good Words to which they would no longer trust Or given us Inheritence of Fields and Vineyards But told us it shall be bestowed forty years hence when we are all dead This still shows they took him for a Deluder of them with deceitful Promises Wilt thou put out the Eyes of these Men Some of them spake this in the name of the rest who were now with Dathan and Abiram and the meaning is Dost thou think to blind us so that none of us shall discern this Imposture Or shall we suffer thee to lead us about like blind Men whither thou pleasest sometimes towards Canaan and now back again towards the Red Sea and Egypt We will not come up A peremptory Resolution not to own his Authority which they denied at the first v. 12. Ver. 15. And Moses was very wroth For such behaviour Verse 15 and Language was so provoking that it was no wonder it incensed the meekest Man upon Earth XII 3. Yet the LXX translate the words as if he only took it very heavily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it made him exceeding sad And said unto the LORD respect not their Offering He calls the Incense which they were about to offer by the Name of Mincha which commonly signifies a Meat-offering but sometimes any inanimate thing that was consumed in honour of God as Incense was and must so signifie in this place for they offered nothing else And when Moses desires it may not be accepted he means a great deal more that God would give some Sign of his dislike to it Hence it seems plain to me That Dathan and Abiram as well as Korah quarrelled at the confining the Priestood unto Aaron's Family for Moses calls this their Offering by the Acceptance or Rejection of which this Controversie was to be decided I have not taken one Ass from them This seems to be an Appeal to God against their unjust Charge that he acted Arbitrarily and did with them what he list v. 13. From which he was so far that he declares before God he had not taken i. e. received by way of Gift or Reward So the LXX and the Vulgar understand it the smallest thing for such a single Ass was much less extorted any thing from them Nor have I hurt any one of them None can say that I have done any kind of Evil to them but contrarily all good Offices For that he did not seek himself appeared in this That he had not advanced his own Family to the Priestood but left them in the number of the other Levites upon the same level with Korah and his Company Ver. 16. And Moses said unto Korah be thou and all thy Company before the LORD c. He repeats what he had said to him before v. 6 7. only adding that he would have Aaron also there together with Verse 16 them So it follows Thou and they and Aaron to morrow Before the LORD i. e. In the Court of the Tabernacle See v. 7. where by an extraordinary Commission from the Divine Majesty this Trial was to be made And therefore Aaron himself did not now go into the Sanctuary to offer Incense which was the proper and only place allowed by the Law but stood with them without As in another great necessity he offered Incense in the midst of the Congregation v. 46 47. Both which was done by a Dispensation from him that made the Law Ver. 17. Take every Man his Censer and put Incense Verse 17 in them and bring ye before the LORD every Man his Censer Let every Man of them stand before the LORD at the Door of the Tabernacle to do the Office of Priests to which they pretended as good a right as Aaron and his Sons Two hundred and fifty Censers This shows that the Incense being offered by so great a number as it appears it was v. 35. they did not offer it in the Sanctuary which would not contain so many Persons Thou also and Aaron each of you his Censer This seems to signifie as if Korah was commanded to stand by Aaron since he pretended to be his equal which made the Hand of God the more remarkable upon him when he was struck with Lightning and no harm came to Aaron who stood by him But it may be doubted what way Korah perished Ver. 18. And they took every Man his Censer That is the Two hundred and fifty Men did as they were commanded but Korah went first to muster up as Verse 18 many as he could get together against Moses v. 19. and then seems to have gone to his Tent v. 24. Herein these Men submitted to the way of decision which Moses propounded though they had so boldly denied his Authority For they could not but think that God whom they owned to be among them v. 3. would approve of them if they were in the right and make good their Allegation That all the Congregation were holy by accepting their Incense as much as Aaron's To whom they did not deny an equality with themselves but only a Superiority And put fire in them From the Altar of Burnt-offering which stood in the Court at the Door of which they were placed I Lev. 5. for Aaron durst not take it from any other place his Sons having lost their Lives for offering with strange Fire The remembrance of which it is likely deterred these Men from doing other wise who did not as yet put in the Fire but only took their Censers and put Incense in them which is all that is ordered in the preceding Verse and put Fire in afterwards And stood in the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron As if they were nothing inferiour to them Verse 19 Ver. 19. And Korah gathered all the Congregation against them The LXX translates it Korah gathered all his Congregation i. e. all the Men of his Faction But the Hebrew words import that he gathered all the Congregation of Israel at least all the great Men who are sometimes called by the Name of all the Congregation XIV 1. whom he got together that they might be Witnesses at least of the issue of this Trial though their coming together with Korah and his Company rather than with Moses and Aaron is too plain an Indication that they were inclined if not to throw off yet to doubt of their Authority Vnto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Where they themselves stood v. 18. And so did Moses and Aaron but the Israelites that Korah had gathered together stood on his side as appears from the foregoing words and from v. 24. And the Glory of the LORD The SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty came forth out of the most Holy Place where it usually resided Appeared unto all the Congregation Openly shewed it self in the sight of all the People and it is likely in such an amazing manner as it had done before XIV 10. But where it appeared we are not told I suppose in the Cloud which was just
new Murmuring shows this not to be a true Excuse for them Verse 42 Ver. 42. And it came to pass when the Congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron Their Murmuring presently proceeded to an Insurrection That they looked toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation i. e. Moses and Aaron implored help from God which is implyed in their looking toward his Dwelling-place And behold the Cloud covered it One would think by this that it had for some time withdrawn it self from the Tabernacle when the dead Bodies of Korah's Company lay dead at the Door of it And the Glory of the LORD appeared To comfort them in this Distress and to show he was ready to support and vindicate them Verse 43 Ver. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of the Congregation Perhaps for Safety and Security or to hear what Directions God would give them Ver. 44. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Out of the Tabernacle before which he stood waiting for the LORD's Orders Ver. 45. Get ye up from among this Congregation Verse 44 He speaks to Aaron and Eleazar I suppose as well as Verse 45 unto Moses That I may consume them as in a moment As he was inclined to do before v. 21. and now had a greater reason And they fell on their faces To beseech God not to punish the People as they deserved v. 22. Ver. 46. And Moses said unto Aaron By God's Verse 46 Direction Take a Censer and put Fire therein from off the Altar Near to which they now were v. 43. And put on Incense Upon the Fire but not till he came into the midst of the Congregation v. 47. And go quickly unto the Congregation With the Incense which regularly was to be offered only at the golden Altar within the Sanctuary but now in this extraordinary Case by God's special Order Aaron is sent with it into the Camp that they might all be Witnesses of his Power with God and that by his Authority he was settled in the Priesthood And make an Atonement for them Which was usually performed by the Blood of a Sacrifice but there was not time for that and therefore now it was made by the Incense wherewith their daily Sacrifices Morning and Evening were concluded and was accompanied by the Prayers of the People while the Priest as he offered it made Intercession for them CXLI Psalm 2. Thus as St. Hierom glosses Currens ira Dei Sacerdotij voce prohibebatur the Divine Anger coming with full speed upon them was stopped by the Voice of the Priest Which was a notable Type of the Power of our great High Priest and Intercessor with God the LORD Jesus For there is Wrath gone out from the LORD Who would not wholly grant their Prayer for a Pardon v. 45. but inflicted some Punishment upon them The Plague is begun A Pestilence in all probability of which several immediately died Verse 47 Ver. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded A Censer and Fire from the Altar with Incense ready to be put upon it v. 46. And ran According to the Command of Moses v. 46. who bad him go quickly Into the midst of the Congregation Perhaps into the midst of each of the four Camps of Judah Reuben Ephraim and Dan mentioned in the second Chapter being broke out every where And behold the Plague was begun among the People He saw People die on all sides of him And he put on Incense Whereupon he put Incense upon the Fire which he brought along with him from the Altar v. 46. And made an Atonement for the People Interceded with God for them and obtained what he desired Verse 48 Ver. 48. And he stood between the dead and the living This seems to intimate that the Plague began in the Skirts of their Camps and was proceeding into the heart of them where Aaron stood as a Mediator for those who were not yet smitten And the Plague was stayed A stop was put to its progress Which was a further Evidence of Aaron's right to the Priesthood by God's appointment who not only preserved him when he offered Incense together with Korah's Company v. 17. but now makes him an Instrument of preserving others from destrustion Ver. 49. Now they that died in the Plague were Fourteen Verse 49 thousand and seven hundred Who it is likely were of the forwardest Men to associate themselves with Korah v. 19. Besides them that died about the matter of Korah Whose just number is not known for besides the Two hundred and fifty Men mentioned v. 25. the whole Families of Korah Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up Ver. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the Verse 50 door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation To carry back his Censer And the Plague was stayed Or rather For the Plague was stayed and so having done his business he returned to the Tabernacle CHAP. XVII Chapter XVII Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying Verse 1 Not long after the Plague was stayed For though there had been enough done to satisfie the People that Aaron was advanced to the Priesthood by God's appointment and not by Moses his Affection to his Kindred yet their Minds had been so poisoned by Korah and his Complices with the contrary Opinion that it was necessary to do still more to root it out Which was the occasion of what follows Verse 2 Ver. 2. Speak unto the Children of Israel Order them to bring what I require thee to take of them And take of every one of them i. e. Of every Tribe A Rod. Or a Staff as the Hebrew word Matteh is often translated Which some take for an ordinary Walking-staff or for the Staff which was the Badge of their Authority as Princes of the several Tribes neither of which seems to me to be true For what reason have we to think that every Man's Staff which he commonly used was made of the Wood of an Almond Tree as these were one may probably conclude from the 8th verse And therefore I take it they were all now cut off from some Tree of that kind and it is likely from one and the same Tree that none might fancy there was any difference between them For the Miracle was great enough which here follows without supposing as some do that these Rods were all of some other common Wood and yet Aaron's Rod produced Almonds which were not the proper Fruit of it Though it must be confessed that if they were not of the wood of an Almond Tree the wonder was greater that his Rod should bring forth Almonds and struck their Minds more strongly According to the House of their Fathers In the Hebrew it is Father in the Singular Number denoting the principal Person or Patriarch as we call them of whose House or Family he was to take one Rod. Of all their Princes according to the House of their Fathers This explains the meaning more fully that the Prince of every Tribe who was
them So this word bring near signifies to offer them unto God As they were VIII 10 11. Before Aaron the Priest In his presence That they may minister unto him Unto Aaron and the rest of the Priests who were the immediate Ministers of God and the Levites were given to minister unto them Which they did many ways especially while they remain'd in the Wilderness where they had a peculiar Charge which otherwise would have been incumbent on the Priests not only to guard the Tabernacle and keep a Watch night and day about it but also to take it down and to carry it when they removed and to set it up again when they rested as we read in the following part of this Chapter and in the next When they came into the Land of Canaan and were settled there they had less to do of this kind But as the Charge of the Tabernacle still lay upon them as it had done before so did other Works in the Courts of the LORD'S House and in the Chambers where they waited on the Priests which are particularly mentioned in 1 Chron. XXIII 28 29 c. And in David's time their Work was still more increased for he appointed them to be Singers in the House of the LORD and to play upon several sorts of Instruments 1 Chron. XXV which they did Morning and Evening 1 Chron. XXIII 30. Porters perhaps there were before who stood at the several Gates of the Tabernacle as afterward of the Temple and are said therein to minister in the House of the LORD 1 Chron. XXVI 12. as also Guards of the Treasury of God's House and of things dedicated to him v. 20. But as he increased the number of them so he settled them in their Courses that there might be a constant Attendance with greater ease As for those of them that were made Judges and Officers not only in Matters concerning the LORD but in the Service of the King as we read there 1 Chron. XXVI 29 30. it no more belongs to what is said of them here than what follows there v. 31. that there were found among them mighty Men of Valour See upon v. 10. Verse 7 Ver. 7. And they shall keep his Charge and the charge of the whole Congregation It highly concerned Aaron in particular and the whole Congregation in general that the Tabernacle should be well guarded And this was the Levites great business at present who took this Charge from off their hands by attending that Service which all of them were bound to perform Before the Tabernacle of the Congregation This exactly expresses in what their Ministry consisted which was not performed in the Tabernacle where the Priests only officiated in the Holy Place as the High Priest in the most Holy but before it in the External Part of it where they assisted the Priests in their Service To do the Service of the Tabernacle Such Service as I have mentioned before v. 6. Ver. 8. And they shall keep By guarding them and keeping a continual Watch about them Verse 8 All the Instruments of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Every thing belonging to it And the charge of the Children of Israel to do the Service of the Tabernacle By which Service at the Tabernacle they took upon them the Charge which otherwise was incumbent on the whole Congregation who were to take care that the holy Things were kept both safe and secure and also separate to the Sacred Uses to which they were appointed These words which are often repeated to do the Service of the Tabernacle are to be carefully noted because the Levites did not serve in the Tabernacle which belonged only to the Priests but served the Tabernacle by guarding it and taking it down and carrying it c. as was said before Ver. 9. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron Verse 9 and to his Sons They were first presented unto God v. 6. and God bestowed them as a Gift upon the Priests See VIII 19. They are wholly given unto him out of the Children of Israel To attend upon the Priests and to obey their Orders for which they paid them nothing but they were to do it freely being given to them to be their Servants by God who paid them their Wages Ver. 10. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his Sons Verse 10 and they shall wait on their Priests Office Or thou shalt appoint them to wait on their Priesthood Which he had shown before was very different from the Levitical Office but to make them more mindful of their Dignity he repeats it again that Aaron and his Sons alone should officiate as Priests viz. in offering Sacrifice in setting the Bread upon the Holy Table looking after the Lights and burning Incense Which they were to perform in their own Persons and not appoint any others as their Deputies to do them for none of these things could be performed by the Levites Whose business it was to look after the fine Flour of which the Bread was made to prepare it and the Frankincense which was to be burnt and abundance of such like things which are particularly mentioned 1 Chron. IX 27 28 29 31 32. But they could not make the Anointing Oyl or the sweet Perfume mentioned XXX Exod. 23 34. for they were most holy and therefore the Priests only could compound them And the Stranger that cometh nigh By Stranger is meant any one though a Levite that was not of the Sons of Aaron who alone had the priviledge to approach unto God Shall be put to death God himself sent out a Fire to consume Korah and his Company who presumed to offer Incense being but bare Levites and not Priests Chap. XVI Verse 11 Ver. 11. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying To make the Matter more clear he further tells Moses the reason why he took the Levites from among the the Children of Israel to be his after a peculiar manner Verse 12 Ver. 12. And I behold I have taken the Levites from among the Children of Israel Take notice of the Reason why I have taken the Levites from among the rest of the Israelites v. 9. for it is by my Order and Appointment Instead of all the First-born that openeth the Matrix c. To make an exchange with them for all their First-born which I have heretofore challenged as my own and now take the Levites in their stead Therefore the Levites shall be mine As all the First-born were which now shall be theirs and the Levites be mine Ver. 13. Because all the First-born are mine By Verse 13 a special Right which is mentioned in the next words For on the day that I smote all the First-born in the Land of Egypt The Title whereby he laid a Claim to all the First-born was that great Miracle as R. Levi of Barcelona calls it which he wrought when he destroyed all the First-born of their Neighbours in Egypt and touched not one of theirs By which sparing Mercy he acquired
of them both together In the first Month of the second year after they were come out of the Land of Egypt In which Month they were commanded to keep the Passover in memory of their wonderful Deliverance from the Land of Egypt Verse 2 Ver. 2. Let the Children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season Aaron having been lately consecrated and having offered all sorts of Sacrifices for himself and for the People and God having declared his acceptance by Fire from Heaven VIII IX Lev. God commanded the People should keep the Passover which he had lately admonished them was one of the Feasts of the LORD XXIII Lev. 5. But the first order for the observation of it being that they should keep this Service when they came to the promised Land XII Exod. 25. they might thence conclude there lay no Obligation upon them to keep it here in the Wilderness And therefore by a Special Precept they are required to keep it when the year was come about to the time of its first Observation that the memory of so singular a Benefit might not presently slip out of their mind See XIII Exod. 5. Ver. 3. In the fourteenth day of this Month at Even Verse 3 ye shall keep it in his appointed Season So it was ordained XII Exod. 6. XXIII Lev. 5. According to all the Rites of it With unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs and the other Rites mentioned XII Exod. 9 10. And according to all the Ceremonies thereof If there be any difference between Ceremonies and Rites I should think this belongs to their Eating it in haste with their Loyns girt Shoes on their Feet and Staves in their hands XII Exod. 11. Unto which they were not bound when they came into the Land of Canaan when they were no longer Travellers but it is likely were observed here in the Wilderness when they were in an unsettled Condition Ver. 4. And Moses spake unto the Children of Israel Verse 4 that they should keep the Passover According to all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging to it Ver. 5. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first Month at Even It was not hard to procure so much Flour as would serve to make Verse 5 unleavened Bread for that Even from some of their Neighbours about the Wilderness See IV. 7. In the Wilderness of Sinai Where they rested almost a whole Year But after they removed from thence were so uncertain in their Motions from place to place that they did not Circumcise their Children who consequently could not eat of the Passover And therefore we never read of its being kept after this during their forty Years stay in the Wilderness nor would they have been obliged as I said to keep it now without this Special Command Yet their Doctors say That this is written by Moses as a reproach to the Israelites that they observed no Passover in the Wilderness but this one alone Yet there are Christian Writers who deliver it as the Opinion of the Hebrews themselves that they kept another Passover a little before they ended their Wandrings in the Wilderness viz. in the first Month of the Year wherein Miriam died See Selden de Synedr Lib. II. cap. 2. n. 1. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses so did the Children of Israel They kept the Passover on the fourteenth Day at Even but perhaps did not keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven Days following For here is no mention of that and it had not been easie to provide so much Bread the want of which was supplied by Manna Verse 6 Ver. 6. And there were certain Men who were defiled by the dead Body of a Man And by a late Law for there is Nothing about this in the Original Law of the Passover XII Exod. no Unclean Person might eat of Holy Things VII Lev. 20. That they could not keep the Passover on that day On the fourteenth Day of the first Month at Even when the rest kept the Passover who were not defiled And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day On the very Day that the Passover was kept Ver. 7. And these Men said unto him Though Verse 7 they came before them both whom they found sitting together yet they applied themselves to Moses only as the Supreme Judge in such singular Cases For the Judges which were constituted by the Advice of Jethro could not resolve this hard question and therefore they resorted to Moses unto whose Judgment all difficult Causes were reserved XVIII Exod. 22 26. See Selden L. II. de Synedriis cap. 1. n. 3. We are defiled by the dead Body of a Man And therefore some may think should have been excluded out of the Camp according to what was ordained V. 2. and consequently kept from coming with such Questions or about any other Business to Moses But it must be considered that when this hapned the Law now mentioned was not given for this was in the first Month of the second Year and that Law was not given till the second Month when the Camps were formed Wherefore are we kept back It was against their will that they were defiled by the dead Body of a Man which