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
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
Lightning and perhaps scorched as they likewise sometimes are The latter seems most probable from what follows v. 37. and from the like punishment by Fire from the LORD which is said to devour Nadab and Abihu and yet their Bodies remained intire X Lev. 2 4. This was the more astonishing because Moses and Aaron who stood with them at the Door of the Tabernacle v. 18. had no hurt Verse 36 Ver. 36. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Immediately after the Death of those Men. Ver. 37. Speak unto Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest Who it is likely stood by them as next Successor to Aaron in the Office which was disputed And therefore perhaps imployed in what follows rather than Aaron that his Succession might be confirmed Though others will have it that it was below the Dignity of Aaron to perform such a mean Office and besides he might have been in danger to be polluted by the dead Bodies of the Men that were burnt That he take the Censers out of the Burning Out of the place where the Men were burnt as some understand it Or which differs not much from among the dead Bodies which were burnt Burning being put for Bodies burnt as Captivity XXI 1. for those that were carried Captive or made Prisoners as we there translate it But there is no need of either of these Additions burning signifying the Fire which burnt in them which he orders Eleazar to throw out that the Censers might be brought away And scatter thou the Fire yonder The Men were burnt as soon as ever they put fire to the Incense in their Censers v. 18. which flaming at the Door of the Tabernacle where they stood near the Altar from whence they took the Fire God commanded to be thrown away without the Camp into that place I suppose where they were wont to throw the Ashes VI Lev. 11. or rather into some unclean place where they threw the Dust scraped from the Walls of Leprous Houses XIV Lev. 41. For it was to show that God abhorred their Offering For they are hollowed Or had Fire from the Altar put into them which some think sanctified them But the plain reason is given in the next verse because they offered them before the LORD i. e. they had been employed to an holy use and that by God's command v. 6 17. and therefore God would not have them hereafter serve for any other Ver. 39. The Censers of these Sinners against their Verse 39 own Souls Who have brought destruction upon themselves by their Presumption Let them make of them Either Aaron or Eleazar were to cause them to be beaten into such Plates as here follow Broad Plates for a covering of the Altar Of Burnt-offering which was covered with Brass XXVII Exod 12. but these Plates were to be laid upon that Covering which it had already for the end mentioned in the Conclusion of this verse And hereby also the proper Covering of the Altar lasted the longer For they offered them before the LORD Presented them before the LORD when they offered Incense in them v. 35. Therefore they are hallowed Or holy That is I will have them separated for this reason to my use alone and no other It is a thing worthy to be taken special notice of that the Impiety of the Men that offered Incense did not discharge their Censers of the discriminative Respect as our famous Mr. Mede speaks due unto things sacred As these in some sort were by being presented to the LORD which made it unlawful to imploy them to common uses For as the LORD himself is that singular incommunicable and absolutely Holy One and his Service and Worship therefore incommunicable to any other so should that also which is consecrated to his Service be in some proportion incommunicably used and not promiscuously and commonly as other things are See Book I. Discourse 2. p. 18. And they shall be a Sign unto the Children of Israel That God accepts no Sacrifice which is not presented by the Hands of the Sons of Aaron This the Levites were to remember who attended upon the Priest when they saw these Plates laid upon the Altar of Burnt-offering every day Verse 39 Ver. 39. And Eleazar the Priest took the brazen Censers c. By this it appears these Censers were made of the same Metal though it was not said before that Aaron's Censer was of and wherewith the Altar was overlaid He took them up out of the burning no doubt immediately upon the foregoing Commands and as soon as the Mutiny was quite quelled they were employed as Moses had directed Ver. 40. To be a Memorial unto the Children of Israel This explains what is meant by a Sign v. 38. viz. to put them in mind or rather to keep in their memory That no Stranger Though he were an Israelite nay a Levite if he were not as it here follows of the Seed of Aaron he was reputed a Stranger to this Office Come near to offer Incense before the LORD Presume to execute the Office of a Priest in the Sanctuary That he be not as Korah and his Company Destroyed in a dreadful manner By this it appears that Korah perished as well as the Two hundred and fifty Men and it is likely as they did by Fire from the LORD As the LORD said unto him i. e. To Eleazar By the hand of Moses Ver. 36 37. Ver. 41. But on the morrow An astonishing Instance Verse 41 of the incurable hardness and insensibility of some Mens hearts which were not in the least altered by God's terrible Judgments and singular Mercies but instantly forgat both All the Congregation of the Children of Israel Not merely the Rulers of the People as this Phrase sometimes signifies but all the People in general v. 47. who were incited it is probable by that lewd Rout which Korah had gathered together against Moses and Aaron v. 19. Some of which were swallowed up but most of them remained still alive to do more Mischief Murmured against Moses and against Aaron In such a mutinous and threatning manner as demonstrated the contagious Nature of a Seditious Humour beyond all example For from a discontented Party who grumbled that they were not preferred suitably to the opinion they had of themselves it spread it self into the whole Body of the People And so infected them as to kindle a new Flame as soon as the former had been extinguished by such a terrible Vengeance as one would have expected should not have left the smallest Spark of this mutinous Humour in them Saying Ye have killed the People of the LORD So they impudently call those Men whom God himself had declared by a visible Token to be presumptuous Sinners against their own Souls Some imagine they quarrelled with Moses and Aaron because they had not prevailed with God to pardon them which they could as well have done as procured this Judgment upon them But the displeasure which God here expresses against this
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
would have been to have given them more than a tenth part but they were to give the Priests as good as they left for themselves For that was the Rule XXVII Lev. 32 33. And it was but reason the Priests should have this honourable provision made for them above the Levites their Vocations being more honourable and their Service more noble in the very Sanctuary it self For which cause this tenth of the Tythe of the Land was assigned them which they being but few in comparison with the Levites made the allowance to every one of them much greater than to any of the Levites And yet as an augmentation to it they had the First-fruits and their Fees as I said before out of the Sacrifices and other things wholly to their own use Even the hallowed part thereof out of it The sacred part was the tenth part which they might not use it being taken by God for his part XXVII Lev. 30. By which all the rest was sanctified to the use of the owner when this part was taken out of it which may possibly be here also intended Ver. 30. Therefore thou shalt say unto them Tell them the reason why this tenth part must be separated from the rest When ye have heaved the best thereof from it Taken Verse 30 out the tenth part as an Offering to the LORD Then it shall be counted to the Levites as the increase of the Threshing-floor and as the increase of the Wine-press Then the remainder may be as freely used by them as the Corn or the Wine of any Man's Land in Israel when he had paid his Tythe But till then it was unlawful for him to enjoy it because God was first to be served This is made more plain in the next verse Ver. 31. And ye shall eat it After the hallowed Verse 31 part was taken out v. 29. all the rest was theirs to be enjoyed as Men do that which is their own In every place This seems to be said to distinguish these from the holy things given by God to the Priests Which being offered at the Altar were to be eaten only in the Holy Place but the Tythes though they were a kind of Offering to the LORD yet not being presented at the Altar might be eaten any where after the tenth part was given to the Priests And your housholds All their Family Servants as well as others might eat of them whether they were clean or no. And more than this they might sell them to Strangers to buy other Necessaries with the Money they yielded or exchange them for other Commodities For it is your reward for your Service in the Tabernacle of the Congregation See v. 21. Ver. 32. And ye shall bear no sin Suffer no punishment By reason of it For eating it with your Housholds When ye have heaved from it the best of it When they had taken out the tenth part as sacred to God's uses v. 28. they might safely use the rest themselves as they pleased For God had given it to them for their support and therefore would not punish them for eating it as he did those that did eat holy Things which did not belong to them Neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the Children of Israel Nor would there be any danger of polluting the holy Things which God had reserved to himself by turning them to a common use as there would have been if they had eaten the Tythes or other Gifts before the tenth part which was God's was taken out of them Lest ye die In the Hebrew it is Nor shall ye die as those did who meddled with the holy Things which God reserved for his Ministers alone CHAP. XIX Chapter XIX Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying They were both concerned in what follows Moses to deliver the Command and Aaron to see it executed Verse 2 Ver. 2. This is the Ordinance Or the Constitution Of the Law which the LORD hath commanded Which is now passed into a Law by God's command who had ordered this Water of Purification to be made some time before as appears from VIII 7. But now sets down a Rule for all Posterity to observe in the making of it It is the rather mentioned now after the foregoing History to free the People from that great fear they were in of perishing in their Uncleanness XVII 12 13. by showing them a way how to be purified from the greatest Pollution before they approached to the Tabernacle Speak unto the Children of Israel that they bring thee At the common Charge of the People because it was for their common benefit A red Heifer The Hebrew word Parah which we translate Heifer signifies a young Cow as Par signifies a young Bullock not above two or three years old at most as Kimchi and others observe Without spot This the Jews refer to the word red which goes before and take it to signifie perfectly red without the mixture of any other colour for as to any other Imperfections they are provided against in the next words without blemish Insomuch that Maimonides in his Treatise on this Subject saith That if this Cow had two Hairs black or white it was unfit for this use From whence other Nations particularly the Egyptians derived the custom of sacrificing red Oxen as Plutarch tells us in his Book de Iside Osiride 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And he saith they searcht them so very narrowly that if they found one hair black or white they counted it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unfit to be sacrificed See Bochartus P. I. Hierozoic Lib. II. cap. 39. where he shows this was the most common colour among that sort of Creatures in some Countries Wherein is no blemish See XXII Lev. 20 21 22. And upon which never came yoke Had never been imployed in ploughing the Ground or any other Work for according to the common sense of all Mankind those Creatures which had been made to serve other uses became unfit to be offered to God Whence Diomedes promises Pallas a Cow of a year old 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which no Man hitherto had brought under the yoke Iliad K. And so doth Nestor Odyss T. and the like Bochartus observes out of Virgil Ovid and others in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. II. cap. 33. All this is very plain but why a young Cow rather then a Bullock which is commonly appointed in Sacrifices and why one perfectly red is not so easie to understand If we had any reason to believe that those Superstitions were among the Egyptians in the days of Moses which were when Plutarch or Herodotus lived we might very probably say as some Men of Learning have that this Precept was given to preserve the Israelites from their Religion For they abhorred to offer a Cow whom they honoured as sacred to Isis So Herodotus they sacrificed Males both old and young 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but it is not lawful for them to
Brook Zered as it is in II Deut. 13 14. And then to the River Arnon v. 13. and thence to Beer where they digged a famous Well XXI 16 17 18. which perhaps they might have done before in other places if they had made Experiment for Kadesh where they now were was in the Border of a Country inhabited And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron Just as their Fathers had many times done particularly upon such an occasion as this XVII Exod. 2 3. Ver. 3. And the People chode with Moses Instead Verse 3 of condoling with him and comforting him for the Death of his Sister and their Prophetess as Abarbinel observes they came in a rude manner to scold at him And spake saying Would God that we had died when our Brethren died before the LORD By a sudden Death rather than linger away by Thirst They allude to the strokes of God upon their Brethren XI 1 33. XIV 37. XVI 32 35 46. Which one would have thought should have affrighted them from uttering such very discontented Language XIX 2. But nothing will alter those who will not lay to heart and preserve in mind God's Mercies and Judgments Verse 4 Ver. 4. And why have ye brought the Congregation of the LORD into this Wildernoss that we and our Cattle should die there The very words of their Fathers presently after they came out of Egypt XVII Exod 3. Verse 5 Ver. 5. And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt They speak as if it had not been their own desire but that they were perswaded to it by Moses to leave Egypt who was sent to tell them God heard their sighing groans and crys and would deliver them II Exod. 23 24. III. 17. But in a discontented fit nothing of this was remembred To bring us unto this evil place They do not speak of returning to Egypt as their Fathers did XIV 3 4. but they repented that they were come out of it So shamefully forgetful they were of all God's benefits who had in a wonderful manner redeemed them from the heaviest Slavery and hitherto provided for them miraculously in the Wilderness which was a better place than such an ungrateful People deserved It is no place of Seed i. e. of Corn. Or of Figs or of Vines or Pomegranates c. Now they complain for want of other things as well as Water wherein they still imitate their unbelieving Fathers XVI 14. Ver. 6. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence Verse 6 of the Assembly unto the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation To pray to God to pardon their Sin and to supply their Wants And they fell upon their Faces As they had often done before on other such like occasions particularly XIV 5. And the Glory of the LORD appeared unto them Unto all the People it is likely as it had done several times to silence their Murmurings See XIV 10. XVI 19 42. Ver. 7. And the LORD spake unto Moses From Verse 7 that Glory which appeared upon the Tabernacle Ver. 8. Take the Rod. That famous Rod wherewith Moses had wrought so many Miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea c. And gather thou the Assembly together This word Edah signifying sometimes only the Assembly of the Elders not of the whole People it would be uncertain which of them he is bid to gather together for it is a different word from that which we translate Assembly v. 6. if the tenth verse had not determined that it was the Kahal or Congregation of the People as the word Edah also signifies just before v. 8. Thou and Aaron thy Brother For the People were gathered together against Aaron in a mutinous manner as well as against Moses v. 2. And speak ye unto the Rock before their eyes To the first Rock you meet withal saith Nachmanides and that is within their sight For this is not the same Verse 9 Rock out of which the former Water flowed as the Jews fancy but quite different Their very Names are different that being called Tzur this Selah That was in Rephidim this is Kadesh two very distant places Thus Chaskuni some think this the same with that in Exodus but it is not the same History For the former was in Horeb this in Kadesh which is in the Extremity of the Land of Edom. But whether God pointed him to a Rock which was then in their sight as he did at Horeb XVII Exod. 5 6. or left him to chuse any stony place is not certain But it is a mere fancy of some of the Jews that because God here bad them speak to the Rock Moses offended God in smiting it For to what purpose should he take the Rod if he was not to smite the Rock with it as he had done formerly Just such another conceit there is in Schalschelet Hakkabala where R. Gedaliah saith That he had given an account of this Sin in another Book which he gathered out of various Writers and found there were XXVIII different Opinions about it But he preferred this before any of them that whereas God bad Moses gather the Edah together that is the Assembly of the People v. 8. he gathered the Kahal i. e. the Congregation of the Princes and Elders as he will have it whose Faith needed no Confirmation See Hottinger in his Smegma Orientale cap. 8. p. 451. And it shall give forth his Water The Jews puzzle themselves about this Expression which sounds they think as if the Water was contained in the Rock and Moses only made a Gap for it to gush out But it seems to be spoken in opposition to the Waters issuing out of the former Rock which had supplyed them hitherto but now ceased to flow It being as much as if he had said This shall give forth Water as that did before now it shall be called the Water of this Rock not that of Horeb. And thou shalt bring forth to them Water out of the Rock Renew the former Miracle So thou shalt give the Congregation and their Beasts drink So that they and their Cattle which they fear will perish v. 4. shall be as plentifully provided for as ever Ver. 9. And Moses took the Rod from before the Verse 9 LORD as he commanded him From hence some conclude that this was the Rod of Aaron which blossomed because he is said to take it from before the LORD where Aaron's Rod was laid up XVII 10. But this Rod is so expresly called Moses his Rod V. 11. which was the Instrument of bringing the former Water out of the Rock in Horeb that I cannot but think this was the very same Rod. Which being there called the Rod of God XVII Exod. 9. as it is at the first mention of it IV Exod. 20. it is very probable that by God's order it was laid up somewhere before him in the Sanctuary though not before the Ark of the Testimony For having been imployed in doing
Deut. 12. or had its name from him cannot be determined But Hori we are sure was the first Possessor of whom there is any memory of this Mountain Hor which was afterward called Seir from one descended from him and afterward Edom. Verse 23 Ver. 23. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor. At the foot of the Mount as appears from v. 25. By the Coast of the Land of Edom. XXXIII 37. Verse 24 Ver. 24. Aaron shall be gathered unto his People Shall die v. 26. For he shall not enter into the Land which I have given unto the Children of Israel v. 12. A manifest Token that the earthly Canaan was not the utmost Felicity at which God's Promises aimed because the best Men among them were shut out of it Because ye rebelled against my Word at the Water of Meribah By this word rebelled it appears there was something of Obstinacy in their Unbelief mentioned v. 12. Verse 25 Ver. 25. Take Aaron and Eleazar his Son Speak to them in my Name For it is expresly said XXXIII 38. that they went up at the Commandment of the LORD And bring them up unto Mount Hor. This shows that they pitched their Tents at the bottom of it in a place called Mosera See X Deut. 6. where this seems also to have been the Name of the whole Hill as well as Hor. Ver. 26. And strip Aaron of his Garments i. e. Of Verse 26 his Priestly Robes as Josephus rightly expounds it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned XXVIII Exod. 2 3 c. wherewith he was clothed when he was anointed to the Office of High-Priest VIII Lev. 7 8 9. which he put on I suppose in the Camp and went up in them to Mount Hor that he might die gloriously not in his Robes but immediately after he put them off to be put upon his Son For this stripping him of his Robes was in effect the divesting Aaron of his Office that it might be conferred upon his Son which was done as follows And put them upon Eleazar his Son Which was the investing him with the Office of High-Priest into which he now succeeded in his Fathers stead and was by this Ceremony admitted to it The Talmudists say the manner was first to put on the Breeches then the Coat which being bound about with the Girdle then the Robe upon which was the Ephod and then the Miter and golden Crown See Selden de Succession in Pontif. Lib. II. cap. 8. And Aaron shall be gathered unto his People and die there This was said before in short v. 24. but now the time of his Death is expresly declared immediately after he laid down his Office and had the satisfaction to see his Son inaugurated in his Room and the place of it upon Mount Hor. Of this Phrase Gathered to his People see XXV Gen. 8 17. Ver. 27. And Moses did as the LORD commanded and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the Congregation That they might all be Witnesses Verse 27 of the Succession of Eleazar to the Office of his Father Verse 28 Ver. 28. And Moses stripped Aaron of his Garments and put them upon Eleazar his Son This Moses did as the Minister of God who now translated the Priesthood to another And Aaron died there in the top of the Mount And was buried also there X Deut. 6. For great and heroick Persons were in ancient days usually buried in high Places So Joshua was XXIV 30 33. and Eleazar II Judges 9. and Cadmus and Harmonia who lived near the time of Joshua as Bochartus observes in his Canaan Lib. I. cap 23. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the Mount After they had seen him laid in his Grave by those that attended them This fell out in the fortieth Year after they came out of Egypt on the first day of the fifth Month when Aaron was an Hundred and three and twenty Years old as we read XXXIII 38 39. In the new Moon of the Month which the Athenians called Hecatombaeon the Macedonians I ous and the Hebrews called Sabba as Josephus glosses But that last word should be Ab not Sabba as Jacobus Capellus observes in his Histor Sacra Exotica ad An. 2542. which answers he thinks to the nineteenth of our July And so the Hebrews say in Seder Olam Aaron died on the first day of the Month Ab upon which there is a Fast in their Rituals in memory of it Ver. 29. And when all the Congregation saw that Aaron was dead i. e. Understood as the word See is used XLII Gen. 1. that God had taken him out of the World as Moses and Eleazar told them who Verse 29 also came down from the Mount with him They mourned for Aaron thirty days Till the end of the Month. For so long their Mourning seems in those days to have been continued for great Persons as it was for Moses XXXIV Deut. 8. though a Week sufficed for private Persons Even all the House of Israel Both Men and Women CHAP. XXI Chapter XXI Ver. 1. AND when King Arad the Canaanite In Verse 1 the Hebrew the words are thus placed When the Canaanite King Arad And so they are in the LXX and the Vulgar And Arad may as well signifie a Place as a Person nay there seems more reason to translate the words thus The Canaanitish King of Arad because there was such a City in Canaan mentioned XII Josh 14. and I Judges 16. One of the Sons of Canaan being called Arad as both the LXX and the Vulgar translate the Hebrew word Arvad X Gen. 18. who it is likely gave his Name to this part of the Country the chief City of which was also called after him Which dwelt in the South In the South part of the Land of Canaan towards the Eastern Angle of it near the Dead Sea See XXXIII 40. Heard that Israel came by the way of the Spies Which were sent by the King Arad as many suppose to bring him Intelligence which way the Israelites marched For it being Eight and thirty Years since the Spies sent by Moses went that way or rather they going so secretly that it was not known which way they went it is thought not probable that Moses speaks of them in this place But there is no necessity of taking the Hebrew word Atharim to signifie Spies but it may as well be the Name of a Place as the LXX understood it by whom it is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if the situation would agree to it one might probably conjecture the place was so called from the Spies that went from thence by Moses his order to survey the Country For that was a thing so memorable that as it could not well slip out of the Minds of the People of Canaan so they found I make no question after they were gone which way they came into their Country though for the present they passed unobserved and everafter called it the way of
Provocations for their number was within Eighteen hundred and twenty as many as they were at their last muster and partly that the Land they were now going to possess might be the more easily divided among the Tribes in just and equal proportions From twenty years old and upwards throughout their Father's house all that are able to go to war in Israel All this is explained in the first Chapter v. 2 3. Verse 3 Ver. 3. And Moses and Eleazar the Priest spake with them With the Heads of the several Tribes who it is likely were to assist in this numbring as they did in the former I Numb 4 16 17. In the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho saying See XXII 1. Verse 4 Ver. 4. Take the Sum of the People These words are not in the Hebrew but some words of this kind are to be understood that they spake with them about numbring the People from twenty years old and upwards as it here follows As the LORD commanded Moses and the Children of Israel which went forth out of the Land of Egypt He bad them proceed according to the directions God had formerly given in the second month of the second year after they came out of Egypt I Numb 1. Verse 5 6. Ver. 5 6. Reuben the eldest Son of Jacob. This numbring being performed as the former was Moses uses more concise Language in the account he gives of it as he doth in the foregoing verse and in this and those that follow Where he sets down the number of every Tribe and the Families from whence they sprung without saying Those that were numbred of the Tribe of Reuben were c. as he doth I Numb 21 c. The Children of Hanock of whom came the Family of the Hanochites c. The four Sons of Reuben whose Families here follow are mentioned both in Genesis XLVI 9. and in Exodus VI. 14. and are here mentioned again because he intends to set down the Names both of the Children and Grand-children of one of his Sons which he did not before Ver. 7. These are the Families of the Reubenites Verse 7 The word we translate Families rather signifies Nations Gentes or Kindreds as we translate it XXII Psal 27. For all that sprung from those LXX Persons who came with Jacob into Egypt are called by this name of Mispecoth which the LXX here translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 People Which were divided into Houses as the Hebrews call them and those Houses into particular Persons This is plain from VII Josh 14. where for the discovery of him that had sinned in the accursed Thing God commanded the Israelites to be brought by their Tribes and then that Tribe by the Families belonging to it and that Family which the LORD took by Housholds and that Houshold Man by Man And they that were numbred of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty This being compared with I Numb 21. it appears this Tribe was less than it was eight and thirty years ago by near three thousand Men For some whole Housholds had been destroyed as it follows v. 9. Ver. 8. And the Sons of Pallu Eliab He speaks Verse 8 in the Plural Number when there was but one Son of Pallu which is very usual in the Scripture Language See XIX Gen. 29. XXI 7. XLVI 7. and in this very Chapter v. 42. Eliab He doth not say from him came the Family of the Eliabites for he made only an Houshold in the Family as we call it of the Palluites Verse 9 Ver. 9. And the Sons of Eliab Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram The same must be observed of these that Families did not spring from them but they were Housholds belonging to the Family of the Palluites This is that Dathan and Abiram They are here again mentioned partly to set a new Brand upon them for their insolent Rebellion against Moses and partly to show how the Reubenites came to be so diminished Famous in the Congregation See XVI 2. Who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah They joyned with Korah who seems to have been the chief Incendiary For he is mentioned first in the XVI 1. When they strove against the LORD Who had appointed Aaron alone to be the High-Priest and his Sons to Minister in the Priest's Office which these Men would have usurped XVI 11. where it is said expresly They were gathered together against the LORD Verse 10 Ver. 10. And the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah These words seem to import that Korah was swallowed up with Dathan and Abiram as I have observed upon XVI 32. See there But it must be acknowledged that these words may receive another Interpretation and that very natural in this manner The Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up viz. Dathan and Abiram and the rest mentioned XVI 32. and then the next words veeth Korah may be thus translated and as for Korah who was the great Incendiary when that Company died i. e. he died when the Company which offered Incense died for there is in many places a defect of a word to be supplyed from the word that follows This is a very easie construction and agrees with the Psalmist CVI. 17. where he mentions only Dathan and Abiram's Company as swallowed up and then adds v. 18. A fire was kindled in their Company i. e. in the other Company of Rebels and the flame burnt up the wicked viz. Korah and those that were with him What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men XVI 35. If the Interpretation now mentioned of the foregoing words be admitted then Korah must be added to the number of the Two hundred and fifty Men which Moses takes occasion to explain in this place And they became a sign A Monument of God's displeasure against those that affront his Ministers to give warning unto all Posterity not to follow their pernitious Courses Ver. 11. Notwithstanding the Children of Korah died Verse 11 not As those of Dathan and Abiram did but their Family continued famous in David's time For perhaps they left their Father and departed from the Tents of those wicked Men as Moses by God's command exhorted the Congreation XVI 24 26. and they obeyed v. 27. Ver. 12 13. The Sons of Simeon after their Families Verse 12 13. c. His Sons reckoned up here just as they are XLVI Gen. 10. and VI Exod. 15. only one of them viz. Ohad is here omitted because either he had no Children or his Family was extinct before this time The first of them also viz. Nemuel is there called Jemuel and Jachin in 1 Chron. IV. 24. is called Jarib there being some reason in process of time for such alterations Verse 14 Ver. 14. These are the Families of the Simeonites twenty and two thousand and two hundred There was a wonderful decrease of this Tribe in the space of thirty and eight years For they were fewer
A COMMENTARY UPON THE Fourth Book of MOSES CALLED NUMBERS BY The Right Reverend Father in GOD SYMON Lord Bishop of ELY LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCIX A COMMENTARY UPON NUMBERS A COMMENTARY UPON THE Fourth Book of MOSES CALLED NUMBERS CHAP. I. Chapter I THIS Book is called by the Name of NVMBERS in our Language because it begins with an Account of the Numbering of the People in the beginning of the second Year after they came out of Egypt though it contain a great many things besides that particularly another Numbering of them Chapter XXVI towards the conclusion of their Travels in the Wilderness For this Book comprehends an History of about thirty eight Years though the most of the things related in it fell out in the first and in the last of these Years and it doth not appear when those things were done which we read of about the middle of the Book from the XVth to the XXth Chapter Verse 1 Verse 1. And the LORD spake unto Moses Who undertook nothing without order from God In the Wilderness of Sinai Where they had continued near a full Year as appears by comparing XIX Exod. 1. with this place and shortly after this removed from it X. 11. In the Tabernacle of the Congregation From whence the LORD delivered those Laws which we read in the foregoing Book See on I Lev. 1. and now seems to have admitted him into the Tabernacle whereas before he only spake to him out of it On the first day of the second Month in the second year after they were come out of the Land of Egypt All that is related in the foregoing Book seems to have passed in the first Month of the second Year after their coming out of Egypt In the beginning of which the Tabernacle was set up XL Exod. 2 17. and in the middle of it the Passover was kept as appears by this Book IX 1 2 c. Verse 2 Ver. 2. Take ye the sum There had been a Muster as we may call it of the People before the Tabernacle was erected XXX Exod. 12. and consequently some Months before this for it was in order to a Contribution which every one was to make towards that holy work XXXVIII Exod. 26. Whereas this was for the better disposing of their Camps about the Tabernacle now that it was set up and for their more regular march when they removed from Mount Sinai which they were to do shortly Of all the Congregation of the Children of Israel Who alone were numbred all except the Levites but none of the mixt Multitude that came with them out of Egypt XII Exod. 38. After their Families It appears by VII Joshua 16 17 c. that the several Tribes of Israel were divided into Families and those Families into Housholds and those Housholds had every one of them an Head or Chief who is called the Father of it There were LXX of these Families in all but some Tribes had more others fewer according to the number of Souls as they are called that is Persons who were in each when they went down into Egypt XLVI Gen. 27. By the House of their Fathers Every Family as I said being distributed into Houses which we now call Families these Houses were denominated from their Chief whom they called their Father For no Houses were denominated from the Mother as the Jews say With the number of their Names The Names of every Person in the several Houses were set down and registred that they might be the better known Every Male by their pole But no Women for the reason which follows Ver. 3. From twenty years old and upward Which Verse 3 was ever after this the Age when Men were thought fit for War All that are able to go forth to war in Israel One would think by this they were not to number very aged and decrepit People because they were no more able to go to war than Women and Children and those under twenty years old And if we may believe Josephus L. II. Antiq. cap. 9. after fifty Years old Men were not bound to pay the half Shekel which was due in such Musters and therefore we may reasonably think were excused from going to war unless they had a mind themselves Thou and Aaron Who had the highest Authority in the Nation Shall number them by their Armies This seems to import that in taking the account of them they distributed them into certain Troops or Companies out of which were formed Regiments as we now speak and greater regular Bodies which composed several Armies We do not read this was required in the former numbering XXX Exod. that being for another end as I now observed not for their more orderly march in their remove from Mount Sinai And here I cannot but take notice what a vast difference there was between this method and that rude way which Cecrops the first King of Attica after the Ogygian Flood which hapned about the time of Moses took to know the number of his People which the Greek Writers say was by requiring every one of them to bring a Stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and throw it down before them which he counting found them Twenty thousand So the Scholiast upon Pindar Od. IX and others in Meursius de Regibus Atheniens L. I. cap. 7. Verse 4 Ver. 4. And there shall be with you a Man of every Tribe Whom they were to take for their Assistants Every one Head of the House of his Fathers The LXX and the Vulgar understand this to signifie the principal Persons in each Tribe who were best acquainted with every Family and Houshold in that Tribe And so it is expounded v. 6. And many think these were the First-born in their Tribe But there is this Objection against it That Nahshan who is named for the Tribe of Judah v. 7. was not descended from the First-born of that Tribe For Pharez was not Judah's eldest Son Selah being before him who had Children as we find XXVI of this Book v. 20. Besides when the Princes of the Tribes rre reckoned again XXXIV of this Book in the last Year of their abode in the Wilderness none of them are derived from these Men here mentioned but from others And therefore these were the most eminent Men in the several Tribes upon a different account either for Wisdom or Valour or some other excellent quality Ver. 5. And these are the Names of the Men that shall Verse 5 stand Be Assistants With you i. e. With Moses and Aaron Of the Tribe of Reuben Elizur the Son of Shedeur There is little to be observed concerning these Tribes but that they are here placed not in the order of their Birth but of their Mothers who bare them First the Children of Leah who are all reckoned in the same order wherein they were born of her ver 6 7 8 9. Then the Children of Rachel v. 10 11. And after them the
