The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

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Numbers 11

¹ And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; and the Lord heard it, and His anger was kindled. And the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed those who were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

— unaccustomed to the fatigues of travel and wandering into the depths of a desert; the people complained and it displeased the Lord; a fire sent from God in an extraordinary manner, possibly from the pillar of cloud and fire, or from heaven;

— in the uttermost parts of the camp; either because the sin began there among the mixt multitude, who probably had their place there; or amongst those who were feeble and weary with their last journey, and therefore hindmost in the march;

— the Targum Jonathan says “But there were wicked men of the people, who, being discontent, devised and imagined evil before the Lord. . . and a flaming fire was kindled among them from the Lord, which destroyed some of the wicked in the outskirts of the house of Dan, with whom was a graven image.”

² And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched. — the fire was quenched; it stopped and proceeded no further;

³ And he called the name of the place Taberah [that is, A burning], because the fire of the Lord burned among them. — because the fire of the Lord burnt among them; to perpetuate the, memory of this kind of punishment for their sins,

— that it might be a terror and warning to others; and this history is indeed recorded for our caution in these last days, that we murmur not as these Israelites did, and were destroyed of the destroyer;

⁴ And the mixed multitude that was among them fell to lusting. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, “Who shall give us flesh to eat? — the mixt multitude among them; the word in the original resembles our “riff-raff,” and denotes a mob of people scraped together. It refers here to the multitude of strangers (Exodus 12:38) who had followed the Israelites from Egypt;

— possibly caused by “the mixed multitude” at Exodus 12:38; but not solely “the mixed multitude that was among them fell to lusting” and the children of Israel also wept again; they lusted after flesh likewise; and said, who shall give us flesh to eat?

⁵ We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; — they felt and expressed a longing for the better food which they had enjoyed in Egypt, and which was they had in the desert, and urged the Israelites to cry out for flesh again, especially for the flesh and the savoury vegetables in which Egypt abounded;

⁶ but our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes.” — is dried away; is withered, and pines away; which possibly might be true through envy and discontent, and inordinate appetite;

⁷ And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. — bdellium is either, a) the gum of a tree, of a white and bright colour; or rather, b) a gem or precious stone;

⁸ And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. — and the people went about and gathered this manna; this they did every morning, and this was all the trouble they were at; they had it for gathering, without any expense to them;

— and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil; which is very grateful and pleasant, as well as very fattening and nourishing; so that the Israelites had no reason to complain of their being dried away by continual eating of it;

⁹ And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. — the manna fell upon it; as constantly, and had thereby a clean place to fall on; and then another dew fell upon that, which kept it the cleaner still, and from any vermin creeping upon it;

¹⁰ Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. — the weeping was general; every family wept, and in a manner public and unconcealed;

— and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; because of their ingratitude to him, their contempt of the manna he had provided for them, and their hankering after their poor fare in Egypt, and for which they had endured so much hardship and ill usage, and for the noise and clamour they now made;

¹¹ And Moses said unto the Lord, “Why hast Thou afflicted Thy servant? And why have I not found favor in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? — why hast thou afflicted thy servant? or “done evil” to him, that which was distressing to him, and gave him trouble; namely, setting him at the head of the people of Israel, and laying the government of them on his shoulders;

¹² Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that Thou shouldest say unto me, ‘Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which Thou swearest unto their fathers’? — have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them? Conceived them as a mother, or begotten them as a father? am I a parent of either sort to them?

¹³ From whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they weep unto me, saying, ‘Give us flesh, that we may eat.’ — give us flesh, that we may eat; Moses seems to pity them, whereas he ought to have reproved them for their murmurings and ingratitude, and put them in mind of the manna which was provided for them every day, and with which they ought to have been content.

¹⁴ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. — I am not able to bear all this people alone; the burden of government of them, to take care of them and provide sustenance for them;

¹⁵ And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in Thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness!” — kill me, I pray thee, out of hand; take me out of the world at once, or “kill me now, in killing”- dispatch me immediately, and make a thorough end of me directly;

— and let me not see my wretchedness; or live to be the unhappy man I shall be; pressed with such a weight of government, affected and afflicted with the wants of a people I cannot relieve;

— or seeing them bore down with judgements and punishments inflicted on them for their sins and transgressions I am not able to prevail upon them to abstain from; as the Targum of Jerusalem says, “that I may not see their evil, who are thy people;”

¹⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

— to be elders; whom thou by experience discernest to be elders, not only in years and name, but also in wisdom and authority with the people. These “elders and officers of the people” being traced to the origin of the Sanhedrim; with a prince or president at the head of them, who later regulate the working of the calendar.

¹⁷ And I will come down and talk with thee there. And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

— and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee; “the spirit” means the gifts and influences of the Spirit; and by “taking the spirit of Moses, and putting it upon them,” is to be understood that the qualities of the the elders would be endowed with a portion of the same gifts, especially of knowledge and wisdom; that is, an extraordinary penetration in discovering hidden and settling difficult things of government.

¹⁸ And say thou unto the people: ‘Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and ye shall eat flesh. For ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, “Who shall give us flesh to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. — and ye shall eat flesh; which they lusted after, wept for, and could not be easy without: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord; complaining of him, and which he has taken notice of;

¹⁹ Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days, — God would give them flesh, so that they should eat it not one day, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty, but a whole month long of “days,” “till it come out of your nostrils, and become loathsome unto you,” as a punishment in their contempt of the manna given by God, and for having shown their regret at leaving the land of Egypt in their longing for the provisions of that land.

²⁰ but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils and it be loathsome unto you, because ye have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why came we forth out of Egypt?”’” — until it come out at your nostrils; so many, or so much being vomited up, through a nausea of it, the stomach being overfilled and glutted with it; in which case, it will make its way through the nostrils, as well as out of the mouth;

²¹ And Moses said, “The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and Thou hast said, ‘I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.’ — Moses said, the people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand … Shall the flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them?

²² Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to suffice them?” — shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? suggesting that if all their cattle, their sheep, and oxen were killed, with the mixed multitude brought out of Egypt, they would not be sufficient for them to live upon a whole month;

²³ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Has the Lord’S hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” — is the Lord’s hand waxed short? or his power diminished since the creation, when he formed all things out of nothing, and what is it then he is not able to do?

— or since he wrought the wonders in Egypt, divided the Red sea, rained down manna from heaven, and smote the rock at Horeb, from whence waters flowed sufficient for all this people, and their flocks and herds; and he that did all this could give them flesh that would suffice them a whole month;

²⁴ And Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and set them round about the tabernacle. — and told the people of the words of the Lord; what he had ordered him to do for his ease in the government of them, and how he had promised to give them flesh on the morrow;

²⁵ And the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him and gave it unto the seventy elders; and it came to pass that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. — and did not cease; from prophesying; the spirit of prophecy continued with them, which, in some cases, might be necessary: or, they ceased not to prophesy all that day, though they afterwards did;

²⁶ But there remained two of the men in the camp: the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of those who were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle; and they prophesied in the camp. — but there remained two of the men in the camp; of the seventy who were summoned, that came not out of the camp of Israel to the tabernacle when the rest did;

— the Targum Jonathan says

And the Spirit of prophecy resting upon them,

Eldad prophe­sied, and said: Behold, Mosheh shall be gathered from the world; and Jehoshua bar Nun [Joshua], the minister of the camps, will be established after him, and will lead the people of the house of Israel into the land of Kenaan, and make it their inheritance.

Medad prophesied, and said: Behold, quails come up from the sea, and cover all the camp of Israel; but they will be to the people (a cause of) an offence.

And both of them prophesied together, and said: Behold, a king will arise from the land of Magog, at the end of the days, and will assemble kings crowned with crowns, and captains wearing armour, and him will all nations obey.

And they will set battle in array in the land of Israel against the children of the captivity; but already is it provided that in the hour of distresses all of them shall perish by the burning blast of the flame that cometh forth from beneath the Throne of Glory; and their carcases shall fall upon the mountains of the land of Israel, and the wild beasts of the field and the fowls of the sky shall come and consume their dead bodies.

And afterward will all the dead of Israel live (again), and be feasted from the ox which hath been set apart for them from the beginning, and they shall receive the reward of their works. And they were of the elders who stood in the registers among them; but they had not gone forth to the tabernacle, but had hidden to escape from the dignity; yet they prophesied in the camp.

— from this Targum translation, it could be established that Gog is a King, or title of a King, like Caesar, Czar or Agag (as in Numbers 24:7 in the Septuagint), a dynastic name for the kings of the Amalekites.

— And afterward will all the dead of Israel live (again); this sstablish the the death of “Gog and Magog” is not before, but after, and then again, it may not be at once but “each in his own order” 1 Corinthians 15:23, indicating there are many orders, first at Christ’s coming, then throughout the Millennium.

²⁷ And there ran a young man and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.” — there ran a young man and told Moses; fearing lest Moses’ authority should be diminished by their prophesying, and thereby taking power to themselves without his consent.

— that is, this young man thought Eldad and Medad were not right, being done without the knowledge and approbation of Moses, and in a private tent in the tabernacle, not among the elders, but among the common people;

²⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, “My lord Moses, forbid them!” — answered and said, my lord Moses, forbid them; prophesying, restrain them from it, suffer them not to go on in it; he would have him exert his authority as the chief magistrate;

— Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp seemed to Joshua to be acting independently, and so establishing a separate center of authority.

²⁹ And Moses said unto him, “Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord’S people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” — Moses said unto him, enviest thou for my sake? Lest his authority should be weakened, and his honour lessened, because they began not to prophesy in his presence, and at the tabernacle, and among the rest of the elders, and so seemed not to have received of the Spirit that was upon him, and to be independent of him;

³⁰ And Moses got him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. — Moses returned with the elders into the camp, that is, from the tabernacle, which stood upon an open space in the midst of the camp, at some distance from the tents of the Levites and the rest of the tribes of Israel, which were pitched around it, so that whoever wished to go to it, had first of all to go out of his tent.

³¹ And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. — quails commonly fly low, and when wearied with a long flight might fly only about breast-high;

— on the other hand, the more obvious interpretation of the words is that the quails were spread over the ground, and covered it in some places to the height of two cubits.

³² And the people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next day, and they gathered the quails. He that gathered least gathered ten homers, and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. — gathered least gathered ten homers; or so many ass loads, that the people did not gather for their present use only, but for a good while to come; which lasted probably a month;

³³ And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. — a very great plague; whether it was leanness sent into them, whereby the food was deprived of its nourishing power, which it hath only from God’s blessing;

— or surfeit, a punishment most suitable to their sin, and most likely to follow their intemperate desire and use of this food; and besides, they were before pressed with famine, now they had a plenty of manna every day; or the pestilence; it is not much material: but a great and sore plague unquestionably it was.

³⁴ And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah [that is, The graves of lust], because there they buried the people who lusted. — because there they buried the people that lusted; not all that lusted, for the lusting was pretty general; but all that died through their gluttony and intemperance, and the judgement of God on them;

³⁵ And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth, and abode at Hazeroth.

Numbers 12

¹ And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. — and Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses; Miriam appears to have been the leader as her name occurs before that of Aaron in this insurrection against Moses;

— because of the Ethiopian woman, whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman; perhaps a daughter of a king of Ethiopia before he fled from Pharaoh, as the Targum of Jonathan indicates; Moses was forty when he fled so he could have married a princess of Ethiopia by then;

² And they said, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath He not spoken also by us?” And the Lord heard it. — Aaron also received the revelation of God by Urim and Thummim and Miriam was expressly called a prophetess, Exodus 4:14 Exodus 15:20; she seems to have a legitimate claim that Moses had no monopoly of Divine communications;

³ (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men who were upon the face of the earth.) — now the man Moses was very meek; so that they might say anything against him, and he not be affronted, nor resent any injury;

⁴ And the Lord spoke suddenly unto Moses and unto Aaron and unto Miriam: “Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation.” And the three came out. — and the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam; as one greatly provoked, and highly displeased, and which was shown at once; and in order to prevent the complaint getting among the people, and spreading, which might have been of bad consequence;

⁵ And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth. — in the door of the tabernacle, where they stood outside, not being admitted into the tabernacle, as Aaron used to be; which is noted as a sign of God’s displeasure.

⁶ And He said, “Hear now My words: If there be a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. — as he speak unto him in a dream; as he had done to Jacob, Genesis 31:11, and as he did afterwards to Daniel, Daniel 7:1, and many others.

⁷ My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house. — My servant Moses is not so; because God speak to him mouth to mouth, even plainly, that is, he is a prophet of a higher rank as he faithfully delivered to them all the laws, statutes, and ordinances, which he appointed to be observed by them;

⁸ With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Why then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” — Mouth to mouth; that is, in a most familiar manner, distinctly, and by an articulate voice, as one friend discourses with another,

— or as two friends in conversation hear and answer each other by turns. Moses enjoyed this singular privilege, which was to no other of the prophets, that God spoke to him constantly, and not by an interpreter, nor by visions and dreams, but by a distinct audible voice;

⁹ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed. — He departed; from the door of the tabernacle, in token of his great displeasure; not waiting for their answer.

¹⁰ And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle. And behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. — leprous, white as snow; that is, was leprous as snow when the disease covered the whole body, and the whole of the flesh had turned white;

¹¹ And Aaron said unto Moses, “Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned. — lay not the sin; let not the guilt and punishment of this sin rest upon us, upon her in this kind, upon me in any other kind, but pray to God for the pardon and removal.

¹² Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.” — as one dead; either naturally, because part of her flesh was putrefied and dead, and not to be restored but by the mighty power of God; or morally, because she was cut off from all converse with others;

¹³ And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, “Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee.” — saying, heal her now, O God, I beseech thee; this prayer is a proof of his being of a meek, humble, and forgiving spirit.

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.” — spit in her face, that is, expressed some eminent token of indignation and contempt, which this was;

— seven days, the time appointed for cleansing the unclean, Numbers 6:9 31:19. But the Targum Jonathan says fourteen days, or a two series of seven days; (1) disgraced and secluded seven days, (2) tarry until the time that she is healed, and then re-admitted;

¹⁵ And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days, and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. — journeyed not; which was a testimony of respect to her both from God and from the people; God so ordering it, partly lest she should be overwhelmed by such a public rebuke from God, and partly lest, she being a prophetess, the gift of prophecy should come into contempt.

¹⁶ And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth and pitched camp in the Wilderness of Paran. — the people did not proceed any farther till the restoration of Miriam. After this they departed from Hazeroth, and encamped in the desert of Paran, namely at Kadesh, on the southern boundary of Canaan.

Posted in Books of Moses

“And upon thy sword shalt thou depend, entering at every place: yet thou shalt be supple and credulous, and be in subjection to thy brother [Jacob]; but it will be that when his sons [the children of Israel] become evil, and fall from keeping the commandments of the law, thou shalt break his yoke of servitude from off thy neck….and then will I kill Jakob my brother,” Genesis 27:41-42 Jonathan 

Numbers 9

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

— in the first month of the second year; the celebration of the Passover, as recorded in this chapter, preceded in order of time the numbering of the people recorded in Numbers 1, and the other events which were connected with it. No provision had hitherto been made for the celebration of the Passover in the wilderness.

² “Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season. — keep the Passover at his appointed season; being kept in the first month; that is, in spring;

³ In the fourteenth day of this month at evening ye shall keep it in his appointed season. According to all the rites of it and according to all the ceremonies thereof shall ye keep it.” — at evening; which in Hebrew, is ben ha’arbayim “between the two evenings”

— the Orthodox definition of ben ha’arbayim “between the two evenings” is interpreted as “after noon and until nightfall,” the slaying of the lambs was the first of nine ordinances to be fulfilled on the Passover;

⁴ And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. — this was the first observance of the passover since the exodus; and without and the Israelites were to keep it till their settlement in the land of Canaan, and beyond;

⁵ And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening in the Wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. — again at evening; which in Hebrew, is ben ha’arbayim “between the two evenings” that is, “after noon and until nightfall,”

⁶ And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. — by the dead body of a man; by the touch of a dead body; who may have died suddenly; and so all were defiled, being in the place where the dead body was, or had touched it;

⁷ And those men said unto him, “We are defiled by the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in its appointed season among the children of Israel?” — those certain men; probably Mishael and Elizaphan, who buried their cousins, Nadab and Abihu, within a week of this Passover Leviticus 10:4-5.

⁸ And Moses said unto them, “Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.” — Moses told them to wait (stand), and he would hear what the Lord, of whom he would inquire, would command.

⁹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁰ “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord. — If any man of you or of your posterity; be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey.

¹¹ The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. — again at evening; which in Hebrew, is ben ha’arbayim “between the two evenings” that is, “after noon and until nightfall,”

¹² They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. — they shall leave none of it unto the morning; none of the flesh of the passover lamb, what was left was to be burnt with fire, Exodus 12:10;

— to make this clearer, “between the two evenings” is from the time when the sun begins to incline towards the west, which is from the sixth hour [noon or 12 o’clock] and onwards. It is erevim [“evenings”] because there are TWO EVENINGS, for “between the two evenings” is from the time that the sun begins to decline as one evening, and the other evening is after the sun has GONE DOWN. It is the space of time in between which is meant by “between the two evenings.”

— for erevs in Orthodox terminology, there are two evenings (erevs), one from the time the sun begins to decline, and the other evening is after the sun has gone down, til midnight.

¹³ But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he brought not the offering of the Lord in its appointed season. That man shall bear his sin.

— the man that forbeareth to keep the passover, through contempt or neglect, without these or any other just impediments, as before; even the same soul shall be cut off from his people; either be excommunicated from them, or cut off by death by the immediate hand of God;

¹⁴ And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord, according to the ordinance of the Passover and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do. Ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land.’”

— if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover; Gentile converts, or proselytes, as they were called, were admitted, if circumcised, to the same privileges as native Israelites, and were liable to excommunication if they neglected the passover.

¹⁵ And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony; and at evening there was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire until the morning. — the erev here is the second evening, that is, after the sun has gone down, til midnight.

¹⁶ So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. — and the appearance of fire by night; when as a cloud it could not be because of the darkness of the night; as in the daytime it could not be discerned as a body of fire or light, because of the light of the sun;

¹⁷ And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud stood still, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. — and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents; when it stopped and remained without any motion, it was a signal to the children of Israel to stop also.

¹⁸ At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched camp. As long as the cloud stayed upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents; — the motion or stay of the cloud is fitly called the command of God, because it was a signification of God’s will and their duty, which a command properly is;

¹⁹ and when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and journeyed not. — and when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days; or years, for days are sometimes put for years, and in some places the cloud tarried several years; or however, if it stayed but a month or a year in any place;

²⁰ And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of the Lord they stayed in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.

— the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; days which were so few that they might be easily numbered: the Targum of Jonathan interprets them of the seven days of the week, as if the sense was, when the cloud rested a week on the tabernacle;

²¹ And so it was, when the cloud tarried from evening unto the morning, and the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed. Whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. — erev for evening; from even unto the morning; the whole night, during which time they rested in their beds;

²² Or whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel remained in their tents and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

— or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle; sometimes it tarried but half a day, sometimes a whole day, sometimes two days, at other times a whole month, and even a year;

²³ At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

— they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses; observed the rest or motion of the cloud, the order and command of God signified thereby, as it was made known unto them by the ministry and means of Moses.

Numbers 10

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Make thee two trumpets of silver. Of a whole piece shalt thou make them, that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly and for the journeying of the camps. — two trumpets; for Aaron’s two sons; Eleazar and Ithamar, though afterward the number of the trumpets was much increased, as the number of the priests also was.

³ And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. — the trumpet was a straight instrument, differing in this respect from the curved horn or cornet; and is represented, among the other spoils of the temple, on the Arch of Titus;

— all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; to hear what was to be said unto them: blowing both the trumpets together was a token that the whole congregation was called to meet together at the tabernacle, the door of which was the usual place of assembling, especially on religious counts, for there also the Lord met them, Exodus 29:42.

⁴ And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, who are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. — and if they blow but with one trumpet; with only one of them, or but once, with one sounding, and that an even one as before: then the princes, which are the heads of the thousands of Israel;

⁵ When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. — when ye blow an alarm; a sound “tara-tan-tara”

— then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward; the camps of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, which lay to the east of the tabernacle, at the front of it;

— one of a series of JUDAH FIRST (1) Movement of the Camp, Numbers 2:3; (2) Judah’s First Day to present Offering, Numbers 7:12; (3) Judah first to cross the Jordan River, Jewish Malbim writing.

⁶ When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey. They shall blow an alarm for their journeys. — when ye blow an alarm the second time; another “tara-tan-tara”

— then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey; the camps of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, which were encamped on the south side of the tabernacle;

⁷ But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. — ye shall blow, but not sound an alarm: that is, blow with an even and uninterrupted sound; by which the congregation and camps were distinguished from one another, the same certain sound being given to each constantly;

⁸ And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. — and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; as Aaron had only two sons at this time, Eleazar and Ithamar, there was need only of two trumpets;

⁹ And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. — if ye go to war; in the land of Canaan, either when attacked by foreign invaders or when they went to take possession according to the divine promise;

— against the Kenites and Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites and the Perizzites and Rephaim, the Amorites and the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites. Genesis 15:19-21

¹⁰ Also in the day of your gladness and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

— that they may be to you for a memorial before your God; as it were, to put him in mind of the promises he has made, and the blessings he has laid up as a covenant God for his people;

— I am the Lord your God; who had a right to appoint such things to be observed by them, and by whom, as their covenant God, they were laid under obligation to regard them.

¹¹ And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony.

— that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony; that part of the tabernacle where the ark of the testimony stood, even the most holy place, over which the cloud was, the token of the divine Presence, and which it covered;

— but now was taken up from it, and went up higher above it, and was a signal for the motion of the camps of Israel to set forward in their journey towards the Promised Land.

¹² And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the Wilderness of Paran.

