A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

Leviticus 23

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — this isn’t a law of Moses, but a Command of God convey to all the Israelites through Moses;

² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts. — speak unto the children of Israel; as the festivals here discussed were to be solemnly kept by them, Moses is ordered to address these regulations to the people or their representatives;

— concerning the feasts of the Lord; better, the festivals of the Lord which ye shall proclaim as holy convocations, these are my festivals; that is, the following festivals God claims as His, on which solemn assemblies are to be held in the sanctuary and in the land of Israel.

³ “‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. — six days shall work be done; recurring every week, and being the most important as well as the oldest of all festivals, the Sabbath introduces the holy seasons.

⁴ “‘These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. — these are the feasts of the Lord; because the following are the festivals proper as distinguished from the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:37-38), and because they are now enumerated in their regular order, the introductory heading is here repeated.

⁵ On the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord’S Passover. — at even; or in the evening, as renders this phrase in the parallel passage (Exodus 12:6), literally, denotes between the two evenings;

— the interpretation of this expression constituted one of the differences between the Sadducees and the Pharisees during the second Temple, and seriously debates about the time for offering up the paschal lamb and the evening sacrifices.;

— according to the Sadducees, who follow the relegated Samaritans, it denotes the time between the setting of the sun and the moment when the stars become visible, or when darkness sets in, yhat is, roughly between six and seven o’clock, a space of about one hour and twenty minutes;

— according to the Pharisees, however, “between the two evenings” means from the afternoon, to the disappearing of the sun. The first evening is from the time when the sun begins to decline towards the west, or after noon or twelve o’clock the middle of the day; whilst the second is when it goes down and vanishes out of sight;

— this is the reason why the paschal lamb in the evening sacrifice began to be killed and the blood sprinkled from 12.30 pm onward; which is more in harmony with the fact that the large number of sacrifices on this day could only be offered up in the longer period of time.

⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord; seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. — the Feast of Unleavened Bread was instituted at the same time with the Feast of the Passover;

— in fact, they are a composite Feast; the whole made a festival of eight days, called indifferently the Feast of the Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread; hence those who thought they are two distinct feasts read the Gospel Texts with much confusion.

⁷ On the first day ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein. — the first day of unleavened bread, which commenced on the evening of the 14th, in other words, the 15th Abib, ye shall have a holy convocation.

⁸ But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein.’” — in the seventh day is an holy convocation, ye shall do no servile work therein; as on the first day;

⁹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — that is, this isn’t a law of Moses, but a Command of God convey to all the Israelites through Moses;

¹⁰ “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘When ye come into the land which I give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest. — ye shall bring the first-fruit omer of your harvest; the omer had to be from the best and ripest standing corn of a field near Jerusalem.

¹¹ And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

— and he shall wave the sheaf; that is, and he shall wave the omer. The priest mixed with the omer of meal a log of oil, put on a handful of frankincense (Leviticus 2:15), as on other meat-offerings, waved it, took a handful of it and caused it to ascend in smoke;

— on the morrow after the sabbath; the interpretation of this phrase also constituted one of the differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees.;

— according to the Pharisees, the term Sabbath here, as elsewhere (Leviticus 23:24; Leviticus 23:32; Leviticus 23:39), is not the weekly Sabbath, but the next day, or the first day of the holy convocation, the first day of Passover;

— the Sadducees, infiltrated by the relegated Samaritans, however, maintained that it is to be understood in its literal sense as denoting the weekly Sabbath in the Passover week, which might happen to fall within the seven days;

— on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it; not after the weekly seventh day, but after the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, which was a Sabbath, in which no servile work was to be done, Leviticus 23:7; and so the Targum of Jonathan calls it the first festal day of Pascha (or, the day after the feast-day of Pascha), that is, the sixteenth of Nisan;

¹² And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf a helamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.

— an he lamb without blemish of the first year, for a burnt offering unto the Lord; typical of the perfect and immaculate Lamb of God, whose sufferings are fitly signified by a burnt offering; and which were endured at the time he became the firstfruits of his people, and sanctified them.

¹³ And the meat offering thereof shall be two-tenths part of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor; and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, a fourth part of a hin.

— the offering described in this passage was made on the sixteenth of the first month, the day following the first Passover Sabbath;

¹⁴ And ye shall eat neither bread nor parched corn nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. — it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations;

¹⁵ “‘And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete. — from the first day, which was an holy convocation, a Sabbath in which no servile work was to be done, Leviticus 23:7;

— from the Targum of Jonathan

And number to you after the first feast day of Pascha, from the day when you brought the sheaf for the elevation, seven weeks; complete they shall be.