is the reason perhaps why these are ordered here in the next words to bring up the Rear They shall go hindmost with their Standards Here the Standard comprehends Ensigns for there was but one Standard for this Camp as there were no more for the other three Therefore the meaning is they shall march hindermost under their several Colours as we now speak Which was ordered for the greater Security of the Sanctuary by the two strongest Bodies marching before and behind where there was the greatest danger Ver. 32. These are those which were numbred of the Verse 32 Children of Israel by the House of their Fathers c. That is Thus were all these Persons disposed under their several Standards whose Number was taken by Moses and Aaron with their Associates I. 44 45. Ver. 33. But the Levites were not numbred among Verse 33 the Children of Israel as the LORD commanded Moses And consequently did not belong to any of these Standards being to make another Camp by themselves I. 47 c. Ver. 34. And the Children of Israel did according to Verse 34 all that the LORD commanded Moses As they gave in their Names when they were to be numbred I. 54. so they now joyned together under such Standards as God appointed So they pitched by their Standards and so they set forward c. Each Tribe encamped under the Standard that was assigned to them and they also marched when they set forward in such order as is here directed Some order no doubt had been observed before both when they rested and when they marched See XIII Exod. 18. but it was not so exact and regular as this form into which they were now cast by God himself nor can we think it was so strictly observed The Jews say that this Camp made a Square of Twelve Miles in compass about the Tabernacle as Dr. Lightfoot hath observed in his Centur. Chorogr CXLVIII and J. Wagenseil more lately in his Annotations upon the Gemara of Sota Cap. 1. Sect. 51. where several of them say that the Camp was three Parasots in compass and a Parasot was four Miles CHAP. III. Chapter III Verse 1 Ver. 1. THese are the Generations of Aaron and Moses Being now to give an account of the Levites who had not been numbred with the rest of the Children of Israel he sets down the descendants of the principal Persons among them viz. Aaron whom he puts in the first place because he was the elder Brother and his Posterity were advanced to the Dignity of Priests and Moses whose Posterity were only Ministers to the Priests as all the common Levites were It may seem indeed at first fight as if he gave an account only of Aaron's Posterity v. 2. But if we look further to v. 27 28. we shall find the Posterity of both here numbred in the Family of the Amramites of which both Aaron and Moses were Amram being their Father from whom the Genealogy of the Children of Moses is derived 1 Chron. XXIII 13 14 c. through their Generations as here those of Aaron Concerning the word Generations See Dr. Hammond on the first of St. Matthew Not. a. In the day that the LORD spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai This Circumstance seems to be particularly specified because at that time Nadab and Abihu who are mentioned in the next Verse were both alive and very eminent Persons XXIV Exod. 1 9 10. though they were now dead at this numbring of the Levites Ver. 2. These are the Names of the Sons of Aaron Verse 2 Nadab the first-born c. There seems no necessity of setting down the Names of Aaron's Sons they not being here to be numbred But it was of great Concernment to have the Distinction preserved between the Priests and the Levites their Offices being very different and therefore Moses here sets down who belonged to the one and who to the other Ver. 3. These are the Names of the Sons of Aaron Verse 3 the Priests which were anointed See VIII Levit. 30. Which he consecrated In the Hebrew whose Hand he filled See XXVIII Exod. 41. XXIX 9. To minister in the Priests Office He would have it noted that Aaron's Posterity were solemnly consecrated to an higher Office than the rest of the Tribe of Levi who were to be their Servants The very name of Cohen carries Dignity in it signifying sometime a Prince as well as a Priest Accordingly the Priests had very little servile Work imposed upon them but their chief business was to draw near to God to present him with the Blood and the Fat and some part of the Sacrifices which might be killed by other Persons This shows that they were God's Familiars insomuch that some Sacrifices were divided between him and them and it was the same thing whether they were consumed on the Alter or eaten by the Priests And those things are said to be given to God which were put into their hands though they never came to the Altar Which is an Evidence of the near relation they had to the Divine Majesty which the Levites had not for they could not come nigh to offer any thing to him no more than the rest of the Israelites but were employed in inferior Services about the Tabernacle that the Priests might wholly attend to the Service of God at the Altar Verse 4 Ver. 4. And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD c. A little after their Consecration X Lev. 1 c. And they had no Children Which is here recorded that all Posterity might know there were none to be admitted to the Office of Priesthood but such as could derive their Genealogy from Eleazar or Ithamar If the other had left any Sons they would have inherited their Father's Office before Eleazar as Maimonides observes out of Siphre See Schickard his Jus Regium Cap. VI. Theorem XX. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministred in the Priests Office in the sight of their Father The LXX rightly translate it together with their Father Who was the High Priest and they Lower Priests under him And so were all their Sons which it is likely they had in good number For they are appointed v. 38. for the guard of the Tabernacle towards the East And thus the Gemara Hieorosol in the Title concerning Fasting saith That Moses appointed VIII Classes of Priests four of the Family of Eleazar and as many of Ithamar which continued till the time of Samuel the Prophet and David who admitted many more See Selden de Success in Pontif. Cap. I. Ver. 5. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Now he gives order about the rest of the Tribe of Levi who had been omitted in the late Muster Verse 5 Ver. 6. Bring the Tribe of Levi near and present Verse 6 them They had consecrated themselves to God by a noble Act mentioned XXXII Exod. 29. Which procured them this Blessing to be presented to God and consecrated to him in a solemn manner for such Services as he should assign
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
And the Hangings of the Court See Verse 26 XXVII Exod. 9. And the Curtain for the Door of the Court XXVI Exod 16. Which is by the Tabernacle and by the Altar round about Or as the Hebrew particle al may be translated is over or upon the Tabernacle c. That is this Curtain at the Door and the Hangings of the Court compassed the Tabernacle and the Altar of Burnt-offerings which stood at the Door of it XL Exod. 19. round about so that they were not exposed to common fight For these Gershonites had nothing to do with the Altar it self which was the Charge of the Kohathites v. 31. And the Cords of it This seems to refer not merely to the Curtain for the Door of the Court but to all that went before viz. the Cords whereby those Hangings were stretched out and fastned by Pins to the Wood-work of the Tabernacle For the Cords of that belonged to the Custody of the Sons of Merari v. 37. and we find Pins and Cords as well for the Tabernacle that is the Hangings as for the Court i. e. the Boards c. XXXV Exod. 18. For all the Service thereof Of this part of the House of God as appears from v. 31 and 36. where this is repeated with respect to the other parts of it Verse 27 Ver. 27. And of Kohath was the Family of the Amramites c. He was the second Son of Levi and had as many more Families sprung from him as from the Eldest among which was the Family of the Amramites of which were Moses and Aaron Verse 28 Ver. 28. In the number of all the Males c. Though there were four Families of the Kohathites and but two of the Gershonites yet the latter were as numerous as they within Eleven hundred Keeping the Charge of the Sanctuary Of what belonged to the holy Place which was committed to their Charge as it follows afterward and they were instructed in it betimes Verse 29 Ver. 29. The Families of the Sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle southward Between the Tabernacle ond the Standard of Reuben II. 10. Verse 30 Ver. 30. And the Chief of the House of the Father of the Families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the Son of Vzziel There was a Commander in Chief appointed over this Body of the Levites who was chosen out of the youngest Family of the Kohathites But it is observable there were no Standards belonging to any of these Bodies they being designed for other Service and not for War Ver. 31. And their Charge shall be the Ark and the Verse 31 Table and the Candlestick The Sanctuary as was said before v. 28. being committed to their Custody the Particulars are here mentioned which were the most precious of all the holy Things With which the Kohathites had the honour to be intrusted though a younger Family than those descended from Gershon because Moses and Aaron were of it being of the Family of the Amramites Which is the reason why the Kohathites are reckoned first in the next Chapter v. 2. and that of the XLVIII Cities given to the Levites by Joshua almost half of them fell to their Families XXI Josh 4 5. The Altars Both the Altar of Burnt-offerings and the Altar of Incense And the Vessels of the Sanctuary wherewith they i. e. the Priests minister See XXV Exod. 29. XXXVII 16. And the hanging That is the Vail before the most Holy Place for all other Hangings were under the care of the Gershonites v. 25 26. wherein the Ark was wrapt when they carried it IV. 5. And all the Service thereof Whatsoever belonged to this part of God's House See v. 26. and the Particulars are mentioned in the next Chapter v. 7 9 14. Ver. 32. And Eleazar the Son of Aaron shall be chief Verse 32 over the Chief of the Levites There was one Officer in chief set over each of these great Families of the Gershonites v. 24. of the Kohathites v. 30. and the Merarites v. 35. And over all these Chiefs there is now appointed a supreme Chief who was to govern them as they governed those under them and that was Eleazar who was more than a Levite being the eldest Son of Aaron the High Priest And have the over-sight of them that keep the charge of the Sanctuary But more particularly Eleazar was to super-vise those that had the Sanctuary under their care That is all the Rohathites and Elizaphan their chief v. 20. Verse 33 34. Ver. 33 34. Of Merari was the Family of the Mahlites and the Family of the Mushites c. Nothing is observable of these but that they were the fewest in number being thirteen hundred less than the Children of Gershon v. 22. Verse 35 Ver. 35. These shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle Northward Opposite to the Kohathites between the Standard of Dan and the Sanctuary II. 25. Verse 36 Ver. 36. And under the Custody and Charge of the Sons of Merari shall be the Boards of the Tabernacle c. Concerning all the things mentioned in this and in the next Verse See XXVI Exod. 15 16 c. XXVII 10 11 12 c. and the next Chapter of this Book v. 31 32. Verse 37 Ver. 37. And their Cords These are different from those before mentioned v. 27. as I noted there Verse 38 Ver. 38. But those that encamp before the Tabernacle towards the East Where the Entrance into it was Even before the Tabernacle of the Congregation Eastward He would have this Station observed as much excelling the rest Shall be Moses and Aaron and his Sons There were but three Bodies of the Levites descended from the three Sons of Levi v. 1. and therefore none left to guard this side of the Tabernacle but Moses and Aaron and their Families who lay between the Standard of Judah and the Tabernacle see Chap. II. v. 3. which was the most honourable Post as I there noted Where the Priests were with great reason placed together with the chief Governor of all Moses because they were to guard the Holy Place that none might go into it but themselves Keeping the charge of the Sanctuary Of the Entrance into it For the charge of the Children of Israel Which it concerned every one of the Children of Israel should be kept sacred See v. 7. And the Stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to Death No Man that was not of the House of Aaron though a Levite was upon the peril of his life to enter into the Sanctuary Of which they had the charge See v. 10. Ver. 39. All that were numbred of the Levites which Verse 39 Moses and Aaron numbred at the Commandment of the LORD This looks like a Contradiction to the Observation I made v. 14.16 But Aaron's numbring here in all Probability is only his agreeing that this was a true Account which Moses took of the Tribe of Levi. For Moses still continues to be alone concerned in numbring the
one of the First-born to come and put in his Hand and draw out a Schedule And to him that drew out one of the former sort he said a Levite hath redeemed thee but to him that drew out one of the latter he said pay thy Price And thus they tell the Story also in the Gemara Babylon Tit. Sanhedrin Which is probable enough unless we suppose the Congregation to have redeemed the Two hundred seventy three First-born out of a common Stock which was a shorter way but not so Divine as the other Verse 48 Ver. 48. And thou shalt give the Money wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed unto Aaron and to his Sons Which was but reasonable because the Levites being given to them by God v. 6 7. the Money that was paid to make up what was wanting in their proportion to the First-born belonged to them likewise Verse 49 Ver. 49. And Moses took the Redemption-Money of them that were over and above To whom the Lot fell having five Shekels written upon it Them that were redeemed by the Levites The First-born were redeemed by the Levites as far as their number would reach the rest who were more than the Levites were redeemed by Money Verse 50 Ver. 50. Of the First-born of the Children of Israel took he the Money a thousand three hundred and threescore and five Shekels Five times two hundred seventy and three make just this number Ver. 51. And Moses gave the Money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his Sons Which was a Rule observed in future Generations XVIII 15 c. According to the Word of the LORD as the LORD commanded Moses This is so oft repeated to show how faithful a Servant Moses was who did nothing but by the Divine order and omitted nothing that was commanded him CHAP. IV. Chapter IV Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses and Verse 1 unto Aaron saying They being both of them concerned to see this carefully executed he speaks to both and they took others to their Assistance v. 34 46. Ver. 2. Take the sum of the Sons of Kohath c. Verse 2 They are first mentioned being employed in the most honourable Work as I observed before III. 31. Ver. 3. From thirty years old and upward In this Verse 3 Work to which they are appointed they were not employed till they came to Thirty years of Age But they were admitted to attend at the Tabernacle and do other Service at the Age of Five and twenty as we read VIII 25. Which place the Jews in the Gemara Babylonica upon the Title Cholin reconcile with this after this manner They were admitted to learn their Duty at Five and twenty and to minister at Thirty And so Aben Ezra upon VIII Numb They were probationers and might do some service at Five and twenty years old but not do all For they might wait upon the Tabernacle but not bear the Ark. And that 's the exact truth they were admitted to minister to the Priests at Five and twenty but were not put upon this laborious work here mentioned till they had sufficient strength for it which was at Thirty years of Age when they were able to carry Burdens for by that word their work is described v. 15 19 24 31 47. For though some things which they were charged withal might be put into Waggons yet the Ark and the most holy Things were to be carried upon their Shoulders though they march'd never so far v. 15. and VII 9. When the Ark indeed was settled in the Temple which was a fixed place and therefore was no longer to be carried up and down then as D. Kimchi observes upon 1 Chron. XXIII King David appointed them to enter upon their Office at Twenty years old there being also other great Work to be performed in his time for which they were fit at that Age. And so it continued even after their return from the Captivity of Babylon III Ezra 8. See Selden de Success in Pontificat L. II. cap. 4. and Lightfoot in his Temple Service Chap. VI. Sect. 1. Even until fifty years old Beyond which Age they were not bound to do any Service but only to minister with their Brethren at the Tabernacle VIII 25 26. All that enter into the Host. Or into the Warfare For their watching continually as a Guard about the Tabernacle III. 7 c. made them a sort of Militia who were encamped as appears by the foregoing Chapter about the Tabernacle for its Security Besides which there was other Work which might make their Service as laborious as a Soldier 's Life is and give it the name of entring into the Host which manner of speaking St. Paul uses unto Timothy I. 1 18. where he exhorts him to war a good warfare To do the work of the Tabernacle of the Congregation They did not perform any Work in it but about it such as here follows unless we understand by the Tabernacle the outward Court into which they went to minister unto the Priests Ver. 4. This shall be the Service of the Sons of Kohath Verse 4 in the Tabernacle of the Congregation about the most holy things The next Verses explain what this Service was Or if the word about in the latter end of the Verse were quite left out the sence would be more clear This shall be the Service of the Sons of Kohath c. the most holy Things that is the Ark as Aben Ezra expounds it And his Interpretation may be justified from v. 19 and 20. in the latter of which it is called the holy and in the former the holy of holies as it is here in the Hebrew For it was the most holy of all other holy things in the Tabernacle and gave the Name to the place where it stood of holy of holies or the most holy place And this made the Service of the Kohathites the most honourable of all other and is the reason they are mentioned first Ver. 5. When the Camp setteth forward Which it Verse 5 did not do till the Cloud was taken up and removed from off the Tabernacle XL Exod. 36 37. X Numb 11. Aaron shall come and his Sons While the Cloud rested upon the Tabernacle and the Glory of the LORD filled the House none but Aaron might come into the most Holy Place where the Ark was and that but on one day in the year and then after he had filled it with Incense which made a Cloud before the Mercy Seat which was the Covering of the Ark over which the SCHECHINAH was But that being removed in the Cloud when it was taken up from the Tabernacle not only Aaron but his Sons also might come into the most Holy Place without any Irreverence that which made it so holy viz. the Glory of the LORD being gone out of it for the present so that there was no danger in approaching to the Ark where it was wont to rest And they shall take down
the whole number of Males descended from Kohath compare this with III. 28. there was a fourth part and better that were fit for Service Ver. 37. These were they that were numbred of the Families of the Kohathites all that might do Service in the Tabernacle Such Service as is particularly mentioned from v. 4. to v. 16. Verse 37 Ver. 38. And these are they that were numbred of the Verse 38 Sons of Gershon c. He proceeds in the same order to number them which he observed in giving them their Charge beginning with the Children of the second Son of Levi and then going back to the eldest Ver. 39. From thirty years old and upward c. Verse 39 This Verse is the very same with 35. Ver. 40. Two thousand and six hundred and thirty Verse 40 A third part and little more of their Males were fit for Service Compare this with III. 22. Ver. 41. These are they that were numbred of the Families Verse 41 of the Sons of Gershon of all that might do Service in the Tabernacle c. Such Service as is described from v. 24. to v. 29. Ver. 42 43. These two Verses are the same with Verse 42. 43. v. 38 39. Ver. 44. Even those that were numbred of them after Verse 44 their Families were three thousand and two hundred It is very remarkable the Descendants from the youngest Son of Levi III. 17. which had the fewest Males in it of a Month old and upward had the most robust Men fit for Service For here are above half compare this with III. 34. of the whole number of Males grown up to Thirty Years of Age. Which was a singular Providence the heaviest Burden lying upon them who were to carry the Boards c. of the Tabernacle Not indeed upon their shoulders but in Waggons which they were to load after they had taken them down and unload when they were to set them up again and for that reason had more Waggons allowed them than their Brethren the Gershonites VII 7 8. Verse 45 Ver. 45. These are those c. whom Moses and Aaron numbred Who were principally employed in this business According to the Word of the LORD by the hand of Moses To whom the Command is expresly directed v. 21. Verse 46 Ver. 46. All those that were numbred of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the Chief of Israel numbred For they took in others to their assistance v. 34. which is here repeated to show that there was no fraud in the business there being Witnesses of every Tribe that they proceeded impartially and did not favour the Levites who were their Brethren Verse 47 Ver. 47. Every one that came to do the Service of the Ministry and the Service of the Burden in the Tabernacle c. The first of these the Service of the Ministry one would think related to their serving the Priest when the Tabernacle was standing and the later the Service of the Burden to their carrying the Tabernacle when it was taken down and removed and so I expounded those words v. 24. But he mentioning here only those that were numbred from Thirty Years old I think upon further consideration that there is no regard in these Expressions to the Service they did to the Priests in the Tabernacle unto which they were admitted at Twenty five Years old See v. 3. but only to the Service mentioned here in this Chapter which relates altogether to the taking down and carrying the Tabernacle And therefore these must be lookt upon as two Phrases for the same thing the former of which is not exactly translated for there is nothing of Ministry in the Hebrew but the words are Every one that cometh to serve the Service of the Service and the Service of the Burden or Carriage For it is the same word which being joyned with work we translate servile XXIII Lev. 7. and other places Ver. 48. Eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore Verse 48 If the three Sums mentioned v. 36 40 44. be put together they amount exactly to this Sum in the whole Ver. 49. According to the Commandment of the Verse 49 LORD they were numbred by the hand of Moses By the assistance of Aaron and others v. I 34 46. Every one according to his Service and according to his Burden I observed before v. 47. that Service and Burden are two Expressions of the same thing For though the Sons of Kohath had the noblest part of the Work yet their Employment is called both a Service and a Burden v. 19. as that of the Gershonites is v. 24. For which Service all the Tithes of the Country of Canaan were given to them and continued to be theirs when this kind of Service ceased as it did when the Temple was built For then there were no Burdens to be carried on their shoulders as Josiah speaks 2 Chron. XXXV 3. but their Duty was changed even by David before the Building of the Temple who made them Singers and Keepers of the Treasury as well as Porters at the Gates of God's House and likewise Judges and other Officers in the Country as we read in 1 Chron. XXVI But the alteration in their Service made no alteration in the Wages allotted to them for they still enjoyed all the Tithes Thus were they numbred of him as the LORD commanded Moses This is so often repeated v. 37 41 45. that all Posterity might reverence these Ordinances as Divine Institutions and not merely Humane Appointments And so we are to look upon all these Laws as wise Orders made by the Soveraign of the World for the better Government of that People whom he had taken for his own peculiar And it argues a very profane Spirit in those as Conr. Pellicanus here observes who can admire and praise Ovid de Fastis and such like Books and have no regard at all if they do not ridicule them to these Sacred Writings which are of such venerable Antiquity CHAP. V. Chapter V Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying It is not said when this was spoken which here follows but it 's likely immediately after the foregoing Commandments upon which it hath some dependance Verse 2 Ver. 2. Command the Children of Israel that they put out of the Camp every Leper and every one that hath an Issue and whosoever is defiled by the dead There were three Camps as Maimonides and a great many other mentioned by Mr. Selden observes L. II. de Synedr cap. I. n. 5. the Camp of the SCHECHINAH or of the LORD viz. the Sanctuary with its Courts which are called the Tents of the LORD 1 Chron. XXXI 2. And next the Camp of the Levites who with Aaron and his Sons made a Camp about the Tabernacle Chapter III. of this Book and then the Camp of Israel Chapter II. which incompassed them all Answerable to these when the Temple was built they reckoned the Temple it self from the East-Gate to be the Camp of
them cap. 1. sect 6. Annot. 8. on Sota And uncover the Woman's head He was to strip her of all her Head-attire as the manner was if we may believe Philo in all Judicial Proceedings to loose her Hair and tear her Garments down to her Breast which he bound about her as the Jews say with an Egyptian Cord. And if she had any Gold or Jewels or other Ornaments about her they were all taken from her and she was clothed with a black Garment All which were plain Tokens of her lamentable Condition And put the Offering of Memorial in her hands After he had put it into a Frying-pan under which he held his own hand II Lev. 7. and at the same time held in his other hand the bitter Water which he shewed her Which is the Jealousie-offering Offered purely upon the account of her Husbands Jealousie as he told her And the Priest shall have in his hand the bitter Water So called because they put Wormwood or some such thing into it to give it a bitter taste as Maimonides and the ancient Rabbins fancy But the later Doctors say Nothing was mixt with this Water but Dust and yet it became bitter in the mouth So Nachman and others But the most probable account of all others is that this Water was called bitter from its direful Effects upon the Body of the Woman if she was guilty To which Exposition Jacob Abendana inclines See Wagenseil upon the Mischna Sotae cap. 3. sect 5. Annot. 1. Which causeth the Curse Or rather Which was given her with Curses and dreadful Imprecations blotted out with the bitter Water v. 21 23. as R. Bechai expounds it Verse 19 Ver. 19. And the Priest shall charge her by an Oath Adjure her to tell Truth in the manner following And say unto the Woman if no Man hath lien with thee c. If thou art Innocent of that whereof thou art suspected Be thou free from the bitter Water c. It shall have no ill effect upon thee Verse 20 Ver. 20. But if thou hast gone aside c. Art guilty of Adultery Verse 21 Ver. 21. Then the Priest shall charge the Woman with an Oath of Cursing This is no new Adjuration but only another part of that which began v. 19. and is continued in this and the foregoing So that these three Verses contain the intire form of Adjuration which the Priest was to pronounce in a Language which the Woman understood as the Jewish Doctors observe otherwise how could the Woman answer Amen as R. Ismael saith in Siphre exactly according to the Apostle's Doctrine 1 Corinth XIV 16. And the Priest was to signifie to her that this proceeding was meerly to satisfie her Husband's Jealousie by discovering the Truth Thus this whole matter is related by the Author of Ez Hechajim an incomparable MS. as Wagenseil calls it who hath it in his possession The Priest pronounces this Curse in a Language which she understands and signifies to her in the Vulgar Tongue that these things are done purely because her Husband is jealous of her she having been secretly with one whose Company he forbad her to keep and then saith in a Tongue familiar to her IF NO OTHER MAN HAVE LAYN WITH THEE BUT THY HUSBAND c. BE THOU FREE FROM THESE BITTER WATERS c. BUT IF THOU HAST BEEN FALSE TO HIM c. THE LORD MAKE THEE A CURSE c. Unto which the Woman was to answer AMEN AMEN By which words she not only consented to what the Priest said but made the same Imprecation upon her self The LORD make thee a Curse So that when Men would imprecate any evil to another they should say Let that befal thee which befel such a Woman as Rasi expounds it And an Oath among thy People A form of Execration as the aforesaid MS. expounds it or as Rasi will have it when Men called God to Witness they should say If I swear falsly let God punish me as he did such a Woman These Execrations were tacitly supposed in the Oaths among the Pagans as our great Selden shews at large Lib. II. de Synedr cap. 11. pag. 461 c. where he observes out of Porphyry that the ancient Indians had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lake of Probation or Trial And in his Marmora Arundeliana p. 28. there is this form of Imprecation in the League between the City of Smyrna and Magnesia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be well with me if I swear truly but if falsly let destruction be both to my self and to my Posterity And at this day there is a Custom in the Kingdom of Siam to determine dubious Cases by giving a Lump of Rice impregnated as my Author speaks with Curses to a Man to eat Which if he can swallow without vomiting he carries the Cause and his Friends carry him home in great Triumph c. So Jodocus Schoutenius who was Director of the East-India Company there 1636. When the LORD doth make thy Thigh to rot and thy Belly to swell When they see the dreadful effect of this Water in the rotting of thy Thigh after thy Belly is swelled For the swelling of the Belly it appears by the next Verse preceded the rotting of the Thigh Such Imprecations were in use in Homer's time it appears by Agamemnon's Prayer wherein he calls Jupiter and all the rest of the Gods to bear Witness of his Sincerity wishing them to send a Multitude of Pains and Griefs upon him if he forswore himself Iliad XIX v. 264 265. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 22 Ver. 22. And this Water that causeth the Curse Or For this Water c. Shall go into thy Bowels c. If thou art guilty it shall produce the following Effects To make thy belly to swell By the Belly the Jews understand the Womb and the Bowels which swelled till they burst And thy Thigh to rot By her Thigh is meant the Secret Parts of her Body as Chaskuni observes on this place And both Bochartus and Heinsius have given many Instances of the use of the word in this sense The former in his Hierozoic P. II. L. V. cap. 15. and the latter in his Aristarch Sac. cap. 1. And thus we read in the Passion of SS Perpetuana Faelic that when Perpetuana was thrown to the Beasts and lay on the Ground she drew back her Coat which was torn from her side ad velamentum femoris to cover her Thigh from being seen pudoris magis memor quam doloris having a greater sense of Modesty than of Pain pag. 32. Edit Oxon. The Mischna here observes not impertinently with what measure Men mete it shall be measured to them again for in the very part that offended she suffered for her Crime I noted before v. 17. that there were such ways of Trial anciently among the Gentiles but I am apt to think they were all later than the times of Moses who did not ordain these Rites
17. And he shall offer the Ram for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings unto the LORD with the basket of unleavened Bread And the Cakes and Wafers which accompanied the Peace-offering that nothing might be wanting to compleat the Feast which was to be made upon them The Priest shall offer also his Meat-offering and his Drink-offering By this it appears that these were distinct from the Basket of Unleavened Bread c. as I observed v. 15. Verse 18 Ver. 18. And the Nazarite shall shave the Head of his Separation i. e. The Hair of his Head which was consecrated to God shall be shaved off that it may be presented unto him For having now fulfilled his Vow this Hair was holy it not having been defiled as that Hair was which he shaved off before v. 9. At the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation That it might be publickly known he had ended his Vow And shall take the Hair of the Head of his Separation His Hair which was consecrated to the LORD And put it in the fire Where it was burnt Which is under the Sacrifice of the Peace-offerings In the Court of the Women as they tell us in Middoth cap. 2. sect 5. where there were four Rooms and that in the North-east corner was the Room of the Nazarites In which they boiled their Peace-offerings and having polled their Hair put it under the Pot where the Sacrifice was boiling which as L'Empereur there observes out of Abarbinel was offered out of Joy that their Vow was fulfilled and therefore they put their Hair to be there burnt as a Testimony that their Nazariteship was at an end and that they had no further Obligation to let their Hair grow in observance of this Law And according to this account that Question is resolved which many have made Whether the Nazarites Hair was to be burnt with holy Fire viz. that on the Altar or with common For it was burnt with that which was under the Pot or Cauldron in which the Peace-offerings were boiled which was common Fire And indeed it had been unseemly to burn Hair upon the Altar it being God's Table where his Meat was set before him for it would not have been grateful at one of our Feasts Yet the Fire under the Peace-offerings may in some sort be called holy as it was imployed to boil holy Meat and in that regard more Sacred than other Vulgar Fire There are those who think no account can be given of such Ordinances as these but only this that it was so general a Custom and so very ancient among Mankind to let their Hair grow on purpose and to plait it in Locks that they might at a certain time cut it off and devote it to some of their Gods that in all likelyhood the Israelites would have followed their Superstition if God to prevent it had not instituted a way of doing what the rest of the World did without their Idolatry For the Directions which God here gives about it are manifestly opposite to the way of the Gentiles For the Nazarites are here directed to cut their Hair when the time of their Separation was compleated at the Door of the Tabernacle where it was also to be burnt whereas the Gentiles hung their Hair when they had cut it upon Trees or Consecrated it to Rivers as I observed v. 5. or laid it up in their Temples there to be preserved The Hebrew Nazarites also are required to offer various sorts of Sacrifices when they cut their Hair of which we rarely read any thing among the Gentiles And all the time of their Separation were to drink no Wine nor eat Grapes c. which was not known among the Heathen From whence it is one may think that they are so often put in mind of the LORD in this Law of the Nazarites Who are said to be Separated unto the LORD v. 1 5 6. and the Consecration of his God is said to be upon his Head v. 7. and all the days of his Separation he was holy to the LORD v. 8. unto whom he consecrated the days of his Separation v. 12. To put them in mind that though they used this Rite which was common to other Nations yet it was in honour of the LORD only whom they acknowledged to be the Author of Health and Strength and Growth For the Devil also had his Nazarites as appears from IX Hosea 10. All this is said and much more with a specious show of Truth by a most ingenious and learned Friend of mine now with God in his excellent Book de Legibus Hebraeorum Ritualibus c. Lib. III. Dissert 1. cap. 6. But there are two things wanting to make this Opinion probable First None can tell how the World came by such a Custom of letting their Hair grow for Sacred uses unless they had it from Moses Who tells us whence he derived it viz. from God who appointed this Rite for such Reasons as then were plain but now perhaps do not appear to us Besides Secondly there is not the least Evidence that this Custom was so old as Moses his time which to me seems not likely but rather that it was derived among the Gentiles from an imperfect Knowledge of what is here ordained by Moses For the chief part of this Nazariteship consisting in letting their Hair grow and consecrating it unto God the Gentiles took it to be a piece of great Devotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as Theodoret speaks Quaest. XXVIII in Levit. not to cut off their Childrens Hair but let it grow and after a certain time dedicate it to their Daemons Many Authors have written much of this Custom for which there was a certain day appointed at Athens viz. the third day of the Feast called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which day was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because then the Hair of their grown Children was shorn off and sacrificed to Diana See Petr. Castellanus in his Syntagma de Festis Graecorum Where he quotes a passage out of Hesychius p. 28. who says That before they cut off their Hair they brought a Measure of Wine which they offered to Hercules and then all that were present drunk of it Which is some imitation of the Drink-offering here mentioned by Moses which was offered at the Completion of their Nazariteship And Grotius and Huetius have made it so plain that the Attick Laws were derived from Moses that I cannot doubt but this Custom also flowed from the same Fountain And if we must give an account of the reason of this Institution among the Hebrews I think that of Maimonides is better then this against which I have excepted viz. that this Law about their Hair was made in opposition to the opinion of the ancient Idolaters called Zabij who held all things which were separated from the Body to be impure as the Hair the Nails and the Blood From whence all Barbers among them were accounted impure Persons because they cut Men's Hair
Bullock For a Verse 8 Burnt-offering as is manifest from v. 12. With his Meat-offering Which always attended upon Burnt-offerings XV. 9. And another young Bullock shalt thou take for a Sin-offering This being offered for the whole body of the Levites is the same Sacrifice that is ordered when the whole Congregation of Israel sinned through Ignorance IV Levit. 13 14. Ver. 9. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Tabernacle of the Congregation To the Door of it where the Altar of Burnt-offerings stood XL Verse 9 Exod. 6. And thou shalt gather the whole Assembly of the Children of Israel together The Hebrew words COL ADATH which we translate the whole Assembly frequently signifies all the Elders of Israel As in XV. 4. XXV 7. XXXV 12. And it cannot well have any other sense in this place as appears from the next Verse Verse 10 Ver. 10. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD Present them to him at the Altar And the Children of Israel The Elders of the People mentioned in the foregoing Verse For all the Children of Israel could not possibly do what is here enjoyned but some of them in the name of the rest and none so proper as their Rulers and Governors who were their Representatives Shall put their hands upon the Levites As Men used to do upon their Sacrifices Which signified the devoting of that Beast to God by him who laid his Hand on it at the Altar for such Purposes as he brought it And this was done by private Men in their Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings as well as in their Sin-offerings see I Levit. 4. III. 2. VIII 13. but the Jews observe that the whole Congregation laid their Hands only upon the Sin-offering that was offered for them IV Lev. 15. Therefore the Levites are here to be considered under that notion as is manifest from v. 19. where God is said to have given them to Aaron c. to make an Atonement for the Children of Israel For the Levites being given to God instead of the First-born by the Sanctification of which First-born to God as it is called XIII Exod. 1. the whole Family was sanctified and their Sin after a sort expiated the Offering of the Levites after this manner to God was to have the same effect that the Offering of the First-born had viz. the Sanctification and Atonement of the Children of Israel Ver. 11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Verse 11 LORD for an Offering of the Children of Israel The Hebrew words are more significant Aaron shall wave the Levites before the LORD for a Wave-offering c. I have often observed before that this Waving or Agitation too and fro before the Altar of which see XXIX Exod. 24. was a solemn Consecration of a thing to God as a Sacrifice And therefore the Levites were presented unto him under the same Consideration as the First-born were But it was impossible for Aaron to wave them as he did some parts of a Sacrifice and therefore it is probable that he lifting up his Hands and turning about to all sides as he did when he offered a Wave-offering they at his Command imitated the same motion and so were offered up to God and became wholly his See ver 21. That they may execute the Service of the LORD Or as it is more significantly in the Margin that they may be to execute c. Which expresses the Intention of this waving them before the LORD that being wholly given up to him they might become meet to execute that Service to which he appointed them at his House Ver. 12. And the Levites shall lay their Hands upon the Heads of the Bullocks It being evident from v. 19. that the Levites were considered as an expiatory Sacrifice Verse 12 and yet not being to be devoted to Death no more than the First-born were these two Sacrifices one for Sin the other a Burnt-offering were substituted in their stead Upon which therefore they were to lay their Hands that the Sin which the Children of Israel laid upon them v. 10. might be transferred to these Beasts by laying their Hands upon them to be actually sacrificed unto God by shedding their Blood The one for a Sin-offering and the other for a Burnt-offering unto the LORD The Burnt-offering was mentioned first v. 8. being the most ancient of all Offerings from the beginning of the World But the Sin-offering is offered first to make the other acceptable And so it was when Aaron was consecrated VIII Levit. 14.18 and when he offered for himself IX Levit. 8 12. and for the People v. 15 16. and to name no more in the Cleansing of a Leper XIV 19. To make an Atonement for the Levites The Sin-offering properly made the Atonement and the Burnt-offering declared its acceptance Verse 13 Ver. 13. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron and his Sons As they were brought before the LORD because they were to be given unto him v. 9. So now they were set before Aaron and his Sons because they were given by God to them v. 19. And offer them for an Offering unto the LORD Or as it is in the Hebrew and wave them for a Wave-offering unto the LORD Some imagine that as Aaron waved them before v. 11. so now they were in like manner waved by Moses But it seems to me more probable that the meaning is they being waved c. should be set before Aaron and his Sons and presented to them as God's Gift according to his order III. 9. And so these words ought to be translated after thou hast waved them for a Wave-offering That is after Aaron by his Order had waved them And thus the like words must be understood v. 15. See there Ver. 14. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among Verse 14 the Children of Israel By the fore-mentioned Purification v. 7. and Oblation v. 10 11. And the Levites shall be mine They became his by this solemn Oblation of them to him v. 11. Ver. 15. And after that shall the Levites go in To Verse 15 the Court of the Tabernacle where they were to attend upon the Priests and assist them in their Ministry and in taking down the Tabernacle when it was to remove To do the Service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation In the Court of the Priests where the Altar of Burnt-offering stood For into the Sanctuary it self none but the Priests entred and there was no Ministry there in which the Levites were to assist And thou shalt cleanse them and offer them for an Offering Or rather after thou hast cleansed them and offered c. according as was directed v. 7 11. Ver. 16. For they are wholly given unto me c. Verse 16 God commanded them before to be taken from among the Children of Israel III. 45. and now they are given to him The word is repeated twice in the Hebrew given given which we translate wholly given because the Children of Israel
had devoted them to him by laying their Hands on them v. 10. and Aaron had waved them as a Wave-offering to the LORD v. 11. Instead of such as open every Womb c. See III. 12 13. Verse 17 Ver. 17. For all the First-born of the Children of Israel are mine both Man and Beast c. XIII Exod. 2. Verse 18 Ver. 18. And I have taken the Levites for all the First-born of the Children of Israel By the exchange mentioned III. 2 13 45. Verse 19 Ver. 19. And I have given the Levites as a Gift to Aaron and to his Sons c. In the Hebrew the words are more emphatical I have given the Levites given c. That is the Levites which are given unto me v. 16. I have given unto Aaron and his Sons III. 9. To do the Service of the Children of Israel See III. 7. The Vulgar Latin translates it to serve me for the Children of Israel i. e. to do them Service by assisting the Priests in offering Sacrifice for the People In the Tabernacle of the Congregation See v. 15. And to make an Atonement for the Children of Israel Not by offering Sacrifice for that was the work of the Priests alone but by being offered themselves in the nature of an expiatory Sacrifice unto God as I observed before v. 10 and 12. For though they were not slain at the Altar as Sacrifices were yet they might expiate as the Scape-Goat did Which was sent away alive into the Wilderness after it had been presented unto the LORD as these Levites were XVI Levit. 7 10. That there be no Plague among the Children of Israel As there would have been if any Man had presumed to officiate in the House of God but such as were in this manner taken by himself to minister there When the Children of Israel come nigh unto the Sanctuary To worship God and to bring their Sacrifices to be offered at his Altar Ver. 20. And Moses and all the Congregation of Israel Verse 20 i. e. The Elders of the People v. 9 10. Did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites c. Separated them to God from the rest of the Israelites as he had directed v. 14. Ver. 21. And the Levites were purified and they Verse 21 washed their Clothes According to the order given v. 7. And Aaron offered them an Offering before the LORD Or rather Waved them a Wave-offering c. As I observed v. 11. To which may be added That it is likely some of the Levites were thus waved in the name of all the rest for there being Two and twenty thousand of them III. 39. one cannot well conceive how they should be every one thus offered And Aaron made an Atonement for them to cleanse them See v. 12. Ver. 22. And after that the Levites went in to do Verse 22 their Service in the Tabernacle of the Congregation According to the Directions given v. 15. Before Aaron and before his Sons In their presence and by their direction Ver. 23. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Verse 23 After the foregoing Commands he gave him some further Instructions Ver. 24. This it is that belongeth unto the Levites Add this to what hath been said about them From twenty and five years old and upward they shall Verse 24 go in Then they might begin to take the Custody of the Tabernacle upon them and to be Door-keepers to keep out Strangers and such as were unclean but not to load the Wagons and do such like work of burden till they were thirty years of Age. See IV. 3. To wait upon the Service of the Tabernacle c. In the Hebrew the words are To war the warfare of the Tabernacle Which is a Phrase often used before IV. 3 23 c. and there applied to those that carried the Tabernacle Which they might not do till thirty years of Age but might go in to learn at five and twenty as some reconcile these two But Abarbinel notes That there is nothing said of their learning but of their Service or Ministry and therefore at twenty five years old they began that part of the Service which consisted in the Custody of the Tabernacle Verse 25 Ver. 25. And from the Age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the Service thereof In the Hebrew Shall return from the warfare of their Service i. e. be discharged from their Function and no longer burdened with any laborious work as that of carrying the Tabernacle was And shall serve no more In such manner of work Verse 26 Ver. 26. But shall minister with their Brethren This Ministry is explained in the following words To keep the charge that is to take care of the Tabernacle unto which they were to be a Guard In the Tabernacle of the Congregation See IV. 3. And shall do no Service In the Hebrew Serve no Service that is do no laborious work as was said before their Age beginning to require ease and rest and therefore no Ministry was required of them but what they might well perform without pains and labour Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge Appoint them their Ministries according to these Rules which were observed after the Ark of God was settled and there was no occasion to remove it any more When David therefore instead of carrying the Ark and the Tabernacle for which there was then no further occasion appointed them to be Singers in the Temple and Porters c. For which they were fit at twenty years of Age but continued their Employment no longer than till fifty as the Jews tell us when their Voice began to decay Whence that Observation of Abarbinel upon this very Chapter Age makes Levites unfit for Service not Blemishes in their Bodies but Priests are unfit by Blemishes in their Bodies not by Age. For Priests continued their Service as long as they lived and though they did not begin it till twenty years of Age yet no Law of God forbad them to begin sooner CHAP. IX Chapter IX Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai Or the LORD had spoken for he relates now what was done a Month ago but not recorded till now for a special reason Which was that God having commanded them in the Month before this to keep the Passover some Persons were unprepared for it and thereupon a question arose What Course they should take for they were much troubled they could not do as their Brethren did Which produced a new Command from God that they should keep the Passover in this second Month of the first Year after they came out of Egypt This Moses being to give an account of as a matter of great importance he doth it in the proper place for it when he was relating what things were done in this Month I. 1. and deferred the mention of keeping the Passover in the first Month till he could speak
Causes brought before Moses in two of them he made haste to determine but in the other two he was slow Those of the first sort were this and that of the Daughters of Zelophehad Chap. XX. these he judged presently because they were pecuniary Matters but the other two viz. about him that blasphemed XXIV Levit. and him that gathered Sticks on the Sabbath-day XV Numb being capital Causes he took longer time to judge for he put them in Ward till the Mind of the LORD was known To teach those that succeeded him in the Office of Judges to make quick dispatch in Money Matters but to proceed slowly in Capital Causes But as this was no pecuniary Cause so it doth not appear but he took as much time to understand the Mind of God in it as in the other two about Blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking For he went in to consult with him as he did also in the case of Zelophehad's Daughters whose Cause he brought before the LORD XXVII 5. I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you These words seem to signifie that Moses might go into the Holy Place when he pleased to enquire of God where God spake with him in an audible Voice VII 89. whensoever he desired Satisfaction about any Doubt So Abarbinel who in this forsakes the Talmudists For they fancy that because God called to Moses and then spake to him out of the Tabernacle I Levit. 1. he could never go into the Holy Place but when he was called Which was true only at that time when the Glory of the LORD had newly filled the Tabernacle so that he durst not come into it till he was invited But was not a general Rule to be observed in all his Colloquies with the Divine Majesty that he should wait till he had a singular Call to come to him for it is plain by this place that he went in to speak with him whensoever he had occasion Verse 9 Ver. 9. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying He brought this Case before the LORD as his manner was in such Doubts and the LORD gave him the following Answer Which was to be a Rule not only to these present Enquirers but to all Posterity Verse 10 Ver. 10. If any Man of you or of your Posterity shall be unclean From hence the Jews observe that this is a Law concerning particular Persons only not concerning all the People or the major part of them For as the Mischna saith in the Title Pesachim Cap. 7. if all the People or the greater part or the Priests had contracted any Defilement they ought notwithstanding to keep the Passover even in that Defilement But if the lesser part only were defiled then they that were clean ought to keep it in the first Month and they that were defiled in the second This they ground upon the very first words of this Law v. 6. There were certain Men and upon these if any Man of you c. From whence saith Maimonides this Doctrine follows out of ancient Tradition that there were some private Persons who were adjourned to the second Passover but if the generality should be defiled by the dead they were not to be so adjourned but to sacrifice in that Vncleanness A great deal more to the same purpose may be seen in the fore-named Mr. Selden Lib. 2. de Synedr Cap. I. n. 3. By reason of a dead body This Case is mentioned instead of all other of like nature For there was the same reason for those who were unclean by a Leprosie for Women in Child-bed or that were menstruous or those that had a Running-issue or had touched a dead Carcass And this some of them ground upon v. 13. Where speaking of those who should keep the Passoever it is said in general the Man that is clean c. therefore he that was any way unclean might not keep it Or be in a Journey afar off Out of his own Country for it could not be kept any where but in Judaea XVI Deut. 2. or at such a distance that he could not reach the Tabernacle upon the Day appointed In the Mischna indeed this dereck rechokah as it is in the Hebrew a long way off is defined to be fifteen Miles from Jerusalem or the place where the Tabernacle was Whence Maimonides saith If any Man on the fourteenth Day of the Month Nisan at Sun rising was fifteen Mile or more from Jerusalem this was a remote way but if he was not so far from it he was not comprehended in this remote way for he might be at Jerusalem time enough in the Afternoon to keep the Passover that Evening though he went but a slow pace and that on foot But I do not take this to be a reasonable Explication Philo hath determined the distance a great deal better according to the Interpretation I mentioned at first L. III. de Vita Mosis Where he saith the second Passover was permitted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To such who were hindred by their Travels into Countries a great way off from sacrificing with the rest of their Nation For it was not their fault that they were deprived of this honour especially considering that so small a Country as Judaea could not contain such a populous Nation but sent out Colonies into many places As for those who were only XV Mile from Jerusalem they might easily have come to the Feast if not on the Fourteenth day yet the day before and if this distance had been a good reason to excuse their absence most of the Nation might have staid away without any danger Yet he shall keep the Passover unto the LORD When that Uncleanness is gone and he is returned to his own Country again Verse 11 Ver. 11. The fourteenth day of the second Month at Even they shall keep it They had a whole Month's time given them to dispose themselves and their Affairs so that they might be able to keep it And eat it with unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs Those Jews who are called Karaites as Mr. Selden observes in the place before-named n. 7. expresly say that they were not bound in the second Month Passover unto more than this to eat the Lamb with unleavened Bread and bitter Herbs but they were not obliged to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days because they might do that in the Passover of the first Month. For the Unclean are only prohibited to eat the Passover but not to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread If the same Persons that could keep it in the first Month hapned again to be unclean in the second they could not keep it in the third or the fourth Months For this had been to confound one Feast with another and there is no order for it Ver. 12. They shall leave none of it till the morning nor break any bone of it This belongs to the eating of the Paschal Lamb XII Exod. 10 46. According to all the Ordinances of the Passover they Verse
12 shall keep it See v. 3. This is to be understood of all the Rites that were proper to the Offering and to the eating of the Paschal Lamb but not to the keeping of the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread Ver. 13. But the Man that is clean and is not in a Verse 13 journey and forbeareth to keep the Passover In the first Month which was the time appointed for it Even the same shall be cut off from his People By the hand of the Judges or of God Because he brought not the Offering of the LORD in his appointed season See v. 7. That Man shall bear his sin The Punishment of it Ver. 14. And if a Stranger shall sojourn among you Verse 14 He speaks of a Proselyte who had not intirely embraced their Religion but was no Idolater And will keep the Passover unto the LORD Hath a desire to joyn with you in this Solemnity According to the Ordinance of the Passover and according to the manner thereof so shall he do He was to be Circumcised and his whole Family or otherwise he could not be permitted to keep it See XII Exod. 44. If he was made an intire Proselyte after the Passover in the first Month and before that in the second it was a question whether he might keep it then or no. Ye shall have one Ordinance both for the Stranger and for him that was born in the Land See XII Exod. 49. Ver. 15. And on the day that the Tabernacle was reared up This is here mentioned again by Moses because he is going to speak of their removal from Verse 15 Sinai which was by the direction and guidance of this Cloud which settled upon the Tabernacle when it was first erected XL Exod. 34. The Cloud covered the Tabernacle namely the Tent of the Testimony The words may be exactly rendred out of the Hebrew The Cloud covered the Mischan or dwelling place of God upon or over the Tent of the Testimony that is over that part of the Tabernacle where the Ark was the Cloud appeared visible to all viz. over the most holy Place where the LORD appeared in a glorious Cloud upon the Mercy Seat XVI Lev. 2. And at Even When it grew dark There was upon the Tabernacle Upon that part of it now mentioned As it were the appearance of fire The same Cloud which was outwardly dark was bright within and turned that light side towards them in the Night when the cloudy part could not be seen nor be useful to them Till the morning Till it was day when the Cloud was more serviceable to them than the Light Verse 16 Ver. 16. So it was alway All the time of their continuance in the Wilderness See XIII Exod. 21. The Cloud covered it by day The word by day is not in the Original it being the manner of the Hebrew Language to omit a word sometime in one part of a Sentence which the other part necessarily supplies As in LXXXIV Psal 11. One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand i. e. in any other place And XCI Psal 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side i. e. on thy left hand and ten thousand at thy right hand And the appearance of fire by night As the dark side of the Cloud appeared by Day over the holy Place when they had need of no other Light but that of the Sun so the bright part appeared every Night and that like Fire when the Cloud by reason of darkness could not be seen nor be serviceable to them for their direction See XL Exod. 38. Ver. 17. And when the Cloud was taken up Or Verse 17 went up from off the Tabernacle which it before covered and appeared higher in the Air. From hence to the end of the Chapter Moses gives an account of their removal from Mount Sinai and the reason of their staying a longer or shorter time in those places to which they removed all the time of their Travels in the Wilderness Then after that the Children of Israel journeyed They took down the Tabernacle when the Cloud was gone up from it as had been directed IV. 5 c. and followed the Cloud which went before them and led them to the place where they were to rest XIII Exod. 21. And in the place where the Cloud abode Where it stopt its motion and stood still There the Children of Israel pitched their Tents Set up the Tabernacle and encamped round about it Ver. 18. At the commandment of the LORD the Verse 18 Children of Israel journeyed The motion of the Cloud was an indication of the Divine Pleasure that they should move also and go towards another Station which they did and went on as long as the Cloud moved And at the commandment of the LORD they pitched For when the Cloud stood still that was a Divine Direction to them to stand still also and there to six their station where the Cloud stood Which as soon as the Tabernacle was set up again came down and settled upon it in its wonted place over the Tent of the Testimony v. 15. As long as the Cloud abode upon the Tabernacle they rested in the Tents And as long as the Cloud rested immoveable in that new place to which it had conducted them they likewise rested in Tents round about it Verse 19 Ver. 19. And when the Cloud tarried long upon the Tabernacle many days As it sometimes did for Maimonides reckons that they staid eighteen years in one place Then the Children of Israel kept the Charge of the LORD This Phrase is used here something differently from the sense it hath III. 25 28 c. signifying their Obedience to God in fixing their abode there where the Cloud rested till it moved again though it rested never so long And journed not This is the Explication of the foregoing words they kept the charge of the LORD Not daring to stir without the Conduct of God though sometimes they staid so long in a place that no doubt it was very irksome to those who were very desirous if not impatient to be in the Land of Promise This is an Instance of some regard they had to the Divine Majesty though they did not fear and reverence him so much as they ought to have done Which appeared by their frequent Mutinies and Disobedience mentioned in the following Story Ver. 20. And so it was when the Cloud was a few days upon the Tabernacle according to the commandment Verse 20 c. If they had a desire to rest a while longer in some station which was very convenient for them yet upon the motion of the Cloud they took down their Tents and moved also Ver. 21. And so it was when the Cloud abode from Verse 21 Even unto the Morning and the Cloud was taken up in the Morning then they journed That is if it did not stay a whole Day in a place but settling in the Even upon the Tabernacle it was taken up again the next Morning
Verses Verse 25 Ver. 25. And the Standard of the Children of Dan set forward c. See concerning him and those mentioned in the two next Verses Chap. II. v. 25 27 29. Which was the rereward of all the Camps throughout their Hosts The Hebrew word Measseph which we translate was the rereward comes from a word which every where signifies to gather together or collect And therefore is here to be so understood and the whole Sentence thus rendred Then set forward the Standard of the Camp of Dan gathering to it all the Camps throughout their Hosts Or according to their Armies as we here translate the last part of these words v. 14 18 22. So Forsterus translates it the meaning being that all the rest of the People who were not a part of the four before-mentioned Camps all under XX Years old who were not able to go forth to War together with the mixt multitude that came with them out of Egypt XII Exod. 38. and all the unclean Persons who were shut out of the Camp V. 2. came after this hindermost Standard of the Children of Dan. Verse 28 Ver. 28. Thus were the Journeyings of the Children of Israel c. In this order they marched when they removed from one station to another Verse 29 Ver. 29. And Moses said unto Hobab His Wives Brother as Theodoret understands it The Son of Raguel the Midianite The Son of Jethro Priest of Midian For Raguel and he are thought by many to be the same Person II Exod. 18. III. 1. or one was the Father and the other the Son and then Hobab was the Grand-son of Raguel Moses his father-in-law These words may either refer to Raguel who is supposed to be Jethro and then it is rightly translated Father-in-law or they may as well refer to Hobab and be translated Brother-in-law For so the Hebrew word Choters sometimes signifies a very near Kinsman It cannot without great staining be otherwise expounded in the I Judg. 16. and IV. 11. After Jethro therefore was gone back to his own Country XVIII Exod. 27. Hobab his Son stayed still with his Sister Zipporah and accompanied Moses all the time he stayed near Sinai Which was not far from Midian Whether he thought to return now the Isrelites were marching away from that Neighbourhood but Moses was desirous to have his company further even to the Land of Promise We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said I will give it you i. e. To the Land of Canaan for thither God intended to have brought them shortly after this removal as appears from I Deut. 6 7. Come thou with us and we will do thee good See verse 32. For the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel Promised to bestow a noble Country upon us for our Inheritance Ver. 30. And he said I will not go This was his Verse 30 present Resolution till Moses had further perswaded him But I will depart to my own Land Which he was loth to leave merely in hope of what the Israelites had not yet in possession And to my Kindred With whom all Men love to live and die Verse 31 Ver. 31. And he said i. e. Moses replied Leave us not I pray thee Do not persist in that Resolution but be perswaded to go along with us Forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the Wilderness He being a Borderer upon this Wilderness was well acquainted with every part of it and the better able to advise them how to secure their Camp for the Cloud only served to direct them where it should be pitched and defend themselves from the People on all sides that might be injurious to them Which made Moses so earnest with him to stay with them while they had such need of his assistance And thou mayest be to us instead of Eyes To give them Advice and Counsel in any difficulty they might meet withal in the places where they stayed or to direct them how to provide themselves with such things as they wanted For he having lived long thereabouts could not but understand the Neighbouring Countries The LXX understand this Passage as if he desired him to continue to be what he had been hitherto in the Wilderness viz. a good Adviser like his Father Jethro assuring him they would look upon him as an Elder That is have him in great honour Verse 32 Ver. 32. And it shall be if thou go with us Not only stay with us while we are here in the Wilderness but go along with us into Canaan Yea it shall be Depend upon it That what Goodness the LORD shall do unto us the same will we do unto thee Give thee some part of the Possession which God shall bestow upon us Accordingly it appears that as Moses prevailed with him to accompany them so he and his Posterity were settled among the Israelites I Judg. 16. IV. 11. where either he or his Father is called the Kenite who lived in Tents not in Houses after the manner of their Fore-fathers in Midian Ver. 33. And they departed from the Mount of the Verse 33 LORD viz. Horeb in the Wilderness of Sinai where they had stayed a long time I Deut. 6. Three days journey They travelled three Days before the Cloud settled again upon the Tabernacle though it stood still some times but did not descend to give them time for necessary Refreshment and for Sleep See XI 1. And the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days journey It is said v. 21. that the Sanctuary was carried between the two first Standards and the two last i. e. in the midst of the Camp as we expresly read II. 17. Which Abarbinel thinks is to be understood not of all their Journeys but only this That was the constant order of their March first went the Standard of Judah next that of Reuben after this the Tabernacle of the Congregation then followed the Standard of Ephraim and last of all that of Dan. But now in their first Removal God did them the honour to appoint the Ark to go before them in the front of all the Camps as he did when they passed over Jordan III Josh 6. That is in their first and last Journeys this extraordinary Favour was shown them but in all the rest the Ark went in the midst of them And thus Aben Ezra upon this place This first Removal was not like the rest of their Removals But I see no good ground for this Exposition The plain meaning seems to be That the LORD as their King and Governour led them by the Cloud which was always over the Ark just as a General leads his Army though he be not in the front of it but in the midst from whence he Issues out his Orders To search out a resting place for them There was no need of enquiry after a fitting Station for them but he speaks after the manner of Generals who send Officers before them to take up
was kindled Or When the LORD heard it he demonstrated he was highly offended by sending a Fire among them And the Fire of the LORD burnt among them Some take this Phrase Fire of the LORD to signifie a great Fire as Mountains of the LORD are high Mountains Which came either from Heaven like Lightning as in 2 Kings I. 12. or from the Pillar of Cloud and Fire over the Tabernacle where the Glory of the LORD appeared some times like unto Fire And consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the Camps Where the mixt Multitude were as I observed X. 25. who came out of Egypt and may well be supposed to have stirred up the Israelites to complain of their tedious Journey which had not yet brought them near to the Land of Cannan And perhaps some of them lagged behind on purpose that they might complain of Weariness as some take it or rather of want of stronger Food But Bochartus hath demonstrated that this word which we translate the uttermost parts signifies in all or throughout Of which he gives many Instances out of Lud. de Dieu upon XXXIII Ezek. 1. See XIX Gen. 4. XLVII 2 c. Hierozoicon P. I. L. II. cap. 34. And therefore so it should be here rendred Consumed some in every part of the Camp where they began to make Complaints one to another of their being still in a Wilderness Ver. 2. And the People cried unto Moses Of whose Verse 2 power with God they had great Experience but had reason to distrust their own Interest in him because of their murmuring Humour For it is like they are the same People that cried now to Moses who before complained v. 1. And when Moses prayed unto the LORD As they begg'd he would The Fire was quenched Went out and no signs of it appeared So the Hebrew Phrase signifies it sunk What number of them was burnt we are not told it is likely nor many because the terrour of it instantly made them deprecate God's Displeasure by Moses their Intercessor which put a stop to it Ver. 3. And he called the name of the place Taberah Which for another reason was also called Kibroth-hattaavah v. 34. They are mentioned indeed in IX Deut. 22. as if they were two distinct places but Verse 3 it is plain by the story that the things which occasioned both these Names hapned in one and the same station And therefore they were only different Names for the same Place unless we suppose Kibroth-hattaavah to have been the name of that particular piece of Ground in that place where the Lusters were buried Because the Fire of the LORD burnt amâ—ng them This is the reason of the Name of Taberah which signifies a burning which was imposed on this place to preserve the Memory both of God's Judgments and of his Mercy Verse 4 Ver. 4. And the mixt Multitude that was among them The Hebrew word hasaphsuph is well translated by Bochartus Populi colluvies undecunque colâ—cta the Dregs or Scum of the People gathered together from all parts For the doubling of words increases their sense in the Hebrew Language and makes the same with the Superlative Degree in other Tongues Of which he gives many Instances in his Hierozoicon P. II. Lib. V. cap. 6. See XIII Lev. 19. where Adamdameth signifies exceeding red as hasaphsuph here doth a very great collection of all sorts of People both Egyptians and other Neighbouring Nations who were invited by their wonderful Deliverance out of Egypt to joyn themselves to the Israelites as Proselytes to their Religion See XII Exod. 38. The Jews in Tanchuma say there were Forty thousand of them and Jannes and Jambres at the Head of them Fell a lusting He doth not say for what and the Jews have taken the liberty to fancy what they please Some of them say that they lusted after such Women as Moses had lately forbidden them to marry So the Paraphrase of Vzielides Moses heard the People weeping because those that were near of kin to them were forbidden in Marriage And he makes as if these Proselytes petitioned Moses to abrogate those Laws about Incest Such Conceits others have indulged to themselves as Mr. Selden shows Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. IV. p. 202. when the words in the end of this Verse and v. 13 18. plainly show they lusted for Flesh to eat And the Children of Israel also Though the mixt multitude were the first Fomentors of this Discontent yet it run among the Children of Israel throughout the whole Camp And rose so high that they fell into a great Passion Wept again They had shed some Tears it seems before when they complained verse 1. but now they wept aloud out of Anger Vexation and Grief Or else this weeping again refers to their first Murmuring a Year ago like unto this XVI Exod. 3. And said They could not refrain from bursting out into such discontented Language as argued they were extreamly angry or rather inraged Who shall give us flesh to eat It is an Expression of a vehement impatient Desire mixed with Despair after flesh-Meat Which they needed not to have wanted if they would have killed their Cattel which they brought with them out of Egypt in great abundance XII Exod. 38. but they preserved them for breed when they came to Canaan and if they killed them daily they would not have lasted long to suffice Six hundred thousand People besides Women and Children See v. 21 22. Besides this while they continued in the Wilderness they were not permitted to eat any Flesh but only their share of the Peace-offerings that were offered at the Altar XVII Levit. 3 4 5. Which lasted the Jews think till they came to the Land of Canaan when this Restraint was taken off XII Deut. 15 16. And indeed the Wilderness was so barren a place that they could there have no great increase of Cattel scarce sufficient for Sacrifice They were angry therefore that they were not yet brought to a Country where they might have had all sorts of Flesh without killing their own Cattel and have taken their fill of that and all other Food as appears by the next Verse at as easie rates as they had done in Egypt Whereas now they despaired as I said of getting any such Food for so such Questions as this signifie CXIII Psal 5. LIII Isa 8. VIII Joh. 16. Verse 5 Ver. 5. We remember the fish This shows that all kind of Food is comprehended under Flesh for which they longed particularly this which is one sort of Flesh 1 Corinth XV. 39. Which we did eat in Egypt freely Or for nothing For they could easily catch them in the River of Egypt which abounded with them XIX Isa 8. and in the Sea also which was not far from them wherein was exceeding great plenty of excellent Fish The Cucumbers and the Melons c. None of which grew here in the Wilderness but were there in such Plenty and Perfection that they were the
Moses Which is among you By a visible Token of his glorious Presence in the Sanctuary where he dwelt among them XXV Exod. v. 8. And have wept before him saying Why came we forth out of Egypt As if he had undone them by their Deliverance from thence Both Onkelos and Jonathan translate this verse in such a manner that one cannot but think they had a Notion in their Days of more Persons than one in the Godhead For these are the words of the latter of them Because you have despised or rejected as Onkelos the WORD of the LORD for glorious is his Majesty which dwelleth among us For I cannot see how the word MEMRA can signifie any thing in this place whatsoever it may do in some others but a Person equal to JEHOVAH And yet the Anonymus Writer against the Trinity confuted by de Voisin hath the strange unaccountable boldness to pass it by with this silly gloss Proprie de Lege accipi potest c. it may be properly understood of the Law which may be contemned or transgressed as if this could be called the glorious Majesty of the LORD which dwelt among them What will not Men say or do to serve a Cause Verse 21 Ver. 21. And Moses said the People among whom I am Over whom I preside as their Governor Are six hundred thousand Footmen Who were able to carry Arms besides Women and Children and Slaves and the mixt Multitude who in all may well be supposed to have made Thirty hundred thousand And thou hast said I will give them Flesh that they may eat an whole month i. e. How can this be Which is a down-right distrust of God's Promise if we regard merely the words and do not consider that they were spoken hastily and something inconsiderately while his Mind was very much disturbed by the Tumult which the People made For which reason a severe notice is not taken of it but he only put in mind of God's Eternal Power v. 23. Which may make it probable that they were only words of Admiration how such a Provision should be made for such a vast number and those uttered on a sudden Verse 22 Ver. 22. Shall the Flocks and the Herds be slain for them to suffice them In the Hebrew the words are If the Flocks and the Herds be slain for them will they be sufficient for them That is there will not be enough for a whole Month. And so the next Passage is to be translated If all the Fish of the Sea be gathered for them will they be sufficient for them Ver. 23. And the LORD said unto Moses is the LORD's Hand waxed short i. e. I need not tell thee that my Power is as great as ever Thou shalt see now whether my Word shall come to pass Verse 23 unto thee or not For thou shalt be convinced of it by the speedy performance of my Promise Ver. 24. And Moses went out I supposed v. 11. Verse 24 that Moses went into the Sanctuary to make his Addresses to God for relief and if that be true then that is the place from whence he now went out But there is this Objection against it That if he had gone to consult God in the Sanctuary as he did on some occasions VII 89. it would not have been said that he went out but that he came out For that is the usual Expression in this matter Therefore we may rather think he now went out of his own Tent where the People stood murmuring v. 10. And told the People the Words of the LORD Both concerning them and concerning himself And gathered the seventy Men of the Elders of the People That is sent out his Summons to them to attend him though two of them it appears afterwards did not come v. 26. And set them round about the Tabernacle That is required them to come thither and there place themselves that the People might understand they received their Authority from God and that from thence he might send his Holy Spirit upon them For God alone who was their King could appoint who should bear Rule among them There also were the great Assemblies held See XXVII 2. Ver. 25. And the LORD came down in a Cloud The SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty appeared from Heaven in a Cloud or in the Pillar of the Verse 25 Cloud as it is in XII 5. And spake unto him As he had promised v. 17. declaring it is likely the Reason and Intention of his appearing on this occasion And took of the Spirit that was upon him and gave it unto the seventy Elders See there v. 17. And it came to pass that when the Spirit rested upon them i. e. As soon as they received it They prophesied Either by setting forth the Promises of God in such a strain as none else could imitate or giving such admirable Instructions to the People as manifested they were raised above themselves or perhaps by declaring things to come particularly that they should have Quails as we render the word in great abundance very shortly as some of the Jews take it though that could not gain them just credit as the other Gifts till their Predictions were fulfilled And these the Jews call the second degree of Prophecy Concerning which Maimonides speaks in his Preface to his More Nevochim but more fully in his second Part of it Cap. XLV Where he saith the first degree was that which moved and enabled Men to some heroick Undertaking with assurance they were put upon it from God as to deliver Men from Tyranny and Oppression Which was the Spirit of the LORD that came upon GIDEON and SAMSON and the rest of the Judges of Israel who were carried by an extraordinary Power to perform such things as otherwise they thought not themselves fit to undertake And the second degree was when a Man found a Power upon him exciting him to speak either Psalms or Hymns or wholesome Precepts of living or about Political Affairs and Civil Government far beyond his Natural Capacities and all this waking and in the full vigour of his Senses This is also called the Holy Spirit and in this number he places these LXX Elders Who were endued with the Spirit of Moses for the Government of the People with him in such measure that they attained to be Prophets Just as in the New Testament the Prophets are placed next to the Apostles so these Men were next to Moses And ceased not In which Translation we follow the Chaldee Paraphrasts as several others do But the LXX translate it and they added no further which the Hebrew words will well bear taking the meaning to be that they prophesied that day but not after And this is the sense of the Talmudists particularly of Jarchi Who in his Gloss upon this place saith All these Elders prophesied only this first time that the Spirit rested on them as they stood about the Tabernable but they did not prophesie after that The like say several others
as they had been since by the giving of the Law to them at Mount Sinai and many other Instructions from the House of God Ver. 34. And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah That is the Graves of Lust because their Wanton Appetites threw them into those Verse 34 Graves for there as it follows they buried those that lusted For there they buried the People that lusted Not all that lusted for then all the People who were guilty of this Sin would have been buried but all that died of the Plague which was inflicted for this Sin Who perhaps were those that began and headed this Mutiny or were most violent in it Verse 35 Ver. 35. And the People journeyed When the Cloud was taken up again IX 17. From Kibroth-hattaavah From whence they departed about the beginning of the fourth Month called Tammuz Vnto Hazeroth Another place in the Wilderness of Paran but how far from the former Station whether a days Journey or more we do not find And abode at Hazeroth There the Cloud rested and accordingly there they incamped But we do not read how long only we are sure they stayed there at least a Week XII 15. CHAP. XII Chapter XII Ver. 1. AND Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses Verse 1 I can see no good Reason that can be given why Miriam is put here before Aaron but because she it is highly probable was the Beginner of this Sedition and drew her Brother Aaron into it Because of the Aethiopian Woman Or rather Arabian Woman See X Gen. 6. Whom he had married Whom most both of the Jewish and Christian Writers take to have been Zipporah though some few fancy he speaks of another Woman whom he had lately married Zipporah being either dead or divorced The only difficulty is why they should quarrel with him about Zipporah Who if she had been dead or divorced it is not likely he would have married a Cushite but a Jewish Woman The Hebrew Doctors have devised strange Stories about his forbearing her Company which may be read in many Authors particularly in Selden L. III. Vxor Hebr. cap. 26. where he recites many of their Opinions about this matter The most common is that they were angry at his Marriage with a Woman of another Nation whom they would have had him put away and taken another Wife So they interpret the following words for he had married an Aethiopian Woman as if his mere Marriage with her was the thing they spake against Which is not at all probable if this be meant of Zipporah for he had been married to her forty Years which if they had disliked one would think should have long before now been charged upon him as a Fault I rather think that they were jealous of his being ruled too much by her and by her Relations For it was by her Father's Advice that he made the Judges mentioned XVIII Exod. 21 22. and perhaps they imagined she and Hobab had a hand in chusing the LXX Elders lately made as we read in the foregoing Chapter With which this Story being immediately connected it makes me think it hath some relation to that For those Elders were nominated it is evident by Moses alone without consulting Aaron or Miriam Who taking themselves to be neglected in so great an Alteration made of the Government without their Advice were very angry And not daring to charge Moses directly with this Neglect of them they fall upon his Wife whom in Scorn they call a Cushite or Arabian Woman Which in after-times were accounted a vile People as appears from IX Amos 7. For that Country was inhabited by divers Nations mingled together viz. Ishmaelites Midianites Amalekites and such like Who from thence some think were called by the general name of Arabians because of their mixture For Ereb in Hebrew signifies a Miscellaneous Company or mixture of many People See XXV Jerem. 20 24. where he calls these very People by this name Verse 2 Ver. 2. And they said Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses Here it appears that it was really Moses with whom they were offended who alone had called what Men he thought good to be presented unto God to be constituted by him his Assistants in the Government XI 24. Hath he not also spoken by us Are not we also acquainted with God's Mind being Prophets For so Aaron was made IV Exod. 14 15. and Miriam so acknowledged XV Exod. 20. And moreover the Prophet Micah VI. 4. mentions them as Conductors of the People while they were in the Wilderness together with Moses Which might make them stomach it that he took no notice of them when he chose the LXX Elders who were to be his Co-adjutors but did it of himself And the LORD heard it Observed their Ill-behaviour towards him though he himself took no notice of it Ver. 3. Now the Man Moses was very meek above all Verse 3 the Men which were upon the face of the Earth This is added as the Reason why he passed by the Affront they put upon him and why God avenged it because he was so exceeding meek and patient or as others translate it so humble and lowly that he would have been exposed to further Affronts if God had not chastised their Insolence Moses also might think fit to set this down as a Confutation of their Charge against him being so far from that Pride which they imputed to him that he did not resent though he was so very much above them their undutiful Behaviour towards him Who had conversed immediately with God himself and been with him in the Holy Mount many days together who sent several Commands to Aaron as well as to the People by him alone Which made such a Difference between him and all others that as it was an unaccountable Arrogance in them to equal themselves unto him so he demonstrated how far he was from being proud of his Superiority by meekly bearing their haughty Behaviour towards him So little cause there is for their Cavils who from hence argue that Moses was not the Author of these Books because he commends himself in them For this is not so much a Commendation as a necessary Account of himself to show how causless their Charge against him was To such Vindications of themselves the humblest Souls may be constrained by the Calumnies of wicked Men As we see not only in St. Paul but our blessed Saviour who were put upon Glorying and Magnifying themselves by the Malignity of their Enemies See X Joh. 36. 2 Corinth XI 10 23 c. And this is the more allowable when Men know not only that they write the Truth but that it is notorious to all that are acquainted with them and cannot be contradicted The holy Writers also are not to be confined to our Rules being moved by the Holy Ghost to set down such things which if they had been left to themselves they would not have mentioned And Men who have a due Reverence
to the Holy Scriptures will look upon this rather as the Holy Ghost's Testimony concerning Moses than Moses his Testimony concerning himself But we have to do now with a Generation of Men that write upon these Books not as of a Divine Original but as they do upon common Authors Verse 4 Ver. 4. And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses The LORD thought fit immediately to stifle their Insurrection which might have proved dangerous if it had spread among the People And perhaps the word suddenly may relate to the manner of his calling to them with a quick and hasty Speech as one provoked and highly displeased And unto Aaron and unto Miriam It is uncertain whether God spake to these two by himself or by Moses It is likely he spake to them all together while Aaron and Miriam were expostulating with Moses with such a Voice as he was wont to use when he communicated his Mind to the Prophets Come out ye three It is likely they were all in Moses his Tent whether his Brother and Sister were come to utter their Complaint Vnto the Tabernacle of the Congregation Which was God's Tent wherein he dwelt among them and from whence he declared his Will to them And they came out To attend the Pleasure of the Divine Majesty Ver. 5. And the LORD came down in the Pillar Verse 5 of the Cloud The Pillar of the Cloud which was wont to be over the most Holy Place where the LORD dwelt came down from thence and the SCHECHINAH in it and stood as it here follows at the Door of the Tabernacle And stood in the Door of the Tabernacle As if it would leave them as it did v. 9. And called Aaron and Miriam Who were at some distance I suppose and are commanded to come nearer And they came forth From the place where they were when he called them Or from Moses with whom they came from his Tent and now are required to stand by themselves Ver. 6. And he said hear now my Words Mark Verse 6 what I say to you If there be a Prophet among you This doth not make a doubt of it but supposes that they and others among the People were Prophets as they alledged v. 2. But God would have them to understand that he did not communicate his Mind to all alike nor in the same way and manner but so differently as to make a remarkable Distinction between Moses and others Whether there were in those days Men brought up and trained to be made fit to receive this Gift bestow'd upon them we do not know But in after-times it is evident there were certain Colledges of Prophets wherein Disciples of Prophets were bred Such was that 1 Sam. X. 5. and XIX 18 c. Where the Sons of the Prophets i. e. their Scholars or Disciples as Jonathan always translates that Phrase were brought up And for the most part such only were endued with this Gift who were so educated in those Schools in the Study of the Law and in Piety Though God did not tye himself to dispense it to such Persons alone but bestowed it upon whom he pleased though they had spent no time in those Schools of the Prophets This is apparent from that Proverbial Speech Is Saul also among the Prophets 1 Sam. X. 11. XIX 24. This had been no wonder as this Saying imports if it had been usual for Persons to be endowed with this Gift on a sudden who was never bred up in such a course as led to it But to show how this came to pass one of that place answered and said as it there follows v. 12. but who is their Father That is this is no such wonder if it be considered who makes Men Prophets viz. God who is the Father of all the Children of the Prophets and therefore may inspire whom he pleases As he now might have imparted this Gift to meaner Persons than the LXX Elders presented to him by Moses and made them equal if he had thought fit with Aaron and Miriam For this was the case of Amos in after-ages who was no Prophet nor a Prophet's Son as he himself relates VII 14. but an Herds-man and yet the LORD took him as he followed the Flock and bad him go and prophesie unto his People Israel I the LORD Here is the Original of Prophecy will make my self known unto him communicate to him my Mind and Will In a Vision This was one way of discovering his Mind to the Prophets by representing things to them when they were awake as if they had perceived them by their Senses which at that time were lockt up and all transacted by a Divine Operation upon their Mind and Imagination See XV Gen. 1. and VIII Dan. 1 15. Abarbinel mentions one who observes that the word Marah the Plural of which Maroth signifies Looking-Glasses in XXXVIII Exod. 8. is a different word from Mareh which is commonly used for Vision And teaches us that all the Representations made in this way to the Prophets were only as the Images of things represented in a Glass in which we behold the outward Shape or Shadow as we may call it but not the thing it self And so St. Paul seems to have understood this word if he alludes to this place as Grotius thinks he doth when he saith now we see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through a Glass darkly 1 Corinth XIII 12. And I will speak unto him in a Dream This was another way of God's revealing his Mind unto the Prophets in their sleep when they not only saw things represented them but also heard a voice And both these seem some times to have been mixed together or to have followed one another as in XVI Gen. 12. VII Dan. 1. VIII 16 17 18. And it is a Maxim among the Jews that there is no degree of Prophecy but it is comprehended under one of these Visions or Dreams So Maimonides in his More Nevochim P. II. cap. 32. and 41. and again cap. 43. where he saith There is no third degree of Prophecy besides these two For as for that Divine Spirit which moved Men to speak of things appertaining to the Knowledge of God and his Praises beyond their natural or acquired Abilities without seeing any Figures asleep or awake though with Assurance that it was from God they will not have it called Prophecy though they acknowledge those Parts of Scripture which they call Cetuvim and the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. written by the Holy Ghost were indited by that Divine Spirit and therefore we cannot reasonably deny those that were inspired by it the Name of Prophets Verse 7 Ver. 7. My Servant Moses is not so Doth not receive my Mind in either of those ways and therefore is more than a Prophet having it communicated to him in a far more noble and clearer manner which placed him in a higher rank than any other inspired Person Who is faithful in all my House Because he was intrusted so
the word may be understood with God's whole Family that is with all the Children of Israel and faithfully discharged the Trust reposed in him by acquainting them with all God's Will and executing all his Commands and doing nothing of himself as now he was fasly accused but only what God required This is a high Testimony to him and the Jews when they are in the humour of exalting Moses say he was more faithful than the Angels of the Ministry They are the words of R. Jose in Siphri and if he had said As faithful as the Angels of the Ministry it might have passed for a good Explication Ver. 8. With him will I speak mouth to mouth Verse 8 In a most familiar manner as one Friend discourses with another So it is explained XXXIII Exod. 11. From whence Abarbinel in his Rosch Amana gathers That Moses his Prophecy differed from others in these four things First That God spake to others by a Mediator that is as he explains it by some Angel but to him by himself without the intervention of any other Secondly That they never prophesied but their Senses were all bound up either in Visions or in Dreams whereas he was as perfectly awake as we are when we discourse one with another Thirdly That after the Vision was over they were often left so weak and feeble that they could scarce stand upon their feet as appears from X Dan. 8 11. but Moses spake with the Divine Majesty without any consternation or alteration his conversation with him being like that of one Friend with another And lastly No Prophet but he could understand the Mind of God when they pleased for he communicated himself to them only when he thought good whereas Moses might at any time resort to God to enquire of him and receive an answer See IX 8. To the same purpose also Maimonides writes in his Book de Fundamentis Legis cap. 7. Even apparently Plainly clearly and distinctly so that there was no difficulty to apprehend his meaning nor need of an Explication Thus he proclaimed his Name to Moses XXXIV Exod. 6 7. And not in dark Speeches Or in Parables and Enigmatical Representations Such as the Ladder which Jacob saw in a Dream the Boiling-pot which was shown to Jeremiah the Wall the Plumb-line and the Basket of Summer-fruits which Amos saw the Beasts which were represented to Daniel the Lamps Mountain Horses and Chariots to Zachariah the Roll of the Book which Ezekiel was to eat By all which the Prophet as Maimonides observes whose Illustrations these are of these words was given to understand some other thing which was intended to be made known to him by these Figures More Nevoch P. II. c. 43. who in his Book concerning the Foundations of the Law further observes that some of these Prophets had both the Parable as he calls it and its Interpretation represented to them others the Parable only without any Exposition and to some was only delivered the Explication And the Similitude of the LORD shall he behold I am apt to think the word not should be here again repeated as it must be in some places to make out the Sense as XXV Prov. 27. which will make the meaning plainly this he shall not behold the LORD in Similitudes and Resemblances as other Prophets did For the Hebrew word Temunah signifies the Shape of a thing represented either to the outward Senses or to the Imagination not the thing it self Therefore it would be to equal Moses with the rest of the Prophets to say he should see the Similitude of the LORD for so did they Amos for instance saith he saw the LORD standing upon the Altar IX 1. that is some Angelical Appearance in a glorious shape And Eliphaz saith That a Spirit passed before him the form or aspect whereof he could not discern only the Temunah we render it an Image was before his Eyes IV Job 15 16. But God did not thus reveal himself to Moses by Images and Similitudes of Things but spake to him himself as it goes before mouth to mouth Which led Maimonides into the opinion which he often repeats that when God is said to speak to any other Man it was by an Angel and that he never spake to any one himself but only to Moses Nor did any Man before him say that God spake to him or that he sent him on a Message unto others but Moses was the first that had this honour More Nevoch P. I. c. 63. and P. II. cap. 39. But if we follow our Translation which should run thus But the Similitude of the LORD shall he behold it relates to that wonderful Apparition of God to him in the Bush III Exod. 6. as Maimonides thinks More Nevochim P. I. cap. 5. where he saith God poured upon him as much as he could contain but especially to that Revelation which God made of himself to him when he told him that he could not see his Face but should behold his back Parts XXXIII Exod. 20 23. Which was a Priviledge granted to none but him And thus the Similitude of the LORD or his Likeness signifies the LORD himself XVII Psal ult When thy Likeness shall awake that is thou thy self appear for me I shall be satisfied Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my Servant Moses Who is my prime Minister employed by me in the highest Services Ver. 9. And the Anger of the LORD was kindled against them As appeared by what follows And he departed He withdrew his Presence from Verse 9 the Door of the Tabernacle immediately before they could make any answer Which was a token of exceeding great Displeasure as it is in us when we will not so much as hear what Men say for themselves when they have highly and notoriously offended us and we reprove them for it but turn away from them Verse 10 Ver. 10. And the Cloud departed from the Tabernacle It was not merely taken up from it as it was wont to be when they were to remove their Camp but quite disappeared for a time or stood at a great distance from them till Miriam was removed from the Tabernacle and carried out of the Camp For that was one reason of its departure the Divine Majesty not designing to stay where so impure a Creature was And this was also a manifest token of God's high Displeasure against them which moved him to forsake them And behold Miriam became leprous Or was become leprous A proper Punishment for pride and evil speaking Which was not inflicted upon Aaron because he was to judge of Leprosie and was not the first in the Transgression And besides it is likely God would not have one that was but newly made his High-Priest become vile and contemptible White as Snow Which was a mark of an incurable Leprosie when all the Body was over-spread with it IV Exod. 6. 2 Kings V. 27. And Aaron looked upon Miriam As the Priest was bound to do whose Office
it was to inspect it and judge whether it was a Leprosie or no XIII Lev. 2 c. And behold she was leprous He could not but judge her to have a Leprosie and consequently pronounce her unclean Ver. 11. And Aaron said unto Moses He was Verse 11 made sensible that Moses had greater interest in God than himself and therefore desires his intercession for them Alas my Lord Have pity upon us miserable Wretches I beseech thee lay not the Sin upon us He supplicates him as his Superior and humbly begs his pardon and that he would obtain remission of the Punishment which they had justly deserved by their Sin For he was afraid he himself might suffer as he saw she did Wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned He prays him to look upon their Offence as proceeding from Folly and Weakness though in it self a great Sin Ver. 12. Let her not be as one dead c. For so Verse 12 she was not only legally being to be separated from the Living but naturally also this being as I said the worst kind of Leprosie which eat into the very Flesh and made her look like an Abortive as it here follows or Still-born Child which had lain long dead and was half wasted away in its Mothers Womb. Ver. 13. And Moses cried unto the LORD Most Verse 13 earnestly petitioned the LORD for her such was his Meekness and Piety And his crying perhaps supposes the Divine Majesty to be gone afar off if not out of sight Heal her now O God I beseech thee For it was beyond any other power but his to recover her Ver. 14. And the LORD said unto Moses if her Verse 14 Father had but spit in her face An expression of extream Anger abhorrence and contempt XXX Job 10. LII Isa 6. Should she not be ashamed seven days She could not have had the confidence to come presently into his Presence but be ashamed for a great while to look him in the Face Let her be shut out of the Camp Much more is it fit that Miriam should avoid my Presence and not presume to come before me who have set a greater Mark of my Indignation and Detestation upon her For Spittle might soon be wiped off but the Leprosie stuck to her and made her unfit for all Conversation with God or Man Seven days Which was the time for legal Cleansing from such great Impurities XIV Lev. 8. VI Numb 9. XXXI 19. And after that let her be received in again I suppose she was presently freed from her Leprosie but kept out from the Camp so long to declare God's Displeasure against her and to humble her by exposing her to shame Verse 15 Ver. 15. And Miriam was shut out of the Camp seven days That her Offence might be known to all by her open Punishment And the People journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again For the Cloud was gone which should have directed them in their Motions And besides this respect perhaps was shown unto her because she was a Prophetess and hereby she had time given her to humble her self before God and to beg his Pardon for her Sin Brought in again When one would have expected that such Sacrifices should have been offered for her Cleansing as are required in XIV Lev. But this was an extraordinary Case she being on a sudden miraculously struck with the highest Degree of the Plague of Leprosie and as suddenly cured by the same Hand that struck her Ver. 16. And afterward the People removed Which Verse 16 shows that the Cloud which departed from the Tabernacle v. 10. returned again to it together with Miriam that it might guide them in their removal to another Station For till it was taken up from the Tabernacle they stirred not from the place where they were IX 17 18. From Hazeroth After they had abode there seven days at the least And pitched in the Wilderness of Paran Where they were before See X. 12. but now were brought into another part of it called Rithmah XXXIII 18. which was call'd also by another name Kadesh-barnea XIII 26 I Deut. 19. Or else we must suppose these two Places to have been so very near together that they might be said to have pitched either in the one or the other This Station was at the foot of the Mountain on the South part of Canaan I Deut. 20. so that their next removal was to have been into the Land promised to them if they themselves had not hindred by their renewed Rebellion This removal was in the fourth Month of the second Year after they came out of the Land of Egypt See XI 20 35. CHAP. XIII Chapter XIII Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying They being now come to the Borders of Canaan the LORD ordered Moses to exhort them to go up and take possession of it and not to fear nor be discouraged as we read in I Deut. 21. But the People out of a distrust of God's Power as Moses seems to intimate IX Deut. 23. desired they might first send some to search out the Land before they attempted its Conquest I Deut. 22. About which it is likely Moses consulted the Divine Majesty who gave them leave so to do Verse 2 Ver. 2. Send thou Men. For their greater satisfaction God ordered them to have their desire For there seems to have been a general Fear upon them every one of them coming to Moses with this request I Deut. 22. which could not be removed but by sending some to bring them intelligence what kind of Country it was and what People they had to deal withal v. 18 19 20. That they may search the Land of Canaan To make a discovery both of the Country and of the Inhabitants and the best way to invade it I Deut. 22. Which I give unto the Children of Israel To the possession of which God now intended to introduce them For he had already brought them to the Confines of it and bidden them go up and possess it I Deut. 20 21. but they would needs make this delay for a discovery of the condition of the Country which was their own contrivance at the first and not a Divine Counsel Of every Tribe of their Fathers shall ye send a Man That there might be no suspicion of Partiality in their Report Every one a Ruler among them Men of Authority and Prudence who might be the more believed Yet not of the highest Rank for such are called by the name of Princes I. 16. but Rulers perhaps of Thousands who were very considerable in their Tribes For they are called by the same name in the Hebrew every one being said to be a NASI and a ROSCH a Leader and a Head in their Tribes which may incline one to think that there were higher and lower Persons of this sort who had the same Title in every Tribe Ver. 3. And Moses by the Commandment of the Verse 3 LORD Which was given
the Divine Majesty in Detestation of the Impiety and to declare their Sorrow and Indignation and Dread of God's Judgments as appears from XXXVI Jerem. 24. Where the Stupidity of Jehojakim and his Servants is represented by this that when they heard the words which the Prophet declared in God's Name against Judah they were not afraid nor rent their Garments Verse 7 Ver. 7. And they spake unto all the Company of the Children of Israel saying This showed great Courage that they durst declare their Opinion contrary to the Sense of so great a multitude The Land which we passed thorough to search it is an exceeding good Land This is opposed to what their Fellows had said that it was a Land which eat up its Inhabitants XIII 32. Quite contrary they assure them it was very very good as the words are in the Hebrew And so expressed by the Chaldee and the LXX exceeding exceeding good That is every way desirable for thus the Hebrews express the Superlative Degree Verse 8 Ver. 8. If the LORD delight in us then he will bring us into this Land and give it us If we do not forfeit his Favour he will make us so happy as to drive out the Canaanites and settle us in the Possession of this Land A Land which floweth with Milk and Honey As their Companions themselves had confessed XIII 27. Ver. 9. Only rebel ye not against the LORD By slighting his Goodness by Murmuring and discontented Speeches and talking of going back to Egypt v. 2 3 4. Verse 9 Neither fear ye the People of the Land This is opposed to what the rest of the Spies had said concerning the mighty Power and Strength of the Inhabitants of Canaan XIII 28 29 31 c. For they are Bread for us We shall as easily vanquish them as we eat our Meat Their Defence is departed from them In the Hebrew the words are their Shadow whereby Men being defended from Heat in those Countries it signifies the Protection which God gives Men from those things that might hurt them Which Divine Protection they tell the People was now withdrawn from the Canaanites who had filled up the measure of their Iniquities XV Gen. 16. and now were exposed as a Prey to the Israelites And the LORD is with us For on the contrary they entreat the People to consider that God who was departed from the Canaanites was with them to aid and assist them in the Conquest of the Country And for both these reasons they needed not to fear them So they conclude their Speech like Men of an undaunted Spirit in these words fear them not Ver. 10. But all the Congregation The Hebrew Verse 10 words Col Ha Edah as I observed v. 1. signifies all the great Men the Rulers of the rest Bad stone them with stones Ordered the People to stone them to Death as they had done it is likely if they had not been deterred from the Attempt by the Appearance of the Divine Majesty For the Hebrew word amar as Maimonides observes in his More Nevochim P. I. cap. 65. is used not only concerning that which is spoken or thought but of what is decreed and resolved And he produces these words as an instance of it together with II Exod. 14. 2 Sam. XXI 16. And the Glory of the LORD appeared The SCHECHINAH which resided within the Tabernacle upon the Mercy-Seat now openly appeared in a bright flaming Light like Fire And in all probability after such an amazing manner as terrified them from their Design Thus it appeared on Mount Sinai to fright them from approaching near unto it XXIV Exod. 17. from whence Moses saith the LORD thy God is a consuming fire IV Deut. 24. and thus it appeared afterward XVI Numb 19 42. In the Tabernacle of the Congregation Or rather upon the Tabernacle for in the Tabernacle the People could not have seen it as now they did over the most Holy place which the Cloud constantly covered over the Mercy-Seat where the Divine Glory dwelt See IX 15. Before all the Children of Israel Both to fright them as I said from their purpose of stoning Joshua and Caleb and to show his Anger and Displeasure at their Rebellion which it is likely appeared by the Flashes that came from the glorious Flame Verse 11 Ver. 11. And the LORD said unto Moses In answer I suppose unto his Prayer v. 5. How long will this People provoke me Shall I always bear with their most undutiful Behaviour which will provoke the greatest Patience unto Anger How long will it be ere they believe me Dost thou not see that their belief is incurable For all the Signs which I have shewed among them Since they continue in it notwithstanding all the Wonders I have done to convince them of my Power and Faithfulness Ver. 12. I will smite them with a Pestilence Send Verse 12 a Pestilential Disease among them to sweep them away at once as the fifteenth Verse interprets it See XXXII Exod. 10. And disinherit them And so deprive them and theirs of the Country which I promised to their Fathers for an Inheritance XV Gen. 7. This was not an irrevocable Decree but a Threatning which God changed into another severe Punishment And will make of thee a greater Nation and mightier than they Fulfil my Promise to Abraham by making thee the Father of a more numerous People and more powerful than they whom I reject Ver. 13. And Moses said unto the LORD then Verse 13 the Egyptians will hear it for thou broughtest up this People by thy might from among them It is an abrupt kind of Speech proceeding from the great disturbance which this Threatning made in his Mind being as much as if he had said If thou thus destroy them the Egyptians when they hear of it will Triumph and thou wilt lose all the Honour thou hast got by the wonderful Deliverance thou didst work for thy People from their Bondage Ver. 14. And they will tell it to the Inhabitants of Verse 14 this Land Or rather they will say to the Inhabitants of this Land i. e. the Canaanites with whom the Egyptians had frequent Commerce For they have heard c. The word for is not in the Hebrew and the Sense will be more plain if we omit it and translate the whole thus They will say to the Inhabitants of this Land they have heard that thou LORD art among this People That is that there was a glorious Token of thy Presence among us That thou LORD art seen face to face And spakest to us from Mount Sinai out of that glorious Cloud which there appeared unto all the People XIX Exod. 18. XX. 1. XXIV 16 17. IV Deut. 12. And that thy Cloud standeth over them X Numb 34. And that thou goest before them by day time in a Pillar of a Cloud and in a Pillar of Fire by Night XIII Exod. 21. Verse 15 Ver. 15. Now if thou shalt kill all this People Or rather But thou hast
killed all this People As one Man On a sudden with one stroke as if they had all but one Life Then the Nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak saying Of which the Nations that have heard the fore-named Report of thy Majesty will make this Construction Verse 16 Ver. 16. Because the LORD was not able to bring this People into the Land Because he whom they called Omnipotent was indeed defective in his Power which at last failed him so that he could not compleat what he had undertaken Which he sware unto them XV Gen. 17 18. XXIV 7. Therefore he hath slain them in the Wilderness Killed them all before they came to the Land he had solemnly promised to them for that was an easier work than to make good his word The sum of this Argument is That it would be a great disparagement to the Divine Majesty if he now destroyed this Nation because his Enemies would conclude he had deluded them with false Promises which he wanted Power to effect Ver. 17. And now I beseech thee let the Power of Verse 17 my LORD be great That is let it appear to be unlimited by bringing them into the Land which he sware to give them v. 16. or by pardoning their Sin which had provoked his high displeasure against them v. 11. For by Power may be meant either that which is properly called by that Name viz. his Omnipotence which can conquer all Opposition Or his Mercy and Clemency in overcoming his Anger and bearing with an ungrateful People Which agrees very well with what follows but both tend to the same meaning that he would not destroy them but bestow the Land of Canaan upon them according to his Intentions According as thou hast spoken saying Which will be suitable to thy blessed Nature which thou didst proclaim to me when thy Glory passed by me XXXI Exod. 22. XXXIV 5 6. Ver. 18. The LORD is long-suffering and of great Verse 18 mercy forgiving iniquity c. In these very words though something more largely God proclaim'd his Name to Moses when he showed him his Glory XXXIV Exod. 6 7. where they are explained And by no means clearing the guilty Even these words according to the Interpretation I have there given of them are a plain Argument to move the Divine Goodness to pardon their Sin But the next words visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children c. seem to be directly contrary to the intention of his Petition till it be considered that they had not now committed Idolatry against which Sin God in these words particularly declares his Severity and that Moses did not now plead for an absolute Pardon without any Punishment at all but only that he would not destroy the whole Nation as one Man and utterly disinherit them as he seemed resolved to do v. 12 15. This Threatning he hoped his gracious Nature would incline him to revoke notwithstanding which he might visit the Sin of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation That is punish them and their Posterity a long time And so this latter part of the verse is to be interpreted according to what I observed XXXIV Exod. 7. in making desolate he will not make quite desolate though he visit the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children c. Verse 19 Ver. 19. Pardon I beseech thee the Iniquity of this People So far as not to destroy them utterly According to the greatness of thy Mercy Which God himself had proclaimed v. 18. As thou hast forgiven this People from Egypt even until now This looks like an Argument against them for they having provoked him so often as they had done since they came out of Egypt in the space of one Year and a little more See v. 22. and been as often forgiven it might seem more reasonable that he should now punish them and not forgive them any more But he appeals to that long-suffering Goodness which he mentions as the prime Character of the Divine Nature v. 18. which though it had been exercised by them many ways yet he hoped would still bear longer with them Ver. 20. And the LORD said I have pardoned according to thy word Granted thy desire not to destroy them utterly and altogether v. 12 15. Ver. 21. But as truly as I live all the Earth shall be Verse 20 filled with the Glory of the LORD In the Hebrew Verse 21 the words run plainly thus As true as I live and that all the Earth shall be or hath been filled with the Glory of the LORD For so the Egyptians themselves confessed v. 14. that the fame of it was come to them and afterwards he did many more wonderful things when he brought them into Canaan Unto which if these words be taken in the Future Tense he hath respect when he saith As true as that he would in a most glorious manner subdue the Canaanites not one of these murmuring Israelites should come into that good Land Ver. 22. Because all these Men c. The sence Verse 22 would have been clear if we had left out the word because as we might have done the Hebrew Particle ki being sometimes only an expletive or if we had translated it that as it signifies in XXII Gen. 17. and many other places For the meaning plainly is though the words be something intricate That all the Men of whom he is speaking should perish and not one of them come into Canaan Which have seen my Glory Which appeared to them in the Cloud upon Mount Sinai and resided in the Tabernacle And my Miracles which I did in Egypt Mentioned in the IV VII VIIIth and following Chapters of the Book of Exodus And in the Wilderness Where he divided the Red Sea for them to pass through on dry Land and gave them Manna constantly from Heaven with Water out of a Rock which followed them whithersoever they went c. And have tempted me now these ten times That is very oft as this Phrase ten times signifies XXXI Gen. 7 41. IV Nehem. 12. XIX Job 3. But some of the Hebrews will not be satisfied with this Explication but indeavour to find out precisely just ten Provocations of which they were guilty Though to do this they are forced to begin with one which fell out before they came to the Red Sea XIV Exod. 11 12. and all the other Nine they find in the Wilderness See Pirke Avoth cap. 5. and Paulus Fagius his Scholia upon it with Genebrard upon the LXXVIII Psal v. 46. Mr. Mede hath observed that to tempt God in Scripture Language is to provoke him by some presumptuous Fact to anger as it were to try whether he will punish or not or in fewer words to dare God Book I. Discourse 26. p. 153. And the following words in the next verse justifie this Notion in this place And have not hearkned to my Voice This seems particularly to refer to their Disobedience when he
observes Lib. II. de Jure Belli Pacis cap. 13. sect 3. The Land was promised by Oath non personis sed populo nor to Persons but to the People viz. to the Posterity of those unto whom God sware to give it v. 23. Now such a Promise as he observes may be performed at any time because it is not tied to certain Persons Save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh and Joshua the Son of Nun. They are excepted because they had distinguished themselves from the rest by their eminent Faith and Courage in the midst of a perverse Generation Ver. 31. But your little Ones All under twenty Verse 31 Years old Which ye said should be a prey He upbraids them with their discontented and distrustful Language v. 3. Them will I bring in and they shall know the Land That is enjoy it Which ye have despised XIII 32. Ver. 32. But as for you your Carcases they shall fall Verse 32 in this Wilderness He repeats it again to make them sensible of the certainty of it and in their own words v. 2. to humble and put them to confusion Ver. 33. And your Children shall wander So the Verse 33 Chaldee interpret what in the Hebrew is shall feed or graze as Sheep do in the Desarts Or rather after the manner of the Arabian Shepherds who could not stay long in one place but were forced to remove their Tents to another that they might find Pasture for their Flocks So R. Solomon interprets it Forty Years Reckoning from their first coming out of Egypt from whence they were brought into the Wilderness a Year and a half ago and now are condemned to make up their time of wandering in it full forty Years And bear your Whoredoms That is the Punishment of their Whoredoms as Idolatry is peculiarly called XV. 39. XXXIV Exod. 15. III Jerem. 14. Of which they had been guilty presently after they came out of Egypt when they made the golden Calf and worshipped it and continued other Idolatrous Practices XVII Lev. 5 7. Which God punishes now that he visits their present Rebellion For it was not that alone to which he threatens this Punishment but he reckons with them for all the rest of their Iniquities IX Deut. 18 24. especially for the greatest of them all which he declared he would not forget to punish upon any new occasion See XXXII Exod. 34. which they now gave him It must be acknowledged also that other heinous Sins are called by this Name of Whoredoms in Scripture as well as Idolatry LXXIII Psalm 26. See Mr. Selden L. III. Vxor Hebr. cap. 23. p. 489. Vntil your Carcases be wasted in the Wilderness This is the third time he reflects upon their foolish wish v. 29 32. Verse 34 Ver. 34. After the number of the days in which ye searched the Land even forty days XIII 25. Each day for a year shall ye bear your Iniquities even forty years Reckoning the time past since they came into the Wilderness which was a Year and an half So that the meaning is they should wander forty Years in the Wilderness before they got out of it Which is not to be understood so precisely as to want nothing at all of it For they came out of Egypt on the fifteenth Day of the first Month on the morrow after the Passover XXXIII 3. and they came into Canaan and pitched in Gilgal upon the tenth Day of the first Month of the one and fortieth Year after their departure from Egypt IV Josh 19. and consequently there wanted five Days of full forty Years And ye shall know my breach of Promise In the Hebrew the words are no more then these Ye shall know my breach Which the Ancients understand of Gods breaking in upon them to take vengeance of them for their Sin So the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye shall know the fury of my Anger and the Vulgar translates it ultionem meam my Vengeance That is you shall find that I am the Avenger of Iniquity And it is the same if we understand my breach to signifie God's departure from them who had so shamefully departed from him Or according to our Translation it signifies a Revocation of the Blessing promised to them Which was so nullified that they were left without any hope of having the like Promise of entring into Canaan renewed to them Ver. 35. I the LORD have said Decreed and Verse 35 pronounced this Sentence I will surely do it to all this evil Congregation Break from them or break in upon them to consume them and utterly disinherit this untoward Generation That are gathered together against me Whom they accused as well as Moses and Aaron v. 2 3. In this Wilderness they shall be consumed and there shall they die The repetition of this so frequently v. 29 32 33. was to convince them the Decree was peremptory and irreversible Ver. 36. And the Men which Moses sent to search the Verse 36 Land That is Ten of them Who returned XIII 25 26. And made all the Congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the Land XIII 31 32. XIV 2. Ver. 37. Even those Men c. died by the Plague Either by the Pestilence threatned v. 12. or by Lightning or some other sudden Death About Verse 37 which there is a dispute among the Hebrew Doctors in the Gemara on Sota cap. 7. sect 11. where some of them say they died of a Quinsey which choaked them or as others their Tongues swelled and hung out of their Mouths down to their Navels and were full of Worms c. So that their Punishment was suitable to their Sin as they conclude with their Tongues they offended and in their Tongues they suffered Before the LORD Whose Glory appeared upon the Tabernacle before them all v. 10. unto which I take these words to relate signifying that they died in his Presence and perhaps by a flash of Fire from thence on that very Day upon which this Murmuring was raised by their false Report Verse 38 Ver. 38. But Joshua the Son of Nun and Caleb the Son of Jephunneh which were of the Men that went to search the Land Here Joshua is mentioned with Caleb and placed first as in the 6th verse as Caleb was in verse 30. Which shows there was no difference made between them Lived still This is set down to show God's faithfulness in his promise to them Who I suppose were now in the Company of the rest of the Searchers of the Land before the LORD and had no hurt when all the other Ten fell down dead on a sudden which made their Preservation the more remarkable Verse 39 Ver. 39. And Moses told all these sayings unto all the Children of Israel Acquainted them with the Doom which God had passed upon them And the People mourned greatly Were extreamly afflicted at the news but did not beseech him to pray for them as at other times XI 2. because he had told them
great a difference between the Children of two Brothers who were of equal Deserts Nay Aben-Ezra thinks that he wholly disliked the late Exchange of the First-born for the Levites And besides it may be thought that he stomacht the late Preferment of Elizaphan the Son of Vzziel who was the youngest Son of Kohath to be chief of the Family of the Kohathites III. 30. which he thought rather belonged to himself who was the Son of the second Son of Kohath And finding himself too weak to make an Insurrection alone he perswaded Dathan and Abiram of the Tribe of Reuben and those in whom they had an interest to joyn with him upon another pretence that they were descended from the eldest Son of Israel to whom the chief Authority in the Nation belonged which Moses had taken upon himself and likewise preferred the Tribe of Judah to the principal place in their encampment II. 3. and also the LXX Elders to be his Assistants without their Advice and leaving them out of the number Such as these may be thought to be the grounds upon which they proceeded Korah seeking the Priesthood and the Sons of Reuben the Civil Dignity But it seems to me that the ground of the Quarrel was wholly upon the account of the Priesthood as I shall show upon the next verse and that they struck at Moses only as advancing his Brother and his Family by his own Authority and not as they pretended by God's direction For as Dathan and Abiram did not appear openly when they had formed this Faction for we find them in their Tents v. 12. and refusing to come to Moses when he sent for them so in the next verse they seem to speak of nothing but the Priesthood And so Moses understood their meaning v. 5 10 15. Before Moses In an open defiance of his Authority who they pretended had no power to make such Alterations as he had done With certain of the Children of Israel It is not said out of what Tribe but it is likely out of several if not some out of every Tribe in whom they had any interest Two hundred and fifty Princes of the Assembly c. The LXX divide their Character into three parts First That they were Princes of the Assembly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rulers of Thousands and Rulers of Hundreds c. And Secondly Famous in the Congregation Which they translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who used to be called to Publick Consultations when they were to deliberate about weighty Affairs And so several both ancient and modern Translations as Mr. Selden hath shown L. II. de Synedriis cap. 4. n. 10. where he saith they were called maxime puto si non solum deliberandi causa chiefly if not only to have their Advice And then lastly Men of renown Such who had got a great Name that is Fame and Credit among the People upon these or other accounts This made the Insurrection the more dangerous that such great Persons were engaged and appeared in it Verse 3 Ver. 3. And they gathered themselves together The fore-named Company came in a Body Against Moses As an arbitrary Disposer of all Preferment And against Aaron Who was promoted by Moses to the Office of High-Priest which he himself had discharged before Aaron's Consecration which perhaps they made a ground of their Quarrel And said unto them Ye take too much upon you In the Hebrew the words are Rab-lachem it is sufficient for you That is you have domineered long enough resign your Places to others for all of us nay every Man in Israel is as good as you Seeing all the Congregation are holy every one of them Here seems to be the Root of the Quarrel Before Moses's time every one might offer Sacrifice in his own Family as I have often observed which Custom these Men would have had still continued being angry that this high Office was confined to one Family alone who were to enjoy all the Benefits of it which were exceeding great For the Priests had a large share in most Offerings and some things wholly to themselves This is the more probable because it was so very hard to convince the People that God had settled this Dignity and all the Profits belonging to it in Aaron's Family For though God did a new thing never heard of before to demonstrate these People that rose against Moses and Aaron to be Seditious yet it was necessary still to do more For after the Earth had swallowed up Dathan and Abiram and Fire consumed Korah and his Company and a Plague destroyed many more of them the LORD did another Miracle XVII 8. in making Aaron's Rod blossom and bud and bring forth Almonds in one Nights time when all the rest of the Rods remained dry Sticks Which makes it probable as I said before there were some in all the Tribes who were engaged in this Sedition and were so deeply infected with the false Notions of Korah that it was necessary to give them all this Satisfaction And the LORD is among them The People need no other Governour but him who dwells among them in his Tabernacle where they can present their Sacrifices to him themselves without your Assistance Wherefore then lift you up your selves above the Congregation of the LORD Since God owns us all for his special and peculiar People why do you take upon you such high Places and Dignity above us all For Moses disposed and ordered all things and Aaron by his order took upon him to be solely God's chief Minister in his Sanctuary Verse 4 Ver. 4. And when Moses heard it he fell upon his face With Aaron also it is likely as they did lately XIV 5. And for the same end See there to deprecate God's displeasure which they might justly think would now rise higher than ever and to beg his direction what to do in such a dangerous state of things Verse 5 Ver. 5. And he spake unto Korah and unto all his Company This shows that Korah was the Head of this Faction and Dathan and Abiram did not at the first I guess from hence appear with him Saying Being risen up from Prayer he made this Answer to the Seditious People by order from God who no doubt directed him to this way of suppressing them Even to morrow the LORD will show c. In the Hebrew the words are To morrow or in the Morning and the LORD will show c. That is stay but till to Morrow and it shall appear without any further delay whether you or we be in the right He would keep them in suspense no longer and yet gave them so much time to consider better and repent Some observe that the Morning was the time of executing Justice and therefore here appointed Will the LORD show By some visible Token Who are his Or Who appertain to him viz. As his Ministers And who is holy Separated and solemnly Consecrated by his appointment to the Sacred Office of Priesthood And will
cause him to come near unto him Make it appear that they are the Persons who ought to burn Incense and to offer Sacrifice For to come near is to perform these Offices as may be learnt from XIX Levit 22. but especially from X Levit. 3. And the very word Cohen denotes it for it signifies a Minister next to the King And him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him They shall discharge the Office of Priesthood whom God himself hath chosen to it and no Body else Ver. 6. This do I put you to this Trial. Verse 6 Take your Censers Perform the Office of Priests unto which you pretend a right Korah and all his Company All the Two hundred and fifty Men and whosoever else were in the Faction of Korah Whom he orders no doubt by God's direction to execute the Office to which they aspired Ver. 7. Put Fire therein and put Incense in them Verse 7 As the Priests were wont to do Before the LORD to morrow At the Altar of Incense as some conceive before the most Holy Place So Menochius But this is contrary to v. 18. where we read they stood in the door of the Tabernacle with their Censers Fire and Incense Nor would the Sanctuary contain such a Company or if it had been large enough the People could not have seen either their Offering or their Punishment from the LORD for their Sin Therefore these words before the LORD signifie with their Faces towards the Sanctuary at the Gate of which they stood for what was done there is said to be before the LORD XXIX Exod. 42. And it shall be that the Man whom the LORD doth choose he shall be holy This comprehends both the Man and all his Family so the meaning is the LORD would declare whether Aaron and his Sons should execute the Priesthood alone or Korah and his Company be admitted to it Ye take too much upon you ye Sons of Levi. It is the same Phrase which we had before v. 3. Rab-lachem you are high enough already let the station wherein you are suffice you and aspire not after greater Dignity The following words justifie this Interpretation Verse 8 Ver. 8. And Moses said unto Korah hear I pray you ye Sons of Levi. By this and by the foregoing verse it appears not only that there were some of the Levites in this Sedition together with Korah at the Head of them but that they were the chief Incendiaries though others as I said before were drawn in to joyn with them because Moses addresses himself only to them Verse 9 Ver. 9. Seemeth it a small thing unto you Do you take it to be no honour to you That the God of Israel hath separated you from the Congregation of Israel Made choice of you above all other Israelites to wait upon him in his Family as his Domestick Servants III Numb 12. VIII 6 14. To bring you near to himself Though not so near as the Priests yet nearer than all other Men being the sole Attendants upon the Priests III. 6. VIII 10 11. To do the Service of the Tabernacle of the LORD III. 7 8. particularly the Kohathites were chosen to do the Service of the Tabernacle about the most holy things IV. 4 19. And to stand before the Congregation to minister unto them VIII 11 19. Ver. 10. And he hath brought thee near to him and Verse 10 all thy Brethren the Sons of Levi with thee Or Though he hath brought thee speaking unto Korah thus near to him and all the rest of the Levites thy Brethren See VIII 10 11 15 19. And seek ye the Priesthood also Will it not content you that you alone are chosen to minister unto the Priests III. 6. but you must be advanced to minister unto God in their Office Ver. 11. For which cause both thou and all thy Company Verse 11 are gathered together against the LORD By whose order Aaron and his Sons were appointed to serve him in the Office of Priests as was declared when the Levites were taken to minister unto them III. 3. IV. 15 19 20. And therefore to rise up against them was to rise up against the LORD and oppose his Authority who made them his Priests And what is Aaron Or And Aaron what hath he done Wherein is he faulty That ye murmur against him For taking upon him the Office of Priesthood into which he did not intrude himself but was chosen and appointed by God to do him that Service who would have been angry with him if he had refused it Ver. 12. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram Verse 12 the Sons of Eliah To Summon them to the place where Moses now was which the Jews say was the Court of Judgment This shows that either these Men as I said v. 2. did not openly appear with Korah and his Company against Moses v. 3. Or if they did they retired to their Tents before he rose up from his Prayer to give them an Answer What became of On we are not informed for he is neither mentioned here nor in the following part of this Narrative concerning their Sedition nor any where else in the Holy Scripture Which said We will not come up They bad the Messenger who summoned them to appear before Moses to tell him plainly that they denied his Authority For that 's the meaning of this Language He hath no Authority to command us who are none of his Subjects and therefore will not obey him Verse 13 Ver. 13. Is it a small thing with thee that thou hast brought us up out of a Land flowing with Milk and Honey to kill us in the Wilderness Though they would not come to him yet they returned him this Message Have we not suffered enough by being brought out of a rich and plentiful Country abounding with all good things into a barren Wilderness where we are ready to starve Nothing could be more insolentand ungrateful than to describe Egypt in the very same Language wherein God himself had often spoken of the Land of Promise particularly when he sent Moses to tell them he would bring them up out of the Affliction of Egypt under which they groaned III Exod. 16 17. Except thou make thy self altogether a Prince over us Unless we allow thee to make what Laws thou thinkest good and impose what thou pleasest upon us A most rude and insolent Speech signifying that they had not shaken off the Yoke of Bondage but only exchanged it and instead of the Rich and Wealthy Oppression of Pharaoh were come under the Poor and Hungry Tyranny of Moses For so the next verse imports Ver. 14. Moreover thou hast not brought us into a Verse 14 Land that floweth with Milk and Honey c. Or Certainly this is not the good Land into which thou didst promise to conduct us It seems to be a Sarcastical Speech Upbraiding him as if he had put a Cheat upon them and fed them only with
the LORD create a Creature i. e. do something that was never seen nor heard of in the World before The Jews in several of their Books particularly in Pirke Avoth say there are ten things which God created after the World was perfected and they mention the mouth of the Earth for one of them that is the gaping of the Ground to swallow up these wicked People Which is said to be created as Aben-Ezra well observes because by this Miracle God altered the Course of Nature and did a thing extraordinary And the Earth open her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain unto them i. e. On a sudden when there is no Earthquake but all is calm and still and it swallow up none but them alone And they go down quick into the Pit Be buried alive when they are in perfect health By this place it is apparent that the Hebrew word Sheol doth often signifie the Grave which Bellermine and others most earnestly contend never signifies so but Hell which from hence he asserts to be in the Center of the Earth Lib. IV. de Christo cap. 10. not observing that if it signifie Hell in this verse and v. 33. then the Houses of these Men and their Houshold-stuff and all that appertained to them went down thither which is very absurd It is hard also to think that all their little Children went down into Hell for their Father's sin though they did into the Grave Then ye shall understand that these Men have provoked the LORD You shall be sufficiently convinced that they have unjustly accused me and brought this destruction upon themselves Verse 31 Ver. 31. And it came to pass that as he had made an end of speaking all the words that the Ground clave asunder that was under them He had no sooner done speaking but immediately what he said was verified which made it the more remarkable Ver. 32. And the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up Viz. Dathan and Abiram before-mentioned Verse 32 v. 27. who stood in the Door of their Tents outfacing Moses And their Houses i. e. All their Family or as Moses himself hath explained it XI Deut. 6. Their Housholds and their Tents and all the Substance that was in their possession And all the Men that appertained unto Korah We are not told what became of Korah himself for it is not said he was swallowed up but all that appertained to him i. e. all that were at that time in his Tent His whole Family except his Sons who escaped XXVI 11. taking warning I suppose from what Moses said v. 26. Which hath made some think that Korah was at the Head of his Two hundred and fifty Men who were the great Abetters of his Faction who if he had forsaken them at this Trial that was made who were in the right we may well think would have withdrawn themselves also and not have stood to it without their Chieftain as we find they did v. 35. Yet he is not mentioned there as perishing with them by Fire from the LORD and Moses seems to say XXVI 10. that Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up together with Korah who had as much reason or more perhaps to think it necessary to be with that other Company which he had gathered against Moses v. 19. and to incourage them to persist in their Resolution than to be with the Two hundred and fifty Men who were Men of such Authority v. 2. that they may be thought to have needed none to support them It may be added also that the word appertaineth is not here in the Hebrew which makes these words sound as if the meaning were only those that were of Korah's Family but simply all the Men that were to Korah i. e. were gathered to him and were at that time with him Which seems to be an Indication that they and he were swallowed up together How many there were that staid with him there is not certain but the generality left him v. 27. where it is expresly said they gat up from the Tabernacle of Korah Dathan and Abiram as Moses had commanded v. 24. Which may be taken for a further Indication that he was swallowed up in the Tabernacle where he was or in his own Tent after he came out of that Tabernacle But those places I observed before may be otherwise understood that place also which is the main foundation of this Opinion XXVI 10. may likewise receive another Interpretation as I shall show when I come thither And they that are of the other Opinion think his Tabernacle and his Family and all his Houshold-stuff might be swallowed up though he himself was not with them but was burnt by Fire with the Two hundred and fifty Men that offered Incense for Moses bad him take his Censer as well as they v. 17. Which since they did and put Fire and Incense therein why should it be thought he did not do the same It seems to me highly probable that he did otherwise he would have seemed to distrust his Cause but it must be confessed that it is obscure which way he perished and therefore it is not fit to contend about it And all their Goods All their Houshold-stuff and Cattle and whatsoever was in or about their Tents Ver. 33. They and all that appertained to them See XI Deut. 6. Went down alive into the Pit As Moses had foretold v. 30. Verse 33 And the Earth closed upon them This made it the more wonderful that the Earth having swallowed them all up had no Cleft remaining in it but closed up again and was as firm as before And they perished from among the Congregation Were never more seen Ver. 34. And all Israel that were round about them Verse 34 fled at the cry of them Though they were at a distance from their Tents whence they had removed on all sides v. 27. yet they heard them shriek so loudly as they sunk down into the Ground that it put them into a great fright and made them fly still further off For they said lest the Earth swallow us up also Some of them were conscious to themselves that they had favoured this wicked Faction and all of them knew how highly they had lately offended God by their unbelief and murmuring Chapt. XIV which might make them justly fear the same Fate with their Brethren Ver. 35. And there came out a Fire from the LORD Verse 35 From the Glory of the LORD which appeared unto all the Congregation v. 19. as ready to decide the Controversie This fell out either at the same time the Earth swallowed up Dathan and Abiram or immediately after it And consumed the two hundred and fifty Men that offered Incense Which was a plain declaration that they usurped the Office of Priests and therefore were thus punished by God himself for their presumption It is not certain whether they were devoured by the Fire or only struck dead as Men are sometimes on a sudden by
the Head of the House of their Fathers should bring these Rods. Their Names we have in the first Chapter of this Book v. 5 6. and VII 2 12 c. Twelve Rods. Besides Aaron's for so many Tribes there were besides that of Levi. And too great a number of every Tribe in all likelyhood had joyned with Korah in their discontended Murmurings at the confinement of the Priesthood unto Aaron's Family alone to which they all fansied they had as much right as he Which is the reason of taking a Rod from every Tribe that they might all be convinced that none of them but he and his Family alone were owned by God for his Priests See XVI 3. Write thou every Man's name upon his Rod. Either by an Incision into the very Wood or with such Ink as they wrote withal in those days V. 22. This he did in the Presence of the Princes that they might not afterward suspect any Fraud when they came to take their Rods again but be satisfied they were the very same which they saw noted with their Names Ver. 3. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the Verse 3 Rod of Levi. Because God had made him the Prince of that Tribe by giving him the High-Priesthood And he would have them see that as no other Person in any of the Twelve Tribes so no other Levite ought to pretend unto that high Office which he had invested him withal and him alone For one Rod shall be for the Head of the House of their Fathers One Rod was sufficient because the Head of the Tribe comprehended the whole Tribe Who were all excluded from the Priesthood by the Exclusion of him who represented them Verse 4 Ver. 4. And thou shalt lay them up in the Tabernacle In the most Holy Place Before the Testimony i. e. Before the Ark called in many Places the Ark of the Testimony XL Exod. 3. because therein Moses put the Testimony or two Tables of Stone and the Mercy Seat above it v. 20 21. where the Divine Glory resided Therefore to lay the Rods before the Testimony was to lay them before the Divine Majesty who intended by them finally to determine the present Controversie Where I will meet with you There he promised to meet with Moses XXV Exod. 22. by whom he communicated his Mind unto the People For he neither met with them nor with Aaron there any other way but by Moses And therefore the Vulgar Latin here translates it minding the sence rather than the words Where I will speak to them And so the LXX By which I will be made known to thee there And indeed meeting with them here is nothing but declaring or making known his Mind to them all by what was done there upon Aaron's Rod. So it follows in the next verse And for this reason the Tabernacle of the LORD is called OHEL MOED the Tabernacle of Meeting not of Mens meeting there as is commonly supposed by our translating it The Tabernacle of the Congregation but of God's meeting there with Men. For so the LORD himself gives the reason of the Name both here and in XXIX Exod. 42. XXX 36. where I have noted the same out of Mr. Mede Ver. 5. And it shall come to pass that the Man's Rod whom I shall choose shall blossom The Rods being laid before me I will tell you whom I have chosen to minister to me in the Priesthood by making the Verse 5 Rod upon which his Name is written to blossom when all the rest remain as they were before without any Alteration This was a kind of new choice as the words import whereby God confirmed the choice he had formerly made of Aaron to be High-Priest And I will make to cease from me the Murmurings of the Children of Israel whereby they murmur against you And hereby stop all their Mouths from murmuring any more about this matter unless they will oppose me directly who declare before-hand how I intend to give Judgment in this Case and put an end to this Dispute Ver. 6. And Moses spake unto the Children of Israel Verse 6 Told them what God had said that they might be all consenting to this way of Decision And every one of their Princes gave him a Rod apiece For they could not refuse such a fair Proposal For each Prince one according to their Fathers Houses even twelve Rods. Observing herein the Commands of Moses who wrote no doubt every Man's Name upon his Rod as he was also commanded v. 2. And the Rod of Aaron was among their Rods. Not one of the twelve as the Jews fancy but besides the twelve Rods for the twelve Tribes as was directed v. 2. and obeyed by them as the foregoing words tell us his Rod was put among them with his Name upon it as their Names were upon their Rods. And therefore the Vulgar translates it having regard to the sence only There were twelve Rods besides the Rod of Aaron Which the LXX intended in their Translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Rod of Aaron in the midst of their Rods. And if it were cut from the very same Tree with theirs the Miracle became the more remarkable Verse 7 Ver. 7. And Moses laid up the Rods before the LORD Who was by them to declare his choice v. 5. In the Tabernacle of Witness In that part of the Tabernacle where the Ark was which had in it the Witness or Testimony which God gave Moses XXV Exod. 21. who alone could go into that place Verse 8 Ver. 8. And it came to pass that on the morrow It is likely God told him he would â—orthwith show whom he had chosen Moses went into the Tabernacle of Witness The most Holy Place where the Rods were laid up by God's order And behold the Rod of Aaron Which had his Name written on it For the House of Levi. Or To the House of Levi i. e. whom God had made Head of the Levites Was budded and brought forth Buds and blossomed Blossoms and yielded Almonds In some places of the Rod I suppose there was an appearance of Buds coming forth in others the Buds were fully thrust out and in others they were opened and shot forth into Blossoms and those Blossoms in other parts knotted and grown into Almonds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as Gregory Nyssen speaks in the Life of Moses p. 185. The greatest Miracle even in the judgment of Unbelievers who now acknowledged that which before they opposed v. 12 13. For that in one Night a dry Stick as some suppose them all to have been should produce Buds and Flowers and Fruit when all the rest which perhaps were cut from the same Tree were as dry as they were before could not but be very amazing and unless they would shut their eyes make them see the distinction which the LORD made between Aaron whose Name that Rod bare and all the rest of the Children of Israel whom the other Rods represented The Heathen did
not think such things incredible as Huetius hath shown in his Quaestiones Alnetanae L. I. cap. 12. n. 24. Ver. 9. And Moses brought out all the Rods from before Verse 9 the LORD unto all the Children of Israel Before whom they were exposed to open view that they might see the difference God had made And they looked and took every Man his Rod. Viewed them and taking them into their Hands examined them and found they were the very same Rods which they had delivered unto Moses with their Names on them without any alteration Ver. 10. And the LORD said unto Moses bring Verse 10 Aaron's Rod again Which either Moses held in his Hand or delivered it to Aaron as he did the rest to the several Princes of the Tribes who showed it to the Children of Israel with the Buds Blossoms and Almonds upon it After which God commanded it to be returned unto him Before the Testimony To be laid up in the place where it was before it was thus changed v. 4 7. To be kept for a Token against the Rebels That it might be produced as a sufficient Conviction of their Impiety if any presumed hereafter to rebel against Aaron's Authority Or rather that it might prevent all Insurrections against it for the future For it remained we find in the most Holy Place for some time as appears both from the Apostle IX Hebr. 4. and from the reason of its being put here that it might be preserved as a Sign or Proof of Aaron's Authority and Suppress all opposition to it But how long it continued we cannot tell for it is not mentioned when the Ark was brought into the Temple of Solomon 1 Kings VIII 9. nor is it certain whether it continued in that verdure wherein it now appeared with the Buds Blossoms and Fruit though it is highly probable it did because it was to be a Testimony that the Honour of the Priesthood should continue to Aaron's Family alone through all Generations There are those who take this Rod which blossomed and was laid up in the most Holy Place to have been the Rod of Moses wherewith he wrought so many Miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea Concerning which the Jews tell very many incredible things as that it came from a Branch of the Tree of Life which an Angel gave to Seth who planted it in the Wilderness where Moses found it grown to a Tree and cut this Rod from it For when they came to Marah and could not drink the Waters because they were bitter God showed them this Tree that with it he might make them sweet Upon which Tree he afterward placed the brazen Serpent by looking on which the People were healed c. Thus the Cabbalists generally tell this Tale but some of them much otherwise who say it was given to Adam and by him to Enoch and so on till it came to Joseph in whose House the Egyptians found it when he died and brought it to Pharaoh from whom Jethro stole it c. with a great deal of such like stuff Which Abarbinel saith is to be understood mystically But all the ground they have for this Fancy of the Rod here laid up being Moses's Rod is from XX. 8 9. where it is said That Moses took the Rod from before the LORD wherewith he brought Water out of the Rock and this Rod is said v. 11. to be Moses his Rod. Dr. Owen upon the Epistle to the Hebrews follows this Conceit and endeavours to find many Mysteries in it But it is evidently false for as there is not the least intimation here that it was the Rod of Moses but quite contrary it is called the Rod of Aaron v. 6. so it had not been a sufficient Argument to convince the Infidelity of the Israelites if Aaron's Rod had not been of the same kind with all the rest For they might have ascribed what came to pass to the singular quality or vertue of that Rod especially if it were Moses his Rod wherewith Wonders used to be wrought and not to a special Hand of God appearing to establish the Authority of Aaron And besides a Rod full of Blossoms and Fruit had been very unfit to be used to smite the Rock withal for which purpose that Rod which seems to have been his Pastoral Staff wherewith he smote the Rock in Horeb was most proper XVII Exod. 5 6. And thou shalt quite take away their Murmurings from me i. e. Silence all their Cavils against Aaron and his Family which the LORD here declares he would no longer bear if they continued in them after this demonstration of his Will and Pleasure For here were a great many miraculous things concurred together to convince them that to oppose Aaron was to oppose God himself The Jews reckon up eight First That Aaron's Rod should bring forth Buds Blossoms and Fruit all in one Night when the other Rods which were of the same nature brought forth nothing And then secondly That the Buds brought forth Leaves for so they interpret those words v. 8. the Rod of Aaron was budded i. e. brought forth Leaves for the next words speaks of its budding which followed after And thirdly That it thrust out Leaves before the Blossoms which is contrary to the Nature of the Almond Tree And next that it put forth Blossoms all the Rod over as they interpret those words bloomed Blossoms And then that a dry Stick as they understand it should produce Fruit and this Fruit Almonds which such Trees they think as that Rod was taken from did not bear And further That it produced ripe Almonds as the Hebrew word Schekedim imports And lastly That Moses showed the People all these at one view the Leaves Buds Blossoms and Fruit in perfection By which multiplicity of Miracles the Dignity of Aaron was so demonstrated that we do not find they at any time hereafter adventured to rise up against him For besides all those Wonders now mentioned it may be that it was not the Season of the Year for Almonds nor so much as for the budding of that Tree which made it the more astonishing But the greatest thing of all was the continuing of this Miracle to future Ages which might well make them afraid to open their Mouths again in Murmurings against Aaron That they die not Be not consumed in a moment as God had more than once formerly threatned XVI 21 45. and now declared if they did not mend their Manners and cease their Murmurings about this matter he would instantly execute Ver. 11. And Moses did so as the LORD commanded so did he Both brought the Rod again to him and laid it up before him and told the Children of Israel the reason of it which occasioned what Verse 11 follows Ver. 12. And the Children of Israel spake unto Moses Verse 12 saying Behold we die we perish c. Moses having told them that he laid up the Rod for this end to be a Witness against them that if
Hammikdash cap. 9. are appointed and none other to lay things in order for Sacrifice I Lev. 5. and to burn the Fat of the Peace-offerings upon the Altar III Lev. 8. His Daughters were uncapable of it and so were all those that descended from them The same may be said of the Levites Ver. 5. And ye shall keep That is the Priests were bound to do what follows The charge of the Sanctuary Whereas they alone Verse 5 were to minister so they were to take care of all the holy Things therein contained the Shew-bread Lamps c. and to cover them when they were to be removed IV. 5 6 c. And the charge of the Altar Of Burnt-offering where they only were to offer Sacrifice and to take care of every thing belonging to it IV. 3 14. That there be no wrath any more upon the Children of Israel That you may by your care and constant Admonitions prevent the Children of Israel from running into such Prophanations much more from such Intrusions into the Sacred Offices as may bring God's most high Displeasure again upon them Verse 6 Ver. 6. And I behold I have taken your Brethren the Levites from among the Children of Israel III. 12 41 45. VIII 6 16 18. The Levites are again called their Brethren that the Priests might not despise them because they served in a lower Condition but treat them with Kindness and Brotherly Affection To you are they given as a gift See III. 9. but especially VIII 19. For the LORD To assist you in your ministry to the LORD To do the Service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation This hath been repeated very often III. 7 8. IV. 3 4 23 c. VIII 19 22 24. and here is mentioned again that the Levites might be possessed with this opinion that they were but Ministers to the Priests and therefore ought not to presume hereafter to aspire as Korah did to the Office of Priesthood Ver. 7. Therefore thou and thy Sons with thee shall keep your Priests Office Preserve it to your selves and suffer no other Person to invade it For every thing of the Altar These words and Verse 7 the following briefly declare what is meant by the Priests Office First To offer Sacrifice at the Altar of Burnt-offering and sprinkle the Blood c. And within the Veil Next to perform all the Service of God within the Sanctuary For in the Hebrew the words are and for within the Veil which is a short form of Speech importing both all that was to be done in the Sanctuary by the Sons of Aaron as burning Incense putting on the Shrew-bread and lighting the Lamps and likewise all that was to be done in the most Holy Place by Aaron himself on the Day of Atonement For the word Paroceth always signifies the inner Veil before the most Holy Place the outward Veil being constantly called Masack And therefore the exactest Translation of the Hebrew words lemibbeth laparoceth is this for within the House i. e. the Holy Place for the Veil i. e. with the Veil in the most Holy Place And ye shall serve In these Places ye alone shall serve and imploy no Body else I have given your Priests Office unto you as a Service of gift He would have the Levites to know that Aaron and his Sons had not arrogantly usurped this Office of ministring alone at both the Altars but he had freely bestowed it upon them and appropriated it unto them And the Stranger Though a Levite if he be not of the Family of Aaron That cometh nigh Presumes to offer Sacrifices at the Altar of Burnt-offering or Incense at the golden Altar Shall be put to death This is repeated by reason of the late Rebellion of Korah and his Complices who aspiring to the Priesthood came to a fearful end See III. 10. Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the LORD spake unto Aaron saying Having told him in the foregoing part of the Chapter particularly in the foregoing verse what should be the Work of him and his Sons he proceeds to tell him what recompence he should have for his Service at the Altar of Burnt-offerings and in the Sanctuary Of which he gives him a large account from this verse to the 20th that he might want no incouragement to Care and Diligence in his Employment Behold I also I have given thee the charge He bids him observe the large Grant which he now makes him as well as the Work he had laid upon him For by giving him the charge of what follows he means bestowing them upon him for his own use with a Charge to let none have them but himself Of my Heave-offerings of all the hallowed things of the Children of Israel See VII Lev. 34. and below v. 11. of this Chapter Vnto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing Because thou art Consecrated by being anointed with the Holy Oyl to the Office of a Priest VIII Lev. 12. And to thy Sons by an Ordinance for ever See VII Lev. 34. Ver. 9. This shall be thine of the most holy things He begins with those things which might be eaten only by the Priests themselves Reserved from the fire From the Altar of Burnt-offering Verse 9 for there were some things called most holy which were their Portion that came not from thence but out of the Sanctuary viz. the twelve Cakes which were taken off the Table and given to Aaron and his Sons every Sabbath Day XXIV Lev. 5 6 7 8 9. Every Oblation of theirs In the Hebrew all their Korbans which is a larger word than Sebach comprehending not only such Sacrifices as were killed at the Altar which are properly called Zebachim but all the Mincha's or Meat-offerings as we translate it which were of things inanimate And the Sacrifices of Birds also whose Blood was never poured out at the Altar And therefore Korban seems here to be a general word comprehending all the Particulars which follow especially if all be translated exactly as the words are in the Hebrew Every Meat-offering of theirs c. In the Hebrew the words are For all their Meat-offerings Which makes the sence plainer if the whole be thus translated All their Korbans or Oblations for all their Meat-offerings and for all their Sin-offerings and for all their Trespass-offerings of all which the Priest had a part Concerning the Meat-offerings or rather the Bread-offerings for so Mincha may most fitly be translated the Sacrifices being Flesh which were not eaten without Bread and Drink that were their Concomitants See II Lev. 3 10. VI. 15 16. Whâ—â—e the Flesh of the Sin-offerings except those 〈…〉 was brought into the most Holy Place is 〈…〉 unto them v. 26. And so are the Trespass 〈…〉 so in the next Chapter VII Lev. 6 7. As for Burnt-offerings they were wholly the LORD's and Peace-offerings were not accounted things most holy but reckoned among the less holy as appears from v. 11. of this present Chapter Which they shall render unto me
am thy part and thine inheritance among the Children of Israel For they were maintained in his House and lived upon his Altar and fed from his Table as it is explained in XIII Josh 14. The Sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance as he said unto them Which is given as the reason why Joshua gave them no Inheritance And see v. 33. of that Chapter where the LORD God of Israel is said to be their Inheritance Who it appears by the foregoing part of this Chapter and other places made such an ample Provision for them that if he had given them any part of the Land of Canaan together with it there had been too great an inequality between them and the rest of the Tribes of Israel For without any share in the Land their Portion was far richer than that of any other Persons whatsoever I have said enough to prove this already but it may not be amiss to set it before the Reader again a little more distinstly As they had yearly the First-fruits of the whole Country which was at least the sixtieth part of the Fruits it produced and the tenth part of the Tithe given to the Levites as it follows below v. 26. and all Free-will-offerings together with the Money which arose out of Persons and Things devoted unto God and all the Firstlings of Cows Sheep and Goats and the Redemption-Money for the Firstlings of such Creatures as were unclean So they had all the Meat-offerings Offerings for Sin and Trespass-offerings together with the Breast and Shoulder of all Peace-offerings and the Skins of all Burnt-offerings and the Loaves made of the first Dough and the Shew-bread and as Josephus and others expound XVIII Deut. 3. a considerable part of every beast that was killed for private use besides the Cities and Land about them which were assigned to the Levites Which if well weighed there will appear a vast difference between the Priests and the rest of the People For the First-fruits alone if they were not less than the sixtieth part of the product of the Country might seem sufficient especially if the Firstlings be added the Priests not being the sixtieth part of the People no nor the hundred part as learned Men have computed See Bonfrerius Ver. 21. And behold Now he gives the Levites Verse 21 notice of the Recompence he would make them for their Service as he had told the Priests what they should have for theirs And Aaron hath the delivery of this Grant made to them from God that they might see he did not mind himself and the Interest of his own Family only I have given the Children of Levi all the tenth in Israel See XXVII Lev. 30. and 2 Chron. XXXI 5 6. where they are distinctly mentioned Aben-Ezra thinks the tenth rather than any other part was assigned because it was a perfect Number Ten being in simple Numbers the highest to which we can arise without repeating the Numbers under it For it is as he speaks the beginning of the second Combination and the end of the first whereupon all Numbers do depend Which our Mr. Mede hath expressed in my judgment far better who looks upon it as God's favourable dealing with men in requiring but the Tenth which is in truth the least part of their Goods according to the first Division For when we proceed beyond Ten we begin to make a new Division as Eleven is ten and one c. But we need not have recourse to such Niceties See upon Genesis XXVIII 22. For an Inheritance Instead of a share in the Land of Canaan which other Tribes had divided among them And a larger Inheritance this was than any other Tribe possessed for this was the smallest Tribe of all as appears by comparing the account which is given of them in the beginning of this Book For all the Males of this Tribe from a Month old and upward were but Two and twenty thousand III. 29. Whereas in the Tribe of Judah alone there were above Threescore and fourteen thousand Men of War I. 26 27. And yet the Levites had a tenth part of the product of the whole Country and the twelve Tribes had only the other nine parts among them Such a care had God of those who were peculiarly devoted to his Service For the Service which they serve c. As a Reward of their Service of which see Chapter IV. Verse 22 Ver. 22. Neither must the Children of Israel henceforth come nigh the Tabernacle of the Congregation Or rather Therefore the Children of Israel must not come nigh so as to perform any of the Offices belonging to the Priests and Levites who were appointed to do every thing belonging to the Service of God there and had their Reward for it also appointed Lest they bear sin and die Be punished with Death which is often threatned to such Presumption Ver. 23. But the Levites shall do the Service of the Verse 23 Tabernacle of the Congregation It was their work and no Bodies else and therefore no other Persons were to meddle with it That is they alone guarded the Tabernacle and afterwards the Temple opened the Gates of it kept out all Strangers i. e. all but Priests and Levites carried the Tabernacle and its Vessels when they were to be removed c. And they shall bear their Iniquity They shall die for it if they permit any one else to come there and do their work See v. 1. It shall be a Statute for ever throughout their Generations that among the Children of Israel they have no Inheritance As all other Persons were excluded from serving in the Tabernacle so they who served there were shut out from having any Inheritance among their Brethren This was made an unalterable Law which provided another separate Maintenance for them by the Tythes of all the Land as here it again follows Ver. 24. But the Tythes of the Children of Israel which Verse 24 they offer as an Heave-offering unto the LORD That the People might not grudge to pay them the Tythes for their Service he represents them as an Heave-offering which they offered to God in Gratitude to him of whom as the Supreme Landlord they held that Land Not that they were heaved up or waved before the LORD but they were of the same Nature with those things that were so offered to him i. e. Holy Things separate to his uses all which are called by this Name of Terumah v. 8. And particularly all the Offerings which God required to be freely brought for the building him a Sanctuary are called by this Name of Terumah or Heave-offering XXV Exod 2. See there I have given to the Levites to inherit The Israelites gave them to God and he gave them to the Levites for their Inheritance who had as much right to them as the other Tribes had to their Land Which was the reason he ordered they should have no Portion of the Land of Canaan with the other
Tribes as it here follows therefore have I said unto them among the Children of Israel shall they have no Inheritance For he had given them the Tythes to inherit But R. Solomon Jarchi observes also that the Levites themselves had no right to them till they had taken out the tenth part from their Tenth and given it to the Priests as is here immediately directed Verse 25 Ver. 25. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying In all the foregoing part of the Chapter v. 1 8 20. the LORD spake unto Aaron though by Moses but here his Order is particularly directed to Moses because that which follows would better come from him than from Aaron Who was employed in acquainting the Levites with the Donation God had made of the Tythes to them v. 21. but it would not have been so proper for him to tell them what was to be given out of the Tythes to himself and to the Priests Verse 26 Ver. 26. Thus speak unto the Levites and say unto them When ye take of the Children of Israel the Tythes which I have given you from them for your Inheritance In these words Moses confirms the report which Aaron had made to them that the Tythes of the Land should be theirs and their Brethren the Children of Israel have no right to them Then shall ye offer up an Heave-offering for the LORD As the Israelites made their grateful Acknowledgments to God by offering their Tythes to him for the use of his Servants the Levites v. 24. so it was but fit that the Levites should be so grateful as to offer to him the Tythe of their Tythes as it here follows for such uses as he should appoint Even a tenth part of the Tythe For the tenth part which God reserved to himself out of the Land which he gave the Children of Israel was a kind of Rent paid to him their Supreme LORD And he assigning this Rent over to the Levites for their Maintenance thought good notwithstanding to reserve a Tythe of this tenth part to himself that thereby he might as it were hold his Possession and keep Seisin as the Lawyers speak of his own Inheritance Ver. 27. And this your Heave-offering shall be reckoned Verse 27 unto you Be accepted by God as the Offerings heaved up to him in the Sanctuary are v. 24. though it be but the hundredth part of the whole Fruit of the Land As though it were the Corn of the Threshing-floor and as the fulness of the Wine-press As if you paid such a Tythe as the Israelites do to you out of all their own Fields and Vineyards That is they were to believe their Offering of this small part to be as acceptable to God as that of all the Tribes of Israel and that they should have the same right to what remained when they had done this as the People had to all the rest of the Fruits of the Earth when they had paid the tenth part to the Levites Ver. 28. Thus you also shall offer an Heave-offering Verse 28 unto the LORD of all your Tythes which ye receive of the Children of Israel He would have them know that he ordered this because he would not have the Levites alone offer nothing to him from whom they received so much but they also should make him a grateful Acknowledgment as well as others And ye shall give thereof the LORD 's Heave-offering It is called so often the LORD 's Heave-offering that they might the more willingly pay it out of a thankful sense of what they owed to him the Donor of all To Aaron the Priest This Tythe is thought by some to have been designed for the High-Priest alone Two great Men in their time were of this Opinion viz. Nicolaus Lyra and the famous Alphonsus Tostatus And another very learned Person of our own Bishop R. Montagu thinks it not altogether improbable that such a Provision as this might be made for the High-Priest and his Family State and Dignity he being a Man of great Power and Might only less than the Kings of Israel and the inferiour Priests having a noble Maintenance without this from the First-fruits and Offerings of the People But there is nothing to support this but the mere Letter of the Text for Josephus expresly says the contrary Lib. VI. Archaeolog cap. 4. and so do the generality of the Jewish Writers and St. Hierom also that all the Priests had their share in this Tenth paid by the Levites Which till it was paid the Levites might not spend to their own use any part of their Tythe And to secure this the Priest was to be with the Levites when they took Tythes as we read X Nehem 37 38 to take care that they set out a tenth part of them for the Priests Whereby the Priest the Son of Aaron I cannot think is meant the High-Priest himself for that had been below his Dignity but some Priest I suppose appointed by him who took care of the Concerns of the whole Order of Priesthood and particularly of the High-Priest's interest who it is probable had a principal share among the rest in this Revenue perhaps a tenth part out of their Tenth But for this I have no Authority though I take it for certain that when he saith this Tenth should be given to Aaron the Priest the meaning is that as it was not for himself alone but all his Sons had a share in it so he himself was not excluded from an honourable portion of it It may seem strange perhaps that there is no particular portion set out for the High-Priest by himself if this be not it But it is to be considered that all the forenamed Provision From v. 8. to v. 20. was made for him in the first place and for the Priests together with him For so the words runs Vnto thee have I given them and to thy Sons v. 8 9 c. And he had this priviledge also that he did not Minister by Lot as the other Priests did in their several Courses but when he pleased and might take to himself what Sacrifices he thought good to offer V. 9 10. as Maimonides tells us in Cele Mikdasch cap. 5. where he speaks concerning the High-Priest's Prerogatives Ver. 29. Out of all your Gifts Not only out of Verse 29 their Tythes but out of all their other Possessions which God gave them their Fields for instance which were in the Suburbs of their Cities Ye shall offer Make a Present to the Priests Every Heave-offering Some portion of every thing God gives you to possess Of the LORD As a thankful acknowledgment of the Divine Bounty to you upon whom he hath bestowed so many good things See v. 28. Of all the best thereof And that not of the refuse but of the best of the Tythe and other things that were given them By which is not to be understood that they were bound to pick out the very best Wheat suppose and separate it from the worse which
The LORD brought us out of Egypt Certain it is that thus the ancient Christians understood such places taking the Angel here spoken of to be the Eternal LOGOS or WORD as St. John calls the Eternal Son of God Whose sence no Man I think hath better explained than our Mr. Thorndike who though he confesses it to be plain by the Scriptures that it was always an Angel that appeared under the Old Testament who is sometimes called by the proper Name of God JEHOVAH yet this is no prejudice to what the Fathers of the Church teach concerning the Appearing of the Eternal WORD Who was that LORD who then assumed some Angelical Nature wherein he might appear to deal with Men for a short time after which he dismissed it when he had done that Business for which he assumed it And hath brought us forth out of Egypt XIII Exod. 22. XIV 19. And behold we are in Kadesh Near to Kadesh for it is not likely they were admitted into the City it self which gave its Name to the adjacent Country A City Or Town for it doth not seem to have been a walled place In the uttermost of thy Borders In the Confines of the King of Edom's Country and belonging it is likely to his Dominion Verse 17 Ver. 17. Let us pass I pray thee through thy Country In our way to the Land of Canaan which God hath promised to give us We will not pass through the Fields or through the Vineyards They engaged not to turn aside as they went along into any private Man's Grounds See XXI 22. Neither will we drink of the Water of the Wells Which any private Person had digged for his own use but only of the Rivers which are common to all Creatures We will go by the King's High-way Keep in the common Rode which is made for all Passengers by the King's allowance We will not turn to the right hand or to the left Out of the Rode but go strait on Vntil we have passed thy Borders Got to the other side of the Country of Edom. Ver. 18. And Edom said unto him This sounds Verse 18 as if the whole Country had joyned in the following Answer Thou shalt not pass by me Go through our Country v. 20. Lest I come out against thee with the Sword The King bids them not attempt it for he would oppose their passage with all his Forces He was afraid no doubt lest they should seize his Country or spoil it and therefore would not trust their Declarations which they made to the contrary Ver. 19. And the Children of Israel Who were Verse 19 sent upon this Message v. 14. Or else some new Ambassadors whom Moses dispatched with new Intreaties after he understood his Denial Said unto him Gave him new Assurances of their honest Intentions We will go by the High-way Believe us we will not step out of the common Rode And if I and my Cattle drink of thy Water Out of the Wells before-mentioned v. 17. which private Men had digged and therefore had a Propriety in them Then I will pay for it For Water was commonly sold in those dry Countries where it was very scarce I will only without doing any thing else The Hebrew words ein dahar which we translate without doing any thing else literally signifies in our Language it is no word i. e. not mere fair Promises but we will perform what we say Go through on my feet Go through as fast as we can travel on foot Verse 20 Ver. 20. And he said thou shalt not go through He persisted in his Resolution and would not rely on their most solemn Asseverations Yet he consented as appears by II Deut. 28 29. to furnish them with necessary Provisions both of Meat and Drink for their Money And Edom came out against him with much People and with a strong hand For fear they should press into his Country he raised a great and powerful Army to oppose them and showed himself ready to fight them if they moved that way Verse 21 Ver. 21. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his Border Which Grotius censures in his second Book de Jure Belli Pacis cap. 2. sect 13. as contrary to the Law of Nations by which the High-ways as well as the Sea and the Rivers of all Countries ought to be free for all that have a mind to pass through them upon just occasions And he gives many Examples of such permission out of Heathen Story and therefore looks upon the denial of this as a just ground of War with Sihon and Og mentioned in the next Chapter where I shall consider it as it might have been with Edom and Moab had not God prohibited it Nor doth the fear he thinks which the Edomites it is likely had of letting such a vast number of People pass through their Country alter the case for no Man's fear is to take away another Man 's right And there might have been Means contrived to remove this fear by letting them pass through in small Companies at a time or unarmed He had better have said in my opinion by giving Hostages on both sides for the performance of Conditions For it might have put the Israelites in as great fear to have gone through in small Parties or if they should have disarmed themselves But when all is said it seems not clear that all Men have such a right as that great Man thinks they may claim For no Man can challenge a passage through a private Man's Ground without his leave and every Prince hath the same dominion in all his Territories that a private Man hath in his Land There are many Examples also as Gronovius hath observed of Countries which have suffered extreamly by granting this Liberty which show that Princes have reason to deny it for their Peoples Security and the Examples of those who have granted it are Examples of Fact rather than of Right and of such as were not in a Condition to refuse what was demanded See Selden's Mare Clausum Lib. I. cap. 20. Wherefore Israel turned away from him By God's command who ordered them also to buy what they wanted of the Edomites II Deut. 5 6. For they stayed some time in Kadesh by their consent before they removed that they might furnish themselves as they offered with Necessaries XI Judges 17. Ver. 22. And the Children of Israel even the whole Verse 22 Congregation For they might not divide into several Bodies lying in several places but all march together when the Cloud moved in the order God appointed X. 13 14 c. Journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. Another place upon the edge of the Edomites Country XXXIII 37. where they pitched in a part of that Mountain which was called Mosera X Deut. 6. Whether Mount Hor gave the Name of Hori to him who was the Ancestor of Seir and the first Planter of the Country which was afterward conquered by Esau XXXVI Gen. 20 30. II
them out of the Land I hope by the conjunction of thy Curses with my Sword I may be able to destroy them or at least to drive them out of this Country For I wot that him whom thou blessest is blessed and he whom thou cursest is cursed The ancient Prophets had such power with God to obtain great Blessings from him for others as appears by the story of Abraham and Abimelech XX Gen. 10. and of Jacob who blessed Pharaoh XLVII Gen. 7. and afterward all his own Sons And no doubt their Imprecations were as powerful when there was a just cause for them according to what we read 2 Kings II. 24. And it is likely while Balaam who was a Prophet as appears by what follows and is so called by St. Peter continued a good Man he blessed and cursed no other way but by Prayer to God and by Imprecations in his Name Which was imitated by other great Men particularly by King Cambyses in his Speech to the Persians recorded by Herodotus in Thalia cap. 65. where he saith If you do what I require then let your Land bring forth plentifully and your Wives and your Flocks be fruitful and your selves enjoy your liberty but if you do not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I imprecate the quite contrary things to these to fall upon you But when Balaam degenerated into a false Prophet and became a Diviner then he used Spells and Inchantments as is plain by this History and such Rites and Ceremonies as were the Invention of wicked Spirits which Pharaoh's Magicians the Jews fancy made use of to stop the Israelites at the Red Sea See XIV Exod. 2. Ver. 7. And the Elders of Moab and the Elders of Verse 7 Midian I take these two Nations to have been ancient Confederates but the Jewish Tradition is that they had been always at Enmity and now reconciled by a common Danger Just as two Mastiffs so they explain it who are continually fighting when they see the Wolf set upon one of them joyn together for their Defence because if he devour the one the other will not long survive him Departed with the rewards of divination in their hand It was the Custom among God's People when they came to consult with a Prophet to bring him a Present as appears from 1 Sam. IX 7 8. And indeed from ancient time Men were not wont to approach great Persons without one See XLIII Gen. 11 25 26. And they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak Delivered their Message having first as the manner was made him the Present Ver. 8. And he said unto them Lodge with me this Verse 8 night That was the time it seems wherein he was wont to receive Answers to his Enquiries either in a Dream or by Apparitions or some other way There are those who think he now began to betray the naughtiness of his heart in taking time to advise about this Matter which if he had been a faithful Servant of God he would instantly have rejected with Disdain And it is likely enough by what follows that he was as desirous of their Money as they were of his Imprecations And I will bring you word again as the LORD shall speak unto me You shall have my Answer according to the Directions which the LORD shall give me By this I take it to be evident that he was not a Stranger to the true God with whose Name it is certain he was acquainted and it is probable had received Revelations from him till he became a covetous mercenary Prophet and addicted himself to Superstitious Rites and Ceremonies Making use of Teraphim perhaps which had been of ancient practice in his Country and worshipping God perhaps by other Images See XXXI Gen. 19 24 30 49. where it is evident that Laban had still communication with the LORD though he used Teraphim and calls them his Gods Which perhaps put that idle conceit into the Head of some of the Jews that it was one and the same Person who is there called Laban and here Balaam Who falling as I said unto Idolatrous Practices was forsaken by God and delivered up to the impostures of Evil Spirits though he still continued to enquire of the LORD Who was pleased at this time to make his Mind known to him for the Preservation of his People Israel And the Princes of Moab abode with Balaam As did those of Midian also who are mentioned in the foregoing verse Though some of the Jews have a fancy that the Elders of Midian went away which they give as the reason that they are not here mentioned as soon as they heard Balaam say he would address himself for Advice unto the LORD who they knew would be favourable to Israel And on the other side some Christians have been of Opinion that he addressed himself to the LORD only to try if he could draw him by his Charms to take part with the Moabites Just as the Romans when they laid Siege to a City endeavoured by all means they could invent to perswade the Tutelar Gods of that place to forsake it and come over to their side Which Rite is described by Macrobius Ver. 9. And God came unto Balaam As he is said Verse 9 to have done unto Abimelech in a Dream XX Gen. 3. Where I observed that Maimonides makes a distinction between God's coming to a Person and his speaking to him But that cannot be made use of here for God did both come and speak to Balaam as appears from v. 32 35. where we read the Angel of the LORD spake to him And here it will be fit to note That all Nations of whom we have any knowledge have been possessed with this Opinion that God was wont to appear frequently unto Men especially cum recentes à Deo essent as Seneca speaks in Epist. XC when they were newly come out of his hand and that he also was pleased to reveal his Mind and Will unto them by some means or other particularly by his Angels whom he sent on Messages to them as long as there was any Goodness left among them This is most admirably expressed by Catullus Praesentes namque ante domos invisere castas Saepius sese mortali ostendere caetu Coelicolae nondum spreta pietate solebant See Huetius in his Quaestiones Alnetanae Lib. II. cap. 12. n. 1 2. And indeed no account can be given how it came into the Head of Homer and other Poets to bring in the Gods appearing so oft as they do upon every occasion if God had not been wont in ancient time to manifest himself not only to the Israelites but to other Nations also especially before the distinction of this People from them So he did to Abimelech Laban c. as well as to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. For as Dr. Jackson hath well observed in his first Book upon the Creed chap. 11. if they had never heard nor read of any such thing all the Wits in the
is to whom these Sacrifices were offered I suppose each of them had their several Intentions Balak supplicating Baal by them and Balaam making his Prayer to the LORD though with such Superstitious Ceremonies it is likely as were used by the Worshippers of Baal in one of whose High-places these Sacrifices were offered But it may also be supposed that Balaam telling Balak he could not effect any thing without the LORD the God of Israel perswaded him to joyn with him at present in his Worship that they might prevail with him to withdraw his presence from the Israelites For there is no reason to think that Balaam would go to enquire of the LORD when he had Sacrificed to other Gods And it appears evidently from v. 4. that he pretended to Sacrifice unto God and would not have presumed surely to tell him so if he meant otherwise Verse 3 Ver. 3. And Balaam said unto Balak When he had laid the pieces upon the Altars Stand by the Burnt-offering Attend thy Sacrifice and pray to God to accept it By this it appears that these Sacrifices were of a different Nature from those mentioned in XXII 40. being Burnt-offerings which were wholly consumed And one of them seems to have been offered particularly for Balak which he calls his Burnt-offering as the rest were for the Princes of Moab who it is likely stood by them representing all the People And here it is to be observed that in old time before the Law of Moses was given Burnt-offerings served for all purposes in Divine Worship whether they gave thanks for Blessings or deprecated evil things or prayed for good Thus Noah when he returned Thanks to God for his preservation in the Ark offered Burnt-offerings VIII Gen. 20. And when Job beseeched God to pardon his Sons I. 5. and his Friends XLII 8. he offered Sacrifices of this sort and so did Balak and Balaam here use them to procure Blessings upon Moab and a Curse upon Israel And I will go By my self into some private place to consult with God and to exercise his Inchantments as may be gathered from XXIV 1. whereby he thought he might prevail for such a power as he desired of Cursing the People of Israel Peradventure the LORD will come to meet me He durst not be confident because he had lately opposed his proceeding XXII 31. in a frightful manner And whatsoever he sheweth me Whatsoever he reveals to me either by word or otherwise I will tell thee Deal faithfully with thee and conceal nothing from thee And he went to an High-place Or rather into a Valley for he was now in an High-place when he Sacrificed and did not go into another High-place but down into the Plain as the Hebrew word properly signifies where he might in some solitary Retirement address himself to God and expect his Presence with him So we translate it in the Margin he went solitary Therefore if we retain the other translation it must be understood of some part of the High-place where he might be solitary viz. into the Grove which High-places seldom wanted In these High-places they built their Temples and had their Oracles as we learn from Justin Lib. XXIV cap. 6. where he saith the Temple of Apollo positum est in monte Parnasso c. was seated upon the Mountain Parnassus and from Pausanias who speaking of the Cave of Trophonius in Boeotia saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Oracle is in a Grove upon a Mountain The like might be observed of other Oracles which may countenance this Conjecture that some such pretended Oracle might be in this High-place where Balaam went for direction from God Ver. 4. And God met Balaam Appeared unto Verse 4 him as he had been wont to do in other places XXII 9 20. where the word Elohim is constantly used as it is here and every where else till we come to verse 16. Which strengthens the opinion that the LORD hitherto spake to him only by an Angel And he said unto him i. e. Balaam said unto God when he saw him appear I have prepared seven Altars and have offered upon every Altar a Bullock and a Ram. This shows he sacrificed unto God and not unto Baal and he represents it to God that he might be moved thereby to condescend to his desire For Sacrificing was a form of Supplication as we find in other places particularly 1 Sam. XIII 12. and that which he begged of God was in all likelyhood that he would give him power to Curse Israel Ver. 5. And he put a word into Balaam's mouth Told him what he should say And therefore saith Maimonides he spake by the Spirit of God which he makes account was the second degree of Prophecy Whence that Description Balaam gives of himself he hath said who heard the words of God P. II. More Nevochim c. 45. And said Return unto Balak and thus shalt thou speak He commanded him to speak unto Balak at his return to him as he was instructed and no otherwise The words he bad him speak are those that we read below v. 7 8 c. Verse 6 Ver. 6. And he returned unto him and lo he stood by his Burnt-sacrifice He found him in the very same posture wherein he left him v. 3. Which shows Balaam did not go far nor stay long before he returned and that Balak was earnest in his Supplications He and all the Princes of Moab Who were concerned in the good Success of this Negotiation Verse 7 Ver. 7. And he took up An Hebrew phrase for speaking aloud His Parable Or Prophetical Speech which was sometimes delivered in Parables properly so called that is not in plain Words but in apt Figures and Resemblances concerning which see Maimonides P. II. cap. 43. But here the word Parable signifies as it doth in the Book of Job a weighty Speech expressed in sublime and majestick words XXVII Job 1. XXIX 1. And said Balak the King of Moab hath brought me from Aram. See XXII 5. From the Mountains of the East The Country of Mesopotamia lay Eastward of Moab and in that part of it towards Arabia was stony and mountainous See Bochartus in his Phaleg Lib. II. cap. 6. Saying Come curse me Jacob and come defie Israel Two different Expressions for the same thing only the latter word which we translate defie imports something of fury because he would have had him curse them in such a Prophetick Rage as should have the most direful Effects upon them Ver. 8. How shall I curse him whom God hath not Verse 8 cursed c. As much as if he had said Balak desires of me that which is impossible In the Hierusalem Targum this verse is thus paraphrased How shall I curse the House of Jacob when the WORD of the LORD hath blessed them or how shall I diminish the Family of Israel when the Word of the LORD hath multiplied them Ver. 9. For from the top of the Rocks Upon which Verse 9 he then stood when
LORD would come to meet him or no v. 3. but now he confidently expects it though he endeavoured it appears from XXIV 1. still to compass his bad ends by his Enchantments Verse 16 Ver. 16. And the LORD met Balaam This is never said before but only that God met him by his Angel as the Jews interpret it which I take to be much short of what is here said that the LORD himself now met him That is there was a glorious Appearance of the SCHECHINAH to him though not in such lustre I suppose as when it appeared to Moses which so amazed him that after this he never went so much as to enquire what he should say or do For though he doubted perhaps of what the Angel said yet now he was fully assured the Israelites must be blessed And he put a word in his mouth Instructed him what he should say to Balak And said go again unto Balak and say thus Viz. All that we read v. 18 19 20 c. which is a great deal more than he had said before Verse 17 Ver. 17. And when he came to him behold he stood by his Burnt-offering and the Princes of Moab with him See v. 6. And Balak said unto him what hath the LORD spoken He was more solicitous to know his doom than he was before when he askt no such question and plainly demonstrated that he believed Balaam went to enquire of the LORD Ver. 18. And he took up his Parable See v. 7. And said rise up Balak and hear If this word Verse 18 rise up hath respect to the outward Reverence which was wont to be shown to all Messages brought from God which was expressed by rising up to receive them as appears from the story of another King of Moab III Judges 20. then after the Sacrifice was ended at which they stood Balak sat down until Balaam could be ready to acquaint him with the Mind of God But it may have respect only to the Mind and signifie stir up thy self to attend awaken thy thoughts and listen to what I say And hearken unto me thou Son of Zippor The same thing repeated with more earnestness For to give ear as the word is in the Hebrew imports something more than merely to hear viz. diligent and earnest attention of Mind to what is spoken Ver. 19. God is not a man that he should lie Do Verse 19 not imagine that God is like to one of us He can by no Sacrifices or Prayers or other Means be induced to break his word And therefore it is in vain for me any longer to importune him to curse Israel when he hath said he will bless them Neither the Son of Man An usual variation of the Expression of the same thing VIII Psal 4. That he should repent Alter his Mind when he hath absolutely resolved any thing Balak seems to have fancied that by the change of the place where he sacrificed v. 13. he might procure a change of the Divine Counsels Hath he said and shall he not do it What should hinder for he wants no power to execute his Will and he cannot be moved to revoke his Word by better Information nor can any thing happen which he did not foresee to make him do otherwise than he intended Or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good This is the same with the former after the Prophetical manner of speaking Omnia perjuga repetendo as Conradus â—ellicanus glosses ad exagerationem Only the foregoing words may be thought to refer to his Threatnings and these to his Promises Verse 20 Ver. 20. Behold I have received commandment to bless and he hath blessed and I cannot reverse it In these words he applies the general Proposition in the foregoing verse to his particular Case God hath ordered me to pronounce a Blessing upon Israel for he himself hath blessed them and I can neither reverse that Blessing nor go against his Order Verse 21 Ver. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel Both the word aven which we translate iniquity and the word amal which we translate perverseness signifie frequently in Scripture the highest wickedness viz. Idolatry And so Onkelos here understood it when he thus paraphrased these words I see that there are none who worship Idols in the House of Jacob nor any Servants of Trouble and Vanity so they called Idols in Israel And accordingly the Vulgar Latin expresly translates this verse thus There is no Idol in Jacob nor is there any Image seen in Israel Which seemed so clear a truth to Johannes Forsterus a famous Professor of the Hebrew Tongue in the beginning of the Reformation that in his Explication of both these words in his Lexicon he saith From this place all the Prophets borrowed these Phrases and translated them to express Impiety i. e. Idolatrous Worship devised according to Mens own humours and desires and by the Instinct of the Devil For Moses was the Fountain of all the Prophets Thus he writes upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he repeats it again upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that this is the reason Balaam gives why God had blessed and he could not curse them because they were free from Idolatry unto which unless they could be seduced there was no hope that God would deliver them unto the power of their Enemies For which reason Balaam afterwards counselled this Prince to entice them to this Sin by beautiful Women as the only way to move God to be angry with them There are indeed a great many that take these words in the common sence for all manner of Sin which God is said not to see in this People i. e. so as to mark it out for Punishment For though they were many ways great Offenders yet he had such an indulgent Kindness to them that he would not correct them for every Sin which they committed But this returns to the former Exposition that they were safe as long as they kept themselves from the great Transgression that is Idolatry The LORD his God is with him They worshipping God alone were therefore under his special Care and Protection Onkelos renders it the WORD of the LORD his God is his help And so the Hiâ—rosol Targum And the shout of a King is among them God being their King he prophesies that they should always triumph over their Enemies For he alludes to the Shouts which are made when a King or great Captain returns victorious with the Spoils of those he hath vanquished So the meaning of the whole verse is this in brief Since they do not worship Idols but cleave to the LORD their God and serve him alone he is present with them not only to preserve them from their Enemies but to give them glorious Victories over them Verse 22 Ver. 22. God brought them out of Egypt That they might be his Worshippers and Servants which if they continue he will not
Verse 2 Moab Called the People Invited them to a Feast For the ordinary Charms unto Idolatry were good Victuals and bad Women Vnto the Sacrifices of their Gods To eat of the Sacrifices which had been offered to their Gods particularly to Baal-Peor These Feasts upon their Sacrifices were very magnificent among the Heathen being accompanied with Musick and Dancing and sometimes pompous Processions which inticed youthful Minds to partake of them Here the Israelites casting their Eyes upon the Daughters of Moab which doubtless on this occasion appeared in the best Dress and richest Ornaments were smitten with their Beauty and courted their Enjoyment Who would not yield to this Motion but upon condition that they would first worship their Gods whereupon pulling a little Image of Peor out of their Bosom they presented it to the Israelites to kiss it and desired them to eat of the Sacrifices that had been offered to him Thus the Jewish Doctors tell the story And indeed it hath been observed by the Writers of the Church that Women have been the most dangerous Seducers of Men from the true Religion being from the beginning the Spreaders of the old Heresies For Simon Magus advanced his Heresie Helenae meretricis adjutus auxilio being assisted by the help of the Harlot Helena Nicolaus of Antioch also choros duxit foemineos The famous Marcion sent before him some Roman Ladies to prepare his way Apelles Montanus Arius Donatus did all take the same course as St. Hierom shows in his Book adversus Pelagianos And the People did eat Which was an act of Idolatry as to eat of the LORD's Sacrifices was an Act of Divine Worship whereby they owned themselves the Servants of the Gods of Moab See XXXIV Exod. 15. And bowed down to their Gods This was still a more plain act of idolatrous Worship expresly forbidden by God in the second Commandment Verse 3 Ver. 3. And Israel was joyned unto Baal-Peor This seems to signifie that they were devoted to the Service of this Idol in great affection with which they performed the forenamed actions The Jews commonly take this Baal-Peor to have been no better than a Priapus and the worship of him to have consisted in such obscene Practices or Postures at least as are not fit to be named Particularly their great Commentary upon Numbers saith That the Israelites being unwilling to enjoy their Women upon those terms they told them they needed only uncover their Nakedness before Baal-Peor which was all the Worship required of them unto which they easily submitted This Maimonides himself relates for a truth that his Worship consisted in revealing their Secret Parts before him More Nevochim P. III. cap. 45. But Solomon Jarchi goes further making this Worship to consist in Actions as ridiculous as they were beastly All which seems to me very unlikely and so it doth to several Men of great Judgment particularly Mr. Selden who thinks with great probability that Peor as I observed before XXIII 28. being the name of a Mountain in the Country of Moab the Temple of Baal stood upon it by whom some understand Saturn others the Sun which is most likely and thence he was called Baal-Beor because there he was especially worshipped as Jupiter was called Olympius because he was worshipped in a famous Temple which stood on the Mountain Olympus And every one knows that anciently they chose the highest Mountains before all other places for the Divine Service insomuch that at Jerusalem the Temple was set upon the Hill of Sion which the Psalmist saith God preferred before all other places LXXVIII Psal 68. Or Peor perhaps was the name of some great Prince as the same Mr. Selden conjectures translated into the number of the Gods for the Psalmist saith CVI Psal 28. that when they worshipped Baal-Peor they are the Sacrifices of the dead Which seems to signifie that in him they worshipped some dead Man who perhaps was the first Institutor of this Worship whatsoever it was Another great Man of our own Nation hath said much to strengthen this Opinion having shown at large that the ancient Heathens were wont to Deify the Souls of Men and Canonize them after Death and these we called Baalim Being accounted an inferiour sort of Deities who they fancied were Ministers for them to their Caelestial Gods See Mr. Mede Book III. p. 724 c. Yet it must be acknowledged that there are others of great note who take all for truth which the Jewish Writers report concerning the filthy Worship of Baal-Peor and imagine that Fornication was a part of it as in future times it was both among the Greeks and Romans in the Worship of some of their Gods For what the Jews found then practised they fancied was done in these early days But it is observable that the more ancient the Books of the Jews are which speak of this matter the less they say of the impurities in the Service of Baal-Peor For Example the Hierusalem Talmud hath none of that leud stuff in it which Solomon Jarchi upon this place took out of the Babylonian which was composed long after the former And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel As appeared immediately by the severe punishment he inflicted on them both for their Idolatry and for their Fornication Verse 4 Ver. 4. And the LORD said unto Moses take all the Heads of the People and hang them up The plain meaning seems to be that he should take i. e. cause to be apprehended the Heads of the People i. e. the Rulers of Thousands and Hundreds and other principal Persons in their Tribes who had been guilty of the foul Idolatry before-mentioned and by hanging them up put a stop to the Peoples lewdness when they saw these great Men made Publick Examples of God's Displeasure For it is very likely more of the Princes of the People were guilty besides Zimri especially if it be true which the Samaritan Chronicle affirms that the Daughters of the chief Men of Moab were sent finely dressed to allure the Israelites and one of the King's Daughters among the rest But though the LXX and the Vulgar and Symmachus thus understand it that he commanded the Heads of the People to be hanged up yet a great many other ancient Translators and many famous Doctors take the word Otham them whom he commanded to be hanged up not to refer to the Heads of the People but to such as had joyned themselves to Baal-Peor and they interpret the foregoing words as if he had bid him take unto him i. e. to his assistance the Heads of the People as they think he did as is related in the next verse The Judges indeed there mentioned seem to me to be distinct from the Heads of the People and Moses did not take them to his Assistance but commanded them to do their duty Yet it must be acknowledged that there is a great current of Interprepreters which runs the other way as if Moses was commanded to
so constant was God to his Promise that he preserved his Line in a continued Succession of twelve Persons from Phineas to Azariah who executed the Priest's Office in the Temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem as we read 1 Chron. VI. v. 4. to the 10th From which time to the Captivity of Babylon there were nine more as we read there in the following verses And after the end of the Captivity unto the time of Antiochus Eupator the Jews reckon fifteen more the last of which Onias was killed by Lysias And after him there were eight of the Family of the Asmonaei the last of which Aristobulus was killed by Herod who after that made whom he pleased Because he was jealous for his God God who searches the hearts saw that this motion proceeded not from any private Passion but out of pure Love and fervent Affection to him and from Indignation to see his Divine Majesty so affronted For Zeal is a mixed Affection of Love and Anger And made an Atonement for the Children of Israel Procured a Pardon for all his Brethren 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Philo expresses it by his uncommanded and spontaneous diligence to vindicate God's Honour flowing from his sincere Devotion to God's Service Verse 14 Ver. 14. Now the name of the Israelite that was slain even that was slain with the Midianitish Woman God would have his Name stand upon record partly to make it infamous and partly to do honour to Phineas who durst venture to set upon a Man who had so great an interest in his Tribe as is mentioned in the next words Zimri the Son of Salu a Prince Not the chief of the whole Tribe but of a great Family in that Tribe Of a House among the Simeonites In the Hebrew the words are of a House of a Father For the Tribes were divided into Families and these into Houses every one of which had a Head or Chief See the first Chapter of this Book v. 2. and Zimri was one of those principal Persons though not Prince of all the Simeonites Verse 15 Ver. 15. And the name of the Midianitish Woman that was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur This is set down also to show how little Phineas feared the great Men either in Israel or elsewhere For Zur is reckoned afterwards as one of the Kings of Midian XXXI 8. or Princes XIII Josh 21. He was Head over a People and of a chief House in Midian The Hebrew word Vmmoth which we translate People signifies Nations So that if we translate these words exactly they sound thus He was Head of Nations of a House of a Father in Midian that is Chief of divers Families who all sprung from the same Father or Original in that Country Ver. 16. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying Verse 16 Some time after this though not long as appears from XXXI 1 2. but a little before Moses his death Ver. 17. Vex the Midianites Among whom this Verse 17 pernitious Contrivance was hatched For Balak being so incensed against Balaam that he bid him be gone in all haste out of his Country XXIV 11. Balaam would not stay to propound unto him this mischievous Advice which was in his Head but went to the Midianites and there discovered it Which was the same thing he knew as if he had acquainted Balak with it there being a great Friendship between the two Nations XXII 4. It is likely also that the Midianites were the first that advised Balaam should be sent for which made their Guilt the greater but the Moabites did not escape though for Lot's sake perhaps II Deut. 9. their Punishment was deferred till future times as Balaam prophesied XXIV 17. And they were also excluded by a Law made immediately after this from the Society of the Israelites for this very Fact XXIII Deut. 3 4. And smite them With the Sword as we find they did Chapt. XXXI Ver. 18. For they vex you with their wiles Have Verse 18 sorely distressed you by their subtil Devices Wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor Drawn you in to commit foul Idolatry Here Peor which was a Mountain in Moab where Baal had a Temple as I observed XXIII 28. is used for the Idol it self which was there worshipped being a contraction of Baal-Peor And so it is XXXI 18. XXII Josh 17. And in the matter of Cozbi And into lewd filthiness with Idolatrous Women The Daughter of a Prince of Midian By whose consent no doubt she went upon this wicked design that by her noble Garb and Attendance she might the more powerfully intice the great Men of Israel to Idolatry Their Sister Whom the whole Family were content to prostitute that they might compass the destruction of the Israelites But by Sister may be meant one of the same Country or Nation the same kind of Language being used among them that was among the Jews who called one another Brethren and Sisters being descended from the same stock as Christians did all those that were of their Religion Which was slain in the day of the Plague When so many Thousands fell by the Pestilence For Peor's sake For worshipping Baal-Peor into which they were inveigled by the Women who invited them to a Feast and there by their Charms excited another fleshly Appetite in them which they would not let them satisfie unless they would both eat of their Sacrifices and worship their Idol And perhaps they told them it was not lawful for them to consent to their desire unless they would be of their Religion CHAP. XXVI Chapter XXVI Ver. 1. AND it came to pass after the Plague Mentioned Verse 1 in the foregoing Chapter v. 9 17. Though some fancy it refers unto all the Plagues that had swept away all the former Generation except two Persons It is likely this may be done in the eighth Month of the fortieth Year after they came out of Egypt The LORD spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest saying As God had formerly joyned Aaron with Moses I Numb 1 17. II. 1. IV. 1 c. So now Aaron being dead he joyns his Son Eleazar with him to show that he succeeded not only in his Place and Office but also in his Authority Ver. 2. Take the Sum of all the Congregation of the Verse 2 Children of Israel They had been twice numbred before this Once before the building of the Tabernanacle in the first year after they came out of Egypt when they paid every Man half a Shekel towards it XXX Exod. 11 13. XXXVIII 25. And again when they were to be encamped in the second month of the second year I Numb 1 2 c. And now all those Men who had been then numbred thirty eight years ago being dead as appears from v. 64. of this Chapter God commands them to be numbred a third time Partly that he might demonstrate his faithfulness to his word in multiplying them vastly notwithstanding all their
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
and our Learned Dr. Lightfoot in his Temple Service chap. 7. sect 3. Ver. 3. And thou shalt say unto them this is the offering Verse 3 made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD That Offering which he peculiarly speaks of is the daily Sacrifice which was appointed long ago before the Tabernacle was set up XXIX Exod. 38 39. See my Notes there And add this that God's promise to meet them there v. 42 43. and afterward to dwell among them v. 45. seems to depend upon this constant Service which he expected should be paid to him which if neglected he withdrew himself from them Two Lambs of the first year day by day continually This is expresly required in XXIX Exod. 38. Only here it is added without spot or perfect in its kind which was required in all Sacrifices particularly in the first Lamb which they offered when they came out of Egypt XII Exod 5. See there Ver. 4. The one Lamb shalt thou offer in the Morning and the other Lamb shalt thou offer at Even The very words in XXIX Exod. 39. Verse 4 Ver. 5. A tenth part of an Ephah of Flour for a Verse 5 Meat-offering mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten Oyl This also is there explained XXIX Exod. 40. Verse 6 Ver. 6. It is a continual Burnt-offering To be continued throughout all your Generations every day as it is expressed XXIX Exod. 42. For it was in the nature of a daily Prayer to God that he would graciously continue his Mercy unto Israel as Abarbinel observes and increase their Corn Wine and Oyl which they acknowledged hereby they received from him Which was ordained in Mount Sinai There Moses received both this Law and all the rest which are mentioned in the Book of Exodus concerning the Service of God and the place where it was to be performed and his Ministers c. And this sufficiently shows that he speaks here to those who were so young at the first Institution of these Laws that they gave the less heed to them or had forgotten them And there are those who think that for Eight and thirty years they had difused them which they gather from XII Deut. 8. But I do not take it to be likely that Sacrifices were wholly omitted during that space though perhaps not so regularly performed as when they came to Canaan For to suppose that is to suppose that the Fire from Heaven either went out or burnt continually to no purpose and that the Divine Majesty had no entertainment set upon his Table and consequently did not keep House and dwell among them all that time In short that there was no Worship of God at the Tabernacle All these Arguments may convince any Man there were offered at least the daily Sacrifice Morning and Even and those on the Sabbath For a sweet savour a Sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD See XXIX Exod. 41. Ver. 7. And the Drink-offering thereof shall be the fourth Verse 7 part of a hin for the one Lamb. So it was ordained also in Mount Sinai as appears from the same XXIX Exod. 40. And in this very Book there is a general Rule given to this new Generation that this should be the least quantity of Wine which should be offered with a Burnt-offering or Peace-offering See XV Numb 5. Which was a thing so constantly practised that the Heathen never sacrificed but they poured Wine upon the Flesh as it flamed upon the Altar For though Water was sometimes poured upon the Sacrifices yet Nonnus saith Lib. IV. Dionysiac it was when Men knew not the use of Wine for after that was found out they never sacrificed without it See Fort. Scacchus Myrother 2. cap. 42. In the holy place Upon the Altar of Burnt offerings which stood in the holy place near to the door of the Tabernacle XXIX Exod. 42. Shalt thou cause the strong Wine to be poured out unto the LORD for a Drink-offering The Hebrew word Schecar commonly signifies any sort of strong Drink but here the noblest and most generous Wine for it was not lawful to use any other Liquor in their Sacrifices The Heathens had this Reverence to their Gods that they alway offered to them the most excellent Wine they had Which appears by those words we meet withal so often in Homer both in his Iliads and Odysses of Mens pouring out their Sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 black Wine or of the deepest Colour red as Blood which was the richest of all other And Herodian speaking of the vast profuseness of Haliogabalus who offered Hecatombs of Oxen every Morning with great multitudes of Sheep upon which he heaped all manner of Spices adds this also Lib. V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. pouring out many flaggons of the oldest and most excellent Wine on the Altars So that Rivers of Wine and Blood ran mixed together Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the other Lamb shalt thou offer at Even c. All the foregoing verses relate to the Morning Sacrifice and this only briefly prescribes that the other Lamb should be offered in the same manner at Even with the very same Meat-offering and Drink-offering And as no Sacrifice was to precede the Morning Burnt-offering but it was to be offered first so this at Even was to conclude all the Sacrifices of the Day and none to be offered after it A Sacrifice made by fire a sweet savour unto the LORD As acceptable to him as the Morning Sacrifice Verse 9 Ver. 9. And on the Sabbath day two Lambs of the first year without spot He doth not mean that whereas every Morning and Evening they offered one Lamb on the Sabbath day they should offer two but that there should be two Lambs offered on the Sabbath over and above the daily Offering as appears from verse 10. Whether one of them was to be offered in the Morning and the other added at the Evening Sacrifice it is not said but it is most probable the Sacrifices on the Sabbath were so ordered For the Jews say that at the time of this additional Sacrifice in the Morning of the Sabbath they sang at the Temple the Song of Moses Deut. XXXII dividing it into six parts and singing one part every Sabbath so that in six Weeks they had finished it and then began again And at the Evening Sacrifice they sang that Song of his Exod. XV. at which times the Priest sounded the Trumpets three times more than they did at the ordinary Songs And two tenth deals of flour for a Meat-offering mingled with Oyl and the Drink-offering thereof As the Burnt-offerings were double on this day so a double quantity of Flour is ordered for the Meat-offering that attended the Burnt-offering for only a tenth part of an Ephah v. 5. was offered on other days and consequently there was to be as much more Oyl and Wine than daily And here it may be sit to note that as soon as the Drink-offering was poured out
then the Song before-mentioned began with the Trumpets and other Instruments of Musick but not till then For the Burnt-offering was not perfect till the Drink-offering which was to accompany it was offered whereby it was compleated See Dr. Light-foot in his Temple Service cap. 7. sect 2. Ver. 10. This is the Burnt-offering of every Sabbath Verse 10 besides the continual Burnt-offering and his Drink-offering The daily Sacrifice was not to be omitted on the Sabbath but this was to be added to it and thence by the Jews called Musaph Of which sort there were seven more which were to be added to the Sacrifice of the day viz. that in the New Moon v. 11. at the Passover v. 19. and the Feast of Pentecost v. 26. in the beginning of the Year XXIX 1. on the Day of Expiation v. 7. on the Feast of Tabernacles there were peculiar Sacrifices for seven days together XXIII Lev. 35. and on the last day of the Feast another XXIX Numb 35 36 37. All these were called Musaphim or additional Sacrifices to the daily Sacrifice Verse 11 Ver. 11. And in the beginnings of your Months ye shall offer a Burnt-offering unto the LORD This solemn Sacrifice seems to have been ordained by God to prevent the Idolatry which was usual among the Gentiles who worshipped the New Moon with great Rejoycings when it first appeared Otherwise the first day of every Month was no Festival but only a day on which extraordinary Sacrifices were offered with blowing of Trumpets as seems to be directed X. 10. See there which was usual at all solemn Sacrifices as I noted before otherways the Feast of blowing with Trumpets was only on the New Moon of the seventh Month and no other And therefore it is observable that there is no mention made of the first day of the Month among the Festivals appointed in XXIII Lev. And consequently Servile work was lawful on this day and nothing more required but only the following Sacrifices The Jews at this day say this Solemnity was appointed rather for the Women than the Men for which they give a fabulous reason who are bound to abstain from all work but the Men only from the most laborious such as Plowing the Ground c. See Buxtorf's Synag Judaica cap. 22. Two young Bullocks and one Ram seven Lambs of the first year without spot All these were Burnt-offerings which were offered besides the daily Sacrifice and besides the two Lambs if the first day of the Month fell out to be a Sabbath In which case and all others where several Solemnities met together on the same day the daily Sacrifice was offered first and then the rest of the Sacrifices peculiar for that day were to be performed every one in their order As for Example If the Sabbath and new Moon and the Feast of Trumpets sell out on the same day they began with the daily Morning Sacrifice after which followed the Sacrifices proper to the Sabbath and after that the Sacrifice appointed on the New Moon and then those that belonged to the Feast of Trumpets and all was concluded with the Evening Sacrifice as Abarbinel observes in his Preface to the Book of Leviticus Ver. 12. And three tenth deals of flour That is Verse 12 three tenth parts of an Ephah v. 5. For a Meat-offering mingled with Oyl for one Bullock i. e. For each Bullock there was to be this proportion of Flour which is exactly according to the general Rule before given XV. 9. And two tenth deals of flour mingled with Oyl for one Ram. This is the proportion there prescribed for a Ram as the other for a Bullock XV. 6. Ver. 13. And a several tenth deal of fine flour mingled Verse 13 with Oyl for a Meat offering unto one Lamb. Unto each of the seven Lambs before-mentioned v. 11. a Meat-offering was to be joyned in less proportion than the other according to the Rule there given XV. 4. For a Burnt-offering of a sweet savour c. See v. 6. Ver. 14. And their Drink-offering shall be half an hin Verse 14 of Wine unto a Bullock See XV. 10. And the third part of an hin for a Ram. See there v. 7. And a fourth part of an hin for a Lamb. See there v. 5. They that allegorize these things think the New Moon signifies the Resurrection to a new Life in the other World where every one shall receive a Reward according to his measure Thus Procopius Gazaeus in whom they that think such Expositions useful may find entertainment This is the Burnt-offering of every Month throughout the Months of the year There are more Sacrifices appointed on the New Moons than on the Sabbath it self because they returned seldomer And the Gentiles multiplying Sacrifices on such occasions if the Jews had not been thus imployed in the Worship of God they might have been tempted to pay their Services to Idols Verse 15 Ver. 15. And one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering This Sacrifice of a Goat for a Sin-offering saith the same Procopius is coupled with the rest being a shadow of the Passion of Christ for whose sake all our Sacrifices are acceptable unto God the Father Vnto the LORD It is well observed by Grotius that these words unto the LORD were added to put them in mind at this time of the right Object of Worship when they were in danger to offer Sacrifice to the Moon after the manner of the Heathen This is the more to be regarded because a Goat being appointed to be offered at two other Solemnities and to be offered for a Sin-offering v. 22 30. it is not said unto the LORD though certainly so intended because there was no danger at those times to direct their Sacrifices to a wrong Object as there was upon the New Moons when the Heathen offered a Goat unto the Moon it being a Creature whose Horns are like to those of a New Moon R. Bechai long ago observed this A Goat saith he was offered to extirpate the Religion of those who worshipped the Moon which makes the Scripture say expresly unto the LORD And Maimonides more largely in his More Nevochim P. III. cap. 46. where after he had taken notice of the difference between Sin-offerings and Burnt-offerings the latter of which being wholly burnt might be properly said to be unto the LORD whereas Sin-offerings were commonly eaten by the Priests he adds That this Sin-offering is peculiarly said to be unto the LORD least any one should think this Goat to be a Sacrifice to the Moon after the manner of the Egyptians Which was not necessary to be said of the Goats offered at other Solemn Times because they were not in the beginning of the Month nor distinguished from other days by any natural sign but only by the appointment of the Law which uses these words concerning this Goat peculiarly to pluck out of Mens thoughts those inveterate and pernicious Opinions of the Gentiles who had long sacrificed to the Moon at this
time as they did to the Sun at his rising and when he entred into the several Signs Besides the continual Burnt-offering and his Drink-offering This is so often particularly mentioned lest any should imagine it might be spared when there were such liberal Offerings of several kinds Ver. 16. And on the fourteenth day of the first Month Verse 16 is the Passover of the LORD See XII Exod. 6 18. XXIII Lev. 5. where it is called the LORD's Passover See XII Exod. 27. Ver. 17. In the fifteenth day of this Month is the Feast The fourteenth day at Even the Feast of the Passover was kept as appears from XII Exod. 14. Verse 17 But on the fifteenth day began another Feast called the Feast of unleavened Bread See XXIII Lev. 6. Seven days shall unleavened Bread be eaten See XII Exod. 15. XIII 6 7. XXIII Lev. 6. Verse 18 Ver. 18. On the first day shall be an holy Convocation ye shall do no manner of servile work therein See XII Exod. 16. XXIII Lev. 7. Verse 19 Ver. 19. But ye shall offer a Sacrifice made by fire for a Burnt-offering unto the LORD The Solemnity was ordained before and Offerings also in general prescribed to be made seven days See XXIII Lev. 8. but the particular Sacrifices not set down tell now Two young Bullocks one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year they shall be unto you without spot The same Sacrifices which were appointed to be offered upon every first day of the Month v. 11. Verse 20 Ver. 20. And their Meat-offering shall be of flour mingled with Oyl three tenth deals shall ye offer for a Bullock and two tenth deals for a Ram. The very same which were appointed on the first day of every Month v. 12. Verse 21 Ver. 21. A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every Lamb throughout the seven Lambs Just as it was in the forementioned Sacrifice v. 13. And though the Drink-offerings be not mentioned they must be understood to be the same because they always accompanied the Meat-offerings of Burnt-Sacrifices which were not compleat without them Verse 22 Ver. 22. And one Goat for a Sin-offering to make atonement for you As it was in the New Moon v. 15. But Meat and Drink-offerings did not accompany Offerings for Sin save only in the case of a Leper who was to bring three Offerings a Sin-offering a Trespass-offering and a Burnt-offering for his cleansing with three tenth parts of an Ephah of Flour XIV Lev. 10 c. Ver. 23. Ye shall offer these beside the Burnt-offering Verse 23 of the Morning which is the continual Burnt-offering There are two things that are here to be remarked that these Offerings as I noted before should not put by the continual Burnt-Sacrifice but be added to it and that all these were offered in the Morning after the daily Morning Sacrifice and were not part of the Evening Sacrifice which concluded all Ver. 24. After this manner ye shall offer daily throughout Verse 24 the seven days Upon every one of the days of unleavened Bread v. 17. which though it was a great Expence yet was but a fitting Acknowledgment of God's wonderful goodness to them in bringing them out of the Land of Egypt with all their Flocks and their Herds which was the foundation of all their happiness afterwards by making them a free People The Meat of my Sacrifice made by fire Here is the very same word with that v. 2. where he calls this Sacrifice his lechem which we there translate his bread but here very properly his meat or food Which was set upon his Table the Altar every day and by his fire from Heaven consumed which according to the language of Men was called his eating of it as the Heathen Gods also are said to eat the Fat of their Sacrifices XXXII Deut. 38. Of a sweet savour unto the LORD Very acceptable to him as hath been often observed It shall be offered beside the continual Burnt-offering and his Drink-offering There is the greatest care taken by the frequent repetition of this that they should not think to save their daily Sacrifice by these others which were to be added to it and not to supply the place of it See v. 15. Verse 25 Ver. 25. And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work therein This last day of the Feast was equal to the first XXIII Lev. 7 8. and is called a Feast unto the LORD XIII Exod. 6. Verse 26 Ver. 26. Also the day of the First-fruits Called the Feast of Harvest the First-fruits of their Labours XXIII Exod. 16. and the Feast of Weeks when they brought the First-fruits of Wheat-harvest XXXIV Exod. 22. XVI Deut. 10. The Jews in their Writings commonly call this Feast by the name of Atzereth and so do the Chaldee Paraphrase upon this place though Abarbinel observes that this alone of all the three great Feasts is never called so in the holy Scripture It is hard therefore to tell why the Jews call it so in a singular manner but our learned Dr. Lightfoot hath made several probable Conjectures about it one of which and most pertinent to this place is because there was a restraint as the word signifies upon the People from bringing their First-fruits till this Feast If any did they received them not from them but laid them by till this day came See Temple Service chap. 14. sect 4. When ye bring a new Meat-offering unto the LORD Mentioned XXIII Lev. 16. Which were two Loaves made of their first Corn v. 17. where they are called the First-fruits unto the LORD After your Weeks be out That is the seven Weeks which they were to number from the morrow after the Sabbath XXIII Lev. 15. i. e. after the first day of unleavened Bread When they offered another sort of First-fruits which must be carefully distinguished from those here mentioned viz. of the Barley Harvest which began at the Passover when they were to bring a Sheaf of their First-fruits unto the Priest XXIII Lev. 10. the presenting of which Sheaf was an Introduction to Harvest and procured them liberty to begin to put the Sickle into the Corn which now after seven Weeks they reaped and carried in at this Feast when they brought these new First-fruits unto the LORD All which is a Description of that which in the New Testament is called the Feast of Pentecost being fifty days as we read there in Leviticus after the other great Feast Ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work See XXIII Lev. 21. Ver. 27 But ye shall offer the Burnt-offering for a Verse 27 sweet savour unto the LORD Over and above the Burnt-offering which was prescribed to be offered with the two loaves before-mentioned XXIII Lev. 18. unto which this was an additional Sacrifice plainly distinct from it Two young Bullocks one Ram seven Lambs of the first year The very same that were ordered to be
offered upon every New Moon and every day of the Feast of unleavened Bread v. 11 19 c. whereas that in Leviticus is one young Bullock two Rams and seven Lambs Ver. 28. And their Meat-offering of flour mingled Verse 28 with Oyl three tenth deals unto one Bullock c. The very same that is prescribed to accompany the Burnt-offering on the New Moon and in the Feast of Unleavened Bread v. 12 20. Ver. 29. And a several tenth deal unto one Lamb Verse 29 throughout the seven Lambs So it is ordained before in the former Cases v. 13 21. Verse 30 Ver. 30. And one Kid of the Goats to make an atonement for you Beside the Kid prescribed for the same purpose when the two Loaves were offered XXIII Lev. 19. which was accompanied with two Lambs for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings So that there were a great many Sacrifices offered at this famous Festival though it did not last so long as that of the Passover Verse 31 Ver. 31. Ye shall offer them beside the continual Burnt-offering He still takes care that this daily Sacrifice should not be omitted by reason of such a number of other Sacrifices which were to attend upon it but not to put it by v. 10 15 23. They shall be unto you without blemish This might have been sufficiently understood from what was said of the daily Offering v. 3. and of all the other prescrib'd in this Chapter v. 11 19. But least any prophane Person might think there was no need to be so scrupulous about these Sacrifices because it is only said two young Bullocks one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year v. 27. these words are also here added to take away all doubt they shall be unto you without blemish i. e. as perfect as all the rest are ordered to be It is observable that there is not so much as one Peace-offering ordered in all this Chapter which was a sort of Sacrifice that was most for the benefit of those that brought them to the Altar But all Burnt-offerings except a few Sin-offerings which were wholly for the honour of God and acknowledgment of his Sovereign Dominion over them and of the Duty they owed him And as the Sin-offerings were shadows of that great Sacrifice of God's own Son which was one day to be offered for the Sins of Men out of his infinite love to them so the whole Burnt-offerings which were always of the most perfect Creatures the finest Flour the choicest Fruits of the Earth and the best Liquor were shadows of that excellent degree of Piety which the Son of God intended to bring into the World which would move Men out of love to God to give themselves wholly up to him and devote all they had even their own Lives to his Service CHAP. XXIX Chapter XXIX Ver. 1. AND in the seventh Month. Which was Verse 1 anciently the first Month of the Year but now the seventh reckoning from that wherein the Passover was kept which for a special reason was made the first See X Exod. 2. On the first day of the Month ye shall have an holy Convocation ye shall do no servile work So it was ordained before in XXIII Lev. 24 25. It is a day of blowing of Trumpets unto you In that place of Leviticus it is called a memorial of blowing of Trumpets from Morning until Evening Which the Jews fancy was to awaken them to Repentance upon the great Day of Expiation which followed on the tenth day of this Month. But it was manifestly intended quite contrary to excite them unto Joy and Gladness For Zichron teruah is a memorial of Jubilation Triumph and Shouting for Joy the word teruah being never used in Scripture but for a sound or shout of Gladness as the Chaldee word Jabbaba which is here used by the Paraphrast always signifies And this agrees with their Notion who think it was a special remembrance of the Creation of the World at which the Angels rejoyced Or it might be ordained to stir up the People to a grateful remembrance of all God's Benefits the Year past Whatsoever was the cause certain it is this seventh Month was very famous on this account that more solemn days were to be kept in it than in all the Year besides And upon that account the People might be awakened by this blowing of Trumpets to observe them aright Verse 2 Ver. 2. And shall offer a Burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD Over and above all other Sacrifices which were heretofore ordered upon this day as appears from v. 6. One Bullock one Ram and seven Lambs of the first year without blemish This is less than was appointed upon the foregoing Festivals XXVIII 19 27. because those very Sacrifices were also to be offered upon this day on another account as I shall observe on v. 6. Verse 3 Ver. 3. And their Meat-offering shall be of flour mingled with Oyl three tenth deals for a Bullock and two for a Ram. This is the proportion appointed by a general Rule for all Sacrifices of this kind See the XVth Chapter of this Book v. 6 9. Ver. 4. And one tenth deal for one Lamb c. So it is there appointed v. 4. Ver. 5. And one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-offering to make an atonement for you As is appointed in the foregoing Festivals XXVIII 15 22 30. Ver. 6. Beside the Burnt-offering of the Morning with Verse 5 his Meat-offering It was appointed before that in Verse 6 the beginning of every Month there should be a Burnt-offering offered of two Bullocks c. XXVIII 11 12. which was not to be omitted in the beginning of this Month but these other Sacrifices added to the Offerings of every New Moon Which made this a greater New Moon than any other being the first Moon of the old Civil Year And the daily Burnt-offering and his Meat-offering and their Drink-offering With which the Solemnity of the Day began and then followed the proper Sacrifices belonging to it According to their manner Or in the order which God appointed which I observed before on XXVIII 11. was this That first the daily Burnt-Sacrifice was offered then the Sacrifices appointed for the first day of every Month and then those appointed for this first day of the seventh Month. For a sweet savour a Sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD Which was acceptable to the Divine Majesty when performed according to his directions Ver. 7. And ye shall have on the tenth day of this Verse 7 Month an holy Convocation This solemn Assembly is ordered twice before in the Book of Leviticus XVI 29. XXIII 27. and here repeated perhaps for the sake of Eleazar and Joshua who were newly advanced to their several Offices that they might take special Notice of it and see it observed And ye shall afflict your Souls That was the special intention of it as we read in both the forenamed places that they might receive the benefit of the atonement
War and of those who staid at home but were able to go to War who were above Six hundred thousand XXVI 2 51. of which Twelve thousand who were employed in this Expedition were the fiftieth part And give them to the Levites Who were far more numerous than the Priests and therefore had a greater proportion of the Tribute Which keep the charge of the Tabernacle of the LORD See I. 50. III. 6 7 8. Ver. 31. And Moses and Eleazar the Priest did as Verse 31 the LORD commanded Moses This Command is peculiarly to Moses v. 25. but Eleazar was to assist him in the execution of it v. 26. and accordingly they took the Sum of the Prey both of Man and Beast and divided them between the Souldiers and People and levied a Tribute upon each for the LORD who ordered them to his Ministers Ver. 32. And the booty being the rest of the prey which the Men of Israel had caught i. e. Besides what was necessarily spent for their Subsistence during the War and while they lay out of the Camp v. 19. Was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep A vast stock far exceeding the number of Men of War which were in Israel Verse 33 Ver. 33. And threescore and twelve thousand beeves It seems their Country had good Pasture in it as well as Sheep-walks For as Arabia Foelix it is certain had agros latissimos fertilissimos as Pliny speaks Lib. VI. cap. 28. most spacious and Fertile Fields so Arabia Petraea in which Midian was did not wholly want them Verse 34 Ver. 34. And threescore and one thousand Asses The Countries about Judea abounding with Camels also particularly Arabia in which Job had a great number it may seem strange that we read of none here especially since they had vast numbers in following times VI Judges 5. VII 12. and the Ishmaelites with whom they were Associates in Trade had them long before this time XXXVII Gen. 27 36. But it is likely they did not yet find it for their profit to feed Camels of which they learnt to make a Trafick afterward no more than Mules of which we read nothing here nor indeed in Judea till the times of David It may be supposed that if they had Camels they were of that kind called Dromedaries which were famous in this Country in after Ages LX Isa 6. and that the People who escaped the slaughter fled away upon them And that there were other Beasts in this Country besides Beeves and Asses and Sheep and Goats seems to be plain from v. 30. where after the mention of these he adds of all manner of Beasts he should take a Portion for the Levites But of Camels or Dromedaries I suppose none were found Ver. 35. And thirty two thousand persons in all of women that had not known Man c. It appears by this to have been a very populous Country in which were so many Virgins Verse 35 Ver. 36. And the half which was the portion of them Verse 36 that went out to war was in number three hundred and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred Sheep There is no difficulty in this or in the following verses this being exactly the half of the whole number of Sheep mentioned v. 32. Ver. 37. And the LORD's Tribute of the Sheep Verse 37 was six hundred and threescore and fifteen Which is exactly one in five hundred out of this half of the Booty as God ordered v. 28. Ver. 38. And the Beeves were thirty and six thousand Verse 38 whereof the LORD's Tribute was threescore and twelve The very same proportions are observed here as in the Sheep which appears by comparing this verse with v. 33. And the two next verses 39 40. give the same account of the Asses and the Persons which were as exactly divided and the LORD had the same portion of them as v. 34 35. compared with these demonstrate Ver. 41. And Moses gave the Tribute which was the Verse 41 LORD 's Heave-offering unto Eleazar the Priest c. This is recorded to show how faithful Moses was in performing obedience to God's Commands v. 29. and far from desiring the smallest Portion for himself out of so great a Booty Which if he had acted by his own private Spirit he would scarce have avoided Ver. 42. And of the Children of Israel's half which Verse 42 Moses divided from the Men that warred There is nothing here nor in the following verses to v. 48. but a Repetition of what was said concerning the other half before-mentioned to show that the same exactness was observed both in the Division of the Prey among the People and in taking out of it such a Portion as God assigned to the Levites which was one out of fifty as out of the Men of Wars part one out of five hundred v. 28 30. Verse 48 Ver. 48. And the Officers which were over thousands of the Host the Captains of thousands and Captains of hundreds came near unto Moses The first words of this verse seem to suppose that there were other great Officers as well as the General who were above the Captains over thousands and the Captains over hundreds which is very probable Verse 49 Ver. 49. And they said unto Moses thy Servants c. The greatest Men speak with the greatest Reverence to Moses who was in the place of God Have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge Made a muster of them as we now speak at our return from the War And there lacketh not one man of us A wonderful Victory which shows the War was the LORD's v. 3. Who struck such a Terror into them that one would think they turn'd their backs and did not strike a stroke against the Israelites Verse 50 Ver. 50. We have therefore brought an Oblation for the LORD For the Uses of the Sanctuary either in purchasing Sacrifices or maintaining God's Ministers c. For KORBAN signifies every thing that is given to God though not sacrificed upon the Altar What every man hath gotten All of them offered something to the LORD out of the Spoil he had gotten according to the Piety of ancient Times XIV Gen. 20. For we find no Precept in the Law for this and yet it was constantly practised by David in after times 2 Sam. VIII 11 12. and by the Officers of his Army 1 Chron. XXVI 26 27. and by other Men Samuel Saul Abner c. v. 28 c. Jewels of Gold Vessels as the Hebrew word signifies or all manner of Ornaments made of Gold the Particulars of which follow viz. Chains Bracelets c. But the Hierusalem Vaâ—gum takes these Jewels as we translate it to have been the golden Attire about the Heads of their Women Chains These are commonly thought to have been the Ornaments or their Arms. But they may as well be thought to have been used about their Legs or their Necks Bracelets These it is apparent were Ornaments about
fenced in that they might lye safely and be defended from Wild-beasts And so this word gedera plainly imports See Bochartus in his Hierozoic P. I. Lib. I. cap. 45. And Cities for our little ones Which stood in need only of repairing and fortifying v. 17. for they already dwelt in those Cities of the Amorites XXI 25. Verse 17 Ver. 17. But we our selves will go ready armed before the Children of Israel until we have brought them unto their place That is a considerable number of them as many as should be thought necessary III Deut. 18. in all Forty thousand IV Josh 12. And our little ones shall dwell in the fenced Cities Where it was necessary to leave some Men to guard them from their bad Neighbours and to take care of their Cattle Because of the People of the Land That is the Moabites who were the ancient Owners of this Country XXI 26. and the Edomites who had showed no good will to the Israelites as they passed through the Wilderness Ver. 18. We will not return unto our Houses until Verse 18 the Children of Israel have inherited every Man his Inheritance Be settled in the possession of the Land of Canaan as we desire to be in this Country Ver. 19. For we will not inherit with them on yonder Verse 19 side Jordan or forward We will not desire any share in the Country beyond Jordan though it lye near to us nor in that Country which lyes still further Westward Because our Inheritance is faln on this side Jordan eastward We look upon this as our Inheritance with which we shall be fully satisfied here in the Land of Gilead Which lay Eastward of Jordan and of the Land of Canaan Ver. 20. And Moses said unto them if ye will do Verse 20 this thing Be as good as your word If ye will go armed before the LORD to war To go before the LORD was to go before the Ark which was the Symbol of God's Presence over which his Glory resided And it is to be observed that these two Tribes Reuben and Gad together with Simeon alway lay encamped before the Sanctuary as appears from the second Chapter of this Book v. 10 14 15 16 17. And accordingly when the Camp removed they marched immediately before it as is particularly noted X. 18 19 20 21. So that here he requires them only to hold their usual place when they went to the War against the Canaanites And accordingly it is expresly said they did together with half the Tribe of Manasseh who were joyned with them pass over before the LORD unto battle IV Josh 12 13. Verse 21 Ver. 21. And will go all of you As many as shall be required and can be spared v. 17. Armed over Jordan before the LORD until he hath driven out his Enemies from before him Not only bring us into Canaan but continue with us till we have expelled the Inhabitants of that Country Which he incourages them to undertake by representing the Canaanites as the Enemies of the LORD who would therefore fight for them Verse 22 Ver. 22. And the Land be subdued before the LORD By this Expression and that in the foregoing words it appears that the Ark was carried along with them to the War every where till it was ended as it was when it begun at the taking of Jericho VI Josh 6 7 c. Then afterward ye shall return and be guiltless before the LORD and before Israel and this Land shall be your possession Not only be free from all blame in this desire but have what you desire Before the LORD By his order and appointment Verse 23 Ver. 23. But if you will not do so If this be not your intention or if you go back from your word Behold Observe what I say Ye have sinned against the LORD and be sure your sin will find you out Your Guilt is exceeding great and shall be most certainly punished as it deserves Verse 24 Ver. 24. Build ye Cities for your little ones and Folds for your Sheep c. As for the rest of their Proposals about their Children and Cattle he consented to them without any Exception Ver. 25. And the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben spake unto Moses saying The word for Verse 25 spake in the Hebrew being jomer in the Singular Number instead of jomru in the Plural their Doctors take it for an Indication that some one principal Person spake in the name of all the rest But there is no need of this for the Singular Number in this Language is often used for the Plural and they never spake all of them together but some one in the name of their Brethren And it had been better if they had observed that this signifies one and all as we now speak were of the same mind Thy Servants will do as my LORD commandeth And as they themselves had proposed v. 17. Ver. 26. Our little Ones our Wives our Flocks and Verse 26 all our Cattle shall be there in the Cities of Gilead Here they promise to leave all that was dear to them in this Country and go to serve their Brethren Ver. 27. But thy servants will pass over every man Verse 27 armed for war c. We our selves will go and fight for our Brethren It hath been often said v. 17 21. that this doth not signifie all the Men of War among them should go but as many as could be spared and as were thought sufficient For it is manifest the far greater half of them were left in this Country to defend their Wives and Children and look after their Flocks and Herds as will appear by computing all the Men of War that were found in the Tribes of Gad and of Reuben which were above Fourscore and four thousand XXVI 7 18. to which if we add half of the Tribe of Manasseth who were in all above Fifty two thousand there were much above an Hundred thousand Men able to bear Arms and not above Forty thousand of them marched into Canaan as was before observed Verse 28 Ver. 28. So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the Priest and Joshua the Son of Nun and the chief Fathers of the Tribes of Israel He left this in charge with the principal Persons who had the government of Affairs under him particularly with Joshua who was not unmindful of it but remembred these Tribes what Moses had said when he was about to attempt the Conquest of Canaan I Josh 13 14 c. Verse 29 Ver. 29. And Moses said unto them if the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan c. He repeats to these great Men who were to see it executed what he had said to the Gadites and Reubenites themselves v. 21 22. Then ye shall give them the Land of Gilead for a possession They had not a right to it till they had performed the Condition upon which it was granted viz. till their Brethren were in possession of
slaughter of the People that wantonly despised Manna and lusted after Flesh Yet here God was pleased to vouchsafe to send his Spirit upon the LXX Elders for the Assistance of Moses Ver. 17. And they departed from Kibroth-hattaavah Verse 17 and encamped at Hazeroth See XI 35. Where Miriam was punished for her Envy at Moses XII 1 10. Ver. 18. And they departed from Hazeroth and Verse 18 pitched at Rithmah A place also in the Wilderness of Paran as appears from this Book XII 16. and was not far from Kadesh-barnea from whence the Spies were sent to search out the Land of Canaan See XIII 26. In which place they lay a long time I Deut. 46. Ver. 19. And they departed from Rithmah and Verse 19 pitched in Rimmon-Parez This and the following Stages are no where else mentioned and seem to have all been in the Wilderness of Paran before spoken of Which was a very long Tract of Ground from Elana a Port in the Arabian Gulph to Kadesh-barnea which as David Chytraeus computes it was thirty German Miles Verse 20 Ver. 20. And they departed from Rimmon-Parez and pitched in Libnah This and the rest to v. 31. are places of which as I said we no where else read and so can give no account of them They were all uninhabited and out of the road of all Travellers and perhaps had no names till they were given them by the Israelites who encamped in so many various places sometimes in Mountains as appears from v. 23. and sometimes in the Plain that they might be taught that God was alike present every where to protect defend and provide for them even there where no Man dwelt The Jews make this use of their Travels here recorded by Moses through so many unknown places by which he brought them at last to Canaan to keep up their Spirits under this long Captivity as they call it wherein they now are and have wandred uncertainly from Mountain to Mountain from Kingdom to Kingdom from Banishment to Banishment as they themselves speak till their Messiah come to redeem them Which he will do when their Eyes are opened to see what one of their ancient Rabbins Moses Hadarschan hath told them as he is quoted by Paulus Fagius That the Redeemer was born before him who reduced Israel into this last Captivity Verse 31 Ver. 31. And they departed from Moserah and pitched in Bene-Jaakan In X Deut. 6. Moses seems to say the quite contrary that they took their journey from Beeroth of the Children of Jaakan to Mosera But there he may be thought to speak of a different place as Drusius notes upon those words Or if he doth not it is no wonder if while they wandred in this tedious Wilderness they went backward and forward from Bene-Jaakan to Moserath which he mentions in Deuteronomy and from Moserath back again to Bene-Jaakan which he mentions here Ver. 32. And they journeyed from Bene-Jaakan and Verse 32 encamped at Horhagidgad This place was also called Gudgodah X Deut. 7. if Moses speaks there of the same places he doth here Ver. 33. And they went from Horhagidgad and Verse 33 pitched in Jotbathah Called X Deut. 7. Jotbath Ver. 34. And they removed from Jotbathah and encamped Verse 34 at Ebronah All their removals mentioned from v. 16. to this and the next place are an account of their wanderings in the Wilderness from the second year after their coming out of Egypt till the fortieth in which time all the Congregation above twenty years of Age were consumed and buried in some part or other of this great Desert Ver. 35. And they departed from Ebronah and encamped Verse 35 at Ezion-gaber A place on the Red-Sea unto which they were brought before they ended their Travels 1 Kings IX 26. XXII 18. It had its name from the snagged Rocks like to the Back-bone which stretched out a great way on that shore as Bochart observes Which Rocks made this part so dangerous that it was forsaken in after times and Elah frequented as a safer Harbor See Lib. I. Canaan cap. 44. It is not recorded how long they remained in any of these places but it is likely a considerable time in some of them for they spent Thirty eight years in these Removals Ver. 36. And they removed from Ezion-Gaber and pitched in the Wilderness of Zin which is Kadesh See XX. 1. He doth not mean Kadesh-barnea which Verse 36 was on the Borders of Canaan but another Kadesh in the Skirts of this Wilderness towards the South not far from the Port I now mentioned which the Greeks call Elana on the Border of Edom. Where Miriam died and where Water was brought out of a Rock See XX. 8 14 16. Verse 37 Ver. 37. And they removed from Kadesh and pitched in Mount Hor in the edge of the Land of Edom. See XX. 28. Verse 38 Ver. 38. And Aaron went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD XX. 23 24 27. XXXII Deut. 50. The Hebrew Doctors are too conceited in their observation that because it is said of him and of Moses that they died al pi at the mouth of the LORD the LORD took their Souls out of their Bodies with a kiss But Maimonides indeavours to make a sober sence of this by making their meaning to be that they expired with the transcendent Pleasure of Divine Love More Nevoch P. III. cap. 51. And died there in the fortieth year after the Children of Israel came out of the Land of Egypt in the first day of the fifth Month. A few Months before his Brother Moses Verse 39 Ver. 39. And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in Mount Hor. He was just Eighty and three years old when he and Moses first went with a Message to Pharaoh VII Exod. 7. By which it appears that they were not long in working all the Miracles in Egypt before they brought the People forth for now Forty years after he was but an Hundred twenty three years old Ver. 40. And King Arad the Canaanite which dwelt in the South in the Land of Canaan See XXI 1. Heard of the coming of the Children of Israel Had News brought him that the Israelites were Verse 40 coming towards his Country whereupon he went out to oppose them and God gave them as we read there a glorious Victory over him This shows that Moses intended in the recital of all these places where they had been to bring to remembrance the most remarkable Passages of God's Providence over them some of which he expresly sets down Ver. 41. And they departed from Mount Hor and Verse 41 pitched in Zalmonah We read in the XXIth Chapter of this Book v. 4. that they journeyed from Hor to compass the Land of Edom but are not told there where they pitched which is here supplyed the name of the place being Zalmonah Which carries in it the signification of an Image and therefore here perhaps the brazen Serpent was
the LORD and the Camp of the Levites to be from the entrance of the Mount of the House of the LORD to that East-Gate of the Temple And the Camp of Israel they thought extended from the Entrance of Jerusalem to the Mount of the House of the LORD Now Lepers were so unclean that they were not admitted into any of these three Camps but shut out of them all See XIII Lev. 46. But he that had an Issue XV Lev. 2. was only shut out of the two first Camps the Camp of the LORD and the Camp of the Levites but he might be in the Camp of Israel And he that was defiled by the dead XXI Lev. 1. was only excluded from the first the Sanctuary but not from the other two See Drusius also upon IV. 25. Ver. 3. Both Male and Female shall ye put out For Verse 3 Women had Issues for instance as well as Men XV Lev. 2 and 19 c. That they defile not their Camps The Camp of Israel consisted of four Camps and therefore he speaks in the Plural Number that of Judah that of Reuben that of Ephraim and that of Dan II Numb 3 10 18 25. Which would have been so defiled if they had suffered these unclean Persons to stay among them that none would have been fit to go to the Sanctuary In the midst of which I dwell By his special Presence in the Sanctuary which was incompassed by these Camps out of reverence to which such unclean Persons were to be kept at a greater distance than other Men and Women Ver. 4. And the Children of Israel did so and put them without the Camp c. There was an order for this before particularly for putting out the Lepers Verse 4 XIII Lev. 46. which could not be put in Execution till the Camp was formed as now it was Verse 5 Ver. 5. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying It is uncertain when this was spoken but I see no reason why we should not think it was at the same time with the other things here mentioned Verse 6 Ver. 6. When a Man or Woman shall commit any sin that Men commit In the Hebrew the words are plainly these shall commit any sin of Man that is against his Neighbour As in III Joel 19. Violence of the Children of Judah is truly translated Violence against the Children of Judah For it is apparent from the next Verses 7 8. that Moses here speaks of Offences against their Neighbours To do a Trespass against the LORD Such Offences against their Neighbours as were also great Offences against God For the Chaldee understands these words of Frauds and Cheats put upon Men by a false Oath And there is a good warrant for this Interpretation from VI Lev. 2 3. where Moses gives the same command which seems here to be repeated only because he had something to add unto it v. 8. And that person be guilty Or rather be sensible of his guilt See VI Lev. 4. Verse 7 Ver. 7. Then they shall confess the sin that they have done Or rather If they shall confess c. For so the Particle Vau sometimes signifies particularly XII 14. where we as well as the LXX translate it If her Father had spit in her face See what I have noted upon VI Lev. 4. And he shall recompense c. Rather Then he shall recompense the Injury he did to his Neighbour in the manner here directed which hath been explained VI Lev. 5. See there Ver. 8. But if a Man have no Kinsman to recompense Verse 8 the Trespass unto By this it is apparent that if a Man to whom an Injury had been done was dead he that committed it was bound to make Satisfaction to his Heir whosoever he was by restoring the Principal and adding a fifth part to it Now the Israelites never wanting some of their Kindred to succeed to their Inheritances the Hebrew Doctors expound this of the Proselytes of Righteousness who might possibly dye without any heir because they had no Kindred but such as were born after their Regeneration In which Case the Goods that had been illegally taken from such a Proselyte by a Jew did not become his own unless he paid the Price of them with such an addition as is here required c. See Selden L. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. cap. 4. p. 684 685. Edit Lond. Let the Trespass be recompensed unto the LORD By bringing to him the Principal and the fifth part Even unto the Priest Whom God deputed to receive it as his Minister And it was as the Jews rightly expound it equally distributed among all the Priests who were then waiting in their Course Which is a new addition to the Law in VI Lev. and the reason it is likely why that Law is here repeated Besides the Ram of the Atonement c. Mentioned VI Lev. 6 7. where see what I have noted Ver. 9. And every offering of all the holy things of the Children of Israel Upon the occasion of the foregoing Laws concerning a Recompense to be made Verse 9 to the Priest where a Man that had been wrong'd was dead and no Heir to him could be found he explains some other Laws wherein the Priests were concerned who were to have all the Heave-offerings as the word Trumoth here used signifies XVIII 8. Which they bring unto the Priest To be offered unto God Shall be his Who offers it For there being many Priests who waited in their Courses at the Tabernacle all of which could not officiate at the same time but some at one time some at another this Law determines that the particular Priest who performed the Office of Sacrificing should have to himself that part of the holy Things which fell to the Priests share and it should not be divided among them all Thus L'Empereur upon Bava kama c. 9. sect 12. expounds these words better than any I have met withal Verse 10 Ver. 10. And every mans hallowed thing shall be his As the former Verse speaks of the holy Things of the Children of Israel in general so this of what any particular Person offered which still with greater reason was to belong to the Priest that offered it For the Labourer is worthy of his hire and therefore he that did the work of Sacrificing had the Reward of it R. Solomon applying this to Tithes hath a gloss upon these words which though not pertinent is very remarkable He that doth not duly pay his Tithe in the end his Land shall yield him but a tithe of what it was wont to yield And so R. Bechai upon XIV Deut. expounds these words when a Man divideth not as he ought he shall have nothing but the holy things that is the Tithe of what he used to have according to V Isa 10. Whatsoever any Man giveth the Priest it shall be his These words are only a fuller Explication of this Law as the same L'Empereur observes that the rest of the Priests might
he spake these words I see him As Balak desired he might XXII 41. though for another purpose that he might curse them And from the Hills I behold him The same thing again in other words according to the manner of the Eastern People And both these may relate not only to the present view he had of the Camp of Israel but to their future Settlement in their own Land wherein they were represented to him as dwelling securely under the special Protection of the Almighty Lo the People shall dwell In the Land of Canaan Alone Not mingled with other Nations but separated from them by different Laws Religion and Manners It seems also to import their Security and Safety by the Situation of their Country and God's care of them And shall not be reckoned among the Nations Be a peculiar People by themselves and therefore not liable to the power of my Curses like other Nations All this came to pass partly by the natural situation of their Country which was surrounded with high Mountains and rocky Precipices so that the coming to it was very difficult but more especially by their Rites and Customs and particularly by their Diet which restrained them from common Conversation with other Nations because they could not eat of their Food Swines flesh for instance which was a delicate Dish among the Gentiles was an Abomination to the Israelites By which means they were the better secured from learning the Religion of the Gentiles having so little Communication with them that they were called by Diodorus Siculus and others an unsociable People and thought to have an Enmity to the rest of the World Ver. 10. Who can count the dust of Jacob This may refer either to their present or their future Increase which was so great that they might be compared to the Dust of the Earth or the Sand on the Verse 10 Sea-shore which is without number Hereby he confirmed the Promise made by God to Abraham XIII Gen. 16. and to Israel XXVIII 14. where he saith expresly Thy Seed shall be as the dust of the Earth And the number of the fourth part of Israel Any one of their Camps every one of which was grown to a vast number For the whole Host of Israel was divided into four Camps under the Standards of Judah Reuben Ephraim and Dan as we read in the second Chapter of this Book one of which Camps lay more plainly before him than the rest viz. that on the West under the Standard of Ephraim Let me die the death of the righteous By the Righteous he means Israel who were now a People free from Idolatry which was the great Crime of those days And he desires either to be as happy as they in the other World or that he might not die an immature and violent Death but enjoy such a long Life here as was promised to them The Author of Sephar Cosri takes it in the former sence alledging this place as a proof that a future state was believed in ancient Times though not so clearly expressed in the Prophetical Writings as other things are for there is a certain Prayer saith he of one that prophecied by the Holy Ghost who desired that he might die the death of the righteous Pars I. sect 115. And my last end be like his Or Let my Posterity for so the word we here translate last end often signifies CIX Psal 13. XI Dan. 4. or those that come after me be like unto his Descendants Ver. 11. And Balak said unto Balaam what hast thou done unto me This is very surprising I took thee to curse mine Enemies and behold thou Verse 11 hast blessed them altogether Thou hast not only frustrated my desires in not cursing them but quite contrary hast pronounced great Blessings upon them For so the Hebrew words signifie Blessed them with blessings Verse 12 Ver. 12. And he answered and said Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth He had told him so before more than once XXII 23. XXIII 3. and now makes him Judge Whether it was safe for him to disobey the LORD to comply with his Desires Verse 13 Ver. 13. And Balak said unto him come I pray thee with me to another place He thought Balaam gave him a reasonable Answer and therefore gently intreats him to make a trial whether God would be pleased to be more favourable to his desires if he sought him in some other place For whatsoever Balaam thought of this matter Balak was possessed with a Superstitious Fancy that the very Place or Prospect had been a Cause concurrent to produce the contrary Effect to what he desired and therefore intreated he would come with him to another where he might not see too many of them at once From whence thou maist see them It seems this was thought necessary to make their Curses effectual that they should have a sight of those whom they cursed and that they should look upon them Thou shalt see but the utmost part of them The Skirts of their Camps And shalt not see them all He imagined perhaps that Balaam was affrighted at the sight of their Multitude and therefore durst not meddle with them And curse me them from thence He seems to desire him to curse only that small parcel of the Israelites whom he saw in the utmost part of the Camp hoping he might by degrees get them all in like manner destroyed Ver. 14. And he brought him unto the field of Zophim Verse 14 Or as some translate it unto Sedâ— Zophim a place by the very name apt to enchant a Superstitious Mind with expectation of Success as Dr. Jackson speaks It is thought by some to be so called from the Watchers that were placed here which the word Zophim imports To the top of Pisgah A very high Mountain in the Country of Moab from whence one might see a great way and take a view of all the Parts of Canaan III Deut. 27. XXXIV 1 2 c. but on that side of it whether Balak brought him Balaam could not see much of the Camp of Israel It is likely he thought by bringing him to a place so exceeding high he should be nearer Heaven and so procure a more favourable Audience than before And built seven Altars and offered a Bullock and a Ram on every Altar As he had done before at Balaam's desire in another High-place v. 1 2. for there only he imagined their Sacrifices would be acceptable From hence Conradus Pellicanus concludes Balaam to have been a Worshipper of the true God as Jethro was because he still continues to offer only such clean Creatures as were wont to be sacrificed to him by his own People Ver. 15. And he said unto Balak stand here by thy Burnt-offering The same Direction which he had given before v. 3. Verse 15 While I meet the LORD yonder In a place to which he pointed Balaam made a peradventure of it before whether the