¹³ And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

¹⁴ In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies; and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

— one of a series of JUDAH FIRST (1) Movement of the Camp, Numbers 2:3; (2) Judah’s First Day to present Offering, Numbers 7:12;

¹⁵ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

¹⁶ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷ And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari moved forward, bearing the tabernacle. — the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari; of the sons of Levi;

¹⁸ And the standard of the camp of Reuben moved forward according to their armies; and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.

¹⁹ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

²⁰ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

²¹ And the Kohathites moved forward, bearing the sanctuary; and the others set up the tabernacle for when they came. — and the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi; set forward; after the standard of the camps of Reuben, and between that and the standard of the camp of Ephraim;

²² And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim moved forward according to their armies; and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. — and the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies; next followed the standard of the camp of Ephraim, under which were Manasseh and Benjamin;

²³ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

²⁴ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵ And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan moved forward, which was the rearmost of all the camps throughout their hosts; and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

— last of all, Dan, with the associated tribes, brought up the rear of the immense caravan. Each tribe was marshalled under its prince or chief and in all their movements rallied around its own standard;

²⁶ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran.

²⁷ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.

²⁸ Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies when they moved forward. — according to their armies; ranged under their several standards:

²⁹ And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law: “We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.”

— Hobab, the son of Raguel; or Reuel Exodus 2:18. Reuel was probably not identical with Jethro: and Hobab was the brother-in-law, not the father-in-law, of Moses; the Hebrew word translated in the King James Version “father-in-law,” signifying simply any relation by marriage;

— Hobab Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11 eventually accompanied the Israelites and obtained a settlement with them in the land of Canaan.

³⁰ And he said unto him, “I will not go, but I will depart to mine own land and to my kindred.” — and Hobab said unto Moses, who invites his kindred to go to Canaan;

³¹ And he said, “Leave us not, I pray thee, inasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. — and Moses continued to persuade Hobab, said;

— and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes; that is, or guide and direct them in the road through the wilderness; or to assist with his advice in difficult matters, when they should be in pressing circumstances: the Targum of Jonathan is, “thou hast been dear unto us, as the apple of our eyes.”

³² And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.” — Hobab would indicate the spots where water, fuel, and pasture might be found, or warn them of the dangers from wild beasts, or point out localities infested by robbers.

³³ And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey to search out a resting place for them. — before them; not so much in place, for so it went in the midst, or at least after the first camp;

— and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them; the ark being carried by the Kohathites, must proceed in the middle of the camps, after the camps of Judah and Reuben, but before the camps of Ephraim and Dan;

³⁴ And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day when they went out of the camp. — and the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day; not only upon the tabernacle, and upon the ark particularly, but it spread itself in journeying over the whole body of the people, and therefore said to be a covering to them from the heat of the sun;

³⁵ And it came to pass, when the ark moved forward, that Moses said, “Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.”

— their going out and coming in, gives an example to us to begin and end every day’s journey and every day’s work with prayer; and here is Moses’s prayer when the ark set forward, Rise up, and let thine enemies be scattered.

³⁶ And when it rested he said, “Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.” — the pray of this petition is, that upon the resting of the ark God would take up his abode with them, grant them his presence, and manifest his love, mercy, and goodness unto them; to the land which he had sworn to their fathers, the land of Israel.

Posted in Books of Moses

Numbers 7

¹ And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and sanctified them,

— and sanctified them; the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering, and all appertaining; this finishing of the whole was at the end of the seven days of consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:35.

² that the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes and were over those who were numbered, offered. — offered not sacrifices but gifts; they brought their presents to the Lord for the service of his sanctuary, and set them before him, as follows;

³ And they brought their offering before the Lord: six covered wagons and twelve oxen — a wagon for two of the princes and for each one an ox; and they brought them before the tabernacle.

— and they brought them before the tabernacle; the Targum of Jonathan says, Moses would not receive them, and therefore they brought them before the tabernacle; and so, Moses received them not at their hands, until it was declared to him by the mouth of the Lord what he should do, as follows;

⁴ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁵ “Take it from them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.” — to every man according to his service; whether lighter or heavier, for such difference there was in the three divisions of the Levites; and according as their work was, they had more or fewer wagons and oxen given them;

⁶ And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.

⁷ Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service; — unto the sons of Gershon; the eldest son of Levi;

⁸ and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. — to the sons of Merari; all the remaining wagons and oxen, which were double the number given to the Gershonites;

⁹ But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders. — because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders;

— as the ark with the mercy seat, and cherubim, the shewbread table, the candlestick, and the two altars; though in later times we find the ark was sometimes not only carried by the priests, but upon a cart;

¹⁰ And the princes offered for the dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. — and the princes offered for dedicating of the altar; for setting it apart to sacred use and service, even the altar of burnt offering;

¹¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.” — each prince in his day; thus the dedication continued no less than twelve days, which made it very solemn, and gave to every tribe an opportunity, by its representative, to express their devotion and reverence to God, and to receive tokens of gracious acceptance from him;

¹² And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. — the first day was Nahshon; of the tribe of Judah; taking the lead, Judah having had the precedence assigned to it, the prince or head of that tribe was the first admitted to offer as its representative;

— one of a series of JUDAH FIRST (1) Movement of the Camp, Numbers 2:3; (2) Judah’s First to present Offering, Numbers 7:12; (3) Judah first to cross the Jordan River, Jewish Malbim writing

¹³ And his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

¹⁴ one spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense;

¹⁵ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

¹⁶ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

¹⁷ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, offered. — on the second day Nethaneel, prince of Issachar, did offer; this tribe being stationed on the right side of Judah.

¹⁹ He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

²⁰ one spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense;

²¹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

²² one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

²³ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, offered. — Judah, then Issachar, then Zebulun, which was on the left side; and so on in orderly succession, every tribe making the same kind of offering and in the same amount, to show that, as each was under equal obligation, each rendered an equal tribute;

— the name Helon or Elon is Dutch, from hence there in Pretoria arose Elon Musk of Dutch ancestry.

²⁵ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

²⁶ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

²⁷ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

²⁸ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

²⁹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, offered. — despite being the firstborn, Reuben was placed fourth here;

³¹ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

³² one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

³³ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

³⁴ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

³⁵ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, offered. — the fifth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

³⁷ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

³⁸ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

³⁹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁰ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁴¹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered. — the sixth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁴³ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and a silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁴⁴ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁴⁵ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁶ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁴⁷ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered. — the seventh, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁴⁹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁵⁰ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵¹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁵² one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁵³ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh. — the eight, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁵⁵ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁵⁶ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵⁷ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁵⁸ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁵⁹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered. — the ninth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁶¹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁶² one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶³ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁶⁴ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁶⁵ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered. — the tenth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁶⁷ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁶⁸ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶⁹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁰ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁷¹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered. — the eleventh, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁷³ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁷⁴ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁷⁵ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁶ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁷⁷ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered. — the twelfth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁷⁹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁸⁰ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁸¹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁸² one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁸³ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was the dedication of the altar in the day when it was anointed by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold,

⁸⁵ each charger of silver weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy. All the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

⁸⁶ The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels.

⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering, and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve.

⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the hegoats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ And when Moses had gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of One speaking unto him from the mercy seat that was upon the ark of Testimony, from between the two cherubims; and He spoke unto him.

— and when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation, to speak with God; to consult him on some affair or another, or to learn whether he had anything else to communicate to him, to be delivered to the children of Israel;

— or whether he had any directions and instructions to give him about the presents and gifts of the princes, since this seems to be immediately after their offerings;

— then Moses heard the voice of one speaking unto him; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, the voice of the Spirit; or rather the voice of the Shekinah, hence the Father, in or as the Shekinah spoke as the Spirit; hence they are the same Being, and the Spirit doesn’t exit as a separate being;

— from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; upon the ark in which the law was, called the testimony, was the mercy seat; over that were placed two cherubim shadowing it, and between these was the seat of the Majestic Father, where the Temple Jesus refered to as “my Father’s house,” (John 2:16);

— not only are the twelve tribes to bring burnt offerings and sacrfices, the nations afar off, are also required to do so: and this confirmation is from Isaiah 56:

⁶ Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant,

⁷ even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar, for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people,” Isaiah 56:6-7

Numbers 8

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him: ‘When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.’” — Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him; it being his work to light the lamps, though; it was not just incumbent on an high priest alone to do this, for it also belonged to the sons of Aaron;

— the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick; the Targum of Jonathan says, “at the same time of thy lighting the lamps over against the candlestick, there shall be seven lamps giving light: three on the west side and three on the east side, and the seventh in the middle:”

³ And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses. — and Aaron did so, he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick; as God had said so in the most holy place, as appears by the voice speaking from off the mercy seat;

⁴ And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold; unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work. According unto the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the candlestick. — according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses; when on Mount Sinai with him;

⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁶ “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them. — and cleanse them; with water, by sprinkling the water of purification on them, and by washing their bodies and clothes with water;

⁷ And thus shalt thou do unto them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. — and let them shave all their flesh; the hair of their bodies, in all parts thereof; even the beard; yet not the corners of it; but the whole hair of the body, everywhere, was to be shaved off;

⁸ Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. — after this purification the Levites were to bring two young bullocks, one with the corresponding meat-offering for a burnt-sacrifice, the other for a sin-offering;

⁹ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together. — and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together; the heads of the tribes, and elders of the people; where the whole congregation is said to be assembled at the consecration of the Levites;

¹⁰ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites. — put their hands; whereby they signified their transferring that right of ministering to God from the firstborn, in whose hands it formerly was, to the Levites;

¹¹ And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. — the ceremony of waving consisted in his conducting the Levites solemnly up to the altar, and then back again;

¹² And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for the Levites. — to make an atonement for the Levites; who could not be admitted to service until their sins were expiated;

— as no man is worthy to be employed in the work of God, but such for whom reconciliation for their sins is made by the blood, by which they are purged from dead works to serve the living God.

¹³ And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. — and thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons; after atonement was made for them; then they were presented to Aaron and his sons, to whom they were given to he their ministers, and assistants to them.

¹⁴ Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. — and the Levites shall be mine; that is, exempt from all military duty or secular work; free from all pecuniary imposition and wholly devoted to the custody and service of the sanctuary.

¹⁵ And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt cleanse them and offer them for an offering. — to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: to assist the priests at the altar of burnt offering, to take down the tabernacle and bear the vessels of it, and set it up, as occasion required;

¹⁶ For they are wholly given unto Me from among the children of Israel, instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto Me. — instead of such as open, every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto me;

¹⁷ For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast. On the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.

¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. — and I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. Gave up his right in the firstborn, and instead of them took the Levites for his use and service;

¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.”

— that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh to the sanctuary; by approaching nearer than they should, touching what they ought not, intruding themselves into service they were not called to, or doing it amiss, not being instructed in it, or inured to it as the Levites were.

²⁰ And Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites; so did the children of Israel unto them. — so did the children of Israel unto them: which, as Jarchi notes, is said to the praise of them that did it, and of what was done by them;

— everything was done that was ordered, and in the manner in which it was prescribed; Moses sprinkled, or ordered to be sprinkled, the water of purification on them, and set them before the tabernacle, and before the Lord; the children of Israel laid their hands on them, and Aaron waved them, offered the sacrifices for them.

²¹ And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord, and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. — and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them; by offering the sacrifices for them, Numbers 8:12.

²² And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them. — and after that went the Levites in; into the court of the tabernacle, being at the door when the above rites and ceremonies of their consecration were performed;

²³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁴ “This is what applies unto the Levites: From twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. — from twenty and five years old and upward, they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; in Numbers 4:3; the time for the Levites entering on the work of the tabernacle is fixed to thirty years and upward;

— at twenty five years old the Levite goes in to learn the rites of service, and he learns five years, and where he was employed in lighter service, such as opening and shutting the doors of the sanctuary; and at thirty years of age a Levite entered into the service of bearing and carrying burdens;

²⁵ And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more, — and shall serve no more; by bearing and carrying the vessels of the sanctuary upon their shoulders; and all the toilsome duties of the service, and shall only give advice and direction;

²⁶ but shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites concerning their charge.”

— to keep the charge; a clear distinction is here made between the service which involved heavy manual labour in carrying the furniture of the Tabernacle and in slaughtering the victims, and the charge or oversight of the furniture and the vessels of the Sanctuary.

Posted in Books of Moses

“And now, behold, I go unto my people. Come therefore, and I will warn thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days,” Numbers 24:14;

— these Words, prophecised by Balaam, especially in regards to the house of Jacob, “in the latter days,” are prophecies for our times!

Numbers 5

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

² “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper and every one who hath an issue and whosoever is defiled by the dead. — and everyone that hath an issue; leperous or having a gonorrhoea, man or woman, such an one might be in the camp of Israel, but was to be put out of the camps;

— and whosoever is defiled by the dead; by attending the funerals of the dead, or touching them, see Leviticus 21:1; such an one might go into the camp of the Levites,

³ Both male and female shall ye put out. Outside the camp shall ye put them, that they defile not their camps in the midst whereof I dwell.” — in the midst whereof I dwell; for the tabernacle, which was the dwelling place of the Lord, was in the midst of the camps of Israel;

⁴ And the children of Israel did so, and put them out outside the camp; as the Lord spoke unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁶ “Speak unto the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty, — the wrongs current amongst men; wrongs done to the property of another;

— such wrongs, perhaps because they were considered legitimate as long as they were not found out, were taken up by the Lord himself as involving a trespass against his own righteousness.

⁷ then they shall confess their sin which they have done. And he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it a fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. — the principal; that is, the thing he took away, or what is equivalent to it;

— and add; both as a compensation to the injured person for want of his goods so long, and as a penalty upon the injurious dealer, to discourage others from such attempts.

⁸ But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest, besides the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.

— but if a man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass to; this supposes that if a man should die, against whom the trespass is, before the restitution is made, then it shall be made to his heirs; and if he has none, then it was to be given to the priest;

⁹ And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. — which they bring unto the priest, shall be his; what they bring to him to offer for them shall be his who performs the service;

¹⁰ And every man’s hallowed things shall be his; whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.’” — shall be his; which he, by a vow or freewill offering, separates to holy uses; these are at his own dispose, to give to what priest he will, or they are the priest’s;

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘If any man’s wife go astray and commit a trespass against him, — this law was given partly to deter wives from adulterous practices, and partly to secure wives against the rage of their hard-hearted husbands, who otherwise might upon mere suspicions destroy them, or at least put them away.

¹³ and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband and be kept secret, and she be defiled and there be no witness against her, neither be she taken in the act, — and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close; so that it is not known by her husband, nor by any other; “she hath hid herself” being in a private place with another man;

¹⁴ and the spirit of jealousy come upon him and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled — or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled—

— and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; that his wife is defiled by a man; and which is the real case, as it afterwards appears, though at present he is not certain, only has a suspicion of it;

¹⁵ then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest. And he shall bring her offering for her, a tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil upon it nor put frankincense thereon, for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

— for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance; if guilty of it, and therefore oil and frankincense were forbidden in this kind of offering as in a sin offering, Leviticus 5:11;

¹⁶ “‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. — the priest was to bring her near to the altar at which he stood, and place her before the Lord;

¹⁷ And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take and put it into the water. — the water of purification appointed for such kind of uses;

¹⁸ And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering; and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse.

— no woman, if she were guilty, could say Amen to the adjuration, and drink the water after it, unless she disbelieved the truth of God, or defied his justice.

¹⁹ And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, “If no man have lain with thee and if thou hast not gone astray to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse.

— and thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband; which is but another phrase expressive of the same thing, the sin of adultery;

²⁰ But if thou hast gone astray to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled and some man have lain with thee besides thine husband” — but if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, gone aside from the paths of modesty and chastity, and betook herself to another man’s bed instead of her husband’s;

²¹ then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman — “the Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot and thy belly to swell. — when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; upon drinking the bitter waters;

²² And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels to make thy belly to swell and thy thigh to rot.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen.” — amen, amen; doubled here; the woman was to accept (if she dared) the awful ordeal and appeal to God by this response; if she dared not, she pronounced herself guilty.

²³ “‘And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water; — bot them out with the bitter water; in order to transfer the curses to the water. The action was symbolic;

²⁴ and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. — after the woman’s amen, the priest was to write “these curses,” those contained in the oath, in a book-roll,

— and wash them in the bitter water, that is, wash the writing in the vessel with water, so that the words of the curse should pass into the water, and be imparted to it;

²⁵ Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord and offer it upon the altar. — and shall wave the offering before the Lord: backwards and forwards, upwards and downwards;

²⁶ And the priest shall take a handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

— and afterwards shall cause the woman to drink the water; oblige her to it; having proceeded thus far, and no confession made, namely, an oath taken, the curses of it written in a scroll and scraped into the waters, and the jealousy offering waved and offered.

²⁷ And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her belly shall swell and her thigh shall rot; and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

²⁸ And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive seed. — then she shall be free; from the effects of the bitter water; they shall have no such influence upon her, but she shall be as soured and healthful as ever;

²⁹ “‘This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband and is defiled, — this is the law of jealousies; which was appointed by God to deter wives from adultery, and preserve the people of Israel, and the true worshippers of him;

³⁰ or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him and he is jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

— and the priest shall execute upon her all this law; he shall proceed according to the law, and perform every rite and ceremony required; nor could any stop be put to it, unless the woman owned she was defiled.

³¹ Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.’” — and the woman shall bear her iniquity; the punishment of it, through the effects of the bitter waters upon her, if guilty; nor was her husband chargeable with her death, she justly brought it on herself.

Numbers 6

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazirite, to separate themselves unto the Lord,

— the vow of a Nazirite; the verb which is here used denotes the doing something wonderful or extraordinary, and the spiritual lesson seems to be that God’s servants are expected and required to do something more than others;

— they must not cut their hair, neither poll their heads, nor shave their beards; this was the mark of Samson being a Nazarite;

³ he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. — nor eat grapes; which he was forbidden to do for greater caution, to keep him at the farther distance from wine.

⁴ All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. — the Nazarites were to eat nothing that came of the vine; this may teach the utmost care to avoid sin, and all that borders upon it, and leads to it, or may be a temptation;

⁵ “‘All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Until the days be fulfilled in which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. — nor scissors, or other instrument, to cut off any part of his hair.

⁶ All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come near no dead body. — the word Nazarite signifies separation; some were appointed of God, before their birth, to be Nazarites all their days, as Samson and John the Baptist.

⁷ He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister when they die, because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

— he shall not make himself unclean; the law of the Nazirite in this respect was equally stringent with that of the high priest (Leviticus 21:11), and more stringent than that which was imposed upon the priests generally (Leviticus 21:2-3).

⁸ All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. — all the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. Set apart for his service, separate from all others, especially the dead;

⁹ And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day shall he shave it.

— if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; cases of sudden death might occur to make him contract pollution; and in such circumstances he was required, after shaving his head, to make the prescribed offerings necessary for the removal of such defilement;

¹⁰ And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation;

— and on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles or two young pigeons to the priest; not a turtledove and a young pigeon, but two of one of the sorts, which was the offering of the poorer sort of childbearing women at their purification;

¹¹ and the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, because he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. — and shall hallow his head the same day; consecrate himself to God afresh, particularly the hair of his head, let that grow again;

¹² And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering; but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

— and this Nazirite shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation; he was to begin his account again, from the time of his shaving his head, and devote as many days to the service of the Lord as what he had vowed before;

¹³ “‘And this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation are fulfilled: He shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

¹⁴ and he shall offer his offering unto the Lord: one helamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

¹⁶ And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering.

¹⁷ And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also his meat offering and his drink offering.

¹⁸ And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

— and shall take the hair of the head of his separation; being cut off and shaved: and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings;

¹⁹ And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after the hair of his separation is shaved. — and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite; the boiled shoulder, and the cake and wafer upon it;

²⁰ And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.’

— and after that the Nazarite may drink wine; and cut his hair, and shave his head, and be defiled for the dead as other persons, the vow of his Nazariteship being fulfilled.

²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, besides that which his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”

²² And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²³ “Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, ‘In this way ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them: — the priests were solemnly to bless the people in the name of the Lord; to be under the almighty protection of God; to enjoy his favour as the smile of a loving Father;

²⁴ The Lord bless thee and keep thee; — and keep thee; from the evil of the world, from the evil one Satan, from the evil of sin, and the power, prevalence, and dominion of it, and from falling totally and finally by it, and keep in a state of grace unto everlasting salvation;

²⁵ the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; — and be gracious unto thee; by granting larger measures of grace out of his fulness, by leading more abundantly into it, and making fresh and frequent applications of it; grace is often wished for from Christ as well as from the Father;

²⁶ the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.’ — and give thee peace; all outward needful prosperity, internal peace of mind, through the blood and righteousness of Christ, the peacemaker, and peace giver, and eternal peace in the world to come;

²⁷ “And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” — and they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; call them by his name, the people of the Lord; call upon the name of the Lord to bless them, and pronounce the blessing on them in the name of the Lord, in or by the name Yehovah.

Posted in Books of Moses

“And now, behold, I go unto my people. Come therefore, and I will warn thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days,” Numbers 24:14;

— these Words, prophecised by Balaam, especially in regards to the house of Jacob, “in the latter days,” are prophecies for our times!

Numbers 3

¹ These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. — all the other tribes being mustered and registered, and the genealogy of each stated, next follows all account of the priests and Levites;

— first of their descent from the two principal heads of their families; namely, Aaron and Moses; and then of the particular services allotted to each family;

² And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. — on Nadab and Abihu, Leviticus 10:1-2; they had neither of them any children when they were put to death, Eleazar and Ithamar were the only priests “in the sight of Aaron their father;”

³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

⁴ And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father. — and they had no children; to die childless was regarded not only as a reproach, but also as a judgment;

⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. — and present the Levites before Aaron the priest; that he may receive them as a gift unto him, as servants to wait upon him; that he may appoint and declare unto them their work, that they may minister unto him;

⁷ And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. — and they shall keep his charge; the word rendered charge may mean the directions which the Levites should receive from Aaron;

⁸ And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁹ And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. — the Levites are represented as “wholly given” to the Lord instead of the firstborn; here, they are represented as being given by Him to Aaron and his sons;

¹⁰ And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office; and the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to death.” — the stranger; that is, every one who is of another family than Aaron’s; yea, even though he maybe a Levite; shall be put to death;

¹¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

¹² “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who openeth the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, — and I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel; separated them from others, and set them apart for the service of the sanctuary;

¹³ because all the firstborn are Mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. Mine shall they be: I am the Lord.” — the concluding words are better expressed thus: “Mine shall they be, Mine, the Lord’s;”

— or; I am the Lord; that is, I decree it to be so; and being possessed of sovereign authority, I expect full obedience.

¹⁴ And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying:

¹⁵ “Number the children of Levi according to the house of their fathers, by their families. Every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.”

— from a month old; because at that time the firstborn, in whose stead the Levites came, were offered to God. And from that time the Levites were consecrated to God, and were, as soon as capable, instructed in their work;

— elsewhere they are numbered from twenty-five years old, when they were entered as novices into part of their work, (Numbers 8:24,) and from thirty years old, when they were admitted to their whole office.

¹⁶ And Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.

¹⁷ And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹ And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

²¹ Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these are the families of the Gershonites.

²² Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those who were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. — 7,500

²³ The families of the Gershonites shall pitch camp behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴ And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

²⁵ And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

²⁶ and the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.

²⁷ And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸ In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. — 8,600

²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch camp on the side of the tabernacle southward.

³⁰ And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹ And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

³² And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of those who keep the charge of the sanctuary.

³³ Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.

³⁴ And those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred. — 6,200

³⁵ And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail; these shall pitch camp on the side of the tabernacle northward.

³⁶ And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto,

³⁷ and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

³⁸ But those who encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to death.

— and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death; that is, whoever came nigh to enter into the holy place, and did, who was no priest, though an Israelite, and even a Levite, or into the most holy place, excepting the high priest, it was death unto him;

³⁹ All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward were twenty and two thousand. — 22,000

⁴⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses: “Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. — number all the firstborn of the children of Israel, from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names; that they might be compared with the number of the Levites;

⁴¹ And thou shalt take the Levites for Me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.”

— and thou shall take the Levites for me; for his service, to minister to his priests, and serve in his tabernacle;

— I am the Lord; who has a right to all, and can claim who he pleases for himself in a special manner, and therefore could and did take the Levites to himself;

⁴² And Moses numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

⁴³ And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were numbered of them were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen. — 22,273

⁴⁴ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁵ “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. And the Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord.

— and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; not to be given to Aaron and his sons, or to the priests for their use, but to remain with the Levites for their use, who were now separated from the other tribes, and taken into the service of God;

⁴⁶ And for those who are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the Levites, — excess of 273; for the sum total of the Levites, given as 22,000; from the sum total of the firstborn of Israel, 22,273;

⁴⁷ thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by head count; according to the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs). — five shekels apiece was the price to be paid for the redemption of a first-born; but this money, though paid for these 273 persons, was probably paid out of the common stock of all;

⁴⁸ And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.” — unto Aaron, and to his sons; since the Levites were taken in lieu of the firstborn, whose redemption money belonged to the priests;

⁴⁹ And Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. — of them that were over and above redeemed by the Levites; there remained two hundred seventy three firstborn to be redeemed by money, and it was the redemption money of these Moses took.

⁵⁰ Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money, a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. — 275 X 5 shekels each = 1375 shekels for Moses;

⁵¹ And Moses gave the money of those who were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses. — as the Lord commanded Moses; so did he; he did not convert it to his own use, or to any other use than to what God had appointed it.

Numbers 4

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

² “Take a count of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, — Kohath appears to have been the second son of Levi (Numbers 3:17), but the Kohathites here stand first because Moses and Aaron belonged to them, and it was their office to bear the Ark;

³ from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. — the previous census of the Levites was from a month old; the present census was with a view to the discharge of duties requiring a considerable amount of physical strength, and hence the prescribed age for entering upon these duties was fixed at this time at thirty, and limited to fifty.

⁴ This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation concerned with the most holy things. — about the most holy things; of the ark, which was indeed a most holy thing, and stood in the most holy place;

— but there were other holy things; as the shewbread table, the candlestick, and the altars of incense and burnt offering, and the veil, and the ministering: vessels, which Jarchi reckons with it, as more holy than all other things.

⁵ And when the camp moves forward, Aaron shall come and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of Testimony with it, — and cover the ark of testimony with it; together with the mercy seat and cherubim on it, that they might not be seen nor touched by the Levites when they carried them;

⁶ and shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. — and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue; this was the distinctive outer, and therefore visible, covering of the most sacred thing, the ark; not be seen nor touched by the Levites;

⁷ And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes and the spoons and the bowls, and covers for covering; and the continual bread shall be thereon.

⁸ And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. — a cloth of scarlet; upon the dishes and other vessels belonging to the shewbread table, and on the shewbread itself;

⁹ And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps and his tongs and his snuff dishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it. — wholly of blue; the third and external covering of the ark only was to be of this color;

¹⁰ And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a carrying pole. — of badgers’ skins; which was the outermost covering; the ark and the shewbread table had three coverings;

¹¹ And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. —and upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue; the altar of incense, which was overlaid with gold, and therefore called a golden one;

¹² And they shall take all the instruments of ministry wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put them on a carrying pole. — wherewith they minister in the sanctuary; the garments in which the priests, ministered in the sanctuary, which were laid up in proper places, and which they only wore when in service;

¹³ And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon; — having cleared the holy of holies, and the holy place, they were to come forth from thence into the court of the tabernacle, where stood the altar of burnt offering, which is here meant, and on which sacrifices being daily burnt, there were always ashes to be removed;

¹⁴ and they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof wherewith they minister about it — even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar — and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins and put in the staves of it. — and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins: to prevent the rains falling upon them, which being all of brass, would be apt to tarnish;

¹⁵ And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to move forward, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

— after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it; to bear or carry the whole vessels of ministry which had been previously enumerated. The distinction between the service of the priests and that of the Levites in regard to the removal of the Tabernacle and its furniture is here clearly marked.

¹⁶ “And to the office of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle and of all that therein is in the sanctuary and in the vessels thereof.” — Eleazar; he himself is to carry these things, and not to commit them to the sons of Kohath;

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

¹⁸ “Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites, — in order to prevent as far as possible any calamity from befalling the Levites while carrying the most holy things, the priests are again urged by the command of God to do what has already been described in detail in Numbers 4:5-15;

— lest through any carelessness on their part they should cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites, that is, should cause their destruction;

¹⁹ but thus do unto them, that they may live and not die when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden; — and appoint them in everyone to his service, and to his burden; what everyone shall do, and how they shall take them up, and bear them;

²⁰ but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.” — but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered; they were not to be present while they were packing up, test they should see any of them with their eyes; lest they die; by the hand of God.

²¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²² “Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families. — the sons of Gershon; as well as of the sons of Kohath; for though Gershon was Levi’s eldest son, yet his posterity were not excused from the service of the tabernacle, and bearing things of it in journeying;

²³ From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them, all who enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

²⁴ This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve and to bear burdens.

²⁵ And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers’ skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, — they shall bear the curtains; for these four coverings, of tapestry, of goats’ hair, of rams’ skins, and of sea-cow skin respectively;

²⁶ and the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them; so shall they serve.

²⁷ At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

— shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites; everyone of them was to take their share, as Aaron and his sons should appoint them; in all their burdens, and in all their service; what each of them should carry, and in what they should perform duty;

²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation; and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. — the Gershonites and Merarites are superintended by Ithamar, Aaron’s younger son, who had already had the oversight of the tabernacle in its construction;

²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them according to their families, by the house of their fathers; — as for the sons of Merari; the third and youngest son of Levi;

³⁰ from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one who entereth into the service to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³¹ And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,

³² and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service; and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

³³ This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

³⁴ And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by the house of their fathers,

³⁵ from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one who entereth into the service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation;

³⁶ and those who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. — 2750

³⁷ These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

³⁸ And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families and by the house of their fathers,

³⁹ from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one who entereth into the service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation”

⁴⁰ even those who were numbered of them throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. — 2630; these in the three Levitical families: viz., 2750 Kohathites, 2630 Gershonites, and 3200 Merarites – in all, 8580

⁴¹ These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord.

⁴² And those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,

⁴³ from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one who entereth into the service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation”

⁴⁴ even those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand and two hundred. — 3200

⁴⁵ These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶ All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, according to their families and by the house of their fathers,

⁴⁷ from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one who came to do the service of the ministry and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation—

⁴⁸ even those who were numbered of them were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore. — 858

⁴⁹ According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Posted in Books of Moses

“And now, behold, I go unto my people. Come therefore, and I will warn thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days,” Numbers 24:14;

— these Words, prophecised by Balaam, especially in regards to the house of Jacob, “in the latter days,” are prophecies for our times!

Numbers 1

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, — in the tabernacle of the congregation;

— which had now been set up a whole month, and out of which the Lord had delivered to Moses the several laws recorded in the preceding book in that space of time, Exodus 40:17;

² “Take ye the number of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by head count — of the children of Israel; so the stranger mixed with them were not numbered;

— the people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, Numbers 26:5; these great families into lesser families, called the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by their fathers;

³ from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go forth to war in Israel. Thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. — that are able to go forth to war; it would seem from this that none of the aged and infirm were numbered, as being unable to go to war;

⁴ And with you there shall be a man of every tribe, every one head of the house of his fathers. — and with you there shall be a man of every tribe; excepting Levi, of which Moses and Aaron were, to assist in taking the account, and to see that it was an exact and perfect one;

⁵ And these are the names of the men who shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; — of the tribe of Reuben: or “for Reuben” for the taking the number of men in this tribe; and so of all the rest; Elizur the son of Shedeur; from Numbers 1:5 the names of those several men are given, which were very proper for Moses and Aaron to know;

⁶ of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; — and the rest, Simeon and Judah, are ranked according to their birth; Levi being omitted, because that tribe was not now numbered, and besides, Moses and Aaron were of it;

⁷ of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;

⁸ of Issachar, Nethaneel the son of Zuar;

⁹ of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;

¹⁰ of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;

¹¹ of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;

¹² of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;

¹³ of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran;

¹⁴ of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;

¹⁵ of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”

¹⁶ These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

¹⁷ And Moses and Aaron took these men who are expressly named.

¹⁸ And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their pedigrees according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward by head count.

— and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; that is, the month Ijar, or Iyar;

¹⁹ As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai. — as the Lord commanded Moses; the numbering of the people was not an act sinful in itself, as Moses did it by divine appointment; but David incurred guilt by doing it without the authority of God.

²⁰ And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by head count every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

²¹ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. — Reuben: 46,500

²² Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, those who were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by head count every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

²³ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. — Simeon: 59,300

²⁴ Of the children of Gad, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

²⁵ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty. — Gad: 45,050

²⁶ Of the children of Judah, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

²⁷ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. — Judah: 74,600

²⁸ Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war: — Issachar 54,400

²⁹ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. — Issachar: 54,400

³⁰ Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war: — Zebulun: 57,400

³¹ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

³² Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

³³ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred. — Ephraim: 40,500

³⁴ Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

³⁵ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. — Manasseh: 32,200

³⁶ Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war: — Benjamin: 35,400

³⁷ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

³⁸ Of the children of Dan, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war: — Dan: 62,700

³⁹ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

⁴⁰ Of the children of Asher, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

⁴¹ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. — Asher: 41,500

⁴² Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

⁴³ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. — Naphtali: 53,400

⁴⁴ These are those who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men; each one was for the house of his fathers.

⁴⁵ So were all those who were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war in Israel,

⁴⁶ even all those who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. — all those registered: 603,550; as given in Exodus 38:26;

— all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand; what an astonishing increase from seventy-five persons who went down to Egypt about two hundred fifteen years before;

⁴⁷ But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. — the Levites were not to be numbered as fighting men, as they were assigned other duties on the march. These duties are stated more fully in chapters 3 and 4.

⁴⁸ For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi shalt thou not number, neither take the count of them among the children of Israel; — but the Levites were not numbered among them; they were obliged to keep a register of their own.

⁵⁰ but thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof and over all things that belong to it. They shall bear the tabernacle and all the vessels thereof, and they shall minister unto it and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

— but thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony; so called from the ark in it, in which was the law of God, which was a testimony of the will of God to his people: and over all the vessels thereof; the candlestick, table: and altars;

— and shall encamp round about the tabernacle; they were a sort of camp or army of themselves, and their station was around the tabernacle, which was a kind of royal palace to God the King of kings; so that as they were the king’s legion, and to be numbered alone, as they were guards about his palace, and were placed between that and the camp of Israel.

⁵¹ And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up; and the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to death.

— and the stranger that cometh nigh; to meddle with or touch the above things, to assist in taking down or setting up the tabernacle, or bearing any of the vessels;

— shall be put to death; either the sanhedrim or court of judicature shall condemn and put him to death, as the same writer observes; or he shall die by the hand of heaven, 

⁵² And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. — and every man by his own standard throughout their hosts; there were four standards, and three tribes to each standard, which were placed east, west, north, and south of the tabernacle;

⁵³ But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.”

— that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel; that is, from the Lord, should any of them approach too near, or meddle with and touch what they had nothing to do with, or go where they should not; such wrath as came upon Uzzah for his error and transgression before observed;

⁵⁴ And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so did they. — so they did; which is repeated to show how readily, punctually, and perfectly they observed the command of God with respect to this affair.

Numbers 2

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: — and the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron; probably after the number of the children of Israel was taken,

— and when the congregation of Israel with the tabernacle were about to set forward on their journey; and therefore directions are here given for their orderly and regular proceeding in taking up and down with the tabernacle, in what form and manner they should both encamp and march;

² “Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch his tent by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house. Far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.

— far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch; that is, at a reverential distance. The place of every tribe is successively and specifically described because each had a certain part assigned both in the order of march and the disposition of the encampment;

³ And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall those of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah.”

— Judah; this tribe was in the first post, and in their marches led the van, not only because it was the most numerous, but they have the sceptre; the Lion of the tribe of Judah;

— one of a series of JUDAH FIRST (1) Movement of the Camp, Numbers 2:3; (2) Judah’s First Day to present Offering, Numbers 7:12; (3) Judah first to cross the Jordan River, Jewish Malbim writing

⁴ And his host and those who were numbered of them were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

⁵ “And those who pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar.”

⁶ And his host and those who were numbered thereof were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

⁷ “Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun.”

⁸ And his host and those who were numbered thereof were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

⁹ All who were numbered in the camp of Judah were a hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. “These shall first set forth.

¹⁰ “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies; and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.” — on the south side the standard of the camp of Reuben; the description given of the position of Reuben and his attendant tribes on the south;

¹¹ And his host and those who were numbered thereof were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

¹² “And those who pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.”

¹³ And his host and those who were numbered of them were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

¹⁴ “Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.”

¹⁵ And his host and those who were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

¹⁶ All who were numbered in the camp of Reuben were a hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies. “And they shall set forth in the second rank.

¹⁷ “Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall go forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp. As they encamp, so shall they go forward, every man in his place by their standards.

¹⁸ “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies; and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.”

¹⁹ And his host and those who were numbered of them were forty thousand and five hundred.

²⁰ “And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.”

²¹ And his host and those who were numbered of them were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

²² “Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.”

²³ And his host and those who were numbered of them were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

²⁴ All who were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were a hundred thousand and eight thousand and a hundred, throughout their armies. “And they shall go forward in the third rank.

²⁵ “The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies; and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.”

— the standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies; to the left of the tabernacle as encamped, and so was the left wing of the grand army; it consisted of the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali;

²⁶ And his host and those who were numbered of them were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

²⁷ “And those who encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.”

²⁸ And his host and those who were numbered of them were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

²⁹ “Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.”

³⁰ And his host and those who were numbered of them were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

³¹ All those who were numbered in the camp of Dan were a hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. “They shall go hindmost with their standards.”

³² These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers; all those who were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

³³ But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses. — but the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; at this time, not among the Israelites, but by themselves, they being a camp of themselves;

³⁴ And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses: so they camped by their standards, and so they went forward, every one by their families, according to the house of their fathers.

— so they pitched by their standards; every tribe, and every person in the tribe, as they were ranked, pitched by the standard to which they belonged: and so they set forward.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 27

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. — shall make a singular vow; that is, shall consecrate a vow; the form of the vow is nowhere given in the Bible; hence, many other points of detail, the wording of it was left to the administrators of the law;

— Samuel, who was thus vowed to God, was not redeemed, because he was a Levite but not of the priesthood, and designed by his parents to be lent to the Lord as long as he lived, (1 Samuel 1:28).

³ And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. — from twenty years old even unto sixty years old; the estimation not only begins with the male, who is the most important person, but takes special notice of his age;

— the years here represent the prime of his life, and he is to be rated not according to his rank or position, but according to the value of his services.

⁴ And if it be a female, then thy valuation shall be thirty shekels. — and if it be a female, thirty shekels; as the woman is the weaker vessel, and her labour is of less value, if she vows herself or dedicates by a vow any other one of her own sex to the sanctuary, she is to pay thirty shekels;

⁵ And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old then thy valuation shall be for the male twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels.

⁶ And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy valuation shall be for the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy valuation shall be three shekels of silver.

⁷ And if it be from sixty years old and above, if it be a male, then thy valuation shall be fifteen shekels and for the female ten shekels.

⁸ But if he be poorer than thy valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest and the priest shall value him; according to his ability who vowed shall the priest value him. — a discretion is left with the priest to lower these valuations in case the man who has made the vow is very poor;

⁹ “‘And if it be a beast whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy. — all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy; shall be set apart to sacred uses, either were for the use of the altar or of the priests;

¹⁰ He shall not alter it nor change it, a good for a bad or a bad for a good; and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. — he shall not alter it, nor change it; the identical animal vowed is to be delivered; no change whatever, even if it is in the substitution of a better for an inferior animal, is permitted.

¹¹ And if it be any unclean beast, which they do not offer as a sacrifice unto the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest. — then he shall present the beast before the priest; to be viewed, examined, and judged of as to its worth, and a value put upon it, that it might be sold or redeemed;

¹² And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad; as thou, who art the priest, valuest it, so shall it be. — whether it be good or bad; that is, the priest shall estimate its value according to the condition of the animal, whatever that may be, whether it is of good quality or bad.

¹³ But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy valuation. — he shall add a fifth part; whilst anyone else could purchase the animal at the valuation put upon it by the priest, its former owner is to pay a fifth more than the valuation price.

¹⁴ “‘And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it be good or bad; as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand. — and when a man shall sanctify his house; that is, devotes it to the service of God by a vow;

— when it has to be sold and the money used by the authorities for the maintenance and repair of the sanctuary, unless it is required as a dwelling for the priests, or for some other purpose connected with the duties of the Temple.

¹⁵ And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add a fifth part of the money of thy valuation unto it, and it shall be his. — then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his; that is, he was to give a fifth part more for the house than it was valued at by the priest;

¹⁶ “‘And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then thy valuation shall be according to the seed thereof: a homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. — an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver; that is, if the piece of land which he vowed could properly be cropped with one homer, or five bushels and a half of barley seed;

¹⁷ If he sanctify his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to thy valuation it shall stand. — if he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee; that is, the above-named valuation of fifty shekels only applies if he makes the vow immediately after the expiration of the year of jubilee, when the period covered by this estimation is forty-nine years.

¹⁸ But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the Year of the Jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy valuation. — but if he sanctify his field after the jubilee; if, however, the vow is made after the jubilee, the priest is to value the field according to the number of years from the time of the vow to the next jubilee year.

¹⁹ And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part of the money of thy valuation unto it, and it shall be assured to him. — the rule here included his wife and his heirs, any one of whom had the right to redeem it; but the family in redeeming it had, as usual, to add one-fifth over and above the valuation price, for the reason already stated.

²⁰ And if he will not redeem the field or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more. — and if he will not redeem the field; that is, if after all the advantages which the law affords to the vower to redeem his patrimonial inheritance before the jubile year, he is base enough to forego the privilege of redemption, thus showing no desire to perpetuate his family name;

²¹ But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s. — but the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee; that is, when it quits the hand of the purchaser, since in jubilee every buyer was to part with the land which he bought; —

²² And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession, — and if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought; but if a man vows a field which he has acquired by purchase, and which is only his till the next jubile, when it reverts to its original owner;

²³ then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy valuation, even unto the Year of the Jubilee; and he shall give thy valuation on that day as a holy thing unto the Lord. — in this case, the priest is to value it in proportion to the number of crops which it will produce up to the year of jubilee, in the same way as fields are valued in ordinary purchases.

²⁴ In the Year of the Jubilee the field shall return unto him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong. — in the Year of the Jubilee, the field thus vowed did not return to the purchaser in the year of jubile, but to the, hereditary owner, of whom the person who had vowed it to the Lord had bought it.

²⁵ And all thy valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. — according to the shekel of the sanctuary; as the proceeds of these vows were devoted to the maintenance and repair of the sanctuary, all the valuations are to be made and paid according to the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel.

²⁶ “‘Only the firstborn of the beasts, which should be the Lord’S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep, it is the Lord’S. — no man shall sanctify it, to wit, by vow; because it is not his own, but the Lord’s already;

— that which is born as a firstling to the Lord, that is, one which, by virtue of its being a firstling, and by its very birth, is the property of the Lord.

²⁷ And if it is of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thy valuation and shall add a fifth part of it thereto; or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy valuation. — if it be not redeemed; by him, he does not choose to give the price, and the fifth part;

— then it shall be sold according to thy estimation; to another man, without the fifth part, that chooses to purchase it, and then the purchase money was laid out for sacred uses.

²⁸ “‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. — things or persons devoted, are distinguished from things or persons that were only sanctified; devoted things were most holy to the Lord, and could neither be taken back nor applied to other purposes;

— from MSG

“But nothing that a man irrevocably devotes to God from what belongs to him, whether human or animal or family land, may be either sold or bought back. Everything devoted is holy to the highest degree; it’s God’s inalienable property” Leviticus 27:28 MSG

²⁹ None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death. — devoted thing; something cut off, cut off from common use and given up in some sense to the Lord, without the right to be redeemed; neither by price nor estimation;

³⁰ “‘And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’S; it is holy unto the Lord. — and all the tithe of the land; of which there were various sorts, the first tithe, the tithe out of the tithe, the second tithe, and the poor’s tithe, which are generally reduced to three;

³¹ And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto a fifth part thereof. — and if a man wishes to redeem; if he wishes he may redeem them by adding one-fifth to the actual value.

³² And concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, a tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. — whatsoever passeth under the rod; this alludes to the mode of taking the tithe of cattle, which were made to pass singly through a narrow gateway, where a person with a rod, dipped in ochre, stood, and counting them, marked the back of every tenth beast, whether male or female, sound or unsound.

³³ He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it; and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.’” — he shall not search whether it be good or bad; that is, the owner is not to pick out the good ones from the bad, but, as described above, is to mark every tenth one as it comes out of the fold as belonging to the Lord.

³⁴ These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. — these are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses; either what are contained in this chapter, or rather in the whole book, which he delivered to Moses; for the children of Israel; to be observed by them, priests and people: and these were given to him.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 25

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.

— Sabbath of the Seventh Year; the land not to be tilled, but rest the seventh year; and that which grew of itself in the field or vineyard to be meat for them and their cattle, Leviticus 25:1-7. The jubilee on the day of atonement; a year of liberty and restoration; a year of rest to the land;

³ Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof, — the land shall keep a sabbath; that is, enjoy rest from ploughing and tilling; unto the Lord; in obedience and unto the honour of God;

— this was instituted, for the assertion of God’s sovereign right to the land, in which the Israelites were but only tenants at God’s will.

⁴ but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord; thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard. — a Sabbath of rest; the express prohibition of sowing and reaping, and of pruning and gathering;

⁵ That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed; for it is a year of rest unto the land. — that which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap; that which sprung up of itself from grains of corn, shed in the harvest of the preceding year, without any ploughing or sowing;

— he might reap it, but not as at other times, the whole of it, and gather it as his own property, but only somewhat of it in common with others for his, present use;

⁶ And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you: for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger who sojourneth with thee;

— for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid; the owner of the fields and vineyards, he and his family, wife, children, and servants, might eat of the fruits of them in common with others; for whereas it is elsewhere said, Exodus 23:11, “that the poor of thy people may eat”; but this is observed here, lest anyone should think the rich are forbid eating them;

— Rashi:

And [the produce of] the Sabbath of the land, shall be [yours to eat]: Although I have prohibited the produce [of the Shemittah year] to you, I did not prohibit you to eat it or to derive benefit from it, only that you should not treat it as if you were its owner. Rather, everyone is deemed equal [regarding the use of the Shemittah year’s produce]-you, [your slaves,] and your hired worker and resident.

⁷ and for thy cattle and for the beasts that are in thy land shall all the increase thereof be meat. — and for thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land; the former signifies tame cattle, such as were kept at home, or in fields, or were used in service, and the latter the wild beasts of the field;

⁸ “‘And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. — and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be forty and nine years; just such a space of years there was between each jubilee, which, as afterwards said, was the fiftieth year;

⁹ Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. — in the day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land;

— which day of atonement was on the tenth day of the month, and a very proper time it was to sound the trumpet, that after they had been afflicting themselves, then to have joy and comfort; and when atonement was made for all their sins, then to hear the joyful sound;

¹⁰ And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

— ye shall hallow the fiftieth year; much difference of opinion exists as to whether the jubilee was observed on the forty-ninth, or in round numbers, it is called the fiftieth. The prevailing opinion, both in ancient and modern times, has been in favor of the latter;

— it is expressly called the fiftieth year here, and Leviticus 25:11, that fiftieth year, which was not true if it is but the nine and fortieth year;

¹¹ A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. — two years would come together in which were no sowing reaping; but that God, that could cause the earth to forth fruit for three years, Leviticus 25:21; could make it bring forth enough for four years;

¹² For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. — ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field; that is, ye shall eat its produce from the field; because it is the jubilee, which must be observed as a sacred institution, the spontaneous produce of this year is not to be stored, but as much of it must each time be taken direct from the field as is wanted for daily consumption.

¹³ “‘In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. — ye shall return every man unto his possession; in the year of jubile every man is to be restored to his landed property, whether he had disposed of it by sale or by gift.

¹⁴ And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor or buyest aught of thy neighbor’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another. — ye shall not oppress one another; better, ye shall not overreach any man his brother;

— not only does the Law provide against the poor man losing his land for ever, but enjoins that in the temporary sales the buyer and seller are not to take undue advantage of each other’s circumstances.

¹⁵ According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy from thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee.

— the promised land, according to the Law, was to be divided by lot in equal parts among the Israelites; the plot which should thus come into the possession of each family is to be absolutely inalienable, and for ever continue to be the property of the descendants of the original possessor;

— hence it is here enacted that where a proprietor being pressed by poverty is compelled to sell a field, it could not be bought of him for a longer period than up to the time of the next jubile, when it reverted to the original possessor, or to his family;

¹⁶ According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it; for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

— the price thereof; more was to be asked and required, and should be given for an estate, when, for instance, there were thirty years to the year of jubilee, than when there were but twenty;

¹⁷ Ye shall not therefore oppress one another, but thou shalt fear thy God; for I am the Lord your God. — that is; ye shall not overreach any man his neighbour; for I am the Lord your God; omniscient and omnipotent and able to punish, which of them either should oppress or defraud;

— from MSG

“If you sell or buy property from one of your countrymen, don’t cheat him. Calculate the purchase price on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee.

“He is obliged to set the sale price on the basis of the number of harvests remaining until the next Jubilee. The more years left, the more money; you can raise the price. But the fewer years left, the less money; decrease the price.

“What you are buying and selling in fact is the number of crops you’re going to harvest. Don’t cheat each other. Fear your God. I am God, your God.” (Leviticus 25:14-17 MSG)

¹⁸ “‘Therefore ye shall do My statutes, and keep My judgments and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. — wherefore ye shall do my statutes; and ye shall do; that is, the above named statutes and ordinances respecting the sabbatical year and the jubile, which required great care in implementing them.

¹⁹ And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill and dwell therein in safety. — and dwell therein in safety; not fearing enemies, nor being disturbed by them, nor carried captive; but they failed, and the Babylonians came and took them into captivity;

²⁰ And if ye shall say, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow nor gather in our increase.” — such as are of little faith, disbelieve the promise, and distrust the providence of God, and take thought for tomorrow;

²¹ Then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. — for three years; not completely, but in great part, for that part of the sixth year which was between the beginning of harvest and the beginning of the seventh year; including the year of jubilee;

²² And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. — until her fruits come in; that is, until its produce come in, that is, the produce of the eighth year which was gathered in the ninth.

²³ The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me. — for the land is mine; as indeed the whole earth is, but the land of Canaan was peculiarly his, which he had chosen above all other lands for the inheritance of his people; out of which he drove the old inhabitants of it for their sins, and put in his own people to possess it under him;

— for the land is mine; the reason for this prohibition absolutely to cut off the patrimony from the family, is that God claims to be the supreme owner of the land; a special sense of the territory which God gave by promise and miracle, which was kept by obedience, and lost by rebellion;

²⁴ And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. — ye shall grant a redemption for the land; that is, whenever any estate in it was sold through necessity, the buyer was obliged to grant a liberty to the seller to redeem it;

²⁵ “‘If thy brother waxeth poor and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. — and if any of his kin come to redeem it; come to the buyer and propose to redeem it, by giving what it was sold for, or in proportion to the time he had enjoyed it: then shall he redeem that which his brother sold;

²⁶ And if the man have none to redeem it, and he himself is able to redeem it, — and if the man have none to redeem it; in case, however, he has either no nearest of kin, or if his nearest of kin is himself too poor to perform this duty,

²⁷ then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it, that he may return unto his possession. — that is, a proportion of the original price obtained, corresponding to the number of years which were still to intervene between the redemption and the next Jubile year;

²⁸ But if he is not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. — not able to restore it to him; that is, if the vendor is unable to return to the purchaser the probable value of the crops between the contemplated redemption and the next jubile year;

— from MSG

“If one of your brothers becomes poor and has to sell any of his land, his nearest relative is to come and buy back what his brother sold.

“If a man has no one to redeem it but he later prospers and earns enough for its redemption, he is to calculate the value since he sold it and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it; he can then go back to his own land.

“If he doesn’t get together enough money to repay him, what he sold remains in the possession of the buyer until the year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it will be returned and he can go back and live on his land.” (Leviticus 25:25-28)

²⁹ “‘And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. — a dwelling house in a walled city; it is, however, quite different in the case of houses in walled cities: these are not the creation of God (Leviticus 25:23), allotted by His command to the different tribes of Israel; they are the work of man, who build them up and raze them to the ground at their own will;

³⁰ And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations; it shall not go out in the jubilee. — if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year; that is, either by the vendor or his son.

³¹ But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. — but the houses of the villages which have no wall; houses in villages, however, form an exception: they are part of the landed property, and hence, like the cultivated land on which they are erected, are subject to the law of jubile.

³² Notwithstanding, the cities of the Levites and the houses of the cities of their possession may the Levites redeem at any time. — and as to the cities of the Levites, the houses, that is, the houses which belong to the Levites, in the forty-eight cities given to them (Numbers 35:1-8; Joshua 21:1-3), are to be exempt from this general law of house property.

³³ And if a man purchase from the Levites, then the house that was sold and the city of his possession shall go out in the Year of Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. — then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall go out, that is, in the year of jubile the house is to revert to the vendor just as if it were landed property;

³⁴ But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession. — the Levitical cities had both suburbs or commons for their cattle, steep and fields which they cultivated; and it is their perpetual possession;

— frpm MSG

“As to the Levitical cities, houses in the cities owned by the Levites are always subject to redemption. Levitical property is always redeemable if it is sold in a town that they hold and reverts to them in the Jubilee,

“because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the People of Israel. The pastures belonging to their cities may not be sold; they are their permanent possession” (Leviticus 25:32-34)

³⁵ “‘And if thy brother be waxed poor and hath fallen into ruin with thee, then thou shalt relieve him, yea, though he be a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with thee.

— and fallen in decay with thee; that is, when it is weak and can no longer render support, or gain a livelihood; he is not to be treated like an outcast because he has been compelled by poverty to sell his patrimony, but is to receive the same consideration which strangers and sojourners receive, who, like the unfortunate Israelite, have no landed property.

³⁶ Take thou no interest from him or increase; but fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. — if he borrowed money, they were not to demand interest; or if food, they were not to demand any addition, any larger quantity, when it was returned;

³⁷ Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. — no interest was to be permitted in such a case for money lent, nor, if the loan took the form of the necessaries of life, was more than the amount lent to be exacted in return.

³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

— I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt where they had been strangers and sojourners, and therefore should be kind to such in necessitous circumstances, and relieve them, and especially their brethren; and where God had given them favour in the eyes of the Egyptians.

³⁹ “‘And if thy brother who dwelleth by thee be waxed poor and is sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant; — thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant; under these circumstances he is not to be treated like heathen slaves who are either purchased or captured, and made to do the menial service which these Gentile slaves have to perform.

⁴⁰ but as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the Year of Jubilee. — but as an hired servant who is hired by the day, or month, or year; and, when his time is up, receives his wages and goes where he pleases;

⁴¹ And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. — and shall return unto his own family; his father’s family, and that of his near relations, having been out of it during his time of servitude, and which the year of jubilee restored him to;

⁴² For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen. — for they are my servants; this is a clue to the whole system of Hebrew servitude. These poverty-stricken men, who are driven to sell themselves to their fellow-Israelites, God claims as His servants.

⁴³ Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God. — thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; the master is forbidden to tyrannise over him as if he were a slave without any rights.

⁴⁴ Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids, whom thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen who are round about you. From them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

⁴⁵ Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, from them shall ye buy and from their families who are with you, whom they begot in your land; and they shall be your possession.

⁴⁶ And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession. They shall be your bondmen for ever. But over your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigor. — and ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children; that is, they may appropriate them to themselves, as their personal property, which is transmissible as inheritance to posterity with the family land;

— from MSG

“The male and female slaves which you have are to come from the surrounding nations; you are permitted to buy slaves from them.

“You may also buy the children of foreign workers who are living among you temporarily and from their clans which are living among you and have been born in your land. They become your property.

“You may will them to your children as property and make them slaves for life. But you must not tyrannize your brother Israelites” (Leviticus 25:44-46 MSG)

⁴⁷ “‘And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother who dwelleth by him wax poor and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family,

⁴⁸ after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brethren may redeem him:

⁴⁹ either his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself.

⁵⁰ And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the Year of Jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him.

⁵¹ If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

⁵² And if there remain but few years unto the Year of Jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.

⁵³ And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him, and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight.

— from MSG

“If a foreigner or temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your brothers becomes poor and sells himself to the foreigner who lives among you or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, he still has the right of redemption after he has sold himself.

“One of his relatives may buy him back. An uncle or cousin or any close relative of his extended family may redeem him. Or, if he gets the money together, he can redeem himself.

“What happens then is that he and his owner count out the time from the year he sold himself to the year of Jubilee; the buy-back price is set according to the wages of a hired hand for that number of years.

“If many years remain before the Jubilee, he must pay back a larger share of his purchase price, but if only a few years remain until the Jubilee, he is to calculate his redemption price accordingly.

“He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year. You must make sure that his owner does not tyrannize him” (Leviticus 25:47-53 MSG)

⁵⁴ And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the Year of Jubilee, both he and his children with him.

⁵⁵ For unto Me the children of Israel are servants. They are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God;

— from MSG

“If he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he goes free in the year of Jubilee, he and his children, because the People of Israel are my servants, my servants whom I brought out of Egypt. I am God, your God” Leviticus 25:54-55 MSG

Leviticus 26

¹ “‘Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land to bow down unto it; for I am the Lord your God. — the words here rendered “images of stone” to indicate beholding or worshipping stones; that is, stones set in the ground in places of worship upon which the worshippers prostrated themselves to perform their devotions;

² Ye shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord. — ye shall keep my Sabbaths (plurals), and reverence my sanctuary; very frequently, in this Book of the Law, the Sabbath and the sanctuary are mentioned as antidotes to idolatry.

³ “‘If ye walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, — if ye walk in my statutes; in that covenant into which God graciously entered with the people of Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings, so long as they continued obedient to Him as their Almighty Ruler;

⁴ then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. — rain in due season; the periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of.

⁵ And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

— from MSG

“If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments, I will send the rains in their seasons, the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit.

“You will thresh until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting time; you’ll have more than enough to eat and will live safe and secure in your land” (Leviticus 26:3-5 MSG)

⁶ And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. — and I will give peace; not only are they to have rich harvests, but the Lord will grant them peace among themselves, so that they shall be able to retire at night without any anxiety, or fear of robbers;

⁷ And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. — and ye shall chase your enemies; if, covetous of their prosperity, the enemies should dare to attack them, God will inspire His people with marvellous courage, so that they will not only pursue them, but put them to the sword.

⁸ And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. — five of you shall chase; a proverbial mode of expression for superiority in warlike prowess; Deuteronomy 32:30; Isaiah 30:17.

⁹ For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. — and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you; that is, by multiplying them as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea, God fulfil the covenant which He made with their fathers;

¹⁰ And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. — and bring forth the old because of the new; and remove the old on account of the new: they will always have such abundant harvests that they will be obliged to remove from the barns and garners the old stock of corn, in order to make room for the new.

¹¹ And I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. — not only will God bless them with these material blessings, but will permanently abide with them in the sanctuary erected in their midst.

¹² And I will walk among you and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. — ye shall be my people; I will own you for that peculiar people which I have singled out of the mass of mankind, to bless you here, and to save you hereafter.

¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

— I am the Lord your Lord, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt; who, having done that, was able to fulfil the above promises; and which may be considered as an earnest and pledge of them, as well as be a motive to the Israelites, and an obligation upon them to obey the commandments of God, and walk in his statutes;

¹⁴ “‘But if ye will not hearken unto Me and will not do all these commandments, — the glowing promises of blessings for obedience are now followed by a catalogue of calamities of the most appalling nature, which will overtake the Israelites if they disobey the Divine commandments.

¹⁵ and if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My covenant,

— and if ye shall despise my statutes; from passive indifference to the Divine statutes mentioned in the preceding verse, their falling away is sure to follow. Hence what was at first mere listlessness now develops itself into a contemptuous education of God’s ordinances.

¹⁶ I also will do this unto you: I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. — ague, plague or perhaps pestilence;

¹⁷ And I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies; they that hate you shall reign over you, and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. — and ye shall flee when none pursueth you; of such faint-hearted spirits should they be, and filled with such dread and terror of their enemies, so contrary from what is promised them on their obedience, Leviticus 26:8.

¹⁸ And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. — I will punish you seven times more; that is, indefinitely or unceasingly; many more times. Seven being a complete number is often used to denote thoroughness;

¹⁹ And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass. — the pride of your power the pride with which ye rely upon your prosperity and the fruitfulness of your land; will be broken;

— and I will make your heaven as iron; so that neither dew nor rain shall descend from thence to make the earth fruitful; but, on the contrary, an heat should be reflected, which would parch it, and make it barren;

²⁰ And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. — and your strength shall be spent in vain; that is, with the heaven over them as metal, their labour expended in ploughing, digging, and sowing will be perfectly useless.

²¹ “‘And if ye walk contrary unto Me and will not hearken unto Me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. — and if ye walk contrary unto me; to his mind and will, to his laws, commands, and ordinances, showing no regard unto them by a walk agreeably to them, but neglecting and breaking them continually;

— I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins; greater and sorer punishments still, and these more frequently repeated, and in proportion to their transgressions of his righteous laws.

²² I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattle and make you few in number, and your highways shall be desolate. — I will also send wild beasts among you; either in a literal sense, as lions, bears, wolves; and so is the reverse of what is promised to them on their doing well;

— and your high ways shall be desolate; or ways, the word high not being in the text, and may signify both their public and private ones, which would be all forsaken, none caring to venture to walk in them for fear of beasts of prey.

²³ “‘And if ye will not be reformed by Me by these things, but will walk contrary unto Me, — God is setting conditions for He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.

²⁴ then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. — and will punish you yet seven times for your sins; add fresh corrections, and these greater than before, and more numerous in proportion to their aggravated transgressions.

²⁵ And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of My covenant; and when ye are gathered together within your cities I will send the pestilence among you, and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. — and I will bring a sword upon you; war upon them by the sword of their enemies; they that use and kill with the sword;

— for more details from prophet Ezekiel, see The Sword from the South!

²⁶ And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat and not be satisfied. — and when I have broken the staff of your bread; or when I break you the staff of bread, that is, when God cuts off their supply of bread, which is the staff of life.

²⁷ “‘And if ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me, — and if ye still will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

²⁸ then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. — and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins; add new and many more chastisements, and that in hot displeasure, for their sins;

— and the repetition or doubling of the phrase, “I, even I, will do it”, denotes the certainty of it, and that he will do it himself, and his hand should be visible in it; and they should feel the weight of it, and be obliged to own that these were punishments inflicted by him for their sins.

²⁹ And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. — which Jeremiah thus bewails, “the hands of pitiful women have sodden their own children, they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people” (Lamentations 4:10);

³⁰ And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. — and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols; nothing could show a greater contempt both for the idol-worshippers and the idols than the picture here given;

— when the apostate Israelites have succumbed to the sword, famine, and pestilence, they will not even have a seemly burial, but their carcases will be mixed up with the shattered remains of their gods, and thus form one dunghill;

— a parallel picture is given by Ezekiel, “Your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols, and I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones round about your altars” (Ezekiel 6:4-5).

³¹ And I will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. — I will make your cities waste; not only will the elevated spots outside the cities with their idols be destroyed, and the carcases of the deluded worshippers be scattered among their remains, but the cities themselves will be converted into ruins and desolations;

³² And I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies who dwell therein shall be astonished at it. — note: “your cities” and “the land” but not “your land” indicating the land they are currently living on are not quite their own, but those designated land are “between the two rivers” Genesis 15;

— Targum says “your country” facing hostile invasions and conquests, the desolation of the whole country and the dispersion of the Israelites described in the following verses are to be the work of God Himself

³³ And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. — mentioned belatedly, “your land” and will draw out a sword after you; draw it out of its scabbard, and with it pursue after them;

³⁴ “‘Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate and ye are in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her sabbaths. — then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate; a long arrear of sabbatic years had accumulated through the avarice and apostasy of the Israelites,

— who had deprived their land of its appointed season of rest; this early prophecy is very remarkable, considering that the usual policy of the Assyrian conquerors was to send colonies to cultivate and inhabit their newly acquired provinces; but as determined by the duration of the Babylonian captivity, the number of those sabbatic years seems to have been seventy;

³⁵ As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest, because it did not rest in your sabbaths when ye dwelt upon it; — because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when you dwelt upon it; they manured and tilled it on the seventh years, as on others, neglecting the command which God had given them;

— II Chronicles 36:21 says, “The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.” This is a reference to Jeremiah 25:11;

— for a related upcoming prophecy, see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

³⁶ And upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when none pursueth. — and upon them that are left alive of you; in the land of Judea, or rather scattered about among the nations, suggesting that these would be comparatively few;

— I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; or “a softness” so that they should be effeminate, pusillanimous, and cowardly, have nothing of a manly spirit and courage in them; but be mean spirited and faint hearted;

— and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; either the sound of a leaf that falls from the tree shall put them to flight, as the Targum of Jonathan says, or which the wind beats one against another;

— and they shall flee as fleeing from the sword; as if there were an army of soldiers with their swords drawn pursuing them; and they shall fall when none pursueth; fall upon the ground, and into a fit, and drop down as if dead, as if they had been really wounded with a sword and slain;

³⁷ And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth; and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. — and they shall fall one upon another; in their hurry and confusion, everyone making all the haste he can to escape the imaginary danger;

— as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: as if a sword was drawn and brandished at them, just ready to be thrust in them, filling them with the utmost dread and terror, and yet at the same time none in pursuit of them;

— and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies; no heart to resist them, no strength nor spirit to oppose them, and defend themselves but be obliged to surrender their cities, themselves, their families and goods, into the hand of the enemy.

³⁸ And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. — so far as the nation was concerned, those who were left when the kingdom was overthrown would find no rest in the land of their enemies;

— but would perish among the heathen for their own and their fathers’ iniquities, till they confessed their sins and bent their stiffed-necked rebellious hearts under the righteousness of the divine punishments;

— and the land of your enemies shall eat you up; they should die in it through one disease or another; by the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so be buried in it; in which sense it may be said to eat them up, or consume them, for the grave swallows up and consumes all that are put into it; this is to be understood of those that die in captivity.

³⁹ And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. — shall pine away; shall languish through diseases and oppressions out the remainder of their days in bitter grief;

— and sad reflections upon the miseries which their own and their fathers’ complicated guilt has brought upon them; and hereby shall be consumed and melt away.

⁴⁰ “‘If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me, — if they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers; “in the time of their distress;” which might serve to bring their sins to remembrance;

— and them to a confession, not only of their own sins, but of their fathers’ also; acknowledging thereby that they had been guilty of sinning against God for a long course of years past; with their trespass which they trespassed against me; along with their own iniquities, and those of their fathers; even 190 years;

— for an upcoming prophecy, see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

⁴¹ and that I also have walked contrary unto them and have brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, — and that I also have walked contrary unto them; that is, and they shall also confess that through their walking contrary unto God, He also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies;

— if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled; their rebellious heart, as the Targums of Jonathan; it signifies a sinful, wicked, hard, and impenitent heart, brought to a sense of sin, to repentance and humiliation for it.

⁴² then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

— my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; when thus brought to repentance, the Lord will perform towards them the covenant which He made with their ancestors, and in which He not only promised that the Israelites are to be a numerous people, but that they are to possess the land “between the two rivers” for ever;

— I will remember the land, which now seems to be forgotten, and neglected, and despised, as if I had never chosen it to be the peculiar place of my presence and blessing.

⁴³ The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths while she lieth desolate without them; and they shall accept the punishment of their iniquity, because, even because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes. — the land also shall be left of them; that is, the land shall be deserted by them;

— the solemn warning is here reiterated, that before God will remember His covenant with the patriarchs, and also be mindful of the land, the land must be depopulated of its rebellious inhabitants, and enjoy the Sabbaths which have been denied to it; even 190 years.

⁴⁴ And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. — “your land” has now turned into “the land of their enemies” indicating the land they are currently living on are not quite their own;

⁴⁵ But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’” — again, to remind them that their land are “between the two rivers” that were promised to their fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;

⁴⁶ These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

— these are the statutes, and judgments, and laws; which refer not only to those in this chapter, but in all the preceding chapters in this book; in Mount Sinai in the wilderness, while the children of Israel lay encamped about it; by the hand of Moses; they were first delivered to him, and by means of him to the people.

Posted in Books of Moses

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. —

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.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 21

¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them: ‘There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people,

— he shall not defile himself for a dead person; that is, the priest is not to contract defilement by contact with the body of any dead person; none of the priests shall touch the dead body, or assist at his funeral, or eat at the funeral feast.

² except for his kin who is near unto him, that is: for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, — but for his kin, that is near unto him; there are, however, seven exceptions to the general rule; should add, “and his wife”

— these being all near relations, and for whom natural affection would lead and oblige him to mourn, and show a concern for their death, and to take care of their funeral.

³ and for his sister, a virgin who is nigh unto him, who hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. — and for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him; that is, his maiden sister who still remains in sole relationship with him; and no husband to take care of her funeral;

⁴ But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. — a chief man, for such not only the high priest, but others also of the inferior priests, were;

— MSG says

God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, A priest must not ritually contaminate himself by touching the dead, except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother,

or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean, but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself. (Leviticus 21:1-4 MSG)

⁵ They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

— the context speaks only of priests; make baldness upon their head; the natural expression of grief, however, which the priests were to manifest for the above-named departed relations, was not to show itself in the practices which disfigure their bodily appearance in connection with funeral ceremonies.

⁶ They shall be holy unto their God and not profane the name of their God, for the offerings of the Lord made by fire and the bread of their God they do offer; therefore they shall be holy. — priests are to be devoted to God’s service, and always prepared for it, and therefore shall keep themselves from all defilements;

— from MSG

“Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because their job is to present the gifts of God, the food of their God, they are to be holy.” (Leviticus 21:5-6 MSG)

⁷ They shall not take a wife who is a whore or profane, neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband; for he is holy unto his God. — laws concerning the priests; without blemish, and separate from sinners; profane, or defiled, or defloured, a woman who has been seduced, or one of illegitimate birth. 

⁸ Thou shalt sanctify him therefore, for he offereth the bread of thy God. He shall be holy unto thee; for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. — he shall be holy unto thee; in thy account and estimation, and for thy service to offer holy sacrifices, and therefore should be careful of his holiness to preserve it;

— from MSG

“Because a priest is holy to his God he must not marry a woman who has been a harlot or a cult prostitute or a divorced woman. Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy. (Leviticus 21:7-8 MSG)

⁹ And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father. She shall be burned with fire. — she shall be burnt with fire; whilst the married daughter of a layman who had gone astray was punished with death by strangling (see Leviticus 20:10).

¹⁰ “‘And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head nor rend his clothes;

— nor rend his clothes; that is, “in the time of distress, or mourning for the dead,” being the intercessor between God and man, such outward expressions of sorrow might lead those in whose behalf he ministers in the sanctuary to believe that he thereby impugns the justice of Divine judgment.

¹¹ neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or for his mother; — neither shall he go in to any dead body; that is, into a tent or house where any dead body lies, would be unclean for seven days and would be prevented doing the duty of his office;

¹² neither shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. — the anointing oil of his God are upon him; the anointing oil, which was a crown of glory, and gave him a superior dignity to others, which it became him to be careful not to debase by any of the above things;

¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity. — or, a virgin, partly for the decency of the type; though polygamy was practised by the Israelites, and even by the common priests, yet it was by no means allowed to an high priest;

¹⁴ A widow or a divorced woman or profane or a harlot, these shall he not take; but he shall take a virgin of his own people for a wife. — or a divorced woman; whether by a priest, or a common Israelite; and indeed, if a common priest might not marry such a person, much less an high priest;

¹⁵ Neither shall he profane his seed among his people, for I the Lord do sanctify him.’” — neither shall he profane his seed among his people; by marrying any such persons, whereby his children, born of them, would lie under disgrace, and be unfit to succeed him in the priesthood, or by marrying among mean persons, or by marrying them to such as were unlawful, and would be a disparagement to them;

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁷ “Speak unto Aaron, saying, ‘Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations who hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. — whosoever he be of thy seed, whether the high priest or the inferior ones; in their generations; in all successive ages, as long as your priesthood and policy endures;

— any blemish, i.e. any defect or excess of parts, any notorious deformity, or imperfection in his body; that still such persons as have notorious defects or deformities, which render them contemptible, are not fit for the ministry.

¹⁸ For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, — any deformity relating to it, either the want of it wholly or in part, or the shortness, flatness, or crookedness of it;

¹⁹ or a man who is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, — brokenfooted, or brokenhanded; that is, one with a badly cured fractured foot or hand, since in ancient days such accidents were scarcely ever properly cured.

²⁰ or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or who hath a blemish in his eye, or hath scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken— — or crookbackt; rather, or whose eyebrows cover his eyes.

²¹ no man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire. He hath a blemish: he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. — no man that hath a blemish; any notorious blemish whereby he is disfigured; whether an high priest or a common priest that lies on him anyone of the above blemishes;

— he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God: this is repeated for its confirmation, and to show how determined the Lord was in this matter; and how much he should resent it in any that should be found guilty of the breach of those rules;

²² He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy. — he shall eat the bread of his God; but though unfit for serving at the altar, and reduced to do the menial work connected with the sanctuary, he was not only allowed to partake of the less holy sacrificial gifts;

²³ Only he shall not go in unto the veil nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish, that he profane not My sanctuaries; for I the Lord do sanctify them.’” — not to set the shewbread upon the table there, nor to light and him the lamps in the candlestick, nor to offer incense on the altar of incense;

²⁴ And Moses told it unto Aaron and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel. — and to all the children of Israel; to the heads of the tribes and elders of the people, and by them to the whole, that they might know who were fit, and who not, to put their sacrifice into their hands, to offer for them.

Leviticus 22

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not My holy name in those things which they hallow unto Me: I am the Lord.

— that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me, that is, let them not, by their want of due reverence, give occasion to profane my holy name. A careless or irreverent use of things consecrated to God tends to dishonor the name and bring disrespect on the worship of God.

³ Say unto them: ‘Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, who goeth unto the holy things which the children of Israel hallow unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord. — having his uncleanness upon him; through a leprosy, or running issue, or touching any unclean person or thing;

⁴ Whatsoever man of the seed of Aaron is a leper or hath a running issue, he shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him,

— what man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper; a young, or an old man, as the Targum of Jonathan, and indeed man or woman; for the wives and daughters of the priests, if in this, and other circumstances following, might not eat of the holy things until cleansed;

⁵ or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath—

⁶ the soul who hath touched any such shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he wash his flesh with water.

⁷ And when the sun is down he shall be clean, and shall afterwards eat of the holy things, because it is his food. — because it is his food: his common food, his ordinary diet, that by which he subsists, having nothing else to live upon; this being the ordination of God, that he which ministered about holy things should live on them;

⁸ That which dieth of itself or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the Lord. — that which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts; whether fowls or beasts, and even clean ones;

⁹ They shall therefore keep Mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it and die therefore if they profane it: I the Lord do sanctify them. — lest they bear sin for it: the sanctuary, by neglecting it, and so be charged with the guilt of sin, and be obliged to bear the punishment of it; Targum of Jonathan says, “lest they die by flaming fire.”

¹⁰ “‘There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing. A sojourner of the priest or a hired servant shall not eat of the holy thing. — there shall no stranger eat of the holy thing; by holy thing here is meant, that portion of the sacrifices which belonged to the priests.

¹¹ But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house; they shall eat of his meat.

— but if the priest buy any soul; the case, however, was different with heathen slaves whom the priest purchased; these were admitted into the Jewish community by the rite of circumcision, they were allowed to partake of the paschal lamb, and of every privilege of the Israelites;

— one special case is Samuel, though he wasn’t a slave; but an Israelites, though not of priestly line;

¹² If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. — if the priest’s daughter also be married; or if the priest’s daughter be married, by marrying a Hebrew of non-Aaronic descent, and thus leaving her paternal home, the daughter of the priest ceased to be part of the family circle, and lost her right to partake of the holy things.

¹³ But if the priest’s daughter be a widow or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat; but there shall no stranger eat thereof.

— be a widow, or divorced, and have no child; an exception, however, to this rule is, when the priest’s married daughter loses her husband either by death or by divorce, and has no children; under such circumstances she may resume her family ties under her paternal roof.

¹⁴ And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put a fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing. — if anyone eats from a holy offering accidentally, he must give back the holy offering to the priest and add twenty percent over and above the principal of the value to it.

¹⁵ And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the Lord, — and they shall not profane; that is, the priests are not to desecrate the holy gifts of the Israelites by carelessly exposing them, and by not treating them with that sacred regard which is due to their being the bread of God.

¹⁶ or allow them to bear the iniquity of trespass when they eat their holy things: for I the Lord do sanctify them.’” — when they eat their holy things; the holy things belonging to the priests, which they permitting them to do; —

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁸ “Speak unto Aaron and to his sons and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘Whosoever he be of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel, who will offer his oblation for all his vows and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering”

— that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering; distinguish between a vow and a freewill offering; every vow is a freewill offering, but every freewill offering is not a vow;

¹⁹ ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. — bullocks, sheep, and goats, were the only sorts of beasts, out of which sacrifices were taken, and those that were for burnt offerings were always to be males, and unblemished;

²⁰ But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you. — to secure for him the good pleasure of God; but an animal with a fault would not be acceptable.

²¹ And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. — every peace-offering was also to be faultless, whether brought “to fulfil a special vow” or as a freewill gift;

²² Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord. — ye shall not offer these unto the Lord; any creatures defective in any of these instances; three times this is said, to make them careful concerning their sanctification and concerning their slaying and sprinkling of their blood;

²³ Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

— but for a vow it shall not be accepted; because the other was according to a man’s will and pleasure, and he might bring what he would on that account; but when he made a vow that he would offer such a sacrifice, it must be of creatures that were perfect, and without blemish;

²⁴ Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. — that is, not only are animals thus mutilated prohibited as offerings for the altar, but this practice of gelding (castrated) is altogether forbidden to the Israelites with regard to any animal whatsoever throughout the country.

²⁵ Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these, because their corruption is in them and blemishes are in them; they shall not be accepted for you.’” — that is, animals that are imported and sold to the Israelites by the hands of foreigners.

²⁶ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁷ “When a bullock or a sheep or a goat is brought forth, then it shall be seven days with its dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord. — it shall be seven days under the dam; animals were not considered perfect nor good for food till the eighth day.

²⁸ And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. — this prohibition to slaughter the dam and its youngling the same day was not only designed to remind the Israelites of the sacred relations which exist between parent and offspring, but was especially intended to keep up feelings of humanity.

²⁹ And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will. — offer it at your own will; just what they pleased, whether a bullock, a sheep, or a goat, and whether a male or female; these were left to their own option;

³⁰ On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the Lord. — ye shall leave none of it till the morning; of another day;

³¹ “Therefore shall ye keep My commandments and do them: I am the Lord. — the law about the priests and sacrifices now concludes with an appeal to both the priests and the people to faithfully observe these commandments.

³² Neither shall ye profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who hallow you, — neither shall ye profane my holy name; either by despising me and my command yourselves, or by giving others occasion to profane them.

³³ that brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.” — I am the Lord; that hath sovereign right unto them, and claim upon them, and therefore they ought to be subject to his will, and observe his laws ordinances.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 19

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. — ye shall be holy; separated from all the forementioned defilements, and entirely consecrated to God, and obedient to all his laws and statutes.

³ Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. — and keep my Sabbaths; this is expressed in the plural number, because there were various Sabbaths: the seventh day Sabbath, and the seventh year Sabbath, and the jubilee, which was once in seven times seven years; the seventh day Sabbath is chiefly meant;

⁴ Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God. — turn ye not unto idols; as the Lord is their God, and there is no other God besides Him, the Israelites must never turn their affections nor address prayers or enquiries to idols.

⁵ “‘And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will. — at your own will; or, according to your own pleasure, a voluntary freewill offering, of their own accord, and not by force, what you think fit; for though this sacrifice, was appreciated, it was left to their choice to determine the particulars.

⁶ It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow; and if aught remain until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. — it shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow; the meaning is, that if it could be, it was best to eat it all up the same day it was offered, but if not, the remainder was to be eaten on the morrow, but by no means to be kept any longer;

⁷ And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted. — it is abominable; it is as any common thing, as if it was no sacrifice; yea, as if it was corrupt and putrefied flesh;

⁸ Therefore every one who eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. — therefore everyone that eateth it shall bear his iniquity; be chargeable with sin, be pronounced guilty, and endure the punishment, which is cutting off;

⁹ “‘And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. — thou shall not wholly reap the corner of the field; but a part was to be left for the poor.

¹⁰ And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God. — left for the poor; is the poor Israelite; “the stranger” is properly the foreigner, or a proselyte who could possess no land of his own in the land of Israel.

¹¹ “‘Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. — neither deal falsely; in any respect defrauding and over reaching in trade and commerce, particularly not being faithful to a trust committed to them;

¹² And ye shall not swear by My name falsely; neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. — ye shall not swear by my name falsely: this is here added, to show how one sin draws on another, and that when men will lie for their own advantage, they will easily be induced to perjury.

¹³ “‘Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him. The wages of him that is hired shall not remain with thee all night until the morning. — MSG “Don’t exploit your friend or rob him. “Don’t hold back the wages of a hired hand overnight.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord. — do no hurt to any, because they are unable to avenge themselves. We ought to take heed of doing any thing which may occasion our weak brother to fall;

¹⁴ Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord. — thou shalt not curse the deaf; to revile one who cannot hear, and is therefore unable to vindicate himself, is both inexpressibly mean and wicked.

¹⁵ “‘Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

— ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; this is said with respect to judges and witnesses; that the one should not bear false witness in a court of judicature to the perversion of justice, and the other should not pronounce an unrighteous sentence, justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous;

¹⁶ “‘Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord. — thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer, or thou shalt not go about slandering; either by bearing a false testimony, whereby his blood is in danger of being shed when innocent; or by being silent, and not hearing a testimony for him, whereby the shedding of his innocent blood might have been prevented;

¹⁷ “‘Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not let sin come upon him. — you shall not hate your brother in your heart, nor shall you rebuke your brother in any way, lest you bear sin because of him.

¹⁸ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord. — but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; sincerely and heartily, as a man loves himself, doing all the good to him as a man does to himself, or would have done to himself;

¹⁹ “‘Ye shall keep My statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle breed with a diverse kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed; neither shall a garment mingled with linen and wool come upon thee. — thou shall not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; or “cause them to gender” for cattle do not usually of themselves gender with a diverse kind, unless directed and solicited to it, as a male of one kind with a female of another;

— for instance, an horse with a she ass, or an he ass with a mare, and even creatures that were like one another, yet of different kinds, were not to mix together; as a wolf and a dog, a hound and a fox, goats and roebucks, goats and sheep, a horse and a mule, a mule and an ass, an ass and a wild ass; for though they are like one another, they are of different kinds;

²⁰ “‘And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman who is a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband, and not at all redeemed nor freedom given her, she shall be scourged. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. — betrothed to an husband; rather, who has been betrothed to a man. The reference appears to be to a bondwoman who has been betrothed to a fellow-servant by her master;

— she shall be scourged; and not he, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

²¹ And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: even a ram for a trespass offering. — he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord; to the priest of the Lord, to offer it for him; he, and not she, as the Targum of Jonathan has it;

²² And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he hath done, and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

²³ “‘And when ye shall come into the land and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised. Three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you. It shall not be eaten of. — as uncircumcised, that is, as unclean, not to be eaten, but cast away, and counted abominable, as the foreskins are;

— three years shall it be; the cutting off of the fruit is to be repeated every year during three successive years. As the produce of the earliest year when let to grow upon the trees is both stunted and tasteless,

²⁴ But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy with which to praise the Lord. — but in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy; separated and devoted to the service of God, to be given to the priest;

²⁵ And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God. — and in the fifth year; it was only in the fifth year that the owner was permitted to eat the fruits without redeeming them.

²⁶ “‘Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood; neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe omens. — any thing with the blood; any flesh out of which the blood is not first poured.

²⁷ Ye shall not round off the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. — round the corners of your heads; that is, they are not to shave off the hair around the temples and behind the ears, so as to leave the head bald;

— neither shall thou mar the corners of thy beard; by shaving them entirely; 

²⁸ Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord. — ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead; by tattooing, imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars; either with their nails, tearing their cheeks and other parts, or with any instrument: knife, razor; it was the custom of the Amorites, when anyone died, to cut their flesh;

²⁹ “‘Do not prostitute thy daughter to cause her to be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredom and the land become full of wickedness. — lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness: of the wickedness of whoredom;

³⁰ Ye shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord. — ye shall keep my sabbaths; by attending to the worship and service of God on Sabbath days, they and their children would be preserved from the idolatry of the Gentiles, and all the filthy practices attending it;

³¹ “‘Regard not those who have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

— those who have familiar spirits; it implied that those who practised this craft were supposed to be attended by an invisible spirit who was subject to their call to supply them with supernatural information; or practising as witchcrafts; 

— neither seek after wizards or soothsayers; such as pretend to a great deal of knowledge, as the word signifies; such as are called cunning men; the expression “wizard,” which in old English denotes “wise man,” “sage,” is almost the exact equivalent of the word in the original.

³² “‘Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord. — rise up before the hoary head; but though no regard is to be paid to these soothsayers and cunning men, the greatest reverence is to be shown to the aged, for “with the old is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.”

³³ “‘And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. — ye shall not vex him; having once been admitted into the community, the Israelites were forbidden to upbraid him with his nationality or throw at him the fact that he was originally a heathen.

³⁴ But the stranger who dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

— shalt love him as thyself; he is not simply to be treated with consideration and courtesy because he is a foreigner, and enjoy the rights and receive the justice due to every human being, but he is to be put on a perfect equality with the ordinary Israelite.

³⁵ “‘Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measuring length, weight, or number. —n meteyard, in weight, or in measure; the first of these signifies the measure of land, of fields and so likewise of anything that is measured, not only by the rod or line, but by the yard or ell, as cloth and other things.

³⁶ Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. — just balances, just weights; that is, they were to be the same for buying as for selling.

³⁷ Therefore shall ye observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.’” — terefore; because my blessings and deliverances are not indulgences to sin, but greater obligations to all duties to God.

Leviticus 20

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel: ‘Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who giveth any of his seed unto Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. — Molech, literally, “the King,” called also Moloch, Milcom, and Malcham, was known in later times as “the abomination of the Ammonites” 1 Kings 11:5.

— the nature of the rite and of the impious custom called passing children through the fire to Molech is probably true; the practices appear to have been essentially connected with magical arts, probably also with unlawful lusts, and with some particular form of profane swearing.

³ And I will set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name. — and to profane my holy name: by sacrificing to an idol, when sacrifice should be offered to God; and such a sacrifice as would cause the name of God, and his holy laws, and true religion, to be blasphemed and evil, spoken of among the Gentiles.

⁴ And if the people of the land do in any way hide their eyes from the man when he giveth of his seed unto Molech and kill him not, — and if the people of the land; if the community itself, whose duty it is to execute the sentence, either from culpable indifference or criminal sympathy with the sin, connive at it;

⁵ then I will set My face against that man and against his family and will cut him off, and all who go a whoring after him to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. — then I will set my face against that man; that man that sees him do the fact, and winks at it, or the judge that connives at him, and will not condemn him, as well as the man that has committed the iniquity;

⁶ “‘And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits and after wizards to go a whoring after them, I will even set My face against that soul and will cut him off from among his people. — such as have familiar spirits; to seek knowledge, or counsel, or help from them; the same punishment will be visited upon the man who consults necromancers; Jonathan says “and will destroy him by a plague from among his people.”

⁷ “‘Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy, for I am the Lord your God. — sanctify yourselves therefore; by abstaining from such impious and idolatrous practices, as well as by observing the holy commandments of the Lord; otherwise internal sanctification is not the work of man, but of the Lord himself;

⁸ “‘And ye shall keep My statutes and do them: I am the Lord who sanctify you. — and ye shall keep my statutes, and do them; not only those respecting the above things, but all others, which would be a means of preserving them from sin, and of promoting holiness in their lives and conversations;

— I am the Lord which sanctify you: who had separated and distinguished them from all other people on earth, and who had given them holy laws, as the means of holiness; and who only could and did sanctify internally, by his spirit, such or them as were sanctified in heart, as well as outwardly.

⁹ “‘For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. He hath cursed his father or his mother: his blood shall be upon him. — for everyone that curseth his father or his mother; here begins the account of the penalties annexed to the several laws in the preceding chapter; and that respecting the fear and honour of parents being the first,

¹⁰ “‘And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

— this death was inflicted for six crimes; (1) upon him who had commerce with another man’s wife; (2) who smote his father or mother; (3) who stole an Israelite; (4) who being an elder rebelled against the decree of the senate (Deuteronomy 17:12); (5) who played the false prophet; and (6) who prophesied in the name of another god.

¹¹ And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them. — it should be noted that having sex with a stepmother or daughter-in-law are put, by the punishment inflicted upon them, on the same level with adultery and unnatural crimes (verses 10, 13, 15, 16);

¹² And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have wrought confusion: their blood shall be upon them. — confusion; by perverting the order which God hath appointed, and making the same offspring both his own child and his grand-child.

¹³ “‘If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them. — if a man lie also with mankind, as he lieth with a woman; is guilty of the sin of sodomy, this is a breach of the law and worthy of death; be slain by stoning, as the above Targum says;

¹⁴ “‘And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there be no wickedness among you. — it is wickedness; abominable wickedness, shocking and detestable; there are other things, which also are wicked and not to be done, but this is extremely wicked, wickedness to a high degree;

¹⁵ “‘And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death; and ye shall slay the beast. — if a man lie with a beast; a sin quite unnatural, exceeding shocking and detestable, forbid Leviticus 18:23,

¹⁶ And if a woman approach unto any beast and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast. They shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them. — thou shall kill the woman and the beast: the woman by stoning, and the beast with clubs, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this for the same reasons as before, as well as to prevent monstrous births;

¹⁷ “‘And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness and she see his nakedness, it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness: he shall bear his iniquity.

— if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter; take her to be his wife, or commit lewdness with her, it is not lawful to marry her, or lie with her;

¹⁸ “‘And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness and shall uncover her nakedness, he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. — a woman having her sickness; her monthly periods, which make her weak and languid, which is forbidden;

¹⁹ And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister nor of thy father’s sister, for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity. — for he uncovereth his near kin; as an aunt is to a man, and so an uncle to a woman, and both equally criminal;

²⁰ And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin: they shall die childless. — they shall die childless; either the offspring should not be regarded as lawfully theirs, nor be entitled to any hereditary privileges, or they should have no blessing in their children.

²¹ And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing. He hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness: they shall be childless. — and if a man shall take his brother’s wife; to his wife, whether in his life, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, or whether after his death;

— unless when there is no issue, then he was obliged to it by another law, Deuteronomy 25:5; which is now ceased, and the law in Leviticus 18:16; here referred to, stands clear of all exceptions;

²² “‘Ye shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and do them, that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein spew you not out. — that the land . . . spue you not out; as the stomach does its food when it is loathsome and nauseous to it, and it cannot bear it; Leviticus 18:25.

²³ And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. — for there were seven nations cast out for them; and notorious for their wickedness: hence we often meet with this phrase, “the way of the Amorites” they would be ejected and abhorred by him, as the Targums of Jonathan says;

²⁴ But I have said unto you, “Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who have separated you from other people. — but I have said unto you; that is, promised to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and also to you, that he would expel the Canaanites, and give the land to the Israelites as an inheritance;

— I am the Lord your God; had chosen them above all people, to be a special and peculiar people to him; had distinguished them by his favours, and had given them particular laws and ordinances, to observe and walk according to them, different from all other nations, which it became them carefully to regard.

²⁵ Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean; and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. — have separated you from other people; your selection from the rest of the nations was for the all-important end of preserving the knowledge and worship of the true God amid the universal apostasy;

²⁶ And ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine. — and ye shall be holy unto me; separated from all unclean persons and things, and devoted to his service, and obedient to all his commands, and so live holy lives and conversations, according to his will, and to his honour and glory;

— for I the Lord am holy; and therefore they, his people, should be like him, and imitate him, and observe those things which are agreeable to his holy nature and will, and yield a cheerful obedience to his holy precepts;

— and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine; which is a very forcible argument, a strong motive, and which laid them under great obligation to obedience and holiness.

²⁷ “‘A man also or woman who hath a familiar spirit, or who is a wizard, shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.’” — “but” a man also or woman; that is, because the Israelites are God’s holy ones, therefore every man or woman who pretends to disclose future events by means of necromancy, thus usurping the functions of God, is to be stoned to death.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 17

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying: — this is the thing which the Lord hath commanded; ordered to be observed as his will and pleasure by everyone of them: saying; namely, what follows.

³ Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel who killeth an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who killeth it out of the camp, — that killeth; not for common use, for such beasts might be killed by any person or in any place; but for sacrifice, as the sense is limited, Leviticus 17:5;

⁴ and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood shall be imputed unto that man: he hath shed blood. And that man shall be cut off from among his people,

— he shall be cut off by death, either by the hand of God, in case men do not know it or neglect to punish it, or by men, if the fact was public and evident;

⁵ to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the Lord unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord.

— whoever of the house of Israel slaughtered an ox, sheep, or goat, either within or outside the camp, without bringing the animal to the tabernacle, to offer a sacrifice therefrom to the Lord, “blood was to be reckoned to him;”

⁶ And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the Lord. — and burn the fat for a sweet savour to the Lord; the fat includes the inwards, the kidneys, the flanks and caul of the liver; Leviticus 3:3.

⁷ And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.’ — and they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils; the word, sēirim here translated “devils,” literally indicates hairy or shaggy goats, and then goat-like deities, or demons.

⁸ “And thou shalt say unto them: ‘Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,

⁹ and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation to offer it unto the Lord, even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

— even that man shall be cut off from his people; from being one of them, and having communion with them, and sharing in their privileges; or by death, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, or rather by the hand of God;

¹⁰ “‘And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eateth any manner of blood, I will even set My face against that soul who eateth blood and will cut him off from among his people.

— owing to its great importance, the law is enacted here separately, where it naturally follows the order that the blood of all animals sacrificed in the sanctuary is to be offered to the Lord upon the altar.

¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. — and I have given it unto you to make an atonement for your souls: that being the life of the creature, was given for theirs to preserve them alive, and secure them from death their sins deserved;

¹² Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, “No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.” — neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood; any proselyte of righteousness; this may not have been observed before.

¹³ And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood thereof and cover it with dust. — he shall even pour out the blood; and cover it with dust; upon the earth, from which all animals came forth at their creation;

¹⁴ For it is the life of all flesh: the blood of it is for the life thereof. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, “Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh, for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof. Whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.” — whosoever eateth it shall be cut off; by death, whether he be an Israelite or a proselyte of righteousness;

¹⁵ And every soul that eateth that which died of itself or that which was torn by beasts, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; then shall he be clean. — that which died of itself; the law enacted here is a natural sequel to the one immediately preceding, since it is still based upon the sacredness of blood;

— then shall he be clean; when he has washed his garments, and bathed himself, and the evening is come, and then shall be admitted to society as before:

¹⁶ But if he wash them not nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’” — then he shall bear his iniquity; his guilt shall remain on him, and he shall suffer the punishment the law exposes him to, either by the hand of God, or the civil magistrate, which is due to persons that enter into the sanctuary in their uncleanness, or eat of holy things.

Leviticus 18

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: ‘I am the Lord your God. — I am the Lord your God; the Lord, Yehovah, is their recognised and sole sovereign, the children of Israel are therefore bound to obey His precepts, and not be led astray by the customs or statutes which prevailed among the people whose country they are to possess.

³ According to the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

— after the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; where they had dwelt many years, and were just come out from thence, and where they had learned many of their evil practices; not only their idolatrous ones referred to in the preceding chapter;

⁴ Ye shall do My judgments and keep Mine ordinances to walk therein; I am the Lord your God. — ye shall do my judgments; the expression “my judgments and mine ordinances” is here used emphatically, in opposition to “their ordinances,” and has here the force of Mine only;

⁵ Ye shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord. — he shall live in them; not only happily here, but also eternally hereafter;

⁶ “‘None of you shall approach any who is near of kin to him to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord. — to illicit incestuous relation is illegal;

⁷ The nakedness of thy father or the nakedness of thy mother shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. — by uncovering a father’s nakedness is not meant anything similar to what befell Noah, which Ham beheld with pleasure, and the other two sons of Noah studiously and with reverence to their father covered;

— she is thy mother, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness; that is, not lie with her, nor marry her, because she is his mother that bore him, of whom he was born, and therefore ought not to become his wife, or be taken into his bed; such a marriage must be incestuous and shocking;

⁸ The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. — a man’s father’s wife is for ever prohibited, whether she be simply betrothed or married to his father, whether she be divorced or not, whether she be a widow or not; all connection with her on the part of the father’s son is forbidden;

— this, therefore, includes the sin of Reuben with Bilhah, his father’s concubine (Genesis 35:22), and of Absalom with the wives of his father (II Samuel 16:20-23; I Kings 2:17); which was not incestuous marriage but adultery, since their husbands were alive and the wives were not divorced from them;

⁹ The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

— the nakedness of thy sister; to lie with one in so near a relation is exceeding criminal, and for which the law curses a man, Deuteronomy 27:22; and to marry her is not lawful; for though it was necessary for the propagation of mankind that a man should marry his sister, for who else could Cain and Abel marry?

— yet afterwards, when there was an increase of mankind, and there were people enough remote from each other, it became unlawful for persons in such near ties of consanguinity to marry with each other; 

¹⁰ The nakedness of thy son’s daughter or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover; for theirs is thine own nakedness. — for theirs is thine own nakedness; which sprung from his, being the descendants either of his son or daughter; the Targum of Jonathan says,” for they are as thy own nakedness,” his own flesh and blood.

¹¹ The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. — thy father’s wife’s daughter; if this clause stood alone it would denote the daughter of a man’s stepmother by another or previous husband;

¹² Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman. — thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister; his aunt by his father’s side;

¹³ Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman. — thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister; which is the same relation as before, an aunt by the mother’s side; wherefore, if such a marriage was unlawful, this must also, and for the same reason;

¹⁴ Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother. Thou shalt not approach his wife: she is thine aunt.

— thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother; which some understand this of committing sodomy with him, on which account he was doubly guilty, partly because of lying with a male, and partly because of uncovering the nakedness of his father’s brother;

¹⁵ Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. — she is that son’s wife; and so one flesh with him, and who is of the same flesh and blood with his father, and therefore the nearness of the relation forbids such incestuous copulation or marriage;

¹⁶ Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. — the Targum of Jonathan adds; by way of explanation, “in the life of thy brother, or after his death, if he has children,” but then that law was but an exception from this general rule, and so did not make it void in other respects, but bound it the more strongly; and besides, it was a special and peculiar law to them;

¹⁷ Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness: for they are her near kinswomen; it is wickedness.

— a woman and her daughter; that is, if a man marries a widow who has a daughter by a former husband, or if he forms an alliance with a woman who has a daughter out of wedlock, he is forbidden to marry also the daughter.

¹⁸ Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister to vex her, to uncover her nakedness beside the other in her life time. — to vex her; that is, by marrying also the younger sister, the first, who is already the wife, would be roused to jealousy, and the natural love of sisters would thus be converted into enmity, thus precluding the occurrence of a case like that of Jacob with Leah and Rachel.

¹⁹ “‘Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. — to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness; in her monthly courses; and the time of her separation from her husband on that account was seven days;

²⁰ Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor’s wife, to defile thyself with her. — thy neighbour’s wife; for committing adultery, which is here branded as a defilement, whether with a betrothed or married woman, both guilty parties incurred the penalty of death by stoning.

²¹ And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. — pass through the fire to Molech; literally, to let it pass to Molech, that is, to put the child into the hands of the figure of Molech, when it fell into the fire which was kindled in the hollow statue of this idol.

²² Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination. — as with womankind; this was the sin of Sodom (Genesis 19:5), whence it derived its name, and in spite of the penalty of death enacted by the Law against those who were found guilty of it;

²³ Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith, neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. — any beast; the necessity for the prohibition of this shocking crime, for which the Mosaic law enacts the penalty of death;

²⁴ “‘Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you, — defile not ye yourselves in any of these things; in incestuous copulations and marriages, in adultery, sodomy and bestiality;

— the Targum of Jonathan says:

Defile not yourselves by any one of all these; for by all these have the peoples defiled themselves whom I am about to drive away from before you. Leviticus 18:24 Targum

Defile not yourselves by any one of all these; for by all these have the peoples defiled themselves whom I am about to drive away from before you.

— for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you; that is, the seven nations of the land of Canaan: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites. Genesis 15:19-21

²⁵ and the land is defiled. Therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

— therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it; and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants: the Canaanites collectively, as enormous and incorrigible sinners, were to be exterminated; and this extermination was manifestly a judicial punishment inflicted by a ruler whose laws had been grossly and perseveringly outraged;

— and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants; as a stomach loaded with corrupt and bad food it has taken in, nauseates it, and cannot bear and retain it, but casts it up; so the land of Canaan is represented as loathing its inhabitants, and as a indignation against them, and as not being able to bear them, but entirely willing to be rid of them and throw them out of their places in it, never to be admitted again, being as nauseous and as useless as the cast of a man’s stomach;

²⁶ Ye shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither any of your own nation nor any stranger who sojourneth among you — ye shall therefore keep my statutes; as the perpetration of the above named abominations entailed such disastrous consequences both to the land and to its inhabitants,

²⁷ (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, who were before you, and the land is defiled), — the repetition as those in Leviticus 18:24-25, is of the same sentiments in diiferent words, as is frequently the case in the Scriptures, is designed to impart emphasis. The parentheses are unnecessary.

²⁸ that the land spew not you out also when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you. — that the land spue not you out also; better, Lest the land vomit you out; that is, as it spewed out the nations that were before you;

— the judgement is expulsion; hence the Targum Jonathan says

For these abominable things have been done by the men of the land who have been before you, so that the land hath been polluted:

lest, when you pollute the land, it cast you forth, as it will have delivered itself of the people that were before you. Leviticus 18:27-28 Targum

— same thing, the judgement is expulsion; and here from the MSG

“Don’t pollute yourself in any of these ways. This is how the nations became polluted, the ones that I am going to drive out of the land before you. Even the land itself became polluted and I punished it for its iniquities—the land vomited up its inhabitants.

You must keep my decrees and laws—natives and foreigners both. You must not do any of these abhorrent things. The people who lived in this land before you arrived did all these things and polluted the land.

And if you pollute it, the land will vomit you up just as it vomited up the nations that preceded you. Leviticus 18:24-28 MSG

And below a parallel Scripture from Jeremiah:

“Therefore behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

but, ‘the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Jeremiah 16:14-15

²⁹ For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. — the souls that commit them shall be cut off; this strong denunciatory language is applied to all the crimes specified in this chapter without distinction: from incest as truly as to Sodomy to bestiality, and to other cases of affinity;

³⁰ Therefore shall ye keep Mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.’”

— and that ye defile not yourselves therein; for though the land is so often said to be defiled, yet, properly speaking, and chiefly, it was the inhabitants that were defiled by their abominable customs;

— and so should the Israelites do so also, should they observe the same, and thereby become abominable in the sight of God, and incur his same displeasure, and be liable to his vengeance:

— from MSG

“Those who do any of these abhorrent things will be cut off from their people. Keep to what I tell you; don’t engage in any of the abhorrent acts that were practiced before you came.

Don’t pollute yourselves with them. I am God, your God.” Leviticus 18:29-30 MSG

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 15

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.

— clearer from the MSG

God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When a man has a discharge from his genitals, the discharge is unclean. Whether it comes from a seepage or an obstruction he is unclean. He is unclean all the days his body has a seepage or an obstruction. Leviticus 15:1-3

³ And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue or his flesh be stopped from running with his issue, it is his uncleanness.

⁴ Every bed whereon he lieth who hath the issue is unclean, and every thing whereon he sitteth shall be unclean. — every thing; Heb. vessel, by which the Hebrews understand all sorts of household stuff.

⁵ And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

— every bed, whereon he lieth; so severely did the canonical law deal with these cases that any defilement communicated to the bed, and hence also to his seat and saddle, by the patient in five different ways: by standing, sitting, lying, hanging, or leaning on it;

— and be unclean until the even; be unfit for conversation with other men till the even, though both his body and clothes are washed.

⁶ And he that sitteth on any thing whereon he sat who hath the issue shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. — and he that sitteth on any thing whereon he sat that hath the issue; shall be unclean, even though he does not touch it.

⁷ And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and is unclean until the evening.

⁸ And if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. — and if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean; not purposely, which is not usual for a man to do, and whenever it is done, nothing is more affronting; but accidentally;

— whatever is brought up by coughing, as phlegm, or flows from the nose, or is pressed out of it;

⁹ And what saddle soever he rideth upon who hath the issue shall be unclean. — and what saddle soever he sitteth upon that hath the issue; when he rides upon any beast, horse, ass, or camel, whatever is put upon the creature, and he sits upon it, the saddle, and whatever appertains to it, the housing and girdle;

¹⁰ And whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the evening; and he that beareth any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. — and whosoever toucheth anything that was under him shall be unclean until the even; either when lying along, or sitting, or riding;

¹¹ And whomsoever he toucheth who hath the issue and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹² And the vessel of earth that he toucheth who hath the issue shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. — and the vessel of earth . . . shall be broken; for the reason why vessels of a porous clay must be destroyed when contaminated by defilement;

¹³ “‘And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. — man’s “ritual” impurity;

— from the Chabad Bible for this verse:

When the man with the discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days for himself for his purification, and then immerse his garments and immerse his flesh in spring water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁴ And on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and give them unto the priest.

— from the MSG

“When a person with a discharge is cleansed from it, he is to count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe in running water. Then he is clean. On the eighth day he is to take two doves or two pigeons and come before God at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest.

The priest then offers one as an Absolution-Offering and one as a Whole-Burnt-Offering and makes atonement for him in the presence of God because of his discharge. Leviticus 15:13-15

¹⁵ And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord for his issue.

¹⁶ “‘And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁷ And every garment and every skin whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening.

— from MSG

“When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water; he remains unclean until evening. Every piece of clothing and everything made of leather which gets semen on it must be washed with water; it remains unclean until evening. When a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both are to wash in water; they remain unclean until evening. Leviticus 15:16-18

¹⁸ The woman also with whom a man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹ “‘And if a woman have an issue and her issue from her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days; and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁰ And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean; every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.

²¹ And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²² And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

— from MSG

“When a woman has a discharge of blood, the impurity of her menstrual period lasts seven days. Anyone who touches her is unclean until evening. Everything on which she lies or sits during her period is unclean. Anyone who touches her bed or anything on which she sits must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening. Leviticus 15:19-23

²³ And if it be on her bed or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁴ And if any man lie with her at all and her monthly discharge be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

²⁵ “‘And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation, all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation; she shall be unclean.

²⁶ Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation; and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation.

— from MSG

“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, but not at the time of her monthly period, or has a discharge that continues beyond the time of her period, she is unclean the same as during the time of her period.

Every bed on which she lies during the time of the discharge and everything on which she sits becomes unclean the same as in her monthly period. Anyone who touches these things becomes unclean and must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening. Leviticus 15:25-27

²⁷ And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²⁸ But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

²⁹ And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³⁰ And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the Lord for the issue of her uncleanness.

— from MSG

“When she is cleansed from her discharge, she is to count off seven days; then she is clean. On the eighth day she is to take two doves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

The priest will offer one for an Absolution-Offering and the other for a Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will make atonement for her in the presence of God because of the discharge that made her unclean. Leviticus 15:28-30 —

³¹ “‘Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, that they die not in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.’”

³² This is the law of him that hath an issue, and of him whose seed goeth from him and is defiled therewith,

³³ and of her that is sick with her monthly discharge, and of him that hath an issue, of the man and of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is unclean.

— from MSG

“These are the procedures to follow for a man with a discharge or an emission of semen that makes him unclean, and for a woman in her menstrual period—any man or woman with a discharge and also for a man who sleeps with a woman who is unclean.”

Leviticus 16

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died;

— after the death of the two sons of Aaron; that is, after Nadab and Abihu, his two eldest sons, had died, in consequence of having presumptuously entered the sanctuary in a profane manner, and playing with strange fire; they died by a flaming fire; or lightning?

² and the Lord said unto Moses, “Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the Holy Place within the veil before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, that he die not; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

— that he come not at all times; Moses is therefore to warn his brother Aaron, the high priest, that if he wishes to escape a similar fate, he is not to presume to enter the Holy of Holies except on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement;

— as Aaron here stands for all those who in future are to succeed him in the pontificate, so Moses, who teaches him his duty, stands for his successors who are hereafter to impart instruction to the high priests on these most solemn occasions;

— he was to go into the holy of holies four times on the Day of Atoneme; first to offer incense, a second time to sprinkle the blood of the bullock, a third time to sprinkle the blood of the goat, and a fourth time to fetch out the censer; and if he entered a fifth time, he was worthy of death; yet Moses might at any time, and consult the Lord upon the mercy seat, Exodus 25:22;

— during the second Temple the instruction and preparation of the high priest for his functions devolved upon the Sanhedrin, who prescribed most minute rules for his guidance. Seven days before the Day of Atonement he was separated from his wife, and lodged in a chamber in the Temple, lest he should contract defilement, which might unfit him for the performance of his pontifical duties;

— the elders or the representatives of the Sanhedrin read and expounded to him the ordinances contained in this chapter; which he had to practise in their [presence, so as to make sure that he could rightly perform all the ceremonies. This continued during the whole night previous to the Day of Atonement, where he was to be kept awake, so as to prevent any pollution arising from a dream or accident by night.

³ Thus shall Aaron come into the Holy Place: with a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. — thus shall Aaron come; preparatory to his entering on this solemn service the high-priest was to offer two sacrifices in behalf of himself and his family.

⁴ He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen miter shall he be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.

— and he shall wash; he had to bathe his body every time when he changed his vestments, which were no less than five times on this day, and washes his hands and feet ten times on that day, and all are done in the holy place.

⁵ And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. — and make atonement for himself and his house; for his own personal sins and for his family’s sins, those of his wife and children; and it may be extended to all the priests of the house of Aaron;

⁶ And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house.

On the Day of Atonement

⁷ And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. — both goats were presented for the Day of Atonement before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; it is commanded that they should be alike in colour, height, and price,

— which may represent the two natures in Christ; his divine nature, as the Son of God, in which he is impassable, and lives for ever, which may be signified by the goat in which he suffered and died at the hand of the high-priest;

— and the second goat, and may be fitly represented by the goat that was alive, when it too was offered to the Lord, but let go; and in his human nature, as the Son of Man, in which he also suffered in the wilderness called Azazel, and died;

⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats — one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. — after the lot had been chosen, the two goats were distinguished from each other by having a piece of scarlet cloth tied, the first round its neck, the second round its horn. One lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel, which is a wilderness about 12 miles from Jerusalem;

⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.

¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell to be for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him and to let him go into the wilderness to Azazel. — Jonathan says “by sending him to die in a place rough and hard in the rocky desert which is Beth-hadurey.”

— both goats were presented before the Lord; thus it doesn’t go well that the goat destined for Azazel should represent a demon, or Azazel, to be the same as the evil angel in the Book of Enoch 8:1; 10:10; 13:1; while others as Satan; but Satan or any of his evil demons have never play that role of atoning for the sins of Israel.

¹¹ “And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself.

— and shall make atonement for himself and for his house: by a confession of sins, as the second confession; and in the same words as before; then he put a tongue-shaped piece of scarlet wool upon the head of the goat to be sent away, and came beside his bullock;

¹² And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it inside the veil. — inside the veil, that is, into the holy of holies before the Lord Leviticus 16:2.

¹³ And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not. — that he die not for so gross an error committed in the highest acts of worship, and that by a high priest, whose knowledge and function was a great aggravation to his sin.

¹⁴ And he shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. — and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat, eastward; with his right finger; and the blood sprinkled with it did not fall upon the mercy seat;

¹⁵ Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. — having completed the atonement in the holy of holies on behalf of the priests, the high priest had now to do the same thing on behalf of the people.

¹⁶ And he shall make an atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

— next he cleansed the tent of meeting, or the court of the sanctuary, where the Israelites were usually admitted; that is, the high priest sprinkled the court and the altar of burnt offering which was in it eight times with the mingled blood of the bullock and goat.

¹⁷ And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the Holy Place until he come out, and has made an atonement for himself and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel.

— and there shall be no man; whilst the high priest was performing this process of cleansing, no one, whether priest or Israelite, was permitted to be present;

¹⁸ And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord and make an atonement for it, and shall take of the blood of the bullock and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.

— the order of the ceremony required that atonement should first be made for the most holy place with the mercy-seat, then for the holy place with the golden altar, and then for the altar in the court;

— the horns of the brazen altar were touched with the blood, as they were in the ordinary sin-offerings.

¹⁹ And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. — and he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times; this was done with his right finger, or forefinger, and seven times, to denote the perfect cleansing of the altar with it.

²⁰ “And when he hath made an end of reconciling the Holy Place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. — he shall bring the live goat; having already been presented before the Lord (Lev 16:10), it was now brought forward to the high priest;

²¹ And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.

— the high priest, who, placing his hands upon its head, and “having confessed over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,” transferred them by this act to the goat as their substitute.

²² And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

— it was then delivered into the hands of a person, who was appointed to lead him away into a distant, solitary, and desert place, “Azazel,” where he was led to a high rocky twelve miles from Jerusalem, and there, being thrust over the precipice, he was killed.

²³ “And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there;

— and shall put off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place; the holy of holies, that is, after he had brought it (the censer) out, then he clothed himself with the golden garments for the daily evening sacrifice;

— and this was the order of the services (on the day of atonement); the daily morning sacrifice (was performed) in the golden garments; the service of the bullock and of the goat, and the incense of the censer, in the white garments; and his ram, and the ram of the people, and some of the additions, in the golden garments;

²⁴ and he shall wash his flesh with water in the Holy Place and put on his garments, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself and for the people. — he shall wash in the holy place; that is, in the court of the tabernacle, where stood the altar of burnt-offering, and the sacred laver.

²⁵ And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.

²⁶ And he that let go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. — Jonathan: “And he who led away the goat to Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in forty seahs of water, and afterward he may enter the camp.”

²⁷ And the bullock for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall one carry forth outside the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins and their flesh and their dung. — shall one carry forth; shall be carried forth; during the second Temple four men carried the carcases upon two poles to the place set aside outside Jerusalem for burning.

²⁸ And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. — because they had been defiled by the animals laden with sin.

²⁹ “And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger who sojourneth among you;

— seventh month, on the tenth day; the month of Tisri, as being the seventh in the Sacred year; on the first day was celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, the tenth day was the Day of Atonement, and on the fourteenth day the Feast of tabernacles commenced;

— a stranger that sojourneth among you; rather, the foreigner who dwelleth among you; meaning is, one of foreign blood, who dwelt with the Israelites, and had become familiarly known to his neighbors: the Kenites (Judges 4:11, etc.); the Gibeonites Joshua 9; and a considerable portion of the “mixed multitude” (compare Exodus 12:38, Exodus 12:48);

³⁰ for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

³¹ It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. — it shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you; literally, a resting day of solemn resting, a Sabbath of Sabbaths, ithat is, a day of complete and perfect rest.

³² And the priest, whom he shall anoint and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments;

— and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: that is, on the Day of Atonement; in which clothes all the service peculiar to that day, as it was done by Aaron, so it was to be done by all his successors;

³³ and he shall make an atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation.

³⁴ And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you: to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.” And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. — these several atonements, for his family, and for all the priests, were separate and distinct, and did not hinder one another, or interfere with one another.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 13

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron, saying,

² “When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest or unto one of his sons the priests.

— the plague of leprosy was a disease as well as an uncleanness; Miriam’s leprosy, and king Uzziah’s, were punishments of particular sins;

— as cleansing, a pollution as well as a disease; it belonged to the priest to cleanse him, and therefore to search and discover whether he was defiled and needed cleansing.

³ And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh; and when the hair in the plague has turned white and the plague in appearance be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean.

— when the hair in the plague is turned white; this is the first symptom, and the most noticeable as the commencement of the disease; the hair around the spot loses its colour and becomes thin and weak, the separate hairs being hardly stronger or individually thicker than down;

— the second symptom is when the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh; that is, below the upper skin, or cuticle, and in the real cutis. These two symptoms distinguish real leprosy from other affections which at first bear a similar appearance.

⁴ If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh and in appearance be not deeper than the skin and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days.

— then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague; the individual thus suspected was to be separated from the rest of the community for seven days, during which time it would be seen whether it actually developed itself into this disorder.

⁵ And the priest shall look on him the seventh day; and behold, if the plague in its appearance is stayed and the plague spread not in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days more.

— if the plague in his sight be at a stay; better, if the plagued spot remain the same in its colour, that is, if the suspicious spot which caused the individual to be shut up had not altered its complexion;

— then the priest shall shut him up seven days more; such abundant care was taken, lest after all it should prove a leprosy.

⁶ And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day; and behold, if the plague be somewhat dark and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is but a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.

— and if, on further examination upon the seventh day, he found that the mole had become paler, had lost its brilliant whiteness, and had not spread, he was to declare him clean, for it was a scurf, i.e., a mere skin eruption, and not true leprosy.

⁷ But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after he hath been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again.

⁸ And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy. — it is a leprosy: it is a clear and plain case that it was one, and no doubt is to be made of it, it is a spreading leprosy;

⁹ “When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest. — then he shall be brought unto the priest; by his friends and neighbours, if he is not willing to come of himself;

¹⁰ And the priest shall see him; and behold, if the rising be white in the skin and it has turned the hair white and there be living raw flesh in the rising,

¹¹ it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh; and the priest shall pronounce him unclean and shall not shut him up, for he is unclean.

— and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up; there being no doubt at all of it being a leprosy, and of his uncleanness, and therefore no need to shut him up for further examination, but to turn him out of the camp till his purification was over; —

¹² And if leprosy break out abroad in the skin and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh,

— and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague, from his head even to his foot; such an one as the leper was that came to Christ for healing, said to be full of leprosy, Luke 5:12; 

¹³ then the priest shall consider; and behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague. It has all turned white; he is clean.

¹⁴ But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.

¹⁵ And the priest shall see the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean, for the raw flesh is unclean; it is leprosy.

¹⁶ Or if the raw flesh turn again and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest,

¹⁷ and the priest shall see him; and behold, if the plague be turned into white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague; he is clean.

¹⁸ “The flesh also in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil and it is healed,

¹⁹ and in the place of the boil there be a white rising or a bright spot, white and somewhat reddish, and it be shown to the priest,

²⁰ and if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it is in appearance lower than the skin and the hair thereof is turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.

²¹ But if the priest look on it, and behold, there are no white hairs therein and if it is not lower than the skin, but is somewhat dark, then the priest shall shut him up seven days.

²² And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a plague.

²³ But if the bright spot stay in his place and spread not, it is a burning boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴ “Or if there be any flesh in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the living flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish or white,

²⁵ then the priest shall look upon it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot is turned white and it is in appearance deeper than the skin, it is a leprosy broken out of the burning. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the plague of leprosy.

²⁶ But if the priest look on it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot and it is no lower than the other skin, but is somewhat dark, then the priest shall shut him up seven days.

²⁷ And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day; and if it is spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the plague of leprosy.

²⁸ And if the bright spot stay in his place and spread not in the skin, but it is somewhat dark, it is a rising from the burning; and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is an inflammation from the burning.

²⁹ “If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard, — the treatment is similar to that in the preceding cases, but two periods of confinement are prescribed, and the hair is to be shaven after the first seven days.

³⁰ then the priest shall see the plague; and behold, if it be in appearance deeper than the skin and there is in it a yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

— even a leprosy upon the head or beard; as the head is the seat of knowledge, and the beard a sign of manhood, and of a man’s being arrived to years of discretion; when wisdom and prudence are expected in him; this sort of leprosy may be an emblem of errors in judgment;

— of false doctrines and heresies imbibed by persons, which eat as doth a canker, and are in themselves damnable, and bring ruin and destruction on teachers and hearers, unless recovered from them by the true teachings of God.

³¹ And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and behold, it is not in appearance deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days.

³² And on the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague; and behold, if the scall spread not and there is in it no yellow hair and the scall is not in appearance deeper than the skin,

³³ he shall be shaved, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more.

³⁴ And on the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall; and behold, if the scall is not spread in the skin nor is in appearance deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.

³⁵ But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing,

³⁶ then the priest shall look on him; and behold, if the scall is spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean.

³⁷ But if the scall is in appearance stayed and there is black hair grown up therein, the scall is healed; he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸ “If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots,

³⁹ then the priest shall look; and behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white, it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean.

— he is clean; from leprosy; this is observed, lest a person that is freckled should be mistaken for a leprous person; as every man that has some spots, failings, and infirmities, is not to be reckoned as unclean.

⁴⁰ “And the man whose hair has fallen off his head, he is bald, yet is he clean. — he is bald; yet is he clean; the baldness mentioned in the first part of the verse in general terms is now more minutely specified as consisting of two kinds of baldness.

⁴¹ And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, his forehead is bald, yet is he clean.

⁴² And if there be in the bald head or bald forehead a white reddish sore, it is leprosy sprung up in his bald head or his bald forehead.

⁴³ Then the priest shall look upon it; and behold, if the rising of the sore is reddish white in his bald head or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh,

⁴⁴ he is a leprous man; he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is on his head.

⁴⁵ “And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip and shall cry, ‘Unclean, unclean.’

— and shall cry, Unclean; as leprosy was most defiling, and as the very entrance of a leper into a house rendered everything in it unclean, the person thus afflicted had to warn off the passers by, lest they should approach him, and by contact with him become defiled.

⁴⁶ All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean. He shall dwell alone; outside the camp shall his habitation be. — he shall dwell alone; in consequence of his extreme defilement, the leper had to live in seclusion outside the camp or city.

⁴⁷ “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woolen garment or a linen garment,

⁴⁸ whether it be in the warp or woof, of linen or of wool, whether in a skin or in any thing made of skin,

⁴⁹ and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the skin, either in the warp or in the woof or in any thing of skin, it is a plague of leprosy and shall be shown unto the priest.

⁵⁰ And the priest shall look upon the plague and shut up it that hath the plague seven days.

⁵¹ And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day; if the plague is spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in a skin or in any work that is made of skin, the plague is a consuming leprosy; it is unclean.

⁵² He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or any thing of skin wherein the plague is, for it is a consuming leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³ “And if the priest shall look, and behold, the plague is not spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in any thing of skin,

⁵⁴ then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more.

⁵⁵ And the priest shall look on the plague after it is washed; and behold, if the plague has not changed his color and the plague is not spread, it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire. It has eaten inward, whether it be bare within or without.

⁵⁶ And if the priest look, and behold, the plague is somewhat dark after the washing of it, then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof.

⁵⁷ And if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof or in any thing of skin, it is a spreading plague; thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.

⁵⁸ And the garment, either warp or woof or whatsoever thing of skin it is which thou shalt wash, if the plague is departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time and shall be clean.”

⁵⁹ This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.

Leviticus 14

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest. — this shall be the law of the leper; that is, the manner in which an Israelite cured of his leprosy shall be purified and restored to the communion of the sanctuary on the day when he is pronounced clean.

³ And the priest shall go forth out of the camp, and the priest shall look; and behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper,

⁴ then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. — two birds; literally, “sparrows,” but any sort of birds, 

— and the cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop; a stick of cedar; are also to be burnt with the red heifer for the ashes for the water of separation (Numbers 19:6), and they appear to have been commonly employed in purifications;

⁵ And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.

⁶ As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.

⁷ And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

⁸ And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean; and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. — and shall tarry abroad out of his tent; but though permitted to return to the camp, yet he had to live the first week out of his own house.

⁹ But it shall be on the seventh day that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off, and he shall wash his clothes; also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁰ “And on the eighth day he shall take two helambs without blemish and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and threetenths part of fine flour for a meat offering mingled with oil, and one log of oil.

¹¹ And the priest who maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹² And the priest shall take one helamb and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

¹³ And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering; it is most holy.

¹⁴ And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot.

¹⁵ And the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

¹⁶ And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord;

¹⁷ and of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.

¹⁸ And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.

¹⁹ And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering.

²⁰ And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

²¹ “And if he be poor and cannot get so much, then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved to make an atonement for him, and onetenth part of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil,

— if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb—a kind and considerate provision for an extension of the privilege to lepers of the poorer class.

²² and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

— and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; as good as he can get for his money, or his money he is possessed of will purchase; so that the poor man had as many offerings for his atonement and cleansing as the rich, and his expiation and purgation were as complete as theirs.

²³ And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord.

²⁴ And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

²⁵ And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot;

²⁶ and the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand.

²⁷ And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord;

²⁸ and the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering.

²⁹ And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the Lord.

³⁰ And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or of the young pigeons, such as he can get—

³¹ even such as he is able to get — the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the Lord.

³² This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing.”

³³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

³⁴ “When ye have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession,

— when ye be come into the land of Canaan; which as yet they were not come to, being in the wilderness, and so the following law concerning the leprosy in houses could not yet take place, they now dwelling in tents, and not in houses;

³⁵ and he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘It seemeth to me there is, as it were, a plague in the house,’ — leprosy in a house; this law was prospective, not to come into operation till the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan.

³⁶ then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house.

³⁷ And he shall look on the plague, and behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, which in appearance are lower than the wall,

³⁸ then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days.

³⁹ And the priest shall come again the seventh day and shall look; and behold, if the plague is spread in the walls of the house,

⁴⁰ then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city.

⁴¹ And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off outside the city into an unclean place.

⁴² And they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and shall plaster the house.

⁴³ “And if the plague come again and break out in the house, after he hath taken away the stones and after he hath scraped the house and after it is plastered,

⁴⁴ then the priest shall come and look; and behold, if the plague is spread in the house, it is a consuming leprosy in the house; it is unclean.

⁴⁵ And he shall break down the house — the stones of it and the timber thereof and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.

— and he shall break down the house; order it to be pulled down, and demolished entirely, that is, the priest shall give such orders; but this was to be done by the owner of the house, and that he was to do it himself, and have no associate with him in it;

⁴⁶ Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.

⁴⁷ And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes, and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ “And if the priest shall come in and look upon it, and behold, the plague hath not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

⁴⁹ And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

⁵⁰ And he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;

⁵¹ and he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

⁵² And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the scarlet;

⁵³ but he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.”

⁵⁴ This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy and scall,

⁵⁵ and for the leprosy of a garment and of a house,

⁵⁶ and for a rising and for a scab and for a bright spot,

⁵⁷ to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy. — this is the law of leprosy; respecting every sort of it, and which is very remarkably enlarged upon; that is, to give directions for the time when they would have to do with the clean and unclean.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 11

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, — spoke unto Moses and Aaron; this charge is given to them jointly; to one as chief governor, and to the other as high-priest; the priest was to direct the people about the things forbidden or allowed, and the magistrate was to see the direction followed.

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. — in accordance with the division of the animal kingdom are into four principal classes: (1) the land animals, (2) the water animals, (3) the birds of the air, and (4) the swarming animals.

³ Whatsoever parteth the hoof and is cloven-footed and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that shall ye eat. — whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud; ruminating animals by the peculiar structure of their stomachs digest their food more fully than others.

⁴ Nevertheless these shall ye not eat, of those that chew the cud or of those that divide the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but divideth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you; 

⁵ and the coney, because he cheweth the cud but divideth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you; — the coney; that is the old name for the rabbits;

⁶ and the hare, because he cheweth the cud but divideth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you; 

⁷ and the swine, though he divide the hoof and is cloven-footed, yet he cheweth not the cud, he is unclean to you. — and the swine; this animal is remarkable for filthiness, and for feeding on all manner of ordure, even carrion if it falls in its way;

⁸ Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. 

⁹ “‘These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. — any fish, either from salt water or fresh, might be eaten if it had both scales and fins. but no other creature that lives in the waters;

¹⁰ And all that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you. 

— shellfish of all kinds, whether mollusks or crustaceans, and cetaceous animals were therefore prohibited, as well as fish which appear to have no scales, like the eel; probably because they were considered unwholesome;

¹¹ They shall be even an abomination unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall hold their carcasses in abomination. 

— an abomination unto you, for food; this clause is added to show that they were neither abominable in their own nature, nor for the food of other nations; as Noah was asked to eat anything that moves, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you;” Genesis 9:3; and Noah was an righteous man;

¹² Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. — whatsoever hath no fins nor scales; frogs, eels, shellfish of all descriptions, were included as unclean; but locusts are clean and should be consumed;

¹³ “‘And these are they which ye shall hold in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, — all such fowls and birds as are rapacious, and live upon prey, as the eagle, and its several kinds, hawks, kites, vultures, ravens, and more, are forbidden;

¹⁴ and the vulture, and the kite after his kind, 

¹⁵ every raven after his kind, 

¹⁶ and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind, 

¹⁷ and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, 

¹⁸ and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, — and the swan; other translations as “white owl” or “barn owls” or “water hen,”

¹⁹ and the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. 

²⁰ “‘All fowls that creep, going upon all fours, shall be an abomination unto you. — all the fowls that creep, better, all creeping things which have wings; the swarming animals or insects, especially of the reptile or insect kind, which constitute the fourth class of the Hebrew division of the animal kingdom;

²¹ Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all fours, which have legs above their feet with which to leap upon the earth; — yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet;

²² even these of them ye may eat: the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. — and the bald locust, the beetle, or rather, the hopping locust.

²³ But all other flying creeping things which have four feet shall be an abomination unto you. 

²⁴ “‘And by these ye shall be unclean. Whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening, — shall be unclean until the even; for coming in contact with the dead body of the animals contracts defilement for the rest of the day, and till the beginning of a new day, which took place after sunset;

²⁵ and whosoever beareth aught of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. — and whosoever beareth; but he who removed the carcase out of the camp or city, or from one place to another, not only contracted defilement for the rest of the day, but had to wash the clothes which he had on;

²⁶ The carcasses of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not cloven-footed nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you; every one who toucheth them shall be unclean. — they were prohibited from touching their dead bodies, but not their bodies when alive: for they used camels, horses, asses, and others, for necessary service;

²⁷ And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all fours, those are unclean unto you; whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁸ And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean unto you. 

²⁹ “‘These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 

³⁰ and the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. 

³¹ These are unclean to you among all that creep; whosoever doth touch them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 

³² And upon whatsoever any of them when they are dead doth fall, it shall be unclean. Whether it be any vessel of wood or raiment or skin or sack, whatsoever vessel it be wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; so it shall be cleansed. 

³³ And every earthen vessel whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean, and ye shall break it. 

³⁴ Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 

³⁵ And every thing whereupon any part of their carcass falleth shall be unclean. Whether it be an oven or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down; for they are unclean and shall be unclean unto you. 

³⁶ Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean; but that which toucheth their carcass shall be unclean. 

³⁷ And if any part of their carcass fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. 

³⁸ But if any water be put upon the seed and any part of their carcass fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. 

³⁹ “‘And if any beast of which ye may eat die, he that toucheth the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the evening. — and if any beast; that is, a clean animal, but which has not been properly slaughtered, having died from any disease or accident; the carcase, in this case, is to be regarded as the dead body of an unclean animal;

⁴⁰ And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. He also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 

⁴¹ “‘And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.

⁴² Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat, for they are an abomination.

⁴³ Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.

⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

— ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy; that is, separate themselves from all other people, and be distinct from them, by using a different diet from theirs, as their Lord and God was different from all others;

— neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; which is repeated to keep them at the utmost distance from these things, and to fill them with an aversion to them, that they might be careful to avoid them.

⁴⁵ For I am the Lord who bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. Ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. 

— ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy; separate from all others as he was, living holy lives and conversations, agreeably to his will made known to them, in imitation or him who had chosen and called them to be his people; for, since holiness is his nature, it becomes them who are his house and family, his subjects and people.

⁴⁶ “‘This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth, — this is the law of the beasts: clean and unclean, what were to be eaten, and what not.

⁴⁷ to make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.’” — make a difference between the unclean and the clean—that is, between animals used and not used for food. 

Leviticus 12

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman have conceived seed and borne a manchild, then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. 

— she shall be unclean seven days; though the issue of blood which succeeds child-birth generally only lasts three or four days, yet the period of uncleanness is extended to seven days to include exceptional cases.

³ And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. — and in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised; or the foreskin of his flesh, that is, of the man child born according to the law.

⁴ And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days. She shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purifying are fulfilled. — the Levitical law ascribed impurity exclusively to the mother, but in no degree to the child; why?

⁵ But if she bear a maidchild, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation; and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days. 

— threescore and six days; the time in both particulars is double to that of the male, the former; the law, as some think, being adapted to an opinion that women are sooner purified after the birth of males than of females;

— perhaps, that a male infant circumcised on the eighth day, by the profusion of its own blood, bears part of the purgation; wherefore the mother, for the birth of a female, must suffer twice the time of separation; the separation is finished within two weeks, but the purgation continues sixty six days;

⁶ “‘And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation unto the priest, 

— but in cases of great poverty a pigeon might be substituted for the lamb (Leviticus 12:8, cf. Leviticus 5:7, Leviticus 5:11);

— for a burnt offering; in gratitude, and by way of thanksgiving for the love she had received in childbearing;

⁷ who shall offer it before the Lord and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath borne a male or a female. — and make an atonement for her; for whatsoever sin in connection with or that attended childbearing; 

⁸ And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for the burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”

 — then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; which was a kind and merciful provision for the poorer sort;

— and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean; equally the same as if she had brought a lamb, instead of young pigeons, or turtledoves.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 9

¹ And it came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, — the consecration was to last seven days, during which time the persons to be consecrated were not to go away from the door of the tabernacle, and now is the eighth day.

² and he said unto Aaron, “Take thee a young calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. 

— and Moses said unto Aaron; take thee a young calf for a sin offering; the directions in these sacred things were still given by Moses, the circumstances being extraordinary;

— and offer them before the Lord; on the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle;

³ And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, ‘Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering, 

— and unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak; that is, Aaron, who was now constituted high priest, was to give the orders about the sacrifices;

⁴ also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a meat offering mingled with oil; for today the Lord will appear unto you.’” 

— for to-day the Lord will appear unto you; that is, prepare and sanctify yourselves with these sacrifices, for the Lord is to manifest himself in an especial manner to signify his approval of the inauguration of Aaron and his family to the priesthood.

⁵ And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 

— and all the congregation; that is, the elders who represented the people, whom Moses summoned (see Leviticus 9:1), and as many of the people as could find room assembled before the sanctuary in the court-yard to witness the newly-installed priests officiating for the first time.

⁶ And Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded that ye should do, and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you.” 

— and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you; the fire that should go out from him, and consume the sacrifice, which would be a demonstration of his presence with them, and of his acceptance of the sacrifice.

⁷ And Moses said unto Aaron, “Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself and for the people; and offer the offering of the people and make an atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.” 

— and Moses said unto Aaron; though he was now the duly-installed high priest, yet he did not approach the altar till he was solemnly called upon by Moses to do it.

⁸ Aaron therefore went unto the altar and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. — and slew the calf; as the sacrificer Aaron, like every ordinary offerer, slaughtered the calf himself;

⁹ And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar; 

— and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar; what remained after he had put what was proper on the horns of it.

¹⁰ but the fat, and the kidneys and the caul above the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹¹ And the flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp. — and the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire outside the camp; with common fire, for the fire from the Lord came only upon the altar;

¹² And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the altar. — and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood: which they had received into a basin, when it was slain.

¹³ And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof and the head; and he burned them upon the altar. 

¹⁴ And he washed the inwards and the legs, and burned them upon the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵ And he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it and offered it for sin, as the first.

¹⁶ And he brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the ordinance.

¹⁷ And he brought the meat offering, and took a handful thereof and burned it upon the altar beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning.

¹⁸ He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about, 

¹⁹ and the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver. 

²⁰ And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat upon the altar.

²¹ And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded.

²² And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and peace offerings.

²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out and blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.

²⁴ And there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat, which when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces. 

— there came a fire out from the Lord; a flame emanating from that resplendent light that filled the holy place flashed upon the brazen altar and kindled the sacrifices;

— this miraculous fire; for the descent of which the people had probably been prepared, was a sign, not only of the acceptance of the offerings and of the establishment of Aaron’s authority, but of God’s actual residence in that chosen dwelling-place;

— which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces; Aaron blessing them, and the appearance of the glory of God unto them, no doubt, gave themfear, mixed with joy and pleasure, as the presence of God do to his people.

Leviticus 10

¹ And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer and put fire therein, and put incense thereon and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. — and Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron; his two eldest sons, as seems from Exodus 6:23;

— took either of them his censer; the sin of Nadab and Abihu was of a complicated nature, and involved and consisted of several transgressions:

— (a) they each took his own censer, and not the sacred utensil of the sanctuary; (b) they both offered it together, whereas the incense was only to be offered by one; (c) they presumptuously encroached upon the functions of the high priest; for according to the Law the high priest alone burnt incense in a censer: see Leviticus 16:12-13; Numbers 17:11;

— the ordinary priests only burnt it on the golden altar in the holy place (Exodus 30:7-8), or on the brazen altar as a part of the memorial, (see Leviticus 2:2-3; Leviticus 2:16) The case of Korah and his company was an exception, since it was ordered by Moses for an especial purpose (Numbers 16:6-25); (d) they offered the incense at an unauthorised time, since it was apart from the morning and evening sacrifice;

— and offered strange fire; they filled their vessels with common fire instead of taking it from the holy fire of the altar, which was always to be used in burning incense; (Leviticus 9:24; Leviticus 16:12);

— which he commanded them not; according to a figure of speech frequently used in Hebrew, where the negative form is used for the emphatic affirmative, this phrase is better rendered, “which he had strongly forbidden them.”

² And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. — they died before the Lord; that is, in the court of the sanctuary (Leviticus 10:1), or from the most holy place, where the Lord dwelt between the cherubim; on the very spot where the sin was committed;

— and devoured them; not reduced them to ashes, for neither their bodies nor their clothes were burnt with this fire; and so the Targum of Jonathan says of these, “without destroying their bodies,” their bodies were not burnt:

³ Then Moses said unto Aaron, “This is that which the Lord spoke, saying, ‘I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. 

— and Aaron held his peace; he was in a stupor, as the Septuagint, quite amazed, thunderstruck, but silently submitted to the righteous judgment which bereft him of his two sons.

⁴ And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, “Come near; carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” 

— the first cousins of Aaron Exodus 6:22 are selected by Moses to convey the bodies of Nadab and Abihu out of the camp and bury them, probably because they were the nearest relations who were not priests.

⁵ So they went near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. — the Targum of Jonathan says “and carried them with hooks of iron in their garments, and buried them outside the camp;”

⁶ And Moses said unto Aaron and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, “Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes, lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people; but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled. 

— Aaron and his two surviving sons are forbidden to show the accustomed signs of mourning, or to leave the court of the tabernacle in order to attend the funeral;

— lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people; so very provoking to God would be any signs of mourning in Aaron and his sons, on this account;

— but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled: though Aaron and his sons might not mourn on this occasion, the whole body of the people might;

— the whole house of Israel, who are here designedly called “the brethren” of the bereaved, to show the depth of their sympathy, were allowed to mourn over the great calamity which had thus befallen them.

⁷ And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses. 

— and ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; that is, they were not to relinquish the service of the sanctuary, on the account of the death of these relations of theirs, and through grief for it;

⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Aaron, saying,

⁹ “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die. It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, 

— do not drink wine or strong drink; this law following upon the affair of Nadab and Abihu has caused some to think, and not without some reason, that they were drunk with wine or strong drink, when they offered strange fire; 

¹⁰ that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, — and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy; that being sober they might be able to distinguish between the one and the other; which a drunken man, having his mind and senses disturbed, is not capable of;

¹¹ and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.” — and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes: laws, precepts, ordinances, which was the business of the priests to do;

¹² And Moses spoke unto Aaron and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons who were left: “Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy. — for it is most holy; hence it could only be eaten by the male members of the families of the priests within the court of the sanctuary;

¹³ And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due and thy sons’ due of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire; for so I am commanded. — because it is thy due, and thy sons’ due, of the offerings of the Lord made by fire;

— and not any others; neither their wives nor daughters, nor any other related to him, or whom he might invite, as in other cases, might eat of it; this none but he and his sons might eat of, and nowhere else but in the sanctuary;

¹⁴ And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place, thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee; for they are thy due and thy sons’ due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. — and the wave breast and heave shoulder; that is, of the peace offering which was offered by the nation;

— thou and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee; these were not restrained to him and his sons only, as the meat offerings, and the flesh of the sin offerings were, but were common to the whole family; and how about their wives?

¹⁵ The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thine and thy sons’ with thee by a statute for ever, as the Lord hath commanded.” 

— the heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring; that is, the offerers who devoted these portions of the peace offering to the Lord, are to bring them to the officiating priests.

¹⁶ And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned; and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left alive, saying, — and Moses diligently sought the goat; that is, the flesh of the goat of the sin offering which was offered by the nation on the eighth day;

— and, behold, it was burnt, being overwhelmed with grief at the loss of their brothers, Eleazar and Ithamar could not eat, and as none but priests were allowed to partake of the flesh of the sin offering, they burnt it on the altar; they did this all the more readily since the flesh of Aaron’s sin offering was just before burnt outside the camp;

— and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar; when their two elder brothers were killed with lightning for doing what was not commanded, which should have made them more observant of the laws of God, to do that which was commanded them: and though they were spared, and survived their brethren;

— yet they transgressed, in burning the sin offering of the people, when they should have eaten it. Moses expressed his anger not to Aaron, but to his sons, which he did for the honour of Aaron, laying the blame not on him, who was overwhelmed with grief, but on his sons;

¹⁷ “Why have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 

— ye not eaten of the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy; the sin offering was one of the most holy things, and therefore to be eaten only in the sanctuary; though this was not the fault they are here charged with that they had eat it, but not in the holy place; for they had not eaten it at all, but burnt it;

— they are reminded of the whole law concerning it, that it was to he eaten by them, that it was to be eaten in the holy place, the reason of which is given; but they had not eaten it but burnt it;

¹⁸ Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place; ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded.” 

— Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt; in a sacrifice presented on behalf of the people, it was the duty of the priests, as typically representing them and bearing their sins, to have eaten the flesh after the blood had been sprinkled upon the altar;

— the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place; the reason was because Aaron was not yet admitted into the holy place, whither that blood should have been brought, till he had prepared the way by the sacrifices which were to be offered in the court.

¹⁹ And Aaron said unto Moses, “Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me. And if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” 

— and such things, such calamity, have befallen me; but whilst he, Eleazar, and Ithamar were thus duly performing the sacrificial rites, Nadab and Abihu, his other two sons, transgressed, and were suddenly struck down dead, thus overwhelming the survivors with sorrow, and rendering them unfit to partake of the sacrifices;

— and if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? Aaron being a mourner; the high priest may offer, being a mourner, but not eat; but today, he might eat with rejoicing and thanksgiving as appears from Deuternomy 12:7, 26:14; so should this be accepted?

²⁰ And when Moses heard that, he was content. — and when Moses heard that, he was content; he said no more, he did not proceed in blaming Aaron nor his sons, but was satisfied with the answer received.

Posted in Books of Moses

Leviticus 7

¹ “‘Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy): — it is most holy; wholly devoted for sacred use, either to the Lord, or to his priests; there were some things call light holy things, and others most holy in the highest degree, of this sort was the trespass offering.

² In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering; and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar. 

— and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar; on the upper part of it. There was a scarlet thread that was drawn around the altar in the middle, the blood of some of the sacrifices was sprinkled below it; and some above it, as was the blood of the trespass offering.

³ And he shall offer from it all the fat thereof: the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, — the fat portions only were to be burned upon the altar, viz., the same as in the sin and peace-offerings; but the flesh was to be eaten by the priests, as in the sin-offering.

⁴ and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys; it shall he take away. — with the kidneys, it shall he take away; all the fat before mentioned, together with the kidneys, were to be taken away from the ram of the trespass offering, and burnt;

⁵ And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a trespass offering. — and the priest shall burn; these fat pieces he shall burn, as in the case of the sin offering and peace offering.

⁶ Every male among the priests shall eat thereof. It shall be eaten in the holy place; it is most holy. — every male among the priests shall eat thereof; of the flesh of it, after the fat was taken off and burnt, the rest belonged to the priests and their sons, and to them only, leaving their wives and daughters bewildered;

⁷ As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them: the priest who maketh atonement therewith shall have it. — the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it; who by offering it made atonement for the trespass of the person that brings it;

⁸ And the priest who offereth any man’s burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. — the priest shall have to himself the skin; as the skin was the only part not consumed by the fire, in the case of the burnt offering, it fell to the share of the officiating priest.

⁹ And all the meat offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying pan and in the pan, shall be the priest’s who offereth it. — shall be the priest’s; with the exception of the memorial part, which was burnt upon the altar;

¹⁰ And every meat offering mingled with oil, or dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. — shall all the sons of Aaron have; that is, whether with or without oil, the remainder of this kind of raw offering is to be equally shared by all the priests.

¹¹ “‘And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer unto the Lord: — the Peace-Offering may be brought for three reasons: a. for thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:12), to commemorate deliverance from sickness or danger; b. iIn fulfilment of a vow (Leviticus 7:16); c. as a freewill offering (Leviticus 7:16) when the heart is moved by the remembrance of God’s kindness and mercies.

¹² If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour, fried. 

¹³ Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.

¹⁴ And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for a heave offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s who sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings. — and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings; that is, that part of the cakes and bread, which is offered as an heave offering to the Lord, was the portion of the priests;

¹⁵ And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. — shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; partly by him that brought them; and what about his family? Wives and daughters?

¹⁶ But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice; and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten. — and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten; some of it, if thought fit, might be kept till the day after the sacrifice, but no longer.

¹⁷ But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. — shall be burnt with fire; that it might neither corrupt, nor be put to superstitious uses, nor be of any profit in any respect;

¹⁸ And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it; it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. 

— it shall be an abomination; to God, the flesh being kept so long, through a sordid and stubborn disposition: and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity; it shall not be forgiven him; he shall bear the punishment of it.

¹⁹ “‘And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire; and as for the flesh, all who are clean shall eat thereof. — and the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; that is, the flesh of the peace offerings;

²⁰ But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. — even that soul shall be cut off from his people; be disfranchised as an Israelite, be debarred the privileges of the sanctuary, or be cut off by death before the usual time and term of man’s life;

²¹ Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man or any unclean beast or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”

²² And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²³ “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox or of sheep or of goat. —of ox, or of sheep, or of goats: creatures used in sacrifice; though this is not to be restrained to such of them, and the fat of them that were sacrificed, whose fat was claimed by the Lord as his, and was burnt on his altar;

²⁴ And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself and the fat of that which is torn by beasts may be used in any other use, but ye shall in no wise eat of it. — and the fat of the beast that dieth of itself; of any disease, and is not regularly killed: and the fat of that which is torn with beasts;

²⁵ For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. — even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people; if he did it presumptuously he incurred the penalty of excision;

²⁶ Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood in any of your dwellings, whether it be of fowl or of beast.

²⁷ Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”

²⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁹ “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings.

³⁰ His own hands shall bring the offerings of the Lord made by fire; the fat with the breast it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. — his own hands shall bring; this act the owner himself was to perform, and it was not to be deputed to any one else.

³¹ And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. — but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons; which being waved before the Lord for a wave offering, was the Lord’s, and so was given to his priests to eat of, for the service done by them;

³² And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for a heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. — and the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering; whether of an ox or a cow, a lamb or a goat.

³³ He among the sons of Aaron who offereth the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part. — shall have the right shoulder for his part; that the right shoulder was given to him that sprinkled the blood, and the breast to all the priests;

³⁴ For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever, from among the children of Israel.’”

³⁵ This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron and of the anointing of his sons out of the offerings to the Lord made by fire, on the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest’s office, — this is the portion of the anointing of Aaron; of his being anointed to the priestly office.

³⁶ which the Lord commanded to be given them by the children of Israel on the day that He anointed them, by a statute for ever throughout their generations. — in the day that he anointed them; or from the day they were anointed of Moses, by the direction of the Lord;

³⁷ This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings, 

³⁸ which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day that He commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.

Leviticus 8

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; 

³ and gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

⁴ And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁵ And Moses said unto the congregation: “This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done.”

⁶ And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. — and washed them with water; to show that they should be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, and offer the sacrifices of the people;

⁷ And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the woven girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

⁸ And he put the breastplate upon him. Also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. — also he put in the breastplate the Urim and Thummim: that is, Moses did it, as all the rest;

⁹ And he put the miter upon his head. Also upon the miter, even upon the front thereof, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁰ And Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. — and sanctified them; that is, by this action Moses separated them from the laity, and dedicated them to the service of God, so that they were not to come in contact with any defilement.

¹¹ And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.

¹² And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head and anointed him, to sanctify him.

¹³ And Moses brought Aaron’s sons and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put headdresses upon them, as the Lord commanded Moses. — and Moses brought Aaron’s sons; having consecrated the father as high priest, Moses now invests Aaron’s four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, with the visible signs of the priestly office by robing them in the sacerdotal garments.

¹⁴ And he brought the bullock for the sin offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering. — and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering; their right hands, according to the Targum of Jonathan;

¹⁵ And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it. — and he slew it; in ordinary cases the offerer himself slaughtered the victim but in the case Moses performed this act.

¹⁶ And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar. — and Moses took all the acts here;

¹⁷ But the bullock and his hide, his flesh, and his dung he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

¹⁸ And he brought the ram for the burnt offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. — and Moses acting like the officiating priest;

¹⁹ And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

²⁰ And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. — and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat; even all of it, as the following verse shows.

²¹ And he washed the inwards and the legs in water; and Moses burned the whole ram upon the altar. It was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savor, and an offering made by fire unto the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses. 

²² And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. — and he brought the other ram; that is, the second of the two rams mentioned in Leviticus 8:2.

²³ And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot. 

²⁴ And he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear and upon the thumbs of their right hands and upon the great toes of their right feet; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. 

²⁵ And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right shoulder; 

²⁶ and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened cake and a cake of oiled bread and one wafer, and put them on the fat and upon the right shoulder. 

²⁷ And he put all upon Aaron’s hands and upon his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord. 

²⁸ And Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar upon the burnt offering. They were consecrations for a sweet savor; it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. — they were consecrated for a sweet savour; acceptable to the Lord, and so the priests, Aaron and his sons likewise, on whose account they were made.

²⁹ And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord; for of the ram of consecration, it was Moses’ part, as the Lord commanded Moses. — for the ram of consecration it was Moses’s part; the breast of it was also his;

³⁰ And Moses took of the anointing oil and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron and upon his garments, and upon his sons and upon his sons’ garments with him, and sanctified Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. — and Moses was acting like the officiating priest; —

³¹ And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ — ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it’ because this is holy: no layman or non-priest could partake of the meal;

³² And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. — ye, that is, Aaron and his sons;

³³ And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation for seven days, until the days of your consecration are at an end; for seven days shall He consecrate you. — and ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle; that is, Aaron and his sons are not to go out of the court, as the consecration was not performed within but at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

³⁴ As He hath done this day, so the Lord hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. — to make an atonement for you, of the day of atonement; and say, that the high priest was obliged to be separate (from his own house and family) seven days;