perhaps they were bound to bury and therefore they expostulate with Moses about their being denied the Liberty which others had pleading in effect it was not their Fault that they were defiled by the Dead but rather their Unhappiness and therefore why might they not challenge a Right in this Sacrifice as well as others seeing they had not forfeited it by any voluntary Guilt That we may not offer an Offering of the LORD The Passover is called the KORBAN of the LORD because it was to be killed and its Blood sprinkled which shows it to be properly a Sacrifice and then eaten by God's Commandment in a grateful remembrance of an exceeding great Benefit which shows it to be an Eucharistical Sacrifice For though the first Sacrifice in Egypt was to procure Deliverance to them and to avert the Evil which fell on the Egyptians by the destroying Angel Yet ever after it was a Thanksgiving for Deliverance then wrought by God's special favour to them Of which there was a compendious Commemoration made in their Paschal Rites XII Exod. 25 26 27. In his appointed season among the Children of Israel For if they did not perform this Service now they knew it was not lawful to be done at any other time Verse 8 Ver. 8. And Moses said unto them stand still Or wait here a while In which words Moses himself acknowledges the difficulty of the case which he could not resolve till he had first consulted the Divine Majesty about it Which teach Judges not to be ashamed to confess their Ignorance and take advice in Matters dubious as the Hierusalem Targum here observes But I see no such good ground for the other part of his Observation on this Verse that there being four difficult
over the Ark of the Testimony IX 15. not in the Door of the Tabernacle for there Korah and his Company stood See XVI Exod. 10. And the end of the LORD 's appearing was to to give Sentence in this case and to declare by a visible Token whom he accepted as his Priests Thus the Glory of the LORD appeared the first time that Aaron and his Sons offered Sacrifice IX Lev. 6 23. Ver. 20. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Verse 20 Aaron saying A little before they put Fire in their Censers Ver. 21. Separate your selves from this Congregation Verse 21 Viz. From Korah and his Company and the People they brought along with them who seemed to favour them v. 19. That I may consume them in a moment As he did Korah and his Companions Ver. 22. And they fell on their faces To pray to Verse 22 God as they had done before v. 4. O God The most mighty The God of the Spirits of all Flesh Who hast created the Souls of all Mankind so Flesh often signifies all Men VI Gen. 13. and therefore searchest into their most secret Thoughts and Inclinations So these words signifie XXVII 16. Shall one Man sin Korah who was the chief Incendiary and Contriver of this Sedition And wilt thou be wroth with all the Congregation Many of which he thought might through weakness be seduced into this Faction having no Malice at all in their hearts Which God knew perfectly and therefore he begs of him that he would make a distinction between such as these and the Men that misled them Verse 23 Ver. 23. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying He bad him rise up having granted his Petition Verse 24 Ver. 24. Speak unto the Congregation Whom Korah had gathered together and brought along with him to the Door of the Tabernacle v. 19. Get ye up from about the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram Which it seems was not far off or wheresoever it was there a great number of People was gathered together to see what would be the Conclusion of this Contest The word Tabernacle is in the Singular Number but includes all the Tents belonging to these Men as appears from v. 26. Or perhaps they had set up one great Tabernacle for the word here is Mischean which may be thought to signifie more than Ohel a Tent v. 26. unto which abundance of People resorted as the place that Korah and the rest had appointed for the general Rendevouz as we now speak of all their Party For here Dathan and Abiram it is evident v. 27. were with him but there is no mention at all of On which makes it probable he had forsaken them as Moses wisht all the People to do on which Condition God promised to pardon them Ver. 25. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Verse 25 Abiram To try I suppose if he could reduce them to their Obedience and prevent their ruine He seems to have had no hopes of Korah but lookt upon him as incorrigible And the Elders of Israel followed him Either the LXX Elders who were lately chosen out of the rest XI 16. or the whole Body of those who were called by that Name and were Men of Authority attended upon him to make this Action more solemn and to let Dathan and Abiram see how much Moses was reverenced by better Men than themselves who refused to come to him v. 12 14. Ver. 20. And spake unto the Congregation saying Verse 26 It seems Dathan and Abiram refused to hear him as they did to come to him for here is no mention of any thing he spake to them but only to the Congregation who were gathered about their Tents Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked Men. I suppose now they were gone to their own Tents where their Families were from which he beseeches the People to remove with all speed And he doth not mean merely that they should remove their Persons from them but their Tents and their Goods and Cattle And touch nothing of theirs Because all belonging unto them was under an Anathema which God had passed upon them That is was devoted to destruction and therefore not to be touched XIII Deut. 17. Lest ye be consumed in all their sins Destroyed with them who had sinned so grievously as to fall under the Curse before-mentioned Verse 27 Ver. 27. So they gat up from the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram Where the greatest number of People were gathered together as I observed v. 24. For here is the same word Mischean again in the Singular Number denoting some spacious Habitation where perhaps they held their Consultations and unto which there was the greatest resort On every side From which we may conclude that the People had come from all quarters of the Camp to these Rebels either to joyn with them or out of Curiosity to see how things would go And Dathan and Abiram With Korah also it may be thought because he is mentioned in the beginning of the Verse Yet this Conclusion cannot be drawn from thence for it is not said he was now there but that it was the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram where they used I suppose to meet Came out From the Tabernacle before-mentioned And stood in the door of their Tents Of their own Tents where they commonly dwelt And their Wives and their Sons and their Children With their whole Families This was the highest degree of audacious and hardned Infidelity whereby they declared that they feared not what Moses who had given the greatest proof he was a Man of God could do unto them Ver. 28. And Moses said Unto all the People of Israel or to the Elders and as many as could Verse 28 hear him Hereby you shall know I will now give you an evident Demonstration That the LORD hath sent me to do all these works That I have been commissioned by God to do all the things with which those Men find fault particularly to take upon me the Government of them and to put Aaron and his Family into the Priesthood and make the Levites only their Ministers c. See v. 2 3 13 14. For I have not done them of my own mind In the Hebrew the words are And that not out of my heart It was none of my own device or contrivance I did it not out of an ambitious desire to be great myself or out of private affection to my Brother Ver. 29. If these Men die the common death of all Verse 29 Men. In the Hebrew it is As die all Mankind that is a Natural Death as we now speak Or they be visited after the visitation of all Men. i. e. Such Judgments of God come upon them as are usual and common in the World viz. a Pestilence the Sword or Famine The LORD hath not sent me Then look upon me as an Impostor Ver. 30. But if the LORD make a new thing Verse 30 In the Hebrew the words are If
in Egypt See this there explained And she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their Sister Who seems to have been born before Moses if not before Aaron II Exod. 4. Ver. 60. And unto Aaron was born Nadab and Abihu Eleazar and Ithamar VI Exod. 23. where he tells the name of their Mother Ver. 61. And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered Verse 60 strange Fire before the LORD See X Lev. 2. Verse 61 and the third Chapter of this Book v. 4. But Eleazar who was the eldest next to them was now alive and made High-Priest and it is likely Ithamar also being under Twenty years old when the People murmured upon the Report of the Spies and so not cut off with that wicked Generation XVI 29. All this is here recounted to show that the Tribe of Levi was preserved by the blessing of God as well as the rest of the Israelites though they were to have no Inheritance in the Land of Canaan Ver. 62. And those that were numbred of them were Verse 62 twenty and three thousand c. So they were a thousand more than at the last numbring III. 39. For they were not numbred among the Children of Israel But by themselves for the reason following Because there was no Inheritance given them among the Children of Israel For God was their Inheritance as he told them XVIII 20 c. And therefore they were ordered not to be numbred Thirty eight years ago no more than now I Numb 49 c. The Jews are something curious in their Observations upon these words among or in the midst of the Children of Israel from whence they conclude that the Levites might have Lands out of the Bounds of the Land of Canaan though not within it among their Brethren Ver. 63. These are they that were numbred by Moseâ— Verse 63 and Eleazar the Priest who numbred the Children of Israel in the plains of Moab c. By a special command of God v. 1 2 c. Ver. 64. But among these there was not a Man of them whom Moses and Aaron the Priest numbred when they numbred the Children of Israel in the Wilderness of Verse 64 Sinai See the first Chapter of this Book v. 1 2 c. so exactly were God's Threatnings fulfilled as well as his Promises Chapter XXVII Verse 65 Ver. 65. For the LORD had said of them they shall surely die in the Wilderness He had pronounced this irreversible Sentence upon the whole Congregation XIV 23 28 29. where he swears they should not enter into the Land of Canaan because they had brought or entertained an evil report of it See also II Deut. 14 15. And there was not left a Man of them save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh and Joshua the Son of Nun. Whom God promised to spare because they were of another Spirit XV. 24 30 38. And their survival was as remarkable an instance of the truth of God's word as the Death of all the rest CHAP. XXVII Verse 1 Ver. 1. THEN came the Daughters of Zelophehad the Son of Hepher c. Who are mentioned before XXVI 33. just as they are here only their Genealogy is here more fully set out that their Father was the Grandson of Manasseh the Son of Joseph from whom he was lineally descended but left no Sons behind him Now these young Women hearing Moses say as he doth in the foregoing Chapter that the LORD commanded the Land of Canaan should be divided among those that were now numbred and observing that only Males from Twenty years old were numbred v. 2. presently apprehended that they being Females were excluded from having any Inheritance among the Israelites and so the Family of the Hepherites XXVI 32. would be extinguished This was the ground of what follows Whereby it appears that every body was immediately acquainted with the Laws which Moses received from God and that there was a faithful Register kept of every one that was born in every Family and Tribe to prevent all Disputes about the true Heirs to Mens Estates Ver. 2. And they stood before Moses c. To represent Verse 2 before him and the rest of the Judges who were now assembled the Case which I have mentioned Before Moses and Eleazar the Priest and before the Princes and all the Congregation These made up the greatest Court of Judicature that at any time sate For by Princes are meant either the Heads of the Tribes or the highest of the Judges appointed XVIII Exod. called the Heads of the People v. 25. And by all the Congregation is meant the LXX Elders mentioned in this Book XI 24. For they are called col ha edah the whole Congregation and sometimes only Edah the Congregation as R. Solomon observes See Bertram de Republ. Jud. p. 72. Now at the Head of all these sat Moses and next to him Eleazar the Priest By the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Near to which this august Assembly it is likely was wont to sit when they met together that Moses might presently if there were occasion go and consult with God himself in any difficult matter that came before them And thus Mr. Selden observes out of Maimonides that in future times the great Sanhedrim followed the Tabernacle sitting sometimes in one place sometimes in another according as that was settled As after they came to Canaan it was first at Shiloh then at Mizpeh and afterwards at Gilgal Nob Gibeon the House of Obed-Edom till at last it was fixed in Jerusalem Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 15. n. 4. As concerning that which the Talmudists say concerning the proceedings in this case of Zelophehad's Daughters nothing certain can be determined But they give this account of it That they first brought this Cause into the Courts appointed by the advice of Jethro XVIII Exod. 21. and began with the Rulers of ten who knowing not what to say to them they went to those of fifty and from thence to the Centurions and at last to the Chiliarchs None of which durst adventure to give Judgment but referred the Cause by reason of its difficulty to Moses who brought it to the SCHECHINAH as they speak i. e. to the Divine Majesty Seld. ib. cap. 16. n. 1. Verse 3 Ver. 3. Saying Our Father died in the Wilderness Among the rest mentioned v. 64 65. of the foregoing Chapter They seem to have drawn up their Cause in the form of a Petition or as Mr. Selden speaks in the Legal Phrase presented a Libel to the Court containing the intire matter of their Petition and that artificially enough And he was not one of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the Company of Korah They use the very words of Moses concerning that rebellious Company XVI 11. And instance in this Sin rather than any other either to show that their Father had a due regard to the Authority of Moses who they hoped therefore would be the more favourable to his Posterity or