The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

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Numbers 17

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, and take from every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, from all their princes according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods. Write thou every man’s name upon his rod.

— and the Lord spake unto Moses; after the plague ceased, for the further confirmation of the priesthood in Aaron’s family, another method is directed to by the Lord; a rod; either an ordinary walking staff; or rather, that staff or rod which the princes carried in their hand as tokens of their dignity and authority;

³ And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi, for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. — Aaron’s name; rather than Levi’s, for that would have left the controversy undecided between Aaron and the other Levites;

⁴ And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the Testimony, where I will meet with you. — before the testimony; that is, the ark in which the testimony or the law was; here they were laid as in the presence of God;

⁵ And it shall come to pass that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.” — shall blossom; bud and blossom, and yield fruit, as it afterwards did, which is here declared beforehand, that the miracle might appear the greater, exactly answering to a prediction delivered out before of it;

— and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you; against Moses for setting up his brother as an high priest.

⁶ And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. — and the rod of Aaron was among their rods: in the middle of them, and was so placed, it might not be said, because it was put on the side of the Shekinah or divine Majesty, therefore it budded;

⁷ And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. — and Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. In that part of the tabernacle where the testimony or witness was, that is, the law, which was in the ark, over which was the mercy seat;

⁸ And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds.

— behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded; as the budding of Aaron’s rod was the divinely appointed proof of the establishment of the priesthood in his person and in his posterity, so our Lord proved Himself to be the true High Priest over the House of God by coming forth as “a rod [or shoot] out of the stem of Jesse: Isaiah 11:1;

⁹ And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod. — and they looked, and took every man his rod; which they knew by their names upon them; by their own handwriting; for though Moses is bid to write their names on them, Numbers 17:2;

¹⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod again before the Testimony to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from Me, that they die not.” — bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony; before the ark, in which the testimony or law was;

— that they die not; quite silence all the murmurings of the people with respect to the priesthood being so fully convinced by this miracle of the divine authority Aaron and his family had to exercise the priestly office; and they only, and so such destruction of the people be prevented;

¹¹ And Moses did so; as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

¹² And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying, “Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish! — Behold, we die, we perish; an exclamation of fear, both from the remembrance of former judgements and the apprehension of future relapses into murmuring;

— to punishments past and future, so the Targum of Jonathan says, “some of us have been consumed by flaming fire, and others of us have been swallowed up in the earth and are lost, and, lo, we are accounted as if all of us are to be destroyed.”

¹³ Whosoever cometh anywhere near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die. Shall we be consumed with dying?” — shall we be consumed with dying? such violent deaths, until there are none left of us?

— but the words could be rendered affirmatively; we are near or about to be consumed; and so the Targum of Jonathann says “Any one who approaches the tabernacle must die: are we not doomed to destruction?”

Numbers 18

¹ And the Lord said unto Aaron: “Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

— the iniquity of the sanctuary; shall suffer the punishment of all the usurpations or pollutions of the sanctuary, or the holy things, by the Levites or any of the people, because you have authority and power from me to keep them all within their bounds;

² And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee and minister unto thee; but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. — before the tabernacle, which was the proper place where the Levites ministered, whereas the priests did minister to God both before and in the tabernacle.

³ And they shall keep thy charge and the charge of all the tabernacle; only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. — and they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle; that is, the Levites, whatever Aaron and his sons, the priests, should charge them to do, or commit to their care and charge;

— only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary; as the ark and mercy seat in the holy of holies, the shewbread table, and candlestick in the holy place; wherefore when these were removed from place to place in journeying, they were covered, that they might not touch them as they carried them;

— and the altar; both of incense and burnt offering, on neither of which might they offer: that neither they nor you also die: the priests for suffering them to meddle with things that did not belong to them, and the Levites for intruding themselves.

⁴ And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation for all the service of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. — and they shall be joined unto thee; as assistants in the sacred service;

— and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you; not any of the other tribes, only such as were of the tribe of Levi; they only were to be brought with them, and joined unto them, and assist them, and minister to them;

⁵ And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. — and ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary; that is, the priests, Aaron and his sons; the high priest was to keep the charge of the most holy place particularly,

— and do what was to be done in that on the day of atonement; and the common priests to keep the charge of the holy place, and do everything relating to the altar of incense, the shewbread table, and candlestick; and the charge of the altar; of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle;

⁶ And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel. To you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. — and I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites, from among the children of Israel; same is said in Numbers 3:12; only they are called the brethren of the priests for the reason given, Numbers 18:2;

⁷ Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar and within the veil; and ye shall serve. I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift, and the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to death.”

— as a service of gift; as a gift which I have freely conferred upon you, and upon you alone; and therefore let no man henceforth dare either to charge you with arrogance and usurpation in appropriating this to yourselves, or to invade your office;

— and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death; any common person, as the Targum of Jonathan says; any Israelite, one that is a stranger from the priests, though a Levite, such one might not come either to the altar of burnt offering to offer any sacrifice upon it, or the altar of incense, to burn incense on that, or trim the lamps, or put the shewbread in order, or to do anything peculiar to the priest’s office.

— the greater the trust of work and power that is committed to us, the greater danger there is of betraying that trust; this is a good reason why we should neither envy others’ honours, nor desire high places;

⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Aaron: “Behold, I also have given thee the charge of Mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel. Unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. — unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing: because of his office as a priest, to which he was consecrated by anointing: and to thy sons by an ordinance for ever;

⁹ This shall be thine of the most holy things reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto Me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

— these gifts they were to eat, as most holy, in a most holy place, that is, in the court of the tabernacle; for thee, and for thy sons, to wit, exclusively, none else may eat them; but what about their priestly wives and daughters. —

¹⁰ In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy unto thee. — these gifts they were to eat in a most holy place, as in God’s presence, that is, in the court of the tabernacle;

¹¹ And this is thine: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever; every one who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

— I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever; for these were to be eaten in their own houses, and by their families, wives, children, and servants bought with their money, or born in their houses; but not hired servants, nor sojourners, nor strangers;

¹² All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. — the firstfruits of their harvest and vintage, which being offered to the Lord, was given to the priests;

¹³ And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine. Every one who is clean in thine house shall eat of it. — every one that is clean; and none else, because these were first offered to God, and by consequent given to the priests; but for those which were directly and immediately given to the priests, the clean and unclean might eat of them.

¹⁴ Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. — everything devoted in Israel shall be thine—provided it was adapted for food or consumable by use; for the gold and silver vessels that were dedicated as the spoils of victory were not given to the priests, but for the use and adornment of the sacred edifice.

¹⁵ Every thing that openeth the womb in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine. Nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. — whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine; every firstborn of either, being the Lord’s, became the priest’s by his gift;

— nevertheless, the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem; that is, take the redemption price for it, which was five shekels, as in Numbers 18:16; for the original proprietor was, strictly speaking, the redeemer, and paid the money, and the priest was the receiver, to whom it was paid; Exodus 13:13;

¹⁶ And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary which is twenty gerahs. — for the money of five shekels; and is the price given for the redemption of the firstborn, when the Levites were taken in their stead, Numbers 3:47;

¹⁷ But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat thou shalt not redeem. They are holy. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a sweet savor unto the Lord. — and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire; for a sweet savour unto the Lord; and not to be redeemed nor alienated to any other use.

¹⁸ And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. — and the flesh of them shall be thine; for him and his family to eat of.

¹⁹ All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever. It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”

— have I given thee, and thy sons, and thy daughters “of the holy things” (and their wives probably) with thee, by a statute for ever: so providing for their maintenance by an irrepealable law forever;

note: “of the most holy” are to be consumed only at the tabernacle and only for Aaron and his sons; the priests;

²⁰ And the Lord spoke unto Aaron, “Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

— neither shalt thou have any part among them; any part of the land when it is divided by lot, as it was in the times of Joshua, when taken from the Canaanites; no tract of land was peculiarly assigned to them as were to the other tribes, as fields, nor vineyards; they had cities appointed them, and they had houses and fields devoted to the Lord;

²¹ And behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. — the tenth; for the tithes of the produce of the land; of the wheat, barley, oil, and wine; the tenth part of their harvest and vintage; were all given to the Levites, and out of their tithes the tenth was given to the priests.

²² Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin and die. — neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation; to do any part of the priest’s office, as to burn incense, as Korah and his company had done;

— or to do any part of the work of the Levites, by watching in the tabernacle, by taking it down and setting it up, and bearing the vessels of it; otherwise they might come to it, to bring their sacrifices, to pay their vows, and for their purification when necessary, and such like things;

— lest they bear sin and die; lest sin be charged upon them, and punishment be inflicted, even the punishment of death; for it was death to intrude into the priest’s office.

²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. — but the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: they shall bear their iniquity;

— they were to be responsible for the right discharge of those duties that were assigned to them, and consequently to bear the penalty that was due to negligence or carelessness in the guardianship of the holy things.

²⁴ But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit. Therefore I have said unto them: ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’” — heave-offering, which is for the most part understood of a particular kind of offerings heaved or lifted up to the Lord, is here used for any offering in general, as before, Numbers 18:8.

²⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁶ “Thus speak unto the Levites and say unto them: ‘When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up a heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.

— thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them; Aaron was to tell them what a provision would be made for them on account of their service, but Moses was to inform them what part Aaron was to have out of it;

— the best of their tithes was to be assigned to the priests, and afterwards they enjoyed the same liberty to make use of the remainder that other Israelites had of the produce of their threshing-floors and wine-presses.

²⁷ And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you as though it were the corn of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the wine press. — the Levites; to offer tenth of the tithe, out of their own they were to pay tithes to the priests equally as the people gave to them;

²⁸ Thus ye also shall offer a heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive from the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord’S heave offering to Aaron the priest. — ye shall give thereof the Lord’s heave offering to Aaron the priest; that is, the Levites tithed the people, the priests tithed the Levites.

²⁹ Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.’ — your gifts; not only out of your tithes, but out of the other gifts which you receive from the people;

³⁰ Therefore thou shalt say unto them: ‘When ye have offered the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor and as the increase of the wine press. — of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof, out of it; which was the tenth part, and that was to be the best of it, which was always to be given to the Lord.

³¹ And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households, for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.

— they might eat it (the tithe they had received, after taking off the priests’ tithe) in any place with their families, they and their wives, their sons and daughters, their servants, whether bought or hired; as it was the reward for their service at the tabernacle;

³² And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have offered from it the best of it; neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.’”

— neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel; the gifts they have given for holy uses, and so are holy; which would be the case if they ate of them, or enjoyed them, without giving the priests the tenth part of them: lest ye die; for it seems such a neglect was punishable with death.

~ by Japheth on March 6, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses