3. XV Josh 1 3. being different from the Wilderness of Sin which lay near to Egypt XVI Exod. 1. Vnto Rehob as Men come to Hamath The City of Rehob lay in the North of the Land of Canaan and fell to the Lot of the Tribe of Asher XIX Josh 28. And it lay not far from Hamath which in after times was called Ephiphania a City which we very often read of afterwards as the bounds of Judaea Northward which Moses saith was unto the entrance of Hamath XXXIV 8. So that they took a Survey of the whole Country from one end of it to the other South and North and also as they passed along observed those Parts that lay East and West For they gave an account of the Canaanites as dwelling by the Sea which was Westward and by the Coast of Jordan which was on the East v. 29. Or if by the Sea we understand not the Western Ocean but the dead Sea as some do yet it appears by these very words that they bent their Course as they passed from South to North unto the Western and Eastern Parts also For Rehob and Hamath both lay at the foot of Libanus one to the North-west towards Sidon and the other to the North-east Verse 22 Ver. 22. And they ascended by the South In their return from searching the Country And came unto Hebron That is Some of them For the words in the Hebrew is not they came as it is they ascended but he came Which demonstrates that they did not go all of them together in a Company for that had been dangerous and might have made them taken notice of but dispersed themselves some going to discover one place some another And it is a probable Conjecture of some of the Hebrew Doctors that Caleb was the Man that went to take a view of Hebron and was so little affrighted at the sight of the Giants there that he was the very Person that afterward drove them out and had this place given him for his Portion For it was in the South part of the Lot of the Tribe of Judah being formerly called Kirjath-Arba XIV Josh 9 12 14. Where Ahiman Sheshai and Talmai the Children of Anak were These were the Grand-children of Arba from whom Hebron had the name of Kirjath-Arba i. e. the City of Arba who was the Father of Anak Whose Family was more eminent than any other in Canaan these three Sons of his being Men not only of great Bulk but Prowess and Valour Bochartus thinks Lib. I. Canaan cap. 1. that Anak signifies as much as the Roman name Toropiatus being like to that Gaul whom Manlius vanquished And Ahiman signifies as much as Who is my Brother importing there was none to be compared with him Sesai he takes to be as much as Sixtius viz. Six Cubits high as Goliath was And Talmai he derives from Talam a Furrow as if he seemed in length to equal a Furrow in the Field These were the People that made the Israelites tremble for it is likely their whole Family were of a very large Stature though not so big as these And indeed they were so very terrible to all their Neighbours that it became a Proverbial saying in those Countries Who can stand before the Children of Anak IX Deut. 2. Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt The Egyptians boasted of the great Antiquity of their Nation and Cities But Moses shows that Hebron was built before the Capital City of their Country For so Zoan was and called in after Ages Tanis lying not far from that Mouth of the River Nile which from thence was called by Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 R. Solomon will have it that Hebron was built by Cham one of the three Sons of Noah and the Father of Mizraim from whom the Egyptians descended But of this there is no certainty and the Gemara upon Sota cap. 7. saith It is not likely that a Man would build a House for his younger Son before he had built one for his elder for Canaan was the youngest of all the Sons of Cham X Gen. 6. Yet those Doctors are willing to suppose that Cham built both these Cities and therefore interpret the word banah which is rightly translated built as if it signified fruitful according to XVI Gen. 2. and make the Sense to be That Hebron was seven times more fruitful than Zoan Which is very foolish as upon other accounts so on this that Hebron was a strong place and therefore not fertile Verse 23 Ver. 23. And they came unto the Brook Eshchol A place which lay in a Valley at the foot of the Mountain I Deut. 24. And cut down from thence a Branch with one Cluster of Grapes This was done no doubt in some private place upon the Southern Borders of Canaan just as they were returning to the Camp of Israel again For it would have given the Country too great an Alarm if they had marched in the High-way with this Bunch upon their Shoulders And they bare it between two A great many Authors mention Vines and Grapes of an extraordinary bigness in those Eastern and Southern Countries I need only refer to Strabo who says the Vines in Margiana and other places were so big that two Men could scarce compass them with their Arms and that they produced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Bunch of Grapes of two Cubits Lib. II. Geograph p. 73. and Lib. XI p. 516. Which is in part justified by Olearius in his late Travels into Persia Book III. where he saith not far from Astracan he saw Vines whose Trunks were so thick that a Man could do no more than grasp them about with both his Arms. And Forsterus in his Dictionarium Hebraicum p. 862. saith there was a Preacher at Norimberg called Achacius who lived as a Monk eight Years in the Holy Land as they call it who told him upon his Sick-bed That in his time there were Clusters of Grapes at Hebron of such bigness that one single Kernel was sufficient to quench his Thirst a whole day when he was sick there of a Tympany J. Conradus Dieterius hath collected a great deal more to this purpose out of Leo Africanus and Nic. Radzivillius and other Authors in his Antiq Biblicae p. 249. And since him the most learned Huetius in his Quaestiones Alnetanae Lib. II. cap. 12. n. 24. where among other things he observes that Crete Chios and other Islands in the Archipelago afford Bunches of Grapes of ten pound weight sometimes of thirty six yea of forty And he mentions Grapes of a prodigious bigness in the Island of Madera Vpon a Staff See IV. 10. And they brought of the Pomegranates and Figs. Which grew in the parts nearest to the place where the Israelites were encamped Ver. 24. The place was called the Brook Eshcol because Verse 24 of the Cluster of Grapes which the Children of Israel cut down from thence That is when the Israelites got possession of the Land
World had they beat their Brains never so much could not have thought of bringing the Gods in a visible shape upon the Stage or interlacing their Poems with their frequent Apparitions Nor can any other account be given how this came to be the common Belief of the World from one end of it to the other that the Gods revealed their Mind to Men the Philosophers as well as ordinary People in the East West North and South making no doubt of it For Abaris Hyperboreus and Zamolxis Geta were no less famous in the North than the Egyptian Prophets were in the South But when Mankind degenerated and corrupted themselves by all manner of Wickedness then God forsook them and permitted evil Angels to take the place of the good and plunge Mankind further into all manner of Filthiness especially into abominable Idolatries So that Balaam who I question not had at first familiarity with God and his holy Angels abusing this Honour God had done him in making him a Prophet by imploying it to serve his vile Covetousness God gave him up to the Delusion of evil Spirits of whom he learnt Inchantments But at this time God was pleased again to appear to him himself for the good of his People Israel and to over-rule all his bad Inclinations Insomuch that Moses says at last he did not go as he had done to seek Inchantments XXIV 1. but gave up himself wholly for the present to the Conduct of God's Spirit as I shall there observe And said unto him By an Angel as Maimonides interprets it More Nevoch P. II. cap. 41. What Men are these with thee He asks this question partly to prove Balaam whether he would tell him the truth of their Business and partly to make way for the following Direction Ver. 10. And Balaam said unto God To whom Verse 10 it appears by this and to the way wherein God communicated himself he was not a Stranger Balak the Son of Zippor King of Moab hath sent unto me saying This shows the Embassy was sent principally in his Name the Midianites only joyning in it v. 5. Ver. 11. Behold there is a People come out of Egypt Verse 11 c. This verse contains only a brief Report of the Message that was sent him to which he desired God would tell him what Answer he should return Ver. 12. And God said unto Balaam By an Angel Verse 12 v. 9. and v. 35. Thou shalt not go with them thou shalt not curse this People for they are blessed He not only forbids him to comply with Balak's desire but gives him such a reason as was likely to prevail with him if his Prohibition was not sufficient that it was impossible with all his Inchantments to reverse the Blessing which God had bestowed upon this People Ver. 13. And Balaam rose up in the morning and said to the Princes of Balak get ye to your own Land He seems resolved to obey God rather than comply Verse 13 with them and therefore dispatcht them as soon as he could with the following Answer For the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you He acquaints them only with half of God's Answer for he omits the reason which was the principal thing Though it may be thought to be implyed that if the LORD on whose Pleasure he pretended to depend refused to let him go it was in vain to attempt to Curse them Verse 14 Ver. 14. And the Princes of Moab rose up They did not stand to dispute the Matter with him or to importune him which shows that he had given them a peremptory Denial And they went unto Balak and said Balaam refuseth to come with us They report his Answer as imperfectly as he did God's saying not a word that the LORD refused to let him come They were loth perhaps as the manner of such Persons is to deliver unwelcome News to their Master Verse 15 Ver. 15. And Balak sent yet again Princes moe and more honourable than they He being ignorant of the true Cause of his Refusal imagined that Balaam thought himself slighted and expected a greater number of Persons and of greater quality should have been sent to him For Prophets in ancient time were Men highly esteemed as not only Sacred Persons but who had a great Interest in God of whom they could obtain whatsoever they desired God himself thought this sufficient to keep Abimelech from injuring Abraham to acquaint him that he was a Prophet XX Gen. 3. And therefore they were called Men of God being thought by the very Gentiles to be full of some Numen or other whereby they became Interpreters of the Gods as they called them who ministred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 between the Gods and Men. Insomuch that Women when they became Prophetesses had very great Authority as we find in Deborah who calls her self a Mother in Israel V Judges 7. And therefore all such Persons were under the special Protection of Heaven CV Psal 15. Ver. 16. And they came unto Balaam and said Thus Verse 16 saith Balak the Son of Zippor They seem to speak of their Master in an higher style than the former Ambassadors did v. 7. where it is only said they spake unto him the words of Balak Let nothing I pray thee hinder thee from coming to me Yet they submissively beseech him in their Master's name not to suffer any thing to keep him from coming to him for he thought perhaps that Balaam might be detained by other more profitable Employments Ver. 17. For I will promote thee to very great honour Verse 17 He imagined it is probable that Balaam lookt upon the Rewards of Divination which he sent him as not sufficient Encouragement and therefore he promises him to advance him to some high Preferment in his Court. And I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me And moreover he promises to bestow an Estate as great as he would desire to support his new Dignity Come therefore I pray thee They add Importunity to their earnest Request Curse me this People Having heard as David Chytraeus understands this that the Israelites conquered their Opposers by Prayers rather than by Arms as they had done Pharaoh and the Amalekites the King of Moab thought he might prevail against them by the same means Verse 18 Ver. 18. And Balaam answered and said to the Servants of Balak To the Messengers whom he had sent who it appears by this were principal Officers in his Court v. 15. For the Servants of Pharaoh are called the Elders of his House L Gen. 7. If Balak would give me his House full of Silver and Gold I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God to do more or less This is not the Language of one that was a Stranger to the true God for no Prophet in Israel ever spake of him in more familiar terms than these the LORD my God And for the present the Command of God seems to have suppressed his Covetous and Ambitious Desires
was interrupted by this Defilement so that it could not proceed further but after the usual Purification was to be begun anew by shaving off this polluted Hair and letting new Hair grow instead of it By this it appears that Moses here speaks only of such as made this Vow for a limited time for perpetual Nazarites who were consecrated to God for all their life were never shaven whatsoever Defilement they contracted On the seventh day shall he shave it For so many days Uncleanness by the dead lasted XIX 11. and the seventh day was the day of Cleansing from that Uncleanness v. 12. All other legal Uncleannesses polluted a Nazarite so as to make him stand in need of such Purifications as other Men used in those cases but this alone polluted him so as utterly to put him out of that state which as it here follows was to be begun again Verse 10 Ver. 10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two Turtles or two young Pigeons to the Priest c. The very same Sacrifice which was offered for one that had been defiled by a running-Issue XV Levit 14. Verse 11 Ver. 11. And the Priest shall offer the one for a Sin-offering and the other for a Burnt-offering As in the fore-named case XV Levit. 15. To make an Atonement for him Which was to be done before the Burnt-offering would be accepted For that he sinned by the dead He had not properly sinned but contracted a legal Uncleanness by touching a dead Body or being where it was Which though it was against his Will yet was a Defilement in the account of the Law and a kind of Sin because it was a breach of a Ceremonial Law and therefore thus to be purged The reason of which and such like Precepts Abarbinel observes in his Preface to the Book of Leviticus Cap. IV. was only this to make Men very cautious how they contracted any Defilement as the Nazarite might do in the time of his Separation and put himself to much trouble Which is the foundation of a famous Saying among their wise Men Diligence begets Caution and Caution Purity and Purity Holiness and Sanctity And shall hallow his Head the same day Consecrate his Hair afresh to the LORD after his Head hath been shaved Ver. 12. And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the Verse 12 days of his Separation This is a further Explication of what was said just before in the end of the foregoing Verse That from the eighth day he shall begin to compute the time of his Nazariteship for so many days as he at first vowed unto the LORD And shall bring a Lamb of the first year for a Trespass-offering Which was to be offered even for ignorant Offences by the Law made before V Levit 15. But the days that were before his Defilement by the dead Shall be lost Shall not be reckoned as the LXX hath it but go for nothing as we speak though they were so many that he had almost fulfilled his Vow If for instance he had vowed to be a Nazarite for a whole Year and in the twelfth Month hapned upon a dead Carcass all the foregoing eleven Months were lost and he was to begin his Year's Vow again And this as often as such an Accident hapned if it were before the time that his Vow was compleated Which may seem very hard if we do not seriously consider the Intention of it Which was to oblige them to the strictest care to preserve themselves holy and pure in all things as they were plainly taught to be by the watchful Diligence they were bound to use to avoid this legal Defilement here mentioned For none could absolve them from this Vow till it was fulfilled in the Exactness that is here required For as they tell the Story in the Talmud Queen Hellen having taken a Vow upon her for seven Years by coming into the Holy Land was engaged for seven Years more and being defiled toward the later end of them was obliged for another seven Years which was Twenty and one Years in all See Dr. Lightfoot of the Temple Chap. XVIII Because his Separation was defiled His first Separation was defiled by a dead Body which made it necessary he should begin a new one It might happen also that he might die before he had fulfilled the time he vowed to be a Nazarite In which case Maimonides saith any of his Sons might go on where he left and at the end of the days which his Father had vowed offer the Sacrifices here appointed and be shaved in his stead So the Mischna Sotae Cap. III. Sect. VIII But Maimonides acknowledges there is no foundation for this in Scripture but it relyes wholly upon Tradition See Wagenseil on that place Annot. 4. Verse 13 Ver. 13. And this is the Law of the Nazarite Of putting an end to his Nazariteship When the days of his Separation are fulfilled At the end of the time he vowed to continue in this state He shall be brought By the Priest Vnto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation That the Sacrifices here prescribed might be offered for him Ver. 14. And he shall offer his Offering unto the Verse 14 LORD i. e. The Nazarite was to present these following Offerings unto the LORD For the Priests offering them is not mentioned till v. 16. One He-lamb of the first Year without blemish for a Burnt-offering and one Ewe-Lamb c. Here are all sorts of Offerings which he was obliged to make in the conclusion of his Nazariteship A Burnt-offering as an Acknowledgment of God's Sovereign Dominion A Sin-offering imploring Pardon for any Omissions of which he might have been guilty during this Vow And a Peace-offering in Thankfulness to God who had given him Grace both to make and to keep and to fulfil this Vow Ver. 15. And a Basket of unleavened Bread Cakes Verse 15 of fine Flour mingled with Oyl and Wafers of unleavened Bread anointed with Oyl Besides the fore-mentioned Sacrifices here are three Oblations more prescribed to compleate his Thankfulness Of which see XXIX Exod. 2. And their Meats-offering and their Drink-offerings This seems to relate to the Burnt-offering and Peace-offering before-mentioned v. 14. which were to have their proper Meat-offering and Drink-offering besides the Basket of unleavened Bread with the Cakes and the Wafers See VII Levit. 12. XV Numb 2 3 c. Where these accessory Offerings are ordered to accompany the Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings though Sin-offerings had none Verse 16 Ver. 16. And the Priest shall bring them before the LORD Unto the Altar of Burnt-Offerings as the Nazarite had already brought them to the Door of the Tabernacle v. 14. And shall offer his Sin-offering and his Burnt-offering Though the Burnt-offering be first named v. 14. as the principal Sacrifice of all other yet the Sin-offering was first offered by which his Peace being made with God the two other Offerings which followed were acceptable to him Verse 17 Ver.
so many Wonders it was not seemly it should lye in his own Tent as a common Staff but in the House of God as a Sacred Wand This indeed is no where mentioned no more than many other things which notwithstanding are plainly intimated Ver. 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the Congregation before the Rock As God had commanded v. 8. Verse 10 And he said unto them Moses who was the chief Actor said unto them Hear ye now ye Rebels The Talmudists fancy that this is the great Sin for which Moses and Aaron were denied to go into Canaan because he called God's People Rebels From whence they have framed this Maxim He that treats the Church contemptuously which ought to be honoured is as if he blasphemed the Name of God But they subvert the Truth who build it upon no better Foundations For Moses the great Minister of God only uses God's own Language to their Fathers XVII 10. where he bids him lay up Aaron's Rod as a Token against the Rebels And if this were a Sin Moses committed it again not long after this and in an higher strain which no Body can think he would have done if it had cost him so dear when he saith IX Deut. 24. Ye have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I knew you Must we fetch you Water out of this Rock In these words also some of the Jews particularly Nachman think they find the Sin of Moses and Aaron who here they fancy ascribe to themselves that which they ought to have acknowledged the Work of God alone But this is without any ground for the plain meaning of the words is quite contrary Is it in our power to bring Water out of a Rock So the Vulgar Latine translates it it being a Speech of those that wonder like that 1 Kings XXI 19. Hast thou killed and also taken possession As if Moses had said Strange that you should think it possible for us to bring you Water out of a Rock which is the work only of an Omnipotent Power Ver. 11. And Moses lift up his hand and with his Rod he smote the Rock twice It seems the Water did not gush out at the first stroke which made him repeat it Verse 11 And the Water came out abundantly and the Congregation drank and their Beasts also So that their present Necessity was supplyed and they also filled their Vessels when they left this place to serve them till they met with the convenience of Water as they did I showed upon v. 2. Ver. 12. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Verse 12 Aaron because ye believed me not Here Interpreters have been much troubled to find what it was for which God was offended at Moses and Aaron for though the Text tells us expresly it was for their Unbelief whereby they gave great Scandal and did not sanctifie him as they did formerly before the Israelites yet it doth not clearly appear wherein this Unbelief declared it self Abarbinel hath collected several Opinions of the Jewish Doctors about this matter which are no less than ten after which he delivers his own which seems to me as unsatisfactory as the rest were to him for it is far fetcht with too much nicety and subtilty and relies also upon Uncertainties The plainest account of it I think is this which none of them take notice of That the Water now ceasing at the same time that Miriam died Moses was very sad both for her Death and perhaps for the Ceasing of the Water And being unexpectedly assaulted by the People who ought to have had a greater Reverence for him in a time of Mourning especially it was the occasion of a greater Commotion of Anger and Indignation than was usually in him Which gave him such a Disturbance in his Mind and so disordered his Thoughts that when God bad him take his Rod and go and speak to the Rock he fell into some doubt whether God would grant them the Favour he had done before either because they were so wretched a People that it was not fit God should do any thing for them or because he thought perhaps Water might be otherways procured for them And because of this doubting I suppose it might be that upon the first striking of the Rock no Water came forth God also perhaps so ordering it that he might try him and hereupon his Diffidence increased into Unbelief and a settled Perswasion they should have no Water His Anger also at such a rebellious Generation it is likely made him the more distrustful that God would do nothing for them For both these are mentioned by the Divine Writers that touch upon this History that he did not believe and that his Spirit was so provoked that he spake unadvisedly with his lips CVI Psalm 32 33. which was when he spake those words v. 10. Must we fetch you Water out of this Rock i. e. is that a likely matter They being words of the same sort with those of Sarah XVIII Gen. 13. Shall I of a surety have a Child who am old that is I cannot believe it And when he saw the Water did not come out at the first stroke he might be so rash as to say Now it is plain God will give you none but let you perish or words to that effect I know nothing more probable than this unless the Reader likes the Opinion of Joseph Albo better which is the ninth Opinion mentioned by Abarbinel That Moses and Aaron having had such long Experience of God's goodness to this People and of his readiness to help them ought not to have gone and made their Complaints to God about the want of Water v. 6. but immediately of themselves gone to the Rock being confident of God's Power and Mercy which had never failed them and called for Water to come out of it For now the Tabernacle was built and they had God dwelling among them which they had not when he smote the Rock at first which ought to have bred in them the highest Assurance that God would supply them Dr. Lightfoot hath another Conjecture which I shall propound that the Reader may judge which is most likely That Moses and Aaron began to distrust God's Promise of entring into the promised Land at the end of forty Years imagining that if they brought Water again out of the Rock it must follow them as long as the other had done For this he makes the sence of their words What ye Rebels must we bring Water out of a Rock as we did at Horeb Are all our Hopes and Expectations of getting out of the Wilderness come to this We never fetcht you Water out of a Rock but once and that was because ye were to stay a long time in the Wilderness c. Now that is gone must we fetch Water out of another Rock O ye Rebels have ye brought it to this pass by your Murmurings that we must have a new stay in the Wilderness Are we to begin our abode
the Spies Then he fought against Israel He marched out of his Country with an Army and fell upon the Israelites as they passed that way And took some of them Prisoners He attacked it 's likely at first only the Skirts of their Camp where he surprised some of them and carried them away captive as the words are in the Hebrew Verse 2 Ver. 2. And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD It was resolved it seems that they should engage them but the Israelites being afraid of them because they were unexperienced in War implored the Divine Aid by this Solemn Vow If thou wilt indeed deliver this People into my hand Give us the Victory over them Then will I utterly destroy their Cities They vow to reserve none of the Spoil to their own use but devote it all to destruction For such was the Nature of this Vow called Cherem See XXVII Lev. 29. Ver. 3. And the LORD hearkned to the voice of Verse 3 Israel He approved their Vow And delivered up the Canaanites The Israelites vanquished their Army And they utterly destroyed them and their Cities Utterly devoted them to destruction according to their Vow For they did not now actually destroy them they remaining when Joshua came to Canaan who executed this Cherem or Curse upon them XII 14. Which if it had been executed now they must have entred into the Land of Canaan at this time from whence we cannot imagine they would have returned to march further about before they got into it but have gone on to prosecute their Victory by subduing the Country as they had begun And he called the name of the place Hormah From the Cherem or Herem as some write it which was pronounced against it Which when it was put in execution this Name became more proper to it I Judges 17. Ver. 4. And they journeyed from Mount Hor. Where Verse 4 their Camp was pitched when the King of Arad assaulted them and whither they returned after they had overthrown him By the way of the Red Sea Towards Ezion-Gaber as we read II Deut. 8. To compass the Land of Edom. Which extended it self unto the Red Sea And the Soul of the People was much discouraged because of the way The word we translate discouraged signifies two things to faint and to breathe short through the anguish and bitterness of ones Spirit VI Exod. 9. And secondly to be angry at or at least impatient by reason of some Trouble And so it may be best taken in this place as Buxtorfius observes in Histor Serp. Aenei cap. 1. not simply for their being tired with a tedious long and troublesome March but that accompanied with no small Indignation and Wrath. Which did not only burn within but broke out into words of great Impatience as appears by what follows Whence the Hebrew words Ketzar-Ruach short of Spirit signifies Angry or Hasty XIV Prov. 29. and in XXI Job 4. we translate it troubled and in XI Zach. 8. loathed where it had better been translated I was angry with them Now that which made the People thus fret or faint if we will have it so interpreted was the way wherein they were now led which was about the Land of Edom. For when they were come towards Canaan in the middle of the fortieth Year at the end of which they were promised to enter in and possess it they are carried back again towards the Red Sea whether God had sent their Fathers after they had brought a false Report upon the Land XIV 25. This made them think perhaps that they should never come to Canaan or at least it was tedious to march such a great way about after they had been kept so long from their Inheritance and were lately in such hopes of it when Moses demanded a passage into it through the Country of Edom. Ver. 5. And the People spake against God and against Moses This shows they were in a very great rage which made them so forgetful of their Duty as to charge God himself with ill Conduct Whereas Verse 5 their Fathers were wont only to murmur against Moses and Aaron Wherefore have ye brought us out of Egypt The Hebrew word heelithunu made us to go up is a strange word as Dr. Lightfoot calls it in this Language declaring the great fume they were in when they uttered it To die in the Wilderness As if they had said so Abarbinel explains it what can we expect or hope for but Death from this long stay in the Wilderness For there is no Bread neither is there any Water For we want the most necessary things for the support of Life as he also well explains it which they spake in a rage for they had both by a miraculous Providence over them They themselves immediately confess they had Manna and they had lately received Water out of a Rock But nothing would satisfie unless they were brought to a Country where Bread and Water was to be had without a Miracle For the meaning of their Complaint was that God did not deal with them as he did with other People who to speak in our Phrase do not live from hand to mouth As the Israelites did who had Bread given them only to suffice for one day and no more and that such Bread as they despised It is likely also they began now to want Water again which did not follow them as formerly out of the Rock and what they had in their Vessels perhaps was near spent And our Soul loatheth this light Bread As for the Bread God bestowed upon them they were so far from being satisfied with it that they loath it and call it by the scornful Name of Light Bread So we translate the Hebrew word Hakkilkel which being the doubling of a word which signifies light or vile in that Language imports as much as very despicable exceeding vile or as the LXX translate it very empty having no Substance in it to fill their Stomachs So Abarbinel expounds this passage We are tired with long Journeys which require more solid Bread than this to support us Verse 6 Ver. 6. And the LORD sent fiery Serpents among the People So most of the Jews translates this place taking Seraphim for an Adjective as Grammarians speak and consequently rightly translated fiery But there are those who take it to signifie a peculiar sort of Serpents being added to Nechashim Serpents by way of opposition as they speak and signifying such Serpents as the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom Pliny reckons among the Sceleratissimi Serpentes most pernicious Serpents Lib. XXIV cap. 13. Or as others will have it those called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they made great Inflamations in Mens Bodies and an unquenchable thirst being also of a flame colour But the famous Bochartus hath alledged a great many Arguments to prove that they were a sort of Serpents called Hydrus because in Winter they lived in Fens and Marshes which being