¹⁶ Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days, and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. — even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath; that is, the day after the seven complete weeks, or the fiftieth day; hence its name, “Pentecost, or fiftieth-day” feast;

¹⁷ Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two-tenths part. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord. — two omers of the flour; they were called wave-loaves becausethey were presented to God by waving them toward heaven: they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

¹⁸ And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock and two rams; they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord.

— seven lambs; the additional sacrifices for the feast day consisted of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs: seven lambs could symbolise seven eras of God’s Church of Revelation 2 and 3;

— and one young bullock, and two rams; in Numbers 28:27 it is two young bullocks, and one ram;

¹⁹ Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

²⁰ And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. — two lambs were brought into the Temple and waved together or separately by the priest while yet alive.

²¹ And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day that it may be a holy convocation unto you. Ye shall do no servile work therein; it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

— the feast of Weeks or day of Pentecost was held in remembrance of the giving of the law, fifty days after the departure from Egypt; and looked forward to the outpouring of the Holy Spirits;

²² “‘And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not rid cleanly the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleanings of thy harvest. Thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’”

— the feast of weeks being the feast of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, it is repeated, that they might not forget what God had commanded them to do at that time, namely, to leave somewhat for the poor;

²³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁴ “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

— according to Jewish traditions “the first day” of this month was the first day of the Civil year in use whereof as to civil matters before the Exodus, and was observed as the festival of the New Year;

²⁵ Ye shall do no servile work therein, but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.’” — blowing of trumpets; here and in Numbers 29:1, literally “shouting” there is no mention of trumpets in the Hebrew text of the Law in connection with this day; yet there is no reason to doubt the tradition that the day was distinguished by a general blowing of trumpets throughout the land;

²⁶ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — this isn’t a law of Moses, but a Decree of God convey to the people through Moses;

²⁷ “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

— afflict your souls; from the evening of the ninth till the evening of the tenth, by resting from all work on pain of death, with fasting and bitter repentance for all, and especially their national sins, among which, no doubt, God would have them remember their sin of the golden calf.

Before taking his mission, which is a major mission to inaugurated his public ministry, Jesus went to fast for forty days and forty nights “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He afterward hungered.” Matthew 4:2

Also Esther fasted, who asked her countrymen to fast for her: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me; and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise. And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16

Moses also fasted: “When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.” Deuteronomy 9:9

Fasting is also in the New Testament: Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13:1-3

²⁸ And ye shall do no work in that same day, for it is a Day of Atonement to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. — the general festal sacrifices are described in Numbers 29:8-11.

²⁹ For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. — he shall be cut off from among his people; by an untimely death, by the hand of God; the Targum of Jonathan says, cut off by death from among his people.

³⁰ And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. — any sort of work whatever; for, as before observed, it was to be kept as strictly as the weekly Sabbath;

³¹ Ye shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. — it shall be a statute for ever, throughout your generations, in all your dwellings; unto the coming of the Messiah and even beyond, who, by the atoning sacrifice of himself, would answer to this law, and put an end to it.

³² It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” — and ye shall afflict your souls; having set forth in Leviticus 23:30-31, and in the first clause of this verse, the duty of abstaining from all work, and of celebrating this day as a day of solemn rest,

— the law giver repeats the second feature of the day, which is of equal importance, namely, the fasting, lest some should think that doing the one and leaving the other undone would pass as having kept this law;

— in the ninth day of the month at even to that of the tenth; the fast was to begin at the close of the ninth day, and to continue to the end of the tenth;

³³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, — that is, this is a Command of God convey to all the Israelites through Moses;

³⁴ “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. — in the feast of Tabernacles there was a remembrance of their dwelling in tents, or booths, in the wilderness, as in a life’s journey;

— for seven days; like the Passover, the feast of tabernacles commenced at the full moon, on the fifteenth day of the month, and lasted for seven days.

³⁵ On the first day shall be a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein. — on the first day shall be an holy convocation; when they should be called together to holy exercises, to prayer, praising, and reading the law; and at this present time they observe this day, by rising early in the morning and going to the synagogue;

³⁶ Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. It is a solemn assembly, and ye shall do no servile work therein.

— on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; as on the first day; it is a solemn assembly; of all the people, when they were gathered together before the Lord.

³⁷ “‘These are the feasts of the Lord which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering and a meat offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, every thing upon his day”

— these are the feasts of the Lord; that is, the above-named six festivals: (1) the Passover (Leviticus 23:4-14), (2) Pentecost Leviticus 23:15-22), (3) Trumpet (Leviticus 23:23-25), (4) Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32), (5) Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-36 a), and (6) the Last Great Day (Leviticus 23:36 b). Thus the list of these festivals concludes with the formula by which they were introduced in Leviticus 23:4.

³⁸ besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which ye give unto the Lord. — “Beside the Sabbaths” that is, the Sabbath sacrifices (Numbers 28:9-10), and the gifts and offerings, which formed a different part of the keeping of the feasts and Sabbaths, but might be offered on those days.

³⁹ “‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days; on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. — on the first day and on the eight day shall be a Sabbath; both on the first and last days of this festival there is to be abstention from all servile work.

⁴⁰ And ye shall take for yourselves on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. — the palm, the myrtle, and the willow, when tied together into one bundle, constitute the Lulab.

⁴¹ And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. — seven days in the year; these seven days Tabernacle is the feast of Tabernacles proper, whilst the eight days in Leviticus 23:39 include the concluding festival of the Last Great Day (in Heb. Hoshana Rabbah).

⁴² Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths, — — but that last day was the eighth, the ceremony of drawing water from the pool, which was done on the Last Great Day, (in Heb. Hoshana Rabbah). seems to have been the introduction of a later period (John 7:37).

⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’”

— that your generations may know; when their posterity are securely occupying the land of Canaan, the temporary dwelling in booths once a year may remind them of the goodness of God vouchsafed to their fathers in delivering them from the land of bondage, and sheltering them in booths in the wilderness.

⁴⁴ And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. — that is, these are but a Command of God convey to all the Israelites through Moses.

Leviticus 24

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure olive oil, beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. — the oil for the lamps of the tabernacle and the meal for the showbread were to be offerings; and the lamps to burn continually;

³ Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. — shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning, before the Lord continually;

— that is, the lamp or lamps, or candlestick, in which they were, or the light of them; his business was, and so every priest’s that succeeded him, to supply the lamps with oil, to dress, him, and snuff them, that they might burn clear, and burn always, and that before the Lord, in the presence of the Lord;

⁴ He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually. — the pure candlestick; so called, either because of its resplendent brightness, or because it was of pure gold; before the Lord; because it was before the ark and mercy-seat, where God was peculiarly present;

— Aaron must always keep the lamps burning on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord? – thought Aaron was only to be in the Holy of Holies only once a year? Or, this is still outside the Veil, in the Holy Place?

⁵ “And thou shalt take fine flour and bake twelve cakes thereof, twotenths part shall be in one cake.

⁶ And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord.

⁷ And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

⁸ Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. — every Sabbath a fresh supply was furnished; hot loaves were placed on the altar instead of the stale ones, which, having lain a week, were removed, and eaten only by the priests;

⁹ And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in the holy place, for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.” — they shall eat it in the holy place; of the many things connected with the national service which became a perquisite of the priests: they had to be consumed within the precincts of the sanctuary;

¹⁰ And the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp.

¹¹ And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses (his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan); — out of Egypt, being one of that mixed multitude which came out with the Israelites, Exodus 12:32. It is probable this was done when the Israelites were near Sinai;

— and they brought him unto Moses; having heard his blasphemy, to charge him with it before him, or in order to have due punishment inflicted on him;

¹² and they put him under guard, that the mind of the Lord might be shown them. — that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them; that is, that he might direct them according to the command of the Lord; —

¹³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁴ “Bring forth him that hath cursed outside the camp; and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. — let all the congregation stone him; the witnesses, who are the representatives of the people, cast the first stone, and then all the people who stood by covered the convict with stones.

¹⁵ And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. — this offender was the son of an Egyptian father, and an Israelitish mother;

¹⁶ And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him. As well the stranger as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death. — and all the congregation shall certainly stone him; shall have no pity on him, nor spare him, but stone him till he dies;

¹⁷ And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. — the Targum of Jonahan says he shall verily be put to death by the sword.

¹⁸ And he that killeth a beast shall make it good, beast for beast. — beast for beast; or “soul for soul”; life for life, that is, a living one for that the life of which is taken away, and one every way as good as that;

¹⁹ And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be done to him— — as he hath done, so shall it be done unto him;

²⁰ breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.

²¹ And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it; and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death. — and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death; or he that smites a man, though he does not kill him, as only makes a wound or bruise in him, because it is not said, the soul of a man, as before; but such damages did not require death, but satisfaction in another way;

²² Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger as for one of your own country; for I am the Lord your God.’” — as well for the stranger as for one of your own country; the above laws were binding upon proselytes as well as Israelites;

²³ And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

— and the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses; they took the blasphemer, and led him out of the camp, put their hands on him, and stoned him with stones till he died.

~ by Joel on January 20, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses