver. 35. These shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle Northward Opposite to the Kohathites between the Standard of Dan and the Sanctuary II. 25. Verse 36 Ver. 36. And under the Custody and Charge of the Sons of Merari shall be the Boards of the Tabernacle c. Concerning all the things mentioned in this and in the next Verse See XXVI Exod. 15 16 c. XXVII 10 11 12 c. and the next Chapter of this Book v. 31 32. Verse 37 Ver. 37. And their Cords These are different from those before mentioned v. 27. as I noted there Verse 38 Ver. 38. But those that encamp before the Tabernacle towards the East Where the Entrance into it was Even before the Tabernacle of the Congregation Eastward He would have this Station observed as much excelling the rest Shall be Moses and Aaron and his Sons There were but three Bodies of the Levites descended from the three Sons of Levi v. 1. and therefore none left to guard this side of the Tabernacle but Moses and Aaron and their Families who lay between the Standard of Judah and the Tabernacle see Chap. II. v. 3. which was the most honourable Post as I there noted Where the Priests were with great reason placed together with the chief Governor of all Moses because they were to guard the Holy Place that none might go into it but themselves Keeping the charge of the Sanctuary Of the Entrance into it For the charge of the Children of Israel Which it concerned every one of the Children of Israel should be kept sacred See v. 7. And the Stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to Death No Man that was not of the House of Aaron though a Levite was upon the peril of his life to enter into the Sanctuary Of which they had the charge See v. 10. Ver. 39. All that were numbred of the Levites which Verse 39 Moses and Aaron numbred at the Commandment of the LORD This looks like a Contradiction to the Observation I made v. 14.16 But Aaron's numbring here in all Probability is only his agreeing that this was a true Account which Moses took of the Tribe of Levi. For Moses still continues to be alone concerned in numbring the
Bullock For a Verse 8 Burnt-offering as is manifest from v. 12. With his Meat-offering Which always attended upon Burnt-offerings XV. 9. And another young Bullock shalt thou take for a Sin-offering This being offered for the whole body of the Levites is the same Sacrifice that is ordered when the whole Congregation of Israel sinned through Ignorance IV Levit. 13 14. Ver. 9. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Tabernacle of the Congregation To the Door of it where the Altar of Burnt-offerings stood XL Verse 9 Exod. 6. And thou shalt gather the whole Assembly of the Children of Israel together The Hebrew words COL ADATH which we translate the whole Assembly frequently signifies all the Elders of Israel As in XV. 4. XXV 7. XXXV 12. And it cannot well have any other sense in this place as appears from the next Verse Verse 10 Ver. 10. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD Present them to him at the Altar And the Children of Israel The Elders of the People mentioned in the foregoing Verse For all the Children of Israel could not possibly do what is here enjoyned but some of them in the name of the rest and none so proper as their Rulers and Governors who were their Representatives Shall put their hands upon the Levites As Men used to do upon their Sacrifices Which signified the devoting of that Beast to God by him who laid his Hand on it at the Altar for such Purposes as he brought it And this was done by private Men in their Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings as well as in their Sin-offerings see I Levit. 4. III. 2. VIII 13. but the Jews observe that the whole Congregation laid their Hands only upon the Sin-offering that was offered for them IV Lev. 15. Therefore the Levites are here to be considered under that notion as is manifest from v. 19. where God is said to have given them to Aaron c. to make an Atonement for the Children of Israel For the Levites being given to God instead of the First-born by the Sanctification of which First-born to God as it is called XIII Exod. 1. the whole Family was sanctified and their Sin after a sort expiated the Offering of the Levites after this manner to God was to have the same effect that the Offering of the First-born had viz. the Sanctification and Atonement of the Children of Israel Ver. 11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Verse 11 LORD for an Offering of the Children of Israel The Hebrew words are more significant Aaron shall wave the Levites before the LORD for a Wave-offering c. I have often observed before that this Waving or Agitation too and fro before the Altar of which see XXIX Exod. 24. was a solemn Consecration of a thing to God as a Sacrifice And therefore the Levites were presented unto him under the same Consideration as the First-born were But it was impossible for Aaron to wave them as he did some parts of a Sacrifice and therefore it is probable that he lifting up his Hands and turning about to all sides as he did when he offered a Wave-offering they at his Command imitated the same motion and so were offered up to God and became wholly his See ver 21. That they may execute the Service of the LORD Or as it is more significantly in the Margin that they may be to execute c. Which expresses the Intention of this waving them before the LORD that being wholly given up to him they might become meet to execute that Service to which he appointed them at his House Ver. 12. And the Levites shall lay their Hands upon the Heads of the Bullocks It being evident from v. 19. that the Levites were considered as an expiatory Sacrifice Verse 12 and yet not being to be devoted to Death no more than the First-born were these two Sacrifices one for Sin the other a Burnt-offering were substituted in their stead Upon which therefore they were to lay their Hands that the Sin which the Children of Israel laid upon them v. 10. might be transferred to these Beasts by laying their Hands upon them to be actually sacrificed unto God by shedding their Blood The one for a Sin-offering and the other for a Burnt-offering unto the LORD The Burnt-offering was mentioned first v. 8. being the most ancient of all Offerings from the beginning of the World But the Sin-offering is offered first to make the other acceptable And so it was when Aaron was consecrated VIII Levit. 14.18 and when he offered for himself IX Levit. 8 12. and for the People v. 15 16. and to name no more in the Cleansing of a Leper XIV 19. To make an Atonement for the Levites The Sin-offering properly made the Atonement and the Burnt-offering declared its acceptance Verse 13 Ver. 13. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron and his Sons As they were brought before the LORD because they were to be given unto him v. 9. So now they were set before Aaron and his Sons because they were given by God to them v. 19. And offer them for an Offering unto the LORD Or as it is in the Hebrew and wave them for a Wave-offering unto the LORD Some imagine that as Aaron waved them before v. 11. so now they were in like manner waved by Moses But it seems to me more probable that the meaning is they being waved c. should be set before Aaron and his Sons and presented to them as God's Gift according to his order III. 9. And so these words ought to be translated after thou hast waved them for a Wave-offering That is after Aaron by his Order had waved them And thus the like words must be understood v. 15. See there Ver. 14. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among Verse 14 the Children of Israel By the fore-mentioned Purification v. 7. and Oblation v. 10 11. And the Levites shall be mine They became his by this solemn Oblation of them to him v. 11. Ver. 15. And after that shall the Levites go in To Verse 15 the Court of the Tabernacle where they were to attend upon the Priests and assist them in their Ministry and in taking down the Tabernacle when it was to remove To do the Service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation In the Court of the Priests where the Altar of Burnt-offering stood For into the Sanctuary it self none but the Priests entred and there was no Ministry there in which the Levites were to assist And thou shalt cleanse them and offer them for an Offering Or rather after thou hast cleansed them and offered c. according as was directed v. 7 11. Ver. 16. For they are wholly given unto me c. Verse 16 God commanded them before to be taken from among the Children of Israel III. 45. and now they are given to him The word is repeated twice in the Hebrew given given which we translate wholly given because the Children of Israel
on this day made Ye shall not do any work therein It was to be observed as strictly as a Sabbath XVI Lev. 31. XXIII 32. Wherein they were to abstain not meerly from servile Work but from all manner of Work whatsoever XVI Lev. 29. XXIII 28 30. Verse 8 Ver. 8. And ye shall offer a Burnt-offering unto the LORD for a sweet savour Endeavour to procure acceptance of the rest of the Sacrifices of the Day with this whole Burnt-offering beside the daily Sacrifice as it follows v. 11. One Bullock one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year c. The same that were appointed on the foregoing Solemnity v. 2. except the monthly Offering v. 6. to which was added another Ram for a Burnt-offering XVI Lev. 5. as a devout Acknowledgment that they owned him alone for their Soveraign LORD Verse 9 10. Ver. 9 10 And their Meat-offering shall be of fine flour c. The Meat-offering attending these Burnt-offerings were to be in the same proportion as was before ordered v. 3 4. Verse 11 Ver. 11. One Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering As was appointed in the foregoing Solemnity v. 5. Beside the Sin-offering of Atonement Mentioned XVI Lev. 9 c. whose Blood was carried by the High-Priest into the most holy place which was done in no other Sacrifice but that and the Bullock which was offered as a Sin-offering for the Family of Aaron on the same day XVI Lev. 14. And the continual Burnt-offering and the Meat-offering of it and their Drink-offerings These were no more to be omitted on the great Day of Atonement than on any other day but the Service of the day was to begin with the continual Burnt-offering and then followed the Burnt-offerings with the Meat and Drink-offerings belonging to them and the Sin-offering here prescribed and then the Sacrifice of Atonement and all that is ordered in the XVIth of Leviticus for the Expiation of the Sins of all the People of Israel Which Sacrifice the present Jews now wanting and yet being sensible of the necessity of some Satisfaction but not believing in our blessed Saviour who hath fully made it for all Mankind they are in a lamentable plunge and are put to most wretched shifts to devise something to supply the place of the Sacrifice of Atonement which was wont to be made for them One is their own death it being the continual Prayer of every one of them upon their Death-bed Let my death be the expiation for my sins Another is which is so absurd that Leo Modina saith they do not use it now in Italy nor in the Eastern Countries the killing of a white Cock if one can be got by the Men and a white Hen by the Women on the Eve of this Day saying Let this Cock be an exchange for me let it come in my stead let it be my Expiation let it die but I and all Israel live happily as Buxtorf shows in his Synagog Judaica cap. 25. Which I should not here mention were it not to show that they have the very same Notion still of a Sacrifice for Sin even now that they can only make an imitation of it which we have of the Sacrifice of Christ who was put in our place and offered himself to God in our stead and that it ought to be pure and innocent which is offered instead of a Sinner Ver. 12. And on the fifteenth day of the seventh Verse 12 Month ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work See XXIII Lev. 35. And ye shall keep a Feast unto the LORD seven days viz. The Feast of Tabernacles XXIII Lev. 34. which was after the Harvest and Vintage XVI Deut. 13. and kept seven days with great Joy and gladness of Heart but they were not bound to abstain from servile work all this time but only on the first day and on the seventh Verse 13 Ver. 13. And ye shall offer a Burnt-offering a Sacrifice made by fire of a sweet savour unto the LORD The same kind of Sacrifice which was prescribed on the other Festivals to be offered up wholly in honour of God But here is a far larger proportion than in any other Solemnity Thirteen young Bullocks two rams and fourteen Lambs of the first year c. On the other Festivals two Bullocks sufficed XXVIII 11 19 27. and on the Festival in the beginning of this Month only one was appointed but here are thirteen and so they continued to be offered seven days successively with the decrease only of one Bullock every day till on the seventh day only seven Bullocks were offered which in all made LXX Bullocks The Rams also and the Lambs were in a double proportion to what was usual throughout the whole Festival Which was a vast charge but more easie at this time of the Year than any other because now their Barns were full and their Wine-presses over-flowed and their Hearts might well be supposed to be more enlarged then at other times in thankfulness to God for his great Benefits Yet this very gross troublesome and expensive way of serving God made the best Men among them groan and long for the coming of Christ in whose days their own Doctors say no Sacrifices shall remain but those of Thansgiving and Praise and Prayer With which they have been forced to be content for above Sixteen hundred years and instead of these additional Sacrifices unto the daily have added peculiar Prayers which they also call Musaphim unto the common Prayers they use every day See Buxtorf concerning the Feast of the New Moon in his Synagog Jud. cap. 22. Ver. 14 15. Their Meat-offering shall be of fine flour Verse 14 15. c. The same proportions which are ordered by a general Rule to every Sacrifice of a Bullock and of a Ram Chap. XV. Ver. 16. And one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering Verse 16 beside the continual Burnt-offering c. There is no augmentation of the Sin-offering but it is the same with that on other Festivals v. 5. And all these Sacrifices it appears by this were to be added to the daily Sacrifice Ver. 17. And on the second day ye shall offer twelve Verse 17 young Bullocks c. Here one Bullock less than on the day before is ordered to be offered and so on every succeeding day there is still a decrease of one Bullock which is all the difference between the Offerings on the seven days of this Feast upon every one of which there was the same number of Rams and Lambs without any diminution Which Moses thought fit to set down distinctly from this verse to the thirty fifth that there might be no mistake But little need be noted upon them Ver. 18. According to their number after the manner Prescribed v. 14 15. Ver. 35. On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn Assembly Verse 18 There is a peculiar word here used to denote Verse 35 this to be a great day as I noted upon
to an holy Life But since through the vehemence of their Affections and Passions many Women are prone to act unadvisedly if Vows were wholly in their power great Inconveniences Dissentions and Confusions might arise in Families whilst this sort of Meat is lawful to the Husband but not to the Wife this permitted to the Daughter but prohibited to the Mother For which reason saith he this Authority was given to the Governours of Families in all things to order them as they saw would be for their profit or detriment Verse 14 Ver. 14. But if her husband Or For if her Husband Altogether hold his peace at her from day to day When he knew what she had vowed as it follows in the end of the verse He establisheth all her vows c. His silence was to be interpreted a Consent to allow what she vowed There was no need to add the contrary which is here to be understood that if he said he did not allow them then they should not bind her Ver. 15. But if he shall any ways make them void Verse 15 after he hath heard them Hinder her from performing her Vow after he had given his consent by saying nothing against it when he heard her make the Vow Then he shall bear her iniquity God will punish him not her for not performing the Vow Paulus Fagius thinks the meaning is that if the first day he heard of her vow he did not disannul it but attempted to do it the next day or the third day after he should bear the blame if the Vow was not made good Ver. 16. These are the Statutes which the LORD Verse 16 commanded Moses between a Man and his Wife between the Father and his Daughter being yet in her youth in her Fathers House It is likely some differences arose in some Families about these Matters and therefore these Laws were made for the settling the power of Husbands over their Wives and Parents over their Children while they were young and continued a part of their Family CHAP. XXXI Chapter XXXI Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying Not long before his death as appears from the next verse Verse 2 Ver. 2. Avenge the Children of Israel of the Midianites This had been commanded before but no time set for it which now is determined The Moabites are not mentioned because the Midianites seem to have been the first or chief Contrivers of that Mischief which befel the Israelites by the enticements of their Women See XXV 17 18. Afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy People When he had given a few other Directions concerning their possessing the Countries already conquered and the Land of Canaan XXXII XXXIV XXXV and providing for the Levites there XXXVI God had warned him to prepare for his death before this XXVII 12. but he first let him have the satisfaction of seeing the Midianites punished and gave him some time to settle the Publick Affairs and to make also a long Exhortation to the Israelites to observe all that he had commanded them Verse 3 Ver. 3. And Moses spake unto the People saying He speedily put this Command in Execution which might possibly be in the ninth Month of the fortieth Year Arm some of your selves unto the War He doth not at first determine the number but as many as pleased might offer themselves voluntarily to be ready to obey him And let them go against the Midianites and avenge the LORD of Midian The LORD bad him avenge the Children of Israel v. 2. but Moses bids them avenge the LORD for they had the same interest and were both injured at the same time and by the same means And as God was so gracious as to resent the evil done to Israel so Moses in duty and gratitude to God thought himself bound rather to consider the dishonour that was done to him Whose War this was not only because undertaken by his command but in his quarrel with those who had drawn the Israelites to Idolatry and for the sake of his People Ver. 4. Of every Tribe a thousand throughout all the Verse 4 Tribes of Israel shall ye send to the War When a great many perhaps all the People appeared ready to go to War he ordered that only a select number should be sent of a Thousand out of each of the Twelve Tribes Ver. 5. So there were delivered out of the Thousands Verse 5 of Israel a Thousand of every Tribe Their Officers pickt out this number from among the rest or they were chosen by lot for this Service or they stept out and offered themselves Voluntiers as we speak which the 27th verse may seem to countenance where they are called those that took the War upon them Twelve Thousand armed for war This was but a small number compared with the whole Nation of the Midianites who had five Kings v. 8. But God would have them rely more upon him than upon the multitude of an Host and let them see by their Success against this People that they needed not fear the Conquest of Canaan Ver. 6. And Moses sent them to the war a Thousand of every Tribe He gave them their Commission to fight the Midianites Verse 6 Them and Phinehas the Son of Eleazar the Priest Who was not their Commander in Chief or their General as we now speak for it did not belong to the Priestly Office to conduct Armies and it is said expresly in the words following he went with the holy Instruments c. to be ready to perform all such Sacred Offices as should be required by the General who it is most likely was Joshua It is true indeed that Phineas was a Man of great Courage and had lately performed a singular piece of Service which had won him great Reputation This hath made some think he was the fitter to go and to avenge the LORD of Midian as he had begun to do XXV 8. In after times also in the days of the Maccabees who were of the Family of the Priests the Armies of Israel were led by them against their Enemies But then it must be considered that they were also the Supream Governours of the People and there were no other With the holy Instruments By which Jonathan understands the Vrim and Thummim which some think Phineas carried along with him wherewith to consult the Divine Majesty in case of any difficulty that might arise about the management of the War And to make out this they suppose Eleazar to be old and crazy or labouring under some Infirmity which was the reason that Phineas his Son was substituted in his room to perform this Office See our very learned Dr. Spencer Dissert de Vrim Thummim cap. 6. sect 2. But this may be justly doubted whether Phineas being only the Son of the High-Priest and not yet capable of that Office could be substituted to perform this great Charge which belonged to the High-Priest alone Nor do we find any warrant for consulting the
Command In the first Month on the fifteenth day of the first Month on the morrow after the Passover Which they had kept in Egypt on the Fourteenth XII Exod. 46. The Children of Israel went out of Egypt with an high hand XIV Exod. 8. In the sight of the Egyptians Who thrust them out XII Exod. 39. Ver. 4. For the Egyptians buried all their first-born Verse 4 They were so terrified with the sudden Death of all their First-born that they pressed them to be gone lest they should be slain also XII Exod. 33. And were so employed in Mourning for them and giving them decent Burial that they thought not of pursuing the Israelites till some days after Which the LORD had smitten among them At midnight between the fourteenth and fifteenth days XII Exod. 29. Vpon their Gods also the LORD executed Judgment Which still more astonished them XII Exod. 12. XVIII 11. 2 Sam. VII 23. just as he did with Babylon afterwards XXI Isa 9. Ver. 5. And the Children of Israel removed from Rameses Verse 5 and pitched in Succoth XII Exod. 37. Here they received the Command to set apart all the First-born unto the LORD in memory of God's sparing them when he slew all the First-born of the Egptians XIII Exod. 1 12 13 c. Verse 6 Ver. 6. And they departed from Suecoth and pitched in Etham c. See XIII Exod. 20. where it immediately follows That they were conducted hither by a miraculous Cloud which ever after led them in all their Journeys Verse 7 Ver. 7. And they removed from Etham and turned again unto Piha-hiroth So it is expresly recorded XIV Exod. 2. Hither they were led on purpose that they might see the wonderful Power and Goodness of God in a place where they had high Mountains on each side of them and the Army of Pharaoh behind them and the Red-Sea before them Through which God made them a passage rather than let them fall again under the Egyptian Tyranny Here is also the Singular Number for the Plural in the word turned again as was observed before in another word XXXII 25. but the observation of the Hebrew Doctors upon it seems to be frivolous That with one heart they did what Moses commanded Which is before Baal-Zephon and they pitched before Migdol This is explained in XIV Exod. 2. Verse 8 Ver. 8. And they departed from before Piha-hiroth and passed through the midst of the Sea XIV Exod. 23. Where Pharaoh and his Host were drowned as they could not but call to mind when they read this brief History Which it might be expected would also call to remembrance their own distrust of God notwithstanding which he most graciously delivered them XIV Exod. 11 12 c. Into the Wilderness and went three days journey in the Wilderness of Etham Called in XV Exod. 22. the Wilderness of Shur where they were very much distressed for want of Water And pitched in Marah Where God obliged them by a new Miracle in making the bitter Water sweet XV Exod. 23 25. Ver. 9. And they removed from Marah and came to Verse 9 Elim and in Elim were twelve Fountains of Water c. See XV Exod. ult Ver. 10. And they removed from Elim and encamped Verse 10 by the Red Sea Not by that part of it where they lately came out of it but by a more Southerly part of it where it bends towards Arabia For the Red Sea which Ptolomy calls the Arabian Gulph runs a long way like the Adriatick now called the Gulph of Venice or the Baltick Sea as David Chytraeus observes Who compares these three together as much of a length and all in some places broader and some narrower This Station is not mentioned in the Book of Exodus Ver. 11. And they removed from the Red Sea and Verse 11 encamped in the Wilderness of Sin XVI Exod. 1. where Manna first began to rain upon them with which God fed them forty years Ver. 12. And they took their journey out of the Wilderness Verse 12 of Sin and encamped in Dophkah This and the next Station Alush are not mentioned in Exodus because nothing remarkable it is supposed fell out in these two places as there did in the next And they made no long stay there Ver. 13. And they departed from Dophkah and encamped Verse 13 in Alush The Jewish Doctors find something remarkable here though Moses saith nothing of it For as the Sabbath was first commanded at Marah which was their fifth Station so it was first observed here at Alush as they fancy which was their Tenth And more than that this was the only Sabbath in their opinion which they exactly kept the very next being prophaned See Selden Lib. III. de Jure Nat. Gentium c. cap. 11. Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 1. The Author of Sepher Cosri saith the ancient Tradition is That at this place the Manna first descended P. II. sect 20. Verse 14 Ver. 14. And they removed from Alush and encamped at Rephidim XVII Exod. 1. Where was no Water for the People to drink And thereby an occasion given to the Almighty Goodness to shew his wonderful Power in bringing Water out of a Rock for them v. 5 6. And here also Amalek lay in wait for Israel in the way when they came out of Egypt 1 Sam. XV. 2. and smote some that lag'd behind XXV Deut. 16. but were vanquished by Joshua in a pitcht Battle XVII Exod. 8 9 c. And here Jethro also came to see Moses and gave him advice about the government of the People with more ease both to himself and them XVIII Exod. Verse 15 Ver. 15. And they departed from Rephidim and pitched in the Wilderness of Sinai XIX Exod. 1 2. This was forty seven days after they came from Rameses on the first day of the third Month. Three days after which viz. on the fiftieth day after they came out of Egypt God gave them his Law from Mount Sinai Where Moses was called up to him and staid with him twice forty days And was instructed there how to make the Tabernacle and to set it up when it was made with all the Furniture belonging to it All sorts of Sacrifices were ordered while they remained in this Place Priests consecrated Laws given about clean and unclean things and about Marriages and Feasts and the Year of Jubilee with several other things mentioned in the Book of Leviticus Here also the People were numbred their encampment ordered a second Passover kept Laws given about the Water of Jealousie and the Nazarites with several other Matters And then after they had lain here eleven Months and twenty days they are commanded to leave this famous Station the most remarkable of all other X Numb 11 12. Ver. 16. And they removed from the Desert of Sinai Verse 16 and pitched at Kibroth-hattaavah A place in the Wilderness of Paran three days Journey from Mount Sinai X Numb 23. XI 34. where there was a dreadful
fed with Bread and Water of Affliction till his Bowels were sorely pinched c. if we may believe the Jewish Doctors mentioned by Selden Lib. IV. de Jure Nat. Gent. cap. 1. Verse 31 Ver. 31. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the Life of a Murderer If a Murderer would have given all his Estate to save his Life or the Avenger of Blood would have accepted a Compensation or freely let him go the Judges when they had found him guilty could not restore him to the City of Refuge but he was to suffer Death For the Life of him that was slain was not as Maimonides speaks part of the Goods of the Avenger of Blood but belonged to Almighty God who set such a value on a Man's Life that he would not suffer any price to be taken for it See Selden in the same Chapter p. 470. Ver. 32. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the City of Refuge that he may come to dwell in the Land until the death of the High-Priest No Money was to purchase his Liberty to dwell any Verse 32 where else but there till the time appointed by the Law but this Punishment for Man-slaughter was as indispensable as death for Murder And therefore if any Man hapned to kill another in the City of Refuge to which he was confined he was forced to flee to another City of Refuge and there abide till the death of the High-Priest Ver. 33. So ye shall not pollute the Land wherein ye Verse 33 are for blood defileth the Land By this it appears that the next of Kin was bound to prosecute the Murderer unto death for the good of his Country which otherwise would have had a Guilt upon it and that very grievous For they are the greatest Crimes as Maimonides observes which are said to pollute the Land or them or God's Sanctuary viz. Idolatry XX Lev. 3. all the filthiness that is forbidden XVIII 24 25. and Murder here mentioned More Nevoch P. III. cap. 47. And the Land cannot be cleansed of the Blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it The same Maimonides observes in the XLI Chapter of that Book That it is a piece of Universal Justice to make a Man suffer what he hath made another suffer If he have hurt his Body he must suffer for it in his own Body if in his Money his own Purse must pay for it if he have taken away his Life he must die for it himself And the Punishment can neither be mitigated nor any compensation accepted for it For which he quotes these words and upon this account resolves that if he that was murdered should live a few days or hours after his deadly wound and being in sound understanding should desire he that killed him might not die for it declaring that he freely forgave him his desire was not to be granted but Blood was to be punished with Blood whether he that was slain was a great Man or a mean a freeman or a slave a wise Man or a fool because there is no Sin committed by Men greater than this is Verse 34 Ver. 34. Defile not therefore the Land which ye shall inhabit By suffering a Murderer to live Wherein I dwell This is given as a reason elsewhere See V. 3. why they should put all polluted People out of their Camps because God dwelt in them viz. in his Sanctuary which made this Land be called the holy Land and God's Possession 2 Chron. XX. 11. For I the LORD dwell among the Children of Israel See XXV Exod. 8. The very same was practised among the Athenians with some little Alteration For Demosthenes says it was one of their Laws 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he who out of fore-thought killed a Man should be put to death And he tells us also that it was not lawful for the Judges to take Money to remit the Punishment after he was Condemned though if the Prosecutors compounded with him or his Friends before-hand and desisted from the Prosecution his Life was saved If he fled from Justice all his Goods were confiscated and he forfeited all the Rights of a Citizen both Civil and Sacred See Sam. Petitus his Comment in Leges Atticas Lib. VII Tit. 1. CHAP. XXXVI Chapter XXXVI Ver. 1. AND the chief Fathers of the Families of the Verse 1 Children of Gilead the Son of Machir the Son of Manasseh c. Not the Fathers of those Families whose Inheritance had been assigned them already on this side Jordan in the Land of Gilead but the other half of the Tribe of Manasseh who were to have their Inheritance in Canaan where the Daughters of Zelophehad also had their Portion as appears from XVII Josh 3 4 c. Come near and speak before Moses and before the Princes the chief Fathers of the Children of Israel Who were met together in a great Assembly as they used to do about Publick Affairs See XXVII 2. XXI XXXII 2. Ver. 2. And they said the LORD commanded my Verse 2 Lord. This shows that one of them was the Mouth of the rest To give the Land for an Inheritance by lot to the Children of Israel See XXVI 52 53. For there the Foundation of all these Doubts was laid And my Lord was commanded by the LORD to give the Inheritance of Zelophehad Which should have faln to Zelophehad had he been alive Our Brather So they called their near Relations Vnto his Daughters Who petitioned him for the Possession which should have been their Fathers and it was granted them See XXVII 6 7. Ver. 3. And if they be married to any of the Sons of the other Tribes of the Children of Israel They being rich many it might be supposed of the other Tribes Verse 3 as well as their own would court them for their Wives and if they should choose an Husband that was not of their own Tribe they represent to Moses the Inconveniencies which from thence would follow Then shall their Inheritance be taken from the Inheritance of our Fathers i. e. Go out of our Tribe to which it originally belonged And shall be put to the Inheritance of the Tribe whereinto they are received Become a part of the Inheritance of that Tribe into which they married So shall it be taken from the lot of our Inheritance For it must have descended unto their Children who were of another Tribe by the Father's side which alone was considered and not the Mothers in this case Verse 4 Ver. 4. And when the Jubilee of the Children of Israel shall be Which was ordained for the preserving Estates in the Tribes and Families to which they originally appertained XXV Lev. 10 13. Then shall their Inheritance be put unto the Inheritance of the Tribe whereunto they are received The Jubilee will not help us in this Case by making their Inheritances return as other Lands do because they are become the Inheritance of another Tribe by the