committed about the Worship of God and confirms what I have said upon v. 24. For in IV Levit. both v. 13. and v. 27. he speaks in general of Sins committed either by the Congregation or by particular Persons against any of the Commandments of the LORD not before the LORD i. e. as I understand it in his Worship and Service To make an atonement for him c. He repeats it again to show them that he would no more have a particular Person suffer for his Error than the whole Body of the People Verse 29 Ver. 29. You shall have one Law for him that sinneth through ignorance both for him that is among the Children of Israel and for the Stranger that sojourneth among them See v. 15. This must necessarily be meant of a Proselyte of Justice as they called him that was Circumcised and undertook to keep the whole Law for he speaks of such whether Natives or others as erred in not observing all his Commandments v. 22 23. Ver. 30. But the Soul that doth ought presumptuously Not merely knowingly but wilfully and audaciously in contempt of the Divine Majesty and his Authority For so the Hebrew Phrase with an high hand Verse 30 signifies as Maimonides observes in his More Nevoch P. III. cap. 41. where he saith it imports a Sin not only publickly and openly committed but with Pride and Insolence it proceeding not merely from an ill custom a Man hath got of doing amiss but from an express intention to contradict the Law of God and to set himself in defiance of it Which is the reason of what follows the same reproacheth the LORD Whether he be born in the Land or a Stranger Here the word Stranger is simply used without the addition of that sojourneth among them as in the preceding verse and therefore Mr. Selden well concludes that even the Proselytes of the Gate were concerned in this Law as it related to Idolatry and Blasphemy though not in the foregoing and that they were liable to be cut off by the Hand of Heaven but whether to be punished by the Judges or no it doth not appear Lib. II. de Jure Nat. Gent. cap. 11. The same reproacheth the LORD No Man sinned thus saith Maimonides in the place fore-named but he who had a settled Opinion in his Mind contrary to the Law of God in which he dissented from it And the common received Exposition of this place is that it speaks of an Idolater because he opposed the chief and principal Foundation of the Law For no Man worshipped a Star or a Planet but he that believed its Eternity which is the most repugnant of all other things to the Law of God which in the very first words of it declares that all the World had a beginning and was made by him whom the Jews worshipped Thus he But doing any thing with an high hand doth not signifie any one certain kind of Sin as the Jews generally fancy who think he speaks here only of an Idolater or Blasphemer See Selden Lib. I. de Synedr cap. 6. p. 101. but a certain manner of sinning with despight to the Commands of God and Contempt of his Authority in any kind of Sin whatsoever And this Maimonides himself afterward acknowledges in the words following There seems to me to be the same reason in all other Transgressions which are committed contemptuously against any Law of God as if an Israelite seethed a Kid in its Mother's Milk or wore heterogeneous Garments or rounded the Corners of his Head or his Beard in contempt of the Law For the consequence of this is that he believes this Law not to be true which in my judgment saith he is the meaning of these words He reproacheth the LORD And that Soul shall be cut off from among his People No Sacrifice could make an Atonement for such a Man but he was to die either by the Hand of Heaven or of the Judges Sometimes God saith he will cut off Idolaters and such as consulted Familiar Spirits XX Lev. 5 6. Sometimes he only saith certain Offenders shall be cut off as here in this and many other places Of which Phrase I have given an account XVII Gen. 14. where the Reader may see the several Opinions that have been about it and that its meaning must be determined by the matter in hand Accordingly Maimonides hath judiciously resolved that in this place it signifies cutting off by the Hand of the Magistrates as in the Case of Apostasy to Idolatry XIII Deut. 13 c. Not that all their Goods were to be destroyed and nothing left to their Heirs as when they served other Gods but though a whole Tribe had with an high hand transgressed any Precept of the Law that is denied it to be God's Law he thinks they were only to be all killed Just as all the People thought in the Case of the Reubenites Gadites and half Tribe of Manasseh who only building an Altar on the other side of Jordan contrary to God's Law as was imagined all the rest of the Tribes of Israel gathered together to go up to War against them and cut them off XXII Josh 11 12 c. 22 23. where they acknowledge they deserved to perish if they had built an Altar for Worship as their Brethren thought they had done Ver. 31. Because he hath despised the Word of the Verse 31 LORD This shows the Nature of the offence which was setting at nought God's Laws and denying them to be of Divine Authority And hath broken his Commandment Not only by doing contrary to it but in effect disannulling it by rejecting its Authority and affirming he is not bound to observe that Precept That Soul shall be utterly cut off They shall have no Mercy upon him His Iniquity shall be upon him Not upon those who put him to death but upon himself Ver. 32. And while the Children of Israel were in the Verse 32 Wilderness In this part of the Wilderness at Kadesh-Barnea it is very probable See v. 1. They found a Man The Jews who would not be thought ignorant of any thing say this Man was one of those that presumed to go up to the Mountain when Moses forbad them XIV 44. And some of them say expresly his name was Zelophehad about the dividing of whose Estate a question afterward arose XXVII 1 c. So the Chaldee Paraphrase ascribed to Jonathan and others See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 1. n. 9. That gathered sticks Or was binding up sticks which he had gathered and pluckt up by the Roots out of the Earth as some of the Jews understand the Hebrew word Mr. Selden there observes from V Exod. 7. On the Sabbath-day This the Jewish Doctors would have to be the very next Sabbath after its first Institution in the Wilderness which is to make this History misplaced and the foregoing also without any necessity Verse 33 Ver. 33. And they that found him gathering sticks Admonished him as the
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.
Sence is plainer without it as the Vulgar hath translated these words from the day he began to command And hence forward Or rather thence forward until now or until he made an end of commanding So this Phrase is used in XXII Lev. 27. From the eighth day and thence forth Creatures were clean to be offered See XXXIX Ezek. 22. Among your Generations In the Hebrew to your Generations And so LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be observed throughout all Generations Verse 24 Ver. 24. Then it shall be that if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the Congregation It is commonly said that Moses here speaks concerning Sins of Omission as we call them as in IV Lev. 13. he doth of Sins of Commission or doing that which ought not to be done as here not doing that which ought to be done for which different sorts of Sacrifices are appointed But others think that he speaks in both places of the same Errors only in that Law IV Lev. 14. concerning those committed by the whole Congregation here of such as were committed by some lesser number of them called the Congregation suppose the LXX Elders or the Rulers of Thousands and Hundreds c. who are some times called by this Name XXV 7. XXXII 12. XXIV Josh 4. But the Jews generally think Moses here speaks of strange Worship which was to be expiated by this Sacrifice of a Goat for a Sin-offering And therefore an excellent Person of our own after long consideration of this matter comes to this conclusion That in Leviticus he requires a young Bullock to be slain for a Sin-offering when the whole Congregation though adhering to the true Worship of God in every thing were led ignorantly to do something against some Negative Precept as they call it to practise that is what God had forbidden so those words seem to import IV Lev. 13 14. but this Kid of the Goats here mentioned for a Sin-offering together with a young Bullock for a Burnt-offering was to be sacrificed when all the People forgetting the holy Rites prescribed by Moses which often hapned under bad Kings fell by a common Error into Idolatrous Worship which agrees very well with what is said in the two verses before-going where he speaks as I noted of not observing these holy Rites about Sacrifices See Dr. Owtram Lib. I. de Sacrificiis cap. 14. sect 2. Then all the Congregation shall offer one young Bullock for a Burnt-offering Having neglected these Laws ordained by Moses and worshipped God in a wrong manner according to the Rites used in other Countries or at least mistaking the proper Sacrifices and Rites belonging to them which they ought to have offered this Burnt-offering I suppose is commanded to be offered when they saw their Error in token that they returned to God's true Religion and that way of Worship which he had prescribed With his Meat-offering and his Drink-offering prescribed above v. 8 9 10. Which perhaps they had neglected to offer formerly with the Burnt-offering It is well observed by Mr. Thorndike out of Maimonides That all the Congregation if we understand thereby the whole Body of the People could not possibly offer these Sacrifices but the great Consistory offered them as often as they occasioned the Breach of the Law by interpreting it erroniously Rights of the Church in a Christian State p. 159. And one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering To expiate for what had been done after the manner of the Heathen contrary to the Laws of God's Worship here delivered by Moses or otherwise then he directed From whence it was which adds much probability to this that when Hezekiah restored the true Worship of God after the Temple had been shut up and the daily Sacrifice omitted and many Idolatrous Rites there used by the Ignorance of the People in the days of his Father 2 Chron. XXVIII 24. XXIX 3. he caused seven Bullocks to be offered for a Burnt-offering and as many Goats for a Sin-offering And so Ezra did at the Restoration of the Divine Service after they came out of Babylon VIII Ezra 35. And it makes no difference that Moses here requires only one of a sort to be offered whereas Hezekiah offered seven and Ezra twelve for this only proves that one was absolutely necessary but more than one was acceptable especially when exceeding great Errors had been committed in God's Worship Verse 25 Ver. 25. And the Priest shall make an atonement for all the Congregation Who had thus committed an Error in the Worship of God out of Ignorance being misled by the great Interpreters of the Law who therefore were to bring this Sacrifice in the name of them all For it is apparent by this as well as the former verse that all the Congregation were concerned in this Sacrifice as much as in that IV Lev. 13. And the same appears from the next verse where he saith All the People were in ignorance And it shall be forgiven them for it is ignorance Proceeding from an erronious Interpretation of the Law or some other mistake not from contempt of God and of his Laws for then they were to be utterly cut off v. 30 31. And they shall bring their Offering a Sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD That is a Burnt-offering which is not prescribed in Leviticus as I observed before and therefore was a different sort of Offering for a different Offence And their Sin-offering before the LORD Prescribed in the fore-going verse For their ignorance Which made them capable of a Pardon though not without these Sacrifices Ver. 26. And it shall be forgiven all the Congregation Verse 26 of the Children of Israel He repeats it again that they might not doubt of Reconciliation to him when they repented as soon as they understood their Error and acknowledg'd it and beg'd his pardon by these Sacrifices And the Stranger that sojourneth among them Who were obliged to the same Laws with the Israelites and had the same priviledges v. 14 15 16. Seeing all the People were in ignorance It was a common Error and therefore no wonder Strangers were carried away with it Ver. 27. And if any Soul i. e. Any particular Person Verse 27 Sin through ignorance Offend in Matters of Religion by not observing the Rites here prescribed or by doing contrary to them through mere ignorance To this I think these words are to be limited wherein they differ from that Law IV Lev. 27. which speaks of all manner of Offences through ignorance Then he shall bring a She-goat of the first year for a Sin-offering This Sin-offering differs from that in Leviticus IV. 28. which was only a Female Kid of the Goats Verse 28 Ver. 28. And the Priest shall make an Atonement for the Soul that sinneth ignorantly As he was to do for the whole Congregation v. 25. When he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD These words before the LORD seem to me to import that he speaks of Sins
form of Speech to be kept or reserved in the Ark was a Type of Christ as he was the Food of Life or the Bread that came down from Heaven So were these Ashes kept as an Emblem of the everlasting Efficacy of his Sacrifice For there is no bodily Substance under Heaven as Dr. Jackson speaks Book X. chap. 55. which can be so true an Emblem or Model of Incorruption as Ashes are for being the remainder of Bodies perfectly dissolved or corrupted they are not capable of a second Corruption For the Congregation of the Children of Israel This one Heifer being slain and its Blood sprinkled and Body burnt afforded Ashes enough to season as many Vessels of Water as the whole People of Israel should need Wherein it was a notable Representation of Christ's Blood shed for the whole World to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Yea they were sufficient for all the People for many Generations though they had frequent occasion to use them for Legal Purification Wherein still they more lively represented the Vertue of Christ's one Sacrifice which continues for ever For the Jews say this red Heifer was killed but nine times while their State lasted First By Eleazar here in the Wilderness which was not repeated till after the Destruction of Solomon's Temple i. e. not during the space of more than a Thousand Years The second time it was burnt by Ezra after their return from the Captivity of Babylon and but seven times more till the Destruction of the second Temple Since which they have not adventured to make these Ashes but expect it to be done the tenth time by the King Messias Who indeed came to put an end to this and all other Legal Rites not after the Legal manner but by offering himself once for all instead of all other Sacrifices or ways of Purification For a Water of Separation To be put into Spring-water which was always accounted more pure than other by which those Persons were to be cleansed who for their Pollutions were separated from the Congregation and those things also which had been defiled were restored to their common use Ashes all know are of great use in scouring things polluted and the ancient Gentiles used them much in their Lustrations as appears from Virgil Ovid and many other Authors But the Water into which they put them was prepared with Magical Rites and for the most part was drawn out of some pretended Sacred Fountain and sometimes it had a burning Torch taken from the Altar quenched in it and in some places they put Sulphur and Spittle and other cleansing things into it In which I suppose at first they imitated this Rite prescribed by Moses but in process of time added many Superstitions of their own to it It is a purification for sin In the Hebrew the words are It is sin and we add a purification to explain the sence For it was not a proper Sacrifice for Sin as this Phrase for sin sometimes imports IV Lev. 24. but had something of that Nature in it as I observed before and may be properly said to Purifie or Cleanse Men from their Sin i. e. from such Legal Defilements as are mentioned afterwards And it may in a less proper sence have the Name of a Sin-offering inasmuch as the Body of it was burnt without the Camp as the great Sin-offering was on the Day of Atonement and its Blood sprinkled seven times towards the Sanctuary though not shed at the Altar Whereby it became a more compleat Representation of the Sacrifice of Christ Especially if we consider that this Purification here mentioned doth not signifie only one or a few Acts of Purification but a continued Purification the Ashes being to be laid up as a Treasure or Store-house to use Dr. Jackson's words for making as many Purifications or Waters of Sprinkling as the Israelites should have occasion to use For therein consisted the Excellence of this Purification that the Ashes were not to be made by burning a Heifer every time the People had occasion for them but the Ashes of this one Sacrifice as we call it was sufficient for the use of many Generations Accordingly the Apostle saith our LORD Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having made a purification of our sins I Hebr. 3. sat down at God's right hand Which word purification in that place doth not signifie one Act or Operation but implies that by this one act of Sacrificing himself he was consecrated to be a perpetual Fountain of Purification being still the propitiation for our sins Ver. 10. And he that gathereth the Ashes of the Heifer Verse 10 shall wash his Clothes and be unclean until the Even This is one of the strange things which the Jews say Solomon himself did not understand and Maimonides professes he could find no reason of More Nevochim P. III. cap. 47. and the Author of Sepher Cosri also ascribes purely to the Will and pleasure of God of which he could give no account P. III. sect 53. that the same thing should both cleanse and pollute as these Ashes did which polluted him that gathered them and made those that used them clean from the highest Legal Pollutions But this is not strange to those who consider that all those great Sacrifices which were offered for Sin which I mentioned v. 7. though they purified those for whom they were offered were very impure themselves because the Sins of Men were laid upon them as all our Sins were upon Christ who therefore is said to be made sin for us 2 Corinth V. 21. that we might be made the Righteousness of God i. e. freed from all Sin And it shall be unto the Children of Israel and unto the Stranger c. All Proselytes to their Religion were to have the benefit of this Purification as well as the Jews by an unalterable Law By which was figured the Propitiation Christ made for the Sins of the whole World Verse 11 Ver. 11. He that toucheth the Body of any dead Man shall be unclean seven days This long Uncleanness by touching a dead Body was the ground of those strict Injunctions to the Priest about mourning for their dead Relations which is forbidden lest they should be hindred too long in their Ministration See XXI Lev. He that touched the Carcase of any unclean Creature was defiled only till the Even XI Lev. 24. nor was he longer who touched the Bed of him that had an Issue or his Seat c. XV Lev. 5 6 7 8 c. He shall purifie himself with it With the Water of Separation mentioned v. 9. Which seems here to be designed chiefly if not only for the purging of this great Impurity by touching any Man's dead Body On the third day Then he was to begin his Purification by being sprinkled with it Which makes it probable that these Ashes were kept in more places than the Jews mention without the Camp as afterwards near Jerusalem and it is most likely in all the Cities